Fan Fiction Friday: The Era Without A Hero – Part 65

Part Sixty-Five

In a flash the soldier reached across his body and pulled his sword free. He slashed at Osmond’s chest with the blade, but Osmond leapt back before the blade could break his skin. Osmond retaliated with a powerful swing downward. The soldier deflected it and brought his heel up and into Osmond’s stomach.

Osmond bounced into the crate behind him, then spun away as the soldier attacked again. With the soldier’s bade lodged in the wood, Osmond swung his sword down at the soldier’s outstretched arms. He narrowly missed and left himself open to an elbow strike from the soldier. This was quickly followed up by another strike with his foot to Osmond’s ribs.

By the time Osmond recovered, the soldier had freed his sword and wildly cut through the air toward his face. Osmond dodged back then dove in with a thrust. The tip of his sword glanced off the chest armor of the soldier, but Osmond continued forward and drove his shoulder into the soldier.

The soldier hit the ground and his helmet rolled off. With Osmond on top of him, he swung the hilt of his sword down into Osmond’s back.

With each strike, Osmond felt a burst of pain and he knew he had to change tactic. He pulled himself up and grabbed the soldier’s arm, then rolled his body around it so that the soldier’s arm was trapped between his legs.

In one quick jerk, the soldier’s arm snapped like a twig.

He screamed in pain as Osmond stood up and flexed his back a bit. He kicked the soldier’s sword away and knelt down by his head.

“He will devour you!” the soldier shouted as he rolled around, clutching his broken arm.

Osmond let out a sigh.

“He will make you suffer more than you could possibly imagine! All you Hylian scum will be made to be his slaves! You will all die at his feet! You-“

Osmond slammed his fist across the soldier’s face and silenced him.

With a huff, Osmond stood up and sheathed his sword. He picked up the small note that apparently was written by the King and examined it once more.

“Osmond!” Fado exclaimed as he dashed down the street.

When he arrived, Osmond handed him the letter.

“Apparently, the King has surrendered all authority to Adok. Castletown was sacked at his command.”

“That would explain why the attack came from inside… Still, I don’t believe Daphnes would have done such an act…”

“He’s not been in his right mind since the Queen died,” Osmond said, glancing up at the broken castle in the distance. “There’s no telling what’s happened behind the scenes that we may not have been privy to.”

Fado let out a sad breath and nodded.

Osmond looked around and noticed another squad of Moblins making their way up one of the streets. He tapped Fado on the shoulder and motioned to them while ducking out of sight behind the remains of a building.

“The East Gate is apparently holding out thanks to the Zora refugees. If we can make it over there, we could get ourselves out while helping a few others.”

“Then we make for Kakariko City and Death Mountain.”

“What about the North Castle?” Osmond asked.

“If Daphnes has truly lost his mind, we would not be welcomed there. Our lives alone wouldn’t do much to sway him, if we can even get inside at this point. We’re going to need help. Huron, Impa, Kalia, Sagesse, Liam, and anybody else who’s survived to this point.”

“Zelda…” Osmond said under his breath.

“It’s been days. I’m sure she was out before anything happened. Even if she wasn’t, Daphnes wouldn’t decree such a ghastly order as to kill his own child. Not even in his darkest despair.”

Osmond nodded and agreed.

“Now… As for getting out of here,” Fado peeked around the corner and noticed the Moblin squad had turned and headed East. “If they’re converging on the East Gate, perhaps we could use that to our advantage.”

“What are you thinking?”

A smile grew across Fado’s face, “let’s just say an idea sort of… blew up in my head.”

Moments later, the duo was approaching the Eastern part of the city and they ducked into a shop that had been relatively left alone. Fado quickly moved around behind the counter and lifted the rug that was covering the floor, revealing a small door.

“The owner of this shop used to manufacture bombs but for a time had to keep it underground.”

“Underground, literally it appears,” Osmond quipped.

“About twenty years ago, they restricted bomb manufacturing because of the prolonged peace. It wasn’t discussed in committee, they just did it. Nobody noticed though because the Goron’s were exporting so many Bomb Flowers that the manufacturing process had become more of a hobby.”

“Bet more people now wished they had access to them.”

Fado nodded as he found a switch in the center of the room. When he pressed it, light emerged in small, concealed glass tubes on the studs holding up the ceiling. The small tubes were attached to pipes leading all the way up and into the ceiling.

“He also made these clever lights. Obviously, fire and bombs don’t mix, so he built these tubes with candles inside that he could activate by this switch. The heat then travels up the tubes and out the roof through the normal chimney. Pretty ingenious, I thought.”

“Quite,” Osmond said, examining one closely.

Fado shoved a bag into Osmond’s hand and then began bringing over small, hand-sized bombs. The two of them emerged moments later with a bag each, filled with roughly thirty bombs. Quickly and quietly, they made their way toward the outer streets. There were a couple of moments when they had to hide from a group of monsters, but as soon as the coast was clear, they pressed on.

“What’s you plan now?”

The two were ducked behind a collapsed cart, with Fado peeking out around the side. Osmond kept his eyes scanning for any oncoming enemy from the nearby streets. They were still a few blocks away from the gate, but the sounds of clashing metal, grunts and groans, and arrows zipping through the air could be heard.

“Well,” Fado sat with his back to the cart, “I hadn’t actually gotten that far.”

Osmond turned and peeked over the top of cart, “What about the buildings just off the main road? If they’re still standing, we could drop the bombs on them from above, weakening their numbers from behind first.”

“If we do it right, it would certainly draw their attention away from the Zora,” Fado nodded as he pictured it in his head.

“Time’s up,” Osmond said in a hurried tone.

Fado turned to see a Lynel headed their way, “Ah, so it is. Right. Well, I’ll toss a couple of these and then when they go off, we make a break for the stairs.”

Osmond reached into his pocket and pulled a match that he had taken from the bomb shop. He struck it as Fado pulled out three bombs. With a quick twist, the fuses were wound together, and Osmond lowered the flame to the explosives. The fuses sprang to life with a sizzle and Fado sprang up onto the cart and hurled the bombs directly at the Lynel.

The Lynel stopped and looked confusedly down at its feet as the bomb cluster rolled to a stop. There was a brief pause as the Lynel looked back up with a startled and worried expression just before the explosion.

In a tremendous blast of fire and light, the Lynel recoiled and stumbled backward. Osmond and Fado sprinted past the debris that was sent flying by their diversion and quickly found a staircase that led them up to the top level.

Just as they reached the stairwell, Fado turned with another bomb, lit it and tossed it out into the street. It erupted just as they turned the stairs and were making for the next floor.

Osmond and Fado burst through a door onto the ceiling a moment later.

“Think any of them followed us?” Osmond asked.

Fado rushed over to the edge and peeked down. “Not enough.”

There was a tremendous roar from the street behind the building. Osmond and Fado’s eyes met with worry. The building shook suddenly. When they reached the far edge, overlooking the street they had just ran across, they saw the Lynel pull back his club and slam it into the siding.

“Well, he’s a stubborn one,” Fado remarked, reaching into his pack and pulling a bomb out.

“You handle him, I’ll find our ticket out of here.”

As Fado nodded and dropped a lit bomb off the roof, Osmond dashed over to a line with some clothes hanging off it. He pulled the sheet that was on it down and broke the poles holding the line up in half. He stuck the two rods inside the sheet and fluffed it out to make a sort of parachute.

“Fado, think this will hold us?”

“It’ll have to,” Fado rushed over just as the bombs he’d tossed at the Lynel went off. “I think he may have a bow.”

No sooner had Fado said that an arrow fell from the sky above and stuck in the ground just inches behind him. Osmond set their makeshift parachute on the ground near the ledge and pulled out a handful of bombs, lining them up. He struck a match and lit each of them before sending them rolling off to the ground below.

Another arrow stuck in the ground near them.

“Ready?”

Fado lifted one side of the chute, “Ready.”

Osmond lifted the other half and together they leapt off the roof. Fado focused a bit of magic and a surge wind pulled up the sheet and slowed their fall.

Seconds later the bombs began going off. In a shower of debris, the monsters all shifted their attention to the building the duo had just left. As they all scrambled over to see what the commotion was, the building shifted unexpectedly.

With a rough landing, Osmond rolled into the exterior wall of the city and Fado slammed hard and dropped a few feet. Their sheet landed gently beside them.

They watched as the building collapsed in a massive plume of smoke, dust, and rubble. The monsters that had gathered scurried about while screaming, but they were silenced as the weight of the three-story apartment crushed them beneath it.

A brief moment of respite was abruptly ended when the Lynel that had been hunting them climbed on top of the rubble. It threw its chest out and roared, clearing the dust and smoke from the air.

Osmond and Fado were helpless as the beast drew back an arrow with a sizzling fuse and let it fly directly at them.

When it exploded, all Osmond could see was a flash of white.

Somewhere in the ringing in his ears, he heard a voice.

“There ya boys are!”

It was Huron.

 

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…