Chapter 66: The Return of Skywalker

Carefully, Link glided down the shaft into a darkened cave and landed in a massive chamber. Link looked around. "We must be here," he stated as he spotted the Well of Souls.

He stepped toward it, but heard a familiar evil chuckle and green flames came to life in nearby braziers, lighting up the cavern. Link gritted his teeth as he spotted a large crowd of apes standing on a small cliff and an ape that he recognized as Gaul.

"Hahahahaha!" the Ape King laughed again as he glared at Link. "So the purple whelpling is an alicorn," he stated. "It's fitting for you to be here tonight, as we bear witness to the Dawn of a new age, and the failure of the dragons."

Link assumed his human form and drew the Master Sword. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world!"

"Then please... have a seat!" In one movement, Gaul whipped out his staff and fired a beam of energy at Link, causing him to cry out and collapse.

"I don't need my elements to deal with you!" Link roared as he got to his feet.

"You have been quite elusive," Gaul admitted. "Had I but known of your feelings for Cynder..."

The ape king placed the staff on his back and pulled out two swords as Link raised the Master Sword into the air. "Many of your people think that you have gone off the deep end," he interrupted as he spotted Cynder chained up nearby. "They want Cynder to take your place!"

Link charged at Gaul and slashed with his sword. Gaul blocked with his blades. Then Gaul kicked out, knocking Link back. Link quickly recovered and pulled out one of the Four Swords. He then leapt at Gaul and slashed Gaul across the face with both swords.

But Gaul shook off the attack and jumped into the air before slamming his swords into the ground, sending a shockwave that Link backflipped over.

Link noticed that Gaul was glowing a purple aura. He had some sort of energy shield around him. He noticed that the braziers were lit with flames of the same color. He harnessed the power of the Four Swords, causing his clones to materialize.

"Where are we?" one asked.

"I'll explain later," Link replied. "Just take out those braziers and find Cynder! I'll deal with Gaul!"

As Link's clones ran off to attack the pots, he turned to face Gaul as he managed to pull out his swords. With a roar, the Ape King charged forward, raising his swords. In one quick movement, Link raised both his arms, blocking the attack with his swords. For a few tense moments, the struggle went on, Gaul pushing down with his swords, Link holding the attack back.

Then suddenly, Link heard a strange sparkling noise and smiled. The energy field around Gaul had faded. He raised his foot and kicked Gaul in the chest, sending the Ape King stumbling back.

Just then, Cynder charged in from behind, ramming into Gaul's back. Link raised his swords and swung them in a spin, sending Gaul sprawling to the floor.

"With a growl, Gaul jumped to his feet and pointed at Link with his swords as Cynder stood at his side. "Your time is over, weaklings!"

Link and Cynder braced themselves as the Ape King raised his swords and leapt at them. Quickly, the pair of them jumped out of the way, just before Gaul slammed his swords into the ground. Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet began to crack and shake before collapsing. Cynder managed to jump to safety, but Link was caught in the collapse and fell with Gaul into the depths of the Well.

As Link fell, the Master Sword flew into the air as it charged up a Skyward Strike of its own accord. Fi must have been manipulating the sword. The beam fired from the blade of evil's bane and shattered the crystal on Gaul's staff. Seconds later, both Link and Gaul crashed to the ground, the broken staff clattering nearby.

Fi emerged from the blade. "Gaul's staff has been destroyed," she stated. "Gaul can't summon the Demon King. Master?" she turned to see Link lying under the energy beam in his Twilit form. "Hold on, Master Link. I'm coming."

But as the sword spirit used her powers to drag Link from the beam, the world around them suddenly grew darker and a flash in the sky made Fi look up. To her horror, she saw that the moons had completely eclipsed and was sending a powerful blast of energy down the beam towards Link. "Oh no, the Night of Eternal Darkness has begun! I have to get-"

But it was too late. The strengthened energy beam reached the bottom and Link screamed in pain as he felt the magic of the shadow crystal change inside him as his scales reverted to purple. But then Link heard a sinister and familiar voice call to him in his head, "At long last... The moment of my freedom has finally come... Gaul has served his purpose well, but his means are selfish... For that, he must be destroyed!"

However, he also heard another voice in his head as memories flooded his mind. How am I in your mind? But I'm with you to the end.

Link got to his feet, turned to the Ape King and leapt out of the energy beam. Gaul stared at the dragon. Link's scales had faded to black and silver and his eyes changed from a sapphire blue to a deep ruby red.

With a roar, Gaul charged forward, claws lifted to slice him in half. Link met the Ape King's strike with a bash of his horns before firing a beam of pure energy at Gaul, knocking him back.

Angrily, the Ape King launched a laser beam from his green eye. Link jumped aside and dodged the attack. Link assumed human form, his hair now a light brown, and stretched out his hand, causing the Master Sword to fly into his hand. He lunged forward and plunged his blade into Gaul's leg before taking the Four Swords and battered him down with them.

Panting heavily, Gaul stood up and turned to Link. "What are you waiting for, weakling? Finish me!"

Link raised his blade, the energy of the element of the purple dragon flowed through it. "Say hi to Palpatine for me!" he exclaimed as he swung his blade, reducing Gaul to dust.

With that done, Link assumed dragon form, spread his wings, and flew back up to the throne room as the chamber began to shake.

Up in the throne room, Cynder watched as her husband fell through the ground with Gaul. She had heard a female voice state something before seeing the eclipse and the blast of energy enter the caves below.

Around her, the apes left.

Just then, a flash of dark power shone out from the hole and Sparx and Cynder ran up to the edge and peered down. "What's happening down there?" Cynder asked.

"Spyro, Fi?" Sparx called down. "You guys okay?"

Suddenly, a dark shadow shot out through the energy beam, causing Sparx to scream in fear. Cynder backed away in fear as they recognized the figure hovering in the beam. It was Link.

"Oh no..." Cynder whispered in fear. She stepped forward. "Spyro, please stop!"

The dark scaled Link turned and faced her. Sparx shrank back at the purple eyes. "Whoa. Hold on, it's me!"

At once Link cringed and struggled in the energy beam. He let out a groan as he heard Demise's voice again. "Destroy the Goddess! She mustn't be allowed to live!"

Don't! the other voice stated.

Taking action, Cynder leapt forward and knocked Link out of the beam. As they crashed to the ground, Link's scales reverted back to normal, but the other voice echoed in his head as a dark mass erupted out of him and flew away.

Sparx dashed to his brother's side. "Are you alright?" he asked.

As Cynder glided back down, Link sat up and looked around. Link then turned away, tears in his eyes. "What have I done?"

"You're okay, Spyro," Cynder beamed. "You're with us."

But then, a large boulder broke out of the ceiling and fell down over the entrance of the cave Link had come out of.

"Uh-oh," Sparx cried out, pointing to the partially blocked cave. "That's our only way out!"

But Link looked away. "This is my fault..."

"Get up, Spyro," Cynder screamed at him. "I'm not leaving without my husband!"

Reluctantly, Link got to his feet, but it was too late. The ceiling caved in and a torrent of rocks crashed down over the hole, completely blocking the way out. "Oh no, we're trapped!"

Sparx flew over and placed his hands on Cynder's shoulder while she wrapped her wing over Link as he focused his power and felt his body glowing. The time energy flowed through his body. As he did so, the three of them floated up and the energy around them flashed out and trapped them in a crystal... seconds before the whole mountain collapsed around them!