A/N: Fixations done at 23.8.2015.

The picture I have in use as the cover for my CaH saga is from dA by an artist lychi and the picture's name is just simply Zelda.

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IMPORTANT! READ! I have several important announcements considering Letters from Hyrule and few other things. I hope You can understand and forgive me for inconvenience. I am extremely sorry for this: Letters from Hyrule will be on hiatus for the time being.

1) The reason for hiatus is simple. Trying to write letters every other day is taking bit too much of time while planning few other things for Your happiness. Not to mention that before I had a letter or few written before updating but now it has caught up. There is a poll on my profile so I'm quite certainly going to be updating Letters from Hyrule twice a week once I've got enough of answers and I have written more of replies. BUT for that I need to know what You guys think to be the best days to update. THANK YOU! And I'm really, really, extremely, terribly SORRY for this! T.T

2) I'm also working with a new Advent Calendar thingy. This time I'm updating it in DeviantArt simply because it is informational thing. Once December comes, I'll be putting one Journal for each day. Name of this thing is simply 25 Tidbits of CaH Saga.

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Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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DARK LINK'S QUEST

CHAPTER 11: The Forest Temple, part 5: Two out of four Flames

"Hey, Dark! Look up!" Link called quite happily. Dark sighed once again. He could easily hear the grin on the Hero's face, yet he followed the request. The dark Hylian nearly gasped when he saw what Link had noticed. Right after that he was grinning as widely as the Hero did.

On the ceiling was a hook. It was clear that even the Hookshot could easily get a grip on it. "So... How do you want to do this, Dark? I still have a longer chain to my Longshot than what you do in your Hookshot." Link stated while coming back to the same pillar where the darker Hylian was sitting at.

Dark stood up but frowned a bit. "What about the flame? I doubt I can hang above it without getting burned... And being too high would certainly not help me to get the text read." The ex-shadow stated while staring into the eternal fire.

Link grinned. "I can easily fix that problem." He stated and took out his bow and arrows. The Hero took aim easily and lit the arrow into ice. Right after that he let it fly and the magic froze the eternal flame. "It might not hold long, though..." Link stated bit worriedly.

Dark narrowed his eyes. "As long as it holds long enough for me to read the text, it'll be fine." He replied and turned around. Link was already changing the bow and arrows into his Longshot. "Okay... How are we going to do this?" The dark Hylian inquired.

"Let me show you..." Link answered while his grin widened. He took aim and shot the device towards the hook. And before Dark could say even one word, Link had already taken a grip on him just before the Longshot started to pull the Hero up.

Dark screamed out in surprise. Link chuckled a bit while holding on tightly to him. "Don't worry. I'm not going to drop you." He stated confidently while starting to lower the chain. The thing was that the duo was right above the frozen flame.

Dark gulped while watching the mid-pillar coming closer. "You'd better hold on to your words then..." He half mumbled in slight fear. "Okay! Stop!" The darker Hylian shouted out once they got close enough.

Link stopped the movement. "This good?" He questioned and nearly gasped when Dark reached out to the froze flame. "H-Hey! Take it easy or I'll lose my grip on you!" The Hero stated bit bewildered.

"Sorry..." Dark muttered while carefully pulling a bit lower and turning them around slightly. "Wrong angle..." He explained while starting to try and read the text. Link sighed and tried to stay put as well as he could. He couldn't make out the darker Hylian's voice after that but he was certain that the ex-shadow was muttering something out loud.

"Hear the call of the creature.

Can you see it in the pit?

Hear the growl of the demon.

How far into the forest dare you venture?

Hear the howl of the monster.

Dare to face your fear?

Hear the hiss of the beast.

Do you have the courage to jump down?

Hear the Shadow cry.

You think you can give it peace?"

Dark frowned while reading the text several times through. He couldn't fully make any of sense to it. "You can pull us up now..." He said while still fully in his thoughts. Link chuckled a bit and jolted the darker Hylian out of his concentration.

"Can't do that..." The Hero replied and nodded then towards the torch. "You gotta make us swing a bit." He continued while slightly lowering them downwards. Dark sighed but did as Link requested. Right after that Link started to try and speed the swings slightly. "Ready?" He questioned.

Dark frowned even more. "Ready for what?" He questioned and screamed when Link let go of him. The dark Hylian fell to one of the pillars and nearly somersaulted off of it. "Shiit!" He shouted out while desperately trying not to fall off.

Link was lot more luckier. He didn't have the fear of falling off of the pillar. "For this." He stated bit grinning. Dark turned around to face him with quite harsh glare.

"You idiot! I could've fallen off into that darn lava!" He screamed out while already turning his back to the Hero. Link chuckled slightly while coming to the same pillar as the darker Hylian was at.

"Oh, come on, Dark. You know I wouldn't have let you fall." The Hero said with a slight smile. Dark just huffed and kept his gaze off of him. "So... Was this waste of time, then?" Link continued while sitting down.

Dark sighed and sat down next to the Hero. "Probably not... I still gotta think it out but I have quite a good hunch of where to go next..." He replied quietly. "I know only what the two last lines means but all of the earlier ones... I'm not thoroughly sure..." The dark Hylian thought bit sadly.

"How about you'd say it fully out loud? Maybe we can figure it out together." Link suggested while feeling bit hopeful. The darker Hylian sighed but nodded. He repeated in Hylian everything else except the two last lines. "Well, as far as I can figure out on first hearing... The first and every other from there is quite surely meaning the ones that stole the flames..." The Hero started carefully.

Dark sighed exaggerated. "Even I figured that much..." He mumbled. Link just shrugged while laying down to his back and staring up to the ceiling but soon he closed his eyes since the circling of the hook was giving him a headache. The darker Hylian glanced at him but didn't follow the example. Instead, he just pulled his legs to his chest and laid his chin over his knees before closing his eyes.

"There's currently only two pits that I can state out." Link eventually said.

"Oh, and where's those?" Dark replied and glanced once at him.

"The first one is on the room before this once we'd get the far off hallway untwisted." The Hero started. "And the second is at that new garden... Though, I wouldn't say it as a pit but more like a moat." He continued.

Dark stayed silent but he started to frown while thinking it through. Soon he grinned. "I think I know where we're going to head next..." The ex-shadow stated while standing up. Link opened his eyes and frowned at him slightly.

"Pray tell me where are we heading to?" He answered while sitting up. Dark was grinning widely and offered his hand to the Hero. Link accepted it and the darker Hylian pulled him to his feet.

"The text was written on Shadowy Language so only I can read it. And by that it was actually meant for me." Dark started while jumping back to the pillar where the room's only door was at. "Plus I have the best hearing out of the two of us." The dark Hylian continued and opened the door back to the twisted corridor.

"I'm not fully following..." Link replied while avoiding the two Green Bubbles with the ex-shadow. Dark chuckled but didn't continue talking until they had gotten into the room that was lacking three paintings.

"I'm meaning that only I can hear the creatures. The second line is probably meaning the pit that appears once we change that one corridor straight again. The fourth line is probably meaning that the thief is somewhere in the forest where we fought with that cat. The sixth line means about one of the wells somewhere in here... And last line is, hopefully not, meaning that hellish drop that is in the area at where we cleaned my eyes." Dark explained carefully.

Link nodded slowly and handled the two Blue Bubbles from their way. Dark had been ready to help but the Hero had been slightly faster. After that Link took out his bow and arrows before already shooting at the eye above the door. "I still don't understand the sixth line. How did it go again...? Dare to face your fear?" The Hero replied and frowned slightly.

Dark shivered while following Link through the corridor and into the next room. "You do remember when you took me out of the Water Temple for the first time, right?" He questioned bit ashamed. Link's frown increased but he nodded slowly. "Remember how long it took you to coax me to take that last dive?" The dark Hylian continued even more ashamed.

Link stopped dead on his tracks. They were at the door to the round room of where they both had gained bows. "Fear of water..." The Hero whispered in sudden realization. Dark gulped, kept his gaze in the floor and nodded.

Link turned around to face him and in lack of encouraging words, he hugged the darker Hylian. "Don't worry. We'll figure out something." He whispered before letting go. "Besides, we gotta handle two flame thieves before that so we'll be having enough of time to come up with a plan." The Hero continued as confidently as he could.

Dark took once a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, you're right..." He answered but he really was lacking the confidence. "Anyways, we probably should continue..." The dark Hylian continued and went to open the door. Link nodded and followed him forward.

They walked in silence but once they reached the second area without the paintings, the Hero stopped the ex-shadow. "Wait a sec, will ya." He stated and sat down to the third last step of the stairs. Dark turned around bit frowning. Link patted the place next to him and gave a bit lopsided smile. "I don't know how long we've been going through this place but besides fixing your eyesight, we haven't really rested at all."

Dark sighed but took gladly the given chance to rest a bit. He sat down next to Link and let his legs straight while leaning bit backwards. "I think bit of rest sounds like an excellent idea." He replied while closing his eyes. The Hero chuckled slightly and started to go through his pockets.

"Never leave the castle without bit of snack." Link said with a grin while taking a small pack of cookies out. Dark had opened one eye to watch slightly on the Hero's doing but the words and the package took his notion fully.

"You're really sneaky, you know that?" The dark Hylian said while taking one of the offered cookies. Link laughed and shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not. I just know that usually when I leave the castle, I quite certainly won't be back until late in the evening." He explained while munching to one of the cookies. "Sometimes not even then. So, food's always good idea to have along." Link continued and ate three more before stretching. "You think you could keep eye on possible monsters while I'd take few hours nap?" The Hero questioned carefully.

Dark nodded. "No problem. Can I eat the rest of the cookies or should I leave something?" He answered with slight grin. Link laughed while taking off his shield and sword. He put them close by to lean against the wall before sitting down.

"Eat all you want. I think I have another package along anyways." He replied while taking as good position as possible. "Wake me up if you need help. I'll just take couple of hours of rest..." Link said before already yawning, closing his eyes and sifting slightly to find bit better position.

Dark watched him bit interested. He kept his ears strained for any possible sound around them. Other than that he kept on munching at the cookies. "Not that I'd know when couple of hours has gone past. I probably would be waking him up way too early and there isn't even slightest thing that could tell off about the time... So, I think I just gotta let him sleep and try and find something to keep myself awake until then..." The ex-shadow thought and yawned slightly.

The dark Hylian didn't dare to close his eyes in fear of falling asleep. So he just stared right in front of him and listened to everything that was going on around them. Most of things were just simple wind and brushing of the leaves. There were few far away monsters, mainly different kind of Bubbles and several Deku Babas, since they were leaving a sound that Dark could identify quite easily. There was also very faint sound of Wallmaster in the next room but it mainly stayed still and very high in the ceiling.

Dark wanted to take out his sword, knife or one of the arrows and just draw circles in the floor. Yet, he didn't want to wake the Hero up by the screeching sound. The ex-shadow sighed and looked once around himself. There was nothing around them and he wasn't hearing anything that would be creeping in for an attack either. The dark Hylian sighed and stretched a little before slumping back into his earlier position.

"...Shadow..."

Dark's head jolted up, he stood up in a flash and he looked around quite bewildered. There still wasn't anything around them. He couldn't hear any of monsters close by either... Well, except for the Wallmaster but it certainly couldn't open doors. The dark Hylian sighed, sat back down and shook his head. "I'm hearing things already..." He muttered quietly and chuckled slightly.

"...Shadow of the Hero of Light..."

Dark shot up fully frightened. "It can't be..." He thought and carefully and very quietly walked to the door where they were going to head into once Link would wake up. The dark Hylian closed his eyes and pushed his ear against the door. "...Nogard?" The ex-shadow thought fully confused.

"Hear my call, shadow..."

Dark sighed a bit in relief and carefully went down to the floor. "I hear ya but I'm not yet coming." He thought and opened his eyes. Link was still sleeping quite peacefully on the floor.

"Shadow of the Hero of Light... Come and face me..."

Dark chuckled and shook his head. "Not yet. I'll be there once I'm not coming alone." He thought and pushed himself back up to his feet. Quietly he walked back to the stairs and sat down. "It's not Nogard... Not yet at least..." The dark Hylian thought with a sad smile.

"Come to me... Cien..."

Dark was fully startled and he narrowed his eyes in slight anger. "Who are you?" He questioned carefully with same kind of hissing sound as the last word of the unknown talker had used. The dark Hylian could easily hear the laugh of the caller.

"Shouldn't you know?"

Dark closed his eyes and tried to calm down. The voice was familiar but he couldn't fully recognize it. The talker laughed again and the voice of it got shivers run down the dark Hylian's back. "Who... Who are you...?" The ex-shadow inquired again but this time he was lacking the courage. The voice laughed again and Dark shivered even harder.

"If you think, you might remember... But maybe the light has blinded even your memories..."

Dark refused to answer but he started to go through his memories. The laughing inside of his head didn't help even one bit but at least it kept the voice very fresh in there. The sound of Link's movement got the dark Hylian to open his eyes. It cut his work of trying to identify the talker but he certainly didn't want the Hero to know what was going on with him. Dark sighed in relief when Link had only moved a bit in his sleep but hadn't woken up.

"Can't remember... But neither can you SEE!"

Dark stood up in pure shock and took couple of steps backwards with a silent gasp. The last word had been fully screamed in his head and quite soon after that two glowing red eyes appeared into the room right above the door. In pure fear the ex-shadow pulled out his sword and readied for the attack. He glanced once at Link before returning his gaze back to the hovering eyes.

"COME AND FIND ME!"

The eyes shot straight towards Dark after the screeching scream. Dark was petrified and stood still while the glowing red eyes came at him. He couldn't even close his own eyes and the creature's eyes went straight through him. The ex-shadow screamed out loud before crashing back first into the stairs.

Link jolted awake and he drew out his sword in a flash. "DARK!" He screamed out and ran straight to the darker Hylian. Dark was slowly sitting up. He was breathing fast and keeping his eyes closed. "Dark! What happened? Are you alright?" The Hero questioned straight off once he got close enough to him.

Dark gave a small nod. "Y-yeah..." He whispered but cursed slightly at his shaking voice. Link was just going to argue when the darker Hylian already continued: "I... I think I fell asleep and had a nightmare... Sorry..."

Link sighed in relief and sat down next to him. "It's okay... This room is quite enemy free anyways." He answered with a slight chuckle. "Do you want to talk about your nightmare?" The Hero continued carefully but sighed quite disappointed when Dark shook his head. "Okay... Maybe you could get some actual sleep now. I'll keep eye on things on that time." Link offered but the darker Hylian shook his head again.

"Nah... We'd better just continue..." Dark replied, sheathed the sword and stood up. He didn't glance at Link while heading straight to the door. "You coming?" He questioned and glanced once at the Hero. Link sighed but nodded. He walked back to his equipment and put them on before coming next to Dark. "I know who you are..." The ex-shadow thought quite confidently but shivered when the creature laughed again.

"I knew that would remind you..."

Dark nearly growled in anger while going through the door. He didn't wait even one bit for Link to follow when he already jumped down from their pillar. The duo walked to the pit and jumped down to the lower floor. Link was feeling slightly worried for the darker Hylian. "He's not himself currently..." The Hero thought and sighed then. "Dark..." He started but Dark cut him short.

"I know already, Link. You don't blame me for falling asleep." He stated bit angrily. Link sighed but nodded with slightly apologetic smile. "Though, you quite certainly should be mad at me... I would've risked our lives by falling asleep..." Dark thought, took once a deep breath and started to concentrate with their next problem.

The room they had come into had black and white tiles on the floor. Not too far from there was area where the ceiling, that looked exactly like the floor, was willing to crush them. There were only few areas where they could be safe before reaching the door.

"Do you remember the pattern?" Link questioned and glanced at the darker Hylian. Dark sighed.

"Somehow... I just don't remember where those Skulltulas were at." He replied and took few steps forward. The ceiling came down quite fast. It startled the ex-shadow and he took couple of steps backwards. Link walked next to him and watched the rising and falling of the ceiling. After a short while he crouched down and watched how the ceiling came down few more times.

"Well, I do know how to get through here..." The Hero said once he straightened up fully. "Follow me and stay very close. These tiles aren't that of wide." He stated and took a grip on the darker Hylian's arm. "Now!" Link shouted and started to run towards the first safe area.

Dark followed in slight fear. He remembered this floor very well. Link had always waited for him to come back while he had just walked through without any care in the world. The ceiling had come down on him but couldn't harm even slightest bit because he had been a shadow at the time. Now the ceiling could easily crush him if things were timed wrongly or he wasn't fully in the safe area.

Link knew exactly where he was going. Straight first while going past one row of tiles. The safe place was just couple of tiles from the wall. Then to diagonal way straight to wall, about six to seven rows away from the starting area. They managed to pass the first Skulltula easily. Next way was two rows down and straight to other wall. The second Skulltula was left behind without problems.

The duo took a short break at the two tiles wide area. Dark was nearly out of breath but it was mainly because he was scared and going through the area for first time by the cost of his own life. "Hard, isn't it?" Link questioned bit amused.

"At least I know now what you've gone through..." The darker Hylian replied and tried to calm down. Once he had caught his breath and nerves again, Link took a grip on his arm again and thought for a while for the right way before already dragging the ex-shadow after him.

"Two tiles forward and four down." Link stated while pulling the darker Hylian after him. Dark only nodded but he wasn't counting the tiles at all. Instead, he thoroughly trusted Link to handle the counting and saving them from certain death. The ex-shadow nearly sighed in relief once they reached the next safe place.

Next part was easy. It was once again next to the wall and just two rows down. It was quite smallish but the duo was in safe. "Last run." Link stated while waiting for the ceiling start to rise back up again. Dark nodded and very soon the Hero was dragging him forward again. They dashed straight towards the door from there.

Once they reached it, the duo leaned against the door and tried to calm down. Dark had his back against the door while Link was sideways to it. "And we gotta do this for second round too..." Dark mumbled with slight groan.

Link chuckled. "Well, we've done it once, so I'm certain it won't be hard to do it again." He answered and laughed slightly when the darker Hylian looked at him bit angrily. "Just kidding. There's another way out of the next room." Link continued with a wink. Dark sighed and shook his head. "Anyways, how about we'd continue and check if we can find the flame thieve from there..." The Hero said and was just going to open the door when the ex-shadow stopped him fully.

"Wait..." Dark started while moving slightly to block Link's access to the door. "There's something I have to tell you..." He continued bit nervously and dropped his gaze to the ground.

"Alright. What is it?" Link inquired quite interested. Dark sighed and raised his gaze up to meet the Hero's blue eyes. The Hero raised an eyebrow while waiting for the darker Hylian to continue. "I hope he'll explain about his nightmare... That might shed some light into his past too." He hoped.

Dark took once a deep breath to calm himself down. "I..." He started, sighed and dropped his gaze down. "I know these four creatures we're going to fight against..." The dark Hylian continued quietly with sorrowful voice.

"Um... I'm sorry...?" Link replied bit awkwardly. Dark sighed again and shook his head.

"It's not like that..." He stated and raised his gaze but didn't meet with Link's eyes. "I've met them several times so I kinda know how to fight them... And... Well..." The ex-shadow was starting to stumble with his words again before falling quiet. He closed his eyes and leaned fully against the door.

Link stayed silent. He wasn't fully sure what to say and instead of fully looking at the darker Hylian, he dropped his gaze to the ground while feeling bit nervous. "I kinda figured he'd know the creatures we've fought with but... There's probably bit more of connection between him and these four..." The Hero thought sadly and raised his gaze back up when the ex-shadow started to talk again.

"I... I need you to follow my words fully without exception." Dark stated confidently while finally meeting with Link's gaze. The look on the darker Hylian's face didn't leave any option for arguing back. Link nodded but didn't say a word. The ex-shadow took once a deep breath but the confident look didn't vanish at all.

"Once we enter the room you won't move even one inch. Don't look the creature into the eyes and stay thoroughly silent." Dark started quite commandingly but right after that he dropped his gaze down. "This is a part he'll hate and probably won't accept at all..." He thought worriedly.

Link watched the darker Hylian and frowned a bit when he fell silent again. "There's more to this than what he has already told... And how the hell am I supposed to fight the creature if I can't even see it or move to attack?" The Hero thought bit confused. He was just going to say something when the ex-shadow raised his gaze back up.

"The creature will target me first. Just listen to what's going on but don't do a thing until everything's quieted down. It won't kill me. I promise you that. It won't even harm me so don't worry for my sake." Dark started again and Link was more than ready to say against the plan on that second, yet the darker Hylian raised his hand to stop the Hero from talking. "The main plan is that once the creature has calmed down, you'll attack." The ex-shadow explained.

Link sighed nearly exaggerated. "Finally. I was starting to think we won't fight at all..." He half mumbled. Dark snorted and shook his head.

"The flame's going to be on the creature's tail. But here's the thing. Either attack its neck or cut the tail. If you go against the neck, you'll have to strike straight through it so the sword will come out on the throat. The easier way is to attack on the tail. Cut it fully off, take the fallen tail, back off few steps while keeping the flame behind your back. After that stay put. Thoroughly unmoving and silent. AND keep your eyes closed." The darker Hylian stated out the facts in nearly commanding voice.

Link raised one eyebrow after Dark fell silent while waiting for the Hero's reply. "How am I supposed to fight if I have to keep my eyes closed whole time?" He questioned thoroughly puzzled.

Dark facepalmed and shook his head. "You can open your eyes once the creature has calmed down. After you've either struck the sword through the neck or cut the tail off, you'll close your eyes again." He clarified very slowly.

Link rolled his eyes with a slight grin. "I did figure that much out, thank you very much." He stated with a grin.

Dark sighed. "Then don't ask stupid questions!" He half barked while crossing his arms over his chest. "This is hard enough already..." The ex-shadow mumbled while dropping his gaze back to the ground. Link was just going to say something encouraging when Dark sighed and stood straight. "Let's just get the first flame off..." He mumbled, turned around but before opening the door, he looked at the Hero over his shoulder. "Eyes down or closed. Once we enter, keep them fully closed. And don't move."

Link nodded before taking a deep breath and unsheathing his sword. Dark nodded back, turned back to the door and opened it. The Hero kept his gaze in the floor while the darker Hylian walked in head held high. Link could easily hear something moving around the room. He quietly gasped when he crashed with the ex-shadow's outstretched arm. "Close your eyes." Dark whispered right after the door had clanged shut.

The creature stopped moving and looked around. Both Dark and Link stood still for a while until the darker Hylian left to walk away from the Hero. He kept his gaze in the ground and followed the creature's movements from the corner of his eyes. The monster moved very slowly but its notion was fully in the ex-shadow.

Dark glanced at Link to make sure he was far enough before finally raising his gaze up. The creature was like a serpent. Its scales were orange, like living fire. The flame in the end of the dragon's tail was blue. The creature looked a lot like what Link had told about Volvagia except this one had glowing red eyes and the talons in its hands were black. The creature didn't have hind legs at all but in its back were two small wings that would never lift the monster into air. In the back was long row of sharp blades and in the head was four horns.

The monster's eyes met straight off with Dark's. "I see you..." The creature hissed with a menacing voice and devilish grin. Dark gasped quietly and stopped moving. The sword and shield clanged to the floor. The ex-shadow stared right into the creature's eyes without being able to look away or blink. He couldn't move even one inch. "Been a while, hasn't it? Let's see if you're any more ready than you were before..." The monster continued, screeched and took off straight towards the dark Hylian.

Link had flinched when the sword and shield fell from Dark's grip. "What the heck's going on?" He wondered in worry but he didn't want to go against the darker Hylian's command so he stood still. Suddenly he heard the screech which got him to jump in surprise and very soon after that he heard the ex-shadow gasp like he would've been hit by something and next thing was that the darker Hylian crashed to his knees. "Dark?!" The Hero questioned and fought against the urge of opening his eyes to see what was happening.

Dark stared nearly terrified how the creature came right at him. He wanted to close his eyes, to look away, move out of the monster's attack or at least to do something but he just stared and stood still. Suddenly the creature went straight through him just like the glowing red eyes had done earlier. The ex-shadow gasped and fell to his knees while shaking like a leaf and breathing heavily. He raised his gaze back up to meet the creature's glowing eyes and locked eyes with it. The monster was smirking while slowly and carefully rounding its body to the floor like a snake. The eye contact wasn't broken even for a second. "Let's see what's in your head this time..." The creature stated straight to Dark through the mind.

The dark Hylian felt like every single memory was fully exposed to the monster. He could easily feel the creature going through his mind and flipping open his feelings, memories and every other thing in there. He felt the cold grip on his body that was slowly tightening and making the breathing harder. He gasped when one of the memories was fully brought out and investigated from different angles. "Hmm... Never seen this one before... Oooh! What about this one, hmm?!" The monster said silently from mind to mind among other small remarks.

Dark fought back against the grip, against the ripping of his memories and feelings. But the connection was too strong for the ex-shadow to do much and the creature had him under the magic of its own. The dark Hylian felt like drowning while being ripped into smaller pieces from inside. "L-Link..." Dark called weakly in his mind while nearly crying. "H-help..."

The sound of the creature's moving slowed down until it was very vague and silent. All Link could hear was Dark's heavy breathing and that worried the Hero greatly. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked carefully to his left. "Oh goddesses... No..." Link whispered in pure shock and turned his gaze into the monster. Very carefully and silently the Hero started to move towards the monster with the sword ready.

The monster's head was way too high for him to get a strike in but the tail... That was slowly moving from side to side and it was fully in Link's reach. "Just hang in there a bit longer, Dark..." The Hero thought while taking the tail fully for his target. He walked close, charged the sword for a Spin Attack and let it rip.

The creature screamed in pure agony while breaking the eye contact with Dark. The monster threw its head backwards to stare straight into the ceiling while screaming. Dark gasped and crashed to the ground fully. He slowly closed his eyes very tightly while still shivering violently and curling up. Link took up the tail and hid it behind himself. He glanced once at Dark before already backing away from the monster while keeping his gaze in the ground and eventually shutting his eyes very tightly. After having taken enough of room between himself and the dragon he stopped moving and just stood still.

The creature straightened up to its full size very soon after the tail was cut off. It screamed constantly while going into frenzy and crashing from wall to wall. "My tail! Where is my tail?! You bastard! Where are you?! I'll rip you into pieces! I'll make you relive it all! You'll pay for this! Count my words, shadow, I'll come back for you!" The creature shouted out in that hissing language of its.

Link shivered and nearly gasped when the creature went past him from way too close. Eventually the creature's screams, hissing and crashing slowly died down. The Hero sighed in relief when there was the sound of the monster vanishing into black mist. He opened his eyes, brought the tail in front of him and let go of it. The tail vanished while letting the blue flame free. The flame left the room and Link knew it to return back to its rightful place into the main room.

Right after that he dashed to the darker Hylian's side. "DARK!" He screamed out, hit to the ground and skid that last short distance. "Dark... Oh, goddesses... Dark, are you alright? What happened?" Link questioned worriedly while leaning over him. He carefully placed his hand over the darker Hylian's shoulder.

Dark was very slowly calming down. He carefully opened his eyes while letting his body relax and straighten up. "Dark?" Link called fearfully. The darker Hylian sighed, closed his eyes again and very carefully and slowly sat up. He kept his back towards the Hero while leaning against his other hand and keeping the other one to his forehead while hanging his head slightly. "Are you alright? What the hell did that creature do to you?" Link questioned nearly bewildered.

The Hero was slightly calming down. At least there hadn't been done too much of damage since the darker Hylian could move and he didn't see any of blood. The thing that worried Link the most was the fact that Dark had felt quite coldish when he had touched him. "I... I'll be okay..." Dark whispered quietly but lay back down to the floor. "I... I think I could s-sleep for a while..." He mumbled before already calming down and falling asleep while curling up again.

Link watched the darker Hylian fully worried. He looked once around until he found what he was searching for. The blue carpet. The one right in front of the door that led to a way back to the middle room. The Hero stood up and went to retrieve it. Right after that he carefully placed the carpet over the sleeping dark Hylian.

Link sat down not too far from Dark. He kept eye on the ex-shadow just to make sure he still kept breathing. It took several hours before the dark Hylian finally stirred. He coughed few times while slowly sitting up. He kept his eyes closed while keeping one hand to his forehead. Link moved carefully next to him. "How are you feeling, Dark?" He questioned bit distraught.

"...Headache..." Dark replied very quietly while slowly opening his eyes and staring straight into the floor in front of him. He closed his eyes again while letting his hand fall to his lap and carefully leaning his head back. "This... This was harder than last time..." The ex-shadow whispered, opened his sad gaze and stared right up into the ceiling. "I... I never knew... what it really had been..." He continued before sighing, closing his eyes and slumping fully.

"Dark?" Link called again while carefully laying his hand over the darker Hylian's shoulder. Dark carefully circled his arms around himself before starting to cry. The Hero sighed sadly and pulled the ex-shadow into an embrace. "It'll be okay, Dark. I promise..." He whispered quietly.

"I-I..." Dark started but fell silent nearly instantly. "This... This might sound foolish... but... the times were different then..." He continued with wavering voice. "I... I went... I went to meet with these creatures long ago. Well, I didn't know there was more than one but still... It's... It's like you and cuccos..." The dark Hylian went on while his voice started to regain its strength.

The ex-shadow sighed and raised his head to Link's shoulder while leaning fully into the embrace. "At first it was just out of curiosity. Heard of the dragon that could read one's mind. They claimed that one couldn't break free unless the creature lets go. The first time took me off guard. I didn't know what to wait for. Second time went bit better but I wasn't able to do much at then either... And I kept foolishly going on with it. I just tried to find a way..." He explained quietly. "But... I was a shadow at then... I didn't have feelings like I do today... It was hard already at then but now..." Dark continued and fell silent.

"I didn't know memories could hurt like that... I didn't feel much at then and my life was already hard enough. Not to mention that I didn't really have much of memories to go for in the first place..." The dark Hylian thought while closing his eyes again. Link carefully tightened his grip on the ex-shadow and let him cry. Eventually Dark took once a deep breath and pulled off of the hug. "Sorry... I didn't mean to crash like that..." He mumbled quite ashamed and kept his gaze in the ground.

"It's alright. How are you feeling?" Link replied while giving him bit sad smile. Dark shrugged and finally raised his gaze up to meet the Hero's eyes. The contact didn't last long until the ex-shadow already dropped his gaze back to the ground. He only gave another shrug, stood up and walked to the closest wall. The Hero watched worriedly about his doing.

Dark leaned back first against the wall with a sad sigh while closing his eyes. "I never thought to fight them like this... Against any of these creatures. Something's fully wrong and I have no idea what's going on. Maybe the Forest Sage will know something once we've rescued her... We just gotta get that far first and on our way is still three more flames to release. I don't know if I can take this..." The dark Hylian thought sadly.

Link definitely didn't like the way Dark was at the moment. The bad thing was that he didn't have right words to say nor anything he could do to help the darker Hylian. "I only had Volvagia to fight against but Dark... How many did he know in reality out of all of these creatures? And how many is yet to come to face him?" The Hero wondered, sighed and stood up. He walked right in front of Dark and put his hands to both sides of the darker Hylian. "Dark." He started carefully.

Dark was bit startled to hear Link so close to him but he was fully freaked out when he opened his eyes and saw the Hero even closer than what he thought. "I don't know if this helps but think it this way... All of who you are going to face, they're not who you think them to be... Um... In a way... By killing them, you'll set them free... Like what happened with Volvagia..." Link explained bit nervously while trying desperately to find the right words. Dark sighed but he nodded.

"I know, Link. I'll see them again at some time..." The dark Hylian muttered and carefully moved away from the current place between the wall and the Hero. He walked silently to his sword and shield. Dark picked them up and sheathed the sword while putting the shield away. "Let's just get this over with..." The ex-shadow continued, took the carpet up and started to head towards the door that lead into the middle room.

Link sighed sadly, shook his head and followed the darker Hylian. "This will certainly come to bite him sooner or later..." He feared while helping to put the carpet back to its rightful place. After that they opened the door and came to the small pathway that connected the middle room and the room where the flame thief had been at.

The pathway was equally filled with new bushes and few thick branches. Dark led the way and Link followed worriedly. Luckily they didn't crash up with any of monsters and came to the middle room without trouble. The ex-shadow didn't wait even one bit. He just took his way towards the area where they had encountered Navi.

The small pathway was equally free of monsters as was the one before. Dark walked straight to one of the lower hanging branches and sat down. He closed his eyes and just listened. Link walked next to him but leaned against the tree while watching the darker Hylian. "Dark..." He called carefully. The ex-shadow sighed and opened his eyes to glance at the Hero. "We need to talk." Link continued quite confidently.

Dark half growled. "And I'm trying to hear where to go from here." He replied bit angrily while closing his eyes again.

"That can wait for—" The Hero started to talk but the darker Hylian cut him short.

"Just shut up!" He half barked and opened his eyes again to glare at Link. "We can talk later. Right now we got a Forest Sage to save. For that we gotta get the freaking flames back." Dark continued while dropping his gaze down.

"And how are we going to find the next flame thief, huh?" Link questioned. He crossed his arms over his chest while starting to get angry. Dark half growled.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to do..." He muttered while hoping that the Hero would actually stay quiet long enough that he could get the next creature's voice heard. Link shook his head and looked around for a while.

"And how are we supposed to find our way back here, hmm?" The Hero inquired while fully ignoring Dark's request. The darker Hylian was losing his temper quite fast. He was feeling bad enough for having to fight against creatures he knew and now he was being questioned with idiotic inquiries.

"As far as I've learned there's always another way out." Dark answered with quite cold voice. "Now... SHUT UP!" He nearly screamed, jumped down from the branch and walked bit away from Link to another tree. The ex-shadow climbed up to bit higher branch, closed his eyes and tried to calm down so he could hear the next creature's voice.

Link was fully startled about the darker Hylian's outburst. "Well, if nothing else then Dark has actual confidence when he's getting angry... Not the best way of gaining that but I think it'll work..." He thought while starting to calm down. Without moving from his place, he kept eye on the ex-shadow.

Dark then again was slower to calm down. He had turned his back towards the Hero and leaned against the trunk of the tree. "I hate this... Why can't I ever just stay calm? He's trying to help and— Link's right... I'm always pushing him away when he's trying to help me. But how much can I tell him without fearing to lose his friendship? If he knew even a fraction of my life... He'd definitely turn his back to me..." He thought, slumped a bit in fear and just waited but nothing happened. The ex-shadow opened his eyes slowly with a deep frown. "That's odd... He'd usually come at me by now..." He thought and sighed then. "One more thing to worry about... Oh, well, on the other hand I should be happy that he has left me alone for a while now..." Dark thought, took once a deep breath and finally started to calm down.

It took some time but eventually the ex-shadow was quite startled about the low growling. He sighed and climbed down from the tree. Dark stood still for a while and kept his eyes closed. The growling was still quite quiet but the dark Hylian managed to identify where it was coming from. Without a word he showed to Link to follow him.

The Hero sighed but pushed himself off of the tree and walked to Dark. The darker Hylian showed to the Hero very clearly not to speak. Link sighed again and rolled his eyes before already following the ex-shadow into the darker forest.

Dark was feeling nervous and bit fearful. There was lot of things he wanted to think about but right then and there he had to concentrate into the growling. It was getting bit louder whole time but the sound was strangely circling around the place instead of coming from one specific way.

Link frowned in confusion and glanced behind them. The forest looked the same in every direction. There was no reason to circle around like that. From time to time the darker Hylian stopped and just listened before following a sound that the Hero couldn't hear. "Where in earth are we going?" Link thought bit fearfully. "I honestly hope this won't be a trap..."

Eventually the duo came to a door. The ex-shadow had closed his eyes a while earlier so he could get a bit better concentration into the growl. "Dark!" Link called bit surprised and stopped the darker Hylian from going forward. Dark yelped in shock and opened his eyes in a flash. He gasped when he saw the door not too far from him. "I think we're here." The Hero said with a slight grin while letting go of Dark.

The ex-shadow sighed and nodded. "Yeah..." He whispered and turned around right after that. "Same orders than before." Dark stated out as commandingly as he could.

Link sighed and shook his head while crossing his arms over his chest. "No." He stated very confidently. The darker Hylian narrowed his eyes in slight anger.

"You don't know what's at there!" Dark half shouted while pointing towards the door. "But I do." He continued with slightly calmer voice. "And I tell you this... There's is no chances for you to survive through what the earlier dragon did." The ex-shadow stated grimly.

Link narrowed his eyes. "You survived through it just barely. I'm not going to let you re-live that." He stated firmly.

Dark sighed and shook his head. "Weren't you listening to me at all? I told you I've gone through this many times. I'll be fine!" He replied as confidently as he could.

"Yeah... When you were a shadow, Dark. You're not that anymore." Link replied bit cruelly. Yet, he regretted his words on the second the darker Hylian flinched at word 'shadow'. "I... I'm just..." The Hero started without knowing what to say.

Dark dropped his gaze to ground and turned his hands into fists. "Fine!" He shouted in anger and raised his gaze up. "Stay here and let me handle this shit on my own then!" The ex-shadow continued with slightly shaking voice before already turning his back to Link.

"Wait!" The Hero shouted and shot forward. He hugged the darker Hylian from behind while preventing him from moving forward. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I... I just don't want you to get hurt." Link whispered desperately. "Goddesses! He's having very short temper today... I really gotta be careful with my words." He thought in slight worry and sighed then. "Okay... We go by your plan, Dark." Link said as calmly as he could while giving up on the fight.

Dark sighed and nodded. "Okay... And I'm sorry too. This... This just... It's hard." He stated sadly while relaxing. Link let go of him and the darker Hylian turned around. "We good now?" He questioned bit fearfully.

The Hero nodded with a smile. "Of course." He replied with happier voice. Dark sighed again but smiled none the less. "So, shall we get the second flame, hmm?" Link continued and nodded towards the door.

"Yeah. Of course..." Dark replied and turned around again. He walked to the door, took once a deep breath and opened it after that.

Link sighed and the confident and happy look fell into worried and sad one on the second the ex-shadow turned his back to him. "How the hell can I help him when he's keeping me so far away?" He thought sadly. While keeping his gaze down, the Hero entered the wide square room with Dark. "Let's hope I won't be breaking what we already have but... I just CAN'T let him go through that hell all over again." Link decided bit fearfully and raised his gaze up when the door locked right behind them.

The dragon's only difference to the earlier one was the color and the fact that it had hind legs too. This creature was a mix of two different red's, blood and ruby. The flame the serpent carried in its tail was green. And the monster locked eyes with Link on the second the Hero raised his gaze up. "A new prey... How lovely..." It whispered with an evil grin.

Dark's eyes widened in fear. "No..." He whispered and turned around in a flash to look at Link. The ex-shadow stared at the Hero for a short while before turning his gaze back to the dragon. "You won't touch him." Dark growled angrily and readied himself for the fight.

Link was shaking under the stare of the dragon. He just barely managed to hold on to the sword and shield. The feeling of the creature staring straight into his mind... No, rather into his soul, was terrifying and painful feeling. "Oh dear goddesses... Is this what Dark felt?" The Hero thought while trying to fight against the monster's grip.

"Let... Me... Through..." The dragon whispered menacingly from mind to mind while staring straight into Link's blue eyes. The Hero shivered violently at the voice. He felt like the creature was slowly breaking through his defense but at the same time the monster's own defense was crumbling down.

"If I just can hold on a bit longer... Maybe... Maybe I'd have a chance..." Link thought while fighting against the cold grip inside his chest. The loud roar of the monster got the Hero to jump and gasp in shock and fear.

Dark frowned a bit once he had returned his gaze back to the dragon. Something didn't add up and the ex-shadow turned back towards Link. It was only then he realized that the Hero was still holding on to his weapons. The dark Hylian stared in amazement about the scenery. "How... How the hell he can fight back?... Am I that different from him? Am I... Am I such a loser that I can't fight against these dragons?" He thought while turning his gaze off because of the hurting in his chest.

Dark shook his head and tried to gather his crumbling confidence and courage. "NO! It can't be like that... I CAN match him. I HAVE to... I'm his SHADOW for Goddesses sake!... But... I've faced these creatures before. I know them. This is Link's second dragon of these and... Why can't I match him?! WHY?!" The ex-shadow knew he was breaking down right then and there but he couldn't help it, yet the sudden roar of the dragon jolted him back to the reality.

Dark turned his gaze to the scene and pure terror hit him on full force. "NOO!" He screamed out and ran straight towards Link. He pushed the Hero out of the dragon's way and instead of the dragon going through Link, it went straight through the darker Hylian. The ex-shadow gasped in pain and closed his eyes tightly while falling to all four. He was gasping for air and just barely heard the creature's hateful voice.

"How dare you! You pathetic syn of the Velnias! I'll deal with you later, traitor!" The monster screamed while seething with rage. It moved fast and slashed with its long tail. Dark had forced himself nearly to his feet when the tail came right at him. The strike was powerful and got the dark Hylian to fly nearly into the wall. The ex-shadow fell quite harshly to the floor back first and the impact blew his air out.

It took a short while from Link to realize what had happened. He stared at Dark without understanding what he was witnessing. Only when the dragon hit the ex-shadow and the darker Hylian screamed, Link finally woke up. "DARK!" He screamed out while standing up very fast and being ready to rush to Dark's side.

"Halt!" The dragon commanded harshly through the mind. Link gasped in pure bewilderment and stopped without really understanding why. "Look... At... Me..." The creature continued and stared at the Hero with an evil grin. Link gulped but he didn't have a chance of going against the command and so he turned to face the dragon.

"No... Link... DON'T!" Dark was trying very hard to get back to his feet. He stared in fear how the Hero faced the monster all over again without being able to do anything to stop it. "LINK!" The ex-shadow screamed out when the Hero and the dragon locked eyes all over again. This time the deep red beast had a stronger grip on Link.

The Hero gasped and took a step backwards. The sword and shield slipped off of his grip and clanged to the floor. The freezing cold grip in Link's chest was stronger and the stare was more intense. He was shaking violently while fighting with all he got against the dragon's grip.

"That's it... Let me through..." The creature whispered quietly while smirking cruelly. "Not much anymore..." It continued while slowly taking a bit better stance. The dragon started to lower down towards the floor while taking a bit better grip of the tiled ground with its razor sharp talons. The monster was readying itself to bounce forward with full speed.

Dark stood up shakily. He grit his teeth in anger while realizing that his sword and shield were close to Link. The ex-shadow took out his small knife and started to make his way slowly and shakily towards the dragon. The further he got, the more strength and speed he picked up. Soon he was running towards the creature.

The dragon gave out a small laugh while its grin widened. "Finally." It muttered and was ready to head straight towards the Hero. The creature didn't pay even slightest notion to the ex-shadow but the dragon's movement was bit too slow.

Dark jumped when he got close enough. He landed into the monster's neck and the ex-shadow didn't wait even a second before already striking the knife as deep into the neck as he could get it. The dragon screamed out and started to trash. "You damn zradce!" The dragon shrieked while trying to shake the attacker out of its neck.

Link crashed to all four into the floor when the eye contact was broken. He was gasping for air while trying to calm down. "LINK!" The terrified scream jolted the Hero back to reality and he shot his head up. Link gasped in fear when he saw the scene.

Dark was hanging on to the knife for his dear life. The creature tried to crush him against walls and ceiling but so far the dark Hylian had been lucky and moved off of the way. "CUT THE TAIL, LINK! CUT IT!" The ex-shadow screamed while his grip on the knife was slipping. He kept fixing his grip but the blood of the dragon was making it hard to hold on to.

Link stared in fear for a short while longer before taking the closest sword up and searching for the monster's tail. Once he located it, the Hero didn't let it out of his sight even for a second. "Just hang in there for a while longer, Dark..." Link thought while readying himself for the attack. He ran towards the madly swishing tail while powering the sword up for a Spin Attack. The Hero's concentration was disturbed when he heard something hit the ground. He glanced towards the sound and stopped dead on his tracks.

Dark's grip on the small knife weakened whole time and eventually he couldn't hold on anymore. The blood had made the handle way too slippery and the dark Hylian gasped quietly when he started to fall off of the dragon's neck. The creature realized the situation and moved its body so it could slam against the ex-shadow.

Dark gasped again when the red monster slammed against him and got him to fall to ground back first. The ex-shadow was out of breath by the impact. "You're dead." The dragon stated cruelly while bringing its right foot over the dark Hylian. Dark stared in fear at the talons that were pointed straight at him.

Link turned his gaze back to the tail but by that time the dragon had raised it out of the Hero's reach. Link cursed, turned around and rushed straight towards Dark. There wasn't much he could do but if luck was be on his side, he still could save the darker Hylian's life.

Dark closed his eyes when the razor sharp talons started to come right towards him. "Oh shit... Never thought my life would end like this..." He thought fearfully but gasped slightly and shot his eyes open when something crashed right onto him. "L-Link?!" The ex-shadow nearly shouted in pure fear when he saw the Hero over him. The talons were coming way too fast for the darker Hylian to do anything to fix the situation anymore.

Link hit to the ground and slid the small distance. Right after that he stood up halfway before already crashing back first over the ex-shadow. He winced slightly when he heard Dark gasp at the weight. But the Hero ignored the darker Hylian fully while pointing the sword straight towards the creature's foot.

Link closed his eyes while Dark stared horrified how the sword cut straight through the foot. The dragon screamed in pain while withdrawing its foot. The Hero gasped in slight surprise since the sword was stuck in the foot and he was rising up with it. The darker Hylian didn't think at all when he shot forward and took a tight grip of the Hero around the waist and pulling downwards. The sword came with them and the monster screamed even more.

Link put the sword down and took out his bow and few arrows. The dragon didn't have time to move its head or cover its throat before the first arrow was already flying. It went straight through the creature's throat and Link readied the next arrow very quickly. "Any elements to use?!" He half shouted before already letting the arrow fly.

"I... I don't... I don't know..." Dark replied bit uncertainly. He was staring at the scene with wide eyes. The ex-shadow was still holding on to Link but his grip was very weak.

"Fine." Link muttered bit angrily and readied the last three arrows into same strike. The dragon had its throat still exposed and the Hero used the given chance. The three last arrows flew and hit their target. "You got arrows to use? I'm out of them." Link questioned while looking around in search of something useful.

Dark shook his head. "No..." He whispered and nearly froze out of fear when the dragon brought its head down and stared menacingly straight at them. "Oh crap..." The ex-shadow whispered, tightened his grip on Link again and half forced him to his feet. The dragon readied an elemental attack and the darker Hylian had noticed the small flames in the corner of the creature's mouth. "MOVE!" Dark screamed while already dragging the Hero with him off of the attack's way.

The ex-shadow nearly slammed Link against the closest wall while staying between the attack and the Hero. The flame's furthest parts slightly graced them but didn't do any of harm. "You said it would die out of that!" Link half hissed while backing away from the next attack with the darker Hylian.

"Sword, Link, sword!" Dark replied back angrily. "Arrows don't kill it. They'll harm but don't kill!" He continued before already starting to run towards the dragon. Link screamed out the ex-shadow's name in fear but the next fire attack forced him to back away even further from the darker Hylian.

Dark dived forward and did a fast somersault while taking his own sword up from the ground since the Hero had been actually using it. Once back to his feet, the ex-shadow continued his running and scanned for the best way of getting to the creature's back. Such situation wasn't given to him, so he went for the next best way and slashed with all his strength at the hind leg.

The dragon screamed out again while exposing its throat all over again. But that wasn't all. It also slammed the tail to ground and Dark shot straight towards it. He readied the sword for a Spin Attack and once close enough he let it loose. The attack didn't fully cut the tail off but the ex-shadow wasn't going to lose such a great chance.

The creature started to move its tail quite harshly but it couldn't shake the dark Hylian off of it. Dark had hit the sword through the smaller part of the tail while nearly hugging the said part. The dragon swished the tail all around but each movement was only hurting even worse and each harsh move worsened the tail's condition by ripping it open even more. Eventually the creature screamed out in agony when the tail flew off into its own way.

Dark let go and used the given speed for his help. Once he hit the ground the ex-shadow did a fast somersault before already standing up to his feet. "Close your eyes, Link!" Dark screamed out while rushing towards the flame. Link took once a deep breath before already closing his eyes and standing still. Dark closed his own eyes once he had taken the tail up and hid it behind his back.

The dragon was way too tired and weak to trash anymore. It only whimpered and whined quietly while waiting for death to take it. "I'm sorry..." Dark thought sadly in that hissing voice while hoping that the creature heard him.

The monster sighed sorrowfully while starting to fade into the black mist. "So am I." It replied quietly while closing its eyes and eventually fading fully. Once the dragon was gone, Dark fell to his knees before slowly bringing the flame in front of him. He let it loose but didn't follow its way out of there.

Link rushed to the darker Hylian's side. "Dark, are you alright?!" He questioned straight off while falling to his knees right in front of the ex-shadow. Dark nodded while slowly gathering his strength back. "Are you hurt?" Link continued his questioning and the darker Hylian only shook his head. The Hero sighed in relief and finally relaxed.

Dark was too tired to bark the Hero down for not following the plan. Once he had gathered his breath, the ex-shadow stood up shakily. "Let's just get out of here..." He whispered quietly while seething his sword and heading towards Link's sword and shield.

Link sighed but followed the darker Hylian. They stayed silent while checking that all of their things were along. Suddenly the walls started to move a bit and created a stairway nearly into the ceiling. "Didn't notice that door before..." Dark muttered while noticing their way out of the room. The Hero only nodded and followed once again when the ex-shadow took the lead.

They were halfway to the door when there was sound of screeching. The duo stopped and turned around to check what was causing the noise. "Oh shit..." Dark whispered in slight fear while witnessing the start of the stairs going back into the wall. "RUN!" He shouted, turned around and headed straight towards the door. The stairs were taking bit of speed on getting back to their place. Link was fully startled but he too turned around and ran after the darker Hylian.

The ex-shadow slammed against the door to open it faster. He didn't stop even for a second while running forward. The Hero was hot on his heels but he kept glancing once in a while towards the vanishing stairs. Link nearly stopped when he got through the door since the floor was nearly see-through and very high above the ground. Yet, he didn't have any other choice than to follow Dark. "I hope you know where we're going!" He half shouted.

"I have no idea but I think the way is right and going towards the main room of the Temple." Dark replied with slight shrug. Link sighed and shook his head. He glanced again behind and gulped when he saw that the border between the vanishing and solid blocks was starting to catch them.

"We're not going to make it unless we're going to run a lot faster!" Link shouted and tried to speed up. The darker Hylian glanced backwards and gasped. The Hero heard him curse quietly. "That didn't sound good..." He thought grimly.

"The next door's there!" The ex-shadow shouted suddenly quite eagerly. Link grinned slightly and nodded but his happiness was short lived when he checked the situation behind them. The blocks were vanishing quite fast and starting to catch the duo all over again.

Dark reached the door first. He slammed against the door to open it and was just going to continue his way when he heard a scream. The ex-shadow turned around in a flash. "LINK!" He shrieked and dashed straight towards the Hero.

The block had vanished right underneath Link. He screamed out while falling but he managed to take a grip of the next block. It was already starting to vanish but lot slower than before. "No! Don't come!" The Hero shouted when the darker Hylian was coming to his aid.

Dark ignored Link's command and managed to take a grip on Link's hand when part of the block vanished. The Hero gave out a short yelp before already staring fearfully at the darker Hylian. The ex-shadow held on quite tightly to Link's hand while slowly backing away from the vanishing block. "Dark... Just let go and get yourself to safer place..." The Hero nearly commanded.

Dark just shook his head while glancing towards the door. "We can make it, Link. Trust me." He replied while trying to stay in same pace with the vanishing of the blocks. Yet, it was quite clear that the block was vanishing faster than what he was able to move. The ex-shadow sighed sadly before already starting to swing the Hero.

"W-w-what are you doing?! Stop that!" Link shrieked in bewilderment but the darker Hylian just ignored him thoroughly. The Hero nearly screamed when Dark swung him above the block and straight to the door. It was just in time since the block vanished right after that.

Dark gasped and closed his eyes when he started to fall. He yelped in shock when he felt someone taking a grip on his wrist. The ex-shadow shot his eyes open to see Link being crouched in the doorway while leaning backwards and holding on to the doorframe with his free hand. The Hero grinned a bit while holding on to the darker Hylian as tightly as he could. "Returning the favor." He stated while slightly relaxing from the shock of the situation.

Dark sighed and nodded. "Can you get up?" Link questioned bit worriedly but relaxed slightly more when the darker Hylian nodded again. The ex-shadow took a bit better grip on the wall in front of him before pushing his knees against the wall and soon standing on it while his back faced the ground far below him.

"Don't let go..." Dark whispered bit fearfully while taking the first step forward. Link was bit startled about the darker Hylian's decision of the way of getting up but he was fast to react. The Hero leaned further backwards and placed his other foot to the edge while keeping tight grip on Dark. Bit fearfully he let go of the doorframe and brought his right hand to the ex-shadow's wrist too. While Dark walked up the wall, Link half pulled him upwards.

It took a while but soon the darker Hylian was on the doorway too. They leaned against the frame while catching their breath and trying to calm down. Link closed his eyes while Dark slowly sat down. "Thanks..." He whispered and raised his gaze up to the Hero.

Link chuckled but smiled and looked right back at him. "You saved my life so it is only fair that I return the favor." He replied with a grin. Dark nodded and smiled too while closing his eyes. "You okay?" The Hero questioned bit concerned.

"Yeah... Just bit out of breath, I think." The ex-shadow replied before taking once a deep breath and standing up. "You?" He continued carefully.

Link nodded. "No worries." The Hero replied and turned to check their way forward. He grinned when he realized where they had come to. "Seems like we reached our destination."

Dark turned his gaze forward too and nodded. "Yeah... Now we just gotta find a way down." He replied while looking at the main room of the Temple.

"Once we find the way down, we got two more flames to get." Link said nonchalantly. Dark sighed and turned his gaze to the Hero.

"Yeah, I know that. Plus I'm quite sure I know where we're heading next." He answered in slight mumble. The ex-shadow really hated to think about the next flame's place. Link sighed too and nodded sadly. Even he wasn't fully eager about the next flame. "You got the longer Hookshot, so check if you can get it hit into anywhere." Dark stated.

Link nodded and stood up too while taking out the Longshot. He aimed it into the main room and started to go carefully through the close by trees. The small red dot didn't show up until at the last tree's branch. The Hero glanced at the darker Hylian who only nodded in response. Link nodded back and shot the device at the target.

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And new questions for what the words mean:

1) Syn

2) Velnias

3) Zradce

Three nice words. You are free to use dictionaries in hopes of finding answers.

Also, what do you think about the Shadowy Language? Unique or something else?

Thanks! Answers to the words will be at next Saturday when I update again! =D

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A/N: And again a nice little cliffhanger. ^^; Also, this is so far the longest chapter! =D

So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

Also, flames are accepted but those shall be for Axel's entertainment or for Demyx's practice! =P

Still in working:
1)
Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of preview from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)
2) Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)