Disclaimer: Me no own Zelda.
A/N: Wow, it's been a while hasn't it? So long that I kinda forgot the normal format of stuff for this site.
Chapter 16
Link's eyes flew open and he was suddenly very aware of a slight stinging sensation in his arm. Sharai's head was in his lap and she was currently fast asleep, so as not to disturb her, the young blond hero slowly and carefully turned his upper torso. He met crimson red eyes and blinked.
Lira was leaning forward from behind him and had been pinching his arm, presumably to awaken him from his slumber. She had a worried expression upon her face and Link immediately became concerned. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Is everything alright, Lira? What's wrong?" he asked. Lira's ruby orbs darted from side to side nervously and she leaned in toward him. When she spoke, her voice was barely over a whisper. "Doesn't it seem quiet out here to you?" she asked softly.
Link glanced around. It was still very early in the morning; the sun hadn't fully risen yet, which led Link to believe he hadn't been asleep for very long. Other than the sound of Shizuka's enormous dragon wings slicing through the air, it was silent.
Link turned back to Lira. "It is pretty quiet, but it's only early morning…." Link trailed off when Lira shook her head. "No! It should never be this quiet!" Lira leaned towards him again and grasped the sleeve of his tunic. "Something's coming…!"
As soon as the dragon maiden finished her statement, Shizuka let out a thunderous howl, sounding remarkably like he was in pain, and faltered in his flight, forcing his companions to grab on to something to stay on. That something, for both girls (Sharai had woken with a start) happened to be Link. Link flattened himself to Shizuka's back while holding on to both girls tightly, with Lira on his left and Sharai on his right.
The wind rushed violently by them, as if Shizuka was picking up speed and the dragon let out another pained cry. Link was only vaguely aware of Sharai sobbing pitifully against his shoulder as the wind whipped voraciously about his head.
"What's going on?" Link hollered over the wind, voicing his question to the azure-haired dragon on his left. "I don't know!" Lira screamed back. The sudden sound of trees cracking made the trio suddenly aware that they were descending at a high velocity towards the ground. Shizuka's ebony belly was already grazing the treetops.
Link held on tighter to both girls. "Hold on tight! I think we're landing!" he hollered into the wind. The blonde hero squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for the fall. With a thunderous crash, and the feeling like he had been punched in the gut, they were finally on the ground.
Lira peeked up from burying her face in Shizuka's massive back. "We're on the ground," she breathed softly. Sharai was crying softly and Lira was quick to comfort the trembling young wyvern girl. Link stood wobbly to his feet, his legs feeling like jello after the crash landing.
"I'm gonna check out the area and see if Shizuka is alright. You girls stay here. Scream if you need me, ok?" Link said, drawing his sword and readying his shield. Lira nodded, a determined look on her face as she held on tightly to Sharai. "Ok. Be careful, Link," she replied softly. Link nodded. "I will."
The young swordsman hopped off the prone body of the injured dragon and ran alongside his body to reach his head. Shizuka's large eyelids were closed, but Link could feel his hot steamy breath on his face and could hear his labored breathing. "Are you alright, Shizuka?" Link asked, cautiously stepping closer to his face.
One eye opened and slowly focused on Link and the immobilized dragon let out a soft pained rumble. Link, feeling immensely bad for Shizuka getting injured, patted him on the nose while looking up at the early morning sky. "I'm sorry, Shizuka. I feel like this is all my fault…" Link muttered quietly.
Of course Shizuka's sensitive ears picked it up. He flared his nostrils in indignation. Link took in a deep breath, but nearly choked on it seconds later when the temperature dropped drastically in the vicinity. The hero readied his sword and shield, preparing for the worst.
"Link!" Lira called, currently out of Link's sight range. Link held his breath. "Oh no…I'm coming Lira!" he hollered back, dashing up Shizuka's neck and to his back. Lira was there, Sharai as well, and they both looked fine. Link let out a breath of relief to see them ok.
He knelt down before them. "Everything alright?" he asked, even though the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. Lira gave him a fearful look. "He's here."
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Not even bothering to transform into his winged-beast form, Firagaht dashed at lightning speed out of the temple grounds and through the forest, hoping to the goddesses above that the demon hadn't reached Lira and the others yet.
Kairi was barely able to keep with the dragon leader, and trailed nearly a hundred feet behind. It didn't matter much though, they would reach Lira and the others at about the same time. It didn't help though, that the silver haired twin suddenly felt a sharp pain in his belly.
"Augh!" he exclaimed, coming nearly to a stop, clutching his stomach in pain. Firagaht, though fully focused on the task at hand, still heard the cry and glanced briefly behind him. When he saw that his betrothed's cousin was not following anymore, he bared his teeth and growled, coming to a stop as well.
"What is the matter?" he snarled, none too sympathetically at his current traveling companion. Kairi frowned. "I'm in pain, but no damage has been inflicted upon me," he replied, staring at his chest area, where the shock of pain had originated. His eyes widened with sudden realization. Firagaht stood with his arms crossed over his chest, waiting impatiently.
"Shizuka's been hurt!" Firagaht raised an eyebrow. Kairi answered his unasked question. "We are twins, and sometimes when one of us is inflicted with pain the other will feel it. It tends to happen either when it is a nearly fatal wound or when the pain is significant somehow…"
"Stop your rambling," the elder dragon snapped. "So you are saying that your brother was hurt? Then let us not waste time discussing it and keep going!" Kairi pouted his lips. Despite being fiercely loyal to the dragon before him, it still made him greatly agitated when he was spoken down to like that. He grunted in reply, and the two of them continued their race to reach Lira.
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The coldest wind swept by creeping up Link's back and making every hair on his body stand on end. The young hero tried to prevent the tremble of both fear and reaction to the cold shoot through his body, but his efforts were in vain. He stared into Lira's eyes as their crimson depths widened to phenomenal proportions.
"Well, well, well now. What do we have here?"
Link started at the voice and immediately whirled around to face its owner. He gulped as he laid his eyes upon the previously sealed demon standing on the ground below them. Readying his sword and shield, Link tensed his body and lowered himself into a fighting stance.
"I've found you at last. Won't you come with me?" the demon said almost as if he were speaking to a child.
Link's eyebrow twitched. 'His personality is completely different from before!' he realized.
"Who are you talking to?" Link demanded.
The demon smirked, closing his eyes. "Why, Lira of course," he replied. Behind Link, Lira gasped audibly. "She is to be my new body." He reopened his eyes as he said this, favoring Link with a malicious stare.
Link took a surprised step back at this. "New…body?" he repeated, puzzled.
At this moment, Shizuka groaned and his eyelids fluttered open and closed. The demon's attention was briefly diverted, and Link used this to his advantage.
"Lira! Take Sharai and run!" Link hissed at the blue-haired dragon maiden. She blinked, breaking out of her fear-induced trance and grabbed hold of Sharai, leapt off of her cousin's back, and made her escape.
The demon, his attention returned to his chosen potential vessel, chuckled, thoroughly amused as he watched her dash off into the forest. The smile immediately faded when he lifted his hand up to block a sword strike from the young Hylian that had been meant to cleave him in two. Link clenched his teeth as he pushed with all his might against the demon's hand.
"Annoying bug!" the once-sealed monster growled, shoving the Gilded Sword away, tossing Link into the air. The hero flipped in the air and landed dexterously on his feet on the ground.
"I won't let you lay a single finger on Lira!" Link exclaimed, charging at his enemy. He thrust his sword forward with tremendous force and stabbed directly into the demon's heart, his sword forcing through to protrude from the creature's back. Blood splattered onto Link's hardened face. A feeling of triumph swept through him as he watched the creature's head droop forward.
Link smirked. "Some demon. You didn't even try to dodge my stab!" he taunted.
Link began to pull his blade out of the demon's torso when suddenly he was met with resistance. His eyes widened as he saw that the demon's hand was clamped tightly around the blade of the sword. Glowing red eyes met with Link's and the Hylian was immediately struck with fear.
The demon grinned broadly, showing off his fangs and disturbing chuckles racked his body. "Poor, simple mortal. You do not yet realize the situation you are in…" A strong hand clamped around Link's neck and crushed his windpipe, cutting off air circulation to his brain.
Link's blue eyes widened and he released his hold on his sword and gripped tightly but futilely upon the hand that would be the end for him if this continued on for much longer.
"Do you know who I am mortal?" he asked softly. Link grunted, gasping desperately for air. The creature's eyes widened giving him the appearance of a crazed murderer.
"I am Shamasu! Prince of the Underworld! All who defy me are fools!"
With this, Shamasu flung Link across the clearing and into one of the bordering trees. The blond Hylian slammed into the thick trunk of the tree, creating a large dent in the bark. His limp, but still barely conscious form sank to the ground.
Shamasu chuckled malevolently at the boy, who could now barely keep his eyes open. "How did that feel, eh? Did you enjoy the sound of your bones cracking as much as I did?"
He glanced down at the sword protruding from his chest as if he had just remembered it being there and grabbed hold of the hilt, pulling it slowly out of his flesh. The wound hole it had created quickly resealed itself once the blade was no longer embedded in it.
Shamasu grinned broadly at the sword, turning it over in his hands. "A golden sword…how fascinating," he mused to himself, giving it a practice swing. His scarlet red eyes held a dangerous glint in them as they alighted upon Link's crumpled form.
Dexterously flipping the sword up into the air and catching it with the blade facing down, the demon slowly advanced on the fallen hero. "Let's see how sharp it is against mortal flesh shall we?"
Link flinched and fisted a handful of dirt when he sensed Shamasu drawing near. His shadow fell over him and the fallen hero peered up at him helplessly through his messy blond bangs.
Shamasu gripped Link once more by the neck, lifted him up to eye level, and slammed him against the tree, smirking all the while. Link's head lolled to the side, for he was too injured to even protest. The demon prince brought the sword up over his head and brought it back down with extreme precision deep into Link's shoulder.
Link's eyes widened and he screamed as the white hot pain sent a shock through his brain. He bit down on his lip to cap off any further elicits of pain and squeezed his eyes shut. The evil prince then wrenched the sword out of the wound and released Link, allowing him to fall to the forest floor.
The demon smirked, tossing the bloodied blade to the side and closing his eyes. "Will you be as fun to play with…dragon?" he sneered, turning around to face a slightly battered and bruised, and in human form, Shizuka.
Silently, Shizuka drew his blade, narrowing his eyes darkly and fully focusing upon the demon. Shamasu smiled, cracking his fingers. "You look pretty strong…perhaps I shall have fun fighting you?"
The last thing Link heard was the sound of metal clashing with metal before he blacked out.
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I like cliffhangers. Don't you?
So like I wanted to end the chapter here cuz at this moment I don't know how the climactic ending battle is gonna end exactly and I wanted to post something up since this fic has been inactive for the past 999999 years. I hope you likey!
-LunaRyuu