Spyro, Cynder, Spike, and Ember spent the weeks following their break in Dragon Shores training with the Leaders and the more experienced dragons that had all sorts of skills and techniques to impart to them, though the reality was that Titan and the rest of the Peace Keepers were running out of things to teach the group, though that was more in the sense of what they could learn in their quadrupedal forms, as once all of them matured into adults he and the others would be able to truly start their real training, even though that didn't stop Titan from allowing Elora, Hunter, and Amelia, at the very least, to see the techniques a bipedal adult dragon could learn after they matured. Of course Spike only joined his siblings whenever he wanted to study the skills that they were learning, as while there were tomes and scrolls on the subject it was another thing to actually witness it with his own eyes, so he was mostly an observer who watched everything that happened, though at the same time his own training had come to a near complete stop, as Cosmos had nothing left to teach him, the archives had no more to impart to him, and none of the other Masters in the other types of magic had anything left to teach him, so for him to learn more about magic he either had to read the items in the Archives of the Arcanaeum, see what Warfang's library had to reveal, or train with Malefor himself. While he did that he noticed that the majority of the group focused on training with Titan and the other Peace Keepers, learning whatever the powerful warrior dragons had to share with them, while at the same time he and Bianca went over the lessons that he had to share with his apprentice, who was learning how to truly tap into her magical power and not need a wand, even though having a new one would be good for whatever the future had in store for all of them, despite the fact that Bianca told him that at one point she'd like to move up to using a staff or some other magical artifact to better focus her powers, like how all of the Magic Crafters had something that allowed them to do the same thing. Spike was sure that either she would find some sort of item to be her magical focus or she would make one in due time, just like the rest of the Magic Crafters and magic users that came before them, but even then he did his best to make sure she was capable of understanding and casting the various spells that he had to offer her, picking up from where they left off since they had been interrupted by both Ripto's attempt to take over Castle Hills and the Dark Master's return.
Of course, while they were doing that, Bianca gave her friends, the Leaders, the Elders of Capora, and Malefor an idea of what she found inside the wrecked pirate ship that was resting near Dragon Shores, something that came as a surprise to the majority of those she gave that information to, especially since Nestor and the rest of the Leaders knew that there were no records of pirates ever being in the area in question, something Spike confirmed, which meant that whoever had been aboard the ship had run aground somewhere and sunk near the island in question. At the same time, however, the items that Bianca had been able to find in the wreckage had interested everyone that came to see what she had found, as it was uncommon to even find some unrefined gems in this day and age, not unless one went to the various mines that all of the dragon clans had set up over the various lands they lived on, as the dragons of Doxantha and Capora were just like those that lived in the Dragon Realms, though it was interesting to see the gold and silver coins that were inside the small chest, mostly due to the fact that the usage of coins had been phased out a long time ago, allowing the metals to be used in other ways, like in creating staffs, inlay on weapons, and whatever else came to mind. Bianca revealed that the pirate ship was about the size of one of the metal ships that had been created by Gnasty Gnorc, one of the smaller ships that the siblings had walked through during their first adventure, and that the only way they were going to get down to it was if she and Spike cast the Mermaid spell on everyone that wanted to head down there to investigate it, or get a submarine and carefully head down to the depth she had found the ship in, which would be something they could do in the future, if the group and the older dragons wanted to do such a thing. The Professor, on the other hand, seemed to be thinking about what they were seeing at the moment and knew that exploring what was under the water might be a worthwhile venture, since it would expand their knowledge on what might be below the water, but at the same time they knew he was in the middle of working on something else, though they had no idea what that something was since he was keeping it a secret from the group and would tell them the moment he was ready to reveal his plans to them, and several of the Machinists shared his opinions, which meant that they had to be working on something big at the moment.
The conversation concerning what Bianca had found under the water happened the day after the group had gone to the beach, to finally rest and relax after everything that had happened in Capora, something that everyone enjoyed since that meant none of them had to worry about anything happening, and in the following days they discovered that both Flame and Aurora would be sticking around for some time, just so they could see what the group did between each adventure, even if they weren't planning on tackling whatever adventure came next. Of course that didn't stop Titan from pulling the two of them into the training sessions that he had for the group, mostly so he could see just how much they had learned while traveling with Spyro and the others, as he had heard how skilled they were and wanted to see their skills with his own eyes, something that eventually became them joining those that trained with the Peace Keepers, as they figured that this would allow them to better defend their homes in the future, just in case someone tried to attack their homeworlds at some point in the near future, even if Spyro and the others assumed that something like that would never happen, based on what happened after all of their previous adventures. While all of this happened Spike made sure to put the finishing touches on the journal that contained all of the information regarding what occurred during their adventure in Capora, an adventure that would excite whoever read it and would leave them wondering what might happen during the next one he, his siblings, and their friends would face, as everyone seemed to be thinking that another one would be coming and that they needed to be ready for it, to which he chuckled as he made sure Alban, Oswin, and the rest of the librarians, scholars, and dragons that called Dark Hollow home were ready for the latest addition to his adventure series. One thing that most of the group knew was that the Gnorcs who worked in the amusement park of Dragon Shores were going to have a rather hard time putting the latest story into a play, like they had done in the past for the adventures they had done before this point in time, something that prompted Flame and Aurora to question what they were talking about and was followed by Bianca arranging for everyone to take a day off so they could see one of the plays inside the theater in the amusement park, which would detail the very first adventure that Spyro, Spike, and Ember had gone on, since it would give the pair a good idea what they were talking about.
As it turned out Flame and Aurora were surprised by what they saw, as a day or two after Spike finished his latest book all of them returned to the island and headed over to the amusement park, allowing them to enter the theater and take some a seat in one of the rows that had been prepared when this place had been made, before they witnessed the start of the very first adventure, where the siblings had watched as all the adult dragons had been blasted by Gnasty Gnorc's spell and had been trapped inside crystalline statues, causing them to go on an adventure to release the adults from their prisons, to collect all of the gems that had been stolen or turned into enemies, recover the stolen eggs, and take down the beings that were Gnasty Gnorc's lieutenants, before facing their foe in battle at long last.
By the time the play was over it was clear that Flame and Aurora were totally surprised by what they had seen, as due to all of the spells and disguises that went into making these plays, to make it seem like Spyro, Spike, and Ember were on the stage and not in the seats, while at the same time modeling the scenery to match each of the realms they had been, it was almost as if they had been watching their first adventure when it happened and hadn't been watching a play put on by a race who turned over a new leaf and wanted to do right by the dragons. While they did that Elora informed the pair that the Gnorcs had done a good job replicating everything that was in the tomes that were given to them, as to make sure the plays were accurate they were given their own copies of Spike's adventures, and they did a good job replicating her old form, not to mention Hunter, Bianca, Ripto and his dinosaurs, and pretty much everyone else that the siblings had met as they explored the various lands of the world, which only made Flame and Aurora wonder how well both of them would be replicated once all of the Gnorcs got to this adventure, not to mention the Dark Master, which might terrify some watchers if they were being honest. Despite their thoughts about the dark dragon they had fought, and what may or may not occur when the Gnorcs got to the adventure that had just ended, their friends from Capora were totally interested in what they might see if they watched any of the other plays and the group promised them that they would come back at some point to show them some of the other adventures, which also made the Gnorc Actors happy since that meant they were doing a good job at exciting newcomers with the tales of what Spyro, Spike, and Ember accomplished in the past, which also now included Elora, Hunter, Bianca, Cynder, and the rest of their friends. It was also a nice change of pace, in addition to going to the beach and enjoying themselves for a time, and the group suspected that they would be back several times in the very near future, so Flame and Aurora could see the rest of the tales that Spike had chronicled so far and determine just how stilled the Gnorc Actors actually were, something that everyone was fine with since they hadn't seen all of their tales brought to life and figured that it would be a good way to spend some time as they waited to see what in the world they might be doing next, because since they two adventures so close to each other it made them wonder about things, even if many of them were hoping a third wasn't around the corner.
As for Spyro, Spike, and Ember, the most experienced members of their group, they knew that time would tell and that all they could do was wait and see what might happen next, to which each of them returned to enjoying their day in Dragon Shores' amusement park as they showed Flame and Aurora around what the Gnorcs had created back between their first and second adventures, because while the three of them were waiting for something new to be built, and they knew that Nestor and the others had signed off on new attractions being added while the existing ones were modified to be safer for guests, they could at least show their new friends the existing ones as they waited to see what the future held for them this time around.
What the group discovered was that three months went by, since the end of their last adventure to be exact, before they were called back to the Machinists homeworld, which meant that something must have happened or the Leaders wanted to speak with them about something in that particular land, or maybe it was something different from what they could think about and it just so happened to be on a day that Elora, Hunter, Bianca, Amelia, Flame, and Aurora were visiting the siblings and Cynder, leaving the rest of the group being busy in the rest of the lands of their world, to which the flyers took to the air as Bianca teleported those who couldn't fly on their own. It didn't take them all that long to reach the island that was their destination, mostly since there was nothing in the air to stop them and there were no obstacles to worry about, like what they would find inside some of the Flight Realms that they had tackled in the past, but one thing they could see from the part of the air that they were flying in was that the AS Harmony was resting in the dock that was just outside the starting area for the island that the sixth dragon clan called home, where it happened to be resting in the water and was in its normal ship form, instead of the airship form they were used to seeing. There wasn't much else for them to see from where they were flying, meaning that if there was something different about this land it would be through one of the few portals that rested near the dock or it was under the water, though instead of overthinking things the group descended to the metallic dock and landed on it, where Bianca followed after them and dropped the others not a few seconds later as she landed at the back of the group, something that was followed by them walking over to where the airship rested, which still focused Flame and Aurora when the others told them what it was. Of course the pair would be surprised by that piece of information, as they hadn't witnessed this ship transforming into its true form since they joined the group, though while they did that it was easy to see that Nestor and the other Leaders were standing on the deck of the airship, along with Fury for that matter, though Malefor wasn't present and that meant he was back in Warfang, working to secure his city or taking some time to create a new training program for the group, something they would learn the next time they saw him, hence why they focused on those that were on the deck of the airship.
"Ah, good, you guys have arrived," Nestor commented, to which he and the others smiled for a moment as they waited for the group to join them, which didn't take them long as everyone jumped onto the deck of the airship and landed nearby, to which they walked over to where he and the other Leaders were standing, something that was followed by Fury taking a moment to nod in the direction of the control center for a few seconds, where it wasn't long before they felt the ship move for a moment and started to leave where the Machinists homeworld was located, even though Spike was sure that they might be heading towards Dragon Shores, even though it was too early to tell right now, "I'm sure that you guys are eager to hear what we'll be doing today, given everything that we've done in the past, and, even with giving nothing away, I'm sure that one of you already has an idea as to what we might be doing, so I'll get straight to the point: we went over what Bianca sent us, on what she found beneath the water of Dragon Shores, and we've decided to investigate the area and see what else we might discover."
"Okay, but how are we going to get there in a timely manner?" Aurora asked, because based on what she and Flame were seeing at the moment this was a rather impressive ship, one that was beyond anything that she had seen in Capora, but even then she knew that it would take them an hour or two to reach the area that Dragon Shores was located in, possibly three if they were unlucky, since it seemed that the Leaders wanted to use this vessel, so she figured that she could ask the question before they got too far from the Machinists homeworld, "Don't get me wrong, this is an impressive ship, but it doesn't seem like its going to get us to our destination with time to spare, as it seems like we'll be spending the majority of the morning heading to the island in question."
That was when the rest of the group grinned for a moment as the ship came to a sudden stop for a few seconds, but just as Flame and Aurora started to open their mouths the ship made a noise and the four hidden propellers emerged from under the water, something that caused the pair to stop for the moment as their jaws dropped not a few seconds later, as this was a surprise to them, before they braced themselves for a few seconds as the ship forced itself into the air and only leveled off a few moments later as it headed towards Dragon Shores.
"That, Aurora, is how we're going to get to our destination in record time, with an airship!" Eldrid replied, where he and the others were pleased to see just how shocked the pair was, as this was their first time seeing the AS Harmony in action and its hidden capabilities, though even as he said that Fury walked into the command center and took control of the airship once more, as he had been training one of the Balloonists to take his place at some point in the future and he knew that it would be a few more years before such a thing happened.
Since they had some time before they arrived at their destination Spike explained that this was an airship, a vessel that had been designed to allow them to get to the area that Doxantha rested in some time ago, before they met the pair and explored the lands of Capora, and that it had the power to switch between the ship they were seeing and an airship that allowed them to get to certain locations faster, plus the fact that this was a research vessel, something that caused Flame and Aurora to pause for a time as they watched what happened before their eyes, even though it wasn't long before the rest of the group noticed that one of them had something else that needed to be asked.
"You guys have an airship... okay, that solves that problem, but it leaves another one you haven't thought about, based on what we've heard so far," Flame said, almost as if he and Aurora were trying to find some faults with what the group might be doing, more in the sense that they hadn't prepared for what was going on right now, but even as he thought about that he realized that Spike was nearby and that, even if the Machinists didn't have something planned for the next step, it was likely that he had something in mind to get them below the water, "How are we going to get below the water and see what else might be near the pirate ship?"
"Don't worry, we have something in mind for that as well," a voice said, to which the group glanced over to where the voice was coming from and found that the Professor was standing nearby, though he had a smile on his face and that meant he must have done something impressive, especially since he had been one of the ones to build the AS Harmony in the first place, with the help of the Machinists and the Breezebuilders, which had to mean there was another vessel either on this ship or it was waiting for them in Dragon Shores.
Flame and Aurora said nothing to that as they traveled through the air, as they weren't sure what to say to what they were seeing at the moment, though it was easy to see that both of them were interested in everything that was going to happen when they reached their destination, which Spyro and the others shared an opinion on since they had no idea what they might find when they went under the water and explored Bianca's pirate ship, and thanks to the speed of the airship, in its flying state, it only took them ten or fifteen minutes to reach Dragon Shores, something that meant that Fury wanted them to get here as quickly as possible so they could investigate what had caught their eyes, and it was followed by them hitting the water not even a few seconds later as the propellers powered down and hid themselves. Once that happened, and the group was sure that the airship had come to a stop near the beach of the island that they had been heading towards, that was when the Professor beckoned for them to follow him as he headed into the inside of the ship and began to make his way down to the lower levels, even though that was when Spyro and the others noticed something that they hadn't seen the last time they had been inside the airship, which just so happened to be when they went to Doxantha, before reaching a door that seemed to lead into what many would assume was the heart of the ship, though it didn't have a label that said it was an engine room. It was in that moment that the Professor raised a hand and pulled out a key that unlocked the door that they had discovered, where they stared at the massive interior of the AS Harmony, as by Spike's estimates the airship was roughly about one hundred meters in length, or about three hundred and twenty-eight feet, which meant that the room they were staring at was in the range of sixty-five to seventy-five meters, though that was followed by them focusing on the main attraction of the large chamber in question. That was when Spike found an oval shaped vehicle resting in the direct center of the chamber, one that was about sixty meters in length and that meant the chamber itself had to be more in the seventy-five meters range, though it was a rather deep vehicle of some kind that looked like some of the various submarines the group had seen during their adventures, only this one was longer than the personal subs and they had the feeling that this was meant to be an underwater research vehicle of some kind, a companion to the airship that this sub was currently connected to based on the metallic devices that were holding it in place.
"Behold, our latest invention, the Cyclops Submarine!" the Professor exclaimed, where it was clear that he was excited by what they were seeing and that he was eager to show everyone the underwater ship that had been created, either after Bianca discovered the wrecked pirate ship, created after the last adventure had ended, or it had always been inside this chamber and he never bothered to reveal it to them, possibly due to it being incomplete or it wasn't ready, but now it was time for him to reveal it to them and let them pilot it at long last, "With this vessel, being piloted by Fury and two his most trusted crew members, you will be able to descend into the depths and see what else might rest in the wreckage that you discovered shortly after what happened in Capora... who knows, maybe you'll find more than the pirate ship during this venture, which would really be something."
The group discovered that there was a ramp that walked over to where the entrance of the submarine was located, where each of them dropped down into the inside of the Cyclops and made room for the others to drop down after them so they could see what was inside the vessel, though it wasn't long before they discovered that this particular level had a mess hall that was styled in the same manner as the Harmony's mess hall, there was an area at the back for them to rest in, and the front of the vehicle contained what appeared to be the area that the Captain and his crew would work in, complete with a half circular glass dome to allow them to see what was around them. It was in that moment that the group met the other two Breezebuilders that were going to be part of this expedition, both of whom had lighter colored feathers than what Fury had, likely pale colored based on what the group was seeing right now, and their attire was pretty much the same as what their commander was wearing, only scaled down to show that they were either a lower level than Fury was or, as the case might be, they were of equal ranking but didn't like to show off their status, though when the pair glanced in their direction the group discovered that one was male and one was female, something that was confirmed by Fury when he told them that the male was called Coulson and the female was Maria. After that Fury revealed that there were two more levels to the Cyclops Submarine, one that was entirely dedicated to the engine and making sure everything ran smoothly, plus the fact that it had security doors which required an access card to get through, one of which Fury was carrying and the other was a spare that he wouldn't tell them where it was, while the third and final level of the vehicle had an area that was designed to be a safe observation area, complete with a few glass panels that allowed them to stare out at whatever might be around the submarine, a number of chairs and tables for the group to rest at while not scratching up any of the glass that was around them, and a secondary entrance that was more for people to disembark from the submarine, as it had been designed for Bianca in mind, given her new Mermaid spell. Once the group had an understanding of what was inside the submarine, even though Spike would be spending his time studying the entire vehicle at some point, Fury took a moment to nod to his fellow Breezebuilders as he took control of the Cyclops, to which the group braced themselves as the submarine shuddered for a moment, which was just the clamps released and the vessel hit the water, though that was when they discovered that the floor of the chamber had split open and allowed them to do that, meaning the chamber had been made to carry and deploy the Cyclops.
Not a few moments later the Cyclops descended below the water and the group watched as they left the surface behind, though as they did that Bianca took off her robe and left most of her gear in the observation area, almost like when they relaxed on the beach of Dragon Shores, but instead of saying anything she slipped into the chamber that would allow her to disembark and head outside, where Spike felt a brief surge of magic and it wasn't long before Bianca appeared right outside the observation deck, in her Mermaid form, to which she waved towards the group before swimming up to where the first deck was located and beckoned for them to follow. It was in that instant that Spike understood what was going on right now, as while Fury and his crew had a good idea as to where the pirate ship might be located, due to the report that Bianca had written on the matter, it would take them a while to follow what she had written and having her use her new Mermaid form like this allowed them to follow after her, while at the same time being able to save time, so he quickly told the rest of the group what he knew before glancing out of the observation area to write down everything that was resting around the Cyclops. Bianca, of course, looked like she was enjoying herself, so that allowed the group to focus on where they were heading right now, as it didn't take them all that long to spot a rather large pirate ship, which was roughly the same size as the wrecked ships they had seen in Lost Fleet, during their third adventure, though it was in bad condition, as if it had been fighting another vessel before sinking, or maybe it had hit some rocks and sunk, even if those rocks were no longer in this area, and it sure looked like it had been snapped in half due to the damage it had taken, though it was deep enough to where light still shined down on where it was resting. As such it was easy for them to see what rested around the broken ship and found that the immediate area, interestingly enough, happened to be rather smooth and had next to no sharp rocks anywhere, even though there was seaweed, coral, and some barnacles here and there, but from what the group could see it appeared that everything of value hadn't been touched since the ship went down, save for what Bianca did the last time she was here, despite the fact that she only moved a little of what they were seeing so she could show all of them what was resting below the waves.
It didn't take Spyro long to call for Fury to stop so they could disembark and see what was resting around the wreck, which was followed by the Cyclops stalling not a few seconds later and was the calling card for Spike to make sure each of them, or at least those that wanted to head out and investigate the wreck up close and personal, had the enchantments that he had used in the past, to make sure they were safe wile they were underwater, that they could breath without having to return to the submarine for air every now and then, and anything else that might help all of them out, such as enhanced sight for example, before nodding his head. Once that was done the group carefully put the items that they didn't want to take outside in some of the nearby seats, where they would be safe and sound until everyone returned to the submarine, and then headed for the part of the ship that would allow them to disembark, where they went two at a time with Spike being the last one to leave, giving him a chance to see that this chamber had a mechanism to purge the water that entered it when someone either boarded the ship or disembarked, that way the water didn't flood the insides, even though all of his stuff was enchanted to resist being ruined by water, but it was an interesting mechanic to see. The moment everyone else disembarked from the Cyclops, and were swimming around the area that was around the sunken pirate ship, Spike did the same thing and joined them without wasting any more time, where he headed down to where the break in the two halves rested, as that seemed to be where Bianca was focusing her efforts on, while Elora investigated the front half with Spyro and Cynder as the rest of the group focused on the surrounding area to see what else they could find, as there was a storage area aboard their submarine and they were sure that they would find some interesting things to add to the small pile of items Bianca had found so far. While they did that it was also easy for Spike to notice that Fury and the others could see what they were doing from the pilot area of the Cyclops, which made sense in case they found something that they wanted to investigate that was in another section of the area that they were currently in, but as he took a moment to think about that he focused his attention on what was in front of him and found that there was a set of stairs leading down to the second deck of the pirate ship, where the cannons and cannonballs would normally rest, which were present and did look like they were either rusting or being covered in sand, which was when Elora swam over and placed a stone in front of him, which appeared to be a piece of marble that was the size of his head.
When they investigated the part of the ship she had found the stone in Spike was surprised to find that the entire treasure hull of the ship was packed full of marble, where it was easy for them to assume that this had been part of the reason the ship had gone down, due to excessive weight by the looks of things, and it didn't take Spike long to notice the runes that had been etched into each piece that was in front of them, as even the stone Elora had brought over had several magical runes on its surface as well, but what these would have been used for was the mystery they might never solve, given that there was nothing to tell when the ship had crashed into this area. That was when Bianca swam over to them and placed a nearly identical chest to the one she had found previously in front of those that were investigating the marble area, where they found that it contained a number of coins and gems, the latter actually being cut in a similar manner to the treasure all of the lands placed inside their individual treasuries, where Spike estimated that these gems counted as a hundred in terms of how everyone counted gems these days, possibly two if they were pushing it, before Bianca gestured with both of her hands for a moment and indicated that there were ten to twenty additional chests resting in the part of the ship that she had found this one and the last one in. The group didn't need Spike to give them any estimates as to what was going on at the moment, because while it was easy to tell that this chest and the last one were identical in contents, meaning Bianca had found anywhere from one hundred to four hundred gems between the two, there was no telling if the rest of the chests were the same way, as it was possible that some of them might contain more gems than what they had seen so far, which would drastically increase what they were finding, or there might be a larger chest somewhere that no one had seen yet that could contain a vast amount of treasure inside it, something that caused them to continue their search of the wrecked pirate ship. What happened next was that Spyro, Spike, and Cynder followed after Bianca as she headed back to where the chest treasure room was located in, while the rest of the group carefully moved the marble out to see if there was anything else in the lowest deck of the ruined ship, even if that meant they would have to do the same to the half that Spyro's group was heading into, though what Spyro and the others found that Bianca was correct, there were twenty more chests inside the room she had discovered, all roughly about the same size as the ones she had shown them, with two or even three of them being larger than the rest, to which they swam forward and investigated the chests.
As they moved the chests around, however, Spike found something interesting as he moved one out of the way, as it was a smaller chest that was designed to hold a single item inside it, where he carefully moved the other chests out of the way so he could pull it over to him and see what might be contained within the more ornate wooden chest with metal inlay, which just so happened to have a gleaming crystalline gemstone that almost looked like the head of a trident, like the ones that all of the warrior Mermaids carried. It took him only a few seconds to understand what he was staring at as he carefully pulled it from the chest, as there was a magical aura to it that seemed to be pointing in another direction, meaning it was a Wayfinder Stone, something he knew that was magically tied to a certain location and could be used to direct them to the area in question so they could see whatever it might lead to them, as it had to be linked to something based on the magic he was feeling, where he took a few seconds to carry it outside and found that it was pointing in the direction of one of the other islands of the Dragon Realms, maybe the Artisans homeworld. He glanced at the others for a moment and each of them nodded their heads as they finished what they were doing, which happened to be moving several of the chests back to the Cyclops so they could study the contents at a later time, but once that was done they returned to where Spike was swimming and Spyro beckoned for Fury to follow after them as they carefully left the area that the wreck was in, as they would come back to it at a later time, and headed into the depths as Spike followed the Wayfinder Stone, tracing the magic to the area that it was leading him towards, though thanks to the Mermaid spell Bianca was able to check the surrounding area and make sure nothing came at them while they were doing this. While they did that Fury and his crew followed after them at a significantly slower pace than what they used to get down to the wreck, mostly due to the fact that they had no idea what the group was looking for, which everyone else shared since this was totally new to them, so this would let them stop a few seconds after Spyro and the others did, even though they descended a little as Spike followed the magic that he felt inside the stone, as it seemed that whatever it was leading them to was deeper under the water than where the ship had been resting, or at least it sure seemed that way.
It took them a few minutes of descending, which was a real test of the runes Spike had put on them and he was happy to see that everyone was just fine as they delved deeper beneath the water, before they stopped at the edge of what looked like a massive crater, a caldera to be exact, that had a large city built in the center of the area, to which Spyro gestured for Fury to stop the Cyclops and waited for him to do so before he and the others swam down into the area they were staring at, heading straight for the city that seemed in the oddest of places. The first thing they noticed was that it was arranged to be someplace that a species would have called home at some point in time, as there were houses made out of white stone that was rather smooth, marble pillars that were slightly taller than Bentley and seemed to be markers that lined the roads for the city, even if the cities were made out of smooth grey stones that were locked into place, an area they assumed was a marketplace, and a few temples, three to be exact, where one was near the edge of the city they were entering from, the second was close to the middle of the city, and a third one that was slightly larger than the others and rested on the other side of the caldera. That was when each of them noticed the large structure that was close to the center of the city that all of them assumed was a castle of some kind, due to the fact that it seemed far more regal than anything else in the city, but even as that happened the group descended down to the street that was below them and they followed it as they stared at the city, where they found something else that was interesting, there was a magical barrier around the city that allowed Spike determined allowed individuals to breath normally and walk like normal, even though that allowed him to see that there was another aspect of this barrier, Bianca was moving around in her Mermaid form like she was still in the water, which confused the group as they noticed it. Everything became clear when Spike noticed something they had missed, as there were a number of Mermaid statues, both of the male warriors they had seen and the females that they had met in Capora, meaning that this had to be an ancient city of the Mermaids and that they had erected a magical barrier to make sure their guests were at ease, meaning this had either been above water at one point or it had always been underwater and other races had called the islands that made the Dragon Realms home.
"Spike, this can't be what I think it is... can it?" Bianca asked, showing that she understood what they were seeing right now and that she couldn't believe what was around them, while at the same time, despite everything that rested inside the city, she and Spike were staring at the final temple, as they could feel something strong in this area and they wanted to know what it was, something that only confused the rest of the group and caused them to follow along as each of them stared at the rest of the city that they were surprised to have found under the water.
"Atlantis... ruled by the first of the Mermaid rulers, King Atlan, and those that followed before they supposedly split into seven clans and scattered across the seas," Spike replied, where it was clear he was also excited by what they were seeing right now, since this was one of the lost wonders of their world and he found it hard to believe that it rested so close to the lands that he and his siblings called home, even if Malefor might have known given what was said to be hidden inside this city, before he started to move as he and Bianca headed for the final temple, causing the rest of the group to follow them since they were also interested in what they might find next.
What they found inside the temple was that there was next to nothing for them to see, rather there was a statue resting in the direct center of the structure, one that was a regal and noble figure that had to be a Mermaid, or Merman since it was definitely male, whose chest armor and crown revealed that this had to be King Atlan, who looked like he had been one of the greatest rulers the city had seen, and he held a stone trident with both of his hands and made sure it was resting right in front of his face, or at least they assumed the weapon since the head was missing, to which Spike pulled the head out with his magic and slipped it into place, something that caused part of the chamber to shift as the statue was pushed back and another statue of King Atlan, only it had a full metallic trident that radiated power.
"And there it is, the legendary Trident of Atlantis, forged from Tungsten and infused with a fragment of the Ocean Master, the Elemental Lord of Water," Spike finished, coming to an end of the statement that he had started when they found out what the city was, though this was exciting and he knew that the others had to be sharing his excitement as well, to which he held a claw up for a moment and stopped everyone else from saying anything in response to what he was saying, as he did know that there was something odd about what he said, "Yes, I know what all of you are thinking, 'but there are only nine Elemental Lords, Spike', and while that might be the truth it is also incorrect, as the tenth Elemental Lord is even more elusive than the other nine, save for the Elemental Lord of the Aether, who only Malefor has seen, as the Ocean Master is the last of the Elemental Lords... and, based on the fact that Malefor helped forge the nine runeblades we've seen, I would hazard a guess that he helped King Atlan forge this weapon, and its said that only a Mermaid could wield this, but after all we've seen with the other runeblades I would have to wager that such a thing was a lie to keep it safe."
"Only one way to find out," Bianca stated, where she reached out with her right hand and grasped the metal handle of the trident for a moment, something that was followed by the hands of the statue releasing the weapon from its resting place, causing her to pull back for a moment with the trident in her hand, where she spun it around for a moment and the water seemed to follow its movements as she did that, even though green scales formed over her wrists and seemed to take the shape of a bracer that stopped halfway between her wrist and her elbow, in a pointed manner, "Ugh, Spike, should I be at all worried about this?"
"Probably not, as this is likely how someone knows they can use the runeblade," Spike replied, though this was exciting, as they had found a lost city and a lost weapon after partly exploring a wrecked pirate ship, meaning something must have been protecting Atlantis from evil and assumed that they were friendly, or maybe whoever owned the ship just hit a bunch of rocks like he originally thought, before he smiled for a moment as he imagined what else they might find down here, or what Bianca could do with a magical trident like this, which they would figure out in the future.
For now, however, Spyro called for them to return to the Cyclops and head back to the surface so they could tell those that hadn't come down here what they had discovered, especially so close to the Dragon Realms when one thought about it for a few moments, as they were sure that most of the dragons and their friends would be shocked by this information and their amazing discovery, which was having no effect on the city or the surrounding area, meaning it was okay for them to remove the trident from its resting place like this, and it only made them excited for whatever the future held in store for them, especially after this discovery.