Disclaimer: Link, Zelda, and everything associated with Hyrule do not belong to me. Arran, Shadow (what a crappy name... -.-) and Talka belong to me. There! Dont' sue me now!
Hey!! Here I am again, updating. ^^ Been a while, yes? I hope you guys haven't forgotten about me... Oh yea, I've activated an account on Fiction Press, but I haven't posted up anything yet. I will once I get some more time on my hands. Hey... did anyone of you guys notice that my last chapter was Chapter 8? lol... stupid mistake. This is chapter 8, last one was 7. ^-^;;;;
Oki, time for you to read. This chappy should be pretty good. ^^
Chapter 8
The dark corridor was completely silent aside from the footsteps that echoed. The dim light that was emitting from the sunlight from outside quickly vanished only a few paces from where I chased the guards in, making the trek through the castle even more difficult. My hand glazed the wall to my left, using it as a guide.
"...It's really dark in here..." Arran whispered.
I glanced back at him, seeing nothing but darkness behind me.
"Hey! I see light... Did we somehow turn around when we were walking?" Arran questioned, his tone somewhat quieter than before.
I turned back and looked ahead. There was indeed light at the end of the corridor, faint, but yes, visible. The light flickered and seemed more like a steady glow rather than rays of light. "No... that can't be the entrance of the castle. It looks more like firelight..." I responded.
As I neared the light, I began to hear voices. Both very familiar.
"You call yourself Shiek... A Shiekah that protects the Royal family. You would know where I would locate the last of the Royal Family, Princess Zelda..."
The corridor opened up into a large, dome shaped room. Torches lined the walls, lighting the room with firelight. The floor was covered with red carpeting, embroidered in gold. Hanging upon the walls inbetween the torches were paintings, the figures faded by years of dust. The ceiling had jewels of various types embedded upon it. Racks of weapons sat in the corner of the room, in close reach. Standing in the center of the room was Shadow, eyes fixed upon a painting.
Shiek herself was sitting within the confides of a large blue crystal, her back pressed against the side. Her head was bowed and her clothing was torn, as if she was beaten. Her labored breathing filled the room, signifying that she still lived. Her crimson eyes turned up at Shadow, then turned around, looking at the crystal she was contained within. "So... someone of my importance deserves nothing but the best cells, eh?" she said. Her voice and the way she stated the sentence clearly said that she would not tell Shadow.
But Shadow didn't' see it that way. He turned from the faded painting and set his eyes upon Shiek. "I am no idiot, woman," he said calmly. "A Shiekah is highly skilled in stealth. It is difficult to contain one, but you don't seem to prove to be much of a challenge." His lips formed into a smug smile as he saw Shiek's eyes narrow at the insult. He began to walk toward her. I spotted the jeweled blade in his hand, lowered, but still held in a threatening fashion. "What I can do... is kill that annoying warrior you named as your friend."
Arran's voice echoed in my ears, startling me a bit and arising panic within. "That son of a-"
I quickly pulled him back, silencing him. "Do you want to get caught?" I hissed.
Arran cursed quietly as Shiek's voice responded, "Link cannot die so easily. He has faced far worse than you!"
I turned back to the two and spotted Shadow, slamming the wall of the crystal, causing Shiek to flinch. "I have slain the king of Hyrule, Princess Zelda's father. What makes you think that I cannot slay him?!" he sneered. Shiek's golden locks shielded her eyes from me, but I could sense anger rising within her.
"You are no match for the Hero of Time. You will fall at his blade, as has Gannondorf and all others that preceded him," Shiek replied coldly.
Shadow cocked an eyebrow and he muttered something under his breath. His lips formed a smile as he stepped away from the crystal. "The Hero of Time... ah yes, that explains much about your friend Link..." He glanced at her, eyes flickering with amusement. "If you will not talk, then I have no use for your life."
Shiek gasped, her crimson eyes locking on the black orb that sparked to life in his hand.
My eyes widened. She could not possible evade it now that she was trapped within that crystal. I broke into a run, dashing straight into the room toward Shadow. "Link?!" Arran gasped as I took off.
Shadow turned toward Arran's voice and spotted me just as I tackled him down. The black orb that he had summoned to his hand flew just past my neck, and smashed into part of the ceiling. An enormous chunk of rock embedded with jewels was blown off of the ceiling, crashing into the marble floor behind us.
"Link!" Shiek cried from within her containment.
I rolled off of Shadow, unsheathing the Master Sword as I got to my feet.
Shadow, let out a feral growl as he rose to his feet. "Damn you bastard!!!" he screamed. He brought his palm up and formed another black orb. He thrust it at me as I rushed him.
I dodged the black orb, and leapt, bringing my sword down. Sparks erupted as Shadow brought his blade up in defense.
Shadow pushed me back. I landed lightly on my feet and brought my sword before me, facing Shadow.
"You've gotten better, Link..." he muttered. "Better than I expected. But you cannot hope to defeat me as you are now!" The same menacing look crossed his face. It was the look he had given me just as his blade was poised before my face seven years ago. "If you could not even bring your blade close to me before, what chances do you think that blade of yours will now?" Shadow swiped his blade to the side, raising his free hand in the air. "Admit defeat and your death will come easy."
He is only attempting to trick me into attacking him. That is always his motive... I thought to myself. I remained completely silent. Perhaps, if he received no reply, his frustration would grow and blind him...
Shadow released a sigh, bringing his sword up once again. "I did not think that you would anyhow. Oh how you would surprise me if you did!" He laughed, falling into an offensive position, causing me to ready The Master Sword. Shadow's expression suddenly began to express his excitement in battle. "Let's go!" he shouted and charged at me.
The jeweled blade swung down at me as I leapt to the side. In retaliation, I swung the Master Sword in or horizontal slash, aiming for his sword arm.
Shadow jerked back away from my blade, allowing it to come inches from its target. Shadow's calm expression allowed a bit of surprise to leak through, but it was quickly covered as he leapt at me again, his blade coming from above once again.
I pulled out the Hyrulian Sheild, bringing up to block Shadow's attack. After the shock of the attack passed, I pushed forward, whipping his sword to the side.
Shadow's seemed to lose his balance with the sudden movements. Using this rare chance of diversion, I followed the movement of my shield with the blade of the Master Sword.
"False move, fool!" Shadow sneered. The blade that was knocked aside was suddenly brought back up, catching the Master Sword. The jeweled blade angled itself, causing my sword to slide off Shadow's blade, creating a loud metallic ring in the air as both blades separated.
The Master Sword was flung out of the way, its attack being redirected by Shadow's sword. I was left wide open for an attack.
I attempted to move back, place some room between myself and Shadow in order to protect myself more efficiently. Shadow noted this, and brought his sword in a thrust toward my face.
I gasped, jerking my head to the side. I felt a sharp jolt of pain spark through my forehead and suddenly, the vision in my left eye blurred. I stumbled back, feeling warm blood slid over my left eye and down my face.
"I see blood, young Link," Shadow snickered, falling back into his offensive position.
I shook my head, wiping the blood on the sleeve of my shirt. The Master Sword was brought back before me, my grip on its handle a bit shaken. A pounding headache sparked through my head due to the wound above my eye.
There was a bang of metal against what sounded like cracking glass, filling the short moment of silence that fell upon the both of us.
"Cover your face!"
I whipped my head to the voice that belonged to Arran, spotting him beside the crystal capsule containing Shiek. Arran was wielding a rather large poleaxe, perhaps retrieved from one of the many weapon racks at the corner of the room. The side of the capsule was cracked badly.
"Dammit!" Shadow cursed. He too spotted Arran.
Before Shadow was even able to break into a run, Arran swung his poleaxe at the cracked capsule. He struck it hard and the side collapsed, throwing shards of crystal inside the capsule.
Shiek brought her arm up to shield herself from the shards of crystal, stifling a scream of shock mixed with relief.
"Dammit! Meddling pests!!" Shadow cried. He swiped his blade aside, beginning to dash toward Arran.
Shiek crawled out of the crystal capsule, taking care not to cut herself on the crystal shards. Seeing her emerge from her containment unharmed caused Shadow to stop abruptly. She turned to him, her crimson eyes narrowed. "Are you afraid, Shadow? Now that you are outnumbered?" Her voice was almost mocking.
Shadow gritted his teeth as Arran stepped up beside Shiek, the poleaxe still in his hands. Shadow glanced at me, then to both Shiek and Arran. He looked as if he was panicking. His head began to lower, eyes turning to the blade on his sword. "Heh..."
I frowned. Something was seriously wrong here. Shadow was clearly outnumbered, yet he seemed confident still.
"Being outnumbered means nothing!" Shadow raised his head. He raised his sword, blade facing the ground. "It merely means that I must try harder!" The blade stabbed into the marble and sunk an inch deep. There was a short moment of silence, then the sound of concrete cracking met my ears.
Dust began to fall from the ceiling followed by small chunks of stone. I glanced around, trying to search for the source.
Shadow began to snicker as Arran gasped. "Gah! What the hell is that?!"
I turned to Arran. His eyes were locked on the ceiling, his entire body tense. I followed his line of vision and spotted two large creatures emerging from the ceiling. They looked similar to moblins, altough their bodies were covered with layers of stone. The creatures let out a roar as the gems around them began to fall out. Finally, the stone around their encased bodies gave out, causing the creatures to fall.
The ground shook as the creatures landed, indicating their weight. They fell before Shadow, facing Sheik and Arran. Their stone-like hands grasped around a large stone hilt protruding from a stone sheath melded into their sides. The sound of stone scraping against stone rung in the air as they drew large swords, each at least the size of an average man, maybe larger.
"My warriors," was Shadow's mocking reply. "Guardians of the castle... Well, they once were..."
The creatures took a step toward us, the ground shaking slightly. They let out an ear-piercing roar, causing dust to fall from the ceiling once more.
"Uh-oh..." Arran took a step back. "Link!"
Sheik began to follow him. "We have to get out of here. We can't fight them." Her eyes darted to me. "Let's go Link!"
The floor shook again as one of the creatures began to advance toward the two.
"Link! Let's go!" Arran shouted. He had already made his way into the corridor.
I glanced at Shadow, then broke into a run toward the corridor.
"Kill them." At the words that came out of Shadow's mouth, the moblins began to run after us. Each foot step they made shook the ground. They appeared to be slow, falling behind us quickly.
The dark corridor opened up into a room, darkness still hanging heavy in the air. Arran slowed to a stop. The sound of labored breathing filled the air as we stopped next to him.
"This isn't right... There weren't any rooms or anything when we first came through! It was a single corridor path!" Arran gasped.
Shiek walked past him, feeling the wall. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the dim light. "I think there are three passageways..."
"Three? How can there be three? When we came in, there was only one..." I replied. I glanced back at the corridor we had emerged from. The sound of stomping didn't stop, only showing that the creatures were still coming after us. "Which one is the way out?"
"Just pick a goddamned path!" Arran cried. Without another word said, he dashed down the left corridor. We followed after him.
"You cannot hope to emerge from the maze that I have created from this castle..." Shadow's voice echoed in the halls as if he was nearby.
"Just keep running. Ignore him," Shiek said.
"You all have forfeited your life since began to oppose me! Now die in the castle so precious to the Kingdom of Hyrule!" Shadow laughed. His laugh echoed the halls loudly, ringing in my ears.
;;;; sorry that took so long!! ^^;; I had to edit this chapter so much...It's not even funny! Ok, well, it's up so R& R!! ^^
