Chapter 11 – Purification
Travelling as a group had a different reaction from each of the four adventurers, as both pairs had essentially doubled in size.
The last time the opportunity arose for Yun-Seong to be part of a large group, he quickly took on the role of their "leader", since he was the oldest one amongst them by far a large margin. This, however, did not prevent him from forming a connection to all of his "followers", as he felt compelled to keep them safe. This time however, he lacked the sense of control that he had before, and it was not a feeling he was comfortable with at all.
For Link, this was a totally new experience for him. On reflection, he had never truly been a part of something like this before. He doubted whether even travelling with Tira could be compared to it – in fact the change made him realise how similar the two of them were, as she too had clearly never travelled as part of a group before. He mostly remained quiet as the recent additions conversed amongst each other. Despite this, he kept an open mind and welcomed conversations from Talim, and occasionally Yun-Seong, as the days passed by.
Whereas Tira did her utmost to show no change in her mannerisms whatsoever. She continued to travel at the front of the group, with no effort made to socialise amongst them. Instead, she was hoping that they would fall behind from tiredness... but having no luck thus far.
Talim, though, was enjoying this immensely. While she did enjoy her time with Yun-Seong alone, she always enjoyed socialising with new people, learning about them and their culture, and giving them the chance to expand her own perspective. She had spent a lot of her journey travelling alongside Link. He didn't speak much and never provided many answers that prompted further questions, but she always felt welcome around him and somehow felt empowered by being near him, hence there was not much need for words to be traded between the two of them. And whenever Talim wanted a change from this, she would simply go back to Yun-Seong and the two would act just like they did before.
One day however, as the four continued their journey, with Talim at the back, following Link and Yun-Seong while they walked a few paces behind Tira, Talim decided to quicken her steps. She caught up to the two young men and then carried on ahead of him, both of them watching her intently as she slowed down again once she was alongside Tira, whose eyes glanced over to her but otherwise remained uninterested. Talim, on the other hand, seemed to become quite uncomfortable. She knew that initiating conversation with Tira would be difficult, but she didn't realise until now just how difficult. In an attempt to ease her nerves, Talim subconsciously cleared her throat.
Tira rolled her eyes after the third or fourth time of hearing Talim attempting (and failing) to break the silence between the two of them. She knew what the young girl was trying to accomplish, but she was having no part in it. It was not until then, however, that she noticed her right arm becoming tired from lifting her ring-blade over her shoulder and decided to swing it around onto her other arm, creating another barrier between her and Talim.
"That's an unusual weapon." Talim commented, finally breaking the silence between the two, though producing an internal groan from Tira. "Where did you get it?" She then asked, noting no response from Tira.
I'll show you how "unusual" it is when I-
Tira's imagination started until, for reasons unknown to her, she ceased to continue this trail of thought. She knew exactly how she was going to finish it but even though she had no hesitation in thinking such dark thoughts before, now she couldn't. Now the thought of death, which came to her as easily as breathing, suddenly seemed... wrong.
Unwilling to give more attention to this inexplicable change, Tira's mind searched frantically for a distraction, which manifested to her physical appearance by looking around her surroundings for something to take her mind off her thoughts. Fortunately, this came rather quickly as she noticed a river running across their path, which opened out into a small lake. Seeing this made Tira realise that her mouth was quite dry and her legs were becoming quite heavy, thus she turned to Link behind her.
"We'll take a rest here. Be ready to leave when I say so." Tira announced before walking over to a nearby tree and sat down, leaving the other three looking at each other in slight bewilderment before they too rested.
"So what's the deal with her? Is she always this short with people?" Yun-Seong asked once he was convinced that Tira was unable to hear him.
"I do not think she has travelled with others very often." Link answered.
"Wouldn't hurt her to smile once in a while though." Yun-Seong pointed out as he unstrapped his sword and scabbard from his belt and sat down, which Link could not disagree with.
Link caught himself looking over to where Tira crouched in the shadows at the foot of the tree, and wondered if it was wise to allow Talim and Yun-Seong to accompany them. Even he would admit that since they joined, their progress has been much slower and this was more frustrating to him than he would admit. And he knew that as much as this was annoying him, the effects would be much worse for Tira. But then he remembered the reason that he could not leave them behind, not just because of his own personal concerns, but also because he felt it was wrong of him to decide their actions. If they wished to place themselves in danger in pursuit of their goals, all Link could do was warn them.
Link sighed slightly at his predicament of being the person stuck in the middle of a potential split between the group.
"I will be right back." Link assured the two before walking over to the lakeside. The silence allowing him to clear his mind. At that moment, he longed for those days with his fairy companions, and how they were much easier to keep happy.
"Very clever of you." A voice quietly seethed, which Link instantly recognised as he turned his head and confirmed that it was Tira, who stood above him with anger directed towards Link, clearly she had been storing this for quite some time.
"What do you mean?" Link asked.
"Getting those two to follow us... You know I won't hesitate to kill you, but you brought them along so that you could relax a little." She clarified.
"That is not true." Link protested. "I think you know the reason."
"Go on then, enlighten me." Tira goaded Link.
Link was tempted to remind her that she was actually unable to defeat him in their last encounter, that she could not kill him as long as he was prepared. But, he knew that this would not resolve the situation, and so decided on a more subtle approach.
"Because it is the same reason that the two of us are together now." He replied.
Tira instantly flared up at that remark, confirming to Link that she was expecting him to refer to the victor of their battle. Which he was in a way, but not so much because he had beaten her, but more due to what happened after that: him sparing her. At that moment, Tira understood the meaning behind what he said: he allowed them to join them so that they would not be in danger. And then, the anger within Tira disappeared. In the hopes of preventing Link from noticing this epiphany, Tira twisted her body so that she no longer faced Link.
"Well, whatever." Tira said, feigning her enraged state. "More souls for my Master to consume, I guess." She concluded, her gaze fixated on any direction other than Link's.
"Yes, I suppose it is." Link slightly chuckled, seeing through her act.
Tira then crouched down so that her face was reflected in the water of the calm lake before them. Whenever she saw her face in recent months, she would always see her "other half". If she was particularly down her cheerful side would tell her to "lighten up", while her jolly persona would be met with a dark, disapproving stare from her more serious personality. This time, however, was different. Nobody was gazing at her through the water, taunting her. Instead, she was met with an expression that was just as confused as she was, a face that had recently changed but had not yet realised the full extent. She also saw a face that looked very fatigued and in dire need of rest, or refreshing at the very least. She was about to place both hands into the water until she ceased and raised her head so that she took in a wider view of the lake.
"What is the matter?" Link asked her.
"The water is poisoned." Tira calmly replied prompting Link to examine the lake himself more closely. It was not until then that he noticed the discolouration, as the clear blue water had a thick coppery coating which prevented any view of the lake-bed.
His suspicions raised, Link too knelt down by the lake and carefully dipped one finger into the water, before scooping up as much water as he could with both hands once satisfied that it was not damaging to him. Before the water trickled from his hand, he took a sniff of the water and immediately recoiled from the potent smell of an unnatural ingredient.
"Are you two alright?" Talim asked, as her and Yun-Seong approached the two.
"Yes, Tira noitced that this lake has been poisoned." Link informed as he and Tira stood up, shaking the drops of water from his hands.
"I guess that'd explain that, too." Yun-Seong said, pointing to a deeper section of the lake, where there were numerous fish bobbing motionlessly on the surface.
"This... can't be natural." Talim added which Link concurred with, making to the direction where the river flows into the lake, and saw something that he wished he hadn't.
"Look." Link said prompting the others to turn, and notice that only slightly further on from where they stood was a village that stood in dead silence, save for the multiple large waterwheels that slowly dipped into and out of the water.
No words were spoken between the four of them, but Yun-Seong walked towards the village with Talim and Link soon followed behind him. Tira raised her hand in protest and was about to call out to him, but stopped after realising that the only he was too far for her to stop him directly. She then rolled her eyes as she slowly walked towards the village.
At first, the group theorised that the settlement must have been abandoned; another victim of Soul Edge's scourge, until they noticed no more than a handful of inhabitants shuffling around. It was a complete contrast to the somewhat organised yet chaotic nature of the city. Unlike there where people were too busy with their schedules to heed any attention to any one person, the citizens of this settlement froze like statues and stared at the four as they progressed down the central avenue, which cut straight through the town and ended at the bank of the river where there was a small dock. While it may not have fallen victim to the catastrophes he had heard about, this village might as well have been devoid of life.
Yun-Seong then saw a small boy who seemed to be doing his utmost to remain out of the sight of his elders. Yun-Seong was drawn to this boy as he noticed that he was not hiding as part of a game or a mischievous prank that was in preparation; Yun-Seong knew that sensation all too well, the child instead seemed to be hiding out of fear. Yun-Seong watched as the boy darted in and out of the many crevices of the village until he reached the bank of the river. He continued as the boy looked to the water, knelt down, placed his hands in the water before pulling them out, and hesitated before he finally plunged his mouth into his hands.
The others were then drawn to the child as well as he started to groan in pain as he clasped his stomach, without a moment's hesitation Yun-Seong shot off towards the child. The others soon followed behind him as some of the adults suddenly came alive as they too rushed to the boy, while many others carried on with their business as though nothing had happened.
The villagers looked in confusion as the strangers made their way through the built-up crowd to the child. But when they reached the front of the crowd, they realised that no-one had approached him, no-one was cradling him or making any attempt to help – they were simply staring at him with apathy in their eyes, just like the expression they held when they were looking at the travellers.
Yun-Seong, however, sprang to the boy's side and held him in his arms. He was soon joined by Link, who knelt down on the other side of the boy.
"We've gotta get the stuff out of him!" Yun-Seong said desperately, which prompted Link to reach into his pouch for another bottle of potion.
"Here, hold him upright." He said, as his hand pulled out a bottle containing red liquid.
Yun-Seong proceeded to gently raise the boy's upper body.
"Okay," Link started, looking at the boy, "now I must be honest: this will not taste very nice, but I promise you that when you drink all of this you will feel a lot better."
Link remained still, looking deeply at the child's pained, frightened eyes until he was given a slight nod from the boy, at which point he slowly brought the bottle to the boy's lips and softly tipped the bottle backwards. Link could see the child's eyes wince as he realised just how awful the potion tasted, but carried on regardless, earning Link's respect.
After what seemed an eternity for the child, the bottle was empty and Link withdrew it. Finally relieved from the potion's taste, he started coughing.
"Nice going there." Yun-Seong complimented the child, patting him on the back as the boy was coughing small clouds of red mist.
By the time Link had placed the empty bottle back in his pouch, the child had raised his head. The white and blue tint on his face had faded away, replaced by the natural pinkish hue of his cheeks.
"There we go, now let's take you back to your-" Yun-Seong was interrupted by the child suddenly leaping out of his arms and charged towards the gathered crowds, pushing through them in what seemed to be a blind panic until he was out of the group's sight, "parents." He finished quietly.
Perplexed by the response, the group remained as they were. Only Tira noticed the crowd starting to dissipate – lumbering slowly back to where they were before the commotion started.
"It's not often we see such acts of kindness these days, strangers." A voice from behind them started, making them all turn to see a man dressed in simple clothing with an apron wrapped around his chest being the only distinguishable feature. "Although the rest of this town may not say it, we are grateful for it."
"It's no problem." Yun-Seong replied, as he and Link stood up.
"Why did he run off like that? We were only going to take him to his parents..." Talim asked, somewhat rhetorically.
"Chances are that child doesn't have any parents to go to." The man replied gloomily, until he straightened his back and forced a smile on to his face. "But enough about that! I run the local inn around here," he pointed out, "come with me and I'll give you a free drink as thanks!"
Link, Talim and Yun-Seong all looked at each-other, purposefully ignoring Tira's glare, as the three agreed in silence and turned back to the innkeeper.
"That would be nice, I could do with a resupply anyway." Link responded, thinking about the growing number of empty bottles in his pouch.
"Excellent! It's just this way!" The innkeeper exclaimed, as he led the group to a large building with the words 'INN BY THE LAKE' pasted on a sign that hung over the doorway. While it was somewhat run down now it was clear to the group that, in its prime, the building would have been the centrepiece of the town.
The interior of the building was not much different. One side of the building had tables at various points with several empty chairs accompanying them, surrounding a large, unlit fireplace. The other side had a very long table which spanned the length of the inn, with large blocks of wood running down both sides of the table. The central walkway was clear, and led to a desk with several barrels slightly beyond it. The innkeeper strode up to the desk and behind it, as he began to work his way around the apparent organised chaos that was hidden from their sight.
The group walked across the inn a bit slower than their host had done – Link and Talim were taking in the environment around them, as they noticed the room was a lot taller than they were led to believe. A balcony overlooked the entire area, with doors dotted around the edges, all of them being closed. After a few short paces, they had reach the end of the inn, and watched as the keeper was crouched over a barrel, with one hand on a value that was controlling a tap coming out of the barrel, while the other hand was somehow contorted so that it held five, large glasses in each finger. One-by-one, each of the glasses was being filled by a deep-brown liquid that, while obviously not from the same source, did not look too dissimilar to the lake outside.
"You'll have to excuse the quality of this, but I haven't been able to replace this barrel for quite a while now. Our 'benefactors' keep taking a cut of my supply, which doesn't leave me with much." The innkeeper apologised, noticing the group had caught up with him. "But," he continued as he slowly got to his feet, with four glasses full to the brim in one hand, and one with noticeably less in the other, "it's not everyday we get guests who're willing to do good deeds for no reason." He went on, placing the four glasses in front of each member of the group. "So drink up!" He concluded, bringing the remaining glass in his hand to his face, and taking a gulp.
Link slowly picked up the glass in front of him and examined the contents. The majority of the liquid was a brown so deep that he could not see through it, topped with a layer of white that did not look at all appetising. But concluding that he was not one to talk about giving people drinks that looked (and tasted) nice, he shrugged slightly and took a big gulp of the drink, before drawing the glass away from his face quickly and lurching his head towards his neck due to the bitter taste left in his mouth.
People drink this stuff?!
He thought, concluding that it is only slightly better than the concoctions he carries around.
He hoped that the displeasure was subtle enough that it wasn't noticed by the others. Sadly, this wasn't the case as they all looked at him; his expression had apparently told them everything they needed to know about his reaction.
Thankfully, the embarrassment did not linger around Link for long, as Yun-Seong straightened his back, tipped his head back as far as he could with his glass in his hand, and took several, much more substantial swallows than Link did. It didn't take him long before the grotesqueness of the taste hit him too, and his response was much less dignified, as he spun around and sprayed the contents in his mouth all over the floor behind them, before coughing violently.
Seeing this, Link and Talim did their utmost to hold back the hysterics, with Talim having the most success of the two. The innkeeper, however, did not hold back the laughter.
"Back home, it tastes much better..." Yun-Seong said sheepishly, wiping his mouth clean.
Once the innkeeper had calmed down, his eyes turn to Talim.
"You having some, sweetheart?" He prompted her, causing her to look towards Link as he continued to examine the strange texture and pulling an expression of disgust whenever he drank it, then to Yun-Seong as he was wiping his shirt to clear the evidence of his 'spillage'.
"No, thank you." She answered, placing the glass down and pushing it away slightly. "I had plenty to drink before we arrived." She lied.
Just as the innkeeper drew in breath to insist otherwise, he, Link, Talim and Yun-Seong started to hear very loud gulps beside them. They each looked to see Tira, her head arched right back with her throat in clear view, and the liquid within the glass lowering at an unbelievable rate.
The three stared at her in disbelief, as she seemed to completely ignore the taste and, perhaps more perplexingly, seemed to be enjoying what she was drinking. It wasn't long before the glass was empty, at which point she slammed it down in front of her, spun around and leaned back against the table with her arms folded tightly, as though nothing had happened.
"Um, excuse me," Talim gestured to the innkeeper to get his attention, drawing his look of admiration from Tira, "my friends and I came here after we saw the state of the lake out there. We were just wondering, what happened?"
"It's a sorry tale, love. You see there's not many settlements around here until you get to the Wolfkrone kingdom, so we've always been a busy town. But since those... troubles started a few months ago, more and more people have been coming here for refuge." The innkeeper sighed. "Which is fine, we always welcomed 'em with open arms, 'cos we were able to take it. But then, a guy called Gargantua and his gang of bandits decided to make their headquarters out of an abandoned temple a little way up the hill. They started wanting us to pay them for 'protection', but when we refused, they found that the water to the lake came through their hideout. So they decided to poison it so that we couldn't use it, and basically starve us until we can pay."
At this point, Link's blood was starting to boil.
"Thing is:" the innkeeper continued, "we've never been a wealthy town, so there's nothing left for us to give. So they take payment in any way they can. Taking most of my supply being one of them..."
"I can't believe there are people out there who'd do that... during a time when we should all be working together!" Talim exclaimed, to which Tira rolled her eyes.
"I reckon they need to be taught a lesson about sharing." Yun-Seong suggested.
"Whereabouts is this temple?" Link asked.
"It's just upriver, you'll come to a waterfall and you can see the cave next to the source; there's a path that'll take you up to it. Now listen, I can tell by your weapons that you people aren't refugees, or any normal travellers," the innkeeper said, "but this isn't a problem for you kids. You shouldn't get involved."
"Sorry, but it is too late for that now." Link replied, solidifying the resolve of the three.
"Well, I can't stop you." The innkeeper admitted. "But whatever you do, you shouldn't go looking for trouble."
"I have been doing that for a while now." Link said, to which the innkeeper had no response, and simply watched as Link turned and walked out the door, followed swiftly by Talim and Yun-Seong. Tira, on the other hand, was less keen. Nonetheless, she eventually followed then, albeit with her shoulders slumped low.
The townspeople outside were somewhat shocked out of their misery for a while, as they watched three of the travellers storm out of the tavern and head further up the lake until it became a river once more... with the fourth member dragging her feet behind them.
A few minutes later, and they came to a small waterfall from the river, soon before it expanded out into the lake. They looked up the small climb and saw a cave entrance with heavily weathered carvings around it. Satisfied that this was the hideout that was described to them, they began to walk up a pathway that curved its way along the small cliff-face and led directly to the entrance.
Once they reached the entrance, they then noticed a crudely written sign next to it with the words 'KEEP OUT' written on it. Ignoring the sign, they peered within and could see a narrow walkway that was big enough for two people carry on into the darkness.
"Ready?" Link asked as he turned to face the others, and drew his sword and shield.
Talim and Yun-Seong responded by drawing their own weapons and each giving a slight nod towards to him. At this, he turned back, and walked in to the cave.
After a few minutes of walking, the group started to think that they had the wrong cave. The further they went, the dimmer the light offered by the outside world got and the more the narrow, claustrophobic walk descended into darkness. They each placed a hand on the nearest wall to ensure that they were following a path. The only accompanying sound being the almost rhythmical drips of water.
Another sound soon became present – the sound of gushing water. It started off quiet, but gradually became louder and louder as they pressed on. As they turned a corner, Link brought the group to a halt, as he saw another light-source shine around the next bend in the cave. And what was more, there was a definite murmur of voices beyond the corner. It was difficult to hear due to the water, but definitely there.
Link cautiously approached the last corner in the cave and hugged the wall when he came to it. Not wanting to eliminate the element of surprise, he peered his head around the corner. It was a large room. He could see what was clearly the river flowing through the room. Looking further around the corner, he saw the room come to an end, with another opening on the opposite side that led further in to the cave. Leaning further still to see more, he then saw a long wooden table with many trinkets, coins and food on it before, finally, seeing two people sat at the table. His head shot back around the corner when he saw a third enter the room from the opening on the opposite side.
He closed his eyes. He saw people. Not monsters, but people. While this did not change his resolve to help the town, it did make him less willing about the means to which he was going to accomplish this.
"What did you see?!" Yun-Seong asked in a whisper, slightly puzzled about Link's hesitation.
"At least three of them." Link replied, before carrying on. "Listen, I think we should-"
But his suggestion of creating a distraction came to an abrupt end by the loud smash of a rock that had become unhinged from the wall and hit the floor, with its echo carrying in both directions of the cave.
The three turned to see where the noise came from, and saw Tira leaning casually against the wall.
"Oops." She simply said, her expression unreadable through the dark.
Before Link could say anything to her, he began to hear the scraping of a wooden chair, along with the sound of bottles being knocked over, accompanied by voices from around the corner. He still could not hear exactly what they were saying, but they were obviously alarmed, short sentences that were being traded. Seconds later though, one came through that was clear.
"We know you're there! Show yourself!" A voice bellowed towards the group's direction.
Link raised to his feet and settled for casting a glare at Tira for this, before very slowly basking in the light provided around the corner, with his shield held high so that his eyes were the only visible part of his torso and head, as they moved from left to right.
Before taking in the details of the room, Link looked for more bandits and any archers amongst them. Slight relief came over him as he realised that there was only one more bandit who unlike the others was sat at the table, and all four of them were brandishing swords. He lowered his shield at this, and went no further in to the room. He looked once more at the seated bandit, although he was too far to see exact details, Link could see he wore a helmet that had horns protruding from both sides. Talim came to his right, while Yun-Seong stood to his left, he glanced her his left shoulder and saw that Tira, too, had entered the room, but was leaning against the wall behind them.
"Well, well, well," One of the bandits quipped, "they seem quite heavily armed for a bunch of simple townsfolk, don't they?"
"So those idiots think kids with swords will make us stop our little game?" Another bandit, who judging by the tone was female, chirped.
Link ignored this comment and instead took in the full scale of the room. As large as it was from what he could see from around the corner, he was actually seeing less than half of it, as there was a huge chasm that encroached most of the opposite side of the room and ended just as it came to the table where the bandits sat, with narrow ledges on the group's side. Not far down the cliff-side was a piece of solid rock that, when raised, obviously formed a bridge to another ledge on the opposite side that, like the side of the room that Link had observed, had a cave leading to another room.
"Nah, I reckon they're here on some sort of double-date to impress the girls. Bad luck on the one who got the pig-tailed girl, it looks like she's already unimpressed, and that must be hard to do given how she's dressed!" A third said, making Tira suddenly more interested in the discussion.
"Too right we're here to stop you!" Yun-Seong shouted back, widening his stance for an upcoming battle, until looking to Link, who had raised his hand in a silent way to tell Yun-Seong to stop goading them.
"Look, this does not need to end in a fight." Link said, making the bandits, Yun-Seong and Tira look to him in confusion. "May we speak to your leader?" He then politely asked.
"You're looking at him, boy." The bandit who was sat at the head of the table stood up, his thick armour rattling as he did so. "The name's Gargantua."
Link ever so slightly bowed his head in acknowledgement of this. He took one step forward, while his minions seemed immature and not worth appealing to, there was a chance this person might be different.
"We have come here of our own free will. The town below has been through so much recently: there are people there who have no other place to go to, no families left. They need their supplies now more than ever." Gargantua's gaze drifted from Link to the ceiling above, as he started to make his way around the table, seemingly considering each and every word Link was speaking. "I imagine you, too, have had several things... taken away from you recently." He then said, bringing Gargantua's eyes back to his, as the sniggering from the other bandits stopped suddenly, and they looked to their leader. "I know circumstances are bad at the moment, but I promise you that it will be made better. So please, instead of stepping on those you see as lower than you, help them instead. And I swear that they will help you in ways you can not imagine."
No-one in the room seemed to know how to react to what was just said. Yun-Seong was flabbergasted, as this was not how he imagined Link would be when they left the tavern. Talim was surprised, but glad he said it. And Tira looked to him with just as much confusion, but also intrigue as she was finally seeing the man she saw while they fought. More importantly, the bandits too stood in silence. The three swordsmen darted their looks between Gargantua and Link, who remained staring at each other.
Suddenly, a loud laugh erupted from Gargantua, who broke the stare. The laugh was then joined by clapping which echoed around the cave. Then the other bandits started to cackle, obviously not knowing what it was for, but did so nonetheless.
"What a great speech, boy! You should consider being a messenger!" Gargantua bellowed, as it became more and more apparent that the laughter was false. "But you see, this little operation is all that's left of our sea-faring days, which were taken from us so tragically," he went on, placing the back of one hand on his forehead in a dramatic fashion, "and the amount of time and effort it took us to discover this temple's secrets, and get our equipment here... for us to leave so soon, why, it would all go to waste! So sorry kid, there's only one thing we want and those folk will keep forking them over as long as we stay here."
"And what is it that you are after?" Link inquired, knowing that his chances were rapidly running out, but continued regardless.
"Why, treasure, of course." Gargantua replied with a condescending tone in his voice.
Link was now angrily desperate to end the constant cackling from the gang. He placed the Master Sword back in its scabbard, reached in to his pouch and threw his entire wallet in to the middle of the room.
"Link!" Yun-Seong protested, but Link ignored.
"What's that?" One of the bandits asked.
"Treasure." Link snapped back.
"Only one bag?" Gargantua gasped as though offended, before tutting. "I don't think you realise the scope of this set-up we have."
"It is all I have." Link said in finality.
"Well, that's not quite true..." Gargantua pointed out, "how about your weapons? Your sword looks like it's worth a coin or two."
"No." Link simply replied with, admitting that there was no option available. He could tell them that he was the only person who could wield the sword, but to them it would be meaningless.
"Well then, it looks like our little negotiation isn't going anywhere. So what do you say we take care of them, boys?"
The three cronies cheer and nudge eagerly each other in response.
"But first, let's even the odds a bit." Gargantua said, as he walked to the back of the room, before placing his hand on a lever that was embedded in the wall, then turning back to the group with a smirk on his face.
"Please, don't do this!" Link begged.
"Enjoy your stay!" Gargantua taunted, as he pulled the lever which caused an iron gate to seal their only exit.
The group all turned to the door in shock, but none of them noticed the sudden rumbling sound coming from above them that immediately followed. Seeing stones fall from the ceiling caused Talim to look upwards, and saw a huge slab of rock come plummeting towards them.
"Watch out!" She yelled, grabbing Link by his arm and pulling him towards her as the gigantic boulder slammed down, shaking the ground below Yun-Seong and Tira so much they fell to the ground.
The two coughed as the cloud of dust settled. They looked towards where their companions should have been, but instead could only see an impenetrable boulder where they once stood. Yun-Seong panicked, as he rushed over to the rock to find some way of lifting it, but it was no use... And through the crashing of loose stones falling, they started to hear footsteps coming towards them from where the bandits stood, along with low sniggering.
Authors Note: Well, another nice cliff-hanger for you! Thanks for all the views everyone, I hope you don't mind that little sketch at the inn - that was my attempt at inserting a light-hearted moment, which I think the story has been lacking. I'll do my best to get the next chapter out before long but until then, take care!