Chapter 14 – Vengeance
For the first time in days, Link and Zelda were alone together. As they walked into the shadow of the wasteland, they had both become increasingly uneasy about what lay ahead; and now they stayed close together. Karak and Jerra were also walking together more frequently. It was the morning of the third day since they had left Gaien, and with a decreasing amount of food, and hardly any water, the strain was heavy on all four of them. Still they trudged on, trying to keep their spirits up.
The land was rocky and uneven, and sometimes they passed through low narrow passages and caverns. There was next to no grass, and the only plants were dead-looking weeds that crept over boulders and below the gritty gravel and ash and sand. The mountains drew ever closer, and ever darker. And it felt that every passing second, every step, was another step towards doom.
"Link," began Zelda, "I need to tell you something."
Link looked at her curiously then looked forwards to the mountains again. "What is it?"
She sighed, a weary beaten sigh, "I just want you to know, that what you are doing for me. Coming with me all this way north...well, everything you've ever done for me...I'm truly grateful. I owe you my life, and I know I don't act like it sometimes but you mean a lot to me." Link wasn't sure what to reply, so he let her keep talking. "I just want you to know that...that I love you, and no matter what happens to us in the next few days, I always will. You've been the greatest friend anyone could ever wish for."
Link smiled and put his arm around her, "I love you too Zelda." This is what he had been missing, this self-understanding. He didn't need to love her as a husband loves his wife, more as a brother loves his sister. She was his closest friend in all the world, and that was what he needed to know. "And if some evil befalls us ahead, I want you to know that you are very dear to me, and I will always be with you."
She leaned his head on his shoulder, "Thank you."
Karak and Jerra were discussing their homelands. They came from the east and the west, and so knew little about each other's culture. It was by this that they came once again onto the subject of the Grimals being the heirs of the desert. "You know Jerra, you really ought to do something about all this. If your family truly are the heirs to Ganondorf Dragmire-
"Curse his name-"
"Then you ought to take back what is rightfully yours."
"I know, but what can we do?"
"Overthrow Queen Balaea. Muster an army."
Jerra laughed, "There is no way that is possible. Who would fight for the gerudos?"
Karak thought hard, but said finally, "I don't know."
"See. Hey Karak, do you want to know something?"
"Um...okay sure."
"You know the Light of Talandra? The gem that Vu-...The jewel that Vuto was sent to retrieve from me and Yerra?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"I didn't sell it, I kept it all along. But after we left Ulaku, it was missing."
"You kept it? Then how did you lose it?"
"I don't know. But I have a feeling it was stolen in the village. So when this is all over, I'm going to go back there and see if I can find it. If we ever were to try and overthrow Queen Balaea, having the jewel would really help."
"I suppose it would..."
"Wait, stop!" Link suddenly shouted. The looked over towards him, he was about twenty yards away to their right, he had drawn his sword and was looking around cautiously. He took a few short steps, then said slowly, "We're not alone." Then he shouted out, "They've tracked us from the south! Draw your swords!"
Even as he said this, something leaped off a ledge above him and came crashing down. Link sidestepped it and thrust his sword upwards. A wildman fell down upon him, but was impailed upon the blade and killed. Link clambered to his feet and pulled up his sword. Six wildmen emerged from the higher ground above the pass they were in and leapt down. They were caught between two groups of three with no way out. Jerra pulled out her sword and ran at one without a second thought to what they were doing here. "Die!!" She screamed. Karak followed her pulling out his sword engaging in battle with two wildmen at once.
Link and Zelda ran at the other three, Zelda pulling out two long daggers, Link with his sword braced. They fought fiercely, and Link now fought with a clear mind. Sharp metal crashed and banged as they attacked their foes side by side. It was now not a matter of defeating them, but a matter of enacting a vengeance upon them.
"This is for Vuto!" Screamed Jerra, and her scimitar sliced across the face of a wildman, sending him to the floor. She kicked him in the chin then jammed her blade in his chest. Then she turned and kicked at one Karak fought, he crashed down into the other and she leapt on them and slew them viciously. "I am Jerra Grimal! Remember that name in your death, remember the one you died to. She hacked at their necks and left them in a pool of blood.
Link and Zelda were relieved when Karak and Jerra ran to their side. They tore apart their oppressors, and when one was left he ran, stumbling onto his knees and falling, dropping his sword. Link picked him onto his back, and spat on him. But the wildman kneeled up and pleaded with him, "We have followed all this way to avenge the death of our friends. We never meant this to be personal."
"Personal!?" Link shouted. "It got personal when you attacked us without cause save for a blood lust! It got personal when you savages butchered our friend."
"Please, spare me!"
"What did you hope to achieve? What good ever comes of death!?"
"There is no good in death! Please forgive me!"
The others stood around him, filled with sorrow and rage for Vuto's death.
"Forgive you!?"
"Like you said, there is no good in death. Please don't kill me."
Link looked down at this pathetic wreck, into his hollow brown eyes. The blood streaming from his torso and arms. "No. There is no good in death... There is no good in anything." He took up his sword and thrust it into the face of the wildman. Blood flew and there was a scream for a half a second, then silence rocked the dead lands.
For the first time in days, Link and Zelda were alone together. As they walked into the shadow of the wasteland, they had both become increasingly uneasy about what lay ahead; and now they stayed close together. Karak and Jerra were also walking together more frequently. It was the morning of the third day since they had left Gaien, and with a decreasing amount of food, and hardly any water, the strain was heavy on all four of them. Still they trudged on, trying to keep their spirits up.
The land was rocky and uneven, and sometimes they passed through low narrow passages and caverns. There was next to no grass, and the only plants were dead-looking weeds that crept over boulders and below the gritty gravel and ash and sand. The mountains drew ever closer, and ever darker. And it felt that every passing second, every step, was another step towards doom.
"Link," began Zelda, "I need to tell you something."
Link looked at her curiously then looked forwards to the mountains again. "What is it?"
She sighed, a weary beaten sigh, "I just want you to know, that what you are doing for me. Coming with me all this way north...well, everything you've ever done for me...I'm truly grateful. I owe you my life, and I know I don't act like it sometimes but you mean a lot to me." Link wasn't sure what to reply, so he let her keep talking. "I just want you to know that...that I love you, and no matter what happens to us in the next few days, I always will. You've been the greatest friend anyone could ever wish for."
Link smiled and put his arm around her, "I love you too Zelda." This is what he had been missing, this self-understanding. He didn't need to love her as a husband loves his wife, more as a brother loves his sister. She was his closest friend in all the world, and that was what he needed to know. "And if some evil befalls us ahead, I want you to know that you are very dear to me, and I will always be with you."
She leaned his head on his shoulder, "Thank you."
Karak and Jerra were discussing their homelands. They came from the east and the west, and so knew little about each other's culture. It was by this that they came once again onto the subject of the Grimals being the heirs of the desert. "You know Jerra, you really ought to do something about all this. If your family truly are the heirs to Ganondorf Dragmire-
"Curse his name-"
"Then you ought to take back what is rightfully yours."
"I know, but what can we do?"
"Overthrow Queen Balaea. Muster an army."
Jerra laughed, "There is no way that is possible. Who would fight for the gerudos?"
Karak thought hard, but said finally, "I don't know."
"See. Hey Karak, do you want to know something?"
"Um...okay sure."
"You know the Light of Talandra? The gem that Vu-...The jewel that Vuto was sent to retrieve from me and Yerra?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"I didn't sell it, I kept it all along. But after we left Ulaku, it was missing."
"You kept it? Then how did you lose it?"
"I don't know. But I have a feeling it was stolen in the village. So when this is all over, I'm going to go back there and see if I can find it. If we ever were to try and overthrow Queen Balaea, having the jewel would really help."
"I suppose it would..."
"Wait, stop!" Link suddenly shouted. The looked over towards him, he was about twenty yards away to their right, he had drawn his sword and was looking around cautiously. He took a few short steps, then said slowly, "We're not alone." Then he shouted out, "They've tracked us from the south! Draw your swords!"
Even as he said this, something leaped off a ledge above him and came crashing down. Link sidestepped it and thrust his sword upwards. A wildman fell down upon him, but was impailed upon the blade and killed. Link clambered to his feet and pulled up his sword. Six wildmen emerged from the higher ground above the pass they were in and leapt down. They were caught between two groups of three with no way out. Jerra pulled out her sword and ran at one without a second thought to what they were doing here. "Die!!" She screamed. Karak followed her pulling out his sword engaging in battle with two wildmen at once.
Link and Zelda ran at the other three, Zelda pulling out two long daggers, Link with his sword braced. They fought fiercely, and Link now fought with a clear mind. Sharp metal crashed and banged as they attacked their foes side by side. It was now not a matter of defeating them, but a matter of enacting a vengeance upon them.
"This is for Vuto!" Screamed Jerra, and her scimitar sliced across the face of a wildman, sending him to the floor. She kicked him in the chin then jammed her blade in his chest. Then she turned and kicked at one Karak fought, he crashed down into the other and she leapt on them and slew them viciously. "I am Jerra Grimal! Remember that name in your death, remember the one you died to. She hacked at their necks and left them in a pool of blood.
Link and Zelda were relieved when Karak and Jerra ran to their side. They tore apart their oppressors, and when one was left he ran, stumbling onto his knees and falling, dropping his sword. Link picked him onto his back, and spat on him. But the wildman kneeled up and pleaded with him, "We have followed all this way to avenge the death of our friends. We never meant this to be personal."
"Personal!?" Link shouted. "It got personal when you attacked us without cause save for a blood lust! It got personal when you savages butchered our friend."
"Please, spare me!"
"What did you hope to achieve? What good ever comes of death!?"
"There is no good in death! Please forgive me!"
The others stood around him, filled with sorrow and rage for Vuto's death.
"Forgive you!?"
"Like you said, there is no good in death. Please don't kill me."
Link looked down at this pathetic wreck, into his hollow brown eyes. The blood streaming from his torso and arms. "No. There is no good in death... There is no good in anything." He took up his sword and thrust it into the face of the wildman. Blood flew and there was a scream for a half a second, then silence rocked the dead lands.