After finding that strange cave on the outskirts of the Artisans World, Spike and Spyro tried making their way back to the temple and Nestor as fast as they could, what they found was really concerning to them, and if there are more places like this in the other worlds, then they should try to find out where they are, if they have any hints or answers as to where Spike's mother is, they need to find them.

Spike was still conflicted over all of this after what they've seen, if his mother really is out there, and is in hiding, he can't help but wonder what else has had her hide like this instead of getting help, or at least trying to get in contact with him sooner, whoever she is, is still a mystery to them, and they need to be prepared for anything if they want to find her.

The two of them flew through the skies a bit in order to reach the temple again, they flew quite a long ways away from the place, and they were gone for only an hour or so, but they just hoped they wouldn't get into any trouble as they finally made their way back.
"Man, that sure took a while, at least we're finally back now." Spike said with relief as they could see the temple just ahead, and hoped that Nestor as well as any other dragon was interested in hearing what they found.

"You think Nestor has any clue where we can find other places like that across the other worlds? This was just one of who knows how many." Spyro replied while Spike shook his head finding that hard to believe.

"You gotta remember Spyro, if my mom really is still out there, then she may have places like that hidden all around, and they must be well hidden if no one has found any traces of her, she's gonna be hard to find, but hopefully Nestor at least has a few maps of the places we can explore in order to find clues about her." Spike prayed which they both hoped for.

"Knowing him, he likely has dozens of spares on each world, besides if we do get lost, Sparx and Simon here will be able to help guide us if we're stuck, right guys?" Spyro asked playfully while looking at the two Dragonflies who both nodded in agreement hearing that.

"Great, let's see if Nestor can help us with what we've found." Spike replied with a smile as they finally arrived back to the temple after that long flight.

But as they both landed on the ground, they already noticed something was off, normally there would be tons of dragons flying all over the place to do their own business, but the place felt almost.. empty, asides from the sheep and the sights of some weird creatures in the distance, they saw almost no other dragons around where they were, and that immediately concerned them.
"Um.. did we miss an important meeting or anything? Where is everybody?" Spike asked with confusion while they tried finding anyone who could help them.

"Normally Nestor would have a meeting scheduled if there was, somethings wrong, I can already feel it." Spyro replied as they tried figuring out what's going on.

"What do you think happened? Was there an attack? Or something worse?" Spike asked with fear which he hoped wasn't true.

"We'll find out if we can find someone, come on, let's see if there's anything left here!" Spyro said as he suddenly began running towards the temple in case anyone was still there.

The two of them quickly made their way to the place's entrance while Sparx and Simon followed behind, hoping they could get answers on what's happening, they didn't expect something like this to happen so suddenly, but even if they can't understand it yet, Simon already has a bad feeling about it, and worries that the one he was previously with is safe..

But as soon as they made it back to the entrance, to their surprise, they saw what looked like a large green crystal encasing a dragon within it. They could see it was struggling to break free from whatever trapped it inside, and that made them worry on how this happened.
"What happened to them?!" Spike asked with fear as they ran up to it to try and break this dragon free of the crystal.

"Why don't we ask them instead of panicking?! Hold on, I got an idea!" Spyro said as he was backing up a bit and got ready to charge directly towards the crystal to free him.

"Back away Spike!" Spyro shouted to him who nodded in response and took a few steps back, and Spyro didn't waste any time to charge directly towards the crystal with his horns in front of him, and after running as fast as he could, Spyro soon crashed right into the crystal like he had planned.

And because of the impact, it was strong enough to crack open the crystal which continued to break apart, and after a bright green flash of light, the moment it died down, they soon saw Nestor was finally getting up after being trapped in there.
"Nestor! What happened? Are you alright?!" Spike asked with worry while he brushed any remains of the crystal he had off him before turning to them with a grateful look.

"Thank you for releasing me you two, I had feared the same could've happened to you if that spell really did hit every dragon like I had heard about." Nestor said thankfully while they were confused on what that meant.

"What do you mean by that? What's going on?" Spike asked as he and Spyro waited for an answer.

"Right, you two might not have heard it, but to put it simply. A threat has started to rise in the Dragon Worlds, a punk by the name of Gnasty Gnork has found a spell that has turned every single dragon across the worlds into a crystal just like me, and from what I had heard before this, he was apparently stealing some of our treasures to use his magic on too, in order to turn them into his own soldiers to try and take over everything." Nestor explained which Spyro was really upset to know about.

"Where is this guy?! I'll torch him for what he's done!" Spyro swore while Spike was surprised by how extreme he was about this so suddenly.

"Don't get too reckless Spyro, Gnasty Gnork is on a far away world that was sealed off before this, I'm sorry to ask this so suddenly, but I need you both to find the other encased Dragons and free them, the more you free, the more we'll have a chance at putting a stop to him." Nestor requested which sounded pretty big for a request.

"What about you? Can't you help us in any way?" Spike asked hopefully which Nestor couldn't do sadly.

"Unfortunately I cannot, I need to find the remaining students that may have been encased too, if every dragon has been encased, that includes the other leaders of their respective worlds too, that means I need to take charge of things here until everything's back under control, whatever reports come in that are important, I need to tend to them immediately." Nestor explained which sounded reasonable.

"Do you think there are other dragons around this area that we need to free too?" Spike asked with worry as he looked around the place for anyone that could be left.

"Of course there will be Spike, you will need to explore the place if you want to find them, but be careful, there are likely more Gnorcs out there trying to steal our treasures and eggs since their left defenseless now, if you see any trying to steal them, don't hesitate to put a stop to them." Nestor instructed while Spike was very worried about all of this.

"I still don't get it fully Nestor, how did this Gnasty Gnorc even manage to find a spell that could even do this?" Spike questioned again as that sounded the most confusing to him.

"It's likely he stole a book that held powerful spells he could use against us, but don't let that discourage you two, if you can manage to find your way to him and stop him, this whole mess will end soon. You both just need to be very careful when traveling through this place, there are many dangerous creatures around here that will be looking for a fight." Nestor warned while he took out a map and handed it to them that had the locations of every world there was on multiple pages, and Spike put that away in his bag for safekeeping since it will come in handy.

"Don't worry about us Nestor! Just leave taking that ugly Gnorc down to us!" Spyro said confidently while Spike looked at him with a bit of concern.

"You seem really eager to take him down Spyro, any specific reason why?" Spike asked curiously while Simon and Sparx looked at him for an answer too.

"Come on Spike, I'm just really excited we finally get to go out and do something! We've been in this temple for too long in my opinion, and I'm just really wanting to see what else lies beyond this place! And if we have to take down a large brute like Gnasty Gnorc during it, then I'm all ready to get going!" Spyro said with a smile while Nestor chuckled seeing how eager he is to get going.

"I can understand why your eager to go Spyro, but don't think this will be a walk in the park, there are many worlds you will need to travel too, and I do hope that Spike here, will keep you from doing anything.. reckless?" Nestor asked as he looked to Spike who gave a thumbs up answer it.

"Don't worry, Spyro and I will be in this together, especially if it means my mother will be out there, even if she was encased in a crystal too, hopefully it will make it easier to find her." Spike prayed which remined Nestor of something he learned about in the interview before this.

"Oh, right! I almost forgot. If your going to try to find her, then try to be on the lookout for any strange hooded figures that are traveling around, they just might be her if their trying to put a stop to Gnorc and his plans too." Nestor advised which sounded simple enough since there may not be many left around for right now.

"We'll keep an eye out Nestor, anything else we should know before we set out?" Spyro asked while Nestor thought over it, and he soon remembered something to ask them since they were gone during the interview.

"Only one thing, I hope you don't mind me asking, but.. where were you two when we were all encased in those crystals? I at least expected to see you in the distance during it, did you find something important?" Nestor questioned which reminded them of what they found just an hour ago.

"Right! We did! We had found a strange cave on the far sides of the Artisans world, it was only able to be reached through an underwater cave that me and Spyro had to swim through, Simon was the one who lead us there, and we believe that place might've had a connection to my mother if she really is still out there." Spike explained which was really fascinating to him.

This news was interesting to Nestor to put it lightly, they hadn't heard of secret caves like this being out there since Spike's arrival, it was as if Spike's own mother was able to sense he had come here, and if she's leaving traces of where she lived, she may be on the search for him too if his theory is right.
"If that's possible.. then it could be that your mother is out there looking for you Spike, if that potion you took brought you here, then she might've found a way to track you through her own magic once you arrived. Purple Dragons like you two are very rare and have far more potential then any other dragon around here, so it's likely she herself may be using magic of her own to find where you are." Nestor theorized which was really important to know.

"Then.. do you think we may run into her during our adventure to stop Gnorc? Or at least see if there's any clues to where she could be?" Spike asked once again which Nestor confirmed.

"That seems most likely Spike, we may not know anything about your mother yet, but if she's a sorceress in anyway, then finding her will either make things easier, or more difficult depending on the situation. But if she's searching for you, I only hope that you can introduce me to her, so we can all finally figure out why you were sent to Equestria, a world none of us have even heard of." Nestor said as he stood back up and looked ready to get going himself.

"Don't worry Nestor, we'll make sure to keep an eye out for anything that could help us find her! You just focus on taking care of things here, and me and Spike will focus on exploring the worlds, and freeing the other Dragons before we take down that slimeball!" Spyro said eagerly which Spike agreed with since this may be his only chance in finding her.

"We'll make sure to free every dragon that was imprisoned, and if we have to fight some Gnorcs and monsters to do so, so be it! It may be fun either way! I may have just arrived here, but that will only make it more exciting since I'll be seeing what else these worlds have to offer!" Spike said with a smile while Nestor smiled proudly seeing their ready to start.

"Good, thank you Spyro and Spike. Please keep your Dragonflies safe while your out there, and they will do the same for you. I have some business to attend to, but feel free to stop by if you've found anything important, good luck you two." Nestor concluded as he soon took off into the skies to take care of things on his side, and with the two of them alone, they felt things were getting more exciting as they were now going on an adventure together.

"Alright! We're finally getting to go do something exciting! You ready for an adventure Spike?!" Spyro asked excitedly while Spike looked confident in this, and smiled back as he was eager to go to.

"Yeah! Let's do this!" Spike shouted with joy before they jumped in the air and gave eachother a high five and cheered as they started to begin exploring the place, wherever the other dragons were, they were gonna free them, and no matter what comes in their way, they'll be sure to put a stop to Gnasty Gnorc for good.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading this everyone! Sorry this chapter was pretty short, but I was also trying my best to get back into this story after my last post. I am very sorry I didn't update this story, as well as a couple of other stories for the rest of 2024, but I'm currently trying to figure out when I can update them since I want to get them done, I promise I'll update things more consistently since I have a lot of free time right now, and I hope you all can understand that.

I hope that despite this chapter being short, it was a good set up for Spike and Spyro going through the first game, while I plan on doing interludes between each game, I'm gonna try my best to make it feel like a fun adventure, I'll also make sure that Spike and Spyro meets Spike's mother when the time is right, and I hope your all interested in seeing where this story goes from here.

But I am really thankful you all read this, hope you liked it, and look forward to more!