The Legend of Spyro: Age of Heroes Book I

The Legend of Spyro: Age of Heroes Book I is the first book in the Age of Heroes series.

Plot Summary
Following the conclusion of Dawn of the Dragon, Spyro and Cynder make their way to Spyro's family home, where they reunite with Sparx, and Spyro has a dream where Ignitus - now the Chronicler - tells him to travel to the Dragon Temple. Spyro, Cynder and Sparx do so, and find that the Guardians are searching for Dragon colonies - made by survivors of the Dragon-Ape War - in the hope of finding a replacement for Ignitus as Fire Guardian.

In time, contact is made with several such colonies, and two Elders travel to Warfang with their chosen candidates; Flame and Ember. The Guardians promptly schedule a number of banquets for their guests, and organise a masquerade ball for the final night. Cynder becomes worried that Ember will be a rival for Spyro's love, and confronts her the following day about her flirty behaviour. Ember in return notes that Spyro and Cynder aren't mates, so she won't stop trying for him. On the night of the ball, Sparx helps Cynder prepare, before steering Spyro - already struggling with Ember's attempts to win him over - towards her, and the two inadvertently end up dancing an old romantic dance together.

Following the dance, Flame approaches Ember - who he secretly is in love with - and requests they be friends; she agrees. The next day, while flying outside, Ember encounters a strange creature in the forest; a Wyvern. The Wyvern claims to be lost and requests a meeting with Spyro, but swears Ember to secrecy lest his tribe banish him for seeking aid from a dragon. Ember promptly goes to find Spyro, only for Cynder to accuse her of fabricating the story to spend time with Spyro. To prove herself, Ember gives Cynder her heart-shaped pendant; a gift from her deceased mother, and tells her she can keep it if she's lying.

Ember takes Spyro to the Wyvern, who requests Spyro lead him home at night - Wyverns being nocturnal by nature. Spyro agrees, but when he returns, the Wyvern attacks him and Ember, and tries to escape with his unconscious body. However, Cynder witnesses the Wyvern and informs Terrador, who raises the alarm. The Wyvern is soon captured, but before they can kill it it stabs Spyro with its barbed tail; injecting him with poison. Cynder sucks out the poison to save Spyro, and they take him back to the Dragon Temple to recuperate - Ember secretly aiding Spyro's healing by kissing him. Realising that someone sent the Wyvern after Spyro, the Guardians decide to speed up the training of Flame and Ember; initially getting them to study before placing them in sparring matches against Spyro and Cynder.

After several weeks of losing to Spyro, Flame abruptly and uncharacteristically challenges Spyro to a duel. The Guardians intervene, and soon realise that the present alignment of the moons is creating a strange light that affects the emotions of any who become overwhelmed by its light. They promptly order the young dragons to remain inside for their own safety, but Cynder becomes annoyed at not being able to see Spyro and inadvertently becomes "moon-sighted" when resting too close to her room balcony. Overwhelmed by desire, she goes to Spyro and attempts to force herself on him, but he recognises her strange behavior as being caused by the moonlight and tries to stop her. Ember enters and manages to snap Cynder out of it, and she flees in shame. Spyro follows after her to comfort her, and in the process the two confess their love for one another and kiss. Unknown to either of them, Ember witnessed their kiss, and becomes depressed as a result. When she becomes injured in a sparring match, Flame takes her to her room, and she requests he stay with her. He does, and she kisses him.

The next day, a pack of Wyverns attack Warfang, and Spyro, Cynder, Flame and Ember rush to repel them. In the aftermath, Ember apologises to Flame for her actions the night before; causing Flame to break down and flee in grief. When he stops to rest at a mountain range near Warfang, a Drake - a wingless dragon - named Fiona approaches him. After learning his story, she notes her father Maximus could help Flame win Ember, and she takes him to meet him. Maximus tells Flame all he needs to replace Spyro in Ember's mind is power, and offers to teach him a new power. Upon returning to Warfang, Flame goes to spar with Spyro, and manages to best him with an energy beam, which severely injures Spyro. Realising what he's done, he flees back to Maximus, who manipulates him into thinking that Spyro wasn't really hurt; instead he was pretending to lose out of pity for Flame. In response, Flame plans another attack on Spyro, but is repelled by Cynder.

At Warfang, Ember and Spyro both conclude Flame wasn't behaving normally, and Spyro begins coming up with a plan to track Flame. Back at the mountains, Maximus manipulates Flame further and manages to take control of his mind, before sending him with a pack of Wyvern to attack Spyro. During the resulting battle, Spyro and Ember both attempt to break through to Flame, but he flees before they can do so. In the aftermath, Flame returns to the battlefield and captures Cynder in an ambush. Unknown to him, Spyro and Cynder planned for this to happen, and Spyro uses the Vision Pool at the Dragon Temple to find her and Flame's location. Ember inadvertently sees a vision of herself fighting Flame, and requests to be the one to fight him. Before they leave, Ember reveals she has the power to heal others through kisses, and uses this power to bring Spyro back to full strength.

Spyro and Ember soon reach Maximus' caves in the mountains, and they split up. Spyro finds Cynder; who had already escaped from her cell using her Shadow power, but not before learning that Maximus was a former servant of Malefor, who was tasked with tracking down and destroying his rivals in the unlikely event he was defeated. As the two flee approaching Wyverns, they end up encountering Maximus, who they do battle with. At the same time, Ember finds Flame with Fiona, and battles her when she sees her kissing Flame. Ember overpowers Fiona and manages to snap Flame out of it, but Fiona attacks Ember savagely and she begins falling unconscious; confessing she's fallen in love with Flame before she does. In anger, Flame becomes unable to control his powers and turns on Fiona, but Ember slowly recovers when her pendant heals her and manages to release Flame. Fiona attempts one final attack, but Ember kills her as she leaps at Flame, and the two make their escapes.

Elsewhere, Spyro and Cynder fight Maximus, only for the caverns to begin collapsing as a result of all the fighting. Spyro and Maximus fall into a lower cavern, but Cynder comes to his aid, and they kill Maximus when he attempts to pursue them out of the cave. Spyro and Cynder then flee the collapsing caverns through a hole made by one of Flame's attacks, and reunite with Flame and Ember. In the aftermath, Ember meets with Flame, and the two properly decide to become a couple.

A month later, Flame is selected to become the new Fire Guardian - Ember having recommended he get the position over her - but Ember is appointed his "Advisor". As the two leave so that Flame can formally announce this position to the inhabitants of various settlements, the Guardians reveal to Spyro and Cynder that they are planning to step down, and are now seeking replacements for their own positions.

Appearances

 * List of characters in Age of Heroes Book I