DOUBLENEGATIVE;

The Legend of Zelda: The Three Swords
By: Rémi-Patryk

Chapter 4: Adventure

Kyul was desperately gasping for air as the knight had him pinned to the wall.. The Knight then asked, "Are you Kyul of the legendary Schatten Reiters?" He loosened his grip on Kyul's neck for him to be able to answer. "Who wants to know?" Kyul coughed trying to get air... The Knight punched him in the stomach, Kyul almost threw up. "I am asking," the Knight replied, the other ones laughing behind him... "Never heard of him," Kyul gasped... The knight threw Kyul towards another wall. If it was not for his shield, he would probably have broken his spine... "Wrong answer, but I might have a few tricks to make you remember," the knight giggled ... As the Black knight approached, Kyul desperately tried to get up to his feet...

Link was awakened by a loud crash and a moan that sounded like Kyul's voice. He jumped to his feet, grabbed the master sword, and woke Zelda. "I think we might be getting some company. Get dressed, now." Link went out of the room...

Link jumped out of his room. Three very, very large goons were closing in on Kyul who was on all fours spitting blood, trying to catch his breath and draw his sword... "I thought you guys would be more of a challenge," the biggest of the three knights giggled cruelly... "Try me," Link said, standing right behind the knights... The three of them turned around now facing Link. "Oh, you must be Link. Nice to meet you, I am Ishkael," the knight said. He then punched Link, who was confused by the introduction, in the chest sending him flying through the hallway...

Zelda had taken time to put her Sheikah gear on. When she was ready, she hurried to the door only to see Link take flight right in front of her. She turned her head towards the place Link must have been a second ago. There were three men there laughing.

Kyul took advantage of the distraction Link had created. He sat up against the wall, taking deep breaths of air... He then looked towards Link; he was painfully getting up. Zelda suddenly came out of the room, sword drawn. They were on more-even grounds now... Kyul gripped his sword and the triforce triangles began to glow very brightly. Kyul tapped on one of the knight's shoulders. He turned around, Kyul punched, the man grabbed Kyul's arm and held on so hard that if he just forced a little more he would break his arm. But Kyul had a backup plan. He charged the power of the triforce down his arm, giving a very powerful shock to the knight. He finally let go. Kyul slashed at the man's neck, but another knight came to his rescue, blocking Kyul's sword with his own broad sword...

Link was catching his breath and trying to find out if he had any ribs broken. One thing was sure though, he would have a very big headache later on that day... Link jumped to his feet, eyed the incoming knight, charged his sword, and said, "As I said earlier... Try me." The knight laughed, drew his sword and charged towards Link. Link reacted to this attack by spinning and slashing the Knight's exposed back, the master sword, one of the sharpest and most powerful blades that ever existed, only did a minuscule scratch on the black armor. The power of the hit was enough to send the Knight rolling and crashing in the wall... Link then turned to Kyul who was being attacked from all sides. Zelda was trying to get to him, but she was stuck between a knight and Kyul. "Zelda, get the rest of our stuff and leave NOW!" Link shouted.. She acknowledged and jumped into the room.... Link charged his sword with energy and slashed to release it... Kyul was the only one facing Link when he did this, so he was the only one who saw it coming.

Kyul back-flipped and landed in a defense position to face Link's energy slash. The Knights who did not see it coming were hit from behind and were tripped. They fell to the ground. Link took that opportunity to reach Kyul... Now they were together. They never had the opportunity to fight together, they were always separated from each other... But this time they were together, united by the power of the triforce... The Hero of time and the hero of light were standing side by side, their swords glowing with power... The three Knights were getting organized too, no more underestimation, now was the time to fight...

Link and Kyul were standing side by side ready for what was to come. All three knights charged at the same time. Link was determined that the two of them were more powerful than those black knights. He would soon find out... The leading knight's sword was radiating dark energy. As he approached, Link and Kyul's triforces began to glow stronger and brighter... As the swords of the knights made contact with the two swords of light, a large shockwave of energy was created. It traveled through lands, oceans, mountains, wastelands and Kingdoms. The warriors, though, did not feel a thing. Link, Kyul, and the three dark Knights carried on fighting as if nothing happened...

Link was fighting only one single knight because he did not have his shield with him. He was making out very well, though the Master sword was not able to do much damage to the knights armor. He had him cornered close to the stairs, and Link doubted that even that magic armor would resist a fully powered energy slash from point blank. The Knight was now a few feet from the stairs, still fighting hard, but he could not keep up with the energy of the triforce... "I think you're going down!" Link yelled as he released the strongest energy attack he ever created... It did a huge slice in the chest plate of the knight's armor, blood started to drip out of it. The knight fell backwards and tumbled down the stairs, taking the Innkeeper who was climbing the stairs trying to figure out what was going on, down with him....

Kyul was fighting with all his strength and soul to keep them away from Link and the other Knight. It was very difficult, their leader was extremely strong and the sword of light was not able to cut through the black armor. The two dark knights combined their attack, Kyul began to lose ground. One of the Knights slashed on Kyul's right, he blocked with his shield, but it took most of his strength and concentration to block it, and when he tried to stop the other knight's attack with his sword, it was too much for him and he dropped the Sword of light. Kyul had never dropped his sword in combat since he was carrying this one, The Sacred Sword of Pure Light... How could he have dropped it? Kyul felt like he wanted to die, he was not worthy of carrying that sword... A flashback bolted through his mind as he was falling to the ground...

It was night. Kyul and his family were riding along with the biggest part of the Schatten-Reiters clan... Their leader had asked Kyul and his father to meet him in the woods. As they arrived to the meadow, Kyle the leader of the Reiters, was sitting on the grass gazing at the stars... "You sent for us," Mikel, Kyul's father asked. Kyle replied, "Yes, I have. My friends, the end is near... Darkness has caught back to us shadows to extinguish our light and the King of the evil darkness has raised an army to blind us shadows... There is nothing we can do except fight... The oracles have spoken only one will survive to avenge us and continue our destiny... That chosen one is your son, I can feel it." Kyul was astonished. He, a little thirteen year-old boy, would be the only survivor of his race after a large battle. "M..me? Are you sure?" Kyul whispered... "Yes I am, but to be able to accomplish this, you will have to have this," Kyle said as he presented Kyul with a sword... It was the sacred sword of light, a blade given to the Sheikah warrior Kal-Shzenay as a weapon to protect Hyrule and the triforce...

Coldness... Stone... Blood.... Pain... Kyul hit the ground with a loud, dry sound. He was down. The triforce could not for some reason heal the damage that was done to him by the Dark Knights. Kyul could barely move when he saw Link attack the knights with the master sword glowing a silver light... Neither could he scream when he saw Link being thrown aside by the leader, Ishkael. "You Schatten Reiter shall die first. I always dreamed of exterminating a race of peoples," Ishkael said with a cruel voice...

"I think... You .. Will have to... Wait..." Kyul whispered.

"What?"

Zelda was standing behind the Knight of darkness, a light arrow armed and burning... She released it, hitting him right in the stomach... It consumed his dark armor and his evil body in a soothing golden light...

The other Knight, clearly outnumbered, was trying stealthily to make his way to the exit, but Link, who was sitting against a wall close to the stairs, tripped him as he was passing by.. He fell down in a loud metal clash... Zelda then ran to the stairs shooting two light arrows at the knight...

"Who...or what, were those dark...creatures?" Zelda asked.

"You might want to ask them next time... Because they will be back," Kyul said as he was slowly regaining control over his body...

"What do you mean?" Link asked. "Zelda just got rid of them."

"I recognize them. They were the leaders of the Ylham warriors. You can't just kill them like that," Kyul said. "They will come back."

MYRKANA CASTLE

"He he he... Were they a little tougher than you thought, Ishkael?" The king asked.

"They were not that strong, master. I almost had them, but they have the essence of the triforce to protect them and that sheikah surprised me."

"Yes, he did indeed, and did you know that you started a chain reaction when you were fighting?"

"A chain reaction? What... How?"

"When a sword of pure light and energy held by a bearer of the triforce made contact with a weapon of pure darkness, in this case yours, it awoke the minions of the former King of darkness. Six evil creatures that are drawn by the very energy of the power symbols, the Triforce, the two crystals, and the crown of the sages..."

"I awoke them."

"Yes, you and the Reiter... It is funny in a manner, because they will do the dirty part of your job for us. That is, if we can convince them that we want the same thing as they do."

"But now what do I do?"

"Gather our troops. We will offer our help to Hyrule to capture the three fugitives that hold the mighty triforce."

"Yes, sir."

NISCHCANA

The mayor had Kyul and his two accomplices arrested and brought to his office. Kyul was very pale and was not smiling for once. The green one's nose was somewhat bleeding and he had bruises all over his face. The last one was not really damaged, but was giving the mayor the creeps...

"Ok, I want to know who those men were that attacked you down there." The mayor was trying to stay calm, but it was obviously not working. Every time Kyul was in town, there was a lot of damage to whatever building he was in.

"Well, I do not really know, but they sure were mean," the green one called Link answered.

"I think I noticed that when I saw they were giving Kyul a beating. Now I know Kyul, and he never gets beaten like that. Why were they after you?"

"We do not know at all."

"Well, I think there might be a reason you're not telling me about, because I doubt they would go through all that trouble to get into a fight with you three."

"There are some weird people in this world."

"I will not accept that as an answer. Now, I obviously can't take it from you, and I don't want you as enemies, so I am going to release you. But get away from here and do not come back."

"I can live with not coming back here."

"Fine, then it's settled."

Link helped Kyul get up and they left for the stables where their horses were. "I can't think of any reason Kyul should feel this sick. Why isn't the Triforce helping him to get better?" Zelda anxiously asked. "I don't know, Mikel, but it is odd," Link replied. "Where are we going to go now?" Zelda asked as she was mounting her horse. "Well, I thought that we could go meet King Fior of the Stala Plains. He is an old friend of mine and I think he might harbor us while we try to better understand the power of the triforce and wait for Kyul to get better," Link said. " I agree," Kyul replied. "I only need some rest, and I, too, am a friend of King Fior."

The three companions left for the great green plains of Stala wondering if they would ever be able to be in peace... Or if they would be pursued for the rest of their existence by dark and evil forces because they held the triforce. Did the great sages give them a gift... Or curse them...

HYRULE CASTLE

The King was concerned with what that false Sheikah had told him. It was very disturbing. He had a tough time believing that Zelda was still alive, but at least there was maybe hope that he would see her again.

"Sire, there is a man who wants an audience with you," a guard announced.

"Let the man in, Peter," the king replied.

"Of course, sir."

A man entered the room with two bodyguards. He was rather short and did not have a weapon. The two bodyguards though, were very large and tall. They had long swords to their sides and wore a black armor...

"I am King Nebel. I came to inform you of my deepest regrets concerning the events that happened here a few days ago...." the small man as he bowed to the king.

"Ahhh, Nebel, I should be the one giving you regrets. Your son died in the attack."

"Do nothing of the sort, it is far from your fault that this happened."

"I still feel that I could have stopped it from happening."

"I do not want to offend you, but I doubt that you could have stopped them. They eliminated three of my best Knights and as you know, that is a feat..."

"Really, and where did this happen?" the King of Hyrule asked in a surprised voice.

"In a village deep in the lost woods. My knights encountered them and were utterly destroyed."

"This is a very disturbing story. Would you happen to know where they were heading?"

"They were going to the plains of Stala to ask for asylum from the King Fior."

"Really," the King said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, and as you know, I am at war with the King Fior and I would like to humbly ask you for the help of your great Kingdom to defeat him."

The King of Hyrule gazed at the window in front of him and replied with all his wisdom, "As much as I respect you, I have to answer no in the name of the people that inhabit this sacred land."

The surprised King of Myrkania approached his Hyrule counterpart and whispered, "I think you misunderstood me, I doubt that you want me as an enemy."

"I will not drag my Kingdom in a dark war with Stala just because criminals are hiding in there."

"Surely the people sensitive to energy shifts have felt the shockwave of energy that hit Hyrule about twelve hours ago?"

"Indeed, some did. Do you know what caused it?"

"It was the sword of light making contact with a sword of darkness.. It awoke all the spirits of war and more importantly, it signaled many Kingdoms to begin to arm themselves, because it also awoke dark creatures and the Phantom of your greatest enemy. Now, King Harkinian of Hyrule, tell me now what side are you choosing?"

"I chose to stay with the light, because, my former friend, only light can guide you truthfully. Darkness cannot."

"As you wish."

The Myrknia delegation left the castle of Hyrule at a quick pace. The King of Hyrule was worried. "We have not seen the last of them."

PLAINS OF STALA

Link had an odd feeling. He was an infiltrator, he did not like to be out in the open plains where everyone could see him... It was rather disturbing. He looked at Zelda. She was standing straight on her horse, riding Snow very gracefully. Link could not stop himself from smiling. She was so beautiful, even with her Sheikah attire that hid her feminine features. Maybe it was because Link loved her so much... Link was, out of nature, a very shy person when it came to personal matters. Many girls had demonstrated their affection for him in his many travels and adventures... But he always felt like he would not be as well with them as he would be with Zelda... Now that he was alone with her, and probably for a long while, he did not feel that he had the strength to express his love to her...

Zelda was in a good mood. They would finally be able to relax and learn to control the essence of the triforce. In all her happiness, though, she was worried by only one thing. Kyul did not show any sign of getting better. His face was still pale like the moon and he was sweating in an unhealthy manner. Even Kyul's horse seemed worried. Zelda did not know why she was thinking that, but she felt the animal's emotions as she looked into Schatten Jager's eyes. It was an eerie feeling to say the least... "Are you ok Kyul?" Zelda asked.

"Let's just say I remember feeling better," he replied in a sleepy voice.

Link laughed and replied, "Maybe I should consider it a good thing, because it did knock that smile out of you."

Kyul's eyes fired daggers at Link, "Now if I were you, I would not feel safe in my sleep anymore."

Zelda and Link laughed. Then as they were talking, a large Castle began to appear on the horizon...

"It's the great Stala castle," Link said as he admired the walls and the towers of the castle. It was still very far away, but it was so large that they could see it from where they were. And the fact that the plains were almost totally flat helped visibility...

"We still have about five hours to the castle. Rest, Kyul," Link then said.

The rest of the way passed without much excitement. Birds attacked the trio, but Link and Zelda disposed of them without much effort with their bows...

As they approached the Castle, a group of riders intercepted them... There were about nine heavily armed soldiers mounted on horses carrying loaded bows...

"What the..?" Link whispered. "Hold your fire, we come in peace!" Link shouted to the incoming riders.

"Who are you and what is your business in the Plains of Stala?" was the answer spat back at Link.

"We are renegade adventurers from Hyrule and we only seek an audience with your King. One of us if very sick."

"Link, is that you?"

"Thomas?"

"Link, how nice that we meet again. And who are your friends?"

"This is Kyul, the Schatten-Reiter, and his companion Mikel."

"Kyul... I know Kyul. He saved me from thieves a few years ago."

"Hey Tom, what's up?" Kyul said in a very faint voice and then he began to cough loudly.

"My god, what happened to him?"

"We think he was hit with a sword of pure darkness. Even the power of the triforce that he carries cannot heal him," Zelda answered.

"Triforce, Kyul... Pure darkness... What?"

"This is not the place to discuss such matters. Can we enter the castle?" Link asked, looking around suspiciously.

"Yes, of course. Follow me."

HYRULE CASTLE

The King of Hyrule was now convinced that his daughter was still alive and well. But now he needed some answers for a few questions that were left hanging after the escape of the prisoners...

"Ahh, Impa, you have arrived."

"Yes."

"I will save you the politeness of a speech and go straight to the point," the King said in his deep, wise voice.

"Why did you not stop my daughter's killer when he was in her room?"

"I am a Shiekah, and one sheikah cannot end another Shiekah's life without losing his own," she replied in her dry, cutting voice.

"You mean that...He was a Shiekah...I thought that you were the only one left..."

"They are many things that you do not have knowledge of, your highness. I will make the long tale a short story... Many years ago, before I was born, a majority of the Sheikahs abandoned their duty towards the Royal family and left for foreign countries, lands, and adventures. They called themselves the Schatten-Reiters, which translates itself in Hylian language to Shadow Riders... Those peoples were the sole protectors of light in the world. They were great warriors. But four years ago, they were annihilated by an unknown force, leaving only one survivor, the one named Kyul. He became a renegade fighter, searching for the murderers of his race. A few weeks ago, the sage of light, master Rauru, telepathically contacted your daughter. He explained to her that he was concerned for the safety of the mighty Triforce and that he wanted her, a green warrior, and the last Schatten-Reiter, to take it themselves and protect it. She sent a messenger to find Kyul. The green warrior was already on his way back. Kyul arrived first, and at Zelda's instruction, he snuck into the castle. He and your daughter were attacked by the guards while they were discussing their escape, and you know the rest."

The King was speechless after hearing Impa's story. His eyes were wide open, trying to fully assimilate what he had just heard... "But why did she keep me in the dark all that time? I could have made it so much easier for them and there would not have been that fight in the market."

"She could not tell you or her integrity as a triforce carrier would have been compromised."

"I understand, but why are you able to tell me this now?"

Because she is far away and she fully understands that her place is out there with Link and Kyul, defending the Light from the dark."

Impa was cut off as one of the King's generals entered the room running. "Sire! Sire! We have reports of being attacked by unknown forces from the area of the desert! The gerudos are holding them back, but we do not have much time to help them or they will be overthrown!"

"What?!" The king had too much to absorb in a very short period of time, but he was used to it. "Gather our troops close to the canyon. We will stop them there," he replied. This was a very bad week....

STALA CASTLE

Kyul was placed in a room and examined by the best doctors in the Kingdom. It would take time before they could give a solution. So meanwhile, Link and Zelda asked to meet with the king...

"My father, Link, the green warrior, has returned, along with Kyul and another friend of theirs," Thomas said, bowing to the King.

"Ahh, Link, what a pleasant surprise. Although times are tough, I am always pleased to see you. But where is Kyul?" the King said, his eyes inspecting the room...

"Sire, Kyul is very sick and is now under the treatment of your doctors," Link replied, his head down...

"Kyul...sick? I never thought it possible to bring that child down. What kind of injuries did he suffer?"

"Kyul was injured by a blade of pure darkness. It was held by a Knight geared in black...Maybe you've heard of it," Link ventured.

The king nodded positively. "I'm afraid that I have. In the past few months, our lands have become infested with evil creatures. And our villages are being attacked by three black Knights, their blades inflicting mortal injuries to those who cross them."

"Is there a way to save Kyul, your Highness?"

"I can think of nothing that this castle has. I would gladly send my troops to help, but we have to prepare for war.."

"War? How did it begin and with whom?"

"Yes, I am sorry, I need to explain. A few hours ago, we felt the shadow shockwave, it announces the beginning of war to end all darkness in this part of the world. In other words, we have to win, or then it's utter destruction," Fior said in a grave voice.

Link raised an eyebrow. "The shockwave that Kyul made with his sword announces the end of the world?"

Everyone in the throne room started to whisper. The King's voice raised to be heard by everyone. "You mean that Kyul carries the sword of pure Light?"

Link was feeling embarrassed, and blushed that he did not know the answer to that question. "I don't know. Maybe?"

"We must find out this instant! Take me to him!" the king shouted as he rose from his throne.

The King, Link, and Zelda entered the room where Kyul was being treated. He was lying there in a small bed. There was only one doctor there now, he was sitting on a chair close to Kyul. When the King entered the room, the doctor jumped to his feet. "Your majesty, I did not expect you here," he said, trying to contain his excitement. He never met the King before now. "It's ok, Doctor...?"

"Krusenstern, Sire."

"Ah yes. Could you please tell me what you found out about your patient?"

"Yes, well, his wound will not close. We tried everything. But at least he is not bleeding anymore, so we put him to sleep. Ah, and one last thing. He will not let go of his sword. He almost killed one of us when we tried to take it."

"I see. Is there any way you think we could help him to heal?"

"Not that I can think of right now. I personally think that he has to heal himself before we can do anything. When we were treating him, it was as if he did not want to live."

"Kyul wanting to die... I never could imagine that.."

Kyul was in a kind of trance. He felt like he did not deserve to live the rest of his life... As darkness was creeping up on him, he saw parts of his life. But then something hit him... He could not only see them, he could feel them too... Now he was in pain lying on the wet ground. He was still holding his sword, but it felt a lot heavier than a while ago. "NO, it can't be possible. Not now," he thought as his hallucination began.

Rauru, the sage of light, was very far away in the temple of light... He had his eyes closed and said, "Yes, Kyul... Remember." As he pronounced those words, he raised his arms to the sky.

It was a very dark night. Kyul was lying in the mud, the sounds of battle were resonating in the dark meadow. Men, women, and children were fighting an unknown enemy... Kyul had the sacred sword in his small thirteen-year-old hands. He was small, but he was fiercely fighting and destroying every enemy who crossed his path. There was Schatten-Reiter blood on the ground. It caused the mud to be of a dark red color. Kyul had rage inside him, but he could not let it win. He had to fight the darkness, not let it win... He was a shadow, made out of light and darkness.. You need light and darkness to make a shadow. If one surpassed the other, the shadow would be gone. He would prevail, for he could feel power grow in him.

His sword was now glowing a very bright golden color. The little boy was taking more enemies down than the adults. But there were too many of them, it was a lost cause... One of the dark knights approached Kyul from behind, raising his sword to kill him. Kyul's father, who was one of the last Reiters left in the fight, saw the knight raise his sword ran towards Kyul. But it was too late to stop it. He jumped and slashed towards the knight's head. It hit, but not strong enough... The knight's sword bit Shatten-Reiter flesh as it ran through Kyul's father's stomach. Alarmed by the noise behind him, Kyul turned around only to see a Yhlam Knight pulling his sword out of his now almost lifeless father. Kyul, with unsurpassed self control, did not let hate and darkness prevail... His sword was now glowing so much that it was almost blinding the knight in front of him... Kyul closed his eyes and slashed. His sword sang in the air as it was gliding freely in open space. The power released by the sword was enormous. When it hit the knight, he was thrown back at least twenty feet. When he hit the ground, the Knight separated in two distinct parts where the beam had hit him...

Kyul was shaking. He turned to his father's body, dropped to his knees, and looked into his father's eyes. "I want to fight, but I will never be able to avenge all of you if I am dead," he said. He rose from his knees and ran into the woods... Doing what he swore he would never do... Leave his family to die...

Why does it feel like night today?
Something in here's not right today.
Why am I so uptight today?
Paranoia's all I got left
I don't know what stressed me first
Or how the pressure was fed
But I know just what it feels like
To have a voice in the back of my head
Like a face that I hold inside
A face that awakes when I close my eyes
A face watches every time I lie
A face that laughs every time I fall

Back in his chamber in Stala Castle, Kyul was taken by sudden convulsions. The doctor and the King were still discussing when Zelda, in her Sheikah voice, alarmed them that Kyul was shaking. They all rushed to his bed. The convulsions stopped as suddenly as they began and Kyul whispered very faintly, "I believe." The triforce symbol on the back of his left hand suddenly began to glow, so did his sword... The light was getting unbearable for the people around him. They all covered their eyes. In the middle of all that was Kyul.. His face was gaining color and his wound was healing. When it was all over, Kyul was sitting in his bed, his smile back on his face. He said to a dazed King Fior, "I just remembered the meaning of my life."

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