- After an accident dancing with Galadria and misunderstanding some well-meaning remarks from her, Ectar, and Witterquick at a feast, Cryotek jumps at the chance to help Arzon and Feryl remove some debris from an eagle's nest. The Darkling Lords, responsible for the slabs' falling in target practice, attack on return, and capture Cryotek and start to remove his polar-bear totem. He manages to drag Cravex into the Magical Dungeon with him partway through, and the Darkling Lords try to undo the process. When Cryotek escapes, he steals Cindarr's staff - and, as Galadria and Witterquick discover when he starts acting boisterous then aggressive and steals Witterquick's staff of light-speed, has actually kept Cravex's phylot as well as his own totem. It is altering his personality enough so he wants to expand his home city of Northalia. Neither the Spectral Knights nor the Darkling Lords want him to keep it so they unite to subdue him, but the Darkling Lords' worse tempers and selfish motives may not result in him being returned to normal in one piece. And Cryotek proves a major danger to both with the more sinister influence controlling him.—brainybrailler@comcast.net
- During a banquet in New Valarak, Cryotek accidentally trips Galadria while the two of them are dancing together, leaving him feeling decidedly embarrassed. Moments later, Leoric calls on Cryotek to make a toast, prompting Witterquick to audibly whisper to Galadria that he can already guess what Cryotek is about to say. Sure enough, Cryotek toasts the Circle of Light as he always does. Afterwards, he apologises to Galadria and Witterquick for his predictability, adding that the Circle of Light is important to him. Witterquick denies that he was making fun of Cryotek, but this does not improve Cryotek's mood.
A short time later, Arzon finds Cryotek brooding in the corridor and says he needs his help with something. Cryotek says Arzon should look elsewhere if he wants witty conversation, to which Arzon replies that he'd ask the Darkling Lords if he were after a laugh, adding that what he needs right now is Cryotek's strength. Cryotek then agrees to help Arzon and the latter says they will go and get Feryl as they need the Capture Chariot to get where they are going. Cryotek, Arzon and Feryl head for the mountains where some spires have broken off and fallen onto some eagles' nests. These spires need to be moved, but Arzon can't do it by himself, so he has asked his two friends to help him. As he, Arzon and Feryl set to work getting the spires off the nests, Cryotek notes that the rock seems to have melted, but Arzon says he can't explain why.
The Darkling Lords are using the spires for target practice. When Feryl sees the Dagger Dart approaching, he realises this explains the melted spires and alerts Cryotek and Arzon. Mortdredd, in the Dagger Dart, sees the three Spectral Knights and decides to shoot at them instead, prompting Arzon to assume his Eagle form and Cryotek and Feryl to take off in the hoverpods, which they used to get up to the nests. While Feryl goes to secure the Capture Chariot, Cryotek stays to help Arzon. During the battle, Cryotek manages to eject Mortdredd from the Dagger Dart and take it over, but Cravex (who is with the other Darkling Lords nearby) witnesses this and flies into the fray in his Phylot form. Cryotek is captured and thrown into the Magical Dungeon, but when Cravex gloats at him, he pulls him in after him. Reekon hurriedly reverses the polarity and Cryotek emerges from the Magical Dungeon with his Bear Totem intact, though Cravex has lost his Phylot Totem.
As Cryotek, Arzon and Feryl regroup and (having forced the Darkling Lords to retreat) head back to New Valarak, Arzon and Feryl don't seem to notice that Cryotek is acting out of character, nor that he has taken Cindarr's Power Staff. However, Galadria soon realises something is wrong and tries to ask Cryotek about it, but he dismisses her concerns and retreats to his chamber, stopping to take Witterquick's Power Staff along the way. A short time later, Witterquick and Galadria discover that Cryotek has somehow acquired Cravex's Totem in addition to his own, which is causing him to take on Cravex's personality traits. As the Phylot takes control, Cryotek declares that he is going to form an order to rival the Spectral Knights. He then knocks Witterquick out and breaks the wall down, before transforming into the Phylot and flying off.
The other Spectral Knights set out to intercept Cryotek, encountering the Darkling Lords along the way. Since both factions of the Visionaries have reason to want the Phylot Totem removed from Cryotek, they call a truce. Cryotek, meanwhile, flies to his home city of Northalia, where a watchman sees him in the Phylot form and calls on the others on watch to sound the alarm. When Cryotek arrives on the outskirts of Northalia, he tells the leader of the party which greets him that he now possesses the Phylot Totem, moments before it takes control of him again. He boasts that, with his combined powers, he will create a kingdom that will make the whole of Prysmos tremble at his feet. Moments later, Mortdredd and Cravex appear on the scene in the Sky-Claw and Cravex unleashes the Spider of Fear on Cryotek. By the time the rest of the Visionaries arrive, Cryotek has already been bitten by the Spider and is hallucinating that a giant serpent is attacking Northalia.
Cryotek summons the Beast of Destruction which starts attacking the non-existent serpent, causing an avalanche that threatens to engulf Northalia, prompting Leoric to order Lexor to use his Power of Invulnerability to protect the city. But this alone is not enough to stop the avalanche, so the Visionaries use their vehicles' weapons to melt the snow. When Cryotek comes to his senses and realises he was endangering his own city, he vows to make the Darkling Lords pay, to which Darkstorm says Reekon believes the Phylot Totem can be removed from Cryotek whether he is alive or dead, preferably the latter as far as some of the Darkling Lords are concerned. As the Darkling Lords close in on him, Cryotek uses the Power of Speed to escape to Iron Mountain, where he tells Merklynn he needs his help to get rid of Cravex's Totem. But before Merklynn can find the right spell, the Phylot takes control again and Cryotek tells him not to bother as he needs all the magic he can get to take revenge on Darkstorm. He then flies off in the Phylot form.
Near Castle Darkstorm, Mortdredd and Virulina (in the Sky-Claw and the Dagger Dart respectively) are scouting around in search of Cryotek, with the rest of the Visionaries nearby. When Mortdredd sees Cryotek approaching in the Phylot form, he asks Darkstorm what to do and Darkstorm signals for Mortdredd to move in for the kill. Hit by a blast from the Sky-Claw's guns, Cryotek changes back into his human form and uses his Power of Strength to shoot the Sky-Claw down. He then uses the Power of Speed to bring the Dagger Dart (and Virulina) down, before summoning the Beast of Destruction, which sets about destroying Castle Darkstorm. Moments later, Cryotek sees Galadria standing beneath a pillar which is about to collapse and resists the Phylot long enough to save her. Just as the Phylot takes control again, Leoric and Witterquick (in their Totem forms) knock Cryotek out, and the Spectral Knights take him to the Magical Dungeon.
Having successfully removed the Phylot Totem from Cryotek, the Spectral Knights make their escape in the Dagger Assault, with Ectar driving the vehicle straight through Castle Darkstorm. This further weakens the building's structure, already damaged by the Beast of Destruction, and one of the outer walls collapses, causing Darkstorm and Mortdredd to fall into the moat. Darkstorm panics, thinking he's going to drown, but Mortdredd tells him the part of the moat they fell into is shallow enough to stand up in. The Spectral Knights laugh at Darkstorm's embarrassment, and Cryotek tells Galadria he isn't going to try to be any different from his old, reliable self, but Galadria says this is exactly what she and the other Spectral Knights like about Cryotek. She and Cryotek then embrace.
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