Hello, people of Earth and beyond! This is a story I might do in my spare time or when my Truth or Dare has hit a pause (which it has). For those of you who are reading this that are familiar with my T&D, I've hit a little Writer's Block which is just small enough to slow down my progress and just large enough to be a real annoyance.

I'm not sure if this idea is entirely original, but here's MY version of the Legend of Cynder!

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters in this story except for two apes which I have given real names and personalities to.

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The Birth of Darkness

In the Year of the Dragon, in a world beyond the realms, I, like all the others, awaited the birth of the dragon of whom the prophecies foretold.

But the Dark Master heard the prophecies as well. I should have hidden the eggs long before.

But I... I thought we were ready. I thought they were safe.

Oh, how I was wrong…

Walls cracked and eggs tumbled in the tremors from the temple roof. Ignitus, who was completely engrossed in guarding the clutch, was taken by surprise and nearly lost his footing. The stones crumbled to the floor as he wobblingly stared at the collapsing ceiling.

"Save them!" came a shout. Ignitus quickly turned to see Volteer run through the door that led from the room with the Pool of Visions The electric dragon was out of breath, but his eyes were ruthlessly determined. "The dark armies have come!"

As falling rubble hurtled to the cobblestone floor, Ignitus panicked, knowing all too well that he wouldn't be able to save every young life that was awaiting birth in this nursery. The Fire Guardian quickly snatched the purple dragon egg and ran out through the back door and out into the starless night.

Volteer didn't have long to catch his breath. The moment Ignitus fled from the hatchery, half a dozen muscular ape warriors broke in through the temple doors and began grabbing eggs, smashing them against the ground. In a burst of energy, the ever-dutiful Volteer stood up tall and managed to incinerate one of the smaller beasts.

But without the breath for him to use his magic, Volteer felt virtually powerless. The largest ape, taking advantage of the Thunder Guardian's weakened state, brandished his club high in the air. "This one's for you, mother!" he cried as he slammed it hard against Volteer's neck.

The Thunder Guardian was knocked out, but still alive. The massive primate knew how important his life would be in the plan to release the Dark Master from his prison. Knowing that time was quickly fleeing, the ape boomed, "Will one of you numbskulls grab the black egg already and go?!"

"I got the egg!" At that, a medium-sized ape picked up a black egg which had rolled to the floor in the trembling quakes that were shaking the whole temple to its very foundations.

When the smaller cohorts knew that their task was complete, and that they had destroyed every egg they could find, they figured that it wouldn't be wise to stay much longer.

Ignitus came back just in time to see the last ape trip over a lamp and set some of the moss on fire. The Fire Guardian was speechless. All around him, he could see eggs that were either smashed by the infernal apes or crushed in the falling debris from the roof. As he blew away the fire in one mighty beat of his wings, he saw the battered body of Volteer lying motionless on the temple floor.

"Great," Ignitus muttered. "Now I need to shingle the darn roof all over again! Where's my insurance policy?!"

But he had much more to worry about than temple maintenance. In his mourning over the roof, he hadn't noticed that the black egg was not there, crushed or not. This was going to be one fatal oversight that would haunt him until the end of his days.

--

A night of no stars and a new moon is black, but not the same shade of darkness of the egg the ape leader held. He stared into it, marveling at its mystery. He could almost feel his soul spiraling into its ebony depths as if it were a dark crystal draining his life energy away.

"Careful with that egg, Fabius (Fay-bee-us)," growled the commander. On his dreadwing, Fabius's leader looked strong and menacing. "If that one gets smashed, we'll be Malefor's next meal."

"Gee, Faust (Fowst)," Fabius smiled, looking at the egg. "Do you think it will be a baby boy or girl?"

"What difference does it make?!" Faust spat. "The creature inside will be nothing but a pawn on the chessboard of this budding war. Boy or girl alike, this dragon will free our master and give us a crucial advantage in our conquest for world domination."

Fabius drooped his ears and pouted. "I was just wondering what we would name it…"

"Name?" snarled Faust. "Idiot! It doesn't NEED a name."

Don't call the egg an 'it', Fabius argued to a tiny imaginary Faust. 'It' will be a he or a she.

Behind the ape leader's back, several of the soldiers snickered. The dreadwings continued to ride farther into the skies, but Fabius hardly noticed the time pass. All the while he was staring at the egg, thinking of names for the dragon-to-be.

After a long, silent flight, the small escort of apes arrived at the floating island in Convexity. Since the apes were of evil alignment, they could go in and out of the portal as they pleased. The four soldiers lined up in double file, standing tall as Commander Faust got off his mount and marched to the front of the lines. "Come, Fabius."

The ape looked to the ground. Even though his dreadwing was no longer in flight, it was still awfully high off the ground at about the height of an adolescent dragon. Fabius looked down dizzily and stumbled over the wing membrane, making his mount shriek indignantly.

His head foggy, the ape could hear amused chortles from his comrades as Fabius tripped over a knobby bone…

And sent the egg flying in the air.

"GET IT! GET THE EGG!" Faust shouted the moment it was airborne. Fabius, suddenly noticing that the unborn chick was in danger, leapt into the air and grabbed the egg just before it hit the ground.

Faust walked towards him, seething with hatred. "Give me that!" he growled as he yanked the egg from Fabius's hands. "Your clumsy fingers will destroy this creature long before we present it to our master at this rate!"

Sheepishly, Fabius stuttered, "Well, you see, I have this awful fear of heights, and—."

"Shut up!" roared Faust as he put the egg in his pouch. "I have no desire to hear about your completely ridiculous acrophobic condition. All I want is to give the egg to the Dark Master before it hatches on its own."

When one of the soldiers burst out in a fit of laughter, Faust gave him a furious slap in the face. "Back in line, all of you!"

Each of the apes got back in line, a taken aback by Faust's physical outburst. Fabius cowered next to his superior as Faust led the group into the portal of Convexity.

The Convexity portal led to different places depending on your alignment. To the good, it led to a dark, sickening realm which contained a fog that weakens you until you lose consciousness and die; a terrible fate, which many unfortunate heroes have suffered. To the neutral it was a transporter: a way into any place in the world they desired.

But to villains, it led directly to the Dark Master's prison.

Fabius's feet tingled as he stepped through the portal alongside Faust. He stepped in on the other side, met by a blast of warm air. The room he stood in was an enclosed chamber floating in the void of space. The windows were closed, and the place felt warmed by an unseen source. Fabius felt the portal behind him sending fiery lights into the large area.

Then, slinking towards him ominously, was a massive dragon with violet scales. His head had enormous, spiky horns sticking out like thorns. His claws were stained an unclean yellow, much like his eyes, but his teeth were whiter than a frosty blizzard. At the end of his tail was a perfectly curved spade.

"Malefor," breathed Faust. The whole patrol bowed before the massive figure.

"So… you have the egg?" Malefor's voice boomed from his mouth like tumbling rocks.

Faust took the ebony elliptical egg from his pouch and kneeled, holding it out in front of him. Fabius only watched as the Dark Master carefully picked it up and placed it on a small bedding of weeds.

Malefor waved his hands over the egg and chanted, almost rhythmically:

"Ancient creature of the night,

"Born from darkness, afraid of light,

"Free this egg from tying girth,

"Give this shadow creature birth!"

Upon that, the egg was showered with purple sparks which glowed magically over the egg. Immediately, the egg began to quiver and shake violently, illuminating with a crackling lavender light. With a momentous crunch, the egg burst into several shards which rained on the soldiers and spread across the room.

Fabius covered his eyes, hoping that the shards would hit Faust instead of him. The sounds of magic died down around him, and a gentle giggle sounded not too far in front of him. The ape opened one of his eyes and gasped.

There, sitting on small remains of shell, was a little black dragon with silver markings. Its underbelly was a dark shade of magenta, and it had small, bumpy horns on its head. The tip of its tail looked like a slice of cold steel, gleaming in the unnatural light from the portal.

A wicked grin spread on Malefor's face. "A new era has been born to us this very day."

Faust gasped, "A new reign of darkness will fall across the land!"

Fabius smiled and babbled, "Why, it's a girl!"

Everyone turned to give Fabius a good old-fashioned 'what the—?!' expression. Fabius ignored them and walked over to where the little dragoness now lay, rolling in childlike glee in her former constraints. "Hi, there," Fabius breathed as he looked at the newborn.

The dragoness blinked her forest green eyes at him. With a big, toothless smile, she burbled, "Dada!"

Fabius smiled sweetly at her. "Aw, lookit her! Isn't she adorable!"

Malefor rolled his eyes. "Fabius!" he roared, "The newest member of team evil will not now nor never be referred to as 'adorable'. I will raise her to be a killer and a weapon."

Fabius nodded eagerly, "Yes, master! But may I make a suggestion?"

Everyone groaned. Faust looked as if he were just about ready to strangle Fabius. "YES… Fabius?" the Dark Master snarled.

"Uhm… I was thinking, well, maybe, we can name the dragon Cinders of Fallen Heroes. Huh? How does that sound?"

Malefor sighed with annoyance. "Very well. Cinder, for short."

"No, no!" Fabius argued, "How about we spell 'Cinder' with a 'y' instead?"

"Now why would he do that?!" Faust raged.

"It sounds cooler!"

All of the soldiers looked ready to throw a fit of laughter. Faust put his hand to his face, feeling acutely embarrassed by how the situation was working out so far. Malefor glanced ponderously out his window and murmured, "Cynder… I like that."

The Dark Master wheeled around and turned to stare right into young Cynder's face. Her big green eyes widened with fear when she first looked at him. "Hello, young Cynder. Are you going to help me escape from the confines of this blasted prison so I can dominate the Dragon Realms? Hmm?"

"Dada?" Cynder babbled. She put a small paw on Malefor's muzzle. For a moment, Fabius thought his master would destroy her from the sudden and unwanted contact, but he instead tolerated it.

"Please call me Uncle," Malefor boomed.

Cynder tumbled to her front and spread her tiny wings. "Uncoo…" she cooed, rolling the new word on her tongue and smiling playfully.

Malefor grinned nefariously. "Faust! Fabius! Feed the girl while I make preparations for her training."

"Training?" Fabius panicked. "At this age?"

"You have nothing to fear, Fabius," Malefor growled. "She will grow up much faster than you think."

Malefor handed Faust the newborn and stalked to the other side of the cavern. Faust, looking a little uncomfortable with carrying the baby, quickly shoved Cynder into Fabius's hands. "Give the thing some food, you lackey!"

Fabius shot Faust a nasty look, but all his negative feelings washed away when he felt a small, stubby dragon nose poking into his chest. He turned down to see Cynder close her eyes and snuggle up to him with a contented sigh.

"Aw…" Fabius chuckled. "You are cute, no matter what they say. Come, now, my little Cynder; I shall get you some breakfast."

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EDIT: Good grief! This was swarming with errors. I edited it to make it flow better.

EDIT2: All right… my writing tutor came over and helped me find a couple egregious errors which I missed the first few times. It should be okay now.

I shall give pea-and-cream-cheese yogurt to those who can tell me where I got the names 'Faust' and 'Fabius' from. ;)

This went along well very nicely. I might consider continuing this when I hit a choked spot in my T&D. I WILL have humor in this one, only it will be much more subtle. Oh, and I can't write poems for beans (if you've read my Truth or Dare, you would know that). Please review!