Skylands Legends

15.1 The Lost City

Seven hours of going through Hugo's books on the flight back yielded very little. The city of Ethersin, frankly, did not seem to exist. There were just theories about places it could be, followed by notes about expeditions proving those theories wrong.

Of the dozens of potential theories, there were only two that had yet to be proved wrong. These were that it was located either deep in the Lowlands, or as far out as possible in the Outlands. Both heavily unexplored areas in Skylands and both very dangerous. The only reason these two locations weren't crossed off was because consecutive expeditions looking for the city had all disappeared, never to be seen again. The most recent of which was only nine years ago. A man named Cleasai had led an expedition into the Lowlands only to never return. A fact that Stealth Elf found far from comforting.

This left them with a choice. Which theory was worthy of pursuing?

Jet Vac hadn't been of any help with the decision. He had been in a bad mood ever since they left Mabulon, often muttering little things under his breath and putting off an aura of anger.

Spyro hadn't been of much help either. He kept deferring the decision to her and being indecisive. She found it clear that he did not want to be the one calling the shots.

That left her with Pop Fizz. While the alchemist had primarily only brief moments of insanity, it was clear he still struggled to focus on the task at hand. She'd ask for his opinion and he would make a good point before suddenly pivoting and rambling on about something completely unrelated for a few minutes. He would then come back to his original point and completely contradict it.

So, apparently, she would be the one deciding. And she decided it would be best to regroup back at the academy. This way she could get some other, valid opinions and maybe even assemble a second team to explore both leads.

And so, a few hours after her decision, the Sky Lady was passing through the academy's energy field and docking at the hangar.

The four of them split up almost immediately. Jet Vac practically ran out of the hangar in a hurry. Spyro followed behind at a slower pace. Pop Fizz had followed Stealth Elf to Buzz's quarters for a moment before losing interest and heading somewhere else.

This left her to be the one reporting back to the leader of the Skylanders — a pattern of leadership she didn't want. She explained the situation in depth to Buzz, leaving out only very minor details. He took the fact that they were fighting an Ancient in stride and told her they will put together three teams.

"One for the Lowlands, one for the Outlands, and one to make sure this Night Squatch keeps away from populated areas." The grizzled mabu had explained.

"Only three?" Stealth Elf asked. "The Outlands are huge! You can't expect a single team to cover them all?"

Buzz shook his head. "I wish I could send more. But I'm afraid that's all I can do as of right now. Our numbers just aren't what they used to be."

Stealth Elf left his quarters feeling somewhat frustrated. Her frustration wasn't due to Buzz, but because of the whole situation. He was going to start putting the teams together when she left. Normally, she would have stayed to help, but right now she needed to blow off some steam.

She made her way down to the infirmary. The large room was still relatively full, but far less chaotic than it had been before they had left for Mabulon. Knight Light was walking about now. The angel went from bed to bed, clasping hands with its occupant and muttering a short prayer. A small light would shine from him and the mabu would drift off to sleep, a look of peace crossing their face.

She watched him do it to a few more injured soldiers before he finally spotted her. He waved her over and went to the next bed.

"I am grateful for what you did back there." He said as she approached him.