The Adventure of Link
Chapter Ten: Moblins in the Forest
"Down!" The moblin yelled, gesturing with its spear. "Off your horses! Drop your weapons! Empty your pockets! Do all now or lose your life!"
Looking at each other for a moment, Agahnim and Façade shrugged before slowly getting down off their horses. The stocky, bulldog like creatures jumped and grunted each time the pair made a move, going so far as to all step back a bit when the two of them turned to face their dozen attackers. Grunting again, the moblin repeated the rest of their demands, yelling louder and moving its spear even more threateningly, clearly certain that they had the upper hand in this situation.
"Well, isn't this interesting, Agahnim?" the King whispered while smiling and nodding to the creatures. "So, which one do you want?"
"I'll take the ignorant one." The wizard replied, nodding toward the one doing the talking. "Who decided to threaten us, rather than just put a spear through us when they had the chance."
Suddenly Agahnim vanished, almost instantly reappearing behind the talking moblin, and then chanting the word hechizo while his hand was outstretched. Shimmering magical energy formed in the wizard's palm, shooting outward and causing the creature to scream as it was engulfed in a flash of white light… and when the light faded there was no longer a moblin standing there… but a blue, gelatinous bot.
The other moblins were so stunned by this transformation, followed by Agahnim raising his foot to squash the bot that had once been their ally, that they didn't notice Façade drawing his sword until it was too late. With a quick slash of the blade, the nearest creature's head was nearly cleaved off, and without wasting any time, the King rushed forward, stabbing the creature opposite of that one through the back so hard that the tip of his sword protruded through its chest just as the others were starting to react.
"Is a trap!" One of the others yelled to the others. "Is a trap to catch us! Strike them however you can, and then flee!"
Raising its spear and leaping at the wizard in order to stab him, the yelling moblin received the surprise of its life when a ball of flame formed in Agahnim's hand and he tossed it at the creature, making the flames disburse as it was struck in the chest. Stopping in mid-air as if it had struck a wall, and then crashing to the ground, the moblin shrieked as the flames spread across its body as it got up, causing it to start running into the forest… where it collapsed after getting just beyond the tree line.
Façade was making short work of them as well, slicing one's spear in half and taking off one of its arms with the same stroke, only to turn around and block a stab from another moblin with his shield… before slicing the creature's throat in a clean slash. Maybe these creatures were a threat to common travelers, but they were no match for the heroes who had fought against Ganondorf five years ago, shown again when the King ducked underneath the next moblin's spear swing, only to slash across its knees as he moved around behind it, and stabbed the creature through the back.
"Hielo!" Agahnim shouted, causing a moblin to freeze in place as it was engulfed by freezing white energy from his hand. "Careful, he's brittle."
"Enough! Enough!" One of the remaining four creatures shouted as the wizard pushed over the ice statue, shattering it. "No more, we surrender! We surrender!"
It and the other three creatures quickly dropped their spears, putting up their hands, and trembling with fear even as Façade sheathed his sword. The once bold bandits were now whimpering, professing how sorry they were, and how much they regretted what they had done… of course, with few exceptions, this was how almost all criminals acted upon being captured or defeated.
"Bow down, you drooling ingrates!" Agahnim ordered before pointing at Façade. "Kneel before the King of Hyrule!"
Without hesitation, the remaining moblins bowed down at Façade's feet, again pleading how sorry they were, and how they didn't realize who he was, and begging him for mercy… again, exactly the same things that any captured criminal would do. Although intelligent and well-composed, Agahnim was also known to be absolutely ruthless when it came to fighting, and from the look in the wizard's eyes, it was clear that the last five years had not done anything to change this… but maybe there was an opportunity in this for mercy…
"All right, moblins, you've seen what happened here today." The King began, keeping his tone low and serious. "Your friends paid the ultimate price for their evil ways, but you… you have a chance for redemption. If I let you go, do you swear on Queen Zelda's honor that you will gather up everything you have stolen, and return every item to their rightful owners, no matter how long it takes?"
"We swear!" The closest creature promised, while the others agreed. "We swear! No matter how long it takes, we will!"
This oath was enough for Façade to let the remaining moblins go, but since he was not a fool, the King added that if they betrayed him and broke their oath, he would have the governor of each Province, which included Agahnim, place a bounty on all moblins until the guilty ones were found again, no matter where in Hyrule they ran to… or Arcadia for that matter, since his family still ruled there, too.
All of the moblins assured him that there was no need for such a bounty, and when Façade motioned for them to leave, the creatures wasted no time in trampling over each other as they sought the safety of the forest. To further the point of this mercy, Agahnim tossed a ball of flame so that it struck a nearby tree, scaring them with the small explosion so that they ran off through the trees even faster until they were out of sight.
"Well, that was a nice warmup for Rebonock." The wizard said as they turned back toward their horses. "It's good to know that five years of palace life haven't slowed you down all that much."
"Indeed… I just hope that they take the right lesson from this." The King explained while they mounted the horses and resumed the ride south. "Moblins have gained a reputation for serving Ganondorf five years ago, but they shouldn't have to keep suffering now that he is gone. It is my hope that even they will one day be counted among the loyal subjects of Hyrule."
Agahnim was skeptical, since he had seen such creatures robbing travelers since long before Ganondorf had come to the Kingdom, but if Façade wanted to try and rehabilitate them, who was he to question the King? Either way, the moblin bandits were long gone, and even more of the sun was slowly blocked as they made their way deeper into the forest. The increasingly thick canopy of leaves left a dotted pattern of small sunbeams on the road, and although it was enough to see the road, everything else was almost as dark as if night had fallen.
"Maybe I should give the lumberjacks a little more freedom." Façade suggested, squinting his eyes to see among the darkened trees. "Not to clear-cut the forests completely, but maybe to thin them out a little for, you know, the safety of travelers."
"Couldn't hurt." The wizard replied with a shrug. "There would certainly be less opportunity for bandits on roads like this if the sun could shine in once in a while."
For over an hour they rode through the darkened forest without incident, passing one or two carriages along the way, each with mounted torches lit, creating a small ring of orange light around them. This wasn't completely necessary since the road itself was illuminated by the dots of sunlight, but such practices usually made the passengers feel safer… not that the torches would have prevented such things as, for example, a moblin ambush.
"You're welcome." Façade said quietly as the second carriage passed. "Don't thank us, you're perfectly welcome for making the roads of Hyrule safe."
Then there was a sound… a sort of rumbling from high above as the dots of sunlight on the road became softer… clouded, and gradually less illuminating as their color changed from bright yellow to cloudy gray… and then a darker shade of gray while the rustling sound of falling water reached their ears. Only a few drops of rain here and there made it through the canopy, but their temporary shelter from the slowly intensifying shower didn't matter, since when it rained in Hyrule… it rained for days.
"Suddenly those torches don't seem like a half-bad idea." The King commented as the road grew darker. "I don't suppose that you could, maybe… light the way for us?"
Agahnim smirked for a second, before the two of them were slowly illuminated by flickering orange light while another ball of flame appeared in his hand. Instead of keeping it there like a torch, however, the wizard tossed it up ahead, lighting up a larger area as the flames disbursed, and then tossing another one… and another. This created a constantly illuminated road, and the rain was just enough to put out the flames before they could spread, but the rain was also a blessing, since most bandits took shelter at such times.
"It looks like we're in luck, Agahnim." Façade commented as more rain drops came through the canopy above. "If this rain keeps up, we might get all the way to King's Cross without further incident."
"Oh, it will keep up, all right." The wizard replied, adjusting his hood to keep the water from his face. "I just hope you don't mind facing Rebonock during a storm."
Lightning struck, briefly illuminating the road through the brightened dots again, and now the wind was starting to pick up, allowing a lot more rain to fall on them as the canopy was blown around. Thankfully the gust didn't last long, but it motivated the two of them to ride faster, hoping to maybe find better shelter at least until the storm reached a low point. There were scattered cabins along the forested roads, but they were few and far between, and could just as easily be used by more bandits as they could by travelers or lumberjacks.