Chapter 16: The End of Skyloft (Part 5): Showdown

The sounds of a makeshift battering ram hitting bolted double doors was heard – a loud thump, thump, thump, then splintering, a more piercing splintering sound; finally a break.

The Academy's doors had just been breached and Gaepora was inside. Enemy soldiers had begun filling in. Deranged and full of hate towards the Headmaster they searched for him, but the knights of his aid held them back. Eagus, Parrow, Rusta and all the ground knights protected the area well.

Eagus: "Damn it, Gaepora. What's taking you so long?" The sounds of steal against steal were very loud around him as everyone fought. He parried off an attacker and leaped forth, knocking him down. He then turned to address another. "Damn it. –Get out!" he yelled hoping the Headmaster would hear him, "They have busted threw the downstairs doors!"

-o-

As Link headed back towards the main island he quickly had a few enemy soldiers on his tale, repeating their battle cry. More and more men on the main island itself heard and joined in, seeing the Hero as he approached: "For Skyloft!"

Corvid and Fledge, along with the other riders, quickly picked up on the commotion. Their attention was drawn from the battle they were in to the danger headed towards them. They watched as Link now rode above the Plaza, where this had all started. There he was confronted by more enemies. "For Skyloft! For Skyloft!" they hollered. Link began to fight them off.

Some of the crazed riders that had retreated from Link earlier were in the area; they had fallen back thinking there was safety in numbers. The peach one flew high in the air, seeing Link: "He has come…"

Two men joined him there; the grey one spoke: "Was this your plan? –To lure him out?"

The Tan one shrugged.

Peach one: "We outnumber him big time now. Let's get him surrounded." He had been defeated; embarrassed he wanted revenge (on top of everything else). He flew around near a group of his allies, again pointing to the Hero: "Get him! Get him! We stop him and we win!"

His allies looked over to him as he continued yelling.

Peach one: "Get him and nothing will hold us back from victory! Break their morale! Smite the Hero; smite him for Skyloft! –For Skyloft!" He repeated.

It seemed to make sense to them. The crazed knight rallied up some companions and a small chant brewed up "For Skyloft!" as more and more riders trickled over towards Link to do battle with him.

-o-

A lot of the heat was suddenly off Corvid and his company in the air. Fledge was far enough back, as an archer, to have witnessed why.

Corvid yelled to him: "What's going on?"

Fledge spoke quietly, as was his nature: "It's Link, sir, he's-"

Corvid yelled "What?" able to approach Fledge now.

Fledge: "It's Link," he repeated, "they are rallying to him!"

-o-

On the ground, some of the enemy knights at the Academy had retreated back towards the Plaza. A small group held strongly there to make sure the Hero stayed in the air; a few climbed the Light Tower to take aim with their arrows; surprisingly no one had thought of climbing it for leverage earlier, so it was clear.

Eagus on the ground in combat outside the Academy looked around to figure out what was going on: "Damn, what now? Why are they retreating –and what's that yelling about?"

Parrow, Rusta and the other knights looked around confused –everyone did.

-o-

Link held to the air fending off his attackers with relative ease. But as more and more riders headed his way hand-to-hand air combat was becoming less and less of a safe option for him –if he kept this up he would be surrounded and overtaken. And now a few arrows were flying his way from the tower… Link internally smirked as he knew what was best to do. He flew his bird higher into the air; as the sun beamed down from above him his figure seemed more shadowy to his enemies beneath him.

Link didn't hold much back; he reared up in the sky and as Fledge has seen him practice so many times before, he spear lunged at them with perfection. His movements were quick and his weapon sharp. The enemy forces had been completely unprepared for such an attack and were rendered defenseless for awhile. Link was fast; it was very discombobulating for them. The group broke away. A few were injured but mainly they all needed to recover their balance and regroup.

-o-

Corvid shot down above the ground to yell to Eagus: "It's Link –over the Plaza. Send a few of your men to help him on the ground. My men will take care of the archers in the Light Tower."

Eagus: "Archers in the Light Tower?"

Corvid had left to do as he said he would.

Eagus turned to his company: "Defense Two: to the Plaza, now! It seems we have a parley to break up! The rest of you stay with me; we need to get inside the Academy and clear it out!"

But unbeknownst to them, in the madness of everything, a young enemy slipped into the Academy's upstairs ventilation shaft and down into the top part of the building. No one was there to stop him or he easily avoided their detection.

-o-

Crovid yelled to Fledge and the few other flying archers: "Secure the Light Tower then return to me; Rusta will need some help at the Academy." Corvid then returned with his soldiers to the battle which he told to "Aid Link immediately!"

-o-

Link changed his tactics to throw everyone off. He performed a few strong spin attacks, breaking off the crowd into small packets. This time he attacked the group to the left in a fury, dropping three men suddenly; two birds fell down onto the Plaza pavement with a surprising thud.

-o-

Meanwhile, at this time also, despite Corvid's orders to pull back, Fledge broke away and flew over closer to the crowd by Link. He had practiced with Link before; he knew he could really help him out here so that is what he intended to do.

The other flying archers looked at him oddly, but did decide to leave him as he brushed them off –a very uncharacteristic thing for Fledge to do; they figured he had his reasons. These men would take down the archers on the Light Tower as well as anyone else who tried to climb it.

-o-

The angry soldiers fighting against Hylia started to recover and waited as Link perched himself high in the sky again, but he waited there this time; they did not know why.

Corvid and his men were headed towards Link now, but Fledge yelled at them with surprising sureness: "Stop! Give him space!"

Rider: "What?"

Fledge: "Hold these men back or they might get injured too."

Rider: "Look at all these men! Are you mad? The Hero needs our help!"

Fledge: "Hold!"

Unsure of what to do, the riders, on edge, did hold back. They looked up at Link too, who did appear as if he was preparing something.

-o-

Link was up high again, but visible this time. He was brushing the feathers off his weapon and getting back into position. His armor was strong and his eyes and disposition fierce. He was buying his loftwing some time to rest. He knew the next attacks might take a lot out of him.

-o-

Eagus's men hurried over to the Plaza. They saw the grounded birds as well as the bloodied fallen and recovering enemy soldiers around them trying to deal with the obstacles. It stopped them cold for a moment to see such sights. The scene had an odd aura about it. It was too quiet down here; it was unsettling. The enemies there had stopped; they all looked up into the air. Eagus's men looked up too; they now saw Link in the sky as well.

-o-

Corvid was looking too, wondering what his men were doing. He wanted to shout but something stopped him. Despite the fact he was ready to burst forth he too stared in wait behind his soldiers, as everyone did.

-o-

Everyone was still and everything grew oddly silent. Everyone on the battlefield (air and ground) that could see Link was looking at him now, just waiting. Except for Fledge –He got into a good position which caught Link's attention. He got a good look at Fledge who hovered, holding his bow. Fledge looked over to Link with an excited look in his eyes. Link caught on to what he was doing (they had practiced this before) and looked at him with a nod. Fledge readied his bow as Link pat his loftwing's neck as if to check with him; the bird hummed lowly as if pleased –he was okay to go.

-o-

The Anti-Hylia brigade grew frustrated with the Hero's (and everyone's) stillness; a few became overeager and jittered by how the Hero hovered above them again. It seemed Link was unintentionally stressing or intimidating a few, which was a nice (unintended) strategy and would cause those men to slip up.

They began yelling to each other and taunting at Link: "Are you hurt little Hero? Are you waiting for aid? Everyone is holding back!"

Finally they yelled and pointed at him with hatred once more: "What are you waiting for? Attack!" A few flew up to be at eye level with the Hero and the chants began once more: "For Skyloft! –Skyloft!"

But as Link had said earlier he said again, this time with the vigor Owlan had; he readied to strike: "For Hylia!" –It bellowed into the air for everyone to hear. And his loftwing agreed spreading his wings out widely, squawking back loudly as they spear lunged down, barreling threw a few men.

The Hero attacked the riders around him with very sharp and forceful spear lunges; and he pulled up to deliver further blows again and again. He flew around the crowd of enemy riders throwing them into disarray with his forceful jabs and well placed attacks. And as he did Fledge followed from a distance, shooting close to Link injuring a few men as they held their guard towards him and not incoming arrows -this further threw off any tactics the men may have had against him.

All Link's allies watched as he, with Fledge's well placed aid, took down or injured a quarter of the riders in a flash. Granted, they would not be able to do it again, but it was a very nice go.

Link gestured towards the other riders to come it. Corvid quickly took the initiative and with his riding soldiers nearby flew in to attack.

"For Skyloft!" the angry soldiers chanted again at Link and the others. Link, with his weapon poised down ready to attack, hollered back: "For Hylia!" -His friends joined him; even Eagus's men on the ground yelled back: "For Hylia!"

-o-

Both affiliations filled the air in combat.

As the battled continued on, a reinforcement appeared from below. He shot up and ended up behind Link, helping him take down a group of flyers as they darted away from the island, close to catching some injured who were retreating; they darted in between the rocks that dotted around the area.

"Link!" He yelled from behind him.

Link looked as the person calling his name flew up next to him.

Groose: "Heeey, this seems somewhat familiar, huh?" He laughed.

Link briefly lightened his attitude to laugh at the comment: "A bit."

Groose seemed somewhat upset with himself thinking back to the day –and when he punched Link into the rocks to try and catch that golden prize that day. Things had changes so much since then: "…Well, someone's got to keep you on your toes. But, it seems like we get things done better working together… How about I get the rest of 'um here and you get back to what you're needing to do? I'll push them back to the island, thin them out a bit more."

Link looked at him with a nod: "Right."

Groose somewhat smiled at him, feeling kind of stupid. He had learned to respect him but today he felt blown way actually seeing what the guy could do on a bird –He had seen everything. Groose was oddly overly impressed with Link but also way overly happy to serve Hylia as he could. The whole tale was all like a storybook come true in his perspective; he had always secretly loved those. He was determined to do the 'right' thing, and maybe be a strong secondary character in this tale.

Groose: "Right –Okay. Don't worry then, I got this." He gestured with a sense of entitlement.

Link turned back towards the Island.

Groose indeed took care of the situation and did a good job helping the others over the island when he was done.

-o-

The battle continued on intense and heated. No one was untouched.

Link was again over the Plaza where he seemed to take full command. He darted around the Light Tower, pushing his bird in close enough to an enemy to nab his spear off of him; he then used it to attack the next man in front of him as he quickly flew forward. Not a bad weapon really. But the rider, who had a band of black paint over his eyes, was furious; he had to drop down to the ground to find something to defend himself with.

As the guy landed, he leapt from his bird to an injured ally of his to take his spear, causing a small commotion: "Hey! My spear! –Urg" He gripped his half wrapped leg as he bandaged it.

Above them Link took charge again, performing a true spear lunge. It took out a lot of enemies, sending them away in a means to remain in balance or on their birds. Again Link took his bird up high to catch him a short break, but came barreling down fast and hard, excited to see what he could do. His allies, including Corvid and his band, were close by facing the men in hand-to-hand air combat; they didn't allow the opposition time to recuperate.

As the knights fought on the ground below, feathers of many different colors rained down upon them. And the man with the stolen spear took to the sky once more with a vendetta: "Damned Hero!" He called out in frustration to him.

The scorned rider in rather decent patched gear shot up straight through all the others to see Link once more. He caught a lot of people's attention as he pushed his bird forward in such a hurry.

"You!" he called out to Link, "Stop and face me!"

His loud bellowing oddly attracted the attention of a lot of people nearby. They spoke, and then yelled through the crowd: "Douglas?" –"Is he confronting Link?" "Go for it, man!" -"The chief officer is going to have a one-on-one with the Hero!"

The crowd was seemingly urged to stop fighting and encourage their 'leader' or 'champion' for a change of pace. Out of curiosity most of the others stopped too as Corvid threw in his two cents:

Corvid turned his head to see the man, somewhat nostalgically: "Douglas? –is that really you?" He spoke to his men: "Douglas 'the Bandit', I haven't seen him in years. He used to be a great fighter, I used to practice with him as a lad, but then…I don't know, things changed and I ended up here at the Academy."

Corvid's men: "What's with the black paint?"

Corvid: "He always said it helped keep the sunlight out of his eyes –kept away its distraction."

Corvid's men: "You say he's good?"

Crovid: "Used to be damned good. Always gave me a run for my rupees."

The enemies railled once more at Douglas 'the bandit': "Take him down!" -"Do it!" –"Yea, fight him!"

Douglas 'the Bandit' shot up to see Link more clearly: "You steal my weapon and disarm me like a coward?! What kind of Hero are you?!"

Link turned to see him amongst the crowd.

Douglas 'the Bandit': "Fight me like a man!"

This time Link's allies also railled as Crovid yelled to him: "Give him what he wants, Link. Show him the type of Hero you are!" "-Yea" "This ought to be good!" "Send that scamp walkin'!" –"Clean his from his bird!"

Douglas's allies: "Put an end to him, Bandit!" "This island is ours!" –"Take down this wrench!" -"Show him what crimson really looks like!"

Douglas laughed: "Will do boys…"

Link looked back at him, almost irritated with all this.

Everyone was giving them space.

Douglas: "Draw my weapon, boy." He put his new spear in position under his arm: "I'll teach you how to use it!"

Link grew more annoyed but took a breath to stay cool headed.

Douglas yelled: "I'll teach you to mess with things you know nothing about! –I'll show you the qualities of a true champion!"

Link: "…Bite your tongue."

Douglas: "Or what? –You'll cut it off for me? You think I haven't heard that one before?"

Link: "…You should know when to use it and when not to use it. Those who talk too much don't listen enough –don't know enough. Stand down!"

Douglas: "Says the thief to the bandit!" he laughed expressively. "You're no more pure in spirit then I."

Link said nothing but looked serious.

Douglas got stern: "Fine then, no more talking." He got his spear into position again: "Show me what you've got then."

Link drew the spear up under his shoulder, preparing to go at him.

The riders backed off from them and the knights below backed away from each other to see the show.

Douglas: "I'll call the draw…" They took their respective positions, reading to strike. They both flew up higher.

It was at this time Eagus began running down to the area from the Academy in a hurry; he was looking for aid. He spoke to himself: "What the hell's going on now? –Shit."

Douglas: "3.. 2.." The crowd ended the count with loud cheers, calls and roars and the two combatants lunged at each other powerfully. The sound of their weapons hitting each other's shields/armor produced a piercing *clash* sound. They both turned to come at each other again as quick as possible, their birds squawking into the air. Link shot down with a well placed spear attack but Douglas clashed back just as sharply.

Again and again they passed at each other in an epic battle; this time Link's lunge turned into a spin attack while Douglas's was some type of clawing maneuver. They both suffered damage but took little time to recover.

Eagus, in the Plaza now, clenched his fists, scampering his feet; he started sweating nervously but seemed heavily drawn into the duel. In front of him a superstitious knight picked up one of the big red feathers that fell and placed it under his armor for good luck.

Douglas howled fervidly; Link seemed to reply with his own type of yell. This time, after a 4th pass at each other, a red ooze spat out into the air as the two parted in opposite directions. It was clear one of their birds got hit badly but the crowd did not know yet which since they were still darting around quickly attacking each other.

They now locked into a more close quarters combat as Douglas grabbed the Hero's red cape and swung around, attempting to choke him out with it. In defense, Link sent a few hard jabs to the man's jaw, making him let go.

Douglas spat down a reddish mixture of saliva and blood into the grass far below, while Link reset his cape with a few heavy breathes; it had a tear across it now and a small piece of it floated down in the air.

They quickly met again as Douglas smashed his bird into Link's in a poor attempt to knock him off. In quick response Link jabbed him hard in the kidney with the blunt (or back) end of the spear in a backwards thrust as he passed. Douglas gripped his bird in obvious pain, but did not fall off.

They backed off again to get into position.

Douglas growled as his bird briefly stammered to catch air; he hollered once more, pushing it forward at Link. This time as their weapons clashed an odd *ping* deflection sound was heard and Link pulled away faster than usual, back up into the air. Again they turned quickly and made one more hard and rather haphazard pass at each other. This time at its end Douglas dropped his shield as he clamored to stay atop his mount. It was then he must have grabbed his bird in a way it disliked and it screeched, sending its head up into the air as if in distress; Douglas was thrown off and his bird landed hard onto the ground, still throwing his head from side to side in obvious pain.

The crowd below got out of the way in a hurry. It was then noticeable that Douglas's loftwing had sustained the injury: the side of his neck area just in front of his wing was punctured deep.

The (Pro-Hylia) crowd cheered loudly! Link, tired, and his bird exhausted, hovered ungraciously to recover. He was hit with praise and compliments by his fellow knights, who cheered and rejoiced all around him in a loud clamor.

The knights on the ground encircled Douglas, hollering at him. He was surrounded and defeated; he threw up his hands in surrender.

Many of the enemy riders pulled out in retreat or to battle elsewhere. The enemy riders started to avoid the Plaza area now; they didn't want to be defeated. Link and his allies clearly had the high ground there now.

As the ground began to clear as well as the Plaza area, the noise died down. Eagus made his presence known: "Corvid! Link! –Men! File to me! –Now Quickly!" He stamped his feet again, mumbling nervously: "Damn it."

Corvid had flown away in means to help chase away the enemies, but Link had remained. He heard Eagus and dropped his weary bird down to get some needed rest by Eagus's men as they ran over.

Link: "What is it, Eagus?" He asked as his loftwing placed his feet to the stone.

He spoke in a semi-panicked way: "Link, it's –it's" His eye's looked shaken: "Damn amazing, just amazing, but the Academy -the Headmaster. He's still there, stuck inside!"

As he stood in front of Eagus, Link wiped the liquid pouring off his brow: "What?" He thought it was sweat, but he noticed his gauntlet smeared with blood: "…What do you mean?" He ignored it, speaking seriously: "What's going on at the Academy?"

Eagus: "We have a break in from above. –It's just like the plans we recovered so long ago with those blueprints. The guy set up bomb traps inside the whole building. I just spotted him placing them on the bridge too – that place could go up at any time!"

Link: "And Gaepora is inside? Let's go."