Skylands Legends

20.1 Of Bolt and Flame

Stealth Elf gently applied the poultice to Krankcase's final wound. She let it set and proceeded to wrap gauze around his chest. The scientist was silent throughout the whole ordeal, not even letting out a single groan at the pain.

"You're quite resilient," she remarked, finishing with the bandages.

"Oh, I haven't felt pain in years." The doctor let out a soft laugh. "Not since I fried off all my nerve endings electrifying dolphins."

"Oh," Stealth Elf hummed, not entirely sure what to say in response to that. It would never not be odd to her how the ex-villains could so casually bring up some of the horrendous things they had done in the past. "You should get some rest, let your wounds heal. We'll reach the Academy soon."

The doctor gave a short nod, letting his head fall back against the pillow. The exhaustion must have overcome him quickly, within seconds he was letting out a light snore.

Sighing, she rose to her feet and stretched, doing her best to ignore the soreness in her shoulder. She hated that it had come to this, tending to injured Skylanders on the ship, still hours away from help. The portalers really were the greatest thing she took for granted. She could kill for one of Broccoli Guy's pain relievers right now. But that would have to wait.

She cleaned up the medical supplies, putting them in their proper cabinets before leaving the doctor to his rest. Shutting the door softly, she turned to go above deck and nearly ran into Bushwhack. The tree elf took a quick step back.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean..." He trailed off looking at her bandaged shoulder. "How is it?"

"I've had worse," She replied, shrugging her good shoulder.

"That's good."

"It's good that I've had worse?" She taunted, starting down the hallway.

The tree elf smiled. "You know, normally I wouldn't take the bait, but seeing as you're crippled—"

She punched him in the shoulder before he could go any further. "Don't you dare call me crippled. We both know I could still kick your ass with only one arm."

"I don't doubt it," he said with a laugh.

"Good," she flashed him a self satisfied smile.

The two of them walked out into the ship's main common area together. Pop Fizz and Knight Light were dealing out a game of sky stones at the bar while Astroblast laid out on one of the sofas. She was suddenly struck with the realization of how empty it was in the room. It felt like their squad was continuously shrinking. First Eruptor, then Fizzland and Splat, and now Spyro having runaway.

She was still mad at Jet Vac for how he had chased him away like he had. Both mad and confused as to how he had managed to beat the Thunder Tow. She had yet to confront him about it though.

As they entered the common room, Knight Light rose to his feet. "How is the Doctor?"

"He will be fine." Stealth self answered. "Once we get to the Academy and send him to the infirmary."

The war angel cocked his head to the side in confusion. "You do realize we are not on course for the academy, correct?"

"No," she frowned. "Where the hell else would be going..." She looked to Bushwhack for clarification before trailing off as she realized who was piloting the ship. "Dammit, Jet Vac." She cursed under her breath, starting up the stairs to confront him.

She marched across the deck to where the sky baron stood at the helm. "We need to go to the academy!" She demanded.

Jet Vac glanced down at her, a hint of frustration touching his eyes. "We don't have time. We're already cutting it too close trying to reach Winter Keep."