The ride back along the arid pine-lined road was easy, and Epona seemed happy to have a more solid road beneath her hooves after being ridden across the desert sands. Now that green was beginning to surround her a bit at a time, the horse's spirits seemed lifted, and when he took the time to rest her at a walk for a bit, she insisted on doing a jaunty trot that made him and Midna laugh.
He turned to the northeast, following a lesser-traveled road into Lower Lanayru, moving north and away from Lake Hylia. The road itself led into more pine forests and a small logging town, the residents looking at him not with curiosity, but bland acceptance. He could soon see why; at the northern edge of the little village was a collection of carts, horses and people clustered around them in a makeshift camp. They were Hylians like the citizens of the village, but they had come from somewhere else. It gave him hope that Central Hyrule hadn't been completely overrun, and that some people managed to escape.
The forest ended abruptly and met with vineyards, rows of grapes that stretched over the hills, the borders of estates marked with rows of poplars or low stone walls. The vineyards had been left alone by the Bulbins, which made sense. The creatures may not drink wine at all, so they wouldn't know the fruit's value. Grapes did not travel well, and Lower Lanayru was wine country; the grapes grown here were for wine and grappa, and not for eating. Closer to the valley to the west he knew that there were orchards of tangerines and limes, his boring studies on agriculture and economics that his parents had forced upon him resurfacing as memories.
The smaller road merged with the main road not too far ahead, a few travelers with carts heading south, paying him no mind. Once they had reached the long stretch of open grass next to the main road that headed north towards Castle Town, he spotted a large lone ash tree that stood tall and spread its branches wide next to a few shorter weeping willows that crowded a small pond. This was where he directed Epona off the road, and dismounted.
"Why are we stopping? It's still morning." Midna asked, forming out of his body's shadows to hover next to him. "Call of nature?"
"No, we're stopping for Epona. She needs a drink anyway, but what she really needs is to be on grass again." He led the mare over to the pond so she could drink. "The desert was very hard on her, and I feel pretty awful about it. I love this horse and I've been treating her badly."
"I wouldn't say that you were treating her badly, just that she had to travel somewhere that was difficult." The Twili came over and patted the mare's neck as she drank. "Horses really do need a lot of care though, don't they? I used to think they were just this thing that people rode around, but Epona changed that impression for me. You do a lot for her."
"I do spoil her a bit. I try to give her lots of attention, since she's all that I have left from my family. That and this necklace I'm wearing under my clothes." He began to remove the reins and the horse's saddle as she drank, and the mare raised her head to fix one brown eye on him once he was done. He smiled and patted her flank once he had set the saddle and its blanket it down on the grass. "Go ahead."
Epona's ears tilted towards him as he spoke, and she began to slowly wander, pulling up mouthfuls of green grass enthusiastically. It had been a while since she had been able to graze, and she was thoroughly enjoying herself. Before long, the large mare was rolling in the field, kicking her feet in the air. Link and Midna sat on the grass nearby, not retreating to the shade of the ash just yet. The morning wasn't too hot, and being in Hyrulean summer weather was a lot more pleasant than being in Gerudo summer weather.
"She really does seem happy." Midna was smiling as she watched the warhorse roll and bounce around like a filly. "I can't complain about sitting somewhere surrounded by grass and wildflowers, either."
"Same. A good Ordon boy like me needs some green around him." He lay down on his cloak, having spread it out after removing his gear, which sat in a pile next to him. It was probably fine to stop for a while, since that army in Central Hyrule was not going anywhere. He only hoped that they hadn't started to attack the walls while he was gone, although that probably didn't matter so much. If there was a siege, the heavy walls surrounding Castle Town were designed to withstand attacks.
Midna came to lay next to him, the two of them stretched out with their feet facing south and towards Lake Hylia. After looking at the puffy clouds above for a few minutes, she spoke. "Are there really floating islands here in Hyrule?"
"I've only seen them occasionally, but yeah, there are." His eyes scanned the brilliant blue of the summer sky in-between the clouds, and he saw a landmass floating far above to the south, closer to the lake. "See that one there?" he asked, pointing at the island that was hazy and pale in the humidity rising off Lake Hylia.
She sat up and lifted her helmet slightly so she could look with both eyes. "Huh, then it's like the Twilight Realm after all. Does anybody live up there?"
"I have no idea. I guess anything's possible."
"My home in the Twilight Realm is all floating islands like that, and many of them are joined together by bridges. They're also pretty large, holding entire towns on some of them." She smiled and stretched back out, tucking her little hands behind her head. "Our islands have all the same things that you have in Hyrule: buildings, lakes, farms, forests, even some animals. It rains there, and sometimes we get thunderstorms, just like here. It's never too hot or cold…" she trailed off. "No, it wasn't ever too hot or cold. When I left, the Twilight there was just as cold as the Twilight here. I mean Zant's disgusting amber Twilight, not the natural environment we Twili live in."
Midna sighed and rolled over onto her side, putting a hand on his arm. "Our Twilight is beautiful and calm. I want to show it to you, Link. I want you to meet my friends, to show you my home just like I saw yours, and let you see how my people live." When he turned his head towards her he saw that she was smiling at him, but her smile faded immediately as she had a thought. "We would be there right now, if Zant hadn't tried to destroy the mirror."
"We should be glad he wasn't able to destroy it." he said. "That would have made things very difficult."
She made a small noise in agreement, but didn't say anything in response as she rolled onto her back to gaze at the sky again. He watched her, and considered something he had been wondering about. "I have some questions about your title, and that talking Shadow Beast."
"I don't want to answer questions about my title. I hate my title. And you hate being the Hero of Hyrule, so you should understand." Her tone clearly said she didn't want to talk about it. "But I can tell you about the talking Shadow Beast. He was a templar, and he worked at the Palace of Twilight just like knights like your father worked at Hyrule Castle. Some of them helped Zant in the coup, and their reward was to be turned into that. It may have magnified their magical power or something, but they're no longer human in the end anyway." She fell silent and stared at the sky, through with her explanation. He decided not to ask anything else on the subject, even though he was curious what the Lady of Shadows actually was. After a minute, she spoke again. "Link?"
"Hmm?"
"What was Auren's offer? She didn't ask to marry you, did she?" That meant she had heard what Auren had said, even though she had said it quietly.
"She did, but I turned her down. That wasn't what she was offering, though." It would have been an awkward subject to discuss if it was anyone else, but this was Midna. Besides, his visit to the desert made him feel slightly less like a prude. "She wanted me to father her children, regardless of how things went with Ilia."
Midna sighed. "Oh, that fool. I told her you wouldn't be interested in anything."
"Still, I gave it some consideration." he said quietly. "I was surprised at myself, and felt guilty but...I find her very attractive. I had told her no, but when she kissed me, I seriously reconsidered it." He gave a small chuckle. "I admit to enjoying it."
"You were doing more than enjoying that, buddy." She giggled and gave his arm a nudge with her own. "I was there for it. That kiss wasn't one-sided."
He felt his face turn hot at that, both from embarrassment and from guilt. Of course she was right there to see what had happened, but he was too distracted at the time to pay much attention to her, even when she made comments after. He had kissed Auren back, not really thinking about what he was doing, only reacting. "Yeah, okay. I admit it. I'm feeling guilty about it, all right? I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it, but…"
"But you're a good boy that's had his eyes and heart set on Ilia for years." Midna said, no longer giggling at him.
"Yeah. So I told Auren no. Besides I've uh...never done that kind of thing before, so I'd probably screw something up and embarrass myself." Not that he thought Auren would laugh at him, but sex was still intimidating.
"It's all right. Everybody bumbles into it feeling that way, but it's really not so bad." She stared at the clouds above, her red eye distant. "Well, most people. I went in knowing exactly what I was doing. I was angry about something in my life, and I used a friend. He certainly didn't mind, but...it was petty on my part. My father was furious." Midna looked ashamed. "That was my goal, though. I was punishing him for something."
"How old were you?" He knew that she was now nineteen, turning twenty in a few months.
"Sixteen. It was a stupid mistake, done for stupid reasons." Her voice grew quiet, barely above a whisper. "I was a terrible daughter."
He sat up to look at her. "Midna…"
"No, never mind. I don't want to talk about it." She continued to look up at the sky. "Let's enjoy what's happening around us right now, and not worry about things in the past."
He nodded, deciding to let the subject drop, and lay back down. She had just revealed something very personal to him, something from her life that she probably hadn't told many people. Since she was willing to share that much with him, he felt glad to know something else about her. He stared up at the sky with her, neither one talking. The sun was pleasantly warm, the thick puffs of clouds occasionally casting them into cool shadow. It was a pleasant morning, and he found himself relaxed now that he was surrounded by the sights and smells of home.
He didn't realize he had fallen asleep until Epona put her heavy head on his legs. He grunted at the weight and lifted his head to see that the horse had lay down right next to him, and apparently wanted a cuddle. He had always suspected that Epona would climb into his lap if it were possible, and here she was trying to anyway.
"She was over there resting in the shade for a while, but had to come back to you eventually." Midna said, seated on the grass while reading a book. There were a few woven flower crowns made of black-eyed susans and dandelions scattered nearby. The Twili had been making flower crowns, of all things. There had to be wildflowers in the Twilight Realm too, because he didn't show her how to do that.
Link sat up the best that he could with a horse's head on his legs and patted the mare on her neck. Epona exhaled a breath happily, tilting one ear back. "How long was I asleep?" he asked, looking up at the sky. The sun was much higher than it was before, and had moved farther west. It was afternoon.
"I don't know, a few hours? I didn't keep track." She set aside her book, picked up one of the flower crowns that were laying nearby, and floated up to him to deposit it on his head. "Hmm, yes. Looks good." she said with a satisfied nod. Did she specifically make them to put one on his head? Weird. "You rode all night so I decided to let you and Epona sleep."
The chestnut mare fixed one long-lashed eye on him, fully content to keep her heavy head on his lap. He probably wouldn't have minded as much if she wasn't pressing down on his wounded leg. He rubbed at his face, wondering if he should tolerate it to let the horse have her way for a little longer, and his skin felt a bit sore to the touch. "Midna, am I turning pink?"
"What, do you mean sunburn? Yeah, looks like it. Your nose and beneath your eyes." She giggled at him. "You were in the desert for a week, yet you come back to Hyrule and get sunburned within a few hours. Way to go."
He shot her a grumpy look but didn't say anything in response, and instead focused his attention on his horse. "All right girl, that's enough. Get up." Epona sighed and continued to look at him happily with her eyes half-closed, but did not move.
"What do you do when horse decides to sit on you?" Midna asked, returning to her book.
Link turned his head to look at his pile of gear, and knew that there was no way he could reach anything but the Master Sword from where he was. "Bribery. Will you go into the saddle bag and pull out one of the apples?"
"I see where this is going." The imp did as she was asked, retrieving a withered-looking apple. "You want me to make her stand up, right?"
"No, she's fine resting where she is. I want you to give me that apple so I can make her move her head." He held out his hand to her. "I'd let you feed her, but your hands are awfully small and I don't want her to accidentally bite you."
"Oh." Midna seemed disappointed, and put the apple into his hand. As she did so, the mare's eyes opened all the way.
"That got your attention, didn't it?" He held up the apple where Epona could clearly see it. "Want a treat?"
The mare lifted her head and turned it towards him, or more specifically towards the apple. Link yanked his legs back immediately, and then once he was free he gave the horse her treat. He decided that he should probably eat something as well, so he went into his satchel and pulled out some Gerudo soda bread and a fig. Bread and fruit. Life never changes.
Before long both Link and his horse had their gear back on, and were on their way headed north along the road that ran through Lower Lanayru. Since he had been riding with his hood down, he dug out the long green hat and put it back on. He hadn't been wearing it much in the past week, but now that he was back in Hyrule it felt fitting to have it on his head again. Because of that unexpected nap he estimated that he would get to Castle Town sometime around dusk, so he would probably still be able to make it in before they closed the gates for the night. He decided it was fine to let the horse canter again in an attempt to make up lost time, and he passed more travelers on the road.
They were not merchants, or mail coaches, or even Goron caravans. The people he passed were ordinary Hylians piled into wagons, hanging off of carriages, pushing wheelbarrows full of possessions or simply walking while carrying a bundle of them on their backs. At first he only encountered a few at a time, but then it became a steady stream of people headed south. He could catch glimpses of their bleak faces as he rode past, and it was then he knew that something was wrong.
At first he thought it was people leaving with an army camped at their front doorstep, taking their chances out in the open fields of Hyrule now that the Bulbins were concentrated in one spot. As he slowly rode around a bend and Hyrule Castle and Castle Town came into view, he could see that he had it all wrong.
Hyrule Castle was encased in a golden barrier, cutting it off from the town.
"Why?" Midna asked, still hiding within his shadows. "It doesn't make sense that Zant would do that when he's had the army there for weeks."
"It's not Zant." Link said grimly. "It's Ganondorf. He must be in the castle now, sitting comfy while he has an army gathered just south of where he is. That's what Zant was doing for him, and why he didn't attack for weeks. He was making an army for Ganondorf, an army of shadow monsters that don't need to eat or rest, and blindly follow orders." He felt his heart sink as he said it. "That's why the Bulbins gathered up and transformed people. It was all for Ganondorf."
"Zant gets the Twilight Realm, and Ganondorf gets Hyrule." She was quiet, probably staring at the barrier just like he was. "Link, are there other nations near Hyrule that Ganondorf can use that army to invade?"
"Holodrum, although there's not much there other than Gorons. Labrynna is east across the ocean, and then there are the Free Lands to the northeast, and the Hamar Tundra past that." He frowned. "If that's what he's planning on doing, then why sit in the castle hiding behind a magical barrier?"
"Do you think he's going to invade Castle Town and turn them into Shadow Beasts as well?" Midna asked, sounding concerned.
"I hope not, there's-" He stopped in mid-sentence as something dawned on him. "No. I'm wrong. That's not it at all. He doesn't want to invade other lands, at least not right now. Don't you remember how the Sages were afraid of him? Ganondorf wants revenge against the people who sent him to the Arbiter's Grounds for execution." His eyes widened in horror as he finally understood. "It's the Hylians, Midna! He wants the Hylians of Castle Town!"
"What?!" she cried in alarm. "That's his goal?"
Link did not answer and sent Epona into a gallop, his heart twisting in his chest with fear and worry.
There were more people on the road as he thundered past, the trickle of refugees fleeing Castle Town turning into a flood. Men, women, children, elderly, young, people on horses and mules, people on foot. Too many people to count, hundreds of them passing him by as he rode. Some of them called out to the man foolish enough to be riding towards the town, but he ignored them. He needed to get to Telma and Shad.
He reached the gates earlier than originally planned, about an hour and a half before sunset. Epona wasn't able to gallop the entire way, even though she had gone the same distance at a hard run in Eldin while he chased the Bulbin that had stolen Colin. The horse was still tired from her overnight run through the desert. People filtered through the gate in groups, being directed to keep moving and not shove by a pair of guards with halberds. One of them watched him as he rode up in a hurry, and did not stop him when he gradually pushed Epona past the people who were fleeing.
"Whatever you're here for, you'll want to make it quick." the man said as Link approached. "There's no official order, but some people aren't waiting around to find out why there's that thing around the castle."
"I know why it's there, and it's nothing good." He nodded at the man as he passed. "Keep getting people out of here."
He saw the man's expression change as he spoke, and there was recognition in the man's eyes. "You're him…" But then Link was past him, continuing on. The guard called out to him. "Hero, what can you do? "
There was a startled chattering among the refugees exiting the city, and dozens of eyes were on him. It didn't matter; this time, he wanted to be visible. He looked over his shoulder at the guard and did not slow. "Whatever I can."
Word of who he was moved faster than his horse through the crowd, and that's probably why another guard halted the flow of people long enough to admit him to the city. He made eye contact with the man and recognized him, although the last time he had seen him, the guard had been at the eastern gate. It was the same man that had attempted to bully him just outside of the town, the man that wound up sitting on his rear in the road with his spear in the moat. At least this time, he was clean-shaven. The man's eyes widened when he realized who he had mistaken for a rich man's spoiled son.
"Thanks." was all Link said to him as he rode past, since the guard did create a path for him to enter the west gate.
"Wait!" the man called after him, and Link waited patiently at the side of the street just past the drawbridge mechanism, not far from where he had found Ilia's purse weeks ago. "I wanted to say I'm sorry." the guard apologized once he had caught up.
Link shook his head, not really concerned with the large man's apology. "Don't worry about it. How many people are leaving? I've seen maybe a few thousand as I rode up through Lanayru."
"Maybe about four, five thousand...almost all out this gate, headed to Lakeside and the shores of Lake Hylia. I'd say perhaps another two thousand have left over the past few days, before that yellow thing appeared around the castle. General Scot gave us watchmen orders to tell people to stay in their homes and prepare for a siege." The burly guard gripped his halberd grimly. At some point he had either retrieved it or obtained a new one. "He wanted us to keep everyone here, but a few of us decided to ignore his orders and help those who wanted to leave before any battles began. We had this feeling in our guts that we should, you know? So we've been spreading the word that if you want to leave Castle Town, you can go to the west gate."
"Only about seven thousand people out of about ninety-thousand have left so far?" It was not a high number, by comparison. "Listen, try to get people to go out east to Eldin too. I know there are no towns there, but people need to get away from the city. It doesn't matter where they go, as long as it's not here." He decided he would have to talk to this General Scot, who was a bit of a bonehead from what Zelda and Shad had been saying. "I'm glad you went with your gut instead of following an order that didn't make sense. See if you can keep doing that and convince the rest of the watch to get more people out of the city. I'll go talk to the military to get them to help."
"He's not going to listen to you. General Scot is a self-important bastard." the large watchman warned him. "He'll take one look at you and treat you like I did. Which again, I'm sorry for. I was hung over...or maybe still a bit drunk." he admitted.
"I'll force him to listen. I know what his orders were, that Princess Zelda ordered Scot to delay the enemy army so all the citizens could escape. I don't take the man's disregard for his orders lightly." He looked up at the sky and could just barely see the golden shape of the barrier to his left. "Do what you can and get people out, and send them both east and west."
He continued on, leaving the guard behind him. He wasn't sure if it was the demeaning disarming that made the man change his attitude or the serious situation in the town, but it didn't matter. The large guard did seem to be a good man at heart, and if he was hung over then Link probably caught him on a bad day. It was a good thing that he didn't actually fight him, then.
As he made his way to the fountain plaza not too far south of the massive gate that led to the castle grounds, he could hear the sound of an alarm bell behind him, and faint shouting. Good. Even if it was only three guards on his side, that was better than none. A number of the city watch passed him at a run, carrying their spears at their sides instead of on their shoulders as they responded to the alarm. He began with only three, but it was looking as if there could be more.
The fountain square wasn't quite as busy, but there were still people about. The cafes and businesses there that catered to the nobles of the town were still open with clients coming and going. One particular shop had a thin man with a thin mustache out in front of it, calling out about a sale "before the siege". As if that wasn't stupid enough, a pair of women in layered, frilly dresses and parasols went into the shop as he rode by. While he was technically a noble himself, he was finding he did not care for the nobility and their frivolity. He was supposed to help everyone, even the people he did not like, but it was difficult.
The bazaar had far more activity, people spending what they had left of their rupees to stock up on whatever goods they could before holing up in their homes. With the king dead and Zelda indisposed, the only orders being issued in a while were being followed by the citizens without question.
"They really are acting like there's going to be a siege, even though the army south of here has to be pretty big by now." Midna said in his ears.
"Nobody's been giving anyone orders for weeks, and the city has been more or less left to fend for itself. Remember how it was here when there was not much water to go around? It was chaos. Now that General Scot stepped up and issued commands for the citizens to follow, they're happy to listen." He frowned at the people who were frantically trying to push their way towards carts of sad-looking produce. "People want to be told what to do. Scot is giving them a sense of security, but it's a false one."
"Here's hoping you can give them a real one." she said.
He could only manage to do that if he was successful, which he was unsure of. He was only one person with very few resources. "I can only give them what I am."
Much of the merchant's quarter was packing up to leave. Telma had told him that many of the members of her group were merchants and craftsmen, and the area of Castle Town surrounding her pub was full of them. When he hitched Epona to a post outside the chandler's shop, there was very little room to do so; there was a group of wagons with mules parked in front of the shop, and one familiar wagon with two draft horses.
"Are you heading to the pub?" a thin, rawboned man asked as he placed a square bundle tied with twine into the back of one of the carts, this one led by a single horse. "She isn't open for business, you know. One of these wagons is hers."
"I know. I recognized her wagon and horses. I came here to make Telma leave town, not sit around and drink in her pub."
"Good lad." the chandler said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a ring of jingling keys. "But you don't need to worry about her. She's been telling us pack up as soon as that big gold thing appeared around the castle. Even if she wasn't, I had no plans on listening to the idiot general that thinks he's in charge." General Scot did not seem to be popular, even if most of the town was listening to his orders.
"Why do people dislike General Scot? The city watch didn't seem to like him, and I know a couple of people that work in the castle that aren't crazy about him either." He peered into the nearby mule carts. They were full of food and casks of ale and wine.
The chandler grunted sourly, stepping up to the door of his shop and inserting a key into the lock to secure it. "You really are from Ordon, aren't you? Then you wouldn't know." This man knew who he was too. Word had gotten around while he was gone. "If you want to know, ask Telma. I'm leaving. I suggest you hurry up and do the same, no matter who you are. That big monster army isn't going to be impressed with your magic sword." The man turned and climbed up into the seat of his cart and shook the reins, leaving Link behind.
"More people know who you are." Midna commented from within his shadows.
"I told you it was bound to happen sooner or later. I guess gossip flies in bad times." He passed through the alleyway, its rain barrels gone. The fleeing merchants even took their water with them. "And since bad times are about, people are looking for hope: me." He sighed. "I hope I can live up to their expectations."
The pub was nearly empty and dim, with only two lanterns lit in the entire room. One sat on a table that had a group of six men that were eating, and the other's handle grasped by the pub's owner. Telma stood next to the table speaking to one of the men seated there, and she stopped in mid-sentence to turn her head towards him when he entered.
"Hey, there's our hero." one of the men said, raising his tankard in a mock toast.
Link frowned at the man, and then fixed his eyes on Telma. "What have you been telling them?"
"Nothing." she said, placing her free hand on her hip. "Gossip and news travel fast in a city under pressure. People know that a young man in green pulled out a legendary sword, and had helped the other races of Hyrule. I think now they're hoping that hero will help his own people." She smirked. "And perhaps a few times in the past week, a certain young scholar drank too much and babbled about what you were doing."
He sighed and covered his face with a hand. "Ashei can't give Shad that black eye, because I'm going to do it first." The men at the table laughed, even though he had said it out of frustration and hadn't necessarily meant it as a joke. Mum's the word, indeed. Stupid Shad. "What are you even doing here?" he asked, lowering his hand to look at the group of men. They were dressed in similar clothes with knee-high boots, cloaks and cudgels at their waists, but they did not look like workmen or craftsmen. "Can't you see what's happening out side?"
"We're not blind, son." the one who had raised his drink said. "We're here to help Telma."
The other men nodded and murmured in agreement, and Telma stepped towards Link. "They're teamsters, and I'm feeding them before we leave. We're heading to Kakariko, since we know it's safe there, and Renado will be happy to have more food for the kids." She frowned, shaking her head slightly. "I had considered leaving a few days ago, with no word from you and with that army to the south growing by the minute, but I knew that I had to stay to help certain people. Now there's that yellow thing surrounding the castle, with Zelda trapped inside, I know it's not safe here anymore." She gave him a small smile, but it wasn't an authentic one. Even Telma was subdued. "At least you're here now. Have you eaten? I know you were on the road."
"I didn't exactly eat right today, no." He did not want to admit to her that once again he was eating bread and fruit. She'd give him an earful if she knew.
The tall woman clicked her tongue in disappointment. "Link! We've talked about this. All right, head into the back. Some of the others are there right now and you'll want to talk to them. I'll bring you something." She took her lantern and walked into the kitchen, leaving him standing there next to the table full of teamsters.
He turned his head to the group of them, and they all had their eyes on him, quietly chewing or drinking. It did seem like they were trying to eat quickly, so they knew how serious the situation was. "Thanks for helping Telma." The men responded with a chorus of "you're welcome", and Link left them to their meal, walking to the bi-fold door and entering the room in the back.
Another lantern sat on the table to shed paltry light instead of the usual lamps along the walls. Shad was there looking at what looked like a map of Castle Town on the table, and another man in leather armor was leaning over it tapping at something with a finger. The man raised his eyes to see who had entered the room, and his face broke into a look of surprise and joy.
"Link!" Rusl stood and hurried around the table to his adoptive son, and caught him in a rough hug that aggravated Link's bruises. "I've heard so much about what you've been doing!" Rusl stood back smiling, holding the younger man at arm's length. "I should have known that Gwyn's son would have risen to greatness."
He was just as surprised to see Rusl there as the man was to see him. "That's the first time I've ever heard you use my father's name. I thought you were friends with my mother."
"I was friends with both of them, although I befriended Sami first. Only Bo and I knew the truth about you, and Uli knows some of it. We kept everything about you a secret, so the people of Ordon wouldn't fear soldiers coming to the village looking for you." The man's smile faded. "I'm sorry about that. I wanted to talk to you about it after you had returned from delivering the sword…" He shook his head. "In any case, I knew you were Gwyn's son, and since you were the son of a knight I wanted you to continue your training with the sword and bow. I felt that sooner or later you would grow up and prove yourself." Rusl's smile was warm. "It seems that you've gone above and beyond when doing that. I'm proud of you."
He thought of what Uli had told him, that she and Rusl knew that he would become the next hero. The man hadn't mentioned any of that right now, only that he knew that Link would have eventually become a knight one day. Even if Rusl was hiding that fact from him for the moment, his words nearly overwhelmed Link. After everything that had happened in the desert, he felt he needed something familiar for comfort, and here he was standing before him. Link opened his mouth, wanting to tell him of everything that had happened and how he had nearly died, but struggling to find the words.
"Are you all right?" Rusl asked, his smile fading.
Telma came into the room, oblivious to what was happening. She set down a bowl of stew on the table in front of one of the chairs and a mug of something next to it. "It's left over from last night, but I wasn't going to cook anything else. Cucco stew." She shook a finger at him. "Don't you dare pay for it this time!"
Link cleared his throat, letting the moment between him and Rusl pass, deciding he would talk to him about it another time. There were far more important things for him to worry about right now. "Just this once, due to the circumstances. But after this, I'll keep paying you as long as you keep feeding me." he said, sitting down and picking up the spoon.
The woman grunted. "I'm not going to argue with a stubborn young man like you. Eat up." She didn't need to tell him that, because he immediately began shoveling stew into his mouth. Telma chuckled. "You eat like a bricklayer and not the skinny boy you are."
"'m not skinny." he mumbled around a mouthful of stew.
"He's always had a big appetite." Rusl said with a smile.
"You still need to explain why you didn't tell me that you were his stepfather. All you ever told me was that you only had one son." The woman poked Rusl in the center of his chest. "Friends don't hide things like that from one another, Rusl. But we'll talk about it another time. Link, why isn't Auru with you? I thought you'd bring him back here."
"He wanted to stay with his family in the desert a bit longer. Something happened and both he and Hida thought that their daughter had died, so I can understand wanting to stay." He took a drink, and found it was the same cider he had the first night he had wandered in to find Ilia.
Shad looked up from what he was doing suddenly to stare at Link in alarm. "Auren? Is she all right?"
"She's fine. In fact, we both were fine. We were trapped in a burning building without Midna there, but I got us out." He paused halfway to putting another spoonful of stew into his mouth. "We can talk about that later. We have more important things to discuss. Where's Ashei?"
"She's at one of the towers by the main gate." Shad said. "I gave her my spyglass and she's been watching the army for the past few hours."
"She went there to watch the army right after that golden barrier appeared around the castle." Rusl added, leaning on the table with both hands. "As soon as that happened, we all knew something was up."
"Somebody with powerful magic cast it...most likely Zant. I'm cut off from the castle due to that barrier, and my own magical skills are so limited I don't stand a chance of getting through it." The scholar waved a hand at what looked like evacuation plans. "Zelda can't speak to me anymore, but I do know that she wanted to evacuate the people of Castle Town. Unfortunately General Scot decided not to listen to that order and take things into his own hands. The entire Hyrulean army is within the outer walls, just south of Castle Town." Shad scowled angrily. "That damned Scot...he told all the people to stay in their homes, like there's going to be a siege. Shadow Beasts don't use battering rams and trebuchets!"
"I think I'm starting to see why people don't like him. I spoke to both a city guard and the chandler from upstairs, and they didn't have flattering things to say." He was feeling grateful for the stew that Telma had brought him. The stressful situation would have soured his empty stomach before long. "I'm going to guess there are other reasons why the guy is not too popular."
"You don't know?" Shad asked, still angry, although that anger was not directed at Link. "Let me put it this way: the good knights and soldiers abandoned their posts when they did not want to participate in the magic purge. What kind of men do you think remained behind, that were promoted to fill those vacancies?"
Link gawped at him, surprised at his own self for never making that connection. Of course the bastards that went and rounded up innocents would be promoted. For all he knew, Scot could have been one of the men at Kasuto, or one that brought the prisoners to the Arbiter's Grounds.
"When we have less pressing matters, you and I will discuss it. I have records. You know why I started to work at the castle." Shad said quietly, anger still behind his blue eyes. He had personal stock in what had happened, and he knew some things about Scot and other men that Link did not. "I'm more concerned with the barrier that Zant cast right now, and getting people away from it."
"Zant didn't cast that barrier. Ganondorf did." He felt their eyes on him as the three of them stared in stunned silence, and he finished up his stew, scraping the spoon on the bottom of the bowl. "I take it from your silence you don't believe me."
"We have no choice but to believe you, honey. You wouldn't lie about that." The tall woman sighed. "You found out something terrible in the Twilight Realm, didn't you?"
"We never got there, since something else came up." He pushed back his empty bowl, satisfied with the meal, but not satisfied with the subject of the discussion. "Auru brought me to meet the Sages, and they explained what happened. Zant invaded Hyrule not to rule it for himself, but to prepare it for Ganondorf. In exchange, Zant would gain a fraction of Ganondorf's power and continue to rule the Twilight Realm. Ganondorf's execution was botched, and he used his power to kill a Sage and attack the king. The leader of the Sages used the Mirror of Twilight as a last-ditch effort to imprison him in the Twilight Realm and prevent him from killing King Nathaniel and the rest of the Sages."
Link paused, looking between the three of them, but there were no doubts on their faces. They were listening to him intently. "Ganondorf has the same golden power as Zelda and I do, but his is different. Each piece of the Triforce has different abilities, and the Triforce of Power makes Ganondorf practically immortal, and his abilities grew stronger while he was in the Twilight Realm. Now he's taken over the castle as the new king, and is looking to exact revenge on the Hylians, the people who captured him and led to his imprisonment." He reached up to brush one of his ears with his fingers. "Anyone with pointed ears is in serious danger. Castle Town has the highest population of Hylians in Hyrule, and the biggest concentration of them. That army outside is either there to kill all the people in town, or to transform them into Shadow Beasts."
Shad looked terrified, understanding the situation far better than Telma and Rusl did. He knew what the Triforce was and how it worked, and the idea that Ganondorf was alive with Power at his disposal probably made the scholar just as frightened as Link was. "We'll get through this." Link told him kindly. "Tell me what your plans are so far."
Rusl pulled a second map of the kingdom out from beneath the one of the city, and oriented it so Link could see it better. "I just came from Kakariko yesterday, and saw my son." He smiled. "Who is doing well, thanks to you. I heard how you saved him. Anyway, the roads going through both the Eldin plains and over Kakariko Gorge to Central Hyrule were clear. I didn't see a soul going either way, outside of a few Goron merchants in Eldin."
"Most of the people leaving the city are going out through the western gate, very likely going to the logging villages north of Lake Hylia where they can hide in the forest, or maybe down to Lakeside." Shad said, having recovered his composure. "We had planned to lead people to Kakariko, since it's in a defensible canyon within close proximity to our Goron allies."
"I think that's a good idea, except for one problem: they have limited food in Kakariko. I've been there and back many times in the past few weeks, and I can tell you that the town is not self-sufficient. They can only grow so much produce where they are in Eldin and rely on imports from Central Hyrule and Ordon. There's food there, but certainly not enough for thousands of refugees." His blue eyes swept over the map, and they fell on his home of Ordon. He knew what the solution was, even if it was out of the way. "Three things will need to be done; one, a group must be led to Kakariko, and I volunteer to do that. Two, another group should be taken south into Faron and perhaps into Ordon, where they'll be safer than they would be in Hyrule. There's plenty of food and space, and I know the Ordonians would not turn away people in need. It's a long trip on foot, but it's probably the best solution outside of Kakariko. Rusl, will you escort that group there?"
"Of course." The blacksmith gave a short laugh. "I admit I'm disappointed to leave so soon. I finally get to see you again only to have us be separated immediately, but we can catch up with one another eventually."
"I know how you feel, but what needs to happen is bigger than our family or our feelings. We'll have plenty of time to talk about things soon." Link tapped the map at western Eldin, at the small labeled dot that indicated where the Goron supply depot was. "The third thing we need to do is talk to the Gorons here. I know the two Gorons in charge, and I'm sure they'll be willing to hear me out. We'll need Goron merchants to travel into Central Hyrule to bring what food they can to Kakariko. The last time I rode through there, there were farms with their produce just sitting there in the fields, and the abandoned villages will likely have dry goods like flour or beans."
"I can confirm that. While some of the farms were pillaged by the Bulbins, others still had plenty of things like squash or potatoes." Rusl said. "There should be enough food to go around. Getting to it is the tough part, and I agree that the Gorons are best suited for the job."
Link nodded at him. "For the most part, Shadow Beasts won't transform Gorons, and the Bulbins leave them alone. If you've ever seen a Goron fight, you'd understand why." He looked between the three of them. "I think the most important thing is to try to cluster people in the areas near the Light Spirits; that is, near the four springs: Lakeside, Kakariko, Central Faron, and Ordon. They should protect the Hylians for now, until I can think of a way to get into the castle."
"What will you do in the castle?" Shad asked with a faint frown. "Rescue Zelda?"
"I'll kill Ganondorf." he said simply, as if it was a simple task. "The Sages failed to kill him because they didn't have the legendary blade that can seal all and any evil. I do. The Ancient Hero used the Master Sword to defeat a demon and seal it away, so it must be good enough to kill or at least seal a Gerudo with a piece of the Triforce."
Affirmative. The sword hadn't spoken to him much since he had been poisoned, and he had barely felt its touch on his mind. It was still recovering, just like he was.
Link stood, pushing the chair out behind him as he did so with a scraping sound. "If Ganondorf and Zant are dead, then the curse on the people turned into Shadow Beasts ought to lift and they'll become human again. The army will be reduced to only the Bulbins, and Hyrule still has enough warriors to take them on if this turns into a true war. Until then, our first priority is to keep people safe."
"There are still quite a few people that know me around town." Rusl said. "I'll go to the livery where I boarded my horse and start trying to get people out."
"Right. I'll go down to where Ashei is and see if she's willing to pester the army with me. Maybe the children of two knights might have some pull with Scot, who knows." He turned to Telma. "You can leave as soon as you're ready. You've already done more than enough…" he grew quiet when he saw the look on her face, a look of fright that hadn't gone away once he explained what was in store for the people of Castle Town. "Telma?"
She opened her mouth, trying to smile but not able to. "I...I'm sorry. Normally I'm not afraid of anything, but everything's been turned on its head. I thought we had everything planned, but.." She wrung her hands in front of her, terrified in a way he had not seen in her before. Telma had always been a headstrong, brave woman. It hurt to see his friend frightened this way. "I'm sorry." she said weakly, repeating herself.
He stepped towards her and gently put his arms around her. "Don't apologize for being afraid. We all are." She returned the hug, her arms holding on tightly as if he was currently the only thing keeping her sane. He hoped he wasn't; he had wanted to come to Telma for strength, not the other way around. "It's all right. Just concentrate on what you need to do. Close up your bar and go with the teamsters. I'll meet you at the Goron depot sometime tonight, and bring Ashei with me."
Telma sighed and let him go, stepping back to put a hand to the side of his face with a sad smile. She didn't say anything, only patted his cheek, and then turned and left the room. He understood how she felt; she was like him, a figurehead, someone that others had turned to for hope and strength. He knew that she understood that, and hoped that she would recover before too long.
He gave Shad a nod. "Go with Telma. Leave the rest to me, Rusl and Ashei." The scholar returned the nod grimly, and Link turned and left him with his maps, hearing Rusl's booted footfalls behind him. There was no sign of Telma in the main room of the pub, but the group of six men were standing up to leave, their plates cleared away. He approached them and their eyes all turned towards him. Every man there was older and taller than he was, yet they were looking to him because he was the hero. "Please take care of her, all right?" he asked them quietly, so the bartender couldn't hear him.
"Of course." one of the men said, the same one who had spoken to him before. The man must have been the leader of their group. "Please take care of Castle Town, all right?"
Link did not smile nor joke, not like he normally would. He kept his expression neutral. "I'll do whatever I can." He then turned and strode out of the pub, his mind already on what needed to be done next.
Rusl hurried and fell in step with him once the two men had reached the alleyway. "They can't see how scared you are, but I can. It's all right, you don't need to hide it."
"No, I do. I need to be the one thing that doesn't fail them. This was why I was born, Rusl. This is the hero's purpose, my purpose. I need to do what's expected of me and help these people." He kept up his brisk pace, never slowing as he approached where Epona was hitched, and he untied the reins quickly. "I'll go back to being Link once I get this town evacuated, and once I'm by myself I'll probably turn into a mess like usual. For now, I'm the Hero of Hyrule." He paused before mounting up, his hands on the saddle, and he turned to Rusl. He had to say something, since they only had this little time together. "Please promise me you'll get out of here as soon as you can. If...if anything happens…" Link swallowed hard, almost losing his composure. He looked into his stepfather's faded blue eyes and saw nothing but concern there. Concern, and love. "I need you." he admitted.
Rusl put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll be there later, at the Goron depot. Find me if you need me." The man nodded his head towards Epona. "Go on. Be the hero I knew you could be."
He didn't want to leave Rusl, a hundred words in his heart for the man that had gently taught him to be a good person, and the man who had treated him like his own flesh and blood. There was no time for him to talk about how much he had changed since they had last seen one another, or how he felt about everything he had gone through. He put his foot into the stirrup and climbed up into the saddle, and with one last look at his mentor, turned and rode back towards the bazaar.
"You're barely keeping it together, aren't you?" Midna hadn't spoken in a while, probably deciding that it was not the time or place to be introduced to Rusl. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I think so. For now I don't feel angry, so that's a good sign. I think once I start doing things, my mind will shut off and I'll simply do them. It's happened before."
"This isn't a fight, Link. This is somewhere where you'll need your mind." She gave a soft sigh. "If you feel like you're losing yourself, just talk to me, okay? I can't come out right now, but I'm still your friend, and I'm here for you."
He smiled faintly and put a hand to his chest as if he could touch her, but he didn't say anything.
It didn't take that long to ride through the streets of city, which had a few people scurrying about to leave, but mostly had people scurrying back into their homes. He wanted to scream at them that they were being foolish, that they were going to die or worse, but he didn't have time for them all. He would have to convince others to help these people who had unwisely put their faith in Scot.
He reached the southern main gate of Castle Town about fifteen minutes later, the two heavy iron-bound wooden doors flanked by a pair of tall watchtowers with crenelations along their tops. There was a pair of portcullises at the gate but they were currently raised, and the doors were wide open. Looking at the gate, he felt a lump of dread form in the pit of his stomach when he realized that it very well may be possible that Scot and his army would delay Ganondorf's army so the citizens may escape, just as Zelda had predicted. Sacrificial lambs so the rest of the flock may flee from the wolves. He realized that today, no matter what he did, there were men in the Hyrulean army that were going to lose their lives soon. And that was the ideal outcome.
Don't think about it. Don't worry about it. Do what you came here to do. Save who you can. Link bottled up his tumultuous emotions and dismounted near one of the towers, where a large dark bay stallion with a black mane and white fetlocks was hitched. Not far away from the horse were a pair of city watchmen, idly standing around while leaning on their spears. They looked at him with only vague interest, and he could see that these were not among the guards that were helping the people.
"Are you friends with that girl that thinks she's a knight?" one of them said as he hitched Epona next to the brown stallion. The man grinned at him as if he had heard something funny.
"Probably, looks about the same age. Are you a knight too, son?" The second guard burst out into laughter, but the first guard's grin faded. He began looking at the young man carefully.
Their attitudes made his anger rise, and he glared at them. "I'm her friend, and no...neither one of us are knights." He angrily jabbed the air with a finger, pointing at them. "And you two are not doing what you're supposed to do. Go into the town and start evacuating people. Get them out of here."
"What, are you an idiot? The military's taken over. The general says that the king's dead." The second guard scowled at him. "You're not from Castle Town, are you? You have no right to start shouting orders, whomever you are."
"I'm Link, and I don't have time for this. When I come back down from this tower, you two had better be gone and helping people escape, before something terrible comes out of that barrier, or the army attacks." He turned his back on them and began to stride towards the open doorway of the tower.
"Wait, hero!" the first guard ran a few steps after him, causing Link to stop with his back still to the man. "That's...that's you, right? I've heard about you, the young man in green who caries the magic sword with the purple hilt. Are the things they say about you true? Is that really the Master Sword?"
He looked over his shoulder at the guard. "I don't know what 'they' say, but I suggest you listen to me. Get to your fellow city watchmen and tell them that General Scot is an idiot that's disregarding his orders. I know what Zelda's orders are even though she's trapped in that barrier, and I'm the one relaying them. Evacuate the people." He didn't wait for them to respond and began walking again, entering the tower and ascending the winding staircase within.
Ashei was leaning her forearms on the pale gray stone between two crenelations, staring at the expansive walled area in front of Castle Town, where the Hyrulean army had been gathered and camped. She clutched a spyglass in her gauntlet-clad right hand, but she wasn't currently using it. The young warrior turned her head to glance at him for only a second, and then focused on watching the army again. "About time you showed up."
"Sorry, I had some important things to take care of in the desert." he said, coming to stand next to her.
She turned to look at him again, this time examining him more closely with her brown eyes. "You're different. I expected a joke, but you're not the same guy I met a little over a week ago."
"Nearly dying does that to people. Other things happened too." His eyes scanned the gathered army that clustered around their white tents, their silver and blue armor tinted golden in the light of the sun, which was getting low. "How many troops are here, by your estimate?"
"Around six thousand, seven if we're being generous." she said, her voice subdued.
"That's all?" he asked, not liking the low numbers. There had already been about that many Shadow Beasts and Bulbins when he had flown through here as a wolf in the Twilight. That felt like eons ago at this point.
Ashei nodded. "The casualties of the magic purge weren't just the knights and the citizens. Thousands of the military abandoned their posts and fled the country. They abandoned the king that had abandoned the people, taking their chances elsewhere. Now there simply aren't enough warriors to fill the ranks."
He looked beyond the outer wall that separated the Castle Town Field from Central Hyrule, at the army that had been created for Ganondorf. It was hard to see details, but he could see a shantytown much like the one that had been near Gerudo City, and hundreds of fires were clustered around it. Tiny figures in brown and gray boars in miniature moved around the makeshift town, surrounded by the dark grass of Central Hyrule, which was beginning to fall into shadow as the sun began to set behind hills on the west side of Central Hyrule. "There's at least that many Bulbins out there. What about the Shadow Beasts? Are they still out there?"
"Here." she said, handing him the spyglass. "Take a look. Midna, are you here?"
"I'm here, just quiet." the Twili said as he took the spyglass and peered through it. "I don't like what's happening."
"None of us do." Ashei said quietly.
Link adjusted the focus of the spyglass and the Bulbin camp came into view. There were indeed thousands of Bulbins there, but the dark grass surrounding them didn't seem to be grass; it undulated and moved around the camp like the sea washing around a half-submerged rock. He caught flashes of glowing purple runes here, a stone mask there, and he realized that the dark mass surrounding the Bulbins were the Shadow Beasts themselves. Thousands upon thousands, milling around the Bulbin camp and just outside the outer walls, extending over the hills and into the distance.
He felt a surge of panic, his heart fluttering in his chest. "Gods, there's too many of them…" he said in a half-whisper.
"Yeah." the other warrior said in a subdued tone, most likely already having reacted to the numbers earlier. "More than the people left in Castle Town, for sure. It really seems like most of the population of Hyrule outside of the city has been transformed."
"There's no way…" He lowered the spyglass, his blue eyes wide in disbelief. He knew the numbers were high, but seeing that many Shadow Beasts in one place hit him hard, the amount of mindless soldiers that Ganondorf had at his disposal. "There's no possible way that the army can fight what's on the other side of that wall."
She took the spyglass from him and collapsed it against her hand. "You sound afraid."
His eyes still wide, Link turned his head to look at her. "Of course I'm afraid." Not just afraid; terrified.
Ashei stood up straight and didn't look at him, but instead continued to stare out at what very well could be their death. "Me too." She turned and began to go down the stairs, saying nothing else about it. If she was afraid, she was controlling herself fairly well. He felt like running away and leaving everything behind, but she was behaving like the knight she should be.
"We should ride out and tell the leading officers to take the army and run." he said, following her down the spiral stairs. "Shut this gate behind them, help the population escape, and leave Castle Town empty. If they don't run, there will be even more Shadow Beasts for the rest of us to worry about."
"They won't like it. Brave men don't run, and the man in charge considers himself quite brave. Among other things." Her tone said that she was doubtful that they'd listen. She had heard about General Scot. Did everyone know about this horrible man but him?
"No, stupid men don't run." he said, correcting her. "Better to live and fight another day than attempt to be brave in the face of an impossible fight."
Ashei laughed her breathy laugh, but there was very little humor behind it. "You don't sound like a hero when you say that."
"Yes he does." Midna said, having been mostly silent through everything. "He knows he needs to protect the people at any cost, and that's what he's going to do."
"I don't care about what they think of me. Let them think I'm a coward. As long as they get somewhere safe, that's all I care about." They exited the tower, and he saw that the two guards were gone. Good. Maybe they were doing something useful. There did seem to be fewer people on the main thoroughfare, so there was some hope.
They unhitched their horses and mounted up. "Do you know where General Scot is?" he asked her as they turned and rode out of the front gate.
"Yes, hiding in his tent. It's big, white and blue. You can't miss it." She looked over him from where she sat on her bay stallion. "I know the way, but you should lead. Many of these men know who you are. Use some of that reputation to your advantage, yeah?"
He did as she suggested, riding down the long paved road that was flanked by cherry trees and ornamental archways that displayed the Crest of the Triforce. They crossed the bridge that went over a small river that connected to the moat on either side of the city, a tributary that joined with Lower Zora's River to the west, and the two of them went into the army camp proper. As he rode, men stood up to stare at him from where they crouched next to campfires or sat in front of tents. They began talking among themselves, and word started to pass through the army like a wind rippling through a field of wheat, excited shouts coming from the groups of soldiers. The Hero is here. Hero Chosen by the Gods. Hero who carries the Master Sword. Telma was right; word did get around fast.
He knew that hundreds of eyes were on him, but he did his best to not appear nervous in front of them. These men were counting on him, whether they knew it or not. He had to try to save them even if he knew that some of them were total bastards, from what Shad had told him. Some of the men who culled Kasuto could have been excitedly jabbering about the Hero being here, not realizing that they had very nearly killed him five years ago. The men that killed his father could be here somewhere. The men that killed his father could be in the large blue and white tent ahead of him.
He dismounted near the tent, trying to keep his anger down. He couldn't let his personal biases get in the way, even if he was still hurt and furious five years later, now an adult. Link strode into the tent, ignoring the protests of the two soldiers stationed outside, who were not fast enough to stop either him or Ashei.
A group of men in white-enameled plate armor were gathered around a table that had a large map spread on it, and they all looked up when he entered, startled when they realized that this was not one of their soldiers. "Who the hell are you?" one of them asked, an older gentleman with graying hair, possibly General Scot. It was hard to tell because there were three other older men, and two younger ones.
"Link." He didn't bother with any more of an introduction. "I'm here to speak with whomever is in charge."
"No you're not, swordsman." said one of the other older officers, a man with steel-gray hair and a thick mustache. "You need to get back inside the city and leave this to actual soldiers."
The man's tone infuriated him, more than he already was. "Fine, I'll explain. I'm the Hero of Hyrule, and I'm here to get people away from that army before they get killed or turned into Shadow Beasts."
The four older officers laughed at him, but the two younger ones did not, one being a blonde man with a nose that had been broken at least once, and the other a handsome man with curly black hair. They watched him with more caution, and had been wary when he entered the tent.
Link's face contorted into a snarl and he stepped forward, drawing the Master Sword and holding it out in front of him. "Does this look like a prop to you?!" he demanded. "How many men in green carrying legendary swords do you think there are?!"
Four of the six men drew their swords immediately in response when Link had drawn his, the only two who didn't were the older man with the mustache, and the younger man with dark hair. The younger officer had put his hand on his sword hilt, but froze when his eyes fell on the Master Sword.
"It's him." the young officer said in a deep voice that didn't seem like it would be coming from someone with a pale, handsome face. "General, I think we need to take him seriously."
"Seriously?" scoffed General Scot, who was indeed the man with the mustache. "Look at him. He's barely a man, only a boy really." He chuckled. "Stay your weapons, gentlemen. He's not worth it."
"General, if I may-" the younger man protested as the other officers sheathed their swords.
"You may not. Know your place, commander." Scot cut him off. "He's one person. What good can one boy do against the enemy army?"
"What a dick." Midna muttered in his ears. She sounded like she was becoming angry as well.
"What good can I do?" He sheathed the Master Sword, and shook his head. "Against an enemy army, nothing. I can't fight that many, even if I fought along with everyone else in this camp. As much as I hate to admit it, the army needs to retreat and evacuate Castle Town. You're all sitting ducks here, as are the people sheltering in place in the city." He took another step towards the man behind the table, angrily meeting his eyes. "Which they are doing, I might add, because you decided to ignore Princess Zelda's orders. I know for a fact that Reginald passed them along to you." He had no idea who Reginald was, but he did remember the conversation between Zelda and Shad fairly clearly.
"Watch your tone, young man." Scot's eyes grew dangerous. He did not like Link. That was fine, since the feeling was mutual. "With the king gone, I knew I should take over for the time being. Zelda's in no state to rule, not after losing her father and personal knight to the invasion. Any orders she gave were doubtless given out of unrestrained emotion. It's only logical that I lead the army to defend Castle Town."
Link gave the man a hard stare, resisting the urge to punch him directly in that damned mustache. The final words he had said about Zelda were "unrestrained emotion", but the implication was clearly "being a woman". Midna was right: what a dick. "You can't simply take over while members of the royal family still live, General." he said in carefully measured tones, doing his best to keep his anger under control. "That's a crime against the crown."
Scot gave a dismissive gesture. "Bah, I know better than she does, and I know better than you too. What seems like a hopeless fight to you is nothing more than a siege, with the army outside lacking very little in equipment for such an attack. That wall out there is thick and has withstood attacks from Hinoxes and Lynels, so it certainly will hold against black monsters and goblins on boars. Nearly seven thousand men is enough to hold that wall and defend Castle Town."
He lost his temper, having had it with this arrogant man. "What the hell is the matter with you? You're a damned fool for not listening! We shouldn't be here talking about this, we should be evacuating Castle Town." He angrily pointed a finger back in the direction of the city. "Get those people out of there! Whomever gets caught by that army of Shadow Beasts is either going to die, or be transformed into one of them. They don't care if you're a soldier or an old woman, only that you have pointed ears. The man in the castle behind that barrier is an old enemy of the royal family and the Hylian race, and he's looking for revenge."
Scot opened his mouth to retort but Link loudly spoke over him. "Ganondorf is in that castle, you moron! He wasn't executed, only sealed away somewhere! And now he's here!"
"Now who's being the fool? Gerudo don't live for centuries, boy. In fact they have shorter life spans than us Hylians. Ganondorf is dead and gone, his bones laying forgotten somewhere." Even with all that he had said, Scot was still in denial. Damn this man!
Link made a frustrated sound that was half a growl and clenched his hands in front of him. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't true! Godsdammit, I can't believe you! You know what's going on, yet you think you know best. You don't, General Scot. You don't! King Adelbert is dead, Princess Zelda is in a deep sleep, an army of monsters shows up at the gates, a mysterious barrier surrounds the castle, and then I come here explaining exactly what is happening, and you still won't listen!"
"Sir, you never said anything about Zelda's condition, or her orders." the blonde officer said.
"Of course he didn't, because he's a jackass." Link snarled. He understood this man now; General Scot was a man of ambition, selfish and working towards his own ends. Scot wasn't all that different from Zant. "He's a piece of shit that is more focused on his own glory than the needs of the people he's supposed to be protecting."
"That is enough!" Scot shouted angrily, drawing his sword and setting the point next to Link's neck, the two men glaring at one another at opposite ends of the table. "You will watch your mouth, and you will leave. I don't care who you are, you're going to be a head shorter if you don't shut up and return to the city."
"Do you think you scare me?" his voice became deathly quiet, his anger coming out of the other side of heated rage to settle into cold fury. "You know what I'm capable of. You're no threat to me, only to the people of Castle Town. Collect your soldiers and evacuate, or stay here and die." He turned and stalked out of the tent, the two soldiers that blocked the way hurriedly moving aside so he and Ashei could leave.
"You're scary when you're angry." she said, picking up her pace to keep up with his long, angry strides.
"Not scary enough. We wasted our time here." he muttered, walking back to Epona.
"Wait!" a voice called from behind them. When the two of them turned, the young commander with the black hair was hurrying over to them, his white breastplate looking pink in the light of sunset. The armor had the Hylian flying bird emblem on it in blue, with the Crest of the Triforce for a head. "I'll go with you. I'll gather up my men and we'll start getting people out of the city. I have one question, however. Where do you plan on sending the people?"
Link felt his anger slip away. This man wanted to help, which was something at least. There were still a few good people in the military. "Wherever we can, places that can be fortified or where people can hide. Kakariko, Lakeside, the Faron forests, the forests of Lower Lanayru, south to Ordon, even Zora's Domain or Death Mountain. The people need to stay safe and away from Ganondorf's army until I can figure out how to get into the castle to take care of him." He sighed and rubbed at his left temple with his fingers, feeling drained from his shouting match with Scot. "Thanks for believing me."
"Scot is blind, and foolish to doubt you. He didn't notice the crest on your left hand glowing when you drew your sword, but I did. That's why I didn't draw my own blade. You are exactly who you say you are." The commander pointed at the city with a hand clad in a silver gauntlet. "Go back into Castle Town and do what you can to get people out. You probably can convince some of them to leave with your reputation and the Master Sword. I'll go get my horse and gather my men." The handsome young officer turned and walked into the army, beginning to speak among the men immediately.
"It's better than nothing." he said unhappily to Ashei and Midna as he mounted Epona. "I hate to think of what's going to happen to most of these men due to General Scot, but there's not much we can do."
They rode up to Castle Town at a canter, and a dark warhorse thundered past them at a gallop and into the city. It was the commander, his face serious as he went past. The man had kept his word and was heading into the city to do what he could, and doubtless his men were not too far behind.
Then suddenly there was a horn from the outer wall, then another that sounded in response. Startled shouts came from the army behind them, and the two warriors reined in their horses just past the bridge over the small river to turn and look. Even though the light was fading, he could still see soldiers scurrying along the top of the wall to try to reach stairs, fleeing the top of the structure while shouting in alarm.
It was then he heard the thudding. It was steady and sounded like distant rumbling thunder, the sound of something hitting the wall in multiple places at once, and he realized that it was the Shadow Beasts hitting the walls with their fists, throwing themselves at the thick stone with no regard for their own bodies. The ground vibrated with the sound and he could feel it through Epona's body even from the distance he was at.
"They're just hitting it with their fists, right? That's what we have to be hearing." Ashei said, sounding concerned. "Their hands will turn into a bloody mess and the stone will hold."
The pounding increased in volume as soldiers ran past them towards the city, either men belonging to the commander, or men fleeing what was happening. It didn't matter either way, he'd go with these men and work at getting the citizens to safety. He turned Epona and was about to continue on when Ashei gave a startled shout, calling to him over the thunderous sound. "Link!" He turned to look again, and felt icy fear clutch its fingers around his heart at what he saw.
The wall was moving. The vibrations from thousands of the enemy flinging themselves at it were shaking the wall like an earthquake, making the stones begin to sway and move. He saw Shadow Beasts climb up on top of the wall, having used the others as ladders, and the ones on top grabbed at the stone and heaved their weight back and forth to help make the wall quiver and move. It undulated and rippled, and then there was a loud grinding sound as a section of the eastern side of the wall toppled. Through that gap poured Shadow Beasts, immediately oozing through the breach like oil.
Link stopped watching and drove Epona into a gallop, heading for the town. Ashei was right next to him, her eyes wide. Neither one of them could have predicted this. The Shadow Beasts had ignored the heavy reinforced gate of the wall and opted to destroy the wall itself in order to reach the city. The two of them raced through the archway of the main gate and reined in.
Inside was chaos. Alarm bells were sounding in multiple places throughout the city, and frightened people ran through the darkening streets in a panic, all heading north and following the road that would lead them to either of the remaining gates. Link turned to look back out the gate he was at, and saw that the Hyrulean army was backing up, retreating from the invading Shadow Beasts.
No, that wasn't it at all. He didn't hear the shouts of battle in the distance, but terrified screams. The Hylian army was being consumed, transformed into the enemy right before his eyes, the blackness spreading across the Hyrulean host like ink spreading across wet paper. He felt a twinge of panic and despair, not sure how he could possibly stop something so terribly strong from getting to the people of Castle Town, but then the Master Sword shouted in his head.
Courage! It was one word, but it put a bit more steel in his backbone. He turned to a group of soldiers that still stood near the gates, their commander on his horse behind them. "Close the gates!"
"But there still are men out there, headed this way!" one of the soldiers said, his eyes spooked. The men around him were in a similar state.
"You can't save them, they're as good as gone." His heart quailed even as he said it, but he steadied himself. "Close the gates and it'll buy us a little time!"
The young man who had spoke up breathed heavily with emotion, only about a year older than Link himself, but he and his companions began to operate the heavy mechanisms that shut the double-doors and lowered the two portcullises on either side of it. The loud sound of the gate being secured was like a death knell for the men outside, who started to shout in fear from the other side of the wall, begging to be let in.
Link gritted his teeth, steeling his heart against the sound of the doomed men as he turned Epona, and began riding through the city streets as he battled with his emotions. It was happening too quickly. It was all too fast, too abrupt. He had no time to prepare. Frightened people shrieked and continued to flee, pushing at one another in an attempt to escape but only causing things to slow. The three riders pushed their mounts through the crowd, the commander following along with the two of them.
When they reached the crossroads where the road that ran through the Nobles' and Merchants' quarters intersected the main thoroughfare, he turned to Ashei and the mounted soldier and shouted above the din. "We'll try to help the people get out! Ashei, go west! Commander, go north! I'll go east! Meet up at the east gate!" The two of them nodded at him and rode off. He drew his sword and spurred Epona to go down into the Merchant's quarter, and where he knew he'd find the most people.
Epona was sweating in fear, throwing her head at the sounds of the alarm bells, the shouting of the people, and at the distant rumble of thousands of Shadow Beasts stampeding towards the city. He stood in his stirrups and pointed with his sword, shouting at the crowd to stop pushing, to head to the east gate, to leave whatever possessions they were carrying behind and to simply run. It was far darker in the streets than usual as twilight fell, the lamplighters only managing to get partway through their routes before being interrupted. Link sat back down in the saddle, realizing that he couldn't sit there and direct all the people. They would have to make it on their own. He moved Epona forward and was beginning to follow the flow of the crowd when he heard a thudding sound from the south.
The Shadow Beasts had made it to the main gates of Castle Town, and were throwing themselves at it just as they had the wall.
He hurried through the screaming crowd to see if people were leaving through the east gate quickly enough, his heart thumping in time to the rapid pounding coming from the south. Then there was a loud crack coming from the southern gate, and the groaning of tearing metal. Screams came from that direction, but he couldn't think of it. Don't think, act.
There was a bottleneck at the eastern gate, the fleeing citizens jammed together, pressing around the occasional rider on a horse or wagon. A garishly-painted carriage was being forced through by the press of the crowd, and he recognized the man in black driving it. Erol. He and Agitha were escaping, as well as two other people that sat in the carriage with the young girl. He caught a glimpse of Agitha's frightened face before the carriage moved out of view. The commander that was aiding him was being forced out of the gate by the crowd as well, even though he was trying to make his way back in. His face was frantic as he fought against the tide of humanity, and then he was out of sight and gone.
One of the alarm bells in the south suddenly stopped as he pushed his way towards Ashei, who he saw on her horse not too far away. "Get out! I'll manage here!"
"What about you?!" she shouted back, her face calm in the midst of the panic.
"They can't transform me! Go!" He pointed towards the open gate with the Master Sword, and she hurried her way through it, carried away by the flow of people. At least she was safe.
Then suddenly there were screams close by and cries of horror. At the back of the crowd were Shadow Beasts, grabbing at fleeing Hylians with their long-fingered hands, wrapping them around arms and throats and transforming people into more monsters. The crowd around him panicked at the terrible sound of hundreds of people screaming in agony as they were transformed, and he was faced with a difficult choice: try to hurry them along, or fight the beasts to buy them time, even though they were Hylians just like him only moments ago.
He set his jaw and decided on the latter, moving Epona against the flow of the crowd and towards the newly-transformed Shadow Beasts, who were grabbing at the people in front of them. He slashed at them with his sword, but it seemed to do little good; every one he cut down, another took its place. Even though he had intended to buy them time, he was being forced back, unable to fight what had to be thousands of Shadow Beasts coming at him.
He heard a screams of pain and terror to his right, and when he turned his head he saw more people trying to escape from the plaza in front of the gates to Hyrule Castle, but were being grabbed and dragged down to the cobblestones. They shrieked and writhed as they turned black, and twisted into more of the enemy. There were too many, and he no longer could keep his composure, panic openly showing on his face.
Link continued to back Epona up towards the gate, overwhelmed just as much as his terrified horse, stabbing at the beasts when he could, beasts that were in the middle of the fleeing Hylians that were still human. They were still human for only seconds; they shuddered as they transformed and turned to attack him with their brethren.
"Link!" Midna shouted above the screams of humans and howls of Shadow Beasts. Even though she was speaking directly in his ears, she still had to raise her voice.
He didn't respond and looked over his shoulder. The gate was right behind him. They had pushed him back this far. For the moment, he was holding the gate on his own against the tide of black monsters while what few people had gotten out of the city walls hurried away. There were so many more that didn't though, and he was preventing them from getting through the gate just as much as the Shadow Beasts.
"Link! You can't save them!" Midna cried. "You have to run! I'll close the drawbridge behind you, just go!"
Despite saying earlier that a stupid man doesn't run, he was indecisive, not wanting to abandon the people all around him that cried out to him for help as they attempted to escape. He breathed heavily, overwhelmed by multiple emotions at once, hesitating.
"If you die here, this will all be for nothing!" she snapped, the voice of reason in the middle of this chaos. She was right. If he died, then Hyrule was doomed.
He swallowed hard and turned Epona and kicked his heels into her flanks, galloping past transforming Shadow Beasts and through the gates.
He pounded over the wooden bridge as Shadow Beasts began to lope after him, howling at the one Hylian that they could not catch, that they could not transform. He didn't see Midna leave him to use her magic, but the bridge began to rise and Epona began to run up an increasingly steep incline. In her fear the horse did something she normally would not have done, and leaped off the edge of the rising drawbridge to land on the stones of the other side of the moat, her hooves skidding. As soon as the mare had controlled her landing, he reined her in and turned the terrified horse so he could look at the drawbridge.
It was nearly up, the Shadow Beasts trying to climb it but ultimately failing as the bridge clacked its way up to shut completely with a clunk. The Shadow Beasts were now trapped inside, but so were the remaining Hylians. He stared at the city in horror, his heart full of pain as he heard the sounds of screams still coming from within the walls. The lone alarm bell that was still ringing stopped abruptly, and the screams rapidly became fewer and spread farther apart.
Link sat there on his sweating horse, the Master Sword's blade smeared with the blood of his people, and he felt overwhelmed with despair. He breathed heavily as emotion overtook him momentarily, and his eyes stung with unshed tears. He was unable to evacuate the city like he had planned, everything happening so fast that he could barely react. In less than an hour, from sunset to twilight, Castle Town had fallen.
He had failed.
Author's Note: This resolves another plot hole: why do the people of Castle Town not seem to care about the big barrier around Hyrule Castle for half the game? Well, here's a solution. That army was there for a reason.
