FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Author's notes:

It's been a little bit more than a month since I last updated.

Well, I want to say that I no longer work where I used to,, but I have now another job. A good change in my opinion, so no loss in there.

This is the continuation of the previous chapter that was cut short in the middle of the battle. This chapter will not tell the whole story out of it, but some very important things will happen in here; so pay attention.

And last, but not least, The Legend of Spyro trilogy characters and story does not belong to me. Only this story plot and any Original character.

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The Legend of Spyro: Origins_Chapter 33

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Gale was bored. The battle had stretched longer that he had originally thought... much longer that he had even thought battles could last. He supposed that it would have taken an hour... maybe two at the most. But they have been going at it for almost half a day already!

At first, just after Cynder had left him and the door to the outside closed, he was too mortified with his situation to pay much attention to what was around him. He had been nearly on the border of panic but he calmed himself by taking deep breaths and reminding himself that Cynder had told him it would be fine.

After the initial emotion had passed, he noticed his surroundings. He saw many female llamas. Quite a few of them had children with them. There were also some old people in here, those that could no longer fight. There were also six panthers that stayed together at all times and a pair of coyotes. There was only a fire dragoness with a single earth dragon child, which he recognized by the colors that his friend had told him how to recognize different elements before.

He felt slightly uncomfortable with all the other species around; at least when his friends were not around. That was why he had tried to seek some comfort in this strange situation from the dragoness and her child. However, she was too busy keeping in check his overactive son. That made him kind of isolated and rejected amongst this people. He remained silent in a corner of the building during the first stages of the battle.

He could hear the explosions form where he was located as he started at the people and walls. But those were far away and not very common.

Every half an hour or so, a soldier would poke his head in to make sure everything was well inside. People asked him questions about how the battle was going and Gale stepped close each time to hear them. When news arrived that the Dark Army had broken through the first line of defense, people started to worry. Gale also felt terrified at the idea of being caught in the battle.

Last time he was in a battle, more of a skirmish really, he entered into a panicked state and had run as fast as he could away from it. He didn't not really think what was happening; he had just reacted in instinct to get away as far and as fast as possible.

He was fortunate not to see anyone he knew die when all was over; he didn't know what he would have done if he had.

One time he managed to small peak through the doorway when the guard opened it to take a quick look. Clouds of black smoke were rising not very far away from where he was. Gale gave a small shudder in fear, wondering what kind of inferno must be in that location to produce that kind of smoke.

He had once seen a forest fire in his valley. It had started out in a storm, where lighting struck an old pine making it catch fire instantly. The fire had spread almost instantly and before long, it was a huge forest fire. The residents who lived closest to the fire fled and asked for help in Aerie to extinguish it. Gale had seen the thick black clouds rise, as well as the orange glow far in the distance from the rooftop of his home. It had taken a lot of effort and a few days to put it out. After it had been extinguished, Gale took a trip to where the fire had been and watched in horror of what had remained of it.

Eventually, Cynder came up to check on him. He was overjoyed that she was alive, since he feared his friend had been killed, and that she had come to see him. He ran towards her, but he stopped short and started when he saw the state she was in. She was covered with grime and blood, indication that she had been in the thick of battle. She had also some scratches on her body, which had stopped bleeding. She seemed to have had some rough time, as she seemed a little bit tired.

Cynder's visit was short, however. She returned back to the battle that was still being fought.

Things took a small turn for the better, however. The dragoness child had found a new toy, which happened to be Gale's tail, as he jumped trying to get it. Gale played with the youngling for a while, happy for something that allowed him to ignore what was happening outside. The mother watched amused and gave a slight smile in thanks at Gale for playing with his son.

Time stretched and hours went by. He started to feel pent up in this building. He was a wind dragon; he was meant to be in the air. Being kept inside a building with not much space to move around freely was getting on his nerves. It took enormous amount of restrain and patience to not let himself become frustrated.

There was a time when the sound of battle, the clanking of swords and the roar of the armies, sounded close. Everybody felt tense as it kept going, each one of the people on there thinking how the battle was going. Eyes would dart towards the door every few minutes in a reaction produced by the suspense.

The battle had been going for hours. Gale sighed and wished for the hundredth time for the waiting to finish.

No one noticed when the battle sounds faded away, so no one was concerned. However, everybody jumped when they heard the unmistakable, but brief, clash of metal against metal just outside of their safe heaven. As soon as it started, it ended. By now, everyone had their eyes glued to the door, waiting expectantly for the llama soldier that usually checked on them.

Everybody held their breath when the door opened, but it was not the llama.

Gale saw the hideous creature and he immediately froze as fear struck him. The people that were the closest to the orc backed away in small and hesitant steps, as if not believing what stood in front of them. It was disgusting and ugly and smelled to decayed flesh. They red eyes showing a cruelty Gale didn't know of. They also showed amusement as it surveyed them as they were cornered prey... and he the predator.

Gale had seen this creature earlier, back on the skirmish just before they arrived at Tall Plains. It was an orc, his friends had told him that he should beware of them least they kill you.

Suddenly, two more orcs appeared on either side of the one who was standing on the doorway. No one said anything as the group of orcs entered the building, making all the civilians take more hesitant steps backwards. Behind the orcs, smaller, but equally ugly, some smaller creatures followed.

One llama, an old female by the looks of it, had remained paralyzed and had not moved. She seemed too shocked to even register what was happening. One of the orcs spotted her and went directly at her. It stood in front of her as if seizing her up. With a small chuckle, the orc raised a sword that Gale had not noticed he carried. The sun glinted briefly in the mostly rusted blade, but he could not see it long enough as he had brought it down... towards the old female.

She screamed in pain as the sword sliced halfway through her body, with a wet crunch as the metal parted flesh and bone. She immediately crumbled as he mangled body could no longer support her.

Gale remained motionless as he started at the old female who was twitching as life slowly escaped from her as her blood did. Blood poured out of her in gushes as she vainly tried to stop the flow. The white dragon tried to look away from the sight, but his eyes were fixed to the female that was dying.

Dying...

He had never seen someone die. He had never seen anything like it. He had never seen someone hurt another being like that. He could not comprehend how someone could do such cruel and horrible things as killing someone else. Bile rose in Gale throat as he finally understood that concept.

He finally managed to look away, only to see an even worse sight.

The scream that the old llama had produced seemed to have broken the silence spell that had seemed to have fallen. Chaos ensured as everyone tried to get as far away from the hideous creatures that started killing everyone without the slightest remorse. They cut and stabbed anyone who stood in their way, leaving those injured to die the slow and painful death.

It was at that moment, that Gale understood the true situation the world outside his mountain range where he used to live. He also understood, all too clearly, that this was the real thing. There would be no second chance for him, or anyone else, inside this building.

'It is a kill or be killed situation' Cynder had told him a few days ago, when he had first seen combat.

Gale legs were shaking. Fear consuming him. He could not think. He was completely paralyzed as the deep and instinctive fear overruled any sense of thought.

He noticed that some people tried to fight back and defend themselves. They fought bravely, but without weapons and armor, they fell quite easily.

Gale managed to turn his head slightly and he saw a dead old llama. Its eyes, although starting into nothingness, seemed strangely to be fixed on him. A shiver crawled down his spine as he entered a sort of trance. Those dead eyes made him remember that he had seen another pair of dead eyes, very much like this ones.

He had once seen death before.

Once... long ago.

----(Flashback)----

Tornada, her mother, was flying with him. He was being held firmly but gently in her mouth so as not to accidentally slip free whilst they traveled. He was still too young to fly on his own; his wings not strong enough... barely even starting to speak yet. Still, he enjoyed flying even then.

He enthusiastically beat his still growing wings, his instincts telling him that he should be doing it whilst in the air. He, of course, accidentally hit mother's muzzle with his wings whilst she carried him, but she did not complain.

All too soon for him, the journey was over. Tornada landed and gently placed his young offspring into the ground. Gale didn't want to be on the ground, he liked flying! He looked at the sky with eagerness as he clumsily beat his wings. He took small jumps in an attempt to take to the winds; but he was still too young.

"Eager one, aren't you Gale?" her mother asked kindly with a chuckle.

Gale turned to look at her with eagerness.

"Fly!" he said exaltedly. It had been the third, and the most recent, word he had learned in his slowly increasing vocabulary, second to mama and papa.

"Not now you little spot of cloud" she told him affectionately as she gave him a soft nuzzle. "Mom's gotta work, but I promise we will go flying later"

Gale jogged around his mother right foreleg as she said this in joy. He loved flying.

Tornada chuckled at his son's enthusiastic behavior before knocking on the door of the house she had landed in front of. All too soon, the door opened to reveal an old dragon. It scales had been grayed out due to the age and he held a warm smile.

However, when Gale set his eyes upon the old dragon, he yelped in fright and ran behind her mother's foreleg.

"Now come on, little one" Tornada chided him as she lifted the leg he had taken into hiding. "We have to get you to good old Caelum. He will take care of you whilst mother and father work" she said a she gently pushed his son towards the old dragon.

Gale planted his paws on the ground firmly in an attempt to stop himself, but it was of no use since he didn't even reached her mother's elbow.... much less strength.

"I'm sorry, Caelum; but I do not know why he does not like you" Tornada apologized. "He is kind to everyone else"

"No need to apologize, Tornada" Caelum said in a deep voice. "Are you here to let him in my care again?"

"Yes. I am sorry to let you with such a burden. I would love to spend more time with him, but our works demands so much time from us. "

"As all other dragons, dear Tornada" Caelum said in an understanding voice. "Rest assured; he shall be safe with me"

As he said that, he used his tail to wrap it in a protective embrace and brought the still reluctant Gale closer to him.

"It makes me feel so much better" Tornada said with a sight. "Now young Gale, listen to what Caelum says and do not cause trouble"

"Mama!" Gale cried in protest, clearly wanting to get out of the old dragons hold and return to her mother.

"Look, Gale; it's Wooler" Tornada said as she procured from a small satchel a small white sheep doll and placed it next to Gale, which was half his size.

"A toy?" Caelum asked, looking at the small doll.

"Gale fell in love with it when he saw it in the toy stand of the Dragon's Smiths as we were walking on the market the other day" Tornada explained. "He hardly goes anywhere without it. Well, momma has to go. You be good my son" Tornada said as she nuzzled him.

"Mama!" Gale cried in protest when he mother rose and started to leave. "Mama!" he cried again when she flapped her wings and flew away.

But she was already gone.

Caelum slowly closed the door of his house and then turned to look at him; his kind look was completely gone.

"We meet again, huh Gale?" he said with a voice that was as cold as the wind atop the mountains of the valley.

Then, without further warning, the old dragon flicked his tail and he sent Gale fling across the room. He fell on the cold and hard stone floor with a squeak as air was forced out of his lungs.

Gale crawled away from the old dragon and tried to hide beneath one small table. However, the small wooden table was no match for the powerful dragon as he lifted it effortlessly.

"It is time to continue where we left the other day" Caelum said as he looked down at him,

Once again, the dragon picked up and threw Gale away as easily as a small rock. Gale landed once again on the floor, sliding until he hit the far wall.

The small child could do nothing but cower and huddled himself in a tight ball; crying all the time.

"Good!" Caleum exclaimed in a wicked pleased tone, but without any form of amusement out of it "Look at this... the dear son of our dear Captain of the Honor Guard" he spat. "There is no better form of revenge again him that to see his son so broken and afraid at everything the world throws at him. Imagine what he would feel... to see his pathetic son cower against the most innocent threat"

Gale could only whimper in fright. He didn't like it. He didn't liked how the old dragon hurt him.

"Seems that weeks of this have finally broken you" Caleum continued. "I want Nimbus to be an empty shell. I guess it is only fair that I return the favor. That way, can Nimbus truly know despair... very much like I have."

The old dragon started to get closer to Gale, who remained huddled in fear. However, he stopped when he stepped into something. Upon lifting his paw, he noticed a small white sheep doll that Gale had brought with him.

"Hump!" Caleum grunted. "I must say you have bad tastes, child. I will get rid of this thing"

Gale squawked in surprise when he noticed the old dragon picked up his toy. Wooler was his very best friend! They had spent a lot together. Gale knew deep down that he was going to kill him.

Standing up and placing his paws apart for balance, he growled as fiercely as he could in a threatening manner. Caleum noticed him and smirked.

"You won't do it" Caleum said quite confident before starting to walk away once again.

Gale really liked Wooler, and he couldn't just let him die.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to imitate his father when he was shown how he could use the wind element. A strong gust of wind came from his mouth when he exhaled. Several small decorations fell from the tables, the curtains fluttered and hanging lamps swung violently due to the wind he exhaled

Caleum, who was looking away, seemed to lose his footing, but it was more because of the surprise than because of the strong wind. Whatever it had been, he released Wooler, which fell to the floor.

Gale immediately ran after his friend Wooler and started to drag him away towards safety, away from the old dragon.

"You are truly the son of Nimbus and Tornada. You certainly will be powerful when you grow up" Caleum seemed to praise him before looking at the small toy Gale was dragging away with obvious care as to not harm it. "Humph! I had thought that I had destroyed your will to fight; but it seems I was mistaken"

Gale, who was still dragging the toy towards safety, had to face the revenge of an old and angry dragon. Pain erupted from his side as sharp claws sliced his body and was sent flying towards the wall. He hit the wall hard and then he fell towards the floor, where he remained crumpled and bloodied.

"But no matter; I will make that fighting spirit to go away completely" Caleum said as he started to approach him once more to deliver the punishment. "As for those injuries, I got red crystals. Your parent will never see a red spot on you"

As the pain form the cuts and the hit in the wall became more intense, Gale began wailing, in the hopes that either of his parents would help him.

And one of them did. The front door suddenly opened and there was his father.

"Gale! I had the day off and I thought maybe... we... could..." his father trailed off as he spotted the blood on Gale's body.

When Gale heard and saw his father, he wailed even louder. Nimbus looked in shock at his son, not really understanding what he was seeing. His head then darted toward Caelum, then at his son, and back at Caleum

"Caleum?" he asked, not really knowing what happening. "What...?" Nimbus whispered in complete shock as he gazed at the old dragon.

That was when Nimbus noticed the small trickle of blood on the aged dragon claws. Nimbus put two and two together and his pupils turned into slits, understanding that the old dragon had harmed his child and he had done it on purpose.

"Why?" was the single question the Captain of the Guard asked as he gazed at Caleum with fury in his eyes.

Not a word passed for a few moments between the two dragons as they gazed each other. Both of them had unspeakable anger in their eyes.

"You promised" the old dragon said at last with venom in his voice.

Nimbus eyes opened wide in shock as fear coursed through him. And in that instant, he knew what the old dragon was planning.

Caleum jaws opened wide as he attempted to the small and child dragon from the floor, attempting to crunch him with his maw. But Nimbus was faster. He tackled the older dragon and both were sent tumbling onto the ground. Gale cried in fear as both combatants, immensely huge compared to him, roared at each other really loud and trashed around him.

They fought all over the house, destroying all the furniture and damaging walls. They used their elemental attacks, making debris fly everywhere. They bit and slashed ; they rolled and wrestled with each other in an attempt to gain dominance. The house in which they were in trembled after a combatant hit the wall particularly hard, making particles of dust fall from the ceiling. Sometimes, a painful roar would come out from a nasty wound one received.

During all this time, Gale remained huddled in fright in a corner, the safest place he found. He could hear everything that was going outside his protective ball. The crashing of furniture, the yelps of pain, the wall cracking under the pressure.

It felt like an eternity, but eventually, all went quiet. Gale remained I that position even longer, too afraid to even move. Irregular sound of footsteps approached him and Gale managed to curl even tighter... if that was even possible.

"Gale..." his father voice suddenly came from next to him. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" he choked as he suddenly encompassed his son with his body, shielding him from the rest of the world. Large tears fell from his father face as he felt the guilt of almost losing his only son.

The battle had not gone unnoticed, however. People with funny looking attire, very much like the one father wore, came in dashing inside.

"Sir, what has..." he trailed off for a few moments before speaking again. "Sir?"

"I shall face the consequences later. Right now, I need to take my son home" Nimbus said with a tone that told everyone that he cared for nothing except getting home with him at the moment. "I want you to go and get my mate as soon as possible. Tell her to meet us there"

Nimbus stood up, and he held Gale close to his chest with one forepaw. Gale tried to get as close to his father, a source of strength, of warmth and of comfort, as he could. Before Nimbus started moving away, he lay down once again

"Gale... Wooler is here" he told his son in an attempt to cheer him up as he passed his son the small toy.

Gale looked at the sheep doll and immediately grabbed it as a source of comfort. He kept the doll tightly hugged as he kept close to his father.

Once again, Nimbus rose and started hopping away towards home. Gale took a small peek at what was around him before they exited the house. The only things he had managed to see was the old dragon his father had fought, who was lying down on the floor. Red liquid was pouring out from his neck, which had spilled all over the floor. His face was facing toward Gale's direction, and his eyes, unblinking, seemed strangely fixed on him.

With a shudder of fear, Gale went back to the protective embrace of his father before they left the building. Once outside, Gale felt his father take off into the air as they mad they journey back home.

Gale felt no joy from flying this time.

----(End of Flashback)----

Someone lightly pushed him aside thus breaking the trance he was in. Gale shook his head violently as if to take of his head the memories.

He couldn't believe it! He had he actually lived that when he was young? He must have been very young when that had happened. He remembered nothing of it until now.

But then, why hadn't his parent told him anything about it? Surely they should have told him! But they had not. They told him nothing about the incident, keeping quiet about it. Was it because they were ashamed? Because they were afraid? Or because they were trying to protect him from the past? Had his father really killed the old dragon? And why did that dragon wanted to kill him? Why did he hurt him so much?

If what he remembered was true, then it must have been horrible. It HAD been horrible. That would be a good thing to forget. He had developed the instinctive fear because of it. Every time he struggled or fought against the old dragon, he was punished harshly because of it. Even though he had healed after the incident and had grown up with a normal life, he had been mentally wounded by all that cruelty; and it had left him scarred.

Someone accidentally bumped into him, bringing him back to where he was and the situation at hand. The orcs had gotten a lot closer to him while he was staring at the dead body. All the time, they had been killing without any quarter given.

Gale's instinctive fear clenched his heart once again. He began to hyperventilate with fear as he saw the orcs getting closer to where he stood. He instinctively took a step backward, but his hind leg touched something.

He looked down and saw that the small brown dragon child was there. He was hiding behind his foot, shaking with fear. He could not understand what was happening around him; but all the shouts and confusion in the building had scared him. Gale watched the small child hidden underneath him with sympathy. He knew what the small one must be feeling right now, exactly what he was feeling.

The turned back to see that the orcs where a lot more close to him. He instinctively took a few steps backwards, getting away from the orcs as it slowly approached. However, when he moved, he had revealed the small earth dragon that was hiding underneath him.

"KID! Get back here!" Gale told the hatchling.

However, the hatchlings paws remained rooted to the ground as he shook in fear. The youngling's eyes were transfixed and staring in growing horror at the hideous orc spotted him and started to move toward him.

Gale urged the dragon child to move, but his warning fell on deaf ears.

'No...' Gale though desperately.

In an act of desperation, Gale moved forward and stood over the child. As soon as he did that, the orcs eyes fell on him. Gale's muscles froze as those red and unforgiving eyes started deep into his own. He knew he would not receive any mercy when he looked into those deep eyes.

Gale throat was constricted with fear. It did not get air through his lungs. He tried to draw breath desperately, but only small amount passed the choke. He closed his eyes and tried as hardly as he could to breathe.

The orc was nearly upon them! His instinct tried to tell him to go back... to flee... to run and hide. He nearly did, but a small touch to his hind leg made him stop. The small child had curled his tail around his leg in an attempt to comfort himself. If Gale ran, he would sentence the child to his death. They would punish him, they would torture him, and they would do all sort of horrible things to him.

Just like Gale had lived in his childhood. He couldn't let that happen to this small child. He liked this child. He considered him a friend.

Going against every instinct beaten into his body as a child, Gale took the deepest breath he could and roared with all his might.

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Cynder was walking in a desolate part of the city. She had found some red and green crystals along the way to recover her strength and heal her injuries. The red crystals were not the enhanced one that could heal any injury; it only closed the small cuts and made the bruises disappear. The green crystals help her recover some of her energy, but no matter how many green crystals she got, sleep and rest could not be replaced to recover ones energy.

The battle had stretched for too long, and afternoon was taking place. After she left the place where she had met Kane, she continued her search for Spyro. Unfortunately she could not find him in all this chaos.

'Well, I might as well check on Gale' she though. 'The shelter where I left him is near; and who knows, maybe even Spyro might be there'

She had participated in some skirmishes here and there as she passed; but the main battle line was too close to the shelter. It made her unease, especially after what happened last time she was in a shelter of civilians.

'They must have been evacuated by now' she thought. She shook her head. 'Might as well ask someone'

She saw the infirmary that was just a little way back from the main frontlines. Here, those who had been wounded, would be patched up and sent back to fight if the injury was minor. Those more seriously injured would be stabilized and sent further back. As she eyed the doctor who was in charge, she decided to ask her question.

"I don't know" a llama doctor said without looking up from his patient, who had a small cut in his forehead, but was bleeding a lot. "Word was that a few soldiers were sent to do it, but they haven't come back yet"

A sudden sense of fear washed over Cynder as she heard that. She didn't know why, call it instinct, but she felt inside her that things were bad. Maybe it she was paranoid because of what happened in the other shelter, maybe it was imagination or it may be another thing entirely; but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Without saying anything else, she turned around and ran towards the shelter where Gale was located. She passed some soldiers that were going on the opposite direction. They yelled that she was a cowards and that she should be fighting in the main line. Cynder did not listen to them however, she kept running.

She was approaching her objective; only a small cluster of houses and then she will find herself at the shelter. As she ran, she started to hear a slow whistle; kinda like when there is strong winds. She paid it no mind as she continued running.

Just as she reached the corner, the small whistling had transformed itself into a huge roar.

'What the...?' she thought in surprise.

She stopped just before she rounded a corner and just in time to avoid the strongest gust of wind she had ever seen. Dust was suddenly raised as the strong winds passed. Rocks were lifted from the ground and shot like missiles to hit the dwelling that were nearby, leaving obvious dents in the stone façade.

Cynder threw herself to the ground and covered her head when thousands of splinters, both huge and small, passed near her. When she turned to look up again, she was quite surprised to see that a huge door was flying overhead due to the strong wind. The wooden fame was tearing itself apart due to the merciless winds, leaving only the metallic fame that was slowly twisting by the force.

Cynder was even more surprise to see three orcs and several grublins rolling on the ground without any control. The force of the wind was pushing them back and they were most likely dead from all the debris that was flying around.

As if someone had decided to make it end, the strong wind stopped. Silence reigned in the area after the storm had passed. Cynder slowly rose to het feet and walked the remaining was until she bent the corner.

Devastation was absolute! The few trees that were in view had lost their leaves; at least those that remained standing. Windows were blasted open and shutters lay broken. Pottery lay broken in thousand pieces, unrecognizable to what they had been. Rags, household utensils and even a weapon or two lay on nearby rooftops. The only thing that seemed to have saved the houses was the stone they were made of.

It seemed as if a tornado had passed through here!

Concerned, Cynder turned and ran towards the shelter were the civilians were. When she neared the shelter, she noticed that the door was missing and that the door hinges tweaked as they hang precariously by a thread. But not only the door was gone; about half of the wall was missing too on the left side of what had been the entrance! It seemed as if an explosion had occurred, blowing the stone wall outwards.

The first thing she noticed upon entering the civilian hideout was Gale, who was standing there, frozen with shaking legs and taking struggling to take in air to his lungs. His eyes seemed to stare into nothingness, as they shook without control as moist glittered them. He was physically unharmed, but Cynder could see right away that he was in state of shock.

She quickly made her way towards him.

"Gale; are you all right?" she asked with concern as she stood next to him. "What happened?"

Gale did not seemed to have heard her at first, but he slowly turned his head and fixed his eyes on Cynder. For a moment he seemed not to recognize her, but that quickly passed away as Gale thrust his head forwards unto her chest and started crying. Startled for a moment, Cynder slowly extended a wing and covered Gale with it. She patted him with it softly in order to calm him down.

Cynder looked around. She noticed that all the destruction seemed to be in front of the white dragon; almost as if he had been the point of origin of the strong wind.

Sudden realization hit Cynder like a rock. Gale had finally used his powers! He had finally awoken his element!

She turned to congratulate him, but Gale kept crying. She thought better of it and decided to say nothing. Instead, she held him, trying to comfort him from what he must have suffered.

***************************++++++++++1+++++++++++++************************

Those soldiers who had been sent to evacuate the building never arrived because they had been ambushed by some infiltrators. That was why the civilians were never moved. It passed another fifteen minutes after Cynder arrived before another group was sent.

Cynder accompanied Gale towards a new safe house. The whole way Gale remained quiet and distant, looking at his feet the whole way. Cynder tried to cheer him up, but he remained impassive. She managed to get a few bits of food and offered them to Gale. He, however, ignored them completely.

"They were dead" he said in an emotionless voice after a long moment of silence.

Cynder turned to look at him with surprise, but it quickly came to understanding as he looked into his expressionless face. He had seen death around him... possibly for the first time. It wasn't an easy thing to face. She understood him all too well.

"They were killed" Gale said as he looked at the ground in a blank stare.

"Yes. And they would have killed the rest of them had it not been for you" Cynder tied to make him proud of what he had done.

"I... I fought"

"And in doing so, you protected everyone"

"But why..." Gale said in almost a whisper. "Why did they attack like such? Why did they kill in such a cold blooded way?"

Cynder didn't need to ask who they were.

"They are bred for killing, Gale. That is their sole purpose" Cynder explained about the orcs.

"But there were kids in there" Gale choked, remembering what he had seen.

"That does not matter to them. They just kill without mercy"

"It was... horrible" Gale said, though he knew that the word fell short of what he had seen. Gale remained silent for a few seconds before he spoke again. "How can you keep it up? How can you continue fighting... see death over and over again?"

"Gale, you'll find out that there are some things in this world that are worth fighting for" Cynder said wisely.

Gale remained quiet for a few moments as he looked back at the ground. It was only a few second before he raised it again. Cynder followed his eyesight and saw a red dragoness holding lovingly a small earth dragon. She was bloodied and wounded; but that did not seem to matter to her as she held his child. She remembered them from being in the same dwelling gale had been.

She waited for a few moments for Gale to say anything, but he remained quiet. With a sigh, she turned to leave. The battle was still raging outside and they needed her help.

***************************++++++++++1+++++++++++++************************

Spyro was fighting around a small area where the fighting was intense. The soldiers there had requested assistance from dragons as they needed to fall back. Spyro had been diverted to help them retreat safely while other dragons remained on the sky.

Ramirez was having a blast, or so he heard. He seemed to be everywhere at once as he killed airborne enemies. He was dropping enemies here and there with surprising ease. He swatted wyvern and dreadwing alike like mere flies. This allowed Spyro and some of his dragons to assist on the ground, as well as other dragon to fly unopposed. The enemy momentum was slowing down considerably.

Spyro spat a fireball into a mass of enemies as he covered the retreat. The explosion sent them flying in all directions as he finished them. But he was not the only one who was killing enemies. Archers would send a volley of arrows before retreating further back. Humans would also use their powerful and accurate weapons to kill enemies from a distance.

But what truly seemed to make the enemy slow down were the traps that had been made by humans in the hours before the battle. There were dozens of them in the area, and each one of them would claim at least one enemy solder... if not more.

"Spyro, duck!" a human solder yelled.

Spyro immediately obeyed, since he knew what was about to happen. A huge log fell from a small nook in the ravine where he was fighting in a swinging motion. He felt the wood scrape one of his horns as it passed over him as great speeds. The enemies that Spyro was facing were not fast enough to duck and, since there was not room to maneuver much in this place, were bowled over by the swinging ram. It sent a whole bunch of them flying with its forwards momentum before slowly rising in it swing. A few foolish orcs rushed forward, but the log, once having reached its highest peak in it swing, started to reverse its course. Spyro's eyes widened as he once again ducked his head.

That was not the only trap in place. Screams tore through the enemy ranks as suddenly the ground gave way beneath their feet and they feet impaled. The hundreds of holes dug in the ground with a wooden stake at the bottom proved to be very useful. The once though foolish trap seemed to serve extremely well not only did it incapacitated an enemy, but it also made the orc pay attention to the ground as well as the enemies in front of them. Also, the unfortunate ones that fell in them blocked the seemingly tidal wave that was the enemy forces.

The explosive traps did their work too. Explosion rippled through the enemy ranks when an explosive detonated. Bridges were also blow up before the dark army could take control of both sides. This action not only served to deny the enemy a passage from where they could attack, but it also took dozens of dark soldiers with it.

He was not the only dragon fighting in this area. Gaia, the blind dragoness was also there.

Spyro had to marvel at her fighting style. Her movements were sharp, rough and strong. Her attacks were always meant to maim or to kill; she didn't go fooling around. She didn't spent energy on anything else but a parry, dodge, or an attack... except for taunting.

"Take that you pussy!" she yelled at an enemy she had beheaded with her axed blade. "Come on! Where is the next victim? Who has enough courage to face me?"

In answer, one of the enemies officers, charged at her with a spear. She sidestepped just before the tip touched her scales, and released an earth missile at her foe. The attack struck home in the creature's chest, breaking off the armor it wore and making several ribs crack do to the force.

"A turtle can move faster that you!" she laughed. "You are a bunch of pathetic excuses of warriors! You make me laugh! You can't you beat a simple blind earth dragoness!"

That was the thing that set Spyro off. He didn't know how she did it, but she seemed to 'see' what was going everything around her at all times, almost as if her own eyes were working perfectly well. It was kinda disturbing to see a blind dragoness move and fight like that. Not to mention that she was younger than him.

"Thirty six!" Gaia sang the number of her latest kill; but Spyro suspected there were many more in that number.

Aside for her, Spyro had the company of llamas, who were fighting with their swords and shields to prevent the enemy from gaining ground. There were also some of human soldiers who had somehow ended up fighting alongside him.

Spyro jumped to the left as he dodges a spear thrust from one of the Dark army orcs, quickly following a jump back to one arrow that landed where he had been moment before. In retaliation, Spyro opened his maw and shot an ice shard that orc that had tried to put the long stick into him. A gunshot sounded and that signified the death of the archer that had nearly nailed him.

"Thirty seven" Gaia sang her new kill. "Thirty eight!"

Spyro threw Gaia a quick glance as he shook his head before using his ice breath to freeze a couple of enemies that were rushing towards him before blasting them to pieces with an electric arc.

"Spyro" he heard someone call his name.

Looking back, Spyro saw Shockwave was approaching. Spyro had not seen him since the battle started, since he took another position that Spyro and Cynder had. He seemed battered; he was muddy and covered in the grim of battle. He had some small cuts covering here and there, very much like Spyro was; but nothing serious.

"Shockwave! Are you all right?" Spyro asked.

"I am" he replied in a dismissive manner. Then, he took a quick look around him before he asked. "Where is Cynder?"

"We got separated" Spyro answered immediately. "Have you seen her?"

"No!" Shockwave answered as he lashed with his claws to the orc that had tried to kill Spyro. "Though I heard that she managed to stop the entire section of the western flank force all by herself"

"What?" Spyro attention faltered as he heard that, nearly getting blown up by a fire ball thrown by a grublin.

"I don't know the exact details, but it appeared that she managed to halt a flanking force that managed to break through our lines" Shockwave answered as he shot an arc of lighting. "Had they succeeded, the battle would have surely gone sour"

Spyro immediately was concerned for Cynder. Had she been injured? Was she all right? Where was she? After the a few moment of worry, he registered that Shockwave said that she had stopped the attacking force, meaning that she must have very much likely won. His concern for her transform to being mad at her.

'What was he thinking?' he though with some anger as Cynder. 'Going all by herself to face an entire attacking force? She could have died!'

His anger was born out of concern for her. He was mad because Cynder took risk knowing that Spyro fretted every time she was in danger. She knew perfectly well that Spyro took her well-being very seriously.

But it wasn't like Cynder to jump into danger... at least not without good reason.

The angry feeling towards her quickly evaporated and in turn, it became pride. She had acted in a selfless was in order to protect everyone. He could not have been prouder of her.

Spyro could not help but think that he was a very lucky dragon to have her for such a close friend. How he wished he could have her near him right now; feel her presence nearby. He wished he could embrace her; cover her heavenly from, that seemed to have been made to perfection, with his wings. To feel his embrace return in kind, feeling her soft paws along his scales, softly massaging his back. Her soft lips pressed against his own, their tongues dancing inside their mouths in an eternal kiss. Her warm breath making soft caress on his neck. Her intoxicating feminine smell flared in his mind like a fire as he took each breath, making his mind dizzy.

His body started to warm up, feeling her body pressed against his. She then would lower her paws, caressing his muscled chest before going to his abdomen and his hips... and still going lower.

"Spyro, look lively!"

Spyro quickly opened his eyes before ducking the quick slash that was meant to take his head. While he hugged the ground, he shot and earth bullet at the grublin with a nasty rusty sword.

"Stop daydreaming with Cynder and focus on the fight" Shockwave admonished with a chuckle.

Spyro beat himself in his mind for the lack of concentration. He must pay attention to the battle.

Still, he could not help but remember his daydream... and where Cynder's paw had moved next... and how good it had felt.

***************************++++++++++1+++++++++++++************************

"Thank you very much for coming, Ash" Terrador, the Earth Guardian, said. "We will call you if you passed the preliminaries so we can continue with the tests. You may now retire"

The dark red fire dragon gave a bow, his head nearly touching the ground, before rising and leaving. When he left the ample room, which served as the arena and combat training area of the still under reconstruction temple, Terrador gave a sight.

"So... what do you think his performance was?" Terrador asked his companions.

"Average" Cyril grunted.

"I must say that his skill if far from what we expected" Volteer supplied in.

"I concur" Terrador said with a nod. "He is not a good candidate"

The three Guardians remained in silence for a few moments before a small mole peaked his head throw the doorway that the fire dragon had taken.

"Masters" he squeaked. "Shall I send the next one?"

After looking to each other for a few moments, and with some reluctant looks from their eyes, Cyril spoke.

"We will take a small break. Do not send any petitioners for the next five minutes" the ice dragon said.

The rodent, giving a small bow, left the training room to inform of the guardians pause in the trials. He would inform the slowly growing members of the temple staff to take a break.

"How long have we been at this? Three hours?" Cyril said. "We needed a small breather. Besides, we needed to openly discuss what we think of our applicants"

"I must say that we have seen performances that were quite fair, good and satisfactory" Volteer said. "But we have also seen some dragon that have performed poorly, dismissal, badly, ungraceful and hardly what we expected"

"I know, I know" Terrador said. "Yet, we must continue. We are missing a member of our ranks; that is why we are auditing any fire dragon that wishes try and become the Fire Guardian"

"Out of the lot we had seen we have seen, few could come barely come close to match Ignitus power and control of the fire" Cyril said.

"I concur and agree with what Cyril said" Volteer said. "But looking for the next Guardian has always been an arduous, hard, tough and a strenuous enterprise. Remember how much time it took for the previous guardians to find, locate and train a viable candidate for the position Cyril now holds? Master Frigidus took three years in his quest before he found Cyril and took him as his apprentice. And remember how many students Master Tremor had? How much he trained them for years physically, mentally and elementally before electing Terrador as his successor? This is no small enterprise we are embarking upon. It could be years before we find what we are looking for on the applicants"

"You speak the truth, Volteer" Terrador said with a nod of his head. "Master Tremor had us go to the limit of our endurance"

"I remember Master Tremor was harsh... but nothing compared to what I had to face under the tutelage of Master Frigidus. He wanted nothing but perfection" Cyril boasted.

"Master Frigidus went easy on you, Cyril" Volteer stated.

"Hmph! The Guardianship of Ice has been a position of prestige in my blood line" Cyril boasted. "Many dragons from my line have had the honor of holding such a title. I am but the latest in that line"

"He went easy on you because you are family; third uncle if I remember correctly. I had to endure so much when I studied under Mistress Voltrix. She would not relent until I managed to answer all of her question correctly"

"You made is sound more difficult that it was to you" Cyril shot back. "With that tongue of yours, surely all the babbling must have got something right to the mark when she asked a question"

"And how about Master Solar?" Terrador put int. "He would have Ignitus meditate for hours, even days searching for the answer to the dilemma he faced. Remember how he had him sit under the old tree and no matter the weather, be it sun or rain? He would not move until he had the answer"

The other two guardians nodded before falling silent with smile in their faces remembering the picture.

"Ignitus nearly reached Volteer's level of talking when he complained about that particular tree" Cyril chuckled. "And that is quite a feat"

"I remember he hated that tree, whishing nothing more than to turn it to cinders with his fire breath" Terrador chuckled.

"All of us hated something the previous Guardians made us do" Volteer said. "I certainly did not like the long nights when I tried to find a particular piece of information. Ignitus was the tree and Terrador the early wakeup call in the morning to stat the training before the sun rose. Cyril was the menial chores Frigidus had him do regularly" Cyril harrumphed at that, remembering said times.

They each remember how their training had been in order to achieve the position of Guardianship.

"Those were good times" Terrador concluded.

"Tough, but good" Cyril added.

"And fun" Volteer put it with a smile.

The guardians smiled at the fond memories of those times. But they had to face the present.

"Still, it does not help us from finding a good candidate for the position of Fire Guardian" Terrador said.

"We must be patient" Volteer said. "There are many applicants that would be good Fire Guardians. We have seen several who have excelled in their control over the fire element, though not to the level of Ignitus"

"Remember that control of fire is not the only thing that we must be qualifying for. Strength, personal character, leadership skills and wisdom must also be taken into account" Terrador informed.

"Do not worry Terrador. I am sure one will rise amongst the others. Once we finish selecting any potential candidate from within the city limits, we will merge the selected dragon with the others" Volteer went on. "Remember that the other dragon cities are holding auditions as well. They will send their best of the best here to apply. So fear not, we will find a suitable replacement"

"But who shall train them?" Cyril asked. "It has always been the responsibility of the present Fire Guardian to train the candidates in their element. I'm sure we could start training the candidates on other matter, such as mind, body and spirit, but as regarding fire control, I am afraid that is out of our paws. Without Ignitus, there is no one to train them in the arts of fire"

"There are always Incendio and Spyro" Volteer supplied. "Both have trained under our dear Ignitus at one time. They may know some things about the usage of fire since both had learned a lot from Ignitus"

"You are right!" Cyril exclaimed. "Incendio trained for three years under Ignitus watch. He may know many of the secrets of fire. As does Spyro"

"Spyro is young and still have a lot to learn to become a true master" Terrador informed. "His training has been moving satisfactory and he has learned much during his time. Still, he still has some way to go before he becomes a true master the elements we are teaching him. But his fire control has lagged behind because Ignitus has not been here to train him. And I doubt that he would not take just any fire dragon as a teacher. He loved Ignitus too much for that"

"So that only leaves Incendio" Cyril concluded

"It is a shame that Incendio does not wish to be the Fire Guardian himself" Terrador sighed.

"I still wonder at his rejection and denial in becoming a Fire Guardian. He would have been a superb, incredible and most able Guardian" Volteer said.

"Perhaps" Terrador said. "We have already seen how he can control the element of fire. However important control over ones element, it is not the only thing that it is required of the Guardians"

"But remember that Ignitus trained him" Volteer said. "He would not have done so had he not believed that his nephew would have made a fine Guardian. Why... he has already proven himself that his is competent in leadership and social skills"

"Or maybe he just trained him because he was his nephew" Terrador said. "With such hard times we were living when he took him, it was bound to be sensible to train him to he could defend himself"

"That is a very possible theory, Terrador" Cyril said. "But whatever the case or whatever the reason is, Incendio refuses to hold the mantle. Such a shame, really"

"We can only hope" Terrador murmured. "But we still have to go ahead and choose candidates. We can start training the candidates with what we can do. We will leave the fire control at a later time"

The dragons remained silent for a few moments before the door opened. The small mole they had told they would take a break peaked his head in.

"Sirs'..." he squeaked. "It has been five minutes and the rest of the applicants are ready to perform. Shall I let them enter?"

"I guess we should continue, then?" Cyril asked his fellow Guardians.

***************************++++++++++1+++++++++++++************************

"Tango down!" Ramirez exclaimed happily as he shot yet another wyvern out of the air with his shotgun.

The small satchel that held all the rounds had gotten quite light, meaning he had only a few shot left. Not that it matter, since he had used them quite efficiently. He had been a pivotal figure in the air battle as he decimated the enemy air forces. Soon, the air forces on their side had superiority and began using it in earnest. Dragons flew from skirmish to skirmish unopposed and quickly, which could not have been done so earlier while there had been so many flying creatures. The dragons support where they could and caused many casualties as they flew strafing runs while shooting their elements.

Ramirez was impressed with the power these dragons had. They could wield many abilities and were quite devastating. He briefly wondered if their breaths could take down an armored vehicle. As air superiority became know, the enemy ground offensive would come to a screeching halt in a while.

And in a short time, the tide of the battle had turned for the better

"Looks like the skies are clear; huh Batty?" Ramirez asked his mount. The dreadwing only hissed angrily in response. "Glad you agree with me!"

Ramirez kept on the lookout since the air had been taken. He would dash towards any dreadwing or Wyvern that appeared and quickly dispatch it, but no more enemy forces would dare to take flight.

"We scared them good!. We have sent them away with their tail between their legs" Ramirez told his mount as the skies remained free from a while from enemies. "Lieutenant, we have cleared the skies"

"Good" Parker said through the radio. "Now, since the air opposition has been dealt with, now you must keep aloft and report back anything of importance. Over"

"Is me going hungry important?"

"No"

"Damn!" Ramirez though. "And I though an army marched on its stomach"

"You are not marching, you are flying... riding, whatever you want to call it; so quit your whining and focus" Parker snapped. "Remain on the lookout. Over and out"

Ramirez sighed. He had been transferred from the most fun of assignment to the most boring in the blink of an eye. But there was nothing to it except do as he was told. But at least he could have some fun while he did so.

He scanned the area, looking where the fighting was going. He saw the area around the water mills seemed to be seeing some heavy fighting.

Ramirez picked one of the dozens of bottles he had brought with him, which contents had come from all the distilled alcohol he had managed to procure and made before the attack. Taking out his lighter, he ignited the rag on top of the Molotov cocktail.

With a command, Ramirez ordered the dreadwing to dive into a nearby skirmish, where the llamas were defending the area. Just as he was flying over the enemy, he let the bottle go.

"Uh-oh! Watch down below!" he exclaimed in a mock warring as he purposely let the bottle slip from his hand. "SORRY! It slipped right out of my hand!"

The dreadwing slipped past and was far away when the flammable liquid ignited in a fire ball, taking some enemy soldier.

"Lieutenant; there is some heavy fighting near the water mills. Suggest sending backup. Over" Ramirez said through his radio.

"Acknowledged"

He flew for a while, looking for juicy opportunities on where to drop his homemade bombs.

"Fuera bombas!" he yelled as he dropped one cocktail over a thick section amongst the enemy ranks.

The Molotov cocktails didn't last long, but it sure helped. Ramirez kept his look out, occasionally swooping down and doing some damage. He wasn't disobeying order... exactly. His orders were to keep on the lookout, which he did. The damage he inflicted on the enemy was... going beyond the call of duty, per se.

Eventually, he ran out of grenades in his fun. He tried finding more as he asked everyone he knew; but he soon found out that supplies and ammo were dangerously low. Instead, he resorted to his shotgun, which with the few shells he had remaining, soon ran out. He picked out one of his pistols with his right hand while he held the reigns with the other and continued his fun. He could be the Lone Ranger!

He swooped down where the fight was particularly thick. The dreadwing landed atop a grublin, whose body was smashed to pulp at the weight of the beast.

"Attack! BITE!" Ramirez told his beast, who promptly obeyed by biting an orc in half with his serrated teeth.

As for Ramirez, he took aim with his pistol and pulled the trigger. He shot in the back an orc that was wrestling with a llama. The orc slowly slid down as the energy left him and the llama quickly took the opportunity to finish him off with his sword. He thrust hard and deep, driving the sword all the way through the orcs torso. Once the enemy was dead, the llama looked up and gave a wave in recognition to Ramirez services.

An arrow whizzed past him, missing him by mere milimiters. He quickly scanned the area and found an orc archer on a nearby roof, readying another arrow. Ramirez quickly aimed and fired three shots, each round hitting the enemy in the chest.

The new presence in the felid did not go unnoticed. The grublins ran towards him with maces and small daggers. Before they could reach him, Ramirez put a bullet in the head of each.

After a couple more shots, Ramirez noticed a familiar draconic face amidst the battle. The black dragoness, Cynder, was battling several enemies at once. The dragoness quickly dispatched them with a powerful fear attack. The screech she produced made Ramirez felt a small chill crawl down his spine. He definetaly did not want to be caught in her shriek.

As for the enemies, they received the full blunt of it, they went completely paralyzed. Cynder took this opportunity to dispatch hem with a quick series of slashed and cuts with her claws and tail blade.

Unfortunately for her, he failed to notice an ugly looking dog was running toward him from the side. The dog was as hideous as it was huge! It size was the size of a small pony and fangs as huge as a knife. It would tear the dragon apart.

Ramirez leveled his weapons, took aim, and let his last bullet in the weapon fly. With impeccably accuracy, the bullet stuck home; just in the eye of the monster dog. The dog just gave a yelp in pain before collapsing on its legs. Cynder, alerted by the yelped, jumped in surprise, only to see the dead creature sliding on the ground, stopping just in front of her paws. She looked from the corpse and started at Ramirez. Ramirez gave a quick nod before urging the dreadwing to take flight once more.

Once in the air, Ramirez ejected the spent magazine and slid another fresh one, ready to dive once again.

He did another two such dive, shot and fly away. He even urged his dreadwing to attack any enemy that was close.

"Good job my dear!" Ramirez petted the dreadwings neck, who this time, rumbled in pleasure as he licked his bloody fangs. "Seems that I finally like you". As if noticing the nice words thrown at the bat, the dreadwing hissed and angrily in response. "Whatever" Ramirez shrugged.

Ramirez turned to his job of watching the fight from above, watching for anything that could be useful. He noticed during his time in the air that the enemy offensive was slowing down. Now, it seemed that it had just come to a complete halt.

Ramirez smiled and nodded, giving himself a small congratulation. Still, he had a job to do.

Soon, his gaze fell on a column of smoke rising from a far and lone plateau of earth.

'Odd; I don't remember knowing that area seeing fighting. It fact, it is quite far from the main battle line' Ramirez though. 'Worth checking it out!'

Ramirez yanked the reins of the dreadwing and headed towards where the column of smoke was rising from.

Once he approached the lone and out of the way plateau he noticed a small clearing with an altar stood before the only building in this section. Pillars rose from the ground around the clearing, each with a torch that was lit with fire.

'Looks like a temple of some sort' Ramirez though as he watched what he could from the altitude.

He noticed several figures moving down below, but he could not notice because he was high in the air. He should better report this.

"Lieutenant, this Ramirez, come in, over" he said through his radio.

"Go ahead" Parker answered back.

"I am surveying some kind of religious building which is out of the way of the main fight. There is a lot of movement down there, and I have the feeling that it isn't of our own guys down there.

There was a moment of since from his radio before Parker answered.

"Copy that. I will ask if the llamas are doing any activity over there. In the meantime, keep a lookout on them"

"Roger that" Ramirez said as he terminated the connection and continued his look out.

A sudden boom, followed closely by another bout of smoke came from the inside of the building just as Ramirez had done his pass.

'An explosion? I wonder what is going on there.' Ramirez asked in his mind. 'Well, Parker said to keep a lookout; just not how CLOSE of a look'

Ramirez turned his mount around and, as he approached the religious building, he began to slowly descend. Once he was over the small clearing, he had a clear view of what was below.

"Well lookie here" Ramirez mused. "Looks like we got unwanted bugs in our backyard"

There were a few dozens of enemy soldiers on the ground, and they seemed to be very busy if their movement were anything to go by. By the looks of it, they were hauling dirt and debris out of the main building.

'They are digging? They must be looking for something' Ramirez though.

Before he could get his hand on his radio to report to Parker, he noticed some quick movement on the left corner of his eye. He turned sharply to see what it was. There was a trio of those damn ugly bugs of a grublins flying towards him. They were just next to him as they got the jump on him.

Out of instinct, Ramirez put his left arm as if to protect himself, and that was the only thing that managed to save him. Sharp teeth sank into the flesh of his left arm as the creature latched into it. Pain shot like an electrical current from his appendix, making Ramirez cry out.

Ramirez saw the evil read eyes just next to him and felt a small chill crawl down his spine. The snarl of the creature and the sharp teeth that promised to rip apart his flesh did not help either.

But being in military and living a rough life in his early years, made the training imbedded into him kick in. His right hand shot toward one of his knifes in his belt and, after drawing it with a fast movement, he struck.

The knife plunged into the creatures eyes. The grublin went slack at the instant, and released his arm. With the odd position he was in, Ramirez lost his grip in his knife as the grublin fell, taking the weapon with it.

But that was not his only concern; the other two grublins were still coming at him. With another quick movement, he released the pistol from its holster at the same time he evaded the lunge made by the enemy. Without wasting a moment, he fired two shots into the abdomen into the creature that had just attacked him, quickly followed by a headshot into the third grublin that was following behind.

"Damn!" Ramirez growled under his breath, touching his wounded arm carefully.

The wound that were produced by the hard bite were deep and were bleeding profoundly. He would need to make some sort of makeshift bandage to make pressure on the wound. But before he could do anything else, a sudden lurch from the dreadwing he was riding broke his concentration.

"What the...?" Ramirez exclaimed.

He saw in his peripheral vision, how a fire ball shot past upwards before detonating in an explosion.

"WHAT?" Ramirez yelled as he looked down below.

The enemy forces down were attacking him! About a dozen orcs and apes had their bows and crossbows drawn and ready to set loose. As once, all of them released the black arrows with twangs from their weapons. The black shafts flew through the air, whistling at great speeds.

"Left! LEFT!" Ramirez yelled at his mount, but it was too late.

About five arrows struck into the underbelly of the huge bat, causing the beast to give a hiss in pain.

"Warning! Warning! Heavy anti-aircraft fire in the area. Suffering several impacts!" he said to himself. "Were out of here!" Ramirez ordered his mount, yanking the reigns with his right hand.

But he did not get far. One ape, the leader if his heavy armor set and the command aura he had, did something unexpected. He joined his hands and when he separated them, two fire balls were in each.

"Not good!" Ramirez said as he looked.

The ape commander reared back in preparation and then threw the fireball in his right hand. The fireball rose steadily towards them.

"Come on beauty, move away!" Ramirez urged the dreadwing.

Due to his injuries with the arrows launched earlier, the huge bat slowly complied. The fire ball rose and passed millimeters away from them that Ramirez even felt the heat from the fire in his face as it passed. The fire didn't continue to rise much further. Instead, it exploded with a thunderous boom.

"That was close" Ramirez mused as he watched the big explosion haven above him. He then turned to look back at the ground as saw the second fire ball rapidly approaching.

"NOT GOOD!" Ramirez yelled in desperation as he attempted to evade.

However, he was not fast enough. Ramirez watched in slow motion how the red and orange fire ball slowly rose through the sky, leaving a trial of smoke and sparks in its wake. He lost vision of it as it was blocked by the bulky mount he was riding.

And then, and explosion.

The howl of real pain escaped the dreadwing as the fire ball exploded in its chest. Ramirez smelled the burn skin and flesh in a matter of moments and he knew, without even looking at the wound, that the injury was very grave.

"Mayday! Mayday!!! I'm going down! I repeat, I'm going down!!!" Ramirez started to mimic the aeronautical expression for help.

The dreadwing, injured, tried to keep flying, but his strength seemed to have been zapped away. His fall was more or less a controlled decent as it tried to glide in its injured state. In their glide, Ramirez was heading towards the temple, which was built underneath a high outcropping of the mountain. They headed straight towards the rocky wall at high speed, unable to turn or slow down.

"Uh-oh!" Ramirez muttered just before smashing.

Both mount and rider smashed headfirst into the structure. Ramirez heard the sickening crunch of the dreadwing's skull shattered to pieces as it collided with its head. As for Ramirez, the saddle kept in place and avoided him being shot forward due to his momentum.

After the hard impact, the dreadwing started to slide down the slope of the mountainside. Until it finally came to a stop when it reached the ground.

The hard impact and jolting around had left Ramirez quite disorientated and a little bit dizzy. Groggily and moaning, Ramirez unbuckled his safety harness and tried to step down, but he only fell to the side.

"Ohh...." he moaned as he saw stars dancing in his field of vision.

With a little more complaining, he tried to stand up. His head spun for a few seconds before everything stop moving. Once he was on his feet again, he took a quick look around where he had crash landed. He was in the temple plateau due to the fact that he was next to the temple. Apart from that, he noted that there were several moving creatures coming in his direction.

"Not good" Ramirez murmured as he watched the enemy soldier approach.

***************************++++++++++1+++++++++++++************************

Spyro nodded in satisfaction as he watched the orcs' latest offensive move crumble. He had finally seen the enemy advance completely stop on several different sections of the battle around the city. Through determination and an iron will, the defenders had finally managed to halt the enemy advance that had been pushing them back since morning.

There were some discussions for a pushback; but the battle had progressed into the late afternoon and the allied army was more than tired with the continuous fighting. Going to attack in a half asleep mode would only get them killed. But also, they could not let the enemy regroup and try another tactic that might catch them off guard.

The commanders were having fast discussions of the pros and cons of each option, but so far, they had come up with nothing. In the meantime, they held their positions and the soldiers rested when they could.

One advantage was the allied army had during the duration of the battle was also now lost. The humans had exhausted most of their ammunition and their effective killing machines were now useless. Some of them had retreated for a rest while other had grabbed a bow and arrows and started shooting. Spyro watched with disappointment how clumsily they wielded the simple weapons, but they steadily improved with the usage and necessity of battle; but they were still far off from the others allied bowmen.

Spyro was resting during one of the lapse between fighting. He had his head between his paws and was trying to regain some strength. Or so he though.

He was near one human when the radio he had sparkled to life. Spyro had lost his at one time or another. It must have fallen off during the heat of battle.

"Lieutenaaaaaant! We got a teeny-weenie problem over here" Spyro recognized Ramirez as the owner of the voice.

"What's the problem?" the answer came back after a few moments.

"Well, you see, I was doing my rounds... as you ordered... when I suddenly..."

"Get to the point" Parker ordered, seemingly not wanting to waste time.

"You see... I was doing my round when... DIE!!!!" Ramirez yelled before the three gunshots sounded.

At the sound of gunfire. Spyro perked from his laying position, suddenly interested. Shockwave, who was next to him, also looked up in interest.

"That doesn't sound good" the electric dragon commented.

"You got shot down, didn't you" Parker stated more than asked.

"More or less" Ramirez said before another two shot sounded. "Anyway, I landed in a plateau that seems to have some sort of religious temple or the like. And there are quite a few uglies in here and... GET BACK!!!" another four gunshots sounded.

Spyro stood up. He knew where that place was. It was the shrine, where the Atlawas worshiped their god before Spyro came. It was also where Cyril had been kept prisoner when Cynder was still under the Dark influence, where he had fought against the Stone Sentinel.

"Another thing, Lieutenant" Ramirez said before they terminated the connection. "They seem to be looking for something"

"Do you have any idea what it is?" Parker asked.

"Oh... I would love to know; but I'm a little busy right now!" Ramirez said sarcastically before another shot sounded through the radio.

"All right. Sit tight and I'll send some help"

"Don't worry. Take your time. No hurries here"

Spyro heard enough. He knew that whatever the Dark Army was looking for, they had to be stopped. Without hearing the order from Parker, he leaped from his position and with a single flap of his wing, was over the small building in the area.

"HEY! Wait up!" Shockwave said yelled a little startled by Spyros' sudden departure, but he soon followed.

Once Spyro was high enough, he turned towards where the shrine was located. Smoke was coming from the plateau in a small tendril and it was like a beacon to where he needed to go.

'It is far away from the front line' Spyro noticed. 'Whatever they are looking for, it is something not good and they have to be stopped!'

He flew as fast as he could, not wanting to give the enemy more time than necessary.

"So, what's the plan?" Shockwave asked as he positioned himself next to Spyro.

"I guess we just go in" Spyro answered.

"That is the plan? That sucks!" Shockwave snorted in distaste. "What if it is a trap? Surely they would have prepared for such eventuality"

"Do you have any ideas?" Spyro said challenged.

"I say we circle a couples of times above the area and see what the enemy is doing" Shockwave answered smartly. "Then, we can decide on the best course of action". With that, he pushed forward and went in front of Spyro, taking the lead.

It took a minute for them to arrive at their destination before they started circling above it. The temple shrine had changed much since Spyro had last seen it. The small and worshiping place the Atlawas had been transformed into a nice expanse where a big crowd would gather. Intricate carved stone pillars rose from the ground, like beacons if seen from far away. As for the shrine itself, it has been enlarged deeper into the mountain from which it had been built. But he could not waste time seen the décor; they had something to attend to.

They saw some dark figures moving down below; most of them were moving slow and seemed to be working on something. The rest were scurrying around in preparing, without a doubt since they had been noticed, for their arrival. Spyro managed to see a few immobile bodies down below and he guessed they were casualties from the fighting they had with Ramirez.

As for the human... there was no sign of him.

'I hope he is not one of the dead ones' Spyro though grimly as he watched the corpse below. He was too high to notice any distinguishable feature.

Both dragons circled slowly overhead as they watched and tried to come up with any semblance of a plan.

"See the western side? It seemed to be lightly guarded. We can land there safely and make our way forward" Shockwave pointed out. "If things get too ugly, we can bolt away and land somewhere else"

Spyro nodded, accepting the small plan that they had come up with. It wasn't much of a plan, but it was better than rushing in.

However, they had to throw that plan out the window.

"What is that?" Shockwave asked suddenly surprised.

Spyro looked down below and saw a small red dot slowly getting larger. The red object was lowly getting closer... and Spyro didn't like it. Suddenly, he recognized it.

"Fly away!" he cried in alarm as he back winged to stop himself.

But Shockwave was not so lucky. The fire ball that was launched from below passed mere centimeters from Shockwave but the explosion that came afterward caught him completely. In an effort to protect himself, Shockwave moved his wings between him the blast, covering the rest of his body from the heat of the flames.

Spyro banked away in time, but the explosion was intense enough for him to feel the heat wave crash into him. He lost sight of the yellow dragon by the black and thick smoke from the nearby explosion. It soon reappeared falling out of the sky.

"Shockwave!" Spyro yelled as he dove after his friend.

Shockwave snapped his wing open, and Spyro managed to clearly see pain in his face as the burned wings bear his weight. But it at least managed to stop the free fall into a glide.

"Shockwave, are you all right?" Spyro asked concerned as he aligned himself next to the electric dragon.

"It hurts!" Shockwave hissed between his teeth.

Spyro took a quick looks at his wings. They were burned badly. The intense heat from the attack had burned his wings, leaving the once blue and shiny colored wings blackened. It was taking a lot of effort from Shockwave to only keep them open and supporting his body.

Movement below caught his attention. The enemy soldiers down below were waiting patiently as both dragons slowly descended.

"Can you fly away?" Spyro asked.

"I'll try" Shockwave said before trying to flap his wings. He only managed for him to drop lower as the damaged limbs could not support him. "No! I can't" he grunted.

Spyro looked around rapidly in hopes for searching somewhere to land. Unfortunately, all the other plateaus were too far for them to reach just gliding. The only landing spot was the one they were flying overhead... the one that was crawling with enemies.

They had no choice.

Both dragons managed to turn and slowly descend towards one of the deserted area of the plateau. Spyro turned before the trees blocked his vision, and managed to see quite a few enemy soldiers rushing towards their landing spot. Quickly snapping back towards his landing, he flared his wings open and back winged. He landed with a hard thump as his four paws impacted in the land. His landing was graceful compared to Shockwave's. He tried to land in the usual way, but his wings were damaged and he could not stop his momentum. He tried to hit the ground running, but he tripped and ate the dirt beneath him.

Immediately, Spyro went to him.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"I... no" Shockwave sighed as he stood up. The rest of his body had managed to escape any punishment, but at the expense of his wings. He tried to fold his wings, but it seemed to be in so much pain. "I can barely move my wings!"

"There should be some healing gems around here if I recall correctly" Spyro offered.

"That would help, but this will require more treatment than just some red crystals... unless it is one of the enhanced healing crystals" Shockwave pointed out. "But it's better than nothing"

Sudden shrieks, howls and cries came from the thick vegetation that surrounded them. The enemy was drawing closer.

"That will have to wait I'm afraid" Spyro murmured, stepping in front of Shockwave in an attempt to protect his injured friend as he saw the first enemy appear.

Several orcs and grublins dashed forwards with their weapons drawn and held high. Their eyes burned with lust for the blood, and their intent was clear that they meant to rip apart the two dragons that had fallen in their midst.

Immediately, Spyro shot an earth bullet towards his foes. The earth projectile smashed on one small grublin, killing him instantly. He then shot a Polar Bomb toward the mass of enemies. The small blue and white ball of energy hit the ground near some enemies. The elemental attack exploded and covered everything that was near with a thin layer of ice. It was not enough to kill them, but it would slow them down some.

But after those two attacks, the enemy was too close.

He jumped backward, avoiding a spear that was thrust by an orc. He then had to roll sideways to evade a vertical slash from a small grublin. Taking the opportunity the last attack gave, Spyro tried to bite the small grublin in the neck; but the spear carrying orc tried to jab the tip of his weapons in the dragon's mouth.

Spyro snarled at his enemies, but he had to duck as another enemy, an orc this time, made horizontal slash. Once again seeing an opportunity, Spyro tried to jump on his foe and slash at him with his claws. His attempts were once again frustrated when another spear carrier prevented from Spyro making his move.

Spyro snarled in frustration. The long weapons wilders protected the ones with shorter ones when Spyro tried to go in for the kill.

'I guess I will have to kill the spear wielding orcs first then' Spyro decided.

Spotting a small cluster of orc spearmen, he decided on his plan.

He used once again his Earth element to encase himself with rock and earth. The strong rock that surrounded him made him immune almost all attacks. Using his earth elemental magic, he made the Earth Boulder he had created to start spinning. When he was ready, he unleashed his attack, which sent the huge Earth Boulder he was in towards his enemies. Enemies jumped out of the way to avoid him as he passed in his way towards the group of orc spear soldiers; and those that didn't were sent flying with their bodies broken. Nothing seemed to stop it, not even the foolish attempt of the spearmen to use their long weapons to penetrate the thick rock that surrounded him. The orc spearmen formation was smashed apart by the wrecking ball that was Spyro.

But Spyro could not sustain it forever. Just as he had accomplished his objective, he let go of the power and the rock that surrounded him fell off from him. Not wanting to be surrounded by enemies, Spyro immediately jumped and flapped his wings, bringing him to the air to escape from the enemies that surrounded him.

Unfortunately, he was not able to escape from arrows.

Back shafts whistled past him, missing him by a scale as they flew. Spyro quickly looked around and spotted three archers that were reloading their weapons. Using his altitude he had, he spat three fireballs towards the archer he had identified. The balls of fire traveled towards the enemy and detonated when it hit the ground... just beneath their feet. The powerful explosions sent the three archers flying with its blast, as well as kill them.

Spyro immediately dropped to the ground as more arrows whistled by him from another direction. There were bound to be more archers somewhere. Not wanting to risk it, Spyro dropped to the ground again. He fell upon a small grublin, breaking the small creatures back before jumping off to start engaging another enemy.

He heard some fighting behind him. He took a quick look and saw Shockwave engaging two enemies at once. Even in his injured state, he was fighting. But Spyro had managed to get most of the attention away from the injured dragon.

Spyro batted away a club with his paws before delivering a slash to the grublin, who fell backward, trying to contain the blood from pouring out. But he could not watch the dying creature; movement on his side vision warned him of an approaching enemy. He instinctively lashed out with his tail, sending the enemy away.

He fought of several more enemy attacks in quick succession before he found himself surrounded by the enemies from all sides. Each one of them held their own distance, eagerly watching the purple dragon for the moment to attack. Spyro watched warily all of the enemies he could in see, trying to find out which one of them would be the first to strike.

Thankfully, help arrived.

Several enemies were thrown off their feet and sent flying. In its place, a very familiar dragoness stood.

"CYNDER!" Spyro exclaimed happily as he saw the black dragoness.

"Get out of there!" she told him urgently.

The gap Cynder had made in the circle of enemies gave the opportunity for Spyro to avoid being surrounded. He quickly dashed towards the escape exit, batting away with his horns one or two grublins fliers that got to close.

Spyro skidded to a halt next to Cynder, turning to face the enemies that approached them once again.

"Thanks!" Spyro said. "It would have been a tough fight"

"Fight now, talk later!" Cynder retorted as she jumped towards the approaching enemies.

Spyro, with a small grin, followed her example.

***************************++++++++++1+++++++++++++************************

She had finally found him! After hours of wandering following half leads, she had finally found him!

She had overhead that apparently there were some enemies on some sort of temple. She recalled from her dark times where temple was located. And if Spyro knew about this incursion, he would be there... she hoped.

But he had! And now they were together again. Even though the fighting was intense at the moment, she was very happy.

They had managed to move from the vulnerable position towards one more defensible position. They had moved towards the walls of one of the sided of the temple. With the wall at their backs, they didn't have to worry about someone sneaking from behind.

Both she and Spyro defended the area, Spyro had the right flank and whilst she had the left. Shockwave was behind them. Injured in his state, he could not help much, but he spat the occasional lighting arc that shocked enemies if they got to close to either Cynder or Spyro.

The group continued on fighting for a long while. Shockwave was wounded, and they would not abandon him. Both she and Spyro had ample experience while fighting against superior numbers, and they put that experience to good use as they killed enemies left and right.

Cynder spat three of her Phantom Fright. The reddish orbs rotated around one enemy, parlaying him before detonating with a tremendous concussive force. She watched how Spyro used her Ice Tail attack to cleanly slice through an enemy grublin.

Suddenly, as if a command was given, all enemies stopped attacking at once. Cynder looked at Spyro, who looked at her back. He shrugged in ignorance of what was happening. The small crowd of enemies that surrounded both of them started to retreat.

"Do you think they gave up?" Spyro asked rhetorically.

"Doubt it" Cynder replied. "The Dark Army soldiers are mindless in their task. They will obey order to whatever end"

"Whatever the reason, they stopped" Shockwave grunted. "We should use the time to leave before whatever they are planning happens"

Cynder looked at Shockwave, concern etching her features. His wings were badly burnt and he was in no shape to fight. They had to get him out of here before whatever the enemy was planning came at them.

"Come on" she told Spyro as she stepped towards Shockwave. "We have to get him out of here"

Spyro and Cynder moved next to the injured dragon. Shockwave, using them for support, managed to stand up. The electric dragon took clumsy step in his injured state as they headed toward the only bridge that connected this plateau with the next.

"Come on... easy now" Cynder said calmly as she supported Shockwave.

"Hmph!" Shockwave only grunted.

"We are nearly there!" Spyro encouraged.

Cynder took a quick look around her. The area was full of equipment, no doubt from the Dark Army. It was strange, though, that they seemed to have suddenly disappeared. They had left suddenly, leaving all the equipment behind. And that made her worried.

They were passing near what appeared to be the main expanse that stood before the entrance to the shrine, making the building to be grander. It was here, she remembered, where she had kept the Ice guardian, Cyril, captive during her dark days.

She shook her head to make those memories go away. She did not remember everything from her dark times, but there were some part that she did... parts she wanted to forget.

They soon arrived at the long wooden hanging bridge that spanned a great distance towards the city of the Atlawas. Before they started to cross it, however, a loud screech was heard from behind them.

'Oh no!' Cynder said in a shocked voice inside her head.

Standing behind them were five of the special grublins. Cynder had fought one a few days ago and it had taken a lot of her skill, the use of new powers and a little bit of luck to survive. Now, there were five against the three of them. Two... since Shockwave was in no condition to fight.

"Shockwave; get across the bridge towards safety" Cynder said in a serious voice. "We will remain here and allow you to get across"

"But..." Shockwave started to say, only to be interrupted.

"Do not argue. These are elite warriors and you are in no condition to fight" Cynder said in a voice that meant business.

"Are these the ones you fought against a while back?" Spyro asked as he gave Cynder a quick glance.

"Yes. Do not underestimate them" Cynder warned before turning to look at Shockwave. "You better get moving"

Shockwave seemed to hesitate at first, turning to look at both of them. Then, with a sigh, he complied.

"I'll be waiting for you" he said in a grave voice before limping his way across the bridge.

After looking at him slowly get away, Cynder turned her focus towards the five enemies that were in front of them. She and Spyro held their positions, taking deep breaths, ready to face them when they come.

The cold wind blew in the high areas of Tall Plains, whistling and dragging fallen leaves from the nearby trees. Both parties looked at each other across the small expanse of space that separated them. No one moved a muscle, not even twitched or blinked. The dark and red eyes from the grublins started directly at those amethyst and emeralds of Spyro and Cynder.

All was quiet....

Any moment....

A dull boom sounded from inside the temple... and all broke loose.

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Author's notes:

It seems that Gale had some dark past the he seemed to have forgotten (but remembered) in his early childhood. So this is the reason why he cannot fight. And yet, the only thing that allowed him to do so was also the most important. He seems to brave up enough to fight when someone is threatened. Think back when Cynder was going to suffer an attach from one of the White Dragons Gang in Aerie? He acted in instinct. Same as when he defended Wooler and the small child.

But why? Why did that evil dragon wanted to kill him? More of it will revealed in a chapter that has not yet been written (detail mostly), though the majority of it has just been said.

The scene with the guardians was a break from the battle (very much like the next one). We see what they are trying to find candidates for the position of Fire Guardian. We also know a little bit about their training they did before they became Guardian themselves. Filler mostly.

Ramirez.... Being himself... as always. Fortunately he is putting himself to good use.... Or is he?

As for that last final confrontation... I'm afraid that is for the next chapter.