Chapter 36

They marched up a winding marble-paved staircase lit by hanging lanterns that led to the open air above. Princess Zelda was at the rear of the entourage with Queen Rutela and the other Zora. Link was up ahead, head bowed, wrists manacled, and closely guarded by two armed Zora men. Keys jangled from the belt of the taller of the pair. The only other sound was the gentle clink of Link's chains in sync with every step he made.

Zelda's eyes took him in. It was first time she'd really seen him since finding herself in the Domain. A tattered purple coat wrapped around Link's grime-coated clothes. Her gaze dropped to his left wrist, her heart twisting at the sight of the wrapped-up stump there. She flicked her eyes up and spotted the mark - the slave mark, she guessed - on his neck.

Does it hurt him? she thought. Is he even concerned? Why isn't he complaining?

They reached the top of the stairs. A stone slab lined with crimson light barred the way out. Zelda was reminded of the underground hideout that they'd visited in the distant past, the one where the Smiling Man had tricked them into thinking they had found the Breach of Black Glass.

Stone groaned as one of the guards pushed aside the slab. Weak, scarlet light flooded in.

Zelda frowned. Something is not right.

All her thoughts melted away as they emerged out into the surface world. Even the Zora were taken aback. Some whimpered in fear.

The world had changed. They were in a barren, sandy valley surrounded by tall mountains – mountains now standing at odd angles, some split in two, some with their tips shorn clean away.

A murmur spread across the assembled Zora with a hushed whisper of "The sky…"

Instead of a faint glow heralding the rising of the sun, dawn's early light was a swirling, burnt-orange bruise split across the sky as though someone had cracked a giant egg in the heavens. Stars spun above them so fast that Zelda had to look away or else she'd be overcome by dizziness.

"Where's the river?" another Zora gasped.

Zelda looked toward a deep gouge in the land where the Zora River should have flowed. It was completely dry now with not even a trace of damp remaining.

More murmurs followed. Fearful ones.

Ghostly voices hung on the breeze, laughing, crying, muttering in different tongues, some intelligible, some not. Zelda realised what they were - distant echoes of a myriad worlds spilling into Hyrule. She pressed a hand to her chest. Fear pricked her spine, her eyes watering.

The breach…

The Zora were getting more agitated now. Clearly they hadn't realised the true nature of the situation. Zelda turned, seeking out Queen Rutela.

She has to end this now!

Zelda's heart sank when her eyes finally found the Zora matriarch. Rutela's face was set with rigid determination. She didn't even seem to be aware of what was happening to Hyrule all around her. That, or she simply didn't' care.

"Silence," the queen snapped. "All of you."

The fretful whispers died away. Rutela spoke on. "Get the prisoner ready. And bring an axe for the princess."

As the Zora moved into action in response to their monarch's commands, Zelda noticed something on one of the misshapen mountains nearby. She squinted. A tall, black building with needle-thin towers and Keese fluttering around each tip hung from the mountain's edge.

That's where it all ends.

Zelda didn't know where that thought had come from, but felt certain it was the truth. She pulled her gaze away and strode purposefully up to the queen.

"Your Majesty," she said, steel flooding into her voice. "Rutela."

That made the Zora woman look up.

Zelda went on. "Can't you see we have no time for this?" she spat. "Link. Let him go. I'm telling you, on my honour and the honour of my people, that he is not responsible for what happened to Ralis."

There was a slight flicker in the queen's eyes. Doubt…?

It vanished in a flash as Rutela's iron-clad resolve returned. "The world will now see what happens if anyone dares strike down my blood."

"The world doesn't care!" Zelda hissed. Her hands balled into fists in frustration. "The world is dying!"

"I want to speak to the princess."

Link's voice made both women turn in his direction. He stood there, wrists bound, as the Zora worked around him, setting up a wooden block lined with dark stains at his feet and a basket nearby. Zelda felt sick.

"You want?" Rutela said, her voice icy. She took a step toward him. "You have no say in this matter, slave."

An angry roar made all them spin around. Behemoth burst out from the staircase, a bent steel bar – from his cell, clearly – in his fist. He swung it around, smashing it into the nearest Zora it met, then, changing angle, he pierced it through another Zora's chest.

"Stop him!" Rutela screamed. "Bring him down!"

"No…" Zelda gasped, watching in horror as Behemoth continued to plough through the onrushing Zora. Blood seeped into the sand, cast darker by the reddened sky pulsing overhead. I'm such a fool! I shouldn't have trusted him. Why did I trust him?

Zelda knew what she had to do. She spun on one heel, her eyes searching in amongst the screaming chaos. The Zora pushed and jolted her, oblivious to her presence as they tried to flee the Behemoth.

Her resolve hardened. She'd spotted her target. The princess sprinted through the crowd toward the tall Zora guard she'd seen earlier – he was busy bellowing orders, trying to calm the people down and ready them for action – and as she neared, she slowed, stooped and swiped the keys from his belt.

He didn't even notice.

Satisfied, Princess Zelda looked up. Time to free Link.

The Zora were ignoring him now, their attention focussed on Behemoth and his blood-soaked rampage. Link had eyes on him as well – he spied his mask, crossbow and hookshot dangling from the big gamer's belt.

I have to get over there.

And then he gasped as suddenly she was there – Zelda was standing in front of him, her face lined with worry as she worked a key into his manacles.

"Princess…" he breathed. His heart thudded.

She didn't look up. "You need to help them," she said.

The manacles fell away, hitting the soft ground with a dull thud.

"Zelda," he said, his eyes fixed on her face, his heart now feeling a slight tremor. He wanted to reach out, envelop her in his arms. "I need to tell you something."

"Now is not the time," the princess replied, her voice soft. A surprise – anyone else would have received the gift of her glare, and a hard edge to her voice to boot. She finally raised her eyes to his. "Help them. I'll be waiting."

Her lips brushed lightly against his, and then she was gone, lost in the crowd. Link didn't have time to linger on the moment. He burst forward, ducking, weaving and sliding through the still-panicked Zora. His muscles and joints were still stiff from his incarceration, and they made him painfully aware of the fact. Gurgled screams reached his ears, mixing with the eerie, ethereal voices that floated invisibly in the air.

And then he was there. Behemoth was before him, ramming a Zora into the ground headfirst. Not all the Zora had fled. Short and Tall were there, too. Short was bent over in pain, rivulets of blood running down from a gash in his forehead, and Tall was staring at the gamer in shock. His stupor was so deep that he didn't notice Behemoth readying his metal club for a strike.

Link hesitated. These two had been a thorn in his side the entire time he'd been in the Zora dungeon. What did he care if they lived or died...?

He snuffed the thought out.

Behemoth raised his club -

Link took a step, then leapt, landing on Short's bent back and then launched himself instantly again. He swooped into the air, then glided downward and landed a cracking punch to Behemoth's face that jolted his head aside. Sand erupted as Link hit the ground. The big man distracted, Link darted in and took back his crossbow, then kicked up more sand straight into his enemy's eyes.

Behemoth roared and swung blindly with the bent metal bar. Link ducked, hooking his crossbow back onto his belt, then moved in again and swiped his hookshot from the big man's belt.

Breathing heavily, his back beginning to feel the strain of his efforts, Link stepped back and clipped the hookshot back around his waist. Behemoth blinked away the sand. He lunged, and Link dodged, taking back his mask as Behemoth slid by.

The big gamer swung around, his arm drawing back, then sent the steel bar flying. Link froze, ready to dodge - and realised the crude spear wasn't aimed at him. It hurtled across the valley, gleaming as it spun under a red-dyed sky.

Link spun, hookshot up in his right hand. It only took him a fraction of a second to realise the intended target.

The Zora queen.

Link took aim and fired. The hookshot's spike hit the makeshift spear in a burst of sparks, knocking it aside. The queen gaped, staring at Link in shock.

"Ha," came a voice behind him. "Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Link's breath caught in his throat. His lowered the hookshot as his back pricked. Slowly, he turned around. A grinning Behemoth stared back at him.

"Like my new body?" the Smiling Man said in Behemoth's voice. "Two birds with one stone, Silver Mask. I needed a new host, and Behemoth was started to use his brain a little too much for my liking."

The other Zora had backed off now. Broken bodies were strewn across the blood-soaked valley. Some of them still groaned. Others lay still, their faces rigid and ashen.

"What do you think of the princess's handiwork?" the Smiling Man said. "Oh, didn't you know? This chaos was all her idea. Ha-ha-ha!"

He's done it again, Link thought bitterly. He's outsmarted us again.

Link heard the crunch of boot on sand. It was Princess Zelda, approaching slowly.

"Stop this madness," she said in a soft voice. "Stop it now."

The possessed Behemoth bared his teeth. "Make me."

"When will it end?" Her voice rose. "When?!"

"Princess..." said Link.

Zelda ignored him, and stepped in closer to Behemoth. "Tell me how to close the breach."

"Ha!" said the Smiling Man.

"Tell me now!"

Surprise blossomed over the possessed-Behemoth's face. "Oh, ho ho?" He glanced at Link. "She doesn't yet know?"

Zelda frowned, looking from Behemoth to Link. "Know what...?"

Link swiftly turned the conversation. "If you're so powerful," he said, "why is it you never possess one of us?"

Behemoth's cheek twitched. He said nothing.

"You can't, can you?" said Zelda. A slow smile spread over her lips."Something is stopping you."

The Smiling Man took a step back.

Now. Tell her now while he's distracted. It's the wrong place. It's the wrong time. And it doesn't matter. Tell her what she needs to know.

Link felt the emotions surge in his heart. He opened his mouth to speak -

When the possessed Behemoth suddenly swept out his arm to point at something in the distance. "Meet you there, Silver Mask," he said, singling out a dark, tall building on a nearby mountainside.

Behemoth leapt forward and grabbed the princess. "Ha," he said. "Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

"No!"

Link brought his crossbow up -

And in a flash of light, both the Smiling Man and Zelda vanished, leaving only a cloud of slowly swirling sand in the air.

Teleported. Link looked toward the dark building. Up there.

A long breath seeped out of his pursed lips. He felt hollow now. Hollow and tired.

"You..." said a trembling voice. "You saved us. You saved the queen."

Link turned to see Tall looking at him open-mouthed. Short was leaning on his friend's shoulder.

Tall blinked. "Why?"

Link didn't get a chance to answer. The Zora queen approached. The two guards quickly bowed as the she swept past them. She came to a halt in front of Link.

The queen's eyes glittered, her face hard. Link stiffened, waiting.

"Your name," she said, looking up him and down, "is Link?"

He nodded. Other Zora were approaching now. The anger and hate he'd last seen in their eyes was gone now. They looked at him with fresh curiosity. Some even looked grateful. Others dared to hold a sliver of respect in their eyes.

"Tell me, Link," the queen said in a quiet voice. "Tell me what happened to Ralis. What truly happened. Tell me why that hulking brute just disappeared with Princess Zelda. And tell me why Hyrule is broken." She gestured to the sky and the shattered mountains, then paused to take a short breath. "Tell me everything."

A/N: Hachin, thanks for pointing that out. Changed it now.

You're all a very quiet audience, I must say! Anyhow, the end is in sight...