Heartless Courage Book One: Kingdom Hearts meets Legend of Zelda

Chapter XII: Taken

The King stared the creatures down. They were everywhere all across his magnificent courtyard just before the bridge. He felt no use in cowering within his stone walls, and instead had donned his bulky suit of armor. It was thick at the chest, held up by two long chains curling around his arms and snaking beneath his pauldruns.

Despite their seemingly mindless charge, the heartless all stopped as one before the King of Hyrule. The King was flanked by his most elite guards, but they were in absolute awe of the sheer number of creatures.

"So... what do you want, demons? What is it you've come for?!" King Alvo demanded.

"Nothing less than your life, your majesty."

The heartless spoke as one, in a booming yet eerily indistinguishable voice.

Suddenly, they parted a large gap in their ranks to allow a new blob to form from the shadows. A figure in the form of a young man appeared. He carried the Hyrulian crest on his shield, a sword that appeared to be the sacred master sword and the tunic of the hero passed in legend.

However, both he and his equipment were drenched in an ever drifting shade. He was deceptively ethereal, yet even so he was so similar to the hero of legend, the army of darkness behind him was all that stopped the king himself from dipping his head in prayer. He was an emissary of evil. An abomination of the goddesses will.

A Dark Link. 

"K-kill him! Now men, attack!"

The heartless behind Dark Link didn't move to defend their champion. They didn't need too. Even as six soldiers attacked as one, Dark Link blocked them all,  not budging an inch from their wild swings. With just his sword arm, he swung the men away from himself, launching them into the rest of their backup. A smile had spread onto Dark Link's face.

"I am Nihl. You are King Alvo. Within your castle, your daughter Zelda hides beneath the embrace of her guardian Impa. I am afraid that neither you, your pathetic excuse of an army, nor your lone Sheikah can stop the coming tides of darkness. I will extinguish the light of the royal family once and for all."

Nihl said all this staring the King dead in the eyes. King Alvo's men struggled to stand back up, their armor weighing them down.

"Grr...you won't lay a single blasted finger on my daughter you monster! I'll kill you myself!" He gripped his massive sword tight, bracing himself for his assault.

Meanwhile,
a commotion had begun to spread through the ranks of heartless. While stationary, they still proved a difficult obstacle for Link, Donald, Goofy, and Sora to overcome. Upon nearing one, they became violent, fighting erratically.

It took a while before a path could be cut through to the events going on at the front castle gates, but after a long arduous battle they all made it in time to see a man suspended in the air by his throat. 

"Now, your highness, the time has come. Oh yes, and Twinrova sends her regards. "

The King's face began to turn purple as Nihl's grip tightened.
King Alvo dangled in the air, his sword on the ground and his hands slapping uselessly at the hand around his neck.

'I saw you...fighting against my father. You emanated an eldritch glow, showing no fear in the face of certain defeat.'   Zelda's voice echoed in Link's head. He didn't really see the certain defeat in this scenario, but he certainly realized that it wasn't quite him she was talking about.

There was only one chance. With no hesitation, Link whipped out his bow and began to pull against the draw weight.

The tip of the arrowhead began to pulsate brightly with a brilliant light.

"H-hey, what is that ?" Sora asked, nearly breaking Link's concentration.

With all his remaining might, Link yanked back as far as he could, then just as quickly let the arrow fly.

Nihl was blasted square in the back by the powerful magic and the King dropped heavily to the ground.

As Nihl was hit, the thousands of remaining heartless began to fizzle out of existence, reeling it seems from Nihl's pain. Or perhaps sharing it.

Electric bolts of magic coursed through Nihl's writhing body, and in his moment of paralysis the King and his rescuers quickly surrounded him.

"Prepare to die, monster!" King Alvo cried, raising his blade above Nihl's chest. He brought it down with enough force to impale Nihl completely... had he not faded through the ground. 

"No...damn it get back here and face your execution!" He demanded, enraged.

"Heh...oh don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

A long blade protrude through the king suddenly, poking through his cloth robes. The guards nearest him swiped quickly at the shade, but Nihl had vanished again.

"M-medic! We need a medic immediately!" They cried.
The young defenders quickly ran the rest of the distance to the fallen King.

Sora took the King's hand, a look of genuine worry etched into his face.

King Alvo coughed blood to the side, then to nobody in particular said out loud
"Don't worry... about me. Zelda is safe. That's.. a-all that matters...

"Don't be so sure."
A scream and a loud series of crashes sounded from within the castle.

A look of panic took over the king.
"S-save her! Go. NOW!!"

Link, Donald, Goofy, and Sora sprinted to the castle, leaving the lumbering few remaining soldiers to tend to the King. A handful chased after as backup, though lagged far behind.

The group made their way past the massive drawbridge, the single guard lowering it obediently.

As they charged through to where they believed Zelda's room to be, upon turning the corner a large woman crashed into them.

She quickly kicked flipped back onto her feet. She then grabbed both Link and Sora by the front of their shirt, lifting them high into the air.
"Zelda's been taken. What do you know about this?!"

Link's feet dangled in the air. Impa's face had worry and hate etched into every line of her face. She was not to be trifled with.

"M-ma'am! Please let my young friends go, the King sent us to find the source of that screaming!" Goofy said slowly and carefully.

Impa looked at the two boys closely, examining them as though looking for the truth within their eyes.

She dropped Link and Sora suddenly.
"She just vanished...I must find the King. I mus-"

"King Alvo's been injured. He's out in the courtyard now, being tended by the few soldiers who remain. You should hurry!" Donald interrupted.

These strangers seem to know how to handle situations like this pretty well, Link thought to himself. Impa exhaled a breath, then said
"Damn. Yes, I have to tell him the horrible news.
I must tell him princess Zelda has been kidnapped."