Chapter 6

Link awoke in a bed of silk. His head was resting on a soft pillow. He felt his arm, it was bandaged and dressed. He looked under the sheets, he was naked. He sighed and let his body relax. He felt heavy, too heavy like he was going to fall through the fragile bed any second. He was waiting for it, waiting to hear the door open slowly, watch a nurse poke her head in and smile at him. No door opened, nothing made a noise, no smiling face, no affectionate embrace. Link felt slightly disappointed, but knew that no matter what he would feel alone. Even if a person was sitting at the foot of his bed, smiling at him, trying to provoke a response, he would have felt more alone than being in isolation.

He looked around the room, it was plain, stone walls, windows, decorative rugs, tapestries of the royal seal hung on different sides of the room, and a small stand with a basin of water. Link decided it was time to get up and walked to the water. He looked into the silver bowl, seeing his reflection staring back at him. He did not like the man he saw staring at him. He hated that man. It was the face of a coward, a face of eternal damnation. He wanted to splash the water away, making his face look disfigured and destroyed like it should be, but he stared his enemy in the face. He had done this more than once, defeated an enemy, but he was his worst. He sighed and scooped the water with his palms. He drank in the cool liquid, letting some of the droplets roll down his neck and chin. He felt cold. He looked and saw the window was open, a cool breeze rolling through. It was almost night time. Another night of hell he thought. He saw his clothes, cleaned and mended, on the small chair next to the foot of his bed. He quickly dressed, being naked made him feel vulnerable.

He sat on his bed, listening for footsteps, but there were none. He bit his thumb, something he did when he was nervous. He stood up, putting on the rest of his gear and weapons. He ventured outside his small chamber, looking up and down the hallway. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. There were normally guards posted on either end of the halls, one for each stairwell and one on every other door. Link guarded himself with his sword, it shined in his face. He looked at it, saw his eyes, he shook his head and looked away. It was time to focus.

He slowly walked down the corridor, looking in each door way for something to come out and attack him. When he reached the end of the hall, he could hear something in the stairwell. It was slithering towards him. Link held his sword up in a sense of attack. When the noise came closer, he could see the shadow flickering against the stone walls. The torches always gave off eerie shadows.

The outline of the creature looked like a large serpent. Link anticipated something to this nature. He had come across a few of these during the Carenhert's war. He used magic to create an iridescent glow on the blade of his sword. When the serpent reached the mouth of the doorway, Link struck down with a hard blow. The serpent's head was severed. Link was covered in black blood again. He sighed and wiped his face off with the sleeve of his tunic. He proceeded downstairs, slaying a few more beasts that resembled the dark green serpent. Link reached the lower level chambers. These would have a bustling of maids and butlers around, tiding up the guest rooms for the visiting guests, which was a regular in the kingdom. Link kept his guard up, passing each room with stealth. When he reached the last room, he could hear voices.

"Let me go, you despicable piece of Mongol trash!" It was Zelda. Link's heart skipped a beat. She was alive, for now.

"Awe, Princess, I love it when a lady yells at me, especially calling me a Mongol. Those poor, pathetic, mud sucking people that live in the swamps. We killed them all before coming here." He could hear Zelda suck in her breath.

"You are all monsters." He could hear the Carenhert sigh and a few steps to follow. There was a loud smacking sound and the sound of a chair hitting the floor. Zelda moaned, and he could hear the chair being scraped and stood up.

"I know…" Link could hear the footsteps coming toward the mouth of the door. Link backed away, quickly, into an empty room. He kept backing up, straight to a small window. He felt a cool breeze on his neck and felt the hairs on his neck stiffen. He gripped the hilt of his sword until he could feel his hand go numb. He was barely breathing before the shadow of a large man passed the door. He heard the man call for two guards to come keep the princess "company" before completely leaving. The two men chuckled as they stood outside the door of the chamber. He could hear them breathing, their laughter flooded with hatred, their tender remarks to "her delicateness" and "he did say to keep her company." Link had enough of this trouble. He stepped out of the bedchamber. He was immediately noticed and pursued. He kept up a decent fight, both men armed to the smallest dagger in their boots. Link fought, receiving quite a few cuts along his arms and torso. The bandaged wound was beginning to stain red. Link decided it was time to use more magic and drew energy from the two men. The men buckled as light surrounded them. Link knelt down on one knee, soaking in the healing energy. His cuts began to diffuse into his skin, his muscles seemed to relax, and his migraine was gone. When he finished, he looked down at the two guards. They were shriveled and dead.

He could hear muffled cries in the next room. Link ran to them at once. Zelda was bruised and beaten. She looked weak, but resilient. He ungagged Zelda, the corners of her mouth were raw and bleeding.

"Ugh, thank the Gods you're here. I thought they would have found you. It's probably some sort of trap. Ugh, be careful, I think I've shattered a rib." Link stopped untying her as quickly as before, and took a more gentle approach.

"How did they get in here? What happened to my people, the warriors, our Hyrulians?" Zelda shook her head slowly. Her yellow tangles were matted with blood. Link noticed she had a minor head injury.

"We lost many of them, the others have transferred to our other mirror world. You remember your quest for the Major's Mask, don't you?" Link shuddered. "I thought you would. Well, they transferred to Clock Town temporarily. I had spoken with the people there. Anju is taking care of everyone." Link thought of Anju. He used to think of her often, she reminded him of Malon. Link sighed and finished releasing the princess. She stood up, extremely sore.

"I wish I knew you needed to be mended. I would have done my best to heal you, not myself." Link sighed.

"It's fine, we need to find a faerie fountain." Link helped Zelda walk down to the steps that entered the courtyard. There were typically a few faeries that flew around in the area. Link was able to evade a couple guards. He placed Zelda behind a maze wall and caught a small faerie. He brought it to her and it immediately flew around her, swarming her with light, giving her a new glow. Link sighed and sat next to her. He felt tired and weakened.

"Are you alright?" Link shook his head.

"Not exactly. The love of my life is somewhere with the enemy; it's been weeks. Our people are in hiding. Hyrule has been overrun by Carenhert clan members, and I'm pretty sure some giant evil thing will be coming up to finish the job." Zelda sighed and put a hand on his leg. Hel looked over at her, her wisdom shined like the sun.

"They haven't won yet."

It had been another week in their time frame. It was probably weeks that had gone by in Hyrule. Malon wasn't strong at math, but decided an estimate would suffice. Malon was trying to get accustomed to her new found evil outsides. Her skin stopped burning as she embraced her new fate. Her new husband was typically on the battle field, and she was left in the tent, alone. She looked in the mirror often, her eyes beginning to change to a deep blood red.

"Malon?" It was Jodein. Malon turned and looked at him. In her head, she could hear the faint screams of who she used to be, but now it was nothing but an annoyance.

"Darling." Malon went to embrace him. Her dark garments fluttered around him like smoke. He smiled, delicately, which was unusual for his nasty demeanor.

"What are you being so pleasant about?" Malon asked, encouraging a scowl on his face.

"We have a problem." She pulled away from him and made a face. He backed away slowly, he knew how terrible her temper had become. He almost regretted creating such a beautiful monster.

"What…" She seethed at him.

"Link and Zelda are still alive. He killed two of my men. We need to hurry, we need to consummate our marriage. The demon you will create will start a whole new world for us, and years to come even more evil will infect the kindness of these lands. Malon sighed. She pressed her index finger against her garment, it unzipped in the front. It slowly faded across her skin, turning it milky white like it had been before. There were no more bruises, no more cuts, no more scrapes. She was just as perfect as before. Her fingernails were still long, sharp and black. Her eyes were bright red now, and her hair was curled. Jodein licked his lips.

"Well, are we to do this or not?" Jodein nodded eagerly and tied off the curtains to the tent door.

"This is the first time you've willingly let me touch you. I'm very excited about consensual copulation. It took so long for this moment, at least, it seemed like a long time." Malon rolled her eyes and sat on the bed.

"Hurry up." Her voice sounded slightly metallic. Jodein smiled and crawled on top of her eagerly. They began slowly. Jodein wanted to enjoy every moment, but Malon had other plans. She traced her long fingernails over his back, making small designs that slowly burned into his skin. He recoiled from her, but she had him pinned. Her strength was almost frightening. Jodein decided it was time to hurry up. He didn't want to be completely scarred before the war was over due to his wife's power. The moment he did finish, Malon smiled. Her teeth were white and pearly, almost sharpened at the tips. She was ghastly beautiful. Jodein sighed and relaxed as he moved away from her, but she still had a grip on him.

"Darling, it's over, let go." He whined as she scratched his back. Her smile widened and she flipped him under her. He almost got aroused again, but something was seriously wrong.

"You were so eager to have this body, but you weren't eager to have me. You wanted me until I freely gave myself to you. Now I suspect you'll seek out the thrill of a woman who loathes your touch like I once did. That poor, weak, meek, Malon. She's no longer here, and that scares you, doesn't it?" Jo didn't move or make a sound. She traced her long finger nails down his throat. With a swift movement she cut straight down. She felt the warmth of his blood against her chest as it poured freely all over. She laughed and kissed him lightly on the mouth. "That meek little Malon died, along with you." She dismounted Jodein and traced her fingers back up over her torso. The dark smoke wrapped around her body creating her dark garments.

When she emerged from the room Dorian was waiting for her outside. "Did you create the child that will bring the downfall to this dumb race of Hyrulians?" She pushed past his father. He grabbed her arm. "Answer me, I created you, you tell me now." Malon smiled lightly and ripped her arm away from him.

"You may have made me, but I rule your future. Back off. If you want your answer, ask your son." With that she left and went through the portal at the end of the camp. She could hear the father crying, and it made her smile. "Weak, insignificant life." She sighed as she turned. The smoke around her felt like an old friend. She looked through the portal at a grown man, on his knees, holding his dead son, and weeping. She spit towards the portal. "Life is weak." She said and walked back towards the battle field.

Link was on the hill top where he used to go with Malon on picnics. He remembered it fondly, but the view was different. Smoke was rising from multiple villages in the area. Hyrule castle looked deserted, dark, and desolate. The Kokiri Village and Kakariko Village were both torn apart, and from what he could tell there were a number of casualties. Link had to remind himself that this wasn't his fault. He looked to the distance where the Carenhert's portal was. From it he could see something pale and ghastly, something with dark red hair dressed in black smoke. Link had to catch himself from fainting, it was Malon. He was never weak in this sense, but he had never seen anyone so transformed in his life. Zelda had to transform herself into darkness before, but never to this extent.

He felt a light grip on his arm. "Link, we need to go." Link turned, tears stinging his cheeks leaving flesh colored streaks through the dirt on his face.

"It's Malon. I can't do this right now. I can't go with you. I need to save her." Zelda's grip tightened.

"She is under their magic. Believe me, you don't want to be near her right now." Link looked into her eyes and Zelda felt his pain.

"She's right there, she's coming over here, please leave me with her. Just for a moment. I promise I will destroy her if I have to." Zelda sighed and stepped away.

"I will be right here. I will not leave your side, but I am going to give you what you need." Zelda snapped her fingers and disappeared. Her magic was tricky, but it was through experience that she had accomplished so much power.

Link waited in anticipation as he watched her dark form walk closer and closer to him. He could see her curved frame wrapped in black. She looked elegant but dangerous. Her hair was curled down her back. Her eyes glowed red and fierce. When she finally reached him, he almost fell to his knees. This was not his Malon anymore.

"What did they do to you?" Link whispered as he touched a ringlet. Malon sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Don't act like you actually care. I'm no longer that Malon you abandoned. I know it's been weeks here, but it's only been a week there." She pointed a long finger towards the Carenhert's portal.

"I do care, Malon." Link sighed and let the tears fall down his face. "I couldn't get to you, I had no clue where you were. You didn't listen to my advice, did you?" Malon laughed, it was metallic and not her voice.

"You insignificant man. Don't you see, Malon is a different woman now. I've been sculpted into a new, beautiful, woman. I'm more powerful than those pathetic Carenhert. I'm sure Dorian is putting a bounty on me since I killed his only son. You remember Jojo, don't you? You can thank him for the wonderful job they did to this body and mind." Link set his jaw. He was beginning to fill with rage. "The reason I'm here, Link dear, is because Jodein did not possess the power to give me an heir. I need a son, or daughter, to rein over the lands after I have vanquished all life from it. You, alone, are the only one that can do this for me." Malon smirked and lightly touched Link's chest. She could hear the true Malon in the back of her mind screaming Link's name, screaming for him not to do it. "She's powerful, that other Malon. She gives me a headache when she screams like that." Link pushed her away from him, moving past her as fast as he could.

"Get away from me, demon. You are not the woman I love, you are a mistake, a freak of nature they created in her image. I bet if you didn't have that body, you would be the ugliest creature on the planet. You sicken me." Malon lashed out at him and cut his face wide open. He sucked in air and moaned as he hit the ground. He looked up at her, and with quick reflexes rolled to the left as she threw a fire ball towards him.

"You insignificant man; I only need you because you contain a power that no other being can give me except the goddesses themselves. Unfortunately, they would never cooperate with me, so you will have to do." Zelda reappeared next to Malon, her sword drawn, but before Link could tell her no she stabbed Malon through the chest and turned the blade. Link could hear a crunching noise, her rib cage breaking under the strain of elven steel. Link felt himself fall down to his knees. He watched her face twist up in a fit of rage. Malon grabbed the end of the sword that was protruding through her chest and pushed it back towards the entrance of the wound. Zelda's eyes widened when the sword fell down, splashing dark blood on the ground. Malon took a finger and touched the blood pooling around her chest. She examined the blood and licked it. "It's so sweet…" She growled. She turned and looked at Zelda. "You bitch, don't you know pure evil is quite hard to kill." Zelda took a step back. Link got up immediately and buried a sword in the woman's side. She let out a scream and turned to Link.

"Zelda, go! Get out of here, now!" Link yelled as Malon pursued him. Link ran backwards, keeping his eyes on Malon, hoping Zelda would be out of sight.

"You foolish boy, I'm going to make this really awful for you." Malon gripped the handle of the sword and ripped the blade out of her. She growled and put a hand on her bleeding side. Slowly Link could see the smoke entering the wound and healing the skin. Link was astonished.

"What in the goddess are you?" He whispered as she rushed to him.

"I'm your worst nightmare." With that she swiped at his face and he was out cold.