A FEW HOURS LATER:

The forest was just as beautiful here as it was in Feywild.

But even so, he could sense the difference. Smell it in the air: the lack of magical influence over the land, which grew its life naturally, without the need for fairies and their magics.

It was strange…and yet it felt natural.

Like this was how the world was supposed to be.

Spyro didn't say anything as he reached the top of the hill, stopping so he and Mrs. Brisby could take the moment to overlook the distant woods…the woods beyond all that the dragon had known; the sun shone down over the seemingly endless sea of trees, the wind flowing through the green leaves like the currents of the ocean, and flocks of birds flying through the air like schools of fish, their songs echoing across the landscape. The tree line was broken up only by the great river, which continued to wind back and forth across the horizon, its sparkling blue waters reflecting the sun's golden glow.

It was quite a wondrous sight.

And Mrs. Brisby could barely believe she was seeing it already.

It had only been a few hours since they had passed the Border Trees, and yet they were at the hill that marked the halfway part of the journey; what would've taken her at least a day and a half to reach the hill's peak on foot, they had reached in a fraction of that time thanks to Spyro. As much as she didn't want to admit it, his frighteningly-incredible speed and stamina did indeed help make the trip a lot shorter.

If they hurried, they may very well make it to Dapplewood before sunset. But for the time being, the mouse needed a much-needed break from said speed. "Let's make a stop here."

"Are you sure?" Spyro asked, giving her a questioning glance. "I can keep going, if you wish."

"I'm sure you can, but I need a break." Mrs. Brisby told him frankly, ready and eager to get out of the saddle for a little bit.

"Very well." He said simply as he shifted his body and laid down on the top of the hill in a cat-like manner; the ground shook slightly as his weight came down on it, the soft thud vibrating across the hill. Still ever uneasy with it all, Mrs. Brisby held on tight and waited for the dragon to stop moving entirely before she risked getting off, climbing down the side of the dragon's folded arm until her paws touched the long-missed earth.

"Thank you." She said gratefully as she stood there for a moment, just taking in the feeling of finally being on sturdy solid ground again.

The wind continued to blow gently across the hilltop as the mouse briefly hopped back up onto the dragon's back and rummaged through the saddlebags that hung against it. From the bags she retrieved a loaf of bread and a chunk of cheese that had been packed for the journey; Spyro simply watched from the corner of his eye as she climbed back down with her food underneath her chin, taking a seat on the ground next to his foreleg. Once in a comfortable position, she ripped off a piece of her loaf of bread and began to nibble at it in a rather adorable way, occasionally taking equally-cute nibbles out of her cheese every now and then.

A moment passed before she looked up at Spyro, who had been lounging quietly behind her…or around her, given the way his body and tail curled to form a protective wall around the part of the hill she was resting on, forming a makeshift wall around her. His head was held up high, the sun glinting off the scales and horns in a radiant manner, eyes scanning the horizon for any potential threats. The beautiful scenery seemed to only complement his primordial regal-ness.

The alpha of the land overlooking his domain.

"Would you like some?" she asked as she tore her loaf in half, offering one of the halves to him.

He glanced down at her from the corner of his eye, shaking his head afterwards. "I'll hunt for my fill when you're safe in Dapplewood." He said simply.

"Oh." She muttered, feeling a pinch of guilt that he was choosing to go without food until she was safe. She continued to eat in silence, finishing off her bread and cheese with no interruption, giving a content sigh as she laid back against Spyro's arm, resting her hands in her lap.

It was through this action that her hand came across a familiar hard object; she looked down, reaching into her skirt pocket to pull out the Speaking Crystal Zoe had given her before they left. She stared at it in wonder: a means to speak to her family even when she was away, the fairy had said…but how was this used again? She tilted her head, a confused scowl coming over her features as she fumbled around with the shiny crystal in her paws. A light went off in her brain as she remembered: tap the surface of the crystal three times.

Shifting the gem in her hands until its flat surface faced her, she lifted a paw and gently patted said surface, unsure of how much strength was needed to do so. Once…Twice…

At the third touch, the gemstone began to glow with a blinking blue light, pulsing in and out like the rhythm of a heartbeat as the sound of wind-chimes began to fill the air around it. Brisby's eyes widened in a sense of wonder as she beheld the glowing stone, the blue light reflecting in her eyes. Spyro glanced down from his watch, curious as to what she was trying to attempt; he wasn't even sure if Rodentkin were able to use magic, so to see her actually get the crystal working surprised him on its own.

A few seconds passed as the crystal continued to pulse like a magical heart, waiting for whoever was on the other side to answer. She was just about to try again when the soft blue glow turned into a brilliant, almost-white light, and she felt an invisible force tugging at it; with an alarmed gasp, she instinctively dropped it, only for it to hover in the air just in front of her. Spyro turned his head to watch as the pixie dust came together around the crystal to form a single orb of white light floating in the air. And from deep within the light orb, an image formed: first it was faded and blurry, as if surrounded by fog, but eventually the image cleared to reveal-

"There you are! I was wondering when you were gonna call!"

Mrs. Brisby blinked in surprise, bringing her paw up to her lips, as the image of Zoe's face materialized within the light. From what little she could see around the fairy's head, she appeared to be in front of the cornfield, her hair a bit disheveled and her cheeks freckled with dirt smudges.

Incredible. To be this far away from her home and yet able to see and hear it as if she was still there.

Truly the wonders of magic.

"H-Hello, Zoe." Mrs. Brisby said, albeit with a bit of uncertainty. "You can hear me, right?"

"Hear and see you." Zoe stated as she used a thumb to wipe the dirt from her face.

"Is that Brisby?" A second voice on Zoe's end of the crystal asked, and Zoe barely had time to object as Auntie Shrew pushed her way into the image, shoving the fairy to the side. "Well, as I live and breathe! Elizabeth! Truly a wondrous piece of magic, these gems."

"Crystals!" Zoe snapped as she attempted to push herself back into the image, resulting in a comical smashing of faces between fairy and shrew. "And do you mind? I'm trying to talk here!"

"Mother?" A third voice entered the picture, only for Teresa to push her way up from under the chins of the two bickering adults. Her face immediately lit up upon seeing her mother on the opposite side of the crystal's image. "Mother! It's really you!"

"Hey, it is mom!" Martin said as he and Cythina joined in on the pile.

"Hi, mommy!" Cynthia called to her, barely able to squeeze her own chubby face into view.

"Alright! Everyone back up a bit so I can adjust this…" Zoe exclaimed as she gently nudged everyone off her person; the image became a blur as Zoe's hand came up and completely engulfed the view, twisting around it in a way that made the sides of the image expand. Her hand then retreated, revealing the image within the crystal had expanded significantly, allowing her to see all of them at once without them having to crowd around. "There we go. How's that?"

A deep warmth bloomed in Mrs. Brisby's chest at the sight of them all, her hands reaching up and taking the glowing orb of magic in her paws, a gentle bubble of laughter escaping her lips at the silliness that she beheld. It was like a moving portrait of her family, only it was them, no matter how far away; for a brief moment, it was as if she was holding her family together in her hands, protected and safe from the dangers of the world.

"Much better." She said with a warm smile.

She didn't notice Spyro giving her an unreadable stare out of the corner of his eye.

"Gotta say: part of me expected the crystal wouldn't work for a mouse." Zoe told her as the others gathered around again, this time less intrusively. "Fae Magic isn't exactly crafted with rodentkin use in mind…but here we are."

"How are you all doing?" Mrs. Brisby asked. "Everything okay with the farm?"

"We've just finished seeding the field." Auntie Shrew told her, sounding plenty surprised (and a little proud) of her own words. "It's completely ready for the next rain."

That was enough to take her aback several times. The sheer idea that taking down last year's crops and re-seeding the field, something that often took weeks if not months to complete, had been done in about a week's time alone was mind-blowing. She was troubled thinking of what to do with all the free time they would now have…

And it was all thanks to him; the one who took up Johnathan's mantle and saved her farm.

She glanced over to where Spyro's head lay, just catching him staring at her in silence; he quickly looked away, pretending to be watching the wind blowing through the distant trees. That earned a quiet giggle of amusement from the mouse.

"So, how have you been doing?" The old shrew then asked. "I hope the beast hasn't been giving you too much trouble."

Spyro snorted flatly at that accusation, completely unamused; Brisby raised her hand to cover her mouth, hiding the wide smile that had formed on it from his action. "On the contrary: he's been amazing." She told her aunt. "We're currently at Canopy Peak right now, taking a break for lunch."

"Ca-…Canopy Peak?!" She finally exclaimed in disbelief. "But that's at least a full day's journey on foot!"

"What did I tell you all? No better way to travel than on dragon-back." Zoe said smugly, eyes closed in a look of pride. She then reopened her eyes, looking just a touch concerned. "How is Spyro doing? First time outside of Feywild's borders and all that, that is."

"He seems to be doing fine." Mrs. Brisby told her, watching as the dragon rested his head on the ground, closing his own eyes as if to slumber. "He was a little nervous to pass the border, but he seems to be doing okay now."

The fairy gave a resigned yet frustrated sigh. "You can blame the stricter members of the council for that." She spat the word with heavy distaste. "For fifty years, they tried to cement the idea that he needed to stay in the forest into his mind, telling him all sorts of stories of how dangerous the world outside was, or how he would never be welcomed in the world of the Rodentkin. Whatever it took to keep their idol within Feywild, where they believe he has to remain in order to stay safe."

Mrs. Brisby didn't say anything. Despite how cruel the actions of the fairy council sounded, she could almost understand them: wanting to keep something you treasured safe…

"Doesn't matter now." Zoe then decided, straightening herself. "He's out of Feywild; no going back from this."

"On the topic of dragons going places…" Auntie Shrew then spoke up. "I have a question I should've asked from the start: what do you intend to do once you two make it to Dapplewood? With Spyro, I mean."

That question took Mrs. Brisby aback. What was she planning to do when they got to Dapplewood? It wasn't as if she could just bring Spyro into it; the mere sight of him would send the entire town into a mass panic, even if he meant them no harm. She looked over to the dragon in question to see him staring at her expectantly, waiting for an answer that should be plenty obvious in his mind.

"I…I didn't really think about it until now." She admitted sheepishly, glancing away with an embarrassed blush.

She could feel the dragon give an exasperated guttural rattle of a sigh as he turned his gaze away, neither impressed nor amused.

Her aunt gave a similar reaction. "Brisby, honestly. You don't actually expect the people of Dapplewood to take more than one look at him before running for the hills, do you?" She asked, sounding disappointed.

"N-No, no. I never did." Brisby assured them with a stammer. "I just…didn't give the idea much thought until now." She looked back at Spyro, whose eyes were once again closed as if he was asleep, but the way his ear was positioned gave away the fact he was listening. "They were so welcoming to me when I first came there…I just dream that they would be the same for him."

"It's a nice dream, but a sadly-unrealistic one." Zoe said, taking the reins of the conversation again. "I'm sure they're a nice bunch, but a dragon is still a dragon. As much as I personally loathe the idea of anyone thinking ill of him, it's a reality that I had to accept long ago. He'll need to stay away from the village."

Mrs. Brisby nodded in agreement. "I suppose we'll just-"

Whatever she was about to suggest was lost to eternity as Spyro's eyes snapped open and he lifted his head off the ground in a quick motion, alerted to something they couldn't see. Brisby looked up in surprise as the dragon stared into the distance down the hillside, both eyes wide open and both ears perked up to observe as sharply as he could. He stood like this for a moment, still as a statue, before he suddenly jumped to his feet, sending the startled mouse rolling from the sheer impact of his feet against the ground, and bounded down the hill as fast as his legs would go, heading to the right of the main path to Dapplewood.

"S-Spyro, where are you going?!" Mrs. Brisby called after him in surprise, barely having enough time to recover from her tumble. "C-Come back!"

But her cries fell on deaf ears, and the dragon disappeared into the underbrush, the last of his tail whooshing through the air behind him.

"Brisby?! Brisby, what happened?!" Auntie Shrew's voice exclaimed from the fallen Speaking Crystal.

The mouse scrambled to his feet, picking up the crystal as she stared after the dragon with fretful worry. "I-I don't know!" She stammered. "Spyro just took off into the forest!"

"Give me a sec…" Zoe told them as she placed her fingers to her temple. Everyone watched as the fairy's eyes began to glow with a brilliant purple light, her pupils temporarily disappearing into said light as she focused. She didn't say anything for a moment, her expression steeled with concentration, only for her eyes to go wide with alarm.

"What is it?" Brisby asked, recognizing the light; it was the same thing Spyro did the morning they spent in his cave.

All the fairy needed to say was one word:

"Trouble."

"SHUT THE BITCH UP!"

That was all she heard before her screams were cut short by a brutal strike across the face, sending her tumbling to the ground. The young rat didn't even have time to recover, let alone escape, before she was bodily pinned to the earth by their filthy, jagged claws. Tears sprung from her green eyes as they forced her mouse-like face against the dirt, her captor's grips tight enough to cause her skin to bruise under her fur; from here, it was all too easy to see the numerous corpses of her guards lying about her, all of them brutally murdered and in pools of their own blood.

This was not how she had imagined her day would go; not even in her worst nightmares could she picture something like this ever happening.

And yet here it was, and she was all too awake.

"Wait, wait! You can't do this!" She heard someone call out; she looked over just in time to see one of the largest of these bandits, a true monster of a rat, lifting the mouse carriage driver up by the collar of his shirt with one hand. "I followed your orders! I brought her to you! We had a deal-!"

That was the last thing he said before his throat was slit open by the bandit's knife. The rat then promptly dropped the dying mouse, letting him fall to the ground to choke out on his own blood.

"Deal's off." He snarled with a voice that sounded more like an animal's growl, not even bothering to wipe the blood off his blade before sheathing it again.

She whimpered pathetically, struggling to keep from flat out crying as they stood over her, pinning her arms behind her back non-too gently before tying her wrists off with thick ropes. Her ankles were bound right after, the bandits viciously ripping away pieces of her skirts to get to her feet.

"She's ready to go." The rat that had tied her up told the large one, no doubt the leader of this pack.

Said leader grunted in acknowledgment. "Strip the carriage of any booty you can find, then we head back to Exile."

Exile.

That confirmed it; these were no ordinary bandits. No common rats from the land of Nimh.

And she was damned.

"Found another one!" Another voice shouted from behind the carriage, accompanied by a frightened scream.

She looked up just in time to see one of the 'bandits' dragging along a small mouse by her hair, unfazed by her pathetic attempts to struggle against her captors. That got the attention of several of the rats around them, their red eyes staring at her with dark, hungry gazes, some of them outright eyeing her as if she was flesh to be eaten.

The leader nodded with approval. "Bring her back as well." He told them.

"No!" The young rat cried in desperation, watching in horror as the rats began to gather around the helpless mouse. "You got me! I'm the one you want! Let her go!"

"SHUT UP!" The rat pinning her to the ground shouted, delivering a painful kick directly to her stomach, causing her to gasp as the air was knocked out of her lungs.

*Thoooom…*

"I'd worry more about myself if I were you." The bandit leader…no…the barbarian leader growled cruelly, eyes gleaming with evil intent.

*Thoooom…*

"She's mine!" The one who had found her snarled at the others, swiping angrily at them when they tried to reach for her, all the while ignoring her pleas for mercy.

*Thoooom…*

The nearly puddle of blood, formed from the body of one of the fallen guards, began to ripple with a steady vibration…

*THOOOOM!*

"What is that?"

That was all the so-called bandit who had positioned himself over the mouse got to say before a shadow fell over his form, followed by the large, clawed paw that swatted him from the side, sending him sailing through the air and crashing into a nearby tree trunk, which he splattered against it like an overripe tomato.

And that was the moment Princess Isabella joined the many, many rodentkin whose lives would be turned upside down by the arrival of Jendovahzoor.

Mere rage could not describe what Spyro felt as he lowered his blood-soaked paw back to the ground, beholding the scene in front of him with eyes that burned with literal flame.

He was currently standing in a clearing in the forest, on what was clearly part of a road, and before him was a scene straight out of an adventurer's fairytale: a regal-looking carriage stood at the side of the road, with what was clearly a royal emblem on the flag hanging off the back, surrounded by a group of bandits. The occupant of the carriage, a beautiful lady rat in an equally-regal dress, had been forced out of the carriage and they had her pinned to the ground, her arms and legs bound in rope. There was also the young mouse he had just freed; a furling just a few years older than Teresa, dressed in a commoner's dress and maid-apron. The rats maid-servant, no doubt.

It was like a scene from the stories: where the dashing hero would swoop in, slay the evil bandits, and save both the princess and the day.

A classic setup for glory.

Except…this wasn't a story.

And there was nothing even remotely glorious about this.

There had been a guard accompanying the carriage, but they were all no more. Their bodies littered the ground around the carriage in pools of their own blood; some had been killed swift and cleanly by precise blade, but others had died slowly and painfully; some had been outright disemboweled, their guts spilled across the earth.

And the bandits? That was a laughable term: whatever these rats were, common roadside thugs they were not. To even call them rats of the same variety that the royal one was a stretch: they were filthy, wretched creatures with patchy, mangy fur and twisted, vicious faces, their red eyes burning with an intense bloodlust and savagery that only monsters could feel. Their teeth were long and jagged, chipped in places, as were their claws, while their tails were hairless and wrinkled; many of their tails were bent and crooked in places, as if they had been broken before healing improperly. They were all dressed in armor that was rusted and damaged, with hide that smelled of death; no doubt made out of the skins of their previous victims. And their weapons possessed blades that were deliberately jagged and clawed; perfect for dealing as much pain and suffering as possible when they cut their prey.

But what had angered him the most, what had set his draconic fury off more than even the deaths of the guards, was the scene he had just interrupted.

He might have been young by dragon terms, but fifty years was still a very long time to be in the world. More than enough time to truly learn the horrors that it held, especially with his experiences in the Dragon Realms. So, it wasn't hard to guess just what these red-eyed rodents had in mind for their captives, especially given the positions they were being held down in.

What gave them the right to do this? By what word were these barbarians entitled to take the lives of all these souls?! By what God did they believe themselves wordlessly entitled to the touch of another?!

These were not Nimh rats. Not the kind he knew from the Veil Piercer. They were monsters, pure and simple.

And there was only one way to deal with monsters.

He stepped forward to where he was standing protectively over the furling he had just saved, who was understandably frozen in shock at the mere sight of him; he made sure that his limb blocked her from the view of these animals in rat skin, all of whom looked torn, as if unable to decide what to do: to either run away in pure terror, or to attack out of pure anger of being thwarted. Were they truly that devoted to their task at hand? Or was it something else keeping them in place? Well, he had the means to make them decide:

He lifted his head high, spreading his wings behind him for even greater intimidation effect, and roared at the top of his lungs.

The distant roar exploded across the sky like a clap of thunder, primal and powerful, vibrating through Mrs. Brisby's very bones. She nearly stumbled mid-bound from the sheer tremble it sent through the ground, causing nearby pebbles to tremble against the dirt, but she quickly caught her footing again and raced down the path Spyro had left in his wake. Only seconds after the roar had sounded was it followed by the sounds of battle; she could hear shouts of rage coming from the direction he had gone in, as well as clashing of swords and cries of pain.

What was going on? Was Spyro attacking someone? Why? And who on earth would travel this close to the border?

All of these questions were answered when she made her way to the road and pushed her way out of the underbrush, only to gasp in alarm at the sight before her.

Spyro was locked in combat with several rats, though to say it was a fair fight would be a lie: the large fox-sized dragon was swatting them aside like ragdolls as they charged him, while their rusted swords struck his scales to no effect. The rats were vicious creatures with cruel red eyes and jagged teeth, their armor barbaric in nature and their weapons wicked in shape. But the sight that caught her attention the most was that of the young mouse trying desperately to chew through the ropes that bound the young lady rat next to the tipped carriage.

With a mighty swing of his tail, the dragon sent three of the rats up into the trees, causing them to rip into branches or slam against trunks with bloody impacts. He lifted his foreleg to promptly crush another underfoot, but it scurried out of the way just in time, swinging its dagger with all its might; the blade rang loudly as it struck the scales, not a scratch made. The rodent was rewarded for his 'bravery' with a set of tooth-filled jaws clamping down around his torso, crushing his ribs like pretzel sticks. Another rat came at him from behind, aiming his arrow for the back of the dragon's head, only for Spyro to kick backwards, sending him flying.

While the roars of battle continued on, Mrs. Brisby snuck around the chaos with mousey stealth, scurrying across the road and around the carnage until she made her way to the carriage. The mouse spotted her approaching, her eyes going wide with instinctive fear of a stranger.

"It's alright! I'm here to help!" Brisby assured her in a hushed tone, coming up to them and getting to work on the ropes: being older and Feral-Born, her teeth chewed through the ropes more effectively than the younger Pureblood's. Within a few seconds, the ropes binding her wrists were severed.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" The leader of the barbarians roared when he spotted Brisby helping their captor. Brisby gasped as the gigantic rat, one almost as large as Justin's friend Brutus, came at her with his weapon drawn.

That was his last mistake.

He barely had the time to raise his weapon above his head before he was seized in a cloud-like aura of purple and magenta magic, freezing his body in place. Brisby looked over to see Spyro standing there, the grooves of his horns and his eyes alike glowing with the same color as the magic aura. The dragon growled in anger before his horns flashed with light, and the bandit's body was suddenly twisted several times around, as if he was wringing out a towel. He then tossed the permanently-disfigured corpse away, where it landed with a bloody splatter.

That was it for the rest of them. Whatever force that was making them fight despite their fear was finally beaten by said fear, and at the sight of their leader's demise they dropped their weapons and began to flee down the path.

But Spyro had no intention of letting any of them escape. Not after what they attempted to do.

The first thing Mrs. Brisby felt was the heat, which quickly began to rise in the air around them, followed by the sight of the dragon's chest glowing orange through the grooves of his chest-scales. Spyro took a step back as he reared backwards, spreading his wings as the hot-orange glow began to rise up his neck all the way to his throat, which began to glow from behind his teeth, while the very air around his mouth warbled with the heat.

It was all the mouse could do to brace herself for what was to come.

And come it did; Spyro's head lunged forward and from his jaws billowed out a full-blown tidal wave of fire, roaring as loud as he did. The river of flames washed across the ground and rushed down the path, quickly overtaking the fleeing rats; their screams lasted for a total of five seconds before the hungry flames consumed them entirely, their very skeletons and even their armor reduced to blackened clouds of ash and pools of molten metal.

The blaze lasted for a few more seconds before Spyro closed his jaws, cancelling his breath of fire before he burnt the entire forest to the ground.

Mrs. Brisby could've sworn her fur and whiskers had been burned off from proximity alone, though a quick feel around her tender face and nose confirmed everything was still in place, albeit rather toasty. The soil of the path had been seared black where the flames had touched, with a few patches of grass still on fire and burning away. Almost all of the bodies, both of the bandits and the guards, had been completely burned away in the process as well, all that remained were red-hot pieces of amor or weapons here and there.

Spyro gave an animalistic growl of satisfaction, the glow of his eyes returning to normal as he glared in the direction the rats had attempted to flee in.

Good riddance.

"Elizabeth?"

Spyro turned in the direction of the new voice, which had been spoken by the rat lady he had rescued. Mrs. Brisby had just finished chewing off the ropes that had bound her ankles and was now looking up at her in surprised recognition.

"Isabella?" She asked in surprise.

"Oh, Elizabeth!" This 'Isabella' exclaimed as she scooped up the smaller mouse in a tight hug. "Thank Frith it's you!"

Elizabeth squeaked in embarrassment and from the tightness of the hug.

"I-It's okay, Isabella. You're safe now." The mother mouse comforted her the best she could from her position, gently patting her head. Spyro turned himself around to face the rodents, to which the younger mouse gave a frightened whimper as she ducked behind the other two, eyes wide with fright.

"It's alright. He's with me." Mrs. Brisby assured them, much to their surprise.

"He's…he's a dragon!" Isabella whispered in awe. "A real dragon!"

Mrs. Brisby nodded. "Yes. His name is Spyro, and he's very kind." She then turned to Spyro, who cocked his head to the side in an innocent manner. "Spyro, this is Isabella, an old friend of mine from Rosebush City."

From where she was listening through the Speaking Crystal in Mrs. Brisby's skirt pocket, Zoe's eye began to twitch.

"Isabella…as in Princess Isabella?" she asked Auntie Shrew in dread. "Current Great Granddaughter of King Nicodemus and heir to the throne?!"

Auntie Shrew nodded with a hint of pride, though concern was written all over her face as well. "Yes, the very same."

The fairy could only groan in exasperation.