Dark Storm

There was an unnatural heat around the Black Tower.

As we had imagined, there were hordes of monsters roaming around, all sorts of creatures, and also wraiths heading west and into Hyrule. But apart from the monsters and wraiths, there seemed to be nothing living. Nothing.

"Will it work, Link?" Fridd asked.

"Let's climb up the south face and sneak in. They don't expect anyone to get here."

We had stripped off our most conspicuous clothes and had prepared camouflage paints with charcoal and grease, the better to blend in with the shadows. We had filled our quivers with arrows and sharpened our swords.

"I'll go up and throw a rope at you from above," I told them. Fridd just blinked and Ardren clenched his teeth. It wasn't easy for any of us.

I managed to climb up to the unguarded ledge we had spotted, and from there I helped my friends climb up as well. We jumped inside, and almost crawled our way into the tower. There were bokoblins and moblins, so stupid and clumsy that they did not see us enter. The smell inside was repulsive, I couldn't tell what it smelled like, and there was a lot of dampness, a suffocating heat that had nothing to do with the cold we had been through until we got there.

I made a sign for Fridd and Ardren to follow me, and we went down a staircase to a central room, in what must have once been a huge throne room or something. There we witnessed something surprising.

"By Or, by Or!" Fridd rubbed his eyes and then clung to his rocky amulet.

"What the hell..."

"Necromancers," Ardren said, "that's how they create those wraiths, they take something dead, and they put it in… in there."

"Shut up! It's not true, it must be a mirage" Fridd trembled and covered his eyes with his hand to look through a slit between his fingers.

There were four hooded men, tall and dark as shadows. Each of them removed a huge cauldron, four piles similar in size to the goron baths in the Nest. They were suspended over a hole leading to a lower floor, from which flames and steam rose and heated them to boiling point. Inside was a dark, brownish-coloured liquid and...

"I'm going to throw up," Fridd retched next to me. Ardren burst out laughing, "Don't laugh, you bastard."

"I'm sorry, you're too funny," Ardren made efforts not to laugh, but it was impossible for him to stop.

"Dammit... Is that a human arm sticking out?" I observed. It was repulsive.

Fridd turned to a corner and threw up our poor breakfast, while Ardren was hilarious with laughter, trying in vain not to make too much noise.

"What do we do, Captain?"

"I don't know, that's full of pieces of corpse," Fridd retched again at my comment "that's why it smells like this in here."

"This place is cursed by darkness, here's something very dark and dreadful. Praying is all we can do, pray to Or and your goddesses, Link. They'll listen to you. Pray to your White Goddess to extinguish that black magic with her powers, please, I'll return the favour somehow, I swear," Fridd pleaded, as pale as an eggshell.

"We didn't come all this way to pray, moblin's brain," Ardren intervened, "you'd see yourself, begging for the enemy goddesses..."

"Those beings are stupid," I said, recalling what I'd talked to Zelda time ago "we just have to find their leader and we'll wipe them all out. You have nothing to fear, there must be a way to get rid of them, there always is."

"Let's behead their leader," Ardren smiled.

We couldn't do much except wait. The tower was a nest of monsters and any movement involved being discovered and surrounded. We didn't pray as Fridd suggested, but as the hours passed, the activity was reduced to disappearing completely. From the time we had spent there I thought it must have been dark by now, and the monsters were leaving the tower to go into their world of shadows, they were fighting and hunting us at night, it was almost logical for them to leave their lair.

"It's time," I said, standing up and stretching a little bit, "those fires have gone out and there's nothing down there anymore."

"Would they leave their leader unprotected so easily?" Ardren arched an eyebrow. I shrugged.

"They don't expect us here, I don't think they have the idea that they should protect themselves within their own lair."

"Wait a minute, Link, wait a minute," Fridd was still pale as a candle, "we can't go down there, it's cursed, we'll end up cursed too."

"Forget the curses at once," Ardren growled.

"No... we can't touch anything, Ardren, we can't," he clung to his rocky amulet.

"Alright," I whispered, "Fridd, you stay here watching for monsters or those strange shadows coming back."

"Captain, don't go..."

"I've prayed to my White Goddess," I lied, "she will protect us, I promise, so you rest easy. But you'll warn us if something else is coming from above."

"I swear," he clung to the amulet and then to the grip of his sword.

Ardren rolled his eyes once more before we slipped into the centre of the tower, where all those strange rituals had taken place. Fridd wasn't a coward. I'd seen him stand alone against the Steppe lynel, with a rusty axe as his only defence. He was the opposite of a coward. But the mountain clans were very superstitious, he had imbibed those fears of the shadows since he was a child, and it was impossible for him to shake off those beliefs, not without a panic attack.

We examined what was there. There was none of the foul liquid that the necromancers had used to create wraiths, only remained the repulsive smell of death. The room was circular, taking up the entire circumference of the tower, and had a pair of entrances leading to the outside. So, there was only one possible way in.

"Down there," I whispered to Ardren.

"You're a daredevil, Captain."

We slipped with a rope through the crevices that had heated the four piles of foul substance with fire and steam, but which were now extinguished. The ground seemed unsteady and was still warm, but as soon as I had set my feet firmly I unsheathed my sword.

"Can you see anything?"

"Sssh, shut up," I covered Ardren's mouth with my hand.

We moved a little inwards from that kind of rock burrow, moving away from where the fire had to be lit.

"Look over there."

"By Or and all the Hyrule goddesses... " Ardren was speechless with horror.

It was a huge creature, I'd never seen anything that size.

"It's a snake, Link, a s-snake..."

"Yes, hell, I see it, I have eyes on my face. Shut up or we're going to-

Before I could finish the sentence, the monster, which was coiled like a spiral of shiny black scales, whirled on us, rising up and revealing two fangs the size of a club. It hissed through its teeth and launched an attack that we luckily dodged.

"Captain?"

"I'm fine, get down!"

I don't know how, in the face of a new attack, I got the edge of my sword to crash into one of its hard scales. The monster twisted (I must have hit it, though it was almost accidental), rose even higher, and with its head smashed through the roof that connected us to the upper level. I heard Fridd shout from where he was watching, and Ardren and I ran to the ropes we used to descend to climb up to the level where the monster was.

There the surface was firmer. The snake crashed down several times with terrible teeth that devastated whatever they could find, but we managed to dodge all of its attacks. It was big, it had little mobility and that gave us an advantage. I saw an arrow fly from Fridd's position into its eye, and the monster began to ooze dark substance, like that in the cauldrons. It lunged furiously at Ardren, who barely dodged it.

"Watch out for its fangs!" I screamed.

Then I stepped between the monster and my friend with my sword held high and something strange happened. With its one eye, the monster looked at me and stopped dead in its tracks. It recoiled every time I raised my sword in front of it.

"Captain... " murmured Ardren, standing as stunned as I was.

"What are you?" I yelled at the monster. I moved my sword and realised that it was the sword what it feared, not me. It was afraid to come near my blade, it recoiled in fear. Ardren moved to the side, and the snake fell into his trap. It tried to reach him with another lunge, and that left its neck at the mercy of my blade. I raised my sword above my head and gave a deep slash, so deep that I almost severed its head. That was the end of it, with a crash. But Ardren and I were splattered with its blood, dark and viscous like black oil.

Fridd had climbed down to our position, trembling, and came over to make sure we were okay. Then we watched as the dark substance regrouped, I couldn't explain it better, it drained from the snake's body and flew out of one of the tower's tall windows.

Fridd knelt down clutching his amulet, and I heard him praying to Or. Ardren burst into laughter, I had no choice but to laugh too.

"Friends, there are no words to define this," he said, still laughing.

We were just recovering from what had happened, when a blast of icy air stirred behind us.

"You have brought the Sword into the heart of evil," said a deep voice.

We turned around and saw nothing, a kind of shimmering shred of mist.

"It's a spirit, a spirit!" Fridd exclaimed.

"Thank you for freeing me," the fog said.

"Who are you?" I asked, "what was that thing?"

"I am the king of this land. My spirit was caught by the Sleeping Evil. But evil has not slept for years, it has awakened here, and it has swept through my kingdom. It is not corporeal, but it has grown strong. He will go in search of his enemy."

"What enemy?"

"It corrupts everything, ruins lives, absorbs them. He's just afraid of the Light and the Sword."

"What does it say? Do you understand anything, Link?" Ardren whispered to me. I gestured to keep him quiet.

"His time has come," the spirit continued, "now I can rest. My whole kingdom deserves a rest, too."

"How do we end that thing? What's going to happen now? "I asked fast, seeing that the fog was starting to dissipate.

"Light and Sword. The Malice will go to Hyrule's heart, you have to avoid it. It shouldn't happen like in Ikana."

And that was it. The mist dissipated, and at our feet remained the corpse of the monster.

"They won't believe us, when we tell this, no one will believe us," Ardren said, shaking his head.

Fridd ripped the sword out of my hands to examine it. He checked the grip and the edge, then gave it back to me, confused.

"It's a normal sword, Captain. I'd recognise that steel anywhere, it's from a barbarian forge."

"I forged it myself," I acknowledged, "but... I think that thing, didn't know. I think we've confused it or… him… or whatever it is that malice."

"Has he mistaken your sword for a magic sword?" Ardren laughed.

"That's it."

"You're a lucky bastard, Link, I don't know anyone like you in the whole world."

"It wasn't luck, it was... I don't know. We'll see."

I didn't tell the boys about the cave of the Or Festival, what Zelda found inside, the canvas that inspired the sword I made.

We had found the source of Ikana's evil, and once we had driven out its host, the three of us agreed that it was best to return to Fort Hawk and regroup. The way back was light, since I was a child I have always had the feeling that going back is like going faster, even though the miles are the same.

We arrived at the border wall at dawn, a bit gloomy and foggy, after almost two days of travelling. A horn sounded as we were recognised, and we were ushered through. Ardren and Fridd threw themselves thirstily into a barrel of fresh water. I was thirsty and starving too, but I left them to collect themselves and went immediately to fetch my father. Before that I couldn't help but sneak a second closer to the stables, to Zelda's hideout. Everything was just as we had left it, she had followed our plan and had left for home the same moment I had left for the Black Tower.

There were few men when I crossed the parade ground to the main tower of the fort, it seemed a little strange, but I didn't want to make a big deal of it either.

"How's my father?" I broke into the fortress without protocols, of course no one shut me down. Grimla and Aldry were there, they stood near dad's room.

"Link, by Or, are you all right, boy?" Grimla looked at me with concern. Aldry was sitting by the fire and looking into the void.

"I'm fine, tired, but fine."

I knew I didn't look my best, there were no pleasant inns or lodges on the frozen plains of Ikana. I hadn't eaten or slept in almost three days and the black blood of the snake still stained my skin.

"Link, thanks to Or you're back," Aldry got up and grabbed my hands. She started crying and it wasn't the first time she'd done it, because her eyes were red and swollen, "Grenmak will be so glad to see you."

"Dad... is he better?"

She took me to Dad's quarters without wasting any more time. Grimla had something important to tell me, but he thought it was better for my father to keep me up to date with everything, as he had regained consciousness and his forces were gradually returning.

"I leave you alone," Aldry closed the door.

I ran to hug Dad, I did it carefully, even though he clung to me tightly. I didn't know what the hell was going on, but it wasn't good. I've never seen Aldry like this before, and if Dad was okay...

"You're alive, my son" he whispered, "it was your mother, thanks to her, I've prayed all this time to her to protect you. You're alive."

"Of course I'm alive, why shouldn't I be? How are you? I've feared for your life."

"Mopai has managed to get the poison out of my blood."

It looked like Dad suddenly aged ten years and that made my heart shrink.

"I'm glad, I knew you'd be all right," I grabbed his hand. He squeezed it, but there was a grimace on his face, something wasn't right.

"When the storm came, we thought you'd never come back from Ikana."

"What storm?"

"It was two days ago. It began to rain, the sky was covered with thick black clouds. An army of wraiths like the one that besieged Fort Hawk swarmed over the border like a sea, as if something was harassing them."

"Something...," I remembered the dark substance, fleeing through the battlements of the Black Tower. It looked like it had happened a year ago.

"We couldn't do anything, they passed by this time."

"What do you mean?"

"They've razed Nightfall."

"No..."

"Some people were able to take refuge in time behind the walls of Fort Hawk. I sent our forces to help with the rescue, but it was late. The monsters crossed the city like a gale, on Hyrule's way."

"Hyrule's way? What happened in the Eagle's Nest?" Suddenly my heart was beating like it was going to come out of my chest. Hyrule's shortest way led them towards the Nest.

Dad took a breath, and I saw his minimum force falter like never before. For me he had always been a very strong, indestructible man. There wasn't much left of that.

"I sent a patrol to protect the Nest when all this started. And another one, at dawn. There are no more men I can send and... there's still no word from the former."

I strided out of there, seeing nothing. I couldn't even stop in front of Aldry or Grimla. In fact they both exchanged glances, understanding. As I reached my friends, Ardren came towards me, his face discomposed.

"How's your mother?" I asked, leaning on his arms, catching my breath.

"Safe, Captain. For once she listened to me and came to take refuge behind the walls of Fort Hawk before I departed to Ikana."

"Gods..." no matter how much I breathed, the air didn't fill my lungs, "Fridd, and the villages of the mountain and steppe?"

"They passed by, crossed Nightfall, and from there to the south."

"I'm leaving now," I murmured.

"We go with you, Captain. We've already saddled the horses," Ardren pointed to our three mounts, ready and equipped to leave immediately.

"Thank you."

We jumped up to the horses and were crossing the inner wall when I heard someone shouting my name. I pulled the reins of the horse to slow me down.

"Link!"

"Eve!" I climbed down from my saddle and went to meet her. She had the same panic in her eyes as the day she came to tell me Bri had been hurt.

"I don't know where my father is, Link, I can't find him," she fell to her knees, in tears, "no one... no one knows where he is..."

"Calm down, breathe."

"It can't happen to me again, it can't..."

"Did your family take refuge in the fort?"

"Just Mom. He insisted on going to Nightfall to get his axe, Link."

I sighed and looked at Ardren and Fridd, who watched everything with the same fear that was surely in my eyes.

"Help me find him, please... nobody helps me or tells me where he is."

"Eve, it's just..."

I just didn't know what would have happened to the Nest, and I was terrified. But Eve was the one who had lost the most since it all started, I couldn't fail her again. If I was in a hurry, I could do everything and help everyone at the same time.

"Please..."

"Ardren, Fridd. Go to the Nest immediately, please."

"The walls will have protected them, Captain," Ardren said, trying to sound optimistic.

"I won't be long, I'll be there as soon as I can."

They left immediately, and I helped get Eve on the horse, behind me. We rode to Nightfall, following the dark trail that the "storm" had left behind. It was such a grotesque spectacle that Eve didn't stop sobbing all the time.

"Link, will everyone be all right in the Nest?"

"I don't know."

And I couldn't even think about it, because if I did, my heart would stop beating.

"I'm so sorry, I'm sure they'll be fine, they have to be fine."

"Let's go find your father."

We walked through the ravaged streets of Nightfall. There were the dead cornered against the walls of houses, people burnt to a crisp, and others who had perished with their eyes and mouths open, as if a last word had been trapped forever on their tongues. Eve couldn't look at all that. I felt her face pressed against my back, and I couldn't blame her for that. It was much better that way.

We made it as far as the Inn of the Winds. It looked bad, but it was still standing. I jumped down from my horse and began to search through the rubble. I heard a wail, a flame of hope at last. I asked Eve to wait, and I wandered through a cloud of collapsed walls and pieces of wood.

"Thamak, son of Dakmak," I smiled as I saw him, was a little scrowded but well, he managed to escape by hiding behind two huge vats of wine. For once fate had been good to Eve, and I thanked the goddesses.

"Link son of Grenmak, Captain of the Eagle's Nest."

There were tears in his eyes and he just hugged me, with all the strength left of his terrified body.

He told us in a few words how the monsters had passed like a river over Nightfall, ripping out lives, burning and destroying everything. I tried not to seem impatient, but inside I felt like I was drowning.

"Link, go now," Eve said suddenly, much more composed after being able to hug her father. She was back to the lively, intelligent person I knew.

"What about you?"

"We'll go back to Fort Hawk and take refuge, we're fine. You saved us," she smiled, "go away, please. Run for your family. I'm so sorry I slowed you down, I didn't mean to, I didn't... I didn't even think about it. Fly home like only you know how to do."

I nodded and got on the horse. I went through Nightfall in a sigh and entered the path of the forest that Impa had taught me as the fastest way. Impa. She'd take care of Zelda and the kids, I was sure. She was the best, fastest, strongest and most loyal person I had ever met. She would have protected my family, for sure.

As I separated from the forest and entered the path, I saw remnants of the horde of monsters. I could smell their ash trail, I could see their footsteps. A black smoke peeked out among the treetops, where the Nest was supposed to be. The search for Eve's father had delayed me a couple of hours, but the footsteps of the monsters were older, they had to be at least the night before.

"Please, let it stay up…"

I faced the entrance to the Nest and felt like I was collapsing almost right there. Part of the main wall was spilled across the path, stones and rocks that had rolled away. I almost fell off my horse as I rushed over the gate. We had reinforced it, with quality wood, but it had been broken. It was burst, splintered.

"Zelda!" I screamed, unable to breathe, as I entered the trampled yard. It was like in my nightmare. Worse. It was worse than in my nightmare.

Manroy and Frea's cabin had been calcined. I saw two of my horses dead, there were bodies too, but I couldn't look at them.

"Zelda!" I screamed with all the force of my lungs, until my throat broke.

"Captain!" Ardren and Fridd appeared near the stables.

"Where's everybody? And the kids? Where's my wife? and... What about those bodies?"

"Take it easy, Link. It's not them, okay? It's not them. We've already checked," Ardren said, holding me. Still, I couldn't bring myself to look at the victims for fear of seeing Mom's ring glinting on the finger of one of the bodies.

I fell to my knees in the war-torn mud, and felt two tears burning like fire across my face.

"Link, I looked inside the cabin, there was no one," Fridd said. I could hear him, but it was as if there was a permanent hum in my ears, "I also checked the inside of the fortress. There is some damage, but I haven't seen any bodies."

"I've checked what's left of the greenhouse and I was looking in the stables when you got here." Ardren added.

"I can't breathe," I said, holding my hand to my chest.

"They haven't been killed, Link," Fridd crouched down to give me a squeeze on my shoulder, "they're smart. Your wife is very smart. And she knows the woods and the surroundings very well, I know."

"Impa too," Ardren intervened, "she's wonderful, you know. She has protected them for sure."

"I should never have left them alone," I lamented. I thought of the warm kisses in the shed at Fort Hawk, of Zelda's soft breathing close to me. How could I have left her alone? How had I been so blind to put something like that at risk? What about the kids? What about Manroy, Frea, and the others? I had abandoned them as I had abandoned her.

"Get up, Captain," Ardren pulled on me to help me stand up.

I took a breath, trying to pull myself together. There was a lot of damage, a lot of effort that the war with the wraiths had robbed me of in a heartbeat.

"They're alive," I said, grabbing my rocky amulet, "and I'll look for them even in the last corner of the world if I have to."

"That's it," Fridd smiled, "we'll help you."

"I'm going to Hyrule," I determined, "Impa already suggested that we should take refuge in the rito village in case we were in danger. She could have taken them there."

"Okay, sounds good. We'll go tomorrow. You need to rest, Link," Ardren suggested.

"No, I can't rest until I find them."

"But, Link..."

"You stay here rebuilding the wall, in case the monsters come or in case any of our people come back."

I stopped only to drink water, eat a crust of bread and throw a cloak over my shoulders. Ardren and Fridd watched me in silence, as if I were ill or about to break to pieces at any moment. Maybe it was too late for that, because I felt as if I had something shattered inside me.

I rode in the dark to the rito village. I heard Zelda's voice in my head, the time I went to find her in that very place. "Hyrule is only a few miles south, it's not like I've gone to the end of the world." I wish I could find her just like the other time, healthy and perfect, just like she was.

"Identify yourself, stranger" a tall rito pointed his spear at me.

It was night, and the rito village was illuminated by many points of light that looked like stars suspended in the void. At least there was no smoke, and the footprints of the monsters were moving away.

"I'm Link of the Eagle's Nest, I need... I just..."

I couldn't find the words. I was so defeated, I didn't even know how to finish the sentence. The rito narrowed his eyes, silently.

"It's too late to see Lord Tyto," he said, raising his beak proudly, "but I guess we might do an exception with you. He will receive you. Go ahead."

I don't know why he let me in, but he did. Maybe I looked harmless to him, maybe I looked so deplorable that he felt sorry for me. My heart pounded in my chest again at the prospect of my family being there. The other rito didn't object to seeing me arrive, despite my hideous appearance, and they all let me pass through the passages that opened into the village.

One of them escorted me through the streets that spiralled upwards towards Lord Tyto's personal chambers. I could hear murmuring in the streets, behind the windows of the houses.

With impatience I heard Lord Tyto give his guards permission to let me see him, and without further ado, I was ushered before him.

"Leave us alone," he said to his rito, when I entered the room.

I uncovered myself, removing my hood, and fell to my knees at his feet.

"Calm down, boy, stand up."

"I don't know how to thank you for receiving me like this."

"We're not enemies, remember? You are our ally and the husband of the Princess of Hyrule."

I took a breath when I heard that.

"The... gerudo prince and the prince of Hyrule are not here." I observed.

"They departed with their troops not a week ago. I have things to clarify with King Rhoam, I confess that I wasn't entirely content about that visit."

I nodded. I didn't care where they were as long as they had nothing to do with my family or with Zelda. They could go to hell, actually.

"Something horrible has happened," I said.

"We know that. We found out this morning, my guards have informed me of the passage of a large army on the border of the village. Later a message came from Tabantha, asking us not to move from our position, that the rito inside the village had to be protected. I'm waiting for more news, so anything you can tell me is more than welcome."

"Have you seen them? I mean the wraiths."

"No, we haven't seen anything. If these creatures have crossed our land it has been crawling like snakes, silently and hiding."

"They've attacked my people," I confessed. My throat hurt and every word cost.

"I'm sorry, Captain Link. I suspected that the luck we have had would not have been so for others. I will send my rito to help you, to rebuild, to defend... whatever it takes, I swear."

"I... I wondered if my wife would have come this way, with Impa of the sheikah and other members of my family."

Lord Tyto understood the gravity of the matter, his face changed completely and he dropped into his seat.

"What you're implying is very troubling. We haven't heard from Impa or Princess Zelda."

"I see," I nodded, "maybe... maybe I've made a mistake coming to Hyrule."

I felt that the tears of before, the ones I couldn't hold when I saw the Nest, wanted to appear again, but I held them back.

"No. You've done the right thing, I'm your ally, you have my word. I'll help you find your wife and family."

I snorted. I was devastated, and the fact that they weren't in Hyrule either... I didn't even know where to start looking for them.

"Don't look like that, you'll see things differently tomorrow," Lord Tyto said, though he understood nothing.

"I appreciate the help, but... everything has its good and bad side."

"I won't ask you for anything in return, the rito don't behave like that."

"No, it's not that, I've never questioned your honour...," I clenched my fists, "it's that... you will inform King Rhoam, and if we find her alive, they will want to take her away from me again."

"Again...," he repeated, squinting, "Well, none of that will happen. You're tired, boy, that's all. You don't think straight. Tomorrow I will put a rito patrol at your disposal and you will decide where to look or what to do, they will obey you as if they were under my own command. And… obviously I'll have to report this attack to the king as you would expect, but I can reserve a bit of detail about the princess. We'll try to find her first, we'll buy time."

"Thank you."

"Now rest, son, stay to sleep here tonight. Tomorrow we will get everything underway."