Chapter Three
A Dragonfly's Secret
"So who was the low life that gave him that nickname in the first place?" Spyro asked, still sitting in the snow while listening to Nestor's story.
Nestor flinched at first, shook his second, then continued on, "It doesn't matter alright? All that matters is that Mirelth is still alive and he clearly wants revenge for what was done to him."
"By ruining my Christmas?" Flame asked dubiously. "That's not fair! We have to stop him before Christmas comes!"
Spyro nodded, "He's right. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and if Christmas comes he's going to attack again."
"I know," Nestor dully answered. "I . . . have a confession to make."
Spyro simply smirked to his delight, "Let me hear it."
"You know Mirelth's nickname, the dragon mop?" Nestor continued. Spyro and Flame nodded. "It was my idea to give him that nickname."
"Wait," Flame nearly busted. "Your the one that made that name up?"
"I didn't know that it would spread around like that," Nestor went on in a more livelier but tender voice. "One thing led to another and before I knew it everyone was calling him the dragon mop."
"Wow, good job," Spyro sarcastically encouraged. "Now we got a crazy half dragon trying to destroy our Christmas just for the fun of it."
"Don't remind me," Nestor faintly replied.
Meanwhile
"Oh so that's what happened," Sparx said in understanding.
Ruby had been telling the dragonfly on Mirelth's past as well. She told him about the Sunny Flight incident, which was the breaking point for fur dragon's rage. Of course, any dragons that were passing by their cave had no idea of what they were talking about. Some even wondered where the new dragonfly came from while others just ignored her.
"U-huh," Ruby nodded. "I managed to talk him into running away. But I didn't know that he would take it so seriously." Ruby squinted at the golden dragonfly, acting like he seemed somehow familiar. "Say, haven't I seen you somewhere before?"
"Me?" Sparx nearly laughed, "I don't know what your talking about."
"How old are you?" Ruby thoughtfully asked with a smile. "No lies."
Sparx frowned and looked the other way, "What does this have to do with anything?"
"Because I remember seeing a golden dragonfly back when me and Mirelth was in Sunny Flight. I'm curious . . . Sparx."
A few moments passed until Sparx lowly answered, "I've been with Spyro ever since the beginning."
Ruby sighed, "That doesn't answer my question."
Sparx continued, "It's a dragonfly's job to keep a dragon safe until he comes to a certain age. It's . . . frightening to think about. Once you become attached to someone, your ripped away to be another dragon's guardian."
"Sparx . . . I've been with Mirelth for more than thirty years. You don't have to be torn away from your partner like that. With me and Mirelth, it's always been us against everyone. No one is going to separate us, even if he does do some foolish things."
Sparx looked back over at Ruby and slowly showed a small smile, appreciating the concern.
The golden dragonfly was about to say something, but the purple dragon seemed to just pop up out of nowhere from behind him along with Flame. It startled him a bit but he knew he sensed a presence. It wasn't easy to sneak up on him like that.
"We're back Sparx, and we know who that green dragon is now," Spyro informed as the dragonfly took noticed him.
Sparx began buzzing a couple of words of his own leaving Flame out in the dark. It didn't take but just a minute for Sparx to finish his speech, letting Spyro translate, "He said that while we were gone, Ruby told him about Mirelth too. Seems as if Ruby has been Mirelth's partner for thirty years now. They basically ran away and they have been fending for themselves the whole time."
"That's pretty amazing," Flame replied in slight amusement.
"I'll say," Spyro agreed. "So what do you think the elder's are going to do about Mirelth?"
Flame shrugged, "Hey I don't know. Maybe Ember will have an idea."
Spyro nearly chuckled a second there, "Ember? Your serious?"
"Jealous?" Flame grinned.
"Yeah right," Spyro replied. He looked over at the golden dragonfly to see him smiling. The purple dragon knew what he was thinking but found himself smiling as well.
Flame ended up leaving at that and went looking for the pink dragoness by the name of Ember. Spyro remembered he well. He remembered her most from when he left to go into the swamp to find an elder and learn a new move. She heard about him leaving then overreacted big time by doing everything she could to keep him from walking into the face of danger. She was telling the truth at one point. He did like her, but not enough to actually propose a date of any kind.
Spyro on the other hand stayed in his cave for a little while to escape the cold winter air with Sparx and Ruby. The red dragonfly was seeming to become fond of Sparx, as if she had seen him from somewhere. They always talked but Spyro always gave them their space. He figured they needed it.
Meanwhile
In the distance from the homes of the Artisan dragons was a cave. In this cave was a particular green fur dragon that was smiling while he made his plans in his head. The dragon was sitting as his homemade table in his large dark cavern that sometimes had a tendency to leak. The ceiling was fairly high which echoed if someone gave a shout. There were a couple of holes in the roof here and there which was where the light he needed came from.
"If Ruby isn't here to help me out then I'll just do nothing but pout."
The fur dragon laid his head down on the table in thought. How could he get his revenge without the help of his partner?
"I swear if those Artisan's took her then I'll leave my planning for later."
The fur dragon went through all the ideas that came through his head, trying to find some explanation on the disappearance of his partner. The more he thought, the more worried he became.
"Maybe she's just out catching a butterfly? Or maybe that's just one big fat lie."
Then the dragons face went to one of disgust when he realized on what he had been doing. "Why am I speaking in rhymes all the sudden?"
Mirelth paced around the small table he was at, puzzling on what could have happened to Ruby. Minutes passed until the dragon finally decided to wait for her for a little bit longer.
"If she isn't back by the time the moon begins to show, then all the way to Artisan I will go."
So the dragon began his wait as the time flew on by. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, there would be plenty of time for planning then.
Later
7 P.M.
"So I guess she is staying at your cave?" A pink dragoness asked after hearing the news of Ruby.
Spyro nodded as he looked behind him toward his home. "That's right. I really don't know what she is up to but I think she likes Sparx."
Flame added in with a jiggered tone, "So she's staying here because of Sparx?"
"Well you have to think," the purple dragon said. "It's been thirty years since Ruby has seen another dragonfly like her."
"For once you making sense," Flame replied in a more steady voice.
All three of them were fairly satisfied with what was going on. Disappointed that the tree from earlier is gone but things could have gone to a whole new level if Mirelth stuck around, but overall they were satisfied.
A chill blew through the air making the dragons shiver at it's greeting. The pink dragoness known as Ember to speak, "It's getting a little cool out here."
"Well we have been standing in the snow for about an hour now," Flame chuckled. "It's probably best if we head on back to our homes before the elders make us."
"They can be annoyingly strict at some points," Spyro added in. "Sometimes I just wanna pick them up like a dragon egg and throw them into the pond."
Ember giggled for a moment before saying with a grin, "Don't we all?"
It didn't take long for the dragons to head their separate ways. Ember and Flame seemed to stick together for a while before they actually split up, which somehow amused the purple reptile. Before Spyro headed on in his cave, he took the time to look up into the skies. It was dark and plenty of stars were visible along with their various constellations. But Spyro didn't know the constellations all that well, he just enjoyed watching them twinkle. Or he tried to. The dragon found it quite rare for him to actual sit back and enjoy the sight. He figured it had something to do with his personality. But he didn't want to go inside quite yet. He knew Ruby and Sparx were talking so he figured he would give his buddy some space for the time being. So instead of going inside, he decided to go take a walk.
Meanwhile
Inside Spyro's cave, Ruby was quietly listening to Sparx's story about the Sorceress him and Spyro defeated. They were both sitting on top of Sparx's small bed, side by side with smiles on their faces, obviously content with each other.
"Wow," Ruby went in amazement. "That was quite some story."
Sparx grinned in response, "When the egg hatched, it turned out there were actually twin dragons inside, which was how it made the Sorceress so powerful."
"That makes sense, there's no way she could have survived after falling in the lava. Twice even."
"Oh yeah, we never saw her again since then. It was quite an adventure and very satisfying to know that there is one less evil in this world of ours."
Ruby smiled for a moment, before it slowly turned into a frown, "I hope Mirelth is okay right now. I've never been so far away from him before."
Sparx looked concerned as he saw her in a depressed looking state. He thought of something that could cheer her up and he thought of it quick. "I'm sure he's alright and getting along just fine." But she still looked a bit afraid for her partner. The golden dragonfly slightly rocked in a back and forth motion, thinking of what to do for her. He hated seeing anyone in this sort of state and it was bothering him. So he thought up of something else and gave it a try, "Do you want to go look around Artisan with me?"
A second passed until Ruby turned to face her new found friend, "You mean . . . you want to spend some more time with me?"
Sparx nodded, seeing that his plan was beginning to work. "Yeah. Things must have changed since you were last here right?"
Ruby finally showed a smile, something Sparx wanted to see.
