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Spyro bounced out of the portal, feeling pretty good about himself. He’d retrieved another talisman! Just a few more talismans, and he could deal with Ripto!
And by a few, Spyro meant ten.
Spyro’s wings drooped slightly as he looked up at the setting sun. His plan to be at Dragon Shores by lunchtime might’ve been a little ambitious… especially since he’d been in Avalar for two days already.
But he’d gotten lost a few times and stuck on how to solve a few puzzles. But it was fine! He’d have the other talismans and kick Ripto’s butt soon enough, then he could go home!
“This has been some adventure, huh, Sparx?” Spyro asked the dragonfly.
Sparx buzzed happily around Spyro’s head.
“It’s been ages since our last real adventure,” Spyro said contentedly as he headed toward the next portal. “Even if our trip to Dragon Shores was rudely interrupted.”
Spyro snorted at the thought of his missed day at the beach. Then his pawsteps slowed.
“Wait a second,” Spyro said to Sparx, “I was just minding my own business when Elora and Hunter and… that lab coat guy… just grabbed me with their portal and spit me out here. They kidnapped me!”
Sparx didn’t look overly concerned, but Spyro sat down hard, the severity suddenly hitting him. The foursome had seemed friendly enough and that Ripto was obviously a jerk, so Spyro hadn’t thought about how he’d ended up in Avalar.
Spyro looked at the high castle walls with sudden trepidation. Was it any coincidence that they’d grabbed a dragon who couldn’t fly and stuck him behind giant stone walls?
Spyro didn’t think so. He wasn’t even sure the Avalar creatures really needed someone to chase off Ripto. Sure, they clearly didn’t like him and maybe Spyro could chase him off -scratch that; Spyro had taken care of Gnarly Gnorc, he could deal with Ripto- but it didn’t take away from the fact that Spyro had been kidnapped!
Spyro looked around, then ran to the nearest wall. He stretched up his forepaws, trying to dig his claws into the mortar around the stones, but to no avail. His head darted around as he searched for any stones sticking out, but found none.
Shifting his paws nervously, Spryo looked for stairs. There were none in sight, though the heavy wooden doors in the wall probably concealed them.
Spyro considered trying to burn the doors down, but he knew they were too thick to do so. Trying to open the doors earlier out of curiosity hadn’t worked, either.
Suddenly feeling trapped, Spyro darted to the tree in the center of the courtyard. This he could stick his claws into, and he quickly scrambled up to the lowest branch. He crouched there for a moment, then climbed higher until he was hidden among the leaves and lanterns in the branches.
Sparx chirred curiously at Spyro.
“Didn’t you hear me say I was kidnapped?” Spyro hissed. Smoke puffed out of his nose. “Well, I don’t know what they want, but I’m not going back down there!”
Sparx drooped, then flew over to huddle between Spyro’s ears. Spyro smiled, then focused on the ground below. None of the residents were visible, but he suspected they would show up soon.
Minutes ticked by, turning into hours. Spyro continued to stew, his anger rising. They’d kidnapped him, then just… left him? Why?
Spyro thought maybe they really did just want someone to chase off Ripto. But even if that was the case, they couldn’t help just a little in getting the talismans? Maybe they couldn’t help the inhabitants of the various worlds, either. Maybe it really was all up to Spyro.
“Doesn’t mean they should go around kidnapping dragons,” Spyro muttered, laying his head on his paws.
Night fell. The cloudy sky left the area pitch black, so Spyro could barely see anything. Mostly he just saw darker blobs, no matter how much he strained his eyes.
Eventually, Spyro gave up and closed his eyes. The Avalar creatures were probably sleeping, so there wasn’t any sense of Spyro trying to stay awake all night.
Despite Spyro’s worries, he quickly drifted into a dreamless sleep.
“Spyro!”
Spyro shivered. He was… cold. That was strange. Home was never cold; always pleasantly hot and steamy. Plus, most dragons slept in piles. If he wasn’t curled up with his parents, then Spyro was sprawled in a pile of three or more of the young dragons.
But Spyro only felt a cool breeze on his scales. While the surface he laid on was rough like dragon scales, it was cold and hard. Where…
“Spyro!”
The voice processed, snapping Spyro awake. His head darted up and into the direction of Elora’s call.
The faun and feline Hunter were walking through the grass. Hunter was carrying a big basket. Spyro dug his claws into the bark beneath him and bared his teeth.
“Maybe he got an early start,” Elora said.
“I dunno, he slept half the morning yesterday,” Hunter said.
Spyro rolled his eyes. Yeah, because he’d spent half the night in a damp, muddy jungle!
“Hunter, be nice,” Elora scolded. “We need his help.”
“I still say I coulda done it,” Hunter grumbled.
“A dragon is the only creature who’s tough enough to take on Ripto,” Elora said kindly.
“I’ll be glad when we can send him home,” Hunter grumbled.
Spyro tilted his head. That was promising, at least. It didn’t sound like they intended to keep him as a prisoner.
Still, he didn’t move.
Hunter raised his head and sniffed. “He’s around her somewhere.”
Spyro held his breath, but unfortunately, Elora looked right at his tree. How had she-
“Aren’t those Spyro’s claw marks?” Elora asked Hunter.
“...oops,” Spyro thought, glancing at his claws.
“And he’s ruining the trees,” Hunter said with an over-the-top sigh.
“Hunter, you scratch your claws on the trees all the time,” Elora said without looking at him. “Those weren’t there yesterday, so Spyro must be up there!”
Elora and Hunter looked up. Spyro held still, but his purple scales and golden horns stood out among the greenery, and it took only seconds for him to be spotted.
“Hey, Spyro!” Elora called cheerfully.
Spyro turned his face away.
“Spyro? Is something wrong?”
Spyro twitched his tail, but didn’t answer. He still didn’t know what to think about his being kidnapped. On the one paw, they did need his help. On the other… well, kidnapping!
“Hunter? I think something’s wrong. Can you climb up and check on Spyro?”
Spyro whipped his head back toward the pair, spitting sparks as he hissed, “I’m fine!”
Hunter jumped back several feet, though Elora only retreated a step. Elora frowned in concern.
“Are you hurt, Spyro?” Elora asked.
“Not a scratch on me, no thanks to you,” Spyro spat. “Just leave me alone.”
Hunter looked ready to bolt, but Elora didn’t move. She frowned up at Spyro with such sincere worry that Spyro turned his head away. Sparx turned from Spyro to the pair below, then lifted his tiny nose and darted under Spyro’s wing.
“Come on, you two, I want to help,” Elora persisted.
Spyro rolled his eyes. She just didn’t get a hint, did she?
“Spyro! Why won’t you tell me what’s wrong?”
Spyro snarled, then jumped to his feet and spun to face Elora. His wings flared and smoke spilled from his mouth when he spoke.
“You kidnapped me!”
Elora looked confused. Hunter snorted.
“You’re just figuring that out?” Hunter asked.
“Hunter!” Elora scolded.
She didn’t protest the kidnapping part, though. Spyro clamped his jaw shut before he actually fireballed the pair, knowing it would only bring more Avalar residents against him. Though if their lack of attempts to deal with Ripto on their own was any indication, they probably wouldn’t try with Spyro, either.
“We didn’t kidnap you, Spyro,” Elora said, turning back to him.
“I don’t know what else you’d call it,” Spyro said, smoke leaking with every word, “When you suck a stranger through a portal and into your world.”
“It was a one-time thing,” Elora said. “We needed a dragon!”
“Oh, that makes it fine, then,” Spyro snarled. “You couldn’t have, oh, I dunno, asked? ”
“There wasn’t time,” Elora said defensively. “You saw how fast Ripto destroyed the portal. There wouldn’t have been time for one of us to go through and ask for help.”
Spyro didn’t even point out how that didn’t make kidnapping a dragon okay. He just stared at Elora until he didn’t feel the flames pushing to get out, then said one simple thing.
“I’ve been here for two days, though.”
Elora’s mouth opened and closed silently, her expression turning to realization and horror. Spyro turned his back to her and flopped down, tiredly curling into a ball.
There was a long pause below. Hooves and paws scuffed the grass, but neither moved away.
“Spyro?” Elora ventured after a few moments. “I’m sorry.”
Spyro twitched his head toward her.
“Really. It was… it was my idea to bring a dragon to fight Ripto. I guess… I guess I wasn’t thinking about who might come through. I didn’t think the portal would be destroyed so fast, so the dragon could go back if he wanted to! But when Ripto destroyed it, I panicked. And then you seemed so eager to go after Ripto… That’s no excuse, I know, for just demanding of you to fight Ripto for us. So, I’m sorry.”
“I wish I could send you home now,” Elora said regretfully, “But Ripto’s watching the Professor too closely for him to make another portal. I don’t think we’ll be able to do anything until Ripto’s gone… and none of us here are strong enough to fight Ripto or his lizards. So, Spyro, will you please help us?”
Spyro tapped his claws against the branch. He remembered when all the dragons in his world were turned to crystal. He’d been frantic that first day -and maybe a few times after, when he got stuck or faced a big bad boss- as he tried to figure out how to fix it. He’d have done anything to bring his family and friends back… kidnapping was pretty low on the list, though.
But he understood. And Elora’s apology had been sincere.
So he looked down at her and smiled. “Sure, I’m up for the adventure.”
Elora lit up. “Thanks, Spyro! We’ll make everything up to you, I promise.”
“And for the record, I had nothing to do with bringing you here,” Hunter piped up, kind of ruining the moment.
Spyro spit a smoke ball in his direction. Hunter yelped and jumped back, then realized it was just smoke and crossed his arms.
“And we brought breakfast!” Elora said, opening the basket Hunter had brought.
Spyro leaned forward, grinning at the sight of fish piled inside the basket. He’d kind of forgotten to sit down and get a full meal since arriving in Avalar, instead snatching fish or berries on the go, and he was starting to feel the effects. Right on cue, his stomach growled, making Elora laugh.
Spyro climbed down the tree. Sparx happily darted out and dove into the basket of fish. While Spyro sat down to eat, Elora took out a pouch of berries from her dress and looked questioningly at Spyro. At his nod, she sat down to eat her breakfast as well. Spyro roasted a fish and tossed it over to Hunter, knowing the feline ate fish. Hunter looked as suspicious as always, but sat down to eat as well. Spyro fell on the other fish with relish.
When the basket was half empty and Spyro’s stomach wasn’t so hollow, he sat back and looked around. Avalar wasn’t such a bad place, really. And he’d been bored since dealing with Gnarly Gnorc. Maybe getting kidnapped wasn’t so bad…
Spyro chuckled at a thought.
“What?” Elora asked.
“I was just thinking.” Spyro pulled out another fish. “You’re lucky it’s me who came through the portal. One of the adults might’ve toasted Ripto as soon as he showed up, but they also would’ve burned your fur off.”
Hunter choked. Spyro glanced at him as Hunter, then Elora. They had mirroring expressions of horror.
“What?” Spyro asked.
“What do you mean, ‘one of the adults’?” Elora asked.
“You know, adult dragon. Like me, but a lot bigger and prone to fireballing problems. Probably more what you were expecting when you pulled a dragon here,” Spyro said.
“No, I mean… you’re a kid?!” Elora exclaimed.
Spyro raised an eye ridge at the pair. “You’re just figuring that out?”