Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend of Zelda: The Ballad of Fallen Angels ❯ The Battle For Hyrule Castle Part III: Rainbows In The Dark ( Chapter 25 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 25: “The Battle For Hyrule Castle Part III:

Rainbows In The Dark”

Zelda rolled out of the way as Descrod brought his scimitar down, the blade biting deep into the stone bottom. She straightened up and struck him in the lower back with an open-palmed strike. The blow did little to Descrod, however, and he threw his arm backwards, narrowly missing Zelda's head.

She rolled backwards again as Descrod freed his scimitar and turned back to her. Zelda performed an action with her hands and Descrod felt like he was standing in quicksand, barely able to move. Zelda hit him with magic again, this time a less intricate maneuver that struck him sharply across the face like a blow.

“Very cute, little queen,” Descrod growled, “but why don't you just kill me if you refuse to fight me?”

“I do not wish to kill you,” Zelda said, her voice sounding strained. “I wish only for you to leave Hyrule and never return!”

Descrod noticed her voice and laughed. “You're weak, out of practice. You can barely hold me, and I haven't even tried to escape yet.” With that, Descrod summoned all the strength in his muscles and leapt forwards.

His sudden leap broke Zelda's concentration and caused her spell to fail. Zelda backpedaled and barely avoided Descrod once again as he flew at her. She tripped over a loose stone and fell down hard.

Descrod jumped into the air and plummeted down towards her.

“We can't let them through!” Hikari yelled as she blocked a Horder's wild swing with her sword, forcing his blade to the ground. She balled her fist and punched the soldier in the nose as hard as she could. The Horder yelled and fell to one knee, blood pouring from his broken nose. Kari brought her sword back up and decapitated the Horder with one powerful swing.

Cremina dueled with another Horder as the infantry defenders at the wall continued to hold their own against the Horders. They were unable to accept that, after all that they had done, the wall might still be breached.

General Keeta and his undead had formed a moving wall of creatures that totally sealed off the puncture in the perimeter wall. Horder after Horder attempted to break through Keeta's force, but they were never successful.

“Do not fret, young lady!” Keeta called to Cremina as he cracked a Horder across the face with one enormous bony hand. “There's not need to fear, we won't let them through!”

Romani fought wildly with her lance, unused to close-quarters combat. She flailed the sharp bladed weapon around her, wounding many different Horders but only killing a few.

“Romani!” Cremina yelled at her sister. The younger girl turned to find a Horder bearing down on her. She swung the lance up just in time for the Horder to impale himself upon it's blade.

“Just hold them off!” Romani yelled back to her sister. “We just need to hold them off! Give Saetoushei time, he'll come through, he always does!”

Link swung the Master Sword, cleaving a Horder nearly in half. Another soldier hurled a spear at him. Link casually deflected it with his Mirror Shield.

The Horders had lowered the drawbridge to the castle proper after they had seize control of the castle. Now Link strode across it purposefully as the Horders scrambled to intercept and remove the solitary warrior from their ranks.

Link fought them all off, an inner fire that he had thought extinguished many years before, fueled him to keep going, to keep pressing on. He had an obligation to Zelda, to Hyrule, and now, to Romani.

“I have to go back to her,” Link had told Tatl in the Temple of Time. “I have to help her, to find her once again. I gave her up once, many years ago, I will never do that again.”

Link shattered the kneecap of a Horder with a blow from the hilt of the Master Sword. The Horder screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground. Link grabbed the unfortunate soldier by the neck and yanked him closer to him. “Where is Descrod?” Link demanded of the Horder, in a voice that would frighten Beelzebub Himself. “Where is he?'

Quivering in fear, the soldier pointed to the staircase that led up to the next level of the palace. Understanding, Link said to the Horder. “If you are still here when I return, you will be given the chance to change my mind. If you can't you die. If anyone else tries to stop you, tell them that the Hero of Time has given you Sanctuary.”

Link dropped the Horder and sprinted to the staircase. Tatl flew close behind him. “What are you going to do when you find Descrod?'

“I'm going to kill him, Tatl.” Link said. “I'm going to kill him.”

“Come lads, fight with all you've got!” Igus de Ikama yelled to his cavalry as the Shadow Riders pounded through the battlefield. For the first time, there was a noticeable drop in the number of Horders.

“We just might have a chance to win this thing,” Igus muttered to himself. “If only we can keep taking out Horders faster than they can take us out, we might have a chance.”

Almost on cue, as if somewhere, some deity was mocking him, Igus saw two of his Shadow Riders fall under combined efforts of Horders. The riders yelled as their bones were broken, rendering them unable to fight.

“Igus!” The call came from the direction of the wall. Igus turned to see the Gorons being backed against the edge of the moat.

“Gorons can't swim!” Igus yelled. Beckoning to two of his riders, he plunged after the Gorons.

Swiftstroke hacked wildly with his battle-ax at the pressing wall of Horders. He and his people were nearly to the most.

“Is this how we die, Chieftain?” one of the Gorons to the side of Swiftstroke yelled. “To drown like dogs in a bloody river?”

“If it is, better a bloody river than a dirty one!” Swiftstroke shot back.

A Horder thrust his sword forward, it's blade piercing the thick skin on Swiftstroke's upper arm. The Goron Chieftain growled and broke off the sword's blade with one giant hand. He smashed the ax over the Horder's head, watching with grim satisfaction as the soldier's head split wide open.

Suddenly a trio of Shadow Riders literally rode into the middle of the Horders menacing the Gorons and started swinging. The Horder charge broke down into mass confusion as the Horders turned to deal with this new threat, and the Gorons struck them from behind.

Igus hailed Swiftstroke, a massive grin on the Ikaylimu's demonic-looking face. “All hail Swiftstroke, King of the Gorons!”

Swiftstroke smirked. A ruler purposely greeting another ruler by the wrong title was something of a traditional joke in Termina. He raised his bear-like hand to Igus. “All Hail Igus de Ikama, Emperor of Ikama!”

Link strode purposefully down the hallway on the fourth level of Hyrule Castle. The higher he climbed, the fewer Horders he encountered. However, the few he did meet fought more desperately than the ones on the lower levels.

“It's like they're trying to protect something,” Link remarked to Tatl after killing another Horder.

“Or someone,” Tatl replied.

Link nodded. “Descrod must be close by, I'm sure of it.”

Turning the corner in the hallway, Link caught sight of a pair of Horders flanking the double doors to Zelda's chambers.

“They're guarding the doors,” Link muttered to himself. “Now isn't that the absolute biggest giveaway there is?”

Striding towards them, Link engaged the Horders. One hurled his spear at the Hylian. Link sidestepped the throw and slew the Horder with a thrust of the Master Sword.

The second Horder gripped his spear in both hands and dropped down into a fighter's crouch. Link did the same, acknowledging the Horder's knowledge of combat.

The Horder struck first, lashing out with the butt-end of his spear. Link leapt over the wooden shaft and slashed downwards with the Master Sword. The Horder jumped out of the way and thrust the spearhead at Link. The Hylian blocked the spear thrust with the Mirror Shield and parried with the Master Sword, breaking the Horder's hold on his weapon and disarming him.

The Horder dropped to his knees. “You have beaten me,” the Horder said. “Please allow me to end my life according to bushido. Allow me to perform seppuku.”

Link stared down at the soldier. “Alright.”

Link bent over and picked up the Horder's spear. He offered it to the soldier. The Horder placed the butt-end on the ground and leaned onto the point. He plunged the spearhead into his stomach and ripped it up to his throat, slicing his chest open. The Horder dropped to his knees as blood cascaded over his limbs. Before the Horder could drop all the way to the floor, Link raised the Master Sword over his head. “Banzai!!!” Link screamed as he brought the Master Sword down and decapitated the Horder.

“I think I'm going to be sick,” Tatl moaned, her usual off-white coloring turning to a sickly yellow.

“He battled like a true fighter,” Link said. He saluted the corpse with the Master Sword. “That's a warrior's death.”

So said, Link turned and entered Zelda's chambers.

Cremina panted as she fought with yet another Horder. She was exhausted, the effort to raise and wield her blades was almost too much for her.

The bank of infantry protecting the fallen wall was starting to weaken. Several undead soldiers lay on the ground, their bones crushed. The bodies of all manner of creatures lay strewn about. Cremina wasn't sure how much longer they would all last.

Suddenly another Horder appeared as if from nowhere, slicing Cremina's arm open with his sword. She moaned and collapsed, unable to keep herself up any longer.

Kari screamed her name and seized a spear from the ground near her. She hurled it. The spear thudded into the chest of the Horder and he fell, but another appeared behind him, aiming his own spear, a spear that he now hurled at Cremina.

Cremina watches the spear coming. It seemed as if time was in slow motion. She thought she heard the sound of running feet, then the sound of someone yelling her own name.

The spear seemed closer than ever, but Romani was there, leaping in front of Cremina, the spear boring itself deep into her stomach. Romani fell next to Cremina and lay on the ground. Cremina saw the look of agony on Keeta's face as, too late, he beheaded the Horder with one swipe of his enormous hand.

Cremina could remember nothing more, as she passed out into darkness.

Link strode cautiously into Zelda's front chamber. The room was dark and still, furniture had been knocked down and thrown every which-way. The antique writing desk that Zelda's father had owned lay upended against one wall.

Link continued through the chambers. Everywhere he went lay evidence of Descrod's aggression. Everything, all of Zelda's personal items, lay destroyed and ruined.

The Hylian entered the royal bedchamber. Even the bed had been ravaged and ripped to shreds, the sheets sliced into ribbons by sharp blades. However, unlike the rest of the rooms in Zelda's wing of the castle, there was someone else in the bedchamber.

A single, solitary Horder stood in the doorway that lead to the balcony. He was pale-faced and tall, with a shock of blond hair that sprayed outwards from underneath his military helmet.

“Where is your master?” Link asked the Horder.

The Horder gestured upwards with one arm. “Up there, dealing with your Queen, I expect.”

Link's face grew hot as his blood boiled. “Stand aside, soldier.”

“Never,” the Horder's voice did not waver. “I am Major Stocklachev of the Grand Imperial Army of the great Kingdom of Ikama, under the command of his Excellency, the great Ikaylimu Augustine Descrod The Third. I will move for no man other than the Ikaylimu that I serve.”

“Stocklachev, you're a fool to think that Descrod gives a damn about you or any one of your comrades. If he gains control of the Triforce, then he won't need you or your fellow soldiers any longer.”

Stocklachev did not budge. “Talk all you want; I will never desert my lord and master.”

Link hefted the Master Sword. “Then I believe that it is your duty, as a soldier, to fight me.” He dropped down into a wrestler's stance, bringing the Master Sword to bear on Stocklachev.

The Major also dropped into a stance. “I do believe it is my duty.”

The two fighters remained still for a moment, sizing each other up, before rushing at each other.

“This is it, friend.” Reguge called to Swiftstroke.

The two and their forces were hopelessly surrounded by Horders. There were simply too many of them to be fought off. The losses that the defenders had suffered could not be overcome. They were about to lose the fight.

“Even if we die now, today, at least Keeta still holds the wall,” Swiftstroke replied. “No matter what, as long as the Dark Hordes cannot get into the castle, Hyrule still stands firm. Let us die like warriors!”

Roaring battle cries, the two rallied their remaining forces and plunged forward, into the vanguard of the Dark Hordes.

Suddenly the ground began to shake and quiver uncontrollably. Reguge and Swiftstroke looked up to see dozens upon dozens of Gorons come rolling and charging into the Dark Hordes, pursued by hundreds of humans armed with knives, short swords, and daggers. The river leading to the moat seemed to boil and erupt as wave after wave of Zoras emerged from it's waters and rushed the Horders.

Gaping in open-mouthed astonishment, Reguge felt someone come up beside him. Reguge turned to see the fattest Zora that he had ever seen stride next to him. The fat Zora asked him, “Good sir, could you please direct me to the ruler of these Zoras?”

Overcoming his amazement, Reguge composed himself. “That would be me, sir, I am Reguge Zarana, Kaiser of the Zoras of Termina.”

The fat Zora laughed, rolls of blubber rippling down his body. “Very good, then. I am Grungle Drowsic, King of the Zoras of Hyrule.” Grungle turned and pointed at a particularly fierce-looking Goron that had recently joined the fray. “And that is Link Darunia, son of Darunia the Hero. He is the ruling Chieftain of the Gorons of Hyrule.”

“And all those humans, where do they come from?” Reguge asked.

Grungle replied, “They are the inhabitants of Kakariko Village, that lies at the base of Death Mountain. The village was established by the ancient Sheiklan warriors of long ago.”

Zelda rolled out of the way again as Descrod attempted to kill her with the scimitar. Descrod was red-faced and furious. “This is all for naught, you know!” he yelled at Zelda. “You can't keep blocking and dodging me forever!”

Zelda panted. She refused to say anything to Descrod, but she knew he was right. She was exhausted, her body ached, and her magic was nearly depleted. Her body couldn't take much more rolling around on the stones of the roof.

Her body…

Descrod stalked towards her again. Zelda danced to the other side of the roof. The two combatants eyed each other dangerously.

Her body…

Zelda's mind was strained, tired. She would trip and fall soon, she knew, and then she wouldn't be able to get back. There was something she could do, but for the life of her, Zelda couldn't think of what it was, unless-

Her BODY!!!

It hit her suddenly, like a tidal wave of thought and emotion. Zelda straightened up and summoned all magic back to her. Her mind swelled and ached at the strain of holding it all in, but Zelda forced it to anyway. Her arms moved around in a complex wave of motions, and when she finished, she slammed her hands together to created a triangle between them.

Descrod gasped as an image of the Triforce appeared in the triangle between Zelda's hands. Specifically, the Triforce of Wisdom began to glow and pulsate. Then the image exploded outwards, a hot white light blinding Descrod and forcing him to throw an arm up to shield his eyes.

When the light faded away, Descrod uncovered his eyes. Zelda no longer stood on the rooftop with him; instead, a wiry young man dressed in an old-fashioned fighter's gi with a blood-red insignia of a half-closed eye over a bloody sunrise stood there, already falling expertly into a shoot wrestler's position.

“I am called Shiek, last of the Sheiklan warriors of Hyrule. Like Zelda has stated before now, you will never hold the Triforce in your hands.”

Then, before Descrod could fully recover from his astonishment, Shiek ran forward and jumped at him.

“Surrender, foul scum!” Igus' loud, evil-sounding voice boomed over the horrific battlefield. The remainder of the Dark Horders were completely surrounded by the enlarged forces of Termina and Hyrule. Less than five hundred Horders remained of the once-great army that Descrod had raised.

The Horders looked around wildly, trying to find some flaw in the flanks of their opponents that they could exploit, some gap in the lines that they could break through, anything that they could use to escape.

But there was none, and they knew it. The ruined Dark Hordes that Augustine Descrod had used to conquer the Kingdom of Ikama threw down their weapons and knelt upon the blood-stained ground. Placing their hands behind their necks, they bowed their heads, except for one. He walked up to Igus and presented his sword to Igus.

“I am Captain Pulleiarno, commanding officer of the Dark Hordes. I surrender to you.”

From the seat of his skeletal steed, Ikaylimu Igus de Ikama reached down and accepted Pulleiarno's sword. Pulleiarno dropped to his knees as nearly the entire defending force raised their arms and cheered wildly at the incredible victory they had won.

Nearly everyone cheered. On the fringes of the army, in front of the fallen perimeter wall, Hikari held Cremina, who was cradling a broken body and crying hysterically.

Link and Stocklachev cross blades in the middle of the chamber. Stocklachev struck at Link with the palm of his free hand. Link broke their blades apart and danced backwards as Stocklachev rushed to pursue him. Link swung the Master Sword up at Stocklachev. The Horder blocked with his blade.

The two performed a deadly dance around the room, hacking and striking out at each other with their swords. Stocklachev kicked out at Link, striking him in the right knee. Link fell to his knees as Stocklachev raised his sword above his head to perform a killing blow. Link lifted the Master Sword and stabbed Stocklachev through the ribs with it. The Horder stopped short, blood running down his chest and staining his uniform. Then Stocklachev dropped to the floor.

Link pulled the Master Sword free of Stocklachev's corpse, rubbing his knee. He hurried to the balcony. From above, he could hear the sounds of battle. Looking up, Link saw the ladder leading to the roof. Sheathing the Master Sword, Link grabbed the bottom rung of the ladder and began the long climb to the top of the castle.

A/N: Please read and REVIEW, it would be nice…