Author's Note: Now it gets interesting...

Chapter Four
Sudden Decay

As was agreed, Link made preparations for an early morning departure. He rose while the sky was still painted its pre-dawn grey, and it took him little time to gather up his things and leave the posh guest room as he had found it. The night before, he had written letters to Ilia and Rusl, detailing the crisis in Castle Town and the mission he had been given. He left out the bit about Zelda herself accompanying him. It wasn't that he didn't trust them with the information, he just preferred not to run the risk of having the mission's details leaked should his mail be intercepted. Paranoid as that sounded, he also didn't think Ilia would take kindly to the notion of her husband traveling around with another woman.

He gave his love to his wife and informed Rusl of his old friends' well-wishes. Then he handed the letters over to the Postman, who accepted them with an unsettling degree of glee.

He retrieved Epona and made his way to the predetermined meeting place: Castle Town's West Gate. After a brisk trot over the bridge and dwindling moat, Link found Shad astride a large black horse, slumped over in the saddle. He appeared to be dozing off, but contrary to Ashei's teasing from the night before, he managed to stay perched atop the steed.

The black charger snorted as Link and his bay approached, rousing Shad with a start. "Oh, it's you, Link." He regarded him with heavy eyes, readjusting the glasses that had slipped down his nose.

The hero smirked, "I always figured you for a morning person, Shad. I guess I was wrong."

"Oh. I wasn't sleeping. I just woke up this morning feeling absolutely dreadful;" he pressed his fingers into his temples, "and I have the most awful headache. I'm not entirely sure why."

Link's smile became pitying "Well, it was a long night." Link had known better than to drink anything but milk at their outing at the bar the previous night. Shad apparently had not had this foresight.

"Yes…." he drawled.

"Here." Link rummaged for a canteen of water and passed it over to Shad who gratefully accepted it.

As Shad drank, Link studied the horse he was riding. The black stallion regarded Link cautiously with its dark brown eyes. His mane and tail were a gray-to-white gradient and his four pale socks were pristine; he was a well-kept horse.

He was also a commanding animal. While Epona was a draft horse, this one seemed to have been bred for battle. Powerful muscles lay underneath his satiny skin and there was a certain pride in the way he stood. The well-built war horse seemed horribly mismatched for the slight scholar.

Shad handed back the canteen, breathless. "Thank you."

Link replaced the container, mildly annoyed to find it empty. "Are you sure you can ride that horse?" he asked.

"Oh don't fret, I made sure to receive some riding instruction to prepare for this trip. Though this was the only horse they were able to offer me. One of the soldiers' horses; they called him Ashwind."

"Ashwind," Link repeated.

"But anyway, I should hope to prove to be far from useless on this endeavor. You see, I have packed this." With a smirk, Shad propped up an intricately decorated sheath at his side, in which a long knife rested. It looked more like an artifact than a weapon, but serviceable.

Link quirked an eyebrow. "Can you use it?"

Shad only chuckled unconvincingly. Link sighed.

"Forgive me, gentlemen," came a woman's voice. Zelda approached them from behind, leading her own horse, "It appears I am late."

"Oh, no, your highness," Shad hastily remarked once spotting Zelda, "we're early."

The queen smiled. The way she was dressed made her indistinguishable from any common woman. She wore no jewels nor a crown. Instead she wore a beige archer's tunic which exposed her shoulders, and a pleated skirt that ran to her knees. A bow and quiver of arrows were strapped to her back, and a thin sword rested at her hip.

The mare she led was a creamy white, with a well-groomed mane and tail of a soft caramel color. Though dwarfed by the larger Epona and Ashwind, it was clear this was a fine horse.

"Are we ready to depart?" Zelda asked. Her companions nodded. "Excellent."

She swung herself into her saddle and took up the reigns. Already, from the way she carried herself, Link could tell she was an experienced horsewoman. Together, horse and rider were a breathtaking sight.

"You're…" Link trailed off, but had already caught Zelda's attention. He revised what he had been about to say. "Your horse is beautiful."

Zelda looked down, coyly stroking the mare's neck. "Thank you. She is called Shira." Addressing both of her companions, she asked. "Shall we depart?" On hearing the affirmative, she urged Shira into a trot down the cobblestone ramp, Link following suit. It took Shad several attempts to get the proud Ashwind to move, but soon enough he fell in tow behind the other two.

They encountered few hindrances in Hyrule Field. Zelda proved exceptional at picking off foes at a distance with her bow even before Link could, wounding the hero's pride. Shad merely followed behind, focused on his riding sickness.

So far the mission was going without a hitch, and Link knew he was a fool for thinking that the mission would continue so smoothly. Still, he could hope. The contradicting evidence came not a minute later.

"What's that?" Squinting at the distance, Link could see something reddish lying at the entrance to the rocky pass that would take them to the entrance to the Domain.

As they neared, the object became recognizable. "It's a Zora," Zelda observed apprehensively.

The dull wine-red covering the Zora's body was not blood and appeared quite natural. The color briefly struck Link's memory as being similar to the complexion of the Zora queen Rutela or her son Ralis. The Zora queen was long dead, but it took a few more strides before the thought that it was her son lying in the road to pass from Link's mind.

The red Zora lay face-first on the path, unmoving. Link dismounted and approached. Initial touch received no response, so Link rolled the Zora onto his back. His eyes were closed, and lips slightly parted; Link placed his fingers over them and could feel no air coming out. Putting his ear to the Zora's chest only confirmed his fear. "He's dead."

As Link drew back, Shad gasped suddenly. "It's… It's Onggil," he stammered, pressing a knuckle to his lip. "He was the messenger. The Zora correspondent."

Link turned to him. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Shad said faintly. "Look at his armband."

The other two took notice of the band bearing the Zora crest overlain with the Triforce tied around the fallen Zora's arm.

"Could he have been dehydrated?" Zelda asked in a level voice. Onggil's body bore no slashes, bites, or otherwise fatal wounds.

"But he'd only just left…" As Link said this, something caught his eye. He reached out and plucked up a small, black object hidden on the side of the Zora's head, just behind the jaw. He held it up to the light. "A dart."

Apprehension was tangible in the queen's voice. "Poison?"

"Very possible…" Link said slowly. "I think it's clear that someone did not want him to reach Castle Town."

Shad would say nothing more. His face had grown pale and his eyes darted around the cliffs above, fearful of the lingering assassin.

"The blood's settled in his face and chest," Link continued, "and his muscles are starting to loosen again. I'd say he's been here at least two days, maybe three. The ones who killed him are long gone." This quelled Shad's frantic search. Link slipped the dart into his pack; something told him that they should have it appraised further when the time presented itself.

"Why have none of the Zoras discovered him yet…?" Zelda mused.

Link looked to the queen. "Should we take him with us?" Shad seemed positively aghast by this prospect.

Zelda nodded slowly, and Link retrieved his saddle blanket. Gingerly, he wrapped the body in it and gathered it into his arms. "I'll carry him. It's not that far. Lead Epona for me."

Zelda took up Epona's reins, and in silence they completed the last leg of their journey.

A putrid stench greeted them as they entered Zora's Domain. Shad cried out in disgust as the scent reached his nostrils, causing him to bury his face in the collar of his shirt. Even Zelda had to cover her nose. An ominous knot formed in the pit of Link's stomach when he realized the stench's similarity to the smell of decay.

They did not have to go far before the wall on the right of the entry tunnel gave way to open air; from there, one could view the whole of Zora's Domain. When they gazed out over the ledge, they found that the theory that the Domain's spring had dried up and caused the drought downstream was not at all accurate. There was much water in the Great Waterfall Pool, in fact more than there ever had been. But they could see that the water below them was a sickly ochre color, and seemed anything but natural. Nothing living was visible in the water.

After taking a moment to absorb this, Zelda said, "We need to find out what's happened here." She turned and hastened further into the entry tunnel, Shad followed.

Gently, Link set Onggil's body on the floor, intending to come back after they'd established what was going on.

They emerged at the top of the waterfall and it appeared that the water here too was of the same unnatural composition. They heard a moan, and found a young Zora boy clinging to the shore of one of the small inlet pools aside the waterfall, the dark water churning around him.

As they started forward to help the boy, more voices rang out.

"Look! Another one. Quick, get him out!"

A group of three Zora guards appeared from the land route leading from the throne room.

"Hylians!" one gasped as the group neared.

"It's Queen Zelda!"

The three of them stopped and awkwardly genuflected before the queen.

"Not now, help that boy!" Zelda urged them.

Flustered, they picked themselves up and resumed their previous task.

"He must have fallen in," one of the guards said, as they surrounded the boy. The Zora child looked up and gave them a weak but grateful nod. The three guards carefully pulled the boy out by his arms, and one of them rushed in to pat him down with a towel he'd produced from his satchel. Their wariness of the water was apparent.

The part of the boy that had been submerged was now of an ashy pallor, and black lines ran in familiar patterns all along his body. Link bit his lip, a strange sensation coursing through him.

Satisfied that the boy was completely dried, one of the guards scooped up the boy and ran off. The other two remained, giving their attention to the three Hylians.

"Your Highness," one of them said, crossing an arm over his chest and bowing slightly, "with all due respect, what are you doing here? It's… not safe at the moment."

"I can see that now," she mumbled, almost to herself. "Please, if you would, I would like to speak to Ralis."

A look of hesitation passed between the two Zora guards. "…Follow us."

As they did, Zelda grasped Link's arm and whispered to him, "Did you see them?"

Link nodded, swallowing. "Marks of Twilight."

Their Zora guides led them to a chamber carved into the rock of the Domain. Inside they found that the population of Zoras was still quite intact, though this knowledge was not as comforting as they may have hoped it would be.

Dozens of Zoras lay on makeshift sickbeds on the floor, all displaying the same pale complexion and black designs that they had seen on the boy, to varying degrees. They dwarfed the number of healthy Zoras, who were tending to the sick or miserably curled up next to a loved one.

One of the seemingly unaffected stood near the center of the room, talking to a middle-aged Zora woman in hushed tones. The woman, her head fins weighed down with eclectic charms and a homely green shawl wrapped around her shoulders, fussed over the young Zora man, placing the back of her hand to his forehead. This gesture was gently but swiftly snatched up and redirected by the young man, followed by words spoken in hasty confidence. Though hesitant, the woman let her hand fall away.

The young man wore silver bangles and a blue silk mantle that draped over his left half. The guards approached him.

Likewise to Zelda, they knelt reverently and waited to be acknowledged. The Zora prince waved his hand, obviously not caring for reverence.

He noticed the three before they were announced, and his eyes widened. "Zelda? No; why are you…?" He was like a child whose shame had been discovered by his mother. "We sent a messenger! He was to tell you all to stay away!"

"The messenger never reached us," Zelda informed him. "We found him dead outside the Domain."

Ralis looked stricken. "Onggil's dead…?" His two guards, likewise looked shaken.

"We suspect foul play," Zelda added. This did not help to console them.

In a softer tone, Link told them, "We brought his body with us. He's still in the entrance tunnel."

They exchanged glances, and Ralis nodded to his guards; they rushed off.

Shad had been taking in the atmosphere of the makeshift infirmary. Horror-stricken, he turned to the prince and asked, "What has happened here?"

For a moment, Ralis was silent, biting his lip. "This isn't a good place to talk," he said at last. "Come with me."