Spyro: The Dragon Trio of Avalar

by Blackdrag-rose

Dragon: Fairies and Towers

Spyro headed back to where Lateef had been trapped and found the portal to Lofty Castle, the realm that he would be taking on by himself while Spike dealt with Haunted Towers and Ember focused on Dark Passage, though the moment he was in front of the portal he walked through it and headed to his destination, to see what sort of foes he had to face and what sort of challenges awaited him. He already knew that there was no reason to worry about his siblings, as he knew that both Spike and Ember would be tackle everything that rested in the realms they were heading to and that they wouldn't rest until they collected every piece of stolen treasure, which was what he intended to do when he appeared at the starting area of his destination. Considering his earlier frustration, mostly due to the hidden paths that were in Tree Tops, he was hoping that this realm wasn't as bad as Tree Tops, or maybe even easier than that realm, but he had to wait and see what sort of dangers were waiting for him in Lofty Castle, though with Sparx at his side, and the teachings of the older dragons in his mind, he was sure that he would be able to restore order to the realm he was heading to, just like he and his siblings had done to the realms they had visited so far.

It didn't take him long to appear at the starting area of Lofty Castle, where he discovered that he was standing on a small floating island, almost like the areas he and his siblings had used to get around the central hub area of the Dream Weavers homeworld, before focusing on the structure in front of him. From what he could tell the castle that this realm was named for was gigantic and had golden roofs that rested on white colored walls, almost looking like it was something that had been pulled out of someone's dreams, and considering this homeworld he knew that it was entirely possible for that sort of thing to happen, though he had to admit that this place was beautiful in it's own way. Spyro also had to assume that this realm made use of the floating islands between the parts of the castle, though once he came to that conclusion, which would be proven true or not by the time he reached the area that the exit portal was in, he started to explore the area around him as he focused his mind on what he and his siblings did in the other realms, and to start him off he smashed the pair of normal chests that were near him and collected the gems that were inside them. From there he jumped up onto the platform that was to his right and picked up the gems that were laying on the ground, before finding three more near a whirlwind platform that would take him to the next part of this realm, even though he found something that captured his interest for a few seconds.

Floating nearby was a ball shaped creature that had no legs, meaning that it's legs likely allowed it to float at all times, and while it had a beak shaped mouth it had a lion's tail, making Spyro wonder who had come up with sort of creature in the first place, before he sighed and flamed the creature, where the fallen gem confirmed that it wasn't the original, that it was one of Gnasty Gnorc's creations, before he jumped back to where the whirlwind platform was located and used it to move forward as he continued exploring this realm.

Using the whirlwind allowed him to reach a small island that was floating slightly above where he had started, while at the same time heading towards the castle itself, though on the other end of the island rested a Gnorc that was floating up and down in the air, with some sort of Gnorc shaped balloon, though the fact that he was wearing armor and a shield meant that he couldn't deal with him the normal way. Of course Spyro immediately found out what he needed to do to take this particular foe out, as all he had to do was wait for the balloon Gnorc to descend until the balloon was aligned with where he was standing, giving him the perfect opportunity to flame the balloon and destroy it, causing the unfortunate Gnorc to drop out of the air. In that moment, as Sparx picked up the gems that had been in front of him, Spyro found that there was a limit to how far a Gnorc could fall before it reverted back to it's original gem form, which changed direction and came back up to where he was standing, which allowed Sparx to collect it, telling Spyro that all he had to do was force the Gnorcs to fall to a certain point and he'd get the gems they had been made from. With that in mind he turned his attention to the path he was following and glided over to a sightly larger island that had two of the puffer birds flying around the area he would be walking through, though as soon as he landed he proceeded to flame the pair and clear the area of enemies so he could collect the nearby gems and then glide over to the next island to pick up a few more gems, before he took in what was near his position.

He found several puffer birds and a balloon Gnorc in the area that he would be heading to, along with a few red skinned creatures that were flying, devil cupids as he was sure Spike and Ember would call them if they were here, but what really interested him was the fact that there were a number of iron cages that were scattered around the area in front of him, each with a fairy locked inside them.

"I'm going to have to ask Spike if he has any idea why Gnasty Gnorc would order his minions to capture all of these fairies and what he could use them for," Spyro commented, because it really didn't make sense to him, especially when he considered everything that he and his siblings had seen since they started this adventure, before he sighed and glided over to the area in front of him, so he could take out the enemies and free the fairies from the cages.

As soon as he landed Spyro jumped into the air and charged through the imp cupid that was nearby, before turning around and flamed the puffer bird, to clear the immediate area of foes, which gave him the chance to smash the cage that the fairy was trapped in, who smiled at him as she headed off to a nearby platform that looked like the whirlwind platform he had used earlier, only it had no whirlwind. Spyro paused for a second, wondering if he had found the answer to his own comment already, before turning around so he could face the path that was behind him, as there were a few more cages to smash and a few more enemies to deal with, before this part of the realm could be finished off. At the other side of the island he found one of the imp cupids floating in the air, guarding the next fairy, including what appeared to be a fireworks box and a pair of normal chests, where he simply flamed the foe that was in his way, ignited the fireworks box, and smashed the cage that was two small islands higher in the air than where the imp cupid had been floating. The instant the fairy was freed from her cage, and was allowed to rejoin the other one at the platform, Spyro jumped back down for a moment and picked up the gems that had been freed from the chests, before jumping back up to where the second fairy had been imprisoned and then glided to where the third fairy was trapped, while at the same time flaming the balloon of a balloon Gnorc that was in the way.

With that enemy taken out, and the final fairy freed after he landed on the island, Spyro waited for the three fairies to work their magic and watched as they restored the whirlwind to the platform he had spotted a few moments ago, before they nodded their heads and departed for another part of the realm, though in that instant he noticed they were all wearing yellow dresses, meaning they weren't Fairy Princesses or even the Fairy Queen that Spike had told him and Ember about, to which he jumped down into the whirlwind and used it to reach the next area of this realm.

When he touched down on the ground once more, or in this case a stone walkway that was connected to the center of the area he was in and to the other side as well, and rested above a lower area he might want to investigate before he moved forward again, he found a trapped dragon to his right and tapped the statue instantly. The dragon that he freed was larger than some of the dragons he and his siblings had freed in the past, though at the same time he wore a blue vest and it appeared that both of his wings and both of his horns weren't actually real, as they appeared to be made out of some sort of plush material, and he was playing with a fairy doll the moment he was freed. The only thing that Mudada, the dragon in question, had to say was that fairies were always on his side, though while Spyro agreed with him he had to wonder why he needed to be told that piece of information, especially since Gnasty Gnorc's forces were capturing the fairies that called this realm home and were preventing them from reactivating the whirlwinds, which they would do once he freed them from their iron cages. Once he voiced his agreement to what Mudada had said, even if he felt there was no reason for the fairies to join forces with Gnasty Gnorc's forces, the now freed dragon opened his wings and took off, which just confirmed that the material that made up his wings had been enchanted in some manner and allowed him to fly like a normal dragon, causing Spyro to sigh as he focused on the area in front of him once more.

The first thing he did was advance on the pair of devil cupids that were in the middle of the upper walkway that he had landed on a few moments ago, where he flamed the both of them after dodging their arrows, before smashing the two metallic chests they had been guarding and then jumped down into the area that was below where Mudada had been trapped, so he could take out the enemies and free the fairies. He immediately repeated what he had done before dropping down here, where he dodged the arrows of three more devil cupids and then flamed them when they started to nock a new arrow, before breaking the iron cage that was in front of him, freeing the fairy that was inside it, and then smashed the pair of gem chests that were near him so Sparx could collect the fallen gems. From there he found a hidden area, with an imp cupid guarding an iron cage, so Spyro chuckled for a moment as he took care of his foe and then freed the trapped fairy, but once that was done he turned around and headed back to the deactivated whirlwind platform so he could find the third fairy for this area. Near the platform he found a pair of normal chests, which he smashed open, and a small tunnel that ran under the walkway he had been on a few moments ago, though on the other side he found the third trapped fairy and freed her without delay, before exploring the rest of the area and found a locked chest, meaning that he needed a key to unlock it, due to the padlock on it.

From there, once the area was cleared of enemies and chests, Spyro returned to the whirlwind platform and used it to get up to where Mudada had been imprisoned, where he headed over to where the metallic chests had been resting earlier and then glided over the small gap in front of him, though when he landed he let Sparx pick up the gems that were around him as he took in the area that they would be exploring next.

Instead of jumping down and heading to the right, where a few whirlwind platforms rested, Spyro jumped down and headed to the left, where he charged through four puffer birds and then flamed the imp cupid that was at the end of the line, allowing him to jump up onto the walkway in front of him, which seemed to be connected to a tower. He checked to his right, to be sure there was nothing near that side of the walkway, before heading to the left and continued walking along the path he had discovered, only to find an entrance to the tower and a set of stairs, which lead him to a trio of gems that were picked up in no time. From there he turned around and headed through the entrance he had walked by, where he found a whirlwind platform that took him up to one of the highest points in the tower, but once he came to a stop, and picked up the nearby gems, he jumped off the edge and glided down through the inside of the tower, where he flamed the balloons of the pair of balloon Gnorcs that were in his way and smashed open the three cages that he found along the way, freeing the fairies in the process. From there he turned around and smashed through the pair of normal chests that were behind him, picked up a few gems, and smashed the pair of gem chests that were resting near the wall that were below where he had glided from, before he spun around and returned to the whirlwind platform that the fairies reactivated, which allowed him to reach the highest point of the tower.

That was where he found the next trapped dragon, Useni, who was slightly shorter than Titan while having the muscles of a Peace Keeper dragon, indicating that he had to be a guard of some kind for this homeworld, though what he was currently wearing, a towel and slippers, made Spyro wonder if he was one of the day Dream Weavers that kept watch over the dreams of Lateef and the other dragons that kept watch over the dreams of the other creatures that called the Dragon Realms home.

All Useni seemed interested in was revealing that Spyro could use the supercharge to get to other places, just like he did in Tree Tops and the other realms the ramps were located in, before departing from this realm, causing Spyro to sigh as he smashed the nearby chests and collected the key that was near them, which was followed by him gliding over to the area that the supercharge ramp was in and readied himself. Based on what he had seen so far there weren't many places for him to go once he reached the end of this ramp, but at the very least it was better than what happened in Tree Tops, to which he charged down the ramp and let the supercharge build up, though when he reached the end of the ramp he jumped into the air and sailed over to where a lone tower rested, where someone couldn't reach it from the walkway or from the other area that he had ignored earlier. When he touched down on the next ramp he hung to the left and curved around the tower that the ramp was connected to, where he didn't see any entrances that would allow him to enter the lone structure, before reaching the very end of the ramp and jumped into the air once more, where he soared right over the distance and came to a stop when he landed on the raised area that was near where Mudada had been trapped, which happened to be higher than any point in that area. As such the first thing he did was collect all the gems that were around him and then set fire to the fireworks box that was to his left, where he waited for it to explore before gathering the couple of gems that were freed, then glided down to where the locked chest was located and had Sparx slip the key into the lock, allowing them to claim the treasure that was inside it, before heading back to the fork in the path and picked the path on the right so he could clean up the rest of this realm.

The first thing Spyro did, after heading away from where the four puffer birds had been resting earlier, was jump over the gap between the two separated floating islands and landed on the next one that served as the path he had ignored a few minutes ago, before he jumped up to the next area and flamed the imp cupid that was waiting for him. Once that was done he picked up the gems that were around him and waited for the balloon Gnorc that was near where he was standing to lower himself to the point where a single burst of fire would get rid of him, and fortunately he didn't have to wait long at all, allowing him to remove another foe, and collect another gem, before moving forward. From there he glided over to the larger island that was only a short distance from where he was standing and tapped the dragon statue that was in what he guessed was the center of the area, where an older dragon, with pink colored scales, was freed from his prison. Baruti, as Spyro soon learned, wore purple pants that were held up by suspenders that went all the way up to his shoulders, he carried what appeared to be a fishing rod with a tooth as a lure, meaning he had to be after some weird fish, and he was carrying the container with his bait in his left hand, though all he had to say was that he was happy Spyro had rescued him, before he departed like all of the other dragons he had freed so far. At this point Spyro had to assume that there were no more hints for him and his siblings to get from the dragons they were freeing from the last couple of realms, which he guessed was fine since it was clear the three of them didn't need the assistance, so he just pushed the thought out of his mind as he continued moving.

After watching Baruti depart from the realm Spyro gathered the nearby gems and then glided over the small river that was on this island, where he smashed one of the iron cages and freed the fairy that was trapped inside, though while she headed to the whirlwind platform that she and the pair that were her partners powered, to reactivate it when the others rejoined her, Spyro used the whirlwind platform that was the closest to her former prison and glided over to a small island, where another cage rested. The fairy that was trapped inside the cage was overjoyed that Spyro saved her, though while she left as well, however, Spyro stared at the balloon Gnorc that must have been the guardian for the fairy and waited for the right moment, where he blew up the balloon and caused the unfortunate Gnorc to fall like the others, allowing Sparx to collect his gem, and the others sitting nearby, as Spyro headed back to where Baruti had been imprisoned. The moment Spyro reached the island again he used the other whirlwind platform, which was right next to the one that he used to get to the second fairy, and used it to land on a small island that was higher than the island the third fairy was located on, so all he had to do was glide over to where the island was located and smashed the cage upon his arrival, though he also made sure to break the pair of circular chests behind the fairy's cage before leaving the area. Once those chests had been broken, and the gems recovered, he glided over to where the three fairies were reactivating the third whirlwind platform, though it wasn't long before it was ready to be used and he jumped into it, allowing him to access the next structure that was along the path he was following.

Spyro landed on a balcony of sorts for the next part of the castle, where he noticed that he had a single path to follow and that there were a few imp cupids along the way, so the first thing he did was break the nearby circular chest and made sure to grab the gem inside it, before walking on the path to his left. As Sparx gathered the gems, and made sure none of them were missed, Spyro flamed the imp cupid that was in front of him and then walked over to the middle of the path, which just so happened to be the middle of the structure, to which he dodged an incoming arrow and continued over to the other side of the chamber so he could flame the imp cupid that was blocking the way outside. Once that was done he backtracked a little and picked up the gems that had been laying on the path, as well as smashing his way through the pair of metallic chests that were inside the structure and the pair of circular chests that were on the balcony that was what the imp cupid had been guarding. From there he could see a few balloon Gnorcs, a number of puffer birds, a few islands that he would need to clear out, a couple of chests and gems that were scattered around the final area, the exit portal itself, and, most importantly, the three cages that held the last three fairies for this realm, to which he jumped into the air and glided over to the floating island.

The instant he landed on the island he went to town and popped the balloons of the two balloon Gnorcs that were near him, removing them from the realm entirely like the others, before he smashed the iron cage that was in front of him, freeing the fairy that was trapped inside it. From there he walked along the central ring of the island, where a floating island happened to be above it with some sort of metallic object in the water below it, though his mind was focused on flaming the puffer birds and collecting the gems that were around him, even though he suspected that Spike could take one look at the device and tell him what it was used for. Once the area around where the first fairy was imprisoned had been cleared out Spyro used the whirlwind platform to move himself up to where the second trapped fairy was located, where he landed and smashed the cage in a matter of seconds, allowing the fairy to move as he popped the balloon of the balloon Gnorc that was behind where the cage had been resting, before picking up the gems that were around him. After that he glided over to the island that was floating above the ring and found that no one was guarding this area, where the third and final trapped fairy for this part of the realm was located, so he simply smashed the cage, freed the fairy, and picked up the gems that were around him, before gliding over to the reactivated whirlwind platform. That brought him right to the exit portal, where he smashed the pair of gem chests that were near the portal and collected the gems that had been trapped inside them, before heading into the exit portal and departed from Lofty Castle.

Spyro was happy that this realm had been easier than Tree Tops, as that was a pain in his rear, and that he was able to save the fairies that had been trapped in all those cages, though at the same time he wondered how Spike and Ember were doing in their respective realms, and whether or not they were facing a tough challenge this time around.

---

It didn't take Spike long to reach the portal to Haunted Towers, nor did it take all that long for him to arrive at the area that was the starting point for this realm, but before he got started, on freeing the dragons and recovering the stolen treasure, he paused for a moment and took in the castle that was the main focus on this realm, even if it wasn't shaped like a tall tower, like one would think, and had blue, white, and gold stones that made up the walls. In front of him rested a nice wooden door that had either gold or bronze fittings on it, though based on the coloration he was going to go with gold, though he quickly noted that he was going to have to smash through the door, as it appeared that there were no handles or magical ways to open the door, but suspected that the Dream Weavers dragons would fix it later. The interesting thing he discovered was a suit of steel that was resting nearby, one that was hollow and appeared to be some sort of guardian for this realm, but, with the dragons being imprisoned, whoever had been in control of them had been trapped in crystal as well, severing the connection between them and their creations. Knowing Gnasty Gnorc, however, made Spike wonder if these were the original suits or if the originals had been moved by the enemies in this realm, so their leader could create new suits to deal with whoever came to restore order to this realm, though it just showed how well prepared for this attack Gnasty Gnorc was, since he had an entire army ready to go the moment he cast that spell of his, even if it ended up missing him, Spyro, and Ember in the process.

Spike pushed that thought to the back of his mind for a moment as he walked forward, where he smashed through the door and entered the chamber that was on the other side, though as he did so he found one of the wizards, like the ones back in the land of the Magic Crafters, floating in front of the bridge that lead to the next building, though instead of a green robe this one had blue robes. In addition to the blue wizard there was a Gnorc that had a wooden shield and a black sphere with a fuse at the top, which appeared to be some sort of grenade, something she had read about one of the books in the Dark Hollow library, but he had never seen one of them in action and wasn't about to be hit by it. The thing that interested him the most was the fact that there was an animated suit of armor off to his right, with green magic connected to it, but because it was made out of metal he knew that he would need to figure out another way to deal with it, so he ignored the steel guardian and focused on the blue wizard and the Gnorc-adier. As it turned out all he needed to do was dodge the incoming attacks and flame the two foes he could deal with, to which he walked over the bridge and found one of the Gnorc-adiers coming his way, with the fuse lit, so he charged into his foe and then entered the chamber that was in front of him, only to discover that two more steel guardians were blocking the paths on his left and on his right, meaning he had to cross to the other side of the chamber before doing anything else. Of course there was another Gnorc-adier waiting on that bridge, and was easily taken out with a quick charge, though after that he smashed through the door that was at the end of his path and took out a third Gnorc-adier, before discovering that one of the Fairy Princesses was waiting in this small chamber.

The Fairy Princess was more than willing to bless him with the superflame ability, just like what happened back when he and his siblings took on High Caves, but as soon as he had the power Spike turned around and charged back into the chamber he had been in a few seconds ago, where his flames tore apart the two steel guardians that had been blocking the way, a metal door that was behind one of them, and the two steel guardians that were near the starting area. Once that was done, and he returned to normal, Spike gathered the gems that were laying on the ground and returned to the area that was behind the metallic door, where he smashed a circular chest, a normal chest, and two gem chests, and made sure to collect the gems, before heading towards the open area that one of the blue wizards was waiting in, which would take him right to the walkway that was above him. Of course he had to use a whirlwind to get up there, and luckily the blue wizards that were invading this realm didn't even consider trying to turn it off or build something to block it, so he was able to rise up to where the walkway was located and noticed that there were four more steel guardians resting along the path that he needed to follow, but as he landed he also spotted a blue wizard bringing the four suits of armor to life, giving him only a few seconds to ignite a fireworks box and claim the gems inside it, before he had to move again. Since it appeared that there were no Fairy Princesses or even a Fairy Queen in his immediate area, meaning no access to one of the abilities that would turn this battle in his favor, Spike had to move passed them and charged into the blue wizard, before leaving the steel guardians behind and smashed through a pair of metallic chests, only to stop when he came up to one of the trapped dragons that called this realm home.

The dragon in question, Kosoko, was thin like some of the other dragons he and his siblings had rescued, though his scales were blue, on the front of his chest and the front of his neck, and the rest of them were purple, a few shades lighter than Spyro's scales, all while Spike noticed that Kosoko was carrying a candle holder that had a candle with a blue flame on it, just like his horns had, but all he had to say was thanks for being rescued before he disappeared, even though Spike had the feeling that he would have said something about the fairies if it had been Spyro or Ember that saved him.

Spike wasn't disappointed by that at all, because he was sure the other dragons knew he was the smartest of the trio and that he didn't need the constant reminders like Spyro might need, so he refocused his mind on what he was doing here and headed for the walkway that connected to another part of the castle's exterior. While he did that he had to avoid a few steel guardians along the way, but the three Gnorc-adiers that were standing in his way were fair game and he made sure to charge through them, allowing him to reach his next destination while Talon made sure to pick up the gems that were left by the foes he took out. He quickly discovered that there was another Fairy Princess in this realm, in the middle of the open area that was in the middle of the building he was walking towards to be exact, but before he bothered her he focused on checking the sides of the structure, as the side to his left had a fireworks box that he took care of and the other side had a lone gem. Once he made sure to check both sides of the building he walked in and smashed a chest that was on his left, before he focused on the Fairy Princess, who kissed him on the nose and he charged out of the area with the superflame ability once more, where he took out the three steel guardians that were near where Kosoko had been trapped, the metallic door that was behind one of them, and a locked chest as well, before going back to this Fairy Princess for a second time so he could head back to the four steel guardians that were on the walkway between the starting area and the main building.

Once that was done he returned to where Kosoko had been imprisoned and used the ramp that had been behind one of the steel guardians to get up to a new level, where he breathed on an electrical spell that the blue wizard sent at him, to which the spell hit his foe in the back of the head, indicating that he had used his special skill, before ending the fight, but even as that happened he noticed something interesting.

"There's another ledge off in the distance," Spike commented, referring to an area that connected to the outside of the castle, meaning that there could be another entrance that he had no knowledge of, before he glanced at the ramp that had allowed him to get up here and the wheels started turning within seconds, "I see now, there has to be a supercharge ramp around here somewhere, because there's no way I can glide over there right now, even if I climbed up to the top of the stairs that this whirlwind will bring me to."

Talon buzzed for a moment, showing that he agreed with what Spike was saying, before Spike walked into the short whirlwind that was near them and allowed it to lift himself into the air, just high enough to reach the bottom step of the stairs he had mentioned, where his estimates showed that none of the steps would give him enough height so he could make the glide over to the other area, so his only chance was to clear the rest of the realm out so he could use the supercharge ability to reach his target. The top step allowed him to jump up to a stone that served as the castle's entrance, where he walked inside and found that there was a supercharge ramp in front of him, meaning it was entirely possible for him to get to the other ledge and see what was in another part of the castle, but for now he focused on using this ramp to get around the part of the castle that he already had access to. As such he charged down the ramp that was in front of him and smashed his way through the metallic door that was at the end of the passage, allowing him to enter a small room that had another door, one that also didn't last for very long as he broke through it, which brought him to a tunnel that quickly turned into a decent sized room. Instead of continuing to charge all over the place Spike showed back down and walked around the room, finding a few wooden doors and a pair of metal ones that had to lead outside, so he busted down the door to his left and found a Gnorc-adier trying to grab a Fairy Princess, so all Spike did was knock him down to the floor and was rewarded with both a gem and a superflame kiss.

That allowed him to smash the metal doors down with ease, before he turned around and broke the other wooden doors as well, including a steel guardian that was protecting some metallic chests, but thanks to his superflame ability Spike was able to take that foe down. With the steel guardian taken care of Spike moved on to the other suit of armor that was behind one of the metal doors and climbed up the steps behind it, where he used the last of his ability to take out one of the Gnorc-adiers before he returned to the small room the first one had been waiting inside, so he could smash through the four metallic chests and the eight normal ones behind them. Once that was done he entered the room that was in front of the tunnel he had used to enter this chamber and finally tapped the statue that was inside it, freeing Lutalo, a tall dragon that wore purple and gold trimmed armor on his chest and shoulders, while carrying a genie's lamp, from his prison, who revealed that he was rooting for Spike and his siblings in the battle to come, the one against Gnasty Gnorc in the land that he ruled over. As Lutalo headed outside, through the opening on the left, Spike followed after him and watched as he took off, though as soon as he was gone Spike investigated the area and found a pair of gem chests in the area that Lutalo had chosen to leave through, which he dealt with rather quickly, before finding a locked chest that didn't have a key to it, meaning all he had to do was ask a Fairy Princess for the superflame ability again or charge down the ramp and use the supercharge ability to break it.

Instead of doing either of those things Spike studied the area around him for a few seconds and smiled when he noticed that the path near the ramp he had seen earlier, which allowed him to get up to where the whirlwind that brought him to the top of the supercharge ramp, was nearby, though it appeared he would need to charge down the ramp in order to build up speed to reach it when he jumped. In that moment a plan formed in Spike's mind, one that had a greater amount of success than the others did, so he turned around and headed back into the castle, where he made his way to the top of the ramp that would him to use the supercharge ability, only to stop when he reached the top of the ramp and turned around so he could focus on what he was doing. From there he charged down the ramp and quickly made his way back to the chamber that had allowed him to find out where Lutalo had been trapped, before he turned and headed out through the way the freed dragon had done, where he angled himself to the left and jumped into the air, sailing over the gap and touching down on the walkway. Once that happened Spike continued up the ramp that was in front of him and jumped into the air, where at the highest point he switched to gliding and a wide smile appeared on his face as he touched down on the ledge he had seen earlier, indicating that his plan had been a success and that he was free to explore the other part of the castle. There wasn't much on the ledge he had landed on, other than some moving mushrooms that had to be the critters they got butterflies from if they were hurt in this homeworld and the realms that were connected to it, but he used the nearby whirlwind to get up to the level above him, where he found another trapped dragon, who had to be the last one of this realm.

Copano, from what he discovered after tapping the statue, was a large dragon with a light blue color as his main color and a bright pink belly, complete with white spots here and there, though all he had to say was that he was a master of the supercharge, something that Spike really didn't agree with since he couldn't master something like this that quickly, but before he could voice his opinion the dragon exited the building and left the area.

Spike sighed as he turned to the right and headed down the other path that he had ignored, where he stopped when he found a large open area that had a number of steps that lead to the top, though along the way he spotted a good number of steel guardians lining the way up to the ceiling. He noticed a blue wizard staring down at the area he happened to be standing in, no doubt keeping an eye out for intruders and the like, meaning that the moment he started moving the wizard was going to awaken the force of steel guardians and make sure the way was blocking, though that also meant that there had to be something important here for all the forces that were gathered here. Spike paused there for a few more seconds, taking in the path that he would have to take from where he was standing, but once he felt he was ready he nodded to Talon and started jumping up the stairs that were to his left, so he could follow the path, though at the same time his dragonfly flew up to where the blue wizard was and dashed around his head, distracting him for a few moments, which was exactly what Spike was hoping would happen. Talon waited until Spike was halfway up the steps before moving away from the blue wizard, who huffed in frustration and loosed several bolts of magical energy, hitting the various suits of armor and roused the steel guardians from their slumber, before fleeing to an area that would be Spike's ultimate goal for this area.

Thanks to the distraction Spike reached the area that the blue wizard was in before the last steel guardian had been roused from it's slumber, where he breathed fire on it and took his target out, though since there was an animated suit of armor blocking his way now, and he didn't have the spell to put them back to sleep, he broke the door that was near him and found something that put a wide smile on his face. That something was a fairy with a reddish-orange dress, who had to be the one and only Fairy Queen he had read about in some of the books he had read, and she wasted no time in kissing his nose, granting him an empowered version of his superflame ability, one that meant he could use it for the rest of the time he was in this realm, which was perfect since there were a few things he needed to do before he left and having this power meant things would be easier for him. As soon as he had the empowered superflame ability he charged at the normal and metallic chests in the chamber, allowing Talon to collect the gems, before he turned around and started taking out the steel guardians that he had passed by a few moments ago, where his flames torched their metallic bodies and dropped the gems that Talon collected, in addition to the ones that Spike had ignored earlier. Once the area was cleared of enemies, at long last, Spike dealt with the fireworks box, the pair of metallic chests that were near it, and a gem chest, before heading back to the locked chest near where Copano had been imprisoned, though once that was done he found an opening that allowed him to drop back down into the area that Lutalo had been stuck in and headed outside so he could smash the other locked chest he had discovered.

Once that was done he headed back to the path that lead to the exit portal and cleared out the remaining enemies, as in five of the steel guardians, three of the Gnorc-adiers, and a blue wizard, which also included a couple of metallic chests and picked up the gems that were along the way, before stopping just short of the portal that would take him back to where his siblings would be waiting for him to join them. Talon buzzed for a moment, as he was curious as to why Spike was stopping before leaving the realm, to which Spike turned around and retraced his steps, as while he could leave this realm, and rejoin his siblings, something told him that there was something he had missed while he was exploring this place and was taking out the enemies he had found. He headed over to where the bottom of the supercharge ramp was located and headed up to the top of the stairs that were outside the castle, though when he did that he came to a stop and glanced out at the area, so he could see if he could find anything that he might have missed, even though he was sure that he saved all the dragons, recovered all the treasure, took out all the enemies, and saved all the fairies, both the Princesses and their Queen, from the enemies that had been guarding them.

After a few moments he got up and determined that he might as well leave, though as he turned to head back inside the castle he spotted something in the corner of his eye, where he glanced at the top of the area the second Fairy Princess had been in and found a flat area, one that seemed out of place, so he charged towards the end of the walkway and jumped into the air, where he glided over the distance and landed on the area in question, where he found a decent sized wizard's hat that was blue colored.

"A discarded wizard's hat. Not what I was expecting, but it is interesting." Spike commented, though at the same time he picked up the hat and found that there were a few small openings where a dragon's horns could slip through, without wrecking the item in question, to which he chuckled for a moment as he slipped it on and found that it fit him like a glove, which was a little weird, "Talon, what do you think?"

Talon buzzed for a few seconds, his tone indicating that he was unsure if Spike even needed a hat, to which Spike decided that he'd bring it with him and see what his siblings said about it when they got back together, where he headed back to the exit portal and departed from this realm, so he could hear what Spyro and Ember had done in the realms they had gone to, before they took on the Flight Realm and whoever the commander was, and then they could focus on putting an end to this adventure.

Comments

[PrismStrike]

Lofty Castle:
Dragons Freed: 3
All Gems Collected.
Area Cleared!

Haunted Towers:
Dragons Freed: 3
All Gems Collected.
Area Cleared!

as always another great chapter, Spyro got an easyish realm to complete, which must have been great after tree tops. Spike continues to show off his greater knowledge and is also the first of the trio to come across a Fairy Queen well done Spike. So is spike gunna add bells to his hat and grow a beard then? can call him Spike the Bearded Looking forward to the flight realm and boss fight along with Spyro and Embers reactions to Spike's new hat

[Comickook]

Once more, you did a downright excellent job on the exchanges, action, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places. Again, Spyro and Spike's solo runs were quite well done. I especially liked Spyro reflecting on what Gnasty Gnorc might want all those fairies for and Spike's souvenir from his Haunted Towers adventure.

It's lunchtime, so I have to sign off. I'll try to come up with ideas for later on, though.

[SpikeSmolder fan]

It was fun seeing Spyro & Spike solo runs, at least this time Spyro had an easier time in Lofty Castle than Tree Tops. You really got him to think more about what reasons Gnasty Gnorc would want the fairies for.

As for Spike it was great seeing him tackle Haunted Towers, he really was thorough exploring the place. I especially liked that little surprise at the end there, wonder if he will start using it alongside his satchel in future adventures?

Seems like the 2 sibs had the hardest realms this time around, can't wait to see what happens at the Flight Realm & the next commander!

[zachary12]

nice work.

[Autarch Prime]

Oh boy quite excited for the next commander battle since that one was nasty along with a difficult boss.

[DJScales]

I knew this level was tough but worth it.