"Prepare yourself," Xino yelled at him as he passed by his door, "Tonight we're gonna shed some blood." He notified him in a joyful voice, his walk was so agitated he almost hopped.
"What?" Dark popped his head out of the door, waiting for further details.
"There's a raid on a village near the Hyrule castle," the lizard told him, his tail wagging eagerly, "We gather at ten o'clock sharp near the gate."
"Has something happened?" he inquired, walking outside to face his commander, "What is the purpose of this?"
"To impose terror, obviously," the Dinolfos replied in an impatient voice, "The master wants to piss off the Hylian."
"War?" he cocked an eyebrow, considering the option.
"Soon enough." He was given a toothy smile, and the lizard walked away, humming to himself in an awful voice.
At ten o'clock he was already at the gate, armed and ready, or at least that what he thought. A group of thirty Dinolfos and Stalfos was gathered in there, but they made enough noise for three hundreds, they were silenced only by Xino who came by riding his horse, and knocked one of them down to gain their attention. "Listen, you bunch of lousy bones and stupid reptiles. Tonight we're gonna do what you favor the most, we're gonna kill."
The group cheered him but he cut off the noise immediately. "Be quiet until we reach there. Then I'll let you have your fun, but you will all leave when I give the sign. If you disobey, pray for the goddesses that the Hylian will take you hostage." He scanned them all with his orange, flaming eyes, "If I lay my hands on you, you will suffer."
They nodded silently in agreement, and mounted their horses, heading towards the village, Dark rode ahead with Xino, who cursed under his breath, "Those pathetic soldiers. If Ganon has created you, couldn't he create others, so I can finally lead a decent army?"
His heart stung as he heard this comment, and he wondered how Xino knew about that conversion, walls have ears apparently. He had little time to ponder in that matter, since the village was at sight, and the others dashed forward, sowing destruction. They burnt down the houses, scaring the people outside and butchered every living soul. He had no problem fighting against armed farmers, on the contrary, it was amusing, but when he bumped into a little girl he couldn't swing the sword.
A spear puncture her chest a second later and Xino came from behind him looking at the horrible view with slight amusement. "Any reason why you stopped, my dear boy?"
"This… is … a massacre." He stuttered, his eyes wide and torn as he watched the little girl dying.
"This is our job," Xino corrected him, giving him a friendly punch on his shoulder.
"I can't do it," Dark opposed, backing away. Xino started saying something about disobeying the master's orders when a blazing pain cleaved his head, sending him howling to the ground, clenching his skull with both arms. A little reminder.
He pushed himself up, hardly standing and gave the girl another terrified look, by that time Xino grabbed a lost child, throwing it in front of him. "Do it." He ordered in a firm voice.
He breathed deeply, and a sentence he read popped in his mind, something about fidelity being the sister of justice. He raised his sword, and pinned the boy's chest, shoving the blade all the way through. He used his leg to push the boy's body as he pulled back his sword. He watched the agonizing little face, but it seemed blurry, like the outlines faded. He felt nothing. "You see, it wasn't that bad." Xino encouraged him, "By your third kid you won't even blink," he joked, moving on with his slaughter.
By the time the Hylian guards arrived, there wasn't a living soul in the village, and Ganon's soldiers were half way back to the castle. While everyone continued to the dining room to celebrate a successful raid, he retired to his room, to wash off the blood. He stared at the red eyes that were reflected in the bathroom mirror and loathed what he saw. What he had done that night was unforgivable; it wasn't the way a man should act.
Enough with the pretence and hypocrisy, he rebuked himself, he wasn't even a man. He was a creature of the darkness, meant to serve a despicable purpose, and nothing more. Something inside him died that day.