Chapter 17

            I wonder how Spyro's doing, Charisma wondered as she gazed through her window. She looked around. She had a nice bed, a mirror, more books, a nightstand, and her room was a nice peachy color. She even had a balcony. At least the room is nice.

            "Is it safe to come out now?"

            "Sure Sparx."

            Sparx flew out of the bag. "I thought I never was going to get out." He looked around. "Nice room."

            "I just hope that my parents are okay," she said worriedly.

            "I sure they're fine," he comforted her. "They're with Spyro. He knows what he's doing."

            She looked out her window again. "I'm trapped again though. There's nothing I can do." She sighed. "I just wish I could do something. Anything!"

            "Charisma?"

            She looked at her door. "What?"

            Her door opened. Sparx quickly flew back into the bag. Devlin's head poked through. "Just making sure you're okay and comfortable. Anything you need?"

             She shook her head. "I'm fine."     

            Devlin smiled. "Good. Just ring that bell if you need me." He pointed to a little bell by the door. He closed the door and left.

            "I think I'll take a nap, Sparx."

            "Okay. I guess I can read some books or something."

            "You guys are doing great!" Spyro praised. "We're going a lot faster than I expected." They were taking a short break. "I have never seen such charges like that in a long time."

            "Who was the last one?" a dragon asked him.

            Spyro smile. "Me, of course."

            They all laughed. (AHAHAHAHAHA…not .;)

            "I'm just glad that everyone's okay now," Diamond said happily. "We'll be able to bring my daughter back and restore everything."

            "How will we restore Mystic Shadows, your Majesty?" another dragon asked curiously.

            "I really don't know," she answered sadly. "I'm hoping something will turn up. But we mustn't give up hope," she declared loudly.

            "She's right, you know," Spyro agreed. "We've come this far. We just got a couple more things to work on and then we can fight!"

            Everyone cheered. (BOO!!!….)

            Spyro smiled. "Now, does anyone know how to use their tails as a defense?"

            They murmured among themselves. "We've seen it done," a dragon offered, "but we've never done it before."

            "Well, neither have I, but I really want to try it out. We can swing them back and forth. We just have to do it harder. It might be better if we stand up for this one."

            "Um, Spyro?" a dragon asked softly. "I've done it before."

            "Then come up here." Spyro smiled. "What's your name?"

            "Sarina," she answered. She was light navy blue in color.

            "Okay, Sarina. Show us how it's done."

            She looked at the group. "It's really not that hard. You just have to keep your balance when you do it." She demonstrated for them. "See? Let's first stand and swing your tail." They followed their directions. "Now swing harder, making sure you have enough space."

            "Hey!" a dragon called out. "This is kinda fun!"

            Sarina smiled. "Now swing your hindquarters around with your tail. This will bring the punch into it." She demonstrated for them again.

            After ten minutes, everyone had gotten it right, if not perfect. "Now with an object." She looked around. "Aha! We'll use these medium sized trees for practice. Here, I'll show you." With one swing, she knocked over a tree. "Now you try."

            After a couple of tries, Sarina stopped them. "You did wonderful! I guess I better turn things over to Spyro."

            "Thanks, Sarina. I have a feeling this move will come in handy." He noticed night falling. "I think we should get some rest. We'll get ready again in the morning." He looked at Sarina. "How did you learn to do that, anyway?"

            She blushed. "It was kind of an accident. I was trying to get some apples from my apple grove. I tried charging, but it just gave me a big headache."

            "I know what you mean," Spyro told her, remembering the other day.

            "So I tried knocking it over with my tail." She shrugged. "It worked so well. From then on, I just kept on doing it."

             "Well, thanks for showing us how to do it."

             She smiled. "My pleasure."

            "Where are we going to stay, your Royal Highness?" a dragon asked.

            Azurite sighed. "I don't know. I don't know what's left."

            Diamond nuzzled him. "Don't worry, dear. When Charisma comes back, everything will be back to normal."

            "What do you mean by that?" Spyro asked her confused.

            "I'll take that one."

            Spyro turned around. "Who are you?"

            "Spyro, this is our advisor, Darion," Diamond told him. "He helped guide Charisma during her training in magic."

            "Nice to meet you, Darion. Charisma told me some about you."

            "I've heard many stories about you, Spyro," Darion told him. He was a reddish looking young fellow. "It's a pleasure to meet you. But I'll talk about that later. I need to tell you about the deep magic."

            "Deep magic?" Spyro repeated.

            "That's right. Dragons with royal blood coursing through their veins have it. No two dragons ever had to the same one." He paused for a moment. "Well, except one time, but they were twins. Anyway, since Charisma is a princess and all, she might have the power to restore everything. It only works when her heart is true and full."

            "True and full?" Spyro asked confused.

            "That's right. You'll understand someday."

            "I guess we'll just sleep by some bushes," Azurite interrupted sadly. "And it's getting kinda chilly tonight."

            "Wait!" Spyro suddenly exclaimed. "I know where we can sleep. Follow me." He turned around and headed for a cliff.

            "Where are we going Spyro?" Diamond asked confused. "It's not safe to be by the cliffs." I don't even remember those cliffs being here.

            He smiled. "We're going inside it." When he was close to where he thought the entrance might be, he said the magic words. When he was through the side of the cliff opened. "Follow me."

            "Oh my goodness," Diamond gasped when she saw the beautiful fields. "How did you find this, Spyro?"

            "This is where Charisma, Sparx, and I slept before Charisma got captured."

            "She did all this?" Darion asked amazed

            Spyro nodded.

            "My little sister actually did this?"

            Spyro looked at him. "Sister?" he asked confused.

            Darion turned red. "Oops, I wasn't supposed to say that, was I, Mom." (o.o history shall unfold…)

            Diamond looked at him gently. "It's okay now, son. I guess we really should tell the others then. She turned to the group. "Everybody!" she yelled to get the dragons' attention. They looked at her expectantly. "I know we all had thought that my son had died in a shipwreck. But he was actually with us the whole time afterwards."

            They looked at her confused. "Why didn't you tell us?"

            "Remember that those were dangerous times then. We had to keep it a secret."

            Spyro was getting more confused by the minute. "I don't understand."

            Azurite looked at him. "I'll tell you what happened. You see, Darion was sought after because others wanted him to be rid of. He was always perfect and popular. It got worse and worse as times went on. We just made the story that he had gone fishing to fool the killers. We kept him in disguise as our advisor."

            "Why didn't Charisma tell me she had a brother?"

            "She doesn't know. She knows she has a brother, but thinks he's dead, like the others. We wanted to tell her after she had performed her deep magic."

            "Why then?"

            Azurite smiled. "Do you think she would listen to her own brother?"

            Spyro smiled back. "I guess not."

            "We wanted her to learn well before we told her so she could concentrate on that and not mess around." He looked at Spyro. "Do you understand now?"

            Spyro nodded. "Thanks for explaining."

            "I think we should get some rest now," Azurite said yawning. "We got to get up early tomorrow."

            I hope you're okay Charisma, Spyro thought worriedly.

            "Isn't it a lovely night, Sparx?" Charisma asked dreamily.

            "If you want to call any night in this place lovely," he grumbled. "I hope Spyro's okay."

            "It reminds me of the magical moment with Spyro and me," she continued as if she hadn't heard Sparx.

            "What magical moment?" Sparx asked.

            "We were by the lake," she began. "He looked deeply into my eyes and –"

            Sparx chuckled. "Oh. That again. You'll never forget that will you."

            "Of course I won't!"

            "Like that kiss goodbye?" he said teasingly.

            She turned to him. "What did you mean I was 'one lucky dragon,' Sparx?"

            Sparx shrugged. "I mean, out of all the beautiful dragons in the Artisan World, he chose you. Do you know how many girl dragons out there who would just want to meet him?"

            She shook her head.

            "Tons! He's just glad he doesn't get a lot of mail."

            "Wow. I guess he does like me for who I am."

            "Remember at the dance? I showed you Donna, and Spyro and I told you about her."

            Charisma thought hard. "Oh yeah. You told me Spyro never notices her." She smiled. "I guess I am really special then."

            "Exactly."

            Charisma looked out her window again. I guess we'd better get to bed then. It's getting late."

            Sparx stretched and yawned a bit. "I agree," he said sleepily. "Goodnight."

            "Goodnight."

            There was a moment of comfortable silence.

            "Wait a second, Sparx," Charisma said suddenly.

            Sparx looked at her. "What?"

            "Whatever happened to Donna?"

            "You know.  I'm not really sure. I think they made the guests clear the area and sent them home."

            "Then she would tell the Artisan dragons that Spyro is in trouble!"

            Sparx groaned. "Great! Just when I thought my life was complicated enough, it gets worse!"

            "This will ruin whatever plan Spyro has. What should we do?"

            Sparx thought hard. "I guess it wouldn't be so bad. I'm sure we could use the extra help. I'm just worried that Donna will be there and get in the way. I wish she would fall in love with someone else."