The five groups that had passed the day before were gathering in a starting line. Between them I saw Flame and Ember talking.

"Jhonny!" I heard a scream, Edel was calling me, she was with Thorr and Ray.

I quickly met with them; it was almost time to start the second test.

"You finally arrive!" Ray said "Let's get started."

"What matters is that we are all together," said Edel.

"Then let's do our best," Thorr said.

"Good luck guys" Spyro said goodbye, "Cynder and I will go directly to the temple by another way. We will wait for you there".

"Thanks, Spyro, we'll see you" I said. Spyro met Cynder, who was calling out to him and Sparx from a corner. Ember was already getting ahead of the temple.

"Here comes the referee," Ray said. We all turn.

A mole with very funny glasses walked towards all the participants. He led us to the exit of the city, which was decorated like an athletics competition: flags, a large exit sign and a large map indicating the route to follow.

We got into position for the starting line. To the side, I could see Flame and her team out of all the remaining teams. The referee began to speak:

"Well, to the five groups that still remain, welcome to the second test: flight. In this test, it was already indicated to you yesterday, the teams must fly south, towards an island called Milano, they will recognize it because it is decorated as a stopping point for our people. In it, they will receive a flag to be taken to the temple, in a northeast direction. For more information, look at the map".

We all struggled to memorize the route: it was heading straight south past the beach, across the sea, and onto the island. Then, following a northeast direction, we will go to the temple reaching the enchanted forest and finally to the temple.

"The objective of this test is not speed, but teamwork as in the previous one. In this way, only two teams will remain. But all the members of their team have to arrive. Otherwise, they will not pass the test. Now get into the starting position"

They all got into the position of a stalking lion, so I tried to adopt the same position. I was quite nervous.

"Ready, set, Go!"

All the teams took off: it was fabulous to fly again, since I learned that, I had completely lost my fear and it had become my favorite activity. However, it was not the time to have fun doing pirouettes in the air, we were in a competition.

Edel, Thorr and Ray were going a bit faster than me, probably because they learned long before me, Flame and Ember's team was almost ahead of us, while the teams were lagging a bit behind. We were beginning to reach an ocean.

"After all, I don't fly that bad" I thought.

We held those positions for almost twenty minutes, which was difficult for me: Terrador had told me that flying was something that was born from the heart, by instinct of the wings, but I was in a competition, how could I give more strength to my flight without give it a free will? In addition, the winds from the sea were not facilitating navigation.

"Uff, this is a bit difficult" I thought.

"Easy, Jhonny" Edel had been delayed a bit on purpose, "it seems that you are not used to going at high speeds, my father told me."

"I'm sorry" I said, "but I've never flown in a race, not even against this wind."

"Don't worry, just think that your instinct wants to fly faster, let your wings feel the freshness of the air and feel the speed."

I closed the eyes. I had confidence in Edel, when I was with him, I felt like a real dragon: I could fly, cross the sky, the wind was my friend ...

"Wow, thank goodness you caught up with us," said Thorr's voice, "I thought we'd have to wait for you"

I opened my eyes again: Thorr and Ray were with me and Edel. But they had not delayed their flight, we were the ones who had gone faster. I was happy with my achievement.

"Well done Jhonny" said Edel, "You learn fast."

"Well" I replied, "you are a great teacher."

She blushed. But we didn't have time to talk anymore, because at that moment Thorr yelled:

"It is over there! That's the island! Quick, before Flame and his team take their flag. "

We had arrived: an island very similar to a tropical one, with a sign in the sand saying: "Milano's Island", and several moles holding flags of different colors. Beside us, Flame's team was preparing the descent.

"Come on!" said. I was getting excited about the competition.

(Meanwhile...)

The teams had already left Warfang, Spyro and Cynder watched until the last one had disappeared from the sky, they waited at least a while, calculating the time needed to meet the teams.

"Come on Spyro," Cynder said, finally, "we must wait for them in the temple."

They took the flight in the direction of the dragon temple. Halfway through, Spyro asked Cynder:

"What were you and Jhonny talking about that day?"

"Just a couple of combat tips," Cynder replied, "I'm amazed at how quickly he learned to fight and fly. Do you think him stays? "

"That is what I asked him, he told me that he liked being here, but it seems that it feels the same as I did before."

"How?"

"He feels nervous about doing something, he thinks he doesn't have what it takes to face it, and he wanted to hide from others in his world for fear of being a failure"

"But you didn't hide from the world ..."

"No, but I thought I wasn't able to carry that much burden with me when I learned to be a dragon, I didn't think I was able to help and save you all. But everything changed thanks to Ignitus, Terrador, Cyril, Volteer, Sparx and... you "

Cynder felt good hearing that.

"In the same way, thanks to all of you who forgave me for my past actions. That's what Jhonny needs: new friends and a fresh start. And now he has us and his team. Also, it seems that it is closely related to Edel "

"Yes, Jhonny told me that you and I are also a good couple, he told me the day we went to LunaVillage "

"Seriously? It seems like he's so good on the inside, I'd hate to think he'd have to go ... "

"Well, I just hope..." Spyro stopped, and then yelled, "Watch out!"

A gargoyle had streaked through the sky, nearly hitting them. But the biggest problem was that it was followed by at least two dozen of them. On each one was something bipedal shaped.

"Apes?!" Cynder said, "But I thought they were all dead!"

"Me too," Spyro backed her up.

One of the Apes, in shiny black armor and a helmet of the same material, apparently the leader, spoke:

"Hahaha, not all of us die a traitor, we are the few who remain."

"Don't call her that!" Spyro yelled, "She was being controlled by your master! She was never with you! "

"Maybe yes, maybe no, what matters now is that the moment of revenge has arrived, and we need them both for our plans."

"What are you planning?" asked Cynder, "Who are you?"

"I see you don't remember me; I'll refresh your memory... My name is Simian. Earlier, in what was your castle, you ordered your guards to stop the purple dragon, but we failed. When the master returned, we became strange bodies without bodies, but then we returned to normality".

"When we defeated Malefor, his curse was removed" Spyro thought.

"Now enough words, come both of you or we'll bring you in," Simian threatened.

"Never!" Spyro yelled, and attacked Simian with a wave of fire.

The ape gave no sign of protecting itself, and received the direct attack. However, nothing happened to him: apparently his armor was made of an extremely resistant material. Spyro tried a ground hook, to no avail. Electricity, ice, nothing seemed to penetrate his armor.

Cynder tried too: poison, shadow, wind, fear; nothing, absolutely nothing was working. The ape began to laugh.

"Hahaha, you only waste energy, this new armor was forged with fragments of dark crystal from the master's mountain and the strongest steel from the forging of ammunition. And I think they will remember this" He drew a long, sinister-looking sword.

"That is ... Galu's sword ?!" Spyro said stunned, "it's supposed to have disintegrated."

"Yes, in powder, which we used together with the steel and dark crystals to restore it to its original power, the grublins kept it in case it was useful to them" said this, he shook it and a great wave of dark force spread, hitting two dragons with thundering force".

(Jhonny's Pov)

We had left the island a long time ago, Ray offered to carry our flag (blue) tied on his back, and we had devised a faster way to get there: As the wind from the opposite direction was slowing us down, I looked up at the sky above, then the idea occurred to me, although I would usually be terrified to think so.

"I think if we fly above those clouds, we won't have a headwind to stop us, so we will fly more freely and faster."

"Sounds like a good plan, what do they say team?" Edel said, looking up.

"Let's do it," Thorr and Ray said. We do not all lead to the highest.

Apparently, I had much stronger lungs now; otherwise I would surely suffer from soroche or something like that. When we got to the top, we were above the clouds, I could notice a calm sun and sky, the opposite wind seemed to stop, now we were the owners of the sky.

"Looks like we'll get there in just a few minutes," Thorr said.

"Yes, it seems so ..." Suddenly, I felt a feeling of fear and cold, "Brrrr, what was that?"

We all stopped and started shaking, even Edel.

"It looked like a wave of dark energy" said Edel, "my father told me about them, they are icy even for ice dragons."

"But where did it come from?" Ray asked, still shaking.

"From down there," Thorr pointed out, looking out from under the clouds, toward the forest. The rest of us also look. There were some orange and green glows, "Let's see."

We went downhill. As we passed through the clouds, we saw an army of apes mounted on gargoyles surrounding and attacking two colored creatures ...

"They are Spyro and Cynder!" I screamed, and we hurried.

The next thing I remembered was a bit confusing: I was fighting in the air, throwing fire at the gargoyles, to make the riders fall, I managed to knock down 3. On one side I could see Edel fighting 5 at the same time, trying to reach with Spyro and Cynder, who dodged with difficulty the attacks of an ape with black armor and a huge sword. Ray was fighting at least 6 opponents, while Thorr had defeated 2 and encountered 4 more.

The battle was difficult, because it was to stay in the air with your instincts and fight with 3 or 5 at the same time. However, I didn't have the time to think about it anymore, as we were all hit by the same dark energy that we felt before.

At least I had gotten far enough away not to get knocked out, but Spyro and Cynder were out of luck: I got to see them go down, and a couple of apes going after them. I swooped down and used the fire comet to hit one of the apes and hold both of them for a moment. It seemed to have succeeded, but the next thing I felt was a heavy blow and my mind went dark and unconscious.