buSection 4
The Were-Beast and Dracoulis/u/b
Link was in high spirits as the sun rose, for he knew that today he would probably see Taig again. Despit the young dragon's big ego, Link had missed him, and also looked forward to seeing Saroe and Coflix when his business with the dragons was finished. He got Epona up (once again with much shaking and yelling, which also woke Thesaya up) and the horse went and grazed on leaves while he had breakfast. While he ate, Link looked over at the silent Thesaya, considering offering her food again. She gave him a look that suggested she didn't need anything at the moment, and told him to keep quiet, so he did. When Epona was back Link patted her and mounted, ready to keep going. The sooner they left, the sooner they would reach the end of the Etheral Forest. Thesaya stood, and resumed her role as leader. Epona followed her easily this time, for the horse now almost trusted her.
"So Thesaya...what is it you'll have me do when we reach the boundries of the Ethereal Forest, huh? Are you going to tell me?" Link asked the silver-haired woman.
"I will tell you, warrior, when we get there. Maintain your patience a little longer." She responded softly. Link sighed, his curiosity nagging at him. iCuriosity killed the cat,/i he thought, but it didn't make him feel any better. He felt a sort of uneasiness at the mystery task the woman had planned for him. Something 'a true warrior was always prepared to do'? Link outwardly had a good feeling about those words, but on the inside he was still suspicious of Thesaya's enigmatic favor.
Time passed slowly as they pressed on, and Link just hoped that he wouldn't encounter any pesky shiftbats on his way out of the forest, or any other type of beast for that matter. Link also contemplated how he would get Epona up the side of the Stalfos Swords. The incline was very steep, and Link didn't know if he could have climed it if Taig hadn't flown him to the top last time, so how could Epona possibly climb it? Link remembered that the side of the mountain had trees growing up it, and he thought he might be able to use his hookshot to get up the mountain, then send a dragon down to get Epona, if one was willing. It sounded like a good plan, as long as nothing big attacked Epona while she was waiting. Link knew he could never forgive himself if a shiftbat carried her off.
After quite a few hours of walking, Link noticed the welcome fact that the canopy was thinning. Spots of light became less rare, as did the patches of bright green grass under them. Link saw a bluebird in the distance, and soon he began to hear the pleasant songs of other birds, coupled with the chirping of bugs. iFinally, signs of life other than a big spider or a wolfos!,/i Link thought happily, knowing he would soon be free of the haunting monsters deep in the woods. He did not know that there was still one more monster he had to face, closer than he expected.
Eventually the forest was as it had been when Link enterred it, beautiful and full of life, with light beaming between the branches above him, and Thesaya called a halt.
"By the way your horse has been staring at those patches of grass, I'd say she's hungry. Shall we take a short break?" Epona, who hadn't tasted the sweetness of grass for a couple days, eagerly raced off to a patch after Link dismounted her. The horse quickly gobbled up all the grass she found in one patch, then ran over to the next, going farther away with each patch.
"Don't take too long, Epona!" Link said as his horse disappeared behind some trees, munching on a mouthful of grass. "Funny horse." Link said, "But a very good friend and always dependable."
"Now it is time for you to be dependable, Link." Theysaya said, "And keep your promise, doing me a favor."
"Sure." Link said, glad his curosity would soon be satisfied.
"Do you trust me, Link? Do you believe that I will not harm you?" Thesaya asked, staring into his eyes.
"Uh...I suppose...yeah, you might let a spider kill me, but I don't think you'd attack me yourself." Link replied, wondering if he ireally/i believed that.
"Good. It is time, then. Will you stand up against that tree, please?" She requested.
"That's wierd, but okay." Link said. He walked over to the tree Thesaya was pointing at, leaning up against it. Thesaya smiled a happy smile, raising her hand and pointing at the leaves of the tree.
"Oh tree, friend and ally of mine....." There was a long pause. "Bind him!" She shouted.
"Huh?!" Link was very surprised and a bit angry when vines sprouted out of the sides of the tree, curling around him and holding him fast as he struggled. "What are you doing?!" Link yelled, glaring at Thesaya.
"Don't be so disappointed, warrior. You said you would do this for me, and you will do it. A true warrior is always prepared.....to die." With an evil grin, Thesaya began to transform. Her legs grew long and thin, turning green and growing spikes, as well as her arms. Her finger and toe nails grew and hardened into wicked claws, tipped with slimey purple poison. A long tail with barbs on the end formed, and long spikes emerged from her green and boney back. Her head grew longer and flattened some, until it looked like a snake or lizard's, with long horns. Her red eyes gleamed as her teeth grew into long, purple venom-coated fangs. "Your favor is to stay still, while I, the were-beast, devour your soul!" Thesaya the monster roared.
"Devour my...soul? Thesaya, why are you doing this? Why help me get to the mountains just to eat my soul?" Link inquired.
"Because it is fun. I love finding humans, my favorite food, and playing with them before I destroy them. It is enjoyable for me to trick a human into believing in my words and trusting me, just to see the look of despair on his face as he dies! Ahhahahahaha!" The hideous monster's laughing was rough, sounding like grinding stones.
"This is great! Just about every creature I meet in this forest betrays me, or poisons me, or both! This is getting VERY annoying!" Link growled, struggling some more. Thesaya didn't know that he was perfectly capable of getting free.
"Your irritation will leave with your life. Allow me to give you rest...forever to stay in this forest!" The monster stepped up close to the struggling Link, and extended a poisonous claw, placing it on his forehead. She began chanting. Her chanting stopped as Link used his gauntlets to break the vines and punch her away.
"All right, I don't fight girls, but you're not a girl, just a ravenous monster!" Link yelled, drawing his sword. He noticed a peculiar pain on his forehead, and moved his right hand to it. As he lowered his hand, he saw purple liquid smeared on his fingers, which were now also hurting.
"I was never human, nor will I ever be. Don't let my gender stop you from fighting me. All the more fun for me before I kill you. Me or my venom, that is. Isn't it wonderful how fast it spreads?" Link glared at the beast as it raised an arm, shooting out the spikes on it at Link. He quickly hit them away with his sword, and watched as more spikes grew on Thesaya's arm, to replace the ones that had just been shot at him. Link put away his sword and quickly took out a deku nut, one hand slamming it on the ground while the other covered his eyes. Its bright flash would have stunned Thesaya, if she hadn't had the sense to turn away. The sinewy were-beast jumped at Link, her weight throwing him to the ground. She was about to bite Link's face, but he kicked her off before she could do it. She jumped up, standing before Link.
Link took out the Master Sword and powered it up, performing the spin attack, which knocked the beast away and wounded her. She got to her feet quickly, then leaped onto the branch of a tree above her. She climbed higher into the tree, her green form disappearing into the leaves. Link seached for her, quickly circumspecting the entire area with his eyes, but finding nothing. He heard movement in the branches of a tree to his left, and turned in time to see a few leaves drift to the ground.
"Come out and fight, Thesaya!" Link challenged, and he got his wish. Theysaya jumped down from not the tree to the left of Link, but the tree behind him. She landed silently by his back, grabbing his neck and digging her teeth into his shoulder. Link screamed as the poison-covered teeth dug in, but quickly recovered from the initial surprise, taking Thesaya by the horns and flinging her over his shoulder, into a tree. He put a hand over his shoulder, which was now laced with the purple venom. Some claws had touched Link's neck when the beast had grabbed it, and the claw marks were also filled with the quickly-spreading poison. Link was about to call Epona when Thesaya got up, shooting some more spikes at him. He blocked with his mirror shield, and the spikes flew straight back at Thesaya.
She screamed a twisted screetch as the spikes hit her, tearing through her flesh as easily as they would have done Link's. The monster fell to her knees, her own spikes having mortally wounded her. Link walked slowly over to her, his sword held ready.
"Don't be evil anymore, Thesaya. If you be good I might be able to take you to the dragon village, and ther'es a chance that they could heal us both....uughhh..." Link fell to his knees as the poison sent a wave of pain through his body.
"Never!" The creature screamed, raking Link's leg with her claws. Link had to act quickly before the moster put too much more poison in him, and he drove the Master Sword through the screetching were-beast. Epona showed up as Link withdrew his sword from the monster's corpse. The horse ran quickly over to Link, crouching down so he could easily mount her after sheathing his sword.
"Take me...on to the mountains, girl." Epona quickly obeyed, racing through the trees towards the Stalfos Swords. The horse reached the end of the forest and the beginning of the mountains in minutes. Link had no time to be glad he was out of the forest, knowing that he had to be quick to survive the venom. The first thing he did was take out a fire arrow, shooting it up through the clouds surrounding the Stalfos Sword's peaks. He then slid off of Epona, nearly stumbling as he ran to the base of the mountain. Link could feel the painful venom was getting closer and closer to reaching his heart every second, and he had to reach the dragon village before it did.
"Stay here, Epona. I'll...send a dragon...down to get you." His words were slurred with weakness. He took out his hookshot, and fired it as the highest tree it could hit before reaching the end of its chain. It took all of Link's strength to hold onto the hookshot as it yanked him up to the tree. Link then picked out another high tree, sending his hookshot's hook to it. Again the hook stuck, and the chain pulled Link up to the tree. iAll this trouble for a stinking letter. Daphnes Hyrule really wants to test me, doesn't he?/i Link thought irritably. He was tired, in pain, and sweating all over by the time he sent his hookshot at the seventh tree. The peaks of the Stalfos Swords were very high, and Link had to hookshot six more trees before he finally reached the top.
Link had never been to the dragon village, so he didn't know which way it was, and stood still on the peak, waiting for a few moments, struggling to stay on his feet. Finally he heard the sound he had been waiting for: the flapping of leathery wings. iYeah, my plan worked!/i He thought. Through the mist of the clouds which clung to the mountain, Link saw Taig materialize.
"Link!! It's you! I knew it would be you who shot that fire arrow up here!" Taig landed clumsily thirty feet in front of Link, grinning widely. "I also knew you would visit! The Great Taig can always sense....LINK!?!" Taig was startled when Link collapsed, and ran quickly over to him. "What's that purple stuff?! You're hurt!" Taig quickly picked Link up, positioning the fallen warrior on his back. Taig took off, flying to the right. He flew as fast as his wings could carry him, and was going much faster than the last time Link had to ride on him. In about fifteen minutes, Taig reached the village of the dragons. It was set into the side of an enormous piece of land jutting up from the already tall Stalfos Swords, and was covered by platforms and caves. To the side of the huge peak floated an enormous black building, the former fortress of the Dragonlord. On an especially large platfom sticking out from the peak there rested another big building, constructed from stone. It looked like a huge castle, and Taig flew towards it.
"This peak is my home, the village of the dragons, Dracoulis." Taig said to the semi-conscious Link. He quickly reached the large stone building, and flew straight into its front door, which was wide enough that he didn't have to close his wings. He kept flying straight, until he rached a huge room. Sahoriel and Cirokaal sat in that room, conversing with another important-looking blue dragon. Taig landed in front of his mother, who stopped talking, looking down at her son. "Mom, it's Link! The guy who saved you from the Dragonlord! He's poisoned!" Taig yelled frantically. Sahoriel reached down a claw, and silverish-gold magic came from it, circling down to instantly heal the wounded warrior. He sat up and slid off of Taig's back.
"Thanks Saho....eh, I mean Your Majesty." Link said, bowing. "My horse Epona is at the bottom of this mountain, do you think you could send a dragon to go get her?" Sahoriel turned to the blue dragon. The big (he is considered big because most of the dragons are a little bigger than houses, and he's as big as two houses. The truly big dragons are as big as three houses or larger, like the Royal ones, and the small ones, when full-grown, can be as little as the size of two cows) blue dragon was dwarfed in size by both Sahoriel and her smaller husband, Cirokaal. Sahoriel spoke.
"bWindskiyer, if you are finished talking with the King, you may undertake this task./b" Windskiyer's scales were as blue as the ocean, and his orange eyes turned to his queen as she spoke. His long, black horns had silver bands around them, and sharp black claws were on the ends of his paws. His grey and white wings shimmered in the light coming from a hole in the ceiling (purposely put there to light the room) and his light blue underbelly scales looked very thick. A mildly surprised look came over his face as he answered Sahoriel.
"bI am to honor the request of a human? Well, I have not met a human but you say the ones from Hyrule are very good. Of course I will obey you, my Queen. Farewell, King Cirokaal./b" Windskiyer said, bowing quickly and running out the way Taig and Link had come.
"bSo this is Link./b" Cirokaal observed, turning to the Hylian. "bIt seems you are famous in more civilizations than one, and it is an honor to meet you. Thank you for saving my wife, and returning my son. Welcome to the Town Hall of Dracoulis./b" Cirokaal said. The dragon was two-thirds as big as his wife, and was a deep crimson. Horizontal black stripes covered his body, and his wings were golden-yellow, as well as his tough underbelly scales. Sharp, long orange spikes ran down his spine, and his thin, long, ivory-colored horns were tipped in black. He looked a great deal like Taig.
"It was a pleasure to help Taig, after all he helped me a whole lot, and I would be idead/i if I hadn't rescued Saho...eh, the Queen." Sahoriel laughed, and her breath knocked over Link.
"bIt is so much of a temptation to call me Sahoriel? I know you do not mean it disrespectfully as the Dragonlord did. You may call me by my name, Link/b."
"Thanks!" Link said, getting up. "Are you guys still planning on warring with the calwots?"
"bThose devilish creatures are attacking us at dawn the day after tomorrow. At least, we assume that's the battle plan, because they have not sent a messenger to us in days. They try to shoot down any messenger we send to them. I think Feelack had gone completely mad, or has gone through a seriously bad personality change!/b" Sahoriel roared, once again knocking over Link.
"bSahoriel, watch your breath./b" Cirokaal said to the Queen.
"I think Feelack may not be in power anymore....he may even be dead." Link said solemly. "Of course the calwots wouldn't tell the dragons if their King were about to die..."
"bI see. Well, has King Hyrule decided to join us, then?/b" Sahoriel asked, her breath making Link unsteady. Cirokaal elbowed her. b"Cut it out, Silov! A Queen must speak like
one!/b" Sahoriel growled. This time her breath knocked Link iand/i Taig over.
"Mooooom!" Taig complained, getting off the floor.
"bAlright, alright/b." The dragon reluctantly agreed, trying to talk more quietly.
"iAnyways,/i" Link said, getting to his feet for the third time. "The King hasn't decided if he's going to join you yet. That's why I came...to give you this peace letter." Link took it out, but then realized it was far to small for either Royal Dragon to hold. "Um...want me to read it to you?"
"bDon't be ridiculous! My wife and I may be huge, but we can hold small things, and our perfect eyesight can read the smallest print. Give it here!/b" Cirokaal ordered, surprisingly keeping the loudness of his voice in check.
"No problem..." Link said, walking over to the dragon and putting the puny letter into the larger than wagon-sized hand. The dragon actually managed to bring the letter up to his eyes without letting it blow away or crushing it, and he squinted to read it.
"bThe King does not want to join us OR the calwots? He wants to maintain peace with both tribes!? He should assist us in defeating those iblood-hungry/i CALWOTS!/b"
"Waaaaa!" Link yelled as he was blown across the room by the blast of air.
"bUhh....whoops. Sorry, human./b" Cirokaal apologized.
"It's...okay..." Link got up, rubbing the back of his head.
"Dad, how rude!" Taig growled, running over to Link and putting the confused warrior on his back, then running back over to his parents. "You should respect the King of Hyrule for not joining either us or the calwots. He's obviously a peace-loving King, and doesn't know enough about the situation to aid either clan." Taig pointed out.
"You'll make a great King someday, Taig." Link said. The dragon put a paw behind his head. "Aw, you think so?"
"bHe is right, Cirokaal, Silov./b" Sahoriel said. "bNow enough of this, before we kill something with our breath. I think this exhausted human should get some rest. When he returns home he can take a letter from us, explaining the entire ordeal, why we are warring, and what methods of war us and the calwots will probably use/b."
"You won't have to write down the calwot's side of the story, because I have to go to Catalin tomorrow to give their King a letter anyway. When I do I'll probably get a letter from him, return here, get a letter from you, then go home." Link said.
"bVery well, but I would advise caution if you're going to Catalin. I'll send a dragon in the morning to take you as close to Catalin as he can get without being spotted; for if a calwot sees you associating with dragons, they may execute you./b" Sahoriel said quietly (for a dragon).
"Uh...thanks for the warning." Link said, surprised that she said the calwots would do that, and hoping her words were not true. Link was still on Taig's back, so Taig trotted out of the building with him.
"You don't want to sleep in the Town Hall, a bunch of dragons might push you around because you're small. You can sleep in my personal cave! It's very cozy."
"I though your parents slept in the Town Hall, don't you sleep with them?" Link asked, bracing himself to be taken high over solid ground again when Taig took flight.
"Occasionally, but I have to have my own little spot, y'know? To get away from everyone? I'm a prince, so of course I have my own cave!" Taig had exited the building, and ran off the ledge it was positioned on. He spread his yellow wings, which Link noticed looked a little more golden than when he had flown on the dragon weeks ago. Taig soared through the air, gracefully gliding on its currents, then went higher and closer to the side of the peak called Dracoulis. He quickly found his cave, and began flying towards it. Link stopped clinging to the dragon for a moment to look around the sky at the other dragons flying there. He saw a bright green one with bluish wings close by, and a black and red one flying around a cave at the base of Dracoulis. In the distance he spotted a forest green, shimering dragon, flying alongside a very familiar-looking dragon...
"Hey, is that Dakos over there?" Link asked, looking in Dakos's direction but not even considering removing his hand from Taig's back to point at the black and green dragon.
"Yeah, that's him. He's really nice now, but still kind of weak in character, if you know what I mean...He's kind of jumpy and not very brave. Oh yeah, that black and red dragon you see down there circling around the cave is my friend Faraws. She's flying by the forging cave, that's why it's so big, and she's in charge of making weapons and bands and stuff for the dragons, kind of like a blacksmith, isn't that cool? She made me my golden bracelets." Taig reached his cave, landing clumsily. "Man, I need to work on that..." He growled, as Link jumped off his back. "Well, the bed is in the back, those piles of gold and pillows there." Taig pointed. "And to the side is the hot spring, so you won't be cold, and you can take a bath if you want. Oh yeah, and if you want some food, there's some dried grizzly bear meat and water over there." He said, pointing to the other corner of the large cave. "I'll see you in the morning!"
"Wait, where's Epona?" Link asked.
"Uhh....I'm not sure." Taig said, "I'll go check it out." The dragon left, and a few minutes later, the blue dragon Windskiyer stopped by the cave, dropping off the terrified Epona, who raced over to Link as soon as the dragon was gone. Link petted her, then decided it was time to eat since it was sunset. Link gave Epona her carrots as usual, and ate some dried grizzly which he thought tasted rather good, although it sounded disgusting. After taking a bath, Link found a particularly big pile of pillows amongst the mounds of gold, and his horse and him fell asleep on it, not worrying about watching.
"So this is the traitor?" Feelock looked disgustedly down at Saroe, who was being held at spearpoint by two other calwots. A third guard calwot stood behind and to the right of them, holding Coflix at spearpoint as well.
"I'm no traitor, you're the traitor! All that you're doing is completely contrary to the old King's beliefs! You're lucky he died before you got here, or he would have thrown you in jail!" Saroe yelled. One of her guard calwots poked her side with the spear to shut her up.
"That old fool had no idea what he was doing, and if I'm so bad, why does all of Catalin, except you, follow me? You will be jailed for life for trying to raise a mob against me!"
"Catalin only follows you because they have no other King, and you practically brainwashed them with all that flattery and 'I will be your best King' crap you said in your magical little speech! If the calwots were in their right minds they would know it is completely wrong to enslave our new friends, the griffons, and it's insane to try to conquer the dragons, the humans, and the world!" The guard cat stuck his spear in a little more, but Saroe wasn't finished. "You will never be a good King! Feelack wasn't very smart to start a war with the dragons, but you - completely mad! There's no way we can beat the dragons with a crazy King, and if we do, we'll be too wounded to go to battle with the humans, who never did a single thing to us in the first place! STUPID, I tell you!!"
"Shut up! I will conquer the world, one race at a time!" Feelock hissed, firing a wave of energy at Saroe, who was thrown up against the wall by it (the guards weren't hit because they let go of her and backed up as soon as they saw the King raise his paw at Saroe). This pissed off Coflix, who started trying to get away from his guard. The guard punched him, and threw him before the King.
"This cat was caught associating with that traitor, Saroe. I think he shares the same beleifs as her!" The guard said. Coflix looked up at the King angrilly.
"Is this true, Coflix?" The King asked angrily, knowing his name because he had heard Saroe say it earlier.
"No." Colfix said. Saroe glared at him.
"Why you...traitor!" She yelled.
"It's not true, Feelock. I never shared her beleifs, and I didn't help her try to raise a mob, either!" Coflix said.
"You lying peice of DUNG!" Saroe screamed, but was silent as a guard came over to her, pointing a spear at her face. Coflix turned towards her, a hurt look on his face.
"Fine. Go away, then." Feelock ordered, and Coflix did. "Throw that little traitor Saroe in the dungeon. I'll deal with her later."
"Your kingdom will fall, we'll all be killed by the dragons, and the humans will be enraged!!" Saroe yelled one final time, before the guard yanked her to her feet and took her to the dungeons.
buSection 5
A Rude Welcome/u/b
The next morning Link awoke with a start as Taig shook him.
"Whozair?" Link said, jumping to his feet. Epona and Taig were staring at him. "Oh...Good morning!" Link said.
"It's about time! You're harder to wake up than your horse!" Taig complained.
"Sorry, but I was sleeping really well for the first time in a few days. I'm not usually as hard to wake up as Epona." Link said, smiling at her. Taig laughed.
"Well, the dragon who's going to take you to Catalin, Windskiyer, should be here in a few minutes, so you better eat a quick breakfast if you want one at all. By the way, I don't think it's a good idea for you to take Epona to Catalin. You won't need her anyay, so why don't you leave her here?"
"Won't a dragon eat her? Speaking of Epona and eating, she's probably hungry, so can you get her some grass, please?"
"Don't worry, if she's in my cave no dragon will touch her. We have some grass at the bottom of this peak, so I'll go get some, okay?" With that, Taig ran out of the cave and leaped into the air, diving towards the bottom of the peak. Link ate a little bit of grizzly bear, but not much since he wasn't very hungry for some reason. Taig retured, carrying an armful of grass, which he dumped on the cave floor. Epona ran over to it, happily munching down as much of the great-tasting mountain grass as her mouth could hold. As she took an especially big bite, her cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk's, and Link laughed at her.
"Epona, you'll get sick if you eat too fast!" He said. The horse ignorred him, gulping down mouthfulls of sweet, green grass. A few moments later Windskiyer landed at the entrance to the cave, startling Epona, who was scared of him after yesterday's flight. She ran behind Link, her cheeks still stuffed with grass.
"There you are, Windskiyer. It's a good thing you're brave enough to take Link to Catalin, but then I would expect that from the head General of the Dragon Military." Taig said.
"bThank you, young prince Taig. I am ready to take the human as soon as he is ready to go./b" The blue dragon said. Because he was so big, he had trouble fitting on the ledge outside Taig's cave. Link was ready to go, so he bid farewell to his horse, and went over to Windskiyer, who lifted him in a massive paw, and set him on his back.
"Bye, Taig! See you later, Epona!" Link held on tightly to Windskiyer's huge, muscley back as the dragon lept into the sky, spreading his huge wings. "Not too high!" Link said, worridly looking at the ground. He wondered if he'd ever get over his ridiculous height-phobia, and was irritated that the fact that he had the Triforce of Courage did not help at all.
"bHeheh, don't worry human. I won't drop you./b" Winskiyer said.
"Thanks, idragon./i" Link said, tired of dragons that had a problem with calling him by his name. The dragon laughed.
"bOkay, you win, Link. Sorry about that./b" The dragon said, his huge but swift form speeding away from Dracoulis, into the mist of the low-hanging clouds which always clung to the Stalfos Swords.
"Thanks, that's better, Windskiyer." Link said, struggling to pronounce the name correctly. He must have, because the dragon didn't say anything to correct him. This huge dragon was swifter than any Link had ever ridden, and in about fifteen minutes he began to slow down, knowing they were close to Catalin. The dragon finally stopped, hovering in the air a few moments, listening. He then began circling towards the groud, slowly decending until he made a smooth landing on the earth between some trees. He took Link off his back, and set him down. Link was surprised to find himself standing in snow.
"bFarewell for now, Link. When you are done here, if you do not know the way back to Dracoulis, simply come to this place and shoot a fire arow into the air like you did yesterday, and a dragon will come to you. Be cautious, for I do not know if the calwots will react well to your prescence, even if you did help them out a while ago/b." Windskiyer walked away from Link until he was sure the wind from his wings would not blow him over, then took off gracefully, flying back the way he had come.
Link looked around, admiring the beauty of the snow-covered trees and the soft, churning fog. Although it was snowy it wasn't too cold, and Link enjoyed his walk in the rare (in Hyrule) white precipitation as he drew nearer to Catalin. He didn't have a particularly good feeling about going to Catalin now, after hearing the rumors about its King, and remembering the mean calwot named Feelock he had seen a few days ago. Link hoped the calwots would remember how he had destroyed the monster inhabiting their mines, and also that they had an alliance with Hyrule. He knew he could be walking to his own death if the cats had forgotten about those things.
It was then that Link decided he would do some spywork. He would try to sneak up on some calwots and listen to their conversation for a while. If he could do that, he might be able to figure out what they would do if they came across a Hylian. He kept walking through the snow, and for a while the only sounds were a soft breeze and the crunching of his boots in the snow. Soon he heard some voices up ahead, through the fog. He went around the right side of the voices, walking slowly and as silently as possible. He then crouched and walked through the mist a little more, until he was up against the wall of a small rise, atop which sat two conversing guard calwots.
"This is SO boring! Why is Feelock making us do this? Now that the dragons are scared of getting shot down, they won't come near, and it's not like a human could get here through the forest." A female voice said.
"Are you sure? Didn't you hear the faint sound of wings flapping a few minutes ago? What if it was a dragon, spying on us?" A male voice questioned.
"It was probably just a calwot. You're too paranoid. Besides, even if it was a dragon, we could fire our spears and magic at it and it would scurry away just like that!"
"What if it dropped off a small spy dragon...or the humans are conspiring against us and it dropped off one of those...and it's crawling towards us, ready to cut our throats..." Link heard a thud, and realized the female calwot had hit the male.
"Your so skittish! Scardy-cat! If it was a human we'd just arrest it and take it to the King, and no human could ever sneak up on us!"
"Okay...but you didn't have to ihit/i me..." The male whined. Link struggled to keep himself from laughing. He knew it was time to go, because if these cats saw him he would be taken strait to Feelock, who had promised to kill him last time they met. Quietly Link turned around, ready to sneak away. A spear pressed up against his neck as he turned.
"Caught you, human spy! Did you think you could get away with sneaking up on our friends, you slime?" A tiger-striped female calwot pressed her spear into Link a little more, making him back up. The cat next to her was skinny and grayish brown, and Link recognized him. It was Leal. The cats on the rise heard the commotion below, and flew down.
"I KNEW IT! There WAS a human sneaking up on us!! I itold/i you, iwhy/i didn't you listen to me?" The whiney red male asked his partner.
"Shaddap!" His calico-looking companion said, hitting him again, making him whine.
"Leal! C'mon...you know I'm not a bad human!" Link said to the cat.
"Sorry, Link. The new King's orders say all captured humans or dragons have to be taken to him. I'll tell him you're good, but I don't think he'll listen..." Leal said.
"Leal, you KNOW this human?! Traitor!" The tigerish female cat hissed.
"No, he just delivered letters to me, it's not like he betrayed Catalin." Link said. The tiger-striped cat punched him in the gut, then pushed him to the ground.
"I didn't ask for your opinion!" The female cat turned Link over while the others, except Leal, pointed their spears at him. She tied his hands behind his back, and took the Master Sword off him. She also noticed how pretty the Golden Gauntlets were (non-Zelda-players: the gauntlets go over Link's other gloves, and they're made of gold with a ruby on each one), and took them off as well.
"That's not all his equipment." The whiney male said to the tigerish one. "I smell a magic bag! One of those bags which carries a bunch of stuff but is really small and weighs alot, and gives you whatever you think of when you reach into it!" Of course, he was speaking of the bag Link kept all his other stuff in, like his hookshot, bow, and bombs, etc. The female, still holding Link down, quickly found the bag and removed it. iGreat, nice going, Link!/i He scolded himself. iNow what on earth am I going to do? If I try to get away they'll take my head off with those spears.../iLink could do nothing as the tiger female yanked him to his feet and pushed him ahead of her, keeping a spear at his back as the group of five walked to Catalin.
They walked up a hill, and the snow disappeared as they reached the calwot village. They walked past numerous house-sized huts and buildings, and many huge trees which had houses in them. They finally came to the big building Feelack had been in the last time Link was in Catalin, but of course he didn't expect to see the old King there this time. As he came into the throne room, he saw Feelock seated apon the metal throne of his father. The moment the new King saw Link, he began laughing in a disturbingly sadistic manner.
"Aaaahhahahahaaa! I never thought I would see you again, messenger of the Royal Family! That family of Hyrule will soon fall under my power and wrath, heheh. Why have you come here? You knew I would kill you." The cat asked, grinning down at Link, who was shifting uncomfortably because of the spear pressed into his back.
"I came to give you a letter, not lay seige to your village!" Link said irritably.
"Is that so? Well, you can burn that letter, because I will conquer Hyrule no matter what its King proposes." A young griffon which was chained to the side of the King's throne squawked, glaring at Feelock.
"I hope Hyrule, whatever it is, tears you and your cruel gang of cats to shreds!" The griffon said, pulling on its chain. The King gave it a small shock, and it went silent. Link, who had never seen a griffon before, stared at the poor beast.
"Well, what terribly painful and slow death should I impose upon our little visitor?" The King thought a moment, stroking his whiskers in a similar manner to what his father had done. "Oh, I'm too busy to decide now. Throw him in the dungeons, and I'll think up a death for him later. Make sure he is not comfortable...you know what I mean." Feelock said, grinning to show off his very white, very sharp, cat teeth.
"You heard him human, off to the dungeon with you!" The tiger cat said, roughly grabbing Link's shoulder and directing him to the exit.
"Feelock....Link hasn't done anything bad..." Leal muttered.
"Keep your trap shut or you'll join him in his fate, Leal!" Feelock hissed. Leal obeyed. The tiger female soon had Link at the entrance to the dungeons, and as she got to the dungeon guards, she turned him over to them.
"Make sure he 'is not comfortable'" she said, and the guard grinned. iHow have the calwots become so cruel?/i Link wondered, ithe last time I was here they were rather nice...that King must have done something to them. Where's Saroe and Coflix?/i The grinning dungeon guard layed a paw on Link's arm, and the tiger-stripped female left.
"See you later, Tarisla. Human...I must show you what happens to any who try to escape the dungeons. I have to give this little demonstration to all prisoners, so they know not to try and escape!" The cat sent a bolt of electricity into Link's arm, but Link pulled away before it hurt him too much. He kicked the cat's face (with much difficulty, since the cat was taller than him) then turned to deal with the other one, but that one was too quick, kicking Link in the stomach hard. Link was thrown to the ground, the air knocked out of him. The first cat picked him up roughly, shocking him again, but with more volts. The calwot was pretty pissed, and didn't stop until Link was nearly unconcious. The cat then dragged Link to a cell, and threw him unceremoniously into it. The second calwot came in and untied Link's hands, but then picked up a big shackle which was chained to the wall. He put it on Link's neck, and tightened it until it was quite hard for Link to breathe.
"Sorry kid, but it's the King's orders that you can't be comfortable. I hate to think about what he's going to do with you." The cat then left the cell, locking it, and both cats went back to the dungeon entrance. Link pulled on the tight metal ring, but it didn't help any, and he knew he would make himself bleed if he didn't stop, so he did.
"Blast!" He yelled hoarsley, thinking he could very well be doomed.
"Link, is that you?" Link heard a familiar voice in the cell past the one on the right of his, but could not see it (the cells were separated by stone walls, not bars).
"Saroe?" Link managed to speak.
"Yes, it is you! I mean...it's too bad you're in here. You sound choked...did they put a shackle on your neck?" Saroe asked. She was not chained to a wall, only locked in her cell.
"Yeah..." Link said, coughing. "Does the King do this to a lot of cats, too? Why are you locked up?"
"It's not good that he chained you like that, Link. If he makes you 'not comfortable' like that, it probably means you'll be killed tomorrow morning. Man, we have to do something! Stupid Coflix, why is he such a traitor?" Saroe growled to herself.
"Coflix betrayed you? That stinks...but what did you do to get in here?" he asked a second time, not able to resist the temptation of pulling on the tight shackle again.
"Me? I opposed the King. I didn't agree with his ideas. iThat/i was my crime!" She sounded very angry. "He enslaved griffons as soon as he got here, and after he's done killing Cirokaal and conquering the dragons, if he can, then he wants to imprison them and conquer Hyrule! When he's killed all the humans, because he won't even enslave them, he'll go for the Zoras, Gorons...eventually the whole world. Sheesh, I would rather have a idemocracy/i than that ruthless King! He is completely mad, and seems to have successfully infected most of Catalin with the same insanity."
"How on earth can someone be so cruelly ambitious?...Can Feelock possibly accomplish all this?"
"Well, despite what I told him when he imprisoned me in here, I think he can do it. He's really a rather smart, but twisted, cat. I spied on him and he has this plan to defeat the dragons...first he's going to send a wave of blood-crazed, sharp-clawed, griffons at them...who are skilled in battle, and could probably take down the dragons' first wave on speed and rage alone. Like I said in my letter, griffons are extremely fierce when fighting, unless of course something is wrong with their brain...Anyway, while that's taking place, he'll send some of his stealth calwots behind the dragons, while making the wind blow in the right direction so the dragons can't smell the cats. They will shoot poisonous magic arrows into the dragons, which will kill a dragon in a matter of minutes if it so much as bounces off their scales. If all the dragons aren't exterminated by that, Feelock will send the rest of the griffons and a wave of death spell-wielding calwots with magic anti-dragonfire shields; and when I say dragonfire, I mean anything that can come out of a dragon's mouth. Those shields are extremely hard to make, but Feelock's power is incredible, and he made hundreds of them, as well as hundreds of those poison arrows I mentioned. By then there should only be a few dragons left: the reserves, and the really big ones which haven't been killed. Feelock will send a whole lot of calwots will powerful trap spells to capture the remaining dragons, and force them to do his will and aid him in his evil campaign against the world."
"That cat really is a crazy genius..." Link said, still pulling on the irksome ring.
"That's not the end of it! Since the King and Queen dragons will obviously be too powerful for him to completely control, he's going to torture them for fun until they die, and feed their corpses to the other imprisoned dragons! Isn't that terrible? He'll then use the dragons and griffons to completely overrun the humans and capture many of them, just so he can watch one die every morning while he's eating his breakfast. Oh, he's not just going to watch, he's going to force the other captive humans to watch, too. After he's brutally murdered all the humans, the other races of Hyrule will be pretty pissed, so he's going to kill those who are weak and capture those who are strong for his own twisted uses. He will then have amassed an army of such strength that nothing in the world could possibly stand against him...of course I don't really know because I've never seen much of the world...but who could stand against a couple thousand calwots, maybe a hundred huge dragons, plus fast zoras, strong gorons, sharpshooting dekus, cruel gerudos, if he doesn't count them as humans and kill them, and battle-tested griffons? I don't think anything can."
"Me neither. I wish there was something I could do...I came to deliver a letter, but things didn't turn out quite the way I expected. Someone has to get Feelock out of power!" Link stopped pulling on the metal ring when a drop of blood came from the spot on his neck it was digging into most. Saroe was silent, thinking if there was any way to get out of the dungeon. As far as she knew, no one had ever escaped, and it seemed unlikely that they were going to.
"Did you bring a weapon at all? Maybe I could pick the lock in a few hours if I had something sharp and longer then my claws. It would be difficult..." Sahroe said.
"They did forget to take my dagger off me." Link tried to stand up to go to the bars and throw it to Saroe, but the chain was too short to even permit him to stand. "How can I give it to you?"
"There isn't a way unless you can stick your arm through the bars. Man, this SUCKS!" Saroe yelled. "They probably took your sword and shield to the armory, and your other stuff to a Cimtu's weapon shop, he sells all sorts of weird things. Well, so much for that idea. I'll try to think of something else...tell me if you come up with anything." She said, trying to ignore the sorrow Link's loud and ragged breathing caused her. Link searched his mind for a plan, and decided to try and pick the lock on his shakle with the dagger, but he didn't know how, and almost broke his dagger trying. He just sat, growing tired because of the strain of drawing breath, and tried to pick the lock less forcefully. The cat and Hylian sat a while in silence, neither able to come up with anything. After about five hours Link fell asleep, and Saroe lapsed into a half-awere trance of boredness and hopelessness. Soon Link awoke because the stupid ring was choking him, and he heard footsteps. He quickly put away the dagger that was still in his hand, and heard Saroe hiss as Feelock stepped in front of his cell.
"Comfy, Link? Is that ring too loose? I didn't think so, heheh." The cat mocked.
"Jerk..." Link said, coughing.
"Well well, aren't we eager to die? I'm not feeling very creative today, so you'll be dying a less slow and painful death than I originally intended, lucky you. You're going to hang tomorrow at dawn." He said with evil happiness.
"How cliche is that?" Saroe muttered. Feelock ignorred her.
"Heheh...I look forward to seeing you gasp for air as the rope is pulled taught by your bodyweight..."
"And I can only imagine how it must feel to be as insane as you." Link said quietly, glaring daggers at the cat.
"Heheh...see you at dawn, dead man. Or should I say boy? Later, boy." Feelock left, leaving an ominous atmosphere behind him.
"This is going to really suck...I don't fear death, but I always thought of hanging as one of my least favorite ways it could happen..." Link softly commented.
"I'm sorry, Link...I should have attacked Feelock the first moment I saw him.." Saroe said. Link shook his head, remaining quiet. He regretted he couldn't see his friends one last time.
"Well...why don't you go back to sleep? Then you won't have to think about it. I'll think of a plan of escape while you're resting." The cat said. Link laughed as well as he could with the metal ring on him.
"That's nice for you to say, but I don't think we're getting out of here without external help. I can't sleep now..." Link sat in silence, searching his mind one last time for a plan. He couldn't just give up...but was there a way to get out? He could not think of one. The silence went on, only broken by the crackling of the torch and Link's labored breathing. They sat for a long while, but how long, Link could not tell...maybe minutes, maybe hours. Eventually he managed to drift off, sleeping fitfully on the cold stone. Once again he woke to the sounds of footsteps. He had no idea what time it was, maybe dawn. Once again he heard Saroe hiss as the footsteps grew nearer, but even louder than last time.
bSilov/b is a dragon word meaning 'One I Love' that married dragons affectionately call eachother.
sorry this one's so short! I'll update real soon, though. I hope you're liking the story so far! -Talonclawfange
The Were-Beast and Dracoulis/u/b
Link was in high spirits as the sun rose, for he knew that today he would probably see Taig again. Despit the young dragon's big ego, Link had missed him, and also looked forward to seeing Saroe and Coflix when his business with the dragons was finished. He got Epona up (once again with much shaking and yelling, which also woke Thesaya up) and the horse went and grazed on leaves while he had breakfast. While he ate, Link looked over at the silent Thesaya, considering offering her food again. She gave him a look that suggested she didn't need anything at the moment, and told him to keep quiet, so he did. When Epona was back Link patted her and mounted, ready to keep going. The sooner they left, the sooner they would reach the end of the Etheral Forest. Thesaya stood, and resumed her role as leader. Epona followed her easily this time, for the horse now almost trusted her.
"So Thesaya...what is it you'll have me do when we reach the boundries of the Ethereal Forest, huh? Are you going to tell me?" Link asked the silver-haired woman.
"I will tell you, warrior, when we get there. Maintain your patience a little longer." She responded softly. Link sighed, his curiosity nagging at him. iCuriosity killed the cat,/i he thought, but it didn't make him feel any better. He felt a sort of uneasiness at the mystery task the woman had planned for him. Something 'a true warrior was always prepared to do'? Link outwardly had a good feeling about those words, but on the inside he was still suspicious of Thesaya's enigmatic favor.
Time passed slowly as they pressed on, and Link just hoped that he wouldn't encounter any pesky shiftbats on his way out of the forest, or any other type of beast for that matter. Link also contemplated how he would get Epona up the side of the Stalfos Swords. The incline was very steep, and Link didn't know if he could have climed it if Taig hadn't flown him to the top last time, so how could Epona possibly climb it? Link remembered that the side of the mountain had trees growing up it, and he thought he might be able to use his hookshot to get up the mountain, then send a dragon down to get Epona, if one was willing. It sounded like a good plan, as long as nothing big attacked Epona while she was waiting. Link knew he could never forgive himself if a shiftbat carried her off.
After quite a few hours of walking, Link noticed the welcome fact that the canopy was thinning. Spots of light became less rare, as did the patches of bright green grass under them. Link saw a bluebird in the distance, and soon he began to hear the pleasant songs of other birds, coupled with the chirping of bugs. iFinally, signs of life other than a big spider or a wolfos!,/i Link thought happily, knowing he would soon be free of the haunting monsters deep in the woods. He did not know that there was still one more monster he had to face, closer than he expected.
Eventually the forest was as it had been when Link enterred it, beautiful and full of life, with light beaming between the branches above him, and Thesaya called a halt.
"By the way your horse has been staring at those patches of grass, I'd say she's hungry. Shall we take a short break?" Epona, who hadn't tasted the sweetness of grass for a couple days, eagerly raced off to a patch after Link dismounted her. The horse quickly gobbled up all the grass she found in one patch, then ran over to the next, going farther away with each patch.
"Don't take too long, Epona!" Link said as his horse disappeared behind some trees, munching on a mouthful of grass. "Funny horse." Link said, "But a very good friend and always dependable."
"Now it is time for you to be dependable, Link." Theysaya said, "And keep your promise, doing me a favor."
"Sure." Link said, glad his curosity would soon be satisfied.
"Do you trust me, Link? Do you believe that I will not harm you?" Thesaya asked, staring into his eyes.
"Uh...I suppose...yeah, you might let a spider kill me, but I don't think you'd attack me yourself." Link replied, wondering if he ireally/i believed that.
"Good. It is time, then. Will you stand up against that tree, please?" She requested.
"That's wierd, but okay." Link said. He walked over to the tree Thesaya was pointing at, leaning up against it. Thesaya smiled a happy smile, raising her hand and pointing at the leaves of the tree.
"Oh tree, friend and ally of mine....." There was a long pause. "Bind him!" She shouted.
"Huh?!" Link was very surprised and a bit angry when vines sprouted out of the sides of the tree, curling around him and holding him fast as he struggled. "What are you doing?!" Link yelled, glaring at Thesaya.
"Don't be so disappointed, warrior. You said you would do this for me, and you will do it. A true warrior is always prepared.....to die." With an evil grin, Thesaya began to transform. Her legs grew long and thin, turning green and growing spikes, as well as her arms. Her finger and toe nails grew and hardened into wicked claws, tipped with slimey purple poison. A long tail with barbs on the end formed, and long spikes emerged from her green and boney back. Her head grew longer and flattened some, until it looked like a snake or lizard's, with long horns. Her red eyes gleamed as her teeth grew into long, purple venom-coated fangs. "Your favor is to stay still, while I, the were-beast, devour your soul!" Thesaya the monster roared.
"Devour my...soul? Thesaya, why are you doing this? Why help me get to the mountains just to eat my soul?" Link inquired.
"Because it is fun. I love finding humans, my favorite food, and playing with them before I destroy them. It is enjoyable for me to trick a human into believing in my words and trusting me, just to see the look of despair on his face as he dies! Ahhahahahaha!" The hideous monster's laughing was rough, sounding like grinding stones.
"This is great! Just about every creature I meet in this forest betrays me, or poisons me, or both! This is getting VERY annoying!" Link growled, struggling some more. Thesaya didn't know that he was perfectly capable of getting free.
"Your irritation will leave with your life. Allow me to give you rest...forever to stay in this forest!" The monster stepped up close to the struggling Link, and extended a poisonous claw, placing it on his forehead. She began chanting. Her chanting stopped as Link used his gauntlets to break the vines and punch her away.
"All right, I don't fight girls, but you're not a girl, just a ravenous monster!" Link yelled, drawing his sword. He noticed a peculiar pain on his forehead, and moved his right hand to it. As he lowered his hand, he saw purple liquid smeared on his fingers, which were now also hurting.
"I was never human, nor will I ever be. Don't let my gender stop you from fighting me. All the more fun for me before I kill you. Me or my venom, that is. Isn't it wonderful how fast it spreads?" Link glared at the beast as it raised an arm, shooting out the spikes on it at Link. He quickly hit them away with his sword, and watched as more spikes grew on Thesaya's arm, to replace the ones that had just been shot at him. Link put away his sword and quickly took out a deku nut, one hand slamming it on the ground while the other covered his eyes. Its bright flash would have stunned Thesaya, if she hadn't had the sense to turn away. The sinewy were-beast jumped at Link, her weight throwing him to the ground. She was about to bite Link's face, but he kicked her off before she could do it. She jumped up, standing before Link.
Link took out the Master Sword and powered it up, performing the spin attack, which knocked the beast away and wounded her. She got to her feet quickly, then leaped onto the branch of a tree above her. She climbed higher into the tree, her green form disappearing into the leaves. Link seached for her, quickly circumspecting the entire area with his eyes, but finding nothing. He heard movement in the branches of a tree to his left, and turned in time to see a few leaves drift to the ground.
"Come out and fight, Thesaya!" Link challenged, and he got his wish. Theysaya jumped down from not the tree to the left of Link, but the tree behind him. She landed silently by his back, grabbing his neck and digging her teeth into his shoulder. Link screamed as the poison-covered teeth dug in, but quickly recovered from the initial surprise, taking Thesaya by the horns and flinging her over his shoulder, into a tree. He put a hand over his shoulder, which was now laced with the purple venom. Some claws had touched Link's neck when the beast had grabbed it, and the claw marks were also filled with the quickly-spreading poison. Link was about to call Epona when Thesaya got up, shooting some more spikes at him. He blocked with his mirror shield, and the spikes flew straight back at Thesaya.
She screamed a twisted screetch as the spikes hit her, tearing through her flesh as easily as they would have done Link's. The monster fell to her knees, her own spikes having mortally wounded her. Link walked slowly over to her, his sword held ready.
"Don't be evil anymore, Thesaya. If you be good I might be able to take you to the dragon village, and ther'es a chance that they could heal us both....uughhh..." Link fell to his knees as the poison sent a wave of pain through his body.
"Never!" The creature screamed, raking Link's leg with her claws. Link had to act quickly before the moster put too much more poison in him, and he drove the Master Sword through the screetching were-beast. Epona showed up as Link withdrew his sword from the monster's corpse. The horse ran quickly over to Link, crouching down so he could easily mount her after sheathing his sword.
"Take me...on to the mountains, girl." Epona quickly obeyed, racing through the trees towards the Stalfos Swords. The horse reached the end of the forest and the beginning of the mountains in minutes. Link had no time to be glad he was out of the forest, knowing that he had to be quick to survive the venom. The first thing he did was take out a fire arrow, shooting it up through the clouds surrounding the Stalfos Sword's peaks. He then slid off of Epona, nearly stumbling as he ran to the base of the mountain. Link could feel the painful venom was getting closer and closer to reaching his heart every second, and he had to reach the dragon village before it did.
"Stay here, Epona. I'll...send a dragon...down to get you." His words were slurred with weakness. He took out his hookshot, and fired it as the highest tree it could hit before reaching the end of its chain. It took all of Link's strength to hold onto the hookshot as it yanked him up to the tree. Link then picked out another high tree, sending his hookshot's hook to it. Again the hook stuck, and the chain pulled Link up to the tree. iAll this trouble for a stinking letter. Daphnes Hyrule really wants to test me, doesn't he?/i Link thought irritably. He was tired, in pain, and sweating all over by the time he sent his hookshot at the seventh tree. The peaks of the Stalfos Swords were very high, and Link had to hookshot six more trees before he finally reached the top.
Link had never been to the dragon village, so he didn't know which way it was, and stood still on the peak, waiting for a few moments, struggling to stay on his feet. Finally he heard the sound he had been waiting for: the flapping of leathery wings. iYeah, my plan worked!/i He thought. Through the mist of the clouds which clung to the mountain, Link saw Taig materialize.
"Link!! It's you! I knew it would be you who shot that fire arrow up here!" Taig landed clumsily thirty feet in front of Link, grinning widely. "I also knew you would visit! The Great Taig can always sense....LINK!?!" Taig was startled when Link collapsed, and ran quickly over to him. "What's that purple stuff?! You're hurt!" Taig quickly picked Link up, positioning the fallen warrior on his back. Taig took off, flying to the right. He flew as fast as his wings could carry him, and was going much faster than the last time Link had to ride on him. In about fifteen minutes, Taig reached the village of the dragons. It was set into the side of an enormous piece of land jutting up from the already tall Stalfos Swords, and was covered by platforms and caves. To the side of the huge peak floated an enormous black building, the former fortress of the Dragonlord. On an especially large platfom sticking out from the peak there rested another big building, constructed from stone. It looked like a huge castle, and Taig flew towards it.
"This peak is my home, the village of the dragons, Dracoulis." Taig said to the semi-conscious Link. He quickly reached the large stone building, and flew straight into its front door, which was wide enough that he didn't have to close his wings. He kept flying straight, until he rached a huge room. Sahoriel and Cirokaal sat in that room, conversing with another important-looking blue dragon. Taig landed in front of his mother, who stopped talking, looking down at her son. "Mom, it's Link! The guy who saved you from the Dragonlord! He's poisoned!" Taig yelled frantically. Sahoriel reached down a claw, and silverish-gold magic came from it, circling down to instantly heal the wounded warrior. He sat up and slid off of Taig's back.
"Thanks Saho....eh, I mean Your Majesty." Link said, bowing. "My horse Epona is at the bottom of this mountain, do you think you could send a dragon to go get her?" Sahoriel turned to the blue dragon. The big (he is considered big because most of the dragons are a little bigger than houses, and he's as big as two houses. The truly big dragons are as big as three houses or larger, like the Royal ones, and the small ones, when full-grown, can be as little as the size of two cows) blue dragon was dwarfed in size by both Sahoriel and her smaller husband, Cirokaal. Sahoriel spoke.
"bWindskiyer, if you are finished talking with the King, you may undertake this task./b" Windskiyer's scales were as blue as the ocean, and his orange eyes turned to his queen as she spoke. His long, black horns had silver bands around them, and sharp black claws were on the ends of his paws. His grey and white wings shimmered in the light coming from a hole in the ceiling (purposely put there to light the room) and his light blue underbelly scales looked very thick. A mildly surprised look came over his face as he answered Sahoriel.
"bI am to honor the request of a human? Well, I have not met a human but you say the ones from Hyrule are very good. Of course I will obey you, my Queen. Farewell, King Cirokaal./b" Windskiyer said, bowing quickly and running out the way Taig and Link had come.
"bSo this is Link./b" Cirokaal observed, turning to the Hylian. "bIt seems you are famous in more civilizations than one, and it is an honor to meet you. Thank you for saving my wife, and returning my son. Welcome to the Town Hall of Dracoulis./b" Cirokaal said. The dragon was two-thirds as big as his wife, and was a deep crimson. Horizontal black stripes covered his body, and his wings were golden-yellow, as well as his tough underbelly scales. Sharp, long orange spikes ran down his spine, and his thin, long, ivory-colored horns were tipped in black. He looked a great deal like Taig.
"It was a pleasure to help Taig, after all he helped me a whole lot, and I would be idead/i if I hadn't rescued Saho...eh, the Queen." Sahoriel laughed, and her breath knocked over Link.
"bIt is so much of a temptation to call me Sahoriel? I know you do not mean it disrespectfully as the Dragonlord did. You may call me by my name, Link/b."
"Thanks!" Link said, getting up. "Are you guys still planning on warring with the calwots?"
"bThose devilish creatures are attacking us at dawn the day after tomorrow. At least, we assume that's the battle plan, because they have not sent a messenger to us in days. They try to shoot down any messenger we send to them. I think Feelack had gone completely mad, or has gone through a seriously bad personality change!/b" Sahoriel roared, once again knocking over Link.
"bSahoriel, watch your breath./b" Cirokaal said to the Queen.
"I think Feelack may not be in power anymore....he may even be dead." Link said solemly. "Of course the calwots wouldn't tell the dragons if their King were about to die..."
"bI see. Well, has King Hyrule decided to join us, then?/b" Sahoriel asked, her breath making Link unsteady. Cirokaal elbowed her. b"Cut it out, Silov! A Queen must speak like
one!/b" Sahoriel growled. This time her breath knocked Link iand/i Taig over.
"Mooooom!" Taig complained, getting off the floor.
"bAlright, alright/b." The dragon reluctantly agreed, trying to talk more quietly.
"iAnyways,/i" Link said, getting to his feet for the third time. "The King hasn't decided if he's going to join you yet. That's why I came...to give you this peace letter." Link took it out, but then realized it was far to small for either Royal Dragon to hold. "Um...want me to read it to you?"
"bDon't be ridiculous! My wife and I may be huge, but we can hold small things, and our perfect eyesight can read the smallest print. Give it here!/b" Cirokaal ordered, surprisingly keeping the loudness of his voice in check.
"No problem..." Link said, walking over to the dragon and putting the puny letter into the larger than wagon-sized hand. The dragon actually managed to bring the letter up to his eyes without letting it blow away or crushing it, and he squinted to read it.
"bThe King does not want to join us OR the calwots? He wants to maintain peace with both tribes!? He should assist us in defeating those iblood-hungry/i CALWOTS!/b"
"Waaaaa!" Link yelled as he was blown across the room by the blast of air.
"bUhh....whoops. Sorry, human./b" Cirokaal apologized.
"It's...okay..." Link got up, rubbing the back of his head.
"Dad, how rude!" Taig growled, running over to Link and putting the confused warrior on his back, then running back over to his parents. "You should respect the King of Hyrule for not joining either us or the calwots. He's obviously a peace-loving King, and doesn't know enough about the situation to aid either clan." Taig pointed out.
"You'll make a great King someday, Taig." Link said. The dragon put a paw behind his head. "Aw, you think so?"
"bHe is right, Cirokaal, Silov./b" Sahoriel said. "bNow enough of this, before we kill something with our breath. I think this exhausted human should get some rest. When he returns home he can take a letter from us, explaining the entire ordeal, why we are warring, and what methods of war us and the calwots will probably use/b."
"You won't have to write down the calwot's side of the story, because I have to go to Catalin tomorrow to give their King a letter anyway. When I do I'll probably get a letter from him, return here, get a letter from you, then go home." Link said.
"bVery well, but I would advise caution if you're going to Catalin. I'll send a dragon in the morning to take you as close to Catalin as he can get without being spotted; for if a calwot sees you associating with dragons, they may execute you./b" Sahoriel said quietly (for a dragon).
"Uh...thanks for the warning." Link said, surprised that she said the calwots would do that, and hoping her words were not true. Link was still on Taig's back, so Taig trotted out of the building with him.
"You don't want to sleep in the Town Hall, a bunch of dragons might push you around because you're small. You can sleep in my personal cave! It's very cozy."
"I though your parents slept in the Town Hall, don't you sleep with them?" Link asked, bracing himself to be taken high over solid ground again when Taig took flight.
"Occasionally, but I have to have my own little spot, y'know? To get away from everyone? I'm a prince, so of course I have my own cave!" Taig had exited the building, and ran off the ledge it was positioned on. He spread his yellow wings, which Link noticed looked a little more golden than when he had flown on the dragon weeks ago. Taig soared through the air, gracefully gliding on its currents, then went higher and closer to the side of the peak called Dracoulis. He quickly found his cave, and began flying towards it. Link stopped clinging to the dragon for a moment to look around the sky at the other dragons flying there. He saw a bright green one with bluish wings close by, and a black and red one flying around a cave at the base of Dracoulis. In the distance he spotted a forest green, shimering dragon, flying alongside a very familiar-looking dragon...
"Hey, is that Dakos over there?" Link asked, looking in Dakos's direction but not even considering removing his hand from Taig's back to point at the black and green dragon.
"Yeah, that's him. He's really nice now, but still kind of weak in character, if you know what I mean...He's kind of jumpy and not very brave. Oh yeah, that black and red dragon you see down there circling around the cave is my friend Faraws. She's flying by the forging cave, that's why it's so big, and she's in charge of making weapons and bands and stuff for the dragons, kind of like a blacksmith, isn't that cool? She made me my golden bracelets." Taig reached his cave, landing clumsily. "Man, I need to work on that..." He growled, as Link jumped off his back. "Well, the bed is in the back, those piles of gold and pillows there." Taig pointed. "And to the side is the hot spring, so you won't be cold, and you can take a bath if you want. Oh yeah, and if you want some food, there's some dried grizzly bear meat and water over there." He said, pointing to the other corner of the large cave. "I'll see you in the morning!"
"Wait, where's Epona?" Link asked.
"Uhh....I'm not sure." Taig said, "I'll go check it out." The dragon left, and a few minutes later, the blue dragon Windskiyer stopped by the cave, dropping off the terrified Epona, who raced over to Link as soon as the dragon was gone. Link petted her, then decided it was time to eat since it was sunset. Link gave Epona her carrots as usual, and ate some dried grizzly which he thought tasted rather good, although it sounded disgusting. After taking a bath, Link found a particularly big pile of pillows amongst the mounds of gold, and his horse and him fell asleep on it, not worrying about watching.
"So this is the traitor?" Feelock looked disgustedly down at Saroe, who was being held at spearpoint by two other calwots. A third guard calwot stood behind and to the right of them, holding Coflix at spearpoint as well.
"I'm no traitor, you're the traitor! All that you're doing is completely contrary to the old King's beliefs! You're lucky he died before you got here, or he would have thrown you in jail!" Saroe yelled. One of her guard calwots poked her side with the spear to shut her up.
"That old fool had no idea what he was doing, and if I'm so bad, why does all of Catalin, except you, follow me? You will be jailed for life for trying to raise a mob against me!"
"Catalin only follows you because they have no other King, and you practically brainwashed them with all that flattery and 'I will be your best King' crap you said in your magical little speech! If the calwots were in their right minds they would know it is completely wrong to enslave our new friends, the griffons, and it's insane to try to conquer the dragons, the humans, and the world!" The guard cat stuck his spear in a little more, but Saroe wasn't finished. "You will never be a good King! Feelack wasn't very smart to start a war with the dragons, but you - completely mad! There's no way we can beat the dragons with a crazy King, and if we do, we'll be too wounded to go to battle with the humans, who never did a single thing to us in the first place! STUPID, I tell you!!"
"Shut up! I will conquer the world, one race at a time!" Feelock hissed, firing a wave of energy at Saroe, who was thrown up against the wall by it (the guards weren't hit because they let go of her and backed up as soon as they saw the King raise his paw at Saroe). This pissed off Coflix, who started trying to get away from his guard. The guard punched him, and threw him before the King.
"This cat was caught associating with that traitor, Saroe. I think he shares the same beleifs as her!" The guard said. Coflix looked up at the King angrilly.
"Is this true, Coflix?" The King asked angrily, knowing his name because he had heard Saroe say it earlier.
"No." Colfix said. Saroe glared at him.
"Why you...traitor!" She yelled.
"It's not true, Feelock. I never shared her beleifs, and I didn't help her try to raise a mob, either!" Coflix said.
"You lying peice of DUNG!" Saroe screamed, but was silent as a guard came over to her, pointing a spear at her face. Coflix turned towards her, a hurt look on his face.
"Fine. Go away, then." Feelock ordered, and Coflix did. "Throw that little traitor Saroe in the dungeon. I'll deal with her later."
"Your kingdom will fall, we'll all be killed by the dragons, and the humans will be enraged!!" Saroe yelled one final time, before the guard yanked her to her feet and took her to the dungeons.
buSection 5
A Rude Welcome/u/b
The next morning Link awoke with a start as Taig shook him.
"Whozair?" Link said, jumping to his feet. Epona and Taig were staring at him. "Oh...Good morning!" Link said.
"It's about time! You're harder to wake up than your horse!" Taig complained.
"Sorry, but I was sleeping really well for the first time in a few days. I'm not usually as hard to wake up as Epona." Link said, smiling at her. Taig laughed.
"Well, the dragon who's going to take you to Catalin, Windskiyer, should be here in a few minutes, so you better eat a quick breakfast if you want one at all. By the way, I don't think it's a good idea for you to take Epona to Catalin. You won't need her anyay, so why don't you leave her here?"
"Won't a dragon eat her? Speaking of Epona and eating, she's probably hungry, so can you get her some grass, please?"
"Don't worry, if she's in my cave no dragon will touch her. We have some grass at the bottom of this peak, so I'll go get some, okay?" With that, Taig ran out of the cave and leaped into the air, diving towards the bottom of the peak. Link ate a little bit of grizzly bear, but not much since he wasn't very hungry for some reason. Taig retured, carrying an armful of grass, which he dumped on the cave floor. Epona ran over to it, happily munching down as much of the great-tasting mountain grass as her mouth could hold. As she took an especially big bite, her cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk's, and Link laughed at her.
"Epona, you'll get sick if you eat too fast!" He said. The horse ignorred him, gulping down mouthfulls of sweet, green grass. A few moments later Windskiyer landed at the entrance to the cave, startling Epona, who was scared of him after yesterday's flight. She ran behind Link, her cheeks still stuffed with grass.
"There you are, Windskiyer. It's a good thing you're brave enough to take Link to Catalin, but then I would expect that from the head General of the Dragon Military." Taig said.
"bThank you, young prince Taig. I am ready to take the human as soon as he is ready to go./b" The blue dragon said. Because he was so big, he had trouble fitting on the ledge outside Taig's cave. Link was ready to go, so he bid farewell to his horse, and went over to Windskiyer, who lifted him in a massive paw, and set him on his back.
"Bye, Taig! See you later, Epona!" Link held on tightly to Windskiyer's huge, muscley back as the dragon lept into the sky, spreading his huge wings. "Not too high!" Link said, worridly looking at the ground. He wondered if he'd ever get over his ridiculous height-phobia, and was irritated that the fact that he had the Triforce of Courage did not help at all.
"bHeheh, don't worry human. I won't drop you./b" Winskiyer said.
"Thanks, idragon./i" Link said, tired of dragons that had a problem with calling him by his name. The dragon laughed.
"bOkay, you win, Link. Sorry about that./b" The dragon said, his huge but swift form speeding away from Dracoulis, into the mist of the low-hanging clouds which always clung to the Stalfos Swords.
"Thanks, that's better, Windskiyer." Link said, struggling to pronounce the name correctly. He must have, because the dragon didn't say anything to correct him. This huge dragon was swifter than any Link had ever ridden, and in about fifteen minutes he began to slow down, knowing they were close to Catalin. The dragon finally stopped, hovering in the air a few moments, listening. He then began circling towards the groud, slowly decending until he made a smooth landing on the earth between some trees. He took Link off his back, and set him down. Link was surprised to find himself standing in snow.
"bFarewell for now, Link. When you are done here, if you do not know the way back to Dracoulis, simply come to this place and shoot a fire arow into the air like you did yesterday, and a dragon will come to you. Be cautious, for I do not know if the calwots will react well to your prescence, even if you did help them out a while ago/b." Windskiyer walked away from Link until he was sure the wind from his wings would not blow him over, then took off gracefully, flying back the way he had come.
Link looked around, admiring the beauty of the snow-covered trees and the soft, churning fog. Although it was snowy it wasn't too cold, and Link enjoyed his walk in the rare (in Hyrule) white precipitation as he drew nearer to Catalin. He didn't have a particularly good feeling about going to Catalin now, after hearing the rumors about its King, and remembering the mean calwot named Feelock he had seen a few days ago. Link hoped the calwots would remember how he had destroyed the monster inhabiting their mines, and also that they had an alliance with Hyrule. He knew he could be walking to his own death if the cats had forgotten about those things.
It was then that Link decided he would do some spywork. He would try to sneak up on some calwots and listen to their conversation for a while. If he could do that, he might be able to figure out what they would do if they came across a Hylian. He kept walking through the snow, and for a while the only sounds were a soft breeze and the crunching of his boots in the snow. Soon he heard some voices up ahead, through the fog. He went around the right side of the voices, walking slowly and as silently as possible. He then crouched and walked through the mist a little more, until he was up against the wall of a small rise, atop which sat two conversing guard calwots.
"This is SO boring! Why is Feelock making us do this? Now that the dragons are scared of getting shot down, they won't come near, and it's not like a human could get here through the forest." A female voice said.
"Are you sure? Didn't you hear the faint sound of wings flapping a few minutes ago? What if it was a dragon, spying on us?" A male voice questioned.
"It was probably just a calwot. You're too paranoid. Besides, even if it was a dragon, we could fire our spears and magic at it and it would scurry away just like that!"
"What if it dropped off a small spy dragon...or the humans are conspiring against us and it dropped off one of those...and it's crawling towards us, ready to cut our throats..." Link heard a thud, and realized the female calwot had hit the male.
"Your so skittish! Scardy-cat! If it was a human we'd just arrest it and take it to the King, and no human could ever sneak up on us!"
"Okay...but you didn't have to ihit/i me..." The male whined. Link struggled to keep himself from laughing. He knew it was time to go, because if these cats saw him he would be taken strait to Feelock, who had promised to kill him last time they met. Quietly Link turned around, ready to sneak away. A spear pressed up against his neck as he turned.
"Caught you, human spy! Did you think you could get away with sneaking up on our friends, you slime?" A tiger-striped female calwot pressed her spear into Link a little more, making him back up. The cat next to her was skinny and grayish brown, and Link recognized him. It was Leal. The cats on the rise heard the commotion below, and flew down.
"I KNEW IT! There WAS a human sneaking up on us!! I itold/i you, iwhy/i didn't you listen to me?" The whiney red male asked his partner.
"Shaddap!" His calico-looking companion said, hitting him again, making him whine.
"Leal! C'mon...you know I'm not a bad human!" Link said to the cat.
"Sorry, Link. The new King's orders say all captured humans or dragons have to be taken to him. I'll tell him you're good, but I don't think he'll listen..." Leal said.
"Leal, you KNOW this human?! Traitor!" The tigerish female cat hissed.
"No, he just delivered letters to me, it's not like he betrayed Catalin." Link said. The tiger-striped cat punched him in the gut, then pushed him to the ground.
"I didn't ask for your opinion!" The female cat turned Link over while the others, except Leal, pointed their spears at him. She tied his hands behind his back, and took the Master Sword off him. She also noticed how pretty the Golden Gauntlets were (non-Zelda-players: the gauntlets go over Link's other gloves, and they're made of gold with a ruby on each one), and took them off as well.
"That's not all his equipment." The whiney male said to the tigerish one. "I smell a magic bag! One of those bags which carries a bunch of stuff but is really small and weighs alot, and gives you whatever you think of when you reach into it!" Of course, he was speaking of the bag Link kept all his other stuff in, like his hookshot, bow, and bombs, etc. The female, still holding Link down, quickly found the bag and removed it. iGreat, nice going, Link!/i He scolded himself. iNow what on earth am I going to do? If I try to get away they'll take my head off with those spears.../iLink could do nothing as the tiger female yanked him to his feet and pushed him ahead of her, keeping a spear at his back as the group of five walked to Catalin.
They walked up a hill, and the snow disappeared as they reached the calwot village. They walked past numerous house-sized huts and buildings, and many huge trees which had houses in them. They finally came to the big building Feelack had been in the last time Link was in Catalin, but of course he didn't expect to see the old King there this time. As he came into the throne room, he saw Feelock seated apon the metal throne of his father. The moment the new King saw Link, he began laughing in a disturbingly sadistic manner.
"Aaaahhahahahaaa! I never thought I would see you again, messenger of the Royal Family! That family of Hyrule will soon fall under my power and wrath, heheh. Why have you come here? You knew I would kill you." The cat asked, grinning down at Link, who was shifting uncomfortably because of the spear pressed into his back.
"I came to give you a letter, not lay seige to your village!" Link said irritably.
"Is that so? Well, you can burn that letter, because I will conquer Hyrule no matter what its King proposes." A young griffon which was chained to the side of the King's throne squawked, glaring at Feelock.
"I hope Hyrule, whatever it is, tears you and your cruel gang of cats to shreds!" The griffon said, pulling on its chain. The King gave it a small shock, and it went silent. Link, who had never seen a griffon before, stared at the poor beast.
"Well, what terribly painful and slow death should I impose upon our little visitor?" The King thought a moment, stroking his whiskers in a similar manner to what his father had done. "Oh, I'm too busy to decide now. Throw him in the dungeons, and I'll think up a death for him later. Make sure he is not comfortable...you know what I mean." Feelock said, grinning to show off his very white, very sharp, cat teeth.
"You heard him human, off to the dungeon with you!" The tiger cat said, roughly grabbing Link's shoulder and directing him to the exit.
"Feelock....Link hasn't done anything bad..." Leal muttered.
"Keep your trap shut or you'll join him in his fate, Leal!" Feelock hissed. Leal obeyed. The tiger female soon had Link at the entrance to the dungeons, and as she got to the dungeon guards, she turned him over to them.
"Make sure he 'is not comfortable'" she said, and the guard grinned. iHow have the calwots become so cruel?/i Link wondered, ithe last time I was here they were rather nice...that King must have done something to them. Where's Saroe and Coflix?/i The grinning dungeon guard layed a paw on Link's arm, and the tiger-stripped female left.
"See you later, Tarisla. Human...I must show you what happens to any who try to escape the dungeons. I have to give this little demonstration to all prisoners, so they know not to try and escape!" The cat sent a bolt of electricity into Link's arm, but Link pulled away before it hurt him too much. He kicked the cat's face (with much difficulty, since the cat was taller than him) then turned to deal with the other one, but that one was too quick, kicking Link in the stomach hard. Link was thrown to the ground, the air knocked out of him. The first cat picked him up roughly, shocking him again, but with more volts. The calwot was pretty pissed, and didn't stop until Link was nearly unconcious. The cat then dragged Link to a cell, and threw him unceremoniously into it. The second calwot came in and untied Link's hands, but then picked up a big shackle which was chained to the wall. He put it on Link's neck, and tightened it until it was quite hard for Link to breathe.
"Sorry kid, but it's the King's orders that you can't be comfortable. I hate to think about what he's going to do with you." The cat then left the cell, locking it, and both cats went back to the dungeon entrance. Link pulled on the tight metal ring, but it didn't help any, and he knew he would make himself bleed if he didn't stop, so he did.
"Blast!" He yelled hoarsley, thinking he could very well be doomed.
"Link, is that you?" Link heard a familiar voice in the cell past the one on the right of his, but could not see it (the cells were separated by stone walls, not bars).
"Saroe?" Link managed to speak.
"Yes, it is you! I mean...it's too bad you're in here. You sound choked...did they put a shackle on your neck?" Saroe asked. She was not chained to a wall, only locked in her cell.
"Yeah..." Link said, coughing. "Does the King do this to a lot of cats, too? Why are you locked up?"
"It's not good that he chained you like that, Link. If he makes you 'not comfortable' like that, it probably means you'll be killed tomorrow morning. Man, we have to do something! Stupid Coflix, why is he such a traitor?" Saroe growled to herself.
"Coflix betrayed you? That stinks...but what did you do to get in here?" he asked a second time, not able to resist the temptation of pulling on the tight shackle again.
"Me? I opposed the King. I didn't agree with his ideas. iThat/i was my crime!" She sounded very angry. "He enslaved griffons as soon as he got here, and after he's done killing Cirokaal and conquering the dragons, if he can, then he wants to imprison them and conquer Hyrule! When he's killed all the humans, because he won't even enslave them, he'll go for the Zoras, Gorons...eventually the whole world. Sheesh, I would rather have a idemocracy/i than that ruthless King! He is completely mad, and seems to have successfully infected most of Catalin with the same insanity."
"How on earth can someone be so cruelly ambitious?...Can Feelock possibly accomplish all this?"
"Well, despite what I told him when he imprisoned me in here, I think he can do it. He's really a rather smart, but twisted, cat. I spied on him and he has this plan to defeat the dragons...first he's going to send a wave of blood-crazed, sharp-clawed, griffons at them...who are skilled in battle, and could probably take down the dragons' first wave on speed and rage alone. Like I said in my letter, griffons are extremely fierce when fighting, unless of course something is wrong with their brain...Anyway, while that's taking place, he'll send some of his stealth calwots behind the dragons, while making the wind blow in the right direction so the dragons can't smell the cats. They will shoot poisonous magic arrows into the dragons, which will kill a dragon in a matter of minutes if it so much as bounces off their scales. If all the dragons aren't exterminated by that, Feelock will send the rest of the griffons and a wave of death spell-wielding calwots with magic anti-dragonfire shields; and when I say dragonfire, I mean anything that can come out of a dragon's mouth. Those shields are extremely hard to make, but Feelock's power is incredible, and he made hundreds of them, as well as hundreds of those poison arrows I mentioned. By then there should only be a few dragons left: the reserves, and the really big ones which haven't been killed. Feelock will send a whole lot of calwots will powerful trap spells to capture the remaining dragons, and force them to do his will and aid him in his evil campaign against the world."
"That cat really is a crazy genius..." Link said, still pulling on the irksome ring.
"That's not the end of it! Since the King and Queen dragons will obviously be too powerful for him to completely control, he's going to torture them for fun until they die, and feed their corpses to the other imprisoned dragons! Isn't that terrible? He'll then use the dragons and griffons to completely overrun the humans and capture many of them, just so he can watch one die every morning while he's eating his breakfast. Oh, he's not just going to watch, he's going to force the other captive humans to watch, too. After he's brutally murdered all the humans, the other races of Hyrule will be pretty pissed, so he's going to kill those who are weak and capture those who are strong for his own twisted uses. He will then have amassed an army of such strength that nothing in the world could possibly stand against him...of course I don't really know because I've never seen much of the world...but who could stand against a couple thousand calwots, maybe a hundred huge dragons, plus fast zoras, strong gorons, sharpshooting dekus, cruel gerudos, if he doesn't count them as humans and kill them, and battle-tested griffons? I don't think anything can."
"Me neither. I wish there was something I could do...I came to deliver a letter, but things didn't turn out quite the way I expected. Someone has to get Feelock out of power!" Link stopped pulling on the metal ring when a drop of blood came from the spot on his neck it was digging into most. Saroe was silent, thinking if there was any way to get out of the dungeon. As far as she knew, no one had ever escaped, and it seemed unlikely that they were going to.
"Did you bring a weapon at all? Maybe I could pick the lock in a few hours if I had something sharp and longer then my claws. It would be difficult..." Sahroe said.
"They did forget to take my dagger off me." Link tried to stand up to go to the bars and throw it to Saroe, but the chain was too short to even permit him to stand. "How can I give it to you?"
"There isn't a way unless you can stick your arm through the bars. Man, this SUCKS!" Saroe yelled. "They probably took your sword and shield to the armory, and your other stuff to a Cimtu's weapon shop, he sells all sorts of weird things. Well, so much for that idea. I'll try to think of something else...tell me if you come up with anything." She said, trying to ignore the sorrow Link's loud and ragged breathing caused her. Link searched his mind for a plan, and decided to try and pick the lock on his shakle with the dagger, but he didn't know how, and almost broke his dagger trying. He just sat, growing tired because of the strain of drawing breath, and tried to pick the lock less forcefully. The cat and Hylian sat a while in silence, neither able to come up with anything. After about five hours Link fell asleep, and Saroe lapsed into a half-awere trance of boredness and hopelessness. Soon Link awoke because the stupid ring was choking him, and he heard footsteps. He quickly put away the dagger that was still in his hand, and heard Saroe hiss as Feelock stepped in front of his cell.
"Comfy, Link? Is that ring too loose? I didn't think so, heheh." The cat mocked.
"Jerk..." Link said, coughing.
"Well well, aren't we eager to die? I'm not feeling very creative today, so you'll be dying a less slow and painful death than I originally intended, lucky you. You're going to hang tomorrow at dawn." He said with evil happiness.
"How cliche is that?" Saroe muttered. Feelock ignorred her.
"Heheh...I look forward to seeing you gasp for air as the rope is pulled taught by your bodyweight..."
"And I can only imagine how it must feel to be as insane as you." Link said quietly, glaring daggers at the cat.
"Heheh...see you at dawn, dead man. Or should I say boy? Later, boy." Feelock left, leaving an ominous atmosphere behind him.
"This is going to really suck...I don't fear death, but I always thought of hanging as one of my least favorite ways it could happen..." Link softly commented.
"I'm sorry, Link...I should have attacked Feelock the first moment I saw him.." Saroe said. Link shook his head, remaining quiet. He regretted he couldn't see his friends one last time.
"Well...why don't you go back to sleep? Then you won't have to think about it. I'll think of a plan of escape while you're resting." The cat said. Link laughed as well as he could with the metal ring on him.
"That's nice for you to say, but I don't think we're getting out of here without external help. I can't sleep now..." Link sat in silence, searching his mind one last time for a plan. He couldn't just give up...but was there a way to get out? He could not think of one. The silence went on, only broken by the crackling of the torch and Link's labored breathing. They sat for a long while, but how long, Link could not tell...maybe minutes, maybe hours. Eventually he managed to drift off, sleeping fitfully on the cold stone. Once again he woke to the sounds of footsteps. He had no idea what time it was, maybe dawn. Once again he heard Saroe hiss as the footsteps grew nearer, but even louder than last time.
bSilov/b is a dragon word meaning 'One I Love' that married dragons affectionately call eachother.
sorry this one's so short! I'll update real soon, though. I hope you're liking the story so far! -Talonclawfange