Chapter 28: The SkyWing Arena

Link smiled as he looked over the royal balcony of the arena. Below them, SkyWings and SandWings were gathered to watch the gladiatorial fights. We watched as several dragonets were chained to the wall next to the balcony. One of them, a MudWing, noticed the hilt of the Master Sword.

"'The power of Evil's Bane'," the MudWing muttered.

Another dragonet, a SeaWing, looked at the MudWing in confusion. "What did you say, Clay?" she asked innocently.

"Thought I saw the Master Sword, Tsunami," he whispered to her.

Link chuckled as Queen Scarlet, Princess Ruby, and Burn entered the balcony.

"What's so funny?" Ruby asked.

"The MudWing thinks that my sword is the famed Blade of Evil's Bane," Link replied.

Scarlet's ears perked at the mention of the Master Sword. "The Master Sword, you say?" she asked. "That would be interesting..."

Eventually, he saw a SeaWing that was covered in chains enter the arena. He looked severely dehydrated.

That must be Tsunami's father, he thought.

He watched as Tsunami was forced to end her father's life.

Rest In peace, Gill, Link thought. May your soul relax in the fields of Elysium.

"It's almost time for your match," Ruby whispered into his ear.

Link chuckled. "I better get down there."

He spread his wings and descended into the arena. The gem embedded in the Master Sword's hilt glinted in the sunlight.

"We are honored to introduce our first volunteer for the arena, the Lunar Sun: Spyro!" The announcer exclaimed.

Tsunami whirled around to see Link turn into his human form.

"Who are you?" Tsunami asked. "No one has ever volunteered for this."

Link chuckled as he clenched the hilt of the Master Sword in his hand. "I am the first," he replied before lunging at her, blade emerging from its scabbard and glowing in its divine aura.

The crowd gasped in shock. "So the Lunar Sun wields the Blade of Evil's Bane," he proclaimed. "This is getting interesting..."

Tsunami slashed at him with her claws, but he dodged by jumping to the side as his right hand reached into his magic pouch and procured one of the devices he obtained within the depths of Lake Hylia.

Once he was upright once more, he aimed it and fired. The chain launched itself from the device, the claw at the end opened wide. The claw clamped itself on one of Tsunami's wings. She panicked and swung her wings up rather fast.

This caused Link to be hurled into the air and land squarely on Tsunami's back. With the chain retracted into the device, Link placed his clawshot back in his pouch as he slammed the flat of his blade into a specific spot on Tsunami's neck, causing her to crumple to the floor instantly.

"How did you do that?" Tsunami asked.

"I'll tell you later," Link replied as he reluctantly pulled out the shadow crystal and crushed it in his hand.

He suddenly felt the pain of the transformation into his wolf form begin. However, he willed himself into his dragon form as he leapt off of Tsunami.

Everyone gasped as Link was bathed in twilight particles while in mid-air. He landed in front of Tsunami, now in his twilit dragon form.

"You must be the Hero of Twilight," Tsunami muttered as she got to her feet.

Link chuckled. "You are quite attentive, Tsunami. Let us continue and entertain this crowd."

She nodded and lunged at him. He smirked and dissolved into twilight particles once more.

"Are you some form of animus?" She questioned.

"No," Link replied as he reformed back into his normal purple form. "I am the son of Lady Luna herself."

He suddenly felt power, fiery power, flowing through him. He mentally focused the power as Tsunami lunged again. He pulled back and gave her an upward swipe with his claws. He didn't notice that his swipe was bathed in flames.

The crowd gasped in shock.

"What was that?" the announcer exclaimed.

Link stepped up to Tsunami as she lay sprawled on the floor and pointed the tip of the Master Sword at her throat.

"Do you yield?" he asked.

Tsunami nodded. "I yield," she replied.

Link lowered his blade. "You fought valiantly, Tsunami," he commented. He sheathed his blade and flew up to the cheering crowd.

"Spyro! Spyro! Spyro!" the crowd cheered.

"It seems that the audience has taken a liking to Spyro," the announcer stated. "That was no doubt a superb performance on his part."

Link looked to the royal box and saw that Clay and the NightWing next to him were staring at him with awe and respect.

Link chuckled as he returned to the royal box. He did sense the absence of Midna's presence from his shadow. No doubt, the Twili jumped into Tsunami's shadow during the match.

"Where did you learn that magic?" Ruby asked.

Link chuckled. "A friend of mine taught it to me," he replied. "The change to my scales was induced by a curse that Zant placed on me, it manifested itself into a crystal when I was freed from its influence because of the Master Sword."

Scarlet smiled. "Now it's time for the NightWing to fight! My hatching-day present to me!"

The NightWing that Link recognized as a younger Starflight was in utter shock.

"Wait!" Clay exclaimed as the guards started to unchain Starflight. "Let me fight for him instead!"

"These dragonets," Scarlet stated, waving a claw at Burn. "Constantly pushing and shoving to save each other. It's just the weirdest thing." She signaled to the guards with one talon, and they hauled Starflight off to the tunnel that lead to the arena. Link noticed that Clay leaned his full weight against the chains that bound him, trying to break free, but they held.

"Don't worry, Clay," Link whispered. "The Fates have other plans. It's Tsunami who is his opponent."

Clay calmed down.

Scarlet gave Link a curious look. "How did you do that?" she asked.

"I have my ways with children," Link replied. "When I was younger, I looked after the children of Ordon Village when I wasn't needed at the ranch."

"A ranch, you say?" Ruby asked. "Lon Lon Ranch in the central region, is it not?"

Link laughed. "No, no, you're highness," he answered. "Ordon Village is way too far away from the central region for it to be my day job. Besides, RainWings paid the village and ranch visits to exchange goods and see how the village was faring. Now isn't time for pleasantries. Let's watch the next match."

Link chuckled when Tsunami and Starflight refused to fight each other.

"You don't realize that they view each other as siblings," Link stated to Scarlet. "Like humans, they might annoy each other to no end, they are family."

The SkyWing queen contemplated Link's words. "That would explain their behavior," she replied. "Vermilion! Release the Hinox beasts!"

The announcer, Vermilion, flapped his wings, and a huge cage came rolling out the tunnel. He flew to the top of it and bit down to sever the cord that held the door closed. The door fell open, and two giant ogres lumbered out.

"What are those things?" Burn exclaimed.

"Hinox beasts," Scarlet replied. "They popped up a few weeks ago. They are very similar to the Cyclops that work in Hephaestus' forges. The only difference is that these creatures are not as skilled with fire compared to their cousins. This is the only NightWing I'll probably ever get in my arena, and I want to see him fight everything."

Link's eyes popped in horror as a hinox lifted Starflight over its head and hurled him at Tsunami. The pair did their best to defend themselves.

"They aren't faring so well," Burn commented. "Send Spyro to make things more interesting. I would like to see how he fares against them."

Link shrugged just as Midna's shadow wolves materialized and started nipping at the toes of the hinox beasts.

"What are those?" Ruby asked.

"Those are wolves, obviously," Link replied. "Midna must be hiding in Tsunami's shadow."

"Who is Midna?" Ruby asked,.

"The friend that taught me the magic I used earlier," Link replied. "She is from the Twilight Realm."

Suddenly, one of Midna's wolves was picked up by Tsunami and hurled at the eye of one of the hinox beasts. The wolf latched its claws into the monster's eye, causing the hinox to howl in pain and scratch at its eye. This gave Starflight the chance to set the wooden armor it was wearing on fire. Within a few minutes, the hinox dissolved into dust.

Just as the first hinox dissolved, a spear identical to the one Midna used to extinguish life from Armogohma was clutched in Tsunami's talons. She hurled it at the other hinox and it struck home in its eye. Soon, both hinox beasts were dead.

"That was absolutely surprising," Scarlet commented. "Have them fight the IceWings next, Vermilion!"

He signaled, and guards took off from all across the stadium. Link noticed Clay's dread as they scattered to the IceWing prisoners. He counted at least eight IceWings up in those cages. Link remembered from one of his classes at Jade Mountain Academy that NightWings and IceWings had a major bitter rivalry that lasted many centuries until Moonwatcher helped end it by bringing an end to Darkstalker.

"I don't think the rest of the NightWings would like that," Link stated.

"What do you mean by that, Spyro?" Scarlet asked.

Link looked up and pointed at what seemed to be a cloud as it blotted out the sun. The fluttering of wings made everyone look up as an army of NightWings flew overhead. One NightWing separated from the others and spiraled down into the arena, ducking under the wires.

As he descended magnificently to the sand below, Link recognized his face from old wanted posters from the Scorpion Den. It was Marrowseer.