Spyro, Cynder and the other spyro chars minus striker belong to Sierra studios...for now

The other chars belong to me and Cydra

C.P.S Chronicles: Soul Gem Saga

Chapter 15: Endings and rebirths

The Burned Lands

Avalar

The gang had been moving through the volcanic landscape for half an hour. The loss of Ignitus was a huge blow to the group but also had made them more determined to find and stop dead in his tracks. "If only there wasn't so much ash in the air," said Sonya, "We could fly right up to the Temple." "Yeah...this place is a dump...why do evil villains never clean up?" Matt joked to desperately try and lighten the mood.

"Once we get to the volcano, the hot air should be strong enough to lift us straight up," said Cynder. Matt walked round a corner had to jump back to avoid a rock thrown by an ogre. "If we get there..." he said, spitting a fireball at the ogre and its minion backup. Three more ogres showed up, roaring savagely.

"Well...Malefor makes up for the bad housekeeping with the traditional welcoming committee." said Sonya, freezing several minions as they tried to charge their dark magic crossbows. Spyro used his lightning breath to blast several minions, his anger regarding Ignitus's death enforcing his attacks.

Matt spotted this and striker said, 'He wants to be careful...he mustn't' let his anger control him'. Matt said back. "Ah...he must be wary of the dark side, young padawan." getting a confused silence from Striker in response.

Of course, Matt didn't take the joking too far. He glided over to Spyro and said, "Careful not to get too mad. We don't want you wigging out again." Spyro managed to get some control after that but he still looked ready to kill something. "What you need is stress relief," said Matt. Suddenly more grublins came running in over the hill. "Ah, and there's what you can release your stress on."

The grublins didn't last long under Spyro's anger fuelled attacks and when the purple dragon was done there wasn't much left except for craters. "Ok...feel better?" said Sonya weakly. "Actually, yes," said Spyro, "But I still won't be satisfied until we face Malefor."

"I don't think any of us will." said Matt as the group walked by a cliff bordering a huge lava lake and showing off their destination in full...and something else. "Is that the destroyer?" said Matt, pointing. It was indeed the destroyer, slowly dragging its way up the side of the volcano. "I can't believe it's still moving," said Cynder, "It should be dead by now."

"If it drops in that volcano, it will be…and good riddance." Said Sonya. "But wouldn't that set off a chain reaction that will destroy the world?" asked Cynder. "What? That things not a planet cracker." said Matt, confused before Striker gave him a little image of what would happen. "I'm not sure what we can do to stop it," said Spyro, "except to defeat Malefor. It must be moving because of his will." Matt liked that idea a lot. "Groovy. Let's go drop HIM in the volcano..." he said.

"I don't know if that might work or not," said Sonya, "But I'm willing to try it and every other way."

--

The groups morale raised again, Matt inventing increasingly absurd and funny ways of dealing with Malefor to raise the groups spirits. This fell again when they reached the volcano itself, the Destroyer hardly more than a few minutes behind them. Genghis spoke up. "I think it would be a good idea if I went and retrieved the ship...just in case." before zooming off before matt could demand what the case was.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," said Sonya, "though I can't say the same for us." "The air's light enough here," said Spyro, "Let's start ascending." The volcano was a lot bigger close up from Matts point of view and Spyro was right, the higher they got, the less oxygen there was. He was sure he and Sonya would have been out cold from oxygen deprivation had they been in human form. "Finally, this form pulls its weight." he muttered.

They soon arrived at the outside of the temple. While Matt disagreed with all of Malefor's principles, he had to say he had a nice taste when it came to base modelling. Several pieces of grassy ground on large rocks hovered high above the ground below. It also provided a nice view of the area. The group however made a harrowing discovery when they got closer. "Hey...isn't that the door to the dragon temple?" said Matt, in a worried tone.

"It is," said Spyro, "But it looks like it got an upgrade in security. It looks like the only way to open it is to light all the torches." "Malefors really starting to piss me off." said Matt, kicking the wall. "I liked this place and he has to turn it into some floating island reject." "Well, those torches are going to light themselves," said Cynder, "We'll split up so we can cover them quickly."

Matt and Sonya nodded and headed off to look around. None of the group noticed they were being watched from above on the roof of the gated tunnel. The group had to fly to several different points to light all the torches, as well as bashing some minions along the way, but eventually, they were lit.

The gates slid open slowly to reveal a dark passage...with a dragons outline visible. "Ignitus? Is that you?" asked Spyro hopefully as he stepped forwards. The dragon shook its head. "Wrong answer...want another guess?" It walked out of the shadows and was revealed to resemble a teenage version of Terrador. The group backed up cautiously and tensed up even more as the new dragon bowed sarcastically and said "I am Shard, loyal servant of his lord Malefor. You must be Spyro."

"That I am," said Spyro, "We have business with your master and we demand to see him." "I don't think so...and take your false dragons and the traitor with you." said Shard, nodding at Cynder, Matt and Sonya.

"We're not going anywhere," said Cynder. "You're the one that's going," said Sonya. "And that direction is down," said Matt. "Really?" said Shard and suddenly the ground erupted around the group. They narrowly avoided death only to have to dodge rock missiles launched by Shard. "Would you care to like to try again?" taunted Shard.

"Gladly," said Matt and Sonya and they fired blasts of heat and cold, respectively. Shard smirked and a wall of rock shot up in front of him, blocking the blasts easily. "You idiots...I'm a whole different league from my brother, Raptor." he said.

"Perhaps you are, perhaps you aren't," said Matt, "Only one way to find out." Shard smiled warmly. "I like people who think positively..." he said and spat a cluster of earth shots at the group before taking off. Cynder got behind him and used a Shadow Strike. Shard simply parried it and spun his tail, swatting Cynder out the air. "Please...I've got 300 years experience on you...like that'll…urgh." he said as Spyro followed up with a fireball. "I take it back...nicely done...goodbye." he said and spat a earth shot into Spyro's face.

Spyro was knocked down, but far from out. "You're not the only one with the power of Earth," he said as he used his breath to form an Earth Ball around himself. Matt and Sonya meanwhile both tried a combo attack again, using Shards distraction to score some hits. Shard had only just chased them off when Spyro flew into him, encased in his Earth ball. "Oof...now I'm losing patience." he said, angrily, sending a cluster of shards at Sonya. Just as it was about to hit, Matt flew in the way and a shard went through his left wing, sending him down to the ground. "One down, three to go." said Shard evilly.

"Ok, tough guy," said Cynder, "Let's see how well you do against your elemental opposite." She then unleashed a massive Wind attack. Shard didn't manage to shield from this one and was knocked back into one of the islands with a resounding 'BOOOM'. "Urgh...why won't you just die, traitor?" he said, sending a earth shot out infused with dark magic, causing it to explode in the air and send out shards of rock everywhere.

Then Shard tackled Spyro and pinned him to the ground. "Malefor will surely reward me when I bring your skull to him," said Shard, "I hope he doesn't mind the few cracks." Shard raised his front paw to bring it down on Spyro to knock him out. Just as he was about to strike a blast of shadow fire hit him in the back. He turned to see Cynder. "Oh, how cute...you want to die for him...oh well. I'll humour you and make it quick." he said stunning Spyro so he'd have no interruptions, Sonya too busy trying to help Matt back to his feet to aid.

"No!" yelled Cynder and shot an extremely powerful poison blast at Shard. It was so strong, it knocked him off the rock he was on. He tried to spread his wings to regain altitude but something was wrong. He looked at his wings to see that they had been paralyzed from the poison. "How DARE YOU?" yelled Shard, all pretences of politeness vanishing. "You useless wyrm...I'll make you watch as I crush the life from your mate and damn Malefor's wishes." he said coldly and began to focus on the ground around Spyro.

The ground around Spyro started to crack and the cracks were filled with green energy. "You will not hurt him or anyone else ever again!" shouted Cynder as she charged Shard, her head lowered for a headbutt. Shard barely had time to turn his attention back before Cynders headbutt connected with his throat with a horrid 'crack'. Shard could only utter a strangled gasp as he was buffeted away from the impact. Unfortunately for him, that buffet took him to the edge of the platform. Before he could regain his balance, he fell over and there wasn't any platforms below.

Matt and Sonya had managed to reach the edge of the platform Matt had fallen on and watched with grim satisfaction as Shards body fell out of sight. "Good riddance." said Matt before calling over to Spyro and Cynder. "You two ok?" "Ugh, I feel like I've been given a massage with a sledgehammer," said Spyro, "But I think I'll be alright." "I think I'm ok too...the jerk used my wings as a dart board." replied Matt "I can still fly though."

Cynder however looked shaken. "I can't believe I killed him," she said, "Sure I've killed Apes and Grublins, but I've never killed another dragon before." "It was either him or us," said Spyro, "You had no choice." Matt and Sonya landed, Matt a little unsteadily and Matt said. "We can't see Shard...I think he's toast...couldn't have happened to a nicer..." he said and shut up under Spyro's glare. "We'll go make sure he didn't have any help waiting in the passage for us." said Sonya and flew off, all but dragging Matt along.

"What if I am still evil?" asked Cynder, "What if I fall back under his power?" "You won't," said Spyro, "I know you Cynder. The real you. And the real you isn't evil." At that point Matt and Sonya returned. "Looks like the cocky smeghead sent all the guards away...it's a clear shot to Malefor." said Matt.

"Right," said Sonya grimly, "Just up that pillar of light and we'll be crossing swords with the devil himself."

--

The pillar of light was where Malefor had dumped the main chamber of the dragon temple, still basically intact. "This was once a place of wisdom," said Spyro, "But Malefor's corrupted it's very meaning." "Ok...now lets go kick him out of here so we can fix it." said Matt, striding towards the door and yelling. "HEY...COME OUT HERE SO WE CAN KICK YOUR ASS!" Sonya sighed. "Does he even know the meaning of the word 'stealth'?" she said to herself.

Malefor was waiting for them. He was ugly and mean looking as Matt had imagined. But he didn't seem threatened at all. "Ah, my guests have arrived," he said, "Please, come in." Matt was a bit put off, used from his experience of villains so far to at least expect some sort of evil laugh. "Urm...you do know we've come to blow you up...do you?" he said, feeling he'd not been given the script.

"Such determination to get here," said Malefor, "It seems we share other qualities besides that of our color." "No! I'm nothing like you!" said Spyro. "Do you think so?" said Malefor. He chuckled and said, "We'll get to that." "You shut up." said Matt, noticing his friends anguish and spat a fireball in Malefor's direction. Malefor merely flapped his wing and the fireball went out. "I'd rather you not make a mess of my throne room," said Malefor. Matt glared. "How about we use you to mop the floor?" he said and strode forward with Sonya.

"You look so weary," said Malefor, "Allow me to make you comfortable." He gestured with one of his talons towards Matt and Sonya. There was a brief flash of light and the two of them were standing there in their human forms. Then the snake collars reappeared before seeming dispersing into specks of blue light.

Matt and Sonya, unused to biped forms fell over a bit when they tried to get up. "Just you wait till I...ow...get over there." said Matt angrily and Malefor smirked before turning his attention back to Spyro and Cynder.

"There. That's better isn't it? It is the least I could do for you Cynder. After all, you've done so much for me." "Don't listen...he's talking out his...OW...that was my foot, Sonya." called Matt. "You used her!" shouted Spyro. "I used her, she used you, what does it matter really?" said Malefor. Matt yelled "Thats it...I know I left my spare rifle around here last time we were here...where is it?" said Matt, giving up for the moment and looking through some of the junk at the edge of the room.

Spyro turned to Cynder and asked, "What does he mean?" "What? He doesn't know?" said Malefor in mock surprise, "Go on, tell him. You musn't leave him in the dark." "Tell me what?" demanded Spyro. "How she lured you to the Well of Souls. How she tricked you into freeing me," said Malefor. Matt looked up from his search to yell "Yeah right, and I'm the queen of Bosnia."

He suddenly looked down and lifted up the rifle he;d been looking for. "Hah." he said and pressed the trigger only for it to click...empty. "...oh...where is it?" he muttered. 'Your guns empty.' said Striker in his head. "SHUT UP!" yelled Matt, seemingly at no one. Malefor gave him an odd look for a second but dismissed it for the more important duo.

"You're lying!" said Cynder. "Hmm, I find it peculiar how you've chosen to remember things," said Malefor, "Let me assure you, it was you who freed me, Spyro. And it was you who brought me back. And we have Cynder to thank for that." He then allowed himself a moment to indulge in a bit of evil laughter.

"Cynder, is it true?" asked Spyro. "No," said Cynder, "I don't know, I don't know anymore." "Oh, I think you do," said Malefor, "But perhaps you need a little nudge." A ripple seemed to go through the air to Cynder. When it touched her, she became covered in shadows, except for her eyes which were glowing white. "Cynder!" called Spyro while Malefor just laughed evilly.

Sonya turned away from helping Matt find his rifles ammo to see that and glared. She picked up the largest piece of rubble and ran at Malefor, ignoring Matt who tried to grab her. "YOU SON OF A BI...!" she began only for Malefor to blast her across the room to land in the shadows. Matt ran over to her, white from horror.

Sonya was ok, except for the fact that she was dazed and stuck in dragon from again. Matt glared at Malefor and said, "You just wait till I'm ready to fire." He looked back at that and saw a familiar glint of metal. "Sooner than you think..." he muttered and ran over to it.

"Cynder, no!" called Spyro. "Ignitus should have warned you," said Malefor, "You are alone here, young dragon. You have always been alone. Still, you here you are, trying so desperately to save this miserable world, refusing to accept the true role of the purple dragon." Then Cynder charged Spyro and knocked him over.

"I'm sure you've been told that I was the first of our kind," said Malefor, "but I assure you, there have been many. It has been the duty of our predecessors to resurrect the Destroyer and the Golems of the Deep, to bring about the great cleansing. This is the true nature of our kind. Your destiny is to destroy the world."

Cynder knocked over Spyro again, but he got back up. "No!" shouted Spyro, "I don't believe that!" "Of course you don't," said Malefor, "But you have fulfilled your destiny nonetheless. In my time, I was stopped, prevented from completing my quest. But you, you have carried the flame, be it through your own will or not. Soon the world will be destroyed, and you along with it."

"No!" said Spyro. Cynder then smacked him with her tail. She glared at Spyro and said in a ghostly voice, "Fight back!" Spyro just put his wings around which Cynder kept smacking with her tail. Malefor just laughed at the amusement of this. "Fight back!" demanded Cynder, "Why won't you fight back!" "Because you've left me nothing to fight for," said Spyro.

Cynder's eyes softened and suddenly the shadows melted around her, revealing her normal form. "There's always something," she said in her normal voice. "Argh, so be it!" said Malefor with annoyance, "You've made your choice so you shall suffer the same fate!" Matt by now had just gotten his gun loaded and was aiming triumphantly, so it was probably a good example that the ancients had a sadistic sense of humour that the collar...and his dragon form reappeared at this point. "...It's just not fair." he said glumly.

The same collars appeared around the necks of Spyro, Cynder, and Sonya, the latter having just gotten up. "Prepare to die!" called Malefor as he flew up into the sky above. Matt gulped. "Oh smeg...where's Genghis with the ship?" he said, worriedly. Sonya glared at him "What happened to wiping the floor with him?" she taunted. "Let's finish this," said Spyro as he and Cynder flew after Malefor. Matt and Sonya nodded at each other and flew off in pursuit as well.

Malefor was waiting for them, his great wings stirring the ash clouds around him. He didn't bother with any talking. He went straight for the action and shot out several purple meteors at the four dragons. Matt and Sonya peeled to the side, causing the meteors aimed for them to miss and flew past Malefor, spraying their breath attacks in Malefors face.

Malefor flinched, but was unharmed. Then Spyro and Cynder divebombed him and hit him with their tails. Malefor roared and spat out more blasts, despite the fact his attackers were out of range. "I think he's pissed." said Matt gleefully.

Malefor dived down at Spyro and Cynder, who dodged him and escaped into the ash cloud. Then Matt and Sonya came up from below and slammed into him. "Thats for the captain." yelled Sonya as they peeled away out of range again. Malefor looked down and smiled. "It has begun," he said. The others looked down to see the Destroyer on the rim of the volcano. "Oh no," said Spyro, "We're too late!" "Welcome to the end of the world," said Malefor as the Destroyed slipped into the molten lava.

"Bugger." swore Matt before glaring at Malefor. "Just you wait till Genghis gets here with the ship..." he said. Suddenly an explosion of flame erupted from the volcano. Then large fissures started to spread from it. Matt had no doubt that those cracks were going to spread all over the world. The blast lowered in intensity and the dragon temple dropped to the ground on top of the volcano.

"What is it with villains and volcanoes?" muttered Matt to himself before he and Sonya divebombed Malefor again. Malefor was buffeted, but far from damaged. He tossed Matt and Sonya down towards the ruins of the temple. Spyro and Cynder had landed there to catch their breath. "...I hurt." said Matt faintly from where he'd 'landed'. It hadn't helped that Sonya had gotten the softer landing by hitting him.

Matt quickly had to get over his pain to avoid getting new pain from the purple meteors that Malefor was spitting at them. "Stay close to him," said Cynder, "He won't be able to us from such a close range with his breath attacks." "Good...as long as he doesn't use us for baseball practise." said Matt before the group charged Malefor.

Malefor shot many different missiles at the dragons, mostly of fire and ice. But the younger dragons were able to weave through the attacks to get within striking range. Matt ended up earning the award for cheekiest attacker in existence when he jumped on Malefors head, covered the guys eyes and said "Guess who?" before paying for it by being thrown off. The other three stuck at Malefor with their claws, leaving scratches in his purple armour.

Matt actually bit Malefor before going 'bleah' and saying. "Damn...tastes like meatloaf." before joining in with the scratching. Malefor roared with irritation and tried to swat them away, but that prompted the younger dragons to start blasting him with their breath attacks from a point blank range.

I think Malefor would be putting up an energy shield around himself that the others have to claw through. Malefor roared again and a purple dome of energy surrounded him, deflecting the groups breath attacks. "Hey...that's cheating..." said Matt. "Use your claws!" called Spyro as he and Cynder stared scratching away at the energy shield. Matt and Sonya joined in, clawing desperately at the energy field until rends began to appear.

In a few seconds, they broke through and Spyro and Cynder tackled Malefor. "Let's use our atmospheric attack for all it's worth," said Sonya. "Hopefully it's more than my paycheck," said Matt. Matt and Sonya blasted their breaths into a point above Malefor. The two blasts had just finished combining into a huge storm cloud when Malefor finally threw Spyro n Cynder off. "Hey, creepy...look up." said Matt, pointing at the cloud just as it began to crackle.

The storm cloud burst with a torrent of rain and hail, as well as buffeting Malefor with gale-force winds and lightning bolts. Matt said happily to the others. "Is there not a more beautiful sight then seeing a complete git being char boiled by lightning?"

Then Spyro and Cynder barrelled straight into Malefor with a Fury-charged tackle, which sent Malefor down towards the fragmenting mantle. Matt and Sonya cheered and Matt said "And the judges were pleased with that...definitely straight tens."

Suddenly Malefor appeared behind them and grabbed Matt and Sonya. He flew forward, grabbing Spyro and Cynder as well. He then started dragging them down the volcanic rock harshly. "Get...OFF ME!" yelled Matt, blasting a blast of flame into Malefors hand.

Spyro took advantage of Malefor's brief distraction and headbutted Malefor. He then tackled Malefor farther down towards the planet's core. *Matt and the others joined in, pushing Malefor harder to speed him up. "Have a nice day." said Matt coldly as the core loomed larger. Just as they had reach the core, Malefor pulled away. "You cannot defeat me!" he cried, "I am eternal!" He then shot out a purple fury towards the group, which they countered with their own furies.

The younger dragons struggled greatly to keep from being overwhelmed. But Spyro managed to speak out, "Just...hang...on!" The four dragons poured all their powers into their attacks. That started shifting the tide of power significantly. Soon the combined furies blew through Malefor's and hit him, causing him to fall onto the giant purple gem that made up the planet's core.

Malefor was still for a second but then began to get back up. "Oh come on...will you just give up?" said Matt to Malefor. Malefor stood up and was about to attack the young dragons when the gem glowed brightly. Then what looked like five dragon ghosts made of purple light came out of the gem and hovered over Malefor. "What is this?" demanded Malefor. "I think its your one way ticket to the basement." called Matt gleefully.

Malefor was about to take flight when Matt felt a stir in his brain. He heard Striker's voice briefly say, "Goodbye," before a sixth dragon spirit came out of Matt and dive bombed Malefor. The other dragon spirits joined him and they started dragging Malefor into the planet's core. "NOOOOOO!!!" he screamed before he was completely taken under.

Matt was so shocked he didn't notice he'd turned back to human form. "Striker..." he said faintly. "Best of luck." he added under his breath. A rumble got everyones attention at that. Matt looked like he had the first day he'd arrived, even down to his comm which crackled into life. "Sir? Thank the makers I got you...a class 12 event is in progress...the planet is destabilizing." said Genghis, who was obviously in the Maelstrom star.

The collars around the two pairs' neck had vanished with Malefor. Then they landed on the core. "Spyro," said Cynder, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." "Don't be," said Spyro, "It's over." "Not a chance...Genghis...is there anything on the ship we can use?" said Matt walking to the side to talk to Genghis. Sonya had walked over too to listen. "I'm sorry sir...we would need a full fleet...there's nothing I can do except teleport you all aboard." Matt looked ahead numbly. "Await further orders." he said and turned to face the others.

"So this is it?" asked Cynder. Then Spyro heard a voice flickering in the flames. "Spyro, when a dragon dies, he does not truly leave this world, "said Ignitus's voice, "His spirit lives on, binding itself with nature, offering hope for the future."

"I know what I need to do," said Spyro, "Just get out of here, all of you." Matt stared. "You think after all we've been through that we're gonna leave you to face this alone then you're nuts." he said. Sonya said "We're staying." Genghis said over the comm "Orders sir?"

"Spyro, no," said Cynder, "You don't have to do anything. Let's just go." "Where Cynder? There'll be nothing left! The world is breaking apart! But I think I can stop it. I think I'm meant to." "Then we're gonna stay and help you..." said Matt. He turned to his comm and said "Genghis..."

"Take Matt and Sonya away," called Spyro, interrupting Matt. "Affirmative, sure," said Genghis. Matt turned, horrified. "Now wait just a min..." he said, his voice fading away as he and Sonya's forms did the same, shimmering into nothing. "Then I'm with you," said Cynder. Spyro nodded and closed his eyes. A bright light shone out of him and started to spread. As the light spread to the shattering parts of the planet, Cynder's voice could be heard saying, "I love you."

--

Matt stormed into the bridge, pushing Genghis aside. "Get the ship back into range." he yelled as Sonya came in behind him. Suddenly the ship was buffeted as a blast of purple energy emanated from the planet. "There is nothing that can be done," said Genghis, "We have to pull back." Matt looked out the viewport to see yellow energy emerging from the planet. It was clearly in the final stages of destabilizing. Suddenly the energy turned purple and the pieces of the planet began to pull closer. "Go spyro." said Matt smirking ans said "Genghis...take us into teleport range and as soon as the magi energy stops, get em aboard." Genghis however seemed gloomy. "That may be difficult...lifesigns are not detected..."

"What do you mean 'not detected'?" demanded Sonya, "You don't mean everyone on that planet's dead, do you?" "Negative...but the lifesigns from the core have both ceased." said Genghis mournfully. Matt stared for a second at the viewport. He could almost hear Malefor laughing from wherever he'd been sent. "GODDAMMIT!" he yelled, punching the wall.

"Matt," said Sonya, "There's nothing you can do. Let's just go home." "No...for a start...you can't go home...not like that...does area 51 ring a bell? Plus...I never trusted this flying junkyards sensors...if they'd worked we wouldn't have fallen for that trap when we arrived." said Matt. "Matt...They're gone..." said Sonya softly and jumped back as Matt glared and said "I won't believe that till I see a body." before sitting at the controls and setting a course for the entrance to the catacombs.

As the ship headed back towards the ground, Matt and Sonya noticed a very big change. Now all of the land was divided into floating masses, sort of like the dragon temple was a couple of minutes ago. The most impressive by far was when they passed over the sea, a giant endless waterfall where one of the cracks had been made. The catacombs entrance finally came into view. A few of the refugees could already be seen and a few ran back inside as they saw the ship circling for a good landing zone.

The ship landed nearby and pretty soon afterwards, the refugees approached the ship as its landing bridge opened. The group started cheering as the duo walked down and died away when they saw them. Matt had carried over a good number of the injuries he'd picked up from Malefor to his human form, the most impressive being a nasty cut down his left arm that Genghis had been forced to bandage. Sonya was covered in soot and bruises as well. The refugees looked expectantly at the ramp for a minute as the eldars and Sparx arrived. Matt caught Terradors eyes and shook his head sadly.

"What happened to Ignitus?" asked Cyril. "He sacrificed himself so we can get through the fire," said Sonya. Cyril turned to Matt and said "And Spyro and Cynder?" Matt just walked off at that, sparx following after him. "Hey...wait up." he called after Matt "Get lost...I'm not in the mood." said Matt.

"I just wanted to know what happened to my brother, well stepbrother," said Sparx, "and I guess that extends to Cynder too." Matt turned. "We couldn't find them..." he said to Sparx, adding defiantly "But they're not dead...I'm sure of it, despite what Genghis thinks." "Then, where are they?" asked Sparx. "Who knows?" said Matt, "They could have ended up on the other side of this planet for all I know."

--

The next day, Sonya woke up to hear a laser drill and came out to see Matt yelling at the spiderbots for nearly slicing half the cliff off. "...for the last time...its only got to be a few feet deep...oh, Hi Sonya." he said, turning as she came up.

"What are you doing?" asked Sonya. She was still sore from all the fighting yesterday and didn't want to have her sleep interrupted for a stupid reason. The spiderbots all pointed accusingly at Matt. "Just leaving something behind...little momento." he said, heaving a tyre sized cylinder into the hole. "Is that a bio-scanner?" Sonya said before sighing. "Yes," said Matt, "It's set to Spyro and Cynder's bio-signatures. When they come into Warfang, this thing will pick them up and alert me."

"Matt, they were in the center of a fragmenting planet. Even after they've put it back together, they'd be crushed and burned by the molten rock. "So? We survived worse...mostly things sent by you." said Matt. Sonya glared and came very close to giving Matt terminal frostbite. Instead she snapped. "Fine...waste an expensive piece of equipment...JUST DON'T DISTURB MY SLEEP AGAIN!" Matt and the spiderbots actually fought to hide behind each other at that. "Yes, Ma'am." squeaked Matt

After Sonya left, the spiderbots snickered to each other and Matt distinctly heard one say 'henpecked'. He turned on them and they all started whistling innocently in different levels of tone until he gave up the glare cause they'd given him a headache.

He started walking off in another direction, mostly to clear his head. Suddenly he found himself face to face with Mr. Black. "Oh great," said Matt, "I suppose I can't expect on a 'Congratulations for saving the world'-type thing, right?" "No." said Mr Black and did the wall pinning trick again. "You have been here long enough already...do I have to spell it out for your primitive brain...YOU. ARE. NOT. SUPPOSED. TO. BE. HERE. YET!" he yelled, squeezing Matt with each word.

"Ok, ok," wheezed Matt, "I get the message. I'll go as soon as Sonya's a bipedal mammal again." "That cannot be done. Miss Sonya has aligned to this universe...you know what the NSC will do if she returns now." said Mr Black.

"What, permanently?" said Matt, "But how comes I'm not? And couldn't we have a sorcerer change her back?" "You are a member the of the master dimension...your universe is not as effected by reality fields...plus she was forcibly changed by Avarona...you were not...Striker did all he could to prevent the change...otherwise you would not be leaving either." said Mr Black.

"Ok, I guess there are a couple differences in our situations," said Matt, "I'll be leaving as soon as repairs are ready. I hope Sonya is able to take the news well. Or at least as well as a lady like her can deal with it." "You may find She knows already...and as for your repairs...your ship will make it out the nebula as it is...now leave before I DO put you in her situation." said Mr Black. "I'm saying goodbye first." said Matt and walked past Mr Black before he could answer.

Matt walked out of the ship and found Sonya sleeping under a tree. "Um, Sonya," said Matt uncertainly. Sonya opened one eye and said, "This had better be important or you're going to get frostbite in a place that will hurt when you sit down. And I don't mean your butt." Matt gulped and said. "I'm leaving...I think its best you stay here. I'm sure the Eldars will look after you and now Malefor's pushing up daisies more dragons may come out of hiding." He instantly dived around the corner, expecting icy pain.

"I can't be turned back, can I?" said Sonya. "Well, no, you can't, I'm so sorry," said Matt, "I can only imagine how your family will feel." "I don't have one...the portal that brought me to Nullspace sucked me up while I was on an exchange trip for university." said Sonya. Matt opened his mouth and Sonya interrupted. "Don't even suggest it."

"Right, well, it's an open option," said Matt, "Well, I guess I should be going then. I'll tell the people back at NSC that you're in a better place. And by that, I mean you're dead." Sonya said. "What if they come here? I don't think this place should get the NSC colonial divisions attention." Matt smirked "Who would be dumb enough to set up in a Z class?" he said.

--

As Matt's ship was leaving, it was being watched by the Chronicler. Only it wasn't the same Chronicler that Matt and Spyro had met. The new Chronicler turned as he felt someone watching. Mr Black was standing behind him, smiling. "Mr Ignitus...let me be the first to congratulate you on your new career." he said, wearing the form of an NSC mercenary again.

"I suppose it is a better position now," said Ignitus, "Either this or the afterlife." "I suppose you wonder why I didn't tell him...or why I didn't have him train early...aren't you? Or are you as all knowing as your predecessor?" said Mr Black, taking down a random book and opening it, flicking through a few pages before replacing it.

"I had guessed Matt's true nature long ago," said Ignitus, "Or rather, what his true nature will be. He is to become a Shar-khan, correct?" "Yes...he has no idea...his sister has no idea either. I suppose you think me cruel, letting him face what is to come without knowing. So many lives would be saved if he did know." said Mr Black, evidently trying to get a rise out of Ignitus.

"But more still if he didn't," said Ignitus, "But there will come a time where both he and his sister shall learn and must confront those who had learned before and have failed." "So true...so true. I'm sure Mr Spyro and Miss Cynder have earned their holiday, you would agree?" said Mr Black before shimmering into nothing.

"Indeed they have…" said Ignitus, "I hope the world won't need them again for a long time."

Epilogue

NSC NewsNet Report

Two days later

...and in Dimensional News, the missing freelancer ship, Maelstrom Star was found today by the Search and Rescue frigate, N.S.S Nightingale after nearly 3 months on the N.S.C M.I.A list. So far only one survivor, the Co-pilot and member of the Sy-Yong five, Corporal M, J, Lynch of Constellation Private Security has been comfirmed. C.P.S officials confirm that according to the ship logs, an error in the ships nav-computer resulted in the vessel straying into a Z class universe resulting in the loss of almost all hands. Damage to the ship has backed this up and DARKRIFT have been dispatched to set up a quarantine around the Dragon Eye Nebula where the dimensions entry wormhole is located. In local news...

The end?

There will be a sequel in mine and Cydra's Voyager saga. Stay tuned for it…this is not the last we've seen of Malefor and his Dragon generals.