How did it come to this? Why did the goddesses let this happen? Horror, despair, murder and slaughter. This was war. War was romanticized in ballads and stories, but reality was cold, brutal and written in blood.
War had been going on for several years now. It was nearly lost. The last bastion would fall that very night.
The attackers had not yet reached the castle, but it wouldn't take them much longer. Death adorned the streets of the outlying town. The residents had either fled or fallen victim to the attackers. They knew no mercy. They were driven by greed and hatred.
The ruler of the nearly defeated country, a young woman, watched the events from one of the balconies of the imperial castle. She had sent her servants away. Some had stayed to protect her. A futile endeavor. They knew it. Their queen knew it. Still, it them something to do. Something to contribute. Hope!
The sovereign hadn't given up all hope either. The goddesses would help her people. She was sure of it.
She held on to her faith, despite the burning houses, the screams, the black masses that gradually came closer and closer. They had almost reached the gates of the castle courtyard. Her own soldiers were fighting for her down there. A nearly hopeless fight, for her vision of a glorious future for the country.
The clashing of colliding swords, the soldiers' cries of agony and the grunts of the enemies reached the pointed ears of the ruler and made her flinch. They seemed menacingly close. The first attackers had presumably invaded the castle and were looking for the last survivors. And for her. She, who had been blessed by the goddesses themselves.
She had fled from the pursuers, but she had been caught up again and again. She had grown tired of running. So she stayed and waited, hoping that the Goddesses had a more merciful fate in store for her. A fate in which she was not tortured to death by an angry mob and torn to pieces.
If she were to escape, only more innocent people would die. And what would become of him then? He, who fought for her. Down there, in the middle of the ruined city. He whom she loved and whose child she carried in her womb. He fought for the land, for her and for a future with their child.
The gates of the castle wall fell with a loud roar and hordes of monsters flooded the court. Lake raging water they tore down flower pots, hedges and fences.
One of the creatures raised its head. It licked the teeth protruding from its mouth. It wasn't human. It was a demonic beast, summoned from the depths of darkness.
The sovereign took a few steps back. Had it seen her? With both hands she held the bulge of her belly to calm her unborn baby - and herself. The attackers moved closer and closer to the castle gates.
She felt a hand on her arm and flinched. She cried out in terror, but gentle fingers closed her mouth to silence the scream.
"Shhh", someone hissed in her ear. "You have to get out of here!"
She was already dragged away from the balcony, behind one of the large tapestries that decorated the throne room. Behind it was a secret passage used by the servants.
She recognized who had saved her. It was him. A weight was lifted from her heart. So he was still alive after all.
"Shade, what are they doing here," she whispered into the darkness, which was only lit by a dimly flickering torch.
Her lover did not answer, but ran down the narrow spiral staircase that went deep inside the castle, away from the raging battle.
The castle walls shuttered as the sound of bursting stones roared through the corridors.
Shade paused and listened. The tips of his blond hair that poked out under his helmet stuck to his sweaty forehead. His armor had countless marks of sharp claws and blood was splattered all over the once polished metal.
His blue eyes shone in the flame and were directed towards the long, straight corridor before them.
"They are in the castle," he whispered, dragging the woman with him again.
His heavy boots crunched at every step. The sounds would surely lure the monsters onto their trail but there was no time to waste.
At the end of the corridor, they climbed up a few steps and arrived outside the castle walls, right next to the mighty gates. Luckily, most of the monsters had already stormed into the castle, which left the castle courtyard deserted.
Frightened, the queen looked around. The guardians of the castle towered next to her: two wolf statues. Only the paws of one were left on its pedestal. The rest of the figure lay scattered around the pedestal. The other statue was missing its head that lay beneath its feet.
Shade dragged her away from the pitiful sight.
As quietly as possible they crept across the courtyard and through the dark and narrow alleyways. They were careful not to attract attention.
Around them were groups of monsters who beat soldiers with clubs or shot their fire arrows into the thatched roofs of the houses. Again and again the escapees had to turn back when they got into a dead end of flames or had to avoid a group of enemies.
Severed limbs and blood puddles lined the path, weapons and armor lay scattered on the ground. From the balcony of the castle she had clearly underestimated the extent of the tragedy, but now, in the middle of the doomed city, she realized what her people had to endure.
Shade flinched briefly every time the body of one of his comrades lay twisted and bleeding on the ground. She felt it through the hand that had taken hers. As commander of the guard he had ordered everyone to flee. His best friends had stayed. Most of them were now lying here. Their bodies would fade in the light of the rising sun, their flesh be devoured by rats. No one would dare come here after the attack to bury the dead.
When they reached the town's gate, Shade drew his sword, still covered in the blood of his enemies, and looked around.
No one guarded the gate? Very suspicious!
"Stay here," he instructed his beloved and gave her a swift kiss on her forehead, before leaving her in the shade of a house.
Carefully he made his way forward, always making sure the queen was still save. He realized too late that he walked right into a trap. Two monsters hid in the towers on either side of the gate. They aimed their bows loaded with fire arrows at him. The first arrow whizzed off the string.
Shade drew his sword and blocked the arrow, which fell to the ground.
The second arrow approached and again the sword whizzed through the air. It was too late and the blade severed the splintering wood. A shrapnel hit bull's eye.
Blood splattered and Shade cried out in pain, stumbling backwards. He fell to his knees, leaning on his sword while he covered his eye with his other hand.
"Shade," the woman cried out and reached out as the monsters nocked arrows and took aim.
A green beam of magic flickered through the blackness of the night. The monsters fell over and remained motionlessly.
Even though dizziness from the use of magic swept over her, she scurried towards the man on the ground, knelt down before him and put her hands on his shoulders.
He raised his head without removing his hand from his right eye. Blood ran down his face from under his fingers and dripped to the ground.
Screeches of the monsters made both wince.
The light of the magic beams had revealed them. They were found.
Without a second thought, Shade jumped to his feet, grabbed the woman and pulled her out of the city. Behind him he could clearly hear the grunts of the monsters and the sound many feet rushing through the alleys. They were coming.
He whistled but did not slow down his steps. A brown horse approached next to him. Its hooves clattered on the ground, its fur glistened in the flames of the burning city.
He helped his beloved mount the horse and seated himself behind her. He spurred the mare even before he had finished mounting her. They quickly left at full gallop.
The castle behind them was brightly ablaze. The highest of the towers collapsed and knocked down the entire right wing. The cloud of dust immediately exploded into flames. The heat reached well beyond the town's gates.
"What have I done," whispered the woman and tears ran down her dirty cheeks. "This...this is all my fault!"
"You mustn't even think that! We both chose this," Shade replied hopeful.
"But our soldiers... they... they are dead. All because of..." She rubbed her stomach and pulled her bare feet closer to the warm horse's shoulder. "I should have stayed. I can't have any more people die because of me." She couldn't let her loyal subjects be slaughtered. She shouldn't run. But she was scarred. She didn't want to die. She wanted to protect her baby. As a queen, the safety of her people was her top priority but she was glad, Shade found her before the monsters did. She felt selfish, but was there really a future for her kingdom, when her baby died? It was their last hope.
Shade replied nothing.
Panting, the horse galloped across the plain, its ears pointed backwards and its nostrils bloated in agitation.
Shade patted the horse's neck, calming her down. "Easy now, pretty girl. Get us out of here!"
The mare bent her neck and relaxed. Her ears twitched backwards again only a few seconds later when she heard hoof patter approaching from behind them.
"Shade! They're following us," the queen shrieked anxiously and huddled closer to her lover.
He took one hand off the rein and put it around her trembling body. "Don't be fearful. Farore will protect you! Nothing will happen to you. Have faith in the Goddesses. They've brought you this far and they won't give you up now."
Behind them another horse appeared. It was black as the night and only stood out from the night sky due to white markings on its legs. On his back sat a slim rider, clad in a black robe.
Shade recognized him and slowed his horse down a little so the pursuer could catch up with them. Finally the steeds galloped side by side.
"Do not be afraid, milady. We will bring you to safety," the newcomer promised and pointed to a large axe hanging from his horse's flank. It was his favorite weapon. "These creatures will be sorry if they harm you or the little one!"
She forced herself to smile, but she couldn't. Distressed, she closed her eyes and pleaded to the Goddesses that all would go well. But... where else could they flee to? The whole country had already fallen to the monsters. They were following her on her flight.
She looked up again when a light engulfed her. A gigantic temple rose before them. The stone pillars towered majestically before them. In between was an entrance, closed by two mighty wings of a majestic gate. On both sides of the entrance stood a gigantic wolf statue similar to the guardians of the castle, but even more impressive. Their golden fur shimmered in the light of the torch and the ruby eyes eerily looked down at them, passing judgment upon the newcomers. It was one of the magnificent temples their ancestors had built centuries ago.
She glanced at Shade's face as he got off his horse and offered her a hand to help her down as well.
Her gaze fell on his bruised eye. He kept it closed but blood still poured out from between the eyelids. A bleeding cut ran from the eyebrow to the cheek. His healthy eye showed his fatigue, his face was ghostly white.
"You'll be safe here."
She allowed herself to slide from the horse's back into his arms and he guided her to the temple. As though by magic, the wings of the gate swung open and let them in. The other rider followed them, carrying the axe in his hand, ready to split any opponent's thorax in two.
The ceiling of the large room in front of them was supported by several columns, which stood on either side of a path leading across the room to an altar. A colossal stone bird spread its wings over the stone table. Elaborate frescoes adorned the ceiling, the columns and the altar. They depicted scenes from the creation of Hyrule by the goddesses Din, Nayru and Farore.
The whole room was flooded by soft light, which seemed to come from everywhere at once. Not a single shadow was cast on the ground.
Time stood still within these walls.
Though, the visitors were unable to see the splendor. They had no time to waste.
They crossed the room and gathered in front of the altar, on which six objects lay. Three were instruments. All of the same kind, but made of different materials. Next to them were three stones. Each one consisted of a golden setting embracing a colored gemstone.
Shade took the silver instrument and walked his beloved past the altar through a small passageway that led into another large room. The moment they entered the room, they felt the magic of old billowing in every corner. Countless plants and trees grew in the chamber. In the middle protruded a rock, from which water was flowing to the ground, where it split into several small streams running across the room.
"You will hide here until Hyrule is safe again," he instructed as he handed her the instrument and kissed her lips tenderly. Tightly embraced, they stood like this for a while until he broke away from her. "Someone will come for you. I promise. Until then...please stay."
She nodded, clasping the instrument with her hands, which was wet from her tears.
Shade turned around and left the room.
Outside, he dropped to his knees before the altar and folded his hands.
"O Goddesses of Hyrule! Watch over her, watch over your daughter."
The three colored stones lit up. Their red, blue and green light flooded the room. The stone gate to the chamber closed with a horrible creak. Through the remaining gap, the woman saw Shade falter. He supported himself with one hand on the floor and lifted his head.
Their eyes met and she could see love in his eyes. Love that was true to her. The love that had given him the strength to make it this far.
He smiled.
"Durethel, promise to protect her!"
She couldn't stand it any longer. She screamed. The man's body collapsed to the cold ground. "Shaaaaaadee!" She rushed to the stone gate, which shut right in front of her fingertips. The crash echoed dull in her ears.
She slammed her fist on the cold stone. Desperately calling his name over and over again.
It remained unanswered.
After a while she slid to the ground in exhaustion. She lay there, her body trembling.
She had lost everything. Her country, her people, her family and Shade. All she had left was her child. A child who had to grow up without its father. A child on whose unborn shoulders rested the fate of Hyrule. She curled herself up and wept bitterly. Her sobs echoed from the bare walls. Not a single soul heard her cries of despair and no one ever would.
Hello everyone,
How are you doing? It's getting warmer outside but thanks to corona I can stay inside most of the time :)
As regarding this chapter: I'm going to tell you who the woman and the child are :D
Compared to the old version I rewrote whole sections. It's still covering the same events but I fixed the dialogues and added some more descriptions and thoughts to adjust the pacing. It should start slowly, then go into an action sequence and go back to a slow and calmed down note before it ends on drama. While giving it its final proof reading, I payed especially attention to grammar and wordings (as best as I could).
I've uploaded the new cover on my deviantart last week. You can check it out here: deviantart com / freiha / art / Somewhere-Cover-2-847010377 (without the spaces and a dot before the com... )
Next chapter will continue with Link and Enora and we'll dive into the second part of the story. :)
Hope you enjoy!