I've had this one cooked up for a second. It's action-packed and immediately follows through with the consequences of our forsaken Link's book-collecting adventure. I meant to publish this earlier but work got very busy. Hopefully, you guys are enjoying the story. Let me know with a review if you have any critiques to hand out! I love improving and I'll eat up anything in order to get better.

- Stoney Delty

Chapter 2: Attack on Ordon Village!

Destroy and contain your sin: this was Link's modus operandi as he jumps off Epona, into a group of stalfos at the entrance to Ordon Village. He curses himself as the first foe falls. The monsters had begun to run rampant, houses to the east lit in flames, their fires beating out the pouring rain. It's worse than he anticipated. He stands off against the second beast, swiftly dodging an attack from his right flank. He pulls out some deku nuts and throws them against the ground. The blinding light dazzles the stalfos and he dashes in, stabbing the second stalfos. He turns around to kill the third.

It was too late though. A blade had run through the stalfos, and wielding it was the tall skeleton that had annoyed him at the house. They nod at each other as the shade pulls out his blade and they quickly attack the last one. It had regained its senses but it was no match for two heroes. The shade looks at Link and tells him, "This is bad, buildings on fire in the middle of this storm? This force contains wizzrobes at a minimum on top of these damn skeletons." Link looks at the result of his work. In his experience, these creatures would come back if they were not destroyed by bombs, but with the heavy rain, it wasn't possible. Link responds to the shade, "We can't win this. Stalfos have to be obliterated and bombs can't be lit in this weather. We can kill the wizzrobes and any other creature, but our first priority is to ensure everyone escapes the village." The shade agrees, "I'll go on the hunt and knock out anything we can kill. You should find any refugees and rally them to a safe place." Link nods his head as he gets on Epona and tells the shade, "The refugees will head north to the tunnels leading to the woods, go there once you're satisfied!"

They part ways. Link ventures deeper into the ablaze village with Epona. He finds the frontline, the monsters coming from the east, from the lost woods. They clash against the brave but feeble men, knowing that it wouldn't take long for a puncture in the line to appear. Swords and spears poked and prodded on both sides. A death was a death, a hole must form if a side was to win. The men, desperate. The monsters, thirsty for carnage. They continue to clash as Link looks for Rusl, as the most accomplished warrior he would be leading this defense and he needs to retreat. He hears his voice pierce the rain, "Protect your flanks! Show these bastards what for! Do not falter!" Link yells back, "Rusl it's done! I've fought a small group at the village, they're coming from all sides. Retreat!"

The warning rings deep into Rusl's heart! Link wouldn't misjudge this situation. His home was already gone, they were delaying the inevitable. The refugees he had sent north to Hyrule Field, he had hoped that the attack could be staved off but this would not be so. He rallies the men, "You lot heard him! We're getting out of here! Fall back and retreat to the north. We'll choke off the passage in case they follow us!"

They slowly began to fall back, stabbing with spears before engaging in a mass retreat. Link follows the running mass carefully on Epona. It was a mess of a retreat, but these men were a mere ragtag militia. They run to the north as the monsters flood into the village. The wizzrobes gleefully dance and cast spells of fire. More and more of the houses catch ablaze. The monsters pick off and kill any too slow to keep up with the retreat. They laugh and laugh, like hyenas and bandits as they rampage the village.

The militia, Link, and Rusl make it to the first passage. Ordon was developed with this plan in mind. They had carved through the caves centuries ago when Hyrule attempted to settle the Lost Woods. In the event of an attack, it was much harder for an opposing enemy to simply waltz through those chokepoints. They catch their breath but only for the briefest moments. Those damn monsters had not lagged far behind them, they meant to continue this bloody festival.

As Link hops off Epona and joins the front line, he sees red eyes pierce through the heavy rain. He hears the rapid stomps and monstrous cackles of the creatures. The men alongside him shake in fear. This should be an easier position to hold but it didn't feel like it. Spears and swords clash against shields once again.

The shade stabs his sword deep into the heart of a foul wizzrobe. He had made it his mission to focus on the unholy wizards. He looks up into the dark skies as the rain falls on his face. He relishes its death and yells at the top of his lungs as its allies back off in fear, "Ah, retribution! I have not felt this in centuries!" He rushes the retreating foes. He was quite proud of the ruckus and damage he was causing to these fiends. A monster killed here, another killed over there. He had feared from his encounter with Link that he would be rusty, but the philosophy of his style still held true against monsters. He chases a bokoblin and jumps high into the air, slamming his blade into the slow bokoblin. It happens so fast, with so much force that the beast could not even whimper.

"Hmm, I'm satisfied. Time to find my boy." The shade muses to himself as he looks at his bloodied blade. He begins dashing to the north. Perhaps he had spent too much time with these beasts. He was surprised at how much he was relishing combat and had lost track of time. The boy must be in the middle of or is finished with the retreat.

Nothing was well for Link. He had been stabbing and stabbing at the monsters for what felt like hours. He could feel his blood rising as he saw another man fall to the right. The militia now fought on uneven ground, recently made from the bodies of their dead and wounded. Link was the only survivor of the first line when this skirmish began. He grew relentless, he never trained to fight in formation. He stabs the heart of a bokoblin and steps into the enemy's line. He needs space, the shade's style would work wonders against these foul monstrosities. He gets in deep enough and spins, his blade slicing through the hides, cutting into the bones of his enemies. The monsters attempt to stab but it's for naught as Link deflects, throwing a deku nut to the ground. Blinding the surrounding creatures, he cuts deeper and deeper into their fold.

The men rally, following Link as he pushes in. They cut and slash! Ending those who were wounded but not killed. They cry out in relief as one calls out, "Our boy Link is showing them what for! Push these bastards back!" Link continues his counter-offensive. He hears nothing. Lost in rage, in regret, in fatigue. He ends more lives. It has to end here, it just has to. If they can't pull this off, what would happen?

Link feels an arm grab his as he struck down another stalfos. And then another, and another. They had begun to reanimate. With life renewed in the foul beasts, they chose to prioritize and disable the ferocious hero. Link fought back in resistance. Stabbing into the piles of bones, he sees right in front of him, more monsters coming to grab him. Sacrificing themselves in the process, they disable him, pushing him to the ground. He closes his eyes, this was it.

A stalfos readies his spear in the midst of the chaos. It had but fleeting thoughts of long-lost humanity, overpowered by the dark intentions of the curse that brought it back to life. It reels its armed hand back. Dark thoughts invade its mind, driving its body forward. This wasn't a part of the plan, but it had to do this, it had to kill this wretch.

A sword pierces the reanimated beast. Link opens his eyes as he hears the sounds of a blade slicing the creature in half. It was the old man. He had managed to break in through the rear!

He grabs the boy and with great strength yanks him from the bones, holding him down. "My boy! Let us end these knaves!" he says to Link. The organized lines of the monsters of the militia had fallen to chaos. The field had turned into a brawl. They fight one on one, one against many, and many against one.

The Shade and Link resume their participation. Each one kills monsters one at a time. It was critical that they were careful. The chaos that this battle had become had their allies strewn about the field. It helped that their allies looked nothing like the enemy, but blind fury would result in the death of a friendly. They attacked with precise rapid judgments to ensure they would not hurt their allies.

The Shade speaks out to Link in the midst of the chaos, "Link! I never once dreamt that we would team up in battle!" he stabs a bokoblin, "Oh the excitement! If only it was under better circumstances!" Another monster dies. He begins to lose himself in the fight. This was what a hero was meant to do! Defending the innocent, destroying evil. It had been so long since he engaged in his profession. It was even sweeter that it was with his protege. Never mind why this happened.

Link said nothing but continued his foray keeping his eye on the prize. The monsters were beginning to lose and lose hard. The bones were piling up, though they might reanimate, it took time and the men had really begun to handle the situation. He was wrong, this battle could be won. Heck, not only could it be won but the rain was beginning to let down as well. A miraculous sign.

It was not a miraculous sign however, he was too far into the fray and reinforcements from the village had arrived. Surrounded by monsters, they encircle and push him to the ground once again. He struggles as they yank his sword from him and grab his legs. He bites the hand of a monster that had covered his mouth. He feels himself lose consciousness as he hears the monstrous cackles of his foes.

As the heroic shade ends another monster, he suddenly feels the edge of a blade against his spine. It was swift, even painless. The shade's head flew off and saw the perpetrator. Of course, he looked like a stalfos now, he must've been a monster, never mind that he had just saved another man's life! These would not be his final thoughts, however. As his top half lands, his eye lights up in horror at what he begins to witness: Link is being hauled off. As he begins to disappear, the Shade cries out, reaching out for his protege, "Link! Link! My Boy! Someone save my boy!" The man who killed him, Rusl, stares in shock as he falls back. He heard the shade but there was nothing he could do. If he chased after Link he would die, and Ordon had lost too many warriors. It would be insane to chase after the captured hero now.

The rain stopped, the battle over, but the men were unsure of how to react to this. They did not dare march back to the village. They watched as the monsters retreated with Link back to their home. They collected themselves and began to search for the wounded for a few hours. Turning over the muddy dead, looking for survivors. Rusl joins them in their search. As he walks over the bodies he hears gasping, he quickly turns over the dead to find the source. This one is alive, thank Farore. Rusl calls out, "I've found another one!" Other men arrive and carry the wounded man back leaving Rusl to his thoughts. Why did monsters attack the village? It's been two years since the Twilight invasion. How did so many gather? Did it have to do with Link?

That one stalfos, he looked different from the others and he even spoke. Hell, it called out for Link like it was his father. It must have been on their side. A stalfos on their side? Rusl shakes his head, this all had to be related to Link, the boy has not been himself. What has he been doing? He looks back to the south, the village is destroyed. Nothing added up and he would have to wait to see why. The monsters will occupy it for a day, maybe more before they would return to that forsaken forest. As the men finished their task of collecting arms, shields, and wounded, he began to consider his next move. He knew what his next mission was: investigate the ruins of his home and figure out what the hell happened, what caused this, and find out what happened to Link.

The fires raged ever brighter. The dark sorcerers danced out in the ruined streets, amidst and in the burning houses, in delight worshiping the destruction they caused. Stalfos and bokoblins pillaged the buildings. They did not get to relish in killing everything in the town but no matter. Let them live. They've secured one-half of their objective, now they only need to find the other.

Their dark masters will be pleased.