Chapter 35: Trampled Beneath the Powerful
Nabooru woke with a smile to the sound of half her tentmates, already up and about. Each preparing for the coming battle in their own way. Caeiti sat on her blankets staring off into nothing. Makeela had half her armor on already. Mulli prayed. Each of them worried for what was to come. Caeiti would never say it, and Makeela would deny with every word. But they all found battle terrifying. They worried about their death, or the death of their sisters.
But to Nabooru, battles meant being alive. The time to let go of everything, all considerations all responsibilities. Once the arrows sang and spears clashed nothing mattered but the blades. The only time she felt close to as comfortable as when she was in battle was... was with Jora.
And now was not the time to think about him.
Once she had her equipment set and checked, she woke the last of her tent-mates and led them into the campgrounds. She breathed deep of the cold crisp mountain air. It stung her lungs like breathing a sandstorm. It was strange, camping within the Goron Tunnels had been hot as a desert day, and the air felt heavy with dust. But as soon as they stepped outside, climbing the mountain was chilly. Many of her sisters took to wrapping their sleeping blankets around them through the march. Nabs attempted to tough it out the first day, but by the second she joined them.
But today? Her blood ran hot.
Some of her warriors already waited, beginning to form their lines. But she'd beaten the majority. Good. A leader should be an example for the rest. A handful waiting for her was nothing, but if she was the last that would be unforgivable.
Once they left their tents, Bethmasse disappeared. Nabs thought nothing of it as she prepared with her soldiers. Until a few moments later she returned, behind her that little voe she called a squire followed. In his hands he held most of Bethmasse's weapons, all far too large for him. She half expected him to topple over. He almost did, though he caught himself before dropping anything.
Nabs groaned. This was not a problem she wished to deal with today, but it looked as though she'd have to. "Makeela, Caeiti, its time. Go rouse those still sleeping. Have the camphands bring breakfast only to those who are in formation."
"Of course, commander," Makeela said as the other nodded.
The pair went to their duties, as Nabooru headed toward Bethe and the voe.
"You stay close to me," Bethe said in her broken Hylian. "Battle dangerous, you keep you head."
The boy was nodding, his jaw set. No fear in his eyes, the fool.
"I shout, 'axe,' 'mace', 'sword,' you hand to me. Then you step back."
"No," Nabooru said as she approached the pair.
"Is there a problem, Nabs?" She went back to the Gerudo tongue.
"You're not taking him into battle."
Bathmasse looked confused. "He is my squire. Children his age ride into battle with their knights. They bear weapons and attend to their master. Just as he will do for me."
"You're not a knight, and he doesn't have a horse."
"I can get him one."
"How do we know he can even ride the thing?"
"I can ride!" the boy said, his Gerudo was getting much better, she had to give the boy that.
"See?" Bethe smiled proud. "The boy said he can ride. I do not see the problem, sister. You were about his age the first time you rode into battle. I killed my first man only a year older."
"We didn't have a choice."
"I've already fought Lizalfos!"
Nabooru shook her head before she locked eyes with the child. "I am not having another child's blood on my hands."
"But I can fight! I've been practicing. You've seen me. I'm good. You know I'm good."
"And Ganondorf pummeled you without even trying," she said. Omitting that the king could do the same to half the warriors in the army. The last thing the boy needed was to think himself comparable to a grown warrior.
"But I want to fight."
"He wants to fight, Nabs."
"Well, last night I wanted a warm meal, and a comfortable bed. Instead, I slept in a tent with six other freezing vai. So you, voe, are going to stay away from the battle and with the supplies."
The boy opened his mouth to argue but closed it after a moment. Which may have been the only sensible thing he'd done since she'd known him. She'd found him after he picked a fight with Lizalfos, lucky to be alive by the state of his clothes. He attempted to assassinate Ganondorf before his own army. And for some reason, he still followed Bethmasse around like a trained puppy.
He was, as far as Nabs was concerned, the most suicidally stupid child she had ever laid eyes upon. So of course, she liked him a great deal.
"Listen," she knelt before him. "Battles are… well they're glorious. I can remember every single one I've fought. I can remember every time the push of spears shifted to our side or against us. Every victory that made us sing. But I also remember every one of my sisters that died in my arms. I remember a lance running me through. I remember not knowing if I was going to live or die. Pain that you better pray you'll never face yourself."
The boy nodded as he listened, but could he understand?
"So here is your task. I won't bring you into the thick of battle. But you are now guard and protector of the supply chain. If any of the lizards get around us, you're our last line of defense. Understand?"
"Yes!" he said, wide eyed. His mind must be running wild with the thought of a chance to prove himself. Let him have it, the Lizalfos would not be anywhere near the supply lines. He'd be safe, and what child doesn't want to think of themselves as a potential hero? She had that same dream more times than she could count.
Had she lived up to them?
Bah, thoughts for children. She was a soldier. That was enough. "Keep your sword sharp and ready. When the battle is over, we'll swap stories about what we did."
Bethe gave some last instructions for the voe, before they left him behind and headed for their horses. Ganondorf had divided the army in half and half again. He would lead one part, the rest he gave to his most trusted lieutenants, Nabooru of course, with Bethe and Dessi. Both choices Nabs supported. But that didn't mean she agreed on the pair with everything. Even as great a warrior as Bethe could be inflexible.
"You are getting soft." Bethe said once they were well out of earshot of the boy.
"Because I don't want a child running into a battle?"
"He is old enough. Walk through the ranks, you'll find many as young as him. Perhaps younger."
"But I shouldn't. Besides we're Gerudo, we're born to hardship."
"You've seen how I've trained him. What hardship has he not born?"
"That you've run him ragged is more reason he shouldn't join the battle. He's exhausted."
"We've only worked on technique and reactions since we left the tunnels. He's rested. And he's more prepared to survive a battle than half the new recruits. Name me one other who could endure what I put him through. Especially at his age."
"Gan."
"Then you see it too. That little voe is special. He'll join a battle soon enough. What better one, than a fight we cannot lose?" She glanced about to make certain no one could hear. "A war where we control both sides."
She had a point, sands take her. "I can't change my mind now."
"Of course, you are still the commander. You gave an order, my squire will obey. But keep that in mind when we face the Octorok or the Moblins. Let him see war firsthand, but safely."
"I'll think on it."
They reached the makeshift fence that the Gerudo set up each night for their horses. The horsemasters preparing each of the animals for the battle. Her own mount had already been saddled and fed.
Nabooru pet her new courser, Honeyhoof. A strong and fast mare that Jora gifted her in the days after the Sun Festival. After he learned she lost Mouse to the desert. A well-bred beast, raised in planes rather than the desert. She'd never ridden a Hylian horse before. She expected Honeyhoof to behave much like Gan's Storm. A violent destrier who hated when anyone but Gan touched him, bred to hold all that weight of a knight's armor. But Honeyhoof had been a pleasant surprise, fleet and good tempered. As yet untested how'd she fare beneath the desert sun. But they weren't fighting in the desert were they?
"Do well today," Nabs whispered as she pet the animal's neck, "and I'll make certain you can eat every sweet thing we have tonight. Good?"
The horse didn't make much of a reaction to that, but then horses rarely did. She pulled herself onto the saddle and rode out with Bethe. Passing the line of tents toward the outer edge of the campsite. They reminisced on past battles and old glories, until they reached the night's sentries. Sitting around the embers of a fire.
One of them waved as Nabooru and Bethe rode past. "No signs of Lizalfos," she called.
"Good," Nabooru waved back. Of course, there were no signs of the Lizalfos. There was no plan for a raid, and even if there had been from this direction they would have to fight through-
Nabooru pulled at her reins and made the horse stop. For a moment she stared out over the empty land before her. "Where are the Gorons?"
She did not expect Bethe to have an answer. But the massive vai jumped from her horse, grabbed one of the sentries and pulled her to Nabooru.
"Where are the Gorons?" Nabooru asked again, as Bethe pushed the soldier to her knees.
"They left," the sentry said, as she tried to keep some bit of her dignity. She was a little older than Nabooru, by the look of her. And a veteran, by the scar on her nose.
"I can see that! Where did they go?"
"Toward the Crown." She pointed as if it was possible to not know where the top of the mountain lay.
"And you didn't think to tell anyone?" Nabooru shouted.
"I thought-" she said. "I mean, the Goron Chief- he came to us and- and well- he told us-"
"Spit it out!"
"He came by! To several of the fires. He told us he wished to make certain we were prepared before he left. He said the plans had changed, and he would lead his army ahead to act as the vanguard." She looked to her feet, trying to avoid Nabooru's gaze, shamed at her own stupidity. "He was friendly."
"And you didn't think it odd no one informed you!"
"We-" the sentry was almost a puddle of her own failure. "We joked about how poor the communication was. I've served before, Commander Nabooru. I've seen how orders can get lost before and during a battle. That was why he checked up on us."
"Bethe," Nabooru snarled. "Find Gan, tell him what's going on."
"And you?"
"I've got to go find a missing army." She spurred her new horse forward over the cold mountainside.
Even blinded by rage, the Gorons were not hard to follow. They stomped craters into the ground where they marched and tore up the land in great streaks where they rolled. Nabooru expected them to turn coward or have some devious plot. If she followed their tracks far enough, they'd lead back down the mountainside or lay an ambush.
But her path never wavered in its steady climb to the top.
Then why leave in the middle of the night? Why put themselves in greater risk? That had been the point of the plan. The Gerudo move first, take the right flank for themselves in what would seem the more dangerous position. But one that provided them more room to maneuver as they saw fit.
The Gorons abandoning them or betraying them, well that she could understand. But why do all this if they still headed to battle?
What is going on? Nabs grit her teeth so hard her jaw hurt.
She heard the army far earlier than she saw them. What few trees lived on the side of the mountain shook as they passed. They must have moved slow and careful to get away from the Gerudo without waking the entire camp. That required coordination! Forethought! How long did the Gorons plan this?
Her outrage festered until she reached the Goron rearguard. She tried to find an officer, but could not tell the leaders from the common soldiers. What little armor they wore was patchwork, and they did not move in even lines. Preferring a loose jumble of stonemen that happened to march in the same direction. She chose the tallest of those nearby. "You! Goron!"
The stoneman turned to her, snorted and gave a brief nod. "Gerudo."
"Do you know who I am?"
"You're a Gerudo," he shrugged. "I cannot tell you apart."
"I am Commander Nabooru, and I demand you bring me to your Chief."
Again the Goron shrugged. "Chief told me to guard the rear. Can't leave."
"Then just tell me where he is, curse you!"
He pointed forward. "At the front, where else?"
"Sands take your entire army." She spurred Honeyhoof forward through the disorganized tangle. If she had been their commander the entire rearguard would face punishment. They even had gaps, as the Gorons seemed to avoid getting close to a series of wagons filled with black pots.
With such terrible organization, how slow would they be to respond to a Lizalfos ambush? Or did they trust their stonelike hide to protect them against all enemies?
Halfwits. The lot of them.
True to his rearguard's word, Chief Darunia led the procession. No armor, but a hammer shaped from steel and stone resting on his shoulder. The weapon looked heavy enough to crush a knight if Darunia dropped it.
"Darunia!" she shouted as soon as she recognized him, though she was still a good distance away. "Darunia! Turn around, you oversized piece of granite!"
One of the chief's personal guard tensed. He started to turn and face her before Darunia clapped him on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Then Darunia looked around with a large smile plastered on his face. "Ahh, commander, I did not expect-"
"What are you doing?" she screamed. She could not wait for her horse to stop before she leaped from the saddle. She landed before the Goron chief, her hand resting upon her sword.
"You sound angry," he said in his slow gravelly voice.
"Of course, I'm angry. This wasn't the plan!"
"Plans change. This is my home, my land. And your master wished to ride ahead of me, to place his own army to defend the Crown? No. This is for the honor of the Gorons. My honor. It must be Gorons who endure the calamities of the battle. Gorons who first enter our holy places. How can our own sacrifices be any less?"
"Honor? You're speaking about honor now? Where was this talk three days ago? You're turning everything around. Where is the honor in lying to your allies?"
"I suppose that would be dishonorable, wouldn't it?" His smile faltered. Had she gotten through to him? But his eyes did not show regret or understanding, but rage. In a moment, his smile returned wider than ever. "Your master willing took a great risk for my people, and that earned him my deepest gratitude. But he places too much burden on himself. I am Chief Darunia, my ancestor won our title by besting a mighty dragon. With only his might and the strength of his hammer - my hammer." He hefted the weapon from his shoulder, as big as Gan's sword and the Goron wielded it with equal ease. "How can I call myself chief, if I ask my allies to do what I will not? If I place the burden of defending my lands upon others?"
"By putting the safety of your people above yourself!" She did not need to listen to this rock's response to see he was not convinced. "Where did this even come from? What changed from leaving your tunnels to now?"
"Nothing's changed. It is only, you and your chief talk too fast. Make plans so quick. Hard for me to think straight."
Nabs ground her teeth together, and took a deep breath through her nose. It had been a joke told for years that Gorons were as stupid as the rocks they ate. She had always thought those stories were exaggerations, but by the Goddesses! Could Darunia – their leader – not realize how insane this was? "Do you have any idea, what damage you've caused?"
"I warned your people before I left," he raised his hand in indignation. "We don't mean harm, but I will defend the Crown myself. There is a new weapon I am keen to use."
"You can't- just-" but what more was there to say? He could do whatever he willed, and had. And even if she could convince him of his folly, she could not turn the army around. Their lines would cross and muddle up, they'd delay the battle by half a day or more. And during that time the Lizalfos would attack the Crown. If they won, they'd overrun it and kill the innocents inside. If they lost without Ganondorf's aid there would be no way to get the treasure he wanted within.
What if Gan delayed them? He could send another message to stop the battle before it started. But then even someone as stupid as these Gorons must suspect something.
"Ahhhhh!" she screamed and kicked at the dirt, sending a large stone rolling down the side of the mountain.
"There is no reason to be angry."
"Shut up," she hissed as she kicked at the ground one more time. For the first time since she jumped from her horse, the Gorons around her went silent.
"That is our chief," said the Goron that Darunia spoke to earlier. "You do not tell our chief to be silent." The guard stretched and brought a massive spiked cudgel forward.
"You put that maul back on your shoulder, before I use it to bash that pebble you call a brain in."
The guard's eyes narrowed, and Nabooru realized just how surrounded she was. Why had she decided to ride off? How many Gorons could she take alone? Three? Perhaps as many as five if they were stupid enough to attack her one by one.
Somehow, she didn't think even Gorons were that stupid.
Brilliant, Nabs, well done. Wonderful way to get yourself killed. Her hand found the hilt of her sword.
The Goron growled, lifted his weapon high.
Nabooru's sword glided out of its sheath, and she snarled at him.
The Goron roared and stepped toward her. This was it! Her heart pounded, this was battle! Let it begin.
"Amoto," Darunia stepped between the two warriors. "The Gerudo is right. I should have been more clear to our allies."
"But she is disrespectful, my chief! She should be punished."
"She is also Ganondorf's favored. You kill her, I'll have to explain to him what happened. And he may get angry, who knows maybe he'll side with lizards against us, ehh?" He looked over to Nabooru. "That is joke."
"Not a funny one."
"Go back to your master. Tell him what I am doing. I wish no bad blood between us, but I will be the first to defend the Crown. This is my home, and I have my honor to maintain."
"Honor," she hissed and sheathed her blade. "When the battle is over, we are going to talk again, Darunia."
"Chief Darunia," the bearded Goron smiled at her again. "I shall enjoy our next meeting, Commander Nabooru."
Not trusting herself to say another word, she found Honeyhoof and pulled herself into the saddle. She spurred the horse, far harder than she needed to, judging by the way the horse lurched forward.
"I'll give you an apple," she shouted as they descended back down the mountain. "Sorry." Why? She didn't know, the dumb animal didn't understand what she was saying. It would likely forget that she had hurt it by the time it got the apples. But she needed to scream at something!
Or fight something! This battle couldn't start soon enough. She needed to tear something's head off!
"Out of my way!" she shouted as she maneuvered her horse through the Gorons. She managed to contain herself to some petty insults and growls as she rode through the army.
"You find him?" the Goron that gave her directions said as she passed him by. It took all her effort not to curse at him as she left without a word.
She fumed until she was well away from the army, maybe a quarter mile or more. Then she took a deep freezing breath and roared. Letting out as much of her wrath as she could get. Three more times she screamed into the frigid air before she caught sight of her own people. And she almost felt calm- or at least, calm enough to form coherent sentences.
Gan led the army, in his black armor on his black horse. Bethe and Dessi flanked him, armored and ready for battle.
"Nabs," Gan said as they drew close, then he sighed. "Please tell me you didn't kill anyone."
"No! But I should have!"
"What is happening?"
"That stone-munching halfwit decided that he wanted to take the position closest to the Crown, for himself. Said some nonsense about personal honor and some new weapon. I don't know- I was so angry."
"Yes, I can see that."
"We heard it, too," Dessi said with her annoying smirk that Nabs just wanted to wipe off her smug face. "Your voice carries, you know."
"Not now, Desquesza." She looked to Gan. "What are we going to do?"
"We can't turn the entire flank of the army as we'd hoped," he said. "We will need to…" he made a low rumbling noise in his throat, almost a growl, as he thought. "Perhaps it… no."
"The goal is still to get the Gorons that are dug in at the Crown to leave their position and run out, right?" Desquesza said.
"Yes," Gan said. "But they will only do that if they think it necessary to save their chief."
"So how do we endanger their chief?" Bethe said. "In a way that the other Gorons will notice?"
"I don't suppose we can't just do the retreat from our side?" Dessi said.
"No," Gan said. "The left will be more enclosed, harder to maneuver, but easier to stand their ground."
"That was the whole point of the plan," Nabooru said. "Put the Gorons in a position where it would seem perilous to every onlooker but result in few casualties. That honor-crazed rock-brained idiot ruined it."
"Then clever tricks have failed," Bethe said with a shrug. "Eventually one must use a hammer to beat in a nail."
"What are you thinking, Bethe?" Ganondorf said.
"You tried to set this up as safe as possible. The Gorons betrayed us, what happens to them is now on their heads. Tell King Dodongo to send everything he has at the Gorons. If we cannot use tricks to make them look in peril, then they must simply be in peril."
"That would kill hundreds, maybe thousands more than we wanted!" Nabooru protested.
"Their deaths will be on their chief's head."
Desquesza looked between Nabs and Gan before she shrugged. "I don't have a better plan, do you?"
"No," Ganondorf said.
"Gan," Nabooru whispered, as angry as she was, as much as she may rage or scream her desire for blood. These were innocents they were condemning. "Perhaps there's another way to get to the Ruby. Maybe we could sneak in at night. Or ask for it as a reward after the battle. Something."
Gan sighed, his expression did not look angry, not that deep well of wrath she'd seen behind his eyes since they were children. Nor did he look sad at the weight of these terrible decisions. If anything he just looked tired. "Nabooru, I'm leaving the army under your command. Bring us to the left flank, set the lines in a strong defense. See for yourself if there is enough room to maneuver our cavalry, if not, I want everyone to dismount. We will need to look like we're preparing for a deep defensive battle."
"And where are you going?"
"I have to inform King Dodongo of our change of plans. He will have many Gorons to fight through."
And that was it. From one chief's stupid honor and another king's plots, who knows how many would die.
"Cheer up, Nabs," Desquesza said as she maneuvered her horse beside Honeyhoof. "There'll be a battle today, you always enjoy those."