CHAPTER THREE - THE RESCUE OF PRINCESS ZELDA
Link slowly turned the corner of the sewer and his uncle was out of sight. He spotted a ladder going up just around the corner. He quickly made his way up and into the next chamber. It was a bit more light in this room than down below. He peered around the corner to make sure there were no enemies in sight. There were. Two soldiers guarding a chest in the corner.
"I'm probably going to be needing whatever is in there," he thought to himself.
Accepting the inevitable, Link quickly made his way from the doorway and across the hall. He flattened himself against the wall and peeked around the corner. He thought it best to attack while their backs were turned. He also thought that now would be the best time to get acquainted with his sword and its abilities.
Link closed his eyes and concentrated with all of his might on the sword. When he opened his eyes again he clearly saw that the sword's blade had turned a pale blue color. He figured that was a good sign.
He held his sword patiently until both of the guards had their backs turned. Finally, after a few moments wait, he moved into the hall and swung his sword, completing a full circle and slashing both of his adversaries. They fell to the ground, wounded and near death. He felt a pang of guilt about having to hurt them, knowing that normally the palace guards were extremely nice and helpful. But he had to do what he had to do and if this was necessary to rescue the princess, then he would do it.
Link now stepped over the two motionless bodies and made his way to the chest. He opened it to find a blue rupee. He had never had his own money before! He hopefully thought that maybe he could get some more spending money out of this. After all, he was rescuing the princess from imprisonment and possibly death.
Before he left the chamber he stuck his hand in the pots in the corners and pulled out a magic vial from each.
"These will come in handy," he said aloud.
Full of adrenaline from his first fight, Link rushed back down the hall and made his way up the ladder around the corner.
The top of the ladder yielded a wooden trapdoor that led back outside.
The top of Link's head got wet yet again as he pushed it upwards and stepped out onto the grass. He was indeed where he wanted to be: in the castle's garden.
Link stepped away from the trapdoor and peered around the corner. There were several short plants and much to his dismay, three guards milling about. He decided then that he would try and sneak past them, rather than slay them all on the spot.
Stealthily, Link moved around the corner and along the line of bushes. So far, not one of the guards had spotted him. He hid behind the last bush in the line where he had a good view of the guards and the doorway. It was unguarded. All he had to do was wait until they weren't looking and sneak past them towards it.
Minutes went by as Link waited for the three guards to turn away. They all seemed to just be aimlessly walking about. Looking at things, but not seeing anything. They were clearly being controlled. It was sorcery Link had never experienced before. To have total control over somebody.... It was a horrendous thought.
Finally, the guards were distracted by something. Link ran swiftly to the door and looked back. He saw a large squirrel dart out from the bushes where they had headed. He smiled and opened the door. He knew there was a reason he always liked animals.
The moment Link opened the door to the castle he was in another world. He had been many places; caves, tunnels, mountains, lakes, streams, forests. But now he was somewhere he had never been. A palace. He had never seen any place in his entire life that looked so... clean. The land of Hyrule was by no means a wasteland and the citizens didn't live in poverty, but none of them lived like this. Large torches on top of tall pillars lighted the entrance. Ornate tapestries hung from the walls. The gray brick shone like silver. Lavish red carpets led off in every direction. It was amazing to Link.
As quick as he entered it, Link whipped out of his trance. He had been staring at everything so intently that he hadn't even noticed the guards pacing back and forth in the room. Quickly he darted behind a pillar. He went unnoticed.
Link breathed a sigh of relief as he shimmied around the pillar, careful to stay close to it and not draw any attention to himself. He spotted a doorway on the right side of the room, the left, and stairs leading upwards in the middle. He decided to take the left route, since he was closest to it.
Link ran to the open door and went through. He spotted more guards in the hallway. There was no chance of going by unnoticed in such a small area. He would have to take care of them if he wanted to get to the door at the other side.
Without wasting any time, Link rushed out into the hall and swung his sword, he wasn't going to worry about taking them by surprise, he would need how to fight properly eventually, this was the perfect time to see if all of the wooden sword playtimes had paid off.
Link's sword struck true on his first swing. He swung hard and caught the surprised soldier off-guard, plunging the blade into his side. Link whipped his sword out of the fallen corpse's torso and swung it at the next guard, who had seen the killing and spotted Link. The soldier snarled menacingly at Link as he swung his old sword. The guard parried with his own and moved forward, forcing Link to back up. The guard took his chance and swung his sword at Link, knocking him off-balance. Link fell to the ground and rolled, dodging the downward strike from the guard's next attack. He quickly got back to his feet again and swung his own sword once again. The guard dodged it and took another step forward. He laughed at Link, a triumphant look on his face. But Link wouldn't give up that easy. He continued to dodge the guard's attacks and carried on moving backward a step with every swing. Soon Link's back was almost to the wall. The guard mocked Link, thinking he would have him now. Link waited for the soldier to make his move. He did exactly as Link had hoped. With a mighty swing, the guard whipped his sword at Link, hoping to decapitate the lad. Link put his plan into action. Just as the guard swung he ducked. He felt the blade of the sword rush past the top of his head. His hair blew from the force of the sword cutting through the air above him.
Link made his move. The guard's sword struck the cement wall behind him and sent a jolt through the shocked guard. Link immediately straightened his body and plunged his sword upwards, driving it into the soldier's stomach as he came off his bended knee. The sword penetrated the soldier's body, passing through his stomach and coming out his back. Link was splattered with crimson blood as the guard fell forward. Link moved out of the way of the falling body and took his sword.
Link jumped over the fallen soldiers and stood over them. Two dead mean, both by his hand. It was a shame that he had no choice.
Wiping sweat and blood from his forehead, Link moved on.
For the next half an hour Link made his way through several rooms, dodging any adversaries that he encountered and collecting all of the items he could. He now had a pocket full of rupees and plenty of magic containers to last him awhile.
Link was beginning to get tired as he entered another room and went down a flight of stairs. There was a door up the stairs in front of him and to the left. All three doors shut and locked with a tremendous bang as he spotted the guard in the center of the room. The soldier struck first, barely cutting Link's shoulder as he moved out of the way. Link quickly spun and swung his sword with all his might. He sliced clean through the soldier's neck. He quickly moved out of the way and grabbed the key the soldier hand dropped. The closed doors now magically swung open again, as if sensing that it's guard had been defeated. Link made his way into the next room, careful to hop over the pooling blood on the stone floor. Inside he found many statues and a single chest. He hurried to open it, curious as to what he would find inside. He flipped the latch on the box and pushed the lid upwards. Inside was a handsome looking steel boomerang. The metal glowed blue and it was light as a feather, despite its solid consistency. Link held it up and tossed it out the door. It flew out of his hand smoothly and returned to it just as comfortably. He loved it. Link pocketed the boomerang and went on his way once more. He unlocked the door in the previous room and went through.
Link traveled again for while, avoiding any enemies or taking care of them if necessary. Eventually he came to a room that didn't look very appealing.
He came out of the doorway and he was on a terrace. Link, peered over the edge to see several guards moving about. He was also dismayed to see that the room contained what looked to be a pit. A dark hole that seemed to go on forever. The floor just ended and the pit started.
Careful to stay as far away from the drop-off as possible, Link jumped down and ran as fast as he could to the other side of the room. He was almost there when the last guard noticed him and stood in his way. Much to his luck, the guard was standing near the edge.
Link reacted quickly. He threw his new boomerang at the soldier and hit him in the face. Link caught the weapon in his hand as he saw the soldier lose his balance and topple off the edge. Link ran around the corner and into the next room as the soldier screamed.
Link continued to travel until he finally came to a set of stairs that led downward. He seemed to finally be making his way to the dungeon. Sure enough, as he stepped into the next chamber he noticed several small jail cells. He quickly stabbed the only guard on watch and made his way into the first cell to grab the contents of the jars inside. He worked his way down the room, looking for any sign of the princess. It got darker as he went. Soon he heard the clanking of armor and stood still, letting his eyes get adjusted to the lack of light once again. There in the corner he saw another knight, this one heavily armored from head to toe. He was swinging a large mace around and around and snarling menacingly at Link, challenging him to come closer.
"Help!"
Link looked past the knight into the cell and could barely make out the outline of a girl. It must be the princess.
Thinking desperately of a way to defeat the knight, Link dodged all of his attacks. His swung the chain hard, coming very close to Link's head on many occasions. Link dodged them all though, merely looking for some weakness, something he could use against the guard. He didn't see anything. In a last stitch effort, Link took his boomerang and tossed it at the knight. It hit him in the chest and sent him staggering backwards. Link saw his chance and plunged his sword into the guard's unprotected neck. Link backed up, away from the fountain of blood that shot from the guard's pierced vein.
Link quickly snatched up the guard's key, one that was particularly large, and used it to open the cell door. He was greeted by a flying body and two arms wrapping around his neck. The princess hugged him tightly as she cried into his shoulder.
"Oh great knight," she said, "I knew you would answer my calls. I could feel you getting closer. Thank you so much for rescuing me."
"You are welcome, Princess. It was my honor. But please, I am no knight."
"Any person that could penetrate the castle walls and make it down here to rescue a damsel in distress is more than worthy of the title of knight. You proved that you were worthy of this."
"I was just doing my duty to the princess."
"Do not be so modest Link! You came to my aid when I called! You deserve all of the acclaim this kingdom has to offer."
"Thank you, princess."
"Come now Link, we have to move quickly, if Agahnim senses that I have escaped he will send all of his guards to find me. We need to get to the throne room in the main entrance hall. I know a secret tunnel out of the castle. But we need to get there quick!"
"Stick close to me Princess."
Link grabbed Zelda's hand and made his way out of the room and back the way he came. He passed all of the things he had seen, all of the men he had left for dead. Luckily, it seemed that Agahnim had not sensed that Zelda was missing as all of the guards were pacing just as before and there was no increase in their presence.
Soon, after making their way back up through the castle, Link and Zelda reached the main room and snuck up the stairs in the middle. The throne was unguarded.
"Quick! Help me push from the left side! It will reveal a tunnel that leads to the Sanctuary. I believe the old man there will aid us."
Together, Link and the princess pushed the throne out of the way to reveal a doorway. Link lit his lantern and they moved through.
"We are in the sewers. Be careful of rats Link."
"Don't worry Princess."
Slowly the two made their way through the darkness, aided only by Link's dim lantern. They spotted many rats but Link easily killed them with his sword.
A short while later they came to another doorway. The princess pulled a switch next to the doorway and it quickly moved out of the way. She pulled him through the now-clear doorway and they quickly pushed what Link noticed was an altar back into place.
Princess Zelda sighed and wiped her hands.
"Phew!" she exclaimed. "We're safe!"
Link slowly turned the corner of the sewer and his uncle was out of sight. He spotted a ladder going up just around the corner. He quickly made his way up and into the next chamber. It was a bit more light in this room than down below. He peered around the corner to make sure there were no enemies in sight. There were. Two soldiers guarding a chest in the corner.
"I'm probably going to be needing whatever is in there," he thought to himself.
Accepting the inevitable, Link quickly made his way from the doorway and across the hall. He flattened himself against the wall and peeked around the corner. He thought it best to attack while their backs were turned. He also thought that now would be the best time to get acquainted with his sword and its abilities.
Link closed his eyes and concentrated with all of his might on the sword. When he opened his eyes again he clearly saw that the sword's blade had turned a pale blue color. He figured that was a good sign.
He held his sword patiently until both of the guards had their backs turned. Finally, after a few moments wait, he moved into the hall and swung his sword, completing a full circle and slashing both of his adversaries. They fell to the ground, wounded and near death. He felt a pang of guilt about having to hurt them, knowing that normally the palace guards were extremely nice and helpful. But he had to do what he had to do and if this was necessary to rescue the princess, then he would do it.
Link now stepped over the two motionless bodies and made his way to the chest. He opened it to find a blue rupee. He had never had his own money before! He hopefully thought that maybe he could get some more spending money out of this. After all, he was rescuing the princess from imprisonment and possibly death.
Before he left the chamber he stuck his hand in the pots in the corners and pulled out a magic vial from each.
"These will come in handy," he said aloud.
Full of adrenaline from his first fight, Link rushed back down the hall and made his way up the ladder around the corner.
The top of the ladder yielded a wooden trapdoor that led back outside.
The top of Link's head got wet yet again as he pushed it upwards and stepped out onto the grass. He was indeed where he wanted to be: in the castle's garden.
Link stepped away from the trapdoor and peered around the corner. There were several short plants and much to his dismay, three guards milling about. He decided then that he would try and sneak past them, rather than slay them all on the spot.
Stealthily, Link moved around the corner and along the line of bushes. So far, not one of the guards had spotted him. He hid behind the last bush in the line where he had a good view of the guards and the doorway. It was unguarded. All he had to do was wait until they weren't looking and sneak past them towards it.
Minutes went by as Link waited for the three guards to turn away. They all seemed to just be aimlessly walking about. Looking at things, but not seeing anything. They were clearly being controlled. It was sorcery Link had never experienced before. To have total control over somebody.... It was a horrendous thought.
Finally, the guards were distracted by something. Link ran swiftly to the door and looked back. He saw a large squirrel dart out from the bushes where they had headed. He smiled and opened the door. He knew there was a reason he always liked animals.
The moment Link opened the door to the castle he was in another world. He had been many places; caves, tunnels, mountains, lakes, streams, forests. But now he was somewhere he had never been. A palace. He had never seen any place in his entire life that looked so... clean. The land of Hyrule was by no means a wasteland and the citizens didn't live in poverty, but none of them lived like this. Large torches on top of tall pillars lighted the entrance. Ornate tapestries hung from the walls. The gray brick shone like silver. Lavish red carpets led off in every direction. It was amazing to Link.
As quick as he entered it, Link whipped out of his trance. He had been staring at everything so intently that he hadn't even noticed the guards pacing back and forth in the room. Quickly he darted behind a pillar. He went unnoticed.
Link breathed a sigh of relief as he shimmied around the pillar, careful to stay close to it and not draw any attention to himself. He spotted a doorway on the right side of the room, the left, and stairs leading upwards in the middle. He decided to take the left route, since he was closest to it.
Link ran to the open door and went through. He spotted more guards in the hallway. There was no chance of going by unnoticed in such a small area. He would have to take care of them if he wanted to get to the door at the other side.
Without wasting any time, Link rushed out into the hall and swung his sword, he wasn't going to worry about taking them by surprise, he would need how to fight properly eventually, this was the perfect time to see if all of the wooden sword playtimes had paid off.
Link's sword struck true on his first swing. He swung hard and caught the surprised soldier off-guard, plunging the blade into his side. Link whipped his sword out of the fallen corpse's torso and swung it at the next guard, who had seen the killing and spotted Link. The soldier snarled menacingly at Link as he swung his old sword. The guard parried with his own and moved forward, forcing Link to back up. The guard took his chance and swung his sword at Link, knocking him off-balance. Link fell to the ground and rolled, dodging the downward strike from the guard's next attack. He quickly got back to his feet again and swung his own sword once again. The guard dodged it and took another step forward. He laughed at Link, a triumphant look on his face. But Link wouldn't give up that easy. He continued to dodge the guard's attacks and carried on moving backward a step with every swing. Soon Link's back was almost to the wall. The guard mocked Link, thinking he would have him now. Link waited for the soldier to make his move. He did exactly as Link had hoped. With a mighty swing, the guard whipped his sword at Link, hoping to decapitate the lad. Link put his plan into action. Just as the guard swung he ducked. He felt the blade of the sword rush past the top of his head. His hair blew from the force of the sword cutting through the air above him.
Link made his move. The guard's sword struck the cement wall behind him and sent a jolt through the shocked guard. Link immediately straightened his body and plunged his sword upwards, driving it into the soldier's stomach as he came off his bended knee. The sword penetrated the soldier's body, passing through his stomach and coming out his back. Link was splattered with crimson blood as the guard fell forward. Link moved out of the way of the falling body and took his sword.
Link jumped over the fallen soldiers and stood over them. Two dead mean, both by his hand. It was a shame that he had no choice.
Wiping sweat and blood from his forehead, Link moved on.
For the next half an hour Link made his way through several rooms, dodging any adversaries that he encountered and collecting all of the items he could. He now had a pocket full of rupees and plenty of magic containers to last him awhile.
Link was beginning to get tired as he entered another room and went down a flight of stairs. There was a door up the stairs in front of him and to the left. All three doors shut and locked with a tremendous bang as he spotted the guard in the center of the room. The soldier struck first, barely cutting Link's shoulder as he moved out of the way. Link quickly spun and swung his sword with all his might. He sliced clean through the soldier's neck. He quickly moved out of the way and grabbed the key the soldier hand dropped. The closed doors now magically swung open again, as if sensing that it's guard had been defeated. Link made his way into the next room, careful to hop over the pooling blood on the stone floor. Inside he found many statues and a single chest. He hurried to open it, curious as to what he would find inside. He flipped the latch on the box and pushed the lid upwards. Inside was a handsome looking steel boomerang. The metal glowed blue and it was light as a feather, despite its solid consistency. Link held it up and tossed it out the door. It flew out of his hand smoothly and returned to it just as comfortably. He loved it. Link pocketed the boomerang and went on his way once more. He unlocked the door in the previous room and went through.
Link traveled again for while, avoiding any enemies or taking care of them if necessary. Eventually he came to a room that didn't look very appealing.
He came out of the doorway and he was on a terrace. Link, peered over the edge to see several guards moving about. He was also dismayed to see that the room contained what looked to be a pit. A dark hole that seemed to go on forever. The floor just ended and the pit started.
Careful to stay as far away from the drop-off as possible, Link jumped down and ran as fast as he could to the other side of the room. He was almost there when the last guard noticed him and stood in his way. Much to his luck, the guard was standing near the edge.
Link reacted quickly. He threw his new boomerang at the soldier and hit him in the face. Link caught the weapon in his hand as he saw the soldier lose his balance and topple off the edge. Link ran around the corner and into the next room as the soldier screamed.
Link continued to travel until he finally came to a set of stairs that led downward. He seemed to finally be making his way to the dungeon. Sure enough, as he stepped into the next chamber he noticed several small jail cells. He quickly stabbed the only guard on watch and made his way into the first cell to grab the contents of the jars inside. He worked his way down the room, looking for any sign of the princess. It got darker as he went. Soon he heard the clanking of armor and stood still, letting his eyes get adjusted to the lack of light once again. There in the corner he saw another knight, this one heavily armored from head to toe. He was swinging a large mace around and around and snarling menacingly at Link, challenging him to come closer.
"Help!"
Link looked past the knight into the cell and could barely make out the outline of a girl. It must be the princess.
Thinking desperately of a way to defeat the knight, Link dodged all of his attacks. His swung the chain hard, coming very close to Link's head on many occasions. Link dodged them all though, merely looking for some weakness, something he could use against the guard. He didn't see anything. In a last stitch effort, Link took his boomerang and tossed it at the knight. It hit him in the chest and sent him staggering backwards. Link saw his chance and plunged his sword into the guard's unprotected neck. Link backed up, away from the fountain of blood that shot from the guard's pierced vein.
Link quickly snatched up the guard's key, one that was particularly large, and used it to open the cell door. He was greeted by a flying body and two arms wrapping around his neck. The princess hugged him tightly as she cried into his shoulder.
"Oh great knight," she said, "I knew you would answer my calls. I could feel you getting closer. Thank you so much for rescuing me."
"You are welcome, Princess. It was my honor. But please, I am no knight."
"Any person that could penetrate the castle walls and make it down here to rescue a damsel in distress is more than worthy of the title of knight. You proved that you were worthy of this."
"I was just doing my duty to the princess."
"Do not be so modest Link! You came to my aid when I called! You deserve all of the acclaim this kingdom has to offer."
"Thank you, princess."
"Come now Link, we have to move quickly, if Agahnim senses that I have escaped he will send all of his guards to find me. We need to get to the throne room in the main entrance hall. I know a secret tunnel out of the castle. But we need to get there quick!"
"Stick close to me Princess."
Link grabbed Zelda's hand and made his way out of the room and back the way he came. He passed all of the things he had seen, all of the men he had left for dead. Luckily, it seemed that Agahnim had not sensed that Zelda was missing as all of the guards were pacing just as before and there was no increase in their presence.
Soon, after making their way back up through the castle, Link and Zelda reached the main room and snuck up the stairs in the middle. The throne was unguarded.
"Quick! Help me push from the left side! It will reveal a tunnel that leads to the Sanctuary. I believe the old man there will aid us."
Together, Link and the princess pushed the throne out of the way to reveal a doorway. Link lit his lantern and they moved through.
"We are in the sewers. Be careful of rats Link."
"Don't worry Princess."
Slowly the two made their way through the darkness, aided only by Link's dim lantern. They spotted many rats but Link easily killed them with his sword.
A short while later they came to another doorway. The princess pulled a switch next to the doorway and it quickly moved out of the way. She pulled him through the now-clear doorway and they quickly pushed what Link noticed was an altar back into place.
Princess Zelda sighed and wiped her hands.
"Phew!" she exclaimed. "We're safe!"