"So, do you give up yet?"
Whirlwind winced as she looked up at the drow general with burning eyes and squeezed her bleeding shoulder. Her heart pounded hard, and her breath was heavy. She could barely stand, fatigued from all the fighting and traveling she had done—but she wasn't giving up yet.
Warnado, meanwhile, wasn't in any kind of better position—he had been bound and tied with rope and now laid helplessly on the ground. His mouth was twisted into a scowl as he struggled against his bonds, which refused to come loose regardless of how much he twisted and turned. And on top of that, he was flanked by many drow foot soldiers, all of whom took delight in poking him with their silver spears.
"Well?" The drow general hissed once more, a wicked smile still transfixed on her face, "Do you? I'm not giving you all day to decide."
Whirlwind bit her lip, her heart still throbbing as she thought.
The drow soldiers gave her wicked grins while they pressed her down, their spears now pressed so far into her that they practically skewered her already-weakened body.
Whirlwind screamed out as her whole body seared with pain, her head throbbed and her vision blurred. She immediately went to cover her body with her wings and paws and shook all over as she just barely heard an angered shout from the drow commander.
"DON'T KILL THEM YET!" the commander shouted with a snarl, "We need them alive! That if, if they want to come in quietly—I'm sure Lord Kaos would want to torment them himself."
The drow soldiers quickly stopped assaulting Whirlwind and drew back into a stiff pose, their whole bodies stood straight around their prisoners like pickets in a wooden fence.
The drow commander looked down at Whirlwind and went back to her trademark smirk.
"So, what'll it be, dragonling?" The commander sneered, "Hurry up, my soldiers are clearly getting impatient~"
I can't give up now, not after we've come so far, Whirlwind thought as her paw dug into her shoulder, But we're completely surrounded, and doing anything hasty could literally kill us… What should I do?
Whirlwind's eyes darted back and forth. They bounced back between the crowd of drow soldiers surrounding her, to the golden pylon right behind the drow general. Then, her eyes fixated on the general—more specifically, the shiny golden blades said general held in her hand…
Wait a second!
"Actually, I have a question…" Whirlwind announced as she looked up at the drow commander, "I want to know about your blades."
The drow general perked up for a few moments and watched as the soldiers crowded around Whirlwind and Warnado began chattering among themselves. Then, she looked at her reflection in her shiny golden blades and smiled as she moved her arms back to her side and stared Whirlwind straight in the face.
"I'll allow it." The general stroked her blades ever so tenderly, "After all, I do love talking about my babies so,"—the drow general clutched her blades close as she beamed with pride—"What do you want to know about them? Do you want to know how I painstakingly crafted them with my own bare hands, how they're magically enchanted to always return to me no matter how far I throw them—"
"Actually." Whirlwind's horn glowed a faint pink in color, "Are they reflective by any chance?"
The drow general looked at Whirlwind with a furrowed brow before she shrugged.
"I guess? They're made of gold, I don't see why they wouldn't be—"
"Good."
Then, without so much as a warning, Whirlwind's horn flared in a bright array of colors before a shining rainbow shot out of it and went flying straight at the general!
The general gasped sharply and threw her blades in front of her face, the blades that proceeded to catch the rainbow and reflect it for mere moments before they shot the rainbow back at Whirlwind! As the general lowered her arms, she watched with absolute terror as the rainbow hit Whirlwind and enveloped her in a bright rainbow light. The light was so bright, in fact, that the general was forced to turn away from it mere moments after, as were those around her.
Whirlwind smiled as she was lifted up into the air. Her strength rushed back into her body, and the blood on her shoulder slowly dried off and faded away! The wounds on her body healed themselves and disappeared in the blink of a eye as Whirlwind fell to the floor and flared her wings with a confident smile.
The drow general stumbled back in shock as she beheld the now much more battle-ready Whirlwind.
"B-B-B-BUT HOW!?"
"Healing rainbows. Works every time," Whirlwind sneered as she shot back the smirk the general had given her before.
The drow general was struck with genuine fear as she swerved back and forth.
In fact, Whirlwind felt an almost snide rush of energy rush into her heart as she watched this general that had gleefully tormented her and Warnado not moments earlier panic.
"W-W-W-WELL DON'T JUST STAND THERE!" The drow general frantically pointed a finger at Whirlwind, "GET HER!"
The drow soldiers all scrambled around as they grabbed their spears and rushed to attack Whirlwind. However, they were unsuccessful—they could only watch as Whirlwind quickly caught up to their tricks and shot upwards while the wind embraced her as she flew. In a panicked frenzy, they all tossed their spears at her, but they couldn't reach high enough to even graze the soles of her back paws.
"I need to get going!" The drow commander gazed at the crowd of soldiers that tried and failed to apprehend Whirlwind and bit her lip, "If Lord Kaos hears about this…"
She breathed heavily as she zig-zagged back and forth in a desperate try to find some kind of sanctuary to hide in. But it was of no victory—everything around her was wide, open space for miles. Then, she saw the pylon in front of her and ran to hide behind it, only to stumble forwards and trip right into the pylon. With a sickening slip, she fell to the stone floors, completely unconscious.
Meanwhile, Whirlwind was completely calm despite all the chaos! Electricity crackled at the tips of her wings as she flapped them, and all around her, storm clouds enveloped her and seemingly tamed themselves under her paws. Her eyes flashed with pure lightning as she chanted something in an ancient, draconic tongue with such a booming voice that the world around her shook.
The soldiers that previously harassed Whirlwind came to a slow halt. They lowered their weapons, mumbled among themselves and gave Whirlwind a confused look as they listened to her chant. Just then, they finally realized what she was doing!
"SHE'S PREPARING A SPELL! GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN!" Shouted one soldier.
The others saw the storm clouds grow twice their previous size and rushed off in a fearful attempt at escape. While many tried their best, a small few were fixed in their places by a mixture of fear and amazement and could only watch as the storm clouds embraced Whirlwind with a fondness similar to family.
Whirlwind smiled as she clapped her front paws together and made the storm clouds scatter, each cloud positioned somewhere across the battlefield. Then, she snapped her front claws and the clouds all thundered at once, which shocked all those around and sent the drow soldiers dropping like flies!
Warnado tried desperately to retreat into his shell when a bolt of thunder shocked the ropes restraining him and reduced them to harmless crisps of what they used to be! As he found himself free, Warnado fell down to the floor and shook for a few key moments before he smiled and looked up at Whirlwind. He then gave her a thumbs up before he cast a tornado of his own and sailed about on it, while the storm clouds wove their way into the tornado and provided him with extra speed.
All around them, the drow soldiers who hadn't fallen from literal shock tried desperately to escape. However, they weren't going to get their wish—Warnado had quickly decided on that. As he spun his tornado in the direction of the fleeing cavalry, Warnado gained a malicious grin. He locked eyes with the soldiers as they turned their heads around and were captured by the tornado before they were flung everywhere like liquid in an uncovered blender.
Whirlwind gently drifted back down to the ground. All around her, the clouds slowly dispersed and brought about a cloudy blue sky and a little sun that brought beams of light onto the battlefield. A kind of odd peace enveloped her as she walked up to the pylon and prepared to lower it with every step she took.
However, as she neared the pylon, her paw stepped on something soft and squishy and she looked down to find the unconscious body of the drow general that had been taunting her earlier. Whirlwind smirked as she rolled the body over to the side before walking back to the pylon. As she pressed a paw against the smooth, cool side of the pylon, Whirlwind closed her eyes and tucked in her wings. She then pressed the button on the pylon's side and watched with satisfaction as it receded.
As she felt the light grow stronger, Whirlwind opened her eyes and turned around to find that the bridge was now mostly complete, and the tornado was now mostly harmless and about a fifteenth of the size it once was.
"Whirlwind! Get over here!" Warnado shouted as he waved one of his front paws.
He then watched her turn around and pointed towards the pathway behind him. With a nod, Warnado lead her all the way to a secluded corner at the near end of the pathway, where a fourth golden pylon stood.
"You know what to do, Whirlybird." Warnado made a knowing smile and winked.
Whirlwind winked back, then walked over to the pylon and pressed the button on it as well.
When the pylon reached the bottom with a firm thud, both looked over to find a completed bridge, and the hurricane gone!
"We're almost there!" Whirlwind jumped in the air with sparkling eyes, then took Warnado's paw and ran across the bridge with the speed of a hurricane until she reached its very end.
There at the end was a large, stone pathway that lead higher and higher until it stopped at the top of the stone platform it decorated. On top of that platform was the stone castle they had seen earlier, which now glowed a sky blue as it radiated with magical energy.
"It's definitely here, I can feel it!" Whirlwind looked at Warnado and nodded before she stormed up the platform, her heart a'flutter with joy, "Now let's go!"
§
Chihiro whimpered as she opened her eyes, everything around her fuzzy and distorted. Her head was throbbing and her body was still shaking from anxiety. Yeah, that was definitely not a smooth landing. When her vision finally cleared, she was in a mostly dark room with a weird, aqua filter covering the whole thing. Chihiro stood up straight and looked around her. Her hair bounced as her head swerved from side to side, while she found that it wasn't just a filter—it was some kind of giant, blue bubble! Chihiro leaned over and pushed her finger against the bubble.
In response, it stretched out with her, before it returned back to its normal, round shape when she let go.
Did I create this thing? Chihiro thought as she brushed a hand against the bubble's smooth surface, But how?
As she pondered the mystery of how this all happened, Chihiro heard what sounded like a muffled scream and looked up to see something coming into view from the light of the bubble!
It was a large purple blur that fell at a speed so fast that Chihiro couldn't even ponder what was going on.
Without even a thought, she bounced back just slightly and held up her arms as a hole opened up in the bubble and Spyro fell right into her grasp!
Spyro himself groaned as he opened his eyes and found himself staring right into Chihiro's face. With tired eyes, he watched as Chihiro shuddered and gently dropped him to the ground.
With a nervous gulp, Chihiro quickly dashed away from Spyro and looked down at her feet. Then, she felt the light around her fade as she watched the bubble dissolve in an instant. Sure enough, she and Spyro were left in complete darkness.
"… Frick," Chihiro whispered as her tired eyes glanced up at the darkness around her.
"Where in Skylands are we, anyway?" Spyro asked as he snapped his claws and darted his head back and forth before a bright light shone throughout the room.
Within moments, the light had settled across the room and finally gave them an idea of where they were. They were in an old, dusty library stuffed with wooden bookcases that were filled with all kinds of books. The books themselves were covered in dust and cobwebs from lack of use, and the bookshelves themselves were coated in a thin layer of grime. The floors were old, wooden and creaked with every step, and the wooden ceiling now had a gaping hole in it from where they fell.
Spyro and Chihiro both look up at the gaping hole in the ceiling before they looked back at each other. Spyro's expression turned sour very quickly, his eyes transfixed on Chihiro with disdain. Chihiro gulped, gained an awkward grimace on her face and promptly scurried over to the other side of the room without a single word.
"Chihiro, get back here!" Spyro shouted before he watched as Chihiro flinched and crawled back.
Chihiro then curled into a ball and looked to the side in her hardest attempt not to meet Spyro's sour gaze.
"Why in Skylands did you run off?! You worried me sick when we got separated in that cave-in!" Spyro extended his leg towards the gaping hole in the ceiling, "And on top of that, you running off got us stuck here!"
Chihiro whimpered and trembled while she curled inward even more.
"C'mon, Chihiro, answer me already!"
Chihiro bit her lip as tears fell down her face. Should she admit it? She wasn't sure—her brain was so fired up with all kinds of emotions that she could barely get a grip of the world around her, much less her own thoughts.
"I, I," Chihiro sputtered, her voice weak, "I DON'T KNOW!"
"You don't know?" Spyro echoed as he tilted his head, his voice softened just a little.
Chihiro whimpered before she sniffled for several moments.
"Cause, when we got trapped in that ceiling cave-in, I, I." Chihiro wiped her face with her arms and whispered, "This one stone, it, well, it was about to land on you, so I pushed you out of the way and ran off! I was so scared cause I thought you might've gotten hurt, or you'd get mad at me for leaving you behind, and I, I, I didn't know what to do!"
Now fresh with rife, released emotion, Chihiro buried her face into her knees and wailed so loudly it probably echoed around the entirely of the hallway—not that anybody else could hear. This place was completely abandoned save for her and Spyro, and that only served to intensify her heightened emotion.
Spyro just stood and watched Chihiro sob for a few moments before he softened his brow, his mouth agape.
"Chihiro, you saved my life! Why would I be mad at you for that?"
Chihiro's whole body jolted up as she looked Spyro straight in the face with teary eyes.
"Cause, well, you said you wanted me to stay with you, and, when you saw me you were yelling and all—"
"Chihiro, I got all worked up cause I thought you got caught in the cave-in!" Spyro flew forward and gently laid a paw on Chihiro's knee, "I thought you were dead!"
With a sniffle, Chihiro wiped her teary eyes and weakly looked up at Spyro. His golden eyes shone with a kind of vulnerability she hadn't quite seen in him before except for… That night. That night she had found him, sullen and teary-eyed on the island's center. Guess now, it was her turn to pour her heart out—all she could do was wrap her arms around him and sob into his shoulder until she finally felt her tears drain away.
"I thought you were gonna hate me forever!" Chihiro croaked as she loosened her grip and looked Spyro in the face.
"Why would you think that?" Spyro asked at last, his voice returned to normal volume.
Chihiro only made a helpless shrug as she wiped her eyes.
"I don't know either, I just got so scared that I freaked out and look what I did!" Chihiro's lip quivered along with her trembling shoulders before she buried her face in her knees again, "I got us stuck here and we're gonna be trapped here forever!"
"That's where you're wrong." Spyro flared his wings and made a calm smile as he lifted Chihiro's head up, "Chihiro, if there's one thing Skylanders never do, it's give up! I know it seems bad right now, but if we put our heads together, I'm sure we can find a way out of here!"
Chihiro's mouth formed into a surprised o-shape as she felt her tears dry away. Something about the way Spyro seemed so confident, yet so calm in a situation as bad as this made her worries ease and allowed her to make a weak smile. After a few quick sniffs, she brought herself to her feet once more and wiped away the last of her tears.
"You're right, Spyro!" Chihiro's smile grew to a more natural, calm kind of joy as she let her arms rest at her side, "If we got ourselves into this mess, I'm sure there's a way to get out! Now, why don't we figure it out?"
Spyro and Chihiro nodded in unison, a new kind of synergy in their hearts, before Spyro flew off and examined the room.
"Well," Spyro whispered as he bit his lip just slightly, "There aren't any exits here aside from that hole, but I don't know if I could carry you up that high."
Spyro flew back down, situated himself back on the dusty floors and looked all over the bookshelves with a kind of intrigue. His eyes lit up and he looked back at Chihiro.
"Chihiro!"
"You got an idea, Spyro?" Chihiro tilted her head as she skipped over and looked down at Spyro.
Spyro nodded firmly before clearing his throat.
"Well, what I was thinking is, since there's no visible passageways through here there has to be some kind of secret one." Spyro looked around the room, "And if I know my secret library passageways, one's bound to reveal itself if we mess with these books."
"Like in the TV shows!" Chihiro exclaimed as she held out an extended finger, "You know, with how there's a secret switch that's activated by removing a book, or moving it a certain way, stuff like that!"
"Exactly!" Spyro looked back at Chihiro with eager eyes, "I'll take this half, you take the other one. Just mess with the books until we find something!"
They both nodded and went straight to work! Without even hesitating they poured through the bookshelves and did whatever they could to open them up. They pulled out books, moved them around, rearranged entire shelves, whatever could possibly trigger the appearance of an entrance. However, no matter what they did, nothing happen—the room was noticeably lacking in exits and looked pretty much identical to how it did when they arrived, save for the mess of books.
"Nothing." Spyro and Chihiro both sat down and sighed.
Chihiro heaved another heavy sigh and fell on her back as she stared up at the ceiling. Her eyes fixated on the gaping hole in the ceiling, Chihiro sighed once more and turned on her side. As she laid her head on her arm, she gently brushed her hand against the dusty wooden floors.
"So, what're we gonna do?" Chihiro asked Spyro as she looked back up, "It doesn't look like there's any magical secret pathways."
Spyro heaved another sigh as he looked back at Chihiro and then looked down at his paws.
"I don't know…" Spyro mumbled as he pawed at the ground, "I'll have to keep thinking."
Spyro hummed to himself as he placed a paw on his chin in contemplation as Chihiro fixed her eyes back onto the ceiling hole. If only they had some kind of device that could let them just get back up there instantly, like a grappling hook or a trampoline or…
"I'VE GOT IT!" Chihiro sprung to her feet and spun around before she faced Spyro.
"Got what?" Spyro turned around and looked Chihiro in the eyes.
Chihiro cleared her throat and rubbed a fist against her chest.
"Okay so, you know how I told you that in my world, there's a Skylanders game based on all your adventures, right?" Chihiro looked back at Spyro with a sparkle in her eyes.
"Yes, and I still find that very concerning."
"Well, I was thinking about footage I saw from the game itself, and I remembered—in some levels, they have these magical trampoline pad thingies that you jump on!"
"You mean bounce pads?" Spyro tilted his head as if he was prompting Chihiro for an answer.
"Yeah, that's the ticket!" Chihiro glazed over at the open space where they had first landed, "Maybe if you could create one of those with your magic-y powers, we can bounce right out of here!"—Chihiro stopped herself short and tilted her head—"Wait, can you?"
Spyro clapped his front paws and exhaled.
"I don't think I've ever really tried creating bounce pads before, but it's worth a shot!" Spyro breathed in and walked towards the open space he was talking about earlier.
As she watched him focus, Chihiro shrugged and ran off to look over the books. They were all coated in dust and cobwebs that could make anybody break into hapless sneezing, but there was something about them she found oddly enchanting. As she glazed over them, she collected up a small stack of books, all of which were tucked safely away under her arm, and peeled the shelves for more. As her finger brushed against the dusty spines of books she had rearranged, Chihiro barely even glazed over them before her eyes fixated on a dull sky blue colored book with shimmering white bands as the spine's decoration.
"Oooh, this one looks interesting," Chihiro remarked as she pulled out the book and tucking it safely under her arm when she heard a magical WHOOSH!
"Chihiro! Hurry up, the bounce pad's ready!" Spyro turned back and looked over the bounce pad with a frown, "I hope this works..."
"Ready steady Freddy!" Chihiro exclaimed, a wide grin on her face as she hopped over to Spyro's side.
"What's with all the books?" Spyro took one look at her before his eyes glanced over to the stack of books under her arm.
"Nothing gets past you, huh?" Chihiro made a wry smile before she patted her collection, "I just thought these were interesting and figured I'd bring them back to read later!"
Spyro shrugged for a moment, before he stepped back and nodded slightly.
Chihiro nodded eagerly, complete understanding between them as she hopped onto the bounce pad and went barreling upwards. With a squeal of glee, Chihiro soared and made a quick gaze around. Her eyes widened as she saw the now slightly-visible hallway, the part of it that wasn't broken now visible thanks to the light Spyro emitted throughout the library room. Then, with a wide smile, she mustered her strength and pushed herself forwards! As she fell back down and dove onto the hallway floors, she shielded herself with the books she was carrying to soften the blow… Of course, this wasn't the wisest idea as the books were hardcover and ended up smacking her straight in the face, but oh well.
Chihiro rubbed her face and moaned with pain as she staggered back up before she heard a whooshing sound and whipped her whole body around.
That whooshing sound was Spyro, who had just bounced up and landed on the stone floors perfectly right in front of Chihiro.
"Ten outta ten, golden boy," Chihiro chirped as she gave Spyro a thumbs up, "Now let's find our way outta here!"
Spyro nodded slightly as he walked up to Chihiro, and they both nodded towards each other. With a snap of his claws, he conjured another glowering sphere of light as they carefully walked down the pathway
§
Whirlwind's heart throbbed with excitement as she and Warnado climbed the spiraling stone staircase that lead up to the castle. It was just so thrilling, being so close to their goal at last! Around her, the winds seemingly grew stronger and stronger and blew medium-sized rocks off the top of the platform above them, which only amplified her excitement..
In fact, didn't that sound like…
"Warnado, look out!" Whirlwind exclaimed as she pushed Warnado out of the way!
While they gathered their bearings, a tiny boulder rolled off the top platform and crashed right into where they were formerly standing! As the boulder shattered into millions of tiny pebbles, Whirlwind threw her wing in front of her face and flinched. Warnado, meanwhile, quickly retreated into his shell until the coast was clear.
When both of them calmed down, Whirlwind flapped her wings slightly while she pressed her paw against her chin. Her eyes trained themselves on the pathway ahead before she looked around in several other directions. The winds were still howling, but the rocks seemed to have stabilized and were no longer threatening to fall off and crush her under their weight.
"Coast's clear, Warnado!" Whirlwind breathed in and dashed ahead, the sound of her paws pounding against the cold surface of the pathway a new white noise in the chaos.
Right in front of her, the path receded and receded as she got closer and closer, while her heart pounded with every step she took.
The spiraling pathway slowly absorbed itself into the walls of the building as they got higher up, until the pathway ended and led them to a platform on top of the building. The winds were howling even louder than before, and their strength had taken a sharp increases.
Whirlwind threw a leg in front of her face as she wrapped her wings around her body to use as windbreakers. Her heart swirled with Air Element magic and made it beat even faster than before as her whole body shuddered with excitement and swelled with power at the same time!
"Just a little further, Whirlwind, you can make it!" Whirlwind exclaimed as she trudged through the winds and found herself at the very top of the platform!
The winds had grown stronger around her, but strangely enough, the area didn't seem to be affected—it was almost tranquil, like she was in the eye of the storm. Or more specifically, in the eye of the Eternal Air Source's storm—because there in the center of it all, hovered over a wooden platform was the Eternal Air Source!
It was a large, oval-like sky blue orb that glowed strongly with sky blue light as a tiny tornado stormed within it. For something that wasn't any bigger than a large dinner plate, it seemed almost intimidating as it brewed with the unhampered, raw power of the collective Air Element. Just standing next to it as an Air Elemental made Whirlwind surge not only with an energy more powerful than she had ever felt, but a kind of smallness that could only make her respect its power in a sort of fearful way as she felt the storms it brewed storm around her.
Whirlwind carefully stepped closer and closer until she stood right in front of the Source, then reached out her front paws and carefully clutched it. The raw energy that emanated from the Source made her tremble with excitement—this felt almost surreal, so dreamlike… As she held it close, the storms around her slowly came to a stop! Whirlwind looked around and saw that the islands were at peace once more, their throbbing storms replaced with clear skies and gentle breezes, and a wide smile stretched across her face.
"Mission complete," Whirlwind whispered as she hugged the Eternal Air Source close to her heart, "Now, to get this back to the—AAAAAAAAA!"
All of a sudden, the wooden floor underneath her caved in and both she and the Source fell through!
§
"Hey, Spyro, didn't we walk past here already?" Chihiro asked as she looked back and forth across the hallway they were walking through.
For the past several minutes now, she and Spyro had been walking through endless hallways and corridors and tried their hardest to get out of the shadow of what was once Eon's mighty citadel. But, it wasn't of much luck—the shock from their earlier mishap had dampened Chihiro's memory of its layout.
"No, I'm pretty sure that portrait's new," Spyro replied as he pointed towards a framed portrait of a younger Master Eon while he lifted up an orb of light with his other front paw.
"…Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I've seen that one before." Chihiro squinted at the painting and shook her head "But then again, it seems like all these portraits look the same,"—Chihiro looked ahead and saw that Spyro had dodged her remarks and had flown quite a bit ahead—"Hey! Spyro, wait for me!"
As she rejoined Spyro, Chihiro paused for a moment and caught her breath.
"Think, we're, near the exit, yet?"
"I'm not sure, unfortunately." Spyro pressed a paw to his chin while he flew in place, "I've never really been in this part of Master Eon's citadel before. For that matter, I didn't even know it existed until now!"
"Does that mean we're lost?" Chihiro heaved another heavy sigh and sat down on the floor. As she sat and rested, she placed her stack of books down next to her, pressed her legs against her chest and dragged her finger along the stone.
"No, we're not lost." Spyro hung his head slightly, "I'm sure I remember the way we came. I've got a photographic memory, after all."
"You do?"
Spyro nodded slightly before looked over the pathways while he racked his brain.
"Hey, Chihiro?" Spyro looked back to see Chihiro look up at him.
"Yeah?" Chihiro picked up the books next to her and stood tall.
"Hey, well." Spyro scratched the back of his head, "Thanks for saving me back when we got caught in that cave-in. And, well, I'm sorry if I scared you or anything."
"Oh, it's no big deal." Chihiro shook her head and smiled fondly, "You are my friend, after all!"
Spyro just stared at her with complete, confused silence.
"But, we could've died—YOU could've died—"
"I wasn't just gonna let you die! You and the other Skylanders are the first real friends I actually have! I'm not just gonna lose you guys like that! And besides, if you're safe then who cares what happens to me?"
"I DO!" Spyro's voice echoed out before he turned solemn as he clasped a paw, "You're our portal master, Chihiro—you're more important to all of us than you realize. If we lost you… If you had actually died, I don't think I could've ever forgiven myself."
Chihiro drew back and looked down at her feet. The two of them went silent for what seemed like forever—the only sound was that of Chihiro's voice as she breathed in sharply and drew back. She then looked to the side and clutched her books close to her heart.
"Did I say something wrong?" Spyro let go of his clasped paw, his jaw ajar just slightly.
"No, no, it's just…" Chihiro jerked up and looked at Spyro before she shook her head and smiled slightly, "Nobody's really told me that before, or ever actually bothered to apologize to me in the first place."
Spyro was about to say something, but was at such a loss for words that he could only nod slightly. Chihiro was as well, only able to gaze over the repeating stone pathways or occasionally cuddle her stack of books. Surely, neither of them expected to blurt out something like that so suddenly.
"So, Spyro…" Chihiro whispered at last before she raised her voice slightly, "There's something I've always wondered…"
"Yeah?"
"The night we met, when we were talking with all the other Skylanders… You said you used to go on all sorts of adventures before you became a 'lander, right?" Chihiro made a wide smile, "Could you, well, tell me about them?"
Spyro broke a chuckle for the first time that day.
"Well, I guess I could, but it might take a while—I've got a lot of stories…"
"And we've got lots of time." Chihiro looked up at the ceiling, "Something tells me it'll be a while before we get out of this place."
The two of them then looked back at the path they went through and then the one in front of them and heaved heavy sighs.
"Well, I should at the beginning—see, it all started with a guy named Gnasty Gnorc…"
§
"She was going to do WHAT?!" Chihiro exclaimed, eyes widened in pure horror.
"Unfortunately, it was all true. Had the sorceress gotten her way, she would've killed all the hatchlings and used their wings in a spell to make herself immortal!" Spyro said with a grave nod before he looked up at Chihiro and grinned, "But thankfully, that didn't happen."
"Cause you stopped her, right?" Chihiro's eyes turned wide as she saw Spyro nod.
"You bet! It was tough, but I confronted her, and not only did I stop her, my friends and I all managed to save the dragon eggs she stole!"
Then, with a gleeful smile she dropped her books, grabbed Spyro and wrapped him in a hug as she span around.
"THAT'S SO COOL! No wonder Master Eon made you a Skylander, you're just like the heroes in the games!"
"Well, it wasn't all me." Spyro weakly smiled and scratched the back of his head, "I had a lot of help, from lots of different friends."
"Oh, don't be so modest, you're pretty darn cool!" Chihiro squeezed Spyro tight before she let him go and picked up the books she collected, "Anyways, do you think we're close?"
"Well, I think we are, I kinda lost my train of thought telling all those stories," Spyro made an awkward shrug and looked back at Chihiro as he walked. However, he quickly came to a stop when he stepped on something, slipped and tumbled backwards.
"OWCH!" Spyro shook his head and looked down at the offending object—a metal lantern that was completely devoid of light.
Chihiro's eyes sparkled as she grabbed the lantern off the ground and examined it.
"I recognize that lantern! That's the one I was using before, well, it went out! Come on Spyro, we're on the right track!" Chihiro ran off with the lantern in tow, a new kind of energy born from her discovery.
And as Chihiro ran off, Spyro collected himself and flew after her, a slight smile on his face.
"Wait up, Chihiro!"
§
Whirlwind moaned as she staggered back up while a pounding headache encapsulated her. Her legs were sore from the fall, and she could barely move a muscle.
"Where am I?" Whirlwind whispered as she just barely lifted her head up and moved it around as she tried to make sense of her surroundings.
However, it was near impossible—the room was completely dark save for the light that poured out from the hole above her, and her vision was so blurry that she could barely make up the room in front of her. All she could make out was the sky blue light of something else that glowed from the center of the room. As Whirlwind's vision returned to her, she quickly came to realize that this light was none other than the Eternal Air Source, which shone brightly in the center of the room!
"Oh, thank the Ancients, it's still here!" Whirlwind breathed a heavy sigh.
Just then, she heard a deep, bellowing scream as she looked up and saw something falling down from the hole above her! As if by instinct, she immediately cast a dense, fluffy cloud where she assumed the thing was going to fall. She then watched as Warnado came falling from above and landed onto the cloud with a grunt.
"You okay?"
Warnado rolled off the cloud, shook his head and looked back at her.
"I'm fine, Whirlybird. Thanks for catching me," Warnado said with an easygoing nod.
"No problem!" Whirlwind gently nudged Warnado with her wing before she looked back at the Eternal Air Source in all its majesty.
As they both looked it over, their eyes sparkled as they shivered from the raw power emanating from it.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Whirlwind just barely whispered as her eyes glowed.
"Yeah, it's pretty and all, but we can't just stand around here and look at it!" Warnado summoned a tornado, "Time to get the Source!"
As he said this, Warnado flew on his tornado until he was directly under the Source. He then channeled his power combined with that of the Air Source, until his Tornado was now about half the size of the ones that were once running about outside. Then, with a smile he grabbed the Source!
"Gotcha!" Warnado beamed as he clasped the Eternal Air Source tight when he heard a loud rumbling.
"What the heck's going on?!" He and Whirlwind yelled in unison.
However, they could barely be heard over the rumbling, which got louder and louder. Just then, the part of the ceiling that was above Whirlwind crumbled and fell apart! Whirlwind had to run into the center of the building just to keep from getting covered in stones and loose pebbles. After she took sanctuary under Warnado, she ducked and covered her body with her wings.
Meanwhile, Warnado clutched the Eternal Air Source tightly in his arms, only for it to disappear! As he felt himself hugging empty space, he whipped his head around and found that the Source was gone!
"What the—what happened to the Eternal Air Source?!" he exclaimed as his tornado then vanished and he fell to the floor.
All while he screamed as loud as he could, Warnado retreated into his shell as he fell before hitting the floor and exiting his shell once again.
"What's going on?!" Warnado shook his head back and forth when heard a loud, ominous cackle and shuddered.
"Kaos."
As they spoke, a giant, blue, holographic head, complete with malevolent, heightened features, appeared out of nowhere! As it came into view, its largeness imposed onto the two to the point where it made them seem like ants, it cackled and looked down on them with a smirk pressed across its face.
"Looking for this, I presume?" Kaos asked as the Eternal Air Source in all its glory appeared and floated in mid-air!
Warnado and Whirlwind both gasped, before they stood tall and glared down Kaos.
"Give it back, Kaos! It doesn't belong to you—it belongs in the Core of Light!" Whirlwind shouted as she stepped forward and gave Kaos a dark stare.
"Well, well, if it isn't the Skyblunderers!" Kaos cackled as he raised his eyebrow, "I thought I banished you to the furthest reaches of the universe, never to be seen again!"
"It takes more than a fancy spell to get rid of us, knucklehead!" Warnado exclaimed, his eyes narrowed and ablaze with flames so furious his element could almost be mistaken for Fire.
"So it seems." Kaos groaned before he collected himself and sneered, "But, that won't last for long, as you fell right into my trap!"
"TRAP?!" Whirlwind and Warnado exclaimed at once.
"That's right! I, being the most brilliant evil genius there is, lured you here with the Eternal Air Source, and now that you're trapped here…" Kaos covered up the holes and other exits within the area with thick, rumbling storm clouds, "I'll have my minions finish you off!"
As he said this, Kaos closed his eyes and chanted some kind of incantation, completely oblivious to the now-tense Whirlwind and Warnado. As his chanting trailed off, three creatures appeared right in front of Whirlwind and Warnado!
The first one was psychically identical to Whirlwind in basically every way, save for the fact that it was made of pulsating evil magic. Its whole body was a dark purple in color while occasional veins of sky blue, air element magic coursed through it and throbbed against its body.
The second was made of magic similar to the first creature, but in the shape of a stout griffin with a large beak, feathery wings and clawed paws.
And the third was also made of the same evil magic as the first two, but was in the shape of a broad, muscular man with wavy, flowing hair and a soft, fluffy cloud where its legs would normally be.
"These things?" Warnado scoffed with a sneer, "We've beaten them more times than I can even count! Why do you think now will be any different?"
"You may be right, turtle." Kaos's voice dripped with poison as he glazed over the Eternal Air Source, "But have you fought them while they channeled the RAW, UNHINDERED POWER OF THE ETERNAL AIR SOURCE, THE ROOT OF ALL AIR ELEMENT MAGIC IN SKYLANDS?!"
And with that, the Eternal Air Source shone brightly and zapped the three minions—which in turn created a bright flash that covered all! When the light disappeared, the three minions glowed bright with a sky blue light and they seemed to radiate with raw strength so powerful it made everyone shudder.
"EVIL UNICORN DRAGON, EVIL GRIFFON, EVIL STORM TITAN, ATTACK THE SKYLOSERS!" Kaos sneered as his floating head faded away, "Have fun dying~"
Whirlwind and Warnado looked at each other and nodded before they charged up their respective powers and leaped out at the Evil Minions! In immediate response, the evil minions shouted out cries of war as well and leaped forwards.
The battle for the Eternal Air Source had begun.
§
Chihiro frowned as she gazed over the stone pathways before her and Spyro with a critical eye. Her legs were starting to ache from walking so much, and her arms were sore from carrying the heavy books she snagged from the library for so long. All in all, her whole body yearned for some rest. And that's just what she did as she immediately sat down and moaned, before she placed her stack of books next to her, flopped on her back and looked up at the ceiling.
"Think we can stop here, Spyro?" Chihiro asked, looking up at the stone ceiling.
She then looked over at Spyro and watched as he sighed and sat down next to her.
"I guess," he said in response, his voice worn from talking so much, "I've been feeling kind of tired, too."
Spyro then laid down on all fours and glazed over the books Chihiro had stacked next to her before he carefully ran a claw against the leatherback cover of the one on top.
"Why'd you pick up these books, anyway?"
"I dunno, thought they looked interesting, I guess." Chihiro shrugged slightly.
Spyro shrugged as well before he picked up the book on top of the stack, flipped it open and glazed over its pages. Of course, since the book was covered in grime and dust, as soon as he cracked it open dust flew out everywhere and caused him to cough uncontrollably. As the dust faded, Spyro glazed over the book's worn, yellowing pages. When he read over the rightmost page in particular, his eyes looked over a certain paragraph and widened. In one swift motion, Spyro slammed the book shut, tucked it under his front right leg and took back to the skies.
"Chihiro, do you have any idea what's in these books?" Spyro asked, absolute wonder in his tone.
Chihiro gave a side glance and shrugged again. She then jumped back and watched as Spyro magically levitated the remaining books with flashing purple eyes and brought them close to his side.
"Chihiro, we need to get these back to Hugo." Spyro flew ahead, the book he was reading still tucked under his leg.
"Why?" Chihiro dashed forward with confusion.
Spyro retrieved the book from under his arm and flipped back to the page he was on before showing it to Chihiro. The words were written in some kind of Skylandian text that Chihiro most definitely couldn't read, but the scribbled-in illustrations on the pages depicted some kind of object being placed into a machine, which caused the machine to become larger and more expansive.
"Now, I can't read the text itself—it's in Ancient Skylandian, which I'm not very fluent in." Spyro pointed a claw towards the scribbled illustration on the rightmost page, "But, this drawing here—I have a feeling that it's the Core of Light! See, this part is the base, and these are the Twin Spouts, at least from what I can make out…"
Chihiro half-listened to Spyro ramble on with a large, fake smile on her face.
I don't understand a word he's saying, Chihiro thought.
"Point is." Spyro closed the book and tucked it back under his leg, "I think this might have something to do with the Core, but we won't know for sure until we talk to Hugo. He studies these kinds of books all the time, and I bet he could translate this in no time!"
"So why are we standing around here?" Chihiro's eyes sparkling as she claimed the books floating next to Spyro and stacked them in her arms, "We need to get going!"
"Exactly!"
A wide, genuine grin spread across Chihiro's face as she strode forwards across the stone pavements.
"Chihiro, wait!" Spyro called out with a drip of warning in his voice as he flew to her side.
However, Chihiro didn't head his warning and ran face-first into a stone wall! As she moaned in pain, she slid down the wall and collapsed on the floor, her books straddled in a pile on her lap. As she rubbed her aching head, she looked over and saw Spyro fly towards her.
"I was gonna say there's a wall there." Spyro held out a paw and heaved Chihiro back up.
"I'm fine, don't worry." Chihiro picked up her books and stacked them in her arms once more, before she looked around the area and frowned slightly as she hummed, her mind busy at work.
For that matter, wasn't I in this place before?… Chihiro thought.
"Now, if I remember correctly," Spyro remarked as he looked over to a corner that turned to another open pathway, "If we take a couple more rights, we should be at the entrance of the citadel!"
"You think so?" Chihiro gave Spyro a curious gaze.
Spyro nodded firmly before he passed the corner as Chihiro dutifully followed him. The two of them walked in complete silence for the next several minutes, as they passed corridor after corridor and path after path. However, those minutes quickly turned to hours, and soon enough they were both starting to grow weary.
Spyro frowned as he looked at the pathway in front of him, while Chihiro stopped and frowned with him. It didn't seem like they had gotten any closer… Then, as they passed through another open path, their eyes glazed down at the stone floors and found that they had turned to wood! They both looked up and found themselves in an abandoned room they recognized all too well—Eon's personal study!
"We made it!" Chihiro exclaimed, a wide smile on her face.
"Not quite." Spyro gently took Chihiro's free hand with his free paw and lead her out of the study.
As they walked outside and sniffed in the fresh autumn air, Spyro and Chihiro both breathed sighs of relief before they sat down and gazed at the sky.
"I thought we were never gonna make it outta there." Chihiro laid the books next to her side.
"I almost thought the same thing." Spyro levitated the books next to Chihiro and took to the skies once again, "I'm gonna take these to Hugo—hopefully, he'll know something about them,"—Spyro turned around and went to fly away before he turned back and looked at Chihiro—"Do you wanna come?"
Chihiro nodded eagerly and skipped to Spyro's side before the two of them ran off…
§
Whirlwind screamed in pain as she was flung into the walls of the arena, before she fell back on her feet and shook it off. The battle had been nothing but an uphill struggle thus far—she and Warnado were throwing everything they had Kaos's minions, but the power of the Eternal Air Source made them far too strong.
Whirlwind then looked to her side and saw Warnado as he faced off against the Evil Storm Titan, who was charging up large lightning bolts and shooting them at Warnado. Warnado, meanwhile, was doing everything he could to avoid the Titan's shots and spun around so fast that Whirlwind could barely keep up.
Just then, out the corner of her eye, Whirlwind spotted none other than the Evil Griffon, who was flying fast and had a loud screech charged up with her eyes focused on Warnado!
"WARNADO!" Whirlwind shouted, her eyes focused on him.
Warnado turned around and immediately saw the Evil Griffon before spinning out of its path in just the nick of time!
The Evil Griffon had gone so fast that she couldn't fully stop, slammed straight into the Evil Storm Titan and sent them both flying into the stone walls surrounding them!
Whirlwind cheered, but only for a moment as she narrowly dodged another rainbow shot by the Evil Unicorn Dragon. As she breathed heavily, Whirlwind tried to charge up a rainbow of her own, her horn colored with multi-color sparks. In mere moments, she quickly shot a beam of hard light at the Unicorn Dragon and created a bright flash! Her eyes glistened for mere moments before the light faded and she saw the Evil Unicorn Dragon standing tall with not even a scratch on its body!
"WHAT!?" However, Whirlwind didn't have enough time to register this as she was shot in the chest with a bolt of lightning and collapsed.
"Whirlwind!" Warnado exclaimed as he looked back at her and then back at the Evils.
Warnado summoned a large tornado and narrowed his eyes. As he flew around on it, smaller tornadoes emerged from the larger one he was flying on and caused a huge storm! Warnado looked down smugly, only to find that the evil minions weren't affected at all!
In fact, they were standing firm through the storms before they flew up and met him at eye-level!
Warnado stood strong and got ready to attack before he was blasted with an ear-piercing screech from the Evil Griffon and flung into the wall near Whirlwind. As he hit his head against the wall, Warnado moaned and fell down next to Whirlwind. The two of them breathed heavily and tried their hardest to get back up, but their vision had blurred and the whole world seemed like it was going out on them.
No, I can't go now… Whirlwind thought as pain stung her eyes, Not like this…—Her vision still blurry, Whirlwind just barely nudged her head up and saw the storm clouds that brewed above her and Warnado—If I could only get control of those storm clouds—They have the power of the Air Source, I can feel it. And If we had that power, then I could surely level the playing field…
As her train of thought cut off, a small storm cloud floated down from the group and towards Whirlwind, then gently nuzzled her and slightly shocked her chin. Whirlwind's eyes widened and a weak smile crept across her face as she closed her eyes and focused as hard as she could on the storm clouds.
Come on, little storm clouds, I need your help for a little bit, Whirlwind thought as electricity crackled from her horn.
As she felt energy rush into her head and make her dizzy, a large bolt of lightning shot from her horn and struck the clouds which caused them all to come flying down to her side! Whirlwind smiled and panted as the clouds enveloped her and Warnado before she shot them with brightly-colored rainbows!
In response, clouds shifted in color from a dark gray to a pure white with a rainbow glow that grew brighter and brighter by the moment, a bright glow that served to confuse the surrounding minions.
Whirlwind smiled from within the safe barrier of clouds as she felt her strength come back to her! Her aching muscles seared with a power like never before and her heart beat fast from her energy being restored to her by the second. The clouds then faded away to reveal them as they stood up with a kind of energy that mirrored that of their enemies.
"Healing magic. Always comes in handy." Whirlwind flapped her wings proudly as she and Warnado looked at each other.
"Ready to wipe the floor with these guys?" Warnado asked, a cocky sneer on her face.
"You bet." Whirlwind furrowed her brow and smiled, then flared out her wings and barreled towards the Evil Minions as her body radiated with the energy of the Eternal Air Source.
The evil minions, meanwhile, all started panicking at once! The Evil Storm Titan and Evil Griffon quickly split off in opposite directions, which left only the Evil Unicorn Dragon to stand and watch helplessly as Whirlwind shot a bright rainbow straight into its chest! The Evil Unicorn Dragon went flying into the walls and slid down painfully with a helpless moan.
Whirlwind ran back up to where the Evil Unicorn Dragon was sitting and smirked as she lowered her head so that her horn was pointing straight at the Unicorn Dragon's chest.
"Watch out," Whirlwind hissed, "There's a storm rolling in!"
And with that, she shot a huge rainbow blast right at the Evil Unicorn Dragon, which cleared a clean hole in its chest and caused it to explode into thousands of bright lights! With a smug smile, Whirlwind watched as the lights shone dimly on the stone floor.
"Warnado! How're you doing?" Whirlwind shouted as she turned around.
Warnado, meanwhile, was chasing the Evil Griffon around the room and shot out powerful tornadoes with each step he took.
These tornadoes soared across the arena and gathered up bits of stone, dust and whatever else they picked up from the cold floors. With every object they collected turned into dangerous weapons within moments.
Of course, Warnado didn't notice this—he was took focused on making sure that he got that Griffon.
"You can run," Warnado shouted, "But you can't hide!"
Of course, this only made the Griffon quit running and fly away from the chaos! In a hot minute it took to the skies, its aim set for the large, gaping hole in the ceiling.
"But you can fly," Warnado moaned as he looked up and saw the Griffon in flight. He then shook his head and created a large twister underneath his shell. With a keen focus he took to the skies after the Griffon, his tornado grown taller and taller as he went higher and higher.
"It's a good thing I can, too."
And as Warnado chased after the Evil Griffon, the Evil Storm Titan was running around as well—as it was currently being chased by four tornadoes filled with rocks and dirt and all sorts of other things.
As the tornadoes drew closer and closer to the Storm Titan, it gulped and backed up… until it hit the cold stone of the arena walls and whipped around to find that it was cornered. It could only gulp as it looked at the tornadoes and let out a scream! It was tackled by all four tornadoes at once, then its screams grew muffled while it was returned to those same dark lights its fellow minions were made off.
In moments the tornadoes absorbed these lights—and something strange happened. They all grew darker and larger, before they combined with each other to become one huge tornado that now stormed in place.
Whirlwind looked over at where Warnado was chasing the Evil Griffon and flared her wings. Just as she went to fly to his aide, she saw the glowing lights next to her shoot over to the other side of the room out the corner of her eye! As she whipped her head over, she saw the lights absorb into another set of tornadoes, which then absorbed one another and transformed into another large, powerful tornado whose winds shook the world around it!
"Huh?" Whirlwind uttered before she looked up at Warnado once again, "WARNADO!"
But it was no use—he couldn't hear her over the howling winds of the tornadoes around. Instead, she felt herself slowly get pulled from the ground and her heart raced as she struggled to push past the winds. As she sharply breathed in, Whirlwind scrambled to get back on the ground before she raced past the tornadoes and towards the back end of the arena, where there wasn't a single one in sight. After she ran as fast as she could, Whirlwind took a seat down and panted
What in the Ancients' name happened there?… Whirlwind thought while the gears turned in her mind until her eyes shrank.
Oh no.
As she breathed in, Whirlwind took to the skies and chased after Warnado and the Griffon.
"Warnado! Don't kill that thing!"
Once again, he couldn't hear her—instead, Warnado focused his attention on the Griffon as he got just close enough to it to get a shot in. With a sneer on his face, Warnado retreated into his shell, spun forwards with his shell propelled by the wind from his tornado and cleanly cut the Griffon in two! As he popped out of his shell and looked back to see the Evil Griffon dissolve, his sneer turned to a content smile.
"WARNADO!" Whirlwind shouted with a furrowed brow and angry stare as she flew to meet him.
"Whirlwind!" Warnado shouted back with a content look before he saw just how angry she was, "What's got you so angry?"
"Didn't you hear me?!" Whirlwind looked Warnado dead in the face, "I told you NOT to kill that minion!"
"What? Why?" Warnado tilted his head, his jaw agape.
"Because!" Whirlwind pointed back at the island, "Your tornadoes are absorbing the Air Source energy from their remains! If they get any more—"
Before she could say anything else, the dim lights raced back towards the tornadoes that formed back at the arena!
Within moments a huge tornado smashed through what little was left of the platform and raged! It slowly moved through the island and absorbed all in its wake as it grew larger and larger by the second, like something out of an action movie.
"WHAT THE—"Warnado's tornado was sucked into the larger one before he could even finish!
Whirlwind only had seconds to process everything as she dashed away from the tornado. She flew as fast as she could, like her life depended on this flight—which in all fairness, it kinda did. As she landed on a tall stone platform far away from the disaster, she panted as her heart raced from the shock.
"What am I going to do?!" Whirlwind exclaimed as she looked at the tornado with quivering eyes, "There's no way I can take down that thing, not when it's got all that power from the Eternal Air Source in it!"
Whirlwind fell down and stared helplessly at the Eternal Source-powered tornado. Her heart sank with every second that it raged through the archipelago. This was it, it was all over now. This is where she… where everyone, were all going to die.
As Whirlwind looked over it one last time, she hung her head. They failed. She failed. It was too late now. She hated to say it or even think it, but she was doomed.
Whirlwind basked in her self-defeat for mere moments until she heard the raging winds once more and looked up to find that the tornado was quickly approaching her! In a panic, she took to the skies and sought refuge within a large, puffy cumulus cloud as she looked down at the wreckage.
If it keeps going, the whole place'll be in ruins! And not to mention it'll kill everybody still on it! Whirlwind grasped onto the cloud as her heart pounded, I've gotta stop it—no, I can't stop it, what am I thinking?! In fact, if I had actually gotten there in time—Whirlwind then shook her head—No, stop thinking like that. I've gotta focus on what to do, but what can I do?! It's not like could throw some storm clouds at it, that would probably just make it stronger! And I don't think—
Whirlwind looked to her side and saw a bright, shimmering rainbow peer out from a puffy white cloud, then basked in its colors!
My healing rainbows! Whirlwind's heart slowed down as she took in the cloud, That's right! If I could use those to purify those storm clouds back at the tower, surely I could use them to heal the tornado… But how would I get them there? Or make them strong enough to even stand a chance?
Whirlwind looked down at the puffy clouds she was laying on, squished it for a few moments and smiled. While her eyes sparkled with faint hope, Whirlwind got up from the cloud and zipped across the skies! She gathered up all the clouds she could into one group and quickly zapped them all with rainbows fresh from her horn. As the clouds glowed in all sorts of iridescent colors, she smashed them together with utmost focus.
I hope this will work, Whirlwind thought as she watched the clouds she gathered grow bigger and bigger, No, I KNOW this will work. Cause if it doesn't…
Whirlwind then looked back at the slowly-raging tornado and winced while her mind raced with thoughts of disaster like before. As she stood frozen where she was, she looked down at her paws and shook her head, then took back to the skies and examined her work.
Thanks to Whirlwind, the cloud she once sat on had grown bigger and bigger, until it was roughly about the size of the tornado itself and shone brightly in all sorts of colors, like a large glowing cloud-shaped rainbow after the storm.
"Healing rainbows, you've gotten me this far, don't fail me now." Whirlwind's voice turned commandeering and strong while she pointed a claw at the tornado, "Go attack that tornado, now!"
The cloud immediately shot out of the skies and straight towards the large, raging tornado! As soon as it made contact, it was absorbed into the tornado! However, nothing seemed to happen, aside from the tornado coming to a complete stop.
Whirlwind bit her claw as her brow furrowed. Did it work?
All was quiet for those few seconds, until the tornado turned into a swirling rainbow vortex and exploded into a flash of light!
Whirlwind immediately shielded her eyes as the light covered her and everything around for several minutes. When she was able to open them again, Whirlwind shouted with glee and soared down to the islands—because the tornado was gone! As she glided around and made sure to dodge the stones and assorted broken building parts that were falling back into place, she saw a familiar chromatic green shell that fell down at an alarmingly fast rate!
With a gasp, she dashed over and caught the shell on her back with a loud grunt! She then landed on the ground and let the shell roll off her back. As she sighed with relief, Whirlwind turned around and saw Warnado pop out of his shell! As he groaned with sickness, Warnado turned around and looked at Whirlwind with bleary eyes.
"Whirlwind…" he moaned, "…Is that you?"
"You bet it is," Whirlwind replied as she stood tall and proud with a peaceful smile on her face.
Warnado shook his head and his vision returned to normal, he looked back at Whirlwind and smiled the widest grin he could!
"You're alright! And more importantly, you stopped that huge tornado!" Warnado rushed up to face her directly before he grabbed her front paw with his and fistbumped her, "THAT WAS AWESOME! YOU'RE AWESOME!"
"Yep, it was pretty impressive." Whirlwind chuckled and looked aside, "I'm just glad I was able to pull it off!"
"Well I'm glad that's over now." Warnado sighed, "Being in that tornado made me super dizzy—and this is coming from the guy who was hatched in one!"
"Well, it's not over quite yet," Whirlwind corrected as she looked over the island, "We still have to get the Eternal Air Source, after all."
Almost as if on cue, a bright shining blue light came falling from the skies as the Eternal Air Source fell right in front of Whirlwind and Warnado!
"Well, that was convenient."
Whirlwind smiled as she claimed the Eternal Air Source in her arms and held it tight before she looked back at Warnado.
"NOW it's over." Whirlwind flew a foot over Warnado's height, "Now let's get the Source back to the island. Well, once we find Flynn—"
"Whirlybird!" Shouted a booming voice from behind them.
Whirlwind and Warnado turned around and smiled—because there, hovering in his balloon behind them was none other than Flynn!
"Did you guys see that huge tornado?" Flynn asked with eyes as wide as dinner plates, "I almost thought you weren't going to make it! Of course, I, being Skylands' greatest pilot, didn't worry at all about making it out of the storm and—"—Flynn then looked at the Eternal Air Source in Whirlwind's arms and did a double take—"Wait, is that the Eternal Air Source?"
"You bet it is!" Whirlwind stroked the Source with one paw, "And we went through a lot of trouble to get it, too."
"No kidding," chimed in Warnado with a sagely node.
"Hmmm… It's a lot smaller than I thought it'd be." Flynn looked over the Source for a few moments and cocked an eyebrow.
"Well, that doesn't really matter." Whirlwind flew up to the balloon and gently dropped into its basket, "All that matters now is that we get it back to the island."
Flynn pulled a lever and watched as the front panel of the balloon's basket fell down and turned into a ramp.
"Hop in then! Being the great pilot that I am, I can guarantee a completely smooth ride back!"
"Trust me, that's definitely what we need," Warnado said as he walked up the ramp and took a seat in the basket.
Flynn pushed the level back up and the ramp folded back up. Then, after he pushed some buttons and pulled some more levels, the balloon went flying off…
§
As the balloon seated itself back in the heart of the island, the basket opened once more and she, Warnado and Flynn all exited. When they all left the basket, they found that all eyes were on them as everyone who was bustling about in the heart stopped in their tracks and looked at them.
"So," said a familiar voice as Spyro moved past the crowd and towards Whirlwind, "How'd it go? Were you able to get it?"
"See for yourself," Whirlwind said as she extended her right wing and the Eternal Air Source hovered out from behind her back!
Everybody who was crowded around them chattered and whispered in excited voices.
"You did it!" Spyro exclaimed as he smiled widely while his eyes glistened with joy. He then looked over the Eternal Air Source and trembled from basking in its raw power, before he pushed himself to grab it and hold it tight.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to take this to Hugo." Spyro took to the skies and flying off.
As he looked back, he saw the others crowd around Whirlwind and Warnado as they regaled their perilous journey to get the Source back before he heaved a sigh.
"Wow, I almost can't believe it— I'm holding the Eternal Air Source in my own two paws!" Spyro said as he held the Air Source tighter.
He then flew towards a large, stone building and quickly darted through its open door. As he flew further, his smile turned to a frown.
"But, if the Core hadn't been destroyed in the first place, then I—no, WE wouldn't even have to worry about this in the first place!" Spyro's eyes began to sting with tears, "If I was actually able to stop all this, then the Core would still be here, Eon would still be alive—"
Spyro shook his head and kept flying until he saw an open door with a bright light and flew inside.
The room he entered itself was large and circular, with tons of wooden bookshelves stuffed with books and stray papers scattered about, and a messy floor covered in stray flyleaves and torn pages. In the center of all this mess was Hugo, who was standing on a wooden stool and reading the book Spyro gave him, which was placed on a tall wooden book stand. Chihiro, who had the rest of the books sat next to her in a stack, sat next to Hugo and watched him with focused eyes while she knocked her knees intently.
"Hugo—"
Before Spyro could say anything, Hugo jumped up from the stand and let out a cry of glee.
"EUREKA!" Hugo exclaimed as he fell off and hit his head on the floor. Hugo's glasses fell off his face and skid off to Chihiro's side, while Hugo himself laid face-first on the floor.
"…Ouch." Hugo staggered back up and peered around the room, his eyes squinted and likely unable to see anything other than a big blur.
Chihiro then picked up Hugo's glasses, walked over to Hugo and placed them back on his face.
"Thank you, Chihiro." Hugo gently dusted off his jacket as his vision refocused and he looked over to Chihiro.
"No problem!" Chihiro chirped as she looked over and saw Spyro standing in the doorway. Her eyes quickly lit up and a wide smile stretched across her face as she happily waved at him.
"Hi Spyro!" Chihiro noted the Eternal Air Source cradled in his front legs and her eyes grew even wider, "Is that?…"
"Yep, it's the Eternal Air Source in all its glory," Spyro affirmed as he held out the Source and watched it float towards the middle of the room.
Hugo's eyes sparkled as he watched the Source float in midair, before he ran towards Spyro and wrapping him in a tight hug.
"Spyro, this is amazing!" Hugo exclaimed as he practically crushed Spyro with his hug.
"Hugo, personal, space!" Spyro coughed while he caught breaths between each word.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Hugo quickly drew back from Spyro.
"It's alright." Spyro shook his head as he spoke, "Besides, if you wanna thank anyone, thank Whirlwind and Warnado. They're the ones who got the Source back."
"Well, regardless of who got it back." Hugo's eyes sparkles, "It's great that we got it back, especially because of latest discovery!"
"Really?"
"Yes!" Hugo then cleared his throat and walked back to the book stand, "You see, Spyro, I was looking through the book you gave me—"
"And?"
"You were right to believe it had to do with the Core!" Hugo took the book off the stand and showed its contents to Spyro, "This book contains the original blueprints and instructions to create the Core of Light, as written by the Ancient Elementals themselves!"
"REALLY?" Spyro's mouth spread into a wide smile, "That's amazing, Hugo! If we have that—"
"The we can use it to recreate the Core of Light!" Hugo placed the book down, clapped his hands and watched as the Eternal Air Source floated down into his open palms.
"Let's take the Source back outside," Hugo said as he then looked back towards Chihiro, "And Chihiro, you get the book and follow us out."
"Okie dokie, Huges!" Chihiro chirped as grabbed the book and trailed behind Hugo and Spyro…
§
Back in the heart of the island, everybody had gathered around Hugo, Spyro and Chihiro. The trio themselves stood in the heart of the island, the Eternal Air Source hovering next to them.
"Let's hope this works," Hugo quivered as he took the book from Chihiro's hands, opened it to a certain page and breathed in.
He then chanted in some kind of ancient Skylandian language, one that most around could only understand as complete gibberish. As he chanted, the book glowed with a light that grew brighter as Hugo spoke, until it was completely engulfed in light!
Then, the book shot a bolt of energy at the Eternal Air Source and caused it to shoot into the center of the island! As it hit the ground under it, the Source phased underground and disappeared! But nothing else seemed to happen…
"Did it work?" Hugo gulped and balled his hands into trembling fists.
Then, out of seemingly nowhere, a yellow, circular stone platform formed over the place where the Eternal Air Source dove into! Two large, round stone objects with spouts for faces floated down on broken chunks of island before they landed on the ground, stepped off the chunks and flanked both side of the platform.
Everybody gasped and whispered excitedly as they saw this unfold before their very eyes!
"It worked! It worked!" Hugo turned around and tightly hugged Chihiro out of excitement.
Chihiro, meanwhile, joined in Hugo's shouts of excitement, before she picked him up and spun him around!
"The Eternal Air Source has been returned—nicely done," boomed a voice out of nowhere as everybody around stopped talking and looked everywhere.
"Wait, I think I know that voice!" Spyro exclaimed as he swerved around.
"You should, Spyro," boomed the voice once more as a pastel and translucent ball of shimmering light floated up from the stone platform and shone as brightly as it could against the darkening night sky, "I am your portal master, after all."
Spyro's eyes sparkled as he stood open-mouthed and in awe for a few moments,
"Master Eon!"
Spyro and the rest of the crowd all crowded on the platform around the ghost of what used to be Master Eon. Everyone all shouted and spoke at once, with others rendered speechless and unable to comprehend what was going on. With every passing moment, the chatter grew louder and louder while everybody bombarded Master Eon with questions.
"What happened to you?"
"How'd you come back here?"
"Are you really dead?"
Chihiro, meanwhile, started to feel tired and overwhelmed. The crowds were all pushing against her, their shouts were too loud and everything was just so, so, much. As she whimpered weakly, Chihiro sneaked her way out of the crowd only for the ghost of Master Eon to fly in front of her. With a soft gasp, Chihiro stared at Eon's ghost for mere moments. In a fit of curiosity she reached out to try and touch him only to pull back her hand.
"Are you, are you… Are you really Master Eon?" Chihiro sputtered, eyes wide in his presence.
Eon bobbed up and down, almost as if he was nodding.
Silence resonated for a few moments, before Chihiro forced herself to bow down her head in respect.
"I'm honored." She then stood up and clasped her hands together, before she watched as Eon floated closer towards her and seemingly examined her person.
"And who might you be, young one?" Master Eon asked.
Chihiro flushed red and kicked the grass with her feet. She then bowed yet again while her legs trembled from some kind of amazement.
"My name is Chihiro Hatsuki. I, I, I'm—"
"She's a portal master!" Hugo exclaimed as he barged into the conversation and pushed past Chihiro, "She brought the Skylanders back when Kaos banished them, and she reopened your portal network!"
"Quite impressive, young one." Master Eon chuckled.
"Oh, it was nothing." Chihiro chuckled and scratched the back of her head.
"Master Eon, how did you get back here?" Hugo asked as he looked Eon directly in the face (Or at least, what was probably Eon's face), "We all thought you were gone for good!"
"I thought I was too, Hugo," Master Eon said as his voice turned grim and he seemingly hesitated before he spoke again, "However, when you brought the Eternal Air Source back, my spirit was pulled from the depths of the afterlife by a strong magical force! I'm not entirely sure how I came back, but it seems that even in death, my work is not finished."
Master Eon then returned back to Chihiro and watched as she chuckled and avoided his line of sight.
"You have great magical potential, young Chihiro, but you still have a long way to go before you can truly be considered a portal master. For the time being, Hugo and I will mentor you. Right, Hugo?" Master Eon turned back to look at a shocked Hugo, who quickly nodded.
Chihiro nodded slightly and gulped. Wait, mentor her? Did he really just say that?
And with that said, Master Eon floated away from Hugo and Chihiro and went to address the Skylanders.
"Now, we had better rest for now. That was a very big day we had."
The Skylanders all murmured in agreement and everybody parted their separate ways. As they all began parting, Master Eon floated over towards Spyro until they were standing side-by-side.
"Spyro, it seems that I have much to catch up on," Master Eon said, "Would you please inform me of what happened while I was gone?"
"O-of course, Master!" Spyro said as he nodded firmly.
Master Eon chuckled as he and Spyro walked over to the portal network building…
§
"And that should be everything up to now," Spyro said as he and Master Eon's ghost walked through the barren halls of the building.
"Oh, my," was all Master Eon said, a cold silence echoed through the hallways.
The only sound was the sound of Spyro's pawsteps, which seemed hollow and cold like everything around them.
"If Kaos was able to conquer so much of Skylands while I was gone—"
"Don't blame yourself, Master," Spyro retorted, his tone solemn and laced with slight bitterness, "Apparently time passes a lot faster back on Earth. If I—I mean, we hadn't been gone for so long, then maybe he wouldn't have taken over as much as he could. Heck, if I—I mean, WE, had WE actually been able to stop him, then maybe none of this would have never happened! In fact, if I had actually just, just…"
Spyro hung his head slightly and let his wings droop to his feet.
"Spyro? You seem to be acting strangely," Master Eon asked, concern in his voice as he floated close to Spyro, "Is something troubling you?"
"It's nothing, Master." Spyro heaved a sigh.
Master Eon seemingly frowned as he looked over Spyro, before he cleared his throat and speaking once more.
"If you say so, Spyro," Master Eon said, "So, about this book you found in my citadel's hidden library—"
"Actually, I didn't find it—It was Chihiro."
"You mean, the young portal master?"
"I'll tell you the whole story on the way to the barracks."