The Legend of Zelda: The Dream Walker
Chapter 18
"An honorable man"
By MEGAMANX411

Link was sleeping soundly in his bed when he was disturbed by the sound of people outside his door. He slowly sat up in his bed, yawning a bit and stretching as he did so.

"I wonder who that could be..?" Link muttered, slowly making his way downstairs.

Link opened the door to reveal both Kisha, Giles' sister, and Septimus.

"Hello Kisha, hello Septimus. What do you want at this hour?" Link asked.

Kisha looked rathe worried, and her eyes were quivering.She was trembling from pure fright.

"Link, my brother has fallen ill again," she whispered, her voice strained from the obvious sadness.

Septimus nodded slowly, and stretchedout a hand to gesture to Link to come along.

"We need your help," he added.

Link nodded in confirmation, and grabbed his pack.

"OK, I'll be right over," he replied.

Link arrived at Giles' house, and noticed that Meia was already there. Link slowly walked towards Meia.

"So do you think this is the work of Melzas?" he asked.

Meia shook her head 'yes' and gave Link a rather grim look.

"I don't have any doubts," she replied.

Link looked curious.

"But why would he try to kill people of the village? He didn't try to do that until recently," he observed.

Septimus placed a hand on his chin.

"Maybe, it's because he's not trying to kill the villagers..." he muttered.

Meia raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

Septimus' face lit up as he was struck with inspiration.

"I got it!" he shouted. "Don't you see? Melzas considers you and Link a threat. If he kills the person whose dream you are inside, then...."

Link caught on, and cut Septimus off before he could finish that thought.

"He would kill us. He's been after us the whole time," he observed, his eyes widening.

Septimus nodded.

"Exactly, and what's more--"

Septimus was cut off by the sound of rustling outside, and some inhuman shrieks.

Link placed a hand on his sword.

"Murgg...." he spat, sounding disgusted.

A wave of worry washed over Septimus.

"Murgg? In the village?" he replied, dumbfounded.

Meia looked back at Giles.

"We have no hope of saving Giles if those creatures are around, Link, we need you to take care of them," she noted.

"OK, leave it to me," Link replied, taking his sword in hand.

Link rushed outside, to see three Murgg scatter.

"Get back here!!" he shouted, giving chase.

Link chased down the Murgg as fast as his legs would allow. When he reached the first one, he slashed its back, causing it to stumble forward and fall forward, and then he gave it a finishing blow through the chest. The creature violently shook and twitched as Link loosened his sword from its quivering flesh, and Link sneered at the malicious creature he had just slain.

The next one tried to bash Link with a powerful dive, but Link blocked it with his shield. His sword was still lodged into the other creature's back, so he took his steel flail from his pack, and began to swing it around. He let loose the weapon, and smashed the Murgg's skull. The creature fell onto the ground, blood oozing from its massive wound. Link took his sword in hand, and sheathed it. He then put away his flail as he eyed the landscape for the other Murgg.

The third one, apparently, was hiding.

"Where is it??" Link muttered, looking from side to side.

All of the sudden, one of the Murgg dropped down from the tree, in hopes of landing on Link. Link rolled out of the way, pulled out his Fire Rod, and shot a blast of magical flame at the evil ape. The Murgg was set ablaze, and it violently beat itself upon the ground in hopes of extinguishing the flames, but to no avail. It shrieked for a while, but soon submitted to its demise. Link put his weapons back, and observed that there were no more Murgg around the village. Link returned to Giles house, and he saw only Meia by Giles bedside. Meia noticed Link's return.

"The others are upstairs. You should bring them back down," she offered.

Link nodded and made his way to the stairway.

"OK," he replied.

Link walked upstairs. Septimus eyed Link curiously as he saw him come upstairs.

"I assume the Murgg are gone?" he asked.

"Yeah," Link replied.

Kisha nodded.

"Good, I didn't want to leave Meia there alone..." she whispered.

Just then, they all heard a scream coming from downstaris.

"Meia!" Link shouted.

They rushed downstairs to see Meia at one end of the room, with a small wound, and Giles, standing upright on his bed. He had become a werewolf! Kisha slowly walked to her brother, or more approrpiately, what used to be her brother.

"Giles, calm down. You're not a monster, you're a good man. And my brother," she pleaded, trying to get Giles to change back.

Giles grabbed his head, and looked as though he was suffering from immense pain.

"Stay...back..." he warned, his voice straining from pain, sounding somewhat human yet completely different.

Kisha continued, and walked closer to Giles.

"Giles, don't let the monster win! You're a good person!" she shouted, extending her arms to him.

Giles was frantically screaming and crying out in protest, trying to get Kisha away from him. He lashed out, and struck Kisha, injuring her. She flew backwards from the force of the attack, and her warm lifeblood was dripping from the wound Giles inflicted upon her. Giles grabbed his head, and began to shake.

"Arrrggghh..." he cried, moaning and wailing at the action he just took.

Kisha struggled to keep her eyes open.

"Giles..." she pleaded, her voice was very faint.

Giles shook his head, trying to speak and restrain himself.

"Help...me...Melzas...forced me to kill Sybill...and Jess...and made me injure my sister...no!!!" he cried, shaking his head.

"Melzas!!" Link shouted.

Giles was twitching violently, unable to fully control what was happening to his body. He buried his head in his hands as he screamed as loud as he possibly could, releasing an inhuman cry that conveyed such sadness that not many could match it. It looked as though the creature was winning, but something happened. Giles' bones began to snap as he was transforming once again. His fur receded, and his form began to change.

Giles became a man.

"Forgive...me..." he pleaded, gasping for breath.

Giles collapsed on the floor from his bed, falling down face first. He wasn't breathing. Kisha stood up despite her wounds, and slowly walked over to Giles' side. Link stretched out a sympathetic hand.

"Kisha..." he muttered, trying to comfort her in some way.

At that point, Beaumont, the mayor of Inoa, entered the room.

"What is going on here?" he shouted.

He was about to continue, but his words failed him when he saw Giles. Beaumont's mouth was agape at the sight of such horror.

"What has become of Giles?" he shouted frantically.

Septimus hung his head low.

"Melzas...killed him," he replied.

Beaumont shook his head.

"Why can't we dream peacefully anymore? Link, couldn't you have saved him?" he asked frantically.

Link clenched his teeth from anger.

"I couldn't...I fought off the Murgg, and when I got back..." he replied, angry at himself for not being able to help.

Kisha stood up straight.

"My brother became a monster. But he choose to die an honorable man rather than become a monster," she announced, full of pride despite her immense sadness.

Beaumont took note of the situation.

"I see...we shall discuss what we should do later. But for now, let's get some rest," he replied. "We will give Giles a proper burial in the morning," he added.

Beaumont left the room (taking Giles with him, he wasn't about to leave a rotting corpse there), leaving Meia, Kisha and Septimus there. Septimus was tending to Kisha's wounds, and Meia and Link were both enaged in deep thought.

"It was Giles...it was Giles..." Link repeated, thinking of Sybill and Septimus.

"Melzas treated Giles as nothing more than a pawn. He was only devout to his religion, he was no murderer,"Meia replied.

"But why?" Link asked. "Why does Melzas do such terrible things? And what of Ronan? Surely he is involved in this somehow, but where does he fit into the matter?" he asked.

Meia shook her head.

"I don't know the answer to everything just now. We'll have to find out sooner or later, but for the time being, let's just do what we can. What we do know is that Melzas must've wanted to get rid of Sybill and Jess for some kind of reason. He must have a motive to his actions, we just need to find out what it is," she explained.

Septimus nodded.

"Yes, I agree with Meia wholeheartedly. Melzas is a vile monster, but he does have reasoning. And that's what makes him so dangerous, moreso than typical beasts," he added.

Link looked at Kisha.

"Kisha, are you going to be alright?" he asked.

"I'll be fine..." she replied, trying to ignore the pain from her physical wounds.

Her emotional ones, however, were harder to fight back. Kisha tried to hide her tears, but it proved to be too difficult.

"Kisha, it's all right to cry. We know you're strong and brave, but there's no shame in crying. And mark my words, Melzas will pay for the pain he's inflicted upon you and your brother," Link vowed.

"Thank you...Link.." Kisha replied, sniffling a bit.

Septimus placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Kisha, how about you spend the night at my place tonight? I think it'd be best if you were not alone at such a time," he added.

"Thank you for your kindness Septimus..." Kisha replied, proceeding to Septimus' house.

Link was ready to leave himself.

"Hey Link..." Meia began, stopping Link from leaving right away.

"Yes, what is it Meia?" he replied.

"Do you trust me?" she asked.

"Of course I do," he replied.

"I'm sorry, it was a silly thing to ask," she replied.

"Meia, I think there is something I should tell you," Link replied, remembering to when he entered her dream without her knowing.

"What is that, Link?" she asked.

"Back when you first came to Inoa, I entered your dream," he muttered, sounding a bit ashamed.

"Why?" Meia shouted.

"Because I wanted to know about you, but I realize now that it was the wrong way of going about it. But I will say Meia, that I feel great sympathy for what happened to you, and I will do whatever it takes to help you," he added.

Meia wasn't sure to be upset or happy with Link's statement.

"Well Link, I disapprove of you invading my privacy..." she began, crossing her arms. "But, I do appreciate the sentiment, and it was a very kind thing to say," she added. "And besides, I'm sure it took a lot to tell me what you did any way."

Link just forced a humble smile.

"Well, I'm glad that's out of the way. I'll be heading home now, get some rest Meia. By the way, is your wound bothering you?" he asked.

"This?" Meia asked, gesturing to a small cut on her forearm. "It's nothing. Good night Link," she replied, walking out the door.

Link just sighed, and stood there for a moment. However, his daydreaming (or perhaps just regular dreaming would be more appropriate in this case), was interrupted when he realized he should probably leave too.