A Shadow of Hope Chapter 6
By Bane Nathos
Link and Akon waited in the now eerie Fortress for hours, waiting for Feroc to return. To use up time, they stacked the bodies of the Gerudo on a pyre of sorts and in the now dim light of dusk they placed a torch near the bottom of the pile igniting the pyre, the only type of funeral they could do for these people who had died by the hands of a maniac. Due to the lack of time and the unpredictability of the desert Link and Akon couldn’t bury each one so they had decided a pyre would be best. The fire burned brightly lighting up the now dark desert evening. Link and Akon looked in remorse at the fallen Gerudo as they put them on the pier and watched their bodies burn to ash. They had done nothing to deserve this cruel fate. Their lives had been taken due to the insanity of one cruel man, eager to harm others and to spread misery on anyone and everyone.
After they had all been placed on the pier Link and Akon watched them all burn and then walked back inside to wait for the long missing, Feroc.
Time seemed just to be slowly crawling along after funeral in the now dark fortress of the Gerudo, sometimes Link or Akon would go out and look for Feroc, but to no avail. Feroc had disappeared into the blackness of the desert. Not even through magic could Akon reach him. He had shut himself off from all and didn’t want to be found or helped.
Link looked at Akon, he was fidgeting in the corner. Link walked up to him, and sat down next to him. The older man looked up at him but soon looked back down.
“You think he’ll he back?” Link asked.
Akon’s head came up looking deep into Link’s eyes, then it slowly sank back down. “I’m not sure”
“Has he done this before, to your reckoning”
“Never to mine, but he is a driven man now, driven almost to insanity. He’s been in the desert so long, doing I’m not sure what for a very long time, so I don’t know what he’ll do, but I do know that he has changed, changed a ton.”
“So what should we do? Continue waiting for him or should we go out to looked for him.”
“How about we wait for…” Akon’s voice broke.
“What?”
Akon’s hand came up to signal Link to be quiet. Link remained silent and listened out. He heard something, something like a scratching noise. Akon’s head jerked to one part of the compound, listening more. They heard it again. Akon jumped up and he started running to another part of the compound.
Link, after grabbing a torch, followed Akon, in a maddening chase through doorways and rooms of the compound of the now dark stone compound. Akon stopped listening again. Link nearly ran into him, but was barely able to stop just in the nick of time. Within a few seconds it could be heard again, Akon picked up the direction again and ran into the adjacent room, Akon stopped again and put his ear to the solid stone brick wall and while doing so put his hands out and while listening felt his way along the wall. Link watched him in amazement, what could it be that could peek his interest so.
Link noticed that Akon had stopped and had crouched down putting his ear close to one specific stone tapping it with his knuckles. Link listened and heard a slight tapping in response to Akon’s tap. Akon jumped up excited, putting his hands on the side of the stone block there.
“Help me get this stone out,” he said tugging at it.
Link agreed with a nod and after putting the torch he was carrying on one of the places for it on the wall, he walked up and joined Akon at trying to pull the rock out of the wall. The rock didn’t move. Link pulled and pulled, his arms felt like they were going to fall of but he continued. He started sweating and with a quick look at Akon, Link could tell he was too. Finally the rock budged, pulling out of the wall about an inch. The sudden movement of the stone sent Link falling back. He got up and walked up to the stone again. Akon was gasping for breath but soon he signaled Link that they should continue. Soon they were grunting and straining again at the stone. But now it was easier, the stone started coming out slowly, inch-by-inch it came.
Finally when Link thought he couldn’t go on any longer it came fully out revealing a small crawlspace beyond. Link stared into the crawlspace and noticed that someone was in there. Stepping back he noticed a woman in there, crawling forward to get out. Akon stepped forward and lowered his hand to help pull her out of the small space.
When she had been pulled out of the whole and was dusting herself off Link noticed. She was a Gerudo, from the fiery red hair to dark skin. The only difference was in the clothing. Instead of wearing the usual Gerudo, facial covering and tan desert pants and multi-colored top, she wore an almost pearl colored nightdress now dusty from being inside such a cramped space. Link also noticed that she had her hair down instead of being tied up. “All and all she looked quite lovely,” Link thought.
The woman noticed Link’s starring and said with annoyance “What? Haven’t you ever heard of a Gerudo changing to go to bed? We do sleep you know”
Akon stepping in, “Sorry but we have only seen Gerudo’s in their normal attire and manner, sorry for the boy’s starring, but we are on an urgent mission and we need you to answer some questions”
“First I need some food and water, being in that hole for hours, has gotten me quite thirsty, what time is it?”
“It’s about two hours past sundown, and if you’ll follow me we’ll try to help you as much as possible.” Akon led the way taking the torch from the wall and Link taking the back.
Link watched the woman carefully, she kept quiet while they walked through the fortress and Link noticed some tears starting on her eyes as she looked around at the scorched black walls and the eerie silence of the place that once had been teeming with people. She kept back keeping always a few steps behind Akon, who led them to the room where him and Link had put all the Gerudo gear as well as their own.
They entered, the Gerudo woman looked at the pile of Gerudo gear that Link and Akon had stacked in there and she looked up angrily.
“Were you going to steal the belongings of my people, looting the place of their fall?”
“No!” Akon said sternly and put his arm on her shoulder, “you should know better, now come over here and answer some questions and we might be able to help you” Akon lead her to their stuff and pulled out some food and a bottle of water and he handed it to her.
“Now, please sit and eat, and answer us some questions”
The woman to hungry now to argue sat and attacked the food ravenously and chugging down the water.
“Not too fast, their you might hurt yourself” Akon said chuckling, “now, can you tell us what happened here, how did the Gerudo’s die”
“I’m not into associating with men, who aren’t mine”
“Well that doesn’t concern me, I’m not yours and the boy isn’t either, but answer the question”
The woman sighed, and answered “There was a man, he rode into here in a seemingly great haste and asked for our leader. She came out and had him surrounded by guards; he laughed at her and said he was bringing a gift for her. She always did like gifts well; by then I was totally awake and was looking down from one of the upper stories. It was my sleeping period but the commotion startled me, so I watched”
“Well he finally said the gift wasn’t for her but for a friend passing by soon, she got mad and had the guards close in on him, but then an evil look went into his eyes and they turned bright red. He lifted his hands and the ground shook. The guards not fazed by a little quake continued moving in but that is when it happened. Out of the ground they came, hundreds of them, skeletons, demons, lizards, all carrying blades. Hundreds, thousands of them, popping out of the ground, overpowering the initial guards. The alarm was sounded and my people came out to fight, but there were too many, my people were cut down before my eyes. I ran from them after my blade broke and took cover in one of our hidden treasure hideaways, but the stone gone stuck, probably from the power of all his creatures. They boiled through the fortress killing or destroying everything and everyone. I’m sure no one else survived. They were just too powerful and numerous…”
Akon sighed and put his hand on hers, “Well don’t worry for now, they are gone and so is he… But we are seeking him to bring him to justice and if you would like to help us, you can?”
The woman looked up, “I’ll do what I want when I want to no more shall I do” she said then she went back to eating her food.
Link got up and walked outside, the night was now fully here. The stars and moon were out in all their brilliance, Link watched them for a while then he felt something. A tremor deep in the ground, then a flash could be seen. Link followed it and looked towards the desert Towards the Great Spirit Temples flashes could be seen flashes of red, white, blue and more, as well and the rumbling and sound like thunder.
Akon could then he seen running out of the fortress at full throttle, the Gerudo woman following.
“FEROC!” Akon screamed it what seemed like desperation jumping on his horse and riding out towards the sound.
“What’s going on the woman!” yelled at Link.
Link turned to the woman; “STAY HERE!” and Link ran to Epona and jumped on, riding furiously to catch up to the desperate Akon, riding fast for the temple…
Link rode hard to catch up to Akon, who was riding like a demon, fear quite
obviously showing on his face. They rode out of the ruined fortress and into
the desert, where Link knew the temple awaited.
They rode, their horses pounding the earth leaving a large cloud of dust going far back behind then. Seeing Akon this way got Link worried too, what got him so, so different in such a short period of time? Link didn’t even have to think long, he knew. “Feroc” he thought, “he went out after him and accepted that challenge, that’s him out there”. Akon’s fear was now imbedded in Link too, the fear of losing Feroc, and having to do this without him. The fear drove Link faster to try to go faster, Epona now, going as fast as possible.
They reached the dune overlooking the temple, climbing up it. Then another large flash happened followed by an explosion, the blast caused the horses to rear up, throwing their riders off. Link and Akon hit the sand and rolled. Link was slower to get up than Akon you dived for the edge of the ridge, rising at its edge looking over. Link soon joined him slowly bring his head up to look over, dreading at what he might see.
Below them was the Spirit temple its entrance seemingly carved right out of the cliff face. Its great stone pillars rising up menacingly above the desert. At first Link could see nothing then looking at his partners face he followed his eyes to a spot on the great steps into the temple. A body was there, black and not moving. Link could see tears rolling down Akon’s cheeks as he ran down the dune toward the body not noticing or caring about the black figure beyond it.
Link could see the figure look up and laugh, a low demonic laugh. Then the figure spoke. The voice seemed to be inside Link’s mind talking to him.
“So boy, you joined up with this rabble fully now, well now that this nucence is out of the way, I am finished here, you can have what’s left of him if you want, he might even still be breathing for the time being. I have what I want and now I can do my next goal, with Feroc out of the way I have nothing to fear. Your turn to face me will come soon enough, but you wont need to come seeking me out for that, I’ll come to you and when I do we’ll fight and when you are gone, Hyrule would follow soon after. But don’t cry or hide in fear, your death wont be lingering like Feroc’s here; his was eating him out from inside long before this. But yours will come and also Akon’s here too. All people’s death in this world shall come, some quicker than others but they all shall. Yours won’t be long away now, so when I come looking for you, don’t make me search long, or more shall die because of you, like Feroc here. His death is on your hands, you got the stone back for me. I didn’t want to warn Feroc and Akon to my presence so soon so I got you to get that stone back from that pesky beast for me by disguising myself. I played the poor helpless traveler and you the hero, but all you did is cause suffering to many like the Gerudo and now Feroc. So now think on my words and remember your time will come, not yet, but it’s coming, coming…”
The last word seemed to trail off, as the figure seemed to disappear, into the sand and get blown away by the night desert breeze…
Link soon joined Akon by Feroc’s body. Akon was crying, holding his master’s seemingly lifeless hand, trying to help the man who now seemed so helpless as his body was nearly gone, burned from the hip down and one arm too. But upon Feroc’s face was a smile, as he brought Akon in closer whispering something into his ear, then he looked at Link a weird look in his eyes. Another voice entered his mind, but this time it wasn’t cold and menacing but soothing and full of peace and hope.
“My boy, I’m sorry I misjudged you. Don’t believe what he has told you about all this being your fault. I knew I was to die before Dajak was to be defeated totally. I knew that long ago. But take this as a word of hope. He can be defeated I know he can. I have found a way. A way that seemed so hard and impossible before. But believe me it’s possible I know it now. Your actions of getting the stone back to Dajak were meant to happen. I didn’t know it then when I stormed off but I do know that now. You were doing the exact action that had to happen for all this to conclude and me to actually get the answer of how to defeat him. You may think that after seeing what he did to me that my answer is not right but it is, I know it. Akon here might not believe you at first but he has another mission right now, different from yours. Your home is in danger and back to it you must go. Don’t fret at night fearing that Dajak will come for you, even though come he shall. When he comes you shall know in advance and your meeting won’t just be between you two. I knew that you were the one before but I doubted it, until now, so now take this as an apology for my actions before. Take this the answer to my long sought question it is in these my memories that I give to you and Akon, in them is are all the answers and the last hope of all…”
Feroc breathed in one last time and the breath came out in one long stream. His eyes turned back to Akon, who was crying uncontrollably and something seemed to happen there. Akon looked up seemingly listlessly, tears in his eyes but he seemed to be looking at something else, something far away from here. Then Feroc turned his gaze back to Link, who now too was beginning to cry, and their eyes connected. A flash seemed to happen in Link’s mind and a light seemed to turn on. Link’s mind was going, going elsewhere somewhere else. Link looked back at Feroc one last time before his mind left. He was still smiling but now it seemed peaceful, as if now he was gone, somewhere else. Gone back to where all came from, gone back in peace…