Luz couldn't quite recall why it was that he woke up so early that night. Perhaps a bad dream roused him awake, perhaps something bothered him in the middle of the night, or perhaps he got sudden pangs of hunger and thirst. Either way, he found himself awake and alone in his family's shared bedroom, stuck in the middle of their bed as he rubbed his eyes. Normally, nights like this were tranquil and free of the day's chaos. This night, he heard something that shouted like frantic crying and screaming, or shouting and ordering, and the smell of smoke burned in the air. Why? What was going on? Were they having a festival? No, they wouldn't have a festival this late.

For that matter, where were his parents? Normally, they'd be asleep with him in bed, yet here he was, all alone. He did hear some shouting voices that sounded an awful lot like his parents’ own from the other room. Maybe that was what woke him.

Rubbing his eyes and creeping out of bed, Luz tiptoed to the door and poked his head out to the heart of the house. There, beside the hearth, his parents shouted and cried with surprising rage! He gasped and hid behind the wall as his heart pounded.

What could have made them so mad? His parents never fought like this! He wanted to run, to close his eyes and go back to bed, but something about this drew him in like a moth to flame. Luz peered back around and whimpered.

"I'm telling you, we have to flee now!" his mother cried. "If we stay here, we'll surely die!"

"And leave our home to be reduced to rubble?" his father shouted back. "You know we can't do that! We have to fight for our home, our family—"

"Our family won't last against them! The Arkeyans have more numbers than us, they're much stronger, and there's no way help will arrive in time with how remote we are! We're much better off fleeing!"

"That doesn't mean we can't try! If we leave now, we're abandoning everything we care about!"

"What about Luz, then?"

Luz's mother gestured back to the hall, but Luz gasped and hid behind the wall once more.

Arkeyans? He'd only heard the Arkeyans in whispers from the grown-up. Weren't they those really bad beings who went around destroying places, making empires, and taking beings captive? Why would they come to a small village like his?

"Luz will be fine, dear. The elders and children are being sent to a safe haven. It's impregnable and he'll have provisions, he'll be safe!"

"But if his parents die, who will take care of him? How will he cope if he grows up knowing that his parents died in a losing battle? What will he—"

A soft creak came from the floor, and Luz winced as he glanced down at the toy he accidentally nudged with his foot. The shouting from the outer room drew to a close. Luz gulped and tried to stay as quiet as he could; he hadn't meant to alert them, not at all! Hopefully they hadn't noticed.

"Luz?"

They had.

Luz gulped, crept out of the halls and into the family room.

There, the hearth burned bright, and illuminated the wide-eyed, terrified looks on his parent's faces. Weapons laid on the table, all swords, spears, and lances paired with what seemed like armor. On the floor was a sack almost as big as he was! The whole air was hot, stuffy, and uncomfortable, and Luz could barely stand it! He wanted to run back into bed, to jump in there and pretend this was all a dream, for whatever this was, it was certainly a bad one.

His father was the first to move, grabbing the bag and shoving it in Luz's arms. It was so heavy, and came so suddenly that Luz almost fell over, but he quickly collected himself and peered inside. All sorts of food, skins of water, clothing, and more laid within, all enough for a few days' trips.

Why would he need this?

"Good, you're awake," Luz's father said. He knelt down to Luz's height, and laid a hand on Luz's shoulder. "Luz, there's something big and scary happening right now, and all the children need to leave the village. Everything's going to be fine, but—"

"Mom, Dad, why are Arkeyans coming here?" Luz asked.

Luz's father winced and shared a pained glance with his mother, but quickly shook his head. "There's no Arkeyans coming here, Luz, you didn't hear anything about that. You just need to go, and when everything's alright, we'll come and get you!"

Luz puffed his cheeks and clutched the bag tight. "I heard you! You said Arkeyans were gonna come here, and smash our whole village to pieces!"

"Luz—"
Before his father could protest more, the deep, bellowing sound of horns sounded off from outside, shaking the floor! Luz's father gasped, turned Luz around and pushed him out the door. Luz struggled as his father pushed him out, but the bag in his arms was so heavy that he could barely protest against his father's strength.

"There's no time, Luz! Just follow the others! We'll come back for you, we promise!"

Before Luz knew it, he was outside. Torches were lit across every house, and they and painted the normally-cool night in warm, scary shades of firelight.

Luz could barely make out the silhouettes of soldiers who wielded weapons and gathered around the front of the village like a barricade. All around him, the other grown-ups all grabbed weapons and ran out, or they pushed the kids he knew out with sacks similar to his. The kids all cried and protested like he did, save for a few of the older kids he knew, before a few of the village elders took them in hand, and guided away from their homes and families.

Luz could barely watch, so the gentle brush of a wrinkled hand against his shoulder gave him some relief.

"Luz, darling," said a voice sweet like honey, "come with me."

Luz whimpered, took the aged woman beside him in hand, and didn't even protest as she left his home. She walked him towards a parade of children his age—some older, some younger—and a lot more old people that all walked away. The older people all seemed really quiet; they didn't say a word outside of whispering something to some of the smaller kids as they cried and shouted.

"What's going on? Where are we going?"

"I want my mom and dad!"

"Let me go!"

Luz and the elderly woman came to the back of the group soon enough, right as an old man tried to calm down a little girl that sobbed her eyes out. She barely clutched a doll in one hand while her sack rested in the man's arms—or maybe it belonged to the man? Luz couldn't tell. Either way, Luz clutched his sack with both hands the best he could, and its leather pressed against his chest as he walked in silence.

His eyes fixed on his feet as he marched through thickets of leaves and endless forest. The firelight grew dimmer behind him, and left the paths muddied and confusing. He wanted a light now, but he wasn't sure that was a good idea. If Arkeyans really were coming, they'd spy them all from the light, and then they'd hurt them, and do awful things to them like they do to other beings too!

But, his mom, and his dad, and all the other grown-ups would protect them, right? Luz was sure help would come! After all, the grown-ups always said that the Elder Elementals, and those magicians they were friends with always stopped the Arkeyans. Maybe they would come and stop them before anyone could get hurt! Luz hugged his sack like a toy and smiled a bit at the thought. It would be really cool to meet an Elder Elemental, and get saved by one, too!

A small twinkle of light came from within the bushes as their group rose a hill. One of the old men pushed aside the leaves to show… A hole? A door? A hutch? It was so dark that Luz could barely tell what it was supposed to be. Either way, it creaked open, and the man whispered as he urged people in. The old people were so tall that they had to duck just to get in, but the kids came in just fine, and their group grew smaller and smaller.

Luz got ready to walk out, but then one of the older kids stopped and turned around behind him. It was almost like something was wrong.

"Hey, I hear something over there!" the older kid shouted while he pointed back down the hill. "It sounds like marching!" The kid leaned forward and frowned. "And it looks like a whole lot of beings are coming!"

As he said this, two of the older men in the group both turned to each other. Though Luz couldn't really see their faces, he didn't need to do that to see how worried they are.

"They're here, already?" croaked out one of the two men. His voice trembled, and was barely above a whisper.

"There's no time to panic!" shouted the second man as he ran off. "Come on, everyone, follow me!"

Luz couldn't bring himself to run. It was as if his feet stuck to the spot. He was only able to watch as the soldiers poured into his village while more came to fight them. Were his parents among their ranks?

A couple of the other kids joined him, and their eyes were teary as they whimpered and shouted. To his right, he barely made out a smaller kid shouting as another, older one held them back from running to the village again. To his left, a few Luz believed were siblings whispered together.

"Come on, young ones!" shouted one of the elderly men as he walked up. "We need to go hide!"

"But, my mom! My big brother!" cried a boy from below. "Where are they?"

Another girl whimpered and rubbed her eyes before she shuddered and turned around. "Hey, what's that?" she asked as she pointed to the bushes.

Luz winced, turned around and hugged his sack tight. He barely spied some glinting lights, like eyes peering out from the bushes. He wanted to think that it was maybe a wild animal, maybe a bat, or a bird, or a gecko, or something. Something about that felt wrong, though;not even the scariest wild animal's glare chilled his heart the way looking at this did. A bunch of weird noises that reminded him of creaking wagons came from the bushes as they shuffled.

Luz backed away a bit as the rustling continued. In front of Luz, an elderly man passed by, and winced as he grabbed a knife from his pocket.

The elderly man crept closer to the bushes with his knife raised and prepared to stab. Right before he could strike, something leaped forward, and the man collapsed right in front of them! A nasty gash ran across his chest, and his shirt stained red as he gasped for air. All the while, blood poured out and pooled as his attacker landed right in front of them all!

It looked like some kind of person, but it couldn't have been that. Beyond the red and gold knight's armor it wore, its arms and legs were made of what seemed like metal, and the cold look that passed well beyond its helmet was anything but human! Its body creaked as it stepped forward into the little moonlight, showing the ax it held in hand. It screeched as it raced forward and swung!

Luz's group completely dispersed, and screamed as the ax missed them. The ax lodged itself into the ground instead, and the other kids screamed as they ran off! Their bodies growing more and more distant as they disappeared in the woods, until they were little more than faint silhouettes like the ones in the village.

The strange metal person yanked its ax out of the ground and glared at Luz, the sole one who remained, as he fell down and clutched his sack!

"Alonso, what's going on—" cried an old man as he pushed through the forest. He gasped as his eyes fell on the sight of Alonso's bleeding body, and the strange metal man. His face went pale as a sheet, and he fell to his knees as he pulled Alonso into his arms. "Alonso, Alonso! Speak to me!"

Luz gasped as the strange man turned his attention to the two elderly men, and before he knew it, his legs picked themselves up and ran off!

He ran without even thinking, and hardlynoticed as the sound of a swinging ax and a pained scream rang in the air. He clutched his sack and kept moving, trying his best not to collapse again even with its massive weight. He had to leave, he had to find his mom and dad and leave! He had to get out of here!

More screaming and swinging came all around him. The birds around him all cawed as they flew off, perhaps startled by the strange lights that flashed in the woods. Were those lights more of those strange men? Luz wasn't sure, but he didn't want to know. All he cared about was finding his family and getting out of here!

He panted as he adjusted his sack's position. His clammy, shaking hands barely kept hold of the sack as he ran further and further. The forest floor blended together in front of him…

And then, he woke up. Luz sprung out of bed, clutching his heart but feeling nothing but thin, cold air. His vision blurred around him and left him barely able to discern his sights. Cold, icy sweat poured down his face as he panted, and his stomach churned like he would throw up any second now.

Soon his vision settled, and with it, the rest of his body. He wasn't in a forest, he was in his dorm room in that ship, sleeping in bed. At least, up until a few seconds ago.

"A dream?" Luz whispered as he held his head. Well, it wasn't entirely a dream, but… "Whatever."

The sunlight shone from outside his window while birds just faintly chirped in the skies outside, yet Luz wanted to sleep. Even though he rested all morning, he still barely had any energy to him, oddly enough. Maybe that strange dream was at fault.

Still, it was daylight, and he was sure there was work to be done. He hobbled out of bed, out of his room, down the halls… It was all just as blurry as that forest in his dream was to him.

Luz groaned and rubbed his eyes as he pushed the door open.

There he was on the deck, which still bustled with life as those Skylanders, the other magicians, and the Elder Elementals ran across the deck or made small talk. That mabu, Flynn or something, steered the wheel and talked with that other mabu and Sihiri, but they were so distant that Luz couldn't really make out what they said.

Luz sighed, stumbled over to the railing and leaned against it. His arms crossed as his mind wandered back to his dream. He, he hadn't expected to have a dream about that. Did what happened yesterday still weigh on his mind? Was it the thought that everyone he knew and loved was deader than dirt now, and somehow, he was the only one to survive? Well, it wouldn't be the first time.

"Hey there, Luz Maguz!" buzzed an upbeat voice Luz knew all too well.

A faint thunk came from beside Luz as Swarm sat down before him, and he frowned as he nudged Luz's side. "You alright there, buddy? You look like something's bugging you. Well, something beside me, anyways!"

Luz snorted, smiled without even realizing, and shook his head. "Just had a kinda weird dream.”

"Anything like that one where you were fighting walking bananas?"

"Not that kind of weird dream. It was… Well…"

Swarm frowned, and it seemed like he didn't want to talk about it any more than Luz did—so, he yawned and stretched against the deck. Swarm nearly tripped that shark and that lava monster (Terrafin and Eruptor, Luz thought their names were? He was still too hazy in the head to recall) as they walked across. His wings buzzed together a little, making some kind of chirping noise as he sat upright. One of them rubbed against Luz's back.

"Well, we're almost to that Molekin Mountain place, mostly cause of Cali and the boss lady. If it wasn't for them, we'd probably be at the other edge of Skylands right now."

Luz smirked, and raised a brow as he glanced at where Flynn steered the ship. Something about the group felt a little empty, but he couldn't tell why. What was it? Oh right, Nemir said he lived there last night during that briefing, so why wasn't he helping?

"Nemir's working on that ghost's robot body with the others. He said something about finding something something weird in the wreckage, or somethin' like that." Seemed like Swarm read Luz's mind in that instant, judging by the smile on Swarm's face. "But, he left us some instructions. Apparently, only the high priest of the village can speak to the Oracle, so we're gonna look for this high priest, and see if they can hook us up with the dude. That is, if there's even a high priest still."

"Oh, there is!" Cali said. "I had the pleasure of meeting her personally during my last trip!"

Luz and Swarm both jumped up as Cali seemingly appeared out of thin air before them, but she laughed. As they settled, Cali turned to Luz and held out a hand.

"Speaking of which, we're almost at the place! Luz, can you head over to that robot and tell the others?"

Luz nodded, but Cali frowned and flicked her ear a little. Chances are, she probably wanted to ask if he was down in the dumps, but Luz didn't really feel like answering that.

Luz clutched his pendant and closed his eyes. The familiar sound of rushing magic surrounded him as light danced over his eyes and warmed his face. When the light faded and he opened his eyes again, he was right inside of that ghost's body!

The whole place was still pretty banged-up. The walls dented and strained even with repairs done, the control panel dented in half, and half the pipes twisted and broken, but it seemed to be in slightly better condition compared to however it was the night prior. Cracks were sealed, metal was polished, and some parts seemed slightly less distorted compared to the others, even though the whole place still reeked of oil and death.

Maybe that awful scent was a remnant of the repair works going around. Bouncer sealed up torn metal while Trigger Happy and Jorden offered him gold and other metals as a sealant, and that hermit guy nitpicked every step of the way. Spyro swooped overhead and adjusted the walls back into place. Right in front of Luz hopped Chihiro, who offered drinks and food to those around.

In the center of it all, Nemir and 'Enehana stood in front of a tall tube set up in the center of the room. There, a small, blue wisp flickered in and out of the light as they held their glowing hands out with eyes transfixed in awe. They slunk over as their light finally released, but lifted themselves up a bit later as Chihiro hopped between them and lowered her box of concessions.

"So, what is that think?" she asked as they took some bottles of water from the box and drank.

Nemir's eyes fluttered, and he took a breath as he gulped down his water.

"Its presence is incredibly faint and small, but I've no doubt that this is a semblance—the remainder of an object ghost when the object that hosts them is severely damaged," Nemir explained. "It will need an immense amount of care to stay stable, but if it's tended to carefully, and if we can repair its body, I do believe we can revive the ghost who once inhabited this body." Nemir frowned and lowered his gaze, turning his head far away from Chihiro. "Hopefully, it'll still be him, at least."

Chihiro gasped, and the box of concessions slipped from her hands as she knelt down. "So that means this is the Machine Ghost? You can bring him back?"

"If we can keep this stable and properly repair his body, that is," 'Enehana chimed in.

"And how's that been going?"

Nemir and 'Enehana sighed.

"I'm afraid it's been quite the uphill battle," Nemir replied. "This semblance is incredibly, incredibly weak, and it has to have its essence stoked constantly."

"As you can imagine," 'Enehana added as they wiped their forehead. "It's been taking a lot out of us. I haven't gotten an ounce of rest since we found it during repairs on the way here. It'll be a miracle of the Ancients if we can keep it up."

Chihiro hummed and knelt down between them, laying her box to the floor. "Well, isn't there some easier way of doing this? Surely there's gotta be some kind of machine, or something that can do the stoking for you." Chihiro shuffled a bit to the left. "I mean, if magic's what we need, I could just take a turn—"

"I'm afraid ordinary magic won't do. It needs to be of the semblance's elemental alignment, or else the magic will only sicken it." Nemir hummed, and his head lowered slightly. "The being said, I believe the underbelly of the Dinya Mirin has all sorts of beings selling undead devices and wares. They're bound to have something that could act as a conduit."

"Then we'll just pick it up while we're there, it's settled!" Chihiro beamed as she patted them both on the back with glowing hands. "In the meantime, here's a little juice for the road!"

Luz chuckled as Nemir, Chihiro, and 'Enehana all smiled at each other. She was way more of a leader-type than he was at her age. When he was twelve, he was playing pranks with his siblings and goofing off with them, and all he cared about was picking apples at his Gramps' orchard and his… Family.

Luz squeezed his arm a bit, and his eyes stung without even realizing. His family was gone now, gone for good, and he was all that remained. Then again, Fintster came with him during that fight, so surely, by some miracle he might be alive, right? Where would he even be? Where would Luz even look?

"Hey, Luz, when'd you get here?" Chihiro asked.

Luz popped his head up as Chihiro turned to him, and quickly cleared his throat. "That Cali lady sent me," he said as he forced a smile. "She said we're almost here—"

"Actually, we've just arrived!" Sihiri shouted as she teleported beside Luz.

Luz gasped and jumped back as Sihiri popped into thin air beside him.

Chihiro chuckled to his other side. "Perfect timing! Now we can go find that device!" Chihiro proclaimed. She turned back to where the semblance rested, and frowned a little. "But, just to be safe…"

"I'm right ahead of you," Nemir said as he held out a hand.

A round ball of smoke emerged from Nemir's palm and rested behind the semblance. Its wisps fed into the semblance as it glowed a bright blue. Seemingly, Nemir was satisfied enough with it that he left the semblance's side for what Luz guessed was the first time since they had liftoff. They all gathered together as Sihiri clapped her hands, and magic surrounded them. It blanketed their vision in purple light while their feet lifted off the ground.

The magic disappeared right as they dropped off onto the ship's deck. There, everyone gathered and crowded around the gangplank as it slowly churned out of the ship's side, and docked itself onto rocky orange ground. It swayed and bent a little as the smaller members of their group slid down and landed on the islands before them, but settled as they all left.

The stretches before them were a lot less magical or dead than Luz expected them to be when he heard of this place from Nemir.

What met him instead were stretches of sun-kissed stone carved into platform formations. They all topped themselves off with dome-like houses. Their chimneys spewed smoke into the air, and rickety wooden bridges linked their islands and lined the sides. A tall mountain stretched into the yellow and pink skies above; though it was so distant that Luz could barely make it out, it almost seemed like there were gears or something like that embedded in it, churning away with the dedication of a well-oiled machine.

It all looked so peaceful on the surface, but something about the air felt wrong. It wasn't the occasional scent of smoke, or something vaguely like incense that came with it. No, it felt more like, danger. Maybe that just came from the distant screaming that came over the wind.

Chihiro was the first to break from the group after Luz. She frowned, held a hand over her eyes as she scanned the area ahead, and drew back as she raised a brow.

"Wait a second, is that…" Chihiro whispered.

In front of the two of them, something small and stout came stumbling right for them. It nearly tripped over the loose robes it wore, and as it came closer, its form came into better view. It had small, beady black eyes, shiny peach skin, and long claws and teeth. Yeah, that was definitely a molekin, but it had to be an old one, for it was completely bald! Not a hair remained on its head, which shone like a jewel as it raced towards Luz's group.

"Hello!" Chihiro shouted as she waved towards the molekin. "You wouldn't happen to know where we can find the high priest, do you?"

The molekin didn't even entertain Chihiro with an answer. It just screamed and ran right past, racing down the bridge without even blinking!

Chihiro blinked and turned around, gasped and jumped back as even more crowds of screaming molekin ran past her. She turned back to the front and clenched her brows. A sword found its way into her hand with a snap of her fingers, and she raised it as something charged over the horizons, kicking up dust all the way!

That same creaking noise from Luz's dream rang in the air. For a moment, his body locked up and screamed at him to hide, but he stomped his feet and summoned his shield.

"Sounds like we've got company, and not the good kind!" Luz shouted.

The clouds cleared, yet the first to leap from them wasn't an Arkeyan robot. No, it was just a couple of cyclopes in shoddy armor! They wielded out shiny red and gold spears that were definitely Arkeyan in origin as they crowded around the front. It was only then that the robots came out from behind them. The robots' shiny green and gold armor was harsher, brighter in the sunlight. Just the sight left Luz's stomach churning again.

"Alright, fess up!" cried the cyclops who headed the charge as he held out his spear. "Tell us where the high priest and the oracle are, and maybe we'll let'cha live!"

Chihiro and Luz both knelt down and prepared to jump, but a cold hand on both their shoulders stopped them. They leaned up, shifted their positions, and stepped back as Nemir passed them by with a clear of his throat. That cold air he always seemed to have seemed icier than usual as he held a hand behind his back, and the tips of his hair started to float. Oh, those guys were in trou-ble.

"Tell me, what business do you have in this realm?" Nemir asked.

The cyclops scoffed and pointed his sword up at Nemir, its blade just inches from Nemir's nose. "Why should I tell you, old-timer?"

Nemir snapped his fingers behind his back, and the ground rumbled as a wall of bones burst from the floor, knocking the cyclops back! He squeaked as his spear landed in the ground, just inches away from his hand, but ducked as the bones leaped out of the ground and rammed into the rest of his forces! The bones skewered through the Arkeyans first, slipped the Arkeyans out and batted them away as they exploded. With another swing, the bones tossed away the other cyclopes.

All that remained was that single, trembling cyclops, who sat wide-eyed in horror as Nemir strode up to him.

"I'm sure you realize that those robots tailing you are Arkeyan in nature, correct?" Nemir asked as he crossed his arms. "How exactly did you obtain them? Did it have anything to do with a certain person claiming to be in pursuit of Arkus, capital of the fallen Arkeyan empire?"

The cyclops gulped and scrambled backwards. His legs and arms trembled so badly that it was a wonder he hadn't just given in then. "I, I'm not telling you!" the cyclops exclaimed, teeth chattering. "The queen, she told us not to tell a soul about her deal!"

"A deal, I hear? So it's true, then?" Nemir crossed his arms and scoffed. His head hung lower as thick, dark purple smoke churned from underneath his robes. "So it's true that Arkilles hired you lot out? What business does he have here with the high priest and oracle?"

The cyclops whimpered. His words left him as Nemir grew closer and closer, but then again, who could blame him for being scared? Before him was Nemir, and he was all glowey and smoky and stuff; it was the same way he always got when he was super angry! Not that Luz had personal experience on that front.

"I'd confess if I were you," Luz taunted from the back of the group. He smirked as he walked around to get a better view of the cyclops's paling face. "If you get on the king's bad side, he might poison you, or feed you to the skelehounds, or suck all the life from your body, or…"

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, I'LL CONFESS!" the cyclops wailed. "YOU SEE, WE—"

A massive plume of darkness erupted right where the cyclops stood, absorbed them in its grasp, and they both to fade away as the wind blew away the smoke. Judging from the way Nemir's face fell as the light and smoke around him died, that definitely wasn't his doing. Even if that were the case, those dark clouds looked nothing like the kind he'd summon, for their deep indigo coloration reminded Luz of someone else.

"That was strange," Nemir remarked, even though it was obvious.

"Wait, are those the Skylanders?"

Nemir and Luz both turned around as the molekin crowds that took sanctuary climbed back up from the bridges below. The molekin approached them with wide smiles on their faces, and now that Luz got a better look at them, he had to wonder just how many old beings lived here. It seemed like all these molekin were bald too, even though most of them didn't even have a wrinkle on their faces! Maybe going bald was just in style now? He wasn't gonna question it.

Instead, he stepped back as the molekin rushed up to them all.

"Thank the Oracle, the Skylanders!" cried one molekin. "You arrived just in time!"

"What's going on?" Chihiro asked as he pushed to the front of the crowds. "Those cyclopes, are they looking for the Oracle?"

"You bet! They stormed our whole island out of nowhere and demanded to know where the high priest is and how to get the Oracle! It came so fast that we could only whisk away the high priest just before they caught us! With sure brutish attitude, I can only imagine they must have poor intentions at heart."

Chihiro clenched her teeth, nodded and turned to Spyro.

"No doubt about it, Arkilles probably set this up to keep us from finding Arkus before he does," Chihiro said before her face fell a bit, "but, we've still gotta get the Machine Ghost's semblance its artifact."

"Then we'll just split up," Spyro said as he took Chihiro's hand in his paw. "Chihiro, Nemir and I will head down and get the artifact. The rest of you, clean out these cyclopes and see if you can find the high priest!"

A couple of resounding cheers of agreement came from the group as Spyro parted ways with Chihiro and Nemir behind him. Luz smiled and raised his head as they grew further in view. With a flick of his, wrist he summoned his shield and held it up to the sunlight, its surface glistening as he did.

He lowered it and beckoned. "Alright, I'm gonna go ahead and clear a path! Who's with me?" Luz cried.

Swarm grinned and beat his arms together. "You know I'm always ready to bring the sting!" he shouted.

"And eye'm sure we could easily spot out the opposition," Eye said as he popped atop Brawl's head.

From below the ground, Vaayu smiled and shook his head.

"I'd better make sure you stay out of trouble," Vaayu chuckled, before his face softened a little. "Besides, I wasn't able to stop Arkilles from escaping then, and I can't let him succeed now."

"You couldn't help getting laid up like you did, Vaayu," Dej added as he gently punched Vaayu in the arm. "Don't worry about it! 'Sides, I'll tag along and watch your back."

Ninjini, Hot Head, Terrafin, Gill Grunt, Whirlwind, and Eruptor all nodded as they stepped out from the ground, and Luz nodded in turn. With his team assembled, Luz held up his shield and raced forward. The sounds of the ground rumbling rang behind him as the others followed in turn. Above him, the sun shone its strongest, the perfect beacon of his oncoming success.

At least, it would be, if he wasn't still bothered by that cyclops's strange disappearance. His footsteps slowed, and Luz frowned as he glanced at his reflection in his shield. His eyes fixed on his pendant.

"That couldn't be him, could it?" Luz whispered.