Legend of Spyro - Four Pillars of Aether Book I

by Blazcowitz43

Twelve years after the Temple raid, the four survivors of that dreadful night live a happy, carefree existence. They are Spyro, Cynder, Flame and Ember; the four who lived. Spyro is a rare purple dragon who has been taught his whole life that great things await him, but as darkness approaches can he and his friends truly stand up to the evil that threatens the world? Book II soon.

20. Chapter 19: Sparx in the Night

Chapter 19: Sparx in the night

The night drifted on slowly as the strange echoes and calls with no apparent source flowed through the trees as Spyro wandered slowly onwards. He rarely looked higher than was needed for him to make sure he wasn't about to walk into something as he trudged through the forest. He had no sense of where to go other than forward, the forest quickly repeating itself as the sight and sounds of the shoreline vanished behind him. His stomach grumbled, begging for sustenance, but he saw nothing to him that looked edible as all the plants and trees he passed by did not bear fruit. He was desperate for water too and sleep, but Spyro told himself that he had to find some kind of overhead cover before he could even consider resting for the night. The Chronicler had told him that he was at least safe from the fate that supposedly would have befallen him if he had tried to reach the temple, but he wasn't prepared to believe that meant he was safe from any danger.

Something he did recognize appeared ahead as he lifted his eyes level from the ground; through the trees and brush he saw the glowing form of pink Spirit Gem clusters. He felt a slight lift in his heart as he saw them, grateful to see something familiar and helpful to him. Spyro slightly quickened his pace as he pulled himself up a small mound between two great trees as he looked upon the glowing gems. There were several of them scattered amongst the forest floor, some nearly completely hidden behind masses of tall leafy plants. Spyro knew from his lessons that these pink clusters were a wild mutation of the more common Spirit Gems he had seen and used all his life. These gems were in essence a hybrid of the green mana and red healing clusters that grew throughout the realms; containing a mix of both these elements but were far less powerful than the pure red and green gems. Still, he was glad to find them and give his body some kind of relief, though they could do nothing for his abused heart.

He stepped down carefully and walked towards the nearest one, the tip of which barely reached his chin. He remembered something Volteer had said that these gems were usually indicative of a less than healthy environment, but everything around him seemed to be growing fine and Spyro brushed it off as unimportant. He tepidly sat down and reached out with his right paw to touch it, drawing a slow deep breath as the cluster lit up by a tiny amount as its magic stirred into life. He grimaced a tad as his body filled with a mild tingle, the flow of magic not being as strong as he had predicated. He sat still and controlled his breathing as his body graciously absorbed the new pulse it was receiving, his stomach quieting some as it eased at least some of the hunger he was feeling. The pain in all of his body tensed up for a few moments as he absorbed the gems' energy, his aches and pains becoming mild as the cluster finally gave out all it could give. Spyro sighed despondently, reflecting on just how little better he felt from it, but he simply stood up and wandered over to the next gem, brushing aside a broad-leafed weed as he settled down and began the process again.

As his body vibrated with the almost ticklish thread of magic weaving through his veins, Spyro arched his head back and stared up the canopy of trees hanging above him. The moons were still clearly visible as they radiated their mixed light through the forest, they being the only other thing beside the gems that was familiar to him. Spyro lowered his head and gazed anxiously about the small dip in the forest he was sitting in, perfectly vulnerable should any nocturnal hunters, or apes, happen upon him. The unfamiliar sounds unsettled him as he swore he had so far heard what could have been a dozen different animals in the night, yet for the hour or so that he had been marching, not a single creature beyond fireflies or grasshoppers had appeared. The sense that he was alone and yet somehow still being watched hung over him as he scanned over every branch and hovel he could see, preparing for anything.

After a few more moments, he finished absorbing the gems energy and stood up, feeling empowered enough should he have need of his abilities tonight. Spyro climbed out of the short dip in the ground and continued to wander into the forest. "I hope he knows at least where he sent me," he muttered dryly, wondering why the Chronicler had chosen to send him to this particular place out of all the realms. Perhaps there was nothing else living here and all the sounds he had heard were just illusions, created by the Chronicler himself to scare away unwanted intruders. If he could command sea creatures, why could he not do that as well? At this point he could have told him anything and Spyro would have little option but to believe him, not having anyone else he could turn to.

'But he still leaves me with more questions than answers?' he thought bitterly, 'Why does he do that? Why can't he just…Oh, forget it. Just find someplace to call it a night.'

The fireflies and grasshopper continued to be the only forms of life that he saw with his own eyes as Spyro pressed further into the mysterious forest, passing by many more of the pink Spirit Gem clusters, their appearance reviving Volteer's words about an unhealthy environment. But as before, the purple dragon's surroundings seemed healthy enough in a natural sense; he hadn't seen a single withering plant or potentially dangerous berries or other plants. But then Spyro was no herbalist, and in any case he had seen nothing beyond the large mushrooms that he might consider edible. His stomach still groaned for food and he hoped he would soon find something to give it, even if it was nothing greater than a field mouse. Something caught his eyes to the right as the bushes near a tree rustled. Spyro froze as something came bounding out and right in front of his path, something small and lanky with a long tail, pointy nose and whiskers. Spyro's eyes widened in surprise as he stared into the tiny black eyes of a rat as it stood up on its hind legs and gazed at the purple dragon, its ears standing straight up as it froze and considered the unusual purple creature towering over it. Spyro stared at the rodent with an almost dumfounded expression as the timing seemed almost comically on point. He had just told himself he was hungry enough to consider a mouse as a meal, and here was a rat, a larger mammal which had just absentmindedly strayed right in front of him. But he had never caught and eaten live prey before, never having needed to.

Now he was alone in a mysterious forest guided by a voice in his head from somebody he had never met or seen with everything he ever knew and cared for having taken from him in a day. Spyro growled as he entered a pouncing stance, his tail stiffening behind him as the rat's eyes bulged and its mouth dropped open with a terrified squeak. The young dragon lunged just as the rat turned its head and bounded to the left, Spyro slipping and falling forwards as the rat escaped his clutches by barely a moment. He hastily pushed himself up as he watched the rodent scurry away behind the trees, huffing angrily as he began to give chase. Holding his left foreleg up against his chest, Spyro hobbled on three legs after the rat as it sprinted with all its might between the trees to try and lose its new predator. Its squeaks of terror helped him to track it as he often only caught glimpses of it as it bounded ahead, Spyro's feet tearing up the ground as he chased it with a vicious resolve.

His prey zigzagged between the trees, leapt over rocks and jumped between the heads of the large mushrooms, but Spyro kept pace, the rodents' squeaks becoming more and more intense as it failed to lose its pursuer. The purple dragon kept his eyes on the rat like his very existence depended on it, as if losing sight of it would kill him immediately. Even as the pain in his body began to flare up again, he pushed through it, determined not to lose the rodent. He had lost and suffered so much in such a short time; he was not going to let a lowly rodent get away from him. He couldn't let that happen. The rat sprang up through a tight gap between a pair of trees as Spyro angrily swerved around to the left, the rat bounding ahead as the young dragon opened his wings in preparation to fly and dive on the rodent like a hawk. The density of the forest gave him little room for it, but he jumped up all the same and flew just above the ground as he pursued the rat. It let out another frantic squeak as it ran off to the left, Spyro gaining on it as he seemed poised to catch his prey.

As he bared his fangs and claws, ready to make the kill, the rat suddenly turned sharply and bounded back the other way, Spyro soaring over it as he looked back and didn't see the branch he was heading towards. He crashed through the branch and snapped it off, grazing his right cheek as he tumbled forward and crashed into a mass of bushes, rolling over himself before he came to a halt with a hard fall on his back, gazing up at the sky furiously.

With a snarl, Spyro rolled onto his feet and jumped into the air straight away, hovering above the bushes as he shook the leaves and twigs that had collected during his fall. His face was darkened with anger as he took of in a flurry in the direction the rat had fled. He quickly retraced the path, his head swinging around rigidly as he scanned for the rodent that had made him feel even worse about himself. He ducked in and out behind numerous trees, hoping to find the rat hiding behind one of them as he glared at the ground with venomous eyes. "Where did you go?!" he demanded furiously as he climbed several feet higher to try and get a better view through all the trees. He realized the rat may have already scampered underground or was hiding in the undergrowth where it couldn't be seen by him. Yet his determination to find the lowly rodent was starting to take on a meaning beyond that of hunger and Spyro, in his fury, had perhaps not noticed it yet. A cracking sound from above drew his attention as Spyro looked up and saw a branch falling from high up a tree in front of him, seeing it was falling well away from him, it posed no concern. He watched as it tumbled end over end as it as if fell and came crashing down on the other side of a tree to his right. As it slammed into the undergrowth, a familiar squeak filled his ears as he saw the rat leap out from its hiding place, driven into the open by the fear of being crushed and back into his sight.

With a dark chuckle, Spyro dived down in pursuit as the rat bounded straight ahead into the open where the trees became less constrictive, giving the rodent nowhere to hide. The purple dragon watched as the rat scampered for its life as his shadow loomed menacingly over it, Spyro choosing not to dive on it straight away, but stayed several feet above it as he reveled in its helplessness now that it was left at his mercy. As it hopped and bounded across the grass, he looked up as he heard the sound of water running ahead, catching a glimpse of a riverbank that rat was heading straight for.

Spyro stared in surprise as he saw a narrow stream weaving through the grass ahead, the color of which was jarring; the water was a flat purple, not dissimilar to his own scales! The stream glowed with an eerie shimmer that didn't seem to come from the moons above, but from the waters themselves. The unusual sight distracted him for only a moment as he turned his attention back to the rat that was heading right for the sickly-looking river, presumably hoping to find refuge in the forest on the other side of the river. Spyro finally began to descend, ready to put an end to the chase and the upstart rodent that had tried to outwit him. The rat finally reached the river, the width of which was barely longer than the purple dragon was long, but it was an ocean for a creature so small.

But to his surprise the rodent leapt without hesitation on top of a small rock poking above the surface of the purple water, Spyro again overshooting it as he had expected it to stop at the riverbank. Banking around, he saw the rat making another jump to another rock, ready to make the last leapt across the dangerous river. Spyro scowled and dived down like a hawk towards it, not ready to let the rodent escape him again. The rat looked up and squeaked in fear as it froze on top of the rock as the purple dragon swept down and landed on the shore opposite him, baring his teeth fiercely as the hapless rodent was now surely trapped.

Spyro stood over the rat like a monster from a nightmare as he glared so coldly at the helpless creature, which hunched down in terror on its precarious rock as the purple waters flowed just inches below it. A putrid and sour smell filled the purple dragon's nostrils, telling him the water was poisoned, hence the unusual color and he surmised the high number of the impure pink Spirit Gem clusters. The rat was too scared to move, seemingly left to choose between drowning in poison or being torn to shreds by the winged menace of teeth and claws that was staring him down. Spyro felt elated by the prospect of success, edging closer as he loomed over the doomed rodent. His stomach grumbled anxiously at the prospect of a meal, but not nearly as strongly as his pride which could at least count the conquest of this lowly rat against the string of failures and pain he had suffered. For making him crash into the bushes and making the purple dragon look a fool, Spyro could now have his way and kill the rat; relieving his hunger and his hurt. Something inside him stirred as he gazed into the terrified eyes of the little creature, so convinced of its own coming demise. A gentle gust of wind made the grass sway around his feet, but to Spyro it felt like a hard slap to the face.

He blinked and rocked his head as if he had just awoken, a dark realization coming to him as he felt his sorrow and anger beginning to drift from his mind just as easily as it had taken over it. He gasped frightfully as he staggered back and collapsed on his haunches, his wings dropping down as he sat with a look of mortified shock on his face. The rat, despite its obvious fear, watched the purple dragon curiously as he had suddenly backed away and withdrawn into a docile state. However, it only took a few moments for instinct to kick in and the rat turned and jumped back across the other rock, then leapt back across to the river bank and scurried with all its speed back into the forest.

Spyro barely watched it go, sitting in a daze as he contemplated what he had let himself become in the space of barely a few minutes. He was hungry, yes, and that had been his first thought upon seeing the rat and how he might catch it. But in mere moments the pursuit of a meal to relief some of his aching hunger had turned into a grudge match. He had seen the rat and taken it as his inalienable right to kill it simply because it was in his power. When he had crashed after the rat had outmaneuvered him in a simple act of self-preservation, he had felt insulted, bested by something that had no right to defy him for any reason. Hunger had taken second place to dominance; a fickle act of retribution to be acted out against the lowly rodent for the anger and sorrow that Spyro had been dealt with. The pain of all that he had lost had turned into resentment and he had been ready to kill, not for survival, but for the simple, lustful desire of having come out on top, no matter how petty a contest.

'Never forget who you are… and follow your heart. It will never fail you…'

Shame filled Spyro's being like a hand fit into a gauntlet. So quickly had he forgotten the words of Ignitus. So quickly had despair allowed him to become something other than himself. But it was not his heart that bought him to this place, it was the mysterious Chronicler who, for all he knew, was the mastermind behind everything that had happened. He had no idea who or what he was, yet he had taken his word and gone against what he believed was the right choice. He had abandoned his friends and was now in the middle of some dark and dangerous grove with no idea what he was supposed to do other than 'wait until the time is right'.

Spyro lifted himself miserably and took a few steps until his head was above the sickly purple water that seemingly poisoned the entire forest. Though murky and glowing unnaturally, at another time it might have been beautiful in a colorful, deadly kind of way. Spyro could still make out his reflection in the poisonous stream, the ripples of the water distorting his likeness most fittingly. He stared into his own sullen eyes as the river flowed on, the purple dragon sighing lowly. "Some hero you turned out to be," he said to himself callously as he barely resisted the urge to slash the water in frustration, not knowing if was dangerous to touch as well as drink. He growled as he turned away from the river angrily, shutting his eyes as he tried to keep himself levelheaded, knowing he had to put all his regrets and uncertainty behind him of he was going to make it through the night. He had to find somewhere safe to rest and hopefully clean water and food to replenish his body.

The only thing he felt truly certain of was that the next rat he saw would only get away if it turned out to be a better fighter than him. Hunger would now take priority over pride. Opening his eyes, Spyro readjusted himself as he prepared to venture onwards, gazing at the looming trees ahead of him with an uncertain anxiety. Whatever lay within them he would have to contend with, hoping it would only be native wildlife and nothing of the apes or else more would surely come if some of them were reported missing. Steeling himself, the purple dragon began to walk steadily forward as he scanned the dense foliage ahead of anything that should concern him. The calls and hoots of creatures he couldn't see grew around him, perhaps goading him forward, hoping he would fall into their unseen trap or perhaps warning him to stay away.

Spyro absentmindedly turned his head slightly to the right, whereupon something in the corner of his eyes caught his attention; a brief yellow glow among the trees about fifty feet to his right. He stopped and looked where he thought he had seen it, his other senses sharpening as his eyes honed in on the spot. The purple dragon listened intently, hearing what sounded like a high-pitched fluttering of insects among the foliage. From behind one of the thicker trees a swirling mass of fireflies came shining into view, the tiny glowing insects buzzing and swirling in an orb of yellow as they swiftly disappeared into the distant trees. Satisfied, he turned his head forward and walked on, leaving the river well behind him as reentered the denseness of the forest. After little more than a minute the sound of the river had faded away and a quick glance over his shoulder revealed nothing but forest as though it was all there was in the whole world except for him. Just how much more of this grove was there? Suddenly he heard it again; that same high-pitched fluttering, somewhere off to his right!

Spyro stopped again and swung his head towards it again, sure that it wasn't more fireflies. He shifted his eyes left and right as he tried to pinpoint where the fluttering was coming from. He indeed saw more fireflies hovering about the brush, but not nearly as many as before, telling him he had been wrong the first time. As he scanned back to the right, his eyes fell upon a particular tree a short distance away that was slightly leaning towards him and to the right as another behind it did the same in reverse, forming a rough diagonal 'V' like shape. Against the side of the second tree, he made out a yellow glow almost like a lantern was hanging out of view on the first tree. It was from there he heard the high-pitched fluttering somewhere behind it.

"Who's there?" Spyro called out in a hard voice, determined not to make himself look meek in the face of his unfamiliar surroundings. Straight after he heard a sound like a muffled gasp of fear as the sound of the fluttering intensified. He caught a glimpse of a glowing orb of yellow as it zipped out the right side of the tree before taking off into the forest.

"Hey!" Spyro cried as he turned and ran in its direction, seeing the yellow orb leaving a trail of glittering yellow sparks as if it were made of golden fire. He ducked around the tree where it had been hiding and took off as fast as he could run, seeing the glow and the trail it left far ahead in the darkness. It stopped for a moment and apparently looked back before it fearfully took off at speed as the purple dragon gave chase to it. In that brief pause he seemed to make out a sticklike body and face and perhaps wings, but it was too bright and too far away for him to make out any more than that.

"What is that thing?" Spyro asked himself as he followed the zigzagging trail of yellow sparks through the trees as the creature soared ahead. He wondered if he should even be following it, not knowing if it could be leading him into a trap. But judging by its reaction and vague details it appeared to be sentient as he swore he had heard it gasp in fear after he had called out to it. Running on, the looming trees began to disappear as he found himself chasing the orb through a field as the night sky opened up above him. The grass grew taller as he ran, soon towering over him as he quickly lost sight of the yellow glow as it zipped through like a mosquito, suddenly realizing that was what it could be, but then he had never seen a mosquito that big or that glowed yellow. Perhaps it was a product on the unnatural waters he had seen?

"Wait up!" Spyro called as he pushed his way through the thick grass, "I'm not going to hurt you!"

To his surprise, he received a hasty, verbal retort from the yellow orb. "Get away from me!" a male adolescent voice shouted back, followed by the same voice saying to itself lowlier, "Oh, cripes, shut up! You'll lead him right to you!"

Spyro cocked an eyebrow as he pushed his way onward, considering the tone of the voice he had heard. It surely sounded frightened of him, almost comically so, and certainly didn't sound like the voice of something dangerous. Whatever the thing was, he hoped to convince it he was no danger to it and perhaps find out from it where he was or where he might go. Eventually, he reached the other side of the field and the other side of the grass, revealing yet more darkened trees and glowing mushrooms. He did not see any sign of the glowing orb at first, frantically looking about at the new environment in front of him. Just ahead there was a vertical cliff face and expansive rockface nearly as tall as the roof of the dragon temple where a large tree had fallen over and formed something like a bridge from the ground to the top edge of the cliff. His eyes widened as he saw a faint yellow glow just past the top of the cliff, causing him to move towards the fallen tree. The tree had evidently fallen long ago, its outer shell covered in moss and the inside having being hollowed out, making a useable tunnel to reach the top of the cliff. Spyro stepped cautiously nearer and peeked inside, the width of the log being just great enough to allow him to fit, even with his horns.

Folding up his wings, Spyro hunched down slightly as he slinked inside the log and stared up its length, his horns bumping against the inside as he further adjusted his height. Up the decaying tunnel he could see a small patch of night sky at the open end which he quickly moved towards. Clambering forward, he tucked his left foreleg close as he squeezed his way through the dark log, a few thin rays of light breaking through the odd crack or hole made by broken branches or ravenous wildlife. He felt disturbed ants swarming over his paws as he shuffled along, ignoring their bites as he anxiously saw centipedes, spiders and other unsettling creepy crawlies scurrying around the perimeter of the log. They hissed and crackled in their own ways at his presence, but Spyro moved along as quickly as he could as he neared the top. He feared that the talking yellow orb would be long gone before by the time he reached it.

Finally reaching the top of the log, Spyro stuck his head out into the open air thankfully as he perched himself on the edge of the inside of the collapsed timber. Gazing around, he saw much of the same forest as he already had, with two larger mushrooms atop a short mound out in front, forming a loose archway as if inviting him to go through. There was no sign of the talking orb, only yet more fireflies buzzing in the night. He sighed wearily as he gazed around the otherwise lifeless forest.

"Where's that flying lantern gone now?" he asked himself quietly before he carefully made the short jump onto the ground, moving towards the mushroom archway as he listened out for the high-pitched fluttering that had first alerted him to the strange glowing presence. How long had it been watching him and why? Maybe it to was lost and was wandering this grove, trying to find its way home. As Spyro climbed the short mound and walked through the pair of mushrooms, he spotted a particular tree ahead to his right that drew his attention due to its uncanny appearance. It was no wider than himself, but the gaping hollow in its front and two eye like indentations above it gave it the unsettling likeness of a face. Volteer had a name for the phenomenon of seeing faces in lifeless objects, but Spyro couldn't remember what it was. It was as he drew nearer to it that he noticed the faint glow on the inside, the purple dragon gasping silently as he realized the source of the voice was hiding inside. He couldn't help but think back to a few days ago when he had been playing Hide and Seek with his friends in Avalar, Ember choosing to hide in a similar hollow but her hiding place being betrayed by the squirrels whose chatter had pointed it out to him. That seemed so long ago. A lifetime ago in a different world.

After a quick glance to be sure he was alone, Spyro crept slowly towards the tree as he watched the reflective glow against the inside of the hollow. He couldn't hear the fluttering sound, but he was sure it couldn't be anything else other than the source of the voice that had told him to get away. He decided to simply announce himself, hoping to convince who or what it was to not keep fleeing from him.

"I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I'm not a threat. I'm just trying to find my way; I don't know where I am. Maybe you can help me," he said calmly, creeping up to the tree as he waited to hear a response. After a few moments, he heard nothing and finally decided to face the talking orb that refused to acknowledge him. Spyro cautiously stood on his hind legs on top of a small rock in front of the tree, putting his right paw on the edge of the hollow as he lifted his chin to peek inside.

"Hello?" he said tepidly. In an instant a pair of scowling blue eyes inside the yellow orb sprang up and filled his view as it let out a fearsome bellow that caused Spyro to fall back;

"Rawwwwwrr!"

The shock sent the purple dragon falling on his back as a pair of tiny hands waved erratically as the tiny mouth continued with the exaggerated roar. Spyro stared up in wide eyed bewilderment at the hollow as he finally took in the true form of the talking orb. Through the shimmering gold sparkles he saw a dragonfly, its translucent wings creating the high pitched fluttering as it bared its teeth in an effort to appear fearsome to the purple dragon.

"Yeah, that's right!" the dragonfly boasted, flying just outside the hollow and holding up its clenched fists attached to its short twig like arms, "You don't know who you're messin'with! Better run while you still can! You don't wanna get on the bad side of the likes of me!"

Spyro looked at the overblown act of aggression by the dragonfly in silent bewilderment. His round head was wider than the rest of his body with a thin neck and roughly rectangular chest before the rest of his tail thinned out like an elongated finger. He had two short and erect antennas atop his head as his glistening wings seemed to drip with yellow sparks like embers from a fire. He continued to hold up his fists like a boxer at the ready as he slowly drifted away to Spyro's left, the dragonfly making a face that couldn't decide if it was angry or trying to pass a kidney stone.

Spyro could not help but crack a smile as he chuckled at the overly dramatic performance. "Are you serious?" he asked as he slowly began to rise to his feet, the dragonfly suddenly panicking as he realized his bluff had been called.

"Oh, cripes, it didn't work!" he exclaimed as he grabbed the sides of his head and spun around quickly, the dragonfly taking off screaming in a blur of yellow sparkles.

"Wait!" Spyro called as he pulled himself up and started running after him, "It's okay! Come back!"

The dragonfly didn't offer a retort this time, soaring ahead into the forest as Spyro followed after him. He zigged and zagged between the trees in an effort to lose him, but his glowing body and sparkling trail left a clear path for the young dragon to follow. The pattern of trees, mushrooms and overgrown brush repeated as Spyro chased the dragonfly in a long sweeping left turn until he realized there were in fact running around in circles, though whether through intention or fearful disorientation by the dragonfly he didn't know. He suddenly pulled a sharp right and took of straight into a mass of thick brush, Spyro following after as he crashed through the undergrowth. He followed the dragonfly's glittering trail under a large mushroom as the terrain dropped down into a dry river like crevice, forming a narrow, rocky path that snaked between the trees as he saw the dragonfly disappear around the next corner.

"Come on!" Spyro cried in exasperation, "I just want to talk!"

"Yeah, talk with me in your mouth!" the dragonfly taunted as Spyro chased his trail around the curve in the path, catching sight of the insect again he raced under a fallen tree that had collapsed over the crevice. As he passed under it himself, the high edges of the crevice began to decline as the end of it came into view. The dragonfly soared ahead as the ground flattened out and became packed with thick vegetation, briefly cutting off view from him as Spyro continued the chase.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" Spyro pleaded, though it was tempting to let his frustration get the better of him if and when he did catch the yellow gnat.

"No thanks, buddy!" the dragonfly replied defiantly ahead as the purple dragon forced his way through another blinding bush, finally seeing the dragonfly again just a short distance in front as he looked back and shouted at him, "Sparx the dragonfly ain't gonna be anyone's meal tonight!"

"Sparx?" Spyro repeated to himself softly as he eyed the dragonfly with increasing vexation. He kept his eyes on the purple dragon and didn't watch where he was going as the grass grew taller the longer they went. Ahead there was a large clump of grass that stretched wide across their path when Spyro suddenly saw something leap out of the grass in front of the dragonfly.

"Lookout!" he shouted, the dragonfly looking ahead and letting out a frightful scream as the dark, spikey headed silhouette in the grass spat out its elongated, orange tongue and grabbed the dragonfly in its sticky grasp. Spyro came to swift halt as the creature in the grass was about his head's height taller than him, letting out a gurgling croak as it jumped out of the grass towards the purple dragon, its feet like a cross of vines that kept it standing upright. The creature was a poisonous looking dark purple with black spots on its plump, plant like body with an open pitcher plant like mouth and four stubby arms with spiked ends instead of hands close to its eyeless head. The plantlike creature he recognized as a Toadweed, a nocturnal cousin of the Frogweeds he had seen around the dragon temple, having basically the same characteristics other than change of color and being generally more dangerous, though only coming out at night.

The yellow dragonfly wailed in terror as the Toadweed rolled its tongue back into its mouth, the dragonfly disappearing with a gut-wrenching gulp as the creature's frog like throat puffed out as it swallowed its meal. Spyro reacted straight away.

"Hey, let him go!" he shouted as he growled at the Toadweed. It reacted by croaking again as if to dismiss him, bouncing one step towards him and extending its tongue in warning. Spyro ran at the creature, charging it with his horns as it lashed its tongue at him, the sickly appendage shooting over his head as he plowed into its stomach. The Toadweed let out a cry of distress as it fell over, its arms flailing about as Spyro jumped and landed on its stomach, trying to make it spit out the dragonfly. It lashed its tongue again, Spyro blocking it with his left wing, but losing balance as the Toadweed pulled its lower body back and kicked with its cross shaped feet, knocking Spyro back from it as it leapt upright and made more angry frog like croaks at the purple dragon. Spyro quickly stood tall as he scowled at the plant like pest.

"Maybe I wasn't clear enough," he said icily as he broke out into another charge, his horns lowering like forks at the creatures abdomen. The Toadweed boldly leapt at him and lashed its tongue, thinking it was ready for him, but let out a high-pitched cry of shock as the purple dragon bowled its tongue out of the way and aimed for its feet. Spyro struck under its plump lower body, knocking its off its feet and several feet into the air as he swiftly jumped after it. Before it could fall back down, he drove a powerful kick with his back legs into its stomach, sending the creature flying back where it crashed hard into a tree as he gracefully dropped back to his feet.

The Toadweed slumped down in shock against the tree as Spyro rushed over towards it, the creature suddenly beginning to convulse as its stomach and frog like throat heaved like it was choking. He stopped a few feet from it as it rocked its head back and forth several times as it croaked and gagged until finally it gave up its meal. With a final painful heave it made a retching sound as it spat the dragonfly out, sending it flying through the air where it splattered itself squarely into Spyro's chest, the purple dragon initially startled as the now slimy dragonfly crashed into him. After a few moments, the dragonfly detached from his chest and landed on his back on the ground with a thud and a groan, showing that he was still alive in spite of where he had just been.

Spyro let out a quick sigh of relief as he then grimaced at the gross slime now dripping down his chest. He looked up as the Toadweed bounced back onto its feet, letting out a painful growl as it decided it had seen enough of the purple dragon and turned away and began hopping away through the undergrowth. Spyro watched it go until it was well out of sight before he bent his head down and looked at the dragonfly. The would be midnight snack for the Toadweed wiped the slime off his face, his tongue hanging out in disgust as he lifted his arms and saw that his whole body was covered in the sickly dew.

"Are you okay?" Spyro asked anxiously, the dragonfly apparently only just remembering him as he paused in his efforts to wipe off the slime and stare up at him, seeing the large purple eyes gazing down on him in concern. The dragonfly stared blankly for a few moments as he considered the large purple creature that he had been running from and had apparently just saved him from being eaten. Pushing himself up on his elbows, the dragonfly leaned upwards to free his wings and fluttered them to shake off the slime that covered them. Spyro waited patiently for him to make the next move, hoping he had finally showed the dragonfly he could be trusted. The dragonfly finally lifted off the ground, his wings humming out the high pitched, high speed fluttering that had first alerted the purple dragon of his presence. His face was one of curious caution as he hovered up to head height with the young dragon, his glowing color returning in bloom as the last of the slime fell away from him.

"Yeah… I'm okay…thanks…" the dragonfly answered slowly, his eyebrows rising and falling with his thoughts.

"No problem," Spyro answered with a faint smile. The dragonfly nodded slowly as he moved an inch closer to the dragon's face, scanning him up and down as Spyro followed him with his eyes. The dragonfly scratched the back of his head and remarked,

"Hey, uh… you're the real deal, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?" Spyro asked.

"I mean like… your not gonna'eat me, are you?" he asked with still a trace of fear as he grinned nervously.

Spyro rolled his eyes and replied, "No, I'm not going to eat you. I don't eat insects."

"Well, it's not just any old insect you'd be eating. If you were, I mean," the dragonfly stammered tensely.

"I can see that," Spyro agreed readily with a nod. The dragonfly chuckled lightly and then thrust out his left hand, then realized it was covered in goop and hastily shook it off before putting out his hand again.

"The name's Sparx. Pleased to make your acquaintance," he said cheerily, now seemingly to have abandoned all fear of the purple dragon. Spyro's smile broadened as he looked at the tiny extended arm, grateful to have found at least one friendly creature in this unknown wilderness.

"Sparx. Yeah, I heard you say before," he said as he sat on his haunches and offered his uninjured right paw in return, "Likewise, my name is Spy…"

A loud rustle in the nearby scrub cut him off as the dragon and dragonfly realized they were not alone.

"What was that?! What was that?!" Sparx exclaimed frantically as the grass and undergrowth around them seem to come alive as it was disturbed and crushed by something unseen. Spyro stood up as his eyes narrowed and his head swiveled around as a sound like heavy squelching accompanied more of the frog like croaking of the defeated Toadweed. From amongst the forest, he saw more of the plant like creatures, hopping menacingly towards them as it seemed they had appeared from thin air. He quickly released he and the dragonfly were now surrounded by six of the hideous Toad creatures, there poisonous tongues dangling from their wide open mouths. Another loud jostling in the undergrowth turned Spyro's attention forward, seeing another Toadweed, presumably the one he had battered a few moments ago, leap into view and gurgle menacingly as its companions echoed its croaking taunts. Sparx backed up closer to him as the creatures seemed to take the time to unsettle them in preparation for what they thought would be a sure meal for all of them.

"Yikes, they're gonna'eat us!" the dragonfly squealed as he shoved his fingers into his chattering teeth. Spyro's brow darkened as he looked at the Toadweeds crossly,

"I don't think so," he said defiantly as he pressed himself into a fighting stance, ready to face them. His first thought was simply to cast a few bursts of flame at them, thinking that would be enough to scare them. But then he thought about the dragonfly, Sparx. How would he react if he saw him using his powers? Judging by his reaction, he had no idea who or even what Spyro was, which was a benefit and a detriment he thought. A benefit because the dragonfly would have no reason to see harm to him or potentially turn him over to the apes, not that he thought he had much chance of that, and a detriment because the hapless dragonfly couldn't fathom how being around the purple dragon could be extremely dangerous for him. Not that he wasn't in danger now.

The battered Toadweed made a higher pitched call, signaling the others to attack, all six of them bouncing an extra foot closer to their encircled prey. Sparx let out a fearful cry behind Spyro as he ducked to avoid the tongue of one of the creatures, the purple dragon immediately spinning and charging, slamming into the creature and knocking it down heavily. Sparx continued screaming as he more luckily than skillfully dodged another lashing tongue, Spyro running after him and slashing the Toadweed's plump stomach with his claws as it jumped away on reflex, croaking painfully. Spyro felt the snap of a tongue against the back of his neck, growling as he jumped up and spun his tail, whipping two of the creatures and sending them staggering back. His heart racing for fear he might have been poisoned, he lunged forward at the Toadweed nearest to him, dropping down to the left to avoid its tongue lash and then a swipe of its sharpened arm as he unleashed a barrage of vicious blows against it, swiping, striking and headbutting it as the Toadweed cried out in fear.

It suddenly turned its back and jumped into the undergrowth, diving into the ground as it burrowed to escape the purple dragon. Turning away, Spyro faced the remaining four Toadweeds as they closed in on him in a triangle shape. It was then he released in horror he could no longer see or hear anything of Sparx. Had one of the creatures devoured him while he wasn't looking?

"Sparx, where are you?" he called out frightfully, hoping he was hiding somewhere, but he received no response as the Toadweeds continued to bounce towards him. Feeling the back of his neck beginning to sting, Spyro feared the worst and felt his anger rise and boil over within him. With no sign of the dragonfly, he had no reason to fight halfheartedly, his mouth opening preparedly as his fire swelled in his belly.

But he realized it wasn't worth expending any worthwhile amount of energy to dispatch the Toad monsters, not knowing what else he might encounter yet. He decided to settle for his original intention and merely try and scare the creatures away, even if they had eaten the hapless dragonfly. As they jumped towards him, Spyro cast a quick burst of fire at them, the flames burning out before they touched them, but causing the Toadweeds to shriek in fear at the sudden appearance of flame. Two of them spun around and dived away almost immediately, digging themselves into the ground but the remaining two simply hopped backwards warily, perhaps too startled to do anything else. Spyro advanced on them like a stalking hunter, spitting out another quick burst of flame at their feet, setting the grass alight in front of them. As the ground before them erupted into a cluster of fire, the remaining Toadweeds finally saw that the purple dragon was too much for them, hopping and spinning around before they took off hopping into the undergrowth, croaking and calling in distress as they swiftly vanished into to trees.

"Get out of here! Get lost!" Spyro yelled after them, scowling as they fled while the fire he had lit began to swell and rise almost to his head height. Gasping at his carelessness, he drew a sharp breath and cast a freezing blanket of Ice over the flames, quickly smothering them as the small patch of the forest floor now resembled a frozen puddle. It looked incongruous, but it was better than accidently burning the forest down, Spyro knowing the ice would melt once daybreak came. Looking down at the roughly circular slab of ice, he saw his reflection staring back at him and realized that he was once again all alone.

"Woah!" a voice suddenly exclaimed, "Was that FIRE, dude?" "Sparx!" Spyro cried in elation. Snapping his head to the right, his eyes brightened as he saw the glowing face of the dragonfly emerging from the hollow of small dead log that he hadn't noticed amongst the undergrowth. The sight of the glittering bug filled him with a joy that he never thought he would feel again after everything that day. Perhaps it was just that he had met a friendly face in the midst of this unnerving grove, but seeing him alive was a welcome relief to the emotional drain that was afflicting him like a rampant disease. Sparx swiftly flew out of the log and zipped up to him with a look of raw excitement, quickly looking down at the frozen pool in front of Spyro's feet. The dragonfly dropped down over the icy ground in fascination, reaching out and tapping his knuckles against it, making a sound like he was wrapping against a heavy glass slab.

"And ICE?" he said incredulously. The dragonfly looked over his shoulder at the purple dragon, whose expression resumed the state of unease as he considered what he had accidently allowed the dragonfly to see.

"Uh, yeah," Spyro replied meekly, avoiding eye contact with him. Sparx laughed in amazement as he shot back up in front of the young dragon's face,

"Wow, that's so cool!" he cheered, lopping around Spyro's head countless times as he became giddy with excitement, forming a glowing halo around his new companion.

"How do you do that?" the dragonfly asked rapidly as he came to a halt at Spyro's front again, "Whatever you're eating, you gotta give me some! If I could do that, nobody would ever mess with me again!"

"I….I was born with it…." Spyro mumbled dully, still avoiding eye contact.

"Born with it?" Sparx yelled incredulously, laughing heartily, "Wow, that's got to make you one heck of a son of a… Wait…" he said curiously as he moved an inch or so closer to the purple dragon, finally making him stop his shifting eyes and stare straight ahead at the enamored dragonfly. Spyro grimaced apprehensively as he looked into the bright eyes of the grinning, glittering old insect.

"What was your name again?" he asked simply, pointing his finger at him. Spyro's ridge like eyebrows rose in surprise as he all at once found himself smiling with relief at the innocent expression of the little dragonfly.

"Spyro," he answered equally. The smile on Sparx's face filled the entire forest.

"Spyro, huh? Well, it's a good thing I found you or else I would have been Toadweed fodder!"

"It was nothing," the purple dragon said humbly, "I thought seeing me do that would scare you," he remarked as he nodded to the spot that he had burned and then frozen in quick succession.

Sparx looked down and scratched the back of his head, "If it was coming at me, sure, but you scared off those piles of overgrown fungus like nothin'! But then, I guess if I hadn't been trying to get away from you, I would've been paying attention and seen them coming," he confessed sheepishly.

"Just glad I could be of help," Spyro said conservatively, suddenly letting out an exclamation of pain as the spot on his neck where the Toadweed's tongue had struck started to sting.

"What's the matter?" asked Sparx quickly as the purple dragon sat down bent his head forward, wincing at the burning sensation on his scales.

"One of those things hit me in the neck with its tongue. Ouch, it burns," he remarked worriedly, the dragonfly hovering around and looking closely at Spyro's neck.

It only took a moment for him surmise what he saw, "Oh yeah, it got you all right! Back of your neck is looking kinda inflamed," he said casually.

"Does that mean I'm poisoned?" Spyro asked anxiously. Sparx only shrugged,

"Yeah, but as long as it doesn't go in your mouth or eyes you should be okay," he said as he flew back around in front of the purple dragon, "Wash it off, maybe be sick for a few days but you won't die." Spyro lifted his head slowly, grimacing at the burning sensation on his neck as he eyed the glowing dragonfly curiously.

"Wait a minute, how come you're not stinging all over? That thing had you wrapped up in its tongue!"

Sparx again only shrugged, "Built up immunity, I guess. It's not the first time those suckers have caught me, but normally I can get away before they swallow me. But I was kinda distracted this time," he said as he held his palms out with a final, irreverent shrug.

Spyro chuckled mirthlessly, "Can't say that's ever happened to me, even if I feel like I've been chewed up," he replied moodily. He rocked his head from side to side wearily for a moment before he settled his eyes on the dragonfly again. He stayed hovering in front of Spyro as if waiting for him to say something else, Spyro tilting his head as a question arose from his mind about the dragonfly's first sighting to him.

"You were watching me," the young dragon stated curiously, "How come? And for how long?"

"I heard shouting and decided to check it out; you don't hear too many things around here talking. Then I saw you by the river and well… I didn't know what to think. I saw you chasing the rat and figured you were gonna eat it, so you might eat me too. I never seen anybody like you around these parts."

"So, you've never seen a dragon before?" asked Spyro in surprise.

"You're a dragon?" Sparx repeated, seemingly in disbelief, "Wow… what's that?"

'He really has no idea!' Spyro thought with unexpected relief, 'Wherever I am, it must be so far away for him never to have seen a dragon before! That's means he has no idea who I am, or anything about me…'

This revelation was bittersweet for the young dragon. The Chronicler must have been very deliberate in his choice to send him here, somewhere where there were apparently no others dragons. While there was the obvious uncertainty with being 'beyond the edges of the map' as the saying went, it also meant it would be easier for him to hide and remain undetected. He could only assume the apes would search high and low for him once they found he was nowhere near Warfang or the temple. The Chronicler had said he must remain hidden until the time he would be summoned. Well, in one respect at least, Spyro was one step ahead of his enemies. But then what about the dragonfly, Sparx? He was so far the only, somewhat, intelligent being he had encountered in this uncharted wilderness. There may be no dragons here, but Spyro had to assume there was some kind of native population here, even if it was just more dragonflies like Sparx.

"A dragon is uh… well, me I guess," he answered simply, watching with mild amusement as Sparx exclaimed "Wow!" once again as he began to slowly drift around Spyro, taking in every detail of his form; his horns, his wings, his tail, his purple scales of which the dragonfly couldn't possibly comprehend the significance of. As he did so, Spyro continued to ponder the issue the dragonfly now placed upon him. If there was one of him, there had to be more and Sparx would surely be bursting with excitement at the notion of telling his friends and family about the amazing dragon he had encountered and the things he could do. Depending on how many of them there were, such knowledge would spread like wildfire and possibly back to the world he had escaped from. That would endanger himself, his mission and undoubtedly the dragonflies as well. They would suffer if Gaul suspected they were harboring him. With his heart already savaged by the losses he had suffered, Spyro knew he could not take the risk.

"So if you're not from around here, where'd you come from?" Sparx asked as he drifted back in front of him.

"Somewhere where bad things are happening," he answered shortly, brusquely, "Its best you don't know about it."

"Bad? How bad?"

"Look, just really bad, okay?" Spyro snapped tensely, his eyes burning, "And you need to forget you ever saw me, alright? There are very bad people trying to find me and they won't stop until they do!"

"Trying to find you?" Sparx repeated doubtfully, "They must be pretty dumb to come after somebody that shoots magic outta his face!" he chuckled, but Spyro's scowl was deadly serious.

"You can't tell anyone about me! It will only put you and everyone you care about in danger! Promise me you'll keep quiet!" the purple dragon said urgently. The levity in the dragonfly's face was swiftly cast away as he saw and heard the harsh seriousness in Spyro's eyes and voice. However, he remained persistent.

"Are you kidding? When my folks hear about this they'll lose their minds! You'll be a hero to them!"

"I'm nobody's hero," Spyro retorted coldly, "You can trust me on that."

"Come on, Spyro," Sparx said reassuringly, "You saved my life! I gotta do something to pay you back for that."

"Then do this for me and keep your mouth shut, for both our sakes!" he growled fiercely, causing Sparx to back away cautiously as he scowled at him. With a sigh of vexation masking his guilt, Spyro promptly turned his back and made to walk away, not wanting to argue or endanger the dragonfly any longer, "I've got to go. So long and take care," he wished lowly as started to walk on aimlessly through the trees. He had barely gone a few steps when he once again heard the high-pitched fluttering of the dragonfly's wings, Sparx swinging around in front of him and bringing him to a halt as Spyro rolled his eyes irritably.

"But you're not from around here, right?" Sparx asked pointedly, "That means you don't know where you're going, right?"

"It doesn't matter," Spyro replied impatiently, "All that matters is that nobody knows where I am so they don't get put in danger. Now move away," he said as he tried to push by, but the dragonfly stubbornly hovered in front of his face, filling his vision will blinding yellow sparkles.

"Look, you're alone and lost in a place you don't know and you're scared. I get that," Sparx said almost wisely, "But you don't need to go wandering off into the dark all by yourself. After all," he confessed as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I'm lost too."

Spyro raised his eyebrow in surprise as he read the dragonfly's embarrassed expression. "Don't you live here?" he asked bewilderedly.

Sparx laughed humorlessly, "Here?" he exclaimed, "No way! Everything that lives here wants to crush me, eat me, kill me… yeah, nah. I live in a swamp a ways from here with my folks. Lot less things want to eat me there."

"Then what are you doing here?" asked Spyro.

Sparx grinned sheepishly once again, "Well, I woke up because I wanted to get a midnight snack. So I was chasing these butterflies through the swamp and, well, I ended up chasing them near a cave full of bats and er… I woke up the whole cave and had millions of 'em right on my tail! By the time I lost 'em, I found myself here. I've been trying to find my way home for an hour or so."

Spyro sighed wearily. He sensed the fear that Sparx was trying to suppress behind his mask of goofy humor, but it also triggered a sense of empathy with him. While he still believed the hapless dragonfly was better off not knowing him, he had been lucky enough to meet Spyro in time for him to be saved from becoming Toadweed fodder. He had been prepared to leave him when he thought this dark grove was his home, but now he felt that he could not abandon him in such a dangerous place.

"Do you have any idea which way to go to get back home?" Spyro asked with concern.

"I... think so," Sparx replied slowly, unconvincingly, "But I'll be honest, I'm not too crazy about going it alone with those Toadweeds and everything else that lurks around here. I know you already saved my life once tonight, but I'm lost, you're lost… maybe if we stick together, we can get unlost, huh?"

Spyro sighed grimly, but he couldn't deny there was reason to what he was suggesting. This place didn't seem like somewhere he could hope to rest with seemingly everything in it hostile to his presence. He saw no sense in staying here, even if it was remote and isolated. Making it to the swamp Sparx had mentioned seemed the better idea, but he still risked endangering him and his family by being near them. But they were both in danger here, and Spyro saw no better alternative.

'Just help the little chatterbox get home,' he told himself mentally, 'Maybe stay the night to rest up. But then you have to go; it's safer for them.'

"Okay, Sparx," he answered with a nod, "I'll help you to get home. But after that I'll have to keep going on my own."

"No problem," Sparx replied brightly, "And thanks, Spyro."

"Don't thank me yet," he replied greyly, "Lets get out of here," he announced as he set off walking again, the dragonfly hurriedly swept around to his left side just in front of him.

"Okay, cool, uh…" Sparx stammered, pointing ahead into the forest, "It's this way. I think." Spyro eyed him doubtfully but said nothing, seeing the dragonfly's worried expression as they set off into the forest, not wanting to unsettle him more. Like it or not, the little dragonfly was now in his charge and Spyro was not going to let himself fail him, not like he had failed so many before all this. Burying the pain in the shriveled vessel that was once his heart, he and Sparx carried on through the dark grove.

'I guess two heads are better than one,' he thought pensively, 'Even if they are pinheads.'

The odd sounds and strange calls he had been hearing all night seemed to wind up in an effort to frighten them, but Spyro remained stout as Sparx anxiously looked around at every sound, every tree and blade of grass as though it were a threat. He didn't blame him, and if he was honest , he was just as frightened as he was, Spyro was merely better at hiding it. As they stepped under the looming trees and through the dense foliage, they didn't see anymore of the Toadweeds or indeed anything other than more fireflies as Sparx occasionally offered some vague comment of how or where they were going.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we're heading the right way. I've seen that tree before" he said as he pointed at one of the seemingly identical trees of the forest.

"Good," Spyro nodded hopefully.

"Or did we already pass that one before?" Sparx then added questioningly, scratching his chin. The purple dragon rolled his eyes irritably. For half and hour or so, Spyro and Sparx ventured onward with no change in their surroundings as the night dragged on. It was harder and harder for the young dragon to stay awake; every fiber of his being was begging for rest and the lash from the poisoned tongue on his neck seemed to be adding to his drowsiness. He only had the assurance of Sparx that it would only make him ill and not actually kill him, but for now that would have to do. By comparison to his low energy state, the dragonfly was hyperactive, kept wide awake by his fear, even with his newfound hero accompanying him.

Perhaps looking for a distraction, he turned to Spyro and remarked hastily, "Hey, err, I couldn't help but notice you look a little banged up even without that spot on your neck. They didn't do that to you, did they?"

"No," Spyro replied lowly, "I don't want to talk about it."

"That's fine. That's fine," Sparx replied in a jittering voice, "Don't mean to pry or nothing I'm just making conversation," he laughed nervously as he rubbed his hands together.

Spyro sighed exhaustedly, "Just calm down, Sparx. I'll help you get home where you'll be safe. Don't worry."

"Yeah, yeah of course," the dragonfly nodded as he let out more nervous laughs, "I mean, what the worst that could happen, right? Right? Hahaha!"

'And I thought Flame was a scaredy cat,' Spyro thought with a faint smirk, finding the dragonfly's antics somewhat annoying but strangely endearing. But the thought of his friend Flame the red dragon immediately wiped the smirk from his face as he invariably thought of all his friends and the unknown fate he had left them to.

'Oh, Flame…Ember…Ignitus…Cynder… I'm so sorry…'

For some reason the thought of her name seemed to cut the deepest into his heart. He didn't understand why that was; they were all his friends and he would have given anything to have them with him right now. But he and Cynder had grown closer in the last few days and somehow, he knew it was not the same way he was close to Flame and Ember. He knew that the red dragon had secretly crushed on the pink dragoness, but he had never used the same thought for himself and the black dragoness. Yet it didn't change the fact that, of late, he seemed to value her companionship more than anyone else's, even Ignitus. A dark cloud of cynicism flooded his brain and Spyro realized that he wasn't helping himself by thinking about it. He had to get Sparx home safely and find somewhere to rest, then he could wallow in his regrets.

Brushing through a nest of leafy weeds, the purple dragon and golden dragonfly pushed on, the forest growing darker as the treetop canopy became more dense, hiding the moonlit sky. Spyro became more and more convinced that they were lost and that Sparx had no idea where he was going.

"Does anything look familiar to you?" he asked the dragonfly with increasing impatience.

"I don't know!" he retorted more crossly than fearfully, "I don't make a habit of coming here! I was flying for my life, after all!"

"Okay, okay," Spyro nodded calmly, "I'm sorry. It's just… it been a hard day for me." Sparx looked at him curiously as the two shared prolonged moment of eye contact, but Spyro quickly looked away and stared ahead at the forest, not wanting to invite anymore questions from the dragonfly. Sparx seemed to sense his reservations and held back on doing just that, looking about at the eerie forest as the night was silent but for Spyro's footsteps crunching the undergrowth and the dragonfly's fluttering wings. That fact suddenly gave the purple dragon cause for concern; all night he had heard the calls and sounds of creatures he could not see, yet now there was nothing of that. The forest had gone suspiciously quiet, even the fireflies they had seen quite frequently had vanished, the range of their vision barely extended beyond the trees immediately around them. It gave him the impression they were somewhere even the less than friendly wildlife they had encountered did not want to be.

This sentiment only grew as through the darkness he spotted the silhouette of a great tree stump more than twice his size just off to their left, the top of it was thorny with shattered timber as it looked as though it had been snapped like a twig. Just beyond the stump lay the rest of the tree as it stretched onward out of view, having fallen right between more massive trees. Spyro noted the smell in the air coming from the exposed woodwork, it was not at all rotten and implied the tree was only been recently felled, but certainly not by any woodworking tools or saws.

"What do you think did that, Sparx?" he asked cautiously as they wandered past.

"I don't know," he replied as he swung over to Spyro's right and peered ahead through the dark, "The same thing that did that?" he pointed nervously. Spyro looked where he was pointing and saw another broken tree stump, the rest of it having fallen straight over atop a large boulder and snapped into two pieces. The trunks of both trees were nearly as wide as the dragon temple's dojo and would seem almost impossible to bring down with brute force alone. Yet apparently, that was case.

"I guess so," Spyro replied anxiously, not knowing what else to say as they walked through the scene, the dragonfly pulling back closer to him as they forest revealed more carnage to them. Spyro's eyes widened as the glow of his golden companion and the few luminous mushrooms revealed the cracked, twisted and collapsed form of even more trees, great and small strewn about the forest like kindling. Their sharp and twisted silhouettes at times gave the impression of claws or elongated fangs of some nightmarish beasts waiting for lost and wandering souls such as the young dragon and dragonfly to enter their domain. The scene of massacred trees flanked the pair on both sides as it formed something of a path ahead caused by whoever or whatever was responsible for it. The breaks this made in the forest canopy did allow for sliver of moonlight to guide them through, but Spyro was only unsettled further as he warily scanned for danger.

"Is it really a good idea for us to follow the scary path of doom?" Sparx asked in fearful sarcasm, his hands quivering.

"Just keep moving," Spyro replied slowly, eyes alert for any movement amongst the twisted lumber. For the next minute or so they advanced cautiously onward down the path of destruction, still not sound to be heard or sight to be seen beside the broken and shattered trees until something came into focus in the dark ahead. Dragon and dragonfly came to a short stop as they saw that path before them was blocked by an obstruction.

"Great!" Sparx exclaimed crossly, "Dead ended by a big lump of wood!"

It appeared as much as that to Spyro as he looked upon a large pile of debris smack bang in the middle of the pathway created by who knows what. From the bottom upwards it was a mass of logs and tree stumps piled on top of each other, with one particularly large stump taking up much the middle of the pile with smaller ones tangled in thick vines that were wrapped around them. Perched on top of all this were two narrow, collapsed logs that crossed over each other and a pair of large, seashell shaped boulders that completed the blockade. Like the fallen trees it looked to be a result of some unknown creature or force, seemingly placed their on purpose, though it seemed odd considering one could easily walk around the trees to get around it.

Spyro frowned, "Somethings not right here," he said as everything about it seemed off, though his rising anxiety and desire for rest, and the insistence of his chatter mouthed companion did not let him ponder it for long.

"Nothing about this is right!" Sparx cried frantically, "I should be at home, all snug and dreaming about ladybugs! Not sneaking through a dark forest with things that want to eat me!"

"Alright, alright, calm down," Spyro assured him gently, "Lets just get over this thing and get far away from this place."

"Yeah, now you're making sense," Sparx nodded readily. The purple dragon let out a short, terse chuckle as he edged over closer, tilting his left horn towards him,

"Here, grab onto that," he invited.

"What for?" the dragonfly asked, even as he took a hold without hesitation. Spyro flashed a broad, albeit hollow grin, not wanting to drag his companion further down into his own low emotions as he suddenly jumped and flew upwards into the air. Sparx let out a short yelp as Spyro shot up and landed on top of the debris, pausing to take a look at the other side before he made a leap and entered a glide. Sparx hung on as his long body trailed behind the purple dragon's horn as they glided well over the debris as the forest scenery changed. The drop was higher than expected, the pile of rubble sat close to the edge of a high rock formation that towered above a small but wide patch of open grass. There were no more shattered trees laying all around, the destruction apparently ending right at the blockade as Spyro touched down lightly on the grass. Sparx yelped again as his momentum threw him forward and nearly smashing his face against the bony ridge of Spyro's horn.

"Hey, I thought you weren't trying to kill me!" the dragonfly remarked in annoyance as he let go and hovered before Spyro's face, who this time let out a genuine laugh at his expression.

"Sorry," he said apologetically, "I was just trying to take your mind off things."

"Yeah, well, I'll take my mind off things when we're out of here!" he replied grumpily as he turned himself around and looked ahead. Spyro sighed tiredly, taking the moment to sit down on his haunches as his mind focused back to the numbness in his foreleg and the stinging on the back of his neck. He could only hope that they were indeed getting closer to the swamp that Sparx called home, wondering if his parents were out searching for him too or were blissfully asleep and completely unaware of the danger their son was in. Even if he never ended up meeting them, something he believed was for the better, Spyro did not want them to be added to the list of persons he had failed if he did not manage to return Sparx to them.

"Hey," the dragonfly said with newfound enlightenment, "I think I know where we are!"

"Really?" asked Spyro drowsily, slowly lifting himself to his feet as Sparx moved ahead of him, pointing his finger out as he hovered along.

"Sparx? Wait up," the purple dragon called as he moved briskly to catch up. The openness was a change but perhaps not a welcome one; while the dark and dense confines of the forest let Spyro's mind wonder of what he couldn't see behind the trees, the newfound openness left him feeling exposed, like every creature in the forest was watching his and the dragonfly's every move.

Sparx stopped a short distance ahead of the purple dragon as a new array of massive trees came into view. They were colossal, broader and taller than any of the others he had seen thus far, stretching hundred of meters above the rest of the forest canopy. The other trees looked like weeds by comparison as they blended into the hazy darkness that Sparx seemed so interested in. As he stepped up behind him, Spyro gazed down and gasped in fright, seeing how close he had come to obliviously strolling to his probable death. Just beyond the edge of his paws was another drop, a drop into a black pit of perilous despair, or so he imagined from up above. The trees ahead of them rose from out of the pitch blackness and into the sky, hiding how truly colossal they really were. Spyro leaned forward and gazed left and right, seeing the edge of the canyon going on as far as he could see in the dark, disappearing into the unknown just as the darkness of below did. He slowly turned his head forward as Sparx remained hovering just above him and just over the edge of the abyss.

"I remember these trees!" he exclaimed excitedly, "I remember the bats chasing me through them! I mean, I don't know if this is the exact same spot, but this means we're heading in the right direction!"

"Are you really sure?" Spyro asked dubiously, "I mean, who knows how many bottomless pits there are in this place?"

"No, no, I'm sure!" Sparx beamed ecstatically, "That's means home is not much further on the other side! We're almost there!" he shouted, nearly making Spyro leap up to silence him.

"Keep it down!" Spyro hissed anxiously, "We don't know what could be on the other side. Or down there or anywhere around here!" he said warningly as he gestured to the forest around them.

Sparx turned around and eyed the purple dragon humorously, "Hey, I thought you were the guy who could shoot fire and stuff out of his mouth," he laughed, "What could scare you?"

"A lot of things," Spyro replied factually, grimly, "And I really don't want to add to the list."

"No kidding," Sparx said as he crossed his arms thoughtfully, "We've got that in common, you know. I know I don't look it, but if I'm honest, there is a lot of things I'm scared of too," he remarked sarcastically.

"No, really?" the purple dragon replied in equal jeer, "Sparx, I never would have guessed!"

Spyro and Sparx shared a hearty laugh as their spirits lifted each other, filling the eerie silence that they had all but forgotten if only for a moment. As the laughter settled down, Sparx flew in close to Spyro's face and gave him a mock 'punch' across the left side of his jaw, to which the young dragon playfully pretended to throw his head back in response.

"I know whatever's going on with you is bad, but, it was good for me that you showed up or else, well…" the dragonfly remarked deeply.

Spyro smiled weakly and shook his head and replied, "Let's leave the final thanks until we get out of here."

"Yeah, sure. My folks will give you the bigger thanks when you get to meet them," Sparx said readily.

At once Spyro's smile faded as his expression became ridged. "No, that's not necessary," he said firmly, "I'm just getting you to your swamp and then I'll be on my way."

"But you can't leave without meeting them!" Sparx protested, "They'll want to meet the dragon who saved their number one son! Heck, they'll probably want to adopt you!"

Spyro sighed, "Sparx, I can't…"

Before he could go on, a loud rustling in the forest behind them stopped him cold.

"What's was that?!" Sparx squealed as the noise grew louder, drawing the eyes of them both upwards towards the rock formation they had flown down from. The sound of shifting earth and shuffling rock rippled through the trees as something moved amongst the pile of debris atop the ledge. Spyro's eyes shrank as he realized the movement was not among the debris, but was the debris itself as it rose from the ground with a deep, grumbling roar. The cross of trees and rockpile fell away as the pile of logs and vines formed into a golem of sentient wood. A pair of slanted, glowing purple eyes gazed out from the log shaped head, atop which a pair of what could have been ears or horns protruded. Its mouth was comprised of a hinge like bottom jaw that jutted out with three sharpened, stake like teeth as it let out a deep, menacing growl. Its bulky upper half consisted of the larger of the stumps Spyro had noted from the pile as they sat horizontally and tethered with vines to form the creature's chest. Below this was a strikingly narrow abdomen made up of a smaller stump that the bulky upper half was connected to. Its limbs were all connected by thick ropes of green vines as a trio of sharped spikes poked out from the shoulders and four larger spikes from its back. Its 'hands' comprised of three sharpened fingers and its stumpy feet had two wooden toes each. The monster stood at its full height high above the trees, causing the ground to shake as it stamped its feet, its head tilting down and settling on the purple dragon and golden dragonfly.

"That's definitely not right!" Spyro remarked in dismay as he saw the monsters' eyes narrowing at him.

"Not right? Not right?" Sparx shouted in despair, "HAS ANYTHING EVERY BEEN MORE WRONG?"

The log monster clenched its hands and pounded them against its chest four times not unlike a gorilla, hunching down before it suddenly leapt from its high place and slammed down onto the grass before Spyro and Sparx, who could only remain frozen in shock as the ground trembled from the impact. The monster reeled back and then lurched forward, its hinge like jaw opening wide as a bone chilling roar escaped its mouth, sending a great blast of wind that shook the forest and nearly caused Spyro to stagger back as Sparx clung to his horn for support.

"What're we gonna' do? What're we gonna' do?" the dragonfly shouted as the purple dragon remained standing in fear and awe at the sentient amalgamation of plant and wood. As it stood up straight, it took a step towards them with its thick vine legs, finally forcing Spyro into action.

"Go! Go!" he shouted, spinning and darting for the edge of the abyss as Sparx sped out in front. Spyro spread his wings and ran to make flight as the monster ran after them, its feet pounding the ground like an earthquake. Spyro leapt from the edge as his wings gained lift, surging fourth now over the sea of pitch black as the dragonfly's golden glow and the millennia old trees filled his vision. He heard what sounded like a rope snapping behind him, Spyro not looking back as he chased after Sparx until he suddenly came to an abrupt halt. He let out a cry of fear as he was suddenly clutched in the splintery hand of the golem, its left arm stretching out twice its length as its vine appendage reached out to grab him.

"Spyro!" Sparx called back in horror as he saw the monster grab him, clenching him in its fist as its arm drew back with Spyro's despair ridden eyes gazing back at him.

"Sparx, get away! Save yourself!" he yelled as the monster let out a few short growls as its pulled its hand in close to itself, the purple dragon's paws able to clutch the top of its hand but unable to move his body in its tight grasp. As it turned its fist inward, Spyro gasped as he stared into the creature's face, its menacing eyes glaring at him as its mouth opened into another fearsome roar. Its stake like bottom teeth curled forward as the monster contemplated its unusual intruder, Spyro eyeing them apprehensively. He had gone through too much and come too far to become a meal for a malevolent pile of logs and vines.

Suddenly a ball of yellow light zipped between him and the creature's mouth, the monster making a confused grumble as Sparx flew erratically before its face, waving his arms and fists furiously.

"Hey! Put the dragon down you overgrown piece of firewood! I know a lot of termites that would love a piece of you!"

The distraction was enough for Spyro to summon the energy he needed, "Sparx, get clear!" he shouted, the dragonfly darting away just in time as he cast a burst of scorching fire into the creature's face. Its head caught alight almost at once, the monster bellowing in pain as it stumbled back and threw Spyro from its grasp, sending him tumbling through the air as the monster grabbed at its burning face. Spyro somersaulted a handful of times before he righted himself in the air, Sparx zooming up to him as the creature smothered the flames.

"Guess we're even now?" Sparx asked tensely as the monster pulled its hands away and glared vengefully at them, letting out a snarling roar as it started to run towards them.

"Grab on, let's go!" Spyro cried, diving away swiftly as Sparx grabbed hold of his tail spike as the monster lunged at them. It dived and crashed down into the grass as the dragon and dragonfly zoomed away back over the abyss, ducking around the trees as the monster leapt up and threw its arm out again, Spyro diving down just above the darkness as the fist smashed into one of the trees and shattered a large branch.

"Jiminy Crivvens!" Sparx exclaimed at the narrow escape, Spyro looking over his shoulder as the wooden golem drew back its hand and pounded its chest again, the young dragon looking ahead just as the monster let out a final, even more powerful roar that chased them through the towering forest. His roar swept over them like a powerful wind that jostled the trees and rocked the dragon and dragonfly violently. As they left the monster behind, ducking and weaving through the trees, Spyro saw the numerous pairs of glowing eyes suddenly appear inside the hollows of every tree they passed, awakened by the roar of the wooden golem.

"Hold on!" he reaffirmed to Sparx who clung onto Spyro's tail pike for dear life as they soared through the forest of glowing eyes, the monster and ledge they had escaped from disappearing into the dark and leaving them surrounded by massive oaks and darkness all around. Without warning, Sparx let out a cry of terror as he looked down into the dark below.

"What is it?" Spyro demanded, fearful something was following them, but a quick glance downward revealed what the horror was; the pitch-black darkness beneath them had suddenly become a sea of hundreds of tiny glowing red eyes staring up at them.

"Bats!" Sparx yelled as the darkness below erupted into a cloud of hundreds of the tiny winged rodents, swarming up all around them as they shrieked and hissed, baring their bloodthirsty fangs. Spyro sped onwards, crashing through dozens of them as the trees became a blur while the bats gave chase in a seemingly endless swarm.

"Faster! Go Faster!" the dragonfly pleaded as the bats snapped at his glowing tail.

"I'm trying!" he retorted hotly as he banked hard right, skimming over a long branch and diving under another, the bats following him around like a giant fluttering snake that slithered through the air. As he swept through the trees, a new horror appeared on one of the oaks ahead to his right, curling it black and purple body around the tree and waving its long twin antenna as its great pincer like fangs twitched menacingly.

"Yikes!" Spyro exclaimed as he gave the giant centipede wide berth, the dozens of legs on its twenty feet long body rustling as it coiled around the tree trunk, stretching out to snap at him. He realized to his dread that it wasn't the only one, virtually every tree ahead of him now had one of the monster arthropods crawling up from the darkness below, hissing and clicking their fangs and glaring with their glowing purple eyes. This only strengthened his resolve to not go down into the pitch black, not knowing what else might be lurking there as he avoided touching it like it were lava.

With Sparx still wailing behind and the bats still in pursuit, he daringly banked hard left around another tree, spiraling upwards around its trunk as the swarm of bats followed him in a shrieking coil. After rounding the tree several times, narrowly avoiding the fangs of one of the centipedes, Spyro dove down and charged back at the pursuing bats, casting a net of flame across it as he swept beneath the column, countless numbers of the bats catching alight and dropping into the abyss. But as he swept around to the left back on his original course, the rest of the swarm still followed in pursuit, shrieking and snarling.

"Keep holding on, Sparx!" Spyro called behind as they zoomed onwards, the dragonfly staring back in terror at the hundreds of fangs and glowing eyes that were chasing them. The darkness ahead stretched on, new trees and centipedes appearing out of the dark that forced Spyro to swung to either side to avoid them as the fangs of the giant arthropods snapped at him. It seemed that every noise and creature he hadn't been able to see was now awakened, driven after them by the bellow of the log monster, presumably the ruler of this dark and ancient grove. The darkness carried on the further they flew, Spyro once again doubting the sense of direction of his new companion who had assured him that home was just on the other side, but there seemed to be no 'other side' to be found in this maze of gigantic oaks.

And then, as if just to prove him wrong, the other side came into view. The high ledge of the gorge appeared through the dark as two great pink waterfalls of poisoned water flooded over the edge and into the eternal darkness below. Spyro beamed with gratitude as the land and trees came into view, now believing the dragonfly was right after all.

"Look! We're almost there!" he cried, Sparx whooping in reply as Spyro doubled his efforts and sped on towards the other side of the gorge aiming between the two great pink waterfalls. A gasp of shock escaped his mouth as movement suddenly appeared atop the ledge, several hulking beasts leapt out of the ground, glowing purple eyes all staring as the dragon and dragonfly soared at them. The beasts Spyro identified as hideous possessed lumps of moss and roots called 'Growths', recalling sketches of them in the biology books back in the temple. They were as large as an Ape Commander with bony root like fingers and legs, their faces almost resembling a squid and usually they carried some kind of improvised club or threw blobs of poison at foes. He had never seen one for real and was not thankful that he now was. Now dozens of the beasts had assembled on the edge of the gorge for as far as he could see, accompanied by many Toadweeds that leapt out of the ground and stood among them. It seemed the forest itself did not want them to escape.

"Oh, man, we're trapped!" Sparx cried in defeat, eying the creatures that were waiting for them and those chasing them. As Spyro feared that a direct confrontation was unavoidable, he saw a light in the tunnel; literally. A handful of fireflies suddenly appeared below the edge of the canyon ahead, their dim light revealing the mouth of a cave nearly invisible in the low light right between the glowing pink falls. With only seconds to spare, Spyro aimed for it.

"Sparx, hold tight!" he yelled out as he dropped down to just above the endless dark, the Growths beginning to hurl handfuls of sickly green poison at them, some of the bats pulling away to avoid them as the purple dragon soared into the cave, crashing through some low hanging vines as he flew headlong into the pitch darkness, Sparx's yellow glow helping little from the back of his tail.

"Mommy!" the dragonfly sobbed as he still clung to Spyros tail spike with his eyes sealed shut, the bat swarm chasing them into the cave as many of their number crashed into the walls of the canyon. Spyro remembered the trick he had pulled during the escape from the mountain and cast a long chain of crackling lightning from his mouth that cut like a knife through the dark, its arches zigzagging against the walls and lighting up the cave.

"Lightning too?!" Sparx exclaimed in disbelief, Spyro unable to reply as he kept up the electric stream that stretched far ahead, giving him the time to see the righthand curve that he would surely have missed without it. The cave then dipped downward as Spyro followed it as fast as he could fly before it leveled out after a short distance and opened into a wide cavern. The walls stretched out by a great span but the floor and ceiling remained tight as the bats poured out from the opening behind them, the cavern ahead filled with great rock spires that stood out like stone columns for them to navigate through.

"Watch out!" Sparx wailed as Spyro swung between a pair of them, the lighting stream revealing even more ahead as the bats soared through after them. Spyro knew his mana would give out sooner or later and he could only hope they would find a way out of the cave before they were plunged back into total darkness.

The cavern's path was unpredictable, swerving, diving, climbing, widening and narrowing as the electric stream crackled against its walls. The roar it created and the shrieking of the bats was deafening, Spyro barely able to hear Sparx's screaming as he dodged the spires, roots and rocks that littered the caves. He had to hope that there was a way out to be found somewhere and that he was not soaring into an inevitable dead end with the swarm of bats ready to set themselves upon him and the dragonfly. The electric arch showed the impending tightening of the corridors of the cave, Spyro tightening his body on instinct as he saw the narrow passage they were headed for, only just broad enough for him to get through. He hoped.

He braced for the worst, closing his eyes as he soared through the passage, feeling the wind from his body brush over the tight surface as he found himself zooming through a rectangular tunnel, his wingtips practically scraping the walls. He heard the sound of countless bats splattering themselves against the outside of the cave, but also knew plenty would still be following. The electric arch reached far ahead, filling the tunnel with fizzling yellow light as the corridor remained more or less straight, Spyro ever conscious of how little room there was for himself and Sparx.

He felt his muscles tightening, the stream of lightning suddenly cut out for a moment, flicking like a candle battling the wind. His heartrate spiked as his knew he was using up his reserves and still there was no sign of salvation. Spyro began casting it in short bursts, trying to conserve it as the darkness remained black as a lunar eclipse. The next burst showed the tunnel drop down just in time, the purple dragon barely ducking in time to avoid slamming against a large slab of rock as the tunnel dropped down. The next arch cut out prematurely, signaling his mana was nearly depleted, Spyro gasping as he expected a haze of blinding dark to fill his eyes. Instead, his gasp of fear turned to one of joy as far ahead, growing larger by the second, was an opening with a visibly grey background. That meant one thing; light, escape!

"Hold on, Sparx, we're almost there!" he called back excitedly, turning his head over his shoulder as he glimpsed the glow of the dragonfly and the numerous pairs of red eyes still chasing them.

"Hurry up! Come on!" Sparx demanded frightfully as he too saw the approaching light, the sight inspiring him enough to begin to crawl his way up Spyro's tail, grasping the spines along his body as the bats hissed and shrieked from behind. The light grew closer, Spyro trying to make out what might be on the other side and even if he would fit, but there was no turning back now. As he felt Sparx dragging his way onto his back, Spyro snapped his wings back and streamlined himself, soaring on by momentum alone as the narrow gap approached.

"Hold your breath! It's going to be tight!" he cried as he slammed his eyes shut, the dragon and dragonfly both screaming fearfully as they shot like an arrow straight towards and then, in a heart stopping moment, through the hole!

No sooner had he seen the light through the bottom of his eyelids then Spyro spun around violently, barely noticing the new environment with Sparx still clinging to his neck spine desperately as he flew back around towards the hole. With his last ounce of mana, he cast a blanket of ice across the hole, filling it with a frozen cork as the bats crashed against it like a thick pane of glass. The few that made it through quickly saw the purple dragon's fearsome scowl and flew off in panic, no longer possessing the advantage of overwhelming numbers. As Spyro hovered in place to catch his breath and steady his pounding heart, his dragonfly companion flew around in front of him and waved his fist angrily at the fleeing bats.

"Yeah, that's right! Get lost, you bloodsucking flying rats!" he scorned joyfully as he watched the bats flee from them, Spyro snickering softly to himself as he finally took in the new environment they found themselves in. Turning his head towards the light he had seen, he saw to his relief the open night sky far ahead of them just outside a wide rectangular opening in the cavern before it opened up into a much larger one beyond. Outside in the distance he saw a line of rocky spires barring his way to the sky beyond like they were fangs of a giant monster and they were in its mouth. He propelled himself forward, flying the short distance just outside the smaller opening to gaze at the larger cavern proper. Looking straight up, he saw more of the icicle like rock spires hanging down from a hard rock ceiling that was seemingly miles wide as far as he could see. Down below he saw a labyrinth of rock and dirt as few trees poked their way up through the maze of stone and collapsed spires like an underground mountain range. Spyro realized that they must be right under the forest, the dangerous grove having another layer to its dark and mysterious ways. As he looked ahead over the small mountains, he eyed the stars of the sky eagerly, finally confident they were almost away from this less than hospitable place.

Suddenly his view was interrupted by the glowing, grinning face of the golden dragonfly as he flew around before Spyro's eyes.

"So lightning too, huh? Buddy you are getting weirder and more awesome by the second!" he exclaimed.

Spyro let out a short, flat laugh, "Thanks," he said plainly.

"So what else can you do? Turn invisible? Shapeshift? Make girls fall in love with you at will?"

"No," Spyro shook his head impatiently, "And it would have been better of you didn't have to see me do any of the things I have tonight."

"Come on," Sparx jeered cheerfully, "I'll bet where you come from all the girls were digging you, right?"

"Whatever," the purple dragon replied dryly, "Lets get out of here," he said as he propelled himself onward, Sparx quickly following alongside as they flew away from the small cave behind them and entered the enormous cavern. Spyro stared straight ahead at the awaiting sky as the rocky ground past by hundreds of feet below, hoping the ordeal was finally over. After only a few moments his eyes widened as he gazed around and saw just how large the cavern was; it was well over a mile in every direction with the rows of teeth like spires marking the perimeter for as far as he could see. As he passed over the peaks of the underground plateaus, he saw the rocky ground come to an end up ahead and turn into a great poisoned lake, surrounding the underground land in its pinkish purple liquid. Looking downward, he saw the source of the lake was a multilayered waterfall where the sickly water poured down into the lake and, as far as he could tell, washed over the edge beyond the spires he was headed towards. It was strangely beautiful, if deadly.

"Come on, Spyro," Sparx nagged as he flew on the dragon's left side, "What other special powers have you got? I won't tell anyone, I swear!"

"Like I said," Spyro replied seriously, "The less you know about me, the better. Now, are we any closer to getting you home or what?"

Sparx put up his hands in surrender to his curiosity as he said, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Like I said, I remember getting chased through those trees up there. So home shouldn't be far now."

"I hope you're right," Spyro replied quietly as the great lake now passed by beneath them, the huge fangs of the great mouth they were escaping drawing closer as the purple dragon strained to see what was beyond them and alert for anything else that might endanger them. He saw several dark blue and dark green shapes milling about in the poisoned waters as he and Sparx passed over above them, some of the creatures looking up and spitting poisoned blobs at them but all of which only reached a few feet before falling down into the lake. In the brief moment he saw them he thought they looked like the Magma Worms he had seen on Boyzitbig Isle, but he was content to not have to see them more closely. The sky had opened up as the pair finally reached the edge of the lake, flying through the massive teeth of the cavern and into the night sky as the Celestial Moons seemed to greet them. They found themselves flying above a great canyon with a towering cliff face far on the other side, Spyro seeing a forest of familiar orange toadstools much like those he had seen around the temple.

"Is that your home over there?" Spyro asked Sparx as he pointed towards it.

"Yes!" the dragonfly cheered enthusiastically, "In those mushrooms is the swamp! Oh boy, Spyro, we're almost home!"

The purple dragon let out a sigh of relief as he flew onwards towards the other side, keeping his ears and eyes out for anything from the grove that might be following them. Looking behind, Spyro could see the edge of the 'mouth' they had just escaped and that it did indeed give way to an extensive waterfall along a wide section of the grove as high above it was the edge of the dark forest stretching for miles onward. Scanning down he saw several more of the large falls along the grove side of the canyon, pouring down in a rather glaring display of the lands's toxic influence. The river of purple poison flowed in a titanic cascade hundreds of feet below down into the canyon where at its bottom was wide river that skirted around the edge of the plateau. Looking below, he saw it formed a natural moat between the two sides of the canyon, its poison thankfully not infecting the land on the other side.

"I'm glad to be out of that place!" Spyro declared as he looked ahead and increased his elevation as he aimed for the top of the approaching mushroom canopy.

"You and me both, buddy," Sparx agreed grimly, "I don't think I've ever looked forward to seeing the old homestead as much as I do right now!"

Spyro smiled, though inside he felt a tinge of regret that he was now so close to getting Sparx home. He was glad, of course, but he also intended to stay true to his promise that he would carry on alone once he was safely returned. He even considered doing that right at that moment, seeing nothing more that was a threat to the dragonfly. They reached the other side of the canyon, the pair cresting the top of the mushroom canopy as they stayed only slightly above it, Spyro finally feeling at ease as his wings flapped intermittently, gliding across the mushroom forest. It reminded him so much of the areas surrounding the temple that he began to wonder if he was much closer to home than he originally thought. He assumed that the Chronicler had delivered him to that ancient grove because it was far from anywhere and anyone he knew, though he also assumed he did not want him to stay there specifically. Whoever and wherever the Chronicler was, Spyro wondered why he did not just bring him straight to him rather than expecting him to apparently go it alone and live like a wandering hermit.

'I wonder if that means I'll end up like that insane Hermit in Avalar?' he thought with grim black humor.

Turning his thoughts back to Sparx, Spyro looked over to him on his left as he looked down intently at the mushroom forest passing by beneath them.

"So, Sparx," the purple dragon announced solemnly, "I guess you can take it from here, right?"

The dragonfly's eyes shot up in alarm, "What? No, we're not home yet! This is my part of the world but home is a little farther still."

"But you can make it, right? I said I'd help you and then I'd have to go on alone," Spyro reminded him with a sorry tone. Sparx looked visibly upset at his words, but then he apparently noticed this and forced a dismissive grin as he shook his head.

"Come on, bigshot! You can't bail without meeting my parents first!"

"I told you, its better for you and them that you just pretend we never met. Its too dangerous to be around me… Ah!" he suddenly cried as the burning rash on the back of his neck flared up, causing him to shudder.

"Spyro?" Sparx asked quickly, the purple dragon groaning painfully as his breathing became sharp. His whole body felt heavy as his wings struggled to keep him in flight. Without saying a word, Spyro began to descend towards the ground with Sparx at his side, aiming for a gap between the maze of the great mushrooms while he still had the strength for it. The back of his neck stung painfully as his insides seemed to tighten from the effects of the poison. He touched down on the ground with a stumble, but managed to keep himself upright even with his injured limb as he came to a stop, dropping his haunches on the ground as he groaned harrowingly. Sparx eyed him anxiously as the purple dragon hung his head down groggily.

"It's the poison, right?" he asked cautiously as he flew around and looked at Spyro's neck, grimacing at the blotchy rash that had swelled on it.

"Yeah," he replied with a painful hiss, "Guess it's catching up with me." Sparx drifted back around in front of Spyro, saying urgently,

"You really got to wash that off and get some clean water into you, pal or its gonna get a lot worse."

"But it won't kill me, right?" he asked weakly, looking up at the dragonfly with squinted eyes. He was struggling to remain awake as Sparx scratched his head nervously,

"Uh… maybe?" he replied sheepishly. Spyro made to roll his eyes irritably in reply, but as he did it seemed like they had developed a life of their own as they boggled in his head as front legs quivered.

"Sp-Sparx…" he said wearily, his eyes rolling over finally as his legs collapsed and he fell forward, his chin slamming into the ground as his vision went dark.

"Spyro? Spyro!" he heard Sparx cry, the purple dragon feeling his heart beating heavily against the ground as the last attempts to keep his eyelids open floundered. He heard Sparx continue to call his name, but his voice became duller and distorted as he lay there, thinking he was dying. The thought that perhaps it was the Chronicler infiltrating his mind again lifted his spirts right before the moment the dark overtook him and he could no longer hear the dragonfly calling his name or feel his heartbeat. Spyro did not even have the strength or clearness of mind to ask himself if he was actually dying right before he did.

End of Chapter 19

Next Chapter: Swamp Sweet Home.

Note from the author:

I've had a bit of a rethink of what I had planned for this story as the end of the year is fast approaching. My intention was to finish this month and next month with two massive chapters that would have covered a great deal and put the story in something of second phase to begin the next year.

But trying to do that was quite hard as it would have made both chapters be in excess of forty pages each and when I am writing a chapter, I usually get to a stage around 25 pages where I decide that is enough and try to tie it up. Trying to go further for one chapter ends up making me feel tired and the chapter feel bloated. There have been numerous instances already where what I had planned to be one long chapter was carved into two separate ones because then I would have nothing to post the next month. So instead of two massive chapters to end the year I've split them into smaller chapters to give myself some breathing room and steady the pacing a bit.

I feel the need to go so long because I try to make each chapter feel like it moves the story along and doesn't drag, especially since I have tried to maintain continuous monthly uploads, not always successfully. With the end of this year I think I will delay posting new chapters for a month for so to give myself time to catch up and try and get ahead. I hate delaying chapters for fear of losing readers, but I don't want to over burden myself, especially when I have other ideas for short stories (non Spyro related) that I would like to be able to do also but I am solely focused on writing this.

So I won't get to finish this year on quite the note that I wanted to, but I hope that those enjoying the story will stick with me as we finish the year and things move into the next phase. I have a three arch story in mind so we are nearing the end of the first arch and going into the second.

As always, thanks for reading! Comments and feedback are most welcome!