After several terrifying moments, Amber finished kissing him and fluttered to the left side of his head, Spyro’s attempt at speaking cut off as she held her arms out and hugged him, the purple dragon gasping in fear as his eyes darted between Amber and her white faced father.


“Oh, thank you for saving my life, Spyro!” she cried giddily, “You were so brave! That monster would have crushed me like a… well, a bug!”


‘Not even Ember went this far!’ Spyro thought despondently as he caught sight of Sparx and realized just how jealous the entire fiasco was making him; he the strange dragon winning the attention of the prettiest she dragonfly in the village. He knew all of this was just adding more and more nails to his coffin.


“My father can be so temperamental at times,” Amber continued sweetly, “But he’d never send you away; especially not after all you’ve done and when you are hurting so much,” she assured as she cast a piercing gaze at her father, her eyes like gold tipped daggers. Red suddenly became flustered, letting out an exaggerated cough as he became aware that the eyes of the whole village were staring at him. Spyro turned his head just enough to see Sparx and his family, seeing that all three of them were smiling widely at him. Sparx grinned to him and gave a thumbs up, it finally dawning on Spyro what was happening. Amber was putting on a show, trying to coheres her father into letting him stay!


Red was stammering, “I, er, I…I…” he said as he looked behind him as the sea of eyes that were all staring and waiting for him to make a decision. Spyro was himself afflicted by a mixed bag of emotions; for the sake of his pitiable state he would be glad to stay for the respite, but he still held onto the belief that his presence could put the dragonflies in more danger. An abrupt shout of “Jurien!” from Red drew his attention as the cone headed physician swiftly flew up to meet him.


“Yes?” he asked bluntly. Taking another cautious look at the crowd, Red cleared his throat,


“You are the expert on matters of health and well-being here,” he said formally, trying to look composed, “What, er, what would you say about the condition of, er, Spyro here?”


Jurien rubbed his forehead before he replied, “Well, in my professional opinion, to send him out into the swamp without care would not only be reckless, it would be downright immoral to do such a zing. Even with his unusual abilities, I could not recommend it.”


“I see, I see,” Red nodded with poorly hidden annoyance, ever aware of the crowd inching closer and closer to him every moment. Spyro remained stuck where he was while Amber continued to hold and pat his head affectionately while she pouted at her father, drawing more sympathy from the crowd. Eager to save face, Red drew a deep breath and sighed reluctantly.


“Well, based on your expert advice, Jurien, and this dragon’s, er, tragic circumstances,” he said trying to separate his culpability in the matter, “Then I suppose that we can at least let him stay for…”


“Oh, thank you, father!” Amber squealed in delight, relieving her grip on Spyro and shooting across to Red, clutching him in her arms as a chorus of cheers broke out amongst most of the villagers. Spyro could hardly believe his eyes or ears as they began swarming past their leader and surrounding him in their multicolored haze of glittering sparkles. The shouting and hooting from Sparx was almost louder than the rest of the them as he came flying over to Spyro with his hands raised triumphantly in the air, pushing through the crowd to be at the front.


“See? I told you that you couldn’t just leave, Spyro!” he cheered as the purple dragon remained staring around in a state of uncertainty at the numerous faces all smiling and cheering for him. Flash and Nina soon appeared behind Sparx, their presence putting him somewhat at ease, even as he spied Red’s disgruntled gaze from behind the rest of the gathering.


“Uh, thank you,” he said nervously, “I’m touched that you would like me to stay, but I don’t want to be a burden.”


“No burden at all, Spyro,” Flash said brightly, “We are glad to have you.”


Spyro smiled faintly, letting himself absorb the friendly atmosphere for a moment, grateful for anything like it after the deadly turmoil he had endured the last two days. Sparx zoomed over to him, laughing cheerfully as he gave Spyro another comradely ‘punch’ across the side of his snout, to which the young dragon replied with a short chuckle.


“Just hang on a second!” Red’s voice cut off the celebrations as the crowd gave way to him, Amber still at his side as he hovered slowly into the circle. Spyro’s face straitened out as the crimson dragonfly came over, his face still that of a grump.


“Let’s set some parameters first,” he announced coldly, “For as long as you are here, which I hope is only as long as it takes for you to recover, you will follow our laws and customs to the letter. I don’t want to hear any complaints from you, understood?”


Spyro gulped, “Yes, sir.” Red turned his attention to Flash and Nina, simply pointing his finger at them before waving for them to approach him. Flash and Nina took each other’s hands and silently fluttered over.


“While this dragon is here, he will be in your charge. Make sure he and your son don’t cause anymore trouble!” he said harshly before he turned and flew away, dragging Amber along with him as she looked back and eyed Spyro thankfully before she disappeared from view behind the crowd.


“Come along everyone!” Red shouted urgently, “We have a lot of damage to attend to! I want this village back in one piece before nightfall!”


“Yes, Firmin,” Flash replied squarely, though he was now long gone, looking at his wife and then at Sparx and Spyro with a chuckle. The pair of them shared in the laugh as the crowd of dragonflies began to disperse and head back towards the village, leaving Spyro alone with the three dragonflies. As the laughter died down, Spyro let out a thoughtful sigh as he seemed to stare away at nothing in particular, Sparc eyeing him queerly as he leaned in closer to him.


“What’s up, big guy?” he asked curiously.


“Oh, nothing,” Spyro replied gently, “It’s just, your leader reminds me of someone I knew in Avalar a lot like him. He was a Cheetah, named Prowlus.”


“Oh,” Sparx replied cautiously, “Was he a friend?”


Spyro let out a chuckle as he shook his head, “No, not at all. He couldn’t stand me and my friends. Thought we were nothing but trouble.”


Flash and Nina hovered over closer to him beside Sparx, the she dragonfly touching her son’s shoulder warmly before she remarked, “Well, it seems wherever you go, you’ll always find someone like those you love and those you hate,” she said whimsically.


“I didn’t hate him,” Spyro said reflectively, leaning his head back just enough to look at the sky, “I hope he’s still alive. I hope they all are.”


He didn’t let himself dwell on those thoughts though, Spyro lowering his gaze beginning to limp slowly towards the village as Sparx, Flash and Nina took a place on each side of him, Sparx hovered atop his head, Flash hovered on his left shoulder and Nina took his right. He switched his eyes between them as they moved along together, a grateful smile spreading across his face as they remained at his pace while most of the other dragonflies left them behind. The one exception was the eccentric physician, Jurien, who continued to make his diagnosis from a distance as they moved onward.


“I think zat leg will need some bracing,” he observed aloud as he scratched his chin thoughtfully, “I’ve never braced such a large limb before, but what the hey! What’s the vorst thing zat could happen?”


Later that night, Spyro was laying with his eyes wide open beneath the Sparx family home once more, but with some noticeable differences in his appearance and accommodation. No longer laying on the ground, he found himself laying on the soft underside of a large upturned mushroom head that had rocks lined beneath its perimeter to stop it from rocking. It had in fact come from one of the tall mushroom towers that had been wrecked during Arborick’s rampage, now repurposed for him as a bed.


Spyro himself was covered almost entirely in a coat of the green sludge like healing remedy that Flash and Nina had given him before, but more potently made thanks to the expertise of Jurien. He felt like he was covered in cake icing, though it smelled and tasted far from as sweet as that.


Despite that, its effect on him was near miraculous, his body felt a strange tingling that numbed his senses and eradicated the pain that had so agonized him, so much so that he was tempted to never take the remedy off. It was perhaps even more effective than the red healing gem he had worn around his neck before it had been destroyed. Beside his improvised but comfortable bed was a narrow, cage like leg brace made for him by Jurien, constructed from sturdy sticks and bound together in tight vines that he was to wear on his injured leg when he walked. He had only taken it off, as well as put it on, with the assistance of Sparx and his family to help him sleep, its bulky frame being uncomfortable to lay down with.



True to Red’s word, the villagers had worked through the day and most of the night, repairing nearly all the damage done to their homes by the golem (and Spyro, as Red insisted he was still partially responsible). During the cleanup, Spyro had done his best to assist regardless of his less than ideal state. It was during this that Jurien had made the leg brace for him and whipped up a large amount of the healing remedy, the relief these provided allowing him to help the clean up more efficiently and win much more favor with the dragonflies, even those who remained skeptical after Red’s reluctant permission for him to stay.


Amber, Talia, and many of the other younger dragonflies had constantly come up to the purple dragon to give him their thanks and ask what other things he could do. Mainly to not give Red anymore reasons to want to get rid of him, Spyro had indulged their curiosity with harmless displays of his abilities, but relented eventually so as not to wear himself out. Their wide-eyed amazement was, admittedly, endearing to him, reminding him of how the mole cubs had reacted when he had done so for them back in Warfang.


But any thoughts of the past or of home invariably reignited the moments he wanted to forget; the things he did not want to discuss further with the dragonflies or even himself for that painful matter. His mind went ahead and thought back to the peculiar occurrence when he had heard Cynder’s voice in his mind as clearly as though she was standing right next to him when it happened. Her voice had overlapped that of Sparx when he had been encouraging him, begging him to keep trying. He asked himself when he had heard her say those same words to him in the past, and then it hit him like the great fist of the now deceased Arborick. He remembered back to that day he and the black dragoness had snuck into the temple dojo so that she could give him some extra lessons for the upcoming trial which had once been the greatest worry of his life. He remembered how he had choked, breathing only black smoke when he tried to light the dummy on fire. He remembered the words she had used, the same ones Sparx by coincidence only hours ago.


“Keep trying! Come on, Spyro!”


Her voice echoed through his mind like it was a cave, reminding him again that it was a voice he would never hear for himself ever again. Spyro rolled on his right side with an exhausted, depressed sigh, turning his eyes up towards the little hut dangling above him where Sparx and his family were sleeping. He could hear the gentle snoring of the two adults just beneath the telltale loud snores of their son which didn’t seem to bother them. As Sparx himself had said, a built-up tolerance, he supposed. Spyro smiled faintly, drawing his eyes low and tucking his head down as he curled his tail into himself. Although he was exhausted, his brain was still a hive of activity as he thought of what this all meant for him; for the dragonflies, and what it meant for what he was supposed to do.


‘So is this it then? I stay here until the Chronicler tells me to go? Who knows how long that will be…’


Although he had received a frosty reception from their leader, Spyro seemed to have won over the other dragonflies in just one day, even allowing them to convince him to stay with them, at least until he was fully recovered. Or so he had told himself.


‘Sparx, and his parents… they opened their home to me almost straight away. Treated me like I was family… not an idol to be worshipped or a hero everyone expects to always save the day…’


Of course, he had been a hero to them that day, defeating the monstrous log golem and saving their village and people from near certain devastation. During that whole ordeal, he had been so afraid for the sake of Sparx, Flash and Nina, three persons who could hardly have been called acquaintances at that point, but had left such a strong impression on him. By the time the monster had been vanquished and the spat with Red was over, and Sparx and his family had so considerately stood by him even as the others left, Spyro knew he had begun to feel something. It was not the same, just something like it, how he felt in the presence of his three dearest companions, Flame, Ember and Cynder. He knew nothing could replicate that, even if he spent the next twelve years in the swamp with them, but it was not a feeling he expected to even be reminded of when he had fled home.


He had let down those that mattered to him the most, but he had been the savior these dragonflies needed. He had saved their home when he couldn’t save his own. But if that golem was the worst danger they faced here, he couldn’t imagine the local flora and fauna would be anywhere near as dangerous as Arborick. But even then, he didn’t need to be idle for as long as he was here. Spyro could give himself a purpose; keep this little village safe from the toadweeds and whatever other creatures might threaten them, as long as it didn’t bring him into conflict with Firmin who might take it as an attempt to take over the village. Maybe he should just rest and worry about what life meant for him here after spending more than one day in it. For all he knew, the Chronicler could summon him as soon as he went to sleep and he would be thrown into another drama not of his choosing.


‘But what if I choose this?’ he wondered forbiddingly, near traitorously. It was of course, just a thought, a passing wonder that didn’t change where his duty lay. When that day came, Spyro knew he would return, it was what was expected, what Ignitus had wanted. It was his destiny. Perhaps though, that destiny, the one supposedly written for him thousands of years ago, was not just one path but a course of many. Perhaps this was the start of a new one on the journey to that. Or perhaps it was something entirely different. Perhaps this was, in the end, a new beginning for him.



End of Chapter 21.


Next Chapter: Days of Despair.


Note from the author:


I almost didn't post this one but I decided that I should, since it will basically end the first act of the story, allowing me to start off with the second like I had wanted to do in December. However, is with this upload I have decided that future chapters will be postponed for at least a few months while I try to get a decent way ahead. Work has started up again which will complicate things, along with the fact I have another non-Spyro related short story I want to try and get done as well. I'm sorry if this disappoints anyone, but I think it is for the best.


I'm honestly even considering changing the story to be separate "books" which would make this the end of Book One and future chapters would be Book 2, so the next chapter would not be Chapter 22 but Chapter 1 of Part II. With Fanfiction.net at least that means starting up another separate story, but I haven't decided yet. In any case though, here is a teaser of what awaits in future chapters. Thank you to everyone who has read and enjoyed what I have written and your feedback is always appreciated! I hope you join me when part 2 begins.


The Legend of Spyro: Four Pillars of Aether Part II Sneak Peak:


"Three Years have passed since the Fall of Warfang and the apparent death of the Legendary Purple Dragon Spyro and Ignitus, the Fire Guardian. The Apes now rule the land with an iron fist and the few who still oppose them lose hope with every passing day as Gaul draws ever nearer his goal of resurrecting Malefor; the Dark Master.


An organization of Freedom Fighters called the "Legion of Liberation" continues to resist the occupation, among them are the three surviving members of the group of friends once known as "The Four Survivors", the dragons who survived the temple siege; Cynder, Flame and Ember. Every day they fight to stay alive, holding out hope for someone or something to turn the tide in their favor. This might have come in the form of a map that supposedly details the whereabouts of the other long thought dead Dragon Guardians who might hold the key to Gaul's plans.


Along with the new hope and questions this brings, for Cynder it brings up old questions and fears that still haven't been answered. Why is she still a target for capture by Gaul after so long? What makes her so important to him? What is it that has been kept from her and her friends, and who knows about it?


Meanwhile, unknown to the rest of the world, an alive Spyro now lives a carefree life in a remote swamp alongside the Dragonflies who have adopted him as one of their own. After three years of a tranquil life with a family to call his own, and with no word from the Chronicler in that time, his faith in his presumed destiny has dwindled. He may no longer have the heart to be the hero the world needs, especially with the belief that all those he once cared for are long gone.


But even if he is proven wrong, will it be enough to make Spyro give up the new peaceful and weightless life he has become accustomed to? And what has the Chronicler been doing all this time? He may have the answers to all of this, but it waits to be seen if those answers will offer deliverance or despair...."