Chapter 11
The roar of the crowd and of the wild boars grew deafening as the group rounded a corner and came to an iron gate blocking the tunnel. Two guards stood on either side. They unlocked the gate and Link felt a rod prodding him from behind. He moved forward with the other two humans and he heard the gate click shut behind them with a groan.
The tunnel opened out into a huge cavern, lit with a huge chandelier of glode rocks hanging directly above the center. Hundreds of Moblins sat on a higher level of the room, encircling the flat, bare area Link was entering. He could see another gate on the other side of the arena. On the right, there was a large section of seating for a very fat, robed Moblin, who Link assumed to be the "Great One", and his guards.
As soon as he stepped out into the open, there was a jump in volume from the crowd's roar. Finally, some more entertainment had arrived. They would get to see three humans be devoured at once this time! The gate across the way clanged open and two blood-smeared boars charged into the arena.
Link crouched and waited. Would the crowd be entertained in the way they hoped? Not if Link had a say in it.
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Haunted Mountains, year 575 (present)
High in the Haunted Mountains, about four miles closer to the sky than the Moblin city of Amathar, two dull, dehydrated fairies lay in a small cage surrounded by a swirling purplish black barrier. One was blue, one was yellow. Or, they usually were. Without their lights, Navi and Tatl looked exactly the same unless you looked closely.
Tatl was just beginning to wonder if they would get their meager meal today at all, when all of a sudden the barrier dissipated and the dismal sight of the smoky, death-filled catacombs blurred into her vision. Standing in front of the cage was none other than the shadow calling himself Dark Link. Navi weakly raised her head.
"Hey! Listen to me! You can't treat us like this! Why are you holding us down here?" Navi spat out, meaning it to be more powerful than it sounded. Dark Link just chuckled.
"I brought you some food. Eat it," he said roughly, sliding a couple of dried breadcrumbs into the cage. The two fairies scrambled to grab the crumbs. As much as they would have liked to throw them back into Dark's face, they weren't stupid. They were going to take as much food as they could get their tiny little hands on. Tatl finished first, and picked up where Navi had left off.
"Why are you keeping us here? You can't possibly have any use for two dead fairies!"
"Don't you get it?" Dark Link said in a voice almost like a whisper, but louder. "You are the bait. You're the only reason Link is sticking around. You must stay here until he is terminated."
The shadow stepped back into the shadows, and the dark purple swirls once again covered the cage like a blanket. Navi's eyes slowly lowered until they were shut.
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Tael dragged himself along down the tunnel, hoping it was the way Link had come. His head was beginning to hurt, and an annoying static was developing in his ears. He couldn't describe it any other way. It was a constant noise, all fuzzy and trickly. The sound kept growing steadily louder, and he was beginning to wonder if it would continue increasing in volume long enough to be blaring in his head until his tiny eardrums burst. Finally, he decided to ignore it, because, after all, it wasn't very loud at the moment.
Why did he have to hide behind that stupid pile of rocks? Couldn't he just have been captured too? This way, he wasn't sure if he'd even make it out of this cave alive. He was sure Link was off killing Moblins and finding tunnels leading outside. He couldn't possibly just submit to those jerks like that! It wouldn't be like Link to just give up like that.
Maybe it was the heat exhaustion. It was getting to Tael as well. In addition to being so weak he couldn't fly or emit light, he could hardly think straight. If only this had happened in a rain forest, he wouldn't be in this embarrassing situation right now. Why couldn't he find some water?
Suddenly his hand came down in something cold and wet. Ick, he thought, jerking backwards. Wait a second...he sat there for a few seconds, listening. The static in his ears suddenly transformed into the sound of a small trickle of water. His eyes bulged, and he dove forward immediately, submerging himself in the small pool of water, about two inches deep.
The water felt like ice compared to the hot, sweaty caverns around him. He greedily drank it, and slowly but surely, his soft purple glow flooded the passageway. Unfortunately, there was a split in the path just ahead. But, fortunately, Tael caught a glimpse of a shred of green fabric lying just inside the left fork. When he was ready, he climbed out of the pool and continued on with renewed strength.
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A boar covered in blood and sweat dashed at Link, and he quickly dove to the side, rolling to his feet. The boar turned at the last moment and whammed its side against the wall, crushing the man in between. Through the cheers of the crowd, Link could hear the woman crying out the man's name in terror.
His head jerked to the side, bangs sending droplets of sweat through the air, as he noticed the second boar approaching. It was heading for the woman, who had her back turned, trying to avoid the first boar.
"HEY!" Link yelled at her, hoping she could hear through the tumult and recognize the fact that he was trying to warn her before it was too late. Fortunately, she spun around in time to see the mass of mangled black fur and red eyes hurtling toward her. Unfortunately, she fainted immediately.
The boars skidded to a stop on either side of her, and started growling, circling around her body. Obviously, they were trying to decide whom the body belonged to. Maybe if he just let them be, they would kill each other or something...but then again, they could just kill the woman without warning.
He decided he had to divert the boars' attention somehow. He had to get rid of those things so that he could check on the guy to see how badly he was injured and try to get that lady up...if that was even possible with no weapons. Suddenly, through the racket of the crowd's chanting and huge bongos thumping, Link heard a different sound.
The quiet, but clear sound of a bell rang through the uproar and found its way into Link's dirt-stained ears. He froze. Nobody else seemed to have heard it, including the boars. Link spun around and saw the purple ball of light flying through spaces in the gate at top speed.
"Tael! I don't know where you've been, but I don't want to hear about it right now. I need your help! Any ideas on how to get those things away from the lady so I can move her without getting mauled?"
Tael was out of breath, and he looked around the room. Link looked anxiously back and forth between Tael and the boars.
"Hurry up, Tael!"
"I'm hurrying! How do expect me to find someth - " Tael's eyes froze on the ceiling. Link's slowly followed them and stopped on the giant frame of steel holding up the glode rocks. It was attached to the ceiling only by a few ropes. Link smiled at Tael.
"Go for it. I'll try to lure the boars over there."
Tael shot up to the ceiling, and Link looked back at the boars. They were attacking each other right next to the woman's head. Link winced at how crazy his ideas were, and then got up the courage to get closer. The boars didn't seem to notice. Tael was already working on the first rope of the chandelier.
Link bit his lip and then took a running leap, landed on the tangled mass of fur, and bounced off again. He almost fell over as he landed, but he caught himself and kept running. He glanced behind him just to make sure the boars were following. Boy, were they ever. It was a good thing his leap had given him a little bit of a head start, because they were a little faster than he was.
He was nearing the center of the room. One glance up at the ceiling told him all he needed to know. Tael had completely gnawed through one rope, and the chandelier was swinging. He was already almost through the next one. Link looked behind him and almost tripped from shock. One boar was right at his heels.
He glanced up again. Just in time. The last rope had been too weak to hold the weight of the chandelier by itself, and it was coming down right above Link. In a last effort, he flung himself forward on his stomach. Two metal bars came smashing to the ground on either side of him, and suddenly, with a tremendous, grinding, crashing noise, all light was gone.
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