The drow soldier ran as far as he could. In fact, he ran so far that he got near the end of the pathway, a distance so far that he likely felt comfortable enough to catch a breath.

"Hah… hah… I think I… finally lost them…" The soldier panted, his back bent over and his hands on his knees.

The sounds of pattering feet and rippling winds quickly jolted the soldier back to life, however.

"And where do you think you're going?" Whirlwind asked as she bowed down and flared her wings.

The drow soldier jumped up and scrambled to escape. But he was out of luck, for every which way he turned there was nothing but blank paths and blocked-off walls!

"Nowhere you're following!" The soldier sprinted forwards with all his energy, as if he hoped to find some more luck if he retraced his steps.

"Get him!"

Whirlwind and Warnado followed him in hot pursuit—after all, Skylanders don't give up that easily! The chase dragging on for what seemed like hours as they navigated pathway after pathway, jumped over wall after wall, until they all reached a stopping point in a large stone wall that the soldier could never dream of climbing.

"You're cornered, spear-ears," Warnado hissed, the rippling winds around him seemingly bent to his power. "Ready to give in?"

The soldier turned back and forth in anxiety, before he froze in place as if he had been hit by realization. "Not yet!" The soldier exclaimed before he whistle underneath his mask, "COME ON OUT, BOYS!"

Then, a group of at least seven other drow soldier all identical to the one Whirlwind and Warnado chased all leaped over the stone wall and circled around the original drow soldier! They all brandished shiny, sharp silver spears and intimidating looks, and everyone around felt the venom in their stares.

"Now would you look at that?" Sneered one of the soldiers up front. "Skylanders! In our humble little fortress—Lord Kaos would surely be pleased with me if I brought some back to him!"

"Really?" Whirlwind questioned, a dark look on her face as she flared her wings and her horn glowed in all sorts of colors.

"Really."

Everyone around shot each other dark stares and took battle stances.

"Let's dance, spear-ears."

Warnado retraced into his shell, spun straight into the crowd of soldiers and sent them flying before they even had a chance to react! The survivors tried to stagger up and get out of the way, but it was no use. Warnado was far too fast for them to safely evade! Or anyone else for that matter.

"Hey, Warnado, look out!" Whirlwind exclaimed as she just barely scampered out of Warnado's path of destruction!

The clamor Warnado caused was a perfect distraction! The drow soldier Whirlwind talked to earlier straightened his spear and charged after Whirlwind. Whirlwind spun out of the way, and kept doing so every time he struck, until she finally caught an opening as he relaxed his grip for a moment. She shot the spear out of his hand with a brilliant rainbow beam, and as the weapon shot out of the soldier's aching hand and slid across the bridge before it finally clanged onto the bricks, he shook his hand with a pained yowl.

The drow soldier looked down at his aching hands, and his eyes widened the moment he realized that his spear left his hands. He almost raced off and grabbed it, but Whirlwind beat him to the punch—she ran over, stepped on the spear, and shot him in the chest with another rainbow beam! Whirlwind gave a triumphant gaze as the drow soldier skidded across the bridge and fell unconscious, then smiled and turned around to face Warnado.

Warnado, meanwhile, carelessly spun tornadoes around, tornadoes filled to their brims with drow soldiers that flew off the bridge and onto a small island underneath them! As the last tornado fell off, Whirlwind and Warnado both nodded in unison, flew over the wall and continued on their journey…

§

Chihiro hummed a song to herself as she paraded onward, occasionally stopping to take in the sights and sounds of the area around her.

Currently, she stood inside a room with crimson-colored walls and various wooden bookshelves filled to their brim with books of all kinds scattered around the room. In the center of the room was a round wooden chair with several blue cushions glued onto it and round wheels attached to its end, though right now it couldn't be sat in, as rocks and debris from the battle completely covered it. The same could be said for the wooden sitting table in front of it, which was also covered in piles of stone and dust. Across from the display rested an unlit brick fireplace with dust and rocks covering the place where the fire should have been.

"This place sure is a dump," Chihiro remarked as she spun around and walked over towards an open door to her righthand side. "I'm sure it was pretty cozy back before the battle, though."

As she peered into the hallway, she found that the lights were all off and a blanket of darkness covered the hallway, a blanket so dark one could only barely make out the wooden floors and stone walls.

"Now I wonder what's down here?" Chihiro whipped her head left and right and then hopped inside. As she walked through, however, she found that she could barely navigate through the darkness and ended up bumping in what seemed to be a side-table.

"OWCH!" Chihiro rubbed her aching elbow as something rolled off of the table and fell onto her foot, "DOUBLE OWCH!"

Chihiro whimpered and tried to fight back tears as she bent down and picked up the object that had landed on her—a small, round lantern!

"Wow, that's oddly convenient." Chihiro examined the lantern with a piqued curiosity. "Now how do you turn it on?"

"CHIHIRO!" Spyro shouted as the sound of his wing flaps echoed through the hallway, then sat down and panted before he looked up at her and frowned deeply. "Don't run off like that!"

Chihiro, however, paid no mind to his words—she was far more concerned with the lantern she had found. "Do you know how to turn this on?" She asked as she practically flung the lantern in his face.

"Ah, uh," Spyro sputtered before he shook his head. "Wait, how would I know?!"

As if by magic (which it probably was), the lantern lit up with a brilliant yellow and orange flame Chihiro giggled as she held the lantern out in front of her and basked in its light.

"Wanna go spelunking, Golden Boy?" Chihiro asked while a light twinkled in her eyes that was only amplified by the flames of the lantern.

Spyro sighed and looked down at the path before him. "I dunno, Chihiro, I've never been in that part of Master Eon's Citadel befo—"

A sudden yank cut off Spyro as Chihiro grabbed him and ran down the hallway.

"I'LL TAKE THAT AS A YES!"

The hallway seemed to span on forever as they ran, the stone walls and wooden floors all blended into one as Chihiro grew exhausted from boredom. When she finally came to a stop, they found themselves surrounded by new scenery at last—three round, wooden doors fixed in front of a white stone wall.

"Now, which one should I take?" Chihiro asked herself.

She looked at the leftmost door, jiggled its sleek brown doorknob, and watched as the door immediately opened with a creak! Chihiro let out a cheery squeak as she looked down at Spyro with a mischievous smile before she ran off, and Spyro only sighed and quickly flew after her.