Chapter Six
By the time it was evening all of the castle's army had been suited up and ready to go. Although they had tried to face the battle with a positive attitude they couldn't ignore their fear and insecurities. Especially Xanath. For once he had butterflies in his stomach. The bad timing, lack of sufficient training and unease were to blame. 'Calm down. Chances of winning are great. Hyrule has never lost a battle, we're experienced …' he told himself. He had spent most of his time sharpening his blade and his favoured falchion. But he wasn't too sure if his trusted weapons could save him.
"Shame Link ain't here. He can sure give us a leg up," one of the soldiers in the barracks said. His comrade didn't take a liking to the comment and showed his displeasure by sneering.
"Bah, who needs that filthy mongrel? The bastard would be eating the dead before our very eyes. I'm glad he's dead," he muttered. Xanath sighed out wearily. 'Time to see Zelda.' He figured that she would be in her room, and just as he had thought she was in there all right…crying. Xanath felt pity upon here. 'Such a young lady needn't go through this…' Paer was doing his best to comfort her.
"Why are you crying for?" he murmured in the softest voice he could muster. The princess hastily wiped her eyes dry with her palms and forced a smile.
"I'm just a bit worried, that's all. Don't let it bother you," she sobbed. Xanath walked over to her and gave her a reassuring hug. He seldom partook in affectionate acts. "Promise me you'll return in one piece. Promise me that!" He closed his eyes. 'Should I for her sake?'
"Yes I promise. Just wait until I return. I'll do everything I am capable of to defend this land," he whispered in her ear. He withdrew from her embrace and eyed Paer steadily. "And you, do your part and see to that she remains safe." The advisor gave him an uncertain nod of his head. Then Xanath looked at the princess once more. "I'm off now, goodbye."
"Xanath…" Zelda whispered as he departed. The brave man headed for the stables, mounted his steed and rode off to meet his men surrounding the castle's wall. He felt pleased when he saw their numbers. Eight hundred men strong, he doubted Vonndrake had more.
"Are you ready?" he shouted into the eager yet nervous horde. "I pray the Goddesses will have mercy upon us."
A horn was sounded eventually, breaking the agonising wait Xanath and his men had to endure.
"They're here," the scout, announced. "Just where the plains are." Xanath let out a long sigh and unsheathed his sword.
"Alright men. This is it. You all have sworn to protect this land, now's your chance to prove it, follow my lead," on horseback Xanath led the men over to the plains and found a sight that made his heart sink. Garbed in black armour with mean weaponry, Vonndrake's men topped a thousand, two hundred more than their own.
"No, this can't be happening…" soldier beside Xanath began. He held a frightful look in his eyes, and his face was pale. "I want out! We can't win!!" He ran but another grabbed him before he went too far.
"You dare run from your fellow men who have the temerity to stand against the odds? You would rather run and let them die a death that you could have prevented? You should be ashamed of yourself," Xanath spat angrily. He then directed his attention to the enemy. "Let's go." In silence, except for the clatter of silver armour, they marched down a receding slope to meet the dark army and stopped several metres away.
"Hey, bearded man," one of them shouted. Xanath stared at him with an unsavoury expression. "It'll be best if you'd simply throw down your weapons. There's no need for bloodshed."
"And I believe that too, but it should be you who should discard your weapons," Xanath expounded, "It is not in our nature to succumb to such filth. We protect our land with our life." The other man grinned and began a sinister laugh. Eerie was more like it.
"Your life? Huh…shame, it seems you think you have what it takes to beat us, but I must ask. Have you ever fought an army like this one?" he questioned. A frightful cry cut the silence, turning Xanath's blood cold. He saw, just like everyone else out there, the enemy…transforming. He tried to deny it, but it was painfully clear what they were up against. Werewolves…a thousand strong, standing before them with savage eyes and gnashing fangs.
"Shit," Xanath breathed. He wasn't quick enough to call upon his men to attack. The closest beasts had already taken down his frontal line and were ploughing through the rest of them with unnatural speed. "Attack! Attack!" Uproar started and the two armies clashed. Xanath kicked his heels into his horse's ribs, making the animal rear up and gallop straight into the wolves. Being on horseback gave him a greater advantage, giving him enough height and speed to sheer the monsters' heads off. He felt a tingle of pleasure as his sword grew dirty with their blood, and when their dying cry left their lungs. 'I must protect Hyrule no matter what, even if it means my life!'
Link's eyes suddenly snapped open. Since yesterday he'd been asleep, as obviously there wasn't a damn thing to do in the dungeons. He'd been very frustrated…isolated and pissed off to say the least. But now he felt a terrible threat, what could it be? Slowly he rose up, head directed to the ceiling and closed his eyes. 'It sounds as if there's a battle going on, outside?' No, how could that be possible? Zelda and Xanath would never hide the prospect of a battle from him…would they? Were they…could they be foolish enough to do such a thing?
Link sat down, head hung low. 'If they need my help they should have never kept me down here…' he thought in disgust. Sighing he lay back down and did his best to ignore whatever was going on outside. But when he scented the redolence of Hylian blood he knew something was astray. And there was another aggravating scent mixed in there; it was vaguely recognisable, yet he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"What have they gotten themselves into?" he growled, once again rising up. He began to pace, making the chains rattle and disturb the other people down here.
"Hey kid, would you sit down already? You're making a hell of a noise with that bloody pacing," man next to him complained. Link won't listen.
"Something's wrong. I know it is," he murmured. "I smell blood, and there's too much being spilled…" 'Too much sixth sense perhaps?' the prisoner wondered, 'or he's just paranoid.'
"Well sorry to burst your bubble but Xanath isn't here to free you like last time," the man replied. "What are you going to do about it?" Link knew what to do; yet he wasn't sure how to go about it. It was still light out, and he'd never willed a change on before. Without his wolfen form there was no way he could break free. 'I have to try…how?' Damn it. He should have asked Nisih, when there was some sort of loose bond between them, how she was able to will a change. Like when he was first bitten, it was broad daylight. The night nor did the moon effect her state. Link punched the wall. 'How did she do it?!' No, he was thinking wrong. What brought on his change, not hers. He began to think back. Other changes had just happened without control. Eventually he recalled the fight with Nisih. He had willed it on because the bitch had threatened Zelda's safety. But why wasn't the same happening this time round? 'I hold a grudge against those people…I feel no desire to protect them.' Then his heart constricted. He had been over looking a vital detail from the very start. 'Shit…the army's out there, and who else leads them out?' Xanath came into view. A dull aching began in his bones. 'How could I have been so blind?' The curse finally unravelled, contaminating his body. He did very little to resist its pull. This time, he let it take control.
Link tensed violently, clenched his teeth, his stance slightly bent forwards. The whites of his eyes disappeared, began to glow an unnatural blue.
"Hey kid, you alright? You're starting to scare me…" the man murmured. The cracking and creaking of bones were pronounced now. Groans were gradually getting deeper, more bestial. He discarded his prison clothes, tearing them off as if they were delicate silk. Link noted his body already halfway changed, and doing so with speed and fluency. But it still hurt… "Fuck! Are you going to so this shit whenever your doggy hormones kick in?" Thirty seconds later the transformation was complete, and the wolf, pent up with rage, began to strain against the chains. He gave it one good tug and the chains snapped. Link then jumped at the bars, taking them in his hand-like paws and began to apply pressure. 'Come on…' The iron protested loudly as they shifted into a large enough gap.
"Get back inside!" someone hollered. "If you're escaping you might as well free the rest of us." The wolf looked at him, grinned and bolted for the door. He bashed the wooden door down with his massive skull, breezed past two stunned guards and ran up a flight of stone stairs. Powerful muscles propelled him onwards, but he wondered if they were enough.
Princess Zelda felt uncomfortable as she waited in the room. 'Paer should have been back by now', she worried, 'where could he have gone'? Come to think of it this was the actual first time he had ever left her side without saying a reason, the first time he had a lie on his breath, first time he had looked at her from the corner of his eye and given a false smile.
Having a feeling of dread she rose up and was about to walk out the door when a slap to her face sent her hurtling on her ass. She winced and laid a hand on her bruised cheek, tears starting to sting her eyes. A slap? It felt more like a punch. Standing before her was a man cloaked in black, beard and everything.
"You must be Vonndrake," Zelda stammered, obviously in shock. The man grinned at her, amused.
"Yeah, and I'm Hyrule's future leader," he said now moving towards her.
"Stay back," she cried out, rising to her feet, "I'm the Princess of Hyrule and I will not accept such insubordination from a man who inflates his significance!! I order you to get out of my sights." Vonndrake closed his eyes, chuckling to himself.
"You're quite mistaken, I am anything but inflating my significance. There's fear in your voice and I'm pretty sure you can't save yourself," he said. Paer entered the scene, smiling and swinging chains in his hands. "As you can clearly see I have the upper hand in this worse case scenario."
"Paer? Why are you doing this? You were meant to protect me…" Zelda gasped. The man shook his head.
"I was always with Vonndrake. All I needed to do was get a job here, let's say, as you're personal advisor and basically the story picks up from there," he explained. The princess couldn't stop herself from crying out in terror as they bound her down.
