Zinatia

A sharp scream echoed through the camps. Link arose with a start, the screaming now increasing in volume as people discovered what was happening. He looked around him; a dense fog had surrounded the camps. He quickly got up, unhooking his shield and drawing his sword. He stood there, peering into the fog that surrounded him, waiting for whatever adversary lay in wait. The screaming stopped, and all was silent again. Link breathed slowly, the tension in the air rising as the citizens waited.

Another scream, this time to Links right. He rushed over, and thought he saw something with a long tail leap into the fog. He stared at where it might have been, and then gasped as he saw what lay before him. A woman laid there, her arms and legs tore up, covered in red. A blanket had been put over her shoulders, the woman now grasping it tightly.

"Marith, what did you see?" one of the men surrounding her asked, holding the woman by the shoulders. The woman called Marith barely whispered, the man having to lean in close to find out what was spoken. The man leaned back, and stood up, saying to the crowd, "It seems like we are being attacked by the Schlieffs once more."

The crowd gasped, then dispersed in a chaotic panic, families quickly grabbing their belongings and stuffing them in carts, preparing their horses for travel. Link could only stand their, wondering exactly what a "Schlieff" was. The man who had announced to the crowd spotted Link, and walked over to him.

"You lad! Why do you not make haste? Hurry, prepare your things for we must be quick!" the man exclaimed, turning Link around and pushing him forward. Link pushed the mans hands away, and turned to face him.

"What is going on here sir? What exactly is a "Schlieff?" Why are they so feared?" Link asked in a confused tone, his sword hanging limp in his hand. The man was just about to reply, when suddenly Link heard a growl, and the man was no longer there.

Link looked to his left, the answer to his first question lay before him. Before Link was a strange looking creature, no bigger than a medium sized dog, but it's legs were long and bony. The creatures tail was long, a thin sheet of flesh barely covering bones. It's neck was long, and from what he could see, had a pointed head at the front. Link could only stare in shock as the creature tore at the man's face and hands as he tried to defend himself.

Then, Link swept in, Ordon sword held high, and swung down the blade, aiming for the creature's torso. He missed, the creature darting away at the last second, the blade digging into the man's thigh instead. He pulled it out, oblivious to the man's screams. He turned to face the beast, shield held in front, sword ready to strike. The rest of the creature was revealed to him, and he suddenly knew why the people feared this animal so much. Piercing red eyes glared back at him, the creature's mouth wide open. Inside were two rows of razor sharp teeth, ready to bit into whatever dared face him.

Both the creature and Link stood there, staring at each other, formulating a plan. Link stared at the creature's eyes, those glowing, bright red eyes. He knew that this creature probably saw him as its next meal, or an obstacle in the way of it's current one. A deep growl came from the creature's throat, saliva dripping out of its mouth. The creature bit at Link, then ran back into the fog, Link peering out from his shield. He wondered why the creature didn't attack.

He suddenly remembered the man that had been attacked, and quickly rushed over to him, dropping his sword and shield. He carefully approached the man, bending down on one knee, checking the man's injuries. They were severe, and Link cutting into the man's leg didn't help either. Luckily he hadn't severed it, but there was a deep wound. Someone pushed him out of the way, and he saw that it was the healers that did so. He backed up, grabbing his equipment, and walked back to Epona, sheathing the sword and putting the shield back on. As he stroked Epona, calming her, he noticed that the fog had lifted, he didn't even notice when.

The precession left the campsite in a hurry, going as fast as they could to try and put that awful place behind him. Link could see woman crying, and men comforting them. Link overheard some of their conversations, and discovered that they were mourning those who had been lost in the Schlieff attack. Now he fully understood why they were feared, they must create that fog, and then attack, then quickly disappear into the fog again. He thought that the plan was cowardly, but at the same time it was brilliant. Their plan was set up so that only their prey was injured, and not themselves.

It was now the second day after the Schlieff attack, and the Zinatians had recovered, putting their wounded in carts and burying their dead. He happened to observe one of these burials, and it was a strange sight to him. The family of the deceased stood around the body, the oldest standing above the deceased head. They all held hands, and started chanting in a strange language. A soft light came from the dead person's body, completely covering the body in seconds. It then rose in the air, and split into thousands of tiny balls of light. The balls came together, and started swirling in a cylindrical shape, diving into the ground. As the last of the balls of light disappeared into the ground, a rectangle of light appeared on the ground, turning the grass into a pure golden color. The family said their final goodbyes, and left the rectangle of gold.

Along the way, the precession passed near a group of ruins. Link was intrigued by these ruins, for it looked like the remains of a city. As far as he could see, the ruins surrounded a hill, and on top of the hill stood a tower, at least twenty feet high. He wondered what the ruins looked like back when they were still standing. He imagined people rushing through the streets, stalls set up on the roads, merchants selling their wares. His thought reminded him of how Castle Town was then, a bustling center for travelers.

The rest of the journey remained uneventful, the landscape hardly changed from the rolling hills. Luckily there were no more Schlieff attacks, although bits of fog in the horizon worried the entire precession, including Link. One thing did happen that Link would never quite figure out. The precession had come across a river, and was walking along a bridge that was high above the river. Link reached the center of the bridge, when a small orb of purple light appeared in front of his face. He watched, amazed, as it danced in circles in front of him, and started dancing around his body. He tried to follow the orb as it went behind him, came up from his shoulder, and went behind him again. He reached behind him with one hand, and brought it back, not finding it. He looked around him, apparently no one else had seen this strange purple orb.

The rolling hills eventually became a flattened out plain, the grass here was lighter in color and close to the ground. On the horizon, Link saw a small white dot. He wondered what it was, and asked a Zinatian close to him.

"That is the central spire of the capitol of our Zinatia. It will take us two days to reach it though, for the spire reaches high into the sky, higher than even some of the mountains," the man said, looking back to the horizon, "That is where most of this group have their homes."

The man was right; it took the precession two long days to finally reach the capitol. When the city came into full view, Link was shocked beyond words. The spire reached several hundred feet into the air, the city spiraling upward, ending at about three-fourths the way up. The main gates were at least forty feet high, and had to be twenty feet deep. As Link entered the grand city, he was struck at the amount of people on the streets, on top of buildings, in the buildings, all cheering at the return of their king.

The king actually mustered a smile, waving at the crowd with small, practiced waves. The precession took a left, taking a street which spiraled upwards. They continued all the way up, until the road flattened out, heading north towards the spire. There lay a castle, sitting at the base of the spire. The castle was just as impressive as the city, with massive walls and turrets, almost impenetrable. The large gates opened up, and Link and the King and his servants entered, leaving the rest of the townsfolk to their business.

Link dismounted Epona, patting her as he watched her being taken away, looking around at the beautiful courtyard. It resembled Hyrule Castles, except it was bigger and had more decoration. The King approached Link, a look of exhaustion on his face.

"Come Link, we shall rest first in the Castle, and then we shall fest in celebration." the King said, wrapping an arm around Links shoulders, leading him into the castle. When they entered, Link expected just the same grandeur as the rest of the city, and there was. Lined up around the chamber were large portraits of past Kings and Queens, Princes and Dukes, and other important figures. There was one in particular that caught his attention, but before he could ask, the King swept him down the hall, and led him to his chambers.

"This is you shall be staying Link," the King said, showing Link his chambers, "I shall send my servant to wake you when it is time for the fest. Now rest up, and we shall discuss this matter of yours." The King then left, as silent as he could be. Link looked around, appalled at the size of his chambers. They were at least twice as big as Zelda's, and he thought hers were big. The floors and walls were all made out of marble, polished so fine it was as if he was looking into a mirror. All along the walls were murals of ancient battles, and epic kings. He spied his bed, which was a four poster, a silk curtain covering it. He guessed it must at least be a king size, but this was just a guest room. Who knew how big the King's room was?

He pulled back the curtains, sitting on the edge of the bed, covered in fine sheets, with fluffed pillows awaiting his head. As he took off his boots, he looked at the mural right in front of him, and he saw something peculiar. He stood up, leaving his boots on the bed, and walked over to it. There he saw an artifact, which looked like a staff, held above the head of a figure, clad in black. There was something about how the person's skin was colored, it seemed very familiar. He gasped as he finally realized where this color came from.

It was the skin of the Twili.