Chapter 31

A Prisoner's Betrayal

I took a single step forward, then stopped, thinking I should listen for anything nearby. Ocean waves crashed and lapped at the island, and gulls cried overhead, but nothing else came to my ears. I didn't hear any voices, footsteps, or anything else suspicious. They must be further in.

I then took another step forward before I stopped yet again. Perhaps asking the pendent to show me the way was a bad idea when I'm looking to remain hidden. I didn't want any of the monsters to see it, it was like a giant arrow pointing to my position! I asked the pendent to return to normal for the time and finally marched through the first turn.

I haven't encountered a single enemy, and I've been walking for miles. I could no longer hear the crashing waves of the ocean, and then the thought occurred to me how deep I must've gone. The only glance of freedom from the eternal paths was the collection of sunset colors in the cloud-filled sky above my head now, and the disturbance of dirt and rocks seemed much louder than before. I wondered, if I could fly like a bird, just how many different passages were in this large island, and where was the temple?

The only thing that looked different from the ordinary tight rocky corridors, was the river I found. But it wasn't a river filled with harmless water, it was more like a boiling acid. It hissed, and left nearby ground smoking where it sloshed. I didn't think too much about it at first, but as I was crossing a bridge over it, I realized the acid was producing these small bubbles that formed at the surface and floated up in the air.

Then the inevitable happened. At first, I was paranoid the monsters finally found me when I felt searing pain on the back of my shoulder, but of course it was the acid bubbles. There may have been hundreds of them, and they all popped and burned my skin. It was like the acid created a ring that burn all the way down to my bones! I flinched for only a second before running to the other end of the bridge. And when I was safely past the acid, I had red boils all over where they popped. Other than that, every area was the same.

Some time later, I was in one of these ordinary paths when I heard something that made my heart stop. I don't know what it was for sure, but someone was here with me, stalking me. I reached for my sword and slowly turned around.

But no one was there.

I turned ahead again. The road hasn't turned for a while, I've been walking down this straight path for quite some time now. If there was someone here, they would be past the walls, on some other part of the maze. But I didn't feel safe, and I still couldn't convince myself that I wasn't being watched.

I heard their feet disturb the dust, the wind carried their breath against my skin. I knew someone had to be here. I remained quiet and looked up. The sunset colors above me were nearly depleted, and the moon was rising, helping to shed a little bit of light in the already dark night. I wondered, should I see if I could climb the wall? What if that's where these creatures were?

Returning my weapon to its sheath, I grabbed onto the stone wall of the maze. But it was perfected carved, polished even. There's no way anyone could climb this. Feeling a little safer, I remained by the wall. Should I remain here for a while and allow these nearby footsteps time to move away, or should I keep moving, as they may be heading this way?

Before I could make up my mind, a rock suddenly hurled itself towards me! I saw it just in time to step aside, where it cracked into the wall just inches away. Where did that come from? I asked myself as I spun around, expecting to be face to face with the culprit, but still, no one was here.

Then, a moment later, I saw it. A lizalfos stood up from its position on top of the wall and threw another rock. Again, I saw the attack coming and I was able to step to the side around it. How did it get up there? As mentioned before, the rock was too smooth to climb. It must have found a different way up, but how?

My curiosity had to be placed on hold, right now, I needed to focus on my survival. I unsheathed my sword and shield and shot at my attacker. I missed the first two times, but the monster hesitated, and my third shot reached him. But he wasn't the only one. More lizalfos appeared from on top the wall and proceeded to throw rocks while others jumped down and brandished weapons.

This was it, I've been ambushed! I was trying so hard to watch for every trick, every trap, and here they still had me. No, I can't go out like this! I can take them! And just like that, the adrenaline began pumping through my veins, and I pushed off the wall with my sword swinging in their direction. My sword wavered, a scaly arm having slowed its momentum, but it cut through, racing forward until stopped by a shield belonging to a different beast.

There were so many here, the maze path was crowded! Most of them it seemed were lizalfos, but there were a few others, like moblins and even a few dairas. And yet, there were still others on top of the wall, continuing with throwing rocks. So while fighting on the ground, I had to avoid and watch for the rocks sailing my way as well. Of course, this was nearly impossible, and I've been stung by weapon strikes and rock falls alike.

I barely parried a spear away from my face in time, and countered. Swinging the spear aside and jabbing forward, my blade burying itself in the unfortunate beast's belly. Then another weapon came flying immediately after that, this one a mace, and I barely saw it in time for me to push my shield into it. But in that second, I dared left an opening where my shield once was. Here was a moblin's chance to thrust his own spear forward, and I tried not to flinch when the sharp edge ran against my side.

I kicked the moblin back and returned its blow, drawing blood on its arm. Then, I flung my blade to the left, where the monsters were closing in. I unexpected hit a daira, but its shield save it most of the damage, as it was now holding its wrist.

The cut in my side was burning up now, and I knew it was spilling blood. I didn't know how bad it was or how much I was bleeding, but I knew I needed to finish this up fast and tend to it. Oh, how I lamented I didn't even have enough space to cast "life"! I couldn't even cast the simplest spell of shield in this mess!

Despite the roaring pain, I kept moving. Dodging, parrying, and countering everywhere I possible could. Monsters, both left, right, front were closing in on me, squeezing every foot of air. But now was the best time to release a spin-attack! They were shocked, eyes widening and jaws flying agape before they barely had time to back up while others were hurt and killed by the swinging sword.

But that didn't keep them off my back for long, and I was struggling dancing by these rocks that were still falling on my head. I didn't know how much longer I could continue, and still I was forced to. Giving up was not an option, they were planning on killing me anyway, I'd rather the rest of my blood be spilt while I was still fighting.

I pushed forward, forcing them to back up or strike. Then, I began again trying for a faint swing on the nearest daira. It worked, and I tucked my weapon low and sent him half spinning, half retreating through the back of the crowd.

After that, I dared another spin-attack to back them up even further, and while that worked better than last time, I swayed when I stopped. The malicious faces in front of me slowly distorted and turned, and my stomach flipped, sending a wave of illness through my body and vision. I sent a quick glance to the wound in my side. It was bleeding pretty bad now, of course, it didn't help that I was moving so quickly, like I was encouraging the blood to run fast. "Shield" would have stopped that wound from happening in the first place. Why was I so unprepared for this? This wasn't like me.

Forcing to parry and block, I summoned every ounce of strength I had left in me, taking down beast after beast. It then occurred to me with hope that the crowd was beginning to lessen, and I rushed to the nearest lizalfos, blocking its mace and danced to the side, past the defenses of its own shield. Taking that one out allowed two more to take its place. They covered each other's backs, so when I saw an opening in their defenses, I couldn't reach it in time before the other lizalfos would protect against the attack.

I flung a faint at one's shoulder, and intercepted the teamwork by shoving my shield into the lizalfos next to my target. I was then able to draw a gash into my target's chest. Now he was out of the way, the other to my right was going to swing the spear down on my head, so I ducked and held my shield up above me. With all the strength I could muster, I pushed back up and threw him off balance.

Now was my chance! I held my sword tight, ready to strike him down, but then all of a sudden, something heavy smashed into the back of my head. I assumed later one of the lizalfos' rocks hit its mark, and so this new searing pain, coupled with the wave of illness that was still trying to pull me under, I just barely remember falling to my knees uncontrollably. I expected the horde to run me through next and finish the fight, but they just stared, grinning in their victory.

No! Keep fighting! The voices inside my head yelled, but I could no longer. My aching body would no longer listen to my commands, and I fell face first into the dirt.

There was a sharp, uncomfortable pain in my side, I also had a pounding head, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the former. What happened, and where was I? Was I being reckless again? For a long while, I believed I must have been camping for the night. Was I on my way to the Maze Palace? Then images of a battle floating into my mind. It felt like a dream, vague and surreal. That's what it was, a dream. Yeah, if that would have really happened, I would be dead right now.

The ground was hard, nothing covered me and I don't think I was lying on anything except for the stone ground of a cave or rock. Everything was quiet at first, but as I was slowly becoming more and more aware of my surroundings, voices filled in the otherwise silent space, and they weren't just the ones in my head. Was that a child's cry? And what were the other ones? They were scratching and hissing, like a lizalfos. Lisalfos? Like the ones I saw in that battle a little while ago? Wait, does that mean it wasn't a dream at all?

I decided to ask my confusion to the air around me, but it came out in an unintellible groan instead. For the first time since I don't know when, I opened my eyes. Everything was blurred, not that there was much to see anyway, as it was pitch dark. I didn't feel any different than when I had my eyes closed.

Then, something moved. What is that? Whatever it was, it was just as dark and hard to make out, but I was thinking it was shaped kind of like a person standing in front of me. No, standing above and looking down at me. But just like the grogginess in my head, the blur slowly shaped into focus. Then, I realized the voice was speaking to me. "Mister?" The form in front of me whispered. It was just a child, staring down at me with red, wet eyes and a trembling lip.

"He's waking up?" I heard another child ask and then, she too showed beside the first boy. "I thought he was dead."

Am I not?

A few more kids approached before I struggled back and tried to sit up. That wasn't a dream, it really happened. The monsters set up an ambushed and captured me. All of a sudden, sickness overtook me again, and it wasn't because of the wound in my side disabling me from sitting up how I want. Though I unintentionaly let out a cry when a jolt took over me from moving. The children, instead of insisting I remain lying down, helped me sit up by pulling on my arms. That made the pain even worse for a while, but at least I was sitting up now and could take in the rest of the room.

It looked like we were inside one of the maze's walls, as the texture and color was the same, but it was carved out to act like a prison cell. Now that my vision was cleared and I had a better view of the room, I saw there was a torch flickering just outside, giving the cell a warm, orange light. There were tight metal bars over there, but the spaces would be too closed for me to squeeze though them as a fairy. The door to the right of the bars led straight to the outside, where the lizalfos I heard earlier were. There were two guarding either side of the cell, while the rest were at a long stone table, feasting and celebrating. There was also a small group of moblins and diara too, warming themselves by a campfire out of the way. Among the smell of fire, they were also roasting things too. It smelled hot and delicious, and some of it overcooked. They also weren't celebrating as much as the lizalfos were, which would explain why I couldn't really hear them earlier.

The wound was still raw and agrivated. I pressed my hand against it, and was surprised when I noticed for the first time it was wrapped in clean cloth. "What happened?" I asked, bringing my attention back to the children still staring at me.

There were six of them, four boys and two girls, and they exchanged uncomfortable glances before the first boy I saw answered. "We don't know. I was playing outside with my sister when two monsters jumped out of some plants and took us away. It sounds like the other kids had something like the same thing happen to them, for no reason. I didn't even know they were taken away too until we were already thrown in here. Then, while the sun was still setting hours ago, they opened the door and dropped you off here."

"They were really excited after that." The other girl spoke, though shyly and staring down at her twindling fingers. "When they left you here, you were really quiet and you never moved. We stayed away, but there was a lot of blood showing through the wrap. I was thinking you were dead, or at least, dying."

"They wouldn't have thrown a dead guy in a cell, Rosy." A different boy answered.

Then she coward, jumping a little and sounding like she wasn't trying to cry. "I was just... Scared. I didn't know what to think."

The children continued to talk among themselves, about their parents, how they were taken, and other things. But once again, I was swallowed by my own mind. Why am I still alive? Why didn't they kill me on the spot, and most of all, why did they bandage me up? I didn't have answers to any of this, but I was beginning to feel like I would rather be dead than go through whatever they were planning next.

I turned back towards outside and flinched; all of my equipment and belongings were on that table! "Those don't belong to you!" I yelled, again reeling in pain when I was attempting to scramble to my feet. My reaction scared the kids silent, and they backed up, a few crying while others were unsure. I fell back to the floor, clenching the bandage. I didn't want to cause more damage than there already was. Now was as good time as any to cast "life", and luckily, I didn't need the scroll to remember how to cast it anymore.

I closed my eyes and tried to turn off my anger, at least for a little while, and focus. It took me a long time to settle down, as I was roused by my fears and pain. But finally, I was overtaken by the familiar warmth, and the agony slowly faded away. I pressed again my hand to the wound, but the gash was gone, it was as if the injury never happened.

This time I stood up without struggle and made my way to the door. The lizalfos had everything, all of my weapons and tools I was given as well as the ones I found on my first quest to save the princess. I brought my hand up around my neck, seeking the pendent she gave me, but they had stolen that as well.

"Hey!" I yelled at them again. "You Monsters, you have no right to any of that stuff!"

Eyes shifted over to the cell, and everyone froze. The air quickly became uncomfortable and dead quiet, and now I regretted I let my anger take the better of me. But it was too late now, I wasn't backing off.

One of the lizalfos at the table, this one with well built muscles and dressed in finer colors than the rest, as he was probably the chief, stood up and stared at me for quite the while before speaking. "Fellow kin and other alliances alike," He began, waving his arms on either side of him, trying to catch everyone's attention. "I bring to you the hero, Link! Not only the most hated enemy of our lord, Ganon, but the only one who was able to beat him in a fight!" At this, all the lizalfos created an uproar, hissing, yelling, and pounding on the table. "And here," The chief spoke above the ruckus. "We caught him with our plan and teamwork!" His scaly arms fell again at his sides and he added more quietly. "We're the greatest of Ganon's army, as we're the only ones who managed to catch him."

The chaos among the monsters mixed together and became muffled in my mind. The jumping and pounding slowed down and spun in an unbelievable vortex. How did this happen? How am I going to get out of this? Do I even have a chance? Even worse, the fear for my life held me in place. I was completely paralyzed. And if I wasn't, I wanted to move back inside the cell again, away from these beasts, but my legs wouldn't move.

I took me a long time to even notice one of the boys were trying to catch my attention. He spoke to me and when that wasn't working, he tugged on my tunic. Somehow, that broke my frozen state enough for me to look down at him. Light from the torches outside shown on him, revealing how dirty and scraped up he really was. Then, giant blue eyes met mine. "I've heard about you." He gasped. "Everyone says you're a great hero who helps with any kind of crisis. They say you rescued the princess when she was taken away."

"Link?" Another child spoke aloud. "I've heard of him too. Does that mean you're here to save us? Are you taking us back home?"

But I had nothing to say. I wanted to show certainty, I wanted to give them hope, or at least, a smile. But in the end, I offered nothing and looked away again. I didn't know if I could save myself from this place, let alone the kids. My hope was fading quickly, and I didn't even have the courage to give them false hope. I could almost hear the young hearts breaking as I turned away, saying nothing. I squeezed my eyes shut like that would help me ignore the sniffling and sobbing behind me.

It didn't work. And before I had the chance to control it, water slipped past my eyes, ran down my cheeks, and pattered against the stone floor. "I-I'm sorry," I managed. I tightened my grip against the door, trying to steady myself and stop the shaking, but all that did was hurt my now bare hands. "I don't know what to do. I'm afraid."

I felt the boy pat his hands on my arm comfortingly. "All of us are." He replied, and I turned to him again, opening my eyes. He smiled weakly. "But you're the hero, if anyone can help us out of here, it's you! Surely there's something in your adventures you learned that can help?"

I was still without answer. I couldn't even try to think of one. Instead, I turned yet again to the monsters outside. The lizalfos chief was busy bragging and making a scene about their achievement, and either they knew they were making the other races mad, or they simply didn't care. The moblins and dairas in the back by the campfire stared at the crazed lizalfos silently, almost like they were brooding how to exact revenge for their humanity. But that is when I saw something here was not quite right.

A single moblin was making his way to the lizalfos chief, and even when he stood by the table, none of them addressed or even noticed him. My breath caught in my throat, and I began to choke when I recognized it was Tog! "If you think you're so great for capturing the hero, then why haven't you sent for the whizzrobes yet?" He asked, raising his scratchy voice above the clambering. All the lizalfos, including the chief, slowed their cheer and glared at him. Tog wasn't fazed, he folded his arms and patiently waited for an answer. What was he doing here? He seemed serious, like he knew what he was talking about. Have I been wrong about him all this time?

"Or do they even know he's been captured?" He asked further.

The chief finally spoke. "Look at him, he's not going anywhere! We're in the middle of a celebration here!"

"So you admit you just want to hold him for bragging rights?"

"Bragging rights?" The chief gawked and bent over until he was inches from Tog's face. "I think you're jealous. Not only have the moblins done nothing for Lord Ganon, but you in particular have fallen to the lowest possible rank among your kind. You're nothing but a hindrance! I'm surprised your team hasn't kicked you out for your betrayal!"

Tog snapped. "I didn't betray anyone! I told them we needed to let the prince go, lest the hylians bring war upon us!" Then he folded his arms yet again. "If anything, I saved all of our hinds. I should be rewarded, not exiled."

Was he serious? He only helped me save the prince that time because he feared of war? I thought he was my friend, I thought I could trust him. I've known him for years, we shared meals and stories! No, I refuse to believe this. He's just tricking them to think like he does, he's here to save me, to save all of us.

"Keep thinking that, you impostor." The chief replied, standing straight. "I still think your actions are questionable, no matter what you say."

"That's not important. But for all of our sakes, let's wait no longer for the return of Lord Ganon. Tell the whizzrobes to prepare for the ritual."

Then my stomach churned, and the ground caused waves beneath my feet. My heart was racing, and my face ran empty of blood. The prince was right! Tog has been so patiently waiting for my trust. He was tricking me all along. The hurt ran deep through my soul, I was betrayed, and now there was nothing to save me from dooming Hyrule. Tog worked with them, and they were preparing for the ritual. Was there really nothing I could do?