A. N. No one talks much about Termina's own history. Everyone is focused only in completely original fics about OoT's characters. I think there should be more fics about more gaps and times other than OoT. Don't you think so?

The Swan Fleet and the fall of Ikana

The king woke early in the morning, when the sun had not yet reached the darkened gullies of Ikana Canyon. He rose and walked to the window leading to the west, across the small village of Clockville, to the Great Bay, to the sea. He gazed deeply into the waters, visible in his mind, many miles away from his own castle. Although far away from the coasts, Fargos du Ikana thought he could hear the chants of the mermaids already singing a lament for the sea. The dark forests and long plains that covered the lands between Ikana and the sea held not trees tall enough to hinder the sight of the mighty king of the canyon. His stare strayed towards the unseen fortress of the pirates to the north-west, and in his mind already were the tall ships of the Ikanians with their long sails and their great swans carved at the wooden bow of each vessel. He could also see the wind flowing across the stern just to be caught in the white sails forcing them to lift and push the ship forth into its destination, whether it was a small transport ferry or a large flag-ship with many sailors and arms ready to board and capture the enemy vessel in the name of Ikana. The king could also envision the greatness of the land army of his kingdom, keeper of order and peace throughout the lands of Termina. The bright helms always flashed in the light and the long and stout spears had more than once gleamed in the sunlight of distant lands in the quelling of an enemy of the crown. Time and again the legions of Ikana had cloven the rabbles of rebel resistance like a sharp knife through butter. In those times, the two silver double-edged swords crossed upon red rode to battle above the king as his standard, and the soldiers felt great valour in their heart and fought gladly and proudly for the glory of Ikana. With the best craft in weapon forging and the finest captains of the country, the royal army held under dominion of the eastern crown a great part of Termina, the land at the edge of the sea. Claming their own government and refusing to subjugate to the Ikanian kings, though, there had been once the Gorons to the north and the Pirates to the west, who held the wide coastlands and troubled the ships that sailed from Zora Cape to the lands unseen beyond the horizon. But It had already come to pass, to the relief of many, that after many battles under the harsh climate of the Snowhead's skirts, the Ikanians had overrun the mountains and had forced the Gorons to swear allegiance to the king, although the pirates had remained ever as a threat to the Terminian lands.

The king turned away from the window and went to his dressing gown. After a short while, he emerged from his chambers and went forth to his hall. All guards bowed before him with their left hand on the hilt of their swords and their right hand on their hearts. Up in his hall, the king sat in his throne and nodded his head between his shoulders, as in contemplation of a foresight. But in his mind only flashed the scenes of a yet to come battle with the pirates over the waters of the Great Bay. For out of insolence the corsairs had utterly rejected the last of the ambassadors sent by Ikana and had slain him and hewn him even after his death. But the move shall prove ill fated to the pirates the king thought and a smile appeared in his face, even if none in his court could perceive it. His standard had lain without the wind for too many sunsets by this time, and he was eager to lift it up again in the air and smote fear in the hearts of the enemies of Ikana. He slightly turned his bowed head to his right and beheld the swords upon red. Battle lust was kindled in his mind and heart and, suddenly, he wished for that same fire to be lit again in his men's hearts. He grabbed for the folded flag and held it outstretched in both hands. He beckoned a guard and bade him to bring a tall pole. When the man had returned, the king slid the flag into the wooden stake and held the standard aloft. With a gleam in his eyes, Fargos du Ikana let out a laugh that echoed across his hall and was heard even as far as the courtyard. He laughed and drew his sword also; the blade gleamed in its fashion and cast a light from the sun that hurt any man's eyes that attempted to behold it. The shadow of greed had been, indeed, kindled since long ago in the hearts of the Ikanian kings.

A few days later, the host of Ikana was already assembled and on its way to the Great Bay were the mighty fleet of Ikana awaited for men to fill the oar-posts, watch masts and archer-holes of every great ship. The Swan Fleet they called it, for in the prow of every vessel the head of a great swan was carved in the fairest way the sculptors could do in wood. There were seventy strong ships built in secrecy and assembled in the hidden shores that are near the Zora Hall. Their craftsmanship improved, the Ikanian shipwrights had learned much from the pirates after some defeats by them in the seas, the very place where the Ikanians were vulnerable. But the strong vessels had been crafted also with many new or unknown techniques devised or learned by the wrights, and the Swan Fleet, the Ikanians deemed, had become invincible. The king pondered of these and such matters as the sea-bound host from the canyon marched steadily through the forests that spanned the lands between their homelands and Great Bay. The monarch rode at ease at the front lines with his counselors close by. One of them, called Mengos Takamir by the people, Mengos of the Hither Starlight, rode to the king's side and spoke to him in these words:

"My lord must not utterly forget about the shadow that has been growing nearby Ikana in the very Stone Tower of ours. I beg you again to reconsider this war and return to the castle lest the darkness flow from the accursed tower!

The king turned to his counselor and said to him with a blaze in his eyes of one who seeks slaughter as a sport or amusement rather than the ordering of his realm: "Twice I had heard your voice in this day telling me about the Stone Tower, and twice had I answered the same: Let the Tower be! Its mighty doors of adamant cannot be thrown down in anyway but by the king's will. No darkness may threaten Ikana if the king wishes not for any. Be at ease and trouble me no more! For my patience grows thin without any battle and you are making it even thinner".

The counselor went silent and bowed his head; he slowed down his pace until the king was some distance ahead of him and spoke in a low voice so that none would be able to hear him but his servant.

"The desire for even more blood is lain very firmly in the king Fargos' heart. But I think he forsakes Ikana for this very desire. I must go back to the castle and tend to the matter of the Stone Tower. Should the king call for my presence, tell him that I became ill with a sickness and had to return to the canyon. I do not lie, for the knowing of our danger lies heavy in my heart and lets me not wield any blade."

Having spoken to his servant like this, Mengos departed from the host and went back to the valley of Ikana. Meanwhile, the king had ordered his army to stop amidst the outer circles of the forests and hearken to him. The Ikanians halted their march and turned their eyes and ears to their king, who spoke loud and proudly:

"Now comes the time when the fall of the last of the enemies of Ikana will come. Many a year ago our grandsires forged the might of Ikana out of hostile lands and chasms in the middle of lands where grass grows not. By their fearless spirit they conquered the lands about the realm and brought peace to the turmoil that Termina once was. By their mighty blades they overthrew the evil that had tormented the very valleys of Ikana and locked it away in the indomitable Stone Tower. By their relentless courage they sealed that evil and restored the peace that had been usual in the lands many ages ere the time of Fargos du Ikana. And now, Fargos shall bid his people to follow him into one last battle to ensure peace and order in the country of Termina and the realm of Ikana. Shall you hearken to my bidding?"

The host of the canyon cried yea with a single voice and there was a grand clamour of voices. The shadow fell over the host in the unseen form of wickedness.

* * *

Mengos had ridden tirelessly from the dark forests back to the castle. Throughout the ride the thought of the ancient evil imprisoned in Stone Tower burned in his heart with an unquenchable flame that made him forget about his hunger and weariness. The only halt he felt he could afford was that to permit his steed to rest and feed of the scarce herbs that grew amidst the woods. The good beast was of the breed that ran wildly in the wide pastures to the west of the realm, where the host of Ikana should be in a few hours from then. But even if it was of the kindred of the west, the steed was weary of the long road he had trotted along for many hours. The counselor noticed the slight foam that dripped from its mouth and felt pity for the beast. Patting the horse gently in its neck, Mengos let him rest for a few hours before reassuming his ride. After a day since he had parted ways with the host and as the wind blew and produced rushing sounds in his ears, the counselor at last could see in the distance the Stone Tower, erected dangerously nearby Ikana Castle. The ominous shadow that it cast in the evening spread across the valley of Ikana, covering the lands in darkness unusual in the country. Mengos hurried to the castle's threshold and stood in front of the doors. There, he knocked loudly on the metallic gates and said:

A sword once flashed across a helm

Another blade fell by its side

The cleaver then began to stride

To wander at Ikana realm!

These staves rang through the gates and across the inner courtyard. A voice came from the other side and spoke: "What want you that know the pass-word to our hall?"

Mengos looked up and saw a head peering over the high wall and said: "I am the one you call Takamir, the king's counselor. Open these gates with haste! For I myself am in haste.

The head disappeared and the gates opened slightly, enough to let a person pass. The counselor came through and went quickly up the entrance and to the hall of the king. He opened the doors and gazed about the room in the look for someone. At last, in a darkened corner of the hall, a bent figure was sat on a chair facing to the west. His hood over his head concealed an old head without hair and a face with a long gray beard. His hunched back towards Mengos faded from sight his shoulders that in turn hid from view his hood. The counselor approached the figure and made a slight bow before it. The figure did not turn.

"Greetings, Nadoras the seer."

"Greetings, Mengos Takamir, counselor of the king. I perceive great haste and concern about you. What might the reason of your state be? Can it be that I finally meet a person sensitive to the changes in the world? Or do you feel the evil air coming down the Stone Tower? You have always acted for the good of your king and realm, unlike others. But the shadow of doubt has loomed long over you. What want you?

Mengos was struck slightly by the seer's words, but spoke in these words as reply: "Indeed, you have earned your title justly, for I am come away from my lord for the sake of his realm. I do feel the evil emerging from Stone Tower at the time, and I seek counsel myself from the wisest man in Ikana.

The seer smiled in his hood, but he did not turned to the counselor yet. Instead, he was silent for a short while until he spoke again, in a earnest tone: "Your senses do not deceive you, for the evil from Stone Tower is growing and taking its ancient shape anew. The ancient demon from past ages is recovering from the wounds inflicted by the hero who suffered the curse of piercing its evil flesh." He let out a sound that seemed to the counselor like a laugh. "Ironical twist of fate is this! That the demon recovers its strength while the longson of that hero still carries the curse." He turned round facing Mengos removing his hood and lo! His eyes were blank and his eyesight was not, and about them many scars stretched across his face. They seemed fresh, but since he had bore them a long time his face was dark and stained with black patches of dried blood. "Such," he said, "is the heirloom of my line: to bear these tokens of a battle that occurred long ago and to pass them to my sons, and they to their sons. But the line of the accursed shall end with me." And he bowed his head again and cast the hood over his face again.

"The evil that lingers in the Stone Tower must not be set free," he said before the counselor could speak. "The fate of Ikana depends of it. If the doors of Stone Tower are laid down the doom of the realm shall be to fade away and become a land of the lingering dead."

Mengos finally spoke: "What shall we do to escape this terrible fate that awaits out kingdom? Surely there is a way to prevent the demon to roam free."

"The power to withhold the evil does not lie within you," said the seer. "The king of Ikana may still have the strength to hold this power, though. But I wonder of late, why he is riding in a meaningless war to satisfy his desire of conquest? Does he not perceive the danger of his realm? The lust for spoil and unfair tribute shall be the doom of Ikana. Already strife grows like a ghost among the shades in every Ikanian's heart. Petty brawls arise everywhere between dear friends and hated enemies alike. Who can rightfully deny that Ikana is, by anyway, on the road to ruin? Listen to me: if the king and his host turn back and end this war once and for all, the power of the demon may wan, for its main source of feeding is the evil of the lands about it. Yet, if the king chooses to carry on with his unjust wars the evil shall grow and feed of the malice of the land. It is like the sayings of old, oft evil will shall evil mar.

"Then I must hurry and tell my king about this evil, indeed!" almost cried the good counselor. "I must reach him ere tomorrow, lest the battle is joined and all is lost!"

"I doubt you shall be at his side ere tomorrow is old," the old man said. "But you must try and not fail not, or else the realm is doomed."

Suddenly, a great turmoil rose in the air and the ground shook beneath their feet. The sun seemed to shrink in the sky behind a stained cloud of red, and out of the Stone Tower a gush of rocks and pebbles fell to the hall's rooftop. A loud, piercing cry followed by a roar rang among them and about the air of the castle. Then it was gone, the ground was still again and the shadow passed, and all was quiet.

"That was a sign," the seer mused turning once again to Mengos. "A clear sign that this beast has already gained much strength." The counselor went pale in his face as the seer's scars began bleeding again; the black patches in the old man's face opened, and dark blood began to drip and to run along his face as tears. "You must hasten to Fargos' side ere it becomes too late for Ikana." Nadoras spoke aloud these words as Mengos darted out of the hall and onto his trusty steed. The sun in the blue sky shone with a slightly lesser brightness, as if pierced and wounded.

* * *

The host of Ikana Canyon had now reached the wide clearing of grass that opened before the last trees of the forest. The king ordered to carry on with the march instead of resting in the soft-soiled meadows that stretched for almost a mile. Many horses ran wild about the field, and the king's gaze would often stray to a foal of special magnificence that ran freely with the wind caressing its white skin. But he would quickly return to the matter at hand. Ever at the front of his host, Fargos du Ikana at length could notice the end of the clearing, with the trees again standing tall and motionless. With his heart again longing for battle, the monarch ordered the quickening of the army's pace. The weary soldiers learned about the order and many disagreed with the king. But they followed his bidding and ere the night was old a mounted scout reported that the sea was not far off and that they would arrive at midnight. With his eagerness burning even hotter, Fargos ordered yet another quickening in the pace. Those foot-soldiers that had walked all day under bough and sun regretted ever having begun the march, but doubt of combat was suddenly put away when a cool breeze blew about them and they felt its smell. For the breeze was filled with the smell of the sea, and less than an hour later, the host stood in laugher and song at the shores of the Zora Cape. The king took the word again and spoke to his men in this way:

"After a long march we are come to the shores of the Great Bay, where the Swan Fleet shall raise sails and the might of Ikana shall be put to a last test upon the lands of Termina. For when the pirates fall, so shall every trace of resistance to Ikanian ordering fall. Their fragile boats shall crash against our powerful ships, and their scimitars shall break asunder against our swords. Ikana had met not defeat until we faced those insolent pirates; I say it is time to avenge our brothers that fell in those dreadful battles that rendered bitter-sweet victories. For, though they died in defeat, their death is not entirely in vain: our brothers' loss permitted us to gain invaluable knowledge in the craft of shipwright. Thus, our fleet shall decimate those cursed pirates once and for all, and Ikana shall comprehend the whole of Termina. Let us rule the country together, as a father and his sons; and tomorrow, Termina shall be known as Ikana Kingdom, the realm of the swords upon red!"

The host roared and there was a great clamour and the din of their arms flew throughout the air about them. The men sang and laughed again, and some of them raised their clenched fist against the rocks to the north, where the pirates' fortress was. The moon shone in her waning stage as its reflection was cast in the waters of the bay, but the men of Ikana seldom noticed this during that night.

The next day, as the sun had been shinning already for a few hours, the trumpets and horns were blown and the host woke and prepared for battle. The swords were sheathed, the shields were unbuckled, the composite bows' strings were tensed, the girths were tightened, the mails were fitted and the round helms were set upon each soldier's head. The king wore a magnificent suit of plate armour and his golden crown was held aloft in his head. His sword and shield were of special forging and lineage, having been passed down by his ancestors of old. The monarch, before boarding the flagship, called for his most trusted captain of army. The errand-runner darted away swiftly and was back ere long with a great man, both tall and proud and with a light in his eye that few dared to behold when rage fueled him. The king turned to him when he had entered the pavilion; and so the monarch spoke to him:

"I trust everything is ready and set, Captain Keeta?"

The man stood as still as a statue as he replied to the king: "Yes, my lord. Every man is ready for battle, and every ship is being boarded and filled with a large body of archers and swordsmen each. The boarding hooks are all at each ship's prow, only for the men to pick them up."

"All is well as I can see," said king Fargos, and he was glad. He dismissed captain Keeta and ordered to lift the remaining of the bivouac at the shores of the cape. He then boarded the greatest of the ships of the Silver Swan and commanded the captains go forth. All vessels lowered their great white sails and soon the fleet was moving across the shore-line of the cape. After having sailed away from the lands, the oars were lowered also, and the Ikanians set course to the pirates' fortress. Great was the majesty of the Ikanians and great was also their greed and pride: in the head of every swan at the bow of the vessels, the crossed swords upon red waved in the air, and the standards seemed to flicker like a torch against the blue sky of the morning, and the men were delighted. The shores were only scarcely visible by the time Fargos du Ikana rouse from his seat and walked about the deck, impatient for the battle that came not yet. He gazed to the north and his gaze was set on the horizon that veiled the fortress away from the eyes of its enemies. The clear waters of Zora Cape permitted a sailor to look down at the bottom not far away and may thing they could see thus. The limpid sand that the oars spread about the waters occasionally blurred the sight, but most of the time the men could make out in the waters many fish trying to keep up with the swiftness of the Swan Fleet. Many Ikanians even claimed that some Zoras had peered their heads above the waters, perhaps to behold the might of the ships. Truth or tale, the men of Ikana sailed forth and came even closer to the Pirates' Fortress with every oar-pull.

After some hours, the clear and warm waters of Zora Cape were being replaced with the colder and deeper waters of Great Bay. The Zoras ceased to appear and the sailors settled down within their ships with a sterner mood now that battle was not far away. To the distant east the king could see still the coastlands of the western beach of Termina. Some small fishing boats were about its shallow waters, gathering part of the food that Ikana Canyon demanded as tribute from the vassal realms. The king smiled at the memories of great battles waged in past years by himself and his grandfathers in the quenching of the insatiable desire for conquest that was native to the monarchs of the canyon. Then suddenly doubt was again stirred in his mind. How shall that same desire be laid to rest after the pirates were destroyed?

* * *

And still did the faithful counselor of the king of Ikana, Mengos Takamir, rode with all the speed his steed allowed. Across the arid gullies of Ikana canyon and through the forests that spanned in those elder days the many miles from Ikana to the sea, the man sped with great anxiety and doubt in his heart. The ancient shadow that once had devastated the lands of Ikana was not to be released if the realm was to be still a great power amongst the tribes of Termina. The counselor wished in his heart and mind that the ancient seer at the king's hall were not as old and blind as he was. For he was the last of the line of the hero that defeated the hideous beast of old in unknown ways.

But the seer was the seer, and nothing could heal the perpetual illness with which he had been born and with which he should depart. The counselor knew this and soon these thoughts were out of his mind as foolishness that has to be ignored for a man to concentrate in what really matters. Some say that the heart of the faithful servant was too good and noble to be under the service of such a cruel man as Fargos du Ikana; others say that the man was not ripe to depart, and that, thus, his departure was one most unfair; still others believe that all was but coincidence of facts that happened. Mattering not who might be right, fate chose to act in its mysterious ways, as usual. As the counselor's trusted horse trotted above a rocky and stony part of the ground, a stone was slid from another and laid under the beast's hoof, making it trip. With a neigh, the horse fell face-forward, throwing away his rider who landed head-on over a sharp stone. So ended his days the faithful servant of Ikana Mengos Takamir, Mengos of the Hither Starlight. Painless and swift was his death, but Ikana would have mourned it beyond any comprehension should its people had learned of it. For the doom of the realm was now certain, now that the only Ikanian with a rightful heart was gone.

* * *

A great shout announced that the enemy ships had been sighted. Fargos du Ikana sprang from his seat and ran to the deck. The men about him were positioning themselves at the starboard with many of those bows unknown in many parts of the world: composite bows, made of many kinds of wood. The small weapons were raised in defiance at the enemy ships that approached slowly but steadily to the Swan Fleet. The Ikanian vessels raised their sails and powered the oars with more men to gain agility, and the white linen-like straps across the blue skies disappeared. The grappling hooks were ready in the shaking hands of the many swordsmen of the king and the sovereign ordered his great flagship to move into the center of the fleet. The stern was rolled, and the ship oared away from the front lines. The enemies were less than three mile from the fleet now, and the Ikanians' blades jumped in their holders' hands. The king sat in his seat again to watch the battle, since his commands could not be heard by any man in other ships but his own. The waters wavered beneath the fleet.

When the pirates approached, the Ikanian archers shot a dense cloud of arrows at the smaller enemy ships. The shafts penetrated some in the hull and some stuck right on the deck, but caused no loss within the pirates. The archers stood in wonder.

At last, the enemy vessels became close enough for the men of Ikana to notice the pirates. But the ships were empty, devoid of any life. In wonder stood all the men that could see these strange ships when their wonder became horror. The first of dozens of smaller ships did not stop when close to one of the Swan Fleet's ships. Instead, it crashed with great force with the mighty Ikanian vessel and exploded with a deafening blast. Seconds later, where a great ship had stood, proud and invincible, a wreck about to sink into the bottoms of the Great Bay lay in its place with a few desperate survivors clinging to the broken and burnt wood that peered above the waters. The Ikanians cowed at such a devilry for short time, but that time was long enough for another of the demolition ships of the pirates to crash and burn another of the vessels of the Silver Swan. Rallying all ships and ordering them to withdraw, the flagship of Fargos du Ikana began to turn away as two more ships exploded at the front and sank to the bottoms unmeasured. Many ships of the Ikanians had already begun to withdraw for the Zora Cape, and many other had already sank, when out of the horizon and unlooked for a standard with two crossed scimitars borne upon black waved at the top of a mast. The pirates' fleet had gone beyond the sight of the Swan Fleet hours ago and were now returning, blocking the exit out of the bay and trapping the Swan Fleet between the hammer and the anvil. King Fargos had already witnessed the sinking of many of his ships and was now struck and filled with horror. Defeat was now at hand, and this time the realm would become kingless. With a hoarse shout he directed his flagship and many other ships of his fleet to the pirates, in hoping for a last and desperate battle. Already a score of the ships of the Silver Swan had been destroyed by the pirates' demolition ships, whose governing was a mystery. The Swan Fleet stopped at very close distance from the pirates as hails after hails rained above the Ikanians. Before the king could notice it, many of his own household lay dead over the deck with black arrows stuck on them. The Ikanian swordsmen in other vessels were already attempting to board the enemy ships, but the pirates would quickly cut the ropes for boarding and mercilessly shoot the fallen men. In a turn of tides that none had expected, many black hooks appeared suddenly on some of the Ikanian vessels, dragging them close for boarding. When the king could see clearly again, dozens of black ropes were pulling his great ship towards its destruction. The despaired monarch sighed as the last of his counselors fell by an arrow and sat back to his seat. His gaze noticed the swan head at the prow of his ship. It had been riven by its fair beak, and many arrows were about it head. The king almost broke into sobs.

So ended the glory of the Swan Fleet of Ikana. The remaining ships, no more than two score, were emptied of prisoners and set to fire. King Fargos du Ikana died as the pirates boarded his ship and his bodyguard fought fearlessly but in vain. The remaining Ikanians were captured and kept as slaves for the pirates, although some managed to escape and brought tidings of their defeat back to Ikana Canyon. Elsewhere is recorded the great evil that arose from Stone Tower in the days after that desolated and utterly destroyed Ikana Canyon and its people. The lands about were diseased beyond health, and the great forests of the outskirts of the realm perished the very next winter. Its people dwindled, slain or lost in the darkness, the great kingdom of Ikana perished by the very thing that had driven them to conquest and victory: desire of conquest.

* * *

In his dying moments, Igos du Ikana Fargos'son called for the last of the counselors of the house of Ikana and bade him to inscribe these words that were never on his tomb owing to the untimely death of the servant:

Oft evil will shall evil mar...

A. N. I really hope you liked this tale. This is one of those that just pop out of your head we you've got nothing to do. Check out the next one, it's one of those that you just don't expect!