Chapter 12

Fear Will Find You

The group left behind Link and let Midna guard the perimeter of the river and watch over Link while the three tributes started brushing through the arena looking for clues on where the sixth tribute was hiding. Vaati suggested she was hiding out in deep waters since she was from a kingdom where they lived underwater. Bryce thought she was hiding in the trees because she was fast and an excellent climber. Zelda thought she was among them right now hiding out in the shadows waiting for the right moment to attack. She was very fast and could throw any weapon at the speed of an arrow. The group looked for hours and realized they would have to hunt her down tomorrow when the sun would most likely be out. Vaati sniffed the air as Bryce and Zelda tried hunting down dinner.

"You smell that? It smells like… the powder used in black magic." Vaati said before snapping a branch on a tree and tasting it.

"What are you doing? Tree bark isn't very healthy to eat, Vaati." Bryce said looking at him confused.

"No if you can smell the powder you can taste it on the trees. My teacher told me black magic is incredibly dangerous and only few can actually perform it. It's better to be prepared for either the game keepers' finale act or blue skin's secret weapon." Vaati said before tossing the stick aside. "Yeah someone is about to use black magic as a last resort. We better find safe grounds before they complete the spell. Most of the time a spell requires a soul as a sacrifice and I bet icy skin thinks we're close enough to be taken advantage of. We better get to the top of the hill and fast." The group quickly made their way back to the camp when the skies grew dark.

"Dammit! Come on I think I know a spell to give us some light." Vaati said and snapped his fingers to ignite a small ball of light that led them closer to the hill. Zelda's heart started racing. Something in the air didn't feel right… It felt like death was all around them and slowing edging towards someone waiting for them to make one last breath. It was the same air on the first day of the games.

The ground shook and the sky emitted a purple light as something traveled down from the skies and into the forest behind them.

"She's using the Twilight region to bring someone back as a puppet." Vaati said.

"What does that mean?" Zelda asked.

"She's trying to outsmart death and bring back a few tributes' souls to defeat us." Bryce said looking up at the sky as more purple light rained down into the forest. "The only problem is they will only come back as mere puppets or a soul without a sense of knowledge or memory of their life before they died. The only thing they know is what she'll tell them."
"In other words… She's making her own army." Vaati said. "We better stop the spell now before it's too late." Vaati ran into the forest, the ball of light traveling in front of him as a guide.

"VAATI!" Zelda screamed before following him into the forest. She hardly saw the light until she couldn't see anything anymore except the black skies above. Bryce bumped into her and the growling around them started.

"Stay behind me." Bryce told her as he held out his spear. He snapped his fingers and a smaller ball of light appeared and he tossed it into the air creating a spotlight of light around the two of them. Beasts that looked like skeletons of boars or small horses surrounded them growling and barking. "They're Stalhounds. They aren't hard to beat but there is too many of them. You think you can out run them?"

"I'm up for anything." Zelda replied pointing her sword at one of the hounds. Bryce quickly charged forward and took down two hounds by surprised and took off into the forest leaving the light behind. Zelda charged after him, hearing the pounding of the hounds behind her. They were catching up fast and she only had a small batch of light from above to guide her. She felt water before something tossed her into the river almost knocking her out. She could hear Bryce's moans of pain a few feet away.

"She opened the Twilight realm and let a few shadow beasts in to kill us." Bryce said coughing. He got up and stabbed the shadow beast which counterattacked and tossed him aside like a doll. It faced Zelda and let out a ear piercing scream.

"Alright this is going to be one hell of a grand finale." Zelda said before charging towards the shadow beast.

Vaati ran into the main arena where the burning trees were still hardly holding on. He saw a small fire ahead but listened to his gut and hid behind a few trees as he saw the blue skin girl speaking in a language he couldn't understand. Around her were six tributes that had fallen including the one she teamed up with. They were tributes he hardly knew until he came across two he recognized immediately. The boy Zelda saved on the first day before one of the tributes killed him off and Zelda's partner… Rusl.

"Tonight we hunt for the remaining five tributes. I need three of you to travel up to the hill surrounded by a river and kill off the two of them there. The other three around here somewhere but I'm sure the Shadow Beasts and Stalhounds caught their scent." The girl said before handing each of them a sword or weapon of some sort. "Be back here after you finish the job and you'll get a one way ticket to see your precious goddesses." The tributes nodded their heads and took off in a run in different directions.

Vaati waited in hiding as one tribute stayed behind and talked quietly with the girl. Vaati could hardly hear them before he saw them kissing each other.

"Yuck she's so low she's kissing the dead." Vaati snickered before he heard movement behind him.

"I thought I smelled mortal." Someone said behind him. Vaati turned and saw the boy he killed to protect Zelda from standing a few feet away from him. His eyes were stone black and his skin was pale as the moon shined on his skin. He bared his teeth to show he had fangs and ran towards Vaati. Vaati snapped his fingers and shoved him away, causing the boy to fly straight into a tree, breaking the bark and causing the tree to fall. Vaati was up against a vampire or a creature of the undead. What the hell kills someone from the dead? The boy charged him again and Vaati blocked his move and kicked him into another tree. Vaati's mind was spinning as he tried searching almost nine years of teacher's teachings.

"The undead is afraid of light which is why a vampire hunts at night. The best attack is to use fire and set their body on fire." Vaati smiled and picked up his spear setting it on fire with alchemy since the bimbo made the air perfect for alchemy. The vampire hissed and took a step back from him.

"WHAT AFRAID OF A LITTLE FIRE?" Vaati screamed at him. He wished Zelda was near him so she could shoot a fire arrow at him. He swung the burning spear at him as the vampire kept edging back. He tried moving behind Vaati to attack him but Vaati was too quick and only kept swinging the spear. He had to admit… Black magic was pretty powerful but then again… loopholes were always involved in spells. Vaati was leading the vampire closer to water when he lit the grass around them on fire and dropped the spear. The two of them started throwing punches and kicks. Vaati avoided the vampire biting him at all costs when he found his weak spot. He grabbed his neck and slammed him onto the ground, black blood spilling out of his mouth. The vampire hissed and sputtered before Vaati smiled and snapped his neck, tearing his head clean off from his body using a simple spell that made skin like porcelain. He tossed the head into the fire grass before picking up his spear and tossing it onto the vampire's body. Again the purple light lifted up from the vampire's body and flew there for a moment.

"Go to the river and help them. We are only trapped souls forced to relive our deaths once again in these terrible games." The boy's voice spoke before the purple spark vanished. Vaati looked up at the moon and for once… actually cried.

Zelda was tearing through the herd of the Stalhounds before facing two Shadow Beasts. Bryce, bleeding badly quickly took out one with a spin attack using his spear as Zelda stabbed the other numerous times in the chest with her sword. The beasts fell into the water and vanished in thin black smoke as the two tributes clapped hands.

"What a nice performance don't you agree?" A boy said emerging from the shadows. His skin was pale, eyes black as night.

"She used a poor tribute's soul to make him into… a vampire." Bryce gulped. He hated vampires with a passion since most hung out in Gerudo Valley feeding on the countless girls in the streets. Zelda was prepared. Her father fought a vampire once when she was little. They were afraid of light and had black blood. Breaking the head of the body makes it powerless but setting the body on fire kills it indefinitely.

"Snap the head off… I got the fire." Bryce said before the vampire ran towards them. Zelda blocked his fangs from reaching her and pushed him away.

"What I have to fight the famous Zelda? Well looks like I'm eating like a king tonight!" The vampire laughed before lunging at her.

"Not tonight! Leech!" Zelda screamed and the small fairy rushed in and bit the vampire on the shoulder. He took his guard off Zelda and slapped Leech away. He turned and only saw Zelda's blade slice his head cleanly off his body. Bryce quickly started a fire and set both parts on fire.

"We should help Vaati wherever he is…" Bryce said.

"No. We need to kill the girl. If we kill her then the spell breaks and the other tributes she brought back are free right?" Zelda asked.

"Yes but if she can perform black magic she has to be really powerful."

"After this spell she must be really tired. You think another vampire is guarding her?"

"Yep and I think it was the boy I set on fire." Bryce said before smirking at her. "How about we make it rain fire again?"

Midna sat looking out into the night as Link was staring at the fire, his heart racing. He wanted to help them in any way but with him still wounded he didn't have a chance against whatever they were fighting. Midna warned him to stay in the cave after the purple light rained from the sky but he sat near her listening to the wind and the shutter of the trees. Midna stood up and threw her arm out of her cloak.

"Stay hidden got it?" Midna warned him before her hand lit up and a fire ball appeared. She threw it down below before creating another one and another one.

"What is it, Midna?" Link asked her.

"Vampires and they're pretty damn fast. Just stay hidden." Link heard a scream from below and Midna nodded her head in approval. Midna killed one of them. Something caught onto the wind and tossed Midna into the cave against the rocky wall as the two vampires appeared at the mouth of the cave. Link's heart was caught in his throat. Rusl was one of the vampires except it wasn't him at the same time.

"Rusl!" Link shouted. Rusl looked at him coldly before grabbing Link by the neck and pinning him to the wall.

"I think we're getting an extra helping of dinner tonight, Fatino." Rusl said, his death eyes gleaming in greed at Link. Fatino snickered and kicked Midna down onto the ground.

"What the hell are you doing, Rusl? It's me Link! I'm Zelda's best friend!" Link shouted.

"Zelda? That bitch is long gone. Either our master killed her or the others had her for dinner. You decide what to believe." Rusl laughed. Link's anger boiled within him as he kicked Rusl in the gut. Rusl dropped him just as Vaati appeared and grabbed a spear and stabbed Rusl in the neck with it.

"You think that kills me, mortal?" Rusl asked before punching Vaati. Link noticed black blood was dripping down Rusl's body and he realized that all creatures with black blood were scared of fire. Link noticed the small fire they made not too long ago was pretty far off. Rusl was towering over him when Link used his good leg and kicked him in the stomach before crawling away. He noticed Zelda made another bow and left a few arrows behind for him as he grabbed them and lit an arrow on fire.

"How about some fire for breakfast huh?" Link said before shooting an arrow at Rusl, hitting him clean in the head. Rusl dropped to the ground crying out in pain as the fire touched his skin. Fatino looked at him and back at Link before Vaati grabbed him from behind, a knife at his throat.

"Tell us where that girl is hiding!" Vaati spat.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Fatino screamed.

"Either you tell us or we'll make your death even worse than what you went through the first time!" Midna shouted at him.

"She's hiding out with Gabriel on the other side of the arena. They're near the waterfall!" Fatino cried. Midna looked over at Vaati. "Please… Just kill me. I just want to die for good." Vaati paused for a moment before closing his eyes and slicing Fatino's head off and dragging both parts into the fire by Link.

"You… you killed-"

"Come on we have to help the other two. Midna you go on ahead and try finding them. I'm going to see if I can at least make Link walk." Vaati said before kneeling down next to Link. Midna pulled her hood up and quickly went to search for Zelda and Bryce.

Zelda and Bryce traveled up stream as they only encountered few Shadow Beasts. Zelda could tell Bryce was suffering from a head wound and they needed to finish this quickly. She knew the girl most likely sent other vampires to attack the others but were they okay? Was any of them dead? Zelda couldn't think before Bryce shouted something and quickly waved his hands. Zelda looked over at him before someone threw her onto the ground and pinned her down.

"Got you, stupid bitch!" The blue skinned girl screeched. Bryce's fire rain spell was lighting up trees everywhere as he tried fighting the girl's vampire guard. Zelda kneed her and rolled away pulling her sword out. Zelda could finally see clearly from the burning trees and notice the girl's face was covered in scars and small tattoos around the sides of her face. She threw a knife that Zelda avoided and another that too was avoided. Zelda charged and the girl blocked her attack with a spinning kick. Zelda smashed into the ground and got up quickly enough to block the girl's blue spell. If Bryce was right… The girl would still be weak from performing black magic. Zelda punched the girl in the face and she took a step back. Blue blood was dripping from the girl's nose and she quickly tried punching back which Zelda blocked and made a jump kick sending the girl into the water hitting a large rock. Bryce was blocking every move the vampire made but he couldn't make a punch towards him without him blocking it. Bryce was getting mad and finally got a clean blow into the vampire's face sending him into a rock.

"Leech find the others!" Zelda ordered the fairy. Leech took off in the night sky avoiding the girl's spells towards him. The girl threw a fire ball at Zelda which burned the bottom of her pants and her right leg. Zelda kept her cries in as she dealt with the pain and picked up a knife, throwing it at her and ripping the girl's shoulder open. They were both receiving heavy hits and wouldn't be able to take it anymore when Bryce made a daring move. Bryce quickly grabbed Zelda's sword and smashed it into the ground causing a bolt of light to emit, blinding the vampire and Bryce gracefully ripped his head off using his own hands. The headless body fell into the burning fire and Bryce quickly tossed the head in as well. The girl's eyes grew huge and she ran up to Bryce and used her nails to stab him in the stomach.

"You killed the only thing I had left to live for… Now I'll kill the only thing you've ever loved." The girl hissed before tossing him aside and racing towards Zelda and cut her face with her nails. Blood poured into Zelda's eyes and wiped her face before pulling her sword up from the ground and used the butt of it to hit the girl in the gut. Bryce fell over and fell into deep sleep as Zelda kept fighting the girl. Zelda was losing too much blood and needed medical help as soon as possible. The girl was advancing towards her quickly and she felt her mind drifting away.

"No… I'm not going down this easy!" Zelda said and pointed her sword at the girl. The girl ran at her full speed and Zelda held out her hand with the triforce carved into and slammed it into the girl's chest. A burst of gold light tossed the girl away and slammed her onto her back. She coughed up blue blood and laid there breathing heavily. Zelda walked towards her and raised her sword.

"Go on… Do it. You'll only end up killing all your friends just to rule a crummy kingdom." The girl said.

"I'm not after the triforce. I'm trying to recreate Hyrule." Zelda told her. The girl laughed.

"Like that will ever happen. Before you know it you'll all turn against each other and fight to the death to rule Hyrule. That's what Lilith wants. She didn't want one of us winning these games. This is all part of her master plan and we're just here for her entertainment. Her guards are out searching for the triforce right now and as soon as she touches it this world will end. Kill yourselves now while you have the chance."

"I'm doing what's right for Hyrule. I'm bringing it back to its original glory."

"By teaming up with the Queen's son? You must be incredibly stupid to think he's on your side."

"No… He's on our side."

"Are you just saying that because you want to believe that or are you to scared to face the truth?"

"He's my friend. How dare you to bring your friends back from the dead just so they could relive their death. You knew all along you were going to die so why do it?"

"Because… Everyone believes in a little thing called hope. Give someone enough hope and they'll take all the chances they have to succeed. Give them too much and you're looking at a monster created to cause mass destruction. I guess you could say I'm a monster created to cause mass destruction." The girl said as she pulled a knife out from her pocket. "I just want to see my true love again. I want to be… free from this ever binding curse Lilith casted on us. I want to be free." She quickly slit her throat with the blade and went still letting the knife fall from her hand. A purple spark lifted from her body and flew into the sky creating a massive formation of clouds. Above the blue skinned girl and her true love stood in front of golden gates, each wearing white clothes. The gates opened and the two of them walked inside. Behind them, Rusl and Fatino along with three other tributes were there also wearing white clothes and walked through the gates. Rusl turned and smiled at Zelda and grabbed Fatino's hand as the gates behind them closed and the clouds reformed in the sky to show the moon once again. It was all over… The five of them survived and could now go home. Home though… seemed like a dangerous place and Zelda knew that Hyrule was in peril.