Skylanders Academy: New Horizon

by andresponceb2002

Chapter 7) The Journey to Winter Keep

The sky was a clear blue. The sun was shining brightly and the clouds on the sky were thin. It was a beautiful day. A day one would usually spend outdoors, doing stuff with friends, with family and have a little fun. But even as the delightful view of the morning sky peeked through Stealth Elf's window, the Skylander was not in the slightest mood to "have fun".

The green elf was laying on her bed, looking emptily at the ceiling. She then shifted her head over to the small desk in the other side of her room. On that desk, were almost all of Stealth Elf's things. The golden bracelet she had given to Kaossandra, pictures of her and her friends, among other things. On any other day, looking at that desk would have made her feel better, because it was filed with such good memories. But recently, she had placed a new item on that table, and it made it so that Stealth Elf felt sadness more so than joy.

Near the top of the wooden desk, stood a purple lamp. It's strange shape covered with darker purple markings, glimmered in the light that reached it through the far away window.

The lamp, once belonged to Ninjini, the ninja-genie-giant and a close acquaintance and more than a friend to Stealth Elf. But recently, after the Skylanders had located The Knights of Solitude secret lair and asked for her help in stopping them, the legendary giant was faced with a foe too powerful even for her.

The true mastermind behind the Knights of Solitude and the one responsible for all of the Skylanders recent troubles. Omen, the world's most dangerous garbage man.

The awful creature was more powerful than what Stealth Elf had imagined. She remembered that Master Eon and Kaossandra warned her and the Skylanders that this guy was even more powerful than Strykore, who had been able to beat her and her friends, almost single handedly before. But this guy was able to do the same thing when there were even more Skylanders around, and wants more, managed to keep even Ninjini at bay at the same time.

When the might of the enemy was too much to handle, Ninjini had given Stealth Elf her genie bottle and told her to wish herself and her friends away before it was too late. But while Stealth Elf and her friends were able to escape, Ninjini was left to fight that monster by herself.

Stealth Elf felt a little lump form in her throat and like her eyes were getting watery. "Why did you do that?" She asked in a brittle voice. "Why did you fight him alone?"

"You're the greatest ninja now, dear." Ninjini's voice sounded in Stealth Elf's head. "Go make your own legend."

Stealth Elf closed her eyes and felt like she was about to sob, but then someone knocked on her door and called for her.

"Elfy? You in there?" It was Eruptor, he spoke softly as he waited for an answer.

"Yes, Eruptor." Stealth Elf replied. "What's the matter?" She asked, trying to steady her voice as much as she could.

"Kaossandra wanted to talk to us." Eruptor answered. "She said it's important and that it's about the Knights of Solitude." He continued, making Stealth Elf's ears shoot up. "B-But if you don't feel alright, she told me you could sit this one out. You know, because of… what happened."

Stealth Elf hesitated. She didn't know how to feel. She was hurting because of Ninjini but she couldn't let that stop her from fulfilling her duties as a Skylander. So, following the advice she had given Spyro almost a year ago, she spoke up.

"I'm alright Eruptor." She said simply. "I'll be right there."

"You sure?" Eruptor asked concerned. "You really don't have to come if you don't want to."

"Don't worry, I can't just stop being a Skylander, right?" She said dodgingly.

"Well alright." Eruptor said, a hint of worry in his voice. "I'll see you at the common room then." The magma elemental finished as the sounds of his footsteps began to drift away as he went on his way to the Academy.

Stealth Efl stood up from her bed. She walked slowly over to her wooden desk, where she picked up her daggers. She looked at them in her hands, seeing her own reflection in the golden handles. She then looked up at the purple lamp, at Ninjini's lamp.

"I miss you." She said simply at the purple shape. "I really miss you, but… I know you wouldn't have wanted me to do this. To just wallow in a pity party while you were gone." She looked back at her daggers, her reflection now showing a more determined expression. "So, I'm going to do what you asked me." She said as she looked at the lamp once again, a small smile stretching across her face.

"I'm going to make my own legend."

The Skylanders were all standing in front of Eon's old desk. Even Jet-Vac, who had been hurt pretty bad by Omen during their fight against the twisted villian. Kaossandra was sitting behind it with a grave expression on her face. She had summoned the Skylanders over for a new mission briefing, but she hadn't said a word yet.

The sorcerer's then shifted her gaze over to Stealth Elf. She looked at her with softness and spoke with a matching tone. "Elfy, are you sure you're up for this?"

"Definitely." Stealth Elf said confidently. "She wouldn't have wanted me to stay down like this. And besides, I can't let Omen go around hurting anyone else." She finished.

Kaossandra gave her a look of concern, but didn't press further. Apparently she had some serious news. "Do you all know about the king of Dragon's Peak, Ramses?"

"Yeah, I've heard of him." Cynder spoke. "My dad doesn't like him much."

"Well he is having a celebration in Dragon's Peak." Kaossandra picked up. "It is supposed to be a really important event, so nothing can be out of place or go wrong. That's why he has moved a very dangerous prisoner from the Peak to a far away place, called Winter Keep."

"Okay, so when do the Knights of Solitude and hence we, come in?" Spyro asked curiously.

Kaossandra then picked up a rusty holographic projector, that looked like a golden cinema projector aiming up, and placed it on the desk. "This, is a transmission that came through today." The sorceress stated as she clicked a button in the projector and a blue screen, rendered above it. "It came from the frost elves at Winter Keep and by the sound of it, this is a pretty serious situation."

Then, the Skylanders looked at the holographic screen, on which a blue skinned she-elf with lively green eyes and clad clad in grey iron and leather armor, stood with a strained expression on her face. Then, the transmission revved up and the message came through.

"This is Captain Avril of the Frost Elf Guard! We are under attack!" The elf spoke in a thick scottish accent and the sound of a huge battle which was blasting off-screen made it a little difficult to understand her. "As hard as it is to admit, we need backup! We have a really important prisoner being translated here and a bunch of Cyclops are raiding the whole place! If the prisoner get loose there's going to be trouble for a lot of people!" A loud blast then sounded, making Avril duck out off view from the screen. After a few seconds she stood up and looked at the screen again. "These cyclops are never this violent, someone else must be behind this." She said with a concerned tone. "We could really use a hand or two around here, so please, help a friend out will ya?" The elf said with a forced smile as the transmission came to and end.

The Skylanders were left in silence as the transmision ended and Kaossandra got the projector off the desk before speaking again. "The prisoner that everyone is so worried about is none other than the dragon king's little brother. A horrible dragon called Vathek. He is an Undead dragon and extremely evil. As such it is more than likely that he is a target for Omen and the Knights of Solitude. If what Avril here, says is true, its possible that Cyrus and his lackeys are involved in this mess somehow." Kaossandra stated. "Even if they are not behind this, it still means a lot of people are in danger, so you must go to Winter Keep and stop this can of worms from springing open."

"Alright then, when do we leave?" Eruptor asked boldly. "Thanks to Sprocket's Relay Badges we can get there in no time!" The magma Skylander said confidently.

"The Relay Badges work using coordinates." Kaossandra explained. "We would need to know the coordinates of Winter Keep to send you there using the portals. Sadly, the location of Winter Keep is only known to very few people." Kaossandra explained. "And the few people who we have available don't know how to use coordinates." She finished taking her hands to her temples.

Suddenly, a loud fog horn blasted across the air. The Skylanders then looked up to see a familiar sight. A large green ship floated above the Academy and after a familiar voice came from the deck, the Skylanders couldn't help but smile.

"Hey! Your Academy didn't hit my ship this time! Did you move it or something?" Flynn, the Captain of the Dread-Yacht shouted down merily at his friends, waving energetically.

"Oh, brother." Jet-Vac sighed as he waved back slowly. "This is going to be quite the wild ride isn't it?"

The Skylanders were on their way to the now parked Dread-Yacht. Flynn was walking down the stairs on his captain's cabin to meet his companions on the boat's deck.

"Heya folks! Long time no se!" Flynn said happily as he stretched his arms out to bear-hug the Skylander unlucky enough to get within arm's length.

"Hey Flynn!" Spyro greeted the mabu, flying overhead his friends as to avoid Flynn's crushing embrace. "Yeah, it's been too long. Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Buddy, I'm the greatest pilot in the Skylands." Flynn responded in an obvious voice. "If I wasn't ready for this I'd sell the Dread-Yacht!" He said. However he turned around and faced his ship's cabin speaking in a quiet voice. "I'm kidding baby." He whispered, finger gunning his own ship and acting as if no one was watching.

"Uhhh, Flynn?" Stealth Elf began awkwardly. "It is true you know how to get to Winter Keep, right?"

"Of course!" Flynn exclaimed, turning around suddenly. "I went there a long time ago. They have beautiful snow globes on sale there. Best souvenir I've ever bought!"

"Riiiight." Spyro said slowly. "Well, we are kind of in a hurry, so if we could get going as soon as possible, that would be great."

"Sure thing mi amigo." Flynn said smoothly as he began to make his way to his cabin. "Everyone, please step away from the sides of the ship and hold onto something." He said as he reached his steering wheel. "We are going full steam ahead to Winter Keep!"

Then, with a loud burst, the Dread-Yacht´s engine started up and yared the ship

forward, making the Skylanders stumble and fall on the metal plating of the deck. Spyro however, had stayed airborne and managed to avoid the little accident.

"Ah, same old Flynn." The purple dragon said with a small sigh. "Alright captain! Let's get going!" Spyro said as he landed on the deck, beside his friends as they got up slowly.

"Aye, aye!" Flynn cheered as he stepped on the gas and got the green ship moving, departing from the Academy. "To Winter Keep!"

The Dread-Yacht was a surprisingly fast ship. The Skylanders had heard time and time again from Flynn how the Dread-Yacht was the only ship fitting of the "greatest pilot in the Skylands", but they had already crossed a huge distance and the clouds that passed by flew behind them in seconds. However the sky was getting darker. Nighttime was slowly approaching as the sun began to edge to the horizon.

Jet-Vac was looking around the ship, watching over his friends as they moved across the deck. Jet-Vac, who was standing near the captain's cabin could hear as Flynn hummed to himself, and the senior Skylander figured the mabu captain was trying to come up with even more words that rhymed with "Flynn" for his little song.

Then, Jet-Vac noticed that Stealth Elf was sitting down far away from the rest of the gang, looking away at the horizon. While Spyro was flying around Eruptor, probably trying to get the magma elemental to blow up or something and while Pop Fizz and Cynder were watching their friend's little show with amusement, Stealth Elf looked a little left out.

Jet-Vac then walked over to Stealth Elf from across the deck. Once he got near the elf, he sat down beside her and tried to talk warmly. "Hey there, is something wrong?" Jet-Vac instantly regretted asking that and felt a little foolish for doing it. He knew something was wrong. She had lost her idol to a maniacal villian after all.

"No, Jet-Vac." Stealth Elf replied quickly, not looking at Jet-Vac, keeping her eyes in the horizon. "I'm fine, but thanks for asking."

"Are you sure?" Jet-Vac asked concerned. "You were very close with Ninjini. I can only imagine what it must have felt like to loose someone like that." The senior Skylander said compassionately.

"Look JV." Stealth Elf began, turning around and facing Jet-Vac. "I am sad about Ninjini. I miss her, and the way that she-" Stealth Elf cut herself off. "Look, me feeling bad about myself is "a" not going to help anyone and "b" not what Ninjini would have wanted." She said steadily, surprising Jet-Vac. "She told me… She told me I am the greatest ninja now Jet-Vac, I just can't let her down like this."

Jet-Vac was speechless. He had no idea this is how Stealth Elf felt, that she could be this determined about something. He could only bring himself to say: "Wow." Nothing more, and nothing less came out of the senior Skylander's mouth.

Stealth Elf giggled shortly. Apparently she had stunned her feathery friend.

Then, Spyro's voice sounded. "Man, it's getting dark around here." The dragon said, noticing the setting sun and darkening sky. "Flynn?" Spyro called. "How much longer to Winter Keep?"

"Oh, boy." Flynn began. "Winter Keep is really far away pal, like, really far away. Even my baby going full speed will take almost a day to get there."

"A day!" Spyro exclaimed. "Flynn those people need our help now!"

"I know buddy but-" Flynn paused, gesturing at his ship. "Even the greatest ship in the Skylands, in the hands of the greatest pilot in the Skylands has its limits. Don't worry though." He said. "Those Frost Elves are pretty tough. I bet they could hold off these cyclopses any other day. And besides, we are definitely getting closer." The mabu captain said with a smile as he looked forth.

Spyro then felt a wave of cold flush over him. His shivered and hugged himself as he got used to the sudden cold. The purple dragon looked around to see some small islands covered with a thin coat of white snow. He also that his friends had done the exact same thing as him. Apparently the cold had hit them pretty hard too.

"What's the matter?" Eruptor asked confused. "Did you guys find a cold spot on the ship or something?" The magma Skylanders asked, not seemingly affected by the temperature drop.

"C-Can't you f-f-feel the cold dude?" Pop Fizz asked, his teeth chattering as he hugged himself. Apparently the little blue Skylander was having a really tough time with the chilly air.

"What cold?" Eruptor asked honestly. "I feel fine."

"Of course you do." Jet-Vac said, his knees shaking slightly. "You're made of hot magma. It's like you're your own heater."

"Oh cool!" Eruptor said gleefully as he looked at himself. "My own heater."

"Everyone." Flynn called, making the Skylanders look over to him. "The sun is getting pretty low, and we are still a fair distance away from Winter Keep." He spoke in his deep voice intonating certain words. "So! since none of you guys have the raw, olympian leves of willpower to stay awake through the night and don't have a sweet, winter jacket like mine-" The mabu let go of the steering wheel to gesture at his brown jacket. "I think it's best if you all get tuckered in."

Now that Flynn mentioned it, Spyro was feeling a little drowsy. Perhaps the cold had zapped some of his energy.

"There's plenty of room below deck for you guys." Flynn continued. "I think there's three guest rooms with two beds each, so-" The captain said, shrugging and taking the steering wheel once again. "I guess you guys better start talking arrangements."

Spyro was standing in the hall of the Dread-Yacht's lower deck. He was standing beside his fellow Skylanders as they were all ready to discuss arrangements. The Skylanders had all looked at each of the three rooms that were in the lower deck and now, they were all standing around a metal bucket which Jet-Vac had found in one of the rooms.

"Guys do we really need to do this?" Spyro asked as he glanced around his friends. "I mean, I really don't mind any of you, so can't we all-"

"Shhh!" Jet-Vac silenced Spyro quickly, surprising the young dragon. "I have already made arrangements as to deciding who will share rooms with who." Jet-Vac stated as he drew his vac gun. "These-" He ejected a stack of small paper sheets. "Are all the possible combinations of room-sharing partners. Written on each paper is a specific combination of three pairs of names. Each pair is circled out and show clearly." Jet-Vac continued. "I will now shuffle these papers and afterwards draw one of them. The set of pairings in the paper will be the pairing we will take when sharing rooms, understood?"

"This seems unnecessarily complicated JV." Spyro said. "And it looks like you put a little too much effort into it." He said, noticing the width of the stack of paper sheets Jet-Vac had in his hands.

"Just humor him." Eruptor whispered to Spyro. "You know how he likes to have everything neatly arranged."

"Yeah alright." Spyro conceded. "Let's just get it over with."

"Alright." Jet-Vac began shuffling the sheets of paper elegantly, like a playing deck. After a few seconds of shuffling, the senior Skylander drew a sheet from the top of his little deck, the Skylanders leaned forward as Jet-Vac began to read outloud.

"The pairings are as follows." Jet-Vac began. "Stealth Elf and Eruptor." He paused as the two Skylanders walked over to each other.

"We call dibs on this room!" Eruptor shouted as he pointed to the room on the end of the hallway.

"That seems fair." Jet-Vac said simply. "Off you go, you two." He ordered as he gestured to the two Skylanders' room.

The two did as Jet-Vac said, crossing the hallway and entering their room, before Jet-Vac continued calling out names. "The next pair is: Me and Pop Fizz." He said.

"Yay! Friend!" Pop Fizz said as he hugged Jet-Vac's leg.

"Well I guess you know that means you two are the only ones who are left." Jet-Vac told Spyro and Cynder. "And well, I've taken a liking to this room-" He pointed to the room in the middle of the hallway. "It has really nice carpeting." He said simply. "Alright, see you later chaps." He then walked slowly to his room while Pop Fizz still was clinging to his leg.

After Jet-Vac closed the door of his room behind him, Spyro was left alone with Cynder in the hallway, with only one room left to share. Spyro looked over to Cynder, who was looking away, fidgeting with her paws.

"I guess this is our room." Spyro said nervously pointing at the door closest to the stairway up to the main deck. He felt like his face was getting a little hot.

"Y-Yeah, that's the one." Cynder said, still looking away from Spyro.

Spyro then walked over to the door and awung it open. The room was small but cozy. There was a single round window and a wooden table on the end of the room as well as a cupboard that seemed to be very well crafted. There were also indeed two beds. They each had a pillow and white covers. However, they seemed to be a little large.

A strange thought crossed Spyro's mind. "I think they are big enough for two people. If they got really cl-" Spyro then shook his head wildly, interrupting his own thoughts. Okay, now his face felt really hot. He had no idea why he was acting this way and Cynder seemed to notice. She seemed a little concerned.

"Dibs on the right one!" Spyro said a little loudly, trying to get some heat off him as he started to walk over to his bed. He noticed that the room was a little cold. He shivered slightly as he moved to his bed. Once laying down he saw that the light switch to the room was located on the wall beside his bed.

Cynder then slowly walked over to her bed and layed down, curling her tail in front of her resting her head on it. She also covered herself with her wings, as if trying not to look over to her friend. "Good night!" She said giggling nervously.

"G-Good night." Spyro replied as he used his tail to flick the light switch. Afterwards, the room was covered in darkness, lit only by the moonlight coming from the window on the far wall of the room.

Then Spyro rested his head on his bed's pillow and closed his eyes. Spyro felt cold. The room was really chilly and Spyro could feel himself shiver. He waited and waited. He tried counting sheep and emptying his mind, trying desperately to cross the wall of sleep, but failed. Spyro then curled up beneath his bed's covers. The white blanket was thin, and barely did anything to help Spyro heat up. The purple dragon felt like it had been whole minutes of him shuffling in his bed, trying to keep himself warm, while also trying to be quiet enough as to not disturb Cynder, who had remained very silent since Spyro turned the lights off. "Maybe this way I'll tire myself to sleep" Spyro thought to himself sarcastically as he moved his tail under the thin covers.

"Spyro?" Cynder's voice spoke. It was quiet and soft, like she wasn't sure if Spyro was awake.

"Yeah?" Spyro answered, almost in a whisper. He couldn't tell where Cynder was since his eyes were still closed.

"It's really cold in here." Cynder's voice said. "These covers really aren't doing anything, so." She paused, as if she was running what she was going to say through her mind. "Do you- Could I-" She stammered, her voice shaky before she managed to get her sentence out. "Do you think I could sleep with you?"

Spyro's eyes opened suddenly and his heart skipped a beat when he heard those words. He didn't know how to react to that. "I… I guess? If you want to." He said, not sure of what to do.

Then, Spyro heard something like blankets shifting, followed by a small thud. Then, a couple of steps, accented by small creaks in the floor, began to sound, closer and closer to Spyro. The purple dragon then edged his body over to the wall his bed was against, trying to make as much room for Cynder as he could. After a few seconds, Spyro felt as added weight was being put on his bed's mattress, he then felt as the tip of one of Cynder's wings brushed against his back, before the dragoness let her body plop down on the mattress beside Spyro.

"Are okay with this?" Cynder asked nervously. "It definitely feels better but it's still pretty cold." She said, shifting slightly beside Spyro, edging just a little bit closer to him.

Spyro then lifted his head and looked over to Cynder. The dragoness was laying down, belly down on her little side of the bed shaking, slightly but visibly. Apparently, she really was cold. Spyro felt like he wanted to do something, anything to help, he didn't know why but almost by second nature, he stretched one of his wings above her and covered her with it, presing it softly against her body.

She tensed up slightly when Spyro did this, which made him worry and lift his wing slightly. But then, she loosened up again, and to Spyro's surprise let out a small relieved sigh, cueing him to continue.

"That's much better that these sheets." Cynder said mellowly as she curled up beneath Spyro's wing.

But Spyro felt like Cynder was a little far away for him to reach. So, he stretched out his arm and placed his paw on Cynder's side. She gasped when she felt Spyro's paw on her scales, but then, Spyro began to pull, gently but steadily, drawing Cynder closer to him.

When he was finished, Spyro could fell Cynder's scales' press against his. They felt cold at first, but they slowly began to warm up. He was holding her really close, really tight, still covering her with his wing.

"Spyro?" Cynder began, a sleepy tone in her voice.

"Yeah?" Spyro replied drowsily.

"Thank you." Cynder said softly, nuzzling Spyro's heck with her sout before resting her head in the crook of his neck. Afterwards, she stood still, deeply asleep.

Warmth then started spreading through Spyro's body, slowly form where his body pressed against Cynder's. He felt himself smile, even as he closed his eyes once again. The warm, tender feeling of holding his friend so close to him, overwhelmed him and finally, he drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Spyro was in full, absolute darkness. He felt paralyzed, unable to move. Under normal circumstances, Spyro would have felt frightened or distressed, but it wasn't the case. Despite not being able to see or move, he felt safe. A comforting warmth covered his body, putting him at ease.

Then a voice, male and energetic sounded through the darkness. "Oh that's a good one. I really like that one!" The voice said. "You're so good at picking names."

"What a nice thing for you to say." A second voice sounded. This one was female, silvery and pleasant. "I just hope you're just as good at picking them because-" The voice paused. "You get to name the second one."

The first voice gasped and then spoke excitedly. "Oh, wow. I-I just-" Excitement was making the voice stamer causing the second voice to giggle. "Okay, okay." The first voice steadied itself. "I've been workshoping this one. You tell me if it's any good. Don't want him getting picked on or anything."

"Of course." The second voice said warmly.

"Alright, how do you feel about-"

Spyro's eyes opened slowly. He felt lightheaded and drowsy.

"Again with those voices?" Spyro thought to himself, remembering vage details from his dream. "Why do I keep hearing them? Who are they?" Spyro wondered. His mind was a little sluggish, not quite awake yet.

Then, Spyro felt something bump into side, making his focus shift. He turned his head slowly to where the bump had come from. Once he did, he couldn't help but smile, and move on from what he was thinking about.

Cynder was laying beside him, still peacefully asleep beneath Spyro's wing. She had squirmed slightly to her side, which made her bump into Spyro. The violet dragoness was breathing lightly as her head rested over her forelegs.

"I can't disturb that." Spyro said to himself. "I'll just give her five more minutes." He concluded, as he began to lower his head and slowly close his eyes again.

Suddenly a loud, almost deafening fog horn blasted through the air, yarring Spyro awake and making give a surprised yelp and making him stand up suddenly.

"Woah, what was that!" Cynder said, now standing up and fully awake.

Spyro couldn't help but feel a little angry that Cynder was woken up so rudely. But he kept it to himself.

The answer to Cynder's question came through an intercom. "Hello Sky Dudes, this is your awesome captain speaking." Flynn's voice announced merily. "We are now arriving at Winter Keep! And I gotta be honest, It's not as pretty as I remember."

After that, Spyro felt as the whole Dread-Yacht shook, knocking him into the wall and making Cynder stumble off the narrow bed.

"We've got some company everyone." Flynn stated. "So either hold on to something or get to the main deck, cuz things are about to get hairy." At that, the ship turned sharply to the side.

Spyro then rushed over to the room's door and swung it open. Once in the hallway he saw as his friends were also leaving their rooms, rushing to the main deck to see what the ruckus was.

"What do you think that was about?" Eruptor asked out loud as he made his way to the stairway up, his fellow Skylanders infront of him.

As the six heroes reached the top deck, they came to a sudden stop. The cold air was strangely enough not as bad as before, despite the Dread-Yacht being in the middle of a huge archipelago of snow-covered islands. The islands were a blueish grey and some of them seemed small frozen lakes. Farther in the distance, stood an impressive town. The houses were made of a curious pearl-looking material and copper, and ornamented with gold patterns and the tusks of great beasts.

Suddenly, the Skylanders were tumbling to their sides, for the ship had been struck again by a great force. They turned their heads over to where they had felt the impact.

"I guess that's company?" Pop Fizz guessed, pointing in front of him.

On an island to the left of the Dread-Yacht was a crowd of Cyclops. They were all carrying weapons, like pickaxes, maces and spears, making them look like a sort of war party. They all looked rather different, some of them wearing fur jackets, others blue and white wizard robes and a few were clad in very spiky armor. There were tall and short and different color members in the crowd, but one feature that all of them shared was a huge, round bloodshot eye that had a red slit instead of a black pupil that took almost all of the creatures face. Two pointed fangs poked out of the cyclops jaws which were so close to their giant eyeballs they looked like lower eyelids.

"I think that's a solid guess, Pop." Spyro said as he took flight, getting ready for an intense battle.

And then, almost as if to confirm the Skylanders' suspicion a line of five wizard-looking cyclops, that each had overgrown magnifying glasses in their hands. Then, the monsters placed their magnifying glasses in front of their eyes, which began glowing a bright red. Afterwards, each cyclop released a beam of orange energy that once connected with their magnifying glasses, traveled at incredible speeds and crashed against the Dread-Yacht's hull, shaking the ship once again.

"Guys!" Flynn called. "Those one-eyed punks are hurting the paint job! Let's teach them a lesson!"

"You said it captain!" Stealth Elf said, drawing her daggers and getting ready for a fight.

Then, Flynn stirred the Dread-Yacht over to the large island where the cyclop war party was located. "Boom!" He shouted in a heroic tone as he slammed the ship's hull into the island, sending the cyclops in the front lines sprawling back and making the rest of the tiny army shuffle nervously and bump into each other.

Then, the Skylanders jumped off the ship and onto the snowy island. They all charged at the still recovering cyclops and released their attacks on their enemies. Spyro and Cynder took flight above the fray and released their breath attacks on the cyclops while their friends battled a group of pickaxe wielding enemies.

As the Skylanders combined efforts, swinging daggers, throwing potions and firing blasts of fire, wind and lightning the one eyed creatures were being thinned out. and some of then even began retreating.

Stealth Elf dodged an orange beam fired by a wizard-looking cyclops in the back of the battlefield by teleporting to her side quickly. She then teleported above the cyclop and dive-kicked it in the head, knocking out and into the ground.

Pop Fizz launched an orange potion at three spear-wielding enemies that were charging at him. Once the potion struck one of the cyclops in the chest, it explodes violently and sent the other two blasting off.

After a while the cyclop ranks were thinned out to three cyclops. The little ones had all either been defeated or simply ran away. The last three looked a lot stronger than the rest though. They were all burlier and had much cooler looking weapons and armor than the smaller cyclops. One in particular was singularly intimidating.

He was the biggest one of the three remaining cyclops and looked quite distinct. While the rest of the cyclops had green or blue skin hues, this one had a really sinister pale purple skin tone. His teeth looked like really sharp flint needles and his round eye was dyed a very dark pink instead of red and the vertical slit glowed an eree white. His armor was similar to that of his companions, but it had a large glowing purple rock, sticking out of it's chest plate. The armor was also decorated with cruel looking spikes and skulls on the shoulder pads. He also had a black helmet that had two metal horns around a glowing purple rock that floated strangely between the horns. It looked similar to the one that was sticking out of the cyclop's chest.

The intimidating cyclop was wielding a large warhammer as a weapon. The head was made of a large ,blunt purple crystal which also seemed to be made of the same rock as the handle. His weapon also seemed to match the other pieces on the cyclop's armor.

"I suppose he is in charge." Eruptor guessed, taking a step away from the purple cyclop.

"That's right!" The cyclop confirmed. "I am Enumat! The leader of the One Eye Legion!" He introduced himself, his voice sounded gravely and rough. "And you are on my way." he said lifting his hammer and catching it with his free hand.

"Well you're little legion attacked us first, pal." Spyro began. "If anything it's your own fault we're in your way." He said smugly.

Enumat seemed to work what Spyro had just said through his mind. He glanced over to his left and furrowed his brow. "Yeah… I guess you're right." He said slowly, making Spyro resist an urge to facepalm. "Well I guess that means I'll have to clean up my own mess then." The cyclop said maliciously as he picked up his hammer. Get em boys!" He ordered his two underlings.

At their boss' command, the two smaller cyclops charged at the Skylanders, their maces raised above their heads ready to swing them down on the Skylanders.

Jet-Vac was the first to react. He used his vac gun to release a powerful current of air, which stopped the large cyclops in their tracks. At this, Pop Fizz launched two potions at the cyclops which burst into clouds of smoke, which made the cyclops cough roughly as the grey mist enveloped them. Then. Stealth Elf teleported into the mist could and after a few moments and the sounds of punches and kicks being thrown, the smoke dispersed, revealing Stealth Elf standing on top of the now unconscious cyclops.

"Yeah! Why to go Elfy!" Eruptor cheered.

"Come on guys, we rehearsed this!" Enumat yelled at his unconscious lackeys. "Forget this, I'll crush you all myself!" He threatened as he raised his large weapon and charged at Stealth Elf.

"Elf, watch out!" Pop Fizz warned.

Thanks to her friend's warning and with fast reflexes, Stealth Elf managed to teleport away at the last second, before the large cyclop's hammer slammed against her. She retreated back to her friends, who had al clustered together and were now about to face down Enumat.

"Are you sure you want to fight all of us friend?" Jet-Vac asked challengingly. "Because I have to say, six Skylanders mean pretty bad odds." He said, aiming his vac gun at Enumat.

"Ha! You think these are bad odds!?" Enumat said, a malevolent look flashed in his dark pink eye. "I've fought chompies tougher looking than you! I've faced off against Gear Golems barehanded! Do you really think I would be afraid of six losers!?"

"And what about the Frost Elf Guard?" A female voice with a thick scottish accent asked boldly from behind the Skylanders.

The Skylanders and Enumat as well turned around to see where the voice had come from. When they did, they were faced with a large host of blue skinned elves, clad in gray armor and wielding icy weapons. In front of the group stood a she-elf. Her energetic green eyes made the Skylanders recognize her as Avril.

"What's the hold up tough guy? Frozen up are we?" Avril taunted Enumat, who had stayed silent until then.

"Okay." Enumat began. "I'm tough, but this-" He gestured at the many heroes in front of him, leaving him hopelessly outnumbered. "This is just cheating." He stated stepping back. "Live to fight another day I guess. Later losers!" Enumat shouted, running to the edge and then jumping off the island the battle had taken place on surprising the Skylanders.

"Did he just..:?" Jet-Vac began slowly.

"Oh yeah." Avril interjected as she approached the Skylanders. "He does that a lot. It's his dramatic exit." She said mockingly, quoting with her hands.

"Well, I guess he is the one responsible for all of this trouble?" Jet-Vac guessed.

"He used to be." Avril responded. "But something tells me there's been a slight change in management in the One-Eyed Legion." She said.

"What makes you think that?" Stealth Elf asked.

"Enumat has always been a brash fellow." Avril explained. "But he never comes to these raids himself. He always sends his little guys to do the work for him. He thinks it makes him a better boss." She said. "Also their attacks have become a lot more intense since that prisioner got moved over here, the evil-looking dragon."

"They've gotten more active since you got Vathek here?" Stealth Elf questioned. "Why? What do those cyclops want with him?"

"I told you." Avril said. "I don't think they actually want the dragon. Someone else does, someone pulling at their strings."

Spyro darkened slightly. He had an idea of who this little puppet master might be. "Cyrus." He hissed.

"You know their new boss?" Avril asked, a curious edge in her voice.

"It's a long story." Spyro answered simply, remembering his warped feelings toward the sarcastic jerk of a purple dragon. "But if I'm right, it's really important that these people don't get their hands on your prisoner." Spyro warned.

"Well, with my guard-" Avril said, gesturing toward her fellow elves. "And with your help, those creeps don't stand a chance!"

"That's the spirit!" Jet-Vac cheered. "I think we should all head to your town hall and create a formal plan of defence to make sure those pesky cyclops dont get their hands on their little prize."

"Well alright!" Avril agreed. "Let's get going then, Enumat will probably get another raid party ready soon, so we need to hurry!" She said, sprinting toward the great town in the distance as her troops followed her, leaving the Skylanders behind.

"Wait! You're really fast!" Jet-Vac shouted as he began to run after the frost elf.

"Yeah, and some of us have short legs!" Eruptor and Pop Fizz complained in unison before joining the chase.

Stealth Elf simply teleported away. leaving Spyro and Cynder as the only ones behind in the snowy island.

"We should get going." Cynder said, a little eager to leave. "We have to be ready in case they come back, so…" She motioned to leave and looked like she was about to take off.

"Wait." Spyro said quickly, making Cynder stop. "I wanted to say something." He said, glancing away.

"Really?" Cynder asked. "What did you want to say?"

Spyro was about to answer, but a voice sounded before he could speak. "Yeah pal, what did you wanna say?"

Spyro turned around and looked over his head to see Flynn, standing on the Dread-Yacht, looking down on the two dragons. Spyro then felt his face get really hot before answering in an unnecessarily loud tone. "Good morning! I wanted to say good morning, yeah." He said, giggling nervously afterwards.

"Ah, Spyro." Flynn began. "I knew you were a gentleman the moment I met you. Keep up the good manners kid, they make the man." Flynn said supportively, giving the purple dragon a thumbs up. "Well. I gotta get to fixing up the Dread-Yacht. Those one eyed punks really did a number on the paint. See ya!" He said before disappearing into the Dread-Yacht's deck.

Spyro then let out a long sigh, relieved Flynn had revealed himself when he did rather than latter. He then turned around to see Cynder, still standing in place, covering her face with her paws.

"I think I should go." Cynder said through her paws.

"Yeah, me too." Spyro replied awkwardly, scratching the back of his head and glancing away.

Then, both dragons took flight, an embarrassing silence hung over them as they headed to the exact same place.

Enumat walked slowly through the Great Hall. It was decorated with stuffed beasts and stone statues carved by his fellow cyclops. The hall was lit with braziers that held large orange flames. The ceiling was made out of furs and skins, that kept the cold and snow away.

The large cyclop was now infront of the stone throne, ornamented with skulls and tusks. The throne was located in such a place that the light from the braziers couldn't reach it, leaving the seat of the throne shrouded in darkness.

Enumat couldn't help but growl. It was his seat, his throne. And yet, someone else was in it. "We found some trouble on our way to the Keep." Enumat reported. "They called themselves, Skylanders."

"They're here already?" Enumat's new boss asked, his quiet raspy voice echoing slightly through the hall. "Someone must have contacted them."

"Are they going to keep getting in the way?" Enumat questioned. "I have enough trouble with that pest Avril and her frost elf guard as it is."

"They will keep on getting in the way." The voice answered. "But it won't matter. Because this time I have you." Enumat's boss said maliciously as he leaned forward, revealing himself.

"Get everyone ready." Cyrus commanded. "We are going to have ourselves a snowball fight."

Author's Notes

Well, Chapter seven. Already more than halfway there. (Thirteen is an odd number, dummy.) Anyhoo. More chapters on the way!

- I still don't own Skylanders Academy

- Thoughts on Enumat, the Dark Cyclop? He's going to be a little more... Present later on.