Chapter Eight
Stalfos Revolution

The Stalfos Tower rose above the peaks of the great Hylian Mountains. Nearby, Death Mountain erupted violently, filling the air with smoke. At the base of the black tower, skeletons and monsters of all shapes and sizes came pouring out. The Stal-King, a new crown shining on his head, rode out upon a black dragon, leading his army of undead like a fearsome phantom.

Within two hours, the army emerged onto Hyrule field and paused, taking in the view that they would soon destroy. To the right, Kakariko lay in a small valley at the base of the volcano. To the left, the cave leading to Zora's domain gaped at the army. He would take care of those fish later, the King decided. Right now, his target lay practically in front of him, the grand Hyrule Castle, with Lon Lon Ranch on the way.

"Conquer Hyrule!" The Stal-King shouted to his army. A murmur went through the mob and they eagerly stepped into the Hylian sun. Upon contact, the rays disintegrated the first three stalfos that stepped into the light. With a disgusted sigh, the Stal-King halted the army and raised his right hand. The Triforce of Power glowed brightly as dark clouds snuffed out the sun. Once the field was as dark as night, the evil army charged out onto the field with a heart-chilling cry.

— —

Malon tried to calm the horses down after the sun disappeared but to no avail. She looked up nervously at the ominous black clouds that had come out of nowhere. A bone-chilling cry came with the wind as the farm girl tried to get her horses inside the barn.

"One, two, three, four, five…" She counted. Five? Where was Epona? She slapped herself on the head as she remembered that Link had taken her three days ago. Why he never returned she had no idea. Suddenly Malon heard a whinny outside the barn. The colt! What's with my memory lately? She wondered as she ran to the barn door. Images of Link flooded her mind as she pulled on the heavy door. Great… I'm being distracted by a guy I can't have…

She finally opened the door and soon forgot all about her hero as a black dragon flew over the ranch. The small white colt was running frantically around the corral with a high whinny. The dragon landed in the middle of the ranch causing a small shockwave that knocked the farm girl off her feet. With a mighty roar, the dragon thrashed its head around. Eying the colt, the black monster roasted it with one breath. Malon barely noticed the death of the colt for her eyes were fixed upon something far more frightening. Upon the dragon's back, the Stal-King created a ball of flame and shot it at the farmhouse. Ingo, the ranch hand soon came out carrying a fat sleeping Talon. Exhausted, the wiry man put down the fat ranch owner roughly.

"I ought to get a raise for that!" Ingo spat at the lazy man who was still sleeping through the cries of the dragon and crackling of the burning house. "But I probably won't… Hey girl! Help me with your fath—" Ingo's wide eyes grew wider as he saw the Dragon roaring furiously. "Holy…" The Stal-King got off his dragon and approached the farmers.

"I require horses for my officers." The King said in a grating voice.

"Uh, w-well, it's up to this lazy bum!" Ingo replied with a glare at the sleeping Talon. The king clacked his teeth together and stared at the comatose rancher. With lightning speed, he viciously kicked him in the gut. Talon woke up gasping.

"How dare you hit my—" Malon froze as the King turned to her with a steel gaze.

"You were saying?"

"Uh… n-nothing…"

"Good. Now," He turned to Talon, whose wide eyes from being kicked in the stomach grew even wider as he realized that he was talking to a skeleton. "I need your horses! Give me them and I'll let you live…for now!" He snapped his bony fingers and six elite stalfos leaped over the wall. "Give me horses for my officers. Now!"

"Uh… As you wish…" Ingo mumbled as he opened the door. "We have six fine horses!" The rancher said proudly as five horses came out. After waiting a few seconds for the sixth horse, the king gave them a steely glare.

"Don't you know how to count?" He said finally. Ingo began to look worried as he counted five horses every time.

"Uh… I thought we had six horses…" He took at step back and grabbed Malon by the arm. "Where is Epona?" He hissed into her ear.

"Well…" The king grumbled. "I guess one of my officers will have to go on foot. You three will be our prisoners for this disgrace!" He nodded to one of the elites and the skeleton drew a blood red sword. With a single leap, it landed behind the ranchers, poking them forward with its sword. The other elites each leapt onto a frightened horse. "Hmm…" The king mused. "I think these horses could have a new look!"

"Wh-what do you mean by new l-look?" Malon stammered out, concerned about her horses. The King gave a nod to his elites and all of them drew their swords and stabbed their steeds. Malon's shrieking increased as the stalfos incinerated their dead horses' hide with purple flames, leaving a skeletal corpse. The farm girl watched horrified as her beloved horses' skeletons got up and walked to their new masters. The five elites jumped onto their new stal-horses and rode them over the wall.

"Now, you three will come with us!" The King jumped onto his dragon and took off. The remaining elite pushed them at sword point out of the ranch.

— —

Thunder rolled as the Stalfos army approached the Castle Town gates. Stalfos, Moblins, Lizalfos, and other creatures screamed at the closed gates, nearly shattering them with the force of their cry. The Stal-King rode forth upon his dragon, taking the liberty to torch a couple thatched roof cottages.

"Bar the Gates! Alert the King!" The guards cried out frantically. King Harkanian was alert about it at the sound of the first cry. He had been in his fireside room wishing his daughter would come home. Now he was relieved about the owl's news. He ran to the closest window and stared down at his kingdom with horror. A massive army was at the moat! The scene brightened as a dragon torched the armory, detonating the fifty barrels of gunpowder. Screams echoed up to the king's ears as his subjects tried to get to the safety of the castle. The guards at the castle gate stayed put.

"Guard!" He yelled.

"Yes my lord?"

"Allow the peasants into the castle! We'll squeeze them into the dungeons if we have to!"

"Yes sir!" The guard ran out the door to deliver the order. When the gate received the order, the peasants poured into the castle grounds.

"Everyone this way!" A guard yelled out, ushering the Hylian subjects into the long deserted dungeon.

— —

"Yaaahhhhh!" A guard at the drawbridge burst into a pillar of flame. The dragon whipped its head around and torched a couple more guards that were running for some crossbows.

"SURRENDER!" The Stal-King yelled at them.

"Fire!" The Stal-King snapped his head to the left to see a dozen archers releasing their arrows.

"Argh!" The dragon was able to dodge in time but still got three arrows in its side. With an angry roar, the dragon landed on a roof and torched the archers. The Stal-King jumped off the dragon and leapt up to the gate house.

"Aahh!" The terrified guard stabbed at him with a spear. The King glared at the guard before decapitating him with a swift horizontal slash. The skeleton walked up to the drawbridge and portcullis controls and found another guard with a sword.

"Hyah!" The guard drove his sword into the King's ribcage. With a deadly growl, the stalfos punched the guard with his Triforce enhanced fist, sending him through the wall into the gullet of a hungry Like Like. "Aah!" The king ignored the screams of the guard who was being eaten alive, and pulled on the drawbridge crankshaft. The drawbridge finally hit the ground with a clank and the evil army surged forward. A guard jabbed a moblin with a spear, killing it instantly. The moblin was quickly avenged when an Iron Knuckle chopped the poor guard in half. Lizalfos leaped up to the battlement and began swordplay with the surprised soldiers.

"Take thisss!" Sslivik the Lizalfos hissed as he ran a guard through. An arrow bounced off the stone wall, two inches from his head. When he looked in the archers direction, he found them slumped over the wall with arrows sticking out of them. Stalfos archers knocked their arrows again and shot at another group of hylians.

"To the castle!" The Stal-King roared. Fire keese swooped down, torching the rest of the thatched roofs. Sslivik saw a small peasant come running out of a burning house and run for the castle. Unable to resist, he sprinted after the peasant and jumped in front of it. He held his sword point two inches from the girl's face, for that's what she was. "Where do you thhhink you'rre going?" He hissed. The girl didn't say a word, but turned tail and fled toward the battle. Sslivik hissed angrily and gave pursuit. The girl dodged into an alleyway and found that a Like Like blocked her way. Sslivik approached from behind. "You'rre trapped! (Hiss) I can give you a quicker deathhh than that Like Like!"

"I won't be a trophy!" She snapped back at him before she dove into a burning building. Sslivik gaped as the building collapsed, crushing its new inhabitant. Whether she hoped to escape through the building or commit suicide, Sslivik never figured out.

The Stalfos King flew over the castle, his dragon torching the proud banners. King Harkanian ran down the twisting stairs of his watchtower as the dragon torched the spire. Reaching the ground floor, the out-of-breath king ran across the courtyard, only to find the doors slam shut. He slowly turned around to face the Stal-King, who jumped off his dragon and landed in front of Harkanian. The skeleton drew his sword and pointed it at the Hylian's defiant chest.

"The great King of Hyrule… But not for long! Surrender and I might let you live!"

"And just who the hell are you?" The Hylian roared back at him.

"Your worst nightmare…." The stalfos growled, moving the sword closer to the king.

"And what happens if I surrender?"

"If you're trying to save your pathetic country, don't even bother! With a sweep of my hand I could set the entire kingdom on fire! The only thing that will save your life…and your daughter's life is to surrender!" At the mention of Zelda, Harkanian put up his hands in defeat.