Kaladin took the quickest route he could find to Hyrule castle, but the going was rough. Every few yards, a guardian would spot him, and he'd have to fight or run. He could defeat a guardian, but it took a lot of time and energy, two things he couldn't afford to spare. Finally he made it to a small central plaza, not far south from the castle. He couldn't help but wonder what this place was used for, before it was destroyed. The white marble was still beautiful, despite the ruin of time.

"Kaladin? Are you near the castle?" Zelda's voice spoke in his head but she sounded distant and faint.

"I'm on some sort of plaza," Zelda tried to say something but it was distorted, and he couldn't make anything out.

He said,"You're breaking up, are you okay?"

Kaladin could hear a grunt through the connection and then Zelda said,"I can't hold this for long. His power is growing. Hyrule castle is swarming with guardians. Ganon is in the inner sanctum. Please be careful. Hurry, I can't hold him for more than a week."

"A week?" he said. Zelda didn't answer.

Kaladin snuck through some ruins in front of the castle wall, but had to fight his way to the main castle, which was surrounded by imposing walls. Surprisingly, his sheikah slate automatically updated with a map of the castle. The only trouble was how nonsensical the castle was. There were half a dozen entrances, but most of them didn't get close to the throne room, where Ganon's dark energy seemed to radiate from.

He hit and dodged his way through the outside walkway around the castle. He could tell that the structure had been nice, before the Calamity had gotten to it. Now it was only a sad wreckage, left for monsters and guardians to destroy.

Kaladin finally slipped inside the castle for a breather, since there weren't as many guardians inside. He found himself in a long, winding passage that spat him out into a room with some sort of stone monster. Kaladin ran. He was in no shape to fight. He ducked into a passage behind the stone monster, and found himself in a library. Lizafoes prowled the whole room, so Kaladin ducked behind a crate to catch his breath. He had been sending Syl out to scout ahead. Syl found him behind the crate, and sat on his shoulder, drinking from an imaginary waterskin.

She said,"I think I've found something. One of the library shelves is fake. I don't know how you're going to move it, but I bet there's something good behind it."

Kaladin said,"But what about the lizafoes? I can't take that many on by myself."

"Good point. I don't think they're very smart, and they get bored easily. If you can run to that desk-'' She pointed to a structure of wood barely recognizable as a desk-"I think you could examine the shelf. None of the lizafoes are patrolling that area. It would be the perfect hiding spot. I'll distract them while you run."

"On three."

Syl was as impatient as ever, and flew out before Kaladin could start the count. He ran over to the desk, without getting caught. Syl flew over, thankfully without a lizafoe chasing her. When Kaladin knocked on the wood of the strange shelf Syl had been investigating, he heard a metal ringing. The space behind the shelf sounded hollow too. He pulled out the sheikah slate, praying that the metal would move with the rune. Purah had tried to explain magnetism to him, but he still didn't understand it. Luckily the metal was magnetic, and pulled out quietly. Kaladin deactivated the rune and walked inside. Syl looked satisfied with her find.

Down a dark passage the two walked. Kaladin wished for a lantern, but could see a little by Syl's light. The ground sloped gradually downward until the tunnel opened to a giant cavern under the castle, with a small indoor lake leading outside. Despite a small opening to the outside world, much of the cavern was dark.

"It's a port." Kaladin whispered in awe. He'd never seen an indoor port, much less one connected to a castle's moat.

"Hey, Kaladin!" Syl was examining a large brazier, and waved him over. "Do you think you could light it? There's a flame blade on the other side."

Kaladin lifted the blade, careful not to touch anything but the handle. As soon as he touched the tip to the brazier's fuel, it burst alight. There was a rumbling sound behind Kaladin. When he turned around, there was a shrine standing there. Kaladin activated it.

"Now we have a teleportation point. But why was there a shrine here, of all places?"Kaladin said.

"Maybe it was just meant as a way to teleport in and out of the castle. Besides, that must make this cavern very old if its placement was deliberate. Who knew what it was in the sheikahs' time?"

After finding the shrine, Kaladin and Syl climbed back up the steps to the library. Syl distracted the lizafoes again, and Kaladin snuck out. A little ways down the corridor, Kaladin exited. From outside the castle, he could just make out a tower. It was close to the sanctum, and would be easy to fly from. So Kaladin hiked up the guardian infested pathway, and then lashed himself to the top of the tower. Inside was a mess, but it clearly used to be somebody's room. Syl found a small book and began reading it, turning the pages somehow. She giggled.

"What did you find?" he asked. Syl didn't answer, but giggled again instead. He hadn't actually known that she could read, only suspected it. Now he knew for sure that she wasn't faking.

"Syl?"

She didn't respond so he said,"I'm going to go look around outside."

This finally caught her attention. "It's Zelda's journal," she said.

"Syl, I don't know if anybody has told you this before, but reading someone's journal is a bit scandalous. It's probably why women wouldn't let men read in the first place."

"I was only gathering information. She talks about her powers."

He knew that he shouldn't be curious, but Zelda never really explained what 'sealing power' was other than the occasional off-hand comment. He wasn't a Lighweaver. Stories, lies and other people's secrets didn't interest him. But he still wanted to know.

"Okay, what does she say?"

"Most of it is boring recitals of her life in the palace, arguments with her dad, and something about Link, so I skipped ahead."

"And?"

"She talks about her destiny. Turns out that she's descended from the Goddess, and her female heritage can use the Goddess's power, which is one of the only defenses against Ganon. She tried for years to access her powers to no avail. She seems so burdened in her writing. The journal stops before the battle for fort Hateno, but she said that's where her powers were awakened. I'm not sure I can imagine the weight she put on herself. But to hold off the Calamity for years with no one to talk to, nothing to stave off the boredom, she's going to need friends these next few weeks as she tries to adjust to society again."

"That was incredibly mature, Syl. Zelda seems like she's struggling right now. I hope we're not too late."

Syl then proceeded to ruin her thoughtfulness by reading off passages from the journal about Link in the sappiest voice she could manage. Zelda certainly had a crush on him, a hundred years ago. And all the stories he'd heard talked about how great the guy was. Hopefully Link hadn't gone far. And wouldn't be mad that Kaladin had hijacked his destiny.

Kaladin vowed to never again let Syl read him a journal. Or really anything. Kaladin was able to sneak along the outside of Zelda's tower, and it was easy to climb down to the entrance to the sanctum, a pair of massive doors. Kaladin took a breath. He had no idea what he would be facing inside, only that it would be a fight for the fate of Hyrule, a land that wasn't his own, but he'd come to love just the same.

"Syl?" She turned to face him. "Are you ready for this? I'm not sure I am. From the stories we've both heard, it sounds like this won't be an easy fight. I could-"

Syl cut him off. "I know, Kaladin. I'm going to stick by your side. We'll make it out."

Kaladin nodded. He was lucky that Syl was not just bonded to him, but his friend. A very good friend. He pushed open the doors, and walked inside.