Chapter 21
Link turned around; found the wolf in the middle of her attack. His eyes narrowed fiercely. Without as much as a thought he struck out, grabbing the wolf by her throat. And just as fast he threw her down onto her back. Zelda stared up, completely shocked.
"Why do you hate me so much?" Link growled, baring his fangs. The wolf trembled as his claws began to dig into her flesh. "You don't know the agony I had to put up with, just to please you and your damned civilians. Through your eyes and everyone else's, all you saw was a beast stained with the blood of loved ones. Yet did you ever give a thought about me? What I must be going through? You were so self-absorbed with your public presence and couldn't bear the thought of having a murdering animal under your care. " Zelda could feel the rage in the air. Right now, all she wanted to do was get away. But Link wouldn't let her go, not now.
"I know why you locked me up. You were afraid of me, and still are. I saw that look when I first changed in order to protect you. And saw that look again when I changed in the cells. Some may call me stupid for falling for that punishment twice. And even more stupid for staying loyal to you, regardless of what you did to me," he said, now releasing his grasp. The hateful look he had in his eyes had glazed over, and all traces of the wolf had vanished. He slowly sat back, his attention pinned to the building structure in the distance.
"I can't abandon you. You hurt me over and over, but I can't abandon. Saving a land where everyone hates me is the greatest agony I have to put up with…"
Both beings stared into the other's eyes. And Zelda finally felt the unsavoury sting of her unjust treatment. She was the one who had betrayed his trust, and abused his loyalty to her. In his position, she would have run away, or killed the one she was loyal to. 'All I've done was add more pain to his already tormented mind. How could I have been so blind? And I call myself a friend?' Zelda agonized. 'Oh Link, what have I done to you?'
The two sat in uneasy silence until it was broken by the sounds of footfalls. Before either Dante, Malon and Xanath could mutter a word Link left, and continued the journey alone.
"What happened here?" Xanath wondered, looking back and forth between the wolf and Link. "Did we miss something important?" Dante threw a harsh glare at the white wolf, making her cower and whimper a note. Then, surprise came to his eyes.
"I see…" he muttered, a smile tugging at his lips. "We needn't worry about the missing princess anymore." The other two exchanged confused glances. Dante pointed at the creature cowering before them. "The Princess Zelda."
"You've got to be shitting me," Xanath breathed, his eyes widening. "That can't be her."
"Then can someone tell me why Link didn't kill her off like he did the others?" Dante questioned, facing them. "What reason would he want her alive for?" Malon cringed as she stared. Deep down, those eyes of the white wolf…it had to be. Xanath must have felt the same way too for he did not utter another word to argue. He simply crouched down and gave her a smile.
"Well, you could be in worst shape…" he whispered. Zelda whined again and buried herself into his chest.
---
Link couldn't stop himself from quivering. It wasn't the stench of werewolves or the odour of spilt blood. It wasn't from the cold either. Raw excitement. At last he had finally made it into the interior of Vonndrake's domain. And very soon he would be in his presence, facing him off. The prospect of a fight to the death sent waves of excitement and anxiety coursing down his body.
As he ventured deeper into the building, he caught sight of more werewolves. Correction. He saw a shit-load of them. Everywhere his eyes fell there was one either going on its business or talking with others. Fear pricked in Link's gut. Was this a good idea to simply walk in without a weapon? Furthermore, he hadn't the faintest clue of where he was supposed to be going.
When the werewolves finally noticed his presence all Link could do was stifle a growl. Badly outnumbered, and it was too late to run. Not that he couldn't run or anything. But knowing his adversaries they could attack with little or no notice, and even if he evaded the first assault it was only a matter of seconds until they chased him down.
Link felt a trickle of sweat roll down the side of his temple. This was by far the worse mistake yet.
After a tense moment of silence, one werewolf straightened up and sighed.
"Seeing as he's made it this far…" he sniffed, and rubbed a finger beneath his nose. "Follow me." Link blinked. Was this for real? He was half expecting a fight…even some hostility towards him but never the idea that they would let him walk in just like this. He found himself frowning. Something wasn't right…
"This is some joke, right?" Link called. The man turned his head lazily to him. "Why are you guys letting me go by so easily?" A brief scratch of his nose and the man tutted.
"Please don't push your luck. Vonndrake gave us a strict order, that if you got by we shouldn't lay a finger on you, not anymore," he sighed. "Just hurry up and follow me." Link didn't like the idea one bit. Why was it, after all this time, was Vonndrake being ever so kind to him. Or was this part of his pre-negotiation plan, make his possible underling feel comfortable.
---
"What took you so damn long to show up anyway?" the man leading Link asked. Small talk, but too much on a personal level. Link silenced him with a soft growl. He heard a tut. "Don't get cocky with me. You know, if Vonndrake didn't send out that damned order I would have been the first one to attack."
"And the first to die," Link muttered defiantly. He saw the man's fists tighten at his sides, then relax. The man made no more talk after that as they climbed a set of lengthy stairs. Judging by the way they were going it looked like Vonndrake had a room overlooking the place. Speaking of which, the building looked like a castle with a huge courtyard smacked in the centre. And aligning these courtyard walls were the imprisoned Hylians. Link couldn't help but bare his teeth once or twice at the sight. What was Vonndrake planning to do with them anyways? Surely not for bait or ransom…could it be something much more sinister?
The man knocked at a door to the left when they reached the top of the stairs. It took a moment before someone came and opened the door.
"What business do you have here?" Paer demanded, then locked eyes with Link. The two stared wordlessly at each other. The old advisor shrunk back in fear, nearly concealing himself behind the door. "It's you…" Link glowered.
"Traitorous rat…" he breathed. Memory of what Paer had said and done to him burned painfully in his mind. As much as he wanted to kill the man, he brought himself into refraining. No, this wasn't the place. Vonndrake was main priority right now. Since Paer worked under this man, Vonndrake wouldn't feel best too pleased with his actions. Revenge had to wait.
"Come this way," Paer said, struggling to maintain his composure. Obviously it wasn't working. Link could see right through the false face and tone of his voice. And just this once he complied with the man. He made his way through the door, and stopped.
NOTE: I rushed this portion of the chapter. Well, it doesn't really sound like it is…but yeah. I wanted to get straight to the point instead of…lingering needlessly on other stuff.
