A Couple of Trials (ZeLink)

Chapter 44: Dire Moments

"My house..." Link repeated between his gasps of pain. "Now."

"Link, are you crazy?" Dantz asked as he carefully helped his bleeding husk of a body up. "You need to go to the inn. You need medical attention; look at yourself!"

"I hadn't noticed," Link shot back in a weak voice. "There's... There's no time. He's at the house– the Yiga."

"What?" Dantz asked before instinctively looking up the path. "Are you tellin' me that's why Prima is nervous for Zelda and them?"

"Them?" Link questioned.

"Jules and Celessa..." Manny spoke up, who was staring at Link in shock from behind. "They went to check up on Zelda... Prima wanted us to make sure everything was okay."

"I have to get there. Right now," Link said. He made to take a step but immediately tripped, needing Dantz to catch him to keep him upright.

"You're in no condition to go," Dantz said grimly. After a nervous pause, he took a deep breath and looked at Manny. "I need you to take Link to the inn and then tell Mayor Reede what's going on. I'll head over there and check on Zelda and them—"

"No, I'm going there myself," Link said, grabbing the farmer by his red scarf to stay balanced. "He's different from the deers you hunt, Dantz. He's a trained killer. I have to go."

"And how do you expect to help anyone like this?" Dantz asked. "Just carrying you with me will take us forever to get there!"

"I'll move as fast as I can," Link argued. "There's no point in you getting there just a bit faster if it won't do any good, and if we waste any more time, it could end up being too late! Please... trust me."

Dantz stared into Link's bloodshot eyes before looking up the road again. He then looked back and allowed his eyes to follow their footsteps in the snow up to the inn sitting in the distance. Link watched as his brow furrowed in frustration, trying to decide what the best course of action was. Finally, he sighed and looked over at Manny.

"You go to the inn and let Prima know what's going on. I'm sure she'll know to prepare the beds for any injured, especially for this one right here. We'll be back soon," he ordered.

"You're really going to go?" Manny asked as Link nodded to Dantz in thanks. "But, that's an assassin! Look at what he did to Link of all people!"

"We don't have much of a choice right now," Dantz said. "There's not enough time, not with how long it'll take for Link and I to get to the house. If you tell Prima what's going on, I'm sure she can come up with something better, but for now, just go."

"B-but..." Manny stammered, yet Link spoke up.

"Manny."

Link gave the large Hylian a look, one Manny hadn't seen from him before. It was a look of understanding and one that was asking for help. Link was asking him for help.

"Yeah... Yeah, okay. I'll go tell Prima," he gave in.

"Thank you," Link said while Dantz nodded.

"Make sure Mayor Reede finds out what's going on too," the farmer added. "We dunno what this... Yiga guy can do."

"Y-yeah, got it," Manny said.

"Alright, let's get a move on," Dantz grunted, bending down a bit to let Link's bloody arm go over his shoulders. "Get going, Manny. Go!"

As Dantz and Link began to make their way down the road, Manny turned on his heel and jogged back down the road he and the farmer had come from. He could feel it inside: he was scared. There really was an assassin here in the village, and if he was doing his 'inspection' job, maybe he would have run into him. It was possible he would have died. The thought scared him to the core. His chest hurt, his heart pounded, and his thoughts were spiraling, yet he pressed on. He ran through the village before running back up the steps until he pushed the doors to the inn open.