Chapter 13
The Blood of Salvation

"Daran…. Daran…" Rael fell beside the body of his fallen friend, arms and legs trembling. "No, no…" He laid his hand on his neck where the arrow had pierced his friend's skin. "I'm so sorry, Daran."

Link's gauntleted hand gripped him on the shoulder, tightly. "There will be time for grieving later, if we live to see the end of this day." Gerudo war cries echoed through the dry hills, and the distant sound of running hooves could be heard coming from the south east. "Come," said Link, pulling Rael to his feet.

"No!" wept Rael, falling back on Daran. "I can't run any more."

"You will do as you are commanded, boy!" shouted Link, dragging Rael up to his feet again by his collar.

"Get off me, old man!" Rael shouted in reply, pushing him away.

More arrows hailed out of the sky, striking the ground around their feet. Spearheaded shafts of wood bounced off rocks and fell soundlessly into sand. "I will not see you die now. Not when we have come so far." Link turned away.

Rael looked to Tabett's body. Jolane was helping Elane to her feet and guiding her in the direction of the horses that still remained picketed a short walk away towards the river. Hanging his head, Rael muttered a quick prayer for his fallen friends and then hurried after Link towards the horses.

……

Ralis gazed up at the hot sun, soaking in its warm rays. His was seated on the edge of the great stone wall of the Oardan quay, the sea beneath his feet lapping at the great granite stones of the dock. The skies above were clear and blue, flecked with patches of wispy white cloud. The storms had passed, and he was at peace with himself at last. As he watched life go by around him he realised that he had finally come to terms with his pain. Mara, his love, was with him in his heart though not in the flesh, and he would love her forever. Resh had died to save him, and he could not disgrace his name by feeling bitter about his passing. Rael… Rael was his brother. He loved him.

Five tall ships in the harbour were preparing to set sail, part of a large fleet sailing north from the Kairin harbour towns. Captain Arella had explained that the invasion was soon to be complete. Hyrule would be under the rule of the Kairin, and order would be set in place once more. Ralis cared not. His world would be over soon.

……

Rael was tired, but Garsh was not. His faithful mount raced across the desert sand, along the river side, towards the three great hills. They were a few miles away yet, but Rael knew that soon they would reach them, where everything would end.

A mounted host of Gerudos had crested the hill and were pursuing them closely. Link, Jolane, Elane seemed as pained as himself. The horses would not survive long in these conditions at this speed, they would be run to their death if they continued for too long.

……

Elder Tradon was an unusual man. He had said some disturbing and worrying things to him. Sighing, Ralis brushed away locks of thick dark hair, and looked down at his hands through sunken shadowed eyes. For some time he had known in the back of his mind that Resh was not his birth father. It had come upon him like a creeping truth the notion had become resolute in his mind now. But Elder Tradon's claims were frightening to say the least.

The old half-blind man had hailed him as the Returned One, ra'Alis, Father of the Moon. He claimed that the presence of the Returned One was unmistakeable, that he had waited all his life to behold him. Ralis had dismissed the old man's words as vague fancies.

But… what if… what if everything he had told him was true? What then?

……

At the hills, the water in the rivers became shallower. At the top of the hill, the rivers though very wide were only two to three inches deep. This Rael noted as he dropped off his horse into the water. The three rivers ran from large cave mouths in the base of the craggy, rocky hills. Each river source was perhaps half a mile apart, and flowed south down the hills through the desert several miles to where they joined as the Orre'Aemea.

They could not run the horses any further, they would tire eventually, and they would be caught no matter what. Rael collapsed into the shallows in exhaustion. Garsh looked ready to drop as well, and Rael counted it a blessing when his horse managed to stay standing. Link, Jolane and Elane drew reign also. Tears were dried on Elane's face, her eyes heavy and wearisome.

The four of them could hardly bear to look at each other, such was the sense of bereavement and distrust between them. Rael felt a burning hatred for Jolane. All of this was her doing, whatever the connection between her and Link. She had conspired to bring them here to die.

Vast cloudless skies shone above the hot desert, over the hills and burning dunes. The crystal clear water, in the central river in which they were standing, ran all around them and swept away majestically southward. A host of Gerudo soldiers was making a good pace towards them, like a great black snake sliding through the sand.

A hand moved before Rael's eyes. Link's hand. A wounded hand, blood spilling from the knuckles. "On your feet, boy," he said gently. Rael grasped his hand and pushed himself up to stand. Link had discarded his armour, and stood before him now in only a thin black tunic and black breeches torn at the knees. His boots were falling apart, his belt cut in many places, his clothes were all torn. The old man's face, so like his own though so much older, showed his fatigue.

"Is this the end?" said Rael, looking towards the advancing Gerudos.

"It is an end, yes," said Link, "but there are many beginnings and endings yet to come. Fear not. This will not be our end."

Rael turned to look at Jolane. Her short leather-worked tunic and short leggings left most of her skin bare. He had never seen her or imagined her this far unclothed, it seemed very unlike her. In the brief time he had known her she had always worn her cloak or long sleeved dark clothes. Her dirty blonde hair was tied back with a bright red headscarf of the Gerudo fashion, why she wore that was beyond Rael. Now, judging by her body and size, Rael would have thought her to be at least two years younger than himself, eighteen or nineteen years of age perhaps. Her face was youthful also, but something in her eyes made her seem somehow older. The way she looked at him…

Despite his fury at her, despite his own internal pain, despite the death of his close friends, despite the fact that he blamed her for all of this, he was overwhelmed now by her beauty. How he had ever thought her not attractive was beyond him.

She pulled two daggers out of her boots, and spun them in her hands. She looked at Link, then Rael, and said, "Here we stand."

……

A flock of gulls swooped low over the quay, circling the sky above the merchant warehouses and flying westward along the coast. What Ralis had seen of Kaira was beautiful; this harbour town of Oardan was much like his hometown of Taran Kaey in Hyrule. South and west of Oardan were grassy plains thick with pine forest, a tall range of snow capped mountains jutted up in the southwest. A fair country, truly very much like Hyrule, if a little warmer. He did not know why the Kairin wanted to conquer Hyrule, but there had to be sufficient reason for such a decent people to go to war.

Ralis growled into his hands, thinking through what the Elder had told him.

It simple could not be true.

It was impossible.

Impossible.

He had to end it all.

……

The Gerudos were close now, too close.

Jolane was pacing in the shallows of the river. She looked at Link and gave him a hard look. "I can handle many on my own. I can draw some away. It is the best way."

Link stared at her blankly for a few moments, then nodded. "Do it."

Jolane swung herself into her saddle and spurred her horse straight towards the oncoming Gerudos. Her horse seemed to have got a new lease of life, galloping quickly through the shallow water towards the dryer ground. She raced away, moving towards the east river on their left.

"Who or what is she?" asked Rael, quietly, at Link's side.

Link smiled and rested a hand on Rael's shoulder. This was uncomfortable, but he did not say anything. "Do you truly not know yet, my boy?" he said.

Rael shook his head. The Gerudo party split into two, a party turning off to chase Jolane up the east river. "Are we going to die, Link?" Rael asked.

Link didn't reply. He crossed over to Elane and said something to her quietly, then they both crossed to their horses and mounted up. "You will find Garsh can bear you a little further, Rael," he said eventually, and spurred his horse to run towards the west river.

……

Ralis kicked his dangling legs light-heartedly against the dock wall, swaying gently with the breeze. He was not ready for responsibility. He was just a simple man. Elder Tradon's words still echoed in his mind…

Words of such importance…

And knew that they was true…

He could feel it…

In his bones…

In his soul…

The daylight was fading. That was wrong, it was only just past noon. He glanced around, everywhere was becoming gradually darker. Then he followed the gaze of the faces around him, all pointing up into the sky. He stared up at the sun. A black disc was creeping across its surface, slowly beginning to obscure the golden rays. The moon was aligning with the sun. An eclipse. The sun was setting on his life.

……

The Gerudos were on them like a storm. At least, and mounted on horseback. In the silent void of the form Link and Rael were able to defend themselves against the mounted charge. Rael was half-aware of his blade sliding between his fingers, slicing at horses and their riders as he rolled and leaped about in the shallows avoiding legs and hooves. Elane fought as well, staying between the two men, moving her long dagger at high speed with fury in her eyes.

Now, Link and Rael stood alone in the low river, spinning blades and slicing through flesh. His exhaustion was near absolute, but inside the void he could separate his pain from his mind and put it aside.

The Gerudos were relentless; he was fighting three or four at once at any one time, and Link more. Leaping and kicking and spinning he moved between the Gerudos, faster and faster, thrusting his blade to the left and right, in arcs and swoops and sweeping attacks. The pain was growing, he knew his heart was straining to beat, his chest felt strained beyond any pain he could bear.

After an eternity of battle, it ended.

A sharps wind blew through the butcher's yard, whipping Rael and Elane's shredded clothes as they stood together in a field of death. Blood was gushing from dead men, women and horses and washed away down the river. Their own bodies were covered in blood and bile. He held the pain back, fighting his own mind. The pain would kill him if he allowed himself to feel it.

Link was standing alone further down the river; the water gushing about him half way up his legs. Rael waded through the water, being careful not to let the current catch him. "Marshal?" he asked, his voice hoarse and weak.

Link turned to face him, and Rael turned away in disgust. The old man was utterly covered in the blood of his enemies. His face, his hair, his clothes, were all black and crimson. When Rael could bear to look back at him he saw that Link had kneeled down in the water and washed himself, scrubbing the blood away from his face. Blood was still pouring downstream from twenty beasts and their riders. The air was thick with the reeking stench of death. Never mind his own wounds, the pain itself was going to kill him if he let it touch him. Desperately struggling to keep his mind in the cold form, Rael held his own pain inside.

Link dropped his face into the water and then burst it out again, shaking his hair raggedly. At length, he looked at Rael and Elane, and said, "Do you know what Orre'Aemea means in the Elder Tongue?"

Rael shook his head and Link laughed to himself. Then he stood up grandly, revealing that underneath all the now washed-away blood stains there were deep cuts in his own body. Rael was surprised the man could stand. Blood was slowly dropping from his body and mixing with the water in the river. "Where the almighty three ferment their wine…" muttered Link to himself. "You see Rael, look at the water.

Rael let his gaze drift up the river. The west river that they stood in no longer flowed with crystal clear water, instead it was… deepest red, blood red. The river was flowing with blood. "This is my blood," Link said. The east and central rivers remained clean, but the west river was now tainted with darkest crimson.

Suddenly the pain overpowered Rael. He screamed aloud as a thousand daggers pierced his flesh.

Overhead, a shadow began blacken the sun.

……

The Returned One. Ra'Alis. Father of the Moon. Was he these names? Were they lies? These titles were nothing compared to the other which had been spoken to him by the Elder. If that title were a truth, what would he do with his life?

"I will end it, Mara." He said, "I will be with you."

He looked down into the water, and sighed. It was easier to say it. But he was determined. He would end his own life. Now.

He shuffled forwards, until he was on the edge. The sky and land had turned very dark now. He could only laugh to himself, as he embraced the end. "I am the King of Kairin."

He fell forwards and the icy water embraced him.

……

"Let me die!" screamed Rael. "Oh, light take my soul, and burn me!"

Hooves thundered underneath him, Link held him tightly underneath him on the back of his mighty stallion. "Hold on, my son. Hold on."

They were racing towards the far river where Jolane had gone. In the distance he was vaguely aware of fire dancing up from the earth, spinning in flourishes of light.

His death was nearly complete, his senses were all dull.

"Hold on, Rael. It is almost over."

Death. Death. Death. He longed for the sweet release of death.

They stopped, and Link dragged him down from the horse. "No… no… end… it… Daran… Tabett… Mara… Da…" whimpered Rael.

A freezing and burning rush engulfed him, and his senses were alive once again. He saw Jolane's face before his own. "Rael can you hear me?" she asked gently.

"Yes…" he spluttered, coughing up blood. He was standing in the east river, but the sky was darker than it should be. Jolane was in front of him, Elane was off to one side.

"Ivarl I cannot properly heal him," said Jolane over his head. Rael realised that Link was stood beside him, holding him upright. "He is so weak, and I have drained myself fighting."

"He is a hard man," said Link, with determination, "he has enough strength to last him."

The pain was still excruciating beyond belief, but he could see, and he could hear and talk. He raised his head to look into Jolane's eyes, and smiled. The sorrow and wisdom those beautiful hazel eyes contained was unmistakable now. He knew.

"I do not need this shield for my safety and longer," she said. Carefully, Jolane stepped back, raising her arms out to the side. A radiant aura began to shine from her skin. "I am sorry I deceived you Rael. It was necessary for my own safety." The light intensified, lighting up the darkness that was quickly descending from the eclipsed skies above. A final brilliant flash of light flooded Rael's sight. Then young Jolane was gone, and in her place stood the Queen of Hyrule. Golden hair lay about her shoulders over a white gown laced with pale blue. Her cold blue eyes shone distantly, a sombre expression upon her face.

"Zelda…" he said breathily, rapidly remembering he had ever thought about her, said about her, said to her. "Why…"

She was cut, bleeding. Now Rael saw the battlefield in which they were standing. Burnt and slashed bodies of fallen Gerudos and their horses were all around them, blooding spilling into the river.

Zelda's own blood was dripping to the river also. "…the chosen will drink deep in the blood of salvation."

The volume of blood in the water doubled, tripled, until they were all standing in a flowing stream of blood. First Link, now Zelda… bleeding gushing torrents of water through the desert. The sun was almost totally blocked out now.

Delirium gripped Rael as Link hoisted him back up onto his horse, pulling himself up behind him. "It is happening Rael. Our blood will save the world."

……

Ralis was aware only of blackness all around him. He did not feel like he was in water, but he was so very cold, and could see no light. He could not breathe. His eyes flickered as life left him.

Yet… even now he could taste something upon his lips… not water…

……

Rael was kneeling in the central river, before the greatest of the three hills. Only a sliver of light shone from the sun, and he could only vaguely make out Link beside him in the unnatural night.

"Are you bleeding Rael?" asked Link.

"Yes!" he screamed, "my body is broken you mad man!" He wept into his knees, though it meant his face was submerged in the water.

Link dragged his face back up into the air. "Why is this not working then?" It has happened for me and your mother. "Ten ride forth and five return. Where the almighty three ferment their wine the chosen must drink deep in the blood of salvation!"

"Six died, Link," shouted Rael, "not five. The prophecy is wrong! There is no prophecy!"

Link was silent. "No. I refuse to believe that. Look at those rivers."

The east and west seemed to shine in the darkness. They still flowed only with blood.

The cool water washed around his legs as he sat on his heels, gazing down at his cold reflection. He screamed out loud in pain. "Just end my pain!" he begged of Link. "I don't want to live any more… the pain is too much…"

The weight of all the pain in his life was crushing him in the darkness. The death of the only father he had ever known, the murder of Daran, of Tabett, of Mara. The crushing reality that all his life was lost. Save for Elane, everyone close to him was gone. "My brother is dying too," he said softly, as an image of a drowning Ralis came to him. "Kill me, Link," he said softly.

"What?" asked Link, horrified.

"End it. It is the only way." Saying those words seemed to set him free, a burden floating away from him into the heavens.

Above, the moon had totally eclipsed the sun. A bright white halo was shining in the sky. Stars were shining above.

"Rael, I can't!"

"Kill me!" pleaded Rael.

"You're my son!" said, eyes wide with fear and self-loathing, "I love you!"

"I am dead anyway!" he said, sobbing, "just end it now… let me go…"

Link looked down the river, still flowing with only water and tears welled in his eyes. He unsheathed his sword slowly, stepping closer to Rael. "Gods, please forgive me… Let this be the way."

Rael wiped his eyes free of tears and looked up at Link al'Shael, the brilliant halo of light burning in the sky above him. "Thank you," whispered Rael.

Link raised his sword in a shaking arm. "I'm so sorry, my son." His arm began to swing, and it tore into Rael's neck. Blood gushed forth from his arteries, spilling out into the river. His legs gave way and crashed forward into the river.

……

Link feel into the river over Rael's dead body. "My son… my son!" Tears streamed from his eyes. "My only son… I'm so sorry, Rael. I'm so sorry…"

Then Zelda was there with, kneeling beside him, her hands resting on Rael's body. "Rael… Rael… why…why… my only son." She wept for her son's soul.

……

Several miles downstream¸ a hand twitched. A heart began to beat. An arm moved in the sand. Fingers feel a neck, touching against a shaft of smooth wood. Air filled Daran's lungs as he breathed in sharply.

He dragged his legs up underneath himself, and pulled himself up to his feet, and staggered forwards over the rocky ground. A white halo shined in the sky in the place of the sun, and a field of stars blanketed the heavens.

Stumbling, taking short steps, he struggled forwards. He tripped on a rock and fell face first into the sand, but did not allow himself to stop. Using his hands as claws to dig into the earth he pulled himself forwards. The one great river was before him, Orre'Aemea. River of Blood. And blood filled the river, flowing down from three hills where three souls had given their own blood for the salvation of the world.

His hands fell into the water, and he cupped them, bringing up the blood to his lips. The bitter taste touched his tongue, and he drank it down. The world became light.