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Shadowed Waters

14

Morpheel Strikes

Agitha opened her eyes to the glowing dim light of the pool in Lanayru Spring; one side of her face was moist where it had been leaning against Ralis's smooth skin. She shifted slightly, lifting her head. She could feel the Zora's arm comfortably encircling her waist.

"I see your awake now, sleepyhead," said Ralis smiling down on her, although his green eyes seemed far away, "How was your nap?"

"Wonderful," said Agitha smiling up at him, "You make a great pillow, by the way."

"Glad to hear it," said Ralis, looking back out over the pool, his emerald eyes revealing that he was lost in deep thought.

She was about to ask what was on his mind when the ground shifted, slightly at first, but growing until the tremors began to shake her entire body.

"What the-?" Agitha began to ask, but she was cut off by a wailing so keen she was momentarily paralyzed by the sound. The earthquake loosed rocks from the cave walls and they fell with loud crashing splashes into the pool, churning the waters into a maelstrom. She looked up. Time seemed to slow as she saw a large rock fall towards them. She loosed a scream, but her body remained frozen in place.

Fortunately for Agitha, Ralis was not similarly affected. She felt his hands grab her shoulders and roughly pull her back. Seconds later the rock crashed down where they had been sitting moments before. With a loud crack it broke off part of the outcropping and both fell into the pool below

She looked to Ralis who mouthed, "We have to get out of here now!" But his voice was lost in the screeching. He grabbed her hand and pulled her off the ledge and towards the entrance. They only stopped once when Ralis threw an arm out to hold her back as a rock loosed from the ceiling and came crashing down before them.

Ralis and Agitha skirted around the rocky debris and sprinted, hand in hand, out of the cave.

Agitha was surprised to see that it was still daylight outside the cavern. Ralis pulled her away from the cave's mouth and the falling rock, supporting most of her weight as she tripped over the trembling ground… although he seemed to have no trouble walking himself…

Ralis pulled her close in his arms as they both crouched down to keep from falling. Agitha pressed her head into his shoulders as she tried desperately to block out the incessant wail pounding through her head.

Then, all of the sudden, it stopped; the screeching went silent and the ground went still. The pair slowly stood, Agitha facing Ralis, her back to the lake.

"So," said Agitha, her voice sounding muffled to her own ears as they got used to the lack of volume, "I take it that wasn't a one-time thing?"

"Apparently not," said Ralis, his eyes dark and unreadable

"It sounds like whatever's making that noise is in a lot of pain," said Agitha.

"I know," was Ralis's reply, his voice was pained.

They were silent for a moment. Ralis's eyes were unfocused, gazing out over the water beyond her shoulder. She studied his face, noticing how the smooth skin above his eyes was a slight bluer shade than the rest of his face. His full lips were an ashen shade of gray. His unfocused eyes stood out like emeralds.

Suddenly the Zora's eyes widened, sliding into focus on something just above her left shoulder. In a flash of movement Ralis reached out and pulled the her behind him, protectively baring his fins, which seemed to stiffen as he flexed the powerful muscles of his arms. Agitha gasped as she saw what had appeared behind her.

It looked like a giant eyeball just floating there above the water. Its pupil dilated and whites crisscrossed with bloodshot veins. Well, it wasn't exactly floating there, it was held up by a semi-translucent tentacle, which encased it in a disgusting, yet most likely protective substance. The strangest part about this eyeball wasn't only that it was disembodied, but that it was glaring… at her.

Agitha took a tentative step back, eyes wide, as the floating eyeball swayed slightly on its stalk. Then, without warning, another tentacle shot out of the water, followed by many more until they were faced with a small army of slimy, bluish probes. One swept out towards them, but Ralis easily cut it back with his fins, using them as weapons. Two more came at once, Ralis ducked, then struck upwards, hitting them both, and causing the creature – whatever it was – to screech in agony. Agitha let out a small gasp as she realized that this thing was what was making that noise. She also realized, with a nervous gulp, that whatever it was, there was bound to be more of it, hidden beneath the surface.

The tentacles drew back, waving ominously above them, before all lashing out at once. Agitha ducked as one flew towards her head, watching as Ralis sliced into two with his fins, then jumped back to kick a third out of his way. But there were too many. Agitha stepped back to avoid one tentacle that had swiped at her legs, tripping over another that came up behind her. Already stumbling, she couldn't avoid an errant swing from a third tentacle, which knocked her off her feet. She fell backwards, hitting her head on the rocky ground.

Her vision, swimming, Agitha didn't see the tentacle that wrapped itself around her midsection and lifted her into the air. She heard Ralis scream, "NO!" before everything went dark.

Ralis watched in anger as Agitha's thin form went limp in the creature's grip. He recognized the jelly-like tentacles immediately, but why Morpheel would attack them, he did not know. He had a feeling that it had something to do with the vision he had in Lanayru Spring, but he was a bit too preoccupied at the moment to dwell on it.

He made a mad dash towards the tentacle that held her, striking out at any of the creature's appendages that got in his way, eyes locked on Agitha. The once peaceful guardian was holding her high above the water… if he could just reach the tentacle that was holding her…

"Oof," said Ralis, his thought cut short as tentacle grabbed him around the middle and lifted him up. He concentrated for a moment, and then let the translucent blue force field of Nayru's love form around his body. He heard the creature hiss as it dropped him to the ground. Ralis cushioned the impact of the hard rock by landing in a crouch. He then quickly stood up, baring his fins.

"Nice try," breathed the determined Prince, "But not nice enough." The eye's gaze was fixated on him now, with an expression of anger… and pain? He wasn't sure if that were possible for a lone eyeball, but he didn't stop to question it. Ralis dashed forward once again, cutting down the onslaught of tentacles lashing at him with his fins.

But there were too many. The Zora dodged one to see another immediately in its place. This one glowing a frightening electric blue. He didn't have time to dodge as the electrified tentacle hit his torso, sending a paralyzing shock wave through him as his body flew back. Ralis's head cracked against the stone wall as it stopped his flight. He slid down, wincing in pain as his feet hit the ground. He fell to his knees.

Morpheel let out another moan, this one sounding of both pain and pleasure. Ralis staggered to his feet swaying as the pain from both the shock and the impact racked his body. But it was too late. Morpheel, seemingly satisfied with the job it had done here, retreated beneath the surface.

Ralis pushed past the pain and ran towards the edge, diving into the water… and into a cloud of sand. Ralis coughed as he swam downward, squinting against the intrusive grains. But Morpheel was already gone. An indent in the lakebed told Ralis that the creature had borrowed into the ground, most likely retreating back to its chambers deep within the Lakebed Temple, Agitha with it.

Ralis swam back to the surface, fighting the urge to go directly to the Lakebed Temple. But as he was alone and unarmed he knew facing Morpheel again would be a suicidal mission. He needed to alert the guards to the Temple Guardian's strange behaviors.

Deciding to waste no more time contemplating, Ralis set off for the Domain.

"The deed is complete, sir," said the Shaman to the anxious Advisor. Mallor had been sitting in his chambers when the dark magician had Portaled in, hood drawn, as always, to cover his face. "Morpheel is back in his chamber," continued the Shaman, "The girl safe in its clutches, and the Prince is on his way here now."

"Good, good," said Mallor excitedly. Everything seemed to be falling into place. He had already cleared the throne room of all but his own guards, who would, as per his instruction, refuse the young Prince's orders. Ralis, being the rash, headstrong teen he was, would go to the Temple anyway, choosing to deal with the insubordination later, and by that point… well, it would be too late. Mallor grinned.

"Thank you, Shaman," said Mallor, rising to his feet, "Now if you will excuse me…" The Shaman bowed and backed away as Mallor went to the door. He made his way to the throne room, sitting on the seat of power. He clasped his hands in front of him and leaned back, waiting for the young Prince to arrive.

Ralis was sure he made it up the waterfall in record time and didn't hesitate to jump directly out of the water, rolling into a standing position. He bit back a scowl at seeing the Advior sitting haughtily on the throne, knowing that not having to seek out the other Zora would save precious time.

"Looks like someone's in a hurry," Mallor started to say, but Ralis cut him off.

"I don't have time for your crap today," said Ralis agitatedly, "Something's off with Morpheel, he's – he's taken a girl captive. And we must save her."

Infuriatingly, the Advisor held up a hand. "You really expect us to believe," said Mallor, "That our benevolent guardian would do something like that?"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you," said Ralis angrily, "Something with Morpheel is not right. There were devastating earthquakes at Lake Hylia earlier today, and I know that it was the cause. It looked in pain and out of control when I saw it."

"So you claim," said the Advisor, "But we can't really let such rumors spread. You see, young Prince, it would look bad to the general public."

"To hell with the general public," yelled Ralis, his temper rising, "There is a Hylian girl in the Temple right this very minute who will most likely die if we do not act immediately."

"A Hylian you say?" asked the Advisor in mock curiosity, "Well that is not really our concern then is it?" Something about the way Mallor shaped the word our gave Ralis an ominous feeling in the pit of his stomach. He ignored the Advisor's questions and went to the guard standing to the right of the throne.

"General Reid," said Ralis, trying to maintain his composure.

"Yes Prince Ralis," said the armor-clad Zora.

"You heard the conversation that just took place, did you not?"

"Yes Prince."

"Okay, then I command you to ready a squad to escort me in saving the girl."

"Er…"

It seemed that Mallor saw this point fit to step in as he said, "Sorry Prince, but you are not fit to give orders."

Ralis just stared at the other Zora incredulously.

Mallor rose to his feet. "We have evidence that you have been consorting with Hylians. As the Zoras and the Hylians are not on the best of terms, one can say that it looks… suspicious for the Prince to be off with a Hylian girl. Almost as if he is betraying the secrets of his people."

"There is no evidence of that," said Ralis, indignant with anger.

"There is no evidence against it," said the Advisor, grinning hugely.

Ralis desperately wanted to smack that grin off his face, but knew that such an action would have a very negative ramifications. So he settled for saying in an even voice, "I am the rightful Prince of this people and I would never betray them. I would also never refuse help to someone in need. Time is short. I cannot deal with you now, but, goddesses help me, if you, Mallor, do not come down off your cloud by the time I return, you will be banished from this kingdom. Do I make myself clear?"

Mallor met his gaze and answered, "Yes, very, Prince."

"Good," said Prince Ralis and he dove into the water and swam out of the throne room.

Agitha! Oh no!

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