Chapter 9
~ Regrouping ~
Dark, massive clouds rolled through the lands, beams of light breaking through the few openings between the clouds. Mountains jutted out from the ground throughout the fields of Hyrule, and a once familiar landscape had all but vanished. The young traveler had returned home, only to find it wasn't what it once was.
Link stood in the knee-deep snow, his tunic and top removed, exposing the wrappings and bandages that helped to heal his wounds. His strength not yet returned, the Hylian stood and watched as the world was re-shaped before his eyes. The others had left two days ago, traveling in the most inconspicuous ways they could find, either through magic or hidden passages.
Zelda was below, her mind and body slowly returning from the damage the dream demon had inflicted through the years of torture, with help from Rauru. Saria watched and tended to Isis day and night. "Isis" was the name Zelda had given the child, a name of an ancient goddess of a far off land, that somehow seemed appropriate.
An evil energy swept through the land, causing pain to all who were sensitive to such feelings. Fiery stones continued to rain down from the skies, burning through the clouds, remnants of the volcano. A purple fog feel at night, poisonous to all good beings who breathed it in, and the monsters and demons continued to flood through from the lands of the dead to this side. Creatures Link vanquished long ago from lands throughout the world were free to once again take their chambers and spread their poisons.
An unmistakable energy emerged, not long ago as Rau opened not only barriers between living and dead, but dimensions, as well. Link's eyes turned to the distant castle of Hyrule, where, once again, the floating castle that had been destroyed five years ago stood. The power that had created the castle had returned, and once again controlled the beasts and demons of the temples.
"To think," whispered Link, despair filling his heart, "in one fell swoop, all I've ever done in my life has simply vanished. If nothing more, I have simply helped these grand armies conquer by bringing them together."
"Darkness has grown more powerful, hero," Rauru said as he floated up from the gravestone. The group had been fortunate so far that the graveyard had been mostly overlooked. "I wonder, have the forces that vanquished these beings become more powerful, as well? You cannot blame yourself for this, Link. This is the culmination of events that have begun long before your soul came into being. You are but a pawn of good, fighting for all you can, but ultimately, it is the gods and goddesses that control our fate."
"I've never believed that," Link responded, looking down to the snow. "Pawns we may be, but in the right conditions, the pawn can be the most powerful piece in the game."
Rauru smiled. "You use the word 'we,' Hero. For this, I am glad. I worried you would not realize that you could not fight this one alone."
"The one named Sakura—a squire to the Knight Bishop--once said something intriguing," Link said, looking up from the snow to the countryside. "She told me that it was time people started to fight for themselves. It was time to stop relying on mystical dragons and powerful spirits to roam the countries and time to start rallying ourselves together. Perhaps, though it shames me to admit it, she was right."
Rauru did not reply. He stared out at the countryside, as well as a patch of sunlight rode over the two. Finally, he looked to the grave and said, "She is healing. She has not been herself for some time. Sure, she could think and act for herself, but doubt and fear dominated her. It is amazing she found the courage and strength to do the things she did."
"I've always said she was an amazing woman," Link answered with a smile. "If anyone could bring peace to these lands, she can."
"Peace," Rauru repeated, "is a word thrown around much, but I do not know if most people understand what it means. We were destined to struggle. And it is easier to struggle with weapons than with words."
"Then perhaps it is time to find beings who can teach us how to struggle with words, rather than with swords," Link answered. "But first, we must make a world where people will be able to."
Red, blue, and green lights floated overhead, as the came to the shadow temple entrance at the end of the graveyard. Link and Rauru watched as they landed, and noticed several people sliding through the graveyard entrance with horses as they tightly closed the gates behind them.
"They are returning, safely, praise the triforce," sighed Rauru, lifting his hands to the air. "Let us help them back in."
Ruaru turned and floated to the temple to help Durania, Impa, and Ruto down from the shelves, while Link continued to stare at the new castle of Hyrule. Nabooru whistled as she walked by and winked at the topless soldier. "I found someone who claims to know you along the way," she said, pulling her horse around. Behind, a large, brown horse whined loudly, and an awkward, haggard Goron fell from the saddle.
"Epona?" Link asked, turning to his horse. "Rook? How did you make it all the way here?"
Rook shook snow from his armored body as he stood. His knees rattled together as they shook, and his teeth chattered from the cold. "The—the lands of Alysia are gone, my friend. The—the dragon of Nurk-al Tah came back, and with an army of demons, destroyed the lands, killing any who resisted, and enslaving any others who did not fight. I…I escaped only because your horse was faster than the dragons' wings."
"I found him crying in the woods of Termina," Nabooru said. "The floods were ravaging those lands, and your magnificent horse was having difficulty making it through. We were able to help. We also found these," she added, throwing a pouch to the young Hylian.
Link opened the patch and found it full of old maps, money, keys, and old, useless items never used.
"Let us withdraw within the graves," Impa called out. "We've gone through great difficulty to not be found, let us not stand here and put all those efforts to waste."
Link put his arm under the Goron's and helped him down the long stairs. "I am glad you are okay," Link said. "But, I am afraid you may have only delayed the inevitable by coming here."
~~
The world seen through new eyes, even when your site is of an underground cavern in a graveyard, can be a rather wonderful experience. Things one may never notice, such as the beauty of other people's eyes, or the way lighting falls across another's face jump out, begging to be noticed.
The rooms of the dungeon had been sealed up, the enemies within destroyed, and a temporary camp had been set up. Contacts with surviving races and peoples had been made through channels even Zelda did not understand. It seemed to her as if the sages had a backup plan in case the world were to ever come crashing down.
The sages and travelers had returned a few hours ago, and began resting, eating, finding their feet after many treacherous journeys throughout the lands. The worlds they had seen Zelda could only imagine.
"Hello, 'sister," a soft voice giggled from behind the Princess, snapping her back to her dungeon room. Zelda turned to see Princess Ruto walking into the murky chamber, carrying clothes and armor that had been brought to her. "I am happy to see that you're doing well. Of course, it may take some time to regain your complete strength."
"This armor comes from Uruk," Ruto continued. "One of my Knights, one of the few who still follows me and not my father and brothers, brought this from his journey through their lands. He said the humans of those lands wear these, and well, I figured, as much fighting as we have ahead of us, you may well need them. They will protect you better than your 'Shiek' outfit."
Zelda rose and turned to face the Princess. "Thank…Thank you, Princess Ruto," Zelda whispered, feeling through the purple and black armored dress. She held a sheathed sword from the bed and pulled it from its shaft. It was a long, light sword, magically crafted, with no guard, but a crafted bend in the handle for quicker swinging. It was a weapon made for women to use stealthily, and had the engravings of a distant language across the handle. "It's beautiful," she said.
"My Knight said it was of the finest quality," Ruto continued. "He saved a child from drowning, and was given several treasures, this among them."
"I have no doubts it will serve me well," Zelda said, turning to the engraved wall.
Ruto smiled and turned to walk back to the main chamber.
"What happened?" Zelda asked.
"I'm sorry, milady?" Ruto asked, turning back to the room.
"How did it all fall apart?" Zelda asked. "I had my own demons to fight with, but how…how could I have been so blind. How did this happen?"
"To tell you, Princess, it would take the greater part of the day, I suppose," Ruto answered. "And I know only of my side of the story. I…I don't really know how it all came to be."
"Please, stay," Zelda said, motioning to the bed to sit. "I want to hear."
Ruto smiled and sat at the end of the bed, pulling her cloak a little tighter around herself.
"I suppose it started about four years ago," Ruto began. "With Gannondorf gone, and most of the monsters of the realm away, our people could focus more on our own needs. The fishing crops, de-frosting parts of the lake in the winter, keeping our gods happy, among many other things. We really didn't take notice of the outside world. I mean, relations were fine with Darunia, and the brotherhood of sages would always keep us all close. Especially since we seemed to be the only ones who could remember the trials and tribulations of Gannon.
"Peace reigned, and the people, in only one year, became lazy and bored. Bickering and corruption among the grander leaders of not only Hyrule, but other parts of the Empire began to cause alarm. Sects of our people threatened to leave, while others began to fight with each other.
"Just when things seemed to get really bad, a human walked into our caves. He wore a black cloak and smelled of sulfur, but he was wounded, so we helped him. It turned out that he was a Wizard, or so he claimed. He promised my father, in return for helping him, he would give my father powers beyond belief. Our people could be united, our lands away from Hyrule secure, and any who would oppose us would tremble in fear at our armies."
"And this promise, it was limited," a deep, grumbling voice interrupted. Zelda and Ruto turned to see Durania standing at the doorway. "Take my hand, now, and absolute power will be yours. You will have all you need, and be remembered forever."
"Right," Ruto nodded. "I begged father not to take it. We did not need this power. If it was meant to be that we should fall, then let it be, but do not accept dark power, even for good means.
"Father called me foolish, and told me I had no real understanding of how to be a leader."
"The Zora, you must understand, were having a great deal of difficulty," Durania added. Several others had come into the room and began listening, as well. "We tried to help, but often, our help was seen as interloping, so we stayed away."
"The lakes, the nesting spawn banks were not producing as they should have been," Nabooru said from the corner she stood in. "We watched from our mountains, unsure of whether or not to take the spawn and raise it ourselves. The Zora almost seemed to be ignoring them."
"It was not intentional," Ruto said. "I, myself, tried to go and help them, but other factions stopped me, saying I was trying to raise our children to be brainwashed fools."
"This wizard," Link asked, standing in the doorway, watching as all the others had gathered in the room. "Did he convince any others besides the Zora to accept his powers?"
"The Goblin King, of course," Nabooru answered. "That was the first, and the easiest. We have kept them at bay for centuries, but with the new powers granted the king, they worked with Hylian soldiers to raid our fortress and slaughter many innocents."
"This wizard used other means, as well," Impa added. "As with the Zora, through many lands, now, he capitalized on problems within the masses. If there were no problems, then he created them. With the King of Hyrule, it was not difficult. The death of his wife, the sanity of his stepdaughter in doubt, and then rumors of a baby coming soon, who would overthrow the royal family began to come about.
"It was only a matter of time until a man who was hurt was taken in by the kind royal family and in return offered powers beyond belief."
"Even the strongest of minds have difficulty with dream demons," Link said from the back of the room. "It is quite possible that these were used by the 'wizard,' as well, especially since the alliance of Rau and the demons of the afterlife."
"Why is that I never met this 'wizard?" Zelda asked. "My memory has no recollection of him at all."
"My Princess," Impa answered quietly and hesitantly, "There were…times…you were not with us at all. Your body and face were here, but…your mind was not at all with us. What's more, when you did have enough sanity to stay with us, we…kept you from him to keep his influences from you. Furthermore, the way your father was, had the wizard laid eyes on you, he may well have wanted you for his bride, and this was not acceptable."
"What happened to the wizard?" Link asked.
"He simply…disappeared," Rauru answered.
"He would show up from time to time, and order father to do something," Ruto added. "The consequences would be disasterous if he did not follow through."
"It was when I would not accept his offer that it all began," Darunia said, standing tall beside the torch, casting a shadow over the group. "He pointed his finger at me from under his cloak and said in his dark voice, 'Ye shell pay."
"The next day, he showed up and ordered father to send floods into the mountains, using the powers granted to him, and to rally the armies together for a war," Ruto added. "When father told him he would not, the Wizard attacked him, turning him into a mindless creature who says and does whatever the wizard wanted. Our people, fearing the powers of father, and of the wizard, follow them. Great battles have been won over the Goron, despite the cost, and our people now rally around father. Except for a few. When I spoke out against father, I was at once sentenced to death. Three brave Knights fought through the water temple and freed me. Two paid for the deed with their lives."
"This wizard, Nuerme, as he came to be called by the Gerudo, pulled strings where he had to, using armies to destroy those who would not ally with his ideals," Rauru said. "Fights almost broke out amongst the sages, and I was only just able to stop some here from killing others."
"The Goddesses appeared before us, however," Saria whispered as she came in, carrying the sleeping Isis. "They told us that the time had come for the new baby to be born."
"Did they not know of Nuerme?" Zelda asked.
"They have been within the triforce since the dawn of time, Princess," Rauru answered. "They knew not, and we, in all our awe of getting to witness the miracles of the goddesses, never questioned them. We knew that if we listened to them, the baby would be born, and peace would once again take this land."
"You were never to be harmed, Princess," Saria said. "You were to be set free. You were destined to be with the one you chose. Things didn't quite work out that way, though, and…for that…and for many other things, we are sorry."
"The only thing I cannot figure out, now," Rauru announced, turning to Link, "Is where you figure into all of this, hero of time."
"Perhaps," Link answered, standing tall, "It was simply time to come home."
"I do not understand something, my friends," Rook grumbled as he turned from the torches which warmed his cold body. "How are you going to fight the armies of darkness through the world? How will you fight a god?"
Link looked to Zelda and smiled. "We may be few, but, there are certain…items…that can even the numbers."
"As we learned of what news you have brought from other worlds, Link and I formed a plan," Zelda answered. "It is not going to be easy, and sacrifices will have to be made, but, I think, if the goddesses are truly kind, we may be able to fight back."
"The Triforce?" Rauru asked.
"Among…other…things," Zelda answered.
"We will split into teams and search out allies, as well as items that can help us," Link added. "Fighting Rau would be easy, were he our only obstacle. Fighting the demons and armies of the planet, including Gannon, will not. All of us will have to work together to plan battle strategies and plans for the war.
"The shadows are now our home, speed is our shield, and our minds will be our weapons. The overconfidence of our enemies will be their own undoing."
~
Next: Termina
(A/N: The next four chapters will split the group up a little. I wont' tell what's going to happen, but each of the next four chapters will happen at the same time. I may be a little slow, though not as slow as three months, on getting these out, because the state championship is this weekend, and I have to travel to Vanderbilt to fence. With a little luck, maybe I can finish this story as the Tennessee state champion. Or, maybe I'll get my butt kicked, and finish this as the 26th best fencer in Tennessee. Either way, it'll get finished eventually.)
