Chapter Text
"Hold the line!"
The warrior women stood with shields raised against the seemingly endless onslaught of soldiers throwing themselves against them. Each of the women held red-jeweled shields with which they protected their muscular bodies.
Soldiers occasionally managed to thrust their spears through holes in the defense, but for every warrior who fell, another would take her spot in the line. They maintained this strong defense for hours, only managing to kill their enemies with arrows fired from behind the line that electrified the enemy soldiers.
"The Gerudo are strong," said a prideful voice. "I told you it would be foolish to attack them outright."
The voice belonged to a spindly man with a plumed hat, who looked completely out of place on the battlefield. He was holding his wrist delicately, as though it was injured.
The King of Daein, armored with a wicked black breastplate, draped with flowing red cape, laughed. "Strong indeed," Ashnard chuckled. "This desert has tempered them well."
Gerudo Valley, home of the warrior tribe of red-haired women, was a desert as harsh as the Desert of Death bordering Daein. Scorching winds made the armor Ashnard was wearing radiate with a heat that would have made any normal man faint. But the King of Daein was no ordinary man.
After having waged a campaign of bloodshed across the desert sands, Ashnard stood on solid stone looking up at a great temple to a forgotten god. The only thing that stood between him and the temple was the wall of Gerudo warriors, trying and failing to fight off the Daein soldiers' lances with their scimitars and shields.
"So..." said the spindly man. "What now? Retreat and regroup? You can finally let me go?"
Ashnard scoffed again. "I have yet to bloody my own sword, and you think us finished?" Without another word, the king unsheathed a massive blade with serrated edges, ending with a fanned top. He walked slowly to the wall of Gerudo warriors, who, to their credit, did not falter at his imposing presence. A lightning arrow struck his armor at his chest, but failed to shock or pierce him, landing pathetically on the ground.
The Daein soldiers backed away as their king raised his sword. "Be proud that you have resisted to this point!" he shouted, his voice steady. "Stand down, and I will let you live. Or fight, and die."
The Gerudo kept their shields raised. One of them, taller than the rest, stepped forward with a jeweled scimitar drawn at her side. The gap in the line she left was immediately filled by another warrior. She towered over Ashnard, her eyes shining with a vengeful wrath. "Why do you seek the darkness in the Spirit Temple?" she asked, voice almost trembling with rage.
"If you want someone to blame, behold the coward," Ashnard gestured with a hand to the spindly man behind him. "Without him, I never could have known its home."
"So you know what lies within," said the Gerudo, readying herself for a duel.
"Of course!" barked Ashnard mirthlessly. "Do you think I relish in the slaying of the strong? The world I hope to create would be glorious for you! All of you mighty women!"
The Gerudo did not respond, save for a harsh look at the spindly man.
"Stand down, and you may join my ranks," Ashnard continued. "With your forces behind me, this whole land would tremble. Don't you wish to see it? What you can do if you try to take it?"
As a response, the Gerudo charged at the King. Swinging her scimitar down to cleave his head, her strike was almost lazily batted away with Ashnard's armored fist. "I expected more!" he taunted, grabbing her wrist rapidly. He followed up with a headbutt that broke the Gerudo's nose, releasing her from his grip.
None of the other warriors intervened on her behalf as Ashnard blocked yet another strike from her scimitar, this time with his shoulder. Blood dripped from her broken nose. "Haven't given up yet?" he taunted.
She spat blood at the ground in front of him. "You can't release it!"
"I'm sorry, but it doesn't look like you are strong enough to stop me."
True to his word, Ashnard beat away strike after strike from the Gerudo's scimitar, as though swatting mere insects away. This almost felt like a waste of his time. Would this kingdom even be worth conquering if their greatest warriors couldn't even challenge him? Though, there was that promise of not only reviving a god to power, but of the Golden Power that could grant whatever he desired. Victory wasn't going to feel quite as sweet without the challenge, but perhaps this wasn't the best judgment of Hyrule's defenses.
With one last fruitless attempt, the Gerudo swung her scimitar at his legs, but the sword merely bounced off his armor. Now, it was the king's turn. Ashnard raised his sword to strike. The Gerudo raised her shield and scimitar to block the attack, but they might as well have been made of glass the way they shattered as Gurgurant rent her torso.
The gash in her chest spilled blood into the sandy stone beneath her feet. Within moments, she collapsed, dead. A wail echoed across the Gerudo, who stood shaking in awe as the greatest of their defenders fell without a struggle. The desert air rang with sound of shields and scimitars falling to the ground. Ashnard smirked as the other warriors backed away at his approach, their line, and wills, finally broken.
"Stand down, join me, and live," said the King. "Or fight, and die."
Few of the Gerudo knelt to him. The smallest of the warriors who Ashnard could see remained on her feet and dared to speak. "If we fight for you, you won't attack our city?" she asked in a trembling voice.
"Never," he promised. "And you can have more than this wretched desert if you claim it."
Then she, too, knelt to the stone. Hundreds more shields and scimitars clanged to the ground as the rest of the Gerudo dropped their weapons to surrender.
Ashnard roared his delight and barked orders at his soldiers to advance to secure the Temple ahead of him. Any further resistance was to be met with deadly force.
"They can't be trusted," said the spindly man hours later as the sun began to set over the horizon. "They're thieves and mercenaries, nothing more."
"I don't need to trust them," said Ashnard confidently. "They can't hope to harm me with these pathetic weapons of theirs. I just needed them broken. You told me they are the fiercest warriors that this kingdom has to offer, yes?"
The spindly man nodded. "There are other races with proud warriors of their own... but yes, the Gerudo are considered the greatest." The spindly man shifted where he stood. "But don't expect them to follow you as easily!"
Ignoring him, Ashnard proceeded towards the Temple, gesturing for him to follow.
"You can just let me go!" he protested indignantly. "I did everything you asked! You have your blasted Temple and the darkness that lurks within, don't you? Just let me return to Castle Town and we can be done!"
Ashnard chuckled again. "This kingdom is still unfamiliar to me. You've proven to be more than a little useful in being a guide to my armies."
"I won't do it! Hyrule is my home, and I refuse to be any further part in its destruction!"
Gurgurant was held at the spindly man's throat faster than he could blink. The tip of the blade curved dangerously around the back of his neck. "Then leave."
A few moments passed in which the only sound that could be heard was the sand in the wind and the beating of the spindly man's heart in his chest. "F-fine. I-I'll stay for n-now. The k-kingdom is doomed anyway."
Resigning himself, the spindly man followed Ashnard into the Temple.
Ashnard had to admit to himself that the atmosphere within the Temple had even him on edge. Shadows seemed to move, the entire Temple was laden with deadly traps, and even though his soldiers had created a path to the Temple's innermost chambers, Ashnard got lost several times. Were the gods of this land really so petty?
After an hour or so of traveling through torchlit sandstone hallways, Ashnard came upon an enormous door with a massive lock and chain blocking entry. He attempted to cut the chain with Gurgurant, but it was protected with a magical seal that not even his mighty blade could penetrate. One of Daein soldiers that was standing near the door presented a large golden key with markings identical to the lock to the King. "They hid the key within the depths of the Temple," said the soldier simply.
"A common thing really, it-" said the spindly man, cutting himself off before continuing. He must have realized he gave yet another reason why it was wise of Ashnard to have taken him from the library in that small village.
Chuckling, Ashnard took the key and inserted it into the lock, turning it aggressively. The tumblers clicked and the lock crashed to the floor with the rattling chains. An intense pressure unlike any he'd ever felt surrounded Ashnard as he opened the door and stepped in, once again indicating to the spindly man that he should follow.
The room beyond the door was dark, with purple flames in torches dimly lighting what laid within. Murals along the walls depicting great battles between two parties were faintly illuminated by the purple glow. In the center of the circular room was a black throne with red velvet cushion.
Sitting on the throne was the decrepit figure of a man. His red hair and beard cascaded around a shriveled body, and upon his brow was a jeweled crest. He was draped with a frayed cloak that reached his ankles. Glowing green chains wrapped around his body, with shackles upon his wrists and ankles attached by more glowing chains to the floors around him.
He looked pathetic.
This was the darkness that the spindly man had told him originated in Gerudo Desert? The god that the sorcerer who summoned Ashnard to this world had begged him not to seek? It was... disappointing.
The god groaned as it lifted its head to gaze at the king. Yellow eyes surrounded by wrinkles pierced into Ashnard's own. The god did not speak.
"I was expecting more," said Ashnard, breaking the silence.
In response, the spindly man simply breathed heavily in fear.
"What is wrong with it?" Ashnard asked the spindly man impatiently.
"C-centuries ago, the Seven Sages placed a seal on his power to keep him from attacking Hyrule again." The spindly man's voice was shaking, every word seeming like an effort to speak.
"Can we break this seal?" Ashnard asked.
"I do not know," said the spindly man earnestly.
Ashnard cursed. "So this was just a waste of my time?!"
Before the spindly man could find a reply, a rasping voice echoed around the room. "Kill the Sages," it said calmly.
Turning his attention to the god, Ashnard smiled. "So, you can speak."
"Kill the Sages," repeated the god. "And I will grant my Power to you."