On Dragon Realm, the night came. The dragons had to watch over the many hatchling who came out of their eggs. Some of them hadn't been named yet, as their blood dads weren't back.
Lateef was busy meditating with Delbin by his side. On the laps of the monk dragon, a baby dragon looking a little like him was resting peacefully.
Galvin has his arms crossed, "I can't believe we still have a child who survived at the other side of the world."
"Delbin must be really glad. He had a daughter," Argus commented as he pointed at the round red and blue dragon resting against the lap of her blood dad.
"That is in three years," Thor reminded them.
"We know," they replied.
Tomas put his hand on his chest, "Even so, we should be glad he is spending time with his son through the dreams. I think I should make a special song when he will come back to us."
"If he wants to come here," Alvar commented on his side, grumbling before his blood son was on his back and didn't want to get off. The red dragon tried to ignore the dragon trying to bite his wings.
"He looks so much like you," every dragon who were awake commented.
"Shut up," he grumbled back. He wanted to yell, but the babies were sleeping. Except his own.
Argus adjusted his glasses and turned towards Cosmos and Red. The barrier was still in places and the two were still in their conversations.
Chapter 37: Evil In the Shadows
Cosmos was resting on the ground, "So many of our children are coming back. That is reassuring," he sighed. He was getting a little emotional, "We thought they would be lost forever like last time."
"I always wanted to have a blood child. You thought I would stay at the side and do nothing. I understand the pain of not having a blood child," Red replied. He gazed at the other dragons listening to them. He didn't care for the spies, "That's the only reason I came to help you and take so many risks."
"Yeah. Too bad you won't say anything about the why… Anyway. I wanted to wait for a better moment, but even in the night, you still look a little chubby," the dark green dragon grinned.
"You are such a sore loser," the red dragon frowned as he grabbed his belly and stretched his scales a little. He huffed, "And I am not chubby. This is my natural size. Don't compare me to the fatso with glasses."
"I have you know that I am taking a melon regime! Do not insult me like that," the dark blue dragon in question grumbled.
"What about the extra cream in your morning coffee?" Galvin asked.
"Or the extra taste of my patisserie?" Delvin asked with a small grin.
"Or reading all day and not exercising in the morning with us," Tomas asked.
"Enough about this," Argus took off his glasses, as if he was ready to kick some tail.
"There is no need for violence my friend. We were just speaking the true," Tomas spoke too much.
A chase began between the four dragons. An infuriated dark blue dragon trying to get them.
"Truth always hurt," Red commented before snickering a little.
"That's why you are angry when I said you were a little chubby," the leader of the Magic Crafter didn't let that go.
"Stop bringing that up," Red stood up, "The seal will disappear soon and I'll have to leave," he turned around, "I cannot stay for long."
"The barrier?" the dark green dragon asked curiously.
"No. The seal that prevent them from coming here. Anyway… I change my mind Cosmos. I want to share a few important things."
Cosmos was surprised and sat down. The other dragons were also listening carefully, "W-what?"
"Yes. I'm serious. I am not joking. First, you also got some weight. You were much slim the last time I saw you. I didn't want to speak about it, but since you are insisting in my weight, I should point it to you that you are the same," Red smirked.
The ruler of the Magic Crafter gazed at the side. He grumbled and tapped his staff on the ground. He let out a quiet sigh as he grumbled, "I'll cut on the extra donut. Anyway, we can drop the weight stuff now. They are so many dragons we can point at," the other dragons gazed at Alvar.
"Right," Red stood up and put his scepter on his shoulder, "There is one thing I have to tell you."
"What is it?"
"How much knowledge has been lost from our ancient home? I mean Dragon kingdom."
"A lot of course. We lost a lot of our kind legacy, the great things we invented. We lost a lot of our craft because of The Sorceress curse and our forced exile. We couldn't bring anything with us. Many things cannot be made anymore. We don't have most of what we need to craft many magical garments," Cosmos replied.
"Or some of our greatest creation. The art of the Artisan Dragons has been greatly wounded," Thor sadly commented as he adjusted his glasses.
"Yes yes. We will go one forever about everything lost. However, have we lost less than you believe? He asked with a small smirk on his face."
That confused the other dragons.
Argus came back, cleaning his hands with a pride smile on his face. He put back his scarf around his neck, "Why would we not have everything of our past, as you claim? If you want to ask questions, I can ask too."
Red chuckled, "Fine. You know about lies and deceptions?"
"Of course," the dragons replied with a dead-panned expression.
The criminal wasn't expecting a reply that way and said nothing for a while. Eventually, he opened his mouth and went on, "They are more knowledge of Dragon kingdom that came with us when we have been forced to exile. Some of them has been hidden from us, some has been hidden behind the laws."
Cosmos saw where this was going, "You mean-" a hand was put on his mouth.
"Do not say their name in when talking about it. You are never sure if they might try something one day. Anyway," he cracked his neck, "Do you know about the dragon king?"
"Yes. It was the ruler of Dragon Kingdom. When he died, The Sorceress came in and put the curse on us during the transition to the next king. We never nominated one," Thor replied.
Most of the young dragons were a little confused about it.
"A king?"
"We had a king?"
"Fascinating."
"It seems to be something no one is really talking about," Red commented as he tapped his hand with the crystal of his scepter.
"I know. You spoke about it and father too. A dragon who ruled above all and coordinate everything. We don't have one anymore and the Guardian Dragons are taking care of that."
"Yes. They are doing their job… somewhat," the red dragon grunted harshly. He turned to the side and went on, "Anyway. The fact that we have a potential new king is somewhat hidden since the elderly doesn't really talk about it. Right Thor?"
The yellow dragon adjusted his glasses when he suddenly got the attention, "Y-yes yes. There is no point in talking about what would never come back. It is depressing enough that we lost our realm. We have to move on."
"Tell me. Why are the legendary artifacts forbidden?"
"They are too powerful to be used of course," Cosmos replied as he tapped his staff on the ground, "But you are implying something else right?"
"Yes. But I'll let you figure that out. That isn't something for me to say out loud. You wouldn't believe me."
Galvin noticed that the barrier was growing weaker. Time was almost up and they could stop him, "Is that all?"
"One last thing. There are extremely dangerous enemies in Dragon Realm. One you didn't notice or foresee. I prevented you from saying their name," Red played with his scepter as he noticed the muscles of the other dragons ready to jump in. He wasn't blind and knew they would jump at him, "You never realised it, just like me. I just saw the true and since then, I will do everything to exterminate the threat."
Cosmos gazed down, his face inexpressive, "Danger? I do not see the danger you are talking about. If it's about the Gnorcs, they won't cause trouble for a long time. Spyro scared their leader our and caused your little plan to fail."
"No matter if Gnastic Gnorc was stopped or not, my plan would succeed if Spyro wasn't fast enough to free you. His high level of magic is a strange one. I never saw an Artisan Dragons possessing such potential."
"I tried to convince him to join us, but books aren't his forte," the dark green dragon chuckled.
"I shouldn't be surprised. Most Artisans dragons prefer to act rather than read. With a few exceptions," the red dragon gazed at those exceptions. He turned around. He took a deep breath and let out a long sighed, "Cosmos. I know I hurt you a lot, but what I did was because… I am a selfish dragon. You should have known that from the start. The barrier will soon disappear. Still, it was nice to talk with you and the others. It- It reminded me of the past. When I wasn't on the run and was just a Magic Crafter. I am growing old if I think of those as the good old days. Anyway, you better take care of that attitude of yours. You turn into a complete imbecile."
"Says the idiot who doesn't see the obvious in front of his eyes because he is sooooo egocentric," the leader of the Magic Crafters replied. He raised his hands as the barrier was gone, stopping from the dragons to jump at him, "As you won the duel you can leave. Next time, we will not let you get away that easily."
"In most stories, it is the bad guy who says that to the hero. How funny is it that a good dragon like you would say that?" Red remarked. He spread his wings and added, "Dragons. Keep your eyes opened. They are things going on that you do not see. And keep an eye on the children. I will kick your tail if you raise your children wrong," he jumped in the air and flew away.
The dragons watched the criminal disappearing in the dark sky of the night.
The dragons approached the leader of the Magic Crafters. The only one who weren't aware of this were Lateef and Delbin who were still sleeping.
Argus sighed, "Are you sure this is a good idea to let him fly away like that. You know he is a dangerous criminal. The Guardian Dragons wants him alive."
"He would have casted a few spells to escape. Not only that, but I gave my words in that duel. Still, he told us a few things," the dark green dragon was pensive. He closed his eyes, put his claws on his chin and was about to enter in deep thought.
"You cannot take this seriously," one of the Magic Crafters grumbled. They didn't see who said that.
Cosmos crossed his arms, "I know Red better than anyone. However," he gazed at the dragons, "I won't doubt any dragons here. This is something I will investigate on my own. They are many risks in this. We will take our time," he raised his head and gazed at the sky, "We cannot put ourselves at risk," he sighed, "But not now."
"We need to wait for more of the eggs and children to come back," Galvin commented.
The group turned around and watched the adults and the kids getting tired. Every child who came out of their eggs were asleep. A few eggs were still there, in the arms of a few dragons who kept it warm.
"They still need us," Thor commented before yawning.
It was getting really late. The night wasn't young anymore. The day might eventually return.
"We really need to rest. Because we will need our energy tomorrow," Argus concluded.
Cosmos nodded as he turned towards them.
Once that decision was made, they dragons went to sleep. The leader of the Magic Crafter had trouble falling asleep. The words of Red remained in his mind. He knew there was a lot that could just be a lie. He closed his eyes. His anger against him was still present, but it calmed down a little. Still, he was uneasy.
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
Next: Dangers In Midday Gardens
In the morning, Spyro continued his search with Sparx and Zoe. Many dangers are in his way and the eggs.
