Link felt Zelda beginning to drag behind him again. How long had they been running? How long could they keep up their strength? How much damage was the kingdom suffering?

"Come on," he prompted.

"I can't... keep running," Zelda said, unable to catch her breath. "I... I can't..."

Link gritted his teeth. They had to keep going. The farther, the better. They had to survive. But he supposed part of that was to not run themselves ragged. "We'll rest... as soon as we get to... the dueling peaks," he panted.

"How far...?"

He pointed at the mountain in front of them. It was split in two, as if Hylia had taken a massive sword to it. There were rumors that one of the dragon spirits had something to do with it.

As soon as they reached the chasm between the peaks, Zelda collapsed to her knees in the mud. Link stopped beside her and leaned against a rock. Both of them still panted heavily. He pulled out some apples, meat pastries, and water skins. Zelda ate almost as fast as he did, which was saying something.

The two sat in silence for a while. Though they were both glad to have a break, the air was heavy. Heavy with the horrors past. Heavy with dread for the future. Link absently watched a line of water trickling down the cliff wall. It followed a little groove in the rock. Its path was predestined. There was nothing the helpless water could do to change its fate.

A beam of light lit the chasm.

Link flinched away just in time. He leapt to his feet, drawing the Master Sword, and faced his opponent.

A possessed Guardian closed in on them. Link deflected the next beam with his blade. This is bad, he realized. We're trapped in here, like cuckoos for the slaughter! He shouted to Zelda. "Go! Run!" He held the foe off as she made a run for it. Her legs were unsteady. Exhausted. His own legs were burning too, despite the chill rain, but adrenaline flooded his veins.

The Guardian fired its laser toward Zelda. He deflected it, but the thing knocked him down with a swipe of its mechanical leg. It pursued the Princess, crawling over him. He rolled onto his back, stabbing it in the vulnerable spot, and scrambled out just before it fell right on top of him. He'd beaten it, but if one had found them, there were bound to be more. Plus, this dead one would act as a trail marker.

He sprinted to catch up to Zelda. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along. They had to get out of this death trap. Up ahead were the distant lanterns of the Dueling Peaks stable. Light at the end of the tunnel. As they drew closer, he could make out individual silhouettes.

"Run!" he hollered at the top of his lungs, pulling Zelda across the bridge. "They're coming! Run!"

The tired staff looked confused at first, until another Guardian scuttled down the side of the mountain and fired a beam straight at the stable. People screamed. Horses reared and yanked on their restraints. The rain put out the fire quickly, but there was a hole blasted through the tent either way. Another came behind it.

Link threw a whirling beam of sacred light from his blade at the Guardians. They focused on him instead, allowing the civilians to get their horses and flee. He dodged one blast, then another, until they raced across the bridge after them. The wooden planks barely held.

He sent Zelda ahead of him and charged at the first one, slashing through its hull. He cut through something vital, and the machine sputtered to a halt. He pierced the other's eye.

"Link!" Zelda shouted, "Look out!"

He looked up just in time to dodge a blast. Three more came speeding from the chasm.

Hylia above, Link cursed. "Get to Fort Hateno!"

He held his ground as the monsters came toward him.

...

"They're coming!" Zelda screamed.

The guards patrolling the wall of the fort stopped in their tracks and leaned down to look at her. "Princess?"

"The Guardians! Calamity Ganon is controlling them!"

A blast echoed through the rain from Blatchery Plain where her knight was holding off the machines. Flecks of Malice rose through the air.

"Get everyone! He's fighting those things all on his own!"

The guardsmen snapped to action. "We're under attack! The Calamity is here! This is not a drill!"

Within moments, soldiers flooded into the plain to fight.

...

Link slashed through another Guardian. More took its place. How many of these things were there? He picked up an abandoned traveler's shield. In his exhaustion, he didn't time his shield bash right. The blast destroyed it in one blow. He rolled behind a pile of rubble, dodging another laser. He grunted, holding his burned shield arm. There's too many of them. I can't-

Footsteps thundered across the soggy ground.

A whole battalion rushed past and attacked the swarms of enemies. One of the soldiers stopped beside him. "Sir knight! Are you alright?"

"I..." he wheezed, "I'll be fine."

He looked the blue-clad knight over, noticing the burned arm under the charred remains of his sleeve. "Take a breather. You need it."

As much as he hated the idea of leaving the fight, the soldier was right. "Go for the eyes."

The soldier nodded, then joined the others, repeating his advice.

He leaned back into the pile of rubble, out of sight of the Guardians. The cold rain soothed his burn. But he could not ignore the yells. The screams.

"The eye!"

"Use your shields!"

"Where's my spear?"

"Where did these things come from?"

"I need backup! Augh!"

Link stood. He'd regained most of his breath, but he was still panting. An apocalypse raged around him. A soldier fell victim to a laser right in front of his eyes.

He charged the Guardian with a cry of vengeance. He beheaded it with a single blow. Another came right at him. He leapt over it and attacked from behind. He buried his blade in the next one's eye. The others glanced at him in admiration. The sight of his sword inspired them. Some let out another battle cry and they redoubled their efforts. The fight went on. The land was slowly covered in dead machines. Finally, things were looking up. Almost every Guardian was down.

Then the next wave came.

"Incoming!"

They came like a flood, spilling over the remains of their predecessors. Malice burned in their eyes.

"There's too many! Retreat!" Armor clattered as the soldiers ran for the fort walls.

Link stood in the path of the oncoming storm. The wave crashed into him.

He leapt on the first Guardian, gouging his blade and severing mechanics, then pushed off toward another, slashing through its legs. He fought like a dragon. For the moment, he might as well have been immortal. He crashed through the enemy line, leaving a path of dead Guardians in his wake. He was a storm. He could not be stopped. He-

The guardian he was hacking at reached up with its leg and grabbed Link from behind. He cried out as the sharp claws dug into his back. He somehow managed to sever the leg and fell. He stood and finished it off. The claw wounds didn't feel too deep, but that didn't stop them from hurting like Demise.

He glanced briefly at the troop of retreating soldiers. Part of him wanted to follow them, but he needed to fight as many of these things as he could before they got to the fort. Otherwise they'd be overwhelmed.

He took out another. Then another. Time became a discombobulated blur of flashes and sounds.

He dodged a laser, but he was getting slow, even sloppy. At least, compared to his standards. That was something he could not afford.

Zelda anxiously watched the distant fight. Beams of light lit up the Malice-infected sky. "Please... be careful, Link," she whispered under her breath.

Shapes moved toward the fort. She flinched, looking down. The soldiers were coming back. Some limped along after them. Most were injured. Many were missing.

The Princess scanned the crowd filtering in through the gate, trying desperately to pick out even a scrap of blue. "Link!"

There was no response.

She nearly tripped as the flew down the steps. "Where is Link?" she shouted.

The way the soldiers exchanged glances seemed shocked. Almost... guilty? "Er, he... I think he's still out there."

"What in the name of Hylia were you thinking?" she snapped. She turned toward the open gate, past the incoming wounded stragglers. The fight still raged. Her heart sped up, drumming along to the sound of the rain. I have to do something!

Too many. There's too many. I can't fight them all.

Link kicked off one Guardian as it died, then slid underneath the next, hitting it's soft spot.

The voice from before grated against his soul with an cruel laugh. "You cannot stop it, little hero. Your effort is in vain."

No! he thought. I'm protecting Zelda! I will save her!

A Guardian fired at him. He moved too slow. It hit just above his knee. It burned. Hylia, it burned! He could only spare a brief glance through watering eyes, but from what he saw, the blast had carved out a section of his flesh. He rolled away from another blast, then stood again. A burning pain shot through his leg. If not for his nearly inhuman strength, he would have collapsed.

He plowed through another Guardian. Then another. And another. How many had he destroyed? Had he even scratched the surface? He finished off those in his immediate area and started toward a cluster of them.

"Link!"

He stiffened, whipping around. "Zelda! What are you doing?!"

"I... I had to do something!"

"You can't be here!"

"I won't leave you alone! I can be your extra set of eyes, if nothing else."

"No. You have to get back to the-"

"Look out!"

Link dodged the laser from a Guardian that had snuck up behind him. He killed it quickly, then gave the Princess a cold stare. "The second things get bad, you have to run."

She nodded solemnly.

Zelda found nooks and crannies to hide in, calling out to Link whenever a Guardian was coming from behind him. They worked together like this for some time. Though with the constant battle of adrenaline and exhaustion, time was impossible to gauge. Link fought on.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Zelda scream. The laser had missed, but it exploded the rubble above her. Small stones pelted her, dirtying her wet prayer dress. Link leapt at the Guardian and stabbed it repeatedly until it was dead and lay in pieces. He glanced back at her. "Zelda, are you al-"

The ground at his feet exploded, throwing the knight into the air. Link hit the ground. His head spun. He could hardly hear the distant scream coming from the Princess's direction. He tried to stand. Something hit him hard across the chest. The next thing he knew, he was flung backwards into a pile of rubble.

Link could no longer ignore the pain. The ache of his far-too-overworked muscles. The burns on his right knee and left forearm seared into his flesh. The pounding of his head where it smacked a rock before he fell to the ground. He couldn't...

I can't breathe! he realized with panic. His chest was tightened so much that he couldn't fill his lungs. Breathe. Breathe! He finally gasped in a rush of air like a drowning child pulled to safety. His ribs screamed at him. They felt broken in several places.

Zelda. I... I have to save her.

He took a step forward, but his injured leg buckled. Claws raked his right side. A laser exploded against the back of his left shoulder.

"Yes," the wicked voice laughed. "That's right, little hero. Courage has failed you as you have failed your precious little kingdom. Give up. Succumb to the pain. Die!"

Zelda cowered in her hiding place as another monster spotted her and scuttled toward her with frightening speed.

Link screamed and charged at the nearest Guardian. He cut a huge gash through its mechanisms. Another came at him. He brought it crashing down. The enemy's numbers dwindled, but so did his strength. Soon, the hulls were too difficult to cut through. Instead, he focused on the eyes and legs.

Cut the leg, his blurring mind instructed. Dodge the laser. Pierce the eye. Dodge. Cut. The eye.

The Guardian lashed out as it sputtered and died. It threw Link back again. His mind barely recognized the sharp pain in his chest. He opened his mouth wide in a silent scream, then doubled over with a fit of hacking coughs. Drops of blood splashed down with the raindrops.

"Link!"

He looked around. Dead Guardians. They almost made a wall between them and the distant sounds of metallic legs. Malice, rising through the air. A flash of dirty cloth. He hadn't realized he'd fallen to one knee, supporting his weight with the Master Sword. The blade was pitted from laser blasts and Malice. The sight terrified him. That wasn't supposed to happen.

Something touched his shoulder. He flinched, causing another spike of pain. He winced, looking up at Zelda's frightened face. "I... told you... to run."

"Link, save yourself! Go! I'll be fine! Don't worry about me. Run!"

He couldn't respond. There was nothing to say. He could hardly even breathe. Besides, he would die before abandoning her. It was both his duty and... and... his feelings for her. That's right, he thought weakly, I... love her. He coughed again. Even more blood. He felt it running down from the corner of his mouth. It flowed out of the parallel gashes from the metallic claws and warmed the side of his tunic. His shoulder, arm and leg burned like the fires of Eldin.

More mechanical claws approached. They dug into the wet ground. Approaching. Hunting. Magenta lights climbed up between two dead Guardians.

"No," Zelda whimpered.

He forced himself to his feet, stumbling backwards and almost falling over. His fingers could barely close around the hilt of his blade.

Red light. Beeping. The Calamity picked its target.

"No!"

Zelda stepped in front of him and threw her hand up like a silent plea.

Three glowing triangles. Light exploded in front of his eyes. Blinding light. It was all he could see. Am I dead?

The light slowly faded. The knight blinked in disbelief. The scene darkened again. Malice shrieked and abandoned the mechanical beast. All around, the magenta lights extinguished. The Guardian pitched forward and fell, never to move again.

Is it... over? Can... can I rest now?

"Was... was that... the power?"

Before he knew it, Link was collapsing on the cold ground with an agonized grunt.

"No. No!" The Princess rushed to his side and rolled him over, cradling him in her arms. "Link! Get up!"

He coughed raggedly. Blood dripped from his chin into his tunic.

"You... you're going to be just fine."

He looked up into her eyes. He could see the pain and fear inside them. "I... I'm s- sorry... Princess Zelda."

"Don't you leave me! Don't you dare leave me!"

"I..." he trailed off nervously. But this could be his last chance to tell her, and to Demise with the societal expectations! "I..." he choked out. "I love you."

...

Zelda blinked in disbelief. He... he loves me? He's had feelings for me all this time? "I- I love you too, Link." The words sounded foreign. A Princess, in love with her bodyguard? But then again, Hyrule lay in ruin. What would be the point in worrying about something so small?

Link didn't respond.

"Link?"

She watched her knight's eyes. Those blue, blue eyes. They looked up at her, then glazed over and rolled back into his head.

"No!" she cried, burying her face into his tunic. "Please, don't leave me here alone! I can't... I can't..." She broke off into sobs. Though her face was soaked with rainwater, she couldn't give any tears of her own. They had already dried up. It was so unfair. Only Hylia herself shed tears for him. And they were cold.

Princess...

Zelda looked up, blinking. The sword, clutched in Link's cold hand, was glowing.

Princess Zelda... There's still a chance to save him. To save Link. You know what to do.

The soft voice gave her a sliver of hope. She shivered. "The sword...? So he can... he can still be saved?"

"Princess!"

She gasped and looked up at the figures running toward her.

Two Sheikah men, leaping nimbly over dead Guardians. Were they sent by Impa, perhaps? They stopped in a crouch in front of her. "Princess. Are you alright?"

She set aside her pain for the sake of her fallen kingdom. "Forget about me! Take Link to the Shrine of Resurrection. If we don't get him there immediately, we are going to lose him forever. Is that clear?"

The two nodded in unison

"So make haste and go! His life is now in your hands."