Odyssey

by Seraph of Enigma

No one ever said being a Skylander would be easy. But it certainly wasn't pitched quite like this; multiple people all wearing the same face and causing grief when it comes to looking for the true owner of any given form. Stripped of individuality and uniqueness it is commonplace to be mistaken for someone else. But life must go on, there is work to do. What's a Skylander to do?

38. Clash of Wills

Clash of Wills

Rider nearly slipped out of dragon Hex's claw when she pulled up suddenly and beat her wings to slow her approach to a large birdcage. Rider's mind didn't really catch the fact it was a birdcage, rather he was more intent on the other figure in the next cage that seemed to be suspended in the middle of the blackness that surrounded them.
"You will be safe here," Hex cooed as she deposited Rider into the cage. She delicately shut the door and when she leaned against the bars she reverted to her aqua skinned and purple haired pre-undead curse self. "You'll come around eventually. So will you," she turned to Flameslinger. The green skinned elf scowled at her from his cage. "I will return," Hex promised. "And I will reward steps taken in seeing things from my point of view." She reached through the bars and gently stroked Rider's cheek before she drifted away and was swallowed by the darkness.

"Mon ami," Flameslinger said as he pressed himself up against the bars of his cage and reached out to thump the bars of Rider's. "Are you alright?"
Rider seemed frozen as he stared dumbfounded at where Hex had been moments ago. Finally his head swiveled slowly towards the other elf. "You too?"
Flameslinger's arms rested on a crossbar and he scowled, "Stealth, she has promised me the very same thing that Hex has for you. This is not my Stealth anymore. We are en danger, I am thinking if we give in we become like them. This I do not want."
"Nor do I," Rider grunted as he tried to shoulder open the door.
"It will not work," Flameslinger said as he shook his head and stepped back into the middle of his cage. "I am too tired to try much else." How long had it been? Considering they had spent most of the day combatting drow time added up quickly and Flameslinger knew Rider must be feeling the fatigue as well.
Rider looked up to the dome that topped the cage. "Yeah well I refuse to give up yet without trying everything I can." He looked back down and propped his feet on a crossbar before he began to climb. "Tired or not I'm not staying here."

"What is it you are to be trying?" Flameslinger asked with curiosity thick in his tone.
"Just using my imagination; I'm not too tired for that," Rider murmured as he reached the top of the cage. He stuck his tongue out as he tried to pry at the bars. After a while he gave a laugh and began to turn something in a counterclockwise motion before the top of the cage popped open like a hatch door. "When in doubt, improvise. Never before has that statement made more sense than right now."
Not one to be outdone Flameslinger held up a gloved hand and flicked up his index finger before a small flame bloomed at the tip. He took the bright light and ran it around the catches at the top and bottom of the door then over the lock itself before the bars swung open. "Have you considered how we are to be leaving?" Nearly before he had finished his question Rider simply levitated up and out of his birdcage. "This is it? Where is your style, your flair?" the archer scoffed. Smoothly he slid his blindfold up into the position of a bandana so Rider could see his fiery eyes. "You may know the jousting but you are sans style in all else."

As Rider watched Flameslinger stepped out of the cage and went into a free fall. The jouster gasped and chased after him to stop his descent.
"No flair!" Flameslinger laughed before he sprouted webbed wings of fire. "And no faith that it was all in the plan." He flashed Rider a grin as he turned his momentum into a rise with a few powerful downbeats of his blazing wings.
Rider too righted himself and ascended to the grinning archer. "Ever the showman."
"You need to learn to make an entrance, mon ami. And give yourself some wings, the Superman look is silly."
"Who?" Rider asked as he followed Flameslinger. No wings were fine in his book and he didn't make himself tired by flapping them.
"Have you not watched the television on Earth?" the archer scoffed in disbelief. "Now, which way is out?" His wings made the whoosh of fire with every beat as he drifted in a holding pattern.
"And you say I lack flair," Rider snorted. He bent his arm up and knocked on what appeared to be air yet still made a sound. A moment later and a door opened to bright sunlight and the sounds of combat. "Hurry!" he urged before the lordly elf slipped through.

"Not possible!" a familiar voice howled.
"Not this time," Flameslinger said through grit teeth as he dodged Cynder's midair charge. He whirled fast and even though his bow and quiver had been taken from him he acted on instinct. A bow of pure fire and an arrow to match simply appeared at will. It wasn't until he had fired true and struck the monstrous dragon did he realize what he had done. "This psionic bit is easy if you are not to think about it," he told himself.
"That was Cynder! You attacked Cynder!"
"Non, Rider. She is not our Cynder anymore. Do not hold back, if they attack you then they are the enemy!"
"This just keeps getting better, huh?" the jouster sighed.
"Sink down, take cover. We talk more then," Flameslinger said as he flipped over into a dive with Rider close to his heels.

"You think it was them? Hex and Rider?" Windy whispered to Eloryn. "Something drew Cynder away."
"It had better be and Rider needs to still be one of us, if any more of us turn this is going to get a lot harder," the dark haired princess replied as she strained to see where Cynder had gone.
"There!" Spyro shouted before he cringed, voices could still give them away. "Anicetus is facing Meilyr."
"Seraphina?" Eloryn asked as she pushed past Spyro to find her sister. She found the priestess with her eyes on the sky and her staff held like a pole arm, she was prepared to face Cynder and looked confused by her vanishing act.
"Where is Flameslinger?" Double Trouble asked. "They're short one elf."
"Is Stealth accounted for?" Niall questioned. He had been working with Pop Fizz to make a little portal that would allow the gremlin to toss his potions without giving away his position. The priest rubbed tired eyes and glanced around the group. He noticed others weren't standing as tall anymore and eyes had become a little heavier. They were all starting to wear out, their time was dangerously short.

"N-no," Windy stuttered. "What does that mean?" she asked as she turned back to the others with wide eyes. The hybrid danced around nervously, "She's sneaky! She could be anywhere!" Windy whispered hoarsely. Honestly the Whirlwindling expected Stealth to magically pop up at that moment and her eyes bounced around at anything that moved.
"Ah, there we go. Please try it now Pop," Niall said.
"Bombs away!" the gremlin grinned happily as he dropped a bottle into the tiny whirlwind Niall had created. Pop Fizz looked up eagerly as the potion bottle dropped down near Meilyr and Anicetus. Both looked down at it, it wasn't a potion bottle anymore but a little black ball with a burning fuse. Anicetus shoved Meilyr out of the way and leapt to the side right as it exploded into a sickly greenish yellow gas.
"Well it works, but was that what you wanted to do?" Spyro asked with a raised brow.
"Just a test," the gremlin waved off the dragon's doubt. "The next one is serious."

Anicetus coughed, "A stink bomb?" His incredulity was thick and the stench was lingering. He nearly gagged from it as he stood back up.
"Charming," Meilyr groaned. "I feel insulted, Ani. You cannot even take my offer seriously?" He scowled deeply as he tapped the end of his sword against the one Anicetus had dropped in the confusion. "Pick it up and face me like a warrior!" He kicked the blade and it bounced against the grass to land at Anicetus's feet.
"No, Meilyr."
"Ani!" Seraphina snapped as she turned her eyes away from the sky for a moment. "He will not hesitate to run you through!"
"She is right, you know," the dark haired elf said with a snarl as he approached Anicetus. It disgusted him to see the prince just stand there and watch the blade that came to press against his neck. "It would be so easy. A little pressure," Meilyr smirked as he laid the edge hard against Anicetus' throat. "And then I could focus on your lovely sister." The comment should have sparked something and Meilyr knew it.

All Anicetus did was raise his head and look down to watch Meilyr. "You will not do it, Meilyr. I know you are still in there."
"You doubt my fortitude?" Meilyr's face darkened menacingly and he began to apply enough pressure for red droplets of blood to appear on the prince's neck.
"Ani, you fool!" Seraphina hissed as she turned her attention on Meilyr. She took two steps towards the duo when the unexpected happened. A blue, frosty potion bottle fell out of the sky just above Meilyr's head. He jerked his arm back as it rolled over his shoulder and down his front. The elf looked down at the bottle then up at the sky before he tapped the bottle with his foot. Everything that followed transpired so quickly that no one was quite sure what had happened. The end result was Meilyr frosted over and stiff with a thick layer of ice over half his body.

"What did you do?" Anicetus whirled quickly on his sister.
"Nothing," she held up her free hand to stave off his advance. "Ani, you let him wound you?" she said in disappointment. "You know better than to allow this place to wound you when the wounds manifest on your physical body. You are going to scare the watchers into pulling you out. Get rid of it, now."
Anicetus raised an armored hand to his neck and simply wiped the blood away to reveal smooth, unmarked skin. "The others are here?"
Seraphina nodded and raised a finger to her lips. She would say no more and the prince understood. "Leave Meilyr to me."

For just a moment a gargoyle psionic in Uzern worried about the state of the Ignitorling. A substance eerily like liquid fire beaded up on the upper part of his chest plate. Without raising the alarm the strange equine with leopard patterned skin stepped between seated Skylanders and reached out to put a thick finger in the oily material. It was hot but not scalding. He looked back to the others that were monitoring the group and one shook his head. The leopard colored gargoyle wiped his fingers on his trousers and stepped back out of the group. The Ignitorling had denied the wound validity and his physical body had rejected the wound as well. It would be safe to leave him in the mindscape after all.

Things had fallen silent following Pop Fizz's activated potion, only the soft breeze in the trees of the mindscape made any sound. "Serious indeed," Double Trouble cringed at the frozen elf before the two siblings. "He's still an ally, was that necessary?"
"He's not attacking anymore," Pop Fizz shrugged. "Hey Niall, find Cynder and move the little swirly thing." The gremlin rubbed a palm in each eye, the fact his eyes pointed two different directions if he didn't focus on one point only seemed to add to his fatigue. He should probably make a potion for everyone but later, they didn't have the time right then. Mentally he scolded himself for not making it sooner.
"Maybe you should worry about the threat closer to you first," a voice said from behind the magically cloaked group.

Hex, once again in the familiar undead form everyone was used to seeing her as, struck before anyone could turn in surprise. She trapped the two dragons in a cage of thorny bones and hit Eloryn in the chest with one phantom orb while the other took Double Trouble between the eyes. Niall erected a shield over himself and Pop Fizz before the next two phantom orbs found them. "You thought you were clever enough to remain undetected?" Hex snorted. "I could sense the magic and the counter spell was easy enough to prepare."
Rather than return banter Pop Fizz frantically threw the first potion bottle he could get his furry blue fingers on. It exploded at Hex's feet with a shower of dirt clods and the grass they held. He tossed another one at the bones that held Spyro and Windy. "We've got this, find Rider and Flameslinger!" the gremlin said while Niall lashed out with a force spell that drove Hex back into a tree.

Spyro was airborne instantly, Windy hesitated to follow. "They've got this, come on!" the purple dragon urged the unicorn and dragon hybrid.
"Where's Stealth?" Windy asked.
"Here!" the masked elf hissed as she landed on Windy's back and pinned her wings to her side with strong legs that wrapped under Windy. The blue-green skinned elf flipped out one of her daggers and pressed it to the blue hybrid's throat. "If you value her safety, Spyro, you'll land quietly."
Windy flinched as Stealth pulled her head back painfully. She could see the elf's narrowed eyes from the corner of hers and felt as well as heard her steady inhale and exhale; the elf wasn't flustered in the least unlike Windy who was already panting. Had it been possible for the dragon she would have been sweating as well.
Spyro glanced to Double Trouble and Eloryn, the tiki man was groggy and unaware of what was happening around him and Eloryn seemed lost as what to do while Niall and Pop Fizz kept Hex busy. With a sigh he landed softly. "Fine, Stealth. Let her go."
Through the black mask Stealth wore over the lower half of her face the corners of her mouth fluttered up into a grin. "Why? I have a bargaining chip after all." She pulled back on Windy's head in a way as to make the hybrid gasp for breath and whimper softly.

Spyro's neck went down and his shoulders rose as he spread his wings and growled lowly at Stealth. "Let her go."
"Or what?" the elf laughed, a strangely musical sound given the situation. Stealth's eyes widened and she let go of Windy suddenly before she bounded off the hybrid's back and clutched at the arm that had been mysteriously pierced by an arrow. She looked around expecting Flameslinger but was surprised to see Princess Eloryn holding a bow that seemed to have been cut from the purest blue sapphire complete with string still vibrating from the shot. Stealth narrowed her eyes before she snapped the shaft on the arrow. "You wanna play rough?" she spat at the princess.
Eloryn slowly drew another arrow out of thin air and placed it against the bow. Her heart was pounding in her chest, the others had no idea that she was a skilled archer and their shock was evident. Had Flameslinger been female Eloryn was fairly certain she would have become him instead of Flashwing, Rafer had been her archery tutor after all. "The next one will take you in the leg. If you persist then the third will seek your heart," Eloryn warned.
"Can't shoot what you can't see!" Stealth snapped before she slammed a smoke bomb into the ground.
Eloryn fired at the same time and she heard the distinct thump of the arrow in bark.
"Stay on your guard," Spyro said as he ushered Windy in next to the princess. "Watch each other's backs."

With Anicetus watching the area Seraphina was free to work with Meilyr. He was very much still aware of things and she could see his eyes following her as she walked around him to access the damage. "Oh Meilyr," Seraphina sighed as she reached out to cup his frosted cheek. "I know you are stronger than this." She closed her eyes and focused on just him. Her eyes shot open a moment later and she called to her brother.
"What," he asked with his eyes still roving the area as he approached them.
"Block out everything else, focus only on Meilyr and tell me what you see."
The prince gave his sister a wary look. "Then I cannot-"
"I will watch for the others," Seraphina cut him off. "Just do it."

The prince did as his sister asked. The landscape faded to a blank white with only Meilyr before him. Anicetus's held his breath for a moment when he saw what Seraphina had wanted him to see. Meilyr was covered in vines; they wrapped around him and even seemed to sprout out from his skin. They were thin like spaghetti with trailing roots as fine as hair that sought out purchase in his flesh.
Use your Ignitorling abilities, Seraphina's voice crept into his awareness. Anicetus barely saw her ghostly outline for a moment as she spoke to him. He understood her message and went right to work.
"Forgive me, Meilyr," he said softly before he encased his friend in a ball of fire. The ice shattered instantly and Meilyr cried out in fear as he threw his arms up to shield his eyes. The tiny vines burned easily and the dark haired elf began to swat at them after a while even before they had caught on fire. The prince couldn't let the flames die, those vines were what linked him to Timber and all of them had to be obliterated.

Seraphina turned quickly and her staff rang out against the sudden strike of Stealth's blades.
The attacking elf narrowed her eyes and tried to muscle her way past the defensive staff. "You are a princess; do you think your arms hold more strength than mine that have trained to withstand the stress of hand to hand combat?"
"I am a priestess as much as a princess," Seraphina replied. She tilted her staff just barely and Stealth's blades slid down it. "And I am not alone."
Stealth howled in agony when an arrow took her in the back of the thigh like she had been promised earlier. When she jerked at the shock Seraphina smoothly pulled her staff away and brought it quickly up under Stealth's chin to cause her to stagger. Windy moved in lightning quick and dropped tempest clouds on the prone ninja to hold her in place before Spyro finished it with a prison of ice that kept Stealth's hands and feet firmly against the grass.

"What is he doing?" Windy squeaked as she looked past Seraphina to Meilyr and Anicetus. The former was still howling in terror on the other side of a raging wall of fire and Anicetus looked to be concentrating very hard.
"Setting him free," Seraphina murmured as she kneeled down by Stealth. She followed the same procedure as before to see what afflicted Stealth then looked to Spyro. "You are going to help me with Stealth. Focus only on her, ignore everything else and you will understand." Seraphina rose to her feet. "Elo, you and Windy need to watch for the others. Pray that Niall and Pop can take care of Hex. Where is Trouble?"
"He went to help with Hex," Spyro replied. "How did you know about Hex?"
"I am getting impatient and scanning thoughts," Seraphina said as she turned her eyes skyward again.
Spyro blinked at her then looked to Anicetus once more before he turned his attention back to the furious glare Stealth was giving him. It pained the purple dragon deeply to see such malice and hate in her eyes. "How is fire going to help?"
The priestess looked to her brother and Meilyr then turned back to Spyro. She was annoyed that the dragon hadn't tried what she asked but she couldn't blame him; she hadn't shown him how to focus. Anicetus knew what he was doing, once Meilyr was free the fire would cease. "Let me show you what you need to know," Seraphina said as she walked back up to the dragon. "As you trusted me to get you here I need you to trust me once more." She placed her hand on Spyro's head and instantly everything changed for the dragon.

"Where are we?" Spyro gasped. There was nothing but whiteness around him, Stealth and Seraphina.
"Right where we started. All I did was push the awareness of all else out of your mind. Windy and Eloryn can hear everything you or I say but we cannot hear them in return. Now, push away my presence and when you can only see Stealth you will understand. I will be right here to guide you if you need it but I think from there you can go it alone."
It was easier than he thought to push away Seraphina's presence. She wasn't breathing hard and had taken her hand off his head by then so there was nothing to creep into his senses besides smell. The dragon wrinkled his nose, why was his sense of smell even working? Nothing was physical in the mindscape. No sooner had he come to that realization did the scent of Seraphina's lavender soap fade away.
It became strikingly clear suddenly what Anicetus was doing to Meilyr. When Spyro looked at Stealth he saw a tangle of vines wound so tightly around her that they looked to be a part of her. As he watched they grew and spread to cover more of his fellow Skylander. Spyro didn't need to be told that if Stealth became completely covered by the vines she would be lost forever. Fire would burn them, but ice would kill them off just as easily. Spyro felt safer with ice and decided he would rely upon it instead. He lowered his head to Stealth's hand. She had balled it into a fist and struggled to free herself from the ice Spyro had used to bind her. "Forgive me," he said softly before he blew a stream of subzero air onto the elf's skin.

"It burns!" Stealth screamed. Her body convulsed as Spyro crept up her arm with his frost breath.
"What is he doing to her!?" Windy cried out. She tried to step towards the duo but Eloryn stopped her.
"He is freeing her; he sees something we do not. Accept it, Spyro will not harm her."
Windy shuddered, between Meilyr's yells of horror and Stealth's gut wrenching screams the hybrid wasn't sure she would last much longer. Well she had to admit that it did at least seem to drive her exhaustion away.
Seraphina brought her staff up right and tapped the butt against the grass, "Go to the others and help them with Hex. When they have subdued Hex call to me. I will watch Spyro and Anicetus to ensure Stealth and Meilyr will be alright."
Eloryn hesitated a moment and looked at her sapphire bow with a frown. "We are running out of time. I am tired; I have seen it in the eyes of the others. Even in you."
"I know," Seraphina said as she bowed her head. "That is why I have asked Anicetus and Spyro to do what they are. Go now, we still have to find Cynder along with Flameslinger and Rider."

Cynder found her flight was lumbering compared to the two elves giving her the runaround. Flameslinger had a much tighter turn radius and could bank on his turns much easier than the full sized dragon. Rider's lack of wings gave him the best maneuverability of them all; he could turn on a dime and frustrated Cynder so much.
"I will enjoy the taste of your flesh!" the undead monstrosity roared.
"You will be needing to catch us first!" Flameslinger said as he darted by just behind her head. He made the motion of firing an arrow and his bow of flame with matching arrow was visible only as long as it took to shoot the dragon in the shoulder of her right wing.
The dark dragon cried out in pain as sustaining flight became a labor. Every downbeat sent throbbing pain racing through her muscles. At least the arrow had vanished after it struck her but still it had burned her tissue deep under her scales.

Rider had followed Flameslinger's lead, if the other elf could summon a weapon then so could he. While Rider was used to his halberd he wasn't quite sure how well he could fly with it, rather he took an idea from the gargoyle warriors he had seen in Uzern and wore gauntlets with a blade along the outside of his forearm as well as shin guards with a similar design. All he had to do was dart in close to Cynder and he could shred her wing membranes, the whole idea had been to bring her down and make her more manageable.
"She is the stubborn one, no?" Flameslinger growled as he made another pass and fired at the underside of Cynder's left wing. He had to barrel roll out of the way when her fanged maw snapped at him and nearly found its mark.
"I take the right wing and you take the left. Together and we'll bring her down for sure this time." In the back of Rider's mind he was screaming at himself over how wrong the whole thing was. Cynder was their friend and even in training sessions they had never been so hard on one another.

"Enough!" Cynder roared as she turned around and opened her jaws wide for a blast of wind. Flameslinger's wings caught the full force and the elf was jettisoned backwards quickly while Rider was left to tumble around helplessly for a while before he turned to flee on his own. Cynder clenched her teeth as she went after the two alternating between using her breath and not. All she had to do was keep them from moving out of range and she would eventually overtake them. Her lips curled back in a snarl as she forced herself to go on, the searing pain was making her forelegs twitch with each pump of her wings and the pain was starting to make her dizzy. She just had to hold on long enough to reach at least one of them. To hell with what Stealth and Hex wanted, they weren't around and Cynder wasn't about to let herself be beaten by such insignificant maggots.

"Fight fire with fire!" Rider yelled to Flameslinger when the two found a long enough reprieve to right themselves.
"I am using the fire!" Flameslinger snapped.
"That is not what I meant," Rider said sourly. "Meet Cynder punch for punch as a dragon. Hex found it easy to do after all. Why can't we?"
"I am happy being an elf, thank you," the archer grumbled as he watched Rider's form shift and grow into a mint green dragon with rich brown spikes running along his back matched by the webbing between his wings and thick armored scales on his throat and underbelly. Rider's head bore large twisted horns colored like bone that resembled the curl of a ram's that had been unsuccessfully straightened. His spade-tipped tail also looked like naked bone. His rounded snout had two small spikes near the blunt end of his nose and his lips spread into a draconic grin replete with thick razor fangs.

Cynder's eyes widened, the dragon before her was larger and stronger than her with virtually no wounds on his shimmering hide. She screeched and wheeled up before she let loose the dark purple bolts of lightning she had been saving for the right occasion. Much to her horror Rider managed to shrug them off as if they were nothing; the bolts licked his scales and simply dissipated without marring him in any way.
In response Rider opened his fang riddled maw for a terrible roar punctuated with a glowing orb of blue-green energy. It slammed into Cynder's chest and sent a shudder through her before her wings went slack and she plummeted to the ground.

"Je ne crois pas qu'il," Flameslinger gasped. He watched Cynder fall and Rider dived down to hook his talons under her front legs in an effort to slow her descent. Flameslinger folded his wings and followed the two dragons. The moment Cynder was safely on the ground in a large clearing Rider reverted to the pale green skinned country lord form that had been standard for him in the mindscape. Flameslinger touched down lightly a moment later and when he folded his flaming wings they simply vanished. "Now what?" the dark green skinned elf asked the pastel green one.
Rider didn't seem to hear the question; rather his attention was on the utterly bizarre scene on the other side of the clearing. Anicetus held someone in a wall of fire while Spyro worked with ice over Stealth's body and Seraphina watched with her back to him and Flameslinger. Rider shook his head and looked back to Cynder when she heaved a great sigh. "Restrain her."
Flameslinger raised an eyebrow, his blindfold was still pushed up on his forehead and it arched slightly with the facial expression. "And how are we to be doing this? Do you have the rope? I do not."
"How quickly you forget what is available to us here," Rider snorted. He stepped aside as the ground shook and smirked as Flameslinger drew his fire bow and readied an arrow. A moment later and two large skeletal hands burst up from the earth and clamped down over Cynder to hold her in place.
"You have been around Hex for too long," Flameslinger snorted. He dropped his hands to his sides and the bow and arrow simply vanished.

"I am undead; these things come naturally to me just as you find fire easy for you. It is ingrained into the very fiber of our beings. I have never before embraced it the way I have here. I only hope it does not make me lose the bits of life I still cling to."
Flameslinger approached the other elf and dropped his hand onto Rider's shoulder with a grin. "You show more life than a lot of the living I've seen, mon ami. You are not the cold person other undead are. I will not let you grow cold either."
Rider gave Flameslinger a smile; in the back of his mind the undead elf was deeply remorseful. He knew that if his curse was never lifted he would watch all of his friends age and die while he never changed a bit. That had been what changed Hex so much, she was one of the oldest among the undead Skylanders. Rider was still very young in that respect; he had only been undead for around eight years after all. Or was it nine? No it was more like ten, wasn't it? The fact Rider couldn't quite remember sent a pang of grief through him. His thoughts were rattled when Flameslinger unexpectedly punched him in the gut.
"You are moping," Flameslinger said as he waved an admonishing finger, "Forget what you see as a handicap. I am curieux as to what it happening over there." He tilted his head towards the others.

The massively intricate skull rain Hex had summoned was more like a rotating cylinder of skulls that shielded her from nearly all attacks. She was surrounded by opponents, Pop Fizz's potion bottles kept exploding against her rotating wall and little chips of bone flew out from each explosion. A stray arrow from the princess had managed to slide through a tiny opening and Hex was furiously trying to get it out of her thigh. The arrow head was deep into her leg and the magic that had replaced her blood was flowing freely. If she didn't stop the bleeding soon she would surely fall in battle. The wound weakened her so; she was already tired from the earlier events in Uzern. Electricity crackled just outside Hex's protective wall and she chose to raise a bone wall just before she released the multitude of skulls she had summoned.

Windy squealed as skulls pummeled her wings, haunches and tail. She held her eyes closed tightly and flopped down on her belly, tucked her neck in close to her shoulders and put her paws over her head to protect herself from the barrage.
Niall and Double Trouble had erected barriers that took the impacts of the skulls for them. Eloryn was huddled next to the eirian priest and took aim carefully at Hex while she was distracted with the arrow in her thigh. The bone wall wasn't as tight in defense as her multitude of skulls had been and Eloryn easily put an arrow through Hex's shoulder. Tired or not her accuracy was still deadly.
"Hold your fire!" Niall snapped, "You are not trying to vanquish her!"

"Can you hold her, Pop?" Double Trouble asked. The gremlin hadn't made it under one of the protective shields much like Windy and he was rubbing his throbbing head. Double Trouble himself was still seeing double, it had taken a while to recover from the phantom orb he got between the eyes.
"You mean like a bear hug? Oh yeah! But she looks like a pincushion right now. No one wants to cuddle a porcupine, nope!" Pop Fizz shook his shaggy head.
Double Trouble rolled his eyes. "Just subdue her and let us worry about her wounds." The tiki man motioned between himself and Niall with his staff as he let the shield fall once the skulls had stopped raining down on them.

Pop Fizz grinned wickedly as he pulled a potion out of his bag and popped the cork. He dumped the whole of the bottle into his mouth and quite a bit sloshed out to dribble down his chin and cheeks. He wiped his mouth with one furry blue paw as the potion took over and his fur darkened as he grew in size. The gremlin roared and bound across the ground on all fours like an ape before he burst through Hex's bone wall as if it were brittle as rotten wood.
The sorceress looked up in surprise and threw her hands up to protect herself just as the furry blue body slammed her into the ground and held both of her hands over her head with one of his while the other engulfed her face in thick, warm fur.
"Guess who," the gremlin said brightly in his rough voice.

Niall broke into a run instantly once Hex was down. He helped Windy up first and as soon as he was sure the hybrid was alright he dropped to his knees at Hex's side. He ignored the toothy grin Pop Fizz gave him, the gremlin was obviously proud about his catch. "Eloryn," he turned to the princess, "help me remove the arrows."
She rolled her eyes in disgust but knelt down to help regardless. "What are you going to do with her?"
"Restrain her for your sister. Windy, are you well enough to find the other princess?" Niall asked without looking up from the arrow in Hex's shoulder. The sorceress was trying to thrash under Pop Fizz's weight but wasn't having much luck. Nor was she able to produce much more than muffled protests.
"I'm dizzy," Windy mewed as she lay back down. "Maybe in a bit."
"I will help with the arrows, Niall. Let Eloryn fetch her sister."
Almost before the tiki man had finished speaking Eloryn was on her feet and moving away from the subdued Hex.

Anicetus released his hold on fire and the flames died nearly instantly. Meilyr's knees folded and he began to fall. Seraphina was already behind him and caught the elf before he hit the ground. She cradled him gently in her arms as she sat in the grass with Meilyr heavy against her chest. He was unburned; the fire had never touched his skin. She ran her hand over his forehead as she tested him for influence. "He is clean," Seraphina sighed before she rested her chin on the top of Meilyr's head. "You did it, Ani."
The prince gave her a twitchy grin before he sat down hard in the grass. "I am so very tired."
"Go back," Seraphina said softly. "Not long ago they gave us stamina potions. If you have worked yours off already it is dangerous for you to stay here. We have yet to find Timber himself."
"But you," he sighed as he rubbed his eyes.
"I will be fine," she said softly. The princess kissed the top of Meilyr's head and the elf vanished. "Meilyr will be worried about us anyway, Ani. Go back in case he wakes up."
"I think I will, be safe," the prince said as he made eye contact with his sister. She smiled warmly as she opened the way back for him.

The first thing Anicetus heard when he returned to Uzern was Meilyr protesting. The prince turned his head to the side and for a moment it was strange to hear Meilyr's voice coming out of Pop Fizz's mouth. The prince sighed deeply as he looked at the armored hands that belonged to Ignitor. They were back alright and once again copies of Cores. Slowly the prince rose to his feet, the orange glow he cast shifted over the various faces that sat in a circle around Timber with hands linked and eyes closed.
"I have to go back!" Meilyr cried as two gargoyles lifted him up and away from the group. "The others still need help, I may be free but they are not!" His furry blue feet worked futilely in the air as he thrashed.
"You can't, not now!" one of the gargoyles grunted. He looked to his companion; the gremlin sure did have a lot of fight in him for someone that had been in the mindscape for hours.
"Let me go!" Meilyr demanded. His foot landed square in the chest of the Ignitorling that had approached him. The figure grunted as he landed hard on his backside.
"Well hello to you too, Mei," Anicetus grumbled as he got to his feet and dusted his hands.
"Ani!" the Fizzling gasped. He went slack in the restraining arms of the gargoyles instantly. They hesitated a moment before they set him down and Meilyr attacked his best friend with a fierce hug in spite of the heat the Ignitorling produced. "I am so, so sorry that I attacked you. I just felt like you were a threat suddenly and would harm me if I did not fight back. It was so strange, my mind was so cloudy and memories I thought long buried were brought to the surface."

Anicetus pulled back and kept Meilyr at arm's length. "We lost you for a while just like we lost everyone that fell in the sand. What was it like?"
"We became one, with him," Meilyr pointed to Timber. "I… saw memories from everyone else that merged. I saw memories from Timber. He is a nature spirit, Ani. That is why nothing attacked us other than the elements. And Hex she is," he was silenced when the Ignitorling clamped a hand over his mouth.
"You speak of nothing that you learned in there. Understand? Seraphina will tell you the same as will they," Anicetus extended a hand towards the gargoyles. "If you do not want the others spreading your secrets then you will do the same for them."
Under his fur Meilyr flushed red and his ears dropped down, "Yeah. That would be better."
The Ignitorling's flames turned a bright yellow, his version of a smile. "Light is it good to have you back." He punched his friend lightly in the shoulder.
The Fizzling jerked away from the force nonetheless but held his tongue. Meilyr ran his hands over his furry face and sighed, "Yeah. I just wish we were back," he said as he looked to his blue clawed hands.
"One day, Mei. One day. Now go get some rest, if your eyelids droop anymore they will be closed."

Meilyr walked by the silently looming figure of Wraith, he gave the Hot Headling what he hoped was a friendly smile and the giant returned it. Wraith was glad to see him well but still worried about the others. "A word," he said softly when Anicetus strode by next.
The Ignitorling stopped with a foot extended before him in mid-step then he turned on his heel. He just had seen Crevan, Roghallach and other familiar faces asleep on woven mats and that had been where he and Meilyr were heading. "Is something amiss?"
Wraith shook his head and motioned for Anicetus to follow him to an area they could sit. "You have missed much and I merely wanted to inform you of events. The rest of the Cores, gargoyles and army have departed. What you see here is pretty much all that remains in the city."
Anicetus may have been a spirit but it was still possible for him to yawn, out of politeness he covered it then nodded to the giant. "Very well, I will wait to retire until after you have filled me in."
With a heavy heart after hearing about Ghost Roaster Anicetus too went to rest. He took one last look at those still embroiled with Timber and sighed, things kept spiraling further and further out of control it seemed.