Dad and I stood before the crater filled with dark crystals, each containing enough dark energy to corrupt every soul within Cathopia who had not fallen to it already. Dad claimed they were not the problem, then what was?

“Over there.” Dad pointed as something came from behind one of the biggest dark crystals.

The purple light from the dark crystals revealed it was a Feles, a Lynx to be more precise, they walked amongst the dark crystals with no problem, touching them.

From this distance I noticed his fur was wild and sparking with the same dark energy as the crystals.

“Is he a wilds?” I questioned. I hadn’t seen one since visiting Amaris.

“No,” he shook his head. “His name is Link.”

“Link,” I repeated.

“He was a child when these mines of dark crystals were first created by the servants of the darkness, they had the children of this village harvest the crystals as adults died faster due to the over exposure to such raw energy,” informed dad.

“That’s horrible,” I commented.

“Even the children would eventually die, but something different happened to Link. He continued harvesting at their orders even after he was the only one left living, rumours say he got very sick, then seemed to become infused with dark energy,” added dad.

“Then he works for them,” I said.

“No.” Dad looked at me. “When he awoke from his sickness, he killed every knight and servant of darkness in the area, the storm clouds above appeared and he has been guarding the mine, preventing anyone from getting close, ever since.” He looked back towards Link. “I want to help him, but even I have not been able to get close enough, he is blinded by rage, sadness, revenge for those who died before and loneliness, he cannot see the help I wish to offer.”

“The destruction of the crystals,” I said.

“Yes,” he nodded.

“I can sense you Yamato!” shouted Link. “Back again for another beating!” A lightning bolt struck near us.

“So, he controls the lightning,” I commented.

“Not just lightning,” responded dad. “You ready for one heck of a fight?”

“If it’s with you, yeah,” I nodded. I stared down into the crater, a long way down, I would have to use Larana’s wings. “What’s the plan?”

“We need to restrain him and purify some of the dark energy he has absorbed over the years for him to hear our voices clearly,” answered dad.

“Alright, let’s go.” I jumped forward, summoning Larana’s wings, to fly down. Dad quickly jumped down after me. “Wait you can’t…”

Dad was ahead of me, dragon like wings appearing on his back. “Just because I don’t have Larana doesn’t mean I can’t fly.”

“I never asked what type of spirit Zekon is?” I wondered.

“An elemental dragon, unfortunately due to previous masters misusing his power, he lost his power over water, earth and lightning,” answered dad.

I didn’t give a response to his reply as I could not fathom a creature controlling so many raw elements.

“Yamato!” Shouted Link. My focus was on the Lynx now as he held his hand forward, sending sparks of dark energy straight from the crystals. I dodged to the left, while dad dodged to the right, both of us landing in different locations.

I ducked low to hide out of sight from Link if dad had struggled to fight him, then this was going to be far harder than I thought, especially with the manipulation of dark energy.

I stared at a dark crystal at my feet, a small one. I touched it, sensing the dark energy disappear within a second, evaporating in light. I understood now why dad said it would not have taken him long, did Link think we were after the dark crystals like the knights before.

I heard an explosion as dad and Link came into contact. I peered round the corner of a dark crystal seeing dad clashing with him, his fire exploding as it came into contact with black fire.

“Be careful, he can sense our presence,” mentioned Raziel.

Link jumped back, then placed his hand on the ground sending pulses of lightning directly through it. I took off as it reached me, sparks trying to reach up and shock me.

I headed towards dad, diving at Link. Our eyes met. I saw all the emotion welling up within him and a spark of light within his dark power. He owned this power compared to others who had become corrupted by it.

“We are here to help you.” I drew Raziel and slashed towards him.

“You’ve all said that before,” he snarled. Manifesting a sword out of thin air, to defended himself. “You’re here to destroy me.” He pushed me back, wind blowing wildly fuelled even more by the dark crystals. “I won’t let you touch these crystals; no one will be harmed by them anymore.” His whole body glowed purple as he unleased large amounts of power.

I stood my ground as I was hit head on by it, as there was no way for me to avoid it. I held a strong stance when I got hit.

My body glowed white, cancelling out the dark energy. It was in those moments I connected with Link through his power coming in contact with mine.

I saw his past flash through my mind. The knights came to the crater, sowing the seeds to begin cultivating dark crystals, like dad had said they had tried to mine them with adults, but most died within days, including Link’s parents.

Next were the children, pulled from their homes, brought here to mine the crystals from day to night. One by one all the children became sick, weak and Link watched all his friends perish.

Link became sick too, falling into unconsciousness surrounded by the dark crystals where he continued to absorb their energy.

As the knights tried to remove his unconscious body, he awoke, releasing enough dark energy to kill anyone too close, since then he has stayed here not allowing anyone too close, seeing my dad as a threat when he first arrived here.

I was pushed back, hitting the side of the crater, snapping me back to the moment. I felt filled with the emotions he had during his entire life, the sadness, the anger, the loneliness, and the suffering he endured.

I stared at him, knowing now the power he held was completely different from the one Dumah was spreading through the city. He had essentially become like the dark crystals around him, filled with raw untamed power, that even he did not know the full power he was capable of.