Chapter I
Dark Emperor Ganondorf Dragmire XVIII stood upon a small hill, looking across an expanse of water and land. Once upon a time, his people had lived on the other side of these straits, in an uneasy alliance with the Hylians. Those times were long past. After the Second Imprisoning War, the other races of Hyrule had banished the Gerudo to a far away continent, a desolate land inhabited only by the gargantuan Great Dodongo, lizards of the sands. In the centuries since that time, the Gerudo had become an empire out in the wastes, an oasis in a dry land. Over the years, the secret empire had attracted many to its land, mostly political dissenters and rebels, criminals and those of a less wholesome nature. Now, the Dark Empire was riding to war against the Kingdom of Hyrule. After all, they too were children of the Three, and they knew exactly what they wanted. This war was about one thing: possession of the sacred Triforce.
He heard a whoosh behind him, and knew that his 2nd Lieutenant, Tragic, had come with his report. He turned, his dark cape swooshing behind him. Ganondorf was barely twenty, with tanned skin and short cropped flame-red hair, and quite the imposing figure at his height. Tragic was not what you would call short, a Lizalfos with a missing eye and a keen sense of smell. His scales were turquoise in hue, and contrasted sharply with his golden-rod eyes and their vertical slit pupils. They were an odd pair, perched there atop the hill. It was not truly out of the ordinary for inhabitants of the port city of Ansin, which stretched out from Hyrule Major onto a few of the islands in the Straits of Saria, as they saw many merchants and adventurers crossing the straits every week. Many of those adventurers were never seen again.
"What do you have for me, Tragic?" Ganondorf inquired. "Darkfire sends the signal, my lord. We are ready." "Then let the battle begin." Ganondorf raised his left hand into the air, and a small rumble began beneath him as his Dodongo mount rose to the surface, it's dark aqua scales covered with sand. It blinked its amber eyes to adjust to the light. Ganondorf ran his hand across its side. It stood five heads taller than its master, and was actually quite small for its kind. Unfortunately, the greatest of the Great Dodongo never left the Sacred Bled. Ganondorf sighed to himself. He knew that as Emperor, he held a sacred duty to restore the Gerudo to their origin on Hyrule Major, but the Great Desert would always be his home. He turned to Tragic. "Give the signal." "Yes, my lord. Make thy way in blood." Ganondorf flashed the lizalfos a smile as he threw himself onto the dodongo, and responded "Fly thy flag in victory."
Across the Straits of Saria, Vaati Windsong, young Captain of the Hyrule Archers, sat staring forward into the distance from atop the walls of the port city Ansin, his violet hair blowing in the breeze, and obscuring his view a little. He reached his hand up, and brushed the errant locks aside. That was when he saw. On one of the far islands, a cloud of sand had sprung up. He looked to one of the archers on patrol beside him and barked "Soldier!" The soldier turned and saluted him. "Soldier, do you have a telescope?" Vaati asked. The soldier nodded and slung the device off of his shoulder, handing it to his superior. Vaati held the telescope to his right eye, and began to focus the instrument.
Vaati whirled around, and shouted to the soldier "Sound the bells! The Empire is attacking!" He turned back to the wall, his crimson eyes flashing in anger. He slung his longbow from his back, and leapt onto the top of a rampart. His turquoise tunic began to rustle in the now heavy wind. The heat of the midday sun fell across him like a wave.
The Dodongo of the Great Desert were one of the fastest species known to exist. This was a fact that every child in the Dark Empire knew since their youngest days. It was for this reason that Tragic had formulated his plan around the great beasts. He urged his mount forward, into the calm waters of the Straits. The creature began to gallop, and soon was moving at such a speed that it rose above the waters. Tragic smiled. He had been counting on this. He looked back to see the other riders following close behind. He whistled a three note tune, and they pulled into tight formations. He spurred his dodongo to a faster pace, and began to darkly chuckle.
Vaati leveled his bow. The enemy was only a few islets away from the city walls now. The Grand Army of Hyrule had mobilized, and though clearly at a disadvantage, waited bravely in front of the city gates. He whistled twice, and all the archers along the walls also leveled their bows and notched an arrow. Vaati, the best of them (thus his position), notched two arrows onto his own bow, Omincer, and whistled once more, signaling the rain of death that subsequently issued from the great stone walls. Below, hundreds of riders and their mounts sank below the waves, never to be seen again. Not that it was a good number; The Dark Horde was thousands strong. Vaati notched two more arrows onto his bow, and signaled another hail of death.
When the Dark Horde reached the mainland and stormed the city gates of Ansin, The Grand Army of Hyrule was there to meet them. Astride Eponeh, his mare, Laarond Kitraiser, Captain of the Guard, drew his longsword from its sheath and headed forward into the fray. Amidst the blood, he saw a cloaked rider upon an ebony dodongo. Recognizing this rider to be a commander, Laarond charged forward. The two met in a clash, the brown cloaked stranger wielding a long crimson scimitar against the silver steel of Laarond's standard issue Hylian blade. For a moment, Laarond fancied the blade to be scarlet with the blood of his contemporaries. Another hail of arrows fell, forcing the mysterious enemy to dismount, his lizard-beast now a corpse. With a swift punch, the tall warrior knocked Laarond from his saddle, sending Eponeh into a wild frenzy. The horse galloped away, back into the stables. Laarond stood, and readied his sword for battle. He yelled a challenge at the man. "Remove your hood, and I shall remove my helm, and we shall meet on the field of battle as men." Laarond waited for his opponent's reply, but none came. The mysterious warrior stabbed his sanguinely colored scimitar into the soft dirt of the field, and slowly pushed the hood from his head. Long blonde locks fell past the man's shoulders, sharply pointed ears poked out from them. Laarond's mundane brown eyes met with what he realized was not ice, but cold blue irises. The man's face was tightly drawn, with thin lips and gaunt angles; a stubbly gold beard seemed to be growing on his defined chin. Laarond gasped. "But you…are a Hylian?" The man spoke in a baritone voice, dark and uncaring in tone. "Yes. And you are my enemy. Come, you are the one who challenged me. Should you not remove your helmet?" Laarond reached up to unfasten his shiny grey helm, letting his short-cropped red hair fall out. "So be it, wanderer. My helm is off, let us begin." The two men raised their swords high, and the duel began.
Vaati stared out across the battlefield. Already, two of the island districts of Ansin were in flames. He ordered some foot soldiers to see to it that the blazes were drowned. He then turned his attention to the battle at the city gates. His nineteen year old body was getting tired. In the midst of the fray, he noticed his friend Laarond locked in battle with a blonde man in a brown cloak. His eyes widened as he realized that the stranger was far more skilled with his blade than Laarond was with his. He frowned and headed for the fortifications behind the city gate.
As the Dark Horde met with the Hylian Regulars out on the fields, Laarond and his opponent swung at each other in a furious dance. Sweat drenched the fiery brow of the Captain of the Guard, and he began to realize that he was no match for the stranger. Behind him, the dodongo-mounted forces of the enemy army shattered the city gates, only to be met by a devastating hail of arrows. The few survivors of the volley that were archers armed their bows and fired back, causing several Hylians to fall from the wall, and several Gerudo to cheer. Unfortunately for Laarond, his opponent pushed the duel into the now open gateway, thrusting and slashing, as Laarond worriedly parried and dodged, knowing all the while that the duel would be unfair once the mysterious fighter came into range of the Hylian archers high above. They were well within the city gates now, battling in the middle of the wide lane.
Vaati arrived above the second gate and portcullis to see Laarond and his opponent below, still fighting in a heated struggle that Laarond still appeared to be losing. On the ground below, the cloaked man thrust out at The Captain, and Laarond attempted to dodge, colliding with the horse of a mounted Hylian soldier. His sword flew from his hand, and landed several yards away. Laarond attempted to scramble to his feet, only to meet the point of the scarlet scimitar in his face. When viewed this close, he noted that it was indeed covered in the blood of his men. He frowned. "Please, give me mercy." "Mercy is for the innocent." The stranger said in a serious tone. "I understand. Then, please, make it quick." The tall man nodded, and plunged the scimitar into Laarond's face, spilling his blood onto the street, and causing the Grand Army of Hyrule to falter for a moment. Atop the wall, Vaati's jaw dropped, and he notched an arrow onto his bow. He aimed for the mysterious man's right leg, and fired. The arrow struck its mark, and the blonde stranger collapsed to the ground. Happy with the results, Vaati went to help the wounded on the walls as the portcullis closed, and the Dark Horde began to retreat. The blonde Hylian, now crippled, pulled himself into a dark alley, and passed out.
It was a Princess' duty to visit wounded troops, Zelda Hyral reminded herself as she climbed out of her carriage and viewed the destruction around her in the Port City of Ansin. She wore no ornament in her waist-length golden hair today, opting instead for a less formal look. She did of course, still wear a light pink dress with lavender threads tracing across its length, and the sapphire necklace her mother had left to her on her long, pale neck. The Princess, like all Princesses, was a creature of beauty, with perfect curves, and pale skin that made men stare at her more often than talk to her. She quietly wished that just once, someone would look at her and not see 'beautiful little Zellie' but Zelda, an intelligent nineteen-year old Princess who was fiery and independently spirited. But, as always, she was just a sight to look at. She flitted from stretcher to stretcher, administering healing potions for the less serious wounds of the company, and applying healing magics aligned with the Goddess Nayru when the injuries were graver.
As the Princess passed near the city gates, she heard a faint moan from a nearby alley, and wandered toward it. In the darkness of the alley, she found a young man that looked to be near her age slumped against a wall, an arrow protruding from his leg. She crouched in front of him. "Are you ok, good knight?" The man moaned a little, apparently coming to his senses through the fog of pain. "My…leg." "Yes, I can see that. Do you have family in this town sir? You aren't dressed in army regalia. Are you a traveler?" "I come from…the desert." Zelda gasped at the words. "The desert?! Do you mean across the straits?!" "Yes." "You poor thing! Those vile Gerudo must've been holding you captive for quite awhile." The young man looked at her silently for a moment before he blacked out again. Zelda stood, and walked out of the alley. She ordered some soldiers to bring the man out of the alley, and place him in her carriage. She had always wanted to know about the Great Desert on the Wasteland Continent, but her father had never allowed her access to what little information there was. She silently hoped she could coax an account of that land from her new…friend.