Chapter Eight
Ashei
She had always hated traveling, more so than just about anything she had hated in her life. She knew it was a necessary evil, though. They couldn't stay in any one place for too long, not when Ganondorf was surely after their heads. And so they traveled, avoiding the roads as best they could, though sometimes, as was the case that day, they were forced onto them. She walked alongside Shad, Auru behind them, and Rusl ahead. She held no doubts that she could out-fight any of the bunch, but a woman in armor was already suspicious enough to a traveler. She did not need to be leading the group on top of it. And so she walked, her arm around Shad's, as if they were a young couple enjoying a nice evening together, though she kept her free hand close to the concealed dagger on her hip.
"We should be nearing Faron Woods," Rusl spoke, turning to face them. "From there, the trip to Ordon is less than a day." Ashei glared at him and shook her head. They could not risk strangers overhearing their destination. Ordon Village was known to be the home of the Hero. They had a lead on Ganondorf's forces, she was sure of it, but that could all disappear so suddenly... They had failed once, and she was not keen to fail again. "My apologies," he sighed deeply and focused back on the road ahead. She knew he meant well, she really did, but Godesses she wished he could keep his mouth shut. Though he was not nearly as bad as Shad, who seemed to refuse to leave her alone.
They walked in silence for a time, until they were able to walk off-road once more. "We set up camp here," Ashei said, once they had found a secluded area. "We should make it out of Hyrule Field by tomorrow. For now, we rest."
"Aye," Auru nodded and lowered his sack of things to the ground. She had been nothing short of impressed of the older man since they had begun their group. He had been a tutor of Princess Zelda's, a scholar like Shad, yet he had still committed himself to learning the art of combat, and even in his more advanced age, still trained relentlessly, something she held nothing but admiration for. Shad helped the man set up the camp while Ashei and Rusl rationed out what remained of their food.
"Still no fires," she said to the man, who nodded understandingly. They had passed a small settlement on their journey that day. She hoped the light from it would attract unwanted visitors to the villagers, not to her team. They could not risk a wrong move, not again.
They ate, and she leaned against a tree, taking the first watch. They had had no trouble since beginning their journey, something she was grateful for, though she had not expected it. Things had been too calm, too quiet. She watched as the three men slowly drifted off to sleep, glad to see it for them, if not for her. Sleep had evaded her, despite her complete exhaustion. It seemed an eternity before Shad came to relieve her. Hesitant to leave the boy alone, given his lack of combat skills, she still left and lay in the grass, finally letting sleep take her.
She had been asleep less than two hours when she woke with a start. Something was wrong, she knew it in her gut. She swore when she saw flames in the distance and leaped to her feet. "I said no fires!" she snapped and turned to where she had left Shad, but the boy was not there. He was standing, several feet away from the camp, staring at the flames in the distance. "No..." she breathed and moved beside him, feeling sick to her stomach when she saw the settlement they had passed going up in flames and smoke, ash covering the sky and falling to the ground near them. "Why didn't you wake us?" she demanded.
"There was not time," the boy replied, shaking his head. He was deathly pale, but Ashei did not have time to worry about his well-being. She ran to Rusl and shook his shoulder, watching as the man frowned and sat up. "We need to leave," she said, keeping her voice down, but keeping a sense of urgency all the same. "Wake Auru, yeah?" She waited for confirmation, which came in the form of a nod, before drawing her sword from her travel sack. She doubted whoever had burned the village had gone far, and she doubted they would be friendly to a suspicious group of travelers.
"And what have we here?" a chill ran down Ashei's spine when she heard the accented voice behind her, when she saw the glimmer of moonlight reflecting off a blade from the corner of her eye. "A pretty little vai covered in armor barking out orders?" She spun on her heel, sword at the ready, and looked over the woman who had been behind her, a Gerudo if the history books her father had made her study were of any merit. Ashei watched as the woman smirked, and four others emerged from the trees and shadows, two with curved blades, two with spears, none wearing armor.
"Three voe and a vai," another Gerudo smirked. "Hardly a fair fight." Ashei's eyes flashed, and she lunged at the woman to her left, years of training combined with instinct taking over. She rarely had to think when fighting. After all, she had done nothing but drill with various weapons since she was a young girl. The Gerudo had reach with the spear, but she had speed. She saw Rusl from the corner of her eye, taking on two of the warrior women on his own. Even Shad had picked up a weapon. She could not focus on what they were doing though. She needed to focus on keeping herself alive, on keeping as many away from the others as she could.
The Gerudo to her immediate left lunged with her spear, but missed, just barely. Ashei took the opportunity and swung her blade at the woman's leg, knocking her to the ground, blood rushing from the wound. It was not lethal, but it would slow the woman down. She turned to face the woman to her right, noting the blade she carried, a curved, single-handed weapon. Ashei had no doubt it could take her head in one fluid motion. The woman swung the blade, and Ashei ducked below it, breathing a sigh of relief that she was still breathing, only to swear when an arrow flew just past her, missing her armor by a fraction of an inch.
"Sorry!" Ashei swore when she heard Shad apologize. At least he was trying to provide support. She figured something was better than nothing, even if she did doubt the boy had ever wielded a bow in his life. Still, the arrow had taken the Gerudo woman by surprise, and Ashei was able to thrust her sword through her belly. The red-headed woman The red-headed woman looked at the wound in surprise, before collapsing when Ashei reclaimed her blade. The Resistance leader breathed a sigh of relief when she saw two more of Ganondorf's supporters on the ground, either unconscious or dead.
"One left!" Rusl shouted across the field to her. She nodded and glanced around for her, swearing when she saw nothing. The man moved closer to her, standing at her back. She nodded approvingly and scanned the area, looking for any sign of the missing woman.
"No," she breathed in horror. The woman was nowhere in sight, but a trail of blood lead away from their campsite, a trail of blood beginning with an elderly man lying on the ground, a blade buried in his skull.