Oh and a sequel O.O
Can't wait to read that one XD

Spyro and Cyra had a very eventful day indeed. After so many ups and downs, they had wondered at times if they would ever be able to live a normal life together and now they were certain that they will and they now had a sense of happiness, relief and a sense of pride to go with what they had achieved. After about five minutes or so of the mystical light of Zeikora’s seal shimmering around them, Spyro and Cyra then started to hear what sounded like distant voices, cheering and the same well organised racket as before.

“Spyro, listen!” Cyra said as she heard the voices, “We’re almost there!” Cyra added and sure enough, after Cyra said that, the voices and cheering, along with very off-key singing, came louder and clearer with each passing second. Then when the voices were now as clear crystal, the light then began to separate and unwrap itself into rays of light, which was then absorbed back into the runes etched on the marble surface. They were back. As soon as the light disappeared, they were amongst a large crowd of Dragons, who had been awaiting their return.

“Spyro! Cyra!” yelled an Artisan Dragon from behind them, “You two were awesome up there!” he added

“Huh? You mean you knew it was us?” Cyra asked

“Yeah! Who else could it be...hey, Cyra...?” started Trondo

“Yeah?” Cyra replied

“What happened to your nifty goddess form with the cool, glowy stuff?” Trondo asked

“I had my reasons...” Cyra replied and she and Spyro shared a smile

“Oh-hoh...right...well, me an’ the boys are havin’ a party back home. Wanna come along?” Trondo asked. Spyro and Cyra then looked at each other

“Nah...” Spyro and Cyra said

“Sorry, but we just want to get home...” Cyra said

“Yeah, it’s been one heck of day as it is.” Spyro said

“Yeah. S’ppose... Well, visit anytime ya like!” Trondo said as he took flight

“Ok! See ya!” Spyro yelled after him and Trondo disappeared into the south. Then after that, many other dragons began bidding farewells to their friends and fly off back to their homes “That Trondo’s a nice dude, a bit crazy though...”Spyro said with a chuckle

“Yeah...and a half!” Cyra laughed. It was then that, Spyro and Cyra noticed that most of the Artisan Dragons were beginning to leave the valley.

“So...wanna go home?” Spyro asked

“Yeah, lets” Cyra replied and Spyro then rested his wing across her back and they followed the rest of the Dragons home.

When Spyro and Cyra finally reached the Artisan home worlds, a Dragon green in colour came running up to them, it was Nestor, who looked relieved to see them again.

“Spyro! Cyra!” he exclaimed as he ran up the stony path, “Thank goodness...” Nestor sighed, “First of all, may I commend you on a battle well fought.” He added

“Oh...uh...thanks” Spyro replied

“And also may I, on behalf of all of the Dragons in the Dragon Kingdom commend you for an act of pure bravery and pure honour...” Nestor added, “You have rebuild lost lives, given hope to those who have naught and have finally given the lost souls a chance to rest in peace after being consumed in an eternity of darkness...you have our deepest gratitude...” Nestor finished off

“Oh. Wow...um thank you...” Cyra replied feeling a little...humble by Nestor’s remark

“Yeah...you two did an alright job.” Said a voice from behind Nestor, which turned to belong to Gavin

“Gavin!” Spyro said as he saw his mentor that had been struck dead in the war earlier. Seeing this, Spyro then ran towards him and leapt into his arms and hugged him, “Gavin, I thought I’d never see you again...” Spyro said as he hugged his mentor. Cyra and Nestor looked on and smiled as Spyro was reunited with his mentor, who then placed Spyro back down and then rubbed his head.

“Oh. And Spyro there’s something that I’d like you to see...” Nestor spoke up and as he gestured Spyro along, Spyro followed Nestor along with Cyra through the portal into Stone Hill. When they arrived in Stone hill, Spyro and Cyra followed Nestor into the grassy field with the small tower and followed a small pathway just off it to a small, door and windows carved into the wall.

“Wait...this is...” Spyro started

“Your old home...” Nestor started, “Your parents wanted to hand it down to you when the threat had been ridded of and now that it has been done, it is now yours for as long as you want on behalf your parents and everyone else you have helped today.” Nestor added

“Thank you...” Spyro replied. Thoughts and memories of this place then began to come back in flashes and it was just now that Spyro realised just how much this meant to him, “Thank you so much...” Spyro said with a hint of sadness in his voice as his emotion began to show.

Nestor then nodded and smiled, he then decided to leave to give Spyro and Cyra some space as they took in their surroundings. Spyro then walked forward and slowly creaked open the door. Spyro then gasped as he saw the same hallway where the death of his mother took place. Spyro then walked slowly down the hallway, caked in dust as memories of his childhood here came back in flashes. Cyra followed Spyro in but decided to let Spyro have some time to himself as he wondered into a room to the right of the hallway and Cyra wandered into a room opposite, which appeared to be the master bedroom where Spyro’s parents once slept. As Cyra walked into the room, she her something crack under foot. When she looked properly, she noticed an old frame covered in dust. Cyra then promptly picked it up and wipes the dust off and she saw that it was an old photo of some Dragons but wait...what was this? As Cyra looked properly in the dim light, she then noticed that two of the adult Dragons were Spyro’s parents and the other two...looked like her own and underneath...were two small, baby Dragons only about a day old; one purple (presumably Spyro) and one a nice, royal blue colour. Then it hit her, this was a picture of Spyro and Cyra’s family. A happy tear then formed in Cyra’s eye as she discovered this old frame and she immediately went to find Spyro.

When Cyra walked down the corridor, she then found Spyro sitting deep in thought on the edge of what appeared to be a small mattress

“Spyro?” Cyra said as she rested her paw on his left shoulder, “Are you ok?” she asked as she sat down beside him

“What?” Spyro asked as he looked up and came out of his train of thought, “Yeah...it’s just...a lot to take in, you know...” Spyro replied. Cyra then rested her arm across Spyro’s back.

“Oh...And Spyro, look what I found...” Cyra said as she showed Spyro the picture she found. When Spyro looked at the picture properly, his eyes widened as he realised what it entailed

“Wait a minutes...Th-that’s us!?” Spyro stuttered, “This must have been before Raku returned...” Spyro said quietly a little lost for words, “Wow...to think we’ve all ready met before...” he added and then a tear tricked down Spyro’s cheek...

“Sorry...I’m just...” Spyro said as he wiped his cheek

“It’s ok...” Cyra said quietly as she hugged Spyro and kiss his cheek, “It’s ok...” she said once again. The two Dragons then hugged each other, the threat that was Raku was now finally over and now they could rebuild their lives together and live in peace. That’s all they ever really wanted.

The End

Or is it !

Well, that's it. The last major chapter or Dragon Spirit. The "Or is it" part means that I'm thinking of adding a couple of extra filler chapters to help lead up to a sequel that I may be making in the future, called "Spyro: Dragon Spirit: Resurrection". I may also begin editing some of the previous chapters to improve them and to fill in any plot holes that may need filling.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed reading the story as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Thank you for taking the time to read my story and thank you for all your support.

See ya;)!

As the energy intensified even further, Spyro and Cyra’s bodies began to vibrate so violently that they felt like they were going suddenly blast off like a rocket on steroids through the vortex. Then after wait for what seemed like an eternity, the time finally came.

“Ok! Here we go...!” Cyra yelled and as soon as she did so, Spyro and Cyra then felt like they were getting dragged inside the vortex by some invisible force. Spyro and Cyra were then propelled at such a high speed through the vortex that it caught Spyro completely by surprise and the feeling of vertigo increased so much in such a short period of time, that he felt that he left his stomach back in Alafrenor. Going through the vortex like that was one of the weirdest and by far scariest things he had ever done and the stars swirling and zooming past him like that, was beginning to make him a bit light headed and sick. Then all of a sudden the vortex and vertigo stopped all together and when Spyro looked properly, he saw that he was suspended in mid air in this black void, showered with stars and below him he could see humongous sphere that was at least a thousand miles in diameter.

“What?” Spyro said questioning what he saw around him, “Is that...?”

“Yes, Spyro. That is the Dragon Worlds down below. You see, they’re all a part of one large planet that Zeikora rescued from certain destruction.” Cyra explained

“Wow...” Spyro said thinking about what he could see below him, “I...never really thought about the Dragon Worlds being...like this before...but Cyra, if we’re where you say we are how come we’re even breathing? I mean, there’s no air is space. Right?” Spyro asked

“Well, to be honest, we’re not really in space at all. We’re still in Alafrenor.” Cyra said. Cyra then noticed Spyro’s confused expression, “What we actually did just now was sort of a large-scale astral projection meaning our souls left our physical bodies behind. That’s why you were feeling that...vertigo feeling before entering the vortex.” Cyra explained

“Oh. So you mean only our souls entered vortex and our bodies are actually still standing at the altar?” Spyro asked

“Yes. See for yourself. That’s Alafrenor there right below you.” Cyra replied and as Spyro look directly below his body; he could see the beam of light that he and Cyra were in. When Spyro peered down at the bottom of the beam, he could just make out himself and Cyra still standing at the altar.

“Ok...this is just too weird...” Spyro said not really sure what to make of what he just saw

“And Spyro, you might want to look at your form.” Cyra said

“Huh?” Spyro questioned her. Spyro then looked down at himself and notice that, covering his limbs and body, were elegant, silver markings etched onto his purple scales along with a white aura like Cyra’s emitting from his body, “Wait...Am I...a God!?” Spyro asked looking at his new form in awe

“Well, not exactly. The vortex only allows light essence to pass on through so what you are seeing is the form you would take if the light essence would surface like what happened to me.” Cyra explained

“I see. But what happened to the rest of my soul then?” Spyro asked

“It’s been withheld at the entrance. Look again halfway down the beam.” Cyra replied. Spyro then looked again and he could just make out a semi-transparent purple mass, “Anyway, Spyro. Time is pressing and we need to set things straight down in the living realm.” Cyra added

“Right. So how are we gonna do this?” Spyro asked

“I need you...just to close your eyes and relax...” Cyra replied, “You will be able to see what’s going on through your mind’s eye as our souls are now merged...” she added. Spyro then did what he was told and closed his eyes. As Cyra concentrated, she and Spyro’s auras began to intensify, growing brighter and larger in size. Two bright, white beams of energy then shot down from Spyro and Cyra towards the Dragon Realms and as they reached closer and closer, they began to twist around each other into one beam. Then when the beam hit the Dragon Worlds a brilliant light then lit up the void of darkness for miles around and a wave of light could be seen creeping along the surface of the planet.

Meanwhile, down in the Dragon Realms, there were still some groups of Shadow Dragons and Dragons of the Dragon Kingdom still fighting amongst each other. Most of the fight had now stopped however, as most of the Shadow Dragons were now almost like lost sheep without their master to command them and the survivors of the war were now assessing the damage done.

“So...what do we do now?” Asked an artisan

“Well for now I suggest we scout around a bit for survivors and still be on guard for Shadow Dragons while we’re at it.” Nestor who was sitting on the marble seal that Spyro and Cyra travelled to Alafrenor in.

“Right, and what about Spyro and Cyra? They just vanished in that marble thing you’re sitting on. They’re not dead are they?” he asked

“No, no...They’re alive alright. This here is Zeikora’s Seal.” Nestor answered

“Wow, wow...Zeikora’s Seal! The gate to Alafrenor!?” he said in disbelief

“Yes. Spyro and Cyra are now in the Dragon heaven, Alafrenor but doing what, I do not know...” Nestor replied

“Wait...What’s that!?” cried a Peace Maker from up front. As many Dragons turned to look in the direction he was looking in, they could just make out a wave of light coming in at high speed along the horizon.

“It can’t be a tidal wave! We’re too far from the sea for that, aren’t we!?” a beast maker yelled, who was a bit startled by what he saw

“Oh! Crap! We’re doomed again!” cried an artisan

“No! Wait!” Nestor yelled above the racket, “That is not a tidal wave...!” he added

“Well, what is it then!?” demanded a Peace Keeper, “I’d kinda like to know what we’re up against!”

“It’s light essence!” Nestor replied

“Light essence?” questioned a magic crafter from behind; it was Cosmos, “Oh. Yes, I can sense it now as well!” he added

“Hey, that kinda looks like that cool glowy stuff that Cyra had, mind?” Trondo spoke up

“Actually, judging from the energy readings, that is Cyra’s energy but she is accompanied with someone else but whom, I cannot figure out.” Cosmos said

“Well, who else went to Alafrenor with Cyra?” Nestor asked, “Spyro did.” He added

“Oh yes. So he did. But the energy reading is too different to be Spyro’s. It almost feels like another god.” Cosmos replied

“Well, aren’t you forgetting who Spyro is a descendant of?” Nestor hinted

“Zephra...!” Cosmos gasped and it then hit him, “So then that is Spyro’s energy! Spyro and Cyra are doing some massive scale healing ritual!? If that’s the case then what I’d like to know is how they can do so much at once. I mean even a powerful god can’t do this much, apart from Zeikora that is.” Cosmos added

“I’m not sure...” Nestor replied, “But I suppose they have ways of which we have do not know about.”

“Wait a mo! So that’s Spyro and Cyra who’s doing that!?” said another artisan overhearing the conversation

“Yes, it’d appear so.” Nestor replied

“Sweet! I always knew Spyro was an alright guy!” he said

The wall of energy was now only about a mile away from where they were standing.

“Aaaaaaah...! We’re gonna get hit!” cried someone from behind

“Just stand your ground and do not move!” yelled Nestor, “The energy will not harm you! It’s is a form of a healing ritual, preformed by Spyro and Cyra!” Nestor explained

“Wait...what? Spyro and Cyra are doing that!?” he replied

“Yes, now brace yourselves!” Nestor yelled and as he did so the wall of energy swept over the whole valley and the Dragons there felt like a huge wall of warm wind blew down the valley. When the wind died down and they looked on they saw the white energy, like a mystical fog around them and then the Shadow Dragons around them began choke and gag on the energy as though it was toxic to them and one by one, they slowly died and disintegrated to nothingness as though they never existed.

“The Shadow Dragons, they’re killing the Shadow Dragons!” Cried a female Magic Crafter

“Hah! Yeah! Right on!” cheered an artisan Dragon, “Spyro, Cyra! You two rock!” he added

The rest of the Dragons then began cheering as the Shadow Dragon continued dying one by one but one female Dragon lay next to a male Beast Maker who had died during the war.

“Cheer all you want...” she spoke up, with her tear stricken face, “That still won’t bring back the dead...” she sobbed. The other Dragons’ smiles then broadened and sadness hummed though the survivors

“Aw, Shika...I know you’re still upset his death...” said a male Magic Crafter, “But sometimes these things happen...” he added, trying to sooth her. A tear then trickled down the Dragonesses snout and splashed onto the dead male’s body. It was then that he suddenly withdrew a deep shuddering breath as he opened his eyes.

“Wh-what...?” the Dragoness gasped hardly believing her eyes, “Raldar...?” she stammered

“Shika...?” he replied a little confused as he stroked her cheek. As she looked at her lover she then burst into tears and fell into his arms

“Oh...Ralgar...” she sobbed, “I thought I’d never see you again...” she cried

“Hush now...It’s ok. I’m here...” he replied hushing his loved one.

The miracles didn’t stop there, one by one. Many of the less fortunate Dragons of the Dragon Kingdom who lost their lives in the hands of the Shadow Dragons arose, breathing in the breath of life created by Spyro and Cyra’s purification.

Meanwhile, back in the black, starry void where Spyro and Cyra were performing the purification, they were still feeding energy into the beam of energy. Spyro and Cyra were now beginning to tire and could feel their energy depleting every second.

“Ok. Spyro, we’re nearly done here. We still have one more place to purify and that’s Raku’s fortress it’s self. If we can purify that area then maybe we can release some of the lost souls that were succumbed to darkness.” Cyra said

“Right.”Spyro replied and as soon as Spyro said that, a vision then crept into his mind. Spyro saw a picture of a navy-blue, male Artisan Dragon with a deep wound in his stomach surrounded by the mystical white fog that he and Cyra created, “Gavin...” Spyro said quietly and his eyes widened when he saw the wounds he received close up and his lifeless body spring back into life as he took a deep, shuddering breath. This made Spyro’s day, seeing his mentor alive and well again. It didn’t stop there however. Spyro kept on seeing visions in his mind of Dragons who’d lost their lives spring back to life again with the look of confusion, awe and disbelief in the faces. Spyro kept getting these visions until they eventually stopped when each and everyone who had lost their lives in the war were brought back to life. There were now visions of families and friends being reunited with their loved ones, which give a sense of happiness and relief.

“Ok. Spyro. We’re finished here.” Cyra said who sounded understandingly weak from the energy that she and Spyro had spent; “Now we just have one more place to visit...” Cyra said

“Right...ok...” Spyro said who just now realised just how much energy they had spent.

Tired and exhausted, Spyro and Cyra continued to force energy into their beam, driving the wave of energy across the planet to a point of darkness. In Spyro’s mind, he began to see flashes of what looked like an evil looking castle in the distance, which appeared to come closer with each flash. As the wave of energy reached the fortress, Spyro saw just how massive the fort was. It was bigger than any other castle he had ever seen. The evil, dark castle with crumbling, damp walls, riddled with instruments of torture which he daren’t imagine what they were used for gave Spyro a chill just looking at the place of evil. The sky itself had a vortex of dark energy. All this however, was about to change. As the wave of energy hit the fort, the light shrouded the whole area and the darkness began to disintegrate away to nothingness. As Spyro and Cyra, who were now very weak from using up more than half of their energy combined, continued to purify the area, Spyro saw what appeared to be hundreds of spirit rising out of the fort and out into the surroundings.

“Wait...what’s happening...?” Spyro asked whilst feeling the energy draining even more

“These are the lost souls that were consumed by the evil energy in this place. Now that the evil energy is lifting, the spirits can leave and go where they are destined to go and rest in peace.” Cyra replied

“Ah. Ok” Spyro said, “Hey, maybe your parents are down there somewhere.” Spyro hinted

“What?” Cyra questioned

“Your real parents, didn’t they get killed by Raku in that place?” Spyro asked

“Why...yes, they did!” Cyra replied as she felt a glimmer of hope

“Ok, Spyro! Are you ready for the Grande finale?” Cyra asked

“Yeah! Let’s tear this place down!” Spyro yelled

Spyro and Cyra then let go of the beam and then focussed their energy. When they began to build up the energy they had left, their auras began to burn even brighter than ever before and then it was time, time to put things straight once and for all.

“OK IT’S NOW OR NEVER!!” Cyra yelled as she psyched herself up for the biggest challenge in her life to date, “WHOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...!!!!!” Spyro and Cyra yelled as they fired a beam, three times as thick as the first one straight at Raku’s fortress and when the beam finally disappeared, the fortress was nowhere to be seen. As Cyra assessed the Dragon Realms below them, she was finally satisfied.

“Th-that’s it...” Cyra breathed, “I-it’s...finally over...” she added as she and Spyro began to fall back down into the blue light beam, shining from the altar and passed out with sheer exhaustion. They knew no more.

A picture emerged out of the darkness as she came around. At first all she could see was a purple blob, which slowly turned into Spyro with a look of relief as her eyes focussed with each blink.

“Spyro...?” Cyra spoke up with her voice sounding a little hoarse, “Where am I?” she asked and when she looked around, she found herself in a large bed with Spyro by her side, who was now back to his normal form in one of the Alafrenorian castles

“Hey...” Spyro said, “You’re back in Alafrenor. I really thought, you weren’t gonna make it, you know...” he added

“Aw. Come on Spyro. Surely you had a little more faith than that?” said Rekuma from behind him, with a slight chuckle

“Heh...yeah, but if you’d seen her up there you wouldn’t think that...” Spyro replied he said with a laugh

“Oh. And Cyra, there’s someone we’d like you to meet...” Electrador spoke up. As soon as he said that, two extra shadows then befell upon Cyra and when Cyra looked up, she saw what appeared to be two quadruped Dragons: one female who had light blue scales, red crest, and yellow wings with light-blue membrane also sporting light-blue eyes much like Cyra’s and a male with brown scales and curved horns and brown wings with red membranes. As Cyra looked up at the two dragons, who were both beaming down at her, with the female almost in tears, a thought then occurred to her...

“M-mum...” Cyra stuttered, and the female nodded, “D-dad...” Cyra added who now had tears forming in her eyes and he too nodded. As Cyra just realised how much she had wanted to meet her parents, her emotion just came pouring out as she fell into her mother’s arms.

“Oh! Mum..! Dad...!” Cyra sobbed, with tears flooding down her cheek

“Oh! Hush...hush...its ok...it’s ok...we’re here...” soothed Cyra’s mother, who had tears trickling down her cheeks as she stroked her daughters head.

“You know, with being a powerful goddess and all, it’s easy to forget that she’s still just a kid...” said Terranna who too, was almost in tears as she, Spyro and the other Dragons watched the happy/sad scene which was filled with a mixture of happiness, relief and tears as Cyra was finally reunited with the parents she never got a chance to meet. As Cyra came out of her mother’s hug, a though occurred to her.

“Wait...what about Spyro? If he has all that light essence inside him, doesn’t that mean he can stay in Alafrenor too?” Cyra asked but when she asked that, the Dragon Gods’ smiles broadened

“I’m afraid not...” Rekuma started, “As I discussed with Spyro, I’m afraid that because the light essence has not awoken or surfaced, he still relies on Ki energy and having Ki inside Alafrenor for long periods of time, as you know, can upset the balance of energy.” He added sadly

“Oh...” Cyra replied, “You mean, Spyro has to leave...?” Cyra said with a hint of sadness

“Yes...I’m afraid so...” Rekuma replied. Hearing those words were probably the hardest to take. Even after they had been through all that together, they still can’t live a normal life together. It just didn’t seem fair.

“Cyra...don’t worry about it...ok?” Spyro said, who came over to her
“But Spyro...it’s not fair...” Cyra said as she began to sob, “I love you...” she added as tears trickled down her cheeks

“Come here...” Spyro said as he wrapped his arms around her, “I love you too...” he added as he stroked her head. As Cyra sobbed over Spyro’s shoulder at the thought of never being able to see him again, Cyra’s parents looked at each other and he nodded.

“Cyra...” Her mother started, “You know, if you really want to you can leave with Spyro back to the Dragon Realms. If that’s what you really want that is.” She added

“I-I can...?” Cyra replied with a hiccough as she raised her head off Spyro's shoulder, “But what about you...?” she asked

“Oh... don’t worry about us...” Her father replied, “We just want you to be happy, ok? And besides, we’ll still see each other in the future at some point, I’m sure.” He added

“Yeah, that’s true...” Cyra replied, who had ceased crying and gave a half-smile, as she give it more though, she knew where her heart lies and the memories that played in her mind confirmed it “I’m sorry...but I just can’t live without him. I love him...” She stated

“It’s ok, honey...” Her father said as he hugged her, “We understand...” he added, whilst he and his wife hugged their only daughter. Cyra then came out of the hug jumped down from her bed with Spyro, who just realised how weak she still was from the purification.

“Cyra...” Spyro started, “Are you sure about this...? I mean, you don’t have to do all of this for me...” Spyro asked

“Spyro, I’ve never been so sure...” Cyra replied, “I love you, I need you and you’ve done so much for me all ready... and Dad’s right, we’ll be able to see our parents in the future when we come to pass anyway, so...” Cyra added and as Spyro looked into her light blue eyes, he could see the pure honesty and he smiled

“Yeah, you’re right...C’mere...” Spyro said as he came close to her and wrapped his arms around her, “I love you...” Spyro added

“I love you too...” Cyra replied and they then bent towards each other and shared a kiss

“Welcome to the family...” Cyra’s father, whispered to Sarek, who laughed. Spyro and Cyra however, overheard that remark and both grinned and blushed madly.

“Hey, wait. It is possible for me to live in the Dragon Realms with Spyro to begin with, isn’t it?” Cyra asked

“Yes, it’s possible but I’m afraid you cannot live there in your current state so I will reseal your light essence back into the coat of Ki energy as you had before you transformed. That means you will have to be converted back into your original form.” Rekuma explained

“That’s ok. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Cyra stated and she and Spyro shared a smile

“Very well, be seated.” Rekuma said, then doing as she was told, Cyra sat down in front of Rekuma and he raised his paw over Cyra’s head and she then felt the tingling of the light essence slowly lift away from her body until the sensation stopped all together, “It is done. You’re light essence is resealed like Spyro’s and you can now depart from Alafrenor whenever you are ready.” Rekuma confirmed

“Thank you.” Cyra replied and when she looked at herself, she noticed that her white aura or crimson-red markings were no longer there. She wasn’t Goddess anymore but now she can have the life she has craved, she couldn’t have been any happier, “Thank you so much...” Cyra said once again.

It was then that Rekuma noticed the deep gratitude in Cyra’s eyes as he looked at her and he replied with a nod and a smile.

After a long, tiring and eventful day, Spyro and Cyra were finally ready to set off back home, where they belong. After bidding their farewells, with hugs and tears included, Spyro and Cyra then stepped onto the seal and they waved back at their parents.

“Bye Mum, bye Dad!” Cyra yelled back as the rays of light began shoot up and wrap around them like before.

“Take care!” screamed Spyro’s mother and then when the light intensified their voices could no long be heard. Spyro and Cyra then sat down together with the shimmering sound of the mystical light around them.

“You ok?” Spyro asked as he held her paw

“Yeah...” Cyra replied, “I’m just glad it’s all finally over...” she added

“Yeah...me too.” Spyro replied with a chuckle

Spyro and Cyra both cuddled into each other. They knew that they were going home, where they belonged and most of all, now they can rebuild their lives together in peace now that the threat that is Raku has been lifted for good.

Chapter eighteen: A glimmer of Hope

Inside the altar of white marble, Spyro and Cyra stood on the marble tablet, looking grimly at the small pool of water, filling the room with a mystical, blue aura.

“So...are we ready...?” Spyro asked

“Yes...but we have to wait until the other gods are ready first... It shouldn’t take too long...” Cyra answered. They then fell into silence again, as they both knew that this could mean their fate. Then, after what seemed like an eternity of agony, the pool of water then started to glow and bright, mystical blue

“Huh? What going on?” Spyro asked

“The altar...” Cyra said as she looked grimly at the glowing pool of water, “The other gods are locked onto the altar’s power and are ready to open the vortex” she added

“So, you mean it’s time to...?” Spyro asked

“Yeah...” Cyra answered, “It’s time for the purification” she added grimly. “Ok, Spyro...let’s go.” Cyra said as she came out of her train of thought

It was then that Cyra began to move into the pool of water and as she did so the ripples of the mysterious glowing water, showered swells of mystical blue light onto the white marble walls.

“Ok. If you’re going to help me with the purification, I need you to come into the pool with me.” She called to Spyro

“Right.” Spyro replied. Spyro then walked into the pool of water like what Cyra did and came close to her. As Spyro stood in the shallow pool of glowing water; the rays of warm light swept across Spyro’s body. If it weren’t such a grim situation, Spyro would have enjoyed the caressing swells of warmth upon his body.

Spyro then looked back at Cyra but she looked away slightly. Spyro knew what she was thinking as she still felt a little hesitation about letting Spyro risking his life for her again, “Cyra...?” Spyro said as he put his right paw on her shoulder

“Oh Spyro...you’ve already given so much for me...you don’t have to give your life for me again...” Cyra said quietly

“Cyra...we’ve been through this before...”Spyro added on, “I love you and I want to go through with this and besides, the people down there need all the help they can get.” Spyro added

“...Y-you’re right...” Cyra replied as she glanced away. Spyro then placed his paw gently on her cheek and their eyes met. As they gazed into each other’s eyes, they then edged towards each other and shared what could be their last kiss. Then when Cyra came out of the kiss, she hugged him and Spyro then wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. Giving the circumstances of the situation, Cyra was understandably scared of what the outcome will be, as any living would be, God or no God and Spyro was probably feeling the same way but by being about to share what could be their fate together made the situation seem happy, somewhat.

But something strange occurred. As Cyra hugged Spyro, she noticed that energy in Spyro’s aura seemed to have much higher vibration than most of the Dragons that lived in the living realm. Noticing this, she used her mind’s eye to look deeper into Spyro’s energy field and what she saw was astonishing... Underneath Spyro’s natural purple aura, which too, showed signs of high spiritual awareness, was another spiritual aura of pure white energy, just lying dormant at the surface. It then hit Cyra that this was...

“Light essence...” Cyra spoke out loud as she backed away from Spyro slightly, with a mixture of shock and astonishment

“Huh? Light essence?” Spyro said, questioning her reaction, “What about it?” Spyro added

“Spyro...” Cyra started, “I just had a little assessment of your aura and I saw what looked like an extra layer underneath your normal aura and...It turned out to be light essence, just lying at the surface...” Cyra replied still not being able to believe what she saw

“Light essence?” Spyro replied, “But how can I have light essence? I’m not a God or anything like that...Am I...?” Spyro asked

“I don’t know. It’s puzzling me too...” Cyra said as she went deep into thought and then it hit her, “Unless...” Cyra added and as she thought about it, it couldn’t be more obvious and look of enlightenment crept on her face

“Unless what?” Spyro asked

“Spyro...You’re so gonna love this...” Cyra said with excitement in her voice as she gripped Shoulders, “Spyro, do you remember the first day we met, back in Artisans?” Cyra asked who was getting even more excited

“Yeah, how could I forget? You nearly knocked ten bells outta me.” Spyro replied

“Ha, ha...very funny... Be serious, Spyro!” Cyra replied with a frown, “Do you remember that story that Nestor told us on that day?” she asked

“About Rekuma and Meisaka? Yeah, vaguely.” Spyro replied

“And do you remember him saying that you’re a descendant of Meisaka?” Cyra added

“Yeah...?” Spyro said, wishing she’d get to the point

“And do you remember who his mother was?” Cyra said getting more excited by the minute

“Uh...” Spyro replied, “No...” he added and Cyra then rolls her eyes.

“Zephra, Spyro!” Cyra replied, “Goddess Zephra!”

“Oh. Hey...you’re right! I remember him saying that!” Spyro replied and a thought then occurred to him, “Wait...If this is true does that make me a God too!?” Spyro yelled who was getting a little excited too

“Well, not exactly. Just because you’re a descendant doesn’t mean you’re gonna suddenly turn into a God. I mean, I only became a Goddess because the original Goddess Cyra put an enchantment the soul that she passed down to Rekuma so that it would awaken at a certain time. Who knows when Zephra’s spirit will resurface if it will ever, that is...” Cyra replied

“Oh...” Spyro replied, “But why didn’t she put an enchantment on it like what the original Cyra did? I mean, it would have saved a heck of a lot of bother in fighting Raku!” Spyro added

“She probably didn’t know about Raku’s future return. Goddess Cyra, only just made the prediction after she’d been struck by Raku’s attack and then she placed the enchantment onto Rekuma’s soul just moments before she died. She didn’t have time to tell Zephra and because the other Gods had so much going on they didn’t have a any time to tell her either and before they did have a chance to tell her, she was slaughtered herself...” Cyra replied

“Oh. Right...” Spyro said, “So...what about this purification thing?” Spyro hinted as he realised that they were way off topic now

“Oh! Yes! The purification!” Cyra said as she came back to the reality of the situation, with the pool glowing a mystical blue, showering it’s light onto the marble walls “Well, discovering that light essence in you is certainly an asset because light essence has much higher vibrations than regular Ki. That’s why I was so reluctant to take energy from you because it uses up even more of your energy in trying to increase the vibrations up into light essence standards needed for the purification but because you have underlying light essence too, we don’t have to worry about that anymore.” Cyra explained

“Oh. Does that mean we both stand a chance in surviving this thing now?” Spyro asked

“Yes!” Cyra replied, “Well in theory anyway. As with anything there’s always a chance that things will not go to plan. This altar’s only been used twice in the past so...” Cyra added

“Huh! But Cyra, are you sure you know how to use this thing if it’s only been used it twice!?” Spyro asked, startled by her statement

“Of course I do. It’s more like intuition, an instinct that’s engraved in my mind.” Cyra replied, “Anyway, about the purification, all I need you to do is just to relax and sort of hold me like you did before.”

“Oh. You mean like this?” Spyro replied as her wrapped his arms around her.

“Yeah, that’s fine. Now during the purification, our energies are going to merge into one, I’m going to take the energy and distribute it over the living realm, and it’s gonna feel really, really weird...” Cyra replied, “And don’t worry about falling. Once two people touch in the vortex, they can’t let go unless the one driving the purification wants to separate the energies for so reason.” She added

“Ok. And don’t worry about me. It can’t get much weirder than dying and coming back to life again.” Spyro said

“That’s true...” Cyra said with a slight chuckle, “Anyway, you ready?” Cyra asked

“Yeah.” Spyro confirmed

“OK! Let’s go!” Cyra said, Ok! Everyone! We’re ready! Open the void! Cyra called in her mind through a direct telepathic link to the other gods and then, right on cue, rays of warm, blue light shot up from the pool around them like when they were on Zeikora’s seal. Then with the rays of light, droplets of water from the pool began to float upwards, rather like the stuff in a lava lamp. As the light and water from the pool began to float upwards, Spyro began to feel what felt like hundreds of ants crawling all over his body.
“Don’t worry, Spyro. What you’re feeling is just the high vibrations from the light essence. You’ll get used to it. I found it weird at first too” Cyra said as she noticed Spyro was a little unsure about the sensation

“Oh. But how couldn’t I feel this before when you and Rekuma healed me? You both put light essence into me then, didn’t you?” Spyro asked

“Nah. We converted the light essence into Ki before passing it over to you. It’s very important that we always balance the laws of energy. That’s of course before I read your aura thoroughly.” Cyra explained

“Oh. Right.” Spyro replied. As soon as Spyro spoke, he suddenly started to feel like the floor of the pool was slowly moving away from underneath him. As Spyro looked down, it was revealed that he and Cyra were actually suspended in mid-air a few inches over the pool, slowly rising up the beam of light.

“Relax, Spyro.” Cyra said, “Energy doesn’t flow as well when you’re all tense like that.” She added

“Uh...Right.” Spyro said, which was easier said than done when you’ve got hundreds of little static shocks travelling all over your body and you’ve got the feeling of vertigo going on but Spyro did as he was told, shook of the feelings and let himself loosen up slightly.

“If you think this is weird, wait ‘til you see what’s coming next.” Cyra said with a grin

“Huh? Just how weird exactly?” Spyro asked

“Wait and see...” Cyra replied, grinning at Spyro’s slightly worried expression. As Spyro and Cyra continued to rise upwards until they were about level with the stained-glass windows, Spyro just happened to look up when he saw that ceiling of the castle appeared to be disappearing before his very eyes.

“What the...!?” Spyro yelled

“That’s the gate to the vortex, Spyro. When the Gods open it and when we get beyond that point, you’re gonna get the ride of your life...” Cyra said

“Huh!?” Spyro replied, who was feeling a bit worried now.

“OK! OPEN THE GATE!” Cyra yelled to the other Gods

As soon as Cyra yelled and they continued to float upwards through the beam of light, Spyro then noticed four large beams of light come diagonally across the “Gate” and meet with the beam that Spyro and Cyra were in. Then with the five beams of light, what appeared to be a crack slowly slithered across the gate and when that happened the sky appeared to break into fragments and revealed what looked like a swirling vortex of stars.

“That’s it, Spyro! That’s the vortex I was telling you about!” Cyra said

“You mean, we’re gonna enter that thing!?” Spyro replied

“Uh-huh!” Cyra replied, “Spyro, please relax. I told you it’s hard to part with your energy when you’re tense like that.” Cyra added

It was then that Spyro realised that they were dangerously close to the vortex but doing as he was told; he took a deep breath and loosened up his body once more. Spyro and Cyra were now extremely close to the vortex, in fact Spyro was almost touching it with his horns. Spyro and Cyra’s bodies now began to vibrate with the energy intensifying like a rocket about to lift off into the unknown...

Chapter Seventeen: The Promise

Raku was finally gone for good. Still suspended in the air and with the force of gravity acting on him, Spyro then started falling towards the ground. Spyro, however, managed to save himself as he caught the air with his wings and glided down beside Cyra, who was sitting, panting with exhaustion on the ground.
As the scene unravelled before their very eyes, the crowd of spectators burst with cheering.

“Oh! My God! They did it! Raku’s finally gone for good! Hee! Hee! Hee!” screamed a female dragon who then kissed another male Dragon.

“MhHH! Freya! What the heck?!” spluttered the Dragon. Spyro then walked up to Cyra, she then weakly looked up into Spyro’s eyes and a beaming grin crept up on her face and she then hugged him.

“Oh! Spyro...you did it!” she cheered with a laugh of joy

“No. We did it.” Spyro replied. She and Spyro then shared a warm smile and they embraced.

“Oh. Spyro... I love you so much.” Cyra said

“I love you too.” Spyro replied. Spyro and Cyra then came out of the hug and looked deep into each other’s eyes. As Spyro stroked Cyra’s cheek gently with his claw, they shared a warm smile and they then bent forwards and shared a long, passionate kiss. Spyro and Cyra then stood up, Cyra, however, limped badly on her left leg as her shoulder wound still stung away.

“Ach! Ma leg’s still...” Cyra winced under her sore leg

“Here, let me help.” Spyro replied. Spyro then came up to Cyra’s left side and let Cyra use his shoulder as a support.

“Thanks” Cyra replied with a smile. As Spyro and Cyra shared a warm smile, something then caught her eye. Cyra noticed that the sword still hung suspended in the air and that started to glow as a blue aura wrapped around it. Then the four elemental darkness orbs started to fly out of the hollows on its cross-bar, one by one. The Darkness orbs then suddenly stopped suspended in the air and started to float down towards Cyra as the sword fell to the ground.
“The Darkness orbs...” Cyra said when the darkness orbs were more or less floating in front of Cyra. Cyra then raised her paw slightly and four, small beams of energy shot out her index and the orbs shattered into many little purple shards. “Now he can never come back.”

Spyro and Cyra then looked back at each other and shared another kiss and walked (Or hobbled, rather) across to the cheering crowd of Dragons singing, dancing and making a joyful, well-organised racket.

“Spyro! Cyra!” Yelled a Peace Keeper Dragon from the crowd, it was Trondo again, “Oh! My God (No pun intended)! That was so flippin’ awesome! Man! That was like so cool how you did that big huge beamy thingy and then you like did that swordy thing! I mean...Aaaaaaaah!! I think my brain’s gonna pop!!” Trondo cheered

“I think his brain all ready has popped...” Spyro muttered in Cyra’s ear. Cyra then snorted with laughter

“Aye an’ the rest...” Cyra added and both Spyro and Cyra then burst out laughing. As Spyro and Cyra laughed and chatted with the other Dragon’s, something then happened. As Cyra was talking to another Artisan, the cheering and excitable chatter then began quieten and become more muffled and an airy, male voice then called in her head.

“Cyra...Goddess of Alafrenor...the gate of light awaits...” called the voice

“What?” Cyra questioned the voice but the voice didn’t answer and the chatter and cheerful atmosphere came back to the normal volume, “Gate of light...?” Cyra questioned herself, then it hit her “Zeikora’s Seal!” Cyra yelled. Cyra then limped away from Spyro slightly but here leg prevented her from going very far, Spyro then saw this and supported her again.

“Hey Cyra, what’s up?” Spyro asked

“Spyro, I need you to take me over there” Cyra said as she pointed in the direction of an open area of sand.

“Ok...why?” Spyro asked

“You’ll see...” Cyra replied         
         
Spyro and Cyra then walked over to the open area Cyra pointed out, it was then that Cyra felt a hard surface underneath the dry sand.
“Spyro, you feel that?” Cyra asked

“Yeah...it’s like there’s something underneath...what is it?” Spyro asked     

“You’ll see...stand back.” Cyra told Spyro. Spyro then did what he was told and stepped back a couple of feet

“Reveal to me the Seal of grandest deity and creator of these worlds, Zeikora!” Cyra yelled and as soon as she did so, the sand then began to move. A large, disk-shaped, marble structure then slowly poked through the sand and when the marble structure stopped moving, everyone just looked at Cyra in both awe and confusion.

“Cyra...what in the...?!” Spyro started, both confused and awed

“This...is Zeikora’s Seal.” Cyra answered Spyro’s expression

“You mean that’s the gate thing that takes you to Alafrenor?” Spyro asked.

“Yes...” Cyra said, and as she moved towards the Seal, her left leg began to play up again, “*bleep* leg...” Cyra winced.

“Here...” Spyro said as he supported her again.

“Thanks, now I need to in the middle of the seal...” Cyra replied

“Ok” Spyro replied back. Spyro and Cyra then walked over, stepped onto the seal and then walked over to a large dragon, carved onto the marble.

“Open Alafrenor, the gate of light unto me!” Cyra spoke in a very clear voice and as so as she spoke, the runes on the circular marble floor around then started to glow. Rays of white light then suddenly shot up from the many runes, etched on the seal around them. The light’s rays then wrapped around them and blocked everything from view. As the light intensified, so that they had to shield their eyes, the gasps and chatter from the crowd of Dragon’s began to disappear and now the only thing they could hear was their breathing and the shimmering of the mystical light around them. Then after what seemed like an eternity, the light around them began to dim. The light around them then began to unwind and split into separate rays of light and finally the light had fully dimmed.

“Spyro...” Cyra said limping with Spyro off the seal, “Welcome to Alafrenor.” Cyra added and what Spyro saw next just made him gasp with sheer awe...

All around them was a wide open area with walls of towering, white, puffy clouds and five large, pure-white, marble castles with elegant architecture; four on a distant island and one exceptionally large one on an island just behind them, all linked to the main island that Spyro and Cyra were on by five elegant, beautifully-crafted bridges . In front of them was a large, spacious, pool of crystal-clear, blue water, which reflected the beautiful, orange, setting sky. The whole area seemed to have a mystical, white, misty aura around it, which added to its beauty. No words could express what Spyro just saw.

“So, Spyro. What do you think?” Cyra asked, grinning at his stunned silence as he just stood there with his jaw ajar, trying to take everything in.

“Cyra...” Spyro started, “T-this...this is...this is just incredible!” Spyro stammered as he was just overwhelmed by everything around him. As Spyro stared at his surroundings in awe, three large shadows then befell upon them and as they looked behind them, they saw three large Dragons standing behind them. One had red scales, gold markings around his amber eyes, face and body; one had yellow scales with blue marking around his brown eyes, face and body and one Dragoness had green scales with lighter green marking around her hazel eyes, face and body.

“Cyra, welcome to Alafrenor. I see you have bared my wife’s light essence well and that you have also brought a companion with you?” spoke the red Dragon

“Yes, this is Spyro, descendant of Goddess Zephra. Spyro, this is God Fyrenz, God Electrador and Goddess Terranna.” Cyra replied

“Ah! Greetings, young Spyro.” Greeted God Fyrenz

“Oh! Um...pleased to meet you.” Spyro replied, who was in complete awe.

‘This is just crazy! Two months ago, I was just chasing sheep about the place and now I’m in Alafrenor, talking to the Dragon Gods!!!’ Spyro thought to himself

“Cyra...mind if I go and faint?” Spyro said and Cyra just laughed. Then as they shared a smile another shadow befell upon then, they then turned to see who it was and saw another red, younger-looking Dragon with Golden markings around his light-blue eyes (Which were exactly like Cyra’s), face and body.

“Ah! Rekuma. You got here just in time. I think Cyra and her companion may need your assistance on those wounds of theirs.” Fyrenz spoke to the Dragon

“Right away, Father!” Rekuma replied. Rekuma then walked over and sat down in front of Spyro and Cyra, he then placed his left paw over Cyra and his right paw over Spyro. As soon as he did this, he then closed his eyes and began to concentrate and white energy began to flow from his body, down his arms and out his paws to Spyro and Cyra. Immediately, the white energy wrapped around then and their wounds began to slowly close up and Cyra began to fill up with rejuvenating, warm energy. Then soon after, energy stopped flowing from Rekuma and he took his paws away from Spyro and Cyra and feeling renewed, they stood up, feeling the warm energy flow through their bodies.

“Wow! Thanks!” Spyro said as he walked around feeling his rejuvenated body

“You’re welcome and Cyra, I’m afraid I was unable to recover some of your lost energy...my apologies.” Rekuma replied

“Oh. That’s ok. No need to worry about it.” Cyra replied; Rekuma, however, looked slightly unsure...

As Spyro stretched his rejuvenated bones, he then felt a presence and then two shadows befell upon him from behind.

“Spyro...?” a male voice called from behind. Spyro then turned around and he then gasped as he saw a large, bipedal, male Dragon, purple in colour with a dark purple crest and brown eyes.

“D-Dad...?” Spyro gasped as he just could not believe what he was seeing, as his long dead Father was just standing there, right before his very eyes.

“Sarek, what’s wrong, dear?” asked a female, quadruped Dragoness, with light blue scales, yellow crest and navy blue eyes, who came up behind his Father and when she saw Spyro she clasped he paws to her mouth with a gasp of surprise “Spyro...!” she gasped

“Mum...? Dad...?” Spyro said, as he started to realise just how much he missed them. Tears then started to fill up in his eyes and his breathing started shudder. As his emotions finally got the better of him, with not seeing his parents for ten whole years, he then started running towards them.

“Mum! Dad!” Spyro yelled, as he ran towards them, hoping that this was not just some cruel hoax but it was true. He then ran right into his Mother and Father’s arms who he had not seen for ten years.

“Mum! Dad! Oh! God...! I missed you so much...!” Spyro sobbed as tears started flowing down his cheeks as his long dead parents hugged and caressed him. As his mother’s scent flowed into his nostrils, so many wonderful memories came flooding back...

“Hush. Hush now... it’s ok, my son...we’re here...” soothed his mother, as she kissed Spyro’s forehead, who was sobbing over her shoulder. The scene was just so full of emotion as both Spyro’s long dead parents, hugged, kissed and caressed him.

“Oh. My boy...my son...” sobbed his Father hugged his Son

Cyra too began to fill up with tears as she watched the sad yet happy scene of Spyro and his parents unravel before her eyes.

“Oh! God...! He’s setting me of too...” Cyra said as a tear trickled down her cheek.

“Don’t worry you’re not the only one...” said Terranna, with a sniff as she watched the happy/sad scene.

“Wait...” Cyra said, “A-are my parents here too, if Spyro’s made it, I mean?” Cyra asked in a desperate way

“I-I’m afraid since that their spirits died deep within the darkness of Raku’s fortress...they were trapped and were not able to enter Alafrenor...” Fyrenz explained, sadly

“Oh...” Cyra replied, feeling slightly let down. She then looked away from the scene sadly. She wished she could have seen her parents at least once...

About twenty minutes later, Spyro, after his emotional reunion with his parents, is seen standing at a railing, lining the large island they were on, looking out at the large lake of water over on the other island. Cyra then came up and joined him.
“Hey, Spyro. You all right?” Cyra asked, as she placed her right paw on his left paw.

“Oh. Hey, Cyra... Yeah...I’m all right...” Spyro replied. Spyro and Cyra then both gazed out into the setting sun, letting their minds wander.
“Cyra...” Spyro started

“Hm?” Cyra replied

“I just want to say...thanks...” Spyro said, as he turned around to face Cyra “Really Cyra, thank you so much for this. I...really appreciated it...” Spyro added. Cyra then looked into Spyro’s dewy eyes and saw the honesty and genuine appreciation. She then smiled, squeezed his paw and came closer to him. Their bodies then touch and they wrapped their arms around each other into a hug.

As the two Dragon’s hugged into each other, while the sunset, Fyrenz walks over to Rekuma who just flew over from the nearest island with the largest, white, marble castle.

“Rekuma, is it ready yet?” Called Fyrenz

“Almost...” Rekuma replied, “You do know that she will not be able to survive...” Rekuma added

“I know...but we don’t have a choice, she has to follow her promise.” Fyrenz replied. Rekuma nodded and sighed sadly as he saw the two Dragons cuddled into each other. He then flew off back to the island.

As she rested her head on his shoulder and he nuzzled her forehead with his snout, whilst watching the sunset, they felt as though all their troubles with Raku had just washed away. She then raised her head off Spyro’s shoulder, let her lips follow Spyro’s warm breath and lock onto his. It seemed like ages passed when they last shared a proper kiss like this and they savoured the moment...
Five minutes later, as Spyro and Cyra shared another passionate kiss, a shadow befell upon them. Cyra came out of the kiss and turned around to find Rekuma standing behind them.

“Cyra, apologies for the interruption but the Altar of Alafrenor is ready for use and must be seen to at once...” Rekuma said with hint of anxiety

“Altar?” Cyra questioned him but then it hit her, “Goddess Cyra’s promise...” Cyra said as another memory flickered across her mind

“Yes...I’m afraid it cannot be postponed for much longer as there is still a lot of darkness shrouding the Dragon Worlds from Raku’s period of reign...” Rekuma said with a hint of sadness

“I see...and with quite a lot of my energy still unrecovered...” Cyra started

“Yes...although you’ll have enough to drive the darkness away...there’s really no chance that you’ll...” Rekuma replied. Cyra then nodded grimly and walked off and glided down towards the nearest and largest castle.

“Wait...what was that about an altar?” Spyro asked

“I-it’s a special altar that we use as a last resort to drive back or neutralise evil and to recreate destroyed worlds or rebuild broken lives. We can’t rejuvenate a being after a certain time though...” Rekuma explained

“Oh. So it’s like Cyra’s healing power except on a massive scale?” Spyro asked

“Yes...however, this act is very demanding on input of light essence and normally requires the being to be in peak condition...” Rekuma replied

“Oh...” Spyro said, but then he remembered what he said about not being able to recover some of Cyra’s lost energy. He looked up at Rekuma, who looked slightly saddened. A horrible thought then flickered into his mind, “She is going to be ok, isn’t she...?” Spyro asked but Rekuma remained silent, “Please tell me she’s gonna be ok?” Spyro bade desperately.

“She will have enough light essence for the given task, but I’m afraid that because a lot of her light essence remained uncovered... she will not have enough left for her own use and...She will die...” Rekuma explained sadly

Spyro’s eyes then widened. Spyro then began to back away from Rekuma, towards the castle, shaking his head in disbelief of what he just heard.
“No...” Spyro said quietly,

“I’m sorry but it...” Rekuma started

“No!” Spyro butted, “I can’t...I won’t let her...!”

“Look, Spyro! I’m sorry but it has to be done, my Mother made a promise two-thousand years...” Rekuma said

“NO!” Spyro yelled, “I won’t let this happen!” Spyro then started to run towards the castle, building up speed as he went

“Spyro! No! Wait!” Rekuma yelled after him but Spyro had only one thing set on his mind and that was to save his only loved one from certain death.

Cyra stood in a hallway of pure-white, marble walls, with six stained-glass windows (Each bearing one of the six deities of Zeikora), three either side of the hall and in the middle of the hall, was a large, raised marble tablet. Cyra then got on top of the structure which had lots of complicated runes etched on its surface, surrounding a large, circular pool of shallow water and she gave a shuddering sigh as her memories of her times with Spyro played around her head non-stop. Cyra was, however, forced out of her thoughts as the double doors flew open and slammed off the walls

“Cyra!” Called a familiar voice, Cyra then reluctantly turned around and saw Spyro running up to her, with his claws clicking on the marble floor. He then got onto the tablet in front of Cyra and their eyes met.
“Cyra...please don’t do this...” Spyro pleaded her with a slight sob

“I’m sorry, Spyro...I have to...” Cyra replied

“But Cyra, this just isn’t fair. You just don’t have a say in what you want in your life. You’ve always had to go by what other people tell you to do. Instead you have to let them take your life away, literally” Spyro replied back

“Spyro...you just don’t understand. I can’t turn this down because two-thousand-years ago, just before Goddess Cyra died, she made a promise that, with the darkness that she predicted that will return, she’ll use her powers to drive back the evil and rebuild lost lives with this altar even if it meant death and when a God or Goddess turns down a promise like that, he or she’ll will die anyway.” Cyra explained

“But Cyra...” Spyro started and he went deep into thought. A thought then occurred to him. “Cyra...” Spyro started, again, “Do you have to do the whole thing on your own?” Spyro asked

“Well, I’m the only one that can use the altar, so...” Cyra replied, she added

“Oh...but what if you were to do it with someone?” Spyro asked

“Well, that would be a big help but the thing is, the other gods have to put their energy into keeping the rift between the living world and Alafrenor open so I can purify it, so they wouldn’t be able to help me” Cyra asked

“Ok...what if someone else was to lend their energy to you, just enough so that both are able to survive...” Spyro replied. Cyra then looked into Spyro’s eyes and she had a good idea what he had in mind

“What do you have in mind...?” Cyra asked

“Well, I was thinking that maybe you and I could do the thing together where you can borrow my energy as well as your own. I mean, if we both do it then there may be a chance that we’ll both survive...” Spyro replied

“I-I don’t know...” Cyra said, “It’s too risky..." Cyra hesitated

“C’mon Cyra if we do this together then there may be a good chance that we’ll both make it...” Spyro replied

“But Spyro...what if this doesn’t work out...what if one of us or we both die...” Cyra hinted

“But what if we do make it?” Spyro replied. Cyra then looked away; still unsure about Spyro’s plan.

“But Spyro...you’ve all ready died for me...I can’t just let you die again...” Cyra replied back

“Look, Cyra. If you do this alone, then you’ll die for certain but if we do this together then there’s a chance that we’ll both make it. It’s risky, yeah, but it’s an opportunity we can’t miss and besides I made a promise I’d never leave you and I’m not about to break it anytime soon.” Spyro said. Spyro then got closer to her and their eyes met once more, “C’mon Cyra...I want to do this with you...” Spyro added as he stroked her forelegs. Cyra then sort of half smiled

“God! You’re so stubborn...” Cyra sighed. Spyro then sort of chuckled

“So...are we gonna do this...” Spyro asked

“Yeah...ok...” Cyra answered, but then just as Cyra began to move into the shallow pool of water with Spyro, the door swung open

“No! Spyro! Wait! What are you doing!?” Yelled a male voice from outside. When Spyro and Cyra looked to see who it was, they saw it was Rekuma.

“Rekuma, it’s all right...” Cyra called back to him, “Spyro’s going to help by offering some his energy to me during the purification.” Cyra explained

“But you are aware of the risk that you both may die from this, are you not?” Rekuma hinted

“Yes...I’ve mention the risks but Spyro still insisted.” Cyra replied.

“Look...Spyro...you don’t have to do this...if you both die of this then you’ll just die in vain...” Rekuma said

“No I won’t.” Spyro replied, “I’d die knowing that I helped her...I promised I’d never leave her and there’s no way I’m gonna break it now!” Spyro added. Rekuma then looked at the young Dragon, full of respect for him for he had never seen this much devotion in anyone before.

“Very well, I will inform the other gods to open the rift to the world of the living...best of luck to the both of you.” He replied, “And Spyro, whenever it comes to your passing, Alafrenor’s gates will always welcome you.” Rekuma added. It was then that Spyro’s parents came running up from behind Rekuma.

“Spyro!” called his Father, “Please! Think about what you are doing!” he cried as they came up to the tablet where Spyro and Cyra were.

“I have thought about it and I’m going through with it” Spyro replied

“But Spyro, you needn’t put yourself under a very risky procedure! You may be putting yourself into another early grave!” Sarek replied

“But I want to do this!” Spyro yelled in frustration, “Please, Dad...!” Spyro added

“But Son...” Sarek started

“Now Sarek...I know you don’t like the idea of Spyro risking so much but can’t you see how much he cares about her?” Sira said, “He loves her and if he doesn’t go through with it then he’ll have to live with the scars for the rest of his life.” Sira added

“Y-you’re right...” Sarek added quietly, he then turned back to his Son, “Ok...Spyro...you just do what you need to do...” Sarek said, “And Spyro...I want you to know that I’m very proud of you, my Son...” he added

“Thanks...” Spyro replied as he hugged his parents for what could be for the very last time. It was then after their final farewells, that his parents and Rekuma walked out of the castle and the door slammed shut. Spyro then turned back to Cyra and their eyes met; it was time... 

Soz About all the confusion before

Spyro and Cyra watched in horror as this humungous, black Dragon towered over them, with ugly looking scars and tears etched on his dirty, scales and wings, peering at them with his piercing slits for pupils. He then let out a large guttural roar that vibrated in every area of their bodies. Once his transformation was complete, Raku then looked at the two small Dragons in front of him, horror sweeping over them as they observed the nightmare that was unfolding before their very eyes.  A wicked grin then etched across his face, baring his large, evil fangs.

“So, Cyra, mighty Goddess of Alafrenor, how do like the true Lord of Darkness?” Raku boomed. Cyra, however, couldn’t say a thing as she was completely lost for words, as the horror of Raku’s transformation was still raw in her veins. Raku then laughed as the fear radiated off Cyra’s body,
“What’s wrong, Cyra? Is the mighty Lord of Darkness too much for the legendry Alafrenorian Goddess?” Raku teased. The energy radiating of Raku’s body was maddening. Cyra was scared now. She couldn’t even begin to imagine the destruction that he could create under this form. She shuddered under the very thought of the idea.

“Cyra...just how the heck are we meant to fight that thing!?” Spyro asked

“I-I don’t know...I don’t think we can...” Cyra stuttered, “He’s more powerful than an all the gods in Alafrenor combined in this form...it’ll take a miracle to take him...” She added

“Oh...God...” Spyro said quietly, a thought then began to nag the back of his mind, “Cyra? If he’s as powerful as you say he is, then why did he even need go into all that bother to turn you into a Shadow Dragon and all?”

“Oh...that’s a good question, actually...” Cyra replied as she thought about it. It was puzzling though, Raku had gone into all that bother to create an army and turn her into a Shadow Dragon, yet he could equally have just wiped out everything on his own with all that power inside him.

“So!” Raku boomed out, “Any last words from the legendary Goddess Cyra, before the universe meets its fate?” Raku sneered through his ugly, Draconian fangs

“Actually...we have a question...” Cyra started, “If you had this power all this time, then why did you even need to turn me into a Shadow Dragon in the first place? I couldn’t have done you much good in that form and you could’ve just as equally have done everything on your own.” Cyra pointed out

“Well, if you must know, I wanted control over everything and drape everything in shadow, including Alafrenor, and become the supreme ruler of all worlds of the living and the dead!” Raku answered
“All of the worlds? You don’t mean the three created by Zeikora, do you?” Cyra asked

“Yes! And with the energy of Alafrenor, the demon realm and this world all under my control and draped in shadow, I would become the ultimate eternal ruler of all that is. I would become the ultimate King of Shadow!” Raku boomed

“Wait, what’s that about this Zeikora dude?” Spyro asked

“Ok...to start with, this world was nothing but a dead lump of rock in space right?” Cyra said, “Then out of nowhere, the ultimate Dragon God, Zeikora descended upon this dead planet of rock and breathe life up on it and created the Dragon Worlds. Then before Zeikora parted from this world, he created two other worlds, Alafrenor born off his light and the Demon Realm born of his darkness and also created six deities: the four gods of Alafrenor and Zephra of this world (Born of his courage, loyalty, love and wisdom) and Raku (Born of his upmost hatred, rage and fury). Zeikora then created a marble seal quite near here, called Zeikora’s Seal.” Cyra explained

“Oh. Right. But why did he still need you in the first place though?” Spyro asked

“I don’t know... some of the real Goddess Cyra’s memories haven’t surfaced yet...” Cyra said. Cyra then looked at the monstrous black dragon in front of them, “Ok. That’s all fine about Zeikora’s Seal but again, why did you need me to begin with? I mean, you could just blast the seal open if you wanted to” Cyra asked Raku

“Isn’t it obvious yet?” He said, “Only a being of the realm can open its path. That means that even if I, the mighty Lord of Darkness, use an attack strong enough to blow the sun to oblivion, Alafrenor would still stand, untouched.” Raku explained

“Wait. If that’s true then how did you get into Alafrenor two thousand years ago?” Cyra asked

“I had a little help, when Terranna’s daughter accidentally opened the seal to the Dragon Worlds.” Raku replied

“Shakra...” Cyra said quietly, “If she had followed Fyrenz’ advice then Alafrenor wouldn’t have suffered such a fate.” Cyra muttered

“Yes...it’s daunting how a curious child can cause such a calamity” Raku sneered

“Yeah...but lucky for us, both Rekuma and Shakra managed to escape and Rekuma managed to stop you before you gained full control over the powers of the Alafrenorian Gods.” Cyra replied

“YES!” Raku boomed, “Those meddling fools! But I will not let these mistakes happen again and I will kill you!” Raku yelled

“Wait! But if you kill Cyra, you can’t open Alafrenor!” Spyro pointed out

“Yes, I can! Seeing as her Goddess form has surfaced, I can use her remaining light essence when she is dead to open the seal and gain entry to the status of King of Shadow!” Raku boomed, “Enough talk! Let us decide the fate of the universe in this final bout between, I, Raku, the mighty Lord of Darkness against Cyra, the legendary Goddess of Alafrenor!” Raku yelled. It was then that Raku started to let a long, low growl, baring his ugly, yellow fangs. Spyro and Cyra then got into their fighting stances and as Raku raised his head, he then suddenly opened his mouth and out shot a dark ball of evil energy and sent it hurtling down towards them. Spyro and Cyra then barely managed to jump out of the way with the ball of energy leaving an even bigger hole in the ground than before.

“Jeez-O!” Spyro yelled, “We’re gonna get blown to bits if we’re not careful!”
Raku then began firing balls of energy, one after the other, with Spyro and Cyra trying their best to dodge them. One however managed to catch Cyra’s left shoulder.

“Ah!” Cyra cried as she crippled away from the shock of the attack.

“Cyra, are you ok?” Spyro asked. It was then revealed that the attack from Raku had left a large, deep, wound, carved into her shoulder, with crimson blood trickling down her foreleg, “Cyra! You’re hurt!” Spyro acknowledged as he saw the deep gash in her shoulder

“Yeah... don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine...SPYRO! LOOK OUT!” Cyra yelled as she saw what looked like a giant ball of Dark Energy hurtling down towards Spyro. The before he knew what was happening, Cyra suddenly pulled him away, so that she was between Raku and Spyro. Then all too soon, with Cyra acting as a shield, the ball of energy descended and struck Cyra right on the back. Cyra then crippled away from the force of the attack and a searing pain travelled across her back as her scales were ripped violently off, along with a very unpleasant burning sensation.

“Cyra!” Spyro yelled with freight as she collapsed into Spyro’s arms in pain. Spyro then noticed that Cyra’s back was pretty badly burnt, that it bled in some places and her right wing was broken. And then all too soon, Raku suddenly fired another large ball of energy. Spyro then, not really knowing what the outcome will be, unsheathed his sword. Instinctively, he then raised his sword in front of himself and before he knew it, the ball of energy befell upon him, when a miracle happened. As the ball of energy touched the tip of Spyro’s sword, to his surprise, the ball of energy began to disintegrate and as a matter of fact, the sword had actually begun to absorb the energy from Raku’s attack. Spyro just stood, dumbfounded at what his sword had just achieved, as the ball of energy continued to get absorbed.

“What!?” Raku said in disbelief as Spyro still stood there with his sword poised, unscathed by his attack. “How did that little runt manage to survive that?” He yelled. When the ball of energy had eventually disappeared into his sword, Spyro then withdrew his sword and looked at it in disbelief as he began to absorb what just happened. It was then that Raku recognised the black handle, red cross-bar, golden Dragon head and the silver blade.
“That sword...” Raku gasped, “It can’t be! That little brat has the Sword of Daiakaryuu!” Raku yelled. He then remembered that battle with Rekuma, when he managed to plunge the sword, deep into Raku’s black heart and trapped him inside for two-thousand years. “Well, I won’t let that same mistake happen again!” Raku yelled as his goal to become King of the Universe of Shadow came clearer into his mind. “GrrrrRRRRRRAAAAH!!!!!” Raku boomed. Raku then took a deep breath and let out a loud roar that shook the Earth underfoot and along with his roar, a wave of energy rippled out from his body. The wave of energy caught Spyro unawares and the force of the energy smacked into Spyro and sent him flying backwards. Spyro then landed hard on his back, knocking the wind out of him.

“Ah...!” Spyro groaned as his body ached as the shock of Raku’s energy travelled throughout his body. Raku then walked towards Spyro and before he knew it, Raku pinned Spyro to the ground with his left paw, just as Spyro was about to reach for his sword. Spyro then squirmed helplessly, trying to get out of Raku’s grip, but it was no use. Raku laughed as he watched Spyro squirm under his grip.

“It’s no use, Spyro, wielder of the mighty Sword. My power is no match for a petty weakling like you!” Raku sneered at Spyro through his ugly, yellow fangs, “Now any last words before I shatter your body to pieces?” Raku teased as he tightened his grip

“Ah!” Spyro groaned as Raku began to grip Spyro’s aching body. Raku then began to grip tighter still.
“Ah! Ugh...! AH! Spyro cried as the pressure on Spyro’s bones began to intensify. Raku laughed as Spyro cried out as he continued to tighten his grip, putting immense pressure on Spyro’s body.

“What’s wrong, Spyro? Feeling a little uncomfortable are we?” Raku sneered, “Well, let me put you out of your misery...DIE, DRAGON!!!” Raku yelled and as he increased the grip even more, the pain in Spyro’s body became almost unbearable.
“AAAAAAH! GRAAAAAH!” Spyro cried as he became blinded by pain. Then as Raku watched Spyro scream under his now very tight grip, an unexpected bright ball of energy suddenly smacked Raku right in the face and forced him backwards, releasing Spyro from his grip. Paralysed from Raku’s grip, Spyro lay immobilised on the ground. Spyro then turned his head very slowly to see where the ball of energy came from and he was surprised to see Cyra standing before him.

“Cyra...?” Spyro said weakly

“Leave him alone, you monster!” Cyra yelled, wincing at her aching wounds.

“So, Cyra, I see you still have a little fight in you after all?” Raku said as he recovered from her attack, “However, your persistence with that petty power of yours won’t save you or the universe from my reign!”

“Well, if I die then I’m taking you down with me, either way I’m not standing by just so you can torment those innocent lives!” Cyra yelled back at Raku

“Oh but aren’t you forgetting that I am immortal?” Raku laughed evilly

“Heh...you won’t be for long...” Cyra said

“What is that supposed to mean!?” Raku demanded, clearly angered by her remark

“Just how much energy are you using in that form?” Cyra asked, “I’ve been watching your progress and all ready your energy has depleted by quite a bit. If you keep this up, you won’t have any energy left for another rejuvenation and you will die!” Cyra explained

“GrrrRRR! You will be long dead before my energy depletes that far!” Raku bellowed angrily, as his slits for pupils narrowed

“You sure about that?” Cyra replied coolly. Rage was now building up within Raku and was now bellowing out columns of smoke.

“Why you arrogant, little brat!” Raku growled, “I will kill you long before my energy expires AND YOU WILL DIE!!!” Raku roared with fury. Raku then raised himself onto his hind legs, so that he was now almost as tall as a mountain and he then suddenly thrust his forelegs forwards and launched a black beam of evil energy at Cyra. With a split second decision, Cyra then too, raised herself up, managed to create a beam of bright white energy to catch Raku’s high-speed energy beam just in time. Raku and Cyra were once again locked in combat as their beams of energy duelled against each other.

The atmosphere around the spectators was static as they watch the two titans duel as anything could happen as it could go either way. The future now rested on Cyra’s shoulders, one slip too early and all could fail and Raku would ultimately drape the whole universe in darkness. But there was still hope as Nestor eyed Spyro, beginning to slip away from the battle scene. Spyro then, a good bit away from Raku and Cyra, looked around. It was then that Spyro spotted a slither of silver glinting in the now setting sun, walked over to it and picked up his sword. Spyro then, grasping his sword, snuck around behind Raku who hadn’t noticed him as he had his mind set on his battle with Cyra, and waited for the moment.

“Very good, Spyro...wait until the moment is right, now...” Nestor said to himself as he watched Spyro

After a good half an hour of duelling, Cyra and Raku were still in the midst of feeding their energy into their beams. Sweat was now starting to trickle down Cyra’s face as she was now beginning to tire considerably as her energy began to deplete, her wounds nagging away in her back and her shoulder didn’t help either.

“What’s wrong Cyra? Weakening all ready? Is my power too much for the legendary Alafrenorian Goddess” Raku sneered, as he let an extra wave of energy pulse down his beam.

“Grah...! I’ve still got...plenty to come yet!” Cyra yelled back as she struggled to stabilise Raku’s pulse of energy. Just as Cyra said that, she also felt Raku’s energy beginning to fade slightly...
“Heh...You’re energy...seems to be going down...a bit itself...” Cyra acknowledged as she continued to battle against Raku’s beam of evil, black energy.

“GrrrRRRR!! Your energy will deplete long before mine ever will!! DIE!!!!” Raku yelled with fury. Cyra had done it now. As Raku’s fury surfaced, he then suddenly began to feed a whole load of energy into his beam and had started to push back Cyra’s. Wincing at her stinging, bleeding wounds Cyra continued to battle valiantly with Raku’s beam as she continued to feed her energy into her beam to try and stabilise it, but there was no way that was going to happen. Cyra’s energy was reaching a critical level now as she was beginning tire greatly as she now had less than half of her energy left. Raku’s beam continued to slowly creep towards Cyra. After about ten minutes of painstaking duelling with their energy, Raku’s beam was now very dangerously close to Cyra, any more would spell disaster. Sweat pouring from her face, Cyra closed her eyes tightly as she cringed under the pressure of the beam.

“No! I can’t give in!” Cyra said to herself, “I won’t let these people suffer under his wrath!”

As Cyra’s word left her, she then used her iron will and began feeding a whole load of energy into her beam and managed to stabilise it and pushed Raku’s beam back slightly.
Raku was now beginning to wince as his energy too, began to deplete slightly. Waiting for the right moment to strike, Spyro stood with his sword by his side.
‘C’mon, Cyra. You can do it...just a little more...’ Spyro thought to himself. Spyro watched in agony, as the beam of energy started to move back down towards Cyra again. Cyra struggled as Raku forced another wave of energy down the interlocking beams.

“Grraaaaah...!” Cyra cried as her energy began to weaken more as she tried to fight against the extra pulse of energy. But that was when she sensed it. As soon as Raku let out that extra wave of energy, she knew his energy had reached a low enough level. It was time, time for the final strike.
“IT’S NOW OR NEVER, SPYRO!” Cyra screamed as she was pushed to the limit.

“RIGHT!” Spyro called back from behind Raku.

“What!?” Raku yelled and as Raku let go off the beam and wheeled around to the source of Spyro’s voice, it happened. As soon as he turned around, Spyro suddenly leapt up and struck his sword right into Raku’s chest.
“WHAT!? NO! THE SWORD!!” Raku yelled, with Spyro’s sword stuck in his chest, GRAAAAH! NO! I WON’T BE TRAPPED A SECOND TIME! NO! HAVE MERCY!!!”

“MERCY!?” Spyro yelled with spite, “You dare to ask me for mercy? NOT A CHANCE! WHAT ABOUT MY PARENTS AND CYRA’S!? HUH!?” Spyro yelled as he dug the sword deeper into Raku’s chest

“GrraaAAAAH!” Raku cringed under the pain

“I’ll never forgive you for what you did to my parents that night and for what you did to Cyra...!” Spyro growled, “And I’m gonna GET RID OF EVERY SINGLE, STINKING PARTICLE OF YOU AND YOUR LOT ONCE AND FOR ALL!” Spyro yelled. Spyro then with, the sword still firmly stuck in Raku’s chest, somehow knew what to do as his paw the move up the handle, over the golden Dragon head and squeezed so that the Dragon’s jaw shut. It was then that Raku’s body started to change.

“NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?” Raku yelled, trying to get away from the sword, but it was too late. As Raku tried to trash Spyro off him, his body started to change consistency and mould out of place.
“NO! NO! I WON’T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!!!” Raku roared, as his body started turn into a blob of black mass. Raku was now just basically a giant mass of black, evil energy and was now beginning to deplete in size as Raku’s energy began to be absorbed by the sword. Spyro was now more or less standing on Raku’s energy, whilst keeping the Golden Dragon’s jaw shut on his sword. Raku’s energy was depleting more and more as the sword continued to absorb him. Raku’s energy was now even smaller than Spyro.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...!” Raku yelled frantically. And then, his energy was finally completely absorbed into the sword. Spyro then let go of the golden Dragon head and the jaw opened. He did it. Raku was finally resealed inside the sword of Daiakaryuu and he was no more.

Spyro and Cyra watched in horror as the black mass overhead started to slowly form into a recognisable humanoid shape. Even though Raku had literally exploded under Cyra’s attack, he had somehow managed to survive the attack and he was forming right before their very eyes. Spyro and Cyra held onto each other out of pure fear as they watched Raku’s limbs starting to reach the end of their formation and before they knew it, he was back, with his black armour glinting in the sun under with swaying black cloak.

As Raku watched their expressions of sheer horror, he then let out an evil laugh that echoed off the valley walls

“You thought that was the end of me, did you?” Raku laughed, “Has it escaped your mind that I, Raku, the Lord of the Darkness, am immune to such petty attacks as the Dark Essence from the very heart of the demon realm continually pumps through my veins?”

Cyra’s eyes them widened and the then looked away grimly and swore under her breath.

“Eh? What’s that about Dark Essence?” Spyro added

“Raku has this type of energy called Dark Essence, which only creatures from the demon Realm have and is at least ten times stronger than our Chi or Ki energy. This energy also coats each and every cell in Raku’s body, which acts as a natural barrier against even the strongest of Ki or Chi based attacks and also if even one cell is left behind then it a can multiply and multiply until he regains his form once more…” Cyra explained

“But Cyra…how are we gonna even think about killing him if he keeps coming back to life and has this barrier thing?” Spyro asked

“I don’t know…” Cyra said quietly. Spyro looked at the forlorn look on her face and he looked away in disbelief, “Although. There’s one thing I do remember… If I remember rightly, every time he rebuilds his body like that, he uses up his energy …” She added

“Oh. So if we can get Raku to do it enough times then we can weaken his energy barrier…?” Spyro replied

“And Kill him, yes. Well, that’s the theory, anyway. He’s probably a lot smarter than that though…”

“Yeah…it’s better than nothing though.” Spyro replied.

“Hm. Although, an even better alternative would be to reseal him inside the sword of Daiakaryuu…if we even had the sword, that is…” Cyra said

“I suppose it would.” Spyro replied, “Anyway” Spyro said whilst picking up his sword, lying beside a rock. “You ready” Spyro asked while getting into his fighting stance

“Yeah, I’m ready” Cyra replied whilst getting into her fighting stance, “And Spyro, just so you know, the only types of weapons that are effective towards Raku are one’s with magical properties” Cyra added
“Oh…” Spyro said. Spyro then thought for a little bit and had just remembered something. “Hey. Wait. Nestor said that my sword was supposed to be magical.” Spyro remembered

“Your sword?” Cyra replied, “Can I see it?” Cyra asked

“Yeah, sure.” Spyro said as he handed it over. Cyra’s eyes then widened as she looked at the silver blade, glinting in the sun, the red cross-bar, with four transparent, dark purple orbs, a black handle with a golden dragon head with it’s jaw ajar.

“That sword…” Cyra gasped as she ran her paw across the blade, “Where did you get it?” Cyra asked, with a slight hint of awe

“Nestor gave it to me before the battle. Why? Is it special?” Spyro asked

“You don’t know what this is?” Cyra replied, “Spyro…this is the Sword of Daiakaryuu!” Cyra said whilst handing back the sword

“What? You mean this is that sword you and Nestor were on about?” Spyro said in disbelief. Cyra nodded once, “So…that means we can seal him up again” Spyro asked

“Yes but we’ll have to weaken him first…” Cyra replied, “Ok. This is what we’ll do. I’ll start attacking him with some energy attacks to distract him and you can nip behind him while he’s distracted and attack him with your sword to weaken him first. Then when he’s finally weak enough…” Cyra started, but then a dark mass began to accumulate overhead. As Spyro and Cyra looked up, they saw Raku, holding his blade and his staff overhead, with a large ball of dark, foreboding energy developing at the tip of his staff and before they knew it, the ball of energy was soon sent hurtling towards them at high speed. With a split second decision Spyro and Cyra then both managed jump out of they way in the nick of time and as the ball of energy hit the ground, it exploded and left a large, deep hole in the ground between them.

“Jeeze!” Spyro said staring at the large, bottomless pit left by Raku’s attack. “Ok! He means business. I think we should quit chatting and get on with the plan.” Spyro

“Agreed!” Cyra replied, “Ok. You remember what to do?” Cyra asked

“Yeah. Let’s do it.” Spyro answered, reading his sword by his side and Cyra too got into her fighting stance.

As they stood with their heads lowered, watching Raku with his cloak swaying in the wind, revealing his black armour, glinting in the sun, a smirk then appeared on Raku’s rotten face.

“So. You two foolish mortals wish to fight I, Raku, the might Lord of Darkness, do you?” Raku laughed, “Very well! I will make sure that you will both die of a slow and painful death, just like those weaklings, that you call parents that slowly bled under my blade…” Raku ended with an evil guffaw.

“Shut up!” Cyra growled, as she began to get frustrated with Raku’s taunts about her parents. As Raku continued to taunt and joke at Cyra about her parents, her frustration then surfaced even more.

“I SAID SHUT UP!!” Cyra yelled, who then launched a ball of energy at Raku from her right paw, which Raku managed to block with his staff just in time. Following the ball of energy, Cyra then began to rapid-fire lots of other balls of energy. Raku had managed to block a few with his staff and cancel out others with his own energy but a few managed to get through Raku’s defences. With Raku covered in gashes and burns from the energy that managed to hit Raku, Cyra then ceased firing, paused and then fired an exceptionally large ball of energy. Caught unawares, Raku could do nothing but try and block it with his staff. As Raku tried to block the energy with his staff, he managed to hold some of the energy back but most of it got through his block and he the felt the burning, hot energy as it hit his skin. This was Spyro’s cue. Seeing how Raku was damaged slightly and began to rejuvenate his damaged cells, Spyro then began to run towards him. When Spyro was more or less underneath Raku, he then leaped up and used his wing to bring himself higher until he was at Raku’s height. Then with his sword poised high above his head, Spyro then swung his sword towards Raku but things quite didn’t go to plan as Raku suddenly turned around and managed to block Spyro’s sword strike with his own. As he watched the smirk appear on his rotten face, Spyro then remembered his parents and his mentor, Gavin and what Raku and his army did to them. As Spyro thought about his parents and Gavin, then familiar feelings of anger, fury and determination began to flow into his body again, refuelling the desire to rid the world of Raku once and for all at all costs. Filled with these emotions once more, Spyro then swiped his sword out of Raku’s block and swung it Raku again but Raku had managed to dodge. Raku then swung this word at Spyro, which Spyro managed to block with an overhead sword block.

As she watched Spyro beating his wings to stay in the air and unleash a flurry or sword strikes and blocks, Cyra then used her time wisely and raised herself onto her hind legs. Cyra then brought her paws to her side and a small ball of bright red energy began to develop in her paws. As the Spyro and Raku continued to fight, Cyra’s ball of energy continued to grow. A few minutes in and Cyra’s ball of energy was now a large, bright, solid looking sphere. As Spyro’s sword struck Raku’s sword, a glint of red light then caught his eye. As he looked properly, he saw Cyra standing with what looked like a massive, powerful, bright red, ball of energy. A voice then sounded in his head,

“Spyro, I need you to make it look as though you’ve fallen from one of Raku’s attacks so I can get a clear shot at him with the attack I’ve prepared.” Said the voice. Spyro then, realising that this was Cyra using some sort of telepathy, did what he was asked and as Raku swung his sword at Spyro, he then let his body plummet to the ground below. As Spyro’s body fell onto the ground, hard on his back, he cringed as he felt two of his ribs snap under the impact. Raku then laughed mercilessly as Spyro lay motionlessly on the ground.

“You think you can kill me, Dragon?” Raku teased, “You are going to die again by my own hands!” Raku laughed

“Heh! You’re the one who’s dead this time!” Spyro yelled, with a weak laugh, “Eh, Cyra?” Spyro yelled across to Cyra who was busy building

“What!?” Raku said and as Raku looked around he saw Cyra standing with a very large ball of bright red energy, she then grinned.

“Yup! You’re dead all right!” Cyra yelled, “LET’S SEE YOU TAKE THIS ONE…GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Cyra screamed as she thrust her forelegs forwards and let a massive, beam of energy travel at a very high speed towards Raku.

“Aaaahh…” Raku said in fear as this enormous beam of energy hurtling towards him. “NOOOOOOOOO…AAAAAAH!” Raku yelled as the energy finally reached and completely engulfed Raku. Satisfied with the result, Cyra then stopped putting energy into the beam and let it disintegrate. As the dust settled, it was revealed that the area Raku was floating was now just empty space. She smiled. Cyra then fell back onto four legs and walked over to Spyro.

“Hey Spyro” Cyra said, grinning

“Hey…” Spyro replied, “Aaaah…” Spyro winced as he held his sides in pain

“Here. Let me see that…” Cyra said as she placed her paw on Spyro chest. Spyro then felt the soothing warmth of her energy flow into his body and in an instant; he felt the pain from the impact lift as though it never happened. Spyro then, feeling renewed, sprang to his feet.

“Thanks!” Spyro said, Spyro looked around and found his sword lying a few yards from where he landed and put it in his sheathe. “So, do you think that’s Raku, pretty much dead?” Spyro asked, “He should be after that! I mean you just like totally blew him to bits! I’m never getting on your bad side that’s for sure!” Spyro laughed

“I’m not sure…” Cyra replied with a slight chuckle, “I’m hoping that the attack was powerful enough but it’s more that likely that he’ll come back…” Cyra added

“Hm…hey Cyra, He’s rejuvenated quite a lot now. Do you think I can try and reseal him in my sword yet?” Spyro asked

“No…I wouldn’t try that just yet…” Cyra replied, “He’ll still have way too much energy for that if he rejuvenates again…”

“Oh. But Cyra, how are you gonna keep this up?” Spyro asked, “I mean you must’ve used up a heck of a lot of energy all ready.” Spyro acknowledged

“Oh. Don’t worry about me. There’s plenty more to come yet.” Cyra answered, and it was then that the sky began to darken once more. “Yep…he’s still alive…” Cyra sighed. She then reluctantly looked up and watched the dark mass in the sky; slowly reform into a familiar, humanoid figure like before and before they knew it, Raku had once again regained his form and laughed in an evil laughed that shook the area.

“Let’s face it!” Raku boomed, “You cannot kill me! But I have to hand it to, I didn’t think I’d have to show my true form…” yelled

“Huh? True form?” Spyro said, “What does he mean, Cyra?” Spyro asked

“I don’t know, I’ve never known Raku to have another form and I don’t like the sound of it…” Cyra answered

“Me neither…” Spyro replied

It was then that Raku began to descend to the ground. As soon as Raku landed on the ground, he began to tense up and an evil, black aura began to wrap itself around Raku’s body.

“You should be honoured!” Raku yelled, “Only the most worthy of opponents has ever seen this form!”

Then as the aura began to intensify, a surge of dark energy suddenly erupted from his body

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…!!!!” Raku yelled as the energy rushed violently over his body. As the black energy thickened and blocked Raku from view and became nothing but a Dark mass, the energy them began to accumulate in size. As the dark mass began to get bigger and bigger, until it towered over Spyro, Cyra and the survivors of the army, who were watching in horror, the Dark Mass then began to form into a shape.

“H-his…energy…” Cyra gasped in horror “I-it’s…maddening…!”

The mass began to form what looked like limbs, which were slowly. It was then when Raku’s formation was complete that his true nature was unleashed. When Raku had completed his transformation, his true form was finally revealed as, now, a enormous, evil looking, pure black, terrifying-looking Dragon with many ugly scars etched on his dirty, roughly spiked scale, evil-looking eyes, with piercing slits for pupils and large black wings with many ugly tears along the membrane of filthy leather. Raku then with his form complete, then let out a deep, loud roar that shook the Earth underfoot.

Cyra watched in horror as the nightmare unfolded before her very eyes. This was Raku’s true form!? This means that what the goddess and Gods of Alafrenor possibly haven’t even seen half of Raku’s full power! What was she going to do!?

Everyone was shocked at Spyro’s death. Many of the Dragons of the Dragon Kingdom fell in yells and gasps of disbelief as the news of Spyro’s death was spread throughout the survivors of the war.

“I can’t believe…he’s dead.” said a Peace Keeper quietly,” I mean, he was only fourteen years old,” he added with a hint of sadness

“I know…” Nestor replied, “His sacrifice was a sad loss…” Nestor added sadly

Cyra listened to many of the grieving Dragons. He was gone. Spyro was dead. Cyra, bearing her teeth, continued growling as she watched that monstrous figure floating in mid air. Raku had done nothing but take away and destroy everything she ever knew and loved. The rage then continued to build up in her heart and she then began to growl even louder.

“You MONSTER!!!” Cyra yelled up at Raku

“Cyra…” Nestor said quietly

“HE WAS DEFENCELESS! YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO STRIKE DOWN WITH THAT FINAL STRIKE!!!” Cyra butted in, seething at the monstrous figure.

“Well, I did say that if you didn’t kill him, I would kill him for you, didn’t I?” Raku laughed.

“SHUT UP!!!” Cyra yelled but Raku continued to laugh, this then got a bit too much for Cyra to handle and the rage began to accumulate in her heart. Then something awoke. As the rage continued to rise, a new, foreign yet; somehow, familiar energy began to slowly build up deep within her. The energy then began to spread throughout her body. As the warm and satisfying energy began to distribute to her limbs, Cyra’s amulet then began to glow brightly as a white aura began to wrap itself around it.

When the energy was fully distributed throughout her whole body, the energy then began to intensify and a white aura around Cyra began to become visible. What was happening to her? Nestor’s expression then changed from an expression of sadness and grief to awe as the white aura began to wrap itself around her.

“Hey! What’s up with Cyra? Why is she glowing?” Asked a Beast Maker, noting Cyra’s white aura.

“There is a lot more to Cyra than most people know …”, Nestor replied silently in awe, “If I’m not mistaking…Raku may turn out to be in some very serious trouble…” Nestor added. Raku then stopped laughed in the smirk upon his rotten face then quickly vanished as the noticed the aura.

“Wait! That energy!” Raku yelled, “It can’t be…” Raku said quietly in disbelief

Cyra the looked at Raku again and as she thought of all the horrible, unforgivable things he had done; killed her foster and real parents, killed Spyro… Cyra’s amulet then began to float up on it’s own accord and it began to glow as brightly as the sun itself. As Cyra’s rage was pumped to the max, the energy then intensified even further and Cyra’s amulet then suddenly exploded into many little fragments and as soon as it did so, Cyra then became totally consumed within a bright ball of pure-white energy, even brighter than the sun, that erupted from Cyra’s amulet. Raku watched in horror as the white ball of energy floated in the air, almost level with him.

“NO!” Raku yelled, “You can’t be!” Raku yelled in disbelief

“RAKU!!!!!!!!!” Cyra yelled from the ball of energy, “YOU WILL PAY FOR ALL THOSE INNOCENT LIVES YOU HAVE SLAUTERED AND BOW DOWN TO THE GODS AND GODDESSES OF ALAFRENOR!!!” Cyra yelled from within the ball of energy.

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!” Cyra screamed as the energy enlarged around her and became more violent and Raku shielded his eyes as the brightness intensified. But then, the brightness began to subside. As the white ball of energy began to slowly become more transparent, a figure could then be spotted, floating in the middle of the sphere. As the ball of energy completely disintegrated and Cyra returned to the ground, her white aura then began to dim until Cyra was easily recognised when her aura was turned down to a minimum but Cyra was different. Cyra still had her normal royal blue scales but her eyes had a sharper, more pronounced look to them, her blazing-red crest now had gold around the edges and etched around her eyes, forehead, face and body, were elegant, crimson-red markings that had a slight shine to them.

“Nestor!” Cyra called to Nestor, who was watching her in awe, “Move Spyro’s body out of the way!” Cyra told him

“Right away” Nestor called back. Why she asked that when she knew he was dead, he didn’t know but he did as she requested and walked over, lifted Spyro’s cold, limp, lifeless body into his arms and carried his body to safety.

“Impossible! How could you have survived!?” Raku yelled in disbelief, as he looked at Cyra in horror, “I killed you with my own hands!” Raku added

Cosmos looked at Cyra in awe as he noticed her new appearance

“Nestor! Is that…!?” Cosmos started

“Yes, Cosmos. That is Goddess Cyra, not the Goddess Cyra that lived two-thousand years ago but her reincarnation.” Nestor replied

“The Goddess Cyra that you slaughter mercilessly two-thousand years ago may have died physically but her energy lived on throughout the generations.” Cyra answered Raku, who had a slight airy, echo to her voice, “Her energy was passed on to her son, Rekuma and then to his son…and so on. Also before Goddess Cyra’s energy left her body when you struck her, she foresaw the danger that would happen at this present and placed an enchantment on her son, Rekuma, locking all of her spirit within him that would be unleashed two-thousand years later…”

“I knew it…” Raku growled, “I should have killed him while I had the chance!” Raku added. “But no matter. I can kill you again just as easily as I did before!” Raku continued

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Cyra replied

“What do you mean by that?” Raku demanded

“I’m not just Goddess Cyra’s reincarnation with her powers of ice…I am also combined with God Fyrenz’s powers of fire” Cyra replied, “And on top of that, my level of energy is twice as high as either of them.” Cyra added.

Cyra watched as horror swept across Raku’s body

“You’re plan backfired, Raku! You knew that I’d gain powers from the Dragon Gods and wanted to turn me to darkness, which you achieved for a time, but the prophecy didn’t tell you that the powers were set to reawaken at the time of my Mind Shift or that the reawakening of her powers would make me her reincarnated form…” Cyra continued, “And make me even more powerful than you!” Cyra added

“What!?” Raku yelled, “How dare you! You don’t know what you’re meddling with!” Raku added clearly angered by Cyra’s remark

“It’s true though.” Cyra continued, “My powers are matched with, if not more powerful than yours and I will make you pay for all those innocent lives you have murdered and you will bow before the gods and goddess of Alafrenor!” Cyra added

“I BOW DOWN TO NO GOD…RAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” Raku yelled with fury, as he lunged his staff forwards and launched a ball of energy at Cyra. The ball of energy hit Cyra full on but as the energy disappeared, Cyra appeared to be completely unscathed by the attack and had not even moved an inch.

“What!?” Raku yelled in disbelief, “Impossible! That was the attack that killed her!” Raku added with a hint of fear

“I told you, I’m twice as powerful as Goddess Cyra and God Fyrenz combined.” Cyra spoke in a calm, collective tone.

“Hm. That maybe so but I am at a completely different league to those false Gods!” Raku replied, “LET’S SEE IF YOU CAN TAKE THIS…RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!” Rake yelled at he unleashed a beam of energy towards Cyra. Cyra then raised herself upon her hind legs and a bright ball of light-blue energy began to develop in her paws. Cyra the launched a beam at Raku and the two beams of energy met in the middle. As Cyra and Raku continued to feed their energy into the beams, Cyra’s beam then began to push back Raku’s. As Cyra’s beam began to enclose Raku, he felt the temperature begin to drop rapidly. Cyra’s beam was in fact an ice beam.

“NO!!” Raku yelled, “Have…mercy!” He yelled, as the beam got closer still

“MERCY!?” Cyra yelled back, disgusted by Raku’s remark, “You don’t know the meaning of the word! What about my parents and Spyro! DID YA SHOW THEM MERCY!?” Cyra screamed with fury “YOU’RE GETTING JUST WHAT YOU DESERVE...WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” Cyra screamed and her ice beam then managed to overtake Raku’s beam and Raku himself. When Cyra stopped, it was revealed that Raku was now completely trapped inside a huge shard of ice and was now plummeting towards the ground at a high speed. However, before it made impact, an invisible force then halted the process and the shard of ice, with Raku contained, stopped, floating a few inches from the ground. Cyra then began to calmly walk towards the shard of ice she then stopped and raised her paw as though she was beckoning someone towards her. As she did so the shard of ice then started to float towards her, it was revealed that Cyra was controlling it with some sort of telekinetic force. When the ice shard was a few feet away from Cyra, she then held her paw up again and it stopped.

“You know, “ Cyra started, “I think I’ll teach you a wee bit o’ science. Ya see when objects get cold, they contract and when they get hot, they expand. Although, if a super hot object suddenly turns super cold over a really quick period of time, or vice versa, then this can actually weaken the bonds between atoms…” Cyra continued, “Or in your case…oh let’s just find out, shall we…?” Cyra added, as a bright-red ball of energy began to develop in her paws.

“GrrrrRRRR…THIS IS FOR ALL THE LIVES YOU DESTROYED!!!!” Cyra yelled as she launched the beam of energy. Then as the hot beam of energy met the cold ice shard around Raku, a loud whistling noise came the shard. Many large cracks then began to slither down the shard and before long, the shard of ice then exploded along with Raku, who was contained within. She did it. Raku was dead.

A stunned silence then hung over the many survivors of the Dragon Kingdom, which was then broken they erupted with cheering.

“She did it!” Screamed a white, female Artisan with delight, “Oh! My God! I can’t believe she did it!!” she squealed, as she hugged another Artisan, nearly chocking him

“Gah! Serina…gerroff…” the Dragon chocked under her hug

Cyra then turned away from the area, where Raku exploded into many fragments and walked towards the scene of cheering and happiness. Many Dragon greeted Cyra as she walked into the crowd.

“Cyra, that was like totally wicked, cool! Raku like totally exploded, Man!” Cheered a Peace Keeper Dragon

“Heh. Thanks, Trondo.” Cyra replied with a smile, “Have you seen Nestor anywhere?” She asked

“Uh…yeah, he’s just over there next to Bruno and Cosmos” He replied, pointing through a gap in the crowd to a green Artisan Dragon, talking to a green Magic Crafter and a brown Beast Maker. Cyra then squeezed her way through the crowd and met up with Nestor.

“Cyra!” Nestor said in delight, “Well, you certainly lived up to the prophecy. Very good work!” Nestor said with a smile

“Yes! Very good indeed” Cosmos cheered

“Yeah! You should be proud of yourself after that!” Bruno added

“Thank you” Cyra grinned, with a slight blush. She then remembered what she must do and came back what or whom she came for. “Nestor? Where’s Spyro?” Cyra asked. The Dragons’ smiles then broadened slightly.

“He’s right here…” Nestor said sadly, as he carried Spyro’s lifeless body over in his arms and placed him down in front of Cyra. Cyra then crouched down, stroked Spyro’s cold cheek and then felt his body and looked at the deep gash that was carved by Raku’s strike.

“I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do.” Nestor said quietly, with a hint of sadness, “He too…” Nestor started

“Oh. But there is.” Cyra started, “You see, Goddess Cyra had an extra power that she kept as a secret between her, Rekuma and the other Gods. Which you will all witness for the first time in two-thousand years.” Cyra explained

“Huh? What power?” Asked a Peace Keeper nearby

“A power to rejuvenate and recreate the cells of a dead body to their former glory by the passing of my own energy to the body…” Cyra replied, “In other words bringing people back to life. Watch…” Cyra added

The Dragons then fell silent as they strained to see what Cyra was going to do with Spyro. Cyra then lifted Spyro’s head up and placed her right paw over Spyro’s wound and she then began to concentrate. Then, pretty soon, a river of Cyra’s pure-white energy began to flow from Cyra to Spyro. The thread of energy then began to circle around Spyro’s wound and as it continued to continually circle around Spyro’s wound, the wound then began to slowly close up. When Spyro’s wound was completely closed up, Cyra’s energy then began to distribute across Spyro’s body. As it did so, the energy started to heal all the other cuts and bruises until Spyro’s body had reached its peak fitness.

“But Cyra…he’s still dead.” Acknowledged a Beast Maker Dragon behind her.

“I know.” She replied, who didn’t seem to be worried at all, “I’m not quite finished yet…” Cyra added as she took her right paw from above Spyro’s body and moved it underneath him for support. She then gazed at his face, bent down towards him and locked her lips onto his into a kiss. With this, a last jolt of energy was sent from Cyra to Spyro and his heart suddenly sprang to life, drumming madly against Cyra’s chest and Spyro then took a sudden deep shuddering breath. Spyro then opened his eyes, and a picture of a blue Dragoness with a beaming smile began to focus with each blink.

“Cyra?” Spyro spoke up, as he stroked her cheek.

“Hey Spyro.” Cyra said, with a huge beaming smile etched across her face, “Welcome back.” She added. As his vision became more focussed, Spyro then noticed the difference in appearance as he noticed that her eyes were much sharper and fuller and that she now bared elegant, crimson-red markings, etched around her eyes, forehead, face and body, which were almost exactly like that illustration of Goddess Cyra he saw a few years back.

“Cyra! Y-your markings! They look just like…” Spyro yelled as he suddenly sat straight up. He then looked down at his stomach and saw that the wound he received had completely vanished; he then looked at Cyra in awe, “No…way…” Spyro said in astonishment, “You…you’re Goddess Cyra!” Spyro added

“Well, I’m not the Goddess Cyra that lived two-thousand years ago, I’m her reincarnation.” Cyra explained

“Wow…” Spyro said in astonishment, he then remembered what happened and who the culprit was…”What about Raku…” Spyro asked grimily

“It’s ok. He’s gone, for good” Cyra replied

“Yeah! You shoulda seen it, Spyro!” Trondo spoke up, “She like totally annihilated him! She like trapped him in ice or something and then did something else and then he totally went KASPLODE and now he’s gone! Awesome!” Trondo cheered. Spyro then looked at Cyra in total astonishment

“Cyra, you are one amazing Dragon, you know that. “ Spyro sighed as he looked into Cyra’s sparkly blue eyes. Cyra then sort of giggled and blushed. Spyro then wrapped his arms around her body and she rested her arms on his shoulders. “I love you” Spyro added

“I love you too” Cyra replied, whilst blushing under her crimson markings. Spyro and Cyra then bent towards each other and they kissed. As they pulled back, the tears then began to build up in Cyra’s eyes as she looked into Spyro’s

“Oh! Spyro…I missed you so much…” Cyra sobbed slightly as she then hugged into Spyro’s body.

“Ok. It’s ok. It’s over now…” Spyro hushed Cyra as he stroked her smooth scales. As they savoured this happy moment of relief, Spyro suddenly felt a slight chill down his spine, as a dark shadow began to accumulate over them. Spyro then looked up and saw a dark figure forming overhead.

“Cyra! Look!” Spyro yelled

“What?” Cyra asked and when she looked when Spyro was looking, she too saw the figure overhead. She then knew what this was.

“Oh no…” Cyra said with a hint of fear, “I can’t believe it! I-it’s Raku!” Cyra added

“Raku? I thought you destroyed him?” Spyro asked

“So did I…” Cyra replied, as she watched the dark mass slowly formed itself into a recognisable humanoid shape. Raku had survived even though he literally exploded. How could he have survived that? Spyro and Cyra wondered as they watched the monstrous figure form overhead. All they knew was that the battle was far from over…

Chapter thirteen: Sacrifice

The real battle was about to begin. The two Dragons continued to circle around each other. Spyro watched Cyra with her black armour, darkened scales and crest and those corrupted, piercing orange eyes, with cat-like slits for pupils. It pained Spyro to see her like this when before she was such a fun-loving, bubbly character but he had to fight her, he had to try and put a stop to this,

“So. You wanna fight me, do ya?” Cyra sneered, “Hah! Well, excuse me if my blade slips into that weak, pitiful heart of yours” Cyra added, with she grinned evilly

“Yeah? Why don’t you get on with it then or are you just gonna talk me to death?” Spyro dared

“Alright. Seeing as you’re so eager to die…” Cyra sneered.

She continued to stare into Spyro’s eyes and then began to growl in long, low growl. Cyra then lowered her front half and then launched herself towards Spyro. Spyro then, having quick reflexes managed to roll to the right out of the way and she skidded to a halt on the ground. Cyra then, as soon as she landed, unsheathed her sword and swung it at Spyro. Spyro then blocked her strike with his own sword and he then swung his sword but she then managed to jump out the way. Cyra then swiped her free paw at Spyro and three deep cuts were drawn onto his right cheek.

“Grah…!” Spyro growled as he felt the searing pain of her claws slicing his scales.

“There. Now we’re even…” Cyra said as blood dripped from Spyro’s newly cut cheek, “But not for long, GRAAAAH!” Cyra yelled as she lunged her sword forwards. Spyro then lowered his left shoulder and the sword slid of his shoulder plate and he then rammed his body into Cyra’s and managed knock her onto her back and pin her down. Cyra then broke Spyro’s grip with her forelegs, slipped out from under him and kicked her back legs right into Spyro’s stomach.

“Ugh…” Spyro gasped as he cripple away as the wind was taken out of him. Cyra then held Spyro’s chin up with her claw as he gasped for breath and laughed in his face

“Is that the best you can do…?” Cyra laughed, “I can’t believe your parents died for you…what a waste…” Cyra added

“You leave them out of it!” Spyro growled as he recovered his breath but Cyra continued

“Lord Raku told me of how your miserable parents shrieked and cried after they confronted the him…all for the piece low life trash like you…” Cyra sneered. Spyro then started to growl as she continued to laugh and joke about his parents’ deaths. It all just got too much for Spyro and all hell broke loose.

“SHUP UP, WILL YA!?!?” Spyro yelled as he suddenly swung an uppercut at Cyra and caught her on the chin. This forced her head backwards and he then punched her in the stomach, knocking the wind right out of her.

“Ow…” Cyra groaned as she gasped for breath, “Ok, now we’re talking. I’m done toying with you, now prepare yourself for a real fight…” Cyra said

Spyro and Cyra then once again recovered and with swords drawn, they got back into their fighting stances. They then both lowered their bodies and all of a sudden, they then sprung forwards and got locked into combat. Spyro and Cyra unleashed a flurry of fast and powerful sword strikes and all you could hear were the two blades striking each other and clashing with their armour. And even though they were in the midst of a battle and Cyra was letting of a furious flurry of attacks at Spyro, he sensed something different about her. Cyra hadn’t even tried to kill him yet, even when she had managed to break Spyro’s guard numerous of times. Was she just toying with him for her own cruel enjoyment or was it something else? Spyro thought about this, because Cyra had knocked Spyro down many times and had never struck once, yet any other Shadow Dragon would have by now…

As Spyro thought about this, Cyra then swung a fast, powerful sword strike but Spyro managed to block with his sword just in time and he then counter-attacked by thrusting his sword at her, which she moved her head out the way of. Cyra then slid her body forwards and dug her elbow into his stomach. Spyro, however, managed to edge back far enough so it didn’t hurt so much and he then leapt at Cyra and did an overhead sword blow, which Cyra managed to dodge. Cyra then managed to pounce on Spyro and held him down. She laughed wildly as she watched him struggle under her grip. Spyro then managed to roll away from her and struck his tail in her ribs. This then threw Cyra back and she managed to do a somersault and when she landed, charged right at Spyro. She caught Spyro unawares and managed to ram her horns into Spyro’s side.

“Ah…” Spyro groaned as he lay on his side, wincing at his broken ribs. Cyra then cruelly, walked over to Spyro, placed her paw on his side and laughed as she pressed against Spyro’s broken ribs

“Aah! Grah!” Spyro groaned as the pain of Cyra pressing against his ribs like that became unbearable

“Hah! Listen to ya, Screaming like the weakling that you are!” Cyra laughed cruelly, “You’re no match for me! I haven’t even begun to show you what I’m truly capable of!” Cyra added with an evil cackle

“Grrr…Cyra…!” Spyro growled, trying breath under the unbearable pain in his ribs, “Why don’t you just kill me all ready? If you ask me, you’re just putting it off.” Spyro added

“What do you mean putting it off!?” Cyra demanded, with a sudden upsurge of anger.

Spyro then smiled because that sudden change in her mood made it obvious. She hadn’t killed him yet and any other Shadow Dragon would have struck him down by now. Spyro knew it would happen somehow and now it was time to attack her conscience…

“You don’t want to kill me, do you?” Spyro asked, “There’s something inside you that’s preventing you from doing it…” Spyro added

“That’s a lie!” Cyra yelled as she increased the pressure on Spyro’s ribs

“Ugh! Is it?” Spyro chuckled slightly, “I can see it, you know. You had so many chances to kill me, yet you let me off every time. Why is that?” Spyro asked, digging deeper into her and after a struggle, managed to get back up, wincing at his broken ribs

“You shut up! Or I will kill you!” Cyra warned Spyro

“Hey. Why are you getting so uptight?” Spyro asked, “You’re scared…you don’t know why don’t want to kill me…but I do… You don’t want to kill me because…” Spyro added

“SHUT UP! I’M A SHADOW DRAGON UNDER RAKU, THE MIGHTY LORD OF DARKNESS AND I WILL KILL YOU!!” Cyra butted in, screaming in rage as her orange eyes glared into Spyro’s

“But will you?” Spyro replied, “I can sense it... You’re not gonna be Raku’s loyal servant for much longer...” Spyro added with a smile

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” Cyra screamed with her eyes glaring at Spyro. Cyra showed rage and fury but deep down, she was scared. She was a servant of Raku, a Shadow Dragon, yet she hadn’t even killed him yet. Shadow Dragons normally kill at first sight without remorse, yet Cyra hadn’t. Then a thought appeared in her head. Did she…love him…? ‘No!’ Cyra screamed in her head and banished that thought from her head as soon as she could.

“What’s wrong? You’re awfully quiet” Spyro said, smiling as he watched Cyra go into deep thought, “And…do you remember this?” Spyro asked. Cyra then looked at Spyro and noticed that he was holding a little golden amulet, hanging on a gold chain.

“Where did you get that!?” Cyra gasped, as she looked at that little amulet remarkably like the one featured in her dreams…

“The chain broke during the transformation.” Spyro replied, “Here.” Spyro added as he gestured the amulet towards Cyra

“Get that thing away from me!” Cyra yelled as she backed away

“Why you so scared? It’s just an amulet.” Spyro asked, “I know why. You’re breaking…you’re mind is shifting…” Spyro added

“SHUT UP…GRAAAAHH!” Cyra screamed as she pounced onto Spyro, knocking him onto his back and pinned him down, which also aggravated his broken ribs, “SO! YOU WANNA DIE, DO YA!!??” Cyra screamed, with her eyes glaring at Spyro insanely, whilst grabbing Spyro by the throat.

“Grah…Cyra…” Spyro choked under Cyra’s grip

“FINE!!!” Cyra screamed insanely in Spyro’s face. Cyra then place her other paw over Spyro’s chest and a dark purple aura wrapped itself around Cyra. Spyro then felt as though his limbs were become increasingly heavy and tired as a strange, green light suddenly started flowing from Spyro’s chest to Cyra’s paw

“With yours and my energy contained within me I shall become MORE POWERFUL THAN EVER AND YOU WILL DIE!!” Cyra yelled as she laughed insanely

Cyra continued to absorb Spyro’s energy for as good minute five minutes until he reached the point where he couldn’t even lift his head. Cyra the reached over and took Spyro’s sword, looked at it’s blood-stained, silver blade and smirked

“Actually, I think I’ll let you suffer…and I’ll make your death nice and slow…and painful…” Cyra grinned, baring her fangs, “Oh! What a shame that you should die from your own blade!” Cyra added as she let out a wild and insane laugh

“S-strike me…then…” Dared Spyro, who was now extremely weak from Cyra’s attack

“Fine! If that’s what you want!” Cyra replied. Cyra then poised the sword high and pointed it towards Spyro, ready for the strike. Cyra, however, stalled for a moment and began to hesitate…

Meanwhile, Raku was seen floating up high over the battle scene, launching powerful blasts from his staff at defenceless Dragons.

“Is that all that your army can muster?” Raku laughed, “Pathetic!” he yelled as he continued to launch blasts of energy. Then it was when he blasted a Peace Keeper out of the sky, he sensed a change.

“What? What is this?” Raku pondered as he sensed a change in one of his followers, “One of the Shadow Dragons. Its mind is fluctuating!” Raku gasped, “But that’s impossible they are above the mind shift age to fluctuate!” Raku added, “Wait! Cyra! What age is she!? If she’s entering the mind shift then…” Raku then realised that it was Cyra the he sensed and he scanned the area until he spotted two little Dragons: one on top of the other poising a sword.

“W-what’s…wrong…Cyra? Why are…you…stalling…?” Spyro asked

“Shut up! I will kill ya!” Cyra yelled and repositioned the sword but she hesitated again. Why was she doing that? She’s a Shadow Dragon! She should’ve killed him ages ago but she couldn’t…why?

“CYRA!” boomed a voice familiar voice. Cyra then looked up and saw Raku, floating in the air, with his cloak swaying in the wind.

“M-my lord!” Cyra gasped

“Stop toying with him and kill him now!” Raku yelled,

“Y-yes, my Lord!” Cyra replied. Cyra then turned back to Spyro and poised the sword again. She was ready to strike but it never came… What was wrong with her? Why all this bother just to kill a Dragon? But Spyro was more than just a Dragon, he was her lo-- ‘NO! HE’S NOT!’ Cyra screamed in her head but then there was a distant vision of him and her sharing a kiss in a lake of water under the setting sun…was that a memory…? ‘NO! IT’S NOT!’ Cyra screamed in her mind again. Cyra continued to battle with her mind and as a whole bunch of foreign thoughts began to pour into her head

“CYRA! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? KILL HIM NOW OR I’LL KILL HIM FOR YOU!!” Raku bellowed, who then pointed his staff down towards Spyro and Cyra

“NO!!” Cyra suddenly yelled, “I-I’ll kill him myself!” Cyra added as she swiftly turned back to Spyro and repositioned the sword again. As she looked at Spyro’s battered and bruised body, she began to hesitate again. Something was happening to her.

“CYRA!” Raku yelled, “KILL HIM!” he boomed

“There’s nothing you can do” Spoke up a green Dragon; with many wounds etched on his scales. It was Nestor.

“What do you mean, Dragon?” Raku asked, “SPEAK!” He demanded

“Cyra is entering the mind shift, one of the many miracles of life and there is nothing you can do to change that.” He replied, “She is reverting to who she was before and you will lose a valuable asset from your army.” He added and as soon as he did so, it was beginning to happen as Cyra suddenly gripped her head in pain as a searing headache developed and threw off her helmet. It was then revealed that the mark given to her by Raku was burning furiously on her forehead.

“GRAAAAH! I WILL KILL YOU!” Cyra yelled as she lunged the sword down towards Spyro regardless of the pain, but then, “WHOA!” Cyra suddenly screamed as she dropped the sword as the pain suddenly became too unbearable for her to cope with. “GRAAAH…AAAAH!” Cyra screamed in agony, as she held her head in pain

“GRAAAAAH…NOOOOO!! WHAT’S HAPPENING TO MEEEE---AAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!” Cyra screamed as her head became so painful she felt it was going to explode and then a black aura burst suddenly burst around her body. She knew no more.

A picture began to out of the shadow that draped around her. The sound of swords clashing and armour banging were beginning to become clearer. As she opened her eyes, the blurry picture of a Dragon green in colour began to focus with each blink.

“Nestor?” she said weakly but when she gave it more thought, she then realised where she was, “The war!” she suddenly yelled as she sat bolt upright. And yes, she looked around herself and saw many dark Dragons of the shadow realm in the midst of combat with the Dragons of the Dragon Kingdom; this was the war that Nestor warned them of.

“It’s all right, child.” Nestor reassured, “The spell has been broken and you will never be controlled by him again” he added

“You mean he won me over? That’s funny; I don’t remember much of anything. The only thing I remember was the great thumping headache that night back in Artisans and that’s it.” Cyra explained, the Cyra though for a bit. Where was Spyro? “Wait! Spyro!” she gasped, “Where is he?” she asked

“Cyra?” called a weak voice from behind her, Cyra turned around and saw Spyro badly bruised, with three, bleeding cuts on his face, lying motionless on the ground

“Spyro!” Cyra gasped, as she crawled over to him, “Oh! My God! What happened to you!?” Cyra cried as she looked at Spyro’s wounds and bruises etched all over Spyro’s body

“Cyra…?” Spyro looked at her and yes, it was true. He looked into her eyes and he saw the light of the sun reflected on those dazzling blue eyes that he missed so much.

“Cyra listen, what happened…wasn’t your fault…” Spyro added

“What!?” Cyra replied, Cyra the realised what had happened “You mean, I did this to you!?” Cyra gasped, “Oh! My God! Spyro! I’m so sorry…!” Cyra cried with a slight sob

“No…Cyra. Don’t be sorry…this wasn’t your fault. Raku’s the real culprit…he’s the one…who did this to you…” Spyro replied. Spyro then looked back into Cyra’s light blue eyes again and smiled, “You don’t know how much I missed you…” Spyro sighed with a weak smile and Cyra then half smiled back, “I love you, Cyra” Spyro added,

“Oh. Spyro…I love you too” Cyra replied with a smile, with tears forming in her eyes.

“Oh. And I think this is yours” Spyro said as he held up her amulet. Cyra then smiled, took the amulet and put it on, she then bent down towards Spyro and she kissed him. To feel her lips touch his again was the happiest moment of his life. As she continued to kiss him, he then began to use the energy he had left and he stroked her arms. Just to touch and to kiss her again was all he ever wanted. He savoured the moment…

“Hey! Nestor! We could use a little help here…” started a Beast Maker that was completely covered in cuts and bruises, “Hey… wasn’t she trying to kill him a minute ago?” he asked, a little confused when he saw the Spyro and Cyra locked in embrace

Spyro and Cyra then pulled back and Spyro smiled as he saw the beaming Smile on Cyra’s face. They then hugged each other but something then caught Spyro’s eye. As he looked up properly, he saw a dark energy form overhead. It was Raku. Spyro then knew what was happening and just as he predicted, Raku launched a beam of energy from his staff at Spyro and Cyra. Spyro then made a split-second decision.

“Cyra! Look out!” Spyro yelled,

“What?” Cyra replied and before she knew what was happening, Spyro suddenly brushed her out the way with the last of his strength and Cyra watched in horror as a beam of dark energy suddenly shot Spyro through the stomach.

“GAH…!” Spyro gasped as the shock of the beam shot through his whole body

“SPYRO! NO!” Cyra screamed in shock. Cyra then rushed over to Spyro and lifted him up into her arms.

Everyone was shocked. Nestor looked on in horror as what was a happy moment of relief soon turned into a terrible feeling of shock, sadness and despair as the beam shot through Spyro’s stomach.

“Oh Spyro…I’m so sorry…” Cyra sobbed as she looked at the deep wound in Spyro’s stomach from Raku’s attack “It’s all my fault…” Cyra sobbed, hiccoughing with tears streaming down her face

“No…Cyra…This wasn’t your fault…ok?” Spyro managed to breath out, “None of this…was your fault…Raku’s the one you should blame…not yourself…” Spyro added as he in haled deeply

“No…Spyro…please don’t die…”Cyra sobbed

“I’m afraid I can’t…stop that now…please don’t cry…Cyra?” Spyro coughed, Spyro winced as he tried to keep his focus, “ And I have and always will…love you…” Spyro forced out, “please…don’t forget that…” Spyro added

“Oh! Spyro…I love you too…” Cyra wept as she hugged Spyro’s body and with the last ounce of his energy he then wrapped his arms around her. Spyro’s arms then began to slip from her shoulders, the beating of Spyro’s heart, drumming against Cyra’s chest began to subside and his breathing began to shallow.

“Spyro! No!” Cyra gasped, but it was too late. Spyro breathed out his last breath and he was no more.

“Spyro?” Cyra called, as she nuzzled his snout but there was no response, “Spyro…?” Cyra called again with tears cascading down her cheeks. Her body then shook as she began to sob over Spyro’s limp, lifeless body.

“Nestor?” asked another Peace Keeper Dragon, who too was covered in cuts and bruises with a slash on his eye “What happened? What’s all the commotion?”

“I-it’s Spyro…” Nestor gasped

“What about him?” the Peace Keeper asked

“H-he’s dead…” Nestor said in a saddened, shocked tone. The Peace Keeper’s expression then changed from shock to sadness

“Spyro…dead…” He said quietly in disbelief

As Cyra continued to sob over his body, the thoughts of never being able to hold or kiss him ever again played in her mind and the situation began to sink in…

“SPYRO…!!!!!” Cyra screamed, “NOOO….!!! PLEASE….!!! NOOOOO…!!! YOU CAN’T BE DEAD…!!!” Cyra wailed, “NOOOOO…..” Cyra cried as she mourned over Spyro’s body.

She couldn’t believe it. Spyro was…dead! He killed him! Raku killed Spyro!! NO! Cyra then thought of that monstrous murderer. He had already killed both her real and her foster parents and now Spyro too! That thing had taken away everything from her! A sudden rage then began to build up within her and Cyra then ceased crying… She looked up and saw that…monster hovering in the air. She watched that monstrous being that had done nothing but destroyed everything she ever knew and loved… He wasn’t gonna get away with it this time! She then began to growl and bare her fangs as the rage began to surface… Something awoke… Something that would knock that rotten, smirk off his rotten face…

The tension was immense. The long, uncanny silence continued to hang about the air, as the armies of both the Dragon Kingdom and the Demon Realm waited until one of the opposing sides made the move first, the move that would kick-start one of the grandest battles of the Dragon Age, the Battle of Ages. Spyro continued to search over the many shadow Dragons, with their thick, pure-black armour, rough swords, spears and black shields. ‘I still can’t see her. Where is she?’ Spyro thought as he scanned over the sea of black. Gavin noticed this.

“Spyro. Searching for her is only going to distract you from your battle.” Gavin said.

“I know…” Spyro sighed, “I just…need to find her…” Spyro added

“Look, Spyro. We need you to focus on your main priority. You can find her later but first you should focus on battle.” Gavin told Spyro

‘He’s right. I shouldn’t be so selfish. There’s more to this battle than just Cyra alone.’ Spyro thought, ‘There’s a whole army full of full-grown Dragons that are just as if not more powerful than her.’ Spyro continued to think

“You’re right…I’m sorry, I just miss her…” Spyro replied

“It’s alright, Spyro. Just…keep your focus, ok?” Gavin replied

“Yeah, I will” Spyro replied

There was once again a long uncomfortable silence. The two armies still stood still, waiting for either side to move to make the Battle of Ages commence. The tension in the atmosphere was torturing and tempers were also beginning to flare

“Oh! Come on! This is meant to be a battle not a stupid staring contest!” One of the Peace Keeper Dragons moaned.

“We know, Enzo! We’re all in the same boat!” replied another Peace Keeper

“I know! I’m just saying all this waiting’s doing my head in…!” Enzo replied.

“Hm. Well I don’t think we’ll have to wait any longer! Look!” another Dragon in front of him yelled as after a good fifteen minutes of torturing silence, Raku then suddenly began to float higher above the sea of Shadow Dragons and as raised his staff overhead, with his cloak flowing in the wind, revealing his black armour underneath, he then spoke out,

“Let us finally show that puny army of weak spirits just how powerful us beings of the shadow are!” Raku yelled with a hiss, “And let us have these worlds under our rule and have the universe draped in shadow for all eternity!” Raku boomed, and as he did so, his army of Shadow Dragons then started to charge down the valley floor

“Not if I can help it…” Spyro said under his breath as he continued to watch Raku, still raw with hatred for him.

“Ok! Everyone in your fighting positions! You know what to do!” Gavin yelled, as he unsheathed his sword. Spyro then too, lowered his head and reached up to unsheathe his sword. With his sword drawn and in his fighting stance, all he could do was watch and wait as the sea of Shadow Dragons continued to stampede down the valley. Spyro watched as the army continued to get closer and closer and the clanking and banging of their armour got louder and louder.

It was finally happening. Spyro then fixed on one quadruped Shadow Dragon that was charging right towards him and their eyes met. Spyro peered into its eyes of cold grey and its eyes stared right into Spyro’s. The army was now only a few feet away and as Spyro fixed on his target; he gripped his sword, ready for his first strike. The Shadow Dragon was now only a few inches away from Spyro and it began to lunge its rough, pure-black sword towards him. Spyro then made a split-second decision. As the sword came up to Spyro, he lowered his right shoulder slightly and the sword slid off Spyro’s shoulder-plate. Spyro then swiped his horns upwards and caught the Shadow Dragon’s jaw. This then forced the Shadow Dragon’s head upwards and Spyro the took his sword and drove it into it’s stomach, where the armour didn’t meet. He made his first strike. He watched as the Shadow Dragon gasped for its breath and writhed as Spyro’s sword was firmly stuck in its stomach. Spyro then pulled his sword out swiftly and the Shadow Dragon then fell to the ground and slowly bled to death. Spyro then examined his bloodstained sword. He made his first strike and this was the first of many.

Spyro then came back to the reality of the situation and readied his sword again. Spyro then dodged to the right as another Shadow Dragon swung its sword as him. Spyro then took his sword and drove it up threw its jaw. Spyro then yanked his sword out and drove it into the stomach of another Shadow Dragon that was behind him before it got a chance to strike.

Spyro then continued to strike down more Shadow Dragons with his sword, with each strike just as powerful as the last, as the images of his parents and Cyra were firmly fixed in his mind, fuelling his flow of strength and courage that continued to radiate through out his body. It was like he just knew what to do and that the strength and knowledge of battle was inside of him and now it was coming up to the surface. There was a feeling that this sudden power and knowledge that he felt within him was someone else’s else, yet; at the same time it felt as though it was a part of him. Could this be one of the traits of his ancestor, Meisaka? As he continued to slice his sword through many Shadow Dragons that appeared to come one after another, his sword then struck another bloodstained, silver sword. It was Gavin.

“Hey. All right there, Spyro?” Gavin asked, who was gasping for breath slightly

“Yeah. I’m fine.” Spyro replied, Spyro then noticed a deep gash in Gavin’s right shoulder, “Gavin! You’re hurt!” Spyro gasped

“Yeah…that’s what happens in battles…” Gavin replied as he winched at his wound

“A-are you…going to be all right…?” Spyro asked, unsure about Gavin’s wound

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Believe me, I’ve had worse.” Gavin replied, wincing at his wound slightly, “Now just you focus on your battle and don’t worry about me, Ok?” Gavin told Spyro as he struck a Shadow Dragon with his sword. Spyro nodded as he watched Gavin slice three other Shadow Dragons. Spyro then noticed that a Shadow Dragon had come up behind Gavin that he hadn’t noticed.

“Gavin! Look out!” Spyro yelled. Gavin then turned around but it was too late. Before they realised it, the Shadow Dragon drove its sword right into Gavin’s stomach.

“GAVIN! NO!” Spyro yelled in shock as his mentor fell to the ground, “YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!” Spyro yelled as ran towards the Shadow Dragon and sliced his head off. Spyro then looked down at Gavin, who was still gasping for breath with a deep gash in his stomach.

“Gavin…I’m sorry…I couldn’t save you…” Spyro said as his eyes began to fill up with tears

“Spyro…don’t be sorry. This was not your fault…this is how wars go, some people die and some people live. We have to be prepared for the worst when it come to wars…” Gavin managed to breath out. As Spyro noticed the pool of blood slowly seep from Gavin wound, a tear then trickled down his cheek, “Now, now…Spyro, don’t cry… That sword you wield…is a very special sword that Nestor and I entrusted upon you…now you just focus on your battle…use it valiantly…use it wisely…and do the rest of the Dragon Kingdom proud…” Gavin added. As Gavin said those words, he then breathed his last breath and died before Spyro’s very eyes.

“GAVIN!!!” Spyro yelled and soon more tears began to trickle down his cheeks as gritted his teeth. He was gone. Spyro and Gavin had developed a good teacher-pupil relationship over the past few week and now his mentor was gone. Then from deep within him, an unspeakable rage began to surface.

“Monsters…” Spyro breathed, “They’re all monsters…” Spyro continued to say to himself as the rage began to build up in his heart. As Spyro began to breathe deeply with the fury and rage burning within him, it surfaced

“You MONSTERS!!!” Spyro yelled, burning with rage “I’LL KILL YOU ALL!!” Spyro continued to yell as the rage consumed him. Spyro then burning with rage then began slicing as many Shadow Dragons as he could. At one point Spyro leaped up, somersaulted in the air and smacked a Shadow Dragon’s jaw with his tail and he then did a horn dive right in the Shadow Dragon’s stomach, which sent him careering right into a bunch of other Shadow Dragons and finished him off with a sword strike to the throat. Spyro watched as the shadow Dragons writhed and died as the sword was driven into their throats. He then looked at his sword, crimson with blood.

“Don’t worry, Mum, Dad, Gavin…and Cyra…I won’t let you down, I promise” Spyro said and with them in mind, along with the rest of the Dragon Kingdom, he continued to valiantly fight and strike down as many Shadow Dragons with his sword as he could

“Spyro?” Called a voice behind him, Spyro then looked behind him and saw that it was Nestor, who now had a few cuts on his scales and was busy striking down a group of Shadow Dragons with his blade

“Are you holding on all right?” Nestor asked, whilst in the midst of battle

“Yeah…” Spyro replied as he struck another Shadow Dragon

“That’s good…Tell me, have you seen Gavin anywhere? He needs to be advancing up ahead with the rest.” Nestor asked

“Gavin…” Spyro started as he struck down two more Shadow Dragons, “Gavin’s dead…” Spyro added grimly

“I see…” Nestor said sadly

“They monsters struck him down!” Spyro growled, “And they’re not gonna get away with it, GRAAAH!!!!!” Spyro yelled, as he drove his sword through a Shadow Dragon’s neck out of pure hatred and as he yanked the sword out its throat, he sliced another Shadow Dragon’s head off.

Spyro then stuck his sword into a large Shadow Dragon and as it fell and died on the ground, he then saw a small figure with pure-black armour and its sword stuck firmly in a Beast Maker Dragon’s stomach. It was Cyra.

“Cyra…” Spyro said quietly

As she ripped her sword, violently out the Beast Maker’s stomach, she then turned around with a smirk.

“Spyro…” She started, “We meet again…hopefully you’ll be more of a challenge than the rest of these weaklings…” she teased

“Look, Cyra…You don’t have to do this…” Spyro started

“Hah! Listen to yourself! You know what I see? Fear…” Cyra teased, “You stink of it…and I saw you, crying your eyes out over that Dragon, what a pity…” Cyra added

“Hey! You leave him out of it!” Spyro warned, who was still uptight about Gavin’s death

“Or what? You gonna kill me? I’d like to see you try” Cyra sneered at Spyro, “You wanna know why he died? Because he’s weak! He was a weakling and he was rank with fear…” Cyra added

“Grrr…SHUT IT!” Spyro yelled, who was still raw with rage. Cyra then laughed evilly and Spyro, who had just had enough, then swiped his claws at her out of sheer frustration and three, deep cuts were now etched across her left cheek.

“Ah…!” Cyra winced as his claws sliced her face, “Heh. Looks like I struck a nerve…” Cyra added, “Come on then! Fight me! If you dare…” Cyra teased.

Spyro and Cyra then got into their fighting stance and began to circle each other. With Cyra’s orangey-yellow eyes with cat-like slits for pupils firmly fixed on Spyro’s, the real battle had only just begun.

Chapter eleven: The battle of Ages

It was the last night that they will spend in the Artisan worlds. Everyone had received they’re armour and added the finishing touches in readying their weaponry. Spyro looked at himself in his armour of strong silver and gold braiding glinting in the moonlight and thought about her. He would have to fight her tomorrow in the battle. He remembered those eyes, seeing how corrupted they were pained him. Yet even though things seemed grim, he felt hope. Spyro hadn’t forgot what Nestor said about the mind shift and even though there was an extremely slim chance of her achieving it, Spyro still felt a strange, tiny, bit of hope, floating around his vast mixture of emotions…

“Spyro…!”, Called a Dragon from the front of the crowd. Spyro then turned around and saw that the voice came from Nestor, who was trying to manoeuvre his way through the crowd, “You got a minute?”

Spyro nodded and followed Nestor out the crowd and further into a quieter part of the field. “So are you prepared?” Nestor asked

“Yeah. Pretty much” Spyro answered

“That’s good” Gavin replied, “Now Spyro I have something here that will be of use for you” Nestor continued. Nestor then took out an object, which he realised was a sword in a purple sheath, with a symbol that consisted of a small, red dragon, breathing fire. “Gavin and I both agreed that you should have this sword,” Nestor added. As Spyro took the sword, unsheathed it and took a closer look at the sword, he then noted that the sword was crafted with a silver blade, a gold Dragon’s head on the tip of the handle and a red bar that had four purple semi-transparent orbs placed two on either side.

“This is a very special sword that has magical properties and we feel as though you have the right to wield it and we also trust that you will use it valiantly in the battle that is to come.” Nestor said as Spyro looked at the sword

“Uh…thanks…” Spyro said, a little lost for words as he looked at the sword. Spyro then began to walk away, leaving himself to his own thoughts

“And Spyro…” Nestor called, “I trust that you will keep that sword by you at all times and…use it wisely.” Nestor added

“Don’t worry, I will” Spyro replied with a hint of determination. He then slipped the sword in its sheath and walked off through the portal into Stone Hill. Spyro then lay down on the cliff, where he and Cyra usually sat and talked and though to himself…

“Cyra…” Spyro said to himself and then slowly dosed of to sleep…

It was a nice sunny day, with the clear, blue sky overhead Spyro and Cyra were seen lying next to each other on the lake bank

“So you got anything planned today?” Cyra asked

“Nah. Not really” Spyro answered

Cyra then sat up, gazing the Sparkling blue water. Spyro then sat up and wrapped his arms around her.

“Hm…it’s just so nice here…” Cyra said

“Yeah…” Spyro replied

Spyro then smirked a little as he held onto Cyra at the waters edge

“Oh! And just one thing…” Spyro said

“Hm? What’s that?” Cyra asked

“In ya go!” Spyro said as Spyro “Eek!” Cyra squealed as Spyro suddenly pushed her into the water with a terrific Splash! Spyro then burst out laughing as Cyra came up to the surface with a look of pure shock

“Spyro!” Cyra laughed, “Oh! My God! I cannae believe you just did that!” Cyra added whilst Spyro laughed

“Sorry. Couldn’t resist” Spyro laughed, “You shoulda seen the look on your face…!” Spyro laughed

“Pffft. Yer gonna get it one o’ these days!” Cyra laughed as she splashed some water in Spyro’s face.

As Cyra settled herself beside the bank where Spyro was lying. Still laughing slightly, she looked at him. Cyra then wrapped her arms around Spyro’s neck and shoulders and Spyro place his arms around her body.

“You’re some machine…” Cyra said, “Good job for you, I love you.” Cyra added

“Yeah…” Spyro replied with a slight chuckle

Spyro and Cyra then bent their heads towards each other. Spyro then closed his eyes, expecting a kiss, but he, however, suddenly felt a bit of pressure around his shoulders and before he knew it he was completely submerged in water. Spyro then came up, wondering what had just happened.

“W-what?”, Spyro spluttered, as he wiped the water from his eyes with a look of shock

“Hah! Gotcha!” Cyra laughed

“Cyra!” Spyro said in disbelief, “Oh! My God! You’re evil!” Spyro laughed

“Hee, hee! That’s what you get for shovin’ me in the first place!” Cyra said, laughing at Spyro

Cyra then swim across to Spyro and placed her arms around his shoulders, whilst Spyro wrapped his arms around her body. Spyro then looked at the beaming smile on Cyra’s face and her eyes, sparkling like blue, lake water around them. This made him realise just how much he loved her. Spyro then place his paw on her cheek.

“I love you…” Spyro sighed

“I love you too” Cyra replied

Spyro and Cyra then bent forwards and kissed each other on the lips…

As they savoured the moment, Spyro’s vision then began to blur. The picture of that nice sunny day of him and Cyra began to disintegrate into darkness before his very eyes and then he felt the cold, night air sweep across his body. As the starry sky overhead began to come into focus, Spyro’s heart then sank as he realised it was all just a dream and Cyra was someplace else, consumed by Raku’s spell. He missed her, but he wouldn’t have to wait long to meet her again, for it was nearly dawn and they would soon have make off to the valley between the two Dragon Realms and he would meet and possibly have to fight her in the battle.

The day had finally come. All of the armies of the Dragon Kingdom had arrived in the long, wide valley, with many cliffs and crags between the Peace Keepers and Magic Crafters realms. As the Artisan Dragons arrived at the valley, a green Magic Crafter Dragon then stood before and greeted them.

“Nestor. It’s good to see that you and the Artisan inhabitants have made it her ok” Cosmos called

“Likewise. So, is everyone more or less here?” Nestor asked
“Yes, as far as I know.” Cosmos answered

“That’s good. Has there been any news about Raku’s army?” Nestor asked

“We some of the Dragons on look out, but there has been no reported movement so far.“ Cosmos answered

“Hm…” Nestor replied, Nestor. Nestor them walked over to Gavin

“Gavin. Would you mind in helping to keep look out on that cliff on the western side, just there?” Nestor asked, indicating a bare cliff not far from where they were.

“Will do.” Gavin replied and he flew up to the cliff and began scanning over the valley floor for any signs of movement.

Spyro sat alone on a small cliff deep in thought about the battle that was to take place today, whilst gazing at the sword he held in his paw. As the sword shone brilliantly along with his armour, from the sun’s rays, he started to feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins along with determination, anger and fury as he was constantly reminded of what Raku had done to his parents and the look in Cyra’s eyes after he had managed to corrupt her.

“Any sign of them yet?” Nestor asked Gavin, who was standing on a high cliff, keeping lookout

“Nah, not yet”, Gavin answered as he continued to scan over the valley floor.

When Nestor looked away for a few minutes, Gavin then suddenly spotted a dark mass on the other side of the valley. When the dark mass slowly began to creep closer, Gavin then saw that the mass was hundreds of dragons in pure black armour wielding swords, spears and shields.

“Nestor! They’re here!” Gavin yelled,

“Right! Get everyone into position!” Nestor ordered

“Alright! You heard! Get into your positions, now!” Gavin called from a high cliff overhead, “Come on! Get a move on!” Gavin continued to yell from the cliff as he glided down into his own position.

The atmosphere was deafening with the clanking of the armour as everyone hurried past and banging into each other as they began to move into position and with the images of Cyra and his parents fixed permanently in his mind, Spyro then slipped his sword back into its sheath on his back, glided down from the cliff and moved into his position in between Gavin and some other dark blue Dragon.

“Alright there, Spyro?”, Gavin asked as Spyro gave a shuddering sigh

“Yeah…” Spyro replied,

“You scared?” Gavin asked

“A bit…” Spyro replied

“Ah, don’t worry about it. Just remember what and whom you’re fighting for. Remember your training.” Gavin assured Spyro.

“But they’re like at a totally different league from those dummies…” Spyro added

“No they’re not, Spyro. The only difference between them and the dummies is the dummies are made of wood and straw. Now you just use you instincts and the techniques you were taught.” Gavin replied, “You’ll be fine, Spyro. I know you will. Once you get past the first hurdle, you’ll get into a routine and you’ll be fine.”

Spyro took his words on board and then once again along with the adrenaline came determination…

An uncanny silence then hummed in the air, only broken by the odd clank from the armoury. The black mass of shadow Dragon then began to come closer. The swords, shields and spears were now coming clear and pretty soon the distant sound of the clanking and banging of their armoury came into range and the tension was rising.

The shadow Dragons with in sea of black were advancing gradually, until each and every dragon could be recognised. Each Dragon of cold grey eyes and dirty, grey scales, covered in many ugly scars, had pure-black, steel armour, rough swords and black shields with Raku’s symbol carved onto each and every one.  The more you looked at them, the more you began to detest their existence. Spyro’s eyes scanned over the sea of black. ‘Where was she?’ Spyro thought to him self as he couldn’t find Cyra amongst the sea of Black, but he knew she was there, waiting to slay her first victim. It was then that he saw a tall, cloaked figure, armed with a blade in one hand and a staff in the other float a few feet above the army.

“Raku…” Spyro muttered under his breathed. The more Spyro looked at Raku, floating in the air like that, the more he remembered how he murdered his parents that night. As Spyro looked at that dark, monstrous figure, he then began growl under his breath as he began to fill up with pure hatred…

The sea of Shadow Dragons then came to a halt and an uncanny silence, once again, hung in the air. The tension had now risen to the max as the armies of the Dragon Kingdom and Shadow Dragons watched and waited for either side to make the move, the move that would begin one of the most spectacular battles in history, The Battle of Ages.

As the sun began to peep of the distant, rolling hills of lush, green grass, the birds began to twitter their little songs proudly and a young, purple dragon, snoring loudly beside the waterfall, began to stir.

“Morning.” Spyro yawned, “Hey Cyra are you…” Spyro then cut himself short. Spyro looked around and found him by himself next to the waterfall, which was spraying cool water as it collided with the rocks below. He then remembered. Spyro’s heart sank as the memories of how Cyra was corrupted by evil by Raku flooded into Spyro’s mind. The way she looked at him, with those eyes… they were just so…empty… and the fact that she tried to kill him last night more or less concluded that she was corrupt.

Spyro just sat on his own, lost in thought about the events of the previous night when a shadow befell onto Spyro. Spyro half-heartedly looked around to se who it was and found that it belonged to Nestor.

“Good. I see that you’re awake Spyro.” Nestor started, Nestor then noticed that Spyro was quite his normal, happy-go-luck self, “You still miss her, don’t you” Nestor added

“Yeah…” Spyro started, “I just wish… I could’ve helped her…” Spyro added

“Spyro…there’s nothing you could have done to help her…” Nestor replied
“Raku is a powerful foe that has many powers that very few creatures can overpower…”

“But what about the prophecy…”Spyro asked

“I’m afraid, Raku has more or less broken the prophecy…right now all we should be focussing on is surviving through this war that’s to come…”

“But…isn’t there anyway that Cyra can break out of that spell she’s under?” Spyro asked with a hint of desperation

“Well…the only way I can think off is the mind shift, when a dragon reaches a certain age, its mind strengthens so much that it’s almost completely blocked off to any form of mental attack. If Cyra achieves the mind shift before Raku’s spell is complete…” Nestor started

“Then she can break the spell!” Spyro butted in as his heart began to fill with a feeling of hope

“Yes…but I’m afraid there is an extremely slim chance of that happening and I wouldn’t put my hopes on it if I were you, Spyro…” Nestor added, “Anyway… Time is pressing.” Nestor continued, “ So I want you to go and find Gavin in Stone Hill. He has agreed to help you train for the battle that’s to come.”

“Right. I’ll do what I can.” Spyro replied. Spyro ran down the stony path and disappeared through a portal to the right of the path.

    Meanwhile, in a large, gloomy room, lit by a rusty, candle-chandelier hanging from the roof. Cyra was seen standing before a tall, cloaked figure, sitting in a termite-bitten throne.

“Well, Cyra.” Started Raku, “Now that you’re here amongst us, I want you to follow Grimtooth here and begin you’re training amongst the elite force of our Army of Shadow Dragons” Raku continued

“Yes, My Lord” Cyra replied

“But first” Raku replied, “I want to see just how powerful you are” Raku continued, “Fight Gnarlshaw here and show us those O mighty powers of your heritage that the prophecy foretold” Raku added

“Gladly, my Lord” Cyra replied with a smirk. As Cyra spoke, a large, well-built, Grey/blue Shadow Dragon then stepped forwards, he had cold, grey eyes, with a scar on his left eye.

“You wanna fight me, do ya?” Laughed Gnarlshaw, “Well, excuse me if I break yer scrawny little neck” Gnarlshaw added

“Hah! Just try it.” Cyra dared.

The two dragons then began circling each other, then without warning; Gnarlshaw then swiped at Cyra with one of his paws and caught the corner of Cyra’s mouth. As Cyra wiped the blood away with the back of her paw, a smirk the appeared on her face

“Not bad…” Cyra started,

“Hah! I’m only just getting started,” laughed Gnarlshaw

“So am I” Cyra replied

The two then begin circling each other again. Gnarlshaw then launched his paw forwards again, but this time Cyra dodged it by jumping to the side and when Gnarlshaw’s body was at a good distance, Cyra then let a powerful punch right his solar plexus. Gnarlshaw then crippled away as the wind was taken right out of him.

“C’mon! Is that the best you got?” Cyra teased

“Grr…I’ll get you for that, you little brat!” Growled Gnarlshaw. Gnarlshaw the redeemed himself, got back up and the two got into their fighting positions again. Cyra then leapt back a few yards and then started charging forwards. Gnarlshaw then swung his tail to hit her, but his tail went right through her imaged as it faded away.

“Huh?” Gnarlshaw said as he looked around for Cyra

“Up here!” Called a voice from above him. As Gnarlshaw looked up to the source of the voice, he saw Cyra in the air and as soon as he found her, she then somersaulted in the mid air and struck him with her tail on the back of his head. The impact of the tail strike then sent Gnarlshaw flying across the room right into the wall, which knocked him out cold.

Cyra stood looking at the large Dragon’s body lying on the floor, unconscious when Raku spoke up.

“Excellent!” Raku boomed, “You would do very well indeed in our army and once you have surpassed your training, you should be almost invincible and become even more powerful than your present state! Now follow Grimtooth as I instructed to start your training for the battle!” Raku ordered

“Yes, my Lord” Cyra replied. Cyra then follow another large Shadow Dragon through the large, double door…

Meanwhile, Spyro was seen training with the dummies but this time they were alive and came after Spyro until they were destroyed. Gavin; a large, quadruped, blue Dragon, standing at the side, was watching his every move. Spyro swiped his horns at one of the dummies ran towards him and knocked it into another, but another one behind smack the back of Spyro’s head.

“C’mon Spyro! Focus!” Gavin yelled from the side, “You would never survive the war with these kinda of tactics!” Gavin continued. Spyro then growled slightly as he was beginning to get annoyed with him, but he understood what he was saying. Spyro’s head was just a mess at the moment. With everything that happened recently…he just couldn’t focus on anything… When Gavin saw Spyro half-heartedly swing his tail at a dummy and miss, he then held up his paw and all the dummies then froze on the spot.

“Look…Spyro…” Gavin started, “I know it’s hard for you to forget and cope with everything that’s happened but you’re one of the strongest fighters we have and we need you to focus and fight in this war.” Gavin continued

“But…you don’t know what it feels like to lose someone like that…” Spyro replied, “I still feel like I should’ve done something to help her…” Spyro continued

“Spyro…what happened wasn’t your fault.” Gavin replied, “The only person you can really blame is the one who caused this to happen in the first place.” Gavin added

‘He’s right’ Spyro thought to himself. ‘Raku’s the real culprit, he’s the one who put the spell on Cyra and the one that killed her’s and my parents.’ Spyro continued to think. As he continued to think about what Gavin said, he began to fill with rage.

“Raku!” Spyro breathed

“Yes, Raku…” Gavin stared

“I hate him for what he did to her and what he did to my parents!” Spyro growled

“Then used that hatred in the battle and in your training.” Gavin started, “Focus on the thing you hate most and imagine that you’re fighting Raku and his army because I know you. When you’re focussed enough, you have the potential to become more powerful than the strongest fighters in the Dragon Kingdom…now try again” Gavin added.

As Gavin raised his paw again, the dummies came out of their suspended animation and started to run towards Spyro again. Spyro was now full of burning rage as he remembered what Raku did to Cyra and his parents and was soon releasing a flurry of tail strikes, horn swipes and breath attacks. At one time a dummy was running up from behind Spyro, but Spyro then used the tip of his tail like a spear and rammed it right through the dummy. He then leapt up into the air and did a somersault, which caused the dummy to get thrown off Spyro’s tail and he sent it careering right into a group of three dummies and pretty soon all the dummies were bush ash and limbs.

“Excellent, Spyro!” Called Gavin from the side, “I think that was the most focus state I’ve ever seen you in! Yes, with that kind of attitude, we should hold a fair chance!”

“Thanks” Spyro said whilst catching his breath

“Now, we’re going to call it a day there and tomorrow we’ll begin some weaponry training and next week. We’ll get some armour made for you.” Gavin said. Spyro nodded and ran off through a portal to the home world. As Spyro settled himself next to inactive portal next to the waterfall for the night, he then thought with determination

‘Don’t worry, Mum, Dad and you too, Cyra; I’ll get him back for what he’s done to you. I promise’