The Legend of Midna: Clockwork Darkness
Chapter Eleven
"Son of a bitch…" Eoghan said to himself.
"What?" Siobhán sneered.
"What do you think?" he retorted. "We're stuck in this barn and it's all on your account."
"Excuse me, but I think I saved your life back there!" she shouted back. "That thing was going to kill you."
"I think you were more concerned about yourself," he said more to himself than his sister.
"Either way, you two," Cailin interjected, "we're here now, so we need to focus on getting out."
"There is no getting out," said a man's voice from somewhere in the recesses of the barn. "Didn't you hear what he said? This place is on lockdown."
"Who's there?" called Eoghan. "Show yourself."
Upon finishing these words, a man stepped out of the shadows. He looked like he had the potential to be attractive, but fell far short of it. His dirty blond hair was tangled and matted, his face was covered in stubble, and he looked as if he hadn't eaten or bathed in weeks. His filthy shirt hung loosely off his shoulders, and there were dark circles under his eyes. He looked vaguely familiar.
"Colin?" Siobhán finally piped up. "Is that you?"
"I didn't expect to see a familiar face again," he said. "I'll be honest, you aren't really who I wanted to see here, but I'd say you'll be better company than most when the end comes."
"What are you talking about?" Cailin said. "We're getting out of here."
"I already told you," he argued, "there is no escaping. If we tried we'd be caught, and then we'd be dead before we hit the ground."
"I don't believe that," she replied. "Besides, it could be worse. I mean, at least they're feeding you, right?"
"Wrong," he said. "I've been surviving on rats. They don't want me to survive, or anyone else for that matter. I heard them talking after they'd thrown me in here. The skeleton said something about harvesting the dead."
"Harvesting the dead?" Eoghan puzzled. "What, like digging up the bodies?"
"I don't know for sure," Colin replied, "but I do know it isn't good, and the more dead they have, the better."
"Well," said Siobhán, "I know you don't believe it, but even I admit that these two are clever enough to get us out of here. Cailin is, at least."
"Thank you," Cailin said with a sideways glance at Siobhán. "So, what do you know about the guard on this barn?"
"I've never actually seen it," he said slowly, "but judging by the sounds I've heard coming from outside, it's another of those fabricants."
"Well, it shouldn't be too hard to sneak by, then, right?" Siobhán pondered. "I mean, they aren't alive so how would they know?"
"Somehow they do," Eoghan cut in. "Remember when I was fighting that one in the village? When I started towards it, somehow it knew where to turn so it could roast me."
"You don't know any spell to help us out, do you, Siobhán?" Cailin suggested. "Pretty much everything in my arsenal of Hylian magic is defensive."
"Hmm…" She thought it over for a moment. "No, at least not anything that won't alert the guard. I will take a look outside, though. I'll use a scrying spell to view the outside from in here."
Siobhán shut her eyes and fell visibly into a deep trance. After a moment she returned to reality.
"I saw something interesting," she said. "The guard, as you said, Colin, is another fabricant. What intrigued me was that there was a squirrel that ran by, but the fabricant paid it no notice."
"What are you suggesting, then?" Eoghan asked interestedly.
"My thinking is that these things are only designed to pick up on humanoid presences…not that that really helps any of us." Her eyes fell to the floor in despair. "None of us are animals, so it'll still notice."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Cailin interjected. "I just had an idea. See, when I was adventuring with your dad, when the world was covered in Twilight, he and I were transformed into wolves while we were inside the Twilight. When the Master Sword removed the curse from us, the dark energy crystallized. Guess what I still have," she said with a wry smirk.
"You have your crystal?" Siobhán looked taken aback. "Mom told me about those. She was going to have them both destroyed."
"Yeah, well," Cailin grinned wickedly, "I nicked mine from her before she left for the Twilight Realm. So, if I turn into a wolf, Eoghan can shadowjump the rest of you into my shadow. Then all I have to do is find a place where I can dig out, and then he can shadowjump out and take it to that machine."
"Sounds good to me," Eoghan said eagerly. "Let's do it."
"What do you think?" Cailin posed to Siobhán.
"Might as well," she resigned. "It isn't as if we have any better option."
"Colin," Cailin said, "we'll be back for you as soon as we get the chance. I swear it."
"Don't worry about me," he replied. "Just as long as Luda is safe, it doesn't matter what happens to me."
"We'll be back," she reaffirmed. "Are we all ready?"
"Ready," the twins confirmed.
"Alright then, let's do it." In a flash, Cailin had transformed into a wolf. She was a stunning sight there in the barn, with her gleaming white coat seemingly giving off its own light. Once she had changed, Eoghan took his sister's hand and the two of them disappeared into Cailin's shadow. She then turned her attention to Colin.
Help me look for a weak point, she tried to convey to him. He got the message quick enough, and soon the two of them were feeling the base of the walls for any spot that was weak enough for her to dig under.
"Over here," he quietly called from near the back of the barn. She ran over to him to see where he was pointing to. "Right here, in the corner. It looks like you could dig out from here." She gave it a try hesitantly, but Colin was right. The dirt came away with no effort, and soon her coat was filthy with dirt as she dug vigorously. After a few moments she was successfully outside the barn. She gave herself a good shake, and then changed back into her normal form. Once she had returned to normal, the twins emerged from her shadow.
"Alright, where is that big bastard?" Eoghan said to himself as he drew his sword.
"I don't think you'll have to look much farther," Siobhán pointed out. "It's right here!" Sure enough, the fabricant guarding the barn was upon them with incredible speed for its size. Before they had time to react, they were swept aside with a stroke of its massive tail and sent slamming into the side of the barn. Eoghan was the first to recover, but it was no good. As soon as he began to charge, he was the victim of another tail sweep, which sent him flying in the opposite direction. The machine then turned its attention on the girls.
"I don't want to think this is it," said Cailin in a weak voice, "but I think this might be it."
"What do you mean?" Siobhán demanded.
"I can't use any magic," she said with horrible finality. "I'm pretty sure my elbow's broken; I can't move my arm at all."
"Oh gods…" Siobhán muttered in horrid realization of the gravity of the situation. The metal monstrosity lurched closer and closer towards them, and Eoghan was nowhere to be seen. Cailin was out of action, so that just left her. "Well, it's worth a shot."
The fabricant was finally upon them. It slowly raised its sword blades, and with wicked swiftness brought them down to cleave the girls in two…but they weren't there. The blades crashed into the ground with such momentum that the blades buried themselves halfway into the ground. It was then that Eoghan came charging towards the prone fabricant.
"Gotcha, bitch!" he shouted as he swung his gilded blade sideways, severing the fire tail from the body. Then he leaped upon the beast's back and stabbed downwards, tearing the fabricant's carapace apart. With a wicked hiss, the thing collapsed onto the ground.
"Eoghan!" shouted Siobhán from the barn door. "I did it!"
"Did what?" he said, wiping the hair out of his eyes.
"I shadowjumped!" She looked absolutely ecstatic. "That thing was about to do us in, so I just got ahold of Cal here and…well, I don't really know what I did, but a second later we were inside!"
"I knew it was only a matter of time before you figured it out," he said, looking pleased. Then his face took on a more serious character. "We've got bigger fish to fry, though, I'm afraid. I don't know if you heard what those two were saying earlier, but the one, Zagros, is harvesting the dead for some reason. That's the same name as what was on that note telling us about Mom and Dad. I bet if we go to that Bronze City he was talking about, we could find them."
"We don't even know how to get there, though," Siobhán insisted, but then recanted, "although it's a wonderful idea. How are we supposed to get somewhere that we don't know the way to?"
"I heard him," Cailin interjected. "He said there's a path directly west of the village through the woods. If we just follow that path we should be able to find the city easy enough."
"By gods, let's do it," said Eoghan enthusiastically.
"Yeah," Siobhán said in agreement, "let's go. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can save Mom and Dad and the princess."
"What about the boy?" said Colin from somewhere behind them.
"What boy?" Siobhán demanded.
"I heard them before. They said something about a silver-haired boy they'd captured."
"Oh no," Cailin said, and as the words left her mouth all the color drained from her face in an instant. "Will."