Chapter 3
At dawn, our trio woke up, unaware of the upcoming dangers lying before them. It was at this time that the enemy started looking for them. Charisma sensed something wasn't right. She told them what she felt and they discussed what they should do.
"I say we go in disguise and find out what they're doing out there," Sparx said.
"I'm only good at cloaking places and things, not animals!" Charisma said. "That was next week's lesson,"
"Maybe someone could fly up onto the wall, see what's going on, and then tell us," Spyro suggested. "All we'd have to do is color him red. It can't be me because I can only glide, not fly, and I'm too big. Charisma maybe graceful and a little smaller than me, but she can't fly either. That just leaves . . . "
"Oh Sparx!" they both called.
"No way, no how! I am not risking my neck with those vultures!" Sparx cried.
"Oh come on. You're the only one who can do it. You're small, fast, and able to fly. Not to mention brave," Charisma said.
After ten minutes of persuasion, he finally agreed. "I'm only doing it for the butterflies, okay?" he told them. "Now what are going to use to color me red?"
"Simple," Spyro replied. "I brought some clay with me in case I got bored, but it'll do. I guess I won't be bored during this trip."
"Only you, Spyro. Okay, smother me in clay," Sparx said.
A few minutes later, Sparx was ready to go and do his duty. After a few good lucks from Spyro and Charisma, he flew off to the other side. He was amazed at what he saw. All over the place, black unicorns and dragons were running around searching for something, undoubtedly Charisma. Some were shouting orders to the others while four figures were just sitting there. He knew two of them must have been the leaders, and the third one was probably the dragon's son, but he couldn't figure out who the fourth figure was. It sort of looks like - but no! It couldn't be! Could it? he asked himself. It has to be! No one could look that ugly! It must be Ripto! Wait until the others hear about this!
He quickly flew to the field toward the others and informed them on what he saw. Crystal's face grew pale and Spyro's grew red in rage when he thought of what Ripto had done in Avalar.
"Um, guys? I think the clay hardened on me," Sparx said suddenly.
They quickly went to Sparx's aid and in thirty minutes, Sparx was free.
"If you'll excuse me, I think I'll eat my well-deserved butterflies," Sparx said hungrily, leaving Charisma and Spyro by themselves.
"So, um, what's it like to be a princess?" Spyro asked, trying to start a conversation. "It must be interesting."
"It's okay, I guess," she answered. "The downside of it is, I don't really like to be thought of as a princess. I like to be thought of as a regular dragon. Everyone tries to tend to my every need and ask if there's anything they can do. The worst thing is, all the boys try to impress me by doing fights. I wouldn't want someone who just likes me by my looks and my title. I want someone who truly cares about me and sees the dragon inside me, not the outside. Someone handsome, smart, brave, funny, dashing, and has a gentle heart, with the exception toward bad guys. What kind of girl would you like, Spyro?"
"Well, I guess someone smart, gentle, kind, a little spunky, pretty, not too tall, funny, and knows what to do in a crisis. That's pretty much it."
There was a pause. They both started watching Sparx chase butterflies. He was very good at it, darting left and right to get the butterflies. Each time he got one.
"Sparx is one peculiar dragonfly," Charisma said thoughtfully. "I thought dragonflies ate fruit or small insects, not butterflies."
"He was like that ever since we met," Spyro said.
"How did you meet in the first place?"
"Well, it was on the first day of school when we met. It went sort of like this:
Sparx was being bullied around by some older dragons. I didn't really know anything then, so I said, "Stop bullying that poor, defenseless, little dragonfly!"
They said, "Why?"
I said, "Because if you don't, I'll . . . um, I'll . . . um, burn you!"
Then they said, "Yeah right. A little pipsqueak like you burn us!"
They started laughing. I was turning red by the minute. Suddenly, the principal came out to see what the commotion was. By that time, the bullies were bullying both of us. Then I saw the principal behind them tapping his foot.
I said, "You really shouldn't do this you know."
"And why not? You're going to BURN us to death?"
They started laughing uncontrollably again. Once they had calmed down, I said, "No, because the principal is right behind you."
"Yeah right. That wimpy principal is probably asleep from reading those sissy books of his!"
"What did you say, young dragon?" the principal said angrily behind them.
"Uh-oh," they all said together as they slowly turned around.
"That will be enough. I am sending all of you to an 8-hour detention tomorrow during the football game."
With that, he grabbed them all by their horns and dragged them toward his office. "Are you okay?" I asked Sparx.
"I think so. They really scared me. Thank you for saving me though. That was really nice of you. I'm new at this school. You must be too. Will you be my friend?" "Sure."
"I'm Spyro."
"I'm Sparx."
"We'd better get to class now."
"Okay."
"And that's how we met," Spyro concluded.
"What an interesting story!" Charisma exclaimed. "My best friend went to the Dragon Shores this week, so she didn't get captured. I guess they only counted the ones who were here. We have lists for that sort of thing."
Her eyes turned somber again. "Oh Spyro! What am I going to do?!" she cried. "I don't know what I should do for that matter!" She turned to Spyro. "I'm really glad you're here to help me. I just had a dream I was marrying the Leader of the Black Dragons' son! It was horrible! You and Sparx were in chains and the rest of the dragons were in cages!"
She began to cry on Spyro's shoulder, who was getting really wet and horrified. He handed her a tissue and started to dry off with a towel he brought with him.
"I'm sorry," Charisma apologized. "I'm not usually like this. I'm really scared, Spyro," she admitted. "At least I'm not alone. I have you and Sparx. I really appreciate you coming here. I bet being a hero must be cool."
"It's okay, I guess. Everyone respects me except for some dragons. The one dragon who respects me the least is Trevor."
"Trevor? Who's Trevor? He sounds peculiar."
"I guess Trevor is peculiar sometimes," Spyro said. "He's just a year older than me and makes fun of Sparx and me nearly every chance he gets."
"From what I heard, you saved all the dragons, even him."
"That's right."
"Then why does he make fun of you if you saved him?"
"He's always like that. Always been and always will be, I guess. I think it's because he thinks he should have rescued the other dragons instead of me. He always thinks he should have all the glory."
"Oh. There are dragons like that here, too."
Sparx started flying toward them. He had a happy grin on his face. Suddenly, he thought back to the scene he had saw earlier. Why were those dragons and unicorns looking for Charisma? he pondered. Maybe they want to make her a slave or something devious. And what are Spyro and Charisma talking about? Charisma looks like she's been upset by something. He looked at Spyro. I wonder if Charisma likes Spyro as much as he likes Charisma. They would make a cute couple. Maybe Charisma has too much on her mind right now to think about love. Maybe I could help them out while I'm here. If Spyro comforts her just the right way, she just might see the light. I'll just ask what's wrong. This is going to be interesting. As soon as reached them, he started talking.
"Hi guys! What's up?" Sparx said.
"Oh nothing much," Spyro replied. "We were just talking about this and that. How was your meal? Catch a lot of butterflies?"
"It was okay." He turned to Charisma. "Charisma! You look upset! What's wrong?"
"Oh, it was just a nightmare I had last night. It was horrible! You guys were in chains, my fellow dragons were in cages, and I was being wed to the leader of the Black Dragons' son against my will! Spyro was trying really hard to get free, but a guard hit him really hard in the stomach. I think he passed out." She looked at Sparx. "And Sparx! You had lots of bruises and your wings were broken. It was so real! Maybe my mom was sending a message to me. I believe she used her magic to send me that message. That's how she makes messages if something important is going on or if she is bored in a meeting and talks to me. Maybe she heard what was going on and wanted to send me a warning. I guess she did it when the guards weren't paying attention. What are we going to do now?"
She was on the verge of crying again and Spyro quickly tried to comfort her by telling her that everything was going to be all right and held her. That was what made Charisma see the light about Spyro. He was exactly like who she wanted. He was not like the other dragons she had met. Spyro was different and Sparx saw Charisma looking at Spyro a different way when they drew apart and he knew what that look meant. It meant love. My plan worked! he thought happily. Maybe I can be a quite good trickster in love in my spare time. Then he thought about the dream. Just thinking of it made him shiver. I hope that dream doesn't come true. We're going to have to work hard if we don't want the dream to come true.