Link woke up to the sound of screams and clanging bells. He quickly
got up and dressed and looked outside his door. There were people
screaming and running from creatures that looked like skeletons.
Some had traces of flesh on them, some were just all bones. But each
and every one of these creatures carried a weapon. Swords, spears,
shields, even bows and arrows. People were running amok across the
planks trying to get up to the city level. Link ran back into his
room, grabbed his sword and a shield then ran out into the chaos. He
saw his companions fighting off the creatures at several other places
along the entirety of the level they were on. He charged at a
skeleton about to strike down a woman who had tripped and fell, and
when his sword hit, the the skeleton glowed brightly for a second
than dissolved into thin air. Link was a bit surprised, but then he
remembered what happened last night (he was still half asleep) and
how he got his new sword. He decided to use this to his advantage
and began striking down enemy soldiers wherever and whenever he
could. He saw Johnson and Morgan helping usher people up the stairs
and likely onto any boat that can carry them. Link saw there was a
large legion of skeletons beginning to rise up from the ocean on the
level closest to the water. He didn't have time to take the stairs,
so he took a leap of faith into the waters below. He emerged and was
greeted by evil looking faces of skeletons. He took one swing of his
sword and they weren't there to bother him any more. He ran over to
where the skeletons were rising, but then heard a loud scream. To
his left, he saw a woman and her children cornered by an undead
soldier. Link started running over to them as fast as he could, but
the skeleton's sword had already claimed the life of the mother.
Link slashed the skeleton out of existence, but then saw the mother
stand right back up, took up the sword of the skeleton he had just
killed, and started to attack him. When he parried with his sword,
the skeleton's arm shattered into a million pieces. Link quickly
finished off the enemy afterwards. He led the children up a nearby
flight of stairs and led them to the evacuation group. Riku ran up
to Link and said,
“The slums are lost! And according to
Johnson, these creatures are beginning to attack the surface as well!
There's going to be a huge scramble for boats. Get our things, our
group, and get on the ship! Now!” He ran off to help bring
another group of people up the stairs to the port. Link followed in
suit and got up the stairs. As he got up to the top, he saw people
panicking all over the place. Undead soldiers were beginning to
overwhelm the land. Nobody was safe. Several members of the city
watch did their best to hold back the creatures, but they ended up
dying and becoming reanimated themselves. But there was somebody
else up there among the dead. A creature with pale skin and two
black sabers seemingly giving out orders to the skeletons. Link
rushed over to this creature clearing out several troops while he was
at it. The figure turned and looked at Link, then looked at his
sword. He took a fearful step backwards, then stood his ground and
faced Link. Link took a few swings with his sword and his opponent
parried them with ease. Link then realized that this wasn't just
some dead creature, but something that thinks and knew how to fight.
He took up an offensive stance and charged his opponent. The two of
them went back and forth, with Link having to fight off hordes of the
dead from time to time. For a while, Link seemed to have the upper
hand, but then the creatures swords glowed red, and emitted a pulse
of energy that knocked Link back into a nearby stone wall. He
dropped his sword and it clattered off to the side.
“I don't
believe it. You, out of all the people in the world, is the only one
capable of wielding the sky sword? My master was right. Your kind
is weak. No wonder he said it would be a simple task to destroy this
place.” Link slowly started trying to slowly get closer to his
sword without his opponent knowing while he was caught in his
monologue. He was about four yards away when the creature kicked it
out of his reach.
“Foolish. Trying to fight when you are about
to die. Accept it. This has been your destiny for a long time
coming. Now, we will fulfill the will of my father.” He rose his
sword for the final blow, when another sword appeared through his
chest. It was Thrito, having made his way over to Link. But the
creature just took it like it was a tap on the shoulder. He turned
to face his new adversary and was about to run him through. Link
realized he couldn't get up in time, but then he saw Aqua running
towards the creature. He made one last lunge for the sword and
tossed it into the air right in her path yelling,
“CATCH!”
She grabbed the sword, and made one swift motion and decapitated his
right arm. The creature let out a scream of pain, grasping his new
wound with a confused look about him. Aqua was confused as well,
then grabbed her wits and just ran the creature through. The
creature shuddered for a bit, then disappeared into thin air. They
all looked around confounded, then Aqua looked at the sword then
tossed it on the ground.
“Is, is that the sky sword? I
remember reading an old tome with a sword with that exact design on
it. I am not worthy to wield the sword. The gate rejected me, so
why can I wield it now?!”
“Look, Aqua, I'll explain
everything later. For now though, we need to get everybody out of
here!” Link yelled.
“I agree, but if we killed their leader,
why are the dead still attacking everything?!” yelled Thrito. Link
looked around and realized he was right. The dead were not stopping
even though their leader just died. They continued to attack the
city. Suddenly some of the troops began to sink into the ground.
Link thought they were retreating to the earth in defeat, but
realized that after a few seconds, the ground where they vanished
into was dying. Green grass turned brown, strong trees shriveled up
and died, and even the stones crumbled away from corrosion. No words
were spoken as Link and the others ran back to their ships and
grabbed as many survivors as they could. There were so many ships
big and small trying to escape from the chaos the large ships had to
make sure they didn't accidentally crush the smaller ships beneath
their stems. As ships departed, there were still people from further
into the island trying to escape by jumping into the ocean. Ships
picked up swimmers whenever they could and brought them on board, but
as some looked back, there were people being sucked into the chaos
that was taking place on the shore. People who were caught in the
areas turned brown, they died of old age and vanished. There were
still people of all ages stuck on the mainland, dying either of old
age or by being turned into one of the dead. There was nothing left
of the island of Unto except death.
There was nothing but chaos on the deck of the ship. All the crew
members were attending to those looking for family members, trying to
determine rations until they got somewhere with food, and flag
signals were being sent between ships all over to try and find out
what to do. Link managed to slip away quickly enough to catch a
breath. He couldn't believe what had happened. He had just watched
an entire country die and could do nothing about it. He was having a
hard time breathing when Aqua stepped in and placed her hand on his
shoulder.
“You know, I have seen more things in war that I wish
to forget then I can count. But the death of a whole country makes
all of those things I have seen seem like nothing more than a stage
show. And I've lived a long time and seen many things.” Link and
Aqua stood there in the shadows for a short time, then Aqua
said,
“Hey, if we are able to, mind coming down to my quarters
for a time?”
“Um, might I ask for what exactly?”
“Oh...I
don't know, maybe drown what we saw today with more pleasurable
actions?” Link stepped away quickly with an angry look on his face
and quickly ran back outside to help whoever he could, leaving Aqua
all alone.
“He's married, remember?” Aqua whirled around and
saw Riku standing over in the darkest part of the room.
“You
came to get me at his wedding right before all this started remember
Aqua? So why try to do something like this to him?”
“I don't
know, I mean, I did it a lot back in the army. Since I was one of
the few women there, I was pretty popular with the guys. And, I
guess, I don't know.”
“You think that just because something
happened to you a lifetime ago means it applies today?! Though I
wouldn't blame you Aqua. I read your archive back at the
observatory. You never did find that special someone, did you?”
Aqua looked down at the ground and grabbed her arm. Riku placed his
hand on her shoulder now, then walked away. Right before he opened
the door, he looked back and said,
“Just because the going gets
tough doesn't mean you have to destroy who you are.”
“I
already determined who I am a lifetime ago like you said.”
“That
may be so, however, now you are alive again, and to this world, you
are but another person who can help in a crisis like this one.”
Riku opened the door and walked onto the deck. Aqua pondered his
words for a few minutes, then felt a tugging at her pants. She
looked down and saw a child she didn't even see come in with a sad
look on his face.
“I can't find my daddy. Can you help me
please?” Aqua smiled, patted the child's head, took his hand and
went outside.
prev chapter
Share This
Email
Facebook
Twitter
Read Request
My Library
Subscribe
Flag Writing
