Sorry for the long wait! Writing chapter 12 while balancing college was tough! And the fact that writing chapter 12 was a pain because I either didn't know what to write or I didn't like what I already wrote made everything worse. So here's this chapter, finally. I'll also post chapter 9 as a sorry and a present. Anyway... Time to expand on a certain black haired mage! Oh, and meet a group of mages...in their cool hideout.

8

Glurak's Home. Funding. Mages' Hideout.

The day after the raid, Link was walking around town by himself. He didn't really have a specific assignment, just looking out for any soldiers causing trouble. Risbon had decided that he could do things by himself, since he now knew what to do. He wasn't really going anywhere in particular, actually, he was familiarizing himself with the city. In the square, he found Glurak. Link was a bit surprised, he hadn't thought that Glurak went out often.

''Link,'' Glurak greeted.

''Hey. What are you doing?''

''Going to my home to aquire more money for everyone. Would you like to come with me?'' Glurak answered.

''Sure,'' Link replied.

They started towards the north street, where the upperclass lived. Glurak seemed anxious.

''Uh, Glurak? Does your family know that you're in the Resistance?'' Link asked.

Glurak shook his head. ''Not that I know of. Of course, they might have found out. I hope not.''

''That wouldn't be good,'' Link agreed.

They stopped before a rather grand home with a medium sized courtyard. The gate was open. A banner hung on either side of the gate, displaying a crest consisting of a sword and two crossed spears.

''My family's coat of arms,'' Glurak explained. He smirked and then added, ''It is ironic, since most of my family do not wield weapons anymore. Mostly, they just attend the royal court.''

''Do you dislike them?'' Link asked cautiously, not wishing to offend.

''Not at all. My parents are good intentioned, I suppose. But they don't really protest against what is going on. Well, my father probably does. But mother... no.''

''Ah,'' Link said. He looked at the building. ''Very nice.''

''Yes, well... This is just the city home. My family has chambers in the castle and we have a manor elsewhere. Too much, if you ask me,'' Glurak replied.

Link liked that about Glurak. Despite the fact that he was of nobility, he didn't act like a self-centered person.

Glurak sighed. ''I suppose we should go in.''

They entered the courtyard. A servant noticed Glurak and bowed.

''Ah, Young Master. You have returned. Your parents will be pleased to see you.''

Glurak smiled, a strained smile. When they where out of earshot, he turned to Link and muttered, ''I hope so.'' Then he glanced at the doors leading into the large house, which was almost a manor in itself. ''I'll go in. Hopefully this won't take long...''

Glurak opened one of the double doors and went inside. Link waited patiently in the courtyard. After about ten minutes, Glurak came back out.

''I have the money. Let's get out of here.''

They were halfway out when the double doors opened. A woman wearing a fancy blue gown stepped out and walked towards them.

''My mother, Duchess Gertrude,'' Glurak explained to Link in a whisper.

Glurak's mother had her brown hair curled and pinned up. Jeweled earrings dangled from her ears. Link assumed Glurak resembled his father, since his mother did not have inky black hair.

''Leaving so soon? Why don't you stay and eat something, son?''

''No, thank you, mother. I have to get back,'' Glurak replied.

''Back to that band of rebels.''

Glurak blanched white. ''You know?''

Duchess Gertrude scoffed. ''Of course.''

''How did you find out?'' Glurak asked in a strained voice. His eyes widened as he thought of something. ''Did you send someone to follow me?'' he said with horrified accusal.

''No, I figured it out. It was obvious where you were going. And you come back only for money.'' She paused. ''Well, if you're going, do be careful. If you get yourself caught, I won't know what to do with you.''

''...You're not going to turn me in?'' Glurak asked.

''No, of course not.'' Duchess Gertrude looked apalled.

''Oh. Well... I'll be going, mother.''

''Hmm. I'll see you again, yes?''

Glurak nodded wordlessly. His mother, satisfied, went back into the house. After the doors closed, they left the courtyard and returned to the street.

Link and Glurak walked down the street leading to the Amalgam.

''I thought my mother would call for soldiers. Or something,'' Glurak said.

''Good thing she didn't.''

''Right. Well, I need to go in. Are you coming with me?''

Link thought about it for a brief moment. ''Sure.''

They both came to the entrance of the Amalgam. Glurak opened the door and they stepped into the foyer.

''Where is Risbon?'' Link wondered aloud. Their leader was not in the main room.

''I don't think he left. Hmm...''

Lux peeked out of the magic room, having heard their voices. ''You are looking for Risbon? I do believe he is with Yost.''

''Thank you,'' Glurak said to his friend.

Link opened the door to the sparring hall. Sure enough, Risbon was with his brother. It seemed like they had just stopped sparring, since they were both panting.

''Hey,'' Risbon greeted.

Glurak walked over to him and handed him a dark leather pouch. ''Here.''

''You know you don't have to keep doing this,'' Risbon said.

''I want to. You know we need the money. Besides, it's not like my family will be any worse off. They don't need it,'' Glurak replied.

''True...'' Risbon gave a smile. ''I assume you're going back to the magic room?''

''Actually, no. I want to see a friend in the Mages' safe house.''

''Ah. Send them my regards, I don't know how the Resistance would function without all of them.''

''I think I'll come as well,'' Link said to Glurak.

Link and Glurak left the Amalgam and walked to a street just off the main square. Glurak stopped in front of a building made of stone. Wood panels decorated the entrance.

''This is the Mages' safe house,'' he said.

''Is this like a guild or something?'' Link asked.

''No. Every Resistance safe house has at least one magic user. But this one is where we come together. It's very secure,'' Glurak replied. He walked up and pulled the door open.

Link went inside after him. The entrance room was rather plain. No one was in the room. ''Where is everyone?''

Glurak smiled. ''You'll see.'' He opened the door directly to the north of them. The room inside was also plain, with a floor of stone panels. Glurak bent down and pressed a spot on the floor while pulling on the edge of the panel.

The panel slid back, revealing a staircase. Link followed him down. At the bottom of the stairs was a wide hall. There were many doors, each painted a different color.

''All this is down here?'' Link said, awed.

''Yes. Most of the rooms are down here. Since we are using magic, we don't want any accidents to happen upstairs.'' Glurak pointed at the colored doors. ''Each color corresponds to an element, which is what is studied in the given room. Each element has a room, except dark magic, of course.''

''Wow.''

Glurak went over to the blue door and opened it. Bookshelves lined two of the walls, along with some tables. There were basins of water throughout the room. There were a few people inside, each dressed in robes of blue.

One young man with dark blue hair walked over to them. ''Hey, Glurak!''

Glurak smiled. ''Link, this is Wavros. He is the mage who set up the bathing chamber in the Amalgam.''

''Hello, nice to meet you,'' Link said.

Wavros grinned. ''Nice to meet you, too. Word travels, so I know who you are. Welcome to the Water Room.'' He turned back to Glurak. ''So, how's Lux doing? What's he studying now?''

''He's fine. He is now studying water,'' Glurak answered.

''Haha! That's great! Does he need anything?''

''Actually, he needs a certain book...'' Glurak picked up a spellbook and showed it to the other mage.

''Ah. You can take that. We have so many copies, we don't know what to do them them!'' Wavros said with a laugh.

Link found that the Mages' safe house was quite interesting. He wanted to explore it. ''May I walk around?''

''Sure!'' Wavros replied.

''He has just started using his magic. I think it would be a good idea,'' Glurak said.

''Oh! Then that's an even better reason to! Just be careful in some of the rooms. Like the Fire Room and the Electricity Room,'' Wavros said.

''All right.'' Link replied. He stepped back into the hall.

Link had no idea which room to enter first. He knew that the red door obviously led into the Fire Room. The green door was forest. The brown door was earth, the yellow door was electricity... There was another green door, a different shade. Probably wind. A light blue door was most likely ice, while the purple door was shadow and the white door was light.

He went over to a door near the end of the hall that was painted orange. What element was that? He opened it and stepped inside. The room had bookshelves and tables like the Water Room. People in orange robes were clearly using magic, their hands were glowing faintly. Strange forms drifted around the room.

A young lady with burnished bronze colored hair came over. ''Ah, you're here. This is the Spirit Room. My name is Kunine.''

''How did you...'' Link trailed off. How had she known he was coming?

''Wavros contacted us all telepathically,'' she explained.

Oh. That made sense. ''So, I hear that you've started using magic. Are you planning on specializing in a certain element?'' she asked.

''Not really. I think I'll try them all, like Lux is doing,'' Link replied.

''Ah. That's the best part about magic. You can try them all. Some people only use one element, some use multiple. Although some are not good with some elements, I suppose.''

''How many elements are there, again? I think Lux told me, but I was reading,'' Link asked.

She thought for a brief second. ''Hmm. Fire, water, forest, earth, wind, electricity, ice, shadow, spirit, holy and dark. Holy is also called light.''

''Can you explain spirit magic?''

''Of course.'' Kunine nodded. ''Spirit magic is not really used offensively. It is mostly used to boost others' abilities in battle. However, it also involves calling on various friendly entities and ghosts to come to your aid.''

''It's a supporting element. Sure, you can use it offensively, but most don't,'' another mage added.

''Right. That explains those things,'' Link said, pointing to the strange forms drifting around.

''Spirit magic is only for calling on good entities and ghosts. If someone were summoning a demon, monster or other malicious entity, that would be dark magic,'' Kunine said.

''Ah. So these things wouldn't hurt me,'' Link said as one drifted near Kunine and himself.

''No. Not unless the person casting or calling it ordered it to.''

One other mage piped up, ''Not that we would!''

Kunine gave a laugh. ''Correct. Since I'm not working on anything important right now, I'll show the rest of the rooms, if you wish,'' she said.

''Sure,'' Link said. He certainly was glad to have a mage with him to explain things.

They only went into the Fire and Electricity rooms before they saw Glurak step into the hall.

''Glurak. Nice to see you,'' Kunine said.

''Ah, Kunine. Hello,'' Glurak replied.

''Are we leaving?'' Link asked.

''Well, yes. That is, if you want to eat. But I did get you something,'' Glurak answered. He held up a spellbook with a brown-gold cover. ''It covers all the elements except dark.''

It was noon already? Link wasn't sure if he wanted to leave. The building was interesting.

''You can come back here any time, you know. The door will open for you now.''

''If it doesn't, we'll sense you and open it,'' Kunine added.

Link nodded. ''All right. Let's go eat.'' He turned to Kunine. ''Thank you.''

She smiled. ''It wasn't a problem.'' She went back into the Spirit Room.

Glurak led the way up the stairs, out of the lower level. The panel slid closed behind them.

The Mages' place is cool, yeah? Everything's underground. Magic, magic everywhere. I bet Princess Zelda's soldiers would have a hell of a time trying to find it, much less get in. Speaking of the Princess, we'll meet her in chapter 10. Hang in there.