Chapter 10
~ The Last Battleground ~
pt. 1
Smoldering ruins stood in a place that was once the center of commerce of the lands of Termina. The brick and mortar that built this city of stone lay everywhere in massive mountains, while smoke rose through the small holes, searching for more air to fly away with.
The battle had been quick, and the victory never really was in doubt. The only surprise had been that one man had defeated the unprepared Knights of Termina so easily. His powers were only whispered about, and even then not believed by those who spoke of them.
In little more than a week, a powerful being, known only as the Black Knight not only destroyed Termina, but brought pain and agony untold of in history upon its people. The guardian Spirits of the temples, one by one, were destroyed at the hands of this almost omnipotent Knight, and the armies that tried to withstand his attacks were slaughtered mercilessly.
The races of Termina had not given up, though. Despite the terror that ravaged the realm, the people continued their struggle, often defying what seemed almost like a deity just to remain free.
At the edge of the smoldering ruins, along the fallen walls of the city, a figure in a brown cloak stood swaying with the sweeping winds over the carnage before her. A strand of long, blonde hair fell from the darkness of the hood that covered her face, every now and again, it gently rose with the gust of wind and fell again.
Zelda looked up with her bright blue eyes at the huge clock tower, the single standing entity in the town, and felt a combination of anger and pain at the sight of the bodies hanging from the walls. Already, the hand of Rau had reached this far, and the agony of what was to happen here would spread throughout the world, if they could not stop it now.
The Princess reached her hand out from her cloak and looked at the small bracelet she held, gently rubbing the smooth gold with her gloved fingers. The bracelet brought little courage, but every bit helped. Gently, she put the bracelet away and looked up to the city, summoning all the courage she could to step beyond the walls.
One foot rose to the air, and stepped over the first bricks. The other foot soon followed, but each step was painful, almost agonizing to the young woman who knew these lands from past travels. Slowly, but steadily, she moved through the gateway towards the clock tower. Beaten, bloodied people rushed from the sight of the cloaked figure, scared of any who were not broken by the hand of the Black Knight.
Messages were written in blood on walls that still stood. Some were cries for help, while others were laughs and mockery, written in the Goblin language. All messages stuck forever in the Princess's mind as she walked through the city.
Zelda turned to the right at the clock tower, and walked quickly through the streets to the place where the town mall once stood. Stores on each side of the street were little more than rubble, and even time had passed since the attacks from the looks of things, bodies still lay in the rubble. Spears still sticking out, arrows stuck in the brick walls, and scorched grasses and wooden posts lay at the edges of the town.
Ahead, cries of anger began to fill the air, as well as cheers. Zelda turned away from the rubble and let her attention carry to a gathering of people and soldiers that had gathered at what used to be the town hall. One man, a Knight, held his spear high and shouted to the crowd below, which cheered and yelled at his words. The people held spears, swords, pitchforks, torches, whatever they could use as a weapon.
Zelda walked to the back of the crowd, hoping to find the one she had come for.
"Long ago, our fathers built this town with their own hands, and from a few people, a great kingdom was built!" the soldier called. "We can not, will not, let the Goblin Army take these lands!"
The crowd cheered as Zelda carefully made her way through, looking for someone who could help her. Cries came from the crowd supporting the soldier on the stand, "Here, here! Shiro!"
"We would rather die, fighting here for our city, then to let them rule over us!" Shiro yelled down to the crowd. "So, where is this Army? We come as they beckon…As the Black Knight beckons, and they are not here! They know our strength! They know they cannot defeat us if they do not take us unaware!"
Zelda looked to the stage at the screaming Knight. She was impressed by his courage, even if it may have actually been stupidity that was talking. Her searches for the one she was looking for were unsuccessful. She would have to start sifting through the rubble for his body, hoping that that which he carried with him may still be there, undamaged.
"I am curious," a loud voice boomed, shaking the princess suddenly. The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. It almost seemed as though it spoke from within her mind, but she could hear it echo from the distant hills and mountains. "Will your tongue run so much, after it has been cut out?"
Zelda looked to the sky over her shoulder, her hands covering her ears in pain. The voice that echoed through the air was familiar, despite its augmentation. It was a voice that had echoed through the halls of Hyrule castle not long ago.
"The Black Knight!" a woman next to Zelda gasped, covering her mouth in fear.
"Shiro the Great, that is what they are calling this filth that is to destroy me?" the Black Knight laughed as he floated in the air. "From what I hear, you were a poor excuse for a soldier, and now, you are an even poorer excuse for a leader. Your 'army' will not know just how badly it has been defeated. When you are dead, your souls will travel back here, where you will be my servants for eternity. Of course, I offer you life. I offer your army the choice to live, and not face the eternal torment of the armies that faced me before."
The crowd was silent for a moment, but only a moment. A whistling sound broke the silence, as an arrow shot through the sky. The Black Knight caught it just before it hit his chest, but the effect was instant. The crowd roared, and threw anything it could at the man floating in the sky above.
Zelda edged her way back through the crowd towards Shiro, who still held the bow that fired the arrow, knowing the extent of the power the being in the sky had. She brushed through, sweat beginning to form at her forehead and her breath getting harder as she whispered to herself, "Bishop, don't do anything stupid!"
Bishop floated in mid-air, his magical field around him protecting him from the arrows and rocks tossed at him. With a laugh, he held out his arm at the huge crowd before him and fired blasts of his magical energy down on the masses. The explosion ripped through the crowd, sending the screaming masses crying for their lives.
People shrieked and ran in confusion as Goblins began pouring through the rubble mountains from all directions, slaughtering those that had thrown down their weapons and run from the carnage.
This was not a battle. It was a massacre.
Zelda fought the urge to turn and fight Bishop. She couldn't be found out. Not just yet. She rushed through and pulled two fallen children from the ground, helping them through the crowd as more explosions rained down on the crowd. Zelda turned at the hidden alleyway that ran underground and shooed the children down the stairs with a few other adults.
The Princess turned to the city, drawing her long sword, careful to keep her hood up and cloak covering her as the winds and debris swept through the area. Cinders and ashes floated on the winds, covering what little sunlight still broke through the dark skies and turning day to complete darkness.
Two goblins jumped over the walls behind the Princess, attacking with swords. Zelda turned and quickly knocked away the attacks, then spun into the first Goblin, sending her own sword through the creature. She yanked out the weapon and used the momentum from the action to slice her blade into the second beast, and dashed away before the Goblins could recover from their blows.
Soldiers had centered near the hall and were putting up a defense, as well as they could, but were badly out-numbered. They rounded about the civilians shields raised and put out front to knock away spears and arrows and swords. It was a brave stand, but one blast from Bishop could send it all flying.
Zelda stepped around the corner of a standing wall and pulled out her ocarina, keeping an eye out for attackers. She played a quick tune and readied her sword, as she turned back around the corner. In moments, the majestic horse ran through the alleyway, knocking aside Goblins as it thundered through the street.
Zelda clenched her teeth as she started running, holding her sword tightly, and lifting her arm. Epona rushed beside her, and the Princess threw her arm up on the saddle and pulled herself up with one great stride flinging her leg desperately over the saddle.
Epona darted through the Goblin Army, slamming limp bodies aside with her mighty strides. Zelda was almost as deadly with her blade, slashing and hacking the creatures as she ran through to the trapped soldiers.
Two more blasts reached up to the sky as civilians and Knights tried to flank the Goblins and escape. Bishop's laughter filled the air as he continued to pick off innocents with his magical energies.
Zelda rode past the Knights, and lifted her hands to the air. She whispered a quick prayer, pulled all the magical power she had into a single bolt and fired at the building behind them. The wall blew out into the fields behind, shaking the grounds and knocking people from their feet. However, the attack on the city walls was successful, opening an escape route for the trapped knights and civilians, who immediately flooded through to the lands beyond.
The Knights fought with spears and swords, trying desperately to hold off the Goblins, but were overwhelmed. Zelda, weakening from the use of her magic, turned to the Knights to see if she could help any more when she noticed on Knight cut off from the rest. As valiantly as he could fight, he was quickly being pulled from his comrades by the strengthening tide of swarming Goblins..
Zelda turned Epona toward the Knight and dashed through the Goblins who stepped aside from the horse, firing arrows at the rider. Just as Zelda reached the Knight, the Goblins broke through his strong parries and knocked him to the ground. At once, several of the large beasts were atop the soldier, beating and hitting with all they had.
Zelda drew a dagger from her belt and threw it, taking out the lead goblin, then raised her sword, ready for another attack. Epona charged into the group, knocking away several creatures, then reared up and killed two more with its legs.
The Princess reached down and helped the badly wounded Knight up to the saddle, reared Epona around, and dashed out into the fields behind. The two tore through the Goblins before jumping the rubble and dashing out from the city toward the lands to the east.
Arrows whistled as they flew through the air, a fiery one knicking the princess's cloak and temporarily catching it ablaze. The two warriors rode for several minutes, trying to pass out from under the attacking onslaught of arrows. "I owe you me life!" Shiro cried out over the winds.
Zelda's hood flew back and she looked over her shoulder, smiling at the Knight. "You need not give me your life, only your help!" she answered, looking back at the soldier. Behind him the burning city lit the sunless day, bringing light to where there would be no more for some time. "Where am I going, then?"
"Ikana!" Shiro answered. "The abandoned city is the last stronghold. This attack was to draw them in before we could attack again with a better defensive position!"
"I hope it works," Zelda answered. "But I fear it will not. You know not the forces you are dealing with, good Knight."
"We've learned well," Shiro yelled back. "But, we have no choice but fight!"
**
Often, Princess Ruto let the pangs of all she had witnessed in her life overcome her. Tears would flow from her eyes and carry away in the waters she loved so much. Tears of memory from the days she was swallowed by her god. Tears fell from memories of her people frozen nearly to death. Tears fell from memories of her father swayed to the dark lessons of the evil wizard. Tears fell from memories of watching brave Zora fighters slaughtered in senseless battles.
Now, as Ruto looks out over the Great Bay of Termina, the tears fall again, though no waters can hide the glimmering streaks as the fall down her soft, blue skin. Brief whisps of sunlight fought through the rolling smoke and clouds to bounce off the high tides of the incoming ocean.
Ruto could pass no further in the borders of these lands, for the entrance was enough to forever scar her. In a sick, twisted "joke," a dozen Zora soldiers and civilians had been strung up from large poles sticking deep in the water by their necks, with hooks from their mouths. Ruto knew they had fortunately been dead before the hooks had been passed through, but the atrocity was enough to sicken even the strongest of souls. Birds and the elements had already eaten away at the bodies, but Ruto guessed they were to stay hanging there as a warning to any who wished to enter this area.
"What fool would enter this realm, unarmed?" a calm voice called from behind Ruto. The Princess slowly turned on the large boulder she stood upon and looked at the Zora warrior standing at the edge of the boulder, a spear in his hands and a sharp look in his eye. "Even in the best of times, there are dangers for our people unheard of, especially for a Princess."
"Lower your weapon, warrior, I am not here to harm you," Ruto said, sniffing and wiping away the tears.
"You're…you're not here to harm me?" the soldier scoffed, looking over his shoulder as several Zora began to pop up from the water and look out at the Princess. "Milady, you and your father the King have already done far more than harm us. Do you not see the bodies out there?"
"Harm?" Ruto asked, putting her hand to her chest. "How could you say that I..?"
"You, yes, you brought this upon us, Princess!" the warrior screamed. Several Zora climbed to the rock from the waters, anger across their faces. "Our lives were peaceful, for a time. Since the moon nearly fell and destroyed us all, Termina had been living in peace. Then came news that the King from the Hylian lands had declared war on the Gorons! Soldiers were called to fight, or they would face the consequences here."
"My father never called for…"
"He did, Princess," a soldier interrupted, stepping forward from the group. He wore the skin of a large fish over his head-fin. The skin was decorated to the rank of a commander in the Zora armies of this part of the world. "I was sent. I apologize for the behavior of my men, here, but their anger is not focused. I am Milan, Commander of the Termina Marines, Leader of this rabble of Zora."
"Milan?" Ruto asked. "Yes, I…I remember you. You helped so much in the fights with the Goron in Hyrule."
"Your forces alone were never enough," Milan said, looking out to the skies as they seemed to grow darker. "Your father sent me to gather forces from here, but they would not come. The Zora here are dependant upon the Goron for commerce, as well as helping to keep the Gerudo thieves in check. Without the dependency upon each other, both would crumble and fall. I decided to stay here and help them with their cause of not fighting."
"This is honorable," Ruto answered. "If I had only known that my father had tried…"
"There is nothing you could have done, as was the case in Hyrule," Milan answered. "I know of your heart, and I know of your intentions, but I also know that when it comes to your father, you are weak, and you always will remain so."
Anger flushed through Ruto, and her fists clenched together. "You know nothing of me!" she shouted. "My father is a good Zora! His corruption is at the hands of a demon!"
"The same demon that gave powers to the Black Knight?" Milan asked.
"The Black Knight?" Ruto asked. "Who is this you speak of?"
"A week ago, now, a human knight appeared at theses shores demanding our help. He told us the Hylian Zora were his allies, and the Goblin armies had come from the forests. He really did not need our help, but he was merely testing our loyalties, giving us an option. We did not know the consequences for refusal."
"The consequences were this?" Ruto asked, signaling to the hanging bodies.
"This is only a scratch upon the surface of what he has done, milady," Milan answered. "He flooded the beaches, destroyed our homes, our gods, slayed our people and destroyed the eggs. One man. One man destroyed us, and all we could do was run and hide. Any who stood and fought met with a terrible end."
"How have you survived all this time?" Ruto asked.
"Fortunately for us, his attention wavered to the Gorons and Humani," Milan answered. "We hide in the caves, and strike at the Goblin armies when we can, but our numbers are so depleted, we are mere algae, fighting off a great whale."
Ruto's attention turned away from the standing soldiers to the lands of Termina as fires began to erupt, lighting the now sunless day. Explosions thundered through the valleys, sending ripples through the waters, and Ruto could see enormous masses of creatures moving towards the city not far from the shores.
"As you can see, none can fight this terror," Milan said, extending his arm. "You will, of course, be welcome to stay and hide with us, should you wish it."
Tears again began to fall from the Princess's eyes. Slowly, she felt herself crawling into a ball, and falling gently into the warm arms of the Zora Commander. His embrace was soft, and comforting, as a father's is to his tearful daughter. It was so easy, in these arms to hide from the world, to let it all go and never worry again.
"No," Ruto whispered, putting her hand to Milan's chest.
"Princess?" Milan asked.
Ruto pushed away and looked to the Zora standing around her. "Hope. There is hope, do you not know? I cannot stand aside any longer and let the Wizard command our peoples through my father."
"Hope?" the Zora warrior asked, pushing Milan aside. "What hope can you offer? You have no powers, you have no command, you are weak."
"You're right," Ruto answered. "I have no powers, and I have no command. That does not mean I do not have an army."
"Princess?" Milan asked.
"Together with the Goron and the Hylians, we could be unbeatable. There are commanders, Kings, others who are working as I am to rally the peoples together. We may not win, but it would be better than a life in hiding."
"But living is far better than dying!" the warrior yelled.
"And how long do you think you will live?" Ruto asked as another explosion sounded from Clocktown. "How long until the Black Knight—the right hand of Rau himself—becomes bored with the humans and decides he wants to go fishing again? There will be no hiding from Rau, and if we must fight, then let us fight in the best possible way."
"How is that?" Milan asked.
"Together. On a battlefield. With honor. The greatest of Gods cannot take that from us. It is ours alone to have and to use."
The Zora stood and looked from one to another, unsure of what to think. The warrior turned to Milan and said, "We follow you. Where you go, we go. If you choose to follow her, we will follow her."
Milan turned and kneeled before Ruto, the other Zora following suit. "The fallback for the army of Termina is Ikana canyon. It is mostly against the stream, but we can swim there quickly through the caves and reach it before the Goblin army does, supposing any humans are left. Is this where we should meet, my Princess?"
**
Statues of crumbling empires knew not the horrors that the stone legs, arms and torsos of the northern mountain village of the Gorons knew. Some still in the place where the deathblow occurred, legs stood, bodies fallen, crumbled rocks and scattered rubble lay all along the grounds.
Darunia had seen this before. Those closest to him at Death Mountain lay across the cave in similar states. The part that bothered the King of the Gorons so much was that he was now so used to what he saw before him.
Dragons had ravaged his people. The volcano had blown, the armies of darkness had swept upon him, and his small, tattered armies still stood in Hyrule, awaiting the return of their powerful king.
Times like this were the ones in which Darunia found he must work extra hard to cover the soft filling within his hard body. He had to be stronger than the stone which composed his body for his people. He had to be the pillar for which they stood upon, even if the building upon which he stood was falling.
The dark lands let little sunlight pass through, and the explosions in the distance did nothing to help the worry he carried for Princess Zelda.
"We held as long as we could, m'lord," the Goron commander huffed as he staggered out from what was left of a burnt out shack built into the side of a mountain. "Our forces rallied around and we fought the beasts rock for rock, but they…they simply outnumbered us."
"Did you stand and fight honorably?" Darunia asked. "Did they die as Gorons should, fighting and not running?"
The commander laughed, his visible breath carried away on the cold winds. "The hatred for the Goblins makes even the weakest Goron find the fire in his heart. The disgusting beasts let loose Dodongos. Hundreds of them. Large ones, small ones, all they could find. We fought with all we had, but, as I said, we had nothing left in us, milord, and we are most sorry for that."
"Where are the others?" Darunia asked, looking about. "Do not tell me all were wiped out in the onslaught!"
"No, in fact, we managed to pull most of our forces back. Not much can stop a rolling Goron, right?"
Darunia laughed. "Are the Gorons ready to rally behind their King and take the fight to a new land?"
"The Gorons will follow you anywhere, Darunia," the commander answered. "They only hope to return home."
"Leaders greater than I are commanding us, my friend. With luck, we will destroy the enemy and return our lives to that of peace and eating rocks."
"Yes, m'lord," the commander answered.
"Where is the fall-back?" Darunia asked.
"A small humani settlement, not far from here in the east called Ikana," the commander answered. "Their army is falling back there for a last stand, and the tunnels there will provide an outlet should all go wrong, again."
"Then direct our forces there. We will stand with the humani," Darunia commanded, turning to face the explosions in the fields beyond the mountains. "Our army will stand with others and face our enemy."
**
"It is good to see so many have made it safely here," Shiro sighed, his breath heavy as he loosely held on to Zelda's waist. "It saddens me so that we should bring this lost cause directly to the innocents."
"The armies of the Goblins are far back, we'll have a little time to prepare for a quick stand here, but, this is not your last battle," Zelda called over her shoulder as she guided Epona up through the grasses to the washed out bridge. "This war, everything here started in my lands, in Hyrule. We know our enemy, and we can fight him. We have a plan."
"Hyrule?" Shiro asked. "Hyrule brought this upon us? But why?"
"No," Zelda hissed. "Hyrule did not bring it upon you, it was first brought upon those lands. A wizard appeared not long ago and turned the peoples of those lands against each other. The wizard was the great demon 'Rau.' He now controls apparently all the lands of the world, as far as we can tell."
"I care not for what happens there, only here. Why should I pull my armies back to clean up your mess?" Shiro asked.
"Because, even if you can manage to win this fight, here, today, or even years down the road, there will be another, more powerful Knight to replace Bishop. Bishop is not the source, only a symptom. To defeat our enemy, we will have to strike in Hyrule."
"Our lands burn, soldier," Shiro answered as Zelda pulled to a stop at the river. A dozen soldiers rushed forward and helped the Knight down, tending to his injuries. He brushed them apart and turned to the young woman. "You brought this upon us, and now we will die because of your weakness, yet you want us to come fight your wars for you."
"It is your choice!" Zelda yelled back, climbing down from Epona and guiding her to the make-shift bridge that crossed the river to Ikana. "You can stay and die here, or you can help us win this war! Defeat Rau and you defeat all with him!"
"You made your journey for the pig of a King of Hyrule for nothing, soldier," Shiro spat. "We long since stopped trusting the royal family of those lands after all they had done. We will fight and die here, on our lands, saving our own livelihoods. We will never ask for the help of another realm."
Zelda looked to the ground in anger. She turned to look out at the view of the incoming Goblin armies in the distance. The last of the army and fleeing citizens were crossing the bridge, and the army was waiting to destroy it. Barriers were built, and machines were crudely put together for the onslaught. A shiver ran through Zelda's body as she thought about how these humans stood no chance. They would be slaughtered.
"I still owe you my life, Hylian," Shiro hissed as he pulled new armor over his old wounds. "Thus, I will not run you from this battlement, but stay out of our way. If I see you ever again in these lands, I will kill you."
"I will gladly stay out of your way," Zelda answered, adding with a smile, "What can I, a weak little girl do? All I ask is that I can find a single man. He is about my height, has brown, balding hair, a pointy mustache, and carries a massive bag over his back."
"Look around," Shiro answered, acting busy readying the machines as he spoke. "I know not of this person you seek, but if he lives still, then he is in this canyon, for all out there have been slaughtered by now."
Zelda turned and walked through the tents, the rubble, and the people, cowering, ready and waiting for the inevitable attack. "Have you found what we are looking for?" a gruff, rumbling voice called to the Princess as she wandered through the crowds.
"Darunia?" Zelda asked, turning to the large Goron as he walked up to her, several large Gorons in tow. "No, I fear he may well be lost to us, as is what we seek."
"Then all will be lost?" Ruto's voice asked, as the young princess walked up alone from the roadway. "We should pull these people back and ready a larger war in Hyrule."
"We cannot," Zelda answered. "The peoples are too stubborn and they know not the forces they are dealing with. They have no desire to fall back and fight with us.
"Perhaps after the Black Knight begins to wipe them out again, they will see reason?" Darunia asked. "My Gorons are positioned at the tunnels, ready to lead the way to Hyrule through those caves."
"I can only hope," Zelda answered. "Still, we must search for our man while we can. If he is here, then we will not need this army, though we will continue to try to help them."
Ruto sighed. "Nothing comes easy to us, does it?"
Zelda nodded as she watched the sun fall from above the clouds and shine its bright light upon the mountains. The Goblin Armies were almost here, and, flying along as though he were the thunder god himself, Bishop commanded his armies, and readied his attack.
**
Next part 2.
To come: Link, Nabooru, Nacie.
