Chapter Five: Dangerous to Go Alone

Something inside Link switched as he heard the screams. He could no longer see down the path where he had been watching for Cremia. He couldn't hear the birds as they flew away, anxiously squawking. His ears strained to pick up the direction the voice had come from, but when it happened again, he sprinted toward it.

A young girl was lying on the ground, clutching her arm. Her blonde hair was sprawled in front of her face, and a Lizalfos towering over her with its sword raised above her, ready to strike. The girl began to desperately crawl away, tripping on the hem of her dress as she struggled to stand.

Link could see the sword coming down, straight toward her back, and he ran as fast as he could straight into the girl, knocking her out of the way. She gasped and pushed Link off of her before realizing he was a Hylian, not a monster.

Thinking quickly, Link looked around for anything he could use as a weapon. He'd never carried a sword before like the knights of the land. It made him wish he'd aspired to be a knight now; maybe he'd have something to defend them.

The Lizalfos was too fast to outrun. As soon as Link scampered to his feet, the dragon-knight was already on top of him. It reached down with its claw-like hands and wrapped each scaly finger tightly around Link's neck. He tried to pull the claw off, but the grip was too tight.

He reached into his pocket and felt the Deku Nuts that he'd meant to eat and threw one at the lizard, hoping to hit it in the eye. It exploded with a loud crack, stunning the Lizalfos. Link fell to the ground and doubled over, coughing.

Without any time to catch his breath, Link lost it again as the heavy tail of the monster rammed him in the chest, sending him flying.

The lizard was on him again, grabbing its discarded sword. It began to press the sharp edge against Link's neck, and it took every ounce of strength just to hold back the sword. Links hands were bleeding as they cut against the sharp, rusty side of the blade.

Suddenly, there was a huge release of pressure and the Lizalfos' arm knocked away. The young girl had thrown herself onto the sword arm, using her body as a weapon. She screamed out, half with adrenaline, and half in pain as she landed on her injured arm.

Link wiped some of the sticky blood from his hands on the grass, wincing, before joining the girl again. She was breathing heavily, and she clutched her arm with white fingers, but still she stood by Link's side.

"Here," Link said, handing her the remaining Deku Nuts.

"Wait!" she called, grabbing his arm. She reached across him and grabbed his forgotten slingshot.

The Lizalfos came at them again with renewed energy. Link pushed the girl out of the way and she tripped to the ground as the Lizalfos missed her and grabbed Link. Its entire claw fit around Link's waist as it slammed them both against the nearest tree.

There was a loud snap, and the Lizalfos dropped Link, screeching in agony. Link reached for its dropped sword, but was backhanded and flung across the grass. The girl ran over to him and helped him to his feet before they were both sent into the ground.

The girl screamed again, and Link could see that the bone in her arm was sticking out.

The sword was just out of reach, and the Lizalfos was coming for them again.

Beside him, the girl was shaking, tears streaming from her face as she cradled her arm. Seeing the Lizalfos prepare to slam his tail against her again, Link rolled himself on top of her, taking the blow himself. He felt like his entire body had broken from the force of the hit. The girl let out a yell, but the pain wasn't as bad as it would have been if not for Link.

Most of his vision had gone black, but he could still see the one thing he'd focused on: that discarded sword. The Lizalfos didn't seem to be in dire need of it, having its tail as an easy secondary weapon.

With a final burst of strength, Link reached for the sword and thrust it up. The Lizalfos had been diving towards him, and the sword pierced its heart. A final screech erupted from the lizard before it fell over, motionless.

Link rolled onto his back and his head rolled off to the side. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and rest, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he needed to stay awake.

He could see the girl's bright blue eyes staring back at him. They were both covered in blood, even more on Link from the Lizalfos, and were in too much pain to get up. The girl reached out her hand towards Link. He stared at her for a moment, struck by her unplaceable familiarity, and reached his own hand towards hers. It took more effort than raising the sword did. His fingers wrapped over her hand and he was able to concentrate on that instead of his desire to sleep.

She looked his age, or at least, close enough. Her eyes looked like they were also struggling to stay open, bloodshot and red as they were. Her hands were soft, not like some of the other girls who worked around town. Still, the overwhelming feeling that he knew her was eating at him more than anything.

Neither said anything. They just laid there, hand-in-hand for who-knows-how-long, until they heard a screech. It came, simultaneously, from aa young woman and her horses. In a moment, Cremia was hovering over them.

"Link! What happened? Are you okay?" Cremia looked over at the girl. "Are you? Oh, by the Goddesses! Hang on, we're going to get you to town and to a fairy fountain!" She moved the horses closer and began to mumble to herself. "Okay, I'm going to pick you up, Link. I'm sorry if this hurts! Oh! I'm sorry!"

When Link was lying in the wagon, he could hear her mumbling similar things to the girl before placing her beside him.

Cremia ran back to the front of the wagon and spurred the horses on.

The girl tilted her head. "Link?" she asked weakly. He nodded. She looked like she was going to say more, but her head went limp and her eyes closed as she passed out.

Link went to shake her, but the relief that came with Cremia finding them was overwhelming and his body felt like it was safe. The exhaustion and pain hit him all at once, and he too found the world going dark.