Spike didn't know how long he, Spyro, Sparx and his mother Cynder were frozen, after that last moment in the Well of Soul's together, Spike and Spyro used the last of they're power to freeze themselves in a crystal to save they're lives as the mountain collapsed on top of themselves. He felt like a long had passed since they last opened they're eyes, he felt his age grow a few years older somehow, the powers in him felt stronger, and he felt the many days and nights go by. But if this meant one thing, is that he's gone what could be years without seeing Twilight and the others again, all because of a situation that they had to get out of, and this was the only way.

But no matter how long Spike remains in this world, he swears he will stop the Dark Master from destroying this world, and Equestria when they're strong enough, and with his mother, and friends besides him, there is the smallest light of hope, even in the darkness.

We open to a shot of the sky's where a eagle was seen flying over what looks like to be the ruins of the Mountain of Malefor, it was in ruins at this point, barely anything of it remained when Spyro and Spike made they're way through it so long ago, and as the eagle flew closer to it, a familiar voice could be heard giving a speech of hope.

"Even in the darkest of times, there is always hope. But sometimes fear clouds our vision, Sometimes our strength can die out. And yet sometimes when all seems lost, there is a light, shinning through the darkness.." The voice said with a hopeful tone as the eagle fly's across the large mountain as the sun rises over the horizon.

"And we are reminded that even the smallest amount of courage.. can turn the tides of war." The voice finished as the camera zooms over the large mountain..

However, deep within the mountain, there was a group of new creatures that were searching through it, they weren't apes, they were something much more dangerous. They were looking through the cave to find where the Purple dragon, Cynder, and her child would be.
"We're here." One of the creatures said to the others as they were marching into the ruins of the old temple.

They've spent a long time trying to find them, and soon enough, they were all coming upon a golden crystal deep within the cave, where the three dragons were frozen in time still, not knowing of a hooded figure that was following them within the shadows.
"Break it!" The leader ordered which made one of the smaller creatures run up to it, and with a raise of it's weapon, it smashed it's weapon against the crystal which sent a surge of power through the area where they started to hear some voices talking.

"Spyro, son! Stop!" Cynder begged from the crystal as the last moment they were awake could be heard by them all.

"I can't..." Spyro said weakly as some cry's of pain could be heard.

"Mom.. the power.. it's.. too much!" Spike said with pain as the power lets them hear the last moment they had together.

"Get close to us, now!" Spyro ordered one last time as the crystal was starting to crack open.

"I'm sorry Twilight.. I'm gonna be gone for a while.. but I promise one day.. I'll see you again.." Spike said with regret as the crystal was finally shattered, and the power that contained the three dragons was broken.

Spike, Spyro, Sparx and Cynder fell to the ground while still being unconscious, the leader looked over the three dragons and knew what they had to do now.
"Shackle them!" The leader ordered again which made one of the creatures present a special looking case, and when the leader opened it, 3 strange crystal like snakes were seen within it, the small ones went up to the three dragons necks, and they placed the snakes around it which created a magical looking chain that seemed like it wouldn't break unless it's creator wanted it too. And with that, the three dragons were dragged off with the creatures into the unknown, as Sparx was left behind. But the hooded figure had finally caught up with these creatures and went to inspect the remains of where they were frozen, and soon enough, he found Sparx on the floor where he was finally starting to wake up, and his light was able to help him see just a small bit of the figure's face..

Spike groaned weakly as he finally felt himself waking up after who knows how long, his body felt like it was in waking up after being frozen for a while, he felt different somehow in some ways, and that may be a result of him growing used to his powers and body by now, but it may be something far different.
"Spike, Spike are you alright?" A familiar voice asked which made Spike finally open his eyes, and he saw his mother, Cynder, looking over him with worry.

"M.. Mom?" Spike asked with surprise as he was finally standing up, she looked a bit different then when he last saw her, and so did Spyro as he turned to them, they looked.. older somehow...

"It's me son, are you okay?" Cynder asked while Spike looked at his body, and he noticed something incredibly important.. he was older.. and he was even taller then he last saw himself, easily making it past 5'7 somehow, how this is possible is beyond him, but Spike was trying to get used to his taller body as he was waking up.

"I'm.. fine mom.. but.. what happened to us? Why do we look.. older?" Spike asked while he stretched his arms to get himself up.

"I honestly don't know that myself, but there's something more important we should be focusing on now?" Cynder asked which made him remember what happened back within the mountain.

"Right.. we need to get out of here, we need to see if the others are alright!" Spike declared as they heard Spyro groaning a bit as he was waking up finally.

"Spyro, Spyro can you hear us? Wake up please!" Spike begged as he was opening his eyes finally, and held his head from what he was seeing.

"Spike? Cynder? What happened? Where are we?" Spyro asked with surprise while they looked around the large place.

"I don't know, it's all a blur..." Cynder replied while Spike tried getting a hang on his new body, he looked around.. 15 by now from the looks of it, but how that's possible when he was frozen in time is something that has to be answered later.

"Hold on.. do you guys hear something?" Spike asked as he heard some loud sounds in the distance.

"You hear that too? I thought that was just my head pounding?" Spyro asked while they looked around together.

"No.. Spike's right.. I hear it too.." Cynder replied just as they saw torches light up through the darkness, and to they're surprise, they found new creatures they've never seen before watching over them in bleachers, they all looked like they were waiting for a fight, and that already was concerning to the three dragons.

"What are those things mom? I don't think they're apes?" Spike asked with worry which Cynder couldn't answer.

"I don't know son, but I have a bad feeling about them already." Cynder said with a growl while Spyro noticed they were waiting for something.

"What do you think they're waiting for?" Spike asked which they didn't wanna find out.

"Let's not stick around to find out, come on!" Spyro advised as they tried getting off the platform they were on, but some strange magic was pulling them back into place while they noticed a strange chain was around each of they're necks, shackling them together.

"Oh.. this can't be good..." The trio all said at once as they saw there was fire from far below the ground which lit up the room in a hellish orange.

They all looked at one of the larger ones in the distance who noticed that they were finally awake.
"They're awake! Don't let them escape!" He ordered which sent some of the smaller creatures after them, they climbed up the walls like spiders and soon made it to the ring they were on, and they had no choice but to fight them off.

"Looks like there's only one way out of this!" Spike said with an angry look as one of them charged at him, but Spike used his skills to quickly roll out of the way before he smashed it to the ground with a strong punch, he saw another one coming at him and he quickly turned around and gave an upper cut to it's face. Cynder followed this up by jumping in the air, and she began to violently claw at it's face before she threw it down, and Spyro finished it off by charging at it, and he slammed his horns into it which sent it into a group of these creatures, and they were all knocked off the platform and fell into the lava far below as a result.

More of them appeared from below the ground and tried to get them from behind in a surprise attack, but Spike quickly grabbed one of they're legs and he began slamming it down and repeatedly tossed it to the side over and over, Cynder used her blade tail to slash down more of them as they were corning her, and Spyro jumped in the air to deliver a ground smash against the creatures as more and more of them kept on coming.

But as they were all fighting, the ground began to shake violently, and they saw some of the columns were starting to be knocked over, and they fell to the walls and shattered as something was moving below the ground.
"Guys, do you feel that or is it just me?" Spike asked with worry as the ground was shaking even worse.

But to answer that question, a huge.. monstrous hand made of lava and ash began to rise from the ground, it grabbed onto the platform it was on, followed by another hand as a monster unlike anything they've seen before rose to them. It was a monster made of fire and lava, it was as tall as Torch was when Spike last saw him, it was huge, imposing, and was very mad with seeing them trying to escape.
"Look out!" Spike screamed with fear as it raised it's hand and tried to smash them all at once, but they rolled out of the way in one direction together to avoid being pulled back.

But this chain of theirs was limiting they're movements, and it was hard to do anything to try and fight this creature.
"Guys, we need to remove this thing, it's holding us down, come on!" Cynder shouted as she went over to the seal holding them down, and they tried using they're combined strength together to lift it off the ground. And just before the monster could attack them again, they finally managed to break the seal holding them down, which allowed them to move freely, while still being chained to eachother.

The monster roared at all three of them with pure fury and raised it's fist again to try and crush them, but they all quickly flew out of the way to avoid being hit, and Spike soon saw some strange dark crystals on it's hands, which looked to be it's weak point.
"Guys, go for the crystals! I think that's it's weak point!" Spike shouted while he flew down to the monster and tried using his strength to break the crystal, the monster roared with fury as he saw Spike attacking it's hand, and it soon raised it in the air again and tried smashing him down.

"Son, get out of there!" Cynder shouted as Spike was flipping his way away from the attacks, but when Spike got too far away from them, the chain they were shackled too used it's magic to pull Spike back to them, which made this situation harder for them to handle because of it.

"This thing is slowing us down, we can't fight it! We need to move in unison, follow my lead you two!" Spyro ordered which Cynder questioned why.

"Why should you lead?" Cynder asked just before they heard the monster roar at them again.

"Uh oh, take cover!" Spyro shouted as they all ran off the ledge together and took into the air with they're wings helping them fly.

"Okay, good idea, you lead." Cynder declared which Spike was glad to agree too.

"Just tell us what we need to do!" Spike said as they were looking at a huge monster that they haven't dealt with before right now.

The three of them tried flying away from the things large arms, but in the distance, a new figure from the shadows emerged, it aimed an arrow at the large monster and shot at the thing directly to the eye, and the creature wasn't fast enough to react, and it was hit directly in the eye, which made it scream in pain as some dark magic was pouring out of it, and it soon sunk back into the lava below them.
"Whoa.." Spike said with awe as that figure took the thing down easily.

As the figure saw the three dragons finally awake, a familiar dragonfly flew up to them, and he was relieved to see they were alright.
"Hey, Spyro, Spike! Guys, your alive!" Sparx greeted as his voice was much deeper then before.

"Sparx! Your alright!" Spike said with relief as he came up to them with a smile.

"It's good to see you too Sparx, you alright?" Spyro asked while he was coughing a bit.

"Yeah, a little stiffy, my voice keeps changing a bit, but I'm good!" Sparx replied which made Spike glad to know he didn't notice it too.

"Hey, while this reunion is touching and all, shouldn't we go before that things comes back? Unless you want it too, I hate to think what it might do to Sparx." Cynder reminded which was a good idea.

"Who is that guy?" Spyro asked as the figure looked like a cheetah of sorts, some kind of hunter.

"I don't know, all he did was, shh, your making too much noise." Sparx mimicked which Cynder chuckled at.

"I like him already." Cynder said jokingly which Spike laughed at.

"Come on guys, let's just get out of here, this place gives me the creeps." Spike advised as the place was different then the other places they've been too before, it looked recently made, yet ancient at the same time. This world truly has ancient places which puts Equestria to shame at times.

After that conclusion, the three dragons and Sparx quickly flew over to the cheetah who was waiting for them, while Spike was trying to get used to his new body right now as it was far taller then before, with the experience he's had with being a black dragon by now thanks to Cynder's corruption, there wasn't anything too different from what he notices.

The three of them made they're way up to the figure who was concerned for they're safety.
"Spyro, Spike, Cynder, are you alright? Anything broken?" The figure asked which already told them he was a friend of sorts.

"Shaken a little, but not too badly, thanks to you." Spyro thanked which they all agreed with.

"Yeah, you really helped us back there, thanks a ton for that sir." Spike said gratefully which relieved the figure.

"I am relieved, I fear I may have been too late, my name is Hunter." Hunter introduced, and that's when Spike remembered the letter they got back on that pirate ship, and he let them know they were not alone and they have allies.

"Hunter, you were the guy who sent us the letter back on the pirate ship right?" Spike asked which Hunter was glad to know that he remembered this.

"Yes, I have been tracking you for some time now, for far too long. When you, Cynder and Spyro didn't return to the temple, the elder Dragon Ignitus, sent me to find you. That was nearly 3 years ago." Hunter revealed which made the group gasp in shock from hearing this.

"Wait.. we were out for 3 years?! No wonder we look so much older..." Spike said with surprise as his larger body makes more sense now, but it also meant that he's been in this world for 3 years too, which meant he's been away from Twilight for far longer then he thought he would...

"We were frozen for 3 years?! But.. that's impossible!" Spyro said with surprise which means something very bad must've happened while they were frozen.

"Yes, I know this may come as a bit of a shock. Forgive me for the brevity of my explanation, but this is not the place to account for missing time. " Hunter advised just as the ground shook even more, and the path behind them was blocked off with more rubble which meant this place was coming down in some areas.

"We are not safe here, follow me." Hunter encouraged while he started moving ahead which had the group follow behind.

Spike was still in shock that they were frozen for 3 years, it not only meant that so much times past since they last saw the other guardians, but also that it means something awful must've been happening as they weren't there to stop it.

The ground began to shake a bit more and Hunter already knew that the creature had recovered, and they had to escape fast.
"It's getting closer, we need to move." Hunter instructed as he was hopping across a large set of columns which was a path for them to glide over.

"I still can't believe we've been out for three years, it makes sense why we look older, but at the same time.. it means that so much has changed since we last saw the others.." Spike said with worry which Cynder was able to figure out.

"Your worried about what's happened back in your home world, aren't you Spike?" Cynder asked which seemed pretty obvious by now.

"How could I not be, with those visions I've had back before we left the temple, I.. think my friends were attacked again so the Dark Master could.. get a replacement for you.. do you.. think that happened recently? Or.. not too long after we were frozen?" Spike asked with worry which they didn't know how to answer.

"I don't know, but if it's been just as bad as the nightmares I've had, it could've already passed.. but we won't know by staying here, we need to get out of here and find out." Spyro instructed which the group understood.

"Yeah, come on guys, I'm ready to get out of here now." Sparx said as he was flying ahead of them to catch up with Hunter.

"Let's go Spike, we'll get answers soon, count on that." Cynder assured while they were gliding through the path that was open for them.

But as they were making they're way to the last one, the ground began to shake even more, and they heard a familiar roar which got all of them on they're guard. Hunter quickly rolled into the room just ahead of them as a large hand emerged from the ground again, and they saw the large monster from before had come back for them. It roared at them all with fury and grabbed onto the column they were on and started to rip it off the ground.
"Hang on guys!" Spike screamed while he latched onto the ground with Spyro and Cynder, the monster raised it's fist to the entrance to the other room and soon smashed the column they were on through it, and they were sent into the room without any injuries, and they could only hear the monster roar at them again before it disappeared again.

"Man, that thing is relentless." Spike thought with worry as he and the others were getting up.

The group managed to meet up with Hunter again, and Spyro soon saw one of the crystals that could restore they're powers was nearby.
"Hunter, give us a moment to gather our strength please." Spyro asked while he stood away from them a bit.

"You might wanna stand back, this can get weird." Sparx advised while Hunter was interested with this.

"It is fascinating.. how your kind draws power from these crystals, Dragons are truly remarkable." Hunter complimented which Sparx scoffed at.

"Yeah, you say that now, until one tries to kill you, and by one, I mean.. her." Sparx said while he glared at Cynder again which made Spike upset.

"Get over it Sparx, that was 3 years by now, you need to let some things go." Spike insisted while crossing his arms.

"I am well aware of Cynder's past, and how Spike is her own son, but Ignitus trusts her, and that's good enough for me." Hunter replied which made Cynder smirk at Sparx a bit.

"Alright.. let's see what happens here.." Spike said calmly as the three of them placed they're claws on the crystal.

But as they all put they're claws on the crystal, it began to glow very brightly, and they soon saw a vision of what looked like to be the Chronicler who was trying to send them a message.
"Spyro, as a rare purple dragon, you can wield many ability's other cannot, now it is time to awaken these powers within you: Fire, Electricity, Ice, and Earth." The Chronicler said in a wise tone as Spyro felt his powers coming back to him.

"Cynder, while most other dragons can master only 1 element, your exposure to the darkness have granted you ability's most uncommon: Poison, Fear, Wind, and Shadow." The Chronicler reminded while she felt her powers coming back too.

"Spike, while you may be Cynder's child, your connection to Spyro grants you not just Cynder's ability's, but Spyro's as well, making you have the potential to be stronger then you ever thought possible. You three are this worlds only hope to stopping the Dark Master, please use these powers to stop him, and bring peace to this land once more.." The Chronicler finished before he faded away, and Spike felt his powers return to him too.

"To think I can use the powers you can.. it's.. crazy that this is all happening still.. I still can't believe it's been 3 years since we last saw the others.." Spike said with guilt for having been gone for so many years.

"I know it's a lot for you son, it's a lot for us all, but we need to get out of here to get answers. We should be nearing the exit of his place, right Hunter?" Cynder asked while she turned back to him.

"There is a waterfall just up ahead of us, there will be one more gate we need to open before we can escape, that's when we can finally escape." Hunter explained as he was moving ahead to show them the path.

"You heard him guys, let's move." Spyro advised while he was moving forward again, and the others followed suit, glad that they at least can use they're powers again.

After they got they're powers back, the three of them followed Hunter through this place which was called the Catacombs, it was a massive underground cave with ancient structures that could be seen for miles, while they were in a cave underground, it was so massive, it was hard to see how it was built in it's time.

Spike and the others were still trying to get used to the shackle around they're necks, it prevented them from moving at least 10 feet away from eachother, and it meant they were basically stuck together until they find a way to remove it, or destroy it.

The three of them followed Hunter through the Catacombs as he made his way to a really large waterfall which showed a small bit of sunlight near the top of it.
"There, that light, we're almost out of here!" Hunter instructed while he was hopping across more platforms that went higher the more it went on.

The three of them had to stay close together since they were shackled, but with they're ability to fly, they were able to get a hang on moving around even when chained together, at least this meant they wouldn't be separated again, but it also meant that it wouldn't go away until they stop this threat.

But as the group was making they're way through over the waterfall, climbing across some vines that helped them get higher, the ground began to shake even more, and they heard the roar of that large monster once again which meant it was coming back.
"Oh you gotta be kidding me!" Spike said with annoyance as the thing rose from the ground again, and turned it's attention to them all as they were on the water fall.

The monster raised it's fist at them and tried smashing at them again, it destroyed some of the previous paths they were on before, which meant they had to act fast.
"Look out!" Spyro screamed as the thing raised it's fist and tried smashing them against the waterfall, but that was a fatal mistake on it's part, and it was soon latched onto the wall and couldn't escape.

Due to the water weakening it's arm, it had no choice but to completely break it's own arm off, it screamed with pain as it fell deeper into the ground again, which gave them more time to escape. But they all noticed the dark crystals that was on it's arm, and they felt a strange power coming from it.
"What is that? I've never seen anything like it before?" Spyro asked while he inspected it closer.

"Spyro, Spike, be careful!" Cynder warned as she felt a familiar power coming from it.

"It isn't natural, that crystal radiates dark magic, destroy it quickly!" Hunter instructed which made Spike summon his scythe as soon as he heard it.

"Stand back guys!" Spike shouted as he raised his weapon in the air, and he soon smashed the crystals on it's arm, and with a strong enough smash, the arm was completely destroyed, which opened they're path forward again.

"Guess that things gonna need to go on without an arm now huh guys?" Sparx joked which made Spike roll his eyes.

"You say that as a joke now, but when it happens to you, it isn't as funny anymore." Spike replied before he, Spyro and Cynder kept on moving ahead with Hunter leading them out of here.

They kept on following Hunter as they were making they're way near the exit finally, they could see the way out of here as the light was shinning through the cracks, it's been so long since he's seen the light of the outside, after being trapped in a crystal for 3 years, this was a sight he had to appreciate.
"Here, this gate is our only way out, but it appears to have some strange locking mechanism..." Hunter explained as they saw a strange device that looked like a horn.

"Hold on a minute.. son, you remember how to use your wind powers right?" Cynder asked which was easy to answer.

"Of course I do, we literally just got them back not too long ago." Spike reminded while Cynder walked up to the horn and had an idea on what to do.

"Just follow my lead son, Spyro keep an eye out for any more of those creatures, we need to get out of here fast." Cynder instructed while Spike switched to his Wind powers, and he and Cynder took a deep breath before they blew a large stream of wind into the horn.

It made a loud sound as the wind was pushing through it, and it soon landed on the door which began to slowly open. But as they were opening the door even more, the ground began to shake even more violently, and suddenly, they heard a loud, ear piercing roar of rage which didn't come from that lava monster, and Hunter's eyes widened with fear as he heard that roar.

"Oh no.. not her..." Hunter said with fear as they could see a shadow of what looked like a very.. very large dragon flying to them from within the caves, it's body was encased with black armor with the dark crystals from before powering it, even it's scales were pitch black with what little they see of it, almost like how Spike and Spyro were in they're Dark Forms, it had pure white eyes and sharp white horns around it's body, it looked like a nightmare version of what Cynder used to be, and it roared at them all as it was flying even closer.

Everyone was terrified of what they were seeing, and they already saw she was not friendly in the slightest.
"Hunter.. who's that?!" Spyro asked with fear while Spike and Cynder tried opening the door even more.

"It doesn't matter, we need to get out of here now! Or we'll never get out of here with her here! Open the door quickly!" Hunter screamed as the dragon was flying even closer to them.

"Come open the door! Open, open open!" Sparx repeated as Spike felt his heart racing the closer the dragon got to them.

After they blew into the horn for a few more seconds, the door finally opened for them to escape.

"Come on, we need to go now!" Hunter shouted as he was running past them, and the group tried following behind him quickly.

Spike looked back at the large dragon who was chasing them with fear, it was only a few feet away from catching them, but as Spike and the others made it through the door, they were barely able to escape it's large sharp maw from biting at them, the dragons body was too large to make it through the door, and she could only deliver one last roar at them before she smashed the wall with frustration, and she flew off as the path behind them finally collapsed, and they were finally able to escape for now.

Spike breathed heavily as he felt his heart pounding at his chest, that dragon looked so much like how Cynder used to look, only far worse with the armor she had on it, and the crystals giving her power, and something told Spike that this was ted into his visions that he's had before they left the temple..
"Hunter.. who.. who was that? Why did she look like Cynder?" Spike asked with fear while Hunter sighed in relief knowing they escaped her for now.

"Someone that would make Cynder when she was corrupted look like a prelude to the terror she could bring. She's been a huge problem for us for 3 years, and she made me trying to find you extremely difficult, I can't tell you how many times I came close to death when she saw me and chased me through a tough spot.." Hunter explained as he showed them some scars he got from her, and they were really large and still looked recent.

"But.. then this means the Dark Master is found someone to replace Cynder right? Why would he want another dragon to use?" Spyro asked with concern while Cynder was worried about what this means.

"I'll explain when we're safe, come on, we'll follow the river, and it'll lead us to shelter where we can rest. Then we're off to Warfang, the Dragon City, where Ignitus will be inspecting us." Hunter instructed while he was moving to the exit.

"At least this means we're finally free.." Spike said with relief as they were moving ahead, but there was something wrong with that dragon they saw, and if Spike's visions really did come to pass.. then the Dark Master may have captured another dragon from his home... making her suffer through pain.. that could've been just as bad, if not worse then Cynder's..

Author's Note

Hey guys thanks for reading this! So starts of Dawn of the Dragon, I have a few ideas that will tie the show into this game that will make this story stand out, I've foreshadowed Spike's visions before in the Eternal Night, but now they'll come into play with this game to make it stand apart, and I hope you guys don't mind this change I'm adding into the game to make it stand apart, I'll also explain why Spike is taller in a later chapter, but I'll make sure it makes sense for the story, and doesn't feel forced, and I hope that's okay with you guys.

Most of you know by now that my old computer is busted, and it could've been due to the patch that ruined so many monitors nationwide which put it on the Blue Screen of Death, and I can't find a way to fix it. So I'm using my laptop to write this story by now, which means I have to be a bit more careful with my usage of it, but I think i'll be able to keep updating this story till it's done. I'll keep an update schedule on my other story's too until I get my next monitor, but until then, I'm gonna try and keep a focus on this story specifically, so I hope you don't mind it. I just hope you liked this chapter, and look forward to more!