Wow, it's about two seconds later, and I'm still writing! I'm on a roll!

Still can't reply to any reviewers, sorry gang.

And the offer to rewrite Jesus' death is only standing for another few chapters! Feel free to badger me for it!

Enjoy the chapter, guys, and please tell me what you think about it…it's summer vacation!!!

Oh, by the way, I just heard that you can pay $50 bucks to run with the bulls in Calgary from August 4th to 5th, this weekend! Anybody want to sponsor me? Remember, guys, life is risk!

-Shawshank

Chapter 24 – The Maglar

Tyr was sitting beside the fountain in the middle of the well – lit mirror room, staring into space. A mirror was placed between each stone archway, and ancient forest leaves poked into the hall from the open space of the arches. She found that her human eye was hurting, for some reason; when she touched her right cheek, her skin was wet. Something bubbled up in her throat, and she sobbed, letting loose more tears. They rolled down her smooth cheek, pooling on her jaw, where she wiped them away. She felt as though something inside her was melting away; all of her walls were falling with her tears. She hated her own weakness, but she hated the young man more for bringing it out in her. Tyr stood up and began to pace. Her heart and feet were restless, but she wouldn't risk running away – she would definitely get lost and die. She sobbed again, then scrubbed her face and sat down on the lip of the beautiful fountain.

It was wonderfully carved, perfectly round, and made of ancient, worn stone. It was smooth to the touch, and Tyr was almost sure the water had magical properties of some kind. The water trickled down in many small streams from a stream between the woman's feet; she gazed upwards, as if searching for light in this dark forest. Tyr followed her gaze upwards, and saw that this place had a roof; it was a huge, domed ceiling, and it was painted with a strange, unearthly mural of sorts. Two other women, one with short, fiery red hair, and the other with long, flowing, green hair. The woman with red hair was wearing a white toga, and her eyes were green and staring with piercing intensity into the distance; the other was robed in a long, ivy covered green dress, and she was staring lovingly at the ground with a small smile on her face. Tyr looked back at the fountain, and took in the completeness of the sculpture. The woman's hair was floating around her, as if she was floating in water; her skin was decorated with many small lines of light, and Tyr was pretty sure that the artist's vision was that she was indeed underwater. Her body was sheltered only by her long locks of hair, and her feet were surrounded by intimately carved peaks of water, which were swirling around her, as though she was caught in a whirlpool. Her eyes were sad and distant, and she seemed more alive, more *mortal* than the women above. Her hands were outstretched, as if embracing the air around her. Tyr looked up at the ceiling, past the two women above, and quickly drew in breath.

Behind the two women painted above her were six figures, all in shadow. They were all humanoid, but two of them had huge sets of wings. Their feet formed a circle around the two women, and three other, smaller shapes formed a triangle inside the circle. Tyr recognized the small shapes for what they were – they were crescent moons, all different colours. The one over the women's heads was red, the one on the bottom left was blue, and the one on the bottom right was green. Beneath the feet of the sisters, two lines of runes were carved into the roof, and filled in with paint. Tyr squinted at them, but she couldn't read these figures.

She heard leaves rustling, and she came back down to earth in time to see Furona come trotting into the hall through one of the arches. She had a large, dead bird in her mouth, but she spat it out when she saw the Tyr's red – rimmed, moist eyes. She walked over, placing one paw in front of the other, and placed her head in Tyr's lap, offering comfort the only way she could.

"Talk to me, girl."

Tyr shook her head, lapsing in and out of hysterical tears.

"No. No, it's…it's nothing, nothing important anyway."

Furona growled softly. "If you think emotions aren't important, than you're either not thinking or insane. Wake up and smell the dead bird, kiddo! You'll explode if you don't talk to somebody, and it might as well be me."

Tyr jumped up, the tears in her eyes suddenly angry. "I can't! I can't explain it, it's just too…" She sucked in a deep breath and sat back down on the edge of the fountain. "It's just too painful. You wouldn't understand." Tyr scrubbed at her eyes and half turned away, but Furona wouldn't have it. The big cat jumped up on her, shoving her backwards with her huge paws. Tyr fell in the water, half drowning; she swallowed some of the water and came up to the surface, gasping for air. Her feet were still hanging over the lip of the fountain, and with a chuckle, Furona pushed the rest of her in. She managed to stay above water this time, and she got onto her feet in the surprisingly deep water, which reached to her shoulders, although she was standing. Tyr gasped out, "It didn't look nearly as deep from there."

Furona would have smiled, if she had been able to. Instead she bared her teeth and said, "That's what everybody says."

Tyr looked shocked. "What? You push other people in here, too? Why the hell do you do that?"

"It makes them feel better when they're down. See? You're smiling."

Tyr was indeed smiling, and she grabbed onto the edge of the fountain, hoisting her body over the edge and rolling away. She sprang to her feet and ran at Furona, who was absently staring at the woman with floating hair.

Furona went toppling over the edge of the water with loud feline cries, and she immediately began to sink. She called out above the surface of the water, "I can't swim!" and her head went under. Tyr saw her struggling body sink lower in the fountain, and realized it was much deeper than she had thought. She saw the ledge she had been standing on and the crack behind it, closer to the carved woman; Furona was being pulled through this gap, and Tyr sucked in a huge breath and dove after her.

Tyr managed to squeeze through the gap, and found herself in a huge underwater chamber, where the water was infinitely calm and completely still. She spotted Furona, struggling somewhere near the bottom; she dove down towards her, swimming mostly with her arms to conserve her energy. But she stopped short the instant she saw the light.

There was a glowing being sitting on a chair made of what looked like sea foam, or a wave frozen while still in movement; the light blinded Tyr, and she wondered why she hadn't seen her before. She saw then that the being was sitting under a roof supported by four regally carved pillars, in the recognizable shape of fish swimming around each other in a whirling torrent. The roof was patterned to look exactly like the floor, and so the being was invisible to all but those who sank to the very bottom. She squinted her eyes, trying to make out what was past the light.

A large bubble and a watery yowl reminded her that Furona was drowning. Forcing herself to forget about the being of light, she turned her back on it and swam to Furona, wrapping one arm around her stomach and swimming upwards.

A huge voice halted her in her tracks. "You are the first to turn your back on me."

Tyr couldn't look at the being made of light. "Return, my child – we must speak."

She just kept swimming, ignoring the cryptic words that resounded through her head and struggling to reach air. Her lungs were beginning to compress, and Furona had stopped struggling. She pushed Furona through the crack before her, and wiggled in after, planting her feet on the wide ledge and hoisting Furona to the surface.

The black panther wasn't breathing. With some effort, she managed to roll her over the edge, and jumped out after her. Tyr beat on her back, hoping to the Goddesses she would breathe again; when that didn't work, she took a handful of the water from the fountain and dumped it on her face, knowing the effect from past experience. After all, Zelda had done the same thing to Kawhin, and it had worked…

Furona wiggled around on her back as her eyes flew open, and she hacked out a lungful of water, swinging herself onto her feet. She advanced on Tyr, still coughing every now and then, and hissed under her breath, "Cats don't like water. Especially not me. You know *why* I don't like water? It's because I can't SWIM!"

Tyr shot back, "Well, how did you know I could swim before you pushed me in?"

"You could stand on that ledge. You're still mostly human. I'm not even close."

Tyr sat down on the marble floor, leaning back against the fountain. Furona sat on her haunches beside her. They stared at their mirror images, Tyr's mind swirling with questions.

"Furona, what are these people? I mean, why do they have animal parts?"

Furona closed her eyes and sighed. "We're Maglar, Tyr, like you. We were cursed a long, long time ago, and banished to live in this forest until we became the animals we had chosen."

"Why though? Why were you cursed?"

Furona's eyes became distant, misty. "Before we were cursed, many years ago, we were the leaders of an army. There was a great war, you see – I'm not sure if you'd know about it, it happened before people starting writing history down. Anyway, Maglar were much more plentiful back then; in fact, we made up our own species. Now, all that's left is us, and you. Anyway, the people's blood was hot, and the world was still young. There was tale of a huge bird, an eagle, that stirred up the whole mess and said all Maglar were evil incarnate, but I don't think it was an eagle. They're – or, they were – pretty quiet creatures, keeping to themselves all the time. Not like a bird to go around stirring up trouble. Well, it doesn't matter who started it, man or beast –"

"Whoa, whoa. What do you mean, the bird *said*?"

Furona stared at her like she was crazy. "Well, back then, animals and people lived all together; some of them learned to speak to us, and the rest just stayed silent and became the animals you know today. The talking ones left after the war; they abandoned us to our own devices, saying that we were too unpredictable and violent. They went somewhere, and they've never been seen again. Nobody knows what happened to them, except the animals themselves, of course. Anyway, it was Maglar against man, and by the time the humans won all that was left was us, mostly leaders and a few soldiers. So, you see, we were Maglar before – it was humans that cursed us in the first place, for being *different*, then they turned on us. I was the oldest, and I was mostly a panther before we were forced to live in this forest. The only mercy the humans showed us was allowing us to choose the animals we wanted to become."

Tyr shook her head and closed her eyes. "Wait a second. You said this war happened before recorded history, which extends back at least two hundred years. How could that be? How could you be more than two hundred years old?"

Furona rustled her whiskers. "Well, they put a spell on this forest, and it wasn't just to keep us from leaving. It made the Maglar aging and transforming processes slow down, so much that we almost stopped growing altogether. But, no, we're still aging; just a few weeks ago Eval noticed that his hair was starting to take root down his neck."

"Who is Eval, anyway? Or, who was he, before he was cursed?"

"He was Eval. Always was, always will be. If you're talking about what he did, well, you'll have to ask him. I'm pretty sure he was good friends with some of the talking forest animals, and he fought against people that wanted to hunt them, kill them for food. Or was that Rhianne? Oh, my memory's all bedazzled nowadays."

"Okay, but what was that at the bottom of the fountain?"

Furona stared at her like she had just offered to jump over the moon.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing at the bottom of the fountain. There's just that chamber, that's all." She narrowed her eyes. "Did you…*see* something down there, Tyr?"

Tyr considered for a second, then answered carefully, "No, I was just wondering if you saw that chamber. That's what I meant."

Furona stared at her for a moment, and Tyr's nervous heart sped up; she didn't want Furona to ask further about it, because then she would be forced to reveal that she had seen a being made of light. She had sworn an oath to herself to only lie if it was an extension of the truth, and never to lie outright; she could say that she had just meant the chamber because she was half talking about that, and half about the being of light.

Furona turned away, but Tyr still felt she was a bit suspicious. To break the silence, she asked another question.

"Furona, who is the lady of the fountain?"

Furona got onto all fours and paced in front of the statue, debating whether to tell her or not. She finally caved.

"The woman is Nayru. The people above us are her sisters. The woman with red hair is Din, and the one with the dress is Farore. They say that, in the beginning, all three looked down on the world, to make sure everything was working okay. But Din became tired of always turning her eyes downwards, and she hated mortals and their violence. So, she brought the fires of war on the land, many times, trying to cleanse the land of humans. Near the end, Nayru found out what she was doing; but Din, being the eldest, was able to banish Nayru to live among the humans she loved. She still remains here, hidden by Farore, who hoped that if Din could never find Nayru, they would not come to blows and destroy each other; for if a Goddess dies, the world will be rocked by uncontrollable change. So Farore loves the earth, and tries to protect it from Din's anger; Din loves nothing but herself, and so she remains trapped in the place where the Sacred dwell; and Nayru loves all mortals and living things, and she remains trapped here with them."

Tyr and Furona sat in silence for a while, as if digesting what the panther had just said.

"Wait a second. You said – you said that she was trapped here. Is that true?" Furona nodded. Tyr shut her eyes and sighed. Could that being of light that she had seen – could that have been Nayru? No, it was impossible. It couldn't be. But she couldn't deny that it all fit. She shook away the thought and looked back to the ceiling.

"What are those six shadowy figures? Who are they?"

Furona shook her heavy head. "I'm not sure. Nobody is."

"Do you know what those words say?"

"Nope. But… well, if you wait until after we eat, somebody else does."

Tyr became excited. "Who? Who knows what they say?"

Furona bared her teeth. "It can wait, child. All things can wait. Come on, now – I need to get this bird to Gregory."

She took the bird into her mouth again, and Tyr walked beside her. "Who's Gregory?"

Furona couldn't answer because of the bird, so Tyr just followed, trying to be patient. They walked into the meeting room, and Furona indicated the middle door out of the three. Tyr opened it for her, and followed her down a long, winding flight of steps. There was another door at the end, and Tyr opened it, gaping at the room that became visible to her.

There was a fairly large circular table in the centre of the room, which had an extremely high ceiling and was domed, like the room with the mirrors. Furona, however, walked right through the room, followed by an amazed Tyr. Furona nudged her, asking her to open the door she found herself standing in front of. When she did, a huge cloud of steam escaped, drifting up to the painted ceiling. Furona nudged her again, and held out the bird. Tyr took it in her hands, and Furona nodded at the man who was hurriedly stirring several pots of stew. She whispered, "Gregory," and pushed Tyr inside.

Tyr was immediately relieved when she saw the man's rabbit ears. It was the good natured, red haired man from before. She walked up to him nervously and held out the bird. His back was turned to her.

"Um…" He didn't hear her, and started chopping up some vegetables.

"Excuse me, Gregory…" This time he did hear, but he didn't turn around. "What's up? I'm kind of busy right now… if you want me to tell you a story, 'Pora, why don't you ask Eval?"

Tyr pulled on his sleeve, and he whirled around in surprise, and dropped the knife. "What? Oh, Tyr! Sorry, kiddo. I thought you were somebody else… well, what have we here?" She held out the bird, and he picked up his knife and took the bird carefully into his hands.

"Oh, this is a younger one. Perfect! Thank Furona for me, will you?"

And, without further ado, he pushed her gently out of the kitchen and slammed the door.

Tyr turned to Furona in amazement. "What *was* that?"

Furona bared her teeth. "That was Gregory. It's his turn to cook tonight – he whips up some wonderful dishes, but he's not so great at time management." She checked a little piece of paper nailed to the wall beside the door. "Oops, it's my turn tomorrow night. Maybe they'll let me skip, I always end up getting fur in the food…"

She trotted off, leaving Tyr to jog beside her. They climbed the stairs and came out in the meeting room. Furona turned to her.

"Well, kiddo, I'll have to be going. I have things I need to do. You can wander around, but don't open any doors with names painted on them, and don't touch anything if you don't know what it is. Also, please don't go into the mirror room again – I'm afraid you'll lose your willpower and touch a mirror. We've lost too many to curiosity already." She sniffed the air and bounded off, going through the door on the left.

Tyr was left alone in the meeting room, staring dejectedly into space. She wasn't sure which door to go through – Furona, the only person she really knew, had gone through the left; but she was busy. Maybe she should just avoid everybody and sit in the mirror room. But, no – Furona had asked her not to, and she respected Furona enough to obey her wishes.

Her mind was made up when she heard noise behind the left door, and it started to open. She raced through the right door and slammed it behind her just as the centaur woman clopped into the main room. She looked around slowly, then shrugged and went back through the door. She had been looking for Tyr, but had looked all over and not found her. The woman resolved to wait until the next meal, which would be very soon, and began to wander the honeycomb of chambers behind the left door, just as Tyr was now doing behind the right door.

Tyr walked silently through the halls, her bare feet cold on the stone floor. She slowed her breathing and turned herself outwards, concentrating entirely on her environment. She started drawing a map in her mind, and she memorized the appearance of the door leading to the meeting room, so that she would be able to find her way out in a pinch.

There was a single, long, winding hall behind that door, with many other doors leading off to other rooms on either side of Tyr. She followed the twists and turns of the main hall, tiptoeing along so as not to be heard. She saw about fifteen or so painted doors, and she wrote the names into her mind as she crept along. The first one she saw was on her right; the name on it was Rhianne. Tyr put her face to the door and closed her eyes, but there was no movement from within. Perhaps Rhianne was sleeping? She put it out of her head and kept walking. She saw more names as she turned corners and climbed staircases. Gregory's room was here, along with many other names she didn't know, including Marathi, Bartholomew, Ordia, Raen, and Ayran. She paused when she saw this last name. The simply painted word pulled at her somehow; she recognized that name. Ayran had been the one Eval had called upon for light. But which of the Maglar was Ayran? She wanted to meet this person, if only to find out which face went with that name. She had a funny feeling that this Ayran would turn out to be a worthwhile friend.

She passed a few more unmarked doors, and then came upon another person's room. She almost had to laugh, though; the letters were very blurry, so smeared that she couldn't read them. Tyr thought that the owner of the room must be a child, or practically illiterate; she remembered the boy with feathers and large yellow eyes, and smiled. She gave up trying to translate the word and kept going. She saw Eval's name painted on a door, and smiled a bit, still going. But then she stopped short. She rubbed her eyes, not sure of what she was seeing. She did a double take, and her mouth fell open.

Furona's name was also painted on the door, just under Eval's. What could this mean?

She stored the memory into her head to call it up later, and continued down the darkening hall. She realized she had been climbing most of the way, and wondered where she would end up. Suddenly, a door came out of the darkness and stared her in the face. She looked around, and saw that this, indeed, was the end of the hallway. She ignored the warning painted on the door and reached out for the doorhandle…

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

She didn't turn around, and crossed her arms over her chest. It was that idiot boy from before.

"You could get killed if you go through there."

Tyr turned to him, both eyes blazing. "Yeah, well, why don't you do us all a favour and go through there yourself?"

The boy winced, but he was smiling. "Ouch, that hurt. But seriously, Tyr…um, can I call you Tyr?"

"That's my name, I don't see why not."

"Well, uh, Tyr, I came looking for you to…um…apologize for what I did earlier."

She lifted her right eyebrow, the only human one she had left. Although her eyebrows had been burned off, the effect still had some effect.

"I'm sorry, because I didn't mean to…insult you or anything…what?"

Tyr was staring at him and almost laughing. He was nervous as hell and it showed – he was staring at his feet and shuffling around in one place. When he looked up, he saw the strange expression on Tyr's face, and it only added to his nerves.

"So, ah…could you, um…forgive me?"

Tyr snorted and pushed past him, speed walking down the corridor, not caring how much noise she made. Her dragon claws clicked loudly on the floor, as did her new rock – hard scales.

"Wait, Tyr! I'm sorry, I just…"

He ran after her, and jogged just behind her. "It's just…I'm the only dragon Maglar here, and I figured that we could…be friends…"

She spoke under her breath, and closed her eyes as she swept through the memorized corridor.

"Kid, if you think that just being a dragon Maglar makes you my friend, you're wrong. You are a living reminder of something I'd much rather forget, and so I'd much rather forget *you*."

He jogged a little faster, and she silently rejoiced when she saw the door at the end of the hall.

"Well, it's not my fault if I look like one of your old boyfriends or something…"

She cast a sideways glance at him, half amused, half outraged. "What the hell is a boyfriend?"

He blushed a bit. "You know…two people in love, but not married?"

"What's married? Where the hell are you from?"

He shook his head impatiently. "It doesn't matter. Married is…like Eval and Furona. Mated for life."

Tyr stopped short, and the boy ran into her. She angrily shoved him away, and he fell on the floor.

"WHAT? Eval and Furona are mated? Why didn't she tell me?"

The kid shrugged. "Maybe she didn't think it was important."

She whirled on him, and grabbed the neck of his shirt, pulling him slightly off the ground. "Is that why their names are painted on the same door? Because they're mates?"

He nodded, struggling a bit to breathe properly.

"Is anyone else here mated?"

He shook his head and grabbed her hand, which had tightened, trying to pull away. Her temper blazed.

"What is *with* you people?! Who arranges the mating partners?"

He choked out, "What? Arrange? Here you get to choose who you love."

She narrowed her eyes. "Is that so?" He nodded hurriedly, and she released him. He stood up and shook out his wings, wincing.

"You know, that hurt. Would you mind not doing it again?"

She snarled at him. "What makes you think I'm even going to *touch* you again? Get away from me."

With that last jab, she reached for the door, telling herself that she didn't care that the boy's eyes were sad, his shoulders were sagging, and his wings were lying limply against his back. Just before she disappeared through the door, he said, "You might want to start heading for the kitchen, we're eating right about now."

She didn't thank him, but just walked back into the meeting room, where she paced back and forth in a restless craze. They were mated! How could she not have seen it! All of the other must at least have mating arrangements, if they hadn't been carried out. She froze in shock. Did this mean that she would be mated to one of the men here? What if Eval mated her to that boy? She gritted her teeth and continued pacing. If they even tried to mate her to someone, she would run away. Even if she got lost and died, it would be better than being forced to stay here her whole life. After all, if there was one mated pair here, others were sure to follow. That was how it always worked, *always*.

She paced faster, working herself into a blind panic.

She would run away, soon. No, she would run now, while nobody cared to look for her. She sobbed. They would never look for her. Nobody cared even the slightest bit for her, except maybe Furona. But she hadn't told her she was mated! No, even Furona didn't care. But what about Eval? She remembered his understanding eyes, his kind smile. But even that had been a masquerade. He had insulted her by thinking she wasn't trustworthy. Tyr ran into the mirror room. There was the dark forest, beckoning to her. But there, also, was the fountain. She remembered the being of light at the bottom of it, and in desperation, she jumped into the water, squeezing through the crack and swimming towards the bottom.

But there was nothing there; the throne and being were gone, but the small shelter remained. She swam over and fingered one of the fish columns, marvelling at its beauty and wondering how it got down here. As she looked over the column, she noticed that one of the fish had a loose eye. She barely touched it, and saw that it was a button. Because she was running out of air, and she figured she had nothing to lose, she roughly shoved at the button, and it clicked shut. There was a second of silence.

Then the roar of falling water filled her ears. The fountain was being drained! The water swept her along, and she fell through the huge open drain in the middle of the floor, gasping for air. She held her breath and closed her eyes when she started falling, and only dared to open them a few feet into the fall. She looked down and saw pitch blackness; she realized she might have a long time to wait. She kept her nose plugged, but breathed in through her mouth, watching the walls of the tube she was in. They got darker and darker as she fell farther, and she began breathing more easily, but she held her breath again when the tunnel opened up into a huge chamber. She fell, farther and farther…and as she watched, it seemed to her that everything seemed to speed up somehow. She tumbled faster and faster through the air, and before her brain could register what was happening, the ground was rushing up before her, and everything went black.

***

Eval actually looked slightly angry, and Ayran was cowering before him. He couldn't remember being actually afraid for a long time – for a few hundred years, in fact. Eval's eyes blazed, and his mane seemed to be bristling more than usual.

"What do you mean, she ran away? What did you say to her, Ayran?"

"Well, uh…I told her you were mated to Furona, and she seemed to get upset."

"Why were you even *talking* to her in the first place?"

"I wanted to apologize, and…um…to let her know dinner was ready, and…hey, don't kill the messenger!"

Eval paced a bit, his hooves clicking on the floor. He whirled back towards Ayran.

"Do you know why I asked to be cursed with the unicorn's blood, Ayran?"

Ayran shook his head.

"I asked for the unicorn's blood because the unicorns of legend were wise beyond all imagination, and they knew the ways of the world and the magic contained within it. They knew the earth's forces, the colours of it all, the awesome power that was *life*."

Ayran gulped. "What does that have to do with anything, uh, sir?"

Eval glared down at him. "I hoped that, if I gained the wisdom of the unicorns, I could pass it on to others. I had hoped that, by having lived around me, you would have picked up on that wisdom, the wisdom to never say anything irrelevant."

"But, but…"

"Do not make excuses, boy."

"I'm not making excuses! It's just…I'm not sure she understood what I was saying. I mean, she seemed to think that we arranged our marriages, and she got all agitated and stared at me like I was crazy – "

"Which you are, boy, if you ask me." Furona padded into the huge banquet hall, joining in the conversation.

"I can't find Tyr anywhere, so I take it I'm free to assume this is *your* doing?" She smacked him with a huge paw.

"Well, I didn't mean to. I just…"

Eval and Furona shared a glance that spoke volumes. Ayran sighed, and rolled his eyes.

"All right, all right. We'll have to look for her. After all, she doesn't know her way around; how many places could she be hiding? Let's all split up, and someone ask Gregory to turn down the heat and just keep the food simmering for a while. Adds flavour, I guess."

Furona chuckled softly and watched them all divide into pairs to search for the new girl. When only she, Eval, and the centuarian woman were left in the banquet hall, she turned to go, but not before the centaur reached out and touched her head. Furona turned to face her, looking upwards, waving Eval onwards behind her back. She sat on her haunches and waved her tail in the air, watching the centaur watch Eval leave. Finally, the half horse turned her hooded, moss-green eyes that reflected the wisdom of the earth onto her old friend.

"Furona. This young one – she is trouble. Why have you brought her to us?"

"I told you before, kiddo. She's one of us. She's a Maglar, just like you and me. Well – like me, anyway."

The centaur raised a thick eyebrow. "Of course. I do not mean to question your decision, but I wonder about her. Will she not ask questions that we cannot answer? Will she not ask about the Hall of Mirrors?"

"Of course she will. She's a kid! It's natural for her to ask questions."

The woman nodded at the black panther sitting before her, licking her lips.

"Of course. Perhaps I have forgotten what it is to be a child."

Furona shook her furry head. "No, woman. Your kind is different. You never really *are* children."

"Hmm. I suppose not. Well then, Furona, I must be off. I believe I know where she is. The animals have been more talkative of late. Perhaps the rest of them will be returning soon."

"Perhaps. Good luck."

"I will not be needing it. Farewell."

Furona nodded, smiling beneath long whiskers as she watched the centaur prance lightly up the stairs, past Eval, who smiled as she passed. He waved to Furona, and she left the banquet hall, following him up the spiral stairs.

Maybe the centaur was right. Maybe life was returning to the world. Either way, she could afford to wait. For all she knew, she wouldn't die for many, many years to come.

***

Zelda spit out the leaf she had gingerly placed on her tongue, then continued spitting, wiping her mouth and complaining bitterly.

"Ugh, that was horrible! Navi, I thought you said those were edible!"

The fairy shrugged, but her shoulders were too small to make much of a difference.

"Well, sor – ry! It's not *my* fault! That one looks almost exactly like a thimbleberry leaf!"

"It's obviously not, now, isn't it? I guess your memory's a bit rusty, eh?"

"Well, probably, considering I've been Goddess – knows – where for the last…well, I don't really know how long I've been gone." She zoomed around a sprouting poplar tree, thinking. "In fact, I can hardly even remember what's been happening for the past little while. But Hyrule seems a lot different than I remember…"

Zelda snorted at Navi. "What, you have amnesia now? I wouldn't argue, considering we've both come close to being poisoned under your direction! Poor Kawhin is still losing his soup from last night… at least, I think he is…Kawhin! Kawhin, where are you?"

All she got in reply was a loud retching noise. She winced and turned to Navi. "Yep, he is. But don't you get it, Navi?"

Navi jammed her hands between her miniscule ribs and her hips, forcing herself not to cry out.

"What? What don't I get? Just explain it to me. Why are there so many trees around here, and different streams, and less clouds in the sky, huh?"

"Navi, we…that is to say, Link and I…" Her throat caught for a moment. "We went through a time portal. We're in Hyrule, yes, but a few thousand years in the past. That's why the plants are different, and why Kawhin can't talk out loud…that's also why the days are longer here, and why there are seven moons instead of just one. But I still can't figure the last two out…I mean, the plants would have changed over time, and the Sheikah will learn to talk in however many years, but how could the days be longer? And how could a *moon* be destroyed, or brought down to earth, let alone six moons?"

Navi shook her small head, shaking back her tiny mane of glowing blue hair. "I don't know, Zelda, but it sorta makes sense. We'll figure it out eventually."

The shadow grew behind Zelda's eyes as she whispered, "Eventually." Navi shivered at the cold gust of wind that blew when she spoke, feeling that the worst was yet to come. She fluttered down to Zelda's shoulder, hanging onto her hair as she shifted so that she was hugging her knees to her chest. Navi jumped over to Zelda's knees, lifting up the fringe of hair that had fallen in front of Zelda's face. "Zelda? What's wrong, Zelda?"

She sniffled, and Navi stared at her tears, amazed. She drew in a shaky breath and spoke in a shuddering, quiet voice, quite unlike the Zelda that Navi knew.

"It's just…I can't…I don't know. I just feel like this can't be *it*. Link can't be dead, not yet. He has to help us get out of this time!"

Kawhin staggered out of a bush, the green tinge in his face having faded somewhat.

Another piece of the Prophecies has come into play. Don't you see? 'The Lovers trapped here, until Death visits their door?' It all fits.

"I don't know. I just have this feeling, Kawhin, and my feelings have never been wrong before…" Zelda sighed, and turned her gaze to the sky, squinting at an imagined shape.

"It's just that lately… ever since Link… ah… well, it's these dreams I've been having."

What are your dreams like, Zelda?

She shook her head, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"There's not much to them. I'm just see myself lying there, asleep, and then there's this thing that comes… it's a – well, I think…but it's stupid, really…"

Navi piped up. "Come on, Zelda, we're your friends. You know you can tell us anything."

She closed her eyes slowly, then opened them again, staring off at nothing.

"I think it's an angel. An angel comes to me while I'm sleeping and watches over me… but it can't be an angel, because it's so angry and sad, but then it's wise and ancient all at once. But the dream ends as soon as the sun starts coming up, and the angel leaves."

Kawhin cocked an eyebrow, but Navi zoomed through the air.

"You know, I've always thought there were such things as angels. Nice thing to believe in, to tell you the truth."

Zelda laughed quietly at herself, and the shadow inside her grew even more.

"Well, we'd better eat something before we all die of hunger. How about grass? Is *that* safe to eat?"

Navi half-laughed, half-choked. "Well, if you're desperate…but I guess so, since I can't recognize anything else…"

Kawhin stared at the ground. Oh, the joys of grass. Yum yum.

Zelda ripped up a handful with false gleefulness. "Well, dig in, guys. Eat as much as you want!"

Navi managed to pull up a single blade, with some effort, and started munching, slowly consuming the leaf. Kawhin put on a fake smile and tore up a clump of dirt for himself, picking the grass blades from it one by one.

The sun was sinking below the distant horizon when Zelda shivered. "Anyone know where we can find wood?"

***

"AAAAAAAGH!"

Its mutilated hands flailed about, smashing everything in its tent to the ground, where the dishes and fine things lay broken, in shattered pieces.

"RRRRAAARRR!"

It blindly lashed out with its wings, overturning tables and sending its sword and scabbard flying to the ground.

"NNNOOOO!"

Its fist encountered the polished surface of its mirror. It stared at itself for an instant, stared into its own eyes, at its stolen face, before it screamed aloud and smashed the mirror, throwing it to the ground. The glass pieces lay there, defenceless. It stared at them, chest heaving, and slowly bent down, its rage dissipating. It touched the shattered glass, turning over the pieces one by one, concentrating like a small child. It shut out the world and drew into its own mind, only concentrating on the glass pieces. It didn't think about what it was doing, it didn't know anything existed beyond those glass shards. It didn't even hear Yehrutte's impatient shouting at the flap of its tent.

All it knew were the glass pieces, and it had no idea why.

"Urian! What are you *doing* in there? Come out, come out now!"

Urian fingered the glass again, and a great weight settled upon its entire body. Its eyes rolled up as it shut them, willing it all to fall away and leave it alone with its small pieces of glass, leave it be so it could turn them over and set them in their right places, one by one by one.

However, the world refused to just disappear, no matter how much it wished for it, and Yehrutte stormed into the tent, stopping short when he saw all of the broken things. He stared at his creation, which was squatting down close to the floor, toying with something there. Yehrutte leaned over its shoulder, and stared at the glass pieces. He looked at Urian, back at the glass, then at Urian again, unable to understand. What was wrong with Urian? It was too withdrawn, too prone to long silences and speaking only when needed. Those were not the qualities of a general, and certainly not the qualities Yehrutte had forced into Urian's brain. Was it possible that Urian was defying the deep mind magic that he had cursed it with?

"Get up, Urian. You are needed outside. This is no time to be dawdling in childish things."

Urian didn't move.

"I said, get up! Get up, now! A runner has come from the Master, and you must be there to meet him! The Master is eager to hear what you are like, what the newest addition has done so far."

Urian fiddled with another piece of glass. Yehrutte became angry, and reached down and knocked the shard out of its fingers.

"Urian, I am not asking you. I order you, get up, now."

The creature stood up, folding its wings, and marched out of the tent, hiding its burning rage. How could Yehrutte even *dare* to give it a direct order, when it had shown him up in front of the entire horde? It held its head high, feeling a sneaking sense of pride when the horde looked upon it with fear, bordering on respect. It kept its wings cautiously folded, ignoring Yehrutte's whining at its back, and approached the runner.

It was obviously an alien to their horde. It looked like some strange lizard, armed with sword and shield, and caped. Its eyes were slightly intelligent, but Urian didn't care. It was just a worthless soldier, expendable, just like the rest. It stared down at the lizard, smiling just a bit. It cowered, just a bit, but straightened up when Yehrutte arrived, and began rattling off an obviously memorized little speech.

"I am the runner Darols of the Master's mighty army. Under orders from the Master, I have arrived here to supervise your movements and activities. State your movements over the past month and any new developments." He looked up at Urian, clearly impressed and intimidated. "Including where you found this creature." He reached out to run a scaly claw over Urian's arm, but Urian jerked back, staring at him with its strange eyes. It snarled. "Do not touch me. I allow no one to touch me."

The lizard snarled back, slightly more boldly. "I can do whatever I wish. I am a member of the army of the Master."

Urian narrowed its eyes coldly, and spread its wings in a flash. "Have you ever actually *seen* the Master?"

Darols managed to look offended and scared at the same time, backing away from Urian's massive wings. "Of course I have! Once or twice…well…actually, no, I haven't."

The creature opposite from him smiled. "Good." With that, it twitched a muscle in its wing, cuffing Darols over the head. He fell face first, his eyes rolling up and his shield falling amid the dust. Urian turned to Yehrutte, who was outraged.

"What do you think you're doing? That was a runner from the Master! How dare you – "

Urian never found out what it dared to do. It swiftly knocked Yehrutte onto his behind, and kicked him under the chin. Yehrutte fell backwards, and Urian turned to the horde in the gathering silence.

"I'm sick of listening to him give me stupid orders, and the only way I'll ever listen to the Master is if he or she actually meets me face to face and manages to impress me." It turned to his Lieutenant.

"Inriar. Is the horde ready to travel?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes, but we have not had anything to eat." The entire group, excluding Urian and Inriar, stared hungrily at Yehrutte and the runner. Urian turned away, folding its wings across its back and its arms across its chest.

"Fine. But leave Yehrutte. If you try to consume him, the magic in his body will destroy you. And make sure you actually kill the runner before you go into a feeding frenzy."

It walked to the edge of the circle of grass, staring off at the almost cloudless sky and shutting out the cries of joy and muffled growling behind it. Thoughts sprang unbidden into its head. Why had it suddenly decided to take command? Well, that was easy. Yehrutte was exercising too much control over it, and it had paid him back. What was it going to do with the horde? That wasn't so simple. They left an easily followed trail wherever they went, and it didn't want to be followed – then again, it couldn't just leave them. They would become wild and destroy the countryside, and it refused to allow that to happen. Besides, they could come in useful…and they feared it. But then, why had it allowed the runner to be killed? Well, since he had never actually seen the Master, and the Master had never seen him, the Master probably wouldn't know, or even care. There were thousands more, one dead wouldn't make much of a difference in their ranks.

When the sounds behind it abruptly ceased, Urian spread its wings and let out a cry like a wounded eagle. The winged Stalfos, the Waeuls, took to the air, and Urian was tempted to join them, until it remembered the horse. The beautiful horse with the broken spirit; it could not leave her behind. It whistled, and the horse came trotting to it. It was surprised by this – it had expected more fire to be in her eyes, more jauntiness to be in her steps. Oh well. It mounted her and signalled to the half animals, the Boruns, and slapped the reins on the horse's back, indicating that she move forward. It looked back, and saw that they were not leaving a huge trail of dead grass. It smiled to itself – another plus – and clicked its tongue, bringing the horse up to a fast walk. The Boruns jogged behind it, and the Waeuls circled overhead. It signalled to one, who nudged the others, and descended upon the Boruns, each Waeul picking up one Borun and taking to the air again. However, one of the Boruns was left without a flying partner – Inriar's designated partner had been the former Lieutenant, and he had been killed by Urian. She jogged along after her new leader and its horse, actually finding that she enjoyed the sight of Urian galloping off into the sunset, its wings spread wide. Urian looked back and saw her jogging; it slowed the horse and gestured to her, pulling her on to the mare's back. It pushed the reins into her hands and clicked its tongue, sending the horse back into the fast walk. It watched the army, its army, march west in front of it, standing still amid the tailwind that played with the feathers on its wings and its blonde hair. Then it smiled a bit and took to the skies, flying above the clouds and through them, staring up at the seven moons that were approaching the quarter phase of the lunar cycle.

It shouted, "Freedom!" and vaguely heard the army answering it from far away, as if in a dream. But its joy was only slight, and it thought that all it *could* feel was anger. So it settled for being angry – it was better than not feeling at all – and dove in and out of the clouds, a dolphin playing in the sea of air and sky.

***

Woohoo! I got *one* new review over the summer! Yay! Well, okay, that was a little sarcastic, but I was hoping for some more response.

Anyway, thanks goes out to Jaclyn; thanks very much for the good review. Also, many thanks to H7, who also reviewed, and is a constant critic and good friend. It's all good, all the time.

And DarkDragon changed her name to Chaotic Boredom while I was gone! It's so hard to keep track of these things lately! And catching jellyfish in rivers sounds fun. Apparently you can pick up the clear ones without getting hurt. Does anybody know how jellyfish can be alive without brains or gills and stuff like that? Does anyone want to clue me in here? I asked almost everybody I know, and nobody can answer me.

Also, TO ANY CONSTANT READERS, which I hope would be just about everybody, please go back and check out the revamped version of the first four parts! Part five coming soon – okay, I don't know exactly *how* soon, I hit another block…

In The NEXT Chapter: Tyr has fun in the fountain, Urian searches for its purpose in life, and Zelda, Kawhin and Navi screw around some more and provide comic relief. And maybe something else, but I'm not quite sure, so I won't put that here.

Fav Song: Weapon by Matthew Good

Fanfic Pick: The X-Men Go To Canada by Chaotic Boredom (GO READ IT NOW)

My brain is melting, ah, it's melting!

-Shawshank (E-mail me, I'm bored)