Veil of Twilight

Chapter VI
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Kakariko Village lay still and silent beneath the haze of golden black. A few bodies of tentacle jawed twilight creatures lay crumpled motionless in the street, slowly dematerializing in a cubed, grid like fashion.

After a time, a small, scuttling figure squirmed out of the shadows of two buildings, tentatively approaching the body of the larger monster. It was an insect, its legs and antennae barbed and obscene, with large, glassy black eyes. It reached one of the bodies, and began to nibble at the carcass with clicking mandibles.

Two sets of eyes, one a pure blue, the other a vibrant yellow and red, watched from the cover of shadows on the other side of the street, waiting for a chance to strike. They saw that the insect was fully focused with consuming its fallen kin, and took the opportunity.

The wolf leapt from the shadows, landing upon the insect and catching the thing within it’s jaws. The wolf shook the insect furiously, dropping it only when it stopped twitching. The wolf and the demon upon his back watched as light began waft from the insect’s eyes, wafting through the air and collecting above the spring just down the road.

“Well, that’s the last of them,” Midna said as they approached the spring. “And, hey, you didn’t even need me to save you this time! You may not be completely inept, after all.”

Link smiled internally. It still sounded abrasive, but he sensed a compliment in there, somewhere. Nothing would spoil his mood now. In a few moments, the Twilight would be lifted from this part of the Hyrule, and he would see them again. See her…

…

“They’ve been taken,” Rusl had told him. “After you disappeared searching for Ilia… the children were taken by the raiders. Malo, Talo, Beth, Colin… they’re all gone…”

Link had returned to Ordon Village after banishing the evil from the Deku Tree. It had been a long walk through the Forgotten Woods, a route he had never seen, much less traveled. It had made him wonder briefly what else, aside from the Deku Tree, was hidden within the Forgotten Woods; perhaps there were more of these secret places, lost and forgotten by time?

The village lie in ruins as he crossed the threshold. The houses were burned and charred, a few of them collapsed completely. Rusl had answered the door with a sword when Link had knocked, lowering it only when he saw who it was, his face cracking in relief. He sat Link down at the table and told him what had happened.

“I wanted so badly to go after them,” he said miserably. “After you and Ilia and the children, but… Uli was hurt in the raid. She needs me here, at least, until our child is born.”

He held his head in his hands, not showing his face. It was alarming for Link to see, the man who had raised him as a son, for him to look so defeated. It was what prompted him to speak.

“I will find them.”

…

From there, Link had readied Epona, who had returned to the village after the raid, and set off. Rusl had gifted him with a sword, the same one Link had been tasked to deliver to the castle, and a sturdy Hylian shield.

They left Ordon Province, crossing into Faron. Strangely enough, the Faron Province remained untouched by the Twilight. Perhaps because it was so close to Ordon, Link thought; the two were even connected by the Forgotten Woods.

It hardly mattered. Link could see his next destination on the horizon; the Eldin Province, banned from the world by a seemingly infinite wall of twilight, a swirling, black and gold veil, glowing in the dark of night as he rode towards it. It was more than a day’s ride away.

The sun was rising the day he reached it. He dismounted Epona and spurred her on into the Twilight before him. She seemed reluctant to enter, but did as Link commanded.

He crossed through the veil of twilight after his horse, reluctant to undergo the inevitable transformation. Regardless, it began, the pain of it still immense. He tried not to cry out.

When it was finished, Link felt a sudden weight as Midna appeared on his back.

“Well,” she said. “Let’s go.”

…

Link and Midna continued to watch as the light spirit took shape before them. Link was impatient to listen. He wanted it to be done with, to be reunited with Ilia and the children. The spirit, fortunately, was brief.

“Hero,” the voice came. “I am Eldin, Spirit of Power. I thank you for freeing me. Now you must travel up the mountain, and destroy the source of the dark power. Will you undertake this duty?”

Link nodded eagerly, anxious to be done with it.

“Very well,” the spirit said. “I grant you this aid before you ascend. It will surely earn you the trust of the natives.”

With that the spirit vanished, and Link, surprised to find himself human already, looked down at the item the spirit had left him. It was a bow and quiver, having appeared magically in his outstretched hands. He inspected them happily. A new weapon, as well. The day was getting better and better.

The sky above was rapidly shedding its suffocating golden black tones in favor of a bright blue. The sun shone wonderfully, reflecting the hero’s demeanor as he left the spring and approached the main road of the village.

The door of the house closest to him burst open, and a small crowd of people flooded out, some of which Link recognized. Colin spotted him and his face glowed with a smile.

“Link!” he cried running at him. The rest of the children followed his lead, charging towards the older youth and tackling him to the ground with their hugs.

“Link! You saved us! We thought you were done for!”

Link felt his eyes watering as he embraced them, looking around at all of them to see their faces.

Amidst his joy however, Link felt a stab of unease. There was one face he didn’t see among the children.

The children finally let him go, and Link got to his feet. He looked around at them all once more, back at the house, examining the two taller figures slowly approaching, making sure she really wasn’t there before asking his question. As he opened his mouth, however, the children beat him to it.

“Link, where’s Ilia?” He felt his heart jump at the inquiry; they were asking him?

“She’s… she’s not here?” he tried feebly. Malo, the youngest of the children, shook his head.

“You were the one that ran off looking for her. Shouldn’t she be with you?”

As Link floundered for a reply, the two other figures reached the group. One was a tall, dark skinned man with long, dreaded hair. He outstretched his hand towards Link, who took it absentmindedly.

“I am Renado,” the man said. “The shaman of Kakariko Village.” He motioned to the other man, a skinny balding man. “This is my associate, Barnes.”

“Where’s Ilia?” Link asked blankly, seemingly catching the shaman off guard.

“Um… I’m sorry, uh, who?”

“Ilia,” Link said, trying not to sound impatient. “A girl, about my age. She would have been with the children.”

Renado looked both confused and apologetic. “I’m very sorry, but… there’s nobody named Ilia here…

Link nodded, keeping his face set. She wasn’t there. He could feel his heart sinking into the pit of his stomach. Within his mind, Midna was mercifully silent.

“The Gorons have become hostile and reclusive up in the mountains,” Renado continued. “Perhaps they know the whereabouts of your friend? The children are welcome to stay here, should you wish to travel that way.”

Link finally broke out of his stupor. He nodded sternly.

“I will,” he said.

…

The sun hanged behind a tall spire of the Hyrule Castle, suffocating the horizon in twilight. A few miles beyond the protective walls of the castle court, in the Lanayru field, a river snaked across the land. It was mostly deserted; animals chose their drinks from the river carefully now, ever since the creatures had started appearing.

There was one figure, though. A human girl, kneeling down at the soft earth of the bank, holding a bucket into the oncoming current of the stream. Just as she had done the day before.

Ever since the twilight had come, since the sun had stopped setting and rising, the water in all the Castle Town wells had dried up. Telma had said it had something to do with the Zora’s in the east. That’s where the water came from, she said.

They needed water to keep the bar going; for everything really. There wasn’t even enough to drink. Somebody had to get water, even if it meant risking the creatures in the fields. Flying things, and monstrous things, with mouthfuls of tentacles.

Telma had begged Ilia not to go, but she had insisted. The old barmaid had been more than kind to take her in, to nurse her back to health. As soon as she was rejuvenated, Ilia had insisted upon pulling her own weight. It was the least she could do.

Besides, she thought with a smile. The labor came quite naturally to her, as if she had been doing it all her life; she hoped, secretly to herself, that the work would help her to remember herself. Anything of her life before waking by the riverbank, not far from where she presently knelt.

The water began to spill over the lip of the bucket, wetting Ilia’s hands. She pulled the bucket from the river, walking up the current along the bank towards her cart, where several other containers of water sat.

As she heaved the bucket onto the cart, something caught her eye. A form on the bank, to her right. At first, she felt her heart leap, and she froze in terror, prepared to dart off if it should attack. As she slowly turned to get a better look, however, she saw that it wasn’t one of the creatures she feared.

It appeared to be a young boy. The first thing she noticed about him was that he wasn’t a human. The boy’s skin was a pale blue, and there were fish like fins on his limbs. Ilia thought of Telma’s passing description of the Zora people. She couldn’t imagine who else the boy could be.

The second thing she noticed was the gash on his stomach. He looked as if he had been mauled or stabbed. Ilia kneeled down beside him, forgetting to keep wary of her surroundings. The wound looked pruned and dry, perhaps infected. She noticed the Zora boy’s chest heaving with shallow breaths; still alive.

Without another thought, Ilia carefully scooped the young boy in her arms and placed him in her cart. He didn’t look like he had much time. It had been less than a week ago that she herself had been found unconscious by the riverbank. She wouldn’t leave anyone to suffer whatever fate she would have suffered.

I’ll save you, Ilia thought frantically. Just hold on.

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SOOOOO sorry about the wait, everybody. I hope you like it. On another note, I personally feel that the story may be moving a little slowly, but I encourage you to keep reading. It will get really good.

With that said, Read, Rate, Review, and Enjoy!!!