Chapter 62: Sting in the Blundertail

Once on board the ship, Link was thrown into a cell and Sparx was locked in a separate one. While he was unconscious, some skavengers injected him with some sort of substance before leaving.

When Link came to, he was met with the gaze of another dragon.

"Hi, there, stranger," she stated. "You must be new here."

The dragoness stepped away to let him get up. "Who are you?" he asked.

The dragoness had scales of the palest blue and had horns like Cyril's. "I'm Astral," she replied. "Who are you?"

"I'm Spyro," he replied as he got to his feet. He felt strange. "What did they do to me while I was out?"

"They drugged you," Astral replied. "Whenever they get their hands on a male dragon, they drug him so that when they have him fight me in the arena, the male would attempt to force me into submission in more ways than one."

Link backed away from Astral in horror. "You're not serious?" he asked. "They seriously want to see dragons do that?"

Astral nodded solemnly. "They do it in order to get hatchlings from me," she replied. "All drakes they captured previously either died facing me or killed themselves to not do that to me."

"Is there any way to prevent it from happening like that?" Link asked.

"None that I can think of," Astral replied.

"Why do they bring you along on this ship?" he asked.

"They take me with them so any drakes they capture are familiar with my scent so the drug would work properly," Astral replied.

Sometime later, the ship docked with a larger ship and the prisoners were herded onto the wooden decks and taken to separate cells. Spyro and Astral were taken to the same cell while Sparx was trapped in a lantern. Midna tried to break Link out, but was captured as well and thrown into a separate cell. Hours passed tensely as Link paced his cell, Astral looking at him curiously.

Just then, a mole came into view. Link gasped as he recognized the mole's white mustache. "Mole-Yair?"

The mole turned and gasped too. "Spyro? Is that really you, old friend?"

"Yes, it's me," Link replied.

"I take it that you know this little guy?" Astral asked.

"Who's that?" Mole-Yair called out, raising his walking stick.

"Don't worry, Mole-Yair," Link replied. "She is a prisoner here as well. Astral, this is Mole-Yair. I helped him free his people from the Dark Master's servitude."

Mole-Yair took a sniff of the dragoness. "Well, she doesn't smell like those pirates," he stated. "Good to know you, Astral."

"Likewise," Astral replied.

"I'm guessing we're on Skabb's personal ship on the way to the arena?" Link guessed.

But then, Mole-Yair glanced up the passage. "Shhh, we'll talk later, someone's coming," he whispered and scurried off down the corridor, just moments before Skabb and his parrots emerged from around the corner.

"I trust your living quarters are to your liking," Scratch smirked.

"I don't know about that," Sparx replied. "My room could be bigger than a lantern."

"I thought I told you to keep quiet, fool," Sniff yelled then he turned to Link and Astral. "And you, get ready to fight. It's hurtin' time, baby!"

"Indeed," Scratch agreed. "You must prove yourself worthy to fight Astral."

As Skabb set off down the passage and some skavengers came to take Link and Astral out, Sparx scowled. "I really hate those birds."

Link was escorted to the main gate which led out into the arena. Outside, Link could hear the crowds cheering in expectation of the fight to come. Then he hear Scratch speaking over the cheers. "Fiends and felons, scoundrels and swindlers welcome to the first event of the evening! Tonight, we bring you a special battle, sure to quench your thirst for brutality!"

"Enough of your jibber-jabber," Sniff yelled. "Let's bring on the pain!"

The crowds roared in agreement as Scratch announced, "Introducing a creature renowned for rarity by his own kind. A creature of might and magic! Prepare yourselves and feast your eyes on Spyro, the Purple Dragon!"

The gate was raised and Link ran out into the arena, a large circle of sand ringed with a pool of poisonous water and cannons flanked around it. "If we weren't about to die, I'd say this was pretty neat."

The crowds, however, weren't as impressed as Sparx. "Hey that isn't a dragon," a voice yelled out. "Just a whelpling!"

Looking up, Link saw Astral sitting next to Skabb, a chain wrapped around her neck.

"And his opponent," Scratch continued. "You've seen them before... and loved them! We offer you none other than the twins of terror themselves... the Blundertails!"

The crowd cheered more enthusiastically as a far gate opened and out staggered two monstrous scorpions that had cannons at the end of their tails. As they swiped their pincers, Link leapt away.

Starting to attack, Link landed on the back of one of them and stabbed his SandWing tail barb into its back and injected SandWing venom into its bloodstream. He quickly retracted the barb and leapt off and pelted ice breath at it, freezing its legs to the ground.

Upon contact with the ground, he let his body assume his equine form, causing the audience to gasp in shock. He levitated the first scorpion with his magic and hurled it at the one that he injected with SandWing venom, knocking them unconscious.

The crowd groaned as the scorpions were defeated. Link looked up as he reverted to his dragon form. Skabb was smiling wickedly and Astral was looking completely shocked.

"And Spyro takes the win!" Scratch announced. "He seems to be a match for our resident dragoness!"

Guards arrived and attached a collar to Link and dragged him away, his mouth bound.

"Don't worry, everyone!" Scratch declared. "We'll see Spyro fight Astral tomorrow."

The next morning, Link woke up in a different cell than Astral was.

"Look who's up!" Scratch exclaimed. "Check his condition before he fights Astral!"

Several skavengers walked up to Link and checked him up and down.

"The potion is in full effect," one of them declared.

Skabb smiled. "Take him to the arena!" he declared.

Link was forced to his feet as he was taken to the gates of the arena for the second time. He heard Scratch announce him as the gates opened once more.

"And now the moment we have all been waiting for!" Scratch exclaimed over the cheers of the crowd. "Will Spyro be able to defeat and seduce the Drake Slayer, Astral!"

The gates opposite Link opened as Astral strode out onto the sand. She smiled.

As if a switch turned on in Link's mind due to the influence of the potion. All he wanted was to see the dragoness before him submitting to his will. He lunged at her and mass shifted to the size of a dragon from Hyrule.

Astral was taken aback by Link's mass shifting. She dodged his lung with moments to spare before getting a strike in. Link whirled around and picked her up in his mouth.

He hurled her at the recently closed gates. She tried to use ice on him, but he countered with firebreath.

The fight dragged out for half an hour when Astral began to tire. She had ran out of energy to use her element. Link lunged at her, causing her to land on her back.

"You are mine!" Link exclaimed as he blacked out.

Link awoke and found himself in the Dream Realm once more. This time, he could see some dust being blown past him. He flew down to the platform where the Elemental Pool was, the entrance was blocked by a green barrier and looked into the water.

"You and your friends have come so far, young alicorn," the Chronicler said proudly.

"What do you mean?" Link asked, confused. "You lead us to only be captured by skavengers!"

"Our path through life is not always the path we choose," the elderly voice replied. "Sometimes our path is chosen for you, like the mighty blade that chose you as its master."

Link nodded in understanding. The Master Sword did choose him to be its master. He closed his eyes and felt a strange feeling as the Chronicler spoke once more. "Be steady and use the fully awakened power of the earth to feel your way."

Suddenly, another voice called from the shadows. "Let the Force flow through you..." it stated.

Link focused and felt the ground shake beneath him. He then launched a powerful tremor across the platform, shattering the barrier. As he shook himself off, the Chronicler finished. "The power of earth and nature is a mighty one, for as the earth moves, so does everything in it. Be mindful as you wield it."

Link set off along the platforms to practice his earth attacks. He sent out a glowing green version of his ball and chain from his mouth and swung his head around, bashing enemies away. On the next one, the voice of the man from his vision of the volcanic planet spoke from the emptiness.

"Use your feelings to let the Force flow through you," it spoke.

He jumped up and hit the ground with such force to knock enemies into the air where he used wind to hurl them away.

At the next one, he found several boulders which he broke with his earth flail to reveal four orbs in a circle which he activated by standing in the middle and swinging his flail in a circular motion. The last soldiers were dealt with before getting vanquished with the ground-shaking earth fury. Soon, he reached Dream Temple and walked up to the pool.

"I want to know what's happening," Link stated. "I've done what you've asked of me and followed your path."

"Yes," the Chronicler replied. "But the time will come when you must choose your own path and you are not ready. Open your eyes."

At once, another vision came before him. He found himself back at the Well of Souls as several troops of apes approached the peak from every direction.

"Let me guess, they are drawn to the Well," Link stated. "The Well calms them as the Night of Eternal Darkness approaches."

"You are right about that, young alicorn," the Chronicler replied. "Find me in the Crystal Caves of the White Isle..."

Then Link blacked out once more...

He woke up to find himself back in his cell in the Felmuth Arena. Astral was there as well.

"Morning, handsome," Astral stated.

"What happened?" Link asked. "My memory blacked out."

The ice dragoness grimaced. "You defeated me," she stated flatly. "But you fell asleep just before the potion was able to fulfill its purpose. And it seems that the effects have worn off."

Link's sighed in relief. "That's a relief," he stated.

Astral nodded reassuringly. "I thank you for ending that victory streak, Spyro."

Link raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why are you thanking me for that?" he asked.

Astral smiled. "Though you fell unconscious before the potion's purpose was fulfilled, you did defeat me," she replied. "Since it takes a week for me to recover my elemental energy due to the lack of spirit gems, I don't have to fight in the arena for that space of time. By the way-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Skabb appeared around the corner. As he ran over, Sniff flew off Skabb's shoulder and into the dragon's cell.

"Get up, lazy fools!" the parrot squawked. "It's time to bruise, not time to snooze! I... you know, I was entertained by that show you showed off in battle." He turned to a small skavenger. "Give him another dose of the potion!" He ordered. "The quick acting variant!"

The skavenger nodded as he forced the potion down Link's throat. Link felt the effects immediately. The switch in his mind was flicked on once again as he pounced on Astral.

"This is your reward for beating the drake slayer," Scabb stated. "You didn't take it in the arena, so you will get it in this cell."

The skavenger captain laughed evilly. As he left, he could hear Astral's screams.