Spyro's eyes were on the food as he began to explain his backstory. "I was hatched in a world known as the Dragon Realms, specifically the Artisan's Homeworld," he explained. He turned to them, specifically Emily, and held up his hand. "I'll explain the 'dragon types' and their respective cultures when we're in a more safe place. Heck, I probably shouldn't be explaining now, but you deserve something after all that you've been through."
"Anyway, growing up was just what you'd expect, at least, early on in my life. Shortly after turning ten, an old enemy of us dragons managed to find spells that provided him with minions and turned the adult dragons into crystal statues. The guy's name was Gnasty Gnorc."
"Ten years old, and already needing to stand up for yourself?" Crimson asked.
"Yep, and Gnasty didn't really take me as a threat seriously until I was practically knocking on his door," Spyro said with a chuckle. "And just so you know, from hatching day to late teens, dragons are quadruped. So, while visualizing what I'm telling you, imagine a scrawny, 1 foot tall, quadrupedal lizard with wings...and my colors. None of this awesome bulk you see." He then stood up to flex his arms and show off his muscles, but when he sat back down, his sizable belly wobbled before he stabilized it with his free hand.
"Easy to imagine, hard to think how it works," Emily said.
Spyro rolled his eyes at the comment before continuing. "Anyway, taking care of Gnasty Gnorc and freeing all the dragons from their crystal prisons was easy compared to what happened about a year later," he said, a slight look of pained fear showing up on his face.
"Another adventure?" Crimson asked, edging slightly forward on his seat in anticipation.
"Yeah, but this took me to a new world," Spyro confirmed. "Nearly a month of constant rain was driving me crazy, so I decided to go to a place in the Dragon Realms known as Dragon Shores, a beach area we dragons mostly use for recreation and vacation. However, the portal was hijacked by a small group of misfits in a world called Avalar. Elora, a faun, was pretty much their de facto leader. Hunter, a cheetah, was an all-around sports kinda guy...a slight coward, but his marksmanship was nothing to sniff at. And then there was the Professor, a half-blind mole. He hijacked the portal I was using, bringing me there."
"Kinda sounds rude, but they must have had a reason," Emily commented.
"They did," Spyro continued. "They accidentally allowed three dino-people into Avalar with an experimental portal, Ripto, Crush, and Gulp. They then managed to take over the entirety of their world and they needed help, a dragon specifically."
"Why?" Crimson asked.
"Ripto, the group leader, hated dragons," Spyro explained. "And to be honest, it actually gave us a bit of a tactical advantage. His hate made him make several mistakes in his attempt to take me out. In the end, he and his two flunkies were taken down and I was able to return home."
Spyro then paused to pull the finished food off of the spit and place them on recently carved, wooden plates. He then gave some of it to his two guests and then practically inhaled the rest. As his guests ate, he continued his story.
"The next year was the Year of the Dragon festival," Spyro began. "Every twelve years, dragon eggs are delivered to us from a hidden realm where most dragon females lived. We celebrated and partied, but when we were sleeping off the celebration, some thieves stole the eggs from us. Yet another adventure for me...and Hunter decided to come along as well."
"Stealing the young of any creature, Wyvern, Human, endemic life, it doesn't matter...it's pretty much a death sentence if you get caught," Crimson said before going back to his food.
"Exactly," Spyro confirmed. "Following the thieves, Hunter and I found ourselves in a portion of the Dragon Realms that, ironically, had no dragons...aside from the many eggs that were stolen. This resulted in a number of portals there to not work, because the lack of dragons meant a lack of magic to maintain the portals."
"Magic," Emily whispered in awe.
"And the head of the proverbial snake that we had to deal with was a smug sorceress...we just called her the Sorceress," Spyro explained, while putting a meat chunk on the spit to cook. "Anyway, after freeing rebels she imprisoned and gaining an inside ally, we took the Sorceress down, and learned her horrible scheme in the process."
"And I'm guessing it wasn't for the sake of the land she had control over," Crimson guessed.
"Correct," Spyro confirmed. "She wasn't planning on allowing the dragon's magic to restore the land, she was planning on killing the unhatched eggs to harvest their wings. Said wings would then be used to power a spell to grant her immortality."
"Destroying innocent life to create or prolong life is practically a sin, even here!" Emily exclaimed in anger.
"And I can agree wholeheartedly," Spyro said, as he pulled the finished meat off of the spit. "After all of that, the last few years of my 'whelp' stage of life were generally uneventful. Turning 18, I became an official adult and became bipedal...and was hit with a lot of boredom."
"Which, if I had to guess, led to your 'awesome bulk' happening?" Crimson commented.
"Two years of intense workouts and gluttony," Spyro confirmed. "Oddly enough, that led to me becoming much bigger than most adult dragons in height, muscle, and appetite. They average roughly just a foot or two taller than you two, while I'm almost double your height, if my estimate is correct." The big dragon then bit down on the meat he was holding, and inhaled it like the first course.
"Now to address the proverbial Deviljho in the room, how did you get here?" Emily asked.
"An accident of chance," Spyro said. "I was trying to rush through a portal during a thunderstorm and, hearing a deafening bang as I was just going through, I can believe that the portal was struck by lightning."
"So no wonder you didn't look like a local Wyvern," a male voice said from the grove edge of the camp. Spyro and his guests turned to the voice's origin and saw a man standing there, with his bone greatsword on his back and seeming to have been coming out of cover.
"Huh, didn't think I'd see you again," Spyro commented while putting another bit of meat on the spit for the newest guest.
"Same here," the man said. "And I never knew you could talk. Then again, you didn't speak when we met, just kept quiet and took your share of the spoils from that Anjaneth I helped you fight."
"So that's what that thing was called. Huh, neat," Spyro said as he gave a puff of fire at the meat to rush the cooking. He then pulled the meat off and plated it, holding it out to the man. "By the way, I'm Spyro."
"Name's Mark," the man responded as he took the plate of food and started eating. Between bites he spoke, "Anyway, I was sent to find these two and bring them back to base, but I can see they are in good hands for the time being, and seeing as it's almost night, they can probably stay here for the night. I'll head back and report, and then come in the morning and collect these two to get back to Astera."
"We've been talking that long?" Spyro asked, taking a look outside of the camp and seeing the sun close to the horizon and setting. "Well, I can watch then for the night, but in return, I want to come with you guys to Astera, see and learn about you guys and your Commission. Heck, if it sounds like fun, I could maybe join, if your superiors are okay with it."
"I'll inform the Commander then and see what he says," Mark answered. "In the meantime-" he turned to the other two "-you two get some rest, and Spyro-" he turned to the big dragon "-have a good rest and I hope we can have a chance to work together in the future."
"Likewise," Spyro said as he doused the flames and began messing with some of the hides he had to make bedrolls for his two guests. Mark, in the meantime, left and the darkness of night shrouded the land.
Took a little bit longer than usual, but that's just slight fatigue from waking at around 4am.
Spyro and Monster Hunter belong to their respective companies.