A/N: Uploads have been pretty meagre so I'm going to see how I do with a schedule. Every Friday there's going to be a new chapter of this story unless I post an update the week before. I'll reply to the reviews tomorrow sorry I need to sleep now.
Chapter 3: A City at the Edge of The world
A deep groan echoed within Zelda's body as Link shook her awake. Despite the sleep, it felt like all strength and let every inch of her body. Aches ran all the way up her legs and arms, which she stretched out painfully. Link gathered up his bag as she attempted to pull all her body back into the real world.
"Eat this," Link said, tossing a slab of some kind of dark meat her way.
It thudded into Zelda's hand and she squeezed it a little. The rough texture barely gave way and felt like it'd be more useful as armour than food.
"Morning to you too," she grumbled poking away at the slab.
As fiddled with it she looked up and realised Link was staring at her impatiently. Zelda hastily took a bite, half expecting her teeth to go with the meat as she tugged a chunk away.
She forced a smile as she felt the piece almost lodge itself in her throat. It felt like a cross between chalk and leather.
Link nodded to her and gestured to follow. She adjusted her cloak a little and attempted to start picking away at the garden in her tangled mess of hair.
"What about the horned guys?" Zelda asked already tripping over the uneven ground.
"We called them phantoms," Link replied, eyes straight ahead.
"Who called them what?" Zelda asked, tripping over another rock.
"Phantoms, they're pretty much invincible. Which makes our lives, and the lives of anyone who's on our side, a whole lot more difficult."
"Of course they are," Zelda muttered, looking around wearily, expecting to see the vacant dark faces through the trees.
Link looked back amused. "Don't worry heavy armour isn't suited well to the terrain. I think they were hoping to cut us off before we could reach any woodland. They'll have returned to send a raiding party to make a proper sweep through the forest. My guess is they don't have too many soldiers up here. The locals aren't the sort you want to piss off."
"Especially you…" Zelda thought to herself quietly.
Link's head suddenly turned a few degrees east and he continued past another few trees. Every few seconds he would pause and place a hand to a tree or to the ground.
Zelda herself hadn't quite realised just how beautiful the trees were. The canopy above was a blast of golden orange and brown leaves, interspersed with the fine green leaves of the pointed evergreens. The floor itself smelled strongly of decay as the earth beneath buried itself beneath blankets of fallen wide leaves.
Her foot caught a root and she tumbled into the hunter. Link caught her at the last minute and allowed her a few seconds to steady herself.
"Watch yourself there," he said before continuing on.
Zelda watched him for a few seconds before following, ignoring the burning in her cheeks.
"For a hunter at the edge of the world you sure know a hell of a lot," she called out to him.
"Comes with the trade I guess," Link stared through the trees absently and then crouched down.
"I guess that's another subject we don't talk about," Zelda thought, moving up beside him and matching his level.
Up a steep slope ahead were the large wooden gates of Svartrjǫrð. A long line of guards spread across the entrance. Each wore a spectacled helmet and held a round shield and spear in each hand.
Hundreds of people queued messily in front of the gates. Some had set up camps along the slopes, others rested against large caravans attached to massive oxen. Those who'd arrived later were less organised, sat on the edge of the road weeping or reaching out to ask for money.
Along with the guards at the front, a well-dressed dignitary held a scroll and quill and seemed to be questioning a family at the front.
"This doesn't look good," Link whispered. "People come to the city to winter with families but never this many. The guards look overwhelmed and some people have settled in on the outside. They must be refusing entry to those without proper holdings."
"Do you think it's because of…"
"Our friend's back there," Link grimaced. "In a weird way I hope so. We really don't need any other troubles on our plate at the moment."
The caravan at the front finally moved through the gate the guards moving to the side. Those that came up behind were almost immediately refused and left to return to their hovel.
"They haven't shut the gates completely," he checked his axe. "That makes things easier."
"What's the plan?" Zelda asked, feeling an odd sense of excitement in her gut. "Are we sneaking in?"
Suddenly noise erupted at the gate. More guards rushed out and hurried along the perimeter of the wall.
A child was attempting to climb the palisade. There was more shouting from the caravans as the bored travellers jumped up to watch, either out of curiosity or just sheer boredom.
The guards surrounded the foot of the wall where the small figure was dangling from and began to yell. From here Zelda couldn't make out the exact words, but she guessed they probably weren't cheering him on.
Noise seemed to grow around the camps and at the gates. The figure continued to climb. All excitement had disappeared from Zelda as she began to feel just as sick as before.
The shouting intensified, then a loud thud. The whole area plunged into silence. A short gasp caught in her throat. She watched the figure fall to the ground and the guards returned to the gate disappearing behind their comrades.
"That answers that question," Link said grimly.
"How could they?" Zelda cried out in disbelief. "They just killed a child."
A handful of refugees began to pull the body back to their camp, a sombre air descending over the hillside. There were a few cries of anguish from the group that cut through the uneasy silence.
"I said things weren't so black and white here but this is wrong even by human standards. Things must be bad on the inside," Link looked across at her. "You need to stay focused. We're in danger out here, both to ourselves and these people. If we don't get in things are going to get way worse around here."
"Right…" Zelda took a deep breath. The sound of that thud seemed to play over and over in her mind. It was like she was back there in Link's hut, hiding in the darkness as Link fought off the guards. She needed to bury the fear, she need to be strong.
Link's hands gripped the sides of her arms firmly and he turned her towards him. He stared down at the ground in reflection, as though the words were swirling around his head but he couldn't quite formulate them.
His eyes finally stared up at her relaxed before returning to their default scowl. It revealed as much about his emotions as a brick wall. Reaching behind he pulled up her hood.
"I need you to keep calm," Link said softly. "I'm going to make sure you stay safe. Just trust me a little."
Zelda nodded.
"Okay follow me," Link lifted his own hood and began to walk towards the path.
Zelda followed, and let out the breath of air she didn't know she'd been holding.
Every few steps Zelda felt a jolt of panic run through her. Quickly she remembered the hood was up and Link was there. Taking a shaky breath she kept walking forwards
The hunter looked purposefully ahead. With the way he walked, it didn't feel like even the walls could stop him. It was strange not to see him look over his shoulder to check she was okay, the sight had become familiar quickly.
"Look boys we got another," a skinny man said leaning against the side of his wagon. "This one thinks he's some kind of god."
His friends began to laugh but Link seemed utterly unfazed and continued forwards. The hooded back of his head stayed firmly forwards, the only movement coming from the swaying fabric behind him.
"We'll see you in a few then," the man called, to another chorus of laughter from his gang.
It had been some time since Zelda had seen humans this close. Her father had always told her that most of the races of Hyrule and beyond had some admirable qualities. The humans were not among these. He had always deemed them a savage folk, valuing power and fighting above everything else. When Zelda was younger she thought humans were the Hylians at court.
Apart from the ears, they didn't seem much different. Sure there were rough folk but the same went for the hylian gangs in Castletown. It was the mothers that really got to Zelda, the way they held their children as though nothing else mattered. Her mother had died when she was only a child. It was strange how the memory of what she looked like had faded but that golden warm feeling of being held in her arms remained.
Link had said that he hoped it was the advance of the Red King that was sending them in droves here. Selfishly Zelda wished it wasn't. That would mean it was her fault they were struggling, her fault that they were stuck out here waiting for winter. If it was, what gave her the right to bring her troubles to their door?
The hunter approached the man at the gate who looked at him apprehensively before standing straight.
"Get in the line like everyone else," He yelled.
The guard looked a little shocked when Link didn't respond. All across the gate the men tensed up. Link just kept walking forwards until he was only a few feet away from the gatekeeper.
"We need to get in… now," Link said calmly.
The gatekeeper looked to Zelda in shock and then back to Link. He had recoiled significantly as Link stood above him. Was Link making himself bigger? Zelda looked to the side trying to supress a smile. It seemed the way men worked was exactly the same among humans too.
"We…" the gatekeeper adjusted his scroll. "I can't allow that. You'll need to wait in the line like the others."
He let out a short yelp as Link leant in. The other guards readied their weapons. Everything paused as Link whispered something in the man's ear.
Beads of sweat formed almost immediately on the man's forehead. It must've been what Zelda's face looked like when she saw the phantoms.
"Very well," the gatekeeper announced, trying his best to recover his authority. "You may pass through."
There was some grumbling and complaining from behind Zelda but no one spoke up. The guards at the front looked equally annoyed but moved aside as both Link and Zelda walked through the gates.
"Keep your hood up," Link whispered from in front. "We're not safe yet."
The road looked like a market that had never quite ended. Stalls and people covered everywhere in a completely unorganised fashion. From every direction someone was yelling, most of which sounded like swearing.
One man red in the face screamed across at a woman on the other side. "We were supposed to do the stall together."
She screamed back at him even louder, hands placed flat on her table, "That was before you spent the night in the beer hall, never mind the stall you can find a new home too."
A group of children ran away from a guard and laughed as he fell flat on his face. The pointing stopped when he looked up with an enraged muddy face and they scrambled as they lunged after him.
"C'mon I just didn't see the time," he yelled.
The woman's voice impossibly raised another octave, "You said that the last five times."
Zelda avoided a few brown muddles in the road, which was a mixture of mud and stones. Everything seemed so unnaturally natural. The road was just stamped in by years of travel and the houses looked like they had grown up and outwards, sprawling chaotically until not even the gods could stop them.
Some stranger approached Link and asked, "Looking to make a bit of coin friend? You look like just the man I need."
Link shrugged him off and they continued to walk up the street towards the hill at the far end of the settlement. House by house Link shoulder's rolled back to their normal size and he stopped walking so straight.
"Is it always like this?" Zelda asked, the noise slowly beginning to patter out.
"Violence, battering and no regard for you eardrums… yeah," Link chuckled to himself, "Never change Svartrjǫrð."
"I thought you said things must be bad inside the city," Zelda said.
"This is all just the surface. This whole place is like a bomb just ready to go at any moment. All it needs is a spark."
Soon the houses began to thin out not increasing in size but becoming far more elaborate in design. Etched into the wood were large dragon like creatures and serpents the size of mountains. Each one was fighting a humanoid like creature.
Each row of wood portrayed some kind of story. Zelda recognised a few, like the creation giants. She had heard the story when she was a small child.
"The god Fellr, overlord of the earth saw the other creatures the other gods had created and felt himself flush with envy. He wanted his own race that could worship and honour him, living beings that would be stronger and wiser than anything the other gods good conjure. His ribs were the mountains, so he breathed life into them, making them in his image. These were the first of the giants.
"They broke away from their mountainous nest creating crevices that soon saw water rush through them filling the lands with its first rivers and lakes. Originally they were goliath size creatures as tall as the mountains they were born from. But after thousands of years their rocky hide fractured and cracked forming the beasts that occupy the land today."
"What are they like…" Zelda breathed. "The giants."
The hunter continued to walk as though she was just some street urchin following her for coin.
"Like humans but bigger," Link said staring at one of the houses that sat on top of the hill.
Zelda sighed, the gnawing feeling of wonder disappearing as quickly as it had come up.
Eventually Link came to a stop in front of a gate at the base of the hill. The two guards stared at him scrupulously. They wore similar armour to the men at the front but their cloaks were an earthen green.
Link looked around the quiet street and then carefully pulled down his hood. Their eyes widened a little in surprise and the taller guard whispered to his friend and rushed off up the hill.
"Arne will be happy to see you sir," he bowed his head and opened the gate gesturing for the two of them to step inside.
The hunter nodded to him and looked at Zelda's confused face as though he was looking for something in it. Then they followed the path up the hill towards the hall perched on top.
Unlike within the city centre the air here was almost as fresh as the open country. Green grass blanketed the hillside, cut short by the grazing sheep and goats.
Huts stood by the fences and enclosures that lined the way up to the main hall. As Zelda walked she looked back over the city once again. It was so unlike anything she'd ever seen before, like she'd walked into some other world. From up here it looked almost calm.
So many questions swirled around. About this place, most of all about Link, but something in the air demanded silence and she knew he would give no answers. Still Zelda was unable to shake the feeling that she was walking in the dark, just like caverns of her dreams.
"Link!" a deep but warm voice called out. A black haired bearded man flanked by guards and a red haired woman clambered down the steps and strode towards Link.
Zelda's breath caught in her body as she noticed the hulking figure leant heavily on his sword. He was twice the size of a fully grown man and far bulkier. All across his body clad armour that seemed to be made of stone itself. Only a long beard could be seen protruding from the spectacled horned helmet and brown kind eyes looked out from beneath them.
It was one of them, the giants. The beasts that barely any Hylians even believed existed, let alone seen. Zelda almost unmistakably felt the creature's eyes on her.
The two men slammed into each other like a cannon ball into a wall, the man letting out a joyful cry. They touched their foreheads together before the man took a proper look at him.
"I never thought I'd see you again," he said joyfully. "You were just a boy when I last saw you but now look at you."
"It's good to see you too Arne," Link said, betraying nothing in his voice.
Arne looked over to Zelda with confusion. Grey was creeping into his black hair and the skin around his eyes had begun to crack like dried earth. Still he looked strong, he stood tall even over Link, though the wolf's pelt he wore around his back seemed to add size.
"Who's your friend," he asked.
"We need to talk Arne," Link said grimly.
Arne nodded, "You're right there little one."
Just before they reached the doors the giant thumped over and grabbed Link in a tight hug. The hunter almost let out a yelp before he was lowered.
"You will not leave us again brother," it boomed in a deep voice. "Find me later and we will remove these stupid thoughts from your head."
"Sure Rolf," Link half grumbled before smiling sheepishly.
Arne and his men led the two of them into the hall. The Giant Rolf thundered down the road towards the gate. Zelda still stared awestruck at the sheer size of it. When she'd been a little girl she'd been terrified by the Gorons. In time she came to learn that they were a soft as the soil of Hyrule field.
Still these creatures were not the traditional big and simple minded stereotype she'd grown up with. Rolf very presence commanded an ancient respect. He was a creature that had lived for centuries and his eyes had been filled with experience.
Orange light glowed brightly around the hall, thrown around from the stone hearth at the centre. In the far side of the longhouse a chair stood looking across the lines of tables across the hall. The heat was almost unbearable with the cloak on but as though reading her mind Link nodded to her and Zelda quickly shed the extra layers.
All across the hall the men and women stared a little at Zelda but mostly at Link, whispering amongst themselves.
Arne gestured to table next to the hearth and sat next to the red haired woman. Link and Zelda sat opposite. All the companions of the hall thinned out into the various rooms or the open air outside. Eventually the four of them were left alone.
"I don't think I have to guess who your companion is," Arne stared at Zelda directly. "Word reached us yesterday morning. Hyrule has fallen and the Red King has demanded we pay fealty, just like my ancestors did to the ancient kings of Hyrule. Most of all though he wants a Hylian girl seen fleeing north into these lands."
Link watched him cautiously, "Arne this is—"
"The princess Zelda," Arne stood and bowed. "This is my wife Olga."
Olga and Zelda shared a polite smile as Arne walked over to the nearby wall and stared at the tapestry depicting some kind of battle.
"I was there in the first war when the red king rose up," he said grimly. "It feels so long ago now. Our world was so different then.
He chuckled to himself, "The world of men knew the odds then, that the whole world laid at fates door. So we rode south with your father, unified against what we deemed as evil and we fought bitterly against it. Every single one of us was willing to give our lives to do what was necessary, for ourselves and our people.
"I knew it wasn't over, that we'd have to prepare. But as soon as our men returned to the city everything went wrong. Instead of unifying half the houses buried their heads in the ground. Instead of fighting the monsters in the mountains we fought among ourselves. When the time came to ride south again we weren't even prepared to leave the city," he sighed. "I did not expect him to return this soon."
Link stared at Arne pitifully as the man leaned into the wall. Despite his size and strength he looked old, like all the energy had been sapped from him.
Link then spoke up, "You know what's coming Arne. Why are the people being stopped outside of the city? In a few weeks those hills will be painted with your peoples' blood. You need to gather them up and cross the mountains."
Arne did not reply.
"My husband has tried all he can but the Earl will not listen," Olga said grimly, "The other houses fear our influence and have persuaded him to stay and reason with the Red King. At the moment we cannot leave even with our own household."
"I'm in a bad way my friend," Arne said gently. "You have already done so much for me and my family but I must ask for your aid once more."
Link stared down at the table, deep in thought. He looked as though he would stay there for hours, memorising the swirls and imperfections.
He looked up, "Do you have it?"
Arne nodded a small smile inching across his lips, "Yes. Your father's shield is also—"
"Not the shield," Link said firmly. "It doesn't belong to me."
"He would've wanted you to have it," Arne said as though the exchange had been practiced forty times.
"I haven't earned it, not yet," Link stood quickly. "I'll be waiting outside."
Arne nodded to a few guards who hurried off. "In the meantime we will set you up in a room princess. I swear you will be safe with us while Arne Lungbard still has air in his lungs."
The royal etiquette kicked in like muscle memory and Zelda smiled and curtsied before saying, "That is very kind of you."
"I'm not safe with anyone," she thought. "And no one is safe with me."
"You may follow me princess," Olga said leading her off towards one of the door lining the hall.
Before Zelda walked through she looked back towards the entrance, as Link slammed through the doors and into the daylight.
Walking into the spacious room, Zelda realised just how tired she still was. The bed at the centre looked more than inviting and the fire in the corner reminded her of home again.
"I'll fetch you some new clothes and get a maid to run you a bath," Olga said tidying a little. "Then you'll probably need sleep. I can't imagine the journey you had to go through."
"Thank you," Zelda smiled. "You have a beautiful home."
The woman looked at her with sympathy and walked over to perch on the bed.
"I know how strange this must be for you," Olga said gesturing for her to sit with her on the edge of the bed. "When I first came here I found it a cold and miserable place."
"I was more thinking about the giant," Zelda said.
"I almost forgot," Olga laughed. "Rolf has a way of making you forget about his size."
Zelda looked above the mantle and saw the shield mounted there. It was just like the ones of the Hylian knights she'd seen in her study books.
"That's…"
"A Hylian knight's shield," Olga said. "It belonged to Link's father before he died in the war."
"His father was a knight?" Zelda asked.
"I'm guessing he hasn't told you much."
"That's an understatement, I know more about what's under the mountains than what I know about Link," Zelda grumbled
"He's complicated to say the least." Olga stared across at the shield, "Past the fells to the east there is an ancient forest which is home to people as old as the trees themselves. It's a place where time doesn't work properly. The people stay in this kinda limbo. Link's mother left him there when he was a small child."
"He grew up without knowing his parents?" Zelda looked at her in shock.
"He met his father just months before the knight died. Time moves differently there, by the time he'd left the forest the red king had risen and Link rode with Arne against him."
"What?!"
"They say he was just a small boy when he entered. To most he is just a legend but Arne knows the truth. Link was struck down with his father and was returned to the forest to recover. Even most of my people still believe it to be a legend, a boy in green fighting against the heart of darkness."
"But that'd make him…"
"Not quite as I said time works very differently. Link is still barely an adult, yet what he has accomplished is extraordinary"
"Why hasn't he told me this?" Zelda asked half wondering herself. The skills, the knowledge it all made sense now. Her hands began to ball the quilts.
"He's lived in a hut for the past four years. Something tells me he doesn't want me to relive the past," Olga suddenly grabbed Zelda's arm firmly "Listen… please. I'd not mention any of this. Men like Link, they're not really there anymore. They're as gone as the phantoms that chase them. It will only bring you pain to think otherwise."
Zelda stared at her icy blue eyes for a few moments. The words rained down like fire, wreaking havoc in her head.
"Now it's time you clean up and get some rest," Olga said. "There'll be much to do tomorrow."
Zelda nodded and yawned words suddenly becoming tiresome to her. The bed seemed to be eagerly calling.
It felt nice to finally wake up without being shaken or having that deep inner panic. Though all her muscles ached sending a tightening rush of feeling as she rose, they didn't feel so drained anymore.
New clothes were at the edge of her bed. Sure they were plain and coloured with a mixture of browns and grey but by the three was she glad to have clothes that weren't covered in mud. Even her hand tailored travel clothes seemed less comfortable in comparison. These northerners sure found a way to make the bitter lands around them as liveable as possible.
The fire had died to a low dim glow and she strode across the room towards it. She poked at the embers and they responded glowing happily at her. Above her head the Hylian shield caught her eyes again.
All those things Olga had said still hadn't settled. There were so many questions she wanted to ask him. Every time she considered it the words echoed through her head.
"Men like Link. They're not really there anymore. It will bring you only pain to think otherwise."
Her eyes returned to the fire as the thoughts overtook her again. They led ever downwards in a spiral until they all fused into one confused bundle of emotion and words.
Eventually a noise from outside caught her attention. It was a singing soft and mellow, in a language she had never even heard. Zelda approached the door on the other side and cracked it open a little.
The night air snaked in quickly. It rustled through the tapestries and fabrics of the room and the fire cracked furiously in response to the intruder.
Outside she saw where the singing was coming from.
Only his back was illuminated by the fires of Arne's home but from here it was clearly Link. He was leant on a fence looking over the lands to the west of Svartrjǫrð. The gleaming orange light glanced past in the edge of his sword. Link ran a cloth over it polishing it down. Its edge was flawless and though it was far plainer then most of the Hylian armoury there was a certain elegance to it that could not be matched.
Link's cloak was covered in blood. Zelda didn't want to know what it was from but felt sorry for whoever was at the other end of that blade. If he could be vicious with a wood-axe, a honed sword would make him an executioner.
The singing itself was beautiful, quite unlike the common tongue of the humans or the dialects all over Hyrule. As the tale spoke out into the night the words mixed and mingled in ways quite unlike anything she'd heard. There seemed to be no pause in the language just a continuous movement, like smoke in the air.
Zelda stood and watched until her eyes felt tired again and she let her eyes close just feeling the night air on her face.
Suddenly the hall erupted with noise behind. Clanging and shouting could be heard and Zelda rushed over to the inner door opening it fully.
Arne was sat on his chair, Rolf by his side. Men had flooded the hall shouting.
"The earl is dead, killed this morning," one of them shouted. "By decree, you are the earl now Arne."
Arne stared out silently for some time. There was no a hint of pleasure across his face, only a lingering pain.
"He ordered the earl's death, don't you think we see past your schemes Lungbard. This is all just a power play and the other houses won't have it," a red bearded man screamed from the far end of the hall.
"Yes I am Earl," he said quietly muting the whole hall. "I am earl of a city soon to be ash and blood. This is our only chance, raise the banners get as many ready and on the road as possible, we leave at first light for the Fells."
There was a hum of confusion and more yelling.
"There will be no discussion," Arne yelled. "It's only a matter of time before the other moron houses decide they don't want me here and personally invite our red friend into our homes."
"And what's wrong with that Arne?" The man at the back screamed. "The only reason he's interested is because you keeping the princess and that thug of a hunter, if we hand them both over the Red King will leave us alone."
One voice cried out, "Our homes are here, our families."
"Aye they are," Arne replied. "And this brings me no pleasure. But if we don't leave quickly we are all dead. It doesn't matter what we do for the Red King. He doesn't give a damn about peace with us and the time to unite and fight is long past. All we have left to do is run now and save what family we have left."
There was some more murmuring. Some seemed to be nodding others seemed to look beyond annoyed.
Arne spoke up again, "At first light the caravan will assemble at the front gates. Those who wish to join us are welcome. The rest of you can fight over the ashes, I just don't care anymore."
The room fully erupted into noise as Arne returned to his room flanked by guards.
There were but a few hours till morning, and the comfort Zelda had already become used to, was about to be torn out from under her feet.