The little sorcerer let out a soft, dreamy sigh, staring upward at the night sky as he sat in the center of the arena, cross-legged, his scepter laying on his lap... That kiss had left him with a warmth on his cheeks that persisted even now.

He'd never been kissed before... Of course she had given him those occasional forehead pecks, but... Nothing quite like that last one... Her arms wrapped around him. Her lips gently pressed against his... He felt as though he had a flutter of butterflies in his belly.

... So that was what it was like... Snow White... Sleeping Beauty... All those silly little stories that ended with a kiss. He had heard of them, and he had always rolled his eyes at those stupid cliches... Who cares?

Now though... After having experienced it for himself... He supposed it wasn't all that bad... A token of affection. More powerful than all the talismans of Avalar. More magical than the orbs. More precious than all the gems that have been hoarded by that fat bear, Moneybags.

It was such a simple gesture. Yet he held it close to him as though it were the greatest treasure he ever had.

"What ARE you doing?"

The little sorcerer had near jumped out of his skin when a voice called out from behind him. Grasping his scepter, he whirled around and saw the red dragon standing there, one hand on his hip, and a brow arched quizzically.

"Y-you!" The little sorcerer growled, tightening his hold on his scepter. "Took your sweet time! When did you get here?" "Not that long ago, actually," the dragon answered nonchalantly, checking his claws over. "I've been watching you for the last five minutes... Pondering what might have had you so distracted that you were completely unaware of my presence."

The sorcerer growled, feeling his cheeks grow darker in embarrassment... There was no way that the dragon had been standing there for five minutes!

"I see you've acquired a new toy for yourself," the dragon mused aloud, smirking as he set his eyes on the scepter in Ripto's hand. "I bet you're dying to test out that new scepter of yours, hm? And what better time than now then?" The dragon opened his arms out and spread his wings. "I'll stand still ; I promise!"

The sorcerer hummed to himself, eyes fixed on the red dragon. "I like that idea," he mused aloud with a toothy grin. "Dragon!" He pointed a clawed finger at the red dragon before him, and readied his scepter. "You've just sealed your fate!"

The Power Crystal glowed as he held up his scepter. He cast a spell, throwing an enormous fireball at the dragon. But with a flap of his wings, the dragon leaped upward... Up high into the air. And before he could react, the dragon descended, landing on the arena platform mere inches from where the sorcerer stood. The impact of the dragon's landing had shaken the platform, knocking the little sorcerer off his feet and onto his back... The beast reared back, claws at the ready, and made a slash at the little sorcerer.

He scrambled up onto his feet, narrowly avoiding the red dragon's sharp talons. Two swipes were made, followed by a quick snap of his jaws. But Ripto was quick on his feet. He turned, and waved his scepter, sending another bolt of fire at the beast. His eyes lit up as the flames hit their mark, and he pumped his fist in the air... But this moment of pride was fleeting, as the dragon turned his head to him, and gave pursuit once more.

The dragon was fast. Strong. And more dangerously, smart. Swinging his arms and swiping at the little sorcerer with his claws. He ducked and dodged, flinging a ball of flame at the dragon whenever possible. With a smoking snarl, the dragon spun around and swung his tail at the sorcerer. The dragon's tail struck him as though a humongous tree was being swung at him. He flew forward, rolling a few distances away. When he recovered, he realized, to his horror, that his scepter had slipped from his hand.

He looked on - luckily it wasn't so far away. He scrambled madly to reach his scepter. The dragon came down upon him. Grasping his scepter, he turned, and sent sent a ball of fire into the dragon's face, causing him to fall back and recoil.

Scrambling, pushing himself up onto his feet, Ripto made a mad dash to put some distance between himself and the dragon...

With a shake of his head, the dragon locked eyes on Ripto and growled. The sorcerer braced himself, fingers tightening on the hilt of his scepter...

"I must admit, you fight well for someone of your diminutive stature," the dragon started. Holding up his hand, there was a white glow in the dragon's hand, and a shard of ice appeared. "You have a lot of fire in you, for being a dinosaur... I must admit, I am quite curious to know how you would have come to possess such power. But no matter... You are no match against my own!"

With a spread of his wings, the dragon took flight, and sent the bolt of ice down onto the arena, freezing it... The sorcerer's feet slipped and slid. Worse yet, given the boiling lava surrounding the arena, it meant that the arena was melting.

He had to think quick... Raising his scepter, he made a leap upward, and slammed his scepter onto the icy arena. With a great glow, a mechanical bird emerged, and took flight with him on it's back... Looking downward, he caught sight of the arena melting away.

Grasping the metallic wheel on the bird's back, he turned his attention to the dragon, and tightened his hold on his scepter. With a screech, he urged the bird to give chase... Round and round they circled the arena - now nothing more than a pit filled with lava. Shards of ice and balls of fire whizzed past his head as he sent bolts of magic at the dragon, homing in on the beast, but with a spin and a swirl, he dodged each attack. The sorcerer cursed when the bird shook violently as a shard of ice struck and caught the bird's wing.

Again. And again. The dragon's ice shards hit their mark. He could feel the bird grow more and more unsteady with each shard of ice. Steering this way and that to try and avoid the attacks. He looked around, but had lost sight of the dragon... Then all of a sudden, something came up from below, smashing itself into the bird's underside. The next thing Ripto knew, he was flying, twirling high above the arena as the pterodactyl crashed and melted into the lava below. Ripto was beginning to make his descent as well, until he was stopped by a clawed hand wrapped around his throat.

The dragon held him high above the lava pit, his wings beating at his sides keeping him skyborn... His eyes narrowed as he looked upon the reptilian sorcerer in his hand, squirming, clutching at his hand.

"Such a stubborn little thing," the red dragon mused aloud, his hold strong and unfaltering. "You know, things would have been so much easier if you'd have just thrown your allegiance with me. But instead, you opted to side with the little faun who had brought me to Avalar... That same little faun that wanted you dead."

"... You know what I don't understand?" the little sorcerer started through clenched teeth. "It's bad guys like you... I came to Avalar by accident... Wanted to make myself king... Then you came along and wanted to take over the place as well... But you... You had those dark gems planted throughout the place... Draining the life from the worlds... What good is ruling a place if the world around you is dead?"

The dragon narrowed his eyes. His hold tightened around the little sorcerer's neck, blocking off his windpipe... He squirmed and struggled, clawing, clutching, and kicking... The seconds passed, and his vision grew blurred... The longer he fought, the weaker he got.

The dragon watched as the sorcerer's efforts grew weaker and weaker. And when at last he ceased, he lessened his hold, letting Ripto slip from his hand, down to the lava pit below.

Elora didn't think she'd ever meet someone as stubborn as Ripto, and yet there he was... He was too proud to really say what had been on his mind, but she understood. Red was a dangerous enemy, and he didn't want to risk seeing someone hurt by him - or worse, killed...

Wait for the dragons, he had said... Yet try as she could, she felt she couldn't let him go off by himself. So she instructed Hunter and the Professor to wait for the Elder Dragons, and went off to the Arena with her pterodactyl. She had urged the prehistoric beast to fly as quickly as possible, and swooped in on the falling sorcerer, catching him in her arms and taking flight.

She could hear the dragon's exclamation. But she dared not turn. She had Ripto, and... That was all that mattered.

The pterodactyl screeched as it flew from the pursuing dragon, dropping as ice shards zipped past it's head, leaning this way and that to avoid getting struck. And she could hear the dragon curse to himself, pushing himself on and spitting fire at the pterodactyl... The next thing she knew, the dragon had sped upward, coming to a stop in front of them, and swinging his tail.

The pterodactyl went spiraling downward, crashing down into the courtyard in front of the castle... Elora had gone flying when the pterodactyl made it's crash-landing. As did Ripto. Pushing herself up, the faun shook her head, and crawled to the little sorcerer's side... She could feel the red dragon draw near, his frame towering over her, engulfed by his shadow...

"Curious," the red dragon mused aloud, looming over the faun and the unconscious sorcerer. "You seem to have grown... FAUN of him." Red gave a chuckle at his own joke. Elora looked up at the red dragon with a deep furrow to her brows... Looking down at the sorcerer, she inched herself over, taking him up into her lap.

"You know, it was a pretty difficult decision to make after I knew you weren't going to help... But I went with the lesser of two evils... The strange thing is, I'm actually kind of glad that I got you... I hated Ripto. But after tagging along with him... You're right. Maybe I HAVE grown fond of him... There's a lot more to him than I had originally thought. And I'm glad that I had that chance to see it... He's a stubborn little lizard. But... Once he opens up a little... I think there IS some good deep down in that little heart of his-"

"Oh, PLEASE!" the dragon interrupted with a role of his eyes. "Spare me the cliche speech! You two have been a thorn in my side, but that ends now."

The faun brought the little sorcerer closer, cradling him in her arms... The dragon puffed up his chest. She could see the smoke building up from his nostrils, and a light could be seen within his mouth... And then... When he blew, all that came out was a cloud of smoke.

The dragon choked, and coughed. And when he looked down on himself, there was a collar of light wrapped around his neck... And up above in the sky were the Dragon Elders, arrived at last.