The Skylanders all blinked in surprise at their sudden disappearance. "Uh, what just happened?" Eruptor asked. A stunned silence followed his question as nobody could answer.

"Okay, let's just keep looking for a dark relic," Jet Vac said, getting them all back on track. They all separated again, each going off on their own individual search for a dark relic. It wouldn't be easy and splitting up was most likely their best bet.

Stealth Elf, the one Skylander who hadn't bothered to come to Vexelle's 'rescue' a minute ago, was still looking around blindly. She was having trouble identifying any dark relics and was becoming more and more certain that there wasn't a dark relic anywhere in the area at all.

"Where are they?" She asked herself over and over again. She continued to turn over rocks, look in tree tops and slice through every pile of fallen leaves with her blades. But still she found nothing of interest.

It was a moment of annoyance for Stealth Elf. She was able to take on Kaos from inside his own head, defeat Berserker with her eyes closed and her blades thrown to the ground, outmatch Dreamcatcher in a realm where the Doomraider had supposedly infinite power. Yet here she was, struggling on a simple search and recovery mission.

She kept searching, not willing to give up. She would have to find something at some point, wouldn't she? Master Eon once said that anything could be a dark relic. She'd just have to keep looking. She would find something eventually.

Unless that dumb dragon was right and she found the relic first.

She scowled at the thought. Then she sighed. What was wrong with her? She promised Sprocket she'd at least try and be nicer to her. But she just couldn't let go of this, no matter how much she tried. And when she was so sure of her abilities to find dark relics? Stealth Elf admittedly didn't like the idea of being upstaged, but by that specific dragon due to said dragon closing her eyes?! And then trying to lead them all, like she was one of them just because Spyro wanted to test her skills?

It just wasn't right. It just wasn't how they were supposed to do things. And it's not like she helped anyway.

"... come to me..."

Stealth Elf froze, looking around. What? Who said that?

"... come to me..."

Slowly she walked towards the voice, unsure what was happening. She kept on her guard, of course. She never let her guard down when on a mission or during training. But with each step she took, she grew more and more curious. And everybody knows that there's a reason why curiosity killed the cat.

Unfortunately, Stealth Elf didn't have nine lives.

"... come to me..."

Her large ears twitched slightly at the sound, picking out exactly where it was coming from. She carefully came over, blades at the ready in case this was a trap. It wouldn't be the first time someone has tried to trap a Skylander.

She finally saw where the voice was coming from; a large shard of glass on the ground, about the size of a small hand mirror. Stealth Elf looked at it, unsure what to make of it. She saw her puzzled face in the glass shard.

Suddenly, her image morphed into a horrifyingly familiar silhouette, though she couldn't quite place who's it was. She gasped and moved back quickly.

The figure stepped away from their end of the shard, revealing a long, slender body. They lifted bony arms and narrow fingers, which suddenly gave the effect of glowing, though the image remained in incomprehensible black and white.

"I will get out of here!" The figure announced, though not in the same voice as before. Suddenly a crack shot through the shard, then the image turned completely white. Stealth Elf watched in amazement and shock.

The cracks faded to nothing, as did the shard, leaving only the shard of glass, as though nothing ever happened. Stealth Elf decided it might be the dark relic she was looking for and carefully picked it up.

Then she screamed.

Black wisps shot out of the shard and encased Stealth Elf, bringing with it intense pain. The dark magic then was absorbed into her body, causing a dark, binding flash.

And that's how the others found her; collapsed and shaking on the ground, barely conscious. "Elfie!" Eruptor yelled in a panic when he saw his friend, scooping her up.

"What happened to her?!" Spyro cried, looking the girl over. Pop and JV also crowded around, concern written all over their faces.

Suddenly Stealth Elf's eyes snapped open, revealing a red glow instead of her usual milky white. "Your friend is mine now," she announced in a voice very unlike hers. "She will be perfect to feed from. And then? Then I shall feed from you all! There is only one kind who can defeat me, and the Aura Dragons have all faced their demise! The world shall be mine to feast upon!"

For a split second the red in her eyes flickered, then they settled on white. "Guys!" Stealth Elf, the real Stealth Elf, yelled. "It's dark magic! It was in that mirror shard! I can't fight it! And I can see... I see so much... be careful!"

The eyes returned to red, then a cruel laugh filled the air. "Pitiful creature! Don't worry, I'll make this nice and slow for her. After all, I was always told not to rush my food."

Then her eyes shut again and Stealth Elf went limp, as though dead, but her breathing was undeniable; weak yet fast. "We've got to get her back to the Academy!" Spyro said, grabbing her in his talons and flying off to the SuperChargers. He set her down in the one Jet Vac and Vexelle had come in. The spare seat wouldn't need to be filled anyway.

"You guys take her back, I've got something to do first!" Spyro said to the others as they leapt into their vehicles. Then he flew off.

The darkness that was possessing Stealth Elf was wrong.

There was at very least one last Aura Dragon.

And all he had to do was find her again.