Chapter 11: Horn And Ivory

…

Wet. Link felt as if he was coming out of a daze, and the first thing he noticed was that his feet were wet. When he looked down, he found that his feet, bare of boots and with his trousers folded up to keep from becoming wet, were submerged in water barely past his ankles. The water sloshed around in response to his movement and fell silent as he looked around. He could not see anything beyond the choppy surface at his feet, the area around him blanketed in darkness. He took one step forward and watched the ripples radiate from his feet and disappear into the darkness. He opened his mouth to call out, but he could not make a sound. Confused, he held one hand to his throat and attempted to call out again. It was like his voice did not exist. He looked around again. And then he remained silent, hoping to hear something other than the sound of his own breathing.

There was something else in the water. At least, that was his impression; he had no true way of knowing. Water was lapping against something else. He waved one foot through the water to be sure. Whatever else was in the water, it sounded like it was close. Then something pressed against Link's left calf. He turned to look.

His reaction was a subdued measure of shock as he stared at a person floating face-down in the water. The person was definitely an adult. His impression was that this was a man, based on the yellow jacket and white trousers he wore. As soon as he had a look at the clothes, Link realized that this was a uniform, one he recognized before. But where? Link could not tell what the man's frame looked like; the clothes on top of the water were causing them to bulge. His short, black hair was hardly so affected by the water, and Link began to feel as if he recognized the man. Of course, without seeing his face, Link could not be sure. He wondered if he should turn the man's head so he could see his face. Would the man react? Was he alive or dead? Well, if he was alive, surely, Link should pull his face out of the water so he could breathe. Right? So Link carefully reached a hand.

Another sound caused him to freeze in place. Creaking. At first, Link thought it was a door moving somewhere, and he looked around to find the source. He saw nothing new, but he found this sound to be familiar as well. He realized that it was not creaking. It was croaking, like a person trying to use their voice.

Link looked back down at the body. He recoiled slightly when he saw that, without any interference from him, the man's head had turned. Link saw a pale profile, the man's jaw open as the croaking continued, one eye opened and looking up directly at him. Link swallowed hard. He knew who this was. He knew that croaking voice now.

Jared.

The croaking stopped. Then Airman Jared's mouth moved as Link heard the word echoing throughout their little world, "Why?"

Link felt his stomach twist into knots. He took a step backward. "Wha-wha—…" he tried to say.

"Why?" Airman Jared repeated. His breathing was raspy as he silently waited for Link to answer. When no answer came, he asked, "Why… did you… let me die?"

Link's body turned cold in an instant, but he could not tell if it was the temperature of the water getting to him or the overwhelming dread that caused the shiver to climb his spine. "I-I-I…" he babbled at first, not knowing how to answer as he took another step back. "I… I couldn't do anything. It was—It was out of my h-hands."

"You… stood there…" Jared said. "You… froze…"

"I-I couldn't do anything," Link pleaded. "You-you were dying!"

"I… died… because…" Jared paused and took in a raspy breath complicated by the amount of water filling his mouth. When he spoke again, he spat out the water with the words, "… because… of you."

"The doctors—" Link began.

"We died… because of you."

He knew. Link felt further shivers along his back as he saw the direction of the conversation. He looked up in hopes that Jared would disappear.

What he saw were more bodies lying face-down in the water as far as his eyes could see, each one clad in the same uniform as Jared. Further to his horror was the presence of a ship sitting with its keel on top of the water. Its rigging dangled over the weather deck, its masts fallen and its sails torn. Whole planks were missing from its hull, showing Link what felt like a sinister darkness on the inside of the mangled vessel. The vessel's bow pointed away from him, allowing him to read the words written in red on its transom.

—Link is a devil.

Link felt himself go numb. He turned to his left and started walking, walking away from the vessel in hopes that it would disappear. His pace was a slow, labored trudge with the water impeding him. Every time he came close to a body, he would carefully side-step and continue on. The bodies never seemed to end. Link could not believe so many men had perished on that ship. Could that ship have really held so many? He turned his head back toward the ship with the intention of examining its construction, wanting to see if this number was feasible. But the ship was gone.

And when he looked forward, there was another wrecked vessel in his path. This one appeared even more decimated, its keel so destroyed that the ship sat flat on the surface of the water. Its timbers had grayed with age and stood out from the hull in places that had either impacted the ground or had been blown open by cannonfire. Two of its masts were missing, the third having fallen overboard and now being propped against the bulwark on the port side. The angle it sat at allowed Link to see what was left of the bow, smashed apart as it was with its pieces floating on the surface of the water.

Also floating on the water were a fresh set of bodies.

Link did not know these bodies well, but he saw by virtue of the feathers decorating their heads arms that these were Sorian sailors. Most of them were shirtless and wore slacks cinched tightly around their waists. The only one that dressed differently wore a blue tunic because he, Link knew for certain, was a Hylian.

Link could feel his body grow colder and shakier. He turned completely around and sloshed away at a faster pace. He had to get away before one of them talked. He knew what they would say; it would be the same things that Jared had said. And as horrified as Link was to hear it, he knew that they were all right.

He tried to break into a run, kicking Sorian bodies aside as he made to escape. The additional effort caused the water to fight back against him until he fell forward.

Bam! He landed on something solid. He had closed his eyes in anticipation of the water, but he carefully opened them to find that he was no longer standing in water. He was on a wooden deck. His previous fears forgotten, he placed his hands on the deck and pushed up to look around.

The ship was narrow with three fore-aft rigged sails adorning its masts. Some of the deck's planking was old and graying while other pieces were fresh wood. He got to his feet and turned toward the stern. Atop the aftcastle was the ship's wheel. And the banner waving on the mysterious wind that he could not feel depicted an island with a pan flute in the white field above it.

It was his old ship. It was the Island Sonata.

The ship felt empty. Although his first command had only entailed a crew not much larger than Line and himself, somehow just standing in the middle of the deck made him feel alone and vulnerable. He spun where he stood, hoping that someone else was aboard.

You were alone.

Link started at the voice in his head. A deep, cold voice. A voice of authority he had only ever heard once before in his life.

Once the initial shock passed, Link clenched his fists. "I wasn't," he told the sky to starboard.

You were alone. And you were stupid.

"I still survived."

Survived as what? Battered and nearly broken? And do you even know how many people died from your mistake?

Link choked on his voice for a moment. And in that moment, he heard thunder rumble and turned to look at the bow. A large storm had swallowed part of the sky, lightning shooting across its surface as it billowed toward him.

You lost your ship. You lost your crew.

"I'm still here. You're not."

The voice paused. Do you really think you can get rid of me that easily? A lesser being like you can only hope to scratch me.

"You lost."

Then how am I still talking to you?

Link felt his defiance flee in a flood of logic and terror. He watched as the storm grew so large that he would be crossing into it at any moment. His voice was gone again, this time because he could not muster up anything else to say.

Shall I tell you how you failed? Link did not answer. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to will the voice away. You started this downward spiral when you thought you could fight against me with one ship. The Sorians had more firepower than you. Did you count how many of them died? And you insist that chasing me in a small vessel crewed by one was right? You wasted your command. Whatever fool who saw to your promotion must have deeply regretted that mistake.

"Shut up…" Link tried to say as he thought about Captain Alfonzo.

You are a disgrace to captains throughout time. You should have died with your ship. Are you such a coward that you let your ship die without you?

"Shut up!" Link screamed at the storm, tears escaping his open eyes.

You are dangerous. Instead of dying, you acted like a child and clawed your way back to the sky. You never took responsibility for your actions. You never took responsibility for the lives lost because of you.

"Shut up!" Link screamed again. "Shut up! Shut up!"

It is time for you to suffer, creature. It is time for you to take responsibility for what you have done. You killed the crews of two ships, and you forced the Sorians from their home.

"I never did those things!" Link screamed, his voice growing high-pitched and screechy from the force he put behind it. The deck began to shake underneath him, and he rushed to the bulwark so he could grab a nearby shroud. "You caused it all!"

You are an idiot for thinking you could save them from it. What would your father have said about all of this? Does he know? Does he know that the son he foolishly put in command killed many and lost more than he knows?

Link felt a stunned silence halt his arguing. "You… you shouldn't know…" he said in a weak voice.

We were all there, creature. Did you think that I could never discover your father's part in all of this? A bastard child in command of an airship? It would seem that you would have done better if you still had your mother to suckle on.

The shaking became worse. The storm swallowed the ship, sending it into almost pitch-black darkness. Wind blasted over the deck, and lightning flashed across the sky with its thunder threatening to rattle the ship apart. Link fit his forearm through the shroud and held on as best as he could. He could not summon his fury anymore.

It is time now, creature. My vengeance can only begin with you. It will end with the destruction of your kind.

Link managed to get a grip on his thoughts and shouted up at the storm, "NEVER!"

You no longer have a say in the matter.

The ship gave a violent lurch, and Link looked toward the bow. The bowsprit suddenly snapped out of the way as if the ship had run into something. Then the entire beakhead simply fractured into splinters. The forecastle tore apart next, and the ship's forward rigging was thrown about. There was nothing ahead of the ship that could cause such destruction, and yet the ship was falling to pieces as if it was made of nothing more than kindling.

The destructive force was almost upon where he stood near the middle of the ship. Then he spotted another figure approaching from the darkness. Large. Fast. Winged. Lightning flashed. Then Link felt all of his fear well into his throat upon seeing the gigantic maw flying straight toward him. He only had a second to scream. Then the maw destroyed the deck around him as it closed down for a single, decisive bite.

Link screamed anyway.

First, however, he opened his eyes into dimness. Then he sat upright where he had been lying in that same half-second and released a horrifying scream.

"AAAAAHHH!" a girl shrieked nearby. A light in the corner of his eye rose. "Wow, Link! What was that all about?"

Link did not respond. His whole body felt frozen cold. His arms, draped at his sides, shivered in fear. He breathed hard and ragged. Images replayed in his head again and again in those first few seconds of consciousness, and every thought caused his innards to squirm about until he could feel the vomit stand on the back of his throat. However, his body was so paralyzed that he could not throw it up. Irleen tried calling to him, but he found her voice to be too far away.

For what felt like hours on end, Link relived his nightmare over and over again.

…

End of prologue.