Chapter 14: A Stray Arrow and an Army

Castle Town

The Twili Risen took Link to the center, while being heckled and taunted by the hordes of Twili Risen in the streets. He looked around for the citizens of Castle Town. He caught one person looking out through a window from the second floor of their house. They immediately shut the window and walked away when they made eye contact. Once they reached town square, they made him wait. The group that took him in formed a circle around him, which kept him trapped in a sea of Twili Risen. Then they all looked north, and saw Lord Grateau walking out. At his side, was Stervan, his replacement for Ren'kir. He parted the crowd, until he reached the circle around Link. Link looked at them with resent. Grateau took the sword of one of the Twili Risen, and raised it as if he was going to execute Link on the spot. But he merely struck it into the ground in front of Link. Then he unsheathed his sword, from the scabbard that was hidden under his long robe. The blade was long and slim, and completely black. The hilt and the handle were a polished silver. The bottom of the handle had a rectangular gemstone, with a scarlet color.

"Do you know the origin of this blade?" he asked.

"..." (Link). He didn't.

"This blade existed long before you, and before this kingdom. Millennia ago, there was a war between the light spirits and a tribe knowledgeable in dark magic. You call them the Interlopers," Grateau said. "And soon after, the Interlopers were banished, and their descendants became the Twili people."

Link knew the story well, as heard from the Light spirits.

"But were did they truly survive? Did they live on through the Twili people? All of the originals are long gone, except for one," said Grateau. "I am the last Interloper, and I live to carry on the name, with this sword: The Twilight Sword."

"But, being trapped in the Twilight Realm is no advantage. Part of us were locked in an area where time does not flow, hence being able to survive for so long. And then, they just forgot about us. We were left abandoned," Grateau explained. "Until Zant uncovered our catacomb. We followed him, but he left us to rot once he no longer found us useful. But he left something inside me: a piece of his mind. In a way, he lives on through me. He talked of a formidable foe, in which he died by the sword of, named Link. Kill him immediately, he said. But executing him would play too much like Zant. I need a duel."

Grateau turned to look at Link and said "Here I have you, and I give you one opportunity: Show me your strength through this battle."

Link stood up, and hesitantly grabbed the sword from the ground. The both held their swords in front of their faces, and awaited for the other to make the first swing. Link made a vertical swing, from the top down. Grateau blocked it, and pushed Link's sword down, and cast out a dark wave from his hand that knocked Link back. He got back up, and the two clashed again, and again, with no clear winner, locking them in a stalemate. The stood with a short distance between each other, holding their swords like canes. Grateau stepped back, and two Twili Risen stepped forward, taking his place. Their incessant attempt to execute Link ended drastically for them, as Link sliced through them with one swing. Lord Grateau came back out, and swung so hard that his sword cut through the metal of Link's blade. He got close to Link, and kicked him down to make Link kneel. Grateau held the sword up to Link's head.

"The Interloper Race shall live on through us, and through your demise," he said.

The last seconds felt like a lifetime, with the blade pressed against him. Any moment now, Grateau was going to raise it and cut off his head, Link thought. He locked eyes with Grateau. The stare was filled with a look of courage, and the feeling of "Go ahead. Do it. You don't intimidate me."

But alas, their deep stare was interrupted when something entered their field of sight. A stray arrow was shot, and it shot right the Grateau's arm. He pulled his arm away, and curled back, screaming at the top of his lungs. All eyes, including Link's, scoured the area to find the source of the shot. Eventually, after what felt like hours, they all focused on the southern street corner, and a hooded figure on top of a roof that certainly wasn't Twili Risen.

The arrow flew straight at first. Direct shot through the heart. But the wind changed directions. The slight change veered the arrow to the right. Lon'qu watched it slowly shift trajectory, until , slit. The arrow shot itself nicely through the man's forearm. He screamed at the top of his lungs, disturbing and scaring away all of the birds in Castle Town. All eyes darted towards Lon'qu, and were immediately followed by screams.

Gregor immediately followed the shot by tossing the cut flare into the air. The substance emitted green smoke everywhere , in large spherical clouds. He looked back at Lon'qu, who dashed on to the roof.

"Run!" he yelled.

The two of them sprinted across the roofs as the Twili Risen chased from the streets. They outran the Twili Risen, and made it over, on to the southern wall catwalk. Basilio and the archers awaited, ready with arrows in their bows. The two of them crouched down, and Basilio stood up. The archers knell, with their upper torsos and arms up.

"Ready!" Basilio yelled.

The archers aimed and drew back their bows.

"Fire!"

They fired their arrows into the horde of Twili Risen. All of the arrows hit something, as a dozen Twili Risen collapsed into the street. The Twili Risen stopped, and ran back towards the town square. As they poured back into town square, the large wooden doors cut off a few dozen Twili Risen, locking them in the southern street. They turned around, seeing an army charging at them from the southern entrance, under the archers. They readied their swords and axes, and waited for death to come over.

Earlier...

The army waited, holding a battle stance in front of the southern entrance.

Gaius dashed down the wall and to Chrom. His battalion of soldiers was in center, and to the left was Robin's, and to the right was the battalion that would escort the citizens out of Hyrule, led by Zelda and Midna.

"Gaius? What is it?" Chrom asked.

"Milord, all of the Twili Risen are in the town square. They've got Link there. They were about to execute him," Gaius answered.

"What?!" Chrom exclaimed.

"Hey, calm down there Blue, Gregor and Lon'qu are in the process of stopping that. The citizens are also hiding in their homes, so you ladies probably need to get them out of their houses before you rescue 'em," Gaius said. "Till we meet again, m'ladies." He dashed back up the wall, to Basilio's archers.

"Is he always like that? asked Midna.

"Yeah. When he's not trying to steal candy," answered Chrom.

"Chrom, look up!" Zelda shouted.

Green smoke, as visible as can be. Chrom looked up and instantly processed the command that he would shout.

"Charge!" he shouted.

In an instant, the entire militia bolted forward, and piled through the gates. Chrom looked ahead, and saw them ready with swords and axes. They held their ground, firmly blocking the closed gate to the town square. The militia clashed with the Twili Risen, with the collision of swords echoing throughout the Town. Chrom was confronted by three of them. He jumped, and swung his sword at the center one, and jumped back as the other two tried to hit him. Chrom made a wide slice that got both of them.

The fliers rode above, with Sumia, Cherche, Cordelia, and Gerome. They circled above the town square, where they saw the mass of Twili Risen in a conglomerate. In the mass, they saw Link, trapped in an enclosed mass.

"There's Link!" shouted Gerome.

"How do we get him out of there?" shouted Sumia. "We'll get torn apart if we try to go there."

They kept circling around, as the Twili Risen held their ground with their eyes locked on the fliers.

"I have an idea," shouted Gerome. He broke the circling formation and flew back down to the southern street. He looked for a robed figure with pale hair. He found Robin, in the midst of using arcfire on three Twili Risen. Gerome shouted out Robin's name, and he looked up to him. Gerome landed Minerva down on the street, and dismounted.

"Do you have any magic that can teleport another person?" Gerome asked.

"Yeah, I have this rescue tome here," Robin answered.

"Okay, good. Come with me on to Minerva," said Gerome. He mounted on to Minerva, and Robin mounted after. Minerva lifted off, and Gerome entered in to the circling group of fliers above the town square. "Look, down there! They've got Link!"

Robin pulled his rescue tome out, and held it tightly in his left arm. He then said "Land on that one of these roofs!"

Gerome landed Minerva on a roof on the southeastern side, adjacent to the town square. Robin got off and stood close to the ledge. He held the tome, and focused his right hand on Link. He twisted and jerked his hand towards himself, and a magic circle formed around Link. It warped him right next to Robin and Gerome. Link landed, a bit off balance and confused. He saw Robin and Gerome, with a quick proceeding thought of relief.

"Link, it's good to see you. Even though it's only been about a week," said Gerome.

"..." (Link). Link said likewise, and that he wasn't expecting to see them during a battle. "...?" He took note of all of the soldiers waiting in the southern street, piling in like water through a broken dam.

"That's our army. Speaking of, we should get you down there. Can you still fight?" asked Robin.

Link nodded yes. They jumped down from the roof, and met up with Chrom and Flavia.

"Link!" Chrom shouted. "We're glad you're alive. Wait, where's Ren?"

"..." (Link). He told Chrom that Ren was safe with other people in Kakariko Village.

"Oh, I guess that's good," he responded. "Hey, you might need this." Chrom brushed away his cape, and on his left side was the sheathed Master Sword. It still retained its shine, and its ornate design. Chrom lifted it out and handed it to Link.

"...?" (Link). He asked about Zelda and Midna.

"They're evacuating the citizens. Which means that we have keep the Twili Risen busy until they're out," said Chrom.

"It we can bust open this door," said Robin. "Any other ways in?"

"They've closed off the doors that lead to the town square on each street. Can't get in unless you fly," answered Gerome.

"We didn't exactly get in here quietly, and without a doubt, they're getting the Twili Bulbin out from wherever. We've got to think fast," said Robin.

"..."(Link). Link said it would be fairly easy for Midna to break through it.

"Right! That can work! Now we just need to find her," said Robin. "She's somewhere with Zelda, probably at the gate."

Link nodded, and dashed away. He maneuvered through the southern street, and quickly peeked down the side streets. He saw guards entering and exiting buildings, sometimes rushing out with residents. As he went further, he saw more citizens rushing out of the southern gate. He got out and crossed the wooden bridge, and reached the southern field. The he stopped at the first set of stairs, and looked among the crowds of citizens and soldiers. He was about to run down the stairs, when he crossed paths with Sheik and Midna.

"Link!" Midna shouted. "You're okay!"

"..."(Link). Link said he was fine, and told Midna that they needed her to breach through the gates to the town square.

"Sounds like something I can do," she responded.

"Hurry back. We still need to get these citizens somewhere safe," said Sheik.

"..." (Link). Link suggested taking them into Faron Woods for the time being.

"If there aren't any Twili Risen, then I'll lead them there," said Sheik. "Go, and hurry."

Midna and Link sprinted back to the southern street and the entrance to the town square. They were greeted by Chrom and Robin.

"So I need to bust open these doors?" Midna said.

"Precisely," said Robin.

"Step aside," Midna replied. She took a solid stance in front of the doors, and everyone backed away. Her hands and fingers curled as if they were gripping something. A black fog essence emanated from her hands and forearms, and two large outlines of black fists appeared around her hands. The black color steadily grew more solid, until it was almost opaque. She pulled her right arm back, and pushed forward with her foot, clawing the fingers of the black fist into the door. Then she repeated with her left arm. She pulled them out, and stepped back. Everyone stepped forwards, in battle formation. The got closer to the door, but kept a few meters between them. The door slowly started to turn a decaying black, outwards from the middle. The whole door turned black, and then it just crumpled to dust. The dust of the door blew off and onto the ground, and they made their entrance into the battle that would ensue.

They didn't move, even as the doors turned into dust. They just held their battle stance, and Lord Grateau stood, holding his sword with both hands, and with it pointing down on to the ground. They all stood to a halt, with half a dozen meters between them. At the front lines were Chrom, Link, Frederick, Robin, Lucina, Basilio, Flavia, and Midna.

"Your army is formidable," said Grateau. He looked to the right, and said "Midna, the ruler of the Twilight Realm. I was hoping you'd keep your hands out of this."

"Nothing like this will pass me by. Especially from the last Interloper in existence," said Midna.

"So you know of my origin?" said Grateau.

"Yes. And I know very well that you were rotting in a prison cell," she shouted.

"I'd hardly call it rotting. But I have an army of my own. And I will restore the Interloper race, even if it means ending our descendants."

"That is your true goal? Restore the ancient tribe that today, only exists in you?"

"Do you not see why I came here? Life is life. And it can be changed very quickly. In an instant, it is gone, and in an instant, it is created. And through quick poke, and insertion, light will turn into twilight, and through my remaining life, there is new interloper blood." He lifted his arm off of the sword, and into the air. "We are all Interlopers."

The phrase was instantly followed by the loud battle cries of the Twili Risen, or what they were made to be: Interlopers. Thunder cracked behind their screams. The Ylisse-Hyrulean force shouted back with their own shouts of battle, and they charged forward into the town square. And, another sound of thunder pulsed through the town. They met, and they mixed together, in a combining conglomerate of clashing weapons. Chrom jumped, and slashed three in his slice. Robin used his arcwind and blew more of them into the air. In midair, the fliers caught them with the sharp tips of their lances or axes.

Link ran and cut his way to Grateau. Grateau was all too eager to best Link in a rematch.

"I was wondering where that sword was," said Grateau.

Link readied the sword, and swung at Grateau, who then blocked the Master Sword with the Twilght Sword. Link briefly caught a glimpse of the sword's true finesse. The stained black blade, polished, and all signs of scratches were absent. And, as any other Twilight weapon, it radiated a black smoke from every inch of the blade. Grateau pulled away, and swung from left to right. Link parried it, and quickly swung back, creating a slice in the robes and skin on Grateau's chest. He winced away, and parried Link as he tried to hit again.

The archers mounted on to the roofs surrounding the Town Square, and took aim at the numerous interlopers.

"This is like fishing in a barrel!" said one of the archers. But the moment after, a small arrow swiftly shot through the archer's shoulder. He screamed and leaned back on the floor.

"Look, over to the north!" shouted the other archer next to him. A row of archers had lined up on the wide stone buildings on the north side of the town square. All of the Ylisse-Feroxi archers hid against the walls on the roofs as cover. In the group of cowering archers, Basilio stood up and jumped down from the roof, on to the street. He put his bow away and hoisted out his silver ax. He weaved through the town square, hitting any interloper that stood in his way. He looked up, and then to the side, finding Robin.

"Robin!" he shouted. "Use your wind to get me up to that rooftop!"

Robin quickly shifted to Basilio, and channeled his arc wind to boost Basilio up to the roof. The current even pushed a few interlopers off balance, but it also caught Gregor in its gust. Gregor just happened to be standing close enough to Basilio. Both of them landed on the rooftop of interloper archers. Gregor lied flat on his back, and he slowly stood back up. He saw Basilio to his left, and a bunch of archers, with arrows pointed at them.

An arrow was shot from the side at Basilio's chest. It hit, and it bounced off of his heavy metal chest plate. Basilio gripped his silver ax with both hands, and said "Hell no!" He jumped into the group, slamming his ax on the first interloper in front of him. Then he swung his ax around him, getting two more of them. He turned behind him, and hurled his arms to kill the interloper behind him. The other interloper archers quickly backed up, and tried to aim at Basilio. But Gregor jumped in their line of sight, and dispelled them with his sword.

"Not today!" he yelled as he swung his sword.

Basilio and Gregor fought back to back, eliminating the rest of the archers.

"Death is overrated," said Basilio. "You haven't lost your touch."

"As a small sellsword. But an assassin has none of those bounds," Gregor responded.

Gregor took one of the archer's bows and an arrow, and aimed down at the street. He shot it at an unsuspecting interloper. The interloper dropped like a fly.

"Heh, that wasn't something you could do when we last fought," said Basilio.

"'Twas a long time ago. But I think I've found my passion, being a sellsword," replied Gregor.

"I may need to hire you when this is over!" exclaimed Basilio.

He jumped down, swing his ax in the head of the Twili Risen he landed on. Gregor followed, going to assist Basilio.

Hyrule Field

Ren'kir stood in the middle of the field, looking into the distance. The raining skies brought a dreary mood upon him and the Gorons. Oh right, the Gorons. He managed to convince Darbus and Cor to bring themselves and as many Gorons as they could with them. Ren knew very well that the lightning strike, and Epona returning alone meant that Link had gone to Castle Town.

"Now, you guys need to stick together, and if we encounter the Twili Risen, we hold our ground, and then escape. We have to find Link," said Ren.

"What about this large Twili beast you speak of?" asked Darbus, with his stern, deep voice.

"The Twili Bulbin? Yeah, it may appear, but I think you're more than capable of defeating it, Darbus," Ren responded.

Darbus had experience with Bublins before. Bulbin leaders were always annoying, with their large hammers and axes. But it in this case, he had a particular trick up sleeve. One that would certainly decimate any oppostion.

Town Square

Link parried another swing from Grateau. Then they both swung, and were locked into a temporary stalemate.

"...!?" Link interrogated him about the Mirror of Twilight.

"Fixed the Mirror of Twilight? I never did such a thing," he replied. He pulled his sword away, as both he and Link back-dashed.

"...!" Link pressed on, swinging from the top down. Grateau parried it again. How could Grateau have gotten to the light world if the mirror was gone.

"You can't destroy the mirror! Shatter it all you want, but it will always come back! It will always reform!" he shouted. He swung at Link, and they got locked in again. "You can't sever the connection between the light world and the shadow world. One cannot exist without the other!"

Grateau was a bit off balance, and Link took this brief opportunity, and swung his sword across Grateau's chest. Grateau grunted and screamed, and Link hit him again. The sword slices leaked a black vapor, and Grateau fell on his knees and hands. Link raised his sword, and prepared to thrust it down. But Grateau briefly looked up, and they locked eyes. A quick apparition of Zant's face flashed on Grateau's head. Then another apparition flashed, of Zant's helmet. Link froze, still holding his sword in the air. Grateau swiftly warped away, towards the first castle gate, clenching his chest with his left arm. Grateau shuffled through the doors, and any remaining interlopers followed in a hive-mind like fashion. The Ylisse-Feroxi forces followed the small hordes of interlopers that were still alive. Link sprinted through the crowd of soldiers and the few interlopers that were still alive. He came to a halt in front of the doors, in which both were sealed shut.

"..."(Link) He cursed under his breath. But he wasn't able to catch a break. Loud, heavy, overpowering footsteps marched towards the door from the other side. Link lifted his head up, and focused on the footsteps. Only one thing would be that loud and empowering.

"...!" (Link). He shouted for everyone to flee from the door. Everyone darted back. Link was behind, and he took one look at the doors. Not even a second, and a large, dark fist burst through the doors. They burst wide open, and the force even ejected Link back into the air. Gerome swept in and caught Link, and then lowered him to the ground. As everyone began to cower back, the Twili Bulbin heralded its own entrance. It raised its large hammer, and slammed it on to the ground. Cracks formed, and the impact shot a gust of wind all around. It screamed its beastly roar, like Ganon in his beast form.

"HEEEEAAAAAAHHH!" it screamed.

Wide strips of dark maroon flags hung down from its waistline, and an endo-skeleton of iron armor surrounded its upper body. Its head looked as troll-like as any bulbin leader, but the sickly green color was replaced with a sickly grey. The grey skin tone outlined his piercing red eyes, with poked through the courage of the soldiers.

"Any ideas Robin? Link?" Chrom asked.

"Uh, destroy the armor, I guess," Robin nervously answered.

"...?"(Link). Link said that Chrom should use his sword to cut through the armor.

"That would work, if we could get close to the thing without being squashed," said Chrom.

The beast came closer to them, and raised its hammer. All of the soldiers fled from its vicinity, cowering into the western, eastern, and southern streets. The archers shot their arrows from the southern street rooftops, but the arrows fell from the air like raindrops. The actual raindrops from the storm were then masked briefly by the short burst of thunder and the lightning. It smashed its hammer down on the center of the fountain, splashing the water into the air, and destroying the centerpiece of the fountain. Rubble and debris floated in the base, and the barrier rim was cracked on the north side. The water poured out from the broken region, only leaving the debris.

Basilio told all of the archers to stop firing.

"Don't waste your arrows!" he shouted. "Dammit, we're gonna end up as cannon fodder for this thing."

"Dammit, if only Ren were here. He'd probably know how to deal with this," said Robin.

Robin whipped out his bolganonne tome and shot at the bulbin leader with it. The fireball erupted very closely to it. It halted for a few seconds, and then lifted itself back up, but this time, it was enraged.

"Dammit, that just made it angrier," he said in response.

The bulbin leader roared in disgust and anger, and his shout was garbled with mucus and saliva. It halted again, just standing in front of the destroyed fountain. It unknowingly turned its head to the west, as if it was an automatic response to the sound that it heard. A rumbling sound resonated through the ground, like a stampede. Link, Robin, and Chrom looked to the west. And that was exactly what they saw. A stampede, of Gorons, and Ren. Just in the nick of time.

"There it is! The Twili Bulbin!" shouted Ren, pointing his sword out at the Bulbin leader.

"Charge! Retake the town!" shouted Darbus.

The Goron forces stampeded through the streets, with soldiers ducking off to the side. They reached the town square, and Darbus stopped in front of the Bulbin leader. Ren stops in front of Link, Chrom, and Robin, with a confused look on his face. He certainly wasn't expecting to see dozens of soldiers, in a town that was supposed to be under Twili Risen control.

"Link, Chrom, Robin?" he questioned. "How did you-, no when did you-, actually, just, how?! Link, you stormed off on Epona, and she came back alone."

"...?"(Link). He said he got captured. And then almost executed.

"But our army managed to prevent that, and we've captured most of Castle Town back. All that's left is the castle," said Robin.

"Right. Now exactly isn't the best time for this," Chrom said. "Look!"

Darbus had his right arm raised, as did the Bulbin leader. The thrusted the fists, and they collided, as both of the grunted and shouted. Darbus jabbed the Bulbin leader's face, sending it stumbling back against the pillar structures. In response it raised its hammer, and swung at Darbus. It hit Darbus' right bicep, and he fell back to his left. The Bulbin raised its hammer in the air again, preparing to strike down on Darbus. But the quick rolling of Gorons intervened. They rolled directly into the Bulbin's feet and legs, knocking it off balance. It fell backwards again, giving Darbus time to get back up. Once he did, went and punched the Bulbin against the stone building, crumbling the surrounding parts of it. The Bulbin left hooked Darbus, and pushed him back. Then, it raised its hammer and swung from the top-down. Darbus whipped his forearm to block the hammer by its handle. He grabbed part of long handle, and used his other hand to jab the Bulbin more. He punched it enough, and disarmed the hammer from its grip. He hurled the hammer to the Bulbin's left side, and then again to the its right side. Finally, Darbus threw the hammer on to the ground, and threw an uppercut directly at the Twili Bulbin Leader. It staggered backwards, and collapsed entirely on to what used to be that fountain, decimating any debris into smaller pebbles beneath it.

Darbus raised its arms in the air in victory, shouting as he did so. The Gorons followed with their own shouts, and the human soldiers observed awkwardly as the Gorons marched to the Twili Bulbin's body.

The rain dripped down its corpse, and the Ylisse-Feroxi-Goron forces stood silently, gazing at the Bulbin. It faded to black, like all of the other Twili foes that Link faced. And, as with Twili Beasts, it shattered into black squares, which then shot up above the center of Town Square. A new Twilight Portal formed high above, resembling the same black and light green ones that Link used. As soon as the portal formed, the heavy rain stopped. They grey clouds cleared, as rays of the sun penetrated through the fleeting clouds. It felt as if the battle was over, but they knew...

"The battle isn't over yet. We still have a score to settle with Grateau," said Chrom.

"That just leaves one place," said Robin.

The Castle. He awaits in the castle.

Longest chapter in the story, with it being the giant battle. I have the rest of it planned out, and will write and publish them ASAP.

-Kaz