Chapter 41: Battle for Hyrule
Screams of men and cries of triumph breaking in one breath,
fighters killing, fighters killed, and the ground streamed blood.
~Iliad, Book IV
"Look!"
"Where?"
"Up there!"
Link scowled. "Now's not the time for it, Navi!"
"But I think it's the Sages!"
Even in the midst of the charge, even as the distance between the armies shrank rapidly, Link spared a moment's glance away from the battlefield—and saw a strange sight that lifted his spirits. One by one, five spheres of light passed over Hyrule Field, five spheres identical in color and shape to those he had seen in the Chamber of Sages.
They're trying to tell us something, he thought. But what?
In the breath before the initial shock of battle, the Kokiri rose up from beside the battering ram and launched a fusillade of pebbles, Deku Nuts, and sharp wooden stakes at the enemy. Though little more than a distraction, Link knew that every advantage they could gain, however slight, might prove crucial in the course of battle.
Behind him, the other riders swept into the frontline of Ganon's army with gale force. All around him, formations disappeared and order dissolved in confusion as iron and men and monsters collided, filling the air with screams and blood that ran with rain in the soil.
Link remained in the saddle long enough to cleave a Lizalfos, but a second Lizalfos coming up behind it speared his saddle horn so that he flew face-first into a dark red puddle on the ground. As he struggled to his feet, with mud and water clinging to his tunic, he felt a spear point pierce through his left boot, narrowly missing the foot. With his first swing, he severed the spear in half, and with the next, he severed the head of the Lizalfos that had unhorsed him.
"This is horrible!" Navi wailed.
"If I needed you to tell me that, I'd ask!" Link ducked a blow from a Stalfos and returned it with one that shattered the skeleton's ribcage.
At that moment, those who had charged on foot reached the fight, and the fury of battle increased. It was only then Link realized that the greater part of Ganondorf's army had remained on the other side of the hill.
Navi's voice shouted him back to his senses. "Look out!"
A dog-giant of the same species as the one he had killed with his Light Arrow had swung a club at his neck; a last-minute twist of his body diverted it into another monster's face. With a yell, he snatched up the spear left by the dead Lizalfos and rammed it through his foe's neck.
After that, he cast aside all thoughts of what might happen to their plan through the next few minutes and thought only of avoiding death at the end of a spear. Soon, the feeling of being suffocated peaked when he began seeing the bodies of Gerudos and several Knights of Hyrule in the mud, bloodied and trampled, some with the weapon that had killed them still in their flesh.
The tempo of his sword quickened. Ganondorf!
From the corner of his eye, he saw Navi speeding towards him from the hill, calling loud enough to be heard by most of the survivors of their band. "They're here, they're here!"
A flicker of something like hope leapt in Link's chest. "What is it?"
In her excitement, all Navi could do was continue exclaiming, "They're here!"
All at once, the part of Ganon's army visible at the top of the hill turned its back on the skirmish beneath them to return the way they'd come. Seeing this, the other monsters who had been slaughtering Link's allies hesitated.
Link stumbled over a Lizalfos cut in half and proceeded to hack a path for himself up the hill. Another miraculous sight greeted him at the top. All across Hyrule Field, monsters grouped themselves to face not one, but two new foes.
From the northeast, rank on rank of Gorons marched into the fray, flinging boulders and fist-sized rocks at Ganon's army. Those who had already spent the projectiles rolled themselves in a ball and smashed their bodies through dozens of foes.
From the west, an army of Zoras had penetrated even deeper into the Darkness.
Link grinned through the rain and the filth that caked his face. Saria had summoned the Kokiri, so why shouldn't the other Sages call their people to battle?
The sound of Mido's voice broke his concentration. "A little help here!"
Link spun around to face the battering ram. Most of the monsters had fled or followed the Knights and Gerudos up the hill, but a small group had turned their malice on the Kokiri. He saw a Stalfos with a sharpened stick protruding from its left eye socket and a Lizalfos stumbling from the flash of a Deku Nut. Six Kokiri and their fairies had managed to pull one of the dog-giants to the ground; all twelve pounded the creature with sticks, shot at its eyes with pebbles, or battered it with their fists.
Yet in spite of the forest folks' valiant defense, the brute strength of the monsters had begun to overwhelm them. Link and a small detachment of Knights rushed forward, evening the odds for the Kokiri. Soon, the last Lizalfos fell with a stake in its stomach and the Master Sword in its back.
"Thanks." Mido shook hands with Link. "Guess you didn't forget us after all."
"What is it, Link?" The girl who had given him the tunic looked up with bright eyes. "What's happening?"
"Our friends are holding off Ganon's army for us." Link ran a hand along the battering ram. "It's time we did what we came here to do."
One of the Knights glanced up the hill anxiously. "Sir?"
Link nodded. "The rest of you, fight wherever your swords are needed."
Arswaine laid a hand on his shoulder. "We fight beside the Hero of Time."
"Thank you." Link sheathed his sword, turning to help his friends lift up the battering ram. The Kokiri stood in pairs abreast all along its length, grunting and heaving. Link wrapped his arms around the foremost part of the tree and stared into the distance as the Knights formed a perimeter.
Mido bit his lip. "You sure he wouldn't have minded us using one of his branches?"
Link smiled. "The Great Deku Tree would be proud if he knew we had used his body to break our way into Ganondorf's castle…"
At first, most of Ganondorf's army fled from the battering ram on sight. A general cheer went up from the Gorons and Zoras, and some of them had grouped around the Knights, swelling the Kokiris' escort.
Epona cantered at Link's side, trampling any foe that made it past the outer defense. Wherever she saw a monster, she galloped out to meet it, rose up on her hind legs, and smashed its face with her hooves or distracted it long enough for a Knight to finish it off. In this way, they made it to within a hundred yards of the city.
That was when the lightning struck the center of the battering ram, setting it on fire and causing most of the Kokiri to stumble, losing their grip on the branch. The rest cried out in pain and distress, unable to bear the increased weight.
The rain began to drum against them all the harder, and as Link recovered from the flash, an afterimage swam across the field of his vision, resembling the face of Ganondorf. A laugh, or the hint of a laugh, filled his mind above the noise of battle.
After that, the fear the monsters had shown at the sight of the Tree vanished. Ignoring every other target, monsters hurled themselves on the Tree's defenders, particularly the Knights of Hyrule. Soon, the Kokiri were forced to halt their march altogether, lowering the Tree to the ground until a path could be cleared.
Link, his arms raw from the strain of fighting, waded in with Epona, the two of them racking up a sizable body count with teeth, hooves, and sword. Link killed two Lizalfos with a lateral stroke that opened their stomachs. Epona smashed another onto the point of the Master Sword, and the creature screamed, its jaws snapping shut inches from Link's face as it died.
A gang of fairies, headed by Navi, smothered a trio of Stalfos with their bodies, blinding them long enough for a pair of Gorons to smash the skeletons with fists and shoulders. A few of the braver Kokiri picked up the bones dropped by the Stalfos and threw them at other foes.
Link found himself fighting beside Arswaine. "I don't think this is going to end!"
The Knight yelled as he beheaded his opponent. "You believe Ganon can renew this army?"
"Yes!" Link flinched as a razor-edged boomerang scissored through the arm of a dog-giant close by, turning the creature's attention to the Zora that had snuck up behind it. The Zora calmly dodged the giant's spear and flipped a bladed fin into its face, only to fall to another spear thrown by one of the giant's companions, a Lizalfos.
Gradually, the defenders were herded away from the battering ram. The Knights held on longest, but at last, even they were forced to give way, opening a hole for several Lizalfos to dart through. Their tongues lolling out as they ran, the creatures hissed and leapt onto the ram at both ends, away from the fire. They stabbed the Tree again and again with their spears, sending chips of bark flying at a horrified crowd of Kokiri.
Okay, Sages, Link thought. Now would be the time for you to show up if you're still here.
Suddenly, as the rain was beginning to put it out, the fire in the middle of the battering ram flared explosively, engulfing the Lizalfos but leaving the bark and the Kokiri unscathed in its fury. A red sphere of light sailed over the Tree on its way to Hyrule Castle Town.
Just as he would have sworn he heard Ganondorf laugh when the lightning bolt had struck the Tree, so Link was certain he heard the Sage of Fire laugh as he flew past. Thank you, Brother.
Emboldened by their enemies' panic, the Knights and most of the surviving Gerudos, Gorons, and Zoras gathered around the battering ram once more. This time, many hands from each of the different races lifted the ram and aimed it at the drawbridge.
Soon, the hundred-yard gap had become ninety yards. Then eighty. Sixty-five. Fifty.
Just as the horde was beginning to choke the area surrounding the drawbridge, the water in the moat shot out of its trench, spewing into the eyes, ears, and noses of any monster within range. The rain began turning to ice when it came in contact with Ganon's creatures. Link, the Knights, and their allies remained unharmed.
The drawbridge had been raised, of course, and Link saw that Ganon had reinforced it with more iron bars. None of this mattered when the Tree, pushed over the moat at considerable speed, collided with that barrier. At once, as if moved by a power greater than itself, the branch shattered the bridge, plunging it in several pieces into the empty moat.
The press of bodies scrambling into Hyrule Castle Town was so thick that Link knew he wouldn't make it without desperate measures. Scrambling onto Epona, he rode her straight over the battering ram and into the city, its deserted streets now crowded with combatants.
Navi joined him as he barged his way to the street leading east out of the square. "Where are you going? This isn't the way to the castle!"
"I've still got one more Medallion!" he called back.
A lifetime ago, he had stepped through these doors a boy. Seven years later, he had gone out as a man. Now, he had returned to the Temple of Time to call on the Sage who had protected him during those years of slumber.
The golden Medallion clinked as he placed it on the pedestal facing the Altar of Time. He waited.
A column of light burst through the center of the Medallion, widening until it covered the pedestal. Bright yellow, the light matched the robes of the person standing inside it.
"I wasn't sure you would come," Link said. "I never saw the others—at least, not in their physical bodies."
Rauru folded his arms into his sleeves. "You forget that the conflicts that most affect Hyrule are those that occur in the spiritual realm."
"So the others are fighting in the Sacred Realm?"
Rauru shook his head. "Conflicts between spirits may take place in any realm."
As if to emphasize the point, the muted sounds of battle from outside the temple became a vortex of animal screams and strangled cries of fear. This went on for several minutes, during which Link never moved or spoke. A chill dampened his spine.
When the din had settled, a terrifying stillness pervaded the air. Rauru glided to the door; Link followed him back to the city square without a word. There, the survivors of battle greeted him, but there were no cheers. The bodies lay everywhere.
"Link?" A familiar voice drew his attention to a crowd on his right, near the road leading to the castle.
"Saria?" Squinting, Link spied out the figures of the other five Sages—in bodily form this time—milling about the plaza.
"I'm sorry we couldn't come sooner," Saria said, taking his hand. "It was Ganondorf. He knew the longer he kept us away, the better chance he'd have of destroying you."
Navi chirped in alarm. "What happened?"
"He tried to make us forget who we are by filling the temples with monsters again. We had no choice but to fight them before we could help you here."
"Bah." Darunia pounded his chest with a massive fist. "I knew we would win all along!"
"So you fought?" Link frowned at Saria. "With what?"
Darunia snorted. "Weren't you paying attention, Brother? Our names say a lot about us. That fire that killed those Lizalfos on the battering ram? That was me."
"I knew that was," Link said, keeping his eyes on Saria, "but what kind of power does she have that could kill…"
His voice trailed off. A patch of ivy growing through a crack in the cobblestones had risen up in front of him; weaving like a tentacle, it wrapped itself around his wrist and squeezed with dreadful force—but only for a split second.
"As the Sage of Forest," Saria said, a smile barely hidden in her eyes, "I've been given the ability to use any kind of plant as a weapon against Ganondorf."
Navi hovered near Saria's shoulder. "But that noise a few minutes ago. Was that one of you, too?"
Ruto gestured with one of her fins. "Let them tell you about it."
Nabooru and Impa stepped to the front of the crowd. "Ours are the gravest powers among the Six," Impa explained. "I took away the creatures' capacity to see light, and Nabooru haunted them with imaginary spirits that kindled their fears to such heights that they fled."
Link knelt, laying his forehead on the pommel of the Master Sword. "I don't know what to say. We would have lost this battle without you."
"But it isn't over," Saria said.
Rauru nodded. "There is one more task for the Six before we must return to the Sacred Realm."
It was still raining, and the clouds had continued to darken. To Link's eyes, Ganondorf's fortress had taken everything that was beautiful about Hyrule Castle—soaring spires, stones that gleamed in sunlight, and a landscape so green only the gods could have invented it—and twisted it all into something ugly. Black like all else connected with Ganon, the fortress sat on an island hovering over a pit of magma.
Link's face scrunched up with doubt. "How will I cross?"
Rauru paused at the edge. "The Six will combine their powers to bridge the chasm."
Navi spoke up. "Say. You're the Sage of Light, aren't you? If all the Sages have special powers, what are yours?"
Rauru bowed. "Shadow and Spirit may be powerful, but Light is often subtlest among the Six. The deeds of the Sage of Light are not always seen by men, and when they are revealed, it may be long after the evil has passed."
Without further explanation, Rauru raised his arms to the sky, bidding the rest of the Six to do the same.
A shower of lights trickled from the heavens in all the colors representing the Six Sages. They fell until they reached a place directly across from the front gates of the castle. There, they took the shape of a bridge, as solid as any other bridge but transparent and graced with rainbows of color.
"Only one bearing the Triforce of Courage may enter Ganondorf's castle," Rauru said.
A Goron and a Zora stepped forward. "We will guard the city until your return."
"Thank you." Link bowed to the Six and the others standing by, then faced the mouth of the fortress. With Navi beside him, he crossed the bridge on foot, feeling far less confident than he had made the others feel.
And then he was inside.
Yeah. So. In case it wasn't obvious before, it's probably obvious now what kind of shipper I am. But I respect those who feel differently, and as I hope you'll agree, I've made every effort to pay homage to Link's relationship with all of the ladies in his life.
Like I said before, I know Zelda has never really been about large-scale epic battles, but to me this story was really screaming for one. While the greatest responsibility may lie on Link, I felt it was important to show the people of Hyrule fighting for themselves, too. There is something deeply satisfying about seeing people band together to fight a seemingly hopeless battle against evil.
There are several other elements I could comment on here, but what means a great deal to me may not mean the same thing to someone else. I prefer to let the story speak for itself as much as possible.
Keep sending in the reviews. They mean a lot! Happy Thanksgiving next week, at least to my American readers ;-). To everyone else...may the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce!