Chapter 27

For a second Link thought he had run into a wall of ice. He had sprung from the forest in a mad dash only to run straight into an entirely new environment. The sky had darkened significantly, though he could make out even darker clouds up north. It felt like the temperature had dropped to the tens, although the wind chill definitely played some part in it. In the distance, he could see the snow-covered island; it seemed to have grown since the last time he had been to the lake.

"Wh-what's g-going on?" Tael shivered, clutching Link's hair partly for warmth and partly to avoid blowing away in the fierce gale.

"D-don't ask me," Link stuttered, struggling to keep his teeth from chattering to the point of breaking. He had stopped in his shock, and now the wind threatened to push him straight back into the forest from which he had come.

"Hurr-rry, Link!" Tael screeched, flipping like a broken kite on the end of Link's hair.

Link lifted one heavy foot after the other, shielding his eyes from the wind with his left hand and hugging himself with his right. He was only wearing a light tunic; what else would he have in the middle of the summer? Apparently something very wrong was going on, and he was beginning to suspect the Fungistuls' part in it. And why not? It was quite possible that the Fungistul tunnels extended all the way to the area underneath the icy island.

It felt like being bombarded with tiny icicles, but in reality it was just freezing spray from the lake. Link trudged around the perimeter of the lake, using the sand dunes to his advantage; they provided slight relief from the breath-taking wind. Tael latched himself onto the back of Link's head, peeking over once in a while to check on their progress. They still had a long way to go.

Horacio stumbled along at a rapid pace, pushed from behind by the aggressive wind that had just picked up a few minutes ago. Not pausing to wonder why the air was moving towards the storm rather than away from it, he focused on staying on his feet. The sky grew darker, but there was no precipitation. A low rumbling now accompanied the distant flashes, which were becoming less and less distant by the minute. It felt like the temperature had dropped further.

Before he knew it, he was running through the castle gates, propelled by the fierce storm, which he had to keep telling himself was in front of him, not behind. The market was completely empty. Unfamiliar trees bent in the wind and new awnings flapped from new storefronts, but besides changed decoration, it looked exactly the same. The gate of the inner wall was clanging back and forth, straining against its lock. There was no guard in sight.

Quickly, Horacio made his way across the barren square and let his body slam into the iron gate, grabbing the bars and shaking them. He looked to the side and saw a light in the window of the gatehouse. Built into the wall, the gatehouse was a convenient shelter for guards on duty at the gate. Through the small eye-level window, Horacio found the guard sitting on a small wooden chair in the far corner trying to sleep.

"Excuse me," Horacio called into the room. The wind quickly devoured his words and fled, so he leaned into the open window and said it louder. This time the guard looked up lethargically, but he didn't move from the chair.

"What do you want?" asked the man.

"I've come to see the king," Horacio replied, barely able to hear the guard's words.

"Well, you can't," the guard scoffed, picking at a fingernail, "unless you have an invitation."

"I used to know the royal family," Horacio hastened to say. "I have proof."

The guard looked irritated, but he stood and unlatched the wooden door of the gatehouse, which blew open and slammed against the wall.

"Come in," the guard directed, bouncing from foot to foot in the cold. Horacio stepped into the small stone room, and when the guard hastily closed the door, it felt like he was slowly, silently burning in the still warmth. "Now, where's your proof?" asked the guard.

"Right here," Horacio assured. Removing the tattered sandal of his left foot, he lifted the foot and showed the underside. The guard looked closely at the dark green tattoo on Horacio's sole, holding it closer to his face than what was probably pleasant. Horacio stumbled on his right foot, waiting for the guard to approve.

"So you have the royal insignia," the guard commented dryly. "Fine, I'll unlock the gate." He pulled the collar of his shirt up around his neck and opened the door carefully, sending in a gust of wind and a slight spray of cold rain. Grumbling to himself, he sprinted out to the gate and quickly unlocked the padlock holding the gate together. Horacio ran outside, slipping the guard a piece of paper. As soon as Horacio stepped through, the guard slammed the gate closed, locked it, and dashed back into the gatehouse.

Horacio looked down the long stone path that cut the castle gardens in half. The tall, skinny, and recently cut bushes that lined the path were bent over in the wind, and Horacio couldn't help but run towards the dark castle. Besides the fact that he was eager to get inside, away from the barrage of sleet, the wind pushing him made it hard to stop. Thunder exploded through the sky. He tried not to show it, but this was the first time Horacio had really been scared of a storm.

It happened so gradually, Link didn't notice until he could see Tael swinging in front of him. The wind had changed direction, and it was just as strong as when it had started. Now, instead of blowing at him head-on, the gale was forcing him on from behind. Glancing to the side, he noticed that they had passed the snowy island. A flash of light illuminated the darkened lake, and Link thought he could see something moving in the center.

He shuddered and broke into a run, his back pelted by small droplets of freezing rain. It didn't matter that he felt like crap, he wasn't going to slow down when the wind was finally in his favor. Both Link and Tael had given up talking a long time ago; it was a waste of energy to shout through the inclement weather. However, Link found himself shouting when Tael flew off the end of his hair and twirled through the air with the wind.

Unable to catch up to the gale, Link watched the purple ball of light spiral toward the castle, struggling to right himself. With surprising speed, the fairy was swept over the top of the market wall. Not long afterwards, Link dashed across the drawbridge and through the square, slamming into the closed gate leading to the castle. He could see the faint pinpoint of light flying across the castle garden; it looked like Tael had regained control, even though he still couldn't fly against the wind. Link was almost pinned to the gates.

Hoping Tael would figure out some way to get back, Link turned around to start searching for Horacio. The only sign of life he could see was a man inside the gatehouse. Perhaps he had seen Horacio. Link staggered to the window and tapped on it.

"What do you want?" grumbled the guard sitting inside.

"I'm looking for someone and I was wondering if you had seen him," Link yelled through the gale.

"A guy passed by here a few minutes ago, before it started raining," the guard offered. "He went up to the castle. Tall, skinny, had curly hair. He had the royal insignia, so I let him through."

Link was silent in his shock. Horacio was royalty? What else was he keeping secret?

"Oh, yes, he left a message," the guard remarked. After grabbing a slip of paper from the nearby table, he examined Link closely. The corners of his mouth dropped even farther than they had already been. "I'm supposed to let you through." He clenched his teeth, stood up, and thrust open the door. Link didn't want to put him in an even worse mood, so he stepped aside as the soldier rushed to the gate. As soon as it had been unlocked, Link slipped through to let the guard lock it and get back inside.

This is good. I'm in the castle. I can warn the king about the Fungistuls and he can handle it.

But deep inside, Link knew. The king wouldn't be able to handle it. The Fungistuls had already amazed Link with their technology, and he had only seen the surface of their powers. Humans couldn't deal with such creatures without help.

The Moblins are going to come help us fight. Maybe even Rosaria can lend her power. We don't have anything to be worried about.

There he went again, trying to calm himself down. The Moblins knew nothing of magic, and Rosaria was just one person. Besides, Link didn't even know how their negotiations had gone. For all he knew, they had all killed each other. They needed more help, and fast.

"Horacio, my son," uttered King Marcos. "Where have you been all these years?"

"The Moblins captured me, father," Horacio replied, kneeling at the foot of the king's throne. "It took a long time, but I think my mission has been carried out. When we left that place, the - "

"We?" King Marcos interrupted.

"I'm sorry," Horacio stammered. "I left with a group of humans who had also been captured there. They have been staying in Hayen Village, and I came to ask if you would fund the building of houses for them. Right now they have nowhere to live but with other families."

"That's why you came, is it?" Marcos smiled broadly. Horacio grinned back.

"It may have something to do with being your son," Horacio confessed. "But that's it for the most part." The king laughed deeply at Horacio's joke and gestured to a servant.

"I want you to prepare a feast for the two of us. My son has returned!" Then, turning back to Horacio: "We'll address your home issue over roasted tektite!"

"Horacio!" screeched the purple fairy tumbling through a high window. "The Fungistuls! The Fungistuls are - " Tael was completely out of breath from his flight and struggled to speak.

"What is this?" King Marcos demanded.

"This is a fairy who helped us escape from the Moblins," explained Horacio. "What is it, Tael? What about the Fungistuls?"

"They...they're coming!" Tael gasped. "To attack the castle!"

"What?" Horacio and the king both shouted at the same time. The doors at the end of the hallway burst open and a boy clad in a soaking wet green tunic bolted through them.

"The Fungistuls are coming!" he exclaimed without realizing Tael had made it there first.

"Who's this, then?" Marcos asked Horacio.

"How do you know they're coming?" Horacio questioned, ignoring his father's question.

"Freid warned us. He escaped from them and he's going to try and get help from the Moblins, but I don't think that'll be enough," Link panted.

"Who is this?" Marcos repeated.

"He helped us too," Horacio informed his father absently before turning back to Link. "You're right, we need more than what we have to fight creatures like them. But who?"

"I don't know. Someone who can use magic," Link suggested.

"The only races in Myrennia who know magic are the Fungistuls and the Kenaks," Marcos explained, "and neither are on our side."

"Do we know if the Kenaks are on the Fungistuls' side?" Horacio thought aloud.

"They're on nobody's side. They hate everyone and everything. You'd be lucky to even speak to one of them," mumbled the king.

"But they're our only chance, right?" Link asked. "Maybe they have a grudge against the Fungistuls. We could get them to fight with us."

"He's right," Horacio advised his father. "It's our only option at the moment."

The king sighed. He rested his elbow on the armrest and his chin in his palm. Horacio, Link, Tael, and a couple of servants remained completely silent, staring at the king as he thought.

"I agree," King Marcos concluded. "It's the only thing we can do. The question is, how?"