Skylanders Academy the Marked One
Chapter 4
The Skylanders cautiously walked through the door to make their way to the second trial. The further they walked the lower the light got until the light from the first room was miniscule, the Skylanders were now back in complete darkness. Eruptor again used his hands to illuminate their surroundings.
"why are the tunnels so dark?" asked Eruptor.
"well if you want to help protect something you try to reduce their ability to see where they're going" replied Kaossandra leading the way.
"that's smart" said Stealth Elf.
The Skylanders continued to walk when all of a sudden, a loud growl filled the tunnel.
"what was that" said Stealth Elf getting into an attack position.
"sorry that was my stomach" said Terrafin, "fighting makes me hungry" he added.
"well we don't have much food left, we'll have to ration it carefully, we don't know how long we could be in here" said Stealth Elf.
"we should be close soon" said Kaossandra, she was eager to keep them focused.
"right" said Stealth Elf.
Cadaverous Crypts
"why have you come to me, when you have failed your mission" said the figure.
"Master they were too powerful, we had to retreat" said Kai.
"and yet you thought it good to return to me instead of running" said the figure.
"we knew there was no way to escape master, you'd get us eventually" said Kai.
"true but then you would have lived longer" said the figure.
"please master give me another chance" said Kai.
The figure slightly raised his right hand.
"skeleton maid" said the figure.
A skeleton appeared from behind his throne and came out so his master could see him properly. The skeleton bowed in front of it's master.
"yes master" said the skeleton.
"bring me some tea" said the figure.
"yes master" said the skeleton, the skeleton quickly walked away to fetch the masters tea. When the skeleton was gone the figure, hand returned to his resting place on his throne. The figure merely stared at Kai from under his hood.
"I gave you a magic sword to help you fight, was it for nothing" said the figure.
"don't worry master I just need to use it better" said Kai. "next time I won't fail you".
"now how can I believe that when you were so eager to run away before" said the figure.
Kai merely stood in place twiddling his thumbs, he was desperately thinking of what to say to appease his master.
"ah trying to think of a way out" said the figure. "pathetic when you fail, you stand tall and accept your failure, learning from failure is how everyone gets better".
"I, I, I accept that I failed, and it was my fault master" said Kai.
"Kai, you are merely trying to make me happy, that's even more pathetic than trying to make excuses" said the figure.
The skeleton returned with a tray, a cup with tea in it, a little jug for milk a spoon to stir the tea and a small bowl full of sugar cubes. The figure slowly stretched out a hand and grasped a sugar cube with his long thin fingers. He picked the cube up and dropped in to the tea, the figure repeated this action two more times. He then slowly stirred the tea with the spoon before grasping the cup and lifting it off the tray. He brought the cup to his lips and took a slow sip.
"that is good tea" said the figure.
Suddenly he made a quick grabbing action with his left hand. A large black hand appeared and clasped itself around Kai's body squeezing the air out of his lungs.
"ah, ah, ah" said Kai he could barely speak.
"you failed me Kai, I can't have failure can I" said the figure before taking another sip of his tea.
"n, n, nooo master" Kai managed to just choke out the words. He could feel the pressure on his ribs, he was starting to go blue in the face.
"I should kill you, but you have proven useful to me before, maybe I should give you a second chance" said the figure.
The hand disappeared and Kai dropped to the floor, taking in quick sharp breaths, desperately trying to get air back in his lungs. The figure stuck out a single finger.
"one last chance Kai, or your punishment won't be so light" said the figure.
"yes master" said Kai.
The figure returned to drinking his tea.
Back in the Trials of Light
The Skylanders had finally arrived at the second trial. Like the first trial the room lit up when they entered it.
"hello and welcome to the second Trial of Light" said CAL.
"oh, great it's her again" said Eruptor.
The Skylanders looked around something was different this room was much smaller than the first, there was barely enough room for all of them to walk around.
"welcome to the Trial of Dreams" said CAL.
"the Trial of Dreams what's that?" said Jet-Vac.
"this trial will see you tested by your very dreams, in your dream you will be tested, and you pass the test to complete the trial" said CAL.
Suddenly a gas started to fill the room, Terrafin tried to leave but the door shut behind him.
"Sorry but you cannot leave" said CAL.
The gas started to fill up the room and one by one the Skylanders all fell asleep.
"ah" shouted Stealth Elf. Stealth Elf was stood in an arena with a huge audience in front of her. The crowd was cheering her name.
"where am I" she said. Suddenly a voice came from above it was Kaossandra.
"and now the greatest elf that ever lived, Stealth Elf will show us her legendary skills" said Kaossandra. Massive steel doors opened around the arena releasing a dozen Drow elves. Stealth Elf readied for a fight.
Kaossandra woke up in her dream, she looked around and saw she was back in her castle. The castle was back in one piece. She walked to a nearby balcony and peered outside. She saw Kaos walking into his outhouse.
"this is definitely a dream, because my castle is back in one piece" said Kaossandra. "I need to wait for my test". She returned to the inside of the castle and found the nearest seat. "guess all I can do is wait" she said.
Jet-Vac dreamed he was winning an award for greatest teacher. Terrafin dreamed he was entering a boxing contest. Eruptor dreamed he was in his kitchen cooking pancakes, Pop-fizz dreamed he was back in his band with Wolfgang, the two were rocking out on stage to an adoring crowd. Kaboom dreamed he was in the gym working out, and finally Cynder dreamed she was in the Cadaverous Crypts with her father Malefor. When she saw her father tears starting to fall down her cheeks.
"Cynder what ever is the matter" said Malefor.
"I wish you were really here with me, we may not have seen eye to eye on our beliefs, but I need you" said Cynder. She stepped forward and hugger her father's stomach.
"oh, my dear Cynder, I won't ever leave you" said Malefor.
She buried her face into his chest and wept.
Back with Stealth Elf. She had just finished dealing with the Drow Elves. They all fell before her superior ninja skills. The raucous crowd screamed her name eager for more.
"was this the test" she said to herself. "I have to fight in an arena, I'm loving this dream". Just then more Drow Elves entered the arena.
In Kaossandra's dream what felt like hours had slowly ticked by. She was growing inpatient.
"when am I getting tested" she said in a huff. Just then Kaos entered the room.
"mother come on I have a lovely picnic planned for us both" said Kaos.
"uh a picnic sounds lovely" said Kaossandra. The two left the room and headed outside to have a picnic.
In Terrafin's dream he just finished off an easy opponent and had made his way to the final round for the championship. He entered the ring for the final round and saw he was fighting a Goliath elf for the title.
"I am Gror the champ, no way I'm losing my title to a pipsqueak" said Gror.
The bell dinged and the two moved towards each other. Gror swung a hard right, Terrafin swerved to the left and dodged the punch. He stepped forward and landed a left hook to Gror's ribs. Gror clutched his side and swung a left hook. Terrafin ducked underneath and this time punched him in ribs again. Gror staggered back he needed to plan.
Back in Kaossandra's dream she had laid down on the grass next to Kaos. Kaos quickly pulled a hamper towards them.
"I packed some delicious sandwiches for us mother" said Kaos.
"you made food Kaos, wow this is such a nice dream" said Kaossandra.
"yeah you may never want to wake up" said Kaos handing her a sandwich.
"your right" said Kaossandra gracefully accepting the sandwich.
"what's in the sandwich?" asked Kaossandra.
"cheese and ham" said Kaos.
"simple and delicious" said Kaossandra. She quickly ate her sandwich and closed her eyes, she certainly didn't want to wake up from this dream.
Back in Terrafin's dream the fight was still going on, Gror had still yet to land a punch. Gror decided the best action was to just over power the enemy. He sprinted forward swinging multiple heavy punches. Terrafin managed to dodge them all and landed a superman punch to Gror's face. As Gror tried to recover Terrafin with a ferocious uppercut that knocked the goliath out cold and winning the title. The referee handed him the title and Terrafin raised the title above his head.
"yeah I'm the champion" said Terrafin.
In Stealth Elf's dream she finished off her second wave of opponents and eagerly looked at the adoring crowd. Her eyes caught something. Spyro was in the crowd. He was cheering along with the fans. She looked down at her feet, her happiness fading.
"this is just a dream Spyro's not here" said Stealth Elf.
"hey elf" said a voice in front of her.
She looked up and saw Spyro approaching her. She ran forward and grabbed him in a deep hug.
"where the hell have you been" she said.
"woah loosen the grip please, I can't breathe" said Spyro.
Stealth Elf let him go and beamed at seeing Spyro again.
"god I missed you" said Stealth Elf.
Back in Kaossandra's dream her eyes shot open.
"that's it, that's the test" she said.
"mother" said Kaos.
"we're put in a perfect dream one of which we never want to leave, we have to let it go and wake up to finish the test" said Kaossandra.
"mother" said Kaos.
"I'm sorry Kaos but I have to leave" said Kaossandra.
"I know, I'm just your conscious" said Kaos.
With that Kaossandra woke up back in the second trial and went about trying to wake everyone else up from their dreams. In her dream Stealth Elf felt herself getting ripped away from Spyro. she tried to desperately grab his hand, she didn't want to see him go again.
"don't worry Elfy, we'll see each other again" said Spyro winking at her before he disappeared. Stealth Elf woke up to see Kaossandra shaking her body.
"thank god your awake" said Kaossandra. "can you help me wake the others".
"yeah sure" said Stealth Elf shaking the thoughts of Spyro from her head. The two of them went about slowly waking the others from their dreams.
In Cynder's dream she felt a tense change in atmosphere.
"I'm sorry Cynder, but our time is over, you must go back and help the other's" said Malefor. Cynder could feel her mind being dragged away.
"I wish you were still here, like really here and not just in my mind" she said.
"I'm sorry Cynder, look's like we'll have to make do with dreams" said Malefor. He leant down and kissed Cynder's head.
"remember that I love you, and whatever you do I'm proud of you" said Malefor.
"thanks dad" said Cynder choking back tears.
Cynder was the last one to wake up from her dream. The other's were waiting for her.
"congratulations, you have passed the Trial of Dreams, you may now move on to the third challenge" said CAL. Another door opened revealing the path to the third challenge. Cynder wiped away tears and followed the others through the door.
End of Chapter 4
