Chapter Six

A Christmas Miracle

"Is he here? Did you see him anywhere?" Nestor whispered to Tomas, a tall yet slender orange scaled elder with a tan underbelly.

Tomas shook his head and whispered back, "Sorry Nestor, if he's out there then he may be on the cliff walls. Every time I walk out there I feel like I'm being watched. You sure we should have taken the ornaments off the tree earlier? I'm still confused on why we did that."

The green elder nodded, "If Spyro's prediction actually come true, it will surprise me. Better safe than sorry Tomas." The elder walked back into his cave and snagged another present for Tomas to carry. He brought it back out where Tomas took over. "Just don't intentionally look for Mirelth otherwise he'll know what we're up to."

Tomas nodded in understanding as he began his walk back toward the tree. As soon as he was out in the open, that feeling was creeping up onto him. "I hate being watched," Tomas quietly complained.

As the elders worked, Spyro, Flame, Sparx, and Ruby were in a nearby cave watching the whole thing. If Mirelth was watching them then he would get suspicious if smaller dragons were seen roaming about. So they just stayed inside.

"This is it," Spyro quietly said. "My plan better work for all the time it's costing me."

"Your just standing there," Flame replied in a low tone. "You can do whatever you want at the moment."

"But I'm in someone else's home. What am I supposed to do, go through this dragon's stuff?"

"If it'll get you to be quiet then yes, please do so."

Sparx and Ruby seemed to be just fine watching the purple dragon suffer the way he was. It was quite amusing to watch him pace back and forth as he kept on looking out unto the moonlit plains. The elders did have to place one-hundred and fifty presents out under the tree so it did take a little while, which seemed to drive the purple dragon mad.

As the last present was set down, the elders retreated back into their caves for the next phase of the plan. Tomas entered the cave than Spyro and his friends were in so he told them to make themselves at home for the time being. Of course, none of them could. They were too tense to sit back and relax.

Meanwhile

"Looks like their finished and it's about time, because I am running out of rhymes. Now I'll just sit wait then I'll have these presents burned into slate."

So the green dragon waited for a little while to give the elders some time to fall asleep. Mirelth smiled as he played with his paws, excited that he was about to destroy Christmas for the one's who made fun of him.

He waited for quite a while, an hour tops. Then out of his exhilaration he began his descent. Mirelth jumped off the ledge and glided through the air until he arrived at the Christmas tree. Still gliding, he circled around like a vulture until he finally landed in front of the tree, where he marveled at all the presents waiting to be burned.

"So many presents I don't know where to start, I'm glad that I have no heart."

Mirelth smiled then couldn't resist it any longer. He had to burn them. The fur dragon inhaled one deep breath before exhaling the flames through his nostrils. The flames covered the presents, setting them ablaze. Pretty soon, the fire began to spread without Mirelth's help.

"Burn!" Mirelth exclaimed, not even caring about the elders anymore. "I finally win this little game, because that fire is going to be hard to tame!"

"That's what you think Mirelth!"

Mirelth looked around himself, looking for the source. But he couldn't find it wherever he looked. "Show yourself!"

So the owner of the voice obeyed and walked out one of the caves. Mirelth immediately saw him to see it was a purple dragon that was smaller than him. Twice as small as him actually. Mirelth remembered him from the night before when he found Ruby.

"You? What are you doing here you little whelp? I should skin you until you cry for help."

Spyro showed no fear as he slowly approached the dragon, not even worried about the slow spreading fire behind him. "You should really learn to double check. It helps."

"What are you talking about?" Mirelth rudely asked.

Spyro was about to laugh as even more dragons began to show themselves from all the caves. Every one of them were elders and looked quite infuriated. Even a red dragon the size of Spyro came to the purple dragon's side along with two familiar dragonflies. Flame showed a grin as he noticed Mirelth's confusion but as soon as the fur dragon noticed his partner Ruby, his look of anger had changed.

"Ruby," Mirelth began.

But Ruby began buzzing in a rude sort of tone. "Mirelth, why?"

"Why?" Mirelth huffed. "Because of all those times they made fun of me, all those times they picked on me and gave me a horrible childhood."

"So you thought revenge was the answer?" Ruby asked.

"They deserve it!" Mirelth yelled, his voice seemed to have a quiet echo. "They all deserve it!"

"The toddlers didn't!" Ruby snapped.

"She's right Mirelth."

Mirelth looked beside Ruby to see a golden dragonfly, who also didn't seem too pleased with what he had done. "Sparx."

"Mirelth," Sparx began. "You know better than this. Did you forget that talk that we had all those years ago?"

Ruby and Spyro snapped their attention onto Sparx wondering on what he was talking about.

A few moments passed and Mirelth looked down onto the snow below him. He shook his head as he remembered, "No . . . I didn't."

"What are you talking about Sparx?" Spyro asked, leaving everyone who couldn't understand dragonflies in the dark.

"Mirelth!"

Mirelth looked over to see a tall green dragon coming toward his direction. He somehow seemed familiar.

The green dragon continued, "I don't know if you remember me but my name is Nestor."

"Nestor?" Mirelth nearly stammered. He immediately began his rant, "This is all your fault Nestor! You caused all of this! It was your fault of my actions! Your the one that started the whole mess!"

"I know that," Nestor calmly replied, frustrated to be reminded of that. "I was the one who began making fun of you. I just wanted to say . . . that I was sorry for what I had done. I shouldn't have ever done such a thing to you just because you were different from the others."

Mirelth went into thought for a moment before continuing in a more easy tone, "What are you saying?"

"Mirelth," Nestor began. "I'm wanting to apologize for what I did. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me for what I have done?"

Everyone's head turned toward the fur dragon, wondering on how he would react. It was like the fire behind him didn't even exist. Flame began to wonder if he must have been getting hot for standing so close to it. But it seemed as time was at a stand-still as everyone awaited for the answer.

"I'm sorry as well," Tomas said as he walked up beside Nestor. "It was foolish of me to join in on the crowd that made fun of you. Your unique Mirelth and you should be proud of that. Can you forgive me as well?"

"Me too!" A dragon erupted from the back of the crowd. "I'm sorry Mirelth!"

"Same," someone else from above said. A gray dragon looked down from the platforming hoping for him to be forgiven as well.

Then everyone began following everyone else's example of asking for forgiveness, whether or not they made fun of Mirelth or not. Mirelth seemed astonished at what was happening, he definitely wasn't expecting for everyone to be asking for his forgiveness. Then he plainly looked over at the golden dragonfly who hovered beside his partner. So Sparx said unto him.

"Mirelth, everyone is asking you for forgiveness. They are sorry for what they have done and we want to spend Christmas with you. You know you want to . . . just say it."

Then something unexpected appeared on the fur dragon's cheek. It was a tear, slowly making it's way down his cheek. So he showed a smile and finally said, "Everyone . . . I want you to do something before I accept your apologies. I want you all to forgive me for the things that I have done. I destroyed your Christmas tree and your presents. Can you forgive me instead?"

Everyone looked at one another then nodded in unison as they all said, "You're forgiven Mirelth."

Mirelth could have laughed in joy before saying, "And I accept all of your apologies."

Every dragon that Mirelth could see had smiles on their faces. He turned to Nestor to hear him say, "So your going to start living with us?"

Mirelth took a moment to show a clear nod of approval, "If you don't mind."

"Not at all," Nestor replied, happy that everything was sorted out.

"And I'm sorry about the presents," Mirelth continued as the last remaining presents were slowly turning into ashes.

Nestor smiled, "Yeah, about that. Spyro, it was your idea so you tell him."

"Idea?" Mirelth repeated with a confused look. He turned to the purple dragon to see a big wide smile on his face.

"There are no presents," Spyro finally declared. "You just burned up a bunch of empty boxes. The real presents are still stored safely in Nestor's cave."

Mirelth seemed to be stunned for he was stuck in his spot, but managed, "W-wait. So I didn't ruin Christmas?"

"Mirelth," Nestor began to get his attention. Mirelth turned toward the taller green dragon, "Christmas isn't about gifts or the fancy decorating."

"It's not?"

Nestor shook his head.

"So what does it mean?" Mirelth asked.

"Since you have a family now, then the answer will come to you later on. But for now, I have a job for you."

"Job? How can I help?"

Nestor grinned, "Help us put the real Christmas presents under the tree."

Mirelth showed another smile as he said with a new enthusiasm, "You got it!"

And so, Christmas proceeded on as the new member of the family personally put the toddlers presents under the tree. Luckily, the elders put the presents away from the tree so if Mirelth did try to burn them then the tree wouldn't be harmed. So the tree still stood tall as the toddlers awoke the next morning. They were surprised to see a new member of their family so suddenly, but they welcomed him with warm hearts. The fur dragon couldn't remember the last time he was this happy.

Life proceeded on for Mirelth as he slowly settled in, happy that he accepted his old classmate's apologies. Sparx and Ruby seemed to like each other to the point where they started becoming more than friends. They began a relationship which made Spyro happy for his friend. Of course, the night that Sparx revealed that he had been around longer than Spyro thought, the purple dragon demanded an explanation of what happened.

But Mirelth couldn't have been more happy. It was what the dragons called a Christmas miracle. In one night, he became happy again without the fear of being made fun of. These were truly the happiest days of his life.