Hello and welcome to the sequel to Crazy Little Thing Called Love! Yes, the official full-length sequel is here! If you haven't read CLTCL yet then I highly suggest you do that before coming back here otherwise story elements won't make sense to you.

As always, I don't own Spyro or any other franchise mentioned in this story.

If you have read everything CLTCL-related up to this point then let's get started on the sequel. Enjoy!

(Chapter 1: A Kind of Magic)

Warfang, Decades Ago…

The warm afternoon sun shone over the glistering city of Warfang. A flowing population of dragons, moles and even cheetahs were wandering through the streets, whether they were going on a nice stroll or heading home from work. Anything was possible in this city.

The park close to the city centre was also packed, mostly full of parents spending time with their young kids. However when school ended, it was a place where the students of Warfang Academy hung out. Well, not all the students. Usually the ones that were very sociable or actually have a group to hang out with.

A particular group of young dragons were sitting by the fountain, each different and unique from the other. An electricity dragon, younger than the rest of the group, sat on the ground with his eyes glued on a book next to him. Along with his yellow scales, he had a pale blue underbelly and vibrant yellow stripes on his body that resembled small lightning bolts.

Next to him was an ice dragon, who looked annoyed at the electricity dragon's muttering. The dragon had blue scales with a purple underbelly and jagged pale horns that resembled icicles. Meanwhile his back spines, shoulder and ankle crests were more similar to small shards of glass.

Sitting on the edge of the fountain was an earth dragon, slightly bulkier than the others. The earth dragon had dark green scales with light green spots and a brown underbelly. His horns stood out among the others, curving in a spiral on the sides of his head, resembling the horns of a ram. He also had a spiked tail end, although it hadn't seen a hint of combat beside the rough bit of play fighting here and there.

Finally, sitting by the earth dragon and staring into the distance, there was a fire dragon. The dragon had red scales decorated with darker spots and an orange underbelly. Unlike the rest of the group he was with, the fire dragon had frills beginning to grow on both of his cheeks. However, it was barely noticeable. So unnoticeable that the little dragon had to point it out each time he talked about it.

Their names were Volteer, Cyril, Terrador and Ignitus, respectively. A group of friends embracing the last afternoon of the current school year, their troubles and worries washed away by the relaxing environment.

"Really, Volteer? Must you mutter so loudly?!" Cyril queried frustratingly, a small growl in his voice.

Volteer stopped muttering and frowned. "You know... if it bothers you so much, Cyril, then you could always move away," the young electricity dragon suggested. "It'll make things easier or perhaps simple, effortless even!"

Cyril merely rolled his eyes in annoyance, about to counter-argue when Terrador chuckled at the two bickering.

"Cyril, just let Volteer enjoy the last hours of the school year the way he wants to…" Terrador said calmly.

"Unfortunate for me…" Cyril murmured, his eyes narrowed on Volteer. "Especially since I'm trying to enjoy the rest of the day without any interruptions."

Ignitus sighed frustratingly as Volteer and Cyril continued to squabble at each other. Can't they have one day without trying to rip each other's wings off? he thought as he stared into the open park, trying to block out any noise as quickly as possible. The fire dragon was always the cool and collected one out of the group, despite being the opposite of cool elemental wise, but sometimes it was hard for him not to get pissed off with Cyril.

Volteer and Cyril had been at each other's necks since the start of the year, ever since the young electricity dragon joined the class one year before he should thanks to his intelligence. However, Volteer's status as an highly-intelligent student didn't earn him any new friends. In fact, it was the opposite. He was getting bullied… constantly. Well, until Terrador stood up for him one day during elemental training.

Both Ignitus and Terrador were warm and welcoming towards the new member of their crew. Cyril, however, was still getting used to him. They didn't know if he was jealous or just simply didn't like him. When Volteer asked about Cyril's behaviour towards him, Ignitus assured him that Cyril would warm up to him in no time.

While Volteer and Cyril were busy squabbling with each other, Ignitus gazed at an oak tree nearby. As he watched the leaves sway in the wind, Ignitus could've sworn he heard a faint noise in the distance. Since he was a certain distance from the oak tree, the fire dragon couldn't make out what the noise was.

"Ignitus?" He heard Terrador speak in his direction. "Everything okay?"

"Huh?" Ignitus snapped out of his thoughts and quickly turned to his friend. "Oh, I'm fine. Just thought I heard something…"

Terrador raised an eyebrow, a cheeky smirk on his face. "Something or someone?"

"What are you talking about?" Ignitus wondered, giving Terrador a confused look.

Cyril leaned to the side and poked his head into Ignitus and Terrador's conversation. "He means that he thinks that you're going to look for that special someone during the holidays…" he chimed in.

"You couldn't have made it more obvious?" Terrador grumbled silently to the ice dragon, a frown plastered on his face.

Slightly embarrassed from this ongoing conversation, a flustered Ignitus shook his head in denial. "No, no! T-That's not what's going here!" Ignitus stammered, his blush disguised by his red scales, thankfully. "That's the last thing on my mind! You guys know what I am more focused on!"

"Yes, finish school and become a Guardian just like your great-grandfather…" Cyril said in a dull tone, as if he heard it over and over again. "Err… what's his name again?"

"Spyro, my great-grandfather Spyro," Ignitus replied in an angry tone. "He led Warfang against the apes way back in the Dark Ages!"

Terrador leapt off the fountain and stood in between Cyril and Ignitus. "Ignitus, chill. I was just messing with you," he chuckled, tapping Ignitus' shoulder with his paw.

Volteer popped his head out of his book and looked to the rest of the group, his selective hearing coming into play. "Huh? Did you guys say something about the Dark Ages?" he questioned.

A confused Cyril looked at Volteer. "That's all you heard?"

"What?" Volteer shrugged. "I like my history, don't judge me…"

"Anyway…" Terrador spoke up before Cyril and Volteer could get into another squabble. "Shall we get something to eat? I'm starving."

Ignitus shook off his frustration and took a deep breath. "Sure, Cyril's buying." he said with a smile. Cyril only frowned at the fire dragon as Volteer and Terrador laughed amongst themselves.

Soon enough, the four dragons left the fountain and made their way out of the park. They strolled on the wide gravel walkway, passing by the big oak tree that Ignitus was staring at before.

As they passed the tree, Ignitus noticed a faint sound fill the air, but he couldn't quite make out what it was. He took a few more steps before pausing in his tracks and looking towards the sound. The noise continued going, and it was soft, barely recognisable, as if someone was deliberately trying to be quiet.

Is someone… crying? Ignitus pondered.

By this time, Terrador and the others were a few metres away from him. Terrador, having just noticed that his friend wasn't with them, spun around and called out to Ignitus.

"Ignitus! You coming or not?!" he shouted.

The fire dragon quickly turned between the tree and Terrador, not sure on what to do. If someone was crying then it should be a good idea to go see what's wrong. On the other hand, whoever was upset possibly wanted to be left alone. They could be keeping themselves quiet for a reason.

"You go on ahead, I'll catch up!" Ignitus called back.

Terrador and the others exchanged looks and shrugged before continuing down the path. Once they turned around, Ignitus gazed at the tree once more before cautiously wandering towards it.

The old oak tree, most likely planted before Ignitus was born, stood taller and prouder than the other trees that were close to it. Its branches stretched out into the remaining space, healthy, bright green leaves blooming all over.

Ignitus slowly approached the thick tree stump, the sound of crying becoming louder and more obvious. The fire dragon sat on his haunches, unsure on what to do next. Should he clear his throat and hopefully whoever's crying would hear him over their tears? Should he say something? Ignitus was not the most social dragon in the world, especially with one-to-one conversations.

"Um… hello?" Ignitus greeted loudly, making himself known to the crying stranger.

Before Ignitus could explain what he was doing there in the first place, the crying suddenly quietened down. It had turned into small sniffles with a hint of mumbling, as if the stranger was trying to calm themselves down enough to talk to Ignitus.

Ignitus could make out a peculiar shape peeking out behind the tree trunk. It was mostly covered by the shadows of the leaves above them. Ignitus had to squint to see a hint of light blue retreat back behind the tree.

"H-Hello?" a voice whimpered from behind the tree, a girl's voice. Judging from how young the voice sounded, Ignitus assumed that she was around his age.

"I heard some crying… just wanted to check if everything was alright…" Ignitus muttered calmly, slowly moving closer to the tree.

"W-Why?" the dragoness croaked. "I'm n-nothing s-special…"

After hearing the dragoness utter those peculiar words, Ignitus' mood saddened. No one should even think that, much less actually say it out loud. Ignitus didn't know this girl but he knew that she was already wrong.

"I'm sure that's not true…" Ignitus murmured.

The dragoness scoffed behind the tree. "Y-Yes it is! E-everyone in my class s-said so! All I w-wanted was to be their friend… was that too much to ask!?"

Choking on her words, the dragoness exploded into tears once again. Ignitus stood there, his sympathy for the young dragoness growing more and more. As much as he wanted to approach the tree and comfort her, it felt weird to do that with someone that he didn't know.

However, there was a sense of familiarity in Ignitus' mind. There was something about this dragoness that he recognised. Ignitus was aware that there was someone in his class getting bullied by a few of the 'popular' dragonesses in his school.

But could it be the same dragoness? Ignitus wouldn't have recognised her voice since she hardly spoke in class. But when she did, it would usually be to herself.

Ignitus looked down at the ground in guilt. They finally got to her…

Feeling sorry for the sobbing dragoness, Ignitus made his way to the tree. No matter if it was a stranger, he couldn't just leave someone that was going through emotional issues. It wasn't in his blood. If one of his friends were upset, he would always make sure that they were okay.

Ignitus curved his head around the trunk to see that the dragoness had curled into her ball, her loud whimpering fading into the soft sniffles he heard before.

She was an ice dragoness, with magnificent light blue scales with white spots shimmering on her back as well as on her legs and the top of her head.

Despite sharing the same element and scale colour as Cyril, there were a lot of features that differentiated herself from him. Her horns were white with a slight curve towards the middle. Her chest was white and arrow shaped while her membranes were a pale gradient of blue that became brighter as it got closer to the joints.

What Ignitus noticed that was unique about this particular ice dragoness was her tail blade, it wasn't spiked like Cyril's or even resembled an icicle. It was more egg-shaped and had a spiral pattern that resembled smooth ice cream.

Ignitus' thoughts were right, he knew exactly who this ice dragoness was.

"Glacia?"

Glacia's eyes, after hearing her name, shot open in surprise and she slowly unfolded her wing that was mostly covering her body. Her eyes were blotched red from all the crying but there was something different about them as well...

Her eyes were a light amethyst purple, a trait not common among other ice dragons that Ignitus knew or had heard about it. It was so unusual yet Ignitus felt entranced by the purple orbs each passing second he gazed at them.

"I-Ignitus?" Glacia stuttered as she stood up, her head and wings moving frantically around from sheer awkwardness. "Uh… um, h-have you b-been there the whole time?"

"Yes," Ignitus simply nodded. "I'm sorry about what happened to you, I know Metus and her friends can be real jerks…"

"Y-You don't have to apologise, it wasn't… um, your fault," Glacia quickly spoke up before Ignitus could say anything else, rubbing the back of her neck as she tried to figure out what to say next.

Struggling to continue the conversation, Glacia flapped her wings and started to dart away from Ignitus. "A-Anyway, uh, I s-should get going… don't l-let me get in the way of... what you were doing," she stammered.

Ignitus looked shocked as Glacia zoomed off in the opposite direction. He always knew that the ice dragoness was shy, but not to this extent. No wonder she was getting hounded by her classmates; she couldn't exactly defend herself, nor did she have anyone to defend her.

A metaphorical light bulb flickered over Ignitus, he knew how to fix that problem.

"Wait, hold on!" Ignitus called after Glacia, racing to catch up with her. He stopped in front of her, panting slightly. Glacia sat on her haunches, confused to why another dragon wanted to speak with her… again.

"Um… w-what are you doing?" she wondered.

"Asking if you wanted to tag along with me and my friends…" Ignitus said, shrugging his shoulders as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I just figured it might cheer you up…"

Glacia's eyes lit up at Ignitus' request, a mix of happiness and shock on her face. A small blush spread across her cheeks. "Really? Are you sure?" she queried, looking down at the ground. "I'll just be a burden..."

Ignitus chuckled. "Nonsense, you'll be fine… You will fit right in with us."

Flattered by the invitation, Glacia unexpectedly wrapped herself around Ignitus in an embrace. "T-Thank you, Ignitus…" she muttered, her eyes closed so that he couldn't see her well up again.

Ignitus, initially shocked by the hug at first, smiled and accepted the hug, wrapping his wings around her. "No problem…"

Once Ignitus and Glacia separated from their somewhat awkward embrace, they walked close together and exited the park in pursuit of Terrador and the others. The two strolled silently through the streets, Glacia darting her head around the tall buildings to ease her nerves.

Ignitus soon spoke up after seeing Glacia's behaviour. "You okay?" he asked, breaking the silence between the two young dragons.

Glacia spun her head around to Ignitus. "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm good…" she replied with a nervous chuckle. "Just trying to wrap myself around all… this. Never really done this before."

"Have you never hung out with anyone? Ever?"

The ice dragoness shook her head. "Nah… I usually scare everyone off."

Ignitus raised an eyebrow, curious to know how someone like Glacia can terrify people. "Really? How?"

"Well they don't expect a dragon of my element to be… well, all over the place," Glacia answered, slight annoyance in her voice. "But why do I have to be the same as all the other ice dragons? They're so boring and posh. Why can't I like rock music instead of classical music? Or prefer to watch creatures beat up each other rather than a wishy-washy drama?"

Ignitus' eyes lit up. "Wait… you like rock music?"

Glacia stopped ranting and gave Ignitus a surprised look. "Yeah… yeah I do," she muttered as her look of surprise changed to a more worried one. "Why? Is that a bad thing?"

"What? No, no, no. It's not bad at all!" Ignitus assured, quickly shaking his head. "I was gonna say that I like rock music too…"

Glacia beamed. "Really? Have you listened to the Ice on Firealbum yet?"

"Listened to it?" Ignitus smirked. "I have it on CD, bought it the other day. What about you?"

The ice dragoness' mood soured once again as she looked down at the ground. "Only on the radio, my parents are very particular about my likes and dislikes… especially my mother," Glacia murmured, irritation in her words. Especially when her mother was mentioned.

"You could always borrow my CD… if you want," Ignitus suggested, trying to lighten the mood up.

Glacia looked up to Ignitus and smiled warmly at him. "I'd like that."

The two young dragons eventually caught up with Terrador and the others, who were merely sitting on a bench nearby. Terrador and Cyril calmly sat on the bench watching Volteer pacing back and forth impatiently.

"I wonder what's taking Ignitus so long… What's making him so busy, occupied and engaged?!" Volteer wondered, a slight panic in his voice. "He knows that I've got to be home at a certain time!"

"Calm down, Volteer… I'm sure he'll be here soon," Terrador ensured in a more calmer tone.

Rolling his eyes at Volteer, Cyril glanced past Terrador and his eyes locked on to Ignitus in the distance. At the sight of the fire dragon, Cyril sighed with relief.

"Ah look, he's coming now," Cyril said, turning to Volteer. "See, Volteer? No need to panic."

"Wait a minute, who's that next to him?" Terrador suddenly spoke, staring wide-eyed at Ignitus.

Both Volteer and Cyril exchanged looks and turned to where the young earth dragon was looking. Indeed there was another dragon walking alongside Ignitus, a dragon they definitely don't remember being next to him while they were at the park. Terrador joined Volteer and Cyril in exchanging confused looks. Ignitus was never known to randomly befriend other dragons and bring them to their group hangouts. This was a first for him.

Cyril scoffed after seeing that the dragon had the same element as him. "An ice dragon? You guys better not be replacing me…"

"Oh didn't we tell you?" Volteer teased cheekily, earning a death glare from Cyril.

"That dragon looks very familiar," Terrador murmured, squinting his eyes to get a better look at the other dragon.

"Kind of looks like that quiet girl in our class…" Volteer theorised. "What's her name again? Glacia?"

Terrador's look of curiosity changed to that of surprise. "Dude, it is Glacia," he said.

"Since when did they become friends?" Cyril contemplated in a whisper as Ignitus and Glacia got closer and closer.

Volteer shrugged. "Since fate brought them together?"

That suggestion made Cyril snort in disbelief. "Don't be so daft…"

Before Cyril could say anything more, Terrador quickly bumped him on the shoulder to shut him up. When Cyril saw that Ignitus and Glacia were at an adult dragon's wing length, he immediately stopped talking.

Once Ignitus and Glacia approached the others, Glacia took a few steps back behind Ignitus to conceal herself from the rest of the young dragons.

Okay Glacia, you're about to potentially make friends. Let's not do what we usually do and freak out. Just stay calm and be yourself… Glacia thought to herself, repeating the last sentence over and over again. She then sighed to herself, that preparation never worked. Why should it work this time?

"Hey, sorry I took long," Ignitus greeted, moving slightly to the side so that Glacia was in view. "You guys remember Glacia?"

As the group stared at her, Glacia's cheeks turned a crimson red as she glued her eyes to the ground. She started to sweat from the sheer awkwardness. As much as she wanted to keep her distance or move her head around to avoid eye contact, she had to say something. Anything.

Come on, just say hi! her subconscious urged loudly.

Taking a deep breath, Glacia lifted her head to look at the other dragons. "Uh… greetings?" she spoke up, a nervous smile on her face as she gave a small wave to the group.

As much as Glacia wanted to bury herself in the ground for saying 'greetings', the other dragons didn't even bat an eye.

"Hello!" Volteer exclaimed.

"Sup." Terrador greeted.

"Hey…" Cyril muttered.

"Glacia, you know Terrador, Cyril and Volteer right?" Ignitus questioned, knowing that Glacia knew his name presumably from the class roll call.

"Of course…" Glacia replied, placing herself next to Ignitus. "It's, uh, nice to meet you guys…"

Ignitus shuffled closely to Glacia, also sitting on his haunches. "Is it alright if Glacia hung out with us for a bit?" he asked the rest of the group.

Terrador shrugged. "Sure, we don't mind," he said, before he then moved closer to Ignitus and Glacia so that Cyril and Volteer couldn't hear him. "But be cautious of Cyril, he gets judgy whenever we bring someone new into our group."

"Sounds like every ice dragon ever…" Glacia muttered quietly before staring surprisingly at Terrador. "Wait… did you, um, say that I was in your group?"

"Do you not want to be?"

Glacia's eyes widened. "What? No, no, no," she quickly assured. "It's just that, well, I haven't really been invited anywhere with anyone before…"

"Well, I think we can change that…" Ignitus said, giving out another of his warm smiles.

Volteer quickly popped his head into the conversation. "Yeah, I bet you're way much more fun than Cyril…"

"I heard that!" Cyril exclaimed annoyingly. Volteer shot a 'told-you-so' look towards Glacia, who merely giggled at the banter between the two young dragons.

Glacia then glimpsed at Ignitus, who was quietly laughing to himself, as a small smile spread across her face. A new feeling spread into her stomach, a feeling that the ice dragoness would never have thought to get. That of happiness, like a hole in her heart had suddenly been filled.

Something tells me that I'm gonna like these guys… Glacia thought to herself as she, Ignitus and the others began to leave the sitting area and into new adventures unknown.

(-)

As time went on, Glacia slowly emerged from her shell. Ever since she started hanging out with Ignitus, Terrador, Cyril and Volteer, her confidence in herself shot up exponentially and more of her personality began to show. She was no longer the shy and stuttering girl that hid in the corner of the classroom, instead she was more mischievous and playful. However, despite her newfound confidence, Glacia still had trouble socialising when it came to meeting new creatures.

But when it came to strong friendships, her strongest was with Ignitus. Glacia just felt more comfortable around the fire dragon, like there was something to Ignitus that made him safe and trustworthy. Glacia didn't know if it was because they were close friends or perhaps… something more.

Ignitus had similar conflicted feelings. As they grew up, Ignitus' mind began to wander to the ice dragoness whenever it got the chance. From her shimmering blue scales, her curious purple eyes to her infectious enthusiasm and her smile. In the young fire dragon's eyes, everything about Glacia was just… perfect.

But whenever Ignitus thought of Glacia, there was a hint of sadness and hesitation that entered his mind. What if she wasn't into him? She had been anti-social for many years; surely she just wanted friends rather than to be in a committed relationship?

He needed advice…

One afternoon after school had finished for the day, Ignitus frantically paced by the fountain. His heart was beating at a fast pace as panic and nervousness filled his head. Keeping his complicated feelings for Glacia a secret for so long was killing him inside, it felt good to actually talk to someone about this. Love was not exactly his cup of tea.

"Ignitus!" the deep voice of an older Terrador called out.

Ignitus stopped pacing and darted his head towards his friend. "Terrador! Thank the ancestors you made it."

"Hey I got your message, you need advice with something?" Terrador wondered, in a more calmer tone.

"What do you know about girls?!" Ignitus asked loudly, quickly getting to the chase. A few dragons walking by curiously turned around at the sudden volume of Ignitus' voice, as if he was going to address a public speech.

Terrador, surprised at the question, raised his eyebrow. "Ok… not what I was expecting," he muttered before clearing his throat. "Yeah, sure. A couple of things… why do you ask?"

Ignitus twitched slightly, nervously rubbing the back of his head. "Well, you see…"

Terrador couldn't help but smile. It didn't take a genius to figure out what or who Ignitus was talking about. "It's Glacia, isn't it?"

"W-What?!" Ignitus stuttered, stopping dead in his tracks as he twirled his paws around. "N-No, I don't know what you're t-talking about!"

However, no matter how convincing Ignitus tried to sound, Terrador scoffed in disbelief. "Ha! I knew it!" he exclaimed, sounding almost proud of himself for figuring it out. "I knew you liked her, it was so obvious!"

Ignitus shook his head in denial. "N-No, n-no, it wasn't."

Terrador stopped his chuckling and merely smiled at the fire dragon. "Ignitus, I've known you since we were little," he said. "We know each other's quirks inside and out. You always act like this very time you have a crush on someone… all stuttery and distant."

Knowing how right Terrador was, Ignitus said nothing. He only looked down at the ground worrisomely.

Terrador clapped a paw on his best friend's shoulder. "I'm right, aren't I?"

Ignitus nodded slowly. "Yeah…" he murmured. "It's just that… I've liked Glacia for so long; she's fun, pretty and she's different from any other dragoness. A good type of different, you know, it's what makes her unique. But everytime I think of her, I wonder: Does she even like me back? Does she actually want to be in a relationship? I just don't know what to do…"

"Why don't you just tell her how you feel?" Terrador shrugged.

Ignitus groaned in frustration. "It's not that easy… there's approaching her, then there's talking to her and finally the inevitable rejection that I'll eventually get."

"How do you even know Glacia is gonna reject you? You never know… she might feel the same way," Terrador asked in a calm tone.

"She's been acting how she normally is… so I don't know," Ignitus replied in an almost disappointing tone.

Terrador chuckled slightly. "Oh, you know her… she's always hiding her emotions."

"So what should I do?" Ignitus queried.

"Simple, talk to her," Terrador advised, giving a small smile at Ignitus. "Tell her how you feel…"

Ignitus looked at Terrador, a worried expression on his face. "And if she doesn't feel the same way?"

Terrador's smile faded slightly. "Then... that's the way she feels," he answered. "But at least you'll have closure…"

The fire dragon lowered his head, his eyes glued to the ground once more. He knew that Terrador would say something like that and, as always, he was right.

Ignitus looked back to the earth dragon. "Thanks, Terrador…"

"No problem, dude…"

After saying goodbye to Terrador, Ignitus left the fountain and began to make his way out of the park. He passed through a shaded area full of average-sized trees and shrubbery. It was near the end of autumn so a mix of red, yellow and orange began to slowly fall from the branches; it was almost peaceful in a way. It reminded Ignitus of those old black and white samurai films from the Fireworks Factory realm, except with more colour.

Ignitus walked to a nearby tree and immediately slumped onto the trunk, rubbing his face in frustration.

"How am I gonna tell her?" he muttered in annoyance.

Many scenarios came into view: go on a walk, have a picnic, go to the diner. All those were just too simple and too stereotypical. Then Ignitus thought about more impressive ways to confess his feelings: fireworks, a message in the sky engulfed in fire. But those were too time-consuming and the thought that Glacia could potentially be scared off by these gestures then entered the young fire dragon's mind.

Ignitus banged the ground with his paw. All this stuff about confessing his feelings was killing him inside. What was he going to do?

As he was thinking, the leaves and branches suddenly started to rustle above him. It wasn't as if the wind was rustling it, it sounded like something was in the trees. Something bigger than the average bird or any other small woodland creature.

The rustling sounds becoming louder, Ignitus curiously looked up to the tree above him. Just as he looked up, a blur of white and blue fell towards him. Ignitus closed his eyes from the incoming impact but fortunately for the young fire dragon, the white and blue blur managed to catch itself on a branch with its tail.

"That was a close one…" a familiar voice muttered in relief. "Oh, hi Ignitus!"

Ignitus slowly opened his eyes cautiously, the cheery face of Glacia appearing close to his face. At the sight of seeing the ice dragoness, Ignitus' eyes immediately widen as a small blush spread across his cheeks.

"Glacia?" Ignitus said, rubbing the back of his head to take some of his awkwardness away. "Uh.. W-What are you doing in the tree?"

"Oh… well, I was just having some quiet time to myself," Glacia answered, jumping down from the branch and onto the ground below. "Guess the branch wasn't as stable as I thought it was…"

Ancestors, she's beautiful… Ignitus thought as Glacia looked at him, not knowing that she was trying to talk to him.

Glacia waved her paw in Ignitus' face to get his attention. "Ignitus? Hello?" she articulated her words slowly.

Ignitus then blinked and blushed even more. "Sorry, I was listening!" He exclaimed, eyes widened. "Uh, what were we talking about?"

The ice dragoness giggled. "I was asking you what you were doing here…"

"Oh right…" Ignitus nervously chuckled. "Sorry, I just have something on my mind at the moment."

"Obviously still do it seems." Glacia pointed out with a smirk.

Ignitus couldn't help but snort. "Funny." he muttered before his mood faded.

Seeing how disturbed Ignitus, Glacia approached him closely as her paw slowly gilded towards his. "Did you want to talk about it?" she suggested, her paw almost touching Ignitus'. "I might not be the best at giving advice but I'm good at listening…"

Ignitus took a breath before he spoke. "Well… it involves you."

Glacia gave Ignitus a confused look. "Me?" she questioned before she looked down at the ground in sadness. "Has Metus been talking about me behind my back again?"

Ignitus automatically shook his head. "No… this is different." he answered.

"Oh good…" Glacia sighed with relief before getting confused again. "How is it different?"

Glacia looked closely at Ignitus' face while he struggled to get an answer out. When she saw that he was looking very nervous and darted his eyes around to avoid eye contact, she had a faint idea on what was going on with him.

"Ohhh I get it…" she mumbled in a hoarse whisper.

"Um… Y-You do?" Ignitus stuttered, shuffling on the spot as buckets of sweat poured down on his face.

Glacia merely laughed and lightly punched Ignitus on the shoulder. "Yeah of course!" she said. "You like someone and you don't want to ruin our friendship..."

Ignitus' eyes slightly widened in surprise. He knew that Glacia wouldn't quite catch on straight away due to her lack of knowledge of any social cues but something about her assuming that he liked someone else kind of disappointed him in a way. If Glacia thought it was someone else then how could she like him back?

"So… who's the lucky girl?" Glacia then queried.

Everything stopped. Ah shit… Ignitus groaned in his head.

The fire dragon stayed quiet for a while, unsure on how to approach this answer. He couldn't lie and say it was someone else as Glacia would just take the mick out of him. He also couldn't deny that he had a crush on anyone since, in some cases, denial is the first sign of a crush.

Ignitus took a deep breath. There was no backing out of this now. He had to do the thing that he was afraid to do: confess his feelings.

"Well… the thing is…" Ignitus started to say, claws digging into the grass. "It's… uh… it's you. I like you."

Then everything went silent, as if time, space and all of reality stopped moving. The wind had disappeared as the other visitors at the park were soon drowned out by sheer awkwardness nearby. Glacia said nothing, she was too shocked to say anything. Never had any dragon had a crush on her; she always thought that her personality and her social anxiety scared away any potential partners.

But to hear Ignitus, her best friend and the only dragon she could completely trust, say that he liked her and it wasn't a part of a practical joke utterly surprised her.

"You… like me?" Glacia eventually muttered in a confused tone.

Ignitus nodded, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah… I have for a while now. Your enthusiasm, your smile, the way you make me happy every time I see you… and you know, you're pretty and all that."

Glacia could only look down at the ground, a smile tugging at the corners of her maw as her cheeks turned a bright red. She didn't know what to say, no one had ever said that to her before. The word 'pretty' was so foreign to her; freak or loser were the most common words used to describe her.

Noticing that the ice dragoness wasn't responding, Ignitus grew worried. Did he say something wrong? "But… if you don't feel the same way, that's fine too…" he then mumbled disappointingly.

"No, it's not that…" Glacia said, looking up towards the fire dragon. "It's just… well, I…"

Cursing at her social anxiety blocking her ability to speak, Glacia then thought of the most reckless thing she ever thought of. It was as if her impulses had taken over her brain. Glacia quickly leaned over to Ignitus and softly connected her lips with his in a kiss. After a few seconds, she pulled away to see a wide-eyed Ignitus as her own doubts started to settle in.

Did she seriously kiss him just now?! What the hell was she thinking?!

"Wow, okay… well, I certainly was not expecting that…" Ignitus stammered, a look of surprise still plastered on his face.

Glacia groaned in embarrassment, rubbing her eyes in frustration. "Sorry… so sorry, I d-don't know w-what came o-over me," she started to stutter. "I've b-been wanting to tell y-you that I've l-liked you for ages but I c-couldn't say it…"

As the ice dragoness rambled on, she stopped to look at Ignitus. What confused her is that he didn't look sad or even angry, instead he was smiling at her. Not a pity smile or a smile of happiness, it was a smile of adoration.

Glacia couldn't help but well up. "Do you really likeme?" she wondered, wanting to know if Ignitus was being truthful.

Ignitus nodded. "Really, really…"

The two dragons smiled at each other, gazing into each other's eyes as they drew closer to one another. They both nuzzled each other lovingly, Glacia moving her whole head under Ignitus' chin. The two were blushing like crazy due to how close they were getting. Glacia and Ignitus eventually stopped nuzzling and went to lean against each other's foreheads, eyes firmly closed as they enjoyed their embrace.

"So what now?" Glacia queried as she and Ignitus opened their eyes. "Are we, like, a thing now?"

"How about we go out to dinner tomorrow night?" Ignitus suggested.

Glacia giggled. She couldn't believe that all of this is happening. "I would love that…"

The newly-bloomed couple soon left their embrace and began to quietly walk through the park. Ignitus wrapped his wing around Glacia and softly pulled her close towards him, a gesture that Glacia fully appreciated.

Time for them to take on the world… this time, they'll do it together.

(-)

As the years went on, Ignitus and Glacia's love for one another grew more and more. To their friends, they were a perfect couple. They just got each other, more than anyone could understand. It wasn't to anyone's surprise that they announced their engagement in their late-twenties.

While Ignitus' parents were thrilled by this announcement, Glacia's parents were a different story. When they first met Ignitus, their impressions were mixed. Glacia's father was happy to see his antisocial daughter finally being… well, social and approved of their relationship on seeing how happy she was with Ignitus.

Glacia's mother, however, took more time to approve. While she shared the same happiness of seeing her daughter with someone, Glacia's mother was concerned about the fact that Ignitus was a fire dragon instead of an ice dragon. This wasn't because they had anything against fire dragons (the idea of dragons of different elements getting together wasn't really an issue in dragon society), it was more because Glacia's mother wanted to keep her family tree strictly of the ice element. That was the thing with ice dragons, they always needed to be so pure.

And if Glacia's mother didn't exactly approve of their marriage, she would definitely not approve of their news a couple of years after being wed.

Glacia was gravid. But as her pregnancy progressed, they soon realised she wasn't carrying just any ordinary egg. There was something particularly special about this egg… so special that it could change the world forever.

Ignitus sat firmly on a bench outside one of the birthing rooms at the infirmary. He could hear his wife's screams and cursing echo through the empty hallway as the hours went by. With each pressing second, Ignitus grew more intensively anxious and scared. As much as he wanted to be in the birthing room to help Glacia lay her egg, he was strictly told not to by the nurse. She told him that females would get extremely protective over their egg and could attack him if he was present during the birth.

When hearing that, Ignitus wanted to protest. He wanted to refuse and just go in without any hesitation. He wanted to be there to support his wife as he promised to. But at the same time, he didn't want to stress Glacia out even more with his presence. So he obliged to the nurse's orders.

He had to sit there and wait. No company, it was him and the screams that rattled his brain almost to the point of panic.

After another few chilling minutes, the screams eventually stopped. Ignitus looked up at the door at the lack of any noise or echo in the hall and immediately jumped onto his four paws, but he couldn't sigh with relief just yet. What if something had gone wrong? What if she…?

Ignitus immediately shook that thought out of his head. No… no, there was no way that was gonna happen. Glacia is strong, she can survive this…

The door then suddenly opened with a loud creak. A female mole with a white coat and round-rimmed glasses emerged from the birthing room, ripping off a pair of dark blue gloves from her paws as she walked towards Ignitus.

Ignitus rushed to the nurse and met her halfway. "Nurse Braya!" he exclaimed. "How's Glacia? Is the egg okay? Are they both al-?"

Nurse Braya gave him a reassuring smile. "She's fine… they're both fine," she answered calmly. "Your wife has laid a healthy egg, which should be ready to hatch in a couple of months or so…"

After hearing that Glacia was okay, Ignitus sighed with relief. "Oh thank the ancestors…" he muttered, a happy tear streaming down his face. "Can I see her?"

"Of course," Nurse Braya said. "She's just resting but she'll be happy to see you…"

Ignitus smiled and went to the door, pausing for a breath to get any nerves out of the way before entering the birthing room.

All was quiet besides from the door creaking back to a closed position. Ignitus' heart started to beat intensely at every step closer to his wife and egg. He couldn't believe it, he was going to see his newborn for the first time.

The fire dragon's eyes immediately drifted on Glacia, who was sleeping on a large cushion. Her body was cradling her newborn egg, which Ignitus couldn't see since Glacia's wings and tail were covering it. Swallowing a lump in his throat, Ignitus quietly approached Glacia's sleeping form and slowly sat down to her level.

"Glacia?" he whispered.

The ice dragoness stirred a little bit, opening her amethyst eyes to look upon her mate. She looked exhausted and looked like she was going to drift off to sleep again but nevertheless, she softly smiled at the sight of Ignitus.

"Hey honey…" she muttered.

"Oh I'm so glad you're okay…" Ignitus responded with a comforting nuzzle. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired…" Glacia mumbled with a yawn. "But happy…"

"And the egg? Is it alright?"

Glacia chuckled at Ignitus' already established fatherly instincts. "Yes, yes it's fine… come see for yourself."

The ice dragoness lifted her wings and moved her tail aside to show Ignitus her freshly-laid egg. As soon as he saw the egg, Ignitus smiled warmly as his heart swelled with fatherly pride and happy tears started to stream down his face.

This wasn't just any ordinary egg. It was a purple egg, the egg which contained the next purple dragon after Malefor the Dark Master.

Ignitus couldn't believe the fact that his hatchling was to be the next purple dragon; he never thought himself to be worthy of such a privilege. Apparently Glacia had been chosen to birth the next purple dragon by the Ancestors ever since she was born. That's why Glacia had purple eyes instead of the usual blue or white common in ice dragons. She had always thought it was a mutation or perhaps a birth defect.

Glacia had no idea that the Ancestors had chosen her to birth the purple dragon, not even her parents knew. In fact, she only found out after she discovered that she was gravid. One night, she had a vision of visiting the White Isle where an ancient white dragon calling himself 'the Chronicler' told her of what's to come. At first, Glacia was surprised. She asked why it had to be her of all dragons, to which the Chronicler simply smiled and replied with, 'Because you're special… you always have been.'

Ever since then, it had been Ignitus' duty to protect both his wife and hatchling. They never told anyone about Glacia being chosen, they treated it as a normal pregnancy. Even though the purple dragon was foretold to bring peace and harmony to the realms, both Ignitus and Glacia agreed to treat their son or daughter as a normal dragon… until they were ready.

Ignitus approached the purple egg with caution and curiosity, brushing against the surface affectionately with his snout. Already he loved his newborn and was prepared to do anything to ensure that the egg would hatch safely and securely.

"I promise to protect you for as long as I live, young dragon…" he mumbled.

"What do you think it's going to be? A boy or girl?" Glacia wondered, admiring the sight of Ignitus nuzzling their egg.

"A boy, definitely…" Ignitus answered.

Glacia smiled. "I think so too… I even have the perfect name for him."

Ignitus turned to his mate. "And what would that be, my love?"

"Well, I thought of Spyro…" Glacia replied, glancing lovingly at the purple egg. "As in-"

"My great-great grandfather…" Ignitus finished.

"Yeah," Glacia looked to the ground. "I just thought that since you speak so positively about him, it might..."

Ignitus merely smiled and went to nuzzle his mate. "Honey, I think it's a great idea…"

Glacia sighed as she gave a concerned look to her egg. "I just hope that we're going to be good parents," she muttered worryingly.

"Don't worry, my love. We're going to be the best," the fire dragon chuckled as he went to curl up next to his mate, looking over at their egg proudly one last time before resting with his family.

As a father and a Guardian, I'm going to make sure my family is safe. I'll make you proud, Great-great Grandfather…

(-)

That was easier said than done…

In a matter of weeks, war began to brew in the Dragon Realms. Malefor had left exile and begun to slowly conquer the realms one by one. It was as if the birth of the purple dragon had sent the worlds into chaos.

Everyone had panicked or fled to more safer places, hopefully places that the Dark Master would never reach. The realms just weren't the sameas they were many years ago.

During these troubled times, Ignitus, Volteer, Cyril and Terrador were chosen to be Warfang's Guardians. They were to be the keepers of peace and master of their respective elements. While this was a dream come true for Ignitus, he couldn't feel happy or proud as the previous Fire Guardian before had died tragically during the Battle of Dante's Freezer. So besides from the pressure of war, there was also the pressure of filling in the pawsteps of the previous much-loved Fire Guardian.

Ignitus sat alone in the grotto in the Dragon Temple of Warfang. Surrounding him were rows and rows of eggs of various colours and elements. The cityfolk thought that their eggs would be safer under the protection of the Temple, especially since the Mountain of Malefor was close to their own doorstep. While Ignitus and the rest of the Guardians thought that moving the eggs to a place where Malefor couldn't find them would be a better plan, they were frustratingly outvoted by the rest of the Warfang Council.

Don't they realise? Ignitus pondered. Malefor lived here once, he knows where to find the eggs… why can't they see that?

The Fire Guardian then gazed over to the centre of the room. Up a few steps and draped between purple fabric was a bowl-shaped plinth that contained the unborn purple dragon, his and Glacia's hatchling to be precise.

I told them not to put Spyro out in the open! Ignitus mentally growled. We're trying to protect him, not make it easier for Malefor and his forces to find him!

"Ignitus?"

Immediately snapping away from his thoughts, Ignitus jumped slightly and darted his head towards the direction of the voice. Seeing that it was Glacia, who was sitting on her haunches and looking at him worryingly, the fire dragon sighed with relief.

"Oh… Glacia, it's you," Ignitus muttered, smiling at his mate. "You startled me…"

Glacia chuckled. "Not the first time that's happened," she approached Ignitus and sat close to him, wrapping her tail around his. "Checking on our son, are we?"

"Yeah… just wanted to clear my head. Wanted to think about something positive before facing the Council again," Ignitus answered, his smile slowly fading away.

"I really wish they didn't put him on that plinth," Glacia murmured frustratingly before her mood saddened slightly. "He looks so lonely up there…"

Ignitus comforted Glacia by wrapping his wing around her, pulling her close and letting her rest on his shoulder. "I know, my love, I know… but the Council are convinced that he should be a beacon of hope to the other dragons."

"He's just an egg at the moment! The only thing he needs to worry about is getting ready to hatch!" Glacia exclaimed, removing herself from Ignitus' embrace as she made her way to the plinth. "I'm moving him back…"

Once Glacia reached the plinth, she gently grasped Spyro's egg in her jaw and moved towards the row of eggs on the left. She then carefully placed Spyro on the bottom next to a peculiar-looking black egg.

"There you go, sweetie. Back where you belong…" Glacia murmured warmly, nuzzling the surface of Spyro's egg with her snout.

Ignitus couldn't help but laugh. "Planning our newborn's friendships already?" he wondered as he walked towards Glacia.

Glacia smirked. "Maybe… who knows? We'll just have to wait and see."

The two dragons then shared a sweet and loving nuzzle. Spending quality time with his wife and unborn son always made Ignitus happy, a feeling that was quite rare in these times. The last time that both Ignitus and Glacia felt happy was when the nurses revealed the gender of their newborn, thanks to technology brought over from the Skylands.

Seeing young Spyro in the egg and still growing almost brought Ignitus to tears. That was his son, his own flesh and blood. He was going to do whatever it took to make sure Spyro was in safe paws when he eventually hatched.

Suddenly the door to the grotto burst open. Both a startled Ignitus and Glacia quickly spun around to see a teenage fire dragon with bull-like horns racing towards them, out of breath from presumably running down the corridor.

"Master Ignitus! Master Ignitus! Come quickly!" the young dragon shouted between breaths.

Ignitus' eyes widened. "Pyra? What's the matter?"

"Emergency… Concurrent… come quickly… Portal Room…" Pyra tried to answer but he had obviously used most of his energy running to the grotto.

"Slow down, Pyra… take a breath then tell us what's wrong." Glacia advised.

Pyra nodded and took a few deep breaths to recompose himself before he spoke up again. "There's an emergency at Concurrent Skies, come quickly to the Portal Room!"

"Where are the other Guardians?"

"Meeting us there, we need to hurry!" Pyra answered.

Ignitus and Glacia exchanged concerning looks as they sprinted alongside Pyra towards the Portal Room. Once they got there, they saw Terrador, Volteer and Cyril alongside a handful of cheetahs, moles and electric dragons circling around a portal in the centre. When Ignitus and Glacia came into the room, all eyes were on them. Eyes that were full of fear, caution and panic.

"Terrador!" Ignitus called out. "What's happening?"

"Malefor's forces are closing in on our base on Concurrent Skies. Prowlus' squadron is in need of reinforcements!" Terrador responded.

"We managed to cobble together a team to assist them," Cyril added. "Volteer here suggested we use electric dragons…"

"Precisely! Electric dragons originate from Concurrent Skies; that's where we learnt to harness, control, exploit, utilize our power. Bringing them in could give us the advantage!" Volteer explained in his usual fast pace. "Of course, ice dragons could be useful since it's almost always winter there…"

Cyril frowned. "You couldn't mention the ice dragon thing earlier?!"

"The thought just occurred, transpired, materialised to me…" Volteer shrugged.

"That doesn't matter right now…" Ignitus quickly interjected before Cyril and Volteer could argue. He then looked to the 'team' that Cyril assembled. "Is this all we've got?"

"Everyone that volunteered," Terrador answered. "Rest assured Ignitus, they are a capable group and should be able to assist Prowlus and the others to victory…"

But it's not going to be enough… Glacia realised, observing the number of warriors that had volunteered. A sudden idea came into her mind, an idea that made an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

If she did this, there was no turning back.

She might not see Ignitus again or even young Spyro, there's a possibility of not seeing him grow up.

But did she have much of a choice? If she didn't do this, will there be blood on her hands?

She had to do this… for Ignitus… for her son.

"I'm going with them."

As soon as she said that, all the Guardians looked at her wide-eyed. Ignitus was especially shocked, his reaction was more fearful than anything. His breath was more shaky and fast, almost as if he was going to pass out.

"What? No…" Ignitus refused. "That's out of the question!"

Glacia frowned and gestured to Ignitus to have a private word with him, she didn't want to have a possible argument in front of the other Guardians. Ignitus, knowing that he was in trouble, nodded and went outside of the Portal Room with her.

"Look, I know what you're going to say…" Glacia was the first to speak.

"What are you doing? I can't let you go!" Ignitus immediately interrupted. The ice dragoness could sense the fear in Ignitus' voice. She was scared too but she had to do this.

Glacia sighed. "That team is not going to survive on their own, they need a leader. Since you and the others are needed here, there is no other option…"

"Not necessarily!" Ignitus protested quickly. "I could find a general from another realm or one of the captains…"

"Which will mean that another realm will be vulnerable to Malefor's forces…"

"But-" Ignitus tried to argue back, a hint of sadness in his voice.

Seeing that her mate was about to lose the plot completely, Glacia rested her paw on top of Ignitus' in an attempt to calm him down. She then smiled reassuringly at him.

"Hey… I'm going to be okay…" she muttered. "I can take care of myself. Especially against Apes…"

"Please don't go…" Ignitus croaked, eyes welling up. "I can't lose you too."

"I have to do this, my love," Glacia murmured, choking up on her words. "The sooner we end this war, the safer the world our son is going to grow up in. Do you want him to be surrounded by violence and darkness?"

"Of course not but…"

"Then let me help them!" Glacia exclaimed before her mood saddened, tears streaming down her face. "Please… for Spyro."

Ignitus didn't say anything, he only responded with a small nod. He knew that this was a bad idea but he knew better than to antagonise his wife further, even if her life was on the line. But deep down Ignitus knew that she was right; they needed all the help they could get.

The fire dragon wanted his son safe… but Ignitus also wanted to have both him and Glacia together when young Spyro opened his eyes for the first time.

Both Ignitus and Glacia turned to leave when the ice dragoness stopped in her tracks once again, a disturbed look on her face. She hesitated for a moment, gathering her thoughts together before facing her husband once more.

"Ignitus, I want you to promise me something." she muttered.

"Anything…" Ignitus said, looking more concerned than he already was.

"On the chance that Malefor finds out about me and kidnaps me or perhaps…" Glacia stopped herself from saying the rest of that sentence before continuing on. "I want you to promise me that you don't reveal that Spyro's father, not a single soul that doesn't already know… even if that means Spyro himself."

Ignitus blinked. Was she insane? Why would he even promise that?! "What? I can't…"

"It's the only way to protect him," Glacia explained. "If Malefor or his forces can't connect the dots then there's a chance to keep him alive a bit longer."

Glacia turned away from Ignitus, her eyes firmly shut to prevent any more tears coming out. She knew how absurd this idea sounded, she knew that Ignitus wasn't going to like it. She didn't even like it.

But what choice do we have? Send him to live with the dragonflies? Spyro wouldn't last five minutes out there…

"Please, Ignitus… I don't want our baby to die!" Glacia whimpered, looking at him through blotched eyes.

Seeing his wife completely break down tore him apart inside. As Glacia erupted into tears, Ignitus immediately rushed to her and hugged her close. Glacia accepted the gesture and buried her head into his chest.

"He won't, I promise." Ignitus whispered into Glacia's ear, his wings clutching her tightly.

Giving a few minutes for Glacia to calm down, the two dragons eventually headed back into the Portal Room. The decision had been made, the rest of the Guardians could see the broken looks on both Ignitus and Glacia. Ever since they have been married, they were inseparable. You couldn't break them apart, so it was much of a shock to see Glacia heading away for a long duration.

When Ignitus and Glacia entered, the Guardians circled around an open portal leading to Concurrent Skies. Through the constant swirling of colours, the Fire Guardian could vaguely see the vast darkness and cold atmosphere of Concurrent Skies. From stories he heard, it was a place where hope came to die.

"The rest of the squad have already gone through…" Terrador said in a reluctant tone. "Are you sure you want to join them?"

Glacia nodded slowly. "I'm sure, Terrador..."

The ice dragoness then turned back to Ignitus, who had distanced himself from the rest of the Guardians. There was still one thing that she needed to do…

"Can't go without saying goodbye, can I?" Glacia spoke up with a chuckle.

"Well… it's not exactly goodbye," Ignitus replied. "You are coming back right?"

Glacia gave him a reassuring smile. "Hope so." However her smile quickly faded. "I don't know…"

After a minute of silence, Glacia then went to fish something from her satchel. It was a silver locket attached to a small metal chain. Engraved on the front was a beautifully sculpted fire emblem, obviously made by an individual experienced in metalworks.

"I was meaning to give you this as a gift but now seems like a good time to, you know," Glacia muttered, passing the locket to Ignitus. "I just hope you like it..."

Ignitus examined the metal locket that was in his paw, admiring the detail on the emblem as he rubbed his limb on the smooth surface. Ignitus' heart started to swell as he looked into Glacia's eyes.

"I love it."

Glacia smiled and leaned in to kiss Ignitus softly on the lips, tears both streaming down both of their faces. It was the most heartfelt kiss the couple had ever given, and while both of their hearts lifted when their lips connected, there was some sadness to it. It was most likely the last kiss they will ever share.

Once they eventually separated, Glacia nuzzled Ignitus' cheek. "Make sure to give Spyro all my love…"

"I will," Ignitus said, returning the nuzzle.

Glacia smiled as she and Ignitus gazed into each other's eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too…" Ignitus muttered tearfully.

With one final reassuring smile, Glacia distanced herself from her husband and headed to the portal. Ignitus trailed behind her in case she needed any last minute support. He wasn't going to just stand there and watch her leave, he was going to be with her until the end.

Once Glacia reached the portal, she stopped again as she observed the flowing colours in front of her. She took a deep breath and took one final look at Ignitus, who was trying his best to get upset.

"Well, this is it…" Glacia muttered, facing her friends for one last time.

"Come back alive…" Ignitus said.

Glacia smirked. "Be here when I do…"

With one final loving glance at each other, Glacia turned around and stepped into the portal. As she passed through, a bright radiant light seeped through the Portal Room that almost blinded Ignitus and the other Guardians. As Glacia disappeared from view, the light also faded away.

Stay safe, my love… Ignitus prayed. May the Ancestors guide you till your return.

(-)

But she didn't return.

The next day, no sign of her.

A week, no news.

A month, still nothing.

No matter how hard they tried, there was no way of contacting the Concurrent Skies stronghold. They didn't even know if it had been taken over by Apes or Gnorcs or not. There was also no way to go and search for them since the portal refused to open at Warfang, presumably from a malfunction or destruction on the other side.

After hearing the news of his wife's presumed death, Ignitus refused to leave the grotto as Spyro was a living reminder of their love and the bond they shared. The only times he would come out was on the orders of Terrador and attending the memorial service for Glacia and the squad that she went with.

Ignitus could remember the rain drenching his scales as he placed a white rose on the tree that he and Glacia met for the very first time, the powerful sounds of a cheetah playing Carla Etude on the piano filling him with sadness and remorse.

Not long after Glacia went missing, Malefor and his forces laid siege to Warfang which forced Ignitus, the Guardians and any surviving inhabitants to hide away in a place called the Artisan Valley. Eventually Spyro finally hatched and Ignitus kept his promise to not tell the purple dragon about his true parentage. As the young dragon grew, Ignitus could see the various traits that reminded him of Glacia: his horns, his arrow-shaped chest, his tailblade and, most importantly, his eyes. They were all identical to Glacia's, besides the colour.

While Ignitus was happy to see that part of the ice dragoness he loved so dearly lived through Spyro, it also made him very sad at the same time.

Every time he saw Spyro, he remembered that Glacia would never be able to see her son grow up. It tore Ignitus up from inside. Glacia loved their son so much from the minute she laid him… and she never got to see him hatch.

If only Glacia could see Spyro now… Ignitus knew that she would be proud of him for saving the realms from the Dark Master and he laughed at the fact that the young purple dragon would enter a relationship with the black dragoness that Glacia placed him next to when they were eggs.

Deep down, he was proud too.

Well, that certainly was an emotional rollercoaster wasn't it? Sorry this took a while to read, my life got in the way as well as procrastination.

Next chapter we'll be returning to Spyro and Cynder a couple of years since we last saw them in 'The One'. Bear with me, you might have to wait a while for the next chapter to come out as I'm releasing chapters bi-monthly along with another story of mine called Convergence (I recommend you check that out if you're a Doctor Who, Marvel and/or Scooby-Doo fan). So I'll appreciate your patience.

This is TARDIS1039, signing off. Allons-y!