Spyro the Dragon woke up from his sleep in his room at the motel by the ocean, near the Temple where he learned the secrets of the dragons.

"Hey, Sparx, wake up," he said to the glowing yellow dragonfly sleeping beside him.

"What is it, Spyro?" Sparx asked in his buzzing insect voice as he flew into the air to hover by Spyro's head.

"I just had a weird dream," said Spyro. "It wasn't very long, but…it felt so real…more real than any dream I've ever had."

"You should talk to the Elders about it," said Sparx without hesitation. Spyro wasn't one to think much of dreams, so Sparx knew that it was serious.

"Yeah…" said Spyro, yawning. He rolled over and tried to go back to sleep; the sun wasn't even up yet. Sparx, however, was worried, and didn't try to sleep anymore.

"Spyro, I think you should go talk to the Elders," Sparx repeated, hovering closer to Spyro's ear. When Spyro didn't reply, Sparx added, "Now!"

"They're asleep," Spyro replied sleepily, "and they have the right idea. I'll talk to them in the morning."

Sparx knew better than to argue.

"Okay," he said. He landed on the floor and tried to go back to sleep.

Neither of them could sleep, though. Sparx kept wondering what kind of dream would get Spyro's attention, and Spyro kept wondering why he had the nagging feeling that he'd had that dream before…

~o~

When Spyro walked to the Temple the next morning, he walked slowly, lost in thought, which was unlike him. Sparx was worried.

"What's wrong?" Sparx asked.

"That dream I had," Spyro replied. "It didn't feel like a dream, and I feel like I've had it before, but I can't remember when."

"What was it about?" Sparx asked.

"I'll tell you when I tell the Elders," Spyro replied, half listening. His thoughts kept returning to the strange dragon that had been in his dream. It had been black. He'd never seen a black dragon before, and it - she - had looked unlike any dragon he had ever seen, but in the dream, it had felt so normal…

Sparx looked at him as they went on, worried. Spyro was the impulsive type; he was a doer. Thinking had always been more of Sparx's thing, though he himself wasn't exactly a genius. Yet here Spyro was, clearly lost in thought. Thinking now himself, Sparx wondered if Spyro's strange problem had anything to do with the Shadowstone that Spyro had worn for over a month now. It was a powerful item, able to allow passage between the normal world and the Shadow Realm - a strange, dark version of the Dragon Worlds. It was supposed to be very draining on whatever dragon used it, and even though Spyro had been able to handle the stress surprisingly well, Sparx had always worried about the repercussions of having such a powerful Dragon Amulet, especially since Spyro was technically too young to have one yet; male dragons didn't get their Amulets until they came of age - only females were given their Amulets shortly after hatching. True, Spyro had been nearly two decades old when he'd gotten the Shadowstone, but still…it had only been given to him because of an emergency, Spyro being the world-renowned hero of the dragons and many other races besides. It was also true that the Dragon Amulet tradition had only been re-initiated as of the previous Year of the Dragon, after the Dragonfly Festival, when dragons and dragonflies acknowledged the ancient pact between the two species that allowed each dragon to bond with his or her very own dragonfly…

Sparx's thoughts wandered in this manner the rest of the way, while Spyro's thoughts refused to wander, try as he might to make them do so. When they arrived at the Temple, they were greeted by Elder Thomas.

"Ah, good morning, Master Spyro and Sparx," Thomas said.

Spyro's mind was so consumed by thoughts of his dream that he didn't even bother to greet Thomas in return, but immediately said, "Thomas, I had a really weird dream last night."

Thomas was silent for a moment, then replied ponderously, "Did you, now?" His tone indicated that this bit of news was significant to him.

"Yeah," said Spyro. "In it, I was-"

"Now hold on, young dragon, let's get all the Elders together to hear about it before you begin," Thomas interrupted.

Spyro barely heard the last half of the sentence, struck by a strange, oddly familiar feeling about what Thomas had just called him.

"Wait…what did you call me?" Spyro asked.

"I called you, 'young dragon'," Thomas replied. "Why?"

"You've never called me that before, have you?" Spyro asked, confused by his strange reaction to the title. It wasn't as if this was the first time he'd been called this, either; King Fromit in Avalar had called him that once, and so had Deputy Holiday in the the Forgotten Worlds…come to think of it, a lot of people had called him that, like Brothers Krankel and Ricci in the dragonfly home worlds, Mr. Funderlic, Red, and even Elder Cho Lei had called him that once…but he hadn't had the same feeling about it then…

"Yes, I have," Thomas answered Spyro. He sounded calm, but his eyes betrayed that he was in fact very excited about something.

"But-" Spyro didn't understand how his reaction could be so strange if he'd heard Thomas call him that before…but he did remember it…

"Come now, come in, I think we'd all like to hear about your dream," Thomas interrupted.

"Okay..." Spyro replied, confused, as the three of them entered the Temple. Could this day get any weirder? he wondered. Weird enough that I think my dream was interesting. Why is Thomas so excited about it when he hasn't even heard it? And what about the title "young dragon"? I've been called that so many times…why does it feel so weird now?

When they entered the Temple, Thomas immediately called in a projecting voice,

"Elders, one and all!"

Sensei, Elder Titan, Elder Astor, Elder Magnus, Elder Cho Lei, and Red, who had recently been reinstated as one of the Elders, turned to face Thomas, Spyro, and Sparx.

Gesturing to Spyro, Thomas said, "Our young pupil here has something to tell us."

"Oh?" asked Elder Magnus. "What is it, darling?"

Thomas walked up to join the other Elders as Spyro said, "Well, I had a dream last night, and I was wondering if it would mean anything to you." When the Elders all looked at him without responding, Spyro took a breath, feeling as though a spotlight was on him, and continued. "In my dream, I was…at the core of the world, somehow, but…I could see the sky. There was another dragon with me, a weird-looking black one. Her name was Cynder."

At this, the Elders looked at each other, their eyes wide.

"She looked really weird, though," Spyro continued. "The tip of her tail looked like a silver flame…and her neck, legs, and tail all had metal bands around them…and she had four horns that were all straight and smooth and silver-white, and they streamed behind her head, and sort of framed her face…oh, and there were two other horns on her neck that helped frame her face, but…they were more like spikes…and…and she had a weird pattern on her forehead, and her mouth looked like a beak, and her scales were black, but she was mostly red because of her underside and wings - and there were talons coming off the peaks of her wings…but…in my dream, I didn't think she looked weird. In fact, in my dream, I thought she was kind of pretty."

He paused. The Elders were definitely excited now - they were stirring and looking at each other with wide-eyed excitement that seemed to border on joy. Spyro wondered what was going on, but decided it was best to continue.

"The world was ending," he went on, "and suddenly, somehow, I knew I could stop it…but I thought I'd die, and so would she if she stayed. I tried to tell her to leave, but…she wouldn't. The last thing I remember was her whispering…" Here he paused, unsure if he felt like telling them what she said. After a moment, he decided to go for it.

"She whispered to me, 'I love you'," Spyro finished. "Then…I woke up. That's all."

The Elders looked at him, their expressions joyful. Spyro didn't know what to do or say; it was very awkward. After a moment, he spoke into the tense silence.

"Does that dream mean something to you?" he asked. "Could you tell me what?"

"Oh, Spyro, my boy, you're finally ready!" exclaimed Magnus.

"I never thought, in my old age, that I would live to see this day!" cried Titan.

"I told you all the time would come soon," Red said to the rest of the Elders.

"What's going on?" asked Sparx.

"Yeah," Spyro inserted, "what is going on? What am I ready for? Why does that dream mean I'm ready for it?"

"Because, my dear Spyro," replied Thomas, exultant, "that dream wasn't a dream at all!"

"Huh?" exclaimed Spyro. "If it wasn't a dream, then what was it?"

"It was a memory," answered Cho Lei.

"A memory?" repeated Spyro. "But…that's never happened to me!"

"Not in this lifetime," Sensei said cryptically, visibly happy for the first time since Spyro had met him.

"This lifetime?" asked Spyro, becoming more and more confused by the minute. "What do you mean?"

"Spyro, my boy," Thomas said grandly, stepping down toward Spyro, "the time has finally come for you to learn of, and fulfill, your true destiny."

"My destiny?" asked Spyro. "Didn't I already do that? You know, with Gnasty Gnorc, Ripto, the Sorceress, Grendor, Red, the Sorcerer, and all the other bad guys I've fought?"

"Being a hero is your destiny," Thomas answered, "but the deeds you've done so far have all been for the purpose of readying you for your true, greater destiny."

"So…what's my true destiny?" asked Spyro.

Red replied, "To bring back the days of the dragons of old, and lead us back into our former glory…

"…as the father of our race."

"WHAT?!" Spyro exclaimed.

"Red, Red, slow down!" Astor scolded. "He doesn't know the story yet; wait until he's heard it!"

"What story?" Spyro asked, his head reeling.

Instead of answering, Thomas commanded, "Everyone, go to the far reaches of the globe! Summon every sentient creature you can find: dragons, cheetahs, fairies, dragonflies, moles, wizards, even thieves…everyone! Bring all of them to the Great Plain; they all need to know what's about to happen, as it affects the entire world! Give all of Spyro's personal friends front-row seats, then all the dragons, and everyone else behind them!"

"And what will you do?" asked Red.

"I am going to bring Spyro and Sparx to the northern edge of the Great Plain and, with his help, work a spell so that thousands of acres of people will be able to hear everything that we are going to tell them," Thomas answered.

"Let me do that," said Red. "My magic is more powerful."

Thomas hesitated for a moment, then conceded.

"Very well," he said. Then, once again addressing everyone, cried, "Let's go!"

All the dragons flew off in different directions; Red, along with a very confused Spyro and Sparx, headed to the Great Plain, and all the others flew off to summon everyone in the world.

What the heck is going on?! Spyro wondered.