Chapter 15

Escape from Paradise

The fact that Orion was part of the void was quite the surprise. While Cosmo knew that the fox wasn't telling him something, he never would have guessed his actual origins. Now that he had time to think about it though, some parts of his story slowly began to make sense. He still had questions obviously. How did Orion arrive in human realm? Was he the one who made the portal that sent him back to the realm of dragons?

Cosmo was skeptical at the fact that this was just the past in the long timeline of Earth. Sure there were similarities between the two realms, but he believed that an ever expanding universe contained infinite possibilities. Perhaps it was just too difficult to accept that Spyro, Cynder, and all of the dragons would be forgotten. Turned into just illegible remains in Cosmo's time.

Orion was asleep in his usual corner. After what had occurred, everyone in the cabin decided to let him rest. Even Isis had dozed off leaned up against Cosmo's side. He didn't mind at all but knew she would wake up feeling embarrassed. At least that would be amusing.

Spyro and Cynder took the fragment to the Elder Hall to let Ignitus have a closer look at it. Maybe the old dragon would be able to tell them more about them, or even their resting places. Anything would be suffice. Just walking around Velxtra Forest would seem like it would take too long.

Everest looked over toward Cosmo and Isis from the other sofa she sat comfortably on with a questionable look on her face. Cosmo would have asked her what was wrong, but as timed passed during his entire time with her, he understood what it was about. The yellow dragon wanted to talk to her about it, but it was such an awkward subject to him.

"I should check on Archie," Everest said suddenly. Standing to her feet, she quickly made her way to his room and opened the door without a second thought.

The man in question was laying on his bed turned over toward the wall. He rested on his woolly pillow with his arm underneath his head for support. He wasn't covered in his thick fur blanket, but just laid there. Archie heard the door open, but didn't have to turn to know who it was.

Closing the door behind her, Everest cleared her throat in an attempt to get his attention, but he barely budged. "Are you alright?" she finally asked.

"I'm wonderful thank you," Archie plainly said.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"You know what."

Archie was quiet. Everest sighed but slowly made her way toward his bed and casually hopped up.

"Get off my bed," Archie surprisingly demanded.

"Or what?" Everest replied in a slightly raised voice. "You gonna kick me out?"

Archie said nothing. Everest huffed in annoyance, but curled up beside him with her back against him. She rested her head on her forelegs and blankly stared back toward the door.

"You're not going to leave are you?"

"No," Everest immediately replied. "Are we going to talk about what happened or am I just gonna have to lay here until you break?"

Archie sighed. The ineptitude of his situation was rather a nuisance at this point. He didn't want to be that guy, but he knew Everest wasn't going anywhere.

"There's nothing to talk about. You were there. You saw what I had to do."

"I was there, but yet here you are grieving alone."

"Crying about it won't change anything," Archie defended.

"But it will help."

"Everest . . . please."

"Don't you please me," Everest snapped back. "When my village was destroyed you helped me get through my grief. Why can't I return the favor?"

"Maybe because I was partially responsible for your sadness and deserve no mercy from you." Everest grew a bit surprised. Her thoughts began to race as Archie continued in a low depressed tone. "What makes you think I didn't deserve to be right there beside Wade. I killed dragons. I raided your village. I shouldn't be here with you. I only helped you escape and none of the others. Why can't you just hate me?"

Hate him? Everest's mind was in conflict. While a part of her did hate him, another part respected him. He told her himself as soon as they escaped the laboratory that he shouldn't have done what he did. It was then that another memory recalled itself.

"Don't you remember what you did when we escaped the lab that day?" Everest began. Archie didn't answer so she continued. "You bowed your head to me and wanted me to kill you."

"Why didn't you?"

Everest turned her head toward Archie a little, but he still wasn't looking at her. "Because of your eyes Archie. They told me everything I needed to know. Instead, I asked for you to come with me."

Archie however cut to the chase. "What does this have to do with anything that's going on right now?"

"You helped me grieve for my family that day. Now it's time I return the favor."

"I don't need to grieve for Wade Everest," Archie replied. "Sure he was a close friend of mine, but he wasn't family like what you had."

"Still," Everest began. She slowly picked her head up and turned towards Archie. "He was the closest family you had here."

"And you."

"We're not even the same species," Everest replied as she laid her head down. "But flattering nonetheless. I guess you're right though. We're remarkably similar."

A quiet moment passed. Everest didn't know whether she would get through to him or not, but it was worth a try. Perhaps Archie wasn't the type to just let his feelings show. Maybe it didn't even bother him to begin with and she was being annoying at this point. Whatever the case, the dragoness was sure she was going to be there for him just in case.

"Spyro and Cynder still around?" Archie suddenly asked.

"They left a bit earlier to show Relic the fragment we found," Everest immediately answered. "Cosmo, Isis, and Orion are napping in the other room. We could look for another relic fragment but we would either have to wait for Spyro and Cynder to come back or go without them."

Now that the shadow demon was on the loose though, Archie felt more comfortable in a group. They only possessed one fragment to protect themselves with and they couldn't necessarily split it. It was also possible for his theory to be incorrect and the fragment did nothing to repel the void. Maybe it was Orion who convinced it to leave them alone. After what he confessed to earlier about being the voice of reasoning, it was believable. For the moment, Archie sighed and closed his eyes. It had been a long day and he was ready for some good rest.

The Following Day

Near Noon

A chilly breeze blew making Cosmo shiver just a bit as he looked upwards in the partly cloudy skies, alone on the cabin's porch. Archie left earlier to go hunting and Everest tagged along with him. While it was worrisome to just let them go out into the wilderness with a demon on the loose, Cosmo couldn't convince him to stay. At least with Everest with him she would be able to fly him out of any dangerous situations. Or so she claimed.

Isis was also missing. She mentioned she needed to stretch her wings and went on a short flight, assuring she would be alright in the sky. Cosmo had no trouble believing she could outrun anything that would try to attack her if she was in the air.

Orion was on top of the cabin napping. Why there of all places was a mystery, but Cosmo didn't question it. The fox had been through plenty in the past twenty-four hours so Cosmo figured it was best to just let him nap it off. A sleeping fox was incapable of making trouble at least.

After a few minutes, Cosmo spotted a familiar dragon flying toward him over the treetops. He didn't have to wait long to distinguish the purple scales of Spyro, who quickly landed in front of him in small grassy field. He looked toward Cosmo with a small smile on his face.

"Hey," Spyro greeted making his way toward the cabin's porch. Stepping up beneath the porch's awning the purple dragon exhaled in relief of finding shade to rest under.

Cosmo turned to address his new accompany, leaning up against the railing as he did so. "Afternoon. You seem a bit tired."

"Sort of," Spyro began, scratching his head. "Had to be a bit speedy. Cynder stayed behind to entertain Star long enough for me to sneak out the Elder Hall. He wanted to see you and Isis but I didn't think now was a good time."

"I wouldn't mind it. He might even be able to help us." A quiet moment passed before he continued on another subject he was more anxious about. "Did you show Ignitus the fragment?"

The purple dragon nodded. "He said it was a fascinating piece of work."

Suddenly Orion started yelling out from atop the cabin. The shout made Cosmo and Spyro burst into action and leap into the air, ready to tear apart whatever was causing his obvious cries of pain. But as they quickly landed on the cabin, they saw nothing but a fox looking up at them with worried eyes.

"What's going on Orion?!" Spyro exclaimed looking around the area.

"It's coming! Please tell me you have the fragment!" the fox quickly advised in a panic stricken voice.

Spyro's wings fell downwards, realizing he didn't. "No! Ignitus still has it!"

Before anything else could be said, the void itself flew upwards from the trees behind the cabin in the form of a large dragon twice Spyro's size. Both Cosmo and Spyro looked up towards it as it looked down toward them, yellow slits for eyes. Orion jumped to his feet and backed away to the roof's ledge, almost whimpering as he did so.

"How did it find us?" Cosmo was worried beyond belief at this point. The void's eyes squinted toward him in particular.

"It's my fault!" Orion shouted. "It sensed my presence here! It's all my fault!"

Wasting no time, Spyro launched an earth missile toward the void. The dragon-like shadow quickly shifted positions, avoiding the purple dragon's attack entirely. It then swooped downwards, spreading a line of a dense shadow element over the area. Orion leaped off the rooftop while Spyro and Cosmo took to the skies, avoid the fog that fell onto the cabin. Cosmo was sure that would have hurt in some way, but he didn't intend on finding out how.

Cosmo snorted smoke through his nostrils in annoyance, then let loose the hottest blaze of fire upon the shadow the hovered in front of him. The flames quickly engulfed the shadow, but had little to no effect. The shadow demon barely even flinched toward his attempt of attacking it.

"I don't know how to fight it!" Cosmo quickly shouted.

Before Spyro could argue, the demon's shape begun changing, still floating in it's position. Spyro didn't know what it was up to, but shot a bolt of electricity, landing a hit on its center. The shadow barely reacted, merely halting its transformation for a brief second before resuming. Spyro wasn't even sure if it did any damage. He took a deep breathe regardless of the doubt in his mind, and exhaled a continued stream of electricity into the shadow. Cosmo quickly followed suit, but with fire. As the shadow continued to morph its shape, the two elements combined for a red fiery line of lightening into the demon's center. Flames formed on the figure setting it ablaze. This had to have worked, or at least hurt it in some way.

A few moment later, the dragon's attack ceased as they grew slightly fatigued. The shadow demon was still on fire as its unstructured form began writhing, almost as if it were in pain from the blaze. Unsure of the situation, Spyro and Cosmo kept their guard up. Both of them highly doubted that would be it.

Their silent questions were answered as a fiery spike quickly shot out from the shadowy ball in front of them toward Cosmo. He dropped altitude as another spike came toward him forcing him to evade to the side. Retracting its spikes, Spyro was by Cosmo's side within seconds to make sure he was okay.

Before they could attack, the wispy ball of fire began spinning in place, launching fireballs left and right. Cosmo was shocked, but Spyro grabbed him and pulled him to the ground. Just as the fire nearly reached him, an earth shield was raised in front of him, causing the fireballs to collide against it. When the onslaught was over, Spyro released the shield back into the earth, only to see a fire on the cabins porch.

"Put it out!" Spyro commanded as he hovered himself above the cabin once more.

Cosmo rapidly combined two elements he knew, fire and ice, to form hot scalding water. While he would have preferred regular water, it would have to do. As he began to get to work putting out the flames before Archie's cabin began the biggest campfire he'd ever seen, Spyro sprayed many icicles toward the black shadowy wisp. The shadow simply formed holes in its body, causing the attacks to go straight through its body.

When Cosmo finished dousing the spreading flames, he regrouped with Spyro to throw his own ice element into play. While he never did any actual fighting yet with his newly re-learned elements, he let the icicles fly along with Spyro's. The shadow, unable to keep up with all of the physical attacks cutting through it, fell into a short free fall below. Landing on a patch of dirt beside the cabin, the shadow writhed as it begun to form a familiar shape of a human being as two dragons landed in front of it, readying themselves for whatever the next attack it was going to throw.

Odd sounds began to emit from the shadow, almost as if there were faint whispers echoing around them. For some reason, it was unnaturally unsettling. Almost as if it were some form of attack.

"What's going on?" Spyro began, sounding uneasy and almost afraid. "Why is it hard to move?"

Cosmo attempted to shoot an earth missile toward the humanoid shadow, but it simply deflected it away into the woods behind it. It was then that he felt something under him. Quickly looked down, he saw tendrils reaching through the shade below him.

"Under us!" Cosmo shouted.

A tendril was quick to grab Cosmo's leg as he attempted to move, but his body wouldn't obey. He looked over at Spyro in hope that he got away, but he too was being held down by his legs. Looking back toward the demon, it slowly began to approach them with an outstretched open arm.

"We have to get out of here!" Spyro exclaimed.

Then Cosmo had an idea. It was so obvious he felt stupid for not doing it earlier. "Use fire! Kill the shade under us!"

Obeying without a second thought, the two dragons breathed a continuous stream of flame underneath them. The light repelled the shadows of their surroundings, forcing the tendrils to disappear into a wispy smoke before dissipating in the air almost immediately. Quickly flapping their wings to get airborne, the shadow screamed toward them in anger over their escape.

Spyro breathed a short sigh of relief. "Our attacks seem useless. I don't think we can fight it."

Cosmo silently agreed, flinching as the demon roared upwards toward them in annoyance. As he attempted to come up with a plan, he noticed Orion slowly slink from around the corner of the cabin. The fox looked towards the shadow is it flew upwards to Spyro and Cosmo's height.

The demon narrowed its yellow eyes toward the two dragons in front of it. It growled at them as its wispy shadows began to slowly expand, almost making itself bigger, but the eyes stayed the same size. Orion grew wide-eyed, knowing good and well what it was up to.

"No!" Orion shouted, running out in the open and showing himself to the demon. "You will not! I won't allow it!"

The demon snarled toward him as shadow dripped like a liquid from its body. Now being three times bigger than both of the dragons in front of it, Spyro and Cosmo felt an immense uneasiness as it stretched out its arm with an open palm.

"Stop it!" Orion commanded.

The shadow did not. Taking it as their queue, Spyro and Cosmo attacked with the elements of fire and earth. As the flames smothered the humanoid shadow, Cosmo's earth missiles passed straight through its body, colliding against the ground far behind it. Neither dragon knew what it was up to, but Cosmo felt a familiar feeling in the pit of his stomach. Then the reason showed itself.

Despite the attacks it was receiving, a black hole began to form in between the dragons and demon. Halting their attacks immediately, Spyro turned toward Cosmo, silently knowing what this was. It was none other than the void. The shadow's intent was to end it right now.

Turning and flying in the opposite direction, the void suddenly began pulling in the air around it. Both dragons were stricken with panic as the pull of the void was already too strong to get away. Spyro glanced toward Cosmo, unable to find a way to escape.

Then both dragons heard what almost was like a battle cry. Looking downwards the best he could, Cosmo found Orion taking matters into his own hands.

The fox had polymorphed into a black wisp like dragon and rushed the demon. The shadow, unable to react to the unexpected, was tackled by Orion, despite his size being much smaller than he was. It fell to the ground below, losing control of the rift it had summoned. Cosmo knew what that meant.

Much like what happened with Ismeral Nexis, the shadow lost control of the void. The winds pulled inwards much stronger than it did before as the result, causing the two dragons to slowly begin to grow tired. Their wings strained as they forced themselves to push forward in a desperate attempt to escape.

But it would be for naught. As Orion dealt with the shadow, he was too preoccupied to notice that Spyro and Cosmo had not escaped, but instead was viciously sucked into the void. The shadow turned, seeing no dragons in sight.

"Cosmo!?" Orion called out. He looked up toward the dissipating void, but didn't see a dragon in sight. "Spyro!?"

When the void's strength faded into nothingness and disappeared, Orion's shadowy form slowly changed back into the figure of a small fox. Stricken with disbelief, his legs gave out from under him as he fell to the dirt beneath him. The demon looked at him oddly, almost as if it didn't understand what was going on. It hovered closely above Orion before it began to change its own form. Landing in front of the him, Orion looked to see another fox that was similar to him.

"Don't even," Orion began in anger, ignoring the fact that the thing that terrified him most was staring straight at him. "You don't deserve to bear that form. Not after what you just did."

The shadow emitted a strange guttural noise toward him in response. Orion twitched for a moment as his paws shook with sadness.

"No . . . your mind is gone. You didn't know any better," Orion replied. "I have a good idea where it is but it's heavily guarded. You can't just go in there and start killing."

As if to respond, the shadow replied with more odd sounds that Orion seemed to understand perfectly.

"But that doesn't change the fact that Cosmo and Spyro are gone because you're impatient. Where are they?"

The shadow tilted his fox-like head and spoke with its own language. When it finished, Orion was wide-eyed with skepticism.

"You're insane!"

Unknown Location

Cosmo didn't know what happened. All he could remember was getting sucked into the void. Blackness surrounded him, but he was somehow able to see his own body in a way he never thought possible. As he looked to his right, he saw the back of his own head.

"Space is distorted," Cosmo thought. "I can still breathe somehow, but I can't feel any air. Am I dead?"

Odd noises echoed around him as he floated in nothingness. No matter how hard he listened, he couldn't make it out. Afraid, Cosmo looked around for a way out, but only spotted a tiny white dot in front of him. He reached out for it, being able to see his entire arm, front and backside, but couldn't touch it. It seemed to be something in the distance.

"Gods this can't be it. I couldn't have died during that fight. I still have so much to do! Give me a chance! I want to see Kali! I want save the dragons! I want to live!"

Then as if someone was listening, he got his answer. The white spec in the distance slowly began to grow in front of Cosmo. He looked closer, even reached out for it, but couldn't touch it. But as it continued to grow its colors and details began to grow as well. Before too long, Cosmo's vision was almost entirely obscured by this white ever expanding wall in front of him. Looking to his right, Cosmo was able to see the black void directly behind him, something that just seemed so wrong and impossible. He was able to tell that this once white dot in the distance had continued behind him, replacing everything he could see with its bright texture.

Then a flash happened. Suddenly Cosmo felt air rushing by his face as the sound of a warm wind brushed against him. He spotted trees in the distance and a large field with some kind of building in the middle of it. Looking down, Cosmo grew surprised at what was happening. He was falling right out of the sky.

Quickly expanding his wings, Cosmo attempted to slow his descent, but somehow found it impossible. His wings were failing to work, despite them being spread in the gliding position. Bracing himself for impact, the yellow dragon closed his eyes and threw his forelegs in front his face for the best protection he could come up with at short notice.

But it never came. The wind suddenly stopped and the feeling of free fall had ceased. Creaking his eyes open, Cosmo saw that somehow, he landed on the open grassy field without feeling it or even getting a scratch on him. Even better, looking to his right, Cosmo saw the familiar purple dragon that was also in the same predicament he was in.

"Spyro?" Cosmo called out as the purple dragon himself uneasily stood to his feet.

"Thank the gods," Spyro exhaled in relief. "I thought we were dead."

"Tell me about it," Cosmo comically retorted, standing up as well. "Are you alright?"

The purple dragon shrugged. "Physically yes but I have no idea where we are or what happened." Taking a close look around, Spyro continued. "I can't place a paw on it but something about this place doesn't make sense. The stars are visible in the sky in the middle of daylight."

That was something Cosmo just noticed himself. "That is rather odd. Also there's different planets in the sky from what we see back in the dragon realm."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Spyro replied with a sigh. Taking a moment for a deep breathe to calm himself, the purple dragon continued. "I saw some sort of house up ahead. Perhaps we should take a look?"

"Agreed."

Beginning their walk, Cosmo took the time to silently study his surroundings. Aside from the daylight stars and different planets hanging above them, something about the contrast of this place also seemed off. It seemed a bit more colorful that Cosmo would have expected. Along with the normal trees of the forests, there were also taller trees with large bushy crowns covered in pink leaves. It was actually a pretty sight to look at. Many flowers bloomed in the sunlit fields that neither dragon recognized. A slight warm breeze constantly blew at the perfect speed and temperature and small petals of different colors drifted in the wind. It was something you could only find in a fairy tale book.

While this place was very beautiful, Cosmo was sure there was a catch somewhere. It was too perfect. Therefore it was unnatural. "Cynder would have loved this place," Spyro suddenly said.

"I wouldn't doubt she would," Cosmo replied. Looking ahead, he saw the small house, but it was still a small walk away. "How has everything been?"

Spyro shrugged. "Everything's been fine since your disappearance. Warfang was recently rebuilt completely and all of the dragons are getting back to their normal lives."

"Well that's great . . . but I meant between you and Cynder."

A little bit of an odd question. Spyro was happy to answer regardless. "Oh, we've been getting along. Since we finally had time to settle down we've been trying to have a normal life together. But it seems every time we start to settle, something comes up." The purple dragon sighed in exasperation. "I just hope we can get back to Warfang. Just the thought of losing Cynder makes me shiver."

Spyro looked over toward Cosmo as they continued on, studying his face for a moment. "I see . . . you're still worried about Kali."

"I haven't seen her in months."

"That's completely apprehensible but I assure you Kali is completely fine." A few minutes passed as they became closer to the house. From what he could tell, the house looked almost modern to his world. Looking over toward Cosmo, he decided to continue from their previous subject "Do you still want to remain hidden from her?"

Cosmo was quiet. He wasn't sure how to answer that question. "I don't know. I thought I could just avoid her but it's becoming more and more difficult to do so."

"I think you should go to her."

"But what if I just disappear like last time?" the yellow dragon retorted.

Spyro closed his eyes in thought for a moment as Cosmo looked him over. Slowly looked over toward Cosmo, he showed a peculiar smile. "We will all cry like babies, but later remember the precious moments we had together."

"Poetic," Cosmo replied simply.

Finally approaching the building, Cosmo took note of the yard. Surrounding the home was a white picket fence and a few large trees here and there to provide some shade from the middle of the field. Freshly cut grass decorated the lawn as well as a few rose bushes surrounding the structure itself. Stone steps led upwards to a wooden porch underneath an awning also made of wood. Cosmo looked at the red brick home oddly. It looked like something you would have pulled out a children's book.

"Kind of weird," Spyro began curiously. "But I guess we should see if anyone is home."

Jumping the fence, both dragons slowly made their way across the lawn and up the steps. Standing on the porch, Cosmo was a bit hesitant to knock on the blue wooden door. The purple dragon did it for him however.

After a few short knocks, a voice came from the other side. "Visitors? Impossible!" Cosmo could hear footsteps approaching the door, but something about the voice seemed familiar to him.

"Spyro," Cosmo began. "Something about this feels unusual."

"I know. Be ready just in case."

The door knob suddenly turned and the way was open. The one that stood on the other side however shocked both dragons on the spot. There was no way they could have guessed who this would have been. Standing in front of them was a man in a blue robe and gray hair on his old head.

"You?!"

Spyro immediately got into a battle stance, ready to fight immediately. "Ismeral Nexis!"

The purple dragon prepared to launch of a fireball, but the earth underneath the porch suddenly broke through the ground blocking the attack. Spyro growled as his fireball exploded against the rock with Cosmo closely behind, ready to join him as soon as the wall fell. When it did, Ismeral was gone. Most likely fled into his home.

"Let's go!" Spyro commanded. Cosmo was quick to follow.

Entering the abode, both dragons grew surprised at what they saw. Instead of a small interior they were expected, the room was massive and resembled an old castle. Gray bricked stone walls contained the room. A giant dining table with a luxurious cloth covering it sat in the middle of the room. Several large colored tapestries hung around the room near the giant stained glass windows. Sunlight poured through giving off much light into the room. Several stone columns with various designs etched into them stood around the room, supporting the high ceiling above. Many golden chandeliers hung with their candles lit. Red carpet stretched from one end of the room to the other.

What got their attention most however, was Ismeral who was sitting at on a chair at the far end of the table. Running off toward him, both dragons prepared themselves for a battle against the evil wizard, determined to end him once and for all.

"You will sit!" Ismeral shouted at the top of his lungs.

Out of nowhere, two chairs appeared underneath the two dragons. Vines sprouted from the ground so fast, they tied Spyro and Cosmo down snugly into the cushioned seats. They both struggled to escape, even attempted to burn the vines, but the foliage resisted the flames.

Ismeral stood to his feet and casually made his way along his long dining table toward the two dragons. As he got close, Cosmo blew flames, which dissipated before reaching him.

"Sit quietly!"

The vines tightened their hold, forcing Cosmo to cease his desperate attack. He struggled to find air as Spyro looked toward the human angrily. "He can't breathe!"

"Good! Maybe you'll both shut up!"

"Loosen the vines! Please!"

Ismeral Nexis glared toward him. "If you co-operate I might do what you ask."

Spyro was hesitant, but Cosmo was running low on air. "Fine!"

The vines immediately became slack, but just enough to let Cosmo breathe again. The yellow dragon gasped as Spyro looked toward Ismeral angrily.

"Now that I have your attention," Ismeral began. "Let it be known that you are in my realm. I can control everything you see. Therefore if I wanted those chairs you sit upon to suddenly become something far more sinister, I would will it to be so. But you are of no use to me dead?"

Spyro was a bit confused. "What do you mean your realm?"

"You have found your way into my paradise. My own pocket dimension in space. Everything here obeys me. How did you find your way here?"

The purple dragon answered. "A demon summoned the void and trapped us inside where we found our way here."

Ismeral seemed a bit surprised to hear that. "A demon?"

"The monster you are responsible for."

"What makes you believe that purple beast?"

Spyro chose to ignore that last part for his and Cosmo's sake. "You were the one who studied and used the void to your advantage all those years ago."

"Firstly," Ismeral began, holding his finger toward him in defense. "Yes, I did study the void. Secondly, you are wrong. I did not use the void to my advantage."

Finally recovering from his stranglehold, Cosmo looked toward Ismeral with a confused look as well as Spyro. "But you used the void to corrupt dragons making them your slaves," the yellow dragon said.

Ismeral bared his teeth in annoyance. "I did no such thing. I didn't control the void, the void controlled me."

"What?"

Finding their insolence rather displeasing, Ismeral sighed. "Of course you wouldn't know. I should tell you my story, but I don't see a reason you would believe me. Regardless, I will tell you anyways."

Spyro rolled his eyes, unable to do anything as he and Cosmo was still tied down by Ismeral's vines. "This ought to be good."

Ismeral chose to ignore him. "Back when the void was discovered, I was appointed to study it. However as a result of me getting close to the infectious element, I became nothing more than it's mindless slave to do its bidding like some sort of inferior lackey. For years I was under the voids influence, but everyone assumed it was me infecting other dragons."

"So," Spyro began. "What you're saying is that the void infected you from the start?"

"Precisely. I was under its control for thousands of years. Granted, my soul laid dormant in a crystal you helped destroy for most of that duration. When Star banished my soul, I was separated from the void and finally free."

"How did you end up here?" Cosmo asked intrigued by the story.

"I was quite the magician. Quite better than everyone else in fact. With my magic I was able to create my own pocket realm all those years ago as a test of my skills. When I was defeated in the crystal, I was able to guide myself here. Which is why there is nothing in this room that cannot kill you. This is my paradise and everything obeys me."

"So bottom line," Spyro began, "You're not the evil mastermind behind everything like we previously thought, but just a mere victim of the void."

Ismeral slightly nodded. "While we are on the subject of the void, I must ask you. What has happened to it?"

"Well maybe if you free us of these vines we might share that information," Spyro replied, growing more and more uncomfortable tied to a chair.

"Fine . . . but if you attempt anything I will not hesitate to break your neck," Ismeral threatened. With a quick snap of his fingers, the vines retreated back into the ground, which ended up repairing itself to fix the gaps in the floor. The two dragons were quick to their feet, silently grateful for the slight freedom they received. "Now tell me. What has become of the void?"

Satisfied, Spyro answered his question. "The void was sealed in Velxtra Forest, but recently escaped into the world due to the power of the relic fragments diminishing. But the void has been split into three parts of itself. We know where one part of it is, the other part is what sent us to this realm, and the last part is missing."

"I see," Ismeral began in thought. "The void somehow felt threatened and split itself in an attempt of protection. No doubt those infernal spirit guardians had something to do with it. Now that their mess has shown itself they sent you to take care of it." A silent moment passed before Ismeral realized something else. "No . . . that's not it. The spirit guardians didn't send you did they?"

"How would you know that?" Cosmo quickly asked, genuinely curious.

"I used to know them. I should know."

"Well if you must know it was another part of the void that called me and the other five back into the dragon realm."

"Really?" Ismeral went in a bit of surprise. "Interesting. The voice of reasoning no doubt. A foxy little deceiver."

"You know him?"

"Of course I do," Ismeral replied almost harshly. He leaned up against the table he stood beside for a bit of support for his tiring legs. "The void is as old as the spirit guardians themselves. As I studied it I was able to figure out a few things about it. Even after becoming its puppet I learned much more." Ismeral sighed and crossed his arms. "So I suppose you want to know how to get rid of the void?"

Cosmo nodded while Spyro seemed a bit skeptical, but listened in anyways.

Then Ismeral answered. "Quite simple really. Obtain the six temporal stones, put them together, then you will have yourself a magical device that the void will follow anywhere you take it."

"So once we have the entire stone put back together where do you suggest we take it?"

Ismeral showed a small grin. "A bit of a clever one here. Throw it in the void."

Now Spyro was doubtful. "So the way you are saying to get rid of the void is to throw the only object in the world into the void itself?"

"The void will have no choice but to follow it. However once it's done, you will never see the void again and any corruptions that the void as done will disappear off your world."

"I see . . . it seems a bit far-fetched," Spyro replied, unable to determine if Ismeral was actually telling them the truth or not. "But I will consider your words."

"I hope you do more than that," Ismeral replied in an annoyed tone. "In any case, I will open a way for you to get back to your realm for you do not belong in my paradise. You're very presence tarnishes this landscape."

Spyro and Cosmo both looked at each other questionably, but decided to just let it go. Then the purple dragon spoke. "If you can make a way out of here why haven't you gone back to the dragon realm?"

"Zany reptile," Ismeral began, turning behind him towards the far end of the dining table they stood beside. "My body has long disappeared from the world. Yours has not, you were merely just sent here."

Outstretching his right arm, Ismeral began twirled his hand in a clockwise motion as he closed his eyes in concentration. Mumbling a few incoherent words, a black rift similar to the void in every way tore open in the realms fabric right in front of him. Instead of a violent vacuum however, it merely floated there, waiting for the two dragons to enter its dark depths.

"One last question before we go," Spyro began. "We found one of your relatives."

"I know," Ismeral interrupted. "He wishes to use the fragments for a different reason than you."

"What is his goal?"

"He wants to use the fragments to open a portal to my paradise," Ismeral explained. "He wants to clear our family name by showing the world of my demise."

"But you said earlier you can't leave this dimension," Cosmo added.

"Correct, I cannot just leave this place without truly dying. Tell him to forget about me. Tell Verus to drop the Nexis name and forget about me. He deserves better."

For a moment it seemed that Ismeral Nexis was actually a good guy with good intentions. Which was something Spyro nor Cosmo would have ever thought possible. At this point though, it was entirely possible that Ismeral was never bad. At least not intentionally. It gave the two dragons much to think about.

"Now go and do not come back," Ismeral barked.

"You can count on it," Spyro retorted with a small grin.

In no time at all, the two dragons bravely jumped into the portal, somehow trusting Ismeral that it would take them back to the land of dragons.

The trip wasn't pleasant and very similar like the ride to this strange paradise as Ismeral called it. Which in all honesty, it really did seem like a paradise. The land there was beautiful which many colors to look upon. The only way it would have been perfect was if Kali was there beside him. He would have enjoyed the incredible sights more.

As Cosmo was enveloped in a bright light, the portal spit him out a few feet in the air. With barely any time to react, Cosmo attempted to brace himself and tumbled onto the ground. It stung a bit when he hit the ground, but nothing he couldn't walk off. Breathing a sigh of relief, Cosmo rubbed his eyes into focus and spotted the familiar cabin he had called home during his time as a dragon. Beside him was a purple dragon, who was rubbing his rump due to a rough landing.

But that wasn't the only dragon sitting in the area. Standing in front of the cabins porch, which was still partially burnt because of the fight earlier, was a familiar dragon Cosmo immediately recognized. He turned toward the new company with a large smile plastered on his face. Orange scales covered his body with a yellow underbelly.

"Cosmo!" the dragon called out, running toward him in excitement.

Before he could react, the dragon jumped, making them both tumble to the ground the Cosmo ending up the bottom. Trapped by a hyperactive dragon, Cosmo was forced to be a subject to his tortures.

"I can't believe its you! Well I heard from Spyro that you were here but I had to see for myself! Here you are though! I can't wait to tell you what I've been doing!"

"Yes Star," Cosmo said calmly as a snickering Spyro stood in the background. "I can't wait to hear all about it."

"Okay!" Star began. "As soon as you left I helped Aurore in the hospital and helped a lot of dragons get better with my healing! Then I played with the toddlers and told them the stories of our adventures as they got better! They really liked the parts where we kicked butt! Then I went on a—"

"Later!" Cosmo interrupted with a shout. "I can't wait to hear about it later! If you don't mind getting off of me I would like to stretch my legs."

Star didn't mind obliging to his request. Letting the dragon up to his feet, Cosmo stretched in place. "Where's everyone else?" Star asked curiously.

Cosmo was a bit hesitant to answer. He didn't want to disappoint Star, but with him, who actually knew if he would be or not. "Isis is somewhere around here. We think Yin is a firefighter in Warfang. Yin, Myrianda, and Clover though, we're not sure. Probably somewhere close by."

"Really?"

Spyro chuckled, his same cheerful smile from before on his face. "Sure Star, we'll find them all soon enough."

"I don't see any signs of Orion," Cosmo began, worried about the fox. "I hope he's okay."

"Is Orion another friend?" Star asked excitedly.

Despite the situation, Cosmo couldn't help but crack a small smile toward the innocent dragon. "He sure is Star."

Meanwhile

A certain dragon walked down a forest pathway, looking behind him as he did so. The humans that spotted him earlier seemed to have lost him for the time being. What those humans were doing in the dragon realms were a bit weird to him, but luckily they didn't seem to care too awful much about one dragon.

Looking into his side, the green scaled dragon pulled a small tranquilizer dart out. Bring it to his eye level, he studied for a moment, then broke it open with a claw. Fluid poured out of the canister before he dropped it to the ground below. He simply guessed the needle didn't puncture his scales.

"How lucky," he thought to himself.

After a few more minutes of walking, the forest opened up to reveal a familiar city in the distance in front of him. The city of Warfang awaited.

With a smirk, the dragon confidently continued forward. "Time to find out why the dragon realm needs me this time. I can only hope the others are here as well."

New found hope in his veins, Clover walked the path before him toward the nearest gate into the city. It was about due time for some answers. Answers he wouldn't be leaving without.