It took Zelda another ten minutes of deep breathing and rubbing the outsides of her wrists before her pain had lessened enough for her to crawl forward through the darkness until she could find the stone walls she had seen in the light. Keeping one hand fully extended, she scooted herself along the floor until her palm came in contact with the cold walls around her. Painfully, Zelda pushed herself to her feet, both hands bracing herself on the wall. Then she walked along it, letting her hands guide her forward. The stony floor was icy cold on her bare feet, and Zelda resisted the urge to scurry faster. Once her hands brushed against a break in the wall, she paused and took another step forward, feeling for wood. Her persistence was rewarded as her fingers brushed against the soft wood of the door and then the cold, iron doorknob. Exulting inwardly, she gripped the knob and slowly turned it. The knob turned freely and silently, but the door didn't budge, and there was no click of a latch.

Of course it wouldn't be that easy, Zelda reasoned, her heart sinking. Blind's not stupid enough to leave the door unlocked. Zelda felt above the knob and also found a heavy keyhole. But here's my way out.

Briefly, Zelda considered moving the tumblers in the lock with Kinetic Magic like she had with the castle gate, but the searing headache and complete exhaustion she felt made her wary. It wouldn't be good to perish from overexhaustion just from using magic. Not to mention the creepy, lifeless mire she was in-who knew what might happen to her magic if she used it? Would it get sucked away too?

Bad idea, Zelda decided, furrowing her brow. I've got to find another way to get the lock open. Desperately, she ran her hands along her dress, seeking for something that she could fit in the lock. Unfortunately, her plain dress had nothing but fabric, and the thieves had stripped her of everything else.

Hmm. Zelda reached her up to her hair. She slipped off the thick string of twine that she used to bind her braid and shook out her long, auburn hair. Her fingers caught on a couple of items-there was a thick twig tangled in the knot near the bottom of her braid, presumably from her tumble in the grass earlier, and a thin, metal hairpin.

Grinning, Zelda dropped the stick on the ground and felt along the edges of the hairpin, Perfect. She felt for the key hole again and slipped the pin into the hole.

Okay, she thought encouragingly, Just remember what those tumblers felt like in the other lock. Zelda wiggled the pin around in the hole, pressing her forehead up against the door to ground herself. The pin clinked multiple times around in the keyhole, and Zelda felt a flash of doubt. That's a lot of tumblers, she thought anxiously, feeling for all the little pieces in the lock. But I can't imagine the lock and security to be better in this thief's hideout than the gate to Hyrule Castle.

But the first time I did it with magic, Zelda argued with her thoughts, Which tends to make things easier. Zelda took another deep breath, focusing on all the purchases that her little pin was making. Her makeshift lockpick caught on a more sturdy tumbler, and Zelda eagerly pushed her pin up. The tumbler moved with her movement, and there was a soft click. Zelda jumped at the sudden noise in the pitch blackness, bumping her forehead against the door.

Ow. There's one obstacle out of the way. Zelda crowed silently, grasping the doorknob in preparation to fling it open. Now I just have to find my way back out. As she gripped the doorknob, it occurred to her that she had no idea what was behind the door, and it wasn't like she was going to be able to see anything. There wasn't any light coming from under the door, and it seemed like only Blind's minions carried light with them.

That means I'll be able to see them coming from a long way away, she realized. That little blue light went a long way in the utter darkness. Carefully, she pressed her ear up against the door and listened intently. The only sounds she could hear were the same steady drip drip of the leak and...her own breathing.

I need a plan, Zelda thought. I can't just barge out and go racing around the compound. I'll get caught for sure. She turned so her back was pressing up against the door, her heart pounding now. She'd made it this far using her other senses-could she continue to rely on her hearing and tactile senses to find her way out?

There's no way to tell if I'm going the right way, Zelda frowned, I could just go deeper into the guild until I'm totally lost.

Zelda gasped as a cold breeze suddenly raced over her feet from underneath the door, and she hopped from foot to foot. A memory washed over her as the cold air continued to blow gently across her toes. There was an old cave not far from her village that was rumored to house one of the Great Fairies, and Zelda's parents were devout believers. They had brought her and her brother to venture into the cave and seek blessings from the Great Fairy after Rei was born. Her father had clasped her hand gently and led her into the cave,

"The bad news about caves," he had rumbled, "Is that they get pretty dark. But the good news is that you can feel the air current from the entrance racing along the floor. The hot air rises up to the ceiling, but the cold air stays down at your feet." He had looked down at Zelda encouragingly, his brown eyes kindly and warm. "It's almost like the goddess is showing you the way out herself if you get lost."

Zelda took a deep breath, keeping her eyes closed. If she could walk into the breeze, toward the airflow, she should be able to find its source, a big window or an open door from which she could escape through.

But I can't just keep my eyes closed, she realized, Otherwise I won't be able to see when someone's coming. She had an image flash through her mind of her walking down the corridor of her prison and walking straight into a guard. She shuddered and thrust the image from her thoughts. Let's take this step at a time.

Cautiously, she turned back to the door and pulled it open. The hinges were thankfully well-oiled and silent, and Zelda felt a brief surge of relief, beaming in the dark.

Little wins, she exulted, hearing her mother's encouraging voice, You've got to celebrate the little wins. Her face still split in a grin, Zelda took her first step out into the hallway. The air immediately grew colder, and the gaping emptiness suddenly felt more gaping.

Hush, Zelda calmed her thoughts. The darkness is still just darkness. Zelda swallowed the emptiness sense and took another step out of the room. Nothing looked any different, but Zelda's fear bubbled in her throat.

I can do this, she thought, stretching her hands out in front of her and feeling the cold air rustle her dress and wash over her feet. One step at a time. She shuffled forward, walking at an angle to the breeze, hoping there would be a wall to stop her from going too far. Thankfully, Zelda's fingertips brushed up against stone, and she brought both hands on it before turning into the breeze. Keeping one hand on the wall, Zelda walked slowly down the hall.

It was disconcerting to keep her eyes open when it was still pitch black, and Zelda had to rely on the wall and the floor to keep her from getting lost in the darkness. The void of nothingness was almost maddening-but Zelda trusted in her other senses and tracked her breathing as she walked down the hall. The eerie silence was pierced every couple steps with other drips of water, but they sounded different, more like a glop than a drip. Zelda tried not to think about it and focused on the stone underneath her hands and feet.

So far so good, she thought, smiling slightly. She became aware of another sound in the darkness, a quiet sort of raspy hissing mixed with a sloshing of the moisture on the floor. Zelda took another three steps before really hearing the sound, and the hair rose on the back of her neck.

I don't like that. I don't like that at all. Zelda froze in place, her heart pounding in her ears as she blinked in the darkness, trying to pick out anything. She still couldn't see anything, but the sound was getting louder.

This is terrible. Zelda held her breath and pressed herself up against the wall, forcing herself to keep her eyes open. Something's coming at me and I don't even know what. The sound continued to increase in volume until Zelda felt something brush against her foot-something wet, slimy, and scaly.

Zelda covered her mouth to keep from screaming, staring down at where her feet should be and seeing nothing.Goddess above, that's a snake. On my foot.

And then the feeling was gone.

Zelda didn't move as she heard the slithering sound fade. She let herself relax, taking a deep, shuddering breath. Then she stood upright, flexing her toes and running her hands up and down the wall. The sooner I get out of here, the better.

Zelda took another four steps before she noticed that she could see something ahead of her. She bit off a gasp, spinning to see if the light was coming from behind her or in front of her. The dim blue light seemed to grow brighter from the same direction Zelda's feet were facing, into the wind. Zelda felt her heart rate pick up, and she sucked in air quickly. What would she do? There wasn't anywhere to hide that she could see, and she hadn't passed any gaps in the wall.

As the light grew brighter, Zelda spotted a gap in the wall directly across from her, on the same wall as her previous prison.

The cells must all be on the same side, Zelda reasoned, darting across the hallway and shying into the now-visible doorway. Let's hope he doesn't see me!

The blue light was now almost as bright as a torch, and Zelda pressed herself deeper into the side of the wall. She could hear muffled footsteps, and she found herself wishing for shoes. Her feet were so cold that they were starting to hurt, and she remembered her thick socks and leather shoes with longing.

A man suddenly walked past the doorway where Zelda was sequestered, his gaze locked on the ground in front of him. He wore a cloak that both looked dark gray in the ethereal blue light of the open lantern clutched in his hand. Zelda couldn't see any of his face, other than a short beard that hung just outside the cowl of his cloak. Zelda watched, eyes wide, as he shambled past. Zelda must've let out some sort of sound, because the man suddenly looked up and into her face, his eyes widening. He opened his mouth to shout, and Zelda felt a rush of panic. She burst out from her partial cover and threw her right arm around the man's neck. He let out a strangled gasp and dropped the lantern with a large clatter. Zelda gritted her teeth at the shaft of pain in her wrist and forearm, but she grabbed her right wrist with her left hand and yanked back on the man's neck. The cowl of his cloak slipped off his head into Zelda's face, and she tried to brush it aside with her chin while still maintaining her grip. The man scrambled to grab her forearm, but she kept her grip firm on her wrist to hold him in place. He slipped to his knees, and Zelda stumbled forward a step before she could retighten her hold, but she managed to keep her arm wrapped firmly around the prison guard's neck. His struggles grew weaker until he let out a gurgling sigh and went slack. Zelda let out the breath she was holding and stumbled back a step, letting the man tumble to the ground.

Okay, that worked better than I thought it would, she thought blearily, blinking through the soreness in her arms and stomach. Now what? She knelt on the stone floor and stared down at the man. His face was partially covered with a black canvas eyepatch, and he had a gold chain with a diamond pendant at the base hanging down over his cloak. Zelda gagged at the smell of rotten food and unwashed man that rose from him as she bent closer. Wrinkling her nose, Zelda unclasped his cloak and wrapped it around her shivering shoulders. Then she bent back down to see if he had anything else she could use to get out. As she scanned the prone figure, she saw a heavy ring of keys clipped on his belt.

Hmm, this could be useful. Zelda unclipped the keys and headed back for the door that she'd hid next to. After quickly locating the proper key and unlocking the door, she peered in the room and found it empty.

Excellent. Zelda moved back over to the guard she'd knocked out and grabbed him by the boots. Groaning, she dragged him across the stone and into the little room, closing and locking the door behind him.

This should make it easier. Zelda walked back over to the fallen lantern and picked it up, inspecting it curiously. The lantern itself was open to the air, without any protective casings around the light source. The light was emanating from a pale blue glowing clump of plants, like moss. It also didn't quiver like a flame or pulse like a firefly, but instead glowed constantly. Cold air blew over Zelda's feet again, and she flexed her toes in discomfort.

Time to get out of here. She turned back into the wind and walked down the hall, quicker than before. The blue plant lantern gave her enough light to pierce the darkness but not enough to light the whole hall, which cast an eerie, half-light through the interior. Zelda still preferred the creepy light to the darkness, but she couldn't wait to get back outside to the bright, warm sunlight. She passed more doors on the left side of the hall, and she even passed a big open space lit by other blue lanterns on the wall, but the wind continued to blow into her, so Zelda pressed on. She came upon a set of stairs, and peered up to the landing with dread. Her body was still sore, and her feet were starting to throb from the cold.

I should've taken that guy's socks, Zelda thought regretfully, climbing the stairs. Then my feet could at least be warm. The top of the stairs opened up to another hallway, but it seemed like the darkness beyond the light of her plant lamp was heavier and more inky.

This darkness feels so unnatural, Zelda thought, pulling the stolen cloak tighter around her and heading down the hall, the wind tugging at her throbbing feet.

It was when Zelda walked past another open space on the left when she felt the wind vanish. Curiously, she stopped and turned back towards the gap in the wall. Two double doors stood before her that looked almost black in the pale blue light, and a fresh burst of cold air rushed over her toes. A different color of light shone from under the door: a pale purple rather than the pale blue that sat in Zelda's lantern.

This is where the air's coming from, Zelda thought, staring up at the doors. But this doesn't look like a way out. She put her ear up to the door and heard a faint humming noise. Frowning, Zelda lifted the lantern higher and reached for the door handle. The handle was warm to the touch, unlike the other doors Zelda had grabbed in Misery Mire. She turned the knob, and the door swung open. Gasping, Zelda stumbled forward into the room.

The room was small, smaller than Zelda's cell had been. There was a single pedestal right in the center with a diamond-shaped lavender gem that was humming softly sitting on its top. Big black curtains hung over what Zelda guessed was a window on the far wall, based on the gentle breeze that blew through them. The room was otherwise undecorated; the floor and walls were the same mossy stone that was in the rest of the hideout. Zelda set the lantern on the floor and moved to the window, carefully walking around the pedestal. Something about that purple gem made her feel uneasy. Her magic core felt like it was twitching, something that Zelda had never felt before. It felt like the well of magic that she would gather into was shrinking, like it was drying up even further. The purple light didn't sit well with Zelda either-Pipit's offhand comment about the colors of her eyes suddenly made her wonder what color her eyes turned when she was Foraging. A faded purple? The same color as that gem?

Zelda shuddered and grabbed the curtains, yanking them to the side. Bright, warm sunlight flooded the room. The pale lights from the lantern faded, but the purple light flared slightly, competing with the warm sunlight. Zelda breathed in deeply, the sunlight warming her face. The window in front of her looked out on a swampy, wet marsh with short, stubby trees and lots of buzzing insects. Zelda unclasped the cloak in the heat of the sunshine and clambered up on the window ledge, bracing her hands on either side of the hole in the wall.

Here we go, she thought eagerly. Now I just have to get back to..the Prince! Her heart lurched as she remembered that Blind claimed to have the Prince. Desperately, she turned back to stare at the purple gem. What if Blind did have the Prince and the Master Sword here? Torn, Zelda looked between the door and the window. She desperately wanted to get out of Misery Mire and reclaim her magic, but if the Prince and the Master were still locked up... Sighing, she turned back toward the purple gem, jumping back onto the floor. As her feet touched the ground again, she heard quick footsteps on the stone outside, and movement at the door caught her eye.

A person strode into the room, a familiar navy cloak around their shoulders. Zelda gasped as she recognized the filmy white eyes hidden in the cowl. A matching diamond-shaped pendant hung outside of his cloak.

Blind! Zelda froze. Maybe he'll just leave. He can't see me, right?

"Mmm, someone seems to have opened the window on my Scouring gem. Whatever will I do?" With a shing, Blind unsheathed a dagger and stepped further into the room. "I suppose I'll just have to kill them."

Zelda rubbed her fingers over her thumbs nervously. Great. Blind knows I'm here. Her eyes darted around the room, but the room was just as barren as it was earlier. Her gaze settled on the lavender colored gem. Scouring gem! Old Jennings had warned Zelda of gems that acted like Foragers in gathering, but they never released the energy. They were extremely dangerous to Foragers with an active Core. And Blind has one! Zelda lunged forward and grabbed the gem off the pedestal. Blind roared at her movement, raising his knife. Zelda gasped at the cold, lifeless feeling of the gem against her palm and almost missed Blind racing forward. She jumped to one side as Blind struck his knife into the empty air.

"You're going to regret touching that stone," Blind threatened, spinning around the room, his knife outstretched. "I will kill you. Not to mention that you'll lose all magic from holding it for too long."

Lose magic? Zelda almost dropped the stone on the floor. So that was what the twitching of her core meant? I have to destroy it somehow!

Blind snarled and turned toward her, his knife held threateningly low. "Don't think that just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't see you." He lunged, and Zelda cried out as the knife pierced her hip. Pain shot through her body, and she felt dizzy. She gripped the stone tighter and stumbled to one side.

Blind laughed cruelly. Zelda gritted her teeth and stepped forward, wrapping her other hand around Blind's wrist. She twisted her hand, and Blind grunted as his hand was contorted and bent toward the floor. The knife fell from his fingers, and Zelda lunged for it, falling to her knees. Opening her fingers around the Scouring gem, she let the gem clatter to the floor as she lifted the knife above her head.

"No!" Blind roared, but Zelda swung the knife tip down into the gem. It gave a quiet tink, and cracks spiderwebbed across the surface. She gritted her teeth and swung again.

There was a huge crash as the gem exploded, and Zelda gasped as she felt a surge of energy rush through her. The stone in the room cracked and crumbled, and the explosion blew her up and through the window. The last thing Zelda saw in the small room was the stone pedestal cracking in the middle and flying toward Blind, who was in turn getting forced against the door. Zelda closed her eyes as she flew out of the window, and she felt her magic core flex in response to all the raw energy that burst out of the Scouring gem. The pain in her ribs and her hip intensified, but Zelda quickly gathered in a portion of the breeze and swirled it around her to cushion her fall-wherever she landed.

I sure hope the Prince wasn't in there, she found herself thinking faintly. We don't need another reason for him to hate me.

Heyy look at me, back after just a week! :)

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