The dark was prevalent everywhere, seeping through every rock and tree and hilltop. The night was silent, almost eerily calm in its quiet. The moon was large and yellow, so low that Zir could only see its top peeking over the far horizon. The sleeping forms of his troops were stretched out all around him, seeking rest before the march was taken up once more. There were more than there had been on the coast. They had gathered a few from each garrison that they had passed on their long march toward Merr, their ranks slowly swelling until they equaled seven fists, thirty soldiers in total.
His brother Arck was lying a few feet away, snoring as he slept. Vwalir paced several yards away, arms clasped behind his broad back, one hand resting on the handle of his axe and the other holding a long curving horn. He never slept, it seemed. Zir knew, for he was up most nights as well, contemplating his mission and thinking of every possible outcome or problem that his group might face. It was hard work to be in command. Especially on a mission that seemed as important as this one. He remembered what Ganondorf had said in the darkness of the sea-cave.
"With this stone I can once again enter the living world and exact my revenge on all that wronged me."
A world where Ganondorf ruled once again, where Demi-humans were the ruling race in all of Hyrule. Zir could hardly imagine it, like it was some unattainable dream. He had no doubt that his master would reward him greatly for this mission when he came into power once more. All that he needed to do was find this stone.
They were on the outskirts of the Gerudo Waste, and he wanted to make sure that they had plenty of provisions for making the hard trek across the maze of rock and sand, where the temperature was scorching in the day and freezing in the nighttime. It would be hard, and Zir had no doubt that he would lose some soldiers. The humans would be the first to go; they were made out of weaker stuff than his people were. But their sacrifice would not be in vain--they would serve as food for the demi-human soldiers. For the most part demi-humans preferred the meat of game animals--deer, elk, and antelope--but they would not shy from man flesh if there was nothing else.
As Zir counted the humans in his band, figuring how long they could feed the rest, a dark shape caught his eye some distance away. It stood on a outthrust finger of rock, silhouetted against the bright yellow moon. It took Zir a moment to realize the shape wasn't a trick the nighttime played on his eyes but a solitary man, garbed in a billowing black robe and looking down on the sleeping band. Zir squinted, trying to make out more details, but the figure disappeared.
Zir shook his head. It was probably only a thief curious of their presence, certainly not bold enough to attack a group of fully armed soldiers, many of which were demi-humans: the fiercest warriors in all of Hyrule. Nevertheless, he clutched the hilts of his two deadly sharp sabers where they were sheathed at his waist.
What happened next Zir would never forget. Six figures appeared out of the mists, garbed in black robes cinched tight around their waists. They wore black fabric that was twisted around their heads to form a hat, and their faces were veiled with the same black material, revealing nothing but their hard, intent eyes. It was when he saw their hands clutching long curving knives that glinted golden in the moonlight that he ripped his sabers free and shouted.
"Vwalir!"
The bird head twisted around and saw the figures, and then brought the horn up and blew two hard, long blasts. The camp awoke in noise and confusion, thirty soldiers reaching for their weapons in the darkness at the same time, tumbling out of their bedrolls and stumbling into each other.
Zir bellowed orders, and when Arck awoke he did the same, gripping his spiked battle hammer. Still twenty yards off the six figures strolled toward them casually, ominously. They are only six...they have no chance. He told himself. Within moments the force was assembled, ready to meet the threat.
"Identify yourself!" Zir called. His order fell on deaf ears. The figures continued on toward them, fearless. And then they began to run...and Zir gasped. They were so swift that he could hardly follow their movements, they appeared only has black streaks in the golden moonlight, trails of dust shooting up behind them. And then they were among them, and the first line of soldiers was gone in a mist of red confusion. Screams echoed in the night.
His soldiers started to swing aimlessly, trying to connect with the swift black streaks that ran among them, their blades hitting nothing but air. In horror he watched a black streak fly past a bear demi-human, a slash of gold slicing through its throat and sending it to the ground. The streak stopped, skid in the dust, and was identifiable as a man once more, pausing to watch the life blood of the soldier run into the dust before he was away once more, a streak running about the chaos, killing another, and another.
All over soldiers fell and died. He saw one soldier, a human, swing wildly at one of the black-robed warriors that stood before him. The warrior dodged, so quickly that he left an afterimage. The soldier swung at the afterimage, slicing through nothing, and then the black warrior was behind him. He gripped the soldier's shoulder with one hand and drove the curved knife into his back with the other--once, twice, thrice. The soldier fell to the ground and was dead.
Zir was so focused on the bloody chaos folding out before him that he didn't even notice Arck shaking his shoulder and shouting into his ear. "We have to fall back brother! We are being slaughtered!" His brother's voice was muted, and everything seemed to move in slow motion. He felt Arck pulling him away from the bloodshed, away from the screams of pain and the smell of death.
And then they were running, over a rise and into the plain. They ran on and on forever it seemed, until at last the sounds of combat faded in the night. His lungs burned, sweat dropped of his fur in drops. And then, as the sun began to rise, he fell to the ground in a heap. He drifted into darkness.