Chapter 3: Forbidden Tongue

"Damn you!" an eight-foot tall Lizalfos roared, slashing its claws at its foe. "How dare you talk about Master in that fashion!"

The smaller Lizalfos flew backward, blood flying from its face and side. It lay in a heap for awhile before struggling to its knees. Immediately the larger lizard charged and smacked the smaller one clear across the room. Before it could move this time, the larger one was upon it, hacking away mercilessly.

Sean stood in a corner with his arms crossed, his icy eyes giving a non-concerned expression instead of the fear he would've otherwise shown. This happened everyday and there was always a replacement until the wounded could return to duty, if at all. He never once had shown concern to these creatures for it was they that had so mercilessly killed his friends and family. Sean closed his eyes, the smell of blood filling his nostrils. It would soon be time to stop this. Before you know it, there'll be a feeding frenzy.

"Uchawxk, roub ak if," Sean said stepping from the wall and towards the lizards.

All the Lizalfos froze and stared at him in awe, as well as shock. The large Lizalfos stood with his eyes fixed on Sean, ragged red flesh hanging from his teeth and jaws. He approached Sean, covering him with his shadow.

"What did you just say?" he asked, apparently he had mastered not to hold his s's, and knew full well what Sean had said.

"I just said, 'break it up'," Sean answered, not liking the reptile standing that close.

"You just spoke in our tongue," he said, a slight hissing sound in his voice.

"So?" Sean crossed his arms, his icy eyes peeking out from behind his frost white hair. He acted like it was no big deal, but the truth was that he didn't know what language he had just spoken in.

"How could you do so? Only our Master can speak it apart from us." The other lizards hissed in approval.

"I don't know. It just came out."

The Lizalfos stood stone still for a moment and then bowed his head to him.

"Any others who can speak our tongue are worthy of our respect," he said.

A few of the lizards nodded slightly and others growled. The large one seemed to stick with its race's code, but most had seemed to have abandoned it after siding with Link.

Sean didn't know what to think, he was getting confused and he didn't like this, and this 'code' of theirs didn't mean much to him either.

"Why did you kill my family?" Sean asked as the lizard lifted his head.

"We just follow orders; not because we want to, but because we have to," he replied, "and it was not I who slew your brethren."

"That'ssss jusssst what you ssssay," a smaller lizard hissed suddenly, separating itself from the crowd of scaled bodies. "Jusssst becausssse thissss sssslave can sssspeak our tongue doessssn't mean we have to repent for everything. He issss jusssst a sssslave."

"That may be," the large Lizalfos answered towering over the smaller one, blood dripping from his jaws. "That just means we can do him no harm, but then you are not one and so not under the protection Master has placed upon them."

With that, the larger lizard was on the smaller, ripping its sorry carcass to ribbons. Sean stood by watching. Maybe this large lizard wasn't so bad, but he could never forgive the lot of them for what they had done.

He headed towards the body of the first lizard that was attacked. It was —of course— dead and the only way he knew it had been a Lizalfos was because he had seen it before it became mince meat. He bet that's what the other looked like by now, and deemed it best not to watch.

A Lizalfos, only about as tall as Sean himself, broke away from the crowd. In its backward trek for the door, it bumped into a much taller lizard's leg. It cringed back as the larger hissed, "Watch where you are going, pipssssqueak, or I'll kill you next time." Head low, the small Lizalfos backed out the door unnoticed by the rest of the chamber's population. It was gone only a few minutes.

Sean looked up as the door slammed open —all lizards halting their activities, but still talking in hushed hisses— and there stood the same Moblin from earlier that morning; the small lizard scampering in on all fours to vanish quickly from sight. The Moblin was smiling like it did when it knew it was going to have a new torture victim.

"Slave," its deep voice bellowed, "Master wishes to see you."

All sound in the room stopped. Nobody went to see their Master, he came to you. If he asked you to come to him, it was either something very special or something very bad.

Slowly Sean stood and the lizards parted a path to the door, their yellow cat eyes watching him. Some were worried for him and others wished the Master would separate his head from his body. Their claws clicked on the ground in agitation, scaled tails rubbing against one another for the sake of moving. Most of the Lizalfos were fidgeting in the silence that had swamped the room at the mention of their Master.

After Sean passed it, the Moblin glared in at all the Lizalfos with a muttered, "Worthless Goddess forsaken bastards," and slammed the doors shut.

The Moblin led Sean to two large doors at the end of a hallway he had never been down before. With a huge hand, it opened one of the doors; it squeaking softly on its hinges, much to the Moblin's distaste.

"Up the stairs, slave," it snapped, using the handle of its whip to push Sean into the stairwell that lay behind. "Personally, I hope you never descend those steps."

With that, it slammed the door shut; Sean staring at the door for a few moments, his eyes bright with slight fear as the fire light from the hall disappeared. The cold he had felt in his heart was gone and he was an innocent young boy again. He glanced back up the stairs and clambered up them on all fours —since they were slightly steep— towards the light above him. At the top were just a few more halls, but these were larger and more elaborate in decoration —mostly with dragons— though they were all black as well. Just then, a creature Sean had never seen before rounded a corner and he hid behind a wall.

"It's alright, kid," he heard a gentle male voice say. "I'm not here to hurt you."

Sean slowly peeked around the corner before his body followed him. There the creature stood, obviously a male. It was roughly as tall as Link was and age was undeterminable. Its skin was a light shade a blue and a few splotches a darker blue were randomly spotted allover its body. A long tail-like thing hung down from the back of its skull and the tip was solid dark blue.

Huge blade shaped fins sprouted from its wrists and the sharp edges glistened in the torchlight. It had webbing between its fingers and toes and it had solid black eyes that shone like the surface of the ocean in the sun. Its build was like Link's, tall, thin, but strong; the lines of its muscles in its chest and arms were well defined. The only piece of clothing the creature wore was a strip of cloth that hung down past its knees in the front and back and a little around the sides; held up by a large buckled belt. It was easy to tell that the creature wasn't too fond of it, but wore it regardless.

"What exactly are you?" Sean asked, looking the creature up and down, but staying in the safety of his corner.

"I'm a Zora. Link wiped most of us out a long time ago," he answered. "My name's Reo. What's yours?"

"Sean," he answered.

"Sean," Reo repeated. "Good name. Listen, don't tell Master Link about this. Slaves aren't supposed to know the names of anyone."

"I know."

Reo motioned for Sean to follow him and began to lead him down the hall, neither made a sound. After awhile, Reo spoke.

"You might already know this, but not everyone here is evil, though most are. I want nothing more to get out of this place. I've been here for as long as I can remember. Before my father died, he'd tell me on how beautiful the oceans were and how he'd get us both out so he could show me. Well, eventually, Link found out and massacred my father right in front of my eyes.

"Since then, he put me up here so he could keep an eye on me, so I'd never try to escape again." Reo trailed off, his black eyes shining with sorrow with the memory.

"I've only been here five years," Sean said softly. "Before, I lived with my father in a rebel camp; Link had killed my mother long ago, or so my father says. My dad would tell me about her since I didn't remember anything about her. Then Link found us, and I didn't know it was him at the time, but I could feel the evil that runs in his blood. He sent his Lizalfos down on us and took me. I don't know what he did to the survivors after I left, but I know they're all dead, even my father." He turned his head away and looked at the ground.

"Sorry to hear that," Reo said softly, staring at the ground himself. "Many here have horrible memories about what Link has done to them. Some are the only ones left of their families that have been forced to watch the others die. There's so much more that I dare not say." He tightened his jaws, eyes glancing around to make sure no one was following. "Are you interested in getting out of this living hell?"

Sean nodded, though his mind was still on the memories of his father.

"That's not going to be easy, but there's another up here that you should know about." Reo stopped and pulled Sean closer to him so he wouldn't have to talk very loud. "Her name's Lilith. She's a Gerudo that serves Link herself. In a way, that's a privilege and a curse. I think he fancies her, but she doesn't like him much. Some of the other Gerudos like him, but that's not important. She wants out of here, like us, and you might get to speak with her if you walk out of Link's room. Not many do." He stole a glance at Sean's hair. "White hair," he muttered softly.

"Huh?"

"It's nothing," Reo covered quickly as they began walking again, picking up the pace.

Sean followed, but slightly confused as to why Reo had muttered about his hair.

"Master Link's patience only lasts so long, so if you value breathing, I suggest we walk faster. If you get there when it runs out, he will kill you without a second thought. That's how he burns off steam and he's got a hell of a lot of it too."

Sean nodded, intent of listening to what the Zora said, and kept up with Reo all the way down the hall. They soon came to a halt in front of the largest and most engraved doors Sean had ever seen. Dragons and such soared over its smooth surface. Reo sighed and looked down at the young boy.

"This is as far as I go," he said, looking at the door in some strange longing. "Lilith will walk you back if you live. I will point her out to you though."

Sean stepped back as Reo grabbed the handle of one of the large doors and heaved it open; the door not even making a sound on the floor, despite its large size. The Zora then stepped back and let out a sigh.

"That door isn't exactly heavy, but it's murder to move," he said with a slight laugh. "And to think Link can open it effortlessly with one hand, and even throw them open without even thinking about it." Reo shook his head. "He's got some insane strength for a normal Hylian."

Sean gave a confused look up at Reo. "Hylian?"

"Yeah," he answered with a sigh. "He's not from Termina like you and me. He's from Hyrule."

"I thought Hyrule was just a legendary place," Sean whispered, "that was bestowed with the power of the Goddesses."

"Hyrule is a very real place, not the Golden Land of childhood myths. Many of the creatures you see in this fortress, which are not slaves, are from Hyrule. No one has ever gone there though from here, but don't —I mean don't! — ask Link about Hyrule or anything else along those lines. He will kill you! Then he'll wonder where you found that out, and that'll lead him to me and Lilith. Even better, don't say anything at all!" the Zora said in a harsh whisper, eyes glancing around for any sign that Link had heard him.

"Unless he talks to you, you answer him with what he wants to hear; whether you think it's right or not. Don't bother giving excuses, he can see right through them." Reo stopped to catch his breath. "I'm only trying to warn you. Only two out of every thousand walk back out alive."

Both peeked out from behind the massive door to see into an unearthly large room. The whole interior was black, even the furniture, but brightly lit by a gigantic bay view-like window. Several doors littered the walls on either side of the chamber, but they were all closed and kept their destinations secret. A large black table stretched almost the entire length of the room, a large black throne seated near the side closest to the door.

Standing in front of the window was the form of Link and next to him, one of a woman. A long yellow skirt hung from her hips and she wore a matching yellow top. She had a figure that would make any other woman jealous. Her long fire-red hair was pulled back in a ponytail that fell to the middle of her back; a yellow gem embedded in her hair tie. Two golden armbands were on her upper arms, each with engravings that could not be determined from a distance. She had clear sea-green eyes —instead of the standard amber— and her skin was very tan. Just by looking at her, it would be hard to see why any man would not want her.

Sean watched Link and the woman. Their lips were moving as they talked but he could not hear the words.

"That woman there's Lilith," Reo whispered and Sean obliviously nodded.

The boy's blood froze in his veins when he saw Link blink and his eyes land on him. Links said something to Lilith, who exited the room through a different door and Sean felt Reo's hand against his back and give him a slight push into the room. He looked back at the Zora who mouthed "good luck" to him and disappeared down the hall.

"The lizard boy," he heard Link's voice say, that froze his blood and caused him to turn around. "Causing trouble are we?"

Sean could see in Link's eyes that he had calmed down a bit since earlier that morning, but the fire still raged.

"No, sir," he answered, staring at the floor.

"I see." Link was walking in circles around Sean. "So you speaking a forbidden language means nothing to you?"

Sean only raised his eyes enough to lock with Link's; he knew.

An amused look spread over Link's face. "So it does," he said, still circling the boy, hands folded behind his back. "I suppose I shouldn't ask you 'how' since it's so obvious, but I don't want to hear you speak another word in it again unless putting your life in danger is some sort of thrill for you."

"Yes, sir," Sean said softly, repeatedly praying for his life.

"I'm letting you slide with a warning this time since I see no advantage in killing you," Link said stopping so Sean was between him and the open door. "Now get out, but if you come up those stairs a second time, I guarantee that you won't be going back down."

"Yes, sir," Sean said, keeping his head low and walking quickly out of the room.

He didn't stop walking, even to the sudden crash of the large door being slammed shut. He sunk to the ground when he rounded a corner and gave an exhausted sigh. He was so tense right there that he thought Link might lecture him or even kill him, but instead Link simply warned him and sent him on his way.

"You're one lucky kid," a female voice said, causing Sean to jump and look around.

There, a little way away from him, stood Lilith; an impressed look on her face. She had her arms crossed and was leaning against the wall. She straightened herself and came up next to Sean and helped him off the floor.

"You must be Lilith," he said, trying to catch his breath.

"That's right and you're Sean. Reo was just telling me about you," she replied. "Well we should be moving. Master Link doesn't like a lot of talking up here."

"Is that why he stays up here?" Sean asked.

"Yes, in one way or another. It's a lot more peaceful here than downstairs with all that noise. I guess you can relate. You spend your days with the Lizalfos."

"I just have to make sure they don't start a war amongst themselves. You get used to it after awhile though," Sean muttered.

"I bet and I know. Before I was brought here, I was a pirate, along with all my sisters; sailing the seas and braving storms and Gyorgs, lots of dangers. I come here and I don't get to do anything. Life is extremely boring here and I want adventure again, but as long as I stay here, I won't get one. That's why I want out and Reo told me you want out because you just can't stand it anymore," Lilith said.

"That's right," Sean replied. "I'll come back one day and kill them all."

"Who?"

"All who put me in this mess, especially the Lizalfos. Those murderous bastards deserve to burn."

"Not all the lizards are bad, Sean," Lilith said softly as they walked. "The largest one respects you."

"He does?" Sean asked in a somewhat disgusted tone.

"Yes. Not sure why though, but I have noticed that every time another lizard says something bad about you, he's on them in less than a second."

"I have noticed that," he muttered.

"Well this is where we depart," the Gerudo said stopping at the top of the stairwell. "Just try to get used to the Lizalfos, Sean," she said as he went down the steps. "To be honest, there are creatures out there worse than them."