Chapter 29: Unfinished Business; a Runback Drenched in Blood

Answering the Sworn Oath Arc

Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.

Featured Music: "Urgency Drives Us" - Fire Emblem 10: Radiant Dawn OST. Chapter Briefing.

"A Searing Struggle" - YS III: The Oath in Felghana OST. Scene 1 (First Half).

"Scarlet Tempest" - YS Origin OST. Scenes 1 (Second Half) and 2.

In their tenuous and even shaky alliance Link, Sheik, Navi and Raynard join forces in a collaborated effort to enter and clear the divine Fire Temple of its infection by the devious Gerudian king Ganondorf. Despite their tight victory in the great struggle at the Forest Temple, Link considers the merits of simply attempting to power through the darkness-infested dungeons before them.

Now having lost even his Kokiri heritage along with his childhood friend Saria to the task his country's princess has given him, Link's distrust and negativity begin to eat away at him from the inside. Seemingly feeding from the very antagonism the newly christened Hylian youth festers Kage Narumono, Link's demonic second side, grows even stronger than its previously near-invincible satanic level of strength.

With information from the only survivor left in Goron City, Darunia's son, the main generals of the resurrected Hylianis Militaris Ordinis repeat their previous strategy. By dividing their forces to efficiently spend time in their search the three men hope to locate and save the missing Goron people, having been abducted by Hyrule's feared monarch. As way of sending a warning message to the Hylians and other races across the country, the heartless Dreadlord Dragmire aims to control the masses through despair and tyranny.

While searching through the Fire Temple however, Link and Navi manage to encounter their companion of old; chief to the Goron people and sworn brother Darunia. Although the Hero of Time is expectedly guilty of his demonic identity's crime in murdering the missing Barkner in the crisis for the Goron's Ruby, he attempts to work with the surviving Goron commander-in-chief in a collaborated effort to save his race. Unfortunately for the ill-fated pair things do not go as well as the stigmatised Link would hope for as the trio of heroes eventually find the missing Gorons, only, with one horrifying sight.

The resurrected right-hand to Darunia himself; Barkner.

Along with the summoned Goron corpse came his caller; the similar right-hand Scaverin, former man of the cloth. In revealing himself and his latest pawn, the devious Scaverin exposes the sickening hidden truth of Barkner's demise to the listening Darunia. Unable to believe it but, at last, connecting the dots that Scaverin drew for him the listening Goron chief turns his new-found repulsion on his sworn brother.

Although horrified at his dirty little secret finally having been unearthed, Link resolves to confront his distasteful past in the form of a fallen victim...

Scene 1

Without a single word escaping from his lips the resurrected Barkner leapt ahead, huge silvery hammer singing proudly behind him. Grunting as they both shot off to the sides in evasion, the firm-faced Link and Darunia drifted across the ground in opposite sides, narrowly avoiding the deft Goron's plunging strike.

DROOM-RUMBLE...

Gasping as he landed, even far-off, the weapon Barkner commandeered appeared to have much strength behind it.

Perhaps even supernatural power.

"What is that?!" Link called out above the rumbling din the silvery hammer caused, the Master Sword and Hylian Shield rose up to his centre.

"I think it's that weapon of Goron legend...," Navi surmised, narrowing her eyes over at the divinely-crafted silver in Barkner's grip. "The Megaton Hammer!"

Link's blonde eyebrows lifted up in recognition of the name, having heard it previously in passing via his meetings with Sheik.

What a way to be introduced to it.

Double-taking over in the standing Scaverin's direction, Link narrowed his eyes back at the folded-armed summoner.

Seemingly defenceless and with no protection available, Scaverin appeared to be a sitting duck. In spite of all of his internal instincts telling him otherwise Link fought against them and leapt to his right to pursue the cloaked right-hand. Pulling the Master Sword back he glared on back at the raised eyebrow atop his enemy.

"This one is ambitious..." Scaverin's low voice chuckled, his voice echoing contrastingly softly.

"Link!" Navi called out frantically, her blue light expanding to convey her anxiety. Widening his similarly coloured eyes the air-dashing Link snapped his straw-haired head over. Finding the similarly speedy Barkner sailing toward him, Megaton Hammer pulled backward presumably to strike him with. Gasping, the Hero of Time swerved his body 'round and put the brakes on with his boots in a late attempt to bypass the ferocious assault. He held back an anxiety-filled gasp as he caught the sight of the silver barely grazing the fiery-crimson of his Goron Tunic before finally smashing against the stone ground viciously.

DROOM-RUMBLE...

Acting quickly, the narrow-eyed youth forced his shield into the deceased Goron's face to send him stumbling back. Though his grip on the Megaton Hammer seemed immovable, the wide-eyed Hero of Time managed to do the impossible by leaning forward and slamming two consecutive kicks into Barkner's sides.

"Towah!"

One after the other, the gasping Barkner was thrown up into the air by the brawny swordsman's double-kick; at last the grip on his feared weapon lessened as a result and dropped down to the ground harmlessly. Finishing up his counter-attack, Link let out a final yell of effort as he leapt up in place and savagely roundhouse kicked the resurrected corpse across his face, sending him careering across the sky. Gliding into the ground, Barkner managed to kick up an absurd amount of debris and wreckage from the brick and stone beneath him.

"Darunia!" Link called over as he landed, eyes widened. "Get him!"

Sure enough, the fast-approaching Barkner caused the watching Goron chief to gawk back in a bewildered manner.

"What's he doing...?!" Link hissed out through frustrated gritted teeth, more to himself than anyone else.

"Trauma..." Navi merely murmured out from the blonde's side, causing him to raise his eyebrows up in sudden realisation.

Just as they both feared, the fallen Barkner very quickly recovered from his earlier assault by utilising his burly left arm to push up off the ground. With a deft side-somersault, the deceased Goron youth narrowed his blackened eyes down at his former leader before pulling his arm back. Realising he was intending to attack him, Darunia stared back with a wide-eyed frown before scowling back and raising up his own muscled arms in a block-string.

"He's not gonna make it!" Link gasped out desperately before breaking into a sudden sprint in a futile attempt to cross the distance between them. Unfortunately, just as he had expected the undead cannonball that was the high-flying Barkner plummeted down at a faster rate than he could and, with a horrified stare, Link could only watch as the two clashed grandiosely.

CRASH-DROOM

Seemingly as emotionless and wordless as he had been previously summoned through, the frowning Barkner merely glared back down at the grunting Darunia beneath him. Burning-blood auras of Quintessence blazed between the brotherly battlers; Darunia in his cross-armed defence and Barkner in his hard-eyed haymaker. As he swiftly approached Link grunted to put an emergency hold on his advance as he felt the blazing-hot air of the Goron pair singe his skin.

There's no way I can even get near them like that, he thought to himself.

What to do?

"What an exciting stand-off..."

His attention grabbed, Link swivelled his blonde head 'round to stare back at the smirking-faced Scaverin, still looking as smartly as ever.

"How long do you think he can hold out?" The former bishop posed, raising a curious dark-brown eyebrow up. Similarly curious, Link enacted an identical but wordless facial cue to press him on. "After all... corpses are a wondrous resource for military use," he began to elaborate before a chuckle started to dance upon his sanctimonious tone. "They have a near limitless supply of Aegir you know..."

"No...," Link murmured back, horror filling the gap in his voice to match the frigid realisation. "Darunia!" He called over, attempting to send his pitch over the deafening sound of his ally's engagement. "You have to stop!" The youth hollered, eyes narrowed from the sheer sharpness of the biting wind that the two Gorons kicked up. "You won't be able to-!"

DROOM

Grunting in effort Link shot up his weapon-carrying arms in a defensive cross; having been sent veering mere yards away from his earlier position, he lowered them once more to widen his eyes at the sight before him.

Seemingly having broken the solid struggle between them the two Goron men stood on opposite sides of one another, glaring one another down. Although Barkner merely stood in his earlier detached closed-mouthed frown, Darunia set his burly legs apart and clenched his fists at his sides as he began to shake the very earth. Opening his mouth the Goron chief began a slow-to-loud battle cry as an aura of bright-red power circulated his body; a veritable maelstrom of Aegir and strength.

"He's going to blow the temple up...!" Navi squeaked, her tone full of distress as she hovered next to the gasping Link.

Shocking both the watching young Hylian and his guardian fairy, the wide-eyed form of Darunia blinked in and out of existence. Realising it was merely an after-image of the burly Goron, Link gasped as he darted his eyes in an attempt to follow the deceptively quick Darunia. Re-appearing directly behind the firmly-frowning Barkner, Darunia grunted with the effort of leaping through the air to ambush him with a wild and Quintessence-powered haymaker. Unwilling to even face his former brother-in-arms, Barkner merely shot up his right palm up to counter.

SMACK-CRASH

In display of the incredible power that Darunia put into his strike, the earth beneath them opened up into a very small chasm, burning from the contact of the Goron chief's fire-like Aegir aura. Shocked at his opponent's sheer control Darunia could only watch as the resurrected Barkner abruptly swung his head 'round to glare back eerily.

CRACK

"Argh...!"

In a pained and echoing howl Darunia found his power very slowly fading as his right fist began to become crushed within the grip of his enemy. Raising up his free left arm to grab at his own right, Darunia found himself widening his eyes once more when he found the chilling gaze of Barkner intensify alongside the meteoric raise in strength. As it did, a similar aura of Aegir encircled the deceased Goron's body.

"Link we have to help him!"

"I can't even... get close...!" Link gasped in a narrow-eyed grunt, both arms shielding himself from the sheer ferocity of the pair's auras.

"Kill him."

The icy tone in the order that was spoken made the wide-eyed Link turn briefly to eye the smirking-faced Scaverin on his right.

Not another one, Link thought.

This is all my fault.

If I hadn't let Barkner die then maybe...

SMASH-DROOM-RUMBLE

In a massive grunt of effort, the hard-eyed Barkner used his remaining arm to wildly wallop the wide-eyed warrior of the Gorons; as a result he was sent careering through the air before, finally, colliding rather painfully and cacophonous with the new wreckage that followed his fallen form. Working on the watching youth's nerves and fears, the narrow-eyed Barkner used his left arm to smash heavily upon the already destroyed ground. Like magic the Megaton Hammer laying aside from the watching Link was soon vaulted high into the air, seemingly descending down for the running Barkner to grapple. The ex-Kokiri's eyes widened in a mixture of horror and realisation.

Navi was right; whatever consciousness was left in Barkner had to have gone.

He's going to kill Darunia, he thought.

As the deceptively fast Barkner began to approach the fallen wreckage that Darunia seemingly rested under unconscious, he rose the Megaton Hammer up threateningly, an emotionless frown plastered upon his cracked expression. Pounding his young legs upon the ruined brick of the Fire Temple beneath him, Link tried desperately in vain to reach the space in between the pair of Gorons, great fear and dread looming over his conscience. The thought and fear of yet another comrade's death became so great that he found his own awareness very quickly slipping from him.

"Don't worry..."

Link's eyebrows lifted at the voice echoing from within the confines of his mind; recognisable and low-toned in pitch.

"I will deal with this..."

The last thing he managed to catch in his eyesight before his consciousness eventually faded was the blurry sight of Barkner leaping toward the wreckage Darunia was under.

DROOM-SKRRRRRRR

In a widely-grinning turn of his newly demonic-fanged facial expression, Kage Narumono shot up the Master Sword between the hard-eyed Barkner and the wreckage behind him. Sparks of intense confrontation and of their fiery Aegir auras clashed as if they were mere weapons themselves before, finally, Kage's hellish-crimson eyes widened with effort as he pushed the grunting Barkner back. In a deft and surprisingly acrobatic back-flip the resurrected cadaver found itself recovering rather gracefully, its movement followed very closely by the glaring Kage.

SSSSS

Gasping, Kage growled in sudden biting pain as he dropped the sky-blue hilt of the divine Master Sword. Shaking his left fingers off as if they were burning from the contact, the demonic red-garbed warrior narrowed his eyes down at the holy blade before turning his gaze back up to his enemy.

CLANG-CLATTER

Similarly dropping the Hylian Shield his second identity carried so well, Kage grunted as he rotated his fiery-blonde head around, as if to return some of the blood flow.

"Damn... Master Sword...," the demonic warrior growled out in a distasteful glower directed down at the still sizzling hilt of the legendary blade beneath him. Seemingly having been very lightly injured by the holy weapon, Kage flexed his clawed fingers in an animal-like fashion. "Swords are for weaklings... after all..." He spoke disarmingly softly as he briefly eyed the watching Scaverin.

Double-taking with surprise however in the direction of his current opponent, the deceased Barkner, Kage found himself visibly shocked.

"Well... if it isn't you; isn't this a surprise...," the demonic warrior chuckled, notably amused by the revelation. "Didn't I already murder you?" He grunted over, a crude crease to his scowl as he spoke.

Just as always, the watching Barkner merely frowned on back in an impassive expression, seemingly unable to be read. The watching Kage merely glared on back, narrowing his fiery eyes back suspiciously.

"Hmph..."

"You..."

His attention successfully acquired, Kage turned a raised crimson eyebrow over to the speaking summoner far-off to his north-east. At last he unfolded his arms and watched on back in a scrutinising stare, as if examining the new form Link's vessel had taken.

"You're the one that banished my last summoned corpse...," Scaverin claimed, glaring on imposingly. As he listened and, seemingly also recalled, Kage slowly gained a low fanged grin. "So... God was right... you do exist..."

"'God'...?" Kage parroted promisingly, glowering on back. "You don't mean...?"

"Yes...," Scaverin cut in, his own grin very gradually spreading across the creases of his older facial expression. "The king of this country; your ruler."

"No man rules me, zealot," Kage threw over insultingly, narrowing his eyes as he did. "After I dispatch your latest corpse... you will follow... old man." He threatened lowly, a promise burning on his hateful tone.

"My, my so confident...," Scaverin chuckled, tilting his bald head very lightly to the side. "Do you realise that your power comes from the very holiest of relics?"

"Of course I do...," Kage countered back, raising a curious eyebrow. "Where is this going...?"

"You are not the only one with this power... demon...," the summoner posed, losing his grin in favour of a warning scowl. "My god is stronger than yours..."

Perhaps excited at the prospect in doing mortal battle with the mentioned king of evil, Kage licked his lips satanically and chuckled maliciously.

"Good," the beast-like warrior laughed heartily, lowering his stance to face the older man as he set his boots apart and opened up his two palms at his side. "I welcome the challenge... old man..."

"Hmph...," the watching Scaverin shot back in a narrow-eyed glare. "We will see... if there is iron in your words..."

–

2

Charging toward the demonically charged ex-Kokiri the hard-eyed Barkner delivered a wild swinging wallop; his burly Goron arm sung cacophonously as it clotheslined in an odd direction for its destination. Scowling lowly, Kage swerved his fiery-haired head under the strike before growling in effort as he side-stepped into an aura-infused right roundhouse kick.

SMASH

Grunting in the pain, Barkner was sent a few steps stumbling back from the sheer ferocity of the counter-attack. Stepping forward in pursuit, Kage lowered his form to wave-dash ahead, body and form sleek; swinging his legs roughly in a spinning hell-sweep before crashing a left hook into the Goron's face. Grunting a second time as he was knocked cleanly off of his grip on the wrecked ground, Barkner turned his left arm down to pounce off of and recover. Flipping athletically to his left side, the deceased Goron turned his abyss-shaded eyes down to glower at the fast-approaching form of his opponent.

Leaping as he approached Kage roared in widened eyes, horizontally swinging a high roundhouse; ready for him this time the intently watching Barkner parried the demon's rising sun by raising up his right arm. Successfully grappling the satanic warrior's leg and halting his assault early, Barkner followed up with a narrow-eyed vertical downward chop. Widening his fiery-red eyes Kage screamed in agony as the echoing sound of his vessel's bones broke in contact.

CRACK

Utilising the grip he had on the fiery Aegir form of his opponent Barkner swung him 'round in a spinning savage toss, sending him grunting and twisting across the destroyed surface of the Fire Temple. Widening his devilish eyes at the rough-shaking the earth took he caught the sight of the super-fast form of his enemy chasing on after him in a curled up shape, viciously ripping at the already demolished floor beneath him. Rolling toward him with frightening speed Kage readied his senses as he at last began to come to a stop.

SKRRRR-SMASH

In a grandiose blast, the cadaver smashed apart the ground turbulently in a ground pound technique to vault high up into the air. Seemingly reaching the apex of height gravity allowed him Barkner at last uncurled up into his normal form before finally descending down for the fallen Kage. Pulling his right fist back Barkner's form began to take a fiery-aura similar to that of the Shinzui's Aegir that encircled Kage.

A testament to the sheer power and speed at which the Goron plummeted.

Narrowing his eyes in concentrated effort Kage watched intently and carefully and, as his enemy made the final approach, the demonic warrior used his remaining leg to shoot up in a fiery-fierce roundhouse.

DROOM-RUMBLE...

Growling back at the emotionless-faced Barkner Kage grit his teeth in effort as he clashed his left roundhouse with the Goron's savage haymaker.

DROOM-FLASH

Gasping in his agonised grunt Kage was sent spiralling from the overwhelming pressure and force in which his opponent put into his frightening strike. Bleeding profusely and visibly heavily injured Kage could only grunt further as he finally landed in an echoing smash, the ground eating up even further than it already had.

"Nanda-ko...?" Kage whispered out at the ceiling above him, his words and voice laced with twinging pain. "He... couldn't kill me... before..."

"Predictable..."

Gasping a second time, Kage turned his bloodied face 'round to eye the visibly satisfied form of the folded-armed Scaverin.

"Do you think you are the only one in this world with access to the Shinzui-et-Sanmiitai's power?" The former bishop posed in a half-curious raise of his eyebrow. "Once I analysed it, it wasn't difficult to build a resistance to it in my Aegir Art; Revivification," he explained in a knowing chuckle; realising his seeming end and the meaning of his enemy's words, Kage's demonically-red eyes widened in horror. "You never had a chance to begin with..." The bald-headed cloaked summoner laughed in gratification.

"Shippai...," Kage gasped back, slowly shutting his eyes in a symbolic quiet gesture for defeat. "I have... failed..."

Somehow sensing the weakened demon's words, the watching Barkner very gradually marched toward the fallen form of his opponent, blackened eyes narrowed.

"Kill him." The folded-armed Scaverin smirked over; his final order. Obeying his summoner the Goron cadaver leapt up abruptly and plummeted down to meet the glaring-faced Kage, his right burly fist held back.

"Oyasumi..." Kage merely murmured out, his voice uncharacteristically soft to match the odd sentimental tone his voice took.

In spite of the fallen demon's fatalism however, his body's left arm shot up with sudden ferocity that it surprised even him. Widening his right red eye he watched as he involuntarily grappled at the Goron's right arm, pulsating with Aegir.

"Wha-?!" He gasped out; realising he could feel only the right side of his body made him arrive at the only sensible conclusion left to him.

And, just as he suspected, the boy's left eye returned to its original beautiful sky-blue; as a single tear stained the side of his very human left eye, the watching Goron stared back down at half of the returned Link himself.

A shocking revelation indeed.

"Barkner...," he spoke through cracks in his voice, audibly upset. The Goron above him narrowed his abyss-like eyes back at him. "I'm so sorry...," the resurrected Hylian managed out, the left side of his facial expression visibly quivered. "This is all my fault..."

Although it was very subtle, Kage and Link both caught the listening Barkner's eyes twitch in the ostensibly emotionless frown he carried on his expression.

"What's wrong?" Scaverin called over, notably concerned; raising his head up to narrow his eyes over at the scene he watched on intently. "I gave you an order!" He exclaimed angrily, glaring on at the pair.

Seemingly unwilling to listen any further however, Barkner's deceased frown began to soften up alongside the pressure he dealt to his former enemy's form.

It almost appeared that the Goron was listening to the fallen Hylian's ramblings.

"I know it wasn't me that did it...," the left side of the talking ex-Kokiri claimed before briefly shutting his tear-stained left eye. Re-opening it he continued. "But I feel so responsible for it...," he gasped out. "I don't deserve it, but...," the youth began one last time before very slowly morphing the left side of his saddened frown into a hopeful soft smile. "I hope you can forgive me... in the next life..."

Listening silently, the right side of the young man's face turned to watch; Kage Narumono. Turning his burning-bloody eye up to face the Goron above them, Kage could only widen it in even further surprise.

The silent Barkner visibly lowered his oppressive force and frowned back in a strange kind of sentience; something that even the watching Kage took note of. As time passed very slowly between the trio of warriors, eventually the seemingly dispassionate frown on Barkner's face altered into a similar smile.

The watching Kage and Scaverin could barely believe it.

"What in the hell...?" The angry-eyed right-hand to Ganondorf murmured, scrutinising the scene before him as best he could with the limited information he possessed. "What's-?!"

As if triggered by his summoner's words, a new kind of golden aura began to radiate off of the Goron's ghostly form. Similar to when Kage himself dispelled the last corpse, the vessel that Barkner was bonded to began to separate from the newly angelic form the Goron took. Now apparently bereft of its soul, the vessel he was previously inhabiting began to crumble into sheer dust and debris, harmlessly dropping onto the ground.

Ascending to the sky, just as the last corpse's soul did, Barkner graced the watching Link with a well-meaning smile of his own before opening his mouth one last time.

"Of course I forgive ya...," Barkner began, tears very slowly staining his own eyes. "Pipsqueak..."

His final term of affection, so nostalgic and warm, left the watching Link half-laughing and half-crying, seemingly moved to sheer tears. Although Kage stared on in pure puzzlement and even bewilderment he opted to shut his satanically right red eye, unconsciousness taking over.

At last the angelic form of the ghostly Barkner dissolved into the sky as it ascended, leaving the spectating summoner staring in a stumped open-mouthed frown.

"How...?" He murmured out, similarly to Kage unable to work the very situation out. Raising his eyebrows in sensing, the former bishop snapped his bald head 'round to the sudden noise at his left side.

Sure enough, the shocked forms of Sheik and Raynard stood at the entrance and exit to the prison's room, similarly baffled.

"Tsk...," Scaverin clicked his tongue angrily, as if having encountered a pair of insects to be stomped on. "Nuisances...," he muttered before darting his narrowed eyes over to the fallen form of the newly unconscious Link. Not much liking his chances the summoner unfolded his cloaked arms and turned back to re-face the watching Sheik and Raynard, raising up a single Deku Nut with his left arm. "Just a little more boys... and the end of days will dawn for you all." He finished, a harsh hiss to the end of his sentence as he dropped the tool he carried, filling the room in a sudden bright flash of white.