Again, the cold body of Auldric rose slowly from unconsciousness.
"You are awake," said the voice softly within the boy's mind.
He groaned. "I thought that had all been a dream," he said aloud.
"No dream, just hazy reality."
"Hazy?"
The voice ignored his question. "It is time for us to leave this place."
Auldric nodded, more to himself than to the voice, and stood up looking around him as he did.
The ice cave was no bigger than a small hut, and most of it's space was filled with the frigid waters of the river above. Auldric was standing on a small shelf of dry land hidden away in a corner of the small cave. An altar stood decaying against the wall.
Looking up, Auldric could see no way to climb from the hole above him where the waterfall was pouring in.
"How do we get out?" he asked.
"Through the water, of course," said the voice patiently.
Looking down into the pool, the water seemed clear to Auldric's eyes, and suddenly, as if a ray of light had shown through the cave mouth, he glimpsed a small hole near the bottom of the pool.
"I have to swim? Through that water?"
"If you do not," said the voice, "then we both stay here for eternity."
Auldric did not need to be told twice. Taking a large breath, he gripped the Master Sword fiercely and dove into the freezing water.
Immediately his skin was accosted by the numbness of icy water, but he fought the pain and swam until he was at the hole. Grabbing its sides firmly, he pulled himself through the opening, propelling himself down a narrow tunnel of water, blinded by the now rushing bubbles and liquid.
He torpedoed along for what seemed like an eternity, all the while his lungs screaming louder and louder for air.
Then, just as it seemed he would continue forever, the rush of water ended and Auldric was thrown into the air.
He landed heavily on a patch of earth and lay there gasping for breath for many minutes, suddenly shivering as his adrenaline left his already weak body.
"Good boy, Auldric. Now we are free for fulfil our destinies," said the voice softly.
Auldric's gasps soon became normal rhythmic breaths and he began to dream…
"Why are you here?"
He looked around but could see nothing- the world had gone black.
"Why are you here?" Repeated the ethereal voice.
"Who are you! What do you want of me!?" he screamed in reply.
"You are here."
"Yes I'm here! Now answer me!"
"Why are you here?"
"I don't know where here is!" he shouted to the nothingness. "I can't see anything!"
There was a pause of silence and the blackness seemed to get even more black.
More voices this time sang a response in voices that both made his skin crawl and his heart break:
"Your eyes are perfect and there's no fog, yet you roam wasting time"
He collapsed to his knees, holding his head in the pain and pleasure the voices created within his mind.
"That… answers nothing! Where am I?!"
Again the sirens answered, this time softer, at the edge of hearing. "You lie in bed fevered and still, yet you are not sick at all."
Tears started to flow freely down his cheeks as the voices spoke again, his confusion mounting and his terror at the voices rising.
"What is happening to me?" he asked the voices in a small voice.
Again a pause and the pressure on his mind increased. Then, just above a breath, the voices spoke again.
"Why are you dead?"
The pressure continued to increase until, finally, Auldric passed out in the blackness.
He opened his eyes painfully.
"What…?" he croaked hoarsely to the world around him.
Suddenly a hand pressed upon his brow and a cooling sensation spread through his body.
"Shh." Came voice softly from above. "You must remain quiet and calm. You are safe."
But he did not listen. Auldric tired to fight the hand and rose his head from the pillow it was resting on and tried to rise.
"I'm not safe! The darkness will find me! The voices will torture me again! I must…"
His words we cut when the hand forcefully pulled him back onto the pillow. "You must rest, sir. I assure you, you are safe here. Do not worry yourself. You have been through a lot. Now is the time to rest."
Again a feeling spread through his body, but this time he could not fight against its sense of quiescence.
He quickly fell again into sleep.
When next he woke, Auldric woke slowly. There was no hand holding him to the bed he slept in, and he rose slowly.
He was sitting on a very soft bed in a small cottage. In the hearth a small fire was glowing, warming something in a pot. Next to the bed, sitting quietly on a chair, sat a young girl, sleeping.
Auldric stared at the girl. With her long brown hair and perfect face softened by sleep, she looked much like an angel he saw often on a statue standing in his village. The angel he once believed stood only for him and protected him.
The memory brought back unwanted memories of his past, and he quickly pushed them to the back of his mind.
Throwing the sheets off him, he stood shakily, noticing for the first time how white his completion had become. His veins could be seen clearly on his bones and in the filtering sunlight of a nearby window, his skin seemed to almost glow. If he did not know better, he would say that his skin was dead.
While looking himself over for injuries, he noticed that his tunic had been removed and warm towels had been tied onto his chest. Ripping them off, he threw them onto the bed and wandered over to the fire.
The heat of the fire seemed to burn instead of warm him as he drew near to the hearth. Turning away from the fire, Auldric looked to the table nearby. Upon this table sat a pot similar to the one on the fire. The boy gingerly took the lid off of this pot and peered inside, hoping for some food. Alas, he only found more of the wet rags.
As he replaced the lid, he heard a gasp. Turning, he saw that the girl had awakened and was staring fixedly at him.
He walked over to her and stared at her. She stared back, apprehension in her eyes.
"Where…?" Auldric started, but found his voice halted in his throat. He coughed painfully and tried again. "Where… am…?" but could get no further.
The girl stood suddenly and placed a hand upon Auldric's arm. Reacting swiftly, the warrior grabbed her arm and threw the girl against the wall, then pinned her arms above her head with his hands. He stared her in the eyes, his face close to hers.
"Where am I!" he screamed at the girl angrily, not caring for the burning in his throat. Just as he yelled, he stopped and relaxed, seeing the look of pure terror in the eyes of the girl, and the tears beginning to well up within them. She released a pitiful sob. She meant him no harm.
He released his grip on her and sat down heavily on the bed, massaging his battered throat. The girl collapsed into the chair and curled up, not letting her eyes off of him.
For over an hour they stayed like that, both eying each other, waiting for movement. Finally, it was Auldric who broke the silence.
"Did you save me?" He croaked to the girl.
She nodded slowly, eyes still upon him.
"What happened? How did I get here?"
She spoke quietly in response. "I found you near the lake."
"What…?" Auldric's words caught in his throat and he suddenly felt light-headed. The world tipped suddenly and he passed out, falling back onto the bed.
After a minute, the girl rose from her chair and looked at her guest's eyes. He was definitely out cold, and still suffering from the fever.
She sighed and picked up the pot of warm rags from the table. He should not have risen from bed so soon.
She quietly began to apply the rags.
Yet again, Auldric rose from unconsciousness, but this time lay still, his eyes closed.
"You are a fool to have done that," said the voice.
"What do you mean? Done what?" mumbled the prostrate warrior.
"You attacked your hostess. She obviously helped you survive our escape from the cave, and you respond to this aid by attacking her. Good job, hero."
"Don't mock me, spirit," spat Auldric quietly. "She surprised me when she moved suddenly. I reacted as a soldier should."
The voice chuckled. "A soldier?? Whoever said that you were a soldier?"
"Of course I am. I serve the king, I am his guard. That makes me a soldier."
"Serving a king does not a soldier make. Peasants serve a king; servants serve a king, but neither are soldiers. You are merely a servant. Or you would be had you not thrown away your duties. You then are now nothing more than a man with no mission."
"I am not a servant!" yelled Auldric fiercely to the voice. "I do as I wish and I do have a mission!"
"You have no master, yet you call yourself a soldier. You have no orders yet you have a mission. You must be wiser than me to see the logic in these."
The boy seethed in anger toward the voice but did not respond. He was too weak. "I have no time for phantoms," he said.
"I am no phantom," helped a voice. "I am as real as you."
Auldric froze. That was not the voice of the spirit. It was the voice of a girl.
"Who are you?" He asked slowly, keeping his eyes closed, fearing it was another voice in his head.
"I helped you survive the fever. You are alive thanks to me."
"You are… the girl?"
"Yes, I am. My name is Helen."
"Why did you save me?"
A pause. "Why should I have not? If you saw a dieing man upon a riverbank in winter, would you not help him?"
"Not if he were damned."
Again a pause. "Are you damned, sir?"
Auldric smiled slightly. "I think I may be."
"Then when you are better, we shall have your curse lifted. But for now just rest. Your fever has broken, but you still must recover you strength."
He heard the girl rise from where she must have been sitting beside him, and walk over to the fireplace.
"Did I speak in my sleep?" He asked.
She seemed to stop what she was doing and think, from the pause.
"Yes. But it was feverish mumbling. Nothing to worry about. Just sleep."
Auldric sighed and relaxed. He was safe for now and on the mend. Soon he could continue with his mission to kill Link.
As the warrior drifted off to sleep, the Voice looked down upon him and sighed.
When he next awoke, Auldric felt like he had just woken from the most peaceful sleep he had ever slept. He slowly sat up and looked around the room. The girl was nowhere to be found, yet a fire blazed happily in the fireplace. She had not gone far.
Slowly, the boy lifted his legs over the side of the bed and stretched as if he had never stretched before. His arms and legs were stiff from not moving for what must have been days, his back was like a board- rigid and hard to move. Bones cracked and moved, getting used to being awake. It felt good.
Looking out the window near the bed, Auldric noticed snow covering everything visible. Winter was still in its height.
Suddenly, the door burst open and a cold draft swam into the room. A hooded figure ran into the warm house and quickly shut the door behind her. She was carrying bundles of twigs and sticks.
The girl- Helen- put down the bundles and removed her cloak, putting it on a peg on the wall. Turning to pick up her bundles, she noticed Auldric sitting up staring at her.
She froze in mid reach. "You're awake."
The boy nodded, but did not otherwise move.
Slowly, Helen picked up the wood and walked over to the fireplace, always keeping an eye on her guest.
"Are you hungry?" she asked, peering into a pot over the fire.
"Yes," Auldric croaked. His voice was still hoarse from the long period of disuse.
"I hope you like potato soup," she said, getting out two bowls and a pair of spoons from a cupboard.
He said nothing, but tried to manage a smile as he was served his food. He did not wish to frighten the girl again. Seeing him grin, Helen returned him with a quick smile but it was gone in an instant. She was still afraid.
She took a seat in a chair by the table, watching him eat in silence. The silence was uncomfortable to say the least, each of them having questions to ask of the other.
When the soup had been finished, Auldric again led the conversation.
"Thank you," he said simply, shifting position on the bed. "The soup was delicious."
Still eying him, Helen responded in a quiet voice, "I'm glad you liked it. It's the only thing you'll be eating if you stay here."
"Why is that?"
"Potatoes and herbs are all I have to eat."
Auldric nodded. "Are there no animals around here?"
She shook her head. "None that I can catch."
"What about your father or brother… or husband?"
She paused, her breath catching for a moment. "My father is dead and I have no brother."
"I'm sorry to hear that. What about your husband?"
She seemed to blush slightly. "I have no husband."
Suddenly Auldric was hit by a realization: this girl lived alone. She had no family or loved ones. Was that why she had taken him in? For company?
Deciding to put the issue of family aside, Auldric moved the conversation in a new direction.
"You found me?" He asked.
She nodded. "I was collecting herbs near the lake nearby and I found you lying on the shore almost dead. You would have died if I hadn't helped you."
"Then I am in you debt," he said.
She waved her hand dismissively, now obviously embarrassed. "I did what anyone would have done."
Slowly, Auldric stood up, using the wall as a support. Helen tensed slightly at the movement. Instead of moving toward her, Auldric stood smartly to attention, raising his arm before him in salute.
"In the name of the Kingdom of Hyrule, I thank you for your aid to a soldier in need." That said, he collapsed to the bed exhausted with the effort of saluting.
The girl looked surprised. "You're a soldier?"
"Yes, I am," he replied. Somewhere in the back of his mind, something laughed. He ignored it.
"How did you get into the middle of the Forhasian Forest from Hyrule?" Her face suddenly lit up in hope. "Are you on a mission for the king?"
Auldric smiled. It all made sense now: A lonely young girl, living alone in a backwater part of the world, isolated from civilisation, finds a near-dead man to care for and sweep her off of her feet.
"You could say that, yes," he said.
She was nearly bubbling over with excitement as she spoke. "Then I'm so happy to have been of help to you! Will you be staying long?"
Expectation. Of course.
"That all depends on how long it takes me to heal. What do you think?"
She nodded. "Of course. But you're recovering from a nasty fever and hypothermia. You've been asleep for days and you need much more rest before you can be healthy enough the leave the forest," she paused. "I guess," she added.
"Then I'll stay until I'm strong enough to leave. But I insist on helping you to pay back my debt to you."
She again dismissed this thought with a wave of her hand. "No, you don't have to do that. I can manage. You just rest."
Auldric persisted, knowing full well the dangers of winter.
"I insist. How else will you collect enough food for two people for the winter? I'm guessing you only have enough in your pantry to feed one person- you. You need me."
The look of fantasy quickly left her eyes to be replaced with a look of reality hitting hard. Auldric waved his had, dismissively.
"Don't worry. Once I get strong enough, I'll help you with what needs doing. Hunting, logging, whatever."
She seemed to perk up at this. "I haven't had meat in along time. I'm not sure I even remember how to cook it!" She laughed the dainty laugh that all girls her age laugh. Its sound sent Auldric's head wheeling but he ignored it.
"Even so, I owe you my life. I don't know how to repay you."
She paused and blushed deeply. Getting up, she sat herself next to her guest and placed a hand on his arm. He tensed. She slowly lifted her head to look him in the eyes and said:
"Tell me all about Hyrule and your travels!"
His heart pounding madly, Auldric gasped in relief, but shook his head.
"I will. But not until my health gets better."
Helen nodded vigorously and stood up, helping Auldric into bed again. "Sleep well, Mr Knight."
Auldric smiled slightly and closed his eyes to sleep. His last thought of the day was of just how easy it was to get the girl under his control and just how critical she would be.