CHAPTER 11

"HEEELP."

Link heard the cry ahead, and found himself running towards it before even thinking about it. The intense, repeated sounds of dirt being crushed by his boots soon carried him to the distant sight of a man lying on the ground, trying to pull himself away, but something seemed to hold him in place. His arms clawed at the floor, but his fingers and nails scored the earth uselessly.

Link pressed harder on, but something entrapped his foot, and held him fast. The young hylian fell with barely enough time to stop his face from crashing on the ground with his arms.

Something pierced the sole of his boot, and forced itself through the skin of his foot. Immediately, a sickening, cold feeling of drainage invaded his leg from the knee down.

He looked at whatever held him, found four thick tendrils stamped on the leather of his boot, and figured the same thing had trapped the man still crying for help.

Please, work, he prayed silently, unsheathed his sword, and thrust, aiming right next to one of the man's feet. The beam sprang from the blade! Link's smile was joyous, and it broadened further when he saw the man's foot was released, as it shot away from the spot where it had been anchored.

Another beam, and the man was free, but remained still, and completely silent. Link made a note of it, pulled with his leg as mightily as he could, and managed to unearth the grotesque creature sucking his blood out from his foot.

It had a conical body, truncated at the top, where the four tendrils that looked like long petals sprouted. Its hide was tough. Three slashes were necessary to kill it, and Link remained as silent and still as the man, but turned to see him.

Link was just close enough to see that the man smiled and winked at him while holding up what seemed like a black ball in his hand. He threw the round object lazily, and a low rumbling beneath the ground came. Four sets of the tendrils came out, but only one of them managed to wrap around the ball, which exploded.

Link's eyes widened with amazement, and the man threw another bomb. The rumbling did not come this time, and the bomb had a lonely explosion.

"It's safe!" The man shouted as he stood.

Link got on his feet, and approached the man, who was securing the things in an enormous sack.

"Thank you," he said eyeing Link up and down. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come. Die from too little blood, I suppose."

"There's an inn to the South," Link began. "I can take you to it, and you'll be saf--"

"Heh heh, no need, no need. Come with me, boy. I needed my life saved, and now you need rewarding and treating."

"See this?" said the man standing in front of a natural stone wall at the base of a big hill. His finger rested on a certain spot, just below what looked like a symbol.

Link stepped next to him, and looked at the symbol. It was a tearing, or a bleeding, eye.

"Keep a keen eye about them," said the man, and stepped forward through the stone wall, disappearing.

Link blinked several times, trying to understand what he'd just witnessed.

"It's an illusion," the man's voice came clearly from the other side of the wall. "Step in, boy."

With slight apprehension, Link stepped through the facade, and was greeted by the sight of a cozy, natural chamber. The man had a bed, some furniture, and even pegs on the wall to hang stuff from. Two torches lit the room.

"I'm a merchant. Sorry you had to help me out with those leevers. I'm usually more careful. But come here and sit on the floor in front of me. Take off your boot."

The merchant treated his and Link's wounds. Then, going over all the stuff he had in the huge bag, and various chests, he came up with a brand new pair of boots for his savior, and a belt with four bombs attached to it.

"If the outside cracks," the merchant explained, "throw the bomb away, as it will explode after only a few seconds. You're gonna want to make sure you don't fall on them, because if the shell breaks completely, the explosion will be immediate."

Mindfully, Link put on the belt. The bombs were at his back, where he could reach them comfortably.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you away from here?" the young hylian asked. "I think things are going to get more dangerous in these parts."

"I'll be fine, and more careful from now on." The merchant sat on his bed with a relieved sigh. "It's you who should worry. You're going to the labyrinths, aren't you?"

After a second of looking the man over with confusion, Link asked. "How did you know?"

"My clan knows of you, Link. Remember what I told you. That symbol outside? It will guide you truly, boy. There are more caves just like this one around Death Mountain, but only a few know where they are, and even fewer know to look for the symbol in order to find us."

"Did your clan build the labyrinths, then? Impa told me they were a sort of proving grounds."

The man raised his hand in a stopping gesture. "I'm a simple merchant, boy. It's not for me to say anything about that. If you have rupees, however, I can sell you a candle, a shield, or even some meat."

"I don't have any rupees." Link got up and tested his foot only to frown and grunt.

"Then remember this place, and come back when you do. Rest your foot for a day, boy. It'll be much better in a day. You can stay here for the night, but," the merchant lay down on his bed, "my back, you see? I can't be parted from my bed."

Link chuckled. "The floor will be fine."