The Stalfos' sword rang on his shield, and he feinted to make it raise its own. Then he spun and ducked, his blade sweeping through the beast's leg and shattering everything below the knee as if it were made of dust. But in the process, his own blade, already chipped, snapped near its middle. He paid it no heed; as the Stalfos fell down he surged up, driving the makeshift dagger under and through its chin, all the way to the hilt. The broken blade burst through the top of the leering skull, and the unholy light in its eyes died away. He couldn't wrench his blade back out, and let it fall with the monster.

"Sir!" the voice rang out, and he turned. But the sun's glare was strong, as strong as it might be in the desert lands--fitting--and his face was hidden by the flare as the younger knight looked up at him.

"He's heading for the Temple of Time, sir! We have to stop him!"

"We will." A voice that he couldn't place, his own. "Stand strong--we'll regroup in the square, and make a push towards the temple!"

[hr]

"Ugh, he's heavy..." said one of the two Shiekah following Rath. It was rare for them to ever complain, but it had finally happened after carrying the Knight's unconscious form betwixt them all the way from the Colossus to Oasis. Though he still gripped the ReDead Knight's sword like a vice, the rest of him had gone limp as a rag, and combined with the weight of his powerful form and the armor over it, it made him a burdensome load indeed. 

"Oasis is just over the next dune. Careful--if he gets near one of the other fragment bearers, the resonance may wake him. We don't know how he'll react yet." Rath instructed them. Wearily the other two readjusted their grip and heaved the Knight up once more, his black armor growing hot on their hands in the sun. 

They entered Oasis now, and headed straight for the headquarters. The refugees and rebels out and about on the business of their daily life stopped to stare at the black clad figure. What manner of monster corpse had Rath brought back? But then, someone saw the crest of Hyrule emblazoned upon the armor, and realized of course that it was armor, and not scales or hard skin. A Knight of Hyrule? But with armor so black, and an appearance so tattered, and the other Knights all dead or fled...could it really be? The rumor mill began to grind, but Rath paid little attention to it. Instead he approached the headquarters, taking note of a second knight--this one of a foreign land, Labyrnna. If Rath recalled, he was one of the few who held another piece of the Triforce Fragments. The Shiekah held out his arm to stop the other two in their tracks, but it was too late.

The Knight's right hand began to glow. So did the crystal shard hanging around Sigurd's neck.

The Knight, splayed on his back across the backs of the two Shiekah, did not move at first. His visor, gone dark, simply stared up at the sun. Then the fearsome red light from within awakened, flaring up like a fire brought back to life from blackened coals.

"ARRRHH!"

He suddenly kicked out, and pushed on the backs of those holding him at the same time. As they stumbled forward he vaulted to the sand, sinking and stumbling at first as his feet met the unexpected surface. He turned in circles, head making wide sweeps, as he took in his surroundings. The desert? Gerudo?! HIS people!?

"GAAAANNOOOOOOOOON!!" The first intelligible word, yet it too came as a roar of rage and hatred so intense it shook his own armored plates.