CHAPTER 34 – We meet at last
One after the other, each of Simon's men came and fell in formation behind him. Then came Teba and Sylmoor. Everyone was eager to let out a long, overdue breath of relief. The war was finally over.
Simon spoke first before anyone could get any word in edgewise. "Well, your castle awaits, but I don't recommend venturing to the depths of its halls and chambers just yet, your highness. At least, not after my men have taken a thorough accounting of what has taken place here today.
"There may be some straggling villains lurking in its shadows that we have yet to discover. Soon, you will be home, and things will be as you remember them, your Majesty. I give you my word. My men do good work, and we will have the entire area cleared of all threats within the hour. Which reminds me—"
Zelda cut him off, eyes wide and worried. She nearly forgot. "Oh no!" The castle was the least of her concerns.
Everyone stood startled by her sudden change of disposition and fell to a hush. Her face went pale as if all the joy in the world was sapped from her very being.
Link staggered near her, still sore from his wounds. "What is it? Are you alright?"
"Yes..." she said solemnly. Her lips begun to quiver. A grave chill swept across her face and she paused, taking in a long breath before twirling to face him. "I'm fine… but what about Riju? This entire time she has been lying in torment. What if!?" What if since we've taken so long and this... wizard hasn't come yet, what if!?"
"She's alive! I promise you..." Link said, hands easing over her shoulders for a soothing calm.
"But, what if?" Zelda's eyes glistened with tears, on the verge of breaking down.
"She's strong, Zelda… just like you! And besides, the doctor said she had at least one more day in the bag. And if I know Riju, she has at least three more! She's a fighter." Link said confidently squeezing a fist up to his face for Riju's sake. "That doctor has no idea who he's dealing with! We mustn't lose hope. You least of all..."
Zelda wiped her cheeks, nodded her head, and addressed everyone else. "You're right… we must keep the faith. I will do my part and not lose heart. In the meantime, I would like to go to her now. It's where I belong. She needs me now more than ever. If that is alright with all of you? The rest of you may carry out the business that remains to be done here." She finished looking at Simon.
Link spoke. "I'll go with them; who knows what fiend may come their way if I—"
Zelda cut him off, this time thoroughly agitated by his carefree nature and his incessant need to champion every battle. "You will do no such thing! Isn't it enough already that you slew the beast? Let the others go. You have nothing to prove by getting yourself killed when an entire host of men here could carry out such orders."
"It's my sworn duty—"
"Sworn nothing! You have sworn to me, and I command that you fall back with me to the safety of camp. And for you, it's straight to the infirmary ward!" Zelda stomped. Her eyes burned with a worry that Link had only ever seen once before. That dreadful starless night. So long ago in the pouring rain, on the burning fields of Blatchery. And he hated to see such sadness in those eyes of hers. Because they were the tears he couldn't wipe away from her.
She continued. "And I have picked out just the bed for you. Right beside Riju. And...I don't want you getting up until she does. You will need all the rest and healing you can get. Am I clear?"
"Yeah, but... the others, what if, what if this witch—"
"No buts and no witch! Isn't that what you said? We aren't even sure there even is such a thing! For all you know, Malroc deceived you. Maybe he was just trying to crush your fighting spirit and get into your head. Have you considered that mister 'everyone needs my help, hero'?"
A stale vibe hung between them as their heated tit for tat lingered in the air in front of the others. None of the unlucky souls who witnessed it dared to interrupt. They knew all too well that it is never wise to cross a princess. Especially one that had such affection for her knight.
Sylmoor, on the other hand, fancied the show they put on. It was the most lighthearted entertainment he had had all day. A comical break to ease the sensory overload of war. Anything to alleviate his jitters. While his brother could only huff in annoyance by it all.
Link could only nod at her decision. She was right, after all. Even he noticed the obvious tremble in his walk and the sporadic pacing of his breaths. He was sore, wounded, and dead tired. So with that, he waited for her for when they should leave and head back to camp.
Zelda did a cursory smile at his relenting nod, but not before quickly addressing the others again. "Well, we shall be going. I thank you all for all you've done. We couldn't have done this without any of you."
Simon then coughed and spoke before either she or Link could depart. "Well, at least let us accompany you to the main road. Just to make sure your departure is a safe one. I mean, with him in his condition and all." Simon said, stepped back, and shrugged, implicating Link. "You will need all the protection you can get."
Link's ears twitched at the sleight against him, and he flexed where he stood. "And what condition is that, m'Lord?" The knight slowly turned from walking beside her to face him with a stern glare. "Because the way I see it, I have been doing just fine by my reckoning."
"Clearly..." Simon grimaced back, but something caught his eye from afar before their exchange could escalate. "Ah, so there she is!"
Link, Zelda, and everyone else was taken aback. They could only stand and stare at each other, bewildered by what he meant. What in the hell was he looking at?
Simon wasted no time and brushed past the Hylian pair and went straight for his prize. "There you are..." Simon said, kneeling down to the ground to reach for something hidden in a nook of the broken stone in the street, safely hidden by an overgrowth of weeds.
Eyeing his treasure, he chuckled a sarcastic laugh back at Link. "No doubt, lad. I have no doubt that you could have done all those great things you mention and more, especially while wielding this in your hands!" Simon finished, unleashing the mighty sword Link used in the battle, raising it up high to the sky for all to marvel. "Illucifarr!" He said, spinning gallantly to square eyes against Link once more. "I think you owe my family a bit of gratitude, lad. Wouldn't you say that your life would be forfeit right now if it were not for this blade?"
Zelda had enough of the cock dancing between the two of them. "And I say that if it weren't for Link here, all of our lives would have been forfeit! Including yours, Lord Simon!"
Link smugly smirked back at him before returning verbal jabs. "Keep your blade if it makes you feel warm and fuzzy. I have a better one..."
Simon gasped at his audacity while Sylmoor was about to pop with laughter. His hands plastered over his mouth to hold back the chuckles before his twin could scorn him next.
Link then faced Zelda. "I'm ready whenever you are, my princess."
Prince Sidon butted in before they could walk away. "Oh, and if you don't mind, Link, I'd like to help the others. There might be some truth to what you said earlier, and they might need all the able-bodies they can get?"
Link glanced at Zelda and then back to the mighty Zora. With a grin, he nodded.
Lord Simon didn't want them to have the last word before they left. "Hold on just a minute. I understand that your knight here is the 'most capable warrior' here, your highness, even in his blessed state, but we are heading that direction anyway. So, if it is no trouble, we shall all accompany you until the main road back opens up to us. Surely, we will see all the rest of the others clearly in view by then."
Zelda's eyes lit up. Of course! She nearly forgot. The adrenaline of battle must have scattered her thoughts of late. All the inner clans of lesser Hyrule had sent reinforcements of their own as well. Though smaller in force, they still made a stand barring the way for Ganon's remnants to flee. They would be almost near the city walls by now.
And just as the Red Prince was about to stand alongside the rest of the Hylians to embark on the sweeps within the castle, he paused forcefully. His face soured and his eyes went full alert.
Zelda and Link turned to face him but were stunned by his hesitation. A bead of sweat trailed down his face, and Zelda's gut pitted. Link took that as his cue to finger the hilt of his dagger to prepare for the worst.
Sidon waved both his hands outward, gesturing everyone to not make a move. "You hear that?"
"Hear what?" Replied Link.
The Zoras' keen sense of sound to hear even the subtlest changes in pitch and vibrations were unmatched. The slightest tremble in the ground or flicker in the current could awaken them. But, even with that, he wouldn't have to hold back the others' curiosity for long. In that instant, dim explosions rang off in the distance to the northwest, now audible to everyone.
Zelda's ears twitched, and her mouth dropped. "Wait a minute? I know that sound!"
"Explosions?" Link questioned.
"No, those horns alongside them! I know those trumpets, I'm certain."
Link's ears must have been still ringing from the battle, and he was still hard at hearing. All he could hear were booms off in the yonder. So, with some focus and a wipe of dust and ash from his lobes, he, too, heard their song.
Zelda had to be sure and immediately spun to face the crowd of soldiers behind Simon. "Taleran? Are you there? Please tell me he is alright?" Her face began to worry but was soon relieved to see that out of a huddle of men, the slender mustached man came walking out, relatively unharmed.
Zelda let out a sigh of relief.
"Yes, my princess?" The man asked with a tilt of the head.
"Those trumpets and canons? Are they what I think they are?" Zelda asked, finger pointing to the empty air for him to take a listen.
The man's face glowed like a candle on a moonless night. "They are! So, you do remember, your highness! Splendid news."
"How could I not? One can go deaf just being ten leagues away from them. I could never forget those horns." she mused with a giggle.
"Too true, your grace!"
When Simon heard these words, he unfolded his arms, now understanding the answer to the riddle. On the other hand, Link still had no idea what anyone was talking about. Trumpets? Cannon fire? What does it all mean?
Teba also jumped to attention, and with a gust of wind, he shot up skyward to have a better look while the others discussed the situation. It didn't take long, and Teba shouted to confirm their suspicions with his telescopic eyesight. "Ships on the river! Three of them on the move! They are firing upon remnants of Ganon! And now they are coming upon the moat!"
Simon huffed and crossed his arms. "Well about bloody time they show up! Better late than never I suppose."
Delighted by the revelation, Taleran continued speaking with the princess. "This is good news, your highness! It means that the banner-men under the House of Tarble have finally arrived. Surely, they are cutting off what remains of the snake's tail. That is, if any filth dared to try and escape. They won't get far now. Not with my lady's Seascape Rangers on patrol!"
Taleran extended both hands to hold the princess's in his in a congratulatory gesture and continued. "And that also means that my lady has come with them. At last she is here!"
"Oh, she is with them?" Zelda's face beamed at the mention.
"Well, I would hope so! That is her ship there leading on the horizon! There, just coming into view. The large and beautiful one to the front! With the clean marshmallow sails!" Taleran pointed beside her, past the broken castle walls and to the moat wrapped around the castle. Where the river meets the city. "You see it?"
"I do! And what a marvelous one it is at that."
"The Tetra! That's her name!"
Zelda's face lit up with wonder. Eager like that of a bright-eyed child upon a new discovery.
"You won't find a faster vessel in all the Hyrulean fleet! That I can promise you!"
"Really?"
"Nor a ship more grand! That one there is legendary, you know? The last of its kind, and yet for its age and weathered face, it has outlasted and out-winded any other ship in any armada. Ours or any other kingdom, for that matter. She is not only made of wood, planks, bindings, and the common rivets you would find in any ordinary ship. For her very bones have been forged by the ancient Crystalline magic of Dwarves.
"Blessed Hylian ore smelted to be one with Deku cedar. Reinforced and bound, her swift aerodynamics were made to be second to none. An architectural feat that could have only been imagined by a people near to the gods. Strong but light. Large, yet nimble as a fish."
"For the skill to craft such a mighty vessel had long vanished to the passing of time. For the legendary Dwarven smiths ordained by Hylia herself who worked such exquisite treasures haven't existed in over an age. Not since a time when the Holy order of KNIGHTs lived. Back when the world was young, when the days were shorter and the nights were longer. Where beasts freely roamed, and the undiscovered areas of this world had yet to be ink on a map.
"Not even the mighty Gorons could replicate what the Dwarves have done. And they learned a lot from what they left behind. They did well to try, but even still, since the ancients have departed this world, their secrets died along with them, never to be harnessed again. And with that your grace, the working of Crystalline and other precious things hidden in this earth are nothing more than a lost art."
"Fascinating! I should like to board it myself one day after things settle down. To study it, if it isn't any trouble."
"It is no trouble at all, your highness; by all means, she's technically your ship. Though she has been in the care of House Tarble for these past many years, when it comes down to it, all that lies within the realm of Hyrule is your dominion."
Zelda turned and beamed at him. "Even still, I would like to have her blessing before I even think about taking her best ship out of service for a field study. And speaking of your liege, I am delighted to finally meet your Lady of the Lake. I have no doubt that she is all that you say she is. For you have been very gracious and kind, my lord. Your soldiers as well. Hyrule is in yours and her debt."
After she expressed those sentiments, everyone gazed at the city's outskirts. Ships and the remaining masses of other clans had encircled the city's edge. Whether they be Goron, Rito, Gerudo, Shiekah, or Hylian. All who cherished this golden land answered the call to its plight.
Zelda exclaimed, full of joy at their sight of them, ready to begin anew. "So, they really did all come!" And with a sigh of relief, she faced Simon. "Yes, m'lord. Your company may join us along the roads until they split, and after that—"
Suddenly, a racket rustled loudly behind a crumbling building sitting near them, interrupting her, right at the edge of the desolate road where they were standing.
Zelda spun away from the noise that foraged behind her, and she turned her back alongside the safety of others. Immediately, every soldier lunged in front of her to guard her flank, Link leading them.
The entire group slowly crept around the decrepit farmstead to investigate, and they were met by a startling surprise. It was a silver bokoblin of all things.
The monster lay in anguish, gravely wounded and choking on its blood. The beast thrashed around and mumbled to itself in that same disgusting language that clawed at Zelda's ears like nails digging into stone. The slapping of their ill tongues speaking in Mandragian mortified her and made her physically sick to her gut.
All the men unsheathed their weapons and held their ground. But, before anyone could understand or wonder why the monster continuously argued with itself and laughed devilishly even as it bled out to its inevitable death, a spear whistled through the air and impaled it, surprising everyone. The monster was now dead, and all its secrets along with it.
Link spun to confront the renegade soldier who took matters into his own hands. But, it wasn't any mere soldier. It was Simon himself! Astonished that he would act out on impulse, everyone turned and saw him, still poised and fixed in his lance lunging position.
Link chastised Simon. "Well then, now that he is dead, what do you suppose he was doing? Now we shall never know." Turning to Zelda, he continued to see if she had any thoughts on the matter. His temper subsiding. "It looked like it was rehearsing some sort of evil enchantment."
Zelda raised her fist to her lips with worry and replied. "I, for one, have no idea… it's bizarre, to be certain. There's no telling what malevolence that thing could have been conjuring up—"
"It was nothing! You're all overthinking things." Simon interrupted. "The beast was saying absolutely nothing! They were just the ramblings of a dying cretin, I assure you. Those creatures aren't intelligent enough to string together any real thoughts—"
"That's not what he said, you ignorant buffoon." Suddenly and out of nowhere, a new voice spoke and towered over them all.
With astonished eyes, Link, Zelda, Simon, Sylmoor, Sidon, Teba, and the others scanned the perimeter but couldn't discern where the voicing sentiment came from. It was deep, stern, yet it seemed to blow in a wispy breeze around them.
"Your intuition is as bad as your fighting..." It spoke again, filling the entire arena before collecting and focusing on an isolated position from a single direction. "You would know that if you spent a little more time learning and a little less time sword playing. In fact, this whole war could have been avoided if you people had just reviewed the ancient texts instead of marching off blindly into the night."
And as quickly as the new voice trumpeted, a man appeared from behind a nearby wall on higher ground overlooking them. He came from what seemed out of nowhere. Clothed in a gray robe, he strolled elegantly down the crumbling bridge that led to them. From a long span that connected the castle's outer holds to the heart of the city.
By Zelda's guess, he seemed to be in his mid-twenties, and the first thing she noticed was his silvery hair. And in the sparkling sunlight, it would shimmer white as snow.
As Zelda got a closer look at him, she saw that his face was stoic, clean-shaven and he had a mild, yet regal handsomeness to him. In addition, he possessed the most phantasmal set of wise, old eyes of the brightest green she had ever seen. Whether they were for good or ill, she couldn't tell yet.
On second thought, as she cupped her chin in evaluation, it really didn't make sense to her at all. He was clearly in his early adulthood. But, her intrigues would have to wait for now. Who is this man? That's what she wanted to know.
"Forgive my introduction and the late hour of my arrival, your Majesty. I am the one whom you summoned." The man finished with a long and formal bow.
Simon blurted, interrupting the gracefulness of his arrival. "Oh really, it's about time you showed up! Most convenient too, now that the danger has passed!" The man huffed again in annoyance. "So you're the wizard we've been waiting on edge for! Well then... Why don't you enlighten us mere mortals on the importance of what a stinking creature such as that would have to say? Since you are so wise and more clever than the rest of us."
"Certainly." The man replied, not skipping a beat or intimidated by the prancing Lord. The fellow then waltzed over to their midst, stared at the dead monster, waited a moment while clenching his robe, and then back to all their captured attention. "When the beast spoke, he said… 'It's you… he's coming… he is coming… there is nothing you can do, he is coming. You are all going to…' " the wizard breathed and paused.
Simon couldn't take the suspense. "Yes? Going to what? Out with it, man!"
The sagely young man glanced around at the surrounding scenery to marvel at what had happened. The city was a ruin, and the castle was in decay. After staring at the worn steps of the cobblestone streets, past the crumbling ruins of scattered buildings or what was left of them, his eyes met Zelda's gaze, which was glued to him. And with a faint whisper, he finished. "...die."
Simon stomped, but one of his men tried to restrain him before his temper got the best of him. It was no use. The poor soul was swiftly met with a firm elbow to the rib. "And what in goddess's name do you suppose that means, Mister Wizard!?"
And after a brief moment of thinking it over and letting the fester of not knowing stew over in Simon's mind, the wizard replied. "I haven't the foggiest idea. I'm sure it is nothing." He said incredulously before turning his gaze from Zelda, who was fixed on him, back to Simon. "What was it that you said earlier again? 'The ramblings of a dying man,' as it were? I'm sure they were just the death throes and cries of a doomed creature."
"Enough of your sleight of hand, magician! Where are my men?"
"Who?"
"You know who! The ones who escorted you here! Don't play dumb with me!"
"Ah yes, them… Hyrule's finest." He said mockingly.
Simon had it up to his ears with the man's toying, and just as he was about to snap, the wizard responded, pointing with his hand to the direction of the timely arrival of his men. As if he always expected them to be there all along at that precise moment. "They are fine… mostly..."
One by one, each of the horsemen made an entrance into view. Nine Starsguard elite soldiers atop fine stallions. All came marching along the dusty main road that led to them.
Simon interrogated further. "Ten sent for you. Where is my lost man?"
And in that instant, when he asked those things of the stranger before them, the silver bokoblin that was presumably deceased reanimated violently with all the vigor and hatred of life. Even with the lance stuck into its gut, the beast had clawed back from the jaws of death and wailed. And in its rage, the beast charged straight for Zelda. The pole still stuck inside it, determined to take out the princess with its last breath.
The princess froze; everything was happening so fast. Link instinctively flanked to guard her right and Sidon to her left. Everyone braced for what the raving bokoblin would do. The monster was storming straight for them. But in short work, the stranger among them stepped forward in front and between them, barring the way for the beast. In no time at all, he twirled his arms in the air and took matters into his own hands.
Zelda was spellbound and glued to his movements. She wasn't the only one. Everyone was perplexed by what they were seeing. As the man's hands danced above his head and spiraled in the air, he unleashed a shimmering halo of ethereal energy from his fingertips. A gust of statically charged air hummed in their ears and then flashed. They opened their eyes, and it was over. The beast had no hope. The wizard flung an unknown circling magic to swallow up the foul beast in a blink of an eye.
The monster had vanished without a trace...
Authors Notes- More to come soon. Thanks for reading everyone. Let me know your thoughts and as always, leave a comment and tell me your thoughts, it really helps me a lot! You have no idea. Stay well wherever you are in Hyrule- Sky