Chapter Nineteen

Strange Alliance

General Stalakor prowled the dungeons for any sign of the escaped prisoners. By now, he had discovered the disappearance of yet another prisoner. A Sheikah they had captured in Kakariko. Cursing the guards' stupidity, he continued his search. Cell after cell, room after room, crate after crate, he searched. Finally, after smashing a crate to smithereens in frustration, a stalfos guard gave him some good news.

"Sire, we found this in the lower dungeons." The stalfos dropped a small piece of cloth into the general's bony hand. It appeared to be a piece of a tattered white dress with a thin red line in a zigzag pattern. "We think it got caught on a crate and ripped."

"Lower dungeons? Odd way to escape… Of course, nothing can leave the tower unless the King opens the doors." He mused over the cloth for a few moments before something dawned on his mind. "The princess…"

"Sire?"

"The princess. That's where they are going!" Stalakor practically crowed as he dashed down the stairwell.

Malon and Quin silently crept through the lower dungeons, dodging the guards behind crates, using invisibilis sparingly. Horror lay inside the lower dungeon cells. Malon stared at a man, a Hylian soldier, who looked like he hadn't eaten in a month. A dehydrated Zora being hung upside down, inches away from tantalizing water which he couldn't reach. There were also small children with blank stares, holding the darkened corpses of their fairy partners in their hands. Forest children… Malon thought sadly, remembering Link's fairy from long ago.

"Solnakag!" Malon turned sharply at the Stal-King's distant voice, which was followed by a faint scream.

"Come on, this way." Quin whispered, taking her by the hand. Only pausing to dodge guards, the fugitives weaved their way through the complex dungeons, following the voice. "Aah!" Quin tripped as a hand suddenly grabbed his ankle. Glaring at the prisoner that had grabbed him, the Shiekah suddenly let out a gasp. Glaring back was none other than the former King of Evil, Ganondorf!

The soft notes of a song drifted through the air as Link played his Ocarina. Sincerely hoping that it was still heard, Link played the song again. This time, his ears were rewarded by the familiar whinny of Link's mare, Epona, as she galloped toward her master, nearly trampling a sheep that bleated angrily at her.

"Amazin'" Petre said in admiration as Link patted the auburn steed. "Tha's a fine 'orse ya got there. She fast?"

"You have no idea." He replied with a grin, remembering a horserace with Ingo in the alternate timeline. He fed Epona a carrot.

"So, wher'yoo plannin' on takin' tha' 'orse, boy?" The farmer asked him in his nearly indecipherable dialect with a glare that a father would give a guilty son.

"I told you." Link replied coolly. "I'm going to go rescue the love of my life, even if I have to ride through Stalfos Valley to do it."

"Come to ya senses boy…" Petre muttered. "Nothin' can survive that trip. I've 'eard thar's a great dragon guardin' that 'orrible place! Yew'll be crispier than one o' Marie's crumpets!" He leaned in close and put his hand up by his mouth as if his wife was reading his lips. "And tha's sayin' somethin'!" With a chuckle, Link mounted his horse and looked back down at the old man.

"I thank you for helping me back to health, but I must get going." He turned Epona around and yelled over his shoulder. "Tell Marie I said good-bye!" With that, he urged Epona forward into a gallop.

"May the Goddesses 'ave mercy on ya' soul." Petre muttered as he watched Link disappear over the hill.

"You!" Quin hissed at Ganondorf, whose grip on his ankle had not loosened.

"Boy." He hissed back. "Get me out of this cell. Now." Ganondorf was in worse shape than Malon or Quin. His black clothes were filthy and his large nose looked like it had been broken several times without being splinted correctly. His scowling dark face was gaunt and pale from the constant darkness. "Get me out, or I will alert the guards of your presence…" He let the threat hang in the air.

"Fine." Quin hissed back, clearly loathing the idea of helping the Gerudo. He flipped around so he could reach the lock (Ganondorf still had his fist around his ankle), and pulled out a knife. He jabbed the knife into the keyhole and in less than a minute, the lock clicked open. As Ganondorf silently crept out, Malon asked where the knife had come from. "Nicked it off a guard. Come on and be quiet!" He replied in a hushed voice with a glare at the Gerudo king, who had bumped into a crate.

"Solnakag!" The Stal-King roared, sending another torrent of electricity into the princess's writhing body.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!" Zelda screamed and screamed as the pain came in unending waves.

"Give me the Triforce!" He hissed into her ear as she sobbed during a break in the pain. With a burst of rage, he backhanded her across the cheekbone, the bracelet on his wrist smashing into her flesh. "Salrosa!" At first, Zelda thought whatever the spell was hadn't worked, then…

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!" What felt like a long knife, stabbed through her shoulder. The king withdrew his finger and touched her arm, sending stabbing pain through it.

"Why do you resist? I'm going to get the Triforce eventually." The skeleton spoke in her ear. He 'stabbed' her in the back.

"Aaaggghhh!" Zelda clenched her teeth and when the pain had died down enough, she replied in a ragged voice. "I'll die before I give it to you… So just get it over with and kill me…" The Stal-King scowled and drew his finger across her neck, giving her the impression of living through a decapitation.

"The problem with that princess…" He hissed at her after she stopped screaming. "…Is that I would have to search for the new bearer of Wisdom. Searching for one new bearer is frustrating enough; don't make my life harder by making it two." Behind her, the king's decayed face smirked, waiting for her to get the gist.

"T-two? But—"

"Yes princess, your beloved hero is dead." The king sneered. "Did I forget to mention that little bit of info? He got into a little duel with one of my generals on the waterfall…" His sneer turned to a scowl. "…and lost."

"I-I don't believe you." Zelda replied hysterically, vigorously shaking her head in denial.

"No?" The skeleton replied softly. He raised his hand and pressed it against her forehead. Oblivious to the screams he was causing by touching her, he pushed a mental memory into her sub-conscious.

General Stalakor leapt onto the top of the dam, flipping over Link's arrow. The hero attacked but the elite parried and delivered a counter-strike so powerful that it knocked Link's sword out of his hand. With a snarl, Stalakor drove his sword through the hero's heart. Link's face contorted in pain for a few seconds before relaxing into an unmistakably dead expression. Almost in slow motion, the hero toppled off the falls, dropping to his watery grave.

"Noooooooooo!" Zelda wailed in anguish as the fake memory played over and over in her mind. With a satisfied smirk, the Stal-King spoke one more thing.

"Your only love is dead. Give me the Triforce, and I will let you join him." With that, the king walked out of the cell, leaving Zelda behind in her newfound misery.

Hope you liked this chapter. Dark I know, but things will start looking more hopeful soon. ;) How? You'll have to keep reading!

P.S. I'm not going over the limits of my T rating am I?