literature

LOZ:Twilight Princess:40:P2 Rev

Deviation Actions

Stephonika-W-Kaye's avatar
Published:
6.8K Views

Literature Text

----Chapter 40: Through the Barrier PART 2


A soft caress awoke Link to the night; he had been so tired that he could have sworn he had just fallen asleep.  He blinked back the tiredness and focused on the mug he still clasped in his lap.  The milk had not yet gone completely cold, so his intuition likely proved true, that he had not slept for long.  He pulled his feet down from their perch and pulled himself up straighter in his chair, looking up to see that it was Rusl who had stirred him from his rest.

"The evacuation is nearly complete.  It will be time to move soon," he informed.  He had adorned his full armor, the attire Link had seen him wear when first meeting the Group.

Link heaved a deep breath, pushing out the remainder of his sleep.  He gathered himself up from his seat, set his mug down on the mantel, and started for his gear.  

"Wait, Link," said Rusl, and Link turned a curious eye to him.  "I have something to show you first."

Interested but a little confused, Link followed him as he led the way upstairs.  Link tossed a glance toward the other room as they went and realized that Auru and Ashei were missing from the bar.  He asked their whereabouts of Rusl as they made their way down the creaking floorboards of the upstairs hallway.

"Auru and Ashei went to deliver your message," he said.

"Message?"

"That you will bring down the barrier once the citizens are evacuated."  Link nodded at the memory as the blacksmith continued, "And once Auru has the general's assurances to work with us, he will return while Ashei stays behind to make sure the general keeps his word."  He winked back at Link at the last part, and Link knew that if anyone could keep a man like this general in line it would be the very abrasive Ashei.

Behind Rusl, Link stepped into the room in which he had spent several occasions resting and recuperating after hard journeys.  The room looked very much the same, save for one addition.  Rusl brought fire to the few sconces on the walls so that Link could see better.  Distributed over a figure before the window was a collection of fine, golden armor.  It was an ornate design, but the pieces that made up its grandeur were sparse, as if the suit had only been halfway completed.  He looked to Rusl, a question in his eyes.

The older man smiled, with arms crossed.  "A blacksmith doesn't only make weapons."  He watched as Link turned back to the armor and took a few steps forward to touch the opal jewel embossed in the breastplate.  "It's light as a quill, but stronger than most steel."

Link ran his fingers over the designs of the plate of armor, allowed his fingers to follow the curls and loops and turns of their image.  Staring at the armor, he realized again that the battle ahead may yet prove to be the last time he took up arms.  His lips gathered in tight consideration.  Rusl stepped up to him after the long silence and suggested he try it on.  Link accepted, and as Rusl went about removing the pieces from the figure, he directed Link to a basin of water set atop the dresser.  Link graciously used the cloth provided to cleanse his face of the blood that had dried there from his encounter with the twilit keese.  Though the water was barely warm, just the touch of the liquid against his skin revitalized him, perhaps even more so than his nap had.

Once Link had washed as best he could, he untied his cloak and through it up over the mirror at the dresser.  Rusl then set about fastening the beautifully crafted breastplate over his chest.  After, Rusl worked to tighten the other pieces against his body.  He strapped on pauldrons, to protect his upper arms and shoulders; next were delicately designed vambraces, of which Link only accepted one to replace the hard leather on his left arm.  His right arm he wished to remain unguarded for better use of his shield.  After his upper body had been protected, Rusl went to work with lacing a golden greave and solaret against each of his boots.  Their whitened gold embellishments made the metal shine.  Lastly, were poleynes that rested perfectly over his knees.

When Rusl had finished, Link looked himself over, shifting his weight this way and that and bending his torso and arms.  He found the armor was indeed light and surprisingly easy to move in given that the pauldrons made his shoulders seem much broader.  He made only one adjustment, pulling the burgundy straps of his vambrace tighter against his forearm.  Rusl yanked on his left pauldron at the armpit as if to give his seal of approval that the armor suited him perfectly.  He passed Link an admiring grin.

"Well, it's quite modest, but it should do the trick," they heard from behind them.  Spinning to meet the voice, they saw Midna floating in midair with a set of fingers stroking her chin, considering.

Link was not sure whether she was poking fun at the richness of its golden shine and embellishments or bringing light to the fact his new armor looked incomplete as it barely covered him, but it brought a smile to his face.  He was relieved to know that even through the recent pain and sorrows she had been forced to endure, she had not lost her fiery spunk.

Rusl exchanged his glance between the two of them, watching how they seemed to converse without words.  He could see the emotion within each of them, and he finally understood the complexity of their kinship in those moments.  Whatever hardships they had faced before and after he had first met the impish creature, it was clear that their time together had solidified a great and unbreakable bond.

They heard a creak and click from downstairs and then the rustling of voices, and they sensed Auru's return.  Rusl excused himself from the room and made his way downstairs.  Link turned to clutch his cloak but paused momentarily to look over his body in the mirror.  He shook loose of his thoughts then, thoughts of bitter finality, and swept the mantle back over his shoulders as he followed after the blacksmith.

When Link stopped at the final step, looking into the bar past Telma's counter to the right, silence overtook the room.  Auru indeed had returned and had been talking with Rusl and Telma before he heard the squeaking of the stairs.  He looked over Link's new appearance with a grim yet supportive expression.  Then their eyes met.

It was time.

===============

As a unit the four of them walked up the southern thoroughfare of Castle Town.  Rusl and Auru led the way, both holding fast to the weapons sheathed at their sides.  Link stepped along in their wake with Shad to his left.  He tossed a quiet glance at the bookworm to find him adjusting the belt that hung awkwardly against his hip.  This sight only reinforced the decision Link had made.  If this man were to enter battle, there was no telling in how many pieces he would exit.

Link turned his eyes back to the road, his mind working on how to escape his entourage.  Yet, as they poured into the main plaza, there was still no avenue to which Link could turn.  As they came upon the guards at the castle's main portcullis, Link noticed that the number of soldiers had multiplied with the absence of the population.  

They made their way up the tiered stones to reach the open gate hanging loosely on its hinges above the archway.  A soldier tipped his spear toward them, halting them in their tracks.  "All entry is strictly prohibited right now.  I must ask you to go back!"

Auru and Rusl explained the situation, gesturing to Link as the young warrior looked beyond the hindrance.  He took in everything and analyzed the resources available to him.  His options were thinning and time was running out to think up a plan that would bar them entrance to the castle while still allowing himself to progress.  His eyes darted from the gates to the inner rows of pillars which ascended along with the inclining stone passage, ending in yet another gate house.  He turned to the soldiers who stood among tools that had been broken in the attempts to break through the barrier by conventional means.

The guard finally allowed their admittance and shouted behind him, alerting a tall figure inside.  This was the man of whom the Group had spoken, the general of the princess's army.  Helmet resting under an armpit, he turned his brown-bearded, square-jawed face to them.  His dark, judging eyes instantly befell Link as the Group approached.  Ashei appeared from behind the general and gave a nod to Auru that she had held up her end.  Link's eyes darted across the countless axes, spears, and swords that littered the ground amongst sporadic blotches of red.  Farther ahead, through the open double-doors of the gate house that led to the bridge bearing the foundation of the barrier, he spotted the battering ram Telma had mentioned.  Ruins of a trebuchet lay scattered around it.

The general eyed Link suspiciously as Auru introduced Link, who offered a nod of greeting.  The general surveyed the young hero for a long moment before remarking gruffly, "So, you're the one they tell me has a way through the barrier."  He pursed his lips.  "You don't look like much."  Link waited, could see the general's mind working as he stared into his fierce sapphire eyes.  His tone altered only slightly.  "But if the rumors I've heard are true, about your deeds of helping the people of Hyrule, then I will permit you to pass."

Link saw the man's eyes flash behind him, and he knew he now looked at the glistening blue hilt of the legendary Master Sword.  If he were a true general of this castle then Link knew that he would have been privy to the knowledge of the myth from which the great sword had stemmed.  Perhaps it was from that final thought that Link thanked him.

He then requested the general and the few soldiers walking and standing guard in the passage to move beyond the gates into the square.  Link had been scheming during their entire exchange, and he now had a workable strategy.  Although, not only did he ask this of them to gain some leverage between them and his entrance into the castle, he also genuinely feared for their safety.  Midna had told him that she could use her magic to crack through the barrier, but they were unsure what effect it would have on the surrounding area … and so many had been injured already.  At their skeptical looks, Link voiced this concern to validate his request.  They agreed … grudgingly.

The general ordered his men back into the square and called his archers to attention on the battlement above to prepare for any attack forthwith.  One-by-one the Group left his side, and Link refortified his composure as they each looked at him in turn.  Auru was the last to depart his company, but a sudden, lingering curiosity rose in Link, and he called back to him.  "Auru?"

The older man turned to Link, waiting for him to speak the question in his eyes.

"The boy from your story….  The one from before….  What became of him?"  Link wanted, needed, to know that the old hero had lived a good life, that all the sacrifices he had made in his former life had done right by the world.

Auru smiled and approached Link again.  "It's hard to say."  He dug through the myth in his mind.  "Some say … he went on to live out his days in Hyrule Castle as a knight.  Others believe he settled down, had a family; others still, say that he left Hyrule, in search of adventure, never to return to his birth land."

Link took those thoughts within him and imagined each scenario as if it were his life … his ending.  Auru as much guessed his spiral of thought and placed a palm over the shoulder of his pauldron.  "This is not where your story will end."  With that, he turned and left Link, the chosen hero, to bring down the barrier.

The youth passed his gaze over the many faces surveying the scene, the men bunched around the fountain--keeping a safe distance from the barrier--and the soldiers with arrows nocked and ready to fly atop the battlements.  

Link did not need to call for Midna; she knew that her moment had come.  She ascended from his shadow, meeting an array of surprised and fearful gasps from those behind.  Perhaps it was that Link did not flinch at the creature's sudden appearance or that he accepted her casual pat on the shoulder without a word that the soldiers behind relaxed their tense muscles.

Midna looked back at all the stares of wonderment and fear and for a blind moment her rage returned.  She knew they thought her a monster, a dark shadow like those that had sent their world spiraling into a constant night.  Her hatred for Zant and Ganondorf returned.  Had it not been for them, she would not have held the guise of such a monster at all.  Had it not been for their evil, the people of the light would have regarded her as a threat least of all.

She turned her crimson eye from them and gazed up at the barrier that held the castle prisoner.  Hovering a few heads above Link, she took in the glaring majesty of the giant shell.  Its mass rattled as its energy radiated, its golden yellows wavering with blackened areas that pulsated through its structure like passing clouds.  There were patterns etched along every inch and corner of the barrier as if it were a gigantic jigsaw puzzle that had been put together improperly.  Hyrule Castle was nothing but a black silhouette within its grandeur.

Ripping her eyes from its mass, she cascaded down from her niche in the sky and landed on her small feet before the double-doors that lay between them and the bridge holding the boundary of the magical wall.  It surprised her how easy it was, calling on the full magic of her tribe.  In the instant she concentrated on the task she wished to perform, the Fused Shadows appeared from the corner of her dimension and whirled about her, almost lifelike … almost menacing.  She watched in awe momentarily as she felt the power consuming her nerves, breathing new life into her as they twirled about her.  The power rose within her, and it felt both shocking and amazing in the same moment.

Then, as if with a mind of their own, the Fused Shadows clapped together over her body, covering everything but her dangling limbs.  Link almost ran to her when she gasped and flung her arms out in surprise.  When her body immediately calmed, arms once more resting peacefully at her sides, he resisted the urge.

The rattling of the barrier before them then was nothing compared to the deep rumbling coursing from Midna's imprisoned body.  The four separate pieces shook and rocked in place, and a grating noise much like that of nails across polished stone pierced the air.  Their broken edges were still quite distinguishable as their energy built and built, and the night seemed drained of all color save a deep reddish yellow glaring down from the clouds blotting the heavens.

Link had not known what to expect, and from the flexing of Midna's fingers … neither had she.  He knew that the use of the magic drained her, perhaps even hurt her, but he could do nothing to stop it.  Even if he needed to, he was not sure what he could do.

He watched on as Midna's body then flung away from the stones.  She was tossed roughly into a pillar on the right by the invisible strings of the magic as if a puppet.  She yelped at the pain of the hit, and Link's hands fisted involuntarily, knuckles white as snow.  He was forced to bear witness to the cruelty of the magic, hurling her left into the wall of the passage and then upward against the opposite side again.  She screamed painful groans each time her body slammed into the solid stones, until she was finally flung over the right side of the wall.

Link could hear the fearful gasps behind him, could feel the anxiety return to each and every body that looked on, but Link held his ground.  If he panicked, so would the mob, and at that point, he would be unable to dispel their fright.

A quiet moment lingered, one that teased the Hylian soldiers and constricted their minds so tightly with fear that half of the soldiers were either frozen or running before Midna even made her reappearance.  The sounds that then licked the air refreshed that fear.  A watery moan--like the shifting sands of nightmares--and the crashing force of the invisible waves boomed and pulsed against their ears, threatening to vibrate their hearing so harshly that deafness would surely handicap them for the rest of their lives.

The ground shook beneath them and the very stones around them threatened to jostle free.  That was when the deep moans of the magical tides burst forth and rose from beyond the east side wall where Midna had last been hurled.  A giant golden hand clapped onto the wall, the glimmering, watery surface of its arm descending into peridot greens and deep blacks.  Its fingers tightened around the stones it found there as if sucking at them to stay afloat.  Another great hand arose and latched on, and with that the headpiece of the Fused Shadows climbed above the wall to greet the countless frozen faces of the Hylians.  The soldiers' mouths hung wide, staring in awe at the creature before them, their fear at such magnitude that they each seemed to have been crystalized where they stood.

The booming figure of the new Midna, the shadow monster of the Interlopers' magic, wailed as it drew up the remainder of its appendages to bring it to its full height on its stone perch.  Five additional limbs grew out from its massive body, and after steadying itself, it pushed off the stones, launching at impossible speed toward the barrier.

It landed against the deadly slope of the yellow wall, and struggled only momentarily to gain firm footholds against the magic.  Next moment, it reached back with its rightmost hand, its limb coiling round and round until a great javelin manifested within its grasp.  Its sparkling construction made it appear that the shadow monster had plucked a bolt of lightning from the sky ready to drench the land with its approaching storm.

After steadying itself with the added weight, the monster reared its giant hand back, as the edges of the Fused Shadows crudely split open to let loose a deep bellow.  With great and powerful force, it stabbed the spear into the barrier.

Link watched from below as a blinding ray of white and golden light blasted into the sky from the crack in the surface of the barrier.  The crack widened and popped and rumbled as it deepened throughout the reflective surface.  He and the Hylians behind him threw up their arms to shield their eyes from the light enveloping the night sky.  It was the brightest, most powerful, light Link had ever seen, and it stretched the length of the barrier.  As the crack webbed across it, light rays of equal magnitude bolted outward.  The combined light threw away the night as if a second sun, but as it radiated through the sky, shattering the barrier to pieces, Link blinked through its brilliance to see the monster diminishing into a familiar, little black body.

Midna fell like a deadweight through the sky, tumbling down, down, down.  

Link threw himself forward.

Moments later, when the light had finally receded, the Hylians all cheered.  The barrier stood no longer.  Rusl and the rest of the group shouted in glee.

Midna groaned.

Blinking, she struggled to open her eyes.  She felt weightless still, but she did not understand where she was.  Another light groan escaped her lips as she lay there, wondering if she had managed to break the barrier.  As her senses gathered, she moaned at the pain and the numb weakness that infested her body.  

She felt warmth embracing her.

Her eye took a moment to focus when she looked up and found Link's eyes very close and staring down at her.  A warm smile adorned his lips, and Midna realized that he was holding her in his arms.  Her head leaned up against his right shoulder, and she felt his hands cuddling her close against him.  The sudden closeness did not startle her; somehow, it felt like the most natural thing, for she could not remember a life before Link.  She was too weak to smile in return, her lips fading into a faint and thoughtful line.  He cocked his head slightly as his smile reduced to a small grin.  

Before Midna had regained consciousness, Link had stood with bated breath.  His heart felt heavy when she had lain unresponsive in his arms.  He had readjusted her in his grasp, cradling her like a child, his strong, protective arms encircling her.  He had felt the faint pulse of her heart beating through his fingers and waited for her senses to return--willed her to wake up.  Link had feared the monster--the wicked beast her tribe's power had molded her into.  This was Midna, this strange little imp with glowing green designs painted across her smooth skin.  He could not imagine her any other way, and he did not want to.  This was his Midna, and when her muscles had twitched and her breath caught in a groan, Link had nearly shed a tear from the weight of his happiness.  He had realized his mouth hung open with his smile when her red eye, her beautiful red eye, focused on him.  Link had seen the tugging of her lips in her attempt to smile, but she had only managed a gentle line as she relaxed in his arms.  His smile had faded to a soft grin.

Their eyes said everything in that moment.  They did not need words to express the warmth they felt inside.

Whatever happened … they had each other.

Link was the first to look away, casting his gaze up to the now accessible castle, and Midna followed his gaze as her lips parted in shock and delight that she had succeeded.  The castle and their final confrontation beckoned, but first….

Link turned about to face the open gate of the portcullis.  The Hylians were still frozen in awe of the barrier's destruction, and those that were capable of movement, clapped each other's shoulders and pounded their fists into the air in cheer.  Link looked between them and Midna, and she understood the frown that stretched even into his eyes.

He adjusted Midna in his arms--so that he would be able to freely move his left without jeopardizing her cradle--and then approached the archway.  He paused there a moment, watching all the smiling and confident faces that stared back at him.  Even the general seemed impressed.

As Link gazed across each of them, he etched their happy faces into his brain.  This was the way he wanted to remember them … as he said a silent and painful goodbye.

In that instant Link found the eyes of Rusl, who also had his sights locked on the young Hero.  It was in that silence that the blacksmith's eyes widened and the smile faded from his lips.  Link's eyes betrayed him, giving light to the ruse he had been playing all along.  

Link was already slicing through the rope attached to the counterweight for the gate as Rusl started his sprint, and by the time the golden metal boomed against the ground, the blacksmith could only grab onto the bars and yank to no avail.  Link had taken a few steps back at this point, watching painfully as the man who had raised him pulled and banged on the bars that separated them.  A look of betrayal showered Rusl's features in that moment, and it was all Link could do to keep from breaking down at the tears welling in his mentor's eyes.

"Link…. Why--What are you doing?" he begged.

Link clenched and relaxed his jaw before answering.  "I am giving Hyrule back to its people … and its princess."

By this time the rest of the Group had approached the gates, and the Hylians and their general were on their way.  

Rusl pleaded.  "I have no doubt that you have the courage to stand against him, but Link--"

The Hero cut him off.  Link said the words slowly, meaning every word as his eyes grew vacant and yet strong in the same instant.  "If my single life can save the lives of thousands…."  He swallowed hard.  "Then I will gladly sacrifice it."

Link took a few more steps away and glanced to Midna, who, by his command, used what little strength she had to strike the gate with her magic.  Her power helped to stabilize the hinges so that the soldiers would find it harder to lift, but Link knew that Midna was considerably weak, and the magic would not hold for long.  He had to see to his mission before they had time to break through his defenses … or find another way around.

He turned his back on them, Rusl calling in desperation for him not to go without them.  But Link passed through the double-doors of the second gatehouse, pushed and barred them shut, and asked Midna for the last of her strength to magick its locks as well.  

They faced the castle together, looking up at its towering majesty once more.  A darkness crept within them as rain began to fall, a jolt of lightning flashing in the sky behind the castle.  Somewhere deep within the confines of its stone walls they would find the mastermind behind the evil which had crept over Hyrule.  Midna, however, was too frail at the moment to face any threat, and after they agreed, she disintegrated into the shade beneath him to rest and regain her energy.

Standing alone, Link thought it was perhaps just his nerves, but he had the distinct sense that the eyes of Ganondorf were upon him.

===============

Lightning flashed and silhouetted his dark frame.  Already he stood within the shadows of the night, but with the clapping thunder of the sky above his tall stature grew even more foreboding.  He felt a power stir within him as the storms raged on in the heavens, as if the skies themselves held objection over his reign.  Yet, it was not protest he saw deep within the clouds but a reflection of his anger, his hatred, a mirror that revealed the sheer and raw power he held.

The booming skies echoed the dreams of his heart.  

He flexed his fingers tighter over the railing of the balcony, his right fist tensing with the energy coursing through his veins.  The power sustained him, but it also left him thirsty for more, a hunger so deep, so infinite, that nothing he had could quell it.

And he loved this feeling.

When the barrier had broken into a thousand shards of light, he had stepped out onto the balcony outside the castle's throne room to watch in silence as the light slowly faded to reveal unguarded stormy skies once more.  The breaking of the barrier had not angered him.  It had filled him with pleasure, the deep hunger within him spiking as he felt the power of his being radiate from his right hand.

The boy was close.  He had heard the whispers on the tongues of the soldiers he had slaughtered who had unfortunately caught themselves within the confines of the castle when he had seized control.  Whispers of the Hero, a young man from the forests of Ordon whom his twilit slave had mentioned.

Mention of this Hero brought an ancient memory back to him.  The memory of a small boy who had swayed the king of old that he was in some sense evil.  That boy had foiled his plans and he had never understood how.  He had stood within the gates of the Hyrule of Old with the perfect ruse of pledging fealty; the grand city had been blind to his hunger and his wrath.  There was a time he had stood before the Temple of Time … on the brink of the Sacred Realm as his ultimate prize waited in silence.  The Triforce.  With a swift hand he would have taken that which he had every right to behold.  But the boy….

He remembered the rage and the way his blood had boiled as he had stood chained before the sages.  He could recall in every gritty detail the way their hollow eyes had judged him.  The screaming hiss he had unleashed in the moment before his death had cursed them and the gods they served.  Then had come the cold, harsh sting of their light, which had pierced his very heart and soul and sapped him of all life.

But … his hatred for them….  His absolute resentment for their power….  The cruel sentencing that had left him to be executed surrounded by the very sands of his homeland….

His hatred had revived him, and he had found new power, one he had unleashed without at first having full control of its overwhelming effects.  With a single thought, he had envisioned the sages mutilated, and in the next instant, he had had the strength of a god, snapping his restraints as if they were straw, ripping the Sage-Blade from his chest, and murdering a sage with one lunge of a fist.

Yet, with all that power, they had still found a way to deny him.  Torn from the world of light, he had existed without form for many long years until he had discovered his perfect opportunity, the perfect vessel for his power.  With the help of the pitiful being of the Twilight, he had been reborn unto this realm, and now, he could unleash the crushing fist of his power once again.  Hyrule … its princess … its people would feel his wrath, his ultimate hatred.  He would punish them for the crimes committed by their ancestors and claim everything that should have been his so long ago.

Already, he had obtained the princess, bearer of a third of the goddesses' power, and with the coming of this forest boy--this puny Hero--he would at last be able to assemble the Triforce.  With it, he would have his one true wish, his desire, come to fruition.

All he need do was kill the boy.

His square jaw coiled into a grin.  The hour of his triumph was at hand.

===============

Link crossed the bridge over the moat to come to the barbican sealing off the castle.  When he pushed open the left door of the entrance carved ornately with the royal family crest, the castle bailey greeted him in dull colors.  He took in the details in mere seconds, but the majesty of it seemed to overtake his senses.  The fine stone paths leading up to the grand entrance of the castle and forking off to the left and right courtyards were overgrown with moist grass.  A grand statue rose before him, constructed of a long silver pole capped with a single, golden triangle.  Surrounding the central pole were two other silver rods that twisted about to rise forth in a helix pattern, only to part at the top, each spreading outward like wings bearing the power of the gods.

He could not help a gaze up at the castle, its towers and pinnacles looming upward, the central castle connected at various angles to the outer parapets and flanking and corner towers via several catwalks and grand, swooping flying buttresses.  Dark blue stones topped the roofs of each spire and building.  One could get tangled in just its ornate image.

Link drew his stare from the castle and noticed that two identical statues as the one before him stood toward the back of the west- and eastward courtyards.  Glancing in these directions pulled him back to the realization that the forces of his enemy had without doubt seen the fall of the barrier.  He suddenly became aware that the army of his enemy had turned the bailey into an encampment.  Fires and torches lit the area, and Link could see where each troop had tucked in and declared claim over a spot in the grasses.

The soldiers were bulblins and bokoblins--with a few kargarok birds of prey perched or flying in circles above--and most still seemed dazed from the light that had overtaken the sky only minutes ago.  It was not long before they took notice that the bailey door had been opened, and Link only just leapt out of the way of their vision, thankful that it was by the aid of the night shadows that had kept him shielded completely.

Crouching in the shadows to the left behind a hedgerow, he watched as bulblin archers nocked their arrows in preparation for an attack as two bokoblins slowly crept up to the open door.  One stuck its purple head into the crack and saw no sign of any intruders.  Shrugging and signaling an all-clear to the archers, the bokoblins pushed the door shut once more and took the time to set its accompanying wooden crossbar into the slots.  Link heard them mumbling explanations, hearing the words "wind" and "rumbles" tossed back and forth.

Though it seemed the enemy force had remained ignorant to his presence, he did not for one moment assume that they had not been put on alert.  He would rather overestimate a foe rather than stake his life on their ignorance.  The troops littered the grounds so densely that passage to the entry doors would prove beyond impossible without first being seen and surrounded by the massive hordes.  Even if he managed a miracle in reaching the doors, they had been chained shut by massive links that joined together in a lock that hung just above the door handles.  

He would need to find an alternate route into the castle.

Link moved left as he remained in a crouch and kept to the greenery, the shadows of the row of trees alongside the hedges also helping to blanket him from the eyes of anything that moved.  When he had at last come to the westward wall of the main courtyard, the number of soldiers had decreased to a sporadic few, and two bokoblins guarded the doors leading into the grounds beyond.

Quietly, Link approached them.  He drew his dagger and snuck up behind the first bokoblin carefully.  Once he had the proper angle, he flew at the bokoblin, threw a hand around its face and yanked.  In an instant it fell with a broken neck, and its partner noticed the appearance of the assassin immediately.  Prepared for this, however, Link launched himself onto the soldier, one hand covering its mouth, while impaling the dagger through its heart with the other.  The force of the impact of Link's body had caused them to stumble back into the wall, but once Link knew his enemy was dead, he tossed the body to the ground, hiding it in the shadows.  He belted the knife once more, slid the other limp body from sight, and then silently slipped through the doors.

In the western courtyard, more troops littered the area.  Still, there were too many to take on, and so Link dove to the right where the tall grasses and the fence lines would help conceal him.  Adding to his fortune was the fact that a few pairs of bokoblins were sparring with each other.  The noise of their swords screeching as they attacked completely masked the sound of his squishing footsteps.  He tossed ever watchful glances toward them as he crept and was disturbed at the way they drilled.  Unlike the way Rusl had trained Link--and how every Hylian soldier was trained, he was sure--these monsters did not pull their attacks if their partner failed to parry or dodge.  They were doomed to suffer the consequences of their novice skills.

Link managed to bypass them, all the while searching the periphery of the castle for any indication of another way in.  Not even the stone walls were climbable, and even if they had been Link was not sure he would have surrendered to that avenue.  The chance of falling and the chance of being spotted by the troops would have made such a choice suicide.

There had to be another way in, he thought, and he continued along, shielded by the shadows of the storm clouds, but also somewhat exposed when lightning flashed in the sky.  

When he reached an open gate, he first looked around the walls inside.  This area was square in formation and it looked as if it were a training ground.  If that were the case, he wondered why the bokoblins had not chosen to practice their techniques in here.  Of course, however, he could not complain, for the area appeared empty and he saw that as a good sign.

He darted into the training ground, at last free of the anxiety of being caught by Ganondorf's minions.  He took the reprieve for what it was worth, for if this proved to be a dead end, he would have to descend once more into the hordes.  And even if he did manage to find some means of accessing the castle alternately, he knew it would not be long before he faced more foes, and not all of them would be those he could as easily circumvent.  

Stretching slightly from slouching for so long, Link went to work feeling along the walls of the castle.  He hoped to find a hidden passage somewhere or perhaps a postern gate, for it seemed logical that a castle would have secret passages for emergencies like these to usher the royal family away from danger.  At that he was reminded the sewer.  That was the secret passage, and he thought that surely his efforts were in vain and that there would be no other path but the front door.

Almost desperate to avoid the onslaught of the horde, Link glanced up, scrutinized the stones, and he deliberated over just how difficult it would be to scale the wall.  He ran his left hand over a few stones, thinking.

Then a giant axe came crashing into the stones only inches from his fingers.  Immediately on guard, Link twirled on his heel to come face-to-face with a green giant.  Its small beady eyes glared into Link, glowing red against the backdrop of the raging storm.  One of the horns protruding from the top of its head had been hewn in half.  Silver vambraces covered its muscular arms, and its large belly folded over a loincloth with light armor and sandals protecting its soles.

Then Link noticed the deep scar along its right armpit, and the impossible became real.  It was the same King Bulblin who had kidnapped his friends, who he had sent spiraling from Hyrule's two highest bridges.  Link had never expected to see this monstrous warrior again, and seeing it alive and breathing defied all logic.  Its eyes seemed heavy yet fierce as they glared down the small Hylian.

Link felt the rage rebuilding within him, a fury he had thought quenched.  Yet, it had been a rage satiated from vengeance.  With the seeming rebirth of this king again and again, so did his anger fester and brood anew each time.  Link gritted his teeth.  The sight of this creature was like a bad dream that visited on his darkest and happiest days.  This ogre had a quality about it that sucked all reason from the youth of Ordon.  The blinding anger had nearly consumed Link on the fields of Eldin all those many weeks ago.  Now, more than ever, he just wished he could hang those feelings on the wind to fly away and scatter in the rain.

He had to face the rage again and end this once and for all if he were to ever be free of it.

King Bulblin, the commander of the bulblin and bokoblin army, yanked on its weapon and unsheathed it from the stone just as Link drew his sword.  Link rolled to the side to dodge the axe as the ogre pulled it away from the wall in a wide, sweeping motion.  The bulk of the creature plagued its movements with slow reaction time, as Link learned with the way it swiveled its mass around to face him.  The agile Hylian backed away from his foe, making the ogre ease away from the wall with sluggish footsteps.  Link only hoped that if the bokoblins nearby heard the noise of their duel they would pass it off as just another sparring match.

The ogre heaved up its axe, which gave Link fair warning that another attack was coming.  Its swing came so slowly that Link had more than enough time to dodge it as it thundered into the ground the same time that lightning's echo reverberated across the grounds.  Link used this opportunity to run up the length of the pole of the axe to strike at the monster's head, but its reflexes and strength surprised Link by tossing him up and over his target instead.

Link somersaulted in midair to readjust his body to land firmly on his feet.  Then the ogre flung itself toward him with a mighty spin of its body, an attack that reminded Link of Zant's final assault.  His new opponent, however, did not waste all its energy on one attack, and after it realized it had no effect on its nimble prey it suspended the attack, drawing the axe in close once more.  The Hylian was quick to respond, hoping to land a strike past its defensive stance, but the ogre used his axe like a bo staff to parry each thrust or slice in turn.

The bulblin king shoved against one of Link's strikes and managed to force him backward and unbalance him slightly.  It took this opportunity to thrash down with its rusted blade, but Link was quick to regain his footing.  Learning from his failed attempt of running up the axe, Link instead rolled around to the ogre's exposed side while its weapon lay imbedded within the earth.

He popped up from his roll like a spring and drew his blade up across the ogre's back.  Dark blood spilled from its pierced flesh, and it growled in a low whine.  It was able to pivot around to defend against Link before any further damage was done.  Link's attacks again met the staff of its weapon.

"Enough," boomed its deep, guttural voice, and Link took several cautionary steps away from his enemy.  Link's inner demons, his hatred for this creature begged to deal the ending blow, but he shook away the murderous thought … with some effort.  Wary and on guard, Link remained at a distance, afraid of what his burning thirst for vengeance might lead him to do.  Every bone in his body wanted this to end, this dance they had been dancing since the inception of Link's journey.  Link had grown over the course of his travels and wanted to see reason, but if this proved to be some kind of ruse, Link would be ready to defend himself.  

True to its tone, King Bulblin relaxed its posture.  "I follow the strongest side," it bellowed.  "That is all I have ever known."

It let out a curious low growl and a gate opened on the far side of the training area that Link had not been able to see through the haze of the stormy air.  From within its confines rode three giant boars.  One's saddle bore no rider, but the other two each held two bulblin archers.  Though their bows were shouldered as they approached, Link readied his saber.

The commander held up a pleading hand.  "They mean no harm.  They ride with me.  I ride with the strongest; I ride with you, little Hylian."

Link's eyes darted from one figure to the next, sure that this was some kind of deception, but his instincts trusted the beat of the ogre's words, and he relaxed his posture.  Somehow, even with everything they had been through, the vicious battles they had fought, they had come to see each other as equals.  It had done the bidding of its master, and it had come to see the error of its path.

The Hylian could finally lay his rage to rest.  He no longer needed anger as his ally with this ogre.  It had done evil, it had killed and pillaged, but Link knew in his heart that all life was precious and that evil could sometimes be redeemed.  

He cocked his head as an idea came to him then.  Link would test its newfound honor, but before he made his request, Link took another critical look across the ogre and its cohorts before making the decision if he could truly entrust them with what he had in mind.

===============

When Link had prepared for his journey into the castle, he had equipped only those items which he was sure he might need to use in reaching and battling Ganondorf.  As usual he had his sword, shield, and bow.  The only other weapons he had brought with him he kept on his belt: the dagger, which he had already used to progress through the courtyard, and … a pouch of bombs.  He still had four of the small devices left since using one in the city in the sky.

Link's plan would work perfectly if King Bulblin and his loyal minions remained faithful to their truce.

The giant bulblin and his men galloped through the courtyard of training bokoblins, launching their axes and arrows into the swarm.  The troops were stunned by the sudden attack by their commander, and after those still living recovered their senses, they roared and countered by racing after them, each trying to land a swipe on their new enemies.

Riding its giant boar, the ogre burst through the doors that opened into the main area of the bailey.  Startled shrieks and angry growls thundered through the air, mixing with the sounds of the crackling heavens.  The archers on overwatch called out the threat, alerting every soldier within the grounds to the danger of their mad commander.  Arrows plugged the ogre, but its thick skin proved resistant to the full brunt of each blow.  It sliced through the throng of troops as if they were slabs of butter.  As the archers grew more desperate, they lit their arrowheads aflame before shooting down into the crowd.

This was when Link made use of the distraction he had engineered, entering the courtyard with bomb in hand.  As the bulblins and bokoblins--and even the kargaroks--were busy entertaining their lethal guests, Link skidded to a flaming arrow that had missed its mark.  As he bent and lit the fuse on the explosive, he regained his former speed, and to be assured it would not bounce away before its fuse was extinguished he chucked the bomb toward the chained double doors at the last moment.

Several things happened at the same time after this moment.

Link rolled under a swinging blade and uprooted an arrow while grabbing his bow into his right hand.  When he popped up, he had taken a partly crouching stance, a knee and foot centering his balance as he aimed.

Huge chain links and splinters burst outward and impaled several surrounding troops as Link released his arrow, and the courtyard was engulfed in flame and smoke.  As his arrow met the heart of a sentry, Link made his way through the cloudy debris field.  He charged through as the soldiers around him were still fighting, and they were so disoriented at what was going on that they had started to fight among themselves, placing blame wherever it best suited their survival.  Link swung his bow like a sword as a bulblin approached from out of nowhere, and it was hurled back by the force of the blow.

Once Link cleared the courtyard, he leapt over some of the stones of the steps that had been jostled free and bounded into Hyrule Castle.
EDIT on September 11, 2012

I cleaned up a lot of the sentence structure and some descriptors in this one, especially surrounding the castle and the barrir-breaking.

I added in Link's POV when he's holding Midna, and even added in a few things to Midna's POV so that they would correlate better because after I wrote Link's and it was so in-depth, Midna's seemed lacking.

During the Gaondorf POV, I tweaked some things, like his memory of standing in front of the Temple of Time and having the perfect ruse of swearing fealty.

I also perfected some castle terms, with the portcullis instead of a simple double-door gate. Now Link cuts a counterweight instead of locking the doors. Added in a note about the second gatehouse, and then the third set of doors being part of a barbican. (So many doors!!) And once Link is inside I tweaked the description of the castle itself by finally mentioning the gigantic flying buttresses which I omitted last time because I needed to look up the terms and make sure I was using the right word.

Lastly, is the culmination of all the rewrites I did in chapters 2, 13, 19, 20, 24, and 34. The King Bulblin finale, which I rewrote tobe the same ogre all the way through. See my journal about this rewrite for more info. I rewrote it based on a lot of readers pointing out it was supposed to be the same guy. I did some research and then tried to think of a way to make this character work from a story standpoint, and this rewrite is what I came up with. I hope you like the way Link finds closure now, and how he deals with his rage.

END OF EDIT

First off, I hope you guys enjoyed the first half of this chapter.

Now, if any of you guys remember a journal of mine about the debate of whether to include the magic armour, well, in this chapter you see it! I hope you like how I worked it in. I think it's very befitting.

I had to do something in this chapter I had been avoiding like the plague and that is the addition of an OC. However, to make this character less of an original creation, since including a general of the army made sense for the direction I took the story, I did not and will never do the following: give him a name, describe him beyond what I have here (tall, square-jawed, and brown-bearded) because you will see him again in future chapters, but he will never take the spotlight. He will speak few words, and will never be fully developed. He is a one-dimensional must-have character, or the story wouldn't make realistic sense with the new direction. Please, don't hate, cuz I already hate myself... kinda.

Describing the barrier-breaking sequence was rough, since there was a lot going on, and choosing the right words was tough to get the images translated correctly to the page. I still think I want to tweak it later on in revisions, but this is the best I could do in a rough draft.

I'm not sure I got the Link-holding-Midna moment quite right, so out of anything I really want to know your thoughts. Did I capture it just right, or is there some tweaking I could do? Does it work from Midna's POV or should I switch it to Link's? Or, should I write from both POVs?

One thing I was so psyched about doing is the page-ish worth of narration from Ganondorf's POV. I never directly state that it's him, but it's so obvious. Not stating directly who it is I think works well in a literary sense because we've yet to see Ganondorf in the flesh yet, and the dark mystery this section still leaves with us will still give Link's first encounter with him in the throne room the good pop that it needs to get our attention that THIS is the big bad.

I added gates to that archway in town which was necessary for Link's plan to work. Also that line the guard says as they approach was straight from the game ^_^

I hope you like what I did with the sequence where Link is sneaking through the courtyard. This was both necessary so that I didn't spend an entired chapter of fighting enemies, and because I wanted to pay homage to the courtyard you must sneak through in OoT.

Lastly, I really hope you like the explosive ending sequence with King Bulblin and how he was used and how Link gets into Hyrule Castle!

Thanks for reading and for your continued support!

Much Love and Cheers!
^_^

Also, be sure to join me this Thursday March 15 for a LIVE CHAT discussion about this chapter in particular and its surprises and differences from the game, and in general just the direction the novel has taken from the game's version. I want to hear your feedback, in depth and in person! So head over here: [link] click RSVP and return on Thurs to have a great talk!

Previous: [link]
Next: [link]
© 2012 - 2024 Stephonika-W-Kaye
Comments17
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
AuburnGeek's avatar
So. Awesome!
This is like reading a brand-new book, which is honestly something I haven't done for quite a while. Thank you for writing this.