Chapter Five Captured

   Skorn strolled through the camp, surveying his men, the army that would soon conquer all of Hyrule.  They were a ragged bunch, but ruthless and loyal to the hand that paid them.  They would fight on as long as the money held out.  It was a dishonorable, in Skorn's eyes, the life of a mercenary, but he supposed if the employment of such vermin would help him and his family regain their lost honor, then their employment was worth it.

   He passed by a group of Lizaflos gathered around a fire.  The reptile-men were speaking in their own language, which consisted mostly of various hisses and snarls.  They looked warily over their shoulders as Skorn passed by them, their eyes falling to the Golden Gauntlets he wore on his arm.  Skorn was pleased at the fear they showed; the Lizaflos had been one of the first groups he had had to cow into submission.  At that time, he had been without the magic gloves, and now their fear was tripled even as the gauntlets tripled his already uncanny strength.  He was amazed that the Hero had never used the gloves for conquest; they would have been an amazing and terrifying weapon in the hands of so great a warrior.  But then again, Link had been honorable, as Skorn had told his brother; he did not seek domination over those who were so obviously his inferiors.

   Then again, he had been cowardly in his battle with Ganon, dishonoring the family, and that above all else was why Skorn was preparing to wage war on the races of Hyrule.  Such a victory would reclaim the lost honor and provide the revenge that Ganon, Skorn, and Rolondrof so desperately craved.

   Skorn made his way into the area of the camp dominated by the Staflos, and from there he heard the noises of a battle.  Interested, he turned his attention to the large ring of Hylians, Staflos, and many other races gathered around the fight. Due to his massive height, he had little trouble looking over the crowd into the fight.  An ashen skinned Stygian male and a powerfully built Gerudo woman were circling each other.  The man lunged at the woman just as she lunged at him.  They grappled each other around the shoulders, neither giving any ground.  The woman kneed the man in the groin, causing him to release his grip.  She followed with a roundhouse punch to the jaw, followed by a powerful kick, also to his jaw.  The man toppled over, unconscious.

   Members of the crowd began passing around rupees, some grinning, others scowling.  The Gerudo took her own share of the winnings and walked over to where Skorn still stood.  "Like what you saw?" she purred.

   "The victory was swift," Skorn replied, "But you were fighting an inferior opponent.  The outcome was certain from the beginning.  You were merely looking for a quick way to earn money.  No honor was to be gained."

   The woman nodded, her smile even wider.  "True, true.  But defeating an opponent after they have insulted your courage and integrity as a warrior, now that is a worthy cause for so mismatched a battle.  And perhaps I was hoping to impress myself to more than just the rabble."  She stepped up to him, pressing her chest against his stomach.

   Skorn looked down on her, his face expressionless.  "I do not partake in concubines, woman," he told her evenly.  "You may look to my brother for such amusement."

   "Believe me, I have been trying," she replied, "But his gaze has yet to wander my way.  But perhaps it is better that yours has."

   "Perhaps.  What is your name?"

   "I am called Ashnu."

   "I will tell my brother of you, Ashnu," Skorn promised.  "He is fond of strong women.  Perhaps you will soon have your wish."

   "Thank you, my lord.  And remember…my offer is not for Rolondrof alone…"

   Skorn merely nodded, then turned away from her, continuing his journey through the camp.  Grinning to herself, Nabooru tucked the money into her purse and headed for her tent, eager to tell Impa of her success.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

   "I still don't understand why we don't just fly above the trees," Zakro said, as he maneuvered his air-bike through the many hanging vines.  "We've been in this swamp for three days already.  We're wasting valuable time."

   "I know we are, Zakro," Malon answered from the front of the line.  "But this is still the best way.  We'd have to weave all over the place to find a way out of the canopy, and we might end up in the wrong direction.  At least down here we have a sure idea of where we are headed."

   "And how is that?" Zakro pressed, still not convinced.

   "The moss on the trees," Shrike answered.  "We've been heading west, towards the sunset, ever since we got here, and I've noticed in all the forests we've been in that the moss still grows on the north side of the trees.  Using that, we can always be sure of our course."

   Zakro still wasn't convinced.  "We could use the sun for that above the canopy," he argued.

   This time it was Mattalla who answered.  "Yes, but then we would be out in the open for Necron to see.  He is not stupid; he is surely using the same method we are using to stay on course, and he will not take any chance that he might get lost in the air.  And the false trails that Numaru and I have been making will help slow him down."

   Finding no other arguments, Zakro concentrated on following Malon's lead.  Though there had been no official vote, she had become their new leader, and they all followed her with absolute faith in her abilities.  In her opinion, she hadn't earned that trust; she didn't have the battle experience of Mattalla and Numaru, or Shrike's otherworldly calm, or even Zakro's confidence.  She had rudimentary skills in combat, schooled mostly by a retired soldier turned farmhand.  In her eyes, she was a fifth wheel, extra baggage on an already overburdened team.

   Still, the others followed Malon, despite her misgivings, and so far even she had to admit that she had done a pretty good job in keeping them out of trouble.  But she had to agree with Zakro; they were moving through the swamp far too slowly.  She had no idea how things were going back in Hyrule; for all she knew, Ganon could already have won.  For that reason, they had to find the Triforce as soon as possible and hope that they weren't too late to make a difference.

   "Does anyone else hear that?" Numaru suddenly exclaimed, snapping her from her reverie.  Malon strained her ears until she too could hear the noise.

   "Sounds like some sort of buzzing," she said.  She looked all around her for the source of the noise, but saw nothing in either the trees surrounding them or the murky, pond-riddled ground below them.

   "It's coming from all around us," Zakro said, extending his arm-blades. 

   The buzzing grew louder each moment, until the companions could here nothing else.  "Everyone, get ready!" Malon tried to call, but her words were drowned out.  Suddenly, the source of the noise made itself known.  Exploding from behind trees and raining down from the canopy were gigantic bugs, as large as the air-bikes, their wings vibrating and humming through the air.  On their backs rode what appeared to be man-like hornets, with large shimmering eyes, pincers on their mouths, and black and yellow-striped bodies.  In each of their four arms they held spears or swords.

   They immediately converged on the Chosen, surrounding them.  Malon and the others tried to fire their blasters, but their opponents were moving too fast for them to lock on.  The Chosen swerved out of the way of branches even as they tried to avoid the spears and swords of their attackers, but the swamp did not provide them with enough room to attack.  Malon continued firing, hitting nothing.

   Then Numaru was knocked from her bike, and she fell to the ground.  Zakro was also thrown from his vehicle as one of the wasp-men struck him over the head with a spear.  She saw Shrike trying desperately to shake off his pursuers, but they steered him towards a thick tree.  He leapt from the seat of his bike just in time, as the vehicle slammed into the trunk and exploded.  Mattalla managed to reach out and grab the Sheikah's hand, but one of the giant bugs rammed into the side of his air-bike, knocking the Goron off.  Both he and Shrike fell to the earth and were lost.

   Malon searched the ground for her friends as she dodged this way and that.  She brought her head up for a moment, only to be met by the foot of an attacker.  Dazed, she lost her balance and tumbled from her mount.  She crashed through thin branches and leaves, landing on the soft, wet earth.  Her armor had absorbed much of the impact, but the force of the kick still left her vision clouded.  She struggled to her feet and tried to draw her sword, but immediately she saw the ends of many swords and spears pointed in her direction.

   "Don't move!" one of the wasp-men rasped, his voice high and vibrating.  Malon slowly withdrew her hand from her sword and raised her arms in defeat.  She saw Zakro standing off to her right, his hands already bound behind him.  The prone form of Numaru was slung over the shoulder of one of the creatures.  There were no sign of either Shrike or Mattalla.

   "You are in the realm of the Horik-tai," the creature told her, even as another bound her wrists behind her back with some sticky fiber.  "You and your friends have entered unbidden, and will face the consequences.  May the gods have mercy on you."  A rough hand shoved her from behind, and the congregation set out, some on the backs of the giant bugs, the other on foot, leading their prisoners.  Malon tried to look for Shrike and Mattalla, hoping they had survived the fall.  Her captor noticed her attempts and laughed.  "If you are searching for the giant and the Sheikah, don't bother," he told her.  "They fell into one of the ponds.  The Shuk-nor will deal with them."

   Ignoring him, Malon continued to search.  But after half an hour of marching, she lowered her eyes, fighting back tears of remorse for the latest casualties of their quest.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

   The swamp was silent where the Chosen had battled, the remaining air-bikes hovering above the ground.  The sounds of the Horik-tai and their mounts had faded into the distance a long time ago.

   In one pond, however, there was some motion, as bubbles rose to surface.  A moment later, a large, heavy creature, almost like a water beetle, floated to the surface, belly up, it's legs curled inwards over the gaping wound in its stomach.  The bug was followed by a large hand exploding from the surface, grasping for land.  It found it, and began to heave the rest of the body up.  Mattalla gasped loudly as he rose from the pool, Shrike behind him.  The two figures pulled themselves onto the land and lay on their sides, coughing up the dirty swamp water.

   "It…it's a good thing you're a lot lighter in water, Mattalla," Shrike stammered as he coughed up more water.  "I see now why Gorons don't swim; you sink like rocks!  I was barely able to pull you up."

   "I'm just thankful you were able to find me in that muck," Mattalla replied.  "And that you were able to kill that beetle before it made a meal out of us."  They lay there for a while, waiting for strength to return to their muscles.  Mattalla's eyes roamed the battlefield.  "I see five air-bikes, but no bodies.  Our friends must still be alive."

   Shrike didn't answer.  Instead, he stood up and began searching the ground.  "Two of them are, anyway," he said.  "I see Zakro's tracks, and either Malon's or Numaru's, I'm not sure which.  They must've been taken captive."

   Mattalla rose and joined him.  "Which way were they headed?"

   Shrike examined the tracks a little more, and then pointed.  "They went west.  A lot of them."

   The Goron merely nodded, and removed his hammer from his back.  He hefted the weapon in his massive hands.  "Well Shrike, it seems as if there is another detour in our journey.  How long do you suppose this one will take?"

   "The tracks are over an hour old," the Sheikah replied, as he drew his swords.  "So combining that with the amount of time it will take to stage a proper rescue…a day, maybe two."

   "Then I suggest we start right away."

   Shrike nodded, and the two warriors began running after their friends, hoping they would arrive in time.