Chapter 6
The troop transports landed the next day at dawn. Daniel, Rodney, and John watched unseen from their vantage point on the beach hill for hours as thousands of men unloaded from tens of ships onto the beach to set up camp. It wasn't just men either. Horses, cannons, and other heavy weaponry were rolled off the boat ramps under the standard of Eastern Hyrule. Not far off in the distance, the Town of Mido was just awakening to their new reality.
"What are we going to do?" Rodney asked. "There's too many of them. No, what am I saying. There's more than way too many of them. Not for just the three of us. There's no chance. What were we thinking?"
Daniel shot Rodney a look, as John just continued to stare at the unloading men. John, not taking his eyes off of the troops in front of him, then said, "We didn't come here to fight the Eastern legions. We came here to stop the fighting before it starts."
"And how did you propose to do that? Just go down and politely ask them to leave?" Rodney asked sarcastically.
"That's a great idea, Dr. McKay." John said, unsheathing the Master Sword and taking his shield on his right arm. He then strode confidently down the hill towards the waiting soldiers.
"Oh god, what is he doing? Is he insane?" Rodney asked, panicking.
"No," Daniel answered, "He's doing what his father would do."
"Oh crap, he is crazy then." Rodney retorted, as he watched the younger man stride purposefully, sword in hand, to meet the thousands of Eastern soldiers that had landed with artillery and cavalry horses on the beach of Western Hyrule.
A horn blew in the camp. "He's been seen." Daniel said.
"Of course he's been seen!" Rodney said. "He's practically holding up a sign which says 'shoot me, I'm a lunatic!'"
Shouts went through the camp as the strange, green-clad figure came closer and closer. "It's the Hero!" Many of the blue uniformed soldiers shouted. "That's impossible, the Hero's dead!" Others shouted. "It looks like Prince Talon!" Still others said.
Talon was on the beach with his men when the report of the strange figure spread through the camp. Alarmed, he practically yelled, "Arrest the imposter!" Sending a guard captain and a small squad of men to carry out his orders.
As the squad of soldiers approached, John stopped assumed a fighting stance and held his ground. He then shouted out loud so the whole camp of thousands could hear him, "If protecting this land means donning our father's tunic, and taking up his sword and shield to stand against you and your army alone on the battlefield then so be it, brother. I am John, son of Link, crown prince of Hyrule, and I will defend this land and her people with my last breath." He was hoping against hope to bring his brother back to his senses with the display, reminding him of their mutual heritage. If we do this, my brother, he thought to himself, it won't be the blood of monsters the Master Sword spills, but the precious blood of fellow Hylians.
"The sword chose you." Talon said slowly, anger building in his voice. "Just like the Sages. Just like mother." He then called out in response. "Stand against me and the whole of the East by yourself if you wish, brother. Father's old clothes and rusty sword won't keep me from what is rightfully mine. We will be sure however to give you a proper burial as befits a prince of Hyrule."
John looked at the massed soldiers in front of him. He heard the murmuring of the troops at his brother's flippant response. He glimpsed the hesitation in their eyes at the sudden appearance of the Crown Prince wearing the Hero's tunic and wielding the sacred blade of evil's bane; the sword which answered to one man alone, the Hero of Hyrule. Among them, several hands went to pendants hidden under uniforms and chain-mail, and he could see the glints of gold as the men sought strength and guidance for the choice they were being forced to make.
John then called out to the legion of soldiers standing between himself and his brother and said, "Soldiers of Hyrule, hear me! See the sword I carry, the Master Sword of legend which has ever only answered to one man alone in all the ages of Hyrule past, my father, the Hero of Hyrule. See now that the sword of the goddess Hylia now answers to me and me alone. If I must fight you, I do so in the name of my father and the goddesses who forged this land. I do so to preserve a future and a hope for all of Hyrule's people just as my father did in every age of this land since the beginning. I don't want good, faithful Hylian blood to stain this Sacred blade or to be spilled on Hyrule's sacred ground. This quarrel is between my brother and I alone. Stand aside and let my brother and I resolve our dispute like men, and let all sons of Hyrule be at peace with one another." John waited, holding his breath for their answer.
The soldiers, armored and armed with blades and rifles alike, looked to one another and then to their green clad prince before them, the choice being laid plainly before them. Among the ranks cries of "Hold your positions!" "Stand down!" and "The prince has given his orders!" could be heard from the officers. And then all of the Eastern soldiers, to a man, lowered their weapons and stood aside, creating a path for him directly to his brother.
"I don't believe it." Rodney said, watching the whole thing. "They're letting him through. His plan's actually working!"
"Never underestimate the power of faith." Daniel commented.
"I guess not!" Rodney agreed, stunned at what he was seeing.
The squad of men sent to arrest him stopped in front of him. "As you say, your highness," the Guard Captain closest to John said, "It's a quarrel between you and Prince Talon." He then saluted John, and then turning to give a crisp salute to Talon, he stepped aside and let John pass.
John strode purposefully to the confrontation he did not want with his twin brother, ranks of Hylian men saluting him grimly as he passed by.
"How dare you wear our father's clothes!" Talon screamed at his brother as he approached. "You who poisoned our mother! She lies near death because of you, while you prance around pretending to be the Hero!"
"I swear to you on the Sacred Triforce itself, I have done nothing to harm our mother." John responded loudly as he drew nearer to his brother. "The poison was not administered by me or anyone from the Royal Castle, Talon."
"He lies, my prince!" Grima shouted. "He lies! He intends to take the throne over your mother's grave and bury you next to her!"
"Talon, look at me!" John cried out, drawing near and nearer to his brother. "Look at me, my brother. Look into my eyes and know the truth. I have never lied to you. I could not lie to you. You know my very heart and mind as if they were your own. We are two halves of the same person, are we not?"
"No," Talon paused, "No, my brother would never lie to me." He said, almost as if in a daze.
"Who's to say this man is even your brother, your highness? Are there no shape-shifters in your land?" Grima shouted, almost desperately. "Whoever this imposter is, he is no family of yours!"
"No family of mine..." Talon repeated, slurring his words. "Yes, imposter, you are no family of mine!"
"Look at my sword, brother. The Master Sword would never allow herself to be handled by any other but the chosen Hero or the Princess Zelda. No imposter could touch it." John tried to reason with him as he came to stand in front of his brother.
Talon drew his own sword. "A clever forgery, imposter." He said with malice, and charged John with his own dark blade.
John parried and jumped back.
"I was trained by my father, the Hero of Hyrule himself as a boy, imposter." Talon warned him. "You will face justice." He then struck with a flurry of slashing blows, all of which John caught and turned back, but he held back.
"I don't want to hurt you, my brother, please. Let's stop this madness now. There is only one death that is necessary today." John pleaded with him as the two blades clashed and sang their deadly duet.
"Yes, only one death! Yours!" Talon shouted. The two swordsmen moved like lightning back and forth across the sand, faster than the eyes of the men who watched the conflict could follow, but John refused to go on the offense. He had fought his brother frequently in mock swordplay as a child, and later in life during private sparring times as friends and equals. He instinctively knew his brother's every movement. They were so evenly matched through their lives that neither had ever been able to defeat the other. That was never the point of their sparring. John knew going on the offense would help no one and nothing now.
"Come now, brother," Talon spat the word sarcastically, "if you really are my brother, why don't you press your attack? As you said, only one needs to die today."
"No." John shouted, then avoided his brother's spin attack.
"There can only be one rightful heir! I am the oldest! It should go to me, and you know it!" Talon shouted at him, cackling as though drunk.
"I never wanted it!" John responded. "I never wanted the throne! The decision wasn't mine to make, nor was it yours!"
"No, the thrice-damned Sages took my birthright from me instead, didn't they?" Talon yelled back.
John then stopped, deflected his brother's blow on his shield forcing talon backwards, and shouted, "Then I give it back to you brother. Let the Master Sword decide between us who is truly the Hero's heir!" And he turned his sword around in his hands and offered the hilt to the enraged man in front of him. "Take it brother, and may the goddesses judge between you and I."
Talon stopped dead in his tracks, unsure of what to do. "You would offer me our father's sword?" He asked in disbelief.
"If I am an imposter, and this a forgery, then run me through and save our land. If I am truly your brother, and this is truly the Sacred Blade, then let the goddesses decide between us. Take the hilt, my brother." John said, pouring as much sincerity into his voice as possible. He meant what he said, and now it was Fi's choice to make. If he was wrong, it would be his last moments and he knew it.
"What is he doing?" Rodney panicked as he watched John's offer helplessly. "Oh crap, they're identical twins. They've got the same DNA, the sword's going to think it's the same man. We've got to stop him!" He began to jump up when Daniel pulled him back down before he was seen by anyone else.
"Some things you've just got to take on faith, Rodney!" Daniel told him, trying to keep him from interfering. It was John's choice, and Daniel somehow knew that he had to be given the freedom to make it.
"What?!" Rodney exclaimed, "This isn't about some pie in the sky mambo jumbo! The sword's A.I. is a computer program, Jackson! Fundamentally it understands ones and zeros. Either something is, or it is not. Talon's DNA is the same as John's, ergo once Talon takes that sword, Fi's going to say, 'Hi John, happy to see you!' and Talon's going to happily take off John's head with it!"
"It's too late anyway, look!" Daniel said, pointing to the scene in front of them.
Warily, Talon approached his brother, and extended his left hand to take the sapphire hilt. It felt warm from his brother's grip, but also like it had been made for his hand. He held the blade up, pointing it to the sky, and said, "Now indeed, let the gods judge between us truly."
The air around the blade began to crackle with energy which built up in the blade's metal as a white glowing charge, and the hilt began to grow hotter and hotter, until it became unbearably hot, but Talon could not let the sword go! A strange woman's voice rang out loudly and strongly, "Recognition rejected! Identity unrecognized!"
"I am Talon, son of Link!" Talon cried out to the disembodied voice! "I am the rightful heir of Hyrule!"
"Imposter." The voice said with a deadly calm, and a great surge of energy rushed from the blade, through the hilt and into Talon's sword arm which erupted into white hot flames. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air as his screams were heard all around the beach. His fingers melted and burned away under the heat, and the sword finally fell from his grasp and buried its blade in the beach sand. Talon fell to the ground unconscious from the pain. His left arm destroyed into a ruined, blackened flesh and bone stump unable to ever wield a sword, or anything, ever again.
"I don't believe it." Rodney said. Daniel stayed silent, not wishing to destroy the sanctity of the moment.
"The Master Sword has judged between us brother." John whispered softly to his brother's unconscious form, as his own fingers closed around the sapphire hilt. "And she has found you unworthy. Be glad that she has chosen to spare your life for your crimes against Hyrule."
John then took the hilt of the sword again and turned to the silver haired old man who stood nearby watching the duel intently. He was strangely smiling at John, an evil glint in his eyes.
"Hey Danny, doesn't that old man look familiar?" Rodney asked, gesturing to Grima as John stood before him, sword in hand.
Daniel focused his eyes on the silver bearded and haired gentleman. "Yeah he does, doesn't he; a lot like..."
Rodney picked up it up from there, "I mean he's not exactly Christopher Lee, but he's pretty darn close. He's the exact description in the book."
"Yeah, the question is..." Daniel started.
"How?" Rodney finished. "I mean, he's supposed to be..."
"Dead in Hobbiton under a waterwheel. Yeah I know Rodney. I read the book too." Daniel finished, and then began to think hard and out loud on what he was seeing. "He was one of the five wizards of Middle Earth, right? The Istari. They were Ainur, ascended beings, who took the forms of old men in order to guide mankind, right?" Daniel asked, thinking out loud.
"Yeah, so when he died... Oh no." Rodney thought it through. "But then why did he retake human form?"
"Maybe the Others in Middle Earth wouldn't allow him back." Daniel said, his mind whirring quickly.
"And so he retook mortal form as a wizard. Oh crap, John doesn't know what he's up against." Rodney said. "He's dead."
"No. I don't think so." Daniel said, watching the scene in front of him, his left hand going to the triangle shape under his shirt.
In the distance, John stood in front of his enemy, sword and shield in his hands. His brother Talon lay unconscious and unresponsive to his side and behind him as John stepped between he and the old man.
"You have no idea who or what I am, do you boy?" Grima's eyes flashed and crackled with power. "With a word I could strike you down and scatter your ashes to the four winds. Why throw your life away needlessly? Bow to me as your god!"
"I will stand against you with my last breath." John told him, disgusted. "You are not welcome here, wizard."
"Wizard," The old man responded. "How quaint; an archaic title from a backwards people. I am so much more than that." Grima raised his hands and lightning struck the ground around them. The smell of ionized air filled the beach around them. Great winds rose in vortexes across the water behind him. "You're out of your league, boy." The wizard then raised his hand and began to point a finger at John. "Even if you succeeded in striking me down with that blade, I would become more powerful than you could possibly imagine. I would continue to come back and haunt you and your descendants forever."
Daniel watching all of this saw and knew that the time had come. "Great goddesses," He called out, gripping the Triforce pendant tightly in his hand and focusing all of his faith on this one prayer. "I wish that Grima Saruman would be made completely mortal and his power taken from him!" The triangle on Daniel's hand lit up with a bright golden light.
"Danny, what the...?!" Rodney exclaimed in surprise.
Immediately there was a great flash of light and the skies above them shook. Then the vortexes died, and the lightning ceased. And it was terror, not power which flashed in his eyes. "Noooo!" He shouted. "That's impossible!" And fell to his knees in front of John.
"Nothing is impossible for those who have faith, traitor." John said. "I, John, son of Link, crown prince of Hyrule judge you in the name of the goddess Hylia for the crimes of treason, murder of royal ministers, and the attempted murder of her royal majesty, my mother, and her other royal ministers. The sentence is death. Hyrule will not go back to the cycle of chaos ever again." And with that, John swung the Blade of Evil's bane and Grima's head fell from his shoulders. His body fell over, jerked involuntarily and lay still. It did not disappear into energy. It simply lay there, bleeding on the beach.
"You had one the whole time?!" Rodney accused Daniel in a barely contained whisper. "Son of a..."
"Not now, Rodney! This isn't the time!" Daniel shot back.
John then turned to face the legions of blue uniformed men standing watching with awe on the beach. He raised the Master Sword skyward and it began to glow with a pure, divine light. He then shouted with authority to the men, "In the name of the goddesses of creation, Din, Nayru, and Farore, and the Lady Hylia I order you to disarm and stand down!" A bolt of lightning struck the sand of the beach as he pronounced each divine name.
Rodney looked at Daniel questioningly. Daniel then told him, "Don't look at me, I didn't do it."
The men in front of him looked with amazement and confusion at the sight, still gripping their weapons. Some called out to their captains, "What do we do?"
John then pointed the tip of the blade at the beach in front of them and shouted again, louder, "DISARM AND STAND DOWN!" And a wave of pure light hit the ground and the whole earth trembled underneath them.
All over the beach could be heard the sound of rifles, swords, and shields hitting the soft sand as the men soon joined their weapons, falling to their knees before their rightful prince. It was over.
It was night in Hyrule Castle as the queen's maids kept watch over their beloved monarch in her private bedchambers. Castle Guard lined the hall outside the chambers, and no less than six stood watch inside, their hearts heavy with sorrow as they were forced to watch Malon's deathly sleep, yet always hoping for a miracle.
The room remained dimly lit. The queen had been laid out on her bed, dressed with respect comfortably in a modest nightgown. Her flame colored hair, now flecked with thin streaks of silver had been brushed and lay flat beneath her. She appeared as though she could awaken at any moment, yet all present knew she had been asleep for days.
In the shadows, a dark figure watched the scene with concern. He had been watching over her for a long time. He moved out of the shadows to stand by her bed. None of the others in the room reacted to his presence. It wasn't strange to him, he didn't want them to know he was there.
He bent over her sleeping form, and said gently, "Malon, my love. You will join me one day, this I promise. But it is not this day. It is time for you to wake up." He then bent down and gently pressed his shadowy lips to hers.
Time stood still as Malon's eyes slowly blinked open, and the first thing she saw was the radiant, shining, smiling face of her husband. "Link?" She asked. "My husband?"
"I am here my love." He answered gently, looking down on her with love in his eyes.
"Will you stay with me?" She asked.
"I am always watching over you. Even when you can't see me, I am with you always." The ascended being answered her.
Time sped up again as she moved her head from side to side. "My lady!" One of her maids cried out, and her bed was mobbed by her maids and guards. "Your majesty, you're awake!"
"Yes, I..." She then looked around. "What are you all doing in my chambers?" She asked in confusion.
"Our apologies your majesty, we have been keeping watch over you as you slept." One of the guardsmen told her, relief flooding his voice.
"As I slept?" She asked. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Three days, your majesty." One of the maids responded. "We were terrified you might never wake up."
"I might..." She sat up and looked around the room for the face she first saw. And there he was, shining with a soft golden light around him. He held up his hand to his mouth and blew her a kiss, and then vanished. She nodded in silent acknowledgment.
"What has happened?" She asked those around her. "Where is my son, and... and Oliver?"
Oliver's three legions arrived at the landing beach near Mido Town the next morning to find John in complete and total control over a disarmed Eastern army. The Supreme Commander almost couldn't believe what his eyes were telling him through his field telescope. He still couldn't believe it when his scouts returned confirming the sight. Only when he had marched onto the beach himself and saw all the blue uniformed men snap to attention in formation at his arrival did the reality of the situation become clear.
Most of their weapons had been voluntarily stored in an armory tent, with a few exceptions.
Talon lay unconscious in a healer's tent under heavy guard, being treated for the severe damage to his arm by a field medic the best the medic could do.
Rodney and Daniel assisted John wherever they could, but there wasn't much they needed to do. Once the soldiers had surrendered to the prince, they had reaffirmed their oaths of loyalty to the Queen and the Hylian royal family. Most of them had been much relieved and took them once again gladly.