By now, Link had grown used to avoiding the Hylian soldiers instead of engaging them in combat. It was a matter of human decency as it was survival-these men weren't monsters, even if they had been ordered to kill him on sight. No, the only monster here was the wizard Agahnim, who'd brainwashed the guards to serve his every whim.
It was easier to avoid them than risk his life or theirs. So Link stuck to the shadows, hiding behind bushes and houses when necessary, flattening himself against the wall so as not to alert them. Slipping past the men, while not easy, had become far less stressful than the first time he tried it. It was almost, but not quite, fun.
But the attack came without warning, and that made all the difference.
Link had just ducked near some shrubs to avoid a patrol when there was a rustle of leaves and a twang and a crossbow bolt embedded in his ribs. He stumbled back and gazed down at the wound, then at the direction the arrow had come from. The guards that had attacked him were hidden in the bushes.
There were two of them, one wearing blue armor, the other green. It was the one in blue that had fired the shot; his comrade wielded a short sword and shield not unlike Link's. They watched him carefully before moving in.
The boy looked at the men, then down at the wound again, more out of shock than anything else. He pulled the bolt out even though he knew doing so would be worse than leaving it in; it disturbed him more to see the arrow sticking out of him than any pain that would result afterward.
Link backed away from the soldiers and tried to collect his thoughts. He knew he had to move, to get away, to at least fight back with the hilt of his weapon, but he'd been caught off-guard and nowhere was safe and he missed his uncle and he had no idea what he was going to-
Twang-thump.
The soldier in blue had fired again, barely missing Link. Keeping his weapon trained on the boy, he signaled for the green-armored guard. The guard approached Link with an easy gait, jabbing him once with his sword to make sure he didn't try anything. Link grunted in pain but offered no resistance even as the man pinned his arms behind his back-such a position put his hands near his weapons.
The butterfly net would be of no help here, Link knew. The boomerang would take time to grab and throw, and the bow required two free hands. Since his shield was secured to his back, one option remained.
Link clenched his sword in his left hand and waited until it sparked.
The crossbow soldier took aim carefully.
He never got a chance to fire.
Link sprang to life, wrenching free of the green-armored soldier's grip with the Whirling Blade technique passed down by his people. Despite his assailant's armor, Link's uncle had tempered the sword well. It was able to pierce through the metal and wound the man.
Reeling back, the soldier grabbed his own sword and swung at Link; the boy dodged on pure instinct and fought back just as hard, courage and fire coursing through his veins.
In moments, the clash of metal gave way to a blade embedded in the green-armored guard's chest.
The crossbow soldier took aim at Link immediately and drew back his bowstring. Link stared him down, as if daring him to fire, and a glimmer of life returned to the guard's eyes.
The soldier stared at the youth he had almost killed.
Just a boy.
No older than the children of Kakariko.
Blood-stained as any of Hyrule's knights.
"May the goddesses forgive us all," the guard breathed, and ran before the spell could reclaim his mind.
Link watched him go, relief washing over him in waves, his nerves still tingling from pain and fear and fire. He clutched at his rib wound instinctively, wiping at his torn tunic, and looked down at his hands.
They were stained with blood.
Link looked at the scene around him as if waking from a fitful dream, eyes drawn immediately to the color red.
Blood on his sword.
Blood on the ground.
Blood on the green soldier's body.
The body.
Lifeless.
Dead.
It was only now, after the adrenaline faded, that Link realized he had killed a man. An innocent man, he thought with horror, remembering too late that all of the soldiers were mind slaves to the dark wizard. As Link continued to stare, the soldier's armor and body crumbled to dust as if he had never existed at all.
But the blood remained, and Link knew that long after the rain had washed them out, the stains would still linger on his conscience-the reminder of the death he had caused.
Link wiped his hands on the grass and opened the Book of Mudora. Perhaps, in its ancient text, he could make sense of what was senseless.
"After vanquishing his own followers, the leader stood triumphant before the Triforce and grasped it with his blood-stained hands. He heard a whispered voice: "If thou hast a strong desire or dream, wish for it..." And in reply, the roaring laughter of the brigand leader echoed across time and space and even reached the far-off land of Hyrule."
He snapped the book shut.
Death was what Ganon had wished for, and death was what he had brought to the land of Hyrule.
Link thought over all that had occurred and knew what his wish would be.
He'd wish for life... and, failing that, forgiveness.
It was all he could hope for.
The text in the Book of Mudora is from the English instruction manual for the game. I found it suiting.