I do not own Zelda. If I did, I wouldn't be taking the time to write
stories for web sites, I would probably be basking in the sun near a giant
swimming pool while the beautiful afternoon crawled by and I did whatever
really rich people do.
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"A splendid structure, my Lord," commented Captain Orhile as he gazed up at the shining stones of the great temple before him.
"Enough of this 'Lord' nonsense, friend," replied his companion, "I'd wish you would call me by my real name."
Captain Orhile grinned. His king hated being considered better than his subjects in any way, though they all knew he was. "Yes, Sonefor," the captain said.
Just then, the builder in charge of the temple construction walked up to them. "Isn't she a beauty?" he asked lovingly. "Just finished her this morning."
"I agree," replied King Sonefor, "and I have decided what to call her. The Temple of Time, so that she will stand forever in peace to protect the entrance to the Sacred Realm!"
"An excellent name, Lor-Sonefor," said Orhile. For the next few minutes, Sonefor, Orhile, the master builder, and three accompanying guards admired the shrine. Suddenly, the sky roared and rain poured down from the heavens.
"Well, we'd betted get indoors," said the master builder. He turned and headed towards Hyrule Castle. Suddenly, he collapsed. Sonefor grabbed Orhile's arm and leapt behind a wall, the three guards at his heels.
"What's the matter, Lord?" cried the captain. "Silence!" warned Sonefor. His voice dropped to a whisper. "The builder is dead. A dagger was in his side. Now listen. Someone is out there. We need to make a break for the temple and lock the doors." One of the guards stuck his head out from behind the wall. He nodded to Sonefor. "Now!" the king yelled. The five of them leapt out into the open and charged towards the Temple of Time.
Captain Orhile reached the door first. He cursed. "It's locked!"
Suddenly, a spear appeared in an unfortunate guard's stomach. He fell to the ground, dead.
"Who are you?" yelled King Sonefor. "Show yourself!" There was no answer. The only sounds were the heavy sheets of rain falling to earth and the ragged breathing of the remaining four.
"You two," ordered Captain Orhile, "search the perimeter! Stay together and don't go too far." The guards saluted smartly and cautiously walked off into the rain. After a few suspenseful minutes of silence, a piercing cry split the eerie stillness, followed by another. Sonefor and Orhile exchanged a glance of worry.
Suddenly, a dark figure appeared in the rain, holding a deadly two-sided scythe. King Sonefor could barely make out the bodies of two skewed soldiers on either end of the weapon. "Who are you?" he demanded, trying not to sound too scared in the presence of the enemy. "What are you doing here?"
"Can't you tell who I am?" came the cool voice of a young woman. "Only I carry a blade like this."
Sonefor stepped back as it dawned on him. "It can't be! Antia? You scared me. What in hell do you think you're doing, killing my guards?"
Antia stepped forward and flung the corpses of the soldiers from her scythe and into the wall of the temple. "I won't stop with your guards!" she laughed madly.
"Sonefor, who.. who is - that?" stuttered Captain Orhile, plainly terrified. Sonefor couldn't answer the poor hylian captain-Antia had just slain him with one blow from her scythe.
"I don't understand!" screamed King Sonefor, frustrated. "We were allies!"
However, Antia kept advancing. "Were, fool," she grinned. "It's all over now."
Sonefor held his position. "You may be able to slay innocent guards by surprise, traitor. But you must forget that I am not innocent and no longer surprised. So get ready!" He whipped out his sword and it clashed with the scythe of the powerful Gerudo Queen.
"With you and my fool of a sister out of the picture," Anita growled, "there will be nothing to stand in my way. I will soon be the Queen of Hyrule!"
Sonefor danced to the left and the scythe flew past him. "I'm still standing!" he panted, parrying another blow with his sword. "Hell is the only place you'll be Queen of!"
Antia didn't answer, but snarled and released a vicious barrage of blows on Sonefor. Blood dripped from many wounds, but the determined king stood firm, clutching his sword. "Let's go, old man!" Antia taunted as a sudden flash of lightning illuminated her rage-stricken face. Sonefor needed no second invitation. He charged the Queen. Suddenly, she whipped out a dagger and sent it spinning towards the king. It struck him in the side, and he crashed to his knees.
Antia laughed, madly. "Nice try, Sonefor. But you have failed." Sonefor gasped for air as pain overtook him. A puddle of blood formed around the dying king, constantly expanding with the fall of the rain.
"Why?" he managed to say through ragged gasps.
"Why?" said Antia cheerfully. "Because there was no point in letting you live. If I was to declare war on your hylians, I'd rather you not be there to direct them. Besides," she added coolly, kneeling down next to Sonefor so that he was looking up into her crystalline blue eyes, "what is there worth living for?"
He narrowed his eyes and with his final breath stuttered: "It would be worth living just to destroy a bitch like you." Then, Antia rammed her scythe through his stomach and the greatest king Hyrule had ever known closed his eyes and died.
* * *
Era looked up as her sister walked into the chamber. "Where were you, Antia?" she asked. "I have been waiting."
Antia slumped to the ground, exhausted and drenched. "Forget that, Era," she said, "I will tell you later." There was an awkward silence. Antia spoke again. "Do you remember Vlorack at all?" she asked her sister.
Era raised an eyebrow at the question. "Well, yes. That was twenty years ago. You were two years old and I was only nine. I remember Vlorack walking into my room by mistake one day and saw me holding you. Mother was already dead, of course; she died right after having you. Vlorack took one look at you and stopped dead in his tracks. Suddenly, his eyes glowed with radiant yellow light and he spoke. 'She is the one,' he said. 'Darkness is imminent.' I will never forget those words. When I asked him about it later, he denied ever saying it." There was a pause. Then, "Why do you ask?"
Antia flashed her a smile. "I was wondering how one as powerful as Vlorack could be defeated by such a weakling of a hylian."
"Now, sister," said Era. "Don't go insulting Sonefor just yet. He and his hylians are still our greatest allies, you know."
"Well that's what I need to talk to you about," replied Antia. "Sonefor is dead. I killed him myself."
Era leapt up. "Antia, why?" she demanded. "Now darkness truly is imminent- for the Gerudo people!"
But Antia stayed calm. "Calm down, sister," she said, smiling. "Haven't you learned, in all our years together, that I have always have a plan?" Suddenly, she leapt up, whipped out her scythe, and ran Era through. "I kill anyone who could possibly stand in my way, and then I rule Hyrule," the Queen laughed.
Era had a look of stricken terror plastered upon her face. "Why have you done this?" she stuttered. "We could have ruled alongside one another, like we always have!"
"Oh, please, Era!" sneered Antia. "We both knew it was just a matter of time before something like this happened. I just had the guts to try it first." She yanked the scythe from her sister's body. Era winced.
She struggled to speak again. "The Gerudos or hylians won't stand for this," she gasped. "It will be chaos for everyone."
Antia grinned. "That's what I want, fool!"
"But sister," replied Era, "you'll have to live in that chaos as well." Then, her eyes clouded over and she collapsed to the ground, never to rise again.
* * *
Rumors spread through Gerudo Fortress like wildfire. One of their queens, Era, had been betrayed and murdered by her most trusted captain, Enteye. The unfortunate captain was seized while patrolling the halls. She was stripped down, tied to a stake in the front of the fortress, and left there overnight. Now, the whole of the Gerudo population stood in the early morning damp and dew, bowing their heads in memory of their former queen, while Antia spoke to them over his sister's grave.
"I am your one and only Queen, now," she said. Her voice was quiet, yet no one missed a word. "Era ruled well, but I promise to surpass even her!"
The Gerudos raised their spears and cheered.
Antia yelled over the noise. "The hylians will pay for corrupting one of our captains to kill our beloved queen! Today, the Gerudos march to war once again!"
The cheers were deafening.
Two Gerudo guards stepped forward with torches and lit the stake ablaze. Enteye howled in pain. Her skin was blackening, turning crisp, and her screams fell short as smoke entered her lungs. The Gerudos roared their approval, and pressed closer and closer around the burning stake until the front lines could feel the heat of the embers in their masked faces.
Antia stood alone to the side, smiling to herself. Three of her greatest enemies lay dead- Sonefor, Era, and now Enteye. Everything was going according to plan.
* * *
"The real question is," Captain Ion pointed out, "who will rule us now?" He looked around at the captains sitting down at the circular pine table.
Next to him was Prince Zenk, the seventeen-year-old son of Sonefor, who was found lying dead near the recently completed temple. Sitting beside Zenk was Captain Farhill, brother of the slain Orhile and master of strategic war. Directly across from Ion was the head of the defensive units, Levin Baster. Beside him sat Atron Doren, the offensive captain, Darron, the goron king, and Ankor, the representative of the zora race. Sonefor was found with a large wound in his stomach. Hylian doctors studied the corpses of their king and the other slain hylians and discovered that a hooked, probably double-sided scythe had made the wounds and caused the deaths. When Captain Ion found this out, he muttered "Antia" and then ran off and summoned the other captains to the council room.
"According to our laws, you must be at least eighteen years of age to become King of Hyrule. Prince Zenk has yet another year," Ion continued. "But this is an emergency. We are on the brink of war. I knew it had to be Queen Antia of the Gerudos as soon as I saw the wounds. I do not know what she is up to, but we must stop her."
"I agree," said Atron Doren, "but everybody knows to let your enemy make the first move."
Prince Zenk leapt up. "They have already made their move!" he pointed out. "My father lies dead. Now it's our turn to attack!"
There was silence.
"The Prince is right," said Ankor the zora. "If we don't do something, Antia will. And we all agree we don't want that."
Another pause followed.
"The gorons will be willing to help," said Darron. "After so many years of peace it will be good to march into battle. We are restless."
Ankor nodded, "The same for my people."
Ion sighed. "It appears that war is inevitable."
"But we still need a king," said Captain Farhill. "We cannot withstand the power of the Gerudos, even with the zoras and gorons at our sides, without a strong ruler. The Gerudos have one, and so must we."
'I never thought we would want to be like the wretched Gerudos,' Zenk said to himself. If only Father were here. He would know exactly what to do. Which is why he was murdered.'
* * *
Dak had always liked Antia better than Era. Being a brother to both of them, he never supported his older sister and always followed Antia. He could tell that Antia had actually murdered Era, but he kept quiet. The strong twenty-four-year-old male Gerudo now stood in Antia's chamber, arms crossed as he listened to the debate.
Just as the hylians were across the realm, the Gerudo captains were deciding what to do first. Gerudo debates were much different than those of the hylians, however. Antia took in all the ideas she liked and attacked the others. The silver-tongued Gerudo Queen convinced her captains to do whatever she thought would work. If one captain disagreed, Antia would turn on her and crush her ideas, either with her words or with her scythe.
This time, Antia decided to dismantle the enemy, piece by piece. First, she would attack the zoras. They were the weakest. Once Hyrule Castle's water supply was cut short by the raid of Zora's Domain, the Gerudos would surround the castle.
Once the hylians need for water was to great to resist, they would leave the castle in search for it, running straight into the blockade of Gerudo warriors. After killing many of the hylian soldiers this way, the Gerudos would storm the fortress, slay the survivors, and claim the castle.
And lastly, they would take the powerful gorons. Head to head, the gorons were much stronger than the Gerudos. But, with overwhelming numbers, long range tactics, and the expertise of Gerudo marksmen and axe-throwers, Antia's female forces would triumph over the mountain-dwelling rock-eaters.
"We will start tomorrow," Antia told her captains. "Any who refuse to fight will be put to death." She whipped around, her long, yellow hair flowing behind her, and walked away, leaving her brother and captains very much satisfied.
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"A splendid structure, my Lord," commented Captain Orhile as he gazed up at the shining stones of the great temple before him.
"Enough of this 'Lord' nonsense, friend," replied his companion, "I'd wish you would call me by my real name."
Captain Orhile grinned. His king hated being considered better than his subjects in any way, though they all knew he was. "Yes, Sonefor," the captain said.
Just then, the builder in charge of the temple construction walked up to them. "Isn't she a beauty?" he asked lovingly. "Just finished her this morning."
"I agree," replied King Sonefor, "and I have decided what to call her. The Temple of Time, so that she will stand forever in peace to protect the entrance to the Sacred Realm!"
"An excellent name, Lor-Sonefor," said Orhile. For the next few minutes, Sonefor, Orhile, the master builder, and three accompanying guards admired the shrine. Suddenly, the sky roared and rain poured down from the heavens.
"Well, we'd betted get indoors," said the master builder. He turned and headed towards Hyrule Castle. Suddenly, he collapsed. Sonefor grabbed Orhile's arm and leapt behind a wall, the three guards at his heels.
"What's the matter, Lord?" cried the captain. "Silence!" warned Sonefor. His voice dropped to a whisper. "The builder is dead. A dagger was in his side. Now listen. Someone is out there. We need to make a break for the temple and lock the doors." One of the guards stuck his head out from behind the wall. He nodded to Sonefor. "Now!" the king yelled. The five of them leapt out into the open and charged towards the Temple of Time.
Captain Orhile reached the door first. He cursed. "It's locked!"
Suddenly, a spear appeared in an unfortunate guard's stomach. He fell to the ground, dead.
"Who are you?" yelled King Sonefor. "Show yourself!" There was no answer. The only sounds were the heavy sheets of rain falling to earth and the ragged breathing of the remaining four.
"You two," ordered Captain Orhile, "search the perimeter! Stay together and don't go too far." The guards saluted smartly and cautiously walked off into the rain. After a few suspenseful minutes of silence, a piercing cry split the eerie stillness, followed by another. Sonefor and Orhile exchanged a glance of worry.
Suddenly, a dark figure appeared in the rain, holding a deadly two-sided scythe. King Sonefor could barely make out the bodies of two skewed soldiers on either end of the weapon. "Who are you?" he demanded, trying not to sound too scared in the presence of the enemy. "What are you doing here?"
"Can't you tell who I am?" came the cool voice of a young woman. "Only I carry a blade like this."
Sonefor stepped back as it dawned on him. "It can't be! Antia? You scared me. What in hell do you think you're doing, killing my guards?"
Antia stepped forward and flung the corpses of the soldiers from her scythe and into the wall of the temple. "I won't stop with your guards!" she laughed madly.
"Sonefor, who.. who is - that?" stuttered Captain Orhile, plainly terrified. Sonefor couldn't answer the poor hylian captain-Antia had just slain him with one blow from her scythe.
"I don't understand!" screamed King Sonefor, frustrated. "We were allies!"
However, Antia kept advancing. "Were, fool," she grinned. "It's all over now."
Sonefor held his position. "You may be able to slay innocent guards by surprise, traitor. But you must forget that I am not innocent and no longer surprised. So get ready!" He whipped out his sword and it clashed with the scythe of the powerful Gerudo Queen.
"With you and my fool of a sister out of the picture," Anita growled, "there will be nothing to stand in my way. I will soon be the Queen of Hyrule!"
Sonefor danced to the left and the scythe flew past him. "I'm still standing!" he panted, parrying another blow with his sword. "Hell is the only place you'll be Queen of!"
Antia didn't answer, but snarled and released a vicious barrage of blows on Sonefor. Blood dripped from many wounds, but the determined king stood firm, clutching his sword. "Let's go, old man!" Antia taunted as a sudden flash of lightning illuminated her rage-stricken face. Sonefor needed no second invitation. He charged the Queen. Suddenly, she whipped out a dagger and sent it spinning towards the king. It struck him in the side, and he crashed to his knees.
Antia laughed, madly. "Nice try, Sonefor. But you have failed." Sonefor gasped for air as pain overtook him. A puddle of blood formed around the dying king, constantly expanding with the fall of the rain.
"Why?" he managed to say through ragged gasps.
"Why?" said Antia cheerfully. "Because there was no point in letting you live. If I was to declare war on your hylians, I'd rather you not be there to direct them. Besides," she added coolly, kneeling down next to Sonefor so that he was looking up into her crystalline blue eyes, "what is there worth living for?"
He narrowed his eyes and with his final breath stuttered: "It would be worth living just to destroy a bitch like you." Then, Antia rammed her scythe through his stomach and the greatest king Hyrule had ever known closed his eyes and died.
* * *
Era looked up as her sister walked into the chamber. "Where were you, Antia?" she asked. "I have been waiting."
Antia slumped to the ground, exhausted and drenched. "Forget that, Era," she said, "I will tell you later." There was an awkward silence. Antia spoke again. "Do you remember Vlorack at all?" she asked her sister.
Era raised an eyebrow at the question. "Well, yes. That was twenty years ago. You were two years old and I was only nine. I remember Vlorack walking into my room by mistake one day and saw me holding you. Mother was already dead, of course; she died right after having you. Vlorack took one look at you and stopped dead in his tracks. Suddenly, his eyes glowed with radiant yellow light and he spoke. 'She is the one,' he said. 'Darkness is imminent.' I will never forget those words. When I asked him about it later, he denied ever saying it." There was a pause. Then, "Why do you ask?"
Antia flashed her a smile. "I was wondering how one as powerful as Vlorack could be defeated by such a weakling of a hylian."
"Now, sister," said Era. "Don't go insulting Sonefor just yet. He and his hylians are still our greatest allies, you know."
"Well that's what I need to talk to you about," replied Antia. "Sonefor is dead. I killed him myself."
Era leapt up. "Antia, why?" she demanded. "Now darkness truly is imminent- for the Gerudo people!"
But Antia stayed calm. "Calm down, sister," she said, smiling. "Haven't you learned, in all our years together, that I have always have a plan?" Suddenly, she leapt up, whipped out her scythe, and ran Era through. "I kill anyone who could possibly stand in my way, and then I rule Hyrule," the Queen laughed.
Era had a look of stricken terror plastered upon her face. "Why have you done this?" she stuttered. "We could have ruled alongside one another, like we always have!"
"Oh, please, Era!" sneered Antia. "We both knew it was just a matter of time before something like this happened. I just had the guts to try it first." She yanked the scythe from her sister's body. Era winced.
She struggled to speak again. "The Gerudos or hylians won't stand for this," she gasped. "It will be chaos for everyone."
Antia grinned. "That's what I want, fool!"
"But sister," replied Era, "you'll have to live in that chaos as well." Then, her eyes clouded over and she collapsed to the ground, never to rise again.
* * *
Rumors spread through Gerudo Fortress like wildfire. One of their queens, Era, had been betrayed and murdered by her most trusted captain, Enteye. The unfortunate captain was seized while patrolling the halls. She was stripped down, tied to a stake in the front of the fortress, and left there overnight. Now, the whole of the Gerudo population stood in the early morning damp and dew, bowing their heads in memory of their former queen, while Antia spoke to them over his sister's grave.
"I am your one and only Queen, now," she said. Her voice was quiet, yet no one missed a word. "Era ruled well, but I promise to surpass even her!"
The Gerudos raised their spears and cheered.
Antia yelled over the noise. "The hylians will pay for corrupting one of our captains to kill our beloved queen! Today, the Gerudos march to war once again!"
The cheers were deafening.
Two Gerudo guards stepped forward with torches and lit the stake ablaze. Enteye howled in pain. Her skin was blackening, turning crisp, and her screams fell short as smoke entered her lungs. The Gerudos roared their approval, and pressed closer and closer around the burning stake until the front lines could feel the heat of the embers in their masked faces.
Antia stood alone to the side, smiling to herself. Three of her greatest enemies lay dead- Sonefor, Era, and now Enteye. Everything was going according to plan.
* * *
"The real question is," Captain Ion pointed out, "who will rule us now?" He looked around at the captains sitting down at the circular pine table.
Next to him was Prince Zenk, the seventeen-year-old son of Sonefor, who was found lying dead near the recently completed temple. Sitting beside Zenk was Captain Farhill, brother of the slain Orhile and master of strategic war. Directly across from Ion was the head of the defensive units, Levin Baster. Beside him sat Atron Doren, the offensive captain, Darron, the goron king, and Ankor, the representative of the zora race. Sonefor was found with a large wound in his stomach. Hylian doctors studied the corpses of their king and the other slain hylians and discovered that a hooked, probably double-sided scythe had made the wounds and caused the deaths. When Captain Ion found this out, he muttered "Antia" and then ran off and summoned the other captains to the council room.
"According to our laws, you must be at least eighteen years of age to become King of Hyrule. Prince Zenk has yet another year," Ion continued. "But this is an emergency. We are on the brink of war. I knew it had to be Queen Antia of the Gerudos as soon as I saw the wounds. I do not know what she is up to, but we must stop her."
"I agree," said Atron Doren, "but everybody knows to let your enemy make the first move."
Prince Zenk leapt up. "They have already made their move!" he pointed out. "My father lies dead. Now it's our turn to attack!"
There was silence.
"The Prince is right," said Ankor the zora. "If we don't do something, Antia will. And we all agree we don't want that."
Another pause followed.
"The gorons will be willing to help," said Darron. "After so many years of peace it will be good to march into battle. We are restless."
Ankor nodded, "The same for my people."
Ion sighed. "It appears that war is inevitable."
"But we still need a king," said Captain Farhill. "We cannot withstand the power of the Gerudos, even with the zoras and gorons at our sides, without a strong ruler. The Gerudos have one, and so must we."
'I never thought we would want to be like the wretched Gerudos,' Zenk said to himself. If only Father were here. He would know exactly what to do. Which is why he was murdered.'
* * *
Dak had always liked Antia better than Era. Being a brother to both of them, he never supported his older sister and always followed Antia. He could tell that Antia had actually murdered Era, but he kept quiet. The strong twenty-four-year-old male Gerudo now stood in Antia's chamber, arms crossed as he listened to the debate.
Just as the hylians were across the realm, the Gerudo captains were deciding what to do first. Gerudo debates were much different than those of the hylians, however. Antia took in all the ideas she liked and attacked the others. The silver-tongued Gerudo Queen convinced her captains to do whatever she thought would work. If one captain disagreed, Antia would turn on her and crush her ideas, either with her words or with her scythe.
This time, Antia decided to dismantle the enemy, piece by piece. First, she would attack the zoras. They were the weakest. Once Hyrule Castle's water supply was cut short by the raid of Zora's Domain, the Gerudos would surround the castle.
Once the hylians need for water was to great to resist, they would leave the castle in search for it, running straight into the blockade of Gerudo warriors. After killing many of the hylian soldiers this way, the Gerudos would storm the fortress, slay the survivors, and claim the castle.
And lastly, they would take the powerful gorons. Head to head, the gorons were much stronger than the Gerudos. But, with overwhelming numbers, long range tactics, and the expertise of Gerudo marksmen and axe-throwers, Antia's female forces would triumph over the mountain-dwelling rock-eaters.
"We will start tomorrow," Antia told her captains. "Any who refuse to fight will be put to death." She whipped around, her long, yellow hair flowing behind her, and walked away, leaving her brother and captains very much satisfied.