//------------------------------//
// Expedition: Celebration 
// Story: Spyro: The Dragon Trio of Avalar 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

With the battle for the fate of the world over, and the dark alliance was shattered by the might that Spyro, Cynder, Spike, Ember, and their friends had brought to bare against them, their forces were able to enter Warfang and rest for a time, as they deserved it for their efforts, while the Deepcore Army stayed outside and continued to defend the city, in case some of their enemies tried to attack the city while their guard was down. From what the group discovered none of the civilians that had been inside the city had been injured by any of the attacks that came from the dark alliance that Gaul had formed and lead against them, where they smiled as they noticed that all of the young and old dragons, along with the Cheetahs and Moles that had fled to safety, were just fine and none of them appeared to be hurt, even though Nestor and the rest of the Artisans dragons had assisted them to the best of their abilities. Ignitus and the other Guardians walked with them, mostly because they were following the same individual as they walked into the city and made sure everyone was alright, and they were joined by Chief Prowlus, who wanted to make sure the rest of his kind were fine, even though he eventually breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed that the Cheetahs of Warfang were unharmed, something that the rest of his group echoed when they laid eyes on them. Other than that it appeared that no damage had been done to the city as a whole, which was great since the group and their allies had done everything in their power to make sure their enemies couldn't do such a thing, and the Guardians were happy that they had been able to prepare for the attack, which the Chronicler was happy to assist them with, given that he had brought the heroes to the city after the events of the Well of Souls and had helped them summon all of their allies.

In addition to that Malefor, the dragon that the group was following, made sure everyone was safe and sound and that none of them had been harmed in the process of the battle, before making sure that some food was prepared, as he was planning on having a feast to celebrate their victory over the dark alliance and securing the safety of their world from what Gaul had wanted to do, something that Alvar joined since it would allow him to see what the chefs of the city did when they made food and show off his skills. Spike was still surprised by the fact that Malefor was alive and that he was standing in front of him, his siblings, and his friends, because all of them had assumed that the first purple dragon had perished at some point in the past, after founding Warfang and ensuring that the Destroyer was imprisoned in the volcano that rested some distance from the city, where the Belt of Fire had died down and disappeared with the death of the beast Gaul had released to destroy the world. Spyro, Ember, and the rest of their friends were surprised by the fact that they were meeting Malefor and that he was just as strong as the legends and stories claimed, because he was over a thousand years old and looked like he was about twenty to thirty years old physically, while his power was the stuff of legends, but while all of them assumed there was a reason for this none of them said anything as they followed the legendary dragon as he walked towards a building that held a large dining area, like a banquet hall of some kind. In fact the only one that wasn't surprised by the discovery of Malefor, and that didn't count the Guardians or the Chronicler, was Cynder, though that was because she was his daughter and spent her entire life with him teaching her how to fight and how to wield her all of her powers, and that even included the fact that he took her to see the Chronicler at one point, so she could tap into the memories of her old life.

The residents of Warfang were overjoyed by their victory over the dark alliance, as many of the ones that the group walked by were cheering and hailing them as the heroes that they were, where everyone made sure to smile and wave at them, as they were happy to find that the dragons, Moles, and Cheetahs of the city were mostly unharmed and those that had been injured during the battle, even if there weren't that many thanks to the Deepcore Army, were receiving some attention from the healers. Warriors were turning in their weapons and armor to make sure any cracks, chips, or dents were dealt with in a timely manner, before arming themselves once more so they could flock to the walls and make sure the Apes, Trolls, Skavengers, and Grublins didn't come back while they were celebrating their victory, even though Ignitus and the other Guardians claimed that they didn't need to due such a thing. Malefor, on the other claw, wished them well as he flew off with them, apparently going to take control of the Deepcore Army so that they spread out and assisted those that would rather defend the walls than celebrating with the others, before returning a few minutes later so he could show the group he was leading to the building that he had been leading them towards. He informed the group that they were heading towards a banquet hall, where they were going to rest and celebrate their success over the dark alliance Gaul had put together to smash them, and that made everyone interested in what was going to happen when they reached the building that was their destination.

The banquet hall, which was located in the part of the city that the Guardians' temple was located in, had a long table in the middle of it that seemed to be large enough for everyone to sit at, or at least that was what Spyro noticed when they entered the large chamber that Malefor had lead them to, and it looked like there were a fair number of seats positioned along both sides of the table, along with an ornate chair that sat at the head of the table, one that was likely reserved for Malefor, where he stepped towards it and smiled at the group as he glanced back at them.

"Friends, feel free to rest and relax before the evening meal, our banquet, arrives so we can celebrate your victory over Gaul and his forces," Malefor said, showing Spyro, Spike, Ember, and the rest of their group that he had been serious about wanting to celebrate their victory over the dark alliance, while at the same time they could mingle with each other and just chat for a time, before the food arrived and they started to eat whatever was prepared, just like the rest of their forces were doing before they sent them back home, as everyone deserved some time to rest after the massive battle that they had taken part in.

Spyro, Spike, and Ember nodded their heads as their friends started to spread out, along with the Leaders from their lands that they called home, showing that everyone wanted to chat with those that were around them while Cynder stood by them, though as they did that Chief Prowlus approached Hunter, though he was flanked by three Cheetahs, two adults and one teenager by the sizes of the individuals in question, meaning that something interesting might happen before the food arrived and the four of them, along with Elora and Bianca, walked over to the part of the hall that Hunter was in, as they were curious as to what the leader of the Cheetahs had to say.

"Hunter of Avalar, you fought well out there," Prowlus said, showing that he must have been paying close attention to what their friend had been doing in the middle of the battle they had been fighting earlier, which made sense to Ember since this was likely the first and only time he and the other Cheetahs had seem another Cheetah that wasn't clothed like the rest of them and likely fought a little differently than him and his clan, "Tell me, who taught you how to fight like that? Your moves with your bow and swords were quite impressive, even if they were different from what we teach the warriors of our clan."

"Thanks. I learned how to fight like a real warrior from Titan," Hunter replied, though that was when he beckoned to the dragon in question, who happened to be standing near one of the walls at the moment, where it appeared that he was sharing a laugh or a story about some of his fights with Terrador, before Spyro noticed that his friend seemed bothered by something, as he sighed not a few seconds after doing that, "though I was supposed to learn how to be a warrior from my parents, who suddenly disappeared a few days after my first birthday, leaving me to be raised by some of the Royal Guard for a number of years."

"Hunter, why didn't you tell us this once we beat Ripto, or took down the Sorceress?" Spyro asked, because he knew that if their friend had said anything about the fact that his parents had gone missing, especially after discovering what had happened to Agent 9 when Elora found him during their last adventure, the three of them and their friends would have done everything and anything to help Hunter discover what might have happened to his parents and, possibly, find out where they had gone.

"With how busy you guys were, I didn't want to weigh you down even more," Hunter admitted, showing that he knew what the siblings had done was far more important than looking for his missing parents, especially after seeing everything that the Sorceress had done to try and take over Avilion, by ruining everything Malefor had done for the residents of the various realms, "All the Professor could tell me was that they were somewhere in our world, beyond the boundaries of the lands that make up Avalar, and that there was no telling where they could have gone, even though he was sure a portal had been used and that it had malfunctioned when they used it to go somewhere."

"That certainly sounds like something the Professor would say," one of the adult Cheetahs said, who sounded male to the group that was near Hunter, before he pulled off the hood that was covering his head and revealed an older Cheetah that almost looked like an older version of Hunter, while the other adult pulled their hood back and revealed a female Cheetah that had light red colored hair, which just so happened to be nearly the same length of Elora's hair, before the pair smiled for a moment as they embraced a stunned Hunter, "Hunter, we're glad that you're alright."

"My clan found Akello and Sarah outside our village a number of years ago, no doubt around the time that they went missing from Avalar," Prowlus explained, revealing that the two Cheetahs that were embracing Hunter were his long lost parents, the ones he hadn't told anyone about because it no doubt made him sad to not have a family and mad at the fact that he was unable to find either of them over the years, making the group wonder who the last Cheetah was, since they were being quiet at the moment, "From what we were able to tell they were going to expose someone called 'Moneybags' for his crimes against Avalar, but before they could tell whoever was in charge what was going on they stepped through a 'portal' and were thrown somewhere else in the world, which ended up being outside our village."

"Seriously? Moneybags is behind you losing your parents?" Ember remarked, mostly because she had been doing well lately, in the sense that she had gotten over her anger towards the annoying bear that had tried to thwart their attempts to save both Avalar and Avilion, though this just caused her to growl for a moment as she heard what Prowlus had to say and noticed that both of Hunter's parents nodded their heads to confirm that this was the truth of the matter, "You know, if it wasn't due to the fact that we imprisoned Moneybags in a crystalline statue a year ago, for his crimes against all of the residents of both Avalar and Avilion, I'd be tempted to beat the stuffing out of him once more and leave some bruises that would take a few weeks to totally heal... though I'm sorely tempted to find out where his statue is resting so I can smash it to pieces and take him out."

"You'll have to tell us the story of how such a thing happened later," Sarah replied, though while she was interested in hearing how the dragons had been able to capture and imprison Moneybags, not to mention what sort of crimes the bear had committed since the last time she and her husband were in Avalar, there was something more important for them to do at the moment, hence the reason she and Akello pulled back from Hunter and beckoned for the last Cheetah to join them, who did so and pulled their hood back, revealing a younger Cheetah that was female and looked like she was a little younger than Hunter was, by a year to a year and a half, "Hunter, this is Amelia... you're little sister."

Spyro, Cynder, Spike, Ember, Elora, and Bianca could tell that Hunter was torn between feeling happy and overjoyed, as not only did he find his long lost parents, who he never told anyone about due to the fact that it would have reopened his own wounds, but he also discovered another member of the family, a sister to be exact, something that was followed by him embracing all three of them as he cried tears of joy, though as that happened the group backed off for a moment so he could share this moment with his family.

"You three never cease to amaze me," Nestor remarked, as he had been keeping an eye on Spyro, Spike, and Ember since they arrived in the banquet hall, not that he was expecting anything to happen while Malefor was near, as only a fool would dare to attack Warfang now that the first purple dragon was back, which was why Gaul must have been so keen on attacking the city, as he knew Malefor was somewhere else, before he focused on the trio, "first you save the five lands that make up the Dragon Realms from Gnasty Gnorc, then you save Avalar from Ripto and Moneybags, then you liberate Avilion from the Sorceress' foul grasp, and now you've gathered an army to save the world, all while helping Hunter locate his missing family members, even if you had no idea such a thing was even happening during this adventure."

"Once a hero, always a hero," Cynder said, though at the same time she smiled, as it was good to hear the endings of the adventures that Spyro had been through with his siblings, even if she hadn't been there to support him and help him learn how to wield all of his powers over the course of those adventures, but even then, after seeing how quickly he took to using the Aether with her, to smash Gaul to pieces and scatter the ashes, she was glad that Spike and Ember had made sure he was safe and helped him become both a hero and a leader, "isn't that right, Spyro?"

"It sure seems that way." Spyro replied, as he knew what Cynder was referring to and understood that the only ones that likely knew what they were referring to were the Chronicler, the four Guardians of Warfang, and Malefor himself, as he knew Cynder had told her father about him, based on how he acted as soon as he introduced himself, so those were the ones that understood what he had done in his past life, saving the day and battling the forces of evil, even though the two of them paid the ultimate price to save the world.

It was in the following moment that a number of Moles entered the banquet hall and carried plates of food in, ones that looked similar to what the siblings and their friends were used to, like the ones Alvar made, but with a flare that had to belong to the chefs of Warfang, and there was more than enough for everyone, including pitchers that were filled with a variety of drinks for them to enjoy. What was interesting was the fact that Malefor had everyone place their weapons on a few benches, just like how Nestor and the other Leaders did whenever they had their meetings, so no one was armed as they sat down in the seats that were around the table and helped themselves to what had been prepared some time ago, and the Moles even mentioned that there was more coming. Spike got the sense of how things operated by how everyone sat, as it appeared that Malefor, as the High Guardian, sat at the head of the table and usually the four Guardians sat near him, two to the left and two to the right, where it appeared that today things had changed as Cynder and Spyro sat to his right and Spike and Ember remained to the left, with the four Guardians sitting between them and their friends, leaving the rest of the group resting further beyond them. He suspected that it was based on station, not to mention the fact that Malefor was highly respected among all the residents of Warfang, Doxantha, and the surrounding islands, including Avilion and the realms that he assisted over the years, so positioning the four of them near him was likely based on the fact that they were the heroes of the war, summoning the allies needed so they could protect the city from Gaul and the army he had built to wipe Warfang from the face of the world, before wiping out said world.

Of course, out of everyone, Spike was the slowest to do anything as he considered who was sitting to his right, as he knew the stories of Malefor better than anyone in the three lands, possibly four since he had no idea how much everyone on Doxantha knew about the first purple dragon and his deeds, and it was hard for him to consider the fact that he was sitting next to the living legend that had done so much for the lands of the world.

"Spike, is something wrong with the food? You haven't touched any of it." Malefor commented, seeing that Spike had spent most of the time considering who was sitting next to him than what was resting right in front of him, though at the same time it demonstrated that he was incredibly observant and noticed things that others might miss, which Spike knew from all of the stories he had read about the dragon in question, something that Cosmos and the other magic users also knew from what they had read in the stories as well.

"Its because he's still shocked by the fact that he's sitting next to a living legend," Cynder remarked, as she knew why Spike was so slow in eating, though after mentioning that the young Archmage scratched the back of his head for a few seconds and started to eat the food that he had collected before Malefor had spoken, to which she chuckled as she saw that before glancing towards her father, "According to Spike, you're quite revered and well spoken of, so much so that even the youngest Archmage in the entire history of our world, whose power and knowledge can be rather scary at times, is rendered speechless by simply being in your presence."

"Really? An Archmage, at thirteen years old?" Malefor asked, to which he paused what he was doing for a moment and looked at Spike, who nodded his head to the question, something that made the rest of the table glance in their direction for a few seconds as he quickly looked at the banquet hall and seemed to focus on the various benches that were around them, where it was clear that he was looking for something specific, before he glanced over to Spike once more, "I know you are familiar with the ceremony that all Archmages go through, since I am the first one the went through it and devised the method that all Archmages following me would use to create their staffs, yet I do not see your staff... if you are an Archmage, where is your staff?"

"Truth be told, I was twelve and a half when I went through the ceremony," Spike replied, mostly because he wanted to make sure Malefor knew just how old he was when he went through the Archmage Ceremony and called his staff to his side, just like all of the Archmages that came before him, before he sighed for a moment as he stopped eating and set all of the utensils he was using down for a moment, which was when he sighed as he glanced at Malefor, given the nature of the artifact he could use in battle, "as for my staff... well, please don't be mad at me."

Malefor, instead of saying anything, raised an eyebrow as Spike got up from where he was sitting and took a few steps back so he was away from the table, before he stood up on his hind legs and called upon his magic for a few seconds, to which everyone watched as a staff started to materialize in the air in front of his front right claws, a staff where the handle was made out of equal parts metal and wood, with a golden coloration, while having a purple gem at the top of it, with a smaller one resting on the end of the staff that touched the ground, and it even had a magical ring of runes dancing in the air around the top crystal.

"No way... it cannot be..." Ignitus said, showing that everyone was looking in the direction of Spike and his staff, even though Nestor and the others knew that this sort of reaction was coming once they understood what Malefor had asked of Spike, since it was confusing as to why he would call himself an Archmage and not have a staff, though he was stunned by what he and the others were seeing at the moment, due to the fact that the staff Spike carried was a legendary one that many had assumed had been lost for the last thousand years.

"Impossible! That staff was said to be missing, impossible to find!" Terrador added, taking in the details of the weapon that Spike was holding as he grasped it and used it to stand for a few more moments, even though it was clear that this stance was unusual for him, showing just how odd it was for a young dragon to become an Archmage, despite the fact that he was carrying the one staff that was a legend among the dragons of Warfang and the rest of Doxantha, especially when someone considered who had wielded it in the past.

"Oh this is so interesting. Who would have known that such an extraordinary discovery would have been made during this celebration banquet!" Volteer commented, mostly speaking to himself as he said that, because most of the Guardians liked to ignore him when he talked like this and he was perfectly fine with it, since the point of his statements was usually understood by the others, before he turned his attention to the staff Spike was carrying at the moment, as this was one more thing he would have to study in the future.

"Is that what I think it is?" Cynder inquired, showing the group that even Cynder knew of the staff, which made sense considering that her father was Malefor, the dragon that carried it into battle and wielded it against the Elemental Lords he fought when he was assisting the residents of Avilion, before the Sorceress came along and Malefor stored the staff inside the Arcanaeum for the last thousand years, before she and the Guardians turned towards the first purple dragon, who just so happened to be staring at Spike at the moment.

"Akilesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian, the very staff I crafted once upon a time and carried into battle, where I fought all of the enemies that were threatening Avilion," Malefor stated, though instead of looking annoyed or angry that someone was carrying the staff that he once wielded, and had constructed to be a prison for a powerful Aether Elemental that had nearly destroyed Spike when he underwent his Archmage Ceremony, he actually seemed interested and happy by the fact that someone was capable of carrying the staff he had crafted, though when he held a hand out Spike nodded and let the staff float over to its original owner, who grasped the handle and studied it for a few seconds, no doubt making sure that the elemental was still inside it, "Fascinating. You were able to battle the dangerous elemental that's contained within this staff and come out on top by containing it, which is no easy feat for a young dragon such as yourself... that means you must have tapped into the Aether at some point before attempting the ceremony that called this staff to your side, not to mention the fact that you must have extraordinary talent when it comes to magic and the elements."

"The first time we used the Aether was in our first battle with the Sorceress, and by that I mean Spike, Ember, and I used it together," Spyro said, because he figured that he would share that piece of information with Malefor and the rest of the dragons that were around them, even if the Cheetahs and Moles might have no idea what they were talking about at the moment, though even as he said that he noticed that Ignitus and the other Guardians were shocked by something he had said, "What's wrong? Did I say something I wasn't supposed to?"

"The Aether is a power reserved for purple dragons, and Cynder has been the exception to that rule for as long as we can remember, due to something that happened in her past life," Ignitus replied, though at the same time the rest of the Guardians nodded their heads in agreement, showing the group and their friends that Cynder was, as Hunter used to put it, a rule breaker and that she must have been trained on how to wield the Aether over the last couple of years, which made sense due to who her father was, "even so, its odd for there to be a blue dragon that's capable of tapping into the power of the Aether, though I'm a little surprised you haven't used it once during this adventure, especially after finding out that the fate of the world was at stake."

"That's due to the fact that we haven't had a chance to learn how to wield the power of the Aether, even though Spyro knows more than we do thanks to his memories," Ember stated, giving Malefor and the Guardians the reason behind why she and her siblings didn't wield the power of the ninth and final element at all during this adventure, even though it had been rather interesting to see Spyro and Cynder use the power of the Aether to smash Gaul to pieces and end his life in a few seconds, before she returned to the conversation that was going on, "Anyway, the first time the three of us tapped into the Aether was during our first fight with the Sorceress, who was channeling a rather powerful fire spell, the Emperor of Fire according to Spike, and it was during that clash that we tapped into the power of the Aether, to blow the attack apart and ruin the Sorceress' defenses so we could beat her... even though she latter reappeared in her treasury and we had to beat her again, where we sealed her in a statue for her crimes against Avilion and dragon kind."

"So, Morrigan was causing trouble again... why am I not surprised in the slightest?" Malefor commented, to which the group and the siblings glanced towards the first purple dragon for a moment, as this was the first time any of them had even heard a name that could have been linked to the Sorceress, which was rather interesting since all of them were used to calling her by the title that she insisted on being called, before he sighed for a few seconds and focused on the heroes once more, "What did she do this time?"

"Well, she created an army of Rhynocs, which are rhinoceros-like enemies, to attack the realms of Avilion and force all of them to bend their knees to her," Spike answered, as he could easily tell Malefor the answer to the question, due to the fact that he had written all of this down at one point after the adventure to the land in question, even though the main reason behind the adventure happening was going to infuriate the dragons that were in the banquet hall, "she attempted to create a cross realm war between Charmed Ridge and the island of Felinia, much like how Moneybags did the same in Avalar, with the Breezebuilders and the Land Blubbers, and basically attacked any realm that dared to stand against her rule, all while imprisoning the heroes of the four homeworlds, who we rescued and helped reclaim their lands so we could get closer to our target... there's also the fact that she was willing to steal all one hundred and fifty dragon eggs that were delivered during the last Year of the Dragon Festival and kill the hatchlings when they hatched."

"Excuse me? She did WHAT?!" Cynder exclaimed, while at the same time the Guardians and the rest of the dragons that were present, the ones from Warfang to be more exact, were outraged by what Spike had said, while Malefor paused for a moment as a look of anger crossed his face, no doubt due to the fact that the one who forced the rest of the dragons to leave Avilion was willing to kill hatchlings, especially a hundred and fifty of them, a number that was beyond anything their records had shown in the past.

"She had her forces steal the eggs and hid them all over Avilion so she could wait for them to hatch, but we managed to find and recover all of them," Ember stated, mostly because she didn't want this conversation to ruin the mood and it seemed that the others seemed to share the same thought, to a degree anyway, because the dragons calmed down and the look of anger that was on Malefor's face disappeared not a few seconds later, before she considered the words that she and her siblings had heard when they bested the Sorceress in battle, "According to what we heard the reason she even stole the eggs in the first place was so she could take the magic that was inside the hatchlings and empower herself, despite the fact that the eggs were a trap for the adult dragons and the strongest of the Dragon Realms, all so she could make herself immortal and gain enough power to fight her ancient foe, the one who beat her all those years ago and utterly humiliated her in the process. Basically she felt your magic at some point, either due to you training someone or practicing some of your spells, and she devised a plan to drain all the magic from the residents of the Dragon Realms and steal all of the powers that we had access to, with the three you created being her main targets."

"Warrior's Armor, Sage's Vision, and Conqueror's Spirit," Malefor said, not that anyone was surprised by this, because he was the one that created the three powerful techniques and was the only dragon that could use all three of them, or at least that was what the legends and stories claimed when Spike considered what he had learned from his studies, even though he and the other scholars were sure those stories were true, especially after what he had seen when Malefor took out the Destroyer, "So, she was after immortality and the power to bring me down... such a foolish reason for her to attack another landmass and steal the eggs of the dragons that called that land home, so I would say that she got whatever was coming to her, even though it sounds like you trapped her in a statue or something, though it does make me interested in how strong the three of you are."

"Well, Ember has access to the Warrior's Armor skill, and she's carrying the Fangs of Felinia," Cynder said, though she had the feeling that her father already understood what she was saying and that he didn't need someone to say it, given the fact that he was the one who wielded the blades that Ember was using, even if she had to detach them from her metal bracers, but it appeared that her father was perfectly fine with this as he let the staff head back to Spike, who carefully stored it on one of the benches before he bothered to move it to a safer location, even if he felt it should be back where it had been resting before this point in time, "Spyro has been carrying around Windshear the entire time, and Spike has a fair amount of magical power that is uncommon for a dragon of his age, so it makes sense that they would have been able to beat Morrigan before they found the Arcanaeum and the artifacts that were inside it."

"All three of them are strong warriors, based on what I saw during the battle for Warfang, and Spyro is a natural born leader, given how easily he took control over the army," Terrador commented, adding to what Cynder was saying, even though the only ones that really knew how skilled the siblings were, and all the skills they possessed, were Nestor, the rest of the Leaders, and their friends, while Cynder only had experience in what she had seen over the course of the adventure that had just ended, "We are fortunate they discovered something on the globe that rests inside your Arcanaeum, which warned them that something was going to happen on this continent, and that they came to help us take down Gaul and his forces, especially with all of the forces that they brought to bare against the army that was marching on Warfang, as I'm not sure how we would have dealt with such an event if we faced it alone."

"Okay, I have to apologize about something, the icon that was on the globe was an Aether icon, indicating that there was somewhere on Doxantha who was using the Aether," Spyro stated, as it was about time that they revealed what had brought them to this continent in the first place, even though it had spiraled into a quest to save the world from Gaul and his sinister plans, and it was easy to see that most of the people that were around them were interested in what he had to say on the matter, "The globe showed us three Aether icons, the first one resting on the part of Avilion that we fought the Sorceress in, or Morrigan as you called her earlier, while the second icon happened to be positioned over the part of the Dragon Realms that Spike had tapped into the powerful element when he was trying to tame Akilesh, which he did and gained control of the staff... however, it was the third icon that caught our attention, as we had no knowledge of Warfang, the islands we went to, or the fact that Gaul was even acting up. We came here to investigate who the third Aether icon was telling us about, mostly due to the fact that we had been worried that an enemy was learning how to tap into the final element and would turn that power against the world, though its hard to tell if it was referring to Malefor's power, Cynder learning how to wield the element, or Gaul going after the final Elementium Key... but right now, however, I guess it really doesn't matter what it was telling us about, given that it brought us here to help save the world."

"Still, that doesn't change the fact that there are now five Aether users in the world," Ignitus replied, where it was easy for Nestor and the others to see how surprised the four Guardians were, which was due to the fact that the Aether was the rarest element in the world for a dragon to tap into and it seemed to be the hardest for one to learn, something that might be easy now that they knew Malefor was alive and well, even though they had thought he had simply disappeared at one point in the past, before he glanced in the direction of the first purple dragon, who seemed to be thinking of something at the moment, "Malefor, is something wrong?"

"No, everything is just fine... in fact, after hearing all of this I've come to the decision that I would like to engage Spyro, Spike, and Ember in a fight and see their strength for myself." Malefor stated, where his words stunned everyone that was in the banquet hall at the moment, causing everyone to pause what they were doing so they could turn to look at him, and even the Chronicler seemed surprised by the statement, though at the same time Cynder's tail twitched for a few seconds as she heard what her father had to say.

"Not without me fighting by their side." Cynder added, because after everything they had been though, since Spyro and the others arrived in Warfang the first time around, she was joining them and would continue to do so, even if such a thing meant fighting her own father, despite the fact that she had some experience in such things thanks to the training he had given her over the years, before she glanced towards her father, "Though I think that we should rest for a day or two, to let our bodies and magic recover from the battle that we just fought in, since it took a lot of power and skill to make sure our enemies didn't get inside Warfang."

Malefor didn't seem upset by Cynder saying that, rather he seemed happy that she was so willing to stand by Spyro's side and join the battle, to which he raised his goblet into the air and returned to the true nature of their feast, to celebrate their victory over the dark alliance that threatened to tear their world apart with the aid of the Destroyer, something that everyone mimicked as they continued the celebration feast, allowing them to focus on the here and now while not even worrying about what the future held for them.