The Gerudo Desert Clash

== War ==
The Hylian Army, Gerudo Desert, Afternoon Eight
“All right, stop here. Focus on what you were told by the psychic girl.”
Everyone simultaneously shut their eyes. The new leader scanned the area. Ahead of them was the passage into Gerudo Valley. Most likely whatever lookout’s were around had already spotted them and were reporting it now.
He waited a few moments, long enough for the training to activate in each of them. All drew their weapons, and the enhancements they’d received truly showed themselves. Purple energy pulsed along the weapons of every soldier present, and all simultaneously raised their swords into the air, shooting off a combined torrent of the energy.
“Regroup the moment we have secured the entrance. Do not look back, do not question the voice in your mind. Attack!” With an avalanche of yells and hollers, the army surged into the Valley, swiftly taking down the few Gerudo guards at the skirts.  
Gerudo Border Sentry/ Gerudo Valley/ Afternoon of the 8th
Perched atop the craggy cliffs near the entrance to the Valley in which the Gerudo made their home, a bored sentry raised a hand to shield her eyes from the high flying early afternoon sun. Peering off in the distance she could see a cloud of dust approaching the Gerudo borders, such a cloud could only come from one thing. 
Dropping the hand that shielded her eyes down to puckered lips, Corporal Nikita Selene inhaled deeply before letting loose a shrill, ringing whistle. As the high pitched note cut through the desert air, several warriors who’d been lounging lazily only moments ago, sprung into position. A number of sentries dropped to the hot sand below, readying themselves to face the newcomers. Archers fell into position and Corporal Selene hurried over to a large swivel based mirror, turning it so as to catch the bright suns rays at just the right angle. A beam of light so pure it was nearly blinding ricocheted off the mirrors face and lanced its way across the valley, reflecting from mirror to mirror in a series of strategically placed looking glasses until it found its way to General Namira’s war room.
Her task complete, Nikita hurried to the cliffs edge and drew her bow, nocking an arrow into position, she waited as the dust cloud grew larger.
General Namira
That damned sister of hers and her ominous warnings. General Namira sat her seat uncomfortably today, shifting positions relentlessly as she seethed over Rhunerys’ words from the night before. Her older sister was merely cracked, had spent too much time in the wastes with the howling winds and unforgiving sun. There were no signs of impending doom to be noted, Rhunerys was just here to rile her up. Again. As always. Namira’s older sister, whether she dare admit it or not, was still bitter over the fact that it was Namira, the younger of the siblings, who inherited the leadership of the Gerudo Nation. That was all.
A white blast of radiant sunlight tore through window behind the Gerudo Generals seat of power, illuminating the mirror hanging directly across from her at the end of the hall. 
Namira sat in slack jawed silence as she gaped at the sight before her.
She searched for words that would not come, so instead, Namira raised a hand signaling one of her guardswomen. The young sentry hefted an oversized mallet and hustled forward, striking a huge brass gong. The metallic clash hummed inside the war room, echoing down halls, out doors and through windows. The pealing note reverberated, spreading outwards from the source alerting all who heard it’s song.
Gerudo Valley was under attack.
Corporal Nikita Selene
As the Hylians bellowed below, their weapons glowed, almost pulsating with a paisley luminescence. Nikita raised an arm high above her head, drawing her hand into a fist, at this signal, her archers made ready. In unison the gathered warriors pulled taut their bowstrings and took aim. The Corporals fisted hand remained raised, knuckles whitening, arm rigid above her head, watching as the interloping Hylians dispatched the first wave of Gerudo rather handily.
Their leader barked orders to the company as they regrouped.
Now.
Corporal Selene slammed her clenched fist downwards, as if pummeling some unseen foe groveling at her feet. The archers let loose their numerous bolts.
Gerudo Valley is fighting back.  
Henreth Tammas - Gerudo Desert - Afternoon Eight
'''
The army came to a stop before the entrance of Gerudo Valley. The leader of the platoon turned to face his men.
“All right, stop here. Focus on what you were told by the psychic girl.”
Everyone closed their eyes, a small few were more reluctant than others. Soon, the entirety of the troop begun to withdraw their weapons, a purple energy flowed through the weapons of all the soldiers. They all raised their weapons skyward in unison releasing a enormous wave of the energy.
“Regroup the moment we have secured the entrance. Do not look back, do not question the voice in your mind. Attack!” With multiple battle cries being shouted and yelled, the army charged into the valley, overwhelming and quickly dispatching the few Gerudo guards at the skirts. After eliminating all the Gerudos in, and otherwise securing, the immediate area, the Hylian soldiers relaxed, while still keeping their guards up.
 Within a moment's notice, arrows began raining down from the sky, catching the Hylians by surprise. Henreth, and many others, ran for cover as the barrage continued. An indeterminable amount of soldiers were incapacitated or killed by arrows while seemingly never letting up. A couple arrows harmlessly bounced off his armor as he dived behind a large rock for protection. He quickly pulled his shield out for extra security and good measure. Keeping his shield close to his head, he stuck his head out just enough to make an attempt in locating the origin of the arrows. Despite the difficulty of searching while under fire, he managed to locate a group of archers on a higher nearby ledge. Having no projectiles and no other options apparent at the moment, Henreth charged the magic in his sword and fired a beam of energy in the general direction of the archers. Whether he hit or missed is not exactly known, but either way, the distraction it caused was enough to momentarily cause a slight ease in the arrow attack, but the Gerudo still persisted. Henreth's shot also had grabbed the attention of a couple Hylians who quickly noticed the archers themselves and caught on to the idea, firing energy beams of their own. The idea spread throughout the rest of the Hylian army and soon the valley became a shootout between the two factions.    
Corporal Nikita Selene/ Gerudo Valley/ Afternoon of the 8th
Purple bolts crackling with energy whizzed by the heads of many of the archers, most of her warriors dodged the projectiles, others were not so lucky and were stuck down, writhing in pain, others simply dead. Nikita, taking refuge behind a nearby boulder peered over her shoulder and back towards the main Gerudo dwelling place and smiled as she saw a mass of warriors dashing towards the newly established front line of the Battle of Disharmony.
The Gerudo women sprinted with naginatas bared and bouncing with their steps. Corporal Selene let out a ululating whoop and leapt from her hiding spot, boldly firing arrow after arrow at the mass of Hylian humanity below. Her companion archers soon recovered and, seeing their leader staring death so boldly in the face as their reinforcements arrived, they did the same, renewing the arrow assault with an increased vigor. 
Bernard Kotaro - Library of Lunar Solace​ 
The longer he was dead, the more Bernard felt his sense of self grow. It was impossible not to with a library of such vast knowledge all around him. Sirius was peculiar, having built a metaphysical library just to extend the limits of his own mind. Bernard could not decide if he hated or loved him. He certainly was evil in his disregard for others in favor of his own goals, but somehow that only made Bernard determined to see past it.
Probably another trick of Sirius’, some energy in this place that made you feel empathy for him. Just more lies.
Bernard opened up a text he hadn’t seen before. It was of particular interest thanks to the beautiful artwork of a winged species assaulting a lone Zora. It was haunting. He squinted at the signature, but it was too blurry, leaving the artist a mystery.
Bernard began to read, but only got a few words in before a small note fell out. He unfolded it and began to read.
“The wizard, or scientist, or whatever he considers himself to be came by again today.”
“He said that we are likely doomed, and he doesn’t have the power to save any more than two of us. It seems our lives have truly been lived in repentance for what our ancestors did. 
They are likely leaving this world now, at his side. The poison already courses through the rest of us, we are lost.
I hope that in death we are forgiven for our crimes centuries ago, and that those we send back with the scientist will find new lives free of this curse.”
Bernard stopped reading. This was a...what? A Rito? He had no concept of what a Rito was. Obviously some kind of creature or person. He set the note aside, and began reading the book it had been put inside. It seemed to be a history book of some kind, but it felt strange, out of place.
“Rise of the Rito.
The Rito came from far northern lands. Some believed that they had begun in an arctic mountain region, but were driven out by native Yeti’s. This theory is well supported by the Rito gravesite in the center of Yeti territory.
Very little is known about the early life of the Rito beyond a few pieces of evidence generally regarded as either fake or incidental. Bones scattered around the arctic. But being a species that can fly, it can easily be surmised that they may have simply gone off course during a flight and ended up in the wrong place.
Regardless of these disagreements amongst historians, what is certain is the overwhelming fact that the Rito slaughtered, enslaved, and essentially absorbed all Zora culture in the greater world as it is known today.
The motivations were little more than the territorial and barbaric nature of the early Rito. There is a belief that it had to do with food supply, and some think the two creatures share a common ancestor, though no evidence has been found to support either theory.
Today’s Rito are famous for their reverence for the Zora, and self inflicted punishments for the crimes of their ancestors. Most major nations have found that unusual thanks to the lack of any species to truly be upset by such a distant past. 
This was until most recently, when a small group of Zora appeared before the world, claiming to be from a sheltered rarely visited part of the sea. They poisoned many Rito villages, and as of the writing of this text, the Zora and Rito continue to clash. 
The book suddenly ended there, after just a few paragraphs. It also was odd, as if Sirius had managed to only get a partial, single page from this book. 
Bernard had an absolute lack of explanations. The book seemed like it might be the future of his species, but the note that had been included made another much stranger idea more likely. Perhaps it had been another world entirely, another Hyrule. It wasn’t beyond what Sirius would do for knowledge, or power, or whatever it was he wanted.
He began working through ideas in his mind, but had barely five seconds before a hideous screeching filled his mind. He cowered in his library, then gasped as he once again felt his soul pushed and projected into the world outside.
Rhunerys Telaris/ Gerudo Valley/ Afternoon of the 8th
Time was of little consequence to the sister of the sands, so she was less than surprised to see the afternoon sun high in the sky when the war gong pulled her from the reverie she’d fallen into while watching the peculiarly marked babe and his mother. The doom she’d foretold had struck this morning and now, someone was attacking the fortress gates. Perhaps she was not the only one privvy to the curse that befell her race this morning, as it was the most opportune time to attack. 
Turning on the balls of her feet a cloud of sand kicked up and Rhunerys clapped twice, Khamseen trotted out of the swirling debris nickering affectionately. The sand sorceress gained her mount in a single fluid motion and broke for the gates at a gallop.
Gerudo Valley Entrance
The battle sprawled out before her, Gerudo archers fired arrows from on high, picking their spots with precision accuracy as some of the Hylian interlopers engaged them with supercharged blasts of purple hued energy. Here and there Gerudo ground forces and Hylian infantry were locked in closed quarters combat in various clusters. The clang of metal on metal intermingled with death pangs and whooping battle cries to form the overwhelming cacophony of battle. More and more Hylian and Gerudo soldiers, some more individualized than others, marched onwards from and towards the center of Gerudo society adding themselves to the fray.
A vicious smile spread across Rhunerys face, cackling wildly as she dismounted, the witch clapped once and Khamseen burst into a cloud of sand that went swirling into the faces of the oncoming Hylian host. Stepping lightly through the chaos, the young mage positioned herself in a clearing at the center of the fracas and began to chant and sing with arms spread wide. Her voice rose and fell on the searing wind, until the entire desert seemed to hum with her presence, the sands around her feet began to slide to and fro, lapping at hems of her garments. The awakening of the sands spread outwards from where she stood, roiling, rising up and crashing down like so many waves on the choppy seas. Rhunerys stood at the epicenter of the sand sea’s fury, eyes shining golden. 
No longer visibly chanting, Rhunerys’ alien words still reverberated through the area, her voice was on the winds. It was the sands. 
Her hair whipped wildly in the winds, arms still spread wide a look of sheer ecstasy played across her visage as she spoke over the howling of the winds and her own chanting still carried by the desert sands.
”Hylians! Interlopers! FOOLS! Come! Face the Deserts Daughter and know that today, is a fine day to die!”
Henreth Tammas - Gerudo Desert - Afternoon Eight
As the Gerudo and the Hylians continued firing at each other, neither side could get any real tactical foothold against the other, outside of the Hylians catching the Gerudo off guard. After some time passed, Henreth and the rest of the soldiers heard yelling and shouting coming from the other side of the bridge. Those who could took a risk and poked their heads out to see what the commotion was about. On the Gerudo side, there was a large crowd of enemy soldiers advancing towards them. As the fight continues, those that weren't directly fighting in or near the center of the field were standing back, firing projectiles. The beam-firing Hylian soldiers and Gerudo archers were doing a good job of distracting each other so the Gerudo warriors and other Hylian soldiers could concentrate on facing each other in combat. 
Henreth stayed back, firing upon archers to minimize the threat of arrows for himself and his allies. He also kept moving from rock to rock after two or three blasts so that it would be more difficult for enemy archers to pinpoint his exact location. As he stepped out from his current spot, he heard holloring as a Gerudo charged at him with clear intent to kill. He barely dodged the first slash from her sword and barely managed to bash his shield against her, giving himself just enough space to swing his own sword, leaving a gash on her arm. Quickly recovering from the attack, she retaliated, swinging her weapon towards his throat. He moved back, but couldn't avoid getting a cut on his chin. She swung her sword again, her attack being more fierce in an effort to finish her enemy. He parried her blow, holding his sword against hers. both were pushing, in the hopes of knocking the other down and getting the finishing move. Henreth took this moment, at the risk of being cut down, to grab her shoulder and knee her in the stomach, and with just enough force to knock the wind out of the Gerudo. She staggered back a bit and clutched her gut with her free hand. Henreth took the opportunity and attacked, swinging at her throat. She motioned hands towards the wound, as though that would save her. After a moment of gurgling for help, she fell down, dead as a doornail. Henreth stood there attempting to catch his breath and calm down. His break didn't last long, as an arrow whizzed by his head, almost taking his eye out. He quickly moved to a nearby rock for cover.
Going back to take down more archers, he began charging another beam as searched the area when he heard a woman's voice shout out. ”Hylians! Interlopers! FOOLS! Come! Face the Deserts Daughter and know that today, is a fine day to die!” Henreth quickly found the source of the voice: a single Gerudo standing in the middle of the area as though a war wasn't being waged around her. His attention returned to his sword when he heard it momentarily cackle, signaling that it had finished charging. Seeing that no one else was doing anything about her, he swung his sword at her, unleashing the magic into a beam, believing that a single beam is all that it would take to put her down and give the Hylian army one less enemy to fight.
Zerin Savassi - Gerudo Valley - Afternoon 8
'''
Zerin’s newly mastered Kinetic Necklace dangled violently from his neck as it continuously stored and released tiny bursts of energy. On all sides, he was surrounded by friend and foe, exchanging blows of blades and spears, vibrating the air with the clinging and clanging of metal. As he held off a rather irate Gerudo soldier with one hand, his other hand’s fingers hurriedly searched around his blade’s hilt for its trigger. Once found, he aimlessly shot into the desert’s trampled sands sending him into an accidentally stylish slide. The necklace shimmered, and rejuvenated Zerin’s stamina as he pulled his blades over his shoulders and spun them diagonally across multiple soldiers’ chests. They fell to the ground.
This continued for an undetermined amount of time. The heavy rain of steel arrows, the crackling of energy beams and blood mixed with Gerudo Valley’s violent winds and sandstorms strangely made for an apt warzone. Zerin fired his hookshots accurately and appropriately at any surface possible to avoid incoming arrows. As Zerin slid from soldier to soldier, one bulky, heavily armoured tank of a soldier clotheslined him, smashing his back and head off the blood soaked sand.
Nauseous from the strike and his blatant overuse of the crystal, Zerin haphazardly forced his head out of the way of the soldier’s incoming spear. He vaulted himself back onto his feet, but not before his opponent’s spear grazed his side, causing a weak stream of blood to trail down his side. Upon recovery, Zerin shot one of his hookshots into the soldier’s foot and pulled, sending him into a backwards tumble. Zerin sliced his neck as he fell, simultaneously contracting the hookshot lodged into his enemy’s foot. He keeled over a nearby rock and vomited. 
As he recovered, an unfamiliar voice echoed across the battlefield.
”Hylians! Interlopers! FOOLS! Come! Face the Desert’s Daughter and know that today, is a fine day to die!”
Zerin stood straight up, squinting his eyes. “...Who the hell is that?” He clenched onto his blade’s hilts.
Rhunerys Telaris/ Gerudo Valley/ Afternoon of the 8th
Madness.
Chaos.
Euphoria.
As the battle raged on all sides, Rhunerys looked on gleefully at the events unfolding around her. The majority of the Hylian troops fought valiantly against her sisters of the sands, however a small few seemed to have lost their grasp on reality. Whether it was the product of the sands, time or some other as yet revealed magic, a knot of Hylian soldiers had broken away from the initial assault and, by all intents and purposes seemed to be fighting wildly amongst themselves as both Gerudo and Hylian combatants paid them sidelong glances.
The still swirling sands took on a purple hue to her left, wheeling to face the disturbance Rhunerys barely had enough time to draw her battered Kopis and deflect a throbbing bolt of purple energy. The redirected beam exploded into the sands at her feet, causing her to stumble and lose her sway on the desert. While the sands still raged and the winds whipped, the ferocity abated as Rhunerys scanned the area for her attacker. 
A younger looking armored man, and another wielding a pair of odd looking blades both looked in her general direction. Cackling madly, she flicked her wrist and sand kicked up into the face of the latter as she bore down on the former who still held his blade aloft. Rhunerys danced forward, touching the tip of her Kopis to the point of his blade and then backing away in a mock curtsy.
”How formal of you.”
Free hand outstretched she wriggled her fingers, summoning the sands to her grasp, as the tiny granules moved fluidly up to her palm they took the form of a lash which she quickly whipped in Zerins general direction. 
”Don’t stand on occasion boy, there’s room enough on this dance card for three.”
Cackling as she faced down the pair, Rhunerys charged in on the armored foe, attacking in a flurry of deft movements, all of which were easily parried by the bigger, stronger swordsman. Rhunerys danced back to distance before allowing the man to press his strength and skill advantage waiting to see what the next move would be.
Zerin Savassi - Gerudo Valley - Afternoon 8
'''
Zerin clumsily stepped back as his sudden attacker lashed a thin whip of sand across his cheek. Glancing over at his newly met ally, he realized he wasn’t anybody that seemed to need much help on the battlefield. Henreth briefly acknowledged Zerin and nodded grimly before turning his attention once again to Rhunerys. 
Blades readied, Zerin charged toward his foe. Multiple sword blows were exchanged, albeit some being blind swings due to the violent winds and intermingling sands. 
Briefly after Zerin had engaged Rhunerys, he heard the crackling of energy behind him. A blinding blue disc of light flung by them and dissipated into the sand. Henreth, both hands gripping tightly on his sword’s hilt, attempted to charge his blade’s power while avoiding incoming arrows and his fellow soldier’s energy beams.
After each swing, Zerin slowly began gaining leverage. He locked blades with Rhunerys and pushed her into a slight stumble before getting ready for a charged swing from his built-up energy. Before he could deliver a blow, Rhunerys quickly motioned upward with her forearm sending a large blast of sand from beneath her feet, knocking Zerin to the ground.
Rhunerys laughed harshly and thrusted her kopis toward Zerin’s chest. Quickly regaining his bearings, Zerin rolled to the side and vaulted himself back onto his feet. Aware of the potential consequence, he, alongside a fast approaching energy beam, pulled more energy from his body and shot his clawshots into the loose sands on either side of Rhunerys launching himself into a diagonal swing.
Bernard, The Convenient Librarian and Storyteller​
Telling you a Story​
My name is Bernard Kotaro. I died, and now I’ve been forced to live through history as my curse. I’m telling you this story from much farther in the future than you might have expected.
The Epoch War is long over, but it was not a short painful event like so many of us expected. It dragged on for years, wore down its participants, scorched the land, and brought such chaos and darkness that even distant nations felt the chill as Hyrule teetered on the edge of destruction.
I was absent for much of this story, having been whisked away into an alternate universe so this is largely told from the perspective of those who lived through it.
'''
The Labrynnian Zora bore near identical resemblance to their Hylian cousins. Having only recently split apart from another, several hundred years before at most. Where they differed was their relationship with whatever humanoid race lived near them. The Hylians and Hylian Zora, while presently at war, were practically an alliance compared to their Labrynnian counterparts.
The Labrynnian Zora had been ransacking and murdering villages of Labrynnians. It hadn’t always been that way, with relative neutrality between the two only decades early. But a misunderstanding between a group of Labrynnian hunters and Zora children led to further misunderstandings and ultimately violence. 
Eventually, in-fighting between the Labrynnians and the Zora led to large portions of its more peaceful populants to flee, or fall in the initial skirmishes between the two warring sides. What was left was the most extreme of the two sides. Labrynnians ultimately though, were forced to the corners of their lands. Victorious, the Zora felt the thirst for warfare simply grow, so they were all too eager to assist when called upon by their Hylian Zoran cousins.
But it was a clever ruse, unaware that a true alliance was in the works, the Gerudo lied and faked their way through talks with the Labrynnian Zora. Claiming that they had allied with Hyrule’s Zora’s, and that alliance now called for Labrynna’s participation, the Gerudo were ultimately successful in calling them to Hyrule.
The Labrynnian Zora’s swam to the borders of the greater deserts, beyond the patches of sand the Gerudo laid claim to. Most would expect an army of Zora’s to be an unlikely, if not impossible thing so deep into a desert.
What most would not expect, is that these Zora’s had already massacred and extracted magic from whole groups of Garo. Doing this had granted them an ability of toxic power, to themselves and their enemies. They bore the Garo cloak and their fins extended just like the well recognize Garo blade.
Some say that the Zora did this through mutilation and the cloaks were not of magical origin. But any on the battlefield that day know the truth. These were not creatures meant to occur, they were a dark marriage of life and death.
...
***​
Gerudo Desert, Late Afternoon into Evening of the 8th​
Labrynnian Zora Reinforcements​
The Hylians had made a grave mistake. Slaughtering Zoran children. Stealing and eating their eggs. Beheading the King.
These were the things the Labrynnian Zora’s believed as they rushed across the desert terrain towards the ever closer battle of Gerudo and Hylians. Fed lies by the Gerudo, they churned with an energy just as otherworldly and dark as the Hylians own mystical power.
The whipping sands were almost certainly the product of the wild witch in the center of the battlefield. No natural wind moved with such intent to harm, it merely did so by nature of its intensity. This was a work of magic now deeply familiar to the Zora, and deeply beneficial.
They came rushing in screaming, some leaping into the battle with blind rage and courage, while others took a more defensive approach, but all swiftly found targets and brought upon them every bit of inner strength they had.
Henreth Tammas - Gerudo Desert - Afternoon Eight
His beam flew in the direction of the Gerudo, about to hit her in the side of her head. Seemingly at the last possible moment, she turned and deflected the beam towards the ground. Unfortunately for her, the resulting explosion was still too close, causing her to stumble back. After recovering, she scanned the area, looking for the source of the offense. It didn't take her any time at all to for her sights to fall on Henreth. She flung at least a decent handful of sand in the face of the man who he just realized was standing right beside him. She then charged forward at Henreth and touched the tip of her weapon with his, and immediately backed away to preform a curtsy, one that was obviously anything but sincere.
”How formal of you.”
She began wriggled her fingers and somehow manipulated many grains of sand into the shape of a whip and lashed it at Zerin's general direction.
Taking a moment to glance towards each other, Zerin and Henreth both came to the conclusion that they weren't in need of any help, not that it wouldn't be appreciated. Henreth showed that he acknowledged Zerin by nodding grimly before the both of them returned their attention to Rhunerys.
”Don’t stand on occasion boy, there’s room enough on this dance card for three.”
Rhunerys cackled as she charged her foe, launching several skillful swings of her Kopis at Zerin, who proved more than capable of parrying the entirety of the attack. Rhunerys moved back and away from the two and waited for either of them to make a move.
The two continued to exchange blows, sometimes taking a blind swing due to low visibility in the sandstorm. While Rhunerys' attention was being held, Henreth charged an energy beam and flung it at her, being careful not to hit Zerin. All three were managing to dodge or counter blows from each other and the surrounding area as the fight went on, Rhunerys and Zerin in direct combat while Henreth assisted by charging and shooting sword beams. Zerin was slowly gaining the advantage, he quickly locked with her before pushing her back and causing her to slightly stumble. Zerin took this moment as an opportunity to start charging his own beam. Before he could finish, Rhunerys shot a large blast of sand at him, strong enough to knock him down.
Rhunerys harshly laughed as she attempted to impale Zerin's chest with her kopis. Making a quick recovery, Zerin rolled out of the way and jumped to his feet. Henreth released yet another energy beam as Zerin launched clawshots on both sides of Rhunerys and began a diagonal swing.
Henreth, despite the sounds of projectiles, clashing metal, a sandstorm, and battle cries of both Gerudo and Hylians, heard another sound rise above it all: screams. He turned towards the direction of the sound. He saw an army's worth of Zora charging from the Gerudo's side of the valley, fully prepared for war. "What are Zora doing in the desert?!" Henreth shouted in surprise, more to himself than anyone else, as the Zora entered the battle and began their assault on the Hylians. The Hylians and Gerudo were evenly matched before, but with the Zora bearing down on them as well, it was too much.The Hylians would have little to no chance of survival between the Gerudo, the Zora and even themselves. 
'This is getting out of hand, We're all going to die if we even try to keep this up.' Henreth thought to himself before his mind wandered back to his current situation: his participation in the fight between Rhunerys and Zerin. 'I'll help this guy finish off the sand woman, but after that, I'm gonna make myself scarce.'
Rhunerys Telaris/ Gerudo Valley/ Afternoon of the 8th
The fighting between Rhunerys and the two Hylians had nearly hit a stalemate, neither the witch nor her foes seemed able to gain the upper hand for very long. It was this that she was pondering when the disfigured Zora horde took the field in support of the Gerudo cause. 
The clamor of fighting, steel on steel, men cursing and the wind howling, all of it, every last bit of noise fell away. Silence encompassed her. 
The silence in all of it’s utterly encompassing entirety screamed in her ears. Roaring like an untameable beast unleashed from the bowels of hell. Reverberating with unbridled power and fury. Rage and hate. 
It was glorious.
”Rhunerys Telaris. Spawn of the sands. Come.”
As the sounds of battle rushed back to her ears, they seemed muted, dull in comparison to the disembodied voice that shuddered through her entire being, rattling her to her core. This battle seemed futile, useless in comparison to that which now drew her attentions.
As the Zora’s bore down on her and her combatants, Rhunerys spread her arms wide lifting her palms to the heavens in the motion, humming to herself as she did so, the sands raised behind her, lifting the charging Labrynnian warriors on a wave of sands. As the wave crashed into her back, the sand sorceress clapped once and disappeared into the sands Henreth, Zerin and the rest of the interloping Hylians to deal with the Gerudo, Zora and the surging sandy wave.
############################################################################
She found herself deep within the wastes, deeper even than the forsaken grotto she called home. At the heart of the desert waste was a roiling tear in the very fabric of the universe, all around the rip of time and space was a black deeper than the darkest starless midnight. At the center of this celestial gash in the air before her was a large unblinking eye.
”My child.”
The owner of that eye, the beast within the fabric of the realm let out a weary sigh,
”We have much to discuss.”
Henreth Tammas/ Gerudo Valley/ Afternoon of the 8th
As Henreth returned his attention to Rhunerys, he saw her raising her arms to the sky. Before he could start wondering what she was doing, he quickly looked past her to see a large wave of sand form behind her, picking up a group of Zora as it formed, and flew towards her, hitting her in the back. Her last seen action was to clap her hands before she disappeared into the sand wave she created. The wave started moving on its own, creating one more problem for all battle participants, as the wave seemed to move in such a random pattern, that it apparently didn't discriminate against friend or foe.
Henreth stood for a moment, unsure of how to react to Rhunerys' sudden disengagement from the fight. After the wave came near him and almost knocked him over, he quickly retreated behind a rock before anymore problems could arise. He scanned the battlefield, searching for anything that can work to his advantage. He began studying the wave of sand to see if anything could be done about it. After a good minute or two, he couldn't think of anything. He continued to watch as it picked up a dropped shield and threw it into the air, the sight of the flying shield gave him a thought: if he could time the right moves and do it at the right angles, he may be able to use the sand wave to jump towards the entrance of the valley without being seen.
The next time the wave came towards him, Henreth started his move. He dropped his shield to the ground, and moved his foot into the arm strap and braced himself for impact. As he stood in the wave's path, he began to have doubts that his plan was going to work, but to his surprise, the wave picked him up. He barely managed to keep his balance as he surfed his way to the top of the wave, almost falling down a couple times. As he was reaching the top, he saw that he was close to the valley's entrance. He motioned to jump, the wave barely solid enough to hold his weight as he began his flight through the air.
With his aim being true, he flew towards the entrance. He came back down to earth and hit the ground hard -too hard- and yelled in pain as he tumbled for a moment. When he came to a stop, he grabbed his arm as he clenched his teeth in pain. 'Must've torn a muscle, or worse, it's broken.' He thought to himself as he forced himself to stand up, only to come back down on his knees. 'Great, a sprained ankle too.' He leaned on the nearby stone wall and used it as leverage to hobble his way out of the valley towards Hyrule Field.
As Henreth returned his attention to Rhunerys, he saw her raising her arms to the sky. Before he could start wondering what she was doing, he quickly looked past her to see a large wave of sand form behind her, picking up a group of Zora as it formed, and flew towards her, hitting her in the back. Her last seen action was to clap her hands before she disappeared into the sand wave she created. The wave started moving on its own, creating one more problem for all battle participants, as the wave seemed to move in such a random pattern, that it apparently didn't discriminate against friend or foe.
Henreth stood for a moment, unsure of how to react to Rhunerys' sudden disengagement from the fight. After the wave came near him and almost knocked him over, he quickly retreated behind a rock before anymore problems could arise. He scanned the battlefield, searching for anything that can work to his advantage. He began studying the wave of sand to see if anything could be done about it. After a good minute or two, he couldn't think of anything. He continued to watch as it picked up a dropped shield and threw it into the air, the sight of the flying shield gave him a thought: if he could time the right moves and do it at the right angles, he may be able to use the sand wave to jump towards the entrance of the valley without being seen.
The next time the wave came towards him, Henreth started his move. He dropped his shield to the ground, and moved his foot into the arm strap and braced himself for impact. As he stood in the wave's path, he began to have doubts that his plan was going to work, but to his surprise, the wave picked him up. He barely managed to keep his balance as he surfed his way to the top of the wave, almost falling down a couple times. As he was reaching the top, he saw that he was close to the valley's entrance. He motioned to jump, the wave barely solid enough to hold his weight as he began his flight through the air.
With his aim being true, he flew towards the entrance. He came back down to earth and hit the ground hard -too hard- and yelled in pain as he tumbled for a moment. When he came to a stop, he grabbed his arm as he clenched his teeth in pain. 'Must've torn a muscle, or worse, it's broken.' He thought to himself as he forced himself to stand up, only to come back down on his knees. 'Great, a sprained ankle too.' He leaned on the nearby stone wall and used it as leverage to hobble his way out of the valley towards Hyrule Field.
== G-Dorf Yo ==
Rhunerys Telaris/ Gerudo Valley/ Afternoon of the 8th
For the first time in her short life, Rhunerys found herself weak in the knees and unable to speak, the sheer unwavering force of the gaze from the eye simultaneously weakened her to the point of collapsing and steeled her nerves. The overwhelming force of the entity held her rooted to the one spot on earth she never knew she wanted to be, until now; basking in the gaze of the single most powerful being she or anyone else had ever beheld was where she was destined to be.
An exultant quiver wracked her being as the disembodied voice spoke once more, 
”I have long awaited someone worthy of carrying on my legacy. I cannot tell you how long it has been, time flows differently here in the realm where I lay imprisoned. Time, you will learn, is vastly overrated.”
Rhunerys hung on every word from the otherworldly being, she knew in the instant he spoke whom he must be, it was a strange thing, falling in love with the most hated creation ever to walk the Earth, but she did so without regret. 
”Demise..”
The lone eye flared bright with a hatred so intense, the depth of which could not be ascertained, but the voice remained even. Steady.
”Yes my child, I am he.”
A deep paisley aura, intermingled with reds, golds and a cacophony of other colors, projected from the rift through which the Demon King peered.
”And if you will accept my blessing, we shall rule this realm together in time. By the blood of The Three you shall raise me, and together we shall raise an eternal desert the likes of which none can fathom. From its heart we shall rule for all eternity, step forward. Accept my power, become my queen.”
His hold on her released and Rhunerys once again had control of her own faculties, control over her body was something that she’d never imagined she’d regret, but with touch of Demise lifted, she found herself empty, alone and not quite whole. It was a feeling she would forever seek to be rid of, she would search the sands of time throughout all time for all time for the way to bring him back. If it meant killing the the three, then so be it.
Before stepping forward, she posed one final question to her eternal lord, 
”My liege, my love, how though? How do I spill the blood of The Three?”
Sand shifted and the ground began to quake as all around her, visions exploded to life, shifting from one to another rapidly. A vast mountain laboratory nestled high in the snowy peaks, a man tinkering deep in its heart with some unknown project, a crazed look in his eyes, before Rhunerys could comprehend all of what she was seeing the scene changed to that of a battlefield. Bodies lay strewn about, dead zora everywhere on the banks of a massive lake, a legion of Gerudo closing in on a lone Zora warrior with a cold look in his eyes as he stared down death with defiance. Winds howled and lightning crashed across a full mooned sky as a pair of figures erupted into existence, fully grown and consciously aware. A small egg, nestled atop the rest in the incubatory caves deep within some dank cave..
The visions ended and Demise let out another earth quaking sigh, 
”That is the best I can muster for now, the portal is unstable and my sway there is weakened by distance. Those will be your champions, your tools in the destruction of The Three. For what better way to kill a Goddess is there than to create Gods of your own?’
Rhunerys fell forward into the aura.
Her body immediately went rigid as her eyes bulged and her red hair splayed out around her. A voiceless scream tore from her mouth as she writhed in painful ecstasy. Her stark red hair turned a startling dusty gray as her skin began to weather and wrinkle, her spine twisted and she dropped to her feet, hunched over by the weight of time. 
”Wha-..What have you done to me?!?!”
Demise laughed affectionately, 
”My child, fret not over your appearance. I have made you my Queen, as I said, time is overrated. Unless you are its master. Then it becomes a most efficient tool. Free me, and you will be returned to your former state, or any state you choose, but I think, you will find your new state pleasing.”
With that, the eye winked out of existence leaving a withered old woman on the seat of her pants in the sand.
Gerudo Elders/Gerudo Desert - Fortress Outskirts/ Evening 8
The wailing lament of mourning mothers served as a constant that todays attack by the wretched Hylians wasn’t merely a physical assault alone. The cries that were only barely drowned out by the clash of arms at the valley entrance grew louder as the trio of wizened Gerudo Elders hurried across the sands, deeper into Gerudo Valley, towards a ramshackle hovel on the horizon. The most peculiar thing about this dwelling wasn’t the rundown exterior, but the utter silence from within. It was in this house, that there were reports of a young child, a babe in fact. A male.
Male Gerudo were rare in the best of times, but after the blighted wind that blew through the realm earlier in the day, they were all but extinct. Save one. Laadorf, or ‘Smart One’ in the old tongue, was the childs name and it was said that his brow was kissed with a queer and perhaps ominous birthmark. It was for these reasons that the Elders were scuttling across the dunes, instead of praying for the warriors protection in a time of war, the babe needed to be examined firsthand immediately. 
Laadorfs Mother
A knock at the door. The sound she’d most dreaded ever since hearing of what had befallen the children of her countrywomen had finally come. Briefly she considered ignoring them in the hopes that they’d just leave, but it wasn’t to be. For when she turned her back to the door, to face her son, the babe stretched out a little olive skinned hand, (reaching for her out of fear no doubt) and a gust of wind caught the door to her little hovel and blew it open to reveal three old crones, the middlemost with her fist hanging in midair as if poised to knock.
“C-come in.. come in elders. I-I have been expecting your visit.”
The three hunched figures scuttled into the room looking more like desert beetles than women and hurried around her to peer down into the crib. She stood there helpless as they ogled her baby, poking and prodding him, exclaiming over his birthmark and murmuring amongst themselves. One of them reached forward, making to pick him up and drew back her hand sharply as if burned and muttered a curse. The others looked at her mangled hand tentatively and then turned back to the child in a mixture of fear and awe before rounding on the mother. 
“What sort of sorcery have you placed upon the boy?!”
She stuttered and stammered trying to find her words, before she found them another of the elders spoke up.
“The boy should have died like all of the rest…”
“Unless,” Said the third elder, “it was you who cursed the valley..” 
She sputtered in horror, “Me? N-no! I’ve done no such thing!”
The first elder made to speak, but whatever she said was drowned out by another rush of wind and a loud hysterical cackling that seemed to fill the room long before a fourth old crone appeared out of nowhere with a loud crack like a bull whip, she seemed to come out of the aether, spinning on the spot and cackling madly. 
Rhunerys Telaris
”Foolish women, no more useful than a trio of magpies.”
She spat on the dusty floor and bent at the waist, dipping a thumb in the spot where she spat, Rhunerys stood and strode forward, drawing the digit across the mothers forehead, leaving a trail of spittle and grime on the woman. After a moment, Rhunerys snorted in satisfaction as if having something confirmed, she spun on her heel and went to the crib.
”It is woefully obvious that this woman possesses no more magic than a common slug. Something else protected the child.”
Leaning far over the railing, Rhunerys brought her face so close to the child that her hooked nose nearly brushed his hair and began to hum an eerie tune that set the hairs of all present on edge. Two of the elders stumbled backwards to the door, while the first stepped forward, 
“Now you see here! What sort of demonic…”
”SILENCE!”
Though she stopped chanting, the hellish melody still hung in the air as each candle flickered out one by one until the hovel was shrouded in complete darkness. A terrifying sound came from the childs crib in the utter darkness, the babe actually laughed. Deep and throaty did the child laugh until as if infected by his happiness, Rhunerys joined him in laughter, cackling madly once more. 
As the two of them laughed, a dusty wind blew through the open door and they were gone.
Their laughter still echoed throughout the house as the candle flames burst back to life, illuminating the elders and the shell shocked mother who could do naught but watch as the elders moved to the door. 
Before leaving though, the first elder held up a hand to speak, “It is for the best that he has gone my dear, there was a dark presence about the child.”
As the elders left, the mothers screams rose from the hovel, intermingling with the wails of all of the other mothers in the valley.
Stopping a short ways away, the first elder spoke again, “The child is the embodiment of a powerful evil, if ever he should return, the boy will be known as Ganondorf.
== Infiltration ==
Xiaber/Haunted Wasteland/Day 8
Entering into the wastelands of the desert, Xiaber watched as the sun disappeared behind a swirling cloud of yellow and brown. Though Shinsou did the best she could to deflect the sandstorm away from the misfit adventures no escape was to be had from the searing hot winds. Xiaber's hair blew wildly in his face, making the already murky air impossible to see through. Every so often he felt his feet sink into the quicksand, only to rise up again as Shinsou refocused her powers. Such magic seemed to require a lot of concentration from her.
As he went to wipe the sweat from his brow Xaiber was knocked over as the sand behind him exploded with a high pitched screech. Missing it's target the worm like creature sunk itself into the sands below, and circled around for another pass.
"Moldorms! Watch Out Xiaber!
Xiaber couldn't help but get a sense of deja vu. Though he had never seen these creatures before he still felt like he had encountered them somehow. As a Moldorm approached he readied an arrow onto his bow. As he pulled back however he felt a large snap in his bones and the bow fell to the ground. As the monster pounced on him, Xiaber heard Tarah's arrow buzz past from behind and kill the moldorm in mid air. 
Another of the sand worms came in from the side, but this time Xiabber unsheathed one of his throwing knives. Adjusting for the wind he caught the second moldorm with his knife blade before it got half way out of the ground, followed shortly after by the third monster. In a loose ring around them cactus like leavers crept up from the quicksand and started closing in. One by one he tossed his throwing knives, cutting the leavers clean open like a watermelon. The few survivors tried to ram into Shinsou, but died with one swift swipe of Tarah's Scythe of Shadows. Seeing no enemies left she called out to the others.
"Is everyone alright?"
"Yeah, I think so... Just give me a second and I'll be ready to move on."
With Shinsou behind him he walked over to retrieve the lost combat weapons he had thrown. As Xiaber leaned over and picked his knives out of the leaver's carcass', he saw the concern in Shinsou's eyes standing over him. 
"Xiaber, is your arm still hurt? I think I might be able to fix that for you!" 
The young girl reached into a satchel on her side and pulled out a small bottled fairy.
"Here. One of the Skyloftian's gave this to me when I escaped the explosion. He told me to use it if I'm ever in danger again. I'd feel safer healing your arm now incase we get into trouble. Besides, I can't imagine keeping the poor creature cooped up any longer."
Carefully she handed the luminescent sprite over to Xiaber. 
"Thanks Shinsou."
Popping the cork with his good hand the fairy flew out and energetically whirled about in the air above. Xaiber could feel his arm mend and snap back into place and as the fairy's magic coursed through him. Tarah and Shinsou seemed to receive some of the healing enegry as well before the ball of light took off into the sky. Shaking his arm to test if it worked he breathed a sigh of relief as its throbbing pain left his body for good. He could finally use his trusted bow again with confidence. 
Xiaber/Gerudo Fortress/ Day 8
After a while longer the gusts finally died down and the blue sky above came back into view. Xiaber noticed he was back on solid ground, Shinsou's powers no longer supporting their weight. They had reached their target; the back entrance to Gerudo Fortress.
"OK. It looks like were here. So now what Tarah?"  
Tarah Vass / Gerudo Fortress / Day 8
“OK. It looks like we’re here. So now what Tarah?”
Tarah thought for a moment as the trio stood in the shadow of the fortress, a narrow back entrance was their only visible way in without a climb and it was guarded by a lone Gerudo warrior who had yet to spot them. Peering around the corner they stood behind, Tarah quickly knocked an arrow as a plan formed in her head.
“Shinsou, do you think you could shift these sands to bury a body?”
“Um, I suppose” Shinsou replied, and before the words had finished passing her lips Tarah’s fingers relaxed and her arrow plunged deep into the neck of the unsuspecting Gerudo warrior.
“Good” Tarah muttered, her actions speaking louder than any words as Shinsou knew exactly what to do and the body soon disappeared beneath a wave of the desert. Tarah had initially considered taking the clothes as a disguise but passed on this idea as her hair would give her away and the only way of masking it that she could think of was using blood as a dye, an idea which was quickly dismissed.
Walking forward without a word Tarah approached the entrance and peeked carefully inside to see the corridor empty. She signalled for the others to follow and the three of them walked silently through the oddly quiet fortress with bows drawn and blades ready. It felt like a trap, the group had encountered nobody since the solitary guard and as they searched the fortress Tarah grew more and more paranoid with every step and it almost came as a relief when they reached a doorway and saw a group of four Gerudo searching through chests within.
“Ok, Xiaber, we’ve got the element of surprise so this should be easy, you take the two on the left and i’ll take the right” Tarah whispered to her ally before drawing her bow and stepping into the room.
With her silent step Tarah quickly released her arrow, firing it directly into the nape of one Gerudo and killing her instantly. She then quickly sheathed her bow and dived to roll beneath a panicked strike of the second warrior’s blade. Quickly rising Tarah grabbed the Gerudo by the throat and threw her to the ground using the momentum of her roll. Keeping the Gerudo pinned with one foot Tarah leaned down and pushed her blade against her throat.
“Tell us what we need to know and I might let you live, make this difficult and I will not hesitate to kill you.” Tarah spoke in an icy tone. “Firstly, out of curiosity, why is it so empty in here?”
“You don’t know?” The Gerudo replied with a confused expression “Our sisters are busy killing Hylian scum like you in the valley”
“Well I guess that’s convenient for us.” Tarah said with a smile to her comrades before turning back to her hostage. “Now to the real question, where exactly would we find the Thunder Dragon?”
“I have no idea, but you might be able to find information in our library. If you let me live I can lead you there.”
“No.” Tarah responded. “I think we’ll find it ourselves. See you in hell” Tarah replied, pushing her dagger deep into the throat of the warrior and standing straight.”
“What?” Tarah said upon seeing the shock on the faces of her allies and rolling her eyes . “Oh yeah, because she wasn’t trying to trick us, I forgot that the thieves of the desert are so well known for their honour.”
“You... you said you’d let her live” Shinsou stuttered with dismay
“No, I said I might let her live, it’s a subtle difference but it’s there. Anyway, let’s move, we’ve got a library to find, if there even is one. This place is filled with thieves and liars.”
 “So you fit in well then” Xiaber replied dryly and was met with a cold glare as they moved forward.    
Tarah Vass / Gerudo Fortress / Day 8
Tarah was getting sick of walking through sandstone corridors. They’d been lost in the labyrinth of sand for what seemed like hours now with barely any signs of life or anything useful. On occasion the trio of adventurers would have to stay silent to avoid the odd Gerudo who hadn’t leapt at the opportunity of killing Hylians. Every room they looked into was void of any signs to point them in the right direction and Tarah was becoming frustrated. That was until the group struck a sudden left to avoid a pair of guards and by chance stumbled into a room with walls lined with books.
“Well then, I guess she wasn’t lying about the library after all” Tarah commented in a pleased tone. “I suppose we should start looking for information then.”
  Trying to hide her disappointment Tarah began to search. She wasn’t exactly the reading type, maybe a week ago she would’ve happily chosen to search through books for information but things had changed. Now she just wanted to burn the books and find someone to interrogate. She slowly skimmed the spines of the books looking for anything useful but couldn’t concentrate for long and ended up simply pretending to search and just waiting for Xiaber or Shinsou to find something. For what had seemed like an exciting mission to begin with, this had become incredibly boring, Tarah thought as she yawned onto a bookshelf brushing off a layer of dust.    
General Namira/ Gerudo Fortress/ Day 8
“Your arrival couldn’t have been more impeccably timed if it had been intentionally orchestrated my lady. You and your warriors were a welcome sight in the face of the attacking Hylians.”
Namira spoke openly to lethal looking head of the Labrynnian Zora force as they strode down corridors in conversation.
The Zora leader grunted her agreeance as she took in all the General had to say as she was lead along. “If what you say is true General, then yes, I agree. These bastards came to us. And they shall pay for the atrocities committed against out Hylian Zora brethren and their young.”
Namira nodded solemnly, allowing just the right amount of remorse to creep into her eyes as she lead the Zora warrior to believe she gave one whit about whether Zora eggs were being smashed. 
Stopping at the next door, Namira spoke over her shoulder to her guest,
“You’ll find that we have quite an extensive set of maps of the Hylian continent and terrain stowed away. Surely you will be able to plot an agreeable route to reach your cousins in time to save as many as..”
Namira stopped mid-sentence, for when the door to the library swung open she found herself looking at a trio of Hylian dogs rifling through books and bookshelves in search of who knows what.
  Drawing her dual blades, the General strode haughtily into the room, “Such an intimate place for three Hylian dogs to die!” As Tarah and company turned to face the Gerudo leader, the wicked looking Labrynnian Zora Leader strode into the room beside her, jaw clenched.    
Gerudo Fortress, Svalla Ralisa, Evening 8​  
OOC: Apologies Robb, I don’t think we discussed this beforehand. I have a plot device to reverse what happens here if you contest it.
Svalla and her people were doomed. Those that had taken part in the brutal eradication of another species burned with a dark magic of the blood, a magic that was sown into their souls. Not all of the Labrynnian Zora’s had taken part in the dark act, only those that had marched upon the desert so brazenly.
Namira’s ruse of having interest in Svalla’s people was strong one, and nearly believable. But the Gerudo and the Zora had no common ground, in belief or environment, there was no true reason to give or receive trust with Namira.
“Such an intimate place for three Hylian dogs to die!” Namira’s words were strong, but the moment the expression left her lips, a cold distant stare dropped across her eyes.
“You think me to be some kind of fool?” Svalla removed her hand from Namira’s back, where a very delicate blood rune had been placed upon her, freezing her in place, in what appeared to be a tremendous amount of pain. “You’ll be dead in five minutes.” Svalla hissed the words, sounding more like a serpent than a Zora.
She kept her attention on the three Hylians all the while, making it clear that this act was as much for them as the Gerudo leader.
Svalla pushed Namira into the corner, where she remained paralyzed, and assumed a combat stance. Curved blades came from each of her fins, and more adorned her back. Sparks flew off of the blades as she stepped forward. She sought the same thing as the Hylians did, timestone vault information. There was no exchange of words, she simply edged closer and closer, waiting for someone to make the first strike.
Gerudo Fortress, Xiaber, Evening 8
The three had been in the library for some time and still hadn’t found any information on the thunder dragon. Tarah had stopped searching a while ago, but Xiaber didn’t mind. He secretly stopped a bit before her after finding an interesting book about two Gerudo lovers who couldn’t be together because their families wouldn’t let them. He couldn’t figure out why they didn’t just elope.
“Find anything yet?” Tarah asked. Xiaber couldn’t tell if she was asking him or Shinsou. While the two girls were still both mysteries to him, he at least understood how Tarah could find her way to being a part of this group. She was pretty ruthless and seemed like she would do anything to get what she wanted. She reminded him of the Shiekah woman. Xiaber had no idea how Shinsou joined this strange band, but then again, he certainly didn’t fit in either.
“Not yet,” Xiaber decided to answer back as he flipped to the next page. Oh, so the lovers were going to elope.
Shinsou was about to respond also, but the main doors to the library swung open revealing a Gerudo and Zora. “Such an intimate place for three Hylian dogs to die!” the Gerudo shouted. Surprisingly, or maybe not, Xiaber had no idea why a Zora was there, the Zora incapacitated the Gerudo.
“You think me to be some kind of fool? You’ll be dead in five minutes.” Xiaber jumped out of his seat and readied his bow. Once again, he was confused about to whom a question was being asked, but he figured it didn’t really matter as the Zora readied for an attack, herself.
After Xiaber made sure the other two would be able to protect him, he knocked an arrow, drew the bow, and aimed for the Zora’s heart. He wanted to end this quickly. How else would he find out what happened to the Gerudo lovers?
Gerudo Fortress / Tarah Vass / Evening 8
As a Zora and a Gerudo stormed into the library a smile stretched across Tarah’s face. The two threw their threats and she quickly drew her weapons, The Scythe Of Shadow in her stronger right hand and Tadens icy dagger in her left. However, instead of advancing upon her as expected, the Zora turned on her ally then began to edge slowly closer to Tarah. The pair squared off against each other while Tarah’s allies stood behind her, covering her back with a drawn bow and a focused mind.
“I should probably thank you for making this easier for us.” Tarah said, scowling directly into the eyes of the hostile Zora and preparing to strike.
For a few seconds, the pair continued to stare each other down until Tarah couldn’t stand to wait any longer. Slashing her dagger across at incredible speeds Tarah was amazed when the Zora countered seemingly effortlessly with a strike that Tarah narrowly blocked with the Scythe. As the blade clashed with the fin blades of the Zora sparks and shadow flew in all directions. The fight continued at an incredibly fast pace with the Zora slowly gaining the upper hand. As Tarah blocked each hit the entire room flashed with light and darkness and Tarah hoped to hell that Xiaber could shoot straight in this light show.
General Namira/ Gerudo Fortress/ Evening of the 8th
A dull ache spread across her body as fire seemed to pour into her veins scourging her entire being, the product of the Zora’s treachery. The worst part of this torment was that while she was wracked in agony, her body remained frozen in place, the pupils of her eyes were but pinpricks in a sea of white. Namira’s mouth grew dry and her tongue began to swell as her jaw hung agape, face contorted in a snarling challenge at those who dared intrude upon the heart of Gerudo power. She was so focused on their demise and her own machinations that she had let her guard down, had failed to see the traitor she willingly brought into her midst to be a tool. Nothing is more annoying than when the thumb of one hand is struck by the hammer in the other.
The shock. The disgrace. The embarrassment of it all was overwhelming. Struck down by an act of blood magic with her guard down in her own chambers. Her name would be live on to become one of shame and folly for the ages to come, young Gerudo children would hear her tale as a cautionary fireside warning before bed at night, while afterwards the adults would all shake their heads in disgust at how the one chosen to lead could be so foolish as to turn her back so willingly on her own murderer.
As Svalla rabidly engaged the Hylian dogs in mortal combat, Namira could do little more than watch and wait and wallow in her own misery and self pity. 
Faintly, Namira could hear a low humming chant that crept into the room on a rogue breeze, the sound was so strangely peculiar and just as familiar, that she wanted to turn and look for the source, but of course she couldn’t. She couldn’t move. And yet, the druiditic chant, at first subtle, had begun to grow louder and louder to the point that it was now ringing in her ears. And judging from the blatant disregard from the others present in the room, it rang in her ears and hers alone. 
Perhaps this was what death sounded like? 
The force with which the music called to her was unrelenting and so forceful that there was nothing she could do as she felt herself slipping from her body, this was surely the end. As she rose above the scene, she resigned herself to the judgment of the Goddesses, but perhaps not just yet. She stopped ascending and hovered a mere few feet below the mud brick ceiling.
There was her unmoving body below still staring angrily at the combatants in front of it and across from her, shimmering in the light of a torch on the wall was the unmistakable shape of her older sister.
”Hello Miri,”
She hated that name and Rhunerys knew it, her elder siblings dusty form wavered as she cackled softly.
”It seems you need to choose your friends a little more wisely sister.“
Namira made to protest, what right did she have to encroach upon even her death, she wanted to question what form of sorcery would allow Rhunerys to project her presence in such an ethereal fashion, but was cut short.
”Tut tut. Don’t question. There will be no questions. I hate questions. You are in my desert little sister and now more than ever, I know all. I see all. I FEEL all that takes place inside its borders. So don’t ask, just understand, that you wouldn’t understand the explanation.”
Rhunerys paused to look at Svalla and the Hylian interlopers battling in the chamber below, she seemed to be contemplating on whether to kill them. After a few moments, she came to a decision and, clearing her throat, she turned her attention back to Namira.
”Ahem. Yes, with that being said, I cannot allow you to die in such an unfashionable way, if anyone is going to murder you it will be me. That pleasure would be mine, and mine alone. However I think, you’ve nothing to fear from me anymore, I am leaving. And it’s with this I leave you, as the cleansing eternal sands wash over you know that you owe me little sister. Rid my desert of this scum,”
Rhunerys swept her hands wide, motioning towards those below.
”Do not fail in this lest I change my mind. I will be watching!”
The torch flared in its sconce and as Rhunerys’ face faded from the sands they began to swirl and intermingle with the flames before surging forward and cascading over Namira’s immobile form. The General, disorientingly saw this from two points of view as her soul was sucked back into her body and feeling returned to her limbs. Too wrapped up in the fight at hand, none saw as she flexed her hands and drew the twin blades from her back before lunging forward and dragging one of them across Svalla’s flank, smiling savagely as the blade tore flesh and scraped satisfyingly against bone, as the Zora roared in pain and shocked anger, Namira kicked her in the same spot to add insult to injury, causing her to stumble forward. 
“I think 5 minutes are up bitch. Time for someone to die!”
Namira would never forgive her sister, but she would thoroughly enjoy killing this blighted Zora.
Svalla, Library, Night 8​
“You are a thief, taking what you believe to be the corpse of another.” Svalla’s hollers of pain were followed by a voice that came from her own mouth, but was entangled with the sounds of another. The creature she had slain to take her current power, the Garo, was speaking to her from beyond death.
“A Garo lives in the shadow. Death is only the second half of life.” The voice came up again, and to Svalla’s current enemies, it was clear she did not intend it. Fear filled her eyes, and the very blood runes she had just used upon Namira suddenly rippled along her own body. “Namira, Rhunerys.” Svalla spat, now fully under the puppetry of the Garo spirit. “Take your prize.” 
Svalla’s defenses were down. Namira was open to take a killing strike, as was any other brave enough to follow Svalla’s self destructive commands.
General Namira/ Gerudo Library/ Night of the 8th
Not needing to be told twice, disembodied voice of a dead Garo or not, Namira leapt forward and drove a curved blade into Svalla's back, severing her spine.
Blood trickled down the blade and down her forearm, where a droplet hung precariously from her elbow and she supported the full weight of the blighted Zora, a soundless howl of rage escaped her lifeless lips as the spirit of the Garo left her, whispered into Svalla's ear so that she and she alone could hear, Namira spoke, "I'll use every last one of your warriors until there's nothing left of their bodies excerpts the lifeless husk that I hold on my blade now."
Peering over at the interlopers, "And you! Hylian scum! Don't think I don't know what you're here for! Well, as I'm too busy to kill you, you're in luck!"
Namira held Svalla up in front of her as a shield from the archers as she spoke, "The spirit here will transport you. Fools. You seek counsel with Lanayru? So be it."
Garo Spirit - Night 8 - Gerudo Library
Freed from its prison, the Garo Spirit was able to take on its typical cloaked appearance. In reality, it had no physical body to speak of, rather being a collection of energy binding itself to the world. That energy itself was able to take on a physical form temporarily, and could never be destroyed by your everyday warrior.
“The fight outside is likely going to be over soon. The Hylians tire, and the Zora forces will be consumed by the Garo spirits they have tried to take prisoner.” The Garo addressed Tarah and Xiaber directly, as Namira had departed the room. “Lanaryu promised the spirits of my people would live on if we aided in bringing the messengers before him. He said the messengers would be here in this Library.” The Garo paused and bowed before them. “Are you prepared to meet the Thunder Dragon?”
He waited for no response, instead immediately throwing a smoke bomb, and summoning a shadow portal. The room grew dark as the shadows of all objects began to grow, and from them sparks soon started to fly. The shadows coalesced into a single oval shaped object in the center of the room, and then a jagged door rose from the ground. It crackled and shimmered with the shadows of the Garo, and with the electricity of the Thunder Dragon.
“Enter the door to see your mission through to its end.”
Tarah Vass / Gerudo Library / Night 8
Tarah was speechless, stunned, and amazed. She had seen some strange things in the past week but the manifestation of this spirit was the first to really surprise her. She stood to the side as events played out before her, her bow remained drawn of course, but otherwise she simple observed this odd display. When it had concluded and the Gerudo warrior disappeared deeper into the fortress, the spirit spoke directly to the Hylian group. It spoke of the Thunder Dragon and a promise, then a door materialised in front of them and the spirit spoke once again.
“Enter the door to see your mission through to its end.”
In this split second Tarah reflected on how a week ago she would have waited for somebody else to step in before her before cautiously following, but she couldn’t do that now, the others needed someone to follow. Nervously she stepped towards the door and placed her hand on the handle. She slowly and gradually opened the door, pushing gently and peering through the crack as it opened. She was amazed to see that it opened outwards somewhere else completely and stepped through without even glancing back.
== The Thunder Dragon ==
Lanayru, The Thunder Dragon, Distant Sand Ridges, Night 8
The ancient gorge that had once been home to Lanayru had long since been swallowed by the desert sands. With the shifting of the sands, Lanayru moved to the distant western edge of the desert, where the mountains began to rise again. It was a place accessible only to those who knew how to cross the desert, or to the lucky few granted backdoor keys. Those such as the Garo.
The Garo as a people were mysterious. They chose to wear the cloak of the Garo in both life and death, masking the true nature of their kind. In many ways, there was no difference to be had between a living Garo and a dead one.
For that they made the perfect messengers. They seemed to want little else but protection from the lightning storms that occasionally swept over the desert. Lanayru was grateful for their help. His confidence was bolstered when the first signs of his Garo messenger appeared. The ground shook gently, and the shadows of every tree, every cloud, and every rocky outcropping merged into one. Only Lanayru’s shadow remained independent as the jagged portal rose from the ground.
First out stepped the Garo. He immediately bowed and stepped to the side. He extended one of his dual blades, indicating the presence of the first visitor. Tarah Vass stepped through the door, and the Thunder Dragon immediately responded with screaming fury. Lightning smashed down all around, and the wind howled furiously. And in the span of a single lightning flash, he lurched forward, stopping inches from Tarah’s face and smiling. The storming flashed out of existence, and Lanayru was revealed to still be very much in Dragon form, having not chosen a humanoid appearance like Eldin.
“And who comes before me now!” The Thunder Dragon called out cheerfully. He eyed Tarah, already knowing her name from the whispers on the wind. But it was always wise to see who would admit to their true identity when asked, and who would prove unworthy.
Xiaber / Gerudo Library / Night 8
Xiaber was glad, albeit surprised, that Tarah wasn't the one to finish off the Zora. He was wary of her killing again. He didn't want to be partnered with a mass murder and he also didn't want her to simply be killed by the Gerudo during the conflict. Xiaber was surprised, though, when the Gerudo let them live and even left as what she called a Garo came and told them he would take them to the dragon.
After Tarah cautiously opened the door and entered it, Xiaber could only follow her, making sure Shinsou was right behind him.
Thunder Dragon - Desert - Night 8
'''
Xiaber stepped through the door, and the Thunder dragon gleefully repeated his display. Lightning, smoke, and the threat of an insane Dragon consuming you all danced around Xiaber, and Shinsou as well, when she emerged through the door behind him. Lanayru, tiring of his own antics, abruptly halted the show, dispersing the storm clouds and settling upon his throne of air. He wasted no time in asking one of the few questions he had for the group.
"What do you think of King Dromand? Do you believe his intentions to be good?" Lanayru paused, letting the silence weigh upon them all. "Your Garo guide can deliver you to the final destination that your King so desperately wishes you to reach. Whether you trust your King, wish him dead, or whatever else floats about your mortal minds, I can promise you that this will only be the final chapter of your lives if you surrender the resolve that has gotten you this far. When you move beyond this doorway, you will be offered a choice to save Hyrule, but it will not be Hyrule as you know it. You each will independently make this decision.
...I'm afraid I can provide no further assistance. You may choose to leave and brave the desert, or you may follow the Garo one more time. The choice is before you."
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