Chapter 13: The Last Gerudo
Having defeated the Dragon, I continued to pick my way along the increasingly rocky terrain. Only the searing heat and desolate landscape marked that this was the desert. I'd always imagined deserts to be vast, sandy wastes, but... Barring that, the scorched land I traversed fit the description perfectly.
At first, I thought the great stone building rising in the distance was a mirage. A giant hallucination brought on by the fact that I hadn't had anything to eat since three days or so ago. Not that I was hungry, of course. At that point, though, I think I would have welcomed hunger. Anything to let me know I still lived. I hadn't sneezed, or coughed, or had a cramp since I got here, and I was starting to wonder if perhaps I wasn't trapped in some elaborate delusion.
Even as I thought of it, I shook the idea away. My imagination wasn't THAT developed. No way could it have concocted an entire world for me to play in, compete with Dragons to slay, and some such nonsense. But then, hadn't there been an episode of Buffy to that effect?
I snorted. ~Nice, Colt. Let's live our lives by the guidelines that an overly-syndicated television show sets for us.~ My quota for philosophical mutterings fulfilled for the day, I continued to pick carefully through the rock outcroppings, until I finally came to the door. Strangely, it wasn't guarded.
Walking through the corridors I winced, my footsteps augmented by the acoustics of the hallways. Around every corner, I expected to encounter hordes of ferocious women, bows drawn, ready to string me up for the simple crime of having a Y chromosome. Strangely, though signs of habitation abounded, there was no movement. Food sat cooling on a table in the vast dining hall. Clothes draped over chairs, fires dying in fireplaces, and books lying open on the table all led me to the conclusion that something had happened to send the Gerudo fleeing. And that? Not a good sign.
I found the answer to my unspoken question in the hall that probably served as the Sanctum of Power. Corpses littered the floor, lying in pools of their own blood, eyes glazed. Perhaps forty or fifty figures lay dead or dying in that stone hall. After I had finished vomiting, my eyes drifted to the pedestal that had housed the Oracle of Power conduit. It was empty.
I swore softly. This entire trip had been a waste. Sighing, my eyes scanned the carnage for sign of someone who was conscious enough to tell me what happened. I could already tell I was going into shock, my mind numbing itself to the horror that lay sprawled across the halls before me. All that was remained was cold efficiency.
I found what I was looking for soon enough. Amidst thirty-nine dead women, one young Gerudo was still breathing. Strangely, when I picked my way over to her, trying not to think about exactly what was squishing under my shoes, she flinched, as though she expected me to finish her off. The surprise was evident when I pulled a strip of cloth from a nearby corpse... *Just don't think about it* and began to try to stop the blood flow. I'm not TOTALLY heartless, after all. Fortunately, she wasn't severely injured. The wounds she'd sustained looked mostly superficial, though there was one down her cheek I was certain would leave a scar. Not that she would mind.
We left the Sanctum together, with her leaning on me for support, and me trying not to stumble under the extra weight. I sat with her, while she ate, and stared at me as if I were some sort strange new creature. "Your clothes are strange." She said, around an apple.
"I'm from out of town." To say the least. "What happened here?" No point in wasting time with pleasantries. I needed to talk to the Oracle. That is, if the Oracle would give me a chance to speak. Last time, I'd done more listening than anything else.
"We were attacked by Stalfos. They were searching for the conduit to the Oracle of Power. The leader said something about denying someone its power." She glanced at me, her shrewd glance out of context next to the gash. "I assume he meant you. He seemed to be in a hurry. Perhaps that is why I still live." She glanced back at the door to the Sanctum. I shivered. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be the last of your kind. To know that after you, there's nothing. It wasn't a pleasant thought.
"They took the conduit, then?" She hesitated, and I realized I was holding my breath. The Oracle of Wisdom spoke in cryptic riddles, but perhaps that was the way of Wisdom. Maybe the Oracle of Power would give me better insight into my plight. Or perhaps not. But it was worth a shot.
She shook her head, glancing in my direction, so fast I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been watching her as closely as I was. "The Elder hid it. We knew something like this would happen. The Oracle gave us sufficient warning." She sighed. "Not sufficient enough, it seems. We were hopelessly outmatched. They withdrew, though, once my Sisters had been slaughtered. Strange, that they should leave me alive."
It was strange, and alarm bells were ringing in the back of my mind, but I ignored them. "Where is the conduit, then?" My heart was pounding. If I wasn't allowed to be with Link, at least I could go home and start again. Make a new life for myself. One that didn't revolve around dead siblings.
"Follow me." I stood, and followed her to a small alcove. She placed her hand on a brick, whispering something I couldn't make out. There was a grating noise, and a panel cleverly concealed in the wall swung open, revealing the floating triangle. My pulse raced, and my palms began to sweat. Finally, after so long, my journey was almost finished. I could return home, and live out the remainder of my years in quiet solitude.
I reached out, ready to place my hand on the glistening red surface, when a voice from behind me froze my blood in my veins.
"Well, thank you, boy, for saving me the trouble of ripping this place apart."
Having defeated the Dragon, I continued to pick my way along the increasingly rocky terrain. Only the searing heat and desolate landscape marked that this was the desert. I'd always imagined deserts to be vast, sandy wastes, but... Barring that, the scorched land I traversed fit the description perfectly.
At first, I thought the great stone building rising in the distance was a mirage. A giant hallucination brought on by the fact that I hadn't had anything to eat since three days or so ago. Not that I was hungry, of course. At that point, though, I think I would have welcomed hunger. Anything to let me know I still lived. I hadn't sneezed, or coughed, or had a cramp since I got here, and I was starting to wonder if perhaps I wasn't trapped in some elaborate delusion.
Even as I thought of it, I shook the idea away. My imagination wasn't THAT developed. No way could it have concocted an entire world for me to play in, compete with Dragons to slay, and some such nonsense. But then, hadn't there been an episode of Buffy to that effect?
I snorted. ~Nice, Colt. Let's live our lives by the guidelines that an overly-syndicated television show sets for us.~ My quota for philosophical mutterings fulfilled for the day, I continued to pick carefully through the rock outcroppings, until I finally came to the door. Strangely, it wasn't guarded.
Walking through the corridors I winced, my footsteps augmented by the acoustics of the hallways. Around every corner, I expected to encounter hordes of ferocious women, bows drawn, ready to string me up for the simple crime of having a Y chromosome. Strangely, though signs of habitation abounded, there was no movement. Food sat cooling on a table in the vast dining hall. Clothes draped over chairs, fires dying in fireplaces, and books lying open on the table all led me to the conclusion that something had happened to send the Gerudo fleeing. And that? Not a good sign.
I found the answer to my unspoken question in the hall that probably served as the Sanctum of Power. Corpses littered the floor, lying in pools of their own blood, eyes glazed. Perhaps forty or fifty figures lay dead or dying in that stone hall. After I had finished vomiting, my eyes drifted to the pedestal that had housed the Oracle of Power conduit. It was empty.
I swore softly. This entire trip had been a waste. Sighing, my eyes scanned the carnage for sign of someone who was conscious enough to tell me what happened. I could already tell I was going into shock, my mind numbing itself to the horror that lay sprawled across the halls before me. All that was remained was cold efficiency.
I found what I was looking for soon enough. Amidst thirty-nine dead women, one young Gerudo was still breathing. Strangely, when I picked my way over to her, trying not to think about exactly what was squishing under my shoes, she flinched, as though she expected me to finish her off. The surprise was evident when I pulled a strip of cloth from a nearby corpse... *Just don't think about it* and began to try to stop the blood flow. I'm not TOTALLY heartless, after all. Fortunately, she wasn't severely injured. The wounds she'd sustained looked mostly superficial, though there was one down her cheek I was certain would leave a scar. Not that she would mind.
We left the Sanctum together, with her leaning on me for support, and me trying not to stumble under the extra weight. I sat with her, while she ate, and stared at me as if I were some sort strange new creature. "Your clothes are strange." She said, around an apple.
"I'm from out of town." To say the least. "What happened here?" No point in wasting time with pleasantries. I needed to talk to the Oracle. That is, if the Oracle would give me a chance to speak. Last time, I'd done more listening than anything else.
"We were attacked by Stalfos. They were searching for the conduit to the Oracle of Power. The leader said something about denying someone its power." She glanced at me, her shrewd glance out of context next to the gash. "I assume he meant you. He seemed to be in a hurry. Perhaps that is why I still live." She glanced back at the door to the Sanctum. I shivered. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be the last of your kind. To know that after you, there's nothing. It wasn't a pleasant thought.
"They took the conduit, then?" She hesitated, and I realized I was holding my breath. The Oracle of Wisdom spoke in cryptic riddles, but perhaps that was the way of Wisdom. Maybe the Oracle of Power would give me better insight into my plight. Or perhaps not. But it was worth a shot.
She shook her head, glancing in my direction, so fast I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been watching her as closely as I was. "The Elder hid it. We knew something like this would happen. The Oracle gave us sufficient warning." She sighed. "Not sufficient enough, it seems. We were hopelessly outmatched. They withdrew, though, once my Sisters had been slaughtered. Strange, that they should leave me alive."
It was strange, and alarm bells were ringing in the back of my mind, but I ignored them. "Where is the conduit, then?" My heart was pounding. If I wasn't allowed to be with Link, at least I could go home and start again. Make a new life for myself. One that didn't revolve around dead siblings.
"Follow me." I stood, and followed her to a small alcove. She placed her hand on a brick, whispering something I couldn't make out. There was a grating noise, and a panel cleverly concealed in the wall swung open, revealing the floating triangle. My pulse raced, and my palms began to sweat. Finally, after so long, my journey was almost finished. I could return home, and live out the remainder of my years in quiet solitude.
I reached out, ready to place my hand on the glistening red surface, when a voice from behind me froze my blood in my veins.
"Well, thank you, boy, for saving me the trouble of ripping this place apart."