Part 8

“Summon your Knight Spirit.”

Orca had led him to the sacred tree, the Draken of the Isle of Beginnings. The mighty oak loomed over him, casting them both is shadows. Tobias looked into the dark hole, the entrance to the netherworld he had given the possessed body of Shadows One two years before. He had sacrificed the man in the forests, but it was impossible not to feel the overpowering effect here as well. Tobias nodded.

“Normally, a person needs a Triforce to be able to summon the Draken,” Orca explained, looking over the tree. “However, since the Triforce has not emerged in over twenty years, we must rely on our own powers to get the job done. I presume you have used you true form before?”

“Once," Tobias answered.

“Can you do so again?”

“I can try.” Truth be told, Tobias had only unlocked his Knight Spirit in a fit of rage, and his charge had required it. Plus, the Horus had helped him through it. “Give me a minute to channel the energy, and I should be fine. My powers…are fused together from three different parts: the Horus in my arm, the Dragon Gauntlets the dragon god gave me, and my dormant Knighthood that Tecalla gave to me. It takes some time.”

“Then try doing what you can,” Orca answered, and smiled for the first time. Tobias nodded, and called forth both sides of his magic.

He raised both his arms into the air, bidding the Dragon Gauntlets to change him, to purge him of all that was left of his human guise. The gauntlets sprung to life, wrapping around his shadowy body, melting his hands into giant talons with three massive fingers, with black knives for nails. The changes continued along his outfit, the Shadow Armor melding into diamond hard scales. Tobias’ coat changed, forming into dark sapphire wings that spread like a bat’s. His feet split apart, forming into talons similar to his hands, increasing in size just as his hands had. A giant, spiked tail formed from the seat of his pants, and he hunched his back and grew taller.

Then the Horus kicked in. The dark magic laced from him, so similar and yet so different to the powers of Shadows One. The vortex of darkness surged rounded him, like a miniature tornado. Tobias’ shadowy body hardened with the scales, building on the shadow power. Tobias unlocked all his powers, binding them to the Knight of the Madra, the Dark Knight that he was, created solely for destruction. His skin was darkened, like the bottom of the ocean, where no light could penetrate.

Orca followed the Dark Knight, forming himself into the true form of the Azure Sea. His eyes glowed a deep azure, before his skin began to change, forming into hardened water rather than flesh and blood. His joints were as fluid as a river, while his muscles were as hardened as ice. Orca began to emit a blue aura, just as strong as Tobias’ dark force.

“Ready?” the Dark Knight asked. The Azure Sea nodded, and both raised their arms towards the tree. “Let’s summon the Draken.”

They began immediately, showering the Draken’s entrance with darkness and light, life and death. The Dark Knight’s dragon flare combined with his shadow magic, dark flame bonded to dark waves. At the same time, the Azure Sea threw water into the portal, channeling the life-giving energy of his powers, as the Dark Knight did his destructive force.

From deep within the tree, something began to give. The Dark Knight and Azure Sea drained their respective energies into the Draken, bidding it to summon the shade of that already dead. The tree moaned in protest, unwilling to yield. The Dark Knight clenched his golden eyes, burning for the answers he sought. The Azure Sea continued, his face neutral in contrast to the Dark Knight’s fierce expression. While the tranquil sea was calm, even throughout the darkest of storms, the Dark Knight’s powers required anger and motivation. The Knight of the Madra fueled all of his hatred of Shadows One into his summoning, forcing the shade to appear.

From within the tree, something snapped, a darkened rumble echoing through the forest. The Dark Knight halted his attack, the magic flying from his claws returning to his body. The Azure Sea mimicked the action, both Knights watching as the sacred tree began to shake, the mouth of its entrance almost widening. The ancient oak shook one final time, before something began to emerge, floating in the air.

“Kneel, Knight of the Madra,” the Azure Sea commanded, and both did so, as the shadowed figure emerged.

In times before he became the Spirit, and was just Skate-kun, Zora Knight of Water, Orca had once spoken to his bond brother, Balmung-sama, about a Draken they had encountered in the Forests, while liberating the Deku. A spirit had come to Balmung, the shade of the Hero of Time. Balmung had told him that, when he had felt the shade’s presence, it had been scarier then when he had battled Ganon as a child. The sheer presence of the shade almost made him flee.

Now it was Balmung that emerged from the tree, his tall frame covered by a dark emerald cloak, his face covered by a hooded cowl. Tobias looked up, seeing the shrouded expression of the shade he had taken into the Draken. He hadn’t even known who the man was until he had expelled Shadows One from his body, purged his system of the evil. He had just assumed the man had been a casual fool whom Shadows One had taken until his corporal form could return. That was all he had been told, when he had slain the man in the name of Hyrule. He had known nothing about who the man was, who he had been, and what he had become in the strange game of fate.

-Speak my name- the shade whispered, its voice floating through their minds like the leaves that fell from the trees as it approached. Orca looked over at Tobias, and nodded his head. Tobias gulped, and looked into the hood.

“You were Link, the Hero of Winds,” the Dark Knight answered, his throat dry. “Balmung of the Azure Sky, and the Sage of Wind.”

-What is it you want, Madra Knight-

Word Count- 1061

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Signature by the Sinfully Delicious Lady Knives