//------------------------------//
// Year: Country Flight and a Beast 
// Story: Spyro: The Dragon Trio of Avalar 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Once Spyro, Spike, Ember, and Elora returned to the main area of Midday Gardens the first thing they did was glance at the portal that lead to Country Speedway, the last realm that needed to be assisted before they left this land and headed to Evening Lake, so they could resume looking for the eggs and take down the Rhynocs that were in the various realms, but what they did wasn't what they normally did. What the group did was walk back to where the keep was located, by heading over to the sign that Zoe had left on the cliff and jumped down into the area that was right outside the building that was their destination, where they found Sgt. Byrd and one of the residents of the other realms moving bamboo around and starting to construct something, the whirligig based on what they were told earlier. Based on what the group could tell the device was going to be square shaped and that there were a few sandbags resting nearby, almost like what the hot air balloon had possessed earlier, but for the most part it didn't seem like the device was even ready, mostly because there were a number of parts scattered around the area that was the inside of the keep and it seemed that the people the group had assisted were in the middle of putting it together. They could see that there were gears, beams, and an assortment of pieces that would go into making the device that would allow them to reach the next homeworld of the Forgotten Realms, so they were looking forward to seeing what the finished product looked like, especially given the fact that it would be much faster than the hot air balloon.

Even though they were standing there for a few moments, and only got to look at the whirligig as it was assembled, Sgt. Byrd noticed that the four of them were even there and flew over to where they were standing, indicating that he knew why they were here and that he had something to tell them, no doubt about the device itself, which was why they kept quiet for a few seconds as he stopped in front of them.

"It will take us some time to assemble the whirligig and make sure it is operational so the four of you can get to the next homeworld, Evening Lake, without difficulties." Sgt. Byrd stated, where he quickly informed the group that it would take him and the rest of the residents of Midday Gardens a while before they would be able to finish their work on the device the Pandas had told them about, even though Spike was interested in seeing what it was like when they finally completed their work, "I would recommend visiting the Country Speedway and taking some time to relax, otherwise it might be boring for you to watch us put the whirligig together."

"Well, then we'll come back later, once we're gone flying around the Speedway." Spyro replied, not that he was all that surprised by what he was hearing, due to the fact that the last thing they had done in Sunrise Spring, before using the hot air balloon to leave and come to this homeworld, was head through the portal that lead to the island in question and made sure to clear out the Speedway, so it made sense that they would do the same thing here, clear out the Speedway before using the device to head to Evening Lake.

As such Spyro turned around and lead the group back to where the portal to Country Speedway was located, the barn shaped structure that would lead them to the island in question, and it didn't take them all that long to reach the area in question, which was the moment that they walked through the portal and headed to the area that the Speedway had been built in, so they could find the gems and eggs that were aroound that island. It didn't take them long to appear in the starting area for the Speedway, where the group was able to see that their thoughts on what might be here were accurate, to a degree, as there was a farmhouse off in the distance, a tower near it, a water tower to their left, a number of the blue stars that seemed to be scattered around the area, and, interestingly enough, some planes that were flying around, which had to be the individuals that they would challenge to a race later, once they finished the first challenge. As they glanced around the area, and made absolutely sure that they had a good idea of what the layout looked like, from the ground to be exact, their dragonflies flew off for a few moments, no doubt because they were trying to find the racers that called this place home and learn what the challenges of this Speedway were, mostly because the last Speedway had the usual task of taking out four objects to get the gems and the second had been to race the locals, who had told them what the pair of challenges had been in the first place. Of course it didn't take Sparx, Talon, or Cinder long to return to the area that the group was standing in, since they were taking in the area that was around them while Spike made notes on what they were seeing, before they focused on the dragonflies for a moment as they came to a stop, to learn if the challenges were the same as the last Speedway.

"According to the locals, there are two flying challenges in this Speedway," Talon stated, speaking in the same buzzing sound that he, Sparx and Cinder spoke in when they talked to someone, something that the group was used to at this point in time, though the group remained silent as they waited to see if there was anything different from the previous Speedway they had taken on, "the usual Time Attack and Race the Bi-Planes."

"So the Speedways in the Forgotten Realms will share the same challenges, just with different racers and obstacles for us to take on," Spike commented, where he remembered what they had faced when they visited the last Speedway and tackled the challenges that were offered to them, while at the same time seeing that his siblings were thinking the same thing as Elora checked out her wings once more, before he glanced at Spyro, "So, should we do what we did last time and take it from there, or would you like to do something different this time around?"

"We should follow the same thing we did earlier, the three of us can take out the targets that are scattered around the island, Elora can go find Hunter, and then one of us can race the planes." Spyro replied, showing that he understood what they needed to do and that he was more than willing to follow the same pattern that they had used back in the previous Speedway, which had worked out quite well and allowed them to walk away with three eggs and four hundred gems, and this should give them a break before they returned to the keep and checked out the progress that Sgt. Byrd and the others were making on the whirligig.

Elora nodded her head and took off not a few seconds after she did that, once more enjoying the fact that she was able to fly with the wings that came with her armor, though as she took to the air she noticed a few things as she started to look for Hunter, like the first target that the siblings needed to take out were the group of eight rings that were in the air, leading them to another part of the realm. While following that path she noticed that the siblings would have to take out two more targets, one being the eight cows that were standing on two legs and were holding signs that looked like they might be protesting dragons or something, meaning that they had to be forced to do this by the Sorceress, while the second target were some tractors that were driving around part of the island. The fourth and final target, as it turned out, were the blue planes that were flying through the area and seemed to be minding their own business, though that was all Elora saw and that meant they had to be the final targets that the siblings would have to take out, something that would be easy since they would likely share the ring target and then split once the final ring was claimed. As such she landed on the top of the farm house, which seemed to be vacant at the moment, and stared out at the starting area as Spyro, Spike, and Ember took to the air and started to follow the rings that were in front of them, where they flew through them and quickly reached the end, which was the moment that Spyro focused on the cows, Spike targeted the planes and blasted them out of the air, and Ember hardened her body as she rushed on the ground, allowing her to smash the tractors that were coming her way.

She was, once more, amazed by how well the siblings worked together and how they tackled obstacles that were in their way, be they actual enemies or stuff like this, along with being impressed by the fact that they were able to add her to what they usually did without breaking the motions that they went through, as if there had been a fourth member of the team all along and not three, even though she knew that the siblings were just that skilled at what they were doing, which seemed to impress everyone they encountered. With the siblings working together they were able to take out all four of the targets that she had seen and soon Spike was sitting near the starting area, counting the gems that they had won from completing the challenge while Ember looked over the egg that had been part of the prize as well, though that left Spyro to take to the air once more as he focused on overcoming the five planes that served as the other racers in the race that he would be participating in. Elora watched as Spyro and the planes flew all over the island as they followed the course that the green dots and rings formed, while the blue stars served as speed boosts once more, but that was when she spotted a red star that allowed Spyro to loose a rocket, in a sense, that struck the plane that was in front of him and allowed him to pass it, basically allowing him to get a higher place as he raced for first place. What interested Elora was the fact that none of the other racers even tried to get the same powerup as well, even if it was a one time use until they passed through another red star, almost like they were allowing Spyro to get further ahead of them, making her wonder if the various racers might be doing this like they were told to guard an egg and this was the simplest way to do so without someone accusing them of being traitors to the Sorceress, even if they would totally do it at some point.

Either way Spyro was able to overcome the planes that were in front of him, both by what Elora saw and by his own hard work, before overcoming the fifth and final opponent near the end of the course, close to the end of the third lap, which earned him a second dragon egg that he brought over to Spike and Ember, serving as the cue for her to resume her search for Hunter... who, as it turned out, was inside the house that she had been sitting on as she watched the siblings, only the structure was hollow for some reason, and Hunter was working on something.

"Hunter, what are you doing?" Elora asked, because the last time she went looking for him in a Speedway she had found him near a plane that allowed him to take the fight to the saucers that were invading the island, making her wonder if there was something else Hunter had learned about, just like he had figured out the saucers were heading to the previous island, and was preparing for what was coming.

"Oh, hey Elora, I'm just working on my jet pack," Hunter replied, though at the same time he set his tools aside and put on the device that he had been working on, before turning to face her for a moment as he pulled out a blaster as well, as if he was expecting to use it against someone or something in the very near future, "and, as it turns out, there are sheep in flying saucers and cows in space suits coming towards the island, clearly coming to abduct someone, so I'm going to head out and take the fight to them... and maybe get my hands on an egg while I'm at it."

Elora raised an eyebrow for a moment as Hunter headed out and took off not a few seconds later, where he flew over to what seemed to be his starting area, the first place that the invaders were heading towards, and she flew out to see what he was doing, though it wasn't a few moments later that some saucers started to fly into the area and Hunter used his blaster to blow the ships out of the air. As he flew around the set path that his scanners had picked up, which had to be attached to his jet pack in some manner, Elora watched as he knocked out the various saucers that were flying through the air and, at the same time, loosed a few shots at the ground that were targeting the cows that were holding up some beings that were standing on two legs, who had to be the pilots of the various planes that were around the island, be they the ones that were damaged by the siblings or the ones that Spyro raced against, but that didn't stop Hunter from blasting the various enemies that were in the area as he focused on his mission. She had to admit that it was rather nice to see Hunter focused on something like this, being a hero while not falling to his usual cowardice, something that had been harmful in the past, meaning that the events that Ripto had set in motion, combined with what the siblings had done in front of him, had caused a change in her friend, one that seemed to be setting him down the path to become a hero, and she could see that the residents he was saving were certainly happy with his actions, due to the fact that they cheered and clapped after he saved them from the saucers and the space cows.

When Hunter finished taking out the enemies that had invaded the Speedway, and had freed all of the people that had been in the middle of being abducted, he was given an egg for his efforts, as thanks from the residents that had been saved due to his actions, which he made sure to give to Elora, so she could take it to the siblings and make sure it was returned to the Dragon Realms as well. It didn't take her long to reach the starting area of the island, where she placed the egg on the ground and watched as Spike made sure that all three of them were just fine, after counting and making sure that they had received four hundred gems after completing the first challenge that had been thrown at them, but after a few moments Spike smiled and used his Teleportation Breath to send all three eggs back home, as it was time for them to join all of the others they had recovered so far. Once that was done the four of them took off and started to fly away from the island, as it was the only way to actually leave without locating an exit portal or using a spell to leave the area, and it only took them a minute or two to reach the edge of the area, which allowed them to vanish from the Speedway and head back to Midday Gardens so they could check on the progress of the whirligig. The group found that it only took them a few moments to reappear in front of the portal they had headed through earlier and turned to their left, where they headed over to the edge that would allow them to jump down to where the keep was located and see if Sgt. Byrd and the others had completed their work, or if they needed to do something else before the new vehicle was ready to go.

What they discovered was that a tall wooden construct was resting between the residents of the realms that rested in Midday Gardens, one that easily stood as tall as Elora and then half of another, where the central beam was connected to two frames on the sides of the vehicle, which had a square base, and had some fans that had five blades on them, while a central propeller existed on top of the whirligig, to lift them into the air, though based on what they were seeing it was complete and the residents were ready to let them move on with their quest.

"Ah, Spyro, Spike, Ember, Elora, its good to see you again. As you can see, the whirligig is complete," Sgt. Byrd stated, speaking the moment he noticed that the group had returned to the keep and was looking at the vehicle that had replaced the hot air balloon they had started with, though even he was impressed by the fact that, even with the majority of the pieces being assembled ahead of time, they were able to complete the vehicle before the group returned to them, "this will allow you to get to Evening Lake in an hour, so you can continue your quest to recover the dragon eggs and help the other realms that the Sorceress is attacking."

"Don't worry, we'll be sure to bring her down for her crimes against you guys and the other realms," Elora said, as that seemed to be something that they were working towards, bringing the Sorceress down and restoring order to the lands that Sgt. Byrd, Sheila, and the others called home, and she was just fine with that, as she didn't like Bianca's mentor with what she had seen and was sure that such a thing wasn't going to change anytime soon.

"Well, then you had best get going!" Sgt. Byrd declared, indicating that it was about time the four of them climbed into the whirligig and left Midday Gardens behind, so they could focus on the next homeworld that they would be helping out and the enemies that would be waiting for them, since he was sure there were more Rhynocs waiting for someone, or a group of someones, as it were, to try and claim the eggs.

Spyro, Spike, Ember, and Elora nodded their heads for a moment before climbing into the sitting area that had been provided in the whirligig, while at the same time Elora made sure to put her wings away so they didn't do anything to the device that had been made for them, though that was when Spike glanced at the console that had been built into the area they were sitting in and felt some magic at work as the whirligig started to move, leaving them to depart from the keep and head in the direction of Evening Lake.





While the whirligig flew in the direction of the next homeworld, definitely moving at speeds that were faster than what the hot air balloon had used when they were using it earlier, Spyro, Spike, Ember, and Elora used the time to rest and recover from their adventures in the realms that had been in Midday Gardens, though each of them did something different as they waited for them to arrive at their next destination. Spike, of course, pulled out the Guidebook once more and started to read up on the realms of Evening Lake, just to give him some insight as to what they might discover in the future, just like he had done when they were flying to Midday Gardens, even though they had been interrupted by Bianca sending a creature to ambush them, even if the creature didn't hurt any of them. Ember sat down and closed her eyes as Spike did that, showing that she was going to rest and recover from the usage of her Warrior's Armor once more, especially since she could get a recap on what she missed once they reached their next destination, be it another arena or the homeworld that they were heading towards. Spyro and Elora, however, glanced out at the area that the whirligig was passing through and found that they were heading towards a rocky area, similar to what they had seen when they were nearly part way through the distance between the first homeworld and the second one, but there wasn't as much lava as the last area, so there wasn't a chance of a new realm being created in the near future and being added to Midday Gardens, which was nice since they could look at some trees this time around, despite how few of them there actually were.

As they moved through the air, however, there was something Elora noticed when she glanced back and that was the fact that Sgt. Byrd was in the process of following after them, meaning he must have recalled the ambush that had lead to him, Sheila, and the other heroes being captured by the Sorceress, something that told her they might be getting closer to where an ambush was waiting. While that happened the pair found out something interesting, the lava this time had more of a green coloration this time around, before discovering circular houses of some kind that had spikes on their roofs, why she had no idea, and that the lava definitely surrounded an area that was a circular arena, meaning they might have found the area that Sgt. Byrd was heading to. Once they found that out, and Elora made sure that Spike glanced out at the area to see what was around them as Ember opened her eyes, the group found a tall creature, roughly around the same size of Crush, one of the dinosaurs that Ripto had used against Avalar, standing in the middle of the arena, who looked like a tall hybrid of a bunny and a Rhynoc, to a degree since it had leathery skin and no fur, and it was wearing a green loincloth around its waist, something that covered the upper portion of its legs. The creature had hooves for legs, not in the same manner that Elora had, had large spikes that were coming out of its shoulders, like a defense mechanism of some kind to protect its head from incoming attacks, a smaller spike in the middle of its head, one that didn't look dangerous at all, and happened to be holding a large gun of some kind in his left hand, one that seemed ready to blast whoever came to the area, which was going to be the four of them, based on what they knew.

In fact, before the whirligig even reached the area that the creature was standing guard in, Sgt, Byrd rushed forward and fired some of his missiles at the monster that was in their way, where the group realized that his weapons had done nothing to the creature and that Sgt. Byrd had to move out of the area as the creature tried to hit him by firing a blast from its weapon, but once he was out of the area the beast returned to his previous state as the whirligig landed on the edge of the arena so the group could climb out and face it.

"It seems that my tactical instincts were correct, the Sorceress was planning on attacking you here," Sgt. Byrd stated, where he flew into the area and came to a stop behind the group, making sure that the creature didn't see him since he didn't want to be blasted by the weapon again, though it appeared that their new foe hadn't noticed his return, as if it was more interested in the siblings at the moment, which made sense given what they knew, "and it also seems that my rocket launchers did nothing to this creature, meaning I'll need to find another way to do damage."

"Well, based on what's around us, you could probably pull some molten rocks out of the lava and use them to deal some damage to this guy," Ember remarked, though at the same time she turned around and climbed back onto the whirligig, something that surprised Sgt. Byrd for a moment since he wasn't used to seeing one of the group do something like that, before she turned and looked at the rest of the group, "Spike, Elora, the two of you can tackle this guy... even I can see there is no challenge to be had and that it will fall in no time."

Spike and Elora glanced at each other for a moment as Spyro nodded his head and joined Ember, not because they didn't want to fight this creature, like they had fought the last one, but because this one seemed far too straightforward for them to have a five against one battle, as that seemed far too much in both his eyes and Ember's eyes, so once they had determined what was going on the whirligig moved out of the arena and let the pair observe the battle from above as the pair readied themselves for what was coming their way.

"Well, I was not expecting this." Sgt. Byrd admitted, as he was expecting to do battle with all four of them and seeing what sort of skills the siblings really had to show him, since they had been forced to sit out every single time he had been near them, but he guessed that he was going to have to accept the fact that it was just going to be Spike and Elora that would be facing this creature, hence why he focused on their foe, "I trust that the two of you have a plan of attack for this creature, even though I'll be trying to get some ammunition for you to use against it."

"It shouldn't be too hard to come up with a plan of attack," Spike said, though he made sure to give Sgt. Byrd the Bag of Holding and his satchel, which were returned to the whirligig so they wouldn't be in the way or be in danger of taking damage, before focusing his magic for a moment as he considered what they were going to do against this foe, which was why he glanced over to Elora for a second as he spotted some molten rocks in the lava, "and I think I might have come up with an idea on what we can do against this creature."

"I think I have an idea of what you're thinking about," Elora replied, because she was used to what Spike was able to do with his magic and could easily tell when an idea or thought had come to him, especially when she saw him take a few seconds to glance at lava and the rocks that were near them, to which she tapped one of the buttons and switched back to the Spring Jump form she had used earlier, as there was a mechanic of it that she hadn't shared with the siblings, even if there was a chance that Spike might have figured it out without her saying anything about it, "and, if I'm right, it should be more than enough to take this creature down. Shall we?"

Spike nodded and the pair separated from each other as Sgt. Byrd took to the air, so he could see what the pair had in mind for this creature, even though their foe was in the middle of aiming at one of them with its blaster, only for that to fail as a blast raced out to where Spike was standing and struck a magical barrier that hadn't been there a few seconds ago, causing the blast to shatter as it struck the barrier. Spike followed that up by moving away from the area he had been standing in and loosed a few Arcane Missiles at their foe's chest, causing it to stagger for a moment, which was just what he wanted as part of his magic latched onto one of the molten rocks that were in the nearby lava and teleported it into the area that they were fighting in, letting it fall to the ground of the arena. Instead of allowing it to hit the ground, and maybe smashing it into pieces as a result, Elora rushed over to where the molten rock was located and jumped into the air, where she kicked a section of the rock that still had Spike's magic on it, to protect her leg from the molten nature of the rock, with the side of her leg and used the power of her Spring Jump Form in a different manner. Rather than using the form to do taller jumps, like she had done in the past, she transferred the power into her kick and sent the rock flying through the air, where it rushed right into the creature's chest and caused it to stagger as she landed on the ground, showing that what she and Spike had done had worked to some degree, causing their foe to roar in annoyance before raising its weapon and taking aim once more, this time targeting Elora as she recovered from her attack.

Spyro and Ember weren't worried about what they were seeing, as Elora was able to dodge the first blast, which raced off and struck one of the peaks that was near the arena, while the second one, which was fired a few moments later and in rapid succession, was stopped by Spike's quick thinking, though whether it was due to him peering into the future a little or due to him reading what their foe was doing didn't matter to the pair, as they could see that Spike and Elora worked well as a team and this was all the proof they needed.

This time around Sgt. Byrd realized what Spike was doing and flew out over the lava for a moment, where he found a rock that looked like it would suffice and grabbed it with his feet, as the part he grabbed wasn't overheated and didn't burn him at all, before he pulled it over to the closest of the pair and let go of it, showing them that he was going to play support for them so they could focus their attention on the creature and nothing else. That allowed Spike to use a few of his Arcane Missiles to blast the creature as Elora jumped into the air and kicked it a few times, despite the fact that the two of them knew that normal attacks didn't seem to be doing anything and that their attacks were more to keep it distracted while they waited for Sgt. Byrd's assistance, even if they could actually beat this monster on their own. This time around Spike charged some magic into the molten rock that landed near him and then launched it forward like it had come from a slingshot, striking the creature in the chest and causing it to stagger as the rock exploded on it, delivering a powerful blast from the rock breaking and the magic exploding, forcing the creature to roar again as it glared at them. When Spike went to grab another molten rock, with the purpose of teleporting it over to Elora, they were surprised when the creature did something that neither of them were really expecting, it turned its blaster on the rock and blew it out of the air before it even landed on the ground or could be kicked by Elora, meaning that it had some level of intelligence that only sprung up from time to time and, more importantly, that they had to plan around that sudden burst. Their foe was also a fan of moving a little every now and then, to take up a better position before trying to fire at one of them, so all Spike and Elora had to do was make sure they moved and dodged the incoming blasts, or intercept them with a barrier spell every now and then, which did seem to confuse the creature whenever it saw what Spike was doing.

After the third molten rock hit their foe in the face, by Spike teleporting one over to Elora so she could kick it right into the creature's chest and stagger it, the pair watched as the creature threw a fit for a few seconds and jumped into the air a few times, where the collision of it hitting the floor caused some cracks to appear in the stone floor, where steam came out of the cracks every now and then, along with short bursts of fire that they had to avoid. This time around Sgt. Byrd had a new weapon to use against the creature, one that he must have remembered that he had while he was watching the pair fight the creature, and he dropped a red orb of some kind that had spikes on it, an item that was the size of the Orbs that the siblings had collected back in Avalar, though he also messed up by allowing the first of those orbs to land near their foe, who snatched it up and empowered his weapon so it could fire a wave of flames at them. Fortunately Spike was ready for that sort of thing and a quick barrier spell stopped the wave from hurting them, though instead of waiting for another one to be dropped he switched things up and starting hurling Fireballs at their foe, blasting the creature in the chest as he forced it to take a couple of steps back, allowing Elora to get a few kicks in at the same time as they pushed their foe back some more, showing it that it would have a tough time trying to bring them down. Elora did try one of the fire orbs out as one landed near her, though while she was expecting the suit not to work with the orbs, since it hadn't been built to use any of the offensive powerups, she found that grabbing the orb allowed her to channel the power into her active form, her Spring Jump Form, and her legs took on a red glow for a moment, where she quickly found what she could do when she kicked at the creature, due to releasing a wave of flame that followed the path of her kick.

As such the combination of her new fire kicks, which needed a better name if she found a way to do this in the future, and what Spike was doing was enough for them to force their foe to throw another fit and crack the floor of the arena once more, showing that it was mad at the pair for being able to do this to it without either of them actually taking any damage from its attacks. With that done Sgt. Byrd dispensed a new item for them to use, an orb that had a purple color to it this time around, though this one seemed to be more about power than anything else, as when Spike got his claws on it nothing special happened and he simply teleported it over to Elora, who spun around and kicked it right into their foe's chest once more, causing it to stagger even more this time around, either an indication of the power of this orb or the fact that their foe was getting weaker as the battle progressed. Interestingly enough this time the creature didn't even attempt to capture one of the purple orbs that were being dropped into the area, not that there were that many since Sgt. Byrd was making sure to put them down near the pair that was fighting, and it wasn't long before Spike and Elora nodded as they moved to put the finishing touches on this battle, by Spike dodging to the side, to avoid some blasts from their foe's weapon, before teleporting the next orb over to Elora, who spun around and used her Spring Jump Form to send the orb right into their foe's chest. That caused the creature to stagger for a few seconds, dropping both its blaster and, even more importantly, an egg it happened to be carrying, before it fell over the edge of the arena and collapsed in the lava, revealing that the battle was over and that they didn't have to worry about anything anymore, where Sgt. Byrd smiled as he bid the group farewell, and made sure to tell Spike and Elora that they did quite well in their battle, before headed back to Midday Gardens, allowing Spike to send the egg back home.

Once the creature was taken care of, and the egg had been sent home, Spike and Elora returned to the whirligig and joined the others, where they took a seat and let the device take off once more, this time heading for Evening Lake so they could continue their adventure, rescue the eggs that were in that homeworld, and save the realms from the Rhynocs that were no doubt bothering them at the moment.