Chapter Six
Battle of the Lost Woods

Link, Saria, Mido, and all the other Kokiri slashed away at the skeletons. In one wave, the small army overwhelmed the two adult stalfos and cut them to pieces. The surprisingly strong Kokiri drove the army of stalchildren deep into the mysterious Lost Woods. Saria sliced through stalchildren with her dagger without remorse. A few hours ago she would have tried to be lenient but now she didn't care. They had invaded their haven, killed her fellow Kokiri, and backstabbed her. She hated them so much that it scared her. The other Kokiri were unused to having weapons. Before they were being helplessly slaughtered, but with these new daggers in hand, they quickly realized the power that they now had. It concerned Link that his pacifist brothers and sisters from growing up were so eagerly cutting down their enemies. True, the Stalfos were skeletons that deserved to be dead, but it still bothered him. Suddenly, all the stalchildren retreated into the ground, disappearing as quickly as they had appeared. The Kokiri looked around confused.

An Iron Knuckle ran out of a tunnel and swung its large axe, chopping down a tree with a 13-inch diameter. It roared and clanked loudly as it charged toward the group. The Kokiri froze and stared at their measly daggers compared to the monstrous axe. Saria looked nervously at Link.

"What do we do now?" She asked him. A Kokiri boy looking for glory rushed out at the living suit of armor with his dagger. "Nooo!" Saria turned away as the Iron Knuckle swung its axe at the unfortunate Kokiri. Link rushed forward at the metal suit and slashed it across the breastplate. The Iron Knuckle brought its axe up and Link rolled to the side as it chopped the ground where he was. While the Knuckle was trying to get its axe out of the ground, Link hit it with a flurry of moves. The suit of armor roared as chunks of its armor fell and it executed a quick spin attack with its axe.

"Whoa!" Link ducked and felt the axe pass inches over his head. The Hylian thrust his sword up into the empty helmet and twisted. The metal beast roared and punched Link in the face with a metal gauntlet. "Aah!" His concussion grew worse and he collapsed onto the ground. The Kokiri rushed at the Knuckle and stabbed at it with their daggers. Covered with the green elves, the Iron Knuckle stumbled and collapsed.

Link sat up trying to shake the ringing out of his ears. Unsuccessful, he looked over at the dead suit of armor in wonder. The Kokiri's celebration was short lived as four Dinolfos leaped through the tunnel. The leader roared and torched a tree with its fire breath. The other three followed their leader's example and advanced on the Kokiri, burning anything that got in their way. Link stood up shakily and tried to clear his head. At that moment, the Dinolfos charged.

"Aaahh!" A Kokiri girl got torched when a Dino got too close. Link attacked a Dino managing to decapitate it before it had a chance to burn Saria. Mido ran under a Dinolfos and slashed upward at its vulnerable belly. With a screechy roar, it collapsed. The leader burned a tree that two Kokiri had climbed for safety. Five Kokiri rushed the third Dino and finished it off with their daggers. The leader looked at its dead comrades and the advancing Kokiri.

Fwoosh! Flames blasted the group apart, torching five of the Kokiri. The burning elf children quickly jumped into a nearby stream and put the flames out. Link slashed at the Dino leader but it blocked with its shield. Blocking a counter-attack, he stabbed at the lizard but missed. The hero raised his Mirror shield as the Dinolfos breathed. He heard it yelp as the flames were deflected back at it. Link felt someone jump up onto his shoulders. What the… Saria flipped off of Link's shoulders and landed on the creature's head. Dodging the Dino's stabs to get her off, Saria took her dagger and jammed it down. With a screech, the Dinolfos fell to the ground.

"Well done..." The Stal-King spoke, suddenly standing before them. "But I have made my point! Give me the Triforce pieces or I will attack all the peaceful races of Hyrule." He summoned up an image of the tree that they had hid in. The Kokiri stared at the gruesome image, shocked at the number of their kind lying dead at its base. The King looked straight at Link. "Specifically the people you care about!" He snapped his fingers and the princess appeared behind Link, still unconscious. The Hylian turned around and saw Zelda lying motionless on the ground with an arrow sticking out of her side. Oh no... Link ran over to her and nervously checked her pulse. He let out the breath that he didn't even know that he was holding. She was alive, but that arrow wound didn't look too good. "So, I will give you the chance to save everyone else you care about... Give me the Triforce parts... Now!" Link looked at the Stal-King incredulously.

"If we give you the Triforce Parts, you'll just hunt us all to extinction anyway! So what's the point of giving away the only piece of hope we have left?" The King simply gave them a sickly smile. He raised his palm, the Triforce of Power glowing through his hand. He picked Saria up telekinetically and pulled her to him.

"Your friend here is a Sage isn't she?" The Stal-King grinned as Link turned pale. Saria felt cold skinless fingers close around her neck. Terror ran down her spine scaring her stiff. What happened to my dagger? Saria thought with dread. "You see," The King continued. "I know quite a bit about your 'hope' through the Triforce. Seven Sages, using their combined power, protect this world from evil users of the Triforce. Your friend here is the Sage of Forest if I'm not mistaken. Kill her..." Saria felt the fingers squeeze tighter cutting off her air. "...And the link is broken. So much for your hope!" Link stared helplessly as Saria's face started turning purple from suffocation. He grabbed Zelda's bow and readied a light arrow.

"Release her."

"Or what? You'll shoot me? Go ahead, and risk hitting your friend!" Link glared at him before letting the arrow fly. A brilliant flash of light blinded everyone for a second but when it disappeared, the Stal-King was still there, choking Saria. Link saw a slight disturbance as if he had thrown a stone into a vertical wall of water. "Fool, did you really think I would leave myself undefended? The Power Triforce is creating this shield. There is only one way you could dispel it." The Triforce of Courage. Link thought. He probably has that crystal ready just for that. He thought bitterly. Saria was slipping into unconsciousness but on her way out, she kicked the Stal-King's knee hard, knocking it into a painful backward position. "Arrgh!"

The pain made him lose concentration of the Power field and Link took the opportunity. The light arrow hit the stalfos and the shock of it caused him to drop his hostage. Link fired another arrow into the King's head. The blast knocked his crown off and he frantically warped out. Too bad he didn't drop the crystal this time... He ran over to Saria, lying comatose on the ground. After checking her pulse, he suddenly noticed the crown lying in the middle of a circular patch of dead grass. Curious, he walked over to it. As he bent down to pick it up, Zelda woke up with a groan. Forgetting all about the crown, Link ran over to help his fiancée.

After everyone had left for home, Mido walked carefully up to the golden crown. The crown had four peaks with the largest in front. Each peak had a nasty looking skull carved into the sides. The points of the peaks were razor sharp. Mido didn't notice these things however; he was transfixed on the large ruby at the center of the front peak. The ruby was blood red and very reflective. Mido took a closer look at the ruby and then focused on his own reflection. His scream echoed through the forest as he dashed all the way back to the safety of his house.