Link senselessly beat the earth with tightly clenched fists. It was if the earth was himself for letting them take Zelda away. Holly, James and Ryan were all afraid to approach him in his self rage. It wasn't until his face stopped being red that James stepped forward.
"Don't be like this," said James, placing a helpful hand on Link's shoulder. "There was nothing we could do."
"You're wrong!" Link retorted. He spun around to face them all. "There was something we could have done! Something! Anything!"
"What?" asked Ryan with a larger attitude. "What could any of us do that you couldn't?"
"Make an effort at the very least!"
"Oh like you?" asked James. "Willing to endanger her for the sake of saving her? That doesn't seem like much an effort to me. It was almost as if you just wanted to get her back just to prove to yourself you could. It probably had nothing to do with saving her!"
"James!" Holly shouted.
"No," said Link. "He's right…I didn't think straight and look at every outcome." He looked up at them. "I will go ahead. I will find her and save her. I promise."
"Are you crazy?" asked Ryan. "If you go alone you'll be sure to be killed!"
"Link, think about the outcomes from this," said James. "Ryan's right. None of us should go alone."
"Well that's all fine for you and all. But that's why I want to go alone. I don't want any of you getting hurt. This...thing has to do with the Sovereign of Silence, there's not doubt to that. And whatever they want you can be sure it has to do with more than just Zelda." There was a long pause.
"Zelda?" asked Holly.
"I'll go it alone from here. Don't follow me." Link shot such a glance to them that no one dared argue. Even Ryan, who couldn't see him, could feel it. He walked on ahead until he went over the horizon. The last three watched and stared for a long time.
"Why did you call her Zelda? Why did you address her as princess?" asked Holly.
"Her name isn't Holly Blue…" said James. "It's Princess Zelda and she is a refugee from Hyrule along with Link."
The first thing Zelda remembered when she regained consciousness was being thrown into a dark cell onto the cold stone floor. She rolled multiple times until she hit the adjacent wall.
She struggled to see but her vision was still blurry. She had a pounding headache and her palms and knees were raw. The only thing she could see was a shadowy figure slamming the gate shut with such a sound of clashing steel, it made her fall to floor again.
Her breathing was heavy with the thick smell of something that was dead. Her face was smudged with coal and her skirt and white shirt was ruined. She managed to pull herself together enough to sit her head on her bent knees. It wasn't until she sat that she realized how much she was shaking.
When she steadied, she looked around. There wasn't window to show her the outside. Her only source of light was a candle that burned far down the hallway.
After a long while, someone was coming down the hallway. Zelda suspected it was the person that locked her in the first place. He came up to the bars and Zelda looked at him. He was in a black outfit. It covered his face except his eyes leaving him covered in completely black clothing from head to toe.
He opened the gate and started toward her. He didn't seem to show signs of harm but Zelda kept up her guard. She held her dignity and refused to give them the satisfaction of showing fear.
The man held out a hand and held her chin. He moved her head from left to right making sure she was alright. When he saw she was okay, he left for a moment, and then he returned with a bowl of food. It wasn't anything that looked or smelled good, but it was all Zelda had and she scarfed it down immediately.
With new found restoration, Zelda looked at the man. He had warm brown eyes and a stature similar to Link's. His, however, looked as if he had seen more days of battle.
"You're finished?" he asked.
Zelda nodded.
"Would you like some more?"
"Please," she managed to let out.
He left and returned a few minutes later with another bowl. Now that Zelda had some food in her, she noticed the taste a little more and didn't finish it as quick as the one before.
"You get used to it," the man said. He looked at Zelda's bleeding knees. "They did that to you?"
Zelda looked down at her scraped legs. She looked back up and nodded again.
"I shall bring a bandage for you tomorrow," he picked up the bowl and left. Zelda watched him leave. He certainly cared about her well being more than the ones that captured her. But she was still, however, a prisoner nonetheless. When the man left, she looked around to see if there was a way out. The thought was so chilling she turned away and found a pile of hay in the corner.
She made herself a small bed. It was horridly uncomfortable for it poked at her bare legs and hands but it was better than the ice cold floor. She rested up from her capture and slept silently.
Zelda didn't know if she had slept all day when she awoke. She heard footsteps down the hall once more. She crawled up to the cell and looked out. The same man, she guessed was coming to give her food.
She was right. He told her to move back as a precaution that she could not escape. She moved to the farthest corner. He placed the silver bowl in front of her. She ate whatever they gave her.
When she finished, he merely took the bowl and left. He didn't return with another one and Zelda was curious as to why he didn't say anything like before. He still hadn't given her a bandage for her knees or palms like he said he would and he didn't even look at her.
The next few days of it all continued the same way. Finally, she demanded to know when he came by. When he placed the bowl in front of her, she grabbed his wrist and looked right at him.
"Who are you?" was all she could think to say.
"I…I don't know…" he said uncertainly.
"Why are you doing this? To me, to anybody? Who are you working for?" Her voice was growing more and more desperate.
"She will not allow us to speak of her."
"She? Does that mean she's the Sovereign?"
The man jerked his hand away. "I was punished for trying to help you. The orders were that you could not be killed but nothing was said about making you suffer…"
"Then why? Were you punished?"
"I gave you extra food and offered to help your wounds. When they saw me stealing other bandages, I was beaten and sworn not to take anymore."
Zelda fell silent for a moment. "Why did you help me then?"
The man looked away. "Because…you remind me of someone. You don't look like her or anything…but like you were spoken of by her. She made me realize who I am. She helped me understand that I have my own life and not just a pawn to the one we serve."
"Then why do you?"
He looked at her again. "I must. There is nothing I can do. But I can feel it in you. I know you are more than you appear." He turned to face her again. "What is your name…?"
Zelda paused for a moment. She merely looked at him with a blank expression. "It's Zelda…Princess Zelda."
James helped Holly get firewood as Ryan attempted to start one. It had been four days of wondering across the fields and no one came up with anything from Link. Everyone was understandably silent.
James and Holly came back with a tiny amount of sticks. Ryan felt the small quantity. "It was all we could get," said James. "Look around, there are no trees."
Ryan gave a sarcastic look in James' direction. "Oh…Nevermind," said James.
"Something's not right," said Ryan.
"You think?" asked Holly. "We have no idea where we're going and are awfully left open in this field." Holly was becoming more and more of an annoyance to James and Ryan.
"Let's just all get some rest. It's late and we're all tired and annoyed," said James.
Ryan and Holly complied and laid down to rest.
Ryan shifted uncomfortably. She usually did so when she was having a vision. But this vision was not something she wanted to see. She saw Link wandering the field with determination. He was so fierce and had glowing concentrated eyes and then she saw more of the vampire hawks. They flew in the sky into the formation of a 10-point star.
The shadow of this formation was cast down below. Link, who didn't seem to notice, walked into the center of it, unknowingly. When he did, the shadow glowed the same color as his eyes. The earth opened up beneath him and turned into a black abyss in which he fell into. She could hear his screams echoing in his mind.
She bolted up. "Link's been taken!" she screamed, waking the others up.
"What do you mean taken?" asked James, completely recovered from the shock of being waken up.
"That's why we didn't come up with anything. We're going nowhere! There's a trigger that takes us to wherever they took Link and the men of the village!" Ryan got on her knees and started digging up dirt.
"Have you gone mad?" asked Holly. "What are you doing?"
"Dirt. We need to make a dark formation on the ground. Since we can't manipulate the vampire hawks to do it, we can probably use the dirt on the ground. If they did it, they would know we're coming."
"Slow down!" shouted James. "What are you talking about?"
"There's no time!" Ryan continued to dig. "Just dig up as much dirt as you can!" James and Holly thought themselves crazy to do what Ryan asked, but they did anyway. They all got down digging up dirt until the sun came up.
When there was a sufficient amount, Ryan scooped up some in her tiny palms and made the formation on the earth. After a long time of just watching her, James saw the 10-pointed star begin to take shape.
"I recognize this shape," he said. "It was like a secret emblem for a knight. No one but a knight knew of it."
"Then how do you know of it?" asked Holly.
Before James opened his mouth, Ryan spoke, "Come one. It's done everyone in the center." James and Holly joined Ryan in the middle. Nothing happened.
"Let's go!" Ryan shouted.
Nothing.
"Ala Kazzam?" she tried.
Nothing.
"I don't get it," said Ryan. "This is how Link went to wherever. Why are we doing wrong?"
"I think the real question is what are you doing wrong?" said James.
Ryan thought hard and tried to remember. Link fell into blackness when the formation glowed the same color as his eyes. His determination is what allowed him to pass!
"Everyone join hands!" Ryan said as she held her hands out. James and Holly each took one. "Everyone bow your heads and concentrate. We need to save Link and Zelda. We need to emit our determination. Concentrate!"
Everyone closed their eyes and concentrated. They all thought about how Link and Zelda would be in serious danger. Suddenly, Ryan's eyes glowed a brilliant blue. The dirt was torn apart by light and the abyss opened and sent the three plummeting to a seemingly bottomless pit.
The three hit the cold hard stone ground with loud thuds. Ryan was the first to sit up and rub her throbbing bottom. "Everyone alright?" she asked.
"Yes, but this place doesn't seem to be," said James. He looked around. They were in a dead place. The moon was red and the clouds were gray. James was horrified to look at Ryan in the red light. It made her look dead and stained with blood.
Ryan grabbed her head and squinted her eyes. "I…I can feel the evil all around…" she pointed faintly to a looming castle. "It's coming from there."
"Did we leave the world of life?" asked Holly.
"No…we've just been transported to another place. It's impossible to reach this place by any other means than how we did," said Ryan.
"We have to get in there," said James.
"But how?" asked Ryan, keeping herself together. "There're sure to be guards there that won't hesitate to kill you."
"We'll find a way in."
"Very well. For now, you must keep positive thoughts in your head. Right now, the determination of finding Link and Zelda is what's keeping you alive. If you by chance thing of the dark side of it, the silence here will loom around you and trap you here forever."
"Well none of us want that," said Holly.
Because of the dark surroundings, Ryan could make out certain things. She could very vaguely a rock here or there. She knew she saw the castle, she just didn't see the close details.
James looked up at the moon. He saw the silhouettes of hawks flying in front of the moon. It looked eerily gorgeous to him. As they approached the castle, it was as if the air was getting more and more difficult to breathe.
A massive set of steps led up to a bleak castle. Hawks and crows rested upon the ledges communicating to eachother. The three crouched by the wall so they were not seen in the shadows.
"What are we to do?" asked Holly.
"Be quiet!" James sharply whispered. "They have excellent hearing. There was no way a human can go in undetected."
"What do you call those?" Holly pointed at a group of men garbed from head to toe in black all being led by one. They let all of them inside with no problem. "See, there's nothing wrong." Holly went to go but James grabbed her and forcedly yanked her back.
"Are you insane?" James asked. "There's more to them going in than just being human. They're probably authorized by whoever's in charge here to let them in."
"Well what're we going to do now then?" asked Ryan. "We can't stay here forever."
James looked around. i There has to be a way to get inside /i he thought to himself. "Even if we get in, it'll probably guarded even heavier on the inside. And going in from the sky is out of the question with all those things flying around."
"What about from below?" asked Ryan. She got on her knees and placed her ear on the stone ground. She knocked on it ever so lightly. "There are caverns uninhibited by life." She knocked again. "But they're not connected. We may have to do some digging."
"How can we dig if we can't see?" asked James.
"Remember when I told you I could see sometimes?" James nodded. "In the dark, like pure darkness, I can see outlines of things. Right now, I can see the castle and know it's a castle. It's not constant, mind you; it's more like flashes and an incoherent picture in which I can only see pieces of it at a time."
"How can we get to one to start?" asked Holly.
Ryan knocked on the ground one more time. Then she rose to her feet and pointed to a black tree. "That tree is hollow. All we have to do is climb in and we should be in a sufficiently large cave," she said.
'That's such a crazy idea," said James. "Let's do it!"
James looked around the corner. The "guards" on the ledge weren't paying that close attention. James counted to three. On three, they all ran to the cover of the dead tree. There was no loud noise and it seemed they were in the clear. The tree was leafless and was about as tall as Ryan. She was small enough to be lifted and land in the cave.
"How is it?" asked James.
"It's so dark! I can't see anything!" she said sarcastically. Just then, James heard a shriek of a hawk. One had spotted them!
Without thinking, James grabbed Holly and chucked her over into the tree and he soon followed after her. "Were we spotted?" asked Holly.
James looked up. He felt his brow sweat. "Yes. I don't think they saw us come down here but we've got to get moving," he said. "They can find us here." James began to walk and ran into Holly. It was pitch black and James couldn't see anything once they moved out of the light coming from the opening of the dead tree from which they entered.
"Need any help?" asked Ryan superiorly.
"No!" said James making his way again and tripping over a rock and falling flat on his face in the process. "Okay, lead the way…" he said still on the ground.
Ryan felt around on the stone walls. She brushed away the dirt that was in between the rocks so she could fell for the best way to get in. "There's a small patch of flowers on the inside. If we can dig to that, we can dig in straight to the castle. Hand me your sword James," she said.
James made sure he was careful to not hit anyone seeing as how he couldn't see anyone. He felt around for Ryan's hand which was held out. He didn't know what it was when he found it and held it, but he just put the sword in her hands.
"Everybody stand back," said Ryan. She drew back the sword and hit it with a sufficient amount of force. After slight rumbling, the wall fell apart making another cave way. It was only four feet tall, as Ryan saw it, so they all had to crouch over. She reached for James' hand who held Holly's and they went forward until she got to another dead end.
Zelda began to have second thoughts about telling the guard her real name when he didn't return for two days. She was starving, filthy, and tired. She began to wonder what happened to him. She crawled back into the darkness of the dungeon and pulled out the comb she kept in her shirt and began to brush her hair.
For the first time that felt like eternity, she heard footsteps heading her way! She eagerly crawled to the gate and peeked out. Someone was coming! But as it came closer, it didn't look like the other person. This was someone different.
Like the one before, he had a bowl of food in his hands. But his delivery was very different. He opened the gate and Zelda crawled to it and held out her hands to take the food. But instead of him placing it in her hands, he shoved to her chest, spilling half of the contents on her already ruined blouse. He turned to leave.
"Wait!" said Zelda. "It spilled. Can some more?"
He turned around to face her. She held up the bowl. He took it and dumped it on the floor right in front of her. Zelda's face turned into shock at what he did. She looked up at him. His blue eyes shot right through. They were filled with such coldness that she could not move. There was no warmth in them whatsoever.
Zelda stayed in her position for a long time after he left. She stared at the same spot as if he was still there as she heard the footsteps fade away. She didn't understand why, but that piercing stare petrified her and she couldn't move for a long, long time…
When she pulled herself together, she crawled up to her hay bed and rested. She didn't even notice it until she felt the tear stream down her face. She had to get out, she just had to.
The next time she woke up, she made sure no one was coming. She looked around the cell. There had to be something she could do for when that guard returned. She dug in her straw pile and found a large rock. Perhaps if she could make him look away from her she could knock him out from behind and escape. It wasn't perfect but it could work. She hid the rock behind her and waited patiently in the corner. The lack of food for 3 days was getting to her.
Sure enough the same man came in with another bowl of food. He came in and shoved it to her once again. Zelda ate it all as fast as she could so she could have some strength for running away. Before he left she said, "Wait!" He turned with another piercing stare. She was sure not to look right at it. "There's….a rat on the corner over there…" she pointing to a far corner.
He went over to check and bent over to look. Zelda's heart beat fast as she lifted the rock and hit him hard on the head with it. Instantly he fell down to the floor and without even making sure if he was out, she took of running. She didn't know which way to turn as the hall went left our right. She went to her right and darted as fast as she could.
To her amazement, she heard her pursuer's footsteps behind her. Up ahead she could see a dead end. Just as she turned to see how far behind he was, his chest was already to her back with his arms around her, grabbing her.
She kicked and beat him with his fist but it was no use. She was drained of energy and he was just too strong. Eventually, her body just went limp. When they came up to her cell, he threw her in there just as she had been the first time she came there. He slammed the gate and felt the lump on his head as he walked away.
Zelda sat and looked around once again. She wasn't going to give up that easily…
"This is the last spot. After we get through there, we should be able to dig up to that patch of dirt in the castle," said Ryan.
Everyone was sweaty with the no ventilation in the caverns. Holly passed out twice and everyone panicked that they couldn't see anything. Ryan concentrated and hit the right spot with James' sword, crumbling the wall. In front of them wasn't stone, just dirt.
"Okay, as soon as we dig through this, the dirt is going to come crumbling down. So we have to continuously dig up," said Ryan. "If you stop for just a moment you won't be able to get out. Do you understand?"
"Yes," said James and Holly hesitantly.
"Make sure everything is strapped down…" Ryan put her small hands on the dirt and clawed a chunk of it away sending the rest of it toppling on their feet and above their heads. "Go!"
Ryan climbed up and could only pray that the other two were keeping up. They were a good six feet under and Ryan could feel dirt falling into her eyes and filling her mouth. She tried her best to not stop moving. Eventually, she could feel the dirt above her getting lighter and then felt her hand feel the air.
She used all of her strength to pull herself up to the edge of the patch of dirt to sit. She took a brief moment to spit all of the dirt out and brush what she could out of her face. She then leaned over and pulled Holly's hand and helped her out and the both then helped James.
Holly crawled out on her hands and knees and spit dirt out of her mouth. James brushed dirt out of his eyes. The patch of dirt they crawled out of was now a big hole that led to the depths of the underground. There were some black flowers scattered about the place since they had dug them up. Everyone's clothes were torn and damp with sweat.
Ryan heard running footsteps far away. "People are coming!" she said. "Lots of them!"
James took Holly and Ryan's hand and ran to a ladder. The surroundings were eerie. It was like a huge room with white light as if from the moon coming in from skylights above. There were some dark spots and the places that weren't illuminated looked as if they were infinitely dark. As well as all of the pillars scattered about the place.
The ladder led up to a ledge that was attached to a roof. Holly and Ryan were the first to get up there and James followed soon after. But as was climbing up the ladder, the rung broke in half under his weight and sent him toppling down to the floor and landed on his back. The ladder fell to the side.
Holly and Ryan looked over to see if he was okay. "Get back! Make sure you're not seen!" yelled James. The two stepped back so they weren't seen by the people on the floor. James drew out his sword and saw the swarm of guards dressed in black from head to toe and in perfect alignment.
He stood up and brushed what dirt he could from his outfit. When they saw him, James immediately prepared for battle. He wouldn't be able to take them all, but hopefully Holly and Ryan would make an escape unnoticed.
The guards didn't
do anything. They merely approached James. The one, James assumed was
the leader that led them all, came to speak to him. "Did you find
which way they went?" he asked. James was puzzled. Why weren't
they attacking him? "The intruders, son, which way did they go?"
"You think…I'm…" James couldn't find the right words.
His heart beat faster.
"One of us?" asked the man. "Yes, aren't you? You bear the mark of the knight on your left arm. The 10-pointed star it is. Why are you not in uniform? Did you just get here?"
James decided to play along. "Yes sir!" he said in a command voice.
"Good. We shall get you set up. No doubt our ruler has given your duties."
"Yes…she has."
"Very well. Let's get you geared up." One of the guards handed him a black suit. "Put this on and report back to our base when you in need of anything. I see you're already equipped with a blade. So there is no reason for you to make any mistakes. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir!" James called again.
"Excellent." He signaled to the others. "Come men!" And they all walked on in their perfect unison.
James stared down at the black uniform in his hand. i They think I'm a full-fledged knight… /i James thought and smiled. In the whole ordeal he forgot all about Ryan and Holly hiding above him until Holly called "Are you alright?"
James tore his gaze away from his hands and looked up to them both peeking over the ledge. "I'm fine. This is good," he said as he looked back down at his uniform. "If I put this one and walk with you guys you can look like prisoners being taken to your cell and maybe we can find Zelda!"
"Great, genius, now how are we going to get down?" asked Ryan. "The ladder fell."
"Oh!" James said as he put it back up so the girls could get down. As they did so, he went behind a pillar and dressed in his outfit. He came out with his tattered red tunic tattered. His brown eyes were the only thing visible through the mask.
"Alright, let's go find the princess," said Ryan punching the palm of her hand.
Trista played with her blood red cape. It was red on the inside a black on the outside. She playfully twirled in the mirror like most girls that looked her age did. "My crown, Zircon," she said. The little eyeball carried a black metal crown with deep red jewels on it and placed it on her head.
"I think this suits me better than the Sovereign," she said. "Pity how she can't manage anything on her own. She needs my help."
Zircon flew in her face when he got the word 'intruders' as a message from the guards. He beat his little wings violently. "Get out of my face!" she slapped him away. "You're annoying me…"
She walked over to the stone balcony and looked at her castle. She felt her heart skip a beat with pride at what she accomplished. "Everything is going according to plan. The princess is captured and as we speak the one in green is coming to save her." Zircon spoke in grunts that Trista could understand. "What do you mean what of his friends?" she asked. "There's no way they can find us. And even if they did, they wouldn't be able to make it inside.
"We've already captured the one in green. Now it is all a matter of finding him." She leaned her hands on the ledge of the balcony. "He's hiding somewhere. I've made it top priority to find him. I don't know how he's managed to evade me for this long. But I won't underestimate his powers again once I find him."
She walked back into her chamber and fell on her black canopy bed. "The Sovereign won't have much a choice but to bow down to me whenever I get the man's spirit crystal. I'll use it for myself and I shall be the Sovereign of Silence!"
Zircon just stayed and hovered where he was, looking at her.
Trista looked and saw him staring at her. "Why are you staring at me you worthless little pest?" He remained there, not averting his gaze. "Stop it…" her voice softening a bit. "Don't look at me like that!" She became more irritated. She got up. "Quit it!" She yelled as she threw a vial of perfume at him. She turned away. Her heart beat fast as she tried to catch her breath.
Zelda's new plan was well formulated now. After her first failure, she took a few days of eating whatever she could to gain her strength. Her new guard was brutal and continued to shove her food at her, spilling it. It never got better for her.
She noticed a bar from her cell to the outside was loose. If she could only rust it more, she could break it out and squeeze through. With all the weight she lost it wouldn't be that hard to do. She used her own liquids to rust it best she could. She spit on it and other such things that could make it rust. It took a couple days but it was starting to rust.
On the day she was planning on leaving, she waited for the guard to give her her food and leave. She was so excited it would work that she couldn't keep from smiling. Only when the guard came in and gave her his piercing stare did she stop smiling. It was odd that the guard stayed to watch her as she ate. Did he know something?
As she ate, the guard inspected her cell. He looked at the carvings of how many days she had been in there. They were scattered about the wall so it was hard to tell exactly how many there were, all you could tell is that there was a lot.
Zelda tried her best to keep calm as he made his way near her ticket to freedom. If he saw the rusted bar he may see through her plan. She felt a huge weight lift when he walked away from it. She dipped the rest of the contents of the bowl down her throat and wiped her mouth with her sleeve.
The guard left. Zelda waited until she heard his footprints fade away. She pulled the bar out with ease and crawled through. She looked to her left and then to her right. From her previous attempt, she went left instead of right. There had to be another way. She came up to another split in the hallway.
Before she could decide which way to go, the guard came out from the left corner. Zelda ran right into him and fell straight on her back. She stared in horror as his hands came down and grabbed her by the neck.
She put her delicate hands on his and tried to pry him off, but he didn't. He wasn't choking her, but she desperately tried to shake him off. He carried her like that to her cell. She continuously tried but to no use.
He stared at her when they were in her cell. He had her in his right hand and slapped her across the cheek with his left. The shock of it all was so great she fell to the floor on all fours. She coughed and gasped for air and looked up at the man that hit her. He kicked her in the stomach, toppling on her back.
He ripped the bar off an adjacent cell and placed it in the empty slot. He made sure every single bar was strong enough to not be broken. He left Zelda on the cold ground, coughing and struggling to breathe. He didn't even take a second glance.
That was it. Zelda was done. She evaluated every one of her plans and the outcomes. She thought for a long time on where she kept going wrong. If she could just lock him in the cell while she ran away, she wouldn't have anything to worry about.
The next day, she was so fierce in her determination; she waited on the ground in the very center, staring on the outside. Her eyes were narrowed and she didn't falter at all. She waited hour upon hour for him to come. Finally he did.
He opened the gate and placed the bowl in her hands as usual. She didn't even look down at it. She just stared at him. Her piercing stare matched his. It was a silent battle. In one motion, she threw the food in his face and slipped in between his legs. She was on the outside and slammed the gate behind her. This time she made sure he was in. She ran as fast as she could.
She was so determined to get away that she didn't even notice how malnourished she was. She felt dizzy but kept her focus straight. She came up to many corners that split. She went to the direction where the most candles were lit.
She was winded but she had to keep moving forward. She finally came up to a steel door. She pulled it as hard as she could. It wouldn't budge. She had made it this far, she wasn't going to let a door keep her from her freedom. With a scream, she ripped the handle off.
To her utmost delight, there was a ladder leading upward in the center of the room. It was as if she was on the inside of a well. It was small and round, but it had her way out.
But as soon as she grabbed a rung, she felt herself being pulled away from it. She turned around and saw the guard grabbing her. It made her heart stop. She held on to the ladder as tight as she could. She didn't want to let go; she couldn't let go.
He tugged harder and harder, but Zelda held fast. "No! Stop!" she cried. "Let me go!"
He just pulled harder. With one final tug, her hands flung off and were painted black with the grip she had put on it. Her hands were scraped but she still continued to try and break free.
As he took her back to her cell, she calmed down and knew she had been bested. He walked her past her cell with the broken down grate. The man was obviously stronger than she thought.
Was he actually going to lead her out? Zelda thought it hopefully. But when they came up to a new cell with shackles she immediately knew what was going on. "No…" she turned and tried to run, but the guard stopped her.
Zelda tried to resist but he kept pushing her in. "No! No please! Don't do this to me!" she cried. He led her to the metal confines. She waved her hands away from him when he tried to lock the cuffs on her hands.
Irritated he forcibly took her arm and cuffed her left wrist. Zelda tried and tried to keep her right wrist away, but eventually, he got it too. Zelda tried kicking a while to keep her ankles away, but that was no use. She ceased struggling when he took her left ankle. Once the last one was fastened, he stood back.
Zelda, on all four, looked at the ground. Without knowing it, her comb fell out of her shirt. It made a tiny clanking noise. Before she could take it, the guard took it from her first. It was a green metal with sapphires in it. It seemed to be appealing to the guard for he studied it for a while.
Zelda rose to her feet and tried to take it from his hands. She grunted and tried to pry it from his hands. "I won't let you take this!" she cried as she tried to take it back. "It's all I have!"
The guard pushed her back to the ground and made his way for the door. Zelda pursued him on her knees. Her shackles were long enough to reach the door of the cell. She saw him walking away.
"Does it not bother you…?" she asked with a chokingly quiet voice. He stopped but he didn't face her. "Is this really the life you want?" Her voice grew more intense. "To see innocent people die that you will be responsible for?" she cried behind him.
He didn't turn to face her. He continued to walk away. Zelda held herself and cried. She tried her best to keep herself together but she couldn't anymore. Her attempts to escape were futile. Her friends that were coming to save her were probably captured or dead. She collapsed from exhaustion and continued to cry until she had no tears left…