I.
She
walked quickly and quietly through the town, her delicate legs
stepping carefully over pebbles in the road. She was trying
desperately to be quiet.
Then
the square was bathed in the pale yellow light of the moon,
illuminating her fair face and blue eyes, with a few strands of red
hair to be seen sticking out from beneath her hood.
She
was Malon Lon, the daughter of Talon Lon, the owner of Lon Lon
Ranch.
Malon
darted from one deep shadow to the next, trying to stay hidden.
Someone was following her in this town. That was why she had left the
inn so suddenly; she had seen someone watching her through the
shutter slats of her room. She had discreetly glanced over there and
saw him disappear. She was sure that she was seeing things, a side
effect of her time with Link, for he was always seeing danger at
every turn, until she saw him again. This time she noticed he had
very pretty hazel eyes.
She
then immediately set down her newest novel, a romance, grabbed her
navy hooded cloak, and threw it over her white blouse and long maroon
skirt. She extinguished her low burning candle, and picking her
dagger up, left.
Malon
had hidden the small blade under her cloak, its hood up, and walked
across the cobblestone square to a fountain in the center. She stood
there for a few minutes, gazing at the beautifully carved mermaid
spouting water from her lips, creating a gentle splashing sound in
the pool below. She listened and looked out the sides of her eyes,
searching for her stalker. After a few minutes she saw the first rays
of moon light peek out from behind a dark cloud and Malon walked away
from the fountain, not wanting to be caught in the
light.
Here she
was now. She huddled nervously by the brick and mortar wall of the
blacksmith's shop, her chin pressed against her chest. Torgash, the
town she was staying in, was not dangerous. Nothing like what was
happening to her had ever happened before. Malon longed for her
father and when they would take these sorts of trips together. She
had always wanted to go off alone, but now that she was able to, she
wanted her father here so he could tell her she was just
dreaming.
Malon
got to thinking. Maybe she was seeing
things.
"Crunch,"
Malon's
head snapped up and her hand went around the handle of her dagger. A
man stood about ten feet away from her and wore a tan overcoat with a
bluish tunic visible underneath it. He wore dark pants, "Maybe
green," Malon thought, and leather boots. He was not especially
tall, nor very short, he was right in between. The man was husky, and
his long overcoat hung down to his knees. He was looking down to the
edge of town, by the stables where Malon had left Epona. Then his
head turned to near where she was hiding. "Please don't see me,
please don't see me," she pleaded to herself.
A
warm smile spread across the man's face as he called loudly to her.
"Halloo lass, out for a bit o' air?" he
asked.
Malon was
silent. Maybe he was talking to someone else. Malon knew hat wasn't
the case. She closed her eyes, and hoped that if she couldn't see
him, he wouldn't see her. "Missy? Are you all right?" he
asked, his face concerned as he began to walk near her. Malon looked
into his eyes and saw that they were brown.
"I'm
sorry, I thought you were someone else," Malon responded as she
came out of the shadows to him.
"Happens,"
the man answered, pulling a hand rolled smoke from his jacket pocket
and lighting up. He took a puff. "Who'd you think I was?"
he asked her as a breeze came and carried the smoke away.
She
hesitated. Maybe they were working together. "Someone's
following me," Malon replied quickly as she looked
around.
The man
instinctively looked to his sides, and immediately felt foolish. "Are
you yankin' my leg missy?" he asked her seriously.
"No,
I wouldn't joke about something like that," Malon
responded.
The
moon was once again shrouded by the clouds and they stood in the
dark. "The name's Myron," Myron said extending his hand
reflexively, but he realized the awkwardness of that action in this
sort of situation and quickly pulled his hand back. "I'm staying
in a room above the tavern across town," he told her, pointing
over his shoulder.
"Malon
Lon," she answered.
"Would
you perhaps like to come back to me room for the night? I'm sure
they'll catch this guy by mornin', whoever he is," Myron
offered, dropping the butt of his cigarette and stomping it out. "I
have two beds if that's what you worried about," Myron
continued, smiling.
"I
don't know, something tells me that this guy is dangerous, and I
don't want to see you get hurt," Malon warned.
"I'll
be fine. You just come with me back to the tavern, and you'll be
al...arrrgggghhhhh!" Myron screamed as he was staggered
back, an arrow lodged in his chest, directly above his
heart.
Malon screamed as
he collapsed. There was someone there! Someone was trying to kill
her! Malon could think of only one thing as she screamed and ran
away from the scene. Epona. "Get on Epona and ride," she
told herself.
Her
screaming had woken the entire town, and people looked out of their
doors and windows to see what had caused all of the commotion. A few
had even found Myron and were shouting for help. Myron was dead
though. Malon had seen Link shoot enough times, he had even started
to teach her, to know a kill shot, and it was her fault that he was
dead. He was only trying to help her, and her stalker, there was no
doubt in her mind that they were the same person, had killed
him.
She reached
Epona, who was tied up outside the stable and was greatly disturbed
by Malon's screaming. Malon quickly untied her, mounted and rode off.
"Link, he'll protect me," Malon thought as she turned to
the southeast, the direction that the Kokiri Forest lay
in.
The man
laughed. His orders had been rather strange considering his
profession, and he would have thought them difficult, but Ardriss was
enjoying himself immensely. She was just like all the other women he
had been sent to kill, afraid of their own shadow. Ardriss chuckled
as he remembered the look of pure, abject terror he had seen on her
face after he had fired.
He
had been surprised, she had been remarkably quiet, and it would have
taken him a great deal of time to find her in the large town of
Torgash, but that was where that bumbling idiot had been useful.
"What was his name again?" Ardriss thought. It was not
important. He was an idiot, and should have started walking the other
way once the woman had mentioned him. He had been helpful though,
drawing her out of hiding, and for that he had granted him a swift
death.
Ardriss had
seen her run to the stables, to that magnificent animal she owned.
That was where Ardriss headed now. He wore a brown tunic and black
cloak. He stepped inside, and sought the owner. Squinting in the
daylight, he addressed her. "Excuse me Miss," he greeted
her in his deep and rich voice.
"Yes?"
she responded, turning from a stack of riding saddles. She looked at
him hard, trying to see how much he was worth to her.
"That
woman, the one from last night, the screamer, do you know her?"
Ardriss asked, knowing the answer.
"Yes,
I saw her leave on her horse,"
"Excellent,"
he replied. "Did you happen to see in which direction she went?"
he asked, sliding a 100 rupee crystal into her hand.
"Yes,"
she said with a smile as she pocketed the crystal. "She was
heading toward the forest to the southeast," she told
him.
Ardriss
grinned. He couldn't believe his luck. "So many fools so little
time," he thought. "Thank you," Ardriss said as he
turned, and straightened his tunic. "I wonder, would she have
been so helpful if she knew she had just signed the young lady's
death warrant?" Ardriss asked himself. Ardriss turned back to
look at the stable manager. "Oh, and may I rent one of your
horses?" Ardriss asked as he examined a fine black
mare.
"Yes,"
"Is
200 enough?"
"Yes,
which one would you like?" the stable owner asked, picking up a
saddle from the pile.
"This
one right here," he said as he patted the mare's
flank.
Ardriss
rode the mare towards the forest; following the tracks of what he
believed was his quarry. The woman had run to Link, the Hero of Time
as Ardriss's master had called him, just as Ardriss and his master
had predicted. Ardriss had seen Link in action once before, and had
no desire for a confrontation. Adriss would reach her and deal with
her right under his nose.
If
Link interfered though, and Ardriss was sure that he would find some
way to do that, he would kill him; Ardriss was the best after all.
