Ah…a day off school. I've been waiting for this. Anyways, where did we leave. Ah right, when things were going terribly wrong, as they usually do. I'm so cruel to my/nintendo's characters. Thanks for reviewing by the way guys. I loved them.

Chapter 8

Dog eat dog

Link and the leader circled each other, snarling. Link's left arm was bent, ready to snatch his sword from its sheath. His face was twisted into a snarl, lips pulled curled and eyes narrowed. A growl rumbled in his throat. The arrow hung from his shoulder blade like a forlorn tail, the feathered flights scraping against the metal of his shield; a lucky shot, slipping between his back and the shield, avoiding the thick belts and scabbard. The Goriya leader had strapped to his hands long curved claws that stretched from his knuckles and curved round into talons. A short sword hung from the belt at his hip. His lips were pulled back to reveal the long curved teeth and back gums. His ears were forward, tail raised in challenge. The Goriya's acid yellow eyes were narrowed, framed by the ridges that creased and warped his lupine face.

They circled. Lana had sunk to her knees, staring at the sapphire in shock. She was surrounded by Goriya but they didn't attack or move, frozen by the spell of the circling leaders.

Still they circled. Silver snarled at the Goriya surrounding her, daring them to attack. But she didn't make a move either. For a moment, the world held its breath, watching the slow circling of the two leaders. Even the wind lay still, cowering beneath the boughs, the sun dipped her head back beneath the mountains, burying herself beneath the grey clouds.

Then, as moments do, it passed and spell shattered. With a roar, the leader leapt to attack. Link saw the twitch of his tail and drew his sword. Dropping to one knee, he drew his sword in one fluid movement and ran it along the belly of the Goriya as he sailed overhead, in a perfect Mortal Draw. The Goriya twisted, using his tail as a rudder to turn his body to the side. The blade passed harmless to the side, slicing a few hairs in half as it did so.

As their leader attacked, the Goriya lunged at Silver. She leapt and spun, funnelling magic into her tail, turning it hard as steel. The spin took out the first wave. Slicing through the Goriya's skin and biting into their jugulars. When Silver landed, snarling, the others had got themselves together and now all their force at Silver.

"Well aren't you eager to die." Silver muttered as they fell upon her with a ferocity granted to the wolves in the bedtime stories that they so resembled.

Lana did nothing. Lost in her own little world.

As Link ducked beneath a swipe from the Goriya leader, he threw a glance to Silver.

"What am I? Her babysitter!" she shouted, jumping off a Goriya and leaping over the pack and landing behind them.

Link gave her his best puppy face, turning the claws away from his chest as he did so.

"Only because you ask so nicely."

With Lana now taken care of somewhat, Link could turn his full attention to the fight. Despite his antics, he could sense this Goriya was strong. He turned the claws away from his face on his shield, wincing at the pressure through his shoulder blade, and feinted a stab, before twisting it going for a vertical slash. The Goroya caught the blade with his left paw and redirecting it past him. Link shifted his centre of gravity, and jabbed his shield forward. The Goriya let his shoulder absorb the blow but Link was already rolling. He came up behind the Goriya and released a spin attack, twisting into the air. The sword bit into the Goriya's back carving a red line across the creature's back, as if a snake had slithered up his spine.

The Goriya yowled in pain and slashed wildly. Link twisted aside to avoid the flailing claws. Pain lanced up from his shoulder blade as the steel tip grated against the bone. The shield clattered from his grip as his fingers slackened, under the onslaught of pain. It slid across the ground and disappeared over the cliff edge. Link didn't remember it being that close. He hadn't realised that in all the chaos, the fighting had moved further north towards the cliff edge. That or the cliff decided to come and watch the action, how nice of it.

Link snarled and faced the Goriya. He could feel warmth seeping across his back. Din he hated arrows right now. On the bright side, the Goriya's back was tiff and tense. It somewhat levelled the playing field…well, it was better nothing.

The Goriya feinted a slash to the right that turned into a diagonal slash up to the right. Link stepped back brought his sword up vertically, blocking the slash. The claws slid down the blade and Link twisted them, the blade biting deep into the creature's paw. He twisted aside as the Goriya's other claw stabbed at him. The claws opened up a gash across his sternum. Link snarled and backed up. He was starting to lose a lot of blood. Not good.

Silver was not enjoying her babysitting. Lana seemed completely out of it, leaving Silver to do the saving. If it were up to the wolfos, she'd have left the zora to the monsters. But the zora queen wouldn't really approve, and she'd had enough of ghosts to last a lifetime.

She dodged under the swing of a Goriya and leapt at its midriff as its momentum turned its back to her. It fell to her jaws. Cold steel bit into her leg. Her tail turned hard and she sliced through the offending Goriya's hand. It dropped to the floor, clutching the bleeding stump of its wrist. Silver finished it off quickly, fighting her way back to Lana. As she did so, she caught a glimpse of Link. He and the Goriya were still fighting. Neither had the upper hand. By the looks of it, this battle was going to turn into a test of endurance rather than skill.

Link backflipped away from the sword, giving himself some breathing room. The Goriya snarled and attacked. Link managed to avoid the claws, but the force of the charge sent him skidding back. Link dropped his weight, sending the Goriya tripping over the top of him.

Link got to his feet, wincing as the arrow scraped along bone. They were now only a few metres from the edge of the cliff. The part of the compound they were in stretched right to the edge of the cliff. There was a watch tower nearby, one of the few Link hadn't bombed. It was on fire, like a beacon shining over the lake. The walls were holding strong, they had yet to catch. But only for so long. It was still dawn, the sun buried amongst her blanket of clouds reluctant to rise.

The Goriya got to his feet and then did something unexpected. It began running towards Link. It came in on all fours, snarling, acid yellow eyes glowing with malice. Link tried to dodge aside, but the creature was fast, one arm grabbed him, the claws tearing through the chainmail and into his side. The wall collided with Link's back with a crunch. It tore a cry from Link's throat. The Goriya had its jaws around his right shoulder. Link kicked, but his sword was useless at such close range and as a hylian he had no claws of teeth to fight back.

If it weren't for the fact the Goriya was using his shoulder as a chew toy, Link would've kicked himself. The mist curled and Link was gone.

Lana shook herself from her daze. Link hadn't been lying. She'd felt Ralis presence as bright as day. He'd shouted at her, generally told her off for being such a thick idiot. Looking up, she gulped. Silver was fighting tooth and claw, protecting her from the surrounding Goriya. She couldn't see Link. Her spear hadn't fallen far. She grabbed it and got to her feet. A slash across the backs of some of the Goriya felled those that threatened to overwhelm Silver. She nodded her head and thanks before returning to the fight. Lana didn't waste time either. She glanced round to see if Link were anywhere. She saw him drop to a crouch, the Goriya tipping over him and faceplanting the ground. An arrow hung from his back, a red blossom of blood stained his tunic black. Numerous other wounds had nicked his skin. In other places, the mail had held firm and only the tunic had been ripped. His shield was gone. That couldn't be good. His opponent wasn't looking any better. Blood matted his fur, and he wasn't using one of his paws. Nayru those claws were big.

Her attention was pulled back to the fight as a Goriya tried to lop her head off. Lana's spear oened up a hole in its chest and it went sprawling to the floor. When Lana looked up again, she saw Link, crushed against the wall, the Goriya tearing at his shoulder. His cry echoed over the sounds of battle. A mist blew over, obscuring them from view. But there was no wind. When it thinned…Lana couldn't believe it…she couldn't…not…it wasn't…no…where Link had been, a wolf, the same wolf she had seen at the Lake, now fought back. An arrow still clung to his back, the same wounds still seeped blood. But…it wasn't…it couldn't…

A Goriya yowled as he fell in front of her. Silver stood behind it.

"Worry about that later, first let's get of mortal danger." She said, before disappearing back into the fray.

Lana shook her head, this wasn't possible. She took a step back, then another. Then she ran.

The Goriya yelped in surprise as Link became a wolf under his jaws. Link took the lapse and clamped his jaws over the creature's neck, his claws scrabbling across the creature's stomach. He was the smaller animal yes, but then again, he always was. The Goriya couldn't stab at the wolf, he was too small. He staggered back, thrashing wildly. As Link felt his grip begin to weaken, he let go and kicked off. Even as he paws touched the ground he leapt again, his tail becoming hard. He executed a perfect helmsplitter across the Goriya's head. His claws scored deep lines across his head, and his tail bit deep into his shoulder. Muscles and sinews were rent in two, the Goriya yowled.

If Midna were here, she'd have chewed Link up over being so stupid, fighting a wolf monster as a hylian. Really?

The Goriya yowled and spun, confused by the sudden change of events.

Any further fighting came to an abrupt end. The tower shrieked and groaned in agony as its foundations crumbled to ashes. Link leapt back out of the way, barking a warning to Silver. The tower came crashing down to the ground, burning debris rained down like stars, exploding in showers of embers as they hit the ground. The scent of singed fur filled the air and the world was painted orange by the flames. Link looked back to where he had last seen the Goriya leader; all he saw was the burning remains of the tower. Link flattened his ears and ran to find Silver, this whole compound was going to go up in flames.

Silver couldn't see Link. She'd heard his warning and ran to the edge. Then the tower had come down and everything was smoking and orange and all she could smell was burning flesh. She was beginning to panic. If there was one thing that she didn't like, it was fire. It was almost as bad as her height phobia…almost.

She sensed someone behind her. She turned and saw Link. He was bleeding and there was still an arrow in his back, but he was fine. That was the main thing. He looked back at the edge.

"No…no, no, no…" Silver whimpered.

The wolf padded to the edge and looked down. All he saw were rocks. He turned back to Silver. Definitely no. He turned to the burning corridor that led them to another section of the cliff.

"no, no, no, no, no, no…."

Link nudged her in comfort.

"This is becoming a worryingly frequent thing." She muttered.

Link shrugged and ran forward. The flames spat at them like angry snakes, sparks singed their fur and smoke clogged their throats. Silver's eyes were stinging and she she couldn't see for the tears in her eyes. The crackling and popping of the burning flames in her ears threatened to make her bolt. Only the rhythmic drum of Link's running paws and his closeness kept her on the path. He guided her through the maze of corridors, following the map in his head. Then his words were in her head. Silver whimpered. She took a leap of faith. She felt nothing but air beneath her feet, and then they were plummeting towards the ground. She howled as she fell, Link was quiet. Easy for him, this was what, his fourth time jumping into the lake from an insane height. It was only Silver's second time. And the first hadn't exactly left her any fond memories.

They hit the water, and it felt like stone.

The water washed the smoke from Silver's eyes and she kicked to the surface. Link was next to her, pulling her up by the scruff. They broke the surface, doggy paddling to stay afloat.

"One question Link."

Link cocked his head.

"Where's Lana?"

Link looked around, then up. A scream cut through the morning air.

"Oh for-"

Hehe, silly Lana. Anyways, I'll try update Friday as well, cause you know…day off school with no homework. Of course I will. Do review guys and yeah, I'm off to eat some breakfast…or would it be lunch now? –wanders off in search of food of some description-