Blackened Dawn

Chapter Ten

'I don't know!!!'

No sooner did those words pass his lips did he get struck… a particularly painful blow, leaving a gash across his back from his shoulder to his hip, as though punishing him for speaking out, for allowing himself to be broken like this. He had wanted to curse them, to speak to them with words of hatred and spite… anything to fight back, to keep himself from backing down. Why… why had he said that…?

There was silence… no movement at all, no sound in the room save for his own ragged breathing, trying to ignore the stinging pain across the entirety of his back. The silence was deafening… for a second he couldn't help but wonder if something in his ears had ruptured, and he actually had lost his hearing. It wasn't until he heard the sound of footsteps… the heavy sound of metal-clad boots against the cold, stone floor… his footsteps… that he was proven otherwise.

As those footsteps drew closer, that chill shot up his spine yet again. Absolute terror… he wanted them to go away… he didn't want him to come any closer.

'Go away… go away… please… please go away…'

His silent pleas were as always ignored, and he felt his thick fingers in his hair, twisting and wrenching his head back painfully. It was taking every last bit of willpower he still had to keep silent. His fear was likely written on his face… he didn't have the strength to hide it anymore.

"What did you just say?"

He could feel the grip on his hair tighten, and he grimaced, fighting back the urge to whimper.

He just… wanted it to stop…

"ANSWER ME!"

The grip was so painfully tight now… and the stench of his breath was suffocating. He had to say something… had to say it now, or the pain would only continue. The icy grip of fear had latched its claws into the deepest part of his stomach, winding its way upward through his chest to dig in painfully and close his throat tight.

"I… d…don't… know…"

Several minutes passed by in agonizing silence. His neck was starting to hurt from the sharp angle he was being held at. He couldn't tell if his answer had any effect, or if it had only proven to anger the Evil King even further. With each moment that passed, the chill of fear coursed through his veins, and he felt again that his heart might stop if it didn't burst in his chest first. He didn't know what was going on anymore… and he felt like it was going to drive him insane.

Finally, his hair was released, and he was dropped rather heavily. The fall caused his shoulders to hurt… it felt like his arms were on the verge of dislocating after that.

"Treat his wounds."

In spite of the chill that voice sent down his spine, those words left him feeling confused beyond belief. It must have shown on his face, as that eerie laugh filled his ears, causing him to cringe. He winced slightly as he felt the wounds on his fingers and his back being cleaned. What was going on now? Why were they doing this?

And again, as if on cue, he spoke again, giving the broken Hero of Time the answers he seemed so desperate for.

"In all of six months, you've finally given me an answer, boy. You're finally starting to give in. I can't let you die now… especially from something so trivial as an infection."

Another chill ran down his spine… would it never end…?

He was bandaged up almost expertly, and his hands were freed from the pillory, only to be shackled together the instant they were released. He could hear the sound of a heavy chain being moved, and he could feel a hook briefly scrape against his hand before hearing the sound of metal against metal… was the hook being attached to the shackles somehow?

He could hear the sound of a wheel being turned, of the chain being wound through a pulley. His arms were soon forced above his head, and slowly he was lifted up off the ground, suspended in midair. The massive weight attached to his feet made his body feel stretched… he felt as though his arms and legs would be ripped out from their sockets.

"You're going to be left like that for a few hours… and we'll see if it'll convince you to talk."

That laugh again… sending chills through his entire body, causing his heart to stop and his blood to freeze in his veins. How he wished it would just get out of his head… he wanted to be left alone…

It wasn't fair… what had he done to deserve this pain…? Why couldn't they just let him die already?!

As he heard the door slam shut, he let his head fall, tears streaming down his cheek yet again. He was in so much pain… even though they had bandaged his wounds, they hurt so much… He just wanted the pain to go away.

He just wanted to die.

~'*`~

He was able to hear the noise from down the hall, from his own cell. He was surprised to hear it, actually… he was one of only two prisoners kept in this level of the dungeon. Sure, he'd heard the screaming on a regular basis, but this was the first time it was so, close. It was a little disturbing, to put it mildly. Were they going to be next?

Ravick watched with a vague sense of interest, waiting for the noise to stop. Whoever it was in there had been screaming pretty loudly in the beginning… screaming bloody murder for some reason, but the mage wasn't able to tell for sure what it was they were doing to him. He couldn't tell how long it lasted, but it wasn't any longer than an hour or so… if it took that long at all. But whenever they finished, all he could hear was silence. He would have thought it was over, were it not for the fact that nobody left the room. The silence persisted for several minutes. Ravick found himself slumping against the wall in boredom, idly wondering if the person had died or something. The thought was quickly cast aside when he heard the first crack of the whip, listening semi-intently. He could hear the whipping… but no screaming whatsoever. Had they gagged him or something?

"…I wish they'd do that elsewhere…"

Ravick couldn't help but laugh, leaning back against the wall he shared with the neighboring cell. "It's alright, shorty, they have no business with us. It's been a few days since they fed us, I'm pretty sure they've forgotten about us by now."

"…He never forgets… he never forgives…"

"Easy, short stuff… don't freak out on me here, or they WILL remember we're here if they hear you." Ravick knocked lightly on the wall behind him. "That's what we're relying on, remember? Just a little longer and we'll be able to get out of here… so just hang tight, okay?"

"…" There was only the sound of soft movement… likely his neighbor curling up into a ball inside his own cloak. Poor kid… Ravick could sympathize with his anxiety.

There was a loud shout, startling him out of his thoughts. He could hear the poor kid in the cell next to him scramble to the back corner of his cell against the same wall. Poor guy was so skittish… Ravick turned his attention back to the room down the hall, watching intently, waiting for the damned thing to open. He wanted to know who was in there… he needed to know if he was being kept down there with them… needed to know if it would hinder their chances for an escape. They had waited so long… they were so close to getting what they needed… they couldn't let it be screwed up now.

As the door finally opened, Ravick ducked back into the shadows of his dank, filthy little cell. Couldn't risk being seen now… he was all but certain they had forgotten them by this point. He waited silently, completely motionless, waiting to see just who came out of that dark, torturous room, to see who it was that was being tortured so painfully that they could hear him screaming at such volume from within a completely sealed room.

The instant someone did step out, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped in complete and utter shock. For it was none other than the King of Evil himself that set foot outside of the room first, sending a brief shudder of fear coursing through the entirety of his body. Oh, it was such a good thing that Shorty was on the other side of this wall… if he'd laid his eyes on the Big Bad himself, their presence would be known immediately. Poor kid was traumatized enough as it was… they couldn't risk being remembered just to be tortured like the poor bastard in that room.

Ravick all but held his breath as he watched Ganondorf walk away, his blood red cape billowing out behind him as he walked. He was followed by a number of guards, the last of which actually padlocked the door they'd come from before leaving… but whoever it was they had been torturing, he wasn't with them. Was he still inside?

Ravick waited until a few minutes after they had gone—having to actually forcefully remind himself to breathe—before he knocked on the wall again. "Hey shorty… they left him in there…"

"…Really…? Why? Is he dead…?"

"There's one way to find out… maybe this guy can help us out…" Ravick smirked, pressing his cheek against the wall as though attempting to pass through it. "What do you say?"

"…Do it… just don't get caught."

"You got it!" Ravick turned his attention to his own feet, grinning as he pointed to the ground. "Hey, Shadow! Get up!" A small bolt of lightning shot from his finger, striking the ground. The instant it touched, there was a yelp as a dark mass came shooting out of the ground, taking the shape of a man… the shape of Ravick himself.

The Shadow rubbed his posterior, glowering at the mage. "What was that for?!"

"Shh, not so loud, you moron!" Ravick hissed, pressing his finger to his lips. "If they catch us, our chance of escape is gone, now SHUSH!" Ravick narrowed his eyes, his expression becoming gravely serious. "Down the hall, there's a padlocked door with someone trapped inside. I need you to see who it is… see if there's any way we can use him to escape this place."

"Alright… but be a little gentler next time when you call me." The Shadow grumped, still massaging his stinging rump. "I'm going. I'll be back in a few." The Shadow turned its back to him, gliding silently towards the wall, hesitating briefly to take a deep breath before passing straight through.

Ravick sighed, leaning back against the wall for a moment before tapping it lightly. "And now… the waiting game." He was met with only silence for a moment, with only a soft tapping to break it to let him know that Shorty was still listening to him.

~'*`~

"Hey… you… wake up!"

Link was jolted out of a state of semi-consciousness by a sudden voice, one he didn't recognize at all. His head snapped up, but he immediately regretted the movement as pain shot through his arms and shoulders. He groaned, letting his head hang again, trying to catch his breath while he waited for the pain to die down. It felt like his entire body was being stretched beyond its limitations.

"Sorry about that…" The voice sounded distinctly male… did Ganondorf actually have any guys working for him? If he did… this was the first he had… heard… in… what was it Ganondorf had said… six months…?

"…who… are you…?" His voice was hoarse… his throat hurt so much that he could only just barely speak.

"I have no name, really… I would be what is known as a Shadow." He could hear a smirk in the guy's voice… could his words really be trusted?

"…prove it…" Link mumbled hoarsely.

"Alright then…" He could feel a hand pressed against his stomach. It felt… oddly cool against his flesh. "You feel this, right?" Link was hesitant before nodding his head. "Now…" The hand started to pass through him, filling his body with an unnatural chill. "Do you feel that?"

Link could only nod mutely, his entire body tensing up from the unnatural feeling. When the Shadow's hand was finally withdrawn, he let out a heavy sigh, his body finally relaxing as the warmth started to return to his body.

"You believe me now?"

Link nodded weakly.

"Good."

"…why… are you… here…?" He needed to know… was there any way this guy was a friend, an ally of some sort…?

"There are two other people being held captive on this level of the dungeon… they have seemingly been forgotten, since I am the one who has to forage food for them. They plan on using that to their advantage to escape… but we need to know if there is any way you can assist us."

Link's heart skipped a few beats. Escape…?

'…no… don't get your hopes up…'

"…I may have an idea… but… I have a condition… for helping.." Link coughed harshly. Talking irritated his throat, and the loss of blood was making him feel pretty dizzy. "…but it will… involve… doing something… you may dislike…"

"…I'll discuss it with them first… Now, tell me. What is this condition?"

"…Find Seiryu…" He coughed again. "Tell him… to keep her safe… keep her… out of Ganon's hands…" His head was getting so light… he didn't know how much longer he could stay conscious. His body hurt so much… he was being torn in half. His ears were ringing… he couldn't hear anything anymore.

He could hear talking, but he couldn't understand the words. This… was this a good thing? Maybe he was finally dying… but… what about the others…? The other prisoners…

He had to stay awake… a few minutes longer.

"My plan… listen… and tell no one… but the others being kept here… If you tell anyone else… then there's a great chance for failure… understood…?"

He could just barely hear a noise of assent. He took a deep breath, trying to clear away some of the red fog clouding his eyes.

"My plan… I need you… to…"

He lifted his head, gritting his teeth to ignore the pain.

"…I need you to kill me…"

Author's Notes: And here's part two. A bit of psychology at work here... proof that even the best of us can break under the right circumstances. Even the most stoic hero can break his silence eventually... and given Link's been through six months of this (give or take a few), it's not surprising he's finally broken his own metaphorical silence on the subject. Granted, it's not the answer Ganondorf wants, but the King of Evil is pretty satisfied with the fact that he's making progress.

I like to put in at least a little psychology in everything I do... I think it's fun. It's like how little kids will break their toys apart to see how they work... I break my characters to see how their minds react.

On another subject entirely, here we have the introduction of Ravick. To those that may or may not know, Children of the Gods was actually written to retell many of the events of an old roleplay site I ran. That's how a lot of characters ended up paired up and chaos ensued for well over a year with only three to four players, one of them being the esteemed ThuhJesheekuh (formerly known as Selphie Louise), who was my partner in crime at the time. She has uploaded three stories that were written during those days (Tying the Knot, Making It Happen, and More Than Friends), and one of them (Tying the Knot) actually has clips from the old rps, whereas CotG only has a few, such as the infamous Chateau Romani incident. Others are done as improv to get the story to flow, covering important subjects from the rps, and just getting the characters out there so TJ/Selphie and I could write other stories about them without confusing people (as much).

Where I'm going with this: Ravick was the 'fourth' player, who was not on as often as the rest of us, but he still played a role in the lives of the characters. However, because of his absences, I wasn't able to figure out a way to introduce him until now. To poke fun at myself, the whole part about him and his currently anonymous partner being 'forgotten' is a bit of a play on the fact that his character, while being a semi-factor in their lives on the rp site, seemed to have been 'forgotten' in this world, and was never introduced until this point. The chaos that was once Ravick will ensue in due time, but for now, here he is. Things are hopefully starting to look up for our poor hero... in some twisted way, I suppose.

Final plug before I wrap this up:

Go read ThuhJesheekuh's work. She's an awesome writer with a great variety of stories to read, including her epic tale "The Legend of Zelda: Tome of Lineage".

'Til next time.