((A/N: Well, between playing Master Sword: Continued and working on my next AP English IV paper [this one on C.S. Lewis], I have somehow managed to churn out another chapter. Another update may be long-coming though. I also have to read "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man", and it's spring break next week. Spring break = cleaning out my closet and LOTS of video games and RPing.

It took me a bit to finally figure out how I wanted this fight scene to go. I wasn't sure if I wanted to draw out the beginning or just have it flow the way it does. Eh.

Ten: Yeah, it was actually the shortest of my chapters, I think. I dunno how it turned out that way… *scratches her chin* And Aidan is a pretty cool name, I agree. I think one of my old teachers' son is named that, and it's the name of a Ranger NPC in Guild Wars. :P I know, I am a loser.

Jenn: Yup, it's a prelude. Hope I didn't disappoint with the battle, though. As for Zelda, you'll be seeing her again soon, don't worry. :P

Tetraforce: Okay… breaking the response to each review in numbers by earliest chapters. 1. Er… I stated it was spring, right? Pretty sure I did… 2. Fun to some, to her, a bit of a struggle. You gotta realize this kid is like, fourteen. 3. And what do you mean, rules as to use of a sword…?))

Chapter 13: To Conquer the Strategist

He rode atop a pure black steed of unnatural size and strength, its eyes burning like coals. His short, messy black hair waved a bit in the breeze, green eyes narrowed dangerously. At his sides were several mounted Bulblins, bows in the hands of the second rider while the first held the reins of the Bullbos they rode. Blaine drew his lance, raising it to the night sky. One Bulblin archer stepped forward with a longbow, notching a flaming arrow. It aimed not at the wagon, but farther ahead. As the arrow soared through the sky and hit the grass, the oil poured out in a semicircle to block the way to the gate caught aflame, a raging inferno springing forth.

The frightened neighing of the wagon's horses reached his ears, Blaine now pointing his lance at the target. Immediately the Bulblins surged forward, swarming in behind the wagon and its green-clad guardian. Blaine held his ground, watching as his plan was carried out flawlessly. The guardian had no time to even draw that boomerang that summoned the wind, firing arrow after arrow at his attackers. Soon, he and the wagon would be overwhelmed.

Unexpectedly, arrows shot one after another into the backs of the Bulblins, the mounted archers falling. Blaine growled, turning his head to the side and seeing his younger sister riding forward on Cale's horse Jaraci with a bow in one hand and the other reaching for more arrows. This was something he hadn't planned for. He had thought Danielle wouldn't be able to catch up in time, let alone be a skilled enough archer to take out the Bulblins. He lifted his left hand, a golden gauntlet with a clear crystal in the middle of the top covering his whole left hand. Clenching his hand into a fist, the strategist urged his dark steed forward. Zant had ordered Danielle to be retrieved, but the shadow king never stated she had to be unharmed.

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Danielle felt searing heat graze her left cheek, her hand grasping another arrow. Her attacker rushed by on the boar-like mount, the girl plunging the arrow she held deep into its rider's chest. "Link! How many arrows do you have left?"

The Hylian had dismounted Epona, taking arrows from the fallen archers while Danielle drew their attention. "Enough!" he called back, his blue eyes narrowed. Even with Danielle's help, a handful of riders remained, but their archer partners had been taken out. In one swift move, Link had notched an arrow and let it loose, striking the throat of one of the creatures. The flames illuminated the area, casting an orangish glow over everything as a young blonde girl in the back of the wagon looked out towards them with worry in her eyes.

"Watch out!" Telma shouted, also observing the battle from where she sat. Danielle snapped her head sideways to see the Bulblins fleeing but a black-clad knight riding forward past them.

"Blaine," Danielle growled, immediately recognizing her brother by the lance that he carried. "Hurry and get the wagon to Kakariko, Link!"

He nodded, running over to Epona and leaping into the saddle, pulling out his Gale Boomerang. As soon as it left his hand, wind wrapped around it and blew out the fierce flames in front of Telma's wagon. Not wasting a single second, Telma urged the horses on while Link unlocked the next gate.

Bringing Jaraci around, Danielle faced her sibling and notched an arrow. Quickly letting it loose, she frowned as it merely clanged harmlessly off Blaine's armor. She quickly drew another arrow, taking note that it was her second-to-last one, and aimed not at her brother but his steed. The arrow pierced deep into its chest, the horse letting out an otherworldly screech before abruptly bursting into darkness. Danielle was frozen in shock as that darkness took on a will of its own and slammed into her, feeling like a thick liquid that carried a piercing chill. The blow she took knocked her clear off Jaraci, the darkness covering her chest and part of her neck as it lifted her into the air. Her horse let out a frightened neigh, quickly racing away from the strange creature that had attacked its rider.

"Amazing, isn't it? Perfect for following people in secret, too. It was how I managed to track you so easily and send Cale and Rurik right to your location. Pure darkness, animated by the power of Animus." Blaine slowly walked forward, a humorous look on his face as he held up his gauntleted left hand. "Argyris is indestructible, all weapons useless against it."

"What, you had to send this thing to find me? Guess you aren't that bright, or else you would have figured out where I was each time we returned light to the provinces!" Her philippic tone caused irritation to cross Blaine's face as she glared down at him. The strategist motioned with his left hand, Argyris slamming her hard into the ground and pinning her there while Blaine crouched before her.

"Seems you've even developed a sharp tongue, Danielle." His gauntleted left hand grasped her by her chin, Blaine jerking up her head so that her eyes met his. They were cold and calculating, the eyes of a deadly and efficient strategist concerned only with accomplishing his mission at any cost. "My plans were perfect. I just failed to take into the account the possibility of you using your power or actually turning down Rurik's offer."

"Seems to me that they weren't as perfect as you thought, then." Danielle narrowed her eyes, the oily darkness wrapping tendrils slowly about her arms and numbing the skin with cold. "I'm not a child, Blaine, and I'm no fool. I've changed." She released the bow she held, both hands resting on the cool grass. Argyris flowed over most of her body, keeping her pinned and immobile, unable to reach for her sword. "You may be my brother, but I won't hesitate to fight you. I can defeat you and your twisted creation!"

At this he laughed, releasing her jaw and rising to his feet. "With what? Your power? Do you even know how to control it or why you have it?" Danielle paused, her eyes never leaving Blaine's face. He turned his back to her, still chuckling a bit. "I guess she hasn't told you anything at all, has she? She's just using you as a pawn and never revealing the truth, manipulating you every step of the way."

"If you're trying to turn me against the princess, it will not work, Blaine." She gripped her right hand into a fist, fighting against the powerful darkness wrapped around her arm as she began to reach up towards her back. "I almost fell for Rurik's lies before, but I won't make the same mistake again!"

Blaine looked over his shoulder, his expression quickly changing to one of amazement. Danielle was fighting against Argyris and winning, her hand managing to grasp the hilt of the Champion Blade and drawing it from its scabbard. Channeling her power into the sword, brilliant light shot along the steel. An inhuman screech of anguish filled the air, the darkness instantly releasing her and darting off, much to Blaine's dismay. He immediately raised his hand, Argyris sliding along the ground and wrapping around him slightly. As Danielle rose to her feet, a sickening stench of something burnt filled her nostrils, but she didn't drop her guard. Apparently the light had harmed the twisted creation, causing it to disobey Blaine's orders for a second to save itself.

Her brother turned his cool emerald gaze back to her as he gripped his lance Malte with both hands. "So, you do know how to use your powers after all. Maybe I was wrong about you. But you still don't know the significance of them." Blaine pointed his lance at her while Danielle stepped back and held her sword out in front of her with both hands. "But I wonder just how much control over them you really have." Moving swiftly, Blaine lunged forward and brought the tip of his lance around in a swing at her head, Danielle leaning back to avoid the strike. Straightening herself, she ducked down and swiped the back of Blaine's leg while diving past, rolling and coming up in a crouch. The moonlight illuminated a slight stain of crimson on her sword as Blaine hissed, falling to a knee and holding the back of his right leg.

Danielle quickly turned to face Blaine, seeing a mass of darkness shooting towards her face before everything turned pitch black. Argyris had leapt forward from Blaine and wrapped around her head and neck, squeezing her neck slowly in an attempt to suffocate her. She kept her mouth shut tight, for if she opened it, there was no telling that the dark creation would do. Collapsing to her knees, she used her left hand to try and pull the oily darkness from her face, but her its body slipped through her fingers like water. If she didn't do anything, the unnatural being would incapacitate her and leave her as easy prey for Blaine.

A metal-covered hand latched onto her left wrist, Blaine's chuckling muffled and barely audible to her. He was taunting her, waiting for her to succumb to the lack of oxygen as he prevented her from trying to pull away Argyris with the hand wearing Animus…

Animus… it brought this thing to life…

Knowing this was the only chance she had, Danielle grabbed her sword tightly by its blade and brought it up, thrusting the tip as hard as she could into Blaine's arm, managing to hit it despite being blinded. As soon as he released her wrist and yelped in pain, she grabbed Animus and pulled it off before he could clench his hand into a fist. As soon as it came off, the darkness around her face released her and fell away, dissolving into thin air and leaving no trace behind. Gasping heavily for air, she stumbled away from Blaine and watched as he held the crook of his arm, crimson flowing from an opening in the armor. He glared furiously at her, letting out a cry of rage as he charged and lunged at her side with his lance. Danielle dropped Animus and sidestepped, using her left arm to wrap it around the lance while slamming the pommel of her blade at his jaw. He grunted, releasing his lance as he sunk to his knees and clutched his face with his right hand. Tossing away Malte, Danielle stared down at her defeated brother as he hissed in pain through clenched teeth. "Give up, Blaine… You don't have a chance of winning."

Too late she saw the smirk at the corner of his lips, pain ripping through her right shin as her scream filled the night sky. Blaine had taken the final arrow from her quiver when she struck him in the face, and his left hand had plunged it deep into her flesh. Crashing to the ground with tears of pain in her eyes, she wrapped her left hand around the injury. Her brother made his move as a tiger pouncing on wounded prey, his left hand going to her throat. "No, you are the one who has no chance of winning, Danielle." A savage grin was on his face as he throttled her. "And when you awaken again, you will be kneeling before the king of shadows!"

Her hand wrapped tightly around the Champion Blade's hilt, the strength the spirits blessed her with filling her. "Sorry, brother," she managed to gasp out with narrowed eyes a second before she slammed the hilt as hard as she could into the side of his head. An expression of shock crossed his features one last time before Blaine crumpled sideways to the ground, knocked unconscious by the blow. Danielle gasped a bit for air once more, having barely recovered from Argyris trying to suffocate her before Blaine did the same. The sharp, stabbing pain in her leg made her want to whimper in pain right there in the middle of the field.

Have to get to Kakariko before Blaine wakes up…

Danielle returned the Champion Blade to its sheath, whistling to Jaraci. The horse trotted over, neighing worriedly and pawing at the ground with her hooves. "I'm okay, Jaraci… I'm okay." Grunting, she put her left knee under her and crawled over to where she had dropped Animus and Malte. Even the slightest movements of her injured leg brought fresh spikes of pain, her teeth gritted tightly while she used the lance to support herself and rise to her feet. Gasping, Danielle quickly grabbed onto Jaraci's saddle and struggling to stick Animus in the leather pouch tied to it. That was when magic shot into both weapons and caused them to disappear right out of her hands. "Ah?" Startled, she shifted her weight to her good leg and looked around quickly until she spotted the unmistakable shadow form of Midna.

The imp floated there with her eye narrowed, an unreadable expression on her face. Her eye flickered to Blaine before going back to Danielle, who had finally pulled herself into the saddle with a grunt of pain. "Getting yourself into trouble again, eh? I'm not at all surprised." Danielle frowned, not saying anything in reply. The arrow was still embedded in her leg, as she didn't want to risk pulling it out right now. With no way to treat the injury and the chance of damaging her leg even more by pulling out the arrowhead, it was best to leave it in and deal with the pain. She peered down at the injury, grimacing before looking forward and jumping in surprise upon seeing Midna right there in front of her. "Thanks," she spoke, causing Danielle to stare at her in surprise. "Thanks… for saving Link back there."

It took a few seconds for Danielle to respond, grinning wearily. "I couldn't very well let the hero die, now could I? He's the one who's supposed to save Hyrule and defeat Zant." Closing her eyes, she let out a soft breath, sitting up straight in the saddle and taking the reins in hand.

Midna seemed to be thinking about something, glancing once more at Blaine. "About earlier in Kakariko, I…" She paused before shaking her head, diving down into Danielle's shadow and leaving her statement unfinished as a cool night breeze blew across the field.