Chapter 3
The Hero Arrives
Diana knew she was in a bad situation. Sure, she was a secluded Twili girl who had been protected by the Twilight Royal Family for thousands of years, barely knowing anything about the Realm of Light, but even she could tell she was in trouble. After jumping into the portal that connected the two realms, she immediately hit water. It wasn't deep water, but it was seriously dangerous water. The moment she touched it, she could sense the holy energy resounding in the liquid. A quick look around told her everything she needed to know; she was in one of the Land God's Springs, something Princess Midna had strictly forbidden her from entering.
Diana fumbled to her feet, trying to crawl out of the Land God's Spring. The few sprinkles of water that clung to her skin weighted her down like a ton of Twili bricks. Then hands began to pull her to her feet. She hadn't noticed them before, but two humans were at the Land God's Spring with her, and they were slowly dragging her out of the water, away from the Land God's bubbling wrath. There was one younger human boy, and an older human girl. Diana didn't pay any more attention to the details, because she noticed that she had made a grave error. The portal she had opened to enter the Realm of Light was still open; she had kept it open long enough for five Royal Twilight Guards to come burst out, weapons at the ready.
Diana wondered if she could possibly get into any more trouble, and apparently she could. One small Twili girl, the Guardian Ordona could tolerate that. Now that there were five, fully armored and armed Royal Twilight Guards desecrating the Land God's waters, the Guardian Ordona was clearly infuriated. An orb of light tore its way out of the water. In seconds, threads of pure magic wove their way around the orb, creating a vibrant, and terrifying form of a powerful goat: the spirit Ordona
Ordona let out a massive cry, sending a blast of holy magic bursting from the spring. Diana was thrown clear out of the spring, along with four of the other Royal Twili Guards. The last Royal Twili Guard wasn't nearly as lucky; he took in the full force of Ordona's rage, and his body was purged. Princess Midna had once been purged by the spirit Lanayru and almost died, but was saved by Princess Zelda of Hyrule. This poor Royal Twili Guard had no princess to save his day, and slumped to the ground as a dying heap. The two humans looked stunned but were otherwise untouched and unharmed.
The human boy began to shout at the human girl, probably giving orders while arming himself with what appeared to be a stick. The boy was actually going to fight some of the most rigorously trained warriors of the Twilight with a stick? Was he brave, or just mental? The human girl was protesting, but the human boy pushed her away as one of the Royal Twilight Warriors attacked him. The girl ran towards Diana, holding out her hand to help Diana to her feet. Another Royal Twilight Warrior slashed at the girl with his black sword, tearing open a deep cut in her arm. Injured and severely bleeding, the girl had no choice but to flee.
Three of the Royal Twilight Warriors closed on Diana, reaching out to grab her with their four fingered hands.
"Don't touch her!" the boy shouted, evading his foe and ramming his shoulder into the side of one of the Royal Twilight Warriors, causing him to fall onto his comrades and tip the other two over like dominos. "Come on!" The boy grabbed Diana by the hand, pulling her on her feet and dragging her away.
"Where are we going?" Diana asked, peering over her shoulder to see the Royal Twilight Warriors stand back on their feet and pursue her once more.
"To safety!" the boy replied, slipping around the trees of the Ordon woods. He didn't explain any more than that as he darted between trees, always finding the easiest way through the woods while the Royal Twilight Warriors stumbled clumsily past thick underbrush and low hanging branches. The boy was using his home ground to his advantage. Maybe he was smarter than what she previously gave him credit for. It was only a matter of time before the Royal Twilight Warriors started using their heads as well. They began to fan out, using their massive, black blades to chop down trees with a single swing and slice past the wood's other obstacles. Soon enough, Diana and the human boy were forced into a clearing and surrounded by the four Royal Twilight Warriors. The boy lifted his wooden stick as a last attempt at defiance, but one of the Twilight Warriors simply grabbed the tip of the stick and yanked it from the boy's hands. Even weaponless, the boy refused to back down, pushing Diana behind him, shielding her from the Twilight Warriors. She had to admire the boy's courage, but courage wasn't going to protect the boy from the twili blade that one of the Twilight Warriors was raising in order to chop the boy in two.
Twang! Something hissed through the air, piercing the Twilight Warrior who had moved to strike the human boy. An arrow was protruding from the center of the Twilight Warrior's chest. The wounded soldier staggered around, and two more arrows buried themselves into his body.
From over a hundred feet away and closing in distance, a young man steering a cheery red horse with only his legs was firing arrow after arrow at the Twilight Warrior. The Twilight Warrior took several more arrows, five to his chest and three to his head, before he collapsed. The remaining three Twilight Warriors refocused their attention on the new threat.
"Link!" the human boy shielding Diana breathed in relief.
Link? This is one of the humans Princess Midna told me the find? Diana wondered, giving the young man a full analyzing glare. He was a young man of about seventeen years of age, with flowing gold hair, hard blue eyes, and a lean but powerful figure. Diana supposed that he must be considered good looking in human terms, but she thought this Link character could use a little make-up.
The moment the Hero Link was in distance, he leapt from his horse's back and planted his feet into the closest Twilight Warrior's helmet, knocking the six feet tall soldier back. With the Twilight Warrior flat on his back and weighed down by his heavily padded armor, Link pulled out the wooden sword tied to his back. At first, Diana wanted to rebuke Link for actually trying to killed a highly armored Twilight Warrior with a stick, but then she saw Link shove the end of the wooden sword into a small gap between the Twilight Warrior's armor padding, completely impaling the Twilight Warrior and ending his life with just a stick.
With Link's wooden sword jammed in their fallen comrade, the last two Twilight Warriors swung their blades at Link. Link released the end of his wooden sword, rolling back and grabbing a small twig lying on the grass. Now Diana really wanted to laugh at Link's choice of weapons; the twig Link had grabbed wasn't even a foot long, and was thin enough to snap with a good pinch.
Diana ate her words at what she saw next. The skinny twig Link held in his hand was beginning to glow with an orange hue. With a mighty war scream, Link swung the glowing twig at the air in front of the two Twilight Warriors, and a shockwave of raw power exploded from the tip of the twig. One of the Twilight Warriors used his partner as a shield, forcing the unlucky warrior to take the full brunt of the attack.
Diana had heard Princess Midna tell her stories of that attack. The Great Spin! Diana watched in awe as the power wave ripped through the Twilight Warrior's armor as if it were a piece of parchment, blasting the poor chap several feet into the air so that he landed with a painful crunch.
Even with his head armored and his expressions hidden, Diana could tell the last remaining Twilight Warrior was utterly terrified from the way it kept pacing away from Link. Link dropped what remained of the twig, which had mostly disintegrated due to the raw power it had momentarily contained. Link took two steps closer to the Twilight Warrior, and the Twilight Warrior took four steps back.
In a last ditch attempt, the Twilight Warrior threw his weapon at Link before turning his back to Link and fleeing. Link caught the weapon thrown at him by the handle, gave it a few twirls, and then chucked it back and its owner. The blade impaled the fleeing Twilight Warrior, killing him on the spot.
Just like that, Link had defeated four of the Twilight Realm's most powerful foot soldiers. This was the man Princess Midna had told Diana to find.
"You okay, Colin?" Link asked the younger human.
"I'm okay. Did Ilia make it back to the village okay?"
"She was hurt bad, but Uli is taking care of her now. She'll be okay."
The human boy, Colin, began to look infuriated with himself. "I'm sorry. If only I were stronger, I could have protected Ilia. I'm sorry."
Link gave Colin a gentle smile. "You did the best you could. Look at the bright side. You were able to protect our friend here long enough for me to arrive. Speaking of which," Link turned to Diana, giving her a hard stare, "who are you?"
Diana blessed Link with a small curtsy, but before she could properly introduce herself, she caught a bit of movement in the corner of her eyes. The Twilight Warrior Link had struck with his Great Spin was back on his feet, silently lunging at Link with his sword pointed directly at Link's heart. Link's attention was still focused on Diana; neither he nor Colin noticed the Twilight Warrior behind them.
Although Diana had once vowed to herself that she would never allow anyone to wield her again, both her destiny as well as Princess Midna's depended on Link's well being. Diana grabbed one of Link's hands with her own, shouting "Swing me!" Link finally realized the approaching threat behind him. The Hero reacted on instinct, pulling Diana off her feet and swinging her feet at the Twilight Warrior's head to knock the warrior off balance.
Diana had a better idea. The moment her hands touch Link's, she began to transform. In Link's mid-swing, Diana's form began to thin out, elongate, and sharpen. When Link side-stepped the Twilight Warrior's sword and swung Diana, she had fully morphed into an obsidian blade, looping off the Twilight Warrior's head with one fell swoop. The Twilight Warrior's headless body crumpled to its knees, and Diana enjoyed watching Link's stunned expression when he realized that what he held was no longer a little girl, but a three feet long sword with a jagged hand guard and black-as-night blade.
"I guess I have some explaining to do," Diana said, letting her voice fill the flabbergasted Hero's head.
That's all for now, folks.
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