The characters get names, the rest of the main cast appears, we get a glimpse of the villain, and there is finally a change in setting. Please, enjoy chapter 3 and know that it will take some time for chapter 4 to be posted.

The Malefor Chronicles Book 1 – The Return of Malefor

Chapter 3 – Nightmares in Dreamscape

The hot air balloon closed in on a castle like structure with dozens of towers and an expansive courtyard out front. Inside the courtyard was a collection of different creatures, ranging from different species of dragon to a fish man. They stopped what they were doing and watched as the balloon flew overhead and flew in the direction of an air dock on the far side of the courtyard. Down on the dock was another creature that was different from the ones in the courtyard, it had light brown fur, with an eyepatch over his left eye and a peg leg on his left side. He was half the boy's height, and one of the few people he was scared of. As the balloon descended towards the air dock, a bell rang in one of the towers and the creatures in the courtyard started going into the main hall. The boy exited the balloon and started to secure it to the dock, the creature came up behind him and said, "So, how did it go?"

"Don't play coy with me Buzz," responded the boy, "I know for a fact you saw the whole thing."

"True," replied Buzz, "but it was quite amusing."

"Yeah, sure," said the boy, "let's laugh at my failures later, for now, I want to know something."

"What is it?" asked Buzz.

"What were those things in the cage?" asked the boy

"The fluff balls? Those things are called Krebolds, they're rare creatures that were almost hunted to extinction, their fur is used for spells and potions." answered Buzz.

Far off in one of the towers was an explosion and a cloud of smoke rose into the sky.

"Speakin' of potions, sounds like the alchemy class is havin' a bit o' trouble." stated Buzz.

"You want me to go deal with that?" asked the boy.

"No, I'll get Gill to work on it, besides, Jet Vac asked you to talk to the rookies." answered Buzz

"Right, thanks for reminding me, I'll go get ready." responded the boy, then he ran past Buzz and into the building.

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Five minutes after entering the building, the boy burst into the room, drawing the attention of everyone inside. He changed out of his old clothes and into a long white robe and a sash with eight different symbols etched into it.

"Sorry - I'm - late," said the boy through struggled gasps, "had - to - change. Give – me – a moment."

He then held up his hand and sliced through the air in a karate chop motion, where his hand passed, a rip appeared in the very fabric of reality. He reached inside and pulled out a water bottle. He opened it, and drank a little, and threw it back inside, closing the rip the same way he opened it.

One of the creatures in the back raised his hand and asked, "What was that?"

"That was a pocket dimension that a use as a portable locker. Is it safe? Well, it used to be, if that's any consolation." answered the boy.

Jet Vac gave a cough of impatience, the boy looked at him with a look that said, hold on, I'm getting to it. Then he walked to the front of the room.

"Hello everyone, my name is Dragonheart, and my friend here is Mary," said the boy as he gestured towards his left shoulder, "say hi Mary."

"Hello everyone." said Mary.

"As you all know, my role here in Skylands is Portal Master and the head master here at Skylanders Academy." said Dragonheart, "Mary, am I forgetting anything? No, good. Now any questions?"

"Why could we hear Mary the first time but not the second?" asked one of the creatures near the front of the room.

"Mary speaks using telepathy and broadcasts her voice to whomever she chooses." answered Dragonheart, "Any other questions?

Dragonheart kept answering question until the bell rang again and the creatures started leaving the room.

"Cynder, can you stay here for a moment?" asked Dragonheart.

"Sure thing." replied Cynder

Cynder was a violet dragon with a spiked neck brace and wristbands. While only an egg, Cynder was stolen by Malefor, the Dark Master, and raised in Darkness to do his evil bidding. She was eventually saved by Spyro and helped him throughout his journeys afterwards.

"Where's Spyro, I didn't see him during class?" asked Dragonheart

"I don't know," replied Cynder, "I haven't seen him since yesterday."

"Well, if you see him, tell him to come find me." said Dragonheart.

"Alright, I'll do that." said Cynder.

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The rest of the day passed without any major events and Dragonheart retired to his room, studying a magically infused map that he could change to show one of the first five out the six major Layers of Reality, which were Earth, Skylands, the Dragon Worlds, and two others that, at this moment, aren't terribly important. The door to Dragonheart's room opened and a purple dragon walked inside carrying a plate of food.

"Spyro, what a surprise." said Dragonheart, "Where's Hugo? He's the one that normally deliver's the food."

"Cynder told me you wanted to speak to me so I came as soon as I could, as for Hugo, I ran into him on my way here so I offered to bring it for him." answered Spyro, "What are you looking at by the way?"

"I'm searching the Layers for any sign of Malefor, he should let off large amounts of Darkness creating the Well of Souls, but I'm not getting anything." Dragonheart responded.

"Then maybe he isn't creating it." said Spyro.

"You know as well as I that after he was banished he created the Well, after that, he enlisted the apes for his army, all the while plotting his revenge, then, years later he attacked the Dragon Sanctuary trying to destroy your egg but instead took Cynder's and made her do his bidding." said Dragonheart, "It's almost curfew, you better leave before you get into some serious trouble."

"'Alright, see you later." said Spyro as he set down the plate, he then turned around and walked out the room.

Dragonheart turned his attention back to his map, gave the Layers a quick scan, and closed it.

"Holster detach." said Dragonheart. The holster containing the gem made a hissing sound and fell into his palm. He turned towards his bedside table, opened a box lined with velvet on the inside, and placed the holster inside. He climbed into his bed and after a few minutes, he fell asleep.

Dragonheart found himself standing a plateau overlooking the Academy. The Academy was in flames and down below in the courtyard, there were bodies laying lifeless on the ground but the air was too thick with smoke to tell who it was. Far off in the distance a malicious laugh was heard and a face of a purple dragon appeared in the smoke. A voice said in a whisper, "Don't trust him."

I'm so sorry this chapter took so long for me to post, almost two weeks in fact. I had a writing assignment in English class that I had to complete, so I couldn't work on the story. Sadly, chapter 4 is also going to take a while to complete, so please stick with me on this. I will tell you that one of the characters introduced in this chapter are not who they seem. Who? That's a secret that will be exposed by the end of the book.