Through a Nightmare Darkly
Chapter 3: The Corrupt King
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"Are you joking Lucius?" Zantorian's voice sounded throughout the Meeting Hall.
The Gerudo Meeting Hall was the biggest building in the entire Gerudo homeland, including the palace. The Hall was an enormous circular building with coliseum-type seating and a wooden table in the middle. The table was used for diplomats and dignitaries to discuss treaties or any discrepancies. The coliseum seating was for the Gerudo's. Under Zantorian's orders, there should be no secrets kept from fellow countrywomen; therefore, the Meeting Hall was built and completed in two short years and was opened to anyone who was curious about the meeting. Usually it was filled to full capacity every time there was meeting. The Gerudo people liked to take advantage of any new freedom Zantorian gave them.
The Hall was designed so that anyone sitting in it could hear what the diplomats were discussing; even a whisper could be heard. Most of the time, this fact, joint with the detail that it was open to the public, unnerved the diplomats, but Zantorian cared little for what the dignitaries thought. To make matters even worse, the desert heat, combined with the stark air of the Meeting Hall, did not make anything, to any further extent, more comfortable.
"No, I'm sorry Your Highness, but there is no other way," Lucius responded. Lucius was in his 50's and the advisor to the king of Hyrule. His hair had turned prematurely grey due to the stress of his job with a few scattered wrinkles on his face. Always running around, meeting emissaries, and visiting other countries made him look like he was mid-60. His chain-mail armor covered him from the bottom of his neck to his feet, except for his gloves that were lying on the table. On top of the armor, was a piece of white clothing that covered his torso. There were no sleeves to the fabric and it stopped at his knees with a slit at the middle / bottom of the fabric that went up to his upper thigh to give him more mobility. The middle of the material was emblazoned with the crest of Hyrule: a blue eagle with the golden Triforce above it. A sword hung at his left side and two of Hyrule's guards stood behind him.
"There's no reason that the king needs to place his guards in our lands," came Zantorian's reply.
"The king feels that the people…my country's people," he quickly corrected himself, "will be safer if Hyrulian soldiers are here."
"They already feel safe enough to come into our lands, they don't need more protection." Zantorian grew more and more frustrated with each word exchanged with the advisor. "If Hyrulian soldiers are to be here, then Gerudo soldiers should be allowed in Hyrule."
"That's not the point we're trying to discuss here."
"Ugh…," he groaned. "What an idiot," he muttered under his breath. "Look Lucius, there is no common ground here. Just leave before it turns into something worse."
"But Your Highness –"
"Get out Lucius. Or have you forgotten that you're surrounded by hundreds of Gerudo's."
Lucius looked around the Meeting Hall. A few Gerudo women cracked their knuckles in anticipation. "Right…" Lucius said as he stood up, "I'll relay our, uh…meeting with the King. May the blessings of the Goddesses shine upon your people." Lucius turned around and walked out of the Meeting Hall with the two Hyrulian guards following him.
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The first of the two meetings Zantorian had with Lucius. As you can imagine, the second one didn't go any better. In fact, it was worse…much, much worse.
The second meeting was held nearly five years later. Zantorian, now 15, again met with Lucius, but this time, they met in Hyrule Castle. By that time, the Gerudo Kingdom was the most prosperous one that the face of the world had ever seen and Hyrule was quickly growing jealous and envious of their neighbor. Zantorian has been crowned a full-fledged king for four years know, fully trained in the art of war, swordsmanship, and diplomacy. He even picked up some magic along the way, something that hasn't been done in the Gerudo homeland for thousands of years.
He was essentially a well-rounded person. His personality could be as docile as a rabbit or as ferocious as a lion, his tongue was as sharp as his sword, he had the wisdom of an elderly man, and the knowledge of a scholar. In the eyes of his people, he was the ideal king.
However, things slowly but surely changed. The second meeting is where it all fell apart, as you'll soon see…
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Zantorian sat in his chair at the palace, awaiting the arrival of Lucius. The palace wasn't as lavish as it used to be, Zantorian had always hated the ornate and lavish designs of it. Still, it was bigger that the average house, but only by three rooms. The main entrance was where the throne was placed. Columns lined the pathway down to the throne and a red carpet, lined with a gold fabric, guided the path. The four others rooms were: a sleeping room, a training room, a planning room, for battles or anything pertaining to the Gerudo society, and a kitchen. The sleeping and planning rooms were at the back of the palace, while the kitchen and training rooms were off the main antechamber.
He had long outgrown the old clothes he wore and was now dressed like a Gerudo King. His armor was compact and lightweight, but it was a unique set of armor. It offered the best protection around and when he would grow, the armor would grow with him; a one-size-fits-all gimmick. The armor was black with the Gerudo crest in the middle: a blood red dragon with one of its claws suspended in the air. His red cape flowed down to the ground and his scimitar was propped up against the arm of the throne.
His red hair had now grown down to his mid-back, but he did nothing to cut it or pull it back. His elbows were resting on the chair arms with his hands intertwined, on which he rested his nose and mouth. His hair covered most of his face, giving him a horrific and ominous look. Deep in thought, he patiently waited on Lucius.
Zantorian looked up to see Lucius stumble in the room. "Sorry I'm late," he huffed, "I was hung up at –"
"Forget it Lucius," Zantorian said, cutting him off. "Tell me Lucius, why are you here?" He had only received notice of Lucius' arrival the day before.
"Yes, well…," he said while clearing his throat, "The king of Hyrule, Dactus Nohansen Hyrule, has requested that you travel with me to the castle Hyrule and meet with him to discuss some pressing matters."
Great, Zantorian thought. "When is it?"
"He wants you there today."
Zantorian had long known that King Dactus had grown corrupt. His lust for power and money was almost legendary in the Gerudo homelands. Since the day he had grown corrupt, he had wanted the money the Gerudo's obtained, trying to cheat them or weaken them anyway possible. Zantorian knew that he had to go. If he didn't, he risked Dactus declaring war on the charges of treason. Even though the Gerudo's had an independent leader, they were still technically in the territory of Hyrule, something that every leader of the Gerudo Empire wanted to change.
He stood up from his throne. "Namura, you're in charge while I'm gone," he said to the guard standing next to him, his second-in-command. Namura was apart of the Elite Gerudo Guards, rumored to be the strongest guards in Hyrule, even before Zantorian. Their uniform was of white, instead of purple, as to distinguish them from regular Gerudo guards. She nodded and bowed in respect.
Zantorian followed Lucius out of the palace. Following them were two other Elite Gerudo Guards.
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Lucius, Zantorian, and the two Elite Guards rode through Hyrule Market. Most of the people stopped to stare at the passer byres. It's not everyday you see the King's advisor leading the Gerudo King through the streets of Hyrule. Though, as soon as they entered the Market, they left it.
They continued down the long and winding road to the castle. Along the way, they passed the barracks and the throng of soldiers practicing. Unlike the Market, most of the soldiers ignored the group. However, there were a few new recruits that would point and whisper at them.
Zantorian laughed silently and shook his head. Some of these people are too tense. I don't know what that king is thinking or planning, but whatever it is, it won't work.
The group reached the drawbridge to the castle and dismounted their horses. "I'm sorry, but your guards are gonna have to stay outside," Lucius said. Zantorian nodded to the two guards and stepped into the castle, with the drawbridge closing behind him.
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Zantorian walked through the winding halls of Hyrule Castle, with Lucius leading him. The Hyrulian Castle was the complete opposite of the Gerudo one. The ornate marble floors were accompanied by lavish paintings, luxurious suits of armor, and elaborate sculptures.
A red carpet laid out led the way to the Throne Room. On both sides of the carpet were sculptures; most of them depicting the three goddesses. No two sculptures were alike, however, with each one being done by a different artist, but the one similarity they had was that all were lined with jewels.
"Ah, King Zantorian, it's about time we finally met face to face!" King Dactus exclaimed in happiness as they walked into the Throne Room. Though as genuine as it may have sounded, Zantorian still caught the sarcasm in his voice. Lucius bowed to the King, "You may leave Lucius." Lucius bowed again and left without a word.
The Throne Room was the most beautified room Zantorian had ever seen. Two of elaborate paintings were behind the throne. The actual throne itself was made of solid gold embedded with all types of precious stones with red velvet for a cushion; a similar throne was next to the one the king was sitting in, but it was empty. The thrones were elevated off the ground by three steps. All of the windows in the room were stained glass windows, each depicting a previous king and his title. There were several doors in the hall, but all of the servants were instructed not to enter it today because of the meeting.
There were twelve of Hyrule's Elite Guard in the room; two next to the king while the others were lined up on the carpet leading to the throne. The guard's armor was a helmet that completely covered their eyes in shadow, but left their nose and mouth exposed. They wore chain mail, but over the chain mail was plate mail with Hyrule's crest in the middle of the chest piece. Each one held a spear, accompanied by a sword which hung on their left side.
"It's about time, Dactus…it's about time," Zantorian replied dryly.
"Yes, yes. Well, before we get down to business, how is everything going in your kingdom?" Dactus asked with an unusual amount of curiosity. The king, in his mid-60's, had an odd youthful characteristic about him. The King wore black boots that went up to his mid shin, while wearing black velvet pants. His shirt was an indigo-type color, with white sleeves, except for the cuffs of the shirt, which were the indigo color. A silver belt was used to hold his pants up and a crown, studded with jewels, sat atop his head. Surprisingly, for a king of his kind, he was thin.
Zantorian smiled, "I think you know how it's going Dactus." Zantorian walked closer to the thrones until he was at the bottom of the first step. "In case you don't, we're doing very well."
"That's good…that's good." Dactus seemed spellbound with Zantorian's kingdom. "As you may have heard, I've grown to be very fond of your kingdom. And honestly, I would do anything to control your kingdom…no offence to you, of course!" Zantorian nodded and Dactus continued. "But I know that one can't just simply waltz into a kingdom and take over. Certain…precautions must be taken."
Zantorian grew restless with each word that passed from this man's lips. "For you see Zantorian, a kingdom is like a snake. And, to defeat the snake, one must cut the head off and, woe and behold, fate has brought me the head."
As soon as Dactus said this, the two Elite Guards next to him moved in front of him and the others enclosed him in a semi-circle. All of the guards pointed their spears towards Zantorian.
"Damnit!" Zantorian mentally cursed.
Not waiting for the guards to make the first move, he grabbed the spear of the guard to the left of him, ripped the spear out of his hands, spun around, and bashed most of the soldiers behind him with the wooden part of the spear in the head, all in one fluid motion. He quickly jumped out of the circle and spun around, and threw the spear in his hand to the guard closest to the king, impaling him in the chest.
He pulled his scimitar from its sheath and posed himself in an attack stance. The rest of the guards dropped their spears and drew their swords, seeing now that their spears were useless. A daring soldier rushed Zantorian, but Zantorian jumped to the side and quickly decapitated the soldier.
Angered by the death of their comrade, two soldiers charged Zantorian. Zantorian parried the first soldiers attack, grabbed the second by the wrist, and hurled him to the side. The first soldier attacked again, but before he could bring his sword down, Zantorian thrust his scimitar through the man's abdomen. The second soldier recovered and bull-rushed Zantorian. Zantorian side-stepped and sliced the man down the back.
The soldiers were now uneasy about attacking the Gerudo king. He had bested four Elite Soldiers in nearly two minutes, but, despite their better judgment, they pressed on with the attack.
A lone soldier attacked Zantorian, but Zantorian jumped to the side, brought his sword up, snapping the man's arm. He twirled around and slashed him down the back. Once again, a lone soldier attacked, but this time, they locked blades. Zantorian twirled his scimitar around, throwing the soldiers blade to the side and stabbed him through the stomach.
With their numbers brought down to from twelve to six in less than five minutes, five of the men broke ranks and fled, but one brave soldier stayed behind. The soldier jumped towards Zantorian, but Zantorian caught his wrist, kneed him in the stomach, and ripped the sword from his hand. With an ungodly amount of force and strength, Zantorian hurled the sword in the direction of Dactus, piercing his left shoulder and somehow managing to make the sword pierce the golden throne. Zantorian turned back to the soldier, who, by now, was on his hands and knees gasping for air. Zantorian looked at the man, swung his sword until the blade was pointed down, and brought it down through the man's upper back.
Zantorian pulled his sword out of the man, turned around, and walked towards Dactus. "I don't think your plan worked to well." Dactus was bleeding profusely from his wound and writhed in pain. "You're lucky old man, I'll let you live." Zantorian herd reinforcements coming from one of the halls. Deciding that sticking around wasn't the best idea, he raced down the hall towards the exit.
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It took Zantorian less than a minute to reach the castle drawbridge. He lowered it to see the two Elite Gerudo Guards fighting off the regular infantry soldiers. They were fairing pretty well, considering each one only had two daggers. About fifteen soldiers lay dead around them, but they were not without their own wounds. One had been shot through her left shoulder with an arrow and the other was sliced down her right thigh.
"Come on, let's go!" Zantorian shouted to them. They jumped on the horses that were behind the women and rode off, smashing though the ranks of soldiers with Zantorian slashing his sword widely, hitting a soldier each time he swung.
"What happened in there?!" one of the guards screamed over the chaos, but Zantorian didn't answer. Both guards saw the fury in his eyes and decided against talking to him at the moment.
By the time they reached the Gerudo kingdom, it was dusk. Shocked gasps and whispers came when people saw the wounded guards.
"What happened?" Namura asked in utter shock when they entered the palace.
"Dactus betrayed us!" Zantorian growled while walking into the planning room. "Prepare for war!"
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Thus it begins, the moment in which Hyrule doomed itself for destruction and chaos. The war that was started that day is what we Hyrulians know today as the Hyrulian Civil War. The war in which cost us many our parents, families, and friends, all from the simple act of betrayal. And it didn't just stop with the Hyrulians, no, it stretched across Hyrule to all of its corners…
Alright, sorry about the longwinded introductions, but, if you haven't guessed it by now, now is when the action starts.
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Disclaimer: I do not own any Zelda related characters / places / themes / etc.. Only original names, characters, themes, and places.