Mirage had been avoiding everyone after the event in the training arena. The young black dragon had left Warfang and was sitting in the peace of nature at a nearby forest.

He was gazing up to the sky, thinking back on what he had done. The thoughts left him feeling uncomfortable and ashamed, but a little fascinated as well.

The amount of energy he had managed to build up in the form of elemental magic was enormous for someone his age. The attack had drained him, but not as much as he would have thought.

He lifted a paw up and formed shadowy wisps around it. He had no reasoning for it; he just wanted to observe the energy he possessed. His element felt powerful, warm and familiar. In his mind's eye, he saw dozens of scenarios of him using it, which might have happened before.

Then he saw the dragoness from his dream, trying to reach out to him. His eyes widened, even when they were out of focus. In this imaginary moment, he felt very much drawn to the dragoness and tried to approach her. But no matter how much he walked, he never got any closer.

All of a sudden, a figure appeared behind the dragoness and he saw the fearful expression that crept onto her face.

Malicious orange eyes glimmered in the darkness behind her, but they weren't glaring at her—they were focused on him. Mirage couldn't make out any other features of the figure, but his eyes gave away an evil smirk.

Without warning, the glowing eyes narrowed and large claw-shaped shadows grasped the helpless dragoness. She screamed out Mirage's name before she was completely engulfed by the shadowy claws.

Mirage jolted so hard that he fell onto his back from his previous sitting position. He felt cold sweat all over his body. His heartbeat had picked up its pace, just like his breathing.

He closed his eyes and drew in a few long breaths, calming himself. He replayed the vision in his head, trying to focus on every small detail. The unknown dragoness had to have been a friend of his before he'd lost his memory. Or maybe more than that; in the vision, she'd felt very close to him.

Why can't I remember…?

He had to find out who the dragoness was. Maybe that would be the first step towards getting his memory back. He decided that he should probably check out the birth records in the archives of Warfang's library.

Mirage didn't at all fancy the idea of going back to the city—not yet, at least. He knew for certain that he would have to answer a lot of questions and explain his actions to the Guardians. On top of that, he would probably be drawing a lot of attention from the citizens who had witnessed the event.

In the end, there was nothing else for him to do. He couldn't just keep avoiding the inevitable, even if he very much wanted to. Groaning, he got up and spread his wings. Taking flight, he began his trip back to Warfang at a sluggish pace.

I suppose I should pay a visit to the Guardians first. What a chat that will be…


Spyro and Cynder had been busy helping a bunch of moles to clean up some of the rubble left around the arena, until Sparx had insisted they should actually do something relaxing instead of constantly helping.

Later on, the trio found themselves in the beautiful gardens of Warfang. It was almost completely surrounded by hedges, which were neatly cut into shape. Obviously the moles who kept the gardens in good shape had gone to a lot of trouble. They had gone as far as cutting a mole-shaped bush in the center of the garden. Pretty pink cherry trees were scattered around a medium-sized pond, which was to the side of the garden. The pond was big enough to fit a few fully grown dragons in it, but it was too shallow for them to actually swim there. The sunshine reflected brightly from its surface.

The atmosphere there was calming and relaxing, which was amplified by the warm sunshine. The air was warm, but a gentle breeze slightly cooled the air. It was nearly cloudless, meaning it would be a pretty day to stay outdoors.

Spyro was lying under a large tree nearby the pond, Cynder by his side, which had made Sparx pull a disgusted face for a while. Eventually, though, they had all settled down and were discussing all sorts of things that passed their minds. A certain topic stood out from the rest.

"How do you think Mom and Dad are doing?" Sparx asked.

The unexpected question caught Spyro a bit off guard. He didn't have a reply ready, because he hadn't been thinking of his home or parents for a long time. He had been too caught up with everything that had happened since he'd left home.

"I don't know. They probably miss us a lot," he eventually replied in a distant tone.

Cynder eyed Spyro, noticing his thoughtful expression. During the war, they'd had a brief conversation about where Spyro's home was. She remembered vividly how he had told her that he had been raised by dragonflies, which had sounded so weird to her that she couldn't keep from laughing. It hadn't occurred to her that he would probably miss his parents a lot, even though they were clearly not his real biological parents.

"Well, we are going to be leaving Warfang for a while in search of other dragon populations, so maybe you could pay a visit to your parents then? I haven't met them either, so I'd like to get a chance for that," Cynder offered with a smile, meeting Spyro's eyes.

The purple dragon smiled back at his companion for her thoughtfulness. "I would certainly like to see them again. It's been a good while since I left home," Spyro said, reminiscing of the day he'd left to find out who and what he was.

"Yeah, it's been some time. It's been… Wait. Three whole years?! Wow. Time really flies when you're fighting off weird creatures and getting stuck in a freaky time crystal," Sparx exclaimed.

Spyro frowned. He hadn't really been thinking of how much time they'd spent inside the crystal, either. For them, it could have only been a minute, but, for everyone else, it had been a lot longer. Realizing that only made him more certain that his foster parents really would be missing them, especially after not hearing a word about them for so long.

Cynder kindly nudged him. "I'm sure you will be seeing them in no time," she comforted softly.

Spyro relaxed a little and smiled at the black dragoness. Her positive attitude brightened up his mood as well, and, after all, a few extra days wouldn't hold much weight after three whole years.

Their conversation had just died out and they had gotten back to just enjoying the sunlight when Spyro spotted a black dragon flying towards the temple. He squinted to get a better look at the dragon, which left no doubt that it was Mirage.

Sparx also watched him slowly descending. "He's going to be in trouble now. What's up with that guy, anyways? Blowing holes in buildings ain't cool."

"I don't know, but he did look like he didn't mean to do it," Spyro thought aloud. He was genuinely impressed by the power he'd seen, but it had also gotten him worried. He had imagined himself and Cynder as the strongest dragons of their age, but Mirage hadn't come far from them.

Cynder is a lot stronger because of what Malefor did to her and I am naturally like this. So why is he like that?


Mirage had landed in front of the large temple and was now walking up the stairs towards the Guardians' office quarters.

Hell of a situation I got myself into… I overheard something about search parties being sent out of Warfang… Maybe I could make up for this by joining them?

He cornered the last corridor and stopped in front of the door. He took a deep breath and shook his head. There was no better option than going through the inevitable conversation, which would likely involve a lot of lecturing from the Guardians.

Slowly, he pushed the wooden door open. He was hoping that the Ice Guardian wouldn't be there at the moment; that was the last thing he wanted right now. His pompous personality would make this even more annoying.

To his luck, only Terrador was in the room. He was reading through some pieces of paper, but lifted his gaze to see who was at the door. His face turned a bit harsh when he saw who it was.

Mirage had expected as such. "I expect you to know why I'm here."

The Earth Guardian spoke with a calm but judging voice. "Indeed. You had better explain yourself. Your actions shocked many and someone could have been badly injured."

The young shadow dragon held the stern eye contact, even if it was a little unnerving in the current situation. "I'm aware of that. I can assure you that it wasn't my intention."

The large green dragon gestured for him to continue. "Go on; we can't leave such a matter without an explanation. Do you even know what sort of consequences actions like yours could have? We could have you locked up for a reasonable amount of time for destruction of public buildings! But I am willing to listen, because I do trust your word when you say that this was not an intentional act." His booming voice carried a strong feeling of authority.

For a moment, Mirage hesitated, but he composed himself quickly and thought of a reasonable response that wouldn't get him into further trouble. "I needed to let out some steam. As you know, I don't have my memory intact. Not knowing who I am gets very frustrating."

"That is understandable. But is that all there is to it? I require a detailed answer so I can assure the citizens that the newcomer in our city isn't a threat."

"Well, I did want to test my strength, to see how far I could go. Guess that wasn't a very good idea."

"Most definitely not. You shouldn't be going all out on elemental attacks when you are close to other people. You didn't do this it to impress Spyro and Cynder, did you?"

"Right, I will keep that in mind from now on. And no, it was merely a test of power that went wrong."

"Good, that would have been foolish. Young dragons have a bad habit of trying to impress others for different reasons. Alright, I believe you. But if you do commit something like this again, there will be consequences," Terrador warned.

Mirage had been expecting a far worse outcome. He had been certain that he would be punished in some way.

"Understood. As a sign of good faith, I would like to join the search parties that are being sent out." His goal wasn't to gain the Guardians' trust, but rather to get to explore the world.

Terrador raised an eyebrow. "You've heard about that? I don't think that would be the best idea right now. Citizens will be suspicious of you for a while because of what happened."

"I know that, but this is my way of making up for the damage I caused," he said with a confident voice. "I'm sure you could have Spyro and Cynder watch me, if it's up to that." He didn't actually think about how that would work for him; he just quickly thought of a way to get the Earth Guardian to agree.

And it worked. "Well, alright. We do need more recruits to form the groups, so you can come. We will be dividing everyone into groups tomorrow morning."

"Alright, great. Thanks, I'll be here," Mirage said with a hint of gratitude, but mainly relief.

He turned to leave, but before he got through the door, Terrador called out to him.

"One more thing. Where did you stay the last night? We had placed you at the infirmary, but obviously you left during the night."

"Uhm. I was staying on an empty room, one floor below Spyro's room."

Mirage realized that he probably shouldn't have said that, as no one had actually told him where Spyro's room was. For a moment, he was sure that the Earth Guardian was going to question him on that, but apparently he paid no mind to it.

"Would you like to have that room as your own? We have a lot of empty rooms on that floor, so you could have it."

Mirage didn't expect a generous offer such as this, but he was glad to accept it. "Sure, I'd like that."

Sensing that the conversation was over, he took his leave and started heading for the library.


Terrador had passed on the word that Mirage would be joining in the search; Spyro and his companions hadn't even left the gardens yet when the mole messenger spotted them.

The purple dragon had his eyes closed and was contently resting a wing over Cynder's back. Sparx had found his spot between his brother's horns.

"Excuse me, Master Spyro," a mole voice called out no further than a meter away from them, which startled the sleepy dragon.

Spyro quickly lifted his head off his paws and completely forgot the dragonfly on top of his head. Sparx didn't snap out of his daydream before he hit the ground with a quiet thump.

"What the heck?!" he cursed.

Spyro had his eyes fixed on the mole, who was standing right in front of him in a military posture. He found himself sort of dumbfounded.

Did he call me 'Master' Spyro…?

In his daze, he forgot the mole was still awkwardly awaiting a reply, so Cynder was the one to speak.

"What is it?" she asked simply.

"Master Terrador ordered me to inform the two of you that the newcomer, Mirage, will be joining your search group."

Spyro and Cynder raised their eyebrows in surprise, but neither of them really understood why they would need to be informed of it.

"But how does that concern us?" Cynder continued.

"Master Terrador wishes you to watch him during the trip, just in case," the mole replied.

In a way, it made sense to them. Mirage would probably rather have two dragons his age watching him than a bunch of grumpy guards.

Having him under surveillance seems a little exaggerated, though. He was clearly ashamed of the damage he caused, Spyro thought.

He looked at Cynder, as if to try to read her thoughts about it, but she merely shrugged.

"Alright. We can watch him," Spyro stated.

The mole nodded politely and left.

"So what now?" Cynder asked.

"I think dinner would be great now," Spyro replied, rubbing his belly.

Cynder lifted a paw to her face and chuckled. "Really, Spyro? My point was, how are we going to proceed with this?" she continued, still giggling lightly.

Spyro gave her a sheepish smile. "Oh, right. I don't know, maybe we should find him."

"After dinner, that is," Sparx quipped.

The purple dragon turned his eyes to Cynder, who lifted her paws up and waved them helplessly. "Alright, alright. We'll get something to eat first."


How can this be? There are no birth records or anything of the sort that would match my appearance or age.

Mirage had been going through all kinds of records that would match him, but so far he'd had no luck. He had found out that only two eggs had survived the night of the raid, which seemed utterly weird to him. How could there be only two survivors if he was about the same age as them?

Even if he happened to be a little older than them, there was still no evidence of that. There was nothing to suggest that he had been born anywhere near—at least, no proof of that seemed to exist.

Frustrated, he smacked his paw to the floor. It became apparent that he wouldn't be finding anything useful in the library, so he placed back all the books and left.

He'd been walking aimlessly around the city for a moment when he passed the dining hall.

"There he is!" Sparx pointed his finger at him.

Mirage turned his head to see Spyro, Cynder and the golden dragonfly descending down the stairs in front of the hall. He slowed his pace so they would catch up to him faster.

"You agreed on Terrador's offer?" Mirage asked simply when they reached him.

"Yes, we'll be guarding you," Spyro replied.

Mirage smirked dryly. "Awesome, I've always wanted bodyguards. Any idea where we are headed?"

"We don't know yet, but I'm sure the Guardians will clarify that tomorrow before we leave," Spyro assured, meeting Mirage's eye.

"Right. Well, I'll be glad to get out of the city for a while," he responded with a slightly heavy tone.

Normally, it would probably sound weird for someone to say that, knowing that he'd only been a day in Warfang, but not everyone had wrecked an arena's wall on their first day in the city.

"Oh, you might be glad to get back here if we make it out of this trip alive. My bro here has a natural talent for getting into trouble." Sparx looked at Spyro accusingly with his arms folded.

Mirage was silent for a while. "Wait. You two are brothers? How does that make sense?"

Spyro lightly chuckled at his expression. "It's a long story, but we were raised as brothers."

The shadow dragon hardly looked any less weirded-out, but let the matter drop anyway.

They had been walking back towards the temple and had nearly reached it. Without really deciding where they were going, they ended up on the big balcony of the Temple, which gave a great viewpoint over the majority of Warfang.

No real conversation was going on, so Mirage decided to ask something that he'd been thinking.

"So, it's true that you two defeated Malefor single-handedly?"

They shared a slightly unpleasant glance before both of them nodded to Mirage.

"We did, but getting to him came with a price," Cynder said carefully, knowing that the recent loss was still hard for Spyro.

It took a minute for Mirage to put two and two together. "Oh, right. I heard some talk about what happened to the Fire Guardian. You knew him well?"

Spyro slowly nodded again. "He was my mentor. We couldn't have done it without him." He spoke with a heavy tone.

"So he died a hero. And you still beat Malefor even without him. He would be proud," Mirage comforted, but kept his face impassive.

The purple dragon gave a lighthearted smile. "We didn't exactly finish Malefor off, though. He was sealed in the world's core by the spirits of the ancestors."

"Spirits of the ancestors?" Mirage questioned, frowning.

"Yeah, well, that is just one of the many weird things that keep happening when you hang out with Spyro." Sparx pointed out.

Spyro grinned sheepishly at Sparx, before turning his attention back to Mirage.

"Yeah, five of them appeared around Malefor and dragged him to the world's core."

"Fascinating. Do you think he will remain trapped there till the end of time? He is a purple dragon, after all."

Spyro and Cynder exchanged a quick glance, trying to read the other's mind.

"I do believe that he won't be coming back." Spyro replied.

As Mirage continued to come up more questions, their conversation went on for a good while. Spyro was getting more into the storytelling, so he continued to share his adventures. Most of them Cynder hadn't heard either, and Mirage was actually growing interested in them.

Spyro spoke of his trip from the old Dragon Temple to the Silver River and how he'd ended up fighting Arborick and was taken prisoner on Skabb's ship. By the time he started talking about the White Isle and the Chronicler, Mirage's interest peaked.

So, there is a dragon who has been watching over the Dragon Realms for ages. How interesting… Spyro mentioned he keeps a book for every living dragon. This is it: the answer to my problem.

"So, how did you find the White Isle?"