The Downfall Timeline
Book 1
Chapter 22: Lost Shadows

Mid-Day, January 29, 610 GK, The War of Imprisonment, Day 197

The Ruined Kokiri Village

Epona watched Link from the doorway of Mido's old hut. The interior reeked of smoke and ash, but it offered shelter from the cold wind, which was steadily rising as the day grew brighter. The young squire had found three separate ash mounds within the village and set himself to the grim task of burying the poor victims.

With his sword, he chiseled away at the frozen earth beside the forest stream until he had a grave large enough for each set of bones. The ashes he swept into the stream and watched mournfully as the water carried them away.

Once he mounded the frozen dirt over the bones, he washed his hands in the stream, and returned to his companion.

While he worked, images of the attack kept flashing through his mind:

The moblins rode down the forest road swiftly, erupting into the village without warning.

They dropped lit torches and fired burning arrows into the trees.

The Kokiri ran – screaming - as the beasts tore into their village.

Some were killed by arrows; others were cut down with crude swords.

The beasts probably ate most of them -alive or dead. The burned bodies must have been those who caught fire and the moblins left them to suffer.

Again, and again, Link saw his friends butchered and killed by the demons he was not here to stop. He covered his face with his hands, trying to drive away the horrific scenes, and wept. Epona laid on the floor beside him, and rested her head on his lap.

January 30, 610 GK, The War of Imprisonment, Day 198

The Ruined Kokiri Village

They spent that first cold night in the dark. He was too exhausted from the lack of sleep and food to go looking for firewood, so he curled up beside his mount and drew his little cloak over both of them as best he could. But by dawn, they were both shivering and quite hungry.

As the squire searched the old village for a second time, the filly followed him, looking for grass to eat. Link's old home was gone, only the burnt stump of the old tree remained.

The storehouse, near the pathway to the Great Deku Tree, was badly scorched on the outside, but a few useful items could still be found inside: an earthen pot of dried fruits & nuts, several large branches fit to make torches, a length of rope, and several extra Kokiri tunics and trousers.

Judging by the damage to the rest of the village, the boy assumed that no one had run to the shop to hide, so the Moblins must not have bothered searching it.

He returned to Mido's house with his discoveries and eagerly tasted the dried fruits. They were a bit stale, but he did not sense anything foul about them, so he hungrily began to eat.

Epona, disappointed at the lack of grass, nipped at Link's shoulder until he offered her a handful of the dried fruits. After eating, he searched through the pile of spare clothing. His own tunic had become rather small over the past few months - maybe it had shrunk when he washed it? In addition, his soldier's leggings were doing very little against the winter air and he hoped to add a second layer from the Kokiris' collection.

After a few minutes, the young squire had chosen a new tunic to cover his mail and a new set of forest green trousers to pull over his soldier's leggings. Looking down at himself, he felt strange to be dressed in the Kokiri clothing again.

"It's like I'm robbing their graves." he said to Epona, who was shivering as she looked at him.

"Oh," he muttered, realizing that he had forgotten her, "Hang on!"

Grabbing a needle and threat from the basket of clothes he had found; Link began to sew several of the smaller tunics together until he had made a crude blanket for the filly's back.

"Here you go girl." he said as he draped it over her, "Now you won't be so cold."

She snorted loudly and rubbed the side of her head against Link's chest.

"You're welcome Epona!" he said with a little smile, rubbing his hand over her mane.

Despite the horse's affection, he still felt terrible for what had happened to his family and couldn't shake the guilt that it was all his fault.

"Come on," he said to the horse, "let's find some firewood before it gets late."

Finding nothing fit to make a strong fire within the village, Link led Epona behind Mido's house; to the path that led deeper into the Lost Woods. The young horse whinnied her objections and tramped nervously as her master tried to lead her deeper into the darkened forest.

"Shh, it's ok girl," He soothed, "this used to be my home."

She finally relented and followed him, but kept her eyes wide and searching - something in this forest did not feel right to her.

The first hundred yards of the Lost Woods were the same as the Kokiri Forest: Blackened and mostly reduced to ash. But the farther they traveled, the less pronounced the damage became until, eventually, the trees seemed to be whole and untouched.

"The moblins must not have come this far." Link said with a little hope returning. "Let's find some solid wood quickly. We'll search the woods tomorrow when we have more daylight." he said as he looked up at the sky -which was starting to grow dim.

He began to gather armfuls of fallen branches and twigs as Epona waited nervously on the path. The young horse steadily grew more uneasy as the silence within the forest seemed to deepen – even the birds had stopped their songs. Darting glances back and forth, she began to slowly back her way down the path, back toward the village.

Her master, carrying a very large bundle of firewood, stopped when he saw how terrified she looked and asked her what was wrong. The young mare was staring straight ahead - down the forest path toward its dark center.

Link stretched his neck and searched the path for anything that could be frightening her, but found nothing.

"You're thinking about those bats…" he murmured to her, "Its ok, they are all gone now." He tried to soothe, as he tied the sticks into a bundle with his rope and draped it over Epona's back.

Suddenly, a dark shadow crept out from the side of the path, several dozen paces ahead. It was small and rather far away, but it had menacing yellow eyes and was swiftly creeping toward them.

Rearing and whinnying loudly, Epona backed further away. Link quickly turned and looked up the path once more. For an instant, he thought he could see a dark shape, crawling low to the ground, but it darted to the side and disappeared into the forest.

The squire quickly remounted his horse and the two dashed back down the trail toward the village.

"It was just a wolf." The boy tried to reason with himself, "O-or maybe a raccoon. Nothing to worry about."

But the speed at which Epona retreated, told him that she knew it was something more than just an animal.

As night fell, they kept a small campfire burning in the center of Mido's old house. Besides the warmth it gave, Link hoped the fire would keep away whatever creature he and Epona had seen. Even still, when he laid down on the floor to rest, he kept his sword unsheathed and tight in-hand.

Late that night, as he slept and the fire burned low, the shadow slowly crept its way into the village from the Lost Woods path. That smell... those clothes... it had not seen or smelled these things in months.

The creature stretched itself out low on its hands and knees and sniffed the ground where Link and Epona had passed.

"It can't be him... he is dead." It wondered angrily.

Link tossed and turned by the dying fire as he wandered through bitter nightmares.

First, he was chasing the moblins as they charged into the forest, lighting everything around them on fire.

Next, he was cradling one of the wounded Kokiri. She had been stabbed through the chest and was coughing up a large amount of blood. He searched his pack furiously for a bandage, but he could not find one - his hands were shaking too badly.

Finally, a dark, hate-filled creature emerged from the burned forest and began to search through the village. It was dark now, and Link could barely see it, but he knew it was human-shaped and crawling on all fours. It seemed to stop and sniff the ground several times, before charging into one of the abandoned houses. Screams erupted from the house as two Kokiri survivors dashed out and ran into the forest, with the creature pursuing them.

"I have to help them!" his mind screamed as he suddenly jolted awake, and found the creature from his nightmare standing in the doorway of the house.

At Lake Hylia

Lord Alfon remained in the warm embrace of his beloved for the entirety of his first day in the infirmary. That night, Telma lay her head on his shoulder and draped her arm across his chest. She did not want to leave him, even for a moment.

The next morning, as Link set out about the Kokiri village, the knight was helped to his feet by Telma and the nurses.

"My lord, please... your arm!" she fussed.

"It's nothing," grunted the marshal, "A knight should be able to rise through any injury, or never rise again!"

After a few shaking steps around the infirmary, the women commanded that he drink several additional red colored potions and allow himself to rest. Closing his eyes and breathing deeply, he waited patiently for sleep to return, when Princess Zelda entered the infirmary.

Telma, leaping to her feet, curtsied low and bowed her head.

"Your highness, we are honored." she greeted, reverently.

Alfon struggled to get out of bed and greet his sovereign properly, but the potions were already making his body weak and wobbly. After several moments' effort, he gave up and collapsed back onto the bed.

"I beg your forgiveness, your highness... I would rise... but..." he started, with this speech starting to slur.

The young royal smiled kindly at him and raised a hand, "No no, good knight. Stay and rest! You are pardoned."

Impa now gracefully swept through the infirmary door, carrying a large tray of food.

"Oh, my lady," gasped Telma, "You are very kind to think of Lord Alfon in such a way! But I am afraid he has just taken a powerful potion from the matron and will not be able to eat for some time."

The minister leaned to one side, to look around the tavern maid and inspect the marshal for herself.

"Indeed?" she asked.

The man had already lost consciousness and was snoring contently on his bed.

Straightening up and taking a deep breath, she began, "Actually, this was for you Telma. You haven't eaten since he arrived and you need your strength."

The woman's lips quivered and her eyes began to glisten.

"You are too kind, my lady." she whispered, fighting back tears and gently taking the tray.

"Have the nurses said when he will be fit for duty again?" asked the princess, "We need him for another mission."

Telma's eyes darted from Zelda to Impa and back again.

"They have not said, your highness. I was hoping the marshal might be permitted to rest for some time after... after his ordeal." She answered.

As she finished, Telma turned to look back at her handsome warrior again.

"I too, would rather see him rest," Zelda replied, "But Link has gone missing and we need Lord Alfon to find him."

"Link..." She echoed absentmindedly. In her terror at the prospect of losing her beloved, she had completely forgotten about the boy.

Now with a sharp gasp of realization, she cried "He's missing?! How? When? Where?"

Fresh tears of shame began to form in her eyes as she rung her handkerchief in fear. She had forgotten him! How could she have forgotten her little soldier?!

"The same company that loaded Lord Alfon onto the wagon reported that Link was leading the horses from the ranch southward to the lake, just behind the wagon. The horses arrived with the wagon, but the boy was nowhere to be found." Impa answered as she turned an eye toward Zelda, "We... believe... that he may have gone to the Forbidden Forest to look for his friends and to see if any had survived the attack."

The princess, despite her composure, was desperate to send someone to rescue her friend.

"We think that there may be something in the forest..." she began, "He might be in danger."

"Send me, your highness." Grunted a voice to her side.

The princess turned to find Talon slowly sitting up from his bed. Most of his bandages had been removed, but he was still covered in a frightful number of dark bruises and missing his right hand.

"No papa! Don't go!" Malon sobbed as she reached for him from her own bed.

The rancher smiled and held her hand for a moment, "My child, that boy is the reason why you are safe. I must go!" he said as he struggled to his shaking feet, "Please, your highness, let me find the boy. It's the least I can do."

Zelda was moved by the man's courage and sense of honor. For a moment, she actually considered letting him try - but she quickly realized that she could not send a man who was missing his hand into a fight.

"I am sorry," she answered sadly, "It must be Lord Alfon. He is gifted with his skill at arms and..." her eyes drew down to Talon's bandaged stump, "I believe he has the greatest chance for success with this mission."

The rancher's mustache quivered pitifully as he tried to conceal his disappointment.

"As you wish, your highness." he answered with a slight bow.

Both regent and princess located the matron and inquired after the knight's condition.

"We've given him the strongest healing potion we can create, your highness. He should sleep very deeply for the next few hours. After that..." she trailed off as she thought hard about her patient, "... after he wakes, he may be strong enough to ride. But I would advise against it! Another man should be chosen if the mission is urgent." She warned.

But the young woman shook her head, "No... it must be him. It cannot be done by anyone else."

Zelda did not fully understand why, but she knew she was right in saying so. Her vision had shown Alfon rushing through the forest to find Link.

She only prayed that he would get there before that creature found him.