A red dragon walked towards the portal. He felt his muscles under his scales tensing for a long time. He couldn't relax.
The moment he heard the portal worked once again, Ignitus went to the Artisan's Realm. He knew there was something going on. There was silence for a while and proposed himself to check it out.
It wasn't just for his purpose as a Guardian Dragon that he went there, the other reason was Spyro. He had a bad feeling about it, "What happened to you Spyro?"
Since the moment they learned that the portal wasn't working, he feared something happened to the youngling. The purple dragon could do anything or could be anywhere, "You better watch over him Nestor."
He reached the portal and passed through it.
Chapter 47: Where is Spyro?
The moment Ignitus came out of the portal, he searched for the other dragons. He didn't notice anything strange. He spread his wings and flew in the air. He went towards the center of the city. The dragon saw none of the habitants around the castle. He went where the eggs were supposed to be and saw many dragons there. Too many dragons from the other Realms were there. He saw most of the Dream Weavers and Magic Crafters present and one or two of the Peace Keepers and Beast Makers.
He landed on the ground, "What is going on here?" he noticed a few baby dragons and some eggs where the children didn't hatch yet. He didn't count them, but he realised they were less than expected.
Delbin went towards him, "Ignitus? What are you-"
"I asked what is going on here?" the Fire Guardian Dragon replied as he put his hands on his waist and waited for an answer.
The dragons saw that the dragon wasn't in a good mood somehow. None of them knew why.
"We are waiting for the eggs or baby dragons to come back," Lateef replied calmly as he sat on his tail. He crossed his legs and quietly meditated. He gazed in the eyes of the dragon, "This is what we are doing."
"What happened?" Ignitus asked next.
"Long story shorts, the thieves who stole the eggs came back and took them with them. We got a chance to save them and ten of them went to the Forgotten Realm," Delbin answered.
They gave a little more detail, but they were omitting anything about Spyro.
"Nestor isn't here as he went with them," Argus replied as he took a few steps towards the red dragon, "There is no need to ask for his presence."
Ignitus squinted his eyes and looked around, "Where is Spyro? I don't see him anywhere."
"There is no reason to call him. He will get curious and we will have to explain everything," Delbin replied.
"I want to see him right now!" the Guardian ordered as he poked the chest of the painter dragon.
The chubby dragon who likes melon grunted, "Calm down Ignitus. We told you that we don't want him to find out what is going on here. We barely managed to distract him and you showing up suddenly will put a clue in his mind."
Lateef raised his claw, "Anger will only cause you trouble Ignitus. I suggest that you take a few calm breathings."
"He is with Nestor, right?" Ignitus realised as he crossed his arms.
"No. He isn't with Nestor," Argus replied as he took a few steps towards him.
The red dragon didn't believe that. He could see the obvious lie, "Don't try this. I am certain that Spyro went with Nestor. You will tell me everything. Right! Now!" He glared at each of them, waiting for any answers. He got nothing coming from them and showed his fangs, "No more lies!"
Cosmos grunted and approached him, "Calm down kiddo. You need to take a breather! You don't know what happened here and you can't a-"
"That's okay Cosmos," the leader of the Dream Weavers as he put his hand on the muzzle of the Magic Crafter, "No need to enter in an angry contest. You need to be as calm as the river. You need to breath and speak, not be angry and yelling like a spoiled child," he turned towards the Fire Guardian.
The red dragon did as suggested. He really wanted to pounce at them and used his fist. Still, it was a terrible idea to fight with his fist. He wouldn't get an answer about what happened to the youngling. He gazed at the young babies who were fearfully gazing at him. Ignitus realised he made a terrible first impressions on the youngling. He took a large intake and calmed down. He crossed his arms, "You are right Lateef. I need to calm down. Please, tell me where is Spyro and what happened here."
"Fine. I'll calm down too," Cosmos did the same. The little dragons already began to calm down.
Alvar prepared breakfast for the hatched children and carefully observed the ex-Artisan Dragon.
The leader of the Magic Crafter began to explain what happened, "We prepared many traps to protect the eggs, but the thief came back and like last time, stole the eggs. They tried to stop them, but escaped."
Delbin went on, "Before we could stop him… Spyro jumped into one of those holes and followed them to the Forgotten Realm with Hunter."
"Hunter? Who's that?" Ignitus asked. He felt a fire inside his chest. He wanted to see Nestor soon and gave him a piece of his mind.
"A cheetah from Avalor. He was a friend Spyro made when he saved that realm from a bad guy," the artisan dragon went on. He hit his chest, "Since they reached the Forgotten Realm, we knew it was possible to go there."
"I was called with the Dream Weavers and we opened a gate to that realm," Cosmos went on.
"That explain the strange magic that happened here. I came for that first. The strange spell of a portal that was never used before," the Guardian Dragon explained before he gave a sign to move on.
"Ten dragons went to that realm and that is pretty much it," the Magic Crafter concluded.
"What about those wounds?" Ignitus asked as he pointed at the bumps and scratches on the body of the dragon in question, "And that doesn't explain why the portal to any of the five realms couldn't be used for a while."
The dragons didn't know how to answer that question without sounding suspicious. None of them were aware the portal to their realm was blocked for a while.
Cosmos knew who did this. It was only him, "Red."
The others turned towards him.
"What did you say?" the Guardian Dragon asked.
"It was Red. He is the dragon who did this to me. He came here to help send the dragons to the Forgotten Realm," the dark green dragon revealed it out. He said one word loudly when Ignitus opened his mouth, "We! We only knew who he was after we forced him to show his face. After this, I fought him and tried to prevent his escape. It didn't work out and went away as you can see."
No dragons said anything for a few seconds. They all turned towards the dragon who revealed everything out of the blue like that. Although, the end part was a lie.
Cosmos gazed at them, "That's the only explanation. Red came here after he prevent you from coming here."
"And he escaped," the Fire Guardian asked.
"As I said, I 'tried' to prevent his escape. It didn't work out. Red is probably far away now and knew when you could use the portal," he concluded.
"Thank you for your cooperation. Anyway, I'll remain here for a while. Once they are back, I have a lot to say to Nestor. I will give him a piece of my mind! I told him what would happen," Ignitus clenched his hands and quietly growled.
"None of us could stop Spyro from jumping in a hole too small for any of us to follow him," Delbin said as he gazed at the other red dragon, "Do not put the blame on Nestor."
"I don't care if it's his fault or not. I told him that Spyro shouldn't put his life at risk like that. He is a child and Nestor is a irresponsible dragon. You know very well what I'll do once Spyro is back."
Lindar asked, "You think we are going to let you just get away with our child like that?"
"Our child won't be taken away because you don't like how everything is going on," Argus grumbled.
"You know very well that I can do that," Ignitus replied as he approached the large blue dragon.
Lateef went between them, "Calm down both of you. You wouldn't want me to get a little upset… right?"
The gazed at the monk dragon before looking at each other's.
Ignitus wasn't about to back down, "You know very well that Spyro is a child and he shouldn't go anywhere dangerous out of the blue like that. He is in the domain of The Sorceress. The very one who stole our land long ago."
The Dream Weaver wouldn't back down either, "And as a parent of Spyro, I will not let you decide what is best for him. Compare to you, I was there for him. You aren't," he approached him and whispered, "And you know very well how… dangerous it is to bring him with you. Remember?"
The Guardian paled as those words reached his soul. He closed his eyes and wanted to say so many things. He quietly growled, clenched his hands and gazed at the side, "You are playing low you know Lateef."
"Of course, I am. Spyro is our child. Nestor and Spyro has a strong bond that you cannot see. Nestor isn't his blood dad, but it feels as if they are linked by blood," the wise dragon put his hands together, "As for our child putting his life at risk like that, that is simply because this is who he is. Spyro isn't an Artisan Dragons like any others. He has more magic than any other dragons and an adventurous spirit. Something that so few dragons have in them."
"You should have calmed his adventurous spirit. He is just putting his life in danger like that," Ignitus calmly replied. He knew that losing control of his emotions would just put him at a disadvantage. He saw the other dragons were ready to fight to keep their child with them. He even noticed Alvar ready to act. He lightly jumped when the Dream Weaver put his hand on the shoulder of the Guardian Dragon, "What is it?"
Lateef whispered calmly, "You need to keep watching over him from the distance Ignitus. You know what would happen if you let your emotions out of control right now."
"I… I know. B-but-" he said nothing else, "Nestor better keeps him safe. If he's hurt, I'll give him a mouthful like he would never forget it."
"Maybe you should stay for a day or two, for old times sake. You need to finish your investigations," he suggested.
Ignitus raised his head and looked at the dragons and the little one. He closed his eyes and sighed, "Fine. I'll stay a day or two to investigate everything. Since Red showed up, I need to be sure that I see everything. Red might have put a few traps or tricks here. I also need to talk with Nestor, whenever he comes back."
"We also found out that there is another youngling in the Forgotten Realm. A survivor of the first steal 12 years ago," Thor remembered as he adjusted his glasses.
"W-what?" the Guardian Dragon asked as he lightly closed his hands.
"Yes. My blood child. His name is Flame and he is fighting against The Sorceress and saving the eggs," Delbin told him as he approached him with a small smile, "It feels so good to know that I have a son alive after all this time. It's a miracle. I cannot wait to see him in person, when he comes back home with his kind," his smile grew larger at this expectation. He put his hands on his chest as if he tried to keep his heart inside.
Ignitus didn't know what to say. He pushed his thought aside walked away, "I'll investigate everything. As I said, Red might have left something. He knew one of us might come here," he then left the group.
Argus asked everyone, "You sure everything will be okay?"
Cosmos crossed his arms and nodded negatively, "I don't think so."
Lateef calmly said as he raised his hand, "Be at peace. There won't be a problem."
"What did you even tell him?" Thor asked as he cleaned his ear.
"That shall remain in the mist, away from the sight," the Dream Weaver waved his fingers.
The other dragons wanted to know what was said. They knew something important had been told between them. Something that only Lateef and Ignitus knew what it was about.
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
Next: A Long Discussion.
With Malefor joining the group, there is a lot to say about the dark purple dragon and his bracelet.