A Shadow of Hope Chapter 1
By Bane Nathos
The beast was circling the boy ready to spring at any sign of the boy letting down his guard. The beast continued circling till he saw the boy his sword down a bit so it was nearly on the ground. After seeing that the beast lunged at the boy. But the boy was ready. With lightning quick reflexes he rolled, brought his sword up and slashed at the monsters now exposed head and neck. The monster reared back in surprise but soon lunged again. This time though the boy brought his sword up and slashed the throat of the now lunging beast. The beast roared with anger then collapsed from its injuries never to rise again.
The boy then went up to examine his kill. By circling and probing the kill with his sword the boy could determine that it was dead. The boy then used his sword and cut a small bag of the monster’s back and opened it. Inside was a small broach with a pearl in the middle.
“Good, correct monster,” he thought as he tucked the broach in a sack he had nearby and started walking back to the village where he had come from.
The boys name was Link. Link, the hero of Hyrule, the defeater of Ganon, Ganandorf, and the one who fought to defeat many other creatures of evil in this world that he lived in. Standing about five foot, with sandy-blond hair, and wearing all green, the boy was one healthy looking person. He had recently defeated Ganandorf in a chaotic battle that had ended with him transforming himself in Links dead nemesis, Ganon even then Link defeated him and Ganandorf was locked into a void by the triforce.
Link then had taken the job of guardian of Hyrule, even though he was a boy of twelve. Link was to protect Hyrule and had to frequently go out and fight creatures threatening some part of Hyrule, the Goron lands, or the Zora’s domain. Since there were many he was kept quite busy.
This time around he had been sent out to defeat a creature that had attacked a traveler from another land that was visiting Hyrule and had stolen a broach that he had bought in Hyrule to take back to his land. Link had now done that and was heading back to return the broach to him. Even though Link had such an important job in Hyrule he wished to return to the good old days where he went on adventures to save the whole world, not just this petty stuff.
After an hour of traveling, Link caught sight of the Inn where he was to return the broach to its owner. Link walked up to the Inn and walked in. The Inn was one of the smallest ones in Hyrule, with only two rooms for people to stay in. It must have satisfied the visitor though because he had been staying here for three weeks and hadn’t complained yet. Link walked up to the owner’s desk and asked for the whereabouts of the visitor.
“He’s up in his room, want me to get him for ya?” the owner replied.
“Yes that would be helpful,” Link said as he sat down on a bench that the owner had out.
The owner went upstairs and a little while later he came back down and stated, “He’ll be down in a minute young one, he has to get dressed first. It seems I interrupted him when he was getting dressed, poor chap,”
“That’s fine, as long he comes,” Link replied as he got the broach out of the bag.
True to the owner’s word, the man came down in a few minutes, giddy as school child. He came bounding down the steps, heading straight towards Link, and could barely stop himself right in front of where Link was sitting, as he asked with glee, “You have it?”
“Yes I do, that monster had just crossed the river when I caught up to him, good thing you got word to me so soon.” Link stated as he handed the broach over to the man, who grabbed it and started examining it to see if there had been any damage.
“You have no idea what this means to me, if I returned home without the all the souvenirs from this land, my people would be mad at me and probably send me back with more people to make sure they get souvenirs from here, so they can ponder whether or not to try to open up trade,” the man exclaimed as he wrapped the broach in a piece of silk and put it in a small case. “Thank you
“Don’t worry this is what I am here for, and if you can excuse me I need to leave now,” Link said as he packed up his stuff and left.
“Thanks again!” the man exclaimed as Link was walking out.
Link frowned in disgust as he left. He hated doing jobs like this. He wanted to do something that was a challenge again, and actually have an adventure. All these jobs were just stupid. Link walked down the road leading to the city of Hyrule. Now he had to head back to his home in the castle there, where the King had adopted him, since he had had no sons and Link’s parents were dead.
Link soon caught sight of the city and traversed the moat, and went through the gate. He walked through the bussling streets and took the hill up to the castle. He went up and the guard let him in with a bow. Link went up to his room to sleep, hoping that tomorrow would be different.
But he was unaware of the shadow that had followed him since he had entered the city. The shadow that had continued following him all the way to the castle and inside…