"So, Spyro, where does the tour de Eon's island start?" Chihiro asked as she stretched her arms to the clear skies.

"Right here, actually!" Spyro announced as he stretched out a leg and presented the island's heart to her. "You've already been to the heart of the island, which is the essential first stop while you're staying here. From here, you can get to almost everywhere else!"

Chihiro gazed around the hub, and her eyes sparkled with amazement at all the tall stone buildings that surrounded them and the crowd of creatures that bustled through while they worked on day-to-day activities. Even with a population so small, it seemed so busy and full of life, just like home!

"On the far left is the Mess Hall." Spyro pointed to a large, white stone building shaped like a dome. "That's where we eat, obviously, and it's got enough food to feed an army! Which is, kind of necessary given how many people stay here. We've already been there once, so I'm not gonna talk about it too much."

"We have?" Chihiro tilted her head as she walked in front of Spyro.

"Yes, last night. Remember?" Spyro gave her a slightly unnerved look. "You made me take you there because you had late night snack cravings?"

"Oh!" Chihiro gave Spyro a cheerful smile, completely ignorant to the sigh he breathed. "Yeah, I remember that!"

"Anyway." Spyro regained his composure and coughed into his paw, "Right next to that is Master Eon's Citadel," Spyro then pointed to a large, worn tower made out of salmon-colored bricks and a spring green roof, with a huge, gaping hole in the front where an entrance should've been, "as least, what USED to be Master Eon's Citadel. That was where Master Eon lived while he was still with us."

Spyro's voice faltered as he looked back down at his paws and gently nudged at the dirt underneath him.

"I guess nobody's really had the time to fix it?"

Chihiro cast Spyro a glance and watched as he nodded sadly—but she didn't let that dampen her mood.

"Well, I'm gonna check it out, bye!"

Chihiro stood around for only a second, then spun around and darted off in the Citadel's direction without a second thought.

"HEY! CHIHIRO! GET BACK HERE, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO STAY WITH ME!"

§

Whirlwind bit her lip as she looked out the side of the balloon. Her front paws clutched ever so tightly the side of the basket, like the slightly release would send her spiraling down the endless blue skies.

"Something up, Whirlybird?" Warnado asked as he gently patted Whirlwind on the back.

Whirlwind jumped in place and turned around. "Warnado! Don't sneak up on me like that!" She scolded.

Warnado scrambled away from Whirlwind with an almost fearful kind of tension, only to release this tension as Whirlwind breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry for snapping, Warnado. I'm fine, don't worry about me." Whirlwind's voice turned somewhat pained as she looked back over the side of the basket.

Warnado seemed to ponder something as he gave Whirlwind a suspicious, cocked-eye look. After a few moments of staring, Warnado shrugged, withdrew into his shell and contently snored while his shell was more than happy to amplify the acoustics of his snoring.

Whirlwind frowned a bit as she stared at the passing clouds and tried her hardest to block out Warnado's snoring. Ever since she stepped into Flynn's basket, she had been irate and moody, but she wasn't entirely sure if it was the pressure of the mission or the usual safety concerns that came with flying on Flynn's balloon. Maybe it was a little bit of both, who knew? Certainly not her.

"Attention passengers, this is your absolutely dashing Captain Flynn speaking," Flynn crooned, a smug smile on his face like always. "We appear to have reached our destination, so—HOLY ENCHILADAS LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT TORNADO!"

"WHAT?!" Whirlwind and Warnado shouted in unison as they popped out of their minds.

They both ran over to where Flynn piloted to find a huge, powerful tornado! It had to be twice the size of Master Eon's citadel, maybe even more than that, and its winds howled so loudly that not even the loudest noise one could think of could drown it out.

"Whoa! That's some twister!" Warnado shouted while his eyes grew wide as dinner plates.

"That's not a twister, that's a tornado," Whirlwind replied as she gave him a dark, correcting look.

"Whirlwind, they're the same thing!"

"No they aren't, there's a clear difference in intent when someone said 'tornado' versus when they say 'twister,' it's really—"

"Whirlwind, I'm the tornado expert here, don't argue with me on this! They mean exactly—"

Both of them quickly snapped out of their argument as a strong gust of wind sent them tumbling away! Both them and Flynn flew along with the balloon as the balloon was blown to what could only be the eye of the storm! As she finally regained her footing Whirlwind shook her head and glared down Flynn.

"DON'T LOOK AT ME!" Flynn exclaimed as he helplessly stared back, "THESE TWISTERS—"

"TORNADOES!" Whirlwind shot back.

Flynn quickly shook his head, stood tall and immediately went back to pressing buttons and flipping switches on the balloons control panel. He sweated out buckets as he worked, and for a moment his best pilot facade melted into the winds.

"Potato, potatoh, right now I need to figure out how I'm gonna get outta this storm!" Flynn exclaimed as he looked more genuinely nervous than anyone had even seem him in their lives.

As he flicked an ominous-looking red switch on the panel, Flynn clasped his sweaty hands onto the balloon's steering wheel. He clutched the wheel as hard as he could, and all the while, the propeller spun even faster than before!

"BRACE YOURSELVES FOR IMPACT!"

The balloon darted away at the speed of light as Flynn wove through the seemingly endless fields of huge tornadoes. The wind howled at their backs, lashed against the side of the balloon like whips and tried its hardest to tear the balloon to bits! It was anybody's worst nightmare!

Meanwhile, Whirlwind and Warnado completely forgot about their conflict and clung to the basket like their lives depended on it—which it kinda did, to be honest.

With heavy breaths, Flynn's eyes narrowed as he focused on his target—a large, stone platform seemingly untouched by the storms, for it stood strong even throughout the raging winds. Flynn pushed the wheel forward and sent the balloon into overdrive! He beelined towards the platform with completely shut eyes as he braced himself for the landing.

Whirlwind and Warnado both peered up from the bottom of the basket, saw what they were heading towards at high speed, then immediately ducked back down and covered their heads.

And as the platform got closer and closer, they all started screaming. You'd scream too, if you were barreling towards a heavy stone platform in a field of tornadoes.

As he gulped in, Flynn flew upwards just slightly and barreled headfirst onto the platform! The basket skidded along while sparks crackled from the basket's bottom due to the tension. Then, Flynn receded the steering wheel and brought the balloon to a halt, while Whirlwind and Warnado shakily stood up.

"We made it," Flynn gasped before his shocked look turned to a smile and he pumped his fist in the air, "WE MADE IT!"

"I have to admit, you really pulled through, Flynn! For a moment, I thought we weren't going to make it!" Whirlwind said as she dusted herself off and smiled directly at Flynn.

Flynn chuckled and rubbed his fist against his broad chest. "Of course! I'm the absolute best pilot in all of Skylands! Was there ever any doubt?"

Whirlwind and Warnado both gave each other aside glances and awkward smiles before they coughed into their paws.

"Let's agree to spare his feelings this time," Warnado whispered through clenched teeth to Whirlwind before he watched as she nodded in agreement.

"Anyways." Flynn stretched and turned around. "All we gotta do is find this Eternal Air Source thingie and—YOWZA! THAT'S TWISTER'S HUGE!"

Whirlwind and Warnado both whipped their heads around to find that right next to them was a humongous, barely-contained tornado that was probably twice the size of the ones they faced earlier. Its winds roared like dragons, and all sorts of things stuck in its grasp—chunks of buildings, wooden carts, even the occasional sheep that baaed for mercy as it swung about in the storm.

"That thing's huge!" exclaimed Warnado.

But, Whirlwind paid only half a thought to the tornado as she looked aside and placed a paw on her chin.

"Now, if I were Kaos, where would I hide one of the main sources of elemental power and one of the few things keeping my enemies from bringing about my ultimate downfall?" Whirlwind pondered as she frowned and sternly examined the area around her.

She then pointed towards a large castle that was just straight across from them on an isolated island that was seemingly inaccessible. "How about… There!"

Warnado and Flynn squinted and tried their hardest to get a better view of the island while Whirlwind nodded.

"And what gives you that idea?" Warnado asked.

"If there's one thing we all know about Kaos," Whirlwind sneered, "it’s that his pride is his greatest weakness. I wouldn't put it above him to showcase the Air Source in a big fancy castle so he could brag about it."

Both of them nodded and muttered.

"Yeah, that sounds like Kaos."

"Yup, Baldy wouldn't really be above that."

"Now the question is," Whirlwind asked as she stretched her front paw against her chin, "how do we get there?"

Flynn examined the tornado for mere minutes before he looked over and saw an extended part of the pathway that seemed to have been broken off. He then pressed a fist against his chin and thought for mere moments, the gears furiously turning in his mind before it finally clicked.

"You two," Flynn said as he nudged Whirlwind and Warnado's shoulders, "take a look at the tornado!"

All of them looked at the tornado, with Whirlwind and Warnado looking more confused to contrast Flynn's energy.

"What's so different about it? All I see are wooden planks, sheep, bridge pieces—" Whirlwind cut off as Flynn threw an arm across her face in excitement.

"That's it! See that broken off part of the path over there?" Flynn pointed at the broken-off pathway.

"Yes?…" Whirlwind gave him a realizing stare. "Are you saying that there's supposed to be a bridge here?"

"Exactly! You're almost as much of a genius as I am. ALMOST."

Whirlwind just glared down Flynn, but once again he was completely oblivious.

"Now, as an expert, I can safely say that if we were to stop the tornado, the bridge would fall back into place and we'd be able to get that Eternal Source thingamabob!"

"I'm not so sure, Flynn." Whirlwind frowned as she gaze over the tornado. "First off, how do we stop a twenty foot or higher tornado, anyway? And how do we know that the bridge pieces won't crumble immediately, or fall out of reach?"

"Do you have any better ideas?" Warnado asked as he nudged next to Whirlwind.

"No.”

Her mind still racked with thoughts, Whirlwind stretched her legs when a clank resounded. She whipped her head to the right, and immediately noticed something ahead—a drow soldier clad in gray and red armor who was sneaking a peek at the group—as she narrowed her eyes.

"Skylanders!" Exclaimed the soldier. "I have to go warn the captain!"

"Not on my watch you don't!" Whirlwind shouted as she vaulted over the balloon's basket and chased after the soldier at lightning-fast speeds.

"Whirlwind! Wait up!" Warnado shouted as he conjured up a tornado of his own and sped after her.

Flynn just looked at them and shrugged.

"I'll just stay here and make sure the tornado doesn't fly away!" He smirked. Flynn smiled to himself and hummed a tune as he kept a fixed eye on the tornado. "After all, I don't wanna steal the thunder from up-and-coming heroes. If I joined in, the whole mission would be over in an instant!"