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Camry walked back into the dining room. But before he could say anything Cynder walked through the front door.

"I thought I saw you get home" she said to him.

"Camry's about to tell us about his date with Layla" Spyro whispered to her

"Not much happened, I took her to this nice restaurant we flew past on our way here. We talked while we ate, then we came back" Camry explained

"Well, did you get to know her?" Samantha asked

"Yeah, she's pretty cool" Camry asked, starting to blush

"Do you like her?' Samantha pushed

He blushed even more, but said nothing. He didn't need too, she got her answer.

"Jasper, how long can you stay before you have to return home?" She asked her mate

"Around three months" Jasper sighed "I'll send a message for our things"

Samantha was beaming at her son, who was still embarrassed about the whole ordeal, when Michael knocked on the door. She answered it and told Michael the news.

"Just as Trice suspected" Michael said to her, then turned to Spyro "The king sends his regards, as well as some other passive aggressive messaging regarding the treatment of his sword, saying something about your sword paling in comparison and that he was surprised you didn't swap them when you got the chance. Blah blah blah"

"They really do hate the elemental royal line don't they." Jasper cut in

"Yeah, but that's their own problem" Michael retorted

Camry took the moment of distraction and left, Spyro saw his wings flash as he took off.

"Well, lets celebrate, Camry..." Jasper trailed off, just noticing his absence

"Lay off of him, this needs to go at its own pace. You need to let them connect, and if it's supposed to happen, it will happen." Michael told them

"I know, I know, I remember you telling that to my parents. But it's so exciting, my little boy is all grown up!" Samantha exclaimed. Then froze, blushing, suddenly embarrassed for some reason.

Michael raised his eyebrows at her, then hurriedly turned to Spyro "Oh, right. I forgot to tell you, were leaving tomorrow to join the front lines. They spotted a fortress and I think there is a high council member entrenched in there, this could be our only chance to get them."

Michael walked outside, Spyro and Ember following them.

"Why don't we get Camry and the others, and go do something fun before we leave?" he said

"That would be nice, a bit of fun before we have to go fight a battle." Cynder answered, smiling to Spyro.

"Let's do it" Spyro replied

"I'm gonna grab Layla, to mess with Camry a little" Michael smirked "And see if Trice wants to come"

He walked into his house and closed the door behind him. Spyro walked up to Ember and Flame's house, he knocked on the door, and jumped back when Flame threw it open.

"Whoa" Spyro yelped

"Oh, sorry, I thought you were one of those kids that keeps knocking on the door to see Ember." Flame looked apologetic.

"They've been doing that?" Cynder asked

Ember walked out from behind Flame.

"Every few hours or so. They probably don't do it too you because they fear being blasted." She answered "Look, there they are now!"

Cynder looked over to see a dozen young dragons giggle and run away when Ember yelled, she laughed.

"That's... interesting"

"So... What's up?" Flame asked "I know were leaving tomorrow"

"Michael wanted to do something fun before we leave, we wanted you to come. We also wanted to see Camry and Layla's chemistry." Spyro told them

"Oh, I saw them when they got back from lunch, they looked so cute" Ember replied, smiling

They watched as Trice walked out of the house, her eyes glowing a very bright pink, she looked around before something caught them. Then took off with haste. Layla walked out and watched her go, blushing. A few minutes later, Michael exited as well, and walked over to the four dragons.

"Trice went to hunt down Camry. Were going to a music festival, the annual Strings of Power festival. It's the same kind of music as what was playing during your ceremony. Along with others." He told them

"That sounds cool" Layla cut in "I've never really heard much music before."

Camry landed next to them and looked up "The Strings of Power festival, I've always wanted to go to that"

Spyro and Cynder shared a look. Trice was good, but Michael was better. Like father like daughter.

Trice landed behind him; her pink magic was fading from her eyes. Michael looked around and spread his wings to prepare for flight.

"Alright, everybody's here, let's go." He spoke

"Wait, what about my parents?" Camry asked

"They are... busy, preparing for an extended stay here." Michael answered

They group took off, and Michael led them outside the city and into the fairgrounds. There was a massive crowd, filled with dozens of species. Some of them gasped and whispered when Spyro and Cynder landed. Then nearly passed out when they noticed the rest of the group. Michael led them around to a different entrance, a sign labeled it as the musician's entrance. Two large earth dragons were guarding the path, they nodded to Michael as they passed by. Spyro looked around the backstage area, many musicians were tuning their instruments. Spyro looked in surprise at a dragon who was playing a harp, then back to Cynder.

"This is fun" she said to him, he smiled in agreement

"We have our own little area to hang out in" Trice told us "Fenced off from the others"

They walked into the area, it was right next to the stage, where there were workers preparing for the event. After a few minutes of walking about and chatting with the other royals, the first set of musicians entered the stage and started playing. Cynder grabbed Spyro and pulled him onto the dance floor. They laughed and danced for a while, Trice and Michael laughed and watched them. Spyro watched Camry approach Layla, blushing. He said something and she nodded, and he pulled her onto the floor. The group danced for a few hours, many different bands came up on the stage and played different kinds of music. Spyro and the others enjoyed interesting new kinds of food and drinks, and talked to some of the musicians. The festival stopped at midnight, and the partygoers left the main area. Some of them retired to various sleeping areas. The festival will continue for three more days. The group took off and flew home. Spyro looked over at Cynder flying beside him, her eyes sparkling from the reflection of Fauns lights. She caught him staring at her, and blushed. Near the back of the group, Camry was entranced in Layla's eyes and her smooth movements as she flew. Layla knew he was watching her, and was trying her best not to blush. Both of them are confused about the feelings that they have, they knew what they were, but they were still confused about it. Everybody landed back at the square, and went into their respective houses. Spyro and Cynder slid into their bed and curled up together.

Spyro woke up to a knock on their front door. He gently nudged Cynder with his muzzle, making her smile and open her eyes.

"Good morning" he said

She nuzzled him, and smiled. The two got up and slowly put on their armor, still sore from the dancing. After they finished, they ate a quick snack, and walked out the front door. Michael was waiting outside of Flame and Ember's house, tapping his right paw impatiently. He nodded to them and motioned them to look up. The fortress had moved closer during the night, and was now directly overhead. They flew up and landed on it. After a few minutes Flame and Ember joined them, and Michael flew into the control room. They looked over the railing when the fortress flashed, watching the city of Faun vanish to reveal a massive cleared out space filled with tents and small buildings. The group flew down and landed near the center. Spyro spotted a familiar face, Lumi was talking to another general, he looked exhausted. A dragoness, that must be his mate, was very affectionately nuzzling him. Lumi turned and smiled when he saw Michael.

"Hey, you guys going to take the stronghold?" He asked

"Are you not coming?" Spyro replied

"I'm pregnant, so I get to drag him back to Faun" His mate said

"Oh, congratulations!" Cynder exclaimed

"I don't think any of you have met, everyone, this is Amber. Amber this is Spyro, Cynder, Flame, and Ember." Lumi introduced them.

"Took you guys long enough, weren't you trying since before I left?" Michael asked

"We wanted to wait for your return. We couldn't raise children without jobs could we." Lumi shot back

"Well, enjoy nice cushy ones as Guard Generals" Michael replied.

They bid their farewells, and flew up to a fortress. Michael turned back to the others and smiled.

"Good for them, Amber wanted to have kids when the others did, but was just unlucky."

He pointed to a dark cloud on the horizon.

"That is the stronghold, if my info is correct, there is a high council member in there. We will be storming it soon." Michael told them

A loud bell sounded from the fortresses, and a massive number of soldiers took off from the ground and flew to them. The group followed, landing on their main fortress. It slowly started moving its way toward the stronghold. When they reached cannon range, the fortresses started firing. Shells slammed against the stronghold's shields, causing them to crack. Eventually, they shattered, but instead of landing and charging the fortress, the element cannons switched from fire to earth. Massive boulders shot out and slammed into the stronghold, smashing against its walls. Cursed soldiers rushed out of the stronghold, the ones with wings took flight and charged the fortresses. They were stopped at the shields, bunching and scraping at the magical barrier. The stronghold collapsed, falling outward into pieces. A cluster of dark creatures crawled out of the rubble as the cannons stopped firing.

"There they are, lets go" Michael called to them.

They leapt forward, taking flight and charging toward the cluster. They landed with a bunch of other soldiers. Michael jumped forward, and launched a wind blast at the dark dragons, separating the group. A darkened dragon wearing strange armor covered in red gems stepped out.

"So, a dark dragon is hunted by an even darker dragon. What was that saying again? The lesser of two evils" A gravelly voice came from the dark grey dragon.

"Yeah yeah yeah, your friend already said that line" Michael responded

"And where is he know?"

"His skull is in my vault, where yours will join him, and the rest of him was burned in the tradition of dragons" Michael replied

"Evil like that can only be defeated by more evil. Nobody ever sees that you are darker than you look." The grey dragon glanced at Spyro

"Billions upon billions of years of good and prosperity because of me says different" Michael flicked his wrist, causing several of the dark dragon's heads to abruptly fall off.

The master flinched "You can't defeat me without dark magic, I thought you were against all evil"

"Using dark magic isn't always evil, I can use all magic without the fear of corruption" Michael replied

His eyes turned from blue to black, shadows danced, and strengthened. Fear sparked in the dark master's eyes as Michael's armor faded, until his entire body was pure shadow. Michael, or his shadow, fell into the ground, vanishing. Dark tendrils reached from the ground and grabbed the dark master. He struggled against them, sending bursts of red magic into the tendrils. But the spells had no effect. The shadow version of Michael rose from the ground, his sword drawn. He charged forward slicing outward. The dark master ducked, barely avoiding the shadow blade, and fired a dark magic beam at him. The beam went through Michael as if he wasn't even there. The shadow tendrils tightened, forcing the dark master to fall. Michael didn't hesitate, he leapt forward and arced his blade, sinking it into the dragon's grey side, piercing his heart. The wounded dragon groaned, then collapsed, his body began to dissolve, leaving only his smoking bones. Michael resolidified, his eyes returning to their normal blue, he faltered, clearly spent, and stepped back away from the fight. The rest of the dark dragons had fallen, Spyro looked around at the soldiers, some of them had been wounded, and were being brought back to the fortress. Luckily, nobody had been killed. Spyro went over to Cynder, and looked her over, making sure she was okay. After she kept telling him she was fine, he closed his eyes and nuzzled her. Flame and Ember walked over to them, they looked beat up, and shocked at the powerful display of magic that was shown. Michael called to them, and took off, the soldiers followed. Once they had returned safely to the fortress, Flame gave Ember a rundown, and Ember did the same to him. They had some cuts and bruises, but seemed okay overall.

"What was that?" Spyro asked Michael

"Eldritch magic" he replied, and nearly fell over. He righted himself, and stumbled out of the square towards his room.

Cynder walked up to Spyro and nuzzled him.

"We're one step closer" she said

He nuzzled her back. Spyro could tell that the fighting and Michael's fight had bothered her. She was incredibly tense, and had a sad look behind her smile. Spyro knew he had to cheer her up somehow. They relaxed and chatted until the sun went down, then everyone retired to their rooms. Cynder curled tightly against Spyro, he held her close, covering her with his wing. They sat for a long time before they fell asleep.

'Michael was in his shadow state, but instead of fighting the dark master, he was fighting her. The dark tendrils gripped her, and dragged her into a dark void. Darkness surrounded her, became her. She screamed, but no sound came out.'

Spyro woke to Cynder screaming. He started shaking her, shouting her name. He moved his legs out of the way just in time to miss her tailblade swipe. She was still screaming, screaming for him. Spyro closed his eyes and focused, he allowed his light element to flow through him and into her. Cynder woke with a gasp.

"Spyro!" She called

"I'm here, you're okay, we're okay." He nuzzled her frantically

She looked over at him, and kissed him.

"That... was the worst dream I have ever had" she said, and nuzzled his neck

He held her close, trying to stop her shivering, and covered her with his wings again. They laid there for a while, Cynder felt like she would never sleep again. After a while, her pure exhaustion brought her into a dreamless sleep. Spyro felt her relax as sleep took her, he watched her for a few hours, then fell asleep himself.