Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda or anything like that.
All right, here's a little fic inspired by an interesting conversation I had while playing Ocarina of Time. There will be some intense horror-style violence in the next chapter, but 'tis all in good fun.
Just for the record, this is not set during any of the specific Zelda games. It's a new one, I suppose. The style of this story is kind of different, but I hope it works.
The Fall of Greyrock Keep: A Soldier's Tale
Introduction
To whom it may concern:
The legends are wrong.
I'm sure everyone is familiar with the story, in one form or another. The Hero of Time. The great hero who defeated the dark king Ganon and his army of darkness and saved the land of Hyrule.
I'm also sure that everyone knows that history is written by the winners.
Winners deify their champions and defame their enemies. What is evil become good, and what is good, evil. I know. I was a soldier in the 'Dark King's' army.
Our lord, Ganondorf Dragmire, was a just and mighty king. He was a dark man, given to occaisional brooding, but he was always fair to his people. He was highly skilled in swordsmanship, and possessed no small amount of magical ability.
King Ganon had a dream: to unite the war-torn land of Hyrule under one leader. He was opposed by many, notable among them the king of the Gorons, the king of the Zora, and the villainous king of Hyrule and his wicked daughter, Zelda. These last two were the most dangerous, possessing an army nearly as great as Ganon's own. They spurned King Ganondorf's generous offer of a peaceful unification, choosing war instead. It was their hatred of all non-Hylians that caused their refusal, as Ganondorf desired equality between all races.
From the start, our mighty army, composed of Hylians, Gerudo, and various other races, won victory after victory. We drove their troops before us and captured many strongholds. Our skill and virtue could not be matched by their treachery and barbarism. Or so we thought. For the cruel so-called 'King of Hyrule' had a powerful secret weapon. A warrior of incredible skill and merciless fury. A living, breathing, demon. We had all heard the rumors. Many of our outlying frontier outposts and even a few major ones had been completely decimated. Every warrior within them had been horribly killed. Even the guardians of the temples (King Ganondorf's strongest generals, as well as a few holy beasts of the earth or spirits from other realms) were slaughtered without pity. Those who reported these incidents were never the same afterwards. I, like many soldiers, thought the stories were exaggerated, misinformation spread by the enemy to sow terror in our ranks.
That is, until I saw it firsthand.
My comrades and I were stationed at Mistfall Outpost, a small tower located near one of our army's major bases, Greyrock Keep. Greyrock Keep was commanded by Lord Onox, a giant of a man who wielded both a mace and a huge sword in combat. In addition to Lord Onox, the keep was protected by deadly traps, and some of King Ganondorf's most elite troops. Ancient skeletons of dead heroes, known as Stalfos, patrolled the innermost corridors. Onox himself was attended by two enchanted suits of armor, which the soldiers affectionately called Iron Knuckles. Greyrock Keep was thought to be invincible, which is why it came as a shock when we saw the emergency beacon flare up on one misty night.
To be continued...