Chapter Fifteen

Link found himself sneaking back to the ranch. With a few wary glances here and there he felt it was safe enough to venture on. He easily scaled the ranch's wall and made his way to the barn. The smell of blood still lingered strongly in the air. At least it wasn't his, and he was thankful for that.

"Link? Is that you?" Malon asked in a low whisper. She walked out the barn with a bucket and a dirty wash cloth thrown around one shoulder. "I was about to go look for you." For a moment she examined the creature before her, neither judging nor hating. A creature more wolf than man, with a deep chest and a muscular frame. In the dawn light the wolf's fur almost gave off a golden glow. He was...strangely beautiful in his own wild way.

"I'm sorry I didn't come for you earlier," Malon said as a small, guilty smile appeared on her face. "My dad was in a panic all night long, and Ingo made things worse." Link growled softly to himself. He didn't need reminding. When Talon had left things up to Ingo, the man had clumsily attacked him with the rake. Clumsily, but he got hit at least twice. That would explain the bloody welts on his muzzle. But at the moment he didn't care. All he desired was rest. Link walked up to Malon's side and peered into the barn. Amazingly the traces of blood splatter had been eradicated. And Blox's body had been removed too. So, that was why she had cleaning materials with her.

"Just a fraction of my appreciation..." the girl said, then sighed, "it's been a long night for both of us, and we both need our rest. What do you say?" Link gave her a quick glance before walking in and lying down to rest. How good it felt to be able to sleep at last. When he opened his eyes to see if Malon had departed he was shocked to see her sitting right beside him.

"I didn't get to thank you properly last night," she muttered, looking at her outstretched legs. "I am truely thankful that you were there to protect me. Who knows what that wolf could have done to me..." Staring at her bandaged arm Link felt a sheering hate start to bubble within, but beyond that was guilt. If only he had told her about the danger that lurked in the dark she wouldn't have gotten bitten in the first place. He was to blame for her injuries.

"Link, I am safe now. There is no need to feel sorry over what happened," Malon said when she caught his sad gaze on her arm. Link simply stared at the wall. 'No Malon, you're wrong. What if that had been your neck he had gotten? You wouldn't be sitting here if that had been the case...' he thought painfully. His ears dropped. 'Maybe he was right...maybe I am a sloppy fighter.' As sleep finally took a hold and his eyes began to close, he was vaguely aware of Malon's hand running across his neck.

- - -

Hope was fast dying within Princess Zelda's heart. It seemed apparent now that no one was coming to her aid. And Vonndrake was actually getting away with his motives. More and more people were getting captured and being thrown into cells. Even the children or the sick weren't spared the unjust treatment. In Vonndrake's eyes they were all the same. Everyone was a lowly human and nothing more.

"Tell me something," Zelda said when the tyrant had walked into his lavished den. He took his time to sit himself down before taking any heed to his captive.

"What now?" he asked, grinning. His hand went to stroke his black beard.

"Ever since my capture your plans still haven't been made clear to me. Am I nothing more than bait? And what do you want to achieve? Domination? Recognition?" the princess muttered. Vonndrake seemed amused.

"Well that's a mouthful, and aren't you being a little nosy? What business do you have knowing my affairs?" He questioned, taking his time to look over every inch of Zelda's body. His gaze made her shiver within, but she did her best not to show it.

"There's no harm telling me," she answered, then sighed out, "it's obvious that things are going your way. If someone wanted to stop you don't you think they would be here already?" The man stared at her face, slightly musing. Then he nodded once.

"Yes, there is some truth in what you say. So, you want to know what I have in mind, huh?" he said, again smiling. "I didn't tell you everything the first time. As you already know Link has Nisih's blood coursing through his veins. It has made him a very nice adversory indeed. Yet my desire is for him to side with me. He has so much potential in him and he doesn't realize it." Zelda nodded slowly. Vonndrake arched an eyebrow at her. "But of course that isn't what you want to hear, is it? You're worried about them, your subjects."

"What about them?" the princess said. By the way Vonndrake was looking at her she knew it was going to be bad. His tongue swept along his lips almost causally, as if he was licking blood from them. "Hylians are hard to come by, especially around my homeland, Sadaen. The long distance between the two is to blame. And since Sadaen is so far away from Hyrule, Hylians are considered a delicacy among the werewolves." Zelda felt sick to her stomach.

"You can't mean..." she looked desperately at him. "What about the young ones...or the sick and old?" Vonndrake suddenly howled with laughter.

"Your subjects are nothing but meat reserves. Think of it as a reward for my followers, a reward for all the hard work they've done for me," he humoured. "Werewolves prefer to have full stomachs at the end of the day rather than money payments." Zelda was shaking her head all the while.

"That's disgusting! Why would you turn us into meat like that? These are people I'm talking about, people with families and their own aspirations to fulfil," she wailed. Vonndrake silenced her with a low, thunderous growl.

"Disgusting? Who are you to deem what is disgusting or not? Do you not do the same with livestock or with the fowl? Do you not keep them simply because of your needs to eat? And don't they have families? You feel no guilt nor pity as you drag a mother from her young and slaughter her before their eyes," Vonndrake expounded. "So, what makes what we're doing any different? We too need to eat. When it's Hylian killing a cow there's nothing wrong with that, but when it's a werewolf killing a Hylian then it seems cruel and unjust." Zelda looked shocked and angry at the same time.

"But what gives you the right, Vonndrake?" she hissed, her eyes narrowing. The man rose to his feet, seemingly pleased.

"The same right any predator has," he muttered, gazing out the window. "The time draws ever so near. Can you hear that?" Despite it being morning Zelda could clearly hear the howling chorus of the werewolves from outside. Their mournful cries sent shivers down her back. She felt suddenly so helpless and inferior. This was is. Vonndrake was actually winning, and she couldn't do a damn thing about it.


Note: I have not proof-read this chapter, so if you spot any mistakes or strange wording, please tell me. (On a less important note) Aw, Malon stroke Ookami Rinku. Lol. Oh, and this mess with Vonndrake...anyways! (Runs off to write more)