Part Two

Tobias Fangor stood alone, overlooking the village he had come upon. He saw people walking to and fro, living their lives as though nothing was wrong. He tucked himself further into his greatcoat, the Shadow Armor clinging roughly to his body. His long brown hair stayed where it was, even though a fierce breeze blew threw the landscape. Two years ago, it had been cropped short, now it was long, almost below his shoulders. His golden eyes took in the scene, before he shuffled his feet, and began walking down the snowed upon slope that led to the village. The dark tunic outlined his muscular body nicely, his hands covered by shadowed azure gauntlets. His hands were clenched, one resting upon the hilt of his giant katana, which rested on the belt he wore on his hips. Another belt, draped over his shoulder, housed a massive great sword. Both had golden hilts. On his neck, a small trinket jingled. A golden-brown medallion with the image of a stone carved into the surface, unhidden across the black tunic.

Tobias summoned the Horus, willing the dark demon within his right arm to life. The Horus snapped back, eager to be of use. Over the two years, he had learned how to control the Horus, rather than the demon controlling him, as it had once or twice in his travels. He twisted the shadow to lift, altering his appearance as fluidly as a ripple of water. One moment, and Tobias was gone, replaced by the tramp disguise he wore when he encountered the Hylians that lived in his new country. He walked into the small village, and could not help but feel the sense of sinking as he looked upon the pitiful life forms.

Shadows One. He cursed the name silently, looking at the slaves that were once free men of New Hyrule. Ever since he had defeated the possessed body Shadows One had taken those two years before, the dark spirit had made life a living hell. Inside his own corporal body once more, Shadows One had destroyed free will in New Hyrule, binding all the men, women, even the children, to his will. They were little more than slaves now, their eyes lifeless and dulled. And the Crests, the supposed sacred Crests of Aurias, hadn’t been enough to defeat Shadows One. He had three, and the other was in parts unknown. That’s why Shadows One had escaped, that’s why the world was hell. All on his head.

Tobias walked amongst the servants of Shadows One, masked in the shadow magic that he himself had control of. They didn’t even lift a brow in his direction. He passed through the town square, for the most part absorbed in his own thoughts. It had been two years, practically, since he had last seen Hailey, Ne Ella, or Kor. He knew where Xander was, though how the boy was doing he couldn’t guess. He had left the dragon to the youth to raise, which had hatched shortly after destroying the possessed form Shadows One had taken, and purged, for sustenance. Two years, in which nothing had been done to stop him. Tobias waited every day for the sign, the signal, but nothing had come from Kor. The only person who he had with him was Dark, and she was hidden in their cottage. He had been away for several weeks, he hoped she was well. He continued along the path before him for a half-hour, before he found himself at the outskirts of the village, traveling once more towards the mountains where his cottage was hidden.

Two years before, Tobias Fangor had come to New Hyrule, and had instantly afterwards embarked on a voyage across the world. With Kor to guide Tobias, he, Hailey, Ne Ella, and Dark had gone by airship to recover the Crests of Aurias, the Night Rider. Guided by Kor, they had searched for them. And now, they were spread out, scattered in the numbers that were controlled by Shadows One.

Tobias remained silent as he began to climb that cliff that led to his cabin. Even though he could fly, he chose not to, refusing to alert the dark one to his presence. His shadow magic was undetected by Shadows One, too similar to the shadow’s one. The superhuman powers that laid dormant in the Dragon Gauntlets, on the other hand, did not fall under that classification. It wasn’t very hard, anyway, the thing he called his body wasn’t very heavy. Tobias continued, until he reached the top, and hoisted himself to level ground.

Tecalla had called him the Dark Knight. Xander had called him Master Fangor. He called himself a failure. He shoved his gloved hands in the pockets of the dark greatcoat as he continued, seeing the cabin he and Dark lived in, or spent their lives hiding in. It was a small dinky thing, made of wood chopped from the forests on the other side of the mountains. The ground beneath him was practically iron, harder than stone. Ahead of him, he thought he saw Dark preening on her rocking chair.

Tobias felt something strange within his coat, his hand brushing against something warm. He looked over his shoulder, withdrawing the gently burning object from his coat. It was the smallest thing, a minuscule little pendant in the shape of a blue tear. It was glowing, for the first time in two years. Tobias lifted it to his face, making sure what he was seeing was real, or illusion. There was only one person who could make the Aurias Charm illuminate. That person was Kor, who held the other pendant.

As he walked up to the cottage, he could see Dark resting comfortably, one winged arm resting on her grappling hook. His partner for the last few years, her strange nature was almost a godsend to him, something to keep the days interesting between his training, when he would vanish as he had for the past month.

For the first time in a long time, Tobias smiled.

Word Count- 1011

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