Battle For Crystaldon (A Rhett and Link Fanfic)

Chapter 10 The Mountain

Link's POV

The orange and pink sunrise cast a gorgeous glow on the forest floor. We walked in silence through the trees and flowers. It was so beautiful here! I know I would have loved being here, if I hadn't been captured, given an evil potion, and had my arm broken. A question came to my head, so I broke the silence to ask Puriel.

"Puriel, why am I not weak right now. I mean, I was nearly dead from this potion before, but now, I feel fine. Is it going away?" I asked, a sense of hope coming over me.

"Unfortunately, no. You see, the potion feeds off the evil around it. It becomes stronger if there is a lot of evil around, weaker, if there is not. Once we got away from the Krax and the Shademorph, you began to get strong again because the potion was weaker. If we start getting close to evil, you will get weaker again. Which could be a good warning, we just have to make sure you don't try to kill me again, Link," Puriel explained.

"I guess that makes sense," I said and continued walking. 

               We followed the path until the forest ended, and we were in front of a mountain.

"We're getting closer! All we need to do is climb this mountain! The castle is on the other side. I estimate we'll be home in three days!" Puriel said and jumped excitedly.

"Three day?!" I said, shocked that she said we were close. "Did it take that long to get me to the Krax's dungeon?"

"Probably not. Krax are bred for hunting, meaning they can run incredibly fast for a very long time. I would have been home already, but you humans do not have the speed and stamina of elves, but I don't mind going slow for you," Puriel said and gently punched my shoulder.

"Hey, I'm doing my best! It's not my fault I'm not a perfect elf!" I said playfully.

She giggled.

"I'm sorry, that was a little rude of me," she said and blushed slightly.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," I said and we began to walk again.

             We approached the mountain and Puriel immediately began to climb it. I realized there would be points where we would have to climb the face of the mountain and she was wearing a dress and I would be below her.  I turned away before saying.

"Um Puriel, you're in a dress. I don't want to be below you," I said looking the opposite way. She blushed a deep red and hopped down.

"How right you are, Link. Keep looking away, I'm changing. I always come prepared for whatever life decides to throw at me," she said and began to look in her bag. 

She pulled out a different outfit and quickly changed. It was a light green tunic with tan leggings and dark brown boots.

"You may look again," she said before beginning to climb up the steep and jagged mountain path.

I quickly followed behind her. I hoped I could climb it with a broken arm, but I was afraid it would be an issue. After spending an hour or two climbing the path, it suddenly stopped. We would have to climb at this point. I looked down and saw we were several hundred feet in the air. I began to feel dizzy, so I leaned against the mountain and slid down so I was sitting with my knees pulled up to my chest and my head in between my legs. I heard a thump. Puriel must have jumped down to me. I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, Link, are you alright?" Puriel asked concernedly. 

"I feel really dizzy, like I could pass out. I feel... weak again. I think we're getting close to evil."

I slowly lifted my head to look at Puriel. Fear gripped her and she slowly stood up.

"Link, you need to fight it. If it takes over you up here, you'll surely kill me! It's very easy to kill someone on a mountain!" Puriel said, panicked.

"I'm trying Puriel, I don't want to hurt you, but I can't always control it!" I said getting scared and weaker.

"I know, but you cannot let it happen! Not up here! Link, you will murder me if you turn evil! I have no way of escaping or stopping you! You have to give it all of your strength! Fight it!" Puriel said. 

Tears came to her eyes. Tears of fear. Fear of me. Fear that I would kill her. Anger rose up in me, but not like the potion was taking over, good anger. Anger towards the potion. It gave me new strength. Just as I thought I was stopping it, it suddenly flared up causing me to scream in pain.

"Puriel, the evil is so close! I nearly stopped the potion, but whatever is causing it is very close to us! Leave me! Just go! I'll find a way back, but if you stay, either I or whatever is coming, will kill you! Please, just go!" I cried out. 

Tears formed in my eyes and began to fall down my cheeks and onto the stony ground. I heard a growl. It was coming. I looked at Puriel. She still had tears in her eyes. She walked over to me and said, "Link, I don't want to leave you, but you're right, I don't have a choice if I wish to remain alive. Just follow the mountain to the top. I'll be waiting for you and don't let whatever creature coming hurt you!" she said and leaned down next to me.

She pressed her lips onto mine. They were soft. My eyes got wide. I was not expecting that! She moved away and turned and began to climb incredibly fast up the mountain. I was in a daze. I had just been kissed, by an elf! I stared into nothingness, lost in thought, until I was suddenly awoken by another, louder roar. The potion hit me again, strong, and I fell to the ground, feeling it take over me once again. The pain came back, my vision went dark, the claws grew, and my teeth became jagged once more. I stood up and looked up towards Puriel. She was pretty far up already. I grabbed the mountain side and began to climb it, before something grabbed my waist and pulled my to the ground. I blacked out immediately upon hitting my head on the path.

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I left you with a suspenseful ending here! Better hope Link isn't killed by whatever is going after him! I update every other day, so you'll just have to wait and see what happens!  I'll try to get Rhett back into the picture soon! 

BYMB, 

Annie