3Deep down below the mystical floating islands of the Skylands there was a place hidden underneath a thick layer of fog. A place so terrifying that no mortal being that valued their life has ever dared to enter it. It wasn't until a powerful sorceress decided to descend into the dark depths and face the greatest evil that it had to offer. That place was the underworld.
The walls crumbled into pieces as powerful blasts of magic collided like thunder strikes. Hex fought fearlessly against the Undead Dragon King himself, Malefor. The purple dragon unleashed his mightiest breaths of spectral fire, attempting to burn the sorceress alive. Hex precisely dodged his attacks and was able to counter with her own powerful light magic. The two have been fighting for hours and slowly but certainly, Malefor realized that he might have underestimated the powerful magician. Finally, with a final devastating blow which traveled throughout Hex' entire body, the sorceress was able to defeat Malefor and leave nothing but a grand cloud of smoke behind.
Exhausted, the witch fell onto her knees and took heavy breaths of the cold underworld air. As she collected her thoughts and strength, she realized that something felt different. She looked down on herself and saw a raven black dress accompanied by two ashy blue hands with long pitch-black nails. "What happened to me?" The sorceress asked herself in horror as she came to the realization that her stay in the underworld has turned her into the very same creature as her enemy that she just defeated, an undead.
Now, hundreds of years later, the Skylands were rid of the wicked dragon and had no reason to worry.
"We have every reason to worry!" Stealth Elf exclaimed, slightly overdramatic, after announcing that the Golden Queen has fooled them and is still somewhere running loose in the Skylands.
"Didn't you trap all of them?" A worried voice from the enormous crowd in front of the Life Skylander demanded an answer.
"We thought so, but she had us transport a golden statue of herself instead." Stealth Elf was embarrassed to admit that they were fooled by such a cheap trick.
"How is that even possible?" Another more irritated voice questioned.
"We were in the heat of the battle and Spyro discovered some strange new powers, we didn't have time to observe them more carefully." Stealth Elf tried to explain the situation as calmly as she could. "Speaking of that, we still have to figure out what exactly Spyro did back there. It seems to be pretty helpful when you're overpowered and about to get killed by your enemy."
While Stealth Elf was taking care of the crowd, Spyro met with Master Eon in his office. A few days have passed since the battle, but the Skylanders were still recovering from the damage they received.
"I just don't understand." Spyro looked thoughtfully into the grey bricks of the room. "It just happened right before they were about to defeat us. I didn't have any power left in me and suddenly I felt like I was…"
"Awakened." Master Eon suggested as an ending to Spyro's sentence.
"Exactly!" Spyro sparked up and finally had a term for his miraculous transformation. "But what does it mean?"
"I would have to see it with my own eyes to be the judge of its meaning." Master Eon gave Spyro an expecting look.
"I tried everything, but I can't do it again." The dragon sounded hopeless. "I guess we should have me get beaten up by the Doom Raiders and let them threaten my life again."
Eon snickered. "I am sure that is not the reason for your awakening." The wise old sorcerer never had another Skylander experience such a thing, but he had seen similar events. "However, the urgency of the situation and your own willpower might have been possible factors that triggered the transformation. You might not be able to do it whenever you want, but whenever you need."
Spyro thought about that sentence and it did make sense. He was very determined to protect his friends in that moment, so it might happen again when he must do exactly that. "I guess time will tell. Thanks for the talk Eon."
"You're always welcome, Spyro." As his former student was about to leave, Eon had one last request. "And Spyro!" The Skylander turned around. "Make sure that you get a hold of the Golden Queen."
Spyro smiled. "I will, master." He ascended into the skies and left the spirit of their former leader in solitude.
The Magic Skylander made his way to the hospital of the Academy. He greeted Whirlwind as he looked for the room Cynder was stationed in. The building was clean and smelled like several healing potions that Spyro had to drink in his early days as a Skylander. After a short search, he finally found Cynder's room. The dragon entered and was saddened by the sight of his good friend on the bed. Even though she was good at hiding it, Cynder was in a lot of pain.
"Hey Cynder." Spyro silently called her to which she turned her head and smiled. "How's it going?"
"It's getting better." The dragoness looked at her broken wing which was covered by bandages. "They said I can get out in a few days." Cynder turned her head again as her smile started to fade. They told her something else, but she didn't want to share that with Spyro.
"What did they say about flying?" Spyro was aware that she might never be able to properly fly again, and he was worried that that might cause her more pain than the wing itself.
"They're not sure." She said it without a hint of emotions. "They're not even sure if attachements would help since they could put me through unbearable pain every time I spread my wings."
Spyro felt extremely sorry and even guilty for Cynder's situation. He gently put his claw on her shoulder. "I'm sure it will be fine. Just hang in there." In all honesty, he wasn't confident about it himself, but he had to put Cynder's feelings first and encourage her.
Suddenly a loud noise echoed through the area. Spyro and Cynder turned silent and stared blankly at each other. The dragons could hear screams. Spyro hurried to the window to see what was going on. What he saw left him in utter shock.
"What is it? What's going on?" Cynder pushed her friend to tell her what left him so speechless, since she couldn't see through the window for herself.
Spyro gulped and couldn't take his sight off the horrifying view outside. "Spyro what's happening?" Cynder asked again in a more impatient manner.
The leader slowly turned his head to the dragoness and didn't say a word at first. He responded by showing her the pure fear in his eyes. "Stay here."
The purple dragon zoomed outside of the room without losing another second. "Wha- Spyro! Wait, what's going on? Spyro!?" Cynder cried after the dragon but he didn't return.
Spyro dashed outside of the hospital through a crowd of worried Skylanders and bystanders and couldn't believe his own eyes. The Academy was being assaulted by an enemy who was believed to be long gone. An enemy with such power, that everyone who merely mentioned his name trembled in fear. It was none other than the Undead Dragon King Malefor.
The enormous dragon was spewing purple flames across the roofs and pillars of the Academy as the Skylanders were fleeing helplessly. Some tried to fight him off, but they were all overwhelmed by his undead magic. Spyro didn't hesitate and jumped into battle. "What are you doing here Malefor? How did you return?"
"Spyro, so we meet again." The king interrupted his massacre with a sinister grin whilst looking at the tiny dragon. "I thought I'd pay you and your friends a little visit after being resurrected from my immortal doom" The purple tinted flames surrounding him made his presence even more threatening than usual.
"Resurrected- How?" Spyro's companions gathered behind him as long as Malefor wasn't busy attacking any of them.
"Unimportant. What's far more important is the fact that I will obliterate this entire Academy and rule all of Skylands with an iron claw!" The menacing dragon's eyes glowed in a yellow light as he was about to continue his rampage.
Further off from the scene of action, one of the Academy's many portals was activated. Through a bright light Hex floated out in a hurry. She looked around and soon saw the terrifying scenery and dashed towards her allies. The Skylanders have been fighting the dragon king with their combined strengths, and while many of them took heavy hits, they were slowly able to make out his weak spots and fight him more effectively. Spyro was facing the dragon head on. They were both weakened, but Malefor still had enough energy left in him to shot a mighty undead blast at Spyro. The Magic Skylander couldn't react in time and the blow was about to consume him. He closed his eyes just to open them seconds later after nothing happened. He saw Hex in front of him, using her powerful magic to shield the leader from the strike and finally throw it back at Malefor. The king screamed in agony as he was engulfed by his own flames and finally turned into thin air.
There was silence. Everyone looked at Hex in awe. They were about to cherish the witch before she raised her hand to silence them. "It's not over."
Everyone looked at the place Malefor was just standing moments ago. There was a mysterious purple light in mid air which spread out like a flame. It turned bigger with each second and left the Skylander shocked once again. When it was finally done growing, it shifted colors and out of the light emerged Malefor, standing tall in his full glory without a scratch on his body. No words could be heard. There was only silence as the Dragon King looked down on the heroes with a dark smile.
"So, you did return to save your friends. How noble of you." He was looking at Hex while talking in a sarcastic tone to tease her.
"Hex, what's going on here?" Spyro finally spoke up and wanted to know how Malefor could return from the dead after only a few moments.
Hex ignored the dragon and instead directed her voice back at the evil dragon. "Leave this place Malefor, you have no reason to be here!"
"I have the reason that I've had for the past thousands of years, to rule the Skylands. And even you won't be able to stop me this time." Malefor kept his sinister grin on his face at all time to show everyone how confident he was in his power.
"Hex, why is he here? How could he come back?" Spyro sounded terrified and expected the witch to have an answer, but she once again ignored him.
"I will defeat you as many times as I have to you twisted beast!" Hex clenched her fists and was ready to fight the dragon with all her strength.
"Save your powers witch, don't you want to tell your friends what they want to know." Malefor knew how confused everyone was after his incredibly fast resurrection and wanted to let them know exactly how it was possible. "This one might fall into a coma if you keep him waiting."
He was referring to Spyro who cowered behind Hex in fear. He was lost and feared for his life, the dragon thought that Malefor has become truly invincible.
Hex looked behind herself to see the terrified Skylanders, but she didn't know how to explain it to them, since she wasn't quite sure herself.
"I told you during our last encounter that you cannot defeat me. No one can." Malefor started to tell the same story that he told Hex when he surprised her in the underworld just a few minutes ago. "I have been resurrected by a force greater than all of you together. And what keeps me alive and allows me to return from the dead is the exact same force that once put an end to me. It's you, Hex."
The crowd gasped and all eyes were on Hex. The Undead Skylander remained silent until she suddenly raised both of her hands in a quick motion. She summoned a pair of giant skeletal hands from the depths of the underworld which grabbed Malefor's hind legs. The king's body was torn to the ground, causing the entire Academy to shake under his enormous force. The dragon used his front legs to push himself up, but the hands kept pulling him away from the still shocked Skylanders. Hex concentrated on removing the foe with the help of the hands, but it was no easy task. Malefor roared and attempted to shoot another breath of fire from his air, just to get interrupted by another strong pull. When he was at the edge of the island, Malefor used all his might to stay on it by digging his claws into the earth. Hex moved closer to the edge to look him in the eyes before she would banish him back down into the hole he emerged from.
"You cannot keep me trapped forever!" Malefor yelled as he made another unsuccessful attempt to pull himself back up. "I will return, and you will regret ever facing me!"
Hex has heard enough and let her arms fall in a downwards motion, which Malefor soon did as well. With the skeletal hands tightly grabbing onto him, the dragon fell down from the island and into the endless foggy depths of Skylands, until all Hex could see was a wild flurry of purple lights that eventually disappeared in the fog as well.
Everyone hurried to the edge to see if there was any sign left of him, but there wasn't. They all looked at Hex with relief, but the sorceress didn't bother to turn around. Instead, she summoned another huge skeletal hand right in front of her and opened its palm. The Skylander then continued to float over the white bones which served as fingers and into the middle of the hand.
"Hex, what are you doing?" Spyro questioned the witch as she hovered inside the large hand.
The witch finally turned around to face her worried allies, with Spyro up front. "I can't keep Malefor trapped from up here… I have to follow him."
"What!?" Spyro was shocked and didn't want to lose his trusted ally. "You can't do that!" Spyro didn't understand what exactly happened between the two recently, but he wouldn't let any Skylander near that malicious creature. "What did he mean when he said you are the force that keeps him alive? Hex you have to tell us what's going on!"
Hex sighed and decided to finally tell everyone the truth about her disturbing bond with the dragon king. "As he already said, he can't be defeated." She felt a certain guilt but also anger for his return and hesitated when talking about it. "I fought him just a few hours ago, I thought I finally put an end to him, but then that same light appeared and brought him back."
"That can't be possible, no being can resurrect itself after every defeat!" Stealth Elf decided to speak in Spyro's place and find some solution to their problem.
"You're right, that isn't possible." Hex agreed with the elf. "Unless they have a source of power that allows them to do so."
Spyro thought about that for a moment and put the pieces together. "Wait, does that mean you…"
"He is using my powers to resurrect himself and become even more powerful than before." Hex finally told them exactly what Malefor told her. "After my first battle with him, when I turned into an undead and my powers changed, a remaining fragment of his soul connected itself to them and used it to keep Malefor alive all those years." The witch couldn't believe that she helped Malefor to return to the Skylands instead of ridding them from him after everything he put her through. "He couldn't use my powers to regain his physical body and magic, but some other force helped him with that and now he can use me to stay alive forever."
"Hex, I-" Spyro had no words. He didn't want to make her feel like it's her fault the dragon is back, since it was clearly a cruel curse that she couldn't escape. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay Spyro." Hex looked over the crowd one more time before turning her back towards them and closing the fingers of the skeletal hand around herself. "I will make sure that he never causes anymore damage again."
With those words the giant head with the Skylander inside of it descended from the island as well, following Malefor deep down into the underworld.
"Hex, wait!" Spyro dashed to the edge and looked down, but the witch was already gone.
Everything went silent again, until Stealth Elf joined Spyro and put her hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be fine, Hex knows what she's doing."
"But we have to help her!" Spyro looked at Stealth Elf with determination but also sadness. "We can't leave her down there with him."
A cold wind blew across the crowd and some of the paralyzed heroes could feel a cold shiver running down their spine. The Skylanders spent a few more moments looking over the devastated edge, with haunting traces of Malefor's claws going through the earth like a blade, constantly reminding them that one of the most dangerous and powerful villains in Skylands is back.
After everyone processed the shocking scenery, a ray of light shined down through the grey clouds in the form of a pillar onto the same spot where Hex just stood moments ago. The Skylanders looked upwards and soon saw a divine figure descend from the heavens. It was a woman dressed in white and gold fabric with a halo floating over her head. She had golden bronze hair which was styled backwards with the sharp tips pointing straight up. The unknown face landed on the messy ground of the Academy, her cape-like cloth moving elegantly with the wind, and observed the group of heroes for a moment, who were all confused as to who she was and why she was there.
"That was certainly an unpleasant display I had to witness." The halo above the woman's head started to move on its own and floated in front of her. The ring expanded and created a yellowish screen with data inside of it, which the stranger used to write on. "The return of the Undead Dragon King Malefor followed by his disappearance alongside a Skylander." She kept her eyes on the screen while reciting what she was writing down.
Spyro stared at her for a few more moments before breaking the lonely discussion. "Excuse me, but who are you?"
The stranger stopped her documentation and moved her eyes up to look at the leader properly. "Oh right, how rude of me. My name is Angelica, ambassador of the Guardians." Her voice sounded very smooth and almost soothing, but it was a rather deep tone that gave off the vibe that she was a more serious type.
That information didn't ring any bells with the dragon. Some Skylanders have heard of an elite group of angels who are located in the Highlands, a part of the Skylands high up in the clouds, called the Guardians.
Angelica typed some more things onto her halo screen before closing it and returning the ring to the position above her head. "Now where is Knight Light?"
The front row of Skylanders looked behind themselves to see the Light Trap Master push himself through the crowd and step in front of Angelica. "Here." He said in a rather unpleased tone.
"What's that ridiculous mask supposed to be?" Angelica sounded revolted after seeing the knight's mask which he has been wearing ever since he became a Skylander. "Take it off!"
Knight Light sighed before grabbing the hawk-like helmet with his hands and removing it. The Skylander revealed his short messy golden blonde hair. Since he always had a helmet on his head, the Light Skylander didn't bother with styling his hair a certain way, so it was just a collection of spikes going into different directions. He had sky blue eyes that managed to shimmer even in the dark setting the group was currently in. "What do you want?" The angel asked while some Skylanders whispered about the unexpected reveal of his entire head.
"You have been a Skylander for several years now Knight Light. You know very well that your wings were a gift for your… outstanding performance as a Guardian." By the tone of Angelica's voice, everyone could tell that she wasn't too fond of the knight. "However, now that you are no longer a member of our group you have to hand your wings back to the Highlands."
Gasps could be heard from the crowd and Knight Light's eyes widened with disbelief. "Are you serious?"
"Absolutely." Angelica remained stern and cold. "Our superior wants it that way."
Spyro has had enough of the confusing discussion and decided to confront his fellow Skylander. "Knight Light, what's going on? You never told us about any of this."
"I wasn't allowed to." He looked over to his former companion who notably doesn't have any wings. "The Guardians are a secret organization that's supposed to protect the Skylands from above."
"That's the Skylanders' job!" Spyro sounded insulted. "What makes you believe you need to protect us?" He directed his words at the obedient Guardian.
"Minutes ago, you were threatened by Malefor and one of your allies had to drag him to the underworld. I think that's a perfect example for how well you can protect yourselves, not to mention the rest of the Skylands." Angelica had a proud smile on her face while keeping eye contact with the angered dragon.
"I'm not giving you my wings!" Knight Light finally answered. "I have earned them, and I still require them as a Skylander, you can't just take them!"
"You are ruining our reputation and anonymity by presenting your wings to the world. The Skylanders have no right to any of our powers and privileges. Neither do you as one of them." Angelica summoned a pair of golden blades curved in dangerous shapes and stepped closer to Knight Light.
The Trap Master pulled out his Traptanium Scythe and held it in front of him defensively. "Not a chance, Angelica."
The Guardian sighed and pulled her halo up as a screen again. "Disobedience and stubbornness." The Guardian spoke while typing. "Typical." A comment she added on the side.
There was an odd silence with Knight Light in his fighting stance and Angelica seemingly waiting for something to appear in her halo. Finally, she closed it again and it floated back above her head. "Fine, there's a possibility for you to keep your wings."
Knight Light moved his scythe down and listened suspiciously. "What is it?"
"If you can prove yourself to be an effective protector and guardian to the Skylands, you will be able to keep your wings." She rolled her eyes before finishing the sentence. "Even as a Skylander."
Knight Light had a faint smile and was happy to hear that. "I'm sure that wasn't your idea, so thanks to your superiors."
Angelica scoffed and took a step back. "I will keep watch over you Knight. So you better deliver your best performance."
Not a second later, the Guardian ascended back into a pillar of light and disappeared among the clouds. Knight Light's hair flowed in the wind as he looked up with a self-assuring smile.
Another moment of silence occurred, and no one had the words to comment the situation. "I sure hope the was the last unexpected visit for today." Sprocket finally said jokingly.
The group separated again, and everyone discussed the recent occurrences. Some wondered what those Guardians were all about, while others expressed their shock about Malefor's return. Stealth Elf and Spyro walked alongside each other as usual. "So, Knight Light used to be a member of a secret organization and might lose his wings." Stealth Elf commented. "And we thought Tidepool was suspicious."
Spyro couldn't focus on his friend's speech. He only repeatedly heard Hex' last words before sinking into the dark depths of Skylands in his head. "Spyro?" Stealth Elf finally pulled the Magic Skylander out of his thoughts. "You're thinking about Hex and Malefor, aren't you?"
"I just can't believe he's back." Spyro started to imagine all the terrible things that could happen if he managed to escape. "And Hex…"
"We will find a way to stop him." Stealth Elf didn't worry too much about the undead threat and instead wanted to focus on the mission at hand. "Hex is taking care of him, we don't have to worry about it now." The friends walked a little longer before Stealth Elf continued. "And there's still the Golden Queen problem. We don't know where she is or what she's up to, we need to find her first."
"You're right." Spyro set his priorities straight and realized that the queen was currently more dangerous than the undead dragon. "We have to take care of one thing after the other."
Many months since Malefor's return and disappearance have passed. The dragon king hasn't been seen ever since, but neither has Hex. The search for Golden Queen was unsuccessful so far, but the Skylanders continue to put all of their time and energy into finding her, as they feared an unexpected attack at any time. Knight Light has been going on missions regarding the queen and other villains everyday to prove his worth to the Guardians and keep his wings.
Meanwhile Sprocket has been working tirelessly on a device that would show her the exact location of the Golden Queen ever since she escaped. The engineer used the jewel that she found after her fight with the queen to help her, but nothing worked out so far. She made some final adjustments to the tracking machine she was currently working on until it was finally done. The Tech Skylander grabbed the turquoise stone and held it tightly in her hand.
"Please let this work." The goldling took a deep breath before placing the small object inside the device.
The machine scanned the stone and calculated many different factors and formulas. It was supposed to find the other identical jewels that the Golden Queen possessed, no matter where they are in Skylands. It seemed as if it would fail again at first, but finally the screen attached on front of the device showed a map with a blinking red dot. That was the location of the Golden Queen. Sprocket's mouth formed a big grin and the Tech Skylander jumped up in joy. "Finally I can put an end to this!"
