It was no surprise that wherever the Skeksis have been, destruction followed. But what Rian and his team found here was unlike anything they had seen during the first days of the war. Every hut that they saw at the Spriton village was reduced to nothing but splintered rubble. Being a clan that literally lived to be farmers, seeing their crops torn apart was not something they would stand for.

Still, for all of this destruction, not a single Spriton Gelfling was about. Rian, Gurjin, and the other three could only look at the destroyed village as they wandered around the splintered wood, each of them carrying a look of horror. Tabol and his fellow Stonewood comrades stayed close to Gurjin and Rian as they left their Landstriders tied to a post.

During the beginning of the war with the Skekses', Rian could remember there being a fair share of lives lost. His father being one of them. He had seen what had even been possible when their twisted lies captured the allegiance of powerful beings such as the Arathim. However, the destruction sown at Stone-in-the-wood was nothing compared to this wreckage of a village. Gurjin stood by his friend as he examined a squashed gourd among it all.

"Search for any of the villagers." Rian turned to him and the other three. "If anyone here is still alive, we'll find them."

Tabol, Gurjin, and the others all nodded and began to search the destroyed village. What were left of the Spriton's crops lie in every direction. And not even that was much. During the battle of Stonewood, the Gelfling alliance had bade themselves explosives to combat the Skekses. And this had left a rather large mess to clean up when the surviving Skekses were forces to flee. However, whatever methods the Skekses used here were clearly used to a more devastating effect. Gurjin lifted up a broken hunk of wood that used to be part of a hut. He looked around at the wreckage and saw what was once an innocent home to a Spriton family. Where there was once a kitchen, there was ruin.

And no sign of life.

But there were no bodies. Now being a Drenchen who had fought in battle, Gurjin knew that if there were this much sign of a struggle, there may have been an unfortunate Gelfling who would be found on the receiving end of the fight. But no, not here. Not a single Spriton body in sight. He looked outside to one of the Stonewood officers with Tabol. "Krek, have you found anyone?"

"Nothing, Gurjin." She replied solemnly. "Every minute I search, I can't help but feel that we're not alone."

"I know the feeling," The third Stonewood scout, Stitpip, hobbled over with his war-wound. His leg had become greatly injured from the Stonewood battle when he fought against the Chamberlain, and he leaned against the crutch he had fashioned for himself much of his days since. "I can't find anything on the south end."

"Keep looking, then." Gurjin urged. "We can't let any survivors get left behind. We should find them before the Skekses do."

As Gurjin left to search with Rian and Tabol, Krek stayed behind to assist Stitpip. The grizzled Gelfling accepted her help. "Do you really think that the Skekses are responsible for this?" She asked him.

"Dunno who else it could be, Krek." Stitpip shook his head as they ambled across the splintered wood. "We haven't seen the Skekses since the Stonewood battle. My guess is that they spent their time forming a new plan. The question is: How did they do this?"

"Search me." Krek scanned the area. Gurjin had caught up with the other two as they reached the center of what used to be the Spriton village. "Rian, Tabol. Find anything yet?"

"Not one thing, Gurjin." Rian replied with high concern in his voice. "Every hut's been demolished. It looks like a swarm of Z'nid birds came through this place."

Gurjin shuddered at the thought. "Since when do Z'nid birds venture from Grot?"

"Could be that the Skekses drove them out, like they did the Arathim." Tabol observed. "Great Thra…"

"It was the right thing to tell me about this, Tabol." Rian said as he picked something out of the debris. To his horror, it was what looked like a stuffed Fizzgig toy. It must've belonged to one of the Spriton childlings. He felt a tear roll down his face as he stared at it. He remembered such a toy being gifted to him as a childling by his father, Ordon.

Back then, things were simple. Every Gelfling led peaceful, confident lives. Everything had a balance to it. Everything was played out in a clear, sensible manner. Nobody questioned the fact that everything was played by strings. They all lived unaware of the massive conspiracy behind their backs. They never questioned the lord's intent when locked away in their fortress. Protecting without question, that was the vision of the perfect guard of the crystal.

But now, they lived in a broken world. Torn. Sundered. Undone by the forces of war. Twisted by the crooked minds of the Skekses. What scared Rian the most was that there were more out there in the far stretches of Thra, in lands beyond their own. As if the ones they had dealt with already weren't enough. And there had to be someone around to pick up the pieces.

He stared at the Fizzgig toy for a small while longer before putting it in his bag. He dusted the debris off of its soft toy fur before doing so as Tabol and Gurjin watched it forlornly. "Well, I suppose that's something we can study for answers. Any clues as to how the Skekses did this." Gurjin said with a minor trace of optimism.

But that was replaced with a gasp.

As if being this close to such a scene was not enough, a sudden sign of life coming out of nowhere startled the three. A hand shot from the debris and grabbed onto Rian's arm. It was pale brown in skin and it nearly pulled Rian down. The Stonewood warrior pushed the broken wood off of the unknown Gelfling. But as the figure was uncovered, Rian could recognize who it was.

Kylan.

His Spriton friend was laying there, covered in soot and dust. He had multiple bruises on his body, and his clothes were tattered by whatever attacked the village. Rian gasped at seeing his old friend there in such a state. "Kylan?"

"R-Rian…" The Spriton songwriter weakly looked up at him and coughed. Gurjin went to get Krek and Stitpip while Tabol stayed and got his landstrider to help carry Rian as he helped Kylan. They had to get him back to Stone-in-the-wood. They had to get him looked at by the Vapran healers.

And perhaps he could tell them what did this to him.

The Spriton screamed loudly as the hulking monsters carried them in the large, wooden cages. They did not like where it was these hard-shelled monstrosities were taking them. Their skin ran cold as their eyes beheld the castle of the crystal. Once, it was known as the center of life of all Thra. Now, it was a cold, fortified fortress of death.

The home of the Skekses was also what it was known for. They did not wish to be in any distance close to this place. They were absolutely terrified of going in there, for they knew what fate befell the unfortunate guards within the walls. For all they knew, the Skekses knew these creatures would bring them here. These beetle-like monsters were probably part of their little conquest for power.

The surroundings around the castle had also begun to take a new shape. The once lush, green valleys were replaced with barren, lifeless plains. The plants looked to be gravely sick as if they had been taken by some small bit of the darkening. This did not help the appearance of the castle at all. They still felt as if they were marching to the gates of death.

"Let us go!" One of them yelled.

"Don't take us in there!"

"The Skekses are in there!"

"Not all of them."

The tough, burly voice silenced the ocean of screams and clamoring. The monsters stopped their marching as they stood at attention. Coming from the dying bushes came a crunching of footsteps. And then there came a sound that seemed akin to chuckling. Sinister, sadistic, chuckling. Whatever was before them was the master of these creatures. They hesitated to ponder what it was that was commanding the animals, for they were terrified enough by the sheer gaze of the crab-monsters around their cages. But soon enough, the wicked Skekses showed himself.

"What did I tell you, Ritual Master?" SkekUng smirked at the cages full of Spriton. "A whole village of Spriton."

The Ritual Master looked pleased at the amount of Gelfling collected. "Well, I must say, SkekUng. This is quite the catch for your little pets." He approached one of the cages with wide, excited eyes. "Hmm, such provident farmers. And yet, they have proven themselves to be durable fighters. My, my, these certainly will feed the court for many a week to come. The Emperor will be most pleased."

SkekUng's prideful smile then turned into what could be distinguished as a scowl. But when SkekZok turned back to him, his face turned back to a smile. Apparently, there was something SkekUng was planning, and it involved the emperor. But whatever it was, it would have to wait. Now, there were some Gelfling to Drain.

He pulled out his gem and raised it to the eyes of the Garthim. The creatures clicked and gnashed as they all stared at him. "Garthim soldiers, taker them to the lab of the Scientist!"

The insects clacked and clicked as they obeyed their master and carried the cages towards the entrance of the castle. The two Skekses followed close behind, but none closer than SkekUng. The brutish General watched the many Gelfling as they disappeared into the shadows of the castle.

Everything was going according to plan. His ever, clever plan.