FSE

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The ground crawled by underneath Spyro and his golden dragonfly partner, Sparx. His rabbit friend and ally Bianca had called him here and she was easy enough to spot amid the lush green fields. The diminutive purple dragon rode the wind as he came in to land nearby to his destination with Bianca's cream furred hand waving in greeting as he touched down.

"Spyro, you made it." She said, walking to meet him half-way, garbed in her classic short sleeved dress and long purple cloak.

"Yeah, yeah, so what's this all about? You said it was super urgent?" He said, cocking his head at an angle. Bianca turned and walked side by side with him back to the camp she'd set up.

"It's about Elora. She's in danger." The rabbit said, skipping to the point. Spyro stumbled for a second, his wings tensing as though he were ready to leap off. Even Sparx suddenly went on alert, peering around.

"What do you mean? What happened?!" Spyro asked in alarm.

"There's a cave near here and something's not right with it. I don't know what exactly but Elora's involved, I saw her walking into it in a trance, it was as though she'd been enchanted." She said, carrying on the description as she brought Spyro to a map. "We're over here, it's over here." She said, tapping with her wand.

"Then what are we waiting for?" He asked, trying to rein in his patience, Bianca usually had her reasons for taking things slow.

"The sorcery... I can feel some magical energies in the place and it wouldn't serve anyone except this mysterious threat if you ran in there headfirst and got enchanted yourself, would it?" Bianca replied with a dry tone, subtly chastising him for his impulsive nature. He opened his mouth to continue and she took the words right out of them. "So what are we going to do? Yeah, way ahead of you." She reached to bring a bag onto the table, something heavy and solid clanked as she dropped it down, her hands reached into the sack and brought out an open metal band... a collar. "I didn't want to waste time, Elora might need us, might need you urgently. You're gonna have to put this on." She said, flatly.

Spyro pulled a face at that, eying the heavy looking thing. "Really?"

She sighed. "Look, if it's a mind controlling sorcery it'll target the head, unfortunately I don't have any dragon shaped helmets around. Besides, it needs to be something that won't fall off if you get in a fight!"

He looked over it dubiously. "And this will keep me safe from it?"

"Of that you have my guarantee." She insisted, lifting it up and holding it open.

Spyro rolled his eyes, might as well get it over with. He stepped closer, pushing his head into place. "I just hate being collared like... some kind of pet." He growled.

Bianca grimaced. "If it was Elora putting this on you I doubt you'd be complaining." She quipped, seeing the sudden stiffening across his back and shoulders as he pouted and turned his face away in bashfulness. She smirked, got him.

"What about Sparx? You got some kind of ring for him?" Spyro asked.

"Ugh, no, look, he's small and quick, just stay out of sight and you'll be fine! Probably..."

"Probably?!" The dragon asked incredulously. Bianca wasn't listening though, instead the collar clicked heavily as it latched. The rabbit whispered a magical word and Spyro felt an effect on the collar, though he couldn't identify what. Her eyes lost focus as she worked her spell, blinking minutes later to clear her head.

"There we go! It worked!" She said.

"Great, am I safe to rescue Elora no-" A metal key poked into a lock in the collar that Spyro hadn't even noticed, clicking to latch it. "-really?!"

"For the last time, Spyro, this is for your own good! No ones getting that band off you to brainwash you, so unless you want me to throw you in unprepared." She said, irritability in her voice.

Spyro paused, he was used to some sass from her but she seemed different, even more rattled by it. It sobered the dragon up, she must be really serious about this threat.

With a sigh she straightened up. "Sorry, it's been a draining week. If it's any consolation I'll be making one for myself, too. You're free to go, I know you can handle yourself. I'll see if I can find any of the others in the area, give them something protective or warn them away if not and then I'll be right behind you."

The purple dragon's spirits lifted and he puffed up his chest. It was nice to be trusted to do what he'd proven he could. "Won't let you down and hey, if you're lucky the action will be over by the time you get there!" He said grinning.

"I wouldn't be surprised if I show up just in time to watch you conquer whatever waits." She said back with a smile. "Good luck out there."

The cave had hardly been disguised, nor had Spyro's approach seemed to cause any alarm. He could tell though that it was huge and expansive. The opening of it dwarfed him with curving passages twisting out of view. He moved quickly while also keeping low. He stopped where the tunnels split, rearing up to drag his claws down the rocks, the sign should lead Bianca toward him when she arrived.

The caves turned him around a few times as he delved in, the place was lit with daylight bouncing in from above in some spots and flickering torches in others. The latter meant it definitely wasn't abandoned.

He heard the occupants before he saw them, stampeding foot falls thundering from within and shouts echoing with them. The first shape came into view, a rhynoc, flanked by a gnorc! They were running straight for Spyro!

Without pausing to wonder how they'd seen or known of his arrival, he dropped his head down and charged forward picking up enough speed to scatter them like pins. Still more gnorcs and rhynocs were coming, including some other creatures Spyro had fought before in the realms linked to Avalar.

They all bore a distant look in their eyes despite their aggressive stances, so maybe Bianca's hunch had been right! It would also explain why such a disparate group would have joined like this.

From his single charge he'd scattered the lot of them, all groaning and wheezing from the impact. He hurried onwards.

As he rounded one corner he started to see a change in the cave, while still lacking decoration there were dusty grey webs hanging from the walls, almost every small crevice had beady eyes peeking out at him from the spiders who had woven them but even the largest of them seemed passive and curious at most. If he got too near they would retreat out of sight, though one had crept closer, eyes fixed on Sparx. A simple stomp on the ground had sent it skittering back.

He never got too long to dwell on the location before another band of ruffians tried to run him down. Despite the constant onslaught, out of respect to the seemingly placid arachnids around him he avoided breathing fire. The last thing he wanted was to anger them or injure them when they were just minding their own business. The foes were more than manageable but something about them irked Spyro. When he'd seen his fourth band he started to notice. Some of them were the same mooks he'd fought and scattered earlier, or at least they were identical.

It was weird and nonsensical, he knew that many of them had similar features but even he could tell the difference between two gnorcs, usually.

His analysis was interrupted after the fifth pack when he heard a scuffle and a feminine shout. His head turned to see a big form, one of the 'Gear-grinders' from another realm, large, brutish creatures, was walking away from him but a hoofed leg was kicking out.

"Elora!" He shouted as he recognised who it belonged to. Rage seized him, taking over his senses as he lowered his head and sprinted into a charge. He made it several meters, his speed building up with each step, blind to the fact that the ground below him was getting softer and ...tackier. Blind, that is, until his front feet left the floor and the floor came with them!

The sudden pull made the dragon fall forward, his chest and chin slapping down on the ground. "Huh!?" His eyes looked frantically around. The spider webs had formed a carpet, no, an entire coating around the cave tunnel. It was thickest on the floor but it traced all the way to the roof. His body had fallen into it in quite an ungainly manner, too with sticky strands now tugging all over.

He tried to pull his head up and back, straining with his forearms but the material was too thick. "Nnngh, no, Elora!" He said, calling again. He saw one of the curious spiders several meters away and winced. "Sorry little guy. I'm gonna have to break your home." He said apologetically, inhaling deeply and preparing to send a gout of fire to sear the sticky webs.

As his breath released, he felt a sudden chill at his neck, the collar was ice-cold suddenly and the gasp it elicited chased away his breath. What the-. He couldn't get distracted and tried to take another puff.

The collar shot cold down him again but even though he pressed onward with the breath, only air whistled out of his snout, not so much as a lick of flame or even smoke.

Panic set in! Elora was so close, he couldn't fail her now!

He strained up, wings flapping to try and lift him but his waist, chest and even tail were all too stuck to raise from the floor. Sparx flittered around him, worriedly, reaching to an arm, the dragonfly tried to tug with his meagre strength in the hope it would add enough.

With Spyro focused on himself and Elora, with Sparx focused on Spyro, neither of them had seen the curious spider crawl along the ceiling and then dangle downward. It waited, timing it just right before eight legs snatched out over the dragonfly, squeezing him close.

Spyro strained. Huffing and panting until his stamina ebbed, looking around, only then noticing Sparx had been waylaid by a growing number of Spiders. The dragonfly's long body was already spinning before Spyro's eyes as he was webbed up. "Sparx!" He shouted in shock, looking back at a growing shape on the ground. It was Elora! His panic distracted him from noticing that she was alone, the monster that had held her seemingly vanished.

"Spyro!" She called, relief and joy clear on her face and in her voice. "Thanks for the rescue! I'm so glad you came but it looks like I need to help you out, too!" She added, moving to him.

He shook off the confusion, no point in wondering how he rescued her, maybe his charge spooked the grinder. "Glad to see you too, quick, help Sparx before they bite him!" He insisted.

"Sparx? Oh! Haha, whoopsie, shoo shoo." She said, pushing the spiders away firmly as she rescued the dragonfly from their grip. Sparx let out an audible sigh, relaxing as his peril passed.

"Spyro! Huh, Elora?" A familiar voice said from behind. Bianca had arrived, she ran to close the distance, mindful of the webs and making it to them. "Wait... Elora. Look me in the eyes right now!" She said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" The faun said, peering to meet Bianca's gaze.

Tense silence stretched out, Spyro breaking it with a grunt of exertion. "What do you see?"

Bianca sighed. "Nothing, looks like she's herself. I'm so glad you escaped the control, I wasn't sure Spyro would know how to break it. Here hand Sparx to me, I'll help." She said, reaching to claim the comically packaged dragonfly. "Or maybe there is no control." She mused. "Oh, take this, Spyro will want that collar seen to." She said, passing over the key.

The dragon sighed in relief. "This thing blocked my flame! You need to test these things better, you know." He quipped at Bianca. The rabbit smirked but not in a gentle way. She was still out of Spyro's sight and so he didn't see as she smoothed more web over Sparx's mouth with a thumb before causally dumping him in her pocket.

"Hey, Elora, careful!" He said as the faun drew closer to him. "This web was enough to stop me at a sprint."

"I know what I'm doing, silly." Elora said, peering up to Bianca. The rabbit gave a brief nod to Elora who stuck the key into Spyro's collar, gave it a half turn... and then wrenched downward. The snap of metal filled the cave as she broke the key off in the lock, her hands scooping downward to grab at the web which she stuffed into the keyhole.

"Huh?! Wh-what are you doing?" The dragon yelled in surprise, quickly concluding what must be happening. "Bianca, help, she's still controlled!"

Elora's hands seemed unaffected by the web as she pulled stretchy strands up and plastered them onto Spyro's arms and shoulders. Another pair of hands at his back made his heart sink, Bianca was doing it too! "Not you as well!" Spyro cried in worried desperation.

His panic was only rising, he felt bad about trying to flame the webs of innocent spiders, he felt worse at the idea of hurting his friends. He tried to squirm and push Elora away with his horns while his back leg stretched in the web to push at Bianca. The rabbit however grabbed his raised leg and tugged, making him flop even deeper into the web from the loss of balance.

"Fight it you two, you have to fight it!" Spyro insisted. Elora had wound his fore-claws into thick rounded balls of webbing then formed sleeves of it all the way up to his elbow. Leaving his arms more pinned to the floor than they had been. She looked up at Bianca, caught her eye and then shot a huge smile that burst into a laugh.

"Oh he thinks we're under some kind of influence? What did you tell him?!" Elora asked.

"I told him you'd been enchanted and controlled, it's how he let me collar him." Bianca replied with a wicked mirth in her voice.

There were too many weird mysteries going on, the repeating monsters, the vanishing one, his friends' sudden betrayal and the way they seemed to ignore the webs that stuck so powerfully to him. Bianca raised his captured leg up alongside him, bending it and binding it to his side.

Elora meanwhile turned her focus to Spyro's wings, laying them down against his back with some short strands of the silk before more thick handfuls were scooped over. "Please, stop it!" He whined, were it anyone else he'd be desperately fighting, even against Bianca he might have grown rough but the dragon couldn't bring himself to risk hurting Elora.

"Think we should wrap his mouth up to stop that whining?" Bianca asked as she secured his second leg to mirror the first, then seized his tail and wrapped it over the leg.

"No, no. Though what I do think is he's looking cuter than he ever has before."

Spyro's sorrow welled up, he couldn't believe his friends were talking about him like this. "I'm sorry..." he mumbled low, before lashing with his head, jabbing a pointed horn toward the faun.

"Whoa!" She said as she danced back, the spiked point hitting only air. "Guess it's time to roll him. You ready?" She asked Bianca in total calm as if she hadn't nearly been skewered.

"Yeah, waiting for you." Bianca replied. Spyro felt the rabbit's hands slide underneath his hip, then Elora's at his sides before they pulled. Their united effort was strong enough to rotate him and pull the web along too. It peeled off the cave floor, sticking and wrapping onto him as they rolled him onto his back.

A solid hoof trod on one of his horns as Elora quickly slathered the other protrusion so that it was anchored to the ground. She coated his other horn afterward, stopping him from even attempting to swing at them.

While Elora fixed Spyro's head in place Bianca was hardly idle. She'd moved to take Spyro's forearms and lift them up, slowly but surely sticking them back down against his chest then layering enough additional web over them to keep them securely pinned. They weren't being quick and efficient about any of it, in fact it looked, worryingly, like they were enjoying this!

"Don't get those too stuck, now." Bianca called over when Elora straightened from the horns. "We still need to cover him properly."

"L-look guys, this is all a joke right, you can stop, let me out and we can all go home and laugh." Spyro said weakly.

"You sure about leaving the mouth?" Bianca sniped.

Elora hummed. "You know, I can find a cute compromise."

She bent down, her chest taking up most of Spyro's view as she started gathering strands on her fingers. She ran them around Spyro's muzzle, pressuring his jaw to keep it from opening fully but still leaving him able to talk for the most part. "P-please." He whined. "Why?"

"Oh, Spyro." Elora said with a chuckle. "We were never on your side." She nodded to Bianca and the pair moved to meet where they could both grab the dragon and roll him once more. This time they didn't just put him on his front but even spun him three times more, building the web wrap around him with their actions.

His body was reduced to a grey coated silhouette, even his head was shrouded up with the web over his face and up to his horns. Fingers dived in to pull that part away before it stuck too hard, cleaning the front of his face from it as they tucked the excess over the metal collar to further secure it.

Bianca nodded. "Dragons are dangerous, Elora just used you to help fight Ripto, then treated you nice and kept you around in case she needed to use you again, like when The Sorceress arrived. Well, now that Avalar is safe and has been for years, it's time to put you to your final use before you become a threat, yourself!" The rabbit said, her tone was so flat that despite the denial that welled within Spyro, it sounded like she was telling the truth!

"Yep, I thought I'd have to keep you near but now I have Bianca, we're more than able to handle ourselves." As she spoke, she and Bianca lifted him up, pulling him off the ground. The faun sat after carrying him someway, crossing her legs and pulling him back against her body. Her hands started rubbing over his neck and chest, smoothing the layers of web into a single coating.

"Stop that! I-I'd never threaten you! You know that!" Spyro declared. Elora pouted for a moment and then shrugged.

"You did try to gore me on your horn a few minutes ago."

"No! I- that was self defense!" Spyro said with a grimace, feeling like he'd been trapped into it.

"And what if you were huge and decided we were mistreating you? No no, better to get you out of the way."

Bianca crouched down, meanwhile her own hands joined Elora's in making the web a neat, smooth and thick cocoon around him. Her actions snapped Spyro's confused, scared gaze back to her.

He jolted as he suddenly recalled his other friend. "W-what did you do with Sparx?!"

"Oh don't worry about him, he's safe. I'll need him for some magic later." Bianca said, tapping the bulge in her pocket. "And don't bother asking what, you'd not understand if I told you any more."

Elora brought his focus back to her, one of her hands reaching over to squeeze across the now web wrapped collar. "Truth be told, I'd been tempted to find an alternate means to slap this on you for a while, to keep you around in a different manner." She said chuckling, her hand dropped to join the other, cuddling over his torso as her head pressed in to rest along his shoulder. She kept rubbing, kneading his body even though the web was smooth already.

Bianca was even crawling toward him on hands and knees, making the dragon all the more confused at their betrayal, for he saw a twinkle in the rabbit's eyes. Her hand brushed down his side and back as she smoothed off one stray part of webbing that they'd missed.

Spyro was visibly flustered by the display but even so he was unprepared for Elora's grasp, she seized his chin, turning his head to the side and pressed her lips against his. He clenched his jaw, this wasn't right, he didn't reciprocate and again the faun pouted, sighing as she broke her forced kiss off, instead jamming a finger into his lips, outside of the tooth line. "You'd turn down such an offer? After all the time we've known each other, that's just cruel." She said, turning his face by tugging at the lips to look at Bianca. "Maybe she's more your type then?"

"No, Elora, it's not like that, just let me go, please!" Spyro begged.

"Oh he's so cute when he's helpless." Bianca said laughing. Her words stopped and her smile slipped away as a long black spike of a leg rolled into view, pushing onto Spyro's snout.

"That's enough teasing, you two. Well done." A new voice, called. It's tone rich and catching the acoustics of the cave.

Spyro jerked his head up as even Elora's fingers retreated. The largest spider he'd ever seen looked down at him, the head still had too many eyes but they showed intelligence, what's more the spider had a face, lips curling back in a smirk. Like some elevated creature, more akin to some of the strongest foes Spyro had had to defeat.

His hope surged, if it wasn't just Elora and Bianca after all, it could all be a ruse! "Who are you? Let my friends go! Stop controlling them!" He yelled.

"Oh sweetie, I am called Shadowweaver." The spider chuckled in a warm tone. "And those, those aren't your friends at your side." Spyro stared back with confusion knitting his brows. The large spider continued. "You mean they didn't tell you? How absolutely wicked. What stories did they spin, I wonder."

The pair of them grinned in amusement, standing up, Elora even dropping Spyro from her lap.

"Bring him here." Shadowweaver said, limbs clattering on the ground as she led the way.

Bianca grabbed a long tether of web off the walls and fixed it to Spyro's horns. Handing it to Elora, she fixed another in place and the two of them dragged him behind.

The cave tunnels slid by, plenty more of the miniature spiders peeked at his passing as he went to the cave's depths. The ceiling above him suddenly opened up high and wide. There were still torches this deep but most of the light came from shining gems and crystals in the walls, casting shadows over rounded shapes. The pair grabbed Spyro and threw him onto his front before backing away.

"Let me go!" He shouted again, ignored completely by the pair as the colossal spider clambered along the walls. Two of the rounded shapes- cocoons, were lowered on long strands of webbing and Shadowweaver gently descended beside them.

The shapes twitched and twisted within their cocoons, held a meter off the ground so as to be in his sight.

"You're under some misapprehension, dear dragon. For one you think yourself betrayed, for another, you think I'm brainwashing them. Time for you to see the truth." Her long legs flashed at the rounded top of the cocoons as she peeled back some of the webbing, cream furred ears were revealed from one and a head of red hair from the other. His heart jumped as their eyes were uncovered, Elora and Bianca were staring down from thick cocoons at him.

"Mmmph, hhhmmmrhhh!" The real Elora mumbled, staring at him with concern. The Elora at his side rolled her eyes dismissively. "He can't hear you!" She yelled, which earned a spirited glare from the gagged faun. Nevertheless both of them were squirming as hard as they could, judging from the creases of their brow and exertion on their faces, yet the cocoons were so thick and restricting that the small amount they twitched looked like a soft kick at most.

The web swished from Shadowweaver's legs as she buried both of them away once again. Her rear legs tugged at subtle strands to raise them back into the cave roof, already out of her mind.

"You see, my power is not coercive, it is mimicry. Anyone, -anything- I capture I can make a puppet of." A huff at his side from Bianca made the spider reach out and pet her between the ears. "Well, puppet is too direct I suppose. They have my orders and I choose their desires but for the most part the better ones, the stronger ones like these two, act of their own accord however they please."

"If you've got your servants already, let us all go!" Spyro yelled as best he could around his slightly stifled muzzle.

"Oh I can't do that, they need to remain completely at my mercy for the puppets to work. If I release your faun friend then my sweet Elora beside you would vanish. Speaking of, it's time to finish up your own state." Shadowweaver said. Before Spyro could retort, four of her legs had grabbed him and began to spin him close to her spinnerets. Even more cocoon was plastered over him but this webbing was somehow tighter, enough that he felt it even through the layers, his squirming being reduced to mere twitches.

His horns were coated, the back and top of his head, too. Webbing was added between his eyes and across the snout, leaving just his eyes, lips and nose free before she turned him to face away.

She planted him back on the floor after which her legs flicked in the air, forming a spherical cocoon out of dark strands of shadow. The magic for the feat was being drawn from Spyro himself as well as a trace of each cocoon around them. She placed the finished piece on the ground and it pulsed twice before bursting open. There, before him, stood a perfect reflection of himself, the same vivid purples, yellows and oranges. The copy even pulled back it's head, chest puffing out arrogantly as he inhaled and blew a puff of flame into the air, mocking Spyro's inability to do the same.

"Haha, man I look weak when the bad guys win." The clone said, trotting forward with Elora and Bianca to either side. The real Spyro winced as his copy rose one foot and dropped it on his head, pushing and rubbing his chin into the ground. "You look like you belong under my feet." He teased.

The real Spyro looked to the side, trying to find the spider as he shouted out. "Why? Why are you doing this?"

"Hey! Don't you ignore me!" His clone said, stomping with both feet over his snout, now.

The spider chuckled. "My, your darker side is spirited. But now we have him to provide your voice, we don't need yours. Besides, your whining is getting annoying. Do you mind, dear?" She asked gently. Even that vague command was enough for the clone to follow as he moved around and belly flopped onto Spyro, legs straddling him. His front claws dug around into Spyro's lips, pulling to stretch his mouth open. Shadowweaver followed up with the opening her puppet had made, plunging a wad of thick, heavy web into Spyro's mouth before wrapping all along the snout, finally pasting over his lips to leave the flared nostrils and worried eyes. "Mmmh, nnnngh!!"

Again his teasing doppelganger pressed a thick hand over his snout while the other arm rested between his horns.

"To answer, however, it's simple. There's a new sovereign in town, my own liege. He'll be coming here to Avalar. I just wanted to pave the way for him." She chuckled. "Our deal is simple. In exchange for my loyalty and fealty, I can collect and keep any playthings I like so long as I keep threats subdued and, if I may be so bold; I just love you and your companions in particular. I've been looking forward to collecting you ever since I heard of your exploits. You'll make exquisite toys..."

The shadow formed Bianca bobbed a curtsey and Elora let out a chuckle at the praise but Bianca soon stood and took a step back. "Later dragon." She said, looking at the clone. "I've got a few things to take care of, as much as I'd love to watch." She turned to Shadowweaver, fishing into her pocket to pull out Sparx. "I just hope if you get your hands on that cheetah that I'll be the one who gets some fun rather than always being the worker."

"Oh you will get your time, dear." She said as the rabbit went to one of the caves connected to this chamber. Shadowweaver's many eyes centred on Spyro again.

"I still feel you could do some damage though." The spider said, waving the fake off his back. She lifted Spyro up off the floor and then even more web was spun and fed forward, this batch around his collared neck, building up an even thicker weave that grew and grew until it nestled his shoulders, puffing around his head and severely diminishing the range and force of his neck's movement. "There, now those horns will be a distraction at most."

Shadowweaver threw Spyro back onto the ground, rising high into the cave and watching as she called to the fake Elora and Spyro. "You have until Bianca is done, then I'll expect you to get to work."

The two shadowspun clones advanced on the fallen dragon. The false Elora grabbed him around the neck, arm sinking deep into the web collar and lifted him off the floor, holding him up as she eyed the cave for where to move to. It now made more sense to Spyro, how they ignored the webs. If they were magically born of the same source then a resistance should be expected.

"Wait." The false Spyro said. "Hold him there, he looks like a punching bag!" Before giving Elora the chance to move the heartless dragon span, lashing his tail to give a hefty thwack into the cocoon.

"Hnmmmhg!" Spyro yelped. He felt the hit, more than enough to wind him even if it was cushioned from actually hurting or even bruising him. The clone turned his back hopping onto his hands as he gave a double kick, too, which the helpless dragon could only take. Elora staggered from the force of that one and scowled over her burden, who begged with a despondent groan of his own. "Pllhmmh."

"Will you stop that? If you want to beat him up, do it in your own time." She hissed, swinging the cocoon out of the way as the clone came back for another hit. She walked off to one of the flatter cave surfaces, one decked in webs to provide a soft position to rest in. The other dragon's claws rapped on the cave as he strutted back over. Despite having his fun interrupted he was hardly put off, still swaggering and posturing in Spyro's view.

"Say." The faun asked as she sat down, pushing the cocoon into her lap like she'd rested when trapping him earlier. "Dragons can swim forever right? They don't drown?"

"I dunno, I guess?" The fake Spyro replied.

"But they need air?" She asked, her hand sliding and rubbing over Spyro's webbed cheek. Were it not for his frightened eyes it would have been a sweet scene. The fake got the gist of her question smirking in a wicked way.

"You wanna see if he can just hold on that long, huh? Alright!" The fake cried with a laugh as he reared up and dropped both front legs onto Spyro's chest, forcing the air out of his lungs from the impact.

"Gnnnhf! Nhhh-mmmm" He wheezed, his sounds cutting off as Elora's hand slid into place, covering the cocooned dragon's nostrils and clamping down.

Her legs rose to either side and squeezed to hold him still. Her other arm cradled his head tightly to overpower his attempts to resist. The fake Spyro lay with his arms still in place, back half sprawled to pin him even further.

For the real Spyro it was horrendous, even though he knew his closest friend struggled in her own cocoon it felt like a cruel betrayal to have her voice, face and hand subject him to this, not least the confusion he felt of seeing himself joining in. The other Spyro acted as if all his darkest desires and impulses had been made manifest and turned squarely toward tormenting him.

The other dragon bounced to further pressure any remaining shred of air out as Spyro tried again to shake his neck and detach his attackers. He couldn't even mumble into the gagging web. The most mobile parts of him were his eyes and jaw, able to stretch and work the web but not to produce a sound. "Wow, he can hold his breath like a champ after all! Though maybe that's wishful thinking. Not like we can even see when he turns more purple." Elora quipped darkly. She felt his pathetic struggles and mocked them by bumping back with her legs.

Eventually his mouth was gasping enough to shift the webs, even pulling softly on them, further gumming his mouth up in the reflexive hunt for oxygen. The fire was in his lungs, he needed air soon, his eyes rolled up and the lids started to droop before they finally relented and released their hold.

The helpless prisoner wheezed and gasped, their grip relaxing and shifting just enough to let him breathe again. "Haha, so I guess that's a good measure." Elora said, raising her hand to brush over his eyes, forcing him to close them as she rubbed possessively.

"Yeah but is one test enough?" The clone asked with sadistic glee. As one the two copies moved, the dragon pushing and squeezing again to choke Spyro's air away and the faun moving her palm off the eyes back to the nose.

He felt them shift around too and when he opened his eyes again his heart lurched. They were kissing! Against all logic the betrayal he saw cut him deepest. He'd gently mocked his friend Hunter for his emotions toward Bianca, he'd never admitted to seeing Elora as anything more than a good friend but seeing her kissing another, even if it was a clone of both her and himself was agonising. All while they casually choked the breath from him!

"Mmmh. Now that's how you kiss your lover." Elora said, exaggerating how satisfying the kiss was for their captive, especially given how he spurned her before. "Maybe I should get a cute collar for you like our toy here, walk you round the kingdom... when it's ours."

The dragon scoffed. "Do I look as weak as him? Now, give me another!" He demanded. Elora chuckled and pushed the cocooned Spyro aside. Permitting him air as she moved out from under him, instead she dove onto the other dragon, cuddling him close as she settled back on top of the cocoon. The pair began making out again, fully aware that they were using Spyro as a simple cushion.

It was too much for Spyro to watch, he turned away before they saw the tears forming due to the demoralizing display. The sounds of their kiss filled the air before Elora grunted in surprise. The clone broke the kiss to shout. "Hey! Who told you you could look away?"

"Oooh, he wasn't watching? Guess we'll have to lay some punishments on him." Elora said, turning and smirking.

The pair chuckled, creeping close as Spyro squirmed, what more could they do to him?

The sound of a throat being loudly cleared interrupted the clones, Bianca had returned and the arachnid had pulled herself from above to stand with her. "Sorry dears, time up."

Two soft thuds sounded on the ground as Shadowweaver slung gently wiggling cocoons down. "Your originals." She said to Bianca and Elora indicating which cocoon was which.

The false Spyro felt spurned, like he was suddenly a spectator but he made up for it by lounging on the cocooned dragon, his hind feet kneading and gripping at the real Spyro's face.

"Bianca, if you will." The spider said.

The rabbit took over, talking to Elora and slightly to the fake Spyro. "The last steps are ready. Our strongholds have been cleared and fortified. Thanks to the dragonfly," she waved the exhausted looking Sparx around, handing him to the spider as she continued, "I've managed to finish the spell, we are now bound to our original's cocoons, the closer we are the stronger we get."

"Which is why-." The spider cut in as she fully cocooned Sparx and even wove a fake of him. "You will guard those cocoons with your life."

Elora and Bianca both bowed, playtime had ended and they had a duty after all. The pair grabbed a fistful of their original's cocoons and started to carry them away. Before they got too far, Elora turned, looking at both the dragons. "I'll be sure to drop by and visit some time. Wouldn't want you getting lonely, after all." She said with a smirk. Spyro didn't know which of them she was talking to, though his eyes lingered sadly on Elora's cocoon as it was pulled out of view.

"Ah, that went well." The spider said, looking down. "But you have work too. Sparx, Spyro, you are to go out into the land and find any resistance or threats that might remain. Lead them into traps or crush them outright, I don't mind which."

"Shouldn't I stay with the cocoon so I can stay strong?" The dragon said, squeezing the silk in his hand.

"You just want to torment him more, no, you are not bound by proximity, that's how strong this little one is. Though if you do your tasks well I may reward you by letting you visit at any time." She said with yet another soft chuckle.

The fake Spyro jumped off, clearly frustrated, his fun not just interrupted but now cancelled entirely. "Fine." He said. "What I don't get is why don't you just keep all the cocoons here where you can guard them?"

"It's never good to put all your eggs in one basket, dear. Besides, I'm a crafter, not a fighter." She paused before adding. "On a more serious note, this way, should one of the originals be rescued, we'll have enough warning to prepare. If I kept every cocoon here and we were breached while I was distracted or away. Do you think any of our captives will care about their former alliances until we're dealt with?" She said, pointing to disparate cocoons containing the gnorcs, rhynocs and assorted inhabitants of the realms. "I doubt even our liege could stop such a united force even if he deigned to bail me out. No, no, enough theorising about tactics. I suggest you find Bianca though, figure out a way to trap their cheetah friend for starters. And don't kill him, trap him; she has so many plans. Now go." There was still visible reluctance in the fake Spyro's motions but he couldn't defy direct orders and he started off to his task with Sparx flitting behind him.

Shadowweaver looked down at the helpless dragon. "And now it's just we three." She bounced Sparx in a tight cocoon, his mouth body and wings were bound, with just his head showing.

Five limbs snatched forward pulling Spyro off the ground as she wove a thicker and thicker cocoon, round until the body of it was as thick as the collar. "Mmmnh, nnnnhhh!" Spyro cried, feeling dizzied and disoriented by the rapid spinning.

Claws stuck into his mouth as she shoved her spinneret invasively into the opening, pumping web until his jaws were stretched apart to the limit. " Nnnahgh? Haaah?" he whimpered as more web was added over the top.

"I know you two," She said, looking between the dragon and dragonfly. "the strange symbiosis you share. As such I know that if this little one loses his golden sheen that I'm doing actual damage to you. How lucky I am, having a toy that will tell me how much it can endure. I can't wait to play with you properly." She said, the ominous tone weighing on him. Her limbs snatched forward, blanketing his eyes in darkness as she completed the cocoon, only his nostrils exposed.

The defeated dragon was too exhausted to even squirm and so he hung limply when attached to the cave roof, dangling in the centre like a trophy, one that would be brought down quite regularly...