Chapter 6: Commander

Link stood before the force of monstrosities his father had given him to command. He felt strange. Up until a few years ago these same monsters had been trying to kill him, and he had been returning the favor nigh constantly. Whenever he heard the sound of a stalchild's bones clattering behind him, it was all he could do to not spin around and chop its head off.

He could still hear Ganondorf's orders in his head. "Exterminate Kakariko. Destroy the descendants of the Sheikah; ensure that no more of the ninja-esque protectors of the royal family would rise up to fight. No mercy."

The entire way to the village he had wondered if he could do it. If he could really kill the people in that village. A few of them hadn't been so bad, the cucco lady had been nice enough, and Dante, although a bit strange, wasn't bad. They didn't deserve what was coming. Well, probably. But Ganondorf had been adamant. "Leave no one alive," he had said. "Kill them all."

They were outside the gates of Kakariko now. They were closed for the night, but they were so weak that even Link's small attack force would have no trouble breaking the flimsy palisade down. Once that wall was down there would be turning back. A lizalfo moved up behind him, and croaked out a question.

"Uz downbreak walldere, Kommana?" Its voice was something between a frog's croak and the groan of an old door, and its breath was musty. Even its corrupted manner of speech was disturbing, although after awhile, it became more irritating than frightening. Link shuddered involuntarily anyway.

"Kommana? Whassayu?"

Link closed his eyes and took a deep breath. I guess all I can do is hope they aren't home. "Do it."

"Whassay?" The lizalfo sounded confused. "Yu takka bahdstrenge."

"Um, you down-break wall there now?"

"Wassu say Kommana, uz do ut!" The lizalfo made some sort of gesture that might have been a salute, and garbled something at the rest of the force. Including the lizalfo Link had just spoken with, the attack force consisted of two lizalfo, eight stalchildren, and a pair of redeads. They would recruit the graveyard poes once inside the village. No, that's quite accurate, he thought. They have grown too much to be stalchildren, but they certainly aren't stalfos yet. What would that make them? Stalteens? Oh forget it.

The lizalfos and stalchildren proceeded to attack the wall, and after only moments the flimsy wood was nothing more than a heap of splinters. The monsters of the attack force rushed off into the village, shrieking and laughing. Lights came on, and men came out of houses, then ran back inside. Some came back out with various armaments, and tried to fight the monsters. Link grabbed two of the stalchildren as they ran by and pulled them back.

"Stay here with the redeads, make sure no one leaves the village." He spotted one of the lizalfos slashing at an elderly woman, laughing out loud, and called to it. "You! Come with me!" The lizalfo instantly obeyed, and followed Link up the stairways that lead to the Death Mountain trail. Link was relieved to see that the guard that had once stood vigilantly at the gate was gone. He had not wanted to have to kill the man himself.

"Get that gate shut," he ordered the lizalfo. "I'm going to the graveyard. Stay here and kill anyone who tries to get through!" he shouted as he ran off.

"Cucco?"

Link stopped, and looked back. A cucco. Probably the one thing in the village that he wouldn't mind slaying himself. He had never liked the damn birds. He reached back over his shoulder and wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his new sword. Ganondorf had given it to him as a gift to go along with his new command. As he drew the weapon, he felt something came over him, a sort of...cold heat, like he was being immersed in icy water as flames burned all around him. He felt...liberated, like a new person, but he was still himself, sort of. He pulled the sword from its scabbard, reveling in the sensation caused by the sound of the blade being drawn against it's the metal of its sheath. He looked at the blade. Around him he could hear the screams of women, the wails of children, the crackle-snap of fires consuming houses, but it all seemed so unimportant. The sword, the sword was important. It was heavy in his hand, full of the weight of an item with only one purpose. It seemed to speak to him. It told him to fulfill its purpose.

"Yes," he said to the sword, grinning. He turned to the cucco, and raised the sword.

No, something inside of him said. Do not disgrace this blade by taking the life of mere poultry with it. Do not make a butcher's knife out of the masterpiece. This blade deserves for its first taste of blood, the blood of a human. The blood of a man.

"Yes," he said again, and looked out over the village. "Yes."

With that he leapt off the hill he stood on and into the midst of the confusion that was Kakariko Village. All around him people were screaming and dying, houses were burning, and his monsters were cackling with deranged laughter as they killed the people. There was a man just outside the door of one house, swinging an old wheat scythe at a stalchild, yelling out his anger. Link smiled to himself. This man's blood would stain the sword before any other's.

"You! Get away from him!" he shouted to the stalchild. Both the stalchild and the man looked at him, the stalchild with confusion and incomprehension, the man with anger. How dare this mere boy try and fight his battle for him. That would change soon enough.

"This one is mine," he said to the stalchild, which bowed curtly, and moved back to watch. The man now stared at him with surprise, which quickly turned to loathing as Link approached him, a smile on his face, and his blade drawn.

"Traitor!" snarled the man, raising the scythe.

"Die," replied Link, and he lunged forward. The man swung, Link parried easily. Scythes were not made for fighting, but Link was going to have some fun.

Hopping back, Link waited for the man to bring the scythe to bear again, and swing. Link flipped backwards, dodging the swing, and landing on his feet he lunged forward again and slashed at the scythe, intentionally striking the blade. As the man tried to regain control of the implement, Link pushed closer, making feints and slashing at the man, missing intentionally. There was just something about the look on the man's face when Link swung at him that he loved. Link danced back and struck the scythe's blade again, but this time the man was ready, and used the momentum to slash at Link, who just barely parried it. Suddenly, Link was serious.

"Alright, I think that's about enough of this," he announced, and ran the man through before he was even able to reply.

As Link stood there, the man's body began to slowly slide off the sword, and soon it collapsed on the ground, so the body was lying on its stomach. Blood began to pool around it, but Link wasn't paying attention. He was too busy looking at his bloodstained blade. As he held it up to the moonlight, the silvery steel gleamed, and the dark red blood of the villager glistened, and ran down the blade, carrying the light with it, then trickling off into a second, smaller puddle of blood that was forming at Link's feet, reflecting the moon itself. It was as if the light of the moon in the sky was being drained by the sword into the moon on the ground. It was beautiful to him.

He looked around him, and as if for the first time, saw what was happening. He smiled to himself, and walked into the chaos, to search out another worthy of dying on his sword.

Link stared out his window at the night sky. It was overcast, so there was no light from the stars or the moon. Only the flickering light of the torches inside of the castle.

Why do I keep remembering these things? Why can't I just sleep through even one night anymore? What is happening to me?

Link cast his gaze downward, toward the ruined town of Hyrule Castle Market, now nothing more than the barracks of the armies of his father, and home to the few Hyrulians disturbed enough to still live in the back alleys.

I am becoming restless, that's all. It's been so long since I was in a battle that I'm getting bored. I'll go find something to kill tomorrow. I'll feel better then.

Link left his window and returned to his bed, slipping under the covers, and back to sleep, hoping that he would be allowed to make it until morning without suffering another memory.