Sorry for the delay. Just read and don't ask questions k?

Chapter 13

"So did you find what you were looking for?" Lateef asked.

Spyro looked over and shook his head, "Unfortunately no. Me, Cynder and Flame looked everywhere we could but didn't find the red mushroom I was looking for. But we did find something else."

Magnus stirred in his sleep but his eyes were still shut. Everyone looked over at him to see that he was still sleeping as he was before.

Spyro returned to his story, "Anyways, we found the home of a group of dragonflies."

Outskirts of Barkwood

Three Years Ago

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Cynder asked, looking back towards Barkwood while the three of them were walking at the moment.

The three small dragons were in the surrounding forest. Trees nearly everywhere with sounds of wildlife around them. There were a few pine cones on the ground as well as dead crunchy leaves. It was the same scenery wherever they went.

"Of course," Flame assured. "Well, not really. But we need to find that mushroom that Spyro needs." He turned to Spyro toward his right, "What does it look like again?"

"The cap is red and the stem is blue. It should be in a swamp somewhere and hard to miss," Spyro answered. "So when can we start flying Cynder?"

"As soon as we are clear of Barkwood," she harshly answered as if she already answered that question plenty of times already. "We don't want someone to see us flying towards the swamp."

"Come on," Spyro continued, lightly flapping his orange wings from anticipation. "No one will see us."

"Yeah," Flame agreed. "I want to fly, I'm tired of walking."

"And we will," Cynder said. "As soon as we get away from Barkwood."

"But Cynder," Flame began.

"But Cynder," Cynder mimicked to the best of her abilities, then returned to her normal voice. "That's what you sound like. Imagine listening to that all day." She mimicked again, "But Cynder! But Cynder! But Cynder!"

"Okay!" Flame interrupted. "I get the point."

Spyro chuckled at the moment. "Smooth."

Cynder kept on walking, despite the fact that the two dragons behind her whispering to each other. She only focused on heading toward the swamp that the two troublesome boys behind her wanted to go to. She asked herself many times on why she decided to go to such a place.

When she could see Barkwood through the trees behind her, she finally said, "Alright we can start flying now."

"Finally," Flame went. "Lead the way then."

Cynder took off through a gap in the trees above her first, followed by Flame then Spyro. Spyro looked behind him and could barely see a settlement off in the distance. No one would definitely be able to see them all the way out here. But what if someone saw them head into the woods before?

Spyro looked back ahead to see Flame and Cynder already on their way. Spyro began speeding forward to catch up to them.

During the trip, Spyro found himself being ignored. Flame was talking to Cynder about various things and when Spyro tried to add in something to the conversation, it was completely forgotten about as soon as he said it.Flame mainly flirted with her, whether she knew it or not. Spyro had the idea that she either wasn't interested or wasn't listening. So Spyro began talking to himself with his inside voice.

The scenery below them, which was mostly trees, turned into a swampy area overgrown with mushrooms, both huge and small. He rarely saw an actual tree now. It looked like the trees here were just giant overgrown mushrooms. He also saw a small river, which Cynder was apparently following. If that red mushroom existed, it would be here.

"What's with this place? There are mushrooms everywhere," Flame pointed out.

"Yes, that is the point my slow willing friend," Spyro answered. "Right Cynder?"

"Correct," Cynder said. Spyro smiled when she spoke back to him. He was getting tired of being ignored.

"So where are we going to land?" Flame asked, looking down toward the swamp.

"I'm looking," Cynder replied.

"How about down there?" Spyro suggested, pointing toward a open, dry spot in the swamp beside the river.

"Perfect," Cynder complimented as she began her descent. Flame and Spyro closely followed her all the way down.

Cynder softly landed on the dark colored dirt first, followed by Spyro who landed a bit more harsher than she did. When Flame landed, he was nearly thrown off balance. He landed on something.

"Mushrooms?" Flame looked down and saw that he landed on a large group of them. They were bigger and taller than normal mushrooms.

"And you broke a whole bunch of them," Spyro indicated. "I hope the mushroom we was looking for wasn't in that batch."

Flame flapped his wings enough to get airborne so he could safely make it to where Spyro and Cynder stood without destroying any more mushrooms. Then the three of them started looking through all the mushrooms, looking for that odd one out. Instead, Cynder spotted something else under the broken mushrooms Flame landed on. It was a golden yellow color whatever it was.

"What's that thing under there?" Cynder asked while pointing.

Spyro looked then noticed it as well, "I don't know. Maybe it's gold?"

"Gold?" Flame admonished. He ran over to the broken mushrooms and began clearing a way to the gold. Throwing mushrooms over his shoulder, he uncovered the gold. "Hey, this isn't gold."

Spyro and Cynder made their way over to Flame the best they could, avoiding as many mushrooms as possible. They looked down in the gap and saw a golden dragonfly. Although the dragonfly laid still on the ground with his eyes shut tight.

"What is it?" Cynder asked.

Flame grinned sheepishly, "Go touch it."

Spyro rolled his eyes, "It's a dragonfly. Don't you remember preschool at all?"

"Oh yeah, I never actually seen one though," Cynder added in. "But Flame landed on him."

"Is he hurt?" Flame looked down at the dragonfly.

"Probably," Spyro responded like it was obvious. "Should we help him?"

"Uh . . . yeah we should help him," Cynder said. She leaned over and picked up the limp dragonfly with her two front paws while she stood on her back paws.

"But where do we take him?" Flame asked.

Spyro was about to add in something but something got his attention in the gap where the dragonfly laid. He leaned over while the other two watched, wondering what he was up to.

"What are you doing?" Cynder asked as Spyro laid down on his belly and reached under the standing mushrooms in front of him.

"I think I found it," Spyro said. He snagged something then brought it back out for everyone to see. It was a red mushroom with a blue stalk.

"Wait," Flame spoke. "Is that the mushroom you are looking for?"

Spyro nodded, "Yeah, this is it. Some stroke of luck that Flame didn't destroy it."

"And another stroke for finding it so fast," Cynder added. "So what are we going to do with him?" She asked, holding out the dragonfly. "Is he even alive?"

"I can't tell," Flame said. "We should take him to Ignitus. He would probably know what to do with these dragonflies."

Cynder looked over at Spyro for the confirmation, "Well Spyro? Are we heading back?"

Spyro held on tight to the mushroom he found then nodded, "Yeah, I found what I was looking for. I guess Ignitus will now how to cure my father with this."

"Alright then, shall we get going?" Cynder opened her wings and slowly took off into the sky, carefully holding on to the dragonfly so she wouldn't drop him. "Don't worry little guy. We'll get you help."

Later

The three dragons went back to Flame and Spyro's home to tell Ignitus the news. When they entered the house, the only one inside was Maia. So they began explaining the story to her instead.

Maia, Ignitus's silver scaled wife, listened to the three dragon's story. When she heard they ventured as far as the outer swamps, she grew worried on the inside. Spyro was searching for the cure already. But when Spyro presented the blue mushroom to Maia, she was more than astonished.

"Where did you even find this?" Maia asked, examining the mushroom she was just given.

"The swamp," Spyro answered. "But we found a dragonfly who looked hurt."

"Dragonfly?"

Cynder walked up to Maia, still holding the dragonfly with her two front paws. He was still out cold. Or at least she hoped so.

"Put him on the couch," Maia said. Cynder obeyed and walked around the couch and slowly laid the dragonfly down. As soon as she did, she walked around on her fours.

Maia set the mushroom on the arm of the couch and took a look at the dragonfly. After a few moments, she told the news to the dragons eagerly waiting behind her. "I don't see any signs of serious injury. But I do see a bruise on his head. I'm guessing something must have knocked him on the head."

"So he's gonna be okay?" Cynder asked.

Maia nodded, "He just needs rest. He'll wake up when the time is right." She walked back over to the mushroom then looked back at Spyro, "Are you sure you found this in the swamp?"

"Positive," Spyro replied. "Why?"

"Because these mushrooms are rare because they are found in caves near swamps. How it got outside is a mystery, maybe the dragonfly knows something." A few seconds of thinking passed and Maia asked, "You didn't see any other dragonflies while you were there?"

"Nope," the three dragons replied.

"Then he must have been a scout or guard," Maia indicated. "Our out getting supplies." Then Maia turned and headed for her room near the exit. "When he wakes up then tell me."

Back to Spyro and Ember

"Interesting that you found that mushroom," Lateef said. "Well Maia was right, they usually grow in caves but I wonder what that mushroom was doing in that batch."

"We figured out that part when the dragonfly woke up," Spyro replied.

"Did he have a name?"

Spyro smiled, "His name was Sparx."

"And that's where you met him," Ember added. "In the swamp."

"Sure did," Spyro answered.