Chapter 2: The Tunnels Beneath Hyrule Castle
"Zelda! Zel, wait!"
Purah's high-pitched voice cut through the crisp morning air over the low, murmuring din of the small medical camp on the outskirts of Castle Town. Link easily spotted her racing towards them, glasses askew and her cheeks flushed as she panted heavily.
"Purah!" Zelda exclaimed delightedly. "You… didn't run here all the way from Hateno, did you?"
"Nonsense," Purah gasped breathlessly, doubling over as she fought to catch her breath. "Heard you two were… investigating… the weird new sickness… and I had to get this to you!"
She fumbled in the pouch at her belt for a moment before pulling out a rectangular device with the Sheikah eye on the back. One side was smooth and black, like a schoolchild's writing slate. "I call it… the Purah Pad!" she announced proudly, and at once Zelda's eyes went wide as her cheeks flushed.
"That's its actual name?" she asked skeptically. Link didn't catch on at first, until Purah gasped and clapped a hand to her cheek.
"Aw, snap!" she exclaimed, glancing fleetingly at Link as her face went red. "I… didn't think about that. W-well, anyway, moving on, it makes pictures of anything you see. I've been working on it for a while, still some improvements to be had, but with this you can document everything you see down in the ruins. Then when you come back up, we can show it firsthand to the doctors and physicians and stuff, and it could help them figure out a cure."
"That sounds quite useful indeed," Zelda smiled, placing the slate into her own pouch. "Thank you, Purah."
The Sheikah scientist grinned encouragingly. "Take care down there, alright?" she said. She jabbed a finger at Link. "That goes for you, too! I'll be waiting right here when you come out so we can start going over the data you collect!"
"Thanks, Purah," Zelda called again, and with a nod to Link they started walking towards Hyrule Castle.
The years after the Calamity had not been kind to the fortress. The site of great evil for a century, no one felt particularly motivated to restore it or even attempt to rebuild around it. Link had gone back once after freeing Zelda, to search for any remnant of the nefarious Yiga Clan, but he had found nothing but dust and bones. At that point, much of the castle had collapsed on the inside. Now, that seemed to be even more the case. Some pillars and bridges had crumbled away altogether. The spires were cracked and broken or missing. On the inside, the once-regal red carpeting had been chewed ragged by the vermin that now called the castle their home – mostly rats. It was the haunt of looters and bad memories.
Zelda paused at the massive front gates, staring up at the great iron wrought crest of Hyrule with a deeply furrowed brow. Link watched her curiously, noting that her gaze seemed almost glazed over, as if she was deeply lost in thought.
Or lost in the past.
He reached out and took her shoulder. She jumped slightly, blinking as she came back to the present. "He's not here," Link reminded her gently. "We defeated him. You're safe – Hyrule is safe."
Zelda let out a shaky breath, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ears. "I – I know," she said. "Logically, I know that all to be true. But setting foot back here… it feels like I'm retracing my steps. It… brings it all back to me again."
Link kept his hand on her shoulder, his heart tightening. "I understand," he assured her softly. Every step he took through Blatchery Plain towards Fort Hateno. The one bend in the road where bokoblins ambushed him on the way to Hateno. He drew in a deep breath and exhaled, imagining that he was casting out the bad memories with it. "Just keep breathing," he said. "Focus on what's happening right now." It had been the only way for him to return to Hateno with Hudson Construction to work on the school – focusing on the feel of an ax's wooden handle in his hand, not a sword; the thick leather work gloves secure around his wrists only, not the rest of his forearms, very different from gauntlets; a breeze drifting across his bare arms as he wore the standard Hudson Construction uniform instead of his Champion's tunic or armor that left very little skin exposed.
Zelda nodded slowly, closing her eyes for a moment and breathing deeply. She exhaled slowly and then looked up at him with a grateful smile. "We defeated him," she repeated. "Thank you, Link. That helps."
Link heaved one of the massive gates open and held it for Zelda before rushing through himself and letting it clang shut behind them. They set out into the castle itself, stone closing in over their heads, and Zelda lit their first torch.
They scoured the lower rooms, searching for the floor that had reportedly given way to ensnare the treasure hunters. In many places, the floor had crumbled into rubble, or part of the ceiling had collapsed and destroyed the floor, but after several hours of searching they had not yet encountered a place where the floor had given way to reveal a passageway beneath. They paused for a brief rest and some food, leaning against the wall.
"Maybe we missed it," Zelda said with a frown, leaning her head back against the wall with a weary sigh. "I mean… it's a large castle, it's more than likely."
"Maybe," Link agreed, scouring through his memories of navigating these cursed halls to reach the inner sanctum where Zelda had locked away the Calamity. "And there's wings only accessible from the outside, too. I think the Lockup is cut off from the rest."
"We might try there, next," Zelda nodded slowly, pushing back to her feet. She took a step forward and at once the ground began to crumble. She yelped in surprise and leapt back, and Link inched closer to the new hole in the floor, his heart hammering.
There was nothing but darkness beyond.
Link swallowed thickly, a deep chill dripping suddenly down his spine – dread or excitement, he couldn't tell. Dropping to his knees and pulling a chisel from the tools at his belt, he started working free more of the stones around the first until a human-sized pit was revealed. He got back to his feet with a grunt, dusting off his hands on his legs. "Well," he said grimly, "it's not the same one they found, but it's still a hole under Hyrule Castle, and it seems to continue. Is it still worth investigating?"
There was a troubled look on her face. Slowly Zelda nodded, handing him the torch and climbing down into the hole. He handed it back to her and followed her down.
"The tunnels might yet lead to the same place," she suggested. "Or, if they don't, they both may still be infected. It might even be better that we found this one – the other was a lot more dangerous, the way they described it. This may be less… corrupted."
Or more so, Link thought darkly, and they continued.
The stones beneath their feet soon turned to a stairway leading down deeper beneath the castle. The architectural style matched the rest of Hyrule Castle, uniform brick walls and steps supported by ancient timbers miraculously still intact. As they continued, the walls transitioned to feel more cavelike, less manmade. But the stairs continued, leading ever downward, ever deeper into the darkness. There was no sign of puddles of blood, or black mist, although with the thick darkness clinging to the shadows beyond the torch's reach it was difficult to tell. Link began to feel acutely aware of the weight of the ancient stone and the castle above them. Just how deep down have we gone? How much farther will it continue?
"We… might have to turn back and get more supplies," he said at last, as they took another quick break. "I… had no idea this could go down so far."
Zelda nodded, frowning. "I don't think this is the same tunnel the treasure hunters took," she sighed. "Let's keep going for a while yet, and then we'll see where we're at."
They walked deeper down the tunnel, and Link noticed that the architecture had changed – there were stone pillars half-buried alongside the cave walls, very different from the crisp, clean style of Hyrule Castle itself. He shuddered again, wondering now about the age of this path. We could be the first people down here in – in at least a hundred years. Maybe more.
It was clear by now that the darkness was thicker than mere shadows. It seemed reluctant to move out of the way of the flickering flames on Zelda's torch, slowly closing in around them as if trying to cut them off from its light. Dark specks drifted lazily through the air, like specks of dust or dirt.
Link was about to point it out to Zelda when she spoke instead. "This strange… gloom… keeps getting thicker," she said uneasily, and he nodded his agreement. "We've been descending for a while now. These tunnels are deeper than I thought – what could be down here?" She gestured to the cave walls. "Other than some rather impressive geological speleothems."
Almost all sign now of human development was gone other than the path beneath their feet; instead the cave walls looked to Link like frozen waterfalls of stone.
He fought back a shiver, taking half a step closer to her. "Speleothems?" he repeated, making a face, trying to lighten the mood. "Can't the academic world come up with a word that makes more sense? I'd have said they're waterfall rocks."
"Not all academic language is like that – there is a formation called flowstone, which is similar," Zelda smiled as they continued, into a larger room lit with deposits of luminous stone that seemed to keep the thick darkness at bay, if only a little. "See, there's some over there. And that formation, up at the top along the side, it's called drapery, because it looks a bit like hanging curtains."
Link raised an eyebrow. "And those ones hanging down from the top?" he asked skeptically.
Zelda chuckled. "Stalactites," she answered. "I see your point. What would you call it, then?"
"Ceiling spears," Link said readily. "Easy."
Zelda hummed thoughtfully as they continued. "I'll keep that in mind – that could be a great way to explain it to the Hateno school children. Using terminology they're already familiar with to explore a new topic…" She held the torch high, her face painted a misty blue and orange by the torch and luminous stones. "I never imagined this was all deep beneath Hyrule Castle," she said in astonishment, slowly shaking her head.
Link felt his chest tight at the thought of Hateno, but tried to push the feeling aside. "You're already planning a geology lesson for those kids," he pointed out.
"And you're helping," she countered, turning to him with a smile. "You're helping me take it out of the scholar-world and put it into terms they'll understand." She paused for a moment, her gaze soft in the torchlight. "Maybe there is something to explore in your idea that I become a teacher, but I think it would be better if perhaps… we did it together."
His heart warmed, and he found himself smiling as they continued. Together…
But the possibility of evil forces at work seemed only to grow stronger as they continued. The thick darkness around them seemed to gain more substance, drifting through the air in smoky tendrils even in the torchlight, instead of disappearing once touched by light.
"The people who fell ill after coming into contact with this gloom described it as a corporeal substance," Zelda noted uncertainly, her gaze tracking one of the wispy tendrils. "Though here it seems almost… misty, and not concentrated enough to harm us."
Link nodded, unease rising in his soul. "That's assuming breathing it in won't have the same effect," he pointed out, and Zelda winced. "I… I agree that it doesn't look much like they described, but we still need to be careful." A chill dripped down his spine. At any rate, the way the treasure hunters described it, we'll know fairly quickly if it's impacting us. "Should we… go back for face coverings?"
Zelda shook her head slowly, her brow creased. "We've already come this far," she murmured. "And I haven't gotten any data for researchers trying to find a cure. We'll keep going."
Initially it had seemed that the tendrils of blackness wove across the ground and through the air almost like snakes. It thickened as they walked onwards, and instead of slowly weaving upwards it seemed almost to take the form of dark flame, rising up from the ground itself and flickering sluggishly upwards. "That can't be normal," Link growled when he noticed it, stiffening in discomfort. He glanced at Zelda. "…Can it?"
She licked a finger and held it out, testing the air. "Not with the way the air currents are moving in here," she said grimly. "Which means that this substance, whatever it is, is not driven by air, or natural forces. We could have assumed that by now, of course, but now it's even more likely." She looked Link in the eye, determination mingled with a trace of fear in her gaze. "We do not know what waits below, so we need to be ready for anything," she said, swallowing. She exhaled softly, a small, tense smile gracing her features. "But I know I'll be okay with you, Link. Let's go solve this mystery."
He smiled back, touched by her trust and confidence in him. He tapped the Master Sword's hilt at his side and followed her deeper through the tunnels. The tight feeling of what he recognized now as dread did not dissipate from his chest – he hoped that he could live up to her trust.
The tunnel seemed to narrow, stone formations closing in around them. Downward it continued, and to Link's surprise the temperature seemed to be climbing, making the air feel stuffy and stale. Wisps of flame-shaped darkness sprouted up between ancient paving stones and swiftly dissipated.
"When I was a child," Zelda said as they descended further, "I asked my father if there was anything below the castle. He told me there was, though seeing it for ourselves or even discussing the matter was forbidden."
Link shivered. "So he knew what was down here? It… it must not have had anything to do with the Calamity, then. Otherwise they would have taken care of it, or sent me to deal with it, or something."
We defeated the Calamity. It's done and over. We overcame the one true source of evil in this world.
"I don't think that's it," Zelda said carefully. "I don't think anyone in our family knew anything more than that. My father said it was a warning, passed down through my family for as long as anyone could remember. His exact words, as I remember, were, 'No one must ever venture beneath the castle – not even one of us.' The way he spoke about it, the expression on his face… he took the warning not to see it for himself quite seriously."
The vise around his chest seemed to tighten.
He had scarcely taken two steps before he felt a sudden surge of energy through his body, and Zelda gasped. "Link – the Master Sword!"
He drew it from its sheath with a crisp ring of steel. The sacred blade was shining brightly, dispelling the thick gloom around them with its own pure white light. Link drew in a deep breath, trying to ease the tension from his body. "It did this before," he said quietly. "In the presence of… evil." Of the Calamity.
Zelda drew in a sharp breath. "It must be sensing something," she murmured. She rubbed her free hand wearily against her face. "As soon as that Rito messenger reached us in Tarrey Town, I had this feeling… I knew we had reason for concern. With the castle's descent into a state of neglect, I should have remembered my father's warning sooner – there is something down here that is not to be unearthed."
"You had a lot on your mind," Link reminded her, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It was over a century ago that he told you about it. A century that you spent in the castle, fighting a demon. It's entirely understandable that you would forget about his warning, and that you wouldn't want to return." He remembered his own cowardice, his reluctance to so much as set foot in Hateno with a sword in his hands. "It's brave of you to even come this far, Zelda. It shows your courage. Whatever is here, we'll deal with it."
She smiled weakly, falling into his arms for an awkward embrace with the torch held uncomfortably out to one side. Link patted her back, feeling a slight tremor pass through her.
"Thank you," she said at last, sounding calmer, more confident. "We'll just be careful as we move deeper – we're here to gather information on whatever caused that sickness. We don't have to have a solution right away." She nodded slightly, as if to reassure herself, and they continued. Link kept the Master Sword unsheathed, taking some comfort from its glow. Truly the work of a goddess, the Great Deku Tree had said. The blade of evil's bane.
Their surroundings were changing again. They passed beneath a stone archway carved by man, not naturally formed; it was simple, yet elegant. Beyond the archway was a great hall, stone pillars lining the sides with what appeared to be pinecones carved of crystal set into some of them, perhaps an archaic kind of lamp. Between pillars were carvings bearing clean, square designs.
"The treasure hunters mentioned strange carvings," Link murmured, frowning curiously at them.
"Not just any carvings," Zelda said excitedly, bending down to examine a chunk of stone that had fallen over. "This is all clearly from an ancient civilization! Look over here – these characters, and that dragon-eye motif… It's not exactly the same as what we see in Faron and Thyphlo, but the similarities are undeniable – Link, I think these are from the Zonai!"
Link frowned, trying to remember the significance. There were so many prehistoric peoples of Hyrule, and he hadn't actively studied Hyrule's history in over a hundred years. He scratched his head, trying for Zelda's sake to remember. "Were the Zonai the ones from the sky, or the banished sorcerers, or… the tiny people… in the grass?"
Zelda gave him a teasing look. "Was this built for people smaller than grass?" she chuckled. "The Zonai were the ones from the sky." She pushed back to her feet, raising the torch to examine the square designs Link had spotted at first. "And I'm certain now that this is all Zonai in origin. I've seen drawings of carvings like this before in my studies. The Zonai are said to have lived long ago, in the time of earliest legend – before even the first tale of the Calamity. They possessed godlike powers and had a prosperous civilization in the sky."
"That's the only part I remember," Link confessed, standing beside her and looking up at the carvings.
"It's a striking detail – something that would certainly stick in one's mind," Zelda nodded. "Many historians have researched the Zonai, but no one has been able to piece together the full picture. They're quite the mystery – enough so that I haven't even bothered sending the Hyrulean Survey Team out to study them. Perhaps this could change that." She pulled Purah's slate from her pouch and snapped an image of the carving one-handedly, keeping it out as they continued exploring the hall.
At the end were two statues framing the path onward, displaying robed figures with long necks and torsos. They had animalistic faces and large, long ears that at once reminded Link of a rabbit, or perhaps a mule. "Is this what the Zonai looked like, then?" he asked, glancing at Zelda as she took another picture.
"I would assume so," she nodded. "Such large ears…" She tilted her head, slowly lowering the Purah Pad. "The real question is, how did ruins from a civilization in the sky end up here, beneath the castle?"
"Maybe they fell?" Link offered. "Or maybe the ground has been steadily getting taller for the past… however long it's been?"
Zelda smiled. "Mountains do grow over time, some of them, but to grow so much that a mountain peak became the depths of a chasm… The idea that they fell is more likely, I think." There was excitement in her voice now, the thrill of discovery. The Master Sword had not stopped glowing, but nor had the black mist gotten any thicker, and there wasn't any sign yet of the pools of blood. Link exhaled deeply, trying to loosen the tight feeling of dread in his chest. Zelda is finding interesting things. It's not getting worse. We're alright – we'll be fine.
"It looks like the path ahead goes even deeper," Zelda noted eagerly. "Let's continue, Link."
He followed her past the two statues. All signs of the natural cave wall were gone here; it was clear that they were in some sort of ancient Zonai building. They passed through a hall lined with more of the tall statues, and Link felt some of Zelda's excitement until he noticed the thick, billowing clouds of darkness gathering at their feet. They seemed now to have a tinge of red in them, but perhaps that was just an effect of the torchlight. The sweat down his back sent a chill through his body despite the uncomfortable temperature, and he fought to keep his breathing calm.
Don't get complacent, he scolded himself. Let Zelda have her fun with the ruins, but don't let your guard down. There is great evil here. If it looks like we need to leave, we need to be ready.
As if in response he heard a nearby high-pitched skittering. He hurried past Zelda, into a wide, open room, and spotted at once a few Keese fluttering around above him. They spotted him and swooped closer at once, only to be cut down easily by the Master Sword.
"Monsters, down here?" Zelda exclaimed in surprise, hurrying after him. "You're not hurt, are you Link?"
He forced a grin as she looked him over for sign of injury. "It's just Keese, Zelda," he said gently. "I'm fine." There shouldn't be monsters down here. There shouldn't be any living thing down here! Throughout the descent he hadn't seen any sign of plant life, and no droppings or debris from anything else. There had been a spiderweb – that was it. Certainly not enough for Keese to be sustaining themselves naturally.
Which means there's something else sustaining them.
He felt as though he'd swallowed molten stone. The dread was hot and acidic in his gut; his blood practically buzzed with energy from building adrenaline. This is not a good place.
Zelda was holding the torch up to the walls of the room, which contained a detailed stone mural, highly stylized. Link kept his gaze focused on her, not the images, ready to leap into action if he needed to. She was speaking, offering observations and connections to what was known of Hyrule's history, but all at once it was incredibly difficult to focus on her words. She mentioned a war, a figure known as the Demon King, and it seemed as though her excitement was growing right alongside his own unease. His senses felt oversensitive, on high alert, and he remained close by her side with the Master Sword drawn.
"Link, this is a huge discovery!" she exclaimed in delight, turning to him at last with her gaze practically alight with excitement. She reached down to fumble with her pouch, and grimly he held his hand out to take the torch, allowing her the use of both hands. The fire was warm against his face but he still felt chilled.
"Zelda, I… I don't know that we should be down here right now," he said at last as she snapped pictures. "If you're right and this is all about the Imprisoning War with someone called the Demon King, and we're below Hyrule Castle, a place you were specifically warned not to go, with all of this… gloom…"
"It still doesn't all add up," she said, almost as if she hadn't heard. "Part of the mural is obscured – we don't know what happened next, or what this place is to begin with. Maybe we'll find more answers farther ahead." She looked around, and took a step towards the dark mouth of the continuing tunnel. Because of course it keeps going.
"I really don't think this is a good idea," he protested, more firmly. "Even the Master Sword agrees – there's something truly evil down here!"
"Then you and I would have to confront it eventually, anyway," Zelda pointed out. She closed her eyes for a moment, drawing in a slow, deep breath, and when she exhaled, a pure golden orb hovered in her left hand for a moment before disappearing. She smiled softly. "You're the chosen hero who bears the Master Sword, and my own powers are still with me. That was all we had when we defeated the Calamity, and we're stronger now, you and I, than we were then. We can handle whatever is next."
Link swallowed, nodding begrudgingly.
I failed back then. I can't fail again.
Zelda's smile widened, and she glanced fondly back at the mural as they continued. "Besides, I – I can't tell you how excited I am," she said with a light laugh. "These murals support so much of what historians have written – often only speculated – about. Truly, it's an amazing discovery; I can't wait to show Purah."
Link bit his lip. He kept the Master Sword drawn as they walked onward, and he sucked in a sharp breath as he noticed the unmistakable deep tongues of red flickering among the black mist at their feet as stone walls closed in tight around them once more. "Zelda…"
"I see it," she said, her voice at once measurably more solemn. "It's… still not particularly concentrated. But I'm not feeling anything unusual; what about you?"
Link shook his head. Nothing but this terrible dread.
"Then I think it's safe for now to continue," she decided, walking deeper. Link hovered protectively at her side, listening with only half an ear as she muttered thoughtfully to herself, wondering about the murals and this ancient place, why it had been kept secret. He had to stop himself from answering – They kept it secret because they didn't want to disturb whatever great evil is slumbering here.
The tunnel continued, natural stone once more overtaking the crisp stonework of the ancient Zonai. It was different than it had been higher up; instead of beautiful formations reminiscent of water, the stone was pockmarked and hollowed out. It reminded Link of the stone around the Breach of Demise; it had the same monstrous quality to it, the appearance of some sort of insect's nest filled with indentations where eggs had once laid. Their path steepened, the stone sloped and round on all sides as if carved out by some great worm. The gloom thickened further, black tendrils infused with a deep blood red glow as crimson sparks drifted up through the cavern.
"Zelda, let me take the lead," Link said quietly, and she nodded grimly, her brow furrowed as he stepped in front of her, the Master Sword bright against the darkness.
The steeply-sloping tunnel came at last to an end, opening up into a vast cavern with an inverted pyramidal structure hanging down from the center. Wrapped around it were slowly spiraling tendrils of green light that felt somehow comforting after the angry crimson – until Link noticed the veritable sea of black and red mist emanating from the center of the spiral. His mouth felt suddenly dry. "Zelda…"
"That green light in the distance," she murmured. He felt her hand close around his left arm as she drew closer to him, as if seeking comfort. "I'm… having the strangest sensation. This is all so ominous…"
"We can turn back," he whispered back. "Return with more men and supplies."
Zelda looked up at him, her green gaze uncharacteristically solemn. "That wouldn't be right," she said slowly. "Link, I… this isn't about the discovery of these ruins and the mural anymore. It's not even about the sickness. I have this feeling that we need to continue – that something disastrous will happen if we don't. We'll be extremely careful, of course, but we can't leave now." Her voice wavered slightly. "Please – trust me."
He felt as though his stomach had dropped out of his body with the finality in her tone. "Of course I trust you," he assured her quietly. "You know I will follow you anywhere."
She smiled tightly, and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. "I love you," she breathed, and he whispered the words back, resting his forehead against hers for a brief moment.
They walked down a set of stairs down to the floor of the massive chamber, and as they neared Link grimaced as he realized what the source of the black and red tendrils seemed to be – a corpse, its back arched as if in agony, a wild mane of red hair tumbling from its skull, its teeth bared in a feral snarl. It appeared mummified, remnants of ancient, withered skin and muscle clinging to its bones along with scraps of clothing and ornate jewelry.
Far more baffling was the source of the green light – a disembodied arm wrapped in golden bands, tendrils of light spiraling up from above it. A brightly glowing white stone sat on the back of its hand, and there was a similar stone set in the crown of the mummified corpse. Link's heart pounded, his blood racing beneath his skin.
Then with a disgusting crackling sound the arm twitched once and then tumbled off of the corpse, landing with a heavy thud unceremoniously on the ground. The stone came easily free, bouncing a few times and rolling slightly in their direction. Zelda gasped quietly, bending down and reaching hesitantly towards it, slowly closing her fingers around it. Link kept half an eye on her and half an eye on the corpse and the arm; he saw out of the corner of his eye as the stone began to glow with the same golden light as Zelda's own magic, and some of the coils of tension around his chest loosened. Well… the stone's not a threat, at least.
There was a sudden deep, resonating sound like a drum. Link realized with a jolt that it was, in fact, a heartbeat, and he tightened his grip on the Master Sword, staring in dread at the bent-backwards corpse. His blood turned to ice as it began to move, its jewelry clattering as it fought with frozen limbs to straighten, until at last it crumpled back into its initial position.
"It – it's alive!" Zelda stammered, breathless with horror.
With a grinding of bones its head snapped towards them, and fiery eyes blazed to life deep within its eye sockets, filled with scorching rage and hate.
Link lunged in front of Zelda even as four writhing, blood-colored tendrils of substance burst from the figure's midsection and rocketed at once towards them. He slashed the Master Sword forward as if to deflect it, parry it, something. One dissipated in the sacred blade's luster but the others snaked around it like writhing vipers and then continued, winding up his arm and burning like acid, whipping around and around both his limb and the sword and eating away everything it touched.
Zelda screamed his name. He clutched his arm in agony with his left hand, biting back pained cries as the dark fire burned him away, devouring his tunic and mail with ease and then penetrating his very skin, seeping deep into his blood and sending excruciating pain throughout his body with each rapid, panicked beat of his heart until at last it was gone, leaving his arm a smoking, charred gray husk drenched and dripping with his own blood.
His hand felt fused to the Master Sword, which itself was coated in crimson, sizzling angrily. Link heaved for breath, his body trembling violently as he grabbed futilely at his ruined arm, sweat dripping down his face and blurring his vision as his mind fuzzed and whirled in the aftermath of such anguish.
What – what in Din's name –?
"Link?" Zelda whispered in horror, taking half a step closer, holding out her hands as if she wanted to help him somehow but didn't know what to do.
His wavering mind caught hold of the sight of yet another writhing, grasping tendril of crimson magic rocketing towards him and in desperation he swung again, and felt something give. But it wasn't the crimson magic. He stared in breathless horror as the Master Sword itself shattered, fragments of the sacred blade scattering in every direction, an explosion of pure white shards. The tip grazed the rising corpse's cheek, drawing forth a bubbling red liquid that could have been blood.
"No," he breathed, his arm pulsing in agony as he gripped the broken blade, disbelief ricocheting through him. The Master Sword!
"Was that the sword that seals the darkness?" came a hoarse, rattling voice from the corpse's jaws, dripping with contempt as, with stiff, jarring motions it raised itself to its full height. "A blade that shatters so easily against my power cannot save you from me."
Link licked his dry lips, remnants of the corpse's evil power flickering painfully through his blood as he fought hard to stay standing. "W-we need to leave," he mumbled through numb lips that didn't feel like they belonged to him.
"Zelda…" the corpse said, and he could almost feel the chill that went down her spine as she stared at the corpse in terror. "And you, who carries that fragile sword," it went on with a sneer in its voice. "You are Link."
It knows us – Goddesses save us, it knows who we are!
"Rauru placed his faith in you, and that was all you could do?" it said mockingly, tilting its head at them. Link noticed in dismay that the nick carved by the Master Sword's tip was gone, healed away as though it had never existed in the first place.
"How do you know our names?" Zelda asked, fear tangible in her voice.
The corpse didn't answer, instead bringing its hands together, forming a bright orb of raging, writhing crimson magic. Link grit his teeth, holding the remnants of the Master Sword protectively in front of him with his throbbing, ruined arm, but the corpse instead turned its magic on the upside-down stone pyramid above them all, and with a raging of massive tongues of bloodred fire it seemed as though the stone was somehow beginning to move upward. Seconds later and it was undeniably clear – the structure was moving rapidly higher. This creature was somehow lifting it up through the ground.
The force of the magic seemed too much for the stone beneath it to bear, and it crumpled and gave way to darkness, taking the corpse with it. A moment passed – then another. Link crumpled to his knees, unable to stay standing a moment longer; the adrenaline was fading, a sense of at least temporary safety coming over him.
"Link…" Zelda said, her voice filled with worry as she took a step forward, and then there was a crumbling of stone and she screamed.
Link's heart gave an agonizing lurch and he whirled around, seeing in a terrible, nightmarish instant the expression of horror and disbelief on her face as the ground gave way beneath her. Forgetting the pain, managing at last to unlock his fingers from around the Master Sword's hilt, he lunged after her, holding his hand out to her as she reached desperately up to him –
Only for his fingers to close on nothing. He watched in anguish as she fell into darkness still reaching out for him, vanishing at last with a flash of golden light.
Gone.
With his senses rapidly fading to nothing, choked out by a rising sense of despair and the ongoing searing pain in his arm, he felt something snatch his left arm, saving him from his own fall into the abyss. He saw above him the glowing green hand tightly grasping his wrist, and then he was engulfed in light.
And after that… nothing. Nothing but an empty, hollow ache that seemed to be consuming him from the inside out.