CHAPTER 7
It was evening when they arrived at the entrance to Lon Lon Ranch. They knocked on the gate, and called out, and soon Talon came. He greeted Wynn warmly, and then introduced himself to those that he hadn't met. They followed him to the main house, where Ingo and Malon were waiting.
Malon stood, and started to rush to Wynn, when she stopped, staring at him. Or, rather, past him, straight to Kesler. Wynn turned, and noticed a similar reaction on Kesler's face. They started walking to each other, faces awestruck and oblivious to anything but each other.
Behind Wynn, Tane snickered. "Looks like he just pulled your tail from the fire." It took Wynn a second to comprehend, but he finally grasped his friend's meaning. He blushed lightly, sending Tane a silencing glare.
Soon, the group was seated along a table, eating dinner. Wynn noticed that Malon and Kesler were looking at each other all throughout the meal. He smiled. It was good to see Malon happy.
The group discussed what had befallen Wynn and Fami in the lair of the marauders. Tane then explained how they had been able to find them so easily. Finally, the subject of the monsters was brought up.
"Yeah, monsters are all around nowadays. This ranch is one of the safest places on Hyrule Field, though. But if our walls were to collapse, then..." Talon shuddered, "It wouldn't be pretty. But we're safe enough, right, Malon? Malon? Anyways, that monster you described sounded pretty nasty. Especially that wolf. You think..."
Wynn sat back, blocking out Talon's voice as thoughts swirled through his head. His mind was mainly on Malon. It wasn't that he was jealous of Kesler; in fact, he was happy that the two of them were hitting it off so well. It was just that he was concerned for her. She was a close friend, and he didn't want her hurt. But Kesler seemed respectable...
"...Isn't that right, Wynn?"
"Huh? What?" Wynn snapped out of his introspection. Some of his friends smiled at him, knowing he hadn't heard a word Talon had just said. Fami and Nerah were snickering, probably from another comical anecdote from Talon about Wynn's past. Wynn blushed, embarrassed.
"Ah, Wynn's had a rough day. Fighting monsters, and then having to put up with Nerah...It can take it out of you," Fami jested, smirking in the direction of the Zora. Nerah glared at her, plotting vengeance.
Wynn answered Fami's statement with a yawn. He then stood up, and nodded to everyone at the table. "Well, if you will excuse me, I am going to retire for the night. Somehow I get the feeling tomorrow will be busy." Everyone bid him good night, except for Malon and Kesler, who didn't even notice his departure.
Wynn walked into the stables, fixing a pile of hay to lie upon where he could see out the door. He sat down with a sigh, and again returned to his thoughts. Now, though, Malon wasn't on his mind. Instead, he returned to what he had learned of Solan.
Solan had been his best friend, nearly his only friend, when he had been growing up on the farm. They had grown up together. Wynn had been a lot younger than Solan, but Solan had treated him as an equal.
Everything had been great, up until the day Solan's parents died when they were on way back from the market. They had been attacked by monsters, and were overwhelmed. Wynn's parents would have been happy to take Solan as their own, but Solan wouldn't allow them. Baro, Wynn's father, had recently been seriously wounded when Ganon had taken over, and Solan thought he would just be a burden. Instead, he ran. Wynn hadn't ever found what had become of him...
Until now. Wynn's head lowered. To go all this time, to find Solan had been murdered at the hands of a mercenary...Some of the hatred that he had felt before towards mercenaries came to the top again. First, they had helped take his parents from him; now, he had learned they had also claimed his best friend. He shook in anger. If it was the last thing he would do, he would avenge Solan by killing-
He stopped. Fami had been right. If he were to kill Gold Knuckle, he would be sinking to the fiend's level. Wynn clutched his head. He was so confused!
He watched as two figures silently exited the main house. It was Kesler and Malon, hand in hand, speaking in whispers. Wynn watched as the two walked slowly away, a smile finally coming to his face. A calming thought finally entered his mind. Life goes on...
******
Silver Knuckle sat down on the ground, right at a lake near the entrance to Kokiri Village. He, like Wynn, was totally absorbed in his own thoughts. He took his ax and tossed it a short distance away, tired of its weight.
His red eyes glowed dimly. He was still fighting his personal demons, most of them dealing with questions of his identity. Just who was he? Was he the warrior, Silver Knuckle? Or, was he the farm boy, Solan?
He had gone so long under the belief that he was no more than a mere weapon at the hands of his master. But then, he had failed, and Icarnos was no more. He had wandered, with his only aim being revenge. But now, the very man he had hoped to kill turns up to be his old best friend.
Who was he to be loyal to? The man that had returned his life, but had just used him? Or the one who had been a close friend, but in another life?
Silver Knuckle stared at his reflection in the water. An abomination of steel and a pair of red eyes returned his gaze. But was that all he was?
Silver Knuckle slumped back, shaking his head. Whatever the answers to these questions were, he would have to wait until the next day to find out. Within a few minutes, Silver Knuckle was asleep, with dreams of two men, one virtuous and honorable, one dark and powerful, fighting in his head.
Wynn...help me...
******
Wynn blinked drowsily, trying to shield his eyes from the offensive morning sunlight. He slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Suddenly, a shadow fell across his vision. He opened his eyes completely.
"Well, good to see you're awake, little hero. I wanted to have a long conversation with you about how much I hate you."
Wynn scrambled to his feet, hand clasping for his sword. He found nothing, and he could tell his mace was also absent. He squinted his eyes, trying to pick out the identity of his assailant.
"Good morning, son of Baro. Prepare to die," growled Seron.
******
Silver Knuckle slowly gathered his weapons in preparation for the day's hike. He had no idea what his destination was, but he would find somewhere to go. He needed to think...
"Silver Knuckle..." came a raspy voice from behind him. He whirled. That voice...!
"Silver Knuckle...don't fail me...don't...." Silver Knuckle fell back, shocked. Standing before him, hunched in agony, was the ghostly image of his former master, Icarnos.
"Fail me...you...you failed me...You failed me!"
Silver Knuckle fell to his knees, shaking his head. This could not be happening!
"You...failed...me..." And with those words, his master disappeared.
Silver Knuckle stared at the spot where Icarnos had stood, still shaking his head. What was happening to him?
He looked up as a distant motion caught his eye. Several Tekitite-like monsters were walking into that ranch...
"Good morning, son of Baro. Prepare to die."
Silver Knuckle froze as he heard the sound of Seron's voice inside his head. Son of Baro? But that was...
Wynn! He's in danger! And with that, he dashed towards the most likely place for Wynn's location, Lon Lon Ranch, without ever truly knowing why.
******
Wynn glared at Seron. "What're you doing here, scum?"
"That's big talk for someone in your position." Seron motioned in the general direction of the main house. "Why, I do have all your friends, including Fami, and-"
"What have you done with them?!?"
"Don't worry for them, Wynn. They're unharmed, so far. It's yourself you need to worry about."
"Bring it on, apprentice."
Seron raised his palm. In it crackled an orb of dark electricity. "You want to fight, amateur?"
"I'm more than enough for you!"
In response, Seron flung his magic at Wynn. Wynn narrowly dodged, and the magic struck a wooden railing behind him, reducing it to splinters. Wynn laughed. "Is that all you have? Pretty weak, Seron."
"I'll save my energy. Go, Tekitons!"
Wynn snickered. "I could have guessed those weaklings were your work."
Two of the spidery monsters entered the stable. They glared at Wynn, and then charged. Wynn dove between them, rolling and landing on his feet, and then leaping to his left. The two Tekitons crashed into each other. Seron targeted Wynn with his dark magic, but missed when Wynn jumped aside. The bolt instead disintegrated the two monsters. They let out a shrill shriek, and were gone.
Seron whirled, palm out to blast Wynn, but Wynn charged him and slammed into him before Seron could aim. Seron released his magic wildly as Wynn knocked him to the floor. The dark lightning arced upward, slamming into the roof of the stable. Wynn stepped back as part of the roof collapsed onto Seron. With a short triumphant laugh, Wynn walked past the pile of debris and out of the stable.
******
"Hey! Stop chirping in my face, you stupid bug!" Tane yelled at the offensive Tekiton. The monster stepped back, pulling out its sword. Tane struggled fruitlessly with his bonds, trying to free himself, ready to tear the monster limb from limb. The Tekiton raised its sword ready to slash Tane.
It was cut off by a sharp chirp from the front of the line. It was the leader of this particular group of Tekitons, the same one that had escaped the rock snake. It motioned to the one threatening Tane, obviously telling it to leave the prisoners alone. The disobedient Tekiton nodded, putting its sword away. Tane snarled at it as it walked away.
"Tane, you're going to get yourself killed," Shezarah said insistently behind his back.
"And what do you think is going to happen after Seron finishes with Wynn? Don't forget, I nearly killed him the last time we fought. I don't think he's going to go very easy on you or me."
Tane sighed. He hadn't even had a chance to fight when he had been captured. He had been asleep in the stable when the Tekitons had burst in. He and the others had been on their feet within an instant, but Seron entered, and cast a spell that rendered them all motionless. It had been all too easy for the monsters to chain the six of them, excluding Malon, Talon, Ingo, and Wynn, together and lead them outside. During the entire encounter, Wynn had stayed asleep, probably due to another spell from Seron.
Now, the nine of them were chained together in a line. Seron had said very little to them, except that he was going to finish off the son of Baro, right before he entered the stable. Tane frowned. There was nothing he could do to help his friend...
Suddenly, a part of the roof of the stable exploded outward. Everyone whirled, shocked. A second later, Wynn burst out of the stable, thankfully in one piece. He ran right at the nearest Tekiton, which fortunately enough was the one carrying his weapons. Wynn knocked it down, and took his weapons from it without a fight. Wynn then turned to his friends.
Several Tekitons rushed at Wynn, weapons drawn. Wynn easily overwhelmed them, and then battled his way to his friends. With a carefully aimed swipe, Wynn destroyed the manacles binding Tane with his sword. Tane then tackled the Tekiton that had threatened him earlier, retrieving his ax and sword from its unconscious body.
Wynn continued down the line of his friends, freeing them as quick as he could, while Tane began to assail the Tekitons. One, the leader, slipped by Tane, and charged at Wynn. Shezarah stopped it by tripping it. It fell to the ground, not getting up.
Wynn finally freed the last of his friends, and turned back to the battle. He began defeating whole clumps of the Tekitons, clearing a path to the exit of the ranch. He looked back to the others. "Run!" he yelled to them.
As one the eight of them ran for the exit, Wynn and Tane not far behind. They were nearing the exit when a flood of the monsters seemed to pour from the roofs of the house and stable. All ten drew whatever weapons they had, or powered their elemental magic, and began to batter the Tekitons. Many of the monsters fell, but there was too many. It seemed to be a losing battle.
Suddenly, they all concentrated their efforts on one direction, and slowly began to break through the crowd of Tekitons surrounding them. Soon, they were on the outside of the crowd, and almost to the exit. However, Wynn, Tane, and Kesler lagged behind, holding the Tekitons off.
Unbeknown to the adventurers, Seron had escaped from under the pile of debris and was watching the heroes, who were just passing the door to the stable. As the seven of the heroes that weren't fighting passed, he raised his palm. When Fami passed, he sent a thin tendril of his dark lightning into her. She slumped instantly to the ground, out cold. He smiled as he mentally commanded one of the Tekitons to pick her up and bring her into the stable as he used his magic to block the other heroes from seeing her separate from them.
As the rest of the heroes raced toward the exit, a larger tide of Tekitons raced toward them. Malon, Talon, and Ingo became separated from the rest and slowly were overwhelmed. Kesler saw this, and charged into the thick of the action, but Shezarah pulled him out.
"Save yourself for another time! We'll come back!" Shezarah yelled to him, practically dragging him away. Kesler watched Malon through the crowd, swearing to himself to return to save her as soon as possible.
Nerah was at the front of the group as they reached the gate. She rushed through, not looking back. Next, Shezarah pushed Kesler through. She turned back, searching for Tane. She found him, fighting alongside Wynn and Jier.
Tane turned to look at Wynn quickly. "Wynn, get out of here!"
Wynn shook his head, slashing a monster.
"I'll keep them off of you! Just go!" Tane insisted.
"No, I'm not leaving you!"
Tane spared a glance at his friend, and their eyes met. "Go, Wynn. Someone has to take care of Shezarah."
Wynn frowned, ready to decline, but he knew that it would be no good to just get captured. He could rescue Tane, after the monsters weren't all concentrated in one area. And someone had to stay behind, and they both knew what would happen if Wynn was captured by Seron. Perhaps Seron wouldn't hurt Tane as soon as he would Wynn.
Wynn reluctantly turned, and ran for the gate. Tane tried his best to hold the monsters back, but several slipped past him. One got by him and pivoted, swinging its sword. It nearly connected with Tane when the Tekiton was knocked aside by a black blur. It was Jier. For a second, they glanced at each other, and then went on fighting with new-found determination. But even as they fought, it became obvious that they would lose. It wasn't long before both were knocked out, and carried back to the house.
Shezarah saw this, and started to rush to save Tane, but Wynn caught her, and began to drag her away. She struggled, but Wynn remembered his agreement with Tane, and wouldn't let go. Soon, they were out, and fleeing from the monsters. Not a one of them looked back.
It was unfortunate that they didn't look back. For if they had, they would have seen the one thing that saved them from the mob of Tekitons streaming out of the ranch. As the monsters rushed out, in desperate pursuit of their prey, they didn't notice the figure that came in front of the gate before they could get through. Several nearly crashed into the figure, which eliminated them with a single swipe of his enormous ax.
It was none other than Silver Knuckle. He charged at the Tekitons, swinging his weapon wildly in defense of the four heroes that were fleeing. The Tekitons he hadn't already killed shrieked, and dashed at him, attacking. Their swords merely clattered off him as he eliminated them by the dozens.
Finally, Silver Knuckle cast a glance back to the four that had escaped. They were more than halfway to the castle. The Tekitons wouldn't be able to catch them now. He turned, and ran from the Tekitons.
Seron looked to the direction of the gate. Most of his Tekitons, or at least the few that hadn't perished, still were grouped there, not in the field in pursuit of the heroes that had escaped. A snarl came from him, and he used his dark magic to float into the air above the Tekitons.
"Why are you just standing here?" he demanded furiously. The Tekitons looked up to him, and responded with a cacophony of nervous squeaks.
"What do you mean, there's a big metal monster out there? It's me you should be afraid of!" Almost all the Tekitons then ran out into the field, but without the enthusiasm Seron would have liked. He mentally swore to himself to make a braver monster, next time.
Seron then looked around from his position high above the ground. What was this monster his creations were speaking of? He searched the surrounding area, then finally gave up and returned to the ground. He shook his head, and then started back to the main house, where the other six captives were being held.
Before he could reach it, two Tekitons called to him from the gate excitedly. Between them they held a bulky man, who was struggling. When he noticed Seron, he easily ripped his arms away from the grasps of the monsters. "Seron! What is the meaning of this?"
Seron grimaced. "Listen, whoever you are, I'm busy right now, and-"
"I'm Captain Merce!"
"Interesting. Tekitons, remove him from my sight."
"Wait! I'm a messenger from Deihawk!" Seron sighed exhaustedly.
"Stop, Tekitons. What does he want, Sergeant Merk?"
Merce glared at him. "Captain Merce, wizard. And he desires an audience with you-"
"Tell him I'm busy."
"...Within the hour. He's on his way, I'm the advance messenger."
Seron clenched his fist. Well, it seemed he would have to wait to kill the heroes he had captured.
"Meet him, and pass him a message. Tell him I'm ready for him, and await his presence." Seron said calmly.
Merce nodded, and turned to leave. Seron watched him go, and sighed. He couldn't wait till he could finally rid himself of Deihawk, and finally complete his dreams of ruling Hyrule. And, it wouldn't take long now.
******
It was nearly evening when Wynn and the others reached Hyrule Marketplace. They hurriedly passed through the market, and up the path to the castle. They met a guard, who escorted them into the castle and to the Princess's meeting chamber.
Princess Zelda stood with her back to them, looking out an enormous window. She turned when she heard them enter, and a look of shock came across her face.
"Wynn! But I thought you were a captive of the marauders, along with Fami!"
Wynn nodded in hurried greeting to the Princess. "Yes, but Fami and I escaped..."
He whirled, searching the group of escapers for someone. "Fami!" he cried, finally finding that she had been left behind at the ranch.
Wynn, Shezarah, and Nerah began discussing when they had last seen Fami, while Kesler stepped forward. "My Liege, I, along with Jier, Tane, Shezarah, and Nerah, found Wynn and Fami in Hyrule Field in combat with a monster, after they had escaped from the clutches of the marauders. The monster was slain, and we made our way to Lon-Lon Ranch." At his mention of the ranch, Kesler cringed.
"We spent the night there. However, when we awoke, the ranch was attacked and taken over by that monster, Seron. We escaped, but..." Kesler cast a glance back to Wynn. Wynn's face was set in a pained grimace. "It's obvious most of us did not make it."
The Princess covered her mouth, horrified. She looked to the ground, and then back to Kesler. "We shall send a group of our troops to the fort immediately, to save your friends. I'll notify General Rosburn." She looked to Wynn and the others. "Also, I will have servants prepare rooms for you four. You shall spend the night here, and then return to the ranch in the morning. By then, we'll have retaken it."
Wynn shook his head violently, refusing to stay while Fami was in danger, but the Princess insisted. "You are exhausted; you would just get in the way. Now, excuse me, I must go to inform Rosburn of this development." She walked elegantly past them, and out the door.
Wynn stared at the floor, guilt hanging on his heart. Now, both Fami, one of the most wonderful girls he had ever met, and Tane, his partner and friend, along with Jier, a great friend and ally, were in the hands of one of his greatest adversaries. And there was nothing he could do to help
******
It was nearing sunset, and Tane sat alone. He was in the bedroom that Wynn had been in earlier, after the first attack by the monsters. Seron had sent him up here, shortly after a large group of marauders had arrived.
Tane groaned, struggling with the manacles that bound his hand behind his back. He knew who would be with the marauders. And it wouldn't be long before he confronted Tane, and it would be all over. Tane sighed. At least Shezarah was safe.
Suddenly, the door to the room burst open. A dark figure entered the room. "Finally, I have caught up with you, little coward," Deihawk gloated.
"Deihawk!" Tane yelled, lunging at his parent's killer. Deihawk merely laughed, and backslapped him. Tane fell back to the bed.
"Now, we finally get to have our little talk." Deihawk drew his serpentine sword. "And this time, little brother, you can't run."