A Link to the Heart Chapter 10

Nights in Hyrule were mild in comparison to the sharp chill of the desert but they made up for it by being wet. A faint mist lingered in the air, making the stars faint and filling the air with dampness. It clung to the skin like a wet blanket, causing sword hilts and reins to grow slippery and making clothing uncomfortably damp. Kinesha didn't care for it at all.

The leader of the Padwe clan was leading her horse up a narrow road, climbing above the low plain that was Hyrule Fields. Behind her came two-score of her clan's finest blades, sisters she had led on dozens of raids. They marched in single file, better to hide their presence as they climbed. Each of them bore scimitars, horse bows and long glaives, ready to fight at a moment's notice. Kinesha was leading the way. She had thrown aside the finery and jewels and adopted her typical robe, which was far better suited to travel and fighting. She was carefully picking her steps in the dim moonlight. It wasn't ideal but she could see enough to proceed, but she was wary of tripping on a loose stone. If her horse panicked in the dark and screamed or broke free it could ruin everything. They couldn't let that happen; they had come too far to risk detection. Surprise was their greatest weapon.

Behind her there was a scuffle and Gurd spat, "Wretched land, everything is wet!"

"Quiet," Kinesha snapped.

"Oh stop being so worrisome," Gurd muttered, "Any sane person would be in their beds on a night like this."

Kinesha was not amused, "Be quiet, if you betray our position we risk being trapped."

From behind Gurd came the voice of Mahee, "Do as you're told, we came a long way to get here and I'm too old to be riding a horse across half a country."

Gurd fell quiet and Kinesha breathed a sigh of relief. It was true, the Gerudo force had travelled far in the last few days. Since the conclave in the desert the clans had spilt up, slipping through lesser passes in the rocky gorges and jagged hills separating the lands. They had then further split into tiny bands of warriors, who could slip by unnoticed and unremarked. They had spent three days and three nights driving hard into Hyrule Fields, racing down smaller tracks and laying low in copses and gullies whenever passing bands of merchants or soldiers had come by. In only a few days they had penetrated the heart of Hyrule and now were ready to strike far and wide.

This wasn't how the Gerudo had fought previously. Amassing their army in the Gerudo Fortress and trying to punch through the assembled might of the King's army. That had been their tactic in the previous war and it had led to a resounding defeat, one the Gerudo did not intend to repeat. This time they would favour speed and stealth, sowing chaos and calamity throughout the land. They would bring down the ponderous nation of Hyrule through a thousand cuts, not one thrust to the heart.

Kinesha's feet stumbled as the road levelled out and she found herself emerging onto a flat plateau. Before her the land became a rolling hilltop, covered by grass and well-chewed bracken. It didn't look like the cultivated farms they had passed, the sedentary tedium of agriculture that would have bored Kinesha to distraction. Instead it looked like cattle land, a ranch of some description. In the distance squatted a dozen wooden buildings, their shuttered windows glowing with flickering firelight. There was just enough light to see the buildings slumbering, without guard or sentry, a glaring weakness no Gerudo clan would ever have tolerated.

Kinesha grinned at the sight and whispered, "Line up and ready your blades."

Gurd hefted her glaive but sounded concerned, "Are we really going to do this?"

Kinesha replied, "You know our task, we must drive fear into the heart of Hyrule."

Gurd retorted, "I know that, but to kill for killing's sake. I mean, we can achieve the same thing by setting a few buildings alight, grabbing some prisoners and calves and getting out before they know what hit them."

There were a few grumbled agreements from the assembled warriors and Kinesha knew it went against their natures to kill indiscriminately. Gerudo preferred fast raids, meant for capturing spoils more than raw destruction. For most Gerudo there was little point in killing someone you could rob again next season. Their last attempt at outright conquest had taught them to be wary of wanton destruction. Yet this was no ordinary fight, no typical war, they were fighting for the future of their race and Kinesha had to remind her sisters of that.

She faced her sisters in the darkness and said, "Remember why we are here and what we are fighting for. We are here to end the curse, to free our sisters of the sorrow that haunts our nights. Twinrova wants us to spread terror and woe across these sleepy lands, to force the King of Hyrule to march out of his stone castle to confront us. What we do this night shall set a snare for our prize, but if we baulk at the first step we shall never be free."

Mahee muttered, "Twinrova serve only themselves. What guarantee do we have they won't take this mighty relic for themselves and forget their promise to liberate us?"

Kinesha had no good answer but she pressed, "The attempt must be made, for all our sakes we cannot allow this opportunity to pass."

Mahee hissed, "That is your fear speaking, fear can drive a soul to commit terrible deeds."

Yet Kinesha would not be daunted, "Who here is not afraid of the curse? How many of you have wept salt tears for lost sons, how many of you have yet to know that vicious knife to the heart? We have a chance to end it once and for all, we cannot turn aside now, not when are so close. Be hard and cruel today sisters, for we fight for the tomorrow of all Gerudo."

Faces hardened and Gurd affirmed, "We will do what is required."

Kinesha declared, "Mount up and draw steel. Mahee, use your magic to set the buildings alight and when the sleeping fools stumble out we cut them down without mercy."

She led the way, mounting her horse and wincing slightly as her wet robe bunched under her bottom, clinging to her legs and rear. Yet she set her eyes on the buildings and drew one of her scimitars. The blade glimmered in the faint light and she gripped the reins in her other hand as she spurred her horse forward. She couldn't risk galloping on this uneven ground, not in the dark, but a slow cantor brought them close to the buildings. Every step of the way Kinesha worried a cry of alarm would go up, followed by a hail of arrows, but there was nothing. It seemed the Hylians were blithely unprepared for the coming fight, secure in the delusion that their king would protect them from harm. It was wilful blindness and Kinesha swore they would pay for it.

Suddenly there was a sensation of hot wind behind her and a flash of light. A fireball flew past her ear, sent from Mahee's hand towards one of the nearest houses. It struck a window and punched through, leaving a flaming hole in the shutter. It was followed by another and another, each one striking a different window. Bright lights erupted from each window as the magical bolts ignited wooden beams, spreading sheets of flame everywhere. Moments later screams arose from within, men and women yelling in alarm as the fires spread. Smoke began billowing out of the windows as the fires grew and grew, sinking claws of flame into the roof.

Kinesha saw the building going up in flame and then the doors burst open and a crowd of people stumbled out. They staggered and coughed as they fled the acrid smoke, desperately running for their lives. She spurred her horse into a gallop, raising her Scimitar as she did so. The muscles under her legs convulsed with building power as the horse raced forward, gaining speed with every step. The crowd grew before her, the dazed people did not see her coming and she singled out a lone man with blonde hair who was staggering about helplessly. For an instant she almost froze at the enormity of what she was doing. She had killed before, but always people who were trying to kill her in return. Gerudo raids could get bloody but that was never the goal, she had fought to live and claim spoils, but never killed for its own sake. Then she reminded herself that her sisters were looking to her to lead them, if she faltered they would see and their mission would fail. The curse would never be lifted. She couldn't allow that, she had to follow through with her decisions.

Kinesha let out a wild yell as her scimitar flashed. An impact rang through her arm as the sword sliced into flesh and bone and then she was galloping past, leaving screaming terror in her wake. She didn't look back to see her target's fate but she heard her sisters fall upon the crowd, following her example with yells of their own. The Gerudo struck hard and fast, smashing through the crowd and cutting down many with their scimitars and glaives and horse bows. Few survived the first pass and they ran screaming, fleeing from the merciless attackers in their midst.

Kinesha yanked hard on her reins and brought her horse around. As she did so a young woman ran into her mount, jarring her in her saddle. The pale woman fell with a scream as heavy hooves slammed into her, breaking her legs and causing her to fall under the horses' bulk. Kinesha had no time to slow and finish her off for another man was dashing away, running for his life from the Gerudo. Kinesha gave chase, galloping after the man before he could flee. A single sweep of her scimitar sent him to the ground, as blood stained the metal of her sword. The man hadn't even had a chance to fight back; he had fallen without raising a hand in his defence and she sneered in contempt for his weakness.

She wheeled around and saw her sisters running riot, their weapons striking down any within reach. Licking flames illuminated the scene, making it seem a waking nightmare of red light and thick smoke and screaming filled the air with terrified wails. Gurd's glaive struck like she was spearfishing, cutting down many, while others slashed with curved scimitars and fired arrows from horseback. She saw Maury slice open the skull of an elderly man, her recent loss not weakening her sword arm. Mahee was hanging back, throwing fireballs into other buildings, set alight houses, barns, stables and storehouses. People were pouring out of other buildings now, all staggering about in confusion.

Kinesha saw the moment unfold and knew they could finish off the Hylians before they even knew what was happening. Yet unexpectedly there was a feral scream of bestial terror. From the stables and barns burst a horde of cattle and horses, the panicked animals stampeding away from the flames engulfing their homes. They ran in all directions, scattering the people or trampling them underfoot in their desperate flight from the roaring fires. The cattle scattered across the fields and to Kinesha's dismay a dozen of her sisters broke off from the fighting, giving chase with yells of delight.

"No! We're not here for that!" Kinesha yelled but she was ignored, the Gerudo's life of raiding instilled an instinctive urge to claim spoils and the bounty laid before her sisters was too great to ignore. She gritted her teeth as a quarter of her warriors raced away, chasing riches even as the Hylians grew in number. She snarled to herself and wheeled about, determined to rally her remaining warriors and finish this fight. Yet as she did so there was a blur across her vision and she saw an arrow hurtle past. It dove among the Gerudo and struck Maury in the back, punching her from her horse and sending her into the mud with a shaft buried in her spine. A warrior Kinesha had known since birth, victor of a score of raids, who had lost her first son to the curse, died in a moment and she was not alone. Another arrow fell and struck a Gerudo in the neck and another took a horse in the flank, causing the beast to fall.

Kinesha wheeled her horse about, looking for the source of the volley and saw three Hylians kneeling on a sloped awning sticking out of a house. One of them was wearing a green tunic and the others were in the dark uniforms of Hylian knights. They had bows in hand and were hurriedly reloading, and from the deadliness of their first shots they were no amateurs. It seemed someone was determined to make a fight of this.

Kinesha raised her scimitar high and cried, "Beware sisters, the enemy rallies. For the Gerudo and the clan, follow me!"