Link sat alone, barely paying attention to the meeting Zelda had called to discuss battle tactics. He knew what her final strategy would be: him battling Cia and defeating her with the Master Sword. He was sick of it.

Every time he tried to get a break, something important would come up and he'd have to deal with it, and Zelda... Well, she had her own issues to go through, being the Princess of Hyrule.

He stared down at his own hands, hands that had killed thousands. With the growing threat, thousands would follow, and he was tired of all the death. Too many had been lost already.

"Link?"

The hero looked up at Zelda, who, along with Impa and all the other captains, was watching him, concerned.

"Are you alright?"

Link shook his head, lowering it once again, "I don't know how much longer I can go on like this."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I can't do this. I can't be the one who has to solve everything. I never asked to be the Hero in the first place!" Link couldn't prevent his outburst, clapping a hand over his mouth as it left his lips. He glanced between the commanders, seeing them all staring at him in shock. Link turned on his heel and fled.

The Hero ran as fast as his legs would carry him, away from Zelda, away from his own responsibilities. He found himself drenched from the hammering rain pouring down on him, mud staining his boots. He slowed only to untie Epona and swing himself onto her back

Together, horse and Hylian raced away from the camp. Link clung to Epona's mane, trusting her to take him anywhere but where he was constantly relied on. The hero buried his head in Epona's neck, a single tear sliding down his cheek. A crash of thunder boomed over his head and the brown mare let out a frightened whinny from the volume.

Louder still boomed the thunder, but Link only pushed Epona faster. Hyrule Field was long gone and he was swiftly approaching the Eldin Caves. A flash of lightning crashed behind Epona and she let out a shrieking neigh of fear, tossing the green-clad hero into the mud and fleeing back towards the camp.

Link pushed himself up, the soaked ground making him slip several times. His limbs dragging from exhaustion, he hauled himself into the entrance of the caves, shivering violently. Another flash of electricity lit up the cavern, revealing him to another hidden in the darkness.

"Hero?"

The boy swung around staring at the scarlet dragon knight sitting on a rock not far from him. Shocked, Link staggered backwards, colliding with the stone wall.

"What are you doing here? And alone?"

"I could ask you the same question, Volga," Link scowled, pushing away from the wall, staring out over the field.

"I came here to escape from Cia and her rants. I see you came to do something similar, correct?"

"Is it that obvious?" Link slumped down quietly on the stone.

Volga sighed, crouching beside the hero, the dark cloak around his shoulders dragging on the ground. In the light of the storm, Link watched him closely, ready to fight if he needed to.

"What did you run from?"

Link turned his head away, not wanting the dragon to see the tears cutting through the mud covering his face, "Why would you care? We're enemies."

"On the battlefield perhaps. But now, when Cia is giving me a little freedom from the spell she put on me, I don't want to fight you."

" A spell?"

The dragon nodded miserably, "She came with Poes and countless minions at her disposal, and when she discovered that Wizzro, I had little chance of defeating her. She used her magic to force me into servitude, and now... Now, I can't gain any freedom on my own."

Link fell silent, head hung low. Volga's story had hit him hard and he immediately vowed to free the dragon as soon as possible. He let out a low sigh.

"I never asked to be the hero. I'm still just a kid, if you go by experience. All I did was follow my gut into that first battle, thinking I was doing what I should. I only wanted to be a soldier, not a legendary hero like this."

The dragon knight stared at the hero, watching as his walls came tumbling down. The rain hammered down outside, the thunder crashing over and over. Link pulled his knees up to his chest, hugging them tight. A small glow down a nearby tunnel caught Volga's eye.

"Hide."

Link quickly dived behind the rocky entrance, taking shelter under an overhang of stone. Heels clacked on the petrified ground, and he immediately recognised her.

Cia.

"I heard voices, Volga. Who were you talking to?"

Link could practically hear the strain in Volga's voice as he resisted the sorceress' control, "Only myself, Mistress."

"Don't lie to me, dragon. Who. Were. You. Talking. To."

The Hero let out a near-silent growl of hatred as Volga sank to the ground, one hand clutching his head, "I told you, myself!"

"Liar!" Cia struck him hard across the face, throwing him to the ground with a thud, "I can feel their presence. Come out, whoever you are, unless you want this man battered like the useless scum he is."

"No!"

The Hero stared at Volga, who was struggling to his feet. The attack had drained him, and it was taking all his willpower to fight the purple-clad witch's control. A tiny line of blood streaked across his cheek.

"I won't wait all night. Show yourself."

Link let out a quiet sigh and stepped into the entrance of the cave. Cia laughed a little, flicking her staff at Volga and making the whip crack over his back.

"Link, my dear boy. I would never have expected you to mingle with lowlifes like this," again, the sorceress snapped the whip at the dragon knight, earning a pained groan. All Link wanted to do was run to his side and comfort him.

Almost silently, Volga looked over his shoulder at the Hero, "Run."

"Not if that means leaving you to this fate," Link's fists clenched and he charged at Cia, who knocked him down with ease. Link landed hard on the rock beside Volga, who pulled himself over and pushed the Hero to his feet.

"You must leave. I'll be fine until you return."

"I can't abandon you, Volga."

Cia launched herself at the pair, and the dragon grasped her sceptre, wrestling back and forth with her, "Go!"

Terrified, acting on instinct once again, Link sprinted out of the cavern, pausing only to look over his shoulder at the fearsome battle between sorceress and dragon knight. Volga's face was already starting to bruise, especially around his left eye, but he didn't relent in his battle.

"Go!"

Automatically, Link's legs kicked into overdrive, more tears spilling down his face constantly as he ran. He tried to block out the howls of agony coming from the cave, stumbling in the mud. About halfway across Hyrule Field, soaked to the bone by the storm, the Hero collapsed, weighed down by sorrow and guilt. The sodden soil stained his skin, coating him in a brown film. Slowly the world faded into darkness, and the last thing Link saw was someone riding towards him.

Hours later, Link awoke to find himself back in his tent in the Hyrulian camp. He groaned softly, barely aware of his surroundings. Zelda was sat beside him.

"Link... You gave us quite a scare last night. First you run off to who-knows-where, then Epona returns without you, then Impa finds you collapsed in the middle of the field! What happened?"

Link could barely speak, but explained as best he could. He told her of his stress, his conversation with Volga and how the dragon had defended him from Cia.

"He saved me, Zelda, and now Cia most likely is abusing him because of it. Please, we have to help him."

The princess stared at the hero, confused, "You must be delirious, Link. Volga wouldn't do anything like that."

The green-clad boy looked at her in shock, "The only reason he is part of Cia's army is because she put a spell on him to make him obey her! He doesn't have any freedom, Zelda, and if you won't help me save him, then I'll do it alone."

Three weeks later, Link stumbled through Eldin Caves once again, searching for Volga. The battle with Cia had drained his energy to the point of nearly forcing him to collapse under his own weight. He found the dragon knight asleep, imprisoned in his own home, battered and bruised.

"Volga? Volga, talk to me."

Slowly, the dragon shifted, rolling onto his side to face the boy, "Hero?"

Link smashed the lock on the cell, discovering a burst of energy he didn't know he had. He gathered the dragon up in his arms, gently supporting his head. Volga's helmet was gone, exposing bright blonde hair and startling green eyes, though one was swollen shut. He winced a bit from the boy's touched on his wounded back.

"You came back?"

"Of course I did."

Link gently rested his forehead against the dragon knight, ignoring the blood pouring from an open slash in his own chest. The Hero let Volga lean against him.

"They didn't believe me, you know. I had to come alone."

"I didn't expect anyone to understand what she did," Volga laughed dryly, pressing a hand over the bleeding wound, slowing the flow a little. Link let out a groan of pain as exhaustion once again overwhelmed him.

"You really need to rest, hero."

A tiny tear slipping down his face, Link let himself fall onto the dragon's bruised chest. One hand grasped another covered in scarlet, and the boy was quickly asleep. Volga sighed and let a tear of his own trickle onto the ground beside him. That wound could be fatal if he didn't act quickly.

But to Link, it wouldn't matter anyway.

Because he had kept his oath.