Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda -- the Stal-King was created by me.

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Chapter Ten
Ambush!

Link, Zelda, and Saria walked out of the forest and into the field. Saria stared at all the open space; it was like walking into the largest room you had ever seen. Black clouds covered the entire sky blotting out the sun.

"I never imagined it was this big! Though I did imagine it a bit brighter…"

"It normally is…" Link stared into the thundering clouds and was able to discern a flying shape.

"Hoo! Hoot!" An enormous owl landed on a tree branch in front of the travelers. "Hoo! I bring news!" Kaepora Gaebora, the wise owl, cried. "Kakariko has been attacked!" In an instant, Link jumped onto Epona and waited only for Saria and Zelda to get on. "Wait!" The owl watched the dust cloud from the galloping horse dissipate in the distance. He hooted sadly. "I didn't get the chance to tell them that they would run into a trap on that road!" Knowing that all chances of catching up were slim, the owl gave pursuit anyway.

Link pushed Epona to the limit as they galloped toward the pall of smoke in the distance. Zelda sat behind him, her arms wrapped around his waist, holding on for dear life. Saria, who had never been on a horse in her life, sat in front of Link, her small hands gripping the horse's mane. "Hyah! Hyah!" Epona ran faster, breaking her original speed record. As they rode over the hill, they could see a dragon hovering over Kakariko, sending the occasional fireball into the burning town.

Fffftt!

"Aaah!" An arrow slammed into Link's shoulder. Fffftt! Fffftt! Two more arrows hit Epona in the side, causing the wounded horse to topple over. Zelda got to her feet quickly and saw two Stalfos archers standing at the top of the bluff wall. Fffftt!

"Aaahh!" The arrow hit her in the wrist as she was reaching for her bow. She staggered back as agony screamed through her arm. Fffftt! "Aaahhh!" Another arrow hit her in the shoulder, knocking her to the ground.

Link's right leg was stuck underneath the horse; it felt like it was broken. Grimacing through the pain, he reached for his bow and pulled it out of his inventory bag. The sight of the laughing skeletons gleefully shooting his fiancée with two more arrows was too much. With an enraged yell, he yanked his broken leg out from under Epona and took aim with vengeance. Fffftt! The arrow hit the Stalfos' skull with so much force that it decapitated it. The other Stalfos glanced at its defeated companion and defiantly shot another arrow at Zelda, who was trying to get up.

Fffftt!

"Aaaahhhh!" Zelda screamed as the fifth arrow hit her in the back. Link blasted the last archer's head off and limped as fast as he could to her side.

"Oh man…" He tenderly felt her wounds. None of the arrows had hit anything vital, instead they had hit where it hurt the most. Those stalfos have a deadly aim! Link thought as he cradled Zelda in his arms. The princess did her best to try to accept the pain but didn't succeed. She buried her face into Link's tunic and sobbed.

"It'll be alright." Link choked out. Saria came around the bluff and the sight of the injured couple made her feel even more like a coward. She had run away as soon as the horse fell.

"They fell for the trap sire." A stalfos growled. The Stal-King nodded and turned to a Moblin who was carrying a black sphere.

"Very good, Moblak, set that on the pedestal over there." The Moblin grunted and hefted the heavy object onto the small raised surface at the center of the room. The Stal-King looked at the flawless obsidian ball with great interest. "Thank you, that will be all." The moblin grunted and moved off. "Stal'korsa, wait a moment." The stalfos stopped just as it reached the door.

"Yes sire?" The Stal-king beckoned him to stand by the sphere.

"Do you know what this is?"

"I don't have much interest in artifacts sire."

"Of course you don't. It seems I'm the only one who even remotely cares about the power of these things. So, I'm going to give you a little history lesson." He pointed around the room and the stalfos soldier became aware that the room was full of artifacts. "Every single piece here can do impressive things." He picked up a long device that looked like a staff. Pointing one end of the staff at the wall, a bright flash of light left a hole the size of a plate straight through the steel wall. The stalfos's jaw dropped, literally. After he picked his jaw up off the floor and reattached it, he looked at the sphere.

"What does this do?"

The king put his hand onto the sphere and concentrated. The smooth black surface became transparent and a scene played before the stalfos. They recognized Link immediately by his green tunic. He seemed to be cradling someone. The princess, the king realized, amused. A third person entered the picture at a reluctant pace. This third person was noticeably smaller and had green hair.

"Well, well, well…" He could clearly see that several arrows had hit Zelda but he still wasn't pleased by what he saw. "Those archers were supposed to incapacitate them and bring them to me alive! Obviously they weren't as skilled as I had hoped."

"Sire, look!" The stalfos pointed at something at the edge of the sphere's vision. It was a stalfos archer crouching low, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

"Hmm…" The Stal-King picked up another device and spoke into it. "Kill the sage, she's more dangerous alive!" The archer in the field jerked slightly as the King's voice reached his ears. "Kill the sage, the green haired girl!" The archer nodded and crept closer to the bluff cliff.

"Link! I'm sorry!" Saria began running toward the injured couple. Link was pulling the last arrow out of Zelda's back when he heard Saria's call.

Ffffttt!

"Aah!" Link's head snapped up at the sound and he watched horrified as Saria stared stupidly at the arrowhead sticking out of her chest. With a small whimper, Saria sank to her knees and fell forward, the shaft of the arrow embedded in her back.

"Noooo!" He ran to his best friend and picked up her already lifeless body. The stalfos archer, no longer in hiding, stood at the top of the cliff, laughing its skull off. "Why you!" Link pulled out his hookshot and pulled the doomed skeleton to him and furiously slashed it to powder. Zelda crawled over to Saria's corpse and pulled out a bottle. Opening the bottle over the body, Zelda dodged out of the way as the fairy began swirling around. Taking the hint, the fairy swirled around Saria, regenerating her wounds and incinerating the arrow. With a gasp, she opened her eyes as life pulsed in her veins once again.

"IDIOT!" The Stal-king screamed at the ball. In a rage, he picked up one of the lesser artifacts and slammed it into the wall, causing a small explosion. "What is it with sages anyway? Does fate make them invincible?"

"Uh, I don't know sire…"

"Shut up."

"Shutting up sire."