Water dripped continuously from the ceiling. Darunia glanced through the gloom of his cell to where Link was sitting. Truth to tell, he was quite worried about his brother. He had been unconscious for several hours, and even though it was quite dark, he could see crimson blood seeping through the bandages wrapped around his ribs. As for the other Sages, he had no idea where they were, or if they were even still alive.

Earlier that morning, Link had lost the battle to Ganon. He, along with Zelda and the other Sages, had been captured and placed in prison. For awhile, Darunia had feared that Link had been killed, and had been most relieved when he saw the young man’s chest rise and fall with each shallow breath he took. He had no idea what sort of injuries Link had suffered, or whether or not they were fatal.

He jumped when the cell door opened. A Gerudo guard appeared in the sudden light, and shoved a large robed man into the cell.

"Is he alright?" she asked, nodding at Link.

"I’m no doctor," Darunia snapped. "But he’s still breathing. He’d be a lot better if you’d do something about those injuries."

The guard shrugged. "I can’t do anything until Lord Ganondorf gives the order."

The cell door slammed shut again, and Darunia turned his attention to the man who had just joined them. He seemed a bit old, and had some difficulty in sitting down. Darunia sighed and patted him on the shoulder.

"You got caught too, huh Rauru?"

"Yes," Rauru said sadly. "I am most upset by this turn of events. I do wish that Link hadn’t lost the battle. Hyrule is in great peril now, Darunia, and what’s worse is that we have been betrayed."

"Betrayed?"

Rauru nodded. "Impa has sworn allegiance to Ganondorf."

"Are you sure?!"

"One hundred percent," Rauru said. "She now sits in the place of a queen. As for the others, they were sent to prison when they refused to bow to them. They were quite angry with Impa for her behaviour, and who can blame them? We must escape, Darunia. We can no longer depend upon Link to save us."

"How are we supposed to get him out of here when we can’t even get ourselves out?" Darunia questioned.

"We cannot bring him," Rauru answered. "He will be too much of a burden."

"I am not leaving him here," Darunia said firmly. "We owe it to him to get him out of here safely."

"We owe him nothing. He lost the battle."

"He won every other battle for us!" Darunia said with much flailing of his arms. "We can’t go and betray him! What kind of human being would do that to a friend?"

"He is not my friend," Rauru growled. "I do not want to save him if it will endanger my own life. Do you not understand that…"

"Shut up!" Darunia hissed. "He’s waking up. Do you want him to hear?"

The young man in the corner stirred. Darunia and Rauru stared at him in apprehension as he opened his cerulean eyes blinked open. A look of immense pain came over his face; his nose wrinkled, his brow furrowed, and he leaned over, clutching his side with his bandaged hands.

"Are you alright?" Darunia asked.

Link managed a nod. "Where am I?"

"We were captured by Ganon," Rauru said sharply. "All because of your carelessness. If you had not lost the skirmish, we would all be free men right now."

He was about to go on, but Darunia clamped his large, strong hand down on the old man’s shoulder, giving him a look of pure hatred and disbelief.

"Give him a break," he growled. "You wouldn’t have made it past Volvagia." He turned to Link. "Bro, are you in a lot of pain? We can get a doctor to come and heal you if you want."

"I feel like I’ve been trampled by a stampede, but I should be alright soon," said Link. "Are Zelda and the others alright?"

"They’ve been taken prisoner too," Darunia told him. "Impa sided with Ganondorf, but everyone else refused to submit themselves to him."

"They’ll probably all be dead soon," Rauru said bitterly. "As will we. Or he’ll just torture obeisance out of them."

Link shivered, wrapping his arms tighter around his ribs. Darunia could see that he was in quite a bit of pain, but said nothing. He looked down at the damp floor. His legs were starting to ache from the cold. He wished that he was outside in the sun again, though he figured that because Ganondorf’s evil reign was complete, there would no longer be any sun.

The door to the cell opened again and another guard popped her head in. She glanced at the three in turn and said:

"Ganondorf wants to see Link, whichever one of you he is."

Link nodded and tried to get up, but failed. The guard rolled her eyes and stepped inside. She picked him up under the arms and hauled him to his feet, dragging him towards the door. They disappeared outside, and the door closed once again, leaving them to the darkness.

Author’s Notes: Okay, that was short, but it’s only the beginning.