The Last of Promised Light
Chapter IV - ...No Light Shineth

The horses were not moving, for they were frozen with anxiety, pawing the ground as their hooves clopped against the thick dirt. The boy was staring coldly down at the serpent contricting his leg with a tight grip. He could feel the blood in his veins beginning to slow, and he glanced up once more, the white wagon moving ever so farther away from him, the faint chattering dying away. Without endless voices filling the air now, deathly silence choked the sky and earth, with the horses simply rippling the quiet with their spluttering and snorting. Still sitting upright with his leg out in front of him, he decided this would proceed no further unless he answered. Hesitant, he was reluctant to speak, yet did so nonetheless. "Drellmire..." he said quietly, and the dragon on his shoulder flicked its wings open before they snapped shut by its sides. "Bond Drellmire."
"Oh, pleased to meet your acquaintance," the snake answered in a mockingly polite voice. "Well, you want to know how I am?" The boy named Bond granted him a rather suspicious and dark look, but nodded nonetheless. "I'm not telling, kwaha!"
"Very pleasant," Bond responded with a sneering gleam in his dead eyes, face devoid of emotion. The dragon snapped its stony jaws at their visitor, and as they looked up once more, the caravan was now just a small vague figure disappearing into the distance, where a thick fog was beginning to settle. Reaching out, the boy attempted to grasp the serpent around the neck, but a cobra hood flared and it leered with ruby red eyes.
"Not so fast, Drellmire...what power do you doubt of me?"
"None." There was a moment of hesitation, during which the cobra awaited another reply. "I know your strengths."
"Oh, you do?" it answered in amusement. "Very good, yes...then you must be wise enough to meet my demands." It flicked a tongue at Bond, who paused for a few moments. The twilight outside was dim, the clouds spreading across the vast blackness, the moon nearly hidden away. A wind was blowing, a sinister one, against the side of the dark wagon, and the horses continued their unease. Soundlessly did they toss their heads, acting as though trying to paw the ground with their hooves raised, though they didn't. Their tails whipped at the air with agitated motions, and the black saddles on them, encrusted with rubies on the sides, were losing their once malignant lust. "So, does your dragon have a name?"
Bond's tan hand arose to stroke his little pet along the back gently. "Raizken..."
"Ah, Hylian for 'wicked', is it not?"
"Yes."
"Well, Bond and...Raizken...will you two rise to meet my demands?"
Bond shifted his gaze to the snake, who seemed to be smirking at this point. "And what shall you do in return?"
The serpent seemed to search his mind for a moment, swaying back and forth thoughtfully, its grasp released from Bond's leg. Its body curled up with its head above the coil, eyes wandering the floor lazily. "What other than blood or flesh?" it answered finally, drawling as though feeling a bit triumphant. The answer affected Bond immediately, for an appalled look crossed his face, and he blinked hard. He seemed unwilling to believe at first, but the shadow of his soul said otherwise.
"Are you really being true to your word?" he inquired softly, shifting his position so that he was on his hands and knees, Raizken perching on his shoulder precariously. "You are not really going to promise me flesh to feast on?"
"Yes."
"Blood to drink?"
"Yes."
His expression lightened with glee, a manic look in his now hungry eyes. "What do you wish?"
Raizken gave a gurgling chirp of confusion and blinked at Bond.

"Wow!" Micut chirped, flapping his little wings enthusiastically. "That's really weird! Of course, mister Kaepora Gaebora told me all about your shadow and Ganondorf..."
"Huh?" Link replied, blinking cluelessly. "Kaepora told you this?"
"Yes! He's the one who sent me!"
"Oh, um...okay."
"What else do you know about it?"
"I don't really know...I'm not sure, I just know I tried to kill Zelda and..." Link frowned, not wishing to proceed. "Well..."
"I understand." Micut flapped his wings even more furiously, as though trying to take off into the air. Link watched, amused at first, when he realized something was amiss. The little owl should've been airborne by now.
"Hey...can't you fly?"
"Uh...no..."
"Then how did you get here?"
"Kaepora brought me here!"
"Oh..." Link sat there in dismay. Well, now he knew Micut couldn't send messages without the great owl to aid him. He watched as the little bird leap into the air, only to land on his rump upon Link's stomach. "Then, how can you help me?"
"I can guide you," was the answer with a blink. Link felt shame come upon him at the mention of the word 'guide'. Navi...he never found Navi. Shifting his position uneasily, his blue eyes wandered off to gaze upon the moonlit grass around him. It was still nighttime, but the black sky had become a dark blue. There was a scar of red where the sun was about to rise. He stared out at it, first admiring the streak of red across the lifting night, recalling the first time he had seen it. Back in the forest, the tall trees would hide the horizon, and he would never actually see the red clouds. But when he left and came out into Hyrule Fields, he first saw the horizon, and was rather curious upon seeing it. As he continued to gaze out, leaving a confused little Micut sitting on his leg, he felt a smile stretch across his lips.
"What? What's so funny?"
"Oh...nothing...I'm just remembering something."
At the last word, dread crept into him. Link's smile faded as he noticed the rising sunlight, though he was unsure as to why. Arching his neck back, he saw the ascending moon, and blinked in a baffled manner. The breeze about him softened, dying away quietly with a peaceful whisper as the grass ceased to dance and rustle in it. Tilting his head in confusion, Micut blinked up at the frozen boy, as if trying to ask a question in silence.
"Micut..." Link started quietly, and the owl blinked again. "Where's the nearest place where no sun can reach it?" The little bird gave him a strange look, one big eye squinting in suspicion. Micut clicked his beak and shifted his talons a bit to the left.
"Why?"
"I think...that if the sun rises...I-I just have a very bad feeling. I need to go somewhere dark."
The owl stared in wonder and astonishment. "Are you sure this isn't just an after-effect of the curse on you? The one from that d--"
"I AM NOT PLAYING AROUND!" Link suddenly bellowed at his small companion, eyes blazing with fury and hate. He threw himself forth, and Micut tumbled backwards, frightened and startled at this abrupt outburst of anger. "Do you think I, hero of two realms, would dare to joke about at this time! Idiot!" Link spat and hissed, driving the owl even farther back. Link pushed himself onto his feet and turned, striding off with a more sinister wind coming to life as he walked away. Micut trembled, supporting himself onto his talons while his small head spun around to look at the horizon behind them. His great golden eyes gazed at the rising sun for a moment, pupils shrinking from the light that was beginning to spill onto the lake. While glitters of light began to unfurl across the waters, Micut suddenly realized something.
What if...
"Liiiiinnnk!" The owl sprinted after him with a sudden agility, bare legs digging at the ground and kicking him across the grass.

Laying on the cold ground in the streets of Hyrule, an older girl struggled to free herself from the restraint that was wrapped around her wrists, ankles, mouth and eyes. She had been thrown aside into an alleyway, where it was dark and no one could see her. On the ground just a few feet away from her was a white quiver with wooden arrows spilling out, and a white bow near the stone wall even farther away. The bandages weren't coming loose at all! How did it come to this? she thought to herself miserably. I never thought a boy, a little dragon, and a snake would beat me! I'm an experienced archer, for Nayru's sake! They were all in black, too...what's up with that? She thrashed even more furiously, but to her dismay, not one bandage worked free. The girl moaned at her failure, wondering what she could do now. Fall asleep? That seemed to be her only alternative. But she was so hungry...where was food when she needed it? Laying her head down on the ground, she sighed through her nose and closed her eyes. I must be reeeaaal unprepared...
"A-April?" whispered a quiet, though shocked voice into the gloom. "Are you alright?" Hearing the familiar tone seep into existance, April shrieked through her bandages and started to flail about even more. "Wait...wait, stop, I need you to be still if I want to untie you..." The girl then stopped herself, allowing a figure in dark green kneel by her side. She felt his hands slip past her head and chest to the bandages around her wrists, feeling the warm against her hands as he lifted them to undo the tyings. Her eyes darted about at the nighttime shroud that was veiling them, feeling much fearful in the gloom of the darkness. The bandages came loose, and so did the one that covered her mouth. Gasping for air, which wasn't entirely necessary, April snapped her eyes to the person sitting by her side.
"Thanks," she panted worriedly, "Mythryl. Do you have any food?" she added, inclining her head. Mythryl, the boy, sighed and scratched the back of his neck.
"Well, yeah...at home of course, but..."
There was a pause as Mythryl continued to untie the bandages around the girl's ankles. His blonde bangs fell forward as he leaned over her, still working at the knots, his forest green tunic dark in the dullness of the darkness. The buckle on his red belt showed no gleam as it often did, his brown boots dirty at the soles, his blue eyes yielding no light in the night. There was no sound to break the silence, only the breath of the sinister breeze and the faint rubbing of cloth. There were clouds hanging above, obscuring the pearl of the dark sky that was the moon, drifting past though showing no signs of clearing soon. At last, the restraints floated to the ground helplessly, and Mythryl pushed himself up rather roughly with a single hand, which sunk a bit into the rocky texture of the stony ground. April quickly flung her arms onto his back so that he also lifted her up without intending to completely.
"Sorry," she muttered in apology. April averted her gaze. "I can barely stand."
The boy nodded unsmilingly, his expression not unpleasant but nor cheery, and especially not any more merry with the eerie shadows upon his face from the shroud. April shrank back a bit, aware that something was amiss. Normally, she was not very bright and did not understand what was to possibly pass, but this time, there was something in her friend's eyes that foreshadowed something. She just wasn't sure exactly what. "So, uh..."
Mythryl nodded at her, not requiring for his companion to speak any further. "Come on...mum was just starting to roast the Cucco..."
"I like Cucco!"
"I know. Me too." Mythryl briefly smiled at her, but it quickly vanished and he looked away. "...yes..." He blinked mildly, not noticing that April was staring at him. Mythryl gazed quietly at the ground, but he would just as well be staring at his ripped short sleeve that was torn for a reason April was oblivious to.

"Link...?" Micut hopped up to the boy, who was curled into a fetal position. "Link...? I know I'm tired too, but..." Link didn't answer. He kept his face hidden, back against the wall of the dark cavern, arms around his legs as he rested, breathing at an unusually normal pace. Micut allowed a small sigh to escape his beak, then carefully climbed up the boy's tunic with his strong, small, and piercing talons, digging into the cloth and onto Link's shoulder. The miniature owl sat there, trying to see through the blonde bangs that concealed Link's blue, worried eyes. The two were abnormally silent, no wind reaching into the depths of the cavern, no sunlight managing to claw into the darkness. "Kaepora..." Micut started quietly, trying to stir his partner into talking. "...told me that...when your returned from a foreign realm...you were completely different and your aura, not to be rude, reeked of chaotic lust...Moblins and a lot of other monsters had started to follow you...when you came to Hyrule Field, you besieged it and left no survivor alive...but now here you are, completely quiet and scared...why?"
There was still no response, to Micut's disappointment. However, just as the owl turned his golden gaze away, Link raised his head, his own eyes completely dull as they stared at the stone wall opposite of them, the gleam on his hair faded, his face paler than before. No tears, no sorrow, no anger. Just a lifeless expression.

"I don't know," he answered shakily in a low tone, voice hoarse as though his throat were dry. "But I think if I stay away from the sun, it won't happen again."
"But..." The small bird turned his head towards Link now. "No light? That's not good for one's soul, you know...without light, a spirit becomes nothing more than a dead mist. No, it can't be that. Are you sure--"
"I'm perfectly sure," Link answered in the same feeble voice. He continued to hold his gaze to the wall, strangely quiet, oddly impassive. Micut sat on his shoulder, observing the boy as he spoke and looked blandly at the wall. There truly was something awry, something cruel. Micut knew what happened in this realm of Hyrule. No light meant the soul would lose emotion and personality, leaving behind just instinct of self-survival. But if Link were to step into the sun's, he'd be taken over by that demonic part that somehow stirred within him. This thusly created a terrible dilemma where there were only dark choices meant to weaken Hyrule by weakening someone capable of defending it against the most malicious forces. Clacking his beak, Micut's gaze fell to the floor quietly, trying to find some sort of answer. No hope shone for his mind, for Link, however.
"Um..." he started quietly, still staring down. "I'll go get some food...okay?" After knowing Link wouldn't respond, Micut raised his small wings and beat them rapidly, flitting out of the cavern. Daylight spilled onto him quickly as he disappeared into the distance like a tiny fly, the wild smacking of his wings against the air fading quickly. As the owl departed, Link secretly allowed his eyes to follow, watching the shadow of the bird reach out for a moment before tailing after Micut.
Shadows... he thought to himself bleakly. Link stared at the sunlit floor just several feet away from him, still hiding within the darkness of the deeper cavern. Are they coming after me...? The boy looked around at his surroundings silently, and a rather relieved smile passed his expression. No. They're protecting me. I don't see why.
"But I don't care."

Raizken, the small gargoyle-like dragon, was chirping rather loudly in Bond's ear that folded at a horizontal angle, unlike the rest of the Hylians. Raizken was concerned, though it was basically a dark spirit bound to a small stone wyvern. The dragon still had its own independent thoughts, and Raizken thought something unnatural was taking place. As it let its gaze pass over the hacked corpses of poisoned guards, it knew this was not something that Bond would do. Chirping again, Raizken prodded him hard in the cheek with its claw-like wing.
"What?" Bond answered dismissively, following the snake along the path to Hyrule Castle. "I'm busy. Leave me be or I'll chop your wings off." Raizken heard the unnatural wrath and evil in the boy's tone. Startled at the response, the dragon remained quiet, but contemplated on how to return Bond to his proper self. A gurgling squawk practically died in the dragon's throat, the sun rising upon the horizon. Before either of them knew it, the snake was slithering away in the complete opposite direction. Bond halted, staring down at the creature with a confounded gaze. "Where are you going?"
"Away from the sun," was the simple answer. No emotion passed Bond's face, though it was evident he found this rather disappointing. True, Bond was not fond of the sun either, but he didn't flee to the darkness every time it rose. He watched the snake disappear into the shadows, considering to follow it into the trees, but Raizken tightened its razor talons on the boy's shoulder. Bond looked over at the dragon, staring into its ruby red eyes. He stood there, frozen, just gazing at them quietly. He didn't hear the snake call out to him. He didn't notice the rising sounds of birds chirping and the breeze brushing against the grass. All he knew that he was a fool.
One night of fake fire and already am I weakened, he thought to himself dully. That creature...just by simply promising flesh and blood, it took me into its service. How did it know?
However it knew, I want some now!
No. I can't let my own beast take over my ways.Damn it, now!
If only I knew...if only...
He looked up, now noticing the hisses of the snake. The serpent was calling for him to join its side in the darkness. Immediately, knowing that no good would come of this so-called partnership, Bond quickly turned and began to walk off.
"Where are you going!"
"Away from you."
"Get back here! You--you do remember our bargain, don't you!"
"I am not to be manipulated, for I am a rogue." Bond threw a casual wave to the snake. "Goodbye."
"Return at once!" The snake glowered angrily as it watched its temporary servant walk off. "Sssso...he has resistance after all...I doubted him." I thought he had no power over his shadow.
While he walked away, Bond looked to Raizken with a frown of concern upon his tan face, his brown eyes still narrowed in the shadows of his blonde bangs. "For a moment," he murmured rather innocently, "I thought that thing got ahold of me...but, it was just me, was it not?" Raizken bobbed his head in honesty. "Yes, well. We should be heading back to our wagon..." Raizken nodded even more excitedly, wishing only for the presence of the darkness. Bond chuckled unsmilingly, closing his eyes in exhaustion as he continued along the path. "Yes...I miss it as well..." The breeze softened to him now, clouds drifting across the dawn sky. No one was awake. The corpses of guards lay upon the path, each one bloody and stained in crimson, their once shining armors of steel tainted by red. Bond looked around at them with no alarm, but shame crossed his mind. He actually killed them...there wasn't even purpose in his slaughtering. He remembered everything that happened. He had snuck up to a guard from behind and strangled him, though the abrupt cry before the choking caught the attention of the others. He didn't get to strangle to man, but he had taken a cursed dagger from the wagon and slit their throats, stabbed them in the back, cut their shoulders, while the snake had slithered out of the shadows and sunk its fangs into them, poisoning their bodies, killing them within seconds. "Destruction..." he sighed to himself exasperately. "It is...returning..." The wind continued to whisper peacefully, and it sounded like a quiet lullaby to him. He walked past the carcasses, staring up at the sky solemnly. The clouds drifted by, untainted and white, but for how long?
Raizken crooned softly, emitting a soft melody from his black throat, singing a smooth song that was very unnatural for such a dark dragon. The notes of calm trickled through the cracks in silence like pure water. Bond managed to relax as the blood smears left the path. The scent still lingered -- it was overpowering...but he kept his head high. Bond wished only to return to the cursed caravan, the thing to which he was bound through duty. Wanting to dismiss the thought of carnage from his mind, he hummed along with Raizken's song with an unshaken voice. More guards would surely come...but would they know who brought massacre to the trail that led to Hyrule Castle?Impa and Zelda rode up to the caravan as they saw the white wagon ahead of them. The horse galloped harder than ever while Impa sharply kicked its side with her heel, pushing it on to reach those travelling in the white wagon. Zelda clung to the horse's neck, sitting in front of Impa -- though still nervous amidst the confusing chaos that was her whirlwind of blurred thoughts. She could hear the horse panting hard as it raced in the wind, trying to catch up with the other two white horses that pulled the wagon. The mane was flapping wildly in the air and in her face. She shook her head, her eyes rising to meet the ascending sun. Zelda hadn't realized just how tired she truly was in her lack of sleep...how long, exactly, had she been awake this whole time? It was a wonder she still had energy to sit upright.
"You there!" Impa bellowed as she saw the man sitting on the wagon's front, the reins of the horses in his hands. The man was short, wearing a brown shirt and pants, looking rather formal as he led the horses. He looked down at Impa, the brown of his eyes undistinguishable as shadow fell across his face. "Slow down, we wish to ask you something!" The man's nose pressed itself against his pale face, as though he had become indignant.
"I wish to answer to no stranger!" he roared back over the furious wind. The man raised his arms, flicked them down, and snapped the reins. The two horses took off at an impressive gallop now, quicker than the one that Impa and Zelda rode. Impa, offended by the man's manner, kicked their steed's side and pressed it onwards to try and match the wagon's pace now.
"Stop!" Impa yelled at him angrily. "Halt! It concerns a boy in black! I want to speak with only him!"
Immediately, the man leaned back, pulling the two horses to a stop. They whickered and slid to a halt, nearly slipping on the dew-covered grass. Impa's horse trotted up, looking exhausted as it breathed heavily. The man twisted around in his seat, bewilderment in his eyes now. The sudden change in attitude startled Zelda, who clung closer to the horse's neck.
"The boy?" he breathed. His face was now full of apology. "The boy was the one who looked after the black wagon that had to follow the one I lead. He disappeared some time ago, after one of our men finally noticed his absence. That black wagon was full of cursed, dark and evil objects. We are not sure where he went, but that boy was mysterious. He matched well with his task." The man could hear protests from within his own wagon, rising questions demanding for the answer to the halt. He ignored the irritable voices. "For what business do you have with him?"
Impa paused, glancing around for an unknown purpose. "Is he known to speak strangely, to speak of strange things? To act strangely?"
He chuckled with amusement. "Well, of course! Haven't you just heard me, woman? He's a mysterious boy." His gaze became serious once more. "He's always speaking of things we do not understand...always stares at the horizon..." The man nodded o Impa, the breeze brushing his dark brown hair. Zelda noticed everything about him was brown. He must've had a liking to that color. "What business, again, do you have with him?"
"Back in Goron City," Impa immediately responded, "did he say something that interested us. I wanted to dicuss it with him. Where we you when he disappeared?"
"Well..." He hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words. The man's reply then came a bit more slowly, as he was trying to sound honest by using the right words. "We...we don't...well, I'm not sure when he disappeared. I do know last night something strange happened. Fire had erupted from the ground out of nowehere, and we were all quite startled, you see. But nothing out of the ordinary happened. That wasn't too far from Hyrule Castle..."
Impa glanced down at Zelda, who arched her neck back to look up at Impa. The Shiekah then pulled the horse's reins to the left, turning it away to the opposite direction.
"You aren't going to Hyrule Town, are you?" the man asked.
Impa did not answer him. Instead, they merely galloped away, leaving that confused man. The light of the sunrise cast shadow and amber light upon the ground, stirring the Cuccos from sleep and entrancing the Wolfos into slumber.

Bond glanced up towards the gate as he heard faint clopping of hooves in the distance, his nose sniffing out a horse and two unfamiliar figures. At first, they were merely a group of shadows far away, and he thought them to be one at first. He was sitting on the edge of Hyrule Market's fountain, stroking Raizken's back as the dragon squealed in delight. Bond looked down at his recent companion as its movements stiffened, tail locking into a graceful curve, head raised, talons apart, wings folded, back into black stone, the red eyes ruby once more. Bond knew Raizken now had a mind of its own since it belonged to him now. Raizken would only be alive if it were near him, commanded by him, cared by him, or anything concerning him. Raizken was a stone dragon -- an enchanted work of rock with a soul bound to it, which chooses its owners and friends, and is completely unbreakable unless thrown into a volcano. Bond clutched the now motionless and solid figure to him as the figures in the distance became more clear. At first, he thought they were merely riding in. But he soon realized the horse was galloping towards him.
The horse slid to a halt, releasing dust into the air as it breathed heavily in trying to regain its breath, head hanging to the ground. Impa had pushed the mare very far. Zelda slipped off the white horse as she noticed the wagon beside the fountain, where two bulky black horses rested, laying on the ground lazily. She glanced over towards Bond, her lips making motions as though she were struggling for words to speak. Impa also dismounted the mare.
"A-are you..." Zelda started quietly, focusing her eyes on the unfamiliar black dragon in the stranger's arms. "The boy from the caravan...the boy who watches over the black wagon?" She turned her head towards the black stallions. She didn't notice that he had then frowned at her question. Zelda glanced back, locking her blue eyes on his dead, brown eyes, and stared at them deeply. She shuddered silently at them, thinking she was looking into lifeless voids of no light. When he didn't answer, she pressed on, unaware of the fact that Impa was watching the two quietly. "Therein blackness, no light shineth..." To her mild surprise, the look in his eyes hardened. "What--what does that mean?"
"The golden light of white cannot shine forth in the chaotic darkness that is coming," he explained in a low voice, so that not even the Shiekah could hear him. Only Zelda. "No matter how valiant you are, you cannot strike down these forces. Something is behind the curse."
"Curse? What cur..." Zelda's voice trailed off as she remembered the insane look in Link's eyes during that ill-fated battle.
"There is something that leads both destruction and light," the boy answered quietly, brushing his hand against the back of the dragon's neck. "Find it and you can prevail...but it cannot be ordinary. It must be warm yet bitter, real but unnatural, symbolizing the calm that is order, and the entrancing light that is chaos." He clutched Raizken close to him. "My name is Bond Drellmire, and I cannot tell you the answer to the riddle. For the winds say that if you knew too early, all would be lost."
"No light shineth..." Zelda echoed quietly, still gazing back at him.
"But the carrier of dark and light shall triumph," Bond finished, narrowing his eyes at her.