The Legend of Zelda

The Clan Wars: Rise of Dethl

Chapter 2: The Tower

Grand Farrow Castle was as dark and grim as it always was during that dark age of despair and hopelessness. For the past hour, the king and his men had been gone into the depths of the forest, and some people had reported that they heard screaming from within the darkness. It didn't take long for many of the villagers, especially the wives of the poor men, to weep; knowing that many of them were to become or were already widows. Amongst those who grieved was the queen, who stood up by her bedroom window and silently despaired over her husband.

He's not coming back, she thought. How can he? The dark forest beyond was always taboo to our people. He is as good as dead, and I am as good as a widow…and our child is as good as fatherless even before he has been released from my womb onto the world.

She felt a little bit of pain in her belly. She was feeling like that for a while now. She knew that it was almost time to give birth, which was part of why she didn't want her husband to go. She was afraid that the king would never have a chance to see their child's face before it was born…Oh, how she wished to have her love in her arms again. It was enough to cause fresh tears to fall from her eyes.

There was a knock on the door. The queen quickly regained her composure and turned, wiping her eyes and standing as still as she could.

"Enter," she said silently.

The door opened. Three nursemaids came inside. Two of them were her private maidens; former concubines of the king before he became married and officially banned the practice of mistresses from the castle. They were her closest friends, and often did she counsel them when trying to find a means to please her lord. In fact, it was through their advice that she managed to become pregnant, which was the greatest blessing that both monarchs had ever been bestowed. The third, however, was an elderly maiden…who happened to be the midwife of the castle. She had been present during all of the birthings of royalty for the past five generations, and was even around to help the mother of the king when he was born.

"Your majesty," the old lady said, "The time has come…it is no secret that the child in your womb is ready to be released. We must be quick if he is to be born healthy on this good earth."

The queen looked downcast at the bulge in her stomach. "Not yet," she said, "I do not wish to give birth until I know my husband is alive…"

"My queen," one of the maidens said, "If you do not allow the child to be born now, your husband may never get the chance to see your child alive, whether he returns or not!"

"We know that you are ready," the other said, "Please, listen to the midwife…let your child be born into this world…"

The queen looked at the three servants, and then down at her belly. She felt a tiny wriggle inside her body. Her child seemed eager to see this world, even if her husband was not there to witness his arrival. She sighed. One way or another, she would have to relent to her maidens.

There was a sudden commotion outside. "By the Gods, look outside!!!" many people shouted. The queen and her maidens quickly obliged and turned to the huge windows of the royal bedchambers.

What they saw shocked all of them. The dark forest was starting to do the one thing that no one would expect in a million years…it was disappearing. One by one, each of the trees were sucked back into the earth from whence they came, until there was nothing but a dusty plain left behind. The winds seemed to return, and birds chirped and sung again for the first time in many a year. The only thing that did not change was the shadow over the castle and the rest of the land, which seemed to only increase in the wake of the dark forest.

It didn't take long for the queen to realize that this darkness was the night sky…not the night that they had to endure for years, but true night. Stars seemed to shimmer in the sky above, heralding a new age of peace, prosperity, and an end to all darkness.

He's done it, the queen thought. My husband did it! My king…my love…

A vibration went through her entire body. It was rather sudden, and it was combined with a great feeling of pain. She felt something slip down through her skirt, and then there was a splashing noise, followed by the gasps of her servants.

"Well, what are you all standing around for?" she giggled slightly, followed by a whine of pain, "I'm going to have a child brought into this world!"

The maidens kept staring, and began pointing their fingers towards the window. The queen turned around. Her giddy mood began to change, slowly, into confusion…and fear.

A dark shape had formed over on the horizon. It was a giant thing; terrible to behold, even from a distance. It stood where the center of the forest once was, and it seemed to be moving. Though it was far away, she could almost see the tremendous eye in the very center of the creature's body, and it sent a terrible chill through her spine.

Suddenly, the thing was joined by another dark mass, which rose from a great pool of tar and ash. It was like a gigantic tree stump; black, dark, terrible to behold. Dust and rock entrapped it together, and the mighty structure was at least almost as large as the demon itself, who had begun to ascend from the black pool from whence it came.

The queen's eyes were like those of a hawk. She could see many things from a great distance that even the mighty birds could barely make out. As such, she could tell right away that a man, spread eagled, was tied naked onto the mighty trunk…a man with golden hair.

"No…"

The dark creature suddenly changed. It became a massive beast; a gigantic bat with the hands and legs of a Hylian skeleton. The creature was blacker than even the night sky, and could only be seen by the great shadow that it made in the stars with its massive, black wings. It approached the city like a mighty wraith. Dark and terrible was the great noise it made in the wind as it circled the castle tower from its waypoint high in the sky.

It suddenly landed and transformed. The massive black beast showed its true form then; a snake-like, lower body, attached to a round and spined torso. Great spined limbs, almost like spheres attached to one another; 5-7 on each arm in all; made up its arms, and red spikes shaped like fingers housed on the last sphere on each arm. A great eye suddenly opened up and gazed upon the castle, showing its evil gaze that was fully fixed upon one emotion; hatred.

Fear gripped the hearts of all as the beast let out a mighty cackle through its mouthless body. Soulless, the pupil began to scan over the castle of Grand Farrow and the people within. With a mighty roar, the eye suddenly went as red as blood, and began to launch a powerful beam of evil energy upon the buildings and people, leaving ruins and ash in its wake.

"No…" the queen whispered again, "No…this cannot be!"

"Your highness!" the maidens shouted, "We must flee, now!"

"My queen, we must run!" the midwife shouted, "RUN!"

The monster lifted an arm. The queen, instinctively protecting her newborn, backed away as fast as she could as the beast suddenly took a swipe at the castle walls. The maidens screamed in fear. The queen almost fell backwards, though she was rescued by the midwife, who managed to push her up just in time with a strength that defied her age. She quickly placed the queen with the two maidens, entrusting her to their care.

"Get her into the cellars, and quickly!" the midwife said, "You must make haste! That child will be coming into this world at any moment, and I do not want the first thing that it sees to be his last as well!"

"Wait…" the queen said weakly, "Wha…where are you going?"

The midwife gave the queen a sad smile, wincing as the beast continued to rampage around the town. "I am going to buy you time," she said, "Do not bother with this old lady. My time has come. Goodbye, and Goddess-speed, my queen."

She gave the girls one last beckoning to leave, before suddenly turning and slowly approaching the great hole in the castle wall. She caught the beast's attention with her fiery gaze, and she stared long and hard at the monstrous demon.

"Unclean beast!" she cackled, "Go back into the shadow from whence thou hast come! Return to the fires of Hell from whence you came! The Goddesses watch over this town and its people. You have no right to be here! Begone!"

"Begone yourself, mortal!" the beast shouted mightily. His voice was strong, and it caused the castle walls to crumble more. The queen and her maidens squealed in fright, and could only watch the beast from their vantage point near the stairs.

"You pitiful insects do not frighten me," the monster said, "And neither do your Goddesses! They tried to defeat me in the past, and they so rightfully believe they did so! But look at me now! They missed a small fraction that managed to hide away, and now I am free once more! They cannot stop me…nothing can! I AM FREE TO DO AS I PLEASE, AND THAT INCLUDES DESTROYING YOU!!! ALL SHALL TREMBLE UNDER THE WRATH OF NIGHTMARE!"

The demon's eye focused upon the midwife. There was a flash of blood-red light, and she was no more. Only a pile of ash and rubble remained, which began to crumble from the force of the blow. The beast cackled and continued its rampaging destruction, leaving behind two frightened young women and their beloved queen who was dangerously close to giving birth.

Why? She could only ask in grief. Why? It isn't fair…why did the Goddesses do this to me? Why?!

The beast cackled in delight as he lifted a poor villager in his grasp before suddenly crushing him bloodily between his mighty claws. His destructive rampage continued as he began to launch wave after wave of powerful eyebeams upon the poor town.

"WHYYYYYY?!?!?"

The king watched in sad horror as Nightmare began to lay waste to Grand Farrow. Tears fell freely from his eyes as he was held fast against the rock by powerful strands of tar, completely naked and exposed to all the elements. He did not care whether or not he would survive…he had failed his people. He deserved whatever death that was to come…

Tar bubbled slowly beneath his feet, at least 20 feet below where he hung. He had a great desire to just end it now…to leap and to let the disgusting muck take him into the depths of Hell where he belonged. At this point, he knew that there was nothing left for him. Even if he did survive, or if his people lived, he would still be condemned for releasing this evil; if not by his people, then by himself. He knew that there was nothing left…nothing left to live for. The darkness had won. Despair had won. Hopelessness had set her blanket over the world. There was nothing left but death…

Far off in the north, there was the thundering of hooves. Across the dusty plain, something very big was galloping south towards the pit of tar. Grass seemed to suddenly grow on the dusty plains with each step the creature's hooves made. Like thunder with a storm in its wake, the creature rode forth and headed straight towards the place where the dark forest once stood.

A supernatural mist began to rise from the dust, engulfing everything in a pale, cloudy light. The king, who was weeping upon his prison, suddenly felt the cold air touch his naked skin. Though he ignored it, he opened his eyes long enough to see what it was that seemed to be licking his foot.

His eyes open wide when he gazed down upon the muzzle of a gigantic horse. The creature was much like his own that escaped when the demon burst free from its shackles. The horse was covered in a spiritual, glowing light, and its body was covered in hair that was silvery white. Its hooves shone like diamonds, and the creature carried itself like a mighty and proud beast, like the wolves of the north that were unfazed and unafraid of the sight of a man in armor. Its eyes, however, were dark, though they reflected a brightness that proclaimed intelligence unlike anything he had seen in a horse before.

The king was mesmerized. This creature was the spirit horse of ancient legend; a creature that had lived in the ancient pagan stories of spirits that wandered the earth. The humans called her the Evenstar; the Northern Lights, the brightness of the sky that guides the lost into finding their way home. Though the religion of the Hylians forsook these ancient pagan teachings, the name still resided within the records of the ancient libraries of Grand Farrow…

"Epona," the King whispered.

The great mare snorted once. Mist poured out of her nostrils, which enveloped the king's naked body. He winced at the pain that it brought, though it was mostly because the mist was cold against his exposed flesh.

There was a shudder in the stump; a tremble in the earth. The tar began to react violently, bubbling and churning at the base of the king's prison. Suddenly, the king felt himself shift, and noticed that his prison was steadily beginning to…disappear.

It was slow at first. The rate steadily began to climb, however, and strand upon strand of the stuff began to disintegrate into the air as the mist touched. The king suddenly felt the stuff slowly releasing him, until he finally used the last urges of his strength to set himself free. When he swiftly dropped, he didn't land in the tar. Instead, he landed on solid ground. The tar was steadily disappearing; disintegrating into the air above. The hole began to swallow the mighty rock that was his prison as the tar surrounding it began to fade away into nothingness, until there was not but a very old and very dusty crater in its wake.

The king could only stare at his savior. The mighty horse was every bit like the creature of legend. Epona was her name; a creature as old as the earth itself. Humans called her the mother of all horses, and Hylians; the pagans that converted into the mainstream religion or disappeared into the south; called her a loving light of guidance and rescue. The silver creature bent down low and brushed her muzzle against the man's chest.

The king patted the mare's muzzle, and then began to slightly stroke it, a sad smile slowly forming upon his face. How could he stay sad, regardless of the despair of his people, when faced with such a marvelous animal? Such a beautiful creature could only be described as the mare of mares, the lady of all things that run free upon Hylia's great plains.

Suddenly, the mist began to disperse some more. The king gasped in fright as the great horse was suddenly enveloped in a great cloud of the white smoke. It began to rear up and whinny; a bright, clear sound that seemed to strike through the air of Greenholme and bring the stars to their knees in love and kindness. The king was not sure how, but the mighty creature was, suddenly, growing smaller.

When the mist receded, Epona had been transformed into a horse of average size. She was a fully grown mare, and though she had lost some of the luster and beauty of her godly form she still was a magnificent animal. She was clad in russet-brown hair that was as dark and rich as the newly grown soil of the lands to the east. Her hooves were coal-black instead of carrying their great diamond shine, and she looked a bit more humble than she once was. Her main and tail, however, remained the same silvery white color, and her eyes were no less gentle, kind, or intelligent than they were in her deity form.

The mare pawed at the ground and bent her head. The king was confused, and cocked an eyebrow. When the creature pawed the ground again, it put only one thought in his mind; the mare wanted him to ride her!

"I am not sure that I am worthy of a mount such as yourself," the king said humbly, "But I know better than to argument against someone of any pantheon. I shall follow your word, great horse."

The king lightly slipped onto her bare back. She was very soft, and even in his nakedness he did not find her back uncomfortable. Grabbing onto her mane for support, he bent himself low and grabbed at her sides with his knees. With a quick whinny and a mighty leap, Epona was off.

Not once did her gallop faze the king. She was light and swift, and went as straight across the dips and grooves of the land as she was across the straight dust plains or the rocky crags near the mountains. It was as if she was flying across the land instead of running. She continued her pace all throughout their journey, heading west towards the setting sun. The sunlight was as red as blood as the great orb of day began to set over the horizon, and the horse continued following it to the point that the sunset seemed to last for hours. The king kept his hold as tight as possible, knowing full well that, should he fall, he would never survive once in his nakedness.

The horse continued galloping west for at least another hour until they made it through the great mountain range that marked the very end of Greenholme. They continued onwards, past crag upon crag of rock, which was covered in either forest or grass in every single valley and canyon. It was a form of life that made the king feel jealous of the prosperity that went on outside of his homeland. His eyes gazed east, and even in this fair distance he could see the fires and smoke caused by Nightmare's rampage, and he felt fresh, hot tears fall from his eyes.

At long last, they reached a mighty mountain that stood in the center of the range. It was a huge thing; a mountain so large that it touched the clouds and its peak scaled even past that point. Instead of slowing down, Epona seemed to increase her speed dramatically, and rushed towards the base of the mountain where a mighty mist was forming. The king ducked as they went inside, but was suddenly both mortified and awestruck as they began to gallop atop the mist, as if the mist was as solid as any flight of stairs. The king reached a brave hand down and touched the stuff, only to have it fade away in his hand.

Epona continued her upward climb, not once stopping her breakneck speed. By now, the stars had come out in full, and the moon had shown her face off in the east. The destruction of Grand Farrow was not but a single flicker of light in a plain of growing darkness. At their vantage point, high up in the clouds, the king could see the lands of the far east; all of Greenholme, the valley of the Gerudo warriors, the great Hylia Field, the northern mountains of Snowpeak, the ocean of blue that was Lake Everglass in the south, the jungle lands of Southbound in the greater south, and the mighty expanse of green that was the dreaded Lost Woods. He could even see further east, in places that he never thought existed. Mighty oceans of blue and forests of green. Mountains of red flame rose and fell near the base of what was Snowpeak. Even stranger still was a land in the farthest east, past the mountains called Kakariko…a land of eternal shadow. Gazing upon that land gave him a great chill, and he wondered whether or not it had fallen upon times harder than even Greenholme had.

At long last, Epona slowed to a stop. They were at the very top of the mountain peak. It wasn't just any peak at all, but the base to a mighty tower that stood almost as high as the stars. He had heard of such a place; the Tower of Hera, home of the Gods whenever they chose to descend upon the mortal realm. Again, it was only a pagan legend, and was deemed folly whenever brought into subject by even the most passionate of scholars. However, the king was starting to see a fade in the line between the theology of pagans and Hylians, and the great horse standing beside him was merely living proof. He wondered what all he would see fade when this was over.

Epona stopped at the base of the tower and snorted. The king took it as a sign to get off. Slipping gently off of her silken fur, he touched the ground with his bare feet. It was cold, but not too uncomfortably cold, and he found he could walk even though he had been riding for hours. He quickly gave the beautiful mare a pet on the muzzle before turning to the entrance of the great tower.

Epona waited patiently and loyally behind as the king approached the Tower of Hera. The mighty structure seemed foreboding to look upon, but the king knew that he had no choice but to enter. The great horse brought him here for a reason…an important one, if it meant taking him away from his suffering people. The bright light in the east at the edge of the mountains that surrounded Greenholme was a despairing thing to look upon, and every second away from his people was like a strike to his heart.

Well, the king said to himself. I was brought here for a reason. Gods and Goddesses, I do not care whether you bless me or judge me poorly…just help me rescue my people. I will give everything…even my very soul…for their aid.

Without a look back, he walked through the opening into the tower.

To be continued...

Kerian: Well, although Epona's a pretty big character in the whole story, she's not the biggest part of this whole fanfic. Sure, she'll play a vital role later, but you're all just going to have to wait and see just how big of a role she is, and the even bigger role of his majesty!

I've described a lot of lands in this story. Since it takes place quite a few years before the Imprisoning War in Ocarina of Time, a lot of the geography is different. The Gerudo Valley is indeed a valley, and not a desert. Lake Hylia didn't exist; instead, it was a part of an even bigger freshwater basin known as Lake Everglass, which (according to my story) spanned quite a big distance to the south. The jungles of Southbound is the area south and east of the great lake, and is mentioned in my actual Clan Wars fic that I'm working on. Also, the dark land in the east was originally explained earlier in my profile, though it's probably not going to be mentioned again for a long while...at least, until the actual Clan Wars is around. Until then, you all have to wait and see.

I often find myself listening to the score from World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King whenever I write. It's great music; Blizzard really outdid themselves when making the scores for World of Warcraft and its predecessor, Warcraft III. The fact that the music itself is all in instrument form instead of altered for gaming use (to allow more space for gaming) is even greater. All in all, I can listen to Warcraft music for months and not get bored. Of course, that's mostly because it's got a lot of variability, and there's a lot of music...lol.

Okay, I guess that's about it for now. No big author's notes and no spoilers...other than you guys are going to be mesmerized by the next update. Until then, me out!

-Kerian