FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sorry about the huge delay with these, guys...college is a bitch, life's a bitch, work's a bitch...I'm in the final cram of the semester, same as in RoD, but this time there may be stretched of time I might not be responsive. I'm still writing, though. Hell, I have this story, and three others all going at once: two other completely different dragon stories and a possibly short series involving a pegasus.

I know this chapter may seem long...I'm an ass. I kept writing and writing and writing and forgetting how long it was...let's just say Chapter 11 is almost halfway finished with the simple thrice-hitting of the Enter key in a good place. But, don't get excited! I have college to finish, tons of work to do at work...summer's not looking very promising for me. Keep your fingers crossed and hope I don't go emo again during summer break.

If you're under 18, you don't belong here. Get out or hope you don't get caught.

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-- CHAPTER 10 --

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Alex and Christine crept quietly through the ancient ruins. Reaching a totem statue Alex quickly ducked behind it, and in the corner of his eye he saw Kane nearby, atop the rock walls with a bow and quiver in hand. Christine blurred through the log-tunnel, and there was a muffled yell as she clobbered the surprised ape commander. Alex leaped up to the top of the totem and lay low, folding his wings tight against his back. Over the rock wall, in the area the tunnel led to, was a crowd of apes all surrounding something. He saw Christine flip up onto the rock wall and hunker down behind some plants. The Atllawa around them got their weapons ready, and Alex quickly lunged over to where Christine was.

"More dark crystals..." she whispered, her tail twitching against his. "Spyro was right, they're up to something..."

"We need to get those crystals to the temple."

"I know already...but how do we get them while avoiding alarm?"

"Take them out. It's the only way. Knock out the commanders, snatch the gems, and run; Kane and the Atllawa have their bows at the ready, waiting for my signal. They'll cover our escape."

"Well, you're in charge..." She looked closer at the apes. "They're not doing anything...I think they're just standing guard."

"Get ready, once the arrow wave flies through we rush in and do our job." He leaned back and raised his hand, and Christine tensed herself, ready to spring. There was a quiet twinging noise as all the bows released their deadly darts, and the apes all howled in fear and pain as most of them were downed. Christine and Alex, as soon as the arrows had been released, rushed in, and were on the apes once the last arrows had fallen. The surprise attack left the apes unable to recover quickly enough, and pretty soon those that weren't killed were knocked out by the two dragon-humans. The two teenagers quickly gathered the crystals, hiding them in their strange personal dimensions where they kept their supplies, and rushed out, Christine carrying Alex as she flew. In flight and on land she was faster than he was, but in combat he was superior in strength and reflexes.

"Good luck!" Alex called back as they passed over Kane. Once they were a safe enough distance away Christine let Alex fly on his own, and started picked armor pieces off her claws.

"Those things are nasty," she whined, tossing the pieces into the water below. "That went really well, though."

"Yeah but we need to get to Dante's Freezer and then Munitions Forge, remember?"

"Crap...can't we just shut down Munitions Forge, since that's where they're mining everything now?"

"Ignitus says their mines for those crystals have run out, or the stones are inferior quality. Besides, they're only hunting gems that were charged with the Dark Master's power before Spyro freed Cynder."

"I forgot about that..." They fell silent, but Christine spoke up again. "Alex...the crystals they did manage to get from the mines...couldn't they charge those with the ones that are already charged?"

Alex's eyes widened. "I'm not sure but it could be possible...oh hey, whaddaya know?" Down below they saw an ape-crewed ship, carrying a load of crystals. One of the commanders, dressed in heavy armor, was holding a large hoop set with gems charged like the ones Christine and Alex now carried, and he was using some kind of magic to transfer energy from the charged crystals to the ones lying in a heap on the deck.

"Looks like we've got more to collect," Christine said, and she and Alex barrel-rolled and dove down to the ship. Within minutes the apes were all slain, but the commander had sent the uncharged crystals into the water. Alex took the hoop set with the dark crystals, and grimaced as he made it disappear.

"Damn, that thing feels evil," he said, and shivered as the thing inside him flashed with power.

"Alex, do crystals usually float?"

"No, why?"

He went over to Christine and looked in the water. Some of the crystals that had received a dose of energy were floating and staining the water. Without knowing what he was doing, Alex shot a bolt of electricity from his mouth, and it locked onto and jumped between the crystals. They flashed and shattered in dark puffs of smoke. Christine jumped back in surprise, and looked at Alex as he began shivering. "Oh no...Alex! Stop!"

He shuddered and a dark cloud seemed to fall from him as she held onto him in a tight hug. Panting heavily from the brief struggle he returned the embrace and Christine smiled and pressed her head against him. He ran his paw along the white fins running down the back of her neck. "Thanks again, Chrissy..."

She looked up at him and gave him a peck on the lips. "Anything for my electric dragon." She shrieked in surprised laughter as he hugged her against himself and spun around, and tossed her into the air and caught her. "Wha-What was that for?" she gasped, smiling at him.

"What would I do without you?" he asked, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and planted her mouth on his, enjoying the fact that their long muzzles allowed them to look at each other better than if they had human bodies. She wrapped her tail around his back and his curled around hers. The way he was holding her, one arm under her knees and the other under her wing-shoulders, she was able to wrap her wing around him as he put his around her, making a small tent of sorts around them as he kissed her even deeper. She moaned softly and sucked a bit on his lips, opening her eyes and catching his. The boat suddenly hit a wave, jostling them, but Alex braced his legs against the rocking and set Christine down as she looked around in surprise. She glanced up at him with a grin.

"How're we gonna break it to our parents?"

Alex gave her a sly grin. "I already have...last night I finally was able to connect to Earth, and I sent all four of them a dream."

She looked confused. "Wait...we left at midday, how long has it been at home?"

"It's night of the same day. Your parents were getting worried, but I think I helped ease their worries. If I can, tonight we could both try."

"That'd be cool...but can't you communicate with them now?"

"Not directly, it has to be through dreams because they're not receptive to it like you and I are."

They were within sight of the Temple island, and Christine whistled. "Wow...how long were we cuddling?"

"Not long enough," Alex said slyly, wrapping his wing around her again, and they both sat down at the same time and hugged each other, tenting their wings around themselves as they fell into another loving kiss. Christine eventually pulled away with a heated gasp as she looked to the side between their wings and noticed the shoreline.

"Think that priest we saved a whole ago might drop in if he knew where we were?"

Alex laughed . "Boy, you just can't wait can you?"

"Nope."

"Well, hate to break it to ya but I think our parents might be put a little more at ease if we did the six-month engagement wait. Can you imagine how pissed off they'd be if we came home and said 'Oh hey, we got married while we were gone for half a day!'"

Her face fell a bit. "True..." She leaned against him with a sigh. "Six months is so long though..."

After landing, Alex set fire to the boat with his electric breath and they flew back to the temple. Cynder was out on the balcony, lying on her back, snoring slightly as she soaked in the sun. Christine landed quietly by her and studied her, shaking her head. Alex landed by her. "Something up?" he whispered.

"I'm just amazed...giving birth a week ago, too small to safely deliver a twin-egg, and she's almost completely recovered. She should still be a bit big from pregnancy but Spyro says that's how slim she was two months ago."

Cynder twitched in her sleep and Alex and Christine left her. Ignitus caught them in the dojo. "So, how was the mission?"

"We got a big haul of crystals...now for Dante's Freezer and Munitions Forge."

"And the mainland?" Alex asked, but Ignitus shook his head.

"I can only manipulate the pool's ability so much, but I haven't seen any sign of these crystals being on the mainland. I assume some are in the Well of Souls, but the mountain is too badly collapsed and perilous."

"Where do we put these gems?"

"You can't keep them on you?"

"I can, but..." Christine bent by his head, "I think they're triggering Alex's...problem."

Ignitus grunted. "I was afraid of that...follow me. There's a secret room branching off from the hallway. No one else knows about it, it's an emergency shelter." They both followed him into the underground hallways, passing the hidden entrance to the nesting room, and ended up close to the tunnel entrance. From there, off to the side, Ignitus pushed on the wall, and it rumbled quickly and then smoothly slid diagonally backwards, revealing a tunnel. Cold stale air rushed out; obviously this room hadn't been opened in a long time. Christine and Alex ran in, dumped the crystals in a pile in the back, and rushed back out. Ignitus hit the wall with his tail, and it slowly slid back into place without a seam to be seen.

"I'm gonna go check on Flare and the others," Christine said, and Alex and Ignitus nodded.

"Alex, I'd like to speak with you outside," Ignitus said, and Alex followed him out. Christine flashed down the hallway and into the secret area, and quietly made her way to the nesting room. Spyro was humming quietly as he traced the faint designs on his two eggs, and Flare was napping against Solar, who had his head on the floor, staring off into space through half-lidded eyes. Spyro started and coughed when Christine closed the door behind herself.

"Things going well in here?" she asked, and Spyro nodded, obviously a bit embarrassed that he'd been caught humming to his unhatched children.

"Not much different from normal..." He yawned and stretched, and Solar snapped out of his sleepy trance and yawned as well. "How'd it go in Tall Plains?"

"Kane and his people were overjoyed that you and Cynder have kids now," she replied with a smile, and Spyro rolled his eyes and shook his head with a grin. "Overall, it was a success, but it was a hit-and-run thing so we might expect some vengeance from the apes."

"I can feel those crystals nearby," Spyro said, looking off towards the hidden room down the hallway. He sighed. "Cynder's on the balcony?"

"Fast asleep too."

"Good, she didn't get much sleep last night." Spyro rolled on his side, tucking the eggs against his gold underbelly. "I don't mind this, but it does get boring after a while...good thing we only need to stay with them for the first ten days."

"The safe time limit is eight but it's good to be safe all the same," Solar yawned, and shook his head as he tried to wake up. "Flare...Flare..."

"Mmm...wuzzit?" she mumbled, nestling against him.

"I'm gonna go hunting, I kinda need you to move..."

She yawned and stretched, slowly moving off him. "Go get 'em," she said with a sleepy grin, and put her head down and fell back to sleep as Solar stretched and flexed his wings.

"Want me to go get Cynder?" he asked, turning to Spyro.

"Nah, let her sleep ."

"Too late," came Cynder's voice, and she came into the room and nuzzled Spyro happily. "Thanks..."

"For what?"

"For letting me nap. I'll take over now, you go with Solar and get some exercise." Spyro stood up and she brushed her whole length along him, wrapping around behind him and taking his place by the eggs as he turned his head and kissed her. She murred and lay down, wrapping her tail around her clutch. Spyro and Solar went out to the temple balcony, shaking the laziness from their wings and flexing their paws, readying themselves for the hunt.

"You wanna try fishing this time?" Solar asked as they stood on the balcony, feeling the fall wind.

"Sure, Cynder seems to like fish."

Solar half-smiled and looked at the floor, shaking his head. "Every time anyone brings anything up you jump to Cynder or someone else. Do you ever think of yourself?"

Spyro nervously traced his claws over the floor. "Kind of...no, not really..." He followed Solar into the air, and the two flew off rapidly to the shoreline. The fish were gathered around the ashen remains of the boat, and Spyro had easy pickings, catching at least ten before they had dispersed enough to make physical hunting difficult. He hauled himself out of the shallows and shook himself off, letting Solar use his focused ice-breath the icecube the fish and bring them to the surface. Pretty soon there were a good twenty ice cubes floating in the water, but Solar's claws kept slipping off their slick surfaces.

"Damn, I can't...seem to grab these..." he grunted, missing a few more.

"Hang on...I'm gonna try something." Spyro closed his eyes, and Solar watched as he hunched as his muscles contracted in concentration.

"Whoa buddy!" Solar shouted as a sharp wind suddenly blasted towards the purple dragon. Below him, the water churned in the sudden onslaught, and the ice cubes sailed to Spyro and were stranded on the sand as the water slapped against the shore. Spyro groaned and opened his eyes, breathing heavily but grinning when he saw his idea had worked.

"Huh, worked better than I expected," he said, and shook himself as if he had water on his scales.

"That was pretty impressive," Solar said in admiration as he landed nearby and picked up a few frozen fish. Spyro gathered the rest and they flew back to the temple, dropping off their catch and heading back out to see if they could land some bigger fare. Spyro looked back at the temple and Solar hovered in the air. "Something wrong, Spyro?"

"Yes...but I can't tell what it is. Ever since they've started collecting those crystals something hasn't felt right."

"They're charged with the Dark Master's power, of course something won't feel right."

"I wish they'd just destroy the things instead of keeping them..."

While they were out, Sparx was busy bugging Alex as the dragon-teen ran through some self-training in the dojo.

"That kick was too high, y'know."

"Sparx, shut UP!" Alex half-yelled, turning to the annoying insect. "I can't bring out real dummies here, and what's more, I'm not aiming at anything in particular!"

"Why cantcha get the dummies here?"

"I could but I can't risk it. Something's been taking them over."

"Guess I'll go argue with Volteer then..."

"No, I think they'd rather be left alone right now."

Christine came into the room to find Alex trying to catch Sparx, and she burst out laughing. He hid behind her.

"Hide me! Oh wait, you tried to kill me!" He flew off and Christine caught Alex as he flew towards her.

"What's going on here?"

"His idea," Alex said, brushing off his shirt. "He wanted to see if I could catch him."

"Well, I think you've had enough training. C'mon, let's go for a fly or something outside." Alex followed her to the balcony, and Sparx flew off to the tunnels to find Cynder and Flare. Cynder was humming to her eggs as she petted them, and Flare was still asleep. The doors were slightly ajar and Sparx flew in quietly, but his yellow glow betrayed him.

"Hey Sparx," she said, not looking up. "Spyro still out?"

"Yeah, he and Solar brought back some fish."

"Why don't you do some more scouting around here? If there's an attack coming, any advance notice would really help."

"Yeah yeah, more like kicking me outta here. I almost get the feeling you dragons find me annoying." He flew off, not noticing Cynder's eyes widen as she tried to restrain her laughter. When she was sure he was out of earshout she burst out laughing.

Two days later, everyone was nervous. Normally, Ignitus saw things in the Pool, but now he could see nothing at all except a swirling black cloud. The air was growing colder around the Dragon Temple, and rain and thunder had been going for the last 36 hours. Sparx had gone back to the swamp, sensing that something wasn't right around the temple.

Christine and Alex flew over the mushroom forest, wearing skin-tight suits and some armor on their shoulders and lower bodies. Thunder pealed overhead and lightning flashed as they scanned the ground. Terrador and Volteer had retrieved a huge load of dark crystals from an ape camp not too far away, and now they were scouting the area in case the enraged creatures were advancing on the building.

"You see anything?" Christine shouted over the wind of their flight and the roar of rain pelting the mushrooms below.

"Nothi---wait, one o'clock!" They both turned and flew lower.

In the temple basement, Spyro found the guardians coming from the hidden chamber, and they were carrying dark crystals up to the main rooms. Spyro was stunned.

"What're you doing?!"

"We're moving the crystals so they're not so close to the outside," Ignitus replied, letting go of the mat he was dragging. "Soon we'll destroy these, don't worry."

Spyro shook his head rapidly. "No, get rid of them! They're calling to the shadow!"

"Spyro--"

"DESTROY THEM IGNITUS!!"

They stared at him, and Terrador growled. "Young dragon, who do you think you are commanding us like that? What's gotten into you?"

Spyro's face clenched and he groaned, clutching his head. "Just get rid of them! Please, get rid of them! Something's coming!"

The guardians looked at each other and Ignitus shook his head. "We will later. We're collecting as many as we can so we can destroy them all at once."

Spyro's eyes flared. "I said get rid of them! NOW!!" His voice echoed strangely. "You don't know what you're doing! You'll screw us all if you don't shatter them now!"

Normally they would have listened to him, but the irratibility that comes with stormy days made them shrug him off and they continued up to the temple. Spyro stared after them, and when the door closed he snorted and turned around, fuming. Cynder was coming out of the tunnel, and she looked at him oddly. "Spyro? What's with you today?"

"Something's coming but no one's listening! Those crystals are infecting the temple but no one will do anything about it!"

"Maybe you're overreacting," she said dismissively, and Spyro gaped at her.

"Not you too! Please, someone believe me here!" With that he ran off outside, and Cynder stared after him, confused. Solar came out of the tunnel behind her.

"What's with him?"

"I think the energy from the crystals is getting to him," Cynder said, shaking her head. "I'll go see if I can't settle him down."

"I'll go have a word with Igntius and the others...I don't like the fact they're keeping the crystals intact." Cynder followed Spyro outside and Solar went up to the temple to find the pile of crystals off to the side in the dojo. They looked like amethysts, but glowed with their own light and pulsed with shadowy energy. Christine was inspecting a few, and Alex was perched on the rim along the wall on the opposite side of the room.

Outside, Cynder just barely saw Spyro racing away along the trail through the mushrooms, and she flew after him and cornered him. "Spyro? What's wrong with you lately?"

He snorted and glared at her. "What's wrong with me?! So now I'm the one at fault here?"

"C'mon, let's go back inside out of the rain."

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'? I said come inside and you're going to go!"

"NO!" he roared, and Cynder backed away from him, scared. "I'm not going back there so long as those damn crystals are allowed to stay intact! Something is coming, Cynder, and no one cares anymore!" He turned around and stared at the sky through the mushroom caps. "Lemme guess, just because I'm the one that died, just because I'm the only one who can feel this stuff, does that make me crazy? Obviously it does, because no one's listening!" He looked over his shoulder at her. "Of anyone, I thought you'd believe me trying to warn you of the danger, but obviously I was wrong when I thought that."

"Spyro..." she started, hurt by his words, but he didn't hear her; he flew up into the air and disappeared. Lightning snapped overhead, almost instantly followed by a sharp crack of thunder, and Cynder stared at the ground, her tears mixing with the rain falling on her. "Spyro...I'm sorry..." As if a door had been opened, she felt something evil inside the temple...it felt like two years ago when the Dark Master had still been bonded to her... Her eggs came to mind and a sudden protective anger surged through her, and she raced inside to find Ignitus looking over the crystals. "Ignitus, destroy these things!" she said, and he looked at her with a not-so-thrilled expression.

"Cynder, I just told Spyro we'll break these all at once."

"No! Do it now! Can't you see what's going on here? He's influencing you and the others to preserve these things and keep them in one place!"

"The Dark Master isn't powerful enough to influence us. Now go back to your nest."

Cynder set her feet and bristled at him---it seemed like something was speaking through him. "If you don't do it, I will!!" With that she rushed over and grabbed a crystal, and flung it as hard as she could against the wall. It flashed but clattered to the floor unharmed. Desperate, she tried again and again but couldn't even scratch the cursed thing. Ignitus only watched.

"The energy inside them has strengthened their structure, Cynder...brute force can't destroy them."

She yelled and flung it across the room, almost hitting Christine in the head as the ice-blue dragon-human flew in from the balcony. "I DON'T CARE!!! These crystals are a threat to my children, Ignitus!! They're a threat to all of us!!"

"What's going on in here?" Christine asked nervously.

"Ignitus and the others aren't destroying these crystals," Cynder replied angrily.

"Well, that'll hafta wait," Alex said hurriedly, coming to a clumsy landing as he swooped through the doorway. "Get everyone ready! We're officially under attack!"

Cynder roared and sliced through a mage, and an ape tackled her to the ground but she kicked it off into the path of a void-like shadow creature. The mages, the remnant ape forces, and the shadow's leagues had flooded the temple together, and it was pure chaos. She shook herself off, flinging water everywhere, and rolled to the side as a shadow creature swung at her.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!" she screamed, and blasted a 50-foot-long jet of fire from her mouth through the crowd around her. Solar looked shocked when she caught sight of him in the air, but his surprise made him an easy target and a mage zapped him out of the air. Cynder yelled and the ground around her exploded in flames, giving her temporary clearance. She looked up at the sky, blinking as the rain hit her eyes, searching for any sign of Spyro. He'd flown off and now they had no idea where he was. "Spyro, please, come back! What about the kids?!" With that she snarled viciously and whipped around, slicing the throat of the ape rushing at her. Normally the apes were no more a fight to her than a pile of dried grass, but a group of four surrounded her and it was all she could do to protect herself. Somehow the apes had grown far better in combat, and what was worse they mostly had fireproof armor.

One of the apes kicked her to the side and she fell right into a club-strike from another. She struggled to her feet...nothing, n.o.t.h.i.n.g was going to get past her...except the next blow that sent her to the ground again and made her vision swim. A shadow came up to her and extended its claws, but just as it swiped at her she faintly saw something bright white shoot through its head and it fell over onto her. Shaking her head she forced the carcass off herself and saw Solar rushing up to her, spinning swifty and catching a spear and throwing it back in the same motion. "Cynder! You okay?!"

She nodded, her legs shaking. "I can't keep going like this..."

"Think of the eggs!" Solar said quickly, and yelled and spun around when something hit him. He killed his attacker and held another in a death grip as he stood on his hind legs. "Cynder, get inside and try to sense Spyro!" He was trying to choke his enemy but its armor was unusally strong. Cynder stretched her wings and took off just as a mage lunged at her, and Solar leapt to the side as she blasted the ground with a powerful fireball. Off to the side she saw Alex and Christine tossing mages and apes and shadows like toys, and the guardians were holding their own...but as she flew up swiftly to the balcony her heart sank...the forest was black with enemies. Where the hell was Spyro?! She rolled to the side to avoid a bolt of magic, and screamed and ran inside when she found homing-bolts following her. They couldn't enter the temple somehow, but Cynder ran into the tunnels and huddled against the wall, expecting to be hit any time now as her left hind leg started throbbing mercilessly. Realizing nothing was behind her, and hearing the battle going on outside, her mind turned to Spyro and she closed her eyes, trying desperately to find him. He was nearby, why the hell wasn't he fighting?!

"Cynder," came Spyro's voice beside her, and she shrieked and jumped. Spyro stood there, but then again it wasn't Spyro...it looked like she was seeing a reflection through water. "Cynder...help me..."

Her face fell and she froze---what the hell was going on?! Spyro suddenly fell back with a yell and faded into the air, and a lone shadow flew down the hallway past her. A sudden fire raced through her and she cornered the shadow, bristling, her eyes seeming to glow in her anger. The shadow shook and turned into a huge, hulking figure, and Cynder set herself and snarled. She and Spyro had joked about "Mother Dragon mode" with Alex and Christine, and Ignitus had added in the fact that unexpected things happen when a dragoness is protecting her clutch... Without warning she flew at the shadow and became a living flurry of claws and teeth, and she tore its head off and it disappeared in a billowing cloud of foul smoke. She noticed a green liquid coming from her claws, and her eyes widened when she saw small trails of smoke rising from the floor where the liquid fell. "Oh...my...gosh...all this time I completely forgot about my other powers!!" Flashbacks of her and Spyro's struggle to defeat the Dark Master blazed through her mind...wind, poison, shadow, fear... She thought of her brood lying not too far away, and her eyes narrowed. These creatures would not get to her children... She growled as a crowd of apes came rushing into the tunnel.

Outside, Ignitus was hard-pressed to protect the entrances of the temple, but try as he might he was too old and they were beginning to slip past him. In a flash Christine rushed up to him, the blade attached to her wrist running clean through an ape's neck as she vaulted over the fire guardian.

"MOVE!!" Ignitus shouted, and Christine shot away to cover as Ignitus roared and leapt into the air. The air shimmered around him as he hovered, and huge towers of fire erupted from the ground around him, engulfing the enemies around him in a white-hot inferno. The bases of the pillars exploded in a ground-hugging heat-wave, igniting more enemies. "Christine, fend them off," he panted, ducking into the temple as Terrador, Cyril, and Volteer began failing as well and moving inside. The doors closed, but Cynder suddenly shot by them and ducked out just in time before the doors shut completely. Christine landed from a meteor-throw right next to Cynder and saw a strange fire in her eyes.

"Cynder?"

"We've got a temple to protect," the black dragoness growled, and bristled at an oncoming crowd of apes. A strange energy field radiated from Cynder, and Christine watched in amazement as the apes dropped their weapons and fled, running madly through the ranks. Cynder shivered a bit and opened her mouth, and streams of bright-green energy flew from her throat. Where they hit there were splashes of corrosive poison, and the shadows and mages yelled in pain as it began spreading through them. Taking that as their cue the two females rushed into the thick of the action. Cynder flipped into the air, locking her legs around a shadow, and used her motion to bring it crashing to the groun, breaking its neck. Christine slew one outright with a powerful uppercut, using the force of her jump to flip and kick the shadowy creature one the sword of a mage behind it.

Nearby, Alex yelled and spun rapidly, clearing a space around himself with his swords. "These aren't good enough," he said, and the two longswords disappeared. A mage slung a paralysis spell at him and he fell to the ground, but Solar rushed in with a well-aimed icicle. Alex broke free of the magic's control and breathed electricity. The arcs coursed between his nearby foes and they all yelled and fell to the ground, twitching. Using that to buy himself recovery time he bent down, closing his eyes. Christine looked over at him and her eyes widened.

"NO! ALEX, DON'T!" she shrieked. He didn't hear her, and before she could rush to him a mage caught her ankles with a staff and brought it spinning around himself and knocked her upside the head with it. He was about to finish her off, but his face suddenly splashed bright green and he fell back with a gurgling scream as the poison went to his lungs. A shadow raced up to Alex, seeing him kneeling there, and kicked him. Nothing. Confused, the shadow hit him again, getting no reaction.

"I'll finished him," a nearby ape growled, raising his sword. He swung at the green-scaled dragon-teen's neck...and the next instant was flying to the side and crashed through rows of shadows and mages. Alex's eyes were glowing bright yellow and his color had changed to a silvery hue. Cynder stared in shock as Alex seemed to melt right through attacks and counter the blows with very little effort. Seeing Alex as a threat, the army of apes, shadows, and mages all pressed on him. Christine sat up, holding her head and whimpering as her vision flashed every time she blinked.

"Alex...no...Cynder, you need to stop him..."

"What happened to him?"

"He's not supposed to use that ability...especially not when he's still possessed! He could go nuclear!"

"Nuclear? What's that?"

"I can't explain now!" Christine staggered to her feet and rushed to Alex. The enemy was focused on eradicating Alex, but they couldn't touch him. Cynder was confused, but couldn't dwell on it for long---she suddenly felt a sharp pain through her and instantly realized that something was wrong with Spyro. Overhead, Solar flew by, raining ice on the enemy, but when she looked up she saw something else in the clouds...something with wings...

"Spyro?" She took off into the air, leaving the fight to the others. She was very worried...something was wrong with her mate...Whatever was up there it was circling the temple, watching the fight. Cynder sped up and found Spyro amid the clouds, watching. "Spyro?! Where the hell have you been?!" Spyro, however, didn't respond, and before Cynder could ask again he folded his wings against himself and plummeted. She shrieked and flew after him, stopping as she watched him pull over the enemy forces and spitting huge, explosive fireballs. A good percent of the enemy was taken out in this maneuver, but he was suddenly overwhelmed as mages appeared in the air aorund him and began assailing him. Cynder growled and opened her mouth, and the next thing they knew they were blasted off Spyro in dark blasts of shadow. Cynder blasted the last mage, but it warped out of the way at the last second and her attack hit Spyro head-on. "OH NO! SPYRO!!!" she screamed, and fell after him. Spyro fell through the air like a limp doll, but at the last second he flipped and hit the ground, causing a powerful ripple that upended many of the foes around him. Cynder landed by him. "Spyro?! Spyro!"

He turned to her and her heart stopped...his eyes were glowing and his scales were growing dark. Before she could react he blasted her backwards with a powerful shadow blast and then proceeded to eliminate the enemies around himself. Cynder hit her head hard on a rock and watched him through swimming eyes as he plowed through the enemy, taking a lot of hits but never stopping. Alex and Christine leapt away from him in surprise and fear as he came after them, and Solar took to the sky when he saw Spyro going nuts.

"What the hell happened to him?!" Solar yelled.

"At least he's reducing the enemy number," Alex called back.

"Alex, please, stop!" Christine shrieked as he melted away from enemy attacks in his silvery form. Not knowing what else to do she raced up behind him and chopped him in the neck with a knifehand strike. He paused for a split-second and then slumped to the ground. Christine picked him up and flew them both up to the temple, crying in pain as bolts of magic assailed her. Cynder watched in horror as she, Spyro, and Solar were the only ones left to combat the relentless flood of enemies. Spyro was tearing through the enemy forces, but Cynder felt he had become an animal, unaware of friend or ally, only acting to kill. He was Dark Spyro, but then again, something in him was inhibiting the evil and only allowing him to thoughtlessly kill without any real motive. Cynder forced herself to stand.

"Spyro...sorry I have to do this..." She opened her mouth, cringing at what she was about to do, and launched a long beam of poison energy at him. It hit him square in the back and he roared and spun around, racing at her, but he slumped to the ground and fell unconscious as the poison overtook him. Solar saw what happened and groaned.

"No other way..." He flew down, picked up both Spyro and Cynder, and flew to the balcony, clumsily dropping them on the stone as he turned to fend off an attack as the mages, shadows, and apes clambered up the cliff and started pouring onto the balcony. Desperate, Solar closed his eyes and hovered in the air, then unleashed a deafening roar and the balcony flashed white. Cynder opened her eyes weakly to see frozen apes and shadows caught dead in ice on the balcony, and a huge dome of ice gllistening over the stone and giving them a chance to get into the temple without being followed. Solar wearily picked them up and ran to the temple on his hind legs, ducking into the door and hearing it click shut behind him. The temple groaned slightly at it secured itself now that everyone was inside. Cynder lay there on the floor by her unconcious dark mate, wanting to cry but unable to. They were trapped inside this building, with two possessed males and no chance of escape.

_________________________________

Uh oh!!

Muahahaaaaaa...

If there are aspelling erros, my apologies. i was typing this really fast and my keyboard is really starting to give out.