Spyro: The Dragon Trio of Avalar

by Blackdrag-rose

Interlude: Preparations

Spyro, Spike, and Ember found that the following couple weeks were filled with the same thing as when they returned to their home, as in they spent a great deal of their time going through the training that Nester, Titan, and Cosmos had for each of them to go through, since each of them was doing something different and none of their lessons really crossed with what the other was doing. Spyro discovered that most of his training was meditating while Ember and the other Peace Keepers were fighting, where he determined the purpose of such a thing, as he was supposed to be focusing solely on his meditation and push out the sounds of the battle that was happening around him, something that was supposed to help him boost his willpower and, at the same time, draw out his new power. Ember, of course, spent her time training with the group of Peace Keepers that Titan brought to the area they were fighting in, as every day he switched up who she was going to be facing, mostly to keep her guessing, and all of this was designed to help teach her more fighting skills and test the strength of her Warrior's Armor, something that the Peace Keepers were shocked by when they first discovered her using it. Spike split his time between training with Cosmos and researching the various bits of information that had interested him, as in the bits of information on the Dragon Realms he hadn't read yet and, more importantly, the vast knowledge of Avalar that Elora let him borrow, since she did bring them some copies of the books he had been interested in, mostly to learn more about the land they had been called to.

At the same time Spike also made sure that his journal, the one that detailed their adventure in the land that Elora and Hunter lived in, was added to the vast libraries of Dark Hollow, which was what happened with the previous journal that contained their adventure to save the Dragon Realms and defeat Gnasty Gnorc, even though he knew that the Gnorcs might get their hands on a copy of it at some point and create a new play from it.

In addition to all of that the siblings were allowed a day or two off every week, which were used to hang out with Sol and just explore the rest of the Dragon Realms, showing him the realms they had saved and telling him about what they had to do to save the various areas of the homeworlds, though what was amusing was the fact that the dragons of the various lands were shocked by Sol's arrival and the fact that he was with the siblings. The reason it was amusing was due to the fact that most of the dragons knew that the Phoenixes were just a legend, something that had protected the fiery birds from those that wanted them for some odd reason, but now, after seeing Gnasty Gnorc getting taken out by them, the leader of the Phoenixes had decided to break the silence and reintroduce her species to the Dragon Realms, which the other dragons were still coming to terms with. Thanks to spending time with Spyro, Spike, and Ember, and getting around their own shock when they first discovered that his species were real, Sol was able to chuckle at what he saw every now and then, but they also knew that, at some point in time, the dragons would finally come to terms with the fact that the Phoenixes were real and not just a legend that the Leaders told them, to help Sol and the others stay hidden for however long they had been at this game.

Sol wasn't the only one that they hung out with, as there were times where Elora and Hunter came by to visit, or just the Professor so he could talk with Nora about something that was going on, but the siblings were happy to have their new friends visit them from time to time, showing them the various realms that they didn't get to see the first time they visited the Dragon Realms. Elora and Hunter, once more, showed a different level of interest in the lands that the dragons lived in and the various realms that were attached to each homeworld, where Elora was way more eager to see what each of the realms had to offer and listened to whatever Spike had to say on each place, while Hunter just looked at the various realms and wondered if they would make good training areas, even if the siblings knew that he was mostly thinking about how he could create a number of tracks for him to fly around, if the dragons permitted such a thing. Spyro had the feeling that the Leaders wouldn't let such a thing happen, especially with the fact that the Flight Realms that existed in each of the lands, but he didn't say anything about that and just let Hunter have fun thinking about whatever was on his mind, since he seemed to be having fun designing things in his mind. The nice thing was that Sol, Elora, and Hunter, despite how they encountered each other, seemed to be having fun hanging out with each other, something that the siblings were happy to see as they toured the Dragon Realms and showed off everything that their friends might want to see, just to take their minds off of their training for a short period of time.

When they weren't hanging out with their friends, and weren't touring the Dragon Realms, Spike focused on the new spells he had learned from watching Cosmos and the other Magic Crafters in their training sessions, as there had been a number of interesting spells that he had seen, even if some might be harder for him to cast in this form, due to the fact that those were some of the more advanced spells, much like Storm's Wrath. What that meant was that he would have to wait until he matured before he could learn some of the spells that the other Magic Crafters had access to, not that such a thing really limited him since he had such an understanding of the various types of magic in the world, not to mention the spells as well, something that still shocked a number of his instructors when they heard what he was capable of. There was also the fact that some of his sessions were spent on him trying to hone and master the new power he had awakened during his first session, Sage's Vision as Cosmos called it, though he had to admit that such a skill was hard to master and that he would have to work hard to unlock the power that it offered him. The same was true for Spyro and he knew it, that the skill he had developed would take some time to get the hang of and master, even if it would take some time before he was able to totally master it, while Ember didn't seem to be having any problems with her own skill, as her mastery over the Warrior's Armor skill had impressed all the Peace Keepers, as they weren't used to seeing such a young dragon have this level of control over the power in question.

Spike was also sure that Titan and the other members of his clan might have something special in mind for Ember at some point in the future, as she had shown them that, despite not being born in the Peace Keepers homeworld, she was a Peace Keeper at heart and that she was one of the greatest warriors the Dragon Realms could have asked for, even if she was still growing and developing her skills.

His thoughts turned out to be correct, because six months after they started their new training sessions, and showed the Leaders how skilled they actually were in the face of their challenges, Titan had Ember continue her sparring with the group of Peace Keepers that had been assembled, though at the same time Spike knew something was up because his own training had been moved to the same area that his siblings trained in. While it was an interesting change of pace, as this gave Spike a chance to perfect his skills in an area that wasn't familiar to him, in the sense that he had fought in this place like Spyro and Ember had, there was one thing that informed Spike that something big was going to go down, and it wasn't the fact that he had been brought to this area. It was the fact that there were more than just them and their various instructors in this area, as every dragon clan had assembled in this area, why he had no idea and could only guess as to what was going to happen next, but to anyone else it looked like every dragon had gathered here today, leaving four of the five homeworlds open in a sense, and they were joined by all of the Phoenixes, as they were interested in what was going to happen and felt that this was something they didn't want to miss. Even Elora and Hunter were present, despite the fact that they were surprised by the level of fighting that was going on between Ember and the other Peace Keepers, where the three remaining Leaders assured them that Ember was training and nothing else, mastering her skill and developing any new tactics that could be gained from engaging the older warriors.

Spike snapped back to what was going on around him as he tapped into his own power for a moment, since he knew that Cosmos was up to something, before getting a glimpse of what was coming his way, which was the moment that his instructor raised his empty hand, summoned what appeared to be a bolt of lightning, and hurled it into the sky, though as he did that Spike dived forward and let the burst of bolts strike the ground he had been standing in a few seconds ago... and when the smoke cleared he was standing near Cosmos, with a bolt of energy pointed at the Leader.

"I yield." Cosmos said, where he sweated for a moment as Spike withdrew his Arcane Bolt, which wasn't an incredibly powerful spell in the grand scheme of thing, but in the claws of a powerful magic user like Spike, who was capable of using the more advanced spells on his own, there was no telling just how strong the spell could have been, "I have to admit that your skill has improved since we started throwing the more advanced spells and teachings at you, even if you haven't used the majority of the spells we've shown you so far, and that just makes me eager to see what you do in the future, once our training is complete."

"Still, its taking me some time to get the hang of this power," Spike replied, which was the moment that he focused his mind for a few seconds and stopped peering into the future, since he wasn't used to seeing what the incoming seconds had in store for him, and when he opened his eyes again he knew that the red ring was gone, meaning that he was back to normal, until he used that power again.

"That is a good sign, meaning that not everything comes easily for you." Cosmos stated, because if Spike had been able to master the Sage's Vision ability in a matter of months, quicker than any dragon that had possessed the skill in the past, he would have been worried, but it was good to see that even Spike, just like Ember and Spyro, had limits and that he would be spending his time trying to improve himself and his skills, before he glanced over at the area that Ember and the others were in, "The same might be said for Ember, though only Titan can really tell us what's going on, as it seems that she's having a good time at the moment."

Spike glanced over to the area that his sister was in and found that she was in the middle of fighting a couple Peace Keepers, where Enzo tried to hit her with his large club, Halvor was in the middle of trying to bypass her Warrior's Armor with his empowered mace, Marco was trying to hit her with his halberd, and a few others were attempting to hurt her in some manner, or at least break her ability, but in the end she knocked them all backwards and positioned herself to show her foes that she was ready to continue.

"That's enough for now," Titan stated, where the Peace Keepers lowered their weapons and dispelled their Warrior's Armors not a few seconds later, something that lead to Ember doing the same thing, mostly because she waited to see if there was any trick for her to be looking out for, but based on what she had seen there was nothing for her to worry about right now, before Titan turned towards her, "Your skills have improved since you and your siblings came back from your adventure in Avalar, where the three of you did a wonderful job in restoring peace to the various realms of the land that Elora and Hunter help maintain, among other things that we have discovered since your return."

"Yeah, putting an end to Moneybags and his trickery, and stopping that war," Ember remarked, where she stretched for a few seconds, just to make sure she didn't get stiff from the training session they had finished, but that was when she considered what Titan was saying and wondered if there was something more he had to tell her, which was why she took a moment to glance at the Leader for a moment, "and we can't forget about Ripto, which was the main reason that we were called there in the first place, but you guys knew that already."

"Indeed we did, and that is why we have something special planned for you." Titan said, where he paused for a second as Trondo approached him, carrying a silver blade, one that was incredibly special for the Peace Keepers, and took it, but as he did that he noticed that Spyro stopped his own meditation and joined the others that had gathered in the area that they were in, before he turned towards Ember and rested the edge of the blade on her shoulder, "Ember, you have shown the characteristics and attributes of a Peace Keeper dragon, despite being born as an Artisans dragon, and hearing about how you helped put an end to a war between two races, one of the things we're supposed to fight in and stop whenever they break out, has more than earned you this honor: I name you Protector of the Realms, the greatest title that can be given to a non Peace Keeper dragon, and, when you become of age and mature into an adult, you'll be able to run for the position of our new Leader, whenever I decide to retire or step down."

"Um, Spike, care to explain what just happened?" Elora asked, keeping her voice down so she didn't interrupt what was going on at the moment, as she was sure that this appeared to be some sort of knighting ceremony, or something like that, and that Ember was being rewarded in some manner for her part in stopping the war between the Land Blubbers and the Breezebuilders, and the reason she was asking Spike was because he likely knew what was going on, since the rest of the dragons were watching what was going on at the moment.

"Its actually like what you think it is, Titan knighted Ember for her service in stopping the war," Spike replied, where he did the same thing and kept his voice low, because that was when his sister bowed her head as Titan moved the blade to touch her other shoulder, while at the same time the rest of the Peace Keepers smiled and nodded their heads, which caused the rest of the dragons, and the Phoenixes, to cheer for her, "The title that he bestowed her with, Protector of the Realms, usually means that the dragon in question has displayed the characteristics and mindset of a Peace Keeper, and, more importantly, they have proved themselves to a good portion of this land and did something major, such as being instrumental in stopping a battle or a war, just like how Ember helped us stop the war, even if Spyro was the main cause for that. One of the benefits to having that title is the fact that, as Titan said, it now makes Ember eligible for taking over as the new Leader of the Peace Keepers, something that Trondo could have been chosen for since he's the greatest Peace Keeper under whoever the Leader is, but now that there are two candidates for that position the rest of the clan will go through a vote when Titan decides its time to retire, if Ember desires the position anyway."

"Why doesn't he do the same to you and Spyro?" Hunter inquired, because while he understood what was going on at the moment, and what Ember happened to be going through, there was something bothering him and it was the fact that Titan seemed to be ignoring Spyro and Spike, since they had gone through the effort to stop the war as well, and, maybe even more importantly, there was the fact that the other purple dragon had unlocked a rather rare power that had totally shocked the Leaders when they heard what he had done.

"Well, Spyro has Conqueror's Spirit, a skill that all but assures that he'll be a Leader one day, so there's no reason to even bother with something like this," Spike answered, since that was basically what Titan and the other Leaders had told the pair, back when they explained all of this after the war was over, and he could see that Elora nodded her head to show that she understood what he was saying, before he thought about the rest of the question, "even though Nestor and the others have made sure that we have been included in whatever celebration type parties have gone down since our return to the Dragon Realms. Besides, I'm not sure you noticed this or not, but I'm more of a Magic Crafter than a Peace Keeper, so such a thing would be decided by Cosmos, not Titan, and I'm not aware of any special events that would take place for a dragon to be knighted to a special position in the Peace Keepers, so Ember would be the only one of us that would be given a special rank like this."

Elora looked like she wanted to say more, and figure out everything that could be linked to something like this, but as she opened her mouth to say something she had to stop when Titan declared that they would be starting the party, which was the signal for the other Peace Keepers, those that hadn't been fighting, to move out and started setting up a number of tables so the Artisans dragons, the cooks, to lay out all of the food for the party. That told Elora and Hunter how major something like this was, especially since this was the first time they had seen something like this happen to another land, as they had seen a few of Avalar's residents be knighted by Aeros or one of the other guards, so instead of talking about what was going on they joined the dragons as they moved out to start the party. There was a large amount of food, plenty for everyone to pick from and gave both Elora and Hunter a chance to see what the dragons made with their claws, since this was the first time they would actually be experiencing this sort of thing, and it wasn't long before Hunter grabbed an entire plate full of food, as he was eager to see what the dragons ate and what they snacked on, especially some of the desert items that were on one of the tables. Spike smiled as he watched as their friends from Avalar enjoyed themselves as they joined the party, just like Sol and the rest of the Phoenixes did when they finally noticed what was going on, and there was the fact that Spyro walked up to Sol and the pair walked away from the rest of the Phoenixes, chatting about the event and what they were going to do next, drawing the rest of the fiery birds to the party.

Spike knew that it had been a long time since one of the Peace Keepers had knighted a dragon that was from one of the other clans, and there was the fact that they had gone through a lot of effort to try and make sure none of them had seen this coming, but it wasn't long before he pushed that thought out of his mind and joined the party that all of the Dragon Realms was engaged in, even if this wasn't the biggest event they could be celebrating.

---

After Ember was bestowed the title of Protector of the Realms, and the party that was celebrating that fact was over, the dragons went their separate ways and returned to their homeworlds, where the Phoenixes decided to see what the rest of the clans did in their spare time and spread out for the rest of the day, so they could do what Sol was doing and see if they could make friends with the other dragons. Ember was incredibly happy that Titan and the others did something like that for her, even if she wasn't expecting something like that after they returned to their home, especially after telling all of the Leaders about the war and what the three of them had done, and it made her wonder what the future held for the three of them, their friends, and the rest of the Dragon Realms. The rest of their day was spent hanging out with Sol, Elora, and Hunter, doing whatever they wanted while they relaxed and took a break from their training, as they had no idea how long they had until the Leaders would call them back to the lands they trained in, but they had the feeling that Nestor would make sure they were given a day or two off to relax, before having them return to what they had been doing earlier. As such it meant that the group could do whatever they wanted for a time and wouldn't be bothered by anyone else, not until it was time to head back home for dinner and the rest of their afternoon activities, especially since Spike had a lot of books to get through thanks to what Elora brought for him to read.

What they ended up doing was asking the Balloonist for the Peace Keepers homeworld, Gosnold, to take them out to where the Machinists land was located, as all of them were interested in seeing if those dragons had completed work on new home or if they would have to come back at a later date to see what sort of land they had created for themselves, and this time the Balloonist agreed with their request.

It wasn't long before they discovered why Gosnold was willing to take them to the island in question, because all of the work that had been going on had finally been completed and the Machinists were more than willing to let others come and see what they had done to the land that Gnasty Gnorc had been ruling from, and they were surprised by what they saw when the hot air balloon got close to the island in question. The Gnexus, which had been the heart of the island when it was owned by Gnasty Gnorc, had been transformed into a much larger circular landing area, where the metallic dragon heads had been moved to different parts of the homeworld, no doubt containing portals to the modified areas that the siblings had run through when they first came to this place. The group found that there were a number of structures that were scattered around the area, which had to be some of the houses that the Machinists would be living in once they moved into this island, though they were blocky looking and seemed heavy just by looking at them, and they were made from a combination of wood, metal, and stone. Spyro, Spike, and Ember found that part of the area reminded them of what they had seen back in Breeze Harbor and Metropolis, as part of the realm had a number of gears, smokestacks, vents, bulbous tanks, steam pipes, support struts, and turbines scattered around the area, meaning that the same thing had to be true for the rest of the realms that the Machinists would be living in, but where Sol was worried that all of this might be ruining the environment the siblings noticed that the area was very clean, where the wood was polished, all of the metal gleamed in the sunlight, and the stone was marbled and flawless.

The rather interesting thing that the group had seen, despite everything that was in front of them, was that the couple of plants that were in the hub area of the homeworld had taken on an angular appearance, mimicking the machinery that rested around them, showing Elora and Hunter a glimpse of the magical nature of the lands that the dragons called home and made the siblings pumped to see who would be the Leader of this land in the near future, and there were a few other items scattered around the area as well.

"What's with the decorations?" Hunter asked, where he beckoned to the party supplies and the couple of banners that had been positioned in certain places of the hub part of this homeworld, as it was odd to see something like this, despite the fact that they had left an island that had been the center of a party, though at the same time he could tell that Elora was just focusing on what they were seeing at the moment.

"Oh, the dragon clans are in the middle of preparing for the Year of the Dragon Festival," Spyro replied, as he knew that the most important festival for the dragons was coming up, one that happened once every twelve years and would fall on the day of their twelfth birthday, so this year they wouldn't actually be celebrating their own birthday, rather they would be helping Nestor and the others out when the time came, and maybe once the festival was over they could have their own party, however unlikely that was.

"The Year of the Dragon Festival?" Elora inquired, because that wasn't something that she had learned about, and she could see that Sol titled his head for a moment, showing that he did understand what Spyro had mentioned and that he must have forgotten that it was that time of the year, while Ember and Spike seemed to nod their heads, mostly to let her know that she had heard Spyro correctly, "What's so special about this festival?"

"Its the period of time that new dragons are brought into the world," Spike answered, though as he said that he took a moment or two to think about what he had read in the past, mostly so he could inform her as to what was going on and why the festival was so important, even though he was sure that both of their friends from Avalar would be interested in what he had to tell them, "The Year of the Dragon happens once every twelve years, where the fairies help deliver twenty-five to thirty eggs to the homeworlds, eggs that contain the next generation of dragons and will hatch within a certain period of time after the festival starts, but the fairies are known to deliver a few eggs to the lands before the year of the festival actually arrives. The festival is for us to celebrate the arrival of the next generation of dragons, make sure all of the eggs arrive safe and sound, and then start our preparations to make sure the homeworlds are ready for them to join us, not to mention figuring out their names and everything... its quite a lengthy process, hence why we start it off with such a large party, before getting to the actual work."

"Every twelve years? That means it falls on your birthday." Hunter said, something that Spyro and his siblings already figured out and said nothing to, as there was no reason for them to be annoyed by such a thing, though at the same time Elora shook her head for a moment, mostly to show that she couldn't believe that he was focusing on that fact and not the major piece of information that they had just been told, before he considered something else, "Hey, why aren't there any other dragons around your age, when you said that between twenty-five to thirty eggs arrive during each festival? Does that mean the fairies screwed up or something?"

"For your information, Hunter, our eggs were the only ones that were delivered nearly twelve years ago," Ember said, as that was what Nestor had told her and her brothers when they asked about it some time ago, when they first learned about the festival and how important it was to the Dragon Realms, though she was happy that this festival was coming up at long last, so they could see what happened when the fairies delivered the eggs to them, "We were told that it was rare for such a thing to happen, especially with how many eggs are supposed to be delivered every twelve years, and there are twelve eggs in our homeworlds already, delivered ahead of time by the fairies, so we'll just have to wait and see how many more arrive once the festival starts."

"Interesting... now I'm eager to see what happens when that time arrives," Elora remarked, because while she had the feeling that Hunter might not be all that interested in what they were learning about, since he was mostly interested in all the sports he enjoyed and whatnot, she had to admit that she was incredibly interested in what she was hearing and did want to see what the festival was like when that time arrived.

Spyro, Spike, and Ember nodded their heads for a moment, as they were happy to see what Elora and Sol were eager to see what the future held for the Dragon Realms, even if Hunter might not be as interested as they were, before they turned their attention to the homeworld as the hot air balloon continued to move by the island, as they had the feeling that the next Year of the Dragon Festival was going to be one of the more unforgettable ones and that made them eager to see what the future held for them.

Comments

[PrismStrike]

this was perfect, absolutely perfect. I was very much impressed by Embers Ceremony. The little dragoness has definitely earned this for all the hard work she put in (her brothers have already gotten great rewards in the form of Conquerors spirit for Spyro and untold magic potential for spike). This has honestly made me really happy. Then there is the set up for the future you have done in the second half of this chapter which was absolutely spot on and even called back to some previous points in the story (like the 12 eggs the siblings gathered during their first adventure) seeing the machinist dragons land was really cool, am looking forward to hopefully seeing more of that land at somepoint (maybe even meet some of the machinist dragons). Unless you toss in another interlude i am almost certain that the festival and start of the third and final game should be next, though i could be wrong and you could have more planned for before then, either way though i am looking forward to it. Keep up the absolutely amazing work.

[Kamen rider yokai]

Whoo Nelly I hope Sol and Elora joins the siblings and Hunter in the year of the dragon events. Hmm anyone think Sheila, the Sarge, Bentley, and agent nine will fit elements of harmony? Sheila feels like honesty to me with the Sarge feeling like loyalty, Bentley is kindness while agent nine feels like laughter. Not sure who would be magic or generosity well Bianca would fit magic I guess but who will be generosity in the line up?

[Comickook]

Splendid work on this latest chapter/either last or second-to-last interlude chapter before "Year of the Dragon". Loved the work that went into the characterizations, exchanges and future chapter set-up in all the right places. I especially liked the callback to the twelve dragon eggs from the trio's first adventure almost two years earlier (and yeah, THIS one is going to HAVE more than enough dragon eggs to make up for the fact that the previous one only had three) as well as Ember's "knighting ceremony", the show of the fact that Spike and Spyro still have to work really hard to get the hang of certain new abilities, Spike's placing the details of the Avalar adventure in the Dark Hollows Library and the details of the preparations for the Year of the Dragon Ceremony.

Very certainly looking forward to more of this. And definitely hoping you have a Merry Christmas (as the next chapter will be the day after Christmas, by my count).

[zachary12]

nice work

[DJScales]

Sweet.

[SpikeSmolder fan]

Just loved Ember's knight ceremony as a Peace Keeper dragon, it was so awesome & well deserved. Not to mention her sibs coming out on their own after the latest adventure.

Also glad you touched on the 12 eggs number from the dragon sibs first adventure, guess we're coming into Year of the Dragon sooner rather than later it seems!

Hope you have an awesome holiday!

[Comickook]

10000649
To be honest, yeah, I could definitely see that as well as the picks for Element Bearers. As for Generosity, I would go with Elora because 1. She was willing to provide NEEDED assistance without being asked beforehand in certain situations. 2. She DID insist on the dragons keeping the gems as a reward for their help. and 3. Just because, at least that way, there would be an equal number of males AND females in the group. :-D

Anyway, again, really good catch and idea.

And Merry Christmas. :-D

[way_2_spooky_4_u]

I wonder when the Trio will try the professions practiced by the Machinists. They've outright said that Spyro was going to lead one of the Homeworlds one day, and we haven't been introduced to the Leader of the Machinist Dragons. Anyone else here found of the concept of Steam Punk Dragons?