Hi there
This is the longest chapter so far, but it's a pretty important one. We're getting to the end of the prologue now, things are about to start getting interesting.
Chapter 17
A Dream Come True
Early the next morning, Link was on his way. Iokin had escorted him back to the place where he had first met the zoras, and a boat was already moored for him. He put his full pack into the little craft, then climbed in himself. Soon, he was paddling away.
With the current of the river to help him, he found himself making very quick progress. Within a couple of hours, Zora's Domain was far behind him, and the walls of the gorge had fallen away. He was once more travelling through the woods he had previously walked through, and was able to really take in their quiet beauty. He started to relax again, knowing all he now had to do was get back to Castle Town, and that at his present speed that would not take a long time.
The river flowed with a gentle rhythm, carrying him far further and faster than he would have been able to go if he had been walking. When he came again to Cumberlann, he took the northern fork of the river towards Castle Town, waving a salute at the various townsfolk who saw him pass.
He quickly became accustomed to the little boat, contentedly paddling downstream. Navi sat for a while on his shoulder, then on the boat's prow. As evening fell and the light slowly dimmed, she rose up and flitted around Link, playing in the water.
Enjoying the journey and the pleasant new experience of kayaking, Link did not stop immediately when the sun sank below the western horizon. He soon felt the current of the river increasing, though, and paddled to the bank for fear of not seeing any obstructions in the dark. The zoras had warned him about driftwood or rocks below the surface, and it would be dangerous to try and navigate the river in the bad light.
It was a clear night and the myriad stars shone brightly in the sky. A half moon beamed down on the little adventurer as he heaved the boat up the bank, ensured it could not be pulled away by the river, and dragged his blankets from his pack. He looked up at Nayru's Love for a while, and wondered if Zelda was looking at the same stars and moon even then, and as the thought ran through his tired mind, he closed his eyes to sleep.
He took to the water again not long after dawn, keen to get as far as he could while daylight lasted. He enjoyed a small breakfast before stowing his pack once more in the bottom of the kayak, pushing away from the shore, and jumping in.
As he had thought the previous evening, the water's current was faster at this point in its course, and he made good progress all day, stopping only for some lunch. It was another day watching the Hyrulian countryside pass by, seeing the rich pasture of the Hyrule Fields.
Din's Fire had emblazoned the sky all day and was hanging heavy, beginning to consider its descent into the west, when Link espied a pink shadow north west of himself. Before the light began to fade, he could clearly make out the mountains, far away, and Death Mountain standing foremost. Sparing a thought for Darunia and the gorons, he drew himself once more to shore to make camp for the night, knowing that he was not now a long way from his destination.
The third day of his journey, though, was not as leisurely as the first two. While he could not discern anything amiss, he awoke feeling uncomfortable. He wasted no time getting started, and as the sun clambered lugubriously above the mountains, Link was already paddling downstream.
Seeing the mountains the previous evening meant Link was keeping a keen eye for the Riko Bridge, remembering it from his earlier journey. He passed it early on, while the dew still glistened on the banks and there were few travellers on the trade road.
As the river curved deliberately to the west, he could not escape the feeling there was somewhere else he was supposed to be. As the day wore on, his sense of foreboding grew stronger, far more acute than it had been before his visit to Zora's Domain. He had no eye now for the brilliant views the river revealed to them.
It seemed Navi felt the same thing. For the first two days, they had conversed lazily and she had flitted constantly to flowers and trees along the bank. As the journey continued, a nervous, apprehensive silence had fallen between them, and she sat at the front of the boat, staring ahead unwaveringly.
The tension grew stronger throughout that day and the next. In the mid afternoon on their fifth day on the river, Link saw a village ahead, and pulled the boat out of the main current towards a little jetty. Two zoras quickly appeared as Link pulled himself and his pack from the kayak. They received him gratefully, and when he explained Iokin's instructions they insisted he stopped and ate with them before he continued his journey. Unhappy though he was to stop, he could not deny the need to eat something, so while one zora made the kayak safe, he joined the others for a brief meal.
After they had eaten, he thanked them for their kindness, and set off on foot. He knew from the zoras of the Domain that he had covered a great deal of distance by the river. At a good pace, he ought to get to the capital the following day. With this thought in mind, he set off briskly, hoping to make the journey in as little time as possible.
The river curled away to the north, and he knew the road ran steadily west before turning in the same direction, but his unease and restlessness still persisted, and impelled him to cut across the fields. Provided he did not end up going too far out of his way, it should prove the shortest possible route.
It was a warm day and the grass was pleasantly springy beneath his feet, but he was aware of this only because it made it easy to walk. His mind was entirely focussed on covering the distance with the greatest possible alacrity.
A small hope of seeing the city walls on the far horizon burned within him as he walked, but as dusk fell it was clear he had underestimated how far he had to go. As the light faded, he still could not see any sign of the city. He was glaring into the gathering gloom, now, hoping to see a silhouette in the dusk, but it did not appear.
He had been heading steadily north west all afternoon, and now began to feel despondent. The purple sky was turning to a deep blue, and he knew that the drawbridge would now be drawn up over the river and he would not be able to enter the city even if he could reach it.
The warmth of the day ebbed and the clear sky meant would be a cold night. Link carried on walking until he came to a hedgerow at the edge of a field before he stopped for the night. He ate a small meal of bread and cold meat, but could summon little appetite. Food finished, he curled up, trying to make himself as warm as possible in his blankets. In hushed murmurs, he and Navi expressed their wariness. Both agreed they needed to get to Zelda as soon as possible the next day.
He awoke long before morning came. As he had expected, it was a cold night, and it was the chill that had woken him. He pulled at his blankets, but could find no warmth. A mist was rising, and he could see his breath above him every time he exhaled.
Nayru's Love shone down from the cold blue sky. Memories drifted to him, unbidden: sleeping in a courtyard of the Forest Temple; emerging, exhausted, from the goron mines; leaving the inn while Malon and Talon slept. They chased themselves through his mind for several minutes, but eventually were all swallowed by the sense of fear that gripped his heart, colder than the night.
Unable to lie still, he arose and began to walk, seeking to escape the foreboding that had dogged him from Death Mountain. He had no idea what hour of the night it was, but he did not care. Navi floated beside him, a ball of white light in the darkness.
"It's time to go, isn't it?" was all she said. He nodded, glad she understood.
He set off briskly, jogging through the dewy grass as much as for warmth as the need to move quickly. He moved more deliberately towards the west now, aiming for the road as the best way to move quickly.
After an hour, he jumped a ditch at the edge of a field and landed on the hard packed earth. He could run faster now, a steady pace he know he could keep for hours, if he needed to. As time passed, he began to feel he could not have slept for more than three or four hours; there was no sign of the night lifting, and there were no early morning traders on the road yet. Above, the previously clear sky had been obscured with thick, dark clouds, although the night's chill remained. Nayru's Love was no longer visible.
Finally, after he had been travelling for some three hours, he climbed the final low hill and came over the crest to see Hyrule Castle Town below him, just as he had with Malon and Talon in the bright daylight. The city was the image of serenity in the night, lit by tiny pinpricks of light from streetlights and houses. The castle itself was silhouetted against the night sky, its three spires reaching upwards.
Something was wrong, though. It had to be at least another hour to dawn, yet he could already see that the drawbridge was lowered. There was too much light on Castle Hill for the middle of the night. Slowly it sank in: the city was burning, smoke was curling into the night sky, illuminated by the flames.
Link's heart was beating painfully hard as he began to sprint along the road. He had only one thought: where was Zelda? Was she safe?
At long last, he gained the drawbridge, his paces thumping loudly on the wood. The Royal Road was empty, something Link had never seen before. He could see quite clearly, the street lamps still burning brightly, and the fire seeming to illuminate the entire city. Screams filled the night, and as Link ran, he began to discern more and more clearly the clash of weapons: somewhere ahead, people were fighting.
As he got closer to the castle, people began to appear, lining the road. Some looked scared, some curious, none understanding what was happening. By far the greatest number, though, were those who were running. Soon, the road out of the city would be congested, packed with people fleeing the city.
Link felt relief for a moment; if he had been any later, it would have been impossible to get past the maddened crowd, and it also meant whatever was happening could not have been going on for long.
Finally, he reached the Market. The scene before him was one of utter chaos. A pitched battle was taking place. Gerudo and hylians fought around the fountain, ignoring the already large number of fallen.
The hylians were mainly guards in their full armour, although Link could see civilians who had clearly realised what was happening and taken up arms to defend their homes. There were more defenders around the square, but the outnumbered gerudo women fought vociferously; for every gerudo body that fell to the floor, there were two hylians.
Those who were not actively involved in the fight were grabbing what nearby debris they could and hurling their missiles from behind overturned market stalls and fallen awnings, creating makeshift barricades. Part of what had been the sign over a potions shop flew through the air and collided with a gerudo's head. Link saw the woman stumble, and in the that split second, the guard she was fighting drove his spear through her middle.
Link had seen a lot since leaving the forest, but never such sheer bloodiness on such an extreme scale. He barely noticed what at another time would have sickened him, though. All he understood, watching the battle, was that the gerudo must have attacked the city, and that Ganondorf had made his move. That meant the only important thing left in all Hyrule was to get to Zelda: she would be the Gerudo King's main target.
Praying it was not already too late, he turned and ran fifty feet back down the Royal Road. His day searching for a way into the castle had not been wasted. He darted quickly down an alley and ran its length, emerging on a smaller street. The sounds of battle were quieter here, and the sound of screaming, shrieking people had replaced it. The air was thick with fear and the acrid smoke from the fire.
Running along the street, Link climbed onto a stall and jumped, grabbing the low roof of a building. This backed onto a taller building, and Link quickly scaled the wall to gain height. From here could see the Market, and the fighting seemed more intense than ever. The entire scene flickered horribly in the light of the fire, which seemed to be spreading unchecked from the west side of the city.
Looking up at the huge castle atop its hill, Link could not help thinking it appeared oddly peaceful from down here. It was as if it continued to enjoy the night, oblivious to the hell breaking out in the city below.
The small boy ran the length of the roof, jumped a gap, and ran a little further. He dropped to a lower ledge and climbed a ladder that put him on a roof at the edge of the Market. Thankfully, the ladder was not secured, and Link hoisted it up and put it across the last narrow street. He was nearly back on the Royal Road, at the foot of Castle Hill and with most of the fighting behind him.
Frozen for a moment by the horror of the battle, Link stood and watched. No one noticed him, silhouetted by the fire, a kokiri stood on a roof top of Castle Town so far from home.
There was a mighty roar and a sound like a rock fall. Link's head jerked as he wrenched his gaze from the bloodshed to the other side of the Market. What he saw made some semblance of hope burn again in his chest: the gorons of Castle Town had come to join the fray.
Twenty or thirty of them ran down the Royal Road in ranks. They had obviously gathered themselves together and then come to the aid of their hylian brethren. Many gerudo gasped, dismayed, as the gorons began belabouring their enemies with their mighty fists. Still, though, the gerudo fought on, and Link could see now that they were being joined by their own reinforcements. The battle was far from over, and Link had no idea which side would emerge the victor.
Below him, two soldiers had their backs against the wall and were fighting with the desperation of cornered men against three gerudo. Link hesitated. He itched to carry on, desperate to reach Zelda, but he knew he couldn't leave them to their deaths.
Taking a deep breath, Link summoned all his courage and jumped from the wall. He landed on two of the gerudo, breaking his fall and dragging them with him to the floor. The first did not have time to recover before Link had leapt to his feet and grabbed her, laying her out cold with his fist. He looked round to see what had happened to the second and found her. Her head stopped rolling a small distance away.
Looking up in horror, Link say the hylian soldier raise his bloodied sword and swing at him, no longer able to discern between friend and foe. Link threw himself out of the way and scrambled into the shadows. Turning to see where his aggressor was, he saw the man turning back to the fray, not interested in the boy who had saved his life and whom he had tried to kill. Looking around for the other hylian and gerudo, he found that they had disappeared in the melee. Drawing his sword, he hesitated again. He had never killed an actual person before. He had fought and killed monsters, the gohma and dodongos, but never yet a hyrulian.
Glancing around, Link realised he was as far as ever from the road to the castle and began to run. He had to stop several times and dodge round smaller brawls. He ducked behind a gerudo as she raised her curved scimitar to dispatch a man and Link stared with horror at a face he knew. It was one of the stall owners from the Market; Link and Malon had bought food from him. The man had a huge gash above his right eye and blood covered his face. His mouth was open in shock as he looked up at his own death.
Reacting quickly, Link slashed at the back of the gerudo's legs with his sword. She screamed and collapsed. Reprieved, the man struggled to his feet, a look of confusion on his bloody visage. Knowing there was nothing more he could do for him, Link ran on towards his destination.
After he had passed the Market, it became a lot easier. There were less people, although he did pass several small scraps and fights. Finally, he passed through the gate at the bottom of Castle Hill and was in the open space at the very centre of the city. He jogged up the hill and came to the second gate in the wall that surrounded the castle grounds. Here, he found the fighting in all its ferocity once more. The gerudo had presumably left their main force fighting in the Market, but some had penetrated this far and were now battling the hylian knights before the drawbridge.
The scene was chaotic. A small force of hylian knights fought against the ferocity of their gerudo aggressors, but the gerudo clearly had the advantage. A few corpses in the purple garb of the desert lay amongst an overwhelming number of men in armour. Any retreat for the remnant of the guards was impossible, though, since the drawbridge was drawn up. Even though Link knew this probably doomed the guards, he breathed a sigh of relief: the gerudo were not yet inside the castle.
Remembering the last time he had passed this way, Link turned off the road and ran swiftly to the tree he had climbed once before. Then, he had been petrified of being caught; now, his heart hammered with the same intensity for fear of what might happen if he was too late.
He scrambled quickly up into the lower branches, and with deftness he had learnt with Saria in the Lost Woods, he gained height and reached the high branch that leant out over the wall. He shimmied along it until he was over the moat.
A loud noise distracted him and he looked up to see the drawbridge fall open. The gerudo cheered and surged forward, but they were halted by the band of sheikah that dashed across to meet them, led by Impa. The sheikah were at least as fierce and as skilled as the gerudo, and as they entered the battle they seemed to seize the upper hand immediately.
Pulling his attention away, Link dropped his weight from the branch until he was hanging by just his hands. He paused for a moment, suspended in mid air, then dropped.
His splash went entirely unnoticed in the battle. Remembering where the little water gate was that he had used before, Link began to move swiftly through the water.
Suddenly the water exploded. Link tried to yell and swallowed a mouthful of moat water. Something landed on him and tried to drag him down. Panicking he fought against it, struggling to extricate himself from whatever it was, his lungs filling with foul water.
A glazed face passed before his eyes. He realised that the thing was a corpse that had fallen into the water from the melee and had landed on him. The enormous wound in its chest pumped blood into the moat. As Link took in the corpse, he realised that he was surrounded by blood, bile, severed limbs and sinking corpses.
He managed to break the surface of the water and clung to the bank, nearest to the fight where he could not be seen. He gasped air for a second, then vomited into the already fetid water, trying to empty his airways and also vent his disgust at what lay just beneath him.
After a few seconds he came back to himself and remembered why he was where he was. His arms were tingling with the cold night air and the after effects of throwing up as he propelled himself through the water until he came to the small waterway he was looking for. Calling on energy he was not sure he still had, he pulled himself up, out of the water, and dragged himself through the opening.
Once on the other side, safely inside the castle walls, he collapsed on his knees and vomited again. It felt as if all his internal organs were clamouring to force themselves out through his mouth, but eventually he subsided into violent coughing. When he was able to stop, he hauled himself to his feet, still drawing ragged and rattling breaths.
He slipped quietly through the gardens of the castle until he came to the door where he remembered first seeing Zelda, on that day as the sun just rose into the sky and their eyes met. It was a different scene now, drenched and covered in such detritus was he.
Entering through the door, he moved quickly along deserted corridors to the servants passages, just as Zelda had shown him. As he hurried up several flights of stairs, the silence began to press on him. Caught up in trying to get through the fighting, he had been going on adrenaline and quick reactions; now his real fears began once more to press in on him.
"What if we're too late?" he said, finally, when he could stand the silence no long.
"We won't be," replied Navi, fluttering behind him. "The gerudo can't have entered the castle before we did, so they can't get up here before us." It was exactly what Link had been telling himself over and over, trying desperately to believe it. He heard the same desperation in Navi's tone. He could tell from their bond, though, that she believed herself no more than he did.
He pushed open a door into a long corridor. Suits of armour were stationed at intervals along the hall, and beautiful paintings were hung, depicting regal looking hylians and grim faced sheikah.
Link began to sprint now, his saturated boots slopping loudly, the only sound as he raced the length of the passage way and tore round the corner into a similar looking corridor. Zelda's room, he knew, was one of the ones on the left. It seemed they had miscalculated, though, for there were three gerudo in the hall. Bodies of hylian knights lay on the floor and Link knew without hesitation they must have been left to guard their princess and had given their lives defending her. One remained alive and two of the gerudo were bearing down on him while the third began hacking at the locked door with her sword.
With an unarticulated roar or anger and fear at what they might do, Link charged. All three gerudo turned, weapons ready to defend themselves against this new threat, and all three paused in confusion when all they saw was a ten year old child.
Link did not have time to think about what he was doing or to draw his own sword. He hurled himself bodily at the first gerudo he reached, the one who had been breaking down the door. He was only half her height, but it probably saved his life. His head slammed into her midriff and they went over together, a tangle of limbs and bodies, as her sword swung over his head and flew from her hand.
Meanwhile, the hylian knight had seized the advantage afforded by Link's intervention. He drove his sword into one of the women and launched himself at the second. She put her confusion aside and the fell to a bitter and furious duel.
Considering she was a highly trained gerudo, the woman Link attacked should have been able to hold him at bay with ease, but the fury that had seized him was so intense that he could not be stayed. He pummelled her with his tiny fists, oblivious to anything else until Navi's screams broke in on him.
"Link, Link, it's okay! You can stop! Please, Din, stop before you kill her!" Link halted. His arms were trembling. His entire body was trembling. He sat astride the gerudo, and she was unconscious. The other lay near him, decapitated. The knight had won their duel, but at great cost. He lay a little further away, unmoving, a gerudo scimitar protruding from his side.
Link got to his feet, still shaking. He wanted to throw up again, but forced himself not to. Slowly reality forced itself in on him once more. They were near the front of the castle, and the clash of swords and shouts of combatants could be heard in the distance.
Stepping over the unconscious woman and still feeling sick, Link banged on the splintered door. The wood in the top half of the door had been ripped apart where it had been attacked. Link could see a little of the room inside, but he could not see the princess.
"Zelda?" he called through the gap, and his voice sound thick, as though he could not speak properly. He swallowed, tasting bile, then tried again. "Zelda, it's me, it's Link."
"Link?" Zelda's face appeared at the gap in the door. She was terribly pale, as if there no blood in her face at all, and the tracks down her cheeks showed that she had been crying, but her eyes gleamed when she saw him. "Link, what are you doing? How did you get here? Impa said we were under attack, and she disappeared."
"She's okay. I saw her and some other sheikah on my way up here. They were fighting on the drawbridge, but it must have gone badly for the gerudo to be here already."
The princess shook her head. "No, there were gerudo in the castle already as Ganondorf's entourage." Then her eyes widened with horror as she realised what Link meant. She opened the door and stepped into the passageway. "You mean it's the gerudo attacking the castle?"
"Yes, and not just the castle. They're all over the city."
"But that's terrible! That means Ganondorf's already moving against us, and that must mean-"
"No, he can't have the Triforce," Link said bluntly, cutting her off. "He still can't get through the Door of Time without the Spiritual Stones."
"Oh, Link, does that mean you were successful? Have you got them?" Her blue eyes shone with anticipation, just as they had done in the Inner Courtyard the first time they met.
Smiling for what felt like the first time in years, Link nodded. "All three," he said.
"Oh, but that's wonderful1 How did you get here tonight, though?"
"I was already on my way back, this was all going on when I got here. I think the battle started not long before I arrived."
"What about the battle? You said they're fighting all over the city!"
"Everyone was too busy to notice me," Link explained. "I was able to get into the castle the way I did last time."
"Princess," interrupted Navi. "If this really is Ganondorf's plan, and I don't see what else it can be, then I doubt he's given up on the Triforce. We haven't seen him anywhere in the battle, so he must be trying to force our hand. He'll be trying to reach the Sacred Realm while everyone's distracted. He needs the final Key, though, so he'll be coming for you. Between us, we hold all the Keys to the Sacred Realm, so we are in incredible danger."
"Yes, of course, you're right," replied Zelda. "But he hasn't come yet. There's no time to lose. We'll use his own plan against him and get the Triforce while everyone's busy. Quick, lets hurry to the Temple of Time."
She led the way down the passage in the opposite direction to the way they had come. Link followed her, alert for any danger, but none was evident.
Meeting no one, they came to a hall with ornate windows. Pausing beside a portrait of an old king stood beside a former goron Big Brother, they looked out of the front of the castle and saw the scene at the drawbridge.
Clearly, gerudo reinforcements had come up from the city, and the sheikah and hylian forces had been pushed back into the courtyard. Battle had been joined, though, and the gerudo women found themselves between the fierce skill of the sheikahn warriors and the hardiness of the remaining gorons.
Zelda gasped in shock. Link grabbed her and pulled her on. She came to herself and hurried forward. They descended a wide flight of red carpeted stairs and then turned a corner onto marble stairs that led to the entrance hall of the castle. Link had never been here before.
He imagined it was not at its best, littered with bloodied bodies. He and Zelda flew down the flight of stairs and stopped before the wide open oak doors that led from the antechamber into the Great Hall. The gerudo had pushed forwards and this was clearly where the main battle was now being fought.
"Link! We mustn't be caught!" hissed Navi, and again Link tried to pull Zelda away, but now she resisted him.
"I know these people!" she shrieked. "How can Hyrule's princess run when this is happening?"
"We're not running," said Link practically hurling her towards the front doors. "It will be worse for Hyrule if Ganondorf gets the Triforce."
His words seemed to sink in and they ran for the doors. The courtyard looked blissfully empty, the drawbridge still open. The sky was finally lightening with the onset of dawn, but it had begun to rain heavily.
They had just reached the courtyard when a cry reached them.
"Princess!" They turned and Link's sword was already drawn before he realised it was Impa. "Princess, you should not be here."
"Impa, it is my duty."
"Never mind that. Thank goodness I found you. I was just going to your rooms before it's too late. I'm afraid this battle is lost. The gerudo have taken Hyrule Castle Town."
"No, there is something I must do. Link has returned, he has the Spiritual Stones."
"We are fleeing Princess, and this is not a discussion." She grabbed Zelda's hand and began pulling her through the courtyard, not towards the drawbridge but in another direction. Link hurried to keep up. Zelda was struggling against her guardian.
"No! We must stop Ganondorf!"
"If we have the Stones and the final Key, the Triforce is still safe." She stopped and knelt in front of her charge. "Princess, your father is dead."
All the arguments Zelda was clearly trying to articulate died on her lips. Her eyes widened and she seemed to become even paler. Link could not help noticing how beautiful she looked, how elegant, even dishevelled and distraught in the rain.
"What?" she murmured. "How? I don't-"
"I am sorry. But now you must rule our land, and Hyrule needs you to survive this. There will be another war, perhaps greater and more terrible than ten years ago, all because of what Ganondorf has done. You are Hyrule's greatest hope to minimise the conflict and renew peace in this land. I must get you out of danger." She began to move again, still pulling Zelda. The princess no longer resisted, all the fight seemed to have been drained from her, she was barely aware of moving.
Link followed them, shocked and uncertain what to do now. He saw a low building ahead and realised they were going to the stables.
They entered, and Impa moved to a stall where a beautiful white horse was stood. The sheikah began to quickly saddle the horse and prepare for their departure.
The princess turned suddenly to face Link. She look nothing more than a frightened little girl, but her eyes held an unshakable determination.
"Impa is right. I must go. I cannot stand to leave the people of Castle Town but if father is dead, I have no choice. But Ganondorf must be stopped." She reached into a pouch at her side. "Link, you must take this. Go to the Temple of time, protect the Triforce. You must do this, for Hyrule, and for me."
She held the Royal Ocarina out in front of her. Link recognised it, remembering how they had played together when he first came to the castle. Link took it reverently, feeling its smooth surface, his fingers covering the holes to form silent notes.
"Its true name is the Ocarina of Time. Long has it been protected, and now the time has come for its purpose to be revealed. It is the final Key to the Sacred Realm."
Impa moved towards them, leading the white horse.
"Come, princess. It is time to go," she said.
A sudden noise caused them all to look towards the door. A flash of lighting from the stormy sky momentarily illuminated the huge thing that stood there. It was bigger than any person, bigger than any goron. It looked like some sort of beast with a pug face, that had been forced against its will into a leather jerkin. It carried a vicious looking, jagged sword.
"A moblin," gasped Impa. For the first time, Link saw her implacable mask slip. She was shocked, although she immediately smoothed her features into their normal expressionless façade. "Then this is a dark day indeed."
Link, however, was not at all afraid. He did not know what this creature was, and the last few hours had driven him beyond simple fear. What he did know from Impa's reaction, though, was that this monster was a threat, and while he had feared killing the gerudo, this creature was an entirely different matter.
Thunder rumbled loudly as he charged forwards, the blade of the kokiri in hand. It was barely more than a knife next to the moblin's blade. They were outside again. The rain had intensified, it was now torrential, coming down in sheets.
The monster stared in bemusement at the child who thought to fight it, and then ponderously swung its weapon at the nuisance. The child had moved, though. Link was too quick for the monster and dodged its attack easily, before using two hands to drive his own weapon into its thigh. The moblin roared and leapt backwards, stumbling and crashing to the floor. Link jumped after it and plunged the little sword into its chest. Black blood gushed out as the moblin grunted and died.
The tiny warrior stood and withdrew his sword. He turned to see Impa giving him an appraising, even impressed look.
"Well fought, child." Her eyes flicked to the dead beast as Link wiped his sword clean and returned it to its sheath. "So Ganondorf show his colours in truth. If he has allied himself with monsters such as these Hyrule faces a dark day indeed. I believed the princess when she said he meant us harm, but I thought he wished only to usurp the Hyrulian throne. Now I see his designs were far darker." She swung herself onto the back of her horse. "Now it is more important than ever that you survive, princess. This threat is abhorrent. We must ensure Ganondorf's reign is a short one,"
She lifted Zelda into the saddle before her and seized the reins. The horse trotted forward, then broke into a canter in the direction of the drawbridge.
In that split second, Link's recognised the scene. The castle stood in front of him and he watched the white horse disappear into the storm. Just as it had done so many times in his dream, Zelda's voice echoed back to him.
"Link! Do what I have asked of you!" The driving rain obscured her from sight, the wind meant Link had to strain his ears to hear the words he knew she would say. "I believe in you!" Then she was gone.
As Link turned away, his heart stopped. He knew immediately he should have expected to see the man who filled his vision, but he could not contain his shock as the breath caught in his throat. Standing before him, with his arms folded across his chest stood a tall man in black armour. A long cloak hung down his back, and his thick red hair was plastered to his green skin. From above a long, pointed nose, golden eyes glared through the rain.
"Does she think she can escape me?" hissed Ganondorf. "So the princess runs away with her sheikah bitch at her side." His eyes fell on Link "You, boy. What are you doing here? Did you help them get away?"
Fear clutched at Link, seeking to immobilise him, far more real than the rain that hurled itself at him, but one thing remained. Throughout the night, one thing had been paramount: protect the princess. Protect Zelda. Now, here he stood, and he held all the Keys to the Sacred Realm, all that Ganondorf sought. He must not have them, and he must not be allowed to lay hands on Zelda.
The fear clutched at him as he drew his sword, silent, resolute and grim.
The gerudo laughed, openly. "So, you seek to oppose me? You've got guts kid, but clearly you don't know who I am. I am Ganondorf, and soon I will rule the world!"
He raised a hand and a disc of purple theurgy grew. Link watched in horror as the spell exploded from the thaumaturge's hand and slammed into Link's chest. He was raised off his feet and hurled backwards, thudding into the mud. Winded, he tried to sit up and saw Ganondorf, laughing, preparing another attack. This time, Link was ready. The spell hit the ground and exploded, mud flying into the air, but Link was on his feet and running.
Ganondorf's laughter increased, amused by his prey, a cat with a petrified mouse. This was no mere mouse, though, and as the ground exploded behind him again, Link skidded to a halt. Another bolt of energy flew past him, and Link realised this was not meant to stun. It hit the wall of the courtyard nearby and exploded, punching a large hole in the stones.
Running again, Link could still hear Ganondorf's laughter. The gerudo's next shot was closer to its target, and Link was flung from his feet, rolling on the ground in the mud. Again, Link righted himself and now he faced his enemy. Ganondorf raised his hand once more, clearly intending this to be the last shot.
Link fired first, though. With unerring accuracy, he through the clot of mud he had picked up as he stood. It hit Ganondorf in the face, blinding him and filling his mouth. His laughter ceased abruptly and he roared with anger, no longer amused. He wiped at his face to clear his vision and just managed to make out a figure disappear into the stables.
It had been a long and painful night, but Link's mind was clear as he entered the low building. Distract him, and give Zelda time to get away. Most important of all, though, he must not have the Keys.
He dived into an empty stall and crouched down, trying desperately to quieten his ragged breathing.
A figure appeared in the doorway, stepping out of the downpour.
"I tire of you," said Ganondorf, his deep voice echoing. "I will destroy you. The king and his mighty army were unable to stop me. I killed him myself. Hyrule's princess has fled before me." Another bolt of energy caused a crate to explode and immediately flames leapt up in the small space. "What hope does a child have?" More bolts flew into the dark recesses of the stables, filling it with the sound of splintering wood and the crackling of flames.
Driven out, Link broke cover and hurled himself behind some milk pails. With a bizarre satisfaction, he noted they were from Lon Lon Ranch.
"Hear me, boy, and let your despair be that of all Hyrule. You are powerless before me!" His cowing voice reached a crescendo and eldritch power crackled around him. Link felt it filling the air like static. It was almost tangible, an acrid tang. Knowing he had only seconds, moments, he clambered onto the frame of a stall and launched himself through a window.
The world seemed to explode. He was no longer flying because of his jump but carried on the wave of energy as the stables erupted. He hit the soft, muddy ground again and rolled, coughing. He was not far from the wall, and could see the hole where it had been blasted by Ganondorf. Gagging, he pushed himself to his feet, staggered, and dived.
Ganondorf's laughter rang through the storm as the remains of the stables, splinters and entire charred wooden beams, rained down around him. He stood calmly as he looked at the aperture where Link had disappeared.
"Run. Hide. It matters not. I am Ganondorf, and soon I shall rule this world. None may now elude my gaze."