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Well, I lied at the end of the last chapter...I'll put this one and 4 up today but that's it for the weekend, gotta seriously iron out a few glitches between 4 and 7.

if you're under 18, leave now or your loss if you're caught.

WARNING: new character approaching... (couldn't tell from the title could you? :P)

Chapter 3 -- A New Ally?

The sun rose behind a thick cloud, and a cold, moist wind blew into the room over two empty beds. Spyro and Cynder had woken up around midnight, unable to sleep, and since then had been outside practicing their teamwork maneuvers. Terrador came outside, looking for Spyro.

"Where is that dragon?" Terrador thought to himself. His question was soon answered when he heard Spyro shout. Terrador spread his wings, but paused when he heard Cynder's voice followed by both of them laughing.

"HEY! No, Cynder! STOP!!!" Spyro shouted, laughing. Terrador raised an eyebrow as the two dragons raced by, Cynder in hot pursuit of Spyro. Tired though they were, it only made them feel even more goofy as she chased him down, trying to catch him. They raced off, and Terrador stared after them, a bit confused.

"They've never been like that before," he said to himself, shaking his head and walking back inside.

Cynder caught Spyro and he laughed, but he flipped over and ran away, throwing her off of him. She darted after him, but stopped. Where was he? He was hiding behind a tree nearby, but which one? She walked by one, and shrieked and darted away when Spyro leapt out at her. He chased her back to the temple, and stopped in his tracks next to her when they found the elders waiting for them.

"Having fun, you two?" Ignitus asked, a smile pulling at his mouth.

They turned a bit red but nodded, giving each other nervous side-glances.

"Well, training begins soon. You two rest a bit and come in when you're ready." The four dragons walked back into the building. Cynder looked at Spyro and he sheepishly grinned at her.

"Where's Sparx?" she asked, looking around.

"He's sick," Spyro said, looking down. "Something seems to be draining his energy but Ignitus and the others can't figure out what it is."

"Oh..." Cynder looked at the ground. Spyro looked at her.

"Cynder, it's not your fault..."

"I know..."

"Come on, let's go inside."

She looked up at the building, and shook her head. "We've been inside too often, let's just stay out here."

* * * *

Later that day, Cyril came back from scouting the area, and reported strange new creatures approaching from the south.

"So a bunch of shadowy disfigured things are coming towards the Temple?" Spyro asked. "How long do we have?"

"I merely saw scouts, but they have a camp at least two days south of here, near the portal." Within the hour Spyro and Cynder were ready to leave. Sparx was still asleep, so it was just the two dragons. After eating their fill and quickly running through some last-minute training, they took off to the south.

"It's gonna be a long haul; you up to it?" Spyro asked, and she felt concern in his voice.

"Of course I am, silly!" she said, spreading her wings and bumping into him jokingly. He grinned and turned his attention back to flying. During their journeys and the time they'd had since defeating the Dark Master, both of them had increased their flight speed and endurance significantly (and their wings had grown longer and broader, more noticeably than the rest of their growth). Had Sparx accompanied them, one of them would've had to carry him once they got up to full speed. They flew in silence for a while, and Cynder detected something was going through Spyro's mind. He seemed a bit distanced, but she didn't prod him. The mushroom landscape below them slowly thickened as it passed below them, a multicolored blur as they raced through the air. By the time evening came their wings were sore, and Spyro looked to the side to see Cynder straining with each wingbeat.

"Wanna call it quits for today?" he asked. She nodded and they flew down, slowing down enough that they could land safely. As the sun set, Cynder shivered where she sat, so Spyro went off to find some wood. He came back carrying it with his horns, and he rolled it onto the ground, arranged the pieces into a cone shape, and lit them with a small breath. The sticks lit up instantly, and the warmth of the fire washed over Cynder and she sighed happily, closing her eyes. She didn't notice Spyro staring at her...he just couldn't take his eyes off her...He shook his head and looked around when her eyes opened again.

"Were you just looking at me?" she asked, seeing the expression on his face.

"Huh?" he asked, not convincingly. "No...I was..." His words turned into a huge yawn.

Cynder got up and sat next to him. "Is something bothering you, Spyro?"

He looked at her, his mouth open to speak, but her green eyes reflecting the firelight made him lose all sense. "Cynder...you...I..." he stuttered. She cocked her head at him, confused, and he hung his head and slowly walked away. "I'm gonna go get some more firewood," he said as he disappeared into the darkness. She stared after him, a bit hurt and confused. She lay down, looking at the fire until her eyes closed. Spyro stood behind a tree, watching her for a bit, and walked away until he was out of earshot. He found some more wood on the ground, but Cynder came back to his mind, and the memory of him stumbling over his tongue burned him. He bashed his head against the tree, muttering angrily to himself. After a while he brought back more wood and tossed some sticks into the fire, sitting down across from Cynder. He stared at her until he realized he was nodding off, and put his head down on the ground to sleep, mentally kicking himself for not being able to talk to Cynder. The pain between his legs wasn't there anymore, but he didn't notice as he fell asleep.

Cynder woke up later than usual to find another pile of berries nearby. It was smaller than the previous one, but she hadn't seen many berry plants around. Her name was clawed into the ground again, and she smiled to herself before eating. Spyro came back before she finished and sat there quietly, waiting for her before they took off again. The day went by silently; neither really had anything to say. Cynder was feeling a bit shy around Spyro, and he didn't want to say something stupid and offend her or hurt her feelings. She occasionaly stole a glance at him, at how the sunlight reflected off his purple scales...

Around midday Cynder's wing cramped and she fell from the sky. Spyro dove after her, grabbing her and swooping just inches above the ground, his teeth gritted tightly as he expected to crash into the grass. He pulled up sharply but crashed right through a thick tree limb, sending Cynder flying. Even though he was in pain he rolled under her and caught her as he jumped up. He set her down and flopped to the ground, his head throbbing from the impact.

"You okay, Spyro?" Cynder asked, worried. He slowly sat up, rubbing his head.

"Yeah...I think so...oh man that's gonna leave a mark..."

"I'm so sorry," she said, coming over to him, but he backed away slightly. She stepped back, confused.

"You're fine, Cynder...it's good you're safe." He was getting that heavy-headed feeling again, and as she sat there she started feeling it too. Spyro looked up, and slowly walked around, feeling the air.

"Spyro...?" Cynder followed him. "What is it?"

"Something's not right...it feels like something's coming."

They stood there, looking around, trying to detect anything nearby. The forest was silent--only the sound of the wind through the trees.

A bright, loud flash blazed right above them, and Cynder shrieked. Spyro felt that same shuddering feeling he'd felt three days ago, but it wasn't nearly as bad, and he didn't really notice it as he reacted to what was going on. He forced Cynder down to the ground, putting hismlf over her protectively as a rift in the air opened up and two battling figures shot out. One was a dark, shadow-like troll, hovering through the air, waving a huge club around. The other was a white dragon over one and a half times Spyro's size, almost double but not quite. He was large but slender, with a single, flat scale growing from his forehead and sweeping back between two silver horns, and his bright ice-blue eyes shone with revenge as he attacked the troll viciously. Spyro and Cynder watched in amazement as the dragon twisted itself around like a writhing serpent, using his fists, elbows, knees, heels, claws, and head in a rapid succession of melee blows. The troll fell to the ground and the dragon flew at him, but got knocked backwards by a blast of dark energy. He landed on the ground near Spyro and Cynder, but flipped off his back and skidded backwards on his feet, facing his foe. In his peripheral vision he saw the two young dragons crouching there, but his attention was on the shadowy troll.

The troll yelled and swung its mace rapidly, sending bullets of dark energy at the white dragon. He ducked and rolled and contorted around each blast. The troll leapt up into the air and began hovering. The dragon breathed on the ground, creating a flawlessly smooth patch of ice. He quickly stomped on its side, flipping it up into the air, and grabbed it from behind so he was holding the rough side, digging his claws into it for grip as he flew back up into the air. Spyro and Cynder gaped as he swung around, reflecting more dark energy shots back at the troll. The shadow beast roared and charged up its mace. The dragon watched keenly, figuring his next move. A beam of anti-lght flew from the troll's club, and the dragon quickly spun around and held out the ice patch just in time. The beam reflected off the ice, shattering it but going straight back towards its source. Both troll and beam simply vanished.

Spyro got off of Cynder and she started to stand up, but the white dragon, with a panicked yell, flung himself over both of them. He had just made it--right where the troll had been, a huge explosion burst forth from the negated matter, and the white dragon's body shielded them from most of the blast impact. When the dust settled Spyro felt the dragon get off him and flap his wings rapidly to clear the air around them, his back to them. Cynder coughed and stood up, facing their protector. He was a graceful creature; though he was an ice dragon he wasn't spiky and blue like Cyril. His underbelly and wing-skin were both a light shade of blue, and the gentle curving fins along his neck and back glittered with a silver sheen. At the tip of his tail was what looked like a sharp ice crystal.

"Uhhh...thanks for saving us," Spyro said, a bit nervously. The dragon turned its head to look at them, and his eyes widened when he saw Spyro and he quickly turned to face him.

"You...you wouldn't...happen to be Spyro, would you? The Spyro that defeated Cynder and the Dark Master?" he asked. His voice was gentle but seemed to have a controlling tone behind it that he was currently and skilfully subduing.

"Uummm...yeah..." Spyro was a bit uncomfortable with the question.

The white dragon bowed his head. "Spyro and company, I am Solar, Ice Guardian Soldier of Paralos. It is an honor to be in your presence. I am very sorry for what just happened..."

"What did just happen?" Cynder asked.

"I will explain later," Solar replied, stretching his wings. "I must ask, why are you out here? I sense the presence of enemy units approaching."

"I guess we'll explain later," Spyro said. He stretched his wings but stopped. "Oh, I almost forgot...Solar...ummm..." Spyro looked at Cynder, and she bowed her head, backing away a few steps. "Uuhh...please don't get upset but...this is Cynder."

Solar's long wings folded. "Cynder?" he asked, looking over the small pitch-black dragon trying to avoid his sight. To their surprise he laughed. "So it was true! She did survive!" He saw their confused looks. "Oh, I'm sorry...I must be making you uncomfortable..." He was about to say something else, but he suddenly whipped his head to the side. A bright blast of ice flew from his mouth, and several shadowy things fell out of the tree nearby, shattering on impact with the ground. "FLY" he shouted to Spyro and Cynder as a flood of the strange disfigured shadows filed out of the forest towards them. Spyro and Cynder wasted no time--they shot up into the air, hovering and watching Solar spin around, using his tail to clear space around himself. Some creatures suddenly disappeared, and reappeared on his back. He roared and tried to shake them off.

"We should help him," Spyro said, and dove down to Solar's aid. The shadows flew off Solar's back as Spyro accurately zapped them with his thunderbreath. Cynder folded her wings against herself and fell, finally swooping up and out of the fray after lighting a few shadows on fire. Solar took the opportunity of the distraction and whipped around rapidly, jumping up and flapping his wings hard. The blast of air sent the shadows flying, and he quickly followed Spyro and Cynder into the air. Together all three flew south.

"Thank you, you two," he said when he'd caught his breath. "I guess now I owe you an explanation as to why I'm here..."

"Stories are better at night," Cynder said, turning her head and smiling at him. "Not that I'm saying not now, but it'd be better when we're relaxed."

"Makes sense," Solar replied.

"What was that thing, though?" Spyro asked.

"That was one of my main foes," the white dragon explained. "He's been trailing me and making me miserable for a while--or I should say was...hes's gone for good now."

"Where's Paralos?"

"It's a parallel world...I'll explain more tonight. But I must ask; where are we going?"

"A portal has opened up to the far south," Spyro replied. "We've been sent to investigate."

"So...it really has begun," Solar said to himself, but even over the rushing wind as they flew, Spyro and Cynder heard him and looked at each other. What did he mean?

That night Spyro got the fire started. Solar looked at it a bit uneasily.

"Something wrong?" Cynder asked, seeing the look on his face.

"No...I just don't like fire all that much...I'm used to my snowy outposts."

"Ignitus told us that the parallel world didn't have much of anything..."

Solar sighed and sat down, and they turned to him, sensing a story coming. "Well, I guess I'll give you two a history 101 briefly...The realm I come from is mostly flat land, but far to the north and south are tall mountain ranges. Nothing grows there, save the plants we keep in greenhouses for food production and fuel sources. Paralos and this realm, long ago, were interconnected by a system of portals that have long since been deactivated and forgotten. Over the years, we've tried to emulate your realms' great works that we so admire, but to no real avail. Our technological advancement slowly dwindled until hardly anything new came into existance. When I was born, a famine struck the land hard, but somehow my parents helped me survive...but they ended up dying just before the famine ended... When I was five years old, I was captured by a small army sent by the Dark Master..." He looked off into the sky.

"Wait, how did the Dark Master's forces get to your world?" Cynder asked, confused.

"Somehow, through luck or something, they managed to find and open a portal into our world. I and a few others were captured and brought through the portal here..." He looked at the ground, his eyes glancing up at Cynder. "I still remember hearing them talking about the Dark Master's captured egg finally hatching..." Cynder shifted uneasily, and Spyro put his tail over hers comfortingly. "I was eventually rescued and brought back to Paralos--but not before they'd had a chance to experiment on me." He shivered.

"Experiment?"

Solar didn't respond, but Cynder was looking off in the distance, recalling something. "I remember you now...I saw you once or twice as I was being transported between different areas!"

The white dragon didn't respond for a while. Spyro eventually asked, "So...what exactly was that back there? I mean, you versus your enemy."

Solar looked back up at the sky, thinking over his answer. With a sigh he told his story.

______________________

What's his story, I wonder? :P lol cliffhanger...

Chapter 4 is being ironed out...tip to writers: when writing, don't operate when you're not used to running on 3 hours of sleep every day for a week...does not make for good writing. Good thing I went over this a few times, TONS of misspellings and errors.

Suggestions, complaints, comments? Keeps, throws, dos/donts? I'm gonna make a Solar pic and use it for my avatar sometime soon.

(by the way can someone tell me how to italicize words in the story editor? Some of the words lose emphasis without italicizing...)