7 – The Hero Steps Up
Fresh white powder crunched under Captain Kaltern's boots. He rubbed his palms together, watching the night fade, red streaks of dawn encroaching in on the darkness.
How has it gotten so cold so quickly...?
Kaltern didn't know, but there was certainly something unnatural about it all.
The growing sunlight chased away the shadows, and Castle Town began to reveal itself once again in all its ruined glory. Buildings and streets torn apart, fires still burning despite the snow and even after all this time and –
And no sign of a single corpse.
The Resistance. They'd done this. He had to stop them, had to find –
The girl.
The two words obliterated all his other thoughts. His iron-clad conviction surprised him, but he didn't question it. Now that he'd started on this path he was determined to see it through. She was his priority now.
Ahead of him floated the silent, velvety shadow of the Shade, as it searched the snow-smothered streets of Castle Town. Kaltern had left Auru back at their temporary base of operations, along with the other two Shade. The soldier hadn't liked that. Kaltern smiled at the memory.
But Auru had been right - the captain had to make sure that the girl was who he thought she was. That's why he'd decided to join the Shade in its search, even though the creature could do the task well enough on its own.
Sunlight flashed in a jagged pane of a broken window nearby, making Kaltern look up. He caught sight of his blurred reflection and stopped, frowning. The captain slowly raised a gloved hand to his face. Was it…changing? The furrows in his brow deepened. He blinked quickly.
No. No, there he was. Clear blue eyes, blond hair – it was him. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. It must have been a trick of the dawn light, or maybe he'd had a little too much to drink - the War Wagon had come fully stocked, of course.
Before he could consider any further, Captain Kaltern felt his skin prickle at the sound of something faint, familiar and utterly eerie.
The Shade had begun its song.
Kaltern wouldn't be affected by it – the Shade could choose who would fall under its spell – but it still unnerved him. Not that it mattered now. This meant only one thing – the Shade had found the girl.
Zelda tugged her dagger free from its sheath when she heard the sound. Every inch of her body tensed up, all but her heart which pounded loudly.
The noise came again. A soft scuff of boot against stone. Zelda swallowed. She wasn't alone.
And whoever it is, they're trying their hardest to stay quiet.
That meant two things: the stranger didn't know she was here, and the person was searching the building.
One of the Resistance...? Or a Castle Town survivor looking for food...?
She'd have to make a run for it. First, though, she'd try and slow the stranger down. Draw him – or her – in and strike with the blade. Sure, she was fast, but Zelda needed any advantage she could muster.
Slowly, Zelda stood, then turned around. Her breathing slowed, her heart still playing a loud, steady beat. Her fingers flexed against the cold hilt of her dagger.
Newborn sunlight poured in through the shattered windows, and Zelda squinted as she tried to make out who, and where, the newcomer was.
No one good, I bet.
Her head jerked to the side, her eyes catching sight of a shape in the shadowed corner of the large room. Zelda raised her arm and levelled her dagger in that direction.
"Come out," she said.
Someone did, shuffling, palms up in a placating gesture.
Zelda frowned. "Colin?"
"Yes," he breathed.
"Go away."
"Wait," he said quickly. "Hear me out."
"No."
"Just listen to me, will you?"
Zelda took a step back, the point of her dagger still aimed at the boy. She swept her gaze from side to side. "Where are the others?"
"It's just me," said Colin.
"Right."
"I'm telling the truth!" Colin's eyes were on her, bright and intense. "Listen. Please."
Zelda shuffled back again, toward the large hole she'd stepped through to get in to the building in the first place. "Listening to you got me into this mess."
"Look," he pressed. "There's a small forest nearby - well, more a wood really –"
"Get to the point, Colin."
He cleared his throat. "Right," he said, a slight flush to his cheeks. "I can take you there."
"Sure. To lead me into a trap."
"No!" Colin's eyes bulged. "No. You don't have to be so prickly all the time."
Despite herself, Zelda bristled at his words. "I am not!"
Colin responded with a gentle smile. "You can hide. In the woods, I mean." He hesitated. "We can hide."
Zelda eyed him warily. "We…?"
"I want to join you."
"I'm not an army."
"Neither are the Resistance," Colin countered. "At least, not how they're acting now."
"They sound like an army to me," said Zelda. She knew she should make a break for it, but something told her to wait. "Both are good at killing."
Colin winced. He ran a hand through his hair. "Not all warriors are bad…"
"What about your Da...?" Zelda went on. "You're going to turn tail on him...?"
"Hey," Colin replied. "Listen. You were right. I haven't stepped up. I haven't stepped up to live like Link. I...I need a chance and you…" A shy smile touched his lips. "You're my chance."
Zelda shook her head, forcing herself not to groan out loud. Other girls her age probably would have found that sweet. She, on the other hand, had learned that sentiment was pretty useless - it had never filled an empty stomach, and it wouldn't help either of them today.
Zelda opened her mouth to reply – and froze. The hair on the back of her neck stiffened.
Faint notes of ethereal music floated toward them. Zelda's heart squeezed painfully. Her wide eyes locked with Colin's. "The Shade..."
Colin lunged in and grabbed her wrist. "Come on!"
"There!"
Kaltern flung his arm up to point at the two youngsters that had just burst out from a building up ahead and were now running up a sloping path that led out of Castle Town. The Shade changed direction, its song growing. Snow swirled up from beneath it, vaporising before it could settle again.
The boy and girl had cloth trailing awkwardly from their ears, the shape of which matched the ragged tears in their tunics. Not that it would matter. Kaltern would catch them and pull the rags free. Maybe pull an ear free, too – they could afford to lose one.
They slipped and slid on the snow. Kaltern almost laughed out loud. This would be so easy.
"Destiny," he said, then frowned instantly. Why had that word come to his lips?
Kaltern shook his head. Steel chimed as he drew his sword. The wind blew, and another flurry of snow began to fall.
The captain moved to follow the Shade –
When a sudden stab of pain made him double over. Jaw clenched, Kaltern forced his trembling free hand up to his eyes. A faint emerald glow began to enclose his fingers. He looked down at the green livery on his chest plate. It spilled out from its bindings, surrounding him, encircling his every limb.
Kaltern scrunched his eyes shut, then opened them again.
The vision – and the pain – had gone.
Captain Kaltern sucked in ice-cold air. Too little sleep. That was it. He hadn't slept and his mind was playing tricks.
Or…
He tried to recall what he knew about the old Princess Zelda. Hadn't she been known to dabble in magic? She'd been a witch, Kaltern was sure of it. Had that been passed onto the daughter…?
He looked up. The two young Hylians were already at the top of the slope, the Shade not too far behind.
Captain Kaltern snarled and gave chase.
Zelda wrenched her wrist free from Colin's grasp. "You don't have to hold my hand!" she spat.
Colin threw a quizzical glance back at her. He hadn't heard her – obviously, given how their ears were plugged.
Over the rise of the hill they went, and into the woods. Snow clung to Zelda's clothes and slipped down the back of her neck making her wince.
A thick mist carpeted the forest floor, out of which sprouted a strange looking rock. An eye had been carved into its face, complete with a hollowed out centre to mark the pupil. Zelda recognised it from her time with the Sisterhood.
That's a…that's a Sheikah symbol…
The wind gusted – and suddenly their protective rags flew from their ears.
"No!" cried Zelda. She tried to grab for one, lunging awkwardly, but the wind caught the cloth and tossed it to and fro. Her grasping fingers found cold, thin air. The rags fluttered away on the breeze.
Zelda spun around to Colin. He was backing away, his jaw slack. He didn't see the -.
"Colin!" she cried. "Look o-"
A yell followed and Colin tumbled back over a log that barely stuck out from the layer of fog. He fell into a snow drift; the impact shook it free, and both Colin and tumble of snow slid down into a clearing. Zelda chased down after him, snow flying from the heels of her boots, and skidded into a crouch at his side.
"M-My foot!" Colin said, teeth chattering. Zelda looked. The boy had landed awkwardly, his ankle trapped between the giant roots of a pair of long-since felled trees. Zelda tugged at his leg.
Nothing. He was stuck fast.
Zelda shook her head. "No, no, no, no."
Colin's reddened hand clutched her sleeve. "Go," he said. "Run."
Zelda shook her head again. "It's not right."
Leaves rustled, spilling their snowy burden. The Shade's music filled the clearing. Branches began to wither. Zelda inhaled sharply.
Colin levered himself up on his elbows. His teeth started to chatter. "I-I'm scared."
Zelda stared straight ahead, then spoke in a small, soft voice. "I'm scared, too."
The pain hit Captain Kaltern again just as he was about to follow the Shade into the woods. This time it brought him to his knees. Cold, wet snow seeped through to his legs, but he only noticed it as a slight irritation.
"What –" he gasped. "What is happening to me?"
The green glow engulfed him again. But this time there was something more. His eyes. His eyes burned.
Fear drove his heart wild. He tried to claw at his face but couldn't get close enough. His eyes were on fire.
Three thoughts struck his pain-wracked mind as a scream tore from his throat.
Mya. Layle.
Destiny.
They could see it now. The Shade. It floated wordlessly, still accompanied by its ethereal music. Zelda's mind fogged over. Was that Captain Kaltern back there, leaning against a tree, face buried in his hands…? Was he weeping…? A scarlet grow spilled out from between the captain's fingers. Zelda's breath caught.
Her thoughts evaporated when the Shade's song increased in volume. A pair of trees shattered into dust before it. Then another, spitting splinters into snow that melted instantly as the Shade passed over it.
The whole world shook in Zelda's eyes. It was hard to think. Her thoughts seemed to be moving through tar. Hot, steaming tar, painful to the touch.
Zelda felt a tug at her sleeve. Slowly – ever, ever so slowly – she forced her head to look down.
"Please," whispered Colin.
"I'm here," Zelda replied. It seemed to take an age for the words to come.
"I don't want to die like this," said Colin. "Not to a Shade." His trembling eyes inched down to the dagger at her hip. "Please."
Zelda caught his intent. "No…" she gasped, her voice struggling to break free. Her every muscle protested, but Zelda forced herself to her feet. She faced the monster. Her eyes watered. Every blink burned.
The Shade now filled the entirety of her vision, a rippling purple-black nightmare. Its music drilled into her skull, and down into the aching roots of her teeth.
Colin's voice came again. "Please!"
Zelda's fingernails dug into her hip as she searched for her dagger. The air in the clearing grew hot. Her tongue felt like dry rock. Her fingers curled around something cold and metallic. She tugged it free.
Mirror.
She couldn't make more than that one thought. A pique of childish rage surged up into her arm. She pulled it back, and threw. The mirror spun through the air, over and over, agonisingly slow.
It hit the strange rock with the Sheikah symbol.
The music stopped.
Time returned.
A hush fell.
And a new voice pierced it.
"Pity," it said. "I always liked that mirror."
Zelda spun around.
A man enwrapped in a black cloak knelt in the mist. Strands of silver hair poked out from under his hood. He stood, snow falling from him in a drizzle of white. In one hand he clutched a silver pommel that held no blade.
Recognition hit Zelda like a slap. "Old Sloat?!"
The elder man looked over at the Shade. It had paused now, as though hesitating, its cloak-like form fluttering. Behind it, Captain Kaltern still hadn't looked up.
"It takes a Shade to defeat a Shade," said the stranger.
He flicked his wrist. Metal plates slid out from the hilt, impossibly folding out over the other until a full-length, perfectly flawless blade had formed. The steel turned pitch black. Crimson energy ribboned around the entire length of it, giving the sword a fiery red outline.
The stranger spoke again. "Takes a Hero's Shade, to be exact. Old Sloat isn't my name, Zelda. Never was." The wind blew back his hood. He smiled. "It's Link. I'm the Hero of Time."
