Relics of Old
Hushed twilight had descended over the land; the sky streaked bloody red in the west.
Argand Hues could not help but see those crimson streaks as ominous.
His company had just crossed an old stone bridge bringing them into the northwestern outskirts of central Hyrule. The company was comprised mainly of Knights of Hyrule, mounted and afoot, though some auxiliary forces did exist. A scouting unit led by Argand's younger sister in their leather cuirasses and green tunics did ride about the main formation in loose squads, the arrows in their quivers bristling just over their shoulders, horsebows at the ready.
Certain irregular forces were present as well.
"So what'dya think of those sodding mummers, Knight-Captain Sir? Didn't think their presentation was all that bleeding accurate if you ask me. I know my bloody legends and my people would've never let some dragon-creature take over our homeland."
Hues turned his one good eye over to glance at Darune to his left.
Despite the knight-captain sitting tall upon his roan stallion, the Goron mercenary was still nearly as tall as Argand was in the saddle, just ambling along upon his short but powerful little legs.
Argand decided to be diplomatic. "They said their presentation was based on ancient legend, but who knows with mummers. They likely say that about every play they make up to lend credence so they can charge more."
The rock man gave a great bellowing laugh just as he hefted his mighty maul over one shoulder, the greathammer absolutely huge. "Right, that's what I bloody said! Those sodding fools can't be trusted to tell an honest story—and every one of them Hylian! They don't know a Din-blasted thing about Goron legends—phaw—bloody dragons eating Gorons… why just the thought of anything eating a Goron is completely preposterous…"
And on he went, steering into some tangent about bellyaches and whatnot and the knight-captain gave appropriate nods but had stopped listening. Oh how Hues wished the Goron would be more like his much quieter companion. Urza was some kind of warrior monk, a Gerudo with the signature sun-dark skin and dark red hair, nearly as tall as her Goron companion but much less wide, an athletic and utterly toned warrior, as every Gerudo seemed to be. She spoke little, which Hues figured was just as well since it was hard to get a word in with Darune.
"…Ah but the sodding dragon was made of lava and could eat anything—like that's supposed to make it more believable! Made me want to smash some mummer skulls! Nonsense it all was, nonsense and skullduggery and not a bloody thing will convince me otherwise! Just think about it for one sodding second and you can see the utter…"
Argand stifled a sigh, patting the neck of his stallion as the warhorse shook its head and snorted. The knight-captain liked to believe that Bluefire was as fed up with the Goron as he was.
Ah well, the excavation of the ruins had been completed nearly a month ago and it had taken the company with their newfound relics that long just to get back to central Hyrule from the frost-kissed Mountains of Hebra. Nothing much bothered the land besides bandits, and the knights had done well enough for those so far with the aid of certain skillful irregulars like the gregarious Goron and his Gerudo companion.
Riding at the head of the column of knights with the Goron to his left and the Gerudo to his right, the knight-captain could not help but keep glancing west into the blood red sky. Something was nagging him about the color even as its light dwindled, the pole-lanterns being brought out to light the ever-darkening path…
And was the moon looking a bit… pinkish? Argand shook his head; he was letting the Goron's foolishness rub off on him.
But just then the rock man said something pertinent: "Kind of wish we would have seen a little more action on the way back… guess the Goriya and their Yiga sidekicks had enough of a whoopin' when we were heading north. Bloody cowards like to skulk about in the countryside and prey on the innocent—but what'dya expect from sodding traitors? You'll never meet a traitor Goron, I'll tell you that much… and with Hylians turning Goriya and Sheikah turning Yiga—and even Zora having fallen to corruption in the past—you'll never want for a more steadfast and loyal fighter than those hewn from Death Mountain, that's as certain sure."
Urza suddenly spoke up. "It sounds to me like your trying to butter the Captain up for a pay raise, scree-for-brains."
Darune gave a great guffaw. "Nothing wrong with a little buttering, Urzie, and besides you'd benefit too, so if you don't like it, go suck sand!"
Argand managed a smirk, which tugged at his scars. "Now, now, no dissension among the ranks you two, so why not kiss and make up?"
Urza shook her head in disgust, "I would rather kiss a leever."
The Goron barked a laugh, "Aye, rather kiss a cactus myself! Not as prickly!"
"Don't you mean an octorock? That is who you mountain men marry right?"
"Well, we don't have to marry Hylians, that's for bloody sure. Besides, octorocks can be quite sweet with the right seasoning."
Argand narrowed his brow at the Goron. "You are talking about marrying them, not eating them, correct?"
The Goron looked to him with mock surprise. "What, you never had fried octorock before? It's a delicacy among the Sheikah. Now, is it just me or is the moon looking a bit under the weather?"
Argand shook his head, refusing to look at the full moon. Despite the clopping of many hooves and clinking suits of armor, the night seemed suffused with an unnatural quiet. The flowing of a narrow river just to the east of the road lent itself to the nightly ambiance, but was seemingly just as muted as everything else.
The knight-captain suddenly raised a clenched fist for the column to stop when he saw a squadron of his scouts come galloping full tilt from just over a dip in the land south of the road.
It wasn't long before Trellis Hues pulled her sleek palomino mare up just before her brother's warhorse, a half-dozen other scouts reigning in behind her.
The young blond woman's green eyes glittered in the moonlight, her sharp features taut with urgency, pointed ears more pronounced than her brothers. She gave a quick fist-to-chest salute. "Dark riders incoming, Knight-Captain, riding hard from the south from a copse of trees between us and the town of Teppin."
Argand immediately spurred Bluefire forward, turning toward the knights, his sister riding at his flank. "Horse squadrons form up for a countercharge! Spearmen form a hedgehog around the wagons! As this is likely a diversion to get at the relics, keep your backs to the river and do not let anything draw you away from the wagons!"
The highly trained knights separated into the appropriate formations quickly. Argand turned to his younger sister. "Trellis, stay with the formation guarding the wagons. Harass any raiders and drive them toward the spears in formation around the wagons if you can."
She nodded. "Yes, brother… and be careful."
"What about us, Knight-Captain Sir?" Asked Darune, Urza looking on as well.
"Stay with the wagons and do what you're being paid to do."
The mountain man slammed a huge fist to his broad chest with a grin. Urza simply gave a sharp nod, adjusting the spike-knuckled fist weapons she wore.
Argand gave his own curt nod and rode to the lead of the arrowhead formation of his vanguard just as the dark riders appeared over the crest in the dip south. The full moon gave him plenty of illumination and he nodded to himself. "Goriya."
The dark riders surged forward on dark horses, not in any real formation, a haphazard mob of raiders, each and every one of them wearing the black boar masks that identified them as traitors sworn to the Dark King.
Just on the cusp of initiating the countercharge, Argand was unable to suppress a shudder. According to legend, the Calamity had been sealed nearly two-thousand years ago, but just the thought of such darkness… such power…
He shook his head and gathered up his lance before raising it above his head, the blue pennant tied to its end waving in a nightly breeze. "Trample the traitors to dust! For Hyrule!" and he spurred his mount forward, his knights roaring in unison as they charged after.
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Trellis looked on as her brother led his horsemen off in a massive countercharge, which she knew would shatter the ranks of the bandits, and was little surprised when—just after Argand's knights charged off—more dark riders erupted from a wooded copse roughly half a mile east.
Trellis nodded, her brother had been right. The southern bandits were just a distraction. This new force would be the ones heading in to raid the wagons.
The scout-captain looked to the spearmen three ranks deep around the wagons. "Spears, stay with the wagons, I'll take my scouts and start trimming their numbers!"
The knights tapped their weapons against their shields in the affirmative and Trellis narrowed her eyes toward the foe encroaching in the distance. "All right, bandits, let us see who is better in the saddle." She looked around, her two squadrons of light horsemen having formed up around her. "Time to spill some boar blood—onward!"
She spurred Wisp into a gallop and the sleek mare gained speed like the wind. Her scouts rode behind her in a line formation, all single-file. They did not head into the heart of the enemy like the heavy horse, but snaked around to the side, light and quick to keep the foe in range of their horsebows but no closer. They always attacked from the flanks.
The young woman grinned gleefully as she rode low in the saddle, not sitting, but hovering just above it, her knee-high boots set in the stirrups, her honey-colored hair shoulder-length. With one hand on the reins, she held her shortbow in her off hand, her forest cloak trailing in the winds behind her. Then, clenching her knees against her mount, she released the reins completely, guiding her horse with her knees as she smoothly pulled an arrow from her quiver.
A portion of the enemy sidled off to face the scouts, one bandit coming within a hundred feet just as Trellis fired. Her arrow shrieked out, striking a bandit in the face, shattering his wooden boar mask and knocking him from his saddle to roll upon the ground a few times before bursting into a whirl of black ash. Such was the fate of those that sold their souls to the King of Darkness, their empty clothing and possessions left behind with nothing more to bury.
Her scouts fired as well, a trained volley raking through the outer ranks of the loose bandit formation and the Goriya had a hard time retorting with any kind of efficacy. It seemed only a few of them had bows, and none were better archers than the scouts.
Therefore the bandits fell quickly, the scouts expertly circling round their haphazard formation, killing more with each volley. It wasn't long before the bandit's numbers were greatly depleted before what was left charged into the massed ranks of the spearmen guarding the wagons.
That should have been the end of them, but to Trellis's horror, it was not.
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After the Hylian woman galloped off with her scouts, Darune had given a great toothy grin, turning to his partner in crime. "Well, Urzie, guess the trip back ain't gonna be so boring after all."
The Gerudo's hazel eyes narrowed. "Don't lose focus now, you great heap." She shook her head in exasperation. "Why I stuck myself with a such a fool…"
The rock man brandished his mighty maul. "Ah c'mon, Urzie, you know you love me!"
Her dry-heave was involuntary. "Ugh, by the Seven, never say that to me again, or I'll pummel you into dust you bumbling, stone-skulled voe."
"Ooooo, that sounds… enticing…" he said, waggling his bushy eyebrows at her. She gave him another scathing look but he just laughed like a rumbling quake.
As it turned out, the Hylian scouts devastated the massed bandits, their numbers trimmed down to only a few dozen before what was left headed for the spearmen near the wagons, but that is when things went… awry…
Darune noticed the Hylian spearmen tense as the black riders came within one hundred feet of their formation, which the Goron admitted looked as solid as any stone bulwark in his homeland, but what happened next was something Darune had never seen in all his years traveling through the various plains, forests, highlands and wetlands of Hyrule.
The remaining two-dozen bandits rode recklessly, standing in their saddles at a full gallop right towards the massed spears of the Hylian Knights.
Then, suddenly, the bandits threw off their black cloaks to leap from their saddles, their horses shying off just at the last second before they met the Hylian spears. Many bandits fell to the ground with bone-breaking force, some not rising, others bursting into whirls of ash, but still about twenty of them stood, injured as they were… and began to change…
Even with years of battle under his belt, Darune cringed at their horrid transformations under the light of the moon, as the Hylians' bodies suddenly turned grayish black and warped into twisted shrieking monstrosities, bulging and braying, snorting and growling, all bristling fur and snouts and wicked tusks.
What remained were twenty-one brutish humanoid pig-beasts, all bigger than the Goron mercenary, and quickly charging with unbridled ferocity toward the knights that were wholly unprepared for their transformation. Still, the knights were ready for a charge and put seven spears through the first monster to reach their ranks. The great beast managed to gore one of the knights, however, piercing his tower shield and yanking him up out of formation before a half-dozen more stabs brought the beast down where it burst into ash. Just seconds later, however, twenty more monsters slammed into the spearmen's ranks like a braying juggernaut.
The phalanx collapsed under such an assault and a wild melee ensued, one Darune and Urza were quickly embroiled in.
Incredibly strong, one pig-beast charged through the left side of the spears' formation, sending screaming knights flying, mangling armor and shattering shields in a raging fury before it met the business end of Darune's mighty steel maul.
A horrendous crack shattered one of the monster's wicked tusks, stopping the thing's furious charge and knocking it sideways where it rolled to a stop.
To Darune's great surprise however, the beast managed to stagger up on its two massive hooves again, its huge clawed hands flexing as it faced him, bleeding some brackish fluid from its mangled snout, its rheumy eyes filled with nothing but mindless rage.
Darune's grin just deepened and he beckoned the beast with one huge hand. "That was just a glancing blow, little piggy, the next one's for real!"
Some ways away, Urza raced up to a pig-beast just as it crushed one knight to a pulp with an overhead blow from both its mighty fists. A second knight threw his spear into thing's side before retreating back as the monster brayed in pain. The knight then dropped his tower shield before unsheathing a broadsword from his back, wielding it two-handed as the bristling hulk whirled on him, shattering the spear in its side with a swipe of a mighty fist.
Before it could charge the knight, Urza crossed both her arms before her in a ritual salute. "Heed me twin powers of the desert, and lend your might to my fists," and two runes glowed upon the steel backs of her fist-weapons, one a blazing orange, the other a frosty blue.
With uncanny speed, she leapt forward; striking the preoccupied monster in its exposed side with such force the creature staggered across the grass three full strides before collapsing to its knees. It brayed in agony but still managed to get back to its hooves after some difficulty.
Shocked at her sudden intervention, the knight suddenly looked to the Gerudo, lifting the visor of his helm and nodding to the woman. "I thank you, Gerudo."
She nodded back, but quickly narrowed her hazel eyes. "Not so fast, voe, the beast is not dead yet," and she stood straight, waiting for the creature to recover.
The knight seemed ready to rush in with his sword while the monster was down, but the Gerudo shook her head. "Halt there and wait, Hylian. You will like this, I think."
The armored man's blue eyes narrowed in consternation, but he stayed put, brandishing his sword as the monster arose, the spiny bristles upon its back and shoulders quivering.
Urza had struck the monster with her fiery fist and an angry molten brand was now seared into its side, yet the beast didn't seem to feel any pain from the brand at all… until Urza extended her right hand almost elegantly… and snapped her fingers.
The knight shied away as a tightly focused explosion knocked the beast to its back where it was suddenly engulfed in flames, shrieking and roaring horribly before bursting into black ash, smoke rising from its ruin.
Yet they had no time to celebrate as two more monsters charged toward them. The knights were much fewer now, though there were fewer of the beasts as well and yet… that was not even the end of it as Urza suddenly sensed something odd among the wagons.
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Focused on the horrid pig-beasts rampaging through the ranks of the spearmen, Trellis took an arrow to the side, her leather cuirass keeping the projectile from digging too deep but still. With a wince, she whirled her mount toward the south to see more black riders coming on.
Her green eyes widened. Impossible, had her brother been overwhelmed? There must have been more bandits than she had seen from the south. With more reinforcements coming, this was without a doubt the largest bandit force ever seen since the Goriya had made their presence known nine years ago.
Some scout-captain she was, missing so many, though it was unprecedented for certain...
Trellis suddenly noticed several wagon handlers among the wagons becoming very still before they shot forward in puffs of smoke, becoming lithe assassins brandishing wicked knives and masked in the symbol of the Yiga Clan.
They slaughtered the other wagon handlers before jumping into the fray between the pig-beasts and the remaining knights, but Trellis had no time to ponder as more black arrows whistled through the air from the approaching Goriya to the south.
With pain radiating from her side, she was unable to give the order for her scouts to pull back, when an arrow struck Wisp in the flank and the mare immediately reared up in pain, throwing Trellis from the saddle.
She landed hard enough to blackout…
When she regained consciousness some time later, she was on her knees in the grass, hands bound tightly behind her back.
"Have you come back to us, sister?" Came a seemingly distant voice.
Trellis managed to raise her groggy head, pain reverberating through her skull, her vision swimming as she opened her eyes to see a masked figure sitting tall upon a roan stallion before her, encased in wicked ebon plate-and-mail.
When her mind could focus somewhat, she registered the voice. "Brother…?"
The figure nodded, lifting the black boar mask from his battle-scared face, his left eye covered with a patch, facial scars tightening as he grimaced at her condition. "I had hoped you would not be harmed, Trellis. I… I did not wish anything ill to befall you."
As her mind sharpened, Trellis's emerald eyes widened. "No, brother, how could you do this… how could you join… them?"
Great anguish seemed to wash over him. "It was not an easy decision, sister…" He paused; straightening in the saddle as two other riders suddenly came up to either side of him. One was a tall woman with long red-orange hair and the sharp look of a Gerudo, but wearing flowing black robes and with olive green skin. The other was a strange rat-man creature, wicked and crazed-looking, one of its wild eyes twitching about as it spoke.
"Why let any of them live, yes? My Yiga will be happy to slit all their throats—for free even!"
Argand rounded on him. "No, Skitch, none of these are to be harmed, that was the deal I made with your people when you joined us. We take these four alive back to our hideout."
The rat-man just chuckled, "Skee-hee-hee, fine then, as we have agreed, leader-man."
"Such a pity," the green-skinned woman announced darkly. "But I will so enjoy twisting them into our service… especially my dutiful sister here."
To Trellis's side, Urza looked up with unbridled hatred in her hazel eyes, straining against her restraints. "You are no sister of mine, you traitorous slime! I name you Saz'vogal and spit on your memory, for you are dead to the Sisterhood of the Sands!"
The greenish woman only laughed airily, though her piercing scarlet eyes suddenly became feral enough to make Trellis flinch. She then made a gesture with one of her green hands and a strange smoky power arose, which she drew back like a whip before flinging it down. The black energy wrapped around Urza's neck, squeezing tightly, and the green woman sneered, "I do believe I will kill this one now."
Argand growled. "No Mogara, not now, we've wasted too much time and the night will not last forever. We are exposed here, nearly in the heartland of Hyrule! The two of you will rein in your bloodlust and gather your forces. Get tenders for the wagons and let us be off before we dither ourselves into discovery. Now is not the time to move openly—not yet!"
"Release me and I'll pound you all into dust!" Darune roared where he knelt, wicked black bindings holding him in place.
Reluctantly, the greenish Gerudo woman allowed the whip around Urza's neck to dissipate, merely sneering at the rock man. "Oh please, you pathetic pebble, my will is much greater than your strength. You are helpless as a babe before my sorcery."
The rock man struggled vehemently, growling and twisting at his restraints before he stopped—and suddenly looked up with a grin…
With a great bellowing roar, Darune shattered the black bindings around him before shooting forward in a roll like a boulder, heading right at the trio of black riders.
In shock, the three shifted their mounts out of the way just as the Goron barreled by, before he swerved sharply toward the wagons.
Argand pointed an armored finger. "He's heading for the wagons! Mogara, restrain him again, and quickly! We cannot risk him damaging any of the relics. They are pivotal!"
With an enraged screech, the greenish Gerudo spurred her black stallion after the Goron, which was making good time. Bandits in his path fired arrows, but they did nothing to stop the rock man, and he crushed several of them just before black tendrils shot from the outstretched hand of the Gerudo riding behind him.
Sorcerous bindings fastened around Darune just before he reached one of the wagons near the river, yanking him back with tremendous force. He growled and grunted against the restraints, gritting his teeth before he managed—with one final swipe of a huge fist—to shatter the back end of the wagon, knocking out one large chest and sending a small one flying off into the river, before the Gerudo's restraints immobilized him.
Argand rode up to the side of the robed sorceress as she wrestled with the Goron entangled in her magical bindings. "Did we lose anything, Mogara?"
The woman's head snapped toward him, "How would I know, you Hylian twit, I was too busy wrestling with this idiotic avalanche!"
He growled back. "Well wrestle him back in line with the others, and I suggest you not overestimate your powers again, witch!" He looked about. "Goriya, secure the wagons and check the river in case anything was dislodged!"
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The small chest floated gently down the narrow tributary, bobbing and twirling about as it was caught up in numerous eddies. Engraved upon the wooden lid was a symbol in the likeness of three triangles arranged to form a larger triangle. Gilded gold, this simple shape shone gently from reflected light off the silvery moon above…
The Legend of Zelda:
Fires of Din
By Waging Wonder