Link, Kallil, and Oreck looked on at the massive line of people forming at the Western Entrance, some were wounded, they could hear children crying, and even some adults.
"What the hell happened?" Oreck quietly asked himself as he, Link, and Kallil joined the quickly growing regiment of new recruits and longtime Guardsmen and soldiers, Link was quick to note that in the front rows, there were actual Knights present.
"There are Knights in the front row.", he said to his friends. Kallil and Oreck were quick to look, and were quite awed by the heavily armored, strong looking individuals in the front portion of the regiment. Suddenly everyone was silenced by Captain Viscen's appearance in front of the regiment, he was joined by a heavily armored man, who was quite tall for a Hylian, whom Viscen announced to the gathered force as Sir Nawk Ginthorne, and to the man's left, no other than Master Elgon, Link knew he had come with them from the Lanayru Province, but had no idea he'd be seeing more of him afterwards, seeing as he was in charge of the Lanayru Province Guard. Oreck and Kallil were about to say something when Sir Nawk Ginthorne spoke up.
"Long time soldiers, new recruits, what you see here are refugees, you might ask from where they came, and why! The where is Kakariko Village, the why, is the Bulblin Empire. About 9 hours ago a large force descended on Kakariko Village, defeating the Kakariko Guard. As you can see here only half of the town's population made it out."
Link looked over to the gate, where numerous guards were posted in order to process the refugees, and admit them to Castle Town, he noticed something, something that sent a shiver down his spine, he recognized it from another memory that seeped through that mental dam of his, two of them were running toward the gate, weapons drawn.
"Bokoblins!" exclaimed Link as he broke from formation, sword and shield drawn, the Bokoblins turned to face him, taking up a defensive posture. Suddenly Link was grabbed by a strong hand, he turned to see Captain Viscen grabbing him, ready to strike.
"Viscen! Wait!, Let me talk to him!" Link saw Master Elgon approaching, he was absolutely baffled, he could see the first line of the regiment had broken off in order to keep the other lines in place after they too noticed the Bokoblins; that reminded him, the Bokoblins! He turned around to see a Hylian Soldier speaking to them, and them sending them off the patrol both sides of the line.
"What...what's going on?" Link asked.
"Sir Ginthorne was about to explain their presence before you foolishly charged them! What if they attacked you?!" Viscen answered combatively.
Link thought "Then they would be dead.", but didn't say it aloud.
Master Elgon stepped forward, "They're on our side Link."
"But how?! they're monsters!" Link retorted.
Master Elgon looked at Link seriously, "Hyrule has negotiated peace with the Bokoblins, you might wonder why, the answer is simple, Bulbins, whenever the Bulblins start gathering, they begin killing off the Bokoblins for their territory, Bokoblin's are stronger, but Bulblins are smarter, they formulate strategies and begin slaughtering the Bokoblin tribes systematically. They felt threatened and I was quite stunned when I heard they came to us, according to Sir Ginthorne, Bokoblins have a rudimentary knowledge of the Hylian language, that's how a deal was brokered, we would allow them to build camps close to Castle Town's western front, if they agreed to be the first line of defense in case of attack. I hope this makes sense."
"Kind of, but it will take some getting used to" Link answered.
"Return to the regiment, all three of you!" Sir Ginthorne shouted at Viscen, Elgon, and Link.
Viscen shot link a glare, "It doesn't matter that the Prince likes you, you're on thin ice with me, boy!" he said as he started back towards the regiment.
Link joined Kallil and Oreck once again, "What were you thinking just charging like that?" Kallil asked.
"You didn't know they were on our side either, Oreck!", Link replied.
"How did you even know what they were?" asked Kallil.
Link thought for a moment and made the same excuse, "My father told me what Bokoblins were and what they looked like when I was a child." Oreck and Kallil believed him and turned towards the front, with Link following suit.
Sir Ginthorne cleared his throat loudly, starting again, "Now that, that...distraction is over with, I'll continue, yes those are Bokoblins, they were once minor nuisances out in the forest, but they're our allies now, they came to us because they were being killed and driven from their homes, we made an alliance with them, they'll do their part to defend us if we host them near the town's walls. That same force that pushed them out of the woods and into our backyard is the same force that attacked Kakariko and pushed these people out of their homes and to us, we don't know how many are dead and still holed up inside Kakariko, but it's our job to stop the attacking force and rescue possible survivors, NOW LET'S MOVE OUT!"
Link saw Kallil shaking and even though he knew why it was, he had to ask, "Hey, you alright Kallil?"
"Yeah, yeah, it's just, I know I was in the Lanayru province Guard for 7 years, but I've only been in Castle Town two days, and you know I'm not a good swordsman...what if I..."
"You won't die, Kallil, Bulblin's use heavy weapons they can barely use, even if you're not that great a swordsman, with the training you have, you still outclass them!" Link gave a confident, reassuring smile to his friend.
"More knowledge from your father?" Oreck asked.
"Yeah." Link answered, he felt bad for lying to his friends, and involving his father, who was killed in battle 9 years ago in those lies, but it was better than trying to tell them that all this information was just somehow coming to him.
Oreck himself looked scared, Oreck wasn't a great swordsman, but he wasn't a bad one either, he could hold his own against the average opponent and that's what mattered, he'd be able to defeat a few Bulblins if that's what it came to. Other soldiers and Guardsmen walking near them were sharing their nervousness amongst themselves. Link heard a few say that they've never even seen a Bulblin before today. "They're not that impressive!" Link shouted over to the group he overheard.
The other soldiers looked over, replying "If you say so.", they then turned back in amongst themselves.
"Talkative, this bunch is." Link said sarcastically.
"Link..you seem pretty..well confident." Kallil said.
"Yeah." Oreck agreed, "I know your good with a sword...and after today I know how good you actually are, but aren't you afraid of battling an army?" he asked.
Link couldn't explain this in any other way, "I guess courage is just one of my strengths." Link said in a matter of fact manner.
"If you say so." Oreck said, glancing over at Kallil. They soon stopped with Sir Ginthorne turning to the large force of Hylians.
"We have 3 kilometers until we reach Kakariko, ready your weapons, we don't know how far their forces have spread out!"
Link took his sword out of it's sheath and his shield off of his back while the other's around him did the same, he noted to his amusement, that Kallil pulled out a bow and arrow. "Why were you so afraid of crossing swords if you brought that?" he asked his friend.
"Just in case one got too close." answered Kallil.
"Makes sense." Link replied. He began to think of the Princess in his dreams before the silence was suddenly broken, up ahead he saw a large number of Bulblin's charging the Hylian force. Sir Ginthorne, Captain Viscen, and Master Elgon broke into a run as did the Knights, Soldiers and Guardsmen behind them, up ahead the two forces crashed together, the Hylians were cutting their way through the Bulblin hordes with ease, with Sir Ginthorne and Master Elgon felling many of them. Link broke away from his friends, sprinting at full speed he leapt on top of a Bulblin, stabbing his blade through it's skull, he spun around, slashing one across the chest, then deflected a blow from another, pushing his blade through it's heart. He turned and saw a club ready to come down on him when an arrow pierced the Bulblin's chest from behind, it fell, revealing a quite nervous looking Kallil, Oreck ran up to Link, deflected a blow from a Bulblin and decapitated it swiftly.
"You were right, these things are easy to take down." he said as he ran off to help another soldier who was taking on two. Kallil stuck by Link, shooting arrows at every Bulblin in sight, making his mark nearly every time, while Link stabbed and slashed his way through every one that got too close.
"Not so hard, right?" asked Link right after stabbing a Bulblin through the chest.
"Doesn't matter, it's still nerve-wracking!" shouted Kallil.
Link was relieved his friend was doing well, he spun around striking a Bulblin in the side of the head, just as it approached Kallil from behind, "Watch your back." Link said to visibly shaken Kallil.
"Happy birthday, right?" Kallil said to Link.
Link had forgotten, it was his birthday...or it would be soon, he looked up and saw the moon approaching the middle of the sky, it was close to midnight, close to his birthday. "Well, when we're done with this, we can go to a pub and celebrate, how about that?"
"Sounds good, if we survive." replied Kallil as he shot another arrow towards a Bulblin.
"Don't be so negative." said Link as he hacked into another attacker.
Soon they could see it on the horizon, to their collective horror, many houses and buildings were ablaze, walls toppled, and bodies lying on the ground, Kakariko Village always looked so peaceful, but not this time, this was terrifying, the horror that waited for them unnerved many of the Guardsmen and Soldiers, even Link felt slightly nervous, but he remembered, he'd promised his mother and sister that he'd be alright, that he'd come back safe, he would. He and Kallil rushed forward.
"Link! Give me a boost!" Link ran over to his friend and helped him climb atop an intact wall, Link quickly noticed other archers doing the same, they all, Kallil included began firing their bows at the advancing Bulblin force, Link saw a soldier fall to a Bulbin up ahead, he ran forward, slicing off it's arm and then it's head in retaliation, he said a silent prayer to the Goddesses for the fallen soldier and moved on, he hoped he'd find Oreck, but he was no where in sight, instead, he ran into Sir Ginthorne, who was using his large size to his advantage, sweeping away groups of Bulbin's with wide swings of his blade, he saw numerous Bulblin's falling, arrows in their heads and chest, one Bulblin fell, an arrow in it's thigh, Link strode over and put his blade through it's head, he entertained the fact that the arrow may have been Kallil's, but with the many archers that were there, chances of that were slim.
Sir Ginthorne barely noticed the Bulblin sneaking up behind him, but when he did, Link caught it from behind, driving his sword through it's chest, it fell to the ground with a thud as Sir Ginthorne looked on. "Thank you Soldier."
"No problem, Sir." Link replied.
"Aren't you the Guardsmen that tried to kill those Bokoblins back at Castle Town?" he asked with a laugh, all while slicing through multiple Bulblins at once,
"That'd be me." Link said, unamused, as he slashed his sword down through another Bulblin.
Sir Ginthorne laughed, "Viscen thinks your going to be trouble, but the way you're fighting here tonight, I doubt that!"
"Thank you Sir!" replied Link. Off in the distance, they heard the shouts and cries of other soldiers, and then it entered into their field of vision, a Bulblin that was much larger than the others, and much stronger looking rode in on a boar, sweeping soldiers aside with little effort.
"That'd be their commander, catch up with ya later, kid." Ginthorne said as he ran off to challenge the Bulblin Commander.
Link cut down a few more Bulblins when he noticed the burning in his hand had returned, he removed his gauntlet, looking at his hand in astonishment as a three golden triangles were glowing brightly, with the bottom, right triangle glowing brighter then the rest. Link looked up into the sky to find the moon in the middle, suddenly his forehead felt like it was going to split open, he grabbed it tight, crying out in pain, he barely felt another soldier push him out the path of an attacking Bulblin, the last thing he saw was the soldier killing the Bulblin before tending to him as the wall that held his memories came crashing down inside of his head.
For a moment everything went black, suddenly he awoke lying in a grassy field, it was early morning and the sky was a bright, clear blue, a few clouds were passing by overhead, he sat up and saw Hyrule Castle, it was much smaller though, and no town surrounded it, off in the distance he could see small villages, primitive looking settlements. This looked similar to how the first age was described in books and scrolls he'd read, when suddenly he heard a wonderful thing.
"Link, Link!" he heard her calling, without asking his body to do so, he stood up and turned to face her, blonde flowing her, glowing blue eyes, and fair skin, the Princess nearly tackled him with a hug. "I've been looking all over for you!" she said beaming.
Without meaning to do so his mouth found the words "You always know where to find me, you know better than anyone else." Link smiled as she smiled back, Zelda kissed him, bringing a joy Link found foreign, yet familiar to his heart. Next thing he knew, he found himself in a storm, a monster up ahead of him roared as it placed it's gaze upon him. "Ganon I will make you pay for what you did to this land!" he yelled as he charged the monster, the scene changed to a view from high in the air of what he suddenly knew to be the Mythical age, he found himself at an altar in the courtyard of Hyrule Castle, looking Zelda in the eyes, as the priest announced the two were officially married,
Zelda kissed him gently, saying "Welcome home my Prince." with a large smile, Link was suddenly tossed through the ages, watching as he saw former friends, family, and scenes from his many relationships with Zelda over time, he saw himself killing fierce monsters, and every now and then defeating a large Green skinned sorcerer, and at least once, a large demon, with what appeared to be a mask for a torso, wielding enormous whips. His memories returned fast and left him quite flustered, he stood up, looking around, he was in a pure white space with no features whatsoever. It suddenly registered that someone stood behind him, Link didn't bother going for his weapon, he knew who it was.
"Hero's Shade.", he spoke, "It's nice to see you."
"As it is you my son." the Hero's Shade said as it surveyed him.
"How long has it been since my last lifetime?"
"273 years, my son."
Link was slightly stunned, reflecting on how nice it sounded, 273 years of peace in Hyrule. "Why have I been reborn in this era? Why now?" he asked.
"Evil rises in many forms, and darkness follows quickly, you must find your strength my son, the many forms of evil have appeared within their own times, but Evil doesn't always abide by time."
"What do you mean? Link asked, an alarmed tone to his voice
"You shall learn soon, farewell for now, Link."
oOo
Suddenly Link found himself back on the battlefield, a group of soldiers forming a circle around him until the healers could arrive, as he stood one of the soldiers took notice, "He's awake! Are you alright?", "You've been unconscious for a while now, are you sure you should be standing up?"
"I'm fine." Link said as he picked up his sword and shield, subsequently pushing through their line, he walked through the Bulblin mass, cutting a swath straight through it, with skill honed over centuries, he made his way to the heart of the battle, and called on the Triforce of Courage, a gold aura surrounded his body as his eyes began to glow with the same enery. The battlefield lit up as if it were day time, all heads turning to look at Link, the Bulbins stepped back, looking around unsure of what to do next, some began to run, other's still standing stock still, "All Hylian soldiers move away." Link said as the soldiers began to run, the Bulblins attempted to follow, but suddenly Link was upon them, activating a powerful, Triforce charged spin attack he cleared an entire area of Bulblins, sending them flying into the distance, the aura slowly diminished and his eyes returned to normal, Link fell to one knee, it was never easy, using that much power, the Hylian body just wasn't meant for it. Link took notice that Bulblin forces were retreating due to Link's display of the Goddess's power along with Sir Ginthorne's display of waving their Commander's severed head in the air atop his sword. Link looked around at all of the astonished soldiers, quickly pushing their way to him were Viscen and Elgon.
"Please allow me to apologize for my transgressions, Hero, if I had known it was you..." Viscen said as he bowed.
Link looked over to Elgon, could this be what he meant, back at the village before they set out for Castle Town? Did he know? And if he did, how?
Suddenly the battlefield lit up orange, "Dragon!" he heard soldiers screaming, Link looked up and saw it, a large orange dragon, breathing fire as it drew nearer, "Volvagia" he muttered to himself. The dragon crashed down to the ground, it swatted away Hylian soldiers with it's tail, burning away some of the unfortunate ones. Link quickly ran over to the dragon, it couldn't be the same Volvagia, he killed that one centuries ago.
"So the Hero of Time has finally come." Ginthorne looked at the dragon, "I assume you've fought one before, how do we kill it?"
"Once or twice." Link said, slightly stunned by how calm Ginthorne was about the whole situation, "Have we a battle hammer?"
"You!" Ginthorne shouted, pointing at a soldier, go to the armory wagon and retrieve a hammer!" he turned back to Link, "What else?"
"That's all I need, we have to crack the protective structure on it's head, after that it'll be vulnerable to our attacks!" Link explained
"Sir! The Bulblins are moving back in!" a soldier called.
"Damn!" Shouted Ginthorne, "Their big friend shows up and they get brave."
Suddenly Viscen ran up, "Sir Ginthorne, shall we use the horn?"
"Yes, give it a go, let's see if they uphold their end of the bargain."
The Hylian force was badly outnumbered to begin with, on top of that, soldiers had been falling all night long, and the battle was turning in favor of the enemy force, especially now that there was a dragon backing them up.
Ginthorne directed Link's attention to his left, the soldier tasked with going to the armory had returned with a large hammer.
"Will this suit you, Sir?" the soldier asked. Ginthorne looking to Link.
"That'll do nicely." said Link, "Now we need to figure out how to get close enough."
Ginthorne glanceded over his shoulder and called over every soldier and guardsmen with an intact shield, "Get in formation and form a shield wall, we're heading towards that fire breathing bastard!" he exclaimed, the soldiers complied, creating a barrier with their shields. Link followed, crouched behind them, hammer at the ready. Nervousness and fear hung in the air as they neared the dragon, and suddenly a great heat was upon them, jets of flame shot through the gaps in the shield wall, while it billowed overhead. The soldiers marched on as their shields began to melt and catch flame, from over the shield wall Volvagia came into view, the moment the dragon ended it's torrent of flame Link yelled "Now!". The soldiers broke in opposite directions as Link leapt out from behind them, Volvagia attempted to swipe him away with it's claws, but he'd done this before and knew how to avoid them. With one great leap Link lifted the hammer above his head, smashing it down on Volvagia's. A loud crack filled the air as the dragon fell on it's side.
The moment Ginthorne gave the order, soldiers and Guardsmen with spears and swords ran forward, and began slashing and stabbing the beast, it writhed in pain and soon enough, knocked them all away as it took to the skies again. It shot a jet of flame down at the soldiers, their shields barely saving them...then something completely unexpected occurred. Volvagia became completely in flames, and crashed down to ground, knocking Link onto his stomach. He stood up dazed, but mostly fine, eyeing the smoking crater, stepping out was a tall Knight, clad in crimson armor, holding a long spear, and wearing a helmet modeled in the likeness of Volvagia's head.
"Hero of Legend, I underestimated you." The Knight tensed up as a jet of flame shot from his mouth in Link's direction, Link blocked with his already partially melted shield. The Knight charged Link and swung his spear down, Link intercepted it with his sword, as he had dropped the hammer when the mysterious Knight crashed to the ground in dragon form. His spear alight with flame and radiating heat, he locked blades with Link.
"Who are you?" Link said through gritted teeth, attempting to gain the upper hand.
"I am Volga, the Dragon Knight." He replied pushing Link back.
Link charged forward again, launching a series of slashes that the Knight easily countered with his spear. He Swung his spear to the right, sending a wave of flame at Link. Link rolled out of the way, and soon enough Volga was on top of him again, jabbing his spear downward, Link caught it with his sword, he knew if he kept this up, the Dragon Knight's spear would melt straight through his blade.
All around him the Bulblin's rallied, causing more damage due to their powerful ally's presence on the field.
Link was distracted, wondering for the first time since regaining his memories if Oreck and Kallil were okay. He blocked a strike from the Dragon Knight's staff as he dove in for an attack, Link was becoming frustrated, due to the high heat being emitted from the Knight, getting close was exhausting, suddenly Volga's body began to shift as he took his dragon form again. As soon as the transformation was complete, he reared his head and roared, which was a mistake.
Sir Ginthorne, had been waiting for this, he jumped from a half burnt house nearby and brought the hammer down on the dragon's head, knocking it unconscious for the time being, Link ran to the dragon's position and began slashing at it, he was soon joined by a few solders. but was almost immediately blasted back as it took the form of a Knight once again.
The Dragon Knight roared as he charged Link, Link not taking any chances this time, activated his Triforce of Courage, the gold aura enveloped him once again as he clashed with the Knight, the flames covering his weapon being blown out by the shear force of the Triforce's power. Link forced his spear up above his head, and made five inhumanly swift strikes to the Knight's chest. The Dragon Knight roared in pain, Link charging forward, golden aura flaring as he locked blades with Volga, but this time his sword sliced clean through his enemy's weapon.
Stepping back in shock, The Dragon Knight locked eyes with Link. "You win this time, boy!" he roared as he took his dragon form and flew into the distance.
Link heard a horn blare, turning to see Captain Viscen atop a tower in the middle of Kakariko Village, suddenly out of the forests came what could have been hundreds of Bokoblins. They charged the Bulblin forces, as the Hylian forces that were already engaged seized the chance and began to dispatch the distracted Bulblins.
"Good job" Link heard Ginthorne say as he patted him on the back.
"You called the Bokoblin's to help"?
"It's part of their deal with us" Sir Ginthorne explained.
Suddenly a metal door below a house blew open, the surviving members of the Kakariko Guard ran from it, joining the battle, bringing up the rear was a familiar face.
'Impa?" Link asked in disbelief.
She paused on her way to speak with Ginthorne, "By the Goddesses, Hero of Legend...is that really you?"
"I could ask you the same, Impa." Link stated.
"I'm not the Impa you've met hero, I'm a descendant of her's, I'm overjoyed to see you're here."
The sun appeared on the horizon, and with the moon's departure, the Bulblins retreated into the woods, being followed by the Bokoblins, and some of the Hylian force.
"We made it" Ginthorne breathed, relieved.
"Thank you for your aid." said Impa, "We wouldn't have lasted much longer without your intervention."
Ginthorne and Link were soon joined by Elgon and Viscen, Impa looked at them both with recognition.
"I was wondering where you two were." She said with a smile, she then turned to Link, "How long have you had your memories?"
"I regained them during the battle." Link replied, "It was difficult, but not the worst I've been through."
"I always had a feeling about this one!" said Elgon as he put a hand on Link's shoulder.
"You're already familiar with him before?" asked Impa
"I've been training him since he was nine, he's been a member of the Lanayru Province Guard since then, and he just recently was picked to be a member of the Castle Town Guard."
"It was Destiny." Impa said with a smile.
"Must have been." Link said, suddenly he felt a hand grab his arm, he looked back to see Kallil and Oreck, both looking quite worn down, but in good shape nonetheless. Link ran forward and greeted his friends. "I was scared you two didn't make it!" he exclaimed.
"We're glad to see you too." Kallil said.
"We're just thrilled to be alive." Oreck followed.
All three friends laughed at this, but soon found the humor lost when surveying he battlefield, seeing their fellow soldiers and Guardsmen collecting the dead.
Link waited for inevitable, but it never came, was it possible Kallil and Oreck hadn't seen him call upon the Triforce's power? He accepted this as the truth, it was easier than explaining the whole story to them. From behind he could hear Viscen and Impa discussing transporting the remaining Kakariko village survivors to Castle Town, and how half the population was already there, some staying with their families, others still in need of shelter.
"We'll send a good force from from Castle town to help you rebuild." Viscen said.
"I can't thank you enough for that." Impa responded. she said her goodbyes to Viscen and walked over to Link, "You remember everything, yes?"
"Everything.", Link replied, reflecting on the centuries of memory he could now recall.
Impa smiled, "The Princess regained her memories two years ago, she's been eagerly awaiting your appearance."
Link's mind stopped for a moment, his whole body frozen, his old feelings rushed back, he was desperate to see her again, not a lifetime had gone by in which they hadn't been together by now, and he wasn't going to make this an exception, in their last lives, they had passed away only days apart, after living long, full lives. "I can't wait to see her again." Link said quietly.
"I know." Impa remarked, with a smile, "We're heading back to Castle Town soon, you should go catch up to your friends." she said as she walked away. Link hadn't even realized Oreck and Kallil had run off.
Catching up to them, he climbed onto a wagon in which many other soldiers were seated.
"Who was that?" Oreck asked.
"Someone I used to know." Link answered, looking off towards the mostly burned Kakariko Village.
Oreck had become used to receiving confusing answers from his friend, he wanted to ask him how he learned to fight like he did, but decided to wait until they made it back to Castle Town.
Link barely contained his excitement, they were now headed back to Castle Town, headed back to his Princess, he was going to be reunited with Zelda at long last.
oOo
My Longest chapter so far, by far! I'd like to thank Ollympian and Bookwormsrule for following my story, it means a lot!
Last but not least, I'd like to thank Lady Kiridia for her continued support and inspiration! she has an amazing Legend of Zelda story called "Dead Inside"! Go check it out!
Thank you for reading!
Best of luck,
-Prometheus17