Chapter 51: The Purpose
~~~Flashes filled the air and battle cries rang through the cavern. Link, Zelda, Medi, Mikau, Auru, and Darmani stood awe-struck at the warring of these two opposites. Those who want the Triforce: Silar, Ainurad, and Rakam; those who want to defend the Triforce: Uryan, Nid, Eroraf. Lord Jabu-Jabu watched the fighting as if he was an arbiter, deciding the punishment of the defeated.
"What do we do, Link?" asked Medi, clearly worried about the outcome of the fight.
Link was fixed wholly on the fight, not immediately responding to what she said.
Medi lightly nudged Link's arm and said, "Link?"
Link suddenly blinked, taking notice of her beckoning. "Oh, sorry, Medi. What were you saying?"
"We should we do about their fighting? Should we help them?" she asked.
"I don't really know. It seems like there is something that they know that is beyond our understanding," Link said.
"We should stay where we are. If we interfere with their fight, we would be putting ourselves in danger. This is their fight, not ours," answered Zelda.
Medi nodded and Link gave a look of agreement.
"She's right," said Auru as he turned to them. "Let the Goddesses decide what the outcome will be."
Ainurad and Nid viciously brawled with each other. Blow after blow was exchanged, either missing their mark, or having their attack deflected. Suddenly, the two grappled each other's hands and gripped with intense pressure, trying to break each other's aura-clouded hands.
"How can you let yourself be trampled underfoot by those deceivers?!" yelled Ainurad.
"We are doing the work we were called to do. The Patriarchs are leading us into truth!" Nid pushed against Ainurad. Ainurad slid backward as Nid forced him back. "Face it; you don't have the power to overcome me!"
Ainurad smirked and suddenly performed a back flip, releasing his hands of the hold. As he flipped, he kicked Nid in the face, knocking him back. As soon as Nid came to a halt, he got to his feet again and wiped his face from under his hood. There was blood on his hands.
Ainurad stood erect upon landing and gave a grin. "As I said before, even with my restraints, I can still kill you."
Nid took stance and his aura grew even more than it was previously. A blue light shone from under his darkened hood. "Take your opponent lightly at the cost of your life. I had forgotten this after so long of not tasting battle," The ground beneath Nid's feet crumbled as the aura intensified. "Prepare!" Nid launched a sudden offensive against Ainurad.
Rakam and Eroraf continued to engage in extreme combat. A strange sound substituted the usual clang of clashing steel swords. The swords they had were of an energy self-produced by them. Even at the tremendous speeds at which they fought, not one attack that was launched was at random. Every one was extremely calculated and forced each other to revise their next move for maximum advantage. Suddenly, Eroraf broke the chain of combos with a sudden lunge that nearly caught Rakam off guard, but he blocked it just before it landed. Eroraf pressed his blade on, attempting to break his guard. The look in his eyes was manic, similar to that look he had the night that Rakam and the others met with their life changing fate.
'Traitor! You'll die for your words!'
Rakam frowned as he held back Eroraf's attack. "Is this about that night?" he said, giving Eroraf an equally intense glare.
"Well, aren't you perceptive," Eroraf sarcastically said, continuing to force his way through Rakam's resistance.
"You know that I am right. You cannot deny the fact that the Patriarchs are planning against --!"
"ENOUGH!!!" Eroraf parried Rakam's sword and roundhouse kicked him in the face, knocking him to the ground. "The Patriarchs have let you live long enough!" Eroraf leapt upon Rakam and thrusts his blade at Rakam. At the moment of contact, Rakam moved slightly to the side, dodging the attack. Eroraf was still, as his eyes widened with a mix of fright and surprise. Rakam had stabbed Eroraf in the right arm.
"Curse you," Eroraf quietly muttered, in a harsh tone. Abruptly, he yanked his arm from the wraithlike cutting edge and assumed fighting stance. As Rakam got to his feet, he noticed that Eroraf suddenly became relaxed in his stance. Eroraf softly laughed to himself. "I got ahead of myself. I won't make that mistake again."
Eroraf swiftly attacked Rakam with a side-slash. Rakam parried it, but barely. Eroraf's attacks came faster and faster, each one becoming increasingly unpredictable. Rakam struggled to keep up with this new unprecedented cadence of Eroraf's sword. Unexpectedly, Eroraf spun around quickly, catching Rakam off guard. The strike landed, rending Rakam's cloak and knocking him back. Blood briefly shot from Rakam's slashed body. He winced at the rush of pain that he felt. Eroraf glowered at his helpless opponent. "Through and through, you are inadequate."
Rakam performed a backwards roll to his feet and brandished his sword to keep Eroraf from approaching him. "Don't judge me," he said, pushing away the pain as he spoke.
"I am not casting judgment. I merely am stating a fact," he said as he raised his sword above his head. "You are weak, and you will die."
High above the shrine, Uryan and Silar flew high, attempting to hit each other with the energy spheres that they produced. They avoided flying to high at the risk of high winds and poor visibility through the low, gray clouds.
"Tell me," Silar began to say amidst his attacks, "How is it that Uryan the Calculated chooses to follow the will of the Patriarchs so obediently?"
Uryan said as he continued his assault, "I do so because the will of the Patriarchs is absolute. They are not doing what you say they do."
Silar formed orbs of energy on both of his hands and rushed through the air at Uryan. Uryan quickly formed two orbs of his own and met Silar's hands. They hung suspended in the air, holding back one another. "I can see right through your vanity. You have your own agenda for helping them, don't you?" Silar said, frowning at him.
"Do not mistake me for one of your kind, traitor," Uryan said. Immediately thereafter, the spheres in Uryan's hands exploded, throwing Silar away from him in the process. Uryan followed up by throwing another ball at the flying Silar. The ball connected, discharging on Silar and tossing him about even more. Uryan pursued him, preparing for another attack, when Silar faced Uryan and stretched out his arms, releasing a volley of energy orbs at Uryan. He tried his best to dodge them, but a few hit him, knocking him out of the sky. They both fell to the shrine, neither attempting to recover. Just before they hit the ground, both suddenly turned themselves upright and halted their fall just inches from the ground, shattering the floor beneath them and sending a rush of wind running through the shrine.
"You claim in your self-righteousness that you are loyal to the Patriarchs, but you have loyalty only to your own ends, is that right?" Silar yelled.
Uryan dashed at Silar and threw a ball at him, of which Silar expertly deflected with an orb of his own.
Silar grinned. "Perhaps I know too much?" he said, sarcastically.
Uryan stood plainly. "Do you really bear so much bitterness for your banishment, that you have become so cynical, Silar?"
Silar's eyes flashed before they darkened at the statement. "It runs much deeper than that. It's the fact that I've been taught ALL of my life that I would one day serve the Hero, and then I come to find out that the Patriarchs never intended to adhere to the prophecy of the oracle." Silar's aura suddenly flashed, creating a loud boom. "It was the pain of discovering that you were nothing but a pawn in the games of fattened swine!" Energy balls formed once again in Silar's hands. "HOW CAN YOU CONTINUE TO LIVE IN IGNORANCE!?!" Silar put his hands together and a suddenly beam of blue energy emitted from his hands at Uryan. Uryan quickly formed a shield in front of him and blocked the rush of extreme energy that came at him. The beam had so much power, that it pushed Uryan back as he sustained his protection against it. After a moment, the beam ceased, allowing Uryan to release the ethereal shield he created.
"You truly have lost sight of what it means to be a Ranul, haven't you?" noted Uryan, half in lament, the other half in disgust.
Nid's constant flow of attacks overwhelmed Ainurad, who was put on the defensive. The intensity and speed of Nid's punches and kicks far exceeded Ainurad's original ideas. Just as Ainurad blocked a punch, Nid launched a surprise kick, hitting Ainurad hard in the face. Ainurad flew back, but recovered to his feet before he hit the ground.
"Nid is way more intense than he previously was…"
As soon as he finished his thought, Nid was already upon him. The fray continued just as it was. Ainurad struggled increasingly to keep up with the storm of melee attacks. Suddenly, Ainurad pulled away from Nid, surprising him. "If I can't kill you, I'll destroy the whole point of your mission then!" Nid noticed Ainurad's eyes suddenly change, wearing a desperately frenetic expression.
"No, you fool," Nid said, almost in a whisper.
Ainurad suddenly darted in Link's direction, preparing a killing blow. Link noticed from the corner of his eye, that Ainurad was charging him. Astonished by the sudden shift, Link reacted by unsheathing his sword to defend. As soon as Ainurad was within range, Link swung at him, but Ainurad slipped past the attack and brought up his fist for the death blow. Time suddenly seemed to slow down as the blow came closer to its intended target. A flash of light abruptly filled the air. Upon receding, Link's eyes witnessed startling scene. Ainurad's fist rested just below Link's chin, but he was seemingly frozen stiff. Rakam's ghostly sword ran through Ainurad's heart.
"…What…is this?" Ainurad asked silently, trying to keep his betrayed eyes from succumbing to the grip of death.
Rakam's eyes suddenly filled with tears. "I don't know, something just came over me."
Ainurad's face twisted into an agonizing look. "You…" He slumped on Rakam's blade before he could finish his sentence. His life had met its unfortunate end, and at the hands of his brother.
Silar's eyes were dilated as he watched in dismay. "Rakam, how could you betray us?!"
Rakam unsheathed his blade from Ainurad's body. "Brother, what we're doing is wrong! What happened to us? Why are we betraying our ideals?"
"Because we were betrayed! There is no Chosen Hero! There is no evil! All there is are lies! The Patriarchs have --!" Silar was suddenly cut short by an energy ball from Uryan that exploded on his head, instantly killing him. His body quickly tumbled to the ground in an undignified way.
"Discuss your differences on the other side," Uryan said to Silar's empty body. He formed a new orb of force in his hands and looked to Rakam. "You will be there to continue your quarrel with him, one who has twice betrayed."
Rakam took stance at this challenge. With three of them against him, Rakam knew he had no chance, but he wasn't going to give in to them either.
"Die!" Uryan yelled, suddenly tossing the orb at Rakam. Rakam deflected the attack with his sword, but he noticed that Eroraf was upon him also, preparing to strike. Rakam flinched closing his eyes at the coming death. Instead of feeling his body jerk upon Eroraf's tainted blade, he heard a clash. He opened his eyes to see that Link had blocked Eroraf's attack.
"Link, what is the meaning of this?" Eroraf asked, confused at why Link stopped him.
"I need some answers. Nothing that has taken place here has made any sense. Why are you all fighting? Why would he betray his own comrades to protect me?"
"Link, this man is a danger to us all! We need to kill him!"
"If he was truly dangerous, I would be dead by now," Link said. "Have you been hiding something from me this whole time?"
Eroraf grunted slightly and then he pulled his blade away from Link's. "I really hoped that it wouldn't have to come to this, but there seems to be no way out."
Link became perplexed. "No way out of what?"
Rakam stepped forward. "Chosen Hero, these men are trying to use you as a sacrifice!"
Link looked at Eroraf. "Is…this true?"
"No, it's not. That isn't the real truth behind it."
Uryan interjected, saying, "We are trying to help you, but they are trying to deceive you!"
"Lies! You were planning to betray the Hero and the Patriarchs all along! Only those who are not considered member of the tribe address them as 'Patriarchs'! This whole time, you've been referring to them as such, proving your plans of betrayal," Rakam refuted.
"No, that's not --!" Nid was suddenly interrupted by Uryan, who began to laugh in a manic manner. The laughter continued, growing more and more distorted with each syllable. Everyone looked in awe as they tried to comprehend the joke that only Uryan seemed to understand. The mirth suddenly ceased and Uryan regained proper posture, his attention on Link and Rakam.
"Congratulations, Rakam. You finally managed to uncover the big surprise!" he said.
"So you have been lying to us this whole time, you snake!" Auru suddenly spouted.
"Was this whole mission a set-up for Link?" asked Zelda.
Nid turned to Zelda. "I should ask you a similar question. Were you trying to set us up, Princess Zelda of Hyrule?"
Zelda gasped loudly. "So you knew all this time then," she said, almost to herself.
"You think we are that dense? And why don't you call out your Sheikah friend while you're at it," said Nid, sardonically.
"I'm right here for you," the Sheikah watchman answered, standing near Jabu-Jabu's pool of partially frozen water. "I had a feeling that you were on to us."
How long have you three been planning this?" Mikau said, glaring at Uryan. He opened his ulna fins as if preparing for combat.
"Well, since this journey started, this plan has been in motion, however, there is one thing wrong with Rakam's accusations. We do not intend to betray the Patriarchs. We would have been long since dead if that were the case," said Uryan.
"How is that so? Your words betray you," Rakam rebutted.
"Haven't you ever wondered how the Patriarchs found out about your betrayal? The can peer into your consciousness and read your inner-most thoughts. They would have been able to see that we were going to betray them if we had such a heart."
Rakam suddenly remembered the conversation of the Patriarchs.
'What could you tell from the boy's thoughts?'
Rakam tightened his fist upon remembering.
Nid smiled. "From the look on your face, I can tell that you remember what we mean."
Rakam turned to Nid. "Still, you are planning to betray the Hero."
"That is true, I can't refute that," answered Uryan.
"So," Auru began, "What is the story behind the Fused Shadows?"
"I thought we already went over that on Death Mountain," Eroraf said.
"That whole story was a lie," interjected the Sheikah watchman. "Your Patriarchs aren't the only ones who can see through falsehoods,"
"Oh yes," began Uryan, "I forgot that the Sheikah are able to see the unseen. If you want the real story, then here it is: the Fused Shadows aren't something that we found for the tribe, we made it."
"What are you talking about? I never heard of anything called a Fused Shadow!" said Rakam.
"Of course you wouldn't have. The Fused Shadow has enough power to overcome even Grandfather. Something with so much power had to be kept a secret," replied Eroraf.
"Then what is the real story behind why Anodro and Dogoro had pieces of it?" asked Link.
"Anodro didn't really steal it, we gave him a piece," Nid said.
"Gave it to him?" asked Darmani.
"Yes. We his purpose was to cause strife in Kokiri Forest so the way for Link would be prepared. There must be conflict in order to provide the Hero with a proving ground," explained Nid.
"Then why would you allow Link to kill one of your comrades?" Darmani asked.
Uryan chuckled lightly. "That fool was never our 'comrade'. He was also an exile, like this traitor before us, and we simply manipulated his hatred for the Patriarchs by telling him that we planned to betray them and that we were going to give him the power to take the Kokiri Emerald from the Great Deku Tree. Obviously, we knew that he didn't have the power to take on the Deku Tree, so we told him that he would have to die, but he would later be brought to life again by us once we became gods by the power of the Triforce."
Link recalled Anodro's last words.
'…My gods will…make…sure…of…'
"So you plan to gain the power to return him to life?" Link asked.
"Don't be daft; he was just a pawn in the Patriarch's games. No one plans to bring that exile back," said Uryan.
"How did Dogoro gain a piece?" asked Darmani.
"After watching the Goron tribe for a few weeks, we saw the bitterness of that old rock and we knew that he would act against the tribe's leader if he gained the power to do so. Knowing that, we planted the Fused Shadow piece where he would find it, and the rest is history," explained Nid.
"So the conflicts in the forest and at Death Mountain were just fabrications?" asked Auru.
"Frankly, yes, but Rakam's group's interference was not part of our plan. Originally, we had bought out the support of the Bulblins before we started our journey, but somehow Rakam, Silar, and Ainurad paid higher," said Uryan.
"But that wasn't all of it." Rakam said, "They also didn't like the way you used them to test out the Hero's skill either. They said that they would rather fight freely than to be used as decoys."
"Either way, they are now with us again," said Uryan.
"So, if the first two conflicts were orchestrated by you three, then does this mean that you planned for all of this to happen?" asked the Sheikah watchman.
"Well, no," started Eroraf, "Their involvement was not our doing, but now that I think of it, I believe that the Patriarchs had thought of this from the beginning."
'I have said it before, they needn't die,'
"So that's why the Patriarchs didn't kill us," Rakam said, surprised at the revelation. "So, even though we chose to defy them, we end up being used!" he yelled angrily.
"There is no way to escape your role as a piece in our games," said Uryan.
Link took stance to fight. "Now that we have you all discovered, what do you plan to do now?"
"There are still other ways to get to the sacred realm," Uryan said, "But first," He formed energy orbs in both his hands. "We will be taking the Spiritual Stones from you."
Rakam formed his sword and prepared to fight. "I finally understand how to free myself from their grasp; fight for the Hero."
Link glanced at Rakam and smirked at his newfound determination.
"Don't worry Link," Darmani said, taking stance, "Your comrades fight with you!"
Auru formed a fighting stance with Darmani. "He is right. We will overcome them together!"
Zelda, Medi, the Sheikah watchman, and Mikau all prepared to fight as well.
Link looked back at all of them and smiled confidently. "Thank you, everyone."
"LET'S GO, HERO!" Uryan yelled as he lunged at Link to do battle.
