Chapter 7- The falling axe
Kirk looked at the book again. The design etched into the page seemed to jump out on him in the flickering lamplight. The moldy water was making him wrinkle his nose while Link waded in front of him through the darkness of the labyrinth.
"How much farther is it again?" asked Kirk.
"Past this tunnel. We should be there in a minute or so." Link held up his lantern so as to get a better view of his surroundings. The murky knee-high water was beginning to soak through his boots. For some reason the subterranean passages seemed to be darker then he had remembered it from last time. The thought of the doorway made him shiver, but something in his mind had overpowered his fear. It was this something that made him press on through the darkness now, towards the mysterious door. It was something he had to face.
"So what do you think it is?" asked Kirk.
"What? The door? No clue, except that the book you have in your hands there may hold the key to understanding it. If I understand anything about it though, then the door is something that is down here for a reason."
"A dark one, right?"
"What other explanation is there? The door is obviously borne of dark magic, I felt it when I was there."
"You have an idea what's behind it?"
"No. But there's something familiar about it. There's no other way to explain it, but…all those years ago, when I saw Ganondorf for the first time, he had this strange energy about him-I could tell he was evil. Zelda felt it, too. I think it has to do something to do with how all three of us, because we were chosen by destiny, became more sensitive to powerful forces. I could feel the power behind the door-and it seemed so much like the same energy that was around Ganondorf."
"I guess you freaked out because it was like he was there again, right?"
"I guess that's it. Hey, I see the crystals, that's it right there!"
Link ran as fast as someone can through water and clambered over the rubble at the entrance to the chamber with the crystals and the strange door. Link felt the strange energy hit him like a curtain of icy cold water spilling over him. Like the mist from a waterfall the sinister energy was hanging in the air of the cave. Link began shivering.
"You okay?" asked Kirk climbing over the rubble. "Whoa!" He eyed the glowing crystals.
"Yeah, I know," said Link, "Here's the doorway," said Link, motioning to the back wall of the chamber. He shook violently, as if he was in the middle of a snowstorm without anything to warm himself with.
"You holding out okay?" asked Kirk, "You look like you're freezing." He then took off his cape and offered it to Link.
"No," Link declined, holding up a hand, "That's not going to help…" Link put his lantern down and wrapped his arms around himself instinctively, approaching the door hewn into the wall. He reached out, letting his fingers slide through the stone grooves that made up the vengeful moon. It felt like touching a wall of ice. Kirk put down his lantern as well and flipped through the pages of the ancient journal to the picture of the door again.
"Let's see if there's anything about this…Ah, here," said Kirk, sitting himself down on a rock, "It says here that when the ancients searched for the stones with which to make the three spiritual stones, they came across a powerful force that was at that point thriving within these caverns. This force was a malcontent energy flowing out from a single point, which housed an entrance to the void that exists between the dimensions. It was concluded by the sages that in order for them to ensure the safety of everyone in Hyrule that they would seal the void using the same techniques used to seal the Sacred Realm with the Door of Time."
"This is absolutely mind-blowing…a long-forgotten piece of history right below us all these years…" muttered Link as Kirk continued.
"With their magic they created the Door of Chaos, and began mining for the magical stones. However, one of the side-effects of the creation of the Door of Chaos was that, like the Door of Time, three keys had to be created that could open the door. It was left to one of the sages named…" Kirk stopped in mid-sentence.
"Who?" asked Link.
"There's a burn over the place where his name should be. In fact there's burns all over the name of this guy. Every time it's mentioned his name is burned off."
"Does it say why?"
Kirk skimmed through the pages again, and eventually he found what he was looking for.
"For his safety, his name was erased from all texts so that his family would not have to forever hold his actions to their name, as this sage had to dabble in Dark Magic in order to create the proper keys. The sage never revealed the nature of these keys and the shape they took on…and the text goes on to say that this guy went insane shortly after and sent himself to an early grave. Before he died, he told his closest relatives the one clue that held the true nature of these keys…That these keys would lead to the annihilation of Hyrule, and that because of this, he cast them into forms without shape, and that these keys would only take shape on the eve of Dies Irae…"
"Dies Irae?" Link questioned.
"It doesn't say what that is. Your guess is as good as mine. All I know is that apparently, this door will open when this Dies Irae thing appears or whatever."
"Let's just hope that day isn't soon," said Link, who had sat down himself and was continuing to shiver. "Wait, does it say what the keys will take the shape of?"
"Jewels like these, I'm guessing," said Kirk, tapping on of the crystals growing on the ground with the toe of his boot. "But let's see what the sages say…"
"Let me read it this time," said Link, "I need something to keep my mind off this cold…"
Kirk handed the tome to Link, who managed to haltingly turn the pages with his shaking hand.
"The keys with which Dies Irae will be freed are…the sword that slew the first beast, a cover of the sky, and water from the rivers of destiny…"
"How can something like the sword that slew the first beast appear today?" asked Kirk, "I mean, it's gotta be thousands of years old and probably worn away by now if it was the first sword to kill a monster. A cover of the sky, that's a bit more tricky, and finally, I've never heard of any rivers of destiny."
"It's gotta be a lateral puzzle. Most riddles wouldn't just say what it is out in the open like that, it's gotta be more difficult then that…"
"You mean like the sword that slew the first beast would actually be something like a metaphor for something else? Like the sword could be a person, and the beast could be…something that he conquered, like an emotion that caused him to go berserk? Link? Link?"
Link was not answering. He was staring straight forwards, with a blank look on his face. Kirk tapped him on the shoulder, and got no response.
"Link!" Kirk felt Link's forehead. The cold had infected his body and had caused him to faint.
Zelda was falling. Falling through an endless vortex of darkness. The cold of nothingness was draped around her like falling snowflakes. She was numb all over, unable to use any of her senses to deter the chaos from the order. The energy was ripping through her body, infecting her mind. She felt sick all over…
And then she awoke.
Zelda bolted straight upright in bed.
"LINK!" she cried out, "LINK!"
The same servant who had given her the strange potion before came bounding in, the bottle of purple fluid in one hand.
"Milady! Your medicine!" She began franticly pouring the purple fluid into a water goblet.
Zelda knew that the potion would bring her back to that horrid, wretched darkness…it could not happen…it would not! She threw off the covers and leapt for the door-only to feel a sharp tug at her ankle, which caused her to fall to the floor. Looking back to her foot, she saw to her horror that there was a manacle around her ankle, and from the manacle was a chain that was tied firmly to the bed.
"Why are you doing this?!" Zelda demanded.
"He said it was for your own good! Princes, please just take your medicine!" yelled the servant, forcing the goblet to her lips. She struggled, as the servant resorted to grabbing her face and forcing her mouth open. She began to pour the contents of the goblet into Zelda's mouth. Zelda spat out the potion, trying desperately to pry the servant's hands from her face. She rolled and them smacked the vial of the purple potion out of the servant's hands, and it flew threw the air and shattered the mirror over her study table. Zelda did not care now-she had to run-she had to escape…
"Please someone help! I can't restrain her!" cried out the servant, trying once again to grab Zelda.
"Men, restrain her!" barked a soldier. Several royal guards tore in and began forcing her onto the floor.
"NO! NO! NOOOOOO!" screamed Zelda. She was kicking, scratching and biting as much as she could, but her prolonged nightmare-laden dreams had left her without the strength to do so… "Please just calm down princess, it'll all be over soon, just take the medicine and everything will be alright!" yelled the servant, "You're suffering from severe delusions! You need this medicine to cure you!"
"NO! PLEASE! NOOO! NOOOOOO!!!"
"Do it!" screamed on of the guards, "Do it now! Hold her mouth open!"
Several guards grabbed Zelda's mouth and began to pry it open. Tears running down her face, cold sweat glistening off her face, fatigued from the struggle, Zelda could not resist as the servant poured more of the foul, black potion down her throat. The guards continued to hold Zelda's mouth open to make sure she wouldn't spit it out. Zelda chocked as the burning, glutinous liquid slipped into her throat…it was done. She was going back to the nightmare…unable to scream, unable to move, her heavy breaths sounding throughout her bedchamber, Zelda slowly slipped into unconsciousness…and then knew no more.
It had been hard to carry the unconscious Link back through the passageways, but he managed to pull Link out of the labyrinth-barely. The first thing he did was to bring him to his room, and then called for a servant to fetch a doctor. He laid Link down on his bed and tried once again to talk to him.
"Link buddy, wake up! Come on, you git, wake up already!" Kirk began slapping the side of Link's face. Each hit almost burning cold from Link's face. His lips had already begun to turn blue and his eyes were staring blankly forwards…
"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Link screamed, as he fell down, deeper and deeper into the darkness, and below him was the open mouth-Dies Irae itself, its jaws dripping with the flowing saliva begging and aching for it's meal. Link fell past those teeth, and into the swirling abyss, faster and faster, deeper and deeper…
"LIIIIIIIINK!"
The voice sharply sounded as bolts of the energy of the chaos burned at his flesh.
"ZELDA! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Suddenly, like a lighthouse guiding a ship to safety, she appeared. Zelda was there, falling with him-but she was different. She looked as if she was consumed with despair. The dark bolts were ripping through her flesh, eating away at her mind and soul-the darkness was killing her!
"ZELDA! I'M COMING!" Link was trying with all his strength to reach out for her, to pull her out of the terrible torture she was enduring. Extending his arm through the slashing storm of sizzling energy, he tried to get to her, but the bolts kept coming, slicing through his skin. The pain, the agony, the pure, unmitigated tornado of pain…
He could not doubt the power of the gods!
Link focused, trying to draw his attention away from the pain, clenching his fists and letting his gift from the gods course through his veins-the golden power-the power of the Triforce of Courage! Golden light pierced through the darkness, slicing and smashing it to smithereens, shards flying everywhere as Link lunged towards Zelda…
"ZELDAAAAAA!" Link screamed as he awoke.
"AAAAUGH!" Screamed Kirk, falling over.
Link's eyes began darting around the room, attempting to re-gain control his sense of reality. Kirk got up.
"Don't do that again! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Kirk?" Said Link.
"Oh, good you're talking, thank the gods-and some of the color is returning to your face, too…"
"Kirk. I need to get to Zelda's quarters. NOW." Said Link, hopping out of bed.
"What?! You just came out of that, you really need to rest…"
"NO. I need to Zelda now, understand me?!"
"But…"
"No questions, Kirk. Zelda. Now."
"Link…"
"I SAID I NEED TO SEE ZELDA NOW, GODS DAMN IT!"
Kirk stood there, motionless for a second. This was not going to end well…
Moments later, Link and Kirk were marching down the hallway towards Zelda's room. Or, at least, Kirk was trying to keep up with Link, who seemed to be running like something terrible was about to happen. The door to Zelda's room was now guarded by two guards, each with their spears held firmly in their gauntlets.
"Open the door," said Link forcefully as he approached. The two guards immediately criss-crossed their spears in front of the door, blocking the way. Link drew out the Master Sword.
"I SAID OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"
"You need clearance to enter, boy!" barked back the soldier on the left, whose appearance was very much dog-like. He did not appear to be of the Hylian Royal Guard, as Link had never seen him before.
"Wait a minute, who are you? I didn't order any new soldiers…Name and rank, soldier."
"Dober, sir. I'm one of Father Akunem's personal guards. As head of the Church of Gonanism he requires strict protection of the areas he is in at all times."
"What the hell is he doing in there?!" Yelled Link, getting right into Dober's face, "Answer me!"
"That is against my orders, boy. Now leave or I will have to remove you by force!"
"GODS DAMN IT WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING TO HER IN THERE?!" screamed Link. He was at his wits end. He had to know what was happening. Zelda's life depended on it now, he knew it.
"IF YOU CONTINUE TO BADGER US WE WILL NOT ONLY REMOVE YOU BUT YOU WILL ALSO BE STRIPPED OF YOUR RANK!" Yelled back Dober.
Link held up the Master Sword, pointing it straight between Dober's eyes. Dober was unmoved by this hostile gesture.
"I'll kill you. I swear to the gods I will kill you if you don't move now." cursed Link.
"Link! You're not helping!" said Kirk, trying to hold back Link. He pushed Link's hand holding the Master Sword back down.
You're a disappointment, boy. And an charlatan. No wonder there are so many atheists in this land. Their hero is nothing more then an angry rouge. A foul, lying dog who wants nothing more then attention."
Link's heart was pounding so hard that he could feel it in his head. Sweat was rolling down his face, along with tears of fury. All his muscles were clenched. Oh, what he wouldn't give just to slice him open and squeeze his still-beating heart until it burst in his hands.
It was just then that the door opened. And it was Akunem that was in the frame of the door.
"What is this commotion?" asked Akunem.
"The boy is trying to undermine the king's orders, sir. He doesn't have clearance and he just tried to kill me." Said Dober.
"Is this true?" Akunem asked the other guard, who had been pretty much silent through everything that had just happened.
"Yes sir," he said, without even the slightest hint of emotion.
"You dirty liar!" Link lunged to strangle the guard, but Kirk held him back.
Akunem's face fell, and he shook his head.
"Oh, dear. It seems that the boy is trying to undermine the king's orders so as to conspire with the princess."
"Don't you talk like I'm not even here," Link seethed.
"Boy, I am not going to ask you this again. Please. Do try and change this violent way of yours. A temper like yours could easily send you to an early grave."
Link was now scowling at Akunem. He was talking to him as if he were a child!
"Rest assured that the princess is being properly taken care of with utmost care. Her injuries from the fall happen to be worse then I previously believed. Do not jeopardize her health by disturbing her healing process. I suggest you leave, and simply wait for her safe return to health. This is all I have to say to you. Now goodbye."
Link closed his eyes, swallowed, and said,
"At least let me see her. Please."
Akunem's face fell again, and after a long pause, he gave a short nod.
"Yes. Yes, you may see her. But that is all."
Link breathed a heavy sigh. At least he was now finally going to see Zelda. His pulse lowered as Akunem motioned for him to enter. Dober and the other soldier lifted their spears to allow Link to enter. Link proceeded in, but as Kirk moved to follow, Akunem held up a hand.
"This is for the boy only. Please return to your post, Captain."
Kirk sighed. He didn't wan to end up nearly killing a guard like Link.
"Yes, Father Akunem." and he about-faced and left. Link's eyes followed Kirk as he turned around the corner of the hallway and disappeared from view.
"Are you going to see her or not?" asked Akunem.
Link silently entered. The drapes had been drawn, so it was very dark in the room. The mirror that was usually over Zelda's study table had been removed, for some reason. The curtain around Zelda's four-poster bed had also been drawn tightly. Apart from Zelda, Akunem and himself, there was no one else in the room. Akunem closed the door as Link approached Zelda's bedside. He pulled back the curtain. Zelda was there, her head deep in her pillows. Her face was covered in sweat.
"Is she alright?" asked Link.
"As I said," said Akunem, "things are much worse then I originally suspected for them to be. Much worse. There is a disease within her. A disease in the mind. This disease is affecting her throughout her body, and it has taken root within her. It has impaired her judgment and understanding of the world, how this world works. She has lost her grip upon reality."
"Can she be cured…?" Link choked.
"There is but one way. The source of that disease must be destroyed."
Link laid a hand upon the blanket, looking for Zelda's hand. He felt for her fingers, so fine and delicate, and right now so cold…
"What is that source?" asked Link. Wanting to hold her hand, he felt for her wrist to pull it from beneath the blanket…
What was that?
Link grabbed the blanket and threw it off. He gasped.
Zelda had chains all over her body, restraining her to the bed.
"In you two," said Akunem.
All of the sudden, Link felt a sharp, hard blow to the back of his head, and for yet another time that day, Link slipped into unconsciousness...
Kirk looked at the book again. The design etched into the page seemed to jump out on him in the flickering lamplight. The moldy water was making him wrinkle his nose while Link waded in front of him through the darkness of the labyrinth.
"How much farther is it again?" asked Kirk.
"Past this tunnel. We should be there in a minute or so." Link held up his lantern so as to get a better view of his surroundings. The murky knee-high water was beginning to soak through his boots. For some reason the subterranean passages seemed to be darker then he had remembered it from last time. The thought of the doorway made him shiver, but something in his mind had overpowered his fear. It was this something that made him press on through the darkness now, towards the mysterious door. It was something he had to face.
"So what do you think it is?" asked Kirk.
"What? The door? No clue, except that the book you have in your hands there may hold the key to understanding it. If I understand anything about it though, then the door is something that is down here for a reason."
"A dark one, right?"
"What other explanation is there? The door is obviously borne of dark magic, I felt it when I was there."
"You have an idea what's behind it?"
"No. But there's something familiar about it. There's no other way to explain it, but…all those years ago, when I saw Ganondorf for the first time, he had this strange energy about him-I could tell he was evil. Zelda felt it, too. I think it has to do something to do with how all three of us, because we were chosen by destiny, became more sensitive to powerful forces. I could feel the power behind the door-and it seemed so much like the same energy that was around Ganondorf."
"I guess you freaked out because it was like he was there again, right?"
"I guess that's it. Hey, I see the crystals, that's it right there!"
Link ran as fast as someone can through water and clambered over the rubble at the entrance to the chamber with the crystals and the strange door. Link felt the strange energy hit him like a curtain of icy cold water spilling over him. Like the mist from a waterfall the sinister energy was hanging in the air of the cave. Link began shivering.
"You okay?" asked Kirk climbing over the rubble. "Whoa!" He eyed the glowing crystals.
"Yeah, I know," said Link, "Here's the doorway," said Link, motioning to the back wall of the chamber. He shook violently, as if he was in the middle of a snowstorm without anything to warm himself with.
"You holding out okay?" asked Kirk, "You look like you're freezing." He then took off his cape and offered it to Link.
"No," Link declined, holding up a hand, "That's not going to help…" Link put his lantern down and wrapped his arms around himself instinctively, approaching the door hewn into the wall. He reached out, letting his fingers slide through the stone grooves that made up the vengeful moon. It felt like touching a wall of ice. Kirk put down his lantern as well and flipped through the pages of the ancient journal to the picture of the door again.
"Let's see if there's anything about this…Ah, here," said Kirk, sitting himself down on a rock, "It says here that when the ancients searched for the stones with which to make the three spiritual stones, they came across a powerful force that was at that point thriving within these caverns. This force was a malcontent energy flowing out from a single point, which housed an entrance to the void that exists between the dimensions. It was concluded by the sages that in order for them to ensure the safety of everyone in Hyrule that they would seal the void using the same techniques used to seal the Sacred Realm with the Door of Time."
"This is absolutely mind-blowing…a long-forgotten piece of history right below us all these years…" muttered Link as Kirk continued.
"With their magic they created the Door of Chaos, and began mining for the magical stones. However, one of the side-effects of the creation of the Door of Chaos was that, like the Door of Time, three keys had to be created that could open the door. It was left to one of the sages named…" Kirk stopped in mid-sentence.
"Who?" asked Link.
"There's a burn over the place where his name should be. In fact there's burns all over the name of this guy. Every time it's mentioned his name is burned off."
"Does it say why?"
Kirk skimmed through the pages again, and eventually he found what he was looking for.
"For his safety, his name was erased from all texts so that his family would not have to forever hold his actions to their name, as this sage had to dabble in Dark Magic in order to create the proper keys. The sage never revealed the nature of these keys and the shape they took on…and the text goes on to say that this guy went insane shortly after and sent himself to an early grave. Before he died, he told his closest relatives the one clue that held the true nature of these keys…That these keys would lead to the annihilation of Hyrule, and that because of this, he cast them into forms without shape, and that these keys would only take shape on the eve of Dies Irae…"
"Dies Irae?" Link questioned.
"It doesn't say what that is. Your guess is as good as mine. All I know is that apparently, this door will open when this Dies Irae thing appears or whatever."
"Let's just hope that day isn't soon," said Link, who had sat down himself and was continuing to shiver. "Wait, does it say what the keys will take the shape of?"
"Jewels like these, I'm guessing," said Kirk, tapping on of the crystals growing on the ground with the toe of his boot. "But let's see what the sages say…"
"Let me read it this time," said Link, "I need something to keep my mind off this cold…"
Kirk handed the tome to Link, who managed to haltingly turn the pages with his shaking hand.
"The keys with which Dies Irae will be freed are…the sword that slew the first beast, a cover of the sky, and water from the rivers of destiny…"
"How can something like the sword that slew the first beast appear today?" asked Kirk, "I mean, it's gotta be thousands of years old and probably worn away by now if it was the first sword to kill a monster. A cover of the sky, that's a bit more tricky, and finally, I've never heard of any rivers of destiny."
"It's gotta be a lateral puzzle. Most riddles wouldn't just say what it is out in the open like that, it's gotta be more difficult then that…"
"You mean like the sword that slew the first beast would actually be something like a metaphor for something else? Like the sword could be a person, and the beast could be…something that he conquered, like an emotion that caused him to go berserk? Link? Link?"
Link was not answering. He was staring straight forwards, with a blank look on his face. Kirk tapped him on the shoulder, and got no response.
"Link!" Kirk felt Link's forehead. The cold had infected his body and had caused him to faint.
Zelda was falling. Falling through an endless vortex of darkness. The cold of nothingness was draped around her like falling snowflakes. She was numb all over, unable to use any of her senses to deter the chaos from the order. The energy was ripping through her body, infecting her mind. She felt sick all over…
And then she awoke.
Zelda bolted straight upright in bed.
"LINK!" she cried out, "LINK!"
The same servant who had given her the strange potion before came bounding in, the bottle of purple fluid in one hand.
"Milady! Your medicine!" She began franticly pouring the purple fluid into a water goblet.
Zelda knew that the potion would bring her back to that horrid, wretched darkness…it could not happen…it would not! She threw off the covers and leapt for the door-only to feel a sharp tug at her ankle, which caused her to fall to the floor. Looking back to her foot, she saw to her horror that there was a manacle around her ankle, and from the manacle was a chain that was tied firmly to the bed.
"Why are you doing this?!" Zelda demanded.
"He said it was for your own good! Princes, please just take your medicine!" yelled the servant, forcing the goblet to her lips. She struggled, as the servant resorted to grabbing her face and forcing her mouth open. She began to pour the contents of the goblet into Zelda's mouth. Zelda spat out the potion, trying desperately to pry the servant's hands from her face. She rolled and them smacked the vial of the purple potion out of the servant's hands, and it flew threw the air and shattered the mirror over her study table. Zelda did not care now-she had to run-she had to escape…
"Please someone help! I can't restrain her!" cried out the servant, trying once again to grab Zelda.
"Men, restrain her!" barked a soldier. Several royal guards tore in and began forcing her onto the floor.
"NO! NO! NOOOOOO!" screamed Zelda. She was kicking, scratching and biting as much as she could, but her prolonged nightmare-laden dreams had left her without the strength to do so… "Please just calm down princess, it'll all be over soon, just take the medicine and everything will be alright!" yelled the servant, "You're suffering from severe delusions! You need this medicine to cure you!"
"NO! PLEASE! NOOO! NOOOOOO!!!"
"Do it!" screamed on of the guards, "Do it now! Hold her mouth open!"
Several guards grabbed Zelda's mouth and began to pry it open. Tears running down her face, cold sweat glistening off her face, fatigued from the struggle, Zelda could not resist as the servant poured more of the foul, black potion down her throat. The guards continued to hold Zelda's mouth open to make sure she wouldn't spit it out. Zelda chocked as the burning, glutinous liquid slipped into her throat…it was done. She was going back to the nightmare…unable to scream, unable to move, her heavy breaths sounding throughout her bedchamber, Zelda slowly slipped into unconsciousness…and then knew no more.
It had been hard to carry the unconscious Link back through the passageways, but he managed to pull Link out of the labyrinth-barely. The first thing he did was to bring him to his room, and then called for a servant to fetch a doctor. He laid Link down on his bed and tried once again to talk to him.
"Link buddy, wake up! Come on, you git, wake up already!" Kirk began slapping the side of Link's face. Each hit almost burning cold from Link's face. His lips had already begun to turn blue and his eyes were staring blankly forwards…
"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Link screamed, as he fell down, deeper and deeper into the darkness, and below him was the open mouth-Dies Irae itself, its jaws dripping with the flowing saliva begging and aching for it's meal. Link fell past those teeth, and into the swirling abyss, faster and faster, deeper and deeper…
"LIIIIIIIINK!"
The voice sharply sounded as bolts of the energy of the chaos burned at his flesh.
"ZELDA! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Suddenly, like a lighthouse guiding a ship to safety, she appeared. Zelda was there, falling with him-but she was different. She looked as if she was consumed with despair. The dark bolts were ripping through her flesh, eating away at her mind and soul-the darkness was killing her!
"ZELDA! I'M COMING!" Link was trying with all his strength to reach out for her, to pull her out of the terrible torture she was enduring. Extending his arm through the slashing storm of sizzling energy, he tried to get to her, but the bolts kept coming, slicing through his skin. The pain, the agony, the pure, unmitigated tornado of pain…
He could not doubt the power of the gods!
Link focused, trying to draw his attention away from the pain, clenching his fists and letting his gift from the gods course through his veins-the golden power-the power of the Triforce of Courage! Golden light pierced through the darkness, slicing and smashing it to smithereens, shards flying everywhere as Link lunged towards Zelda…
"ZELDAAAAAA!" Link screamed as he awoke.
"AAAAUGH!" Screamed Kirk, falling over.
Link's eyes began darting around the room, attempting to re-gain control his sense of reality. Kirk got up.
"Don't do that again! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Kirk?" Said Link.
"Oh, good you're talking, thank the gods-and some of the color is returning to your face, too…"
"Kirk. I need to get to Zelda's quarters. NOW." Said Link, hopping out of bed.
"What?! You just came out of that, you really need to rest…"
"NO. I need to Zelda now, understand me?!"
"But…"
"No questions, Kirk. Zelda. Now."
"Link…"
"I SAID I NEED TO SEE ZELDA NOW, GODS DAMN IT!"
Kirk stood there, motionless for a second. This was not going to end well…
Moments later, Link and Kirk were marching down the hallway towards Zelda's room. Or, at least, Kirk was trying to keep up with Link, who seemed to be running like something terrible was about to happen. The door to Zelda's room was now guarded by two guards, each with their spears held firmly in their gauntlets.
"Open the door," said Link forcefully as he approached. The two guards immediately criss-crossed their spears in front of the door, blocking the way. Link drew out the Master Sword.
"I SAID OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"
"You need clearance to enter, boy!" barked back the soldier on the left, whose appearance was very much dog-like. He did not appear to be of the Hylian Royal Guard, as Link had never seen him before.
"Wait a minute, who are you? I didn't order any new soldiers…Name and rank, soldier."
"Dober, sir. I'm one of Father Akunem's personal guards. As head of the Church of Gonanism he requires strict protection of the areas he is in at all times."
"What the hell is he doing in there?!" Yelled Link, getting right into Dober's face, "Answer me!"
"That is against my orders, boy. Now leave or I will have to remove you by force!"
"GODS DAMN IT WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING TO HER IN THERE?!" screamed Link. He was at his wits end. He had to know what was happening. Zelda's life depended on it now, he knew it.
"IF YOU CONTINUE TO BADGER US WE WILL NOT ONLY REMOVE YOU BUT YOU WILL ALSO BE STRIPPED OF YOUR RANK!" Yelled back Dober.
Link held up the Master Sword, pointing it straight between Dober's eyes. Dober was unmoved by this hostile gesture.
"I'll kill you. I swear to the gods I will kill you if you don't move now." cursed Link.
"Link! You're not helping!" said Kirk, trying to hold back Link. He pushed Link's hand holding the Master Sword back down.
You're a disappointment, boy. And an charlatan. No wonder there are so many atheists in this land. Their hero is nothing more then an angry rouge. A foul, lying dog who wants nothing more then attention."
Link's heart was pounding so hard that he could feel it in his head. Sweat was rolling down his face, along with tears of fury. All his muscles were clenched. Oh, what he wouldn't give just to slice him open and squeeze his still-beating heart until it burst in his hands.
It was just then that the door opened. And it was Akunem that was in the frame of the door.
"What is this commotion?" asked Akunem.
"The boy is trying to undermine the king's orders, sir. He doesn't have clearance and he just tried to kill me." Said Dober.
"Is this true?" Akunem asked the other guard, who had been pretty much silent through everything that had just happened.
"Yes sir," he said, without even the slightest hint of emotion.
"You dirty liar!" Link lunged to strangle the guard, but Kirk held him back.
Akunem's face fell, and he shook his head.
"Oh, dear. It seems that the boy is trying to undermine the king's orders so as to conspire with the princess."
"Don't you talk like I'm not even here," Link seethed.
"Boy, I am not going to ask you this again. Please. Do try and change this violent way of yours. A temper like yours could easily send you to an early grave."
Link was now scowling at Akunem. He was talking to him as if he were a child!
"Rest assured that the princess is being properly taken care of with utmost care. Her injuries from the fall happen to be worse then I previously believed. Do not jeopardize her health by disturbing her healing process. I suggest you leave, and simply wait for her safe return to health. This is all I have to say to you. Now goodbye."
Link closed his eyes, swallowed, and said,
"At least let me see her. Please."
Akunem's face fell again, and after a long pause, he gave a short nod.
"Yes. Yes, you may see her. But that is all."
Link breathed a heavy sigh. At least he was now finally going to see Zelda. His pulse lowered as Akunem motioned for him to enter. Dober and the other soldier lifted their spears to allow Link to enter. Link proceeded in, but as Kirk moved to follow, Akunem held up a hand.
"This is for the boy only. Please return to your post, Captain."
Kirk sighed. He didn't wan to end up nearly killing a guard like Link.
"Yes, Father Akunem." and he about-faced and left. Link's eyes followed Kirk as he turned around the corner of the hallway and disappeared from view.
"Are you going to see her or not?" asked Akunem.
Link silently entered. The drapes had been drawn, so it was very dark in the room. The mirror that was usually over Zelda's study table had been removed, for some reason. The curtain around Zelda's four-poster bed had also been drawn tightly. Apart from Zelda, Akunem and himself, there was no one else in the room. Akunem closed the door as Link approached Zelda's bedside. He pulled back the curtain. Zelda was there, her head deep in her pillows. Her face was covered in sweat.
"Is she alright?" asked Link.
"As I said," said Akunem, "things are much worse then I originally suspected for them to be. Much worse. There is a disease within her. A disease in the mind. This disease is affecting her throughout her body, and it has taken root within her. It has impaired her judgment and understanding of the world, how this world works. She has lost her grip upon reality."
"Can she be cured…?" Link choked.
"There is but one way. The source of that disease must be destroyed."
Link laid a hand upon the blanket, looking for Zelda's hand. He felt for her fingers, so fine and delicate, and right now so cold…
"What is that source?" asked Link. Wanting to hold her hand, he felt for her wrist to pull it from beneath the blanket…
What was that?
Link grabbed the blanket and threw it off. He gasped.
Zelda had chains all over her body, restraining her to the bed.
"In you two," said Akunem.
All of the sudden, Link felt a sharp, hard blow to the back of his head, and for yet another time that day, Link slipped into unconsciousness...