Blossoming Love

Chapter 8

"We're running out of time!" Yelled Spyro.

"We realize that, but what can we do?" Asked Terrador.

"Well, you can start by removing those chains!" Yelled Spyro.

"Right." Said one of the dragons who bound Cynder. He tried to get close enough to remove the chains, but was repelled by the dark energy. He then clenched his left forepaw, and punched his right forepaw in frustration, saying,

"Damn. That collar isn't going to make it easy for us."

"Well, if the dark energy is repelling you, then how did you get close enough to bind her in the first place?" Asked Spyro.

"You know what, I..." Started another dragon, but then Cynder's body began to glow and fade. The same dragon then continued by saying,

"What the hell?!" As Cynder completely faded, Spyro yelled,

"Cynder!!!" He then punched the ground in frustration.

"This is a crisis, a catastrophe, a conspiracy, a..." Said Volteer.

"Hey, lightning-jaw! Will you catch that mouth of yours already?" Asked Sparx in his usual smart aleck tone, to which Volteer simply grunted.

"What's the matter? Dragonfly got your tongue?" Asked Sparx.

"Control yourselves!" Yelled Ignitus, shutting everyone up. He then continued by saying,

"What we have on our hands is a complete crisis! There is still time, but we must act quickly!"

"Alright, but what's the crisis?" Asked Ember.

"Cynder was taken to the portal of convexity. We must find a quick way into that area." Said Ignitus.

"Well, that's all fine and dandy...Except we don't know where to start!" Yelled Sparx.

"Yes, that is a problem." Said Ignitus. He then continued,

"However, one must never come unprepared."

"Oh sure, so now you have some special device that can magically whisk us away to the portal of convexity?" Asked Sparx sarcastically.

"Not hardly, Sparx." Said Ignitus.

"Then what?" Asked Spyro.

"Yes, please inform us." Said Volteer.

"I'm all ears." Said Terrador.

"Well then, this is what I've come prepared with." Said Ignitus, holding out a colorful cube.

"Um...I don't really see how basic geometry will help in any way." Said Sparx.

"Geometry?! I think not! This little device was made in case of such an emergency as this. It can reveal locations where this world unite with convexity." Explained Ignitus.

"Oh..." Said Sparx.

Meanwhile, at the portal of Convexity...

Cynder was just waking up, and a shard pain shot through her neck. She saw blood dripping off of her neck onto the ground. She gasped, and asked,

"What happened?"

"Do you want to have it removed?" Asked a low-pitched, sinister voice that seemed to come from nowhere.

"What...?" Asked Cynder.

"The collar. Do you want it removed?" Asked the voice.

"How do you know about...?" Started Cynder, but she was interrupted by the dark voice, which yelled,

"Answer the question!" Suddenly, another sharp pain shot through Cynder's neck. The pain put her tear ducts to work, and as the tears came without opposition, she suddenly cried out,

"Yes! I'll do anything, just get it off!"

"Exactly what I wanted to hear." Said the dark voice. Suddenly, a crystal with a dark violet aura was thrown near her, seemingly out of nowhere

"Hold it in your paws, and let it's energy become one with you. The reaction will break the collar." Said the dark voice. Cynder gasped. This voice, it must have been the Dark Master, and Cynder was sure that he was telling her to return to what she once was.

"How?" Asked Cynder.

"What?" Asked the Dark Master.

"How can I hold it? My arms are bound to my sides." Said Cynder.

"Hmph. I can't help you with that." Said the Dark Master. Cynder was still for a while, until another sharp pain shot through her neck, accompanied by an increase in the rate at which blood dripped onto the ground. Cynder took that as a sign that she had better hurry and figure something out. She struggled against her bonds, but to no avail. After about a minute of that, she had to catch her breath because of severe blood loss. She found it hard to stay conscious because of the pain and blood loss, and her vision was getting blurry. As she continued to struggle, she cried out,

"Someone help me! I don't want to die here!" She then stopped struggling and began crying.

"Stop that! I'll have none of that here!" Yelled the Dark Master.

"B-but, I don't have enough strength left for this! I've lost way too much blood! I'm gonna die! I can't even move!" Cried Cynder.

"If you think like that, you really will die! Show me the power that I require of my apprentice! The mortal body knows no boundries! Prove it to be true, right now!" Yelled the Dark Master. Cynder began struggling again, but still couldn't get anywhere.

"Look deep inside yourself. Bring out the power that your ancestors have left in your possession." Said the Dark Master in a tone that sounded like a father encouraging his child. Cynder stopped, closed her eyes, and after a while, began to radiate a white glow. In one swift motion, she broke the chains that bound her, and did not hesitate to grasp the crystal. She knew she would regret it later, but at the moment she didn't care. A flash of evil energy radiated off of the crystal, causing Cynder to close her eyes, not only to prevent her own blindness, but also because she couldn't believe what she had done.

"Yes! Yes, that's it!" Said the Dark Master. The collar that had been ailing Cynder for a while now broke off, Cynder's neck wounds healed, and before long, the flash from the crystal shone through the whole area. When it faded, Cynder was returned to looking like she did when she was evil, because the fact was, she was evil again. Not much had been changed, but she now had a look of death in her eyes.

"Go! Go and finish what you started so long ago, and you had better not fail me this time!" Cynder looked back at the prison that held the Dark Master, then looked forward and said,

"I've got it covered." She then left the portal of Convexity.