Chapter 26
The Fortress
Princess Zelda and I didn't talk much as we made our way across Hyrule Field, towards Lake Hylia. The fight at LonLon Ranch had made us both tense, and we kept a close eye on our sorroundings, fearing to be attacked at any moment.
However, nothing happened. And thus, with only one break to let our horses eat and drink, we spent the entire way to the lake in silence.
However, as we reached it and followed the road around the edge, leading to the mountain pass that Hyrule's army had crossed not too long ago.
My thoughts were going wild as I looked ahead. I would find Link, and I would make Ganondorf pay for whatever he had done to him.
I spurred Glory on, making her fall into a fast canter. I could hear Zelda shout my name somewhere behind me, but I did not stop. I was way too fixated on getting to the fortress… to Link.
After a while, she finally caught up to me, riding ahead and blocking the way. „Rebecca! What do you think you're doing?!"
„I'm doing everything I can to make sure we get to Link as fast as possible", I retorted perhaps a bit more aggressively than intended.
„We have to preserve our strength. And the strength of our horses, too."
I felt the familiar heat of anger in my veins. „Link could be tortured or killed at this moment! Why are you stalling?! Don't you care that-"
„Rebecca." The tone of her voice reminded me who I was talking to. Just a weeks ago I would have flinched at the mere thought of even disagreeing with her, and now I was so openly questioning her dedication. „I love Link just as much as you do. Never forget that." She turned her horse and rode ahead again, at a normal speed.
My heart sank as the reality of the things I had just said caught up to me.
Oh by the Goddesses…
After a few hours of uncomfortable silence, it was getting dark and Zelda decided that we should take shelter in a nearby cave to sleep. I had gathered some twigs and branches from the sturdy trees around the cave, so we could light a fire. Once that was done however, I retreated to the farthest corner of the cave, away from the light and warmth of the campfire, only occasionally looking over to Zelda, who was staring into the flames.
Whatever feeble kind of friendship had connected us up until now was surely lost; destroyed by my stupidity. I quietly cursed myself and wrapped my coat tightly around me, trying to keep away the cold of the night without having to go closer to the fire and risk a confrontation with Zelda… no, Princess Zelda. I had lost the right to just call her by her first name.
I stared at the dancing shadows on the wall, wallowing in self-pity, when I heard soft steps approach me. I turned my head to see Princess Zelda sit down next to me. She looked me over. „Why don't you come to the fire? It's cold tonight."
I averted my gaze. „I wanted to give you some space." I wanted to apologize. To beg on my knees for her forgiveness. But all I managed to say was a soft, choked „I'm sorry.".
She sighed, wrapping her coat around me. „Come. Sit at the fire with me. Then we can talk about this."
We got up and she led me over to the fire, propping me up like I was sick or injured, and sat down again. My joints had already gone stiff from the cold, and I stretched out my hands to warm them. While I did so, I sighed. „I'm sorry for saying these horrible things about you. I had no right to do that. I know that you are worried about Link, and that you love him, and…" I broke off before I could say anymore. There was no way I would start the whole „He would be better off with you" conversation again.
„I understand", she replied, wrapping one arm around my shoulder. „And I forgive you."
I let out a sigh of relief. I did not know how I deserved a friend like her, but I thanked the Goddesses for her.
The next morning, we mounted our horses as soon as we woke up, having a quick breakfast consisting of dried meat and bread while riding. While I was still embarrassed about my outburst the previous day, Zelda seemed to have all but forgotten about it. She chatted with me as if nothing had happened, her chipper tone indicating that she was trying to lift the mood.
„...and once all of this is over, I want to properly meet your little son." She smiled and leaned forward. „What do you think he will look like when he's older? Like you or like Link? Or maybe a bit of both?"
„That's how it usually is with children", I replied, getting sucked in by her enthusiasm. She was so easy to get along with...
After a while, we saw the silhouette of a large building in the distance. Zelda turned to me. „That must be it. From here on out, we have to be prepared for anything."
„Got it." I stared at the fortress with determination. Maybe my husband was somewhere in there... and by the Goddesses, I would find him.
We were expecting to be assaulted any moment as we approached the fortress' blackened walls, and I felt my heart sink as we came across a field filled with freshly dug graves, a sword marking each one.
This must have been where the battle took place. How many of the dead resting in these graves did I know? I felt a chill run down my spine. Best not think about that quite yet; Ganondorf would get what was coming for him soon enough.
It was eerily quiet. The wind was whistleing in between the walls and rooms of this place, and that was all we heard.
„We should probably leave our horses here and continue on foot", Zelda told me as she dismounted.
„That would probably be for the best", I agreed and did the same, giving Glory a calming pat on the neck before following the Princess.
The gate was wide open and the courtyard was empty, still we stayed close to the walls and kept ourselves in the shadows as much as we could. We entered a door on the right side of the main building, which turned out to lead us to a kitchen not unlike the one back at Hyrule Castle.
Like the courtyard, this kitchen was empty. I dared to relax a little. But if this place was completely abandoned, then there was little hope of actually finding Link... or any information about his whereabouts here.
Zelda looked around, tense with suspicion. „I don't trust this."
„Do you think we should leave?", I asked.
„No." She strode forward. „But stay on guard."
As we exited the kitchen, a stairway deep down into the bowels of the fortress caught my eye. I tugged at Zelda's sleeve and pointed to it. „This looks like it would lead to a dungeon."
She eyed the stairway, then nodded. „Looks like it. Maybe we'll find something there."
It did indeed lead us to a dungeon. It was cold and humid, and the sickly-sweet stench of decay thickened the air to the point where it was hard to breathe. The silence was occasionally interrupted by the quiet rattle of chains.
„Do you hear that?", I asked. There was someone down there, and chained up from the way it sounded!
„Don't get ahead of yourself, Rebecca", Zelda hissed, grabbing my arm so I couldn't rush down the rest of the stairs. „This might be a trap."
I looked over to her, only able to guess her features in the dark.
„Shouldn't we light a torch or something?", I asked. „We can barely see anything here."
„Too risky", she told me.
„Probing about in absolute darkness isn't the safest thing, either", I replied dryly. „And don't monsters have a heightened sense of smell? Or better nightvision than Hylians?"
Zelda remained quiet for a moment, then sighed. „I suppose you're right. Just a moment..."
The unmistakable sound of flints hitting each other rung through the thick air, and a second later, a torch that had been hanging in the wall lit up with fire. Zelda took it from its holder and nodded at me. „Let's go."
We descended the rest of the stairs in silence. At the bottom was a long corridor lined with prison cells. We walked on, looking into each one, only to find them empty, save for a few cells containing bones. They were too old to be Link's, thank the Goddesses.
At the end of the corridor was a heavy wooden door. The chain-rattle seemed to come from the other side of that door. Zelda and I looked at each other, grim determination in our faces... and pushed it open.
The room we found ourselves in seemed to be meant for solitary confinement. The first thing that met my eye was a bottle on a table, emanating a soft, blue glow.
„Navi!", I called out and ran over to the table, pulling the cork out of the bottle and letting the fairy out. She was so weakened she could barely fly, so I caught her in my hands.
„Princess Zelda! Rebecca! Oh I'm so glad to see you! Link and I have been kept prisoner here for weeks now."
„How did you survive that? The fortress is abandoned!", I asked, frantically looking around until I saw him.
He looked emaciated and dirty, but he was alive. I dropped the bottle, causing it to break on the ground, and ran over to Link. He was chained to the wall in a sitting position, his hands lifted above his head and legs stretched out. His eyes wandered from Zelda to me and back again.
„Reb... Rebecca."
„I'm here, love", I said in a choked voice. „We came here to save you."
„And come you did. Like moths to a flame", said Link's voice, but it did not come from the Link sitting in front of me. I turned around, facing the disguised Ganondorf.
„You", I said, venom in my voice.
He did not even acknowledge me. Instead, he turned to Zelda, still keeping up his disguise. „You disappoint me. I would expect a foolish peasant like her..." He nodded in my general direction. „...to fall for such an obvious trap, but you? You should know better. Ah, but who am I to complain? Here I am, having both the Triforce of Courage and the Triforce of Wisdom at my mercy." Now he turned to me, his blue eyes turning the same sickening yellow they had been during our first meeting at the marketplace. „You have been a very useful puppet. It was almost too easy. I knew that if I just fed you the right information at the right time, you would go running to your darling little princess and lead her right into my arms."
„No!", I cried out.
„What?", he asked with a patronising smile. „Did you really believe that you exposed me? Foolish little thing. You only saw what I wanted you to see. But now, you have outlived your usefulness. Fare thee well... puppet."
The last thing I saw was a flash of bright light, then everything went black.
When I regained my vision, I was laying in that tiny cell in the not-so-abandoned fortress. But Link, Zelda and Ganondorf were gone. The only one who was still here was Navi, who I was still clutching to my chest. My stomach lurched, and I felt like vomiting. With all energy I could muster at the moment, I turned to the side.
„Navi?", I asked weakly. „What happened? Where are Link and Zelda?"
„I... I don't know." The small fairy sounded faint. „Just that Ganondorf did... something to us."
I bit my lip. „We have to get out of here. If they're not here anymore, Ganondorf probably took them to Hyrule City."
It was easier said than done, though. My muscles were stiff and barely obeyed me, and my whole body was sore, like after a particularly long and hard day at work. Only that there was no satisfaction about a job well done, just the terrible knowledge that my actions probably doomed all of Hyrule.
I let go of Navi, who crawled into the satchel on the belt of my armor, and pushed myself into a sitting position. It was so dark that I could barely see anything, though that also could have been from the bright light of the spell.
Crawling along the walls of the room, I tried to feel for the door. Finding it seemed to take forever, but finally, my fingers hit the rough wood.
This time, the fortress was really abandoned. It seemed decrepit, as if it had aged by several years without maintenance while I had been unconcious. Once I found my way up the stairs, a process which was made much easier by Navi's light, I took a good look around, hoping to find Glory and Zelda's horse.
But they were gone. I hissed a curse under my breath, hoping that Glory was alright. But there was no way for me to find her, so I would have to go on without her... and hope that she had found her way home.
The way back to Hyrule was long and tedious. Good thing that I had put some of our provisions into the satchel on my armor, so at least I didn't have to go hungry for too long.
But that was about all luck fate could muster for me. When stepping foot onto Hylian soil again, I gasped in terror.
Lake Hylia was gone, leaving only a massive, dried out hole in the landscape. The once so fertile land around the lake was also devoid of any life now; the grass was brown and crackled underneath my feet. The sky was covered in thick, dark clouds, shrouding the entire lake in gray. But despite the clouds, it looked like there had been no rain for months. Even the air was so dry that it made me cough.
An unfamiliar sound made me grab my weapon, just in time to slice through the monster that had approached me. A tektite. A red one, like one would normally find on the path to Death Mountain.
I cursed under my breath. How could all of this have happened in the few days I had been gone? Had it just been a few days? How long had I been unconcious? Either way, I had to go on. Had to get to Hyrule City, and save Link and Zelda... somehow.
I knew that in my current state, there was little I could do. But there seemed to be no alternatives. No way to free them without a fight. My grip around the naginata tightened.
Just as I approached Hyrule Field, someone grabbed my arm.
„Wait."
I turned around, startled, only to find a familiar Zora-woman. Her fins wrapped around her slender body, almost like a dress, and her deep-purple eyes looked at me in a way I could not quite describe. My eyes grew big. „Princess Ruto?"