Chapter Five

The pale girl's body trembled on the spare bed. People were ushered out as herbs and bandages were brought to Aryll. Both Dark and Link refused to leave the room. Link passed the medicines to his sister as she began to redress the wound and place herbs around her body.

Her chest that had been rapidly raising and lowering stopped. She wasn't breathing.

"She needs a fairy," Aryll called out. Link nodded and went to leave but stopped. Dark stood closely over the prisoner, his eyes glaring at his sister. Link couldn't leave his sister with him, the one that had stabbed this girl. His sister tried to pour water in her mouth. It dribbled over and onto the sheets.

"She needs a fairy now Link!" his sister scorned him. He gulped and left the room quickly. He ran to the back of the tavern and pulled out various bottles. There was bottled fire, water, soup, medicines, and concoctions. At the very back was a single fairy. He clutched it quickly and ran back towards where his sister was. He barged in. Aryll was still ok.

He opened the bottle near the girl. The fairy flew out of the bottle and span round the girl hastily. The three watched as the fairy continued to dart around the girl over and over. Her eyes were closed, her body unmoving.

Dark's eyes darted over her. She couldn't die. If she did, he'd have lost everything. His reputation, his pride and the wild goose chase would have been for nothing. He stared down at his blade, still covered in her crimson blood. He frantically wiped it against his tunic.

Back when they were at the castle and he was second in command, the others would back away from him. They knew what he had done, what he had achieved and what he would and could do to any one of them if they stepped out of line. Besides Ganondorf himself, Dark Link was the greatest villain amongst them.

It had been a few months back when he had entered the kitchen. He remembered how he wanted to eat and didn't care for eating alongside his master. He ordered food and the slaves scattered like rats, grabbing pots and pans and meat. As they hurried to fetch food, he noticed one of the servants did not move. Her dark amber eyes watched Dark in silence.

"Why do you not move?" he had questioned her. The young lady with dark hair simply stood where she was. The others weren't paying attention to her as she held her hands together. Dark Link motioned her to get out of his sight and yet still she did not.

"When did she arrive here?" Dark barked at one of the slaves. They almost dropped the crockery in fear as they had been directly spoken to.

"Here since Ganondorfs return. She cleans." Dark waved the slave away and they quickly bowed and ran to the side. The girl remained where she was, neither moving nor trembling like the rest.

"You know who I am, right?" Dark Link questioned her. She nodded once and only once. "And yet you stand there like a statue." She tilted her head ever so slightly as she nodded once more. He had paused and couldn't take his eyes off of her. She knew who he was and yet she wasn't reacting like the rest?

Before he could raise his voice or strike her for being ignorant, she turned on her heels and walked out of the room. The other servants and placed his desired banquet on the table, each bowing and scattering out of the room to let him eat in peace. He fell into the chair and stared at the doorway. Something was off about her and instead of fury, he was filled with confusion.

The fairy disappeared and for a moment there was silence. Link slowly approached her, raising his hand and hovering it over her lips. There was a long silence until he spoke.

"I can feel her breathing," he told the other two. Dark fell to his knees, sighing in relief. Aryll laughed sweetly and hugged her brother. She was alive and would recover.

Dark smiled with delight before realising and turning his head away. It was as though he was happy she wasn't dead. What did it matter to him? Once she had played her part she could starve to death for all he cared. She was simply one part of a large mystery. But for now, without her though, the chances of him succeeding were far too slim.

Soon the door was closed. Link and Aryll had booked a second room and had left Dark and the girl in the other. Dark did not leave her bedside. He placed his broken hand on the pillow. It was more painful than it had been before. His pride was far worse.

"I have lost everything..." he told her unconscious body, "and all on a whim." She remained silent. He pressed his nose against hers, growling at her darkly. He wanted her to squirm and to recoil like those beneath him had done before. He wanted her to be terrified of her. He was the hero of time's shadow. No manifestation of dark magic could be as powerful as he was.

Back at the castle he had yanked at her hair, struck her for not bowing, and kicked her for not obeying. Not once did she fight or struggle against him. Eventually he had grown bored and tried to ignore her. She had continued to follow him. Continued to sit close to him and watch him. It unnerved him.

It had only been recently he had realised why she was so eager to get his attention.

"Sometimes I consider if you have lied to me," he told her darkly. Her eyes were closed, her cheek resting against the pillow. Sometimes he considered that she was lying but then wondered, what did she get from lying? She may be free of the castle but his master still had power over her. He had zapped her energy as soon as he had realised she had escaped. He would chase her to the ends of the Earth. Even if she managed to hide from him, she would still never be able to make a single sound.

But then he wondered why she had singled out him. Why she had spent months at a time appearing in front of him and catching his curiosity. Why she had taken blows and punches from him as she refused to cower in his presence. She could have gained the attention of many others. Others were easier to manipulate. He was his master's right-hand and yet she had informed him of things that he should have reported. Yet he hadn't.

He stared up out at the moon and the rain that continued to billow downwards. He knew what they were searching for and she was the only one that could find them. He was simply a bodyguard. But as he raised his broken hand and stared at her fragile state, he knew one thing was inevitable.

"We need the heroes help, don't we?" he questioned her, "he was a part of your plans." Her eyes slowly opened. She slowly turned, staring up at him and nodding once. He slumped downwards sharply, anger bubbling within him again.

"I will not become partners with some lucky brat," Dark Link told her, staring up at the round moon. "Tell me what we need from him. I'll force it out of him and take it with us. But I refuse to be chirpy little buddies with him." She shook her head and closed her eyes again. His rage built within him.

"I would have thrown you to the sharks," he snarled at her. He knew it was a lie though. It wouldn't bring back his status. There was no turning back from this point. He frowned as he lay his head on the side and closed his eyes.