Chronicles of Zelda I: Darkness Rising
Chapter 29: Battle to Freedom
Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda is property of Nintendo.
"Finally," Dek said, wiping sweat from his forehead, "That was insane."
"I never thought they'd send so many after us," Rayen looked at Tawahn, "Must be because you're here."
"I can't believe we actually made it out of the dungeon alive," the prince breathed deeply, "That is the last time I ever listen to you guys again."
"Now that we're in the castle, you do know where to go, right?" Lunari asked, looking at Tawahn.
"Of course," he said, "There's a back exit not too far from here."
"What about Link and Zelda?" Dek remembered, "They're not safe either."
"Their rooms should be on the second floor, but I don't know the exact location."
"Then we'll just have to look," the elf said, "Lead the way."
After what seemed like an eternity of sneaking around in the massive castle, the group of escaped prisoners finally arrived in the block of the palace that held the visitors' rooms, and Tawahn was attempting to explain that they couldn't just check every single room and risk disturbing the other guests.
"Hold it," Dek stopped everyone with his voice, "There's someone around the corner." The elf quickly looked down the hallway perpendicular to the one their location to see a servant emerging from a guest room, carrying two packs and grumbling quietly.
Two packs that looked very familiar.
"It's a servant," he whispered, "She's got Link and Zelda's packs and she's coming this way." The group pressed themselves into the shadows and waited.
"I'll grab her as she walks by," Rayen's voice was barely audible. Dek nodded in agreement.
After an agonizingly long period of standing perfectly still and staying hidden, the servant walked into sight. She was immediately grabbed by Rayen, who put one hand over her mouth. The servant thrashed violently and threw out her fist, catching the bounty hunter in the jaw. He released her mouth in surprise but still retained a grip on her arm as he cursed angrily and rubbed his face, grimacing.
"Let me go!" the servant screamed angrily, still thrashing, "Unhand me!"
"Leila?" Tawahn asked incredulously.
The young woman immediately stopped moving and stared at the Calatian. "Prince Tawahn!" she yelled in joy as Rayen finally let her go. She leaped at Tawahn and embraced him, remaining attached to the surprised man for a few moments until she abruptly released him. "Oh, I-I'm sorry, Milord," she stammered, blushing deeply.
"It's okay, Leila," the prince smiled, "It's good to see you."
"We've all missed you terribly, Milord," Leila said, "Where have you been? Did your father really put you in the dungeon?"
A look of sadness passed over Tawahn's face, "Yes, I'm afraid so."
"Alright let's save the reunion for later," Rayen spoke suddenly, "Why do you have our friends packs?" he glared accusingly at the servant.
"The princess' bodyguard told me to get these," she answered, "He noticed guards gathering in the banquet room or something and said something bad was going to happen. I think the princess is in danger."
"Banquet?" Tawahn said, confused.
"Yes, your father called an international meeting."
"Enough talking," Dek grabbed the prince's shoulder, "We have to get to the banquet room."
Link plunged his fist into the ground and a sphere of flame erupted around him, incinerating the arrows that flew in his direction. The magical Din's Fire expanded, throwing back the nearby guards and causing the crowd to scream in panic.
"Careful with the magic in here," Zelda warned, "We'll end up hitting the delegates."
"I'm not sure that would be a bad thing," Link muttered, then turned to Zelda, "But I don't see how we're going to get out of this one."
"At least you're not fighting in a gown," Zelda said sarcastically.
"Oh, but it looks so good on you," the hero responded with equal sarcasm.
"Shut up," the princess and the hero stood back to back as more soldiers charged toward them. Zelda fired off a volley of Din's Fire bolts, catching multiple guards in their chests and pushing them back and to the ground.
"Can you cast Nayru's Love to protect us from the arrows?" Link asked as her parried the enemy blades, "I don't know if I can cover both of us with mine."
"Already on it," Zelda raised her hands over her head and formed a transparent blue, magic crystal around herself and her friend.
Link soon found himself the subject of multiple enemy attacks and it was becoming increasingly difficult to defend himself. He would hit one blade to the side and have to block again before he could follow through, and he couldn't move or dodge much because he had to cover Zelda's back. He was frequently being forced to cast Din's Fire, and the strain of using the magic was beginning to take its toll on his stamina.
"We're not gonna last long like this," he said between hard breaths, "We have to get to Halberd." He spared a brief glance around the room after another fire spell and noticed that the delegates had gathered, for the most part, in terror against the far wall; the Solatian king was still on the stage, applauding and enjoying his apparent victory.
"You think you can get us to the stage with Farore's Wind?" Link said quietly enough so that only Zelda could hear.
"Probably," she answered, closing her eyes and concentrating, forming a green light in her palms.
The princess suddenly gasped and nearly fell to the floor because of her loss of energy after her attempt at the magic technique.
"Somebody…" she tried to catch her breath, "Someone just put up some kind of anti-magic field around us. I can't cast anything!"
She was defenseless.
Link angrily forced the guards attacking the two Hylians back and reached into a pocked in his tunic. Glad that he had remembered to grab a few of these before leaving home and relieved he had stuck them in his fancy tunic tonight on a feeling, he palmed the Deku nut and smiled grimly.
"When I throw this Deku nut," he spoke to Zelda, "Jump to one of the chandeliers above us. I'm going after Halberd."
Zelda nodded, realizing how helpless she was at this moment, and Link slammed the nut into the stone floor. It exploded with a blinding flash of light and the princess acted, using her Sheikan skills to leap vertically and catch the edge of a hanging chandelier, flipping herself onto it and out of sight for the time being.
Link, meanwhile, used the distraction to charge through a blinded group of guards and leap onto a table, looking toward the platform that Halberd stood upon. He aimed his right fist at the stone wall behind the king, sheathed his sword, and flicked the hidden trigger on his forearm, releasing the hookshot that had been cleverly implanted in his gauntlet by the elves. The hook sped through the air at a faster rate than his older one had traveled and embedded itself in the brick. Link reversed the trigger and was propelled forward as the chain retracted, heading straight for Halberd. The king could do nothing but stare in surprise as the hero's left fist connected with his jaw, sending him reeling and sprawling onto the floor of the stage.
Link drew his sword upon landing and charged the fallen man, hoping to take him as a hostage, but was stopped as a figure suddenly appeared over the king's body, waving a hand and propelling the hero back with an unseen force. The Hylian back flipped in midair, righting himself, and came to a skidding stop on his feet.
"Greetings, hero," the new figure said, holding a long staff with a jagged crystal on the end," I am the sorcerer Gahoch, apprentice to Gahmig, defender of King Halberd, and the man who killed your king!"
The sorcerer smiled malevolently and leveled his staff at the hero, only to be surprised by an attack from above. Zelda leapt down from an overhead chandelier, streaming toward Gahoch, and landed a hard kick to the man's throat. The princess back flipped neatly and landed on her feet while the sorcerer tumbled the floor and slumped against a wall.
"What happened to the dress?" Link asked, noticing that Zelda's gown had been torn off below the midpoint of her thighs.
"Uh," Zelda smiled sheepishly, blushing, "Got caught on the chandelier," her look suddenly turned to one of disbelief, "I just jump kicked a sorcerer and saved your life, and that's all you've got to say to me!?"
Link opened his mouth to argue but a groan from Gahoch caused his head to snap in the fallen man's direction; the sorcerer slowly rose to his feet, shaking.
An attack with that much force should have broken his neck…
Zelda seemed equally surprised, though that emotion was immediately replaced by anger.
"You killed my father," she growled.
"And you will soon follow," Gahoch swung his staff in a horizontal arc, producing a blast of flame that the two Hylians easily leapt above. The Calatian guards coming up on the stage behind Link in order to aid in the fight frantically dove to the side and fell to the ground as the magical fire consumed the perimeter of the platform and rose so that it nearly reached the ceiling, protecting the coming battle from outside influences.
"I'm surprised you don't want the help," Zelda said coldly, glaring at the sorcerer, "Your kind likes to be underhanded. Your master retreated like a scared dog when he knew he was beaten. And since he's not guarding here guarding Halberd I'm assuming he's dead anyway, isn't he?"
"Silence!" Gahoch roared, "You will not disgrace the name of my master!"
"This fight is hopeless for you," Halberd finally rose to his feet, spitting blood, "You will never defeat Gahoch. Even if you were to win by a fluke you'll have hundred of Calatian guards to deal with."
"But I'm sure you'll serve as a valuable bargaining tool," Link growled, "When I've got my sword up to your neck we'll find out just how much King Tawahn actually cares about you."
Halberd swallowed nervously and placed a protective hand around his neck; Link noticed with satisfaction that the king's cheek was beginning to darken and his lip was split as a result of the hero's earlier attack.
"Enough talk," Zelda spoke, her eyes narrowing, "Let's get this over with."
"You're very eager to leap into a fight without your magic," Gahoch smiled, "I'm sure you've noticed it's blocked; a little gift from yours truly, of course. But, as you with, we will begin."
With that, Gahoch twirled his staff above his head, creating a vortex of energy that picked the two Hylians from the ground with powerful winds and threw them back violently. Zelda quickly flipped and let her feet absorb the full impact of the stone wall she was sent into but Link collided with the wall of flame. His body bounced off the fire as if it was solid and the heat seared his skin, causing him to scream involuntarily and fall to the floor. Zelda called his name worriedly as the boy slowly struggled to his feet.
"One attack and you're nearly down," Gahoch taunted, "I must have overestimated you, hero."
Link ignored the poorly fashioned insult and dashed forward, sidestepping an incoming ball of flame and approaching from the sorcerer's left as Zelda attacked simultaneously from the other side. The hero swiped low with his blade while the princess leapt forward with a high kick, but both attacks were repelled when Gahoch created a mystical shield around his body, protecting him from harm for a moment, and swept his staff in an arc, propelling both Hylians back with his magic. He launched a fireball at Link but the hero deflected it with a flick of his sword, distracting the sorcerer long enough for Zelda to swipe his legs our from under him with a spinning kick. Gahoch hit the ground and rolled, leaping to his feet and away from the princess. He barely threw his body to the side as Link's hookshot blasted toward him and lodged itself in the wall. The hero retracted the chain and shot himself toward his enemy, spinning so that his feet connected with Gahoch's face, throwing him to the ground. Link, still in mid-flight, swung his left arm around and carved a deep gash in Gahoch's shoulder, eliciting a scream of pain. The sorcerer stood shakily to his feet as his opponents eyed him cautiously, poised to attack again in an instant.
"Surprising," he grunted, "Very surprising…" He held his arm outward, palm facing away from his body, and muttered something. Without warning, a melee of black, writhing tentacles exploded from a hole opened in his hand, charging toward the two Hylians. Zelda twisted to the side with amazing reflexes so that two of the appendages shot past here. She then leapt into the air so that two more passed under her, colliding with the two that had not circled back around, but they immediately rocketed upward, circling around each of her limbs. She was forced up against the wall and held there as another tentacle grabbed her thin waist and another circled loosely around here neck.
Link's sword moved as a blur, chopping tentacles and smashing others aside, but it was in vain. The monstrosities kept coming and the hero soon found himself in the same position as Zelda, pinned beside her on the stone wall as his sword clattered uselessly to the floor. Gahoch slowly approached them, smiling, the tentacles attached to his palm so that he could control their movement.
"As you can see," he said, his voice distorted and malevolent, "I've surpassed the level of simple sorcery. I have uncovered the true power of the arcane arts, and I have become more powerful than even my master. There is only one thing that remains so that I can claim invincibility, and the Calatian king will lead me directly to it."
"What are you talking about?" the question, surprisingly, came from Halberd, who was still cowering in the corner.
"You will know soon," the sorcerer smiled, his gaze never leaving his prisoners, "But while it is true that I am not immortal, I still have the power to dispose of you, Hylians." His eyes glowed blood red and the wound on his arm disappeared as the tentacles tightened around the throats of the two he held captive. Zelda tried in vain to break away as Link attempted to move his right arm; the one with the hookshot attached to the gauntlet. His muscles strained as his arm inched away from the wall, but his throat was screaming for air and he knew he was nearly out of time. Burying his desire for oxygen deep into his subconscious and calming himself with a warrior meditation technique he had learned years ago, he waited for the perfect opportunity.
The tentacle threatened to snap his neck…
He could hear Zelda struggling beside him…
Gahoch was laughing…
The tentacle around his right wrist suddenly tensed, but then relaxed for less than a second…
That was all he needed.
Link swung his arm downward, aiming his hookshot, and yanked his head forward, ignoring the strain on his neck, flicking the trigger to his weapon with his teeth and releasing the chain. The hook rocketed toward Gahoch and passed through the surprised man's stomach, causing him to kneel over in pain and retract the tentacles, sending Link and Zelda plummeting to the ground. The hero immediately rose, grabbing his sword and stalking toward the kneeling sorcerer.
"You are tricky, boy," Gahoch growled, "I will not be outsmarted again."
"You won't have a chance," Link raised his sword and swung, aiming for his enemy's neck. The sorcerer, though, disappeared in an explosion of smoke, taking Halberd with him, and the hero's blade cut nothing but air.
"On the contrary, hero," Gahoch's voice floated eerily through the air as the ring of flames surrounding the stage dissipated, "This is far from over."
"Take your weapons," Tawahn said, leading the way into a storage room on the first floor of the castle. Rayen moved forward and was pleased to discover that his trench coat, loaded with knives and his crossbow, had not been tampered with, as was Dek when he found his Elven bow. Lunari strapped her scabbards holding her twin blades over her back as Dek searched out his quiver full of arrows and his short sword. Thinking ahead, he quickly grabbed Zelda's sword from a pile in the corner.
"Let's go crash a party," he said, smiling grimly.
"How do you expect to get in the banquet hall?" Leila asked, "The doors are locked from the inside."
Rayen and Dek looked at each other mischievously.
"Well…" the elf began, "Pyrotechnics has gotten us this far…"
Rayen patted the gunpowder bags around his waist, "Might as well ride out our luck."
"You two are crazy," Tawahn muttered, heading toward the banquet hall.
The group soon approached the hall, rounding a corner to see massive double doors and a large amount of guards patrolling the hallway, accompanied by muffled screams from within the room. Tawahn quickly ducked back behind the corner and out of sight, commanding the others to do the same.
"There are a lot of them," he said, "How do you plan to get past?"
"Me and elf-boy will handle that," Rayen said, turning to Lunari and handing her their supply of explosives, "You set the bombs around the base of the doors."
"Get this stuff to Link and Princess Zelda as soon as they come out," Dek handed Leila the princess' sword, and she nodded.
"Let's have some fun," Rayen nodded and the hunter and the elf charged into the corridor, screaming. The first surprised guards could barely blink before they were knocked out with cold steel. Those remaining, caught off guard and terrified, panicked and fled the corridor with the two escaping prisoners in pursuit.
Dek and Rayen came to a sharp stop as the guards dashed around a corner.
"Well, that was easy," the elf said, surprised.
"They just don't make 'em like they used to," Rayen sighed.
The two walked back to the doors where Lunari had finished setting the bombs and Tawahn and Leila were standing off to the side, the latter holding the two Hylians' packs.
"I don't know if these will be powerful enough," Lunari said worriedly, "Those doors are thick."
"Let's hope it works," Rayen grabbed a lantern hanging from the wall, "Get around the corner for shelter," he instructed, following as the group complied. He turned around once he was a good distance from the doors and eyed the pile of makeshift bombs. "Here it goes," he let the lamp fly.
Link batted an incoming blade to the side and ducked another, spinning and taking out the two guards who had attacked him. Another approached from the side but was thrown across the room with a blast of golden magic from Zelda's outstretched palms. The princess leapt over a low swipe of a blade and lashed out with her foot, sending the attacking soldier to the ground. She raised a Nayru's Love shield just as a flurry of arrows streamed toward the two Hylians.
As Gahoch had pointed out; now that they had defeated the sorcerer they had to deal with the guards.
Link grimaced as a blade bit deep into his shoulder and another cut into his side. Zelda twisted away from an attack but another sword cut into her stomach, slicing the midriff off her already tattered gown. The felt an arrow grace her cheek when her shield dissipated even as she blasted an archer away with a bolt of magic. The two weren't going to last much longer…
As if in answer to their dire situation an explosion suddenly ripped through the large double doors nearby, tearing them from their hinges and tossing aside the nearby guards. The soldiers attacking the two Hylians were distracted long enough for Zelda to cast a weakening Din's Fire, throwing the attackers across the room. Without a word, the two dashed for the door, running past the many fallen guards and emerging into the corridor outside the chaotic room. They nearly collided with a group of people approaching from the depths of the smoke and Link prepared for another fight. He was stopped by a familiar voice.
"Link?" Dek said, surprised, "Zelda? What the heck happened to you two?" the elf noticed their many wounds and particularly Zelda's tattered appearance.
"Stupid question," the princess said, seeing Leila waiting with her pack and her sword and moving toward her. "Thanks, Leila," she grabbed her belongings and pulled the belt holding her sword, Aeolin, around her now exposed waist. She tossed Link's pack to the hero, "Now let's get out of here."
"Follow me," Tawahn said, stepping forward and running down the corridor, "We'll take the back way out."
"Good to see you again, Prince Tawahn," Zelda said, running beside him, "I'm sorry I can't say the same concerning your father."
Link dropped back and ran beside Dek, "Where have you guys been?" he asked, checking over his shoulder for pursuing guards.
"Prison," the elf answered, "Having a whole lot of fun," he finished sarcastically.
"Not as much as me," Link said grimly.
"You just liked the part where you got to take Zelda to a banquet in a beautiful gown."
"Shut up."
"Hate to break up the reunion, boys, but we're not out of this yet," Lunari unsheathed here swords after a host of guards poured into the corridor ahead of them.
"You know, I bet we're going to be laughing at the insanity of this whole situation fifty years from now," Rayen smiled grimly.
"If we live that long," Dek pointed out, fitting an arrow to his bow and killing a soldier before he even neared the party.
Tawahn dropped back next to Leila as the others charged forward to fight.
"You should get out of here," he said to the servant.
"As should you," she responded, "Do you really plan to run away with these people?"
"My father will have me killed if I stay," the prince sighed in despair, "I still can't believe that his actions are of his own doing."
"Your father may be against you, but the majority of the people are not. You command much loyalty in this country still."
"Maybe."
Any argument from Leila was interrupted as Rayen called back to them, stating that their path was clear.
"Leave, Leila," Tawahn spoke, sadness lacing his voice, "That's an order from your prince," Leila's eyes fell, "And a request…from your friend." The servant girl nodded sadly and stepped on her toes to rise up and gently lay a kiss upon the prince's cheek. Tawahn stood in stunned silence while she walked away without another word.
"Hey, Prince Casanova," Rayen's mocking voice freed the prince from his stupor, "We're on a bit of a tight schedule."
"Oh, right," Tawahn cleared his throat and composed himself, taking his place at the head of the group, "It's this way."
Link, Dek, and Rayen rolled their eyes as the group followed.
"So how can we be sure the back gate will be open?" Zelda asked, concentrating on their situation.
"It probably won't be," the prince answered honestly, "It's only used for deliveries, so unless we get lucky it'll be closed. But it's not typically heavily guarded so we could attempt to scale the wall, though that will take time. Our best chance for escape is to sneak into a delivery cart and wait until it leaves, which will most likely be tomorrow morning."
"That's our best plan?" Link asked skeptically.
"Yes. Even if we could get over the wall fast enough, we'd have soldiers all over us; patrolling the city and watching the wall around the city. We have to sneak out; not just make a dash for it."
Link nodded in response and the group continued in silence through the castle until Tawahn stopped before a wooden door.
"This leads to the main storage complex of the castle," he explained, "We'll have to sneak through here and reach the door in the back which takes us outside the castle. There should be two guards inside; don't hurt anyone else; they'll just be servants and suppliers."
"Anybody else find it strange that we haven't encountered any more guards during our little trip?" Lunari asked sarcastically as Tawahn led them through the door.
"It almost feels like a trap," Dek agreed.
"So be prepared," Zelda said simply.
"Aren't we always?"
"The fact that we didn't find more guards could just be luck," Tawahn pointed out, "But, if nothing else, there should be one at each of the doors in this room. That worries me. With the amount of supplies this castle uses, there are constantly two guards in this room, and we haven't seen anybody."
The prince reached the exit door and opened it, silently motioning for the group to move outside. The moment they did, rows of torches along the castle and the castle wall ignited, illuminating the grounds.
"Stupid fancy light tricks," Rayen muttered.
The Calatian palace stood on a hill, so it was easy for the escaping group to witness the entire scene that had been prepared for them. A group of castle guards was surrounding them, standing less than ten feet away with spears poised to kill. Atop the large castle wall further down the hill, just above the gate, was King Tawahn and a host of royal guards. Beyond that stood nearly the entire population of Calticia, their gazes focused intently on the Hylians and their comrades. Multiple buildings as well as the eastern tower of the castle itself were on fire, and the flames were spreading quickly despite the many efforts to extinguish the blaze.
Link sighed, "Hello, trap."
"This, my dear people," the king's deep voice carried through the air, "Is your beloved prince," he said the last word with disgust, "He has betrayed you, and in his hurry to abandon and flee his country he has freed dangerous prisoners and burned his own castle, as well as your homes."
"He would burn his country to discredit me?" the prince muttered weakly, his knees buckling. Zelda quickly caught him and steadied him.
"That lying bastard," Rayen growled, "Take him out, elf-boy." Dek, with bow in hand, looked ready to comply but Lunari placed a delicate hand on his arm.
"Think about how that would look if we attacked the king now," she pointed out, "Tawahn would be ruined, and we'd play into Tawahn Senior's hand."
"We can't just surrender," Rayen argued.
"If we want to help our friend, we've got no choice."
The bounty hunter looked ready to protest but Link stepped in, "She's right," the Hylian sighed, "But once we get away from the prince we'll get out of here. It will look like we're acting independently."
"The king will still use that," Zelda pointed out, "We can't do anything rash; the future of this country could depend on this moment."
"And the future of ours depends on you getting out of here alive," Link argued.
"I surrender!" Tawahn yelled, terminating the argument. The prince stepped forward and moved toward the guards, raising his hands submissively, "Do with me what you will."
A man stepped forward from among the soldier, clad in the blue robe of a Calatian royal advisor. "Hello, Nahkim," Tawahn greeted him.
"Hello, Prince Tawahn," the advisor spoke, "The king wishes for me to escort you to his side."
"I have one condition," the prince said, "My father must let these people go free. They have been wrongfully imprisoned and their fate should not be decided by mine."
"Only the king can grant your wish."
Tawahn nodded and the five others with him watched in silence as he was led through the ranks of soldiers and began to climb the ladder to the top of the castle wall.
"This is never going to work," Rayen muttered, "He'll end up dead."
"The prince knows what he's doing," Zelda said hopefully, "We'll just have to trust him."
Mikau stood, stone-faced, as the vague outlines of the Coshrak beasts slowly drew nearer the Hyrulian refugees through the heightening blizzard. It was saddening to see that so many of the monsters still remained, even after so many of the general's comrades had sacrificed their lives in this unending battle.
Not unending, he thought, It all ends today, whether for our good or not. Either we triumph or Hyrule and its people are lost.
The general forced any negative thoughts from his mind. While he believed it was important to realize the stakes of the battle, he had to concentrate fully on his duty; to lead this army to the extent of his abilities.
He looked to his right and studied his newly appointed general. While he did doubt Haelstrom's abilities, and just how his combat would be affected by his age, the retired colonel was currently the best man for the job. Mikau glanced to his left and was strengthened slightly by the presence of Darunia, whose Gorons had arrived in the town just mere hours ago. According to the leader of the Gorons, the rock-people had been forced to steal la number of ships from the ocean harbor in order to travel the sea, and avoiding the harbor sheriff and his men had taken a good deal of time.
Whatever the reason, Mikau was relieved to have the strength of the thick-skinned Gorons on his side; though how long they could last in the freezing climate was a point of concern. As it was, they were covered in thick cloaks and still shivering. The incoming blizzard would not aid in resolving that problem.
Overall, the situation looked rather hopeless. The desperate army of Hyrule, forged mostly of civilian citizens, was vastly outnumbered. The exact ratio of defenders to beasts was unknown, but as the tide of Coshraks surged through the snow-covered land any thoughts that the odds were even were completely erased.
Mikau could feel the fright of his warriors; he could nearly hear the archers atop the fifteen foot wall shiver at the sight of their approaching doom. The Zoran general knew that no words could prepare the fighters for the battle that was to come, but still he found the need to speak.
"War is not glorious," he turned, projecting his voice over his meager collection of troops, "It is not right; it is not holy; it does not always bring fame and victory, but always death and tragedy; it is far more horrifying than words in epic tales could ever describe," Mikau paused, "But sadly, in this world it is an unavoidable necessity. We're fighting not by our own choice, but because it is all we can do to defend our lives, our families, our principles, our values, and our country. We've lost family, loved ones, friends, neighbors, soldiers, leaders, and kings. They've destroyed our homes, our land, and our cities. Some of us may feel like we've nothing left to live for; that there is no reason to fight. To all those I say this; fight for your country, fight for all that is good in this world, and fight for gift of life itself. That is what we must do today."
Mikau returned his gaze to the approaching beasts and allowed silence to descend over the army as the warriors mentally prepared for the coming battle.
"Nice speech," Darunia complimented, smiling slightly, "You could make a great king someday. Your people would follow someone like you."
"Princess Ruto is their leader," the general retorted, "And an excellent one at that."
"I'm not insulting her abilities," the Goron said with a twinkle in his eye, "I'm saying that you two would make a good pair. I'm sure the princess would agree."
Mikau stiffened abruptly and ignored the comment, his cheeks darkening the slightest amount. He quickly composed himself and turned his attention to the coming battle. The Coshraks were nearly in range of the Hyrulian bows.
"Archers ready!" the general yelled the command and the soldiers quickly obeyed, notching arrows to their strings, taking aim, and pulling the bowstring back. The tips of their arrows were aimed diagonally into the air so that they could travel as far as possible, but the wind was going to make accurate shots difficult to attain.
Mikau watched as the beasts continued their approach. With no sorcerer nearby to control them the Coshraks moved without order, charging over those who stumbled in the thick snow and approaching without any strategy. Their only objective was to kill; death flooded their thoughts. Mikau hoped this would be an advantage.
The beasts moved a step closer.
"Fire!" Mikau bellowed, and a volley of arrows flew into the sky.
The battle had begun…
"Are you prepared, general?" came the voice of the Great Fairy, who had changed her form to that of a normal Hylian female about thirty years of age; she was planning on accompanying the army to the coming battle, an idea that Kard had vehemently spoken out against. Beside the fairy, whose name had been revealed to be Marady, stood Mahalda, who had finished explaining the situation to his soldiers and now was deep in thought.
"Yes," Kard spoke in response to the fairy's question, "The men understand, but still I am surprised that they follow me. I have led them into death once, and it seems that we are charging into it yet again."
"We would follow you into an infinite number of deaths, Sir," a new voice spoke as its owner approached. Kard quickly recognized the royal soldier as Diggs, the man who had been responsible for Link and had frequently been chastised for the boy's numerous disasters.
Diggs saluted the general and stood solemnly, though it was clear that something weighed on his mind.
"What is it, Lieutenant?" Kard asked.
"I was meaning to ask you about this before we…died, Sir," the soldier responded, "I wanted to know if you had an idea of Link's fate after he left Hyrule, Sir."
"I presume you think that Impa the Sheikah was wrong to send him off with the princess."
"I do not doubt his abilities, Sir. But what worries me is that he has a tendency to deal with situations in an extremely rash way without thinking of consequences. I'm not sure that he is mature enough for the duty appointed to him, Sir."
"I agree with you, Lieutenant," Kard sighed, "But we have no choice except to believe that they will be okay. In response to your question; communication with the princess and the boy has been impossible, even with Impa's powers as a sage."
"Thank you, Sir," the soldier said in gratitude, though his fears still remained, "I want you to know, Sir, that the men all feel the same as I do; we will follow you wherever you lead us."
"Thank you, Lieutenant."
"You're welcome, General," with that said, Diggs returned to his squad and Marady spoke.
"It is time," she said simply.
A determined look steeled Kard's gaze, "Let's do it."
Author's Notes
This chapter's almost 6,000 words and originally it was supposed to cover the entire next chapter. I guess I got carried away. I hope everyone likes it, and don't forget to review.