//------------------------------//
// Hero: End of an Adventure 
// Story: Spyro: The Dragon Trio of Avalar 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Spyro had no idea how long he and the others spent resting on the floating island that they had ended up on, though in the end he really didn't care all that much since they had spent a great deal of energy trying to bring down the Dark Master and had been able to take down the dark dragon, bringing his plans of world domination to an end, but he knew that Malefor was the one who deserved most of the credit due to the fact that he had dealt the final blow to their foe and had blown away his soul, meaning that there was no way for the Dark Master to return to threaten them again. This reminded him of the time he and Cynder had to destroy Gaul during his assault on Warfang, as he had been one of the most evil villains and trying to redeem him would have been a waste of time, so unleashing the power of the Aether on him had been the right call, and as he thought about that he knew that the Dark Master deserved his fate and having his soul utterly destroyed meant his evil would never again threaten their world, which would allow him and Cynder, at the very least, to rest easy at long last, because their long fight was finally over. The rest of the group, on the other claw, were still coming to terms with what they had witnessed, as Malefor was far stronger than what they had originally assumed back during their training session, after their adventure in Doxantha to be exact, and the power he had thrown around confirmed the fact that he was one of the strongest dragons in the entire world, something that made some of the group wonder if there was any hope for them to surpass him, even though that would be a thought for later, once this adventure was over and they were able to go back home, so they could rest and return to their normal lives. While he thought about that he noticed that Spike got up from where he had been rested and walked over to those that had been injured during the final fight with the Dark Master and used some of his magic to ease the pain that some of them were in as he did his best to cast up the limbs that had been cracked during the battle, which made it a good thing that this adventure was basically over, save for the last dragon egg.

"Hey, Spike, what sort of magic did you use against the Dark Master?" Bianca asked, mostly because the type of magic he had called upon, which had been channeled through himself and the other dragons of their group, or maybe it was the six gemstones that had been created before the spell had been cast, had been rather interesting and she was sure that she had never seen anything like it before, despite the fact that her own Teleportation spell was rainbow colored, though as she said that the rest of the group focused on him for a moment, showing that they were interested in what he might say to her question, even though he was making sure her ribs were fine before moving to the others that had been injured during the later stages of the battle, "I've never seen anything like it, nor have I read about that sort of magic, and it seems that you managed to surprise our foe in the process as well... not to mention everyone who was fighting the dark dragon, before Malefor wiped him out with that spell he used."

"Honestly, I have no idea what that was... all I know is that it was called 'Harmony'," Spike admitted, making him wonder if, in the heat of the battle with the Dark Master, he had unlocked a brand new type of magic, one that, ultimately, didn't do anything against the dark dragon that had sought to bring them all down and rip their souls from their bodies, but that would be something he would have to check in the future, once they recovered from this adventure and returned to a sort of normal life again, before he used his magic to lift up the six fallen gemstones and studied them for a time, even though he stored them inside a bag since there was no time to study them right now, "but it doesn't matter right now, as we need to make sure all of you are fine and that your bones are braced so they don't heal wrong..."

As the injured members of their group nodded Malefor walked over and used a bit of his own power to wrap some bits of earth around the injured limbs in question, where he smoothed the fragments out and pulled his magic back as he took a moment to appreciate his handiwork, as he had formed earthen casts over the arms that had been cracked or injured during the battle that had just ended and this would ensure that, in a week to a month, the bones would be healed back to their original state, and he even made sure to position the casts in such a way that ensured those that had them would be able to pull off their attire in the future.

"So, Skylands... that's what we're calling this place?" Hunter asked, not because he was questioning the decision that had been made earlier, rather he just wanted to make sure that they were happy with what they wanted to call this place, even though he had to admit that staring at the various floating islands was rather interesting, based on all the elements that had been infused into each of the new islands, a permanent reminder of the power that the Dark Master possessed, even though he was sure it would be some time before anyone did anything with these islands, which were either the size of a homeworld or even one of the realms that were back in Avalar.

"Indeed. Spike was right, it is a fitting name for a place like this," Malefor replied, where he raised his head and stared at all of the islands that were scattered throughout the sky, something that the others did as well, though it looked like the Dark Master's power had pushed the former continent apart and made sure to position all of the islands like they were more like the islands of Capora or even the homeworlds that made up the Dragon Realms, as he was positive that it would take about an hour to go from one of the islands and reach another one, but he did know that it would be a chore to make a map of this area, which Spike might do in the near future, once all of the energy died down and it was safe to traverse the new lands that had just been created, "It will be interesting to see what happens to these islands, even though it will take a few decades before we see anything new happen, especially after all the power that the Dark Master channeled into the former continent... I guess breaking the continent in this way was his way of assuring himself that he was still dangerous and had the power to do whatever he wanted."

"Either way, he's gone and we won't have to worry about having to fight him for a third time," Cynder remarked, as part of her statement was a reference to the fact that she and Spyro had fought the Dark Master twice now, as in two different lives, and that they wouldn't have to worry about such a thing repeating again, not after what her father did to their foe's soul, while at the same time it referred to the fact that they had fought him twice in Capora, meaning they wouldn't have to worry about fighting the dark dragon in Capora again, before she glanced at Flame and Aurora, who seemed to be lost in thought at the moment, "You know, you guys did rather well for your first adventure... with how well you fought some of our enemies, and how you adapted to the new skills the Elders shared with us, one would almost think that this wasn't your first time doing something like this."

"Sadly, they would be wrong, as this was our first adventure," Aurora said, though in that moment she chuckled for a few seconds as she thought about that, as she and Flame had learned what an adventure was before they returned to Capora with the heroes, but even everything they had been told hadn't prepared them for what actually happened since the two of them were sent to the beach that Spyro and the others had been hanging at, mostly because she wasn't expecting what happened during their battles with the Dark Master to happen in the first place, as this battle and the last one seemed totally different from everything else that this adventure had thrown at them, especially after witnessing the sheer power that both the Dark Master and Malefor had unleashed.

"Still, that doesn't change the fact that you guys learned fast while watching us fight and did a great job helping us liberate the homeworlds of Capora from the Dark Master's grip," Spyro stated, as that needed to be said, the two dragons that had joined their group had done a wonderful job taking down the enemies they had encountered over the course of this entire adventure and had learned a lot while they followed the group, so much so that he would definitely call them heroes after this adventure came to an end, though as he said that the rest of the group nodded their heads in agreement, showing that they agreed with him.

"Thanks, that means a lot coming from you guys," Flame said, because while he and Aurora weren't expecting all of this to even happen when the Professor sent them to Dragon Shores earlier, which almost felt like a lifetime ago given everything they did since this adventure started, he had to admit that their new friends were right, they had learned a lot during their travels across the lands of Capora and, against all odds, had helped liberate the four homeworlds from the dark dragon that had been trying to take everything over, before he sighed for a moment, "though given everything that happened to us, and by that I mean our battles with the Dark Master, I think Aurora and I are tapped out for the foreseeable future... as in I don't think we'll be seeking any additional adventures after this one is over."

"You say that now, but in about a year's time you'll be aching for a new adventure," Hunter remarked, as that was what he and Elora, and later Bianca and Cynder, not to mention the rest of their friends, had gone through after their first official adventure with the group had ended and none of them had looked back yet, even though part of him did wish he knew magic or something, just because it would give him another weapon to use in case his swords or his bow were taken out of the equation, where he sighed as he realized he would be replacing his weapons and Amelia's blades when they got back home, given that their blades were broken thanks to what the Dark Master did to them, "or maybe you won't... I mean, at this point in time I think we've saved nearly every set of homeworlds and islands that is scattered across the planet, so we might not have another adventure to look forward to."

Spyro and the others glanced at each other for a moment, as they knew Hunter was right, thanks to this recent adventure they knew that most of the islands and continents of their world had been saved from the various villains that sought to take them over, to which Spyro took a moment to look up at the sky and focus on what was far beyond the clouds, as in the two moons that orbited their planet and, according to the Orrery that was back in the laboratory, at least four larger orbs that had to be planets, as there was always the chance that something off planet might be the next adventure for all of them, before he shook his head and decided that he'd wait and see what the future held before trying to reach one of the moons or one of the other worlds. A few moments later Spike announced that, thanks to Malefor's help, everyone was ready to go and that all of the cracked or broken bones had casts around them, so they could heal with ease and no heal in the wrong position or something, to which he combined his magic with Malefor's, since the first purple dragon was still tired from pouring his magic into his final attack, and together they cast the same Teleportation spell the Dark Master had used to bring all of them to this place, where they teleported back to Icy Wilderness, where they found Moneybags and everyone else that had been left here just resting in the ruined village, where it was clear that they were done trying to fix everything that the Dark Master had damaged during their first fight with him. Based on what everyone could see it did look like the only building that might have been spared during that battle was the one Moneybags had set his shop up in, or at least that was the excuse he had given the supposed villain back before this adventure had started, back when all of them thought Red was in control of his actions and that he wasn't a pawn that was dancing to the Dark Master's tune, but as they considered the now freed dragon for a moment they noticed that someone was missing, which just so happened to be when Moneybags informed him that Red was resting upstairs, not to mention the fact that this building was large enough for everyone in Icy Wilderness to rest in while they rebuilt everything that had been damaged. Vicky, on the other claw, seemed relieved when they told her that the one that damaged her homeworld, who she now knew was the Dark Master, had been dealt with and that he had been punished for his crimes against her land and the rest of Capora, which allowed her to breath a sigh of relief as she tended to the fire that warmed up the rest of the building, as while Spike had done away with the foul enchantment on her necklace she still liked to get rid of the cold with a fire, which the rest of the displaced individuals of her lands, of which there were a few, were happy to have.

Before they headed out, to collect the last stolen egg and the last of the Light Gems, Spyro checked on Red and found that he was basically the same as when he and the others helped him free his body from the Dark Master's hold, reuniting his soul with his body, meaning it would be some time before he was able to wake up and walk around again, to which the group bid the others farewell for a few moments, where Malefor stayed inside the building since they didn't need his help in this regard, before they retraced their steps towards the area that the last of the golden doors rested in, where it was easy for them to see that all of the spinning traps had been deactivated. Thanks to that they were able to reach the area that the pair of close set of walls rested, the two smaller sets that formed a path up to where the door in question rested in, to which those that could perform the Wall Jump technique used it to get up to their destination and those that didn't were aided by Bianca forming a set of icy steps for them to jump up, though as they did that they could have sworn that Sgt. Byrd was flying towards the camp Malefor and the others were resting in, to which they decided to leave him alone as they came to a stop in front of the last of the golden doors and Spike unlocked it like he had done to the others, revealing a short tunnel that lead to what was likely the last area they would explore before ending this adventure. Normally they would have expected that a tunnel would be guarded by some sort of guards, like a Gnorc Brute or something, but all the group could see were piles of gems and containers that needed to be broken for the gems that were inside them, so while Ember smashed the pair of metallic chests and a bullseye chest Spike considered what they were seeing and informed the rest of the group that any enemies that might have been in their way might have perished with the downfall of the Dark Master, as in his magic must have been connected to them and totally erasing their foe might have caused the guardians of this area to return to their original states, leaving the piles of gems that they were seeing right now. Once the tunnel was cleared of containers the group walked through the opening that was in front of them and discovered that it brought them to an area that looked like it was a river that, somehow, hadn't frozen over due to how cold it normally was in this realm, but there were a few crates for them to jump on so they could explore the other sections of this area as they looked for the last couple of items that they were searching for.

The pair of crates that were in front of them, slightly to the right of the edge of the walkway that rested at the end of the short tunnel that had brought them here, lead them right to a small structure that was likely a small hut, surprising free of damage, which was just odd given everything that the Dark Master trashed during their fight above the island, but at least the path leading to a golden chest was just fine and they were able to pick up a number of gems to add to what they had in the normal gem bag, where Spike found that a light green dragon egg with blue swirls had been locked inside the chest, the last of its set and, more importantly, making it the last of the eighty eggs that had been stolen, which would make the dragon in charge of them overjoyed, to which he sent it off instantly. With that done Spyro lead them back to where the crates rested and headed down the other path, where they jumped over a few crates and used a few platforms to reach an area that had some poles that allowed them to reach an even higher area, one that contained a tunnel that had a pair of large snowballs rolling around some wooden paths, though Spike simply used a bit of his magic to stall the snowballs and opened the way for them to keep moving, even though that brought them to an area that had one of the water wheels and had a whirlwind that could bring them back up to where they were currently standing, once they were done exploring the lower area. From where they were standing it didn't seem like the water wheel was all that important in the grand scheme of things, as all they had to do was glide down to the area that an inactive gadget pad was resting in, something that allowed them to use a nearby set of floating platforms to reach the part of this area that the final Light Gem rested in, where Spyro jumped over the few platforms in question and collected the Light Gem, allowing Spike and the others to smash any straw baskets, metallic chests, and bullseye chests that were scattered throughout this area, collecting all of the gems that were inside them, and once that was done, and the final Light Gem was stored inside the bag the others rested in, the group turned around and headed back through the path that had brought them to this area, allowing them to head back to the opened golden door so they could walk back to where Malefor and the others were waiting, as it was time for them to bring an end to this adventure and get some well earned rest at last.

As such the group lowered their guards, since there were no enemies left for them to worry about, and walked back to the first part of Icy Wilderness that they had appeared in when they first started exploring this homeworld, before the Dark Master had wrecked everything with his power, even if they later discovered he had been holding back during their fight, and quickly returned to where the somehow intact village rested, where they found the Penguins were out and about right now while Vicky and the Elder that had been imprisoned inside her castle, Alain, sat close to where the fire rested, where Malefor and Moneybags rested as well, and they could easily see that Sgt. Byrd and Blink were here as well.

"Hey guys, how did things go with the Dark Master?" Blink asked, as he was interested in how things were going for all of his new friends, due to the fact that this was his first time being a hero and he knew that they had been making their way towards the destination that the main villain of this adventure had been lurking in, while at the same time Sgt. Byrd stood at attention, mostly to learn whether or not they were done liberating the lands of Capora from their foe, even though the fact that his friends had returned to Icy Wilderness again told him that they might be done with their quest.

"Well, we helped Malefor take him down and save the world from his foul plans, not to mention recovered the last of the dragon eggs and the last of the Light Gems," Spyro replied, though he could see that their friends breathed a sigh of relief as they heard him say that, as this meant that the Dark Master had been defeated and there was no need for them to even worry about the dark dragon they had come here to fight, while at the same time it was clear that they were interested in hearing the tale, especially given the damage that had been done to this homeworld, before something came to mind as he faced Vicky for a moment, who was still staring at the flames in the fireplace, "Princess Vicky, to help you put the lands of your homeworld back together, after all the damage that has been done to them by the Dark Master, we'd like to give you seventy-five percent of the gems that we recovered from the Dark Master, which is roughly about sixty thousand gems in total, maybe a little more given that we found some more fallen gems earlier."

"I appreciate the gesture, I really do, but I think you might be a little too generous with the treasure you recovered while taking down your foe's minions," Vicky said, her tone showing that she really did appreciate the gesture and that she could do wonders with the gems that were being offered to her, but at the same time she wasn't just going to take nearly all of the gems from Spyro and the rest of the group, hence the reason that she thought about what was going on right now as everyone waited for her to speak up again, before she smiled for a moment, "How about this, we split the gems evenly, that way you get some sort of reward for your actions."

"If that is what you wish," Spyro answered, mostly because he knew from experience that trying to argue with those that watched over the lands of Capora was a bad idea, or at least it seemed to be from what he had seen when talking with all of the Dragon Elders, though his answer seemed to please Vicky and that was when Spike took a seat nearby, which was the moment that he pulled out the bag that contained the normal gems they had collected over the course of exploring all of the realms and homeworlds of Capora.

"What do we do now?" Flame asked, because he had been expecting it to take them a bit longer to find the last two items they had been looking for, the last dragon egg and the last Light Gem, so now that they were done collecting everything he was curious as to what was going to happen next, even though he and Aurora were standing by their decision that this would be their only adventure, despite the fact that Hunter believed that they would be back in action when they found another villain to take down and another set of islands to save.

"Now we rest and heal, before we even think about doing anything else, which includes going to the beach," Cynder said, as she knew what Spyro and his siblings would do in this situation, especially since several of their friends had sustained a few injuries during their battle with the Dark Master, so returning to Dragon Shores would have to wait for a week or so, which all depended on how quickly Elora and the others healed, before she chuckled for a moment as she thought about part of what she just thought about, "you know, we never did get a chance to rest after our first great battle with the Dark Master, not after everything that happened... its going to be hard coming to terms with the fact that he's no longer going to be a part of our world."

Spyro nodded his head for a moment, as he was the only one of the group that truly understood what Cynder was talking about right now, due to the fact that they had fought the Dark Master at the end of the previous world and had perished after sacrificing themselves to put their world back together, creating the world they, the rest of the group, and Malefor had just saved from the dark dragon, before he joined Cynder near one of the walls as everyone scattered so they could take a seat and do whatever it was that they wanted to do before they even started to worry about finding a portal back to the Dragon Realms. It didn't take Spike long to count out all the gems that they had recovered and separated them into two piles, where about forty-five thousand was kept inside the bag he and the others had stored them inside, which would be their cut of the treasure, while the other forty-five thousand was stored inside a second bag and he handed it over to Vicky, who would be able to do wonders with the amount of gems that they had collected, as it appeared that he and the others had found a bit more gems than he originally thought, but at least this gave Vicky something to work with once this adventure was over and she could get back to working on restoring her realm. Once that was done Spike walked over to part of the building and pulled out his writing materials once more, where he opened the journal and reread what he had written so far, which wasn't a great deal given the last break they had been given was right after the first battle with the Dark Master, before he picked up his quill and resumed writing what had happened since they started exploring the last of Capora's homeworlds and faced the last of the dark dragon's minions, even though he would need a great deal of time to digest and write down everything that happened during their last battle with the Dark Master. While he did that Bianca took a moment to look down at the fragments of her wand, as she had collected every piece of it after the battle with the dark dragon had ended, before she sighed as she realized that finding a suitable replacement was in order, even though part of her had mixed feelings about losing her weapon, as it had been her first wand and she cherished it like it was her greatest possession in the world, which it no longer was since her relationship with Hunter had taken that role, which also included her friendship with Spyro and the others, while a small part of her was slightly overjoyed to lose the wand since it had been a 'gift' from her previous mentor, Morrigan.

The rest of the group, on the other hand, took up positions around the rest of the building, staying on the first floor since none of them felt the need to go upstairs and rest in one of the beds that were up there, though it wasn't long before the Professor appeared outside the building, no doubt having used the Teleportation Device to get here, before they found that he was joined by the rest of the Dragon Elders, who sat down around the main table and asked what in the world had happened to Icy Wilderness, since this was the first time they had witnessed everything that Vicky was going to have to fix in the near future. Malefor explained the situation to Elder Harnell and the others, telling them about the fact that Spyro and the others had entered the nearby cave and had found Red inside it, the supposedly banished Dragon Elder who all of the assembled Elders had banished long ago, back when they discovered his dark nature, before revealing that they had been wrong in assuming that it was Red who was committing the crimes they had charged him with, as his soul had been torn from his body and stuffed inside a phylactery, a container meant to keep a soul inside it, while the soul of the Dark Master possessed his soulless body and took control of it. That was when the Elders realized why their friend had such a sudden and drastic change of heart, turning away from being one of their greatest champions and took on the role of the evilest dragon to ever grace the homeworlds of Capora, because the dragon they thought was doing the crimes wasn't actually Red, it was the Dark Master, where the group could see that they were relieved to hear this piece of news, as one or two of them had always held the belief that Red was innocent, despite the evidence that proved otherwise, and this was all the evidence they needed to justify what they had been saying the entire time, something that caused the other Elders to nod their heads and admit that they had been wrong, as they had an expert telling them what was going on and that he had explained why things had happened the way they did. While Malefor talked, and told the Elders what had happened, Spyro glanced over to Spike for a moment, who nodded his head and went back to his writing, as at this point they knew Malefor had faced the Dark Master once in the past and that was where he gained all his knowledge of the soul based magic that the dark dragon had used, no doubt either having stolen another dragon's body or had created a body of his own to do battle with, before they decided not to worry about it and focused on resting.

"Its a relief to hear that Red wasn't the cause of all those crimes and that the true criminal has been punished for all of the crimes he has committed," Elder Titus commented, where a smile graced his face for a moment as he thought about that, just like what happened to the rest of the assembled Elders, showing that they were happy that Red had been freed from the darkness that had been in control of his body and that, at some point, he and the others would be able to welcome their old friend home at long last, who would be overjoyed to be in control of his life once more, to which the Elder took a moment to turn their heads towards the group and bowed their heads in a respectful manner, and even Alain, the one Elder who insulted them earlier, did the same thing, "Spyro, you and your friends, as well as Flame and Aurora, have our thanks for not only saving the lands of Capora from the Dark Master, but also liberating and returning Red to us, which we shall forever be thankful for, just as we are sure Red will feel the same way when he wakes up... speaking of which, when we be able to see him?"

"That's a question that I can't answer, as his soul has been separated from his body for so long and it seems that he might have slipped into a coma, but at least he's breathing," Malefor replied, as while he knew that the Elders would want to see Red, after all the years that they spent apart and assumed that their friend had started walking down the path of evil and had been consumed by the darkness he had uncovered, even though he and the group knew that the Dark Master was the one that had discovered Red first, before he sighed as he considered something, "it could be a few days, a week, a month, or even a year before he wakes up from his slumber... I honestly can't say, given we have no idea when his soul was torn from his body and was replaced by the Dark Master's soul, so we'll just have to wait and see."

The Dragon Elders glanced at each other for a moment, where it was clear that they really wanted their friend back, likely so they could apologize for not rushing to his aid when they noticed that something was off about him and just banished him to whatever land they had sent him to, before doing whatever else they wanted to do with Red, as the group had no idea what the older dragons wanted to do with the freed dragon who was resting upstairs and would have to wait and see what the future held for them, if they were nearby when they talked with Red. Regardless of what the Elders did, the group was glad to have reunited Red's soul with his body, pushing the Dark Master out in the process, and thanks to Spike calling in Malefor they were able to bring down their foe, even if it had taken them a lot of effort to actually push him to the point where his soul could be wiped out at long last, hence why they were going to take a well deserved break before they did anything else, given everything that happened not too long ago. While they did that Spyro and his siblings knew that the Leaders of their homeworlds would be impressed by what they had just done, even if they would be more surprised by the fact that the Dark master actually existed and that Malefor had to destroy his soul to stop him from coming back, but now the world was safe and they were sure that a new celebration would be held as soon as they got back home, something all of them were looking forward to at this point, since a taste of their normal lives would be welcome at this point in time, before they resumed what they did between their adventures and hoped that there wasn't a third one around the corner, as none of them were remotely ready for another villain to interrupt them and their friends. All they knew was that they would have to wait and see what the future held for them, though for right now rest was necessary and then they would see what else they could do to help the residents of Capora out, given what happened at the end of some of their previous adventures, as Flame and Aurora were going to do that and the others would assist them to the best of their ability, before facing whatever else the future had in store for them.