Chapter 3
Ambush

Link pitched to one side, hitting the ground hard. For a second he just laid there, senseless. Pain was seeping down his spine, he couldn't breathe! He stared, transfixed and dazed, at smoke curling up from the fire pit. He heard shouts, deep war cries, thundering footsteps, and figures flooding in around him. And suddenly he was lifted off the ground. He barely had time to register a massive gnarled hand and a too-wide grin before he was thrown. The sensation of flying lasted for a split second and—wham!

He collapsed to the ground again. He'd hit a tree. A tree...what the... His senses were coming back to him. His back was still screaming, but he found his hands, found his feet. Found his sword-he couldn't for the life of him figure out how he'd managed to hold on to it. He was gasping, gulping in precious air, his head still spinning. Slowly he stood straight-he could still stand!-sword gripped in both hands.

Huge creatures had invaded the camp, he didn't bother to count how many. A dozen, maybe less. He could hardly make out any features in the dark but he saw horns and he saw odd body shapes, some gangly, some massive, all of them tall. Crude clubs, an axe or two, and a bowman in the back. Epona was screaming as only a horse can, Navi shouting Link's name and flying erratically between the figures.

Link charged the figure closest, one of the big ones. It threw up its axe, Link throwing up his sword to block.

It was a stupid idea, really.

Muscles rippled down the thing's arms as the axe went flying at Link full-force. He managed to block, but that hardly matters when enough force is behind a blow. He was sent flying again, skidding into the dirt.

"Link! Let me out! I can help!"

He'd landed next to Shadow and his tree, red eyes locked on him.

"Heh, yea right. Help me or them?"

"Well, I figured just killing everyone might be a good compromise."

Link didn't have time to figure out if he was joking or not. Another creature had appeared in front of him, throwing its sword down at his head. Link rolled, the blade missing and striking the dirt with a thunk.

"AAHh!" He didn't have time for screaming, but his last move had just shoved the arrow deeper into his back. He struggled to gain his feet, the blade missing him again though he didn't know by what fortune-certainly it wasn't his skill at this point.

Wham!

Next second he was on the ground all over again. It was night, he knew it, but his vision was blacker than it should have been. His chest was tight, screaming for air that he didn't dare take in. What the hell hit me?

"Link!"

Shut up, Navi, you're not helping. Most of the creatures were standing back now, as if to watch the show. What show...? Oh.

Link's eyes caught on the big one, with the axe. His fists were massive! Was that what had hit him? He couldn't remember. It was grinning stupidly, approaching slowly.

"Ulgh..." Link stayed down. He'd have given anything to be able to get up, but it just wasn't happening. His back might have felt wet, except that he could really only pay attention to the pain anyway. Cutting off his air, making it hard to move, blacking out thought and common sense. And the thing kept getting closer, laughing at his helpless misery.

"Link!" Shadow again. Link snarled, not bothering to look up at the doppleganger. "Just cheat, you idiot! That's all you're good for!"

Cheat?

An idea hit him at the same time axe-man's foot did, sending Link rolling and crashing face-first to the ground. Which worked in his favor just fine for once. His hand dived into his tunic, pulling out a small glowing gem. Din's fire!

Gem still in hand, he planted his palms in the dirt. Power surged through him and the scene was bathed in ember as a circle of flame surged out from where Link lay.

A dozen screams, most of alarm, one in agonizing pain. Good, he'd hit the big one. Link got to his feet again, spinning to face the thing. Its pants were on fire and it was stomping its feet wildly, beating at them. And for the first time Link got a good look at the thing.

It was...green! And huge. All the wrong features were accented-large beer belly, head too small, a pair of massive fangs (or tusks) jutting from its mouth, eyes red and skin covered in warts. And it was huge. At least a solid 9 feet.

"What are you?"

The flailing creature suddenly charged. Link got up his sword in time, easily impaling it. He stepped to the side, pulling his sword out as the thing toppled forward.

Howls greeted his victory. The others were roaring, stamping their feet and hooting and garbling in some language he couldn't make out. He spun wildly, trying to keep them all in his sights. They were advancing.

"Link! Get me out and give me a sword, you idiot!" Shadow shouted.

"Look out!" Navi again.

"Would you two just shut up?!" He threw up his sword to block one blow, then barely blocked another.

"No, Link! Look!" Navi screamed.

Link spun, realization hitting him like a hammer. In the split second it took him to turn he mentally swore at his own stupidity. He should have listened to Navi earlier. It was her job to warn him.

The fairy's bright white glow illuminated one of the creatures, hiding in the shadows. It was the archer. Surrounded by an onslaught of swords, Link could only watch in stunned horror as it let an arrow fly. It landed with a sickening squelch right into his shoulder.

Blood flew, flecks splashing his cheek. He supposed he should have registered the pain, but one of the creatures brought the hilt of its crude sword smashing against the back of Link's head. Next second his knees hit the ground, then his chest, and his face. And everything went black.

All sense of time and space and self were lost. Everything just stopped.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Please don't kill me."

Shadow wasn't even sure the creature understood. All he knew was that Link, in his infinite wisdom, had probably just gotten himself killed and now there was a massive troll-like thing towering overhead. Drool dripped from its lips, its sword was lightly furnished with Link's blood, and all-in-all the thing looked very stupid and very bloodthirsty. Meanwhile, Shadow was tied nicely to a tree like the perfect target practice.

Fortunately the thing just continued to stare. Shadow fought back a shiver, craning his head to see around it. Two of the other trolls were poking at Link, who had not only two arrows in him but a sword that had been planted in his leg sometime after he was knocked out. Yea, he was knocked out, not dead. Shadow could hear the breathing, even from way over here. It was rasping, choking on blood, but the blonde idiot was clearly alive.

Which is a lot more than you deserve, that's for sure, Shadow thought bitterly. If these things didn't kill the hero, Shadow certainly would. First chance he got.

The other trolls were moving around camp, digging through Link's packs, essentially scaring his horse into a heart attack, and another was currently approaching Shadow's tree. He had time to wonder where Link's fairy was but not enough time to figure it out.

Now he had two massive trolls towering over him. One was bigger than the other, and by the way it carried itself Shadow guessed it was the leader.

Shadow licked his lips, trying to get his tongue to work. "Uh...look, I uh...work for Gannon. We're friends. Good friends! So...you see, we're on the same side, you and me. Or probably the same side. Do you work for Gannon? Most...creatures...like you do."

Silence answered him for a moment. Then the creature raised one warty hand, pointing it at Shadow's chest. "You're coming with us." It said the words with far more intelligence than Shadow could have predicted, but that still wasn't much.

"No...I'd rather not."

What he'd "rather" do clearly didn't matter. The axe was swung, Shadow yelped, and next second the ropes tying him to the tree were cut. The creature's big hands wrapped around the thick branch that his hands were tied to and easily snapped it to smithereens. Shadow pulled his hands down, though they were still chained, and next second he was yanked to his feet by the meaty hand grabbing his shirt. Even when he was standing, it didn't let go. The creature just stood there staring into space, and Shadow, weaponless, was forced to stand just as pointlessly next to him.

Whoa, hey. These guys were a lot more intelligent than Shadow had given them credit for. They'd removed Link's weapons and all of his equipment (two of the trolls were fighting over his shield and another was pocketing the gems that were Din's Fire and Farore's Wind, though Shadow was fairly certain they couldn't use them). The arrows were pulled out of Link as roughly as possible and Shadow winced with each sickening sound. No bandages were given, but the things were sensible enough to tie him hand and foot. Link was then swung onto one of the larger ones' shoulders.

"Wwwhere are we going?" Shadow planted his feet, sizing up his troll and wondering if kicking it between the legs would do anything and how far he could run before the one with the bow had a chance to stick him.

No answers again. The thing continued to stare at empty space and drool, then suddenly it snapped its face toward him. The hand on his shirt shook him hard. "Quiet," the thing snarled.

Alrighty then...

The horse was still panicking, the fairy thing was still missing, the hero was comatose, and the trolls were moving out, the big one dragging Shadow in tow. This was gonna be a long night...