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Chap. 59: Uphill Battle

The scents of smoke, offal, sweat, and fear filled Zelda's nostrils as she took one last breath before the battle began. Any pleasant aroma of cooking food, farms, or even the sea just a mile away was buried in the nerves of her companions, and the vicious horrors that stretched out on the beachhead below them.

All that stood between Hateno Village, the largest extant settlement in Hyrule, and complete annihilation were a few stalwart men and women.

But Purah was right. They did have terrain on their sides, and Zelda had now placed no fewer than eight bombs between their first defensive position and the advancing army. It hadn't even been hard, though most of the Bokoblins near horde's front had probably seen them coming. Her reputation as "Blue Fire Lady" or whatever they called her would probably warn many away. But there was only so much they could do. The climb up the bluffs would be difficult for a lone climber or two, impossible for an army scrabbling at each other's backs. The trail would be their route, and thus, the bombs would work.

Her bow and twenty arrows were sitting next to her in a neat row as she knelt on one leg between the central barricades of the position. Hudson was behind her on the right, a pile of stones as tall as her waist next to him. Koyin, trembling slightly, clenched her Lizal spear with a grip tight enough to make her hands squeak on the smooth wood. "Calm, Koyin," Zelda told her quietly. "You'll be alright. Stick with me, I'll protect you, I promise."

"I'm supposed to be your guard," the teenage girl murmured.

Zelda nodded, then looked up and down the line of soldiers under Hudson's command. They were all either watching the army below them, or Zelda herself. They still looked terrified, too, despite what she'd hoped was a rousing speech. It had seemed to help, but as time wore on, the despair and terror had crept back in. She swallowed, and raised her voice to make sure everyone could hear her in the tense silence. "We will probably lose friends, Koyin. That's a reality of war. I might die. You might die. But we have to press on anyway. Once the battle starts, there won't be time for fear. You'll probably feel like you're panicking, like every moment is a desperate struggle. That's because it will be. But I've seen you, you killed a blue Bokoblin, remember? You can handle this. I'm going to be right beside you. But when I retreat, or when I tell you to, I need you to retreat with me. We will lose this position. That's part of the plan. Just be ready."

Koyin nodded, and swallowed audibly, "A- Alright. You're r-right. I can do this."

"I know you can. You're one of the bravest women I've ever met," Zelda told her, "I mean that. Now, everyone- on the count of three I'm going to detonate one bomb. I'm hoping it'll start them moving a bit earlier than they want. If it works, they'll be a bit less organized. Just be ready. They'll probably charge, but there won't be anything like actual ranks."

"We've got it," Hudson grunted, "Whenever you're ready, Princess."

She nodded, then looked left and right one last time. To make sure the archers and other fighters were ready, and to commit to her memory, fragile though it was, the faces of those fighting beside her. "Three… Two… one."

Boom.

That bomb had been intentionally misplaced, and a bit premature. She absolutely did want the horde to know who she was, and that she was present. Her and Purah's hope was that the Calamity would drive them into a frenzy in its desire to capture or kill her. But they also wanted the Bokoblin army to think she had messed up, that she wasn't very good at timing things, or just not dangerous to begin with.

Four Bokoblins died, yes, and a half-dozen more were injured, but it wasn't even a drop in a bucket.

More importantly, it worked.

Despite horns and shouted orders to hold, at least seventy Bokoblins and two of the Moblins started charging up the hill as quickly as they could. The Moblins were slow and lumbering in comparison, but they were also two or three times taller than the Bokos, and occasionally either trampled over them or shoved them out of the way. One, she saw, picked up one Bokolin by the leg and hurled him into the air, spinning and whirling and shrieking. He landed twenty feet ahead of the charging mob, and hadn't gotten to his feet before he was trampled under the feet of his monstrous kin.

Zelda wanted to feel elated that they were killing each other wantonly, but suddenly felt just a little overwhelmed herself by the sight of the mass of red bodies moving toward them like a wave. "Bomb two," she announced.

The next explosion caught the nearer red Moblin on the right flank, and sent Boko bodies careening in all directions, including upward, too. She thought, perhaps, that ten or twelve had died in that blast. The horde didn't slow a bit, as those behind pushed the closer ones forward even faster. She could hear them now, over the desperate, whispered prayers to Hylia or their ancestors or the land itself to protect the men and women next to her. It was a low murmur now, but with every passing moment the sound grew louder and deeper.

Bombs three, four, and five went off with semi-regular intervals, and between them, another twenty or thirty more Bokoblins died. Zelda couldn't count the flying bodies or their more-grotesque parts quickly enough to keep an accurate count. As many as fifty had died already, though.

A sixth of the force, if their estimate of three hundred was right.

But it couldn't have been. While the vanguard had been largely shattered, more Bokoblins seemed to be pouring up from behind every rock and tree to replace the fallen. Her eyes widened, and her fingers began to shake over the detonation buttons for the last three bombs as the horde grew closer. "Steady," she heard Hudson call out, "Wait until they're in range, then fire as fast as you can. Better accurate though."

A moment later, he put down the rock he had been holding for ten minutes or more, and strode over to the right. "Didn't think I'd need it this soon, but…"

Then his hammer went high, and swung in a long, wide arc down and to the right. It smashed into a wooden pole Zelda hadn't even been at a good angle to see, and five large stones fell into a deadfall roll, bouncing and crashing down the path. They crushed a dozen more Bokoblins in the first moments, and another dozen that couldn't scamper or dive out of the way in time before their momentum had bled out. One large, blue-skinned Moblin changed course with a snarl to pick up the largest of the rocks and heft it high over his horned head. "Oh, that's not good," she heard Hudson mutter, "That'll go right through the barricades."

Zelda nodded and called out, "Archers at the ready! Focus fire on the blue Moblin, we've got to try to bring him down before he gets here, or retreat before he throws!"

Bomb six lit up the red Moblin a short way further up the hill from the blue, and as it sank to one knee groaning in pain, she saw its skin turn black and begin to smoke. Dying, she realized, not quite dead. Another half-dozen Bokoblins.

Seven only killed two, as one smart blue creature had taken up a shield and marked the location, constantly calling out, "Blue-Fire-Boomer here!"

The blue had been wounded for his trouble, but the shield had absorbed most of the explosive force, and she'd only injured another three Bokoblins with that one. She couldn't see any that had actually died. At least five hundred, maybe even more, were still pouring up the hill like an avalanche of red-orange in reverse. "Archers!" Hudson shouted, "Now!"

His first rock was hurled with the speed and accuracy of a javelin, much like the one the big man had brought down a Bokoblin with earlier. It smashed through one monster's face and knocked the one behind him prone. That, in turn, had two more staggering. The first volley of three arrows hit a wall of Bokoblins. She doubted they even needed to aim… but arrows alone would not drop even one without hitting a vital spot. "Aim for the face, their skulls are weaker there," she called, and picked up her own bow.

As she reached down to pick up her first arrow, she tapped the last of her prepared bombs, and this time, a good fifteen died, right at the front of the group. She knocked, sighted, and loosed in just a moment, and one red Boko died, screeching at the wooden shaft that had appeared inside its nose.

She conjured another round bomb and set it rolling downhill, then fired again, twice more, as the other archers loosed their third rounds as well. "Melee up," Hudson shouted, now barely audible over the shrieking of monsters and pounding of hundreds of feet up the dirt and grass and rock. Koyin's hands, just visible, tightened once more on her spear shaft as she leveled the weapon over Zelda's shoulder between the barricades.

"Steady girl," Zelda reminded her, "We can hold at least a moment- oh, the Moblin! Shoot the Moblin!"

In panic, the archers suddenly remembered the previous order to focus on the lumbering threat, who had just come in range. Targets shifted, and the hunters of the village proved their skill, because a moment later all four of the loosed arrows peppered the hulking creature's chest. It staggered once, and lumbered on with another snarl of rage.

She quickly conjured a square bomb now, the last she would be able to make before the traps up the hill behind them would become unstable, and threw it as hard as she could. Not far enough. It detonated just before the Moblin, who lowered the rock to protect itself from the debris of another eight or nine scattered Bokoblins. Two more arrows struck it a moment later, in the corded muscle on the right side of its neck, and and low in the left gut. It still came forward, furious, and even kicked another Bokoblin hard enough to send it head-first over the first ten of its kin to smack into the barricade on Zelda's right. It shuddered, but she didn't hear the body hit the ground, only pieces.

"You and your company do good work," Zelda called to Hudson, whose pile of rocks was rapidly growing smaller.

"Thanks, Princess," he laughed deeply, and hurled two more. The first hit a blue Bokoblin, and sent it rolling down the hill into the mass of bodies, but it was up again seconds later. The second struck the Moblin in the gut, and it hunched over in pain with the force of it. The boulder crashed down, taking out two more Bokoblins, but the Moblin kept one hand on it, so it didn't roll downhill again. "Shit," Zelda cried, and fired twice as quickly as she could. One went wide in her fear, arcing over the Moblin to strike some poor unfortunate behind him, but the other hit his eye.

The Moblin howled as it had just stood up, clutching at the shaft… and tore it free, bringing the orb with it. There was a sickening spray of red and another cry of pain as it ripped the eye free of its own optic nerve… and then stood once more, bringing the giant stone high over its head again.

She watched in horror as the rock flew through the air. Fingers danced on the Sheikah Slate, but it was too late, she wouldn't be able to-

Then it stopped in mid-air. Stasis had killed every bit of momentum it had. "Hudson! Throw like, three rocks at that thing as hard as you can!"

"Wh- What? What's happening?!" the construction worker shouted, "Why's it just hanging in the air like that?"

"Magic! Trust me, throw the rocks!"

He grunted, and three of his last five were essentially shot-putted toward the boulder.

Ideally, the angle would've sent the stone down the hill again, but there was no time for such niceties. Instead, it was sent off the side of the cliff, rolling and crashing onto the bluffs below. With any luck, out of sight of Zelda, it would have hit another four or five Bokoblins in the horde. But she didn't have time to care about that, because the nearer monsters were just a dozen feet away.

Two more shots, and two more Bokoblins died. "Archers," Hudson shouted just then, "Up the hill, half-way to the next barricade! Keep shooting! Melee, hold the line!"

Her heart pounded. She could feel it in her veins. Fear, terror, excitement, desperation, and always that same underlying, hungry need, the wonder about why she didn't just breed this army into complacency. Wouldn't it have been easier, more fun, to fuck them all silly?

Zelda shook her head, and on instinct and much recent practice alone, the still-strung bow slipped over her head as her last arrow flew at point-blank range into the red-blue eye of one Bokoblin, who died with his claws gripping either side of the gap.

Her arms moved too slowly, reaching as quickly as she could for her sword and shield. Like a dream or nightmare, she was just too slow. The Shield of the Mind's Eye and Traveler's short blade were coming up, but there were already three Bokoblins right there in the gap.

Koyin's sharp, jagged blade stabbed into the throat of one, and Zelda was treated to a line of hot, steaming blood across her face as the serrations ripped flesh free. The girl beside her cried out, "Zelda," as she thrust again. A glancing blow off a bark-crafted shield that sent the Bokoblin holding it rearing back.

Then Zelda stabbed too, her narrow sword flew straight into the heart of the third. On her right, a man with a pitchfork hefted another Bokoblin with a grunt on the end of his weapon, then smashed it down onto another through the gap. Beyond him, more farmers and a couple of soldiers used whatever they could to keep the barricades from falling.

On her right, Hudson was there, his great height and hammer enough to reach over the barricades. Bokoblins flew left and right with every swing, the sound of impact and crunching bones a percussive beat to the symphony of agony. Beyond him, six soldiers and two farmers stabbed, swung, and did all they could to defend their families and their homes.

For a glorious minute, perhaps two, it seemed like the barricades would hold.

Then the first farmer gave a gurgle, and Zelda glanced right to see a Bokoblin's stolen blade thrust through the wood of the walls themselves, straight into his mouth.

As the weapon came free, his body hit the ground with a thump.

He didn't dissipate into smoke and magic. "Hold!" she heard Hudson cry, and Koyin shouted out a name.

No doubt, the farmer's, but Zelda could not process it. The young woman beside her still blocked, thrust, and the barricade on Zelda's left shuddered as the sky went suddenly dark.

No, not dark, just shadowed.

Her green eyes widened. Above her, a bloody, long snout covered in leathery blue skin dripped scorching hot blood and saliva down on her. "Pretty," the injured Moblin snarled, then reached down one meaty paw.

For his trouble, the hand was smashed into a pulp by Hudson's hammer, but in the process, the force of the blow knocked the barricade into the Moblin, too. It toppled with him, turning the two four-inch gaps on either side of it into a five foot gap filled with Bokoblins.

Before they could realize what was happening, Zelda conjured a spray of mini-bombs and threw them out in an arc. They burst in a simultaneous flash, sending the first rank back. Then her shield and sword came high. "Come at me, then!" she cried, and lunged a step forward into the breach.

Her blade flashed. Bokoblins died. An arrow thunked into her shield, and a moment later the Bokoblin who had stuck to the edges of the mass got an arrow in its face, instead, from the archers behind her. Above them, other archers began to fire into the mass from further up the trail, and stones came tumbling down far enough back the defenders could be sure not to hit or crush their allies.

Koyin's spear moved like lightning on her left, and Hudson's heavy hammer an earthquake of percussive force on her right, while Zelda, smaller than any of them, was the stalwart center.

It still was not enough.

Hundreds of Bokoblins still streamed up the path, and for every one they slew, two or three more replaced it. Her arms were already aching.

"Hudson, take them back! Next wall! Koyin, go with them!"

"I'm not leaving you," the girl shouted, and Zelda glanced to her left. The stout girl, on the border of comely and homely, looked like a goddess of war, with multiple sprays of blood, tattered clothing and scratched leather armor, her spearhead snapped off at the tip, with bits of gore and viscera hanging from the serrations.

Zelda nodded, "With me, then. Be ready to run. Hudson, back them up!"

The big man grunted, "Melee, fall back! Withdraw while fighting, don't turn and run, you'll just die from behind!"

Zelda and Koyin, alone, fought on while the others began to move back up the hill. One by one, then two by two, the barricades were torn to pieces as the defenders left them. Hudson was the last to go, his hammer brought down another of the blue Bokoblins before he did, leaving the next large threat still fifty or sixty feet down the hill, and a swarm of red monsters between she and the next Moblin. "Be safe," he shouted, as he turned and started running as fast as his relatively short legs would carry him.

"Ten seconds, Koyin," Zelda cried, and slashed her sword wildly through the throat of one Boko and into the arm of another, which was nearly severed. Her sword was locked between the bones of its arm, though, and it was torn from her grasp. She didn't have time to draw another. "Never mind, three!"

Fingers flew on the Slate again. Maxibomb.

"Koyin- run!"

The girl didn't need to be told twice. She had seen a dozen of the smaller explosives go off already. This one was as tall as Zelda herself, and she did not want to know what kind of mess it would make of her. The princess gave the sphere a shove down the hill, but it only moved a few inches before the press of bodies caught it.

Then Zelda was running to, the Slate in one hand with her finger near, but carefully not on the detonation button. Koyin was sprinting ahead, but glanced back every few seconds to make sure Zelda was coming. Every second or two, an arrow or stone would pelt the ground around her, but Zelda didn't have time to worry about that. She would have to trust her steel shell.

Of course, the moment she thought it, she felt and heard one arrow ping off the back of her cuirass, but she felt no actual pain. A few seconds later, she passed the spot their archers had just been shooting from. One stone struck Koyin in the back of the girl's muscled thigh, but she only missed a half-step, then continued on.

There was one gap in the barricades ahead. Zelda skidded through it with the horde practically on her heels, and then it was slammed into place, locking into those next to it.

Panicked, wide-eyed soldiers and farmers stared at her. "Watch," she told them, and without looking, hit the detonation trigger.

Without looking, Zelda knew that this time, more than thirty Bokoblins and probably a couple of Moblins had died. The explosive power of the Maxibomb variation was immense, easily equal to twenty or more of her more typical explosives. She stood and turned to find a gap to peer through. By the time she did, the dust was mostly settling. A crater filled the path where their barricades had been. Likely, the corpse of that poor farmer was gone, erased from existence.

She felt a pang of pain for his family, but the more analytical part of her brain ran a quick count. Twenty-seven percent power, give or take. Wait, the Stasis. Twenty-five.

They still had a long way to go before this fight was over… but maybe, just maybe, they could make it. Another careful look down the hill as the second line's archers began to fire into the Bokoblin army told her that at last, the reinforcements had begun to slow. What they had hoped was three of four hundred had turned into something like seven… but at least a hundred had died already.

It would be harder to protect the higher barricades, but they were only there to delay anyway. Either way, they would make these monsters pay for every uphill step. Of that, she was certain.