The Chronicler was true to his word and let the group stay in the temple as they rested and prepared themselves for the battle of their lives, as the forces that were waiting for them at the Well of Souls would likely be greater than everything they had faced in the past and they needed all the rest they could get, since there was no telling what might be waiting for them on the landmass that was their true destination. Spyro was the only one that knew what might be waiting for them, given what he had seen in his past life, though even he knew that things might be different because this time they hadn't fought Captain Skabb and his Skavengers, where he dealt with them in his past life before he even reached the White Isle, so they were likely going to run into those enemies while they were exploring the Well of Souls. As such Spike and the others took the time to listen to what Spyro had to say and what he might know about what they would be seeing in the near future, all so they might have some edge when they left the White Isle and started their assault on the fortress the Apes were in, to stop their enemies from acquiring the final Elementium Key that they were trying to steal from where Malefor placed it a thousand years ago, when he sealed the Destroyer away. That was something that made the group go silent for a moment, the Destroyer and what it would do if it was allowed to break out of the prison it was trapped inside, creating the Ring of Annihilation and blowing apart the entire world, something Spyro and Cynder had stopped by making the greatest sacrifice they could have made.
While they were talking the Chronicler did what he told them earlier, he opened a portal to the area that Cynder's father, the High Guardian of Warfang, was resting in so he could inform him as to what was going on and enlist his aid if the Apes succeeded in acquiring the final piece of their puzzle, and he made sure none of them followed him by closing the portal behind him, that way they would learn who the High Guardian was later, regardless of what the Apes did, as all of them suspected that he might congratulate them if they stopped the Apes and made sure the final Elementium Key remained in the Well of Souls.
In addition to that the group made sure to tell Nestor and the others on the airship about their plans, how they would be spending the night at the temple and that, when morning hit and they had their breakfast, the Chronicler would open the way for them to head to where the Well of Souls was located, to make up for the time they were spending on the White Isle and to give them the element of surprise this time around. Right now they needed such a thing, as there was no telling what the Apes were doing and what they might have prepared for the eventual arrival of those that would try to stop them from acquiring the final piece of their puzzle, though they would be lucky if the Apes assumed they weren't coming and weren't ready to defend the path to the area the Key was located in, despite the fact that the group knew it likely wouldn't turn out to be that way. That was the reason they were preparing for a grand battle between them and the Apes that were waiting for them, hence why Ember and some of the others used the training area and made sure they were as ready as they could be for when the morning arrived, while the rest of the group relaxed and waited for their host to arrive, to tell them that he had spoken with the High Guardian and that the mysterious dragon knew about the threat that the Apes posed to the rest of the world. Cynder, of course, remained silent about her father, refusing to tell the rest of the group about him since she knew they would be seeing him in the near future and that they would be shocked by what they might discover, hence the reason Spike decided to stop asking and just wait and see what the future held for them, something that the others followed not a few seconds later.
Eventually the Chronicler returned to the temple and informed them that he was successful in telling his friend about what the Apes were up to, not to mention the fact that his friend would move out of where he was located, regardless of whether or not the group actually stopped the Apes from acquiring the final Key, but the group were hoping that they would be able to swipe the Elementium Key and then get out before the Apes were able to acquire it. Once he was back the group invited him to join them for dinner, where Cynder confirmed that the food was good and that Alvar was very talented, especially given that he was one of the greatest chefs in the Dragon Realms, and it wasn't long before the ancient dragon agreed with Cynder as they ate the meal that had been prepared for them, even though Nestor and the others did try to question the Chronicler for a time. It was mostly due to the fact that he was one of the oldest dragons they had the pleasure of meeting and there was no telling what he might know or what he might share with them, something that Spike shared after looking at what was located inside the Chronicler's library, an area that he would love to look at and might even return to once they were done saving the world. Other than that it appeared that this dinner was basically the same as the ones they had since they started this adventure, the expedition to the continent of Doxantha so they could figure out what the third Aether icon meant, but they needed something like this before even thinking about attacking the Well of Souls, which might be the greatest fight of their entire lives.
Once dinner was over, and both Cynder and the Chronicler thanked them for it, the group returned to their chambers and turned in for a few hours, so they could be as rested as they possibly could for when they attacked the Well of Souls, not to mention all of the Apes and whatever defenses they might have set up ahead of time, while the Chronicler returned to his temple and rested as well, to prepare for what the group was going to do when morning arrived.
When the early hours of the morning arrived Spyro and the others got up and had a quick breakfast, not that Alvar was bothered by them getting up early since he was used to the various cook times of the foods he prepared for everyone in the Artisans lands, before the group quickly gathered everything they might need for their assault on the Well of Souls and all of the enemies that would be waiting for them. Spike, even though he had brought Akilesh with them and kept it in his chamber, decided not to bring the staff with him, since he had the feeling that he might not need something as strong as it during their assault, before he closed the door, sealed it with magic to make sure no one went for the staff, and rejoined the group as they headed for the temple and the chamber that the Chronicler would be waiting in. As they did that, where Nestor and the others wished them well in their quest to stop the Apes from acquiring the final Elementium Key, Spike did notice that the moons were visible in the sky and that they were much closer to forming an eclipse, way ahead of time if his thoughts were correct on the matter, meaning he had either studied the globe in the Arcanaeum wrong or they had underestimated how quickly the eclipse was going to form, though this did mean they had a few hours, at best, before the Night of Eternal Darkness happened. All of them also noticed that, despite the fact that it was supposed to be about five or six in the morning, the coloration of the sky made it look like it was around nighttime, to which they turned their attention to what they were doing as they walked into the temple and came to a stop when they reached the chamber that the Chronicler was standing in, where the bare door had been turned into another portal for them to use.
"As I promised, you now have a portal that will take you to the outskirts of the Well of Souls, which is the closest I can get during the Night of Eternal Darkness," the Chronicler stated, not that the group was expecting him to try and hold all of them back, not when the fate of the world was at stake and there was a chance that they might be able to stop it from happening if they got their hands on the Key the Apes were after, before he glanced at the portal for a moment, "also, I'll make sure that the connection between this side of the portal and the other side remains intact, that way you can return to this temple in a matter of seconds, even if it means backtracking to the area I'm sending you to."
"Good, then we'll be able to beat the Apes to Warfang if the worst comes to pass," Spyro said, though he knew that all of them were strong and that they would be able to overcome anything that was thrown at them, just like they had done in the past, to which he focused on making sure they succeeded and charged through the portal that was in front of them, as he was eager to get this part of their adventure over with and Cynder was the first one to follow him, followed by Spike, Ember, and the rest of the group as they left the temple behind and headed for the Well of Souls.
What the group discovered when they appeared on the other side of the portal, which rested on what appeared to be a cliff that had a large area for them to stand on, was that the Well of Souls was actually a massive mountain that had a very sinister fortress built around the outside of it, while the mountain itself had a peak that seemed to be shaped like a dragon's head that had the mouth open, while the sky was darker than it had been at the Chronicler's temple, it appeared to be snowing, and there were lightning flashes every now and then... and, on top of all that, everyone could feel the sheer darkness, the malice and despair, that the Well of Souls seemed to be emitting.
"So this is the Well of Souls... its a beacon for the forces of evil, like Gaul and his Apes." Spike commented, as he knew what the Chronicler had told them about the Well of Souls, even if he didn't tell them how it had been formed or anything like that, before he shook his head and stared out at the area that they would be fighting their way through, even though the first step was to glide down to the pillars that would allow them to even get to what appeared to be the front gate, an area that seemed ripe for disaster, before he sighed as he stared at the moons for a few seconds, "Spyro, we should get moving... the moons are getting closer to forming the eclipse the Apes are waiting for."
Spyro nodded his head as he and the other flyers took to the air and headed down to the path that would take them to the front gate of the fortress, while at the same time Bianca made sure to use her magic so she and the others could keep up with them, where they found that there weren't any enemies at all and that they were allowed to reach the lone pillar of rock that was in front of the main entrance, which was where the group found two Apes, Soldiers by the looks of them, who had sickly yellow colored fur and wore dark purple colored armor, that retreated as soon as they saw them, as in they headed towards the fortress.
"Great, now they know we're here," Cynder remarked, though there wasn't much they could do about it, as those were most likely scouts and they had fled as soon as they saw the group heading towards the fortress, meaning all they could do now was continue with their mission and head for the front gate, which was what they did since there didn't seem to be anything outside the fortress that they could use.
Cynder's statement about the Apes knowing they were there was confirmed when they landed in front of the front gate and the green metallic door opened before their eyes, almost like Gaul was inviting all of them to come inside, but as the group stepped inside the fortress they kept their guards up, as there was no telling what sort of traps and tricks their enemies had for them, nor did they know how many foes they would be fighting at one time. As it turned out there was a courtyard of sorts on the other side of the gate, just like what Spyro and the main group had seen back in Dante's Freezer, but this time it appears that the snow was unable to enter the open fortress, where Spike assumed a barrier of some kind had been set up in the past, meaning they could walk on the stone ground without slipping on the snow or ice, though the lightning did strike some of the metallic bits of the area, so they did have to be careful about that. While the group looked for a way forward, which could be a tunnel or a doorway that would open once they did something, they were assaulted by a large group of Apes, ten of the Soldiers to be exact, who jumped down into the area that they were in, where Ember had to assume that they came from the roofs of the structures that surrounded them, to which she and the others lashed out at their enemies without wasting a single second. Spyro and Cynder rushed into a pair and knocked them into one of the walls that were around them, Spike and Bianca blasted their target with a decent sized Fireball, Ember blocked the attack that her target sent her way and then cut it down, Hunter and Elora struck another one until it was unconscious, Sol used his Phoenix Dash to strike one down, Sheila kicked her foe a few times until it was knocked out, Sgt. Byrd decided not to waste a missile and chopped his foe in the back of the neck, Bentley just whacked his opponent into a wall with his club, and Agent 9 tripped the Ape Soldier that was coming at him before he blasted it in the back, enough to knock it out for the foreseeable future and give them plenty of time be it and the others woke up.
Once they were done with their enemies a tunnel opened, as in the sealed stone door that covered it opened so they could progress to another part of the fortress, though they knew that flying and teleporting were out of the question since there was no telling what the barrier that was around this place would do, hence the reason that the group headed for the tunnel they had just unlocked. Inside the tunnel the group found a green beam of energy that was coming from the wall at the end of the passage, where Spike threw up a barrier in front of them and started walking, where he explained that this was designed to hurt whoever came into contact with the beam, but due to him using a magical barrier he prevented any of them from taking damage and allowed them to reach other area the beam was coming from, allowing him to smash the small dragon head statue it was coming from so he could lower the barrier. The tunnel brought them to another section of the fortress that had a metallic door blocking the way, though there were two Ape Soldiers that jumped down into the area that the group had just entered and rushed into another tunnel that was opposite of where the door rested, though from what Bentley discovered the door seemed to be locked and the only way forward was to follow the Apes, only they soon found out that the Apes didn't head into another tunnel, it was actually a circular chamber that once held a statue of some kind, either an Ape or a dragon, but it had been smashed to pieces and the fragments were hard to make out. After that Sheila spotted a hole in the floor that they could use to move forward, to which they took turns jumping down into the underground part of the section of the fortress they were in and found that it did lead them to a short tunnel, one that just so happened to have a decent sized rock moving like an elevator between where they were and the level that seemed to be above them.
The rock elevator brought them to another part of the outer ring of the fortress, as that was what the courtyard-like areas reminded them of, though as they did that an Ape Commander, this one carrying a curved shield and a large axe in its right hand, walked out of the tunnel that was their ticket to moving deeper into the fortress, before they discovered that this particular type of Ape Commander had a nasty trick up its sleeves, it could turn invisible. Spike was sure that magic was involved for this to happen, even though none of the Apes so far had shown any knowledge or skill with the art, and Cynder even confirmed that this was the first time she was seeing something like this, but fortunately the group had him on their side and he knew what to do, as he simply cast a Dispel spell into the area they were in and the Ape Commander was made visible once more. The Dispel spell was designed to be used against an enemy, without risking whatever spells the user had on them, which meant that the caster was exempt from the spell in question while their targets were forced to go without their spells for a time, something that caught the Ape Commander by surprise when it noticed that they could see it and that they were following its movements with ease, before it tried to attack them and Ember parried the attack with her metallic claws, allowing the others to attack it while it was stunned. The battle came to a rather swift end as Bentley struck their foe in the chest with his club and knocked it into one of the nearby walls, allowing Bianca to blast it for a moment and make sure it was unconscious, though they had to turn their attention to the six Ape Soldiers and the two Ape Leaders that invaded the area as soon as the first foe fell, showing that their enemies were trying to attack them while their guards were down when they took care of an enemy, a viable strategy in the grand scheme of things, but it didn't help them all that much, given the power the group possessed.
That time around they found that their enemies were far stronger than what they were expecting, as one of the Ape Leaders swung its sword and lightly cut into Elora's armored arms, not enough to damage what was below the outer metal but enough to make them realize that they really had to be careful when they fought the Apes that guarded the Well of Souls, where she blasted her foe in the chest and knocked it backwards into a wall, just as the rest of the group took down the rest of their foes, which was where the group paused for a moment, to make sure there were no more foes coming for them, before some more Apes and some Death Hounds dropped down into the area to fight them. This gave them a good idea as to how strong their enemies were and just how many of them had to be lurking in the depths of the fortress, as it seemed like there were no end to the enemies that were coming down into the area they were in, especially with Hunter and Bianca turning their attention to the air so they could cull the Dreadwings that were trying to drop more enemies into the area they were fighting in. Of course Spyro and Cynder lashed out with their fire and wind elements, Ember struck her targets down with her metallic claws, Elora punched and blasted her foes, Spike lashed out with his magic and knocked the Apes near him into the ground, Bentley sent his foes flying into the walls that were around them, Sheila kicked some Apes and knocked them out, Sol blew his targets up with Fireballs, and both Sgt. Byrd and Agent 9 opened fire on the foes that were in the air, making sure not to interfere with what Hunter and Bianca were doing.
It took them some time to take care of all the Apes that were attacking them, or the Apes just stopped coming down into the area that they were fighting in, but once all of the enemies were taken care of, and everyone made sure all of their foes had been knocked out, they regrouped and moved towards the tunnel that the first enemy had emerged from, where the door had opened and they were allowed to enter it at last. This time around it was actually a tunnel, made of earth and stone unlike the carved ones that they had seen in the past, and they moved towards a new part of the fortress, one that was actually outside the fortress and didn't seem to go anywhere, save for a ledge that reminded them of the area they had started in, before Spyro turned to the right and found some steps that lead up to another area, just like he recalled from his memories and found it odd that they matched up with what they were seeing. Instead of questioning it the group went up in groups of three so they could make sure no enemies were waiting at the top of the platforms, and if there were Apes at the top of the path having three meant they would be able to push their foes backwards so the rest could join the fun, though what they discovered was that there were no enemies in the immediate area for them to worry about, though Spike did throw up a barrier to protect himself, Spyro, and Cynder from the explosive barrels that were coming their way, meaning none of them would take damage from what was going on. After that Spike followed the path and made sure to keep the barrier up, giving the others some time to catch up with him and the others, before he located the stockpile of explosives that the Apes were using against them and blew it up with a well placed Fireball, revealing five Ape Soldiers and an Ape Leader in a decent sized room-like chamber, one that they could fight in when the rest of the group reached the area he, Spyro, and Cynder were in.
Once the rest of the group rejoined them it didn't take them all that long to clear out the Apes that were in the tunnel that the explosive barrels had been rolled down, allowing Spyro to lead the others right to an open dead end, as it seemed the path they were following didn't go on for very long, to which he jumped into the air and glided down to another area, one that seemed to be the way forward, causing the rest of the group to join him a few moments later, before they started to move forward once more. The area it brought them to appeared to be similar to the ledges that they were seeing, with some railing to keep the Apes from going over the edge, though this time around they discovered something interesting, the Trolls from Dante's Freezer had come to the Well of Souls, no doubt hearing the siren call of the area, and were here to make an alliance with Gaul, or they were here to tear the Ape King down and claim the place for themselves, though they did know that the Trolls were enemies as the first group they encountered, containing six Troll Warriors for them to divide among the twelve of them, and the reason they knew that was due to the enemies in question rushing towards all of them with their weapons drawn. These Troll Warriors put up more of a fight than the frozen ones in Dante's Freezer did, but at the same time the group had more allies than the last time they encountered these foes and they were the ones that were victorious after they lashed with their enemies, to which Spyro continued to lead them as he approached a sinister glowing green waterfall that reminded them of what they had seen in the Ancient Grove, and it had rock platforms that seemed to be how they were supposed to get to the top.
Instead of wasting time waiting for the perfect set of rocks to come down the waterfall, where they disappeared and were never seen again when they reached the bottom of the area that was in front of where they were standing, the group decided to do things the easy way as Spyro and the other flyers flew up to the highest point, the area that the platforms would have allowed them to get to, before Bianca and those she teleported appeared behind them. Once they were ready they marched through the opening that was in front of them and found the river that fed the waterfall, where a number of Troll Champions, since all of the figures in the distance seemed to be shaped like the Trolls and were larger than the group of Soldiers they had taken out, pointed in their direction and started to fire bolts of red energy at them, where Bianca used her magic to summon a barrier while Spike called forth the ice to form a strong bridge that would allow them to cross over to where their enemies were standing. The Troll Champions weren't happy to see them, not that the group was surprised by that fact since it appeared that every force of evil in Doxantha was gathering in the fortress that had been built on the Well of Souls, save for the Skavengers since those were the only ones they hadn't seen yet, but even then none of them held back as they engaged the four Troll Champions, two from the area the bridge lead to and two from an upper part of the area, and knocked them to the ground, allowing them to climb the rock platforms that their foes had been guarding. Or at least that was the plan as all of the Troll Champions got back up and, in an odd twist, shattered their armor to reveal that these ones possessed the power to continue fighting as floating skeletal torsos, which was rather odd when they thought about it, though Spike knew it made sense due to the Well of Souls and the fact that the eclipse was happening, meaning some of the darker and more evil spirits might be returning to this world and were using their powers to prevent them from reaching the area the Elementium Key was located in.
Despite the fact that these Troll Champions had to be taken down twice, which was a new feeling for the group since none of the previous enemies bothered to get back up after they took them down the first time, the group found that they were able to repeat the process of knocking them out, where Spike noticed that such a thing seemed to cause their spirits to fade back into the Well of Souls, causing the bodies and armor to disappear, meaning that the Troll Champions they took out might come back later on, even though he hoped he was wrong since he'd rather not deal with more enemies at the end of their journey through this area.
With their enemies defeated the group was able to climb up the couple of rock platforms with ease, which brought all of them to another stone door that had been opened and revealed a passage that would allow them to continue moving forward, even though Spike found one of the beam firing dragon head statues at the end of it, so he used a barrier so they could get close to it and then smashed it like the first one they had found. Once that was taken care of they discovered that the area at the end of the passage was full of rock platforms for them to climb up, ledges to walk on, and green water to avoid, so they just decided to fly and teleport to what looked like the highest point of the area, which also happened to be where two Troll Champions and a Troll Horseman were waiting for them, hence the reason they landed to take them out so they could figure out where to go from there. Of course those weren't the only enemies in the area, as the moment they landed a number of Troll Warriors rushed out of small summoning circles to face them as well, at least ten of them to be exact, so the group lashed out at their enemies and spread out so none of their friends got caught in the crossfire that was about to fill the entire area as they blasted, kicked, punched, and attacked the enemies that were coming at them, all while Spike made sure to keep an eye on the magic in the area so he could turn things around. For a time it really seemed like it was a never ending wave of enemies as Troll Warriors fell, disappeared, and then reappeared, Troll Champions fell, rose for a second attempt, fell again and disappeared, only to reappear, and the Troll Horseman just disappeared entirely, as it never came back after it was beaten the first time around, though the tide turned in their favor as Spike sealed off the summoning circles that were in the area, preventing more Trolls from being brought to this area, allowing the rest of the group to lash out and take their foes down, and even everything was said and done they watched as the spirits departed once more, to be revived to fight them again in the near future.
"I'm going to say it, since no one else will: I hate this place." Hunter remarked, as this was easily the worst place he had visited in the entire world, as it appeared that the enemies were just going to keep respawning, as he was starting to call it despite whatever technical name Spike gave to what was happening, until they either found a way to stop all of them from coming back or got the Elementium Key and booked it as hard as they could, though even as he said that he and the rest of the group took a few moments to catch their breath and ready themselves for the next part of this area.
"Yeah, I didn't like this place all that much in my previous life," Spyro stated, as he recalled all the ordeals that he had gone through to even make it to the point they were at right now and knew there was more to come, while Cynder nodded her head to show that she agreed with them, as while her memories were different from Spyro's she didn't have any fond memories of this place, in fact she was sure that, in her past life, she hated it way more than Hunter did, but she kept that to herself as the group started to move again.
With the area cleared, at great cost since it did take them some time to actually clear out all of the enemies so Spike could seal the summoning circles, probably ten to twenty minutes that they really needed given that they had no idea how close Gaul was to acquiring the Key, the group used some rock platforms that appeared after the last foe had been beaten and jumped up to yet another passage, one that had one of the beam firing statues that Spike just shattered from afar since he didn't want to toy around with it and its magic. When they stepped out onto the ledge that was at the end of the passage they found that there was an Ape, who was wearing a set of purple attire that made it look like it was an assassin or something, which meant it was bad at its job since it arrived on a Dreadwing and was currently flying a short distance in front of the ledge that they were standing on, which just so happened to be the moment it started to laugh and talk to all of them, or at least that was what they were assuming it was doing. It appeared that it might have dressed itself wrong this morning, as all they were getting was mumbles and nonsense that didn't make any sense when they thought about what it was trying to say, so Hunter readied some of his arrows, Sgt. Byrd prepared a set of missiles, and Agent 9 quickly primed his blaster while the Ape talked, before the three of them loosed their attacks and struck the Dreadwing with everything they had, to which it staggered for a moment before falling into the depths of the area. Of course they waited for a second or two, just to be sure the Dreadwing and its passenger didn't come back up for a second round or anything, and when the skies remained clear of enemies they resumed moving, as they had no time to waste on foolish foes, not when Gaul was their target and he was getting closer to figuring out how to acquire the final Elementium Key he was after.
That was when they found that there was a path, made up of a number of floating rock platforms that were moving at different speeds from each other, though instead of wasting time with that, like some of the other stuff they had seen so far, the flyers quickly flew up into the air and found an area that had a tunnel they could walk through, allowing Bianca and the rest of their group to teleport up to where they were standing, which was followed by them moving forward since time was of the essence. The tunnel brought them to a small area that had what appeared to be a locked door, or at least that opinion was what they originally thought it was and were proven wrong when it opened and revealed an area that an Ape Commander happened to be patrolling, which was followed by it noticing that they were entering the area and hooted for a moment, causing a number of Ape Leaders and a group of Ape Soldiers to join it, indicating that it was declaring war on the group and that it had called reinforcements immediately. Those weren't the only enemies the group had to fight, as a number of Death Hounds were called into the area as well and they rushed at the area that Spyro, Cynder, Spike, and Ember were standing in, which was when Cynder used her Shadow Play to knock them away from the rest of the group, so they could focus on the Apes that were around them, and then dived into the shadows so she could lash out at her targets and weaken the forces that their enemies had arrayed against them. In addition to all of those enemies Hunter and the rest of the long ranged fighters turned their attention to the skies so they could take out the Dreadwings that were trying to drop containers down into the area that they were in, which no doubt contained more enemies since none of them seemed to be carrying explosive containers, allowing the others to lash out at the Apes with all of the moves that were in their various arsenals.
Once all of those enemies were taken care of, even though there had been quite a number of them and it had taken them the same amount of time that it took them to clear out the Troll infested area, the door that their enemies had been guarding opened and revealed another tunnel that had one of the beam firing statues they were getting used to seeing, one that Spike smashed with magic so they could simply walk through the tunnel and figure out what was on the other side of it, just like the previous tunnels they had seen so far. That allowed them to walk through another door and find a circular chamber of sorts that had a number of floating rock platforms that would let them reach a new area, so they took them three at a time and quickly reached a new tunnel that they walked into so the rest of the group could have some space when they reached the final platform, while Spyro, Cynder, and Spike lead the way forward. Interestingly enough the tunnel brought them to a large chamber that held what appeared to be a large dragon statue, or at least that was what all of them assumed since this one was shattered as well, which made sense due to the fact that the Apes hated the dragons and they would smash any statues that were in any area that they took over, where Spike sighed for a moment, as it was a little sad to see something like this broken beyond repair. From there the group found a path carved out of the stone of the sides of the chamber and started to follow it, even though they had to glide over to another part of the chamber, one that allowed them to walk through an opening that allowed them to step outside and realize that, against all the odds, they were standing near the top of the peak of the Well of Souls, where they could see that the moons were even closer than they had been when they started this mission.
"I had no idea we were so close to the peak of the mountain," Sol commented, because that was the part of what all of them were seeing that shocked him and the others, because they knew there was no way they could be at the peak when they had been in part of the fortress not a few minutes ago, before he turned towards the rest of the group, "So, I guess all we can do now is fly up to the peak and go from there?"
"And descend into the area that Gaul should be waiting in," Spyro replied, recalling what his memories told him about the last time he had been here, meaning that they could be walking or flying into a trap and they needed to be ready for whatever their foe tried to go when they reached their destination, which was when he noticed Spike staring at the beam of glowing purple energy that seemed to be emitting from the peak of the mountain, "Spike, is something wrong, or should we be worried about something?"
"Gaul's trying to get the Key, that much I can tell," Spike stated, as it was easy to tell what Gaul was trying to do, given all of the knowledge that they had gathered since this adventure had started, though at the same time, with the eclipse and what they had felt earlier, it was hard to tell how much progress their target had made in his quest, to which he shook his head and the group took off, the flyers heading into the air as Bianca moved the others with her magic, where all of them rushed towards the peak.
The group paused for a moment when they reached the peak of the Well of Souls, which really did look like the mouth of a dragon's head when they looked at the area that was around them, before they headed through the opening that was in the middle of the area and discovered that it was leading them to a large chamber that seemed different from what they were used to seeing, due to the throne they spotted near one of the walls and the massive Ape that was in the middle of the entire room. It was larger than the Ape Commanders, which was saying something, where they found that it was rather hard to determine what fur coloration he might have thanks to all the armor he was wearing, one that seemed to have been inspired by vikings, though as he glanced up at the area they were flying through they found something odd, he had a green gem where his left eye would normally be and he had a number of scars on his face that suggested he had been in a number of battles in the past. In addition to all of that the Ape was carrying what appeared to be a pair of blades that were scimitars, while also carrying a staff on his back, one Spike determined was brimming with power and didn't look like any of the ones he had seen in the various books he had read so far, suggesting that Gaul, as that was who this had to be, had a number of magical artifacts and that he was ready for battle, before the group noticed a number of other beings that were in the room with the Ape King. Standing near Gaul, even though they were closer to the throne, were two figures who seemed important, the first one looking like a taller Skavenger that was dressed up as a Captain, based on the attire that it was wearing and the chest full of gold, which also had a cannon, that seemed to be strapped to its back, though it also had a hook for its right hand, a pistol of sorts that acted as a peg leg for its right foot, and had two parrots with it, one on each shoulder, meaning it had to be Captain Skabb.
The other figure had to be the leader of the Trolls, based on the dead-like skin that rested on its mouth, the only bit of it that they could see given the darkened metallic armor the creature was wearing, armor that was similar to what the rest of the Trolls wore, and on its back it carried a curved blade that had a long handle that was attached to it, a scythe based on what the group knew, while the crown on its head indicated that it was either a lord or a king, but it was an evil being based on what they were seeing... to which they remained silent as they landed, especially when they noticed nine robed figures that lurked in the shadows, making it twelve to twelve if a fight broke out between them.
"Ah, the whelplings have arrived," Gaul said, announcing their arrival to the rest of the group, where they found that their initial thoughts were wrong about the numbers and that there were a lot more enemies in this chamber, as it was all too easy for them to now see the Ape Soldiers, Leaders, and Commander that were around them, with a number of Troll Soldiers and Champions standing near them and were joined by Skavenger Soldiers, Leaders, and Commanders, which meant that they were outclassed and that a fight might prove to be fatal for them, "it is fitting that you and your allies are here tonight, to witness the dawn of a new age, because when I retrieve the final Elementium Key we will be able to finally destroy Warfang and put an end to the world of dragons!"
"Yeah, by awakening the Destroyer and having it blow the entire world apart!" Bianca stated, because while she could feel the darkness that was in the air, no doubt the byproduct of the Well of Souls and what Gaul was doing, she was still surprised by the fact their foe was so willing to bring about the end of the world, apparently to kill the dragons and end the peaceful world that they had put together, "That's why we came here, to stop you from getting your hands on the Key that will set in motion a terrible chain of events..."
"Ah, but you are too late, as I have found the Elementium Key... I only prolonged retrieving it so I could savor the looks on your faces once you realize you've been beaten." Gaul stated, almost as if he didn't care for Bianca and was focused on the main fighters that he was interested in, those being Spyro, Cynder, Spike, and Ember, since the Ape seemed angry at all of the dragons that lived in Doxantha, while at the same time all of the other beings that were in the chamber were looking at him as they waited for him to do whatever it was that he was doing.
Spike started to open his mouth, so he could question Gaul and figure out what he was talking about, before he and the others saw that the Ape's right hand was lodged deep into the beam of energy that rested between him and them, something none of them had seen when they glided and teleported down into this area, but as Spyro took a step forward, to try and stop Gaul from doing what he was planning, the enemies shifted and caused him to stop... causing the Ape King to withdraw his hand and reveal that his right arm was blackened, either due to his armor being melted and merged to his arm or his entire arm was damaged from the ordeal, which was when the group noticed shining metallic key, which had a decent sized bow, the oval shaped part of it, that went with the hand-sized key.
"The Elementium Key of the Aether," Spike said, as he could see that the grayish-white lustrous key that Gaul was now holding pulsed with the power of the most powerful element in the entire world, where he had to assume Malefor either hid it inside a spirit realm of sorts or the realm that was connected to the Aether itself, a realm called Convexity based on what he knew and understood the latter could be right due to the fused nature of his arm with his armor, before he took a moment to glance at the rest of the group as he lowered his voice so they could hear him, "We have to stop him, before he leaves the mou..."
Not a few seconds later the mountain shuddered for a moment, where the group and their enemies staggered for a few moments as they braced themselves, though Gaul was the only one that didn't seem bothered by this and departed from the area that he had been standing in when they arrived, heading for a doorway that would allow him and his allies to leave the chamber and depart from the mountain, though Hunter, seeing that happen, readied one of his arrows as he aimed at Gaul's back. What happened next was that part of the ceiling collapsed and would have crushed them if Spike didn't use his magic to summon a barrier to protect them from what was going on, though as he did that the Apes, Trolls, and Skavengers departed from the chamber as the walls started to break, where he informed the others that Malefor must have set up a trap for anyone that came looking for this Elementium Key and Gaul either triggered it on accident or he might have known about it and triggered it on purpose. As he said that the mountain rocked and more fragments of the ceiling collapsed on the ground that was around them, where Spike waited for the shaking to stop and then blasted a hole in the wall that was near them, because he assumed that there was only one natural exit, save for the hole they had used to enter this area, and he was happy to see that he was able to open a way for them to get outside the mountain, to which he kept the barrier up as he extended it to the opening he had created. With that done he allowed them rest of the group to head through the opening, where the flyers took to the air as Bianca wrapped her magic around the others so they could leave the area, and once all of them were outside Spike dropped the barrier as he rushed outside, taking to the air so he could join the others and watch as the Well of Souls cracked and broke before their eyes.
The entirety of the mountain was breaking under the intensity of the trap that Malefor had prepared in the event that someone tried to claim the final Elementium Key, but as they headed for the cliff area that the Chronicler had opened the portal to, so they could return to the White Isle and head back to Warfang, it was easy to see a number of airships, from all three of their enemies, departing from the Well of Souls and seemed to be heading in the direction of Warfang... to which they headed through the portal that was waiting for them and reappeared in the temple that the Chronicler was waiting in, and he made sure to close the portal once all twelve of them were in front of him.
"We failed... Gaul has the Key, meaning he can release the Destroyer whenever he wants." Spyro said, because failing like this was new to him and the others, as they had been able to overcome everything that had been thrown at them in the past, but this time their foe had outsmarted them several times and had all the pieces that would allow him to free the Destroyer from its prison, starting the end of the world, before he considered something as he recalled the look that was on Gaul's face, "We have to get back to Warfang and get the defenses ready, as I think Gaul will march on the city before he reveals that he can release the Destroyer, so we might have a chance to save the world from him and the other villains that have joined his cause."
"I will use my power to open a portal for your airship to travel through, so we can reach Warfang in a few seconds and get started immediately," the Chronicler replied, showing Spyro and the others that he was more willing to help them and that he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that the city was prepared for the battle that was coming its way, and that included joining them in battle since he wasn't going to sit this out since the fate of the world was at stake, to which he departed from the chamber so he could get ready before they left the island.
Spyro and the others glanced at each other for a moment, as while none of them were happy that Gaul had gotten his hands on the final Elementium Key, and had gained the power to release the Destroyer, they had a chance to take down the Ape and stop him when he attacked Warfang with his army, meaning they had to make sure Ignitus and the others were ready for what was coming their way and then do everything in their power to save the world.