a continuation of Hunt for the Dragonlord, by Talonclawfange
Note: In section 8: Final Fight of the Sadistic Dragonlord, the Beginning of Chain, sadistic means nothing more or less than he enjoys inflicting pain on others. A defenition in a dictionary I saw suggested something more, but I'm not using the word that way, got it?
buSection 7
Friends and Foes Within the Fortress/u/b
It was even darker in the fortress than it had been outside. Link stood still a few moments, letting his eyes adjust to the dim light of the torches hanging dozens of feet above. Link could feel Zelda was in this fortress. He didn't know how to explain it, but he knew she was here. As soon as he could see, Link walked on. He was in a huge hall, with pillars reaching up from the floor to support the massive ceiling, which was so high above Link that he could not make it out. The fortress was certainly huge and black. Link knew that if the fortress was as big as he thought it was, one could wander in it for days, and Link hoped he would find something quickly. After a few minutes of walking he came apon a statue. It was a life-sized dragon statue, towering thirty or fourty feet over Link, and it was sitting strait up, as if guarding the hall which stretched on behind it. Link looked at the dragon's feet, and was startled to find the skeleton of a calwot. Strangely, the skeleton was standing in it's death, staring up at the dragon's head. iDoes the dragon come alive?/i Link wondered. He drew his sword, looking up into the eyes of the statue dragon.
The stone sentinel's gaze was strangely captivating, and Link found he could not look away from it. Soon the eyes started to glow a ghostly yellow. They got brighter, and Link continued to watch in wonder, his mind drifting on the space and time reaching out to him and beckoning him to the ancient and powerful stone eyes.
iWhere is everyone?/i Link wondered. He had been walking for days, and it seemed as if he was the only living thing in the fortress. In the long, stretching time during which he had walked, he had covered miles, and not heard a single sound except his own booted feet. There had been a few tunnels branching off from the main one, but they all looked the same, and Link continued forward.
As he marched on in the dead silence, Link stared at the void before him, endless pillars and miles of hall, waiting to swallow him and keep him for all time. He could feel that he was tiring, but he could not stop walking. What am I doing here? Link asked himself, and found he could not remember. He tried to think of his past, but there was only walking and more walking, ever since the day his soul had come into creation; and he would keep walking, until his soul faded with all of the temporary things of the cosmos. No, even after that, the walking would continue, for it had no beginning and no end. The halls of the fortress melted away with the ages, and only the mists of a black and pointless eternity remained. Link was so tired, but could not stop. He had always been tired, and he could never stop. He walked for eternity...continuing on and on, into the depths of time. Space meant nothing, for everywhere was the same, and time meant nothing, for it did not bring any more change than space did. Link walked and walked, feeling his feeble life slip away through the fingers of centuries...
Suddenly his hand felt warm. Not halting the eternal walking, he looked down at his hand, through the haze that was his thoughts. There was nothing in his hand. It got warmer and warmer. iWhat is happening?/i All of the walking seemed very strange to him now. His hand was getting past warm, it was hot. He felt the handle of a sword in his hand but could not see it. iStop walking./i Link's subconscious ordered. Link kept walking, he could never stop...and his hand burned. iStop walking!! /iLink stopped. iI remember, I am here to save Zelda! /i
The black, impenetrable, unchangable walls of space and time melted away as Link opened his eyes. He saw the calwot skeleton standing in front of him, the same it had been days and centuries ago...or was it moments? Link looked down and saw the glowing Master Sword in his hand, and he realized it was burning him.
"Ow!" He said, dropping it. Immediately it stopped glowing. iWhat on earth happened just now?/i Link looked up, and saw the glowing eyes of the dragon statue. Imediately he ripped his eyes away from their captivating glare. Link was now aware of how frighteningly close to death he had been. iThat statue hypnotized me! It hasn't been years, or even days, only minutes! I was going to stand here until I ended up like that calwot, with that statue draining my life. I would have died, and the Master Sword saved me. /iLink picked up the ancient blade, finding it of normal temperature, and walked past the dragon statue, resisting the temptation to look into it's deadly eyes and fall into the pits of death again. He sheathed his sword, grateful it had chosen him to be its wielder.
After only minutes of walking, Link came to a branch in the hall. Two equally large halls stretched off to the left and right. There was a dragon etched into the wall of the right hall, so Link thought he might as well go that way. He turned right, and kept walking. After about ten minutes of walking, Link entered a huge room. From the dim light of torches, Link could see there was three ways out of the room. Two of these ways were smaller than the hall he had just left, only about forty feet wide and tall (this was still pretty big, but much smaller than the other hall). The two smaller passageways were on either side of the middle passageway, which was larger, if possible, than the hall Link had just left. Engraved into the black stone above the huge middle way, was a beautiful dragon. Link entered the middle passage.
As Link reached the end of the relativaly short but huge passage, Link found himself staring into two enormous blue eyes. Two horses walking side-by-side could easily walk into the huge eyes, if they were a door. The head of Sahoriel, the dragon Queen, lifted; and the eyes stared down at Link from far above. Link sheathed his sword.
b"Who is this? You are not the Dragonlord../b." Link stared up at the huge white-orange dragon. And he had thought the energy-element dragon was big! This dragon was easily as big as three energy-element dragons.
"I..." Link lost his voice for a moment, then recovered himself. "You must be Sahoriel! I am honored to be in your presence...you are truly the greatest creature I've ever seen!" Link bowed. "My name's Link! I've come to rescue a friend of mine, and you!"
"bWhat? A human sent to rescue me?! What sort of joke is this?!/i" The loud booming of the dragon's voice and the air from her breath nearly knocked Link over, but he stood firm in front of the Dragon Queen.
"Hey! What's wrong with a human? It's not a joke, your son Taig sent me to save you!" Suddenly the Queen's features sofened.
"bMy...my son? How I miss him...and he does not yet realize how much of an insult it is to send a rescuer after the Queen of Dragons. Okay, human. Because my son didn't know better than to send you, I'll let you save me, but only because of my son, understand?!"/b This time the dragon's breath idid/i knock Link over. He got up, grateful that the dragon didn't have stinky breath.
"Heheh, whatever you say, Sahoriel."
"bYou'll call me 'Your Majesty', got it? I don't need another puny human disrespecting me/b."
"Okay. I'll call you by your title, but only if you stop calling me 'human'! I have a name!" Link said indignantly, hands on hips.
"bFair enough, Link./b" The dragon Queen actually smiled. "bI think I like your attitude, young one. You are nothing like the Dragonlord, although your appearences are similar. However, you do have certain ties with that tyrant..."/b
"What? I don't get it."
"bNevermind. There is only one way to save me, Link. To save me, you must destroy the Dragonlord's headpiece. If you get rid of that, he will not have the power necessary to contain me any longer./b"
"Okay. But first I have to ask you something, Your Majesty. Do you know where my friend Zelda is?"
"bYes. I have superb hearing, and I heard the Dragonlord speaking to and threatening a girl by that name. It was a day or two ago...but I'm sure of where she is, because I heard her moving around a few hours ago. If you leave the way you came and take the hall right of this one, you will find some stairs. Past those stairs you'll find a huge room with a single exit. That exit leads to the dungeons. The cells in the beginning of the dungeons are big enough for dragons, but if you pass about fifteen of them you'll find the cells for smaller creatures. Your friend is in one of those/b."
"Thank you so much!" Link said excitedly. "I'll take care of the Dragonlord as soon as I know Zelda is okay. See you later!"
"bWait, Link. You may find this key useful/b." Sahoriel's enormous paw stretched forth, and Link picked up a small key in it (he was surprised it didn't get stuck between the huge scales of her fingers!), then he ran off to the room from which branched the Queen's chamber and the way to the dungeons. Link followed the Queen's advice, going right and descending down the large stairs. He could feel he was getting closer to Zelda. Link soon reached the huge room before the dungeons the dragon had spoken of, but there was a small problem. In the middle of the room, curled up on the floor, the golden energy-element dragon lay sleeping. Link almost yelled in surprise when he saw the big dragon (but not as big as the Queen) and quickly clapped a hand over his mouth to prevent himself from doing so. The dragon's breathing was incredibly quiet, the reason Link had not heard him before seeing him, and Link knew he would have to be just as quiet if he was to sneak past it. Link really wanted to challenge the dragon which had taken his friend away, but knew he would be inviting death if he awakened the dragon now.
Link drew the Master Sword slowly and silently, and took out his mirror shield, since he had dropped the Hylian one during his fight with the shiftbats (he wondered just how many more Hylian Shields he would have to get before he would stop losing them!). He drew his weapon not because he wanted a confrontation, but because if the sleeping giant awakened, Link would not be caught unarmed. Link began to walk towards the right side of the dragon. He soon reached the dragon, and began silently slipping past it. When he was halfway past, the dragon moved. It's tail whipped around to Link, and grabbed him, pinning his arms, his sword, and his shield to his sides; and lifting him off the ground. The dragon rose, staring triumphantly into Link's eyes with his one good eye.
"bYou idiot! You're the same moron who took my eye and tried to protect Zelda, aren't you? Well there's no way you'll get to her with ME guarding the dungeons!/b" The dragon lifted his head towards the ceiling, his whole body shaking in wicked laughter. Abruptly the laughing stopped, and with one smooth flicking motion of his tail, the dragon threw Link into a wall fourty feet away.
"Ahhh!" Link yelled, as he was hurled through the air. His scream ended in a new yell of pain as he collided with the wall. He fell a score of feet down to the floor, slamming into it with crushing force, his impact spreading cracks through the black stone. Link lay motionless for a few moments, feeling very broken. The energy-element dragon grinned, thinking him dead.
Link slowly rose to his feet, facing the dragon, his sword and shield still in hand.
"bWhat?! You're a tough little insect, aren't you?/b" The dragon frowned, and ran at Link. Link shot a quick glance at the bracelet on the dragon's left wrist, which was making him bend to the wishes of the Dragonlord. Link's eyes were drawn back to the dragon's head as it lowered, great gaping jaws open wide as it charged. Link remembered the King Dodongo he had defeated as a child, and took out a bomb, hurling it into the dragon's mouth. The dragon's jaws closed on the bomb and it skidded to a stop, confused. The bomb exploded, and the dragon roared as it's mouth was burned. As it collapsed, It's great head dropped to the ground, where the Master Sword could reach it. Link ran forward, performing a jump slash right on the dragon's face. It growled in pain, getting back up.
"bYou will die for that!/b!" It screamed. The Master Sword had done some fair damage to the evil dragon with it's light powers, and blood gushed from the deep five-foot long slash Link had put in the dragon's face. The thick blood ran into the dragon's one good eye, and it raised a paw to wipe the blood off. The dragon closed his eye and opened his mouth again, but his time something came out before Link could throw a bomb into it. Link barely had time to raise his mirror shield before a searing stream of energy fire shot out of the dragon's mouth. The dragon's fire was reflected back to it, but an element dragon cannot be harmed by it's own attack, so the dragon simply intensified the blast of heat and power. It became so strong that it began forcing Link back, and he was pushed until he was standing against a wall. The heat was incredible, and Link switched to his Goron's tunic, but even that didn't help much. The heat made Link sweat all over, and he was certain he would be fried, shield or no. The pressure was pinning him helplessly, and thought he could feel his boots melting.
It then occured to Link that he was not trying very hard. He was giving in to exhaustion just because a statue had sucked a bit of his strength and he had been thrown into a wall. Link knew he was extremely lucky that all of his bones hadn't broken when he hit the wall, and scolded himself for not putting up a better fight after such a lucky break. He called forth the power of the Golden Gauntlets, and began to walk forward, pressing back the stream of yellow energy fire with his shield. Link walked forward until he was up to the dragon's mouth, and still the ignorant creature, thinking Link was frying in it's fire, did not open it's good eye to see him. Link stuck his sword into the dragon's toungue.
"bAAhhhhhhh!/b" The dragon yelled, it's fire stopping. It held it's toungue, glaring feircely at Link, who glared back. "bI'll khill yhoooouu!/b" It growled. Link switched back to his Kokiri tunic (he does it instantly with magic, in case you didn't know), and while Link was looking into the dragon's face, it's tail sneaked around in front of Link. It shot up as quick as lightening, striking Link's neck. Link dropped his shield, holding his neck and falling to one knee, coughing hard. Taking advantage of this, the dragon reached down one massive paw, and grabbed Link. Link dropped his sword as the dragon jerked it's hand upward, bringing the little Hylian up to eye-level. "bI have you now, heheh. I never quite crushed you last time we fought, but now it's round two! Let's see your little princess save you this time, AAHAHAHAHAHA/b!"
The dragon squeezed, and Link gasped as the pressure nearly prevented him from breathing. The rough scales on the hand closing around Link dug into his skin. Grinning, the dragon squeezed harder, and Link could feel some bones break. He would have screamed, but no longer had the lung capacity to do so. Then Link felt something bubble up in his throat, and warm liquid poured down his chin. The dragon kept crushing, and Link's vision blurred as he looked into the beast's face.
"bAny last words, insect/b?" It asked mockingly.
"Ughh..." was all Link could manage. The dragon bore it's teeth in anticipation.
"bI thought so. Goodbye, insect...Arggg!/b" The dragon roared as a small arrow was shot into it's one good eye. It closed the eye and dropped Link, bringing both of it's paws up to cover it's new wound. Link hit the ground with a dull thud. He weakly looked over to the left of the dragon, and dimly saw the female human who had visited the calwots. The woman who had known him, the woman to had been taken into the cloud by the calwot and not returned. The woman who had just saved him by shooting the dragon's eye. Link's lungs no longer had pressure on them so he could speak, and he coughed out some blood when he yelled:
"IMPA?!" The Sage of Shadow had been the last person Link expected to find. She had been gone from Hyrule for quite a while, and Link had almost forgotten that he was supposed to look for her while he was in North Hyrule.
"With all that yelling, Link, you're going to cough up a lung." The shiekah woman said quietly, putting away her crossbow. iThat's gross../i.Link thought, but didn't talk. He tried to get to his feet, but too many of his bones were broken, and he only succeeded in hurting himself. With a groan, he lay still. Impa moved in between the dragon and Link.
"Impa...the dragon..," Link coughed, "is too strong, even blind..."
"Don't talk, Link. I sensed Zelda was here the day she arrived and have been looking for her ever since I got here two days ago. This place is enormous and I can't find her, even with my telepathic powers. Now that I've found you, the least I can do is protect you. You can feel her better than I, so you need to go find her. The problem is I'm here too late...it looks like you won't be going anywhere." The shiekah woman frowned, as the dragon tooks it's paws off it's eye and turned it's bloody face towards her. It was quite a horrific sight, the horned face of a giant golden dragon, drenched in blood and growling; and Impa shuddered. She drew her curved shiekah sword, but the noise of it alerted the dragon to where she was. It swept a huge paw into her, knocking twenty feet to the right, into the same wall Link had hit. She screamed as she hit it, and she slumped to the floor. The dragon and Link remained silent and motionless for a few intense moments, then Impa got up, a hand on her right shoulder.
iLink is right...I cannot beat this dragon on my own../i.she thought. Suddenly, as if fate had been reading her thoughts, she heard the flapping of wings. She turned her eyes to the entrance of the room, and saw two calwots, one black-and-white spotted and one solid black, flying towards the dragon from behind. They both said a word at the same time, and spears instantly appeared in their paws. Saroe flew over to Link, and Coflix stuck his spear into the soft skin between the element dragon's neck scales and his underbelly scales. The dragon roared and thrashed, but Coflix nimbly flew out of the way. Impa ran over to Saroe, who was bending over Link, chanting. Impa reached Link just in time to see his bones mended and his cuts close up. Fully healed, Link rose to his feet.
"Wow, thanks! How did you find us?" He said, picking up his sword and shield which were only a few feet away. "And thank you, too, Impa-"
"Link! We don't have time to chat, buddy! You need to go save Zelda while the calwots and I beat this dragon. Don't worry about us, Link, just go!" Link started to protest, but Saroe interrupted.
"Go, Link! With all the noise you and this dragon were making, I don't see why the Dragonlord himself isn't here! You need to save that princess of yours, now! Beat the Dragonlord so all can be as it was between the dragons and calwots!" Link grimly nodded. As the dragon turned toward's it's opponents, Link ran off to the passage leading to the dungeons. iI can't let them down,/i he thought, hoping they would prevail against the dragon. After a minute of running, Link entered the Dragonlord's dungeons. Very strangely he could not hear the battle he knew was going on in the room he had left, and he assumed the black walls must muffle sound very well, except a few places. The calwots must have found one of those places to locate him, and Link wondered if the Dragonlord would reach one such place and discover the intruders in his fortress. Link just hoped the Dragonlord would come after him, not the calwots and Impa, who already had their hands full.
Link walked silently past many dragon-sized cells. All of the cells had heavy meatal doors with locks bigger then his head. Eventually Link reached the end of the dragon-sized cells, and reached the small ones. He could feel his friend! He looked at the metal doors, wondering which one to choose.
"Zelda...?" He called out cautiously. He heard some movement in the cell to his right.
"Help me...I need Link..." A voice said. Link thought that didn't quite sound like Zelda, but maybe she sounded weird because she was behind a metal door.
"I'm coming!" He said and took off the bar which was blocking the door shut, opening it. iWait, shouldn't the cell with Zelda in it be locked a little more securely that that?/i Link looked into the darkness. iA bar closing the door could probably be shaken loose easily... something fishy is going on here!/i Link saw a gleam in the shadows and jumped to the side just in time to dodge a knife thrusting for his heart. As the knife and the arm of his attacker went past him, Link grabbed the arm. He pulled his attacker out into the hall, where the light of torches illuminated him. Link stared down at Cosha.
"This is getting wierder by the second!" Link said, grabbing Cosha's knife and roughly releasing his arm. "What on earth are iyou/i doing here?!"
"Heheh...how did you like my Zelda impression? All the while I've been working for the Dragonlord! Raykel was never my Master, the Dragonlord was! That moron Raykel didn't even realize when I gave him a potion to drink!"
"A potion? What did you do to Raykel?!" Link demanded angrily.
"Hahaha! Didn't you think it was odd how much he hated you, even though in the past he had been a good man? The Dragonlord had me give him a hate potion! It doesn't really control your mind or change your personality, it just makes you completely despise the first person you see! Now do you realize just how great the Dragonlord is? Raykel was supposed to hate Zelda, but unfortunately, he saw you before he saw her. Oh well...I just regret that the potion wore off before he drove that dagger into your throat like he was supposed to!"
"That's not very nice!" Link drew his sword and pointed it at Cosha threateningly. "Tell me where Zelda is right now! I know she's in here."
"I'll never let you get past me! Even though these metal doors are soundproof, I heard you because I have the instinct of a dragon (of course Cosha had really just seen Link's shadow under the door). Run while you can!" Link almost laughed.
"Oh, please...stop the talking, I'll never defeat you if I double over laughing in the middle of our fight!"
Cosha lunged at him, knocking them both to the floor. Cosha raised a fist to punch Link, but Link was quicker. He punched Cosha, and he went flying, landing hard on his back. He got up slowly, shaking.
"Ah...ouch!" He said, but ran at Link again anyway. When he was close he tried to do his little maneuver again, but this time Link was ready for it. As soon as Cosha was behind him, he tried to grab Link's neck, but Link grabbed Cosha's arms, throwing him over his shoulder. Cosha landed hard in front of him, but then started to get up.
Link slashed at him as he got to his feet, and his sword hit Cosha's armor, sending him sprawling to his back once again. Link stepped forward to attack again, but Cosha raised his arms above his head in fear.
"Aaahhhh! No, leave me alone!" He suddenly jumped up and ran down the hall, opposite from the room Link had come from, screaming, "Intruder, Master!" Link was about to go after him, but remembered Zelda. He walked to the next door down and found a strong lock on it. He took out the small key the Queen had given him, unlocked the door, and slowly pushed the door open; sword held ready. He couldn't see, so he lit a fire arrow, which illuminated all of the small room. Sitting in a corner of the cell, with both arms chained to the stone wall, was the Princess of Hyrule. Link would have smiled in joy, but when he saw the condition Zelda was in, a concerned frown covered his face.
"Zelda...what has he done to you?"
"LINK!!" She yelled, and Link saw that at least her voice hadn't been damaged. Her dress was torn and very dirty, and she had cuts on her cheek and neck, and bruises everywhere. Link ran over to her, and quickly broke her bonds with the gauntlets. Despite how weak the princess felt, she threw her arms around Link. He was a bit startled, but just sat there on the ground, holding her. She started shaking, and Link saw that his friend was crying; and felt her tears soaking through his tunic.
"You finally came..." She said happily. "The Dragonlord said you were dead so many times that I almost beleived it! But I knew in my heart you were coming for me! The Dragonlord is so evil..." Her voice was muffled as she pressed her warm face into his chest. He hesitated for a moment, then layed a hand on her head, stroking her hair comfortingly.
"It's okay, Zelda. We're getting out of here, but first I have to fight the Dragonlord." They sat there for another minute or so, until Zelda could compose herself. She finally let go of Link and he stood up, helping her to her feet.
"Cosha ran off to the right hall, so I guess that's where the Dragonlord is." Link said.
"Yes, that's always the direction the Dragonlord went when he was done 'speaking' to me..." Zelda's beautiful, cut, bruised, and tear-streaked face looked at Link's. He was so glad he had finally found her. iIt's not over yet./i He reminded himself, and he and Zelda left the cell. Link paused a few moments to use Arlia on Zelda's wounds, and when he was done he put it away and looked again at the princesses face. To his suprise, she walked forward and hugged him again. "Thank you," she said, giving him one final squeeze and then releasing him. He smiled crookedly.
"Ehem....let's go...Cosha's getting away." They went in the direction Cosha had run. After a few moments they came to a room, and found the man. He was lying on the groud, obviously hurt, and Dakos was leaning over him, with a sharp claw poised to kill.
"Huh? Why is Dakos trying to kill Cosha?" Zelda wondered. "Cosha was the spy in Hyrule Castle, and did quite alot of work for the Dragonlord. Now they're going to kill him?!"
"Stop!" Link said to Dakos, fitting an arrow to his bowstring and aiming it at the dragon. The dragon looked over at him, his claw still suspended over Cosha's face.
"bWhat the heck?! This little human was telling the truth?! Link IS still alive! But, I saw you die myself! You fell off your horse, dead as a stone/b!"
"Afraid not, dragon." Link said, keeping the arrow aimed for the creature.
"bGrrr...the moment my Master heard this twit run in here, shouting about you invading the fortress, he thought he was lying; because he saw you supposedly die like I did. This guy said you were still alive, but we wondered why didn't he tell us that when he came back from the forest...Oh yeah, when he came to us from the Ethereal Forest, my Master threw him in a cell because he made so many mistakes...he didn't get Raykel to hate the right person, and he couldn't even kill Raykel when the potion wore off. The raving fool was actually right...looks like he isn't as crazy as I thought he was, but a brainwashing can turn a madman madder, don't you agree/b?"
"What? The Dragonlord brainwashed him, then put him in jail because he didn't do his job perfectly, and now that he comes back, istill/i trying to be loyal to the Dragonlord, he sicks his pet dragon on him? That guy is gonna be history when I find him!" Link yelled.
"bHeheheh. iIf/i you ever find him! See if you can keep up with me/b!" Dakos ran towards the opposite side of the room, completely forgetting about Cosha, who still lay on the ground, shaking. Link and Zelda ran after the dragon, following him into yet another black hall. iJust how big is this place?!/i Link wondered, iNo wonder Impa got lost in here, there's so many branching tunnels and passageways you could wander for days, maybe weeks! We had better not lose this dragon! /iLink and Zelda sped up, following the dragon as he weaved through many twists and turns in the tunnel. The dragon was fast, and soon the two Hylians could only see his tail as he dashed this way and that, turning into various branching tunnels. Soon the dragon stopped turning, and he ran strait, the Hylians still falling behind. The dragon emerged into a large room and turned to the wall, pulling a switch. A metal sheet fell from a slot above the room's entrance, and Link and Zelda barely slid under it in time. Link's hat fell off and got caught under the metal sheet as it slammed into the floor, sealing off the only exit from the room.
Link's blonde hair fell to his shoulders as he helped Zelda up.
"Wow, Link! your hair is almost as long as mine!" She said, laughing.
"Oh, cut it out. You don't get your hair cut as often as you would like to when you have to cut it with a sword! It really hurts!"
"Okay, sorry." She said, still giggling.
"I'm impressed, Link and Zelda." The voice of the young Dragonlord interrupted. "You actually made it here. I must admit I thought you were dead, Link. I didn't know that useless fool of a spy was telling the truth." Link and Zelda turned, and saw the Dragonlord sitting on a throne on a platform about forty meters away. The throne was red and it's frame was covered in sharp spikes. Unlike the rest of the rooms in the castle, this room actually had some color in it. There were red drapes lining the walls, as well as some dragon paintings. There were two life-sized dragon statues on either side of the spiked throne, both painted realistically to look like red dragons. Dakos was sitting next to one, his tail swaying back and forth like a cat's. The sword-shaped blade on the end of the dragon's tail gleamed in the torchlight as he grinned. The Dragonlord stood and walked down the steps of the platform, grinning insanely at Link. "But now that you're both here, I can kill you as a couple...isn't that just so cute? Hahahahah!" Link and Zelda walked towards the Dragonlord until they were within twenty feet of him. He stopped laughing and smiled at them.
"You won't be doing any such thing!" Link said, drawing the Master Sword. The Dragonlord drew the Sword of Darkness, a black blade infused with evil magic.
"Live by the sword, die by the sword, eh, Link? When I finally have both your triforces I will free my Master from the evil realm, and we will rule all!" The Dragonlord started laughing insanely again, his whole body shaking. The black wing-shaped spike on his back, which held up his cape, had been glued back on after it had been broken off a few days ago; and with the Dragonlord's shaking, it fell off. The end of it clattered to the floor, the Dragonlord's caped drooped, and he stopped laughing. He glared down at it, yelling, "Stinking cape!! You ruined my evil laughing!! Arrgggg!" Zelda giggled, remembering that it was her fault it broke.
"Hey, just who is this Master of yours, anyway? You can't be talking about..." Link trailed off.
"Yes, The Lord of Evil, The Great Ganondorf!" He said, and was about to laugh again, but remembered his broken spike. He undid the belt which held the spikes and his cape on, taking it off and thowing it to the ground angrily.
"I can't let you bring him back! It's time for me to stop your evil for good!" Link yelled.
"Fine! We will fight now. Just you and me. Dakos, grab that princess and make sure she stays out of it!"
"Hey, I'll only stay out of it if your dragon stays out of it, too!" Zelda yelled.
"bOh, I promise/b." The dragon said, taking her and sitting up against a nearby wall. "bI wouldn't rob my Master of the pleasure of killing you two!/b"
"Dragon, if you hurt Zelda..." Link glared at the beast.
"bOh, don't worry, I wont hurt her. The only thing you have to worry about is if the Dragonlord kills you, because then nothing will stop him from killing this little girl here/b." He held Zelda gently, despite her struggling. She stopped, looking at Link.
"You mean iwhen/i I kill him, Dakos!" The Dragonlord shouted.
"Kick his butt, Link!" Zelda yelled. Link was surprised she said that, but turned to the Dragonlord.
The two stared at each other for a minute, each measuring the other's strength. The Dragonlord looked very similar to Link. Their blonde hair was almost the same (except the dragonlord's was lighter and shorter), and the Dragonlord was only about an inch shorter than Link. They looked about the same age, and Link wondered where this young man had come from. He couldn't be Ganon's son, so why was he the boy's Master? Why did Ganon choose a boy like this to be one of his best minions, rather than a monster? Link knew it would be hard to fight the young Hylian.
"Any last words before I slice you to bloody ribbons?" The Dragonlord asked.
"Enough words. It's time to fight! En guard!" Link slashed at the Dragonlord, and the fight began.
buSection 8
Final Fight of the Sadistic Dragonlord, the Beginning of Chain/u/b
The Dragonlord brought up his dark sword, blocking Link's blow. The swords clashed and didn't separate, the two warriors pressing against them. Link strained as he pushed against his blade, but gained no ground as the Dragonlord pressed back just as hard. Link called forth the power of the gauntlets.
"Ah, your secret weapon, eh? I knew about your Golden Gauntlets ever since you battled one of my dragons with them. I'm prepared for you!" The Dragonlord began chanting as the gauntlets helped Link press him backwards, but suddenly the Dragonlord had enough strength to stop himself from being pushed. His arms were infused with dragon-like strength, and he began pushing Link backwards! Link's eyes grew wide in suprise as he tried to stop himself from being forced back. His boots lost their grip on the floor, and he slid on the stone floor, despite his best efforts. Link then jumped away from the Dragonlord, so their swords were separated.
"Wow, I've never met anyone stronger than my gauntlets!" He said, commending the Lord. The man grinned in triumph.
"That's right! And my strength spell lasts until I take it off or it's beaten off, not until I can't breathe like yours!"
iI suppose that means he's going to try to stop my breathing?/i Link wondered, iI'm not surprised...just about every evil person I've met has tried to./i The Dragonlord slashed at Link and he blocked it with the mirror shield. Link then tried to slash at the Dragonlord but he parried again, and the two kept going. As their swords rang against each other Link remembered his fight with Sohran, and how their swords clashing had sounded like a song. The sharp clanging of the Lord's sword reminded Link more of a twisted dirge. He shoved that thought out of his mind, concentrating on the fight. Link picked up the pace a bit, but the Dragonlord could keep up with him. iDrat, he's pretty good! /iLink thought, breaking off his attack and jumping back. He powered up his sword for a spin attack; and the Dragonlord, who had not been spying on Link when he used it, didn't know what it was. He stood there until Link released the attack.
"Shaaahhhhhh!" Link yelled as the energy was released in his spin attack, flying at the Dragonlord. He brought his sword up to block it, but it's pure force knocked him down. He got up, glaring at Link. The Dragonlord jumped at him, and Link did a backflip, dodging the Lord's sword. As Link landed, the Dragonlord rushed at him, punching him in the stomach. The Lord's strength spell was still in effect, and the breath was violently knocked out of Link as he flew backwards, landing roughly on the black stone floor. He got up, holding his stomach. The Dragonlord ran at him, and Link quickly sheathed his sword, performing the Din's Fire spell. The spell enveloped the Dragonlord in flames, and he screamed, rolling around to put the fire out.
"You rotten kid!" He yelled, getting to his feet; his clothes a bit blacker than they had been before.
"You're a kid too!" Link said, reluctant to admit he was a kid, but wanting to tell the Dragonlord that he was just as young. The Dragonlord growled and rasied his hand at Link, firing a dark ball of energy at him, not unlike the attack Ganon had used long ago. Link drew the Master Sword again, deflecting the ball back at the Dragonlord, who dodged it. The Dragonlord then powered up his blade with dark energy, jumping forward and thrusting at Link. Link moved to the side, but the dark sword gave him a tiny slash. Link yelled, putting a hand on it.
"What the...? It's just a tiny cut!" Link said, surprised at how much it hurt.
"Hahahah! You pure-hearted moron! It's dark energy, so it will really hurt you! Remember my nice little arrow? A simple arrow almost killed you!" Link frowned and slashed at the Dragonlord, who hit his blade away with amazing strength. Link almost dropped the Master Sword as it flew back, pushed by the dark magic. iNot good!/i Link thought. He tried to use Nayru's Love, but discovered that he had run out of that kind of mana. iThat's REALLY not good!/i Link thought urgently, bringing up his blade as the Dragonlord slashed at him again. The darkness threw him back again, almost making him fall. Link straitened himself just in time to block another blow from the Sword of Darkness. This one forced the Master Sword out of his hands, and it flew behind him. The Dragonlord grinned as he slashed at Link again, and Link tried to block with his shield, but that, too, was hit away from him. The Lord then slashed Link's right shoulder, putting a deep, dark cut in it.
Link yelled and put a hand over the dark wound, and the Dragonlord punched him in the face with his strong right arm, throwing the Hylian to his back. The Dragonlord sheathed his sword jumped on him, his legs pinning Link's legs, and his arms pinning Link's arms. He smiled insanely at the trapped warrior, who's shoulder was still burning with sharp pain. The Dragonlord powered up his left hand with dark energy, and Link struggled to hold it off as it decended towards his cut shoulder. The Dragonlord was stronger, and his hand gripped Link's dark wound, putting even more dark power into it. Zelda, still in Dakos's arms, screamed.
"Aaaahhhhhhh!" Link yelled as the dark energy entered his body, making it flare with pain from head to toe. The Dragonlord grinned, squeezing Link's shoulder and enjoying his pain. Link struggled, trying to get the hand off before it did more damage, and succeeded in freeing one of his legs. The Dragonlord used more dark power and Link screamed again, but then kicked the Lord's stomach, and he flew off, landing on his back. Both men got to their feet slowly, Link holding his shoulder and breathing hard. It was still infecting his body with painful dark magic, and Link walked over to the Master Sword, picking it up. As soon as he put his hand on it a stream of light magic came from the blade, destroying the dark magic in his shoulder. Link sighed in relief and the Dragonlord drew his sword.
"Just how much is it going to take to kill you?! You're a lot tougher than your girly friend!" The boy said, glaring.
"Zelda is tougher than you'll ever be! You're lucky her light magic was all used up when you captured her, or she would have beaten you!"
"Yeah right! She's not so tough. It was alot of fun scaring her, Link. Securing her to a dark, cold wall and leaving her for a couple of days...visiting her again, and telling her you were dead, it was great! Especially when I took a knife and cut her neck, and her face..."
"Shut up! You'll never hurt the princess again, you jerk!" The Master Sword glowed with light energy as Link attacked. The black magic covered Sword of Darkness clashed with it, and a wave of energy shot from the blades as they clashed. They kept attacking one another, and the ground shook as a wave of energy shot out of the blades every time they clashed. The men kept at it for another dozen minutes, until some rocks were shaken out of the ceiling of the builing, crashing into the floor and breaking to dust.
"The whole fortress will fall at this rate!" Zelda said, and her frightened captor nodded. Eventually the light magic faded from the Master Sword, Link was so exhausted. Luckily, the Dragonlord was equally tired, and the evil magic left his blade as well. The two jumped back from each other, each panting and staring determinedly into the other's eyes. They jumped at each other at the same moment, and their swords clashed one last time and they both fell, laying on the floor and breathing hard. The Dragonlord got up first, and walked over to Link as he was getting to his feet. The Lord punched Link's face again, harder then last time, and he flew backwards, landing hard on his back. The Dragonlord walked over to Link, who was trying to rise, and put a black boot on his throat, pinning him to the ground again.
Link tried to pull the boot off as it pressed down, cutting off his air. The Dragonlord grinned as Link choked, then lifted the Sword of Darkness, blade down, over Link's chest.
"Hahah..." He laughed tiredly. "Now you're mine...I hope Ganondorf won't be too mad at me for taking the pleasure of killing you and the princess! This time I'll make sure you're dead, if I have to slice you to tiny bits!" Link, although he was gasping for air, wasn't about to give up; and summoning the rest of the Master Sword's power, he slashed upward at the Dragonlord with the light-covered blade. The blade hit his face, and he yelled as the light magic entered his tired form through the cut it made. His dragon-controlling headpiece shattered; and he stumbled backwards, his foot leaving Link's neck. Link got up immediately, gasping a bit, and slashed at the Lord, who was holding the side of his head. The Master Sword made a two foot long, one inch deep cut from the Dragonlord's waist to his collarbone, easily slicing throught his black chest armor. "Aaahhhhhhhh!" The young man screamed, staggering and falling to his back. He put a hand on the slash on his chest, which glowed with light magic. Link walked over to him, staring down at his pained face.
"Uhhhh..." The Dragonlord squirmed as the light magic hurt him. "It's all over for me...I'm sorry Master." He looked up at Link. "I...can't go on. Kill me..." Link gasped in surprise.
"Kill you? There's no way I can do something like that." The Dragonlord stopped squirming around as the light magic finally faded from his slash, and he lay still, not able to move.
"But...I would have killed you and Zelda...I would have freed Ganondorf and he would have conquered Hyrule..."
"I didn't kill Ganondorf and I'm not going to kill you. No matter how evil you are, you're still human, and so is he."
"............" The Dragonlord stared at Link, not sure what to say. Dakos wasn't listening very well, and thought that Link had said he would kill the Dragonlord. buI'm coming, Master!/b/i The dragon thought, releasing Zelda and dashing over to Link and the Dragonlord.
Link was staring down at the injured Dragonlord when he felt something slam into his back. Zelda screamed loudly. Suddenly Link's knees buckled with weakness and he almost fell over, his strength somehow gone. Something in his chest was keeping him from falling, something he knew did not belong there. The room seemed to get darker and redder, and Link's chest felt warm and wet. He looked down, and saw the bloody tip of Dakos's sword-tail protruding from his chest.
"Hurry, Link might need our help!" Impa shouted, and the calwots flew after her as she ran the way Link had gone. Her and the calwots had beaten the energy-element dragon by destroying the bracelet which controlled it. They dragon had stopped attacking them and left, without a word. They ran throught the dungeons and came into a room, and seeing someone in it, they stopped. Cosha lay on the floor, muttering incoherently. "What is ihe/i doing here?" Impa wondered, having only seen Cosha once, back at the castle.
"Who cares?" Colfix said, picking him up. "I'll carry him and we can ask him later. Let's go!"
"Wait!" Saroe said."Something's coming!" She looked at the hall behind the group and gasped as she saw the huge, white-orange Queen of dragons approaching.
"bWe must hurry, little ones. Link is in grave danger./b" The Queen rushed in front of them, and they followed her without question. She led them past the dungeons, through a series of twisting tunnels. Many passes branched off from the main one, but the Queen seemed to know where she was going, so the others rushed to follow her. Soon the group came to a metal door, and the Queen breathed exploding flames at it. The thick metal door practically disintegrated, small peices of it scattering as the Queen's breath destroyed it instantly. The Queen entered the room, and saw her subject, Dakos, with his tail stuck halfway into Link.
"bM-My Queen!/b" The dragon kneeled, yanking his tail out of Link. The pain finally came to the poor warrior.
"Eeeaaaahhhhgg!" Link screamed as the tail left his chest, and he fell to his knees. He yelled again, putting his hands over the wound, which was spilling blood everywhere. He fell flat, and his blood pooled around his heaving body.
"LINK!" Zelda yelled, running over to him. Impa, and the calwots with Cosha, came out from behind the Queen, staring at the red-drenched form of Link, who was vainly trying to breath with his almost blood-filled lungs.
"Even imy/i magic can't fix something that bad..." Sahroe wispered solemly. Zelda reached the fallen warrior, kneeling next to him. The Dragonlord managed to turn his head and look at them, but then he spotted Sahoriel and started shaking. The dragon Queen walked over to Link and Zelda, covering the distance in two steps.
"bMove away from him, princess Zelda./b" The Queen said. Zelda's tear-filled eyes looked up at the beautiful and giant form of the Queen. Although she could barely see the face of Sahoriel, her head was so high up, the princess instinctively knew the Queen did not mean Link any harm. She moved away from him. Dakos also backed away, sorry he had stabbed Link and not daring speak to his Queen. The Queen lifted a massive paw and held it over Link, and golden-silver magic came from it, encircling his still form. His sword wound closed up and his blood returned, and the Queen removed her paw. Zelda stared in silence at Link, who didn't move.
"Were you in time...?" She asked fearfully.
"bFear not, princess, I was in time./b" The dragon replied. "bArise, Link!/b" Her voice awakened the unconscious hero, and he stood up. Zelda ran over to him, throwing her arms around him. He hugged her back, glad to be alive. Zelda released her friend and backed up, and Link looked down at the Dragonlord, who he realized was shaking.
"Sahoriel, I mean Your Majesty...please don't kill the Dragonlord, he must have some good in him!" Link said.
"bIt is okay, Link. As a favor to you, I will not kill him. I will do the opposite. You see, he has an evil spirit controlling his body, and I will get rid of it. This way, he can begin a new life free from it's evil influence./b" The Queen said a few words, and some white magic came from her deep eyes, entering the Dragonlord. At first he screamed, but then the light magic destroyed the evil spirit in him and healed his body and soul. Shakily, he rose to his feet. His eyes were no longer a blood-thirsty red, but a pretty blue, like Link's.
"Am I finally free?" He asked. Link noticed that his voice was no longer deep and angry, but soft and human, with a tone not unlike his own.
"bAs a final deed to repay my debts to the the Hero of Time, I will reveal the Dragonlord's past. His real name is Chain, and the first minute Ganondorf saw him, he knew this boy had special talents with dragons. This boy was born with the spirit of a dragon-keeper, and most dragons would naturally like him and do as he asked if he was good. Ganon perverted this natural talent. He put an evil spirit in the boy, and raised him as an apprentice. He gave the boy his staff and headpiece, and taught him to control dragons. The boy was to lend power to Ganon's evil efforts. Finally he gained possession of the Dragon Summoning Portal and gave it to Chain, who had become the Dragonlord. He then sent the boy away to practice his talents for a year./b"
"Now I remember! My name is Chain, isn't it? And I remember you too, Link..."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Link, Zelda, Impa and the calwots looked at him questioningly.
"bI'm getting to that!/b" The Queen said, blowing over the humans beneath her with her breath. "bOops, sorry, humans. I'll speak more quietly. How's this?/b" She asked, speaking in what would be considered a whisper to her, but was still quite loud the the Hylians.
"That's fine." Link said, and she continued.
"bDuring that year the boy learned to use his staff to summon dragons and control them partially with his headpiece, but could not completely control them unless he put a bracelet on them. That's when he traveled to the dragon's village, during the night time. That night I was sleeping outside, enjoying the coolness, and he charmed my guards and captured me so I could help him put bracelets on dragons and summon really big ones. He went back to Hyrule and found that his Master was gone, imprisoned in the evil realm. He quickly learned that you and Zelda had done it, and he knew that with your triforces he could undo it. At that time he had no way of knowing, Link, that you were his brother./b" Link, astonished but happy, stared at Chain.
"My...brother? I have a family? Yes!!" Link said. Chain looked back at Link, smiling.
"Now I remember you! My older brother! I haven't thought about you since I met Ganondorf!" Chain ran at Link and hugged him.
"bYes, he is your long-lost brother. When your mother was on her way to the Deku Tree, she held a one-yr-old Link, and a newly born Chain. A monster attacked her on the way, and stole Chain. She barely escaped with Link and her own life. The Deku tree never knew of Chain, that is why he never told you, Link. Chain as a baby was shown to Ganondorf, and the evil man, recognizing his abilities imediately, had him raised as a warrior by the Gerudo. When he was seven he was taken back to Ganondorf, who put the spirit in him and took him as an aprentice. Chain could not control himself after the evil spirit was put in him, but now it is all over. I am glad to finally reveal these secrets to you!/b"
"Wow, I've had a brother these last fourteen years...this is so cool! I've known about my family for only thirty seconds, and it's already great!" Link said, squeezing Chain in a tight embrace. Impa laughed and stepped forward.
"Hey, Link. I think you dropped this." She said, tossing his hat at him. Link let go of Chain, catching it. Zelda turned at the voice of her beloved caretaker Impa, noticing her for the first time.
"Impa! Where have you been? I've missed you so much!" Zelda ran over and hugged Impa.
"And I missed you as well. You can be assured that I'll never leave suddenly like that again. Link didn't do as well as I had hoped at protecting you...." She looked over at the sorry-looking Link, then started laughing. "Oh, Link! You know I was only kidding!"
"You were? Heheheh." Link laughed as Dakos came up to him.
"bLink, I'm sorry for what I did to you. I can never repay you for saving my Queen./b.."
"It's okay. Just don't be evil anymore!"
"bNo problem there! I've had enough bossing around to last me a lifetime!/b" Sahoriel looked at him strangely. "bOf course, I'll still take orders from you, Your Majesty!/b" He said quickly, making everyone laugh.
"bGood. Here's your first order: while I take this ancient fortress back to the dragon village where it belongs, I want you to carry the humans back to their home in Hyrule. By the way, you might want to negotiate with the King a bit. I am interested in trading with his country, and perhaps becoming a part of it. I never gave the humans much credit, but the humans from his kingdom are the finest I've ever met./b"
With that, Link, Chain, Zelda, Impa and Cosha (who still had not quite regained his sanity) got on Dakos's back. With his large wings, the dragon easily flew out of the fortress with all five of them riding on him, Coflix and Saroe following. On their way to Hyrule they stopped at Catalin to pick up the fully-healed Raykel. Feelack revealed that the village had, surprisingly, voted for the idea of establishing trade between their village and the castle, and he appointed Saroe and Coflix to be the official negotiators. The nine mismatched creatures flew off to Hyrule, all of them looking forward to a peaceful agreement between their respective races, glad that the problems caused by the Dragonlord had finally come to an end.
The troubles with the Dragonlord are over, but what happens when the tensions between calwot and dragon rise to a boil, and Link is caught right in the middle? Find out in my next story. To see the art for my fanfiction that I've drawn, click on this link: http:t) e-mail me or include it in your review, please. I highly value comments on my work. Thanks for reading! -Talonclawfange
Note: In section 8: Final Fight of the Sadistic Dragonlord, the Beginning of Chain, sadistic means nothing more or less than he enjoys inflicting pain on others. A defenition in a dictionary I saw suggested something more, but I'm not using the word that way, got it?
buSection 7
Friends and Foes Within the Fortress/u/b
It was even darker in the fortress than it had been outside. Link stood still a few moments, letting his eyes adjust to the dim light of the torches hanging dozens of feet above. Link could feel Zelda was in this fortress. He didn't know how to explain it, but he knew she was here. As soon as he could see, Link walked on. He was in a huge hall, with pillars reaching up from the floor to support the massive ceiling, which was so high above Link that he could not make it out. The fortress was certainly huge and black. Link knew that if the fortress was as big as he thought it was, one could wander in it for days, and Link hoped he would find something quickly. After a few minutes of walking he came apon a statue. It was a life-sized dragon statue, towering thirty or fourty feet over Link, and it was sitting strait up, as if guarding the hall which stretched on behind it. Link looked at the dragon's feet, and was startled to find the skeleton of a calwot. Strangely, the skeleton was standing in it's death, staring up at the dragon's head. iDoes the dragon come alive?/i Link wondered. He drew his sword, looking up into the eyes of the statue dragon.
The stone sentinel's gaze was strangely captivating, and Link found he could not look away from it. Soon the eyes started to glow a ghostly yellow. They got brighter, and Link continued to watch in wonder, his mind drifting on the space and time reaching out to him and beckoning him to the ancient and powerful stone eyes.
iWhere is everyone?/i Link wondered. He had been walking for days, and it seemed as if he was the only living thing in the fortress. In the long, stretching time during which he had walked, he had covered miles, and not heard a single sound except his own booted feet. There had been a few tunnels branching off from the main one, but they all looked the same, and Link continued forward.
As he marched on in the dead silence, Link stared at the void before him, endless pillars and miles of hall, waiting to swallow him and keep him for all time. He could feel that he was tiring, but he could not stop walking. What am I doing here? Link asked himself, and found he could not remember. He tried to think of his past, but there was only walking and more walking, ever since the day his soul had come into creation; and he would keep walking, until his soul faded with all of the temporary things of the cosmos. No, even after that, the walking would continue, for it had no beginning and no end. The halls of the fortress melted away with the ages, and only the mists of a black and pointless eternity remained. Link was so tired, but could not stop. He had always been tired, and he could never stop. He walked for eternity...continuing on and on, into the depths of time. Space meant nothing, for everywhere was the same, and time meant nothing, for it did not bring any more change than space did. Link walked and walked, feeling his feeble life slip away through the fingers of centuries...
Suddenly his hand felt warm. Not halting the eternal walking, he looked down at his hand, through the haze that was his thoughts. There was nothing in his hand. It got warmer and warmer. iWhat is happening?/i All of the walking seemed very strange to him now. His hand was getting past warm, it was hot. He felt the handle of a sword in his hand but could not see it. iStop walking./i Link's subconscious ordered. Link kept walking, he could never stop...and his hand burned. iStop walking!! /iLink stopped. iI remember, I am here to save Zelda! /i
The black, impenetrable, unchangable walls of space and time melted away as Link opened his eyes. He saw the calwot skeleton standing in front of him, the same it had been days and centuries ago...or was it moments? Link looked down and saw the glowing Master Sword in his hand, and he realized it was burning him.
"Ow!" He said, dropping it. Immediately it stopped glowing. iWhat on earth happened just now?/i Link looked up, and saw the glowing eyes of the dragon statue. Imediately he ripped his eyes away from their captivating glare. Link was now aware of how frighteningly close to death he had been. iThat statue hypnotized me! It hasn't been years, or even days, only minutes! I was going to stand here until I ended up like that calwot, with that statue draining my life. I would have died, and the Master Sword saved me. /iLink picked up the ancient blade, finding it of normal temperature, and walked past the dragon statue, resisting the temptation to look into it's deadly eyes and fall into the pits of death again. He sheathed his sword, grateful it had chosen him to be its wielder.
After only minutes of walking, Link came to a branch in the hall. Two equally large halls stretched off to the left and right. There was a dragon etched into the wall of the right hall, so Link thought he might as well go that way. He turned right, and kept walking. After about ten minutes of walking, Link entered a huge room. From the dim light of torches, Link could see there was three ways out of the room. Two of these ways were smaller than the hall he had just left, only about forty feet wide and tall (this was still pretty big, but much smaller than the other hall). The two smaller passageways were on either side of the middle passageway, which was larger, if possible, than the hall Link had just left. Engraved into the black stone above the huge middle way, was a beautiful dragon. Link entered the middle passage.
As Link reached the end of the relativaly short but huge passage, Link found himself staring into two enormous blue eyes. Two horses walking side-by-side could easily walk into the huge eyes, if they were a door. The head of Sahoriel, the dragon Queen, lifted; and the eyes stared down at Link from far above. Link sheathed his sword.
b"Who is this? You are not the Dragonlord../b." Link stared up at the huge white-orange dragon. And he had thought the energy-element dragon was big! This dragon was easily as big as three energy-element dragons.
"I..." Link lost his voice for a moment, then recovered himself. "You must be Sahoriel! I am honored to be in your presence...you are truly the greatest creature I've ever seen!" Link bowed. "My name's Link! I've come to rescue a friend of mine, and you!"
"bWhat? A human sent to rescue me?! What sort of joke is this?!/i" The loud booming of the dragon's voice and the air from her breath nearly knocked Link over, but he stood firm in front of the Dragon Queen.
"Hey! What's wrong with a human? It's not a joke, your son Taig sent me to save you!" Suddenly the Queen's features sofened.
"bMy...my son? How I miss him...and he does not yet realize how much of an insult it is to send a rescuer after the Queen of Dragons. Okay, human. Because my son didn't know better than to send you, I'll let you save me, but only because of my son, understand?!"/b This time the dragon's breath idid/i knock Link over. He got up, grateful that the dragon didn't have stinky breath.
"Heheh, whatever you say, Sahoriel."
"bYou'll call me 'Your Majesty', got it? I don't need another puny human disrespecting me/b."
"Okay. I'll call you by your title, but only if you stop calling me 'human'! I have a name!" Link said indignantly, hands on hips.
"bFair enough, Link./b" The dragon Queen actually smiled. "bI think I like your attitude, young one. You are nothing like the Dragonlord, although your appearences are similar. However, you do have certain ties with that tyrant..."/b
"What? I don't get it."
"bNevermind. There is only one way to save me, Link. To save me, you must destroy the Dragonlord's headpiece. If you get rid of that, he will not have the power necessary to contain me any longer./b"
"Okay. But first I have to ask you something, Your Majesty. Do you know where my friend Zelda is?"
"bYes. I have superb hearing, and I heard the Dragonlord speaking to and threatening a girl by that name. It was a day or two ago...but I'm sure of where she is, because I heard her moving around a few hours ago. If you leave the way you came and take the hall right of this one, you will find some stairs. Past those stairs you'll find a huge room with a single exit. That exit leads to the dungeons. The cells in the beginning of the dungeons are big enough for dragons, but if you pass about fifteen of them you'll find the cells for smaller creatures. Your friend is in one of those/b."
"Thank you so much!" Link said excitedly. "I'll take care of the Dragonlord as soon as I know Zelda is okay. See you later!"
"bWait, Link. You may find this key useful/b." Sahoriel's enormous paw stretched forth, and Link picked up a small key in it (he was surprised it didn't get stuck between the huge scales of her fingers!), then he ran off to the room from which branched the Queen's chamber and the way to the dungeons. Link followed the Queen's advice, going right and descending down the large stairs. He could feel he was getting closer to Zelda. Link soon reached the huge room before the dungeons the dragon had spoken of, but there was a small problem. In the middle of the room, curled up on the floor, the golden energy-element dragon lay sleeping. Link almost yelled in surprise when he saw the big dragon (but not as big as the Queen) and quickly clapped a hand over his mouth to prevent himself from doing so. The dragon's breathing was incredibly quiet, the reason Link had not heard him before seeing him, and Link knew he would have to be just as quiet if he was to sneak past it. Link really wanted to challenge the dragon which had taken his friend away, but knew he would be inviting death if he awakened the dragon now.
Link drew the Master Sword slowly and silently, and took out his mirror shield, since he had dropped the Hylian one during his fight with the shiftbats (he wondered just how many more Hylian Shields he would have to get before he would stop losing them!). He drew his weapon not because he wanted a confrontation, but because if the sleeping giant awakened, Link would not be caught unarmed. Link began to walk towards the right side of the dragon. He soon reached the dragon, and began silently slipping past it. When he was halfway past, the dragon moved. It's tail whipped around to Link, and grabbed him, pinning his arms, his sword, and his shield to his sides; and lifting him off the ground. The dragon rose, staring triumphantly into Link's eyes with his one good eye.
"bYou idiot! You're the same moron who took my eye and tried to protect Zelda, aren't you? Well there's no way you'll get to her with ME guarding the dungeons!/b" The dragon lifted his head towards the ceiling, his whole body shaking in wicked laughter. Abruptly the laughing stopped, and with one smooth flicking motion of his tail, the dragon threw Link into a wall fourty feet away.
"Ahhh!" Link yelled, as he was hurled through the air. His scream ended in a new yell of pain as he collided with the wall. He fell a score of feet down to the floor, slamming into it with crushing force, his impact spreading cracks through the black stone. Link lay motionless for a few moments, feeling very broken. The energy-element dragon grinned, thinking him dead.
Link slowly rose to his feet, facing the dragon, his sword and shield still in hand.
"bWhat?! You're a tough little insect, aren't you?/b" The dragon frowned, and ran at Link. Link shot a quick glance at the bracelet on the dragon's left wrist, which was making him bend to the wishes of the Dragonlord. Link's eyes were drawn back to the dragon's head as it lowered, great gaping jaws open wide as it charged. Link remembered the King Dodongo he had defeated as a child, and took out a bomb, hurling it into the dragon's mouth. The dragon's jaws closed on the bomb and it skidded to a stop, confused. The bomb exploded, and the dragon roared as it's mouth was burned. As it collapsed, It's great head dropped to the ground, where the Master Sword could reach it. Link ran forward, performing a jump slash right on the dragon's face. It growled in pain, getting back up.
"bYou will die for that!/b!" It screamed. The Master Sword had done some fair damage to the evil dragon with it's light powers, and blood gushed from the deep five-foot long slash Link had put in the dragon's face. The thick blood ran into the dragon's one good eye, and it raised a paw to wipe the blood off. The dragon closed his eye and opened his mouth again, but his time something came out before Link could throw a bomb into it. Link barely had time to raise his mirror shield before a searing stream of energy fire shot out of the dragon's mouth. The dragon's fire was reflected back to it, but an element dragon cannot be harmed by it's own attack, so the dragon simply intensified the blast of heat and power. It became so strong that it began forcing Link back, and he was pushed until he was standing against a wall. The heat was incredible, and Link switched to his Goron's tunic, but even that didn't help much. The heat made Link sweat all over, and he was certain he would be fried, shield or no. The pressure was pinning him helplessly, and thought he could feel his boots melting.
It then occured to Link that he was not trying very hard. He was giving in to exhaustion just because a statue had sucked a bit of his strength and he had been thrown into a wall. Link knew he was extremely lucky that all of his bones hadn't broken when he hit the wall, and scolded himself for not putting up a better fight after such a lucky break. He called forth the power of the Golden Gauntlets, and began to walk forward, pressing back the stream of yellow energy fire with his shield. Link walked forward until he was up to the dragon's mouth, and still the ignorant creature, thinking Link was frying in it's fire, did not open it's good eye to see him. Link stuck his sword into the dragon's toungue.
"bAAhhhhhhh!/b" The dragon yelled, it's fire stopping. It held it's toungue, glaring feircely at Link, who glared back. "bI'll khill yhoooouu!/b" It growled. Link switched back to his Kokiri tunic (he does it instantly with magic, in case you didn't know), and while Link was looking into the dragon's face, it's tail sneaked around in front of Link. It shot up as quick as lightening, striking Link's neck. Link dropped his shield, holding his neck and falling to one knee, coughing hard. Taking advantage of this, the dragon reached down one massive paw, and grabbed Link. Link dropped his sword as the dragon jerked it's hand upward, bringing the little Hylian up to eye-level. "bI have you now, heheh. I never quite crushed you last time we fought, but now it's round two! Let's see your little princess save you this time, AAHAHAHAHAHA/b!"
The dragon squeezed, and Link gasped as the pressure nearly prevented him from breathing. The rough scales on the hand closing around Link dug into his skin. Grinning, the dragon squeezed harder, and Link could feel some bones break. He would have screamed, but no longer had the lung capacity to do so. Then Link felt something bubble up in his throat, and warm liquid poured down his chin. The dragon kept crushing, and Link's vision blurred as he looked into the beast's face.
"bAny last words, insect/b?" It asked mockingly.
"Ughh..." was all Link could manage. The dragon bore it's teeth in anticipation.
"bI thought so. Goodbye, insect...Arggg!/b" The dragon roared as a small arrow was shot into it's one good eye. It closed the eye and dropped Link, bringing both of it's paws up to cover it's new wound. Link hit the ground with a dull thud. He weakly looked over to the left of the dragon, and dimly saw the female human who had visited the calwots. The woman who had known him, the woman to had been taken into the cloud by the calwot and not returned. The woman who had just saved him by shooting the dragon's eye. Link's lungs no longer had pressure on them so he could speak, and he coughed out some blood when he yelled:
"IMPA?!" The Sage of Shadow had been the last person Link expected to find. She had been gone from Hyrule for quite a while, and Link had almost forgotten that he was supposed to look for her while he was in North Hyrule.
"With all that yelling, Link, you're going to cough up a lung." The shiekah woman said quietly, putting away her crossbow. iThat's gross../i.Link thought, but didn't talk. He tried to get to his feet, but too many of his bones were broken, and he only succeeded in hurting himself. With a groan, he lay still. Impa moved in between the dragon and Link.
"Impa...the dragon..," Link coughed, "is too strong, even blind..."
"Don't talk, Link. I sensed Zelda was here the day she arrived and have been looking for her ever since I got here two days ago. This place is enormous and I can't find her, even with my telepathic powers. Now that I've found you, the least I can do is protect you. You can feel her better than I, so you need to go find her. The problem is I'm here too late...it looks like you won't be going anywhere." The shiekah woman frowned, as the dragon tooks it's paws off it's eye and turned it's bloody face towards her. It was quite a horrific sight, the horned face of a giant golden dragon, drenched in blood and growling; and Impa shuddered. She drew her curved shiekah sword, but the noise of it alerted the dragon to where she was. It swept a huge paw into her, knocking twenty feet to the right, into the same wall Link had hit. She screamed as she hit it, and she slumped to the floor. The dragon and Link remained silent and motionless for a few intense moments, then Impa got up, a hand on her right shoulder.
iLink is right...I cannot beat this dragon on my own../i.she thought. Suddenly, as if fate had been reading her thoughts, she heard the flapping of wings. She turned her eyes to the entrance of the room, and saw two calwots, one black-and-white spotted and one solid black, flying towards the dragon from behind. They both said a word at the same time, and spears instantly appeared in their paws. Saroe flew over to Link, and Coflix stuck his spear into the soft skin between the element dragon's neck scales and his underbelly scales. The dragon roared and thrashed, but Coflix nimbly flew out of the way. Impa ran over to Saroe, who was bending over Link, chanting. Impa reached Link just in time to see his bones mended and his cuts close up. Fully healed, Link rose to his feet.
"Wow, thanks! How did you find us?" He said, picking up his sword and shield which were only a few feet away. "And thank you, too, Impa-"
"Link! We don't have time to chat, buddy! You need to go save Zelda while the calwots and I beat this dragon. Don't worry about us, Link, just go!" Link started to protest, but Saroe interrupted.
"Go, Link! With all the noise you and this dragon were making, I don't see why the Dragonlord himself isn't here! You need to save that princess of yours, now! Beat the Dragonlord so all can be as it was between the dragons and calwots!" Link grimly nodded. As the dragon turned toward's it's opponents, Link ran off to the passage leading to the dungeons. iI can't let them down,/i he thought, hoping they would prevail against the dragon. After a minute of running, Link entered the Dragonlord's dungeons. Very strangely he could not hear the battle he knew was going on in the room he had left, and he assumed the black walls must muffle sound very well, except a few places. The calwots must have found one of those places to locate him, and Link wondered if the Dragonlord would reach one such place and discover the intruders in his fortress. Link just hoped the Dragonlord would come after him, not the calwots and Impa, who already had their hands full.
Link walked silently past many dragon-sized cells. All of the cells had heavy meatal doors with locks bigger then his head. Eventually Link reached the end of the dragon-sized cells, and reached the small ones. He could feel his friend! He looked at the metal doors, wondering which one to choose.
"Zelda...?" He called out cautiously. He heard some movement in the cell to his right.
"Help me...I need Link..." A voice said. Link thought that didn't quite sound like Zelda, but maybe she sounded weird because she was behind a metal door.
"I'm coming!" He said and took off the bar which was blocking the door shut, opening it. iWait, shouldn't the cell with Zelda in it be locked a little more securely that that?/i Link looked into the darkness. iA bar closing the door could probably be shaken loose easily... something fishy is going on here!/i Link saw a gleam in the shadows and jumped to the side just in time to dodge a knife thrusting for his heart. As the knife and the arm of his attacker went past him, Link grabbed the arm. He pulled his attacker out into the hall, where the light of torches illuminated him. Link stared down at Cosha.
"This is getting wierder by the second!" Link said, grabbing Cosha's knife and roughly releasing his arm. "What on earth are iyou/i doing here?!"
"Heheh...how did you like my Zelda impression? All the while I've been working for the Dragonlord! Raykel was never my Master, the Dragonlord was! That moron Raykel didn't even realize when I gave him a potion to drink!"
"A potion? What did you do to Raykel?!" Link demanded angrily.
"Hahaha! Didn't you think it was odd how much he hated you, even though in the past he had been a good man? The Dragonlord had me give him a hate potion! It doesn't really control your mind or change your personality, it just makes you completely despise the first person you see! Now do you realize just how great the Dragonlord is? Raykel was supposed to hate Zelda, but unfortunately, he saw you before he saw her. Oh well...I just regret that the potion wore off before he drove that dagger into your throat like he was supposed to!"
"That's not very nice!" Link drew his sword and pointed it at Cosha threateningly. "Tell me where Zelda is right now! I know she's in here."
"I'll never let you get past me! Even though these metal doors are soundproof, I heard you because I have the instinct of a dragon (of course Cosha had really just seen Link's shadow under the door). Run while you can!" Link almost laughed.
"Oh, please...stop the talking, I'll never defeat you if I double over laughing in the middle of our fight!"
Cosha lunged at him, knocking them both to the floor. Cosha raised a fist to punch Link, but Link was quicker. He punched Cosha, and he went flying, landing hard on his back. He got up slowly, shaking.
"Ah...ouch!" He said, but ran at Link again anyway. When he was close he tried to do his little maneuver again, but this time Link was ready for it. As soon as Cosha was behind him, he tried to grab Link's neck, but Link grabbed Cosha's arms, throwing him over his shoulder. Cosha landed hard in front of him, but then started to get up.
Link slashed at him as he got to his feet, and his sword hit Cosha's armor, sending him sprawling to his back once again. Link stepped forward to attack again, but Cosha raised his arms above his head in fear.
"Aaahhhh! No, leave me alone!" He suddenly jumped up and ran down the hall, opposite from the room Link had come from, screaming, "Intruder, Master!" Link was about to go after him, but remembered Zelda. He walked to the next door down and found a strong lock on it. He took out the small key the Queen had given him, unlocked the door, and slowly pushed the door open; sword held ready. He couldn't see, so he lit a fire arrow, which illuminated all of the small room. Sitting in a corner of the cell, with both arms chained to the stone wall, was the Princess of Hyrule. Link would have smiled in joy, but when he saw the condition Zelda was in, a concerned frown covered his face.
"Zelda...what has he done to you?"
"LINK!!" She yelled, and Link saw that at least her voice hadn't been damaged. Her dress was torn and very dirty, and she had cuts on her cheek and neck, and bruises everywhere. Link ran over to her, and quickly broke her bonds with the gauntlets. Despite how weak the princess felt, she threw her arms around Link. He was a bit startled, but just sat there on the ground, holding her. She started shaking, and Link saw that his friend was crying; and felt her tears soaking through his tunic.
"You finally came..." She said happily. "The Dragonlord said you were dead so many times that I almost beleived it! But I knew in my heart you were coming for me! The Dragonlord is so evil..." Her voice was muffled as she pressed her warm face into his chest. He hesitated for a moment, then layed a hand on her head, stroking her hair comfortingly.
"It's okay, Zelda. We're getting out of here, but first I have to fight the Dragonlord." They sat there for another minute or so, until Zelda could compose herself. She finally let go of Link and he stood up, helping her to her feet.
"Cosha ran off to the right hall, so I guess that's where the Dragonlord is." Link said.
"Yes, that's always the direction the Dragonlord went when he was done 'speaking' to me..." Zelda's beautiful, cut, bruised, and tear-streaked face looked at Link's. He was so glad he had finally found her. iIt's not over yet./i He reminded himself, and he and Zelda left the cell. Link paused a few moments to use Arlia on Zelda's wounds, and when he was done he put it away and looked again at the princesses face. To his suprise, she walked forward and hugged him again. "Thank you," she said, giving him one final squeeze and then releasing him. He smiled crookedly.
"Ehem....let's go...Cosha's getting away." They went in the direction Cosha had run. After a few moments they came to a room, and found the man. He was lying on the groud, obviously hurt, and Dakos was leaning over him, with a sharp claw poised to kill.
"Huh? Why is Dakos trying to kill Cosha?" Zelda wondered. "Cosha was the spy in Hyrule Castle, and did quite alot of work for the Dragonlord. Now they're going to kill him?!"
"Stop!" Link said to Dakos, fitting an arrow to his bowstring and aiming it at the dragon. The dragon looked over at him, his claw still suspended over Cosha's face.
"bWhat the heck?! This little human was telling the truth?! Link IS still alive! But, I saw you die myself! You fell off your horse, dead as a stone/b!"
"Afraid not, dragon." Link said, keeping the arrow aimed for the creature.
"bGrrr...the moment my Master heard this twit run in here, shouting about you invading the fortress, he thought he was lying; because he saw you supposedly die like I did. This guy said you were still alive, but we wondered why didn't he tell us that when he came back from the forest...Oh yeah, when he came to us from the Ethereal Forest, my Master threw him in a cell because he made so many mistakes...he didn't get Raykel to hate the right person, and he couldn't even kill Raykel when the potion wore off. The raving fool was actually right...looks like he isn't as crazy as I thought he was, but a brainwashing can turn a madman madder, don't you agree/b?"
"What? The Dragonlord brainwashed him, then put him in jail because he didn't do his job perfectly, and now that he comes back, istill/i trying to be loyal to the Dragonlord, he sicks his pet dragon on him? That guy is gonna be history when I find him!" Link yelled.
"bHeheheh. iIf/i you ever find him! See if you can keep up with me/b!" Dakos ran towards the opposite side of the room, completely forgetting about Cosha, who still lay on the ground, shaking. Link and Zelda ran after the dragon, following him into yet another black hall. iJust how big is this place?!/i Link wondered, iNo wonder Impa got lost in here, there's so many branching tunnels and passageways you could wander for days, maybe weeks! We had better not lose this dragon! /iLink and Zelda sped up, following the dragon as he weaved through many twists and turns in the tunnel. The dragon was fast, and soon the two Hylians could only see his tail as he dashed this way and that, turning into various branching tunnels. Soon the dragon stopped turning, and he ran strait, the Hylians still falling behind. The dragon emerged into a large room and turned to the wall, pulling a switch. A metal sheet fell from a slot above the room's entrance, and Link and Zelda barely slid under it in time. Link's hat fell off and got caught under the metal sheet as it slammed into the floor, sealing off the only exit from the room.
Link's blonde hair fell to his shoulders as he helped Zelda up.
"Wow, Link! your hair is almost as long as mine!" She said, laughing.
"Oh, cut it out. You don't get your hair cut as often as you would like to when you have to cut it with a sword! It really hurts!"
"Okay, sorry." She said, still giggling.
"I'm impressed, Link and Zelda." The voice of the young Dragonlord interrupted. "You actually made it here. I must admit I thought you were dead, Link. I didn't know that useless fool of a spy was telling the truth." Link and Zelda turned, and saw the Dragonlord sitting on a throne on a platform about forty meters away. The throne was red and it's frame was covered in sharp spikes. Unlike the rest of the rooms in the castle, this room actually had some color in it. There were red drapes lining the walls, as well as some dragon paintings. There were two life-sized dragon statues on either side of the spiked throne, both painted realistically to look like red dragons. Dakos was sitting next to one, his tail swaying back and forth like a cat's. The sword-shaped blade on the end of the dragon's tail gleamed in the torchlight as he grinned. The Dragonlord stood and walked down the steps of the platform, grinning insanely at Link. "But now that you're both here, I can kill you as a couple...isn't that just so cute? Hahahahah!" Link and Zelda walked towards the Dragonlord until they were within twenty feet of him. He stopped laughing and smiled at them.
"You won't be doing any such thing!" Link said, drawing the Master Sword. The Dragonlord drew the Sword of Darkness, a black blade infused with evil magic.
"Live by the sword, die by the sword, eh, Link? When I finally have both your triforces I will free my Master from the evil realm, and we will rule all!" The Dragonlord started laughing insanely again, his whole body shaking. The black wing-shaped spike on his back, which held up his cape, had been glued back on after it had been broken off a few days ago; and with the Dragonlord's shaking, it fell off. The end of it clattered to the floor, the Dragonlord's caped drooped, and he stopped laughing. He glared down at it, yelling, "Stinking cape!! You ruined my evil laughing!! Arrgggg!" Zelda giggled, remembering that it was her fault it broke.
"Hey, just who is this Master of yours, anyway? You can't be talking about..." Link trailed off.
"Yes, The Lord of Evil, The Great Ganondorf!" He said, and was about to laugh again, but remembered his broken spike. He undid the belt which held the spikes and his cape on, taking it off and thowing it to the ground angrily.
"I can't let you bring him back! It's time for me to stop your evil for good!" Link yelled.
"Fine! We will fight now. Just you and me. Dakos, grab that princess and make sure she stays out of it!"
"Hey, I'll only stay out of it if your dragon stays out of it, too!" Zelda yelled.
"bOh, I promise/b." The dragon said, taking her and sitting up against a nearby wall. "bI wouldn't rob my Master of the pleasure of killing you two!/b"
"Dragon, if you hurt Zelda..." Link glared at the beast.
"bOh, don't worry, I wont hurt her. The only thing you have to worry about is if the Dragonlord kills you, because then nothing will stop him from killing this little girl here/b." He held Zelda gently, despite her struggling. She stopped, looking at Link.
"You mean iwhen/i I kill him, Dakos!" The Dragonlord shouted.
"Kick his butt, Link!" Zelda yelled. Link was surprised she said that, but turned to the Dragonlord.
The two stared at each other for a minute, each measuring the other's strength. The Dragonlord looked very similar to Link. Their blonde hair was almost the same (except the dragonlord's was lighter and shorter), and the Dragonlord was only about an inch shorter than Link. They looked about the same age, and Link wondered where this young man had come from. He couldn't be Ganon's son, so why was he the boy's Master? Why did Ganon choose a boy like this to be one of his best minions, rather than a monster? Link knew it would be hard to fight the young Hylian.
"Any last words before I slice you to bloody ribbons?" The Dragonlord asked.
"Enough words. It's time to fight! En guard!" Link slashed at the Dragonlord, and the fight began.
buSection 8
Final Fight of the Sadistic Dragonlord, the Beginning of Chain/u/b
The Dragonlord brought up his dark sword, blocking Link's blow. The swords clashed and didn't separate, the two warriors pressing against them. Link strained as he pushed against his blade, but gained no ground as the Dragonlord pressed back just as hard. Link called forth the power of the gauntlets.
"Ah, your secret weapon, eh? I knew about your Golden Gauntlets ever since you battled one of my dragons with them. I'm prepared for you!" The Dragonlord began chanting as the gauntlets helped Link press him backwards, but suddenly the Dragonlord had enough strength to stop himself from being pushed. His arms were infused with dragon-like strength, and he began pushing Link backwards! Link's eyes grew wide in suprise as he tried to stop himself from being forced back. His boots lost their grip on the floor, and he slid on the stone floor, despite his best efforts. Link then jumped away from the Dragonlord, so their swords were separated.
"Wow, I've never met anyone stronger than my gauntlets!" He said, commending the Lord. The man grinned in triumph.
"That's right! And my strength spell lasts until I take it off or it's beaten off, not until I can't breathe like yours!"
iI suppose that means he's going to try to stop my breathing?/i Link wondered, iI'm not surprised...just about every evil person I've met has tried to./i The Dragonlord slashed at Link and he blocked it with the mirror shield. Link then tried to slash at the Dragonlord but he parried again, and the two kept going. As their swords rang against each other Link remembered his fight with Sohran, and how their swords clashing had sounded like a song. The sharp clanging of the Lord's sword reminded Link more of a twisted dirge. He shoved that thought out of his mind, concentrating on the fight. Link picked up the pace a bit, but the Dragonlord could keep up with him. iDrat, he's pretty good! /iLink thought, breaking off his attack and jumping back. He powered up his sword for a spin attack; and the Dragonlord, who had not been spying on Link when he used it, didn't know what it was. He stood there until Link released the attack.
"Shaaahhhhhh!" Link yelled as the energy was released in his spin attack, flying at the Dragonlord. He brought his sword up to block it, but it's pure force knocked him down. He got up, glaring at Link. The Dragonlord jumped at him, and Link did a backflip, dodging the Lord's sword. As Link landed, the Dragonlord rushed at him, punching him in the stomach. The Lord's strength spell was still in effect, and the breath was violently knocked out of Link as he flew backwards, landing roughly on the black stone floor. He got up, holding his stomach. The Dragonlord ran at him, and Link quickly sheathed his sword, performing the Din's Fire spell. The spell enveloped the Dragonlord in flames, and he screamed, rolling around to put the fire out.
"You rotten kid!" He yelled, getting to his feet; his clothes a bit blacker than they had been before.
"You're a kid too!" Link said, reluctant to admit he was a kid, but wanting to tell the Dragonlord that he was just as young. The Dragonlord growled and rasied his hand at Link, firing a dark ball of energy at him, not unlike the attack Ganon had used long ago. Link drew the Master Sword again, deflecting the ball back at the Dragonlord, who dodged it. The Dragonlord then powered up his blade with dark energy, jumping forward and thrusting at Link. Link moved to the side, but the dark sword gave him a tiny slash. Link yelled, putting a hand on it.
"What the...? It's just a tiny cut!" Link said, surprised at how much it hurt.
"Hahahah! You pure-hearted moron! It's dark energy, so it will really hurt you! Remember my nice little arrow? A simple arrow almost killed you!" Link frowned and slashed at the Dragonlord, who hit his blade away with amazing strength. Link almost dropped the Master Sword as it flew back, pushed by the dark magic. iNot good!/i Link thought. He tried to use Nayru's Love, but discovered that he had run out of that kind of mana. iThat's REALLY not good!/i Link thought urgently, bringing up his blade as the Dragonlord slashed at him again. The darkness threw him back again, almost making him fall. Link straitened himself just in time to block another blow from the Sword of Darkness. This one forced the Master Sword out of his hands, and it flew behind him. The Dragonlord grinned as he slashed at Link again, and Link tried to block with his shield, but that, too, was hit away from him. The Lord then slashed Link's right shoulder, putting a deep, dark cut in it.
Link yelled and put a hand over the dark wound, and the Dragonlord punched him in the face with his strong right arm, throwing the Hylian to his back. The Dragonlord sheathed his sword jumped on him, his legs pinning Link's legs, and his arms pinning Link's arms. He smiled insanely at the trapped warrior, who's shoulder was still burning with sharp pain. The Dragonlord powered up his left hand with dark energy, and Link struggled to hold it off as it decended towards his cut shoulder. The Dragonlord was stronger, and his hand gripped Link's dark wound, putting even more dark power into it. Zelda, still in Dakos's arms, screamed.
"Aaaahhhhhhh!" Link yelled as the dark energy entered his body, making it flare with pain from head to toe. The Dragonlord grinned, squeezing Link's shoulder and enjoying his pain. Link struggled, trying to get the hand off before it did more damage, and succeeded in freeing one of his legs. The Dragonlord used more dark power and Link screamed again, but then kicked the Lord's stomach, and he flew off, landing on his back. Both men got to their feet slowly, Link holding his shoulder and breathing hard. It was still infecting his body with painful dark magic, and Link walked over to the Master Sword, picking it up. As soon as he put his hand on it a stream of light magic came from the blade, destroying the dark magic in his shoulder. Link sighed in relief and the Dragonlord drew his sword.
"Just how much is it going to take to kill you?! You're a lot tougher than your girly friend!" The boy said, glaring.
"Zelda is tougher than you'll ever be! You're lucky her light magic was all used up when you captured her, or she would have beaten you!"
"Yeah right! She's not so tough. It was alot of fun scaring her, Link. Securing her to a dark, cold wall and leaving her for a couple of days...visiting her again, and telling her you were dead, it was great! Especially when I took a knife and cut her neck, and her face..."
"Shut up! You'll never hurt the princess again, you jerk!" The Master Sword glowed with light energy as Link attacked. The black magic covered Sword of Darkness clashed with it, and a wave of energy shot from the blades as they clashed. They kept attacking one another, and the ground shook as a wave of energy shot out of the blades every time they clashed. The men kept at it for another dozen minutes, until some rocks were shaken out of the ceiling of the builing, crashing into the floor and breaking to dust.
"The whole fortress will fall at this rate!" Zelda said, and her frightened captor nodded. Eventually the light magic faded from the Master Sword, Link was so exhausted. Luckily, the Dragonlord was equally tired, and the evil magic left his blade as well. The two jumped back from each other, each panting and staring determinedly into the other's eyes. They jumped at each other at the same moment, and their swords clashed one last time and they both fell, laying on the floor and breathing hard. The Dragonlord got up first, and walked over to Link as he was getting to his feet. The Lord punched Link's face again, harder then last time, and he flew backwards, landing hard on his back. The Dragonlord walked over to Link, who was trying to rise, and put a black boot on his throat, pinning him to the ground again.
Link tried to pull the boot off as it pressed down, cutting off his air. The Dragonlord grinned as Link choked, then lifted the Sword of Darkness, blade down, over Link's chest.
"Hahah..." He laughed tiredly. "Now you're mine...I hope Ganondorf won't be too mad at me for taking the pleasure of killing you and the princess! This time I'll make sure you're dead, if I have to slice you to tiny bits!" Link, although he was gasping for air, wasn't about to give up; and summoning the rest of the Master Sword's power, he slashed upward at the Dragonlord with the light-covered blade. The blade hit his face, and he yelled as the light magic entered his tired form through the cut it made. His dragon-controlling headpiece shattered; and he stumbled backwards, his foot leaving Link's neck. Link got up immediately, gasping a bit, and slashed at the Lord, who was holding the side of his head. The Master Sword made a two foot long, one inch deep cut from the Dragonlord's waist to his collarbone, easily slicing throught his black chest armor. "Aaahhhhhhhh!" The young man screamed, staggering and falling to his back. He put a hand on the slash on his chest, which glowed with light magic. Link walked over to him, staring down at his pained face.
"Uhhhh..." The Dragonlord squirmed as the light magic hurt him. "It's all over for me...I'm sorry Master." He looked up at Link. "I...can't go on. Kill me..." Link gasped in surprise.
"Kill you? There's no way I can do something like that." The Dragonlord stopped squirming around as the light magic finally faded from his slash, and he lay still, not able to move.
"But...I would have killed you and Zelda...I would have freed Ganondorf and he would have conquered Hyrule..."
"I didn't kill Ganondorf and I'm not going to kill you. No matter how evil you are, you're still human, and so is he."
"............" The Dragonlord stared at Link, not sure what to say. Dakos wasn't listening very well, and thought that Link had said he would kill the Dragonlord. buI'm coming, Master!/b/i The dragon thought, releasing Zelda and dashing over to Link and the Dragonlord.
Link was staring down at the injured Dragonlord when he felt something slam into his back. Zelda screamed loudly. Suddenly Link's knees buckled with weakness and he almost fell over, his strength somehow gone. Something in his chest was keeping him from falling, something he knew did not belong there. The room seemed to get darker and redder, and Link's chest felt warm and wet. He looked down, and saw the bloody tip of Dakos's sword-tail protruding from his chest.
"Hurry, Link might need our help!" Impa shouted, and the calwots flew after her as she ran the way Link had gone. Her and the calwots had beaten the energy-element dragon by destroying the bracelet which controlled it. They dragon had stopped attacking them and left, without a word. They ran throught the dungeons and came into a room, and seeing someone in it, they stopped. Cosha lay on the floor, muttering incoherently. "What is ihe/i doing here?" Impa wondered, having only seen Cosha once, back at the castle.
"Who cares?" Colfix said, picking him up. "I'll carry him and we can ask him later. Let's go!"
"Wait!" Saroe said."Something's coming!" She looked at the hall behind the group and gasped as she saw the huge, white-orange Queen of dragons approaching.
"bWe must hurry, little ones. Link is in grave danger./b" The Queen rushed in front of them, and they followed her without question. She led them past the dungeons, through a series of twisting tunnels. Many passes branched off from the main one, but the Queen seemed to know where she was going, so the others rushed to follow her. Soon the group came to a metal door, and the Queen breathed exploding flames at it. The thick metal door practically disintegrated, small peices of it scattering as the Queen's breath destroyed it instantly. The Queen entered the room, and saw her subject, Dakos, with his tail stuck halfway into Link.
"bM-My Queen!/b" The dragon kneeled, yanking his tail out of Link. The pain finally came to the poor warrior.
"Eeeaaaahhhhgg!" Link screamed as the tail left his chest, and he fell to his knees. He yelled again, putting his hands over the wound, which was spilling blood everywhere. He fell flat, and his blood pooled around his heaving body.
"LINK!" Zelda yelled, running over to him. Impa, and the calwots with Cosha, came out from behind the Queen, staring at the red-drenched form of Link, who was vainly trying to breath with his almost blood-filled lungs.
"Even imy/i magic can't fix something that bad..." Sahroe wispered solemly. Zelda reached the fallen warrior, kneeling next to him. The Dragonlord managed to turn his head and look at them, but then he spotted Sahoriel and started shaking. The dragon Queen walked over to Link and Zelda, covering the distance in two steps.
"bMove away from him, princess Zelda./b" The Queen said. Zelda's tear-filled eyes looked up at the beautiful and giant form of the Queen. Although she could barely see the face of Sahoriel, her head was so high up, the princess instinctively knew the Queen did not mean Link any harm. She moved away from him. Dakos also backed away, sorry he had stabbed Link and not daring speak to his Queen. The Queen lifted a massive paw and held it over Link, and golden-silver magic came from it, encircling his still form. His sword wound closed up and his blood returned, and the Queen removed her paw. Zelda stared in silence at Link, who didn't move.
"Were you in time...?" She asked fearfully.
"bFear not, princess, I was in time./b" The dragon replied. "bArise, Link!/b" Her voice awakened the unconscious hero, and he stood up. Zelda ran over to him, throwing her arms around him. He hugged her back, glad to be alive. Zelda released her friend and backed up, and Link looked down at the Dragonlord, who he realized was shaking.
"Sahoriel, I mean Your Majesty...please don't kill the Dragonlord, he must have some good in him!" Link said.
"bIt is okay, Link. As a favor to you, I will not kill him. I will do the opposite. You see, he has an evil spirit controlling his body, and I will get rid of it. This way, he can begin a new life free from it's evil influence./b" The Queen said a few words, and some white magic came from her deep eyes, entering the Dragonlord. At first he screamed, but then the light magic destroyed the evil spirit in him and healed his body and soul. Shakily, he rose to his feet. His eyes were no longer a blood-thirsty red, but a pretty blue, like Link's.
"Am I finally free?" He asked. Link noticed that his voice was no longer deep and angry, but soft and human, with a tone not unlike his own.
"bAs a final deed to repay my debts to the the Hero of Time, I will reveal the Dragonlord's past. His real name is Chain, and the first minute Ganondorf saw him, he knew this boy had special talents with dragons. This boy was born with the spirit of a dragon-keeper, and most dragons would naturally like him and do as he asked if he was good. Ganon perverted this natural talent. He put an evil spirit in the boy, and raised him as an apprentice. He gave the boy his staff and headpiece, and taught him to control dragons. The boy was to lend power to Ganon's evil efforts. Finally he gained possession of the Dragon Summoning Portal and gave it to Chain, who had become the Dragonlord. He then sent the boy away to practice his talents for a year./b"
"Now I remember! My name is Chain, isn't it? And I remember you too, Link..."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Link, Zelda, Impa and the calwots looked at him questioningly.
"bI'm getting to that!/b" The Queen said, blowing over the humans beneath her with her breath. "bOops, sorry, humans. I'll speak more quietly. How's this?/b" She asked, speaking in what would be considered a whisper to her, but was still quite loud the the Hylians.
"That's fine." Link said, and she continued.
"bDuring that year the boy learned to use his staff to summon dragons and control them partially with his headpiece, but could not completely control them unless he put a bracelet on them. That's when he traveled to the dragon's village, during the night time. That night I was sleeping outside, enjoying the coolness, and he charmed my guards and captured me so I could help him put bracelets on dragons and summon really big ones. He went back to Hyrule and found that his Master was gone, imprisoned in the evil realm. He quickly learned that you and Zelda had done it, and he knew that with your triforces he could undo it. At that time he had no way of knowing, Link, that you were his brother./b" Link, astonished but happy, stared at Chain.
"My...brother? I have a family? Yes!!" Link said. Chain looked back at Link, smiling.
"Now I remember you! My older brother! I haven't thought about you since I met Ganondorf!" Chain ran at Link and hugged him.
"bYes, he is your long-lost brother. When your mother was on her way to the Deku Tree, she held a one-yr-old Link, and a newly born Chain. A monster attacked her on the way, and stole Chain. She barely escaped with Link and her own life. The Deku tree never knew of Chain, that is why he never told you, Link. Chain as a baby was shown to Ganondorf, and the evil man, recognizing his abilities imediately, had him raised as a warrior by the Gerudo. When he was seven he was taken back to Ganondorf, who put the spirit in him and took him as an aprentice. Chain could not control himself after the evil spirit was put in him, but now it is all over. I am glad to finally reveal these secrets to you!/b"
"Wow, I've had a brother these last fourteen years...this is so cool! I've known about my family for only thirty seconds, and it's already great!" Link said, squeezing Chain in a tight embrace. Impa laughed and stepped forward.
"Hey, Link. I think you dropped this." She said, tossing his hat at him. Link let go of Chain, catching it. Zelda turned at the voice of her beloved caretaker Impa, noticing her for the first time.
"Impa! Where have you been? I've missed you so much!" Zelda ran over and hugged Impa.
"And I missed you as well. You can be assured that I'll never leave suddenly like that again. Link didn't do as well as I had hoped at protecting you...." She looked over at the sorry-looking Link, then started laughing. "Oh, Link! You know I was only kidding!"
"You were? Heheheh." Link laughed as Dakos came up to him.
"bLink, I'm sorry for what I did to you. I can never repay you for saving my Queen./b.."
"It's okay. Just don't be evil anymore!"
"bNo problem there! I've had enough bossing around to last me a lifetime!/b" Sahoriel looked at him strangely. "bOf course, I'll still take orders from you, Your Majesty!/b" He said quickly, making everyone laugh.
"bGood. Here's your first order: while I take this ancient fortress back to the dragon village where it belongs, I want you to carry the humans back to their home in Hyrule. By the way, you might want to negotiate with the King a bit. I am interested in trading with his country, and perhaps becoming a part of it. I never gave the humans much credit, but the humans from his kingdom are the finest I've ever met./b"
With that, Link, Chain, Zelda, Impa and Cosha (who still had not quite regained his sanity) got on Dakos's back. With his large wings, the dragon easily flew out of the fortress with all five of them riding on him, Coflix and Saroe following. On their way to Hyrule they stopped at Catalin to pick up the fully-healed Raykel. Feelack revealed that the village had, surprisingly, voted for the idea of establishing trade between their village and the castle, and he appointed Saroe and Coflix to be the official negotiators. The nine mismatched creatures flew off to Hyrule, all of them looking forward to a peaceful agreement between their respective races, glad that the problems caused by the Dragonlord had finally come to an end.
The troubles with the Dragonlord are over, but what happens when the tensions between calwot and dragon rise to a boil, and Link is caught right in the middle? Find out in my next story. To see the art for my fanfiction that I've drawn, click on this link: http:t) e-mail me or include it in your review, please. I highly value comments on my work. Thanks for reading! -Talonclawfange