Chapter 30: The Children of Hephaestus

He materialized next to a stone archway that had a swirling vortex of energy.

Where is Sparx, he thought.

Just then, a small sparkle emitted from a nearby tree.

"There you are, Sparx," he stated. "How have you been?"

"Hiding from Burn and any and all SandWings," he replied. "What happened to you?"

"Ran into Princess Ruby and prevented Morrowseer from manipulating Starflight into wanting his friends to choose Blister to be the next SandWing queen," Link replied casually. "I met my birth mother as well."

Sparx's eyes widened in shock. "Your birth mother?!" He exclaimed.

Link nodded. "Apparently, she is one of Hylia's and Poseidon's daughters," he informed. "That equine form I turned into was an alicorn." Link looked down river.

"If it isn't a temporally displaced warrior," a voice exclaimed.

Link whirled on the spot. "Who's there?" he asked.

Emerging from some small bushes emerged a man. He looked severely deformed. He was wearing the outfit of a blacksmith and hefted a large bronze greatsword on his back. Link's eyes widened in realization.

"Lord Hephaestus," he exclaimed, bowing. "It's an honor."

The god of the forge smiled. "It's good to see that Hyrule still knows of our existence," he stated. "How is my son coming along?"

"Clay?" he asked. "Doing alright. I haven't spent much time with him. He is very protective of his friends. Must be his bigwings instinct."

Hephaestus smiled. "That isn't the only reason I'm here, Hero," he stated. "You and my son will be faced with great trials." He removed the sword from his back. "Give this blade to him. He might need it."

"I'll be honored to, sir," Link replied, taking the weapon into his talons. "I'm guessing you forged this yourself."

Hephaestus only nodded.

"I'll treat it with care," Link stated.

"That is all I ask, Hero," the great forger stated before vanishing in a pillar of fire.

Link examined the blade of the sword that Hephaestus forged. He sensed magic flowing through the blade. Other than the fact it was made from bronze, it looked like the standard blade that a member of the royal guard sported in his time.

Link chuckled. "Hephaestus forges nothing but the best," he stated as he strapped the blade to his right forearm. He turned to Sparx. "Let's head to the village while we wait for the others."

In the village, Link was walking through the village when a voice called out to him.

"Hello, son," it said.

Link smiled. "So Ruby let you leave the palace, mother," he replied. He turned and saw a dragoness that had the purplish black scales of the NightWings, the bioluminescent stripes of the SeaWings, and the ridged claws of a IceWing.

"She did as I have no stakes in the war," Luna stated.

Link smiled. "But you eventually will," he replied. "I most likely have a price on my head due to my connection with the dragonets of destiny."

Luna nodded solemnly. "And that is really reckless of you, Spyro," she stated before her eyes widened in realization. "Did you say 'dragonets of destiny'?"

Link nodded. "That is what they are known as," he replied.

"It is as my mother foretold," she stated. "When light is under shadow's might, seven warriors shall rise to free her for they are the Wings of Destiny."

"The Wings of Destiny?" Link repeated. "Are you saying that those dragonets are actually destined to free Cynder from Malefor's clutches."

Just then, a group of five MudWings approached them.

"Did you say the Dark Master's name?" one of them asked.

"I did," Link replied. "Is your name Reed by any chance?"

"My name is Reed," the largest MudWing replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Do any of you know who your father is?" he asked.

"Why do you ask that question?" Reed replied.

"Let's just say that he is well known to all of Hyrule," Link stated. "His betrothed has a liking to doves and is the most beautiful in the world. Outstripping RainWings by leagues."

"Are you saying that our father is the mighty Hephaestus?" the smallest MudWing asked.

Link nodded. "Ran into him on my way here," he replied. "He all but claimed you as his own."

"But beware!" Luna warned. "Now that you know that you are half god, monsters from Tartarus will come for you."

The five dragonets backed away from them in fright. "Not the hydra!" they exclaimed.

"The hydra is possible," Link consoled. "However, all of you are able to breathe fire. You have a weapon against the hydra." He looked into the sky, seeing two shadows in the sky. "It's time for me to head to the Dragon Realms. You can say that it's Burn's fault that I have to go."

"Why do you have to go?" the smallest MudWing asked.

"Let's just say that Burn hurled a SkyWing egg off of a cliff to stop the dragonet prophecy from coming true," Link replied. "Inside the egg housed a dragonet with the soul of the Goddess Hylia. An ape took the barely alive dragonet to Malefor, turning her into the one dragon that Burn fears, Cynder."

The dragonets gasped. "Burn fears a dragonet?" the smallest one, Link guessed was Umber, asked.

"She does," he replied. "Now if you excuse me, my mother and I need to head to the Dragon Realms. It was rather nice speaking with you."

Link and Luna spread their wings and lifted into the air and headed upstream to the world gate, Sparx resting on one of Link's horns.

They reached the world gate to find Tsunami, Starflight, and Sunny waiting there. Starflight was examining it with a lot of interest.

Sunny noticed Link first. She ran up to him and smiled.

"Are you really the son of Lady Luna?" she asked.

Luna smiled. "I haven't sired him yet, but something about his complexion tells me that I will someday." She looked around. "Where is the RainWing?"

"She and Clay went to find his parents," Sunny stated.

"I hope they don't run into any of Malefor's apes or the hydra on the way back," Link muttered.

"I thought that you knew the future?" Tsunami asked.

"I only know the path of major events that would lead to the future that I am from, Tsunami," Link countered. "There are hundreds of minor events that can cause major changes to the time stream."

"But since you know what has to happen, wouldn't that be helpful in maintaining the time stream?" Luna asked.

Link scratched his chin. "You might be right about that," Link replied. "Let's wait for Clay and Glory to return."

As they waited, Link told Sunny stories about the Hero of Time. When he reached the battle with the Dark Beast, he faltered.

"Why did you stop, Spyro," Sunny asked.

"There will be choice that Cynder would have to make," Link explained. "Either let Ganondorf kill the Hero of Time, causing me to cease to exist and Malefor to end the universe, or to die in his place, allowing me to exist."

Tsunami looked at the ground. "That is surely very stressful for you, isn't it?" She had obviously gone hunting while Link was telling his story. She had numerous dead ducks and some wolves.

At that precise moment, Clay and Glory arrived. They landed beside Link. Clay informed them that bigwings crack the shells of their siblings to help the other eggs hatch.

"Of course," Tsunami stated, nudging several ducks in Clay's direction. "I never believed that you were trying to kill us."

"As if you would ever!" Sunny exclaimed.

Luna sighed. "Shouldn't we head to the Dragon Realms?" she asked. She turned to Clay. "You better be more careful. My son and I saw you coming into the village."

Sparx was exasperated. "Let's get a move on!" he exclaimed. "We need to free Her Grace from Malefor's control."

At that moment, he dashed into the world gate and disappeared.

Link rolled his eyes in annoyance. "That was my adoptive brother, Sparx," he stated as he approached the portal. "He drives me up the wall a lot and his jokes aren't all that funny, but he means well. I just hope he doesn't do anything reckless."