Chapter Fourteen
Link wasn't in his room, nor was he in the Great Hall or the Training Barracks. Cheyanna was nearly fuming with frustration; where could the Hero of Time gone to? There simply wasn't any place in the castle that could possibly be so interesting as to—
Her eyes widened suddenly. She should have known; the East Tower had the greatest view of all the castle towers. Perhaps someone had taken him up there to see the view, and in doing that had discovered...
No! It was absurd. The East Tower was off limits, but had anyone mentioned that to Our Fair Hero? Probably... but then again, the chance that no one had... Cheyanna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She would have a guard go and check on Miyako, make sure she was still in her shackles and undiscovered by Link. If she wasn't... well... then that would be the time to perform two quick murders.
"It's not that I don't believe you—" Link started, but Miyako held up her hand.
"Link, lying to me is stupid, not to mention degrading to the both of us. You, for thinking that I'd fall for it, and me, because you think I'm not telling the truth. You think I'm the spy for King Viru. Well, I spied on Cheyanna to find out when the Tophetians would make their move against the Selintans. Unfortunately, I was caught. To make a long story short, I was tried for treason and espionage and thrown in here." Link shook his head and found he had little to say. "We need to get out of here, before Cheyanna..." Miyako hesitated slightly.
"What?"
"I'm thinking she might want to kill us both. You, because King Viru's afraid of you, and me because I know too much." Link closed his eyes for a moment, his mind swimming in a sea of too much disclosure. Too many revelations in a short time becomes tiring, he reflected slowly. Yet somehow, it didn't surprise that Cheyanna was on the other side. Hadn't he seen her guile at work last night? And to think he had been heartsick over someone that... shallow.
"So what are we going to do," Link stated slowly. A hero, a legend, yet he could barely think for himself at the moment.
"We need to get out of here," the red-haired girl repeated, rubbing her wrists where the manacles had been.
"How? You need to escape, but she'll know you're gone, then she'll know that I've helped you, and it's just a big mess." This, coming from someone who never gave up, despite the odds stacked against him. The irony was not lost on him; he went through all this trouble for one girl. But hadn't he done more for Princess Zelda? Conflicting emotions rose, arguing with each other. To his surprise, she smiled, and it was certainly a thing of beauty.
"I would have never ask for your help if I didn't know that you'd be in danger. Of course not. I'm not that selfish. Anyway, the king doesn't know I'm here. So, Cheyanna can't tell him about me without getting in trouble herself. I don't know if that will help you at all, but it might. As for me, I've got to leave, and now."
"Where are you going?" He couldn't help but ask; certainly Lance might be curious. Miyako flipped her hair over one shoulder in a smooth gesture.
"I was on my way to the Temple of Life." She said no more than that, but instead lowered her eyes to her frayed dress and picked at several loose threads. He remembered that Prince Kellen had mentioned something about it, but only that it was deteriorating. Daughter of a God is fallen, he mused, then shook his head. Cheyanna? But Edward was no god; there was just an aura about them. Perhaps King Viru wasn't really a king. Could God be a reference to King? He laughed aloud at this sudden thought, and earned a confused look from the girl. "Erm... It must be none of my business, then." Miyako looked up at him, shock in her eyes.
"You, the Hero of Time, have no business with the decaying Temple of Life? Good Gods!" Then she laughed, yet it was not a condescending laugh. Still, he didn't enjoy being laughed at, but Link waited for her to explain. "There's something wrong there. I don't know what it is, but... it's evil. And it's very serious. You've heard of the Seven Dragons, right?" Link shook his head. Miyako's eyes widened. "No?"
"No. I know of Seven Sages, but..."
"Well... hmm... It would take too long to explain properly, and time isn't on my side. Listen, Lance will tell you. He's here at the castle, isn't he?"
"How did you know that?" Link couldn't hide his amazement.
"I felt his aura, that's how. We go back a ways, him and me." A look of nostalgia passed over her countenance, and Link frowned. He didn't know why, but he felt jealous already. Yet he'd only met her in person today, and she was nothing short of strange. "We used to play a lot together, especially on the beach. Sometimes he said that he could hear his mom, living a second life in the water where she belonged." Miyako shook her head. "Erm, I shouldn't have said that, but nostalgia is a queer disease, don't you think?" Link, who'd never had any parents that he remembered, could not relate, but nodded anyway.
"He told me about his mother and father," the blonde teenager said slowly, "if that eases your conscience." Miyako nodded, and she did look visibly relieved. After all, it's unwise and rude to spill your friend's secrets to someone you just met, no matter how unwittingly. "But what's wrong with it?"
"I think... I think it's the dragon, Ententé... There's something wrong with it. A poison? I don't know. But I feel like I'm being drawn to it. I must go. It's that simple." She shrugged and turned away. "I thought you might feel it, maybe Lance and the Princess of Hyrule, as well..." Link twitched at the mention of Zelda. "...but I don't know how I'm going to get out of here without the guards knowing. Doubtless... they're coming. But when they get here, you'll only say that you were exploring the castle." Her eyes lit up. "And that it was empty when you got here."
"And the shackles?" They were clearly cleanly cut; not a clue that anyone would want to leave around.
"I'll take them with me."
"How do you expect to leave? Fly out the window?" Link couldn't help but hold a contemptuous tone; after all, there were so many flaws in her plan. She turned to face him, glaring.
"I never said that my idea was perfect, unless you've got a better one." In a crazy way, her temper pleased him, but he had no idea why.
"Well..." He hesitated, trying to come up with a better idea and failing miserably. He could think of nothing except... "Erm..." Still nothing.
Then, it struck him like lightning.
Or rather, like a large, plain black ball. Stifling a smile, he brought it out of his pouch and handed it to her somewhat triumphantly. Miyako stared at the ball, then at him.
"And what, exactly, am I going to do with this? Throw it at them? Play pins with it? Sure, we could have tea in the garden and games at sunset." She sounded skeptical, but Link didn't blame her; after all, when he had first seen it, he hadn't thought much of it either.
"Prince Kellen gave this to me. He said it'll summon any beasts of the area. They should be able to provide a distraction." Her eyes widened slightly, and then a smile spread across her face.
"That's great!"
"The only problem is, what if innocent people get caught up in this? I don't want the beasts to lose control and start attacking the city folk." Well, there were always flaws in plans, even good ones.
"Well, if you can summon them, you should be able to control them, right?" Miyako's face was earnest; this plan was definitely better than hers. Link thought about this for several moments.
"...I don't really know. He never said if it did, only that it'd summon the beasts of the area. It was created by Shadeius," added the nineteen-year- old as an afterthought. Miyako jerked as if shocked, and stared at him with wide wonderment.
"...Shadeius...?" Her voice had degenerated to a mild squeak.
"Yeah..."
"And you don't know the legends...?" Link shook his head; he wasn't too acquainted with them. "Never mind, it's just... Maybe using it wouldn't be such a good idea..." The Hero of Time frowned at this; so far as he saw it, it was probably the only chance she had. "I don't... I don't think it would be wise to use something made by Shadeius... it would be... wrong." Before Link could argue, a small, evil chuckle resonated from the doorway.
"You didn't think you could escape without me noticing, did you?" Cheyanna watched them with cold, darkly satisfied eyes. Her eyes flickered to Link. "And you... I should have known you'd play the part of the hero. I should have killed you when I had the chance. There's no need for an explanation; I have reason to believe Miyako has told you everything."
There is a difference between being told someone is a traitor and finding out for yourself. Such was Link's astonishment that the very princess of Selinta would be the traitor to her father's throne.
"You..." He could think of nothing intelligent to say, so he shut his mouth before something stupid could fall out of it. The princess shook her head at them.
"You've allowed yourself to be cornered as though this were a silly game of Knights and Knaves. Do you really think there's going to be someone here to save you now?" Her eyes blazed with a dark light that looked both deluding and sinister. "You cannot escape, and even if you did, no one would believe your outrageous story."
'We've got to do something, and quick,' Miyako thought helplessly, 'but what?' Cheyanna took a step towards them, her lips twitching into a malicious smile.
Before she could say anything, however, Link suddenly threw the ball as hard as he could. It smashed into the wall beside Cheyanna and erupted into a roar of black flames. The princess screamed and leapt sideways as the flames reached hungrily for her.
In the distance, a loud, monstrous cry trumpeted.
Link wasn't in his room, nor was he in the Great Hall or the Training Barracks. Cheyanna was nearly fuming with frustration; where could the Hero of Time gone to? There simply wasn't any place in the castle that could possibly be so interesting as to—
Her eyes widened suddenly. She should have known; the East Tower had the greatest view of all the castle towers. Perhaps someone had taken him up there to see the view, and in doing that had discovered...
No! It was absurd. The East Tower was off limits, but had anyone mentioned that to Our Fair Hero? Probably... but then again, the chance that no one had... Cheyanna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She would have a guard go and check on Miyako, make sure she was still in her shackles and undiscovered by Link. If she wasn't... well... then that would be the time to perform two quick murders.
"It's not that I don't believe you—" Link started, but Miyako held up her hand.
"Link, lying to me is stupid, not to mention degrading to the both of us. You, for thinking that I'd fall for it, and me, because you think I'm not telling the truth. You think I'm the spy for King Viru. Well, I spied on Cheyanna to find out when the Tophetians would make their move against the Selintans. Unfortunately, I was caught. To make a long story short, I was tried for treason and espionage and thrown in here." Link shook his head and found he had little to say. "We need to get out of here, before Cheyanna..." Miyako hesitated slightly.
"What?"
"I'm thinking she might want to kill us both. You, because King Viru's afraid of you, and me because I know too much." Link closed his eyes for a moment, his mind swimming in a sea of too much disclosure. Too many revelations in a short time becomes tiring, he reflected slowly. Yet somehow, it didn't surprise that Cheyanna was on the other side. Hadn't he seen her guile at work last night? And to think he had been heartsick over someone that... shallow.
"So what are we going to do," Link stated slowly. A hero, a legend, yet he could barely think for himself at the moment.
"We need to get out of here," the red-haired girl repeated, rubbing her wrists where the manacles had been.
"How? You need to escape, but she'll know you're gone, then she'll know that I've helped you, and it's just a big mess." This, coming from someone who never gave up, despite the odds stacked against him. The irony was not lost on him; he went through all this trouble for one girl. But hadn't he done more for Princess Zelda? Conflicting emotions rose, arguing with each other. To his surprise, she smiled, and it was certainly a thing of beauty.
"I would have never ask for your help if I didn't know that you'd be in danger. Of course not. I'm not that selfish. Anyway, the king doesn't know I'm here. So, Cheyanna can't tell him about me without getting in trouble herself. I don't know if that will help you at all, but it might. As for me, I've got to leave, and now."
"Where are you going?" He couldn't help but ask; certainly Lance might be curious. Miyako flipped her hair over one shoulder in a smooth gesture.
"I was on my way to the Temple of Life." She said no more than that, but instead lowered her eyes to her frayed dress and picked at several loose threads. He remembered that Prince Kellen had mentioned something about it, but only that it was deteriorating. Daughter of a God is fallen, he mused, then shook his head. Cheyanna? But Edward was no god; there was just an aura about them. Perhaps King Viru wasn't really a king. Could God be a reference to King? He laughed aloud at this sudden thought, and earned a confused look from the girl. "Erm... It must be none of my business, then." Miyako looked up at him, shock in her eyes.
"You, the Hero of Time, have no business with the decaying Temple of Life? Good Gods!" Then she laughed, yet it was not a condescending laugh. Still, he didn't enjoy being laughed at, but Link waited for her to explain. "There's something wrong there. I don't know what it is, but... it's evil. And it's very serious. You've heard of the Seven Dragons, right?" Link shook his head. Miyako's eyes widened. "No?"
"No. I know of Seven Sages, but..."
"Well... hmm... It would take too long to explain properly, and time isn't on my side. Listen, Lance will tell you. He's here at the castle, isn't he?"
"How did you know that?" Link couldn't hide his amazement.
"I felt his aura, that's how. We go back a ways, him and me." A look of nostalgia passed over her countenance, and Link frowned. He didn't know why, but he felt jealous already. Yet he'd only met her in person today, and she was nothing short of strange. "We used to play a lot together, especially on the beach. Sometimes he said that he could hear his mom, living a second life in the water where she belonged." Miyako shook her head. "Erm, I shouldn't have said that, but nostalgia is a queer disease, don't you think?" Link, who'd never had any parents that he remembered, could not relate, but nodded anyway.
"He told me about his mother and father," the blonde teenager said slowly, "if that eases your conscience." Miyako nodded, and she did look visibly relieved. After all, it's unwise and rude to spill your friend's secrets to someone you just met, no matter how unwittingly. "But what's wrong with it?"
"I think... I think it's the dragon, Ententé... There's something wrong with it. A poison? I don't know. But I feel like I'm being drawn to it. I must go. It's that simple." She shrugged and turned away. "I thought you might feel it, maybe Lance and the Princess of Hyrule, as well..." Link twitched at the mention of Zelda. "...but I don't know how I'm going to get out of here without the guards knowing. Doubtless... they're coming. But when they get here, you'll only say that you were exploring the castle." Her eyes lit up. "And that it was empty when you got here."
"And the shackles?" They were clearly cleanly cut; not a clue that anyone would want to leave around.
"I'll take them with me."
"How do you expect to leave? Fly out the window?" Link couldn't help but hold a contemptuous tone; after all, there were so many flaws in her plan. She turned to face him, glaring.
"I never said that my idea was perfect, unless you've got a better one." In a crazy way, her temper pleased him, but he had no idea why.
"Well..." He hesitated, trying to come up with a better idea and failing miserably. He could think of nothing except... "Erm..." Still nothing.
Then, it struck him like lightning.
Or rather, like a large, plain black ball. Stifling a smile, he brought it out of his pouch and handed it to her somewhat triumphantly. Miyako stared at the ball, then at him.
"And what, exactly, am I going to do with this? Throw it at them? Play pins with it? Sure, we could have tea in the garden and games at sunset." She sounded skeptical, but Link didn't blame her; after all, when he had first seen it, he hadn't thought much of it either.
"Prince Kellen gave this to me. He said it'll summon any beasts of the area. They should be able to provide a distraction." Her eyes widened slightly, and then a smile spread across her face.
"That's great!"
"The only problem is, what if innocent people get caught up in this? I don't want the beasts to lose control and start attacking the city folk." Well, there were always flaws in plans, even good ones.
"Well, if you can summon them, you should be able to control them, right?" Miyako's face was earnest; this plan was definitely better than hers. Link thought about this for several moments.
"...I don't really know. He never said if it did, only that it'd summon the beasts of the area. It was created by Shadeius," added the nineteen-year- old as an afterthought. Miyako jerked as if shocked, and stared at him with wide wonderment.
"...Shadeius...?" Her voice had degenerated to a mild squeak.
"Yeah..."
"And you don't know the legends...?" Link shook his head; he wasn't too acquainted with them. "Never mind, it's just... Maybe using it wouldn't be such a good idea..." The Hero of Time frowned at this; so far as he saw it, it was probably the only chance she had. "I don't... I don't think it would be wise to use something made by Shadeius... it would be... wrong." Before Link could argue, a small, evil chuckle resonated from the doorway.
"You didn't think you could escape without me noticing, did you?" Cheyanna watched them with cold, darkly satisfied eyes. Her eyes flickered to Link. "And you... I should have known you'd play the part of the hero. I should have killed you when I had the chance. There's no need for an explanation; I have reason to believe Miyako has told you everything."
There is a difference between being told someone is a traitor and finding out for yourself. Such was Link's astonishment that the very princess of Selinta would be the traitor to her father's throne.
"You..." He could think of nothing intelligent to say, so he shut his mouth before something stupid could fall out of it. The princess shook her head at them.
"You've allowed yourself to be cornered as though this were a silly game of Knights and Knaves. Do you really think there's going to be someone here to save you now?" Her eyes blazed with a dark light that looked both deluding and sinister. "You cannot escape, and even if you did, no one would believe your outrageous story."
'We've got to do something, and quick,' Miyako thought helplessly, 'but what?' Cheyanna took a step towards them, her lips twitching into a malicious smile.
Before she could say anything, however, Link suddenly threw the ball as hard as he could. It smashed into the wall beside Cheyanna and erupted into a roar of black flames. The princess screamed and leapt sideways as the flames reached hungrily for her.
In the distance, a loud, monstrous cry trumpeted.