Before the Game Begins...

The Death of the Queen

Chapter 6: Spiders!

Impo scouted the edge of the river between Kakariko Village and the entrance to Zora's Domain. The bank was narrow and dangerous, but still passable. No horse could fit on this trail, however, so he knew that it would be slow going. As he splished through the water, he thought that he heard a splash behind him. He turned quickly, but saw nothing. He continued on his way, staying alert for any more suspicious signs. He scouted all the way to the entrance to the Kokiri Forest without event. The river wasn't even that high. He made a small meal for himself and rested a while before turning back. The sun was passed its zenith. A haze covered the distance, the only indication of the occupying army. For a long while, he stared at it unemotionally.

He should return using the same pathway, but he wanted to see the enemy's strength. In this long silence, he seriously weighed the risks against his obligations, then rose and headed for the fenced-off bluff that overshadowed the river. From there, he would be able to see the enemy for himself, yet be close enough to the entrance of the Village if he had to make a dash for it. Had he known that his youngest child doggedly followed him, he never would have considered it at all.

At this point in the seige of Hyrule, Ganondorf was reduced to impotently keeping the Hyrulians in. He was often seen infront of his army, madly spurring his black stallion and brandishing his sword. He had tasted blood and he wanted more. On occassion, should he venture too near their range, the Hyrulians would reply with a volley of bolts. His whole army champed at the bit for a fight, but settled instead, into glowering, simmering impatience. They had camped, just out of range of the Hyrulian arrows, in a semi-circle before the drawbridge. Some lay scattered toward the river, others, toward the ranch. Their reeking campfires lent a haze to the air that no breeze could fully dissipate.

By the time Impo reached the outcrop, the campfires were like twinkling stars dotting the plains infront of the stronghold. Night had fallen, and he had already fought off the first of the boney intruders. No doubt, he thought now, a result of Ganondorf's presence, and the most likely reason why no scouts had returned to the Village that morning. A sudden cry far behind him caught his attention. He recognised that voice! He instantly and wildly turned from the bluff and raced back to where he thought he had heard him, unsheathing his sword and readying a couple of Deku nuts. The moon had risen. By its light, he could see their bony arms rising and falling. A strange, chittering noise accompanied every movement they made. Their victim had already fallen to the ground...

With a loud cry, Impo charged the evil creatures, who, reacting slowly to his presence, turned around to face him. He quickly immobilized them and chopped their heads off, then turned all his attention to the bloody stain at his feet. He froze for a moment in agony and grief. He slowly lowered the point of his sword, then it dropped from his nerveless fingers. His knees weakened and he could feel a knot in his chest. Even in the moon's pale light, he recognized his youngest child, who now lay quite still. It looked as if he had put up an enormous fight. There were burn marks everywhere...

From afar, even within the camp of the desert army, the cry of some wounded animal ululated across the empty, dark plains. For a moment, those who heard it, became still and fearful, not knowing what it was they were listening to. The same unusual cry even penetrated the threshold of the Kokiri forest, causing those who heard it to look up from what they were doing, tilting their heads, listening intently. To them, it seemed as if some great hunting animal had been sorely wounded. They wondered, upon hearing it, what ill tidings it boded, and they wondered, for the first time in a long time, what events were unfolding in the outer world.

He picked up his youngest child's remains and began walking back to the Village. He stared before him with dead eyes. He didn't care who crossed paths with him, be it alive or undead, he simply slashed them with one powerful stroke. He turned sadly back to the site of his son's death, and retrieved his forgotten sword. Then he resumed his sad, defeated, unknowing meander, cradling the corpse defensively, his mind in a turmoil of self-recrimination. He didn't care who crossed paths with him, be it alive or undead, he simply slashed them with one powerful stroke.

His strides brought him close to the edge of Ganondorf's encampment, but those who spotted his ghostly pale figure thought he was one of the bloodied undead that Ganondorf had summoned to keep the Hyrulians in, so they let him be. He was about to cross the bridge without challenge, when he paused, his back crawling with that feeling that a great deal of someones were behind him that he absolutely should not could not and would not turn his back on.

Carefully, he laid his late son down on the ground and deliberately turned toward the encampment. As a body-guard, he knew that this was definately a situation to avoid. As a father, he knew that he had 5 other sons who needed him. He withdrew his sword from its place and began to walk toward the encampment. With this step, and this sword, he sealed his fate, and the fate of his children. When he stepped into the circle of light made by the nearest campfire, he began slashing and stabbing in a silent and deadly manner, continuing thusly for several minutes before the camp became roused and turmoil ensued.

Ganondorf, sitting broodily in his tent, bored out of his mind, and chafing at the prospect of a prolonged seige, was about to summon a Gerudo woman to his bed for some torture and amusement, (hers and his, respectively), when he became aware of disturbance in the camp. He thrust aside the tent flap. Was it TwinRova? He had asked the errant witch for assistance last week. As usual, their bickering slowed them up a mite in their response, inevitably arguing over who was younger. Stupid hags. he thought. Although combined, they were pretty hot. He tried to stay away from them as much as possible, and they didn't seem to care much about his conflict with Hyrule. They had given him the silver gauntlets, however, and promised to drop by to see how things were going.

His tent was slightly elevated above the rest, but it was dark. He couldn't see much except some flying bodies coming closer and closer. Then he spotted a white haired warrior in the eye of the storm of flying bodies. He was slicing and dicing his men as they slept! Ganondorf swore. He dashed back into the tent and hurriedly put on the silver gauntlets and picked up his sword. He ran straight for the madman, a ball of black energy forming in his free hand. What's this? he wondered in some corner of his mind. Dark power coursed through his body. He could feel it building within him, culminating in his palm. With deadly accuracy, he threw it straight at the white-haired man. He gasped, rather surprised by what had just occured.

His eyes like lazer sights, Impo dodged the evil mass of energy Gonondorf had aimed at him. Impo was covered in ichor. His shirt was in shreds. In the firelight, he stood like an avenging angel, his red eyes glowing with hatred, his long white hair streaming wildly behind him. By now, the whole camp was roused, and a healthy distance was between him and any potential victim. A great circle of soldiers surrounded the Kakarikan. He lowered his dripping sword, but kept his gaze focused on Ganondorf. Pound for pound, they were an equal match. The hole in the ground where Impo had been standing a moment ago was testimony to the power that Ganondorf already weilded. With all of his strength, Impo crouched, preparing to spring at his enemy.

Ganondorf smiled in pleasure. This was better. He could feel the danger emmanating from this strange, white-haired man. He stood calmly waiting for the attack.

With all his might, Impo launched himself at Ganondorf, throwing several Deku nuts, and at the same time, raising his sword.

Ganondorf hit the deku nuts out of the air before they could hit their target. His arm still outstretched, he grasped Impo's throat, even while Impo came charging full tilt, sword drawn. The evil king felt the sword's impact into his side, but he held his ground. Black power welled up within him. With the silver gauntlets, he lifted Impo off of the ground. Impo let go of the sword and put both his hands on Ganondorf's wrist. The Dark Lord's strength was unexpected. Impo realized that he had grossly underestimated him. He could feel the gauntlet and glanced down at it, seeing there a glint of silver, and he had a brief moment to realize the source of Ganondorf's strength.

Shaking him like a puppy, Ganondorf tossed the warrior to the ground with a mighty crash. Impo had the breath knocked out of him, and he struggled to regain it. For a moment, he couldn't move. Ganondorf took that moment to stride leisurely over to him and crouch down. He looked at the Kakarikan with cold curiousity. "Who do you think you are?" he asked him conversationally,as if they sat across from each other at a table sipping tea. "Some kind of avenger?" When he saw that the man would get up, he placed one gauntleted hand on his chest and pressed down slightly. Impo couldn't move at all. He could only endure the humiliation of such a quick defeat. "Look around you." Ganondorf continued. "Do you see any friends here? Did you think that you could defeat my army by yourself?" Then he sneered a little and modified his question: "Did you think that you could defeat me by yourself?" His voice was quiet and emotionless, but his eyes were like marbles. He withdrew the sword from his side and tossed it far away. Then he applied pressure to the wound, closed his eyes, and felt the swirling power concentrated at the gash, felt the blood flow stop, felt the ache recede. He curled his fingers around the Kakarikan's neck and pressed ever so lightly. Impo's face began changing color.

Those surrounding the two men ventured closer.

"Don't you know," Ganondorf continued, using the same tone of voice as before, "that I am a monster amoung monsters?" Then he began a long, familiar chant. The chant that changed men into bones, and mighty warriors into mindless knuckles. Such bones and knuckles followed Ganondorf's last words to them. The last wish Ganondorf had for these cursed beings was to constantly thirst for the blood of others.

As he neared the end of his spell, a giant form suddenly interceded, and interjected a whispery word: "Let him and his children serve me, Lord Ganondorf."

Ganondorf looked up into the one green eye of Queen Gohma.

Impo lay helplessly in the grip of the black king, and raised his eyes in dread to the bulky, giant spider, whose dark body in the flickering light was gross and distorted. His ears were ringing, his eyesight dimming as the king's grip tightened. The giant spider was only a shadow. Her whispery voice less than a murmur. Impo could feel the effect of the evil man's words shuddering throughout his body, yet within him was a tunnel vision of the future, a future in which a small mute boy stood before the powerful man and defied him. He struggled against the gauntlet one last futile time, and managed to say what it was he saw: "He will defeat you!" He locked eyes with his nemesis. He tried to spit in his face, but instead felt his body begin to distort into the shape that was commanded of it. The last sight he saw with human eyes was the evil smile of Ganondorf.