Chapter 40: Death
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The first thing Zelda was aware of was cold. It surrounded her, trapped her in a vise of prickling skin and shivers. It occurred to her then that she was no longer in her own room.
Familiar smells assaulted her nose - sweat, horse, and… banana. Surprised, she opened her eyes, a spike of panic piercing her heart as she took in her surroundings. A thick wooden mast, convex wooden walls, the gentle rocking of a craft upon water.
And four burly men, two rowing, one at the rudder, and the fourth tending to the sail, all of them wearing thick cloaks over crimson armor, hoods pulled over their white masks. Zelda's blood ran cold. The Yiga Clan.
Nausea coiled through her stomach and she shuddered, remembering. A faint scuffle that woke her from a restless slumber, white masks hovering over her bead, a cloth doused in a powerful sleeping draught pressed over her mouth and nose before she had the chance to struggle. I've been kidnapped.
Bitterness squeezed her soul. Well done, Father. You incapacitated my knight, giving the Yiga Clan the perfect opportunity to take me. Thanks a lot.
Then there was fear. It was the middle of the night, amidst a raging winter storm, and she was certain the Yiga must have killed the guards outside of her quarters. No one knows what happened to me. And by the time they find out…
She shivered again, pressing herself further into the thick bearskin cloak the Yiga must have wrapped around her. It'll be too late.
The assassin managing the sail glanced back at her and muttered something to his companion at the tiller, who looked back at her in surprise. "Well, well. Good evening, Princess." He sounded smug, confirming Zelda's fears. No rescue is coming.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked evenly, trying to emulate Link's stoic mask. "And why haven't you killed me yet?"
"The Cliffs of Ruvara," one of the men rowing grunted in response. "And believe me, we'll kill you just as soon as we can - but we have our orders."
"Orders?" Zelda gulped. "What orders?"
The man cast his head back at her. His face was concealed by his mask, but she received the distinct impression that he was glaring sullenly at her. "What makes you think we'd tell you?"
"Well, if you're just going to kill me anyway…"
The Yiga exchanged glances, and the man at the sail shook his head in exasperation. "I… I suppose there's no harm in telling you some of it. We have - er - an agreement with a… a somewhat neutral third party."
One of the rowers barked out a harsh laugh. "Hah! If you could call him that. World's biggest fool, if you ask me."
"Shut it," the man at the sail snarled. "Anyway, we need to keep you alive long enough for him to see that you're alive when we meet him beneath the Cliffs of Ruvara. In exchange, he tells us where he's hidden a portion of his wealth - payment for our… cooperation in his little plan. Then we kill you both, make it look like he kidnapped you and murdered you, then froze to death himself. We'll make him watch, of course - wouldn't be any fun otherwise."
Zelda winced, a quiver of nausea rippling through her gut. Despicable.
"You asked for it," one of the Yiga shrugged, raising his oar from the river's depths. "You wanted to know, and now you know."
The man at the sail gave an ugly laugh. "I suppose there's one other thing I forgot to mention, though."
A chill ran up her spine at his sinister voice, and she moistened her lips nervously. "And what might that be?"
"Nothing of much importance," the assassin managing the tiller growled, adjusting their little craft's direction with a slight tug. "Just that your little pet knight is dead."
A wave of cold that had nothing to do with the winter storm smothered her. "Wh-what?" she stammered, her calm facade abandoned. They're lying. They must be!
"Either that, or he'll be dead soon," the other assassin wielding an oar added with a grin, but his companion boxed his ears.
"Idiot! You can't say that!" he hissed lividly.
It was enough. Relief rushed through her soul, and she sagged with relief. Thank the Goddesses.
Link was more resilient than anyone gave him credit for. Surely, if the Yiga truly had botched an assassination attempt, he would be just fine. And… and if he's alive, and they failed their assassination, then he must know about them. He'll find out I'm gone, and he'll -
"Don't get your hopes up," the man at the sail sneered. "He'll bleed out long before he reaches us. If he hasn't already. Our… third party friend has seen to that."
And just like that her spirits were crushed again. She wrapped her cloak more securely around herself, biting back tears. So they didn't fail after all. They just want him to suffer.
As if he hasn't had enough of that already!
Her heart ached, and she rubbed her stinging eyes angrily. Goddesses, spare him, please! Her chin wobbled, and resolutely she clenched her teeth together, determined not to go to her death in tears. And yet despair was resolutely dragging her soul down to darkness, weakening her will. How much pain can one day bring? Why can't we be left in peace? Why must he suffer so greatly?
The boat lurched, and one of the Yiga cursed. "The ice is too thick," he growled. "We can't go -"
"Yes, we can," the man at the tiller retorted. "Hit it! Break it into pieces! Get us to the other side or face the consequences. You know what the punishment is if we fail! You know how much we could use that money!"
The men at the oars grumbled but did as they were commanded, drawing their greatswords and thrusting them downwards into the ice-choked river. Zelda decided that one more question wouldn't hurt. "Where are we now?"
The assassins exchanged glances before the man working the sail answered, "The Regencia River. Just west of Giant's Forest."
A thrill of excitement shot through her; she fought to contain herself. "I see," Zelda murmured evenly. Giant's Forest - that's close to the Sage Temple! And if the ice is thick enough that the boat can't get through, perhaps it would be thick enough to hold me! I could escape!
She could get back to the castle. Back to Link. She could save him before it was too late and he bled out as the Yiga had said.
The boat inched along, with the assassins chopping desperately at the ice around them, breaking it into pieces where they could and pulling the boat through with their oars. Zelda sat straighter, peering over the sides; the storm was so thick she couldn't see how wide the river was, let alone where the shoreline was. Goodness knows how their accomplice will even find them through all of this. But if we're on the Regencia River and headed for Karusa Valley, and we're close to the Giant's Forest, that means we're headed south. So if I run in the direction normal to the boat, I'll reach land.
Determination coiled in her gut and she turned her attention to the ice around them. The Yiga were struggling, hacking violently, sending shards flying up around them. It was impressively thick; glancing behind the boat at the chunks of ice left in their wake Zelda was stunned to see some the size of her head.
Will it be enough?
She studied the burly Yiga assassins intently. It comes down to whether or not the force of my weight and the impact of my feet on the ice is less than the force behind their blows.
Well, I undoubtedly weigh less. And whereas the forces acting on the ice when the Yiga strike it are concentrated solely on one area the thickness of the blade, my weight would be evenly distributed between my feet. Then there's the fact that these men are heavily muscled, whereas I… am not. Their weight and strength increase the force behind their blows.
She almost wanted to ask the men how much they weighed. And then of course she would have to measure the speed of their swings -
Forget it. I do not have the equipment to compute exact values. I'll have to make do with a rough estimate.
A very rough estimate.
In which case she was reasonably certain that the force she generated running away across the ice would be less than the force applied by the Yiga's blades and oars. She would not fall to her death in the icy water.
She waited until all four Yiga were working at the prow, stabbing mercilessly downwards. Summoning her courage, she secured the bear cloak around her shoulders and slowly stood, watching her captors cautiously. Then with a spike of adrenaline through her blood she lunged over the side of the boat.
Her heart skipped as she saw dark waters beneath her and numb relief melted through her when she landed just past that, her feet colliding and slipping on frictionless ice as she fell with a startled yelp to her hands and knees.
"What the - hey! Get back here, girl!"
She glanced over her shoulder at the boat, still close enough to touch if she reached out, and blind terror sent a second wave of numbing adrenaline through her limbs. She surged to her feet with speed she did not know she possessed and sprinted out across the ice, her heart lurching with every slippery step as her stockings met the slick surface.
She heard water sloshing and feet thunking across wood as the Yiga assassins prepared themselves, so she assumed, for pursuit. Wind-driven snow slapped across her face, pinching it with stinging cold, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Goddesses know what they'll do to me if they catch me!
They might just decide to kill me now and save themselves future trouble!
The thought sent trembling terror through her blood. She pushed herself to run faster, trusting in her momentum to keep her from falling. Angry shouts and curses and clipped footsteps from behind warned her of her pursuers; from the sound of it they were gaining. The storm's not thick enough to hide me!
Her heart battered against her ribs as if trying to escape, fluttering in a mad panic. She couldn't suppress a breathless terrified whimper. She could feel herself tiring; soon adrenaline wouldn't be enough to keep her on her feet. Her arms and legs burned as she sprinted, skidded, across the ice through the blinding storm. The weight of the warm, but dense, bear cloak was beginning to make itself known on her shoulders. Is this the right direction? I don't care, as long as it's away from those men - but if it's the wrong direction I'll get lost and die from exposure!
She was caught between the hammer and the anvil. Fear, cold as the storm raging around her, crept around her throbbing heart.
Then she saw it. A light in the distance, weak, barely visible through the thick veil of snowflakes tumbling down. But it was something - it was hope. With renewed vigor she forced herself onwards, wringing the last dredges of strength from her body, running frantically over the frozen river. And the light was getting closer, closer, closer -
"Gotcha!" A sudden solid impact to her back and she slipped forward, falling painfully to her stomach with a winded grunt as something heavy pinned her down; her heart froze as she heard the ice creak beneath her.
Rough hands gripped her shoulders and she realized in terror what - or rather who - had tackled her. "Let go of me!" she screeched, writhing beneath him in an attempt to get free. With numb, shaking fingers she scrabbled at the ice beneath her, struggling to push herself up, but her strength was spent.
"Quit struggling," the Yiga assassin growled, digging his knee further into her back and snatching her wrists, yanking them behind her back. She cried out at the strain, grimacing, pulling against his grip and gasping at the pain that flared from the action. The Yiga chuckled menacingly. "That'll teach you to -"
Pounding footsteps. The sickening squelching crunch of a blade rending flesh, bone, and muscle. Zelda sucked in a sharp gasp, her eyes wide with fright. Something heavy fell across her shoulders, and all at once she felt as if she couldn't breathe. Oh Goddesses… Oh Goddesses… I've been stabbed!
"You'll pay for that!" an angry voice roared, muffled by the storm. She heard the ring of steel against steel and a weak thread of confusion coiled through her mind. They're… fighting each other? They turned against one another?
She realized, her mind clouded by fear and shock, that the man who had pinned her down was not moving. And he had released her hands. Quickly she twisted onto her side and pushed herself away, struggling to find traction; to her horror the man fell limply away, and a growing red stain blossomed beneath him on the ice. She backed away rapidly, clapping a hand to her mouth, trembling violently more from fright than the cold. "Oh, Goddesses," she whimpered, eyes wide.
He's dead. I wasn't stabbed. Nausea writhed in her gut and she clutched at her stomach, staring numbly at the corpse before her.
Desperately she looked around for something to distract her, and her heart seized in her chest as she caught sight of a hulking beast-like figure veiled by the falling storm. A monster - a lynel! It must be!
Terrified, sucking in rapid, panicked breaths, she scrambled away from the looming figure, only for a fresh wave of fear to still her lungs as it moved towards her. "Help," she squeaked, struggling to force enough air through her throat. "Help… please help…"
It was no use. She was utterly petrified by fear, rendered weak and helpless. The ice creaked and groaned beneath the beast's weight as it plodded nearer. She wanted to look away but she couldn't; she was transfixed by the image of her death drawing nearer on four sturdy, deadly hooves -
With a break in the gusts of wind whirling through the storm, curtain of falling snow drew aside for a moment, and her heart lurched. She didn't know whether to cry or laugh or faint.
It wasn't a lynel walking carefully towards her. It wasn't even any sort of monster. It was Choice, Link's beloved mare, without saddle or bridle and painted nearly white by the snow on her back and in her mane.
Tears sprang to her eyes as she finally decided on what to do. With quivering limbs she forced herself to stand and threw her arms around the horse's sturdy neck, relief pouring euphorically through her soul. "Oh, Choice," she whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut. "Thank the Goddesses you're here - now I can get out of here and we can get back to the castle and save Link before it's too late -"
Choice whickered softly, turning her head; Zelda followed her gaze to the distant shadows of the Yiga assassins still battling on the ice. Her heart lurched as she saw again the light she had followed over the river and realized what it was.
Long and thin, twisting gracefully in the darkness, wielded by someone distinctly smaller than the two Yiga assassins that remained to fight him, it could only be one thing.
It's… the Master Sword.
"Link is here," she breathed, eyes wide. "But how - they said they killed him! Or - or that they were going to kill him, or…"
She stopped as Choice studied her bemusedly, as if to challenge her lack of faith in Link's skills. Zelda smiled widely, fresh tears burning trails down her cold cheeks. "You're right - of course they couldn't succeed," she sniffled, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "Even after what happened today, he's so much stronger than they give him credit for. Everything will be alright now." Everything will be alright.
She only wished she believed it.
Through the snow she watched as one of his assailants fell to his blade. The ring of steel clashing on steel, though dimly muted by distance and the falling snow, echoed across the ice. She heard faint grunts of pain but could not tell who they belonged to; wringing her fingers anxiously together she prayed they weren't Link's. The storm distorted his figure, blurring his movement and the powerful strikes of his adversary, so that the only thing she could see with clarity were the blows of the Master Sword. She watched it desperately, biting her lip in fear for her knight, her heart squeezing tighter with each second that dragged past.
Then the Master Sword seemed to shrink for a moment before elongating back to its usual size, and as she heard a breathless moan, she knew what had happened. He impaled the last assassin. They're all gone now.
They're gone. He won! We… we're safe now!
She wanted to run to him, feel his arms securely enfold her, reassure her hope that the danger had passed. But as she attempted to take a step forward her legs wobbled violently and she decided against it, leaning on Choice's shoulder for support. The ice creaked again beneath her and she winced but did not move, confident that if the ice had not cracked yet, it wasn't going to.
The Master Sword's light grew in strength until she could clearly make out its distinctive shape instead of a mere straight line. Then the shadowed figure of her knight coalesced into the details comprising his familiar form, and she couldn't help herself any longer. She rushed away from Choice and flung her arms around him. He felt cold, like the ice encasing the river, but she was too overwhelmed to truly notice.
"They told me you were dead," she blurted, burying her face in his shoulder. "I didn't - didn't want to believe it, but… and then they admitted that you might not be dead, but you were dying, so I - I had to escape, but I wasn't fast enough, and - and -"
Gentle fingers combed through her hair and she shivered, blinking away tears. "It's alright," Link told her quietly. "They… they're dead now."
She shivered again, remembering the blood of the Yiga assassin now undoubtedly staining the cloak around her shoulders, and nausea squeezed her gut. "Link, they - one of them, he… his…" And the tears were coming faster now; she had never truly comprehended what it meant to die in battle, the blood and gore and suddenness, and she'd seen it on two separate occasions now -
Link gripped her shoulders firmly, his eyes wide with panic in the darkness. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
She had never heard such anger in his voice. "No," she admitted shakily. "N-no, I… I'm fine; I'm just - his blood -"
The river interrupted her, ice creaking and moaning beneath her feet. Her breath caught in her throat and her pulse spiked yet again as she was seized by the sudden certainty that she was seconds from plunging to an icy death. Link's hands tightened on her shoulders and he opened his mouth to offer comfort, or give instruction, or any number of things that she would never hear.
The ice split with a deafening crack and she flinched, slamming her eyes closed, and heard a splash.
And Link's scream.
He released her shoulders and sprinted away from her, to a hole in the ice that hadn't been there moments before. A hole in the ice where Choice had stood.
Link stood, visibly trembling, staring into the dark water. "Choice?" he croaked, his voice dramatically broken, weak, unfamiliar to Zelda's ears. She hurried after him, arms pinwheeling for a moment as she fought for balance on the slippery ice when she stopped at his side.
His body tensed as he crouched, and she realized what he was about to do an instant before he did it. "Link! No!" Just as he sprang she lunged at him with the last of her strength, colliding painfully with his body and tackling him back down to the ice. If he had not already been moving, his center of balance unanchored, she doubted she would have been enough to stop him.
Instantly he was pushing himself back up, crawling back towards the edge of the hole before she had the chance to sit up. A fresh wave of despair bubbled up through her soul, causing tears to burn in her eyes, and she couldn't hold back another sob. "Link, please!"
He paused, his head bowed low above the water. His body went rigid and she saw him shudder, as if he were fighting with himself.
"Link, she… she's gone," Zelda whispered pleadingly. Please, please don't jump in the river… please don't leave me alone. "Th-there's nothing you can do for her. You aren't… No one could ever be strong enough to pull an animal that size out of the water. Please - w-we need to get to safety…"
Snow fluttered softly down. Thick flakes landed in the icy water, turning it to mush. It was black as pitch, impenetrable. Link stared at it fixedly, his entire body still, except for his hands, curled into shaking fists. Zelda watched him fearfully, pleadingly, her heart pulsing and her body vibrating from cold and fatigue.
She heard his breath catch, and his shoulders slumped lower. "She's… gone?" he echoed numbly, his voice cracking painfully. His voice quavered and his shoulders shook. He gasped and reached out with a trembling hand as several air bubbles broke the black surface of the water, and Zelda's heart ached at the implications. It's a terrible way to die. Made worse by how much he cares about her.
She frowned, the cold and the fear forgotten for a moment as agony brought about by empathy squeezed her soul. "I don't know what family feels like, but I think she's family to me." Link's words from weeks prior rang in her ears, and she felt again all the pain and confusion of her mother's death. He has already suffered because of the death of his parents, even though he doesn't know who they are. Now, losing Choice…
The river interrupted her, creaking and burbling beneath her, and Link instantly shot to his feet, leaping towards her just as a chunk of ice caved beneath him. One foot plunged into the icy water but his other landed safely; without breaking stride he rushed towards her and scooped her into his arms with a soft grunt, so quickly that Zelda was hardly aware of what had happened until her cheek was nestled against his chest.
He dashed over the splitting ice and Zelda held on to him desperately, squeezing her eyes shut in terror as her pulse hammered in time to his rapid footsteps thudding on the river below. Each stride she feared would send them through the ice into the frosty waters beneath; each breath she feared would be the last she took before deadly cold closed around her. Ice crunched and Link stumbled and lurched forward; Zelda's heart jumped to her throat for a petrifying instant until she felt him regain his footing and resume his desperate sprint over the river.
"Goddesses, preserve us," she whispered breathlessly, clinging tightly to his shirt. He felt slightly warm against her, a warmth that radiated from his chest and side, and she wished she could somehow press herself even closer to him. Wind and snow howled and whirled around them, pricking Zelda's exposed cheeks like needles or bits of glass, and she buried her face in Link's shirt, desperate for the small shelter from the storm he provided, even as he carried her over the fracturing ice. It snapped and bubbled, eerie sounds that spiked her pulse with fear and despair, and she couldn't help tears from burning trails down her cheeks. Terror, death, and the rage of the wild… it was all too much to bear.
Link's step faltered once again and she heard a splash, but in the next moment the beautiful sound of crunching snow reached her ears. Sweet Nayru - solid ground! We've - we're on the bank! We're not over the river anymore!
Relief crashed over her, mingled with an overpowering sense of hope. No longer did every step hold the possibility of their deaths. No longer. Her shoulders shook and she bit her lip hard, trying to contain a sob, but she couldn't fight the torrent of tears dripping from her eyes. Goddesses - we're alive, we're safe; everything will be alright…
The heavy, slightly strained panting of Link's breaths rushed in her ears, in time to the grinding of his feet stamping down the snow as he continued to run through the swirling storm. But we're safe… we can stop now, right? We don't have to keep running…
A ferocious gust of wind struck them like a solid blow and she felt Link stagger, heard his breath catch. Then she remembered, with a tremor of fear, that drowning beneath the ice was not the only threat to their lives on this night. The thick, constant blanket of snow falling all around them was near blinding thanks to the wind lifting it and swirling it around and around, and the frigid air bit painfully at her hands and face and feet, even wrapped in the cloak of bear fur and Link's arms as she was. She shivered, wishing a curse upon the sharp wind and burning snowflakes assaulting her, assaulting him, fighting Link's every step.
Wind howled. Zelda could feel the resistance, could feel the cold cutting like a knife through her cloak and pushing her closer against Link's chest. His determined pace slowed and his ragged breaths grew shorter as he struggled onward, bent against the wind.
"Almost there," he grunted, his voice hoarse with pain and exhaustion. With effort Zelda lifted her head to peer anxiously up at him; tears glittered on his cheeks. Like sand caving into a hidden pit, she felt a yawning emptiness expand within her at the reminder hidden in his weary tone, that Choice was dead. She opened her mouth to speak, to comfort him or offer sympathies or anything that could possibly help, but she could think of nothing to say. She looked away in sorrow, letting her head rest on his shoulder once more.
Almost there, he had said. Where is there? Where are we going?
She turned her gaze forward and her heart leaped with the remission of the relief that had so recently buoyed her spirits only to be crushed by the merciless storm. Through the onslaught of icy flakes she could see a warm golden light, the light of some sort of flame melting through the darkness. And with each moment it grew sharper, clearer, as Link trudged wearily across the piles of snow separating them from shelter. It was small, contained to a small rectangular area, and she couldn't make out the distinct shape of flames - only vague flickering. A lantern, then.
"Who goes there?" a sharp female voice called out, just as Zelda discerned two incredibly burly humanoid shapes illuminated by the lantern - or rather, by the two lanterns side by side, hanging above a simple wooden door set into a wall of sturdy stone. The Sage Temple.
"Th -" Link coughed slightly. Zelda felt his chest shudder and then expand as he drew in a deep breath. "The Princess of Hyrule."
The two guards - each of them dressed in thick furs over their armor, contributing to the unnatural burliness that Zelda had noticed - recoiled in alarm, exchanging glances through the visors of their helmets. As one they drew their swords.
"Prove that you aren't Yiga imposters," the taller of the pair demanded, brandishing his weapon menacingly.
Link sighed heavily and, his breath catching as if in pain, set Zelda carefully down in the snow, keeping one arm firmly around her shoulders as her feet sank several inches down. She leaned against him, feeling stronger but still not well enough to stand on her own, and he drew the Master Sword from his back.
"She is the Princess, just as I am her… just as I am the wielder of this blade," he murmured tiredly. "The Yiga… cannot falsify this."
The two guards looked at each other once more, and the female gave a slight nod. "Let's get you inside, then, quickly," she said, her voice decidedly less hostile. She marched closer and reached out, gently easing Zelda out from beneath Link's arm. "Take it easy. I… I apologize for the delay; we had to be sure."
Zelda allowed the guard to help her walk forward, and leaned against her just as much as she had leaned on Link. Goddesses only knew adrenaline was so draining, she thought glumly, sliding her feet carefully forward. Her legs wobbled with each small step she took and she grimaced, eager to get out of the biting cold as quickly as possible.
A faint grunt and a thud from behind. She looked over her shoulder in surprise and her heart froze in her chest as she saw, in an instant that dragged on forever, Link's form crumpled in the snow. Saw in the warm glow of the lanterns the dark splotches and stains stretching across his shirt, now bleeding into the snow.
In that instant that dragged on forever, she realized why she had felt warmth from him. It was his blood, leaving his body from wounds no doubt left by the Yiga.
And she was covered in it.
Her mouth went dry. The world stretched and smeared around her. Snowflakes fell slowly, frozen in time. She heard her own blood rushing, pounding through her ears. Her mind darkened and floated slowly away, into numbing horror that melted away into nothingness.
His blood…
Updated 7/8
