Ancient Castle of Ikana/Bottom of the Well {U5+Quill}

"Loft. Quiet. We don't know what is waiting fer us down that hallway." Jacob covered Loft's mouth. "Fer all we know they'll think we got crushed 'n send people ta make sure." Jacob let go of loft's mouth and slowly made his way down the hallway. The sides of the hallway had what looked like holding cells that had not been used in years.
"For the lassst time. The ssergent ordered usss to make ssure none of them have esscaped." Jacob pointed into the nearest open holding cell and the three entered as Jacob closed the gate and blew out the cell's torch.
Three Stalfols walked by the cells searching them one by one. One of the Stalfols looked over the cell Jacob, Loft and Marcus were in and was about to do a double take as something moved in the open cell across the hall.
The Stalfols raised his lance as a pair of red eyes appeared followed by an unhallowed scream. It crept out of the darkness, a ReDead. It's glowing red eyes shining through the wooden mask. Bits of decaying and rotten flesh barely hanging on swayed as it shambled towards the Stalfols who was frozen in fear. The ReDead was about to the Stalfols when a spear lodged itself into the ReDead's head.
A dark brown Stalfols wearing a rusty helm removed it's spear from the ReDead's head. "We mussst inform the sssergent of the sssituation. The ReDeadsss and Gibdosss have been releassed. Go!" The dark brown Stalfols stayed as the other two left. The remaining Stalfols looked down at the ReDead. "I hope that the living beingsss were crussshed by the rocksss. For their own ssakesss." The Stalfols looked right into Jacob's eyes as Jacob squat in the darkness of the cell before running off to join the other Stalfols.

Marcus smacked Loft's hand away from his hair. "Loft, stop touching me!"

Loft giggled drunkenly, patting Marcus' hair. "So soft!"

"Ugh!" Marcus gave up, and turned to Jacob, wincing as Loft continued to pet his head.

"Alright, this hallway looks clear. Let's go."

They dashed down the hallway, past the vacated cells, past the blood-stained walls and rusted shackles bolted into the crumbling walls, and came to the heavy iron door. Marcus grabbed the large ring, yanking it open.

Marcus felt hot wind hit his face, and he blinked. Across the door's threshold lay a dozen feet of black rock, then... nothing. He stepped inside, feeling the hot thermals warm his face, and crept slowly to the edge of the cliff. Looking down, he could see nothing, nothing other than a yawning chasm of blackness.

"A dead end?" He wondered.

"That looks fun," Loft said, nudging him in the side.

Marcus followed Loft's finger, and saw a skinny path winding its way down the chasm. "Oh, joy."

They walked to the edge of it, and Marcus stopped. Loft skipped right onto it, happily following it down, down into the abyss.

Marcus couldn't. He couldn't. Great, wide open spaces were not things that one became accustomed to in the Caves. He had slowly learned to deal with his fear of the endless skies above, but a yawning chasm below was different. If anything, it was more frightening; it was entirely possible that he would fall, fall into the chasm's maw, fall until he reached the Underworld at the center of the earth, fall until he reached the realm of demons and fire. He gulped, his feet tingling horribly at the thought of walking onto the thin path.

He took a step forward. The wind was stronger here, buffeting him to and fro, blowing his hair and ruffling his clothes. His breath came quick and sharp, doing his best not to hyperventilate and collapse into the blackness. He put his foot onto the path.

Marcus jerked back, gasping. He couldn't do it, he couldn't. Yet... he had to. There was no other way. His legs shaking, and his face hot, he took another tentative step forward. His foot was back on the path, and he wrestled with the impulse to jerk away again.

He closed his eyes. "Oh Goddess Farore, guide my way. Grant me the Courage to pass through the darkness."

With that, he stepped off the platform, onto the path. He had left the firm solace of the cliff behind him. Here was only blackness.

He wished he could say that it got easier. It didn't. Every step was a struggle, a painful ordeal that he must overcome. His eyes were fixed firmly on the black rock that was his path, and he slowly placed one trembling foot before another trembling foot.

Maybe he was imagining it, but the path was becoming harder to see. The darkness of the chasm absorbed the path into its black embrace, and he stopped. He couldn't see where to go. He looked behind him desperately. He couldn't see the path behind him either. His breath quickened. What would he do? There was no way back, no way forward. He was lost, lost in the endless blackness of the abyss, lost underneath the land of the damned; Ikana Valley. There was nowhere to go, nothing he could do. He couldn't move, his legs frozen in place, too afraid to take a step without falling into the darkness' endless embrace. He would stand here, stand on his one tiny patch of firm, substantial solidity, until his body faded too, faded into the black as the path had done.

From the encompassing darkness came a voice, floating towards him on the wind. A phantasm, perhaps? Some demon from the depths of the earth, come to lead him to its realm of shadows and fire? At least if it did he could see; fire tended to give off light, and nothing was worse than this horrible dark unknown.

But, no such luck. "Marcus," a voice called, a familiar voice. Loft? "Marcus," it said again, "use your light!"

He frowned. Use his light? Was this a spiritual metaphor? Was he supposed to have an epiphany, say some inspirational words, and begin to emit some heavenly radiance? Perhaps he could somehow manifest his soul, call upon his Goddess, let off a cascade of sparks?

His sparks! His hands began to glow with healing magic, but their light wasn't nearly enough of a light source to show him the floor. Drat. Well, so much for that hope.

"Your candle," Loft's voice said, "use the candle!"

With a completely silent thud, the metaphorical gold piece slammed onto his head. He reached into his pack, quickly rooting through it until he located-

"Aha!" He cried happily, pulling out a small silver candle. With a pulse of willpower, the blue flame ignited. The area around him was illuminated by the pale blue light of the candle, and he looked around. It wasn't so bad anymore. There was the path- not invisible, not faded, but clearly present. The abyss seemed feeble, and he felt silly for fearing it. Yes, he was afraid of falling into it, but honestly; demons dragging him down to its endless depths? Preposterous!

Marcus walked more confidently now, heading down the path towards Loft's voice. Red light began to infringe upon his blue, and his heart skipped.

"Marcus, there you are!" Loft's voice said cheerfully. "I saw that you didn't have a light, and I knew how you felt about big spaces, so I thought I'd-"

"Thank you, Loft," Marcus said formally. He had already decided that he would never mention his embarrassing thought process again. "However, I was quite fine. I was merely unsure as to where the path went, that's all."

"Mm-hm," Loft said, and spun around. "C'mon, the door's right over there."

Marcus nodded, and had to refrain from sprinting towards the safety and security of another large black ledge. There was the door, constructed of a black iron that seemed red in the prevalent light of Loft's Red Candle, and hopefully it wouldn't lead to any more chasms.

Loft reached for the door, and Marcus bowed his head behind him, saying a silent prayer to his Goddess.

Oh Goddess Farore... thank you.

Jacob grabbed a torch and followed Loft and Marcus. After catching up to them Jacob said, "Ya know yens coulda...Loft no!" It was too late Loft tugged the door open.

Behind the door stood a large circular room with open cells all along the walls along with torches. On the other end away from the three Hylians was another hallway that Stalfols were pouring out of. In the middle of the room a large battle between Stalfols and ReDeads, ReDead Knights, and Gibdos.

Jacob stepped outside the door a bit and watched the battle a bit. "Shit," Jacob cussed to himself aloud attracting a ReDead Knight. The rotten and partially gauze wrapped knight lumbered towards Jacob hefting it's dull sword that is the size of it's body. Just before getting to Jacob the knight's eyes glowed red and it let out it's paralyzing scream.

Jacob became frozen in fear. Unable to move all Jacob could do was watch as the knight hefted it's large sword over it's head and brought it down into Jacob's left shoulder. Although dull the sword's weight sent it through Jacob's collarbone and well into Jacob's upper pectoral muscle and ribs. "FUCK!" Jacob yelled as the knight forcefully pulled it's sword out of Jacob's shoulder laughing as best as it could. With his good arm Jacob sank his sword through the ReDead Knight's face while it was laughing. Jacob ripped the sword out of the top of the knight's head as it's body fell limp again. Jacob sighed in relief as another scream froze him in place.

A lone ReDead has noticed Jacob and the ReDead Knight fight. The walking corpse shambled over and started clawing Jacob in the back. Even though the ReDead had no claws it's bone fingers ripped through Jacob's armor and into his back. Jacob yelled in pain as the ReDead clawed deeper and deeper. With his near last bit of strength Jacob swung his sword around hitting the ReDead in the side of the head. Both Jacob and the ReDead fell over on the ground. "Mm...ar...cus."

Through the door, Marcus could see a great room lined with rusty cells, their floors grimy and the bars rusted and cracked. The zombie prisoners had escaped, spilling out from their confinements' open gates and pouring into the room. Through the opposite door, a stream of Stalfos marched in, their swords held aloft as they attempted to beat back the horde of undead.

Loft nudged Marcus. "Have you ever seen baddies fighting other baddies?"

"No," Marcus murmured back, "but then, this is a different land. Ikana plays by different rules than Hyrule does."

Just then, a human scream split the air. Jacob was on the ground, clutching his destroyed shoulder. "Mm...ar...cus...."

The Healer in question didn't even bother to gasp. He lurched forwards, Loft following close behind. "We have to get him out of there!" He yelled, darting through the great iron door. He prayed that it wouldn't slam shut behind him, that some hidden trap wouldn't seal them inside. If it did, they were lost.

No echoing clang reverberated from behind them, however, and they were free to grab each of Jacob's legs. There was no time for subtlety; they had to remove him from the area now. Marcus and Loft heaved Jacob's limp body out of the battle, quickly enough to evade the enclosing hordes of undead.

The crossed the threshold, Jacob's body thudding over the lip, and Loft swung the door shut. They were again enveloped in utter blackness, until they each pulled out their respective candles, lighting the area around them with an eerie purple glow.

In the strange, otherworldly light of the two candles, Jacob's wound looked immeasurably worse. Blood flowed around his gashed and misfigured shoulder, swirling onto the ground and coating the surrounding armour.

Marcus quickly lowered his hands onto Jacob's still form, and his hands began to glow.

Several minutes later, Marcus collapsed back onto his knees, panting heavily. His forehead was coated with sweat, his body hot and tingly, and his mind seemed blurred and fuzzy. This was his third healing in the last several hours, and his magic was spent. If he cast any more magic, he would be drawing upon the energies that kept him alive, which might prove fatal. If he pulled too much energy... well, better that it just not come to that.

"He'll be alright," he managed shakily. "But he's lost so much blood... he'll need time to replenish his supply." He tried to sit up, but his vision swam, and his head began to split painfully, and he fell back down with a gasp.

He coughed, and said, "I'm going to pass out now, if you don't mind." And he did.

Loft stood over the fallen forms of his teammates, looking between them two. With a sigh, he blew out Marcus' blue candle, preferring the soothing red light of his own.

"I guess I'm the guard dog now," he said. "Woof. I am Loft, hear me bark."

He sat down next to their prone figures, and tapped his foot against the stone. He noticed, idly, that the red blood on the stone floor hadn't been vanished by Marcus' healing spell. He dipped one finger into the wet, sticky pool, and grinned. They would be out for a while, and he'd hate to get bored. He could at least spend the time guarding their sleeping forms drawing.

A well armored Stalfols walked into the battlefield that was once a prisoner holding area flanked by two other Stalfols wearing rusty chestplates and wielding Greataxes. All the Stalfols stood in salute as the Stalfols sergent ordered troops around. "Sssergent. Ssstatusss report."
The sergent turned around, saluted, and replied, "Lieutenant sssir! We are ssslowly being pressssed back to the casstle. They are jussst coming out of the woodworksss."
The lieutenant stroked his nonexistent beard in thought. The lieutenant turned to his guards. "Bring me the wyvern. If the beassst can not be tamed, then it ssshall fight." The lieutenant's guards left as the lieutenant turned back to the sergent. "Pull your men back when the beassst getsss here. It will attack anything and everything. Any word on the othersss?"
The sergent thought for a few seconds before replying, "We believe they were caught in the cave in at the entranccce of the well ssir." The lieutenant was about to say something as Eysseth was dragged by the two guards into the room. Her wings chained and her mouth muzzled. The lieutenant laughed as he along with the closest Stalfols retreated to behind the iron doorway to the castle. The two bodyguards almost undid the chains and muzzle before the two threw Eysseth down into the battlefield. The chains and muzzle fell off as Eysseth hit the ground. She roared a deafening roar as she stood up.

Jacob stirred a bit when he heard the roar. He shot up and looked at the door before the tiredness caught up with him. "That's gotta be..." Jacob's eyes widened with realization. He grabbed his sword and shield ready to fight. "Loft! Open 'er up. Eysseth's out there."

Marcus was dreaming. He was back inside the Western Cave's Library, sitting in a corner with a pile of books beside him. His little 9 year old body was happily perusing his spoils, won from long hours spent rifling through the shelves, searching for anything interesting. The one he was currently absorbed in was a fascinating work on the fabled Picori race, detailing how the gateway to their realm only opened once every hundred years, how they were the size of a thumbnail, and how they were rumoured to leave little gifts to Hylians they favoured.

His small hand flipped the page, his face leaning in closer to study a diagram of the Picori. He heard something loud, off in the distance, and frowned. This was a Library; people needed to be quiet here. He shook his head, trying to focus on his book. The shouting continued, growing louder and more impatient. It almost sounded like it was calling his name....

"Marcus? Marcus! Marcus, wake up!"

Marcus blinked, the image of the Library sliding away from him as the face of Loft supersceded it. "What?"

"We have to go," Loft said, gesturing at the door, "pretty horsey's in trouble."

Pretty horsey? Marcus shook his head- was he still dreaming? Then he heard roaring from behind the heavy iron door, roaring that sounded awfully familiar...

He noticed Jacob, taking in the wide eyes and frantic expression. It must have been his Wyvern, Eysseth! Marcus remembered his meeting with it, and stood up quickly. His head swam sickeningly, but he tried to ignore it, staggering towards the door.

"Right," he said, "let's go. We have a Wyvern to save." He gestured at Loft. "Loft, the door."

Loft grinned, and yanked the door open. "Here, pretty little pony!"

Marcus glanced inside. Through the door was Eysseth, her wings flared as she roared at her wyvern-nappers. Four Stalfos stood in the room, each with a ridiculously sharp weapon, and each bearing heavy armour that looked like each set weighed a ton. Idly, Marcus wondered how strong the skeletons must have been to have carried all that equipment while still being perfectly agile. He wondered how fast they would have moved if they shed all that cumbersome stuff... but then Eysseth roared again, and Marcus' mind cleared. He may not have been able to fight, but he could definitely distract some enemies, thus facilitating Jacob and Loft's inexorable efforts to destroy the Stalfos.

"I'll distract the two on the left," Marcus said, "you two just focus on destroying the other two as quickly as possible."

He and Loft dashed out to the group, splitting up and aiming for different halves of the group. Marcus ran to the two Stalfos on the left, leading them away from their fellows, who were busy watching Loft cartwheel- yes, cartwheel- towards them.

Marcus couldn't hurt the skeletons, unless he could somehow make them hit each other, but he could keep them busy long enough for Loft and Jacob to destroy the others. He ducked under a nasty swing from the first Stalfos. If he could last that long, of course.

Eysseth perked up as Loft thrust the door open. The Stalfols around her all looked over towards the door and Eysseth took her chance. The wyvern whipped her tail and caught one of the Stalfols on her right in the head smashing it's skull onto her tail spikes.
Jacob sprinted towards Eysseth with a new burst of vigor as his extended sword rammed into a shield held by the closest Stalfols. The Stalfols looked at Jacob after turning from Eysseth. It's eyes pulsed as it brought it's battleaxe down towards Jacob. Jacob brought up his shield to block the battleaxe as the Stalfols' shield rammed into Jacob. Jacob staggered backwards and got in a ready stance. The Stalfols charged forward with his battleaxe raised. Jacob used his shield to block as he grabbed a bomb out of his bomb bag. The Stalfols tried a side swipe that Jacob somersaulted out of the way of dropping the bomb along the way. The Stalfols swung his axe and missed Jacob hitting the bomb. Jacob brought up his shield as the bomb went off and blocked a majority of the blast energy. Jacob was still pushed back about a foot from the blast.
Jacob jumped onto Eysseth's back and patted her head. "Come on girl. Let's show 'em the fury of a wyvern. Yeah!" Eysseth jumped into the air and started doing circles happy to have Jacob back.

(OOC: This room is freaking huge.)

Loft skidded to a halt as Eysseth pulverized the first Stalfos. Jacob immediately engaged the other in combat, and Loft turned to go help Marcus. Jacob had it under control. It was him and his pretty pony against a little pile of crumbly old bones- how hard could it be?

Marcus, though, needed his help. The offense-less Healer was weaving in between the two Stalfos, trying desperately to stay alive. Loft dashed forwards, hitting the first one squarely in the spinal cord with a flying kick. With a snap, it crumbled to dust, and the Stalfos collapsed onto the ground, its helmeted head bouncing up and down in anger. The second Stalfos turned to face the new threat, and Marcus punished it for its inattention by shoving it forward. Caught off-balance, the Stalfos was barely able to block Loft's throwing knife, which missed its eye and instead clattered to the floor behind it. Loft spun underneath its horizontal slice, smashing his elbow into its rib cage. For reasons unknown, the Stalfos only had armour on its upper body, leaving the lower body open. It hunched over in pain, and Marcus kicked its back, sending it lurching forward. Loft finished the poor undead creature off by slicing its spinal cord. Its body crumbled, leaving its head to bounce indignantly with the other head.

Loft raised his foot to crush it, but it spoke up hurriedly. "Wait!" It cried. "Spare us, and we will give you valuable information."

Loft wasn't listening. He brought his foot down, but Marcus shoved him away. Loft teetered, unbalanced, and fell to the floor. "Ouch."

"Go on," Marcus said, kneeling down to the skulls' level. "What valuable information do you have for us?"

The other skull hissed angrily. "You should not speak," it rasped, "lest you be called a trait-"

The rest of its sentence was cut off as Marcus ground it into the floor with his heel. "Right," he said calmly. "What was that you were saying about valuable information?"

If the skull had still possessed a tongue, it would have been licking its lips in anxiety. "We are ruled by his Majesty, King Igos du Ikana. Long has he reigned over this land unchallenged, but the undead are rising. Unthinking and mindless, they attack us in hordes of rotting flesh, and we are forced to beat them back."

Marcus nodded. The civilized undead and the mindless undead were fighting over territory. Alright.

"We do not understand why they have risen so quickly," the skull continued, "they have always been present in our lands, but never have they been so strong."

Marcus remembered how Jacob had ventured to this land because of a rising undead power. He and Loft had been sent by an unknown force, whom he sincerely hoped to be his patron Goddess Farore, to combat some dark evil. If they could locate the source of the rising undead and destroy it, their mission here would be complete.

"Where can we find your king?" Marcus asked. "I have a few questions for him about the rising undead."

The skull hissed, plainly uncomfortable with relaying the location of its monarch to the enemy.

"I am not your enemy," Marcus said, "I wish to help halt the rise of the mindless undead."

"He is in the castle," the skull said after a moment's thought, "behind that door." It nodded mind-bounce to the room's only other great iron door. "He sits on the throne of Ikana, and can be found inside the tower's double doors."

"Thank you," Marcus said. He rose, leaving the skull behind to re-animate into a full-fledged skeleton. "Loft, come." Loft scurried to his side, and he walked briskly to the other door.

He frowned. "Where is Jacob?"

Loft pointed up at the ceiling. "He and the pretty pony are dancing in the air."

That comment actually made some sense. Twenty or so feet above their heads, the wyvern Eysseth and its master Jacob flew around the room, whooping with delight at being reunited.

"Touching," Marcus said. He called up to Jacob. "Hey! We've got some information for you!"

He shouted up the details of what they had just learned; how the Re-dead and Gibdo hordes were attempting to dislodge the native civilization, how the Stalfos (the sentient undead) were struggling to repel the mindless undead's attacks, and how he wished to consult the King of Ikana on the best way to destroy the source of the mindless undead's sudden power.

Marcus wasn't sure how Jacob would react. After all, the Stalfos had tried to imprison his wyvern, but he hoped that the man would stay focused.

Eysseth landed with a thump as Jacob jumped off of her. Jacob looked at Marcus and said, "Hm. Well that makes some sense. You left one of 'em didn't ya?" Marcus nodded and pointed towards the now reformed Stalfols. Jacob sheathed his sword and walked over to the Stalfols who was picking up a sword and shield. The Stalfols readied himself for a fight. "Relax. I ain't gonna attack unless you attack me first. What's yer rank solider?"
The Stalfols looked confused for a bit before hissing, "Corporal."
"I'm sergeant Jacob Temple o' the Hyrule Castle Town Guard. I want ya ta go ahead of us to tell your friends we're willin' ta help yens. Got it?"
The Stalfols nodded and replied, "Yesss sssir!" The Stalfols nodded and ran off towards the castle.
Jacob turned back towards Marcus. "What do ya think? Will they let us help 'em out?"

Marcus shrugged. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. This is a war that they cannot afford to lose, and one that they cannot easily win. It is in their best interest to allow us to aid them. However, we must be prepared for a hostile reception. Stalfos and Hylians are not generally the most cheerful of mates; if the Stalfos in Hyrule proper are any indication, there is a long-standing history of animosity between our two races, and I very much doubt that these Stalfos will receive us with open arms. We must be prepared for the worst, yet also keep hope for the best."

The great iron door leading to the Castle clanked open, and the same Stalfos poked its skull inside. "The king is ready to see you."

Marcus nodded at Jacob and Loft. "Alright. Keep your weapons out, and be ready for a fight." He glanced at the Stalfos apologetically. "Sorry, but we must be prepared for the possibility of an ambush. You are military; you understand the precaution."

The Stalfos nodded. "Don't make any threatening moves, and we won't kill you."

"That's re-assuring," Marcus muttered. "Come on, then," he said to the group, "we mustn't keep his Royal Majesty waiting."

He followed the Stalfos through the door, stepping out into another long corridor. "Where is his Majesty, anyway? I doubt that his throne room would be located next to a potential security breach like the Well."

The Stalfos shook its head. "It's a good escape route; the King likes to keep his options open, and the Well is well-protected."

Loft giggled. "Silly skull. Three itsy bitsy little Hylians broke its fancy-shmancy security system!"

If it had a mouth, the Stalfos would have frowned. "We are at war- the majority of our troops are fighting to hold back the mindless undead. The Well is not nearly as well guarded as it would have been normally."

Loft grimaced. "Still stupid. A Re-dead prison isn't exactly safe."

"Loft," Marcus said, "drop it."

"Here we are," the Stalfos said, its hand twitching towards its axe as though it wanted nothing better than to shred the insolent Hylian, "the King's throne room."

Marcus walked past it, but the Stalfos threw out an arm to hold Loft back. It leaned its skull face in close, and hissed at the boy. "Make one threatening move, one twitch I don't like, and I'll chop your stupid head clean off your shoulder."

Loft blew a raspberry at it. "You can't do that, stupid. The plot won't allow it."

With that, Loft skipped into the room, leaving the furious Stalfos behind.

"Marcus. Keep Loft from doin' anythin' stupid. We don't need every Stalfols in this castle tryin' ta kill us." Jacob looked around the very large throne room. There were heavily armed Stalfols all around the room. The two most heavily armed Stalfols walked to each side of the Hylians and walked them forward until they were a yard from the throne. The large figure of Igos walked out from behind his throne and sat in it. The Hylians knelled and with a loud booming voice that unlike most other Stalfols had no lisp the king commanded, "Hylians! Why have you come to my land!?"

Jacob rose and responded, "I'm sergeant Jacob Temple o' tha Hylian Castle Guard. My comrades 'ere are...Healer Marcus an' his bodyguard Loft. We've come on behalf o' His Majesty, King Hyrule ta investigate risin' reports of undead activity in tha area. We've been given' clearance ta use any means necessary ta take out tha threat. Thanks ta your troops, I found out that risin' numbers of ReDeads and Gibdos are ta blame. I come here along with these two offerin' aid ta Yer Majesty and yer armies in dealing with these feral undead on behalf o' the entire Kingdom o' Hyrule."

Igos stroked his beard for a few seconds before commanding, "Guards! Leave us!" All the guards gave the same shocked looks.

One of the guards beside the Hylians started to say, "But, sssir are you sss..." Igos stood up and glared at the Stalfols.

"You will do as your king commands! Or shall I put you on the front lines and bring the lieutenant here to replace you!?" The Stalfols nodded in fear as he and the rest of the guards left the throne room. As the door slammed shut with a loud thud the king began to speak again, "So you have come to aid us then hm!?" Igos snapped his boney fingers as a large broadsword and a square shield appeared in his hands. "I will think about it. While I am thinking I shall test your strength. Have at thee!"

Marcus nodded appreciatively. "Trial by combat. Very nice. Practical, too, seeing as how we're offering combat-aid." The King advanced, its broadsword held high over its head. Marcus stepped back, allowing the combat-specialists to take control of the situation. While they fought, he would be searching for a weak point, some exploitable piece of information.

"Oh, one last thing," the King said, before the Stalfos had closed the doors behind them. "This battle will be between the four of us. Not your Wyvern." He nodded to Eysseth. "She will be kept in the next room, to await the outcome of the battle." The Stalfos re-entered the room, and led Eysseth out of the doors. The Wyvern had to stoop to fit through the doors, but she managed.

"Now," King Igos du Ikana said, "let us begin." He slashed his broadsword, and began the fight.

Marcus cast his eyes around the room, searching for anything that would help. The throne room was a large rectangle. On one end of the room stood a set of double-doors, probably leading to the main area of the castle. That was the only entrance, other than where they had entered. If Marcus hadn't known where to look, he would never have noticed its existence. The door looked exactly like the surrounding wall, a great slab of black iron that contained a painted map of the Ikanan region on its surface. There was no ring- of course, it was a push door, so that the King could easily barricade the door from the other side. Marcus doubted, however, that there was no way to lock the door from this side. Otherwise, it would constitute a security breach. In any case, there were only two doors in the throne room, which was silent save for the screeching and clanging sounds of metal on metal.

The throne itself was carved of dark desert stone, seated directly before a great tapestry bearing the Ikanan flag. The tapestry was old and tattered now, its once vibrant colours faded and bleached by time's merciless passing. Marcus stretched out a longing hand towards it, almost as if he mourned the departure of Ikana's golden age. Ikana had once ruled most of the known world, and now it was reduced to a small nation of the living dead. In a way, it seemed to only increase its mystique, but Marcus still felt nostalgic for the old country. When he was little, he had read fables about the mighty Ikanan empire, and now, standing in the heart of the ruined nation's capitol, he felt like a traveller lost in time.

The King screamed in outrage, and Marcus snapped out of his nostalgic mindset. There were things that needed to be done, enemies to be exploited. King Igos du Ikana was undead. For all his status, and all his title, he remained a Stalfos. A mighty Stalfos, it was true, but a Stalfos nevertheless. Stalfos were weak to three things; fire, explosives, and light. True, they had defeated the other two Stalfos by slicing the spinal cord and crushing the skull, but they couldn't do that for the King. Unlike the lower Stalfos they had faced earlier, the King bore full body armour, and they would find it impossible to even reach the spinal cord, let alone sever it completely.

Fire. Explosives. Light. Jacob had a bomb bag. Loft had a Red Candle, with a projectile setting. He had a Blue Candle, without any such setting. He rule out his own Candle, as it was unlikely to be of any use here. None of them knew any fire spells, and Marcus found himself missing Zajora's presence for the first time since the Wizzrobe battle during the Great Freeze. Having a Fire Mage around had certainly come in handy then, and it would be most helpful now. Unfortunately, if wishes were wyverns he would have already crushed the whole of the mindless undead. Explosives were Jacob's territory. Perhaps Loft could distract the King long enough to allow Jacob to pull out a bomb? Loft's Red Candle could be utilized, especially if its projectile attribute could be activated multiple times.

What about the third weakness, the Staflos' inherent vulnerability to light? So far, all the Stalfos they had seen had been completely shielded from the sun's harmful rays. What would happen if they removed the protection which the castle's walls offered? He glanced worriedly at the King. Such an action might prove fatal to his Majesty, and he doubted that it would be particularly beneficial to their quest if they killed the Ikanan king in combat.

Just then, King Igos du Ikana's broadsword sliced horizontally at Loft's head, and the boy ducked beneath it, only to have his face crushed by the king's square shield. Loft staggered back, hopping up and down and clutching his face, yelling loudly. Marcus darted forward, quickly applying his healing magic. The King was clearly fighting to kill, and they would do the same. They would merely have to hope that the King wouldn't be obliterated.

Loft's face fully healed, the boy scampered back into the fight, slicing at the King and keeping him from bashing Jacob's head in. Marcus looked up, gazing around the room. This was the same castle that was described in the tales which he had read as a child. This castle had once been populated by the living, and the living liked sunlight. Therefore, this throne room had to have some windows. Ah-ha! Marcus grinned, spotting several large rectangles along the walls that were covered by tapestries. He might have passed them by, but all the tapestries were exactly the same, at exactly the same altitude. Furthermore, they were positioned at the right height for windows, and frankly there was nothing else that could be covering windows up.

Marcus shrugged. There was only one way to find out what was behind those tapestries. It must have been nearly dark- the sun had been high in the sky when he had first arrived, meaning that the sun would be low in the western sky at this time. He spun on the spot, using his internal compass to point him towards west. He dashed towards that wall, past the battle, and looked up. Unfortunately, the tapestry was very well pinned down. He couldn't see behind it at all. This only increased his suspicions- ordinary tapestries wouldn't be so completely pinned. He frowned; how was he supposed to see behind it?

He snapped his fingers. Of course! He slung his pack off of his shoulders, setting it gingerly onto the ground. He reached his hands gently inside, and pulled out a soft ball of fur. He poked it gently, whispering to it. "Keaton? Time to wake up." The little ball of fur uncurled, exposing its fuzzy head and long yellow and black tail. Marcus fed it a little pellet of black food, and pointed up to the tapestry. "I'm sorry to wake you up, but I need to know; is there sunlight behind that tapestry?"

The little animal chittered, stretching and yawning, before darting up the wall. The stone was old enough that there were plenty of handholds for an agile animal like that, and Keaton had soon poked its head in behind the threads.

It chittered, climbing quickly down the wall, and nuzzled its head into Marcus' shoulder.

"I take it that's a yes, then?" The animal chittered, jumping back into the pack and curling up into a ball again. Marcus grinned. "Back to sleep, then."

He looked up at the tapestry, and frowned. So, there was definitely sunlight coming in from behind that tapestry. Next step, how to get it down?

"Loft," Marcus yelled, "come here a second."

"The person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable," Loft screamed back, his back to the floor and pressing furiously against the King's broadsword, "please try again later!"

Marcus frowned as Jacob got the King off of Loft, redirecting his Majesty's attention. "Loft, get over here."

Loft ran over, muttering darkly. "What?"

Marcus pointed at the tapestry. "I need you to use your Red Candle and burn that down. Do you think you can do that?"

Loft glanced towards Jacob, who was attempting to hold off the King single-handed. "But Maaarcus, I want to help beat the skeleton guy!"

"You can crush the King later," Marcus said firmly, "for now, help me burn this tapestry!"

Loft frowned up at it. "I can't reach it from here. Could you give me a boost up?"

Marcus sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration. "Loft, you can climb up walls!"

"Oh, right." Loft walked to the door, removed his shoes, and began to walk up the side of the stone wall. The Red Candle was held fast in his grip, and he continued to walk up the wall until he reached the tapestry. It was strange to watch, Loft walking sideways, his hair pulled to the ground and the flame still burning towards the ceiling, despite the position of the Candle. Marcus was glad that the Candle did not drip wax, otherwise he would have had to watch for burning drops of liquid falling for his head. Loft raised the Candle, and set fire to the tapestry. The old fabric immediately caught fire, and it was quickly consumed in the hungry red flames. Loft marched back down the wall, jumping off and dashing towards the fight without a backwards glance.

Marcus glanced at the window. Light was streaming through the large rectangle, casting its rays onto the floor and illuminating a defined patch of stone.

The King roared, but whether it was out of indignant rage for destroying his possessions or out of fear, Marcus couldn't tell.

"The light," Marcus yelled towards his companions, "push it into the light! Stalfos can't stand sunlight, it'll start to burn up! Loft, use your Red Candle. Jacob, try and hit it with bombs. Forget about your blades, they won't do much against it. Fire, explosives, and light- they're the only things that'll really hurt it!"

Jacob blocked hit after hit from the Stalfols king with his shield. "I don't think my bombs are gonna get through his armor. But I do have this." Igos tried a horizontal slice to have Jacob back flip out of the way into the sunlight. Jacob quickly brought his Mirror Shield to bear on the Stalfols. The light Jacob was standing in reflected off the shield and hit Igos square in the face. Igos brought his shield to cover his face from the light hissing a curse in Ikanaian.

"Gotcha. Now Loft. Do somethin'." Before Loft could move Igos regained his composure. Igos slashed at Loft with his sword Loft barely jumping out of the way. "Well may as well try it eh?" Jacob rolled a bomb under Igos while keeping the light beam squarely on the Stalfols. Igos cursed very loudly as the bomb went off making him stagger backwards and get another beam of light to the face.

After the second bout of light on his face Igos dropped to one knee and stuck his sword in the throne room floor. "Yield! You have proven your strength," Igos stood up in pain but was laughing. He returned to his throne and snapped his fingers as he sat down. With the snap his sword and shield disappeared and his guards entered the room and took up their posts avoiding the light coming through the window. "Sergeant Temple!" Jacob walked up to where he was before the fight with Igos. "You have the strength and honor of a proud Ikana Warrior, but brute strength alone can not win a war." Igos looked at Marcus. "Healer Marcus! You use your knowledge to put you and your allies at an advantage. This can win a war that brute strength will not. Something I wish it did not take undeath for my kingdom to learn." Igos shifted his gaze to Loft. "And Loft! You have shown a willingness to do anything and the ability to understand and use the chaos and randomness of battle to your favor. This makes you a dangerous combatant, some may say even more so than brute strength."

Igos stood up as a Stalchild carrying a ornate tray with three small medallions walked over to it's king. "Step forward." The three Hylians stepped forward as Igos picked up the medallions and handed one to each of them. The medallions are made of a golden metal that is about two inches in diameter and on the front is the crest of the Ikana Royal Family in a silver metal. "These medallions will show my troops in the Stone Tower area that I have sent you. It will also give Sergeant Temple the ability to command my troops who are lower in rank. These are a gift from me and yours to keep. Now go to Stone Tower and destroy the source of these undead abominations that invade my kingdom!"

This thread is now finished. Its successor, Stone Tower Temple, will be initiated when I return in August. We are ready for a grading.

Edit: Continued here.