Chapter: XI

"A Dark Messenger"

Lake Hylia was set in the southern lowlands of Hyrule. On three sides, sheer cliffs rose which acted as a natural barrier to outsiders. The North side, facing the kingdom, was guarded by several rocky hills which were very difficult to travel. Ages ago, the King's stoneworkers had carved a wide roadway through those hills, and down to the lakeside. On that roadway, in line with the hills, a small iron gate had been erecte, to protect the kingdom' chief supply of water and fish. Now that gate was closed, and reinforced with a bulwark of stone and wood. Short watchtowers were built on both sides and archers stood watch night and day for any approaching threat. Once he was armed again, gate-duty was the closest to danger that Alfon would allow Link to reach. Still too small to draw a soldier's bow, Link's task was to act as a runner for the guards and raise the alarm if they saw anything coming. It was here, 6 months after his arrival at the lake, that Link re-entered the war.

It was an early winter morning and an icy breeze blew over the guards from the lake's surface. Link shivered, and drew his fur-lined cloak closer about him. Everything in sight was covered in a blanket of grayish snow, giving the land a look of pale dead skin. Link had spent hundreds of hours on the watchtower, staring into the nothingness; His boredom and impatience slowly rising. The war had continued its stalemate as the Hylians failed to advance in every campaign and Ganon's forces remained patient within the castle (except for the odd night raid). Link was forced to work out his frustrations through his exercises with Alfon: Physical conditioning, hand to hand combat, swordplay, and other martial disciplines; but these long watches on the wall were slowly becoming too much for Link. He daydreamed of slipping away from the lake, and returning to the Forbidden Forest. He would find Saria and the other Kokiri alive in some remote refuge in the Lost Woods. But here, the daydreams usually fell apart. The Kokiri could not leave the forest, and Link would be unwilling to stay with them indefinitely.

In the distance, on the road, a small black spot crept over the horizon. Tiny at first, it became larger and larger as it approached, eventually taking the shape of a man. Sometimes messenger-riders would appear unexpectedly and the guards would shout their challenges and exchange the pass-words with them before opening the gate. Very few, however, ever approached the gate on foot, and this man seemed to stagger and stumble. "Something is wrong..." muttered the archer beside Link, "He's hurt." Indeed, the man swayed and stumbled, holding his right arm under his left as if he had suffered some serious wound. "Go for the healers boy! Go!" urged the soldier as others cried out to the man to halt and declare himself. Link climbed down from the tower and ran as fast as he could back toward the lake. He had only covered half of the distance before the sound of a moblin's horn rent the air around him. Link looked back and could hear the clash of steel coming from the gate. Several arrows began streaking back-and-forth between the towers and the attackers. Link frantically tried to decide what he should do: run for the healers as ordered, or return to the gate and fight. A loud scream from one of the soldiers made Link's mind up. He charged back toward the gate and drew his sword.

A small squad of moblins had followed the wounded man and ambushed the gate when it was opened for him. Two were on horseback, firing arrows at the guard towers, while three more attacked the guards on foot. The hylian who opened the gates lay dead with several arrows stuck in his chest. The archers in the towers were frantically trying to shoot the mounted moblins, and fend off the others climbing the ladders. The moblins took no notice of Link as he approached. He charged toward the nearest moblin, which was attempting to climb the western watchtower's ladder. Without hesitation, Link buried his sword into the moblin's back, and cried out - He was finally fighting back! The moblin shrieked as black blood spewed out over Link's arm. He rapidly drew the blade out, and hacked off the moblin's head. As its body slumped to the ground, Link's heart was flooded with adrenalin - he did it! He killed one of Ganon's monsters! An enraged roar alerted Link to the other two moblins. They had given up on the towers, and now charged toward him. Ducking, rolling, and dodging, Link desperately avoided being sliced or bludgeoned by the beasts. They were much larger than him, and possessed incredible strength. His only hope was to tire them, and to wait for an opening. As Link distracted the two moblins on the ground, the Hylian archers were free to focus on the mounted menace outside the gate, who soon fell.

Link's strategy did not work very well. The moblins seemed to also have great stamina, and Link soon found himself panting hard for breath. He was slowing, and their weapons began to clip his mail shirt and cloak as he struggled to dodge their attacks. Suddenly, an arrow from the watchtowers struck one moblin in the back, it was an opening. Link lunged forward and sliced the moblin's neck open. More black blood gurgled out as the beast sank to the ground and Link turned to face the final monster. The last moblin, slightly larger than the other two and wearing a mail tunic, gave a furious roar as it swung a heavy two-handed hammer down upon him. With no time to dodge, Link lifted his shield and attempted to block the attack. The hammer came down with crushing force, and shattered Link's shield. He felt a surge of pain and an odd "pop" come from his arm as he was knocked backward. Arrows rained down on the beast, sticking into its arm and back, but failed to draw its attention. It bore down on Link, fangs bared, ready to kill the one that had killed its comrades. Link, lifting himself to a seated position tried to back away from the moblin. He had dropped his sword, which now lay behind his advancing enemy. The moblin raised its hammer again, and Link tried to shield himself with his other arm... this was it.

The horn-call had been a foolish assumption of victory by the moblins. They believed that if they took the hylian guards by surprise, that the gate would quickly fall and their raiding party could enter to the lakeside and cause great havoc. But the guards' resistance had bought precious time. Alfon, and the other soldiers by the lake had heard the horn, and rushed forward with weapons in hand. As two dozen more mounted moblins answered the call and charged the outer gate, Alfon and his company reached Link and the inner bulwark. They came upon the moblin captain just as he raised his hammer to crush Link. With a cry of "For the Goddess!" from Alfon, the company charged forward with an angry roar. The moblin-captain turned and attempted to fight the great knight, but was quickly cloven in two and fell to the ground. The two forces clashed between the gates to the lake. Though the moblins had attacked the gate by surprise, they were now vastly outnumbered, and soon withdrew to the north.

When victory had been won, Alfon hurried back to Link. He was lying on his back, next to the dead moblin captain, crying in great pain. His left arm had been shattered by the hammer-strike and a small piece of bone stuck out through his flesh. The Marshal quickly lifted him up and shouted, "Make way, wounded man here! Make way!" He rushed Link back to the temple and laid him in the infirmary. Link had tried several times to tell Alfon he was sorry, but Alfon just hushed him, "it's alright lad, you did well! You did well!" The healers gave Link a drink to dull his senses and set to work on his arm. The last thing Link remembered seeing was Alfon kneeling beside his bed. He did his best to remain calm and stoic for his men, but his eyes betrayed how worried he was for the boy and his hands were shaking.

Link slipped in and out of consciousness throughout the next day. Sometimes the nurses would check the brace on his arm, other times someone would gently urge him to drink something pressed to his lips. Once, he heard voices speaking nearby. His senses were still too blurry to catch much, but he was sure he heard Zelda's voice. On the third day, he woke. The room was dimly lit by only a few candles, but Link could see the nurse on duty at the far end of the room, checking other patients. Alfon was sitting on a wooden stool next to Link's bed, his chin resting on his breastplate as he softly snored. He had not left his squire's side the entire time. Across the room, in the bed opposite Link, was another badly wounded man. Link tried to lift himself up, but his left arm throbbed painfully and he felt very weak. Alfon jolted awake at Link stirring, and looked down at him. "Well, here he is!" he smiled, "Back from fighting monsters and chasing nightmares eh lad?" Link gave up the effort, and lay his head back down on the pillow. "What happened?" he asked after he had regained some strength. "Don't worry about that now lad. Just rest and get well!" Alfon said, tussling Link's hair. But the boy was adamant, "No... I need to know... what happened? Is everyone alright?" Alfon considered him for a moment, and decided that the boy wouldn't rest unless Alfon told him. "The moblins attacked, we lost the gate guard, but you and the archers were able to keep the others busy while the rest of us charged up. There were more moblins outside, but they did not make it to the lake."

Link closed his eyes and felt relieved. He grieved the loss of the guard with the gate-keys, but he was glad the enemy did not make it to the lake. "The archers told me what you did son." Alfon continued, "That was very brave." The fight rushed back to Link's mind. The roaring moblins, the black blood, the screams of the wounded guard, it was a terrifying scene. How did he do it? How did he keep moving and fighting? After a moment Link said, "I disobeyed orders." Alfon looked confused; the archers had said nothing about wrongdoing on Link's part. "They told me to go for the healers when we saw the hurt man... I ran back and fought the moblins..." Link admitted. "Ah," said Alfon, looking over at the wounded man in the bed opposite Link, "Well healers weren't what we needed at the gate at the moment, we needed soldiers." Link opened his eyes again and looked up at his master. Alfon had a sly smile on his face, "But if you prefer, I can find some suitable punishment for a mutinous brat like you!" he said with a wink. Link laughed. It hurt to laugh, but it also felt good. It was the first time he had laughed in months.

The wounded man let out a pitiful groan. Alfon looked over at him, and waved to the nurse to tend to him. Link looked curiously up at his master. "They were chasing him..." Alfon whispered, "He hasn't said much... something about the ranch just outside of the castle." Link struggled to sit up again, "He might know Malon!" he exclaimed. At the mention of Malon's name, the wounded man started struggling against the nurse. He babbled and cried out "Malon! Malon!" several times. "Quiet lad!" Hissed Alfon, "He's near the edge already... it might kill him" as he reached down and helped Link into a seated position. Link watched the poor man struggle and whimper as the nurse tried to calm him. His body was covered in bandages and his right arm ended in a bloody stump.