Disclaimer: anime animal does not pretend to own Zelda. She believes that if she sells sufficient amounts of her body to medical research she will be able to find the money in order to buy it…

A.N: Yes! I've found a floppy disk that works! Oh God, I can't believe it! Yes! More updates! I am so sorry this has been delayed, but the stupid, stupid school computers wouldn't read my disks and my computer isn't connected to the internet. That, is now a thing of the past because this wonderful disk is working! YES! I only hope the chapter's worth the wait…

Chapter 7: Flight of the atillian

Iza led Orla into the imposing grey stone building and shot the girl a reassuring smile.

"I know, it's a creepy looking place but it's not so bad inside. Come on, I'll introduce you to Lady Cordelia and then let's see if we can draw you a bath."

Orla nodded appreciatively and followed her companion into the large house. Iza took her through a long corridor to a room which glowed orange from the light of a roaring fire. In a chair before the fireplace there sat a woman, her head bowed over her lap as she concentrated on something, a tapestry hoop Orla reckoned. The woman was middle aged, maybe in her late forties, with a sheet of silver streaked blonde hair. She looked up from her work and fixed her eyes on Iza before switching her attention to the child beside her. Beside Iza, Orla shrank back involuntarily.

"Who have you got there Iza?"

The woman put her tapestry hoop down on the arm of the chair and stood gracefully, her grey eyes taking in everything she was presented with and regarding them with keen interest.

"Lady Cordelia, I was out in the storm and I found this child sheltering under a rock face and I-"

"You were wondering whether or not it would be possible for her to stay here tonight."

"I, er-"

Cordelia advanced towards them, never once taking her eyes off Orla.

"What is your name, child?"

Orla felt her stomach tie itself in knots and struggled to find her tongue."

"Ariala ma'am."

Cordelia froze momentarily, particularly when she saw the girl's eyes, that same tempestuous shade of midnight blue. She swallowed.

"Iza, won't you run our guest a bath?"

Iza curtsied.

"Yes my lady. Come along Ariala."

"Ariala will stay with me until her bath is ready," Cordelia responded coolly. "You may leave us."

"Yes madam."

Iza backed out of the room, closing the door behind her. Orla remained glued to the spot, not knowing how to handle the situation she was presented with.

"Ariala is it?" Cordelia asked. "So which one is your father, Aidyn or Ranlink?"

Orla jumped.

"I'm sorry?"

"Which one of the Ferras brothers is your father? And don't feign ignorance with me Ariala, you have your grandmother's eyes. I know that you are of Olaran's line."

Orla hung her head and chewed her bottom lip.

"I'm not telling."

Cordelia knelt before the child and lifted the girl's chin so that their eyes met. The older woman's eyes widened in realisation.

"You have the look of your father about you, but you have traits of your mother about you too. And you have withheld the truth with regards to your name. Isn't that right Orla?"

Orla jumped.

"How did you know that?"

Cordelia's heart sank as her gamble paid off. She stood, not taking her eyes off her granddaughter.

"That is none of your concern Princess. What I wish to know is why the King of Hyrule's grandchild is wandering around on her own in the middle of a storm?"

Orla's eyes flashed defiantly.

"That is none of your concern," she parroted.

Cordelia's mouth twitched as she struggled to contain her smile.

"We must all have our own secrets, it is our right," she said softly. "If you wish to tell me what has caused you to be out here then you will when you choose to. For now, I can only offer you my hospitality and extend my hand to you in friendship, Your Highness."

Orla relented and shook the elder woman's slender hand in her own grubby one.

"You won't tell anyone that I'm here, will you?"

Cordelia smiled and shook her head.

"As I said, we must all have our own secrets. Your identity and location shall be an addition to the many that I keep."

Orla frowned for a moment and then sneezed.

"May the gods bless you."

The little princess smiled and looked around at her surroundings, taking in the many tapestries on the walls and the roaring fire.

"I believe that your bath must soon be ready. Come now, I will show you to your room and see if I can find you something different to wear. One would become suspicious to see a child wearing a royal tunic in this household."

Orla looked down at her mud splattered purple tunic, printed in the same pattern as a similar garment worn by a ten year old Zelda on the day she had met the boy who would be her husband. Zelda's daughter felt tears threaten to overcome her as she focused on the royal insignia, knowing that she would never see it again, let alone wear it.

Cordelia watched her silent grandchild with mute reverence, taking in every aspect of the girl's appearance. Everything about her screamed Ariala, and for that reason alone the former Queen's jealous nature began to plead for the child to be expelled from the house, but one small voice spoke softly to Cordelia's heart, a voice she had ignored since the day she had turned her back on her own daughter who had wailed bitterly in the cradle as her mother had fled from the castle.

This child is the daughter of your daughter. Don't turn your back on her too.

Orla felt a soft hand on her shoulder and looked up into the compassionate grey eyes of her unknown relative.

"It will be alright Orla, as long as you remain here I will see to it that you never need to worry."

******

Deep within the Temple of Light, the wizened head of Rauru the Sage of Light stared up at a far off window that was coloured with the sun's early rays that managed to break through the thick grey clouds.

"What a miserable dawn."

"I couldn't agree with you more," his companion answered, pushing her long purple cloak away from her head.

"Have they found any sign of her?"

Impa shook her head.

"Not a hint. Zelda didn't sleep all night, and there is still no word from Link."

"Has the child contacted either of them?"

"Zelda tried to, all through the night she tried. Orla doesn't want to be found."

"And Link? Has the Princess heard anything from him?"

Impa shook her head.

"No, they fought before he left and he hasn't been in contact. Zelda's beside herself."

Rauru regarded the Sheikah critically for a moment.

"Orla's disappearance is not all that is troubling you, is it Impa?"

"I can feel the hold of darkness growing," she said quietly. "The shadows grow more sinister, as though they cloak some terrible event with their mists. I have been waiting for Zelda to come to me with her fears, but for reasons known only unto her she has been dedicated to training Orla with magic, it has become her main concern."

"I know, and one can only assume that the gods have a reason for her to be occupied in such a manner. The question is, what exactly is that purpose?"

Impa shook her head.

"That is a question that only the gods themselves can find an answer for."

******

Orla looked around her, finding no-one except herself sitting in the unfamiliar glade. She was seated on a moss covered log, dressed in the night-dress that Lady Cordelia had provided for her earlier. There was a soft breeze blowing like a warm kiss upon her skin and the air smelt of summer, sweet like wild flowers.

We should not be here.

The princess snorted indignantly.

"No, I should be asleep in bed."

But it is not your bed.

"You think that I don't already realise that?" Orla bit back. "I- we, killed someone today."

The breeze blew softly again.

Did we?

Orla opened her mouth to reply, but then frowned.

"Alanya's alive?"

That is not something we will know for sure until you return home.

"Yeah, but I'll still be in trouble!" Orla retorted.

We should not stay here, we are needed at home.

"Why?"

Because that is our place. We are needed there, you and I. Did you even stop to think of what your absence is doing to your family?

Orla hung her head before shaking it. A hand touched her shoulder softly and as Orla looked up, her eyes opened wide and her mouth fell open.

"Is that... you?"

"Yes."

The strange girl spoke softly, her eyes shining keenly and sympathetically in the direction of the young Hylian.

"We need to return home Orla, we must, otherwise all that is important to us will be destroyed."

"I can't go back!" Orla cried. "Even if I'm not a murderer I still can't go home! I used my powers for bad and that is the worst thing I could do! I'm a monster!"

"We are not a monster. We are a power that cannot afford to go astray, we must remain under the guidance of the Triforce otherwise we will destroy ourselves. Please Orla, you must return!"

For the first time since Orla had ever held a conversation with the unknown entity that shared her existence, she had never heard her voice raise itself to higher than a soft whisper. As she turned to look into the eyes of her companion, Orla could see sparkling tears dazzling in her bright eyes.

"Do not let the same thing happen to you that happened to me, I beg of you. You deserve more of a life than I ever had, you should not have the flame of your being snuffed out before it has even had the chance to burn at its brightest."

"What are you talking about?" Orla whispered. "Am I... Are we going to die?"

Her companion could not bring herself to look into Orla's eyes.

"I do not know. All I know is that I let our power control me, it destroyed me, and I wish that my mother had not kept that power alive so that it has the chance to do the same thing to you."

******

Darkness. All around there was darkness.

How many years had he been there? How did he know? There was no time, there was no night or day. But all that he knew existed was hatred.

And there was no-one he hated more than those who had put him there.

Some day, some great day when he could escape this hell that he had been induced to, he'd be free. Free to exact his revenge on those who had imprisoned him.

The pale, thin lips of the atillian* quirked upwards in a cruel, thin smile. Such amusement could be gathered from reading the thoughts of those imprisoned within this dark pit that its master had been subjected to that the creature took great delight in frequently probing the minds of those captive. This subject had always been one of great interest to all of the beings of darkness, the way his mind continued to brood and scheme and rage with thoughts of revenge, destruction and disdain. That and the way this one held such tremendous power that it had ensnared the interest of the Master.

Mortis.

The God of Death and Destruction sat alone in his chamber within the Evil Realm. Although a god, he was reduced to being imprisoned by his relatives and superiors to the Hell that had been created for the soulless demons of the world, the final home of all the creatures created with evil as the only thing on their mind. He should be with them in the Sacred Realm, observing the goings on in the world from his seat of power beside his brothers and sisters the way he should have done. The way he was destined to have done. Once, when the world was young, he had sat peacefully with them, living a merry and prosperous life and dutifully tending to the Dead, releasing them from their endeavours on the plain of mortals and allowing them the eternal rest they so rightly deserved as well as punishing those of evil heart to an eternity within the Evil Realm where their dark souls became uneasy, bitter and empty to the extent they turned to atillian, the dark spirits that one mortal had once summoned to do his bidding in the form of creatures created by his own power, power that had been amplified thanks to the gift he had plundered from the Sacred Realm.

It was that reason alone that kept Ganondorf Dragmire in his body.

Mortis' eyes narrowed as he thought of the man, the being who was causing such a disturbance within his world. Already he knew that the allegiance of his atillian servants was being turned to the Gerudo, particularly in those that he had seized to create his own servants during the time that should have been. Mortis was faced with a dilemma.

His power, although great, had been greatly diminished during his battle with his niece so many millennia ago, not only that, all of his siblings held that power in check, keeping it from ever being at a force strong enough to threaten the Sacred Realm again.

But not one had been looking at Ganondorf.

Mortis could use his power, he could cipher enough of it into his own body so as not to be noticed by Ganondorf or the other gods but it was significantly potent enough to give his own vigour a much needed boost. As the stars continued to move in their alignment towards nox nocte, he grew confident that he would soon be where he belonged. He would be the one to rule everything, and not the council of Twelve.

However, there was one thing that troubled him.

Endeffera's power was still out there, like a beacon burning through the darkness he would create. For centuries he had thought it impossible that any suggestion of her being had survived, but it had been earlier that day that he had sensed it. It had only been a flicker, insignificant like the bite of an insect, but he knew too well that bites could become infected and become a real problem. That was the only thing that could possibly stop him. It was also the one thing that could aid him in the ultimate realisation of his aim. Yet he knew his niece, he knew of her stubborn nature when it came to doing 'the right thing.' She'd destroy herself all over again in order to prevent him from succeeding.

Which was why he could not afford for her power to come into the equation.

Clicking his long, white fingers, he summoned one of the many atillian to him.

"I have an errand for you. Seek out Nayru's child Endeffera and either persuade her to join me..."

He paused for a moment, swirling a deep red liquid about in the bottom of a crystal goblet before supping it elegantly.

"Or destroy her."

******

"I am not going to be controlled by it," Orla snapped stubbornly. "I won't lose to it."

"Have you ever felt the life drain from you like flour through a sieve?"

"What?"

"To feel your soul flowing out of you while you struggled with what little life you had left to keep that soul within you. Do you know how it feels to watch yourself die in your mother's arms?"

There was anger in her voice, anger that Orla found alarming and at the same time she felt bitterly saddened by it also.

"The power will always control us Orla, no matter how hard we try it will take us, and if the same thing happens this time around, it will happen again to another child like you, only then there will be three souls in one vessel, not two."

Orla shuddered and felt her hands wring the fabric of her night-gown's skirt.

"How can I stop this?"

"Go home Orla."

Orla nodded.

"Alright, I'll go in the morning. Right now, can't I dream in peace?"

******

Epona stumbled and swiftly righted herself, bringing Link back down to earth with a thud. His thoughts had been up in the air, mostly those thoughts were telling him that he was a heartless bastard who did not deserve to be married to such a wonderful woman, particularly considering the way he had snapped at her for doing something for that was for the benefit of their daughter. He loosened the mare's reins and let her have her head, allowing her to slow down on her own accord and return to the placid pace of a walk. Her breathing was heavy, unsurprising after the time and distance for which she had been galloping.

"I'm sorry girl, seems I'm screwing up everything for everyone I care about."

If it were me, I would have found her by now.

Link's eyes narrowed.

"I've told you this before: Get out of my head."

The intruding voice laughed mockingly in his mind.

You know, I don't think I'll ever tire of winding you up, you're as volatile as Death Mountain on a bad day.

"OK, so what would you do in my position? What if your daughter was lost somewhere and you didn't have a clue what to do and where to find her? Come to think of it, if you're so damned sure of yourself why the Hell haven't you shown yourself and taken me on face to face because quite frankly, I am more than a little bit pissed off and I would be glad to take this sword and ram it between your ribs."

Link was seething.

Quite frankly, I find your anger rather amusing.

"I have beaten you before and I won't hesitate to do it again. For the last time, get out of my head!"

The laughter echoing in his head taunted him until he cried out savagely so much that his throat hurt. Epona snorted loudly, the sound echoing around the valley along with the dying echoes of Link's cry.

Now, however, is not the time for us to be arguing, you'll be needing my help very soon now.

"So you say."

It's true. As much as it galls me to say it, you and I have to join forces if you want to save your daughter's life.

"What do you mean?"

Link unknowingly pulled Epona to a halt and sat stock still in the saddle.

"Is she in danger?"

You know full well that she always has been since the moment she was created.

"I mean at the moment, is she being threatened?"

I know that if Mortis has his way then yes, but there's no proof. But you need to find the brat as soon as you can.

"Why are you helping me?"

There was a brief silence as the voice contemplated Link's question for a moment.

Unfortunately as much as you need me, I also need you.

"I have all I need, and I very much doubt that you need me," Link mocked scornfully.

Believe what you want to.

"I do."

His thoughts dwelled on what exactly it was that the strange voice in his head was trying to say as its presence left him, and as Epona quickened her pace to a trot a sudden image filled his mind. A strange shadowy creature with blood red eyes screeched and wheeled above a large grey house, its eyes filled with hatred and malicious intent. It screeched again, and for one moment he could have sworn he heard a name, a name he knew all too well and at the moment hated with all his being.

Endeffera!

"Shit! What the hell is that?" he gasped. "Gods, where's Zelda when you..."

He tailed off into a guilty silence. Zelda would have known what that creature was. Not for the first time that evening he began to regret his argument with her. Little things sprang to mind following his departure, such as the way that her eyes had shone with tears that she'd tried to hide from him. He hated the fact that he'd gone ahead and hurt her when she was hurting just as much as he was, maybe even more.

"I'm such an idiot..."

Epona snorted with a sound that sounded like agreement.

"Thanks Epona, I really needed that," Link replied dryly.

He spurred the mare onwards into the rising dawn, the horrible image of the creature doing nothing to ease his concern and doing everything to heighten it.

I only hope that I get to Orla before that thing does...

to be continued...

*atillian is pronounced at-ee-I-an. Why? 'Cause I'm God in this fic! Ha ha ha! And I thought it'd be fun...