Author's Note: Talk about writer's block! This chapter was SUPER hard to write, and even now I'm not all that happy with it. Oh well. I'm sick of looking at it and constantly editing it, so voila!
Getting close to the end, here. I'm think maybe 2 or 3 more chapters at most, and I already have them all planned out, so there shouldn't be as long of a break this time.
Besides that, I don't really have much to say besides please enjoy and leave a review! Thanks!
Disclaimer: "Legend of Zelda" belongs to Nintendo, but I got "Twilight Princess" for the Wii for Christmas so yay! XD
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11.
"Kill the bombsmith."
Barnes could barely breathe. Link was standing above him, eyes dull – were they really black? – and void of any emotion, gripping the hilt of the Master Sword in preparation to… what? To kill him? It was unthinkable, it was ridiculous.
It was terrifying.
He tried to form words, plead for his life, beg and grovel and whimper, but nothing came out. His mouth felt like it was filled with cotton and he couldn't even swallow. This was Link, the Hero of Hyrule, who had saved him from the deadly inferno of his house not two days ago. It was completely wrong for him to be raising that sword above his head, standing so placidly beside that evil sorcerer, on the verge of murdering him. Barnes realized that he was shaking and couldn't help but utter a disbelieving almost-laugh. He had never thought he'd see the day where he would be afraid of Link.
But… what was taking him so long?
Barnes glanced up and saw that Link's sword arm was trembling, and a slight furrow had formed between his brows. Barnes' heart swelled with hope; the boy was fighting whatever had taken over him, and whenever Link fought, he won. Despite his still-precarious situation, the bombsmith broke into a wide grin.
"Kill him now," the sorcerer ordered, beginning to look less pleased with himself. Barnes finally found his voice.
"Fight it, Link! You're in there somewhere, I know you are! You can fight this!" he yelled. The air around the sorcerer crackled with dark anger and he stepped forward and backhanded Barnes to the ground.
"Silence, wretch!"
"Link, listen to me," Barnes continued, touching his tender jaw. "Whatever power this guy has over you, it's nothing compared to what you're capable of. You can beat him!"
"I said, silence!" The sorcerer swung his leg back in preparation to kick Barnes, who curled into a defensive ball on the ground, but the attack never landed. Instead, the sorcerer cried out in surprise and pain, and Barnes looked up to see the Master Sword buried in the large man's side, Link still gripping the hilt with shaking hands. Barnes breathed a sigh of relief, but it was much too soon.
The sorcerer laughed and gripped the blade with one powerful hand, sliding it out of the wound with apparent ease before thrusting the hilt with bone-shattering force back into Link's stomach. The boy hissed and doubled over in pain, his hands slipping from the Master Sword as he collapsed to the ground.
"It was worth a try," the sorcerer said calmly, swiping the blade of the Master Sword across his own tunic to clean off the blood. He then addressed the hulking bokoblins, who had been serving as silent witnesses the entire time. "Take them both to the inner caves."
The bokoblins fell upon Link with the enthusiasm of ones who had long been denied the blood they desired, completely ignoring Barnes for the moment. Ropes were produced and they bound the boy's arms and legs tightly, obviously enjoying his struggles. Almost as an afterthought, the last of the bokoblins grabbed Barnes by the back of his shirt and dragged him along behind the others toward the inside of the caves, which Barnes knew well by now.
The sorcerer's laughs of triumph followed them all the way down the tunnel, but Barnes was concentrating more on Link, who was still attempting to free himself from his captors.
"Link," he hissed. "Is it really you? I mean, are you – uh – back to normal?" Link stopped struggling for a moment and turned so that he could see Barnes, a tired smile on his face.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. The bokoblin to his right tugged roughly on the rope it was holding, jerking him back to face the front. Barnes gnashed his teeth angrily but knew better than to argue; he still had the bruises these creatures had given him when he had first been captured. Despite his frustration, a new sense of optimism had bloomed upon seeing Link's eyes: they were a clear, crystal blue again.
"Well, keep your chin up, lad," Barnes said gruffly. "We'll find a way out of this sooner or later."
Ten minutes and a few more bruises later found them chained to the walls of a dark, dank inner cavern, with only the wet smell of rot to guard them.
"Apparently they think these chains will hold us," Barnes said, tugging the chain attached to his right hand. Link half-smiled weakly.
"They probably will, Barnes. There's not much here to work with," he said.
"That's no way to think! You're the Hero of Hyrule, you've never been defeated!" Barnes exclaimed. Link snorted and stared at the dripping ceiling.
"Some hero I am. I can't even -" He broke off suddenly, his gaze flashing toward the far corner. He frowned deeply, clearly concentrating on something Barnes couldn't sense. "You hear that?" he whispered.
"Hear what?"
Link shook his head minutely and the bombsmith glared. He wouldn't be shushed by some impertinent little –
There it was. A slight scratching sound, coming from inside the wall.
"What is it?" he asked, fear tightening in his throat.
"I don't know," Link replied, his voice barely audible. His blue eyes were narrowed and his gaze never wavered from the place the noise was coming from. Bits of rock dislodged from the wall and clattered to the ground, causing a small cloud of dust to engulf the dark corner. Barnes coughed as the dust reached his throat, but Link stayed completely focused on the corner.
"Could you use some help?" a low feminine voice asked from within the dust cloud. Barnes recovered from his little coughing fit in time to watch a dark figure rise from a crouch in the corner and step into the middle of the small cave. Slender hands lowered the hood of the stranger's traveling cloak, revealing a shock of blonde hair pulled back into a long tail and a face half-covered with white cloth. Link's eyes widened.
"Zelda?" he hissed in disbelief. The stranger's eyes crinkled in amusement and she strode over to the captive boy, producing a thin needle seemingly from nowhere and beginning to work at the shackles around his wrists.
"Did you think I would just wait around in my castle like a good little princess and let Ganondorf run amok in my country?" she asked as Link's right hand slid free from its restraint. She handed him the needle and he set to work on the left. The woman then turned to Barnes, slipping another needle into her hand so she could free him, as well.
The bombsmith was speechless. He stared at the woman, mouth ajar, as she worked on the shackles. This was Zelda? The Princess Zelda? What was she doing here? Did she not have soldiers or servants she could send out to do stuff like this?
"How did you know where we were?" Link asked, rubbing his wrists where the rough metal had chafed. Zelda arched an eyebrow elegantly and touched a delicate finger to the back of her gloved left hand. Apparently this meant something to Link, as he nodded knowingly and let the subject drop, but Barnes was still baffled.
"So you're really going to get us out of here?" he finally blurted, fighting the urge to rub his own wrists, even though the sensitive skin there burned. (It just seemed too cliché to him…)
"Yes," Zelda answered, clearly being patient with him. "I managed to find a back way out of the caves."
"No," Link said. Barnes and Zelda both turned to him with surprised looks.
"No?" the princess asked.
"Ganondorf has my sword, and he still has Barnes' bombs," Link explained. "If we go out the way we came in, we may be able to take him by surprise and stop him from going through with whatever he has planned."
"But Link -" Barnes began.
"You can go out the back way if you want," Link said gently, smiling at the bombsmith. "You've been through enough as it is. I was just hoping that Zelda might join me…?" The princess nodded.
"Of course."
"All right then," Link said, stretching his arms in preparation for a fight. "There's no time to waste."
"This passage will take you out into Hyrule field," Zelda said to Barnes, pointing at the small hole in the corner she had emerged from. "You will be south of the Bridge of Eldin. I assume you can find your way home from there?"
"Well, yes, but -"
"Good luck, Barnes. Be safe," Link said as he and Zelda headed out into the main passageway.
Barnes stared after them for a moment, completely dumbfounded. His eyes traveled to the small dark hole that would lead him to safety, but nothing was really safe nowadays, anyway. Who was to say he wouldn't run into more bokoblins on his way through the field? He couldn't defend himself, and he knew it. His bombs had all been confiscated when he had first been captured.
He sighed. His best bet for safety was, ironically, following Link into battle. At least he knew the boy could handle a sword, and he had saved his life in the past…
"I hope I don't regret this," Barnes muttered to himself as he hurried down the main passageway, calling for Link and Zelda to wait up.
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Epona saddled Fuery in front of Kakariko's sanctuary, stroking his nose the same way Link used to stroke hers when she was nervous. She sighed lightly and touched the heavy sword at her hip. She could feel the power there, and she knew what it meant for Renado to let her borrow it. The sword was emblazoned with an owl to symbolize the Spirit of Eldin; it was sacred to the town of Kakariko and carried immense power.
After Epona had ridden to Kakariko that morning and met up with Renado, the shaman had explained all he knew of the situation to her. The Gorons had cleared out of their mines because of the dark presence that had appeared there (undoubtedly Ganondorf's doing), and if Epona was to help Link, she would have to venture up Death Mountain and into the mines to reach him. To help her on her way, Renado had offered her the Sword of Eldin, which would imbue her with enough strength and courage to defeat any enemies she might meet on her way.
Epona knew this strength was part of the cost Renado had mentioned earlier. If she used the Sword of Eldin, as enchanted as it was, it would without a doubt effect the spell that had been placed upon her. Renado had even told her that there was a chance she could become a horse again…
And yet, Epona was determined to save her master, no matter what the cost. She knew that venturing into Death Mountain and the Goron Mines would be dangerous, but she found herself unable to care. The despair that had consumed her during the night had vanished as soon as she had received the Sword, and she now felt ready to take on anything.
With a last quick adjustment to the saddle, she mounted Fuery and turned to the door of the sanctuary, where Renado was standing solemnly.
"I will bring him back," she promised. Renado inclined his head.
"Be careful. The Spirit of Eldin will protect you, but it cannot save you from everything." He paused, then met her eyes directly and smiled – a rare sight. "Good luck, Miss Epona. Please bring him home."
Epona kicked Fuery into a gallop and was about to leave the village when she heard someone call out to her from behind. She pulled Fuery to a halt and looked back to see a young boy chasing after her, waving one arm above his head and carrying what looked like a shield on his arm.
"Miss Epona! Wait!" he called. Epona frowned slightly, trying to remember the boy's name. He was the brother of the young boy who owned the convenience store, she knew…
"Yes?" she asked as he approached her, out of breath and shaking.
"My brother said you could borrow this from his store if you bring Link back," the boy panted, holding the shield out to her. Epona smiled and took it from him.
"Thank you very much." She slid the shield onto her arm and turned to leave again.
"Good luck!" the boy yelled after her. She swallowed nervously, the power of Eldin not quite strong enough to suppress all of her anxiety, but spurred Fuery on nonetheless.
The mountain trail was empty, at first. Epona was forced to leave her spooked mount in order to climb a mesh wall up to the next level, and it was there that she encountered her first bit of trouble.
Before her was a lone bulblin warrior, green-skinned and red-eyed and wielding a club half her size. She ducked behind a rock before it could spot her, her heart beating quickly. She could feel both adrenaline and the power of Eldin pulsing through her veins, and she unsheathed the sword as quietly as she could. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to wrap her head around what she was about to do. This would, after all, be her first actual fight with one of these creatures. (She didn't think running them over as a horse really counted…)
Epona gripped the Sword of Eldin's hilt hard enough to make her fingers hurt a little, then stepped out from behind the rock and approached the bulblin at a trot. It jumped and began to jog towards her when it saw her coming, and she felt a bit of her usual fear break through Eldin's power. She swallowed it down and raised the sword just as it raised its club, and she sliced across its exposed belly before she even really realized what she was doing. The creature fell back with a gurgling cry, and she stabbed it through as it lay twitching on the ground. The body exploded into ash, and it was over.
Epona staggered back, breathing heavily and clutching at her racing heart. Her hand was shaking, but not so much from fear as from the power rushing through her body. The enchanted sword seemed to hum in her grip, and she was reluctant to sheathe it. She felt so powerful… was this how Link felt all the time?
Her sensitive ears caught the sound of many footsteps coming down the path. She fought the unexplainable urge she had to just stand in the middle of the road and challenge whatever came down and slipped behind another rock to wait.
At last she caught sight of the group, and her racing heart stuttered with fear. It was the same kind of uncontrollable panic she had felt before as a horse, and she wished desperately that she could just run.
It was him. The magician, Ganondorf, who had so many times before almost killed her precious Link and had taken him from her in the most cruel way possible. He was enormous, towering over the four bulblin warriors flanking him, and at his side was the shining Master Sword. Epona's breath hitched; that was Link's sword. But… where was her master?
The group went by without noticing that she was there, but she remained frozen even after they had passed from her sight. After a few minutes of composing herself, she continued up the mountain path, hand still wrapped around the hilt of the Sword of Eldin. If Ganondorf had come from this direction, that must mean his lair was nearby, right? And since Link hadn't been with the magician when he'd passed, then hopefully her master was still there…
In the next open area, Epona spotted three bulblins: two archers and one warrior. She braced herself before going into the open, hefting the sturdy metal shield on her arm to protect herself from the arrows.
It was a good thing she did, too, because no sooner had she stepped out from the path than a flaming arrow struck the shield hard enough to make her arm go numb. She cried out and fell back to safety; she had missed one bulblin archer to her left in her quick survey of the area.
How was she supposed to deal with the archers? She had no bow, no boomerang, not even a slingshot; all she had were the sword and the shield on her (still numb) arm.
Before she could panic properly, one of the far off bulblin archers let out a pained squeal and fell from its perch, followed quickly by the next, and then the one on Epona's left. Shocked, she strained to get a good look at the creature before its body exploded and saw what looked like three sharp needles in its neck. Had those killed it?
A guttural shriek brought her attention back to the lone bulblin warrior, who had spotted her and apparently held her responsible for its comrades deaths. It charged her, club raised, and she hefted the Sword of Eldin in preparation.
It took barely more than three steps before shrieking its own death cry and collapsing to the ground to explode at her feet, three more needles sticking out of its neck.
"Epona?!"
Epona froze. She knew that voice. She looked up at the rock formations ahead of her, barely allowing herself to hope, and when she caught sight of him her breath stopped.
Link.
He was already leaping down from the higher path, followed closely by a cloaked figure and the bombsmith from Kakariko, but Epona paid little to no mind to either of them. Her eyes were locked onto her master, alive and well before her. She barely felt the sword and shield drop from her hands as she ran to meet him. When they were close enough for her to see the clear blue of his eyes, she knew it was real and her heart suddenly felt too big for her chest.
His arms wrapped tightly around her when they met, and Epona buried her face into his chest, inhaling and savoring the memory of him, the feel of his light kisses in her hair, the smell of his shirt, the precise way she fit into his embrace.
"Epona, I'm so sorry," he was murmuring into her hair. "Never again, I will never hurt you again, I'm sorry, so sorry…"
"It is all right now," she whispered into his chest, barely loud enough for him to hear. "You are back. That is all that matters."
"I don't mean to break up this touching reunion, but Ganondorf is still on his way down the mountain, so…" Barnes said, a sheepish half-smile on his face. Link sighed and broke out of the hug, keeping one arm fixed around Epona's waist.
"Right. We should move on," he said.
"I saw him," Epona said, suddenly remembering. "I saw him walk down the path with four monsters." Link's arm tightened minutely.
"Then we can still catch him," he said. Epona looked up at his face and saw his determined eyes and set jaw. She smiled; this was the Link she knew and loved. She pointed toward where the Sword of Eldin and shield lay on the ground.
"Do you need a weapon?" she asked. "Renado lent me the Sword of Eldin, and the boy with the store lent me a shield." Link stared at her wordlessly for a moment, then laughed. She frowned. "What?"
"You never fail to surprise me," he chuckled, placing a quick kiss on her temple before running down to recover the weapon. Epona watched him go, a vacant smile on her face, but she was wrenched from her thoughts by an earth-shattering explosion from somewhere down the mountain.
Link froze, staring at the plumes of smoke rising from below. His face was pale, his eyes wide with horror and realization.
"That… that was…" Barnes stammered.
"Kakariko," Link finished, his voice dark with foreboding.
They could already hear the screams.
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