Well, I'm back. It's the weekend, and I'm bored out of my mind, so I'm working on this, even though I don't exactly want to. Oh well, I figure I'll enjoy it once I get typing. Anyway, enough of my rambling: here's the next chapter! Thanks to any and all reviewers! Also, make sure you check out the special, probably one-time offer at the bottom!
-Shawshank
Chapter 21 - Urian
"What is this?"
"I - I'm not sure, sir. It looks like a Hylian..."
"Bring it into the firelight. I want to see it."
The winged skeleton shrugged and wrapped its skinless fingers around what it figured was the Hylian's ankle. It dragged it into the circle of cold light in short, hard tugs. When it saw the Hylian's face, it recoiled and dropped the ankle it had held, only then noticing that the ankle was coated in a thick layer of green scales. It hissed in surprise, and backed out of the light before its master took his wrath out on it. The man with the tattooed forehead stepped closer, nudging the small female on the ground with his foot.
He had never seen one before, but he had heard of them. They were the Maglar, half-breeds. Most of the Maglar simply had one parent of one race and the other of another; however, a rare few were cursed, slowly transforming into another creature. These rare few Maglar were legendary, said to be extremely cunning and abnormally strong during the process of transforming; when they actually turned into the creature they were becoming, a process that could take thousands of years, they were many times as wise and more powerful than the true creatures. This one was obviously cursed, slowly becoming a dragon.
The dragon Maglar were all but extinct; few dragons remained to curse others into becoming like them. Of all of the different possible Maglar, the dragon was the slowest and most painful process. However, when the Maglar became dragon, they could cast fear into the hearts of their enemies like no other. Maybe this one could be used for his purposes...certainly a thought to be entertained. He smirked to himself, and beckoned to the cowering skeleton.
"Go, quickly. Bring my creation." His eyes hooded over when the creature with wings cowered. "Go, before I kill you myself." It squeaked and ran off into the night.
He talked to the unconscious Maglar on the ground, not caring if he was overheard. "Well, my little Maglar, what secrets do you hide? Will you remain loyal to your friend, or will you save yourself? We will see, little Maglar. We will see."
A deep panting was heard in the shadows, intermingling with the sweet ringing of metal on metal. His creature roared, trying to break free from the chains; they squealed under the strain, creaking like old rusted door hinges. The tattooed man smiled a bit.
"Well now, my creature, what ails you? Do you wish to be freed? Can I trust you not to destroy me?"
The thing in the shadows forcibly calmed it's breathing, nodding to its master. He was afraid that, during his experiments, he had accidentally rendered it unable to speak; either that, or it did not wish to speak yet. Either way, it didn't matter. It would fulfill its purpose soon.
"I will trust you, then. You, set him free! All of you stand back, unless you have a death wish to be fulfilled. Step into the light."
It angrily tore the manacles from its neck and waist, ripping the thick metal with little effort, sending the cowering skeleton beside it flying through the air. Its whole body trembled with nervous energy, and its muscles quivered as it stepped into the light. The stars gleamed overhead, along with the many moons. It threw back its head and howled its joy to the skies, then clenched its jaw, holding its head proudly as it looked at its creator.
Huge, white-feathered wings spread in an arc behind it, stretching out into the night; they glowed with a faint, icy blue light. The faint glow was somehow caught in the creature's eyes, and they burned through the night, two unnaturally bright blue rings of colour. It walked slowly into the dim circle of light, knowing that the mere sight of it caused ice to race through the veins of the creatures standing in a loose ring outside of the light. Its sword hung at its hip; there was no room for the blade on its back any longer. It rested its hand on the engraved scabbard, its gaze meeting that of its master's. He smiled cruelly as he saw, for the first time, the changes he had brought about in it.
"Well, Urian, how do you feel?"
It bared its sharpened teeth in reply, forming a primal sort of smirk. The tattooed man had not been able to completely rid his creation of its originally blue eyes; instead, he had settled for dying its eyes entirely black, with only the last edges of the pupils outlined by glowing ice blue rings. It was a much more frightening effect than just plain black, and its eyes were pleasing to look at, besides. Its torso was bare, and a pair of loose - fitting, black pants rested snugly on its hips. A tattoo of a huge, screaming raven spread its wings over the top half of its chest, and two thick snakes wound their ways up its arms. On the palms of its hands, tiny, ancient Runes were carved; on the left palm, the word Blood, and on the right palm, Wrath. On its muscular stomach, many links of chain wrapped around it formed a magical and physical way of controlling the creature. To top off the layers of chains, a huge, old, intricately carved padlock bolted the metal links together nearby the creature's belly button.
He walked around his creation, appraising it. A tiny crescent moon was just barley visible through the short hairs on the back of its neck. This was also a way of controlling it; the moon was for mental control, the tattooed chains for physical. He wore the carved moon pendant as a last chance to keep control over his creation.
Over its shoulder blades, more Runes had been inscribed, stating its name and rank. They read, 'General Urian, Second - In - Command of All Forces Under Rule of Yehrutte.' The tattoos on his legs could not be seen because of the pants, but he knew there were many sharp lightning bolts and drops of rain on the left leg, and a Hylian male and a black panther wrestled on its right left. On the tops of its feet, small knives were tattooed; on the bottom of its feet, a branch covered in sharp thorns twisted its way from its toes to its heels.
He frowned as he rounded Urian again and saw the Triforce marks on the backs of its hands. He had tried many times to remove them, or tattoo over them; however, they refused to vanish. So, he had enforced the lines with his own ink, adding in small serpents that wrapped themselves through the small triangles in endless tangles. When he looked at its face again, he smiled just a bit in pleasure. He really had to stop doing that.
Two creatures took up fighting stances on either side of its face. On the right side, a winged Stalfos, armed with sword and shield, leaped forwards. It was a large enough tattoo to cover Urian's entire right cheek and the right side of his neck; the Stalfos' feet rested on its collarbone. A pouncing Wolfos, again with its back paws planted on Urian's collarbone, held its front paws out to the edge of Urian's jaw, snarling as the wind blew back its mangy fur. Between the creatures' feet, a bead of fire ate up the part of its neck that was not occupied by Wolfos or Stalfos. On its forehead, between drawn up eyebrows, a thick - stemmed, wilting rose drooped over its eyes, the fallen petals pooling over his left eyebrow.
All of the tattoos were drawn in black, detailed and covering every inch of skin visible. What wasn't visible from the surface was that the tattoos were actually connected to Urian's hidden pocket of magic; when it called up its power, the tattoos would enhance it.
Yehrutte, the man with the all - Seeing Eye tattooed on his forehead, beckoned to his creation. It walked forward proudly, folding its wings slightly so as not to get them in the fire... although they wouldn't burn anyway. It looked down with curious eyes at the small female on the ground before it.
"This is a dragon Maglar. She was found her, unconscious. Do you wish to kill her, or do you want me to brainwash her, so that she might fight alongside you? I am giving this choice to you." This was merely a test - a test that he was sure Urian would pass. After all, he had left no part of the boy Link's mind untainted, giving the creature Urian complete control over Link's body and magic, and himself ownership of what had been Link's mind. Link's spirit had been completely eradicated from the corpse, he was sure of it.
The ice blue rings on Urian's eyes glowed as it stared down at the short but slender woman. It bent down and sniffed her, narrowing its eyes. It let its head hang for a few moments, then, shaking itself, it looked up at Yehrutte.
"She smells of... something familiar. It is a very faint scent, but it is there. I want whatever smells like that."
Yehrutte squinted into Urian's eyes. "Whatever smells like this female?"
Urian bared its teeth. "NO!" It stopped, calming itself. "No. I want whatever smells like... I can't describe it. I don't know..." It growled aloud in frustration, and the entire horde, which had crept closer to hear its soft words, leapt back as one body.
"The scent does not belong to this female. It belongs to something else - something alive, I know that much. I need to know what that smell belongs to. I will kill her if she doesn't tell me... if she does, I may consider sparing her."
It stood up and roughly yanked one of the furry humanoids into the light by its fur. "You. Wake her. Now." The creature, trembling, nudged the woman with a claw on its mutilated foot. Urian angrily pushed it back into the shadows, and solved the problem itself.
"HEY YOU! FEMALE! WAKE UP!"
She opened her eyes with a start, holding her head in both hands and blinking hard. She saw Yehrutte's face first, and she sneered at him. "What the HELL are *you* doing here, scum? I can feel the evil radiating off of you. Get out of my wilds!"
He smirked at her. "Your wilds, hmm? Well, you can think whatever you want to. You can also decide if you live or die. There's someone who wants to talk to you."
Urian took her jaw in its right hand, not caring that bruises were blossoming on her fair skin. It stared savagely into her eyes, and snarled, "Tell me whom you have come in contact with in the last two days. Now, before I kill you."
Tyr was unable to see Urian, who had moved into the shadows as she awoke. All she could make out was a shadow looming over her.
"Why should I? Give me one good reason, scum."
"I will kill you if you don't. Speak."
"Why do you want to know? I might tell you if you tell me. Answer for an answer, you get me?"
"Fine. I want to know because I am searching for the owner of the smell on your clothing. Now, tell me. Whom have you come in contact with in the last two days?"
Tyr tried to pry its fingers off of her jaw unsuccessfully. She wriggled around on the ground, but Urian's grip was steady, and it didn't faze him one bit.
"An answer for an answer, you said it yourself. If you answer, I will kill you quickly. If not... well, let's just say that the horde will have fresh meat before we move on."
Her eyes widened, and tears leaked out of her human eye as its grip tightened mercilessly. "NO!" She quickly caught herself. "Kill me any way you want, but I have one last request."
"And what would that be, female?"
"Let me see the body of my friend. I want to... pay my last respects, I guess."
It laughed at her, the horde obediently laughing along. Yehrutte stood with his arms crossed over his chest, smiling. He knew what was coming.
"You want to see the body of your *friend*? Well, I will grant you that wish. And then I will kill you in whatever way I please." The fire was slowly burning down, and Tyr could just make out the glowing blue rings of its eyes and the light reflecting off of its sharpened teeth. A shiver crawled up her spine, but she gulped it down, waiting. Urian let go of her chin, and she scooted away from it, rubbing her tender jaw carefully. It walked part way into the light, letting the fire illuminate the most of its body, but not its face. She saw it grin again.
"Well. You want to see your friend." Its voice trailed off thoughtfully. "Your friend, hmm?"
Suddenly, it leaped high into the air, landing so that it was invading her personal space, its stolen face stuck right in hers. It grinned as she froze in horror.
"You've found your *friend*." It laughed and poked a thumb into its chest. "Me. Hate to break it to you, but the Linky - boy you know is gone. Now, it's time to die."
It laughed maniacally as her frantic screaming rang through the still night air. The bats swooped overhead, unaware of what was happening below them. After all, they had insects to catch. So, all creatures within hearing turned a deaf ear to the pleads for help, the cursing, and the quiet, despaired sobbing.
***
Tyr hated herself for being so afraid. Maybe if it hadn't been Link who was laughing in her face, orally forming plans to destroy her, she would have been able to hold her own.
Now, as Link - no, Urian - took a page out of the highly unpopular, ancient Bible, she was very afraid. The Bible had been an interesting read, which was for sure - long, but interesting. Especially the details of how the public had put Jesus Christ to death. They had crucified him, attached his arms to the cross so His lungs would eventually collapse, but not in the ordinary fashion. They had not attached his arms and legs to the cross using lengths of rope. They were too cruel for that.
Instead, they had *nailed* him to the cross - through both of His wrists, and through His ankles, crossed over one another near the bottom of the cross. It had taken three days for Him to die; and at the last second, He called out words that still haunted her to this day. She decided that before she died, she would also cry out those words, so that Urian would have something to take with it.
Now, though, she merely tried to avoid inhaling the smell of Urian's breath, which reminded her of rotting flesh. It settled the first huge, rusty nail over her wrist and raised the hammer, watching her, gauging her reaction.
She tensed her entire body and waited for the excruciating
pain to come, closing her suddenly tear-filled eyes. Enough adrenalin flowed
through her veins to make her shake, and she drew in her breath sharply,
gasping.
Urian grunted and she just barely managed to avoid crying out. She waited with
indescribable apprehension for the sickening sound of metal going through
flesh, waited for the first hint of the worst and last pain she would ever feel
in her life... and never experienced it. She opened her eyes, surprised, and
opened her mouth to ask what the hell was going on.
Then the pain came, and through the haze of mind - numbing agony, she could still hear Urian laughing.
***
It walked towards her carrying a brightly burning torch, smiling up at her through the flickering light. Dawn was near. Many bundles of dry prairie grass had been placed below her feet, and some of the grass was stained with her blood. She had given up screaming, and was floating on the edge of unconsciousness from the pain and blood loss. She looked on drunkenly as it threw the torch into the piles of grass, then mounted a horse that had been painted black, but still had a white mane and tail. She sighed and let her head roll back, watching the whole crowd of them ride away, Yehrutte and Urian in front, laughing as if sharing some private joke. Tyr stared down at the burning grass, wondering why it was taking so long for her skin to become blistered and burned.
Tyr breathed in deeply, remembering her promise to herself. Her voice almost caught on a sob, but it broke free in time.
"MY GOD, MY GOD! WHY HAVE YOU ABANDONED ME?"
The entire horde had stopped, and Urian rode back towards her a little ways, watching her. She stared straight into its piercing gaze, wanting it to know that she would die because of it. Not that it would care, anyway. She breathed again, feeling the wood shiver as flames ate it away.
"FORGIVE THEM, FATHER, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO!" She screamed out the last words, knowing that she was beyond all hope. Tyr gazed at Urian, making an almost fatal mistake. She thought she knew what she would see - she knew that it would be laughing at her, then it would turn and ride off before the sun rose.
Instead, it stared at her until she was engulfed in flames, and the light in its eyes was troubled, not triumphant. Tyr screamed incomprehensible words at it, willing it to despise her. Instead, it merely turned and rode slowly away, its shoulders drooping.
Something had changed.
***
The flames suddenly burst up around her, and she squirmed, trying one last time to break free. She was still stuck. So she waited to die.
The haze on her vision increased, and, amazingly, she was still not in pain. Maybe she was beyond the point of feeling discomfort? Either way, the fire was now so hot that the iron lengths through her wrists were melting, becoming part of her skin. They were also effectively sealing up the wounds. She spared a bit of effort to yank her feet apart; if she survived this somehow, she didn't want to hop around with her ankles crossed for the rest of her life. Her stomach sank, and she muttered out a small, "Uh oh," before she hit the ground hard, winded. She waited a few moments and looked back at the burning cross. It was tipping slightly, at least it looked like it was. She wasn't really sure of anything anymore... her head dropped onto the hard ground as she lost consciousness, and the burning cross continued to lean towards her. A few minutes later, it crashed over her limp body, engulfing her in flames.
***
That one was kind of short compared to the rest of them lately, but it told what I wanted to be told. Besides, I put this one up faster than the other ones, so don't complain!
Anyway, I would like to extend many, many thanks to my reviewers; I'm sorry I can't name you, but I don't have access to the internet at the moment, and my computer that *does* have the internet won't even read this type of file any more. God, I hate old technology... anyway, ???, I know you were among the reviewers - thank you again! Yes, I fully intend to work at my own pace.
Hey, you guys - I have 52 reviews for my story at this point in time! Holy cow! Anyway, I'd just like to look back and thank everybody who ever reviewed, and people who have been following this story since I first put it up. How long ago was that now? A year or so? I don't know. Whatever. So, Reviewers, I LOVE ALL OF YOU!!!! Even if I kinda tend to forget your names all the time... sorry about that.
Anyway, finals are coming up in about a week or so! I'm kind of freaking out, so cut me some cheese with the chapters.
Also, any Christians out there may have noticed the reference to the Bible in this chapter - I'm a Christian, so I'm a little biased with this stuff. If anyone doesn't know the story and wants to, or knows the story and just wants to hear my 'modern' version of it, feel free to email me or whatever and I'll fill you in on the Christian scene type thing. Darkdragon088, I'm excluding you from this offer unless someone else asks. I'm not going to retell the story of Jesus' death just for you - you know it already! ANYway...
In The NEXT Chapter: Kawhin and Zelda find Tyr's body. Meanwhile, Urian continues on its quest, but not without some difficulties...
Today's Proverb: If you had everything in the world you wanted, you wouldn't have enough room to keep it.
Today's Wisdom From Me: Dreams can have a big impact on how your day goes. I had a really vivid dream last night, and I was depressed for the whole day...
Today's Lyrical Quote:
Movin' all around, screaming of the ups and downs;
Illusion manifested in perpetual sounds,
The wheels go 'round, and the sunset creeps behind streetlamps,
Chain - link and concrete.
A little piece of paper with a picture drawn,
Floats on down the street, 'till the wind is gone.
And the memory now is like the picture was then,
When the paper's crumpled up, it can't be perfect again.
-From Forgotten by Linkin Park
Well, until next time... That's all, folks!
-Shawshank
