Hello guys and welcome back, I'm still thinking of how the story will end but I know it's going to turn out great.

So with no more to say, enjoy!

The Timeless Shadow

"A real decision is measure by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided." – Tony Robbins

Chapter 09: Action (Part 2)

"Lilia, are you sure?" Link asked her for the sixth time that day.

"Come on Link, stop worrying about me. I will be fine, plus you'll be with me." Lilia said as she tried her best to maintain the courage that ran through her blood, but was slightly quivering.

Link continued to walk behind her and became a watchful eye for her as they proceeded to the underground dungeons in the dark parts of the mansion. Lilia's eyes continued to move frantically over anything and every corner deep within the darkest parts. However, as she might have been capable of maintaining her composure, yet her heartbeat was going at ridiculous speeds. It wasn't normal how nervous the young female was, and Link noticed. But there was nothing he could do to help her in her situation.

"Over there." He said as they headed to a door the young female had never seen in her life.

"So this is it?" She asked scared of what might hide behind those doors.

"Yea... your mother took me here when she tried to break the curse." He said as he moved away from her knocking down a few of the chains it had on.

"You knew mom?" She asked feeling slightly betrayed but confused at the same time.

Link grunted for a second and backed away to where the girl stood his back always to her. As he turned over to stare into her youthful face he smiled, but it turned to a grimace as a huge block of chain fell to the floor with a loud 'clang'. Lilia on the other hand cringed at the sound and shook lightly as her fear of the dark grew back in her. She was calmed down fast by the knowing hand belonging to the blond holding her shoulder, his small smile reassuring her.

"And the answer would be a yes." He told her making her forget of the chains and the dark. "You look a lot like her."

"Really?" She asked hopefully thinking of how much she admired her mother.

"Yea but drop the act she wasn't like that." He said chuckling as her face fell to a frown. "That's more like it. But if you look up to her it's great to one extension." He said as he held back a small laugh wanting to be freed from his lips.

"Smooth, and here I thought we were getting somewhere." The girl said as she rolled her eyes, mocking him lightly.

Link lifted an eyebrow at her attempt of mocking him and with it crossed his arms in front of her. "Do you want to know what happened here?" He asked her and she nodded forgetting of the act she put up. "We broke this door open and she had a vision. In it, she told me, she saw herself walking around holding a child. That was what made her forget of breaking the curse." Link said sadly as he casted his blue eyes to the floor.

Link walked closer to the door and allowed his hand to rest up against it and then proceeded to continue. "She got the chance to break it halfway, which is the reason for why you can see me walking around in person or wolf form. However, that isn't enough... I need to break it fully." He told her with full determination.

"Link..." Lilia said as she tried to reach for him but her hand shied away. "This time... it'll be different. Mom backed away afraid of being alone but I know I won't be alone. I'm sure you'll come back." She said in a soft voice, yet a part of her wished she could believe what she was speaking.

"Eh, not to be melodramatic or anything but I've told you already. You know what happened to Zelda and Malon. There's a high chance of me never coming back." He told her as he pushed himself away from the door, opening it slightly and giving her the slightly cold and emotionless face.

"But Link." Lilia tried to speak only to be stopped once more by the man before her.

"Lilia don't you get it! I'm a hero, I'm meant to serve the people. Sooner or later I will leave you to serve once more." Link said looking away, his eyes betraying his cold voice.

"Then I'll be your shadow and help you serve the people." She told him innocently as she took a hold on his arm.

Out of the corner of the young girl's eyes she saw something shining that stood out from the dark atmosphere that surrounded them. She smiled knowingly to herself and thought back to what he was telling her about his adventure in this place. 'He seemed to have left it in his frenzy.' She thought smiling knowingly as her eyes moved over to the man that stayed quiet still absorbing her words. 'I wonder...'

"Hey, Link?" She asked out loud gaining his attention. "Is that your old sword by any chance?" She asked him in a slight teasing tone, he caught up to it but only gave her a disapproving look before moving towards the dusty blade.

Once she saw him pick the sword up and exanimate it she saw a small glimmer of hope in his eyes. She looked down to the floor and her eyes clouded with sadness. She had a slight idea of what was going through his mind and in some strange way she didn't liked it. She didn't hear him say a word, but as soon as he finished examination the weapon he threw away the unbalanced sword that he was carrying on him. He grinned once more and turned over to look at the girl but his smile turned to a frown once he saw her.

"Lilia..." He said moving next to her and staring at her trembling hand on the bow. 'She must be fighting the decision.' He thought to himself but didn't dare to speak a word, not wanting to upset her more.

"You moron," she muttered lightly making the man jump back at her hostility. "Stop playing around, we don't have all day." The brunette said glaring at him but it wasn't the normal glare he'd receive from her; this one was more of a determined look.

'Same as her mother...' He thought as he remembered the dead woman's face flashed over the teen that resembled her. "You should stay back then." Link said as he kicked the door open but fell on his knees as the monsters that attacked him when he first arrived to this snowy place went and jumped on him.

Before any of the dark monsters dared to touch him he found himself starring at the three accurate arrows that took the dark beasts out. He looked behind him to the girl that was placing another arrow on the old bow. Her face appeared to be fully controlled but her hands were trembling out of nervousness. She tried to gain control once more of her scarred body, but everything that flew on her mind was how scared she was that it would have ended there.

"Sh-shall we?" She said once she had finished placing the arrow in its place, her nervousness reaching her voice.

The blue eyed blond got up from the floor and nodded at the girl who just saved his life. This time he pulled out is shield from his back and gave her the signal to follow him through the dark; both of them knowing that the adventure wasn't worth the consequences.

When Nick barged through the doors of the humble home belonging to Kain's woman, he heard an ear piercing scream. He grew scared for what it was and ran over to where he had heard the sound to see no one, suddenly found that he was getting hit in the head by a large piece of wood. The person who had given him the blow stopped once it noticed who it was. Nick on the other hand simply grumbled as he tried to shake off the effect the hit had on him, his balance being completely off.

As he prepared himself to pick up his weapon the loud gasp from the person stopped him in his tracks. He then noticed the woman from a few weeks ago and let go of his weapon. He would never try to hurt the person he was looking for to protect. He nodded painfully to the weapon she was holding in her hands and she dropped it to the floor with a loud clang.

"I guess you were informed." He said as he rubbed the back of his head where a small lump was forming.

"Ah... yes I was." She said as she picked up her choice of weapon and placed it next to her. "Please sit here." She said as she leaded him over to the small table for four.

"Thanks." He said as he sat on the chair careful of not breaking it, yet the pain in his head making him feel strange. "Where are the kids? It's awfully quiet in here." He said as he looked around to see everything spotless.

"They left with the oldest a week ago. I was afraid that Markus might have gotten to them, seeing as they could claim the throne in a near future." She said with worry evident in her voice. "Also did Niak tell you of the next visit?" She said casually, changing the subject as if her life or her family's weren't in danger.

"Wait you're telling me that Niak is a knight?" He asked as his face paled up lightly and she nodded to his question. "So that was Niak..." He said to himself, thinking of the knight that had pleaded to aid him.

"I guess he wanted to follow his father steps." She said as she picked up her body and placed some leather gloves on. "They're coming."

Believing her words Nick stood up and pulled out his dao and held it securely with his right hand. A few more minutes passed of them starring at the door with positions ready to strike but nothing happened. Some yells went on the outside asking for them to give up without a fight, except they forgot that the second prince was known for his stubbornness.

A group of knights barged through the door and found themselves surprised by presence of the next in line, standing tall and proud. Most of the men were shaking and too petrified to attack at any order, as attacking the throne was penalized by death. The other knights in the back found them to be the most composed of them all, till they reminded each other of their orders. The son of the third prince tried to hold back, but he couldn't betray Hyrule anymore and proceeded to shout orders against his will.

'Mother, forgive me...' He thought as he yelled for them to be captured alive, confusing the men since that wasn't their original order. However, something happened when Nick took one step forward and pushed the woman of Kain behind him. He held his dao at his side, it appeared to be a defenseless position but it was meant to fool them. His glare deepened as he one of the knights moved lightly but stopped due to the intensified gaze. They wouldn't dare attack him.

"What's the reason of attacking this woman?" The Second Prince of Hyrule asked.

"Ah, why are you asking?" The one from the back that hadn't spoken at all but accompanied Niak on the protection of his family spoke. "Let us say that our command is... kill the traitors."

Once he had said those cynical and malicious words he pulled out his sword. He didn't command the men to do a thing; he simply stood there with his sword drawn out. His eyes staring directly to Nick's eyes, as if giving him a challenge, his smug face indicating that he thought he would surely win the challenge. With a few seconds into the stare the knight moved his sword to the left, the movement swiftly and slashing the air. The sound paused for a second as the man connected his sword with Niak's neck. Upon contact, blood started to pour from Niak's neck and his body fell on his knee first, his eyes open and empty, as the head was completely separated from the body. Everyone in the room stared at the killer with their eyes filled with shock, even the knights didn't know what to do, as they stared at the head of their compatriot.

"No!" A pained scream came from behind Nick. Quickly the prince moved around and held the woman by her shoulders. At the moment he knew she wasn't thinking clearly, yet it was pretty obvious that if she ran past him, she'll fall into the death trap. "Let go Nick! My baby, please!" She yelled in desperation as she fought against the strong grip Nick had on her.

"Stop it!" He yelled to her and she calmed down, but started to fight once more when she saw the blood under the knights' feet.

"Guys, I'm tired of watching this. Kill her already and capture Nick and if anyone dares to go against my rule they'll die." The killer of Kain's oldest son ordered as he left the area, lighting on a cigarette on his way out, but before leaving he spoke. "Oh, guys... you got till I finish this cig."

The last command he gave was the last thing needed and all of the knights leaped forward to the disoriented woman of Kain and the scared Nick. The blonde did the first thing that came to mind and pushed the woman out of the way, forgetting her and defending himself. She on the other hand fell to the floor with a loud bang but that didn't stop her. She glanced at the fighting form of Nick and noticed his struggling against the group of knights.

Instead of redeeming herself she crawled over to the body of her son and cradled his head on her lap, as some silent tears dropped from her face. However, in between tears and a few sobs she noticed the face of the man she had cradled on her lap wasn't the same as her son. She then proceeded, in between tears, to take of his helmet and she smiled relieved that this wasn't her son. As she moved the head of the man away from her body she remembered her brother-in-law and joined her fist together, this time determined for them both to survive.

She ran over the group surrounding Nick and punched on of them in the face, making him fall flat on the floor. She kicked two more to make more space and found herself resting her back on Nick's back. She glared deeply to the men not so far away from her and proceeded to protect his back. Nick on the other hand was doing fairly well as he saw that these men didn't had the real ability he's seen on other knights. He had to admit that he fought dirty and used kicks against the men's bodies but he didn't stop even thought he was already breathing deeply.

"Nick." Kain's woman called him as she saved him from a trust in the back.

"What!" He yelled over the noise most of the men were doing, plus he wasn't in the greatest of moods.

"Follow me." She said as she took off and broke some space between the highly prepared soldiers.

He ran behind her and didn't stop. The group of knights tried to follow them but they took in advantage the city over populace and ran over to the market district. Once they found themselves safe, they proceeded to enter a house. No one was in it at the moment but if they were in, no one would have come out. Nick grew in on high alert but saw noting, a few rats but noting that could really be taken seriously.

"Where are we?" He asked her but she shushed him as she found a hidden door. This door led to a room with a small candle and a small group of women and men, the bartender from two weeks ago was among them. "What is the meaning of this?" He asked astonished by what he found underground in the city he had grown up.

"Simple. We are Hyrule's aiding group." The bartender said as he moved forward over to the prince of Hyrule. "Kain created this group twenty years ago, he said he noticed Markus markings since young and the death of his grandfather marked the beginning."

"Wait a minute, so he knew all this time?" Nick asked shocked, he had always though Kain was busier mixing with women than observing his surroundings.

"Yes, we've all did." The woman beside the prince spoke, sadness dawning in her words. "Kain was the closest to Markus so he noticed many things, some that we aren't even capable of speaking of." She added.

"So there's more?" Nick said out loud. 'He must have the most capacity out of us... then that might mean that he's behind this all.' The second prince thought startled, as he thought of the many times that Kain could have probably gotten him into trouble.

The people in the room chuckled at his expression already expecting the thoughts that crossed his mind. The blue eyed blonde noticed and narrowed his eyes in full suspicion; this was Kain's group after all. 'Kain couldn't have been this cynical. He would have been just like dad thought; he must be the perfect specimen out of mom and dad.' The nearly clear eyes of the man belonging to the royal family spoke of centuries of damage.

"Nick calm down." The woman beside him spoke touching his shoulder gently. "We need you as our leader right now; reinforcements are heading from the east and are waiting upon our call." She said coldly making him notice that everyone in this room had a dual personality.

With her words Nick closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he knew what happened to his brother inside the castle. Yet he knew that the people needed a leader that was when he found his determination, he opened his eyes and spoke. "Brief me up on the situation at hand."

"They're here." The Queen spoke breaking away from her small trance.

The men who had gathered to pray with the Queen all broke away from their trance and picked up their weapons. The last one to break away from his praying position was the young teen that tried his best to maintain a stoic face. It didn't work and everyone saw trough it but they ignored it and someone simply threw a sword at his feet. The dark headed boy picked it up and stared at a tool of death with a blank look. He knew he was determined to protect the Queen but what he held in his hands was a weapon of death.

The group of men gave each other knowingly looks and some even cheered. They were expecting this battle for a few weeks already and they couldn't have been eager. The men tried to stand protectively around Zelda but she made her way to the very front of the group. All of them stood on the south of the town, near the house of the village leader. The gray haired Zelda looked around the surrounding men but found herself wanting to go back on her word. She knew how Hyrules soldiers fought and didn't expect any mercy from them.

'I cannot let them die.' The wrinkled face of Zelda turned down thanks to the aid of a frown. 'They don't know how this will end up... why didn't I stop it before?' The battle was starting to warm up in her head but successfully reached its climax once she saw the large group of horses entering the village. 'There's no way out of this.' She closed her eyes for a second and then opened them to see the man to her left.

"Please don't let the boy die." She whispered in his ear and he nodded, taking a small nervous gulp, he wasn't even sure if he was about to live.

The Queen stared around watching as the soldiers closed in. She was nervous herself but she was more worried for the people surrounding her since she was still royalty, she was sure she was meant to be taken in alive. The group of knights stopped not so far from them and gave them a hard look, which was meant for the woman who had given them this trouble. No words were spoken when they locked in their eyes, but that didn't stop him from giving the signal.

The men didn't hesitate and urged their horses forward, heading directly to the group on the Queen's side. As the men in armor charged their horses in the direction of the Queen everything seemed to go in slow motion. The men on her side moved forward, making sure that she was guarded behind them. The young boy who was also pushed back tried to move forward to get into the action, but was stopped by a light yet strong and firm hand.

"Don't... stay here." Zelda commanded to the young boy as she started to allow her powers sweep out.

Her wrinkles vanished and her eyes brightened to a sky blue. The boy stood to the side mesmerized by how beautiful she was, but it disappeared quickly when he noticed that the barrier the men had formed around them was broken. He took hold of the sword he had on his hip and blocked a hit from an unmounted knight. He grew scared as the strength of the man, who easily started to overpower him and nearly gave away from his lock.

With the luck of gold on the boy's side, a blast coming from Zelda pushed the armored man away from the dark headed teen immediately killing him. The black headed boy shook lightly, as he showed how nervous he truly was. The sword shook wildly in his hand and he fought internally to gain control over it and his body. Another blast coming from his side made him go and jump into action. A new knight headed his way and threw a barricade of attacks, most of which the boy came out unscarred.

Once more he couldn't find the energies to defend himself and take the life of someone. In his small haste for running away he got slightly pinned and trapped, but lucky for him he was saved once more. The man who Zelda had talked to earlier that day was his savior and he couldn't find himself to be more grateful. However, remembering that this was a battle the boy moved back and gave the man some space for him to fight on.

The locking of blades were shorts and both of them had the same fighting style, as if he also had been a knight once in his life. The movements were equals but the age difference marked who was meant to win that small battle. Another 'clang' was heard and both men were locked, the knight's eyes locked with the older man eyes but the man never once gave him the advantage. The young soldier pushed harder and decided to do a risk it all game. He knew it wasn't the best decision he could have done but he didn't minded it that much, for him the kill counted more.

As he threw his plan into action he moved the blade to the side and allowed the older man blade to slide down his. He knew he had to time it right or else the more experienced man could take sharp notice of his vulnerable spot. However, the man saw through his plan and something shone in his deep blue eyes. He also timed his counter and when the knight proceeded to move to his right he pushed forward, his sword inclining to the man's neck. There was a sound of sword meeting clothing and flesh, but other than that the boy couldn't see who the real victim was since both of them stopped all of their movement.

"You shouldn't have tried to outwit age boy." The older man said, but he grinded his teeth as he knew that he had to live with a new death in his memory bank.

The man took the dead enemy sword out of his abdomen and proceeded to pull his own sword away from the man's neck. The body instantly crashed against the floor and he found himself wondering how many man he had killed back in his days. As he threw one of the swords on the floor he looked behind him to the slightly petrified boy. His eyes softened just for him and he found himself pulling him to a hug, allowing his paternal feeling come out.

"Sir... we're still in danger." The boy spoke politely, trying to see if it was the right time to pull away from the injured man embrace.

"Ah... yes. Do not worry we're at a safe distance." The man answered making sure that the boy wasn't capable of pushing away from his hold.

Nearly half a mile away from them and in the real action, Zelda took out another man with only once swipe of her hand. The aged woman tried to keep that pace she had but found her strength starting to waver. She felt a pair of eyes burning her back and she started to look for the owner of them. She decided to waver a bit on her concentration so that she could find them faster and her face immediately aged by the loss of power.

Not so long after she had allowed her powers to rest a tiny bit, her sight fell on the older man and the young boy. They were far from her and possibly in the quite opposite side of her. Her blue eyes locked with deep brown ones and a silent communication was set. She closed her blue eyes for a few seconds, contemplating the decision she was about to make. Once she suppressed her internal battle she allowed her eyes to open and nodded in the old man direction. The boy looked lost as he saw that everything had stopped but didn't dared to ask what was going on since the Queen had her gaze set on them.

Once the order was officially set the man felt a small pang of guilt but proceeded with it. His grip on the boy tightened and the hand that held the sword lifted into the air. He closed his eyes and thought back into the days, he used to do that a lot and it was common for him, as the trusted Knight of the King. Thinking back on the time and conditions he drew back enough strength to move his arm down in a strong impact and knock out the young boy by hitting the back of its neck with the butt of his sword.

The boy's eyes widened at the impact but soon closed as he lost consciousness. The world around him darkened in a swirl and his body went limp close to crashing to the floor, if it weren't for the man's arms it would have. The man decided to take advantage of his distance and pulled the boy so that its head rested on top of his shoulder on his uninjured side. However, the man failed to realize that his agility wasn't as good as before but he cleared it up by slowing down.

"Oh Zelda... I guess I aint what I used to be." He said to himself as he gave one last glance at the woman who kept fighting to protect the people.

He chuckled to himself remembering of the old times but his mind grew back to the order he had to finish. A low whistle came from his lips, it wasn't that low of a whistle but the distinctive sound flew over to the group of surviving men. Most of them regrouped fast and started to retreat in the opposite direction of the Knights. Once they all caught up to him he allowed them to continue their marry way as he took one last glimpse at the fighting Queen.

'May the Gods be with you... my dear Zelda.' He thought lastly as he turned over, his vision of the woman his age being blurred by an attack she had directed to the ground as an act of diversion. As he continued to walk along the retreat route he thought something that had never occurred to him. 'Could we have been something more if I had met you six years before?'

Once the cloud of sand had cleared an aged Queen was seen on the floor, dirtied with her own blood and the terrain that surrounded her. She didn't even bothered to glare in the direction of the knights but simply closed her eyes, in her mind the vision of the man that had helped her in so many faces of her life. 'Yael… would I have been in this spot if I were to meet you before?'

Well I hope you all liked this chapter, as I seemed to enjoy it. All I have to say I wished to see more reviews as I actually keep posting it because I like the theme within this story.

So anyhow I'll like to thank all readers who might have been faithful up to this point and that you are all welcome to make any type of comments. Remember I make this for entertainment but come on! This is the most complicated story line I have (Bloody Mary comes close... reason for why it's in hiatus).

So anyhow I actually love you guys, happy new years and allow for this year to be the one that I finish this story.

~~Adrianne