The one thing that they don't tell you about horseback riding in movies and books is that it's uncomfortable as all hell. Especially when you've been riding for several consecutive hours as quickly as your horse will allow.

After gearing up in the armory, I snuck over to the stables and found the horse I'd been training with since I'd first arrived, Auburn. As far as horses go, he was a bit hyperactive (or so I was told by the stable boy), but I think that's probably why I liked him so much. I quickly got Auburn saddled up and rode out of the castle at twilight.

All I had to go on as far as directions were what I remembered of the map of Hyrule from the war room, and a few wooden road signs placed intermittently throughout the countryside. It didn't make things any easier that I was riding in the dead of night most of the time with nothing but moonlight to see by. I was so focused on navigating that I hardly had time to think about anything else, which was probably a good thing because I had way too much to think about anyways.

I only stopped once in the night to let Auburn rest and eat while I quickly did the same. Just as the sun was beginning to rise, I saw at sign that read "next village Rivenport." Feeling a renewed sense of purpose, I spurred Auburn on for the final push. By the time I could finally see Rivenport cresting over a hill my butt was pretty sore, but I was starting to get too nervous to really care. I had to focus to keep my hands from shaking out of anticipation.

My plan was to get to the city and inform the citizens that Gerudo forces were on their way. If I told them to only pack the essentials, I could have them out of the way before any of the Gerudo arrived. I knew I wouldn't be able to take out the whole squad, but if I could just reduce their numbers by a bit before making my escape I'd have considered it a successful mission. Beyond that, I didn't have much of a plan going for me.

I was maybe 100 meters from the first cluster of houses when I heard the piercing cry of a woman. In an instant, I knew that my plan wouldn't work; that I had arrived too late.

I pushed Auburn to his fastest speed and blew past the first collection of houses. I was beginning to hear sounds of the chaos that was ensuing all around. Garbled cries, the clashing of steal, shattering glass—all of them flooded my ears.

As I burst into the center of town, my eyes immediately locked onto the woman who must have been the culprit of the scream I had heard just moments before. She was lying in the dirt, an overturned bucket and pooling water a few feet away. Overtop of her stood one of the most intimidating women I had ever seen.

She stood well over six feet tall, and most of her extremely muscled body was exposed save for scattered pieces of golden armor that adorned her upper chest and left shoulder. She wielded a long spear with two golden prongs and a silver tip. Her fiery red hair hair was pulled back into a pony tail, and even from a distance while atop a horse I could see the wicked expression on her face. I had met Gerudo women before in my own time, but they were nothing like this.

She stood with her spear at the ready, and I knew I only had moments to act. Without thinking, I drew my bow and knocked an arrow. I knew I was a decent shot, but hitting her given the circumstances didn't seem likely. My biggest hope was merely to get her attention off of the cowering woman and onto me. Taking just a moment to aim as the gerudo retracted her spear and readied to stab, I sent up a silent prayer to the Goddesses and let my arrow fly.

Impossibly, the arrow caught the Gerudo warrior in her upper left arm just below her armored shoulder. She immediately cried out in pain and her would-be victim took her opportunity and ran a safe distance away. The gerudo began to cast her eyes about for the culprit. When her eyes finally met mine, it took every ounce of courage I had not to look away. She looked positively murderous. I stopped Auburn a good ten feet away from her and leapt off of the saddle onto the ground. I gave Auburn a firm slap on his hindquarters so that he would know to keep his distance before I turned to face my opponent.

"You bastard," the gerudo hissed as she snapped the exposed shaft of the arrow. "Attacking an opponent while her back is turned. You fight with the dishonor I would expect of a Hylian."

"Says the lady attacking a defenseless village full of civilians," I said as I drew my sword and shield. I was attempting to sound confident, but on the inside I was utterly terrified of the injured woman standing before me.

"You speak like a boy who knows nothing of war," she spat and leveled her spear at me.

"It doesn't take an experienced warrior to recognize cruelty," I said, my blue irises meeting her amber ones. She was fierce; experienced. I had been training for months with the best warriors and teachers that Hyrule had to offer, but none of that could prepare me for that look. She wanted to kill me, and wouldn't hesitate to do it if given the chance. My knees began to shake ever so slightly

"You may call it cruelty, but the Gerudo call it strength," she said.

"You were going to kill a completely innocent and defenseless woman. I call that cruelty." I said. I didn't know where the words were coming from, but they felt right.

"Well, I certainly hope that foolish Hylian king sent more than just a little welp like you," the Gerudo warrior said, slowly inching forward. I could feel her eyeing my stance.

"I'm afraid you'll just have to settle for me at the moment," I said. "But don't worry, after I take care of you there will be plenty more on the way." Of course I was lying through my teeth, but I needed to make the Gerudo feel like they had a much shorter timetable than they actually did.

"Enough talk," she seethed. "I recognize a stalling child when I see one. Let's settle this with our blades."

And just like that, our conversation was over. The Gerudo rushed in quickly, spear held low and centered. I sprinted forward to meet her, hoping to catch her off guard just like I had with Groose. Unfortunately it turns out that elite Gerudo warriors are a bit more skilled than the average Hylian recruit.

With timing that could only be achieved through years of combat, she planted her feet at a distance just far enough away that my sword couldn't reach her, accentuating the advantage of a longer weapon. She swung her spear at my right side with tremendous speed and placement. I tried to parry with my sword, but the attack had a great deal of power behind it and caused me to lose my balance. In the end all I could really do was deflect the blow. She took immediate advantage of the situation and side-stepped to my right, giving me even worse position than I had before. She darted in quickly and thrusted her spear straight at my midsection. I knew I didn't have time to defend myself so I dove to the side, rolling and popping back up on my feet in an instant.

The Gerudo didn't give me any time to recover and came rushing in again for a vicious stab. Thankfully I had my feet set and was able to react quickly. Stepping just slightly to the side, I was able to deflect her attack with my shield and cause her spear to glance upward straight over my head. I ducked in and started to bring my sword in an upward diagonal strike, just like I had against Groose.

I guess I wound up closer to her than I thought though because she was able to bring her foot up and kick my upper arm before my sword got close enough. It hurt a little, but I saw the fact that she was only on one foot as an opportunity. I swung my left arm up at her and caught her midsection with the side of my shield. It was a crushing blow that I was sure had to hurt. I was going to press the attack, but just moments after I landed my attack she landed one of her own. The pole of her spear was brought down right on top of my head, causing my vision to blur. She had likely begun her swung before I had actually hit her with my shield. After that exchange, we both jumped back and stood at the ready again.

"You're rather quick on your feet Hylian," she said. "You might actually be more skilled than the common trash that the Royal Family sends our way."

"I appreciate the compliment, but I can't say I feel the same way about you," I said, trying to provoke her. I figured if I could make her angry, I might get her to make some sloppy moves and create an opening for myself.

I was trying to seem cool and confident, but my heart was pounding and it took all of my focus not to start shaking from fear. This woman was more than just intimidating. She wanted to kill me, and I could feel it emanating from every ounce of her being. That spear looked sickeningly sharp, I was pretty sure noting would delight her more than to skewer me. I had to be sure that I didn't hesitate if I had the opportunity to finish this fight.

"By the way, how're those ribs feeling? I'm pretty sure I felt a few crack," I said, trying to anger her further. Unfortunately, it worked.

She came rushing forward again and was on me in an instant. She was swinging her spear rapidly, one attack coming right after the other. The good news was that she seemed angry and was certainly taking more chances. The bad news was that her form and strategies didn't falter at all. It was all I could do to block or parry every attack. There were no openings for me to get close, and she had complete control over the distance of the fight.

This didn't have to carry on for very long before I started to feel winded. As it turned out, sparring with lightweight wooden weapons and shields was much less taxing than full combat with metal weapons. My arms began to burn, and my legs felt heavy as I struggled to maintain my footing against the heavy blows of the Gerudo warrior before me. It was everything I could do just to keep from being stabbed. And this was all from fighting just one soldier out of presumably at least a dozen. As time went on, I began to realize one thing just a little bit too late: I was in way over my head. My brain started shifting from fight to flight and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I began to think of ways to escape.

I was fully prepared to take the first opportunity I got to run away until I saw a small figure rush out of one of the buildings in my peripheral vision. I was occupied with the fight going on in front of me, but even still my eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the young child running across the town square with dirt caked all over his body. I only looked at him for an instant, but I could see the terror etched across his face as tears streaked down his muddied face. He couldn't have been older than six years old, and following not far behind, cackling like an absolute madwoman, was another Gerudo soldier with her spear raised high. I felt something akin to the anger that had brought me here in the first place bubble up to the surface, but it was noticeably different from before. I didn't have time to break down exactly what I was feeling, but I knew that I couldn't run away—not from this.

I fixed my eyes back on the Gerudo I'd been engaged with for quite a while now. I still saw that absolute malice, that intent to kill that had terrified me, but now I also saw that this Gerudo was someone that was keeping me from saving everyone in this town. This person was endangering dozens, maybe even hundreds of innocent people including children. What they were doing was unforgivable. It was about time I started returning the anger that was being thrown my way. I noticed just how little the Gerudo armor actually protected. In an instant, I had a crazy idea.

I jumped back, creating a little more space between us allowing the Gerudo to lower her spear to a fully horizontal position ride around my midsection. I charged forward, intentionally leaving my right side wide open. I saw the Gerudo's eyes flicker to area I had left unguarded. She stabbed forward taking the opportunity I had so graciously given her just like I expected. I shifted left somewhat so that the spear glanced off of my side. I winced from the pain and could instantly feel hot blood begin to flow from the sizable gash that had been surely been made.

It was a worthy sacrifice though because just as I thought, the Gerudo had been too distracted by the obvious opening that I'd left to notice my sword arcing down towards her from overhead. I gritted my teeth, slamming my sword down into her collar bone with all of my strength. The blade sunk a good six inches into her body with a sickening thunk, sending out a spurt of blood upon entry. She looked at me with a shocked expression as blood flowed heavily from the wound. Her arms went limp and her knees buckled as she reached weakly for the hilt of my sword. Part of me recoiled at the thought of what I had just done, but I knew I couldn't afford to focus on that right now. I delivered a kick to her stomach as I yanked my sword free of the bone it had sunken into.

Wasting no time, I began rushing across the town square where the Gerudo was now standing over the boy with a sinister look on her face. They clearly hadn't noticed my scuffle on the opposite end of the square. The boy was curled up in the fetal position with his hands covering his head. The Gerudo sneered before delivering a swift kick to his head and rage surged through my body once more.

I lithely sprinted forward, moving as silently as I could. I was maybe ten feet away when the Gerudo finally heard my fast approaching footsteps. She had just enough time to raise her spear, but I was ready. I swung out my sword, batting away her spear with ease. Before she had even a moment to react, I moved in closer and slammed the end of my shield into her nose. I could hear a crunch as her head was flung back. She fell flat onto the ground, probably unconscious but maybe dead. I couldn't really tell which.

I looked down at the boy who was watching me from the ground with a guarded expression. I think he didn't know whether to be in awe of me or terrified. I probably didn't look too friendly at that exact moment. When I looked at him, my heart lurched a little bit. I sheathed my sword and knelt down beside him, extending my hand.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," I said, and I could see his face visibly relax. He had brown, tussled hair and his eyes shone with fear. He had obviously been having a rough time.

"Are you that boy?" he said with a bit of wonder in his eyes. I had no idea what he was talking about. "The boy who everyone's been talking about? Link?"

At the mention of the other Link, I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I felt some jealousy creeping up from the back of my mind, but I managed to push it away.

"We're… distant relatives. But I'm with the Hyrule military. Everything's going to be OK," I said, doing my best to sound confident and in control.

"You should start heading north, away from town," I told him, my eyes shifting about the courtyard, looking nervously for the next Gerudo warrior. Some shouts and sounds of chaos could still be heard coming from deeper into the village. After determining that this area was probably safe for the moment, I gently pulled the boy to his feet and looked him in the eyes.

"Find some place to hide and just wait for things to calm down, OK? I've got to stay here and help everyone else," I said. He looked at me with a blank expression, but his eyes shone with understanding. I knew I didn't have time to dawdle too much so I turned and began to walk quickly deeper into the village.

I had taken maybe five steps when I heard his voice call out from behind me, saying "Wait! I can't leave the village. Not until I find my little sister."

The boy then ran up to me, tugging on my sleeve, looking at me pleadingly. I thought of my own little sister, Aryll, and I felt my heart squeeze when I put myself in this kids shoes. I understood being a protective older brother.

I also understood that this was no place for a child. I couldn't take this kid with me and constantly be forced to protect him if a fight broke out. My heart and my head were at war with one another, but I knew there was really only one solution.

"Listen," I said, kneeling down to his eye level. "I promise you that I'll find your sister and I'll keep her safe, but you can't stay here. It's too dangerous."

For his part, the kid looked torn. Part of him was obviously terrified. He didn't want to stay here, but there was another part of him that was absolutely resolute.

"I'm not leaving without my sister," he said with a determined nod. "She's got a special place where she likes to hide. I know she'll be there, and you'll never find it without me. I promise I'll stay out of your way, but you have to help me save my sister."

Part of me wanted to scream. Now was not the time for an escort mission. I wasn't skilled enough for this, but I didn't know how to tell this kid no. It felt like I would've been sentencing his sister to death. I was caught between a rock and a hard place, and I was growing more and more antsy by the minute being out in the open. A decision had to be made.

"Alright, you give me directions and move as silently as you possibly can," I said, rising back up to my feet and drawing my sword. "Stay behind me at all times, and you have to do exactly as I say. If I tell you to run, you run. Capisce?"

"I don't know what that last word means, but I'll do everything you say," the boy said, looking as determined as ever.

Oh right, I'm from the future. It was becoming easier to forget that lately. With a sigh, I started heading into the belly of the beast, all of my senses on high alert.

"I knew you were a hero," the boy whispered from behind me, almost reverently.

"Goddesses, I hope so," I said under my breath.

Author's note: Alright, I suck, I know. It's been embarrassingly long since my last update. I wish I had a good excuse, but I don't. I'm a busy guy, but who isn't? I hope this chapter was worth the wait, but I kind of doubt it since it's not really that long. I planned on making it longer, but I decided updating as quickly as I could was a little bit more important just to prove that I'm still alive. Anyways, we finally got to see Link in action! Hopefully his first battle lived up to the hype. Let me know what you guys think! Hopefully my next update will come in a more timely fashion, but it probably won't. Until then, stay classy folks. Peace. PWC