Curse of Charanatos

It neared 6 and Link had arrived with the other sages. Zelda, Ruto, Darunia, Nabooru, and Impa were right behind Link.

“Alright, which one of you dolts should go down first?” Link asked in an angry voice.

“I will.” A voice answered. This man was older than the three Link previously met.

He had a beard unlike the three Link previously met and an earring with what looked like a fang on it. He wore dark brown robes the color of dark chocolate and had a bright red belt with a scabbard.

“I will fight you. We’ll have a little showdown, first one unable to battle loses.” The man informed.

Link walked over to about twenty feet away and stood to face his enemy.

“I accept. They haven’t invented a warrior I couldn’t trump.” Link said confidently.

He had won many battles and was a very skilled warrior. He even won against people he faced for the first time, beginning with Phantom Ganon. This man only snorted.

“You’re way over your head, boy. Call me ‘Treg’ just to get things started.” The man said.

Link rolled his eyes.

“Well, ‘Treg,’ Where’s Saria?” Link asked angrily.

Treg raised a kind of orb and it showed an unconscious Saria bound in glowing, yellow chains. At first, Link thought it was real, but he figured she was just somewhere else.

“She’s right here. If you beat me, my colleagues will set her free.” Treg answered.

Link sighed in relief, at least Saria was okay.

“Alright then, let’s scrap!” Link said.

The hero of time took out his gilded sword, while Treg took out a large broadsword from his scabbard. Before anything happened, Link sprung like a cat. He was about to strike when, all of a sudden, Treg spoke.

“Wait.”

Link froze in his tracks when he was halfway there and almost fell over like a domino.

“We can’t do it now. I have to activate a spell.” Treg told him in a patient tone.

Link paused, he was confused.

“What’s so great about a little spell?” He thought to himself.

Whatever it was, it must have been important for him. Link readied himself for anything as Treg reached into his robes and pulled out a sphere with the colors red, blue, and silver.

“Are you ready? I cast the Curse of Charanatos!” He told Link.

When he said the words, a bright, silver circle came from the sky. It surrounded Link and Treg and a few lights formed something that looked like a face. Link recognized it, but didn’t have time to speculate. Right before Link’s eyes, Treg’s hair turned silver, he got red and blue markings under his eyes, and his eyes got a red glint in them. In those new eyes, Link could see one thing: evil.

“OK, I’m ready.” Treg told in a much colder tone.

“Good. Now, how about I give you a starting shot?” Link said impatiently.

He ran right at Treg and swung his sword with all his strength. He swung, but Treg put his broadsword in the way to act as a shield. The sword had Link only about ten inches from Treg’s face. Link stood there, stunned at what happened. Unfortunately, he was stunned for too long. Treg countered with a punch that knocked the wind out of Link. Link fell to one knee, clutching his stomach. He had never fought someone with reflexes this fast or someone with this kind of skill. This was also a mistake. Before he could even get up, he received a huge slash that went from one shoulder to the other. He fell on his back, injured, but not mortally.

“Link!” Zelda shouted in despair.

She tried to go into the circle, but she felt like she hit a solid wall and bounced off. Link looked over his shoulder and saw Zelda on the floor with Impa helping her up.

“Sorry, but only two can enter the circle of Charantanatah. When this battle is over, the loser pays the ultimate price by giving up his soul.”

Link was enraged and attacked again, but Treg blocked and Link ended up with a large leather boot smashing into his face. Link was sent hurtling backwards with a broken nose, but he quickly regained his balance.

“Wow. He’s good! Wait… It’s not his skill. It must be the curse making him a better fighter. No wonder he wanted to activate that curse.” Link thought.

He then realized the reason Treg didn’t do any form of combat before the curse was activated.

“I know the curse is making you a better fighter!” Link told his enemy, pointing a finger at him. Treg just grinned.

“So it does. That’s why I got it.” He said smugly.

A fire then lit inside Link and he began his ultimate assault.

Link sprung again and this time, he brought his sword in a slash so fast that even Treg couldn't see it. It caught him across the arm and he clutched it for a little too long. Link then slashed his other arm, leaving blood to dribble down to the back of Treg's hand.

"Ah! Nice attack, boy. But you'll need more than that if you want to trump my magic." Treg said as though Link had simply insulted him.

"Oh, I'll do more than that." Link said, his eyes narrowing.

Link charged again, swinging his sword to the right, but with great speed, making it another thing. At first, Treg was just letting Link charge at him without thinking. Now, he was barely getting a chance to attack at all. He was also losing energy. After all, he was not a young man. For Link, every step was an attack and every attack was a step. Treg’s sword almost broke when Link struck with all his strength. The only time Treg did manage to strike was when he parried and forced Link’s blade downward. He almost decapitated Link, but Link had other defenses other than his sword. He raised his shield and the sword attack proved useless.

"Hm, appears the old man may have underestimated this guy. I think I might've a few hours ago." The Australian-accent guy admitted.

For Link, Treg was proving a formidable opponent. He was swinging his sword at Link like he was a fly he longed to swat. Link easily parried each attack. He had seen similar attack patterns in Stalfos, only they were slower and Link was beginning to get faster. Treg was strong, but Link had an ace up his sleeve. He made a false swipe at Treg, but when the older man tried dodging, he only seemed to walk right into another assault. He had to double his attempts to defend himself. Link’s blade was moving so fast; it was virtually a golden blur.

"This isn't what I would've expected. Normally, when people fight me, they start losing their touch. This one is only trying harder." Treg thought to himself.

Then the turning point: Treg struck with his sword, but Link rolled under him and slashed his leg with his sword. Treg grunted in surprise and knelt to his injured leg. This let Link get in close and run his sword right through Treg's abdomen.

“I…I lost!” Treg choked in surprise.

Someone had defeated him who never used the curse before and now he had to pay the price. Link yanked his sword out and then something happened.

Suddenly, the circle around them began to close in on Treg. Lightning struck him and Treg screamed as his body was drained of his soul. Then, all the injuries Treg received began to heal over. Link's did too from the gash on his chest to an injured leg he got from a wound. Amongst the commotion was a voice chanting some ancient incantation and a somewhat demonic laughter. When the lightshow was over, Treg flopped to the ground, completely devoid of life except for slow breathing.

Link huffed and turned to the ‘threatening three’. They had a bargain to keep.

“Now that that’s over, hand over Saria!” Link demanded.

“Picky, picky, picky. Have it your way, then.” The high and aggressive voice said.

He snapped his fingers and Saria appeared in a silver light. At first, she hovered in the air for a few seconds. She then gently lowered to the ground and flopped down like the ground was a comfy bed.

“By the way, I think it’s best that you know our names.” The deep voice said.

“I’m Zygor,”

He pointed to himself.

“He's Albach, ”

He pointed to the aggressive voiced man.

“And he's Veron.” He pointed to the Australian-sounding know-it-all.

The three then took off their masks, revealing their faces. Zygor had beetle-black eyes and blond hair that was somewhat messed up; Albach had purple hair that was shoulder length and eyes as yellow as a cat’s, and Veron had brown hair that was spiky and eyes that were green. Zygor was big and bulky, Albach was tall and quick looking, and Veron was shorter and had a gangster look in him.

Zygor then turned to Link and said, “Don’t think this is over, kid. You haven’t seen the last of us.”

They then turned around, got on their horses, and rode away.

Link checked on Saria to see if she was okay. She wouldn’t wake when she was shaken, but she was still breathing.

“She’s unconscious, but she should be okay.” Zelda informed him.

Link sighed in relief and got her on Epona. With a quick “HYA”, Link was off to Kakariko. He dropped Saria off at her house in the village.

“We’re in for one of our toughest adventures yet.” Link thought to himself.

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