The room fell quiet as Nick and Zelda entered. Those present were the top Knights and archers, waiting for the battle plan. Everyone was anxious, yet also nervous. The battle was to be the next day, and all knew that it could his or her last day alive.
"Good evening to you all," Zelda started, "No matter what happens tomorrow, you will all go down as heroes and heroines of Hyrule. The upcoming battle will be etched in the history books for all time."
She stepped aside so that Nick could lay out the battle plan so that it would be properly executed. One of his subordinates accompanied him, carrying a map.
"As you all know, we strike at 0800 tomorrow morning. We have received word that ships from Dellenia will be docked on the eastern shore. One of our objectives will be to secure a safe passage for the women and children who are not fighting to the ships. To do this, we will be attacking from the entrance of the Kokiri Forest," he pointed to the appropriate place on the map. "From there, we must clear a path so that the refugees can get to the new mountain pass by Zora's River. Once they get to Zora's River, the Zoras will lead them to the shore and the awaiting ships. We have also gotten word from the Gorons and the Gerudo that they will help us in our battle. They will be attacking from here and here," he pointed to the foot of Death Mountain and the entrance to the Desert. "The Kokiri will attack any outsiders who make their way into the Forest, but they can do no more due to their confinement to these woods. Our primary goal is to defeat the evil army and destroy the Tower of Ganon, but if we should fail, we must at least secure the passage for the refugees." Nick looked around the room at each individual person. "Even if we are victorious, many of us will not make it out alive. This will be the final battle for Hyrule. If we fail, the rest of the world won't stand a chance. If we succeed, then we can secure an age of prosperity for all the nations of the world. May the Goddesses have mercy on all of us. Dismissed!"
The room erupted with sounds of battle cries and shouts of determination. They would no longer be thrown around like they had been the last few months. No, they would fight for their freedom and against the indescribable evil of the one known as Ganondorf. And they were all confident that they would overcome the incredible odds. For Hyrule.
As the room emptied out, only Nick, Aaron, William, Robert, and Zelda remained.
"Aaron, can we expect any help from Dellenia?" Nick asked.
Aaron raised his arms slightly and sighed. "I don't know, Nick. We were hit pretty hard when Ganondorf came at us with two pieces of the Triforce. We had far too many casualties and almost all of the survivors are already here in this refuge, waiting for another chance."
"We were all hit hard when that happened," William added. "If we don't succeed out there tomorrow, I don't see the rest of the world being able to put up much of a fight."
"If only Link were here," Zelda said, almost inaudibly.
Robert walked up next to her and put a comforting arm around her.
"It's like I said earlier, Princess," Nick said. "He's trying to figure out a way to save us all. Not even death will stop him."
"If he is, then he better get a move on, otherwise there'll be nothing left to save," Robert uttered.
Robert's comment silenced everyone and they all bowed their heads in despair – and hope.
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The sun peered over the horizon as Ian opened his eyes. Dawn had come without incident, and the fire had long since gone out. He sat up where he was and took a deep breath of the cool, crisp morning air. A few feet on either side of him, both Links were still sleeping. But unlike the morning before, he wasn't going to let anyone sleep in. He smacked both of them on their shoulder.
"Hey, wake up you two."
Slowly, they opened their eyes and sat up. Neither of them looked like they enjoyed waking up so early. Ian suspected that they were late risers, but he didn't know why people would want to sleep so late. He thought it was a waste of time. There were so many other things one could get done instead of sleeping. Must run in the family, he thought.
Ian got up, grabbed a few water skins, and walked down to the lake. He filled each of the water skins to its fullest before he walked back up to the camp. When he got there, both Links were lying down again, falling back asleep.
"Oh no you don't. You're getting up now. We have a long day ahead of us," he said as he kicked each of them firmly in the ribs.
He walked over to his rations pouch and grabbed a few chunks of bread. The two heroes were finally up and took the bread and water offered to them.
"So Link… I mean, Sean… what kind of creature are we fighting?" Ian asked.
"Well," Link responded between mouthfuls, "It's quite large and has many tentacles, each of which are very long. So far," he paused to take a drink of water, "so far, I haven't been able to find its weakness."
"It's probably the eye," Evan said. "It's always the eye." He bit off a big piece of bread.
"I think it's the stomach," Sean shot back.
"Either way," Ian interrupted before things started to heat up, "we need to get going soon." He turned to face the Hero of Time. "Perhaps we'll find out who was following us."
Link just nodded, as he looked in the direction the other camp had been. "Maybe we will."
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They made their way down to the lake where the Hero of the Triforce had last battled with the monster. The entire way down, the Hero of Time kept checking over his shoulder, waiting for their mysterious follower to show himself. As the three of them stood by the lake waiting for the creature to surface, Evan caught a glimpse of someone hiding in the bushes not too far from the group.
Slowly, he made his way around the bushes, making sure to be perfectly quiet. The only sounds were that of the hiding man, rustling in the bushes. He quietly stepped behind him, and drew his sword.
He heard the sword drawn and instantly froze in place. As he sat there, he felt the tip of the sword against his back.
"Who are you and why have you been following us?" the man behind him said. "Get up!"
He did as he was told and slowly stood up. His arms in the air, he turned to see who had caught him.
"Marcus!" Evan shouted. "What the hell are you doing?"
Marcus lowered his head in shame as he responded, "I was just curious, Master Evan, sir. I didn't mean any harm. Usually when someone asks for Link, they want to duel with him. I thought that's why you were looking for him."
Evan sheathed his sword. "Not at all, Marcus. We need his help, but first we're going to help him get rid of this creature that's been plaguing this area. Come on," he said as he motioned for Marcus to follow him, "you might as well come out and join us."
The Hero of Time and Marcus walked back over to where Ian and the Hero of the Triforce were still waiting.
"Hi, Marcus," the Hero of the Triforce said, "Checking up on me again?"
"Yes, sir," Marcus responded, "I was the one who gave them information of your whereabouts."
"That doesn't matter. But it's dangerous here. We could come under attack at any time…"
He was cut off by the sounds of something big emerging from the water. The beast's cry was disturbing and loud. All four of them jumped back from the edge of the lake and looked upon the creature that stood before them. It was an enormous beast. Its tentacles were flailing around wildly, as if they had a mind of their own. The two Links each unsheathed their respective Master Swords.
"Let's get him," the Hero of Time said to his descendant. With a simple nod, they were off and running.
As they made their way to the lake, the creature was making its way toward the shore. A barrage of tentacles meet the two heroes, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle. Evan slashed off one of the beast's tentacles and was meet with another in his back, sending him flying back twenty feet.
"You won't beat me that easily!" he yelled at the beast, as if it could understand him. He quickly regained his footing and rushed the beast once again.
Sean was able to take out two tentacles with one swing as the creature tried to get a hold of him. A third tentacle came crashing down into the water about five feet from him, sending a giant wave over the Hero of the Triforce. He yelled out as the water overcame him, sending him in a spin underneath the waves. As he picked himself up out of the water, he saw Evan leap from the shore into the midst of the beast's tentacles.
"Now that's more like it! It's time to send this creature back to Hell!"
He followed his ancestor into the fray and together they attempted to hack off every last tentacle. Evan was able to cut off an additional three tentacles before once again getting hit from behind, leaving Sean vulnerable and alone. Horrified, he watched as Sean was grabbed by the beast and carried high into the air.
"No!" he yelled. "Put him down you vile, wretched beast!"
Determined not to let the beast have its way, he jumped at it, but before he could free Sean, he found himself in its grasp.
"Damn it! What the hell are we going to do now?" he yelled over to Sean, but Sean couldn't hear anything over the sound of the beast.
The beast raised both heroes high into the air, as if showing the entire world the deed it had accomplished. It opened its enormous mouth, showing its razor sharp teeth. From what he could tell, Evan estimated that there were in the order of thirty teeth, all waiting to devour its prey. Sean was drawn closer to the mouth, and Evan was powerless to do anything about it. Sean looked into the beast's mouth and saw nothing but darkness and death. He closed his eyes and waited for the pain.
But instead of pain, he felt himself falling. He opened his eyes to see the surface of the water rushing up to him. Instinctively, he placed his arms over his head, curled up, and waited for impact. The force with which he hit the water delivered excruciating pain, but it was much better than being eaten.
"What the hell happened?" he said to himself.
Just then, he saw an arrow fly from the shore and hit the tentacle that was holding Evan. The beast cried out in pain as it released its grip on the Hero of Time. Just as Sean had done, Evan went into a free fall, creating an enormous splash when he hit the water. Upon surfacing, he looked for Sean.
"Hey! Get to shore!" Evan tried to yell over the waves. He received no response from Sean, and knew that he couldn't hear him. Instead, the Hero of Time pointed to shore and began to swim. Sean caught on and headed for shore.
Marcus and Ian helped the two heroes out of the water when they were close enough. Once they were safely on ground, Ian picked up his bow again and fired several arrows at the beast.
"So we have you to thank," Evan said.
"Yeah. You're little assault there didn't seem to work," Ian responded. "We have to come up with a plan."
"Look out!" Marcus yelled as one of the beast's tentacles was poised to strike the group. Ian and Evan jumped to the left, while Sean and Marcus jumped to the right, each just barely avoiding being crushed.
Sean jumped up and shouted, "We need to think fast! He's awfully mad!"
"Go for the eyes!" the Hero of Time shouted back. "It's always the eyes!"
A second tentacle came crashing down by Marcus and Sean, but both were able to dodge the attack. Suddenly, another tentacle swooped down, wrapped itself around Marcus and pulled him into the water.
"Help!"
Ian quickly aimed with his bow at the tentacle and let the arrow fly. It was a perfect shot, hitting the tentacle right below Marcus, but the beast didn't drop him. He fired again, and once again the arrow flew true, but the beast held onto Marcus and wouldn't let go.
"No! Marcus!" Sean yelled as he ran back into the water. Sword drawn, the Hero of the Triforce leaped into the air but was knocked away by another tentacle. He was thrown through the air and landed fifty feet away from the battle as Ian continued to fire arrows at the tentacle. The beast brought Marcus closer to its mouth and opened wide.
"No! I can't die like this! I wasn't supposed to be here! Link! Help me!" he yelled. As the beast released its hold on him, he screamed loudly. Marcus fell directly into the beast's mouth, and experienced pain that he had never felt in his life. The stunned spectators still on shore could hear the crunching noise of his bones against the beast's teeth.
Sean could feel the rage in his body as the creature devoured Marcus' body. He once again ran at the beast, not caring about what would happen. Evan turned to Ian.
"Quick! Fire into its eyes!"
Ian raised his bow again and fired an arrow. It flew straight into the beast's right eye, partially blinding it. Sean continued to run at the beast as it swung its tentacles violently, slashing a few more off as he made his way to the beast. Another arrow flew from Ian's bow, this one hitting the beast directly in its left eye, completely blinding it. Unable to see, the beast swung its tentacles even more violently, but none of them connected with the Hero of the Triforce. Sean made his way deeper into the water until his was directly in front of the beast's stomach.
"This is for Marcus, you monster! I'm sending you to hell!"
Sean brought the Master Sword down into the beast's belly, slicing it nearly in half. The beast screamed with pain, as its vital organs were slashed into multiple pieces. It struggled to breath, its tentacles still flailing wildly. Sean put all his strength behind him and stabbed even deeper into the beast's innards. Slowly, the creature's life faded away, until the tentacles stopped altogether and the struggle ended.
Back on shore, Ian, bow still in hand, and the Hero of Time waited for the Hero of the Triforce. As he reached the shoreline, he called out to Evan.
"Told you it was the stomach!"
"Yeah," Evan shouted back, "after we blinded him!"
Ian smiled. "Anyway, I'm glad that's over with," he said.
"As am I. Now we can get onto more pressing matters," Evan said.
Sean made his way up the bank and collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. Breathing heavily, he looked out over the water. "I'm sorry, Marcus. I was too late. It's all my fault." He placed his right hand over his face.
Ian knelt down beside him. "It isn't your fault, Sean. You gave it all you had, but it just wasn't meant to be." Then it hit Ian. Did that creature kill his uncle too? "Sean… your uncle… was he…?"
"No. Thankfully, I found him yesterday morning on the north side of the lake. He was badly hurt, but was in no danger of dying. I got him to safety right away."
Ian patted the Hero of the Triforce on the stomach. "No sense wallowing in grief, Sean. We've still got a long day ahead of us."
"But how are we going to find the next portal?" the Hero of Time asked. "Won't we have to travel back to Kakariko?"
"I don't know. I'm sure that the Goddesses will show us the way," Ian answered. "Speak of the devil…," he said as he pointed out over the lake.
A bright golden glow emanated from somewhere on the lake. The light intensified, causing all three to shield their eyes from it. As the light died down to a mere glow, it was quite obvious that the next portal was located on top of an island on the west side of the lake. They were delighted that their goal was so near.
"Good. Since its not far, I suggest we rest for a while. You two had a hell of a fight."
Sean didn't respond, but rather continued to lie where he was, unwilling to move. Ian and Evan each took a seat on the ground and waited for the Hero of the Triforce to recover.
It would soon be time to find the last piece of the puzzle.
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The morning sun reflected off the swords and shields of the Hylian army. They had not yet left the safety of the woods, but they would soon attack. There was no doubt in any of their minds that Ganondorf's army would be awaiting them in the fields. They stood silently, waiting for the order to be given. Behind the front lines of soldiers were the archers, bows already in hand. Zelda was in the back row of archers. She looked in front of her and could see the hundreds upon hundreds of souls that were pledging their lives to the country and to her. At that moment, she was very proud, but the feeling gave way to deep sorrow as she realized that all these fighters should have been led by Link.
Her thoughts drifted to Evan and the rest of the refugees. She glanced behind her, back toward the refuge. Somewhere back there, all the refugees were waiting for the initial push by the Hylian army to make their escape. She couldn't see him, but she could feel that Evan wasn't scared. His lack of fear reassured her, and she felt that she and the rest of the Hylian army would be victorious in the oncoming battle. She faced front again and waited for the order.
Nick, Aaron, William, and Robert were all at the head of the army, facing each other.
"Any word from the Gerudo or Goron?" Nick asked in general.
"Not for some time now, Nick," Aaron answered, "So we must assume that they will follow through with the plan."
Nick sighed. "We're relying on them completely. If they don't attack Ganon's army in time, we will never be able to secure a path for the refugees."
"When are we supposed to attack?" William inquired.
Nick looked up at the sky, shielding his eyes from the bright light of the sun. "Well, the Gerudo and Goron are going to start their attack at 0800 hours. Hopefully, the initial shock of being attacked from behind will throw off the evil army just enough to create confusion among their ranks. We attack a few minutes after the first wave of the Gerudo and Goron," he paused and looked out toward the fields of Hyrule. "Timing is everything."
Just then, a scout rode up to the four military leaders. "Sir Nick, we have confirmation that the enemy is moving closer to the forest. Their numbers are far greater than our own." The scout saluted Nick.
"Thank you, soldier," he responded, returning the salute. The scout turned quickly and rode away.
"Perhaps we should prepare the army now, Nick," Robert suggested. "We mustn't be caught off-guard if the surprise attack doesn't work."
Nick looked toward the fields again, and then back at the army amassed behind him. "Agreed," he said, "Prepare all the men now. We will march out into the field now and see if the Gerudo and Goron can pull off their part of the plan."
Aaron, William, and Robert each rode to a different area of the army and gave out the orders. Nick remained in the front and waited for all the commotion to cease.
"Fellow Hylians and our allies," he started, "the final battle of good versus evil lay in front of us. May we have the strength and courage to win this day and keep the world free from such evil as Ganon. The road to victory will be a daunting one, and many of us will end up having to sacrifice ourselves for the greater good. May the Goddesses bless each and every one of you in battle today. Now, we march!" he yelled as he raised his sword in the air. He turned his horse around and led the march into the fields.
Zelda's heart was beating faster than it had ever done before. She had several feelings at once, fear and anxiety. As she marched with the rest of the army, she couldn't help but feel some excitement. Even if this was to be a bloody and deadly battle, she was glad to be a part of it. For the first time in her life, she actually wanted to kill something. This new feeling of bloodlust frightened her and she was almost ashamed of herself, but she knew that the beasts out in the fields had to die. Her thoughts again drifted to Link, and she became lost in her own little world once again.
Before she even knew it, the Hylian army had stepped out of the forest into the clearing. In front of them stood the entire army of the Evil King Ganon. The evil army outnumbered the Hylian army almost three to one, but this didn't deter the Hylians at all. They were determined.
Nick held up his hand, calling for the army to halt. Judging from the sun, he estimated that it was almost 0800 hours. It was now time to wait, and pray. Complete silence filled the air as the two armies stared each other down, trying to invoke fear into its enemies. Several minutes passed, yet there was still no signs of battle.
Aaron looked toward Nick. "Nick!" he called out just loud enough for Nick to hear him. "Why haven't they attacked yet?"
Nick replied with a simple shrug of his shoulders. Indeed, the Gerudo and Goron should have attacked by now, yet there were no signs of them. Nick grew worried. With each passing moment, their chances of success were dwindling.
The stand still lasted for several minutes more, each army not committing to attack. The four leaders of the Hylian army grew increasingly worried.
"Nick!" Robert called. "We have to do something!"
"I know!" Nick responded, "But what?"
Their attention was drawn to a loud battle cry from Ganon's army. Hordes of Moblins were making their way to the Hylian army, ready to kill all.
"Damn it!" Nick yelled. "Alright! We're going to have to attack!" he informed the other Knights. He raised his sword in the air and paused for a moment. "Charge!" he finally yelled, at the same time pointing his sword toward the oncoming evil.
The two armies ran at each other with amazing speed, quickly closing the gap between them. The Hylian archers found higher ground and waited for the Moblins to move within firing range. The cavalry continued its pace toward Ganon's army. Nick and the others prepared for the worst.
Out of nowhere, more battle cries could be heard from the North side of the fields. The battle cries were followed by screams of agony and defeat as the Gerudo and Goron killed numerous Moblins, Stalfos, and Deelers. The surprise attack worked perfectly, as even the Moblins that were charging the Hylians stopped in their tracks to see what was going on behind them.
A smile spread across Nick's face as the front line of Ganon's army turned their backs on the Hylians. With the advantage on their side, Nick ordered the cavalry to move faster.
The Hylians made their way to the front line with unbelievable speed. The confused Moblins still had their backs turned, giving the Hylians a free shot. Nick, Aaron, William, and Robert each raised their swords in the air and yelled out their country's battle cries. Aaron was the first to cross enemy lines, and with a single swipe of his sword, he took out two unsuspecting Moblins.
Nick cried out as loud as he could as he brought his sword down and decapitated a Moblin.
The battle had begun.