"Navi... Is there another way out?"
She said nothing.
"Navi?"
"I, uh..." She trailed away, her hesitation scraping away at the remnants of Link's ability to hope. "Yes. Yes, Link, there has to be. I'm... I'm not an expert on mining, but the Gorons are. And even I know there has to be a second exit, maybe even more than one. It's just common sense, in case there's a cave-in. This is an active volcano, after all." She grew more confident as she went on. "And anyway, this little tunnel is much too small to be the main corridor for the whole mine. Yeah, there's another way. All we need to do is find it."
It sounded blessedly believable. Link accepted it as true. He had to.
"So do we... head back again?"
"I guess we do. "
Link didn't relish the prospect; the mere thought of returning made his back throb harder. He never wanted to see a Dodongo nest again in his life. "W-what about all those other tunnels? If one led to the city, why not more?"
"I doubt the Gorons would be keeping more than one way open at a time like this. It'd only place them in more danger."
"But we don't know for sure." The dust hanging in the air made Link cough, racking his burnt back. The dust tasted and smelled like blood.
"...No. Not for sure."
"Well then. Let's go."
The going was slow and not getting any faster, but, tired as Link was, he could force himself to keep walking. His current hobbling pace was a lot like one of his all-day runs through Hyrule Field; he was winded, but not so badly that he was in danger of collapsing. Unless he pushed himself.
They came to the first turn in the tunnel.
"I can go alone if you'd rather rest for a bit. Do you want to wait here?" Navi asked.
The notion of not having to walk was attractive, but Link also didn't want to be left alone in the dark of the mine.
But then, if he went in and a Dodongo did crawl all the way here and after them, and the tunnel didn't lead to safety...
"Link?"
"...I'll come with you." He really didn't want to be alone right then.
It was a dead end, and so were the next two. The first one showed signs of having been closed off on purpose; it ended in worked stone blocks instead of a haphazard pile of rubble. Link shouted and banged on the wall with the pommel of his sword, gritting his teeth as each horribly loud strike stretched his frayed nerves tighter and tighter. There was no reply from the other side, however, and Link was left in a cold sweat for fear of the racket calling every oversized lizard in the mountain his way.
In the end, though, no Dodongos came for him. The second tunnel tapered out to something too small for Link to crawl through, and Navi only had to fly a short way in to confirm it led nowhere anyway. The last passage had caved in like the big one, though apparently a long time ago, since there was no dust in the air.
That left nowhere to go but farther in.
They followed the rails past the depot with the dead Gorons and the havoc of the Dodongos' lair, after which the stifling nondescriptness of the mines enfolded them once more.
"What do you think the Gorons will do? Will they come looking for us?" Link asked of his partner, mostly out of a need to hear something other than his own shuffling feet.
"I don't know," Navi said slowly. "Maybe they'll try to rescue us, and maybe they'll follow your lead and come help us fight. But we never saw how much food they had in reserve, so..."
"So maybe they'll just seal every tunnel and leave us here until things get bad for them," Link finished.
"Let's hope not. Whatever they had stored up will run out sooner or later, and they'd need to plan for that."
Link cleared his throat. He wished he had Muraka's waterskin right now. "What do you mean? Wouldn't they just wait until there's nothing left, if they're so scared?"
"The longer they wait, the weaker hunger will make them. Even if fighting is to be their last resort, they'd want to be capable when the time comes."
Link grunted. The Gorons wouldn't run out of stores fast enough for it to be relevant to him and Navi, though. He didn't have that kind of luck. His one hope was that he had impressed Darunia enough to warrant a rescue.
The mine complex took a turn for the deeper some ways after the lair chamber. Navi followed the tracks several steps ahead of Link, who in turn followed her, inwardly lamenting the fact his eyes could never get properly used to the contrast between fairy light and total darkness. He'd found it to be more of a hindrance than an aid when Navi hovered too close.
The last room before the downward turn in the road was a rather snug pit stop of sorts. It housed a handful of mining carts, some of which were overturned while others were still laden with rocks. In one nondescript iron bucket they found a bunch of round and obviously non-rock objects three or four times the size of Link's fist. Navi took one look at them, snapped into a "shocked fairy" pose complete with the appropriate pi-pi-pi-ping noise, and in a shaky voice told Link about bombs.
Link wasn't sure if he wanted any on him. He'd had quite enough of explosions and walking around ready to go off like a dying Dodongo didn't appeal to him much. Navi was no more enthusiastic than he was, but she pointed out that they could be used as weapons against the Dodongos; they could be thrown in the monsters' mouths if it came to it.
"What could the Gorons possibly want with these things?" Link said, holding one of the bombs in his hands in a way suggesting he half expected it to blow at any second. The bombs were a bit lighter than a stone their size in spite of their metal casing, but still quite heavy. They weren't made to be thrown for someone like Link, that was for sure.
"You saw how much punch a dying Dodongo packs. That force can be used for mining, and these bombs may be even more powerful."
"No kidding..."
The explosives had a fuse that had to be screwed in and lit for them to detonate. That was no problem; Link had his sword and he'd brought with him one of the several flints he'd bought at the town market with his minstreling money. They were sold dirt cheap at smithies and he'd thought they'd make excellent gifts back home. And as he also had his pouch for storing the bombs safely, there was little reason not to take some along.
He took a dozen. In the end, the idea of being able to blow up Dodongos without having to get close was too good to pass up.
The last point of interest in the cave was a deep shaft with a set of pulleys and chains rigged into the ceiling above it. Unidentified sounds echoed up the chasm, granting no clue about the distance of their source. Nevertheless, Link could hear the scratching of Dodongos pulling their bodies along in all of them. Had there been any other way, down would have been his absolute last choice of direction.
Two landings later they came to the next proper level, which they promptly began to explore. It had become warmer and warmer the farther down they went, and when Link began to sweat from the heat instead of his nerves, he and Navi took the time to dig out the Goron tunic and wrangle him into it. The process was laborious and took some imagination, but it turned out doable, in no small part thanks to the large size of the garment.
On the upside, his back was better now; what had been ripping waves of hurt had diminished into a dull ache. He didn't stash his Deku stick but no longer was he in danger of falling down and staying there. The darkness of the mine was unyielding, the air dusty and hot, but after a while in the Goron tunic it felt no more draining than running across Hyrule field in fair weather. Link wondered if it was morning outside the mountain yet, and why he didn't feel any sleepier after having been ready to pass out before. Maybe there was something to the idea of Deku sap being good for you?
If not for the sounds Link might have gotten used to the surroundings. Unfortunately, as they made their sluggish way through the tunnels, it was becoming more and more obvious that the noises he had heard coming up the mineshaft were indeed of Dodongo origin; sporadic thumps and clashes were punctuated by hisses and sounds that could only come from large, snapping jaws. However, when they distanced themselves from the mineshaft, another, duller clamor soon reached their ears and covered the sounds from the depths.
Among the numerous smaller tunnels that branched off the main corridor there was one whose walls were smoother and floor more worn than typical. It seemed to be the source of the noise, and there was a noticeable draught of hot air from it as well. It wasn't the most promising of prospects, but Link decided to go there anyway, figuring that at least the sound from there wasn't Dodongo-like.
Somewhat unexpectedly the two came to a corner; not a bend in the road or an intersection of roughly hewn passages, but an actual corner of worked stone. Navi peeked around it carefully.
"Hey! Come see this!"
Link did. His breath caught when he realized he could see something at the other end. It was red, like in the Goron smithies.
Navi answered him before he could ask. "That glow comes from lava, I believe. Remember what Muraka said about it?"
"Yeah..." Link's eyes were fixated on the distant light.
"Well, it's really hot, and the way may be impassable there. We might be looking at the volcano's crater right now." Just as Link was about to protest, she added, "But let's go ahead and check. It's still our best bet right now."
"That's more like it," Link said eagerly. He couldn't help it; the prospect of an exit filled his imagination. He felt like he could run all the way back to Kokiri Forest if necessary. The Goron smithy had been intolerable the last time, but he hadn't had the tunic on then. Even the air now wafting in his face only felt mildly warm.
Navi slipped inside his sleeve when the light grew strong enough to see by. Although he itched to run, caution and the loudening roar made Link slow down and hunch lower as he drew near the end of the hall. What he saw upon reaching it stole his breath. He squatted down instinctively, earning a sharp twinge in his back and falling to a knee, but he hardly batted an eye.
The cavern was vast, on par with the central pit of Goron City if not as deep. What he had stumbled across was some kind of viewing platform; there was a ledge circling the room from where he was crouching, though he didn't see it leading anywhere. It may have been narrow by Darunia's standards but it was amply spacious for Link. This he noted as a quick detail, only to promptly forget it.
The first heart-stopping distraction was the gigantic skull glaring almost straight at him: a nightmare of charred, yellowing bone lit from below by an otherworldly red radiance. It took all Link had not to crawl away from that lifeless gaze as fast as his injuries allowed. The other thing was the walls, or rather the bones that comprised them. What he had at first taken to be ornamental brackets like he'd seen on some bigger buildings in Castle Town turned out to be the ribs of... Link couldn't even say. Whatever monstrosity that skull had belonged to? No, why would the dead creature's own head be stuck inside its ribcage? Did those belong to something even bigger?
Were they the remains of a Dodongo? Could anything but the Deku Tree really grow that big?
Oh sweet scrubs. Who at home is going to believe this? Not even Saria, that's who.
Link stared in awestruck silence for a time before he thought to check out the source of the light. Several black patches of ground were cracked and bulged like the cobblestone roads of Castle Town, revealing shimmering red wounds in the gaps. Streamlets of beautiful, bright liquid red bubbled up and trickled down from a couple of the walls. The glowing parts must have been very hot, for the whole cave was filled heat shimmers.
But the air wasn't the only thing writhing in the cavern.
No. Oh Farore, no. Goddesses, no...
The floor was a crawling mass of Dodongos. Lizards small and large pushed and jostled each other, squirmed in the press of each others' bodies and climbed over one another on their way to and fro all over the room, out of it, into it. Most were between a Kokiri and Hylian in size, others were a brighter green and about the size of a dog, while others were even bigger than the ones Link had run into, lumbering hulks the smaller beasts scrambled to avoid.
Link felt a crushing despair, tempered only slightly by his being safely out of reach – for the moment, that was. These Dodongos were without a doubt what he'd heard swarming in the lower levels. They appeared to be milling around chaotically now, but he could have been wrong there; he couldn't see the whole room. Maybe there was a route to the surface somewhere just out of his sight. Maybe they were moving out in all directions.
Only one thing was for sure.
I won't go down there. I won't.
There had to be some other way, some option that didn't include running over the backs of Dodongos...
Navi tapped on his arm. "What do you see, Link?" she whispered. Link almost didn't hear her over the background noise.
Link brought his arm forward so Navi could see the Dodongo skull, covering her with his hand so her shine wouldn't light the ceiling. He gave a shuddering sigh, trying to make himself sound flippant though he felt more like crying. "The bottom of the room is full of Dodongos. There's no way forward."
"Full? How many are we talking?"
"I don't know. Thousands? Hear that noise? They're what's making it."
She tried to reassure him. "Well, we weren't heading that way anyway, were we? There's still plenty to explore on this level."
"The mine only goes down, Navi. None of those little tunnels ever have anything in them."
"Then what about this footpath we're on right now? Is there anything else up here?"
Link surveyed his surroundings, wishing it were so. It's not impossible... I can't see anything, but maybe that's just the dimness and heat. But then, if he moved anywhere, they might be seen.
"I'd wager this thing has to lead somewhere, wouldn't you? Cheer up now and let's take a look around," Navi pressed.
"All right," Link said. After everything else, what's a little walk in full view of thousands of Dodongos?
Navi crawled back up Link's sleeve and he got to his feet. He hugged the wall and tried to keep his head down, for all the good it did him. Which, he suspected, wasn't all that much. It seemed more likely that the lizards were just shortsighted. Or maybe it was the heat shimmers. Link would never know, but he was able to walk the platform with no reaction from the Dodongos.
And true to Navi's guess, there was another doorway on the upper level, previously disguised as an ambient shadow on the wall. The corridor sloped down, but it was quieter and felt safer.
They went deeper.
"You will let me through!" Muraka shouted.
"No, brother. Sorry," one of the dozen guards blocking the hall told him.
Muraka had come running when word reached him – at risk to life and limb in the darkness of Goron City, no less – only to discover that the Gorons had already walled the passage in and were piling up more stones and mortar to strengthen the block. After the initial dismayed shock of disbelief he had been all but climbing the walls in his fury.
"You have no right to hold me up here! Now move aside, or by Farore so help me I will―"
"I believe it best, brother Muraka, that you stop there."
Muraka whirled around to face the Big Brother of the Gorons, who was just pushing his way through the mass of people gathered to witness the spectacle. He stood a head taller than anyone else in the crowd, and two heads taller than most. "Tell your guards to let me pass, Darunia! Apparently this one took Link to the ale cellars, got him drunk and then joined these others in watching him run into the Din-searing mines, and now they're refusing to aid him or allow me to do so!" Muraka sucked in a breath, flushed from the shouting. Darunia raised a rocky eyebrow.
"That true, Qurdu?" the Goron boss grumbled.
"I didn't, I didn't know he was going to run in! I swear I didn't, Big Bro, I swear! It surprised us all when he did! We was... we were just having a good time..." Muraka wasn't sure if Gorons could cry, though Qurdu sounded like he might. Two others had their arms around his shoulders.
"What's done is done," Darunia said. "I offer my apologies to you and my Sworn Brother the king for the slowness of my watchmen."
Nayru, grant me patience. The Sheikah tried not to spit out each individual word. "I do not, at present, care about the slowness of your watchmen, except as pertains to undoing the damage of their negligence. That is my only concern at this time. And to that end, esteemed Big Brother, if you would...?"
And yet, even as he waved his hand at the steadily growing blockade for Darunia to order it opened, he watched resolve settle more firmly into the Big Brother's face.
"I fear there's no reopening the passage now. I have more concerns than you do, brother Muraka, for I must protect this city. It's too late now."
"He has only been gone, what? An hour or so? It's not too late!"
Darunia folded his arms across his massive chest. "One miner was already killed not far from the other end of this drift. His body had to be left for the lizards. The damn things already had our scent, and they were probably already on their way when the boy ran in. His scent will only lead them here that much faster. We will be lucky if this proves enough to hold them." He gestured at the hastily erected barricade.
"If you won't let him out, at least let me in!"
"You're not hearing me, brother. It's too dangerous."
Muraka grit his teeth. "You could give the order. You're just refusing to," he said quietly.
Darunia clenched his jaw. "I'm sorry."
Glancing around the sea of Gorons around them Muraka found many sympathetic faces – almost as many as fearful ones. He didn't want to see either. Right then he wanted to see a warrior race, bristling with injured dignity at the doubt cast upon their valor. Alas, the typical Goron was no more a warrior than the average Hylian. Instead of trained in the use of arms, most were simply afraid and weak with hunger.
The Gerudo wouldn't have rolled over like this, Muraka thought. Nor the Zora. They would have rallied their whole race to rescue the least of their number.
Yes, said the part of him sworn to serve the Royal Family. And that is why they don't win wars.
It was a cruel thing to accuse a peaceful people of weakness. A cruel thing, but true.
Muraka turned to leave. He had to think of something, to find help somehow, somewhere.
"I don't suppose there's another, safer way in?"
"No," Darunia said to his back.
Muraka walked away.
"There's no way this one's going anywhere, Navi. We should turn back."
They had followed the tunnel for quite some time. The path had been interspersed with upward and downward turns, left and right turns and smaller adjoining tunnels, none of which showed much signs of use. The noise of the Dodongo multitude had faded long ago and been replaced by a deep silence and the occasional grumble of the mountain itself. Link had eaten every ripe and mostly ripe nut off the stick a while back, half for hunger and half to have something to do. He was walking half-asleep on his feet, all fear and alertness having surrendered to boredom. This is ridiculous, he thought. How big is this place anyway?
"I don't know about that," Navi said. "I have a feeling this might be one of the emergency exits."
"How do you figure that?"
"It's not a lava tube and there are no landings or signs of mining. It was built for some purpose, and there were all those other corridors leading to this one."
Link gave a groan that turned into a yawn. "Sure, and now we're heading down again. Think we'll come out the bottom any time soon?"
"A downward trend doesn't mean we're not heading out," Navi pointed out. "We were pretty high up on the mountain to begin with, if you recall. Maybe we'll come out somewhere halfway down the slope?"
"Do you think?" Could they really have come all that way?
"Your guess is as good as mine, but... I'd say it's possible."
Link yawned again. He hadn't slept since before entering Goron City and had half a mind to just lay down and have at it. He'd probably found the safest place in the mountain to do so, so why not?
The answer came in the form of a rumble louder than he had heard when then tunnel collapsed. No dust trickled down their necks this time but it still set his heart racing. A series of crashed reverberated in the stone, as though vast boulders were falling down elsewhere in the mountain.
Link took the hint. No sleeping in Death Mountain. No thinking about sleeping in Death Mountain. Check. After the volcano quieted down again he trudged on, silently envying Navi her tirelessness. He knew fairies slept like everyone else, so where did she get her energy?
A bend in the corridor loomed in front of them before he could ask. By then Link and Navi had seen so many they hardly even slowed down before rounding it. In the distance they saw a now familiar red glow.
More lava. Great. "This is so pointless..." Link muttered. If that chamber turned out to be a dead end he was going to sleep in the doorway.
Navi floated ahead, Link dragging his feet in tow. The chamber was some forty odd yards in diameter and roughly hemispherical with a slightly lower ceiling. In several places the walls had buckled under the force of past eruptions, leaving behind mounds of debris. Like the cave with the giant skeleton, this one's floor was broken and lava oozed through. The lava was mostly confined to a central pit, but every so often bubbles burst through the surface and spattered the ground. It was the closest he'd been to molten stone so far, and the air felt hot and breathing uncomfortable even with the Goron tunic on. Most of the ground wasn't smoking, so at least it was passable, but of course there was nothing in―
"Look! See that up there?" Navi pointed up. There was a set of stairs running the circumference of the room in an upward spiral, terminating in yet another entrance to yet another tunnel.
"I'll bet you next day's nut crop it'll only lead to more tunnels," Link groused, but he made to climb the stairs regardless. Maybe if I walk until I drop of exhaustion I won't mind the hardness of the floor...
He was about a quarter of the way up the stairs when the mountain trembled again.
No, not the mountain. A part of the cavern shifted, uncoiling into a gray, four-legged monster the size of a house. Despite the color, number of legs and unreasonable size it was obviously a Dodongo. Link's eyes widened and he backed up against the wall. He was halfway down to a crouch when the beast rounded on him and he remembered how stupid it was trying to hide with Navi hanging in shock right above him. He sidled up the stairs slowly, every muscle tense and prepared to spring into a run. A memory came to him of Saria telling him not to run away from wild animals because that might make them attack. All the while the massive Dodongo stared at him balefully, as if weighing his merits as a morsel. If he could only make it a little farther up, out of the reach of its jaws... Oh, please let it not think me worth the trouble...
The moment the creature took its first ground-shaking steps in his direction, Link abandoned all caution and broke into a run.
The Dodongo came at him, picking up speed―but didn't raise a clawed foreleg or try to crush him in one bite. Link realized what it was going to do a mere heartbeat before it slammed into the wall.
Link threw himself down on the ground right by the wall just before a violent tremor shook the chamber, causing stones and dust to rain from the ceiling and cracks to appear in the wall he was pressed against. He banged his chin on the floor but didn't fall off the stairway.
He was on his feet and running again well before the pretty lights stopped dancing in his vision, while the Dodongo persisted in pummeling the wall further. It was no longer threatening to shake him down but it did cause a section of the stairway behind him to crumple, and its wild thrashing was disturbing the lava in the central pit, throwing up globs and droplets every which way. Navi was right ahead of him, lighting his way to the best of her ability and calling warnings when stones from above were about to land dangerously close.
There was a moment of calm. Link didn't stop running but he risked a glance down. The huge Dodongo glared at him in stillness and silence.
Then it opened its mouth and began to draw in air.
Panic struck Link. There was nowhere to hide, and the exit was too far so there was no running away either.
"Link, the bombs! Get the bombs ready!" Navi yelled.
Link yanked at the strings of his pouch and fumbled inside for a bomb and a fuse. He held his own breath while the Dodongo filled its lungs. Keep breathing, damn you. Just keep breathing and suck that air until the whole room is empty...
With trembling hands that had never felt so slow in his life, Link managed to screw the fuse in place.
Then his heart stopped. The flint!
Navi swept down a short distance in front of him. "Here!"
There was a lump of cooling magma on the stairs. Link scrambled over to touch the fuse to it and almost ended up burying his face in it. The fuse ignited instantly on contact with a sharp hissing sound, easily audible in the sudden silence; the Dodongo had finished inhaling.
Link tossed the bomb down, straight toward the beast's gaping maw. Please go in, please go in! Link prayed, but he didn't stay to see what would happen. As soon as the bomb left his hand, he turned tail and dashed up after Navi, towards the exit and away from the Dodongo.
Just a moment more! Gods, give me a moment, just a few seconds―!
Then the cavern flashed brighter than daylight and the sound that followed rocked the world, lifted Link off his feet and smashed him bodily into the wall.
It was quite late in the evening when Zelda was brought to his study. On most days she would already have been asleep by then. Harkinian wondered if staying up late seemed the same exciting privilege to her as it had to him as a young boy. The memories felt three lifetimes distant, but once upon a time it would have been the adventure of his life to be invited into his mother's study to talk of weighty matters and perhaps to gain a candlelit glimpse of official documents, the queen's personal letters and other such arcane scripture.
Zelda was visibly weary and had not changed from her audience outfit. Her hair hadn't been undone from its coiffure and she was even wearing the plain silver diadem from her meeting. If she'd assumed he would care more about the delay than her dress, she had assumed correctly. It was a small thing but it attested to her sense of dutifulness.
"Hello, father. I apologize for the lateness of the hour."
Harkinian smiled. "It's fine, child. Here, come." Zelda came around the table to take the hand he held out and let herself be guided onto his lap. At ten years she might not require much rocking on the knee anymore, but there was still enough leeway for him to indulge himself. Soon enough there would be little and less of it.
He lifted the diadem from Zelda brow and touched behind her ear. The metallic band had left a little depression in the skin. He met her curious look with a mildly amused one of his own and placed the circlet on the table. "The haste was not such that you didn't have the time to take this off."
"As you say, father." Zelda hid a yawn behind her hand.
"I shan't keep you long, my child. Eda told you that king Dragmire will be here in one week, didn't she?"
"Yes, father."
"You seem subdued." No response. "Does he scare you?"
"...Yes." Zelda closed her hands into loose fists, which Harkinian closed inside his own.
Poor girl. She doesn't trust in her safety here. He hoped she was wrong not to.
"Remember the important thing about truths?" he asked.
"Yes, father. They should be faced," Zelda cited. Harkinian had made sure that every one of her tutors used some variant of the phrase now and again.
The king nodded. "I won't tell you he's not dangerous. You know better than that. But this is our stronghold, not his, and you don't need to guard against every threat yourself." He tried a smile but Zelda didn't return it. He knew the look on his daughter's face well enough: she had something to say but didn't know how. Didn't know... or, in those rare cases he did his best to gently discourage, didn't dare. "Also," Harkinian continued, "we already know to tread carefully thanks to your vision. Impa will guard you against any threat in this world, and in my vainer moments I am yet wont to think I didn't stay on my throne through a civil war by pure happenstance. You are right to be concerned, but not to fear."
Zelda said nothing. She had a distant look.
"Well," the king said eventually, doing his best to sound reassuring. "Don't feel too guilty about your apprehensions, at least. It wouldn't do not to keep a clear head, would it? You will want your mind sharp in a few days."
Again nothing. Harkinian hoped it was only the hour, but knew it was not.
His own apprehensions wouldn't let him rest, however. He raised their clasped hands to regain her attention. "Zelda... Are you happy?"
Zelda raised her eyes to meet his in surprise. She drew one of her hands free and placed it on his. "Yes, father. Of course. It is only this late... disquiet that has me anxious. Please don't worry, I'm not... unhappy."
To his relief she seemed sincere. It was something. And for the moment, it would have to be enough.
"I'm glad to hear it. Now, this will be the first time in a while that we've had any formal dealings with the Gerudo. And you, of course, have never met one of their people yourself. To remedy that you'll be having additional sessions with Yrej every day this following week. He will instruct you in some of the finer points of Gerudo customs."
She did smile then. "I will look forward to it, father. He is a good teacher. I always enjoy his lessons."
That's my girl, Harkinian thought with a chuckle. "I know you do, child. I know you do." He brushed her cheek with a thumb. "I only wish you would smile more. The desert sorcerer is not the end of the world."
Zelda met his eyes sadly. "I still don't think we should let him come."
Neither do I, dear one. Harkinian kissed her on the forehead. "Noted. Yet I ask that you have a little faith in your old father. He loves you much too dearly to risk bringing you to harm."
He lifted her from his lap and placed her on her feet, refusing to grunt with the effort. "You may go now. Good night, Zelda."
"Good night, father." Zelda curtsied before showing herself out.
Only when she was gone did Harkinian realize she'd forgotten the diadem. It is late, isn't it? he thought.
He produced a glass from his desk drawer and made his way across the room to a cabinet containing a bottle of wine. By the example of his mother, Harkinian wouldn't have more than one in his study at any given time unless he had visitors. The habit of keeping the liquor at a walking distance was his own contribution to the tradition.
He poured himself a full glass and had a taste. A good vintage of southern red. The kind there wouldn't be any more of any time soon. All newer wines were of inferior northern crops or imported, the famed hills of Faron having lain empty and untended for years. It was – Literally, the king mused – a bitter reminder of the past. He took a deep pull and savored it.
His late wife had been of southern stock as well. As fiercely as he had loved her, and as content as she had appeared to be, he had never shaken his doubts. He was no fool. What young woman would be entirely content with a man a hundred years her senior? In their years together she had never given him reason to believe her unhappy, but the insecurities of age were insistent... Except in one thing.
Zelda. The greatest joy they had shared, however briefly, and the best thing had done with his life.
You would have been proud of her, Sunya. All those late evenings she had spent planning ahead for how their heir should be raised, often down to individual lessons and specific teachers, frequently featuring herself. Plans he had carried out to the best of his ability in her absence. Would she have approved of his execution? Would she have been mortified that he couldn't find more time for his only child? But then, the plan had never been for one of them to be saddled with all the work. Perhaps she would have understood...
He thought back to Zelda's last brief smile and shook his head. Such a thing to smile about – extra lessons! She had to have gotten that from Sunya. Harkinian had never enjoyed a lecture in his life before a position of power had saddled him with responsibilities and expectations to live up to. Zelda was different. Learning had ever been her joy and her teachers her best friends. It gave him pause sometimes, but there was no real harm in it. That, and he was content not to interfere any more than he already had to. A princess of the realm had a hard enough time connecting with anyone even without him orchestrating her entire life in the manner of a puppet show.
The king allowed his thoughts to wander. One shouldn't have to rule over a country while raising a child. Both tasks deserve one's full attention. And for that matter, one shouldn't have to grow up while learning to rule a country. How long until a person should be properly ready for that?
Was anyone ever?
Red refractions glittered in the wine as Harkinian sloshed it around the glass. The swirling movement mesmerized him for a moment and he spilled some on himself. He frowned at the stain it left on his sleeve. Already I am letting this get to me. A statement that applied to both the situation and the wine. It was time to retire from both for the night.
After stowing the glass, papers, quill and ink, the only thing remaining on the desk was the circlet Zelda had left behind. Harkinian's thoughts returned to his parting words to his daughter and the upcoming arrival of the Gerudo king.
Oh, you Goddesses, do not make a liar out of me.
He couldn't remember waking up or anything else for a while after that. His legs hurt and bled and couldn't be moved. The cavern was unrecognizable and the details left only the briefest impressions on his hazy mind. Here and there were Dodongo teeth, embedded in the walls. The ceiling was scorched, dripping blood and missing chunks, and the room was almost full of rocks. From one side of the chamber liquid fire was pouring into the cracks, maybe threatening to fill the whole chamber eventually. The only thing that had shielded their lives through the cave-in was dumb luck.
Link was in too much of a daze to do anything. Fortunately for him, Navi was there to tell him where to go. The first thing Link actually noticed himself doing and the only thing he would later remember was climbing up a huge, steep pile of rubble towards a hole at the other end.
Link dragged himself along, pull after excruciating pull. He breathed in and out twice for each time he lifted his weight off the ground. There was neither thought nor stubbornness to his perseverance; it was simply a thing he was doing at the moment, and it hadn't occurred to him to stop, or his body to collapse. It was a timeless process, eternities threaded on a string of mechanical motions like so many beads. He didn't see where he was going and couldn't raise his head. All he saw were his hands, the way he moved them and how Navi's light regularly fell on them.
Up... was all he could think. "Out," Navi had said. It was night out, the storm had passed and the stars were beautiful – wouldn't he please come and see? He didn't know if that was true. Had she left him at some point, or was she making it up?
Something had torn loose inside his tunic. He couldn't have crawled the way he did if it hadn't. Blissfully, it had stopped hurting. Or maybe he was just too tired to feel it. He was so tired...
Link had only glanced back once, and he had still been in the same chamber then. He hadn't been able to bear the thought of repeating that discovery since, and had only stared ahead or at the ground.
Maybe he was making no progress at all. Maybe he was slowly sliding back at the same pace he crawled forward. Maybe Navi was just hanging still in the air, waiting for him to get a move on.
The air got colder and Navi cried encouragement. Link heard her speak of the outside and other things. It didn't change anything much. Pull, pause. Pull, pause. Pull, pause...
"See, Link? See? You did it. Look, we're out!"
Link raised himself off the ground on both arms to see. His neck felt weak and keeping his head up was surprisingly difficult. The ceiling was gone, and above him hung the star-studded night sky. A few soft-edged tatters of clouds left behind by the storm lagged on their lonely northward journey. The moon was out, peeking out from behind a cliff in front of him. He tried to raise himself higher to see more of it, but his arms gave out and he ended up kissing the ground instead. Ow.
Navi was there. "Are you all right?"
It's... "okay..."
"What? Link?"
He wanted to tell her he was fine. They were out now and the air smelled to good, so clean. It wasn't hot anymore, either. No, it was blessedly cool. Link splayed his fingers against the stone beneath him and laid his burning cheek against the ground. It was such a relief.
Heh. It worked. Not hard at all...
"No, Link, don't fall asleep! The spring is somewhere near here! I'll, I'll get help! Just stay awake, please, just a few more moments!" Navi's light went away.
Just for a moment, he wanted to say, but what came out was only a sigh. He could move his tongue but not his lips. That's funny. I said that before...
Link closed his eyes.