Chapter Two

Day had turned to night. The dark demon took a deep breath, tightening the bandage around his broken hand. Pain shot through it sparingly but all he could do was ignore the agony. It was mind over matter now. He took his sword and shield from their cabinets. He looped his bow around his shoulders and stocked his quiver with bows.

He slowly walked down the corridor, fully aware of what he was about to do. Within a matter of months he had been convinced that this had to happen. He glanced out the tall windows that overlooked the vicious ocean. The night sky lapped over the cracked lands, the stars hidden by the clouds. He could just make out the shape of the crescent moon.

He was about to defy everything he had known. To obey his master no matter what was no longer his goal. The consequences would be worse than death if he were to be caught.

"Then you best not be caught," he growled at himself. No other minions were around the corridors. He pulled the chain around his neck over his head, holding out a key. His master had left the castle and in his absence, had left his second-in-command in charge of the servants and slaves. His master had no reason to believe treachery from him.

He stared at the red doors that lay before him. Other servants were simply locked in cages of a night. She was locked within a room all to herself. He inserted the key into the servant girl's prison and slowly turned it. Treachery was precisely the actions taking place.

Several guards stood at the gate of the castle, watching out for any potential intruders. It was rare for anything to venture close to the castle if at all. Intruders were dealt with at sea, at the coastlines. On rare occasions a few vermin managed to get to the surrounding forest. The defences were high though and the location was well hidden. They weren't expecting intruders.

They were not expecting broken links within the castle.

One of the guards suddenly heard the hurrying clops of hooves dashing from behind. He turned, his eyes meeting that of the dark shadow riding on the master's steed. The action took him completely by surprise. No being was stupid enough to stop the second in command and yet he was betraying their true master.

"Halt," the other guard yelped out, realizing what was happening. The dark demon did not stop. His overly large cloak was flaring out behind him as he brought his bow and pulled back a single arrow. Dark felt a tear flow from his eye, his broken hand crying out for him to stop. He released the arrow as he galloped forward, piercing guard's heart with a single shot. He rode past the remaining guards, kicking the sides of the stallion, picking up speed.

"The prisoner is gone!" he heard an outcry from behind. He continued his frantic sprint. The window of opportunity was closing quicker than expected. In the far distance he could see the only salvation. If he didn't reach it, everything would be in vain.

He felt delicate hands tighten around his waist from behind. He lifted his long cloak to peer behind him. The slave girl peeked up at him from behind, her dark amber eyes filled with hope and fear all at the same time. He dropped the cloak over her again, keeping her out of sight as he galloped onwards.

He kicked the horse and they charged through the forest, across the open plains, towards the sea. Various minions spotted the stallion and did not react in time to stop them.

The castle was surrounded by the dark sea. People could not easily swim across. Even if they had the stamina the ocean's monsters would snatch any swimmer and take them to their watery grave.

Dark wasn't planning on swimming. At this point they knew that a pirate ship always passed this way every month. He didn't know why but they always kept close to the sea. He had seen them before. He hid in the shadows, quite a distance from the huge ship. They had seemingly been pirates seeking for sunken treasure. Every month the ship came closer to the coast. Every month Dark had made it his mission to slaughter as many of the intruders as possible.

He could see now that only three lads manned the entire ship. His arrows had taken many of their lives. He had managed to slay almost their entire crew. The last time they came his sword took another before he stopped himself from finishing the ship. The ship would come again, for a final time. For humans to be so close to the castle continuously was stupid and yet perfect for him.

Now he planned to sneak onto the ship and then take off when it arrived at the mainland.

That was when it began to go wrong. Dark felt her hands grow cold around his waist. He lifted up his robe to see tears fill her eyes. He lifted her up as gently as he could, though with his broken hand it was difficult, and sat her in front of him. Although no sound came out of her mouth, she was tossing and turning, her eyes shut as dark magic inflicted pain into her. What had he done? He had never witnessed the curse at work, only had he seen its results. He held her close and tried to keep her warm. He couldn't allow her to die.

The dark shadow looked over as the huge boat began to drift out. The pirates must have seen the oncoming monsters and were starting to flee. He kicked the horse hard and, with one hand around the girl, the other on the reins, he galloped towards the leaving ship, desperate to get on before his master's minions slaughtered him and took the girl back.

He gave the horse one final kick. He felt the dark stallion leap into the air and towards the ship. None of his master's minions had dared to defy him before. Now they would do anything to take his blood and gain his position of power. He could never go back to the great Ganondorf as a legend amongst the others. Within that moment, he begged the Goddesses, instead of making the leap to die in the waves below for he was terrified of what was to become of him.

He heard the horses hooves smack against wood. They hand landed on the rescue boat that hung from the side.

"They're fir'in at us," Dark heard one of the pirates call out as they heard the horse crash into the side of the boat. The pirates had thought that a canon had been blasted at them.

"Triumph forks are'n worth it," yelled out another crossly. The sails were released and the ship began to pick up speed. The horse grew alarmed, rearing and neighing as the boat moved. It wasn't prepared for wooden floors and rocking movements. Dark thrust his blade into the horse's spine to silence it. They couldn't be heard. The stallion's eyes closed as it toppled over.

"I pray this isn't a wild goose chase," he murmured to himself, climbing off of the horse's back and awkwardly wrapping the servant up in his cloak. He sat on the floor and watched as the castle began to shrink from view. It was only going to get worse.