The Downfall Timeline
Book 1
Chapter 17: Heroes, Villains, and Gods

Near Midnight, January 27, 610 GK, The War of Imprisonment, Day 195

Lon Lon Ranch

Keeping to the shadow of the barn, the four soldiers leaned in very close together to hear their scout's report.

"The horses and cattle are at the far end of the ranch. A crude set of stables have been set up for them there, beyond the corral. The ranch hand is in the bedroom of the house, writing something. The girl is chained inside the barn." He quickly told them.

"What of moblins, soldiers, guards?" asked Alfon.

"The ranch reeks of them sir, but I did not find any... they must be in the house with the ranch-hand." replied Viscern.

Link noticed that his voice had a slight tone of doubt.

"He's not certain." He thought to himself with a slight note of fear.

"Alright," the marshal began with a deep breath, "We keep this simple. Russell and I will gather the horses and cattle. Link and Viscern will release the girl. Take her to the gate. From there, signal us and we'll create a stampede out the gate and onto the field. The animals should follow their herd and we may even trample that traitor as we escape."

The others nodded and split apart. Alfon gave his squire one last squeeze of confidence on his shoulder before he slipped across the ranch toward the stables.

Once they were out of sight, the captain leaned in close and whispered to Link, "As quietly as you can, go into the barn. If the girl begins to cry or scream, do not rush up to her! Use your voice to get through to her. I will handle the chains. If anything goes wrong, you make for the gate and get back to the Lake, understood?"

The little hero knew it was no time to argue, so he quickly nodded his head and drew his sword. Viscern straightened up and in one skilled leap, landed on the eaves of the barn.

Soft-footed and silent as a cat, he dashed over the roof and disappeared from sight. The boy marveled at his agility, but quickly returned his focus to the mission.

The barn door creaked and groaned dangerously as Link made his way inside. At once, the heavy scent of smoke, filth, and rotting meat assaulted his nose and the boy was forced to hold his breath. A little light came from thin beams streaming in from the barn's windows, but he was still forced to strain his eyes in the darkness.

At the far end of the barn, he heard the quiet rattle of metal links. As silently as he could, the little soldier tip-toed his way across the timbered floor, keeping his sword close to his body, until he came upon Malon in the darkness.

She hung by her shackled wrists several inches from the floor. Her dress was filthy and torn in several places and her skin was badly bruised and bloody where it was uncovered. The girl's head hung limply down onto her chest; either she was dead or unconscious.

"Malon... Malon..." Link breathed softly, "Malon... it's me Link!" But she did not move or answer.

The squire began to fear that she really was dead and his heart began beating harder and harder against his chest.

"Malon, it's me Link! We're going to get you out of here." he tried a little louder.

A small rustle came from his left; the sound of hay or straw on the barn floor of the nearest stall being moved. Alert, the boy froze; holding sword ready for the attack - but nothing more came.

"Just... just a mouse" he thought to himself as he struggled to relax.

Fighting panic, Link turned back and stepped closer to the girl. Reaching out, he carefully lifted her head and gently rubbed her cheek with his right thumb.

"Malon, Malon it's me."

The girl let out a soft groan, and struggled to open her right eye - her left being badly bruised and swollen shut.

When she realized someone was touching her face, she jerked her head back and whimpered, "No! No more please!"

Terror shot through Link's heart like lightning as the rustling sound to his side returned and grew much louder - followed by a bubbling snort.

"Why are the horses not kept here... in the stalls?" he suddenly wondered.

The menacing growl from his left answered his question. Malon's crying had awoken one of the moblins that were tasked with guarding her and now it had locked its yellow eyes upon her would-be rescuer.

The boy turned and readied his sword to fight. The beast growled and let out a strange yelp, which shook the other moblins sleeping in the stalls nearby.

Just then, several things happened at once. A dark shadow suddenly dropped from the rafters of the barn and landed with a soft thud beside Link. The boy turned raising his sword to strike, but was shocked to find it was Viscern who had landed beside him.

The moblin, raising its spear, gave another menacing growl at the intruders, as its comrades quickly woke and began to clamber onto their feet. The scout, drawing two throwing daggers, swiftly parried Link's blade with one hand and expertly flicked the other knife forward with his other – burying the deadly dart into the first moblin's throat.

The beast dropped its weapon and pitifully grabbed at its own neck, while a disgusting gurgle escaped its lips. After a moment's struggle, it sank to the floor and stopped moving.

Link's eyes were wide with shock, still pressing his sword against Viscern's knife.

"I almost killed you!" he gasped.

With a wide grin and a wink, the captain quickly answered, "No you didn't lad!", and roughly threw the boy down to the floor next to the dead monster.

The other moblins, now fully awake and on their feet, gave a furious roar at the Hylian assassin in their barn.

The captain swiftly sheathed his knife and drew a long, slender sword from his back, before fleeing out through the same barn door that the squire had opened. The beasts charged after him, eager for a kill and flesh to eat, but completely unaware of Link lying in the shadows.

For several heart-pounding seconds, the boy lay perfectly still on the floor.

"Did he draw all of them off?" he wondered.

But just as he began to turn over and check his surroundings, the barn door was thrown open again and a bright orange light flooded inside. The terrified soldier froze and flattened himself upon his back - his left hand and sword hidden under the bloody straw of the moblin's stall.

"What is going on in here?!" cried a harsh voice from the door.

Malon began sobbing again and pitifully struggled against her chains. Heavy footfalls thundered across the barn as the orange light moved inside and approached the tortured girl.

"Are you causing trouble in here my dear? You know what happens when you cause trouble! I'll have to punish you again!" Ingo's voice was cruel and full of mocking superiority.

She turned her face away from him and pitifully whimpered, "No... please... I'll be good... No more... please."

The traitor, setting his lantern down on the floor beside him, reached up and violently grabbed a handful of Malon's bright red hair.

As she cried out, Ingo screamed into her face, "If you want to keep your life... and mother my children... then you'd better be a good girl and beg your god to forgive you for this crime! Or I will feed you to the soldiers... just like I did your father!"

But the poor child only cried harder as he continued to pull at her hair.

When she did not answer him, he screamed into her ear, "HYLIA IS A MYTH! LORD GANON IS OUR TRUE GOD! SAY IT!"

"Please... Mr. Ingo, I saw her... I really saw her..." she tried to plead with him.

With a snort of disgust, he released her hair and quickly grabbed a riding crop from the stall opposite Link's.

Brutally, he started whipping her sides; shouting with each strike, "HYLIA – IS – A – MYTH - SAY IT!"

Bawling in agony, Malon began to echo, "Hylia...is..."

At this moment, something strange happened inside of the young hero. All sound seemed to die away - except for Malon's crying. All sense of feeling faded… until his entire body was numb and painless.

He did not remember standing up. Nor making the decision to approach Ingo. He just… found himself calmly approached the traitor and raising his sword.

Neither anger or fear were in him anymore. Everything moved and shifted as if it were a dream; he was simply watching it all unfold.

Ingo jumped in surprise at the sudden appearance of the newcomer, but quickly returned to his arrogant laughter when he saw it was just a boy. As he came within reach, the rancher struck him once, sharply, across the face with the crop.

Other than blinking, the boy did not react to the blow. Ingo's eyes darted from Link's face to the sword in his hand and back again.

His own natural fear warned him that the squire's weapon was a threat. But his new God suppressed these instincts and drove him forward.

Sneering at Link he asked, "What can a boy do with just a sword?"

The squire's ears twitched at the familiar words, which ignited a fiery heat in his own heart.

"I am going to kill you with this sword." He answered flatly.

Though the traitor was much larger than Link, he stood little chance – unarmed and unarmored - against the boy's weapon.

After the first slash, Ingo stumbled backward and tripped over his own lantern, which broke open and sparked a small fire in the straw. His attacker took no notice and continued his calm, controlled assault.

Leaning against the far stall and holding one hand over his wounded chest, Ingo lashed out again with the crop – aiming for Link's eye. But the young soldier easily hacked the crop in two, and thrust his sword into the traitor's stomach.

Again, and again, the boy viciously hacked, slashed, and stabbed at the disgusting turncoat, until he collapsed onto the floor and failed to get up again.

Sheathing his blade, Malon's rescuer swiftly dropped his knees onto Ingo's chest and furiously pummeled the man's face with his fists. Everything seemed to turn red as the sound of Malon's crying filled Link's ears and drove him onward.

Only when Lord Alfon had torn the squire away from Ingo's body and shouted at him to stop, did he realize what he was doing.