No way! An update?
Yeah, I know I've taken a long time, and almost a year is a really long time to wait for just a few thousand words, but I am going to finish this story, I swear. The next few chapters are actually what I've been working on for the last year, and it's so big that I have to break it up into a few smaller parts. So don't worry! I know this is short, but the next chapter will be up at an actual reasonable time! I'm not going to bother with a long apology note to all the people who've waited for this, because I know why you clicked on that little link, and it isn't to read my ravings, I'm sure! So go forth! Enjoy what you've waited so patiently for, and know that more is to come soon!
Chapter 15: Revelation- Part One
The harsh air of the Gerudo Desert had become noticeably more relaxed the night following the collapse. Everything seemed more at peace now, and despite the chilling wind whispering outside their tents, the Hylians could not help but celebrate what they believed to be their greatest victory in years. Not since the twilight had been purged had they felt so very accomplished—despite the fact that few had had anything to do with their rulers' heroism.
Sealth sat eating in a weathered wooden chair, listening to the other soldiers quietly as they bragged as men often do, telling tales that most were sharp enough to know were not true, but a select few preferred to believe. One man in particular had the attention of a fair majority of the room—including Sealth himself—as he spun the very best yarn he could muster, "...and the beast, darker than night itself, crept out from the shadows, fangs longer than daggers, and just as sharp. The brute was the biggest thing I'll ever see—big enough to swallow a grown man whole, he was!"
He gesticulated wildly, much to the great amusement of his more skeptical audience, "So anyway, the thing turns to me—big as a horse, he is—and growls and fixes me with a glare that could cut an ordinary man to ribbons just by thinkin' about it." His voice lowered slowly, and he leaned farther over the table, "All the other cowards had left, so I was all alone, see, and I knew that if I failed the whole of Castle Town would be in danger. So I had my spear at the ready, the monster's eerie blue eyes diggin' into my very soul, and I charged it. It roared and raised its shield of a paw and—"
"Aw, c'mon, I was there." Another soldier cut in abruptly, severing the weak spell the first had worked so hard to create, "It was just a little ol' wolf, ya' fat cucco."
The storyteller shook his head vigorously in denial, "Naw, this thing was no ordinary wolf; it was straight from the Realm of Darkness, it was. I could just feel it; something about that thing was pure evil." He shrugged, "Besides, the coloring was all off. Where would you find a dog darker than a Poe's soul, whiter than one of them Snowpeak Wolfos, and with eyes brighter than Nayru's sky itself?"
The second man snorted, "If I knew that, I would be a rich man, I would. But either way, I saw you that day, Guru, you were runnin' just like the rest of us when the thing jumped."
"Lost my good arrows that day...." Another man maundered wistfully, swirling his glass absently.
Guru scowled and waved his hand dismissively, "Ah, but I'm telling you—"
"If you were talking about a Stalhound," Sealth said, speaking for the first time that night, "I suppose I could understand—those things are something to fear, they are. Wolves bigger than any Goron and nothing but walking bones covered with scraps of fur. They only come out at night, and like to climb out of the ground in swarms like Leevers, but so many times more dangerous. Undead in general are the ones you have to watch out for, they aren't the easiest things to send back to where they belong, I can tell you that much."
Silence hung about the room for only a moment before the men leapt back into conversation once more.
"We all be nothing more than clucking cuccos compared to our commander, we are." The man who first interrupted Guru's story said loudly, "We be sitting here, quivering over a common beast while he was out, fighting brutes we could never imagine even in our worst nightmares!" Even Guru nodded grudgingly in agreement, "Here's to hoping we could all be even half as brave as our commander!"
With a cheer, they all emptied their glasses.
After another hour or so, Sealth stood, bid good-night and ducked out from the warm, merry tent and into the cool darkness of the desert. The lone Hylian tapped the ever-present lance in his right hand on the sandy ground remotely until a gentle breeze swept by and the muffled voices were smothered by its soft whisper. The wind swallowing his sigh, Sealth walked from the glowing tent slowly.
The night was almost through, and the deep violets and blues painting the landscape were beginning to lighten, and Lake Hylia in the distant east was gradually regaining the brilliant azure it was so well known for. With a quick glance behind him, Sealth walked further from the boisterous light emanating from the camp and out into the empty silence of the open desert.
The only sound as he went was the soft clanking of his teal armor. For a moment, Sealth wondered vaguely why he hadn't bothered to take the heavy plates off despite the fact that there was no need for them any longer. He dismissed it quickly as a habit worn into his very being and ignored the soft whisper of his mind thinking otherwise.
Once the commander reached the crest of a small dune, he stopped. Nearly all of Hyrule spread itself before him. Beyond the blue sands of the desert, Death Mountain loomed in the east, towering over the Faron Woods and the castle alike. The Zora's River wound easily through the green land, emptying into the still brightening Lake Hylia.
It was over now; Sealth closed his eyes in relief at the thought. Peace had come back—it had never left, in fact. He had not only protected his homeland, but had also gained back the trust of the army that he had lost so many years ago. All because of the deaths of two people. Sealth sighed and opened his eyes. If only.... If only he had known, if only there had been some way to stop it. Even if it meant that he was never able to lead the military again, it would be worth it to hear his queen's fluid voice once more, or to spar with his king. But the past was past, nothing could be helped now. The only question remaining was...
"What now?" Sealth's whisper was swept away by a soft breeze.
He sighed again, opening his eyes to scan the eastern horizon, stopping on the spindly towers of the castle squatting in the distance. The throne sat in the center of the kingdom, cold and empty. Who would fill it now? Now that the bloodline was destroyed? Nayru only knew, and it wasn't Sealth's place to speculate.
Sealth closed his eyes and ran his free hand absently through his hair. If only Link and Zelda were still alive, they wouldn't have to do all of this. They wouldn't have had to roast in the desert for as long as they did, waiting only to slaughter those who dared test the might of Hyrule.
And Zelgius… He had come out of nowhere, with no background, no real way for Sealth to know to trust him and yet, the Hyrulean commander had allowed this stranger to bring him here. Not just him, in fact, but men who had found it in their hearts to trust him once more with their lives.
Even though he knew that in just a few hours, they would be returning home as heroes, as the men who saved the country from an unknown enemy, something lingered in the back of Sealth's mind. Something about the desert seemed off, the wind was blowing just a few degrees cooler than normal, the air was just a bit denser. Something was wrong, and he could fee—
Noise floated slowly from the spattering of tents where the army was resting, and Sealth stiffened as his mind gradually made out what it was. He could hear men's shouts, screams, steel clashing with steel—the sounds that any warrior could recognize as those of a battle.
Running as fast as his heavy armor would allow, Sealth rushed back to where he had been only minutes before, the clanking of his metal protection and his hurried breath joining the clamor he was rushing towards. The camp lay in a large dip in the desert, with dunes of sand surrounding it on each side, and as the Hylian reached the crest of the dune overlooking the scene, he was caught completely off guard by his first glimpse.
No longer eating inside and celebrating, the Hylian army was all outside, armed with their lances and swords, fighting as best they could against something that Sealth had only heard stories about.
They stood taller than any man there, each one towering over the soldiers they fought. The beasts each held a shield in their bony left hand and a sword in the other, the wickedly curved blades slicing through flesh as easily as the air. Their long legs shifted easily over the sand as they dodged the attacks the startled soldiers attempted to defend themselves with.
Sealth stood frozen for a moment, only able to watch the swarms of what he knew were Stalfos surrounding the small group of Hylians, the clicking of their bones and their strange whistles audible even from that distance. Shaking his head suddenly, Sealth shifted his grip on his lance quickly and ran the last of the distance to the first of the soldiers, doing what he could to organize the men in an attempt to keep them from being wiped out by the undead warriors.
"Sir!" Guru snapped to attention when he saw Sealth running towards him, "Sir! They came out of nowhere, and—"
"Listen closely to me," Sealth said urgently, glancing past the man in front of him in time to see a Stalfos run its odd-shaped blade through one of his men, "These things cannot be killed in the way any other beasts can. I'm not entirely sure how to get rid of them, honestly, but if we want to get through this, we'll have to find a way." Sealth paused for a moment, "I need you to tell the men to do what they can to get those thing's heads off their shoulders. At least then, they shouldn't be able to move properly, d'you understand?"
Guru nodded quickly.
"Alright then, let's go!"
The two Hylians ran towards the swarm of living dead, weapons raised, both unsure if either of them would walk from the desert alive.
AVAVA
Link looked up at the gradually brightening sky above him, his ear twitching. He hadn't slept much that night, and, not even bothering to change from his wolven form, had lain in the same place for hours, doing nothing but watching the familiar stars overhead and thinking. He thought about Stefan and Zihark, Mia's two best friends; Rolf and Oscar, the two brothers who would die for each other; Volug, the quiet, yet loyal wolf; Rhys, the caring man willing to do whatever it took to save a life. All of them, their lives cut short in the same hellish accident. They were all dead, killed simply because Link hadn't died like he was supposed to in the river that day.
Even though, in the back of his mind, Link knew that their deaths were not directly his fault, whenever he chanced a glance over at Mia's sleeping form, he felt the pangs of guilt deep in his chest. He was the reason they all came here, he was the reason that they had been in the cave to begin with, he was the reason they were gone now.
Out of the corner of his eye, he looked over towards where the few survivors had escaped from—the thin, craggy cave that had probably been created from the explosion, now nothing more than a pile of rocks on the mountainside. There was a lone woman sleeping at its base, the thin blanket draped over her fluttering ever so slightly in the cool, soft breeze of the desert.
Dawn was only a few minutes away, and Link knew that even through everything that had happened, Mia would still manage to rise before the sun did. He didn't want to be there when she woke. He didn't want to face her and to see the sadness, the pain in her eyes, and know that he was the reason for it. He knew it was a cowardly thing to do, and that he would have to speak to her about it eventually, but now wasn't the time.
Link kneaded the loose sand under his paws carefully, trying to bring his thoughts elsewhere, like to the strange smell of the earth, or the air… Yes, the air, he could detect something… wrong in the wind, a scent that the wolf knew, that he could recognize, but could not put a name to. And another familiar hint wafting through the wind, but this one, he could name. He could smell it, the familiar metallic odor of Hyrulean-made bombs. It had been obvious that the collapse had not been an accident, but Link still had been hoping that it had not been his own people who had done it.
He only wished that he knew the circumstances, why they had blown up the cave, how it had somehow happened just as they were inside… Next to the fact that not even he had known of the caves until just a few days ago, it was impossible for them to have known that anyone was coming through them, and if they had, there was no way that Sealth would have let the cave be destroyed. Unless of course…. But Sealth wouldn't fall without a fight, and Link doubted even Zelgius would be able to handle the commander alone.
Link's ear twitched to the side suddenly—he could hear someone walking towards him across the uneven surface of the sand. He contemplated for a moment running from whoever it may be. He still wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone just yet, and his canine legs could easily outrun any man's.
Instead, he found himself trotting towards the sounds, shifting slowly back into his natural self. Link almost smiled as he tried to swivel his ear to better hear the sounds around him—Hylian ears weren't too far off from those of wolves, after all.
A tuft of blue hair soon became visible as Ike walked slowly across the sand towards Link. His face was set in deep concentration, with only slight traces of the grief that shifted inside him restlessly. Link had been hoping he would run into the commander this morning, and he silently prepared himself to explain to him how his people were responsible for the deaths of so many of his family members. He wasn't ready for more guilt, but Link knew he had to face it, and that he wouldn't be able to run forever.
So there you go! I hope this'll be enough to hold you off until I get the next part up, which will be around Halloween time. I hope you look forward to it; I know I do!