Chapter 6
The Threat Immerges
"I've been waiting for you Link; it's been a long time."
Link stood in a dark room, the only illumination being from a lone flickering candle at the far end across from him.
"I've been waiting for you…." repeated the sinister sounding voice.
Where had he heard that voice before he wondered? As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, he saw a figure sitting at the far end of the room. He started to walk forward but found that with each step he took forward, the person seemed to move farther away.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"You know what I want…" the man replied. Link was able to make out more of the features of the man. He had jet black hair and wore a tunic very similar to the one Link was wearing. He tried to make out the face but the man had his head facing the floor.
"I have been waiting a long time to meet you again. We have been separated far too long Link. I think it is time that we are reunited again…"
The figure vanished and appeared directly in front of Link frightening him a little as he stepped back a pace from the figure before him.
"You shouldn't be frightened of me Link, nobody should be afraid of themselves. Then again…maybe you should be." The figure raised his head towards Link, his blood red eyes filled with hate. Link recognized the man in front of him as his blood went cold. "You will finally be able to suffer the consequences of what you did to me all those years ago. My master is coming as well as his general for your friend..." The figure smiled maliciously, grabbed the sword at his side and raised it above his head. His red eyes flickering with pure malice… "Tell him that I enjoyed the last time I met with his family…" Laughter echoed across the hall as the figure swung his sword downward at Link.
Link bolted upright in bed, the sweat poring from his face. Zelda was awakened instantly and stared in panic at Link.
"What's wrong?" her eyes filled with fear. She barely had time to ask him that question before Link jumped out of bed, and started getting dressed. He twirled his head around and looked at her. She remembered that look that Link had in his eyes. It was the same one that had filled them almost a month ago. He had another nightmare, and by the look of this one, it was much worse.
"Get dressed, we have a big problem." Link said as he finally finished dressing and started heading towards the door. He turned quickly as if he had forgotten something and walked to where he kept his sword and shield. Zelda was now extremely worried. What was happening?
"At least tell me what just happened Link? It was another nightmare wasn't it."
Link stared at her, "Yes, and if you want to know what it was about follow me, we need to talk to the king now!" Link started to walk out the door but stopped and turned around. "First we need to wake Cimar; he needs to hear this as well." He walked out of the room and opened the door to Cimar's room. They both emerged a minute later, Cimar fully dressed and surprisingly awake for it being a little past midnight. By this time Zelda had finally gotten dressed and the three of them walked down to the kings chambers. Link was quiet throughout the entire trip, only paying attention to the path they were taking, rushing madly ahead. When they reached the kings chambers, Link asked the guards to wake the king now, there was something they needed to talk to him without delay. The guards saw the urgent need in Links eyes and one of them went in to wake the king. It was less than a minute later when Hyrule came out of his room, still wiping the sleep from his eyes.
"What is so important that you needed to wake me for at this time in the morning? It had better be important," the king mumbled as he tried to wake up.
Zelda looked to Link thinking the exact same thing as her father, what did he wake them up for?
"Ganondorf is returning." Zelda stared at Link and went pale as Hyrule eyes widened in shock.
"That is indeed very important; I'll call for an emergency defense council immediately." The King was just about to order his servant to wake his generals and defense councilors when Link interrupted him.
"There's more. General Knilkrad, the man that destroyed Turalis is a servant of Ganondorf as well, one that I know very well." As Link said that, he felt Cimar grimace as he heard the name.
Everybody was too stunned at the news to react. Link continued, "I also know who General Knilkrad is…in fact I know him about as well as I know myself."
Cimar stared at Link, not knowing what he was meaning. Zelda was equally confused but tried to hide it. He continued turning to Cimar as he spoke. "He is a being as evil as it comes. All the good that is in me is reciprocated by the evil that is in him. You may know him as Knilkrad, but I know him by his real name, Dark Link the evil that was formed from myself."
The initial reaction to what Link had said stunned the people sitting around the table just as it had to the people in the king's bedroom. On the table was a map of Hyrule, with all possible routes in which an invasion could take place. The councilors and generals of Hyrule rubbed or shook their heads when they heard the terrible news that Ganondorf was somehow returning. They had no reason to not trust Link, he had never lied to them and the worst part is; he was almost always right in prediction such as these.
"Well at least we now know the threat facing us it seems." The king was putting together all of the information that they knew up to that point. "We know that Ganondorf has somehow broken the seal on him or is in the process of breaking it. We also know that General Knildrad is the entity known as Dark Link, someone who is just as powerful as Link. As we know from Cimar and Links account of him, he is just as evil as Ganondorf, if not more. The only thing we don't know is when their invasion will be coming."
They heard the windows crash open as the wind from outside burst through them. The candles flickered and died, leaving the room lit only by a single candle that was near the throne.
"I believe that I can help you with that answer, gentlemen."
Everyone turned towards the throne where the voice had come from. Sitting on the throne, was the man that only Link and Cimar knew from past experiences. The man looked exactly like Link except for two things. All of this man's clothing was a solid black and his eyes were not a compassionate blue, but a sinister red that resonated with evil. The man sitting on the throne was Dark Link, and he had somehow managed to return to Hyrule.
"I've been waiting a long time to see you again Link. You should try to keep in contact more often as I would like to know how my better half has been," a smile growing on his face. He looked over to see Cimar getting out of his seat, unsheathing his sword, hatred burning in his eyes.
"Ah and Cimar, how wonderful to see you again. The last time I saw you was when I was busy destroying your country. I'm glad that you escaped since I'll be more than happy to repeat that pleasure in your new home." He laughed as Cimar's rage started to build, "Oh yes, I'm sure you would have loved to see how your mother tried to protect your younger brothers as I killed her in front of their eyes before unleashing my wolfos to tear them apart."
Cimar bolted forward but Link managed to grab him and hold him back while Dark Link laughed sadistically.
"Come on Link, you know you want to kill me as much as Cimar does, in fact, you thought you did all those years ago. You must have not wanted to destroy someone that you created and if I was Cimar I guess I could blame you for the destruction in Turalis. If you wouldn't have really finished me off, Cimar's family would have been alive now." He said as his eyes gleamed with the sadistic pleasure he was taking in this situation.
Cimar stopped struggling, turned around and grabbed Link by the throat, catching him by surprise.
"What does he mean that you had a chance to kill him before?" Cimar said as the other men at the table struggled to pull Cimar off of Link.
"Now is not the time." Link gasped as he struck Cimar in the stomach, releasing the grip he had on his neck. Dark Link laughed again.
"Yes, keep fighting…the more pain and suffering that is created, the stronger I become. That was the reason I destroyed Turalis, the power that I gained from all that death and destruction," Dark Link licked his lips and chuckled, "It was incredible." Link looked back at the monster of a man before him as cruel laughter emanated from his demented soul.
"I just thought that I would come to give you a little insight to what my master is planning. In one month's time, the seal that has held him in the sacred realm will be broken. When it breaks, he will come to Hyrule with his armies and utterly waste this pathetic excuse for a kingdom." he spoke with a sadistic gleam in his eyes. His gaze fell upon Cimar once again. "And as a favor to me for helping to release him, he will allow me to again slaughter as many people as I want…starting with your 'friends' at the ranch."
Cimar snapped as his last vestiges of sanity broke from Dark Link's last comment. He broke free of Link's grasp and focused an orb of energy in his palm and shot it towards Dark Link, who vanished the instant before the blast struck him. Maniacal laughter echoed across the room as the wind picked up again, as the remaining candle in the room flickered out…
"See you all in a month's time. I will be looking forward to it." The laughter faded away and the candles were re-ignited by the servants, slowly filling the room again with their light. The only reminder that Dark Link had ever come was the charred remains of what was once the throne of Hyrule.
They had received the answer to the only question they had left. They had one month, thirty days. Thirty days to prepare for the arrival of Ganondorf back into the lands of Hyrule.
Sorry about the shortness. The next few chapters make up for it though.
