-Hei-

"It's so quiet." Hei murmured. This place gave him chills. "What could have happened?"

"Who knows..." Tou whispered.

The unit walked around the bend, continuing to check the corpses for any living. The fact they had yet to find a single survivor was chilling. Before long they came across a still intact tree. Sitting against this tree was another man. Someone ran ahead to check. He reached the person, looked at him, and turned to yell.

"He's alive! Come an-" Blood exploded from his neck as his head fell from his shoulders, and his body crumbled to the ground.

The men stopped, stunned into silence. They did not quite believe what they were seeing. One moment their buddy was alive, and the next he was dead before them. It was surreal. Not just at the suddenness of it, but the ease at which it was done. There was no fight, no combat... just death.

A couple of men in the front raised their spears. "What the- Who are you!"

The man at the tree rose to his feet and turned to notice them. His hair was glowing red, his eyes were as flame, his skin was dark, and in his hand was a gigantic black blade. He wore no armor, but was bare chested. Across his entire torso was a massive wound, one that looked lethal, but had recovered with time.

The man lifted his blade, swung, and before the unit's eyes... everyone in front exploded in a spray of blood and body parts. Their armor did not offer any resistance, and he cut through them as easily as leaves.

"What the-" Hei murmured.

-Link-

Link could not shake the feeling there was still Zhao near, so he hoped to have a better view. There, Link found one man still alive, sitting in mute horror.

"Hey!" Link ran up to the soldier. "Are you okay! Are you wounded?" The man did not answer. His eyes were wide and filled with horror. He did not appear wounded, but Link felt he was wounded deeply in the soul.

As Link neared, the man's eyes suddenly snapped to meet his, and his eyes widened only further. "Relax! I'm of Qin." Link put his hands up.

"I... saw it." The man whispered.

"Saw what? The battle? Did the Zhao do this?"

"The Zhao?" the man chuckled in broken horror. "If only it was... No! It was something worse... A huge man slaughtered us all by himself."

"One man did this by himself?..." Link asked, not believing it.

"I assure you. If I had not seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have been able to believe it either."

"Where did he go?"

"That way." The man pointed shakily.

Link's eyes widened. That way was where his unit was.

"Shit!" Link started to run, but the man reached out and grabbed him.

"Don't! Don't go! You will only get yourself killed! The man! He's inhuman! He's a monster!"

"I don't care! My friends are down there! If you don't let me go I will cut your hands off!" Link yelled.

The man released him, and Link ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

-Hei-

The dark-skinned man swung his blade again, and another set of men exploded in blood as their torso was removed from their waist. Most of the unit in the back was left confused, but those who saw it were struck dumb with horror.

Hei's legs trembled. The guys at the front had just been killed. There was no way! Sanka and the others, they had only just been talking of family! They had been laughing together and slept together under the rock for mutual protection! They were just messing around, and now they were dead! You had to be kidding. What the hell was this guy?!

"Get away from him!" Tou exclaimed. "Get back!"

It was too late, the man swung his blade again and another four men were cut to pieces without resistance. Squad leaders picked up their blade and charged him, but it did not matter. Yuugi, son of a monk, charged him with a spear. Hou with four men ran at him with short-spears and swords. None of it mattered. Nothing withstood his strength, nothing could get through the speed of his blade, nothing could get within range to touch him. One man raised a bow and arrow to aim at him, but the man's blade only extended as a whip and cleaved itself into his skill.

It was as if a natural disaster had descended upon them. In that face of that overwhelming power and violence, there were those that could not even stand, those that ran away, and those could could not move.

Hei stood mesmerized in horror as the man continued to cut down the unit. It had only been a short time and already a fourth of them were dead.

"Everyone..." Hei whispered. He could not find his voice to be heard. Just whispering felt like it took all of his effort. Fear, despair, horror poured down his skin as rain as tears flowed from his eyes. "Run... scatter. Run." Despite his own words and desire, he could not move. Hei fell back, pushed by the wind, onto his back. At this rate, the entire unit would be wiped out.

"Get up!" Tou exclaimed. His brother grabbed Hei and tried to pick him up in a hurry, as the dark-skinned man approached.

"I can't get up! My legs will not move!" Hei cried. "Run! Leave me!"

The man raised his sword. Hei closed his eyes.

The man blocked an attack from Link from above. He had not lifted his blade to strike at them, but to block Link's attack. Link yelled in a fury he had not felt before as he struck down on the massive man. For a moment it was as if the world had frozen solid. Link seemed to hover in the air as he pressed down on the man, and the man did nothing more than block it, and gaze on the young man with surprise. He had not expected such strength from one who was a child. The unit around who witnessed the moment nearly wept in joy.

In a moment, Link swung multiple times with as much power as he could before the man blocked once more and with a base swing of his sword sent Link flying back. Link managed to land on his feet and skid for a distance.

At the same moment, Solitare appeared out of thin air behind the dark-skinned man. With graceful moments as to a dance, he spun and struck at the man many times. The man blocked them with ease before attacking back. His blade extended like a whip and swung so fast it could barely be seen., but Solitare managed to barely evade and leap out of the way of the attacks before landing a distance away, panting. He had used a moment of exertion, but in that moment it had taken his fullest concentration to not die. He had used his greatest tricks to sneak in and avoid being detected, but this man had penetrated his skills and perceived him from the shadows.

At the same moment, an enraged yell filled the air, and the dark-skinned man turned to meet the blade of Ganondorf Dragmire. The strength of Ganon's blade on his own forced him to take a step back. "Not yet!" Ganon barked. With a mighty swing he brought his second blade ontop of the man's block. The earth beneath their feet exploded in a shockwave of wind and dust. The earth beneath the man's feet was pressed down, fire covered the ground around him, and Ganon's triangle lit up. The man winced, for Kagami had used the distraction to bite his leg.

The attacker narrowed his eyes at Ganon, as their mutual likenesses peered at each other. Ganon was openly enraged, while the other was scarily calm. His eyes briefly glanced to Ganon's hand where the triangle was lit, and his eyes widened.

The attacker headbutted Ganon, forcing Ganon to momentarily falter. The brief moment was all he needed to throw Ganon into the air with a swing of his sword. Ganon fell on his back several feet away. He quickly rose and held up his twin-blades. The man grabbed hold of Kagami's fur and with one hand threw the giant wolf to the ground at Ganon's feet. Kagami was not hurt badly, but was stunned for a moment.

Link took the moment to gaze around. All around them were the dead. The men they had eaten with. Drank with. Laughed with. It was his first campaign, his first command, and nearly a third of them laid dead in pieces all around him.

Link's rage nearly broke him. "You son of a bitch. What the realms have you done! Don't think you'll die a clean death!"

"Be careful." Ganon stressed. "His name is Harken Dragmire."

"I don't care who he is... He's going to die!"

For his part, Harken looked on them with mild interest. The two children surprised him. One was a Sheikah, but the other was some boy. No... not a mere boy. The triangle on his hand lit up dimly, and the sword in Harken's hand stirred. He said, "You may be children, but do not expect any mercy. You have surprised me... but no more. Come. I will show you the might of the Dragmire! I will show you my revenge!"