I think it's been some odd two or three years since I worked on this last, but I decided that it deserved to be finished. I'm starting some extremely heavy revision on these first few chapters and will continue on with new content as time allows. Thanks for reading!
1
Link stood outside of a single ring of white light in an abyss of pitch black night with Navi, his trusted fairy companion, hidden behind his ear. A darksilhouette appeared then, a figure with a build much the same as his own save for deep and unfaltering cobalt eyes. The hero had never discerned the identity of the strange being.
"You come at me night after night," Link said, voice low and menacing. "Yet I do not understand your motives. Why do you haunt me so?"
"You are falling" the figure replied evenly. "Even now you fall to evil, yet you fail to understand your fate."
Link balked at the notion, drew his sword and shield, and assumed a defensive posture. "My fate is to lead the Hylian forces in destroying the fell humans who have invaded our country and threatened our king."
"As any solider might say, so long as they did not understand the cause behind their actions. I do not wish to fight you, Link of the House of Red Lions."
The hero was taken by the reference. In past dreams the silhouette had not called him by his full name, a fact hat piqued his curiosity. Stranger still that the figure had referred to Link by his premarital house rather than his higher ranked title. Since his marriage he had been adopted into the House of Royals, the house of Hyrule's monarchy.
"The more you fight and kill them the more akin to them you will become," the silhouette continued. "You do not realize that the more you slay the deeper your hatred and rage will fill you. It will continue to overwhelm you until finally--"
"Enough!" Link roared. He charged blindly into the pillar of light, heavy broadsword leading with a diagonal slash that met only thin air as he stumbled out the other side.
When the Hylian spun to face the figure again he found that the pillar had disappeared, had been replaced some distance away with a spot of red light in which stood a new figure, heavily robed and heavily armed. He was broad and talland strong enough to dispatch even the most well trained soldier with a single blow.
"Do you not believe the child's warning? Or perhaps it is that you are in denial!" The new man's voice boomed throughout the void, loud and commanding as the crack of thunder. "To the future king of Hyrule I make an offer, an offer to end all of this madness and bloodshed. Join my side and I will cause your kingdom no more pain."
There came no response.
"It is my final offer, boy. You and your kin will fall to darkness regardless of your choice. Your fate is sealed! At least my way you might have anything your heart desires—peace for your family, for your children perhaps?"
"Never!"
The figure chuckled maliciously and faded from the light. "Then accept your demise."
* * *
The hero woke with a start, no longer in the black void of dreams but instead tucked tightly in his bed, his wife at his side. He grimaced as another shot of pain seared through his shoulder and racked his body.
"You had another nightmare," the princess said as soon as Link had recovered. "Perhaps you should tell me--"
"Nothing to worry about," Link replied as he sat up and brushed the hair from his eyes.
Zelda stood, smoothed her dress, and walked to the window to retrieve a washcloth and water basin that she had placed there earlier. She returned to the bed and smiled as she dipped the cloth into the water. "Your wound is healing well. I believe you'll be able to fight again soon."
"Were there any attacks while I slept?"
Zelda considered the question as she pulled the bedclothes down to Link's waist, revealing the blood soaked bandages that wrapped his torso from his navel up and around his left shoulder. She began to unravel the bandages slowly and carefully, revealing the gruesome knife wound that marred the fair skin of Link's left breast.
"Unfortunate that there was," she said and placed the cloth gently over the wound. "Though it was only a small band of men, they were dispatched easily enough. I fear that another attack is imminent given the failure of the last few attempts. I am afraid that this time may prove disastrous."
"I'll be there to fight. I have a duty to lead your father's army."
"You have a duty to rest," the princess replied sternly. "My father will be angry if his heir is killed in battle due to his unnecessary haste and I will be angrier still if I am forced to rear a child with no father. You will not fight until I deem you ready."
Link took pause and stared at his wife. Truly she was with child, though not far along, and truer still did Link believe her threats. But he did have a duty to protect his kingdom and king.
"I am ready," he said. "I need no more rest, by tonight I will be feeling strong enough with thanks to yourself and Impa's healing."
"Then what was that wince when you woke?"
Again, Link was silenced by the question. He looked proudly away from his unrelenting wife and out the open window. "It was nothing."
* * *
Kimmendell stared down upon his army of evil humans and grinned maliciously, his thoughts focused on the siege on Hyrule Castle that would begin in mere hours. The poor and unsuspecting king would have his throne robbed mercilessly away and Kimmendell would rule Hyrule as his master's mouthpiece, the land which had exiled them both would bow at his feet.
"Subjects!" the man roared and a hush fell over the crowd. "The time has come, this world shall be ours!"
Thousands of cheers erupted from the massive human force, evil laughter echoed off ofthe walls of their desert palace home. Kimmendell held up a back gloved hand to silence the men.
"Take up your arms and march on the castle. Fight the Hylians whom you so loathe! Kill them and their pitiful king, take only prisoners who will be of use! Now march! Your glory awaits!"
* * *
"Impa?"
Link stepped into the caretaker's quarters and sighed, relieved to find the elder sitting at her desk always at work. She looked to him with a welcoming smile and was more than a little pleased to see the prince up and about. It seemed to her as though things were finally returning to normal in the palace.
"Is something troubling you?" Impa asked. She watched intently as the prince moved into the doorway, his motion sluggish and tired. It was true that Link had been injured badly recently but Impa had not realized the wound's full impact.
Link appeared in a way that Impa had never seen before. His skin was dull, dry, clammy, and glistened with a perpetual cold sweat. Every crease and scar and vein showed through the paleness. His eyes, always bright and alert, were dull and sunken and listless. There was no spring in his typically sure step and his posture suffered of a terrible slump. But the most noticeable difference was his voice. It was not the commanding tenor that barked orders at hundreds of the kingdom's finest troops; it was not the voice of compassion and empathy and kindness. The certainty was gone, replaced by the shaky voice of an unsure young man at the last of his wits and the end of hope.
"I hate to burden you," Link said. "But I need some information."
Impa furrowed her brow in confusion and concern. Link did not often seek her for answers, he was more than able to search the old tomes of history and lore that were housed in the castle's expansive library. So why would one so capable be reaching out to her? Pleading to her?
"Come here, boy," she said. "Come and sit down. Tell me what it is that troubles you so."
Link did not move toward the offered seat but instead shook his head, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned his back against the cold stone wall. "You know of our people's legends," he said at length.
"Only those of great importance to the kingdom and its people."
The young elf took a deep, steadying breath and cast his eyes to the floor, searching the carpet's intricate designs for some sort of answer, some sort of comfort. He did not know why he had come to Impa to ask his question, did not understand his timing nor his motive. All he knew was that his dreams had unnerved him of late and that he was confused and running low on courage--and how could one hope to properly command an army in such a wretched state?
"Tell me about--" his voice broke and he choked on the words. He was overcome with a wave of utter embarrassment, never had he been unable to articulate his thoughts for fear of emotion. The force of that emotion had been so strong, so sudden, that Link found himself swooning from his defensive posture and had to brace himself against the wall with one hand. He cleared his throat and began again. "I need to know about my family. About my parents, any siblings."
Impa was startled for the question as much as the wave of uncharacteristic emotion that had accompanied it. "Why do you come to me with this? Why now?"
"My dreams of late have been filled with evil figures. They appear in my likeness. They warn me against fighting. I cannot lead my battles properly with such doubt clouding my thoughts."
The nurse regarded Link's words carefully. Perhaps it was that Link believed his deceased kin were trying to caution him. "Your father died a valiant death," she said. "The night that the Hylian wars ended. He captured the enemy leader, an evil wizard named Marik, and exiled him to the farthest reaches of the world. He sacrificed himself and used his very lifeblood to bind the wizard to the demonic astral plane, trapped forever."
Link furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes. The pieces did not fit. The first figure of his dream was young, no more than twenty years and far too young to have been his father. The second figure was no Hylian at all. The second figure had been a human of sizeable stature.
"What did Marik look like?"
"The wizard had many forms, child," Impa replied. She watched as the hero slumped weakly to the floor, pulled his knees to his chest, and buried his face in his hands. The woman stood then, satisfied that Link's emotion had played itself out. She kneeled before him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "You are not well. You can not fight if battle comes tonight."
Link looked up at her then, fires burning in his eyes. Perhaps he was sick, he would concede that point readily enough, and he agreed that he was weak from his wound. But despite the concessions he would not give in, he would fight regardless of the many warnings against him. He grew angry then as he considered the woman. Who did she believe she was to be telling him whether or not he could participate in the fighting? It was his place of honor, his place of glory, and he meant to take part.
He stared long and hard at the nurse in front of him, rage welling within him until finally he could contain no more of it. Pressure built in his head and his vision began to blur at its periphery. He knew that Impa had begun to speak softly, comfortingly, but his hearing was dulled in such a way that he could scarcely make out the words.
"You must calm yourself!" the nurse pleaded. "Do not let your anger consume you."
The young elf exploded into motion and jumped to his feet with such force that he knocked Impa back unceremoniously to the ground. He yelled at her, his voice sounding to him as a muffled and primal scream. He demanded that she leave him alone, that she retract her warning about the fight. He screamed that he was tired, that he was sick, that he was angry. He screamed that Impa should act less as a mother and more as the nurse and attendant that she was. He screamed so forcefully that his voice cracked.
He never noticed that his wife and a small contingent of guards had bolted into the room.
"Enough!"
Link stopped his tirade immediately, his mind returning to reality as quickly as it had blacked out. He first realized that Zelda was before him, clutching Impa's shoulders in a tight embrace and wiping the blood from her nose and mouth. He then realized that he was restrained on either side by two soldiers, both of whom were substantially larger than him, though he could not recall when they had seized him nor when the pain had returned to his breast.
"What in the nine hells is the matter with you?" Zelda demanded. "How could you lash out in such a way to your own attendant? What if her and my position had been reversed? What then, Link?"
Link barely heard the scolding as his hearing faded again. He stared at his wife, silencing her with a desperate and pleading expression of a kind she had never seen. She spoke then, but he could not hear her, she rose but he could not see through the white spots that blurred his eyes. His blood pressure had fallen and fallen fastand adrenaline was the only thing sustaining his consciousness. His anger was spent and his instinct had taken over with full force. It told him to run, to break from the guards and flee from both his embarrassment and his guilt as much as the damning gazes that were locked on him.
He pulled away weakly, the guards tightened their grip on his arms, and he fell. Exhausted and helpless, he slumped against the guards and was overwhelmed by darkness.
* * *
Zelda sat vigilantly at her husband's bedside and watched the rhythmic and steady rise and fall of his breast, silently praying that he would be more himself the next time he woke. He woke once since the incident in Impa's quarters and he had been overcome with guilt, pleading for forgiveness. He told her that he could not remember what he said, what he did, or what set him off to begin with. He only knew that he was ashamed and embarrassed and guilty.
There came a knock on the door as a male servant entered. His name was Loir, Link's closest personal attendant and a strong member of the first battle group, the group in which Link fought. Loir had been injured in the same battle as his lord though to a much lesser degree, and had proven himself beyond expectations when he returned his unconscious commander to the castle's infirmary. Zelda smiled at his approach, released her grip on Link's hands, and turned to face him.
"Loir, it is good to see you about. Certainly Link has missed your companionship of late."
Loir bowed so low that his hand swept the floor. He accepted the compliment humbly, as always, and carried on his charge. "Your highness, I've come to relieve you of your watch. Lady Impa wishes to speak with you in the courtyard regarding the events of this morning."
Zelda could not protest the soldier's request though she did sincerely doubt that the petite elf would be able to restrain her husband in the event that he enraged again. She began to protest but her concerns were dismissed with a wave and a smile, and before she knew what had happened she had been escorted from the room.
A short while later the princess arrived in the castle gardens where Impa sat waiting at a small white table. Zelda sat down to a warm cup of tea and a long, uncomfortable silence.
"You need not be embarrassed or ashamed for the actions of your husband. You cannot rightfully harbor guilt for things which you cannot control."
Zelda nodded her reply and looked from her teacup to Impa's wounded face, bruised and swollen. She could not help but feel somehow responsible. "Link has not been himself for quite some time. His dreams have been plagued with demons and warnings and his consciousness is overcome with stress for the war, for myself, and for his child."
Impa smiled at the reference. "And how is the child?"
"Strong and restless."
The two women shared a tentative laugh, the guilt and stress momentarily lifted from the conversation. But the pall returned shortly thereafter as Impa began a more serious line of questioning.
"Tell me about his dreams."
Zelda blew a deep sigh. So much had transpired over the last weeks that she feared she would not be able to recall the intricacies. "Darkness," she said. "They are filled with dark tidings. Weeks ago he saw our child, he said it was a boy. The child was troubled, haunted. Days after that he woke from a dream of a demon, threatening the kingdom and his family," There came a long and uncomfortable pause as Zelda searched her memory for more detailed descriptions of the premonitions.
"And since then?" Impa said.
"Since then he has had the same recurring dream almost every night. A figure warns him to suppress his desire to fight and a second figure begs him to fight, to give in to a primal nature. It is as though his conscience is trying to speak to him. He told me that he thought that the cautionary figure was his father, but more often lately he has stopped believing that possibility."
Impa sighed and leaned forward in her chair. "It would not be the first time that a father has been forewarned of danger by an unborn child. Legend says that your husband's father was led to his own fate through the guidance of figures in his dreams. His dreams warned him of danger and despair if he did not end the threat."
"What are you saying?" Zelda replied, her voice low. Truly she was confused and more troubled than curious.
"You must keep him away from any battle," Impa said. "Link blacked out during his tirade, when he struck me, he screamed at me in the ancient language of Hyrule. He screamed that his son was endangered, that he had to fight to protect his family and his honor and his kingdom. He told me that if he did not fight there would be death and decay. But I believe that he has misunderstood the warnings of his dreams. He must not go into battle, he must remain with you, well protected inside of the castle. If he is lost then so, too, is Hyrule."