After they had healed Terrador's wounds, he laid down by the fire, trying to rest and relax. "Hey, um dad?" Spyro asked nervously Terrador barely opened his eyes. Spyro could see how tired he looked, making feel more nervous for bothering him. "Thank you for rescuing us back there." Terrador could tell that Spyro was scare to even talk to him, not that he could blame him for that. He slowly stood up again, trying his best to hide the pain he felt from merely moving. Despite all the red gems he was given, his body still ached from the battle. He looked down at his son and smiled back at him. He opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, but he closed his mouth, just nodded, and laid back down, creating this awkward tension between the two.
Elora, noticed this, and spoke up. "Hey, Spyro, we are going to need some food for tomorrow, mind if you help me find something?" Spyro agreed, if not only to get rid of this awkwardness. The two walked through the woods, in search for anything that they could eat. "So, that was your dad?" Elora asked, keeping an eye out for any wildlife. Spyro just nodded his head, feeling anxious to hear what she was thinking. "Are you alright? You know, being around your father again?"
"I think so, I don't believe I have a reason not to be ok. He saved our lives."
"I know, and for that I thank him, however, I don't have a past with him. I'm sorry for prodding Spyro, but I just want to make sure that you're ok being with him again." Spyro took a moment to think about it, and he thought back to when he ran into his father a few days ago. Without having to think to long on it Spyro said,
"Yeah I think I will be." Spyro looked up at Elora, and she could see by the look in his eyes that he was confident in this decision. "When I first found him, I was scared to death, and I wasn't sure what to do, but after talking with him, I truly think that he wants to make amends with me and regrets what he has done." This time Elora nodded.
"If you believe that he has changed, then I shall believe you."
Spyro smiled and looked away from here, trying to spot any wildlife as well. "Thank you Elora." Elora looked down at him, smiled, and patted his back.
About an hour passed when the two returned with a few rabbits and some berries for Elora. There wasn't much meat for the three dragons, but it was enough to keep them going for another day, though they did have to deal with Ember's wines of still being hungry for a short time. Spyro couldn't blame her to much however, seeing as she's been with Moneybags since she was young, and thus was provided all the food should could want. Once they were done eating, they made plans for the morning.
"Hey Elora, now that you and Ember are free, what do you plan on doing now?" Spyro asked, as he finished his food.
"Well," Elora looked over to Ember who met her gaze. "Me and Ember agreed a long time ago that once we were free, I'd help her find her way back home, and help her reconnect with her family."
Spyro looked over to Ember. "Oh, you remember what town you lived in?" Spyro asked, sounding hopeful for his friend.
"Kind of," Ember shrugged. "It's been so long, and I'm sure much has changed. I just hope I'm able to recognize it when I see it." She didn't sound too sure about that.
"Do you remember the town's name?" Terrador asked, surprising everyone, as well as impressing Spyro who grew even more confident that Terrador wasn't the evil dragon he was before.
"Umm… It's hard to say, I think it might have started with a W, but honestly I can't say if I remember it or not."
"There is Warfang," Terrador guested. "Does that ring any bells?" Sadly, Ember shook her head.
"Not really. The only thing that I do remember was that I lived in a small town… I think there might have been a stream near it, but I really just don't remember."
"There are a few places like that." Elora said, trying to sound hopeful in their upcoming journey. "I'm sure though if we ask around if anyone remembers a dragon without any scales, someone is bound to point us in the right direction. From there, it's only a matter of time."
Ember shrugged, not feeling as confident as Elora. "I hope so." Elora patted Ember's back, in hopes that this would help boost her confidence. She then looked over to Terrador.
"And what do you plan on doing Terrador, now that Spyro is free again?" Terrador was shocked that she would even ask that in the first place.
"I was think that we'd just return to my home in the mountain side. From there, I don't know."
"Actually, dad, I was hoping that you could help me rescue my friends for pirates." Spyro look up at his dad. Terrador could see by the look he was giving him, that doing this would mean a lot of him. He grimaced.
"I assume you are talking about that Cheetah, and that black menace that hurt Nova?" Terrador had to take a deep breath to help calm his nerves a little, the mere thought of his mate still brought troubling thoughts to his mind. Spyro nodded back at him.
"I am, and they mean the world to m-"
"Absolutely not." Terrador cut him off. "I'm not going to risk my own life for the likes of those two."
"Dad, please, they are in danger because of what I did, it's my fault that they are there." Spyro pleaded. He stood up and faced his father head on, begging him to help.
"I said no Spyro!" Terrador's raised his paw, aiming to strike Spyro who flinched and backed away from his father. Ember, Sparx, and Elora also jumped by the sudden aggression, as they were all worried about what was going to happen. Terrador, however, noticed what he was doing and lowered his paw and looked at the ground, feeling ashamed.
"I'm sorry Spyro." Was all his father could muster to say. The group fell into another awkward silence, though Spyro was thankful that it didn't last long.
"I don't mean to butt in on all of this." Sparx said as he floated down between the two dragons. He turned to Spyro first. "I may not understand why you are so weak Spyro. You are a purple dragon the strongest creature to be born, or at least that is what I've always been told. Judging by how your father's acting, I think I understand why." Sparx turned around and looked up to Terrador. "I've seen this guy fight, and frankly I don't think he could fight his way out of a box." Spyro let his head fall, feeling ashamed by everything that Sparx was saying.
"Don't you think you're being a little harsh Sparx?" Ember looked like she was going to swat Sparx out of the air if he continued to talk. Sparx raised his hands up in defense.
"Hey, I'm just trying to prove something here. Since you two are going off on your own adventure, that only leaves me, Spyro, and this big green thug over here to go on a rescue mission, and between the three of us, who do you think has the best chance of rescuing them?" he looked back up at Terrador. "I don't think you understand. Spyro needs your help, he is incapable of doing so without your help. Based on what I heard these talk about on their walk, as well as recent events, I can only assume that you had a hand in making Spyro the way he is now. so, don't you owe him at least this much?"
"You were following us?" Elora looked both annoyed and impressed that she didn't notice him.
Sparx laughed nervously. "Um, well I wouldn't put it like that. I'd say that I was just out hunting with you guys… Anyways, we are getting off track. So big guy, what will it be? Are you going to help Spyro out or not?"
Terrador looked around at everyone. They were all staring back at him, waiting for his answer. He let out an annoyed sigh before saying "Fine, I suppose I can help you save them."
Spyro seemed to have brightened up and got up to hug his father. Terrador stiffened by Spyro sudden act and gently push him away. Feeling embarrassed himself, Spyro just said "Thanks dad."
"Do you even know where they are being held?" Terrador asked, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. He could hear Ember and Elora chuckle at the males.
"Um…. Well actually, I was hoping you might have known." Spyro admitted, feeling even more embarrassed than before.
"How am I supposed to know, were a bunch of low life keep prisoners?" Terrador sounded even more annoyed than before.
Sparx began to laugh triumphantly. "I think I might know." He said, puffing out his chest, as if to show off to everyone. "While I was heroically fighting off that bird, I over heard one of the crew mates talk about something they called a gladiator ring. They said it was somewhere off deep in the Great Wood Tree Forest, hidden under its leaves."
"You didn't over hear anything else?" Spyro asked hope to get any more information out of Sparx, but he just shrugged.
"What else do you want from me? I was fighting of a demon with feathers at the time." Sparx shuttered as he recalled the pirates attempts to eat him.
"Actually," Elora jumped back into conversation. "I've heard rumor back when I was with my own kind, that there were people taking others as captives and using them for their own entertainment. Somewhere near the small town Blacktooth."
"Blacktooth?" Spyro asked, wondering how a town could get such a strange name.
Terrador sighed again, something he figured he was going to have to get accustomed to. "It's a cutthroat village, ran by thefts and murderers, a perfect place for something like a gladiator ring."
"Wait if you guys knew about this, why didn't the dragon empire do something to stop them?" Elora glared at Terrador as she thought about all the innocents that must have been killed for sport.
"We tried." Terrador shot back. "I never went on one of the missions myself, however, if what I heard was true, each time we found out where they were, they would be gone by the time we got there. For murderous bastards, they are very slippery."
"So how to we find them?" Sparx said, sounding like he was ready to give up. No one knew what to do, and they were all looked back and forth between one another, hoping that someone could come up with something. Spyro was the first to speak.
"I think I might have an idea, but you're not going to like it. What if we intentionally got captured?"
"Are you kidding me?" Terrador said, outraged that he would even suggest that. "And what pray tell would we do afterwards?"
"Actually, only you and me dad would get captured, and it would be up to Sparx to free us. Once we are free, we can free everyone else and then we make our grand escape."
"Hey now, that's a lot of pressuring that you guys are putting on me." Sparx said, growing nervous.
"But Sparx," Spyro insisted. "You are the only one who can get it nearly undetected, and the only one capable of doing it. Please Sparx, I need your help." Sparx just stared back at Spyro. Sparx grunted and threw his hands up in the air.
"Fine, I guess I can do that… just watch out for any birds for me."
"I never agreed upon this plan either." Terrador looked over to Elora. "We don't even know were they are right now, he could be wondering around that forest for days and never find them. Is there anyway that one of your other Fuan's brethren could tell us where they are?"
Elora had to think about it for a moment. "They might, but we'd need to find them first. That part should be easy for me, however it could take days, if not weeks for me to get to them."
"We don't really have that much time." Spyro seemed worried that his friends wouldn't make it that long.
"I can fly you there." Terrador offered. "If it's not to far, we should be able to make it back quickly. We would have to leave as soon as possible though."
Elora looked at Ember. "Do you mind if we hold off on your search for just a little bit?" Ember didn't seem to happy about this but nodded.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. This seems a little more important."
Elora smile and hugged her friend. "Thank you, Ember, for understanding, and you know, while I'm there, I'll ask if anyone knows anything about what town you come from." This seemed to brighten Ember up and she gladly hugged Elora back. Once they finished, Elora stood up. "Alright, if we want to hurry, we better leave right now. Do you guys think that you'll be safe all on your own?" Everyone nodded.
"Don't you worry, goat lady." Sparx boasted, puffing his chest once more. "If anything comes, I'll protect them."
"Hey did I just hear a bird flying by?" Ember asked, looking up at the sky. Sparx screeched and flew behind Spyro, causing everyone but Terrador to laugh at Sparx.
"Hey that's not funny." Sparx said, coming out from his hiding spot when he realized he was pranked.
"Alright, alright. Let's get going now." Elora walked over to Terrador, who helped her up onto his back. In no time, he took off and they were out of site.
Hey guys, thanks again for keeping up with this story. I'll be honest when I say that there aren't many chapters left in this story, but as I've promised before, I will finish this book before the end of the year so expect the next chapter very soon. Thanks again for reading!