Chapter 39: Awakening
Exhaustion pulled Zelda towards the ground. Everything hurt, but the more tears that spilled out of her, the farther the hurt receded from her. The less she felt. A silent numbness crept through her cold, limp limbs. The rain had ceased to bring any chill.
Zelda wearily lifted a hand to her face, swiping away the last of her broken heart. Her throat felt parched and her eyes were dry and swollen.
Link's arms had remained around her. He had not forced her to move. But in the wake of her upset, Zelda knew they had to go. Hyrule was falling apart around them; they could not stay here. She had to carry on no matter how leaden the blood felt in her body.
Most of her desires lay in staying right here, come what may.
However a tiny voice whispered that if Zelda chose that, her father and friends' sacrifices were in vain.
But where is there to go now?
As Zelda raised her head, leaning away from the arms still holding her, Link met her lost gaze. His hair was soaking wet and clinging to the sides of his face, rivulets of rain tracking over his skin. There was a weariness to his slumped shoulders and in the hand that placed itself on one knee before pushing himself to his feet. Yet despite this, Link held out his other hand to Zelda, expression adamant. He wasn't ready to quit.
So neither would she.
Zelda received his proffered hand, doing her best to untangle her legs from the soaked, twisted dress as she rose. The ground was mud, smearing over the white fabric and marring the sacredness of the garb. Zelda wished she had anything else to wear right now, but there was nothing, and there was no more time. They had to leave.
"Kakariko," she murmured.
Sitkel had mentioned Impa, Purah, and Robbie heading to Kakariko Village. It seemed the wisest choice to meet up with them to regroup and form a plan.
Link and Zelda broke into a jog, her movements stiff after sitting, but as the blood circulated through her body, warming her and pushing away the staleness of her limbs, she gained momentum, emerging from the copse of trees.
It was as if the brief thickness of the woods had silenced everything else but Zelda's own personal torment.
As they emerged, the screams of frightened and wounded citizens sang through the air, the blasts of Guardians humming along in a morbid tune. To the right of where her and Link had emerged, Hyrule Field smoked and burned. The gray haze of the destroyed villages and outposts swirled and melded with the purple-pink sky of Calamity Ganon's return. The flames continued to spread despite the rain, the rattling and clinking of the Guardians crawling through the wreckage like harbingers of doom.
Zelda's stomach dropped, the fear rising once more inside her. They must have finished with Castle Town and were spreading across the rest of the land. Soon all of the land would be consumed with death and destruction.
Any weariness Zelda felt wore off. Tonight, Hyrule's fate would be decided.
Link was keeping them close to the banks of the Hylia River, giving them a defensive guard on one side of them. The refugees from surrounding settlements on the field and Castle Town fled in a scattered pattern south. Observing the civilians, Zelda could see that all of them were crossing Horwell Bridge. They were heading somewhere specific.
"Keep moving!" came a commanding shout.
Up ahead, swimming along in the current of citizens, was a Hylian captain. He was paused, waving the people on while checking if any of them needed assistance. Link shared the same thought as Zelda, making his way towards the captain.
The captain did a double take when they appeared before him, shock etched on his features. "Your Highness! Hylian Champion! You're alive!" Guilt flooded Zelda's insides at the hopeful, relieved expression that spread across his face.
"Where are you herding these people to?" Zelda asked.
The captain pointed towards Dueling Peaks. "Fort Hateno, Your Highness. Our orders were to corral any survivors and remaining citizens there where there is some defense."
Faintly, Zelda remembered Fort Hateno being marked as a safe place for retreat if anything happened to Hyrule Castle. She nodded to the captain. "Where are the rest of the soldiers?"
"Heading to Akkala Citadel, hoping to keep the Guardians at bay." His face darkened. "To make their last stand against the forces."
Last stand.
To Zelda's unspoken question, the captain continued. "Me and a few other soldiers are all these people have left. We're hoping the Fort will be protection enough, but–," he grimaced as in the distance, across Hyrule Field, a loud blast of a Guardian split the air. "I'm not sure the Fort will stop these things." His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.
The captain was barely holding it together. Underneath his orderly manner, there was fear. Zelda could taste it. Because it coated her mouth too. If Fort Hateno couldn't stand, there was nowhere left for these people to escape.
"Good work," Zelda forced out.
The captain gave a wan smile. "Just doing what needs to be done." Another blast actually shook the ground this time, the three of them turning to see a Guardian scuttling over the hills to advance on the helpless Hylians.
"Quickly, move!" The captain yelled, pulling his sword from his scabbard. He attempted to meet the foe, but moving faster than the captain, Link raced towards the Guardian, drawing its focus before springing onto its body, slashing the Guardian across the head. The orb flashed spastically before the mechanical machine crumpled to the ground. A few citizens looked on, awe apparent.
As the captain returned his sword to his sheath, Link returned, only looking slightly winded from his encounter with the Guardian. The captain shook his head, shooting Link a grateful look.
"That was amazing, Champion. No doubt there will be more following." The captain paused, eyes on the inanimate Guardian.
"It's strange. These machines seem mindlessly attacking anything and everything, so we were able to get out a lot of people since they didn't seem to be specifically targeting the civilians. However, a large group of them appeared on Hyrule Field all of a sudden." A frustrated tone painted his next words. "As if they sense we are trying to escape."
A chill stole through Zelda. As if they sense me and Link's escape. If Ganon's first thought was to control the Divine Beasts and attack the castle, then he knew who the key contenders were to defeat him. This was the same Calamity Ganon who had been bested 10,000 years ago. He had plenty of time to think over his failure and make sure it never happened again. That meant…
Zelda turned frightened eyes on Link. Getting rid of the one who wielded the Master Sword and the one with the Goddess's blood able to seal Calamity Ganon away.
She couldn't seal him away…But Ganon didn't know that.
"They're after us," Zelda breathed out whisper-soft.
The captain's face twisted in confusion. "What?" Thankfully, he hadn't heard. But Link had. His eyes met Zelda's, the same dreadful certainty filling them.
"We must go." Zelda edged away from the captain, turning to break into a sprint. Link was on her heels, leaving the captain bewildered behind them.
Water splashed her legs as they ran through puddles, mud sucking at her soles, trying to slow Zelda down.
Rain clouds covered the sky above the Necluda region. Ganon's malice hadn't extended much farther out from the castle and the pink, purple sky seemed to be contained over central Hyrule for right now. For how long, Zelda had no idea.
The throng of the panicked crowd jostled against each other, sweaty, terrified bodies all heading in the same direction. Many of the civilians were dirty and stained, some sporting cuts still fresh. Despite Zelda knowing she and Link needed to get as far away from these Hylians as possible, not wanting to make them targets, her heart ached at the deplorable state of her people, and she couldn't help placing a hand on a few shoulders, urging them to keep moving forward. Link, at one point, picked up a child who had fallen in the mud, setting her on her feet and ushering the girl back to her searching father.
In the Hylian's frenzied state, hardly, if any of them, noticed who Zelda and Link were. Zelda was grateful for this small blessing. She would rather not face their shocking disappointment and anger at the one person who could have prevented all of this.
There was a brief shallow crossing over the Squabble River and then the straight path along the churning waters through Dueling Peaks. The wind funneled down, seeming to push them along.
Emerging from the shadows of the twin crags, Blatchery Plain spread wide before the crowd. Forgoing the tramped pathways of travelers, the Hylian refugees took off across the rolling hills of the plain, Fort Hateno now visible in the distance. Some more soldiers had stationed themselves at the opening of the peaks, waving arms towards the fort and shouting to keep moving.
Zelda and Link diverged from the throng. Kakariko Village was to the north and up into the mountains surrounding the large plain. No one else seemed to be heading this way; Zelda noticed the vast emptiness stretching out before them on the trail.
They were close. So close to help.
Hysteric screams echoed behind Zelda and Link, and she halted mid-sprint, whipping around.
Guardians. Dozens of them. Pulsing pink and scuttling through the pass. Civilians threw themselves as much out of the way as they could to dodge the Guardian's legs as they jabbed down, the ancient machines heartless of who they trampled. Pained shouts rose from those who weren't fast enough to get out of the way.
The eyes of the mechanical spiders glowed a crippling blue before blasting forth deadly beams, scorching the earth and razing civilians too slow to avoid the beams. Their death cries rose to the heavens.
Zelda's hand pressed against her lips in horror.
Uncaring and unfeeling, the Guardians continued their course, scuttling across the wooden bridge crossing over to Blatchery Plain, splinters of wood cracking and flying into the waters beneath the heavy tread of the automatons, the Guardians spewing forth lasers in the direction of Fort Hateno.
Soldiers called out to each other, cries of desperation and cries of terror before being struck down. It was clear the Guardians were not only going to reach the fort, but from the sheer numbers of Guardians arriving on the plain, they would be able to easily overpower any defense of Fort Hateno. If they were to make it beyond the fort, nothing would stop them from destroying the rest of Hyrule…including–
Hateno Village.
A cold hand gripped Zelda's heart.
She shot Link a look. His eyes were flinty and hard as his gaze went not to the Guardians, but in the direction of the village.
Athel.
The King's orders were the only reason he was still here. Zelda could see his hands clenched knuckle-white tight, jaw constricted, the barest hint of fear finally on his face.
She gazed in the direction of Kakariko Village.
Impa and Robbie and Purah. All there. All waiting to safeguard the remaining royal of Hyrule with the hope that Zelda would be able to find a way to save them all. She would be safe. So would Link. If the Guardians truly were after her and Link, it wouldn't take them long to notice the two solo figures making their way up the mountain. While the Guardians spewed forth across the plains, attacking chaotically, this would be Zelda and Link's only chance of escape.
A pull drew her back to look at Link. His eyes met hers, a blue heat emanating from them. Zelda's heart punched her chest as she found something else in that burning gaze.
A plea.
She swallowed hard.
They had been exhausted past their limits. Zelda could feel the adrenaline wearing off. Link surely wouldn't have much left in him…But all those people were crying out in terror in the distance. They needed a hero.
And there wasn't one any better than her knight.
She nodded.
Link grasped the handle of the Master Sword, flashing it free. A Guardian nearby swiveled its head towards them. The blue light emanating from the sword had caught its attention. Link's eyes narrowed. Without a word, he bolted forward, sprinting towards the Guardian.
Immediately, the orb of its eye pulsed blue, growing brighter and brighter as it gathered its energy to shoot.
Glowing just as fiercely, the Master Sword swung back, cutting into the eye, the Guardian fizzling out as it swung its head in a crazy circle and collapsed to the ground, metal legs sliding limp underneath it.
Chest heaving, Master Sword in hand, Link looked like an avenging demigod standing atop the deactivated robot. Other Guardians far past this one, jerked to a stop. Mechanical heads glowing pink swung towards Link.
They must all be connected, Zelda realized with growing trepidation. Because of Calamity Ganon's malice possessing them. A hive mind. Which meant that Link had just alerted them to his presence.
Four of the mechanical menaces scurried in the direction of Link. Outstretching the Master Sword in front of him, Link sliced the air, an arc of blue light shooting like an arrow into one of the Guardians, sending it tottering onto its side, head grating against the ground as it struggled to understand what had happened. Zelda watched in amazement as Link let forth another arc of light into the following Guardian. This one was propelled backwards several feet.
She hadn't known the Master Sword was capable of that.
"Someone please help!" sobbed a woman.
Zelda jerked her head in the direction of the cry. Back up against the wall of one of the ruins on Blatchery Plain, a Hylian mother with her arms around a little boy shrank under the red laser of a Guardian as it towered over them.
Zelda's feet were moving before she'd even comprehended the dangerousness of her action.
A dead soldier lay on the ground not far from the cowering woman and child, bow just out of his grasp.
She scooped the weapon up into her hand, stealing an arrow jutting out of the ground. Planting one foot forward and drawing the arrow back, Zelda aimed—and fired.
The arrow whizzed straight for the Guardian, pinging its eye and disorienting the machine for a few seconds.
Huddled and seemingly confused as to why the Guardian hadn't killed them yet, the Hylian woman looked up at the Guardian and then past it to Zelda who still held the soldier's bow in her hand.
"Get out of here! Head to the Fort!" Zelda shouted.
Gaining some sense, the woman grasped the boy to her chest, disappearing over a shallow hill in the direction of the stone wall.
Shaking off the last of the effects of the arrow, the Guardian swiveled to Zelda, laser appearing on her chest. The ruins the woman had leaned against. That was the only possible shield Zelda had. Sprinting forward, laser following her every move, Zelda dove behind the wall, a blast launching brick and dust into the air as she covered her head with her arms.
Soot powdered the ground, filling Zelda's nostrils. She sputtered and coughed, unwinding herself from her protective position on the grass. Zelda yelped as she jolted back away from the fire that had begun catching the blades of grass from the beam of the Guardian's blast. She scrambled to her feet, using the remnants of the wall to pull herself to her feet. Zelda's side hurt from where she had thrown herself. She'd landed on something uncomfortable.
Beep. beep. Beeeeeep.
Zelda's gaze dragged upwards into the glowing eye of the Guardian. It had found her once more. Coughing again, Zelda grimaced at the pain that bruised her side. What had she landed on?
Memory, white and hot, seared her brain, and Zelda quickly reached into the folds of her dress, withdrawing the kunai Sitkel had given her.
"It's the same metal as the Guardians. It'll be more effective against them if you need a way to escape."
Her hand was sweaty on the short hilt, the Guardian's laser focusing once more on Zelda. She prayed this would work.
Yelling, Zelda ran forward, inserting as much power into her swing as possible as she cut down into one of the Guardian's six legs. The ancient metal sawed through the leg as if it were made of sand. For a moment, Zelda stared in shock at her handiwork. The Guardian now tipped slightly sideways, attempting to find a new balance with its missing appendage.
She gripped the handle of the knife tighter. Throwing herself towards another leg, she swung. The Guardian, as intellectual as Zelda thought they could be, scuttled backwards, avoiding her attack. The laser was on her again. Frantically, Zelda attempted another swipe. The Guardian dodged once more.
It's fast. Her heart beat a million miles per minute. And I'm just too slow.
The orb grew brighter and brighter, the beeping escalating into the final shrill right before the beam erupted. Zelda steeled herself, legs shivering, mind racing. I have a chance. A one in a thousand chance of escaping its attack if I dodge at just the right–
Zelda threw herself to the side, heat from the beam razor sharp and scalding on the barest top of the skin of her forearm. The breath flew out of her lungs upon impact with the ground, Zelda struggling to grab it back.
THUD.
A Guardian leg came into view out of the corner of Zelda's eye. Head throbbing, Zelda pushed herself haltingly to her knees, staring into the eye of the Guardian. It was relentless. And she had nowhere else to go. The knife had disappeared somewhere in the grass.
Before the beam could erupt, consuming Zelda, a glowing blade sliced the space between the head and body of the Guardian, severing the wires. Grotesquely, the head dropped to the ground with a dull 'thump', the body immediately following.
Zelda blinked, her held breath escaping. It had all happened within seconds.
Panting, Link raced forward, grabbing Zelda's arm and hauling her to her feet. He spun them, pulling her along as another three Guardians emerged from the smoking plains, gears grinding for the chase.
They ran with wild abandon, the world burning around them.
The militia consisting of the residents of Hateno manned the top of the fort's wall, shooting arrow after arrow upon the Guardians attempting to surpass the fort. The straggling soldiers were spread out, some on the field teaming up in pairs to battle the Guardians with melee weapons while others positioned themselves directly in front of the shut iron gate of Fort Hateno, trying to slow the attacks on the wall down.
One by one, the soldiers and militia men and women fell.
Guardian's beams swept along the top of the fort, toppling the stonework and incinerating the soldiers stationed on the parapets. Other beams cut through the fighters on the ground, felling them like sickles through Tabantha wheat. Backs were pressed up against the wall, the Guardians began to climb the stones of Fort Hateno, and the moans of the dying were ignored, all soon to be dead anyway.
It was awful.
The most awful scene Zelda had ever witnessed. Her heart was tearing in two, the cries of her despairing people ringing in her ears.
The Guardians on Link and Zelda's flank rose up from behind, lasers honing in on them as the beeping of the beams commenced.
Link shoved Zelda to the side, the three Guardians firing at once. He twisted sideways, the rays scraping past on either side of Link, singeing his tunic and piercing the outermost layer of flesh. Grunting in pain, Link darted forward, swinging madly between the three Guardians, dismantling them with powerful, precise attacks.
Other Guardians scurried from over the field, at least a dozen of them converging on Link and Zelda's position. Zelda's blood raced.
Too many. There were too many of them.
Link turned to view the horde of Guardians, one hand clenching the Master Sword, the other, his shield. Bracing his legs apart, Link positioned himself between the onslaught of ancient machines and Zelda.
They were feet away now.
In a burst of untraceable speed, Link was rolling underneath one of them, leaving wires snapping and fraying as the Guardian rolled lifelessly forward. Link launched himself into the fray of them, lasers attempting to zero in on the blur of motion that was the Hylian Champion.
Zelda watched on in petrified stupefaction.
With every stroke, Link cut down Guardian after Guardian. Slashing, jumping, thrusting–
There was nowhere that the Hylian Champion wasn't. If one attempted to trip away, Link unleashed an arrow to the eye, stalling the Guardian until Link was close enough to destroy it.
The beams of the Guardians were flying, each machine attempting to nail down the furious attacks of the Master Sword. Deftly, Link dodged in and out of the beams, blocking some with his shield while using their attacks to his advantage by leaping behind a Guardian just before another one shot forth its laser, striking its comrade instead.
Link was in his finest moment, the deadly skills he'd shown Zelda sporadically along their travels now manifested with blatant incredulity. She'd never seen someone so determined and immovable. Not once did he allow the Guardians to get past him to Zelda, cutting them down before their lasers could find her.
The battle lasted mere minutes.
And when the smoke from the scorching plains abated, Link was left standing amidst the smattering of wrecked Guardians.
Zelda still felt too astounded to move.
He made his way back to Zelda's side, his steps slow and dragging. When he was close enough for Zelda to see his expression, she jolted out of her reverie, sloshing through shallow puddles towards him.
Utter fatigue was ingrained in the planes of his face and the lines of his body.
And then, before she could get any closer, two Guardians appeared behind Link, lasers aiming at his back.
"Watch out!" Zelda screamed.
Link's eyes widened, swiveling drunkenly to face the attackers. The beams were already set to come.
He ducked, but hadn't expected one of the beams to aim low, catching him on the side of his leg. Link cried out, stumbling to one knee.
"Link!" Zelda began to run to him, grass slippery and wet underfoot from the constant rain. The Guardians swung their emotionless eyes to her. She froze.
Before the Guardians even had time to focus their lasers on Zelda, Link leapt upon one of them, stabbing the Master Sword through the back of its head, the tip of the blade protruding from the dimming eye as the light went out from the Guardian. Yanking the sword free, Link jumped, slicing the head off of the remaining Guardian just as it turned its attention to him.
Both Guardians tumbled lifelessly to the muddy ground, Link landing in a crouch between their bodies and Zelda. Agony flared in his eyes as his mouth strained into a tight line, his body tottering to the left. Thrusting the sword into the ground, Link used it to keep himself upright.
She ran to him. With each breath, Zelda could see the pain he was in. Burns and bruises littered the exposed skin of his neck, hands, and fingers. Most of his attire was torn and singed and stained. The braces on his arms were close to coming off and the Master Sword–
Zelda's breath caught.
The Master Sword's brightness had faded, leaving the blade dull and to her horror, blackened, the once sharp edges sporting multiple notches as if the blade hadn't entirely escaped battling Ganon's malice unscathed. Like its master, the Master Sword was barely holding on.
Link propped himself up with just one knee, the hand on the Master Sword trembling. Placing one hand on his shoulder, Zelda leaned over him, her heart tearing at the sight of her Knight.
"Link, save yourself! Go! I'll be fine! Don't worry about me!" The sounds of clattering metal came closer and closer. Link's breath came in and out in uneven pants. "Run!"
Under Zelda's hand, his back muscles tightened. Suddenly, Link drove himself to his feet, yanking the Master Sword out of the ground, forcing Zelda to retreat behind him.
Stumbling backwards, Link found his footing.
Out of the ashes and smoke, like a demon from the darkest pit, a Guardian turned its lethal gaze on the two of them, skittering quickly in their direction and raising itself upon the two fallen Guardians. It towered over Zelda and Link, no mercy in the machine's singular pulsing orb.
With no hesitation, the Guardian's laser honed in on the Hylian Champion.
Link, with the hand closest to Zelda, feebly touched her arm, warning her away, as he raised the Master Sword as high as he could, arm quivering.
A sickening, awful certainty filled Zelda in that moment.
Link was going to die.
All around them, her people were fighting for their lives and losing their lives.
Yet none of that mattered to her.
Nothing mattered except this boy. In front of her. Offering up his life. In order to save hers.
"NO!"
With a wild, desperate cry, Zelda shoved Link behind her, throwing her arm outstretched towards the Guardian. Its laser now trained on her. He will not be taken!
From the depths of her soul, something stirred.
Sudden, bright, white light surged from her arm, radiating through her splayed fingers.
Three triangles forming one bigger triangle, the symbol of the Triforce, flashed into existence on the back of Zelda's hand.
The light filled her whole being, bursting from the center of her palm. Golden light arched out in a dome, expanding higher and farther until encompassing most of Blatchery Field, the insidious Guardian being swallowed up by the blinding illuminance.
Zelda's senses were overcome. Her whole body thrummed with unspoken, unspeakable power, leaving her feeling more alive than Zelda had ever felt in her whole life. All she could feel and see was that light entering every living thing, chasing the darkness away. Ganon's malice, pure darkness, was no match for this purest light.
A sense of peace descended upon Zelda's mind, pushing out any fear or worries or doubt. It will all be alright.
Eventually, the light dimmed, growing fainter and fainter.
The luster faded from Zelda's skin, revealing her battle-blemished self once more.
The Guardian in front of Zelda, seized, shuddering, Ganon's malice evaporating from its metal parts, before going still. The empty husk toppled forward.
Sounds of heavy machinery, the other Guardians on Blatchery Field, followed the same fate, clanking thud after clanking thud as each Guardian lost the malice controlling it, puppets with their strings cut. The fires burned low as the source of the destruction stopped and for a moment, there was only a settling calm.