Chapter 42: The Battle of Shadow Fortress
Without a seconds delay, Cynder pounced forward and began to attack Link. With reactionary timing perfected from his battles across Hyrule, Link dove out of the way and assumed his human form, Master Sword drawn. Overcoming the attack, he began to fight back alongside blasts of fire from Clay, Starflight, and Sunny with great difficulty. Her tail, wings, and mouth made it hard to attack from any angle.
"There's no way you're winning this!" Cynder shouted, taking a wicked swipe at him, but she missed. Clay and Starflight pelted her with streams of fire. It seemed to hurt Cynder briefly, but she got over it very quickly.
"You'll have to do better than that!" She shouted. She picked Link up and threw him off the balcony. Midna corrected his trajectory and he returned with a spike of ice that grazed Cynder's left leg, causing a small abrasion. She held it in pain as Clay and Starflight pelted her with streams of fire and Tsunami swung her weapon at the dark dragon. She looked back at Link with total fury in her eyes.
Link knew they would keep this up forever, but they would never defeat Cynder. He needed to think of something and fast.
"Sparx!" Link called out, dodging a swipe from Cynder's tail.
"Me?!" Sparx asked, who had been cowering on the side. "I don't know!"
"Just thought you might want to join in," Link stated.
"Thanks, but I'll pass!" Sparx replied.
Link and the dragonets kept fighting, but they were quickly tiring. Cynder kept going like one of the Divine Beasts, not wanting Link to escape from her again. They needed a distraction fast, so Link thought of what to do next.
Cynder swept Link off his feet without any warning, knocking him onto his back. He looked up to see her walking toward him.
It happened again, this time much more prominently. Their eyes met, and she changed. She looked lost, afraid, sad, hopeless, and young. Link felt the feeling that he felt when he was around Zelda. He needed to help her.
But again, the moment passed as quickly as it came. Cynder shook off the change and went to attack him again. Link managed to roll away.
"I've had enough of you," Cynder exclaimed. "You've done nothing but hinder me this entire time! No wonder the Dark Master wants you dead!"
Link tried, and failed to get up, his muscles telling him to rest. As Cynder watched him struggle, Ignitus fell to the floor, the cuffs have opened. The crystal beneath him was glowing bright red.
"I have places to be," Cynder stated. "You are on your final chance. Interfere again, and you will die."
She turned away from him to pick up the crystal, then went to the edge of the balcony and opened a white, swirling vortex, into which she vanished.
Link slowly got to his feet and watched as Cynder disappeared into the portal. He and the dragonets limped over to Ignitus to check on him.
"Where did she go?" Sparx asked, coming to join his brother.
"Convexity," Ignitus answered weakly. "The realm between realms. There, she will be able to free the Dark Master."
"Are you okay?" Link asked, walking over to Ignitus.
"Yes, I'm fine," Ignitus replied. "I'm fine."
"Yes," Clay stated. "But she got away with the last crystal."
"I know," Ignitus replied. "She has to be stopped. You have done brilliantly, Spyro."
"I'm not down for the count," Link continued. He turned to the dragonets. "I'm not going to risk your lives further on this crusade. Every time I see any of you get hurt, bad memories come to mind. From this point forward, Midna and I are going alone."
"But..." Sunny began.
"Four of you still have family to find," Link interrupted. "You still have a prophecy to fulfill."
He turned to the portal. "How much time does she have left?" He asked.
"That doesn't matter anymore," Ignitus replied. "Tonight might be her final night. There is still one element the Dark Master still lacks to open the portal."
"Wind..." Link stated, remembering that SkyWings can be born with the wind element. "Is there still time?"
"Yes," Ignitus answered. Convexity exists in a separate reality. Time moves at a fragment of what it does here. She won't have gone far yet. But, I warn you, once you enter, you will slow to its level, meaning it will move in real time. Once inside, you must hurry!"
"Alright," Link stated. He transformed into his dragon form and hovered off the ground, but Ignitus held him back.
"Spyro," he said quietly. "I ask you only one thing of you. Please, if you manage to save her, bring Cynder back to the temple. Bring her home. She deserves no less, and so much more, after what she endured."
"That is what I am planning to do," Link answered before turning to fly through the portal.
"May the gods look after you, Spyro," Ignitus stated, adding in an undertone, "May they look after us all..."