Chapter Four: Hylians

"No!" I heard a voice cry out, but it sounded far away. All I could see was the roof toppling towards me. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the end to come. I felt the impact, but not from the direction I had been expecting. The object hit my back – hard – and I crashed into the cold stone floor with the strangely pleasant warm and soft object pinning me down. I tried to move but was held firmly in place. A loud rumbling filled my ears and I could hardly breath.

After an infinite moment everything suddenly became silent and still. I opened my eyes hesitantly. At first all I could see was darkness but slowly my eyes adjusted. I blinked several times; to my surprise I felt space above me. Slowly I sat up and realized that the roof indeed hadn't crushed me.

The space was small with the heavy stone of the castle's former roof creating walls all around me. I glanced up. There was maybe an inch of space between my head and the stone, had I been standing the massive stone would've killed me without a doubt. I was trapped but alive, and I wasn't alone. Sitting as far away from me as possible in the cramped space sat a large dog. Well, not a dog, a wolf and one I knew quite well.

"Oh you," I said sounding rather disappointed. Honestly if I had to die with someone why'd it have to be him? "I guess you want to be changed back before you die, hu?" He looked me in the eyes, growled once and nodded. Someone was a bit angry still. Well if he was going to bite me, better that he do it in his Hylian form rather than as a wolf. I watched his transformation carefully, observing the blackened particles of Twilight as they fled his body. I couldn't help but feel a pang of regret as I saw his face, maybe I should've left him as a wolf after all wolves can't speak.

"Midna?" Link asked and I noticed he was breathing hard.

"Thanks," I replied coolly before ignoring him once again. There he got his thanks that was all I owed him, now I could sit here and die slowly in peace. Unless Zelda fended off the attack that I could still hear waging outside or Link could pull a miracle out of his butt I was going to die here. Here in this cramped space with a man I wasn't sure I wanted to kill or kiss. I resolved right then that – rescue or no rescue – I was going to figure this out. I didn't want to die not knowing if I had ever found love, especially if it was sitting a foot away from me. That would suck worse than dieing a virgin – oh for the love of Nayru.

"Midna, please just listen," Link pleaded. He was never one to give up easily.

"What? I changed you back now can you leave me alone?" I begged him angrily.

"I just wanted to say sorry," the soft tone of his voice caught me off guard. I glanced down at him to see he had reclined his head back against the makeshift wall with his eyes closed.

"Why are you apologizing to me?" I pondered aloud. He opened one eye to look at me and smiled softly. I felt my breath rush away again.

"Ilia," he said simply, shrugging his shoulders. "When you took off she yelled at me and told me to go find you." This surprised me. Why had Ilia yelled at him? It looked like they were having such a nice time when I left them.

"She didn't really tell me why or anything," he answered my unspoken question. "Guess its just a girl thing." He chuckled lightly and I rolled my eyes.

"Well in that case I guess I can apologize for slapping you at least for your girlfriend's sake," I pondered. His head snapped up and both of his storm-blue eyes looked at me in surprise.

"Girlfriend?" He squeaked.

"Yeah, the farm girl, I mean it is pretty obvious Link," I laughed half-heartedly. He started shaking his head before I even got the first word out though.

"No, no, no," he complained loudly. "She is not my girlfriend she is my best friend. I wish everyone would just get pass thinking that." His face clouded over in frustration. Even though I was glad to hear that he wasn't interested in the farm girl, I felt bad for him. I was no light dweller and I had assumed that he and Ilia were together, and if it was obvious even for me then it must've been even more so for all of his friends. I reached across the short gap between us and patted his knee. He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at me curiously.

"I didn't mean to assume, wolf boy, must be embarrassing for you," I consoled him. He snorted and pushed my hand away lightly. I shrugged and leaned back to my side of the death trap. "You know that's one thing I never understood about you."

He looked at me curiously. "Understand what exactly?"

"Well," I said thoughtfully, getting comfortable. "I know we never exactly talked about personal things on our little adventure, but of course for all obvious reasons. That being said I never understood your relationship with the girl. I mean the most I ever knew about you is that you live in Ordon and you're like what? The town babysitter?"

"Oh," he said a bit surprised. "Well did you want to know something specifically?"

I cocked my head to the side, uncertain of what to ask – honestly I had just been throwing a random thought out. "Well," I spoke a bit hesitantly, "what about your parents?" I immediately regretted asking as I watched his face fall. He looked away from me and started playing with some random pebble on the ground.

"They died a long time ago, I guess," he muttered with a shrug.

"Guess? Wait, you don't know what happened to your parents?" I looked at him curiously trying to get him to make eye contact with me again.

"Yeah. Bo, the mayor, found me in front of the tree that I live in now. I was just a baby, maybe a few months old. He took me back home with him where he and his wife looked after me for a year before Ilia was born. Then things got hard when her mother died in childbirth and Bo had to hand me over to Rusl. So…" he trailed off loosing steam.

"Oh, Link," I whispered reaching towards him, but he jerked his shoulder away from my touch. I noticed the water droplets on the floor and my heart lurched. I had never seen him cry before, but I guess remembering your lack of parentage did that to you. I scooted closer to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. He finally looked up at me with the saddest expression in his deep blue eyes. He bit his bottom lip to keep it from trembling and looked away again.

"What about you?" He asked, his voice low and husky.

I just shrugged. "Dad was the king had some affair with some random Twili and bada-bing, me." To my surprise I heard Link laugh, his good humor returning. Within moments his whole body was shaking with laughter.

"You mean to tell me that you're an accident?" He cackled.

I growled once and released him, returning to my side once again. "I was not an accident, no. My father needed an heir, it didn't matter how he got it."

"Even if it happened to be an accident," Link mocked. I bared my teeth at him and he stuck his tongue out at me. I lunged forward fully intending to rip the slimy thing from his mouth.

"Watch your tongue when you address royalty, boy!" I threatened.

"Yikes! Hey, come on!" He dodged me but it didn't do much good in the confined space. He banged his head on one of the stones and yelped in surprise as I grabbed the collar of his shirt.

"Any more comments?" I asked, raising my hand in a threatening manner. He shook his head quickly and I released him.

"How old are you anyways, Midna?" He panted.

"Why in Hyrule would you want to know how old I am?" I asked incredulously.

"Just curious," he replied with a shrug. "I always figured you're a lot older than me, considering the fact that you're constantly treating me like a misbehaving child."

"Maybe that's because you do act like a misbehaving child," I suggested slyly. He rolled his eyes.

"Just answer the question."

"Fine, nineteen," I snapped. He looked mildly surprised. "And how old are you, Mr. Inquisitive?"

"Eighteen," he replied casually, rolling his eyes to look up at the ceiling. He could be so weird at times. Though it was nice to know that our age difference wasn't huge. It would be a bit awkward to know that we were ages apart. Especially with the way you feel a little voice in the back of my head muttered. Shut up I yelled mentally. I glanced over towards Link. But it was true wasn't it?

I grew uncomfortable as my train of thought derailed. He could certainly pull off being married to royalty. I'd seen the way he fought so bravely in battle, but he still maintained a gentle touch when it was required. Balanced. I did need to marry someone before I could become queen. Not to mention, aside from his strong, caring personality, he is rather handsome for a light dweller. My eyes trailed down his body, examining him…

I pulled my eyes away and shook my head furiously. He is my friend. Friend. Just friends. I continued to scold myself until Link spoke up again.

"So trapped and left for dead is nice, but I think it'd be even nicer to get out of here, what do you think?" Link suddenly asked with a grin. I was quick to pick up on his upbeat mood and looked around speculatively. How did he plan to get out of here exactly?

"Oh, I don't know, its sort of nice what with the shadows and all," I teased. He barked a laugh.

"You can't have shadows without light," he pointed out. I was tempted to say something horribly corny along the lines of 'you're all the light I need,' but rather than embarrass myself I simply shrugged. "So how do we get out?" He pondered out loud. I laughed at him and he gave me a 'what?' kind of look.

"Come on, Hero, we've been in far worse than this and it didn't require much brainpower on your part at all," I mocked him encouragingly. He looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bomb.

"What are you doing?" I screeched, trying to back up and not having much luck in the confined space. He gave me a thumbs-up before gently placing the bomb on the floor between us. It was about five seconds from blowing up.

"You create force fields, right?" He asked a bit puzzled. I stared at him with my mouth open.

"No! I do not! Where'd you even get an idea like that?" I yelled at him.

"Well I thought you could do something!" He defended himself adamantly.

"Like what?" I demanded.

"I don't know something!" He cried out in panic.

I growled to myself in frustration. "Come here wolf boy," I said quickly transforming him. He yelped in surprise. "Curl up tight!" I commanded him – hopefully the thick coat and thicker bones would be enough. Suddenly the bomb went off and at the last possible second – right as the bomb went off but just before the heat and force of the explosion reached me – I jumped into the shadow created by the bomb's detonation.

Lights flashed so bright that I had to close my eyes against them. I prayed to the goddesses Link was all right, the blast was a bit more forceful than I had been expecting.

The brilliant explosion faded away as quickly as it had come and I watched the debris rain down around me harmlessly. I jumped out of the shadow once it appeared to be safe again. I looked around but couldn't find Link right away. I took a step forward and yelped in surprise when I tripped over a huge furry leg. I scrambled up and took a step back from it as it started to move.

Groan.

Link stood up a bit unsteadily and shook his fur out sending dust and bits of stone everywhere. I covered my face with one hand and leaned over to use the other to transform again.

"Well that wasn't so bad," he stated with a grin before passing out. Lucky for him he happened to fall in my direction and landed safely on top of me, unlucky for me that I was now trapped under his dead weight. I sighed indignantly and blew a stray strand of hair out of my face.

I managed to roll him to the side after a few minutes. Leaning against the wall opposite where Link lay, I gazed around at the once beautiful Hyrule Castle. Bad enough the north side of the castle had just been repaired from Ganon's attack, now at least the entire west side's missing its roof. Didn't look as if though it was done crumbling yet either, the edges that were left lost some more of their mass every few minutes. I stared up at the sky and listened carefully.

Distant though it was, I could hear the rumble of thunder and an approaching storm. Not having a roof over my head wouldn't be good tonight. I looked up and down the hall, half hoping someone would suddenly appear and tell me everything was fine but no such luck. The castle was totally abandoned, I could tell as much from where I stood. Not a sound present with the exception of Link's steady breathing.

I grew more worried the longer I dwelt on thoughts of Hyrule's glorious castle and its people. I shook my head once, slowly. My eyes wandered back to Link's sleeping form. He looked so peaceful, sprawled on his back with a small smile pulling at the corners of his lips. Fleetingly I wondered what he could be dreaming about that would make him look so happy. Then I felt pity for the young Hylian. Once he woke up I knew we would set out to find out what had happened, and his peaceful state would be shattered – long gone once more. I walked over to his slumbering form and knelt down.

"You poor boy," I murmured thoughtfully. "You've been through so much for my kingdom and for your own land." I looked back to the sky as twilight began to settle over the land. "Why did you do this to him?" I questioned the clouds. "He deserves so much more than what you've put him through; he deserves so much more than putting up with me again…" I bit down on my lower lip and looked down at his tranquil face.

"I love you…" I whispered, leaning down to brush my lips against his smooth forehead. I blinked in surprise when the Triforce on his hand and mine glowed faintly.

"Midna," he muttered. For a brief terrifying moment I thought he might've heard me. Then he rolled over and mumbled again. I let out a sigh of relief. I reminisced and watched the moon rise slowly in the sky while waiting patiently for him to wake up. Finally, several hours later he stirred.

"Ow," he moaned. "Midna? What happened?" He asked in a daze. I laughed once.

"You blew yourself up," I told him with another laugh. Then I added seriously, "The castle was under attack, but I don't see anyone now."

"No one? What about…?" He asked confused. I shook my head before he could finish his sentence. I already knew what he was going to ask – no one was here, Hylian or other wise. He nodded slowly before standing up and tugging at his tunic. "Let's go," he commanded, full of energy from his nap and confidence. We made our way down the hall, heading for the front of the castle.

After a short time we entered the throne room and the severity of the attack began to show its true colors. The room was in ruins, roof half gone and the throne itself torn from its pedestal and thrown across the room, shattering in the process. The royal tapestries that had once adorned the walls were torn on the ground at best, but most of them were burned and blood soaked, the ashes of its unfortunate victim smeared on the once glossy threads. Stones from the collapsed roof lay scattered around the room, jutting out dangerously.

The more I stared at the bloodstains smeared across the floor the more uncomfortable I grew, though not for obvious reasons. As I stared at the now dry marks it was almost as if I could hear the dieing screams of the men as the enemy stormed the castle. Screams of terror mingling with screams of pleasure…

I looked to the sky as a crack of thunder sounded through the dead night air. A bolt of lightening lit up the empty room only causing it to look worse than before in the bleached white and black of sudden but brief light.

"Do you hear something?" Link asked suddenly. I turned to face him and noticed his face was carefully calm, showing no emotion what so ever.

"No, should I?" I replied uncertainly. He nodded and I listened intently. After a minute I could hear it. A dripping, like a single strand of water drops as they fell in a deep basin. Drip, drip, drip. Steady, rhythmic, and totally out of place. It was as dry as a bone in the darkened room, the moisture not yet joining the electrically charged storm air.

Another flash of light from the inevitable storm and I caught a glimpse of a puddle in the middle of the room at the same time Link did. We both approached it slowly. I knelt down and dipped a finger in the stuff. I examined the stain on my fingers, sniffing it and rubbing it around on my fingers. It was blood without a doubt, but it shouldn't have been so liquid still. Certainly it shouldn't have been warm.

I could feel adrenalin building up inside me as my hearing suddenly became much sharper and my entire body tensed. Another drop of blood fell from the ceiling, landing with a wet smack against the puddle. Slowly I looked away from my fingers to Link. His jaw was clenched. Slower still we both turned from each other and up to the ceiling.

I couldn't see anything in the dark crevice of the remaining roof at first, but the adrenalin shifted to my eyes, straining them against the blackness. A moment passed and I could make out a shape on the roof, then two separate forms, and with a flash of lightening I could see just in time to roll out of the way as a body fell from the ceiling and crashed with a bone-crunching ferocity where I had been squatting just moments before.

A shrill scream rang out through the dead halls of Hyrule Castle causing me to cover my ears in pain. Link mean while had his sworn and shield drawn just in time to block the undead that vaulted off the roof. Had I not seen anything and just heard the horrid cry I would've assumed it belonged to a redead, but upon closer examination I realized that this creature looked nothing like the living dead.

It was a Hylian.

Pointed ears, blood- and sweat-matted brown hair and a slender form. His – its – skin was as pale as the moon that was now lingering above us, hidden by the night storm. A blood red glow emitted faintly from its eyes, which were a blank white with no visible pupil or iris. Its lips were pulled up, showing its slightly pointed teeth in a threatening manner.

Ignoring the strange Hylian-like monster, I scampered to the body that had nearly crushed me. He was once a Hylian soldier that much was sure. Now he resembled little more than a corpse that had been rotting away for quite some time. His body was still warm with the lingering blood that slowly seeped from a wound in his chest, but the flesh was falling away from the bone. The skin was wrinkled and hair was gray as if though it belonged to an elderly man, but I knew this simply wasn't possible.

I had only been living here for a few days but one thing I immediately noticed was the youth of the army. Most of the previous soldiers had been lost to Zant during the Twilight Invasion, so of course they had to recruit new, young soldiers. Zelda herself had mentioned the inexperience of her current army thanks to the usurper. No, there had to be another reason why this man looked so elderly.

His eyes were dull, but they retained the youth that his other features belied. The expression he wore was one of shock, eyes wide and jaw slack. Staring deeply into the dead eyes of the soldier I felt the same sensation from earlier begin to take root in my mind. Screams – the soldier's screams as the monster that Link was now battling lunged at him. The horror, the pain he felt: the tearing, slashing and burning. I turned my attention from his face, with some difficulty, to the wound he had sustained. I noticed that it was the only serious wound on his body.

I quickly removed the plate armor for a better look. To my surprise the wound didn't seem fatal. A cut, maybe three inches long stretched across his chest, as if he hadn't been wearing thick armor when he received it, but that in itself did not disturb me. What petrified me was how badly the wound was bleeding. The scratch was not deep and yet it bled as if though it was as deep as it is wide.

I turned towards Link hearing him grunt from the force of the crazed Hylian's blow – quite an accomplishment considering it was only using its fists. I summoned some Twili magic and launched it towards the strange monster in the form of a red lightening bolt. It screeched indignantly and abandoned its fight with Link to attack me. It raced towards me on all fours, salivating and howling in rage.

I shot off another bolt of magic and the stench of charred flesh began to fill the air. To my displeasure the thing was still running full tilt towards me, my magic hardly even slowing it. A step away from me and it suddenly froze. I blinked once in confusion before I saw Link's sword point emerge from the beast's stomach, splattering me with blood and innards as it did.

Shocking both of us the monster spun around with the sword still skewering it and knocked Link off balance in the process. Link scrambled to regain his footing, but it was too late. The creature lunged for his throat. Panic gripped me and I did the last thing I could think to do in a situation like this. I transformed Link, who yelped in surprise.

Shaking off the transformation Link stood ready for his attacker and bared his razor like fangs. The strange Hylian like creature screamed again, this time in horror. It landed ungracefully just inches to Link's left. He spun to finish the monster off, but the creature – rather than bracing for the next attack – turned around and dashed up the towering wall and out through the hole in the roof.

I walked silently over to Link and changed him back without a word. We both looked at each other then back to the spot where the strange creature had vanished. I felt a chill run down my spine as I realized that wasn't the last we were to see of it.

Link turned away after another moment and walked towards the door. As I turned to follow him I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched from the shadows, an odd thing considering I always found comfort in the shadows just as much as any light dweller enjoyed their sun.

"Midna? Are you coming or what?" Link called impatiently. I quickly turned away from the shadows of Hyrule Castle and followed him down the steps into Castle Town.


I had thought that Hyrule Castle was in ruins, damaged beyond repair perhaps, but it was nothing compared to the city around it. Castle Town was a nightmare. Upon exiting through the last set of great doors that no longer existed and entering official Castle Town the pang of human weakness greeted my senses. Blood, urine, fear. I scrunched my nose up in distaste.

The cobblestones of the streets were cracked in some place, in others you couldn't even see the stone due to the debris scattered across the main square. Vendor's stands had been shattered and the splintered wood from them strewn across the streets. The fruit's juices from the produce seller leaked across the stones, mixing with the blood of men and women alike. Buildings were not on fire, surprisingly, but they were not in good condition. Glass from the shattered windows had rained on the streets below and some buildings had gaping holes in more than one place for easy entrance and exit. With a sinking heart I realized that the people of Castle Town had not escaped or been spared, their limbs were scattered about; neighbors' gore mingling with one another. A dismembered head with springy pigtails rolled from some shadowy place. I looked down at it and immediately regretted doing so. Poor Agitha.

The fountain in the center of the square was filled with blood-red water, its elegant top piece shattered on the ground below it. If I listened carefully I could hear the sewers of Castle Town's underbelly running full like after a heavy rain. No rain filled the streets yet though which led my thoughts down less pleasant avenues as to what might be rushing below my feet at this moment.

Nausea rose in my stomach and I swallowed back the bile that crept up my throat. Hyrule wasn't just attacked it was decimated.

"Link?" I asked timidly. I noticed his entire frame was shaking as he took in the main square several paces away from me. I took a step closer to him. "Link?"

"Change me," he commanded, his voice unemotional and cold. I felt a drop of rain slide down my shoulder, causing me to shiver in the cool night air.

"Link, I'm not going to change you just so you can go chasing after whoever did this," I told him sternly. He spun around to face me and I took an involuntary step backwards, the rage in his eyes surprised me. Teeth clenched and growling more like an animal than a man he stared me down, pure hate in his once peaceful eyes. The rain picked up, drenching me within minutes with the air freezing me within seconds.

"Midna I need to transform so I can figure out what happened!" He screamed at me. Lightening accented his fury, bleaching the ground around him and throwing his profile into darkness. I stood firm in my resolve, jutting my chin out.

"Link I will not change you, no matter what your intentions, until you calm down!" I yelled back at him. I stood panting for a moment. "Link," I spoke softly now, my voice under control again, "you need to think about this, then act. This isn't like anything we've faced before. If we rush in now we're as good as dead – just like everyone else."

Link continued to stare at me with rage in his eyes, but I could see my words sinking in. His eyes dulled, his fists unclenched and his jaw relaxed. I could see him draw a deep breath and hold it for a minute. Not until he slowly released his breath did I approach him again.

"We're going to find out who did this," I assured him. "And when we do…" I felt anger seep over my bones as I let the sentence trail off. I transformed Link and took a step back. "Go take a look around, I'll wait here," I commanded him. He nodded his great head once and took off with a bark, nose to the ground.

I walked slowly back to the fountain and sat down, covering my face with my hands so I wouldn't be able to see the carnage around me. If only I could just stop the screaming that was now raging in my head. Men, women and children all mingled. Save us! Help me! Someone please! I was nearly on the verge of screaming out loud when I heard a sound behind me. I remained in the position I was in, but listened carefully, the voices in my head drowned out by instinctive self-preservation.

Thunder rumbled then: crunch. A sound like boots crunching on snow or a foot stepping too heavily on a piece of glass. I spun around to face the person who made the disturbance on their knees. The person must've been the one who I felt watching us earlier inside the castle, but who was it…

"Zelda?" I asked uncertainly. The figures head snapped up and I realized that it was indeed the queen of Hyrule, still here even after all of her people had either fled or been killed by the onslaught.

"Why, goddesses, why…?" I heard her barely inaudible whisper. Her body shook in anger much like Link's had upon first seeing the scene. I abandoned my perch and approached her slowly. She looked up at me with sorrow brimming over her eyes. I knelt down next to her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. I had lost my people before; I actually took part in the slaughter of some while they were cursed Twili beasts with Link. Despite every little difference between Zelda and myself, at the end of the day we were people praying we were doing the right thing just like everyone else.

"Zelda, I know this looks bad but they couldn't have gotten them all," I attempt to reassure her. A flash of lightening tore through the sky, lighting the bloody mess known as Castle Town Square.

"You're wrong Midna," she murmured softly, a new fire burning in her eyes and drying away the sobering tears. "You should have seen them. Waltzed right up to me and no one stopped them. They look like us Midna!" She suddenly lurched to her feet, pulling me along with her.

"Hey!" I protested as she started shaking me roughly.

"They look like us!" She started screaming over and over again. "They look like us! They look like us! They look like – " I slapped her, cutting off the hysteric wailing. Taking a step back, I crossed my arms and waited for her to speak again. If she started in again I was going to kill her to put her out of her misery.

"I'm sorry Midna," she whispered, ashamed. I shrugged my shoulders indifferently. A few minutes of silence passed as we became lost in our own thoughts.

"Where's Link?" She asked suddenly.

"He took off a few minutes before you showed up actually." She nodded once and looked over my shoulder. A small smile stretched across her thin lips. I glanced behind me to see Link standing there, tail and head erect, proud beast as always.

"Hey Link," I greeted him, walking over and scratching him behind the ears once before changing him.

"Zelda?" He asked, voice hoarse. She nodded and took a step towards him. He quickly closed the gap between them and enfolded her in his arms. I couldn't help but admire them at this moment. Neither shed a tear though they knew very well that they might be the last living Hylians left in the world. They just stood there, taking comfort from each other's presence, words not needed to communicate the pain and hope they shared.

I turned my head to the east, the brightness catching me off guard after such a long night filled with so much darkness. The sun was rising, we were past the worst, and we were together. The rain had slowed to a find mist having washed away most of the spilled blood and cleansed the lands. I couldn't help but smile a little. The nightmare had just begun, true, but we could get through this. We've pulled off miracles before after all. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Link smiling at me, though his eyes were still filled with an aching sadness.

"I found some supplies on the east edge of town, I guess they were just delivered today; they're still in crates," He informed me.

"Oh boy," I sighed. "Sounds like its time to walk all the way to the end of Hyrule and back again."

"Yeah, but you don't get to ride around on my back this time," he replied with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and started to walk towards the east side of town with Link and Zelda following close behind.