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The Ghost of Sparta ordered his wine from the barkeeper and took his place at a nearby table. The seven warriors eyed the pale skinned man with awe while some like Zelda smiled wickedly. "That's him alright," a large rock man named Darunia whispered.
"Sarina," ordered Zelda in a hushed voice. "Go talk to him."
"Hey, you're not a princess anymore," shouted the green clad girl. "You can't..." Zelda stabbed a knife inches from her hand. "Uh...what about the roll?"
Zelda sighed and took a single black die from her pocket. She rolled it and it came up on five. Then she took out a single piece of paper. "Five is...Saria."
The young girl cursed to herself and inched towards the towering Spartan.
"Why is it that she always wins?" asked Rauru, an elderly man in a brown cloak and brass armor.
As soon as Sarina got close to Kratos, she began to feel weak-kneed. Sweat ran down her face as she stuttered, "Good evening, sir. Are you the one called Kratos?"
The man reached out for something, making Sarina flinch, but she sighed in relief when she saw that he was grabbing his wine mug.
"See," she continued. "We-my friends and I-were hired to find you and take you to our master, and well, our master is not really that nice so..." She didn't finish her sentence as Kratos got up and gently pushed her out of his way as he walked towards the bar with his empty mug.
Zelda growled with displeasure as she walked towards the bar and took a seat next to Kratos. "Here's your refill. No freebies this time, Kratos," said the barkeeper to the Spartan. With her out of the way, Zelda spoke firmly to Kratos.
"Look here. You are to come with us to our master, got it pal?"
Kratos didn't respond and took another sip of wine.
"The silent type, huh? Well," she said, taking out a dagger. "I have ways of making you talk!"
Again, Kratos ignored her. Fed up, Zelda raised her dagger and stabbed the pale man in the arm. That got his attention, but not the one Zelda had in mind. He removed the weapon, lifted her up, smashed her into a bar stool and pile drove her onto the floor, finishing his attack by impaling her arm with one of his chained blades.
"Bar fight!" an Uruk-Hai shouted, switching on a jukebox to play rock music. Kratos fought one opponent after the other, all the while keeping Zelda pinned down. One orc charged at Kratos with a hatchet, only for Kratos to grab him by the arm holding the hatchet and yank it out of its socket. Screaming in pain, the orc could only watch as Kratos hacked through his chest and pushed him aside. A harpy swooped down and attacked the Ghost of Spartan, only for her wings to be pulled out of their sockets. He finished her with a skull crunching kick. A vampire lunged at Kratos only to have its head yanked off and thrown in the fireplace. Finally, one big, tough looking cyclops carrying a flail stomped towards him.
"You," he growled. "I'm going to make you wish you were never born. You'll wish you were in your mamma's belly where it was warm and safe and wet! I'm going to show you pain you never knew existed; a whole new spectrum of pain! Like a rainbow!"
"Oh, please spare me the details, one eye," shouted Zelda, but Kratos silenced her by plunging his blade deeper into her arm.
"But, this rainbow," continued the cyclops. "This rainbow is not like any other rainbow. It-" It never finished its sentence as Kratos took his other chained blade and plunged it into the cyclops' eye. With one quick jerk, he yanked the eye out of its socket and the beast fell down with a thud. With all those distractions gone, Kratos sheathed his blade onto his back and turned his attention to Zelda.
"What do you want?" he asked in a deep gruff voice.
"We were sent to take you to our master," whimpered Zelda.
"Who is he?" demanded the Spartan.
"I'm not supposed to tell-" Zelda squealed out in pain as Kratos sank the blade in her arm even deeper. None of her friends came to help. Who would want to tangle with this brute?
"Gannondorf," wept Zelda. "Our master is Gannondorf!"
Kratos yanked the blade out of her arm and sheathed it onto its back to join its twin.
At the Gerudo Valley, deep in a cave, Kratos was lead by the six warriors to the Baron of Thieves himself: Gannondorf. His lair was filled with treasures, paintings, tapestries, statues and other fine treasures you can't find anywhere else but here.
"Lo and behold," said an indigo armored clad woman named Impa. "Our lord and master-"
"We've met before," interrupted Kratos.
Gannondorf was a dark skinned, fiery haired man with piercing yellow eyes wearing dark armor. They say that he was so skilled he once robbed a power from the very gods themselves, granting him unlimited power and immortality. Most warriors faced him, but very few were able to defeat him. Sometimes, if he was in a good mood, his opponents were sparred and became his slaves. Two of his slaves, an orange furred young anthropomorphic fox in a green loincloth and a blond haired, tanned skin young woman in a purple bikini were kept in cages at either side of his throne. Gannondorf smiled when he saw a familiar man walk towards him.
"Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta," he said in a chilling voice. "I've been expecting you."
"Your rotten minions told me you were behind this," Kratos replied. Gannondorf smiled at him. Although he enjoyed the Spartan's company, deep down he hated him. He was one of the few warriors who never feared him...and even defeated him, something he hated.
"And by rotten you mean pleasurable, don't you?" he asked the Spartan. "Well, some of them, anyway." He smiled at the female members of his best warriors, who snarled at him.
Kratos looked around the lair's riches and said, "Your hovel is even more filthy than before."
Gannondorf frowned. "Hey, as the Baron of Thieves, I have appearances to uphold. But enough about me. Come, we have...matters to discuss."
Gannondorf ordered his slaves to prepare and set up a banquet for his guest. As soon as the food was set and the goblets were full of wine, beer and other forms of alcohol, Kratos took his place at the table, right across the Thief Baron. The two of them exchanged frowns before Gannondorf said, "Last time I saw you, you were standing before an executioner with a noose around your neck."
"I heard it was you who tipped the town guard. And for my Blades of Chaos," snarled Kratos as he bit into a turkey leg.
"Yes," purred Gannondorf. "A gift from Ares. Still want to kill the God of War, I suppose?"
"You know what he did," replied Kratos with a growl.
Gannondorf chuckled, "Don't we all? Making you kill your own wife and daughter." Kratos gave him a death glare. Gannondorf cleared his throat and said, "Well, enough reminiscing. Tell me, do you know of the wizard, the Ice King?"
"Nay. I despise black magic wielders," muttered Kratos as he drank his wine. "Speaking of which, can you give me the gravy for my turkey?"
The Thief Baron complied before continuing, "Well, apart from being a dangerous sorcerer, Ice King as an aficionado of curious and valuable artifacts; envied among enthusiasts for containing the Golden Penguin of the fourth age."
Kratos took a bite of his meal, listening to the Thief Baron.
"Now, it has come to my knowledge, via local village newspaper, that Ice King is well known for making nightly appearances atop the balcony of his floating ice mountain castle, where he stands arms erect, gazing into the heavens for around forty-five minutes, or at least until his arms get tired. Then he returns to the inside of his castle alone with the Golden Penguin."
"I am getting tired of the talking," Kratos mumbled, making the Baron frown.
"According to a seeing stone I installed in the wizard's front yard, that said wizard hasn't been out for over a month. He's obviously dead."
Kratos got up to leave. "I don't do wizards or goblins, statue or not."
Gannondorf got in his way. "The Ice King is obviously dead, Kratos! The statue is ripe for the picking!"
But Kratos still ignored him, until he was grabbed by two of the seven of Gannondorf's elite.
"Perhaps I should have rephrased the situation," said Gannondorf with a smile. "Either you give me the Penguin, or I won't give you the medicine needed to dispatch the stomach parasite I hid in your food."
Kratos looked at the food he just ate in horror as Gannondorf and his seven elite laughed at him. Enraged, he flung the two that held him back into a wall then lunged at the Baron of Thieves, and grabbed him by the throat. Even as he was being choked, the Baron still laughed.
"Kill me, and you'll never get the medicine. It's a one-of-a-kind and only I know how to make it." With those words, Kratos dropped the evil man. He brushed himself off as he went back to his throne. "Make haste, Spartan. The Golden Penguin awaits and my rent is due."
"Why not get the Penguin yourself?" demanded the Spartan, only to receive a laugh from Gannondorf.
"And put myself in harm's way, resulting in a land with no king? Besides, it's a lot more fun to send you." Ganondorf stroked a sword placed next to his sword. "You may bring my seven elite, along with twelve of my not-so-elite just for the hell of it."
Kratos glared at the seven warriors who had brought him here. They smiled at him with nervousness.
"Follow Southern Swamp east, until you reach the Chafing Chasm then seek the floating mountain castle of the Ice King."
Kratos heeded Gannondorf's directions for they were the only way to get the parasite that was currently giving him stomach pains. "Let's go," he said to the seven elite as he walked out the door. On horseback, their journey began as they made their way to Southern Swamp.