"Is this the place?" Sulphide asked.

        "Yes," Riptor said, "that was where we met them."

        "I certainly saw their corpses," his eye glanced over the cavern oasis, "so I know now that part was the truth."

        "Did you sense anything?"

        "Nooo," his vision scanned towards the alien bodies, "they decomposed properly at least, the insects have had their way."

        "So not poisonous then?" Riptor noted.

        "Thankfully not.  Would be a shame for this place to be ruined, it's a beautiful spot, can't imagine it hiding under a mountain."

He clicked his video feed off as his eye blinked to its normal glint, standing at the foot of the Greatbeast's Spine where the entrance of a tunnel had been hollowed out by other raptors with him.  The small group chipped away with their nano-claws and steel-linked tails to some difficulty, filing the jagged stone to make a serviceable passage.

        "I have this idea," Riptor's voice fed through his ear, "that maybe we could have that oasis as a base of sorts, away from home."

        "Would that be wise?" Sulphide asked turning to the east.

        "It would help us keep a better track on the humans."

        "And Oddclaw's pack as well?"

        "You said it not me."

        "But that's what you were thinking, yes?"

A brief silence confirmed his answer as he sighed shaking his head.

        "Riptor, what exactly do you plan on this?"

        "I want to make an outpost," she said through the comms, "a place we can gather for plans whilst over on the continent."

        "That would be a good idea as a place of safety," he tapped his jaw looking back to the cave, "though I'm not sure what plans you really intend over here besides stalking Oddclaw."

        "What's that supposed to mean?!"

        "I thought I was rather clear."

        "I am NOT obsessed."

        "Then I would be glad for you to prove me wrong, and I shall gladly rescind my words."

        "Need I remind you who you're speaking to?" she snarled dipping her voice.

        "And I thought that I was the one to keep you on track."

He felt her nodding reluctance as she took a step back and sighed.

        "...fine.  Yes, let's...let's not think about him for now, we have the humans to concern ourselves with but most important the anomalies that we've been having."

        "The mountain-eater was one," said Sulphide counting with his claws, "then the alien ship.  There have been other incidents in the past, including our arrival, but only those two we know of directly."

        "I wonder..." her voice purred with a twinkling intrigue, "what sort of creatures can these humans summon, and for what purpose do they bring them here?"

        "Who can even tell in those degenerate minds, they're like children with fire, blinded by their own stupidity they mistake for genius."

        "Hmhmhmhm, so true.  Well, what do you think this cave could be for?"

        "I agree an outpost would be good," he said watching the raptors continue to carve its mouth, "the question now is who would command it?"

        "Well either you or me," she barked softly.

        "Mmmmm...one of us I don't like being on their own-"

        "Or rather you being apart from me."

        "After what happened last year yes, I get worried about you!"

        "Oh you're such a sensitive thing," she huffed audibly, "I am fine now, I'm not your child to coddle."

        "Regardless it is my choice also to not leave your side," he twitched his tail with a clinking sound, "I only came here alone because someone still needs to watch over our pack."

        "Exactly, which is why we have to be separate sometimes to better manage our objectives."

        "And what ARE those objectives precisely?"

        "Study the humans and discover their intentions, that is first and foremost."

        "Good."  He nodded stepping forwards to sniff at the cave entrance.  "I'll mark the cavern with acid, should keep the natives out."

        "You want us to keep going?" asked one of the raptors.

        "I think this will be enough," said Sulphide, "let's investigate the inside, of which I can confirm that it's too deep for any radio contac-"

        "UHH, S-sulphide?!"

A red-bodied scout jumped up on a sandy hill beside them.

        "Something's going on in that village!"

        "What, what is it?"

        "Some kinda battle, like a big horde of black things were fighting them, then there was this...this thing with wings just came screeching down and started blasting fire all over."

        "Is the fire spreading?!" he snapped running over to the hill.

        "No it burned out pretty fast," the scout pointed north to the vague silver line, "the purple thing's in the village now, seems like it's a friend."

        "Another anomaly?" Riptor asked through the comms.

        "Possibly...I'll have to investigate, thank you Stilbene," Sulphide nodded to the scout, "the rest of you stay and mark  the cave as our territory, make sure none of the natives see you, we cannot afford our presence to be spread."

        "Yes Sulphide," they barked and clicked their feet.

        "I will return soon, until then you all must wait for me."

They nodded together as they stepped into the cave whilst Sulphide made his way out north, cresting the hills and weaving between the bases to keep out of sight and skirting around the scent trails of the usual paths that local beasts took.

        "You're chasing after this then?" said Riptor through his comms.

        "Can't leave anything to chance," he lowered his head into the rushes, "I'll keep in contact, though I'd rather not approach the village."

        "I agree, whilst they're not human we cannot count them as friendly, the less who know of our presence the better."

        "Absolutely."

Trekking over the wilds, the raptor watched the sun rising from the east as his pale body gleamed with a sickly yellow hue, his silver tail shining low behind him as he raced towards the village fast as his feet could take him.  In the space of two hours he reached the settlement, hearing a clamouring from the beasts within the steel walls as he sniffed out a trail towards the west, heading to a forest at the foot of the black mountains where a small gathering of beasts could be seen.

        "How could this happen?!" whispered one of them.

        "Wh-who...who would do this?"

        "This can't be happening, this, this-"

        "Must have been the shadow apes," said a tall dark beast, "it was here before the attack."

        "What about that dragon?!" shouted a smaller pig.  "He showed up with them!?"

        "And what purpose would he have to rob us of this artifact?"

        "I DUNNO, I jus-, he, we should talk to him anyways!"

        "That I agree with.  Sir."

He looked towards a long strange lizard sitting at the lonesome grave.

        "Sir, we should let them investiga-"

        "Fine."  He stood up and walked back to the village.  "Just...fine."

Stepping back from the mound he let two cloaked figures carefully open a box of chemicals and start to dust the area with a mixture of powders and soft liquids.  Minutes passed slow with fouling moods as whispering snarls grew from the crowd.

        "I got something," said the blue robe, "footprints."

        "Well yeah," scoffed a pig, "everyone walks here."

        "No, no these aren't any of your footprints.  These are shoes."

        "Wha-what?  Shoes?!"

        "B-but, that means," the red cloak pulled at his hood, "I-i mean, the only ones who have any shoes are us or the-"

        "Humans," said the tallest boar, "this is a serious consequence, can you track the path the thief took?"

        "Pretty sure yeah," said Blue, "seems to head off that way, might have a better indication of who it might be."

        "Good."

The horde of beasts soon left as one, a mixed motley crew of pigs and reptiles that Sulphide watched from the shadows whilst the two hooded folk stayed behind to further investigate the region.  Taking a path north through the forest they kept dusting over grass and checking for imprints as the raptor snuck from his spot once they were far enough to investigate the grave.

        "Hmmm..." he sniffed towards the hole in the dirt, "something was here, something...chromium, nickel, vanadium and...some other mineral I can't quite tell but it's cast-iron certainly.  But this is where something dead is buried, why would there be something here to take?"

Heading back to the village whilst keeping his distance from the group, Sulphide tried to listen on their voices as they ranted with fury and upset, the raptor taking a hill nearby where he could see the inside of the settlement.  The cloaked lizalfos trudged his feet over the marsh square with the tall black boar beside him, heading towards one particular hut that a purple four-legged beast stepped out from.

        "We have something to ask of you," said Mobenheim, "we have discovered a terrible crime has taken place."

        "Wh-what happened?" Spyro gasped.  "Did someone else get hurt?"

        "The grave of our village founder has been defiled, and his weapon has been stolen."

        "...tha, that's terrible, who-"

        "When you first entered this land, did you happen to see anyone within the forest west of us?"

        "I...no, I don't think I did," he squinted his eyes looking upwards, "I wasn't really looking that way because of the shadow apes but I don't remember anyone."

        "I see.  In which case we have one option left."  The moblin turned to his leader.  "I shall journey to the human base and inquire as to their-"

        "No."  The lizalfos took a deep breath and stared up at him.  "I'm going.  I'll talk to them."

        "I...s-sir?"

        "I'm going, I don't want a debate, no argument I am going."

        "May I ask why?"

        "OH GEE I don't know, MAYBE because my best friend's grave was FUCKING RANSACKED?!"

        "SIR!"  Mobenheim put his hand up.  "Please, control yourself."

        "HOW, HOW THE FUCK YOU EXPECT ME TO WHEN MOHBERRA'S BEEN...b-been..."

He clenched his fists with a deep shudder as his horn sparked and his voice lowered to a darker pitch.

        "No one.  No one...fucking touches my friend."

        "Is there anything I can do?"  Spyro softened his voice with bowing head.

        "This does not involve you."

        "No but...I mean, if this happened when the apes attacked then maybe it's related to them."

        "Do any apes wear shoes?"  Liz raised his head with piercing glint.  "Not counting humans that is."

        "Uhhh, no, none of them-"

        "Then I got no reason to thin-"

        "Okay okay, but!"  The dragon raised a claw in plea.  "I need to find those humans too so I can get back home and maybe find where the apes' commander is.  So if you're going where they are, can I accompany you?"

        "I agree," said Mobenheim crossing his arms, "it is dangerous to go alone, please, take him with you."

        "I'm not babysitting an overgrown damper!"

        "Who said you were?!"  Spyro scoffed rearing his head.  "You saw how I handled those apes, if anything comes I can deal with them.  Both of us can."

        "Hmmm...yeah, guess...guess you're right I just...just...NNNNNGH!"

He grabbed his head with a shuddering scream that he swallowed deep.

        "Doesn't matter, someone can come with but no one is stopping me from leaving."

        "Then I shall accompany you," Mobenheim offered.

        "No, no you need to stay."

        "And for what?"

        "Because someone needs to be here to keep everybody cool," he stressed with a jabbing finger, "everyone's on edge and you're a lot better at that than me."

        "And what do I tell them of their leader's departure?" the moblin placed a hand on his hip.

        "Just what I said, I'm going to the humans and we're gonna sort this shit.  You want me to be a leader well guess what, here I am, gonna lead my way out there and get back what was stolen from us cuz I am sick and tired of sittin' around in a hut feeling like a shit!"

        "Understood."  Mobenheim stepped back with a deep curtsy.  "I shall gather everyone in the square so you can announce this."

        "Thanks, see ya in a bit."

The quartermaster headed off towards the guards and conferred with them, leaving Lizanaich with the dragon who tightened his face with an awkward cough.

        "Sorry," the lizalfos nodded, "I know ya just arrived an' all-"

        "No it's fine," he waved his paw, "I mean I'm used to being in uh...tense places."

        "Doesn't sound like the kinda thing you should be used to."

        "Well, I don't choose the life I picked."

        "Hah, hah, ain't that the truth."

The villagers were gathered in the square as Mobenheim explained all to them, a throng of around sixty beasts at least as far as Spyro could see present.  Lizanaich stood beside him, catching the sight of Bokonette and Bokorie who tried to say something, leaning forwards with a half-stutter but then pulling themselves back as he shook his head.

        "In conclusion," said Mobenheim, "I will remain here as acting chief whilst our chief shall journey to the heart of this matter.  I ask only that you support him in this venture, and pray to the goddess for his safe return.  SUPPORT!"

They all suddenly turned stiff to attention as Mobenheim turned to him.

        "PRAIIIIISE, GODDESS!"

        "HYLIA BLESS YOU!"

They all chanted as one much to Lizanaich's shock, his eyes blinking as he gave a salute to them in turn with Spyro doing the same.  The village gave a practiced cheer that made the chief smile slightly, but he kept his face straight as he twirled his harpoon before turning his tail and marched through the village gate with as much confidence as he could muster.  The moment he was out of view his chest deflated, his face sagging with a slump as he trudged his feet with a growing sneer in his lip whilst the dragon walked beside him.  They turned towards east as the sky turned grey, clouds gathering from the Skylands.

        "Monsoon," Lizanaich muttered, "hope ya don't mind getting wet."

        "I'll be fine," said Spyro smirking, "I'm used to the damp, how about you?"

        "Well I grew up in a desert but a li'l water never hurt."

        "Wow really?  What's that like?"

        "Hot.  Burning."  He lifted his head.  "Except the nights, they get cold as shit and you freeze."

        "Sounds pretty rough," the dragon winced.

        "Yeaaaah...alright."  He hoisted his spear over his shoulder and began walking..  "First we gotta get to Oddclaw, he knows how to call the humans, that's like three days going that way.  Normally Ade an' Bose got communicators on 'em but they forgot cuz they're idiots, it happens so we gotta go speak to Oddie.  Then they pick us up, we go to their place an' we see if anyone's got a new skillet that they shouldn't have."

        "Wait, a skillet?" Spyro lifted a foot mid-step.  "I thought a weapon was missing like a sword."

        "Well it was Mohberra's weapon so yeah."

        "Sounds pretty important...never heard of a skillet being a weapon."

        "Much easier to carry than a knife, more useful too, can act as a shield if you're good enough...if you're good enough."

His words repeated with clenching teeth as dragged his lance behind him as he stepped through the hills and waded through marshes in the dips between.  Spyro kept as close as he could, leaping over hills with brief flights and tracking ahead with caution as the rumbling sounds of thunder came with pregnant clouds looming over their heads.  Days passed on their journey to the east, the morn a depressing grey where the sun had long since gone never to be seen.  The nights were colder with howling winds and the scent of rain picking up over the grass with a moistened dew gathering below their feet.  The marsh became flooded, the plains overcome within the first hour of the moonsoon season.

The tropical heat did little to ease their travel, pouring sleets of thickening drops onto their scales that became leaden with the weight of the damp.  Sometimes it fell upon their heads, other times horizontal with winds that turned water into daggers across their teeth, the dragon charging in front of Lizanaich and using his wings as a shield to carve through the shrieking gale.  Sometimes they found a beast to hunt, the lizalfos creeping with his scales changing like a chameleon to fit the environment around him, muddying his body to a pea-soup green to blend with the swampland and chasing after the lonesome beast, raising his spear up high as he plunged through the neck of a wandering foolish parasaurolophus, tearing its throat clean before carrying its body towards a small copse where the trees sheltered them.  Spyro never hunted, an odd reluctance whenever offered but he ate the meat that was roasted over the fire to which Liz offered him, his long golden chameleonic face radiant in the light.  At worst the dragon charged against greater beasts, or roaming packs of predators too numerous to deal with as he frightened them off with cutting swathes of fire that scarpered them.  The third day of their journey had them reach the Skylands, the cave tunnel underneath offering the driest place they had yet as they dragged themselves through with soaking feet and dripping wings.

        "Ugh," the lizalfos wringed out his tail, "this has gotta suck even harder if you got fur."

        "I bet," Spyro shook the rain off like a dog, "hooo, least it's not snowing."

        "Yeah mountain nights...well, actually they're better than desert nights cuz at least mountains got cover."

        "Even the snowing ones?"

        "Nah I never lived that high up."

He brought out flint and tinder from his satchel, striking up a fire in the midst of the long dark tunnel before setting up a spit with iron bars to skewer meat through and start turning over the flames.

        "You know you're pretty good at cooking," the dragon snapped his wings dry.

        "Hah, glad I still got it," said Liz pulling out a bottle.

        "You done this before?"

        "Yeah," he doused the meat with powdered spice, "something I do best."

        "So why'd you quit?" the dragon sat like a sphinx before the fire.

        "Got elected to be leader," Lizanaich shrugged, "wasn't really my choice."

        "Doesn't mean you still can't cook, you're doing it now."

        "Yeaaaah but I get too busy with other stuff, all this planning an' management it's just...hhhh sorry, sorry I've whined enough about this-"

        "It's okay," Spyro smirked, "I feel you, weight of responsibility is hard sometimes."

        "Yeah?  You ever get that too?"

        "Oh, always!  Back home I had lots of people relying on me, and you know, you never ask for it, you just...it's hard to explain."

He scratched the dirt with his claw forming an infinity symbol.

        "You live your whole life thinking that what you're doing now is fine, and no one asks anything more of you.  Then something big happens, something beyond what you thought could happen and then suddenly you're...just dragged into some kinda fight, then a battle for everything you've known, everything you loved and then you just have to keep fighting.  And if you stop even for one second then it's all over, you lost, the darkness comes and takes everything away.  It's-"

        "Exhausting," Liz sighed rubbing his head, "and like, you got friends who can help, give advice, carry some of the burdern but it's just not enough, you're still carrying most of it."

        "Right!"  Spyro grinned making another side-8.  "But you do it because you're the only one, you know that deep down, there's no one else because they chose you."

        "But you ever wish they didn't?"

        "A few times, yeah.  But what's worse, being exhausted, or losing everything?"

        "Both."  The lizard kept turning the spit.  "What if you get too exhausted and then you lose everything anyway?"

        "That's why you have friends."  The dragon dug a line through both infinities.  "Friends are what keep you going, friends are the ones you can talk to when it gets too much.  I wouldn't have gotten to the end without my friends."

Lizanaich looked past the fire to see the sketch of a dragonfly.

        "It's okay to ask for help, as much as you need to.  Anyone who thinks less of you for doing that is, well, not worth listening to."

        "Heh...you really think so?" Liz rubbed his neck.

        "I know it.  That's how I knew who my friends were."

        "I-i mean, I do ask for help but...I always hate it, it makes me feel like I'm failing them."

        "Well, what are you doing now?"  Spyro swept his paw across the dark.  "You're going out in the wilds trying to help the village-"

        "No.  No I'm not."  The lizalfos pointed at him.  "I'm gonna tell you now, cuz I like you and you'll be heading off soon anyways so it won't matter if I tell ya.  I'm not doing this for the village, this is the one time I got an excuse to be selfish."

He grabbed the meat from the skewer with his bare hand and ripped it clean from the bar to tear in half.

        "I'm doing this for myself, so I can stop holding back on what I want.  What I WANT, is to be with Mohberra again, to be out on the road with the wind at my back and the rain in my face with just him at my side.  I never felt comfortable being stuck in one place for too long.  That's my real problem.  I feel trapped, again, but this time it's my own people doing it.  So just...just once, I wanna walk across the world again.  To get my friend back."

The dragon nodded with a sombre look, taking his half of the meat offered to him as they feasted and slept, readying for the next day as they took the journey southeast across the great plains of long grass closer to the Hunters' Nest.  Dawn never came, the sky consumed by the darkened rain as the grass turned a field of liquid emerald, shining like the serpent's back slithering beneath the light.  The rain was softer than yesterday, but still constant enough to turn their pace to a sluggish turn as they waded through the grass, like parting ocean waves from their thickness.

        "So," Spyro began, "this Oddclaw, what's he like?"

        "Good guy," said Liz, "he's sorta the ambassador round these parts, makes sure everyone's happy."

        "How'd you first meet him?"

        "Weeee uhhhh...kidnapped two of his friends and he came to bust them out, then there was a rebellion and some of us decided yanno, we don't wanna go back and risk being enslaved again or hunted down, so let's stay here!"

        "Ohhh so you guys reformed?"

        "Basically...yeah, that's a good way to put it."

        "Well that's good!" Spyro grinned patting his back.  "Glad to hear, so is there anything I should know before we meet your friend?"

        "MMmmm, well, you said your magic lets you understand anyone right?"

        "Yeah?"

        "Then I think you'll do better than me, alright, so when we meet the guards, just tell them who I am, we need to talk with Oddclaw so he can call the humans.  Just be honest, you got nothin' to worry about if you just say the truth."

        "Alright, got it."

Once they had crossed the length of the grasslands where the scents of the swept far from the south to tingle their nostrils fierce, they came upon two feral raptors with feathered bodies who barked in their direction.

        "HALT!  Who  goes there?!"

        "UH, hi!"  The dragon bowed hiding his teeth.  "My name's Spyro and we need to speak to Oddclaw."

        "For what reason?"

        "My friend here, his name's Lizanaich from the Mohberrin village and something was stolen-"

        "Stolen?!  There are thieves here?!"

        "We ain't got no stinkin' thieves!" snarled the other guard.

        "No, no I meant we're LOOKING for a thief somewhere else!" Spyro raised his paws up.  "But we have to talk to the humans, we think they might have seen the thief."

        "Hmmmm..." the sound of thunder burned through their ears, "maybe we better check-"

        "Go speak with him," said the guard's brother, "I will keep watch on them."

        "Alright."

The guard headed off showing his thick reddish claws whilst the other remained twitching his deep black tail.  The sky became black as the three of them looked up, flashes of white flickering amongst them as Spyro noted the lizalfos horn tingling with tiny sparks.

        "You gonna be okay in this?" he asked.

        "I mean my spear's gonna be a big conductor," said Lizanaich, "so yanno, maybe I should get some cover."

        "What about your body, does it attract lightning?"

The pale lizard turned to him with a lemon-tipped scowl.

        "Right, because lightning attracts lightning, hey uh quick question what happened when you breathed fire on my fire last night?"

        "Uhhhh...n-nothing-"

        "Yeah exactly, chemistry come on you gotta know this stuff!"

        "I was just checking!"

        "Well check less, I know my element you stay in yours!"

        "Uhh...MY element?" the dragon cocked his head.

        "Yeah!" Liz threw up his arms.  "I don't ask you if the fire was too hot last night!"

        "Okay okay!"

        "Alright I'm back!"  The guard returned.  "You both follow me, don't go wandering off-"

        "Would it be alright to ask for shelter?" asked Spyro.

        "I'm taking you through the nests to the trees, you can't stay in our territory but we'll let you go to the trees for shelter."

        "Thank you."

        "I must warn you," said the other raptor, "you are not to approach any of our children, nor stop unless we stop and if you dare try to attack us, we will kill you without a thought."

        "I understand."

They followed behind with their heads bowed, Lizanaich trying to keep his spear as low to the ground as possible in the coming breach of the monsoon.  The raptors hissed in their direction warning the strangers away from their children who snapped and chirped with a curious gleam, sniffing over the purple scales and curled yellow tail that passed them by.  The scents of the rain were fresh upon their bodies as the feathered raptors slipped between nests before reaching the far eastern edge of the territory.  Whilst the ferals did not surprise him for their bestial nature, Spyro was startled briefly by the anthropomorph sitting under the trees amongst a pile of other raptors, one of whom was a smaller version of himself.

        "Hey there," Lizanaich waved, "remember me?"

        "OH!"  The anthro stood up as the other raptors raised their heads.  "So it is you, hello how are you?!"

        "You're gonna have to translate for me," he turned to Spyro.

        "Yeah I figured," the dragon rolled his eyes and turned to the raptor, "so, you're Oddclaw then?"

        "Yes," he offered his hand that the dragon shook, "it is good to meet you, are you a starbeast?"

        "Uhhh, I'm a dragon, does that count?"

        "Are you a flyer?" a young feral with one eye stepped forwards.

        "Yeah, sorry for coming in on a bad day."

        "Thkyfire ith dangerouth to fly in, you thould thtay here until the cloudth are gone."

        "I was thinking that yeah," the drake chuckled keeping his teeth in hiding, "I'm Spyro, nice to meet you all!"

        "Bloodbark told me you want to meet the hairless," said Oddclaw walking back into the woods, "are Adenine and Ribose not there?"

        "They um, I think Lizanaich told me that they don't their...communicators with them?"

        "Ahhh I see."

        "Yeah," the dragon and lizalfos followed in, "I hope that's okay."

        "To catch a thief, of course I would help!  Thieves are the worst creatures!"

        "Sure are," he smirked at the children sniffing over him.

        "Hiiii!" the smaller anthro waved.  "I'm Seaclaw!"

        "Nice to meet you Seaclaw!"

        "You don't like the rain?"

        "I mean I don't HATE it but I sure hope the sun comes back."

        "Mmmm yah!"

        "I love the rain!" a sandy raptor chirruped.  "Makes it more fun to climb the trees!"

        "But it's all slippy an' you fall!"

        "THAT'S why it's more fun!"

        "If you mean breaking your neck like an imbecile," said the grey mother nipping her head.

        "This is what you end up with," said an equally-older female of brown scale, "not keeping them down on the ground like sensible hunters do-"

        "Oh yes just like how YOU taught your son to do that, hmmm?!"

        "I was BUSY raising more children than you have!"

        "Because I only had ONE mate-"

        "Stop fightiiiing!"  Seaclaw jumped between them with a pout.  "Families don't fight!"

        "Exactly my son," Oddclaw patted him, "now uh...Spyro yes?"

        "Ah huh?" the dragon weaved through the ferns.

        "I know a place where you shall be safe until the skyfire is gone, but it is outside of our territory."

        "Alright, how soon can the humans come?"

        "When the skyfire is gone, but I will call them now so they are ready tomorrow-"

KRRRSHHH!

        "A-AAAAAAIIIIIGH!"

The world blinded them in a piercing flash, white screeching noise become flesh as the raptors cowered before a furious flame that roared with a monstrous crackle on the forest's boundary.  The fire swarmed above the nests, embers whispering over the lake as families fled from their nests underneath the monstrous curtain of heat, crackling upwards into the leaves which burst alight in the breaching storm.  The tree started to fall with a shuddering creak, a groaning shriek that swung down upon three nests where several children had stumbled and fallen into.

        "N-NO, NOOOOOOO!"

        "NNNRRRRRAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

Out of the shadows came a flurry of red racing between the children and the burning tree.  The falling trunk suddenly stopped in its descent, looming flames roaring towards the dark heavens as Spyro and Lizanaich watched in shock with the other raptors at the lone figure who stood beneath.  A crimson-backed raptor with silver eyes that pierced through the tree's dying spirit.

        "Not...tonight."

        "A-ALPHA BE CAREFUL!"  The tribe gasped with faces in amber.

        "Just, take your children and get back!"

His face twisted with a conscious effort, shivering through his body as the tree slowly raised itself by some invisible will that shook through the bark with a crunching snap as raptors behind Fishclaw quickly pulled their children out from the nests.

        "W-woah," Spyro whispered leaning forwards, "h-how is he...does he know magic?"

        "He has a friend," said Oddclaw leaning close, "a friend inside of him with great power from the stars."

        "Alright," Fishclaw shuddered, "S-starleaf, help me throw this into the water."

A WOODEN GRAVE        BURNS IN PEACE

The burning trunk suddenly shifted towards the lake, cracking sharp enough to blister their ears as the tree swung hard to fully sever itself from the stump of its roots.  The raptor chief's gaze followed its end into the waters, upending it fully with a tremendous splash that coated the shore with a thick wave that made his tribe scatter back.briefly.  Fishclaw sighed shaking his head with a harsh blink, sniffling a drop of blood from his nostrils as he checked the other trees for any stray flames.

        "Everything is fine now," he said, "stay in the forest or away from it, not near it understand?"

        "Yes alpha," they muttered.

        "These nests here," he made a stick levitate before him and dragged a line deep between him and them, "all these nests here, these are not safe.  If you wish to be near them, you go in the forest like Oddclaw is doing, or else you stay over there closer to me."

        "Yes alpha!"

The raptors slinked half and half between the plains and the forest, avoiding the dead zone their leader had indicated with Fishclaw walking up to Oddie.

        "You always did love the trees, just like our sisters."

        "Well I could climb them," he licked his alpha's cheek, "are you alright?"

        "Ohhhh fine, just another tree on fire."

FATHER KNOWS                OUR STRENGTH

        "And Starleaf always loves to help."  Fishclaw looked past his brother to see the dragon and lizalfos.  "I have not had the chance to greet you, I am the alpha of the Hunters' Nest."

        "I'm Spyro and this is Lizanaich," the dragon bowed deep, "we just came to contact the humans, we won't be staying in your territory."

        "Thank you, I appreciate that.  Not that we do not enjoy having visitors, but this is not a good night with the skyfire upon us."

        "I understand, thank you for letting us through."

        "I hope you sleep well and to be safe."

The alpha barked a soft goodnight before turning back towards the open regions of the nest to rejoin his family.  Oddclaw in turn led Spyro and Lizanaich further and further outwards through the darkened glade before they stopped, climbing up a tree trapped within gnarled roots to grab a small black stone he held to his ear.  A brief conversation came that Spyro deigned not to listen to out of courtesy, before Oddclaw ended his call and put the radio back in the tree.

        "They will arrive tomorrow," the raptor said, "at the sands north of here."

        "Thank you Oddclaw," the dragon nodded, "really appreciate this."

        "Here is where you shall sleep," he pointed towards a a thick dry overhang of roots from a tilted tree, "you will be safe here."

        "Alright.  Well, it was nice to meet you and uh, hope you sleep well!"

        "Night Oddclaw," Liz waved to him, "thanks again for all this."

Oddie nodded sensing his words and waved back, the two reptiles settling in for the night underneath the umbrella of solid earth from a tree that had sharply poleaxed and tore up half its roots.  They said nothing more from the exhaustion that sunk deep into their bones as the water dripped off their scales and into the earth.  The night turned to pitch black as clouds formed en masse to blanket the sky and suffocate the light with flashes of cruel thunderous spears striking across the land.  Fires broke out intermittent, trees and grass set alight like candles in vigil of destruction as creatures hid within caves and forests.  Including one raptor of sickly jaune with a tail made of steel that watched the two strangers from within the woods.

In the Skylands  far away, the pterosaurs had eaten all they could and gathered far more from the sea in preparation of the coming storm, nestling comfortably inside the caves of the caldera's peak whilst the world beneath was consumed by darkness.  When morning arrived it felt like it almost never came, a soulful grey that wrapped the world in a sheet of heavy rain that wore deep on their eyes with an oppressive weight.  But the lightning had gone at least, and with it the humans arrived to meet their newest visitors on the northern beach, the dragon and lizalfos standing alone for the egg-shaped Ducky to embark on the sands as Jane and Jeremy stepped out, the lady producing an umbrella to shield them.

        "Hello there!"  She smiled.  "Gosh it's bloody miserable today."

        "Y-yeah sure is," Lizanaich muttered, "oh hey you're uh speaking-"

        "Yep, collar," she tapped the translator at her neck, "I have one for you for when we get to our base mister Lizanaich."

        "Wow, mister?"  He rolled his eyes in a full swivel.  "Never heard anyone call me that before-"

        "G-guh...h-hoh..." the man in beige uniform clapped his head stepping forwards, "d-draig...draig arall, Duw yn y nefoedd."

        "Uhhh, Jeremy?" she cringed slightly as he approached Spyro.

        "Rydych chi mewn gwirionedd..." he knelt on the beach before him, "draig fyw go iawn."

        "You've never seen one before?" Spyro grinned.

        "//Whuh?!//"  Holt stammered in his Welsh tongue.  "//Y-you understand me?//"

        "Course, I understand all languages, cuz, yanno, magic."

        "//Hoh...ohhhh God in heaven you've blessed this wee man's heart!//"  He took one of his paws and clutched it tight with a smooch.  "//Bless you you beautiful lad for coming here.//"

        "U-u-uhh, th-thank you!"  The drake smirked not daring to move.  "You alright?"

        "Um, he really loves dragons," Jane smiled with awkward shrug, "he's very into the legends of his people."

        "Oh, you have dragons in your world?"

        "No, not...no, we just have stories and myths about them."

        "So what?" Lizanaich shrugged.  "That means they're not real, you had to have made those stories up from someplace."

        "He's right," the dragon gently slipped his paw from Jeremy's grip, "I mean I'm here, from my world, you didn't make me up."

        "No tha-...no."  Her face tightened with a terrifying thought.  "N-no of course not, you're right well then shall we get out of the rain?!"

        "Yeah please I really don't want to fly in all this."

They stepped into the Ducky and headed off over the sea, Jane sitting beside Lizanaich whilst Jeremy took the space immediate next to Spyro, who tried to sit in a seat before deciding to curl up on the floor.  Holt never took his eyes off him, which unnerved him enough to ask:

        "Are you okay uhh...I didn't get your name."

        "//Jeremy,//" he continued in Welsh shaking through his hands, "//Jeremy Holt, born in Brecon, Powys, 1911!//"

        "Ahahaha, I'm Spyro, born in the swamp!"

        "//Well, I'm...hhhhoh god, sorry, sorry I'm not normally like this but...j-just look at you!"  He gestured his hands fierce with a weeping grin.  "Look at you you perfect little lad what a perfect dragon you are just like the ones I dreamed of as a lad!//"

        "Iiii...th-thank you, sorry I don't really know what to say-"

        "Jeremy please," Jane gritted her teeth, "you're embarrassing him-"

        "OH, no I'm not embarrassed!" Spyro grinned.  "I just, never dealt with someone so...friendly, towards dragons."

        "What are people normally like back home?" Lizanaich asked leaning forwards.

        "They either like me enough to talk with me, or try to kill me.  This is the first I've had someone-"

        "Worship you?"

        "I don't...alright, uh, Jeremy?"  The dragon looked up to him.  "I really appreciate your people helping us, but please don't treat me like I'm a king, alright?"

        "//R-right...sorry,//" he wiped his tears with a deep breath, "//just I'm a bit overwhelmed about this, you know, it's, I met a dragon a couple years back but it never really sank in, but there's...there's something about you that...that it reaches deep into me.  S-sorry that actually sounds worse hahahaha, oh god I'm like one o' them fucking Sherlock Holmes fans when they killed 'im off!//"

        "Hey hey, it's okay!"  Spyro patted his knee with plaintive smile.  "I just don't really know how to react, no one's ever been like...THIS excited to see me first ti-well maybe...I think my master Ignitus was but it's been a while.  But, I'm just Spyro, nothing special about me."

        "//Aw come on,//" his moustache widened, "//you're a dragon, you're the most special creatures in all existence!//"

        "What about Oddclaw?" Jane smirked tenting fingers.

        "DON'T!" he shouted in English pointing to her.  "Do NOT test mah fuckin' love for that precious dab!"

        "Hhhahahaha, oh god you really are like a teenager now this is adorable!"

        "AHM NOT ADORABLE PET, YOU CAN IT!"

        "Ugh," the lizalfos cupped his head, "maybe we shouldn't have come."

        "Oh it's fine," Jane patted him, "he'll calm down eventually once he gets out with some space."

        "Ahm not a fuckin' puppy!"

        "Well you're acting like one around him!"

        "He's a FUCKIN' DRAGON!"

        "Hiii," Spyro waved, "this feels awkward!"

        "O-oh I'm so sorry, no no ah didn't mean-uhm, I-i just-"

        "Hey."  The dragon lifted his paw to rub his fingers.  "It's okay.  I get that...this is a big thing for you, but I'm just here to help and to talk with your people, and then I'm heading back home."

        "Right...r-right, sorry, ah didn't mean to make this all awkward, just I grew up on all these stories about your kind, it's like...like seeing your dreams come true."

He held Spyro's paw softly as his breathing steadied.

        "But...I'll try to hold it back a wee bit, sorry fer goin' a bit over."

        "It's okay, I don't mind honestly just...let me get used to things first."

        "Alrigh', thanks...S-spyro, can ah call you that?"

        "Sure, I mean, it's my name!"

The dragon grinned wide with pearly teeth, soothing Jeremy's heart as he laid back against the wall and waited for them to arrive at the base.  The hangar doors opened to allow them inside directly from above, the Ducky landing without a scratch as a motley crew of machines came out to curiously inspect the new passengers whilst rain kept pouring from the outside world, drenching the entire hangar bay in a misting spell before they closed again.

        "Alright," Lizanaich stepped out first with collar attached, "I need to speak to your boss before anything else."

        "Oh, a-alright," Jane took hers off with a click, "may I ask why?"

        "No, this is a serious problem and I gotta talk to your chief about it."

        "Summat about a thief righ'?" Jeremy walked with Spyro in tow.

        "Basically, but that's all I can say."

        "And I need to ask about your portal," the dragon swished his tail, "just so I don't have to worry about being trapped here."

        "Oh you won't be," said Addison raising her hands, "our chief physicist is very reliable, we never had anyone stranded here against their will."

        "She's right," Liz twirled his spear in mid-walk, "I stranded myself here voluntarily, you're fine."

        "We have a meeting set up with both our major-general and our chief physicist so just follow me."

The chieftain stepped beside her as they walked through the halls where guards stood to attention and steel galvanized animals crept along the walls in passing.  Spyro smirked at their unusual designs, one or two dragonflies of metallic sheen that made him chuckle as Holt smiled behind him.

        "Something up?" he asked in his old tongue.

        "Just thinking of my brother," he looked back.

        "Awww whut's he like?"

        "Never knows when to shut up, always says the wrong thing at the best time, but I wouldn't know what to do without him."

        "He not with you now?"

        "I...we went separate ways."  He gave a forced grin.  "I still see him sometimes though, just we ended up with different duties."

        "Whut sorta duties you got?" Holt rubbed his neck.  "Protectin' thuh kingdom or makin' new magics?"

        "Protecting definitely...not sure about making new magic, least not like researching it."

        "An' whut does yer brother do?"

        "He works with the Chronicler, just little things, keeps him busy."

They soon approached a meeting room where two guards stood to attention, one of whom was a giant lizardman that towered over everyone as the humans gave him a nod.

        "Ahhh welcome," a man in dark military clothes welcomed them across the table, "I'm Major-General Brightman, this is Dr. Dixon."

        "Hey," a woman in a long white coat waved from her seat, "first off uhh...Spyro yeah?"

        "Yep," the dragon walked up beside the table.

        "I just wanna say I'm sorry for plucking you outta your world, Oddclaw told me you were worried about not being able to get back."

        "A little bit, but I've been through different worlds before so I know how it is."

        "I can tell you without a doubt we can send you back, just as soon as we figure out what the central anomaly is."

        "Before we get all into that," Lizanaich slapped his hand on the table, "I have something to tell you."

        "Yes," Thomas turned to him, "I admit I was surprised to see you here."

        "I wasn't planning on it, but here we are, so I need to ask you this.  And I want you to be honest."

The humans looked at each other confused with insulted grimace creeping into their faces.

        "Did any of your people come to my village the past week?"

        "Besides Adenine and Ribose?" Dixon crossed her legs.

        "Yeah, I meant humans, did any of your HUMAN friends head out west the past week?"

        "Noooo?" Jane shrugged with a squint.  "No, no I don't think-sir?"

        "No one has left the base this past week," Brightman shook his head, "why do you ask?"

        "Because someone stole Mohberra's skillet from his grave!" the lizard chief thumped his fist leaning forwards.  "Someone, SOMEONE robbed my friend of the one thing he had that was precious to him and we checked around the grave and found SHOE prints!"

        "Wait, what?!"  Addison walked up to him.  "Someone stole something from Mohberra's-"

        "SHOE PRINTS!  And the only creatures around here who have any shoes, are those from your base!"

        "EY-EY you better not be accusin' us of fuckin' graverobbin'!" Jeremy pointed with a snarl.

        "No one else wears shoes in this damn place!" he flicked his tail hard with a warning glint.  "S'not Ade or Bose, the shoes don't match them so you tell me whose they are!"

        "Did you preserve an imprint of the shoes?" asked Thomas tightening his jaw.  "If you had an imprint we could be able to compare and properly investigate before you start accusing us on baseless terms."

        "Well what's it look like to you?!" Liz threw his arms out.  "Someone came to our village, during a battle we had, stole Mohberra's skillet and ran off someplace, and the only clue I got is they were wearing shoes which ONLY you humans wear!"

        "I don't appreciate your tone," said Andrea standing up to face him, "I understand you're upset, but you wanna keep a clear head or else you'll end up losing friends real fast."

        "I just, WANT, his skillet back, I don't even care why it was taken, but there's no other tribe out here that coulda done it!"

        "Maybe there is!"  Spyro put his paws on the table to raise his head.  "You didn't tell them about the shadow apes!"

        "You said they don't wear shoes!"

        "No but what about their commander?!"

        "Wait, wait," Thomas raised his hand, "what was this about shadow apes?"

        "When I got sucked through into your world, there was a horde of shadow apes I was following who had this new commander that might be dangerous."

        "When you say shadow apes," Jane turned clasping her hands, "do you mean actual apes?"

        "Well, sort of," Spyro sat on the floor leaning a front paw on the table, "they're cursed soldiers of an army, they tried to turn on their master and he paid them back with some sort of dark magic to make them walk eternal just...fuelled by hate."

        "But they DIDN'T rob my friend's grave!" Liz shouted with glowing horn.

        "I know they didn't...but you need to calm down, you're not going to get anywhere being angry.  What if one of the humans came to your village shouting at everyone for maybe stealing something, you'd feel pretty bad especially if they only have like, a foot print that could match dozens of people."

        "Lissen to 'im mate," Holt stepped into view with a hand on his heart, "we're not thuh sorta types to go roun' takin' whut we want, not this base.  Besides use yer noggin, whut would WE want with a fryin' pan when we gave you lahk SHEETS o' metal?!  We've got no need fer that, we got our own, check thuh kitchens we wouldn't bother wi' that, we just make our own!"

        "That...that...I-i don't know," the lizalfos stepped back with his horn turning dim, "but I mean, yeah it...it don't make sense any of you would want it...ugh."

He clutched his head and stuttered a soft sigh before slumping into a seat.

        "Sorry I...s-sorry...I just...just, s-someone took my best friend's only thing, the one thing I can remember him by a-and all I wanted was just for him to rest in peace an' someone STOLE FROM HIM!"

He shuddered clutching his face, stifling the brief sob that trickled in the back of his throat as Jane looked with a sigh towards the others.  She patted Lizanaich's shoulder with a firm rub and sat beside him.

        "I'm sorry about what happened.  Can we help?"

        "H-huh?"

        "We have ships and soldiers, we could help you find the thief much faster?"

        "Y-you..." he looked up between his claws, "you're not mad about me accusin' ya?"

        "Well I mean we are insulted yes, but seeing you like this we can't just leave you."

        "Also I'm sure the thief is from my world," said the dragon leaning over, "why else would it get stolen when the apes attacked?"

        "So please, let us help Lizanaich.  If anything just to clear our name."

        "Heh...hhehehe, awww Din dammit," Liz pinched his snout with a deeper breath, "I was all ready to come down and kick all your asses for sumthin' you might not've even did."

        "ATTEMPT to kick our asses," said Thomas crossing his arms.

        "But if you guys can help me I...I-i would really appreciate it.  I'm sorry."

        "It's part of our research anyway," Andrea shrugged sitting back, "if it's related to our new friend and these 'shadow apes', plus that new island that showed up-"

        "Wait, island?"  The dragon stood up facing her across the table.

        "A landmass to the north, floating by itself around two-fifty TEFs in mass."

        "What does it look like, what sort of place?!"

        "We haven't gotten close enough," said Brightman stroking his chin, "some sort of barrier keeps pushing us away and we don't wanna try to break it in case those on the isles reciprocate."

        "I wonder..." Spyro stood up walking towards the general, "can you take me to the island, so I can see it for myself?"

        "You'd rather not fly there yourself?"

        "I wouldn't want to go in alone, you don't know what's there either."

        "Hm.  Smart.  Alright we'll set up a small scouting fleet, the storm's said to be fading out in the afternoon so why don't you both rest here for a while and when the weather clears we'll ship out?"

        "That'd be great!  Thank you."

Taking their leave with the meeting adjourned, Liz followed Jane with Spyro and Jeremy behind as they made their way to a spare set of bedrooms for guests.  They took separate rooms with the lizalfos looking around at the room with a grimace, whilst Spyro sniffed at the chemical scent.

        "Uhhh," Liz looked to Jane, "why do you got no windows?"

        "Structural weaknesses," she shrugged apologetic, "we do have the lights timed to simulate morning ligh-"

        "Ehhh...it's fine yanno what, it's a good bed an' a place to sit, thank you."

        "This is a weird scent," Spyro wrinkled his snout, "did someone mark this place already?"

        "Naw that's just disinfectant," said Holt leaning against the door, "yanno fer lahk bugs an' diseases."

        "Oh right, cleaning stuff...smells sorta like, liquid fire."

        "Yeaaah let's call it that, so uh...is there anything you want, mebbe a drink or...whut do dragons eat or drink?"

        "I mean I'll drink most things," he cocked his head, "I do like meat, most meat for eating anyway so if you have any of that-"

        "Oh we got plenty o' that don't you worry," Jeremy gave a thumbs up, "just holler fer anythin' ya want, I'll be here for ya!"

Sitting up on the bed and circling himself, Spyro took his time to take a brief nap feeling he would get little chance to rest in a clean warm room as he pulled the covers over himself.  The lizalfos was much more restless, sitting at the edge of his bed with his spear cradled against his arm whilst looking down at his feet, crooked toes liked scaled twigs that bent in their flexing.  He did not sleep, sometimes laying on his back to stare at the ceiling whilst other times he rolled to the side before getting up to rustle through drawers and check the large black screen on the wall.  At one point he found buttons underneath the screen causing it to flick on sharp with a scene that startled him, a sunset ocean with the sounds of gentle waves lapping at the shore and a faint cry of gulls from afar.  Lizanaich sat before it, transfixed by its unnatural beauty in high-definition as he tried to peer around the sides in realisiing it was not a window to the outside.  He gasped as something tingled in the back of his mind with faint reminiscence, the scent of the ocean sweeping his face and a husky voice beside his ear.

        Whut do you think is out there?

        Dunno...can't be worse than it is here.

        You wanna go back to the highlands?

        I...I don't know-

        Chuson once told me he saw a map where there's an island waaaay out there in the southeast, like whut if we found our own place?!

        You think we could escape from all this?

        Don't you want to?

        I do but...I...I'm scared Mohberra.

        Scared of whut?

        Everything.  Scared of...scared of losing myself, scared of the blood moon again, scared of not finding a place to live when everyone already hates us for existin-

        Well yer not scared of me, are ya?

        N-no?

        Then you just stay close to me.  I'll keep ya safe Liz.  Promise.

        "Hello um, Liz?"

A knock from the door woke him as he turned.

        "Yeah, what?"

        "Are you alright in there?" asked Jane.

        "Uhhh...y-yeah, sorry."

        "Do you want to talk about it?  You don't have to, but, I'm the chief therapist of the base and well, I did notice you were having...anyways, if you want to talk about anything please feel free to come see me, it'll be completely private-"

The door opened as he looked at her with a blank stare.

        "What sorta work you do as a therapist?"

        "Well," she rubbed her neck, "I listen to people and help them unravel the problems they're having."

        "So like, what, a soothsayer?"

        "Not exactly, I more listen than talk, and study people for problems they're carrying."

        "And what problems do you see me having?"

        "Besides being upset about losing the last physical link to your best friend?"  She crossed her arms as he gulped with silent blink.  "I understand that, and we are going to bring it back to you."

        "Thank you," he sighed rubbing his horn, "I'm sorry again about before-"

        "Oh it's fine we've had worse.  So, do you want to talk?"

        "I don't, know, it's kinda hard to talk about this with someone outside my tribe-"

        "Well, I am here if you want to."  Jane clasped her hands with a patient grin.  "I might not know how it feels to be a leader but...I do understand how it feels to have so many rely on you-"

        "What about being enslaved?"  He tightened his throat and smacked his lips.  "You ever had to deal with that, being forced into a group you never wanted to be part of but because you were born to be, because your existence was nothing BUT to serve some freak who called himself a king and thought the world was nothing but his-"

        "Yes."  She pushed him back and closed the door behind her.          "I know how that feels.  Please."

Sitting on the bed Jane patted at her side for Lizanaich to join her.

        "I'll tell you this, because I know you won't tell anyone else and because you're...well..."

        "Not from your tribe so there's less chance of me blabbing?" he scoffed.

        "Basically yes."

        "Heh...alright, I totally get that, so what you wanna tell me?"

        "Well...when I was born...I..." she took a deep breath and tightened her fists, "my family, my original family was part of the Reeds of the Oaken Wool.  They were...they, were a cult, basically."

        "Woah, really?"

        "They cut us off from the rest of the world," Jane leaned forwards, "a village run by this...demented person that claimed he would birth a 'new awakening' for humans that were free of sin.  Can tell you that was a load of bollocks."

        "How long were you...there for?"

        "Seven years.  I don't know half the things they did, but I've suspected stuff for years, little things I still remember.  I can't listen to christmas albums without having a fit, well, not all of them, just the ones where it's like a choir or a small group."

        "Ahhh huh," he flicked his tongue against his cheek.

        "My own parents weren't allowed to have me because I was part of the leader's...flock of new beings, it was just so...sinister.  Not that they cared, they gave me away without even saying anything, so wrapped up in his freakish bloody cult that they didn't even care about me.  I wasn't allowed to leave his house, he made us all call him O Great Father and if we...didn't...do what he...no, no."

She stood up with bittering tears marching to the door.

        "I'm sorry, no I-i-i thought, I thought I could do this I'm sorry-"

        "W-wait, wait."  Liz grabbed her arm carefully and stood up beside her.  "You don't have to tell me anything alright, I believe you."

        "No, I...god, dammit NO!"

Jane pulled away with a seething face.

        "I am SUPPOSED to be helping you, not breaking down like a sodding teen when you just needed someone to listen!"

        "I mean you are making me feel better in a weird way cuz I know how you feel-"

        "No, NO, I buggered this up, I've massively FUCKED this up, I thought I could do this, just tell someone about it for once like, like, like a bonding experience to sympathise but I can't even do it, with someone from another bloody world!"

        "HEY!"  He grabbed both her arms with a little shake as he stared at her face.  "Calm down what's your problem?!

        "N-NOTHING, LET ME GO!"

        "Look I don't care if you just wanna go to pieces, it's fine I won't tell anyone."

        "That's not the POINT!"

        "Well what was it then?!"  He shook her hard.  "What was the point sharing yer sob story with me if it wasn't just to show me it's okay to lose it?!"

        "I'M A PROFESSIONAL!"

With a burst of fury she slammed her metal fist into his chest, knocking him back with a stagger as she slumped against the door and clutched her mouth.  Then she broke into tears with her arms wrapped round her knees, huddling against her body as he sat back on the bed corner closest to Jane with a sigh and a shake of his head, waiting for her to compose herself before he spoke a few minutes after.

        "I'm supposed to be professional too."  He propped his head with his hands.  "Meant to be the leader of my village an' I go on a one-fos warpath thinking you all would just hand it over when I threaten ya, never mind you all got these guns an', armours an' whatnot."

        "Hmph...was that really your plan?"

        "I mean yeah I thought I could scare you guys with my lightning stuff."

        "You know I can make fire from this right?" she waved her steel fist.

        "Nope.  But that wouldn't surprise me hah."

        "Hahaha...god...I'm sorry."  She winced grabbing her hair.  "I really did not mean to go like this, I just thought I could but apparently I'm not ready to talk about it fully."

        "It's fine," the lizalfos shrugged, "I won't tell anyone, though I dunno how many heard ya."

        "Hah, oh god I hope no one did."

        "I'll just say you were helping me rehearse, yanno like uhhh...what you call one o' them self-coaching things?"

        "Ahahare you serious?!" she smirked reluctant.

        "Why not, you didn't say anything else to me," he gave a wink from his pointed eye, "and that's all we did, right doc?"

        "Right.  Th-thank you."  Jane pushed herself up with a deep sigh and a clap to her cheeks.  "Alright, um...do you want anything, maybe some food or-"

        "Yeaaah actually I am kinda hungry, let's see what you got."

As the lizard and the therapist walked off towards the cantina, a soldier marched towards her general's office with a salute and a murmur that the guards caught.  Brightman looked up with a stern expression as he had his sentries follow him, heading through the base as Jeremy caught sight to follow up after them.

        "Ey up whut's goin' on?"

        "We have visitors," said Thomas, "get your weapon and meet us at the front."

Four humans and a lizardman stomped towards the entrance of the T.E.A.R. base without a word exchanged more between them.  Soldiers saluted in passing whilst civilians gave a curious look, wondering but also knowing better than to get involved as they huddled up in their spaces as Thomas stepped out into the soft rain of a clearing sky.  One of the guards at the fence saluted then pointed over to the west.

        "They came from the islands sir, said they were delivering a message to the commander."

        "Are they armed?"

        "Close combat, no guns but our scouts spotted possible drones from above, they're not alone."

        "Keep me posted."

Approaching the gate of the fence, Thomas would be surprised by a dwarfed legion of bipedal rhinoceroses if not for their previous visitors of the day.  With orange skin and at an average height of around 4 feet, he would not consider them even the least bit intimidating with their stone-shaped armour and a mixture of swords and clubs in  their motley crew, even less so for them being outside of the fence.  The few rhinos who were threatening would tower at a bizarrely opposite height of 7 feet, four of them cracking their knuckles and wielding large axes, with one of the six smaller rhinos waddling forward to the gate with a rather impressive red suit and a hat of swashbuckling derring-do.

        "ARE YOUUU the commandant of this STAHSIYON!?"

Jeremy struggled not to smirk from his voice which sounded exactly like a minion.

        "I am," Thomas swept his hands behind his back, "identify yourself."

        "I am the eminenterial messenger," he swept his hands like a matador, "of the GREAT and mighty ruler of the Radiant Isles of whom his name you are not FITTEST to receive until our transaxiyon has come to pass!"

The general stiffened his arms and looked up towards the heavens as if demanding why.

        "Why have you come here then?"

        "Our scoutations have come aware to a most FIENDISH-CLAD beast within your stahsiyon, a dreaded purplesome beast whose name I darest not to speak!  YOUUU will handeth him over, and in return we shall not impugn upon you a most, imminent, harmful occurrence mmmhmmyes."

The following "mmhmmyes" went rippling through the rhinos as the humans all looked to each other with casual disbelief.

        "What exactly sort of beast are you asking for?" Thomas asked.

        "DO NOT!" he swished his sword.  "ASSUMASIZE that I am an ignoronimus, our scoutations WITNESSED, upon their moist ocular eyes that very beast entering your premisories!"

        "And what would happen if we refused to cooperate?" he put his a hand on his hip close to the gun.  "I would hope your scouts also have seen that we are well-armed and armoured in this place."

The fop blew a whistle that pierced through the air as there came the sound of something from above, droning constant noise that grew louder in its descent as the dots in the sky grew with a dull steel gleam upon them.  A flotilla of helicopters, small enough to house two rhinos each, chugging constantly with a set of missiles upon each.  Then they separated to reveal their entire underside was a small tank, packing a barrel and a chaingun to form eight single machines of fierce intent.

        "Need I explanatory any further?!" the rhino in the hat swished his blade.  "If you would be so generitorious to fetch the beast of which I explained earlier."

        "How very cute," Thomas smirked, "an aerial squadron, and you decided NOT to drop the tanks inside of the base."

        "That is becau-..." his face dropped with a glass-shattering sound in his head, "TH-THAT IS BECAUSE I AM OFFERING YOU A PARLEYMENT, YES YES, this was ENTIREFULLY planned, I am not an unreasonous fool!  BUT IF YOU FORCEFIELD MY HAND THEN WE SHALL OBLITEREEN THIS PLACE!"

        "YEAH MAYBE YOU'LL FIND A DICTIONARY HERE!"

        "WHAT, WH-WHO, WHO UTTERED THIS?!"

        "YOU MIGHT FIND A BETTER HAT IN THIS PLACE TOO, D'YOU LET A SEAGULL DIE ON YOUR HEAD OR YOU WEARIN' IT FOR A BET?!"

        "I WILL NOT LET YOU MOCK THE HABERDASH, SHOW YOURSELF!"

He swung his sword with brigand fury as the soldiers looked about themselves, not recognising the voice but seeming to come from the sky as they turned their heads looking everywhere amongst the greying clouds.

        "COWARDLING!" the rhino stomped marching on the beach.  "FACE ME FACE TO FACE WITH YOUR SPURMINOUS FACE!"

        "THAT SOUNDS REALLY GROSS BUT OKAY, YOU ASKED FOR IT!"

        "TH-THERE, OVER THERE!"

One of the soldiers pointed to a small creature that had climbed the radio tower above the base, launching itself to glide across the air before suddenly dropping to a divebomb with such force that it shattered completely through one of the helicopters, crushing the pilot's face with a crying shriek before grabbing the spinning rotor blade and hurling it towards another chopper to pierce through the fuselage and send it screaming downwards amongst the group of rhinos, the pilots scrabbling out to pat themselves down in screaming panic from the flames.

        "IT'S HIM, THE DRAGON!"

        "WAIT, WOT?!" Holt cried struggling to get a look.

        "Keep your weapons up," Thomas ordered as the soldiers aimed, "do not shoot unless they try to break in."

        "SO!"  The rhino in the hat swung his sword towards the flaming wreckage.  "WE FINALLY MEET FOR A CONSECUTIVE TIME, SCALED FIEND!"

        "What?"  A shadow grinned from the flames.  "You sound like you got abducted by space cows or something, could you not try to shove a whole book down my ears?"

        "SILENCIUM!"  He barked thrusting at the being.  "YOUR CONQUESTDOM HAS ENDED!"

        "I haven't even STARTED!"

The sabre swung forth right when the shadow ducked, slamming his horns against the flat side of the blade to throw the foppish rhino off and slammed straight into his stomach with a sudden charge to roll him backwards.  The rhinos came after him all at once as he backed up into the fire and flapped his wings hard to make them surge with monstrous strength, roaring to a curtain of red that terrified them briefly when the attacker puffed a thicker draught of flame from his nostrils, further arousing the blaze to the point it blinded the helicopters.

        "I CAN'T, I CAN'T SEE-"

        "BOSS IT'S GETTING HOT WE GOTTA BACK OFF!"

        "GET THE TANKS THEN, JUST SHOOT HIM, SHOOT HIIIM!"

The crawlers all took aim towards the firey shadow and peppered a volley of bullets through a triple-cross, pinging against each other with dangerous velocity as the soldiers immediately backed off from the fence, watching the reckless standoff between four tanks as the shadow leapt onto the wreck of the copters and barrelled straight towards one of the machines.  Slamming his horned head into the top of the tank, he vaulted off to stand at the front and suddenly turned round swishing his tail in a mocking tease at its long barrel.  It was then the humans got a proper look at a small four-legged purple dragon.

        "HEY, come on, what are ya chicken?!"

        "FIRE, FIRE NOW!"

Before the cannon blasted, the dragon rolled to the side with surprising speed by tucking his wings against himself, balling up as the cannon's shot went straight across the beach to directly hit another tank with a popping explosion, crumbling black steel smoking as a rhino staggered climbing out with a wheeze and a shake of its fist towards its friend.

        "YOU IMBESAILS!" the fop in the hat screeched.  "THE DRAGON, THE FIEND OF THE WINGS, SHOOT HIIIM!"

The helicopters soon returned with fluttering wings as they took aim with their chainguns, whirring with a shrieking volley of raining fire that the dragon ran in a wide circle across the beach, constantly weaving and swerving his body like a world-class sheepdog much to the frustration of the pilots who peppered the length of the shore with bullet holes behind him.  They slammed a button on their controls to fire off a miniature volley of missiles, fireworks essentially become weaponised with an extra punch of gunpowder as they went howling through the air like banshees of the mist.  The drake flapped hard to one side as a burst of colour went flying past, rolling to the other side when the second screamer flew by his cheek before jumping with a double-flap of his wings for a third to fly straight underneath.  But the fourth he was waiting for, ducking to roll onto his back and grab the straying firework by its tapered end before he swung himself round to aim it straight back at the chopper.  The rhino jumped with a frightening scream, bailing out as the missile shot straight into the cockpit with an explosion of New Year's beauty, lighting the dreary afternoon sky with a splash of six colours.

        "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" the rhino leader shrieked.  "FIGHTERS, GLADIATE HIM, EXCRUTIONISE HIM NOW!"

The horde of ten rhinos in the infantry came charging en masse, hoping to frighten the dragon by their numbers as he rolled his eyes and sat down to lick his paw.

        "Ohhh I'm SOOOO scared I've NEVER fought ten of them at once, ohhh jeeeez what should I-BOO!"

He ducked into the sand and scooped with his wings to splash the smaller rhinos with a storm of dust, blinding them with a shriek as the ones who kept charging soon met a a furious set of horns that slammed into their stomachs, knocking down three in a row that sent them bowling into the horde with a five-two split, clattering heads and rattling armour that left them all stunned on the beach.  One of the big rhinos came lumbering faster than the others with a mighty axe, roaring as he cleaved down upon the dragon's head as he dodgerolled fast with wings wrapped around his belly and a tidal wave of sand bursting from the axe's crunch.  The dragon belched a brazen blast of fire from his snout to char his foot, making him yelp and swing powerfully hard in a circle as the drake flattened his body to feel the singing song of steel sweep straight past his back, watching the lumbering oaf swing too hard to almost send himself off balance before he jumped onto the horizontal axe, then onto the shoulder of the odious rhino and burned his face point-blank with a violent snort.  Clutching his face he yelled with burning agony, frantically running towards the water as the dragon climbed onto his head and leapt off high as he could to glide straight towards the second ogre-sized beast, diving headfirst with a crunching slam into the rhino's head that sent a horrible shudder through his body like a bell being rung.

        "RISE AND SHINE MEATHEAD!"

        "A-AAAAAAARRRRGH!"

The dragon's scream in his ear made things worse as he staggered off in a daze, swinging his axe in a desperate attempt to unbalance the purple lizard now sitting upon his head.  One of the three remaining tanks took aim upon him, and with the widest smuggest shit-eating grin he nodded knowing exactly what it wanted to do.  But the rhino he was on top of soon turned to find the barrel aimed upon him as he shrieked waving his hands and cowering in surrender.

        "STAND STILL!" the gunner shouted.  "THIS WON'T HURT A BIT!"

        "Iiii don't trust this barber of yours," said the dragon to the fearful rhino, "I mean look, you don't even HAVE hair, why would you need one?!"

        "FIRE!"

        "NOOO!"

The rhino ducked immediately as the dragon jumped, spiralling through the air before he went downwards in a divebomb attack that plummeted so sharp it cracked the barrel in half, snapping it like a twig just before it had the chance to fire.  The result was a violent explosion that detonated the tank itself, obliterating the shell as well as the driver within as the dragon was thrown aside from the shockwave, rolling across the beach to find nothing but a black circle of ash that made the rest of the rhinos shudder in fright.  The last two tanks along with the remaining chopper came towards him in a prime offensive, threatening to unleash all of their firepower at once on their fanficul commander's orders.

        "FIRE, FIRE, DESTRUCTIFY HIIIIM!"

Before they could fire, a gunshot rang out across the bay and the helicopter suddenly exploded from its small fuselage, screeching down towards a tank where the driver hurriedly escaped before being crushed by the machine as they all looked back towards the base where Chanoch took aim with his rifle.  The rest of the soldiers were now aiming in turn except for Jeremy, blankly staring in disbelief with his mouth hanging open.

        "I think that's enough," said Thomas with his handgun out, "seems like your forces had a little problem."

        "NO, NO YOUUUU ARE THE PROBLEM!" screeched the fop.  "WHEN LORD HEKTORE KNOWS THE TRUTHIFICATION OF YOUR TRANSGRASSIYON, YOU SHALL NEVER  BE RECEIVING THE MERCIOUS OF HIS-A-AAAAIIIIIGH!"

He suddenly felt a burning scar rip through his rear and score up his back, burning the top of his head as he stumbled away in fright to find that his beloved hat had turned to cinders.  The soldiers started to laugh when the rhino turned exposing his burnt outfit to now have its entire back gone to expose his naked peachy rump.

        "Y-you, YOUUUU!" he screamed finger-pointing the dragon who smiled with smoking nostrils.  "I HAVE HAD IT WITH YOUUUU!"

Dropping his sword he went straight for the punch, yelling a war cry as he came running with fist held high ready to slam down upon the scaly head.  The dragon let him come within the last two inches before he suddenly punched with his front paw, knocking him on the jaw with a brief stun before a second punch walloped his eye and sent him flat on his back.

        "I think they're good now!" he shouted to the humans.  "They're not gonna be any trouble now, are ya?!"

        "N-noooo?!" one of the rhinos quivered.

        "So you're just gonna drop your weapons and let those guys over there take you in, just until we all get you back home, right?"

        "R-r-right, yes, y-yes mister dragon sir p-please don't burn me!"

        "Naaah, I won't," he craned his head with a toothy grin, "long as you don't cause any trouble for them."

They nodded with a rising panic as they disarmed themselves and the one remaining tank was discarded by its owner, the dragon walking past them as he waved to the humans.

        "ALRIGHT IT'S ALL GOOD, THEY GIVEN UP!"

        "Hmph," Thomas smirked with a nod as he holstered his gun, "alright all of you get out there and bring them in, should be enough space in the brig."

        "Yes sir!"

The squad opened the gate and headed over to the rhinos with guns still aimed upon them, Chanoch taking the largest of them and putting their arms behind their back in a quiet arrest as he ordered them to peacefully follow.

        "Hooo," the dragon pranced towards the major-general with a widened grin, "those rhynocs would be a real problem if they ever started thinking for themselves!"

        "Indeed," Brightman nodded, "thank you for your assistance."

The dragon before him was both familiar and yet not in ways he could not quite determine until he got a closer look at him.  Compared to the other visitor his colours seemed more muted, his wings and body smaller by at least foot and his snout a much stubbier square with horns that forked directly upwards like rods of lightning.  Thomas looked back towards Jeremy, still gawping in what was essentially a blue screen error to his brain with blank eyes that stared through the newcomer.

        "So uhh what'd those guys want with you?" the dragon asked.  "Heard them talking about a beast you guys got in there."

        "That is quite the question," Thomas put a hand to his chin, "considering the answer."

        "Yeah?" the stranger raised his brow.  "What answer's that?"

        "Well they were wanting a purple dragon.  But now I'm not sure if they wanted you or the other one in here."

        "Wait, wait!" he slapped his paws on the sand.  "You got a dragon in there?!"

        "He's fine don't worry," Thomas waved his hand, "he came to us for help, I don't suppose he's a friend of yours?"

        "I mean, I know a lotta dragons if you gimme a name that'd help."

        "Spyro, that ring a bell?"

The purple dragon blinked with a smirk and a soft chuckle in his throat.

        "Tha...that-okay that's kinda weird."

        "So you know him?" Thomas asked.

        "Well yeah, I mean cuz...that's, my name, I'm Spyro."

        "THERE'S TWO OF THEM?!"  Holt's screaming Welsh rebooted his mind.

        "Whaddaya mean TWO?!" Spyro shouted back at him.  "You sayin' you got another purple dragon in there called Spyro, come on don't be stupid!"

        "Jeremy," Brightman turned to Holt, "could you get our new visitor to come out and say hello?"

        "D-d...DAU?!"  He frantically gestured between the dragon and the base.  "J-JUH, SIR, FUCK!"

        "THAT'S ENOUGH!"  He snapped his finger hard at the sergeant.  "Just, get him and explain that he has a visitor."

        "...dau.  Dau o hynny."

He lurched back towards the base with a staggering gait, hunched over with his soul feeling like it was torn in half from the shock as the commander turned back towards the dragon.

        "Your friend alright?!" he asked.  "Look like he seen a ghost."

        "He's just having a very emotional day, I'm Major-General Brightman of the T.E.A.R. base."

        "So you're an army."

        "Yes, do you come from the island that appeared in the north?"

        "Nope, I'm from the Dragon Realms and none of that came with me when I got sucked through this portal-"

        "Ahhh yes, that was us, my apologies."

        "Ohhh."  He rolled his eyes with a long huff.  "Lemme guess, you guys wanted a dragon too to stop some half-pint from taking over?"

        "Uhhh, no," Thomas shook his head as rhynocs shuffled past, "we're trying to get back home to our world and our portal technology isn't up to snuff."

        "UGH tell me about it!" he cried looking at the soldiers filing into the base.  "I mean, it wasn't MY portal but I totally know how you feel."

        "Well that's good to hear, don't worry we'll get you back as soon as we figure out where everyone is."

        "Wait, what do you mean everyone?"

        "Well that floating island for starters, the rhinos came from there and I wanna talk to their leader-"

        "Oh yeah, I wanna word with them too, they're up to something and I know it stinks!"

        "These guys gave you trouble before?" Thomas thumbed at the rhynocs in cuffs.

        "Sorta," Spyro shrugged combing his head with a paw, "not much trouble really, just this sorceress a while back, but once they got no leader they're a bunch o' wimps."

        "So they have a new leader you think?"

        "Oh I know they do, I saw the guy giving them orders before we got sucked up to here!"

        "HOI!"  Holt's voice came shouting from the door.  "HERE HE IS, JUST TO PROVE AHM NOT GOIN' CRAZY!"

        "Thank you sergeant!"  The general looked back as he invited Spyro to the base.  "Our other friend is here so if you could just tell me if you recognise him-"

        "Sure," he trotted beside him at knee height, "but I'm the only purple dragon I know so I'm thinking maybe I don't......wait, what?"

Standing at the door was one purple dragon, the first one who came as he carefully stepped out onto the sand lowering his head with a curious tilt of his neck.  The second dragon stopped, but tensed his claws with a squint as they faced each other directly with a foot of height between them.  They looked to their horns, then their tails and finally to their eyes both reflecting amethyst.  Holt sat at the door grabbing his head as if trying to stop his brain from leaking out whilst Thomas reeled back slightly tapping fingers at his temple.

        "You're..." the first Spyro muttered.

        "Are you for real?" the second Spyro gasped.  "Is...th-they said your name was Spyro?"

        "Yeah, um...who are you?"

        "Spyro.  The...dragon?" he patted his chest.

        "But my name is..." the taller one scratched his head, "like, Spyro with a Y?"

        "No with a zed, what do you think?!"

        "I mean there's lots of ways to spell a name."

        "More like lots of WRONG ways that don't spell with Y," the shorter one sat on his haunches.

        "Well that's my name too," the first Spyro chuckled sitting opposite of him.

        "What the hell is going on?" muttered Brightman.

        "You tell me!" they both turned to him with the same voice.

        "Alright just stop, stop," he put his hands up with a heavy sigh, "let's just get both of you inside and then we'll all explain what we're doing."