A/N: Thank you for all of your support. It means so much to me. In other news, I wanted to let everyone know that I will not be updating on the 25th of December. That's two weeks from now. I'll be out of town for the holidays, and well, it is Christmas. I will, however, be updating both next week and on New Year's Day.
This chapter gets a little violent so . . . here you go:
Warnings: moderate gore and peril. Just wanted to let you know.
Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda.
Read, Review and Enjoy!
~Shard of Freedom
Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign
Chapter Nine: Battlefield: Ordon Village
A strange rumbling sound echoed throughout the village.
The villagers were gathered around the picnic tables and the pumpkin patches. Beth was at the head of the table, laughing and drinking copious amounts of cider. Sitting to her left was Ilia, who teased Beth about her sudden new romance with Shad. Pergie was fussing over Malo, who seemed to have hit the child version of puberty. Almost as tall as Talo was when he was eight, Malo seemed to be even more mature and disconcerting. Malo spoke to anyone who would listen—or anyone who came within three feet of the man-child—about the business going-ons in the Castle Town Branch of Malo Mart. Jaggle was standing behind Pergie, silently being proud of his son.
Sera and Hanch were on either side of Beth. Sera had a hand on Beth's shoulder and murmured about when she was going to get grandkids, which caused Beth to stutter and blush, saying that she and Shad weren't like that. Hanch trembled, whether in fear or joy, Colin would never know.
Colin leaned against the pillar of rock that jutted out of the creek. The vines brushed roughly against his shield and sword. He had warned Bo about the tracking marks that he had found in the woods, but, like always, his words were heeded. Colin knew that Bo and Rusl tried to believe Colin when he warned of a possible attack on the village, but who were they kidding? It was peacetime. That meant that things were peaceful.
It was like they had completely forgotten the way that the children had been stolen. Like they had forgotten of the odd blue and black portal above Ordon Spring that remained still. It was like they were blinded by the peace that they had finally achieved.
But Colin did remember. He remembered being strung up like some sort of trophy on King Bulbin's banner. He remembered the lives of innocents stripped away by the shadow creatures. He remembered that, and he knew that it could happen again if they weren't careful.
And if the anxious look on Ilia's face was any indicator, so was she. She kept fidgeting and looking over her shoulder. She remembered how quickly things could change.
After he had apologized for the childish ways that he had behaved, Colin had told Ilia about the tracking marks that he had found in the woods, along with the girl that he had seen in the dungeon. "Too sophisticated to be Bulbins," Colin had said, mainly just to reassure Ilia. Ilia nodded, and her hand moved to the dagger on her waist.
Ilia was peaceful by nature but being kidnapped and imprisoned changed a girl. She had learned more from Telma than just compassion. Her fighting skills weren't the greatest, but she could hold her own. While her hand-to-hand wasn't fabulous, knife-throwing seemed to be the Goddess' gift to Ilia. Back in the days when Talo had been learning how to use the bow while Colin learned the sword, Talo and Ilia would go head-to-head on the targets, arrows versus knives.
But Colin wasn't going to kid himself. The best that Ilia knew was self-defense, and wouldn't be any good against a skilled opponent. If it came to a fight, the only people who would be able to hold their own would be Talo, Bo, Rusl and himself. Against whatever size army came, those wouldn't be good odds.
Colin gave Ilia a small sad smile and waved before leaning against the vines once more.
Then the rumbling started.
Colin and Ilia noticed immediately, but the rest of villagers didn't catch on until the lantern that was on the table toppled over and blew out. Colin grabbed his sword and pulled it out of its sheath. He began shouting orders.
"Pergie, get Beth, Malo, Sera and my mother out of here! Don't just stand there, do it! Anyone who's able to fight, to me!" Colin looked over at Talo and smiled, clapping him on the shoulder. Talo looked to Colin with scared yet determined eyes. "Talo?"
The fear left Talo's eyes and determination filled them. "Yes, Colin?"
"You might want to get your bow. We're going to need your arrows."
Talo nodded and ran to his house. The teenager didn't pause as he sprinted over the bridge and past the pumpkin patches. Behind him, Ilia started lighting the lanterns. If they were going to fight, they were going to need to see. Rusl approached the two of them with his sword. Colin turned to his father.
"What do you think that we should do, Dad?"
Rusl shook his head. "Colin, I know swordplay. I know little about war and battles and things like that. You know more than me. I was a part of the resistance because I felt like I could make a difference without becoming a soldier. We didn't actually fight. Shad and Auru can't fight at all."
Colin grimaced. "I guess you're right."
Rusl clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, son. If anyone can handle this, you can."
Colin sighed and pulled his shield off of his back. The rumbling got stronger. It wasn't as bad as King Bulbin's hoard, which made Colin think that there wasn't too many of them. An advance force, maybe. A smaller amount of soldiers. After all, they wouldn't need an army to wipe out Ordon Village. They wouldn't even need more than twenty soldiers. It was small but Ordon Village wasn't made for defense. If only they had powerful fighters.
Colin looked to his left to see Captain Falnoff get Ilku and Jeoffry out of their tents and yelling at them to get their weapons. Well, at least they had three skilled fighters. Falnoff, Rusl and Colin. Talo would be an asset, as Link had taught him a decent amount of hand-to-hand while teaching him the way of the bow, and his arrows would be priceless.
Bursting through the gate, around two dozen soldiers came through. The first things that Colin registered was that that they were all woman, wielding curved blades. The second thing he noticed was that they were all wearing the same clothes as the girl that he found and saved inside the Forest Temple. Was she apart of this invading force? Had he saved her life for her to only take his? A few of the woman were on horses.
"Talo!" Colin shouted up to the archer, who was taking his place on top of the pillar of rock. "Get them off of the horses! Top priority!"
"Gotcha!"
Colin grabbed his sword and his shield. He slammed the face of his shield into a woman's chin and reeled back with a sword strike. The woman wiped her nose, which was now flowing blood. She growled and spat out a phrase in a language that Colin didn't recognize. Colin rolled his eyes and fought again. Another warrior swiped at his back and he dodged just in the nick of time. But he lost his focus with the other woman and she ripped his blades free of their deadlock. She rammed her blades against his shield and Colin felt his back hit the vines of the rock pillar. This was not looking good.
Why were they here? Why were they attacking? And most importantly, what did they want?
Ilia came up behind the warrior deadlocked with Colin and silently pulled her dagger out of her belt. Colin's eyes widened and he tried to tell her silently to get away, but Ilia tightened her grip on the dagger and closed her eyes fiercely before shoving the blade into the warrior's heart.
The woman fell to the ground, but Ilia kept a firm grip on her dagger. She looked at her hands in shock, the blood seeping through her fingers, the soiled blade in her hands. Her eyes were wide with fear and some other unknown emotion that Colin couldn't recognize.
Another one of the enemies came up behind Ilia. Colin ran and rammed his wooden shield against their shoulder. Colin heard the gruesome, and oddly satisfying, crack of bone from the impact. Switching his grip to a backhand, Colin shoved his blade through the warrior's thigh. She let out a shriek and crumpled to the ground. He ripped his sword out and stabbed it through her gut. Blood trickled out of her mouth, but she didn't scream anymore.
For a moment, Colin contemplated what he had just done. He had just ended another person's life. He had just killed someone. That woman would never see tomorrow . . . because of him.
But when he heard another clash of steel on steel, he realized that it didn't matter. It was terrible, it was horrible, and he never wanted to do it again, but the safety of his friends and family came first. The woman—no, the warriors—Colin could see the killing intent in their eyes. They would kill them. All of them. And Colin just couldn't stand by and let that happen. He wouldn't allow it.
Another woman charged towards Ilia, who was still staring at the blood on her hands like she was possessed. This woman was different from the rest of them—she held herself with poise and grace, and had a long, dark, spiraled tattoo down the side of her arm. The bottom half of her face was covered with a piece of see through cloth and her violent red hair was up in a ponytail reaching close to her lower back.
When Colin recognized that Ilia wouldn't move, he shoved her out of the way and caught the warrior's curved swords on his own. "Ilia!" Colin ground out between clenched teeth while deadlocked with the woman. "I understand that it's horrible and you can't believe that you just ended another person's life, but you need to snap out of it! They're going to end ours if you don't get back in the game!"
Colin shoved the warrior's blades off and elbowed her in the mouth before moving back a step and maintaining his stance. Behind him, he heard the crinkling of vines, which told Colin that Ilia was moving. As she moved away from Colin, he heard a slight "sorry" and the brush of her fingers against his back before Ilia moved away to join the fight once again, rushing to Fado's side. Apparently the life of her husband got her motivated enough to kill.
The woman he was fighting spat out blood and wiped her mouth. She smiled wirily. As she spoke, her accent was coarse but her words were even and less formal than the girl that he had met in the dungeon. She probably understood the language better than the other.
"You're strong, boy," she said. "And you have heart. If you were female, I would have made you one of the elite in the sisterhood."
Colin tightened his grip on his sword. "Does that mean that you're the leader? Why are you attacking our village?"
The woman barked out a short laugh. "I wish that I was the leader. But no, that falls to my craven king." She spat the word out of her mouth with more blood. "But we are the Gerudo, and we follow orders, even if they are given by an incompetent man."
"Is that why you're attacking us?" Colin demanded. "We're a peaceful village. We haven't done anything to anyone. We're not even a part of Hyrule!"
"I wish that I wasn't a part of this, boy," the woman said, "and I wish that you weren't either. But I have a job to do. Even if it is just for the time being."
After those lines, talking was cut short by the blade of his adversary. Colin leaped back and engaged a new combatant in battle. When he looked over his shoulder during a spare moment to find that tattooed warrior who seemed diplomatic with him, she was gone, in a different part of the battle.
Arrows fell like they were rain from Talo's post on top of the rock. Each shot was calculated and precise. Talo even had his extra quiver next to him just in case he ran out of arrows. Talo was the one advantage that they had in this fight, Colin knew. Among the warriors in the attacking force, there was not a single archer among them. As Colin's back brushed the vines that accompanied the rock that Talo was sitting on, he knew that Talo couldn't be lost.
"Talo! You okay?" Colin shouted up as he stabbed one of the attackers in the heart and kicked the corpse in the gut to remove it from his blade.
"I'm almost out of arrows, Colin!" Talo shouted down as he knocked another on his bowstring. He exhaled and let it fly. Colin heard Talo's soft curse as he realized he had only impaled a leg, rather than a fatal wound.
"Keep going! Do you have your extra quiver?" Colin asked as he slammed his shield into someone's gut. He decided that if he didn't recognize Ordon or Hylian garb, they were his enemies.
"What do you think I'm almost out of?"
Colin gritted his teeth. He looked across the village to see his father on the steps of their home, locked in a battle with one of the warriors, this one with a black star tattooed on her arm. Colin could hear Kana crying inside the house. Bo was taking on two of the warriors with help from Fado, who was no fighter. He brandished a pitchfork like it was the deadliest of weapons. Ilia was a few steps behind them, fighting with the tattooed woman that Colin had fought before. In the middle of the village, near the stream, the three soldiers were making their stand. Falnoff fought fiercely, his sword a deadly arch through the air. There were a few corpses of the attackers around, mainly surrounding Colin and Falnoff. They were the best fighters in the village but the rest of them weren't warriors. Colin could only pray that the villagers wouldn't join the dead.
A scream pierced the air.
Colin immediately turned to the noise. Beth was being dragged out of her house by her hair, Sera screaming behind her. Hanch was spread-eagle on the ground. It was unknown if he was dead or just wounded. Either way, there was blood, and lots of it. Colin bolted away from the rock.
"Talo! Take care of yourself for the moment!"
"Got it!" the archer shouted back as he reached back to his quiver, only to grasp at air. Ripping a dagger out of his belt, Talo jumped down and joined the fray.
The warrior holding Beth had the same tattoo as the woman Colin had spoken to, but it wasn't her. This woman had shorter hair that barely touched her shoulders as well as crueler eyes. She was taller and didn't wear the cloth on the lower part of her face, so nothing hid her dark smirk. The woman pulled harder at the Beth's hair, and she let out another shriek.
"Please! She's never done anything! Let my daughter go! She's innocent! Please! Please, not my daughter! Take me, just not my daughter!" Sera pleaded in rising tones. Her eyes were thick with tears as she looked at the frightened form of her daughter and the bleeding body of her husband.
"Your daughter will make a good addition to the Gerudo," the woman said with a smirk and another tug on her hair. "Although she will have to toughen up first."
Beth screamed once more before Colin's blade nicked the warrior's cheek. Reeling back, the woman released Beth, who ran back to her mother and held a hand to her bleeding scalp. They cried in each other's arms, and Colin saw Sera give a tearful glance back to Hanch before shutting the door tightly.
The warrior touched a hand to her cheek and bared her teeth when it came back red with blood. "You will pay for that, child," the woman said coldly. "I am Ishizu, the leader of the Marked, the elite."
Colin twirled his sword in his hand. "My name's Colin, the second protector of the village."
"Your death will please my king," Ishizu said as the blood on her tanned cheek began to flow once more.
"Just try it!" Colin snarled. Ishizu lunged. He caught one of her curved blades on his shield, but had to flip backward to avoid the second.
As they fought, Colin found out that she wasn't kidding when she said that she was elite. She fought well, probably as well as himself—maybe better. Not at Link's level, but then again, no one was. She had power behind her attacks, which didn't compliment Colin's style of stabbing and evading. When he caught her blades on his shield, he had to brace his arm for the blow.
Colin tried to sweep her feet, but Ishizu darted out of the way. Colin gritted his teeth as he caught her blade on his wooden shield. A nick appeared on the surface of the wood. Not good, Colin thought as he reeled back.
"COLIN!"
The swordsman immediately turned to the cry of his name. As he looked around, trying to find the source, there was a cruel kick to his stomach. Colin rolled back and coughed, the wind knocked out of his lungs. Instead of looking back to Ishizu, he turned towards the voice that had called his name.
Ilia was being dragged away, by the same Marked woman that he had talked to earlier. He could tell that she was trying not to hurt Ilia, despite all of her struggling. The woman kept telling Ilia to keep still and not to hurt herself. By the way that Ilia was moving, Colin could assume that her left arm was sprained—perhaps broken.
The woman closed her eyes and grimaced, a look of intense pain coming over her face. She pulled out a cloth and shoved it over Ilia's mouth. Ilia's eyes rolled back and she fell unconscious. The woman hoisted the unconscious girl over her shoulder gently, trying not to harm Ilia's arm.
Knowing that Colin was watching her, she glanced back to him. With a look of sorrow, she mouthed two words that Colin caught clearly.
"I'm sorry."
With that, she left Ordon Village behind, taking Ilia with her. Colin's eyes widened in horror.
No. No. This couldn't be happening. Ilia couldn't be gone. Not again. She had already been lost once. She wouldn't be gone again. And if Link wasn't here, then he would be the one who would have to save her.
Sheathing his sword and shield, Colin got up off of the floor and ran towards the entrance to Ordon Village. He wouldn't allow Ilia to be taken. Not this time. She wouldn't be taken again! Colin wouldn't allow anyone in Ordon Village to go through that feeling of loss again!
As Colin sprinted away, he suddenly got a feeling of danger. Turning swiftly, Colin had just enough time to pull his shield off of his back to catch Ishizu's curved blades. The shield creaked under the weight. Colin reeled back, unsheathing his sword with his other hand.
"What do you think you are doing, boy?" Ishizu spat. "You never turn your back on an opponent! Especially not me!"
Colin gritted his teeth. He had no time for this! He had to save her! As Colin engaged in a second battle of blades, he realized that it was hopeless. He had to concentrate on saving his own life from this ferocious woman. He couldn't save her. He couldn't save anyone.
Ilia . . .
Nephenee felt like, by blinking, she had missed something important. She could recall seeing Link defeat both of the Marked, but it didn't seem to register in her mind. Link placed his blade inside the leather sheath on his back and put his shield on top of it. Looking down on the corpses with a bitter smile, Link turned away and held a hand out to Nephenee, who took it carefully.
Nephenee got to her feet, but kept a hand on her throat, which was still bleeding from the cut that Risen had inflicted. Link pulled her hand away softly while taking out bandages and medicine from his pouch. Nephenee prevented herself from swallowing while Link wrapped her wound carefully, his long, rough fingers gentle on her throat. When he had tied a soft knot and removed his hands from her throat, Nephenee looked at him with a rough expression.
"You are truly Link? The wolf that I came to consider my friend?" she asked with suspicion.
"Yes," the man said. "I'm Link. The wolf is my second form, but I remain the same through it all."
"Why did you not change before?" Nephenee demanded, sheathing her blades.
Link smiled softly, his weathered face curving into something less harsh, more friendly. "Old habit. I used to have a . . . friend . . . who would always remind me that I couldn't change in front of other humans. After all, I'm one of a kind."
Nephenee nodded, but there was a determined look in her eyes. "I have questions," she stated. "And you will not avoid them forever."
"I don't doubt that. But for now. . ." Link paused before he began to whistle a tune. It took Nephenee a moment to realize that he was whistling the same tune that Skull Kid played on his odd instrument.
Leaves swirled around open air and suddenly Skull Kid was floating there, his instrument in his lap and his leafy hat falling into his glowing red eyes. Skull Kid smiled his toothy black smile when he saw Link was there with Nephenee.
"It's odd for you to call me, Link," the demon said with laughter in his voice.
"Skull Kid, I'm leaving for a while. I'm not sure how long it will take for me to come back. Before I'm leave, I'm going to lock the grove down. No one will be able to come in. At the same time, you won't be able to leave. It's for your protection. I'm not sure who will come looking for the blade next." Link used his hands while he spoke, like he couldn't bear to be still, but his face showed little emotion.
Skull Kid nodded. "That's okay. But you have to promise to come back someday, okay? It gets lonely here by myself." Skull Kid's blackened face didn't show feelings, but Nephenee could tell by the demon's mournful tone. How long had he been here, alone, waiting for someone to play with him?
"Oh, and Skull Kid, I was wondering if you could do a favor for me," Link continued.
Skull Kid lowered himself to the ground and touched his feet down lightly on the grass. "What do you need Link?"
Link pointed a finger over his shoulder to where the two corpses of the Marked lay. "I need you to bury them. I want them to have a proper grave."
Skull Kid nodded and called some his puppets to him. When he was about to approach the bodies, Nephenee cried "No!"
Link looked back at her curiously.
Nephenee sighed. "Burying the dead is a deep dishonor for the Gerudo," Nephenee said softly. "They need to be cremated, so that their souls will return to the Goddesses. I did not like them, but they do not deserve to be denied a proper Gerudo burial by fire. Only those who have committed the highest of sins will be buried in the ground." Nephenee winced when she realized that if she ever died by the hands of her sisters, she would be buried because of her treason.
Link nodded. "It's your call. Skull Kid, do what she says."
The little demon nodded and, instead of digging a hole in the ground, the puppets simply carried the bodies in their hands. Link watched them as they carried the women's bodies out of the clearing. Nephenee was about to say something when Link held out a hand.
A bird dropped from the one of the trees and landed gracefully on Link's shoulder. It sang a sweet song in his ear before Link nodded and it flew off again.
"Ordon Village is under attack." Link looked back towards Nephenee. "By your people, I believe. I won't ask you to come with me, but I can get you out of this grove."
Nephenee shook her head. "No, I will come with you. I . . . always met to go back to them, I think. Even if it is as a traitor. I have Gerudo pride. Besides, I assume that it is your village that is under attack. Nabooru would want me to fight for what is right. And I will not allow innocents to be slaughtered. In any case, we are friends, are we not?"
Link smiled. "Yes. We're friends."
Suddenly, the smile was wiped off of Link's face as he heard another bird call in the woods. His eyes widened.
"We have to leave."
Link started running through the grove at a fierce pace. Nephenee struggled to keep up. When she finally did reach his side, she asked carefully, "What has happened?"
"I wish that I knew details, Nephenee," Link said, not even winded. "All I know is that if I don't get there soon, there might not be an Ordon Village left anymore."