The following day was rather dismal. Of course, every day since Lord Arcana had blacked out the sun had been dismal. Even though the sun was already high in the sky, it was nothing more than a black sphere with hints of light creeping out around its edges casting the sky into a dreary, grey hue. It was as bleak as any normal cloudy day, but the entire atmosphere just seemed more dreadful and deathly.
For the first time Link was able to see the effects from Lord Arcana's spell. Hyrule Field, once verdant and full of life, was now nothing more than a symbol of death and decay. The grass was brown and dry, crackling under his very feet. What flowers still remained were severely withered, barely even husks remaining. Even the trees were suffering, their leaves a sickly brown and the bark looking heavily dehydrated and brittle. Link knew that just a few days without sun couldn't have caused this much damage, meaning that there was some other magic at work here as well. It was almost as if the very land itself was dying, drained of all its life.
It was just one more reason that Lord Arcana had to be stopped. As if in agreement to his thoughts, Epona neighed and nudged his shoulder. Link allowed himself a small smile as he reached out and began to rub behind Epona's ear, which was currently the only accessible part of her mane. From her head to her hind, Epona was covered in battle armor. It was nothing fancy or elaborate, but it protected Epona's head, chest, neck, flank and hind just the same. Even though this was the first time Link would be riding Epona into battle with this armor, she had carried much heavier loads before in the past and Link was confident the armor wouldn't hinder her.
Epona wasn't the only one dressed for battle either. Link stood beside her wearing a thickly padded, long-sleeved white undershirt. On top of that rested a set of chain mail, and on top of that was the deep, forest green tunic emblazoned with the Hylian Royal Crest that Zelda had made for him. On his legs he wore a pair of thick, white pants, and on his feet were his old, trustworthy brown boots. The Master Sword and Mirror Shield were fastened securely to his back, while his bow and quiver of arrows hung from Epona's saddle, as did his green hat at the moment.
All around him the Hyrulian Army was busy making last minute preparations. Hundreds of Hylian and Gerudo warriors on horseback stood ready to begin the attack, as did hundreds of Gorons. Though not present, Link was sure that the Zoras were standing by as well, ready to launch their surprise attack from behind once the fight began. As Link peered at the assembled army, he saw Captain Huntley readying the Hylian knights, while Darunia and Nabooru did the same with their respective warriors. Navi, meanwhile, was off on her own.
Navi stood not too far away from where Link was, but at the same time seemed separate from the main group. Beside her stood her horse Chiron. Chiron was clad in the same full body armor as Epona and all the other horses of the army, but his was as black as the armor Navi wore, and considering Chiron was black to begin with it made the armor almost impossible to see, especially without a sun to reflect off it. The serious expression on her face scared even Link, and he almost felt sorry for anyone who would be getting on the wrong side of Navi's blade today.
"Come on Link," came Malon's voice from behind, "I don't understand why you won't let me come."
Link blew out an exasperated sigh as he turned around to face the red head. "I've already told you. In this battle archers are going to be useless unless they are on horseback, and unfortunately you're skills in that department are still lacking, especially since we are going into battle. Not only that, but you have no experience with any sort of melee weapon and you would be completely vulnerable out there. I don't want to see you hurt. You can better serve by remaining behind with the others. Should the battle not go well and we all fall, it will be up to you to defend Hyrule. I need a strong, capable leader that I can trust Hyrule's defense in."
"I still don't see how you'd think I'd be such a good leader," Malon replied disappointedly, "but I promise I won't let you down. Lord Arcana will not have Hyrule as long as I have anything to say about it."
Link just smiled. "I'll hold you to that. Long may you defend Hyrule, should the battle go ill."
With that said, Link turned back around and hopped up onto Epona's back. As he grabbed his hat and put it on his head, he saw that the army was nearly all assembled and ready. There would be no more delays. Now was the time, when the fate of Hyrule would be decided. Even though he had wished Malon the best of luck in defending Hyrule if they failed, deep down he knew that there would be no future for Hyrule if they failed here today. Whatever Lord Arcana was planning would come to fruition, and nothing would stop him then, no matter how hard Malon and the sizable chunk of the army they left behind with her resisted. He took one last look at Malon as he thought this and gave her one last smile before turning Epona around to face the assembled troops.
"Alright everyone, saddle up," Link called out. "Now is the hour, when we put our lives on the line, when we defend with every last drop of our blood and sweat our country and loved ones. Lord Arcana has messed with us for the last time. It is time for us to stop being on the defensive, and time to take the offensive. Today is the last day of Lord Arcana's life. By day's end, he shall fall, as shall his tower."
Link's speech was followed by a tumultuous cheer. As soon as he had finished speaking, he turned Epona around and began a slow trot straight toward the Black Tower, the rest of the army falling into step behind him. Riding on either side of him was Captain Huntley, Nabooru, Navi, and Darunia, who instead of riding a horse was curled up into a ball and rolling along the ground as were all the Goron warriors. As the entire host was now on the move, the slow trot soon turned into a short gallop, followed by a full gallop, large clouds of dust being kicked up in their wake.
The Hyrulian Army sped forward, soon reaching and passing Lon Lon Ranch, the hooves of the many horses against the ground thundering across the kingdom. Fifteen hundred strong, with another five hundred warriors expected to join them when the Zoras launched their attack and closed the pincer maneuver they had planned, Link wondered if it would be enough. After all, the size of the enemy force, if their even was one, was unknown. So far besides the twelve Darknuts the only enemies they faced were those nearly invincible skeletal warriors almost a week earlier, and if those creatures were summoned there was no doubt they were all riding to their death.
What was even worse was that if they did fail, there was only a thousand warriors left behind in Hyrule Market to resist Lord Arcana with. Even though the army had been revamped from the disaster a year ago, they had still suffered heavy losses, losses severe enough to still hinder the size of their army. The only bright point was that each person this time around was properly trained and not simply given a sword and told to fight.
Link didn't lead the host directly across Hyrule Field, but rather at an angle. He was going to enter the remains of the Lost Woods from the sides, so as to avoid the Kokiri Forest. Kokiri Forest now held horrible images for Link, and despite it once being his home could not bring himself to look upon it just yet. Also, he didn't want to defile any more sacred ground than had already been done with more bloodshed.
The blackened land and scorched tree stumps of the Lost Woods was fast approaching. It was all that remained of the once vibrant and living woods after the vicious onslaught from Lord Arcana's Wizzrobes a year prior leaving the land a barren and infertile wasteland. Without the Great Deku Tree the land remained in its desolate state, and though the Kokiri were beginning attempts to try and reverse the damage done, they were meeting with little success before being attacked by Lord Arcana.
The Black Tower loomed ever closer in the distance, rising high up toward the heavens. It was a dominant, foreboding sight indeed, and Link could sense the apprehension among his troops, the belief that they were all about to die. Still, each one knew their duty and would defend Hyrule with every fiber of their being. The glossy black wall which surrounded the tower was fast coming into view. It was at least twenty foot high with large spikes lining it's top like a row of razor sharp teeth. What was worse was that it looked completely solid, with no way in or out.
The ground thundered beneath the host's advance, but Link soon came to realize that something was amiss. The earth was rumbling way more than it should have been. Before Link could call a halt to their advance however, he saw the reason why. All before them the ground was literally trembling, the very earth being dug up as thousands upon thousands of skeletal warriors emerged as if rising from graves. Link swallowed hard at the sheer sight of such numbers, but inwardly rejoiced that these weren't the same skeletal warriors as before.
The vast majority were Stalfos. Standing at roughly six and a half feet tall with glowing red eyes, oversized metal pauldrons upon their shoulders, and tattered rags of clothing hanging from their flesh-less bones, they were certainly an intimidating sight to behold, even without the large, round bucklers and long, rusted swords in their hands. The remainder of their numbers were made up of Stalchildren. They were pure skeletons, nothing special about them save for their glowing red eyes and razor sharp claws that could cleave through flesh as easily as any sword. The Stalchildren were in a variety of sizes ranging from as small as a child, as tall as any of the Stalfos, and almost twice as tall as the Stalfos.
Link watched as the enemy horde assembled itself. The Stalfos quickly took up battle positions while the Stalchildren sprinkled themselves throughout the field. The largest of the Stalchildren took up rear guard positions while the childlike versions, which were the more numerous, took up forward positions to assist the Stalfos. Even though thousands of them had already emerged and were standing ready with hundreds more still rising from the earth, the Hyrulian Army sped onward yet, whatever fear in their hearts being overridden by their duty.
"Charge!" Link shouted in an effort to drive away any remaining fears and doubts among the host. "Drive these foul beasts back to the abyss."
As Link said this he whipped the Master Sword around and cleaved the skull of a Stalfos right off it's body which then collapsed into nothing more than a pile of bones. The rest of the army followed suit, plowing straight into the enemy lines. They hit the forward positions hard and fast, covering all flanks, and ripped right through them while suffering only minimal casualties. It wasn't till they reached the center of Lord Arcana's forces that their progress was slowed and the true fighting actually began.
The Gorons had the easiest time of it, rolling directly into the Stalfos and Stalchildren and crushing their bones. With their rock hard bodies, they were impervious to both the swords and claws of their enemies. The limits of their success were soon apparent, however, as the Gorons came up to the giant Stalchildren. It was against them that the Gorons finally met their match.
The giant Stalchildren were a lot stronger than their smaller cousins and the Stalfos, and their bones much sturdier as well making it impossible for the Gorons to destroy them simply by running into them. The most the Gorons could do was make them stumble, maybe even fall if they hit them at full speed. With their increased strength the giant Stalfos were actually able to harm the Gorons, their claws gouging out deep wounds in their bodies. They still weren't strong enough to kill the Gorons with one blow, but in many cases was effective in removing the Goron from combat. Not only that, but the giant Stalchildren were able to halt the advancing Gorons dead in their tracks and even lift them up, which they used with deadly accuracy as they then tossed the curled up Gorons like boulders into their own allies.
The Hylians and Gerudo weren't having much better luck. Sure the Stalfos may have been nothing more than skeletons, but they still fought like fully trained warriors. The Stalfos did have a weakness in that they're bodies were more brittle than their enemies and less sturdy, a good hard blow able to reduce them to piles of bones, but their sheer numbers more than made up for that weakness.
The remaining Stalchildren, meanwhile, were using their claws to great effect. Those the size of the Stalfos were rather effective fighters, their claws proving in more than one instance far better than a sword. While useful on offense, their claws were far from being an effective defense though, and with no shield like the Stalfos the Stalchildren were easily cut down. The child-sized Stalchildren, meanwhile, were targeting the horses. Their small size made them easily able to dodge those still on horseback, but their claws made short work of the legs of the horses still carrying riders, sending both horse and rider plummeting to the ground where many were killed before recovering.
Even though the Stalfos and Stalchildren were far from immortal, no matter how many were slain it seemed another five took it's place. There was just no end to them, and it was beginning to take its toll on the Hyrulian Army. More than half had already been knocked off their horses, many of the horses having been felled, and were now fighting on foot. While casualties were still relatively minor, they were slowly beginning to mount and the number of enemies seemed to be growing rather than shrinking. Quite a few of the Gorons had even been taken out of the combat, a couple of them even having been slain.
"Damn, we're getting nowhere!" shouted Captain Huntley as he knocked a Stalchild's head off with his shield and severed the spine at the waist of an attacking Stalfos. "Where the hell are Ruto and the Zoras?"
No sooner did Captain Huntley shout this than the a large portion of the Stalfos and Stalchildren's rear guard vanished, their bodies crumbling to the ground as the Zora reinforcements finally arrived. They quickly plowed through, carving down Stalfos and Stalchildren alike before they could even realize they were being attacked from behind. A great cheer erupted from the Hyrulian Army as the tide of the battle quickly turned in their favor and they fought with renewed vigor.
Little did any of them realize, however, that the ground behind them was being up ended, and rising out of it were skeletal hounds. As big as a Wolfos, they were as devoid of flesh as any of the other skeletons save for a small length of fur along their spine. With the same glowing red eyes as their human counterparts, the Stalhounds let out a bloodcurdling howl and charged straight into the battle.
With lightening fast reflexes, they quickly and easily made their presence known, leaping upon warrior after warrior, their skeletal jaws clamping down and easily tearing flesh from bone while their claws made short work of anyone trying to escape. Only the Gorons were impervious to the Stalhounds attacks, but were to slow to fully challenge the Stalhounds who deftly dodged the Gorons attacks.
All battle lines were now gone. Hylian, Goron, Gerudo, Zora, Stalfos, Stalchildren, and Stalhound were now so intermixed that from a distance it was impossible to tell who was who. All strategies were now out the window as this became nothing more than a fight for survival. With the addition of the Stalhounds, Lord Arcana's forces had once again taken the advantage that the Hyrulian army had enjoyed for but a brief second with the arrival of the Zoras.
"This isn't working," Link called to the others as he slashed at a leaping Stalhound and Epona trampled a Stalchild. "We can't hope to take the field. There's just too many of them."
"What do you propose then?" Navi asked firing several fireballs into crowds of Stalfos instantly incinerating them.
"We have to storm the tower. If we can take out Arcana then it'll be all over."
"We can't hope to storm the tower with the entire army," Darunia commented as he wrestled with a giant Stalchild, his immense strength winning in the end as he flipped the Stalchild over his head and breaking it upon the ground.
"No, but a small group of us can," added Captain Huntley as he rode past on his horse, killing a Stalfos that was about to attack Ruto from behind. "The rest of the army can remain here and continue the battle. It's the only choice we've got."
Link hung his head, but relented nonetheless. "Alright, Navi, Darunia, Ruto, Nabooru, you guys with me," Link called out. "Everyone else hold them off for as long as you can."
With a helping hand Link lifted Ruto up onto Epona and then sped off toward the Black Tower. Navi, Darunia, and Nabooru followed right after him, cutting a path through the enemy forces as they went along. It wasn't until they were finally cleared of the fighting that Link realized they were one member extra.
"Captain Huntley, I told you to stay behind," Link said. "The troops need at least one leader to keep them organized."
"What organization?" asked Captain Huntley. "There aren't even any lines anymore. Look, I'm just going to escort you to the tower. Once you're inside I'll return to the battle."
"Fine. Now everyone else, remember the plan. Once inside, Navi and I will seek out Lord Arcana and Gerik. The rest of you locate the dungeons and rescue all he has imprisoned there and then get out. Return to the battle and help them."
They all nodded their understanding and sped onward. As the wall of the Black Tower grew bigger and the sounds of the battle began to grow distant, albeit slightly, Link took one last look back toward the battle. He felt guilty and ashamed. He had left them all in a battle they could not win, against an army that seemed to have no end, as nothing more than a distraction. In effect, he had left them all to their death while he simply rode away. But he reminded himself that if he could defeat Lord Arcana, then this would all end. Minerva's words, her teachings, began coming back to Link, and his guilt and shame started to ebb. Link was doing his part, and so were they.
They reached the wall in no time at all, keeping their horses several feet back just in case there were any more surprises. The wall appeared to be even taller than they had thought, and it was definitely solid throughout. Not even the tiniest of seams could be seen in the smooth, glossy surface. Without traveling too far they looked around it's circumference, but the wall remained the same throughout. Not even the smallest of entrances could be seen.
"So now what?" asked Captain Huntley. "There's no way in from what I can see and it'd be impossible to try and scale this thing."
"Looks like we'll just have to make our own way in then," Navi replied calmly yet sternly. "Darunia, Ruto, Nabooru, concentrate all your power on me. Got it?"
The three of them nodded and then took up positions around Navi in a triangular formation. Link and Captain Huntley moved back and watched as Darunia, Ruto, and Nabooru closed their eyes and then with outstretched hands shot a beam of pure energy straight at Navi's body. Instead of colliding with her, the red, blue, and orange beams coalesced around Navi, at least until Navi cupped her hands together and summoned the energy into the palms of her hands where it transformed into a ball of silvery-blue energy. Navi then fired the silvery-blue ball straight at the wall. It exploded on contact, covering the entire area in dust as bits and chunks of the wall were blown even as far back as the battle. When the smoke finally cleared, a good sized portion of the wall had been blown away.
"Great job Navi," Link commented. "Alright, let's move in."
Being unable to traverse the pile of rubble left behind, Link, Navi, Captain Huntley, and Nabooru all got off their horses and proceed on foot. They climbed through the opening Navi had created and entered the courtyard, if it could even be called such. There was no vegetation to be seen at all, living or dead. The ground was littered with small tiny pebbles, and it extended all the way from the wall to the tower itself. As they looked at the tower, they were greeted by its entrance, which wasn't even sealed. It was simply an open alcove that led within the tower. Unfortunately, that wasn't all that they saw.
Standing before the Black Tower's entrance, clad in their heavy black armor, were Lord Arcana's twelve Darknut warriors. They were all that apparently remained of his former army, or at least all that Lord Arcana wished to have by his side. With sword and broad shield in hand, they stood there waiting expectantly.
"Well this is certainly a bummer," chimed in Ruto. "Guess we shouldn't be too surprised though."
"Looks like nothing left to do but fight these jerks off if we want access to that tower," added Nabooru. "Looks like two of them for each of us. Sounds good to me."
Nabooru smirked as she made that last comment. Darunia couldn't help but grin himself and even Link had to suppress a small chuckle. Ruto was evidently nervous, but at the same time steadfast and ready to do her part. Captain Huntley stood there, his sword and shield raised, just waiting for the go ahead. Navi was the only one Link couldn't read at the moment, and he hadn't been ever since returning. She simply stood there, sword held at the ready, her serious expressionless face reminiscent of Impa. Link could only imagine the full account of what happened while he was away.
Link turned his head left and right, looking and nodding to each of his companions in turn. "For Hyrule," Link muttered softly, though the others heard and agreed. "Attack!"
The six of them took off at a full sprint, weapons raised and ready to strike. The Darknuts simply stood their ground, their shields braced for impact and swords held ready to counter any attack thrown their way. Link was the one with the biggest disadvantage out of everyone. Though he wielded the Master Sword and Mirror Shield, he was the only one present that had never fought a Darknut before, and so he couldn't comprehend exactly how tough or skilled the Darknuts even were.
As swords were about to clash, Nabooru unleashed a bright flash in an effort to blind the Darknuts for some easy first hits, but proved to be rather uneffective as the Darknuts blocked every attack with ease. With the fight having formally commenced, the Darknuts now broke their ranks and fought back, two per warrior.
Darunia already managed to put several large dents in one of the Darknut's shields, forcing him to abandon it. This was more of a disadvantage as now the Darknut had both hands to wield his sword with even deadlier accuracy, and Darknuts were already able to pierce Goron skin with just one hand. Unlike with other enemies, Darunia couldn't block the Darknut's attacks with his arms, not without suffering serious injury, thus he was forced to dodge but his bulky body wasn't exactly the greatest counter to the fierce speed of the Darknut. Luckily Darunia was able to call upon his Sage powers to help him.
The others weren't fairing much better. Ruto was barely able to land any blows at all, but her agility and nimbleness was plenty enough to help her dodge both Darknuts attacking her. Nabooru was caught in the middle. Wielding dual scimitars, she alternated between offensive and defensive attacks, but she was having no better luck landing a blow upon her Darknut adversaries than they were landing a blow upon her. Captain Huntley had since discarded his shield. He knew from his previous encounter with them that blocking an attack from a Darknut with a shield could easily result in a broken arm, so he opted to simply discard it for more speed and nimbleness.
Navi was attacking with a fierceness never before seen, sending blow after blow against her opponent. The Darknut was forced strictly to defense, Navi not even allowing the smallest of openings for him to try and strike back. Another Darknut tried attacking from behind, but Navi was aware of him and using her magic she collapsed the ground underneath him. The Darknut fell straight down, only his head and upper torso remaining above ground with his arms pinned at his sides. Navi then sent a burst of energy from her palm into the chest of the Darknut before her causing him to stagger backwards several steps. In that moment Navi twirled around, the blade of her sword becoming engulfed in flame, and decapitated the Darknut trapped behind her cleanly as if she had been cutting through bread. Her attention then returned to the other Darknut.
Link had never faced an enemy like this before, at least not soldier wise. This was the most challenging battle he had ever fought in save for those encounters with Ganon and Lord Arcana. The Darknuts were heavily armed and armored, yet it had no detrimental effect on their speed or nimbleness from what Link could see. They blocked just as often as they dodged, and when they delivered a blow Link felt as if his arm would break when blocking with the Master Sword. His mind drifted back to when Gerik had first faced these enemies, and the trouble he had faced. It was a Darknut that broke one of Gerik's swords, and he had needed the Megaton Hammer to crack their armor. While he may not have had the hammer, he did have the Master Sword, and was sure it would be more than enough.
Link dodged an overhand chop designed to take his head off and made a cross-body slash of his own. The Darknut blocked with his shield, only to have it become cleaved in half upon touching the Master Sword. Link smiled as he narrowly dodged a thrust and did a backhand spin, the edge of his sword cutting a gash in his adversaries chest plate. The Darknut staggered backwards and brought his free hand up to the gash, where a small trickle of blood was now leaking out.
The Darknut appeared to be surprised, but otherwise unfazed. He just looked back up to Link, readied his sword and motioned for Link to attack. Link realized the trap and quickly ducked and rolled forward just as another Darknut took a swing at him from behind. Link then came up under the first Darknut's defenses, and before he could react Link plunged the Master Sword deep into his chest. The Darknut fell to the ground dead as Link stood up over his body.
The second Darknut didn't give Link time to breath though as he quickly came around for another flurry of attacks. Link had forgotten about him and was forced to dodge before he could pull the Master Sword back out of the first. Sword less, Link now braced the Mirror Shield with both his hands as he blocked heavy blow after heavy blow, each hit taking a heavy toll upon Link's arms. Had it been any other shield, Link was sure it would've cracked in half by now. Link's arms were beginning to give out, and he could only back up so far before he became trapped against the tower, or another Darknut tried to attack him from behind.
With another hit Link's arms buckled and the Mirror Shield went flying from his hands. With no defenses left and nowhere to run, Link could only watch as the Darknut quickly capitalized and readied his sword for the killing blow. Just as his sword was about to connect, a large dark blur came flying through the air and collided with the Darknut. When Link looked he saw two dazed Darknuts on top of each other both struggling to get up off the ground. Link turned and saw Darunia off to the side breathing heavily. When he saw Link looking, he gave a weak smile and a thumbs up before having to dodge a blow by the second Darknut attacking him.
Link turned back to the two Darknuts who were now almost back on their feet. With a calm air he deftly retrieved the Master Sword and with two quick twirls of the blade slew both the Darknuts before they could respond. With the Darknuts dead, Link picked up the Mirror Shield and quickly surveyed the field. Four of the Darknuts were dead, but those that weren't were pushing everyone to their limits. Picking his next target, Link started to charge before a voice cut him off.
"Get going Link," Ruto shouted while dodging a diagonal slash across her midriff. "The way to the tower is clear."
"But what about you guys?" he questioned concernedly. "I can't just leave you guys to battle them on your own."
"You've already taken care of your two," Darunia responded as he heaved a chunk of the wall at his attacker. "Besides, this isn't your fight. Your fight is with Arcana. Now get going. We can handle ourselves. Navi, you get going as well."
Hearing her name, Navi turned toward Darunia and seeing the look in his eyes understood what he wanted. She deflected a sword strike and then immediately drop kicked the Darknut knocking him flat on his back. Grabbing hold of one of the wall chunks, Navi used her magic and in the blink of an eye the chunk exploded leaving behind a perfect, solid, and pointed spear in her hand. Spinning it above her head, Navi drove it down with full force directly into the downed Darknut's heart, impaling him to the ground.
Without pausing Navi walked right on past and over to Link. Looking at each other, they both nodded and then turned toward the entrance to the Black Tower. Weapons held at the ready, they both ran for it, Navi entering first while Link paused and stopped. He turned back to look at the others still fighting the Darknuts and felt the same regret he did leaving the fight with the Stalfos. Catching sight of Nabooru, he saw her mouth the word "GO" before turning her attention back to the battle. Knowing that they could take care of themselves, and that his battle lay ahead with Lord Arcana, Link turned back to the tower and stepped inside.