CHAPTER 37

A BATTLE TO LAST THE NIGHT

LLOYD'S POV:

I was horrified by the look of things. These Ribulls not only tortured Zelda, but they were drawing her blood. They can't take that. That's her way of life. It angered me so. It actually made tears fall from my eyes. I might be a guy, but I still have problems with controlling my own emotions. I was shaking, feeling as though I wanted to sink to the floor and weep with everything I had. I couldn't. I couldn't cower in the shadows. I had to stand up and fight. The tears in my eyes will prove that I'm ready for anything. I drew out my sword. Everyone else did the same, bringing out their own weapons. I stared at those creatures coldly. They're going to pay for all the trouble they caused. Every bit of it. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I gave out a battle cry, signaling to everyone that a war has started.

While everyone else went to fight off guards, I made my way to the leader and fought him. At first, our swords were just clinging. Nothing much was going on. Once our swords were fighting against each other for one of us to go down, I took action and kicked the leader in the legs, tripping him and making him fall. I jumped out of the way, letting him get up and glare at me.

"I figured somebody would come and rescue the young girl," the leader said.

"Looks like that someone happens to be me," I said, "I won't let you lay another hand on her."

"I'll make sure you never see anymore of her again. Guards, take the girls back to the dungeon!"

"Sir, the girl is gone!" one of the guards said.

I looked to see that the chair Zelda was sitting in was empty. I smiled. "Looks like you have a little more time on your plate. Why don't you look over here?"

"Why?" the leader asked. The moment he said that, I punched him in the mouth.

Another fight began, but this time it was physical. Every punch that this leader made I backed away from them. Every time I threw a punch, half the Times he would dodge t, but some of them he didn't move away in time. I had a feeling that he was letting me punch him to show people battle scars in the future. I would make sure that he didn't show battle scars. I would make sure that he wasn't shown at all to anybody.

I didn't notice that he took a pair of nunchucks from behind him. He slung them at me and hit me in the side of my face beside my right eye. It cause a bruise to end up on my face, also giving me a huge headache. I heard something slap beside me. I looked to see the leader with a whip in his other hand. He smacked the whip on my leg. The pain stung pretty bad, but I still got up, staring him right in the eye. He swung the whip at me, but this time he missed. I had jumped out of the way just in time.

"You can't take me down," I said, "No matter how many times you swing that whip at me."

"I'll do whatever I can to make sure you don't take that girl back with you," the leader said, "Look what she did to my chest."

I looked to see a spot of gold on his chest. I gasped. "Who did that to you?"

"The girl did. She told me that she was the mistress of light and threw some kind of golden ball on me that left this behind."

"Zelda is the mistress of light?"

"Yes, something like that. Now hold still so I can have fun torturing you."

A whip lash was made on my back as quick as lightning. I fell to the floor. I looked at everyone else to see that the battle wasn't going too well with them. Everyone was either down and couldn't get back home or they were hurt, but still continued to fight. It was just one way or another. Another whip lash was made on my back. I moved away quickly. If I kept getting whipped, I was gonna bleed out. I had to figure out a way to get that whip away from him.

I figured out an idea. I jumped out of sight to where the leader couldn't see me. I'm pretty sure he was acting like an idiot trying to search for me. Being as quiet as I possibly can, I snuck up behind him, snatching the whip out of his hand. The leader turned around to look at me. I gave him and smirk, swinging the whip right at him. The whip mark went right to his abdomen. I jumped down to the floor. I went over to the leader and held to whip out to swing it in his face. I'm pretty sure he had another, because he shouted out, "Stop the fight?"

Everyone stopped the fight. The guards stood in a straight line. That must be what they do when the leader stops the battle. My friends were either lying on the floor or doing their best to stand.

The leader stood. "I've had enough of this. I cannot fight you anymore. You are weakening both me and my army. If you want the girl back, take her. I don't care anymore."

"Why did you take her in the first place?" I asked, whip in hand.

"We are Ribulls. We do whatever we can to find whatever meat is out there. We are carnivores. We try to get our hands on whatever meat is out there. Why can't you just understand that?"

"Why did you take Zelda? I was with her when you kidnapped her. You took her instead of me. What was more important about her?"

"She was beautiful. I figured something so fragile should be tortured a lot more. Besides, you're too strong and would survive a lot longer than her."

I raised the whip up. "Listen here. If you ever try to harm another human soul again, I'll make sure your days are filled with horrifying nightmares. I'll fill your dreams up every night."

"Alright, alright. I'll never harm another human soul again. I promise."

"Are you sure about that promise?"

"Well, I may break a little bit of it."

"I'm not gonna take any chances." I raised the whip up higher and tried to take him down before somebody lowered my arm. I looked to see that it was my mother.

"He let us go, Lloyd," Mom said, "He may not change his ways, but he's letting us go. Let's go find Zelda and get back home."

"I'm not leaving until I get my revenge. I'm not gonna let him walk free. Not after what he did to Zelda."

"Revenge is never the answer, Lloyd. As I said before, you can't change his ways. The best thing we can do is go home. I'm sure Zelda is waiting or you."

I sighed. "Alright."

We walked out of the lair of the Ribulls. Once we were out of the cave, we searched around to see where the others were. Brad was sitting together against the giant cave. Nick and Monica were sitting together, worried looks in their eyes. Miss Allyman was tending to her daughter's wounds. She pressed a damp rag over her head. Zelda was breathing heavily, opening and closing her eyes repeatedly.

Mom knelt down beside Zelda. "How is she?"

"Her injuries aren't too serious, but they need to be tended to as quickly as possible," Miss Allyman said.

"If only we could get back to our own time period," I said, "We would be able to get her to a hospital."

"Look, the sun is coming up," Monica said.

"Looks like the beginning of dawn is coming upon us," Nick said.

"Lloyd, I need to speak to you for a moment," Uncle said.

I stood up. "What is it, Uncle?"

"I figured something out. The peace symbol is not what will return us home."

"What? Then how are we gonna get back home?"

"There is one way." He pointed over at Zelda.

"How did you know?"

"I'm not that dumb. I always know."

"I guess if it's he only way."

I walked over to Zelda, gently placing a hand on her cheek. She opened her eyes, smiling when she saw me. "I knew you would come to my rescue."

"I would never leave you behind," I said.

"We've been through too much together, Lloyd. I'm just ready to go home."

"There's only one way we can do that."

"I know it can't be the peace symbol."

"It's not."

Zelda sighed. "Do you really love me?"

I closed my eyes, opening them back up instantly. "Yes, I do love you, Zelda. I love you more than any other girl in this world."

"I never thought you felt about me that way."

"Well, I have those feelings for you. Don't you ever doubt that."

"Your a wonderful person, Lloyd. I love you."

"I love you, too, Zelda."

As our eyes licked upon each other, so did out lips. Our kiss was a beautiful one. A glowing gold surrounded the both of us. A moment passed by and everyone was cheering. I looked around to see that we were in the living room. Zelda was lying on the couch. The sun had risen. I looked to see that Zelda was still her older self. Looks like the curse was broken. She might've grown up too fast, but at least we had grown up together as the sweethearts we were meant to be.

HOORAY! THEIR HOME! IT TURNS OUT THE BEST WAY TO END A STORY IS BY TRUE LOVE'S FIRST KISS. OH, AND ZELDA IS PERMANENTLY OLDER. JUST GIVING YOU A HEAD'S UP.

DON'T WORRY. THIS ISN'T THE LAST CHAPTER. THE NEXT ONE IS, THOUGH. SORRY TO SAY THAT.

WELL, I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER.

PLEASE REVIEW.