[Prologue]
"Are you sure bout' tis, Magok?"
"Of course. Just imagine how rich we will be when we sell em' jewels!" replied Magok.
"But the Skywrath are scary people. I hear one Skywrath can kill a thousand humans!" Magok smacked the smaller goblin on the head.
"Styk. Whatcha' worryin' bout'?" Magok exclaimed while putting his arm around Styk's shoulders. We're the infamous bandit duo. We're the Doltish Duo! There's even a high bounty on our heads. People fear us, Styk. We rob n' we kill as we like." A smile formed on Magok's face as if he was thinking of something. Styk on the other hand looked confused.
"I've always wondered, Magok. What does Doltish mean? Why do we call ourselves the Doltish Duo?" Magok shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know, Styk. It just sounded really intimidating. Now get your balls in place. We're gonna be rich!" Styk took a deep breath, confidence building within him. He nodded and they both were on their way.
The Ghastly Eyrie. The Kingdom of the Skywrath. A place known for its beauty and splendour, with bricks made of pure gold and buildings lined with gems and precious stones, but at the same time, also known for its tyranny. Sitting within the Nest of Thorns in the palace of Skyloft was the tyrant queen, Shande'er. The Skywrath people are a proud people but at the same time renowned for their ill temper, naturally inclined to seek revenge for the slightest insult. But Shande'er takes this to a whole new level. She can raze a whole village to the ground, burning its people alive all based on one rumour of someone chuckling at her name. With such cruelty, Shande'er ruled her kingdom with fear.
There is only one path into the Ghastly Eyrie. But the path goes through the Forest of Radiant Death. No one knows what its real name is for it has been called this name since time immemorial, and for an appropriate reason. It was a forest unlike any other. Dense with trees that will makes anyone who enter it forget time itself, for the forest blocks even the sunlight. The only light you can see are the glitters that have no apparent origin line the trees, and even that, the forest seem to freeze time in the night. Yet at times, there is a flash of bright light deep in the heart of the forest. It has been said that no one who enters the forest has come out to tell the tale of the horrors of this seemingly beautiful forest.
The Doltish Duo stood in front of the forest. They took a moment to marvel at the giant trees and the glitters on it. Then, Styk lost it. "Magok!" he called in a loud voice. "This is the Forest of Radiant Death! We cannot enter! Otherwise, we will…" A smack landed on Styk's face with a force so strong he fell to the ground.
"Where are your balls?!" Magok interrupted angrily. "They Skywrath are but flying pigeons. We are the Doltish Duo! We can easily take them down. Those rumours about them are just folklore. Stories that parents tell their children to make them stay in bed at night. Are you a little child, Styk?" Magok asked putting his face in front of Styk's, staring at him straight in the eye. Styk shook his head. Magok picked him up like carrying a child and stood him on his feet.
"Then get your act together!" Styk took one big breath, gulped, and followed Magok into the Forest.
The duo walked down the only path that was in that forest. But after a while, the path stopped. There was just trees all over but no path. They knew that if they got lost, they could never come back out again. Magok pulled out his compass. The needle was continually spinning around. It could not tell where the north was. In order not to let Styk lose his confidence, Magok said "There had only been one path. Let's just walk straight. It should bring us to the Ghastly Eyrie." So the duo continued on their way, making marks on the tree barks as they went so that they could retrace their steps in the event that they got lost.
They walked around for what seemed to be hours. Even in this thick and dense forest, it should not take that long. But yet at the same time, they have no possible way of knowing how long they have walked for there was no light in that forest except that of the glitters lining the trees. Weariness was starting to take over as every step required much more energy due to their tired legs. Nonetheless, with their eyes fixated on the gold, and having come this far, they pushed on. Suddenly, Styk screamed. Magok was taken aback. Thinking it was an enemy, he drew his blade. "What, what?" Magok asked, standing in a posture ready to attack. Styk froze for a moment. Then he lifted his finger and pointed to a tree. "Look at that," he said. Magok walked ahead and went to the said tree. He was horrified when he saw that it bore the mark that they were making while walking through the forest. They were lost.
"Styk, climb to the top of the tree and see if you can see the exit. We're getting out of this forest." Styk, being the one smaller in size, obeyed. He climbed from branch to branch, going higher and higher until he could not longer see Magok at the base of the tree. He continued for quite awhile until he reached the top. He squinted his eyes and peered ahead trying to look for an exit (or at least where they had entered the forest).
Magok was tapping his foot. Styk was taking quite awhile and he was starting to get impatient. Finally he heard the ruffling of the leaves. Styk was coming down. From the thick leaves, a small figure jumped out and landed in front of Magok. Styk was hysterical. He was screaming and shouting, "We're gonna die! We're gonna die!" Magok picked him up and punched him on the face so hard that he fell to the ground losing a tooth. "Get a grip!" Magok commanded. "Now, which way should we go? Styk picked himself up and shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know. I couldn't see anything. All I saw was just trees and tress." Magok let out a sigh. "We're gonna be trapped here for days," he thought to himself. But Styk was not finished. "But I saw a light coming from that direction," Styk continued while pointing in that direction.
"Damn. They know we're here. Get your feet movin'! We're runnin' the other direction!" Magok exclaimed while running, all the while holding on to his blade. Styk took out his blade too. Panting and feeling the pain in their legs, the duo aimlessly ran, hoping to be lucky and find their escape. But their hope was short lived. In front of them was a Skywrath in all of his majesty. He had majestic wings spread open like that of an eagle. He was dressed in white like snow with a green lining on his attire. On his head was a helmet of gold that spit into two ends at the top of the helmet, making it look like wings. His golden helmet covering even his neck. He looked like any normal human but with talons as feet. In his hands held a sceptre topped with an emerald ornament shaped like wings. In a deep voice that seem to echo through the forest, the Skywrath demanded, "State your names and your business in the Ghastly Eyrie."
"There is only one of him and two of us. We can take him down!" Magok thought to himself. He looked at Styk, who looked back at him, seemingly thinking the same. They nodded to each other and with one swift move, rushed towards the Skywrath in two different directions hoping to cut him down. With two graceful moves of his sceptre, two bolts of light rushed towards the duo and hit them. They felt a slight sting but more than anything, they realised that they were moving much slower than usual. This gave the Skywrath ample time to move out of their attack path.
"You have unlawfully trespassed this sacred realm," the Skywrath said to them. "By the Bloody Pinion, you are hereby sentenced to death!" With another whoosh of the sceptre, another bolt of light was moving towards Magok. The light was moving much slower than the first time, and this seemed to look like a bird of light flying towards him. Somehow, deep within, Magok knew that the damage from that thing will be great. He turned and tried to run towards a different direction. But the bird of light kept chasing relentlessly. The Skywrath lifted the sceptre high and chanted, "By the Ancient Seal, Kay'ar'osh!" A sigil appeared under Magok's feet and seem to follow him wherever he moved. "Great! This sigil, no matter how ominous it appears to be, does not seem to cause any harm," Magok thought. But all the walking and running was starting to take a toll on him as he slowed down and eventually slumped to the ground, exhausted. He saw Styk and tried to call for help. All of a sudden, Magok could not seem to find his voice. He tried to call out to Styk but nothing came out. The bird of light seemed to be drawing nearer and nearer with each passing moment. "This is it. This is where I fall." Magok thought. He looked up into the sky, as if acknowledging his fate, and closed his eyes. The bird hit Magok and he fell to the ground. Lifeless.
Styk stopped running and stared in shock and disbelief. Magok, the stronger of the two, is now dead. Tears welling up in his eyes. Fear gripped his heart. He knew this was not the time to grief for his fallen friend. He continued to run as fast as he could. Being smaller than Magok, he was the more agile of the two. The Skywrath swung his sceptre again and chanted, "Bal'lash!" and the same bolt of light rushed at Styk, slowing his movements again. Lifting up the sceptre, the Skywrath again chanted, "Gor'kurroh!" Bolts of light fell from the sky like rain, each one hitting Styk, damaging his body so much that when it ended, Styk too was dead. The Skywrath look at both Magok and Styk. "No one tangles with the Skywrath and fly away alive," he commented as he turned and left.