buSection 8
All-Out War!/u/b
Eventually the cat let go of Link, much to his relief. The warrior breathed deeply, beginning to worry that maybe there was no way to stop Feelock. He stared at the stars, as if he would find a plan better then his current one there.
"Wordless at last, boy? Good...the only thing I want to hear coming out of your mouth is screaming." Link glared at the cat, getting annoyed at all his sadistic comments.
"I'd like to know...just what made you so crazy? A cat told me you were good as a child, so why did you run away and return with an oversized brain and an emaciated heart, spellbinding the poor calwots? You'd better do something before this right hand of mine breaks out and punches you!" Link boldly challenged, and Feelock glared at him.
"Choking wasn't enough for you, huh? Let's see how well your right arm works after this!" The cat put his claw on Link's right elbow and drew it across the skin to his wrist, giving Link a large cut and stopping by the rope. As Feelock did this, he was pressed up against the table to which Link was chained, and Link could move his arm just enough to hit the cat's stomach with his elbow. Link did it as hard as possible for how little his arm could move, and Feelock's scratching claw slipped, cutting into the rope on Link's wrist. As the cat realized what he had just done, he tried to grab Link's wrist, but Link broke out of what was left of the rope, moving his hand before the calwot could lay hold of it. Link took Feelock by the front of his armor, and with a mighty heave he threw the cat over him and onto the floor to his left.
The cat landed on his head with a loud thump, and Link quickly used his free (but bloody) arm to break the ropes binding his left arm. After that he had more than enough strength to get rid of the ropes on the rest of him, and jumped off the table, retrieving his sword and shield. Feelock got up, glowering at Link.
"You...I'll spill every last drop of your blood!" The calwot yelled.
"Well, you got off to a nice start but I think your advantage is lessening by the second," Link said, drawing the Master Sword. Blood poured form Link's still-painful slashes on his back, arm, and chest, but he ignorred them, staring into Feelock's golden-yellow eyes. Feelock was about to attack Link when he paused, sniffing the air.
"Smoke? My village!" The cat looked up just in time to see a huge greyish-green dragon soar over his castle. "Those dirty dragons! They planned a night attack! I have no time for you, boy. I will return later!" Feelock opened his big, jet black wings and jumped into the air, trying to fly over the tower walls.
"You're not going anywhere!" Link shouted. He put his sword away and raised a hand in front of his face, two fingers up and two down. A ring of green magic appeared instantly around his feet, rapidly growing vertically and spinning, until it made a small tornado. The green energy-tornado grew larger as Link put more mana into it, and soon it's currents reached the escaping Feelock. "See how you like Sohran's tornado spell!" The swift and powerful winds of the tornado pulled Feelock back into the walls of the tower and finally into the tornado itself, spinning the amazed calwot at an incredible speed. The sharp winds shredded the calwot's wings and began to make slashes and cuts all over him.
"Aaaaahhhhh!" The cat screetched. Link heard the scream and decided to end his spell before he really hurt the cat. As the winds started disappearing Feelock was thrown into a wall by the last wisp of the powerful spell. He was hidden behind the stone table as he fell to the floor, and Link waited patiently for him to get up. Feelock slowly got to his feet, looking more than a little mad. iWay/i more than a little mad. The infuriated cat turned his fierce golden eyes to Link. "You...if you hadn't messed up my guard cats' watching times, they would have been able to easily deal with a dragon problem like this! This is all your fault! How dare you cause my cats to be unprepared for an attack, and shred my beautiful WINGS!" Feelock powered up his fist and smashed through the stone table between him and Link in a temper. He than raised the palm of his paw at Link, in a gesture which looked vaguely familiar..."Lethal Internal Blender!!" He shouted, his rage-filled voice sounding like that of a demon from the eternal pits of the abyss. Link rushed forward, trying to get to Feelock before the slow spell took effect, but a wave of pain caused him to stumble and fall, dropping his sword.
"Eaaahhhh!" Link screamed, feeling Feelocks magic twist around inside him, cutting and breaking bones, and nearly tearing his heart. Yelling in pain, as the magic churned inside him, Link tried to get up but found it impossible. He fell flat every time he tried, doubling over in pain. He couldn't stop himself from coughing up blood from his tremendous internal wounds. Link collapsed in a panting heap when the magic stopped its assault and Feelock lowered his paw. Link gasped for air, but his cut up lungs weren't working very well.
"Aahahahaaa! Little brat...that is what you get...when you mess with me." Link managed to get his eyes to focus on Feelock for a moment, and realized the cat was exhausted by the amount of magic using his new spell required. He had even been forced to suck some mana from the enchantments on the top of his castle (these are enchantments Feelock put on his castle the day he arrived, protecting it from griffons and dragons) to cast the spell. "I can still...reverse this dragon attack...but first I'm finishing you off, you menace of a boy!" Feelock pointed his paw at Link again, preparing to renew his spell. Link painfully reached down into his boot, quickly withdrawing his dagger and hurling it at Feelock with surprising accuracy and speed for his condition. The dagger hit Feelock's paw just as Feelock's spell reached Link.
"Arrrggggg!!!! My PAW!!" Feelock screetched as Link's dagger buried itself up to the hilt in Feelock's palm. Link screamed in agony as the spell began to twist his already bleeding and almost wounded beyond repair insides. Luckily the spell stopped before it did much more damage, as its caster clutched his bleeding paw. He yanked the dagger out of it, throwing it at Link, but was so distracted by the pain that he missed. Link lay flat on the ground, trying hard to put his damaged respiratory system to use, clutching his stomach. Of course the red liquid coming from Link's throat made it more difficult to breathe, and he knew he had to do something before he suffocated from his own blood. The only thing he really had was his pathetic little Arlia plant, which wouldn't help much, if at all. iIt's over...that spell did it, I can't even move.../i
Suddenly a female dragon flying close by smelled all the blood in the tower, and flew to the top, looking into it. She roared as she spotted Feelock, and swooped down into the roofless room on top of the tower, pointing her claws at the black calwot. Grrr...that dragon must have been able to break thoguh my protective enchantments because I drew on them to cast the Lethal Internal Blender on Link! Feelock thought. He managed to jump aside as the small (a little bigger than two cows) red and black dragon landed roughly on the stone. Link, although his vision was rather blurry, thought there was something familiar about that dragon. It came to him as he watched her rear up and strike at the wounded Feelock. This was Taig's friend, the blacksmith dragon Link had seen flyng around at the base of Dracoulis.
"You're Faraws..." Link said in a blood-choked voice. The dragon, having knocked the surprised Feelock to his back, turned at the mention of her name.
"bHow do you know me, wounded one?/b" Faraws asked in a melodious voice as she spotted Link. "bWait...green clothes, blonde hair...courageous and stupid enough to be fighting Feelock...you must be Link! Taig told me all about you!/b" Link nodded and was about to say something, but blood found its way past Link's lips before words could. "bAck! You poor human! I'm really surprised you're not dead, from the looks of you there's more blood outside than in!/b" The dragon ran over to Link. "bLucky for you I started studying healing magic last year, because not all dragons can heal, you know!/b" The dragon put a black, clawed hand on Link's head, and silverish gold magic flowed through his body, healing most of him. Unfortunately the spell wasn't as powerful as the Dragon Queen's, and it could not replace his blood, but it was good enough for Link, and he was grateful for the help. He got up as soon as she was done, nearly falling over from light-headedness, but Faraws steadied him. "bSorry my spell didn't heal you all the way...But just what on earth did Feelock do to you?/b" she asked. Reminded of the cat, Link looked around the dragon to where she had knocked him down. He was standing again, and Link layed eyes on him just in time to see him finish healing himself. The cat turned towards Faraws, pointing a finger at her and chanting.
"Look out! Feelock's casting a spell!" Faraws turned around, but it was already too late. Feelock had cast a death spell on her, and she collapsed without making a sound. "Faraws! Speak to me!" Link yelled at the dragon, running over to her head and shaking it a bit, but she didn't move much. The only movement was coming from her chest as she inhaled and exhaled slowly.
"What?! She should be dead! My magic must be weak because of the Internal Blender...once again iyour/i fault!" Feelock growled, turning to Link.
Sahoriel and Cirokaal hovered over the war of griffons, calwots, and dragons raging in Catalin. Sahoriel made sure her warriors were only knocking out cats and griffons, not killing them, because of the words of two smart calwots. She remembered how at the beginning of the battle the two cats had flown up to her, introducing themselves and claiming to be friends of Link. She could sense they weren't lying, and listened as they explained how Feelock had put a spell over the calwots to make them more violent, so the dragons should try to not kill them. Sahoriel had argued that the calwots were going to fight the dragons before the new King had even showed up, but Saroe had told her how most cats had opposed the war and would have voted against it if the senile old King hadn't forgotten to consult his town before making the decision. Coflix had explained that if the spell were off the calwots they would probably retreat rather than fight, so killing them would be unnecessary (plus most of them had a death shield, but that didn't always work against the strength of a dragon). Sahoriel had reluctantly agreed but Cirokaal brought up the question of the griffons. Saroe said that the griffons were only attacking because they were raging mad and had been trained and enchanted by the calwots to attack dragons. If many calwots were knocked out the evil spell might fade and the dragons would have no reason to war with the confused griffons, so killing them was also unnecessary. Sahoriel didn't know what possessed her about the two calwots' words, but she believed them and took their advice, ordering her warriors to knock out, not destroy.
She considered changing her mind, however, as she watched the battle below her. Griffons and calwots were trying to kill her dragons even though they weren't trying to kill them back, and many dragons had already been seriously wounded. Dragons would start dying soon, and Saroriel would not accept that; she and Cirokaal had agreed to order the dragons to kill if one of their own was killed. All they had to do was tell Windskiyer, who would relay the message to all the dragons in Catalin, and the war would be taken to a new, more bloody level. Sahoriel just hoped she made the right decision at the right time, for it appeared that the dragons and griffons might start losing to the calwots because of the cats' superior numbers and magic skills. Sahoriel knew the tide of battle would turn in favor of the cats soon if her dragons didn't start killing them, but even if they did, Sahoriel wasn't so sure the dragons could beat the calwots with the griffons getting in the way. If something wasn't done, the calwots might very well win.
Cirokaal was hovering next to his wife watching the battle below, and he tensed up when he saw a calwot send a sharp spear flying towards that heart of a small dragon, but sighed in relief as the dragon dodged. He also got worried when he saw about ten calwots gang up on one of the large dragons, but became somewhat more relaxed when the dragon hit five of them out of the air with the sweep of his tail. Cirokaal spotted another dragon, locked in fierce combat with a griffon equal to its size, and almost flew down to join the battle as the griffon bit the dragon's arm. Sahoriel layed a restraining paw on him, speaking to him softly.
"bDon't be crazy, Silov. If you go down there every calwot will come after you, and if you or I die, the moral of the dragons will plummet. Windskiyer is doing a well enough job leading them./b" Cirokaal calmed himself as the dragon who had been bitten hit the griffon in the back of the head with it's tail, knocking the creature out.
"bThey are coming closer and closer to killing a dragon, Silov. I will make killing acceptable for the dragons if they do./b" Sahoriel nodded in agreement, turning her eyes grimly back to the battle. She thought it was strange that no calwots or griffons had flown up from the battle to attack her and Cirokaal, and supposed the reason for this must be that everyone was keeping eachother busy. There wasn't a single spot on the battlefield not covered with angrilly fighting creatures. She also noticed that no one was attacking Cazan, who was hovering over the other side of the battlefield. iIf the griffons kill a dragon, I will kill Cazan first to crush the griffons' moral.../iShe thought darkly. Sahoriel looked down at some bravely fighting calwots, and wondered how they had the spirit to fight so well with their King absent. iWhere is the coward now?/i She wondered, sniffing the air for Royal Calwot blood. iThe frightened cat must have put instant morale into his dirty little recipe for the control spell he put on his subjects. That way he could hide while they spill blood for him...he must be destroyed! /i
She caught the scent of a Royal Calwot coming from a large, black, tower, but also caught the scent of something else: heavy enchantments. She could tell that many spells had been put in the castle, including ones that would kill an invading dragon or griffon instantly. She had thought Feelock was powerful, but the size and power of the spells she sensed were so huge that she wasn't sure even a Queen Dragon like herself could survive them with the distraction of a war. They were also smart enchantments, which could tell the difference between a blood-loving controlled griffon and a free one, and would only destroy creatures coming into the castle, not leaving it. The castle was protected by spells against pretty much every possible calwot enemy...except humans. iWhat ever happened to Link? I can't sense him in this magic-filled village...perhaps he is dead, but somehow I doubt it... But Feelock must be strong indeed to cast such spells on his castle, almost nothing is beyond his power/i. Where had this cat gotten so much power in a mere five years? The Queen could not tell. She sensed something was different at the top of the tower, like something was happening there...but she dared not go near it with her subjects warring below.
Saroe and Coflix fought valiantly back to back, defeating any creature that dared attack their combined might. As Coflix shot a ball of magic energy at an attacking griffon, Saroe zapped an attacking dragon with lightening, making sure the bolt also hit two calwots which had been pursuing the dragon. An especially big dragon came for them then, pushing other creatures out of the way as it made its way to the calwots. Saroe fired a magic venom arrow at it, and Coflix used an ice spell. The dragon tripped as its feet were encased in ice and the arrow hit it in the neck as it fell. The venom knocked out the dragon before it could think, but was not deadly. As Saroe powered up a spell for the next opponent which would attack them, the thought crossed her mind: iWhere is Link? He's been gone a long time...Feelock might have killed him./i
"Coflix!" She yelled over the screaming, blasting and burning of the war, "We have to go help Link! He's been in the tower an awfully long time!"
"That sounds like a good plan, if we can get out of here!" Vicious battles surrounded them on all sides, including above them. The cats tiredly fought on, as the Royal Dragons got closer and closer to unleashing the full wrath of the mighty dragon army on the calwots and griffons.
buSection 9
Faore's Power/u/b
Link rushed at Feelock, determined to cut off those annoying claws, but once again Feelock raised a paw and started chanting a new spell.
"You're going to run out of magic or exhaust yourself if you don't cut that out!" Link yelled as a shining inch-thick ring of magic surrounded his head. The yellow magic ring quickly shrunk, losing size until it was as small as a necklace, and decended towards Link's neck.
"I have enough power for a simple spell like this one. I practiced it so much it doesn't use much mana at all...too bad for you, hahahahah!" Feelock grinned, watching his magic decend. Well, Link could guess what the ring was for, and tried to hold it off with his sword. It went right ithrough/i his sword, closing around his throat. Link then tried to pull the thing off with his hands, but it was already on, and he couldn't contest the power of Feelock's magic with the strength in his arms. He gave that up, and since the ring wasn't very tight he tried running at Feelock, but the cat made the ring smaller, jumping away from Link.
"Sheesh! What's with all the choking? Can't you think of anything better to do to me?!" Link questioned angrilly.
"Of course I can, idiot human, but you seem to hate being choked more than anything else, heheh." He answered coldly.
"Jerk..." Link muttered as the ring got even tighter. It was now starting to choke him a little, and he tried to pull it off again.
"It's just so fun to see the look on your face as you suffocate..."
"You're making me sick! How can someone be so insanely pain-loving?! I think you're worse than Gannondorf!" Link said irritably, knowing Gannon had a million chances to kill him or make him do whatever he wanted by threatening to hurt Zelda; yet, Ganon had never done that. Was there some hidden sense of honor in Ganon or had he just not thought of doing it? Link thought he would probably never know.
"Worse than Ganon? That must be quite an insult coming from a Hylian, so I'll take it as a major compliment! Don't worry, I'll stop choking you...when your heart has ceased its beating, that is." Link was now very disgusted with this calwot, and knew he couldn't let it do this to any more creatures, human or otherwise. He was about to tell the cat what he thought of him, but the ring tightened sharply, making talking very difficult. Link ran at Feelock again, slashing at his chest with the Master Sword. The sword, although very powerful, did not break the cat's tough armor and glanced off, leaving Link in a vulnerable position. Feelock grabbed his arm and punched him in the stomach hard, then delivered a perfect round-house kick to his face. Link was thrown to his back, but managed to keep hold of his sword. He staggered to his feet, still dizzy from loss of blood. He noticed the annoying ring was getting tighter but ignored it, running at Feelock and trying to hit him with a jump slash. The slash was rather slow due to weakness, and Feelock easily stepped to the side as Link landed.
Feelock drove his armor-covered fist into the side of Link's face, and the warrior was hurled to the ground, his sword sliding away from him. Feelock walked up to the fallen warrior and Link pushed himself into a sitting position, then tried to punch the cat. The black calwot caught his wrist and did not realease it. Instead he sent electricity into it, the voltage making Link's whole body shake violently as he was shocked. The Hylian's scream ended in a choked gasp as the ring shrunk a size. The cat let go of Link, who fell over with weak groan, pulling on the yellow magic around his neck. Feelock backed up, enjoying the show.
"What the...?" Feelock was caught off-guard as Link jumped to his feet, grabbed his sword, and thrusted at him. Feelock flew into the air, hovering where Link could not reach him. "How did you do that? Nearly dead one second and fine the next...the stamina of this boy is incredible!...or maybe that was the last bit of fight he had left in him." He pointed a paw at the ring on the Hylian's neck, making it close more.
"Feelock..." Link coughed, "You stinking coward..." Link dropped to his knees as the ring got smaller, almost making him pass out from lack of air and blood. His sword clattered to the floor as the warrior grasped the ring with both hands. "You're too scared to...uughhh.." It was now cutting off almost all of Link's air, leaving him gasping.
"You were saying...heheh....what? I can't hear you, human!" Feelock said, grinning evily and staying in the air, away from Link.
"Scared to come down here...where my sword can reach you!" Link said as the ring closed off his windpipe completely. He fell flat on the ground dizzily, still futilely pulling on the cruel ring. For a few dozen seconds he struggled to pull the thing off, but eventually got so weak he couldn't strain against it anymore. He could only lie still and feel his life begin to fade.
"Scared? I am not scared of anything..." Feelock growled, looking at Link's face as his life was slowly leaving him. "You're just trying to distract me so I'll loosen my magic ring! Well too bad! I'll tell your princess friend how pathetic your attempts to beat me were - right before I kill her!" This caught Link's attention, and he moved his head slightly, fixing his darkening sight on the cat. "You heard me. You don't think I forgot the princess you said 'invited me to stay at the castle', do you? I figured she must be a friend of yours. I'll kill her just as slow as I'm killing you, and your horse, too..." Link, though half-conscious, weakly renewed his efforts to break the ring with both hands. Even he was surprised that he was still awake, but couldn't concentrate on anything but Feelock as he continued to speak. "Not to mention all the people you grew up with, all dead, heheheh...that includes your family too, when I find them...and I will. Make no mistake about it, when I find someone who is related to you, I'll destroy them especially slow. Before I bestow merciful death upon them I will make them beg for it...and lick their blood off my claws after I finally finish them."
That did it. He made Link so mad and filled with desire to protect his loved ones that the Triforce of Courage on his left hand started glowing. Instantly he felt the power of Faore fill him, and he ripped the ring off easily. Link breathed deeply, glaring at Feelock as he picked up his sword. Immediately the Master Sword began glowing with both light magic and green magic from the Triforce. Feelock's eyes grew wide at the sudden and incredibly dramatic increase of power.
"What on earth? How are you doing this?!" Feelock was quite angry, feeling cheated of watching a human die in agony. "All humans will pay for your foolishness!"
"I can't let you conquer Hyrule! Haaahhhhh!" Link jumped at Feelock, who was dumbfounded by how Link had easily broken his spell. The Master Sword gave the cat a large slash (Link was careful not to make it itooi/ large. Even now, he didn't want to sink to the level of a villain and kill a person), the sword cutting through Feelock's armor effortlessly. Feelock screamed in pain as the force of the blow threw him into the wall behind him. The cat got up slowly, holding his chest as excruciating pain made him flinch and yell.
"You will....die....!" Feelock tried to cast a powerful death spell on Link, but found that he had used so much mana that he could not cast any spell at all. iI knew I should have gotten more familiar with the Lethal Internal Blender before I used it! New and unused spells take so much mana to cast it's not funny, and even my incredible power cannot regenerate fast enough to cast a decent death spell right after a new spell...I don't even have enough strength to draw mana from my protective enchantments!/iThe cat then decided to jump at Link and try to slash his head off with his claws. As the cat drew near Link hit him with a powerful stroke from his blade, throwing the cat into the wall again, twice as hard as last time. Feelock slumped to the floor, his awareness nearly knocked out of him. "Such incredible power...how did he do this? Is it love for the humans I was going to kill?" Link walked up to the fallen cat, glaring down at him. "Your power is amazing...but how could it surpass my own?" Feelock questioned angrilly. The cat, bleeding all over, finally understood. "It is your love that gives you power...how can I defeat you?! Someone tell me!!" With two well calculated strokes, Link cut off Feelock's whiskers, then cut off some hair on the top of his head, giving him a bald spot.
"All those things you said...you really would have tortured and killed dragons, Hylians, and even the other races of Hyrule...you really would have watched a human die every day while you ate breakfast, and conquered the world with an army of creatures from whom you would take free will..." Link glared at the cat, full of contempt. He could feel the power of the triforce weaken within him. "You would have killed my brother and friends..."
As Link looked down at him, almost mad enough to kill him, the power of the triforce grew even weaker. Link then realized that his evil feelings were causing this. To access the power of Faore, he needed to be filled with a spirit of protection, love, and of course, courage. The hatred and contempt were driving the power away, so Link discarded those feelings; reminding himself that to kill Feelock was to sink to the level of a monster, and judging him and hating him were not things that Link, as an imperfect person, had the right to do.
"The love that gives you strength is weakening because you hate what I would have done to your country...You almost hate me, but hate would darken your white heart. Still, there is something special about this power of yours, I have never felt anything like it before..." The wounded cat nearly blacked out, but managed to keep himself awake somehow, staring up at Link in wonder and fear. Link suddenly felt pretty guilty for even thinking about killing Feelock, who was so defenseless it would be cruel to stain the Master Sword with his blood. Link made the decision that he was not going to kill the cat, because he could protect his loved ones just fine without needing to take the life of a creature who might still decide to quit being a monster. After all, this cat might not be human, but Link still considered him a person; and Link had decided long ago to never kill a person if it was at all avoidable.
The triforce power grew strong again, and a magic aura eminated from Link's body. Feelock had already been scared, but with this new increase of power the cat thought Link was going to finish him, and his fear made him take action. He reached out a paw, extending his claws as he tried to drag them through Link's skin. As the cat's paw touched Link, a whiteish-green fire enveloped it.
"Aaaahhhhhhhh!!" The cat's ear-piercing scream erupted as the fire consumed his paw, quickly burning it to a point of uselessness. Link watched in horror as the fire started to creep up the cat's wrist, and without thinking, he ordered it to stop. The fire stopped, disappearing in a wisp of green smoke. Feelock, who had been unable to take the pain, fell unconscious. A cloud of purple magic floated up from his body, then vanished in a bright flash. Link heard the flapping of wings, and Saroe and Coflix flew over the wall of the tower.
Sahoriel gasped as the fighting below her came to an abrupt stop. It was incredible, that the war which was raging like wildfire a few moments ago came to a complete and sudden halt. Every dragon and griffon stopped fighting aganst calwots as they all fell over, and even dragons and griffons battling eachother stopped fighting to stare at the stricken calwots. A misty purple cloud emerged from each calwot, even the unconscous ones, and the spectacle was so unbelivable that no one thought about fighting for a moment as they watched the strange clouds. The clouds then vanished in a bright flash, and the calwots got up.
"bThe calwots-/b" The Queen Dragon realized, "bThey are free from Feelock's spell!/b" Suddenly the Queen realized what had been happening on the top of the tower, and where Link was. It all made sense. There was a silent pause in Catalin as the calwots looked around, very confused and not seeming to realize what had happened. They stared wide-eyed at the battle-scarred dragons and griffons around them, and wanted nothing more than to go back to their nests. It seemed like Sahoriel and Cirokaal were the only ones who knew what was going on, but Cazan, surprisingly, caught on as well.
"Griffons! It seems our captors have been liberated from their magic shackles just as we have been! They are our friends once more, do not attack them! We have no feud with the dragons, let them be as well!" Cazan said. Sahoriel smiled, the war was over.
"bMy people! Cirokaal and I order you to leave the griffons alone, we have never needed to fight with them. Also leave the calwots alone, for now they are no longer controlled by a spell or led by an old senile ruler who loves war. They desire peace, do you not, calwots?/b" Her voice boomed loud, and now that the yelling and noise of war was over, all could hear her. The calwots cheered, revealing that they did indeed want peace with the dragons and griffons. Most of them didn't even know why the dragons and griffons were in their village, not remembering a thing since the day Feelock came to Catalin and spoke to them. Slowly their memory returned, and they realized Feelock had put a spell on them and controlled them. Many could feel nothing but anger at Feelock and gratefulness to be free of war and evil spells, but a question plaqued the minds of some of others: who would rule the calwots now?
Cirokaal turned his head as he saw a calwot approaching him. The tiny calwot was Leal, and the cat had a message for Sahoriel, but was far too scared of dragons to talk to biggest one of all. He flew up to Cirokaal, since the dragon was smaller than his wife.
"E-excuse me, sir..." Leal tried to get the words out of his mouth without flying away. "Um...a friend of yours, Link, wants to s-see your wife..."
"bWhere is he?/b" Cirokaal asked, trying to not blow the cat away with his breath or wings.
"B-b...b-by that c-castle over there!" The cat stuttered, pointing at the King Calwot's black tower and shaking. Cirokaal laughed quietly.
"bDo not be so afraid, I will not hurt you./b" He turned to Sahoriel. "bSilov, can you go to the black tower over there? This cat says Link wants to see you/b." Sahoriel smiled and nodded, flying over to the tower. By now the crowd of peaceful creatures had begun to move. The dragons picked up their wounded and gathered under Cirokaal, and Faraws, who had finally woken up, joined them. The griffons picked up their unconscious kin and walked over to Cazan, who was now on the ground, and the calwots just walked towards eachother, forming a big group, attending to their injured and unconscious bretheren. The calwots who were in the mines opened the door and realized the fighting had stopped, so they came out to join the huge calwot group as well.
"It's amazing how these creatures who were trying to destroy eachother a moment ago can be at peace so suddenly..." Coflix said to Saroe. They were standing next to Link and the unconscious Feelock, watching Sahoriel approach (they had lifted both Link and Feelock out of the tower and were now in front of it).
"It just goes to show that they really did want peace. It was the Kings of the calwot and dragon tribes that really wanted war. Now hopefully they will both recognize the tremendous mistakes they made." Saroe replied. Cirokaal, beating his wings to stay airborne over Catalin, called for everyone's attention with his loud, booming voice.
"bCalwots, I have something to tell you. I have been far to proud and it was partly my fault the alliance between Catalin and Dracoulis was broken. I wish to say I am...sorry for what I have done to you. I am sorry for accusing you of taking Taig, as well. It was wrong of me./b" The many calwots below nodded their heads, accepting the apology and forgiving the King of dragons. Some were still a little mad at him, but knew it was equally their own King's fault the war had been started. "bThere can now be peace between all three tribes: Dragons, Calwots, and Griffons. There will be a meeting in two days at Dracoulis, and I would like you to attend, Cazan. Calwots, hopefully you will have found a new leader for yourselves by that time, and I would like that ruler or rulers to attend as well. I would suggest a certain two calwots who prevented the deaths of hundreds, Saroe and Coflix. If not for them, the fiery wrath of the dragons could have wrongfully destroyed the beautiful village of Catalin and many of it's inhabitants./b"
All the calwots started cheering again, looking over at the foot of the tower where the embarassed Saroe and Coflix stood, amazed that almost all the cats in Catalin were cheering for them, as well as the dragons and griffons. It seemed that the new rulers of Catalin had been decided. "bIf you will give me your attention for a moment longer, there is one more thing I want to say. We should all appreciate Link, the human Hero of Time, because if he had not defeated Feelock and broken the spell over Catalin, we would still be fighting now. He traveled here through a dangerous forest and risked his life to stop a war among three races to which he does not belong. Calwots and dragons and maybe even griffons have long looked down on humans, but this night Link stands taller than any of us. Thank you, Link./b" Link, who had been talking with Sahoriel, was quite surprised when the King said those things and everyone in Catalin started cheering for him, even Cazan and the Royal Dragons. Link grew red and put one hand behind his head, waving embarrassedly with the other.
"Aw...I'm not so great...it was nothing..." He said nervously. The cheering continued for a very long time.
Link held onto the huge back of Sahoriel, enjoying the cool wind and the silence of the night. The fog churned as Sahoriel's great body flew through it, along with every other dragon. The peaceful silence (broken only by the quiet rush of wind under dragonwings) was sweet and Link looked up at the moon, glowing faintly through the low-hanging clouds through which he was flying. He reflected on his battle with Feelock, and how Saroe and Coflix had carried him and the defeated King off the tower when their battle was done. He recalled seeing Sahoriel fly towards him after he had asked Leal to get her, and what happened after that...
Flashback i"Sahoriel...I'm sorry but can I ask you a favor? I don't know what's wrong with Feelock, but I think he must have an evil ghost in him to be so insanely sadistic! Can you do the same thing to him that you did to my brother?"
"bLink, I consider you and the King of Hyrule to be my only human friends. Do not be afraid of asking a favor of me. I will try./b" Sahoriel first healed Feelock (except his completely ruined paw, it was impossible to heal that), then tried to use the same evil spirit-killing spell on him she had used on Chain, but nothing happened. She tried again, and still nothing happened. "bI have grave news, Link. There is no evil shade in him. He is who he is./b"
"That's terrible..." Link said, hoping the cat would change. If he did not, Link didn't know what would happen to him. Perhaps he would have to be locked up until he changed his evl ways. Feelock began stirring and woke. He was not afraid, nor did he look confused. He seemed to be sane and solemn as he looked at Link.
"I am sorry, boy...no, you are a man, Link. The awesome power born of your love made me see how far down the wrong path I have been traveling. I have realized the error of my ways, but how can I ever be free of the guilt for the deeds I have done?" The cat looked at the ground with a crestfallen look in his eyes. Link remained silent, not able to think of a good answer right away. "I must leave now. I will go somewhere else in these mountains, or perhaps even leave them altogether. I need time on my own to think about what I've done, and rebuild myself so I can do some good in the world. Perhaps that will help me repent of my sins." Feelock said quietly, his golden eyes growing soft and wet.
"You don't have to leave, Feelock! You can stay and do good here..." Link started to say.
"bLink, it is better to let him go. The time he has spent as an evil calwot has wounded his soul, and he needs individual time to become one again. Do not worry about him trying to kill anything ever again. He will not by his own will, for I can feel that his words are sincere. This is a promise from the Queen of Dragons,/b" Sahoriel stated. Link didn't really know what she meant with the whole 'become one again' thing, but knew she was probably alot smarter than him so he believed her. Besides that he couldn't think very well to argue when the crowd of calwots, dragons and griffons started cheering loudly for Saroe and Coflix.
"Man, they're loud...what happened?" Link asked Sahoriel.
"bSaroe and Coflix are to assume rule of the calwots./b" She replied.
"That's great! I'm sure they'll be fine leaders. When do you think Feelock will return?" Link asked, noticing the cat walk away. Two thin streams of salty water fell from each of the cat's eyes as he left.
"bWhenever he is ready. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be one of the first people he will contact./b" As the crowd turned to Link, no one noticed Feelock take flight on the edge of Catalin, a small, lonely black figure dissappearing into the fog. The volume of the voices reached an incredible level at the mention of Link's name. /iEnd
After all that had happened Saroe and Coflix had helped him find the rest of his equipment, which was at Cimtu's shop as his friends had expected; then Link had left with the dragons. Link was now very tired, and his thoughts drifted away from the past, towards the future and his home. Sahoriel said she would have a dragon carry him and Epona back to Hyrule tomorrow, if the weather was fair, and he would rest in Dracoulis tonight, the place to which they were flying now. Link could barely wait to get back and see his friends, and his brother. The tired warrior drifted to sleep on the thought.
The next day Link and his horse were taken home as promised. The Hero of Time brought with him a letter from all three races' royalty, for peace with Hyrule; as well as two griffons who had decided they would serve in Hyrule Castle as a special thanks to Link. The day after that, the meeting between dragons, calwots, and griffons was held. The first thing the meeting rulers of the races did was name the war they had The War of the Kings, since the whole thing had been started by Kings and ended when the King Calwot was defeated. They then established peace treatys and came up with plans for trading. Saroe and Coflix proved to be a very good team, and were becoming more and more affectionate toward one another. Coflix even playfully called Saroe 'Silov' later in Catalin, which was being cleaned up with help from both the dragons and the griffons. All three peaceful races also agreed on something else: They would all become a part of Hyrule.
How'd you like it? I know the fight was a bit more violent than usual...sorry 'bout that. Hey, I got the pics for this story up! Not on my website, but on deviantart.com. Here's the link: If you can't click on that or something, just copy it and paste it to your browser adress. If the pic that shows up doesn't cover most of the screen than it's a preview. Click it to get it's full size. If you're not a member you can't comment on deviantart, so if you want to comment on my art (please do!) e-mail me or include it in your review, please. Anyway, what do you think would happen if there was an evil plot by someone far away to make an unstoppable army of snakes to invade Hyrule? What if part of that plot involved maing Hylians so violent they'd kill eachother? Find out in my next story...
All-Out War!/u/b
Eventually the cat let go of Link, much to his relief. The warrior breathed deeply, beginning to worry that maybe there was no way to stop Feelock. He stared at the stars, as if he would find a plan better then his current one there.
"Wordless at last, boy? Good...the only thing I want to hear coming out of your mouth is screaming." Link glared at the cat, getting annoyed at all his sadistic comments.
"I'd like to know...just what made you so crazy? A cat told me you were good as a child, so why did you run away and return with an oversized brain and an emaciated heart, spellbinding the poor calwots? You'd better do something before this right hand of mine breaks out and punches you!" Link boldly challenged, and Feelock glared at him.
"Choking wasn't enough for you, huh? Let's see how well your right arm works after this!" The cat put his claw on Link's right elbow and drew it across the skin to his wrist, giving Link a large cut and stopping by the rope. As Feelock did this, he was pressed up against the table to which Link was chained, and Link could move his arm just enough to hit the cat's stomach with his elbow. Link did it as hard as possible for how little his arm could move, and Feelock's scratching claw slipped, cutting into the rope on Link's wrist. As the cat realized what he had just done, he tried to grab Link's wrist, but Link broke out of what was left of the rope, moving his hand before the calwot could lay hold of it. Link took Feelock by the front of his armor, and with a mighty heave he threw the cat over him and onto the floor to his left.
The cat landed on his head with a loud thump, and Link quickly used his free (but bloody) arm to break the ropes binding his left arm. After that he had more than enough strength to get rid of the ropes on the rest of him, and jumped off the table, retrieving his sword and shield. Feelock got up, glowering at Link.
"You...I'll spill every last drop of your blood!" The calwot yelled.
"Well, you got off to a nice start but I think your advantage is lessening by the second," Link said, drawing the Master Sword. Blood poured form Link's still-painful slashes on his back, arm, and chest, but he ignorred them, staring into Feelock's golden-yellow eyes. Feelock was about to attack Link when he paused, sniffing the air.
"Smoke? My village!" The cat looked up just in time to see a huge greyish-green dragon soar over his castle. "Those dirty dragons! They planned a night attack! I have no time for you, boy. I will return later!" Feelock opened his big, jet black wings and jumped into the air, trying to fly over the tower walls.
"You're not going anywhere!" Link shouted. He put his sword away and raised a hand in front of his face, two fingers up and two down. A ring of green magic appeared instantly around his feet, rapidly growing vertically and spinning, until it made a small tornado. The green energy-tornado grew larger as Link put more mana into it, and soon it's currents reached the escaping Feelock. "See how you like Sohran's tornado spell!" The swift and powerful winds of the tornado pulled Feelock back into the walls of the tower and finally into the tornado itself, spinning the amazed calwot at an incredible speed. The sharp winds shredded the calwot's wings and began to make slashes and cuts all over him.
"Aaaaahhhhh!" The cat screetched. Link heard the scream and decided to end his spell before he really hurt the cat. As the winds started disappearing Feelock was thrown into a wall by the last wisp of the powerful spell. He was hidden behind the stone table as he fell to the floor, and Link waited patiently for him to get up. Feelock slowly got to his feet, looking more than a little mad. iWay/i more than a little mad. The infuriated cat turned his fierce golden eyes to Link. "You...if you hadn't messed up my guard cats' watching times, they would have been able to easily deal with a dragon problem like this! This is all your fault! How dare you cause my cats to be unprepared for an attack, and shred my beautiful WINGS!" Feelock powered up his fist and smashed through the stone table between him and Link in a temper. He than raised the palm of his paw at Link, in a gesture which looked vaguely familiar..."Lethal Internal Blender!!" He shouted, his rage-filled voice sounding like that of a demon from the eternal pits of the abyss. Link rushed forward, trying to get to Feelock before the slow spell took effect, but a wave of pain caused him to stumble and fall, dropping his sword.
"Eaaahhhh!" Link screamed, feeling Feelocks magic twist around inside him, cutting and breaking bones, and nearly tearing his heart. Yelling in pain, as the magic churned inside him, Link tried to get up but found it impossible. He fell flat every time he tried, doubling over in pain. He couldn't stop himself from coughing up blood from his tremendous internal wounds. Link collapsed in a panting heap when the magic stopped its assault and Feelock lowered his paw. Link gasped for air, but his cut up lungs weren't working very well.
"Aahahahaaa! Little brat...that is what you get...when you mess with me." Link managed to get his eyes to focus on Feelock for a moment, and realized the cat was exhausted by the amount of magic using his new spell required. He had even been forced to suck some mana from the enchantments on the top of his castle (these are enchantments Feelock put on his castle the day he arrived, protecting it from griffons and dragons) to cast the spell. "I can still...reverse this dragon attack...but first I'm finishing you off, you menace of a boy!" Feelock pointed his paw at Link again, preparing to renew his spell. Link painfully reached down into his boot, quickly withdrawing his dagger and hurling it at Feelock with surprising accuracy and speed for his condition. The dagger hit Feelock's paw just as Feelock's spell reached Link.
"Arrrggggg!!!! My PAW!!" Feelock screetched as Link's dagger buried itself up to the hilt in Feelock's palm. Link screamed in agony as the spell began to twist his already bleeding and almost wounded beyond repair insides. Luckily the spell stopped before it did much more damage, as its caster clutched his bleeding paw. He yanked the dagger out of it, throwing it at Link, but was so distracted by the pain that he missed. Link lay flat on the ground, trying hard to put his damaged respiratory system to use, clutching his stomach. Of course the red liquid coming from Link's throat made it more difficult to breathe, and he knew he had to do something before he suffocated from his own blood. The only thing he really had was his pathetic little Arlia plant, which wouldn't help much, if at all. iIt's over...that spell did it, I can't even move.../i
Suddenly a female dragon flying close by smelled all the blood in the tower, and flew to the top, looking into it. She roared as she spotted Feelock, and swooped down into the roofless room on top of the tower, pointing her claws at the black calwot. Grrr...that dragon must have been able to break thoguh my protective enchantments because I drew on them to cast the Lethal Internal Blender on Link! Feelock thought. He managed to jump aside as the small (a little bigger than two cows) red and black dragon landed roughly on the stone. Link, although his vision was rather blurry, thought there was something familiar about that dragon. It came to him as he watched her rear up and strike at the wounded Feelock. This was Taig's friend, the blacksmith dragon Link had seen flyng around at the base of Dracoulis.
"You're Faraws..." Link said in a blood-choked voice. The dragon, having knocked the surprised Feelock to his back, turned at the mention of her name.
"bHow do you know me, wounded one?/b" Faraws asked in a melodious voice as she spotted Link. "bWait...green clothes, blonde hair...courageous and stupid enough to be fighting Feelock...you must be Link! Taig told me all about you!/b" Link nodded and was about to say something, but blood found its way past Link's lips before words could. "bAck! You poor human! I'm really surprised you're not dead, from the looks of you there's more blood outside than in!/b" The dragon ran over to Link. "bLucky for you I started studying healing magic last year, because not all dragons can heal, you know!/b" The dragon put a black, clawed hand on Link's head, and silverish gold magic flowed through his body, healing most of him. Unfortunately the spell wasn't as powerful as the Dragon Queen's, and it could not replace his blood, but it was good enough for Link, and he was grateful for the help. He got up as soon as she was done, nearly falling over from light-headedness, but Faraws steadied him. "bSorry my spell didn't heal you all the way...But just what on earth did Feelock do to you?/b" she asked. Reminded of the cat, Link looked around the dragon to where she had knocked him down. He was standing again, and Link layed eyes on him just in time to see him finish healing himself. The cat turned towards Faraws, pointing a finger at her and chanting.
"Look out! Feelock's casting a spell!" Faraws turned around, but it was already too late. Feelock had cast a death spell on her, and she collapsed without making a sound. "Faraws! Speak to me!" Link yelled at the dragon, running over to her head and shaking it a bit, but she didn't move much. The only movement was coming from her chest as she inhaled and exhaled slowly.
"What?! She should be dead! My magic must be weak because of the Internal Blender...once again iyour/i fault!" Feelock growled, turning to Link.
Sahoriel and Cirokaal hovered over the war of griffons, calwots, and dragons raging in Catalin. Sahoriel made sure her warriors were only knocking out cats and griffons, not killing them, because of the words of two smart calwots. She remembered how at the beginning of the battle the two cats had flown up to her, introducing themselves and claiming to be friends of Link. She could sense they weren't lying, and listened as they explained how Feelock had put a spell over the calwots to make them more violent, so the dragons should try to not kill them. Sahoriel had argued that the calwots were going to fight the dragons before the new King had even showed up, but Saroe had told her how most cats had opposed the war and would have voted against it if the senile old King hadn't forgotten to consult his town before making the decision. Coflix had explained that if the spell were off the calwots they would probably retreat rather than fight, so killing them would be unnecessary (plus most of them had a death shield, but that didn't always work against the strength of a dragon). Sahoriel had reluctantly agreed but Cirokaal brought up the question of the griffons. Saroe said that the griffons were only attacking because they were raging mad and had been trained and enchanted by the calwots to attack dragons. If many calwots were knocked out the evil spell might fade and the dragons would have no reason to war with the confused griffons, so killing them was also unnecessary. Sahoriel didn't know what possessed her about the two calwots' words, but she believed them and took their advice, ordering her warriors to knock out, not destroy.
She considered changing her mind, however, as she watched the battle below her. Griffons and calwots were trying to kill her dragons even though they weren't trying to kill them back, and many dragons had already been seriously wounded. Dragons would start dying soon, and Saroriel would not accept that; she and Cirokaal had agreed to order the dragons to kill if one of their own was killed. All they had to do was tell Windskiyer, who would relay the message to all the dragons in Catalin, and the war would be taken to a new, more bloody level. Sahoriel just hoped she made the right decision at the right time, for it appeared that the dragons and griffons might start losing to the calwots because of the cats' superior numbers and magic skills. Sahoriel knew the tide of battle would turn in favor of the cats soon if her dragons didn't start killing them, but even if they did, Sahoriel wasn't so sure the dragons could beat the calwots with the griffons getting in the way. If something wasn't done, the calwots might very well win.
Cirokaal was hovering next to his wife watching the battle below, and he tensed up when he saw a calwot send a sharp spear flying towards that heart of a small dragon, but sighed in relief as the dragon dodged. He also got worried when he saw about ten calwots gang up on one of the large dragons, but became somewhat more relaxed when the dragon hit five of them out of the air with the sweep of his tail. Cirokaal spotted another dragon, locked in fierce combat with a griffon equal to its size, and almost flew down to join the battle as the griffon bit the dragon's arm. Sahoriel layed a restraining paw on him, speaking to him softly.
"bDon't be crazy, Silov. If you go down there every calwot will come after you, and if you or I die, the moral of the dragons will plummet. Windskiyer is doing a well enough job leading them./b" Cirokaal calmed himself as the dragon who had been bitten hit the griffon in the back of the head with it's tail, knocking the creature out.
"bThey are coming closer and closer to killing a dragon, Silov. I will make killing acceptable for the dragons if they do./b" Sahoriel nodded in agreement, turning her eyes grimly back to the battle. She thought it was strange that no calwots or griffons had flown up from the battle to attack her and Cirokaal, and supposed the reason for this must be that everyone was keeping eachother busy. There wasn't a single spot on the battlefield not covered with angrilly fighting creatures. She also noticed that no one was attacking Cazan, who was hovering over the other side of the battlefield. iIf the griffons kill a dragon, I will kill Cazan first to crush the griffons' moral.../iShe thought darkly. Sahoriel looked down at some bravely fighting calwots, and wondered how they had the spirit to fight so well with their King absent. iWhere is the coward now?/i She wondered, sniffing the air for Royal Calwot blood. iThe frightened cat must have put instant morale into his dirty little recipe for the control spell he put on his subjects. That way he could hide while they spill blood for him...he must be destroyed! /i
She caught the scent of a Royal Calwot coming from a large, black, tower, but also caught the scent of something else: heavy enchantments. She could tell that many spells had been put in the castle, including ones that would kill an invading dragon or griffon instantly. She had thought Feelock was powerful, but the size and power of the spells she sensed were so huge that she wasn't sure even a Queen Dragon like herself could survive them with the distraction of a war. They were also smart enchantments, which could tell the difference between a blood-loving controlled griffon and a free one, and would only destroy creatures coming into the castle, not leaving it. The castle was protected by spells against pretty much every possible calwot enemy...except humans. iWhat ever happened to Link? I can't sense him in this magic-filled village...perhaps he is dead, but somehow I doubt it... But Feelock must be strong indeed to cast such spells on his castle, almost nothing is beyond his power/i. Where had this cat gotten so much power in a mere five years? The Queen could not tell. She sensed something was different at the top of the tower, like something was happening there...but she dared not go near it with her subjects warring below.
Saroe and Coflix fought valiantly back to back, defeating any creature that dared attack their combined might. As Coflix shot a ball of magic energy at an attacking griffon, Saroe zapped an attacking dragon with lightening, making sure the bolt also hit two calwots which had been pursuing the dragon. An especially big dragon came for them then, pushing other creatures out of the way as it made its way to the calwots. Saroe fired a magic venom arrow at it, and Coflix used an ice spell. The dragon tripped as its feet were encased in ice and the arrow hit it in the neck as it fell. The venom knocked out the dragon before it could think, but was not deadly. As Saroe powered up a spell for the next opponent which would attack them, the thought crossed her mind: iWhere is Link? He's been gone a long time...Feelock might have killed him./i
"Coflix!" She yelled over the screaming, blasting and burning of the war, "We have to go help Link! He's been in the tower an awfully long time!"
"That sounds like a good plan, if we can get out of here!" Vicious battles surrounded them on all sides, including above them. The cats tiredly fought on, as the Royal Dragons got closer and closer to unleashing the full wrath of the mighty dragon army on the calwots and griffons.
buSection 9
Faore's Power/u/b
Link rushed at Feelock, determined to cut off those annoying claws, but once again Feelock raised a paw and started chanting a new spell.
"You're going to run out of magic or exhaust yourself if you don't cut that out!" Link yelled as a shining inch-thick ring of magic surrounded his head. The yellow magic ring quickly shrunk, losing size until it was as small as a necklace, and decended towards Link's neck.
"I have enough power for a simple spell like this one. I practiced it so much it doesn't use much mana at all...too bad for you, hahahahah!" Feelock grinned, watching his magic decend. Well, Link could guess what the ring was for, and tried to hold it off with his sword. It went right ithrough/i his sword, closing around his throat. Link then tried to pull the thing off with his hands, but it was already on, and he couldn't contest the power of Feelock's magic with the strength in his arms. He gave that up, and since the ring wasn't very tight he tried running at Feelock, but the cat made the ring smaller, jumping away from Link.
"Sheesh! What's with all the choking? Can't you think of anything better to do to me?!" Link questioned angrilly.
"Of course I can, idiot human, but you seem to hate being choked more than anything else, heheh." He answered coldly.
"Jerk..." Link muttered as the ring got even tighter. It was now starting to choke him a little, and he tried to pull it off again.
"It's just so fun to see the look on your face as you suffocate..."
"You're making me sick! How can someone be so insanely pain-loving?! I think you're worse than Gannondorf!" Link said irritably, knowing Gannon had a million chances to kill him or make him do whatever he wanted by threatening to hurt Zelda; yet, Ganon had never done that. Was there some hidden sense of honor in Ganon or had he just not thought of doing it? Link thought he would probably never know.
"Worse than Ganon? That must be quite an insult coming from a Hylian, so I'll take it as a major compliment! Don't worry, I'll stop choking you...when your heart has ceased its beating, that is." Link was now very disgusted with this calwot, and knew he couldn't let it do this to any more creatures, human or otherwise. He was about to tell the cat what he thought of him, but the ring tightened sharply, making talking very difficult. Link ran at Feelock again, slashing at his chest with the Master Sword. The sword, although very powerful, did not break the cat's tough armor and glanced off, leaving Link in a vulnerable position. Feelock grabbed his arm and punched him in the stomach hard, then delivered a perfect round-house kick to his face. Link was thrown to his back, but managed to keep hold of his sword. He staggered to his feet, still dizzy from loss of blood. He noticed the annoying ring was getting tighter but ignored it, running at Feelock and trying to hit him with a jump slash. The slash was rather slow due to weakness, and Feelock easily stepped to the side as Link landed.
Feelock drove his armor-covered fist into the side of Link's face, and the warrior was hurled to the ground, his sword sliding away from him. Feelock walked up to the fallen warrior and Link pushed himself into a sitting position, then tried to punch the cat. The black calwot caught his wrist and did not realease it. Instead he sent electricity into it, the voltage making Link's whole body shake violently as he was shocked. The Hylian's scream ended in a choked gasp as the ring shrunk a size. The cat let go of Link, who fell over with weak groan, pulling on the yellow magic around his neck. Feelock backed up, enjoying the show.
"What the...?" Feelock was caught off-guard as Link jumped to his feet, grabbed his sword, and thrusted at him. Feelock flew into the air, hovering where Link could not reach him. "How did you do that? Nearly dead one second and fine the next...the stamina of this boy is incredible!...or maybe that was the last bit of fight he had left in him." He pointed a paw at the ring on the Hylian's neck, making it close more.
"Feelock..." Link coughed, "You stinking coward..." Link dropped to his knees as the ring got smaller, almost making him pass out from lack of air and blood. His sword clattered to the floor as the warrior grasped the ring with both hands. "You're too scared to...uughhh.." It was now cutting off almost all of Link's air, leaving him gasping.
"You were saying...heheh....what? I can't hear you, human!" Feelock said, grinning evily and staying in the air, away from Link.
"Scared to come down here...where my sword can reach you!" Link said as the ring closed off his windpipe completely. He fell flat on the ground dizzily, still futilely pulling on the cruel ring. For a few dozen seconds he struggled to pull the thing off, but eventually got so weak he couldn't strain against it anymore. He could only lie still and feel his life begin to fade.
"Scared? I am not scared of anything..." Feelock growled, looking at Link's face as his life was slowly leaving him. "You're just trying to distract me so I'll loosen my magic ring! Well too bad! I'll tell your princess friend how pathetic your attempts to beat me were - right before I kill her!" This caught Link's attention, and he moved his head slightly, fixing his darkening sight on the cat. "You heard me. You don't think I forgot the princess you said 'invited me to stay at the castle', do you? I figured she must be a friend of yours. I'll kill her just as slow as I'm killing you, and your horse, too..." Link, though half-conscious, weakly renewed his efforts to break the ring with both hands. Even he was surprised that he was still awake, but couldn't concentrate on anything but Feelock as he continued to speak. "Not to mention all the people you grew up with, all dead, heheheh...that includes your family too, when I find them...and I will. Make no mistake about it, when I find someone who is related to you, I'll destroy them especially slow. Before I bestow merciful death upon them I will make them beg for it...and lick their blood off my claws after I finally finish them."
That did it. He made Link so mad and filled with desire to protect his loved ones that the Triforce of Courage on his left hand started glowing. Instantly he felt the power of Faore fill him, and he ripped the ring off easily. Link breathed deeply, glaring at Feelock as he picked up his sword. Immediately the Master Sword began glowing with both light magic and green magic from the Triforce. Feelock's eyes grew wide at the sudden and incredibly dramatic increase of power.
"What on earth? How are you doing this?!" Feelock was quite angry, feeling cheated of watching a human die in agony. "All humans will pay for your foolishness!"
"I can't let you conquer Hyrule! Haaahhhhh!" Link jumped at Feelock, who was dumbfounded by how Link had easily broken his spell. The Master Sword gave the cat a large slash (Link was careful not to make it itooi/ large. Even now, he didn't want to sink to the level of a villain and kill a person), the sword cutting through Feelock's armor effortlessly. Feelock screamed in pain as the force of the blow threw him into the wall behind him. The cat got up slowly, holding his chest as excruciating pain made him flinch and yell.
"You will....die....!" Feelock tried to cast a powerful death spell on Link, but found that he had used so much mana that he could not cast any spell at all. iI knew I should have gotten more familiar with the Lethal Internal Blender before I used it! New and unused spells take so much mana to cast it's not funny, and even my incredible power cannot regenerate fast enough to cast a decent death spell right after a new spell...I don't even have enough strength to draw mana from my protective enchantments!/iThe cat then decided to jump at Link and try to slash his head off with his claws. As the cat drew near Link hit him with a powerful stroke from his blade, throwing the cat into the wall again, twice as hard as last time. Feelock slumped to the floor, his awareness nearly knocked out of him. "Such incredible power...how did he do this? Is it love for the humans I was going to kill?" Link walked up to the fallen cat, glaring down at him. "Your power is amazing...but how could it surpass my own?" Feelock questioned angrilly. The cat, bleeding all over, finally understood. "It is your love that gives you power...how can I defeat you?! Someone tell me!!" With two well calculated strokes, Link cut off Feelock's whiskers, then cut off some hair on the top of his head, giving him a bald spot.
"All those things you said...you really would have tortured and killed dragons, Hylians, and even the other races of Hyrule...you really would have watched a human die every day while you ate breakfast, and conquered the world with an army of creatures from whom you would take free will..." Link glared at the cat, full of contempt. He could feel the power of the triforce weaken within him. "You would have killed my brother and friends..."
As Link looked down at him, almost mad enough to kill him, the power of the triforce grew even weaker. Link then realized that his evil feelings were causing this. To access the power of Faore, he needed to be filled with a spirit of protection, love, and of course, courage. The hatred and contempt were driving the power away, so Link discarded those feelings; reminding himself that to kill Feelock was to sink to the level of a monster, and judging him and hating him were not things that Link, as an imperfect person, had the right to do.
"The love that gives you strength is weakening because you hate what I would have done to your country...You almost hate me, but hate would darken your white heart. Still, there is something special about this power of yours, I have never felt anything like it before..." The wounded cat nearly blacked out, but managed to keep himself awake somehow, staring up at Link in wonder and fear. Link suddenly felt pretty guilty for even thinking about killing Feelock, who was so defenseless it would be cruel to stain the Master Sword with his blood. Link made the decision that he was not going to kill the cat, because he could protect his loved ones just fine without needing to take the life of a creature who might still decide to quit being a monster. After all, this cat might not be human, but Link still considered him a person; and Link had decided long ago to never kill a person if it was at all avoidable.
The triforce power grew strong again, and a magic aura eminated from Link's body. Feelock had already been scared, but with this new increase of power the cat thought Link was going to finish him, and his fear made him take action. He reached out a paw, extending his claws as he tried to drag them through Link's skin. As the cat's paw touched Link, a whiteish-green fire enveloped it.
"Aaaahhhhhhhh!!" The cat's ear-piercing scream erupted as the fire consumed his paw, quickly burning it to a point of uselessness. Link watched in horror as the fire started to creep up the cat's wrist, and without thinking, he ordered it to stop. The fire stopped, disappearing in a wisp of green smoke. Feelock, who had been unable to take the pain, fell unconscious. A cloud of purple magic floated up from his body, then vanished in a bright flash. Link heard the flapping of wings, and Saroe and Coflix flew over the wall of the tower.
Sahoriel gasped as the fighting below her came to an abrupt stop. It was incredible, that the war which was raging like wildfire a few moments ago came to a complete and sudden halt. Every dragon and griffon stopped fighting aganst calwots as they all fell over, and even dragons and griffons battling eachother stopped fighting to stare at the stricken calwots. A misty purple cloud emerged from each calwot, even the unconscous ones, and the spectacle was so unbelivable that no one thought about fighting for a moment as they watched the strange clouds. The clouds then vanished in a bright flash, and the calwots got up.
"bThe calwots-/b" The Queen Dragon realized, "bThey are free from Feelock's spell!/b" Suddenly the Queen realized what had been happening on the top of the tower, and where Link was. It all made sense. There was a silent pause in Catalin as the calwots looked around, very confused and not seeming to realize what had happened. They stared wide-eyed at the battle-scarred dragons and griffons around them, and wanted nothing more than to go back to their nests. It seemed like Sahoriel and Cirokaal were the only ones who knew what was going on, but Cazan, surprisingly, caught on as well.
"Griffons! It seems our captors have been liberated from their magic shackles just as we have been! They are our friends once more, do not attack them! We have no feud with the dragons, let them be as well!" Cazan said. Sahoriel smiled, the war was over.
"bMy people! Cirokaal and I order you to leave the griffons alone, we have never needed to fight with them. Also leave the calwots alone, for now they are no longer controlled by a spell or led by an old senile ruler who loves war. They desire peace, do you not, calwots?/b" Her voice boomed loud, and now that the yelling and noise of war was over, all could hear her. The calwots cheered, revealing that they did indeed want peace with the dragons and griffons. Most of them didn't even know why the dragons and griffons were in their village, not remembering a thing since the day Feelock came to Catalin and spoke to them. Slowly their memory returned, and they realized Feelock had put a spell on them and controlled them. Many could feel nothing but anger at Feelock and gratefulness to be free of war and evil spells, but a question plaqued the minds of some of others: who would rule the calwots now?
Cirokaal turned his head as he saw a calwot approaching him. The tiny calwot was Leal, and the cat had a message for Sahoriel, but was far too scared of dragons to talk to biggest one of all. He flew up to Cirokaal, since the dragon was smaller than his wife.
"E-excuse me, sir..." Leal tried to get the words out of his mouth without flying away. "Um...a friend of yours, Link, wants to s-see your wife..."
"bWhere is he?/b" Cirokaal asked, trying to not blow the cat away with his breath or wings.
"B-b...b-by that c-castle over there!" The cat stuttered, pointing at the King Calwot's black tower and shaking. Cirokaal laughed quietly.
"bDo not be so afraid, I will not hurt you./b" He turned to Sahoriel. "bSilov, can you go to the black tower over there? This cat says Link wants to see you/b." Sahoriel smiled and nodded, flying over to the tower. By now the crowd of peaceful creatures had begun to move. The dragons picked up their wounded and gathered under Cirokaal, and Faraws, who had finally woken up, joined them. The griffons picked up their unconscious kin and walked over to Cazan, who was now on the ground, and the calwots just walked towards eachother, forming a big group, attending to their injured and unconscious bretheren. The calwots who were in the mines opened the door and realized the fighting had stopped, so they came out to join the huge calwot group as well.
"It's amazing how these creatures who were trying to destroy eachother a moment ago can be at peace so suddenly..." Coflix said to Saroe. They were standing next to Link and the unconscious Feelock, watching Sahoriel approach (they had lifted both Link and Feelock out of the tower and were now in front of it).
"It just goes to show that they really did want peace. It was the Kings of the calwot and dragon tribes that really wanted war. Now hopefully they will both recognize the tremendous mistakes they made." Saroe replied. Cirokaal, beating his wings to stay airborne over Catalin, called for everyone's attention with his loud, booming voice.
"bCalwots, I have something to tell you. I have been far to proud and it was partly my fault the alliance between Catalin and Dracoulis was broken. I wish to say I am...sorry for what I have done to you. I am sorry for accusing you of taking Taig, as well. It was wrong of me./b" The many calwots below nodded their heads, accepting the apology and forgiving the King of dragons. Some were still a little mad at him, but knew it was equally their own King's fault the war had been started. "bThere can now be peace between all three tribes: Dragons, Calwots, and Griffons. There will be a meeting in two days at Dracoulis, and I would like you to attend, Cazan. Calwots, hopefully you will have found a new leader for yourselves by that time, and I would like that ruler or rulers to attend as well. I would suggest a certain two calwots who prevented the deaths of hundreds, Saroe and Coflix. If not for them, the fiery wrath of the dragons could have wrongfully destroyed the beautiful village of Catalin and many of it's inhabitants./b"
All the calwots started cheering again, looking over at the foot of the tower where the embarassed Saroe and Coflix stood, amazed that almost all the cats in Catalin were cheering for them, as well as the dragons and griffons. It seemed that the new rulers of Catalin had been decided. "bIf you will give me your attention for a moment longer, there is one more thing I want to say. We should all appreciate Link, the human Hero of Time, because if he had not defeated Feelock and broken the spell over Catalin, we would still be fighting now. He traveled here through a dangerous forest and risked his life to stop a war among three races to which he does not belong. Calwots and dragons and maybe even griffons have long looked down on humans, but this night Link stands taller than any of us. Thank you, Link./b" Link, who had been talking with Sahoriel, was quite surprised when the King said those things and everyone in Catalin started cheering for him, even Cazan and the Royal Dragons. Link grew red and put one hand behind his head, waving embarrassedly with the other.
"Aw...I'm not so great...it was nothing..." He said nervously. The cheering continued for a very long time.
Link held onto the huge back of Sahoriel, enjoying the cool wind and the silence of the night. The fog churned as Sahoriel's great body flew through it, along with every other dragon. The peaceful silence (broken only by the quiet rush of wind under dragonwings) was sweet and Link looked up at the moon, glowing faintly through the low-hanging clouds through which he was flying. He reflected on his battle with Feelock, and how Saroe and Coflix had carried him and the defeated King off the tower when their battle was done. He recalled seeing Sahoriel fly towards him after he had asked Leal to get her, and what happened after that...
Flashback i"Sahoriel...I'm sorry but can I ask you a favor? I don't know what's wrong with Feelock, but I think he must have an evil ghost in him to be so insanely sadistic! Can you do the same thing to him that you did to my brother?"
"bLink, I consider you and the King of Hyrule to be my only human friends. Do not be afraid of asking a favor of me. I will try./b" Sahoriel first healed Feelock (except his completely ruined paw, it was impossible to heal that), then tried to use the same evil spirit-killing spell on him she had used on Chain, but nothing happened. She tried again, and still nothing happened. "bI have grave news, Link. There is no evil shade in him. He is who he is./b"
"That's terrible..." Link said, hoping the cat would change. If he did not, Link didn't know what would happen to him. Perhaps he would have to be locked up until he changed his evl ways. Feelock began stirring and woke. He was not afraid, nor did he look confused. He seemed to be sane and solemn as he looked at Link.
"I am sorry, boy...no, you are a man, Link. The awesome power born of your love made me see how far down the wrong path I have been traveling. I have realized the error of my ways, but how can I ever be free of the guilt for the deeds I have done?" The cat looked at the ground with a crestfallen look in his eyes. Link remained silent, not able to think of a good answer right away. "I must leave now. I will go somewhere else in these mountains, or perhaps even leave them altogether. I need time on my own to think about what I've done, and rebuild myself so I can do some good in the world. Perhaps that will help me repent of my sins." Feelock said quietly, his golden eyes growing soft and wet.
"You don't have to leave, Feelock! You can stay and do good here..." Link started to say.
"bLink, it is better to let him go. The time he has spent as an evil calwot has wounded his soul, and he needs individual time to become one again. Do not worry about him trying to kill anything ever again. He will not by his own will, for I can feel that his words are sincere. This is a promise from the Queen of Dragons,/b" Sahoriel stated. Link didn't really know what she meant with the whole 'become one again' thing, but knew she was probably alot smarter than him so he believed her. Besides that he couldn't think very well to argue when the crowd of calwots, dragons and griffons started cheering loudly for Saroe and Coflix.
"Man, they're loud...what happened?" Link asked Sahoriel.
"bSaroe and Coflix are to assume rule of the calwots./b" She replied.
"That's great! I'm sure they'll be fine leaders. When do you think Feelock will return?" Link asked, noticing the cat walk away. Two thin streams of salty water fell from each of the cat's eyes as he left.
"bWhenever he is ready. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be one of the first people he will contact./b" As the crowd turned to Link, no one noticed Feelock take flight on the edge of Catalin, a small, lonely black figure dissappearing into the fog. The volume of the voices reached an incredible level at the mention of Link's name. /iEnd
After all that had happened Saroe and Coflix had helped him find the rest of his equipment, which was at Cimtu's shop as his friends had expected; then Link had left with the dragons. Link was now very tired, and his thoughts drifted away from the past, towards the future and his home. Sahoriel said she would have a dragon carry him and Epona back to Hyrule tomorrow, if the weather was fair, and he would rest in Dracoulis tonight, the place to which they were flying now. Link could barely wait to get back and see his friends, and his brother. The tired warrior drifted to sleep on the thought.
The next day Link and his horse were taken home as promised. The Hero of Time brought with him a letter from all three races' royalty, for peace with Hyrule; as well as two griffons who had decided they would serve in Hyrule Castle as a special thanks to Link. The day after that, the meeting between dragons, calwots, and griffons was held. The first thing the meeting rulers of the races did was name the war they had The War of the Kings, since the whole thing had been started by Kings and ended when the King Calwot was defeated. They then established peace treatys and came up with plans for trading. Saroe and Coflix proved to be a very good team, and were becoming more and more affectionate toward one another. Coflix even playfully called Saroe 'Silov' later in Catalin, which was being cleaned up with help from both the dragons and the griffons. All three peaceful races also agreed on something else: They would all become a part of Hyrule.
How'd you like it? I know the fight was a bit more violent than usual...sorry 'bout that. Hey, I got the pics for this story up! Not on my website, but on deviantart.com. Here's the link: If you can't click on that or something, just copy it and paste it to your browser adress. If the pic that shows up doesn't cover most of the screen than it's a preview. Click it to get it's full size. If you're not a member you can't comment on deviantart, so if you want to comment on my art (please do!) e-mail me or include it in your review, please. Anyway, what do you think would happen if there was an evil plot by someone far away to make an unstoppable army of snakes to invade Hyrule? What if part of that plot involved maing Hylians so violent they'd kill eachother? Find out in my next story...