Thick, choking darkness swallowed the night. An unsettling air settled around Cynder, tearing her out of her slumber. She groaned with a huff, trying to roll over and return to sleep but had no success. Instead, she glanced upwards, looking out of her window. The sky was empty as both Adrano and Zella were absent, shrouding Warfang in a pitch-black, heavy shadow. The ambient sound of all the nocturnal creatures had been silenced, as if they had all been massacred. All was quiet.

The painful silence and darkness unnerved her, fear rising in her heart as she worried that something was about to creep up on her, poised to kill her in the night. The paranoia was too much, and she couldn't get herself back to sleep. Her worry got so strong she almost felt the need to vomit, everything feeling uncomfortable.

A cold breeze suddenly whipped through the open window, sending a bitter chill down Cynder's spine. The dark purple dragoness moaned, rolling over and wrapping her wings tightly against her body to try and warm herself up, but the attempt was unsuccessful. Even when the breeze died down, she still felt cold, as if something was very wrong. She had no idea what it was, but she couldn't shake away the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

She jumped with a startled gasp as a wordless whisper sounded in her ear, the cold breath washing over her. Cynder looked over her shoulder, but no one was there. Her ears began ringing, and her head spinning with an unbearable pain. Her eyes felt like her skull was constricting in on her, so if she could actually see through the darkness, Cynder swore her vision would've been fuzzy. Cynder shook her head violently to stop it, but it only got worse. She slapped herself in the face, making it worse again.

The second time Cynder hit herself in the face, the ringing stopped abruptly, her head beginning to return to normal. The whisper sounded again, this time in her other ear. She whirled around with a growl, but once more, no one was there. Cynder felt her heart beating against her chest. She knew something was really wrong now.

Her assumption was proved correct as a distant scream tore through the air, sounding louder as it tore through the deafening silence of the night. She leapt out of her scales with a sharp yelp as the sudden scream sounded, before she realised with horror that the voice was one she recognised from the barracks. It was Apata.

Adrenaline rushed through her body. With all the events of violence and death happening lately, Cynder knew that the scream meant Apata was in grave danger. She leapt up and tore out of her house, running towards the sound of the earth dragoness' scream. Thank the ancestors the two actually ended up living really close.

Another scream ripped through the air, hoarse and breaking, the shrill tones piercing Cynder's ears.

As the dark purple dragoness ran towards Apata's house, she was interrupted by a groggy earth dragon as he walked out of his own house, neighbouring Apata's, coming to a stop in front of her, anger painting his face. "Get her to shut the hell up please," the dragon grumbled angrily, before storming back to his house.

"Hey! Get over here and be useful, you selfish worm!" Cynder scowled. "Go and fetch Logron and Muras from the Warfang Temple and bring them back here now!"

"You can't boss me around!" the earth dragon snarled, turning around to face her again, opening his wings defensively.

"You will do as I say or else! Do you want to know what a siren scream is like?!" Cynder threatened with a loud roar, baring her teeth as spittle sprayed from her lips, not caring if she woke the whole neighbourhood up, although they most likely already were.

The earth dragon's eyes widened with fear at the threat, before he nodded quickly, his throat bobbing as he swallowed nervously, as he turned and ran off towards the Warfang Temple. Cynder turned and barged into Apata's house, slamming through the locked door and knocking it off its hinges. Apata's screams were getting worse and much more frequent, instilling a terrible worry into Cynder's heart. When she followed the sound of Apata's screams to her bedroom, Cynder halted to a complete standstill, staring at the horrific sight before her in bitter revulsion.

Apata lay on her back, limbs splayed out in different directions on the floor. Blood streamed from her mouth in hideous amounts, dribbling from her eyes as well, pupils shrunk down to tiny dots as hollow jade eyes stared up at the roof. Apata's flanks heaved with every shallow breath and every shrill scream, before she let out a deafening howl as her thighs suddenly sliced open, blood exploding violently from them and dripping out over the floor beneath her.

Cynder stepped quickly towards Apata to help her, but the earth dragoness let out another unearthly howl as four long, tongue-like tendrils of blood shot from her throat, lashing out at Cynder, causing her to step back with a frightened cry. The bloody tendrils retreated forcefully back into the earth dragoness' mouth, causing her to cough out bellowing rivers of dark blood.

"Apata, listen to me!" Cynder shouted. "You're going to be fine! Help is coming!"

The earth dragoness just screamed in response, kicking out savagely and throwing blood everywhere.

At long last, Muras, Logron and the earth dragon ran up into the room to meet Cynder, every single one of them recoiling at the horrific sight. The earth dragon swore violently, turning to throw up at the amount of blood streaming from the dragoness in front of him.

"What is going on?!" Logron demanded, his voice strained as he tried to keep his own stomach in control, the added smell of fresh vomit adding to the overpowering stench of blood.

"I don't know!" Cynder cried. "I got here and she was already like this, minus the cut thighs, which came out of nowhere!"

"This is not natural… at all…" Muras murmured.

Apata screamed again, but this time it sounded like a protest. Like she was screaming at something to get away from her. She held out a forepaw, glistening with dark blood that dripped onto the floor in long, thick strings. After a few seconds, the paw landed back on the bloody ground with a heavy splat.

"She's protesting; perhaps she's having a nightmare?" Logron suggested. "Maybe it's some sort of fear coma?"

"That is not a fear coma, Logron! I should know, having dealt a lot of them; they do not do that to a person!" Cynder scowled.

"Alright, well if it is some sort of weird nightmare that is causing such external damage as well, I'm going to try and see what's going on," Muras explained, turning to Logron. "I'm a mage, and should be able to see what's happening in her mind."

Logron's eyes widened at the new information, which was all a lie because Cynder knew this was phantasmal energy and other sorts of magic, but the mage story was somewhat believable.

Muras swallowed nervously as he took a cautious step forward. Another howl burst from Apata's jaws and the bloody tendrils lashed out from them again, causing her to gurgle and gag uncontrollable as the blood dripped down her throat. Muras ducked, dodging the furious tentacles that flew from Apata's maw. He slid in the pool of blood on the ground, losing his balance as he landed beside Apata's bloodied flank with a splat.

He sat there, putting a paw on Apata's heaving, bloody flank in an attempt to use his phantasm element to search through her essence core and spirit. Muras only stayed in this position for five seconds before the bloody tendrils rising from Apata's maw rushed towards the purple dragon, wrapping themselves forcefully around his throat and choking him, the earth dragoness' blood spilling down his red scales.

Cynder rushed forward to help him, lashing out with her claws at the bloody tendrils choking Muras, cutting them in half. She unwrapped Muras' neck from the decimated tendrils and dragged him back to safety alongside Logron, who was watching with fear and disgust on his face. The earth dragon that had gone to fetch Muras and Logron was long gone, likely out of absolute sickness, large puddles of vomit splattered on the floor behind them.

"Could you see anything?" Cynder asked, breathing heavily.

"No! I couldn't reach her spirit or core!" Muras croaked, coughing and holding his throat, stained red with a thick coating of Apata's blood.

Cynder's heart sank. They needed to stop this, but she didn't know how. Apata's screams tore at her head, and it felt as if her skull was going to collapse in on itself. She didn't know what to do anymore. The sheer feeling of hopelessness weighed down on her, worried that Apata was going to die. She didn't know what was causing Apata to be like this, and what would cause her to die of blood loss.

Another wordless whisper sounded in Cynder's ear, causing her to whirl around. Once more, nothing was there. Her breath was heavy, her heart pumping faster than it ever had, the sound of blood rushing through her veins roaring through her ears. Another whisper sounded, causing Cynder to look over her other side.

"Cynder? Are you alright?" Logron asked, concern edging his voice.

"I… I don't know, I keep hearing…" Cynder started, pausing to shout as another whisper sounded, with more force than usual. "I keep hearing whispers! They're getting stronger and stronger! I can feel them!"

"Calm down Cynder. You're fine."

"Nothing about this is fine! Nothing about these past few weeks have been fine!"

"Logron's right, Cynder. You need to calm down. Keep your head clear."

Another whisper sounded in Cynder's ear, the expelling air so forceful her instincts screamed at her to leap back, her ear ringing from the force of the rushing breathing. Her paw splattered in the puddle of vomit left behind them, and at the touch of the disgusting liquid, Cynder doubled back towards Apata.

Half-expecting another forceful whisper to breathe into her ears again, she was caught completely off guard as a demonic roar sounded from behind her. Cynder turned back and let out a cry as she saw Apata was the one roaring, bloody tendrils rushing out of the earth dragoness' maw again.

Cynder was too late to react as they wrapped themselves around her neck. The dark purple dragoness was forced to the ground with a heavy slam, constant indistinct whispering rising up all around her, sounding as if they were coming from hundreds of voices. At the same time, Apata continued screaming and roaring, her eyes rolling back in her head, displaying nothing but her bloodshot sclerae.

The bloody tendrils wrapped around Cynder's neck increased in strength, constricting her. The dragoness couldn't breathe as she reached up to try and pull against the tendrils. Darkness began to fill her vision.

From the corner of her vision Cynder noticed Muras and Logron get up and rush to her side, but bloody tendrils now began bursting from Apata's arms and chest, rushing in between Cynder and her two male companions, stopping them from cutting her free. The tendrils hung defensively over her, swinging and hovering around hypnotically like a cobra.

Cynder's vision continued to fade, blacking out at a seemingly exponential rate as it seemed to get faster and faster. Before long, she could see nothing. All she could hear was indistinct whispering, but it wasn't long before that was gone too.

Silence was all that greeted her.

Her eyes suddenly opened, ears filling up with sound again, swarmed by a high-pitched ringing. Blinking and shaking her head to get rid of it, she tried her best to stand to her paws. She stumbled, feeling hard rock beneath her paws, but quickly caught herself, bringing herself back to full height.

A deep, low rumbling droned around her, and the sky was pitch-black; there was no sun, no moons, no stars. Just black. Was this Apata's nightmare? It had to be. Cynder couldn't think of anything else that this could be, apart from Apata's nightmare.

A low snarl interrupted her thoughts. She turned around and gasped as she saw a shadowy, wispy form standing in front of her. Its eyes were eerie, glowing white orbs, resembling that of Dark Spyro back in the Well of Souls where the purple dragon had faced off with Gaul. The shadowy form's maw and nostrils also emanated with the eerie white light. A quiet, yet hoarse whisper sounded through Cynder's left ear, much like it had before, and she whirled around to see yet another shadowy apparition.

Who were these shadows? What was she doing here? Where was she? Cynder originally thought this was Apata's nightmare but now she was really starting to think it was her own. Did these shadows exist just to torment her?

"No, Ccynder," one of the apparitions hissed, sending shivers down Cynder's spine. The form had a female voice, low and menacing. "You are in the Ghoul Realm, a world where a dragon'sss sspirit iss tormented in their ssssleep. Hardly any sssspiritss make it out alive."

"The one who killed usss hass covered your world with enough darknessss, allowing usss to crosss over and connect with your world," the other ghoul said, male. "Every ssspirit, living or dead, hass itsss own ghoul, like polar opposssitesss, and the ghoulsss live in here, waiting to torment the ssspiritsss of thosse closse to them."

"So… wait is that what's going on with Apata?" Cynder exclaimed.

"It might be. But it'sss alsso happening to you. That whissspering you heard? That wass usss, calling you into our realm," the male ghoul snarled. "It wasss only a matter of time before you crosssed over, but it wasss jusst quickened by connecting through the ssspirit you call 'Apata'!"

Cynder stepped back, fear taking hold of her. The two ghouls chuckled, stepping closer towards her. The shadows then started to melt away from their bodies, revealing old, rotten, maimed forms. Forms that she recognised.

On the female, large, wild cuts decorated her abdomen, exposing her stomach, intestines and kidneys, as thick, dark blood dripped from the wounds onto the ground. Rotten, peeling flesh surrounded them. Long rings of bloody cuts circled their way around both her forepaws. A wicked cut also decorated her throat, so deep and savage that it exposed the bone in her neck. Half of the limbs on the female's body should be gone, seemingly held intact by the blood, as if it was glue, despite the way it ran down her body in floods.

The male also had a nasty wound painted on his throat, although it didn't stretch around the entire circumference of his neck. Other than that, he was rather free of any wounds.

But the worst thing about the ghouls were their eyes. The sclerae were black, glowing white blood vessels snaking around them, bulging out of the eye. The irises were grey. Dead. The female's eyes even streamed blood. The blood seemed to flow almost constantly from their bodies, as if there was no limit to the amount they could hold. Even though the colouring on their scales had faded and rotted away, Cynder could tell by the colouration that the scales had once been grey.

These were wind dragons, but not just any wind dragons.

Her parents. These ghouls were her parents, and they had come to torment her.

"Why didn't you sssave uss, daughter?" the ghoul of Fyrus snarled, snout wrinkled in a savage frown. "You ssaw my mate. You sssaw me. You ssaw ussss."

"You were right there, Cccynder," Kreshaar's ghoul added. "But you did nothing to help usss. You let usss die!"

Oh hell, Cynder thought with unadulterated horror. My parents blame me! They blame me for their deaths! I didn't do anything to stop it, and… and now they're tormenting me, punishing me, condemning me! They're going to damn me to hell and I won't be able to do anything about it! I don't see any way out of here!

Ghoul-Kreshaar let out an amused hiss. "You're frightened, Ccynder! Don't try to hide your fear from usss; we can feel it! It ssscreamss for itss acknowledgement!"

"Stop it! Stop it please!" Cynder pleaded. "I have to get to Apata!"

A new voice spoke up, gravelling and deep. "Apata iss gone to you now. The only isssue left to deal with iss you, Cccynder."

Another voice, cold and proper. "You left usss to die."

Yet another voice, quick and speedy. "You left usss to the clawsss of death itssself."

Cynder swore as she turned around to see the guardians standing behind her. Terrador, Volteer and Cyril stood, heads hanging low, eyes dark and sinister, blood streaming from all over their bodies. Tears brimmed her eyes when she saw them.

She inhaled to plead to them, but was interrupted by a fourth voice. Young and female. "You let me die, Cccynder."

Cynder turned and saw the ghoulish form of Electrika. Behind her was Oren and Tyrax. All three of them spoke in unison, "You could have sssaved uss, but you didn't."

More ghouls began to appear from the darkness. She didn't recognise most of these ghouls. Were these maimed dragons people she had killed as the Terror of the Skies? She looked over and saw a family. She didn't remember them, but she did know who they were, thanks to verbal explanation from Vetar. They were his family.

Two little dragonesses stood, rotted and bloody, one with a huge hole in her chest, exposing her ribs and lungs, but the heart was missing, and the other with bloody lacerations painted all over her body to the point where the ghouls was almost entirely red with the sticky blood. The larger dragoness, the kids' mother and Vetar's mate, had a slit throat that spilled huge amounts of blood, as did several other lacerations on her chest, arms and face.

But the thing that broke Cynder's heart the most was the dragoness' swollen belly. She remembered that Vetar said his mate was gravid when she had killed her. Even as the rest of the family was present in the form of ghouls, the spirit or ghoul of the unhatched, unlaid dragon was absent.

All of the masses of dragons that had walked up roared at her. "Why? Why didn't you sssave uss? Why didn't you fight him?"

The ghouls continued roaring insults at her, her parents, friends and the guardians joining them. The sound was so insanely loud that Cynder collapsed to the ground, covering her ears. There were easily a thousand voices roaring in unison at her.

"Why didn't you ssstop him? You could have sssaved uss. We wouldn't have had to die."

"I don't know what you're talking about! I couldn't have! If I could have I would! Just stop!" Cynder cried, now reduced to tears as the hideous amalgamation of voices echoed painfully through her head. She guessed they were talking about both Malefor and Spyro at the same time. She didn't fight Malefor as the Terror of the Skies, nor could she stop Spyro. But she couldn't. She couldn't save the souls that had been lost to them. Once again, she felt hopeless, worthless, unable to do anything. Powerless.

She then widened her eyes as she noticed something odd as the ghouls all spoke in unison. The ghoul of Volteer didn't speak. His mouth hung open, eyes glaring down at her angrily, judgmentally, but he did not produce sound.

Cynder was about to attempt to wonder why until she saw Kreshaar and Fyrus walk up to her, scowls on their hideous, rotten faces. Cynder scrambled backwards with a frightened scream, all thoughts of Volteer thrown away. "Get away from me!" Cynder screamed at the two ghouls closing in on her.

"But Cccynder, we're jusst trying to get anssswerss from you."

"But I don't know what you want from me! Why do you want answers from me?!" Cynder sobbed, before she raised her voice in a frantic cry and screamed for help. "Someone help me! Someone tell me where I am! Please! Get me out of here!"

"Thisss iss our paradissse, Cccynder. No one can hear you, no one can help you, and you will never leave! We will torture you until you anssswer our quesssstionss."

"Well can you explain them a little more? I don't know what you want from me!"

The ghouls roared in anger, speaking with one voice, mingling together as even more voices joined the chorus. Cynder screamed in pain as her ears began to bleed.

"You are not the one to be asssking quesstionsss, Ccynder! Now ansswer usss! Why didn't you sssave uss?! Why didn't you sstop him?! TELL USSSS!"

"Who are you talking about?!" Cynder cried, before her words were interrupted by a loud scream that tore from her throat, her brain throbbing painfully against her skull, a splitting headache taking hold of her. She willed the pain to cease. She willed the pain to go somewhere else and never return.

Of course fate seemed to have a dark, sadistic sense of humour, as the pain did go somewhere else. The flesh in her arms ruptured, spilling blood everywhere. Cynder shrieked as the blood ran down her body, before it rose up into the air like it had with Apata, spiralling up around her like a sadistic, teasing serpent. The throbbing strings of blood began licking at her face, staining her tear-stricken face with her own blood. She cringed in fear and disgust, wanting to get away but knowing she was unable to.

Cynder looked up and saw her mother move towards her, bloody claw raised. The dark purple dragoness flinched and continued asking questions, much to the ghouls' dissapointment. "Who is this 'him' you're talking about? Is it Spyro? Is it Malefor? I don't know, there's victims from everyone here!"

"You know very well the Overlord whom we ssspeak of! Now ansswer our quesstion or you will reccceive consssequencccesss! WHY DIDN'T YOU SSSTOP HIM?! WHY DIDN'T YOU SSSAVE US?!"

The final roar was deafening now as a thousand more voices joined the chorus. Cynder was sure these were now dragons who had nothing to do with her: dragons who were all victims of Malefor and Spyro, blaming her for not doing anything sooner to stop Malefor, and blaming her for standing around and letting them die by Spyro's claws.

Cynder inhaled and screamed at the ghouls. "I couldn't fight back against Malefor! I needed Spyro to do that! And I can't fight back against Spyro! He's too strong!" she wailed, not even fighting back against the self-doubt that hammered upon her. "I'm a failure! I'm terrified of failing and letting the world down! I just want to do what's right and stop this but I can't! I can't!"

"You never even tried to fight Malefor, you worm! And it'ssss your fault for not doing anything to sssave uss from your lover!"

"SPYRO IS NOT MY LOVER!" Cynder howled.

Immediately, her stomach contracted, forcing a shriek from her throat. She keeled over, recognising this feeling, remembering the force of that cursed egg being pushed out of her. Cynder looked up, seeing Ghoul-Kreshaar staring down at her with a smirk, paw held out in front of her. She clenched her paw tightly, and immediately another spasm overtook Cynder, pain now spreading throughout the rest of her stomach.

"That purple demon was the one who put that damn egg inside you, you filthy maggot! He was the one that went insside you to do ssso! NOW ANSSWER THE DAMNED QUESSSTION!"

Without even giving Cynder time to respond, Kreshaar clenched her paw again, even tighter, causing another strong contraction to possess Cynder. A howl tore from her throat, her voice cracking under the pressure of the scream. She kicked out, rolling over to her side, tears streaming down her face as she screamed in agony.

Cynder willed the pain to stop, before the flesh in her shoulders ruptured, sending even more blood down her arms and into the air around her as the bloody tendrils rose to continue caressing and licking at her, persistently going at her face but beginning to go up and down the length of her neck as well.

Her stomach contracted a fourth time, but with it came a rush of hot blood as it began spilling down her rear. Curse these ghouls for torturing her with this phantom pain of laying an egg all over again, only ten-times worse, given the horrible creatures they were. Curse them for reminding her of the love she had once had for Spyro, that she deeply regretted, leaving her in utter agony.

The dark purple dragoness could feel the blood spilling out of her rear forming into those hideous bloody tendrils, caressing her flanks and butt, and she wanted to be sick. She was suddenly overtaken by a double convulsion as she retched and pushed at the same time. She let out a shrill howl after she swallowed her vomit, wanting this nightmare to end.

Even more torture was added to this as she felt something inside her chest leaking, and she knew it was her heart. A gush of blood forced its way out of her chest and began caressing her rounded chest.

Cynder knew she had to speak or else the pain wouldn't stop. She'd already answered their question, saying that she was powerless to stop Spyro, but she knew that she needed to just keep talking, and to plead. Maybe that would work.

"I tried! I tried, I swear! I'm not ready for this yet! The war's just beginning and I don't know what I'm doing! I can't save everyone!" Cynder wailed, only to be answered by another contraction and spurt of blood, causing her to scream constant apologies through her stream of heavy, salty tears. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm trying so hard to stop this, I swear!"

Kreshaar's ghoul let out a deafening roar, and the other ghouls followed. Her ears were bleeding so profusely she began to lose feeling inside them, also forming blood snakes that tenderised her forehead and nape, causing her to feel even more uncomfortable. Her stomach contracted yet again. Cynder let out a loud howl, which was cut off by a heavy retch as blood was pulled up from her stomach into her throat. A disgusting belch forced its way out, bringing with it the onslaught of gunky blood that had been brought up.

The ghoul that was her mother loomed over her, grinning darkly as she raised a claw. Cynder flinched, blabbering indistinctly. "You're not trying hard enough, Cccynder. You let usss die," she hissed.

"I didn't let you die! I didn't let any of you die! I tried to stop him! I'm sorry!" Cynder protested amongst her heavy tears. "Get away from me please!"

"You let ussss die," Kreshaar hissed. "You hid like a coward with my ssson, and forccced him to sstay back while he mourned, watching ussss get murdered!"

Cynder lowered her head with a broken wail as she realised Ghoul-Kreshaar was right. In respects to Kreshaar and Fyrus' deaths, she didn't try to stop Spyro at all, keeping herself and Aerus hidden. Pain flared through her cheek as Kreshaar's raised claw came down on her. She cried out in pain, and another spasm overtook her, stronger than the rest. Once more she howled so hard her voice cracked.

She turned and saw the ghoul of Volteer again. All the other ghouls had a devilish smile on their face. Volteer had a blank look, as if he wasn't all there. Still lying on the ground, she turned her body around and began to crawl towards Volteer. Something about him seemed to be calling to her. None of the ghouls moved or spoke as Cynder crawled at an agonisingly slow rate towards Volteer, dragging her blood-drenched body along the ground. She was interrupted twice by contractions and more violent pushes of thick blood.

When she got to Volteer, they locked eyes. She faltered in the savage gaze of the ghoul, reaching out to him in desperation. Her paw briefly touched the bloody, rotten skin on Volteer's leg, before a flash of blinding light filled her vision, a demonic howl ringing throughout the world around her.

Cynder was forced to close her eyes, but when the light died enough for her to open them, she found she was all alone. Her pain had gone, the bloody tendrils tenderising her also gone. She was lying in the same position as she had been earlier, lying on a hard, rocky mountainside, the same pitch-black sky surrounding her. She was still in the Ghoul Realm, but she was free, somehow, from her own demons.

Praise the ancestors, she thought, standing up and wiping the remaining blood off her, but she was completely fine. A quick smile flashed on her face, before it faded as a dire thought entered her mind. But what about Apata? She's in here too. What if she's going through that? What if she can't get out like I did?

Cynder suddenly began to wonder why touching Volteer had let her out of her own personal hell, but she threw the thought away as Apata became her first priority. She knew she needed to find the earth dragoness, but she was also terrified about doing that. Apata would be facing her own ghouls: her family and friends, her personal life, whatever it may be. Cynder didn't think it was right to invade on Apata like that.

But if it was going to save Apata and make her healthy again, then she knew she had to.

Cynder only hoped that Apata wouldn't blame her for barging into her personal memories. She didn't know what she was going to see or hear, and she was a little worried, although she knew that doing this would be for Apata's own good. The earth dragoness could die if left too long in this state; she'd already lost enough blood in the waking world. Or, she could be turned into a servent of darkness instead, if that's how this whole thing worked. She'd already experienced a few strange mutations as evident with the bloody tendrils that had shot out of her body.

She then realised if the same thing had happened to her unconscious body.

Cynder shook the thought away, focusing on the task and not wanting to waste any time. She advanced further into the Ghoul Realm, calling Apata's name. Her pawsteps were oddly loud and rumbled around her, but she stayed brave as she searched for the earth dragoness.

A scream tore through the air. At first, Cynder thought it was Apata, but the scream was too demonic for it to be Apata, and it seemed like more of a screech. She ran towards the sound, wondering if Apata was nearby. She paused and crouched among a pile of rocks as a black, muddy, draconic form with blinding white eyes staggered over the rocky terrain. It was a ghoul, much like the ones she herself had experienced. She had to be careful; they were obviously everywhere.

The ghoul raised its head, looking around, before stalking off again, in complete silence. Cynder waited a while, before she came out from her hiding place and began to stalk the ghoul. She had an odd feeling it would take her to Apata. Cynder attempted to place her paws on the ground as lightly as possible, as she was a physical being and created sound as she moved, unlike the shadowy ghoul in front of her.

It turned abruptly, walking into a large, dark cave. Cynder paused, before turning and following the ghoul into the eerie ravine. As she entered the dark cave, she found that she couldn't see the apparition anymore. She cursed, thinking she was lost in this mysterious realm, looking around frantically, until she heard a loud, terrified howl emanate from deeper down the ravine.

Now that was Apata's scream!

Cynder quickened her pace as she followed the sound, attempting to remain as quiet as possible. She came out of the tunnel on top of a ledge, and she stared down into a large open room. In the middle of the room lay Apata, shouting and crying, covered in blood like Cynder had, only without the blood snakes. Five ghouls loomed over her, their shadowy shroud gone and revealing rotten, bloodied corpses that all slashed at the poor earth dragoness, her pleas for mercy going unheeded.

"SSSTOP!"

Cynder froze as the distorted hiss echoed through the room, knowing that another ghoul was coming. The five ghouls attacking Apata froze in place, lowering their claws before stepping in a line formation behind Apata. Loud pawsteps were heard, resounding around the rocky chamber. Cynder looked down at Apata, whose whimpering was getting stronger, trying to scramble away, only to be stopped as two of the ghouls attacking her earlier moved forward and grabbed her tightly, preventing her escape.

A mauled dragon stepped out of the darkness of the massive chamber and into view, his form horrendously twisted out of proportion. A wing was twisted at an odd angle, and one of his horns was completely missing, blood streaming from the stump. His left forepaw was wrenched at an awkward angle, causing him to limp, and rotted holes and bloody cuts scattered his frame. A massive, disgusting slice stretched across the dragon's neck, spilling blood and small strings of flesh. His left eye was missing too. The form of his long, spiralling horn, the huge muscles, and the faded green hue of his scales gave away his identity as an earth dragon.

Apata was in tears now as the ugly dragon revealed himself. She spoke in a blubbering mess, unable to form words. "Don't cry, sssssweetheart," the ghoul hissed with a low chuckle, his voice deep and cold, yet oddly soothing. "You're sssafe with me."

"Go away from me! You're supposed to be dead!" Apata managed to croak out.

"Come on, ssssweetheart. That'ssss no way to ssspeak to…"

"I'm not your sweetheart, Father!" Apata screamed, spitting the last word out venomously. Cynder flinched at the tone of voice, but also the revelation that this dragon was her father. This was just as horrible as her own experience where both her parents had initiated her torture.

"What'ss wrong?" Apata's father asked. "Do you not want me asss your father? I heard the maliccce in your voiccce. Why?"

"You sold us out. You know damn well what you did, you traitor!"

"And what did I do, Apata Barguenn? Enlighten me."

"Why? You should know what you did!"

"I want to hear it from your own mouth."

"Just to rebuke me and shoot me down? Just like you always did?"

"Tell me what I did ssso wrong for you to want to disssown me like you are."

"Fine! You went and joined Malefor's forces during the Time Crystal Period, and you sold us out! You gave us away and forced us to flee! And what did you get from it all?! Death! What you did awarded you nothing!" Apata howled, causing Cynder's eyes to widen in shock, her heart racing against her chest.

"At leassst you're ssafe."

"Mother isn't! Harath isn't! They both perished, and your hypocrisy is to blame! I blame you for everything that happened to them, and to my friends!"

"They don't ssseem to blame me."

At this, two more horrendously mauled forms walked out from behind Apata's father. The first was an earth dragoness, both wings missing and a clean cut running down her tail that split it in two. A massive lump of welling blood in her chest spilled from where her heart should be. The second was a younger earth dragon that looked to be about seventeen, his head red with blood as pieces of rotten brain spilled out the right side of his head. His jaw was crooked and his entire tail was missing, blood spilling out of the stump on his rear.

Apata's father turned to the female and kissed her passionately, cracked lips caressing each other vigorously. They pulled away with a loud smack of the lips, before he spoke to her. "Yartûl, our preccciouss daughter wrongly accussesss me of your deathsss," he muttered, putting an emphasis that seemed almost sarcastic on the word 'precious'.

The earth dragoness, Yartûl, made a confused expression. "I have no idea what drug ssshe'ss on, Parintyke. You did nothing wrong. Our deathsss were unfortunate occurencccess causssed by Malefor and hiss dark army," she replied, before leaning forward and kissing Parintyke again, their lips moving quickly. A low growl of content rumbled from Parintyke's throat, the vibration pushing blood out of the wicked slice along it.

The sight sickened Cynder. These creatures were not Apata's family. If what Apata said about Parintyke was true, in that he, her own father, joined Malefor's ranks and sold them out, whether he was rewarded with death or not, then Yartûl in the living world would not be so caring to him.

But now they were distorted by this realm, and although they had once loved each other, the thing as pure as love was now distorted to a point where it became something disgusting and fake, created to hurt Apata even more.

Apata turned to who Cynder assumed was her brother, Harath, with a shocked glare, not even caring to speak to her parents as they continued to kiss. "Please, Harath. Brother. Say this isn't real," Apata pleaded between sobs.

Harath stepped forward, leaving his parents behind him, stopping a few metres in front of Apata. He loomed over her as she lay on the floor, pinned to the ground by the ghouls behind her, who had remained silent throughout the ordeal. "Father isss a good dragon," Harath croaked. "He never brought any harm unto usss. It wasssn't hiss fault that we died and you're ssstill alive."

"But it is! It is his fault, you damned fool! You said so yourself just before you died!" Apata screamed. "'I hate you, Father,' you screamed! You screamed at him to go to hell!"

"Fear doesss thingss to you, sssisster," Harath replied. "I never really meant it. And I'm ssssure Father wasss sscared too, which wass why he did what he did. He wasss petrified, ssso what he did wass not hisss fault."

"No, you're just making up stories! What Father did was cowardice and he destroyed our family! He destroyed everything!"

"Apata! Ssstop harassssing your brother!" Parintyke scolded after pulling away from Yartûl, padding forward threateningly. Apata cowered pitifully, letting out whimpers of protest. Cynder tensed, ready to spring down, deciding she wasn't going to let Apata's torture go any further.

Just before Parintyke could raise his claw, Cynder leapt down from the ledge she was standing on and on top of Parintyke. Apata let out a shocked cry, scrambling backwards. The five ghouls standing behind her let out loud screeches, before turning and fleeing. Cynder didn't know whether they fled our of fear, or whether they were getting more reinforcements. She hoped it was the former.

Cynder let out a roar and lowered her head to bite down on Parintyke's already bloodied neck, but Harath leapt on top of her with a cry of defiance, tearing her off Parintyke. They landed on the ground, Cynder underneath Harath. She released a siren scream at him, causing him to rear and clutch his head as he rolled sideways off her in a howling, screeching wreck.

A demonic howl sounded behind Cynder, and she saw Yartûl lunge at her, claws outstretched and jaws gaping wide, ready to bite her neck. Cynder spat poison down Yartûl's exposed throat, causing her to fall to the ground with gurgling cries.

Cynder turned to Apata and helped her to her paws, Apata's blood dripping and smudging all over her body. "We've got to get out of here!" Cynder explained. "Do you think you can still run?"

Apata just nodded in response, to shocked to say a word. With that, Cynder turned and ran down the cave and into the darkness, checking back behind her occasionally to make sure Apata was still close to her.

Unfortunately, Parintyke was also running up behind them, as was Harath. He'd recovered surprisingly quick, but then again he was a ghoul that also lived in a place where there was no regard to real life logic, hence how they were still alive with all their wounds. Fear comas would not last long at all.

Neither would the effects of poison, Cynder realised, as Yartûl also picked herself up off the ground behind them, a dark aura surrounding her body as she began to follow them all.

Parintyke let out a savage roar from behind them. "Return my daughter back to me!" he screamed, leaping into the air towards Apata.

He tackled his daughter to the ground, forcing a scream of pain and fear out of Apata's jaws. Parintyke was quick to stand, biting down forcefully on Apata's left hind leg, pulling her backwards. Cynder screeched to a halt and turned around, before she breathed a thin stream of shadow fire at Parintyke, careful not to harm Apata with the fire. Parintyke shouted as he was engulfed in the black inferno, releasing Apata's leg. She scrambled to her paws, hobbling forward towards Cynder, favouring her bloody, mauled leg.

"Run, Apata! I'll hold them off! Leave the cave and meet me outside!" Cynder ordered, and Apata willingly obliged, wanting nothing to do with the ghouls that were her family. "And if you come across any ghouls, try your absolute best to outrun them!"

Immediately after finishing her sentence, she was tackled by both Parintyke and Yartûl, both of them having recovered really quickly, Parintyke from the scorching shadow fire and Yartûl from the poison that had been coursing through her body barely a few seconds ago. Cynder roared in pain as her wing was twisted at an awkward angle underneath the weight of her own body, as well as Parintyke and Yartûl's. Cynder thrashed about underneath the couple, managing to slice her claws down Parintyke's chest, causing him to recoil and stagger backwards.

Yartûl let out another demonic screech, disregarding a normal draconic appearance as she suddenly underwent a hideous transformation, her faded green eyes turning a vibrant red with bloodlust, her pupils and black sclerae disappearing entirely, leaving her eyes nothing but glossy red balls. She roared, blood spilling down her jaws instead of saliva, before four bloody tentacles shot out of her throat, wrapping themselves tightly around Cynder's neck. Cynder choked, feeling her neck giving way under the force of the disgusting, strong fronds of blood. She felt herself being lifted up off the ground, her legs dangling uselessly underneath her as she tried to loosen the tendrils on her neck with her forepaws.

With a strangled cry, she let out a siren scream to try and immobilise Yartûl momentarily, but it didn't work. Yartûl let out another roar, before throwing up a torrent of blood, splattering all over Cynder. She tried to groan in disgust, but her breath was failing her as the grip around her neck increased.

Ancestors help me! Cynder pleaded, having no strength to say it verbally.

Cynder thrashed about more, trying to keep her strength up as the hold around her neck got even tighter, and she started to see spots. She let out a croak, before raising a shaky claw and trying to cut through the bloody tendrils constricting her. She quickly cut them all off with two wild swipes of her claws, before she collapsed to the ground, pulling the tentacles off her.

Yartûl opened her mouth with a gurgle and it seemed like more blood tentacles were going to lunge out of her throat, so Cynder got up as quick as she good, slamming her horns up into Yartûl's chin, sending her staggering backwards.

Cynder scrambled to her paws before she turned and ran after Apata. A massive spike of earth shot up from underneath her as she ran, flipping her over in a half-somersault as she landed painfully on her back. Harath leapt towards her, a sadistic smile on his face. Cynder rolled out of his way, and his claws hit bare rock.

Harath turned and lunged towards her again, but Cynder brought her tailblade up, slicing Harath's chest open with a spray of blood. He was stunned, allowing Cynder time to get to her paws again.

His recovery was almost immediate. As soon as Cynder was on her paws, she was knocked down again by an earth missile, digging profusely into her side. Harath leapt on top of her, pinning her to the ground, smiling devilishly. He raised his claws ready to cut into her chest.

Cynder's eyes widened, disappearing into her shadow before he could bring his claws down, sending him off balance and face first into the ground. Cynder fled, still hidden inside her shadow as she ran out of the cave. After running for a few minutes, she leapt out of her shadow, her spark close to drained of energy. There was only enough left for one, maybe two attacks.

She kept running however, looking around for Apata. A scream sounded from around the corner. "Apata!" Cynder cried, picking up speed as she followed the direction of the scream.

Apata was cornered against the mountain by eight ghouls, snarling at her, roaring with one combined voice.

"Go and join your family, Apata! They've been grieving for you! They want you to be with them! Why would you leave them to sssuffer alone?"

Cynder let out a loud howl, causing all the ghouls to stare at her, fear filling their gazes as they turned and fled, screeching. It was fear that drove them off, but why were they afraid of her? Was it because these ghouls were from Apata's life and had nothing to do with her? She shouldn't even be here in Apata's little world.

Cynder ignored the thought as she ran to Apata, who had been reduced to tears yet again. "When will this stop?!" she wailed. "I just want to go home!"

The dark purple dragoness swore. She didn't think of that. They were both stuck inside the Ghoul Realm, and she wasn't sure how they were going to be able to get out. Low snarls sounded from around them, and Cynder saw Parintyke sprinting towards them. But behind Parintyke, tearing over the crest of the rocky hill was…

The ghoul of Malefor.

Cynder swore even harder, grabbing Apata and urging her to run. They both tore off in a spring as they were chased down by the two ghouls. Apata was in tears, not only by seeing her father's ghoul but also at the sight of Malefor. She must've seen Malefor in the flesh when he attacked her home after Parintyke sold it out. Cynder was terrified because of all that Malefor had done to her.

A part of her screamed 'Muras'. She still didn't trust the purple dragon, and now upon seeing the ghoul of Malefor, her distrust likened him to the devilish monster hunting them. But Muras was different now. Her spirit burned with a passion that Muras was different to Malefor, but her mind and soul howled at her that they were one and the same, and Muras was going to take her away and corrupt her again, like what Malefor was trying to do.

Cynder cursed, wanting to get the distracting thoughts away. All she wanted was to get away from these ghouls hunting them. She looked to the side and saw the entrance to another dark cave. Cynder shouted out to Apata to go into it, and they did. Upon their entrance, Cynder ordered Apata to block the entrance with her earth element, so the earth dragoness quickly turned and caused the mouth of the cave to collapse with a heavy earth missile setting the roof loose, as well as adding some extra fortification by creating big pillars of stone.

Cynder let some shadow fire burn inside her mouth, illuminating the cave with a purple-orange light. "Come on," Cynder said. "We need to get further in. It's more dangerous up near the mouth of the cave where all the ghouls are."

Apata just nodded in response. They walked for a few more minutes before the two dragonesses finally sat down. Almost immediately after they wept, Apata had leapt into Cynder's grasp, sobbing into her chest and digging her sharp claws into her shoulders. Cynder let the earth dragoness grip her, no matter how much blood was being shed from the puncture wounds. Cynder let her cry.

She opened her wings and brought them around Apata, sadness filling her as she watched the normally strong and well-composed dragoness break down. She quietly shushed her, feeling Apata's heavy trembling. "It's okay, Apata. It's alright," she whispered soothingly. "I'm here. You're going to be fine."

"Please don't tell anyone about that!" Apata wept. "About what my father did! Please, it hurt! It hurt so much!"

"I know. You'll be fine. What happened is between us two," Cynder replied. "And I won't question you about anything I saw. If you want to talk, I'll be here for you, but I won't pressure you into talking about anything you don't want to."

Not like I did with Muras, Cynder suddenly remembered.

He deserved it.

Cynder hated herself for doubting herself and doubting Muras like that, but she couldn't shake the feeling away. She still didn't know what to feel about him yet.

No, she couldn't dwell on Muras. Apata was hurting. She needed to be there for her. She needed to be a comforter, a friend. Just being Apata's military leader wasn't good enough. Not in this situation. Apata was weeping and frightened, and this wasn't just a fear you could say 'get over it' to and be stern about it. This was serious.

"You're safe, Apata," Cynder said again as Apata began to calm herself down, loosening her grip on Cynder's shoulders. "Are you alright?"

Apata swallowed, before nodding, the movement seeming like a nuzzle due to the fact her cheek was rubbing against Cynder's chest after crying into it. "I'm fine… I just wasn't… I just wasn't expecting to see my… my family again," she whimpered.

"They were not your family, Apata," Cynder explained quietly. "They were ghouls, creatures of the Ghoul Realm that are created to torment us. I'm not sure how much of it is truth, but I was told by one of the ghouls that visited me that each spirit in our world has its own opposite, a ghoul, in this realm. Kind of like a 'dark side'."

"Well if that's the case, then they may not have been Mother and Harath," Apata growled. "But that sure as hell was my father! He was always abusive! He never wanted kids! He only stuck around because he wanted to be with Mother! He only stuck around for love, and to mate! He hated me and Harath!

"He was a coward. He became so scared when Malefor broke free from Convexity that he went and joined their forces! Sold us out! Endangered everyone that lived in Rahggen, my hometown! Hundreds were killed that night, including Mother and Harath, and even more so, Father. I was one of three to escape Rahggen, but I was the only one to remain alive. Plo'garr died a few days later at the paws of a grublin, and Ludérus was abducted by Malefor. I never saw him again.

"I then went to Warfang to join the army, so I could prove myself as strong and worthy so I could fight against what killed Mother and Harath, and to fight against what Father did to us. So I don't care what you say, but that damned worm who tormented me was my father, SENT FROM HELL ITSELF!"

Apata's final roar was tainted with absolute grief, rage and despair. Cynder was heartbroken at not only the story, but Apata's tone of voice. But ancestors, what type of father would do that? Abuse their children and betray their family to serve darkness?

Right, Spyro.

But Spyro was different. She was sure Parintyke wasn't like her ex-mate.

Apata was growling again, speaking through clenched teeth and an onslaught of tears. "All I want is to forget about my childhood, where I was hurt every damned day, and then I get all this come to laugh in my face!"

Cynder sighed sadly. She felt absolutely horrible for the poor earth knew what it was like to be beaten as a kid, when she was the Terror of the Skies, but Gaul was not her father. She couldn't even fathom what it was be like if Fyrus, her own father, was abusive to her had she still been around her family. If Fyrus didn't want her. If Fyrus only stuck around for Kreshaar, and to mate with her. She couldn't believe anyone would ever do that.

She strengthened her hug around Apata. The earth dragoness had been through so much, things that Cynder knew children didn't deserve. To be beaten and hated by their father? To be unwanted? Cynder knew that was unfair and not right.

Cynder sniffled, feeling herself on the verge of tears. Trying to hold them back, she looked around her at the deep, dark cave. She groaned, knowing she needed to get home, back into the waking world. But how? Cynder didn't even know how she got here. The ghouls had sucked her in by using the bloody tendrils from Apata's body. Now how do they get out?

The dark purple dragoness took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. She didn't pray often, but she knew that the ancestors would most likely be the only way out. "Dear ancestors, if you can hear me, please… please help me and Apata to get out of here. Please give us a way to get back home," she prayed.

As soon as she finished praying, she opened her eyes and looked around, desperate for a sign. She swivelled her head around, studying every detail in the dark cave around her. She breathed shadow fire in the air to get a better view of the cave, but there was nothing. Several more minutes of silence went by.

Nothing. There was no response. Either the ancestors couldn't hear her in this realm, or they truly had left. Now Cynder joined Apata as she bent her head and began weeping softly, hopelessly wafting over her as she suddenly felt trapped, stuck inside this hell for eternity.

"Cynder," Apata murmured, tapping Cynder on the shoulder.

"What?"

Apata just pointed. Cynder followed the earth dragoness' talon to another corridor, a small one, running out along the side of the cave. A soft white light illuminated from the corridor, almost inviting them towards it. Cynder and Apata gazed concerned glances, but despite their nervousness they both stood and walked towards it.

They headed down the illuminated corridor, coming to a large chasm where the source of the white light lay. A large pool of glowing white water, sparkling white particles floating up into the air.

"Think this is the way out?" Cynder questioned.

"May as well try. We're either stuck in this hell or not," Apata replied, sniffling.

So together, they both jumped down the chasm, into the deep well of the water. The white glow blinded them, but for some reason they couldn't close their eyes. All they saw was white as they sunk deep down into the water. They reached out for each other, having been separated and unable to see the other person due to the white glow, but could not find any other life form.

Their vision slowly began to fade, from blinding white, to a dark, empty black.

So, that happened lol. Things are continuing to get worse, and hopefully I made the Ghoul Realm terrifying enough lol.

Anyway, I'm starting to get ahead on writing again, I just finished writing Chapter 38 so being two chapters ahead is a good feeling. It's been hard to write as of recently though, I have no idea why, but I think I'm starting to pick it up again after spending so long just not writing at all lol.

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Dragon of Mystery: Glad you enjoyed it, and back to the scheduled horrific events lol. Also btw Narsuff, the author of Forgotten Violet, was a guy lol, not a girl.

Derick Lindsey: Yeah, breather chapters are good. They're fun to write and it's good to step away from the violence and horror every once in a while (I guess that was also a big reason why I wanted to write GEM; I need to get started on Chapter 6 for that haha). Also considering how dark this story is, your scenario about Aerus and Pyron and stuff having to fight over who gets to tear off Muras' head is kinda fitting haha.

AquillaPrime: Muras is meant to be a very different character to the Malefor we all know him as. A lot of that goes into Cynder doubting her thoughts on him, as we've already seen just briefly on the way to Warfang a few chapters back.

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Glad you all liked the last chapter, and hope you enjoyed this one! Have a good day, stay safe, and I'll see you in the next chapter!