If there were any people to be seen, they weren't anywhere near the market. She must have been one of the only people brave - or foolish - enough to be roaming outside during the most intense lightstorm anyone alive could remember. If only those childish knights-errant could see me out here, she thought to herself with a satisfied smile. Calling themselves brave, taunting me...not one of them out in the open. All of them hiding in their guard-towers. Blasted cowards!
Lightning and thunder excited her ever since she was a child, but this storm seemed unnaturally volatile. The clouds blocking the afternoon sun were nearly black and everything was as dim as early evening. Even the storms that caused the floods eight years ago hadn't come from a sky this dark; the clouds on that day were peacefully dark-grey in comparison to this. Even the lightning was...more this time than she'd ever seen. Every other second brought a streaking bolt that flashed so bright she could see each brick on buildings two arrow-shots away. The storm seemed odd enough, but when she'd walked past the temple courtyard not long before, a flash of light allowed her to notice that even the Temple of Time was deserted. The ordained revered lightstorms with absolute regard and a complete lack of fear, because to them, it was a sacred thing. If even they were afraid to expose themselves, then being outside couldn't be safe.
A jolt of irritating half-pain came from her feet and slowed her down to a careful walk. She regretted that she'd forgotten her shoes in her impatience, for the end of her path was covered in uncomfortable gravel. No matter. I'm getting close, she thought, a giddy, unusual excitement threatening to push through her throat like vomit. Once these buildings are out of the way, I will be able to see everything.
Gravel gave way to mud and puddles before she reached the guardhouse beside the closed drawbridge. She'd always felt sorry for the guards. Protecting the capital city from vagrants and fell enemies was a worthy job and a source of pride for most of these men, but unless they were fighting off such opponents, the job seemed monotonous at best. None of the guards would dare deny Zelda passage on any day, and the ones in the gate guardtowers now seemed shaken and distracted. Still, she felt it best to use Wisdom to get her past the wall unnoticed. It's my business. They wouldn't understand this curiosity of mine. Word gets around, and soon enough everyone would consider my mind afflicted. What better way to dethrone a kingless Queen than the rumor of the people? She closed her eyes and envisioned the field right outside.
A large bolt struck the moat the moment she reappeared in the field. With no buildings between her and the sky, the flash thrilled her. She was immediately astonished by the beautiful and terrible form of the lightstorm. Memories like these always stayed in the mind, recalled willingly at times, randomly at others.
Immense clouds churned ever heavenward in the sky, casting themselves in every direction and taking forms both solid and chaotic, resembling a violent collision of turbulent ocean onto rocky earth. These were amazing enough, but what was truly awesome was the divine skyfire that darted out of them in every imaginable place and direction. It was as if the branches of an infinitely luminous tree were instantaneously growing out of the otherworld to take hold in the sky and disappear within a moment's time. Their shape and trajectory were as arbitrary as the will of the goddesses, burning the entire sky white as day, illuminating their paths and turning the clouds into lanterns. Even the air constantly crumbled and tore with its own power.
Suddenly, a bolt threw itself into the ground close enough to blind her, the thunder exploding alarmingly in her ear. Where there should have been a swelling of fear there was instead a rush of exhilaration within her chest. Must've been a good one. I missed it. Damn! She looked around for any signs of how close the bolt had struck, but instead she found something she did not expect. She stood still for a moment, confused and doubtful, trying to figure out if her eyes were failing her.
A few hundred feet away, standing atop a hill, was Lennyk.