Chapter9

Breaking Point

Still in a swirl of emotion, Zelda trailed behind Link as they made their way to the grand fountain of the Domain. He was in a noticeable hurry, as he held his hand out from behind himself to lead her down the interwoven bridges of the Domain. She wasn't sure if she should have felt worried or ecstatic.

Just moments ago, a mystery of Link's heart was revealed to her, even if it had only been a simple phrase out from his lips. Even still, just those few syllables had been more than he ever said to her in an entire lifetime. And before she had a chance to even digest his words, she was being thrust back into the chaotic reality that surrounded them. The world still needed healing.

The city wasn't as lively as before, the hour already pushing toward mid-evening. Most of the zora had already retired for the night, barring those who fancied late-night dealings, unsavory or otherwise.

Waiting for them just as he said he would be was Sidon, standing next to the opulent main fountain. He paced back and forth nervously as he waited, seemingly trapped in thought, unaware of their approach. However, as soon as their eyes met with his, he tilted his head in a rushed greeting.

"So sorry again to disturb your rest, but I think you should both see this," Sidon stated, a hint of fear in his voice. It shook quite a bit, almost frantic.

"What's happened? What's going on?" Zelda questioned anxiously from beside Link, glancing over to Sidon and to a young Zora soldier who stood by his side.

"The dam," Sidon blurted, unable to find the exact words to describe what was happening. "It's in trouble."

"Sidon! Out with it already! What is happening?" She demanded. The suspense of not knowing was more than she could bear.

The Prince took in a deep breath. "I believe that whoever attacked Ruta has already claimed their next target. The lower dam. Just below Rutala, it was found severely damaged this evening. It's cracked. I have already given the order to clear the immediate area, should the worst happen. If it were to breach...well, Hyrule's plains would be flooded in many areas, and a lot of people could get hurt."

"Then why are we still standing around here? Let's hurry!" Zelda demanded, eager to investigate the situation.

Link turned to her, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Perhaps, you should stay here. It's not safe for you to be outside the Domain."

As the Princess made to move on, her knight placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"I'm going with you!" Zelda declared, frustrated by the notion of being without value to the situation. "I'm not a helpless child...and don't you think whoever maybe orchestrating these attacks would have come for me by now, if they truly wanted my life?"

Link swallowed any response he might have given. She wasn't really wrong...but he still felt uneasy risking her safety. He knew he couldn't find the words to change her mind.

"That's what I thought," Zelda asserted, eyes narrowed.

Sidon reached over to place a calming hand on Link's shoulder. With only a subtle hint of sarcasm, he said, "Her Majesty does have a point, Link."

Zelda, still flustered and wanting to hurry to address the situation at hand, shot an annoyed look at him.

"Err, I mean, Zelda has a point," the zora prince gulped, correcting himself.

"But I cannot risk you to be in any sort of danger," Link said, putting his foot down.

"There is always going to be danger!" Zelda exclaimed in exasperation. "Look around you. We are surrounded by danger. Being by your side is the safest place I can be. If I were to remain at the Domain every time you two go off gallivanting after trouble, who would be here to protect me then, hmm?"

Link stretched out his arms in a gesture encompassing the entirety of the city. "There is a legion of soldiers here that can guard you, not to mention the gerudo company. I still don't know what is out there or what we are dealing with. And I'm responsible for watching over you, and making sure you are safe. I can't do that if I have to split my focus between you and investigating a possible dangerous situation."

"And who is going to watch over you, hmm? Look, I know you believe yourself to be this invincible warrior, but you are not. You bleed red, just like the rest of us. Were in this together. Don't forget it was I who braved an army of Guardians, alone I might add, to take on the Calamity for one hundred years. I can handle myself well enough. And, as Princess, I order you to allow me to come along."

Zelda spoke her demand with head held high, hands perched at her waist and eyes closed. She'd clearly made up her mind, and it would be her final word on the matter.

Link paused, taking a moment to consider her words. She was right, of course. And far be it from him to doubt her bravery. She'd proven herself well enough already. "Okay, Zelda. But at the slightest sign of danger, we head back to the Domain. Deal?"

"Certainly. If there is any sign of danger, I'll escort you back to the Domain myself," she mocked with a smile.

"I'm serious, Zelda," Link reiterated, unamused by her antics.

"So am I," she retorted, face aglow, and a shine in her eye. She felt the burning courage inside her and embraced it. If she was to ever be a great ruler, she had to be willing to get her hands dirty for her kingdom. No more hiding behind high walls. Her people needed her.

Sidon stepped up, cutting in on their now-playful quarrel. "Sorry to interrupt whatever this is, but perhaps we should be off to the dam?"

"Lead the way, Sidon!" Zelda exclaimed.

Not far from the Domain was the lower dam, situated just south of the main Rutala dam. The trio walked along a bridge adjacent to it, accompanied by a pair of zora soldiers. From the bridge they could view every inch of the magnificent structure, and note its condition. The solid stone dam stood hundreds of feet high, crowned by ramparts where observers could look downward upon either side of the structure – on one side, the water's edge of the Rutala-fed lake, and on the other, the small river the weaved its way out into Hyrule's plains.

"You see over there?" Sidon said pointing towards the far end of the dam. The stone he pointed toward was blistered in a lump, with a fine network of cracks that made it look like a broken eggshell. Drips of water already leaked out from the wall of the dam. The impact point was clearly massive, at least twenty feet in diameter.

"Thanks for bringing us, Sidon," Zelda replied. She paced ahead of the group to lean over the bridge to catch a better glimpse of the damage. Intrigued by its appearance, she studied it."Who could have caused this sort of damage? What has that sort of strength?"

As Link made his way to her side, she pulled the Sheikah Slate from her travel satchel that she had hugged around her tight journey pants. With the Slate, she could gather more evidence and keep a better record of such crimes occurring throughout the city.

After taking a few snapshots of the damaged wall, she spoke again. "It appears that whoever perpetrated this attack must have done it from the other side…from within the lake…"

The princess waved Link and Sidon over to where she stood against the railing of the bridge. Emphasizing the damage with her hand, she continued. "Look here…the damage seems to have originated from within the dam and not from an outside force."

She zoomed in on the slate, showing Link, who curiously gazed at it from over her shoulder. It was as she said, with the damage on the wall bulging outward from force exerted on the other side.

"But that would mean...! It can't be!" Sidon exclaimed, running up behind his two hylian friends to see the image for himself.

"A zora?" Link added, confused by the idea of it.

"Only a zora would be able to reach it...It's a two-hundred foot dive into the water on the other side, and only a zora could handle such depths," Sidon explained. His face grew ashen at the thought of one of his people committing such a terrible deed. He spun around, fiercely shaking his head as if to ward off the very possibility. "It cannot be! No zora would do such a thing! Not to their own people!"

"Even if it was a zora who did it, who has the strength to do that to solid stone? The damn is, what, ten feet thick? Twenty?" Link added, perplexed.

Zelda's eyebrows lifted. She'd been pondering that as well. She leaned back, one hand on her waist and the other cupping her chin as she considered the facts aloud. "True. Loyalty aside, even a zora of Sidon's size likely wouldn't have the strength. Still, we need to get more information…"

The princess turned to face Sidon directly, a comforting smile on her face. "Now that we know it originated from within the lake, Link and I will stay here to gather more portraits and evaluate the scene. Perhaps it would be best for you to swim down from the other side and look from within the water, Sidon. We may find a better clue as to who did this."

"Great idea! Why didn't I think of that?" Sidon replied. Truly, he was glad to have her accompany them.

She gave another warm smile and shouted toward him as he began his trek to the top of the dam. "Hurry! It appears stable for the moment, but we can't know for sure! Just take a quick look and come right back! The dam isn't safe in its current condition!"

Having quickly reached the top of the dam, Sidon waved to his friends below, and flung himself high into the air in an acrobatic dive. As he splashed deep into the water, he dived to its deepest, darkest depths. Being a zora, he was able to see quite clear underwater and hold his breath for well over twenty minutes. Even though zora were aquatic forms of life, they still couldn't breathe underwater.

As he swam past schools of colorful fish and the other marine lake life nestled among the forests of the freshwater lakeweed, he came upon the scene of the wrecked dam wall. It was just as Zelda said it would be. A large crater was visible left on this side of the stone, but the source of the impact was nowhere to be seen. Sidon twirled in the water as he swam closer to get a better look of the damage. There he felt up and down the decimated dam wall with his fingers.

However, just as he'd begun to more closely study the damage, a massive lake creature torpedoed through the water straight towards his back. Sidon's sharp senses saved him, as he narrowly dodged the behemoth that swam in the water right behind him. But, even though the prince escaped being pulverized, the creature still impacted against the splintered portion of wall, exacerbating the damage.

After an array of bubbles from the force of the slam cleared, Sidon managed to get a better view of what it was that nearly crushed him. Frightened and awestruck, he realized it was Lord Buru Buru, the zora people's patron deity. None had seen Buru Buru in over a century, a colossal fish, with mighty jaws and a crown of solid bone certainly looked majestic. And yet...he had been the one attacking the wall?

But why? Sidon thought. None of it made sense. From what he'd been taught, Lord Buru Buru never moved. For over one-hundred years, the immense being slept in an undisturbed hibernation at the bottom of the lake. Something, or someone, must have awakened him. But there would be no time for him to be solving riddles in the dark about what might have caused this. He needed to act fast. That last impact had further splintered the wall, and the entire dam quaked from the force of it. One more direct hit like that from Lord Buru Buru's crown, and a rupture would be imminent.

Zelda and Link, still on the other side of the dam, felt the enormous shockwave of force shake the ground where they stood uncontrollably.

"What's happening?!" Zelda screamed as the bridge beneath them trembled and rocked from side to side. She almost fell over the railing, but Link quickly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back.

With both feet firmly back on the ground, she spun around to face her hero. "Thank you, Link. That was quite close..."

She heaved an immense sigh of relief, even as she blushed at being held so tightly in her knight's arms. But the danger wasn't over yet, and there wasn't any time for that. Just as she was about to speak again, she noticed that behind Link, high above them on a neighboring cliff, rocks had begun to fall. The trajectory of one such large stone was on course to crush them right where they stood. Without any time to think, still in Link's embrace, she pulled him down to the ground with her, out of harm's way. There they both lay on the bridge, stunned by what was happening around them. The bridge didn't shake quite so terribly as before, but still had a steady vibration pulsing through it.

Link thanked her with a smile and quickly helped Zelda back up to her feet. They both gazed over the railing again where they now stood. The dam cracked even more. This time the splinters stretched all the way up to the top lip of it. Link pointed, motioning Zelda to look over to where water leaked out from small fissures. She knew immediately by the sight that with that level of damage a breach would be inevitable.

"Link, it's going to burst," Zelda all but whispered, panicking beginning to set in. "What are we going to do? We can't leave Sidon!"

"I know," he replied.

In the deep cold waters of the lake, Sidon watched in horror as Lord Buru Buru propelled through the water, leaving an enormous wake behind him. There would only be a minute left to act, as he prepared to come around for another pass at the dam. Sidon knew he had to stop him...but how? Lord Buru Buru was easily over fifty feet long, and couldn't be halted by Sidon's strength alone...

Then Sidon remembered something. It was something Muzu once taught him as a child, a lesson from over half a century ago. It was once believed that the zora royal family, long ago, long before his time, was said to be able to speak to their patron deity. Could it be possible? He didn't have any time to dwell on if legends were true or not. For all he knew, it was just a story for children. It didn't matter, he had to try. Lives depended on him being able to stop Lord Buru Buru from crashing into the dam.

So, with all the focus he could muster, he floated in the water just in front of the impact point on the wall of the dam. His hands outstretched and his eyes closed, he entered a deep trance, trying to awaken whatever power might lay dormant within him. Only seconds remained as Lord Buru Buru shot toward him, picking up speed, faster and faster.

The prince's thoughts wandered, searching, trying desperately to find whatever it was that could spark the power. Suddenly, memories flowed through him as he tapped into the deeper consciousness of his mind. They played like still scenes, one after the other. Some were fond memories of himself as a child with his dear sister Mipha, like the time she taught him how to swim against rough currents. Others were even more random, like when he'd been trained by the best zora swordsmen in his early youth, on his journey to become a great warrior. One after the other, he witnessed them in his mind's eye. Until one specific recollection came to mind.

Sweet Sidon...should fate ever part us, I'm counting on you to protect our beloved home from harm..., the prince heard Mipha's voice quietly speak to him as he calmly waded in the deep water, eyes still closed. He couldn't be sure if it were a memory...or if she truly spoke to him at that very moment. Whichever it was, he knew he had to listen. Only you can protect them, now. So be the prince you were meant to be and go. Protect our people! You already have the power, just let it go!

The monstrous beast was mere seconds away from crushing him into the dam...

...when Sidon's eyes suddenly shot open, wide and ready. His entire awareness had been heightened and sharpened like a fine blade. He stared deep into the eyes of his oncoming deity as it hurled itself toward him in the water. And just as he was going to meet his doom, Sidon's body shivered with power. He stretched out his right arm, and as he opened the palm of his hand a shockwave of energy shot out from him and pulsed in the water. And through the might of his will alone...the powerful pulse, a sonar signal, left his body and commanded the titanic fish to stop its assault on the dam.

The magnificent creature heard his last-second distress call, and broke free from whatever terrible spell had a hold over it...

...but it was too late. The beast tried to stop its downward thrust into the wall of the dam but the momentum that carried it couldn't simply cease so suddenly. As it pulled back, it twirled in the water, flipping over on itself erratically. Caught up in its own current, it headed directly toward Sidon.

Unable to stop the monstrous creature, Sidon knew he had to escape. If he did not, he'd be shattered along with the dam. So, at the last moment, Sidon shot himself upward in the lake. He heard the terrible crash as the beast slammed one last time into the wall, and the cacophonous sound of snapping, crumbling stone, and rushing, gushing water as the dam failed, and the lake began to empty through the breach.

As the four who remained on the bridge awaited Sidon's return, Zelda looked out into the ravine below and just beyond the dam. In horror, she realized that some people still hadn't evacuated the river gulley.

"Link, look! There are children down there!" She shouted in a frayed panic, pointing just below their bridge toward a grove of trees. It appeared to be two zora children huddled around a tiny campfire.

Link angrily turned to the two guardsmen. "I thought you all cleared the area!"

The two zora men just looked at each other nervously, then back toward Link and Zelda. Frightened, one of them spoke. "We did. We did clear the area. Those children must have returned some time after the evacuation. They play down there all the time."

"This late at night?!"

The guard just nodded at Link's question.

Link looked below where they were at and knew what he had to do. He spun back around to face Zelda and the two zora soldiers, who continued to narrowly avoid falling rocks.

"Get the princess back to the Domain, now! I have to save them!" he commanded. Then, without a moments hesitation, he bolted over to one of the guards and relieved him of his steel shield. The guards and Zelda were left speechless by his actions.

Link looked over the railing one last time and saw the route he would need to take to reach the kids below. It was a steep hill beside him that led right down to their position. Much too steep to walk down, so he simply leaped into the air and over the railing, flipping the pilfered shield over onto its shiny broadside, landing perfectly atop it.

"Link, wait!" Zelda shouted after him, but it was too late, and her knight was already surfing down the treacherous hillside. Even as the words escaped her lips, the final collision of the patron deity could be felt across the entire valley. A terrible rumble emanated from the dam, much greater than the last.

As the entire area began to quake again fiercely, she stood and observed as the dam steadily began to break apart. Enormous cracks ran through the wall in all directions, like veins about to burst, and the once beautiful, pale blue stonework was made hideous with blemishes signaling its imminent doom.

One by one, streams of water erupted from the seams. The first leaks were small, but they only grew larger, as more and more of the structure failed. Within moments, the entire dam would collapse, flooding the canyon below. One of the guards swiftly ran up and tried to grab her, but she pulled away from him.

"Princess, we have to go! There is no time!" the guard pleaded.

"Let go of me!" she demanded. Zelda dodged away from him as the bridge violently twisted and rocked side to side. She knew Link wouldn't be able to survive if the dam collapsed on him. He would surely drown, or be crushed by stonework, or pulverized by the sheer force of the flood waters. Her heart sank, and she was filled with immeasurable fear...fear that she might lose him.

Then she remembered the Slate, and as she looked toward the bursting dam to the side of her, she knew she had to delay the collapse. Steady geysers of water shot out, one after the other, from cracks inn the wall.

Holding the Slate in front of her, she faced the dam, remembering what Link had mentioned before about its powers and the other runes. It was good for more than portraits, and to access those other runes, one had to focus their thoughts and wish for the power to appear. They had to see the action in their mind, and know what it was they needed to accomplish before it would manifest outward from the slate. It was not so simple as pressing a button the display.

Recalling these facts, Zelda cleared her mind as best she could, even with all the chaos that was happening around her. The zora guard was prepped to make another attempt to force her from where she stood, but the bridge shook and made it hard for him to reach her. As he moved to grab her, the princess simply continued to face the slate towards the erupting wall of the dam, unafraid. And with her eyes closed and the cool wind of the canyon blowing across her face, she focused all her thoughts on a single word. And it was when she focused on that single word, she opened her eyes with conviction and authority on what to do, commanding the Slate with her mind. Cryonis!

Immediately from the slate in her hands came a piercing blue translucent light. As the crystal beams of light met the streams of water shooting out from the wall, it froze them instantly. They were transformed into beautiful shards of solid ice. One by one she blasted them, seemingly patching up the dam as it spewed out from different spots.

But the relief was short lived. On her final strike against the dam as she held out the Slate, just about to send a final wave of polar energy, the device sizzled and abruptly went dark, ceasing to function as if the last of all its power was drained entirely.

"Oh no...No! No!" Zelda panicked, as she frantically shook the Slate in her hand, trying to get it to respond. She stared down over the railing back towards the wall of the dam. Most of the seams she had targeted were still frozen, but there was one steady geyser shooting out from the bottom of the wall, slowly flooding the river valley below. It seemed that the ice patches could perhaps buy Link enough time to rescue the children, as Zelda watched him make his way to their campsite.

As she leaned over the side of the bridge, she heard a sudden terrible crash and bang. Cracks began to snake through the dam as the ice began to melt, and the seemingly small stream of water burst from the wall with incredible force, tearing apart the ice patches she'd constructed. There was nothing else she could do but watch as, one by one, each ice vein shattered and released fountains of water once again. The structure continued to splinter and crack, and soon as the last block of ice burst, the dam collapsed entirely.

"No...Link!" the princess shrieked in absolute terror as she saw the rushing waves of boulders and lake water rushing through the canyon below, almost to the height of the bridge where she stood.

Just as the river gulley started to flood, she saw him dash towards the two zora children, scooping them up in his arms. In a blaze of speed, she saw him desperately trying to out run the rushing currents and broken stone that was heading straight for them. Her gaze now fixed on him, she saw the campfire that was behind him being swallowed up by the massive waves.

But even with his incredible speed, he couldn't outrun the devastating flood waters that chased him. Link ran with all the speed of a lightning bolt, yet it simply wasn't enough. He glanced over his shoulder and instantly knew he wasn't going to make it to higher ground in time. So, holding tightly to the two frightened children, the knight leaned his shoulder towards the crashing waves and braced for impact. There he stood, shielding the children as he prepared to be engulfed by the enormous flood waters.

At the horrific sight of what she was witnessing, a shiver shot up Zelda's spine, her pupils shrank, and her eyes widened. She tried to scream towards him, but she was filled with so much fear that her very breath was robbed from her and she was left speechless.

In the blink of an eye she saw Link, still carrying the two children, get swept up in the raging tsunami. And then...he was gone, swallowed by massive waves. Nothing more than river rapids remained where he once stood. The water, uncaring, rushed out toward the heart of Hyrule's plains and grasslands.

Zelda could feel her world crashing down all around her, and she collapsed on the bridge. But just before she could fall to her knees, she felt someone lift her up. A strong red arm wrapped around her, securing her tightly. It was Sidon, still dripping wet from his swim. He swung her in his arms and carried her as the water level below them began to rise dangerously, overflowing onto the bridge.

"Let's go, Zelda! We have to get you out of here!" Sidon declared as he carried her off, wasting no time.

"Link! Link is still down there! We can't leave! Please!" Zelda pleaded and cried. Waterfalls of tears rolled down her cheeks. Sidon, ignoring her pleas for her own good and without hesitation, carried her back towards the safety of the Domain. She thrashed around in his arms, desperately trying to break free so she could wait for Link. Sidon didn't have a choice, he had to make sure she was safe. The water was already spilling over onto the bridge where they were, and he had to get her to higher ground, at least until the water receded. It was what Link would have wanted him to do.

"Don't worry! I'll go back for him, as soon as you are safe!" Sidon assured her as he carried her up the bridge that led to the higher levels of the Domain.

Upon reaching the high ground, Sidon sat her down where they were safe. Zelda sprang to her feet in a raging surge of emotion, still crying, rushing away from Sidon and back toward where Link vanished under the waves. Sidon ran after her, begging her to wait before she went too far.

"Zelda, stop! It's not safe yet! I'll go look for him!" he declared, blocking her path as she attempted to run past him.

"I don't care if it's unsafe! Please, we must do something! Link needs us!" the princess pleaded. Her voice trembled as she fell to her knees and cried.

"I'll go and find him, but you must stay here. The waters should be receding any minute now as the river pulls more away," Sidon replied. Without any further delay, the prince bolted for the lower part of the bridge that descended into the canyon. As he reached the end of it, he leaped with a fantastic dive into the rushing river current.

Zelda paced nervously, awaiting any news of Link or Sidon from the safety of the cliff that led out to the high end of the bridge. Seconds felt like days, and only a few minutes had likely passed before Sidon suddenly splashed out from the water. The river was already showing signs of diminishing as the lake feeding it began to drain.

The large zora, noticeably alone, slowly walked over to where Zelda stood. His head hung low as he approached, he could only shook his head as he met her gaze.

It was as if Zelda's soul had left her body. Her limbs went numb and her lip quivered. She fell to the cold stone ground and wept again, burying her face in her hands as she sobbed. Her heart was torn from her, and in what seemed a mere instant, all her hopes and dreams felt as if they'd been shattered. She was lost...

Sidon spoke then, his own voice hoarse with grief even as he tried to comfort the shocked princess. "I couldn't see him...he wasn't there...I couldn't find him...I'm...I'm so sorry, Zelda...I...I tried..."

The grieving girl simply lifted her head from her hands, still trembling, and softly replied, "I know, Sidon...I know you tried...I just...I can't...I just can't believe he's gone..."

Sidon, who's eyes were also red and filled with tears fought back the cry. He then lifted her up from her knees and held her close as she wept in his arms.

Authors Note- Hello everyone please be sure to leave a comment if you like the story or not, if you want me to continue. Also, I want to take a vote of when you all would like to see chapters released. Maybe I can come up with a chapter schedule in order to be more punctual with you all and not be so random. let me know your thoughts, and as always enjoy! thanks for reading.