‘Alagbor, the fairy called Ralo says that’s Saria all right!’ said Alagbor’s young fairy companion.
“Well it looks like we have a winner Talo, let’s get her back to the tavern”, said Alagbor dismounting his horse. The day dawned gray as Alagbor mounted Saria onto his horse. He hopped on behind her and rode into the bustling marketplace of Hyrule Castle Town. He rode down one of the side streets to a quiet little Inn in a small back-alley.
“Where am I?” asked Saria into space. She was surprised to hear an answer.
“You are exactly where you ought to be”, answered a boy who was sitting next to her. He had dark hair, combed strait back coming down almost to his shoulders. He had light blue beautiful eyes, and a warming smile. Saria looked around. She was in a small sunlit room. It would seem small, though actually everything here was quite largely sized. Then she remembered, Hylians live here. And Hylians are big people. The room was simple. She was lying in a bed and next to her sitting in a wooden chair was the boy. Across the room from her was a small fireplace and a table with some chairs. On the right hand wall were two big windows. The wall on the left was bare except for a door.
She was happy just then, just to know… that the boy next to her was Alagbor. He wore a dressy green tunic, black pants and an emerald cloak. He had a sword sheathed at his side; it looked somewhat the same as Duradar’s only a little bigger. She suddenly felt cold at the heart and she shed a tear thinking of Duradar.
“You’ve had quite an adventure. It is a grueling journey across the plains I know; always there is risk, as you tragically have learned. But you are safe and that is what is important”, said Alagbor warmly.
“Yes but…” Saria began. Suddenly someone kicked in the door to the room. Alagbor jumped up and drew his sword. Two scraggly looking men walked in. One with a small axe and the other with a dirk.
“Hand over the girl you little scum!” Spat one of the men in a hoarse voice.
“Back foul dogs! You have no business with this one!” cried Alagbor. One of the men charged at him. Alagbor leapt aside and the man tripped. Alagbor kicked him hard in the face and the man fell unconscious. The next one swung his axe at Alagbor who parried it with his sword in one hand, and with the other reached into the man’s pocket, pulled out a knife and drove it into his gut.
“Better luck next time mister”, said Alagbor winking as the man fell to the ground.
“You alright there?” He asked looking over to her. Saria’s face was pale and shocked.
“Old grudge?” Asked Saria as they walked down the hallway to the stairs.
“No, you’ve got a price on your head. Someone wants that ring”, replied Alagbor. He stopped suddenly. There was a noise in the next room. He slowly approached the door, which was partially open. He opened and drew his sword. He came out laughing a moment later.
“Lle Kooshie,” he snorted in elvish (the dog). A small dog ran out of the room and down the hallway.
“I don’t understand these Hylians. They raise these useless mutts for the pure pleasure of having it in your home”, he said.
“Aww, it is cute though”, said Saria smiling.
“But very stupid”, he said as the dog ran headlong into the wall.
They proceeded into the tavern. It was a large room with a great banquet table in the middle and many smaller tables along the sides of the room. Alagbor and Saria sat at one of the smaller tables with a loaf of bread and a bowl of fruit, though neither of them were very hungry.
“So let’s see this ring shall we?” Asked Alagbor. Saria held out her hand.
“Hmmm, very interesting”, said Alagbor observing the ring carefully.
“Do you know what to do about it?” asked Saria.
“Nope”, he replied bluntly. “We have known of this problem long ahead of time and have sent for research to be made on the matter in Minas Tirith in Gondor. Conveniently enough those researchers will be reaching the elven haven of Tol Oster any day now, so we will go there to hold meeting on what is to be done”, explained Alagbor.
“Oh, more traveling to more strange places”, groaned Saria. Putting her head down on the table.
Suddenly there was a frightened shriek from upstairs. “Well it seems the maid has found that mess, we’d best get going”, said Alagbor standing up.
“Go where?” Asked Saria.
“We have one more matter to see to before we leave”, said Alagbor.
They stepped out into the market square. Saria looked around at everyone going about his or her daily business.
“Kokiri Elves are a rare sight in the mortal world” began Alagbor, “It, in a way, is sort of ironic because we only live in the mortal world. We are not peace loving, simple and angelic as we once were. We are lost, vengeful and...” He turned to Saria, “We are feared, we have but a minute military to our army of old, we could not hurt anyone..”
“Duradar told me about your army. Only the best of your people survived that war”, Saria said.
Alagbor sighed, “I wish that were so. Yet that is not the point, we are feared because we do not seem to belong here. We are a strange people, rarely seen smiling…”
They walked into a back alley and through a small door into an old shop.
Inside Saria beheld, more Kokiri! They were in a small room with some small tables and chairs scattered about. There was one small window looking out into the back alley, which offered a little light into the rundown old shop. There were three Kokiri and a Hylian in the room as well.
“Saria meet Hallimacil, Nilalkar, his younger brother Lossenisel and Galandrim”, said Alagbor pointing to each of the people in the room. They all nodded or gave a friendly hello. Hallimacil was a blonde headed green eyed boy, dressed much like Duradar, he looked like him to, though taller. To tell you the truth, he was a big Kokiri. He looked much more mature than the rest, but he certainly was a Kokiri for later on Saria would learn that he was 1500 years old, which made him the youngest Kokiri of any Saria had met outside of her forest. Nilalkar had long dark hair and blue eyes. He had a very dashing, devious look to him. His brother Lossenisel was shorter and had shorter hair and brown eyes but had the same facial expressions as Nilalkar. Galandrim was a Hylian. He was handsome and noble looking and big, about six feet tall. And though he wore an old worn cloak he wore many embroideries that made him look very important on his tunic. He had hazel eyes, curly long brown hair and a weathered looking face. He looked to be in thirties, his older looks surprised Saria for though she had pictures in her head of what elderly people looked like she had only been in the presence of Kokiri elves that looked ageless.
“Nice to meet you all, umm… pardon my asking, but what exactly are we doing?” asked Saria. Hallimacil stepped forward.
“Well, basically are going to assassinate a noble. For a while Galandrim has been monitoring a certain Gerudo ambassador who shows a bit of an evil side. His name is Ganondorf. Galandrim has a summary on him”, explained Hallimacil.
“Dragmire Ganondorf always has been in strong support of forming diplomacy with the Hylians. But he is a very greedy man. What could he want from us that his people couldn’t get? Respectfully the Gerudos are the most economically rich people in Hyrule. I consulted with Princess Zelda with this. She had already figured out what he wanted. And it does sound like it could happen if something was not done. He is after the triforce, and he must be stopped at all costs. None of the other nobles believed me at first and they thought the king’s top knight had cracked”, Galandrim finished and he looked toward Lossenisel.
“He also seems to be working for Aganhim, a servant of his and he seems to be his main source in the Mortal world”, he said.
“And if he gains more power from the triforce…” Pondered Alagbor.
“I talked to Zelda this morning. She has sent a boy named Link to secure the sacred realm…” Lossenisel started. Saria’s ears suddenly perked up.
“Link? You know him? Where is he?”
“He could be anywhere in Hyrule right now, go ahead Loss”, said Alagbor. “Ganondorf is at the castle right now trying to negotiate some new trade contracts. We must sneak in unnoticed and compromise him before he returns to his desert home in Western Hyrule. The King has ordered to let no “impish people with big glowing flies flying around their head into the castle” for fear of Ganon’s safety. So avoid being noticed at all costs”, explained Nilalkar.
“Then how to we get in?” asked Saria in exasperation.
“Leave that to me”, said Nilalkar with a wink.
“Hey where you goin’ with that cart little girl?” asked the guard. Malon stopped the cart in front of the drawbridge at Hyrule Castle.
“S’ry sir, I’m just delivering some Lon Lon milk from away across the plains sir”, said Malon with an adoring smile.
“Oh Malon! My you’ve grown I didn’t recognize you at first. Usual delivery today? Just take it right to the storage cellar”, said the guard. Malon nodded.
‘Ouch, Nil! You just kicked me watch it!’
‘Shhh, they’ll hear us!’
“Ha, you got somebody in there Malon?” Asked one of the guards giving Malon a narrow look.
“Yah, ummm, my daddy fell asleep again, but please don’t wake him sir, he’s always in a bad mood when you wake abruptly”, pleaded Malon. And who could have resisted such an innocent look.
“Alright, go ahead, quickly now,” said the guard with a smile.
“Alright guys, we’re here”, said Malon lifting the canvas covering off the wooden cart. They were in a small basement room full of crates and jars and cobwebs.
“Alright let’s get moving”, said Alagbor. He said and the rest of the group began to follow.
“Thanks for the lift Malon”, said Nilalkar giving her a big sack of rupees. They proceeded into a small corridor.
“Okay, we’d better split up, Hallimacil come with me, we will search around the main level”, said Alagbor. Hallimacil nodded.
“Lossenisel, go with me, we’ll take the upper castle”, said Galandrim.
“Saria you should come with me, we’ll look around in the courtyards”, said Nilalkar.
“Right, make sure you hide your fairies”, Saria said.
Saria and Nilalkar snuck up through the basement and into the courtyard area of the castle. From there they snuck through sunlit halls looking out into beautiful gardens. Nilalkar had described Ganon’s appearance to Saria and they kept their eyes open for any ugly green men with black armor and big noses or any Gerudos in the place that might know where he is. The area was pretty much absent of any people save a few sleepy patrolling guards. Overall they were in a beautiful part of the castle that seemed to be the last place where you would find a power-obsessing tough evil noble.
At one point a man approached the two with a slight frown on his face. Nilalkar decked and pinned him on the ground thinking he would throw them out of the castle. He and Saria were very bewildered that when he pleaded that he was only going to ask where the King’s thrown room was.
“What do we do with him now? He’ll get the guards for sure if we let him go now”, said Nilalkar.
Saria shrugged. “Lock him in the closet, tie him up”, she responded. The man looked them with a worried expression, he was unable to call out for Saria her hand over his mouth and Nilalkar threatened him with a knife to his throat.
“Good work now let’s proceed”, Nilalkar said after they had locked the man in an old shed in one of the courtyards.
Hallimacil and Alagbor had the very difficult job of sneaking through the busy main level of the castle, it’s halls crowded with people. They found some old cloaks and were able to move casually through the crowded places of the great castle. As they rounded a corner into a great hall they heard guards yelling.
“MAKE WAY FOR THE SOLDIERS, MAKE WAY!!!” They yelled. The two Kokiri were suddenly aware of about a dozen soldiers moving through a nearby crowd, their yells echoing through the hall with it’s great cathedral ceiling.
“Captain! What is going on here?” asked Alagbor in his disguise.
“Wha- oh nothing get lost kid it’s none of your business”, said the leader of the soldiers. As much as Kokiri hate being called ‘kids’ Alagbor kept his temper keeping his disguise in mind.
“It is my business because my father is a soldier in this castle and...” said Alagbor.
“Oh, okay, well that strange Gerudo noble has really gone over the edge. He’s after the Royal Family… he was always bad news. He’s up on the next floor by the old throne room right now. The one the king uses for council meetings not the one by the courtyards”, he said noticing the confused look on Alagbor’s face as he looked back towards courtyards. “I suggest you stay down here”, explained the captain. He then marched off with his soldiers toward the grand staircase.
“Well looks like we found our missing bad guy”, said Hallimacil cracking a smile. Just then Saria and Nilalkar came up behind them. Alagbor turned:
“What took you so long?” He asked. Nilalkar smiled.
“We found some kindly friends”, he said. Saria looked over her shoulder.
“They’re still following us”, she said pulling out her bow.
“Save your arrows Saria, Ganondorf’s going on a rampage upstairs”, said Alagbor. They then turned and ran for one of the smaller stairs as a few guards chased after them.
They raced up the stairs and upon reaching the top drew their weapons. They proceeded down the hallway and ran into Galandrim and Lossenisel.
“Ganon has his creature Moblins all over the place here”, said Lossenisel. His sword as well as Galandrim’s was already stained with Moblin blood. Suddenly there were yells from behind the six companions. Five soldiers came charging down the hallway at them with spears lowered for battle. Saria drew an arrow and fired. One of the soldiers fell dead with an arrow in his chest.
“Good shot!” Cried Galandrim, “Now let’s get out of here!” They began running down the hallway. Hallimacil pulled out his own bow and the two of them shot all the soldiers before they could make it halfway down the hallway. They had to fight through many Moblins to reach the King’s old throne room. Fortunately, like the orc, Moblins are extremely weak and stupid so the companions were able to easily fight through them. Modern Moblins were about the size of normal Hylian and would seem a cross between a bear, wolf and pig; they stood upright with very good posture. The Kokiri and Galandrim reached the door to the throne room to hear a shriek from inside. ‘They got the queen!’ yelled a voice. They heard other shouts of anger and pain in the room.
‘We’re to late!’ cried Ralo. ‘Not if I can help it’ whispered Saria to her despairing fairy. She readied an arrow and entered the room. There was Ganon. It looked she was just in time for he looked ready to drop a finishing blow on Zelda. The king was rushing toward her innocent daughter in terror. Prince Xavier was trying to fight off some Moblins but looked hurt. There were some soldiers too but the lot of them looked pretty pathetic as they were backed right to the throne alter. There were bodies of fallen soldiers scattered about the room, among them the Queen of Hyrule, slain to the ruthless greed of Ganondorf. Saria looked up. Hanging above the ceiling was a great chandelier. She carefully aimed at the rope suspending the great chandelier and fired. Ganondorf prepared to deliver his blow at Zelda. He stopped dead as the chandelier came crashing down on top of his finest Moblins.
Ganon turned as the Kokiri and Galandrim entered the room. He charged at them and broke through running out the doorway and down the corridor. Galandrim and Hallimacil chased after him.
“Wait! Wait!” Yelled Nilalkar. He gave up trying to call them back and the four of them approached the royal family. They were teary eyed and frightened at the loss of their queen. But they needed to make haste for they could hear more Moblins coming.
“Are you alright?” Asked Saria helping Zelda up. Alagbor and Lossenisel helped Prince Xavier and the wounded. The king fiddled with something on his throne and suddenly a secret door opened behind it.
“Quickly let’s get of here!” He yelled. He was slightly overweight with a full but not long gray beard. He looked older but strong and in good shape; he had a very large build towering and wide, over six feet tall.
“Quick, get going!” urged Saria to Zelda. She and her brother hurried after the King followed by the Hylian soldiers. Nilalkar and Saria brought up the rear threatening the Moblins with their bows and arrows. They arrived downstairs to find that the castle had been evacuated, and was empty. A soldier approached the King and saluted.
“Sir, we have evacuated the castle, but Ganondorf is still somewhere inside, we have taken… casualties. Scouts have returned reporting a large host of Gerudos, Moblins and orcs approaching the city from the southwest”, he said. Impa, Zelda’s aid entered the hall.
“Bless the goddesses, you’re all right child!” She exclaimed giving Zelda a hug. Alagbor approached.
“You had best get her away from the city Impa, she has already had a narrow encounter with death today and Ganon is still looming in here somewhere”, he explained.
“Hmm, I’ll get her right to the stables”, she said as if in deep thought. They rushed off to the stables. Alagbor turned to the king.
“How do you intend to face this enemy host sire?” He asked. The king thought for a moment.
“We must leave as soon as possible, we haven’t much of an army and we have already taken many casualties. Soldier…. Begin the evacuation, put all soldiers on high alert”, he said with a sigh of grief.
“Alagbor, did it ever occur to you that this force could not only have been conjured by Ganondorf?”, he asked. Alagbor thought for a moment.
“What do you mean sire?”, asked Alagbor, frowning with thought. The king sighed.
“I mean… do you think it is already to late to stop Aganhim? Do you think he has already escaped his seal?” Alagbor did not look surprised.
“No”, he said firmly. He called Saria over. She held out her hand.
“The ring…” Gasped the King in amazement. Alagbor mumbled a spell in elvish, the same one Duradar had spoke when he first found the ring. A tear ran down Saria’s cheek as she remembered Duradar’s valiant death on the plains. The magical writing on the ring appeared again.
“You see my lord, the legend tells that if Aganhim escapes, this key would change its purpose, it would show different writings, if he escaped this ring would be the tool to destroy him, not lock him away for eternity”, Alagbor explained. The markings still said the same thing as before, meaning he had not escaped.
Suddenly they heard footsteps. At the same time everyone in that hall drew their weapons, fortunately it was just a guard. Alagbor breathed a sigh of relief.
“We’d better get out of here”, he said. The group made their way out of the castle, four Kokiri, the King of Hyrule, Prince Xavier and a handful of soldiers. It was dark now and it had started raining. A soldier on horseback approached.
“Sir, Impa and Zelda have fled the city on horseback but Ganondorf was right behind them. Ganon seemed distracted at the gates though which probably assured your daughters safety. They are making for the elven haven…. Sir…. Where is the queen?”
“Alas! For she has fallen to the evil creatures!” Wailed the king sorrowfully. The guard bowed his head. They mounted horses and rode swiftly down to the marketplace where all available forces had gathered. The rain was pouring and the wind blowing. People were in the streets making ready for the evacuation.
“Alagbor, you have led a defense to a successful attack against this city in the past. May I request that you continue your service now in our darkest hour?” Asked the King.
“I will”, he said quietly, “Get out of the city. Go with your people to Kakariko, I will meet you there in the morning”, he continued. The king nodded and with his son and personal bodyguards rode out of the city.
