Chapter 13 – The Curse Of The Heart
Link was woken by a violent shaking on his shoulder, "Link wake up!" It was Zelda, she looked very distressed. "You need to come, its Yerra!"
"What's going on?" He said, sitting up, still half-asleep.
"She's fallen ill, something is terribly wrong with her. Get up and come to the main room."
"Sure." He yawned, trying to remember what he had been dreaming about, but he couldn't. He rolled onto his side and fell right out of his hammock, hitting the wooden floor hard. "Argh!" He had landed on his side, and now struggled to get up; he was not accustomed to sleeping in a hammock. He staggered to his feet and walked out of the dark room into a corridor. Squinting, he felt his way to the end of the corridor.
Karak, Zelda and Jerra were huddled together around somebody on the floor. Yerra lay on the floor, pale and cold. Syon was there too, and some other sailors. Syon was feeling her forehead, "She is alive no doubt, but something is making her sick, and it does not look as though she has a conventional illness. It as though something "Yerra's eyes did not open, her face appeared calm, but her body looked agitated. "It is as though something has gripped her from...within herself."
Zelda shot a glance at Link, and he understood what she was thinking. Then she looked down at Yerra and pleaded with Syon. "Can you do anything for her?"
"I can only keep her safe, I cannot heal her. But hark...it sounds like we have reached the port. We can take Yerra to a doctor." He kissed her on the forehead, "I won't let any harm befall you, sister." Then he faced a couple of the other sailors assertively, saying, "We will need a stretcher."
Ten minutes later, Link was walking along the plank down onto the quayside, looking down upon the town they had arrived him. He was shocked that such a place could exist so far north, but here it was. The sky above was blue, and all of 'Gaien' was lit up magnificently. The houses were all built from light grey brick, and all reasonably spaced along many wide paved streets. All the windows lead patterned, and all the doors had black handles and hinges. There was a fresh smell of fish by the waterside, and gulls circled above squawking gleefully. Men were leaving the ship behind him, carrying crates and nets, glad that they were home.
He now realised that the lake was really more of a sea. After all, it had taken them an entire afternoon and night to cross from the south; and this town could well have been a sea port.
Syon, Jerra and Zelda were attending to Yerra, and Karak had already wandered off into the town; so having little else to do, Link walked down from the quayside into the streets.
At first, there was no sign that anything was wrong, but it soon became apparent to him as he explored the town that it was very quiet in Gaien. He rounded a corner into another street and gazed at it confusedly, it was utterly devoid of people. "Hello!?" He called, there was response. He moved up to a house and peered into the window, he was horrified. Lying in the middle of a room, a mother and daughter were crouching over a father, and he jut lay still and silent...exactly as Yerra was.
He jumped as somebody came running around the corner he had come from. He stepped away from the window and called to the man. He was dressed in a tall black hat and a dark green robe, with a purple and gold tunic underneath. "Hey there," Link called, "can you help me please?"
He stopped and looked at Link, he seemed like he had to be somewhere else urgently. "Oh..." He glanced up the street. "Yes, but be quick; what is it!?"
"What is going on here? My friend fell sick on the boat, and I have just seen a man here with the same condition."
"Its happening everywhere! Don't you know? The whole town is in disarray. We have sent word to other towns by carrier birds, even to Hylia. We have had only one message back though. They say the same thing is happening to them!"
"What is it though?" Link pleaded.
"A curse! Yes, a curse from the gods, they are displeased! Everybody is dying! People fall into a deep sleep, and after two weeks or so, they just stop breathing. And it doesn't get spread by contact, it just grips random people from within!" Within; that was the second time it had been described this way. "There is no cure!"
Link suddenly turned and ran away from the man with a sudden thought, heading back to the ship, back to Zelda. She was watching as sailors carried Yerra on a stretcher into the town. Link told them to stop. "Zelda, there is nothing we can do for Yerra. The same thing has happening to people everywhere, all over Hyrule."
"What?"
"A man told me in the town...Zelda, this is the wave of death that we were sent to stop. It is the curse of the Heart of Evil."
"You mean..."
"We have to go now!" He said sharply. "With every day that passes more and more people will die. Including Yerra if we don't get going now."
"Right." Said Zelda. "Jerra! Karak!" She shouted, Karak had come back and was talking to Jerra. They turned and faced her.
"Me and Link are leaving now, we have to keep going. This curse is what I was told to stop in my dreams. We have to destroy the Heart of Evil to end this. Me and Link are leaving right now and going across the wasteland to the mountains." Closer now than last night, the mountains loomed in the distance. Shrouded in cloud and storms. "If you are still coming with us, then get your things and follow us."
Karak picked up his bag and came to their side, "I will follow you two to the end, I owe it to you now, and Yerra."
Jerra looked down at her sister, and then knelt and stroked her forehead, "Yes, I won't abandon you now, I must come for Yerra's sake; and I will not let Vuto's death be in vain." She had fire in her eyes once more, and had been strengthened by her loss, and the time for grieving was past her. She took her things and joined the other three.
Syon, who had been standing close by spoke up, "Don't worry about Yerra, I will care for her here. I do not know fully what it is that you have been sent to do, but I wish you speed and success. Your majesty, Hero, Master Karak; it has been a pleasure to travel with you. Jerra, I love you, please stay safe."
Jerra smiled, "I will."
"Right," Said Link with a pressing tone, "We must leave. Goodbye Syon, I wish you all the best, and goodbye for now Yerra, I will save you."
Everybody else said goodbye, and then they made for their way through the dying town to the northern gate. They took their first steps out towards The Great North Waste. Before them, the grassy ground slowly became blackened and riveted, and riddled with ashen sand. A foul wind blew across them, and Link felt a pain tug at his heart. "I have not come this far to give up." He took a deep breath in and out and started walking northwards. "I will go to the ends of the earth."
"Yeah!" Karak shouted out and ran after him.
Jerra nodded to Zelda and followed on. "To the ends of the earth..." Zelda whispered to herself, and pulling her pack over her shoulders, followed on to the black lands.
Link was woken by a violent shaking on his shoulder, "Link wake up!" It was Zelda, she looked very distressed. "You need to come, its Yerra!"
"What's going on?" He said, sitting up, still half-asleep.
"She's fallen ill, something is terribly wrong with her. Get up and come to the main room."
"Sure." He yawned, trying to remember what he had been dreaming about, but he couldn't. He rolled onto his side and fell right out of his hammock, hitting the wooden floor hard. "Argh!" He had landed on his side, and now struggled to get up; he was not accustomed to sleeping in a hammock. He staggered to his feet and walked out of the dark room into a corridor. Squinting, he felt his way to the end of the corridor.
Karak, Zelda and Jerra were huddled together around somebody on the floor. Yerra lay on the floor, pale and cold. Syon was there too, and some other sailors. Syon was feeling her forehead, "She is alive no doubt, but something is making her sick, and it does not look as though she has a conventional illness. It as though something "Yerra's eyes did not open, her face appeared calm, but her body looked agitated. "It is as though something has gripped her from...within herself."
Zelda shot a glance at Link, and he understood what she was thinking. Then she looked down at Yerra and pleaded with Syon. "Can you do anything for her?"
"I can only keep her safe, I cannot heal her. But hark...it sounds like we have reached the port. We can take Yerra to a doctor." He kissed her on the forehead, "I won't let any harm befall you, sister." Then he faced a couple of the other sailors assertively, saying, "We will need a stretcher."
Ten minutes later, Link was walking along the plank down onto the quayside, looking down upon the town they had arrived him. He was shocked that such a place could exist so far north, but here it was. The sky above was blue, and all of 'Gaien' was lit up magnificently. The houses were all built from light grey brick, and all reasonably spaced along many wide paved streets. All the windows lead patterned, and all the doors had black handles and hinges. There was a fresh smell of fish by the waterside, and gulls circled above squawking gleefully. Men were leaving the ship behind him, carrying crates and nets, glad that they were home.
He now realised that the lake was really more of a sea. After all, it had taken them an entire afternoon and night to cross from the south; and this town could well have been a sea port.
Syon, Jerra and Zelda were attending to Yerra, and Karak had already wandered off into the town; so having little else to do, Link walked down from the quayside into the streets.
At first, there was no sign that anything was wrong, but it soon became apparent to him as he explored the town that it was very quiet in Gaien. He rounded a corner into another street and gazed at it confusedly, it was utterly devoid of people. "Hello!?" He called, there was response. He moved up to a house and peered into the window, he was horrified. Lying in the middle of a room, a mother and daughter were crouching over a father, and he jut lay still and silent...exactly as Yerra was.
He jumped as somebody came running around the corner he had come from. He stepped away from the window and called to the man. He was dressed in a tall black hat and a dark green robe, with a purple and gold tunic underneath. "Hey there," Link called, "can you help me please?"
He stopped and looked at Link, he seemed like he had to be somewhere else urgently. "Oh..." He glanced up the street. "Yes, but be quick; what is it!?"
"What is going on here? My friend fell sick on the boat, and I have just seen a man here with the same condition."
"Its happening everywhere! Don't you know? The whole town is in disarray. We have sent word to other towns by carrier birds, even to Hylia. We have had only one message back though. They say the same thing is happening to them!"
"What is it though?" Link pleaded.
"A curse! Yes, a curse from the gods, they are displeased! Everybody is dying! People fall into a deep sleep, and after two weeks or so, they just stop breathing. And it doesn't get spread by contact, it just grips random people from within!" Within; that was the second time it had been described this way. "There is no cure!"
Link suddenly turned and ran away from the man with a sudden thought, heading back to the ship, back to Zelda. She was watching as sailors carried Yerra on a stretcher into the town. Link told them to stop. "Zelda, there is nothing we can do for Yerra. The same thing has happening to people everywhere, all over Hyrule."
"What?"
"A man told me in the town...Zelda, this is the wave of death that we were sent to stop. It is the curse of the Heart of Evil."
"You mean..."
"We have to go now!" He said sharply. "With every day that passes more and more people will die. Including Yerra if we don't get going now."
"Right." Said Zelda. "Jerra! Karak!" She shouted, Karak had come back and was talking to Jerra. They turned and faced her.
"Me and Link are leaving now, we have to keep going. This curse is what I was told to stop in my dreams. We have to destroy the Heart of Evil to end this. Me and Link are leaving right now and going across the wasteland to the mountains." Closer now than last night, the mountains loomed in the distance. Shrouded in cloud and storms. "If you are still coming with us, then get your things and follow us."
Karak picked up his bag and came to their side, "I will follow you two to the end, I owe it to you now, and Yerra."
Jerra looked down at her sister, and then knelt and stroked her forehead, "Yes, I won't abandon you now, I must come for Yerra's sake; and I will not let Vuto's death be in vain." She had fire in her eyes once more, and had been strengthened by her loss, and the time for grieving was past her. She took her things and joined the other three.
Syon, who had been standing close by spoke up, "Don't worry about Yerra, I will care for her here. I do not know fully what it is that you have been sent to do, but I wish you speed and success. Your majesty, Hero, Master Karak; it has been a pleasure to travel with you. Jerra, I love you, please stay safe."
Jerra smiled, "I will."
"Right," Said Link with a pressing tone, "We must leave. Goodbye Syon, I wish you all the best, and goodbye for now Yerra, I will save you."
Everybody else said goodbye, and then they made for their way through the dying town to the northern gate. They took their first steps out towards The Great North Waste. Before them, the grassy ground slowly became blackened and riveted, and riddled with ashen sand. A foul wind blew across them, and Link felt a pain tug at his heart. "I have not come this far to give up." He took a deep breath in and out and started walking northwards. "I will go to the ends of the earth."
"Yeah!" Karak shouted out and ran after him.
Jerra nodded to Zelda and followed on. "To the ends of the earth..." Zelda whispered to herself, and pulling her pack over her shoulders, followed on to the black lands.