Legend of Spyro AoH BkII Ch.5

Snarl stared around the burning village. The attack had been swifter than he had expected. Several yards away he spotted a survivor lying on the ground, struggling to drag his wounded body towards the edge of the village. The wolf stalked up to the wounded warrior and bared his fangs. With a vicious thrust, he plunged his crude blade into the warrior's back. There was a loud grunt before the warrior fell dead at last.
"I suppose that makes seventy-four." Another wolf walked up to him. The barbarians stared down at the body. "Not bad for a surprise attack."
Snarl snorted. "There will be more blood for us to come. From what I understand, our Alpha has been  planning several plans of attack on our enemies."
"Sounds like it should be fun." The other wolf smiled, showing his fangs in the moonlight. "I hope it's soon. These pathetic fools were barely enough to wet the appetite."
"I'm glad you feel that way." A voice responded. Both canine's jumped in surprise and whirled around.
"Who goes there!" Snarl held his blade out towards the darkness of the enchanted forest. Both wolves were surprised to see a young dragon step out of the shadows.
"Well, what have we here?" Snarl's pack-mate snickered. "A little hatchling of a dragon in the middle of nowhere all by himself."
"I'm far from nowhere." The young black dragon sneered. "And I would watch it if I were you, you mangy mongrel."
"Why you little insolent bastard..." The wolves both bared their fangs.
"Look I'm not here to pick a fight with you. I have to talk to your leader."
The wolves laughed. "Talk to our leader? I don't think any dragon is stupid enough to request such a foolish thing." The second wolf mocked.  The black dragon frowned. "You only get to see our leader if you can get through me first."
The dragon smiled. "Okay." In a blur of motion, the dragon spun around. The wolf jolted and its eyes widened.
"But, how..." He gasped. He let out a howl as blood burst from his mouth and his midsection . The two halves of the wolf fell to the ground and the light died from the beast's eyes.
Snarl was dumbfounded. He stood in a state of shock as the blood from his pack-mate seeped into the ground. A deep hatred swelled up within him and he turned towards the dragon. By now more wolves were appearing on the scene. They looked from their dead companion to the young dragon standing over him and they bared their fangs furiously.
The dragon scowled at them as several started towards him. "Don't make the same mistake your friend did. I can just as easily do away with you lot." The wolves were about to ignore his words when they froze in their tracks. The darkness of the forest seemed to creep out and surround the dragon. The wolves yellow eyes grew wide with fear as the shadows manifested into a ferocious towering dragon. "Now I'll say it again. Take me to your leader, or suffer a much more horrible fate than your friend."
The wolves all looked at each other, unsure of what to do. The dark dragon scowled. "Do it!" Snarl turned his head towards his pack. "Inform the Alpha that there is a visitor for him."
"I'm glad to see someone in this pack has a brain in their head." The young dragon stepped from the darkness and the manifested dragon faded away. "But that won't be necessary. He is already expecting me. I just need you to take me to him."
Snarl glared at the dragon in disgust. The smug confidence the dragon exhibited was very irritating to him. The wolf curled his lip slightly and motioned for the dragon to follow him.


Spyro stared into the pool of visions. He had been sitting in the chamber for a couple of hours now, unable to see anything. This frustrated him. He was usually able to see things fairly quickly when he concentrated, but lately his mind had been plagued with unstable thoughts and emotions.
"Damn it!" Spyro cursed. "Why isn't this working!" He splashed the water, disturbing the surface and getting himself wet in the process. The cold water against his face brought him back to his senses.  He sat down on his haunches and hung his head low. "Why isn't it working?"
"Spyro?" He heard a voice from down the hall.  He looked up to see Sparx and Cynder round the corner.
"There you are buddy." Sparx flew over and paused when he was close enough to see how wet his brother was. "Whoa, did you fall in the pool or something?"
Spyro just stared at him blankly as Cynder walked up. "Spyro, what's wrong? I've been wondering where you were."
"I'm sorry." Spyro turned away from her. "I've been trying to see anything in the pool of visions, but it hasn't worked out. I haven't been able to see anything for hours."
"Doesn't that mean it's a good thing when you can't find anything?" Sparx crossed his arms and looked towards the pool. The surface was still slightly disturbed from the splash.
"Spyro, what's on your mind?" Cynder moved to face him. "You haven't been the same since you woke up from that nightmare a couple weeks ago. And I'm worried about you."
Spyro looked into her bright sapphire eyes. "I just have this bad feeling that something is going to happen. And soon." He turned back to the pool and looked into it. "I'm not sure what, so I was trying to find out from the pool of visions."
"What do you think it is?" Cynder asked as she walked up beside him.
"I don't know." Spyro shook his head. "But the feeling I got from that nightmare was the same sense of fear I felt when we faced the Dark Master."
"The Dark Master?" Cynder and Sparx gasped together.
"I thought he was gone." Sparx protested. "Please don't tell me you guys didn't finish the job and that he's still alive."
"Sparx, I can't explain what exactly it is that I feel." Spyro looked up at him, begging him to understand. "It almost feels like him, but not entirely. Like it's different somehow."
"Spyro." Cynder moved closer to him and forced him to look her in the eyes. "We've beaten the Dark Master. He was the most powerful foe we have ever faced. If he has survived somehow, then we can do it again." Spyro blinked a couple times. Her serious tone seemed to calm him down. "We have allies, more than ever before. And we have gotten stronger ourselves." She leaned in and pressed her lips to Spyro's. Sparx stuck his tongue out in revulsion and turned away. After a long moment Cynder broke away. "We'll protect our home together. Just like we always have."
Spyro sighed. Not out of fatigue or sadness, but relief. "You're right Cynder. Thank you." He leaned in and stroked her cheek with his tongue. Cynder giggled and bumped his snout with her nose.
"Okay, you two, should I just go?" Sparx demanded, peeking from between his fingers. Both dragons smiled at each other, blushing.
"Spyro! Cynder!" Tremor's voice came echoing down the halls. Both dragons jerked towards the sound of his voice. "Spyro! Cynder!" The earth dragon came sprinting around the corner with his twin sister beside him. "There you are!" He gasped and skidded to a stop before them.
"Tremor? What's going on?" Spyro asked, his heart rate beginning to rise.
"We've got a problem." He panted heavily. "There's some warriors down at the main gate. They say that they need to speak to you right away."
Spyro and Cynder looked at each other nervously.
Sparx shook his head. "Spyro, have I ever told you how much I hate it when you get your feelings?"
The moles rushed to the main gate. The guards opened the doors, allowing the refugees to enter the city. There were gasps of shock and horror as the cheetah tribe staggered in. The women and children were shaken and most of them crying and making a fuss. The warriors limped on wounded limbs or cradled their various  injuries.
Spyro and Cynder glided down to the ground and their jaws dropped. Bodies were being carried by those fit enough to do so, most of them being the women or younger males.
"This is horrible!" Cynder choked as she watched the healers rush to try and tend to the wounded.
"Hey!" Spyro and Cynder both turned to see Flame and Ember bounding up towards them. "What's going on?" The young guardian asked as they looked on in shock.
"I don't know." Spyro looked back. "Let's go see if we can find anything out." The purple dragon started forward with his friends close behind. They made sure to stay out of the way of the healers. "Sparx." Spyro turned to his brother. "See if you can find Hunter. I'm sure he's here somewhere."
"No problem buddy." The dragonfly saluted and zipped off.
"Ember." Spyro turned to the pink dragoness, much to everyone's surprise. "See what you can do to help the healers treat the wounded. They're going to need it."
"Uh, right." The dragoness nodded and dashed over to a trio of mole healers tending to an unconscious warrior.
"Flame."
"Yes sir!" The guardian stood at attention with his chest puffed out. He was ready to help in any way he could.
"Gather the other guardians and the candidates. We need everyone down here ASAP."
"You got it Spyro!" Flame shot into the air with a burst of fire and took off towards the main temple.
"What should I do Spyro?" Cynder asked, ready to do her part.
"Cynder, I want you to..."
"Spyro!" Sparx called. The two dragons turned to see the dragonfly hurrying towards them. "I didn't see Hunter, but I did find someone who may be able to help out." A red-furred cheetah staggered from the crowd of mourning felines.
"Meadow!" Cynder gasped when she saw his injuries. He had a slash across one brow, causing the blood to trickle into his eye. His cheek had a long gash across it and he clutched at another slash mark on his right arm.
"It is good to see you Spyro and Cynder." The healer smiled through his good eye. "I only wish it were under better circumstances."
"That goes without saying." Sparx rolled his eyes.
"Sparx." Spyro gave his brother a look. "I need you to go around and ask what needs to be done. I have a feeling, it's going to be a busy day."
"Alright." Sparx nodded. "Leave it to the dragonfly to be the messenger."
"What happened Meadow?" Spyro asked when his brother had gone.
The cheetah shook his head. "Oh, it was all a blur. Everything happened so fast." The cheetah swayed on his feet. Cynder saw him begin to topple over and caught him with a gust of wind. The healer stabilized himself and knelt down before the dragons. "Our village was attacked out of nowhere. We were barely able to make out alive, for those who were able to."
"Who attacked you!" Spyro pressed taking a step forward. "Was it the Dark Master?"
"Spyro!" Cynder snapped. The purple dragon paused and stepped back.
"No." Meadow, shook his head. "It was the Wolf tribe of the north."
"Wolves?" Spyro cocked his head to the side. This was not the answer he was expecting and it had thrown him off a bit.
"Spyro, we can question him later." Cynder brushed herself against Spyro's side. "I think for now we need to help his people out."
"Right." Spyro gasped, his head suddenly felt light. "Get Ember. She can heal Meadow and he should be able to help the others as well."
"Spyro?" Cynder squinted at him. His eyes seemed to be moving in different directions, as if they couldn't focus on any one spot. "Spyro?" The purple dragon turned to go help the refugees. "Spyro!" Cynder called more forcefully but Spyro couldn't hear her. He took one step before his legs buckled underneath him. Spyro watched as his world turned on its side and slammed against the ground. There was a muffled cry and he saw a pair of black talons step in front of him. He could just barely make out Cynder's face before his vision blurred, then faded to black.