The Legend of Zelda: Blood and Spirit

Chapter 24: Mark of the Triforce

Chapter 24: The Mark of the Triforce

Veress growled in sheer frustration and rage as she plunged her sharp knife into the side of Link's arm once more, stupefied that he was still even conscious after enduring the pain of all of the many wounds she had inflicted upon him over the past several hours. The hero stifled a moan of agony, but other than that, he remained silent, as he had throughout this constant storm of torture. The Interloper leader had been interrogating him with the same question for what seemed like ages, threatening to kill him if he did not divulge the secret of his corruption, but he held fast, knowing that she would use the information for some evil purpose. But because of his insubordination, Link had suffered more pain in the past few hours alone than he had throughout his entire life. Veress had not used any restraint as she continued to whip him brutally until his back was raw and painted in white blood. When she had grown bored of that, she had resorted to her weapon of choice, her golden-colored knife, which she used to slowly and torturously inflict multiple heavy wounds and cuts all over the hero's body, but it was all still to no avail. He wouldn't say a word, no matter how much pain she put him through and only occasionally would he let out an actual cry of pain, but even then, they were very brief and only reserved for the most intense types of pain. Yet even though Link remained as calm as he could on the outside, he was in sheer agony on the inside. Everything seemed to be consumed in a deep, unending ache; his legs had given out on him quite some time ago, and so the only things that were keeping him upright were the chains that he was hanging from, making his already-injured arms incredibly sore. He had grown lightheaded and weak, not only from the excessive amount of blood he was losing with each new injury, but also from extreme hunger and thirst. However, Veress had already made it quite clear that he would be getting no sustenance within the cold walls of this stronghold, much to his dismay. Yet despite the immense suffering that seemed to grow worse with each passing moment, the hero found consolation in the fact that his resistance was unnerving the otherwise calm and calculating Interloper Leader, even if that did increase the amount of pain she delivered to him. But all the same, he was showing her, even in the most simplest of ways, that she couldn't get everything she wanted simply through violence or force. And, he was showing her that he was not as weak as she thought he was.

Furious at Link's continued stubbornness, Veress gripped him harshly by the front of his shirt, which she had placed back on him only to irritate the still-bleeding cuts she had left on his back, and glared at him hatefully, her pupils seeming to be just as dark of a shade of blood red as her irises. "Speak, hero!" she shouted at him in raw rage. "Say something! I demand that you tell me of your corruption, now!" Once again, Link remained silent as he returned the Interloper's hard gaze and shook his head, bracing himself for what was to come next. But instead of lashing out at him once more, Veress simply tightened her glare towards him as she leaned in close to him, her words growing quiet and dark. "This is your last chance, hero," she said coldly. "I'm through playing games with you. Though I want to know your little secret, I'm not above ending you again just to get you out of my way. I don't know how you've managed to survive for so long, but I can tell you that if you keep this up, you won't live much longer. So, tell me what I want to know, or I promise you that I will kill you."

The hero grinned challengingly at her, for once taking solace in the fact that she wouldn't be able to. "Go ahead then," he said defiantly, anticipating the look of shock and anger that would appear on her face upon seeing her attempt to slaughter him fail once more. He didn't have to worry about keeping Zelda, or anyone else safe here in the stronghold of his enemies, and so he didn't care that another spell of corruption would be what would bring him back to life after Veress killed him again.

Upon hearing his confident answer, the Veress glared at him with burning hatred, gripping her knife tighter as she raised it high into the air. She was amazed that Link didn't even seem to be afraid at all over the fact that he was about to die again, as he simply closed his eyes and held his head high, somehow retaining dignity despite everything he had gone through. But she chased her awe away as she let out a scream of fury and plunged her blade right into the center of the hero's chest, burying it all the way to its handle. Link let out a sharp cry of intense pain as the burning agony of the fatal wound seemed to spread to every part of his body. The pain only magnified as Veress slipped her knife out of his chest, allowing pearl-white blood to spill from the wound freely. She watched with a look of wicked satisfaction as the hero began to breathe heavily, gasping for air as his body began to shut down and enter into death's icy grip once more. Only, unlike the first time, when he had died from a quick electric shock, this time, it was slow and agonizing. Everything started to grow cold and dark as his senses drifted off into complete oblivion. The very last thing he saw before he was gone completely was a comforting vision of Zelda, smiling lovingly at him as she reached out to take his hand and lead him to a bright, warm, golden light.