Chapter 8

In Which Mychal Suffers a Setback

Selene didn't like the feel of the soapy water touching her legs, and she danced around as I tried to scrub her feathers back to a shining white.

"Easy, mama," I murmured to her. "We're almost done, I promise. We've got to have you looking your best for when we go meet Mychal, don't we?"

"You talk to that horse more than you talk to most people," Zelda said, folding her arms and resting her chin over the stable's half door. "Including me."

"Always take the time to soothe your mount," I said. "It's the only way to let them know how you truly feel."

"Is that where I've gone wrong?"

I smiled. She didn't give herself enough credit. Tian had been much better behaved on the trip back from Goponga. There was something different in the Princess' attitude, in the way that she carried herself, that I knew the horse had picked up on. She had ridden with her shoulders back and chin held high, nodding and smiling at her subjects as we passed them on the road.

Most people seemed friendly, but a few made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. As we approached the Rebonae Bridge, I noticed two men watching Zelda intently. It wasn't odd that they were watching her– seeing a Princess was a notable enough event– but there was something unsettling about the predatory look in their eyes. One of the men took a banana out of his pouch and ate it, slowly, as we passed. He never broke eye contact; he barely even blinked. And as we rode back into Castle Town, there were more people than normal just hanging around the gates. As we passed, I noticed a man, dark-haired with an unusually pointed chin, give a definitive nod to a woman across the way, who then slipped onto a side street and out of view. Maybe just a coincidence, but it made me uneasy all the same.

I tried to push it from my mind. The King had made it clear it was no longer my concern. "You shouldn't be here," I said quietly.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to make any trouble for you. I was just coming to fetch Tian and I wanted to say hello. Your father is escorting me to the research lab. I'm sure he'll try to lecture me on the untrustworthiness of the Sheikah," she rolled her eyes, "but the good thing about being the heir to the throne is that I can command him to be silent."

I stifled a laugh, and she continued. "I suppose you won't be here when I return? I heard you were leaving for Zora's Domain this afternoon."

I nodded in affirmation. The situation was almost funny. A month ago, I would have liked nothing better than to leave the Princess behind to go hunt lizalfos in the highlands. Now that I was essentially being banished, all I wanted to do was stay.

The King had been furious when we returned from Goponga. He'd given me an absolute dressing down in front of half the court. "While you were galavanting around the Gerudo Desert, with hardly a care for my daughter's safety, I received a letter from Elder Ketupa, saying you attacked their Champion. The Rito are in an absolute uproar, what am I to tell them? You were meant to keep the Princess safe but it seems all you have done is cause problems and lead her right into the jaws of danger!"

Zelda's attempts to defend me had only made him angrier. "Father! It wasn't Sir Link's fault. I am the one to blame. I put great effort into evading him. I realize now the error of–"

"Enough!" Rhoam roared. "If he is not able to keep track of one foolish girl, then he is no use to me. Bernhardt!" he snapped. My father stepped forward and bowed to the King. "You and the Royal Guard will resume providing Zelda's personal protection. Link, get out of my sight until I decide what's to be done with you."

Zelda kept her head lowered as her father swept out, but her fists were clenched and cheeks flushed in anger. He paused, briefly, as he passed by her. "Oh, it's been decided. You'll be marrying Airaud, the future Duke of Rauru. After your birthday. We're finalizing the contract now." Zelda's mouth dropped open in wordless outrage, but the King was gone before she could get any words out.

My father stepped up next, to further drive salt into the wound. "Your Highness, I shall escort you to the Cathedral for your devotions. Link, you won't be needed. Return to your quarters and await further instructions."

I wasn't about to shut myself up in my room until the King's temper cooled, but I didn't do much of anything over the next few weeks. I spent my days galloping Selene through Hyrule Forest Park and my nights soaking in the gossip at taverns around Castle Town. Just sitting quietly at a bar seemed to invite people to tell you their entire life stories. Nearly every traveler complained of increased monster activity outside of the crownlands, and the difficulty that presented for trade. Locals complained that the traders were charging too much for everything from silk to spicy peppers to Hyrule bass. Things seemed to be ticking along somewhat normally, but with a current of discontent running under every interaction.

A few times, I saw the dark-haired man with the pointed chin. He always had a mug of beer in front of him, but he never seemed to drink. Once, I saw him shove a banana in his mouth when he thought no one was looking. Something fishy was going on there, I just wasn't sure what.

In the end, it was Mychal who resolved 'what was to be done with me.' The Commander of the Citadel had been charged with bringing a company of soldiers-in-training down from Akkala to handle the Lizalfos problem. He sent a letter to the King asking, if I was not otherwise engaged, could I be sent to assist? The King was happy to see the back of me. I was set to leave today, and just had a few odds and ends to finish up.

"I'm not sure when I'll see you again," Zelda said, her voice tinged with sadness. "Thank you for everything, Link. May the Goddess light your path." She turned to leave.

"Princess! Wait!" I called. I pulled the small dagger from my pouch. "This was my mother's. You should take it. Just in case."

"Oh, link, it's lovely, but I couldn't possibly–"

"It's small. It will even fit in your boot. Please, I'd like you to have it."

She nodded in assent. "Thank you, Sir Link. Link. I will treasure it."

I bowed as she left. Even as her footsteps faded, the scent of lilies lingered in the air.

…..

The sun was getting low in the sky by the time I made it to the Ternio Trail. An old woman was selling hand pies at the fork in the road. The smell was delectable, and I couldn't help but stop for one. She grabbed my wrist as I passed her the rupees, pulling me closer and looking deeply into my eyes. I froze. Her grip was deceptively strong.

"You got the wolf in you, boy," she laughed, and let my arm go as if nothing had happened, pressing an entire basket of pies into my hand.

I stepped away, eyeing the old woman with concern and suspicion. Untroubled, she packed up her wares and shuffled down the road towards Eldin. I went the other way, to a sheep shelter where I had arranged to meet Mychal.

I set up Selene on a highline, got a fire going, and selected an apple-filled pie from the basket. I watched the slip below the horizon, bathing the distant castle in fiery light. The moon was high and the fire low before Mychal and his cadets showed up.

"Did you save any for us?" Mychal asked, as he lowered himself down next to me, gesturing at the half-eaten pie. I handed him the basket; only one remained uneaten. I suspected it had durian filling. He broke it in half, went to take a bite, and then tossed the two halves out into the road in disgust. "Skies above, what is that? It smells like pig shit."

I told him he should have gotten here on time if he wanted one of the good flavors. He scowled. "There was a nest of Lizalfos right in the shadow of the Akkala span. Took these idiots long enough to take care of can hardly wipe their own asses without step-by-step instructions." He gestured at the cadets, who were seeing to the horses. One managed to hit himself in the face as he undid the cinch on his mount. He sighed. "But I suppose you can only make steel by hammering out the slag first." He pulled out a flask, took a long draw, then handed it to me. "So. Tell me of Castle Town. How fares the Kingdom?"

I shared some of what I had picked up on over the last few weeks– how the weather had affected crops, the monster sightings, the grumbling in Castle Town.

"Ay, we've had a hard time getting some things up in Akkala. Parchment, hides for armor, wheat. Wheat especially. And what we do get is more expensive than ever." I took a swing from the flask, letting the whiskey sit on my tongue before swallowing. I handed it back to him, and he took another long draw. "The people need a distraction. I suppose a wedding would do the trick. Is it true the Princess is betrothed to Airaud?"

I nodded, swallowed a hard lump in my throat. The idea of Zelda marrying Lord Airaud curdled my stomach. He had made a particular project of torturing me at the Citadel. He was older, and larger, and never could quite get over the fact that he couldn't best me in combat. So he took to cornering me with the band of goons that always seemed to be at his back. Once, during a snowy trip to the Training Camp outside the Minshi woods, he had dumped a bucket of water over me in my tent. My fingers still ached when I remembered the bitter cold and his mocking laugh. I was just upset that she was going to marry such an awful person. I wasn't jealous. I wasn't.

"Well, the King has made a good match, at least."

I sat up, brow furrowed in indignation. How could he say that was a good match?

"Not because of Airaud, no, he's a useless little cretin. But if war is coming, Rhoam needs to know he can count on the army. There's only a few score of us at the Citadel, we're not enough to defend the entire kingdom. But most of the officer corps live in Rauru, and most of the recruits cycle through the training center there."

I protested that the army swore their oaths to the Royal Family of Hyrule, not to the house of Rauru.

"At the end of the day, a soldier is loyal to the one who pays him and feeds him, regardless of whatever oaths he might swear." He shrugged. "At any rate, you'll be free once she's married off, that must be a relief." I didn't know how to tell him that it wasn't. I gave a noncommittal shrug. "Have you given any thought to what you'll do when this whole thing is over?"

When this whole thing is over... The sun made dappled patterns as it filtered through the trees of the Sacred Grove. A brown-haired Princess smiled on as I placed the Sword back in its pedestal. After everything that had happened, it was almost hard to believe it was this easy. I swung onto Epona's back, nodding to the Princess before nudging the horse into a gallop. Illia was waiting for me at home.

"Link? Are you still with me?"

I blinked in surprise. I shook my head and answered that I hadn't really thought about it.

"There's always a place for you at the Citadel. I need someone there who knows what they're doing. But first, we must eradicate these lizalfos. What's the plan?"

The Zora had provided a map marked with areas where lizalfos camps had been last spotted, and I chimed in here and there with my knowledge of the terrain. Mychal and I spent the rest of the evening marking out a path that would take us to each of the camps while minimizing the time we spent fighting uphill.

Mind buzzing, I made my way to my bedroll and fell into a fitful sleep.

I leaned on my stick, weary. I was getting too old to make these kinds of climbs. The young queen had needed to help me several times to keep me from stumbling.

"It's beautiful," I said, gazing up at the statue that had been carved out of the red stone. "Thank you."

"I thought she should have been included amongst the Heroines," said Illumeni, thickly accented. The 'H' in 'Heroines' stuck in the back of her throat like a cough. "But the oracles said that eight was an inauspicious number."

"Vatorsa would have just told them to go fuck themselves and built it anyway."

"Yes. If I am fortunate, history will judge me as half the Chief that she was. But Vatorsa is dead, and I must do the best I can."

Her tone was matter-of-fact. Not resentful, but slightly weary. I regretted my choice of words immediately.

"I'm sorry," I said. "The Gerudo are lucky to call you Chief. You've been an excellent leader."

Much better than I had been to my people, not that I had really even tried. Now it was too late. The Zonai were scattered. Some had fled across the sea. Others had settled in towns and cities, trying to start new lives as 'normal' Hylians. And still others had simply disappeared, vanished into thin air. The Sheikah would certainly find a way to keep their own history alive, so that the Divine Beasts and the Shrines would one day serve their purpose. They would continue to serve the Royal Family, passing their songs down through time. But no one was left to sing the songs of my people. Within a generation, they would be nothing more than a memory. I thought of Akkarani, trapped under the dark earth, waging an eternal battle against the evil that lurked there. Would she have made that sacrifice if she had known everything that would happen afterward?

Zelda stepped forward. "Chief Illumeni, it is an honor for my mother and grandmother to be included amongst your Seven Heroines. I never knew Chief Akkarani, but my mother always spoke highly of her. On behalf of Hyrule, I thank you."

The wind kicked up, and a low roar sounded over the plateau. We looked up to see a golden dragon swimming through the sky.

"Inauspicious, pah!" lllumeni spat. "Farore has left her wood, to watch over her favorite daughter. What greater sign could there be?"

Illumeni brought forth a flagon of palm wine, and poured it into three small clay cups.

"To everyone we've lost. And to Akkarani, the Eighth Heroine." We toasted and drank silently, standing at the base of the statue as the sun slipped below the plateau. Illumeni said that she needed to return to her village, and bid us farewell. I wasn't ready to leave, though, not yet.

The moon began to rise. A wolf howled in the distance.

"Sir Link, may I ask– what will you do next?"

I sighed. "I'll return this Sword to its pedestal, far to the north where the Deku Sprout can watch over it. Perhaps it will never be needed again."

"And then? There is always a place for you at Court. Your counsel is valued."

"Thank you, dear child, but my role in this story is finished. This is your land now."

A howl rang through the night again. It roused me from the dream. I looked up along the ridge. A solitary wolf stood there, silhouetted against the night sky. The light of the nearly-full moon shone against his golden fur. I propped myself up on my elbows to get a better look. He threw his head back into a mournful, almost musical cry. As the echoes faded away, the wolf suddenly disappeared, as if it had never been there at all.

…..

Eliminating the lizalfos was surprisingly easy. Several of the cadets were skilled with a bow. If we took out the sentries, we could easily raid the camp without alerting the monsters. Then we just overwhelmed them with sheer numbers. One boy got hit with a shock arrow while he was standing in a puddle, and got knocked out for awhile. He had some nasty burns up his legs, but nothing he wouldn't recover from. Other than that, we didn't incur any other major injuries.

So, three nights later, we could be excused for wanting to cut loose a bit. We had moved camp, into one of the lizalfos' camps. It had a good view of the surrounding terrain, watchtowers we could use for own sentries, as well as a cookpot and some entrenchments. We weren't too worried about being attacked at this point, though, having combed up and down the ridge and cutting down every monster we saw. We passed a flask around the fire, laughing at the faces we each made when we swallowed the roughly-fermented liquor, and congratulating each other on a job well done.

I stepped away to the latrine while some of the younger cadets tried to teach Mychal a dance from their village in Hebra, the sound of hooting laughter and raucous clapping at my back.

A wolf howled along a ridge to the north. I looked up, but the light reflecting off of his fur was no longer golden, but red. I looked to the east. The moon was rising, bloody and haloed in miasma. I heard a voice ringing in my head, childlike but somehow still wise and self-assured. "Anybody who comes into the forest will be lost. Everybody will become a Stalfos. Everybody, Stalfos."

The background noise of laughter had changed to shouts, growls, and the sound of clashing steel. I ran back towards the camp, but I was unprepared for what I saw. Monsters, everywhere. Columns of smoked spiraled up from the watchtowers, leaving reptilian archers in their wake. The camp was overrun with lizalfos, bokoblins, and even moblins, seemingly coming from nowhere.

I was stunned. I couldn't move. The man knelt before me on the marble stair. A sliver of sunlight illuminated his golden hair, which was now streaked with silver. He had grown taller since I had last seen him, lankiness replaced with broad shoulders and well-muscled arms. He wore a full suit of armor, including a fearsome horned helm. "Please," he begged, "I am asking you to lend me your power once more, just for a short time. I just want to see her again, and I don't know where else to look. She's the only one who knows what it was like… who remembers what really happened. But if I go into the Lost Woods without you, they won't let me out again."

I said nothing. I could only slumber until evil rose again, until my next Master was called. That time was still a long way off.

"Please…" the man whispered. I said nothing.

He reached out, grasping my hilt, but leapt back with a cry of pain, hand blistering.

A low snarl and the sound of quick footsteps brought me back to the present, but not quickly enough. The lizalfos was on me before I could get my shield up. It was little more than a skeleton, but its barbed tail was still sharp. It whipped into my arm, and I crashed to the ground. The stal-lizard leapt upward, getting enough air that I had time to roll over and out of the way before it delivered the coup de gras.

"Link! Stay down!" Mychal was a few paces away, arrow drawn. I flattened myself, and he hit the beast square in the face. The skull shattered, and the bones fell into a jumbled pile.

"PULL BACK! TO ZORA'S DOMAIN! WITH ME!" Mychal shouted over the chaos. Cries of "pull back!" repeated through the crush. I picked up an errant bow, and started picking off as many of the sentries as I could. There was no sense in letting them continue to harass us with arrows as we retreated. I ran, shooting over my shoulder as best I could, but then I fell. I had tripped over the body of one of the Hebra boys. Half a dozen arrows sprouted from his chest. I picked myself up and kept running, wondering how this had all devolved into such a nightmare.

We stumbled into Zora's Domain just before dawn, bloody and exhausted. The Zora guards came running, helping some of the more badly injured soldiers towards the sleeping pools, where there would be room to lay everyone out. Mipha was with them as well. She came straight for me, but I waved her away. My wound would keep. I wound some linen around my bleeding arm and helped tend to the others. I pressed blankets around the shoulders of those who were uninjured, pressed warm drinks into their hands. Several had become insensate, ranting about being attacked by a demon from the moon. I tried to soothe them as best I could.

Hours passed, but Mipha was able to see to everyone with a grievous wound. Many of the cadets still moaned in pain, but I didn't think we would lose anyone else. Mychal leaned back against one of the shining blue columns, staring out into space. I'd never seen him look so defeated.

Mipha slipped a hand under my elbow. "Link, would you come with me to Vah Ruta? I have something I'd like to show you."

I nodded, and we made our way out to the east reservoir. Mipha lifted Ruta's trunk up, exposing a stunning view. The setting sun sparkled along the luminous stone of the Domain. I tried to take it in, tried to appreciate the beauty, but I just felt numb.

"I'm sorry this happened, Link. But I just wanted to say, I'll always admire your heart. You're so determined to help others, even at your own expense. We're lucky to have you."

I didn't answer. I was exhausted, physically and mentally. And after such a colossal failure, I didn't want her praise.

Mipha began tending to my arm. "I was thinking…this reminds me of the time we first met," she said, focusing her energy over the wound. "You were just a reckless child, always getting yourself hurt at every turn. Every time, I would heal you, just as I'm doing right now. I thought it was funny how, being a Hylian, you looked grown-up so much faster than I did. I was…I was always willing to heal your wounds, even back then." She finished her work, and I stretched my arm. Good as new. Better, really.

"So if this 'Calamity Ganon' does, in fact, return, what can we really do? We just don't seem to know much about what we'll be up against. But know this: no matter how difficult the battle might get, if you– if anyone ever tries to do you harm, I will heal you. No matter when, no matter how bad the wound. I hope you know, that I will always protect you."

I cast my eyes down, still wishing anyone but her could have piloted the Beast. I knew she meant it, but I never wanted her to put herself in harm's way.

"Once this whole thing is over…maybe things can go back to how they used to be, when we were young." Her hands twisted nervously in her lap. "You know, maybe…we could spend some time together."

Once this whole thing is over.... She looked at me expectantly, eyes shining. I was seven, helping the Zora Princess down from a tree, her white skin flushed nearly as red as her crest in frustration and embarrassment. And I was seventeen, staring across an unclosable distance at another Zora Princess, her mottled blue fins beating against the water. I wouldn't see her again in this world. I closed my eyes, trying to focus on what was here, what was now.

"Mipha…" I whispered hoarsely. "What if…" I balled up and released my fist several times. How could I describe this to her? "What if this is never over?" The spirit of the assassinated queen hovered over me, begging my help for her dying son. "What if this is never over, for any of us?"

"Link," she said softly. "I know we will find a way to defeat the Calamity, together."

'Let's give him hell, Link,' the Zora Champion said to me, before climbing into Vah Ruta to confront the Demon King. They were the last words she ever spoke to anyone. "I know we will, it's just…" I swallowed. "Mipha, I see things."

"What do you mean? What kinds of things?"

"Things from the past. It's the Sword…it shows me."

"You can see the past?"

"Yes," I said quietly, barely moving my lips. She had to lean in to hear me. "And Mipha, I can't…I'm having a hard time. I can't tell what's 'now,' and what's 'then.' I can't tell what I remember, what happened to me, versus what happened to all those other Links. I'm not even sure anymore, who me is."

The dam inside of me broke. My shoulders shook, and tears dripped down my nose. Mipha wrapped her arms around me, and I buried my head in her shoulder.

"I never wanted this! I never asked for it! I just wanted to keep you and Aryll safe, and now I'm so worried about you all the time. What if it's not enough? What if I'm not enough to face Him? And what's the point? What's the point of any of this, if it all just keeps happening again and again?"

Mipha made soothing sounds in my ear, rubbing my back. I could feel her trying to push her healing energy into me, but my remaining wounds were mental, not physical.

"You are enough, Link. You're the most remarkable person I've ever met. The Goddesses chose you for a reason. And if we have peace, isn't that worth it? If it's for just a single generation, or a thousand, Hyrule is worth fighting for."

That just made me sob harder, for some reason. I stayed there until I had cried myself out. I pulled away. I had to wipe snot from my nose with the corner of my tunic.

"Sorry. Not exactly very dignified of the Princess' Appointed Knight. Former Appointed Knight," I amended.

"You have nothing to apologize for."

I hiccuped a few times, calming myself down. "Anyway…you said you had something to show me?"

Mipha paused, lips pursed. "You know, I can't even remember what it was. I'm sure it wasn't important."

I felt she was holding something back, but I didn't want to press her. She never pushed me to talk when I wasn't ready, and it seemed right to return the favor.

She lowered us back down to the docks, and we made our way back to the Domain. She paused at the bridge leading across Ruto Lake, and took my hand. "Link, I–"

"LINK!" A silver-haired figure sprinted towards us like a loosed arrow. Out of instinct I pushed Mipha behind me and reached for the Sword, but then I recognized the long silver hair.

Impa pulled up short just in front of us, panting. "Link. You must come at once. It's the Princess. She's been kidnapped."