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Cynder woke up to Spyro tightly holding her. She realized that her episode last night had probably scared him just as much as it had her. She sighed, realizing that these fights are affecting her mental state. She couldn't resist her instinct to be by her mate's side, but she knew that his instinct is to protect her, and that he will do anything to make sure she is okay. She wished that she could show less weakness sometimes, Spyro has his own, but he puts too much pressure on himself to push them deep inside. Cynder had the slightest feeling that he is shoving all of his feelings and weaknesses away for her and for the others relying on him. The six-month vacation helped, but he needs to spend some time without others relying on him. Spyro felt her tension, and opened his eyes worriedly.

"Are you okay, did you have another dream?" He asked

"I'm fine, just relax. Let's just stay here for a while." She answered

They stayed like that for a while, resting their sore bodies and allowing their wounds to heal. After a couple of hours, the grumbling of their stomachs called them out of their room. They walked out into the square, and over to the mess hall. The hall was mostly empty, they spotted Flame and Ember at one of the tables, and joined them.

"Hey" Cynder spoke

"They got some different food today" Ember told her

Spyro went over to the food trays and grabbed two plates of food. He brought them back and sat down.

"What is this?" Cynder asked

"I asked the chef, and he said it was something called a burrito" Ember answered

"It's pretty good" Spyro replied

They ate in silence for a while, then finished. Spyro looked through the window to see Michael walk out into the square, talking with Trice. Spyro rushed over to him.

"Hey" Michael sad to him.

"I still want to know what that was. That magic felt darker than any I have ever felt." Spyro told him

"Eldritch magic and Ethereal magic are two sides of the same coin. They are the oldest forms of magic in existence. Before the concept of darkness and light, these two forms manifested, and when they did, the unbreakable rules were formed. Eldritch magic is fear and death based, while ethereal is joy and life based. After these two formed, some eldritch and some ethereal beings decided that they wanted to change the rules, the eldritch beings formed dark magic, which is evil, and includes demons and necromancy. The ethereal beings formed aether magic, others have called it light, or heavenly magic, which represents good, and includes beings like angels, and good magic. But these new magics caused a problem. Eldritch and ethereal magic has always lived in harmony, but dark and light magic are constantly fighting. This fighting caused wars to spread through the entire multiverse. It's what caused all the battles between good and evil, which caused a fifth magic to form, fairy . Eldritch magic is pretty simple compared to dark magic, they live in darkness, consume fear, and will occasionally corrupt other creatures and make them eldritch terrors. Ethereal magic feeds on joy and prosperity, and sometimes help other creatures to ascend. There are only a few hundred thousand origin ethereal beings left, most of them moved to light magic and fought evil. I used eldritch magic to kill that master, I used it to kill the last one. You felt darkness because that was what it was, my normal aura was changed from calm to fear, I caused fear in everyone around me, that is how that magic works." He explained

"So, what kind of magic do I use?" Spyro asked

"Light, Cynder uses both light and dark" Michael answered

"And you eyes changed color why?" Spyro turned to him

"The main colors of magic, blue for ethereal, black for eldritch, red for demonic, white for light, and green for fairy." Michael told him "My eyes, and half of the jewels in my armor reflect that. But ethereal is a tad different. Each ethereal being can change their color to whatever they want, you probably noticed Trice's color is pink, my mate's is yellow. My custom color is a darker blue then the normal ethereal blue."

Cynder had joined Spyro's side and looked stunned.

"So, you can use both eldritch and ethereal magic?" she asked

"I can use all five of them." He answered

"And I use dark magic?" she replied

"Yes, your fear, poison and shadow elements are dark magic. But those elements are from eldritch origins, so they can't hurt the wielder."

A general landed in the square, and Michael went to talk to him. Spyro looked back at Cynder, who looked worried about what Michael had told them.

"I use dark magic. Malefor made me evil"

"It's not the magic that is evil, it's how you use it. Michael just used the darkest of magic for good, you are not evil, you are good." Spyro replied sternly "Stop letting these thoughts affect you"

Cynder nuzzled him, Michael returned to them.

"Wait, I'm a dark dragon, and Spyro's an aether dragon. How does he not hate me?" She asked him

Michael gave her an exasperated look "The magic that you use doesn't define you, unless you let it. He didn't hold your corruption against you, and he fell in love with you, regardless of your magic. Some believe that opposites attract, or that fate controls everything. But fate isn't permanent, it changes just as quickly as the future. Regardless of your magic, what you look like, and your past, Spyro loves you for you, when he agreed to be your mate, he agreed to accept all of you. You remind me so much of your mother, I adopted her, she was Trice's sister, I loved her like she was my own, because she was. She didn't believe that she didn't deserve happiness, just because of her powers. Malefor's parents didn't really help, they tried their hardest to separate them, but I told her that she was my daughter, that no wasn't an option, and that if Malefor returned her feelings, nothing can stop them. By the time they had their ceremony, Silver knew that she didn't just deserve happiness, but she also deserved the right to be proud of herself. Now, I wasn't able to raise you with the power and the self-esteem that I did her, so you need to search deep within yourself and find at least one logical reason. When you eventually find that you don't have one, you will realize that all this worry is useless." Michael's speech brought tears to Cynder's eyes. "Also, even if you don't deserve Spyro, it's too late, you have him. The mateship of dragons is irreversible."

Spyro chuckled "Even if it was, I wouldn't let her do it"

Cynder looked at him, and saw the seriousness in his gaze and sighed. Spyro looked back at Michael.

"What's the news from that general" he asked, Cynder was glad for the change of subject.

"The fortress was cleaned out completely, and all leftover magic has been dispelled. The councilors apprentice was captured while he tried to escape. We're trying to interrogate him and find where another master is. He isn't talking so far, but I think he will, eventually." Michael explained "Oh, and Lumi and Amber made it safely to Genrir, and are back at their house. Which is close to yours, so you can talk to them when we get back."

"Are we heading their soon?" Cynder asked

"No, were going to go to another front-line planet for a minute, the ground forces keep getting hit by aerial assaults, and they need some shielding." Michael answered "Were also receiving a surprising amount of resistance on that planet, which means they are protecting something. We have no idea what it is though, it's not a dark master, so it could be anything."

Michael's eyes pulsed, and the fortress flashed onto a new planet. Spyro looked out over the railing to see a maze of trenches, all of the buildings, tents, and other structures were in deep trenches, protecting them from enemy fire. The clouds overhead was thick and grey, spreading out over the horizon. Beyond the small bump of sandbags piled on one side, dark figures can be seen shuffling around. Occasionally, one would conjure an element ball and launch it at the trenches. Spyro walked forward, preparing to take off, but Michael stopped him.

"No, there are too many, and there is a lot of dark magic defending them." He told him.

"I can feel it from here, it's... Strange" Cynder replied

"They have been here for hundreds of thousands of years. The magic is deep-seeded." Michael said

A sun dragon popped his head over the sand bar and fired a light beam, vaporizing a handful of soldiers. Spyro watched as more cursed soldiers replaced them, stepping into the same positions without a reaction.

"How long have they been fighting here?" He asked

"Since the war started. This line hasn't moved much because of this planet. We have taken most of the planets in this sector and others past it, but we can't fully move in with this planet still controlled by the enemy." Michael answered

Flame and Ember walked up to them and looked out at the scene below them.

"That's a big trench" Flame said "I haven't seen a trenched army since before the eternal night."

Cynder blushed, vaguely remembering herself tearing through an entrenched army when she was corrupted. Flame saw this and gave her an apologetic look. They took off and Michael showed them how to fly in a way to avoid getting hit with the enemy's element balls. They landed in the center of the trenches, and were approached by a general, his armor was covered in dirt, and he looked worn and exhausted.

"Sir, there has been no changes since you were last here, the enemy keeps attempting to advance on us, and our element cannons keep getting interrupted by their defense magic." He told them

"Could this be a source of the cursed soldiers?" Spyro asked

"I don't think so, they would have decimated us with a massive number of forces by now." The general answered

"Where's your mate?" Michael asked

"She's in the medic tent, healing one of our scouts." He answered, motioning towards a red tent.

A large explosion rang nearby, causing everyone but Michael and the general to duck.

"They can fire on us but we can't fire on them, we need to break that curse" Michael said

"We keep having to recharge the shield crystals, we have six sets alternating every four or five hours." The general replied

The fortress fired a few shots, Spyro looked over the trench to see the element charges flicker out before they even reach their targets. The enemy cannons fired a few shots in return. The booms of their charges hitting the fortress's shields reiterating Michael's words.

"I'm going to study the curses, we need some tents to stay in, the fortress needs to leave before its shields start to crack." Michael informed the general, then left

"We can get a few tents for you, for now you should huddle around the fires, it gets really cold here at night, even for fire dragons." The general told

Night fell and the group huddled around a large fire, it crackled faintly as they sat and waited. The soldiers had changed shifts, many moon dragons were throwing flares periodically overhead, temporarily lighting the ground ahead of them. Michael appeared from the darkness, startling them, a white dragon appeared behind him.

"Hey, I want you guys to meet Aura, she's an aether dragon, like Spyro." Michael said

"An aether dragon?" Spyro asked

The white dragon turned to him "I can use fire, sun, moon, earth, and wind elements."

Aura appeared to be the same age as the rest of them.

"Why are you here, in a war?" Cynder asked

"I wanted to fight, but Michael hasn't been letting me. He finally let me come here to fight with you guys." Aura answered

"I found her egg long ago in a small village in a different dimension." Michael told them

"I had nobody, my parents abandoned me and I had nobody else. So when Michael came to clear out an old temple, he found my egg and took it with him" Aura explained "I've been staying in the fortress so far, but he's been trying to get me to go live in Faun."

Aura laid down in front of the fire.

"You need to find a mate, and you aren't going to find one on a fortress full of soldiers." Michael told her

She blushed, and tried to change the subject "Did you find a way to break the curse?"

Michael gave her a look "I need to launch a ball of pure ethereal magic, the land itself is protected, but pure ethereal magic will break the curse."

"When will we be attacking?" Aura asked

"In an hour or so, were going to jump them." Michael replied

The dragons got ready for a battle, Aura left and returned with a set of armor that had the same designs as Michael's set. Cynder looked at them confused.

"He gives these symbols to the dragons he adopts." Aura told her "I figure it's his family emblem"

"My mother must have worn it too." Cynder replied

"She did, Rose did too" Michael said, walking out from the darkness.

Cynder jumped, and gave Michael a half-hearted snarl. He laughed at her.

"The terror sure doesn't pay attention to her surroundings." He spoke

Cynder looked over to Spyro.

"Don't look at me, I saw his eyes glowing from way over there." He told her

The armies all convened against the sand bar. Michael poked his head out over it and looked around, then nodded to the others. He walked up onto the bar, and summoned a massive sphere of blue magic, then fired it at the enemy's land. The blue sphere hit the ground, and exploded, sending blue sparks across the area. The soldiers rushed out from the trench and charged, flares flew over the field, exposing the cursed army. The cannons fired, sending fire and molten rock flying crashing into the cursed soldiers. Most of the soldiers were destroyed quickly, by the time Spyro reached the enemy, they were already decimated. After a few hours, Michael's army defeated the enemy, and took their trenches. The exhausted soldiers cheered in celebration over finally becoming victorious. Dozens of fortresses announced their arrival with a series of thumps, they floated over and begun a charge. Pushing the enemy into a retreat. Michael called his soldiers to return to their trenches. After they had returned, their main fortress teleported above their heads. Michael looked over at Aura, she was glowing, light energy radiated from her. Then over to Spyro, who was celebrating with the others. He took flight towards the fortress.

Spyro woke up in their room, he was curled around Cynder, his wing protecting her from the cold. It was still cloudy outside, but Spyro could tell that it was around noon. Cynder murmured in her sleep, and clutched Spyro tighter. Spyro looked out the window to see another fortress floating out on the horizon. The view was surprisingly peaceful, a vast forest spreading out to the horizon, broken only by a faraway island. Spyro enjoyed the peacefulness for a few hours, listening to his mate murmur in her sleep.