Spyro: The Dragon Trio of Avalar

by Blackdrag-rose

Interlude: Rapid Preparations

It didn't take Spyro, Cynder, Spike, Ember, their friends, and the rest of their group to pass through the portal Spike had created, something that allowed the airship to depart from the island that they used when they were learning from Malefor and reappeared in the air near Midnight Mountain, the homeworld where the portal to Morrigan's treasury was located, as that held the way to where the Arcanaeum was resting, even though they could change its position and move it to another land if they really wanted to, something that Spyro was considering asking Spike to do in the future, given all the times that he and the others were coming here to check things out. Flame and Aurora stared out at Midnight Mountain as the airship came to a stop near the structure that Spyro and the others had landed in when they used the rocket during their third adventure, even if that was mostly to regain every egg that Morrigan had stolen from the Dragon Realms, showing the group that the newcomers were surprised by the beauty of the land that was in front of them, even though that would pale in comparison to what would happen when they saw the legendary Arcanaeum. Once the airship came to a stop the group took to the air and flew over to where the portal to the treasury was located, with Hunter and Amelia being teleported to the small island that the portal in question rested on due to Bianca using her magic to move them from one place to another, which caused both Flame and Aurora to take to the skies for a moment and follow the group, though it was still clear that they were shocked by the knowledge that Malefor was still alive and that they had met him, something neither of them had even considered to be a possibility based on what they were seeing.

A few moments later they reached the island that held the portal to the treasury and passed through it, where the siblings and their friends stepped out into the snowy area and smiled for a moment, as they remembered this place and what they had done to acquire all the stolen gems that Morrigan had stored away in this place, while Flame and Aurora seemed a tad bit surprised by what they were seeing, though that turned into total shock when they followed the group through the realm they were now in and stared at the imposing structure that was the Arcanaeum.

"No way... the Arcanaeum does exist!" Aurora exclaimed, because she knew everything that Spike and the other scholars had known before they reclaimed the lands of Avilion from Morrigan's grip, and that included the belief that this structure was just a myth and that it had been lost to time, so she was a little stunned to discover that it actually existed, despite the fact that Flame was surprised by what they were seeing, though not on the level that Aurora was on, though this did show that they must have ignored part of what the group had said earlier, about the Arcanaeum.

"Technically speaking, this is the Archives, one of the chambers that rests inside the Arcanaeum," Spike replied, though that was when the group walked up the ramp that was in front of them and entered the part of the vault that contained all of the tomes and scrolls that Malefor had collected and sealed away before Morrigan took over the lands of Avilion, which was when Aurora's jaw dropped for a moment as she stared at all of the information that was in front of her, while Flame seemed only slightly interested in what he was seeing, before Spike glanced back at them, "however, just beyond it rests the center of the Arcanaeum, where the globe rests, which will tell us what's going on and inform us as to what we'll need to do next, something that all depends on what we discover."

Aurora opened her mouth to say something, after having returned it to normal after seeing the Archives, but that was the moment that they walked into the center of the Arcanaeum and her jaw dropped again, and this time Flame joined her as they stared out at everything that rested all around them, all the artifacts and materials that Malefor had stored inside the structure, before they noticed all of the open chambers that lead to where the runeblades rested, an area that Malefor had used for his training, the chamber of the Deepcore Army, and everything else that could be explored, before both she and Flame stared at the globe that was in the center of the vault... where there was a vortex of darkness swirling around part of the world, which caused Malefor to frown for a moment as they stared at it.

"Is that dark spot normal?" Flame asked, mostly because of the fact that this was the first time they had seen something like this and they had no idea what it had looked like before this point in time, so he figured that asking someone who was more familiar with the globe was the best thing he could do, while at the same time Aurora was staring at the globe and was focusing on the area that the dark vortex was swirling around, because she was trying to figure out what they were even seeing at the moment, even though she found the entire thing to be interesting, since the globe allowed someone to see what sort of dangers their world faced.

"No, its not," Malefor replied, where he stared at the globe for a few seconds and then raised his hand, where he tapped on the icon of the dark vortex and a small square magical screen appeared in front of him, where Spike realized that the globe had the power to give someone an idea as to what the warnings might be, which was something he and the others hadn't known when they noticed the Aether icon that lead them to Doxantha, Warfang, and the battle for the fate of the entire world, though that was when he and the others found an image of a dark crystal that radiated darkness resting on the screen, where he glanced at Spyro and Cynder, who sighed for a few seconds, "though it is as I feared, the Dark Master is alive, in some sense anyway, and he's likely allied with Red, whose both his apprentice and underling, especially since it appears that he might be using both his Dark Magic and dark crystals to try and take over a set of islands."

"I don't believe it... Red's actually trying to take over Capora!" Aurora remarked, because while Malefor was talking he had taken a moment to manipulate part of the globe and revealed what the islands looked like before the vortex had suddenly appeared over them, where she was able to recognize the shape of the lands that she and Flame called home, though at the same time this information told the group exactly what was going to happen in the near future, "What can we do to restore order to our home?"

"We'll need to travel to Capora, smash the Dark Crystals, and take down Red," Cynder stated, where Spyro and the others nodded their heads for a moment, as they understood what she was talking about and it sounded like they were about to start a brand new adventure, though at the same time she, Spyro, and her father knew the true goal of his adventure, as they needed to find and defeat the Dark Master, the true evil that was lurking in the shadows, "not to mention anything else that we might need to do while we're there, like collect gems or recover specific items that will help us on our quest to save the lands you call home."

"Okay, that... sounds like a plan." Flame commented, though at the same time it was easy to tell that he was lost and had no idea what was going on right now, mostly due to the fact that he and Aurora weren't heroes like Spyro and the others were and the fact that he could tell that they had a system in place when they explored the lands that they had been to in the past, before he considered something that had been said, "What's this about a Dark Master? According to what Aurora and I know, and this is from the Dragon Elders, that's not one of the titles Red has... in fact, I'm not sure he even has any titles that he prefers to go by."

"The Dark Master is, well, one of the evilest beings in our world, one that I had hoped we'd never hear from," Malefor said, where most of what he just said was basically a lie, as he was trying to imply that he and the Dark Master had fought each other and that he had come out on top, like he had beaten the ancient evil and had banished him for his crimes, though Cynder and the others knew that he was one of the few individuals that knew about the world that came before this one and that some of them had memories from their past lives, where only three of them knew about the evil he was talking about and the threat he posed to everyone in Capora, much less the entire world if he succeeded in whatever plans he had been working on, "he's probably working with Red, as partners to be exact, but Dark Magic was always his calling card, or his signature if you prefer, and this icon is telling me that he's active in some manner, so we need to act swiftly and take out these crystals, before looking for either him or his partner."

Spyro and Cynder, having a greater understanding of who the Dark Master was and what he could do, knew that Malefor was downplaying everything that their foe was capable of, even though labeling him as one of the evilest beings in their world wasn't entirely wrong, despite the fact that he was the evilest of them all, but they remained silent as they took a moment to consider what they were going to do next and everything that was required before they headed out to tackle the dangers that were plaguing the homeworlds of Capora.

"Okay, but there's still a problem none of you have considered yet: we can't get back to Capora." Aurora said, as while the others talked she noticed something that Malefor and the heroes had missed during their discussions, even though she did have to admit that the idea of Red being allied with one of the most dangerous individuals in the world, someone that Malefor seemed to have been hunting for a long time and wasn't too pleased to discover was active once more, wasn't a good one, before he returned to the point she was trying to make, "Remember, we used a temporary portal to get from our home lands and were dropped off in Dragon Shores, all without a way to get back home, so there's no way that we'll be able to get there in a few minutes, which means we'll have to use your airship to travel to the area that Capora is in and go from there."

"Well, that is where you would be wrong... if we're right in our thoughts, anyway." Hunter said, deciding that now was the time for him to speak and share what was on his mind, even though he had been thinking about what Malefor and all of his friends had said since they returned to the Arcanaeum, about the Dark Master and the potential danger that he posed to the rest of the world, which just reminded him of Gaul and what he had done to bring about the end of the world during the adventure that was before Ripto's latest assault, "The Professor sent you guys to Dragon Shores on purpose, as he's familiar with the fact that whenever Spyro and the others finish an adventure they head to the island in quest and relax for a time, before they get to training and preparing for what the future has to throw at them, so once he discovered that Red had plans for the homeworlds of Capora, and likely uncovered the existence of these Dark Crystals or even the area the Dark Master is holed up in, he opened the way for you to explore a brand new island, allowing us to learn that danger is coming and counter it before it has a chance to truly take over your home."

The group remained silent for a moment as they considered what Hunter had said, even though they were impressed by what he had told them and knew that he must have been soaking up everything that Spike had said, or at least how the young Archmage spoke about certain things, where Bianca nodded her head to show that she agreed with him and that she was happy to see that he was no longer the scared Cheetah that Spyro and the others had met, as he had grown into a fine warrior and she was glad to be his girlfriend.

"Basically, Hunter is saying that because the Professor opened the way for you to head to Dragon Shores, we can reverse engineer the magic involved and head to Capora, no doubt ending up in his lab," Spike explained, as that was what Hunter meant by what he had told Flame and Aurora, who still seemed a little lost at this point in time and were still coming to terms with the fact that the Professor had used their desire for exploration to call heroes to their home, all due to Red and his allies, though once he said that he glanced at the others for a moment, as each of them needed to make sure they took the time to gather everything they needed before he opened the way to the part of Capora the Professor was in, waiting for them to come to him, "from there we can learn what is going on in your homeworlds, how many underlings Red and the Dark Master have under their control, which will tell us the main enemies we'll be dealing with, and what sort of items we'll need to keep an out out for, like the Orbs we collected in Avalar, so we could restore the power to certain portals and remove the seals that were placed in our way."

"I... I see." Flame said, though even as he said that he realized something, the group they had landed in front of was likely the best chance Capora had at returning to what it had been like before Red did whatever he was doing, as there was no way for them to know what had chanced since they had been gone, even though it was possible that Red had attacked the other homeworlds and not the one that the Professor had set up shop in, so they would have no way of knowing what had happened until they returned to their home, "So, what do we do next?"

"We return to the Artisans homeworld and everyone will get ready for a new adventure, even though we just finished one a week ago," Spyro remarked, where the rest of the group nodded their heads once more, to show that they agreed with what he was saying, but even as he said that he realized that they might be able to call upon a few more allies, from the other lands that they had saved over the years, which made him thankful for the portals Spike, Nora, and Bianca had set up to connect the Dragon Realms to Avalar, Avilion, and Doxantha, "I'll also seek out some of our previous allies and see if any of them can come with us, as I'm sure Sol might be wanting to tackle another adventure."

"Before we do that, however, there's something I need to do," Cynder stated, where she headed over to the chamber that contained the other runeblades and disappeared for a few moments, something that caused Malefor to chuckle as they saw it happen, though it wasn't long before she emerged from the chamber and the group could see that she was carrying one of the other powerful blades on her back, where Spike noticed the darkness that wrapped around the blade as she pulled it out a little, revealing that it was the blade known as Penumbra, the runeblade which was made from a fragment of the Shadow Master, which meant she was taking it so that way if they came across a foe that couldn't be taken down by normal means she would have something to use this time around, "Okay, now I'm ready to go."

Spyro and the others nodded their heads for a moment before they turned around and headed back through the opening that allowed them to enter the Arcanaeum in the first place, which was followed by them heading back to the area that the airship rested in, even if that meant going through the treasury once more, though once everyone reached the ship they landed on the deck and made sure that everyone was aboard before Spike opened a portal back to the Dragon Realms, to which Fury directed the ship through the portal and they reappeared in the air near the Artisans homeworld, where they could rest and gather everything that they could possibly need for the latest adventure they had discovered. Flame and Aurora, on the other claw, were still surprised by what they had discovered and said nothing for a time as they watched the group that knew the Professor and, in an interesting turn of events, were being called to Capora to deal with Red and whatever was going on, which did make them wonder if the Professor trusted them or if he didn't want to see them get hurt by whatever was happening to their home, if they believed what Spike and Hunter had said another the individual that had opened the portal that dropped them off in Dragon Shores. While they thought about that the airship entered the air that was near the Artisans homeworld and descended towards the water that rested near the dock, which was followed by Spike quickly weaving his magic through the air and removed the portal he had created, though once the airship came to a stop in the water the group thanked Fury for his assistance and headed back into the main part of the homeworld, as they didn't have a whole lot of time before Spike attempted to open a brand new portal to the area that the Professor had opened the portal Flame and Aurora had used to get to the island they had been resting on. As they walked back into the heart of the homeworld, however, the group could see that Nestor was surprised that they had returned after such a short period of time, more due to the fact that Malefor was with them this time around, to which he walked away from where he had been standing and walked over to where the group was located, showing that he was interested in what was going on, especially since he noticed Cynder was carrying a weapon she didn't have earlier.

"Spyro, Spike, Ember, Cynder, is something wrong?" Nestor asked, because he knew three of them well enough, and was starting to get to know Malefor's daughter to the same degree, to know that something was up and that a brand new adventure might be coming their way, especially due to the arrival of Flame and Aurora, not to mention the fact that they were both thinking about something with a dark look on their faces, meaning it had to be linked to the lands they called home, and this was all from seeing what was different about the group between the last time he saw them and what he was seeing right now.

"You could say that, given that we just discovered that our home is under attack by Red and the Dark Master," Flame said, beating the named dragons to the punch, while at the same time speaking up for the first time since they left realm that the Arcanaeum was located in, mostly because he had been lost in thought about everything they had learned and he was sure that Aurora was doing the same thing, before he sighed as he glanced at the Leader that was nearby, who was interested in what they had to say, "Apparently the Professor might have sent us to Dragon Shore to warn Spyro and the rest of his group about a potential threat to the islands of Capora, who happens to be a banished Dragon Elder called Red, but it seems that he's teamed up with someone called the Dark Master, who taught him how to wield Dark Magic, and is likely assisting him through the use of Dark Crystals, according to Malefor anyway."

"I see. So, that means a brand new adventure is about to begin?" Nestor inquired, though this time his question was directed directly to Spyro and the others, since they were the ones that usually went on adventures and knew more about the art of saving the world, or at least the various lands, than he and the other dragons did, which meant that, if what he had just learned was accurate, the group would be gathering everything they needed in the next few minutes and then would be heading to Capora so they could figure out what is going on and then tackle the enemies that had revealed their hand to the Professor.

"Yes, despite our desire to get some rest after the last one ended," Spyro said, though he wasn't annoyed by what Flame and Aurora had done, as the work of a hero was never over and he was sure that, even if Red and the Dark Master had waited before revealing their hand, the Professor would have called upon them to take care of the threat to the world, or at least a threat to the islands that he had discovered and hadn't told anyone about until he was ready to inform them about what he had found, before he focused on the task that had been placed in front of them, "We're going to take some time to gather whatever we might need for a new adventure, though I'm going to see if I can get in touch with Sgt. Byrd or any of our other friends, to see if they're available to help us out with this adventure, and once we're done we'll likely have to return to Dragon Shores to trace the magic to the area that the Professor opened his portal in."

"According to what I know, Sgt. Byrd might be the only one that's available right now," Nestor remarked, as he knew that Spyro and the others had invited their friends to share a celebration with them, as in join in and see what happened when the dragonfly ceremony happened, though many of them had declined due to their own responsibilities, which had been a surprise for the group and they accepted it rather well, before he got to what he knew about their friends, "Sheila's busy with some of the Mountain Goats that share her realm, something about a massive prank that got out of hand, Bentley is actually heading to Monkey Monastery, as I think he wanted to check in with Bartholomew and make sure his brother had everything set up, and Agent 9, from what I understand, is somewhere in Avilion, possibly helping some of the residents out with whatever problems they're facing, while Sgt. Byrd should be taking a break from the action, and Sol went home, to help out the rest of his kind, so I don't think you'll be seeing him anytime soon."

"Well, one is better than none, as some of the older dragons are fond of saying," Ember stated, though the statement was true, as having a single ally was better than having none of them, even though she realized that they didn't need too many allies at this point in time, not after everything she and the others had faced during their previous adventures, but she didn't say anything about that since she knew the rest of the group could be thinking the same thing, "either way, we need to take some time to gather everything we might need for this adventure, since there's no telling what will be waiting for us when we arrive in Capora and see what the Professor has to tell us."

Spyro, having the least amount of stuff among the group, did as he said and focused on tracking down Sgt. Byrd, as he did know that having someone like him on their team would be great, due to the fact that the Professor had likely upgraded his weaponry and jet pack so he could be better equipped for whatever missions he took on, not to mention everything he, his siblings, and the others had seen since they first met him, though while he did that the others went about gathering what they needed before they made the trip to Capora. Spike focused on making sure he had all of his writing materials in order, something that really confused both Flame and Aurora the moment they saw what he was doing, which lead to him taking a few moments to explain that, in addition to being the youngest Archmage in the world, he also chronicled what he, his siblings, and their friends did during their previous adventures, to the point where he had several books published and that lead him to depart for a few seconds, as he informed the pair that he had to deliver the journal containing their latest adventure to Argus and the other scholars, so they could get to work adding it to their archives in the form of a new book. Ember spent her time polishing her bracers and making sure that the Fangs of Felinia were ready for battle, even if they weren't as powerful as the runeblades were, something she had discovered during their venture through one of the previous realms of Castle Hills, when they assisted the Thieves and faced the magical enemies that had been harassing the residents of the land in question, but she was sure that this time around she had the feeling that she would be able to use the Fangs to their full effect once more. Cynder pretty much did the same thing that Ember did, as in make sure her attire was at the ready and ensuring the sharpness of the runeblade she had picked out, something that her father helped her with since he was more familiar with the weapons than the group was, though he quickly returned it to her with a smile on his face, as he found that the blade was in pristine condition, which just so happened to be exactly how he left it over a thousand years ago, and he was happy to see his daughter carrying a runeblade at last.

While Hunter made sure that his bow, arrows, and short swords were ready for another adventure, and checked out his armor as well, Elora carefully pulled out the rectangular container that the Professor had made for her the last time she had seen him, at the end of their last adventure when she told him about what happened to the Mark V armor, which had resulted in them skipping the Mark VI, the sixth in the series, and caused their friend to create something new for her, as in a suit of armor that didn't have anything over the parts of her arms and legs, so it was a suit of armor that would cover the more faun-like parts of her body, while making sure not to get in the way of her new wings and tail. The Mark VII, as it turned out, seemed to be made out of the same metal as the other suits of armor she had worn over the years and it fit over her body like a glove, which meant that the Professor did a fantastic job making sure to take her new wings and tail into account when he learned that she wouldn't be able to actually use the Mark VI, though she did test out the armor with a few kicks and punches, where a smile appeared on her face as she found that it worked as well as her previous suits did, despite the fact that her hands and feet weren't covered, for now at the very least. Amelia, on the other hand, did what her brother did and made sure that her weapons were at the ready, as in her bow, arrows, and her own curved blades, though for the most part there wasn't much for her to do since she didn't have anything special to worry about, but she was able to tell that everyone was nearly ready for the adventure, even though Flame and Aurora were still surprised by what they were seeing at the moment, like they weren't expecting everyone to suddenly check their weapons and make sure everything they had was at the ready, though once she was done checking her weapons out she returned them to the areas that she usually kept them in and walked over to where Elora was standing, as she was standing near Spike in a part of the homeworld that seemed to be where they would be gathering once they were ready.

Something interesting happened while they were waiting for everyone to get ready for the newest adventure, as Nestor walked over to where Spike was standing and whispered something to him, while beckoning to the back that contained the scepter that their first villain had used against all of the dragons that lived in the Dragon Realms, to which he nodded his head and the Leader walked away from the area that they were standing in, though he said nothing about what he had just learned, showing that he was waiting for Spyro to join them so he only had to say what he knew once, but not a few moments later they saw Spyro, with Sgt. Byrd walking beside him, heading towards the area they were waiting in, which meant he must have been successful in convincing him to join them.

"Sgt. Byrd, its good to see you again." Cynder remarked, which was true, it was always nice to see the penguin due to the fact that he was a skilled flyer with his jet pack and his accuracy with his missiles was spot on, meaning that he was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, and she knew that the rest of the group had to be thinking the same thing, that it was nice to see him again, even if they were wishing it wasn't during an adventure, "Has Spyro told you anything about what we'll be doing?"

"Yes, he told me that you're heading to a new set of islands that are under attack," Sgt. Byrd replied, his tone revealing that Spyro had taken a few minutes to tell him what they knew about the adventure that had been dropped on them, one none of them had been expecting once they finished taking care of Ripto's latest attack, before he and Spyro came to a stop as they reached the area that the others were standing in, "and that you don't know much about what's going on, other than the fact that we'll be dealing with a banished Dragon Elder who uses Dark Magic, some Dark Crystals, and someone whose called the Dark Master. I am willing to join you in your quest to save the lands of Capora."

"That's good to now, even though I have a bit of bad news," Spike said, because Nestor had told him something interesting and he knew that Spyro and Ember, at the very least, would be interested in hearing what he needed to tell them, since it was connected to the first adventure the three of them had gone on and the first villain they had taken out, though it was easy to see that the others, including Flame and Aurora, were waiting for him to tell them what he had learned, "Nestor just informed me that Gnasty Gnorc's statue is missing, as in its no longer in the area that it was stored in, which makes me wonder if the Dark Master and Red stole it with the intent of releasing him as a possible ally, so he can get over his desire for revenge against dragons while using him against the residents that call Capora home, but the remaining statues are still accounted for, so he's the only one we'll have to worry about this time around."

"That's not totally bad news, since they could have taken Ripto's statue and Morrigan's statue as well," Spyro replied, as it was bad that Gnasty Gnorc might be back for another round with him and his siblings, not to mention Cynder and the rest of the group, but the fact that the other statues were still contained was good news, especially since some of the villains they had taken care of had been rather dangerous during their adventures, despite the fact that he was actually thinking about Morrigan at the moment, before he glanced at the others, "Spike, can you open the way to Capora?"

"We just need to head back to Dragon Shores, since that's where the lingering bits of magic are located," Spike stated, as while it would have been better to open the temporary portal here, in the Artisans homeworld, he knew it was going to be harder on them if they didn't have the magical trace that the Professor's portal left behind, hence the reason they needed to head back to the beach Flame and Aurora had landed on, "once we're there I will focus on finding the magic that was used to bring Flame and Aurora to us, so I can try to reforge the Professor's portal."

Spyro nodded his head and informed Nestor that they would be off, along with the fact that they would be back as soon as the homeworlds of Capora were freed from Red, Gnasty Gnorc, the Dark Master, and whoever else might be attacking the lands at the moment, to which the Leader in question nodded his head and beckoned for them to get underway, where the group started to walk away from the area that they had been waiting in and headed for the portal that would take all of them back to Dragon Shores. Flame and Aurora followed after them without delay, which made sense due to the fact that they would be saving the lands that the pair of dragons called home, though it didn't take them all that long to reach the portal that they were heading towards and passed through it, allowing them to return to the Nexus of Dragon Shores, even though this time they were here for a very different reason, which was why Spyro stepped to the side and let Spike take the lead, as he would be able to trace the magic back to where the portal had opened and could likely open the way back to the Professor's new lab. It didn't take the group all that long to reach the part of the beach that they had been in earlier, before the arrival of their new friends, which was when Spyro and the others stopped as Spike walked away from them, as he was feeling the magic that was in the air, something that took him all the way to the area that the portal had appeared in, meaning the part of the beach that Flame and Aurora had hit when they emerged from it, before he stopped and a rush of magic passed through the area he was standing in. Spike found that it was incredibly easy for him to locate the magical trace that the Professor's portal had left behind, where he weaved his own magic through the air for a couple of moments and the group watched as a near identical replica of the portal their new friends had fallen through opened up in the space that was in front of Spike, who said nothing for a moment or two as he stabilized the portal with the lab that had to be on the other side, though once that was done he nodded his head and stepped to the side, allowing Spyro and the others to head through the portal first so he could ensure that it remained open and that it didn't close on them while they were heading to the Professor's new lab, while at the same time Malefor stayed back so he could search for the Dark Master, in case he tried to assault one of the other lands while they were stopping Red.

Sure enough when the group appeared on the other side of the portal they discovered that they were inside a decent sized building, one that was decked out in all sorts of science equipment and computers, along with a door that seemed to head to whatever homeworld they had appeared in, before Spike stepped through the portal and closed it once he was in the lab as well, as everyone was accounted for, before they found the Professor standing nearby, who smiled as he faced them, no doubt because he was expecting them and was glad to see that they had arrived.

"Ah, good, you guys are here. I'm afraid I don't have much time to talk, as Red and his minions have started their assault on the lands of Capora," the Professor said, where he focused on the computer for a moment and revealed an image of a dark gemstone that was as tall as the young dragons and seemed to be pulsing darkness into the area that was around it, or at least it showed them what the gems could do, no doubt due to him seeing it happen earlier, "from what I can tell Red has ordered his minions to place these Dark Gems all over the four homeworlds, why I have no idea, and they are infecting the lands with the dark energy that is inside them... and, as you might have heard, it appears that he, or one of his allies, figured out where you were keeping Gnasty Gnorc's statue and freed him, as the Gnorc in question walked into a cave and Red sealed it with magic, no doubt placing him in charge of their operation in the homeworld we're in, which happens to be Dragon Kingdom, from what I've learned."

"Okay, so we'll smash the Dark Gems, speak to the Dragon Elders that rule over these homeworlds, and take down Gnasty Gnorc and whoever else is helping Red." Spyro stated, as that seemed to be what they needed to do for these homeworlds and the realms that were connected to them, just tackle the enemies that were assaulting the areas, smash all of the Dark Gems that were scattered around every realm, and restore order by defeating the commanders that had been placed in charge of the lands, which sounded exactly like what Gnasty Gnorc did during their first adventure, before the rest of the group nodded their heads to show that they agreed with him.

The Professor said nothing else, where the silence suggested that they might as well get started, to which they started to head over to where the door was located, so they could head outside and see what sort of damage had been done to the homeworld that they were in, Dragon Kingdom according to the Professor, though they all knew that once they were on the other side of the door they would head out and smash every Dark Gem that happened to be in their path, all so they could tear into Red's plans and restore order to the homeworlds of Capora, before worrying about the Dark Master and whatever plans he was currently working on.

Comments

[PrismStrike]

how interesting The Dark Master finally rears its head and its not malefor, looks like a lot of people were wrong about him being secretly evil. I am kinda surprised, even though its quite obvious it absolutely fits, by Cynder taking the darkness runeblade Penumbra. i was so certain that Ember would be getting the next one (the sword of power specifically). Once again though another adventure starts, why don't these bad guys ever seem to learn. Another great chapter as always, looking forward to what comes next. keep up the great work

[Comickook]

REALLY good job on this latest chapter. The exchanges, characterizations and future chapter/adventure set-up are all quite well done in all the right places. I especially liked Flame and Aurora's reactions to the Arcaneum as well as Cynder and Spyro's reactions to how Malefor described the Dark Master. And, yeah, Red is actually working WITH the Dark Master? Yeah. Makes sense. And they stole Gnasty Gnorc's statue, but NOT the other two villains? Maybe the Dark Master simply thought that Ripto and Morrigan were too dangerous to be trusted, but either he or Red could handle Gnasty Gnorc if it came to that. And, yeah, it's possible that a lot of people (including myself) could be wrong about Malefor still being secretly evil (and I REALLY hope that I AM). But it's also possible that Malefor is setting this up (complete with a decoy Dark Master) to make the more intelligent dragons less suspicious of him later on (I hope not, but I admit that IT IS possible).

Anyway, good reasons why so many of the other heroes with the exception of Sgt. Byrd are too busy to help out with this adventure.

VERY definitely looking forward to more of this.

[zachary12]

nice work.

[Kamen rider yokai]

Well I for one am grinning like a loon for my favorite spyro game. But I think malefor is not the dark master or rather half right. Its entirely possible when the world reset the dark master got split into two different beings. One half being the dark master the other becoming the malefor we have come to know. It would explain a lot on how the dark master is existing separately from malefor.