His eyes flew open. The bright mid-day sun shone right into them, causing him to squint. He was confused, and he discovered, after looking around, that he did not know where in Hyrule he was. In front of him lay a great castle. The castle was not one of a royal family, or even royalty.
"No," he thought, "This must be a castle of a king of evil."
It was no wonder that he thought this. One look at this castle would send a man screaming home for his mother. Instead of using traditional white marble to construct the castle, it had been constructed with a dark, dense stone. A Hylian with a knowledge of magic would have been able to see the magic that was intertwined with the stone. The magic seemed to be making the stone manageable, for that type of stone, Lifadite, could not be used under the conditions in which the castle was surrounded. Lifadite went through a chemical reaction when it came into contact with oxygen and exploded. Scientists had been trying for years to tame this mineral, for it was said to be very strong in the right conditions. Even though the castle did not meet the requirements for the stone, the magic that surrounded the stone surely did. The magic also seemed to be keeping the castle suspended in mid-air, for below the floating fortress was a pit of boiling tar. Bones of animals that had strayed too close to the edge were seen in there, slowly sinking away, to be added to the ocean of tar. Any man who slipped would fall to his doom, and his comrades would have the terrible honor of listening to his cries for help as he was slowly and painfully consumed in the tar pit. Dark, menacing clouds circled around the castle, as if they were feeding off the evil that resided there. However, the further away from the castle you were, the sunnier it was. The evil presence in the castle seemed to be causing this darkness, for no light shown around the castle, making it seem that much more frightening. With the tar pit being beneath it, the air around the castle was extremely hot. The men who had reached the outskirts of the perimeter of the castle were already complaining about the temperature. Some of the men began to shed their heavy armor, willing to do anything to relieve their bodies from the heat. The captains shouted at them, ordering them to put their armor back on. However, the captains secretly wished that they themselves could do it, for the heat was unbearable.
Scouts were sent out to find weaknesses in the castle's defenses. When the scouts reported back, they said that there were no defenses around the castle, just the huge gap that surrounded it. The scouts also discovered that it was impossible to reach the front gate of the castle with out the use of a long shot, and even then, it really was a long shot. A person had a very little chance of hitting anything that the metal clasp of the long shot could sink into. The enemy had cleverly made sure that there would be no wood on the outside of the castle. With no wood, the troops would have to either find another way in or give up. And since giving up wasn't an option, the captains ordered to break formation and set up camp. But not there, somewhere where it was cooler, much cooler.
**
Morning came. The troops had been unable to find a suitable place to make camp. There was not any threat of danger, or hostile environments surrounding them, it was just that every place that they traveled to now was incredibly hot. It seemed like a thick layer of moisture had settled around the army and refused to go away. Every where they went, they were turned away. The citizens of the area, used to the cool, dry climate of the land, could not stand the moisture. The extreme heat also caused crops to die, which kept the soldiers from eating any vegetation that could have been edible. The troops, already hot and tired, set up camp on an open field. This move could have put them in a vulnerable position. However, the captains figured that if any enemy wanted to attack them, then it would have to suffer through the heat as well. Not many men could sleep that night, most just stayed up trying to find something to eat. Roots of the trees seemed to be the top choice on the menu, so that was what many men ate. One lucky man managed to shoot a rabbit that had wandered too close to the camp. However, his luck turned to misfortune when fifty men fought him for the small piece of meat. Morale was at an all time low, but that didn't keep the main reason for their fight out of their heads.
**
Noon. The sun was high in the sky, making the heat unbearable. Being near the tar pits was not much better. Several men who had passed out from heat exhaustion had to be carried back to the camp. They were the lucky ones. They would live to fight another day. Scouts were sent back up to the castle walls, ordered to survey the walls for any signs of weakness. Of course, the castle was locked up as tight as a madman in a mental hospital. The captains were stumped on what to do. Building a bridge was out of the question, for even if they had the supplies, the heat would catch the boards on fire. Besides, the gap was too large for a bridge to be affective. Captain Pierce sat upon his chestnut brown stallion, in deep thought, trying to figure the problem out. His train of thought was broken, however when a young lad rushed up to him.
"Sire, Sire, I have the solution to our problem!"
The captain, also very young, looked into the lad's eyes and saw that they were full of hope and told no lies. He asked, "What's your name, lad?"
"Halan, sire."
"Well, Halan, what's your idea?"
The young man breathed in deep, trying to catch his breath, for he had run all the way from the front lines to speak with the captain. Finally, he looked up at Pierce.
"I have a few…uh…friends who could help us."
"What kind of friends?" the captain asked.
The young man looked to the ground and shuffled his feet around in the dirt nervously. Pierce, already irritable from the heat, yelled out loud at the young man.
"What? Just tell me!"
"Fairies, sir, forest fairies." he answered, in a serious tone.
Pierce looked at Halan with a look that said, "you must be joking".
"Fairies? They haven't been seen for over 200 years!"
"But sire, they do exist. I once went into a forest, and there were little children there. Around each child was a fairy. I became friends with a few of the children, and well, to make a long story short, one of them gave me a gift that I could use to call upon the fairies when I was in need of their assistance."
The captain looked at Halan, then at one of the other officers, then back at Halan.
"Surely you jest, man. Fairies, in a forest, with children? And a magical gift that calls upon these mythical creatures? Do you take me for some sort of fool?"
"No, sire!" Halan quickly replied. "It is true. You must believe me. It is our only chance! What else are you going to do? Spend eternity trying do devise a way to reach the castle while countless men die from heat exhaustion? Please, allow me to at least try!"
Pierce looked up at the castle, lumbering in front of him. Just then, a solider lying in a gunny passed by, another victim of heat exhaustion. Pierce closed his eyes, and addressed Halan.
"Go, try your plan," he said, almost whispering. "and may the gods help you and your…fairies."
**
He was standing in the middle of all of the commotion. A few moments earlier, a young man about his age had run up to him, screaming something to him about fairies and the solution. The young man seemed to know him, but the same couldn't be said for him. Something about him seemed familiar, but at that moment, he didn't care. He just wanted to get out of there. Last night had been hell. He did not even know why he was there. He just wanted to go home.
**
Halan walked up to the edge of the cliff that overlooked the pit. The crowd parted as the people tried to figure out what he was doing. Halan slowly reached into his pocket and pulled something out. Being careful not to drop it, he carefully brought it to his lips.
"He's got a littl flute!" someone screamed. "Hey, play us a litll diddy, son!"
All of the troops laughed as the young man drew in a deep breath. The crowd grew silent. A beautiful note filled the air, followed by another, and another. He kept playing. With each note, the castle seemed to shiver, as if the music was pounding into the side of it. Even after he stopped playing, the music kept on going. Perhaps, it was just bouncing off the walls of the castle and the mountains, and it just seemed to go on. But many men would say that the music had a life of its own, and it played by itself. As the music played on, little glimmers of lights appeared in the sky. The troops looked up to see what it was.
"Oh my…" Pierce muttered under his breath.
Twenty or so fairies filled the area. Everyone could hear their chattering, their laughter. They all flew up to Halan and grew silent. He appeared to be talking with them, but no one was close enough to hear him. The fairies flew off and sailed over to the castle. Little glimmers of light fell down from the fairies as the set to work. Just above the entrance, they constructed a large beam of wood out of thin air. Murmurs were heard going through the ranks of soldiers. None of the men could believe what they were seeing. Nevertheless, it really was happening, it really was. After the fairies had finished their task, they flew back to Halan and then flew off towards the north.
Silence. Then a cheer rose up, starting from the back and working its way forward. Captain Pierce fought his way through the crowd and up to Halan, patting him hard on the back.
"Good work, my boy. Now lets go kick some ass!"
**
"Form your lines men!" the captains yelled. The men lined up in several lines along the ledge, each waiting with anticipation. Except one. He did not understand what any of these commands meant. He just followed everyone else.
"Long shots ready!" Thousands of long shots were pulled out of the pockets of the men and aimed at the wooden beam that hung on the castle.
"Aim!" The beam suddenly turned a bright mechanical red as the laser pointer of all of the long shots were aimed directly at it.
"Fire!"
It sounded like an explosion. The sound of all of those long shots launching off at once. Then the sound of the retracting chain as it reeled the troops in close to the castle. Once all of the troops and officers were safely on the other side, the command for forward march was given.
Inside the castle, the soldiers finally met relief. It was a cool 60 degrees inside. Several soldiers let out a sigh as the cool air met their hot bodies. With the cool air surrounding them, the troops could concentrate on the coming battle. Their minds were now sharp and their reflexes quick. He, on the other hand, was freaking out. He could not remember how to fight, he didn't think that he had never learned. A warm, comforting wind then took that opportunity to pass by his cheek. Talerma. That was the name of this place, of this castle. And they were preparing to fight the king who lived here, because he was evil. He remembered that, but nothing else.
"Arm yourselves men!" the captains hollered aloud.
As the troops withdrew their swords, he did the same. As he touched the hilt of his sword, he felt a surge of power flow into his veins. He withdrew his hand quickly, but so he would not look like a coward, he grabbed a hold of the sword. He did not have to pull hard because it came easily out of the holster. The sword made a slight shing noise, the normal noise that a sword would make after coming out of its scabbard. He had unconsciously dropped his hand to his side, and the sword hung there by his leg. He brought it up to his face so he could get a better look at it. However, as the sword sliced through the air, he thought he heard a voice singing.
"It can't be," he thought. "A sword that sings?"
He continued to bring the sword up, and sure enough, the singing continued. It was a song that he knew; he could even hum along with it. However, he didn't know the words, or where the song had come from. It seemed that the song had always been there, resting deep within his self. He swung the sword around a few times, trying to hear the song again, but it had stopped. He gave up and decided to examine the sword instead. As he brought the sword the sword to his face, he noticed it was made out of gold.
"Where have I seen this before?" he thought to himself. He remembered the dream, the man, that stormy night. Could this be the same…?
"All right men, search the castle." His head snapped back up as the captains gave the order. Search the castle? What if he found something? What could he do? He quickly tagged along with another group of soldiers.
"Hey, you coming with us, kid?" one of the soldiers asked.
"Hey, I'm not a kid." he retorted angrily, only to be interrupted by the soldier.
"We hope that we can get this guy. You've only been with this group for a few weeks, right?"
He thought a moment before answering, unsure of what to say, and then replied, "Yeah, I guess I have."
"Well, we've been fighting this guy for a long time. Denzaf has been a menace to this country for ages, and it looks like we might be able to defeat him this time."
"Why's that?" he asked.
"Well, we've eliminated most of his army, and now all that he's got left is this castle. He's cornered in here, there's no way out." He nodded, and the group continued on in silence.
The cold was starting to get to him. "I wish I was outside now, where its warm." he thought as he began shivering. One of the men looked back at him.
"Are you ok kid?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm just…a little cold." he replied.
"Don't worry, it can't be any worse than last night." the soldier replied, with a smirk on his face.
"Yeah, I guess so." he said.
Then without warning, he felt a strange warmth coming from inside his shirt. It began to heat up to tremendous temperatures. The heat knocked him to the ground. He reached inside and tore off his necklace, since that was the only thing that was in there. The other soldiers rushed over to him, to see what was wrong.
"What happened?" they all asked.
"I don't know." he replied, because he really did not know what had happened. His gaze fell upon his necklace that he had tossed to the ground. It shone brighter than he had ever seen it shine before. He picked it up with great care and hung it back around his neck. Surprisingly enough, it did not seem as hot as it had before, even though it was shining brighter than before.
The soldiers helped him to his feet. He brushed himself off, and as he did, he heard a grunting sound. He looked up just in time to see one of his comrades fall to the ground. An arrow was sticking out of his back. He looked at the balcony, and he could see a dark figure, with a bow in its hands.
"CHARGE!!!!" he yelled, surprising everyone, including himself. The small group ran forward, brandishing their weapons, rushing forward to meet their destinies, whatever they were.