Chapter Seven
Before Link opened the door, he heard someone else lock their room across the hall. 'It must be Rufio,' Link thought. He waited until the heavy boots thumped down the hallway and started down the stairs. Link decided to turn up late, and gave himself a few more minutes before leaving the room and locking it.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs he saw someone standing behind the desk. "Ah, Mr. Link," the receptionist, slightly weary and haggard motioned towards him, "Mr. Rufio left something for you." "He mentioned me?" Link asked humorously. "Yes, he asked for this to be delivered to the man who registered here yesterday, and you were our only customer."
Link nodded and reached for a small packet the receptionist held in his hand. He muttered a polite thanks and walked outside towards the stables and opened it.
Inside was a letter, clasped together with a map of the town. The letter read: "The race starts at the circled spot. Try to be there before tonight on that filly of yours." Link tore the letter up but couldn't help a grin. He looked briefly at the map, which, like all the maps he had seen in the past, had the markings of a compass that moved according to the holder.
When he had reached the stables, the stable boy was already up. Epona and a fat little pony were the only ones there, and when the boy saw Link he smiled. "'Yer horse's saddled and I gave her a rubdown this mornin'. Mr. Rufio said you were gonna' be here so I took care of her," the stable boy implied. Link reached Epona, who seemed well rested and thoroughly satisfied with her stay. He patted her neck gently and turned to the boy.
"She's very happy," he said to him and dug into his wallet for another red rupee, "Take this." The boy looked at it in wonder and shook his head furiously. "No, gahtan! That'll be way too much 'fer here! You've already gave me a lot the 'firs time!" Link pried open the boy's hand and shoved it into his palm. He closed the argument then and led Epona out of the stables.
"Henti dyu, thank you very much, gahtan!" the boy called out after him before the little pony demanded some attention. Link gave him a final wave and mounted Epona. She was restless, her hoof pawing the ground and she shook her head constantly. Link steadied her and walked on a slow pace, looking at the map Rufio had given him and headed towards east.
He turned Epona toward the road and followed the street down the forward direction. Epona quickened her pace into a near trot, but Link eased her off a bit. No need to waste her energy now.
Rufio was close in sight; the large cloak he was wearing the other day was left at his room as not to drag behind. He was seated on a large black stallion, whose golden mane trailed over in forelocks above its head. Link admired the stallion, his rippling muscles indeed boasted of an excellent trainer. Epona saw the stallion and snorted in detest. The stallion spied Epona and did the same, and reared on his hind legs.
"Kyoreleah, down!" Rufio's strong voice demanded. The black did so, but it's snorting continued pointedly towards Epona. 'You again?!' it messaged towards her. Epona shook her mane and shot the stallion a devious look. 'Keep it down, Romeo, or this time no one's saving your little muzzle,' she placed right back.
Rufio gave Link a detested look before examining Epona. "Well," he started, "Lon Lon Ranch finally made off. Did they hitch a horse off someone else's ranch?" Link smiled right back and answered, "You've got a lot of shit. Your horse probably saw the kind of mare he's up to and nearly threw you off." Rufio shot a glare but gave off a laugh. "Let's see you try and fuck around after this."
He drew out a gun, and Link tensed before he realized that Rufio pointed it towards the air. "When this sounds off," Rufio explained, "we go off down this dirt path. Follow it until the little fork in the road where we turn around and come back. Is that too much for you and your filly?" Link replied sharply, "Cut the crap and eat my dust."
The gun sounded before Link realized it, and with a muttered curse he urged Epona down the dirt path with a flying leap. He kept himself low to avoid as much restriction with the wind as possible, and shook Epona's reins. Link could hear Rufio and Kyoreleah a foot alongside him. He took a sideways glance and cursed. They were faster than he had originally thought, and like he and Epona, they worked together until they molded into one being.
Rufio kept his hands clenched over Kyoreleah's reins and urged the stallion gently with a squeeze to his sides. He felt an unexpected rush, racing with this queer stranger. He expected that mare to be far behind him by now, but the man's horse fared quite a competitor. Their horses raced for a nose over each other, but when one began to advance the other just kept coming in faster. Faster and faster they rode, each moment exerting more excitement and acceleration.
Rufio admitted to himself that this stranger was quite a horseman. He never knew another man from himself to manage a velocity at this level, and the expression on the stranger's face when he glanced over to him was of pure determination and exhilaration that matched his own.
The fields passed them by in a blur, and the world had gone in a flurry of colors. Kyoreleah managed a passing comment towards Epona as he began to pull past her, 'Had enough, woman?' Epona snorted and shook her head, 'Shut up and cry at this, colt.' Her legs pounded harder until she combined her speed with newfound energy to pass by the stallion.
Link urged Epona on, with the least amount of physical pressure as possible. They worked with one mind, and only the fittest horse would win in any race. The hooves kicked up dirt and clods of grass, and he saw from the light that they were nearing the still darkened fields that have not yet seen the sun.
They chased the light, wind rushing through his ears almost painfully, but he embraced it. The adrenaline that flow through both riders was imminent, and soon he saw the fork on the road less than a kilometer away.
Epona's legs stretched, and she covered several meters with each powerful, quick stride. Rufio was still neck to neck with them, matching every stride and every gaining speed with his own. Link could almost hear him breathing, and as he glanced at him the power in those green eyes was apparent.
In less than a minute they had reached the fork, and Link prepared to turn Epona around as quickly as possible. But as he did, Kyoreleah's legs cut them off, and soon Rufio's stallion was ahead of them from around the turn.
"Fucking bastard!" Link muttered under his breath. Epona let loose a massive amount of energy, and propelled herself into a series of flying strides until they were past them. Rufio pushed Kyoreleah harder, and the stallion complied to quicken his legs. The two riders were now a blur; the distinctive clacking of the horse's hooves fell into a repetitive rhythm that it never separated for the slightest interval. They were now a thunderous hum of hoofbeats, legs moving to the extreme that they seemed to have disappeared.
They were nearing back to the starting point, the length of time half as much as it took to get to the fork. The two riders were at a point where each curve of the leg, each nose and each hoof lined in perfect unison, and both Rufio and Link pushed their horses towards the end.
They had reached it in two strides, but didn't stop. By that time, the townsfolk had risen to the morning, women to the marketplace and children around for the early day.
Many people looked towards the fields and pointed to a large dirt cloud that had formed from the distance and had now trailed back to their town.
Suddenly, women screamed and children ran back against their houses. Two riders on massive horses blurred past the streets, cutting right into the town itself. The people stared on after them, which afterward a large gust of wind and dirt blew the aprons off of many mothers and thunderous hoofbeats could be heard.
Rufio glanced at Link, who looked right back. He didn't expect him to go this far with him. In fact, he didn't understand why he wouldn't let himself stop. He tore away from his gaze and the two of them tore through the streets towards the market. They galloped past the stands and customers standing along the sides of the road. An eruption of chaos followed them, with a flurry of chicken feathers from the fowls that were in one merchant's stand and the air filled with screams, curses and clucking.
Rufio risked a look behind him, where the scene amused him beyond reason. He turned his gaze back to the street and yelled, "Shit!"
An old woman selling beads was at the middle of the road, and her deafness disabled any chance of her hearing the pounding of hooves. Kyoreleah was in too much acceleration to stop, and with a flying leap he soared across the old woman's head.
The old woman looked around her curiously. Many people were giving her a very shocked look, and she had no idea why that could be. She placed a hand on her head, where a small crackled dry leaf was tangled over her bun. Taking this, she threw it away disdainfully and went across the road. 'Young'uns,' she thought to herself, 'get all worked up over the littlest things.'
Link suppressed a laugh when he heard the stallion land from that jump and bolted himself towards them. They really won't give up, he realized. 'Neither do we,' he thought to himself. He kept his eyes on the road and saw that it converged into one lane. There was no other way forward, for at each side of the lane was a continuous row of buildings.
He and Rufio glanced at each other, and with exerting force they urged the horses forward.
"Come on, Epona," Link muttered to the mare. She picked up speed, and as did Kyoreleah. They both neared the lane, and either one horse gets in or they both ram into the building.
'Ladies first!,' Epona snorted. Kyoreleah whinnied in laughter. 'As if you're a lady.' With a powerful thrust, the stallion pushed past her, leaving no chance of Epona to bypass him down the lane.
At the very last moment, Link turned his horse to the side. Epona understood the meaning of the command and prepared for a jump over the building. Link depended on her speed for both of them to make it.
'This is it,' they both knew. The roan mare's hindquarters pumped power into her hind legs as she propelled herself into the air.
They rose seven feet, the edge to the roof still above Link's head, and began to tilt downward at an angle. Epona pushed her muscles harder and clambered against the side of the building, her hooves scrambling up against the wall inch by inch. Link kept his eyes toward the edge of the roof, the last moment before they would fall down to the ground.
When they were still a foot away from the edge, Epona surged her torso forward over the roof. They felt themselves airborne for what seemed like eternity. Link felt the wonderful rush of her hooves connected soundly with stone while her hind legs followed.
Link let out a whoop of triumph, and from down below Rufio heard the clatter of hooves upon the roof. "No way! That bloody bastard!" He pushed Kyoreleah down the street, glancing up once in a while to see Epona jumping across the spaces between buildings. When the lane began to disappear into another field, Rufio heard something above his head.
'Filthy son of a bitch!' he cursed to himself. Link and Epona landed from a jump back into the lane right in front of them.
The street here was gone, and in replacement was a wide expansion of a field. Link repressed the urge to glance back as the stallion's hooves beat closer to them until they were once again neck to neck. "You don't give up, do you?!" Rufio shouted through the wind. Link laughed and yelled back, "Had enough?!"
"Fuckin' as hell no!"
They raced down the field, keeping little attention to the slightly changing environment around them. The field had disappeared eventually, and there was more rock and sand than grass. The air had suddenly felt a bit too damp and tasted salty, but Rufio took no matter into it until his eyes finally made out what lay ahead.
"Aw shit!" Link heard him and saw it too: just a few yards ahead was a cliff. Over that cliff was an endless expanse of water, a turbulent sea that met under the cliff in crashing waters and rock. "Whoa!"
Both pulled hard on the reins, their horses let out a whinny of shock and surprise. Link gritted his teeth as he felt Epona's hooves slide across grainy particles of sand, the view over the sea closing in on them still.
He prayed that they didn't fall or that Epona could have hurt herself in the process of stopping and saw that they were still moving towards the edge. His torso leaned towards the sea from momentum and felt himself sliding.
It was then that Epona twisted around that Link felt himself slide off completely.
His body met with a thump against the rock. Link lifted himself and shook his head. Nearby, he could hear muttering curses from Rufio, who lay only a few feet beside him. They looked at each other, Link's lip cut and bleeding while Rufio had blood trickling down the side of his face. Through effort, he managed to smile. Rufio returned the expression, and soon the two of them were laughing uproariously.
Epona snorted and shook her head. 'I demand to know what's so funny!' Kyoreleah neighed in response, 'Humans.'
Rufio got up as Link dusted off his tunic. "My old man always said," he began, "that a real man is one who doesn't give in. From all the hell that you've pulled through, you're more the man I thought you are." He took out his hand and looked at Link expectedly. The Hylian smiled and shook it.
"So I guess that means you owe me a horse now," he said. "What?!" Rufio fumed, "You've got to be fucking joking! You stopped when I stopped!" "It looks that way but," Link pointed to two different sets of hoof prints scraped against the sand, the right set a few inches closer to the cliff than the left. "The marks closer to the cliff belongs to my horse," Link said deviously, "So that means I got here first."
Rufio looked at the marks and back at Link, his face fuming yet tight with laughter. "All right," he said, "I'm not a man to go back against his own word. But the boy can't handle a horse yet, maybe we can reach some kind of agreement." Link thought for a moment and nodded. "Fine, as long as you train Gatle at your ranch and let him to visit your horses whenever he likes."
The horse trainer gave it a moment's thought and nodded. "Deal." They both exchanged another handshake and mounted their horses. "So, just what hell damned name are you given?" Rufio mocked. Link looked at him and replied with a smile, "Link."
"Link," Rufio repeated and added, "I just wanted to know the dirty bastard who dares to challenge Rufio and his horses." Link gave him a testing look. "Up for another challenge?"
Rufio grinned. "From here back to the town," he stated. Link grasped Epona's reins. "You're on."
* * *
The Green Dragon was notorious for its bands of thieves and plunderers whom often took lodgings at the inn. Men laughed raucously among themselves, many whores and prostitutes moved among at least two or three men while displaying their body. Female strippers danced on the stage with male hands groping them, while music played and drinks were served. It was more of a whorehouse than an inn, and more of a niche for thieves all around than a whorehouse.
A large group entered the inn, of which no one paid any heed. It was merely Draconian and his companions coming back for a little bit of pleasure or a piece of news, neither which concerned any of them. Draconian motioned for the bartender, a scruffy man with an eyepatch for impression, to come to him. The bartender stepped over a drunken body while polishing a glass, his gaze falling to several of Draconian's men.
They had bruises all over their faces and arms, a few with slings and bandages over their heads. Before he could question Draconian the thief muttered into his ear, "Get me an audience with Tanis." The bartender nodded and motioned for them to follow. He went around the stage with the stripping females to a room around the back. He unlocked the door and ushered them in. A large breasted woman stood near the entrance and the bartender told her to request Lord Tanis his time with Draconian and his company. She disappeared for a moment behind a red curtain and returned a few moments later.
"He says to come in only if it's urgent," she recited. Draconian pushed past her and entered the red curtain. He turned down the long hallway and turned again to a large blue curtain that was parted by two women.
A tall man in a dark suit faced the wall, his hands clasped behind his back as Draconian approached him from the entrance of his private dormitory. Draconian and his men, all arranged behind him, knelt to the ground in a protocol of respect while Draconian said in a deep voice, "Lord Tanis, we are honored at your presence."
"What is it now, Draconian?" the young man said in a cool, calm voice. The thief fumbled with the right words. Damn that funny looking bastard from the bar! Had the strange man not display his huge wallet in front of their faces there would have been no trouble until now. He cleared his throat and began, "We believe that one of the king's royal guards may be hanging around that town, Portula."
Tanis turned with an amused expression. "Really?" he asked, "And just why is he here and just how much trouble could this one guard give?" His dark eyes scanned the faces of the bruised and beaten men behind Draconian.
"Well," Draconian stuttered, "He ah, just showed up one day at our diner. Really wouldn't have given him so much damn trouble if he didn't have that fat wallet with him. I think he might have been spying around, telling off to the king's officers and all that to try and take us out."
"One guard?" Tanis's voice was icy and harsh, "You mean to say that one man could give trouble to your entire company?" "He wasn't just a man, your lordship!" the fat blubber blurted, "H-he looked like an elf! Had long pointy ears and all that, with this strange green get-up of his like he came right out of the forest! He could have done magic and probably put a spell on us whole lot!"
Tanis's eyes grew hard and cold. "An elf? You expect me to think that some clown looking like an elf wounded up in Portula and decided to take on a company of thieves, while being a secret guard to the king himself and spying for secrets? Imbecile! Are you worth anything more than a blundering fool?!"
Draconian shrunk away. "I-I'm sorry, kaykhan! It won't happen again, honest!" Tanis slumped into his seat and placed his chin on his hand in thought. Obviously this elfish character was strong, but that did not bother him. The royal inspection of the area was just two days away, and they would pass through the town of Portula before turning back to the capital.
Portula was far away from the capital so that His Royalty could not summon help immediately, and close enough to here to make it back. If there were any better time to attack and plunder the king's procession, it would be then and there.
'However,' he thought with annoyance, 'If the elf is as strong as Draconian claims him to be, he could be a factor of interference if we were to act there. We'll have to eliminate him somehow.' He looked at Draconian and placed his hand down. "I'll give you an assignment to redeem yourself." The thief looked on hopefully. Tanis sat up on his seat and said, "Get rid of the elf."
A look of shock crossed the faces of Draconian and all of his men. "But Lord Tanis, he's impossible! It would take a troop of men, an army, a whole league!" "Wrong," Tanis replied, "It would take Admyn." Upon the name, footsteps came up from behind the cowering men. They turned and saw a figure veiled and covered in black. A saber was sheathed in a black scabbard that hung by its side.
Admyn placed its hands together in front of it and bowed halfway. "Lord Tanis, I am at your service." Draconian sputtered at the sound of the voice. "Your lordship, you can't mean this!" he said in a near furious state, "That – that's a woman!" "Admyn is the stealthiest and most successful thief and eliminator among you all," Tanis replied sharply, "She surpasses your men in strength and wit alone, along with her skills with the sword."
Draconian gave Admyn a hard look and laughed. "Truly you must be joking," he chortled, "A wisp of a woman to one of us?" A sudden series of slashes whipped through the air. The men began to jump in startled confusion to the sound, and a breath of wind passed by Draconian's porky face. A moment later, Admyn stood by Lord Tanis, her hands filled with items she had snatched from the men's pockets along with Draconian's own wallet.
"Why you little bitch! Give that back!" The thief began towards her when his trousers slid down his fat buttocks. The room exploded into laughter, along with most of his own men. Draconian looked at the floor and saw that his belt had been cut into pieces and grasped onto his pants, the redness on his face flustered into a look of humiliation and abhorrence towards the woman.
"As you can see," Tanis struggled through fits of laughter, "Admyn has never failed me. And I put her in charge of Portula until the day of the king's procession there." Draconian retorted angrily, "But, your Lordship!" "No more!" Tanis answered angrily.
He turned to Admyn and said, "You are to exterminate one man who was last seen at Portula. Draconian describes him as likeness to an elf: long ears and green clothing of that such. He shouldn't be too hard to find, and don't be careless." "Yes, kaykhan," she replied, "I won't disappoint you."
Tanis turned back to gloat at Draconian's futile attempts to keep his trousers intact. "And please return these men's belongings to them," he said humorously and added towards one of his woman servants, "Get that fat fool another belt and escort them out. I want no more interruptions unless they have urgent news about the king himself." She nodded and proceeded to take the men out of the room.
Admyn returned the red Draconian his wallet, who snatched it bitterly away. Then, when he muttered curses toward her, she snatched it again without his knowledge. Stuffing the fat wallet into her own pockets, she followed the servant woman along with the rest of the company outside.
'An elf,' she thought amusedly, 'I thought they don't exist.' She fingered Draconian's wallet and complied. 'As long as it pays. Besides, how much trouble could a long eared, three foot little creature be?'
*Did you all like it? I especially loved the scene where Link and Epona jumped over that building, just to show how far our hero would go to get what he wants ~_~. Newer characters: Kyoreleah, the stud that tried to pull the moves on Epona around the fourth chapter. Both he and Epona are there for humor, as demonstrated throughout the race. The Lord Tanis is so far described as the ringleader of many groups of thieves around the area, and definitely Draconian's boss. Admyn is sort of a ninja to date, and an excellent thief and said assasin. She does a lot of Tanis's dirty work for him, but she gets profit from it. As said, her latest target is our Link himself, but who said it was gonna' be easy? ( Anymore to say? Well, many more plots are still underway, not to mention that royal inspection any time soon. Also one more clue towards the blood of Puer, which has yet still remains a mystery…
Before Link opened the door, he heard someone else lock their room across the hall. 'It must be Rufio,' Link thought. He waited until the heavy boots thumped down the hallway and started down the stairs. Link decided to turn up late, and gave himself a few more minutes before leaving the room and locking it.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs he saw someone standing behind the desk. "Ah, Mr. Link," the receptionist, slightly weary and haggard motioned towards him, "Mr. Rufio left something for you." "He mentioned me?" Link asked humorously. "Yes, he asked for this to be delivered to the man who registered here yesterday, and you were our only customer."
Link nodded and reached for a small packet the receptionist held in his hand. He muttered a polite thanks and walked outside towards the stables and opened it.
Inside was a letter, clasped together with a map of the town. The letter read: "The race starts at the circled spot. Try to be there before tonight on that filly of yours." Link tore the letter up but couldn't help a grin. He looked briefly at the map, which, like all the maps he had seen in the past, had the markings of a compass that moved according to the holder.
When he had reached the stables, the stable boy was already up. Epona and a fat little pony were the only ones there, and when the boy saw Link he smiled. "'Yer horse's saddled and I gave her a rubdown this mornin'. Mr. Rufio said you were gonna' be here so I took care of her," the stable boy implied. Link reached Epona, who seemed well rested and thoroughly satisfied with her stay. He patted her neck gently and turned to the boy.
"She's very happy," he said to him and dug into his wallet for another red rupee, "Take this." The boy looked at it in wonder and shook his head furiously. "No, gahtan! That'll be way too much 'fer here! You've already gave me a lot the 'firs time!" Link pried open the boy's hand and shoved it into his palm. He closed the argument then and led Epona out of the stables.
"Henti dyu, thank you very much, gahtan!" the boy called out after him before the little pony demanded some attention. Link gave him a final wave and mounted Epona. She was restless, her hoof pawing the ground and she shook her head constantly. Link steadied her and walked on a slow pace, looking at the map Rufio had given him and headed towards east.
He turned Epona toward the road and followed the street down the forward direction. Epona quickened her pace into a near trot, but Link eased her off a bit. No need to waste her energy now.
Rufio was close in sight; the large cloak he was wearing the other day was left at his room as not to drag behind. He was seated on a large black stallion, whose golden mane trailed over in forelocks above its head. Link admired the stallion, his rippling muscles indeed boasted of an excellent trainer. Epona saw the stallion and snorted in detest. The stallion spied Epona and did the same, and reared on his hind legs.
"Kyoreleah, down!" Rufio's strong voice demanded. The black did so, but it's snorting continued pointedly towards Epona. 'You again?!' it messaged towards her. Epona shook her mane and shot the stallion a devious look. 'Keep it down, Romeo, or this time no one's saving your little muzzle,' she placed right back.
Rufio gave Link a detested look before examining Epona. "Well," he started, "Lon Lon Ranch finally made off. Did they hitch a horse off someone else's ranch?" Link smiled right back and answered, "You've got a lot of shit. Your horse probably saw the kind of mare he's up to and nearly threw you off." Rufio shot a glare but gave off a laugh. "Let's see you try and fuck around after this."
He drew out a gun, and Link tensed before he realized that Rufio pointed it towards the air. "When this sounds off," Rufio explained, "we go off down this dirt path. Follow it until the little fork in the road where we turn around and come back. Is that too much for you and your filly?" Link replied sharply, "Cut the crap and eat my dust."
The gun sounded before Link realized it, and with a muttered curse he urged Epona down the dirt path with a flying leap. He kept himself low to avoid as much restriction with the wind as possible, and shook Epona's reins. Link could hear Rufio and Kyoreleah a foot alongside him. He took a sideways glance and cursed. They were faster than he had originally thought, and like he and Epona, they worked together until they molded into one being.
Rufio kept his hands clenched over Kyoreleah's reins and urged the stallion gently with a squeeze to his sides. He felt an unexpected rush, racing with this queer stranger. He expected that mare to be far behind him by now, but the man's horse fared quite a competitor. Their horses raced for a nose over each other, but when one began to advance the other just kept coming in faster. Faster and faster they rode, each moment exerting more excitement and acceleration.
Rufio admitted to himself that this stranger was quite a horseman. He never knew another man from himself to manage a velocity at this level, and the expression on the stranger's face when he glanced over to him was of pure determination and exhilaration that matched his own.
The fields passed them by in a blur, and the world had gone in a flurry of colors. Kyoreleah managed a passing comment towards Epona as he began to pull past her, 'Had enough, woman?' Epona snorted and shook her head, 'Shut up and cry at this, colt.' Her legs pounded harder until she combined her speed with newfound energy to pass by the stallion.
Link urged Epona on, with the least amount of physical pressure as possible. They worked with one mind, and only the fittest horse would win in any race. The hooves kicked up dirt and clods of grass, and he saw from the light that they were nearing the still darkened fields that have not yet seen the sun.
They chased the light, wind rushing through his ears almost painfully, but he embraced it. The adrenaline that flow through both riders was imminent, and soon he saw the fork on the road less than a kilometer away.
Epona's legs stretched, and she covered several meters with each powerful, quick stride. Rufio was still neck to neck with them, matching every stride and every gaining speed with his own. Link could almost hear him breathing, and as he glanced at him the power in those green eyes was apparent.
In less than a minute they had reached the fork, and Link prepared to turn Epona around as quickly as possible. But as he did, Kyoreleah's legs cut them off, and soon Rufio's stallion was ahead of them from around the turn.
"Fucking bastard!" Link muttered under his breath. Epona let loose a massive amount of energy, and propelled herself into a series of flying strides until they were past them. Rufio pushed Kyoreleah harder, and the stallion complied to quicken his legs. The two riders were now a blur; the distinctive clacking of the horse's hooves fell into a repetitive rhythm that it never separated for the slightest interval. They were now a thunderous hum of hoofbeats, legs moving to the extreme that they seemed to have disappeared.
They were nearing back to the starting point, the length of time half as much as it took to get to the fork. The two riders were at a point where each curve of the leg, each nose and each hoof lined in perfect unison, and both Rufio and Link pushed their horses towards the end.
They had reached it in two strides, but didn't stop. By that time, the townsfolk had risen to the morning, women to the marketplace and children around for the early day.
Many people looked towards the fields and pointed to a large dirt cloud that had formed from the distance and had now trailed back to their town.
Suddenly, women screamed and children ran back against their houses. Two riders on massive horses blurred past the streets, cutting right into the town itself. The people stared on after them, which afterward a large gust of wind and dirt blew the aprons off of many mothers and thunderous hoofbeats could be heard.
Rufio glanced at Link, who looked right back. He didn't expect him to go this far with him. In fact, he didn't understand why he wouldn't let himself stop. He tore away from his gaze and the two of them tore through the streets towards the market. They galloped past the stands and customers standing along the sides of the road. An eruption of chaos followed them, with a flurry of chicken feathers from the fowls that were in one merchant's stand and the air filled with screams, curses and clucking.
Rufio risked a look behind him, where the scene amused him beyond reason. He turned his gaze back to the street and yelled, "Shit!"
An old woman selling beads was at the middle of the road, and her deafness disabled any chance of her hearing the pounding of hooves. Kyoreleah was in too much acceleration to stop, and with a flying leap he soared across the old woman's head.
The old woman looked around her curiously. Many people were giving her a very shocked look, and she had no idea why that could be. She placed a hand on her head, where a small crackled dry leaf was tangled over her bun. Taking this, she threw it away disdainfully and went across the road. 'Young'uns,' she thought to herself, 'get all worked up over the littlest things.'
Link suppressed a laugh when he heard the stallion land from that jump and bolted himself towards them. They really won't give up, he realized. 'Neither do we,' he thought to himself. He kept his eyes on the road and saw that it converged into one lane. There was no other way forward, for at each side of the lane was a continuous row of buildings.
He and Rufio glanced at each other, and with exerting force they urged the horses forward.
"Come on, Epona," Link muttered to the mare. She picked up speed, and as did Kyoreleah. They both neared the lane, and either one horse gets in or they both ram into the building.
'Ladies first!,' Epona snorted. Kyoreleah whinnied in laughter. 'As if you're a lady.' With a powerful thrust, the stallion pushed past her, leaving no chance of Epona to bypass him down the lane.
At the very last moment, Link turned his horse to the side. Epona understood the meaning of the command and prepared for a jump over the building. Link depended on her speed for both of them to make it.
'This is it,' they both knew. The roan mare's hindquarters pumped power into her hind legs as she propelled herself into the air.
They rose seven feet, the edge to the roof still above Link's head, and began to tilt downward at an angle. Epona pushed her muscles harder and clambered against the side of the building, her hooves scrambling up against the wall inch by inch. Link kept his eyes toward the edge of the roof, the last moment before they would fall down to the ground.
When they were still a foot away from the edge, Epona surged her torso forward over the roof. They felt themselves airborne for what seemed like eternity. Link felt the wonderful rush of her hooves connected soundly with stone while her hind legs followed.
Link let out a whoop of triumph, and from down below Rufio heard the clatter of hooves upon the roof. "No way! That bloody bastard!" He pushed Kyoreleah down the street, glancing up once in a while to see Epona jumping across the spaces between buildings. When the lane began to disappear into another field, Rufio heard something above his head.
'Filthy son of a bitch!' he cursed to himself. Link and Epona landed from a jump back into the lane right in front of them.
The street here was gone, and in replacement was a wide expansion of a field. Link repressed the urge to glance back as the stallion's hooves beat closer to them until they were once again neck to neck. "You don't give up, do you?!" Rufio shouted through the wind. Link laughed and yelled back, "Had enough?!"
"Fuckin' as hell no!"
They raced down the field, keeping little attention to the slightly changing environment around them. The field had disappeared eventually, and there was more rock and sand than grass. The air had suddenly felt a bit too damp and tasted salty, but Rufio took no matter into it until his eyes finally made out what lay ahead.
"Aw shit!" Link heard him and saw it too: just a few yards ahead was a cliff. Over that cliff was an endless expanse of water, a turbulent sea that met under the cliff in crashing waters and rock. "Whoa!"
Both pulled hard on the reins, their horses let out a whinny of shock and surprise. Link gritted his teeth as he felt Epona's hooves slide across grainy particles of sand, the view over the sea closing in on them still.
He prayed that they didn't fall or that Epona could have hurt herself in the process of stopping and saw that they were still moving towards the edge. His torso leaned towards the sea from momentum and felt himself sliding.
It was then that Epona twisted around that Link felt himself slide off completely.
His body met with a thump against the rock. Link lifted himself and shook his head. Nearby, he could hear muttering curses from Rufio, who lay only a few feet beside him. They looked at each other, Link's lip cut and bleeding while Rufio had blood trickling down the side of his face. Through effort, he managed to smile. Rufio returned the expression, and soon the two of them were laughing uproariously.
Epona snorted and shook her head. 'I demand to know what's so funny!' Kyoreleah neighed in response, 'Humans.'
Rufio got up as Link dusted off his tunic. "My old man always said," he began, "that a real man is one who doesn't give in. From all the hell that you've pulled through, you're more the man I thought you are." He took out his hand and looked at Link expectedly. The Hylian smiled and shook it.
"So I guess that means you owe me a horse now," he said. "What?!" Rufio fumed, "You've got to be fucking joking! You stopped when I stopped!" "It looks that way but," Link pointed to two different sets of hoof prints scraped against the sand, the right set a few inches closer to the cliff than the left. "The marks closer to the cliff belongs to my horse," Link said deviously, "So that means I got here first."
Rufio looked at the marks and back at Link, his face fuming yet tight with laughter. "All right," he said, "I'm not a man to go back against his own word. But the boy can't handle a horse yet, maybe we can reach some kind of agreement." Link thought for a moment and nodded. "Fine, as long as you train Gatle at your ranch and let him to visit your horses whenever he likes."
The horse trainer gave it a moment's thought and nodded. "Deal." They both exchanged another handshake and mounted their horses. "So, just what hell damned name are you given?" Rufio mocked. Link looked at him and replied with a smile, "Link."
"Link," Rufio repeated and added, "I just wanted to know the dirty bastard who dares to challenge Rufio and his horses." Link gave him a testing look. "Up for another challenge?"
Rufio grinned. "From here back to the town," he stated. Link grasped Epona's reins. "You're on."
* * *
The Green Dragon was notorious for its bands of thieves and plunderers whom often took lodgings at the inn. Men laughed raucously among themselves, many whores and prostitutes moved among at least two or three men while displaying their body. Female strippers danced on the stage with male hands groping them, while music played and drinks were served. It was more of a whorehouse than an inn, and more of a niche for thieves all around than a whorehouse.
A large group entered the inn, of which no one paid any heed. It was merely Draconian and his companions coming back for a little bit of pleasure or a piece of news, neither which concerned any of them. Draconian motioned for the bartender, a scruffy man with an eyepatch for impression, to come to him. The bartender stepped over a drunken body while polishing a glass, his gaze falling to several of Draconian's men.
They had bruises all over their faces and arms, a few with slings and bandages over their heads. Before he could question Draconian the thief muttered into his ear, "Get me an audience with Tanis." The bartender nodded and motioned for them to follow. He went around the stage with the stripping females to a room around the back. He unlocked the door and ushered them in. A large breasted woman stood near the entrance and the bartender told her to request Lord Tanis his time with Draconian and his company. She disappeared for a moment behind a red curtain and returned a few moments later.
"He says to come in only if it's urgent," she recited. Draconian pushed past her and entered the red curtain. He turned down the long hallway and turned again to a large blue curtain that was parted by two women.
A tall man in a dark suit faced the wall, his hands clasped behind his back as Draconian approached him from the entrance of his private dormitory. Draconian and his men, all arranged behind him, knelt to the ground in a protocol of respect while Draconian said in a deep voice, "Lord Tanis, we are honored at your presence."
"What is it now, Draconian?" the young man said in a cool, calm voice. The thief fumbled with the right words. Damn that funny looking bastard from the bar! Had the strange man not display his huge wallet in front of their faces there would have been no trouble until now. He cleared his throat and began, "We believe that one of the king's royal guards may be hanging around that town, Portula."
Tanis turned with an amused expression. "Really?" he asked, "And just why is he here and just how much trouble could this one guard give?" His dark eyes scanned the faces of the bruised and beaten men behind Draconian.
"Well," Draconian stuttered, "He ah, just showed up one day at our diner. Really wouldn't have given him so much damn trouble if he didn't have that fat wallet with him. I think he might have been spying around, telling off to the king's officers and all that to try and take us out."
"One guard?" Tanis's voice was icy and harsh, "You mean to say that one man could give trouble to your entire company?" "He wasn't just a man, your lordship!" the fat blubber blurted, "H-he looked like an elf! Had long pointy ears and all that, with this strange green get-up of his like he came right out of the forest! He could have done magic and probably put a spell on us whole lot!"
Tanis's eyes grew hard and cold. "An elf? You expect me to think that some clown looking like an elf wounded up in Portula and decided to take on a company of thieves, while being a secret guard to the king himself and spying for secrets? Imbecile! Are you worth anything more than a blundering fool?!"
Draconian shrunk away. "I-I'm sorry, kaykhan! It won't happen again, honest!" Tanis slumped into his seat and placed his chin on his hand in thought. Obviously this elfish character was strong, but that did not bother him. The royal inspection of the area was just two days away, and they would pass through the town of Portula before turning back to the capital.
Portula was far away from the capital so that His Royalty could not summon help immediately, and close enough to here to make it back. If there were any better time to attack and plunder the king's procession, it would be then and there.
'However,' he thought with annoyance, 'If the elf is as strong as Draconian claims him to be, he could be a factor of interference if we were to act there. We'll have to eliminate him somehow.' He looked at Draconian and placed his hand down. "I'll give you an assignment to redeem yourself." The thief looked on hopefully. Tanis sat up on his seat and said, "Get rid of the elf."
A look of shock crossed the faces of Draconian and all of his men. "But Lord Tanis, he's impossible! It would take a troop of men, an army, a whole league!" "Wrong," Tanis replied, "It would take Admyn." Upon the name, footsteps came up from behind the cowering men. They turned and saw a figure veiled and covered in black. A saber was sheathed in a black scabbard that hung by its side.
Admyn placed its hands together in front of it and bowed halfway. "Lord Tanis, I am at your service." Draconian sputtered at the sound of the voice. "Your lordship, you can't mean this!" he said in a near furious state, "That – that's a woman!" "Admyn is the stealthiest and most successful thief and eliminator among you all," Tanis replied sharply, "She surpasses your men in strength and wit alone, along with her skills with the sword."
Draconian gave Admyn a hard look and laughed. "Truly you must be joking," he chortled, "A wisp of a woman to one of us?" A sudden series of slashes whipped through the air. The men began to jump in startled confusion to the sound, and a breath of wind passed by Draconian's porky face. A moment later, Admyn stood by Lord Tanis, her hands filled with items she had snatched from the men's pockets along with Draconian's own wallet.
"Why you little bitch! Give that back!" The thief began towards her when his trousers slid down his fat buttocks. The room exploded into laughter, along with most of his own men. Draconian looked at the floor and saw that his belt had been cut into pieces and grasped onto his pants, the redness on his face flustered into a look of humiliation and abhorrence towards the woman.
"As you can see," Tanis struggled through fits of laughter, "Admyn has never failed me. And I put her in charge of Portula until the day of the king's procession there." Draconian retorted angrily, "But, your Lordship!" "No more!" Tanis answered angrily.
He turned to Admyn and said, "You are to exterminate one man who was last seen at Portula. Draconian describes him as likeness to an elf: long ears and green clothing of that such. He shouldn't be too hard to find, and don't be careless." "Yes, kaykhan," she replied, "I won't disappoint you."
Tanis turned back to gloat at Draconian's futile attempts to keep his trousers intact. "And please return these men's belongings to them," he said humorously and added towards one of his woman servants, "Get that fat fool another belt and escort them out. I want no more interruptions unless they have urgent news about the king himself." She nodded and proceeded to take the men out of the room.
Admyn returned the red Draconian his wallet, who snatched it bitterly away. Then, when he muttered curses toward her, she snatched it again without his knowledge. Stuffing the fat wallet into her own pockets, she followed the servant woman along with the rest of the company outside.
'An elf,' she thought amusedly, 'I thought they don't exist.' She fingered Draconian's wallet and complied. 'As long as it pays. Besides, how much trouble could a long eared, three foot little creature be?'
*Did you all like it? I especially loved the scene where Link and Epona jumped over that building, just to show how far our hero would go to get what he wants ~_~. Newer characters: Kyoreleah, the stud that tried to pull the moves on Epona around the fourth chapter. Both he and Epona are there for humor, as demonstrated throughout the race. The Lord Tanis is so far described as the ringleader of many groups of thieves around the area, and definitely Draconian's boss. Admyn is sort of a ninja to date, and an excellent thief and said assasin. She does a lot of Tanis's dirty work for him, but she gets profit from it. As said, her latest target is our Link himself, but who said it was gonna' be easy? ( Anymore to say? Well, many more plots are still underway, not to mention that royal inspection any time soon. Also one more clue towards the blood of Puer, which has yet still remains a mystery…