Skylanders Academy: Song of the Hunt
by andresponceb2002
Chapter 4)
The sun was shining high above the clouds. Cynder was walking beside her fellow Skylanders. The team was heading to a mission location that had been given to them by Kaossandra.
Apparently, Hugo had caught wind of some more rumors about the One-Eyed Legion, as well as a potential meeting ground for Unulus and a new gang of recruits. The place itself, Cynder remembered, was called Willow Valley, an isle a fair distance north of the Academy.
"How much furtheeeer?" Pop Fizz moaned beside Cynder, dragging his arms behind him as he walked.
"We're almost there Pop." Jet-Vac responded. He was leading the group and holding a map, supposedly guiding them to their mission's location. "I think." He added, flipping the map over in a suspiciously quick motion.
"You do know where we're going, right JV?" Cynder asked, a slightly concerned edge in her voice.
"Of course I know where we're going!" Jet-Vac responded. "It's just a long trip."
After a while and after Stealth Elf snached the map out of Jet-Vac's hands, the group arrived at a rather sizeable isle. There were four, great bridges connecting to the isle from each of the cardinal directions, allowing anyone to come and visit the location. The large, semi-flat surface of the isle had hills and large gray rocks emerging from the ground. However, one thing that made the isle stand out. was the massive willow tree, standing tall in the dead-center of the isle. The deep green leaves drooped down from the tree's tall branches as a faint breeze made them shuffle, creating a soothing rustling sound.
"It would seem we're here early." Jet-Vac started up, walking up one of the small hills in the isle.
"Either that or Unulus isn't a very punctual person." Eruptor suggested, walking up to Jet-Vac.
"I'm sure the bad guys are gonna be here." Cynder began. "We just need to be ready for when they do. We need to make sure that whatever gang Unulus is trying to recruit doesn't join up with him."
"You're right, Cynder." Stealth Elf said. "If Unulus keeps recruiting these cyclop gangs, then a lot of people could be in danger."
"Yeah." Pop Fizz interjected. "How do you think Spyro's doing?" He asked while scratching his head, completely changing the subject.
"Uhh, I'm sure he's fine, Pop Fizz." Stealth Elf responded awkwardly.
"I remember Spyro being a good teacher." Cynder stated "So I wonder how that new guy's training is going." She said, thinking about the coppery green dragon that Spyro had taken under his wing.
"I bet Spyro will probably have killed that por runt by now." Eruptor said sarcastically, making the rest of the Skylanders give him unapproving glares. "What?" Eruptor asked, shrugging and glancing between his friends. "It's just a joke!"
Before anyone could scold Eruptor further, a strange sound began to resonate, reaching the Skylander's ears. The sound was steady and unchanging, like many small hammers shaking the earth.
"They're here." Cynder whispered, lowering her body, a motion the rest of the Skylander's imitated. "What do we do? Do we fight them? Or do we listen in first?" She asked, looking between her friends.
"I say we wait a little." Pop Fizz stated.
"I say we kick their butts!" Eruptor said in hushed voice, slamming one of his fists on the ground.
"What is even going on over there, anyway?" Cynder asked, mildly frustrated at the fact the hill the Skylanders were behind blocked their view of what was going on.
Cynder then crawled on the grass-covered floor, staying low and moving silently as she tried to get a peek of the situation. Once she reached the top of the hill, Cynder could look down on a concerning scene.
Standing on opposite ends of the island, were two large groups of cyclops, each fully armed and looking ready for a fight. On her right-hand side, Cynder saw a group of rather familiar enemies. There were two different kinds of cyclops in the right-hand bunch. Some of them were green and slightly smaller than the others. These cyclops wore, brown fur hunter garb and wielded jagged spears. The other members of the group were taller, skinnier and had icy blue skin. They were each wielding two metal hatchets and had some pieces of blue metallic armor. Cynder also noticed this group was much larger than the other.
Turning her head to her left, Cynder got a look of the second group. These cyclops also had blue skin and were wearing white, hooded robes that had thick purple linings. They were all wielding oversized magnifying glasses and Cynder could notice that their bulging eyeballs were rather bloodshot. Noticing these details made Cynder recognise these cyclops from her previous encounters with them. She recalled they could fire orange lasers from their eyes.
Then, Cynder saw as something or someone started to move through the cluster of wizard-looking cyclops, slowly making its way to the front of the group. After a few moments, Cynder saw a distinctive cyclop start to move among his brethren. He was slightly taller than the rest and had a bright green skin tone that contrasted with the blue hues on his fellow cyclops. He dressed in a bright red robe with red lining and also had a dark brown belt, from which two large magnifying glasses hung down. They were smaller than the ones the other robed cyclops had but they were still quite sizeable.
This cyclop made his way to the forefront of his group, where he stood and crossed his arms over his chest, looking a little impatient.
"Well?" The red robed cyclop began. "Where is he?" He demanded loudly, keeping his bloodshot eye on the other group of cyclops.
"Right here." A breathy, dreadfully familiar voice hissed, coming from the group of cyclops to Cynder's right.
This made Cynder turn her head to where she heard and watch carefully. She saw as a slender, skeletal, cyclop, clad in dark, spiky armor made his way to the front of his group. His gangly arms were dragging on the floor behind him, his sharp metal gauntlets, made a strange sound as they scraped against the ground. After a short moment, Unulus was standing opposite to the red-robed cyclop, hunched over and with his dark purple eye half closed.
"Guys." Cynder called in a hoarse whisper. "He's here."
"Unulus is here?" Stealth Elf asked, dropping to the ground and crawling over to where Cynder was looking from.
"What do we do?" Jet-Vac asked quietly, also crawling to get a look on the situation. "Should we wait and see what's gonna happen? For all we know we know, they could just take each other out." He suggested.
"I mean…" Cynder began, taking a look at the many cyclops. "I think they might-"
"Unulus!" A voice shouted, interrupting Cynder. "I thought you'd be taller!"
The voice came from the red-robed cyclop. He seemed to address Unulus.
"Muno." Unulus called the other cyclop's name. "We've met before." He said in an annoyed voice.
"I know. Tis' just been a long time old friend." Muno stated. "In any case. You said you wanted to meet. What for?"
"I have an endeavor." Unulus explained simply. "I am-
"Trying to put the Legion back together." Muno interrupted. "Yeah, I've heard. I've also heard about how you pummeled that purple alligator! Spyglass, I think he was called." He continued. "He was one of the punks who tore us all down wasn't he?"
"Spyro." Unulus corrected. "He was a noble adversary, but no match for me."
"So I've heard." Muno said, scratching his neck. "Good for you, friend!"
"You seem to be hearing quite a great many things, Muno." Unulus picked up. "That means, you must already know why I called you here."
"Yeah, I do actually." Muno admitted. "You want me and my boys to enlist in your little army." He said, gesturing at the robed cyclops behind him. "Am I wrong?"
"You're not." Unulus answered. "You and your spellcasters are formidable, as well as useful."
"Huh, tell me about it." Muno scoffed. "What I want to know, are two things." He added, lifting two of his fingers and pointing them at Unulus. "The first thing I wanna know, is why you are doing all of. This." He entonated, gesturing at Unulus and his troops.
"I am putting the Legion back together." Unulus began. "Because it unifies us. Ever since the old days, the people of the Skylands have scorned our kind. The One-Eyed Legion was our defensive mechanism, one we desperately need once again."
"What is he talking about?" Stealth Elf asked in a hushed voice. "Cyclops have always been evil, why would they need a defensive mechanism for?" She asked in disbelief.
"I don't know." Cynder admitted. "But he might know something we don't. I for one, don't think they've always been evil." She stated.
"Well, I." Eruptor interjected. "Do believe they are evil. This punk is just doing this weird preacher stuff to get more followers." He hissed, pointing at Unulus.
"That's all well and good, Unulus." Muno picked up, making the Skylander's fall silent. "But now, I want to know the answer to my second question."
"And what would that be?" Unulus asked, a slightly dangerous edge in his voice, an edge Cynder managed to notice.
"Why, oh why." Muno began in a dramatic voice. "Should I join you?" He asked,crossing his arms over his chest again.
"I don't think he should have said that." Cynder whispered under her breath.
The violet dragoness looked over to Unulus. The gangly cyclop was standing very still, his glowing white slit, fixated on Muno. Then, Cynder saw Unulus start to move. The cyclop began to walk in a brisk pace, heading directly for Muno and his gang.
At this, Muno's cyclops began to take several steps back, singling out their leader, who stood his ground, even as Unulus came to a stop right in front of him. With both of them standing side by side, Cynder noticed that, if Unulus wasn't hunched over like he was, he'd easily be twice Muno's height.
Then, Cynder saw as Unulus leaned down a little, as if to get on eye-level with Muno. She then heard him speak. "Because then, I won't throw you off this island." Unulus hissed, a sinisterly mery smile on his face.
Muno didn't seem to be very impressed by this however. The red-robed cyclop maintained his composure and kept a straight face even as Unulus loomed over him.
"Wow." Eruptor began beside Cynder. "That guy's pretty brave."
And then, after nodding very slowly, Muno spoke up. "Well, when you put it that way." He said,taking a small pause, still not flinching. After this, Muno took two steps back from Unulus and turned around to face his underlings. Then, Muno lifted one of his arms and pointed at Unulus. "New boss." He said simply.
"New boss!" The many robed cyclops cheered.
"A reasonable choice... old friend." Unulus breathed, a wide, lipless smile on his face as he stared down at Muno.
"Do I get to be second in command?" Muno asked as he turned around to face Unulus. The red-robed cyclop then posed innocently, putting his hands together and pressing them against his chest.
"Sure." Unulus agreed lazily.
Meanwhile, Cynder and the Skylanders watched, concern spreading over them as they watched the two cyclop leaders shake hands while their two gangs cheered, signaling the start of their allegiance.
"Well, so much for them taking each other out." Eruptor grumbled. "I guess we have to do this ourselves."
"Yeah, but that's alright." Cynder said, calling her fellow Skylanders' attention. "I think I have an idea on how we can beat these guys." He stated.
"Really?" Pop Fizz asked suddenly, barely keeping his voice down, something that made everyone else shush at him.
"That there-" Cynder pointed at the large crowd of one-eyed enemies. "Is a lot of cyclops. If we're going to beat all of them, we are going to have to split up."
"I think I know what you're thinking." Stealth Elf said. "You want them to split their focus. They might have numbers, but I think we all know they aren't very bright. They won't be able to handle too many threats at once."
"I like it!" Jet-Vac expressed. "When are we ready?" He asked eagerly, drawing his vac-gun.
Cynder then took a quick look through her companions. All of them had confident expressions on their faces and they all had their weapons drawn. They seemed quite eager to fight their one-eyed enemies.
"Alright." Cynder began, anticipation making her tense. "Just remember, split up and don't let them corner you. Even if they aren't very bright, they are still dangerous. Plus, there's like ten of them for every one of us." She added, swaying her head to her left innocently.
"Aw yeah!" Eruptor exclaimed loudly, getting on his feet and surprising everyone, Skylanders and cyclops alike. "It butt kicking time!"
At that, Eruptor began to rush down the hill the Skylanders were hiding on, straight at the large cluster of cyclops, laughing maniacally as he shot multiple firebolts at the crowd.
"That should draw their attention." Jet-Vac said deflatedly.
"All their attention." Stealth Elf added in an annoyed tone as Eruptor suddenly changed his trajectory, running away from the horde of cyclops instead of charging at it. Eruptor now screamed frightened as a small army of enemies now chased him through the isle, firing orange lasers and jagged spears at the fleeing Skylander.
"Well, I guess we have to help him now." Cynder sighed. "You guys ready?" She asked, giving her friends one last look.
"Whenever you are." Stealth Elf responded, pulling up her bandana and giving Cynder a firm nod.
"Alright then." Cynder began, shifting her gaze from her friends to her enemies. "Let's go!"
At that, the violet dragoness and her friend's all stood up and began to rush down the hill toward their one-eyed enemies.
Using her wings to stay far above the scene, Cynder could see that her friends were now splitting up, slowly moving around the many cyclops and firing their attacks on the confused creatures. Cynder herself contributed to the assault by swooping down and releasing a chain of lightning on the enemy ranks, electrocuting multiple enemies at once.
The confused cyclops had been taken by surprise. They shuffled around, chasing the individual Skylanders, splitting up the bulk of their forces and making themselves more manageable.
Cynder saw Stealth Elf be surrounded by one group of hatchet-wielding cyclops. The one-eyed creatures raised their weapons and slowly closed in on Stealth Elf. However, the she-elf remained calm, to the point where she closed her eyes and seemed to ignore the cyclops.
This confused the cyclops for a moment, making them scratch their heads and give each other uncertain glances, before shrugging off their uncertainty and resuming their advance on Stealth Elf.
However, Cynder knew a better than the cyclops. She smiled when she saw her friend open her eyes before she moved in the blink of an eye, sending the many enemies arounder sprawling back, even though, to Cynder, it looked like Stealth Elf had remained standing in place as nothing more than a transparent green blur moved around her.
Then, Cynder turned to her other friends. She saw Jet-Vac using his weapon to blast small waves of cyclops away as they tried to approach him, sending them flying away with the gale his vac-gun released.
Meanwhile, Pop Fizz was flinging potions that burst into large clouds of colorful gases at small clusters of enemies, giggling to himself as he ran circles around the one-eyed creatures.
Afterwards, Cynder took a look around for Eruptor. Once she laid eyes on her friend, she couldn't hold back a small chuckle at the sight of the magma Skylander running as fast as his stompy legs would allow as the bulk of the cyclop forces were still chasing him, throwing spears and firing orange laser beams that missed Eruptor by mere inches and caused him to give out frightened yelps.
However, Cynder herself had quite some trouble to deal with. As the cyclops below her finally caught on with what was happening, Cynder saw as the wizard-looking cyclops began to place their magnifying glasses over their eyes and looked up to where Cynder was flying. Then, after a short pause, each of the white-robed cyclops fired a bright orange beam out of their bloodshot eyeball and through their magnifying glasses.
These beams all shot upward at Cynder with alarming speeds, leaving the violet dragoness a very narrow window to react. However, for her, it was enough. Cynder turned herself into a dark, misty outline of herself and just like that, the many laser beams passed harmlessly through her.
After this, Cynder resolidified and dove down at the cyclops. Then, when she was just a few meters away from them, she released a chain of blue lightning that chained through many of the enemies that had attacked her. Then, not losing the momentum of her flight, Cynder used her wings to raise herself back into the sky, where she once again activated her shadow dash and turned into a misty figure, just in time to avoid another volley of orange laser beams aimed at her back.
Cynder was about to swoop down once again to pick off some more enemies, however, she heard something that made her stop in her tracks.
"We need to retreat." Unulus' breathy voice stated. Cynder just barely managed to pick up what he was saying, but, as she turned around to look at the cyclop chieftain she noticed he was speaking to his newly recruited right-hand man, Muno.
"You don't say." Muno responded flatly. "They are gonna follow us through. Should I kill one?" He suggested casually, making Cynder get a bad feeling.
"The old one." Unulus said simply, making Cynder instinctively look over to Jet-Vac. "Don't miss." Unulus added, making Cynder look back at him.
"I never miss." Muno stated, in a mock hurt voice before gripping the two magnifying glasses hanging from his brown belt.
Then, the red-robed cyclops placed both of them in front of his bulging red eye, one in front of the other and promptly turned to face Jet-Vac.
Cynder's heart started racing. She looked over to her friend and saw that the senior Skylander was busy dealing with the many one-eyed enemies trying to attack him to mind the fact he was about to be shot by Muno.
"Jet-Vac!" Cynder shouted at the top of her lungs, trying to get her friend's attention.
To her relief, she succeeded. Jet-Vac stopped fighting for a moment and turned his head toward Cynder. He looked like he was about to say something, but, before any words could escape his mouth, Cynder saw as Jet-Vac was struck by a laser beam.
This one was bright red instead of orange and it collided against Jet-Vac's shoulder, sending the senior Skylander sprawling back to fall over on the isle's grass-covered floor.
"Jet-Vac!" Cynder cried in horror as she saw her fallen friend.
"Jet-Vac!" Stealth Elf's voice cried as well.
Cynder then saw as her elven friend teleported over to Jet-Vac with a burst of green mist. Once Stealth Elf was beside Jet-Vac, she leaned down to try and help.
"Hah! Still got it!" Muno's voice sounded suddenly, apparently pleased with himself.
This made Cynder turn around and face the red-robed cyclop. He was looking over to Jet-Vac's fallen body, arms crossed over his chest and smiling widely.
"That was a terrible shot." Unulus, who was still standing beside him, grumbled. he sounded displeased.
"Wh- What!?" Muno asked, sounding genuinely taken back. "Excuuuuse you?" He demanded, giving Unulus an offended look.
"You hit him in the shoulder." Unulus explained. "He was the oldest, the biggest target and he was stationary. And you managed to give him a non-fatal injury."
"Urgh. Everyone's a critic." Muno complained, sounding resentful. "I guess we gotta go now." He picked up, taking a look around.
"Yes. We do." Unulus confirmed. "Everyone!" Unulus roared, calling the attention of all his underlings. "Retreat!" He ordered.
Then, without question, the many smaller cyclops, ceased attacking the other Skylanders and began rushing toward one of the four bridges that connect to the isle. The horde of one-eyed enemies all rushed to the eastern bridge, leaving the Skylanders behind.
"I suppose this means you have a choice to make!" Unulus shouted, fixating his half-open eye on Cynder. Save your friend-" He said, pointing at Jet-Vac. "Or catching me." He said, gesturing at himself and giving Cynder a lazy smile.
That made Cynder clench her fists and bare her teeth. "You aren't even worth our time." She spat. "Go run away you coward, you seem to have a talent for that." She hissed, before turning around and rushing over to her friends, not giving Unulus the chance to say anything back.
"Ufff!" Cynder managed to hear Muno say. "Want some cold water, man? She got you." He asked Unulus sarcastically.
This however, didn't make Cynder turn around. She was focused on her fallen friend. After only a few seconds, Cynder touched down beside Stealth Elf, who was tending to Jet-Vac.
"How is he?" Cynder asked concerned.
"Knocked out." Stealth Elf explained. "But he's breathing." She added, making Cynder sigh with relief.
After this, Cynder took a look at Jet-Vac. The senior Skylander was barely moving and indeed seemed to be knocked out. "We need to get him to the Academy." Cynder said as she looked at the injury on Jet-Vac's shoulder. It was a large black circle that smoldered against the Skylander's armor.
"I agree." Stealth Elf stated. "Unulus and his goons can wait, but we need to help our friend."
"What happened!?" Pop Fizz' voice suddenly asked, sounding surprised and distressed.
Before long, Cynder saw the blue gremlin, accompanied by Eruptor, arrive beside her and Stealth Elf. The tow had grave expressions on their faces as they looked down at their fallen friend.
"Is he going to be okay?" Pop Fizz asked nervously.
"Not if he doesn't get help." Stealth Elf stated. "We need to take him to the Academy."
"But what about the bad guys?" Eruptor asked, pointing at where the One-Eyed Legion had ran off to.
"We took out quite a few of them." Cynder interjected. "They have lost as many troops to us than they gained." She stated as she took a look at the isle the battle had taken place in.
There were several fallen cyclops laying on the floor, defeated. A lot of them groaned in pain and complained loudly about their arms feeling tired.
"Unulus is on the run." Cynder picked up. "He won't be trying anything like this anytime soon."
Eruptor looked a little hesitant. He took a long look at the bridge their enemies had retreated to, before he turned his head and looked at Jet-Vac. He gave his friend a soft, concerned look before letting out a short sigh.
"Well alright." Eruptor conceded. "We'll just have to get them next time." He grumbled.
"Yeah." Cynder agreed, slowly shifting her gaze to her fallen friend. "Next time."
"So we're going to Skylander Academy?" Camo asked Spyro as the two dragons, accompanied by Drobot flew through the sky.
"Yes, Camo. We are." Spyro confirmed. "If you want to become a Skylander, you'll have to talk to Kaossandra and get your training started." He explained.
"I see." Camo stated. "Who will be training me?" He asked curiously.
Before Spyro could answer, he noticed Camo crossed his fingers and started muttering c'mon rapidly under his breath, as if he was hoping for a specific answer.
This made Spyro smile as he answered. "I will be in charge of your training."
"Yisss!" Camo hissed in joy as he pumped his fist.
"That means." Drobot suddenly interjected. "That we are all going to be a team, aren't we?" He asked.
At that, Spyro came to a sudden realisation. They were going to become a team. It would soon be his job to train these two dragons, to show them what it takes to be a Skylander, to be defender of the realm. Memories of the time he trained Cynder flashed through his mind in a strange comparison. He released the experience was unlike anything he had ever done before, a whole new kind of adventure.
Then, Spyro realized he would now have a chance to go through it with two brand new friends.
"Yes, Drobot." Spyro began, a smile growing on his face. "We are going to be a team."
At that, Spyro saw Drobot and Camo exchange a silent glace.
"Cool!" Camo exclaimed merrily, doing an exited backflip in mid air.
"Am will certainly be looking forward to working with the two of you." Drobot said in a happy voice, smiling pleasantly as he did.
Afterwards, a short silence ensued. All three dragons looked forward to the horizon, each of them deep in thought on the new road that now stretched ahead for them.
However, something interrupted the stoic silence. The sound of three, very hungry stomachs.
"Oh, right." Spyro said, slightly embarrassed as he clenched his gut.
"We haven't eaten anything all day." Drobot began. "We should really get something to eat."
Then, an idea popped into Spyro's mind. "Hey, Camo?" He called. "You couldn't, you know, grow something for us to eat, couldn't you?" He suggested, fondly remembering the rich taste of the fruits the little green dragon had laid out for him and Drobot.
"I could." Camo responded. "But there's like a seven-to-thirty chance that whatever I grow is gonna blow up."
"I imagine that blowing up is the more likely outcome?" Drobot guessed.
"Yup." Camo confirmed flatly.
"Alright then." Spyro picked up. "I guess that means we'll have to look for somewhere to eat nearby." He said, panning his head to his sides, searching for a restaurant or a mabu food stand.
"I think there's a flea market nearby." Camo said suddenly, making Spyro come to a stop and turn around toward his friend. "maybe we can get something to eat there!" Camo suggested.
"Well, It's not like we have any other ideas." Spyro conceded. "Do we Drobot?" He asked, turning toward the coppery green dragon.
"No, not really." Drobot said simply. "I've also never been to a flea market." He admitted. "What is it like?" He asked, turning to Camo and giving him an inquisitive look.
"Uhhh… It's alright." Camo responded nervously, glancing to his side.
"Well, It's decided." Spyro began. "The flea market it is. Camo!" Spyro called, drawing the green dragon's attention. "Lead the way, knowledgeable guide." He said dramatically, getting a small snicker out of Drobot.
"Knowledgeable guide…" Camo repeated, looking through Spyro. "Huh, that sounds kind of cool." He said, slowly smiling and refocusing his eyes. "Alright then! Follow me!" He said cheerfully, gesturing at Spyro and Drobot to follow before flying off and leaving the two dragons behind.
"Hey, Camo!" Drobot and Spyro shouted in unison. "Wait up!" They pleaded before flying after Camo, who just kept moving further and further away, far too excited to listen to his friends.
After a while of chasing Camo through the Skylands, Spyro and his friends arrived at the flea market.
It was rather large and had quite the variety of mabu stands. There were a great many stands, arranged in vertical rows separated by wide walkways through the large, plain island they all stood on. There were a couple of interesting things about the island though. There was a tall, brown cliff that loomed over the flea market, casting a huge shadow over the stands close to it. There were also a couple of strange, white, smooth pillars emerging from the ground. The many strands seemed to have built around them, not paying mind to the ancient architectural remains. If fact, there was a large square platform of similar white stonework, built roughly in the center of the island, also ignored by the many mabu.
The strange stonework gave Spyro a strange vibe, as if this place was once more than just a flea market.
"Well!" Camo suddenly entonated, cutting off Spyro's train of thought. "Here we are!" He said, gesturing at the flea market.
"I suppose we should search for a food stand." Drobot suggested. "There must be at least one in this market." He stated.
"Well, this is a pretty big place." Spyro interjected. "Maybe we should split up, that way we can find food faster. Once we do, we'll just meet there-" He explained and pointed at the white square platform. "And then we can go to the Academy."
"That sounds like a plan." Drobot said. "I'll go check the left rows." He volunteered.
"Oh, I wanna look at the right rows!" Camo expressed, raising his paw to volunteer.
"Well it's not like I'm gonna stop you guys." Spyro chuckled. "Off you go!" He said, giving his friends an encouraging smile.
After this, Camo and Drobot gave Spyro two thumbs up and a friendly nod accordingly before the two of them flew off to their corresponding rows, leaving Spyro by himself.
After taking one last look at the flea market, trying to find a promising stand to begin his search of food, Spyro flew down and landed near one of the many mabu stands. After realizing the stand that had caught his eye, sold ceramics rather than food, Spyro began to walk down the rows of miniature shops.
The wooden structures were very varied in their decoration and their products. There were ceramic shops, woodwork shops, trinket shops, even one or two weapon shops, that sold rusty adventuring gear and only the occasional well-kept sword.
However, even after running through several of these shops, Spyro couldn't find a single food stand. And yet, his stomach was growling, demanding food Spyro couldn't seem to find.
Spyro was about to let out a stressed groan, when something happened and made him react.
"Please, I'm starving." A female voice begged. "I just need a little food."
The voice sounded strangely familiar to Spyro, almost as if he was supposed to know who the person who was speaking. This made him turn his head frantically, searching for where the voice had come from.
Then, Spyro looked to his right and spotted something that called his attention. Gathered around what Spyro could only guess to be a very special market stand, was a large crowd of mabu. The stand itself was decorated more generously than most of the others Spyro had seen in the market. It had elegant red and yellow banners hanging from it's roof as well as much more refined woodwork than the rest of the market stands.
However, Spyro could notice something odd about the crowd surrounding this stand. They all seemed to be standing around something, creating a sort of ring. They all also looked quite angry at someone, complaining loudly and frowning irritatedly.
Spyro then tried to walk over to see what was going on. The crowd of angry mabu was a little difficult to push through, but with a little effort, Spyro was able to squirm his way through most of the crowd, enough to get a look at what was going on.
Spyro's eyes went round from surprise when he saw what the subject of the mabu uproar seemed to be. It was a dragoness, the one that he and his friends had released from Omen's spell. She was facing the large market stand everyone was surrounding, so Spyro couldn't see her face. However, she sounded quite distressed as she spoke.
"Please, anything." The cyan dragoness spoke. "Anything would help."
"I told you already." A voice spoke from the inside of the shop. "I don't serve your kind!" The voice spat.
As the voice spoke, the one it belonged to showed himself. He was a dragon. Red and yellow colors adorned his scales and the thin, sharp horns that curved back from the sides of his head. However, this dragon was unlike any Spyro had seen. His build was long and thin, like a snake's. His arms and legs were far apart and were short in proportion to his body. He also had no wings, something that called Spyro's attention.
However, what really called Spyro's attention was how this dragon had spoken to the cyan dragoness. It made him clench his teeth, almost by reflex. "I don't serve your kind?" Spyro repeated the strange dragon's words in his mind. "What is that supposed to mean? They are both dragons!" He though, outraged.
Spyro was about to try and demand an explanation from the shopkeeper, but he was cut off by a sudden uproar from the mabu crowd. "Come on! You're holding up the line!" Someone shouted. "This is the best food stand in the market! We are all hungry!" Another voice yelled.
In response to this, the cyan dragoness shrinked and lowered her head, overwhelmed by the negativity of the crowd.
And then, to make things worse, the shopkeeper spoke up again. "Listen up sunshine." The shopkeeper began, gesturing at the complaining crowd before crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not the only one who doesn't want you here."
At that, Spyro started shaking. He couldn't believe this dragon was being so cruel. The fact that, under the unwavering pressure of the mabu crowd, the cyan dragoness couldn't even say anything a back was making him feel even worse.
But then, the shopkeeper leaned his long neck down to level with the cyan dragoness. "So. Why don't you just prattle out of here, sunshine?" He asked wryly.
In response to this, the cyan dragoness lowered her head even lower and used her wings to hide herself, all while the shopkeeper and the crowd showed no pity.
It made fire well up in Spyro's chest. "Hey!" He roared loudly, over the mabu crowd and the shopkeeper, who all went silent and turned to look at him.
Spyro must have been looking as angry as he felt, for no one let out a sound after the purple dragon roared.
As Spyro began to push through what was left of the mabu crowd, he was about to speak his mind about to the shopkeeper, something that might not have been very Skylander-ish. However, Spyro was interrupted by the cyan dragoness, who moved suddenly, turning around and facing Spyro.
This made Spyro come to a sudden stop. Spyro and the cyan dragoness met eyes, for a fleeting moment. Spyro hadn't really paid any mind to the dragoness in particula when she was in the Academy, much less focused on her eyes. They were a mixture of deep and clear blue hues. Her scleras were a deep ocean blue and her iris were a clear sky cyan.
However, Spyro also noticed something more important than just what her looked like. He noticed they were watery, showing him that the dragonnes was on the verge of tears.
Spyro's attention the shifted completely from the shopkeeper or the crowd to the dragoness. He wanted to do something, to say something to help the cyan dragoness in front of him. But, nothing came out, not in time.
In an abrupt motion, signaled only by her lifting her head upwards, teh cyan dragoness used her wings to fly off, leaving behind the scene.
"No, w-wait!" Spyro called, following the cyan dragoness with his eyes. He saw that she was headed to the large cliff at the end of the island, not turning back once.
At that, Spyro was left in silence. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, feeling disappointed in himself for not helping the dragoness.
"Well, that was a relief." The shopkeeper's voice sounded, making Spyro open his eyes suddenly. "Thank you purple friend, would you like something on the house as gratitude?" The shopkeeper asked.
"Oh man, lucky you." A mabu from the crowd began. "This guys sells the best steaks in this market!" The mabu said, pointing at the shopkeeper.
"Best I can do is one full steak." The shopkeeper stated, pulling out something from the underside of his food stand counter. "But believe me,it'll be all you're gonna need." He added as he placed a white plate with a well done steak on the shop counter. The meal was smoking lightly and looked quite savory.
Spyro however, was still furious. It took all his willpower in order to force himself to walk over to the food stand's counter and pick up the white plate and stake without saying anything.
Then, Spyro turned around, wanting to be literally anywhere else but here. He raised his wings, about to take off when he heard someone speak.
"Wait!" The shopkeeper called. "You're not actually supposed to keep the plate." He said.
To this, Spyro turned his head back to face the shopkeeper. When he did, Spyro shot a cold glare at him. It must have expressed just how much Spyro disliked the guy, buecause, the red dragon flinched and backed away slightly, a nervous look now on his face.
After making his intent clear, Spyro couldn't bring himself to waste anymore time with the shopkeeper. With a strong motion of his wings and the plate of steak in hand, Spyro took off, rising to the sky and leaving the flea market below him. After this Spyro turned toward the tall cliff, to where he had seen the cyan dragoness run off to.
It took Spyro a couple of moments to get to the cliff, for he was rather far away. And making sure he didn't accidental drop the steak he was carrying also contributed to slowing him down slightly as well.
However, Spyro soon landed on the grass-covered edge of the cliff where he took a look around, searching the area for the cyan dragoness.
The top of the cliff, before the slow slope down and the sudden drop behind Spyro, was a rather peaceful area. There were grey, mossy rocks and a couple of trees around, their green leaves rustled in the cool wind that passed by. Spyro felt slightly relaxed being here, the scene was quite serene.
However, the meal he was holding made Spyro remembered he had something to do up here. He Shook his head and brought himself back to focus. Then, he started walking around, searching for a sign of the cyan dragoness. Spyro looked to his sides and behind the trees in the area, but there was no trace, no sign of any kind that the cyan dragoness was anywhere around.
At this, Spyro made his way back to the centre of the cliff and let out a defeated sigh, letting his wings droop down to his sides. "Where could she have gone?" Spyro wondered as he placed the plate and steak down on a flat rock beside him.
Then, Spyro felt a tiny, cold thing land on the top of his head. It felt like a drop of rain, something Spyro found quite odd, since there were no dark clouds nearby. However, when Spyro lifted his head and looked up, he admitted he was in need of correction.
There was one dark cloud on the sky. A single tuff of grey wool, standing out naturally from the clear whites and blues on the sky. As another miniscule drop of rain fell between his eyes, Spyro felt like there might be a reason for this particular cloud to be acting up.
Using his wings, Spyro boosted himself off the ground, but, he moved slowly, beating his wings gently. Carefully, Spyro rose up to the dark cloud, hoping he was right about his guess. When he was hovering above the dark cloud, Spyro barely managed to resist an urge to gasp.
He saw the cyan dragoness, curled up tightly on the surface of the cloud, as if was a fluffy bed. Her eyes were shut closed, almost as if she was trying to keep the tears that were slowly streaming down her cheeks from coming out. The pained frown on her face and the stillness of her body made her look like she was asleep and having a nightmare.
Spyro then tried to get closer, seeing as the cloud the cyan dragoness was resting on was quite large. However, when Spyro stopped moving his wings to touch down on the dark cloud, he felt himself fall. He wasn't held up by the cloud like the cyan dragoness, instead, he plummeted down back to the floor, which made him let out a surprised shriek and a pained groan as he crashed, headfirst on the ground.
Spyro's scales absorbed most of the impact, but he still had a sore spot on his head which he took one of his paws to. Then, Spyro slowly looked up to see if he had disturbed the cyan dragoness.
When he did, Spyro saw the dragoness' head peeking down at him from the edge of the dark cloud, not moving or saying a word, looking quite tense. Her long, pointy ears were pressed down against her head. Spyro also noticed she had wiped away her tears.
At this, Spyro forced himself to think back, to remember. As he raced through the memories of his mind, he recalled the cyan dragoness' name. "Whirlwind?" He called, making her flich slightly.
Spyro then tried thinking of a good way to start a conversation, to avoid the dragoness from leaving abruptly. "H-Hello!" He started up. "I'm Spyro. Remember me? From the Academy?" He asked, trying to jog her memory.
It seemed to work, for she seemed to relax slightly.
"I, uh…" Spyro started up, looking around, searching for the stake he had brought. Once he found it, on the flat grey rock, he picked it up slowly. "I heard you say you were hungry." He said, carefully lifting the plate up at Whirlwind.
She looked take back by this, since her eyes went round and her ears shot up for about a second. However, she went back to looking uncertain soon enough.
But Spyro wasn't about to give up. "Do you want to talk?" He asked, lowering the plate before continuing. "I won't hurt you if that's what you're afraid of." Spyro stated. "I just want to help."
Once again, Whirlwind expressed surprise at Spyro's words. She looked hesitant, glancing away from Spyro and taking a look around, as if to make sure of something. But then, to Spyro's pleasant surprise, Whirlwind moved, slowly flying down from her cloud, which returned to its natural white color when she did, something that caught Spyro's eye.
However, Spyro soon focused on Whirlwind, who was now positioning herself beside Spyro, keeping a weary distance.
"Do you like steak?" Spyro asked tentatively. "You can have it if you want." He said, gesturing at the plate.
At this, Whirlwind took a look at the steak, then at Spyro and then back at the stake. She then walked over and took the brown meat with both paws before taking a large bite off, chewing it a couple of times before taking another bite.
"Man, she really was hungry." Spyro thought to himself as he witnessed Whirlwind eat the entire steak in less than a minute.
After she was done eating. Whirlwind took a small pause, as if to allow her meal to properly settle down in her stomach. Then she turned her head away from Spyro. "Th-Thank you." She said softly.
"Don't mention it." Spyro responded with a smile.
"But... why are you helping me?" Whirlwind asked, covering her face with one of her wings, something that made Spyro worry.
"What else should I have done?" He asked. "Treat you like that shopkeeper? Why would I do that?"
At this, Whirlwind, slightly lowered her wing, allowing Spyro to see her eye. "It… It doesn't bother you?" She asked in almost baffled tone.
"What doesn't bother me?" Spyro asked confused. "I don't see anything off about you." He stated, taking a slow look at the dragoness.
He found the cyan fur to be a strange alternative to dragon scales, and although the single smooth horn was something Spyro had never seen before, he had seen stranger appendages on Drobot and Camo. He was also slightly ashamed to admit he found Whirlwind's long ears a little funny, but beyond that, there was nothing Spyro could find to be worth shuning Whirlwind like that shopkeeper did.
Whirlwind however, seemed to be surprised by Spyro's response. She just stared at him in silence, her long ears standing on point.
"Whirlwind, there isn't anything about you that should allow people to treat you like that." Spyro stated, meaning every word.
At that, Whirlwind reacted, so fast Spyro though it was almost instinctive. She gripped her white horn, covering it with her paws as her ears lowered once again.
"You… mean that?" She asked, turning her head away from Spyro.
"I do." Spyro responded quickly.
At that, Whirlwind slowly let go of her horn and turned her head back at Spyro. She gave him a wide eyes look while staying silent. Then, Whirlwind looked like she was about to say something, but, before she could a thunderous sound suddenly boomed through the air, interrupting her and making both her and Spyro turn around in search of it's source..
several of the stands on the east side of the flea market were on fire, and the screams of frightened mabu could be heard in the distance.
However, Spyro soon realized there was yet another reason for him to worry. "Drobot and Camo." He remembered suddenly as he sprung to his feet, ready to fly off and look for his friends.
But before he did, Spyro turned around and spoke to Whirlwind in a hurried voice. "Look, I have to go, my friends might be in danger." He explained. "Don't get hurt." He suggested before taking flight once again.
Then, once in the air, Spyro rushed over to where the fires were burning. As he approached the scene, intense heat started to make the air thick, black smoke making it even worse. But then, Spyro saw something, or someone approach him quickly, flying up to meet him. After they got close enough, Spyro made out who they were.
"Spyro!" Camo called out, a distressed look on his face. "Spyro!" He called again.
"Camo! What happened?" Spyro asked, coming to a stop midair to get an explanation from Camo. "What's going on?"
As a response, Camo began speaking so fast Spyro could make out what he was saying, the fact the little green dragon was gesturing wildly at the scene, helped Spyro decypher very little.
"Camo, slow down!" Spyro shouted, making his friend abruptly stop speaking. "What happened?" He asked again.
"Cyclops are raiding!" Camo yelled, pointing at the area that was on fire. "A lot of them! And they have this really scary, skeleton-looking guy leading them!" He added.
At that, Spyro's eye went round. "Unulus is here!?" He shouted. "Camo, where's Drobot!?"
"He's down there trying to help the mabu!" Camo explained.
"C'mon then we can't leave him alone down there!" Spyro stated. "You guys get the mabu out of here, I'll try to buy you some time with Unulus!"
"Alright, just be carefull!" Camo said. "There's a lot going on down there!" He warned before diving down to help the mabu civilians evacuate the scene.
Then, not wasting any time, Spyro flew directly to the blazing area. As he got closer, he managed to see many familiar cyclops raiding nearby shops, stealing whole crates of food, weapons and even a couple of ceramic items.
However, Spyro was too busy to be distracted by grunts. He looked around for Drobot or Unulus, panning his head to his sides, searching desperately.
But then, Spyro felt an impact collide against his left side. It was powerful and it knocked the wind out of him, which was no good for his flying.
Then, Spyro heard a voice, a voice he didn't recognize. "Hah! I shot one down! Are you proud of me, new boss?" The voice asked someone else.
Before he could listen to anything else, Spyro plummeted down, crashing through the roof of one of the market stands. After the crash, Spyro felt dizzy. He shook his head violently, forcing himself to focus. After a moment, Spyro got a hang of his senses and got on his feet. He noticed that the stand he had crashed into was completely empty, probably looted by the cyclops. So, getting back into the swing of things, Spyro leapt out of the stand, landing in the middle of the walkway between stands.
Then Spyro heard the same voice, the one he heard as he was falling through the air. "Well! Who would have thought that running away from Skylanders could have led us to such treasures?" The voice asked jokingly.
"This is a temporary fix." Another voice said. This one was breathy and slow, the face of the one it belonged to, immediately popped into Spyro's head. "We need more troops, not random trinkets."
At that, Spyro turned his head to his left. There, in the middle of the walkway, Spyro saw the slender, gangly figure of Unulus. However, he noticed that the cyclop seemed to be dragging something behind him. He also had company, a smaller cyclop who had a red and gold robe and who was wielding two large magnifying glasses.
"Besides we seem to constantly be getting in-" Unulus picked up, taking a small pause and lifting what he was dragging behind him. "Unnecessary skirmishes." He said disdainfully as he held none other than Drobot, holding him up by one of his wings.
Spyro noticed that Drobot's blue mechanical appendages were battered and had yellows sparks coming out of their joints. He also noticed that the part of Drobot's wing Unulus was gripping, was crumpled in beneath the cyclop's sharp gauntlet. But what made Spyro feel really concerned, was that Drobot wasn't moving.
"Drobot!" Spyro called, dread clawing at his heart at the sight of his unconscious friend.
This however, did little more than alert the two cyclops about Spyro's presence.
"Eyyyy!" The red-robed cyclop exclaimed. "It's that guy you beat up!" He said, pointing at Spyro with one of his magnifying glasses.
"Spyro!" Unulus shouted, letting go of Drobot and letting him flop on the ground. "It has been a while. I assume you are here to pick a fight?" He guessed in a bored tone.
"You asume right pal!" Spyro responded, getting into battle pose. "This isn't going to go like last time!" He declared, keeping his eyes on Unulus, ready for the cyclop to make a move.
"You are right." Unulus agreed. "This won't be like last time. Because-" He entonated as he stretched out his arm. "This time, you aren't going t-"
Before he could finish his statement, Unulus was interrupted by something that pounce onto his back, actually knoching the gangly cyclop to the ground chest down.
As Unulus fell down, Spyro was able to see what had brought down the slender cyclop. When he managed to get a good look in, Spyro let out an astonished gasp.
He had a bruised eye, a great deal of wounds and his feathers were ruffled and covered in dark soot, but the strange, bird-like dragon, Spyro remembered as Sunburn, still managed to pin Unulus down.
"You…" Sunburn began, breathing hard as he put visible effort at keeping the cyclop chiftian down. "You attack innocent people, steal their belongings and expect me to do nothing!?" He demanded angrily.
Instead of answering. Unulus shouted someone's name. "Muno!" He called, his voice sounding more exasperated than alarmed.
"Yeah. yeah, yeah." The red-robed cyclop Spyro guessed was called Muno, repeated quickly, putting both of his magnifying glasses in front of his bloodshot eye. Then, a bright red beam shoto out of Muno's eye, colliding with Sunburn' side, knocking the dragon off Unulus' back.
"Sunburn!" Spyro shouted as he saw the red dragon fall on his side, hissing in pain.
"So that's his name?" Unulus' voice suddenly spoke up. "He's a persistent one, that's the third time we've beaten him up today." He explained, turning to Sunburn just as he began trying to get on his feet. "He seems incapable of learning his lesson!" Unulus bellowed as he threw a ferocious kick at Sunburn's injured side, knocking the red dragon back down.
"That's enough!" Spyro shouted, drawing Unulus and Muno's attention, effectively distracting them from Drobot and Sunburn.
After this, Spyro shot a volley of fireballs in quick succession. This made the two cyclops then tried dodging the projectiles. However, Spyro intended for this to happen. As the two cyclops tried dodging the projectiles, they let themselves become vulnerable, allowing Spyro to lower his head and charge at them.
As orange flames sparked on his horns, Spyro charged directly at Muno, who had just finished avoiding Spyro's projectiles.
"Hah, you have terrib-" Muno's insult was cut off abruptly as Spyro rammed his head into the cyclop's chest.
The impact was so powerful, it sent the red-robed cyclop sprawling back several feet, lying chest-up and motionless as he fell down.
"That's one down." Spyro thought to himself, pleased as he noticed Muno stayed down after he tackled him.
However, as Spyro turned around, his relief was cut short as he saw a sharp metal gauntlet swing down on him. Spyro yelped in surprise as he used his wings to boost himself backwards to avoid Unulus' incoming strike.
As the gangly cyclop's swing came down and missed Spyro, it collided with the walkway, cracking the pavement under its might. But then, Spyro saw Unulus swing at him with his other hand.
In response to this, Spyro tried backing away further. However, he made a mistake. Spyro underestimated the cyclop's reach. So, using the disproportionate length of his arm, Unulus managed to swing down his sharp gauntlet on Spyro, drawing three lines of pain through the dragon's chest.
After this, Spyro hissed in pain. His scales protected him from any actual damage, but the cyclop's strike had still been painful. Afterwards, Spyro used his wings to boost himself up, out of Unulus' reach.
Once he was high enough, Spyro looked down. He saw Unulus getting up, lifting his head and fixating his dark pink eye on him. He clenched his fists and held himself in place, as if he was anticipating Spyro's next move.
Spyro then through up something, something that might help him win the fight, he smiled smugly as he came up with the idea. So, not wasting any time, Spyro rose up, a little higher, before sawing his head back and diving down at Unulus.
As Spyro descended, he shot a volley of fireballs downward. However, there projectiles were not aimed at the cyclop, as they landed in a circle around him. Unulus seemed confused by this, for when he attempted to dodge one of Spyro's fireballs, he found the action unnecessary and in fact, distracting.
Spyro noticed that Unulus, usually half-opened eye went round with realisation. But it was too late. As the cyclop chieftain, lifted his head, he only managed to see Spyro's lowered head, coming down on him.
In a mighty headbutt, Spyro crashed down on unulus, creating an impact so powerful, a miniature shockwave expanded from the collision.
After the impact, Spyro used his wings to land safely, entering a defensive stance and keeping his eyes on Unulus. Who had remained quite stiff, since Spyro headbutted him.
However, after a few seconds, Unulus, fell to his knees, then the cyclops began to lean forward only to slump chest-down on the walkway, motionless.
At this, Spyro let out a relieved sigh. "That was quite the rematch, huh?" Spyro asked after the fire and smoke nearby made Spyro let out a harsh cough as he looked down at his fallen enemy.
After receiving no response, Spyro got to his feet, remembering he had to tend to Drobot and Sunburn. He remembered that both of them looked very beaten up.
"Don't. Move." A voice commanded. "Or I'll fry your dragon buddy." The voice threatened, making Spyro's heart race.
At that, Spyro slowly turned around, trying to see what was happening. When he did, Spyro was faced with a distressing scene. He saw the red-robed cyclop Muno, holding one of his magnifying glasses over Sunburn's head.
Spyro noticed that the cyclop was breathing unevenly and was clutching his chest tightly with his free hand, however he seemed to have enough strength to do what he threatened.
"Now." Muno started up. "I'm no leader, I actually suck at the whole leadership deal." He stated. "So, if the One-Eyed Legion is gonna thrive, I'll be needing the bag of bones back." He said, gesturing at Unulus.
Spyro looked back at the fallen cyclop. Could he really afford to let him go? After he'd gotten so close to beating him already?
"So!" Muno picked up, making Spyro focus on him. "I propose a deal. You give me my friend back, and I give you your friend back, hmm?" He proposed, taking a pause to wait for Spyro's answer.
"Don't do it…" A weak voice said. Spyro noticed that it was Sunburn speaking. He had his eyes half-open, but fixed on Spyro. "Don't …let them get away…because of me." He pleaded.
"Well, ain't cha brave?" Muno spat mockingly at Sunburn.
Spyro analized the situation in his head. One though after another shot through his mind, giving him a growing headache. Spyro looked at Unulus' fallen body, then at Sunburn and Muno and then at the ground beneath him, clenching his fists.
But, then Spyro came to a decision. He lifted his head and looked at Sunburn. "I'm sorry." He began. "I just can't let you die, not this way." He stated.
This made Sunburn's eyes go round from surprise. "No… wait!" He yelled desperately. "Look out!" He warned.
Before he could understand what was going on, Spyro felt a heavy blow to the back of his head. The surprise attack, disoriented Spyro, making him slump down to the ground.
Then, Spyro felt a heavy iron boot press against the top of his head, applying painful pressure. "This has been a most tiresome day." A breathy, dreadfully familiar voice sighed. "But I think it's time we ended this."
Spyro couldn't even move his head to look at Unulus. The cyclop, who apparently recuperated from Spyro's headbutt, had the purple dragon's head completely immobilized. Spyro tried getting up, but it was no use, he couldn't even lift himself up an inch.
"Alright, new boss." Muno picked up suddenly. "Should we get rid of them?" He asked maliciously.
"We can't get rid of this one." Unulus said, adding a little more pressure on Spyro's head, making him groan in pain. "Impenetrable scales apparently. However, you are more than welcome to execute his friends." Unulus said coldly.
"No!" Spyro shouted suddenly. "Please, don't hurt them! Take me instead!" He pleaded.
"What are you doing!?" Sunburn suddenly shouted. "Why are you giving yourself up!?"
"Yes." Unulus began suspiciously. "What are you playing at?" He questioned.
"If you let them go." Spyro picked up. "I'll let you take me instead. I can be a hostage, buy you some time with the Skylanders."
"Why are you doing this!?" Sunburn demanded, giving Spyro an angry yet confused look. "You don't even know me!"
"I think I know you a little better than you're giving me credit for buddy." Spyro responded with a weak smile, making Sunburn fall silent. "Even if I didn't know you, what kind of Skylander would I be if I didn't save people when I had the chance?"
At that, all the anger in Sunburn's eyes faded. This, coupled with the dragon's mouth hanging half-open made him express complete surprise at Spyro's insistence on saving him and Drobot.
"Even now." Unulus began suddenly. "You surprise me, purple dragon. You are an honorable warrior, using you as leverage will shame me greatly." He stated, relieving a little of the pressure on Spyro's head.
"Soooo." Muno interrupted suddenly. "We're taking the purple one and letting the rest go, right?" He asked, as if to confirm the plan.
"Yes. That's the idea." Unulus responded flatly, before lifting his boot off Spyro's head and quickly grabbing the back of his neck with one of his gauntlets. Then, Spyro felt himself be picked up, lifted off the ground by Unulus. "I believe our brethren have already take most of the valuables in this part of the market?" Unulus asked Muno.
"I would guess so." Muno responded. "I'd be a shame for all this cool stuff to just burn up." He said, gesturing at the burning market stands.
"On that, we agree." Unulus stated. "In any case. We best be leaving." He said, keeping a tight grip on Spyro's neck as he began to take slow steps to leave the scene.
However, something happened that took Spyro by surprise. Spyro felt Unulus let him go, allowing him to fall to the ground and turn around to see the gangly cyclop stumble forward. Apparently someone had hit him with something. Before Spyro could question what had attacked Unulus, he saw a miniature rainbow, no thicker than a school ruler, collide against Unulus' back, making the cyclop fall to his knees.
"Woah!" Spyro exclaimed at the sight. Then, He turned around, in the direction the rainbow beam had come from.
Spyro was speechless when he saw Whirlwind, white horn glowing radiantly, swoop down into the scene, landing in a majestic stance behind Spyro.
"Heck yeah!" Spyro cheered. "That was awesome!"
At this praise, Whirlwind, smiled nervously, shrinking from her previous stance.
"Oh, come on!" Muno suddenly. "Four dragons on two cyclops? Doesn't that seem a little unfair!?"
"It's gonna get even more unfair, dude!" A squeaky voice shouted suddenly.
Then, before he could react, Muno was hit square in the face by a spiky yellow orb, which exploded in a yellow splatter, knocking the red-robed cyclop off his balance and effectively getting him off Sunburn.
"Argh! My eye!" Muno screamed in agony.
Afterwards, Spyro saw as Camo landed beside him, already in battle pose, yet smiling broadly, as if he was readily expecting a fight.
"I guess that means it's five on two now." Spyro said, giving Camo a friendly nudge, happy to have his friend beside him.
"That's enough!" Unulus bellowed, quickly getting on his feet, surprising Spyro and his fellow dragons. "Retreat!" He ordered.
"Dramatic exit?" Muno asked, rubbing his eye, slowly recuperating.
"Dramatic exit." Unulus confirmed.
At that, both cyclops broke into a sprint, leaving the dragons behind, not looking back at the dragons.
"Hey! You can't just run away!" Camo shouted, before moving to chase the two cyclops.
However, Spyro held him in place, puting one of his paws in front of him. "Let them go, we have to help the others." Spyro said.
Camo then took a look at Sunburn and Drobot. Both dragons were knocked out and there was a fire quickly spreading nearby. All of this, made it easy for Camo to agree. "Alright, but what are we going to do? It's not like any of us can make it rain to put out the fire."
"Maybe…" A shaky voice interjected. "Maybe I can help." At that, Spyro turned around to see Whirlwind, standing confidently. "I think I can put out most of the fire." She stated. "I just need time to focus."
"We've got you covered." Spyro stated, placing his paw on Whirlwind's shoulder. "You can do it." He said, giving her a firm nod and smile.
At this, Whirlwind's eyes went round and her ears shot up, taken back yet again. But, before long, the dragoness composed herself and returned Spyro's nod. Then, after Spyro backed away, Whirlwind closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After a brief pause, she raised her wings and puffed out her chest. Then, her horn began to glow brightly with radiant white light.
Then, Spyro felt as a strong wind began to blow. It came from behind Whirlwind and was actually so strong, Spyro needed to cover his face with one of his wings since the wind was actually stinging his eyes.
The powerful gale continued to blow for a while, but before long, Whirlwind let out an exhausted breath, losing her composure as her raised wings and drooped down.
"Woah, are you alright?" Spyro asked in concern as he saw Whirlwind's strained expression.
"I'm alright." Whirlwind responded weakly. "Weather magic is really taxing, but-" She paused and pointed behind Spyro. "It was worth it."
At that, Spyro turned around to where Whirlwind was pointing. When he did, Spyro couldn't help but feel surprised. Where there were flames and dark smoke, there was now nothing but slowly fading embers and drifting ashes. Most of the market stands remained on foot, but they were severely burned and completely ransacked by the One-Eyed Legion, however, most of the flea market had remained intact.
"Well, that was something else." Spyro said, admittedly impressed by the cyan dragoness' display.
"Yeah, it was." Camo agreed, giving the scene Spyro was looking at a wide-eyed look as he stood, dumbfounded beside Spyro.
However, Spyro was pulled out of his admiration by a low groan, strained and dragged out. At this, Spyro looked down and to his right to see Sunburn struggling to get on his feet.
Almost by reflex, Spyro walked over to the bird-like dragon and tried to help him up. "Can you walk? You look really beaten up." Spyro said as he stretched out one of his paws for Sunburn to take.
"Don't worry about me." Sunburn said with a groan before managing to get on his feet. "Worry about your friend." He suggested, gesturing with his chin at someone behind Spyro.
At that, Spyro turned around to see Drobot, still laying down motionless where Unulus had dropped him prior to their battle. This made dread claw at Spyro's heart. The purple dragon rushed hurriedly to his fallen friend.
"Drobot, are you alright!?" Spyro asked desperately as he reached his friend's side.
The circular lenses on the coppery green dragon's helmet were cracked and were not emitting the faint yellow light they usually did, apparently, they were damaged like the rest of the metallic appendages he had equipped.
"Is he alright?" Camo asked worriedly as he walked up to Drobot's side.
"Drobot?" Spyro called again in a softer, more worried voice.
There was a pause where silence hung over the dragons. But, before too long, the circular lenses on Drobot's helmet flickered back on, glowing a faint yellow. "Here." Drobot's mildly synthesised voice responded weakly.
"Oh man!" Camo exclaimed in relife. "I thought you were a goner!" He admitted, wiping non-existing sweat off his brow.
"You took a beating out there, man" Spyro said. "You shouldn't have faced off against Unulus." He stated, regretting not having warned his friend about the one-eyed villian.
"It's alright." Drobot responded. "I knew my probability if success in a fight was low, I just tried to buy some of the civilians some time." He explained, suddenly hissing sharply and gripping his side, which seemed to be wounded.
"Well, you did great." Spyro congratulated his friend. "Just rest up a while." He added, giving Drobot a soft pat on the shoulder.
"Yessir." Drobot responded with a weak chuckle, before the lights on his helmet flickered out again.
"Camo?" Spyro called, looking at his friend. "Look after him will you?"
"Yessir!" Camo said firmly, standing on his hind legs and saluting Spyro before turning to face Drobot.
"I'm not sure about how I feel about the whole sir, thing." Spyro thought to himself. However, Spyro had more important thoughts to tend to. He turned around, leaving Camo and Drobot by themselves and walked towards Whirlwind and Sunburn, who had remained in their places, apparently waiting patiently for Spyro.
"Well, that was quite the show wasn't it?" Spyro started up casually. "What are you guys going to do now?" He asked in a slightly more serious tone. "You all said you had things to do." He stated, remembering that both dragons had refused to stay in the Academy.
"I have nowhere to go." Sunburn stated suddenly. "I refuse your offer to stay at your Academy that day for two reasons." He explained. "The first, was that I was ashamed. I had attacked you and your friends after you all helped me and I almost killed that magma elemental."
"Oh, don't worry." Spyro began, recalling how Sunburn had seared Eruptor's head off. "Eruptor doesn't hold grudges." He said reassuringly, fully aware that Eruptor did in fact, hold grudges.
"The second reason." Sunburn picked up. "Is that I have a rather, personal duty to fulfill." He stated, leaving his sentence at that, subtlety telling Spyro that it was a bit of a touchy subject.
Because of this, Spyro found it best not to press the bird-like dragon. Instead, he waited to see if he had anything else to say. And luckily for Spyro, he did.
"Today, I found a large gang of cyclops raiding this place." Sunburn began explaining. "They started attacking people and stealing their belongings. I would have never been able to live with myself if I had done nothing." Sunburn stated, clenching his yellow fists on the ground, drawing deep likes were his claws clenched. "But that monster, Unulus. He was much stronger than any foe I've faced. I wasn't ready for him and if it had not been for you-" He said, pointing at Spyro. "I would certainly have met my demise today."
"R-Really?" Spyro asked, taken back a bit.
"Yes." Sunburn confirmed. "As far as I am concerned-" He picked up, lowering his head in a small bow. "I owe you my life."
"Really!?" Spyro exclaimed, now completely taken back, actually making Sunburn flinch in surprise. "Uhhh, sure? I mean if you want to?" Spyro stammered, unsure of what to do now.
"Make him a Skylander!" Camo's squeaky voice shouted from behind Spyro.
"What!?" Spyro yelled back, turning around to the little green dragon, who was still looking over Drobot. "I can't just make some become a Skylander!"
"Why not?" Camo asked simply. "He owes you his life." He stated.
"That is true." Drobot said weakly, lifting his arm and pointing upwards, as if he was making a point, before dropping his arm down again.
Spyro then turned around about to ensure Sunburn that this was all not necessary. However, when Spyro turned around, he saw Sunburn looking at the distance, smiling a little smile.
"A Skylander, huh?" He whispered. "A hero who protects the realm from evil?" He said in a slightly louder tone. "I think… I think I'd like that." He stated, puffing out his chest slightly.
"Are you sure?" Spyro asked, mildly concerned. "Cuz, for real, you don't have to if you don't want to." He stated.
At that, Sunburn turned his head to Spyro and looked at him with his fiery, yellow and orange eyes. "Spyro. Allow me to set my debt by becoming a Skylander." He said, unflinching, not stuttering once.
Spyro was speechless, staring back at Sunburn blankly. He genuinely had no idea of how to respond to Sunburn's sudden demand to become a Skylander. "Sure?" He managed to get out awkwardly.
"Excellent." Sunburn exclaimed energetically. "Where do I sign?" He asked eagerly.
"At the Academy?" Spyro responded awkwardly.
"Very well, then." Sunburn picked up. "I suppose we'll need to treat your friend's wounds before we leave." He said, looking over to Drobot a slight shade of worry manifesting across his face.
"Yeah, that would probably be best." Spyro agreed, looking over to his friend.
"I'll go see if there is some sort of medicine stand somewhere nearby." Sunburn stated. "I am a little wounded-" He said as he very slowly stretched out one of his wings, which was covered in bruised and had ruffled feathers. "So I might take a while."
"We can wait." Spyro said with a small smile. "Take your time."
At that, Sunburn gave Spyro a quick nod before he started walking away, making his way to the intact side of the flea market and leaving Spyro alone with the rest of the dragons.
After this, Spyro turned to look at Whirlwind, who had remained silent throughout Spyro's exchange with Sunburn. However, the dragoness was fidgety, playing with her paws and glancing around.
"Whirlwind?" Spyro called softly, making the cyan dragoness focus on him. "You were awesome today." He said, remembering Whirlwind's feats.
This made Whirlwind advert Spyro's gaze, but smile innocently. "You… You think so?"
"You bet! I've never seen someone use weather magic so powerful." Spyro exclaimed. "Actually, if it hadn't been for you and Camo, I don't think we would all have made it out in one piece." Spyro admitted. "Actually, now that I think about it…" Spyro paused. "You'd make a good Skylander too!"
"Wh-What!?" Whirlwind exclaimed, giving Spyro a wide-eyed look. "Y-You think I could be a Skylander?" She asked, as if she herself never even considered the option.
"I do." Spyro confirmed. "You've got some really cool moves! But, more importantly, you are a good person, Whirlwind." Spyro said, giving Whirlwind a warm smile.
After this, Whirlwind stayed frozen, eyes wide, jaw halfway open and long ears down. But then, after a few seconds, Whirlwind shook herself back into focus.
She then gave Spyro a wide, genuinely happy smile before leaning forward and giving him a hug. "Yes, I wanna become a Skylander." She said merrily as she let go of Spyro.
"That's great!" Spyro began. "But, wait. Didn't you say you had to check if your home was alright?" Spyro asked, recalling the dragoness said as much when they first spoke in the Academy. "Come to think of it, where do you live exactly?" Spyro asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
At this, Whirlwind looked away nervously. "It's a far away place." She began ambiguously. "You've probably never heard of it. But, don't worry! I've already checked and it's alright, I don't know what I was worried about. I guess I just freaked out because I was knocked out for so long."
"So that means…" Spyro began, running the situation through his head.
"New Skylanders!" Camo cheered as he tackle-hugged Spyro from behind, nearly making him jump out of his skin.
"Camooo." Spyro groaned as he tried to get the little green dragon off his back, with comically poor results.
This in turn made Whirlwind let out a small giggle at the two dragons antics, which then grew into full laughter, that spread to both Spyro and Camo. The three dragons shared a laugh until Drobot reminded them he was there. "I'm still in pain you guys." He said in a deflated tone.
"Sorry Drobot." Spyro apologised quickly as he finally managed to get Camo off him. "We just need for Sunburn to come back, then we'll get going back to the Academy." He stated. "Then, I can start putting you all on track to becoming Skylanders." Spyro said proudly, looking at Camo and Whirlwind, as well as the new adventures that now lay in wait for all of them.
Master Eon roamed the Academy common room. His ethereal form floated above the ground in the wide, roofless space in the room. He was holding a blue spray can in one hand. He was also singing, a melow, familair tune as he sprayed the contents of the bottle on his glowing beard.
"Wheeeen you glowing beard - is getting weird. Use Beardspray!" Eon sang as he finished spraying his beard. "For ghostly men." He added with a throaty chuckle as he hid the blue can within his robe.
"Well, someone is looking better." A familiar voice sounded below Eon.
The ethereal portal master looked down to see Kaossandra, making her way to her desk. "You're a lot less see-through now. Been meditation I suppose?" She asked with a small smile as she sat down on her chair.
"Yes, actually." Eon confirmed in a slightly proud tone. "I'm still a very long ways from restoring my physical form, but…" He paused as he descended to level with Kaossandra. "I now have more, influence on things, like, I'm not just a projection any more."
"Can you use magic?" Kaossandra asked with a serious expression.
"Nothing that would be extraordinarily useful." Eon began, deflating slightly. "However, I believe that with enough time, I can- Ahhh!" Eon's voice suddenly trialed off by a sudden exclamation of pain.
The elder portal master hissed in pain as he gripped his right cheek, from which the sudden stab of pain had come from.
"Eon? What happened?" Kaossandra asked in concern, getting up from her seat.
"I don't know." Eon said, rubbing his still stinging cheek. "I think something happened to my- Ahhh!" Eon cried again as a new stab of pain came, this time from his other cheek, which he grasped tightly as well.
"Eon!" Kaossandra cried, sounding genuinely concerned.
With his eyes closed and a furrowed brow, Eon managed to get through the initial wave of pain, after which, the stinging areas on his cheeks began to simmer down enough to allow him to take his hands off them.
However, as Eon opened his eyes and looked at his hands, he felt his heart stop for a moment. On his hands, there were long, thin strands of silver hairs.
"Your beard…" Kaossandra began slowly, a horrified look on her face. "It hasn't done that since-"
"Since them." Eon finished for her.
At that, both portal masters shared a moment of dreadful silence, before Kaossandra spoke up.
"Eon, you know what this means." She said, giving Eon a very worried look. "One of them is ba-"
"No." Eon interrupted suddenly. "No, no, they can't be back. No one could have survived all they went through, not even them." He said, trying to reassure himself.
However, Kaossandra just shook her head slowly. "You know they could." She said, letting out a mirthless laugh. "Those monsters could survive anything."
"Not the Outlands!" Eon howled suddenly, making Kaossandra flich slightly. "Not even they could survive that long in the Outlands. This must be something else." He said with a strange sense of finality.
"Well whatever it is." Kaossandra picked up. "It's bad, really bad."
Eon then turned around, taking a look out one of the windows of the common room, searching for someone far away, further away than he could see.
"Spyro." Eon began in a worried whisper. "Be carefull."
Author's notes
Heya guys. Sorry for taking so long to update, I had a lot of other stuff to sort out. But don't worry, there are definetly more chapters coming, so keep your eyes open!
-I still don't own Skylanders Academy
-Sunburn and Whirlwind, two new alies, and two new Skylanders?
-Evil looms in the horizon, and the air slowly grows colder around our heros...