Chapter 13

The Fight for Home

Spyro, Sparx, Raymond and Barlin were walking down the tunnel of the cave.

"Wow, it sure is dark in here," Sparx said. "I didn't know your stick can glow like that."

"I am an alchemist, remember?" Barlin said. "Those artifacts must be in here."

They soon arrived at a large cavern. Everyone gasped to see the artifacts Barlin had mentioned: the iron horn, the copper cube, the gold amulet, the silver wing, and the lead dragon statue. They were all placed in separate cages.

"It must be those artifacts alright," Spyro said.

"Why are they in cages, though?" Raymond asked.

"Gaul must be the reason," Barlin said.

"How right you are!" A voice rang out. Stepping out of the shadows was the ape Gaul, minion of the Dark Master.

"Gaul!" Barlin growled.

"How nice to see the last of the snow leopard tribe after all those years," Gaul said with a smirk. "I see you had brought the purple dragon with you, all to make my efforts for the Dark Master all the sweeter. Too bad you can't return to the Dragon Realms as long as I have your artifacts fair and square."

"I will have those artifacts back if it kills me."

Gaul summoned blades from his gauntlets. "That is, if I kill you first!"

Gaul charged to attack Barlin, but Barlin hit his scepter as it formed a crystal barrier as Gaul hit it. Spyro watched the two fight, blade to scepter. He gasped when Barlin took hit from Gaul's attack from the blades. He wasn't sure what to do, but after learning his elements from Ignitus, Cyril, Volteer and Terrador, he decided to take action. He charged in and used flame to hit Gaul.

"Argh!" Gaul yelled, as he turned to Spyro. "You dare challenge me?!"

"If it's gonna get me back home to the Dragon Realms, I will fight you!" Spyro yelled.

Gaul laughed. "I like your attitude, but it won't save you from pain."

Spyro flew in and tackled Gaul as they rolled around. He tried scratching and clawing him, but Gaul's armor was tough, and Gaul knocked him aside. He raised his blades to stab him, but Barlin managed to get up and zapped him with electricity.

"You're wasting your time! I will defeat you!" Gaul roared.

Raymond watched the fight, as he was scared. He looked at the artifacts, as he noticed a nearby key. Then he felt the courage kick in, as he started running.

"Hey, wait, what are you doing?" Sparx called out.

"Trust me!" Raymond said. He grabbed the key while Gaul was occupied from fighting Barlin and Spyro. He ran to the cages and started unlocking them to get the artifacts out.

Gaul saw this and knocked the two off them, running toward Raymond as he yelled, "You are not touching those artifacts!"

"No!" Spyro cried, as he flew and caught up to Gaul by the back, scratching him.

Gaul roared and squirmed to get Spyro off him, as Barlin struggled to get up.

"Keep him busy, Spyro!" Barlin said, as he hit his claw on the ground for a patch of sulfur to appear, and he struck the chunk with his scepter, as it flew and hit Gaul in the face.

"Insolence!" Gaul yelled, as he threw Spyro to Barlin. He charged to Raymond and started swinging his blades at him, as he yelled out while dodging them. "Hold still so I can hurt you!"

Spyro jumped in and tackled Gaul again, as he tripped and fell backwards. His gauntlets got caught by two stalagmites, as they slip off his arms.

Barlin used alchemy powers for iron chains to appear from the ground and trap Gaul. "Get the artifacts, quickly!" he said, as Spyro and Raymond ran to grab the artifacts out of the cages. They work together to assemble them as piece of a device.

Gaul snarled as he struggled to break his chains. Raymond then saw the gauntlets with the blades, as he ran to them and picked them up.

"Put them down, they're mine!" Gaul roared, and he broke the chains with his strength.

Spyro flew to tackle Gaul, but Gaul caught him and threw him to Barlin, as he approached Raymond. Raymond felt scared again, as Gaul came closer and wanted to be for mercy... but then he remembered how Spyro came to his rescue when he was bullied, and he gathered the courage. "Stay back!" He yelled, holding out the blades.

Gaul laughed as he grabbed Raymond's arms. "That won't scare me, poor thing!"

"Drop him!" Spyro yelled, and he breathed fire on Gaul's behind, as Gaul roared and dropped Raymond, grabbing his rear and smacking the flames out.

Gaul growled and grabbed Spyro, as he tried to strangle him. Raymond looked at the gauntlets, and then at Gaul. He scowled and ran, as he slashed Gaul with the blades.

"Argh!" Gaul roared as he dropped Spyro. He turned to Raymond as he charged at him. "I'll teach you to slash me!"

The two clashed between Gaul's claws and the gauntlet blades Raymond wears. Raymond dodged the claws as he slashed Gaul more. He had no idea how he got such reflexes, but he stayed focus. Spyro and Barlin could not believe to see Raymond's bravery, but then Barlin remembered the device, as he ran to it. He grabbed his necklace and placed it on the dragon statue's claw. The artifacts glowed bright, and a portal appeared.

"That's it!" Barlin cried. "The world portal, it's finally open!"

"You did it, Barlin!" Spyro cried happily. But then he realized something, and he turned to the fight. "Raymond!" He ran and tackled Gaul's back, as they rolled around a bit, before Gaul knocked him off. Spyro then glowed bright and used Aether, as he fired it from his mouth, and it knocked Gaul into the portal as he roared "NOOOOO!" while disappearing.

Spyro fell exhausted after the fight ended, and he laid on the ground. Barlin picked him up as he grabbed the device with his tail.

"Is that portal gonna lead you home?" Raymond asked.

"I'm confident it will," Barlin asked. "I appreciate all the help you did for us, but now we must go."

Raymond looked at the portal, and then he looked at them. "I guess this is goodbye then," he said. "I'll be on my own again."

"No," Spyro said. "You can come with us, if you want to."

"Are you serious, Spyro?" Sparx asked.

"I can?" Raymond asked, surprised.

"That's up to you," Barlin said, "it's your choice."

Raymond looked at the three, and he looked down, wondering if living in the Dragon Realms would mean a new home for him. Then he made up his mind, as he said, "I'll come with you."

Barlin slightly grinned, as he held his paw out to Raymond. Raymond then took it, as he grabbed the device. Sparx then flew to Spyro and he held his horn. The portal's suction pulled them all into it, as it eventually disappeared.

The portal appeared in the forest of the Dragon Realms, as Spyro, Sparx, Raymond and Barlin fell out and hit the ground, and the portal vanished.

Spyro looked around, as he remembered the forest. "We're home again..." he said, smiling barely. "Home at last."

"Yes, Spyro. Home at last indeed," Barlin said.

"All thanks to you, and Raymond."

"It was nothing, really," Raymond said.

Then they heard stomping sounds. Spyro looked around, assuming there was danger ahead. But then he saw it was Ignitus, the Guardian Dragon.

"Spyro, thank goodness," Ignitus said. "We were all looking for you when you disappeared. What happened to you, young dragon?"

"Ignitus," said Spyro. "I have a story to explain... but I'm just glad to be back home. I brought some company with me and Sparx."

Raymond was nervous from seeing Ignitus, but then he said, "I, I'm Raymond. I'm new here."

"I'm Barlin the snow leopard," Barlin said.

"Barlin. Yes, I'm familiar with that name," Ignitus said. "Your father was a great leader of the snow leopards, an alchemist too. I only have my regrets for your loss. There was nothing I could do to save your kind, and your village." He then looked at Raymond. "I see we have a newcomer on our world. Raymond, is it?"

"Y-Yes, sir," Raymond said.

"I see. We must return to the Dragon Temple at once. I would be honored to hear your story, young dragon."

Spyro could only agree.

When the group returned to the Dragon Temple, Spyro was seen with Cyril, Volteer, Terrador, and the young black dragon he had rescued, Cynder.

"We're glad to have you back, Spyro," said Cyril. "We hadn't lost hope that you'll turn up."

"I'm sorry I worried you all, but I got a long story to tell you," Spyro said.

And he did tell the story, of how the portal took him to the human world, how he met Raymond, and how they met Barlin, and the brief battle against Gaul, and how Barlin's alchemy device brought them home.

"So it was Barlin's alchemy that brought you back home," Terrador said, looking at Barlin's device with the artifacts. "Well, it seemed you had quite a journey."

"But to bring in a human like him into our world, I don't see how he'll fit in among the rest of us," Volteer said, skeptical about Raymond.

"He may be a human," Barlin said, "but we've seen how he's helped us find the artifacts, and we saw how he fought Gaul, when he took those gauntlets with the blades."

"Gaul, that monstrous ape," Cyril growled. "Malefor's apes were the reason you lost your family and home. We had all blamed ourselves for not coming to your rescue, but Ignitus, he knew it was beyond our control."

"And all because I was Malefor's minion, the Terror of the Skies," Cynder said with guilt. "Had Spyro not come for me, I'd still be evil today."

Raymond looked at his gauntlet blades, wondering if he can grow up fighting for freedom.

"I see you have Gaul's blades, young one," Ignitus said to Raymond.

"Yeah. I didn't know how I gathered courages to fight him, but I did what I had to do, or we wouldn't be here," Raymond said. "But I'm just a kid."

"You can be way more, Raymond, if you believe you can fight like a dragon."

"Me?"

"I think Ignitus is right, my friend," Barlin said. "I'll train you, to teach you powers like dragons have."

"You mean... this is my home now?"

"It was your choice. I will make you a fine warrior for the Dragon Realms."

"A warrior... I like that, Barlin. Where do I start?"

"Our temple has a training room where you can start your training," Ignitus said.

Raymond couldn't wait to try it out, as he followed Ignitus to the room with the dragon statue. The statue sank into the floor, as its hatch doors close, and dummies appear. Raymond looked at his blades, and then he charged. He started slashing the dummies, and then he did some karate moves he had seen in movies in his orphanage years. It wasn't easy at first, but after some trial and error, he did well.

After training, Barlin introduced Raymond to the gems, as Ignitus explained to Raymond about Spirit Gems, gems that give him powers.

"Wow... Spirit Gems that give powers... but how do I get all those? I'm not a dragon," Raymond said.

"Ah, but I know a magic amulet that will fix that," Barlin said. He pulled out a crystal necklace from his pocket and placed it around Raymond's neck. "The Dragon's Crystal is all yours. One who wears it will have dragon powers."

Raymond was astonished. Then he looked at a Spirit Gem and then slashed a few shards off, as they fly to him, and he absorbed them in a flash. "Wow! That's so cool! I can't wait to learn some dragon powers!"

"Then we shall get started," Barlin grinned.

After a while, Raymond started to train and learn new abilities, fire powers from Ignitus, ice powers from Cyril, electric powers from Volteer, and earth powers from Terrador, as he would learn from his hands to shoot fire, ice, electricity, and earth. Within weeks, his training was complete, as the dragon statue rose from the floor.

"Man, that felt great," Raymond said. "How was that?"

"You became more like me, Raymond," Spyro smiled. "But I know you'll do greater one day when you get older. And above all else... you're more than welcome to be part of the family, here in the Dragon Realms."

Raymond felt happy to hear that, as he hugged Spyro. "Thank you, Spyro, or can I call you 'dad.'"

Spyro felt awkward at hearing him say it, but he smiled and hugged back, his wings wrapped around him.

"Whoa, isn't he too young to be a father?" Sparx asked.

"I have a gift for you, Raymond," Barlin said, as he brought in a bundle, as he unwrapped it, revealing a suit made of steel and leather, with artificial wings.

"Wow... is this for me?" Raymond said.

"Yes, your flight suit with artificial wings."

Raymond looked at the suit, and he decided to put it on. It felt perfect on him.

"Ah, a perfect fit!" Barlin said. "That suit of armor will grow with you as you age, for you see, I made that suit with alchemy. It isn't much, but you will learn how to fly."

Raymond looked at Barlin, and then they shook hands. "Thank you, Barlin."

Within a few days, Raymond learned how to fly with his suit's artificial wings, as Spyro and Cynder flew with him, teaching him how to flap his wings. He had trouble a few times, but he managed to prevail. "Yeah! Woohoo!" he cheered. "This is great! I'm doing it!"

"Doing great, Raymond!" Spyro smiled.

Then, one night, after a long day of training, Raymond is with Barlin, as they were about to depart.

"Well, I guess this is it," Raymond said. "I'll see you again someday. I'll be gone training to become a dragon warrior."

"Yeah. I'll miss you, Raymond," Spyro said sadly. Then he smiled. "But after that adventure we had, I think it's worth it. Take care, Raymond."

"You too, dad. The next time we see each other again, I'll be strong and brave, and as powerful as you."

"And I believe you will one day," Ignitus said, "and you will become a great warrior, as Raymond Dragonfang."

Raymond was astonished. "Dragonfang. I like that name. Raymond Dragonfang. Thank you all. I'm grateful to have a new home."

Spyro smiled, and then he and Raymond hugged. "Take care... my son," he said.

Raymond smiled, and then took Barlin's hand. With his wings flapping, they flew off into the night, as his new life in the Dragon Realms begun.

Present Day

Raymond hugged Spyro with a warm embrace.

"Good times," Spyro sighed. "I'm just glad to have you back."

"Me too, dad, and tomorrow I'll be sixteen, according to Barlin," said Raymond.

"All those seven years apart... it's a new beginning."

Spyro then licked Raymond's face as he chuckled.

"Spyro, Raymond... shall we get some rest? It's late," Cynder said.

"Oh, yeah, right," Raymond said. "Yeah, it's late. Good night, mom."

Cynder gave Raymond a lick on the cheek. "Sleep tight, Raymond." She then kissed Spyro on the cheek. "You too, Spyro."

Raymond and Cynder then fell asleep. Spyro looked at them, and then he looked at the Straw Hat Pirates, his new friends.

"I'm hungry... Sanji, make more..." Luffy moaned.

"Just shut up... you had a lot..." Sanji mumbled.

"Ugh, just let me sleep, you guys..." Zoro yawned, as he slept.

"You sleep all the time, Zoro..." Usopp snored.

"Arguing in their sleep. How odd," Spyro said.

He then yawned and curled up as he went to sleep. He would look forward to a wonderful adventure with his girlfriend Cynder, his brother Sparx, his son Raymond, and his friends Hunter and the Straw Hat Pirates.