Well, here's my first story. Enjoy!

Better summery on profile

NOTE: Italicized Writing: a character's thoughts (mainly Link's) or other background noises.
Bold-Faced Writing: another language (other than Hyrulian).

Blood of the Damned

Chapter 1: Old Legends Never Die

--

Link rode through the uncharted forest. The sunlight shone through the canopy of the forest, illuminating his rather dim path. The 17 year old youth left Hyrule 7 hours ago and was beginning to nod off in his saddle.

--

"You're leaving…again?"

He smiled. "You know me Zelda. I never stay put in one place too long."

She smiled back. "You'll be back in a week." Link looked at her. There was confusion in his eyes. "You don't remember your trip to Termina? You came back after three days."

"Ah, yes…that." He shook his head. She has no clue, he thought. "Well, we'll see how long I take this time."

Zelda laughed. "In any case, take this." She unraveled a double-edged sword. "A gift." Link took the sword and held it. He pulled it out of the scabbard and twirled it around expertly.

"This is an excellent sword." He said, impressed.

"It was forged by the Gorons in Death Mountain. This is undoubtedly one of the strongest swords in Hyrule, bested only by the Master Sword." The sword had a silver blade with a blue and gold hilt. A symbol of a blue eagle was between the blade and hilt.

He sheathed the sword. "Thanks Zelda."

"Just promise me this, don't get mixed up in any trouble Link."

He laughed. "I'll try."

--

Link's head bounced back up. He shook his head. "I have got to stop falling asleep." He absentmindedly grabbed the hilt of his sword that he attached to the left side of Epona.

Link looked up at the canopy of the forest. Wow, these are a lot like the forests in Termina, he thought. He put his head back down and closed his eyes, Epona continuing to walk down the path. Just then, Epona reeled back and threw Link to the ground, causing the blond haired youth to hit his back on the ground. Epona darted off about 20 feet and then slowed down to a stop.

Link groaned and opened his eyes. He stared up at the canopy. Great…, he thought as he stood up. He looked around the forest to try and find out what spooked Epona. Probably an animal, he thought. He grabbed the back of his neck and slowly made his way back to Epona. He reached Epona, only to find two separate paths, one leading to the right, the other, to the left. There was no sign indicating which way led to where. Oh boy, this is going to be intere…

CRACK!

A wooden staff smashed Link in the back of the head. He collapsed to the ground, unconscious. His assailants, two men dressed in green and brown clothing, so they could be camouflaged against the forest, lightly tapped Link with their staffs.

"Come on, let's go." The men picked up Link, threw him over Epona, and headed down the path to the right.

--

Link groaned. The sound of people talking reached his ears. Link opened his eyes to find that he was in a tent. He struggled to sit up and leaned himself against a pole. Link looked around the lightly furnished tent. There was just his makeshift bed on the floor and two chairs on the opposite side of the tent.

A man wearing a black, sleeveless shirt with brown pants and black shoes walked in. He had blond, shoulder length hair and his sword was attached to his hip. "Taran, he came too." The man called to another person outside the tent.

The man called Taran walked in. He was wearing brown pants, a white shirt, with a brown vest covering it, and brown shoes. He had shoulder length hair too, but it was brown and pulled back into a ponytail; he had a sword strapped across his back. "Is he okay? You knocked him pretty hard Ezra."

"I had to! We didn't know if he was a Kraïshan or not!" Link stared at the two men.

What are they saying, what language is that? "Um…do you speak Hylian?" Link asked.

Both the men immediately turned around to Link. "What's he saying?" Taran asked worriedly.

"I don't know…maybe this damned Kraïshan is trying to cast a spell. He could be trying to kill us! I'll make sure I get him first!" Ezra drew his sword and walked towards Link.

"No no! No kill!" Link said terrified. Taran and Ezra looked at Link with awe. Did I just say that! How do I know their language?! I've never even heard it before!

"He speaks our language!" Ezra said in awe. "What's your name?"

"Me Link…"

"Yeah, he speaks it alright." Taran said. "Pretty badly though. We should take him to the shaman. He'll know what to do."

Taran and Ezra walked over to Link, picked him up, tied his hand behind his back and shoved a sack over his head. "Why you…tie up?" Link struggled to speak their language.

One of the men laughed, but Link couldn't tell who. "Because, if you are a Kraïshan, we can't let you see our home. It wouldn't really matter though, if the shaman decides that you are a Kraïshan, you're going to be killed on the spot."

Link swallowed hard. He didn't understand much in that sentence, but what he did pick up was "Kraïshan," "shaman decides," and "killed on the spot."

--

A few minutes later, Link was shoved into another tent. He was forced on his knees and the sack was removed from his head. This tent was much larger than the last one and more lavishly, if not hauntingly, furnished. Along with it being covered with burning incense, an old man sat in a meditative state on the other side of the tent. Well, I guess that's the shaman, Link thought. In front of the shaman were dozens of lit candles and an ornate, wooden carving of an owl.

"So…you have brought a boy to me to decide whether or not he is a Kraïshan," the shaman broodingly stated. How did he know what we were here for? Link wondered, growing more and more restless with each passing moment. Alright, if the shaman does decide I'm…"Kraïshan," then I have to make a break for it. Link pulled at his bound hands. "These shouldn't be too hard to break. If I break the ropes, I can punch one of the two men, and while he's recoiling, I can grab the others one's sword after he draws it, kill him, and then kill the shaman. If the one I punch isn't knocked out, I'll have to kill him too. Not a very subtle plan, but it'll do.

"Yes, Master Shaman. But what's even more puzzling is that…"

"Yes, I know…he speaks Kura-Kitai. Don't fret Taran or Ezra, he is not Kraïshan." The shaman finally stood up and turned to face them. He was an old man with gray hair down to his mid-back, dressed in a simple, blue robe, with a wooden necklace of the owl statue around his neck. As he stood, he picked up a wooden staff with the same symbol of the owl at the top of the staff.

The shaman smiled at Link, most of his teeth were missing. It took almost all of Link's self-control not to laugh at the way this man looked. The shaman looked up at Taran and Ezra. "You man leave now, he is no threat. Untie his hands, if you will." Taran and Ezra resisted at first, but eventually complied and left the tent.

Link stood up, rubbing his wrists. "Hello Link," the shaman said in perfect Hyrulian. Link was shocked. "You are quite a daring person, aren't you?" the shaman continued. "Having a plan to escape and, in the process, kill Taran, Ezra, and myself, even more than that, if I had said you were a Kraïshan, your little plan would have worked. Impressive. Now, may I first say, welcome to Kushluk. I'm sorry for the rude introduction. We are at war and no outsiders can be trusted. Second of all, it was destined you came here. The goddesses willed it, and so it shall be done…Hero of Time."

Well, there's chapter one! I know that there isn't much action in this chapter (or probably the next one either), but I want to get all the details and introductions out of the way so I can put more focus onthe action.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Zelda related characters / places / themes / etc.. Only original names, characters, themes, and places.