The Legend of Zelda: Zelda's Honor

Chapter 86 - The Game of Death

It had just begun to snow. The dirt, with its multitude of boot prints spread out over the camp, had turned to a muddy sludge with the falling moisture. A raucous din could be heard for miles around the epicenter of the army encampment, all concentrated around a rather crude makeshift arena. It was constructed by rotting boards soaked and stained with cycles of booze, urine and other excrements from the rabid audience filling the stands. There were several holes damaging the overall structure where fights had broken out as a result of the brawls that occurred there daily.

Several spitting torches were hammered into the ground at various intervals in the interior of the field within reach of the combatants or players within, many applauded deaths stemmed from the usage of those torches. The ground itself was a mixture of dirt and blood, for games were played here as well as entertaining combat. Many victims of the army were killed here, never to regenerate like their opponents. It was indeed a cruel fate to be faced against such hopeless odds.

The crowd had gathered in excitement for what was to be a game of epic proportions. Many had heard tales of Link through whispers and rumors but many had never seen the youth. Many stared wide-eyed at the winged man as he was drug from Naar's tent all the way to the prisoner cages just outside the arena walls. Upon seeing the ostensibly underwhelming boy who couldn't have been more than twenty cycles, hordes of men eagerly signed up to play in the game that would feature him.

Link woke up to two things: a small fleck of snow tickling his nose as it fell softly into his nostil and the second was the roaring of noise just feet away from his head. He jolted upwards with a start but immediately doubled over vomiting as the throbbing in his head reached a fever pitch. The last thing he remembered was Naar swinging some weapon down on his skull. After having emptied the contents of his stomach, he felt the back of his head for the damage. It was amazingly sore and he could feel the dried blood caked into his hair.

Carefully getting onto his knees and looking around, Link realized he was behind iron bars that were showing their age with cycles of rust and grime. He dared not touch the bars for fear of contaminating himself. Highly sensitive to his aching head, he turned around and looked up towards the stands of the arena. He could see multitudes of men laughing, drinking, eating, fighting and even raping women where they sat while waiting for the event to start.

Shivering from their curdling cries, Link examined himself. He wasn't worse for wear and he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw they had not stripped him of his Kokiri garb Malon had made for him. He heard grousing coming from the other cages surrounding his and noticed several Hylians and even some children being held like he was. It was clear they had not undergone the profane ritual the Nevachrean soldiers did since they were missing limbs or had massive lacerations inflicted upon them, some were looking rather infected.

"Navi." He spoked urgently into the air. "Is there anything you can do to dull this pain?"

I could try to help you not become dizzy from it, but I can't remove the throbbing. She chimed miserably.

"That'll have to do." Link accepted gratefully. Within minutes, the ebbing had stultified and he could lift his head up once more.

"My beloved!" A tittering cry came from his left past the first row of tents. Link swiveled to see Ruto, garbed back in a navy blue cloak, the hood pulled over her head. Seeing her again and freely walking amongst the men told him everything, she was still with the enemy. He turned around away from her, sat down and wrapped his wings around himself to block out her visage.

She ran up to his cage and placed a hand on the bars, "My love, are you not happy to see me?" She was momentarily startled to see Link with glorious, white wings. It was an unexpected shock to behold his radiant plumage. She could not imagine him getting more beautiful than he already was but she was proven gloriously wrong. She wanted him now more than ever. "I know Naar can seem a bit ruthless but I'll talk to him and sort this all out. Once he sees that we are in love, he'll surely let you go and become my personal manservant."