Author's Note: This chapter was origininally going to be two chapters, but I couldn't find a place to break it in half so I just made it one chapter. I'm very happy with this chapter, it is definitely the most action-packed chapter of the story so far. I'm sorry for not gettting this up when I said I would but it's finally up and ready for you to enjoy. As always, feel free to leave your thoughts. I can never really know how well I'm doing without feedback.
Chapter 21: The War of Realms Begins
"So what exactly do you mean when you say that going to Lake Hylia will help Link?" asked Ilia with a confused expression as the two of them rode along Southern Hyrule Field.
"Well it's not really Lake Hylia that is important. My true destination is the Gerudo Desert. It just so happens that going through Lake Hylia is the only way to get there," explained Colin as he led his horse down the dirt path.
"Well my question still stands, why exactly are you going there?" repeated Ilia.
"Well I don't know everything, only fuzzy details. I overheard Link and Princess Zelda talking about a third piece of some sword, I forgot the name. They were saying how they couldn't get to it because they had to defend Hyrule from the Twili attack so I decided to goget it for them," explained Colin.
"The Breaker Sword?!" exclaimed Ilia suddenly. Colin's horse almost lost track due to Ilia's sudden outburst.
"Ilia! You almost scared me half to death! Why did you have to scream like that?" asked a frustrated Colin as he steered his horse back onto the path. They turned left and were heading for the easternmost path of southern Hyrule Field. This path led to Lake Hylia.
"Sorry, it's just that what you said reminded me of the Breaker Sword," said Ilia.
"What's the Breaker Sword?" asked Colin.
"It's an ancient blade that can help Link fight evil. When I was captured, Link showed up to battle this evil guy named Ganondorf. Ganondorf was about to kill Link when him, Zelda and I were transported to the Sacred Grove. When we were there, these five sages appeared and explained that for Link to beat Ganondorf, he has to combine the power of the Master Sword with the Breaker Sword," explained Ilia. Colin appeared to be lost so Ilia added "Link did tell you about his duel with Ganondorf right?" Colin came out of his stupor and nodded.
"Yeah. I was just thinking about this Breaker Sword. If what you say is true then we're dealing with something very ancient and powerful. It sounds exciting," Colin said as the two of them entered the Lanayru Province.
"Colin I don't think you realize what is at stake here. We must succeed in getting that piece of the sword. If we don't, the world will be in great peril. Ganondorf will reign unstoppable," Ilia said with a solemn face. Colin's smile lifted and he sighed.
"Alright Ilia. I'm just glad that I can finally do something to help. Everyone was always treating me like I'm some sort of child. Before you say anything, I realize that I am still a child. But I've proven that I can be helpful in dangerous situations so I didn't approve of being ignored," Colin snapped just as Ilia was about to open her mouth. Ilia closed her mouth and laughed. The two of them traveled down the road until they came to the bridge that was over Lake Hylia. Colin stopped his horse and looked down at the Lake, puzzled.
"How are we supposed to get down? I don't see any paths or anything," asked Colin, bemused. Ilia laughed again.
"Link never told you about the guy that lives in that house over there? The only way to get down to Lake Hylia is to rent a couple of cuccos and have them fly us down there," Ilia explained with a smile on her face.
"That's stupid. Well if it's the only way, let's go," conceded Colin. He made his horse walk across the side of the bridge all the way down to the edge of the mountain where a path that led to a house was. He and Ilia both got off the horse and walked into the house. They were greeted with several cuccos and a man that was dressed like a cucco standing by the exit on the right side of the room. When the man spotted them, he looked up and clapped his hands together excitedly.
"Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to Falbi's Flight by Fowell. I'm Falbi and I live in this house. For twenty rupees each you two can catch a ride on a cucco and go down to Lake Hylia! Whatdaya say?" greeted Falbi.
"Sure. Don't worry Colin, I'll pay for both of us," said Ilia as she reached into her pocket and took out two red rupees. Falbi took them, inspected them for a second and then put them in his pocket, satisfied that they were real.
"Ok you're all paid. Feel free to pick any cuccos you want. Have a fun trip," said Falbi in an overly-enthusiastic voice. He then walked upstairs to the second floor of his house to put the money away.
Colin and Ilia took walked over to where the cuccos were and grabbed two of them, Colin a brown one, Ilia a white one. They then walked towards the ledge of Falbi's house with the cuccos flailing wildly above their heads and prepared to jump. Colin went first as he leaped out of the house into the air. After seeing Colin do it, Ilia followed and the two of them went plummeting towards the ground. They started out falling fast but once the cuccos started flapping their wings, the ride became slow and comforting.
"You know, once these things start flapping their wings, this isn't so bad. We should do this more often" called Ilia over the sound of the cuccos wailing.
"Definitely. Once this war is over, we'll have all the time in the world," Colin called back.
Ilia and Colin touched down softly and let go of the cuccos, who quickly flew away from the two of them. Ilia laughed as she saw them flail around. The two of them then looked back towards the lake and Fyer's cannon.
"So we have to get shot out of a cannon?" asked Colin.
"Yup. It's the only way to get there," answered Ilia. Colin sighed and the two of them walked across the bridge to Fyer's floating cannon. Fyer was in his usual spot of standing in front of the cannon. He looked to be staring off into space. When he heard the sound of Ilia and Colin's footsteps, he snapped to attention and smiled, delighted that two more customers had arrived. Ilia and Colin walked up to Fyer and Fyer greeted them with a warm smile.
"Welcome to Fyer's Air Fair Service. We have the normal flight and the oasis flight. The normal flight is ten rupees and the oasis flight is twenty. With the normal flight, you can fly up to that house up there," said Fyer pointing his thumb up to Falbi's house. "But with the oasis flight, you can go soaring all the way to Gerudo Desert for a mere ten more rupees," said Fyer with a grin.
"Two for the oasis flight please," said Ilia.
"That'll be forty rupees, please," said Fyer. Colin began searching his pockets for a red rupee and pulled one out after about thirty seconds worth of searching. Ilia reached into her pocket and pulled out another red rupee. The two of them gave their rupees to Fyer and he backed away from the entrance to the cannon, letting them in. Ilia and Colin walked into the cannon and waited. Fyer then crossed to the other side of the platform and wound up the rotating bar that powered the cannon. The cannon sprung to life and shot Colin and Ilia towards Gerudo Desert. They flew through the air and when they came down, they were in the very heart of the Gerudo Desert.
With rain pouring down from the sky, Link, Zelda and Midna waited in Hyrule Field for the attack they knew would come. The wind was blowing very hard now, almost sending them blown away if they didn't be careful. The sky was now very dark, with thick gray clouds blocking out the sun. Link was starting to get worried; if they had to fight the elements as well as Ganondorf, they could be in rough shape.
"Zelda, how much time is left on your hourglass?" yelled Link through the roar of the wind.
"About five minutes," called Zelda as she looked at her hourglass and put it back under her shirt. Suddenly a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder filled the sky. This was the first of the thunder and lightning that they had seen so Link figured that Ganondorf was close. This storm was getting dangerous and seemed to come out of no where which made him think that Ganondorf was behind it as if he was trying to give himself an advantage of fighting in the rain.
"Look! At the foot of the Bridge of Eldin!" called Auru pointing in that direction. Link, Zelda, Midna and the rest of the Hyrulean army all looked in that direction. A huge circular, black portal had formed in front of the bridge. It looked as if it was pulsating with purple electricity that signified that it was just created.
For a couple of moments, the portal did nothing, nothing came of it. But after a couple of suspenseful moments, the first shadow beast appeared and came running out. After it ran out, at least two hundred more followed. It appears that Ganondorf had followed Zant's tactic of turning the Twili into shadow beasts however it appeared that this time, the transformation was voluntary. They all started running towards the army. The War of Realms had begun.
"Everyone listen! On my mark, we're going to charge the shadow beasts!" called Link as he turned around to face his army. All the soldiers prepared their weapons and the Gorons cracked their knuckles in preparation for the fight. When the shadow beasts were about half way across the field, Link waved his arm forwards and led the charge into battle. Link was a little bit ahead of the army and when he got close to a shadow beast he jumped in the air and slashed a shadow beast's head off with his sword when he came down.
Running towards Link were two more shadow beasts, one from the left and one from the right. The left one jumped in the air at Link. He took out his shield and blocked the assault and the shadow beast went crashing into the ground. It quickly got up and sprang at him, so he now had one coming from the left and one from the right. Link did a spin attack and hit both of them at once, killing them as his sol-powered blade was too much for them to bear.
Looking around, Link saw that soldiers and shadow beasts were evenly matched thus far. The soldiers seemed to be holding their own, unlike when the shadow beasts first attacked eight months ago. Link's vision was blurred by the pouring rain but he could tell that the shadow beasts seemed to be shying away from him. He didn't know if it was because they remembered him, or that his sword was supercharged with the power of a sol, or that they just saw him slaughter three shadow beasts single-handedly. Whatever the case may be, the shadow beasts were focusing on the others and not him. He would just have to take the fight into his own hands.
He gripped his sword and ran towards two shadow beasts that were ganging up on a soldier. He did a jump strike on the first one, killing it instantly. However the second one swiped its claws at Link before he had time to react, knocking his sword out of his hand and up the field. Link clutched his throbbing hand and looked frantically around to see his sword. Through the rain, he saw that his sword was about twenty yards to his left. With an apologetic face, Link left the soldier to deal with the shadow beast by himself, and ran towards his sword. However he saw a shadow beast running towards it and it would get there sooner than he would. He then stopped and pulled out his clawshot. He shot the clawshot at his sword and it stuck. The clawshot then flew back towards Link and he had his sword back, the shadow beast looking confounded.
Now with the sword in hand, Link ran at the shadow beast and did a vertical slice that cut the shadow beast in half, killing it. Link then scanned the area and saw that a soldier was being ganged up by three shadow beasts. He ran over to the soldier but was too late; he had just collapsed to the ground and looked to not be breathing. Filled with rage, Link slashed his sword against the shadow beasts one after the other, the shadow beasts unable to defend themselves. When all three were dead, Link scanned the area and noticed that he was rather isolated from everyone else. There was no one around him for several yards and he was all by himself. This was the second time he noticed this and he was starting to think that Ganondorf told the shadow beasts to avoid him so that he could keep him out of the picture during the fighting. A smart move on Ganondorf's part.
Another more troubling thing that he noticed was that the shadow beasts were winning. The soldiers were putting up a good fight from the start but looking around, Link saw many more casualties from the Hyrulean Army then he did of shadow beasts. This made Link uneasy, he couldn't do this all by himself.
He saw two shadow beasts running behind a soldier that had his back turned and was fighting a shadow beast. Link hurried over to the soldier to provide assistance. He got there just as the shadow beasts leapt in the air. He blocked the two shadow beasts with his sword and stood back to back with the soldier ready to fight.
"Thanks for that Link!" called the soldier.
"No problem. I'll take care of these two, you focus on that one," Link called back over the howling wind. Link prepared his sword as the two shadow beasts leapt in the air again. As the first one came down, he sidestepped it and prepared for the second one. The shadow beast landed just to the left of the soldier who Link was fighting with. It then turned its attention to the soldier and prepared to attack it when his back was to it. Horrified, Link rushed over to the other side of the soldier to protect him from the attack. He slashed the shadow beast with his sword and it fell to the ground. Link whipped around and saw that the soldier had taken care of the other shadow beast. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Link had a new objective now. With the shadow beasts maiming more and more soldiers, he felt that he had to find the lieutenants Ashei, Auru, and Shad to discuss strategy. He started weaving in and out of the battlefield looking for the three of them, ducking around two Gorons manhandling a shadow beast. This pleased Link as it seemed the Gorons were able to stand their own against the shadow beasts. Now if only the soldiers could figure out how to defend them, they'd be fine. After frantically searching for the three lieutenants, he saw them at a corner all huddled together with Princess Zelda and Midna. They appeared to be discussing exactly what Link wanted to discuss with them. He started running over to them.
"Hey look who's late to the party," said Midna slyly. "We were just discussing what to do because your people are incompetent and can't get the job done."
"Yes," said Auru giving Midna an irritated look. "Point is, we don't know what to do. We don't know whether we should retreat or just keep fighting and hope for the best."
"What we need is more men," implored Ashei.
"More men won't solve the problem. These men are the finest that Hyrule has to offer. If we get more men that don't know how to fight, the defeat won't be any quicker," countered Auru. Ashei knew that she was beaten and didn't say anything further.
"Look!" gasped Zelda pointing towards the Bridge of Eldin. Everyone turned their heads sharply and looked at what was going on.
The portal in front of the Bridge started pulsating more violently. Then within seconds, dozens more shadow beasts came running out of the portal and towards the battlefield. They joined the fray and swayed the tide of the battle into the favor of the Twili. Auru, Ashei and Shad turned back towards Link, Zelda and Midna, their faces crestfallen.
"Well, it looks like we have no choice but to retreat. But to where? The shadow beasts will be able to follow us wherever we go," asked Auru with his head down.
"What about Zora's Domain?" asked Zelda.
"That is an interesting idea. But still, the shadow beasts could still follow us on the way there," countered Auru.
"Not if we block the way there," piped up Shad and when the rest of them looked puzzled, continued, "We may have to blow up the Bridge of Eldin." The rest of the group was shocked.
"Blow up the Bridge of Eldin? Are you mad man?" exclaimed Auru with great surprise and disbelief etched on his face.
"Do you have any alternatives? Our troops are dying and we have no where to go. I think it's a small sacrifice to make for the safety of our people and troops," said Shad with a determined expression on his face.
"I agree with Shad. We need to get started right away evacuating our population to Zora's Domain. You two," Zelda said pointing to Ashei and Shad "Will go to Castle Town and lead the inhabitants away to Zora's Domain by way of the Lanayru Bridge over Lake Hylia. Auru, you will gather the remainder of your troops and lead them to Kakariko Village to protect the citizens there as they head towards Zora's Domain. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Shad, Auru and Ashei answered in unison. Ashei and Shad then started sprinting to the right and headed towards the western entrance to Castle Town. When they went through the entrance, Zelda looked satisfied and turned to Auru once more.
"I'm going to make a white flag on a pole. Use it to call off your troops and have them regroup in Kakariko Village. We'll plan further from there once we're out of the way of the shadow beasts," ordered Zelda. She then stuck her hand in the air and a metal pole about twenty feet long materialized out of thin air and landed in her hand. Attached at the end of the pole was a white flag. Zelda handed the flag over to Auru and he started waving it while facing the battlefield. The soldiers didn't see it at first but when they did, they stopped what they're doing and fled towards Zelda, Midna, Auru and Link. The first soldiers got there and started looking towards the others coming, egging them on. A couple of soldiers didn't make it as the shadow beasts got them but when all the soldiers had arrived, there were still about ninety men. The shadow beasts had looked confused for a second but when they saw everyone gathered around Zelda, Auru and Link, they started sprinting towards them.
Zelda then suddenly put her hands in front of her face and closed her eyes like she was concentrating. After a couple seconds of nothing happening, a huge blue, triangular force field, appeared and engulfed the entire army, Auru and Link. The shadow beasts ran into the force field and were knocked back. They tried to get passed it but the force field stuck and was impenetrable.
"Everyone, retreat back to Kakariko Village!" called Zelda with her hands still stuck in that same position and her eyes still closed. She then started walking slowly towards Kakariko Village. Everybody started walking along with Zelda towards the village, careful to stay within the boundaries of the force field. Zelda walked slowly as to not disturb the force field and keep it intact.
"Link!" Zelda called with her eyes and hands still in the same positions. "Take out your bow. When we get in the village, I need you to shoot two bomb arrows at the cliffs to block the path into the village."
"I would but I'm all out of bombs. I used them all up during our stay in the Twilight Castle," Link said as he turned to face Zelda. The group was now in the valley just before Kakariko Village. The shadow beasts were still slowly crawling after the group, waiting for the minute that the force field would cease to exist. Every couple seconds, another one would jump at the force field, trying to get through it. Whenever one did this, Link saw Zelda wince a bit and the force field got a little smaller.
"Then go and get some from Barnes' Bomb Shop. I'm sure that he still has some left," said Zelda, still with her eyes closed. The group was now surrounded by the cliffs that stood next to Kakariko Village. Zelda then stopped and turned around to Link.
"Link, get those bombs!" she yelled. Link, not needing to be told twice, broke into a run towards Kakariko Village, leaving the force field. Midna, who was silently floating above Zelda the entire time, followed him. As Link went into Kakariko Village in the pouring rain, he saw that there were no lights on in Barnes' shop. He didn't know whether this was a bad sign or not but he figured that he still might be in there.
He and Midna both went inside the store to find Barnes slumped against a wall looking afraid. When he saw that Link and Midna had entered the store, he sprung up and walked over to the two of them.
"The shop is closed now. I'm sorry but I can't help you," he said in a resigned voice.
"That's not the answer that we were looking for," said Midna as she flew up to Barnes' face real aggressively. "You're going to give us two bombs and you're going to give them to us now. Princess Zelda is out there risking her neck for you and you're not going to give us two measly bombs?"
"Alright, alright. Just wait here," cried Barnes with his hands up in the air as if he feared for his safety. He then ran back behind the desk, flew under it and emerged carrying five bombs and about thirty arrows in his hands. He then came rushing back from behind the desk and thrust the bombs and arrows into Link's hands.
"Here. I know you needed two but here are five. These arrows will also help if you want to make bomb arrows. I've only just started selling them. Now will you please get out of my store?" asked Barnes as he slumped back in the corner.
"Pleasure doing business with you!" called Link with an apologetic face as he walked out the door with the bombs in his hands. Midna followed and waved at Barnes with a smirk on his face. When they were greeted outside with the pouring rain and heavy wind, Link and Midna started running towards Zelda who still had the blue force field up. However Link noticed that it was considerably smaller than before, just barely engulfing the group.
When Link and Midna got to Zelda, Link took out his bow just as Zelda had instructed him and walked over to her.
"Ok Zelda, I've got my bow and bomb arrows, now what?" asked Link.
"Point your bow at the base of the cliffs and shoot bomb arrows at it until the cliff collapses," Zelda said.
Link obeyed Zelda and aimed for the bottom of the cliff on the right hand side. He fired a bomb arrow at it and then quickly shot another one at the opposite cliff base before the first one had even hit. The two bomb arrows connected with the cliff bases and exploded sending rocks flying everywhere however thanks to Zelda's force field, the group was spared from bearing the brunt of the rock downpour. After a couple of seconds the cliffs collapsed, crashing into the ground in front of the group and blocking the shadow beasts from getting through. The crashed rock formed a wall that was impenetrable and prevented the onslaught from the shadow beasts to continue. Zelda opened her eyes and dropped her hands and the blue force field dissipated. She looked exhausted as she was breathing heavily.
"What was that?" asked a curious and impressed Link.
"A spell that has been passed down through the royal family for generations. It's called Nayru's Love. It can make the user impenetrable to damage as long as he or she is able to maintain focus. However the forcefield will dissipate over time if it is repeatedly attacked. The shield's strength comes from the life force of the wielder. Every hit that the shield receives takes its toll on the wielder. However enough about that, what are we going to do?" asked Zelda.
"You said we should evacuate to Zora's Domain," reminded Auru.
"Yes but I meant how are we going to go about doing that?" clarified Zelda in a voice with a tiny hint of exasperation.
"Well you said that we have to blow up the Bridge of Eldin. This is a good plan but there's one problem. The bombs sold at Barnes' Bomb Shop don't have the amount of power necessary to blow up the bridge. If we tried to blow it up, we'd fail," said Auru.
"How do you know that?" asked Link.
"The Bridge of Eldin is one of Hyrule's greatest natural landmarks. I've studied it intensely and have deduced that that bridge cannot be blown up by normal bombs. It was intended to be this way when the bridge was created. That bridge was meant to last for a long time," explained Auru.
"I see. So we'll have to think of another way," said a distraut Zelda. The entire group then went silent as they started to think. The only sound that could be heard was the pouring rain. Suddenly Darbus, the Goron Elder, spoke up.
"Can it withstand the power of a powder keg?" he asked. The Gorons of the group all gasped in understanding while the rest of the group was clueless.
"Powder keg? What's a powder keg?" asked an intrigued Zelda. Link was also interested to know what a powder keg was.
"It's one of the most powerful and dangerous weapons of the Goron tribe. It is much more powerful than the average bomb. It's so powerful that we Gorons haven't made anymore in a long time out of fear of one exploding," explained Darbus.
"I see. Well I've never heard of powder kegs and I'm pretty sure that the Bridge of Eldin wasn't built with them in mind so I think that a powder keg would be able to do the trick," said Auru as he put his hand under his chin and looked up at the sky, deep in thought.
"Alright then, we'll use a powder keg," said Zelda. She then turned to Darbus and asked him "Do you have any right now?"
"No, Princess Zelda. However we could easily make one if given time," answered Darbus.
"How much time would you need?" asked Zelda.
"Hmm. Probably an hour. It is not that hard to make but has to be made in a specific fashion that must be perfect," answered Darbus.
"Very well. If you could make a powder keg, it would be greatly appreciated," said Zelda.
"Wait a minute Zelda! We'll need more than one powder keg. If we want to make sure that the shadow beasts can't get to Zora's Domain, we'll need to blow up the Lanayru Bridge as well," reasoned Link.
"Blow up the Bridge of Eldin and the Lanayru Bridge? If we do that we're effectively splitting Hyrule in half!" cried Auru in protest.
"We have no other options. If we don't do something, the shadow beasts will overwhelm us and we will all perish. At least with this plan, we can protect our citizens even for a little while longer," proclaimed Zelda.
"Ok brothers! You heard the princess! We have two Goron powder kegs to make!" bellowed Darbus as he jumped up in the air in excitement. The Gorons all went after Darbus as they all headed towards the Death Mountain trail. They rolled excitedly up the trail until they were out of sight.
"Now I guess we wait," Zelda said as she sighed. "Auru, you must round up the villagers and help them get into carriages for their departure. We must be ready when the Gorons come down with the powder kegs."
"As you wish Princess Zelda," responded Auru as he bowed and started walking away. Zelda then let out a very deep sigh and slumped against the rocks with her head in her hands. Link was taken aback by this act of tiredness and joined her down on the ground.
"Tired?" asked Link with mild concern.
"I'm exhausted. All these occurrences in one day really take a toll on you when you're trying to save an entire country. And it won't stop raining!" she added in frustration.
"We're all grateful for all that you've done Zelda. If you hadn't cast Nayru's love, we might have been slaughtered by the shadow beasts before we could retreat to Kakariko Village," Link said gently.
"What do you mean 'we'? I was watching you fight and you were manhandling shadow beasts left and right. It's the army's fault that they're not up to the task," interjected Midna with a frown on her face.
"That may be true but I can't take on three hundred shadow beasts single-handedly," said Link modestly.
"I don't know about that Link. If I had to choose between you and the entire Hyrulean Army to fight off three hundred shadow beasts, I'd choose you," Zelda said sweetly.
"Thanks Zelda," muttered Link as his face grew bright red. He was saved additional embarrassment as Auru came up to them along the road. He stopped right in front of them and looked down upon them. Link felt it rather odd to be looking up at Auru as he was generally taller than the man. Auru cleared his throat and began to speak.
"I have made sure that all of the villagers be informed that we are going to be evacuating the town in one hour. I have arranged for the villagers to be transported with the two carriages that were used to transport Link and his Ordonian village folk here," he said.
"Very good Auru. You should prepare your soldiers for battle as well," Zelda said with her hands in her lap and her back against the wall of rock.
"However Princess, there are two villagers missing," Auru continued. Zelda leaned up straight, her body full of attention. Link and Midna both focused more on Auru too, as the both of them were curious as to who was missing.
"Colin and Ilia are both missing. They were staying here and now no one can seem to find them," Auru explained.
"What?!" asked a clearly shocked Link. "Colin and Ilia are both missing? Where could they have gone?"
"I have no idea. However one person said that they saw the two of them riding a horse out of Kakriko Village. This person says that they overheard the two of them talking about going to Lake Hylia," Auru reported.
"What's this about Colin and Ilia being missing?" asked a voice. The three of them looked around and saw Rusl and Bo standing a few feet away from them with their arms crossed and frowns on their faces.
"Yes, Colin and Ilia have disappeared. They were here before, but they're not here now," Auru calmly said.
"Well what are you waiting for?! Send some troops to find them!" cried Bo with indignation.
"We can't do that. We need to conserve troops for the war going on with the shadow beasts. If you're so worried about them, why don't you try looking for them yourself? Although I would advise against that right now, as we have shadow beasts freely roaming the land," Auru said. Rusl and Bo had no response to this, as they knew he was right.
"Well, if you hear anything about their whereabouts, tell me," said Rusl in defeat. He and Bo then started walking away towards the Kakariko Inn, talking about something animatedly.
"I guess I should tell them that we have a witness who says that they were headed towards Lake Hylia," Auru said and he started walking after them, leaving Link, Zelda and Midna alone.
"What could the two of them be doing down by Lake Hylia? What is there that interests them?" asked Link.
"Well, there the lake spirit, the Falbi's flight by Fowell game and…" Zelda stopped as realization hit her with the force of a ball and chain. "…The cannon that takes them to Gerudo Desert."
"But why would they go to Gerudo Desert? There's nothing there…" said Link when he too stopped mid-thought. "Except that's where Auru told us the last Breaker Sword piece is."
"So they're there to try and get the last Breaker Sword piece? Those two will just end up getting themselves killed!" cried Midna with concern.
"We can only hope I guess. May the goddesses protect them on their journey," Zelda lamented. Just then, a huge rolling sound could be heard coming from the Death Mountain trail. Looking up towards the trail, Link saw that the Gorons who were fighting alongside them before were rolling down the hill at top speed. They all gathered at the entrance to the trail. Then, two more Gorons came rolling down the hill, each supporting a brownish structure that could only be the powder kegs. The powder kegs looked like huge barrels with a smiling Goron head in the center. The two carrying the powder kegs were Darbus and Gor Coron.
Link and Zelda got up and with Midna, walked over to greet the Gorons. Darbus walked up to Link and Zelda with the powder keg tucked underneath his arm.
"We have made two powder kegs, one for each bridge. They didn't take as long as we thought so here we have them for you!" Darbus exclaimed, excited that his Goron tribe had succeeded in their task.
"That's great Darbus, now we just have to wait for the villagers to get packed up and ready and then we'll put those powder kegs to good use," Zelda said as she smiled out of sheer relief.
As Zelda said this, the villagers were already underway preparing their belongings to be migrated to Zora's Domain. Renado, Bo and Rustl could be seen helping villagers load their belongings into a wagon. Link was puzzled as to why they were bringing all of their significant belongings. It wasn't like they were permanently leaving this village, it was only for as long as the war was going on. But then he reasoned that this war could last a long time so the villagers ought to be prepared. However there was the fact of what the villagers were going to do once they got to Zora's Domain. Zora's Domain wasn't a very big place and what space it did take up was mostly water. There wouldn't be much room to put all of their stuff and he couldn't think that the Zoras would be very happy with all of the villager's belongings taking up all the space in the domain. However he mustn't worry about these things at the moment. Their focus should be getting there.
While Link was in his stupor, he noticed that Epona was standing over by Renado's hut. She must have known to come here, after Link, Zelda and Midna had gotten off of her and went to Castle Town. Link ran over to her and patted her on the head. She greeted him by licking his nose. He got on top of Epona and led her over back to where Zelda and Midna were standing.
"Epona was over by Renado's hut. She must have known to come here when we were no longer riding her," Link said.
"That's one smart horse you've got Link," Zelda said. The horse grunted happily in response.
After about twenty minutes, the carriages were filled to capacity with the villagers, and Bo and Rusl grabbed the horse's reins. The two of them led the horses to where Link, Zelda and Midna were stationed. Rusl's horse pulled up to the three of them and he turned to speak.
"You three all ready? It'd be nice if you could do that Nayru's love spell again Princess," Rustl said.
"I was planning to do that Rusl," Zelda responded with a smile. She then climbed up next to him in the driver's seat. She then climbed on top of the carriage itself and then sat down with her legs crossed.
"Everyone get close together. That way I don't have to make such a big force field and can concentrate more energy on keeping it in tact. Everybody obliged; the second carriage came right up next to the first one, with only a few feet in-between them. The Gorons then began congregating all around the carriages, all of them lined with serious faces and their weapons at the ready. Gor Coron and Darbus, who were carrying the powder kegs, were the furthest ones inside the ring of Gorons and they were protected by all the Gorons standing next to them.
Suddenly, there was a huge explosion directly in front of the group. The rock wall had been blown up by an unknown force. Everyone shielded their faces as the rocks flew towards them. When the rocks had finished flying, everyone started looking back at where the rocks used to be. What they saw was the figure of Ganondorf standing tall in the middle of the path with his army of shadow beasts behind him. Link had to say that the sight was intimidating, all of the shadow beasts that lined up behind Ganondorf. Added with the fact that it was pouring rain, and it was one grim scene.
"Going somewhere?" Ganondorf asked in a smug voice. He then started laughing hysterically. "You'll never be able to get passed my army. You're trapped and your little resistance will lose here."
"Zelda, hurry up and cast Nayru's love!" Link called. Zelda obliged and put her hands in front of her face just like the last time she cast the spell. She then closed her eyes and after a few seconds of muttering, the familiar blue, triangular force field appeared and engulfed the entire Hyrulean Army.
Everyone then started slowly walking towards the enemy, knowing that they would be protected by Nayru's love. Ganondorf looked confused as he thought that they would be running in the opposite direction, not waking towards him. Out of confusion, he ordered that two shadow beasts attack the army. The shadow beasts ran at the army, who in response kept walking as they knew that the shadow beast would do no harm. Sure enough, the shadow beasts jumped and when they came down, were merely knocked backwards as they collided with the force field.
"What kind of sorcery is this?" asked Ganondorf whose smirk was now replaced with a frown. He sent more shadow beasts after the force field however those two met the fate of the first. They were knocked back and the Hyrulean Army entered Hyrule Field without having suffered any damage.
However Ganondorf seemed to have noticed that with every hit against the force field, Zelda winced in pain and the force field got a little smaller. He then smiled in understanding and ordered that the entire shadow beast army attack the force field. The shadow beasts started running towards the triangular barrier from all sides.
"If you guys don't prevent those shadow beasts from hitting the force field, it will be gone before we even make it to the bridge!" cried Zelda with her eyes still closed and her hands still in front of her face. The Gorons and soldiers marching next to the two carriages all prepared their weapons to combat the shadow beasts. The ones that were attacking from the ground were easy enough to defend against, the Gorons and soldiers would merely hit them with their weapons or their fists. The ones that jumped in the air were more difficult to defend against. Five shadow beasts had jumped into the force field at once and Zelda actually cried out in pain along with the force field significantly shrinking in size.
Hearing Zelda cry out in pain was too much for Link. Link took out his clawshot and aimed it at a wooden beam that was attached to the carriage next to the one Zelda was sitting on. The clawshot sent him flying off of Epona towards the beam. Link grabbed the beam and used it to climb on top of the carriage. He then put his clawshot away and took out his bow. Now that he was standing on top of the carriage, he had a greater view of his surroundings as he could see all the parts of the field around him. Link drew an arrow and aimed it at a shadow beast that had jumped in midair. The arrow pierced its neck and the shadow beast fell to the ground before it could make contact with the shield. Link repeated this procedure five more times to prevent five more shadow beasts from hitting the force field.
Zelda was still suffering however. Although Link was preventing shadow beasts from hitting the force field, he was not enough by himself. More and more shadow beasts were switching from running directly at it to jumping in the air to hit the force field. This had its effect on Zelda, as she was crying out in pain more and more often as more and more shadow beasts hit the force field. At one point, when the army had reached the middle of Hyrule Field, the blue force field actually dissipated for a few seconds and then came back again. Link was frightened now, he wondered just how more Zelda could take before she gave out.
"You guys, take out your bows and hit the shadow beasts before they hit the force field! I'm not sure how much more Zelda can take!" Link yelled down below at the soldiers. The soldiers all looked stunned and did what Link was told. They took out their bows and started picking the shadow beasts out of the air more often, causing less shadow beasts to make contact with the shield. The Gorons maintained the ground forces by punching them while the soldiers switched their focus to the ones jumping in the air.
"Link…Don't worry…about…me. I can take…more hits…just get us…to the bridge," Zelda faintly said, struggling to complete the sentence. Glancing over towards her, Link could tell that she was filled with pain. Her eyes, while still closed, were starting to twitch and her knees were starting to wobble. Even though Zelda said that she was alright, Link was even more concerned for her than he was before. The fact that she could only say a couple words at a time without gasping for breath, made him start to panic. Would they make it to the bridge in time?
"Come on, just a little further. Hold on Zelda," Link mumbled as the army had started passing the stone walls that were in front of the Bridge of Eldin. The army was a mere one hundred feet from the front of the bridge.
Even though the soldiers were now hitting the shadow beasts that were jumping in the air, every now and then a shadow beast would make contact with the barrier, causing it to shrink and Zelda to wince in pain. By the time the army got to the bridge, the barrier was so small that the top of Link's head was threatening to break through.
The carriages were the first to go through the entrance to the bridge. Everyone that was in front of the carriage moved to the back so that they could fend off the shadow beasts and protect the carriage. Once the carriages squeezed through the stone entrance and were on the bridge itself, the soldiers and Gorons backed through the entrance while still fighting shadow beasts.
Everyone was now on the Bridge of Eldin. Link jumped off of his carriage and the two of them sped up so that they could cross the bridge, leaving the soldiers wide open as they took the protective barrier with them. When they got past the bridge and were on the land that was in front of the mountains of North Hyrule Field, Link yelled at Darbus.
"They're safe at the other side! Put down the powder keg so we can get out of here!" Link yelled.
"Sure thing Brother!" Darbus yelled over the howling winds. Link motioned for the rest of the soldiers to follow him and they ran to the other side of the bridge, leaving Darbus alone in the middle. Darbus quickly put the powder keg down and ran to the other side of the bridge. The shadow beasts that were on the bridge were puzzled by the powder keg and stopped to gather around it.
"The fuse isn't going to light in this rain so one of you has to shoot it with an arrow! That will blow up the powder keg!" Darbus cried. Link, who still had his bow out, took aim at the powder keg.
"Leave it to me," he said. When he was sure that he had a good aim on the powder keg, he fired the arrow.
The arrow connected with the powder keg and pierced its outer form. What followed next was the most massive explosion Link had ever seen. The powder keg exploded with such a loud bang, that Link had to shield his eyes and ears from the bright light and booming sound of the explosion. When Link opened his eyes, the Bridge of Eldin was gone and the shadow beasts that were not on the bridge when it exploded had no way of getting over to them.
Everybody started cheering and jumping up and down with excitement. Zelda opened her eyes and dropped her hands and the force field dissipated. She then collapsed on the top of the carriage in exhaustion. She was laying on her back breathing heavily, however she too had a look of excitement and happiness on her face. The happy vibe that the group had was quickly replaced with anxiety as they saw the shadow beasts starting to run in the opposite direction.
"They're heading to the Lanayru Brige!" called Auru. Link turned to Gor Coron.
"Give me the powder keg! I'll blow up the bridge myself!" called Link. Gor Coron nodded and handed the powder keg to Link. Link then called Epona over to him and when she was next to him, he got on top of her, the powder keg tucked under his right arm.
"I'll take the powder keg and blow up the Lanayru Bridge! Everyone else, go to Zora's Domain! I'll be back once I take care of my business!" Link ordered. Bo, Rustl, Auru and Renado solluted and Link had Epona turn around towards the mountains.
"Let's go girl," Link calmly said to the horse. Epona then was off as quick as a flash. They galloped past the mountains and headed into the field that led to Zora's Domain. Link and Epona headed towards the bridge that ran over the river and ran across it. It was now a race against time. Link had to get there before the shadow beasts got to the bridge and were able to cross it. If he didn't, he would have to battle about two hundred shadow beasts at once. Epona galloped at top speed over the bridge and headed towards the eastern part of Hyrule Field. The two of them got to the eastern entrance to Castle Town. They were almost there, they just had to get to the other road of the end of this section of rain. Link kicked Epona's sides and Epona sped up even further so that they could get there as fast as possible. Link worried that he was pushing Epona too hard but he would make up for it later.
The two of them got to the road that led to the Lanayru Bridge without any problems. The bridge was coming into view and Link could not see any shadow beasts going across it. This was a good sign but they could appear at any moment. Link and Epona ran down the road and within seconds, they were on the Lanayru Bridge itself. When the two of them got to the middle, Epona came to a stop so that Link could set the powder keg down.
Just as Link was setting the powder keg down, he could hear the sound of many feet hitting the ground. He strained his eyes and saw that in the distance, the army of shadow beasts was running at top speed towards the bridge. He got on top of Epona and had her turn around.
"Run girl!" Link begged and Epona ran to the other side of the bridge. When they got down on the land beyond the bridge, he jumped off Epona and quickly took out his bow. He drew an arrow and within seconds got the powder keg in his view and he took aim.
He shot the arrow and just as with the first powder keg, the arrow hit it square in the middle and the powder keg exploded just as the shadow beasts got to the bridge. The explosion was just as enormous as with the first powder keg and when the smoke cleared, the Lanayru Bridge was gone, just as with the Bridge of Eldin. The shadow beasts now had no way of getting to the northern half of Hyrule.
"Yes!" Link called as he did a fist pump. He turned Epona around, the two of them getting ready to journey to Zora's Domain. However what Link saw when he did turn around quickly made his good mood evaporate. Ganondorf was standing in front of him.
"Your little powder kegs may have stopped my army from crossing over to Hyrule's northern half but I am not so easily stopped. You will pay dearly for what you've done," Ganondorf sneered.
Link put his bow away and jumped down from Epona. When he was on solid ground, he took out his shield and sword and prepared to do battle.
"Hahahahahaha!" Ganondorf laughed. "You think you can beat me? Do your worst." Ganondorf's eyes then lit up bright and filled the air with a blinding, white light just as he had done in front of the Twilight Castle. The bright light was too much for Link, who had forgotten this trick and was not prepared for it. He knew what was coming next, Ganondorf would punch him in the stomach. He put his sword and shield back over his back so that Ganondorf wouldn't be able to take them from him. Sure enough, the punch came and the force of the blow knocked Link face down into the dirt. He couldn't take the pain and his eyes closed as he was knocked unconscious. The last words he heard before he blacked out were "Hahahahahah! Now that you're out of the way, Hyrule will be mine!"
Next Chapter: Exploring the Underground Labrynth