Chapter 15: Burns and Secrets
The light of the sun through the curtained window made the undersides of Suto's eyelids glow red. He groaned, flopping his arm up over his eyes. His head was throbbing and the blood running through his back made it pulsate against the sheets in the rhythm of his heart.
"Are you awake, my young master?"
Suto stopped, arm still over face. He didn't recognize the voice. It sounded hissed and deep throated, unnatural to the creature from which it came from. His hand moved to rest on his forehead and he opened his eyes groggily to look to his right.
In a chair beside him sat the tall Lizalfos. He was seated somewhat awkwardly in the polished wooden chair; the back of the chair at his side and tail flopped over the edge, being that the lizard's tail-bone was not made to sit in a chair furnished for the humanoid Termians.
"Where's dad?" Suto asked, his vocal cords not yet fully operational and causing his voice to sound a little raspy.
"He is going about his duties, my young master," Thade answered.
Suto closed his eyes, face twisted in response to the pain of his forehead. He could barely remember what had happened the day before. He knew he was in Link's bedchamber, he could smell his father's scent on the pillows and sheets. He barely remembered the powerful, but gentle arms that had brought him here. The pain of his headache soon pushed away his memories and he gritted his teeth together.
"You need water, my master. Shall I bring it to you?"
Suto shook his head, opening his eyes as best he could. "I'm coming."
Thade gave a nod, not any where ready to protest, and stood from the chair; holding a clawed hand out to Suto to give him assistance.
Absent mindedly, Suto grabbed onto the scaled hand and felt himself get pulled right out of the bed. The giant lizard set him on his bare feet, but stayed near to act as a support.
"Can you carry me?" Suto asked, only half aware of his surrounding world and what he was doing.
Thade sighed, but didn't object. He slid his hands underneath the boy's arms and lifted him up and sat him stomach down on his shoulder; careful to avoid the boy's back. Suto was still extremely tired and wrapped his arms around the lizard's saurian neck; attempting to stay on and just giving the Lizalfos an absent-minded hug. Thade didn't give this a thought and took the boy from the room, golden eyes drifting to gaze at the boy's injured back now and again. Bringing the boy to the main chamber, Thade set Suto on the large black central table.
Suto blinked sleepily, the sunlight a lot stronger in this chamber than in the bedroom. He rubbed his eyes, somewhat alarmed when Thade pressed a cold, wet, cloth against his forehead; though it did feel nice.
"Where did the water come from?" he asked.
"One of your creatures brought it," Thade replied, making the water run over Suto's face to cool him down.
"Creatures?"
In response to Suto's question, a slithering, scraping, sound suddenly picked up behind the boy somewhere. From around the other side of the table, one of the small worms from Volvagia's attack came into sight. Its powerful body muscles flexed the spikes of its belly to move it across the ground as if it had legs. Its long body undulated side to side, much like a snake, and coiled to a stop before its Master.
The memory of that dusty battle came flooding back to Suto. The terror . . . the fire . . . the pain. Suddenly, Suto felt that as if a needle had been jabbed into his brain from the base of his skull. The burning . . . He remembered the burning. His hand slowly moved to his back, fearing what it might find. His fingers touched the inflamed skin and he pulled them away, holding back his pained yowl.
Without even giving a word of explanation, Suto bolted from the table and back into the bedchamber for the full body mirror that was on the wall. Standing in front of it, Suto saw someone else looking back at him from on the other side of the glass. It was a small boy with tangled reddish-brown hair, golden-green eyes, and small pointed ears. This boy was deathly thin, ribs clearly visible as the skin rolled over them with each breath.
This was him. This was a boy named Suto who was none other than the only surviving child of a sadist named Link.
Suto could've laughed or cried. He didn't know which one was better to do. Normally, one would think that a person such as Suto, being Link's son, would look a lot healthier, but alas that wasn't so. Suto was treated the same as everyone else; left to find a small corner to curl up and die in. Suto stared at the floor, but glanced back up at himself in the reflective glass. There had been a reason as to why he had come back in here.
Though hesitating, Suto turned around enough to see himself clearly from over his shoulder. What he saw shocked him. He wasn't expecting it. There was the crest in his flesh, made from the burned, dead skin. The skin surrounding the scar was reddened and flaking; it also burned. In some places, infection puss or liquid seeped from the cracks of the partially dead flesh; he had opened the cracks in his sleep.
Suto bit his lip, turning his head from the mirror, and fell to his knees; shoulders hunched to his ears. He squeezed his eyes shut, tears pushing their way out and falling to the smooth stone floor. So this was the result of all that burning pain he had gone through. He didn't recall his father even showing an ounce of sympathy. He remembered getting a glance at his father of him standing while Suto withered in pain.
"Young master," he heard Thade say. "You shouldn't run like that." The worm had come up next to Suto, three blue eyes glistening with concern. "Let me treat and mend your wound, my master. You will feel better."
Wiping his nose dry on his arm, Suto stood up, the worm following behind him as the boy went over to Thade. Scaled hand on his shoulder, Suto allowed himself to be steered by the Lizalfos to their destination.
"What are you doing now?" Suto asked, chin resting on his arms which were folded before him.
"Cleaning the infections, young master," Thade replied, uncorking a bottle with his claws.
Some blankets had been retrieved and placed on the table and Suto laid stomach down on them.
"This may sting a little, but don't worry."
"What are you going to put on me?"
"Nothing more than some red potion, my young master. You don't always have to ingest one to benefit its healing powers." Not allowing for Suto to reply, Thade poured a little on the boy's back.
Suto clenched his fists and squeezed his eyes shut as the potion fizzed on his skin. After a while, the stinging of the potion made his back feel better; numbing many itches.
Thade was careful when he wiped away the foaming ooze. The wounded flesh was still very tender and easily torn. He re-corked the potion bottle and handed it to the mouth of the worm, which slithered off to put it away. He then placed a nearby damp towel on Suto's back to help cool the burned skin.
"Burns inflicted by magical fire take a much longer time to heal than normal burns. You are lucky to have survived, my young master." Thade gently compressed the wet towel on Suto's burnt back. "Magic burns usually eat away at the victim's body in just a few hours." He felt Suto tense up under the towel. "Don't worry, my young master. This burn won't be able to hurt you anymore. Soon it will only be able to heal itself."
Suto sighed, slightly alarmed from what Thade had said, but was also enjoying the cool dampness on his back. He made himself a little more comfortable. "Why are you taking care of me?"
"My lord requested it of me to tend to your needs until your strength has fully returned, my young master."
"So dad actually does care about me . . . a little," Suto said with a sigh.
"He cares for you more than you know."
Suto lifted his head and turned around until he could glance at Thade, without moving his back. Thade's golden cat eyes didn't look at him or acknowledge that Suto had moved and was looking at him. He simply continued to press on the towel until the coolness was the water turned hot with Suto's body heat.
Once this was done, he removed it and placed a dry one in its place. The roughness of the towel against his tender skin caused Suto to hiss with the scratchy pain. It didn't help him when Thade pressed on it in the same manner as the wet one.
"Now, if you will be as to so kind, please sit up, my young master," Thade said, Suto obeying.
"What now?" Suto asked sleepily, laying down having made him drowsy.
"Now, my young master, I bandage up your wound and the process that I just completed will be done daily until the burn begins to heal on its own."
"I have to go through this again?"
"Yes, my young master. Your burn must be soaked in cold water daily to prevent it from dissolving your skin."
"I thought that you said it couldn't do that," Suto inquired, turning his head towards Thade.
"If this procedure is done daily, than it will not, my young master," Thade answered calmly, taking a few rolls of bandages that the worm had brought.
Suto said nothing and looked away, finding his gaze on the small worm that was aiding Thade. Though this was only the second time he's ever set eyes on one of them, he still was not used to their presence, or appearance. Their three blue eyes which could look around independently from the others, very much unlike any creature Suto had ever seen before. Their needle teeth that stuck out of the worn smooth lips at awkward angles, from being bashed by rocks, and looked very weak from being thin, but appearances can be deceiving. Their strange body spikes which could like legs above or under the dirt, giving them the appearance of a huge carnivorous millipede. What was the purpose of that finned tail?
"Young master, please lift your arms."
Suto did so without even knowing it (his mind having gone elsewhere) and Thade proceeded to wrap the bandages around the boy's torso and shoulders; the bandages looking somewhat like a shirt.
"You may lower your arms, my young master."
Suto did so, his mind returning to the world surrounding him from deep thought. The bandages felt hot and itchy against his skin and he began scratching at them, but jumped when Thade's clawed hand grabbed his.
"Do not scratch at them, young master. You will loosen them and the burn will be left with nothing to protect it."
Thade's hand left Suto's, and the boy's dropped to his side.
"This is something that all Masters go through. You are suffering nothing different than what your father went through."
"But this crest is so much bigger than dad's."
"That is because the largest monster has sided with you, young master, and therefore its crest could not fit merely on your arm." Thade paused for a moment. "Has my Lord ever told you about a man named Ganondorf?" The lizard knelt down before the boy, as Suto shook his head.
"I see," Thade whispered, glancing off to the side momentarily. "I expected as much." His golden eyes found Suto's golden-green ones. "Your father has possessed the most profound hatred for a man named Ganondorf that I have ever seen. Even with being the cause of this man's death, my Lord still wishes to condemn his soul to a fate far worse than hell, but that aside.
"Long before your birth, and even your father's, I was a soldier in the Gerudo King's armies. He had long exterminated my clan and forced me to his cause. Some years later, I met your father while he was still on the side of good…but his eyes never fooled me for a second." Thade made sure Suto was still listening, which the boy was intently. "If you asked for my opinion, young master, your father was long on the side of darkness though his body walked within the light."
"And what does Ganondorf have to with this?" Suto asked, beginning to feel confused about what Thade was saying about Link.
"I apologize, my young master. I began to ramble, though all that I have said is the truth." The almond shaped golden eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. "If you think having one crest is bad, Ganondorf had a much worse fate. He had many creatures under his control and all of their crests burned into his body wherever free flesh was available. Ganondorf desired power, as your father does, and the Gerudo King paid for it with his own flesh, while your father does so with the blood of others."
Suto felt the rhythm of his heart begin to race in his chest, eyes staring at Thade in fear and confusion.
"I am from Hyrule, as is your father," Thade continued. "I have seen countless horrible deeds done to children you age and younger. Things you may never be able to imagine and that I will never repeat. I live because my Lord spared me the horrible death that befell my comrades by his hand. A soldier owes his life to his Lord. To you, my young master, my allegiance is also pledged. I desire nothing but your safety and happiness."
"Then why did you tell me all those horrible things about my dad?" Suto demanded, his eyes wet with unshed tears of pain and anger.
"It was for your safety, young master," the Lizalfos replied. "I cannot bear it of you to be hurt and not know the dark truth behind the cause." The slit pupils flicked up to the boy's face from under scaled brows. "I do not know what my Lord has planned for you, but I only want to warn you about what could happen to you." Thade rose to his feet, noticing Suto sit there and fight the urge to cry or to lunge at the lizard and try to kill him. "I don't want you to walk the same blood soaked path Link decided to travel . . . nothing good can come of it," he whispered under his breath, softly enough so the boy could not hear.
"My dad . . . is not as crazy as you say he is," Suto snarled, staring at his feet and his tone somewhat threatening.
"Yes . . . of course, my young master," Thade answered with a shallow bow, hand over heart.
"Take your leave," the boy muttered, eyes glaring off to the side to avoid see any part of the Lizalfos's green body.
Thade immediately swept from the room, claws clicking and clacking on the stone floor. He completely understood the huge risk he had strapped onto himself through his actions. This might as well end his life. Tail swishing in the air behind him, the lizard vanished down the hall.
Suto's gaze dropped down to the worm that had remained in the room with him. It lifted its head and rested it gently on its Master's lap, attempting to give him comfort the only way it knew how. Suto looked down at the worm, his face grim with resolve.
"Dad's not crazy," Suto told the worm, stroking its spiked head behind its eyes. "No . . . he's not."