Chapter 28

The Handler


"What?!" She hissed from her throne, the tattered red velvet curtains at her either side catching a wayward breeze and billowing into the openness of her Grand Hall. The messenger shuddered at the sound of her voice, cringing and coiling himself into as small a shape as he could manage. But it was not the woman on the throne, the one with the violet hair, that bothered him.

It was what slowly crept from the shadows.

Two figures, one a bit taller than the other, slunk hauntingly from the shadows beyond Lady Majora's throne, eyes glinting an inhuman shade of yellow. The shade of their skin was exactly the same, as was their hair, a dark ebony hue. They moved in perfect sync, never missing a stride, creeping down the stairs toward where he stood, licking their lips, giving him a glance at the sharpened fangs beyond.

Before him, they split off, one circling him from the left, the other from the right. They were so close he could feel their breath.

"Y-your Ladyship…" he stammered, voice cracking when the cold metal of a knife was suddenly pressed flush against the back of his neck. "Goht has yet to kill the Deity, and Lorelei is fast approaching the north."

"And what of my eighth warrior?"

"As far as I know, he is currently stranded within the mountain's core. The entrance collapsed before I could enter."

He felt the knife slide across his skin, sending a chill down his spine. He watched as her face slowly turned to a look of disappointment, then anger. He felt his stomach drop out from beneath him, his knees going week, when the woman rose from her seat in a flurry of fine magenta fabric. She descended the stairs with grace, one bare foot directly in front of the other, giving her hips a seductive sway.

She leaned in so close, he could smell her skin, her elongated nails dragging against the exposed skin of his neck, up toward his chin. She smelled faintly of vanilla, and peppers, sweet and spice, mixed into one intoxicating aroma.

"I told you to keep with him, dear," her voice was deep and sultry in his ear, her lips pressing against him as she whispered. "So that I knew what was to become of him."

He was falling into her trap. He could feel it, somewhere in the back of his skull. He didn't understand what it was that was so enthralling about her, nor did he particularly care, at that moment. Her nails dragged across his cheek, then grasped a stray lock of his hair, twisting and toying with it between her fingers.

He had to fight back.

With a shrill screech, she staggered back when the blade of a tiny knife he'd kept skillfully concealed behind his wrist stabbed into her arm. For a brief, beautiful moment, his face glowed with smug satisfaction, being one of the very few to successfully break from Majora's icy grip. However, he had never heard what was to come. If he had, he would have taken his previous fate.

The twin demons were on top of him before he could get a word in edgewise, knocking him to the marble floor with the painful crack that was his right leg, severing one of the bones clean in half, rendering him defenseless. He couldn't stand, couldn't run. Only look up into the furious face of Majora. Moving like snakes, the twin demons were at his either side, making sinister growls and clicks of their teeth.

And for the first time he'd ever known, the demons spoke.

"Should have listened," the male hissed into his ear, his lips smacking as if in anticipation. "Mistress Majora only warns once."

"What are you sick people?!" He gasped, appalled when the female took his right arm in her grip and gave an experimental lick, testing the flavor. Both only chuckled in response at first. Then, the female leant low, till her lips were beside his ear. "Foolish mortal…"

"We aren't human,"

"We are death…"


Morning came to the northern mountains, and yet the storm still raged. If anything, the blizzard had grown worse over the dark hours. Within the belly of the mountain, Link and the other's still sat in darkness, having no fire to see by, merely sprawling out on the hard floor, waiting for a miracle that they knew would never come. Over the night, Remus' mare's condition had grown worse. They knew it, even if the couldn't see.

They didn't need to see. They could hear it.

Rasping, painful gasps were all that the mare could muster.

Even if Remus refused to admit it, they all knew what fate was in store for the mare. She was dying. There was nothing they could do for her.

Link laid flat on his back, away from the group. He didn't want to be around them. Perhaps it was a bit immature, the way he was acting. But in all honesty, he didn't care. He and Gea hadn't struck it off on the right foot, he could sense the occasional harsh glare from her pale silver orbs. And Remus had never treated him nicely, so where was the need to put an effort into being sociable?

Of course Malon would scold him for his behavior, but she wasn't here, now was she? The thought that he had left the ranch that fateful day drove his mind mad. There were so many should-have, would-have, could-have scenarios racing through his mind he felt he could scream. He never should have left. In the past, leaving Lon Lon was never a good thing. During his previous journey, the ranch had been his one and only sanctuary. The one place he had felt safe. The one place he could rest.

But he had had to leave many times back then, and each time had brought with it a laundry list of pain, both physical and emotional.

He should have known this would happen.

Had he grown too complacent? As soon as he had seen the smoke, he should have put his guard up. If he had, he might have noticed the Shadows before they got him with the dart.

Did Malon know what had become of him? Did she know he was making every effort he could muster into getting back to her? Or was she starting to wonder? Started to wonder if he had left her of his own free will?

He could only hope that she realized how deeply he really did love her, how completely and utterly, and how he would never leave her. He could only hope she was waiting. He didn't doubt that she was worried. He knew she could work herself into a panic about the most minor of problems if left to her own wild imagination.

Hopefully, Jack and McKenna were around to help her retain her sanity.

"Damnit! I need light!" Kan said suddenly, shattering the almost eerie silence that had gripped them throughout the night. A scuffling of boots on the ground told him that the older man had risen from his place on the cold ground, and was searching around for something, anything he could set alight.

His searching sounds soon left earshot, and was gone for several minutes.

When he came back, his presence was heralded by a dim orange flame, flickering weakly on the end of a damp stick. It fizzled and popped against the soggy wood, barely strong enough to stay lit.

However, it somehow remained, and when he came up to stand amongst his group, all eyes moved to where Remus' mare lay. Flat on her side, the horse's belly was round and swollen, her eyes weak and glassy. Every breath brought with it a terrible shudder, a tired gasp. Her tongue was pale, almost as white as snow.

Link watched when Remus shuffled over to the tortured mare, and sat beside her head, dragging his fingers through her raven-colored mane and whispering.

"Oh San…"

He and Kan exchanged a glance, both knowing that Remus had finally come to the realization that the mare would not survive. It was somewhat surprising to the both of them that he'd come to the realization on his own. Both had expected him to deny it, until one or the other had to break the truth to him.

But Gea's reaction was all the more surprising.

She was standing at Remus' side, staring down at the mare. A thin film of liquid covered her eyes, both her hands and her jaw clenched tightly. She was genuinely upset about the horse's fate. She felt emotion. Something the both of them had thought impossible. They both jolted when she turned on them with a feverish snap, striding up to Kan.

"Give me your sword." She demanded with an outstretched hand. The dim firelight glinted against her glassy eyes, which were full of pain.

"What? Why?"

Her lips curled into a frustrated huff.

"Just give it to me!"

He reluctantly obeyed, sliding one of two narrow swords from the scabbard on his back and passed the hilt to her. For a moment, he refused to release his grip from the leather-wrapped hilt, staring into her eyes, trying to convey a silent warning to the woman.

When she turned, sword in hand, Remus was standing, watching her with dismay written on his face. He threw his arms out wide when she tried to step past him.

"No! Don't!"

She stopped, and looked into his eyes, the sword between them.

"Remus, its-"

"No! You won't kill her! I won't let you!"

She stood her ground.

"Remus, look at her."

His eyes remained locked with hers.

"Look at her."

He did, for however short a time before he whipped back to her, never letting his guard down.

"Every minute that passes is pain. She's bleeding out. You can't see it, but it's there. It's pooling in her abdomen. The longer you let her live, the more pain she'll be in."

"But Gea, I-"

"I know you don't want to. No one wants to."

A few wayward tears had found their way to Remus' eyes. She took his shoulder in her free hand with a surprising amount of tenderness, and gently pushed him out of her way, toward Kan.

"Take him out of here."

Kan needed no prodding. He took Remus' shoulder, and, making sure he couldn't turn back, quickly guided him around the bend, at every second expecting to hear what was to come. However, she waited, until Link was the only one left. Even Kan's own horse had followed quickly after him. For some disturbing reason, she was staring at him, not the mare. Her knuckles were white as she gripped the sword, glaring in his eyes with her lifeless silver ones.

He didn't know whether to speak or remain silent. For some reason, the situation felt familiar, although, for the life of him, he couldn't understand why.

She broke eye contact finally, and quickly turned her back on him, facing the mare. But he still watched, unsure of what was the right thing to do.

"Go." She said. Her voice was shaking.

He didn't move. He was slightly afraid to.

"LEAVE!"

And this time he did. He broke off into a painful run, the wounds on his side and thigh were still fresh and tender, and were aggravated with every step he took. But he ran anyway, after Kan and Remus. Although they weren't his first choice in company, given the option between them and Gea, he chose them wholeheartedly…


A few minutes later, the deed was done. Beside her, Kan's sword lay on the stone floor where she had thrown it, blade covered in blood. She sat beside the mare's now lifeless body, staring blindly out into the darkness. Even if it had been lit, she doubted she would have seen anything. Behind her eyes, the scene played over and over, haunting her. She was too distracted to notice the wall of fallen boulders beginning to shift.

From beyond several smaller chunks of hard earth, a hand shot free, grasping at the openness, seconds later, the rest of the body following behind. She only noticed when the person gasped, taking in a full breath. By then, it was too late to react. A knife, the knife she'd left behind, was pressed, sharp end against her skin, above her heart.

She didn't need to see in order to know that this was the same man she'd left for dead.

"How did you survive?!"

He chuckled in her ear.

"Simply put, I'm just rather hard to kill."

"It killed this horse, and she wasn't trapped under it nearly as long as you!"

"You and I aren't that different, then, are we?"

His words boggled her.

"Who are you?"

"Malikai, prince of the Gerudo. And I'm your handler now…"


So, I listened to Courage's advice and took some me time, read a book, played Skyward Sword, yada yada yada. And it worked. I feel a bit better. Still not 100% but its a start. Thanks for everything Courage!

And thank you to all my readers! Each and every one of you makes my day!

Next up is a chapter for my other, newer story, "The Legend Of Verity"!