Spyro Fan Fiction ❯ A Turbulent Life ❯ Big-Scale Rescue ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Recap: Things had appeared to be up and running again for everyone.  For a full year, nothing out of the ordinary had happened.  The Sorcerer, Misteria or Ineptune didn't attempt anything.  Everyone enjoyed the peace.  But peace came to an end when the Sorcerer did eventually strike.  After attacking the Dragon Dojo, he headed for the Dragon Shores Inn and captured Spyro.  But Red was able to free Spyro.  Soon afterwards, everyone in Dragon Shores had a good time when the Luau Island witchdoctors paid a visit.  But after the fun was over, Misteria struck.  She sent Spyro straight to Parasite Forest, which was part of a plot to take over the Dragon Worlds, the Forgotten Worlds and Avalar.  The Sorcerer, Misteria and Ineptune knew that Red would go to Parasite Forest to help Spyro, which would leave everyone else completely vulnerable for attack.  Now, the inhabitants of the Dragon Worlds, the Forgotten Worlds and Avalar were prisoners in the Shadow Realm.
/ is Cosma mental talk
// is Red mental talk
' is thoughts






     &n bsp;                                       Chapter 9: Big-Scale Rescue

It was a very bad day indeed for everyone in the Dragon and Forgotten Worlds and Avalar.  At one moment, everyone was enjoying a peaceful day.  The next moment, they were forced into the Shadow Realm and were now prisoners.  With no inhabitants any longer in the Real World, takeover was easy for the Sorcerer, Misteria and Ineptune.

It was evening now.  Spyro and Red were asleep in Parasite Forest.  After Spyro woke up from an hour nap, they had traveled until dusk.  They had stopped at another clearing to sleep for the night.  Red had then erected a force field around them to ensure that no one or nothing would try anything against them this night.  The fish men attempted to do away with Spyro and Red during the night.  But their attempts were in vain thanks to the force field.  They retreated so as not to arouse suspicion.  But the not arousing suspicion part was thrown out the window.  Cosma and Red sensed their presence the entire time.

/It's a good thing you erected the force field/

//I know//

Cosma had awakened Red the next morning.  Because the sun could never penetrate into Parasite Forest, it was otherwise very hard to tell whether it was day or night.

//Thanks Cosma.  It really comes in handy to be able to track time of day in a place like this//

/Hey, no problem/

Red gently shook Spyro.  "It's time to get up."

Spyro slowly awakened.  He yawned and stood up.  "Is there anything in this forest that we can eat?  I'm famished."

"I'm pretty hungry too Spyro.  Unfortunately, there is no food here.  And the water can drain the life out of your body," Red said.

Just then, Red's amulet glowed.  A metal tray suddenly appeared.  Then all kinds of fruit appeared on the tray before the amulet stopped glowing.

//Thanks//

/You're welcome/

"Who did that?" Spyro asked in awe.

"Cosma did it," Red responded.

"Who's Cosma?" Spyro asked.

"This amulet contains Cosma's soul.  She was once the most powerful fairy.  She's the reason to why this large tray of fruit is here," Red responded.

"Great.  Let's eat," Spyro said before practically diving into the fruit.

Red chuckled a little before starting to eat the fruit himself.   The tray was pretty large, and there was quite a bit of fruit on it.  But Spyro and Red were so hungry that they ate all the fruit on the tray.  Then the tray disappeared.

"I needed that.  I feel better now," Spyro said.

"That was very good," Red agreed.

Half an hour later, they continued on.  Only five minutes later, Red swung his tail around.  Spyro had looked back upon seeing Red do that and saw a fish man go flying into a tree.

"That was a close one," Spyro said.

"Yes it was," Red said.  He quickly turned around and breathed fire at another incoming fish man.

The fish man panicked and fled before the fire could reach him.

"It looks like we're surrounded," Spyro said.  "Whoa!" he exclaimed upon suddenly being grabbed and taken into the air.

"Sorry about that Spyro.  It's just that two of those things came at us from different directions," Red said.  Then he froze most of them solid.

One lone fish man was left.  He had managed to avoid being frozen.  By the angry look in its eyes, Red could tell that this fish man wasn't going to be driven off easily.  He landed and put Spyro down.  Then the fish man attacked.  Red swatted it with his tail.  The fish man went flying into a tree.  But it quickly recovered.  Then it came up with a sneaky idea.  It came at Red fast.  Red easily saw the fish man because it was traveling nowhere near as fast as he could.  He flew above it.  But that's what the fish man was hoping for.  In evading the fish man, Red left Spyro open for capture.

"Dad, help!" Spyro screamed.

Red quickly looked up upon hearing his son's cry for help.  He instantly realized that the fish man pulled a fast one on him.  He was so angry that he roared.  He shot into the air and quickly cut off the fish man.  "You won't get away from me," he said growling.

Spyro could literally see how angry his father was.  'I never thought that he could actually roar.  He really is furious,' he thought.

Red's body was crackling with electricity.  He then shot out an electrical beam at the fish man.  The fish man, who looked tough just a few moments ago, was now panicking.  He dodged the incoming beam with only seconds to spare.  Then he took off in the other direction. 

"No you don't," Red said before easily blocking the fish man off again.

The fish man then went higher into the air.  Red simply pursued it.  He prepared to breathe fire at it.  The fish man then turned around and put Spyro in front of it, like a shield.  Red growled at seeing Spyro being used like a shield.  Red flew up quickly, striking the fish man in the gills.  The fish man dropped Spyro to cover his damaged neck.

Red's anger quickly died, and the electricity disappeared from around him.  He swooped down and caught Spyro.  "Are you all right?" he asked.

"I am now," Spyro responded.  "Those things don't know when to give up," he added.

"No they don't.  If not for the force field I put around us, there's no telling what might have happened last night," Red said.

"What do you mean?" Spyro asked.

"They tried to attack us while we slept.  Although I was asleep, I could sense them around us," Red responded simply.

Meanwhile in the Shadow Realm, the Sorcerer's monsters were mercilessly assaulting some of the prisoners.  The Sorcerer took the precaution to have the blue and/or red armored monsters guard certain prisoners.  That way, the Elders wouldn't have much of a fighting chance against the monsters.  With their magic drained, the wizards, fairies and Bianca wouldn't be of too much help either.

"When is this nightmare going to end?" Zoe asked.

"I know what you mean," Bianca responded.

"I just hope that Spyro and Red are all right.  There's no telling what's happening in Parasite Forest," Amp said.

"We all hope that they're all right," Sparx said.

An hour later in Parasite Forest, a red blur streaked through the sky.

"Please, hold on Spyro," Red said desperately as he carried Spyro through the air.

One of the fish men had managed to finally inject its poison into Spyro's body.  Spyro instantly felt the effects as the poison quickly immobilized him.  About ten minutes after being poisoned, Spyro lost consciousness.  Red knew that he had to act fast because the poison would run its course in three hours and one hour has already passed.

There is an antidote to the poison, but getting to it in time was the big issue.  Deep within the forest, almost at the extit, was a green pond.  This pond had chlorophyll pigments in it, which was the antidote.  Misteria created the chlorophyll pond because her minions had sometimes accidentally poisoned her.  Upon swallowing the water, she would be cured of the poison.

Red actually had an advantage on his side.  While dating Misteria, he happened to see the chlorophyll pond.  He had always wondered why a pond of chlorophyll would be in such a place like Parasite Forest.  Then he happened to see Misteria drink from the pond.  He had asked Misteria about it and found out that the chlorophyll was the antidote to a poison found only in the forest.

'I never thought that I would be thanking dating Misteria for something.  But if it wasn't for when she was unintentionally poisoned that day, I would've never known that the chlorophyll pond was the antidote to those fish-like creatures' poisonous bite,' Red thought as he continued rocketing through the sky.  An hour later, he began descending because he sensed the chlorophyll pond nearby.  A few minutes later, he landed next to the pond.

/How will you get Spyro to drink the water?/

//The only way to get him to drink the water is for him to be conscious// He then dipped Spyro into the water.

The chlorophyll went into Spyro's body through his nose.  A few minutes later, Spyro began to stir.  Red felt the movement and brought Spyro out of the water before placing Spyro next to it.  Spyro would still need to drink from the pond because only limited amounts of chlorophyll went through his nose.

"Why do I feel so strange?" Spyro asked.

"That fish-like creature injected you with a deadly poison.  We're now standing next to a chlorophyll pond.  You feel a little better now, but you'll have to drink from the pond to feel completely better because I can sense that the amount of chlorophyll in you is not enough to completely eradicate the poison inside you," Red responded.

Spyro nodded and drank from the pond.  He had his fill a few minutes later.  He felt increasingly better as the minutes ticked by.  About ten minutes later, he felt completely better.

"How do you feel now?" Red asked.

"Much better," Spyro responded.  He looked ahead and saw daylight.  "We're just about out of here as well," he added.

"We sure are.  Let's go," Red said.

Spyro and Red walked the remaining meters to the exit.  Upon exiting, the forest disappeared, relocating itself.

"What do we do now?" Spyro asked.

"We find out where the Sorcerer is keeping our friends," Red responded before telling Spyro what has transpired.

"Our friends could be anywhere," Spyro said.

"I know, and that worries me," Red said.

"Do you think that I can help?" Spyro asked.

"Yes.  Thinking that we would be in Parasite Forest longer, the Sorcerer probably didn't send the monsters that would take Chi or the Cyclone spell to beat.  Even if he did, I can easily deal with them," Red responded before picking up Spyro and flying into the sky.  He landed around the ruins of Dragon Dojo.  He and Spyro walked around for a bit and found a dimension portal.

Red picked Spyro up before stepping onto the portal and entering the Shadow Realm.  Red put Spyro down before they walked side-by-side, hoping to find any of their friends.  Several moments later, a group of Shadow Knights confronted the duo.  But these knights weren't wearing blue or red armor.  When one of the knights tried to attack Spyro, Spyro used a series of Tail Hammer attacks.  Then the sky clouded up.  A few seconds afterward, multiple lightning bolts struck the remaining knights.  The knights disappeared in puffs of wispy smoke.  Spyro and Red continued onward.

"That was amazing dad.  Normally, the Shock spell only gives off one lightning bolt at a time," Spyro said.

"Yes.  One of my new abilities is being able to control the elements.  I caused the sky to cloud up and was able to give off multiple Shock spells at once," Red said.

"Cool, with your ability to control the elements as well as your other powers and abilities, you have an overwhelming edge over Misteria," Spyro said.

"That is true.  But I still can't let my guard down.  Misteria can't be beaten with brute force alone," Red said.

"Red, Spyro, is that you guys?" a familiar voice asked.

Spyro and Red looked up in the voice's direction.  Red picked up Spyro before rushing to the source of the voice.  They soon saw Hunter surrounded by armadillo-like monsters.  These monsters weren't lined with blue or red armor, meaning a simple Horn Jab and Tail Hammer were all that would be needed to take care of them.

The monsters turned around and saw Spyro and Red.  Two of them came at Spyro.  Spyro just used Horn Jab to flip them both over.  Then he used Tail Hammer to take care of them.  Red had taken out about five of the seven remaining monsters with a Chi Roar attack.  Spyro made quick work of the remaining two.  The shadowy cage around Hunter then disappeared.

"Are you all right?" Red asked.

"I am now thanks to you two.  You're real lifesavers," Hunter said.

"No problem Hunter," Spyro said.

"Do you know where any of the others are?" Red asked.

"Well my dad, brother, Neema and Adama are scattered around this area.  I don't know where the others are," Hunter responded.

"We'll help them.  I'll send you back to the Real World now," Red said before using the teleport sepll to take hunter out of the Shadow Realm.

"Whoa, you can now use the teleport spell to teleport others without them touching you," Spyro said.

"Yes I can.  As you can see, it will come in real handy," Red said.  "Let's find Hunter's friends and family," he added.

"Well I'm like over here!" a female voice shouted.

Spyro and Red looked over towards the cliff and saw a teenage cheetah about a foot away from the edge, surrounded by Shadow Knights.  Again, these knights weren't wearing red or blue armor.

"Look over this way!" another female voice shouted.

Spyro and Red looked over and saw Adama on a platform jutting out of a lake.  The duck-like monsters surrounded Adama.  Fortunately, these monsters weren't wearing blue armor.

"Spyro, I'll help Adama.  You help Neema," Red said.

Spyro nodded before he and Red split up.  The duck-like monsters tried to shoot Red down, but Red easily evaded the oncoming attacks.  He landed in the circle that they had created before giving them a Tail Swipe attack, taking them all out.  Then the cage around Adama had disappeared. 

"Thanks," Adama said.

"No problem," Red said.  "Reday to return to the Real World?" he added.

"Am I ever," Adama responded before Red teleported her back to the Real World.

Meanwhile, Spyro was finishing off the Shadow Knights.  He was battling two at once.  One last Tail Hammer finished them both off.  A few seconds later, Neema was free.

"Thanks Spyro.  I thought I was going to be trapped forever," Neema said.

"You're welcome Neema," Spyro said.

"Great job Spyro," Red said upon landing.

"I'm ready to get out of here now.  I hope I never have to be in this eerie dimension again," Neema said.

"I'm all to happy to oblige," Red said before teleporting Neema out of the Shadow Realm.

"Well Akello and Kasi are left," Spyro said.

"Let's check inside the cave.  If they're not in there, then maybe they're on the other side," Red suggested.

"Good idea," Spyro said  before heading to the cave, Red close behind.

Upon entering the cave, they heard two cries of pain.  They knew that they found who they were looking for.  They also saw that where there were once rocky platforms, there was now an abyss.  Red and Spyro glided across the chasm.  Upon landing on the other side, they saw Kasi and Akello trapped with spider-like creatures brutally attacking them.

"When...will...they stop?" Kasi asked.  He was covered in bruises and a couple of deep gashes.

"How about now?" a voice responded.

Kasi and the spider-like creatures turned to see Spyro and Red about a foot away from the creatures.  This time, half of the group of spider-like creatures was wearing blue or red armor while the other half was plain.  The armor-wearing creatures attempted to go for Spyro, but Red fired Chi at them, forcing them to turn their attention to Red.

It didn't take long for Spyro and Red to take care of the spider-like creatures.  Afterwards, Kasi and Akello were released.  They crumpled to the ground, barely clinging to life from the multiple injuries inflicted on them.  Spyro and Red walked over to the gravely injured pair.

"Is it too late to heal them?" Spyro asked worriedly.

"Fortunately no," Red responded.  He healed Akello first.

Akello regained consciousness.  He looked up and saw Spyro and Red looking at him.

"Are you all right?" Spyro asked.

"I am now.  But you've got to help me son Kasi," Akello responded.

"I'm on it," Red said before healing Kasi as well.

Kasi soon regained consciousness as well.  He looked up and saw Spyro and Red looking at him.  "Thank goodness you came in time.  I don't know how much longer my father and I could've lasted," he said.

"It's no problem," Red said.

"Did you find the others?" Kasi asked.

"Yes.  They're all back in the Real World now.  Dad can take you back as well," Spyro responded.

"Please do.  I've had enough of this creepy world," Akello said.

Red nodded before sending Akello and Kasi back to the Real World.  Then he picked up Spyro and also teleported to the Real World before placing Spyro down.  Hunter and the other cheetahs had gathered in front of the destroyed dojo.  Red and Spyro soon joined them.

"Thanks again for saving us," Adama said.

"It was our pleasure," Spyro said.

"I overheard that the Sorcerer has trapped Bianca, Sparx and the fairies in Dragon Village," Adama said.

"We need to head there fast," Spyro said.

"Agreed.  First I'll help Hunter and the others to what's left of their home," Red said before teleporting them back to Avalar.  Then he picked up Spyro and went back into the Shadow Realm before flying off to Dragon Village.

Upon arriving, Spyro saw that he would have a hard time helping in the rescue.  All of the monsters here were wearing blue or red armor.  There were also alien-like monsters present.  Not wanting to take any chances with the fairies, the Sorcerer made sure to have his strongest monsters guard them.

"Well I'l be more of a hindrance than a help here," Spyro said.

"I'll send you to the Real World then," Red said before sending Spyro to the Real World.

Spyro looked around and saw that much of the village was destroyed.  He saw only one house still standing and decided to wait in there.  Meanwhile, Red was doing quite well by himself.  He had taken out over half of the Shadow monsters already and had freed Amp and Aqua, sending them to the Real World afterwards.  Then he took and smashed the glass jar that Sparx was trapped in, sending Sparx to the Real World immediately afterwards as well.  Only Bianca, Zoe, and Trina remained. 

He found them several moments later.  Bianca, Zoe and Trina had been badly injured.  He took out the Shadow monsters guarding them before tending to Bianca, Zoe and Trina's wounds.  Trina was still very much in a state of shock.  Red then transported everyone plus himself back to the Real World.

"Thanks Red," Bianca said.

"It was no problem Bianca," Red said.  He had noticed the undamaged house upon returning to the Real World.

"Where's Spyro?" Sparx asked.

"He's in that house over there," Red responded, pointing to where the house was.  He headed over to it and went inside.  "Everyone's just fine now Spyro.  Come on out," he said.

Spyro nodded before coming out of the house.

"I heard that the Sorcerer sent the Elders to his world.  To make sure that they would still be powerless, he bound them with shadowy chains.  He also brought Ice Minion back and sent him to guard them.  And since there is no possible way to enter the Shadow Realm from there, Spyro really won't be able to do much to it," Zoe said.

"I'll head over there and free the other Elders.  You'll have to stay here Spyro," Red said.

"I understand," Spyro said.  "Good luck," he added.

"Thanks son," Red said before teleporting to the Sorcerer's world.  He immediately spotted Ice Minion and the other Elders.  He saw shadowy chains binding the Elders to the rocky walls.

Tomas and the others were very relieved to see Red.

"That little half pint of yours might have been able to defeat me.  But I'll make sure you won't," Ice Minion said.

"Sure, that's what they all say," Red said mockingly.

Ice Minion then quickly brought his lance down towards Red.  The lance was brought down with so much force that sound waves generated from it.  Instead of getting out of the way, Red caught the lance.  Ice Minion tried to get his lance back, but Red had an iron grip on it.  The lance wouldn't budge.  The Elders looked on in awe and disbelief at what Red just did.

"He caught the lance without even flinching," Tomas said in awe.

"Yeah, and the lance had a lot of momentum from the force that Ice Minion generated," Astor said in as much awe as Tomas.

"He really is a lot stronger.  I don't think any of us would've been able to do that," Cho Lei said.

"I know I wouldn't have," Titan said.

"Arrrgh, give me my lance back!" Ice Minion sadi, still struggling to free his unmovable lance.

"Whatever you say," Red said smirking before simply letting go of the lance.

Because Ice Minion had used all his strength in trying to get his lance back, he built up even more momentum.  When Red let go, the momentum sent Ice Minion flying backwards and eventually falling through the sky.  About ten minutes later, the Elders were free of their shadowy bonds.  Then they felt their powers slowly returning.

"Free at last," Cho Lei said.

"Thank you," Titan said.

"Don't mention it," Red said.

About ten minutes later, the Elders were strong enough to teleport on their own.

"Where should we teleport to?" Ragnar asked.

"Let's head to Dragon Village," Red responded.

The others nodded before everyone teleported to Dragon Village.

"Are you guys all right?" Spyro asked.

"We are," Titan responded.

"Bianca, didn't you say that Sheila's visiting your cousins?" Sparx asked.

Bianca gasped in horror.  "I forgot about that.  Now she's probably in just as much trouble as they are if not more," she said.

"The Sorcerer probably doesn't have the blue or red armored monsters guarding them so maybe I can help," Spyro said.

"Agreed.  Let's go," Red said before picking Spyro up.  He entered the Shadow Realm before teleporting to Bianca's cousins' farm.

Upon entering, Red put Spyro down.  They saw not only the armadillo-looking monsters, but also the alien monsters.  The armadillo-looking monsters were wearing regular armor so Spyro wouldn't have a problem with them.  Then Spyro and Red heard an alien-like sound.  They looked in the sound's direction to see an alien monster about five feet away from them.

"It's about to attack," Spyro said.

"Don't worry.  It won't hit us," Red said before erecting a force field.

The alien monster attacked.  But the attack dispersed upon coming in contact with the force field.  The alien monster continued attacking in vain as the force field held strong.  Even when other alien monsters joined in, they couldn't penetrate the force field.

"I think it's time to take care of these brainless things," Red said.  He then shot a Chi wave through the force field.

The Chi wave was so powerful that it destroyed the monsters upon impact with them.  Then Red removed the force field.  It was only the armadillo-looking monsters that were left.  Spyro and Red made quick work of them.  The cages disappeared.  Spyro and Red looked for Sheila.  They soon saw her lying unconscious on the ground.  They went over to her and saw her many serious injuries.

"Will she be okay?" Teresa asked.

"She'll be fine," Spyro responded.

Red kneeled next to Sheila before letting his healing power flow through her.  Teresa, Bruno and Lucia watched in awe as Sheila's wounds closed.  Several minutes later, Sheila was completely healed.  She regained consciousness.  When her vision cleared, she saw Red looking at her.

"Are you all right?" Red asked.

"I am now.  Thank you," Sheila responded as Red helped her up.  "I hope that I never have to see another monster like that white one ever again," she added.

"Well I'm ready to get back to our dimension," Teresa said.

"Us too," Lucia and Bruno said.

"All right," Red said before transporting everyone to the Real World.

Lucia, Bruno and Teresa gasped in horror upon seeing what was left of their farm.  The crops were torn, or simply burnt to a crisp.  The wooden decks and shacks looked like a tornado hit them.

"We'll have a lot of cleaning up to do," Teresa said.

"We might as well get started.  The sooner we can clean up, the sooner we can rebuild," Bruno said.

"I'll help with the cleanup," Sheila said.

"The Professor and his family are trapped in Mole Caves," Lucia said.

"I'll help with the cleanup.  I have a feeling that those blue or red armored monsters are guarding them," Spyro said.

"All right," Red said before heading into Mole Caves.  He then went into the Shadow Realm through the dimension portal and saw that Spyro was indeed right.

"Red, thank goodness you're here.  I thought that no one would find us," the Professor said upon looking up and seeing him.

"Don't worry Professor.  I'll have you out of there soon," Red said before dealing with the monsters guarding the cage.  After he dealt with the last one, he saw the cage disappear.

"I hope to never go through that again," the Professor said.

Then Red sent the Professor back to the Real World.

"Is someone there?" a voice asked.

"Where are you?" Red asked.

"We're to the northeast of you," another voice responded.

Red headed in the voices' direction and saw Sis and Willard.  Shadow Knights wearing red or blue armor surrounded them.  Red erected a force field around Sis and Willard before taking the Shadow Knights out with a very powerful Chi Roar attack.  After the attack died down, Red took down the force field.  Then the shadow cage disappeared.

"Thank you so much," Sis said.

"You're very welcome," Red said smiling.  "Are you ready to head to the Real World now?" he added.

"We sure are," Willard responded.

"Do either of you know where Blink is?" Red asked.

"I don't know exactly where he is.  But he's around here somewhere," Sis responded.

Red could tell that Sis was on the verge of breaking down.  "Don't worry.  I'll find him," he said before sending her and Willard back to the Real World.  He then went down the stairs where the large piles of rock once were.  He soon found Blink and gasped in horror.

Blink's injuries were the most severe of the injuries that he has seen today.  Red knew that he had to get rid of the spider-like monsters fast.  He sent a Chi wave at them, which easily decimated them.  The shadow cage disappeared, and he rushed over to Blink's side.  Blink had multiple gashes across his body and a lot of blood had come out of them.  Red checked for a pulse and thankfully found one,  but ti was very weak.

He closed his eyes in concentration, knowing that he would have to use his full healing power on this one.  The pooled blood on the ground was cleansed of impurities before returning to Blink's body.  The gashes closed up as the amount of blood that came out of them was replenished.  Soon, all the gashes had closed up, and Blink regained consciousness.  He saw Red's very worried gaze upon him.

"Are you all right?" Red asked.

"I am now thanks to you.  I didn't think I was going to pull through," Blink responded.  He tried to get up but went back down.  "I don't suppose you could help me up could you?" he asked.

Red smiled and helped Blink stand.  A few minutes later, he let Blink go.

"So where's Spyro?" Blink asked.

"He's helping Bianca's cousins clean up.  Their farm was destroyed," Red responded.

"Well I'm ready to get out of this creepy place," Blink said.

"It would be my pleasure," Red said before sending Blink back to the Real World.  Then he went back up the stairs and entered the Real World through a dimension portal.

"Well it's going to take a while to replace all our technology.  I heard Misteria say that the Sorcerer destroyed my lab," the Professor said.

"I can help you with that.  I can use things from my lab to help you rebuild yours," Red offered.

"That would be a huge help.  Thank you," the Professor said.

"Moneybags and his family are trapped in Big Bear Forest," Blink said.

"And the wizard are trapped in the Mountain of Magic," Sis added.

"Thanks for the info," Red said before teleporting back to the farm.

Spyro looked up and saw Red.  "They're okay right?" he asked.

"Don't worry Spyro.  They're fine.  Blink had extremely bad injuries.  I was thankful to be in time," Red responded.  "Blink and Sis told me that Moneybags and his family are in Big Bear Forest, and the wizards are in the Mountain of Magic," he added.

"We should help Moneybags and his family first," Spyro said.  "I just hope that those monsters with long tails aren't there," he added.

"I can easily take care of them," Red said before picking up Spyro and entering the Shadow Realm through a dimension portal.  Then he teleported to Big Bear Forest.

Moneybags happened to look up.  He was greatly relieved upon seeing Spyro and Red.  "It's good to see friendly faces," he said.

To Spyro's dismay, the ugly monsters with long tails were present.  One of them approached and lashed out at Spyro.  But Red caught the tail before lifting the monster up and spinning it around a few times and throwing it into the air.  The monster was out of sight in seconds.

"Whoa," Spyro said in awe.

"You said it," Moneybags said, also in awe.

Then Red destroyed the other monsters with a Chi Roar attack.  The cage disappeared, and Moneybags was free.

"Freedom has never felt so good," Moneybags said.

"It was no problem," Red said before transporting Moneybags to the Real World.

"Can you be dears and help me out?" a female voice asked.

Spyro and Red turned around and saw Mrs. Moneybags being guarded by the spider-like monsters.  But these monsters weren't wearing blue or red armor.

"I'll deal with them," Spyro said before hearing another plea for help.

"I'll take care of that one," Red said.

Spyro nodded before Red went in another direction.  Spyro then took out the spider-like monsters with Horn Tosses.  When the last one had been taken care of, the cage holding Mrs. Moneybags prisoner faded away.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you," Mrs. Moneybags said.

"It was no problem," Spyro said.

Meanwhile, Red had just finished dealing with the duck-like monsters.  The large cage disappeared, freeing Maxwell, Merton and Marshall.

"That..." Marshall started.

"Was..." Merton added.

"No fun..." Maxwell added.

"Again!" all three of them finished.

"Thanks for helping us out," Merton said.

"You're welcome," Red said before moving the large stone block out of the way.

Then Merton, Maxwell and Marshall went down the few steps and greeted their mother.

"Thank goodness you three are safe," Mrs. Moneybags said.

Red then returned them to the Real World before transporting himself and Spyro there as well.

"It's going to take a while for us to get back on track again," Moneybags said.

"Well you have all the help you need.  You only have to ask," Red said as Spyro nodded.

"Thank you very much," Mrs. Moneybags said.

"Now only the wizards remain," Spyro said.

"Yes.  I'll send you back to Dragon Village.  I don't think that you'll be able to help rescuing them," Red said.

Spyro nodded, and Red sent him back to Dragon Village.  Then he entered the Shadow Realm once more before teleporting to the Mountain of Magic.  Panthanitis saw a bright light out of the corner of his eye.  He turned around and saw Red.

"Many praises that you are here," Panthanitis said.

As Red got closer to Panthanitis, the serpent heads sprung out of the ground.  Red took them out with Chi Punch.  Then Panthanitis was free.

"Oh happy day.  The others are trapped inside the aviary," Panthanitis said before Red transported him back to the Real World.

Red flew up and landed in front of the aviary.  He went inside and saw a group of six monsters with long tails.  They all got within strinking range and lashed out simultaneously at Red.  Red gave a bored yawn before catching all their tails.  Then he tied them in a knot before zapping all six of the monsters with electricity.  The monsters were destroyed in seconds and the remaining four wizard were free.

"Thank you mighty dragon," Pullosin said.

"Don't mention it," Red said before transporting them and himself to the Real World.

Panthanitis was now in the aviary as well.  The aviary was the only building in tact.

"Our powers are slowly returning," Longorin said.

"What a relief it is to be out of the Shadow Realm," Pastemolle said.

"I thought the being sent to the Shadow Realm thing was over," Midian said.

"The only way for it to truly be over will be to defeat the Sorcerer once and for all," Red said.

"If there's anyone who can do it, it's you," Longorin said.

Red teleported back to Dragon Village.  He saw that Zoe and her friends were still there.  "Are you ready to return to the Wilderness?" he asked them.

"Yes please," Amp responded as the others nodded.

"Oh by the way, Panthanitis had come and gone just seconds before you arrived.  He told us ts that the cavemen are prisoners in Skelos Badlands, and the armadillos are prisoners in Cliff Town," Zoe said before Red sent her and her friends back to the Wilderness.

"Well it looks like I'm off again," Red said before teleporting to Cliff Town.  He found all the armadillos trapped inside a large cage with blue-armored Shadow Knights guarding them. He quickly disposed of the knights, freeing the armadillos.

"Gracias amigo," Bandit said.

"You're welcome," Red said.

"I thought the Sorcerer had been defeated," Isabel said.

"Us too," Pablo and Sofia agreed.

"Well I guess we should start cleaning up now," Bandit said.

Red then took the armadillos back to the Real World before heading to Skelos Badlands.  He immediately saw Lumpy.  Lumpy looked up and saw him as well.

"Please help!" Lumpy said.

"Don't worry.  I'll have you free in a few moments," Red said.

The duck-like monsters fired their ammo, but Red was at least one step ahead of them.  He took all seven of them out with a Chi Roar attack.  Lumpy was now free.

"Thank you.  You good friend," Lumpy said.

"Don't mention it," Red said before sending Lumpy back to the Real World.  He found Gronk and Dirt nearby.

They were trapped inside the same cage, blue-armored Shadow Knights surrounding them.  Red quickly dealt with the knights' freeing the two cavemen.

"Mighty dragon good," Dirt said.

"Thanks for helping us," Gronk added.

"No problem," Red said before taking them back to the Real World.

"Ooga over here!  Ooga over here!" a voice shouted.

Red's head snapped up.  He flew in the direction of the voice and soon saw Ooga in the middle of a serpentine circle.  He landed.  He focused his Chi and created a Chi circle.  The energy circle took out all of the serpent heads.  Ooga was now free.

"Ooga thank you," Ooga said.

"You're welcome," Red said before teleporting Ooga and himself to the Real World.

"Our home gone," Lumpy said.

"We rebuild," Dirt said.

"Yes.  It take long but we do it," Gronk said.

Then Red teleported back to Dragon Village.

"Well everyone has been freed," Tomas said.

"Everyone except Ember, Flame and the other dragons of Dragon Village and Dragon Shores.  The Sorcerer must have them," Red said.

"We have to help them," Spyro said.

"We will Spyro.  I suspect that the Sorcerer knows that the others have been freed," Red said.  He was indeed right.

The Sorcerer had sensed that the only prisoners left were the ones in his new base.  "Curse them.  They have freed everyone except the dragons here," he said.

"I don't understand how they got out of my forest so quickly.  I had made sure to make it a lot longer than it was last time," Misteria said.

"We have underestimated Red yet again.  But this time, we finish him and his precious little son off.  With them permanently out of the way, nothing will be able to stop us," the Sorcerer said.

"I sense a battle in the near future," Ineptune said.

"Indeed.  This time, we will come out on top," the Sorcerer said.





And that's the end of this chapter.  Only one chapter left.  Preview for Chapter 10: Final Showdown: The freed inhabitants continue with the process of cleaning up their damaged to destroyed homes.  A plan is put in place to free the remaining prisoners.  It all leads to a final battle between Red and Misteria.  Who will come out the victor?  Stay close to find out.