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Chapter 10: Fire and Shadow

In the weeks that passed since the street fight incident, the shadow magicians had become the topic of conversation throughout the city. Nearly everyone knew of the enigmatic group from a distant land, although much of their knowledge was mere speculation. While many accounts were exaggerated in one way or another, it was generally agreed that the sorcerers had beaten one of the city's various crime gangs. Some people rejoiced to hear that justice had finally been served. Conversely, just as many wondered if they ought to be more afraid of the foreigners whose might they couldn't comprehend.

Over time, the stories had been traced back to Link and his companions, how so he could only imagine. Perhaps it hadn't been so difficult. After all, he and Midna both had very recognizable appearances, and working in a tavern meant that a lot of people saw them on a regular basis. Often people would gaze at them with awe, or sometimes suspicion. Occasionally some would throw jeers from a distance that the magicians would do their best to ignore. Every once in a while though, they would receive a friendly smile from a passing stranger, to which they would return with a similar grin. Any other person barely gave the magicians a second glance, either not knowing or caring about who they were.

The tailor that Link and Chris had helped tracked the two down so that he could thank them for saving his shop. The man offered a bloated satchel of gold coins as a reward but Link politely refused, saying that no reward was needed. The old man was insistent though, and after a reverse bout of tug-of-war he forced the bag into Link's hands then disappeared into the crowd before the hero could react. Link smiled meekly as he let out a defeated sigh. He never felt comfortable accepting gifts for aiding others, yet people persisted to give him items that were worth more than the deed warranted. Then again, Midna had always told Link that he was too much of an altruist for his own good.

Lord Teryll hadn't given up his desire to harness the twili's magic, even if he rarely spoke a word of it. More than once he had invited Link and Midna, as well as Ilia, Chris and Ana, to attend some party he held for one obscure reason or another. There he would corner one of the sorcerers and engage them in light conversation. Teryll would share information about his personal life while asking questions regarding the other person's own. Even Link was able to suss out that it was a ploy to win their trust. All four magic-wielders knew what to expect and smiled as they played along with the lord's futile scheme.

Even life at home had been turned upside down. A few curious folk hung around outside like swarming flies, waiting in vain to catch a glimpse of magic. Some more fearful and hostile souls would occasionally throw bottles or bricks at the house, though after the first incident the windows had been enchanted to be shatter-proof. It was fortunate, Link thought, that he and his friends could continue to live there since their landlord didn't care about their otherworldly talents so long as the rent was paid. Despite it all, inside the house's walls, its five inhabitants felt safe, with nothing to worry about regarding the outside world. That was, until that one night...

Link's eyes snapped wide open as a loud bang woke him from sleep. Midna too had been disturbed by the noise and practically leaped from her pillow that was the swordsman's bare chest. He scrambled out from beneath the sheets and peered out the second-floor window. Lights came to life from within dark houses, assuring Link that they hadn't been the only ones woken by the sound. No sign of trouble could be seen in his frame of vision, but that noise had been all too familiar to Link and came from a nearby source. It wasn't until he opened the window and stuck his head out did he see a bright orange glow not too far away, in a direction that gave birth to several horrible images in Link's mind.

He quickly moved away from the window and hunted through the darkness for a shirt and his boots, slipping both on so fast it was a miracle that neither was being worn the wrong way round. Beside him, Link heard Midna searching madly for her own clothes. Once the couple was dressed, they bolted out the door and down the creaky stairs where light shone from the living room. There they met Ilia and Chris, with the former illuminating the space with a bluish flame in her palm. The second pair was still in their nightclothes but they both wore shoes on their feet, Ilia only doing so because of the broken glass that was usually littered outside their front door.

"Did you guys hear that too?" Ilia said, slightly panicked.

Midna nodded. "We did."

"Something happened a few blocks down over east," Link added.

Chris' eyes widened, his usually green irises appearing aquamarine in the firelight. "East? But that's the same way as..."

"I know," Link said, "Come on." He turned and rushed out the door into the street, closely followed by his housemates. Together they made their way to the foreboding light, along with other citizens creeping out of their homes to investigate. Closer to their destination, Link heard a rabble of voices, all alarmed by whatever events had unfolded. He turned at the next corner and felt his blood turn to ice as he took in the sight before him.

Great flames burned so brightly that they cast long shadows against the surrounding buildings. So far the fire was restricted to the forge's roof, but smoke from the windows told that more blazed inside. A large cavity had been made in a section of a wall as if it had been blown out. More flames could be seen through the gaping hole. Plumes of grey smoke rose into the air, almost invisible against the black sky. Not all of the structure had been consumed yet, but it was clear that if the fire wasn't controlled then it soon would. Thankfully the adjacent buildings had been built at a safe distance away, as smithies were inherently a fire hazard, and had so far been spared from the disaster.

Link scanned intently the small crowd that had formed outside the forge. Standing closest to the blaze was a slim woman with short auburn locks, her terror-filled eyes fixated on the destruction. Clutching at her skirt was a small girl with similar hair with tears streaming down her cheeks. Link pushed through the throng of bystanders and reached out to grab the woman by the shoulder.

"Hazel!" he shouted over the crackling, "What happened?"

The woman turned to face him. Only a few terrible times had Link seen so much fear in another person's expression. "I don't know," Hazel answered, so quietly he almost didn't hear it. "Rion was working late on a project... There was this explosion and then..." Her voice rose as her panic began to build. "My husband... My Rion is still in there!" Julie cried out for her father as if he would suddenly appear unharmed. He didn't.

Without a word or a moment's hesitation, Link turned away from the blacksmith's wife and ran headlong into the flames. Midna called after him after he disappeared into the smoke yet received no response. The twili looked back towards the distressed pair then to her friends. She saw Ana standing beside Ilia wearing her pyjamas and slippers with Snubbles held tightly in her arms, staring at the inferno in complete fright. How long the child had been with them Midna didn't know, she had thought the girl was still in bed. Midna then heard Chris shout something before rushing off down the darkened street. Deciding not to bother to call out to the second male, the twili turned to Ilia.

"Take them home and try to calm them down," she instructed, "I'll go in and help Link."

The other girl nodded then took Hazel's hand and led her reluctantly away, the mother instinctively holding her daughter close. When Ilia turned around she saw Ana and frowned slightly as if it was the first time she noticed her being there before grabbing the child with her free hand. Midna watched the four leave then looked to the forge. She prepared a couple of spells to protect her from the heat and smoke, but before Midna could enter the building she saw two figures emerging, one supported by the other. Relief washed over the twili as Link hauled Rion out into the safety of the street. All it took though was one look at the blacksmith for Midna's relief to turn to dread.

Chris watched the blaze in utter horror, though it wasn't because of the flames themselves. He had seen a handful of house fires before back home and most of them had been far worse that what he was currently witnessing. His fear instead stemmed from the knowledge that one his friends was caught in the crisis and could likely die. The thought paralyzed him and chilled his heart despite the heat. Seeing Link suddenly charge into the fire snapped Chris out of his stupor. Feeling slightly out of his depth and confident that the Hyrulean could take care of the situation, Chris looked around to see if there was any other way he could help.

Some members of the crowd had run off, possibly to find water to put the fires out. The rest stared stupidly at where they had seen the lone, heroic individual enter the forge. Two had attempted to follow Link but a fresh wave of fire robbed them of their courage. The hellish glow lit up the street like day, allowing the carpenter to make out each person's face clearly. For some reason, one person's appearance drew Chris' attention. Rather than looking worried, the man's expression was one of strange anticipation, like he was watching a play reaching its climax. With a jolt, Chris realized that there was something familiar about the face.

"Hey!" he yelled, slowly approaching the man. "Hey you!"

The man snapped his gaze to Chris then bolted down the road without warning. Knowing for certain that something was suspicious, the woodworker gave chase. The other guy was fast and on a normal day would have vanished into the crowd easily. But this late at night the city was basically deserted so Chris was able to keep his eye on him. The man cleverly dived into side streets and weaved around corners. Chris would have lost him if it hadn't been for the sound of rushing footsteps guiding him.

His body begged for rest yet Chris refused to comply. He didn't stop until he found himself outside of an alley. He was sure that the guy he was chasing had fled that way but the dead end was empty. Thinking that maybe the man was hiding, Chris walked cautiously into the alleyway. A shuffling noise made him look in all directions around him yet there was nothing. Then Chris looked upwards and saw the man climbing halfway up the wall.

Chris charged a ball of shadow magic and threw it upwards. His aim was off but the blast hit the wall right above his intended target. The man flinched and lost his grip then started to fall. He managed to stop himself by grabbing at the pane of a shuttered window but his fingers slipped. The man hit the ground hard, though didn't seem hurt as he soon picked himself up. Realizing that his pursuer was right on top of him, he drew a long knife that glinted in the pale moonlight.

Seeing the blade triggered a flood of emotions as Chris adopted a fighting stance. He remembered the last time an enemy had threatened him with a weapon vividly. He had been filled with so much fear for his own life that it wiped his mind clean of any other thought. It was only by pure blind luck that he had saved himself with his magic, something he wouldn't have been able to do if he had never met Link and his friends. He should have felt proud about winning that fight but his actions back then had caused a lot of hassle for him and his companions. It stripped Chris of that pride and replaced it with cold shame.

Fear and shame, those two things made Chris feel weak, inferior. He hated that feeling, so much so that he did what he had to do to ensure that he would never experience it again. Ilia knew everything about fighting such opponents in his eye, so Chris asked her to teach him how to defend himself physically. Many sleepless nights passed and the carpenter often felt so exhausted his brain went numb, but slowly he learned to fight without magic, or fear. He knew that a few weeks of training could never put him on the same level as either Ilia or Link, but Chris was confident enough that he could deal with this one shady goon alone.

The man stepped forward and swung the knife wide. Chris stepped back away from the blade's path then kicked out his attacker's shin. The knife-wielder hopped backwards in pain then regained his composure. He glared at Chris before approaching more carefully. Chris returned to his original stance and waited nervously for another attack. His heart was pounding in his ears. He knew there was a good chance he could be gutted if he made a mistake. 'Is this how Link always felt during his adventure in Hyrule?' a part of him wondered. 'How the hell did he put with this for so long?"

The other man then thrust the knife forward at his opponent's chest. Chris spun on the ball of his foot, turned his hips around and pulled his body sideways as Ilia had made him rehearse a hundred times each night. When the weapon passed him harmlessly, the carpenter grabbed its owner's arm. Chris then wove his other hand under the man's arm then struck at the throat with the tips of rigid fingers. With his adversary stunned and breathless, Chris turned the man's arm over then crushed the wrist while digging his own elbow into the other guy's. The knife-man tried to resist but eventually the carpenter was able to coax an agonized groan from him. When the man's hold on the knife weakened, Chris ripped it from his grasp and tossed it far. Next he kicked his opponent into the nearest wall. The man rebounded painfully and collapsed to the floor.

Chris quickly jumped onto the fallen man and pressed his knee into his groin. As the man hollered in pain, Chris saw enough of his face in the moonlight to recognize him. It was the thug from the tailor shop, the one who escaped. There was no way Chris could forget a mug as ugly as that one. He grabbed the thug by the collar and yanked him up so that their noses were almost touching, all the while still keeping his weight on the man's sensitive area.

"You," Chris growled. "You're responsible for the fire, weren't you?"

The criminal glowered up at him, his mouth twitching from discomfort. "So what if I am?" Anger bubbled inside Chris like a cauldron of boiling oil. He drove his knee down harder, eliciting another yell from the crook.

"Why did you do it?" Chris almost shouted. "Why did you attack the forge like that?"

When the man didn't answer it took Chris a few seconds to realize he was in too much pain to do so. He took some of his weight of the man's groin, just a little. The thug breathed in and out sharply for a moment then spoke through clenched teeth.

"We ruled the market district up north. People respected us. They feared us. That all changed when you and that bastard pal of yours made bloody fools of us. After that people started fighting back, saying that they had enough. There were so many of them we couldn't keep them in line anymore." The man paused and spat. "You freaks ruined everything."

"So you burned Rion's workshop?" Chris shook him furiously. "He had nothing to do with anything!"

"We weren't stupid enough to attack you lot directly, but we still wanted payback. So instead I bombed the blacksmith. We knew you two were chums, so we went after him to send a message. The blonde guy going in to save him was just an added bonus," the thug smiled. "I hope they both die."

Chris finally lost control of his anger and punched the man as hard as he could. His head flung back as his nose exploded with blood. The gangster then went limp and Chris discovered that he had knocked him out. "You stay the hell away from my friends!" he growled at the senseless body. He then released the man's jerkin and stood up. Giving him one last hateful glare, Chris turned away and walked out of the alley, praying to the gods that Link and Rion were both alright.

Link sat on the hard floor as worried as he was tired and uncomfortable. Lying on the bed in front of him slept Rion wrapped heavily in bandages. The blacksmith's wife sat in the only chair next to the man with her daughter seated on her lap. Dark, red rings circled Hazel's eyes while she watched over her husband with a dead expression. Joining the swordsman on the ground was Midna resting against his shoulder. Ilia sat at his opposite side with Ana's head laid on her soft thigh. Chris stood with his back against the wall and hung his head low, glancing up at every odd noise before looking down again in disappointment. Hazel had told all of them that there was no need for them to stay but none wanted to leave her alone in this time of hardship. So they stayed and waited, together.

As soon as Link had pulled the blacksmith from his burning workshop, he and Midna carried Rion to the nearest medical clinic. The doctor had been less than pleased to have been woken up so late at night but treated his new patient all the same. Midna ran for home to inform Hazel and Ilia and returned to find Link reluctantly receiving his own examination. The worst the hero seemed to be suffering from was smoke inhalation, but the doctor claimed that was no need for concern. Chris had arrived over an hour after everyone else and when interrogated by his twili companion, he gravely explained who had caused the fire as well as why. The tale blanketed the room in a cloak of depression, worry and bitter rage, and was the last anyone spoke for some time.

It was well past midnight when the blacksmith finally made the first signs of stirring. Everyone held their breaths as Rion's eyes slowly opened. He gazed around him like a newborn trying to make sense of its surroundings. Rion's turned his head feebly towards his wife, who smiled tearfully as she took his hand. "I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered. Julie shifted from her mother's lap and clambered next to Rion, giving him the fiercest hug around his neck.

All the while Rion said nothing. When Julie released him, Rion looked to Hazel with confusion on his face "What happened?" His voice was hoarse and quiet yet everyone heard him. He tried to rise but the effort was too great for him

"Take it easy, you've got a concussion and lost a lot of blood." Link cautioned. "What's the last thing you remember?" The blacksmith seemed surprised to see him there.

"Link..?" Rion then noticed the other people in the room with him. "I remember I was working on this job... something important," he said, scrunching his face in concentration as the memories came back to him. "I had just finished up when something landed on the floor behind me. I turned and saw this... this ball with a fire burning on the side of it. I remember diving behind a worktable then there was this loud bang or something. And then... and then that's it."

Link nodded in understanding. The description of the strange object matched that of the bombs he had used many times in his travels. It also fitted with the damage dealt to the forge. "Rion... Earlier tonight someone threw a bomb into your workshop. We heard the explosion from our house and when we got there the place was on fire. I managed to pull you out but you were already unconscious. It's incredible you even survived."

The blacksmith stared at him wide-eyed. "You did that?" he said quietly, then frowned. "But who...?"

"It was one of the market gangs," Chris answered. "The guy who did it was there when Link and I fought them last month. They were too cowardly to get revenge on us, so they targeted you instead."

"Well the next time you see him, tell him to grow a pair and face me like a man," Rion growled, already showing his usual strength. He, Link and Chris laughed together, but none of them could put much effort into it.

"There's more though," Link said, turning somber again. Rion looked to him in waiting as he drew a long breath. "The blast... You managed to take cover from it... But you weren't fast enough to escape it completely."

Link tried to form the next sentence carefully but found himself unable. Instead he pointed and allowed the blacksmith to follow his finger. Rion's gaze moved to his right side, wrapped in more bandages than any other part of him, and froze. There he saw that the bloodstained cloth covered his arm from the shoulder but stopped just below the elbow, for there was no more arm after that.

"Gods forbid," Rion gasped, raising his new stump to study it. It was in his eyes, that overpowering wish to deny what was, as well as that deep-seated horror when it set in that there was no hope of restoring his lost hand.

Link stared at the injury with his gut wrenching in all sorts of directions. He was no stranger to grievous wounds, having hacked off several limbs from monsters with his sword. But when he entered the forge, flames raging around him, and saw the blood flowing freely from his friend's arm, it was a wonder Link had been able to keep it together. He had torn of part of his white farmer's shirt off in order staunch the bleeding but they needed a proper doctor to help the blacksmith. After finding one, Link replaced his ruined garment with his green tunic once Midna had fetched it for him.

"I'm sorry, Rion," he spoke softly, guilt glistening in his blue irises "It's our fault this happened. We put you in so much danger and now you've paid the price."

Rion listened then shook his head. "Don't apologize,"

"But..." Link began to say.

"I said don't," Rion repeated firmly. "Link, back in that forge, the last thing I remember thinking was that I was never going to see my wife and daughter again. I've got another hand still, and that place was mostly stone and iron. None of the things I lost tonight even compares to what I could have if you hadn't rescued me. I owe you my life, and I can never hope to repay you for it."

The blacksmith laid his head back to stare at the ceiling. "But now what?" he sighed. "Without my hand we're in real trouble. I have a family to support, and smithing is all I know. If it had been my other arm I might've been able to get by, but I can't swing a hammer half as well with my left as my right."

Hazel squeezed her husband's hand. Her delicate fingers looked fragile in comparison to his thick, calloused ones. "We'll find a way," she assured him, mustering all the bravery she had. "We always do." Rion gave her a smile, but it didn't stretch very far.

"In the meantime we'll help you make ends meet," Link offered. "It's the least we can do." Rion and Hazel thanked him, their gratitude almost being palpable.

Hanging slightly behind her friends, standing close to her love, Midna chewed her lip contemplatively. "There's this technique my people use," she finally said. "It replaces a twili's missing limbs so that they can live almost normally. I've only ever seen and heard of it, but I think I understand the mechanics behind it. I could teach you, but bear in mind it requires you to learn shadow magic. If you go through with it, people might start treating you like they do us."

Rion stared at her, like everyone else in the room, taking his time to process the information. He looked to his bandaged arm and where four fingers and a thumb had once been. Link could see a glimmer of hope in those dark brown eyes.

"Can you really give me a new hand?" Rion asked her. She nodded once. "Thank you, Midna. I'll think about it. But right now all I want to do is sleep." The blacksmith then closed his eyes and the next sound he made was that of his deep, level breathing. His family and friends moved away from the bed and pulled closed a curtain to separate him from the rest of the room.

Hazel waited a few moments to be sure Rion was fast asleep. When she was satisfied, she turned to Link. "Link, I can't thank you enough for saving my husband. I don't know what I would do without him."

Link nodded, fully understanding that fear of losing the person he loved. Julie threw her little arms around his waist and stared up at him with big brown eyes like her father's. "Thank you for saving my daddy," she said.

A warm feeling expanded in Link's chest and he couldn't help but smile. He returned the hug and whispered. "You're welcome."

Wow. Another dark chapter.

I have a confession to make. When I published the first chapter, I hadn't actually completed the whole story as I intended. I only finished the last chapter last week and now I'm working on my next project. I will not provide any more information on it, however.

Admittedly, the exchange between Link and the tailor was inspired by one of my own misadventures where I had an argument with someone over who gives who this handful of coins. I lost the bout and ended up with $1.30 placed into my wallet. No, that was not a typo.