Fan Fiction Friday: The Era Without a Hero – Part 62

Part Sixty-Two

Osmond dashed forward and swung his sword at the soldier, but a shield raised in defense halted his attack. A nearby soldier lowered a spear and thrust it toward Osmond. He dodged, allowing the spear tip to strike the shield. Osmond pushed against the shield, forcing its holder backward, and then hooked his arm around the spear and twisted, freeing the weapon.

Liam had taken on the captain, swinging the razor blades that his sword detached into across his body and back. The captain readied his sword and shield and then dove in at Liam. Liam anticipated the move and sidestepped, pulled his weapon taught, and the blade wrapped around the captain’s sword. Once captured, Liam brought his heel down onto the knee of the captain. Before Liam could strike again, his opponent released his own weapon and rolled away. He got to his feet and slammed his shield into Liam, knocking him back a few steps.

Meanwhile, Fado sent a blast of air into the crowd and pushed several soldiers onto their backs. With a small opening, Sir Ralphine dashed over and disarmed as many soldiers as he could. One soldier, who managed to get to his feet quickly, readied his blade against the legendary swordsman.

“Don’t try it, lad,” Ralphine sighed.

He swung his broadsword at Ralphine who ducked under the attack. With a flick of his wrist, Ralphine’s sword sliced across the fingers of the soldier. He cried out in pain and dropped his weapon. With another quick flick, Ralphine left a scratch across the soldier’s face.

“I did warn you.”

Fado again sent a wave of magic blowing through the crowd and it opened a narrow path that the quartet could attempt to flee through. Osmond and Liam both disengaged from their opponents to give chase as Fado and Ralphine began their retreat.

“Do not let them escape!” the captain shouted.

The soldiers began their pursuit through the streets as Osmond and the others continued to flee.

“We should split up,” Ralphine suggested.

“Rendezvous at your ship?” Osmond asked.

“Too dangerous,” Liam said, ducking behind a crate.

“The inn!” Fado said.

Collectively, they nodded and split in different directions.

Liam swung his sword upward and pulled himself onto a balcony. He ran along the rooftop of the building and leapt to the next one over.

Osmond, starting to feel some more side effects of whatever drug he’d been influenced by, moved through the street and ducked down an alleyway. He crouched down behind a cart overflowing with fruit and caught his breath. At the sound of the armored footsteps, he focused and dashed down the alley and out onto another street.

Much like Liam, Fado made quick work of getting off the main road and launched himself upward with a blast of air. Running along the rooftops, he repeatedly blasted himself up and over to another establishment. Once they realized their plans were similar, Liam nodded and swung back down to the street.

Osmond came out onto a street filled with people and quickly attempted to blend in. The early evening light provided some additional cover as he weaved in and out of the groups. As a group of soldiers entered the street at the far end, Osmond changed directions. He lowered his head and pulled the hood on his cloak up. At the far end of the street, he noticed a few more soldiers appear.

He began to look for another path to take, any alleyway that could provide him an out. Then Fado leaped across the street from above and the soldiers broke off with haste. Osmond sighed a breath of relief and continued on his own path.

A few more hurried blocks and Osmond found himself on the main street outside of the Silent Princess Inn. He ducked down behind a crate to make sure the coast was clear, then hurried down the small street and into the courtyard. The flower mural that disguised the entrance remained untouched and the area was silent. A single cart sat to the side of the well, which is where Osmond decided it would be best to wait.

Just as he got into position, Ralphine arrived and hurried over to the cart as well.

“Good show,” he nodded.

“We should wait to get inside until the others arrive. It’d be safer to open the door only once, right?”
Ralphine nodded.

It wasn’t more than a moment later when Fado leapt down on top of the well from the rooftops. He crouched down behind the stone then and nodded to the others. He quickly understood their intentions and peeked down the road.

Hurried footsteps soon filled the yard.

“After him!”

Liam came to a sudden stop and turned to look back down the street. He readied his sword and stood firm, breathing heavily.

The others remained hidden as a small group of soldiers swarmed the courtyard and surrounded Liam. The captain soon entered the courtyard also and smiled smugly.

“Lord Liam of Lanayru, you are indeed quite the resourceful one. And yet, you seem to have lost your step in that advanced age of yours.”

Liam tightened the grip on his sword, his finger on the trigger to release the tension and unleash its whip form.

“Alas, my orders are to merely capture you and bring you before His Majesty,” the captain shrugged. “Though what pleasure it would give me to say that I slayed the mighty Liam the Bloody.”

Liam’s face twitched at the name.

Suddenly, a voice shouted from the street behind the soldiers. A panicked rush went out, but soon soldiers’ bodies were sent flying back. A horse-mounted knight, clad in blue and white armor, drove through their lines with a thick lance tucked under his arm.

At the sight of this, Ralphine pumped his fist, “Fredrick, you brilliant bastard.”

Chaos erupted as a small group of the men from Ralphine’s boat arrived as well. Fado, Ralphine, and Osmond emerged from their hiding spot and quickly engaged the distracted soldiers.

Fredrick rode around and either trampled the surprised soldiers or clobbered them with his lance. Fado used quick gusts of wind to push more soldiers into the path of Fredrick, while Osmond and Ralphine tag-teamed what soldiers evaded the mounted assault.

Liam unleashed his razor whip on the captain who raised a shield he picked up off a fallen comrade. In a flash of sparks, the two began a dance of steel and deadly intent. Liam would strike with the pommel of his weapon, the captain would defend and counter, then the blades of Liam’s chain whip would come around and the captain would defend. As the skirmish around them raged, Liam and the captain dueled out into the main street.

“So, is this truly all that the legendary Lord of Lanayru has to offer me?” The captain said, goading Liam on.

Liam ignored the comments and continued to battle, bringing his weapon across at the captain. The surprisingly skilled warrior ducked underneath and slammed his shield into Liam. Liam stumbled back a step, but raised his leg and kicked his opponent back. As he retracted his whip, the blades cut through the air and slashed the captain’s arm. When a plume of purple and black smoke drifted upward instead of a spurt of blood, Liam’s eyes widened.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” the captain shook his finger, barely flinching at the wound. “Do we have to end this game so soon?”

Suddenly, Liam attempted to retreat. He turned and began to run back down toward the courtyard, but the captain leapt forward and caught Liam by the leg, tripping him up and causing him to stumble to the ground.

“Osmond,” Liam called out, “get to Erie and save him!”

Fado, Ralphine, and Osmond turned and watched as the captain climbed onto Liam’s back. His eyes went black and soon his skin began turning into ash. In an instant, they were dissolving into the ground.

Ralphine dashed forward, hoping to reach his friend.

“No!” Liam shouted.

Just as Ralphine reached the duo, the black mass that remained of the captain looked up and screeched. It shot an arm outward and struck Ralphine, sending him reeling and clutching his face.

The duo vanished into the ground in a pool of purple and black. Fado and Osmond rushed over to Ralphine who was rolling on the ground as if set on fire.

The remaining soldiers surrendered or fled, and the battle was over.

 

This story is an imagining of the final days in Hyrule prior to the Great Flood talked about in the opening cinematic of The Wind Waker. The story is getting an audio version in podcast form set to begin releasing sometime in 2022 and there’s a complete soundtrack for the first volume here. Head over to erawithoutahero.wordpress.com or follow the story account on Twitter @ZeldaTEWAH where you can keep up on information regarding the future of the podcast, soundtrack, and other TEWAH news that will be coming soon! Every Era Has Heroes…