Chapter 16: Dinolfos
"And where have you been?" the wraith asked calmly, though disappointment dripped in his tone. He stood on the porch under the house, standing in the cool shade. He leaned against the tall support beam with his back; arms crossed and fingers drumming his left upper arm.
Sean stood meekly on the edge of the same pond, his gaze pointed at the ground and his fingers fumbled with the bottom of his shirt. His heart was racing in his chest, making him feel light stomached and nervous.
"I-I was helping an animal that was getting a-attacked," the boy answered weakly, not wanting to unleash the wraith's anger.
"So . . . you ran off unsupervised to help some creature when it could've easily killed you?" Dark Link's red eyes narrowed in the shadows. "Sometimes you shock me with your block headedness. There are so many hungry predators roaming these trees that would love nothing more than tasting your blood in their mouths. If you were to die, it'd be quite hard to replace you."
Sean felt himself cringe under the wraith's cold tone. His fingers gripped the fabric of his shirt until his knuckles turned white from the pressure. He felt like he wanted to disappear, vanish from the face of the earth, when Dark Link's anger rose to the surface.
"However," he heard the wraith sigh. "You've returned unharmed and in one piece, so there's no use in getting angry." Dark Link stepped back onto shore from the porch. "C'mon. Koume and Kotake would like to say good-bye to you before we leave."
Sean's eyes rose to meet Dark Link's. "We're leaving again?"
"Yes, we are," the wraith answered, using his index finger to motion for Sean to approach him, "and it's soon."
"Are we going to that place that you won't tell me about?" Sean asked when at Dark Link's side.
"If you want to put it that way," Dark Link answered with a shrug. "There's been no need for me to tell you of it before now." He pushed Sean towards the ladder. "Now go say good-bye."
Sean put his hands on the rungs and looked back at Dark Link. "Aren't you coming too?"
"When you get up there first," Dark Link answered, giving the white-haired boy a threatening eye.
Sean gulped silently and scrambled up the ladder. He didn't want to stick around to see what the wraith might do to him if he disobeyed . . . again. Once reaching the top, he was greeted by a bounding Popo; who latching himself to the boy's head and almost sent him back down the ladder.
"Popo! I told you not to do that until he was away from the ladder!" Koume shouted, hustling out of the house.
Popo got off Sean's face and crawled, ears drooped in sadness, over to Koume.
Koume went over to Sean and helped the startled boy onto the deck. "You sure you'll be fine walkin' in that Din-forsaken forest?" she asked when Sean regained his lost senses.
"If Dark Link is going to be with me, then I don't mind," he answered, brushing back his hair from his face.
"Oh don't worry," Dark Link said as he stepped off the ladder, wearing a crazed, and somewhat unpleasant, smile on his face. "I'm sure nothing will want to touch him anyway." His smile didn't comfort Sean, but then again, it wasn't supposed to.
"Dark Link! Don't scare the poor boy!" Koume snapped, bifocals almost falling off her large nose.
Dark Link just chuckled with a smirk and walked into the house, having to duck to get into the door.
"Dark Link? Come here for a quick moment," the Ice Witch called, peeking her head out of the kitchen. "Are you sure it's wise to take the young boy to see Traax?" she asked once he had come up to her. "I'm not sure how pleased he'll be to have trespassers."
"Sucks to be him then," Dark Link snorted. "He's got what I need . . . and I need it now. If Link gets there first, we can all kiss our asses good-bye!"
"I'm aware of that problem," Kotake replied calmly, moving to seat herself in a chair nearby. "But at least he was foolish enough to destroy the one he had possession of, which gives us a slight advantage. I do believe that Link doesn't know of this one's existence."
"I pray you're right," Dark Link murmured, heading back for the door to leave.
"One last thing!" Kotake called, causing the wraith to halt. "Traax is very cunning. He's outdone every person who has ever gone to see him."
"I know. I've heard the rumors," the wraith muttered, glancing over his shoulder at the Ice Witch, "but I'm not going to let that bag of scales outwit me. I won't let him."
Kotake just gave him a sad smile as he went out the door, almost knocking his head on the top of the door frame; causing him to duck down suddenly. "I'm just worried you'll do something you'll regret," she said to herself, as she watched him through a window motivate Sean to climb back down the ladder so they could continue their journey.
"Are you sure that it's safe to be walking here?" Sean asked, body drawn in close and him walking as near Dark Link as possible; looking about nervously.
"It's fine," Dark Link replied.
"Well . . . I don't like it," Sean said, crossing his arms with a huff. "It's dark and spooky."
"It's a forest. Get used to it."
The tall trees grew close together, somewhat creating walls of bark along the path. The broad leaves blocked out most of the sunlight, except for a thin stray beam of light touching the ground here or there. Occasionally, a bird would sing softly, but only quick enough to break the uneasy silence of the foliage.
"Why is it so quiet?" Sean asked in a whisper, too nervous to disturb the quiet anymore than he had to.
"Because we're now in Dinolfos territory," the wraith answered calmly in a soft voice. "And another reason is . . . we're being followed."
Sean looked up at him with wide eyes. "Followed?"
"Don't tell me that you didn't know."
Sean lowered his gaze to the ground. "I won't tell you then."
Just then, something touched against the back of Sean's neck, the boy was sent running, and screaming, in circles until he finally tripped to hear Juto "Kyuu" in the pain of hitting the ground. "Curse you," the boy muttered to the Black Boe upon hearing Dark Link chuckle.
"Running from a cream-puff," the wraith snickered, picking up Juto and helping Sean to his feet. "That, I have not seen before."
Sean grabbed the bottom of his shirt and wiped the dirt off his face. "You try being scared to death!" he snapped in return.
"Very little scares me," Dark Link replied, walking past Sean with Juto on his shoulder. "Now come. I wouldn't want to find out what's following us, if I were you."
Sean gulped and hustled into step with the wraith, so he wouldn't be left behind. As soon as he had caught up with the wraith, however, Dark Link stopped and pulled the boy into him, taking a large step back.
A streak of green shot down from a nearby tree with a roar; a slight tremor shaking the dirt as the earth cracked under the talons of a large creature. Before the three was a green scaled animal, crouched over with all four clawed limbs driven into the ground where Sean had been standing not too long before.
It lifted his head, almond-shaped gold eyes watching its prey. Its head was thickly built with a short, but powerful, snout which was lined with many needle-sharp teeth, hidden behind scaled lips. Small knobs littered its brows, crown of head, and ran along the top edges of its snout; some running down the back of its heavily muscled neck. The skin of its gullet was extremely wrinkled, but held taunt to its throat; ready to expand at any time.
It rose to its hind feet, spine holding its body horizontally on its hips and powerful, long, hind legs. It held its forelimbs against its muscular chest, three long clawed fingers flexing in anticipation; a smaller fourth appendage served as an opposable thumb. The farthest inner clawed toe on each hind foot was held slightly off the ground to prevent dulling; ready to attack. A long sturdy tail swished behind it, as if pleased to finally have prey.
"Vaducco. Vhojx fhoo," it hissed in a familiar language with a sadistic toothy grin.
Dark Link chuckled at what the creature had said, but Sean didn't have a single clue as to what it had declared.
"De!" shouted a similar voice from the brush, another one of these mysterious animals revealing itself. "Traax juat ke dek bacc khojfujjohj." It turned its saurian head to the imposing trio. "Nxuk rijadojj te oei xulo nakx Traax?" it asked, confusing Sean more by the word.
"Something that will only be told once and to his ears alone," the wraith replied calmly, but chuckled when the saurian creature gave him a quizzical look. "You understand me perfectly. Don't act like you can't."
The second creature gave a disturbing hissed cackle. "Ak'j khio. A idtojkudt oeih kedwio. Semo. Traax nacc tosato oeih vuko."
Sean looked up at Dark Link. "What'd it say?"
"It wants us to go with it."
"But it almost killed me!"
"And it will if you don't move." Dark Link nodded to the guide creature and it, with the other, turned and walked down the path; bodies swinging side to side with the shifting of their body weight on their hips.
"What are those creatures?" Sean asked in a whisper.
"They're Dinolfos," the wraith answered. "You're fortunate to live with the knowledge of their existence."
Sean gave Dark Link a scared look, but the wraith wasn't even paying attention to him.
The two Dinolfos led the boy, wraith, and Boe on the trail for at least a mile before they halted again.
"Nxuk rijadojj te kxoo xulo xoho?" yet another hissing voice sounded from the trees, though the owner could not be found.
"Kxoo xulo rijadojj nakx Traax," the guide Dinolfos replied, and was soon leading them on again.
Around a few more bends in the trail, a large cave that sat amongst the trees came into sight; extremely well hidden from an aerial view. The guides led their charges onward and straight into the cave.
The cave was dark the further in one went, reeking strongly of death. Right where the sunlight could no longer penetrate the shadows, young Dinolfos rough-housed and played until their mothers called them back within the darkness.
"Nuak xoho," one of the guides ordered before it vanished into the shadows, the other keeping guard of the trespassing trio.
Sean stayed close to Dark Link, staring at a white skull whose eyeless sockets stared back. He hadn't noticed, but with their arrival more and more of this Dinolfos clan had begun to emerge to see their leader's new victims. The females kept their young close and the males chuckled and joked about what their leader would do to the foolish trespassers.
A hissed chorus suddenly rang through the cave and every Dinolfos bowed his or her head; golden eyes closed. Out of the shadows came yet another Dinolfos, but this one was slightly different. The knobs of his head were short spikes; tallest above his eyes. More short spikes lined his chin and lower jawbone; displaying his older age and rank as leader. Around his thick fleshed neck was a necklace made from the arm bones of Termians, each bone separated by a hooked claw of a Wolfos. The bones clacked dryly together, sending frightened chills up Sean's spine.
He walked with the Dinolfos' swaying gait over to a strangely shaped rock. The front of it was elevated while it had a gentle slope down to the back. His upper half rested on the elevated end and his body comfortably rested along the slope. His four fingers wrapped over the rocky edge, golden eyes, with red lining his pupils, watching his new visitors. The cave was silent, save for Traax's hissed breathing.
"A xouh kxuk kxo sxact teoj dek idtohjkudt euh kedwio," he said finally, scaled lips parted in a smile. "De mukkoh. Jadso xaj vuko nacc ro tosatot xoho," he paused, smile broadening somewhat, "I will make up for your incompetence and speak in your pathetic tongue."
Dark Link snorted, amused from that comment, Traax chuckling in response to it.
"That's amusing, wraith. I never thought I'd live to see the day when one of your kind would lower himself to such a low level as to speak the language of these 'Termians'."
"Don't flatter yourself," Dark Link retorted. "I'm finding it strange that you would lower yourself to this level . . . hearing that you are speaking the tongue of the 'Termians' as well."
"The answer is quite simple, wraith," Traax replied smoothly; scales dryly scraping across the stone as he adjusted his body. "He may just be a child, but he's one of the 'dying race'. I can allow him to understand his fate. I owe his kind, at least, that much respect." The Leader Dinolfos chuckled. "Now, back to business. What would bring three beings to, so foolishly, enter my domain?"
Sean glanced up at Dark Link —who didn't look back— with widened eyes. He was feeling afraid of dying in the cave —like whoever the skull on the ground belonged to— and that the person that had been protecting him all this time was a wraith. He hadn't known that wraiths were still around. He'd only heard about them in myths and legends from the Beginning Eras and all those had said that all of them had either been destroyed or sent to another realm. Suddenly, many of the stunts Dark Link had been able to pull off made sense to the boy.
"I seek what so many others have thrown away their pitiful in the search of," Dark Link answered, folding his arms over his chest.
Traax began to laugh. His laugh rang off the walls of the cave, echoing eerily from the stones. "You seek the Portal to the Chosen Land? What is it you seek in that Golden Land of Prosperity? The salvation of your damned soul? The extinguishing of the World of Light?" His lips were pulled back in a toothy grin. "What makes you think you're worthy of using it?"
"It'd make life a lot easier for the both of us," Dark Link replied calmly.
"That much is true," Traax hissed, yellow-red eyes smiling, "but if I let all who've said that to me go, what fun would I have?"
Some of the Dinolfos let out soft hissed chuckles, but quickly fell silent.
Sean glanced around at the saurian creatures when they laughed. He was reminded of the Lizalfos, but it seemed the Dinolfos were just as sadistic, but in a more highly civilized manner. Despite his newly-developed fear towards Dark Link, he pressed himself up next to the wraith; wanting to hide in the wraith's power filled presence. He felt some of his fear ebb away when Dark Link placed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder.
Traax chuckled again, shaking his head with a smile. "I am highly amused by this, to say the least. To have two of this world's rarest beings waltzing right into my abode to see me at their own free wills. I will be pleased by this for years to come." His fingers tightened around the stone edge and he pushed himself up to a standing position; stepping from his stone throne.
"I have decided to give you a chance to use what you seek," he announced in a louder voice. "If you succeed in the test I will place before you, as I have done to so many others, you will be granted permission to travel through the portal at your leisure for the rest of your days. However, if you fail, your lives will come to an abrupt halt." Traax approached Dark Link, his green scaled head slightly above level with the wraith's. "Though I do believe such a fate would be difficult to bear a success upon yourself. Am I correct, wraith?"
Dark Link smirked. "More difficult than you can imagine."
The Dinolfos chuckled. "I'm sure." Traax turned his head away from the wraith and slowly walked some distance between them. "This will certainly prove to be the most exciting match we have ever seen. Ryuu, of course, will be highly pleased." The Dinolfos's head glanced back at them, eyes shining unpleasantly. "Though most of Ryuu's fights have lasted less than one minute, I'm sure this one will last a little longer."
Traax glanced around at his clan before he shouted, "Ke kxo uhodu!"
His clan responded in loud excited roars of their own, some repeating their leader's words. With a nod from Traax, some came up around Dark Link and Sean and guided them out of the cave; Traax following behind, chuckling softly under his breath.
Sean's eyes were wide with fright, but he felt safe with Dark Link's hand on his shoulder. Juto had slid down the wraith's arm and hopped into Sean's arms with a happy purr.
"If anyone should try to attack you in my absence, Juto will see to your protection," the wraith whispered softly, keeping his words below the noise of the Dinolfos.
Sean nodded, staring at the ground ahead of him; a little bit of pink flushing through his paled face, bringing his normal color back to him. He felt a little excitement push up through his nervousness, making him feel slightly better about the whole situation. He wouldn't care if the wraith denied it, but he truly did believe that the wraith had done that because he cared. At that moment, it didn't matter to him if Dark Link had ordered Juto to protect him because he was something "special", but rather because there was a little compassion somewhere in his darkened heart. The boy decided he'd give the wraith a hard time about it later, since now wasn't exactly the best time to be giving snide remarks. Sean glanced up at Dark Link, but the wraith did not look back; red eyes shining in the shadows of his black hair.
Traax halted everyone at the top of a hill on which he had led them all. Down below was a vast open space of hard packed earth with a large cave on the far end of this arena. The shadows of semi-buried bones and skulls littered about clear ground, most crushed and almost invisible to the scanning eye.
"This, wraith, is where you will fight our prized Dodongo, Ryuu," Traax stated, motioning his hand in a horizontal arc at the cave and battle ring. "A victory for you is to immobilize Ryuu, while your death is his victory." Traax eyed the wraith warningly. "Understood?"
"Like blood on a white shirt," Dark Link replied smugly, a fang protruding from his lips with his smile.
Traax chuckled. "I like that analogy. There shall come a time when I will use it. Now, wraith, it is time for your fate to be decided."
Dark Link just grunted with a smirk. He unclasped his cloak and dropped it on Sean; giving the boy a pat on the head. "Look after that for me, alright?" He undid his sword belt and set it next to Sean; who was now peeking out from under the large cloak and with Juto's orange eyes peeking out from Sean's white hair. "That too while you're at it."
Traax looked amusingly impressed. "Tossing away your own weapon? What would make you do such a thing?"
"I don't need it," Dark Link answered, cracking his knuckles. "I can beat this little lizard without it."
Traax chuckled softly. "Whatever you want, wraith. Though, of course, I seem to have forgotten what you are," he added with a taunting tone.
Dark Link just smirked. "I'll see you in three minutes," he said before vanishing down the path to the arena.
Sean rushed forward a few steps, still clutching the wraith's cloak around himself; Juto tangled up in his white locks of hair, looking slightly distressed as he flew around when Sean stopped abruptly. Sean didn't like this. He really did not like this at all. Whatever it was that lived in the cave was huge; possibly larger than that tusked fish. He slumped down to his knees, fingers tightening their hold on the cloak. He wanted to shout to Dark Link to tell him to be careful, but he kept quiet; knowing that Dark Link wouldn't appreciate being told to do the obvious.
"Boy," Traax hissed, coming up behind Sean. "I've decided to be generous and let you share the same fate as the wraith. If the wraith should die, then your life will come to an end, but if he should win, then the portal is yours to use as well. Sound fair?"
Sean didn't look at Traax, but made it obvious that he was nodding; knowing that to disagree would be foolish.
"Quite wise, child, quite wise," the Dinolfos whispered behind the boy; an unpleasant cackle bouncing his words slightly. "Though I must say that I admire your bravery. I have seen many children your age cry by this point, but you haven't even freed a tear." He chuckled, causing chills to rush up Sean's spine and the boy to swallow to try to moisten his drying throat. "Surely, if the time must come, I'll regret having to kill you."
Sean pulled the cloak closer around his body; the fabric still warm with the wraith's body heat. It made the boy feel somewhat better, but Traax's words and laughter left him chilled.
Dark Link stopped before the cave, it rising up high into the air above him. He put his hands on his hips, red eyes peering into the shadows. He had no idea if this was some sick prank the Dinolfos were pulling. To him, they seemed like the type of lot to do something of the sort. He was just about ready to storm back up the hill and give Traax a piece of his mind when a blast of foul air came from the cave, followed by a hungry growl.
A tremor shook the ground with every step as a large bipedal creature began to come for the exit of the cave. Dark Link backed up a few steps as the tremors grew stronger and the faint glisten of fangs shone in the shadows. Dark Link felt his eyes looking up in their sockets as high as they could go without him lifting his head. He knew he must have miscalculated something at one point.
A muddy green head drifted from the shadows, spikes adorning its head much like Traax. Its orange eyes were small in comparison to its large thick head, which ended in a short wide snout. Unlike the Dinolfos, it did not have lips and its teeth shone in the sun like blades; the smallest tooth easily as long as Dark Link's hand. Its head was held up by a thick muscled neck, which was attached to a barrel-shaped body. Short two-clawed forearms were tucked against its muscles torso; seeming weak, but in reality, were strong. The dirt cracked slightly under its large three-toed feet, claws stained in blood and covered with dust. A thick tail, as long as from tip of nose to end of hips, held its body balanced in its horizontal stance.
Dark Link looked up at the creature that stood at least three times his own height. A smug smile was on his face and he stood there arrogantly with a hand on his hip.
"Why aren't you intimidating," he said, brushing at his nose with his other hand, "I was almost worried that I'd have to fight one of those wimpy Dodongos, but I'm glad I'm wrong."
Sean's breath stopped in his throat when Ryuu had revealed itself. He couldn't understand on how that creature was supposed to be a Dodongo, since they were all supposed to be extinct.
"What do you think of Ryuu, child? Quite a formidable opponent, is he not?" Traax chuckled, golden eyes narrowing with glee. "He has slain many men without sustaining injury since his birth. What makes you think a wraith can beat him?"
"Because Dark Link is a wraith and not a man," Sean answered, not even realizing that he had said Dark Link's name.
Traax cackled a little darkly. "So that is the infamous Dark Link." He laughed at the thought of it. "This shall be the best fight we have ever seen . . . and ever will see. I'd like to thank you, child, for bringing such a sadistic creature into our midst, though . . . that will not save your life." He laughed a little more, walking away from Sean to the tallest point of the hill over the arena. "Den, vawxk!" he shouted down to the arena contenders with the roar of the male population of his clan behind him; the females remaining at the cave with the young ones.
Dark Link braced himself against Ryuu's footfalls, the dry dirt cracking beneath the Dodongo's heavy scaled plated feet. The wraith was wondering to himself just how he was expected to fight this creature without killing it. He could see its mind ticking behind its orange eyes. It was plotting his defeat, just like he was plotting its.
Ryuu suddenly drove its toe claws into the dirt and pivoted around, using its massive tail as a whip. Dark Link barely had enough time to drop to the dirt to hear the air whistle across the giant Dodongo's tail. The wraith then used his arms and one of his legs to propel himself to the side in a roll when the large tail slammed into the earth; leaving a shallow trench in its wake.
Dark Link rolled into a crouching position, one hand bracing himself and the other in a slightly defensive position below his face. 'Just how the hell am I supposed to take that thing down?' he yelled at himself mentally. His attention snapped back to his surroundings as the ground jolted beneath his feet. The wraith leapt backwards as Ryuu's huge jaws slid across the dirt in the attempt to scoop the wraith up in its maw. Twisting his body into a back-flip, the wraith landed silently in a ring of dust; one hand bracing his upper body in his leaned over stance and the other arm held out to the side for balance.
"Well," Dark Link sighed, getting to his feet and rolling back his sleeves, "here goes nothing." The wraith braced his legs in a stance to absorb recoil without falling over, holding his fisted right hand towards Ryuu; wrapping his left hand around the wrist of his outstretched right arm, and anchoring his left elbow into his side. His red eyes followed the pacing Ryuu back and forth, holding his right arm steady; much like an aimed rifle. 'Any time now, that large pair of boots is going to charge me and when it does-' He didn't have the time to finished his own thought.
The ground shook again as the ten ton Dodongo charged at the wraith once again, maw like a black abyss lines with more than sixty sharp bladed knives. In sheer panic (something that didn't hit the wraith all that often), Dark Link opened his fist and a pillar of black-purple fire erupted from his palm straight at the charging creature. Dark Link had shut his eyes to protect them from the flames, but he felt relieved when the ground ceased quacking from Ryuu's footfalls. The fire subsided and he opened his eyes, standing up straight.
Ryuu stood some distance from him, the fire having sent the creature back. Along the right side of its face, and down to its right forearm, was a black burn; contrasting greatly from its muddy green scales. Its orange eye was unharmed and blazed against the dark flesh. Dark Link felt his breath catch in his throat. The creature should have been incinerated! Destroyed! There was no possible way that it should still be breathing!
Traax's shrill laughter ran through the air, causing Ryuu to chuckle in a very animal-like manner; unnerving Dark Link greatly.
"What did I tell you, boy? Did you think I was lying when I said he sustained to injuries until now?" the Dinolfos shouted, obviously talking to Sean, but purposely yelling it for all to hear. "Like I asked before, what makes you think a wraith can beat Ryuu!"
Dark Link's red eyes narrowed, watching the burnt flesh on the Dodongo steam a little. He saw the faint twitching of the flesh beginning to heal. "What in the hell is that thing?" the wraith asked himself softly.
Ryuu gave its head a shake, the muscle and skin of its throat swinging in response to the head's movement. Its burnt skin was itching and becoming annoying. The Dodongo wasn't too pleased with this feeling its prey had inflicted upon it. With a growl, Ryuu propelled itself forward in an earth quaking trot, simply to make its prey move in a run.
Dark Link, however, was no longer scared like the Dodongo had wished. He saw what the creature wanted from him and decided to amuse himself with its whims. The wraith just smirked at the approaching saurian being. With an amused chuckle of his own, his form wavered and vanished with him saying, "Just try to catch me."
Ryuu slowed its trot into a walk and soon a halt. It was not stupid and knew the wraith was using speed to stay unnoticed. A foolish gesture that only postponed the inevitable. The Dodongo drove the talons of one of its feet into the ground and simply left the other alone and in a normal standing position. Its orange eyes disappeared behind thick eyelids and the creature let out a growled sigh, as if relaxing.
Sean was slightly surprised at Ryuu's odd behavior. The boy was still wrapped up in the wraith's cloak, Juto still tangled up in his hair and sitting on his shoulder. The fight had long left Sean in the dust. He no longer knew exactly what was going on, despite the fact he had been watching the entire thing. As much as he thought Ryuu was being crazy, Traax's soft chuckling told the boy there was more at work here than he could see.
He was really caught off guard when Ryuu's eyes suddenly snapped open and the Dodongo swung its massive body around and collided with the wraith's body by using its tail. Dark Link, however, wasn't totally phased by the hit. He simply took his fingers and drove them through Ryuu's hide without the aid of claws. Ryuu roared with the pain and tried desperately to rid itself of Dark Link, but did so to no avail.
Dark Link's body zipped unseen once again, blood escaping from the wounds of Ryuu's tail in arcs as Dark Link tore his fingers out. In a swirl of dust, he reappeared near one of the walls of Ryuu's cave. He simple stood there, arms loosely folded on his chest, without fear and not making any move to escape.
"Doesn't seem like you enjoyed that too much," the wraith taunted coolly. "I can see that it made you angry. So why not kill me for it? This time, I won't do anything to stop you."
Ryuu snarled, saliva sputtering in moistened jaws. The wraith was up to something. That much was obvious. The Dodongo's orange eyes darted to the grounds surrounding the wraith, quickly plotting its next move. With a crocodilian smile, the large saurian creature barreled forward. Upon spotting the wraith's form vanish, Ryuu slammed its right foot into the ground and forced its ten ton body almost ninety degrees in a turn to the left. It knew the wraith was not expecting this move. It snapped its jaws shut at the wraith's estimated location and was pleased to feel warm blood run across its gums.
Dark Link didn't feel the pain in his left arm until he turned his head around to see it caught up in Ryuu's serrated edged teeth. If he moved, the teeth would cut even deeper into his limb than they already were, and their backward curved shape eliminated almost every hope of escape from the head that was as long as he was tall.
Hot air blew across Dark Link's fresh wounds, causing them to sting, as the Dodongo chuckled at his miscalculation. With a mighty swing of its head, Ryuu sent Dark Link flying, but it had not opened its jaws so the wraith could fly out, but kept them closed so it could strip the flesh from the wraith's limb to cause him horrible pain.
Dark Link's body smashed into the dirt, him lying still to simply recollect his bearings. His left arm was in so much pain that he couldn't even feel it anymore. He lifted it to his face to see the damage. Gleaming white bone shone here or there, where the muscle had been severed clear off. His arm appeared like a stick, with very little muscle, flesh, and a lot of bone. He could see the tendons pull the joints of his fingers and flex with others down his arm.
"Damn it," he murmured weakly, chest heaving up and down as he breathed and placed his left arm on the ground beside him.
A small pool of navy blue blood began to gather about Dark Link's left arm and the small crater his body had created on impact. The arteries in his arm had been ripped apart and now his blood leaked out of his body through them. With a pained hiss, Dark Link forced himself to a sitting position; enough muscle still remaining in his stripped arm to balance his torso. Blood beginning to thicken and clam up around his joints, the wraith held his injured arm in front of him; palm open at the sky. With a scream that had started as a hiss, the flesh of the wraith's exposed shoulder shuddered and the broken blood vessels suddenly pumped full of fresh blood, instantaneously healing themselves; arteries proceeding in forcing blood to and fro. Blackish-blue tinted muscles snaked their way down his boned arm; building back up the mass of muscle the wraith had possessed before. Once the last of the muscle finished entwining around his fingers, skin crawled its way down from the shoulder; Dark Link's arm looking like new.
"Impressive," Traax's voice hissed. "A forced regeneration." The Dinolfos chuckled. "He will be feeling that later."
A wide-eyed Sean turned his head back to glance at the cackling saurian lizard. Personally, he didn't see what was so funny. Sure, Dark Link had been able to heal his arm, but that seemed to have left the wraith fairly winded. He didn't appear to have any energy left to fight off the attacking Dodongo. Juto whimpered sadly on the boy's shoulder and Sean reached a hand over to soothe the frightened Black Boe.
Dark Link let his weariness and pain seep out of him with a sigh. Arm still outstretched before him, the wraith twitched all five fingers until he could clench a fist with ease. Satisfied that the nerve endings, tendons, and muscles were working as they had before, the wraith pushed himself to his feet; though still slightly unstable.
Ryuu let out a snorted chuckle. Its prey was still ready to fight after having a limb stripped. How would he feel if that whole arm was torn right off? With this thought in mind, Ryuu charged forwards, the earth cracking and flying back from beneath its talons.
Dark Link wasn't going to run away this time. When the creature just about smacked into him, the wraith grabbed onto the Dodongo's mouth, one hand on each jaw. He had carefully shifted his fingers to prevent them from getting sliced off, but the small spaces between each tooth still allowed for the sharp edges to cut into the wraith's fingers.
Ryuu pushed against the wraith's arms, somewhat forcing them back, but struggled against the wraith's strength. The Dodongo snorted in anger, starting to flex its jaws so its teeth would cut deeper into the wraith's fingers.
Dark Link couldn't help but turn his head away when Ryuu's hot, putrid breath gusted into his face. It reeked of the many men the creature had devoured and slaughtered. Dark Link pushed harder against the Dodongo —not paying any attention to his fingers— so it'd push harder back and when he thought it was fighter hard enough, the wraith let go of Ryuu's mouth and jumped away; Ryuu crashing head first into the ground.
The Dodongo lay there, no longer willing to move. The drop into the hard ground had forced its lower jaw into the roof of its mouth and jarred its brain. Ryuu no longer wanted to fight. The wraith's last move had been too much.
A slow clapping sound suddenly rang through the air, causing Dark Link's already throbbing head to hurt worse. Sean turned around to see Traax slowly, but loudly, clapping his scaled hands together; wearing as amused, yet dark, grin.
"Vawxk eloh. Vawxk eloh," the Dinolfos called down the exhausted Dark Link. "Bravo, wraith. For a moment there you had me worried." Traax looked behind him and signaled down at the arena with a hand, two other Dinolfos immediately responding.
Traax's attention turned to Sean. "I'd like to congratulate you, boy. You are one of the few to meet Death and leave in peace. I'd much rather preferred that you have fought for your own life, but a deal is a deal."
Sean didn't reply. He was a little too shaken up by Traax's words and the now past battle. His and Traax's attention shifted to the two Dinolfos as they returned, acting as supports for Dark Link.
"I have kept my word and your request has been granted, wraith. The Portal is yours to use until the last of your days. The boy has been granted the same privilege." The two Dinolfos eased the wraith over to a tree and sat him gently on the ground beneath it, so he was sitting against it. "Now, is there anything else my people can do for you?" the leader dino asked.
Dark Link shook his head. "All I need is a few minutes rest," he replied, looking very much like he needed it.
"Very well. We shall be expecting you in a few minutes," Traax murmured with a bow of his head. "Semo!" he shouted to those of his clan that had come to the battle and left with them.
Sean scooted over to Dark Link after the Dinolfos' disappearance. He sat on his knees beside the wraith, cloak bunched about his body and Juto still on his shoulder. Now that Sean thought about it, he'd never seen Dark Link sleep before. Not even once. The wraith's face was relaxed, all thoughts of pain eliminated from his mind; breathing soft and steady.
Sean took a quick moment to glance down at the wraith's hands. The blue blood on his skin seeped back within the wounds and the cuts sealed themselves as if they had never existed to begin with.
The boy looked up at the wraith's shoulder —him being on the wraith's left— and noticed something oddly familiar. It was the tattoo he had caught a glimpse of after the giant fish attack. It had been covered then, but Ryuu had taken the bandage off when it had stripped Dark Link's whole arm of flesh.
The tattoo was of a bird, one that looked truly majestic. Its head was bent down near a thick feathered chest, large wings flared upwards and back; as if contained within a circle. The bird's body was thick, suggesting all the powerful muscles contained within and its talons were held outward as weapons for battle. Four long feather tails sprouted from its rear and curved down, forward towards the head, and up; as if riding the bottom of the same invisible circle.
Sean blinked. He had never seen a tattoo like that before, nor the bird it was of. The thickness of the bird's body showed that in real life, it would be huge and maybe too heavy for flight. He jumped when Dark Link's right hand clamped over the black tattoo.
"Forget you saw it," he whispered warningly; red eyes watching Sean from behind half-closed eyelids and long strands of black hair.
Sean nodded weakly, crawling out of Dark Link's cloak and left it on the ground next to him as the boy scooted away.
Dark Link picked up his cloak and put it on, hiding his left arm within it. He stood up, Sean following. "They're waiting for us," he said and led the boy back towards the Dinolfos' lair.
"I see you're looking better," Traax commented, having been waiting for the wraith and boy to return. "That wraithirian sleep of yours really does your people wonders."
"Too bad it's a pain in the ass," Dark Link mumbled under his breath, Traax chuckling softly.
"Come," Traax ordered. "I will show you the location of the Portal. However, you'll have to memorize its location afterwards." With that, the Dinolfos began to walk away, wraith and boy quickly following.
"Now, I cannot say what lies right beyond the other side," the saurian lizard said when they were walking beside him, "for I have never gone through the Portal myself, but I know of the world." He stopped before a path in the trees. It seemed normal enough, but the branches above curved over as if the top of a circle the farther away from where they stood.
Sean looked down at Juto, who looked back, just as confused as he.
"Wraith," Traax motioned to Dark Link with a finger, "there is something I must tell you." The Dinolfos's eyes when to Sean when the wraith came up to him. "Oei mijk tovouk kxo tomed vhem kxo dehkx. Oei muo kxadb kxuk ak teoj dek sedcohd oei, rik oei uho nhedw. We ke Hyrule udt oei muo vadt jemo ke xocf oei."
Traax looked at Sean again, making sure the boy wasn't attempting to listen, but the boy was floating around the Portal entrance; totally enthralled with it. "You are this world's only hope for survival. You are the only one with the guts to want to march straight into that monster's domain and destroy him. My clan cannot do much to aid you, but we have too much to lose. What do you have that can be lost? I know that neither Termina or Hyrule want you and you were cast out by your own people if you're in these worlds."
Dark Link snorted, but spoke in a low tone, "Don't think you know so much about me, though all you just said is the truth." He paused, jaws grinding noiselessly together. "A nacc jkef kxuk rujkuht Link, rik A xulo mo end houjedj."
"A'm jiho," Traax replied, "I'm sure."
"I'm not about to become a savior here," Dark Link murmured threateningly.
"I'm not asking you to," Traax replied calmly, not giving in to the wraith's obvious threats to drop the subject. "Defeat the man you term a 'bastard'. You'll be doing everyone a favor, as well as yourself. I wouldn't deem this quest of your righteous, but does the cause to want to kill a man have to be?"
Dark Link's red eyes glowered slightly, but he said nothing. He turned and began walking over to Sean —wanting to get away from the smooth tongued dinosaur—, but Traax's words made him halt.
"Tovoukot Ryuu oei muo xulo tedo, rik dek roadw urco ke fik oeih cavo ed kxo cado veh u fenohvic suijo aj u khio jawd ev senuhtaso."
Dark Link didn't turn his head back to look at the Dinolfos. His shoulders rose slightly in anger and he let it out with a sigh. He walked wordlessly over to the boy and Juto hopped up onto his shoulder. "We're leaving now," the wraith said simply. "I'm not wasting anymore time here." With that, he ushered Sean down the path, the boy confident that everything would be fine since Dark Link was with him.
Traax watched them vanish down the trail, standing alone. His arms were folded loosely over themselves, hands gripping the opposite shoulder, and his lips were pulled back in a toothy grin.
He was pleased to note that his words had sunk in . . . suck in deep.
I've got a few questions for you readers since this is the halfway point of Approaching Darkness.
1. What do you think of Approaching Darkness thus far?
2. Do you think the plot line is good? Interesting?
3. What character do you like out of them all so far? Why?
4. What is your favorite part of this fan-fic? Why?
5. Are you looking forward to the soon-to-be written prequel?
6. Should I write a sequel to Approaching Darkness? Explain your reasoning.
I hope you've been enjoying this fan-fic as much as I've loved writing it and I hope you stay with me until the very end. Thank you for your support, readers. :bows: