Link, the Dark Soul Within
The silence in the air was deafening. The crisp autumn air filled the night. The only sign of movement in the field was a man moving swiftly but quietly, careful not to be seen or heard by anyone that may be awake. The man slowed down to a halt upon arriving at the castle gate, lit by torches. The nameless man grabbed a stick and lit it on fire with the lit torch so he could find his way. Moving out of the light, he kept his hand on the castle wall to find his way. In his mind, he counted the number of stones he felt, stopping at thirty-seven. Looking down, he kicked away the brush to reveal a secret passage. After extinguishing his make-shift torch, he descended into the passage.
At the bottom of the passage, he waited for his senses to adapt to the moist and musty environment that now surrounded him. Now that he regained a sense of sight, he moved quickly, unconcerned with noise, for he was far enough below the castle so that he wouldn't be heard. He reached the end of the passage, only to be stopped in his tracks by the unmistakable light of a torch.
"Damn," he thought. "They never guard this passage."
"Who's there?" asked the guard in an authoritative voice.
The man silently moved into the corner as the guard came around. He waited, unsheathing his dagger, stalking his prey. The guard slowly but surely turned the corner, looking around with his torch.
"State your name and I'll spare your life" the guard ordered, still unsure as to what caused the noise in the first place.
"My life won't need sparing" replied the man, sheltered by the shadows.
The guard moved his torch, bringing it around to the source of the voice.
"Again I ask, who's there?" asked the guard, a little unsure of himself.
"Only your fears," came the reply from the darkness. With those words, he moved again, luring his ignorant prey to his voice. "Now is the perfect opportunity" he thought. "His back is turned, and he's scared".
He leapt forward, and jammed his dagger into the side of the neck of the guard. He torqued the blade around, killing the guard instantly.
"Such a shame, too" muttered the killer to himself. "There was only supposed to be one death this evening."
He laid the guard in the corner, the blood flowing profusely from the stab wound staining his hands and clothes a crimson red. Undeterred by the minor delay, the man pressed onward. Reaching the end of the passage, he climbed the ladder, and entered the castle.
"Now where did that old fool say I needed to look?" thought the man. "Ah, now I remember, there".
His destination determined, the man crept along the castle, careful to avoid the guards he knew were on patrol. After what seemed like hours, the man reached the castle treasury. Right in the center, he found the object he desired so much that it consumed him: The Scepter of Separation
"Stop" came the voice of a female.
"Don't move, or do anything," ordered the man, holding a knife to his throat. "Or else I'll kill myself. And if I do, my weaker, pathetic half you love so much will die as well".
"You wouldn't" said the female confidently, although in her mind she was just as unconfident as she sounded confident.
"Wouldn't I?" began the man. "I am unafraid of death. You, you let your emotions distort your reason. It's pathetic, really. He doesn't even love you back"
"You lie!" shouted the female defiantly.
"Believe what you want. I choose to know facts. Now if you'll step aside, I'll be going".
The female, not wanting her love to die, obliged. The man slowly sidestepped by, his knife still at his throat. After passing the female, he ran to a full sprint, dropping the dagger from his throat. He had only one goal in mind: to escape with his prize. But the female outsmarted the man. She already alerted the guards. The man would walk into a trap.
The man, wanting to take a shortcut, cut across the courtyard, where unbeknownst to him, awaited several guards with their bows drawn, ready to fire. The man was in the center of the courtyard when the guards sprang. They did not know, however, that he was no longer as he seemed. His darkness had receded, and he reverted back to normal. He was left surrounded to wonder how and why he ended up in this situation. Then the memory came flooding back to him. That evening, not to long ago, that began everything.