Chapter 46: Ghosts of the Past
Link ducked and rolled as Cynder's tail whizzed by just inches over his head. They had been sparring for three hours now and his scales were covered in a glistening layer of sweat. He was sore in a couple of spots where Cynder had been able to land blows. The round had been tiring and painful but there was no denying that it had also been educational.
For instance, this had been his first time using the Master Sword in his dragon form. He was amazed that it was able to adapt its size to his current form when out of the gauntlet. Though using it for ground combat wasn't as satisfactory in this form compared with one that was more humanoid, he had more force behind his swings. In addition, Cynder couldn't strike with as much force as she had when she was corrupted with the mirror shard.
But the real point, aside from him learning how to use the wind element, was for Cynder to get accustomed to combat in the size that she is supposed to be for Elemental at Link's age. She could no longer strike with as much force as she used to when she was corrupted. Also, blows that she used to shrug off contemptuously before now felt a lot more painful. This was most likely from being smaller. In addition, she could no longer sense Malefor's consciousness controlling her body.
That didn't mean that being that way didn't have its advantages. She discovered rather quickly that she could mass shift like Link could so she could be a fully grown SkyWing. That was most likely from her biology as an Elemental of SkyWing descent. While she couldn't take as much injury as she used to be able to, her smaller size made it difficult to even land strikes. She couldn't fly as fast as before but she found herself able to manoeuvre in the air in a much more agile manner- diving and changing direction was much easier with such little bulk.
And so she adapted her fighting style and approach to melee combat. Previously, she had fought with wild abandon, always aiming to strike hard and fast to cripple her foe as quickly as possible and avoid retaliation. But now her reduced strength and endurance meant that she would have to rely on her agility to avoid being hurt too badly and instead slowly tire out and wear down her opponent. Which was what she had been practicing with Link all this while.
While he had been able to keep up this far, most of the damage he inflicted had been during the early part of the bout when Cynder had still been getting used to her new fighting techniques. Cynder was now finding it easier and easier to evade him and strike blows of her own.
It wasn't that he wasn't bad at fighting. Nothing short of pure skill could have possibly kept him alive during the battle at her old fortress. He just seemed tired, sluggish for some reason. His stamina was flagging and exhaustion was taking its toll.
Her heart ached to see him this exhausted. "Spyro, you don't look too good," she said concernedly. "Maybe we should stop for a while and carry on later. I think you need rest."
Link chuckled. "You might be right about that," he replied. "But I think I can keep going for a few more minutes."
He suddenly charged at her. Cynder easily evaded his attack. She turned around and pinned him under her claw. Link smiled.
Then it happened. The world seemed to spin around her. Her vision became blurred and she blinked hard a couple of times to clear it. When she looked back down at Link, she gasped in horror.
There, pinned beneath her was a bloody, decapitated corpse of an IceWing. The head lay not far away, the IceWing's face trapped in a permanent visage of terror. Cynder staggered back, aghast. The dry air on her scales felt hot, as did the ground beneath her claws. She looked down and realised she was standing on the sandy floor of the SkyWing arena!
She backed away with a muffled cry. Her claws were drenched in blood and tangled in knotted, rope-like entrails. All around her the dragons in the stands cheered and roared. Then she took a closer look at them and noticed that they weren't dragons at all. They were apes! And seated where Queen Scarlet, her mother, should have been was a silhouette of a dragon made up of wispy smoke.
"Murderer," the disembodied head accused her. She jumped back, startled and disgusted in equal measure as the scene unfolded around her.
"Murderer," the head repeated. "How many more innocents have you butchered at your claws?"
Link was terrified when after she pinned him to the floor that Cynder suddenly backed away in fright. Her eyes wide in terror.
"Cynder," he exclaimed, trying to get her to respond.
She ignored him. Her eyes were welling up in tears. "No," she stated, shrinking away from him. "I didn't do this. It wasn't me! I had no choice!"
Link got up and charged at her, a worried look crossing his face. He knocked her to the ground. The terrified look on her face was gone once he pinned her.
"Are you alright, Cynder?" Link asked, clearly worried.
She took a deep breath. "I'm fine," she replied. "Good one."
Link gave her a worried glance. "Are you sure?" he asked. "Past trauma must have affected you. Ask my mother for some counseling, I beg you."
"She has enough on her plate as it is, Spyro," Cynder replied. "She fully took over training Glory and her friends in armed combat."
"Ask Ignitus then," Link countered, getting off her to let her get up.
"Ignitus is trying to find any information on Malefor's current plans," she answered. "I don't want to impose my own problems upon them. You must have noticed how they've been more apprehensive lately."
"And the dragonets are planning to meet with Tsunami's mother in a couple of days," Link stated. "They are leaving for SeaWing territory tomorrow."
"Should we go with them?" Cynder asked.
"Though I have not yet recovered all of my elemental abilities, we have to," Link replied. "Elementals are a dime a dozen now. We need the assistance of the tribes in Hyrule to defeat Malefor for good. And with our plausible alliance with the SkyWings, convincing the SeaWings to focus on fighting the Dark Master's forces might have some problems."
Cynder nodded in agreement.
Later that day, Cynder made her way to the chamber where what the Guardians called the Pool of Visions was located. Link was currently resting in his room, recovering from the training session. She opened the door and walked in. She saw Ignitus examining the pool rather closely. He looked up and noticed her.
"What seems to be bothering you, Cynder?" he asked.
"I've been having these nightmares recently," she admitted. "For the past week, they've been haunting me every night. But it's the same thing happening every night. It can't be purely coincidence. Visions of an eclipse, a dark mountain, whispered words of Malefor's return, and the face bathed in flames."
Ignitus hissed at the mention of Malefor's name and the faint torchlight in the room flickered. "You're right, Cynder," Ignitus stated. "Luna has tried to suppress those dreams of yours for some time, but your trauma has been making it hard for her to bury them. I believe there are unnatural forces at work here. What you've described aptly sums up what I have been watching out for through the Pool of Visions. Glory is most concerned about it."
"What do you mean?" Cynder asked. "Watching for what?"
"You see," Ignitus bagan. "Once every millenia, the moons that Luna had mastery over before her untimely imprisonment by Demise would align in a total eclipse at the same time as the moons over this world does known as the Night of Eternal Darkness. It is an ill occasion as the powers of evil reign supreme for a time and beings of both the netherworld and Tartarus are empowered, free to walk this world as if they were alive.
"There are known times this event occurred to worlds that the races of the Realms had colonized before Demise first emerged and the portals connecting them to us were cut off. However, those events usually happen separate from that of this world, even though the occurrence is still linked to the moons that orbit the planet that the kingdom of Hyrule calls home. If the Dark Master's spirit has truly escaped Convexity, he would be bound to the realm of Hades, unable to return to this world. But on the Night of Eternal Darkness, he could use the dark energies of the event to leave the underworld and return in the flesh to plague the realms and Hyrule once more. And such an eclipse is soon to be upon us.
"The Guardians and I have been watching for any signs of this. I asked the assistance of Eon's team to perform reconnaissance throughout the Realms, scouting for major troop movements or mobilization. I have been scouring the land with more magical means: the Pool of Visions." He indicated to the pool in question.
"But of late, my vision has been obscured. As if somebody is trying to hide something from my sight. I am by no means a master of scrying through the Pool of Visions but I believe, for something to keep the entire land from my sight, that it must be very powerful indeed."
"And you think it might be the Dark Master?" Cynder asked. "It could be this Ganondorf character that Midna and Spyro talk about in hushed whispers. When I asked him about it, Spyro told me a very interesting tale about the King of Evil as legends in his era call him. And what of the face bathed in fire that was in my nightmares?"
"It can only be him, Cynder," he stated firmly. "No other dragon could possess the sorcerous might required for such a feat. Not only that but his return may actually be referenced in two prophecies."
Cynder inwardly sighed in frustration. Two more prophecies, just like the one that lead the theft of the egg that contained her. One of which was for sure the one foretelling the Dark Master's defeat at Link's claws. "You're sure?" she asked.
Ignitus reached for two scrolls that lay on the ground nearby. "See for yourself."
Cynder unfurled the less aged parchment and gazed intently at it. It read:
Wars will wage.
One of dragons,
Two against ancient evil.
All of the orchestration of the Demon King's Hate,
One between sisters over the sand covered throne,
One that spans eras past and yet to be,
One of existence against destruction.
In Darkness, the Wings of Sky is raised,
Controlled by a shard of Twilight's Mirror.
For two years, the worlds of Light and Dragons
Shall witness the might of the Terror of the Skies.
The Hero of Twilight will appear...
From the home of Evil's Bane
And the future, he will come.
The Force will guide him.
Armed with the power of the Purple Dragon,
The Black Dragon will be freed.
Together, Hero's Spirit and Goddess Reborn will lead
Destiny's Dragonets to victory.
After the moons' eclipse,
The Master of Darkness will rise again,
Greater and more terrible than ever he was.
At World's End, he will fall...
At the hands of Hero's Spirit and Hylia Reborn.
With the Golden Power,
World's End torn asunder.
And Hero's Spirit at Death's doorstep.
Saved by Sheikah science and placed in the slumber of restoration...
In his own era he will wake,
To finish what Time's Hero began.
She followed with opening the more ancient parchment and gazed intently at it. It read:
The land best by war and death,
And we fight to our final breath,
Awaiting the coming of the Chosen One,
The end of dusk, the dawning sun.
But lo behold the cursed one's rise,
An age of strife, a time of lies.
And all light vanishes from the sky,
On the Eternal Night for his return is nigh.
And so the Dark Master's power unbound,
His reign of evil taints all around.
But we hold the line and make our stand,
For daylight soon falls upon the land.
So dawn's heralds boldly fly,
Against the dark that fills the sky.
The power to wield to bring back the light,
To end Malefor's reign and finish the fight.
Light's first champion of purple scale,
And by his power the darkness will fail.
With his power comes Malefor's fall,
For the elements themselves heed his call.
"Wait a moment," Cynder said, indicating what seemed like a scorch mark at the bottom of the scroll. "Is there a part missing here?"
"The scroll was in the temple when the Dark Master's forces razed it," Ignitus explained. "The scorch marks have been there ever since. I see no reason to think anything was under them. I don't like it but the prophecy sounds clear enough; 'on the Eternal Night for his return is nigh'."
Cynder nodded grimly. "Then you're going to like this," she stated. "When I was under his thrawl, several apes referred to Spyro as 'Hylia's Chosen reborn'. Is it possible that since I'm Hylia's reincarnation that Spyro is that of Hylia's Hero?"
Ignitus nodded. "I am aware of that," he stated. "He told me of a suspicion that he had since he saw you fight against the Dark Master's influence."
"What?"
"Spyro told me of his second encounter with the Princess Zelda of his era," Ignitus stated. "He told me that a strange sensation overcame him as the princess used her magic to save Midna from death before falling lifeless herself. The sensation returned once he awoke from his eight hour long slumber after he saved you from the Dark Master's control and has been getting stronger whenever he's around you.
"Legends state that the Goddess and her hero are eternally reborn to fight the darkness of the Demon King. They always culminate in the pair falling for each other to live the rest of their days together." He smiled slightly. "But back to the topic of your nightmares, when did they start occurring?"
Cynder thought for a moment. "The day after fully recovering from my injuries," she replied. "One week ago."
Ignitus nodded, contemplating Cynder's words. "I theorize that your feelings toward Spyro protected you from your nightmares during the weeks he nursed you back to health. Did you feel safe and protected during that time, Cynder? More so than now?" Cynder blushed as she nodded in affirmation.
"Then I recommend a slight change in room assignments," Ignitus stated. "Close proximity to Spyro might cause your subconscious to stop having these dreams."
Cynder nodded, understanding the Guardian.
Ignitus nodded solemnly. "Before you go, Cynder," Ignitus stated. "Luna has been getting anxious lately. She might try to get you and Spyro alone together."
"For what reason would that be?" Cynder asked.
"To procreate," Ignitus replied. "She knows that when elemental females reach a certain age, starts soon, being in charge of the lunar calendar in Hyrule. You, being at the physical maturity of an elemental dragoness Spyro's age, will already be craving for a male to fulfill that purpose."
Cynder blushed. "Even though he was controlling me as a puppet, I imagined myself as Spyro's mate since I first lay eyes on his dragon form in the swamp," Cynder admitted. "When he learned of those fantasies, the Dark Master summoned me..."
After she had drained Volteer of his elemental power, she was at Shadow Fortress, kneeling before a dark crystal in her personal chambers.
"Cynder," a voice spoke from inside the crystal. Cynder didn't recognize the voice.
"You're not my master," she exclaimed. "What did you do to him?!"
"Oncontrair, young dragoness," the voice replied. "The entity that was giving you orders under my name is nothing but a usurper. A being of pure hate and darkness. An evil that the Hero has faced before. I can't hold his influence back from our minds for much longer. I am the real Malefor."
Cynder nodded in understanding, her eyes now as green as emeralds. "What do you need to tell me, Master?" she asked.
"I know that you have developed some feelings for him, Cynder," Malefor replied. "You must nurture them."
"Why are you accepting them, Master?" Cynder asked. "The Hero opposes our goal in freeing you!"
"The Guardians don't know the full picture yet," Malefor answered. "We need the best chances for him to free me from the usurper of my name. I promise you that your feelings for him would lead to a happy life after this war ends."
"And what would that be?" Cynder asked.
"The Assassin has always envisioned you being much more than a harbinger of destruction," Malefor stated. "He is your adopted father, after all."
Cynder nodded in agreement. "But how does this connect with this happy life you mentioned?" she asked.
"It is your responsibility to bring our race back from extinction," Malefor replied. "And your emotions for the purple dragon is key to fulfilling that responsibility."
Cynder nodded in understanding as her eyes reverted to yellow. "I understand, Master," she stated as the crystal went silent.
"...And that was when I got the news from Dampe's Freezer that chaos had broken loose due to monsters being unleashed upon the guards there," Cynder finished.
Ignitus nodded in understanding. "He was manipulating your emotions, Cynder," he stated.
"There was something else about the Dark Master when he made that promise," Cynder stated. "Something different. He usually spoke to me in a demonic voice. One that somehow sounded familiar to me when I first heard it, yet I knew I hadn't heard that voice before. When he spoke that promise, he was speaking as if he was in regret, none of the demonic presence within his voice at all."
Ignitus' eyes widened in realization. "The Demon King," he muttered, his eyes watering. "You recognize the voice because it is that of Demise, not Malefor, Cynder. The real Malefor must have gathered enough strength to resist Demise's control long enough to promise you that."
Unbeknownst to them, a certain dragonfly overheard them. At the thought of his brother becoming a father excited him. His grudge toward Cynder was getting tiresome. He was beginning to see her as a victim of Demise as Hylia's previous reincarnations have been. Seeing Cynder become her brother's bride brought a smile to his face.
Meanwhile, the Assassin gazed off into the horizon, his helmet tucked under his arm. His thoughts were of Cynder. What had become of her he had last seen her? Where was the dragon he'd raised as a daughter? What would the dragons she'd fought against for two years do to her, now that she was at their mercy?
A few weeks ago, during one of the times the Dark Master had let Cynder have a break, she told him about the dreams of becoming the purple dragon's mate. He smiled at the fact of Cynder wanting to become a mother.
The last time the Dark Master had summoned the Assassin to a meeting, he was different. He somehow knew about Cynder's dreams. He wasn't speaking in that demonic voice.
He even promised to Cynder that the purple dragon will be her husband no matter what. He mentioned that the Demon King was the one calling the shots in his name. The thought of him actually serving the Demon King brought shivers down his spine.
"Sir," an ape stated, rousing him from his reverie. "The dreadwings have been loaded up. We're ready to take wing upon your command."
"Very good," he replied, donning his helmet and mounting his dreadwing's saddle. Raising his voice to a shout and holding his sword aloft, he called, "With me! Now we fly against the foe! Now we fly to victory! For the Goddess Hylia!"
A war cry came up from the scores of mounted apes assembled, each astride the back of a snarling, battle-hungry dreadwing. As one, they took flight, an ever-shifting, ominous black cloud of beating wings and barbed blades that blotted out the sky.
With speed, the Assassin rode at the head- the harbinger of the storm that would strike the Dragon Temple, a storm that would bring death to his master's foes. And at the end of it all, he promised himself that he would bring his daughter home...