That night Cynder stirred in her sleep. When Spyro had returned he didn't say anything about what had gone on while he was with Ember. All he said was that he was tired and needed to sleep, leaving Cynder on her own for the rest of the day. There was something going on and Cynder wanted to know what it was. She had gone to bed early before it was even dark which proved to be a mistake since she was having trouble staying asleep. 
	Cynder opened her eyes. It was dark out at last. She got up and walked out to her balcony. The moon was just a sliver in the sky but it covered the landscape with a pale outline.  She hadn't been there long when she heard the flutter on wings below her. She peered over the edge to see Spyro launch off his balcony two levels down from hers. A moment later Ember took off after him.
	Cynder squinted at them. "What are they up to?" She sprang over the railing and glided after them, not making a single sound. 
	Spyro and Ember glided over the far wall and out across the hillside. As they reached the edge of the forest they spotted a pair of crimson eyes staring at them from the edge of the trees. 
	"You came!" The dragon chirped excitedly and stepped out into the open. 
	Cynder squinted at the dragon from her hiding spot several yards away. She had never seen a dragon like that one before. The more she stared at the beast the more her gut churned. Something about the beast seemed off. As silently as she arrived she slipped back towards the castle.
	"Are we all set to go?" Spyro asked. 
	"Yes!" The dragon waited for Spyro to take the lead. As soon as Spyro had his back turned the green dragon attacked. He sprang upon Spyro with lightning speed and sank its fangs into the base of Spyro's neck. The purple dragon gave a shrill cry and fell to the ground.
	"What are you doing?" Ember cried.
	"I am taking this one with me." The dragon's red eyes glistened in the night.
	"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Ember bared her teeth and sprang for the dragon. The beast swept a wing over her and dodged. Ember hit the ground and turned to try again. The dragon spun around and connected the side of its tail with Ember's head. The dragoness screamed as she was flung into a tree. She hit the ground hard and tried to get up but the shock was too much for her to move.
	The dragon leaned over and curled its lips into an evil sneer. 
	"Thank you for your help." Was all it said.
	 Ember watched helplessly as the dragon bent down and grabbed Spyro up in it's jaws before taking off into the night.

	Cynder tapped on the doorway to Terrador's chamber. The guardian snorted as he woke from his sleep.
	"Cynder, what are you doing up at this hour?" He yawned as he rose to his feet. 
	"I'm sorry." Cynder apologized. She felt somewhat guilty about going to Terrador about this. It felt almost as if she were tattling on Spyro and Ember. "I couldn't sleep and..." Her voice trailed off as her head drooped. 
	"Is something wrong?"
	"I don't know." Cynder replied. "I just followed Spyro and Ember out into the hills after seeing them sneak out together. Earlier, Ember had mentioned something about someone she'd met needing help, but since it was late I decided to follow them just in case. They met up with a strange-looking dragon on the edge of the forest. I don't know why but I just got a very bad feeling about them."
	"They met another dragon?" Terrador's lips pressed together tightly. "What did this dragon look like?"
	"Well..." Cynder looked back through her memory. "It stood on two legs, had two wings for arms. It also had red eyes and a pair of fangs that came from its lower lip."
	"By the ancients!" Terrador growled and made for the door, nearly knocking Cynder out of the way as he went. 
	"What's going on?" Cynder called after him and had to fly to keep up. "I don't understand."
	"Just stay with me for a little longer Cynder." Terrador ordered. The dragoness did as she was told and followed him down to the library. Terrador searched frantically up and down the isles until at last he found the book he was looking for. He yanked it out and did his best to speed through the pages without shredding them with his claws. When he stopped Cynder gasped.
	"That's him. That's the dragon."
	The guardian growled. "That's just what I feared. That's no dragon Cynder."
	"What?"
	"That creature there is a wyvern. They resemble dragons in their appearance except for the obvious ones such as the fangs, two legs and wings for arms as you described earlier. And also, they were very venomous." Cynder's heart nearly stopped. "They live in the deepest parts of the Enchanted Forest away from prying eyes. Their bodies are capable of housing more than one type of toxin." He pointed to the beast's fangs. "If you are to get bitten, the toxins in the fangs will paralyze you as well as knock you out. And this..." He pointed to the scorpion-like barb on the tip of the tail. This poison will surely kill you."
	"How long will I have?" Cynder asked desperately.
	"I cannot say for certain." Terrador shook his head. "But it goes without saying that I've never met anyone who has survived a wyvern's sting."
	"I have to go find Spyro!" Cynder turned and headed for the door.
	"Don't go alone!" Terrador called after her. "I will alert the other guardians!" With a single bounding flap, Cynder was back in the air and out the door. She reached the sleeping chamber of Flame and shook him awake.
	"Flame get up! Now!" She yelled.
	"Huh? What! What's going on?" The fire breather opened his eyes and looked at her with an agitated look on his face. 
	"It's Spyro and Ember! They're in danger! We need to help them!"
	"Okay, I'm up!" Flame's eyes grew wide and he sprang for the door just behind Cynder.  The two dragons whistled over the wall and across the hills.
	"This is where I last saw them." Cynder called back over her shoulder. "Tell me if you see anything!"
	"Ember!" Flame cried and dove to the ground. Cynder followed as Flame landed beside her. The pink dragoness lay motionless on the ground. "Ember? Ember! Wake up!" Flame shouted desperately. 
	Ember moaned and twitched slightly. She opened her eyes and looked up to see Flame leaning down towards her.
	"S-Spyro..." She wheezed.
	"It's okay." Flame stroked her cheek. "Everything is going to be fine."
	"No." Ember shook her head weakly. She raised a paw and pointed towards the trees. "Spyro...was taken..."
	"That's all I needed to know." Cynder said and disappeared into the shadows.
	"You're going to be okay Ember." Flame continued to talk to soothingly to her. "Let's get you back to the city."
	"No..." Ember sobbed through the pain. "We have to help Spyro." She struggled to stand but the shock remained and she collapsed to the ground again.
	"Ember, you need medical treatment! You can't help Spyro in your condition!"
	"It's my fault!" Ember cried with tears filling her eyes. "I got him into this mess! I can't let him go without a fight! I love him!" 
	Flame shrank back. It felt like he'd been hit with a spike in his chest. After watching Ember cry for a couple minutes he sighed and squeezed the tears from his eyes to try and hide his emotions.
	"All right then." He said and forced a brave smile. "Let's go help our friends."
	
	The wyvern flew on through the darkness. He was now several miles away from the dragon city and, feeling confident, slowed his quickened pace. He flew on for another mile before an object caught his eye. He glanced down just in time to see Cynder shoot up from the darkness of the forest. She let loose a piercing roar and slashed angrily with her talons. She managed to rake the wyvern's face as well as leave a gash along its exposed chest with her tail blade. The beast hissed in anger and back-winged.
	Cynder spun around and hovered before him, blocking his path.
	"Let him go!" She panted. She had sprinted as fast as her wings would allow her to get this far away from the city.
	"No. I will not release my prize!" The wyvern snarled angrily. "You can't take him from me!"
	Cynder's pupils turned to slits and she unleashed a blast of black fire at the monster. The wyvern shrieked and dodged to the side, but not without the side of his tail getting signed.
	"That hurts!" He growled as he looked at his burned tail.
	"Good!" Cynder shouted and charged him. The wyvern flew up and Cynder followed close. He was fast, but not enough to shake Cynder off his tail. She chased the beast around in circles before she began to notice it was beginning to pick up speed.
	"Spyro!" Cynder shouted over the rush of the wind. 
	The purple dragon's eyelids twitched slightly. "Uh?" His head pounded.
	"Spyro!" Cynder shouted again.
	"Cynder?" Spyro opened his eyes to see the world flying beneath him and he was immediately up. He glanced up at the creature that had him in its talons then back to Cynder who was trying to keep up but was tiring out. "Cynder!" Spyro called back and struggled to free himself.
	"Hey! Stop moving!" The wyvern snapped
	"Spyro, hang on!" Cynder shouted and beat her wings faster. Now that he was awake, perhaps he could help bring this thing down. 
	As if he was reading her mind Spyro unleashed a blast of icy breath. The side of the wyvern was frozen but the creature showed no signs of slowing down. 
	"I said stop moving!" The wyvern snapped and flew straight up. It grabbed Spyro by the head in his other talon and held his neck stiff to bite it again.
	Spyro hollered desperately and unleashed a wave of electricity around him. The surge caught the wyvern by surprise and it shrieked in pain. The surge of power caused it to squeeze it's talons around Spyro harder and nearly choked him. The surge died down and Cynder slammed into the back of the wyvern's head and began to claw and bite with everything she had. The wyvern bellowed with rage as it tried to shake her off. At last it had had enough. The wyvern dove towards the ground hoping the force of the dive would shake off the dragoness. Cynder released her claws from its neck and blew a gust of wind that sent the beast spinning out of control. With a dying cry the wyvern smashed into the trees below.
	Cynder flew down to the ground and bared her teeth at the creature that easily stood three times her size. The wyvern lay on the forest floor, it's wings and one leg broken and bleeding. Spyro's body rested a few yards away. Cynder saw he was breathing and was able to relax three scales. 
	"You are making a mistake." The wyvern hissed, showing its fangs. "I can kill you easily."
	"And I will die before I let you have Spyro!" Cynder snarled. "I'll end your life before I let you grab him again!"
	The wyvern glared at her in disgust. He knew he wouldn't be able to run away from this fight so easily. Just then Spyro regained consciousness. He groaned as he attempted to pick up his sore and battered body off the ground. Then an evil grin spread across the wyvern's mouth. 
	"Then I will have to kill the purple dragon now." 
	Cynder's eyes grew wide as the wyvern turned and swung its tail at Spyro. The poison barb stabbed Spyro in the neck and he gasped in shock. His eyes locked onto Cynder's as he fell to the ground.
	"Nooooo!" Cynder screamed and took a step forward. She turned her hateful glare on the wyvern as she began to glow with convexity. With a bitter roar, Cynder unleashed a wave of black fire, completely engulfing the wyvern. The monster shrieked but the sound disappeared as it's body burned away. 
	When the glow died down Cynder gasped for breath. She was exhausted, but that didn't stop her from rushing over to Spyro. "Oh no!" She gasped. Spyro's eyes remained wide and staring into the distance and his mouth hung open in shock. 
	Just then Cynder heard the sound of heavy breathing and the flapping of wings above her. Flame descended from the sky with Ember draped over his back. 
	"What happened?" Flame wheezed as he set Ember down. The dragoness stumbled but Flame helped her catch her balance. 
	"Spyro's been poisoned!" Cynder cried as she looked over his wounds. There were two large fang marks at the base of his neck that were still bleeding. The wound from the sting was beginning to glow an unnatural green and was spreading across Spyro's neck to the rest of his body.
	"We need to get him back to the city!" Ember took a wobbly step forward. "The healers can help him!"
	"There's not enough time!" Cynder snapped. "There's only one thing we can do right now. For me to do." Cynder looked back at Spyro who was beginning to go into convulsions. She lifted his head in her paws and took a deep breath. "I love you Spyro." She whispered. Then without any more hesitation she opened her jaws and bit down on the wound. Spyro's body jerked sharply as she began to suck. Ember and Flame watched with wide eyes as the spreading green began to shrink back to the wound. Each time Cynder inhaled before sucking again she would let the poison she sucked out fall from her jaws and onto the ground where it hissed and burned into the dirt. 
	After nearly an hour, Cynder released Spyro from her jaws and set his head down to rest.
	"What did you do?" Flame asked. He and Ember stood stunned by the whole scene.
	"I drained the poison from his wound." Cynder panted heavily. "He should be  safe from that for now. But we need to get him back so the healers can close up those punctures wounds." 
	Flame helped lift Spyro's limp body onto Cynder's back before carrying Ember on his own. 
	"Is he going to live?" Ember asked as they hurried back to the city. Cynder glared at her and said nothing. Ember sighed sadly. "Cynder, I didn't know." 
	Cynder sighed and the anger disappeared from her face. "I know. But I expected more." Ember and Flame glanced at each other then back to Cynder. "When we made our deal, we made a trade. You asked me to look after your most precious possession." She turned towards her with tears in her eyes. "And expected you to look after mine." 
	Ember's heart sank as she watched Cynder push forward ahead of Flame. Up ahead they could see the lights of the city burning bright.