Chapter 9: Demons and Heros
"She did what?!"
The table she had been sitting at crashed to the floor as Impa stood up, her anger ignited and exploding to its full extent.
"Zelda wanted you to know that she was leaving with Malon to find Link. She told us to tell you after she left," Himmels said with a shrug. The young sheikah ducked as a chair flew straight above her where her head had just been. It crashed into the wall with such force that it splintered on impact, leaving nothing but bits and pieces lying on the ground.
"Easy Impa," Draculina said chuckling at her teachers rage. "Although it is always fun to see you angry," she leapt out of the way as several knives came flying towards her and embedded themselves into the castles stone walls. Draculina stared at the two knives that were now stuck several inches into the castles walls and smiled at her teacher, "You missed."
Impa threw up her hands in rage. "Do you know how big of a problem this is?!" she roared. "I don't care how well prepared those two are, they never should have left! Ganondorf has his army somewhere out there and they could not handle that themselves!" She slammed a nearby wall, causing fractures to appear in the granite as she stared blankly at the wall.
"At least we taught her a lot about warfare and you have to remember," Himmels said quickly, "her grandmother was a sheikah so she does have sheikan blood and magic running through her veins. She can handle herself."
"And we can't forget about Malon's lineage. Talon is her adopted father and you do remember who the real father and mother are for her."
Impa groaned as she walked over to the only surviving chair in the room and collapsed into it, massaging her forehead in worry.
"I don't care about any of that right now. All I know is that Zelda's father will not be happy with this." She stopped rubbing her head and dropped her hands into her lap. "How will I be able to explain to him that his daughter and Malon went off to search for Link while Ganondorf is running wild somewhere in the world…
Draculina and Himmels looked at each other and smiled mischievously. They nodded and Draculina mouthed to Himmels, go ahead. Himmels grin widened and she approached Impa.
"You could always tell him that this is exactly like when you went off to find Tamor after he left."
Impa's head jerked up as her eyes widened, "No…no, no no… we are not bringing that up!
"Why not?" Draculina said grinning. "This is the exact same circumstances of that event. You went out when you were Zelda's age, about 17 years ago now. You tried to find Tamor after he went to fight off Volvagia after it had started to attack the Gorons."
"Although…" Himmels said with a twinkle in her eyes, "when you found him you two did kind of…"
"Stop right there!" Impa roared as she leapt off the chair, her face flush with both anger and embarrassment, a sheikan knife held dangerously in her hand.
"Well, if you won't tell the king about this then we will just have to take your place." Draculina said with a shrug.
"We could even tell him why Kakariko Village is so close to Death Mountain. It was so that you could visit a certain red sheikah…" Himmels inserted.
Impa glared at her two students. Why did I ever tell them about all this…why! After several moments she pocketed the knife and threw her hands in the air.
"Fine, I'll tell him, however," Impa said pointing at Himmels and Draculina. "Both of you as well as Guntou since he was in on this need to head off to Termina to find them."
"No problem," responded Himmels. "Finally an excuse to get out of the castle or beating on guards." The two sheikah bowed to their teacher and quickly exited the room, out to search for Guntou so they could start their journey. Impa watched them leave then sighed slowly, walking across the room and stared at the knives sticking out of the wall. She stared at the hilts of each and thought about who had given them to her. Each hilt was fire red, with tiny rubies built into it. At the end of each one, there was a small symbol of a flame with two knives crossing in front of it, the symbol of the red sheikah tribe.
She gripped each one and pulled them out of the wall and carefully sheathed them. Walking slowly to the window, she looked at the open field in front of Hyrule Castle and saw two figures, one white the other black as well as a man in a guard uniform talking together. The three then sprinted towards the stables where less than a minute later, they reappeared on horses and galloped away. Impa sighed and walked to the door, readying herself to speak to the king.
Zelda is like a daughter to me. And Malon…She remember sixteen years ago when she first laid eyes on the red headed child and held her in her arms. A small tear trickled down her face as she remembered what had happened to her father and what would happen if something was to happen to Malon, or Zelda. They better come back soon with those two girl…. They need to come back…to make his sacrifice to not be in vain…
Link rode through the countryside at a brisk pace, enjoying the beauty around him. He had left Termina two days earlier at night and by his reckoning, he was already halfway to Minato.
The area he was in now was lightly wooded and hilly with large patches where the forest would simply disappear, replace by gentle rolling hills.
Kind of looks like Hyrule field…
He followed the path he was on as it winded its way around a large hill. Someone had cut the path through the hill, producing a small cliff right next to the path. As he rounded the bend, he felt a sudden chill in the air. He felt a feeling of foreboding that made him shiver and instinctively reach for his gilded sword. He slowed Epona to a stop and scanned the area around him, when he saw movement to his left. Link leapt off Epona, rolling as he hit the ground as a large throwing knife split the air right where he had been.
"Impressive," came a deep voice from the forest around him. "I didn't expect you to see that coming. You are more skilled than I thought…"
Link dropped to the ground as another knife flew at him from the forest and as it flew over him, pushed himself up and did a backflip as a knife embedded itself into the ground right in front of him. A third knife came whizzing towards him and he deflected it with his gilded sword, sending it back into the woods where it had come from.
Menacing laughter crackled across the wind as Link saw a shadowy form start to materialize out of the forest.
"Very good, no wonder why Ganondorf wanted me for this job. You are indeed a very skilled warrior." The figure stopped just before the tree line and Link could start to make out the persons form. The man stood about six and a half feet tall and wore all black. As he made out what the abilities and what he knew so far about this person, he noticed that the person's eyes were gleaming a dark red.
"Looks like I have a demon on my hands…" Link muttered.
"Half-demon actually," replied the man as he now stepped out into the sun. "My name is Exdeamon and I believe that you are Link, correct?" Link nodded.
"So, why are you doing the bidding of Ganondorf and where is he right now?" Link asked, pointing his sword at Exdeamon. "I don't have time to play with henchmen at this moment so just tell me where he is and we won't have to fight."
"Not fight?" Exdeamon laughed as he unsheathed a large sword from his back. The sword was perfectly black with a little line of crimson running down the center from the hilt to the end of the blade. "But that is why I came to find you. I've heard of you before and know that you are good." Exdeamon crouched as he held the sword in front of him, his eyes blazing with energy, "Let's just see how good…"
Across the valley from Link was a large hill covered almost entirely with trees. At the top were the remains of what used to be a watchtower. However, now all that remained was the bottom level which was also heavily weathered and destroyed by those seeking to find easy building materials.
A lone person stood in front of the tower and watched the two figures below him as they clashed and fought against one another. Several minutes passed by as the man was joined by a second, older man who wore a large turban and long, flowing robes.
"So, Ganondorf…" said the second man, "Do you believe that Exdeamon can beat him?"
"Aghanim…do you doubt my choice in servants?" Ganondorf replied coldly, not taking his eyes off of the battle below.
Aghanim chuckled, "Certainly not. I was just thinking that you would like to kill the brat yourself? If Exdeamon wins, he will kill Link against your orders."
Ganondorf folded his arms across his chest and chuckled. "I have made plans for that scenario Aghanim...now, be silent, and enjoy the show…"
Link's breaths came in rapid order and he felt as his body was slowing down. The battle had begun almost ten minutes before and neither combatant had gained the advantage. Exdeamon noticed Link's drained expression and charged towards him. Link raised his sword and blocked the high blow and countered with his own side slash aimed at Exdeamons chest. The half demon blocked the blow easily with his sword and tried to knee Link in the chest. Link back flipped away and blocked several following attacks, barely deflecting the last with his shield that would have taken his head off.
"Are you tiring out already?" Exdeamon asked as he circled around Link, who was watching him carefully, searching for a weakness.
"No," Link replied roughly as he tried to form a new strategy in his mind. Attacking him like this just isn't working. He strained for ideas as he jumped out of the way of another one of Exdeamons attacks. If there is only a way to stun him for a moment…
Links eyes widened. Stun him…deku nuts! He mentally slapped himself as he ducked a final blow from Exdeamon and ducked backwards, avoiding the strike by inches as he watched the sword slide right under his chin.
Link stopped twenty feet away from Exdeamon who was laughing at him. The hylian pulled several small objects from his pocket and grinned.
Exdeamon noticed the objects in Link's hand and laughed even harder. "Do you know that those won't work against me, you know that right?" Link smirked.
"Funny, that is what most people say, right before they experience them firsthand." Exdeamon continued to chuckle, then to Link's surprise, sheathed his sword and held his hands out to his sides. "Fine, if you want to believe it will work, try it…and feel the results."
Link didn't bother waiting for a better chance and threw the first deku nut against Exdeamon's chest. It exploded with a bright flash and a burst of smoke as Link lunged forward, throwing a second deku nut against his foe. Just seconds after the second nut exploded, Link jumped into the air, raising his sword above his head to attack with a helm splitter when an arm reached out of the smoke cloud, catching him by the throat as raucous laughter filled the air.
"I told you," Exdeamon said slowly as the smoke started to clear, "It wouldn't work." Link struggled frantically as the grip around his neck tightened. He didn't get much time though as his opponent raised him further into the air and threw him towards the cliff wall.
Link felt a jolt of pain sear through his body as he slammed face first, directly into the cliff. He hid with such force that as he fell to the ground, large cracks appeared in the cliff's wall and loud cracking sounds could be heard. Link struggled to his feet, wiping at his forehead where he felt blood trickling down his face.
A loud crack punctured the air and Link looked up at the cliff in horror as a large part of the cliff started to collapse. He dove forward, trying to avoid the collapsing wall when he felt pressure force him back to the ground and pain shoot up his legs. Turning back, he saw that the avalanche of rock had caught his legs and pinned them under almost a ton of rock.
"You just had to try that didn't you, and now look where it has gotten you…"
Exdeamon slowly approached Link who was trying desperately to free himself from the rock surrounding his legs. Exdeamon shook his head. "Almost a pity that I will have to kill you this quickly. I at least expected more of a fight from you at the least…" He unsheathed his sword, which gleamed in the sunlight as he held it aloft.
"Well, its been nice knowing you Link, however…I have better things to do with my time than waste it on pathetic heroes…"
As Exdeamon raised the sword above his head, Link whistled a fast tune and held his sword out in front of him at an angle, supporting the hilt of it against the ground. Exdeamon faltered for a second as he heard hoof beats behind him. He turned just as he felt the full weight of Epona slam directly into him, knocking him backwards and to the ground, where Link was waiting.
Link felt as Exdeamon fell directly onto his sword and released his grip on the blade, allowing it to fall to the side near him. He watched as Exdeamon fell sideways onto the ground then rolled onto his chest, trying to push himself off the ground with the sword in his back.
Link took only a minute to remove the rock around his legs and got shakily to his feet, his legs wobbling somewhat. At least nothing is broken…he thought as he walked over to where Exdeamon lay and pulled his sword out of him. Exdeamon shuddered just a little as Link wiped the sword clean before sheathing it and walking to Epona.
"Good job girl," he said patting her head before he mounted his stead. Link heard a sound behind him and turned as he got onto Epona.
How in Hyrule?!
Exdeamon was now standing, holding a hand to his chest, covering the hole where Link's sword had gone through him. As Exdeamon pulled his hand away, the hole was gone, the only thing that stated its existence being a hole in his armor.
"How did you…" Link stuttered as Exdeamon chuckled.
"You really haven't faced any half-demons before, have you?" Link shook his head slowly keeping his eyes focused on the man in front of him.
"You can't kill us, not with any normal weapon at least…" Exdeamon said laughing lightly. "I have to say though, it is a pain to get stabbed though, its not an experience that I enjoy very much."
Link's mouth dropped. "You mean that…I can't beat you?" Exdeamon nodded, "That is exactly true, however… you have bested me in combat with nobody so far has been able to do." Exdeamon walked over to his sword and picked it up, re-sheathing it almost immediately.
"Since you were able to at least think to have beaten me, let me give you a tip about a question you asked earlier…" Link shook back his surprise and started to refocus on what Exdeamon was saying.
"You wanted to know where Ganondorf is, right?" Link nodded. "Well, he is actually watching us right now from that hill just beyond this valley." Exdeamon said while pointing to the remains of a large tower surrounding by trees.
"Thanks, I guess," Link said as he started Epona forward. He felt a hand on his shoulder and stopped Epona, turning back to look at Exdeamon who was standing next to him.
"I am not finished. He is up there with his entire army, waiting for you. If you went right now, you wouldn't stand a chance."
His whole army? Link thought surprise at the new information. Why can't he just be by himself?
"What should I do then?" Link asked.
"I would head up the mountain path instead, head to Minato and take a ship to the city of Turalis. That way you avoid his army now and could gain support and an army from Turalis to face him. I know the Prince who rules there, and I am certain that he would lend you his army."
"Thank you again, Exdeamon." Link said as he reached out his hand and Exdeamon shook it.
"No problem," came the reply. "I may have been hired by Ganondorf to kill you, but he made one mistake…he paid in advance." Link started to grin as Exdeamon pulled out a large bag of rupees. Link started Epona towards the mountains, leaving Exdeamon behind. He stopped after several yards and turned around.
"Wait, how do you know so much about Turalis and their Prince?" Link yelled.
"I've met him before, under favorable circumstances…" came the reply. Link tried to yell out to him again but Exdeamon disappeared out into the trees. Link sighed heavily and glanced from the hill where Ganondorf stood to the mountains several miles away. He clicked for Epona to start and together they galloped towards the mountains.
"It appears that Link is smarter or luckier than we though," Aghanim said as he watched Link disappear into the forest trail towards the mountains.
Ganondorf nodded as he watched Link riding away towards the mountains. "It appears we will have to rethink our strategy. Aghanim, I will be leaving for Minato. You stay back here and fix up a surprise for Link once he makes it to those mountains. I'll be arranging a surprise for him if he makes it out alive." With that, Ganondorf turned and began walking down the hill towards his horse, a jet black stallion.
Aghanim nodded and smiled. Hoho, this is going to be fun. Aghanim thought as he rolled up his sleeves and started to mutter incantations under his breath as clouds started to form over the mountains.
"Remember Aghanim," Ganondorf yelled up to his servent, "I would like to face him myself at one point. Try not to have too much fun." Ganondorf clicked his heels into his horse and galloped away down the hill towards his awaiting army of monsters.
I will face him soon enough.
Cimar: Well, I hope you have enjoyed the last chapter for a while. Read the next chapter to find out the rest of the story in a brief summary. That way, everyone can finish the story without having to wait for however long it takes me to be able to finish it. Please leave a review as well. It always livens up my week reading those.