Chapter 7: Night Belongs to the Wolves

"Are we close to the safe room your Highness?"

One of Dotour's guards asked in a whisper to the princess, who was currently crouched down with her sword in hand and peeking around the corner of a hallway, waiting for Zamradzo to return. Zelda had sent the beast to scout ahead for enemy invaders.

Zelda turned around to the questioning soldier and whispered in reply, "Yes very. It's just down this hall here. We just need to make sure there aren't any soldiers around. I'm sure no one outside the castle knows of the safe-room, but I don't want an enemy to learn of it's location and report it to anyone else."

The guard nodded his head in understanding. Zelda had relayed all that information with her brows furrowed and the most stern face she could make, giving the impression that she wasn't worried about their predicament.

They couldn't have been more wrong. She was terrified. Never before in her life had there been an invasion on the castle. Sure there was that one assassin when she was little, but she was too young to understand the concept of death. But, now was not the time to be afraid. Her father and Dotour and his men were in danger. She had to get everyone to safety.

She noticed Zamradzo was coming towards the group. She looked him dead in the face and noticed that he was panting with his tongue hanging out and that his teeth were stained with fresh blood.

"Zamradzo. Are there any enemy soldiers down the hall...as of now?" She added the last bit. She suspected the possibility that there were and that the blood on Zamradzo's teeth was an indication that they were also eliminated.

Zamradzo actually shook his head from side to side indicating that there were not.

Zelda turned her head around to the rest of their group and instructed them to follow her and her feral bodyguard. Each soldier nodded stiffly, each still very tense about the situation, and followed the princess with Dotour in the middle of their little defensive circle. They all proceeded down the hallway swiftly, careful in watching both directions should enemy soldiers come into view. The group had been very lucky since leaving Dotour's guest chambers, not coming into conflict with any infiltrators.

About halfway down the hall Zelda came to a complete stop and faced the wall to her right. She stood still for a small moment before bringing her right hand to the cold painted stone. She then closed her eyes as she concentrated. A small, faint golden light began to engulf her hand before disappearing all together.

A soft rumble could be heard before the wall slowly split, revealing the door way. The wall continued to part ways at a crawls pace, but once it was wide enough for a person to slip through the knights ushered their mayor in first before following him single-file.

Princess Zelda looked to the last soldier to enter the passageway before telling him, "Do not open the safe-room for anything else other than the phrase 'Dulaf Gar'. Understood?"

The knight nodded his head before muttering a "good luck" and following the rest of his team. After that, Zelda closed the wall behind them, watching it close completely, before turning on her heel and swiftly moving down the rest of the hall to the east wing, passing the still bodies of a few more invaders, where her father's room resided, with Zamradzo keeping pace at her side.

They reached the corner when Zelda stopped and crouched down, and peeked around the corner.

Unfortunately, her luck ended at that moment when a small company of ebony-clad soldiers were sprinting down in her direction, their weapons at the ready.

Zelda quickly stood and brought her hand back, when Zamradzo suddenly jumped in front of her. The soldiers noticed the beast and released an individual battle cry as they charged.

Zamradzo's eyes flashed and he opened his jaw. Instead of another stream of fire, a bright, slim ray of blood-red light shot out of the beasts throat at an incredible speed towards the incoming soldiers. The one in front of the group quickly brought his shield up in an effort of protection, but the second the beam connected a violent but small explosion consumed the invaders, filling halls with cries and screams of agony, before vanishing into silence.

A cloud of thick dust hovered over the area around the soldiers, blocking Zelda's view. Slowly, the dust settled and that was when she saw the charred remains of the previous invaders. Her eyes were wide with surprise, her new pet was probably THE most dangerous animal in existence. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing he was her pet or a really bad thing.

She looked down at the powerful creature, her eyes still wide, and noticed that he was panting quite heavily now. "He must be exhausted. All those spells in such a short time." Zamradzo shook his fur as if trying to wake himself up then turned to look at his mistress in the eyes. Zelda looked at him for a good few seconds before reaching down and patting him on his head. Zamradzo tilted his head to the side, but accepted the gesture anyway.

Zelda smiled down at the beast and whispered, "I know you're tired boy, but I must ask that you continue to help me for a little while longer. Can you do that?" Zamradzo looked up at her and nodded his head once.

With that, Zelda turned around and continued down the hall towards her father's bedroom.

-0-

Impa looked upon the castle grounds in both victory and in defeat. They were driving back the enemy, with the help of their new ally, but the castle grounds were aflame, also thanks to their new ally.

"At least the fires can be dowsed and taken care of." Impa looked to her right to see her new-found ally landing back on the ground. Impa still couldn't believe who was fighting with them as she replayed the image in her head.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance."

Impa spun around to the owner of the voice who spoke. Her expression gradually went from focused to shocked. His blue eyes were the first thing she noticed. "You..."

Impa was expecting another hylian. She wasn't expecting a dragon! The creature was one long snake like being, with two short arms, each with tree blackened claws, an obsidian colored face that looked to be as strong as stone with two curved horns reaching behind his head to frame his fiery hair that cascaded down his back. He was at least as long as four men standing and covered in bright crimson colored scales that seemed to glow with contained heat. It was a damned Subterranean Lava Dragon!

Immediately, Impa prepared her weapons and positioned herself to attack when the dragon spoke yet again.

"Oh come now, there is hardly a need for that. I'm on your side and I have offered my assistance in helping to clear your attackers."

Impa continued to hold her ground but made no move to attack. "And I'm supposed to trust you based on words? Not likely."

The dragon looked at her almost tiredly, as if he had better things to do, before replying, "I suppose talk is cheap, but ask yourself this; If I really wasn't with you, would I have given myself away? I mean I was right next to you and you didn't notice me until after I had spoken."

Impa thought about what the creature said, finding the sense he made, and relaxed. "Alright then, you've made your case and I trust you for now. May I ask the name of my new found friend?"

The dragon looked at the sheikah while barring it's fangs and replied, "My name is Volva." At that he shot into the sky and began raining fire over the castle grounds, killing many invading soldiers.

Impa looked at the dragon again. She was still a little shocked that a dragon would be willing to help. Then she remembered the meeting with the sages and Darunia's information about a dragon taking roost in the mountain. It was very possible that the two were the same, but that still didn't explain why Volva would help. Impa needed to know why.

"Excuse me...Volva correct?" The dragon nodded, "May I ask why you would help us? I just can't see the reason as to why."

Volva looked down at Impa and folded his long, scaly arms. "In truth, if Link wasn't the one that asked me, I wouldn't have bothered at all." Impa's eyes shot up at that, but Volva continued to speak, "He asked me a few days ago to keep an eye on the castle. I owe the man mine and my tribe's life, so I accepted. And before you even ask, no I cannot tell you where he is or what his curse is. He swore me \\to secrecy, said it would only help for the time being. I'm sorry, but I gave him my word."

It was obvious to Impa that Volva was going to keep his word so she didn't press the matter, but she did still want to know one thing, "I understand what you cannot tell me, but do you think it possible to tell me; Is he still the same as he was when he left?" she asked.

Volva looked at the woman and sighed, he didn't want to answer this.

"No." he answered. "He is not."

Before Impa could ask more, a soldier, bloodied and beaten, came stumbling out the entrance. As he walked, he tripped over a loose stone slab. "Mistress Impa! You must hurry! A few soldiers managed to sneak inside somehow, I don't know their full numbers, but please help!"

Before Impa could move into action Volva spoke again, "I will help you a little longer, but once they are taken care of I'm leaving without warning, and know this. Link has changed by a dramatic amount over the past few years. He is the same as you remember him in moments of peace, but in moments of adrenaline, he something to be feared, more so than these rebels."

Impa furrowed her brows at what the dragon said, but went to continue into the castle, worried of the future.

-0-

Zamradzo stood above yet another defeated soldier, the man's throat covered in his own blood. Zelda had just taken another two soldiers with her Din's Fire. Their pace was slow. The hallway just seemed to be crawling with enemies. Zelda figured that either the rebels' goals were only focused on her and her father, or they simply didn't know about Dotour yet. Whatever the reason, Zelda was at least thankful she was able to help Dotour.

Zamradzo bounded at full speed toward another soldier, who was bringing his shield in front of him and his sword back to strike. Zamradzo leapt straight at the shield and crashed into it head first. The soldier staggered back from the blow, surprised by the beast's strength. He recovered however and swung his blade in an overhead arch down on the beast. Zamradzo side-stepped away from the attack and lunged at the soldier. He missed his target when the soldier swung his shield in an attempt to keep the beast at bay and ended up striking Zamradzo across the muzzle, knocking the wolf away onto it's side.

Before he could capitalize however, he was assaulted from behind by an intense heat, knocking him to the floor. The heat had spread across his back and over the rest of his body. In agony, he turned to see the princess holding her hand toward him, still glowing with energy, and looking none too happy either.

Seconds later, the man collapsed, dead.

Zelda swiftly made her way toward and knelt by Zamradzo, who was just standing back up and shaking his head. "Are you alright boy?" she asked. Zamradzo nodded slowly and let out a small 'huff' in his reply. Zelda smiled softly at her pet and patted his back gently. "Good boy. We're almost to my father's room, just a little more." Slowly, Zelda stood and turned to face down the hallway.

From what she could see, there weren't anymore soldiers blocking their way.

Carefully, they started making the princess and her wolf made their way down the hall, keeping an eye on their backs in case of more troops. This slow trek went on for a little while longer before the king's room door came into view, guarded by three royal guardsmen.

"Princess Zelda?" one called, "What by the goddess are you doing in the halls? We're under attack!" he exclaimed.

Zelda looked to the soldier with an almost irritated look on her face. It was only reasonable, of course she knew it was an attack. She'd been fighting through the damned halls!

"I'm well aware we're under attack Ser. I and my friend here have been through a good number of enemies as it is. However, I had to make sure Mayor Dotour and his men made it safely to the safe-room, so I and Zamradzo escorted him and his men, and they are all safe. Now I've come for my father. Is he safe?"

The guard nodded and ushered her and her pet inside.

"Zelda? What by the goddess are you doing here? We're under attack!" the king exclaimed.

Zelda had to struggle to suppress a sigh of annoyance, and she could've sworn she heard the guard mutter somewhere around, "that's what I said," before she began to relay the same message again, albeit a lot more friendly since this was her father and the king.

After hearing Zelda's story, Daphnes looked down at the wolf and smiled, somewhat smugly. "Well, it seems I'm not as senile as many seem to believe. I knew allowing this wolf into our home was a good idea."

Zelda looked down at her furry companion with a smile of her own and patted Zamrado gently on his head again. Zamradzo seemed to like the attention, for his tail was wagging back and forth enthusiastically.

"It was an excellent idea Zelda," Daphnes began, "getting the good Mayor to the safe-room, and now I believe we should follow their example. Lieutenant!" At the king's call, a royal soldier stood at attention with a salute. "I believe it's time we met the Mayor. Please lead the way."

With a stiff nod, the lieutenant rallied the others to form a defensive perimeter around the Royal Family, Zamradzo however chose to be infront of the group, and began marching to the safe-room.

-0-

A hooded person stood atop the cliff overlooking the castle. His robe was completely black, the hood covering his entire face in darkness, save for his mouth. The wind seemed to billow angrily around him. Around the figures neck was a small silver pendant fashioned into the shape of a skull with two small rubies placed inside the eye sockets. The skulls teeth were normal save for the two that extended and sharpened into long fangs.

The person's head jerked to the side violently, their mouth forming a grimace of pain.

"Yes Master. The girl must live. The girl must lure out the boy. They must be brought to the altar. They must both be alive...Then they must be sacrificed." The sound of the person's voice was deep and husky, the voice of a male. He slowly brought his scrawny hand to his pendant and glided a finger over the frame.

The eyes glowed ever so faintly.

The man's mouth twisted into a small smile. "Just a little longer Master."


Okay. First I'd like to say sorry for the long update. And second I hate my idiot brother. Dumbass gave my comp a virus which ate damn near everything.

Anyway. Love it? Needs improving? Let me know.