"It's so peaceful here... don't you agree? So quiet, no people, only the wind. I wish that there were more days like these. I'm really glad we were able to do this today."
"Yeah, it is nice."
"I never knew Hyrule, which is usually so green, could be so white. It's beautiful… it's like a dream."
Link smiled a bit when he saw Zelda sigh a plume of misty breath into the air, glad to see the woman relaxed. The knight's eyes watched the whisper of his queen's sigh drift on the breeze until it disappeared into the great expanse of space that fell before the pair of Hylians. Snow continued to drift slowly down from the sky to produce a natural theatre of thousands of delicate dancers, each performing their own routine with the soft breeze being their dance partners, and Zelda and Link seemed to be the sole patrons to such an extravagant show. Link rested his gloved hands on the cold stone of the wall of the Great Bridge of Hylia watching the snow, with Zelda aside him doing the same. Their horses idly stood a few feet away on the northern side of the bridge, waiting for their riders patiently and giving Epona a chance to groom her son's neck.
Link would admit that he was less interested in the falling snow and scenery as Zelda was but never would she hear him complain or anything. He understood how much she truly enjoyed being out of the castle and in the actual world without being waited on or asked to sign yet another document or something. Instead, Link was more interested in idly dragging his finger through the snow upon the wall to draw swirls and uncover the stones of the bridge. Where he swept away the snow in places however, he could swear that he could smell the lingering pungent odour of oil as if it had seeped deep into the crevices of the masonry. In fact upon further investigation, Link found a couple of scorch marks of a past fire in spots.
Thumbing the blackened stones idly, he smiled slightly.
"Did I ever tell you about the first time I ever crossed this bridge?" Link asked before he pulled himself up onto the ledge of the bridge's wall to sit and look down at Zelda, his thick cape protecting the backs of his legs from feeling the bite of the stones' chill.
"No, I don't believe you have. Or... Oh! Was it the time you battled against the leader of the Bulblins?"
Zelda looked up at him with a soft smile, having told Link before that she enjoyed hearing tales of his adventures, to know where he's been and what he's seen. The woman came closer beside him, set her forearms upon the bridge's wall, and pulled back her hood to expose her soft brunette hair to the falling snow. Link grinned a little wider, thinking of that particular event when he faced King Bulblin upon the bridge, and shook his head as he took one of his gloves off to sweep his bangs out from his eyes. He would need a haircut soon.
"No, no… that was my second voyage across the bridge to my luck, when I had been escorting Telma, Ilia, and the King Ralis when he had taken ill." Looking from Zelda to gaze down at the long length of the bridge over his shoulder, Link took a deep breath and could still recall the choking smell of smoke in his nostrils. "My first time on this bridge I never even got to the other side. It was when I was still a wolf and Midna and I were collecting the Tears of Light for the Light Spirits. We were trying to reach Lake Hylia and the water level had been so low then, because Zora's Domain was frozen solid. I told you about that. Anyways, she and I were needing to cross but as soon as I came to the bridge, I smelt a thick and strong scent. I tried to stop but Midna pushed me forward until she finally smelt it as well. Turns out, the Bulblins had slicked the entire bridge in oil and once we were midway across, they trapped us by setting both sides alight".
Pausing to look over the bridge's edge and down at Lake Hylia far below, Link chuckled slightly as he faintly made out the water's frozen edges while the main body of the lake remained open water. "Midna and I had no choice but to jump and as I recall, Midna called Lake Hylia a 'puddle' when we landed in the water ."
Smiling wider at his words and the memory, Link shivered a bit and looked down at Zelda who was looking up at him with her soft smile, though he could see amusement dancing in her brilliant blues. The knight nodded and looked away slightly, a tinge of heartache in his chest, and tried to brush it off with a grin. Even after five years he still missed Midna, a lot. Zelda was well aware of his feelings because she shared some of them, for the queen missed the Twilight Princess as well in her own way. A moment of thoughtful silence passed between the Hylians that neither of them felt the need to break and were both comfortable with. Link stared down at the snowy stones of the bridge with a smirk peeking out from his lips as he recalled Midna's mischievous giggle. When movement caught his peripheral, he looked over to watch Zelda smooth away the snow from her hair.
Link smiled a bit wider and his thoughts began to drift. Before he was fully aware of it, Zelda looked aside at him to see him staring and he just blinked, caught.
A nicker from Arion broke the silence and moment and Zelda looked over quickly at her young stallion before sighing.
"We should start heading back."
"You sure? I thought you said that you didn't have to do much today? Or are you getting cold?" Link asked, mentally kicking himself for some reason or another, but grinned his usual smile all the same.
Zelda glanced back up at Link, whose teasing tone masked true concern, before she stepped away from the wall and pulled her cloak more around her shoulders. While she took in the surrounding snowy mountains, where beyond in the west lay the grand territory of the Great Desert, she replied in a softer tone, "No, I'm not cold and I don't have any appointments today, but I want to get back to riding and to the castle before dark."
"Then what's the rush?"
"I'm not sure… I just have a bad feeling. Maybe I am getting a bit cold."
"Well, okay then," Link said nodding slowly, glancing up at the grey sky before he hopped down from the wall and came to stand beside his queen, crossing his arms. A frown threatened his grin after hearing that Zelda was feeling uneasy but not wanting to worry her more if she was already, he resorted back to teasing. "Just remember, we would have had more time out here if we had left from the western-"
The light blow to his gut cut off Link's words and his own bout of laughter swallowed the end of his sentence as Zelda walked away. He followed after the queen, who was shaking her head and hiding her own smile, back to their tethered horses. Zelda easily vaulted into Arion's saddle to find her seat and Link came up to lean against the stallion's flank to smirk up at the woman. "It's true what they say, that the truth hurts," he said as he pointedly rubbed his gut, to which Zelda only smiled and laughed lightly.
"Enough with the theatrics, Link. Come on now. The wind's beginning to pick up I think," she said shaking her head, took Arion's reins into her hands, and nudged the stallion aside to momentarily unbalance Link from his position. Chuckling, the knight quickly mounted up himself and Epona caught up with Zelda to continue northward to Hyrule Field of Lower Lanayru. It didn't take long, a few minutes at most, for Link to coax Zelda from her playfully pretending to ignore him. Zelda finally laughed after Link began to whistle one of the tunes he had learnt from the Howling Stones as a wolf with exaggerated pouted lips.
The pair of friends returned to their normal course of conversation with Link retelling the details of when he met the Light Spirit Lanayru after he and Midna had collected all of the Tears of Light. He went on to say how the spirit had taught Link about the creation of the Triforce, the Fused Shadows, and the Hyrulean Civil War, which the Hero of Time had himself mentioned to Link. When they were alone together as close as they were now, Link had always found that he could talk very easily with Zelda and reveal details to her about his adventures that he would be hesitant to say or not tell at all to other people. Zelda understood Link on a level that enabled her to relate to him because of their connections with the Goddesses and Triforce. Link knew that no one else would so easily be able to understand and it brought them both closer as friends. Consequentially, Zelda was the only person whom he had told about the Hero's Shade and the explicit details of what he had been told by the Light Spirits and about the Triforce. The Hylian Queen enjoyed hearing his stories and gave her insightful opinions and knowledge about the Triforce in order to help Link fill in any blanks and questions he might have had. Zelda knew a lot about the Triforce, having been tutored by the Ancient Sages themselves, and also from being a guardian of the Triforce of Wisdom. The Queen remained Link's key teacher when dealing with the intricate workings of the Goddesses, the history of Hyrule, the lore of the Triforce, and the magnitude of Link's own position as the Hero Chosen by the Gods.
"I keep wanting to read up more on the Civil War, but I keep forgetting to."
"Well, the castle's library has a lot of books on the subject. I can show you when we get back if you'd like. I wouldn't mind refreshing myself on the history as well, to be honest. There's also the archives too."
"What about them?"
"Well… if what you say is true about your predecessor, there might be a possibility that there might be records of his family."
"I doubt it and even if there was, how'd I know? I don't even know the Hero of Time's real name..."
"Well, there's nothing wrong in perhaps looking you know, Link… Link?"
Zelda paused when she saw the knight's raised hand, a silent signal for silence.
The riders had just ridden through a slight curve that was followed by a split in the trail when Zelda paused with her words. Following Link's line of sight, Zelda looked ahead at the fork in the road, with the left trail leading to Upper Lanayru and the right leading to the western face of the Fence and Castle Town, and she frowned. Link reined in for Epona to stop, Arion following suit, and his trained gaze surveyed the surrounding rocks quickly before returning to the huddled group of figures that were positioned on the right side of the fork, thus blocking their path. From what he could see through the falling snow, Link counted four Bulblins on the ground with two on a Bulbo, all barking in their gruff language. From reading their body language, it seemed that none of the creatures had taken notice of the pair of horses… for now. Bulblins were dense and stupid brutes but that did not mean that they weren't deadly. Even though Link knew he could take them all on, he did not want to draw attention to Zelda by doing something brash.
Catching the queen's eye, Link relied on Epona's experience and senses to alert him if there were any other enemies in proximity while he removed his left glove and slowly pulled back his cloak to reach his belt. With practiced fingers, the knight reached into one of his magical pouches to retrieve his Hero's Bow and quiver. Never once did Link have to 'search' for the item he was seeking from the pouches, but simply having the item in mind was enough for it to suddenly come to his hand from the endless depths of the magical belt. Neither did Link understand the belt's magic nor did he question it, but simply he accepted it. In his peripheral, Link noted Zelda rein Arion in to take a few steps back to position Link to be more in front and so his vantage point was unhindered by the stallion. Slipping the quiver over his head to hang off his shoulder, Link reached up to draw a Bomb Arrow and fit the arrow's nock into the bowstring, never taking his eyes off of his targets. Two Bomb Arrows would be more than enough to take out the bastards and he knew that the resulting blasts would alert the soldiers positioned at the Fence to come, thus ensuring that Zelda would remain safe. Drawing back the bowstring to touch his lips, arrowhead armed and aimed for the Bulblins, Link took the moment to glance at Zelda to find her already looking at him. She nodded in silent understanding and tightened her hold on Arion's reigns. Link knew that she could see his concern that the young horse might spook at the explosions and he did not want Arion to bolt.
Taking a steadying breath, Link focused on his target and released his arrow.
A second later the Bomb Arrow exploded and the bloodcurdling death shrieks and cries of the Bulblins mixed with the terrified roar of the Bulbo filled the rocky path. Snow and bits of rocks sprayed into the air while the surviving Bulblins tried to flee, scrambling over the torn bodies of their fallen kind, but already Link was drawing back another Bomb Arrow and let it fly directly at the aflame monstrous pig flailing on its side. Another successful blast filled the trail and obliterated the massive boar. Epona remained unfazed by the fire and blasts, though Arion danced and snorted nervously and Link knew that it was only Zelda's firm hand and the calming presence of his mother that kept the stallion from doing anything drastic. Link watched on as the remaining Bulblins howled and moaned disturbingly in distress before collapsing and dissipating into dark fumes. Link warily kept his arm at his shoulder, fingers pinching another arrow, ready to nock a third if needed but with a couple more bursts of darkness, the last of the Bulblins died and disappeared.
Silence enveloped the trail once again, aside from the nervous stamp of Arion's shoed hooves. The wind brushed Link's bangs across his narrowed eyes and slowly, he lowered his left hand but kept his bow against his leg, at the ready. Unease twisted his stomach and his instincts warned him that something was wrong and shifting his blue eyes, the knight surveyed the surrounding rocks and path once again. Only when something brushed his foot did Link suddenly look over to see Zelda beside him and he noticed her hand settled on the small blade that she kept at her thigh.
"Efficient work, my knight," she said, breaking the silence, expression indifferent. She relaxed her hold on the weapon to grip her reigns, the leather creaking from her nervous grip.
"Yeah, thanks, but are you all right? You look… shaken."
"I'm fine, it's just the cold getting to me."
Link admired how tough Zelda was but he could still tell that she was unsettled by the violence. He knew that she trusted him with her life, he had saved her already before, but all the same he could tell that his friend was tense. Five years was a fair amount of time to get to know someone and Link found out that Zelda wasn't really afraid of much, thunderstorms unsettled her sometimes, but the trauma she endured from Zant and his Invasion was too great for her to entirely hide all the time.
For a moment, Link dared to reach out and lay his hand on her shoulder. Squeezing a bit in comfort and forcing her to look at him, he smiled to silently reassure her. Zelda glanced at him before she looked down but her silence confirmed her gratitude and Link noted how her hands relaxed.
A moment or so later, Link removed his hand and returned to the task at hand. "It ought to be safe now but that was just… weird."
"Weird?"
"Yeah… It feels wrong."
"What feels wrong?
"This. I mean, with us being here. It's not making any sense."
"How so?"
"Don't you feel it... too?"
Link looked at Zelda, slightly alarmed that her tone was steadily becoming steelier and he trailed off his question, unsure. Catching her narrowed gaze however, he instinctively flinched away. Zelda, as regal as ever, had raised her chin a bit at him with her eyes gently narrowed. It was terrifying. She only did that when she was annoyed. What was this all about? What the hell did he do now? Was it because he put his hand on her shoulder? Even with them being friends there remained a silent understanding that Zelda was still Queen and Link respected that so, it wasn't like she would jump on his back or something like Ilia used to do to him. But really, was she annoyed because of that?
"What I feel about what, Link?" The way she drew you his name's syllable made the knight frown nervously.
"Umm… the Bulblins… Why they were here and all," he said slowly, unsure what he had said to annoy the woman but now he was being careful as to not further encourage her displeasure. Link wet his lips, ready to question the situation, when in a flash, Zelda blinked and looked ahead.
"Oh, right."
Link looked at her, confused as hell. Thinking he saw her bite her lip, a habit she had when she was thinking hard, Link decided it best not to ask and focus on the trail ahead of them. When it came to girls, even queens, Link found it best sometimes to just remain his quiet self. Nudging Epona forward a couple of steps, he drew closer to the fork where the only signs of the Bulblins having ever been there were the scorch marks on the surrounding stones and blackened snow. The Fence had to have been alerted by the explosions and Link expected to be seeing a squadron of Hyrulean soldiers to come and investigate any moment now. Still, things just didn't seem right.
"What I meant," he said, clearing his throat, "was why were they so close to the Fence?" Link asked aloud, eyeing where the creatures had been huddled and motioned for Zelda to come forward. "We've wiped them out from Hyrule Field and the remaining numbers have fled to the mountains. What were these ones doing so close to our defences?"
Zelda didn't say anything, letting the question hang between them.
Arion walked forward with some urging from his mistress to come aside his mother's right flank and the riders slowly walked to the fork. Link decided that he would return later and investigate the site further but his main concern now was getting Zelda safely within the Fence. No Bulblin had been seen within proximity of the newly built walls in over a year and any who dared tread near were shot on sight. The Hylian knight kept his peripheral on the other path of the fork, his mouth set into a hard line, and his grip upon his bow never faltered.
"It just doesn't make sense…" he mumbled before his breath caught.
Time seemed to slow the second after Link spoke and adrenaline surged through the knight's body as his eyes flashed in alarm.
The only warning he received that alerted him to the danger was the simple flick of his mare's left ear towards the other side of the fork in the road. Without hesitation, the knight lifted his bow and reached up to draw another arrow. Rather than immediately nock the arrow to the Hero's Bow however, Link used the weapon to smack Arion's black rump with the upper limb. The stallion whinnied in surprise and instinctively bolted forward down the path and towards the Fence. Zelda looked back at Link in surprise and worry but the knight dared not look to meet her eyes, seeing only the billowing mass of her light-blue cloak in his peripheral. In that moment, there was another being who deserved his attention more than the Queen of Hyrule. Following the strike of his bow and without pause, the Hylian then raised his bow to draw back the arrow in his fingertips and turned in the saddle to face the enemy that had hidden itself while Link had slaughtered its comrades. Link's narrowed gaze fell upon the lone opponent that had stepped out from the cover of the other path and the knight instantly realized his mistake.
The Bokoblin whom he faced was a deep shade of sickly purple, almost black, and looked taller than other Bokoblins Link had encountered. Perhaps that was because the creature was standing tall, erect, and undaunted by the horse and rider it faced rather than the haunched posture its kind usually exhibited. Within its hands was a tall bow with a large, black arrow already drawn and at the ready, its tip aimed squarely at the Hylian. Link's mistake became reality when he saw the creature's fingers twitch before his own did to release his arrow, meaning that the Bokoblin's arrow would be fired before his own, which meant that those two seconds or so Link had used to make Arion bolt and get Zelda to safety had given the Bokoblin the time it needed to strike first. Even as he loosened his own arrow and felt the kiss of the bowstring across his lips, the knight knew that there was no way he was going to be able to avoid or deflect his enemy's missile, which was already in the air. Adrenaline was pumping throughout his veins, his breaths came out steady and deep, and his training steeled his body for what was about to come. Unfortunately, no amount of practice could have prepared the hero for the terrible punch of the arrow when it struck his left shoulder. With the blow came the striking force of a horse kick, which sent Link flying from the saddle to land very hard on the ground.
Clenching his teeth against the double impact, the arrow and the fall, Link grunted and groaned when his right shoulder struck rock, he felt his bones rattle, while arrows were strewn from his quiver and his bow skidded a few feet away. The hero braced himself so that he wouldn't roll onto his injured left shoulder but, that meant the side of his head crashed into the ground. An intense ringing filled his ears, dulling his hearing and pain exploded behind his eyes to make his vision a hazy red. Somewhere above him he could make out Epona's panicked whinnies, though they sounded oddly far off, and Link felt the vibrations of his mare's frantic and retreating hooves through the rock. Or, at least, he thought he did. The pain in his head was deafening and a slick and hot wetness was flowing down the right side of his face onto the cold stone burning his cheek. Damn.
Forcing his eyes to narrowly open, Link blearily made out the image of his silver bay mount boldly bringing down her deadly sharp hooves and weight down onto the Bokoblin until the creature burst into a plume of black smoke. Blinking, Link grunted in pain and rolled cautiously onto his back, breathing heavily, before shifting his chin to look over in shock to see the shaft of the black arrow sticking out from his green tunic. He cursed when he saw what looked to be almost a foot and a half of the arrow's shaft sticking out of his shoulder, with its black fletching looking sickly and hastily attached.
Setting his head back on the ground, the knight shut his eyes tight at the jolt of pain that bit at the backs of his eyeballs while crimson blood dripped off his brown hair to colour the white snow. He tried to see if he could move his left arm at all and instantly, red-hot searing pain burst from the wound and Link cried out loudly. Opening his eyes wide, Link took a couple deep breaths but ended up with another strained groan as the heat from the arrow's wound continued to burn, pulsating from the arrowhead. Suddenly, a large muzzle came into view and Link flinched away, rousing another spurt of pain. Epona's snort fluffed Link's hair and he groaned in relief. He reached up with his good arm to take hold of her bridle.
"Epona," he muttered through clenched teeth.
The mare nickered softly at her master and easily helped Link pull himself up into a sitting position just as the stampede of approaching horses with men shouting echoed in the air off the rocks. Leaning against Epona's left foreleg, Link was able to properly see where the arrow had embedded itself into his flesh, puncturing through his chainmail, and blood was already darkening the green of his tunic around the wound. Looking at the arrow's shaft a bit closer, the Hylian saw the glassy reflection of a dark tar-like substance that coated the entire length of the arrow and gave the missile its black colouring. Link's stomach immediately sunk and his expression hardened but his head slumped a bit as another wave of heat erupted from his shoulder and spread more down the length of his arm, forcing him to turn away from the arrow to tensely ride the heat wave of pain.
Fighting against the growing pain of the wound and throbbing ache in his head, Link looked up with his bangs shadowing his eyes to watch Arion gallop up the path with soldiers riding up behind him. Zelda nimbly dismounted even before her stallion fully skidded to a stop and while she stumbled, she rushed to Link's fallen figure and fell to her knees at his side.
"Link! Oh, by the Goddesses, are you all right? What happened? Can you move?"
Zelda spoke in a rush, obviously trying to remain calm, but her eyes grew wide when her eyes were drawn to the arrow stuck in her knight's shoulder, blood flowing fearlessly from the cut on the side of his head, and her delicate fingers reached up to inspect the head wound. Seeing her hand reach for him, Link immediately caught her arm, ignoring the shrieks of pain roused from his movements, and actually pushed her away, catching her off guard. Just as the Hyrulean soldiers arrived, they were able to bear witness to one of their distinguished knights push their queen back onto her backside into the snow, a feat never witnessed before.
"Don't touch me! Don't touch the arrow, or wound, or even my blood for that matter! There's…. something…. Ugh! Just don't, Zelda! Stay away from me!" Link's steely words came between deep breaths and grunting as he looked down at his useless left arm that was beginning to go numb, his eyes narrowed furiously.
Zelda, who was seemingly unfazed and unconcerned that Link had pushed her away, instead retrieved her dagger and cut a long strip from her cloak. "Allow me at least to bind your head to keep the blood from your eyes," she said evenly and her stubborn eyes met Link's.
After a moment of obstinate staring, the knight consented with a groan and small nod.
"Ow, mother... head... Ugh! Fine, but don't remove your gloves."
While Zelda bound the strip of material around his head, dabbing away at the blood down his face, Link looked up at the captain of the soldiers, one eye shut against the pain with a grimace in accompaniment, and barked out commands. "Half of you cover the area! Be on high… alert. The other half, help me-ugh! Fuck!" Link accidentally cursed aloud as Zelda tied her makeshift bandage, he looked at her in shock and she just raised a brow, daring him to say anything. "By Farore... Help me get Her Majesty back to the castle! She is your priority!"
The captain answered with a simple, "Yes, sir!" and began calling out his own orders, with a number of soldiers moving off to search the area, as Zelda met Link's eyes.
"Link, are you okay to ride?"
"You shouldn't be here, Zelda. You should be in the walls!"
"We can argue about that later! Now, can you ride?"
"Yeah, just… umm, help me stand, please."
With his right hand tightly gripping Epona's bridle and with the help of Zelda, who was careful to remain clear of his blood and injuries, Link managed to get to his feet but wavered when another wave of heat erupted from the wound and dizziness blurred his vision.
"Link!" Zelda exclaimed, tightening her grip upon his right arm to steady him. "Perhaps we should-"
"No! I'm fine, just…. Epona!" Link whistled and tugged on his mare's reins and instantly the horse folded in her foreleg and dipped low, allowing for her injured rider to unsteadily fall onto her saddle. With Zelda and the help of one of the soldiers, the Hylian knight managed to find his seat with only a few choice curses and Epona stood, rousing yet another curse and grunt of pain from her master. Taking up his reins, Link squinted against the pain in his shoulder and the one in his head, focusing on the adrenaline in his veins and that his main priority was to see Zelda back within the ensured safety of the walls of Hyrule Castle.
Taking a deep breath, Link looked down at his queen through eyes narrowed by pain. "Zelda, can you grab my bow… please?"
The knight watched his queen and friend nod and go to pick up his dropped weapon and arrows before glancing down at his injured arm. Link subtly cursed when he saw that blood was beginning to drip from his fingers and down Epona's flank. Thankfully, Zelda wouldn't notice right away because she was on his right side and Link wasn't about to let her see either. She was already worried about him, so why upset her further by telling her that he was pretty sure that the arrow had gone all the way through his shoulder? He was sure that he could feel the tickle of blood down his back, but he couldn't say for sure.
Once Zelda slung the Hero's Bow and quiver over her shoulder, she mounted Arion and the remaining Hyrulean soldiers formed a defensive circle around their queen and Link and in unison, the group of riders started forwards towards the Fence.
Each step Epona took was growing torture for Link and with each minute, more blood continued to wet Epona's side from her master's limp arm.
Even so, he rode on without complaint or slowing, urging Epona on to maintain her slow gallop, and pushing the mare in the cool air. As they travelled, Zelda kept close to his side and cast worried glances at him, disturbed to see the tightness of his facial features, how his head was lowered, and the pained scowl painted across his mouth. Behind the group of riders stretched the grey arms of the Fence with a tall pillar of yellow-tinged smoke billowing from the western gate that they had just ridden through. The yellow smoke demanded to be seen against the grey and white landscape in order to alert the castle that aid was needed at the western edge. It was rather a brilliant system, thought up by Auru, a former member of the now-disbanded Resistance, with different coloured smokes to signal Hyrule Castle of the type of emergency any gate of the Fence might be experiencing. Yellow smoke meant that additional assistance was needed and enemies had been spotted. When it became dark and such smoke couldn't be seen, all along the Fence were cauldrons strategically placed and filled with oil that could be lit with different coloured fires in order to signal danger, as well as to pour flaming oil onto any enemies below.
In the moment however, Link cared little about how well their defensive protocols were being carried out or working, for all of his attention was focused on keeping his seat and the fire burning down his arm, the heat having reached his fingertips and was also now spreading into his chest. As much as he tried to remain upright and still, Link just couldn't and would slip in his balance and his wound would be painfully jostled, coaxing more blood to darken his tunic. This was not a natural pain, that much he was sure, and this heat, by the Goddesses! It hurt like a sonofabitch. For the most part anyway, the silver lining about the pain was that it was shocking him to remain awake, but at the same time Link could feel his strength being sapped by the arrow, as if it were drinking it out of him like a black leech. When his left arm became completely numb, he truly started to worry about the oil-like substance coating the arrow and what exactly had entered his system.
It didn't take long for the galloping horses to traverse the western field and cross the bridge to enter the gates to Castle Town that were being held open explicitly for them. A pair of riders had galloped ahead of the escort to inform the town guards to prepare the streets. The horses only slowed to a slow canter within the town's walls with soldiers lining the roads to keep the public out of the way of the horses in order to ensure that the queen and Link reached the gates to the castle unhindered. Behind the sturdy lines of soldiers, citizens watched curiously and excitedly, anticipating some juicy gossip and intrigued at the day's turn of events. Link relied completely on Epona upon entering the town to navigate to the castle. With his head hanging low, his breathing becoming laboured, his eyes were shut tight and his grip was loose on the reins. Link was riding blind and he even had stopped trying to hide it from Zelda. Pain continued to burn from his wound and he felt hot everywhere, like he was beginning to run a fever, and beads of sweat were forming on his brow. As they passed more people, Link could hear the chorus of gasps as eager eyes saw the obvious arrow sticking out of their beloved hero but Link didn't give them a second glance nor did Zelda. The people on the hero's right side called out in horror to see the trail and spots of crimson blood marring the mare's side, her master's blood.
Epona cantered up the path towards the gates leading to the stone fixed bridge that spanned over the partially frozen water of Hyrule Castle's moat. Midway across, Epona suddenly slide to a stop, forcing Arion to stop ahead of her and the guardsmen behind her to wildly stop or turn their mounts rather than crash into the silver bay mare. Zelda turned back in time to see Link droop forward before sliding off Epona's right side to land hard onto the bridge, his cape muffling the metallic thud of his Hylian shield colliding with the stones. Epona, having sensed her master beginning to fall, had instinctively stopped to save Link from enduring any further injury. With his right leg hanging awkwardly from its stirrup, Link, however, remained unmoving on the ground.
"Link!" Zelda screamed in panic. Dismounting quickly and rushing to the fallen man's side, she gently took her's knight face in her hands to look at him.
Link blearily met Zelda's panicked gaze and his eyelids fluttered as she pressed her bare hand to his bandaged forehead. Sweat coated his face and she felt his shivering beneath her hand. She gasped as to how pale he had become.
"He's ice cold, oh Goddesses! You, there! Go fetch a litter! And you! Go and send a messenger-hawk to Kakariko for Renado and his daughter to come to the castle immediately under my command! And send for Doctor Borville also! Go now!"
Zelda's commands sent soldiers off running to their horses to fulfill her orders. The remaining guardsmen crowded around their queen protectively, ready to help, though most were, with aghast expressions, subtly trying to get a glimpse of the terrible state their Saviour of Hyrule was in.
"Link?" Zelda asked, returning to peer down at her fallen knight's paling face, "Link, can you hear me? Can you say something? Link! Please! Hold on, all right? Help is on its way."
"Zelda…" Link moaned in whisper with his breathing strained and vision blurred. Blindly he reached out for her but his hand fell to the stones and Link fell into the darkness of unconsciousness.
/ / / / /
Voices. Voices filled Link's foggy head and swam around like smoky fish in a pond of heated pain, while heat filled his body. The throb of his quick heartbeat pulsated the heat like ripples upon the pond's surface, its origin being from his left shoulder. As much as he wanted to slip back into the darkness that was tempting his consciousness with the lull of sleep, Link forced his heavy eyelids partly open and his tired mind began to try and interpret what the voices around him were saying.
"We need... now, before..."
"...wasting time!"
"We don't know... him."
The sentences made no sense in Link's throbbing head and blinking didn't help either. A light hung over him, blinding him, but he was able to make out the ceiling above him and the soft mattress of the bed that he was laying on. Fortunately, a familiar face filled his view and his eyes slowly focused upon the person.
"Zelda," he whispered weakly and felt her cool and soft hand upon his cheek.
"He's awake! Renado! Quickly! Link, can you say something? Can you hear me? Have courage, this will be over soon."
"Hey now…." Link managed, smiling weakly and grunting a bit when he accidentally shifted his shoulder, not wanting Zelda to worry anymore, "enough with the theatrics. That's... my job."
Link could see Zelda's eyes soften and she bit her lower lip but at least he convinced her to take a breath and regain some of her normally collected composure. All too soon it seemed though that Zelda stepped aside and the wise features of Renado the shaman came into sight. Behind him, Link could make out the faces of Jerret, Sir Faris, and a couple guardsmen, who were all looking at him, while Renado's daughter, Luda, stood aside her father. Looking down at himself, Link could make out that his clothes and chainmail were gone, revealing his toned and hairless chest that was glistening with sweat. A white linen sheet was pulled up to his pectorals but he knew that he was still wearing his pants... pretty sure anyway. From his peripheral he could also see that the arrow still protruded from his shoulder, meaning that they needed to cut his tunic and chainmail to remove them. Link wasn't concerned about his tunic and chainmail for the Hero's Clothes, being magical, would repair themselves in time. Still, what perturbed the knight more than anything was that the arrow had been able to pierce through the magical chainmail. Usually, arrows and even enemy's swords just bounced off the protective covering, which still hurt, a lot sometimes, but it was rare for the chainmail to be damaged let alone penetrated. If his head had been clear, Link would've wanted to think about this and worry about what it meant.
"Link, can you tell me what you're feeling?" Renado asked in his calming tone.
"Hot… just hot and my arm… can't feel it. Head's pounding."
Link's voice came out hoarse and strained, his lips were dry and his tongue stuck to the top of his mouth, but he fought hard to remain coherent and lucid, focusing on the burn of the pain and not how weak he was feeling.
"Hot? Interesting... I don't understand," Renado replied, looking aside quickly, brows narrowed with thought. "Link, your skin is cool, almost cold in places, you're shivering even."
"I am?" Looking around to find Zelda standing close to his right side, Link wet his lips to ask, "How long was I out?"
"It's only been a half hour at most, you're in the castle's infirmary, but your condition has gotten worse. Your wound, it won't stop bleeding, but we managed to properly bind your head at least. Renado and Luda were in Castle Town as it turned out, which I'm thankful for, because Doctor Borville has gone to Ordon Village."
"Why… the arrow?"
"We were just discussing the best solution to remove it when you awoke," Renado stated, his brown eyes staring at the long, black shaft of the arrow as if it were a complicated puzzle.
"Just…. Pull it out," Link muttered like it was the simplest thing to do, confusion contorting his pale face as to why this was an issue.
"That's the problem…." Faris spoke up, his deep voice rumbling from the foot of the bed, "that arrow is barbed and pulling it out could severely tear the muscles in your shoulder and potentially render the entire limb useless. The tip has just pieced the other side too, so it'd be stupid to pull it all way back out again. Also, there's…"
Faris glanced at Zelda as he trailed off in his sentence. Link caught the look of pain and possibly fear flash across the queen's face but she turned away. Before he could ask, Renado finished what Faris had been trying to say.
"The arrow is coated in a poison that I have been unable to identify. It's only by the luck of the Goddesses that your chainmail stopped the arrow as far as it has gone into your flesh, for if it entirely passed through, then you would have received a larger dosage of the toxin into your bloodstream."
"So, dead, I get it."
Link said it, everyone else was thinking it, and an uncomfortable silence filled the room for a moment until Zelda spoke up.
"I still say that Jerret's plan makes the most sense. It'll be painful but… it's really our only option."
"Painful, huh? What will?" Link asked, looking over at Zelda.
"I suggested that we cut the arrow's shaft as close to your skin as we can and push the arrow out, tip first. When we push the arrow through, little to no more poison will be transferred, in theory. However, with the arrowhead barely breaking the skin on the other side of your shoulder, a clean shot that missed your bone and main arteries if I might add, we'd had to make an incision to pull the arrow out. Once it is, we can deal with the poison in your system but the longer that the arrow is in, the more poison is able to seep into you."
"What Jerret is saying, Little Link, is that your day is going to get a whole of a hell lot more painful right away. Oh, and we can't even help you along with mead or anything of the sort, because Renado here doesn't know what we're dealing with and mixing alcohol with whatever you have in you could kill you." There was a grim grin in Faris' voice, but even in such a situation, the older knight couldn't help but tease his former squire.
"Don't call me that," was all Link said exasperated, his breathing was weak, and he could feel that his pulse was fast as it was pounding in his ears. "Just do it. Get it out."
The pain already was nearly unbearable so what was more? Perhaps he'd be lucky and pass out again and when he woke up, he'll be as clucky as a Cucco. When he had told Renado that he was feeling hot, that was an understatement. Link felt like he was laying beneath the merciless sun of the Gerudo Desert while a Goron hammered a hot iron nail into his left shoulder. Each breath he took he could've sworn that he was within Death Mountain to choke on its molten air and on top of things he had a headache, a big one, probably since he's fallen off Epona twice today. Being told though that his skin felt cold just sounded too weird in his pounding head so Link didn't even care to think about that. The only comfort he could find in his current predicament was knowing that Zelda was safe and that he succeeded in his duties to protect her, but his condition was also worrying her which didn't help much.
From across the room, Link heard the heavy footfalls of Faris as he came closer to Link's side and his tutor's deep voice say, "All right then, that settles it. Men! Help me hold him down. Your Majesty, you may want to wait outside until this is done. It will not be pretty I'm afraid and I'm sure that you don't want to see your fabulous hero scream and cry like a babe."
"I'm not leaving," Zelda replied firmly and Link looked over at her with the ghost of a smile.
Quickly though the smile evaporated and his eyelids fluttering but annoyance spurred Link enough attitude to direct a weak glare at Faris. 'Cry like a babe my ass...' he thought weakly. Turning back to Zelda, Link wet his lips and took a steadying breath. "I don't want you... to see this," he whispered.
"Even if I weren't queen, no one would be able to get me to leave. I won't do that to you, Link."
"Zelda," Link began to speak a bit more strongly and he went to grab her hand with his, but ended up only weakly moving his fingers on the sheets. It was still enough to catch her attention. "I don't want to give you..." he paused as another wave of head crashed against his mind before struggled to exhale, "any more nightmares." Zelda's eyes widened slightly and her lips parted and the woman looked like she was about to say something when Faris spoke up.
"Enough talk. Save it for after we get the arrow out of the boy."
"I'm not..." Link mumbled but was quickly cut off.
"Fine, Your Majesty," Renado spoke over Link to address the Queen, "if you insist on staying, then please at least step aside. We cannot waste anymore time. Hold him down, gentlemen. Luda, hand me those cutters, please, and don't forget your gloves."
Sets of strong hands suddenly came and pressed down onto Link's legs, pinning them to the bed. The knight groaned with the additional weight on his hot body and his complaint to Faris was quickly forgotten. Faris himself came and pressed his one hand down upon Link's right arm and blearily the knight looked up at his tutor. For a second Link was sure that he saw genuine concern within his mentor's eyes and for the first time that day, Link was scared, and only to Faris did he dare show it with his eyes. Was he really that bad off to worry one of the most hardened and brave men Link had ever met? A guardsman came to lightly hold down his left arm, gloves on against the blood, and Link moaned in pain when the wounded limb was touched and shut his eyes from Faris' stoney expression. While the young man could understand why it might be necessary to be held down because he might thrash a bit, but taking into account how weak he was feeling four grown men seemed a bit extreme.
Soft fingers brushed against his cheek and Link sighed when a cool cloth came to rest upon his forehead and he closed his eyes. Zelda, what a good friend she was... Why did he have to make her worry so? And why hadn't she stayed in the Walls like she was supposed to when there was danger? Never one to back down she was... Still, there were protocols for a reason and they weren't that much use if she just ignored them for his sake. She came back to him, which he could admit was brave of her, but still! It had been nice to have her around, to see her, even if he was worrying her. He always enjoyed when she looked at him... Oh, how nice that cloth felt... it helped his head a bit actually, at least he thought it did, or maybe...
Link must've drifted off into the borderland of unconsciousness for the next thing he knew was feeling the scolding hot stab of a knife doused in flames cut into his flesh and he cried out in terrible pain. A gag had been placed in his mouth so he wouldn't bite his tongue, thus most of his scream was smothered. Snapping his eyes open wide, Link convulsed and struggled against the grips of hands clutching his limbs but he was barely able to move. Wildly looking around in a panic, the hero found to his surprise that he was now on his side and twisting his head to the side to look at his shoulder, saw that the shaft of the arrow had already been cut away. Calling out another struggled wail of pain, Link shut his eyes tight against another rolling wave of pain, clamping down on the gag as if it would help.
"It's okay, Link. Deep breaths, it's almost over." Zelda's soft voice whispered through the panic in the knight's mind and the queen's gentle hands came to ease his head back into the pillow. "I'm here," she went on gently.
"I've made the incision. Luda, on my count, push the shaft as I pull on the tip of the arrow. I can make out one of the barbs, so I should be able to get a firm hold on it. Ready?"
"Yes, father."
"Link," Zelda whispered forcing him to look on her, "things are going to be all right. I promise. Hold on."
Oh no... they hadn't even taken out the arrow yet.
Link looked directly in Zelda's eyes, his brows low with determination, and tried to focus on nothing but the lovely shade of blue he saw within them.
"Now!"
For the second time that day, time itself seemed to slow. For a moment, the room became entirely still and quiet.
The second Renado pulled the arrow free from Link's shoulder with blood spraying the shaman's clothes and onto the floor, the knight gasped loudly and his eyes went wide, his pupils dilating. With his mouth hanging open his gag fell out and with his throat tight, Link managed only to blink in numb surprise. In that second, all of his pain was gone and Link felt like he was floating. All too soon however, an intense agony seared through his being and slammed against his nerves like the cascade of a brutal waterfall. A terrible, wretched scream filled the room and time returned to normal in a rapid rush. Pain spewed from his wound and Link convulsed violently whilst he continued to yell and scream in anguish. Around him the men holding him down grunted and shouted out in surprise and effort when it seemed that all of Link's strength suddenly returned for they now fought to hold him steady.
"It burns! Oh, holy fuck! Ah! It burns! Din! The fire! Stop! Please, Goddess! Ah! Do something! Anybody!"
Link screamed again, ending with a moan of desperation and pleading. Blood flowed freely from the hole in his shoulder but it might as well have been lava. Link had been wrong. The pain earlier might as well have been a paper cut compared to what was devouring his entire body now. His head pounded, his muscles bulged from his strain and struggle, veins popping beneath his skin, sweat was soaking the white sheet twisting around his contorting legs, but still he continued to fight. Link felt like he wanted to run, to sprint away from the fire within him, and jump into the icy cold waters of the castle's moat, or Lake Hylia, or a snow hill, just anything to smother the fire! His mind was filled with a steamy mass of dark fog, clouding his judgment. Somewhere, beneath the pain, the Hylian did want to calm down, to listen to the men around him who were telling him to relax, but the fire was in control and all Link could do was scream.
"I can't… I can't bind his wound. He's tossing too much!" Renado called out from somewhere to the left of him.
In reply, Link snapped his teeth together and sneered viciously at everything. Blood had long since stained the left side of the bed and all down Link's arm were bloody tendrils spread like the webbing of some crimson arachnid. Renado continued to try and bind the wound but each time he got close, Link would jerk away as if the touch of the shaman burned him even more. Arching his back, the Hylian knight screamed loudly and fought against his human bonds, fighting the fire that was burning him from the inside out, while darkness was beginning to seep into his vision. Gradually, Link's cries became snarls, his screams became howls, and his suffering became growls. The expressions of the men surrounding the knight ranged from concentration to growing fear and Zelda continued to try and call out Link's name for him to calm down but her knight remained unreceptive.
"Your Majesty! I'd recommend that you mind your distance! Renado! By the Goddesses, man! Should we knock the boy out before he bites your hand off?"
Faris' deep tone seemed slightly strained, for even the strength of the knight was having some difficulty holding down Link's arm.
"No, we can't! Any more damage to his head could seriously injure him I'm afraid," Renado called out over a savage snarl from Link.
"Well what in the name of Din are we to do?" Faris yelled.
No one came up with an answer.
Zelda never took her eyes off of the writhing form of Hyrule's hero, her eyes slightly widened in fear, and her ears were filled with his tortured screams. She watched him toss his head, arch his back before slamming back against the mattress, fight and struggle against the men who held him and his cries were increasingly becoming more animalistic. Zelda knew of Link's past, of how the influence of the Twilight had transformed him into a beast. It had been in his wolf form that she had first met the hero, but also Link had confided to the queen concerning his wolf-like tendencies he had experienced when he had been living in Ordon. Such a topic was rather sensitive for Zelda, for she still felt responsible for Link's imprisonment and she had noticed many times in the past that Link made an effort to cover the scars he bore on his left wrist from where his shackle had rubbed his skin.
A deep, guttural growl filled the room as Link raised his head, teeth bared and the whites of his eyes were showing, brows set in a deadly furrow; the knight's bloodstained hair completed the face of pure savagery and it appeared that his head was bleeding again. One of the guardsmen stared at Link's face, terrified, and motioned to back away. He loosened his hold on Link's leg just as Link kicked out and caught Jerret in the gut, causing the captain to grunt out in surprise but managed to keep his place. Jerret was quick to grab Link's free leg and snap at the guard, "You stay your place, soldier!" but the captain openly struggled to control both of the knight's writhing legs by himself.
Zelda watched the guard resume his position before she looked back down at the savage creature that occupied the bed, a beast so far from the quiet and kind man whom she knew to be her dear friend. Slowly, Zelda also backed away from him, expression contorted with thought. Unlike the guard, Zelda did not move away out of fear but rather to retrieve a weapon. Quickly, the woman went over to the table where Link's bloodstained tunic and other garments had been strewn. Taking the Master Sword in hand, the woman looked sideways at Link, watching him flail and she saw how tears were streaming from his eyes. To see her friend in so much agony made her heart ache and guilt pressed upon her. The knight's mouth was set into a nasty snarl and Zelda knew that it was not her imagination that the man's canines had enlarged to be deadly points. She had an inkling of what to do and what might save Link from whatever darkness that he was battling within him that the pain, the poison, or a combination of both had revived.
She had to try or else she feared that soon an angry, panicked and injured wolf would occupy the room and they would all be in danger, especially Link. She left her knight's side to retrieve his hopeful salvation.
"Faris, move aside a bit," Zelda ordered, forgoing polite pleasantries, before coming near Link's right side and without hesitation, she placed the sheathed Master Sword upon Link's pale and sweaty chest and pressed it against his skin. With her other hand, the Queen of Hyrule took Link's cheek to hold his head and ignoring Faris' warning to stay away, she pressed her forehead against Link's. With his strained groans and cries loud in her ears, Zelda muttered a prayer to the Goddesses for help.
Then suddenly, a loud gasp filled the air before the room fell silent.
Slowly lifting her head, Zelda, opened her eyes to look down upon Link's face and found his eyes wide open with his brilliant blue eyes looking directly into hers once again. The man's mouth hung open in what looked like an expression of surprise with a trail of fresh blood dribbling from a side of his mouth. Still, in that moment Zelda knew that he could see her, that his head was clear, but before she could say or do anything, Link's eyes rolled slightly and his head collapsed against the pillow as his entire body went limp. In unison, the four men holding Link down groaned when Link's resistance disappeared but were slow to ease their grips, wary that Link might erupt into another fit. When the knight remained still for a good few seconds, they hesitantly eased back and released their holds. Zelda breathed a sigh of relief and smiled a bit as she swept a hand over her forehead to accidentally smear Link's blood across her skin, looking at the Master Sword and its ethereal shine seemed to be slightly brighter than its usual gleam.
Faris, sitting back on a chair, shook his head slightly as he looked on at the unconscious Link, before he said, "I must say, my lady, that your fast thinking there was greatly needed. The poor boy, I feared that some demon was fighting its way out of him the way he was screaming like that." The knight retrieved a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his mouth, his eyes never leaving Link's still and bloody body. "Never in my days as a knight or man have I heard such agony..."
"I have to agree, Your Highness… thank you." Jerret sighed and bowed his head in gratitude, rubbing where Link kicked him before he glared over at the guardsman whose fault it was.
"Let it be known," Zelda looked up from Link to stare at the room of men with a tone that commanded authority, "that knowledge of any and all events that transpired within this room will not extend beyond the mouths of those present. If so, I can assure you that the punishment will be dire. Is that clear?" Zelda spoke to all of the men present but without even looking directly at them, the two guardsmen knew that her words were for them more than the others and they lowered their heads submissively.
"Yes, Your Majesty," the four men said in unison, bowing to their queen, while Renado and Luda only spoke the oath, for the shaman was already busy cleansing and stitching Link's bloody shoulder.
"Concerning Sir Link…" Jerret spoke up, clearing his throat, "will he be all right, Master Renado?"
All eyes turned towards the healer and the man remained silent and focused on another stitch before he sighed and a frown creased his brow. "I will try all the remedies within my knowledge to try and draw out the poison from his blood. Without being able to identify the toxin however, I fear that I may not be able procure an antidote… I have no way of knowing how long his recovery may be."
"Well, we're thankful nevertheless. Never have a seen a response like his, so whatever is on that arrow must be pure evil," Jerret continued and Faris nodded in agreement.
"Do... you think it's the Twilight?" asked one of the guards hesitantly.
Silence filled the room and everyone looked at the two halves of the arrow laying darkly on a side table. No one had thought of that apparently.
"No," Zelda said finally. "The connection with the Twilight Realm has been severed."
Their queen having spoken, the men of the room only nodded before they began to quietly converse while Renado and Luda continued to diligently work. Zelda was left alone to her thoughts and she retrieved the chair from against the wall that she had been using earlier when Link was first brought in and brought it next to the knight's head. Taking a seat and putting on new gloves, she went to work to change the bandage abound his head and wipe away the blood from his face. She allowed for the quiet moment to help calm her nerves. Beneath her collected demeanour and composed expression, Zelda was shaking and immensely worried, scared even. She had acted fast and it had stopped Link from convulsing, or rather from transforming, but the entire scene had still disturbed her and blame was pressing hard upon her shoulders. True Link may be her knight and Personal Guard to the Queen and that it was his duty to protect her, but she still felt responsible for him being injured so badly and poisoned. Already she had gone over numerous possibilities in which they had left from the west gate, or hadn't stayed at Lake Hylia as long, or if she gone back to help him, or-
Zelda's lip trembled and she fought hard to remain composed and focused on finishing up with Link's bandage. Removing the bloodied gloves from her hands, she took the dried cloth in hand and Zelda dipped the material into the basin of water at his bedside to resume wetting his forehead. Link's skin felt so cold yet he screamed that he was burning and it didn't make sense. Sighing, Zelda brought her cloth to the side of the man's mouth to wipe away the traces of blood when she paused.
"Link?"
Everyone in the room looked up when Zelda whispered the knight's name questioningly.
"My lady?" Jerret asked, the captain glancing between the Queen and the knight.
"Is he awake already?" Faris spoke up.
Obvious confusion and perhaps doubt clouded the queen's expression but she did not look at Jerret and shook her head in reply to Faris. Instead, the Hylian queen leaned over the unconscious man's face and gently cupped a hand over Link's mouth and nose. Her eyes were searching for something in his vacant expression before they widened in sudden alarm.
"Oh, Goddess… Renado! I don't think… He's not breathing!"
"What?" Faris called out in shock, nearly falling over in his chair.
"He's stopped breathing!"
Renado, who had finished with Link's arm and was currently discussing possible remedies with his daughter, without hesitation came immediately to Link's side and Zelda nervously moved aside to give him room. Shoving up his sleeves, the shaman took one look at Link's face before he stated firmly, "He's gone into shock". The shaman began making orders as he interlocked his hands to begin pressing hard on the knight's still chest. "Jerret, raise his legs. Luda, come here and tilt back his head. Faris, I must ask you to take Her Ladyship outside now. Guardsmen, help him."
"What? No! I'm not leaving! I'm- Wait, Faris! Unhand me! You can't- No! Link! Let me go! Now!"
Zelda's royal authority was no match for the strong arm that came suddenly abound her waist and she found herself against a broad and strong chest; in her ear she heard her knight mutter his apology as he began to easily take her towards the door. In such a unique situation, the shaman's word overpowered the Queen's and Faris knew it. Zelda squirmed and struggled, calling out desperately for her knight to release her, but to no avail. Panic seized Zelda and she began to speak louder, realization falling upon her in full weight of what was happening and what it meant, and her heart rate increased to a rapid rate. This wasn't happening! Not again! Not again! She couldn't lose another!
She couldn't do anything, not to escape her oldest knight or to help her youngest, and all she could do was watch the scene before her through her desperate struggles. Jerret had raised Link's legs as instructed, the captain's expression full of disbelief as Renado continued to perform chest compressions on an unresponsive, cold and pale Link. The knight's body only jerked limply with each push of the shaman's hands over his heart; the Master Sword slightly jumped with each compression and slowly slid off from the hero's chest, the legendary blade rendered useless. Zelda's eyes widened and she paled, unaware of the other two guards in the room stumbling to open the door, and her gaze was drawn to Link's pallid face.
"Please, open your eyes, come on Link… Faris, please, stop! No…"
The queen's begging did not sway the knight to stop in his duty to spare her from the sight of watching her friend die, nor did he release his arm from around her waist even when they were outside of the room. The door closed and Zelda feebly reached out to door, her shaking body evaporating her strength to stand. Faris fell to a knee as Zelda stumbled and her legs gave out from beneath her. The veteran knight held her as she sobbed and called out desperately, pleading weakly to be released. From the other side of the infirmary door Jerret's muffled curses could be heard and the stumbling of the two guardsmen as they scurried to adhere to Renado's unknown orders. Guards rushed from down the hall to their queen's side, swords drawn to aid their severely distressed queen, their faces still contorted with fear from having heard all of Link's ghastly screams. Faris' solemn and stern shake of his head ordered them to stand down and her soldiers stared at their queen with concern and confusion, but she paid them no mind.
She was too preoccupied with fathoming the apparent death of the Hero Chosen by the Gods, her knight, and her best friend on the other side of the door that faced her.
"Please, Link… open your eyes."
