Skylands Legends

21.3 Lord of the Night

Spyro soared over Frostfest at a speed that he previously thought to be impossible. The continental island was several thousand miles long and a few hundred miles north-ascended from the realm of Mabulon. It was not a quick trip, especially since Winter Keep was located near the center of the island. Their last trip here had nearly taken them a full day. Spyro was going to make it in under four hours.

The words of the King of Chaos still lingered in his mind. I expect the city to be a wasteland. If the wolf had been telling the truth and his family was there, he could only imagine how bad things could be with the Night Squatch on his way. The worry welled up in his chest, propelling him forward.

What if the beast is already there and the city razed? These thoughts danced along the peripheries of his mind. He couldn't listen to them, not now. He had to believe that he would get there. He had to move faster!

It was already a miracle that he was moving as fast as he was. Largely due to the added arcane power from his awakening stone. Spyro had always known of a technique involving air elemental arcane that involved bending the winds around him, eliminating any wind resistance while simultaneously using it to propel himself further at a faster speed. He had just never been able to use it efficiently on account of him being a Feid that specialized in magic elemental arcane, not air. But now with his arcane reserves exponentially increased, any inefficiency was basically negligible. In fact, the air elemental arcane actually felt natural to him.

And with all of this arcane strength, he found himself able to push harder than ever before. The ground would rush by beneath him in a blur as he covered mile after mile. He only stopped when he came upon a great pool of darkness in the sky. It stretched on as far as he could see, unmoving from where it was. Above it he could see the sunlight reflecting off its inky black surface.

He knew immediately that something like this could only be achieved by an Arcanum. And there was only one of those that he knew of.

The Night Squatch was here.

The revelation only further contributed to his fear that he was too late. This fueled his resolve as he flew into the darkness faster than he had been flying before. He was only in sheer darkness for a moment as a light on the horizon appeared. As he drew closer, it transformed into multiple lights before taking shape as the Winter Keep. Eleven great braziers burned around the city, illuminating it like a beacon in the dark.

He was so focused on the light that he only noticed at the last second a dark shape flying up towards him. He reacted quickly, rolling to the side and letting his assailant fly right on past him. He glanced back to see what had attacked him and his heart nearly stopped. The dark shape of the Night Squatch fell behind him.

No. It couldn't be. His chest began to tighten and he found himself breathing heavier than normal. Memories of Smash Hit and the slaughter at Fizzland flashed through his head.

He slowed to a hover in the air, catching his breath. He tried to calm himself down, but the scene below didn't help. Thousands of the beast rushed the decimated gates of Winter Keep below. The frost elves fought them in the city streets, many of them being slaughtered in the fight. It was his biggest nightmare come true.

His anxiety fought to freeze him where he was. His mind screamed that he should run away. He almost gave into it, but the fact that his family might be caught in the middle of this battle was enough to keep him going. He couldn't give into his fears. He couldn't let a repeat of Fizzland happen. Not with his wife and son's lives on the line.

Pushing away his anxieties, he flew out over the walls. He found himself somewhat relieved when he saw that the beast's had yet to push that deeply into the city. Hopefully that meant that wherever Cynder and Spry were being held had yet to have been attacked. Of course, he still needed to find where they were.