The Flow of TIme

Chapter 18- The Hour of Twilight

It was not the second attack on the castle that had caused Princess Zelda to worry. Ashei and Auru, members of the freedom force that had fought for Hyrule, had been instrumental in driving the enemy back. It wasn’t even the third attack, when the timely arrival of Goron and Zora warriors turned the tide of the conflict.

It was the absence of the Hero chosen by the goddesses that had her lying awake at night. It was what caused the gnawing emptiness in the pit of her stomach. He had promised her that he would be there to protect them and he was gone. There was only one reason Link wouldn’t keep his word and that thought especially did not bring her any comfort.

Even now, the army of grotesque beasts that camped to the east of Hyrule castle would not have bothered her nearly as much as it did, if only Link were here. Instead, though, she was forced to suffer alone. It was a time far too reminiscent of when Ganondorf’s minion Zant had attacked.

No, not alone, she had to remind herself. Rusl had arrived a short time ago, with Ilia and a band of men from Kakariko. The Princess had expressed surprise at the country girl’s presence. Not that she had any ill feelings toward the young woman, but by her own admission, Ilia was not a warrior.

However, the girl had come dressed in leather armor of a similar make and fashion as Rusl, with a quiver on her back and a bow at her side. She must have noticed the Princess’ surprise, because she said, “I’m tired of letting Link run off while I sit around and do nothing. I’ve been practicing with this ever since Link left Ordon.”

Later, when the Princess had joined Rusl and Ilia on the battlefield, Zelda had learned the latter hadn’t been making an idle threat. The young girl must have been practicing because she proved to be a capable archer. It was strange, though, to be fighting alongside Link’s friends when he himself was absent.

Stranger still were the motivations of the army laying siege to the castle. They never pressed their attacks, as though they were content to merely harass the frightened denizens of the town. In fact, they seemed to be taunting the Hylians with their mere presence, forcing Zelda to choose between locking down the city and waiting out the army, or taking the fight to them and forcing her to order men to their deaths.

Worse still, the army seemed limitless. Zelda had no idea how many bulblin and other monsters had been left over from Ganondorf’s invasion forces. Now she understood how difficult it must have been for Link to fight, more or less alone, against so many.

What frightened her worst of all was the leader of the army. He never fought himself, but he directed his hordes of undead and the like from a position above the battlefield, floating along on some unseen current. He had a ghoulish face and a dark appearance, like the reaper himself had come to take account of Hyrule.

The only time he ever took action was when an unfortunate archer had attempted to target him. The arrow sped across the field and headed directly for the specter, but before it could reach him, a lance of bright light shot from the leader’s outstretched hand. It burned the arrow to a crisp and sliced into the poor soldier, incinerating him on the spot.

Nobody else tried to attack him.

What concerned Zelda about this action, besides the loss of life, was the fact that her Triforce piece had resonated when the specter called on his powers. It was as though she was standing in the presence of Link or Ganondorf, but that didn’t make sense. Unless… unless this monster had somehow obtained a piece of the Triforce.

What Zelda didn’t understand was the aim and intentions of the leader of this band. More than once, he had beaten back her knights and soldiers. One time he had nearly routed her forces. She knew enough of battle to see the weaknesses in her army, but this enemy never exploited his advantages.

It was as though he was waiting for something and these battles were just something he did to keep himself occupied. Or perhaps the battles themselves were just a goad, and he was trying to coax something out of hiding. What, she couldn’t fathom.

It occurred to her that those who were dying in this conflict didn’t care about these things. Most of them were merely concerned with protecting the castle and the innocent inhabitants of the city. She, though, had to look ahead, see the bigger picture.

Why was this individual attacking? How had he amassed such a large army in such a short time? Had he been allied with Ganondorf? What were they going to do if he decided to press the assault?

Zelda pulled herself out of her musings and surveyed the battlefield. The Hylian army had taken the battle away from the walls protecting the town and out onto the eastern field. It would be safer for the civilians that way, but also far more dangerous for the defenders of the castle.

Currently, her group had broken through the lines of the enemy and was attempting to cut through the middle of the enemy army. The hope was that they could divide the enemy into two smaller forces and crush them one at a time.

Ilia was to her immediate left, firing her bow at the flying creatures that swooped down periodically on the battlefield. Rusl was on her right, sword and shield at the ready. Around her, members of the royal guard were tearing into beasts left and right. Several Goron and Zora warriors completed the party.

Zelda herself was equipped with a bow and the Arrows of Light. For whatever purpose, the arrows given her by the Light Spirits remained after the battle with Ganondorf, and so she put them to use now. Plus, she found the splash damage from the arrows allowed her to wreck far more damage than anything else at her disposal.

Still, it was an arduous process, and what little progress they made seemed insignificant when one noticed that the leader of the army hardly reacted to their seeming victories. In fact, he rarely seemed to look at the battle at all, to issue orders or otherwise.

Soon, they broke through the last of the enemy forces and turned back on their pursuers. The soldiers that had survived the charge formed into two positions, one to assault the left half of the opposing forces and the other the right. Zelda’s heart leapt as she saw her opponents vanquished by the two-pronged assault.

Sorrow quickly replaced this elation, as she saw the specter point to the far end of the field. The setting sun set the sky ablaze in shades of fiery red, and just over the hill a band of warriors approached. Zelda saw they were reinforcements, come at just the right time to squash her group between the old fighters and the fresh ones.

Zelda suddenly felt the weight of the past weeks fall upon her. Fight after fight, and here this monster had a hammer ready to shatter the rock that had been her kingdom. It might have been a crystal shot through with flaws, but her kingdom it was.

She pulled her bow up and called to Rusl. “Reinforcements on the next hill.”

Rusl dispatched a bokoblin with a deft slash of his sword and looked over. His face fell when he saw mounted bulblin supported by a full complement of infantry.

“What, does he spin them from the ether?” the warrior muttered dejectedly.

“He isn’t a goddess of creation, so I would think not.” Zelda said this as much to reassure herself as Rusl.

Rusl spun his sword around in a fashion remarkably similar to the flourish Zelda saw Link perform on more than one occasion. Her heart fluttered strangely at the unexpected reminder of the hero. The soldier nodded at the monsters. “Shall we, your Highness?” Gone was the negative countenance Zelda had seen on him a moment earlier, replaced by resolute determination.

Zelda smiled, letting the weariness fade from her face. “Of course.” She reminded herself that this was the man responsible for Link’s early sword training and most likely also for Link’s development into the brave hero he was known as today.

A small group of soldiers formed up on their flanks, and Rusl and Princess started toward the new arrivals. Ilia followed close behind, keeping monsters off their back, and a trio of knights on horses rushed forward to attack the mounted enemy. Zelda frowned when one of the knights was knocked off his horse and trampled down.

The two opposing forces slammed into each other, and Zelda fought furiously to keep as many of her fellow fighters alive. Unfortunately, her group had already been fighting the majority of the day while their enemy was a fresh group obviously held in reserve. Soon, they were surrounded and cut off from the main body.

Eventually, it was only Rusl, Ilia and herself fighting a vicious battle to survive. The hordes of monsters crowded in on them and things seemed bleak. Rusl was bleeding from several injuries and Ilia had suffered from a nasty cut to the head, with blood seeping from a gash.

Zelda had been more fortunate, but then she had been wearing the full armor of the royal family. She was dressed in armor of gold and silver and that had once been polished to a gleaming finish. Now, though, it was tarnished by the dust and blood of the battlefield.

It was then that she offered a fervent supplication to the goddesses, begging for aid. She asked forgiveness for not providing sufficient protection to those of her ward. She pleaded with them to let the final moments of her people be without undue suffering. Suddenly, without any warning or preamble, Zelda’s prayer was answered.

A ball of purple energy sped over the crowd and curved into the monsters directly in front of Zelda. An explosion of light tore through the beasts and wiped them from the face of the ground. Behind her, an arrow with a bomb affixed to the head detonated, hurling their opponents into the sky. Both had come from the left, the direction of the Eldin Bridge.

She turned, knowing in her heart already the identity of their rescuers. Link stood erect as the light of the setting sun lit up his face, Master Sword and Hylian Shield replacing the bow that had been in his hands. Leaning on his shoulder was Midna, the Twilight Princess, a second ball of energy spitting sparks as she twirled it about her fingertips.

It was somehow fitting, Zelda thought absently, that the two of them would once again come to the rescue of Hyrule. And seeing them there, in that position, with Midna leaning on Link and the Hero in all his glory, somehow felt just as right. Zelda marveled at the insight while at the same time not really able to comprehend the meaning behind it.

As the hero and the Twili began to cut down their enemies, Zelda felt renewed vigor. Everything was going to fine now. The Hero chosen by the goddesses would make sure of it. As Link and Midna reached them, Link gave her a sideways smile and said casually, “Sorry I’m late. Had to take a little side-trip to the Twilight Realm.”

“You can make up for it later. For now, let’s focus on winning.”

Link cut down another creature and looked into the sky. “That might be harder than you think.” He looked over and saw his childhood friend. “Ilia, what are you doing here?”

“I’m stick of waiting around for you, wondering if you’ve gone off to some war and died. I’m here to help!”

Link stared at her, taking in her battle garb and the bow in her hands. “You’re what?”

“Don’t give me that! If the two princesses can fight, why shouldn’t I?”

Link held up his hands in a warding gesture. “No, no. It’s not that. I’m just impressed. I didn’t have you figured for a warrior type, that’s all.”

“Well, maybe you should have.”

Rusl stepped in. “Can we discuss this later, please? We have a visitor.”

Above them, the specter had taken an immediate interest in the new arrivals. He floated down from the sky and landed in the space that had been occupied by his reinforcements. He surveyed the carnage around him and said, “I see Farore chose well. Her Hero certainly knows how to wage war.”

“You won’t get away with what you’ve done.” Link’s tone was firm.

The specter pulled out a green orb and seemed to smile beneath his mask. “Oh, I think I will.” Green light flashed out from the orb and filled the field. Around them, the creatures that had fallen rose from the ground and dusted themselves off. Their wounds were gone.

He floated back into the air. “I hope you understand that Triforce or no Triforce, this place will be your grave, hero.”

As the specter floated away, Link sighed. “I told you. This isn’t going to be easy.”

They began to fight anew, and Zelda had to shout to be heard over the roar of the battle. “Link, what is he? How did he do that? What’s going on?”

“So many questions and so little time.” Link sidestepped at bokoblin and slashed into it. “He’s a rebel spirit from the heavens and he’s taken control of Farore’s powers. He sealed her away in that green jewel and we have to get it back.”

Zelda stared at him and fired her bow without aiming. It struck a Wizrobe and the light energy wounded several monsters around it. “What?!”

“That’s the short version. No time to explain better.” Link cut into a spear-wielding Moblin. “The only way we can beat him is to take that orb away.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” Zelda fired off another volley of arrows, cutting through monsters that she had already defeated once before.

Midna floated into the air above the group, dodging flaming arrows. In her hands was a pair of energy balls. She chucked them into the crowd of monsters and yelled, “Easy. Link will fight him while we take on the baddies.”

Ilia glared up at the Twili princess. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“You have a better idea, blondie?” Midna retorted.

Link ignored the two girls’ spat. “You’ll need help if I leave you alone to this.”

As if in response to Link’s statement, the sound of thundering hoofs echoed across the battlefield. From the direction of Eldin Bridge, a group of bulblin on their signature boar-like mounts crossed into the field. At the head was King Bulblin, the fearsome leader of the bulblin that had served under Ganondorf and Zant, atop his mount Lord Bulbo.

Rusl frowned. “Oh wonderful. More monsters to fight.” He stood with his sword at the ready.

Link held up a hand. “I don’t think they are our enemy.” His statement was confirmed when the fresh bulblin forces began to attack the army assaulting Hyrule Castle.

Zelda looked on, not knowing what was going on, and the boss of the bulblin approached Link. He said, “Those not my men. Not Zant’s or Ganondorf’s either. Not sure about them, but I fight for strongest.”

She had no idea what this meant, but Link seemed to understand. “Alright then,” the hero stated, “I want you to protect my friends.” He pointed to Zelda and the others. “I’m going to go take care of that guy.” He thrust his thumb up in the direction of the evil spirit.

King Bulblin nodded in silence and then gave commands to his troops in a guttural tongue. The bulblin took up position on the flanks of the Hylians and began to attack the remaining enemy soldiers. Zelda and the others seemed surprised at first, but eventually she got over it. It would seem this day would only get weirder.

Link, for his part, turned away from the main conflict. “Hey, Midna, mind giving that guy a message for me?” he called out.

The princess floated down, “Why yes, I would just love to play messenger girl for you. Just keep in mind I expect payment when we’re done.” Midna said this in a coquettish tone, and Ilia managed to spare a glare in the Twili’s direction whilst firing her bow.

Zelda thought she saw a hint of a blush come to Link’s face, although perhaps it was just a trick of the light. He looked up at the princess and said, “Give him an energy attack that says, ‘Hey! I wanna talk to ya!’”

“Ooh, I like these kinds of messages.” The Twili floated back into the sky and attacked the spirit using the shadow arts of her people. The effect was instantaneous. The spirit spun on the Twili and hurled a spear of light at her.

Midna dodged this and the energy attack slammed into a crowd of the spirit’s army, disintegrating his own troops. He snarled and was about to follow-up with another attack when a boomer-rang slammed into the back of his head, spinning him around with a gale.

“It’s time for an end,” said the Hero chosen by the goddesses.

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