Summer Forest, Avalar

Facing the shadowed and nameless arch of an inter-dimensional portal, devoid of a blurred horizon between its intricately carved legs, Elora ran her thumb along the underside of her satchel's leather band, feeling the glow of the rising sun on her shoulders. Beside her, tail swaying in undulations of anticipation, Spyro sat in the dew-laden grass, looking up to the large rough crystal seated in the top of the frame, and then further aside to the faun and her patient posture, hand seated on her hip.

"Ready for this?"

Flitting down to the lavender lizard, vision meeting in a flutter of felt and unseen heartbeat, she produced a nod.

"I think so. Anything I should know about before reaching the other side?"

"We'll be arriving in the Artisan realm... Pretty safe and peaceful place like this."

"Alright."

"There's no huge cliffs or lava, or goo. Other worlds though... "

"Goo?"

"Yeah. Even if it looks drinkable, ask first and don't touch it."

"Gotcha."

"Since you can't glide or fly, there's a few places that might be tough to navigate."

Head tilting and hair shifting, she simply smiled from his implication.

"You don't have to show me everything."

"I'd like to. There's a lot to see."

"Well I'm interested, no matter what we do or don't find."

"Going here and exploring might take a few days too. Are you good with that?"

Unfurling her hand, reaching closer and cupping his cheekbone, Elora ran the tip of her thumb along his facial scales.

"Even if it took a month or more... I'm good with it." And by that, I mean... Even if we wound up there forever...

"Is anybody here in Avalar waiting on you?"

Seeing her wordlessly turn her head left and right, Spyro then rose upright to his paws.

"Cool. In that case, come up to the gate with me, and hold onto my wing."

Teeth appearing amid her bloom of mirth, digits tenderly curling around the pointed tip of his flight-granting appendage, she matched his forward tread through the moist foliage.

"Remember yesterday when I said there's ways for non-dragon types to go through these?"

"I do."

Slowing to a stop before the portal frame, Spyro's paw rose and hovered just in front of it, claws curled.

"Touch the portal right after I do. With you holding onto my wing, the magic should recognize you as being part of me."

"Okay."

Palm expanding after his words, she positioned her hand near to the stone block, and with a flicker of excitement, his claws clicked onto the surface. Slapping her digits onto the frame in a quickly following motion, she took in a breath of surprise as the portal energized, filling their vision with a circular expansion of liquefied color.

"Awesome, it worked."

"Looks like it."

"We're good to enter it now, but since you're coming through at the same time as me, uh, make sure you hang onto my tail or something."

"Why's that?"

"I'm going to need my wings... We're going to be flying."

Eyes widening and cheekbones rising, realizing the fruition of a daydream, Elora shifted back in a step, exchanging hold of his leathery limb for the readily provided length of his tail.

"Won't I be too much for your wings?"

"The portal's magic will keep us going, don't worry."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. Ready?"

Insides tingling from Spyro's eagerness, she grasped his rearward appendage with both hands, wrists bumping against the pointed golden tip.

"Ready!"

Surging forward into the veil of mana and magic, immediately losing sense of the ground beneath her hooves as her bodily balance tipped forward, her vision filled with bright light. Shutting her eyelids to block out the glare, Elora was then met with the steady cushion of airflow in her face, and the whistle of wind surging past her ears. Peeking open, the alarming sight of a thick blanket of clouds far beneath herself expelled any remaining breath, and she looked upward, only to find Spyro's rear just ahead of her, tail pulled taught in her grasp, and wings fully spread beyond. Taking in a gulp of the colder air of an unknown altitude, she then looked upside down along her own body, seeing her legs and satchel simply floating adrift in passive undulations.

"Ohhh, my, ahh..."

Garnering Spyro's curiosity from her outward uncertainty, the airborne reptile peeked back at Elora, a toothy grin emblazoned on his snout.

"You're finally flying!"

Managing to crane her head out to the left from his voice, finding her companion's face ahead, her eyes orbited in several sweeps around, fleetingly observing pillow-like puffs of clouds bumbling past.

"I'm, I am!"

"Isn't this great?!"

"Ah, still getting used to it!"

"Well, flying high like this is normal for dragons!"

"Are all of the dragon portals like this?"

"Yup!"

"Oh, kay!"

Squeezing her hands tighter around his tail, trying to calm her nerves from the absence of any visible earth among the cloud-strewn horizon, her heart beat steadily, watching the bob of Spyro's folded and retracted legs.

I've been to some high towers and ledges, but... Not this high in the sky!

Chin rising, brunette hair whipping up and away from her forehead, a distant star-like twinkle grew in size between Spyro's pointed horns. Squinting at the sight amid the buffeting of cold air, Spyro's head rotated back to her again, his own bristles rippling along his head and neck.

"Sooo, I don't know how this landing is about to go with us together but brace yourself!"

Blinking, glancing down at the bright and sun-painted clouds, still absent of any approaching land mass, she brought her knees closer to her waist.

Landing? As in... We're going awful fast, right? How do we, uh... Oh my.

Curling tighter from the thought, glimpsing the rapidly growing oval of bright light beyond his forward claws, Elora's limbs stiffened, captive in tow.

Be ready for anything, me. Maybe we'll just f-

*WHOOSH*

With hardly any time to blink away the blinding flare, phasing through the energy field with a ripple across her fur, a wash of verdant green filled her vision, only for the blades of grass beneath to rapidly grow in size.

*WHUMP*

Flopping heavily onto the carpet of wild foliage in an abrupt return of gravity, and then finding her cheek deflecting off of the muscle of Spyro's rear leg, sliding into him in a collision of limbs and bodies, Elora's arm folded beneath her shoulder as they sprawled to a tangled stop beside a patch of wildflowers. Discerning the gentle greeting waves of colored petals amid the return of balance and bearings, Elora's vision sharpened to the ridges and distinctly sculpted features of a giant rock dragon head just beyond. Pushing her shoulders upward and releasing Spyro's tail, she began looking around in increasing curiosity at the land masses and flat-faced stone walls unfolding before herself.

Huh.

Diverting to Spyro's motions as he found his feet again, shaking his head, he hopped into a turn around, facing her and sinking in a stretch of his forelimbs.

"You alright?"

"I am."

"Had a feeling we would stop gliding pretty quick."

Glancing back to the portal arch just behind, with its depicted horizon vanishing seconds later in dissolution, Elora turned aside.

"...Anyway, welcome to the Artisan realm. You're among my kind now."

Humming from his confident introduction, she rose further, propping onto her arm as she patted and swiped her fur in several places. Taking in the peculiar scents of the land and its life with a rise of her flat nose, she then noticed the silhouette of two small heads peeking around a narrow passage, vanishing an eye-blink later.

Hm?

Leaning a little and discovering the gleam of suspended brass letters decorating another portal frame in the distance, a further turn reintroduced the tips of Spyro's horns, regaining focus and revealing his patient waiting just below.

"Show me the way."

Heeding her softly spoken request, toes spreading eagerly as she rose to a kneel, Spyro turned toward the walled passage.

"I will if you follow."

Pushing up with her fingertips and freely standing, Elora pulled aside the satchel into a better position against her hip.

I'll follow you just about anywhere... Cutie.

Keeping a short stride behind his straight-line trot, her idle hands found their way behind her back, clasping together as she wound over and around growths of flowers that Spyro mostly tromped through. Nearing and passing between curving retaining walls, the central expanse of the home realm's meadow opened itself before them, immediately filling Elora's chest and eyes with wonder from the abundance of color and energy, overseen by the ornate tiled peaks of flag-tipped towers and interconnecting halls.

Oh wow.

Progressing to the left, heading for a quartet of vertical pillars, the distinct hum of magical energy progressively amplified, emitting from an ancient freestanding passage with low clouds of mist-like vapor creeping away from its footings. Meandering past outward-splined letters hovering in front of thick angles of brass, STONE HILL gleamed above their heads, and Elora inspected the portal churning beneath.

I wonder... Are these older than our portals in Avalar?

Weaving in among the fat and stunted stone obelisks, elbow fur brushing along their rounded surfaces, the ornately trimmed and symmetrical architecture of a building arose above the layers of clay-like earth ahead, and the breadth of a slender and long arch viaduct reached across to a platform rising from the center of the meadow.

"What's up there?"

"That building?"

"Up to the left, yes."

"Those are the living quarters... Sleeping rooms, and treasure piles. Keeps everyone's stuff out of the weather... And our eggs from being stolen again."

"Do you have a treasure pile?"

"Kind of."

Eying him with a quirk of her brow, his pace slowed as both of them entered the bridge's faint shadow.

"Your guidebook is kept safe up there."

"Its yours, silly."

"You gave it to me."

"Uh huh."

"So its both of ours then?"

Discerning growths of moss among the dim spaces between the bridge's blocks, Elora's leafy bosom expanded with a tiny bloom of elation.

Ours. "Yes." I like that.

Returning to the gleam of mystical sunshine, drenching the verdant meadow and stonework in its unending bath of vitality, the sight and roar of waterfalls gushing from brick channels ahead stirred her heart with its inherent familiarity.

"This place feels a lot like Avalar, honestly."

"Yeah? How come?"

"The abundance of plants, big old stone things, those waterfalls... So far the trees are different."

"The trees here are tiny. They get much bigger in other places."

"Coooool. Can't wait to climb a few."

"We'll make sure to visit the beast..."

Speech interrupted as both of them detected the rapid approach of feet in grass, both Spyro and Elora pivoted aside, finding the hurried and bumbling approach of two pastel colored-creatures that then screeched to a halt from the adult eyes alerted to them.

"Ha-HA! We've got them trapped now, Della!"

"You're not going anywhere, you, uhm, what are you?"

Blinking from the tiny aggressive stances of two pipsqueak dragons, with juvenile voices matching their vibrant colors, Elora exhaled delicately from the sight, completely ignoring their demeanor.

"Oh my stars."

"These two hatched here in the realm... Little balls of energy."

"They're so cute!"

"Cute until they start getting into things."

"Double the trouble, hum?"

Pulling her vision away from the new arrivals, seeing Spyro roll his eyes amid a guttural grunt, Elora let a laugh escape her nose from his simple and descriptive expression of exasperation.

"I bet you were just like them back when."

"Oh, totally."

"Hey, don't ignore us!"

Looking aside in tandem to the spotted and scaly youths, having since crept near with short noses craning forward and sniffing the air, Elora leaned closer, bending over in inspection of the nearer species. Seeing big eyes narrow after an additional evaluation of the much taller female before himself, the little lime-green reptile huffed.

"You're an odd looking dragon."

"Don't you have any wings?"

Looking over the child's squint in detail, adorned with stumpy horn knobs and features of darker contrasting color, she hummed from their outwardly loud voices.

"I wish I did, but I do not."

"Oh. You're really hairy too!"

"Where's all your scales?"

"Don't have any."

Countered again by Elora's calm answer, the orange dragon padded aside, looking around behind her upright figure.

"What's with that tail?"

"Her TAIL..." Spyro barked, weaving around Elora's legs in a protective orbit, "...Is amazing, just like the rest of her."

Flopping back into a seat, the lime-green youth stuck its paw out, with nubs of claws protruding as its sibling waddled near.

"Is she even a dragon?"

"I don't think she is, Titus."

"I bet she don't even breath fire."

Marching forward from his circling around her knees, Spyro bore down onto both of the tiny dragons, spreading his wings and enveloping them in his shadow and presence.

"She doesn't, but I do. Elora is here as my special guest, so please be nice to her, or else."

Flashing his standard smirk, tinted a little darker towards the mischievous youths, their visions darted back and forth from his pointed expression and polite warning, to the bipedal individual standing just behind him.

"I'll be nice."

"Me too, but, uhm, is she a dragon or what?"

Yielding to Elora behind with a sweeping turn of his head and retraction of his wings, Spyro awaited her upcoming response.

"I'm not a dragon, but I am a Faun."

"Ooh. What's that?"

"Big bro Spyro, whatcha doing bringing a girl that isn't even a girl dragon?"

Looking down to Titus, who was rubbing his head from his own ponder, Spyro cocked into a tilt, a knowing grin splitting his snout.

"She wanted to see our worlds... And she's very nice, and I really like her."

Brow scrunching, peeping quickly to his orange sibling beside, Titus peered back to Spyro with further incredulity.

"Wait, you like-like her?"

Horns rising, feeling Elora's attention focused on the back of his head, Spyro looked on, his grin fading in passivity to an honest smile.

"I sure do."

Sinking lower and baring all of his teeth, Spyro's tail weaved back and forth in the air in forceful swings of challenging.

"...Why don't you smoke puffs run along now. I've got a tour to give."

Sending both youths backpedaling and fumbling into a scurry away towards the knoll, the plum dragon watched their departure with a laugh, alighting upon Elora's approach beside him and brushing up against her leg.

"Kids."

"Mm, Spyro."

Orbiting vertically, bending back and bumping his shoulder with his horn, he found Elora looking straight down at him.

"Hi."

Leaning lower, facing his upside-down expression, her lashes batted with with feigned innocence.

"How much do you like me?"

His throat muscle shifted, seemingly building a lengthy response amid his pause.

"A bunch."

"You do?"

"I do."

"Mmmmkay!"

Touching the very front of his nose with a peck, she lifted away, meandering onward and twisting around in an arms-spread revolution. Luring a previously-rigid Spyro into a series of bounds toward herself, arriving alongside the ending of her prance, her arm unfurled into an outward gesture.

"What are these falls, my dear tour guide?"

"They're from the lake up in the mountains."

"Are they goo?"

"They aren't, just spring water."

"Ooh, lovely."

Bounding along the bare dirt of a footpath, turning to cracked and dry mud from puddles of prior moisture, Elora immediately hopped up onto the thick rock border lining the narrow pond, nodding toward the water.

"Stepping stones?"

"Yep!"

Springing off of the coping just as Spyro hoisted himself onto it, he watched Elora's landing, hooves audibly clattering onto the spiraled disk. Seeing her teasing toss of hair amid a side-eye peek, Spyro's claws tucked around the edge of the broad rock he stood on, shoving forth and easily bounding over the water - Only to find Elora had already leapt further to the next platform.

"Oh, alright!"

"Can you catch me?"

"Better believe it!"

Brow furrowing from her advertised chase, rear wiggling, he blasted forward and leaped again, paws hovering over the shimmering pool and then finding the damp chiseled ridges of the next platform, slamming together in a culmination of landing, only to eject him back into the air in another turn and heave. Proceeding into a dogged series of pursuant jumps in a circle, with Elora increasingly giggling from her still-successful evasion, the duet danced through their chase over water in another full revolution, only for Spyro to halt, toes sliding, and tail swinging in an abrupt twist of direction.

"Giving up?"

"Nope!"

Jumping fully into the pool of water in the center, blasting a wave outward from his belly that swept over all five stones, Elora stopped her skipping as the crest of cool water surged around her hooves. Waiting as he swam across, his muscular forelimb then shot out from the blurred depth, damp paw clasping around her hoof.

"Different option."

Moving her other foot a step closer, causing him to retreat beneath the reverberating liquid once more, Elora knelt lower and seated herself onto the stone, dipping both of her legs into the water with an inhale from the cool temperature.

Ooof.

Swimming closer to her knees with passive treading, he then surged forward and clamped both of his forelimbs around her submerged legs. Taking on his buoyant weight with ease, Elora's hands flattened onto the damp disk on both sides, and Spyro's head rose free from the water, flopping to rest on her lap.

"You coming in?"

"Probably not."

"Can't get all that fur wet, huh?"

"Oh I can... Just takes a while to dry. Don't want to be dripping wet when I go around meeting your family members."

"Yeah, guess that might be a little weird."

"I've seen how quickly you dry off, mister scales."

Reaching to his exposed forehead, her fingertips settled onto the bumps of his cranium, sliding aside in a curving path past his ear.

"See? Already dry to the touch."

"Carrying around fire does that to you."

"I think I'd have to swim every day if I was like that."

"Oh don't get me wrong, I do like cooling off whenever its available."

Fondly looking him over, his eyelids already drooped shut as her digits continued to caress his head, Elora's fingertips searched for traces of moisture among his bristles.

"Tell you what, Spyro... I'll swim with you, but we have to find somewhere where its just us two."

"There's places."

"Then let's find them."

Remaining still, his wings floated flat on the surface of the water.

"Mmmaybe in a little bit."

"Oh, I didn't mean right now."

"Kay, cause, you just got here."

Legs crossing within his grasp, her arm moved back to brace a lean.

"I just meant whenever."

Peeping up, seeing the breadth of her brunette hair droop aside behind her ear, Spyro watched as her locks were brushed back by the sweep of a misty breeze.

"We'll get there... Gotta see some stuff first."


Noticing the flanged end of a pipe jutting from the wave-trimmed wall beside, with a steady stream of clear liquid gushing from it and freely spilling into a small pool below, Elora hesitantly pointed toward the source.

"Is this drinkable?"

"Yup."

"So its not goo."

"Nope."

Glancing to Spyro from his concise responses, she padded closer to the half-moon fountain, palms spreading beneath her collapsing arms as she lowered in a bend over the pool of water. Sniffing and then lapping up a sampling, her muzzle carefully submerged into the actively rippling liquid, taking in numerous swallows.

I should get a flask.

Seated in the grass just beyond, with his tail flattening foliage in unyielding sweeps left and right, Spyro stared at the thick pointed tuft of Elora's tail, reaching high into the air above her rump. Resisting the very real urge to bat at it, he leaned heavily onto his forelimbs to keep them still.

One day... I must know.

Rising upright again, with her tongue curling around her pale lips in repeating passes, Elora wiped away a dribble from her chin, rubbing her hands together.

"Thirsty?"

"Was. That water is nice."

"Same source as the falls."

Nudging her satchel aside with her elbow, tucking it further behind her back, she began forward as Spyro twisted and rose into motion. Curving gently alongside a planting of giant spiraled hedge bushes, hearing a familiar hum of energy beyond the wall of dark leaves, she eyed the hedge row as it ended in a tower-guarded opening, only to be greeted with another layer of the exact same foliage planted within.

"What's in here?"

"Dark Hollow."

"That a maze or something?"

"No. Some big old forest with lots of bookshelves."

"Ooh really? A library?"

Looking over his shoulder, Spyro couldn't help smiling from the illumination of the faun's face from the discovery.

"I think so. Most of it is underground."

"We're definitely going there later!"

Chuckling quietly to himself as she bounded up to his side, a gleam of excitement painted across her features, he paused to scratch the back of his front leg with his rear toes.

"...Is that where the dragons keep their literature?"

"A lot of them, yeah. I think there's written records and a bunch of research... Alban and Oswin are usually around there."

Ear perking from his mentioning of names, and then the incoming whir of small wings, a blur of sparkling yellow zoomed past Elora, and the bulgy eyes and long tail of a gold dragonfly began a series of excited swoops in and around Spyro's horns.

"There he is! Hey buddy!"

Following the flight of his insectoid companion, culminating in his arrival in front of Elora's face, she grinned from his tiny and friendly expression and waving of his front leg.

"Sparx, hello."

Lifting her hand and turning over her palm, the energetic arthropod settled to a landing on it, revealing the iridescent gleam of his four narrow wings as they ceased movement. After his apparent rest, Sparx then blasted off into flight again, slowing to an orbit around Spyro and emitting several distinct buzzes, talking to the dragon in a mysterious tongue.

"He says welcome to our world."

"Aw, thank you."

"...And, apparently most of the elders are gathered in Stone Hill."

Reorienting their heading, edging along the central mound of the meadow, Spyro led both species of his dearest companions toward the gleaming arch mentioned.

"That's our next stop?"

"Yup, also, Elora."

"Yes?"

"Why don't you head through the portal first... It should change its behavior if you're the first to pass through it instead of me."

Behavior... "Okay. Should I be ready for something?"

"You walk through the portals in Avalar, right?"

Turning her chin into her shoulder, her brow quirked.

"Honestly I thought everyone walked through them until you came along."

"Yeah, that. Any creatures passing through that can fly, usually end up flying."

"So if I'm first through, I'll walk, and then you two..."

"We'll find out."

Exhaling as Spyro's pace slowed, allowing her into the lead, her fingers tightened, arm rising diagonally across her chest. Bracing herself as she walked face first into the liquid curtain of color, phasing through the veil of magic that drug across her fur in a tingling sweep, her eyes were then exposed to a conical funnel of undulating mana, stretching ahead in a steady narrowing to a twinkle of light in the distance. Retreating from the seemingly distant end, inspecting the mottled dirt passing beneath her hoofsteps, Elora then realized in a turn that the warm spot on her leg was Spyro's forehead pressed into it, lifting away as he padded along just beside her with Sparx latched onto his crest.

"Looks like we're on the ground for this one."

"Guess so."

Footfall sweeping through wispy sparkling tendrils of energy, seeping through the edges of grass in steady passing waves, all three creatures eyed their passage with outward curiosity as the colors of the opposing landscapes began merging together, changing the hue of light cast onto them. Noticing the churning tunnel's end was already approaching at an oddly high rate of speed, only for it to slow and expand into a tall half-circle, Elora's eyelids lowered in a protective squint, swallowed again by the energy of a portal.


Stone Hill, Artisan Realm

Finding herself gazed upon by the unobstructed sun directly above, Elora's shoulders relaxed from the welcomed glow on her fur.

"Alright Sparx buddy, where is everyone?"

Looking beside as the flaxen dragonfly dutifully darted forward with a chirp, halting in a physical point towards the large structure rising to the left, she peeped further to Spyro.

"Up ahead."

"In that place?"

"Thinking so. You ready to meet some of my elders?"

Lips pursing, Elora nodded carefully from the rapidly approaching prospect.

"...They're all bigger and older than me, in case you wondered."

"I would assume, since you're calling them elders."

"I call all of them that."

"Well, so far you're the oldest dragon I know of."

"Heh, that's about to change."

Bounding forward into his bouncy trot, migrating in and out of the shadow of a freestanding Keep with Elora in tow just behind, the sight of grizzled fluff and curled horns of grazing rams caught the attentions of the couple in tandem. Slowing their meander together, sternly eying the nearest animal that watched their passing with increasing attention, Spyro's eyebrows perked as his companion's hooves pounded into the earth with added vigor.

I may be on my back legs, but if I can wrestle sheep... I'll throw you around too.

Sneer curling into a smile as the livestock's interest faded, turning aside with a wrinkled nose and tearing up a new mouthful of grass, Elora grunted with a confident hum. Inspecting her pale complexion as she peeked across to a different gathering of lazily eating beasts, Spyro's head cocked into a tilt.

You sure don't look like a fighter... But you're a physical creature from what I've seen. Even without horns, I bet you could handle a brawl, no problem.

Greeted with her teal-green orbs, ears pointed outward beyond her lazy tufts of brunette hair, the now-peaceful demeanor exuding from her doting expression filled his chest with mirth.

...See? With a face like that, you wouldn't even see it coming, and then bam. She knocks you on your butt and steals your heart doing it.

Glancing ahead and correcting their heading with a slight turn, his wing appeared beside her shoulder in a gentle unfurling, and she drug her fingertips along the smooth orange flesh, grasping the pointed end within her palm.

Since I already stole your heart, you can have my wing.

Hearing a hint of hearty laughter emitting from the large doorway just ahead, both of the young adults squinted into the dim interior, and Sparx promptly shot ahead, disappearing around the door frame to the right. Ambling into the shadowed entry and passing through a ring of daylight seeping in from a domed skylight, visions adjusting to the dim interior, Elora's grip on Spyro's wingtip tightened, discovering a standing and leaning gathering of four much larger dragons, all of which were now observing the newly arriving duo with visible interest.

"Ah, there they are."

"The lad returns, with company in tow."

"And its a lady to boot."

Footfall slowing as two of the elder dragons traded looks of interest and amusement, a third pushed forward from his lean against the wall, and Spyro halted outright from his movement, ceasing Elora's pace beside him as Sparx idly hovered near.

"Mister Spyro. I assume this is your guest?"

"Yes sir!"

"You were talking your head off about bringing them, so we were starting to wonder when you'd actually arrive."

"All journeys end in due time, Gavin."

Observing the approaching heavy tromp of the dark green elder, with ample and proud wings tucked behind the folds of a work vest, Elora's ear perked from the clatter of tools holstered in a thick belt around his waist. Facing the much larger reptile, approaching with the girth of a spade-tipped tail undulating behind his muscular rear legs, he then sank to a kneel in front of her. Head lowering to better match her standing height, the dragon offered forth a great paw, flattening in a harmless turn toward her.

"May I?"

Awed by the physical bulk before her producing a gentle masculine voice, Elora reached outward, meeting the large-clawed palm and exhaling as it closed around her hand with unexpected delicacy, gyrating up and down in two small motions.

"Nestor."

"Elora."

"As the leader and caretaker of the Artisan realm, I welcome you, miss Elora."

Vision flitting up from the faceted gleam of a large emerald seated near his shoulder, the faun took in the sight of the fully matured reptilian beast, much more akin to the written descriptions of old.

"Thank you."

"I see you've taken company of Spyro here. This one is quite the hero of the age."

Turning with a smile of admittance, she looked to the span of his wing in her grasp.

"Oh I know. We kind of borrowed him for a while to settle a few issues back in Avalar. Since then..."

"Avalar? Are you acquainted with that feline Hunter?"

"I am, he's a friend of mine."

"Hunter has visited our Artisan lands now and then, but to be graced by the presence of faun-kind... A rare honor, certainly."

Hoof dragging shyly at the segmented floor, her shoulders perked from Nestor's kind words.

"Its an honor to meet real dragons... People back home haven't seen or encountered them for generations. Spyro was the first one I've ever seen."

"There are many of us across our lands, if you wish to meet more."

"Oh, well, as long as its alright with them... I'm just tagging along with Spyro, so wherever he goes, I will too."

"I see."

"I wanted to show Elora our home world, since she and I have already been around hers a bunch."

Rising upright, Nestor grunted with amusement from Spyro's interjection, and just behind, another elder lifted his arm toward the ceiling, his rotund orange belly protruding out below.

"O dear Fauna, I beg thee to venture far with me."

Stepping aside in a turn and extending his arm toward the other three elders, Nestor's chin rose from the plump dragon's poetic statement.

"Speaking is our resident actor and playwright, Darius."

"And how fortune and circumstance have brought thou here, friends with hearts held dear."

Smiling more from the scarved blue dragon's rhyming and accurate words, Elora's cheekbones rose as he bent into a brief bow.

"To his left is Gavin, caffeine connoisseur, and further is Lindar, timekeeper and clock-maker."

"Good day, miss Elora."

"Greetings."

Waving her free hand in an arc of returning acknowledgement, Elora suddenly found herself bereft of Spyro's wingtip as he yanked it free from her grasp, lifting the span of his flight surface up above her head.

"Elora is under my wing while she's here, as promised."

Met with differing chuckles from his gesture, the young dragon looked proudly to Elora beside as she tilted her head, touching his suspended wing with the tip of her ear.

"Very well. Do be cautious in your travels together, miss Elora. Since you appear to be lacking in wings, some worlds ought to be avoided."

Head lowering in a nod from Nestor's advice, she hummed.

"I'm sure we'll manage."


Artisan Realm, Dragon Kingdom

Pathing around the perimeter of the central hillock, with an errant grasshopper launching away from their heading, Elora glimpsed the retreating of big eyes and little horns beneath the shadow of the bridge adjacent.

"Soo, remind me again how they all got turned to crystal? 'Cause, most of your elders here look like they would be really tough to fight against."

Looking to the afternoon sky in recollection, Spyro thought back to the struggles and events strewn across prior years.

"Lindar, white beard clock-maker, insulted one Gnasty Gnorc on a magic broadcast, and Gnasty got mad and caught everyone off guard with a huge spell that zapped and froze every adult dragon in our world."

"Oh my."

"They still heckle him about his poorly timed comment... But Gnasty caught everyone off guard. We didn't know he was experimenting with magic."

"An unforeseen threat looms."

"Psh. It did until I arrived. Chased him around and roasted his butt anyway."

"Spitting fire and saving the day."

"Heck yeah."

"And to think such a hero went on to save worlds beyond his own..."

Peeping towards Elora from her playful swoon, her held hands split apart, reaching over and grasping his bobbing horn, and placing her other hand over her heart.

"I'll save anybody's world if it means I can beat up their bullies and baddies."

"Such noble intent!"

"Plus if there's any treasure to gain, that's cool too."

Rolling her eyes away, Elora grinned as they entered the shadows of the massive spiraled hedges, weaving around the inner planting.

"...Mostly noble."


Dark Hollow, Artisan Realm

Emerging beside his upright companion, discovering the immediate change of the sky's colors to a deep indigo-blue, Spyro followed Sparx's low glow over the dark expanse of rich forest grass, hovering in a turn toward Elora's still hooves.

"Whoa, my gosh."

Realizing her hands were clasped together above, big eyes captured by the scattered blooms of steady candle light, Spyro leaned forward in an introductory lead. Paws individually planting onto the dark earth in a slow pace, he grunted with a smile as the distinct landings of her hooves caught up to his flank.

"There's books here, there, up ahead... Pretty much everywhere."

Curious eyes inspected iron-framed domes of orange glass in passing, broadcasting interior light to the thick growths of deciduous trees in all directions around the clearing. Turning left and right from the singing of crickets, scattered among still branches reaching inward to them, the hop and plop of slimy toads added to the faun's distraction as she took in the mysterious locale with increasing wonder.

I like this world already.

"Oh, hey, perfect!"

Hurrying forward, towing Elora's curiosity with the wiggling point of his tail, she alighted upon a connected pair of obelisk-like towers, framing the segmented series of steps fitted between that Spyro turned in front of.

"Since you asked earlier, here is one of our stairs."

Touching her index finger to her pale chin beneath a feigned furrowing of eyebrows, she leaned left, and then bent over to the right, and a mildly perplexed Spyro glanced between her motions and the flat-stone structure behind.

"Are you... Not convinced?"

"Oh I am. There's just this cute dragon in front of it."

"Ah, heh, there is, huh?"

"Mmmhm."

"Well, since I'm... Yeah. There's more stairs down that way."

"Is the library down there?"

"The main part of it."

Teeth peeking out in a gleam of reflected candle light, the furry female cheekily grinned, heading towards the direction of his pointing tail. Finding a wide bricked passage sinking into the earth in a left-hand turn, she hopped down from the first of numerous low ledges, hoof-fall echoing from the landing.

Oh. "Is that a tunnel?"

"It leads to the cave inside."

Skipping down two more ledges, she craned to the right, seeing the flicker of flame dancing across the gaps and splits of rock.

"This is really cool."

"I think you'll like the cave itself."

"Probably."


Definitely.

Orbiting left and right across the dim cavern, lined with massive bookshelves laden with rows and disheveled stacks of books, Elora took in several nasal samples of the musty air, accented by the odd odor of the pool of deep blue liquid spread across half of the floor beneath. Finger pointing downward, she hesitantly turned to Spyro beside herself.

"Goo?"

"That's goo."

"Why in here?"

"No idea."

Looking ahead, suddenly realizing the presence of another dragon as a book lowered to a previously unnoticed desk, the neck of the reptile residing within the quiet room extended upward.

"Come hither, you three."

Startled slightly by the outward voice reverberating off the underground surfaces, Elora waited for Spyro to take the lead, ambling closer to the desk surrounded by unkempt stacks of books and stepping onto another of the orange-glassed domes rising from the natural floor.

"Ah. Spyro, and friends. Good evening."

"Hello."

Voice remaining hushed, the female attained eye contact with the librarian as they lowered a pair of reading glasses to the wood surface.

"In search of knowledge?"

"Ahm, well, always, but..."

Spotting the errant feather of a quill, its shaft seated in a small clay pot on the front corner of the desk, she cautiously pointed towards the writing utensil.

"...Would you happen to have another one of those?"

Promptly lowering his attention to the object in question, revealing more of the crimson turban on his head, the pink and orange elder then reached lower, opening a drawer.

"I do. Do you need ink?"

"Please."

Grunting with interest, and then producing another quill and a narrow brass tube, the dragon wordlessly unscrewed its lid in demonstration, twisting it back on seconds later. Standing to his feet in a gain of height and outward weight, the male reptile leaned forward, extending his arm to Elora's clamoring palms and depositing both objects onto them.

"Thank you, very much."

"You are quite welcome, young lady."

Looking aside, eagerly nearing the edge of the shelf, Elora hopped across to the first of several flat platforms leading to the bottom of the cavern.

"I'll be down here, okay Spyro?"

"Okay!"

Heart beating as his travel partner leaped further, increasing distance between them, he then twisted back up to the elder, who had since resumed sitting.

"Spyro."

"Oswin."

"Should I assume you aren't here to read?"

"Actually, I am. Kind of."

"Oh. Color me surprised."

"Hey, she gave me a guidebook and I still look through it!"

Nudging his crimson turban a little higher, Oswin's eyes narrowed in a squint.

"Regardless, young one. Are you after any subjects in particular?"

"Ah, well... Anything that says stuff about fauns."

Scanning across the circular shelves, and then peeping towards the young male as he deposited his glasses onto his snout, the elder's arm extended horizontally outward.

"Interested in her kind, are you?"

Rolling his eyes away in sheepish admittance, Spyro's paws scooted closer together.

"Maybe I am."

"In that case, there are several volumes referential to her species, actually..."

Squeezing his upturned digits together, summoning several books from the various shelves, Oswin smiled discreetly as Spyro looked around in captive curiosity. With thickly bound reams approaching in levitation, converging and stacking neatly into a tower beside Spyro, the purple reptile blinked from the quiet and tidy construction of literature.

Uh, oh boy. "These are huge."

"Most of these share similar information on the subject, as we haven't interacted with the goat-legged-kind for a great many moons... But if you dig deeper, you might find the morsels you're looking for."

Pulling the top book from the stack and shoving it under his shoulder, only for the volume to heavily flop onto the floor with a poof of dust, Spyro stepped back as Sparx promptly appeared in view, easily levitating the object of much greater mass than himself.

"Thanks."

"Mm."

Gripping the edge of the open shelf, bounding down twice to one of the lower circular platforms, Spyro halted, finding Elora satisfactorily near in his view. Paw lifting as Sparx plunked the hefty object onto the stone border, the purple dragon began thumbing through the book with gentle pries of his claw points, smiling as Sparx's little feet landed beside his bristles in a perch on his head.

F. Faun. Female... Page one-five-two. Humm. Measurements, temperament... Color variants? Light brown with... Yep. That does look like her.

Vision glazing across paragraphs and dated sketches, flitting beyond to the still-seated Elora with a huge book on her lap, her right arm shook from scribblings onto her parchment, flat on the smooth stone floor beside.

Looks like you've found something good.

Resigning from his attempt to learn from musty pages, Spyro's elbows sank onto the open book, holding his chin up onto his palms as he reclined onto his belly.

Kind of tough to just read about something when a real one is sitting in front of you.

Observing her tranquil motions, fuzzy fingers turning broad pages with precision beneath the glow of candlelight, his heartbeat quickened as she peeked up beneath her brunette bangs, noticing his new position within the library. Eyes meeting across the pool of cool blue goo, their wordless connection remained strongly tethered, keeping the other's attention for an increasing length of time.

Morsels... You ARE what I was looking for. Dancing around in my dreams, and now you're here in our library, looking at me like I'm the best thing you've ever seen.

Stirring more from her unfettered study of his frontal profile, Spyro's shoulders perked in a tingle of pride, forelegs crossing together.

That smile you send my way, is the best thing I've seen. You beautiful, ahm, goat girl.


Eyes blasting open from the arrival of solid feet in his hearing, Spyro jolted out of a doze, finding the fur-crowned hooves of Elora near his head.

"Hey, sleepy head."

"Wha... Oh."

Hoisting himself up with a stretch and groan, a yawn forced his maw wide open.

"Mmf, na-hah, hi."

"I'm done reading... Found some really neat things."

"Yeah? Good."

"We can head out of here if you want."

Blinking, Spyro eyed her as she kneeled close, fondly looking him over in detail, and then closing and gathering his book just beside.

"If that's... If you're fine with that, sure."

Touching the tip of her nose to the front curve of his snout, she expanded into her upward stance, pulling Spyro to his feet.

"I am. Let's goo."

Hurrying into an upward heave along her powerful jump to the next platform, glimpsing the waving of her leafy dress just beside, the plum reptile planted his paw pads onto the hard surface, shoving into another launch to the cavern's upper level. Immediately garnering the attention of Oswin, lowering his book once again, he eyed Elora's swift arrival with interest, seeing her arm laden with found literature.

"Young lady."

Lips parting from the elder's commanding echo, she lifted the trio of books up onto the open desk, gently setting them onto the stained and ornately hewn wood.

"Y-Yes?"

"I couldn't help but notice the fervor of your writing down there."

Depositing the quill and ink tube onto the desk as well, she produced a nod, and a shrug to follow.

"Yeah. Kind of ran out of space on my paper. This quill worked great though, thanks again."

"Ran out of space...?"

Fishing out her roll of rough parchment in answer, Elora unfurled the long sheet, visibly lined with dozens of scribbled notes and remarks, ending with recent writings in droplet-splattered ink on the very bottom.

"Ah. Documenting your travels and trades, I see."

"Four months worth on this sheet."

"And you have more?"

Her ears drooped.

"I don't... Which is kind of sad now, since I've never been here before."

Producing a single grunt of amusement, Oswin turned aside in his chair, groaning in a downward lean.

"Well, considering we have centuries of paper spare..."

Rising upright, his arm unfurled, plopping a thick ream of blank paper onto the desk, tightly crimped at the top with fibrous banding.

"...I insist that you continue your writing aspirations, miss, erm..."

"Elora."

"Right. Miss Elora, of Avalarian origin, yes?"

"Y-Yes, how did you know?"

Looking down his nose with another grunt, Oswin eyed the mystified creature, tapping his claws onto the stack of books.

"These volumes you've been nose deep in are rather indicative."

"Oh, yeah, hah. I was just surprised to see more than one book about Avalar."

"Well, this celestial body we all reside upon has been around for a while... And our respective worlds have too. Generations much older than you and I once lived in the lands of Avalar."

"That's what I've read."

"In any case. Please take this paper, and, oh, one other thing... Those are pencil marks, yes?"

"On my parchment? Yes they are."

"Right. To be frank, I have always preferred the behavior of ink over pencil dust."

"I've only ever written with graphite."

"Then this shall be of use to you."

Opening another drawer of his desk, rummaging around and beneath several unseen objects, the dragon's mouth curled into a smile. Paws coming together and arriving between them, the narrow length of a black-and-crimson feather was withdrawn from a thin metal sheath, with wandering ember-like lines glowing among the strands and shafts.

"This is a phoenix feather... Neither ink nor graphite required to use."

Gaping at the dark-colored and enticingly mysterious object, moreso as the elder gestured towards her in offering, she looked up and down between it, and the dragon's patient expression.

"Ah, you... Don't want this?"

"This has sat in my desk unused for upwards of seven years now... As I said, I'm more of an inkling."

"Oh, well, thank you, um, how does it work?"

"Being from the legendary bird of flame, it burns whatever you write into paper... And other surfaces."

Sliding the shaft of the quill back into its iron sheath, and then sliding the utensil into the hollow binding of the paper ream, Oswin handed both to Elora readily, and she accepted both objects with an illumination of mirth in the dim library.

"You are truly generous, and I... Thank you, mister..."

"Oswin, of Dark Hollow."

Bowing her head respectfully, Elora pried open her satchel and gingerly deposited the quill and paper within.

"I'll be sure to make good use of these."

"I have little doubt."

Hands quietly clasping together, Elora exhaled happily, and then looked to Spyro seated just behind, her cheeks flushed with excitement.

"Ready?"

"Always."

Humming with mirth, she turned and waved to Oswin amid their departure to the mouth of the tunnel, tail wagging left and right.

"Thanks again!"

"Certainly. Good evening to you."

Ambling into the narrower passage, passing dribbles of melted wax perched along the walls, Spyro smiled as Elora immediately found his wingtip, visibly sashaying beside him.

"That was real nice of him."

"Goodness yes. I won't have to pick and choose when to write anymore... Can't wait to try using that feather too."

"Looked cool."

"Right? Feather of a Phoenix... Who even has something like that?"

"You do now."

Turning into the second leg of the tunnel, Elora's stride turned into a prance of short excited skips, palm patting her swinging satchel.

"Yes I do, and... We're heading back to the home world, right?"

"That's the plan."

"Thinking about sleeping?"

"A little bit. Wanna hang out in my space until then?"

Peeping toward the plodding of the purple dragon beside, she tingled with interest.

"Your room, huh?"

"Can you handle it?"

Tongue captured between her teeth, she playfully nudged his shoulder with her knee.

"Might be too much."

"Oh, hum."

"Kidding."

"Thought so."

"Can you handle snuggles?"

"Only if they're your kind."

Tongue rolling and dragging along the interior of her teeth, Elora's tail perked behind as they exited the tunnel, entering the open air and being greeted by the evening songs and serenades of unseen creatures.

"Of course."


Artisan Realm, Dragon Kingdom

Meandering silently beneath the darkness of a new moon, with the soft glow of lanterns illuminating various windows and walls of the structures around, both Spyro and Elora hiked up to the crest of the central hill. Met with the silhouette of a circular and ladder-less platform, illuminated by the weary hover of Sparx, the younger male bounded up onto the surface with a grunt, turning about-face and flopping lower onto his belly. Offering both of his paws to the taller female, keeping his claw tips away from her fuzzy fingers as their digits squeezed together in coupling, he hoisted her up with ease as her hooves walked along it, bringing her up and over the edge with a momentary fumble of orientation.

"No steps?"

"There's paths on both sides, that way."

"I think you just like conquering the obstacles of the world."

"All the time."

Crossing the grassy bridge and nudging in through the wood and brass-framed entrance to the quarters, glimpses among ajar doors and curtain folds revealed the various shapes and silhouettes of elder dragons resting on top of literal piles of gems and treasure, reflecting hints of light from Sparx's golden glow.

Is that... Comfy?

Several tiptoed strides later, nearing the back end of the building's main corridor, a roughly chiseled stone bust of a dragon sat beside a drawn curtain, with sunglasses sitting crooked atop its head. Lowering into a bend of inspection, Elora restrained a giggle, noticing the name carved into the square base.

"Spyrocles."

"I carved that."

Straightening the sunglasses, she squinted between the statue, and Spyro himself peeking through the curtain beside.

"It really does have your likeness."

Nudging through the thick fabric cloth of a woven curtain, heart beating a little faster as she entered his personal living space, she paused in a momentary inspection of the simple chamber. Various artifacts and objects of unknown origin and curiosity lined the base of one wall, opposite of the shuttered window on the other, and a narrow hollow in the back corner implied the existence of another room beneath the singed fabric of a half-burnt flag. After a moment, seeing Spyro's patient standing in front of the low light of a freestanding lantern, Elora was then treated to the peculiar procession of the dragon crawling up onto a waist-height pile of gems, limbs draping out along the facets and points as he flopped onto his belly in a seep of exhalation.

"What do you think?"

"About the room? Cozy."

"Heh."

"Full of shiny stuff."

"Adventure treasure."

Stepping onto the patterned fabric of a narrow rug and sinking to her bottom, Elora reclined against the wall near to the corner lantern, looking to Spyro's resting posture on the glinting gems. Attention turning from the movement of light beneath the battle-damaged banner, a yawning Sparx brought over a thick book bound in dark brown leather. Depositing it beside her knee, Elora smiled at the small friend who then buzzed away to the entrance, disappearing through the curtain.

"He likes to sleep and keep watch on my head."

Picking up the book, suddenly recognizing its appearance, she pried it open, noticing her name was still imprinted on the bottom of the first page.

Oh... Still your guidebook, goof.

Resting the volume on her newly crossing legs, she began reading brief lengths of ornately self-scribed runes of each of Avalar's Talismans in the order they were collected, flipping through numerous pages, and then pausing on the Magic Flute of Fracture Hills, looking over the moving and gleaming depiction of the ancient instrument on the paper.

They gave you this...? I remember seeing this flute displayed in the temple.

Looking away as a flight of younger memory appeared in her mind's eye, a sigh emptied her lungs from the dated imagery. Returning to the paper with a glaze of blurred vision, she pried her fingertips beneath several pages, turning and burying the flute into the past. Hearing several gems shift and tumble in heavy clatters, her vision rose to Spyro crawling down the pile before her, a teal-colored gem unveiled in his upturned paw.

"Here."

Hands coming together and cupping the huge cut offering, she looked over the smooth angles and points of the precious rock.

"For me?"

"For you."

"Aw. Thank you."

"It matches your pretty eyes nicely. Ahm, I-I mean, eyes, pretty nicely."

Lashes batting, vision rising a little higher with each blink, she set the large cut stone onto the open guidebook.

"You think so?"

Snout rising with a straightening of his folded forelegs, enticed by the allure edging into her now-whisper, he aligned to her gaze.

"Yes. I do."

Legs shifting as she reached toward him, the guidebook startlingly dropped between her knees, capturing the gem within its pages as it fell. Seeing a cloud of sparkles fizzling, rising aloft between her legs and vanishing into the air, Elora hesitantly touched the now-closed book laying flat.

"Oops."

Brow perking as his paw approached and settled onto her hand, flattening her palm, his claws lowered in a sequential tap onto the thick binding cover.

"Guess its in a safe place now."

Backside tingling from his low voice, willingly captive under his weight, her legs unraveled further, and his other paw grazed the white fur between in descent as he drew closer.

"Uh huh."

Tail batting against the wall beside her rump, Elora's free hand rose, knuckles dragging along the segmented plating between his shoulders, drifting up beneath his throat as he eliminated the remainder of distance between.

"Kind of like you... And me."

Meeting her whisper with an outward puff of breath from his nostrils, entranced by the actual gleams of teal beneath her lowered eyelids, his jaw carefully pried apart from his snout as the supple flesh and fur of her nose squished into his scales.

"Yeah."

Turning her digits over, dragging her fingertips along the length of his chin in pleasant passes back and forth, his head twisted into a weakening tilt in response. Nudging forward with her shoulder blades, Elora met his parted chops with her muzzle, capturing the fold of his upper lip within her own.

Safe... In my heart.

Turning lower, palm expanding unseen along his gullet, she suckled on his lip with retreating tugs, grazing his fangs each time. Hair draping aside onto her pointed ear, listening to his idle grunts of beastly respiration, her knees nudged together around his poised posture, prompting him to finally sit onto his rear. With her right hand now freed from his forward weight, Elora found the back of his cheekbone and pulled both of them closer together, introducing her tongue beneath this teeth and probing into his fire-heated cavity of consumption. Cheeks darkening as he battled her muscle's entry with pushes and swipes, her left hand turned skyward and found his mane of bristles, squeezing a handful of his rigid amber hair between her knuckles.

Playing with fire... And to think I used to avoid the smell of smoke.

Hoof sliding along the floor in a brief shuffle of lowering, his bumpy tail spiraled around her other leg in response, its golden point sidling beneath the bend of her knee.

Maybe kissing makes anything taste better.

Heart beating busily amid their intimate oral motions, the ferocity of her tongue slackened into inaction and withdrew, allowing the slick muscle of the male reptile to follow and enter her fuzzy folds. Feeling a pool of shared saliva spill over her lip from the press of his pointed tooth, coursing along the side of her chin and dribbling free, her cheeks darkened as his member swept beneath in a ticklish motion, ushering the arrival of more.

Dragon slobber... I should ask him what I taste like.


Laying flat on her side, with Spyro's sleeping warmth spread comfortably along the entirety of her back, Elora eyed her satchel laying near, realizing the presence of light within the folds of leather and fabric. Reaching to it and probing inside with her fingers, she found the source of illumination, pulling the dark feather free from the paper ream, and bringing the glinting shaft closer. Tiredly inspecting the wandering specks of orange migrating along the quill's feathers, she then noticed the sewn spiral band around the metal sheath, having since loosened from its original winding.

What's this?

Pulling the thin fabric free with her other thumb and index finger, the length of faintly green ribbon unwound, allowing the quill to drop into her palm, and she inspected the texture of the cloth band.

This feels nice. Decent length... Could use you for a few things.

Hearing a flapping of lips, caused by a brief snore from the beast beside, she carefully turned onto her stomach, and with an upward nudge of her elbow, Elora inspected her snoozing companion, back rising and lowering. Seeing his golden horn near in the low light, and then looking to the length of ribbon in her grasp, Elora's cheeks curled into a sleepy grin as she carefully pushed the quill back into her satchel.

Yes. Let's start with a bow.