"What in tarnation!" Talon blinked himself awake at the sound of a cucco crowing into his ear.
Russ stood in front of him, hugging a cucco. "Grandpop, Mama's outside and she needs help!"
Talon stood up on his creaky knees. He was NOT as young as he used to be . . . "What's going on?"
"Moblins! We're going to hide in the cellar! Mama's gettin' Papa's sword!"
Talon watched Russ run out of the house, the cucco in his arms bucking along with every step. Talon grabbed a pitch fork that was lying around. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he couldn't help the habitual thought: Gotta teach them kids to put tools back where they belong!
The monster Shad, whom the moblins were calling Belshad because he had been cursed by Bellum, resembled a giant alien preying mantis, except all of its legs resembled the bug's front legs, and his head, on top of an elongated neck, was shaped like a large, rotten potato. Belshad stood at least fifty feet tall, and each leg pincer was the size of a horse. He leapt from the wall and landed in the center of the ranch, and the earth rumbled under him, his feet piercing holes in the ground. He opened his jagged, ear-splitting mouth and chomped down at the nearest moblin.
The moblins screamed battle cries as they threw ropes around the beast's legs, trying to subdue him before he could do more damage to the ranch. Others shot arrows at him, and they landed like tiny pin pricks, making Belshad roar in annoyance, but otherwise not affecting him. The moblins on the cliffs shot bomb arrows, and their smoke at least blinded Belshad for a moment. He picked up a leg that had ropes twirled around it and ripped it away from the moblins, though some brave moblins held on and went for a thrill ride through the air. Belshad leapt into the air and pounded into the earth, causing everyone to be off balance. Still they tried to rope him down. He knocked aside a dozen moblins with his head, stabbing at them with his legs. The moblins redoubled their efforts, shooting arrows, bomb arrows, spears, smoke bombs, and plain flat junk at Belshad.
Belshad decided he had had enough of this, and began flailing about in a rage, dislodging the moblins attacks and running deeper into the ranch.
"CRIMINILLY, HERE HE COMES!" Malon shouted, hefting the Fairy Sword. She and Ilia ran in opposite directions, and Belshad landed right where they used to be, his legs digging six foot holes in the ground. We better keep 'im away from the cellar. He might right dig it up! Malon knew this was Shad, and Ilia cared about him, but there was NO WAY she was letting him hurt her kids!
"HEY YOU!" She charged past Belshad's legs and got underneath him. Hadn't Link said something about the belly being a soft spot for some baddies? That or the eyes. Belshad didn't have any eyes. She positioned herself right underneath his belly and thrust her sword upward with all her might.
The sword bounced right off. Oy! Hard as nails, he is!
In response, Belshad lifting his belly up—then brought it back down, right on Malon's head. She screamed, and when she realized she wasn't dead yet, stood back up. Belshad had moved loser to the buildings, and the moblins were finally catching up. Malon realized she was in a magic bubble. She looked behind her and found one of the Moblin priests motioning at her. He must have saved me! She waved. "Thanks!" Then she charged at Belshad again.
Ilia had stationed herself on the roof of the barn, pulling out her slingshot and shooting Deku nuts at Belshad, trying to get as close to his head as possible. He may not appear to have eyes, but he sure acted like he did! It had a remarkable effect. So much so that Belshad became enraged and charged at Ilia.
Ilia ran to the edge of the roof and leapt off just as Belshad's jaws clamped shut overhead. He charged through the building, ripping it to shreds. The sounds of terrified cows filled the air.
"DON' HURT MAH ANIMALS!" Malon shouted at him. "COVER ME, PRIEST!" She took a rope from an unsuspecting moblin and quickly tied it into a lasso. She ran forward and threw the lasso at Belshad, where it latched onto the spikes on the backside of Belshad's front legs. Belshad pulled his leg into the air, and Malon was pulled along with it. "NOW!" She held out her sword. A flash of magic shot from the priest to the sword, and it sparked with electricity. Belshad was swinging her into his mouth. She smirked. She let go of the rope to avoid this, and instead headed straight for Belshad's snout. She gave a loud yell, pulled the sword back, and as soon as she was close enough, stabbed it down onto the beast's nose.
The first sound that resembled whining emitted from Belshad's mouth. He flung his snout around, and Malon hollered. A normal person would have let go of the sword and fallen, but Malon held on to her sword for dear life. It wasn't much different from riding a bucking horse—not that she had to do that often. She preferred the slower, more patient approach to horse training.
"YEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAW!"
Her arms getting tired, Malon looked around for a way to return to the ground without dying. She saw King Bulbin charging on his bulblin—he looked strange, like he was filled with both light and dark, and they twisted around each other across his body and that of the Bulblin. He waved his weapon at her. "Malon the Beast Tamer! Let go, I will catch you!"
"Malon the Beast Tamer?! . . . I like the sound o' that!" She got her feet pressed firmly against Belshad's snout on either side of her sword. "Jus' a minute. Gotta get my sword!" She pulled with all her might and the sword came free, and she fell.
Beast tamer's don' scream, she told herself as she fell. BEAST TAMERS DON'T—"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH YOU BETTER CATCH ME YOU GIANT PIG MAN!"
King Bulblin's pig mount leapt into the air . . . and kept climbing.
Wow, I guess pigs really can fly, Malon couldn't help thinking as the bulbin caught up with her and King Bulbin pulled her out of the air and onto the saddle. The bulbin landed roughly and galloped away from the newly enraged beast.
Belshad thrashed all around, destroying what was left of the barn, then charged after them, sideswiping the two-story house on the way. His talons scraped up trenches, and suddenly a pile of brick came up with the dirt. Malon's heart rose to her throat. That was the roof to the cellar!
"LEAD HIM OUT OF THE RANCH!" Malon yelled to King Bulblin. "OUT OF THE RANCH!"
"If you fall on the ground, the darkness will take you!"
Malon reached up and grabbed King Bulblin's horn and pulled his ear hole down so she could scream into it. "DO Y'THINK I CARE? WE GOTTA GET THAT MONSTER AWAY FROM MY BABIES! NOW!"
King Bulblin nodded once and directed his bulbin to the ranch's entrance. The bulbin broke the gate apart with its tusks and ran onto the field.
The field was unrecognizable, a giant expanse of glowing black . . . water? Whatever the bulbin kicked up under its hooves, it wasn't dust. It wasn't square particles, like Twilight. It was just . . . inexplicably there. There were no sounds of the field she'd grown up with. In fact, it was utterly silent. "What is this stuff?"
"Anti-matter."
"Okay." Malon looked behind them. Belshad was chasing after them quickly. Behind him, the ranch quickly disappeared behind a layer of fog. By Malon's quick calculations, they were moving away faster than any horse. "What do we do, now?"
"I know not. This was your idea!"
"Use that weapon thing of yours!"
"It is not enough!"
"HE'S CATCHIN' UP TO US!"
"RAAAAAAUGH!" King Bulblin turned in his seat and threw his magical axe into the ground behind them. It cracked the ground and sent a giant shockwave of light pulsing through the field. Belshad skidded to a halt before the crack. It kept him busy for just a few minutes before the darkness ate the light up.
"We got more where that came from?" Malon asked.
"No," King Bulblin answered grimly.
"THEN WHY DID YOU THROW IT?! YOU BUMBLING MORON! JUST SLICE THE GROUND OR SOMETHING!"
"That . . . would have been sufficient."
"Oh, why do I gotta do EVERYTHING myself?" Malon put her feet on the saddle, used King Bulblin's shoulders to steady her, and stood on the bulbin's back. She struggled to get her sword out on top of the galloping bulbin, and then stared at it. "Now how'd he do this . . . um . . ." She sliced the air behind them.
Nothing happened . . . aside from a wimpy whop! through the air.
"Hm," she thought out loud. "Maybe only the hero can do it."
Belshad suddenly stopped gaining on them.
What is he . . .
He slowed to a stop. Malon gasped. "He's heading back to the ranch!"
"We do not hold enough Light to hold his attention."
Malon growled, her entire body filling with righteous rage. "NOOOOO YOU DON'T! C'MERE YOU POMPOUS, BIRD-BRAINED NERD!" She hefted the Fairy sword with both hands, held it over her head, and with a mighty heave, brought it down. A flash of magical light shot from the sword, straight at Belshad. It hit him with a loud thunderclap, and the monster stumbled and fell to the ground.
"YEEEEHAW!" Malon grabbed one of King Bulblin's horns to keep from falling off the bulbin.
A sound of thundering steps going a hundred miles an hour reached her ears. Belshad appeared out of the fog, going faster than he had before, and also . . . bigger than he was. "In the dark, Light magic just makes him bigger! CRIMINILLY!"
Oh well, she thought. As long as it keeps him far away from the ranch!
But who was she kidding? If he'd gotten faster, there was no way they'd avoid him for much longer. He'd destroy them, and head back to the ranch anyway.
King Bulblin spurred their bulbin on, but the poor animal was beginning to pant hoarsely. Malon watched behind them as Belshad got closer and closer. There's gotta be a way out of this!
"Ahead!" King Bulblin shouted. "A light!"
Malon spun. The moblin king was right. On the horizon, there was a shining light. "Maybe we can make it!"
"Yes, if the Goddeses intervene."
"Well don't give up yet, my pig man!" She once more hefted the Fairy sword, and with a mighty yell sliced through the air above their heads. The light beam sliced through the fog above their heads, igniting it into sparks until it exploded hundreds of feet in the air. It was beautiful, like a giant, close up star. Or so Malon imagined.
Too soon, though, the darkness around it swallowed it whole.
Her awe was interrupted by a throaty roar, much too close. Belshad shot out of the shadows, his large head only meters from their bulbin. The ground quaked beneath them, and Malon lost her footing. She cried out as something smashed into her chest, throwing her off the bulbin and landing in the darkness.
It felt horrid, worse than freezing water, worse than pin pricks, worse than anything she'd ever experienced. It wasn't pain, it was fear. She forced herself to sit up. The darkness was climbing over her legs, her dress, and up her arms. She pulled her arms to herself and the darkness receded from them. She tried to look around.
The Fairy Sword! The darkness fed on the sword greedily, causing the metal to begin sizzling. Malon crawled toward it, trying to keep control of her limbs as the darkness spread across them. She couldn't breathe, there was nothing to breathe, she had no lungs, there was no—
She reached a hand out to the sword, the only bit of Light left, as she watched the darkness slowly creep down her arm to the last bit of light she held in her hand.
A distant, melodic howl broke through the air. "Link!" she yelled. "Oh, Link, oh Dear Goddeses, don't be my imagination!" With a surge of strength, she reached out and grabbed the Fairy Sword. The darkness stopped progressing. As long as the sword remained, she would not be completely swallowed by the darkness.
That is, if Belshad didn't get her first. She could hear him, sniffing around for her. She heard the squeals of a bulbin, and wondered if King Bulblin was even still alive.
Thump.
If she could still feel her body, she knew she'd be shaking and, though she hated to admit it, crying.
Thump.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. All she'd ever wanted was for a knight to come sweep her off her feet and carry her to a castle that had every kind of horse imaginable—
THUMP.
It was right over her head. She scrunched her eyes shut.
A rush of air passed by overhead, and light suddenly exploded through her eyelids. It felt . . . so warm . . . she opened her eyes.
Belshad was thrashing ahead. An animal of some kind was flitting in between his legs, biting and clawing where it could. Trails of light followed the animal, burning Belshad wherever it hit him. He tried to escape from the light-wielding animal. Malon realized it was the animal that had jumped over her before, dispelling the darkness that held her captive. She stood up and pulled the now decrepit-looking Fairy Sword from the ground. She was in a tiny bubble of light. It was a different light, though, like the kind King Bulbin had wielded—a mix of dark and light magic, the only thing that seemed capable of holding back the darkness.
The animal that bore the light sped away from Belshad and, panting happily, spun in circles, tail wagging, until a nice bubble of light covered the space around him. It was a wolf with blue eyes.
Malon's heart lifted. "Link!"
She wasn't sure if Link had heard—yes he did. He had dog ears, after all. His body morphed until it was indeed Link standing there. He held King Bulbin's discarded axe in his hands. The weapon still pulsed with Moblin magic. Link hefted it behind his back, and Malon swore she saw the Triforce on the back of Link's left hand. Her heart skipped a bit as Link brought the axe down on the earth. Moblin magic exploded from the weapon with a humongous shock wave. It spanned several hundred feet ahead in forty-five degree angles from where the axe hit the earth, the darkness between disappearing completely. The magic flowed all the way to Belshad, who shrank from it and stumbled over his legs to get away.
"Malon!"
She glanced back. Link was running toward her, his worried blue eyes healing her heart immediately and chasing all her fear away. She grinned brightly and held out her arms as she waited patiently for the blond-headed hunk of a man that was in fact HER husband to reach her. Link threw his arms around her and clutched her to himself tightly.
"I thought I'd lost you," Link whispered.
Malon snuggled against his chest, sighing contentedly and wrapping her own arms around his chest. "I knew you'd see my light signal."
"Thank the goddesses I did!"
"That light. Was it you?"
"It was King Bulblin's axe I was on my way home when the darkness came. It turned me into a wolf again. I don't remember much until I found the axe. It was like a beacon, shining through the dark at me. I figured out how to use it to fight the darkness real quick."
Malon giggled. "Of course you did, my knight in shining armor!"
Link couldn't resist a smirk. Then his face gave way to fear. "The kids . . . Talon . . ."
Malon smiled as bravely as they could. "They're protected at the ranch by King Bulblin's army. But Link, they can't defeat the beast without you. You have to get there. Hurry!" She suddenly realized she had no idea where in Hyrule she was because of the fog. "How do we get back?"
"Don't worry," Link replied. "I'll sniff my way back. Climb on my back."
"What?"
"Piggy-back time! Like when we were kids!"
Malon raised an eyebrow, but listened. Link crouched down and Malon jumped and threw her arms over his shoulders. Before she could even speak a word, she suddenly found herself sitting on the back of a giant wolf. "EEK!" She gripped the fur on the animal's back and hugged his torso with her legs as if he were a pony.
Link turned his head around to give her a wolfish smile.
"What about King Bulblin?" Malon asked. Link ruffed in a comforting way. He must already have seen the moblin king and knew he would be fine. "Well alright, then." She leaned forward a bit, and Link took off. His fur brushed Malon's arms, and the wind came so fast she ducked down to get away from it. Well, getting carried away by a man who could turn into a giant wolf was unusual, but definitely okay with her!
Malon had known things would turn out—they always did—but for the first time since the moblins had arrived that day, her heart believed it. A glimmer of hope finally sparked.