Part II – Evil Sands

Chapter XV – Ambush

The staircase they sprinted up seemed endless, but the sight and sound of the undead army still echoed in their heads and urged them forward. By the time the group had reached the top, their adrenaline reserves were empty and they were all out of breath. Ganondorf and Devika supported each other as they lunged over the last step into the midday desert heat. The rest of the group had already split to take their own breaks.

"All… all accounted for?" Ganondorf managed to say between gasps of scalding air. Nobody answered him, they just all stuck their arms out and gave him a unanimous thumbs-up. "Good. Good." Ganondorf regulated his breathing in an attempt to slow his heart rate, "So, where to next?"

A collective groan rose from the group in response and Nabooru half-chuckled between her panting, "Well, we're going to need to scout for an oasis, so someone has to climb to the top of that ruin. Once we fill our water, we'll make our way towards the compound eastward."

"Alright," Ganondorf said as he made his way towards a buried end of the pyramid, "I'll be down when I see something."

"Wait."

"What? We have to get moving if-"

"We have to rest, Ganondorf. Running for your life from the undead tends to exhaust people."

"We can rest when we're at an oasis far away from here and those... things." Ganondorf began climbing the side of the ruin.

"Ganondorf, seriously! Let's take a break and-"

"Just let him scout, lieutenant." Gita cut Nabooru short, "The corpses freaked him out a bit and he needs some time to process it all. When he returns, we'll talk sense to him."

"...Fine." Nabooru eventually huffed as she spun to relax with the rest of the team. Gita chanced one last concerned glance up at the boy before retreating with the lieutenant.

Although Ganondorf wanted Gita's words to be wrong, his thoughts as he climbed the pyramid's side gave truth to her statement. There was something about real dead bodies rising from their graves that turned his stomach. It was one thing to hear stories about it as a kid, but witnessing it firsthand was something Ganondorf couldn't understand. The more he thought about it, the more stressed he became. The undead seemed to have goals and basic decision-making skills, but lacked autonomy where they were also controlled by that strange trident. It brought more and more distressing questions to his mind. Were they alive or dead? Just undead monsters, or fully sentient beings? Was the magic coursing into them simply preventing them from dying, forcing them to slowly go insane as their bodies wasted away? Or was it trapping their souls there, forever bound to servitude in a slowly decaying prison? Or maybe even-

Ganondorf thanked the goddess that he had finally reached the top of the ruin and could distract his mind from those increasingly existential thoughts. He stood at the top of the structure, took a small sip from his canteen, and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and let the hot desert air sear his lungs and bite his skin. In a strange way, the harmful, unfiltered rays assaulting him were calming and cleared his mind. When he opened his eyes, the bright desert overloaded his vision for a second before his pupils adjusted. When his eyes became accustomed to the assault, he screened the horizon for any sign of water or plant life. Save for the odd cactus defiantly staked amidst a plain of sand, the desert was beautifully derelict. Oranges and yellows stretched for as far as Ganondorf could see. It was only broken by a very oddly shaped speck of green to his west. Ganondorf cupped his hands around his eyes to ward off the brightness and get a better look at the discrepancy. He could make out what looked like a lot of bushes but what he was really looking for was the glint of waves. Oasis water always had waves, as the desert always had wind.

He stared intensely at the speck for a long time trying his hardest not to blink as that could make him miss that tiny glimmer of hope he so desperately needed to see. Ganondorf's eyes started to tear up and came dangerously close to blinking when the smallest reflection of light flashed in his vision. He allowed himself to blink a couple of times and it happened again, right inside the speck he was staring at.

"Yes!" Ganondorf excitedly whispered to himself as he pumped his arm in celebration. But the celebratory moment was short lived as when he uncovered his peripheral vision, his eyes snapped to a large cloud of sand approaching rapidly from far in the east. Ganondorf quickly put his thumb outstretched in front of him and alternated eyes looking at the oasis and sandstorm. The storm, judging by its speed and distance, was about three hours away at least. The oasis, however, was closer and Ganondorf optimistically judged it about two hours at most. Less if they ran. After memorizing the direction of the oasis in reference to the sun, he hopped off his perch and slid down the sand-buried side of the ruin. As soon as he touched the bottom, he used the momentum to break into a sprint away from the ruin towards the rest of the team, who were still winding down from their narrow escape.

"Alright girls," Ganondorf called to get their attention, "we have an oasis northwest of this position about two hours away and a sandstorm northeast about three hours out. If we get moving now and keep a strong pace, we should get to the oasis just in time to let the storm pass over us."

Ganondorf looked around at his team and was met with gazes of abject annoyance rather than the agreement he was expecting. Not one to be deterred, he re-shouldered his pack and made for his heading. Somehow, Nabooru appeared in front of him as he turned, and defiantly stared him down with her hands on her hips.

"Ready?" He rhetorically asked as he pushed past the lieutenant, "Good. Then let's go."

"No, Ganondorf."

The boy was once again blocked from his path by a more immovable Nabooru. However, this time her eyes were filled with more concern than frustration. Ganondorf's, in contrast, had nothing more than frustration and wanted nothing more than to get moving away from the tomb as soon and as fast as possible. But as he tried to step around the lieutenant, she blocked him again.

"Nabooru, come on!"

"No Ganondorf. You keep running yourself and others like this and someone's going to get hurt. We need to rest for a moment."

"You've had plenty of time. We've wasted enough of it squabbling as it is!"

"And you need to understand that others don't have the endurance you do! You need to stand down!"

"Stand down?! There's an army of living corpses behind us!"

"And they haven't come out at all."

"And what if they do? What if it's the sun keeping them at bay?"

"Then we'll deal with it like we have everything else unexpected."

"Maybe I want to expect something for a change."

"This isn't your mission, or your command."

"I just want to be taken seriously!"

"Taken seriously? Or as the leader?"

"Well, there's no way I could possibly lead when you're questioning my every move!"

"You're not king yet!"

Nabooru's fiery stare burned into Ganondorf's and only the desert wind accented the moment. Likewise, Ganondorf's anger-charged glare attacked her own and even seemed to make her angrier.

"If you think your temporary political position of prince gives you any rank in this outfit, you are sorely mistaken, cadet! I am the leader as appointed by your general and nothing, I repeat, nothing will make me put the needs of one jumpy soldier over the needs of my entire team."

"Umm, lieutenant?" Devika tried to get her commanding officer's attention, but Nabooru continued with her rant.

"I am the lieutenant of this outfit and I will not tolerate any more of this insubordination. When I say sit, you sit. When I say run, you damn better run." She accented her words by poking his chest with her finger, "Out here it is what I say, when I say it. If I need counsel, if there is at any point a moment where I need someone to speak to tactically, I will consult my second in command and no one else! You do not speak for me and you do not speak for the general. Might I remind you that-."

"Lieutenant!"

"Not now Devika! Might I remind you that I am to report your performance directly to the general. I will not keep anything from that report, you have my word!"

"Nabooru!"

"What Devika!? What in the goddess's name could you possibly be-"

"Incoming!"

The rest of the team all turned to where Devika was indicating just in time to catch several plumes of sand close in on their positions. Ganondorf counted eight before they exploded and the same number of lizalfos pounced forward to attack the group. Ganondorf, with seconds to react, pushed Nabooru away before unsheathing his sword to block two of their own. The weight and power proved to be too much for him to handle and he was forced to allow the swords to fall off to the side so he could follow up with a backpedaling slash. The lizals anticipated this and backed up as well before charging for a new attack. Nabooru jumped to her feet and took a stance beside Ganondorf.

As the lizals engaged, it was obvious that they had never fought warriors as experienced as Gerudo, much less top combatants as Nabooru or Ganondorf. They were incredible and powerful Separately, but they were unstoppable together. Becoming a whirlwind of steel, the two pushed their attackers back one step at a time. They regularly switched targets to keep their enemy confused, flipping and ducking around one another in a malicious dance that only they could choreograph. This also allowed them to test their opponents and find the one weakest to their fighting style. Ganondorf found that the lizard on the left had a weaker arm that he could overpower and the monster on the right telegraphed his attacks very broadly, something Nabooru was specifically skilled in exploiting.

"Left!" Ganondorf shouted as Nabooru engaged the opposite lizal. As they had practiced many times before, the two Gerudo broke away from each other and engaged their respective targets. Nabooru ducked and dodged around her opponent's attacks, finding openings and opportunities for her blade to slice into the thick flesh of the beast. Ganondorf's method was far more brutish by comparison. His sword clashed with the lizal's and its attacks were batted away as if they were no more dangerous than flies. Then Ganondorf rose to his full height, almost taller than the lizal itself, and used his imposing frame to intimidate the lizard. The creature was having a difficult time keeping up the attack and at the first opportunity he had, Ganondorf switched to the offensive. The confused, and now scared, animal did its best to stave off his relentlessly strong attacks until Ganondorf brought both their weapons around and forced the lizal to lose its grip on its sword. The monster's blade flew yards away and as the prince came back around from the throw, he let loose a haymaker that connected with the side of the monster's snout. Ganondorf felt tooth and bone crack, pop, and splinter under his knuckles and the sheer force of the impact crumpled the lizal to the ground.

Ganondorf took the brief moment of respite to see how the rest of the squad was doing. Devika looked to be injured, field-bandaging a bloody gash on her left arm, while Manju and Kanta battled two remaining lizalfos. One lay dead in the sand with a bloody Gerudo dagger sticking out of its eye. Gita seemed to be holding her own against her two attackers, clashing against them with a sword in each hand. Then, nearby, a new lizal burst from the sand and took in the entire combat situation. Though this one's armor was crudely painted a muddy brown and even its scales were a more muted green. Whether it was a straggler from the main group or a new wave of monsters, it didn't hesitate to break to the left to help the two of its kind attacking Gita. With seconds to respond, Ganondorf reached down and picked up the lizard he had just incapacitated by the jaw bone he had shattered. Using all his strength, and a little bit of magic, the prince hurled the lizal at the newcomer.

The sheer speed at which the monster was flung was almost impossible to track with the eye, and when it made impact there was a sickening crack along with a roar of immeasurable pain. The body Ganondorf threw had broken the additional lizal's leg and the bone sticking out of its flesh gushed fresh blood onto the sand. On hearing the painful roar, the two animals fighting Manju and Kanta began to slowly backstep toward their fallen teammate. In response to this, Nabooru dashed past Ganondorf towards them. The boy turned to see where she had come from and found a decapitated lizal lying in a pool of blood-stained sand.

"Good job, go help Gita!" Nabooru hurriedly barked as she ran out of earshot.

"Got it!" Ganondorf acknowledged before sprinting over to help.

Gita was now showing signs of fatigue as she fended off her two attackers. She had already suffered multiple bruises and cuts to her arms and left leg. Her opponents weren't faring much better with one nursing a nasty stab wound to its ribs and the other limping on its injured right leg. Individually, there was no way they could hold their own against a Gerudo heavy weapons specialist like Gita. But together, they put enough pressure on her to keep her from landing a killing blow.

"Gita! I'll take left!" Ganondorf called to her as he readied a leaping strike on the indicated lizal. Gita rolled away and aggressively attacked the opposite lizard while Ganondorf landed and savagely set upon his new enemy. Ganondorf had chosen to take on the stabbed lizal, leaving Gita to attack the limping one. Now, suddenly on the defensive, the bleeding lizal couldn't keep up with Ganondorf's unrelenting assault and suffered a severed wrist to one of Ganondorf's wide sweeping attacks. He brought his sword across and sliced right through the lizard's throat, turning its screams of pain and horror into sputtering and gurgles on its own blood. The monster clawed at its severed trachea for a few moments before succumbing to the blood loss with Ganondorf scowling at its writhing body in disgust.

Once the body was completely motionless on the ground, Ganondorf looked up to find Gita faring quite well against her crippled opponent. It was actually quite impressive on the lizal's part that it was able to withstand such a skilled and physically stronger opponent's onslaught of attacks. Then Ganondorf's chest was filled with genuine fear when he looked away from Gita and that soon to end fight.

The horizon had disappeared and what replaced it was the enormous sand storm he had warned about. He couldn't believe that it had already been three hours, unless he had miscalculated its distance. Either way, the storm was upon them now and only one thought flooded his brain.

"Run for it!"

As he barked the order to his team, Ganondorf sheathed his weapon and made a mad dash to the northeast, the direction he remembered seeing the oasis in.

"Dammit Ganondorf!" Gita groaned; her blades still wet with the blood of her now deceased opponent.

"Gita, grab Ganondorf!" Nabooru ordered, trying to maintain control, "The rest of you, retreat with me!"

"Ganondorf! Get back to Gita! The storm-" Manju also chimed in but the storm was too powerful.

"What are you doing?! We can make it!" Ganondorf tried to yell at his squad behind him, but his words were also drowned out by the incoming tempest. He was then hit full force by a wall of sand and wind. The storm was so powerful it knocked him off his feet and sent him tumbling in the now shifting sands. When he was finally able to stop himself, the prince quickly tied on his sand veil and looked around to see if he could find anyone. Everything was a murky orange color and even the huge ruins that used to be behind him were completely obstructed from view.

"Nabooru!" He called, hoping his voice was loud enough to pierce both his veil and the drowning sands. He began walking against the wind and into the biting storm, hoping that it would help the storm pass faster.

"Devika! Kanta!" Ganondorf tried for his other teammates as he figured if he changed the sounds he made, he'd be able to get some of them through.

"Gita! Manju!" Ganondorf's head whipped around after his last call because he could have sworn he'd heard someone to his left. He tried to listen as intently as he could, but between the sand, the wind, and the beating of his own heart, nothing was really piercing through the chaos.

"Anyone! Hello?!"

This time he was sure he heard something behind him. He picked up his pace, or as much as the wind would allow, and made his way in its general direction.

"I'm here! It's Ganondorf!"

Then he heard panting. Harsh and laborious, and with a wheeze that shuddered painfully. Ganondorf couldn't quite make out the owner, but just the thought that it might be Nabooru made him quicken his pace even more.

"Where are you? I'm here!"

Ganondorf saw through the sand a person on all fours heaving and trying desperately to stand. Ganondorf ran over to find the bloodied and bruised form of Gita struggling to stand amidst the storm. She had a lot of cuts, many in uniform bite-like shapes, and her leg had taken a large cut to the calf. Sand had created coarse scabs in and around her fresh wounds, but it couldn't soak it all up.

"Gita?! Holy shit, what happened?!" Ganondorf hefted the large woman's arm over his shoulder.

"Dammit. Ambush. In the storm. You… you have to go." Gita coughed into her free hand and blood dripped from it before being overtaken by the sand whipping around.

"Dammit Gita, you're hurt. Badly. We need to find the others and get you help."

"I can't. You need to go."

"Let's go soldier!" Ganondorf tried to lift Gita by her arm but when she tried to get her feet under her, they gave and they both crashed to the ground.

"I told you, I'm too injured. And they can smell my blood. They'll find me again and they'll kill us both. Just go!"

"No! I'm strong enough! I'll fight them back if I have to but I'm not just leaving you! Give me your hand!"

Ganondorf put his hand in front of Gita for her to grab so he had more leverage, but when Gita's hand went into it, his fingers grasped a smooth, hard, and round stone instead. When he looked up, Gita's headpiece was missing its soul gem.

"I give my life for the future king of the Gerudo."

Before Ganondorf could process what Gita had said, she pushed him off of her and he tumbled into the sand. He held tightly to the stone in his hand and stood before looking up at Gita. She had straightened herself into a kneeling position and, although the storm drowned out her words, Ganondorf could read her lips.

"Don't blame yourself."

In an instant, a large Lizal head lunged from the sand behind Gita, sunk its razor-sharp teeth into her shoulder, and pulled her violently into the storm.