Link ran.

He didn't look back. He didn't need to. He could hear the screams. He knew that the swordsman was close behind him. He could hear the sound of bodies being thrown to the ground. He didn't know how many were lifeless.

He kept running.

He darted through the crowds, being squashed against fleeing people, almost falling to the ground multiple times. But he didn't. If he did, he would die.

He felt the people around him part, and without thinking, he spun and ran down a side street, barely dodging a sword thrown with terrifying accuracy. He sprinted down the empty street, praying that the swordsman had lost him, only to hear metal rapidly scrape against the cobblestone, the footsteps of the swordsman. Link, fuelled by fear alone, felt a burst of energy and rocketed down the street as fast as his legs would allow. Link couldn't outrun the swordsman, not even with all his armour, and without a crowd to lose him in, it dawned on Link that he was doing to die. The idea crept into his mind, and he faltered, stumbling. In as flash he was sent flying into a wall, struck by the black swordsman. Link tried to focus, but his vision was hazy, and he was sure his head was bleeding. Dimly, he noted that the swordsman was in front of him, drawing his sword.

Please, He begged wordlessly.

The swordsman held his blade over his head, ready to remove Links head, when someone struck them in the head. Link, still unsteady, stood up and tried to run, only to be steadied by a firm grip.

"Are you ok?" She asked.

Link blinked. He knew that voice. He felt a hand on his forehead, his hair mixed with blood, and his pain melted away, and his vision cleared to see familiar red eyes.

"Get out of here!" Nelo ordered. "Go to the castle! Impa will find you."

Link went to nod, but was distracted by the glare of the black swordsman. His armour wasn't even dented.

Nelo turned to face the swordsman. "Do as you're told!"

Link didn't respond, but followed her commands, charging down the street, wiping blood from his eyes.

The swordsman tried to follow, but Nelo stepping into his path. He tried again before brandishing his weapon. Nelo shook her head.

"Please don't make me do this."

The swordsman tilted his head, then lunged at her. Nelo stepped to avoid before driving him back with an open palm strike. Without hesitation, he swung his blade at her, trying to force her out of the way, each slash falling short of it's target. As she dodged this last attack, the swordsman grabbed Nelos right arm and prepared to run his blade her through. Before he could kill her, her hidden arm ripped out and blocked the attack with with a sheathed blade, the perfect length to be hidden behind her cowl. She twisted out of his grip and unsheathed the sword. It was a curved blade with a single cutting edge, a traditional sheikah eightfold blade. She held it in her right hand along with the sheath in her left.

Behind her cowl, Nelo scowled. "Fine. You forced me."

She attacked first, her blade singing as it flew through the air. The black swordsman was forced on the defensive, struggling to keep up with her onslaught. Whenever he managed to get a swing at her, she batted it away with her sheath. However, she was only stalling him. As strong as her onslaught was, he managed to stop each one from touching him, the closest strike coming centimetres from his armour. But that was enough. Every step back he took was a step away from an innocent boy.

The swordsman grew bold. The duel shifted, both of them fighting for ground. He would drive Nelo back a few steps, only for her to force him back in return.

The swordsman, seeing an opening, stabbed at the young sheikah, who left up to avoid the attack, landing on the blade and kicking the swordsman in the face before he could comprehend the impossibility that had just happened, sending him stumbling back. The only other response was a hiss escaping the mask. He surged forward and arced his blade at Nelo, the initial attack bouncing off the sheath, but he was already moving the blade at Nelo again, the blade humming. Nelo brought up her blade instinctively, too fast to act in better judgement. The blades collided, and a pulse of electricity shot into Nelos body, her arm spasming causing her to lose her sword and dazing her. In an instant, the swordsman threw her against a wall, the stones imprisoning her, before he bolted down the street, following Link.

Nelo needed to get free. Even hurt like this, she could still help. But she knew Link was in more danger then they had thought. She knew what the swordsman was.

A sorcerer.

Link hid behind a wall, catching his breath. He didn't know if Nelo could stop the swordsman, but he didn't want to wait around for the answer. She had told him to go to the castle, and that's what he had done. He was safer there.

But not unreachable.

He removed his hand from his forehead, which was sticky and covered in dried blood. He peeked around the corner, fearing he had left a train of blood. Thankfully, he could see no red droplets leading to him. He let out a sigh of relief.

Why was the swordsman so intent on killing him? Link couldn't think of any reliable ideas. The most realistic was that Ganondorfs allies had sent the swordsman to kill him for revealing his plan, though that was highly unlikely.

But is it impossible?

Links train of thought was cut off when he saw the swordsman emerge from the town, heading in his direction. Link stifled a scream, spinning behind the wall once more. He didn't know if he had seen him, but Link could already hear a sword being drawn. He needed to hide.

He swept his gaze across the field, looking for somewhere to hide.

Thats when he saw someone becoming to him from within a small building, the armoury. It was close the castle gates, but there would be very little cover when getting to it. But it was his best option.

He took a deep breath, crouched low, and moved as quickly as he could. He scurried across the field, feeling small, exposed. He glanced over his shoulder, waiting for the swordsman to chase him down. But he didn't. It seemed that Link was safe. However, he only breathed easily when he heard the door shut behind him.

"Godesses bless your soul." Link gasped.

"We need to keep moving."

Link looked up. He saw his rescuer and grinned. "Viscen!"

"Not now," The captain murmured. "I'm sorry Link, this should never have happened." He grabbed Links arm and hurried him through the armoury. They had gotten close to the exit when the door creaked open. Viscen hid Link behind a row of cabinet of swords before drawing his own. He crept towards the door, moving slowly, alert to every sound. He saw the shadows move, and followed them. He stalked the shadows, until the melted away and led him to… a rack of swords. Viscen shook his head.

Nothing. Damn paranoia.

He sheathed his sword and hurrying back to his cowering student. "Hurry, we've wasted enough time."

Link crawled out from behind the cabinet. "What opened the door?"

"Don't know. Maybe I didn't lock it right, and the wind blew it open. Come on."

Viscen guided Link towards the exit.

"You'll be fine, Link. You'll be safe."

Thats when his head was cut off.

It wasn't clean. The blade itself was hardly ideal for such an action, but there was enough force behind the blade that forced it through the Captains flesh, tearing through tendons and bone, spraying blood on the walls. His body became a rag-doll, following the blade as he fell. His head simply hit the floor, the muscles still moving, still trying to breath.

He was dead before he had felt the pain.

The swordsman towered over Link, but the boy didn't care. There were flecks of warm blood on his face. Someone else's blood. He looked at the severed head. The face was motionless, but the muscles continued to contract, each spasm forcing out more blood to stain the ground.

Link saw a hole amongst the mangled flesh, the throat, now leaking blood out the mouth. He spotted something solid. The spine. He had heard about how the body worked, how each bone held the body together. But seeing it, surrounded by the meat of some who not ten seconds ago was alive and talking, was horrifying. He looked at the body, a lifeless doll, still pumping blood, spurting the red across the room.

Links legs gave way, falling to the ground, unable to think, his sight blurred by tears. His hand fell into the growing pool, and he felt bile rise in his throat. He shut down. He didn't know what to do. He looked up at the murderer, who was preparing to do the same thing to him, and stared. He wanted to run, he wanted to fight, he wanted to scream to the heavens above, but all he did was stare.

He should have died then. He would look back and think how he should have died. Everything was directing to his death. To escape would be impossible.

The sheikah embrace impossibility.

Impa appeared behind the swordsman, locking her arms around his neck and throwing him across the room. She shouted something to Link, who didn't understand her words, but listened to what she said, and stood up, dully fumbling at the door lock.

The swordsman rose from a pile of ruined weapons and lunged at Impa, who struck him in the chest an blinding speed, slamming him into the far wall before moving under a blind swipe and kicking him through the wall in one swift movement. He tried to regain his balance, but Impa was too fast, attacking with a needle between her fingers, each blow driving him back several steps. The swordsman found a moment where he could think, and turned his attention to where Link had kneeled. But Link was already gone, moving towards the castle.

Then Impa punched him.

"You attack a child?" She hissed through her teeth. "You deserve to burn for eternity."

The swordsman jumped to the side, grazing Impa's attack, and summoned orbs of black liquid around him. Light bubbled up inside them, before a stream of energy was released around Impa, caging her in, evaporating the liquid, before he fired a large steam from his free hand right at her.

A barrier of light appeared in front of Impa, absorbing and dispelling the energy. Nelo came up beside Impa. She was limping and had small cuts and bruises all over her body, but was still determined to fight.

"Is the princess safe?" She asked Impa.

"Yes."

That was all they said.

Nelo dropped the barrier and Impa threw her needles at the eye sockets, and the swordsman stepped to avoid them, but Nelo was on him, ramming him with the butt of her sword. He grabbed her, but in doing so left himself open to Impa, who slung a garrotte around his neck, forcing him to let go. Nelo hit the weak points of his armour with he sheathed sword. His body hummed, and Impa jerked away and release the garrotte, and he struck her with the back of his fist, sending her sprawling. Nelo brought down her sword once more, but the swordsman blocked her arm with his own, fracturing the bone. He head butted her as she cried out, knocking her unconscious. He turned around to Impa, only to see her standing tall, flanked by several other Sheikah. He was surrounded. Slowly, he sheathed his sabre.

Impa stepped forwards. "I am not as forgiving as the royals. They may want you questioned. I am not so lenient."

The swordsman tilted his head. A moment passed before he threw up his arm, and the Sheikah leapt to attack, but they hit nothing. The swordsman had disappeared.

Impa pursed her lips. She turned to a pair of nearby men. "Nelo needs to be healed, fast." They nodded and moved silently. Impa turned to the rest of them. "This is a crisis. I want the town defences in place. Get every capable knight and soldier at arms." She dismissed them, and moved to the castle. She needed to check on the princess and then meet with the king and his council. But first, she wanted to make sure Link was well. The poor boy had been through too much.

She prayed he was in good health.

Best known for

Blood and guts and gore

And a vicious reign of murdering and slaughter

O-oh!

Things are really picking up, wouldn't you say? Sorry it's not as good as my other chapters, I'm full of snot and have a scratchy throat and strange pressure in my right ear.

I effing hate colds.

Yeah, this was a bit excessive. Didn't need to go into all this detail. But I think it makes Links horror a wee bit more understandable when I talk about this stuff. Honestly I'm a bit concerned that writing and thinking this hasn't disconcerted me... at all. I don't think I'm screwed up. In that way, at least.

It's going to get better, it's going to get worse.

Stay for the fun, why don't ya?