The Legend of Zelda - The Tainted Blade (Season 1) | WATTYS WINNER 2018

The Darknut Scourge - (S1.E9)

"Who are you?" Zel asked after he mounted the spare horse the soldiers had given him.

In the distance to his left, he could see more soldiers and a wagon rumbling down a road, coming to take the unconscious Rangtar away. The low buildings of a military garrison lay nestled in the trees just beyond the wagon, each stone building covered in moss to disguise its presence. Far behind the garrison stood the crumbling remains of what could have been an ancient coliseum. Zel panned Hyrule field from atop the hill. To the right, on the banks of a winding river, lay a small village. A steady stream of riders and wagons entered and departed, most arriving from or going to one of the many farms that dotted the landscape. Before him in the distance, towering above the fields and farmland, stood Hyrule Castle. The town attached too it spread far and wide, with paved roads leading throughout Hyrule field, passing through the farmland like spokes in a wheel. To the right and far in the distance, loomed Mount Eldin covered in snow. The dormant volcano hadn't erupted since the fall of Calamity Ganon two hundred years ago.

"I am Captain Adara Cruza of the second cavalry squadron, Hyrule Army," the flame-haired woman beside him said.

Zel swallowed hard. "The second squadron? I've heard of you. You call yourselves the Darknut Scourge."

Captain Adara cut her blue eyes to him and then returned to studying the approaching wagon. "Some people do, yes." She spurred her horse forward.

Zel kicked against his own horse. "Wait! Are the stories true?"

A moment later, two mounted soldiers hemmed Zel in and guided him away from their captain. Zel didn't try to resist, but stared after the young woman, a string of questions rolling through his mind.

He didn't see Captain Adara again that day, though he suspected she didn't stray far. After the squadron secured Rangtar to the wagon and began carting him back to the garrison, Zel found himself surrounded. A tight formation of the Darknut Scourge formed neat rows on all four of his sides. Each mounted soldier sat erect, helmets donned, and a weapon at the ready. Zel didn't know if they acted as an honor escort or protective custody.

They herded him down the hill to the nearest road, where equal amounts of the soldiers rode on either side in the grass as did on the road in front and behind him. As they passed busy farms, the workers straightened from their labors to stare. Children chasing each other outside the farmhouses paused and watched.

By noon, Zel understood the enormity of Hyrule Field to be much more than he realized from atop the hill. The castle continued to loom ahead, each moment looking greater and more imposing while still appearing far away. Finally, by mid-afternoon, the paved road widened into a causeway. The farmland ended, and rows of carefully planted trees took their places. Gardens and fountains lined the causeway, leading to a great plaza. Around the plaza stretched the outer Castle Town, a collection of mismatched shops and houses in an array of repair states. Some seemed new, while others might crumble any moment. The residents who tended them were in as much disrepair as the buildings themselves.

In the center of the plaza stood an odd monument. Four fountains sent arching streams of water into a large circular pool. In the very center, where Zel might expect the statue of a horse or some heroic figure, sat an unmoving spider-like contraption, almost as big as a hinox. It's long legs draped over the platform ledge to rest in the water. The black triangular body was covered in strange markings that could have been an ancient language. Atop the body, rested a square head with a single lifeless eye.

"What is that?" Zel asked the soldier next to him.

"A guardian."

"Does it protect the city?"