The sun was setting on the horizon and the beauty was incredible. The clear water reflected everything there was to see. The clouds were brilliant shades of pink and orange as the crickets chirped to their heart's content.

"Spyro! We're under attack, wake up!" a dragon elder shouted. Spyro sat up in fear. That dream was the last clear memory of peace he had. Shortly before he was born, the dragon realms and Avalar had gone into an all out war. Apparently the dragons had captured land and long, long ago and were ruling over Avalar. The citizens had decided to band together and break free. So far, they were doing a pretty good job and pushing them back into their old territory, a harsh, barren wasteland. Spyro quickly searched around the small hut he was in to find anything he could salvage. Nothing of particular importance, so he felt everything should stay,

"Sparx! Hey buddy! We need to go, now!" He said with a raised whisper. His glowing little dragonfly friend flew down from the tiny bed atop a shelf.

"What's goin' on?" he asked in a daze.

"One of the elders told me that Avalar's forces are here and we need to leave." His face was covered with sweat. Even from a few feet away, Sparx could hear his heart thumping loudly in his chest.

"For real this time? Dude, that is messed up!" Sparx said, looking out of the window. His wings fluttered faster than ever as he scanned the area.

"Get away from there!" Spyro snapped, "You could get spotted, then we're toast. We need to-"

"Alright, alright, I know what you're about to say. We need to keep quiet and warn the others so we can all escape to the other magical happy dragon realms where we'll be safe." He said in a mocking tone.

"Took the words right out of my mouth. I can hear the soldiers' footsteps. C'mon! It's only a matter of time now." Spyro ran out the door of his small, secure hut. Elders ran by holding the hands of smaller dragons, some clutching eggs close to their bodies. The ruler of the rebelling Avalar, Ripto, was executing all dragons he could get his hands on for "Ruling the people of Avalar with an iron fist". Some dragons of great power were taken away directly to him, but no one was sure why. The reason for that was that no one ever came back to tell their story. The dragon villages containing dragons of great power had always had footmen ready surrounding the North and East plains, the South Forest, and several keeping watch over the mountains, which were the most direct route from Avalar to Spyro's portion of the realms. Being born a purple dragon, which was said to have great powers, he had been shifted to three different villages in his youth to keep him safe. It was always difficult to learn new friends, and even more difficult for news to spread that his friends from the old village were dead. His one true friend who stuck with him from the beginning was Sparx. Every dragon that had a dragonfly companion had to stick with them until the end. When Sparx was only a few years of age and decided to go with Spyro in danger of being caught and killed, he had no idea that his whole friendship was locked into that very moment. Spyro thought he heard a faint snoring noise, so he ran into a nearby hut.

"Hey, wake up, we're under atta-" he was interrupted by a being hit in the head with an amulet.

"Spyro, you creep! What are you doing in our room so late at night? Disgusting!" a pink dragon by the name of Ember shouted. She continued shrieking and throwing things as Spyro made silent gestures to calm her down. The outburst awoke another female dragon who was black and red, named Cynder.

"What in the world?" she murmured softly as she rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed.

"Tell this little pervert to get outta' here or else you'll flame him into the next universe!" Ember screamed while she kicked him against the wall, for she had run out of things to throw at him.

"Ow! Stop it, Ember! Cynder, help! We're being attacked and we need to flee! Ah- knock it ow, off! You need to grab anything that might be useful and leave!" Spyro said in pain. Ember certainly kicked hard.

"Nice try, purple boy! It'll take me a while to forgive you for this one! I swear, you seemed so sweet when I first met yo-" she was interrupted by Cynder.

"Wait, what do you say? We're being attacked?" she said in fear.

"Yes," Spyro said, pushing Ember down on the floor. "An elder warned me. I heard the marching of soldiers coming from the market street." Sparx flew in the open window.

"That's it. We need barbed wire and electric fence surrounding this place." Ember said as she got off the floor.

"Bad news, they just captured the market and are advancing in our direction. Will you three ladies hurry it up?" he said, gesturing towards the door. Spyro picked up Ember's amulet and passed it to her. She immediately forgot the whole ordeal and took it back with a smile.

"Aww, how kind of you Spyro. You would make a good husband."

"Yeah, aren't I just that great?" he responded sarcastically. The four carefully sneaked out the door. The sound of marching grew louder. Cynder shuddered and moved closer towards Spyro. She was breathing irregularly to keep quiet. "It's okay, I'll make sure you'll be okay." He said to her. Ember leaned close to him as well, hoping for the same reaction. Spyro rolled his eyes and moved away from the two, now leading the way to the South forest.

"Where are we going?" Cynder asked.

"With all luck, they won't be able to track us in the South forest. It's too dense and The Great Swamp lies in the center. After that, it's a straight shot to The Forgotten Realms. The Sorceress is currently neutral in the war. With any luck, she'll stay that way and leave us be. If not, we can head back through the Plains and-"

"Wai, whoa whoa, no no no. I hear the she and Ripto both hate dragons and are going to join forces, and destroy us all! They're looking for the youngest purple dragon in the dragon kingdom to combat it and win the war! I tell ya pal, you better go hide in a ditch somewhere, because seriously, that might be you." Sparx chimed in.

"Where'd you hear something as ridiculous as that?" Spyro asked, remembering to keep his voice low.

"Well, I sorta heard it from one of the elders…"

"Which one?" Spyro asked as if they had been down the road a million times.

"It was… umm… uhh… Elder Max." he said, looking down to the ground.

"Elder max! That guy is insane! He keeps talking about gems of the heart and Gnasty Gnorc having a fortress in the middle of the desert! I personally think that guy needs to spend less time in the sun, it's frying his brain!" Spyro shouted. The footsteps grew louder then came to a sudden halt. Ember began whimpering and Cynder started to silently pray. Spyro pointed in the direction of the row of huts. That had been emptied. They ran behind one and waited. After a few short minutes, the marching began to grow quieter.

"That was close." Cynder said. Her face was covered in fear.

"Don't worry. We'll all stay together. I promise that we'll all live to see the light of dawn." Spyro reassured her. "Now, let's hurry up and get to the forest." They stepped out and froze. The soldiers of fawns, fairies, and other mystical being stood in place. It was a trap; the marching that they heard at a distance was another patrol.

"Seize them!" the general shouted.

"To the forest!" Spyro screamed even though they were already running in that direction. The soldiers had advanced weaponry from all over. One got down on his knees and shot a net gun. Bullseye! Spyro, Ember, Cynder, and Sparx were all held up in the net. The general walked towards the net and inspected it carefully.

"Take the purple dragon to The Forgotten Realms, then I'll send word for Ripto to head on over. As for the others, have them locked away to rot in hell for all they have done to the people of Avalar." He said with a mischievous grin. As they were hauled away, Spyro couldn't help but look back and say Goodbye Artisans. Goodbye forever.