The early morning sun spilled over the gentle landscape of Sahasra Slope. A steady breeze stirred the ample wildgrass with green, rolling waves. Rather than whitecaps, these land-locked breakers were topped by rock outcroppings which served as reminders of the mountains from which Sahasra extended northwest.
Link stood on one of those rises, absentmindedly patting Epona's strong neck. The mare whickered slightly, appreciating the attention after being roused before dawn's first light had interrupted the sky.
Impa had pleasantly surprised Link with the horse that morning, informing him that Purah had sent it back to Kakariko with traders from Hateno. They had delivered both horse and goods yesterday afternoon while Link had slept.
Glad to have at least one friend with which to share his journey, Link had saddled the chestnut with supplies already prepared and waiting for him: food, firewood, a pallet, and even a tent for sleeping in inclement weather. His gratitude increased the most, however, upon finding a sheathed broadsword and round shield among the provisions. Their presence piqued his curiosity, especially with the ever-present Cado looking on.
"I have not seen any of your people armed with these," Link noted to Impa. "How did you come by them?"
"Cado mentioned that you see much," the elder replied with her now familiar aged smile. "These are relics from Hylian soldiers who fought the Calamity a century ago, now restored."
Link briefly took up the sword and unsheathed it. The double-edged blade was plain, well-balanced and honed to a razor-keen finish. His hands tightened around the leather-bound grip, which sat between the weapon's unadorned cross-guard and pommel. The sword felt much more familiar than the Sheikah sword or the short blade he had taken from a fallen bokoblin. The only commonality was that it, too, left him wanting in some way he could not explain.
Shaking off the feeling of incompleteness, Link flourished the blade twice, then returned it to its scabbard of silver and blue. That he secured to his back, the hilt within familiar reach over his right shoulder. The shield he stowed on the horse's left side, opposite the bow .
"I really should come up with a name for you," Link had murmured to the now burdened animal.
"In only one case was the steed of the chosen hero ever recorded," Impa offered readily under the lightening darkness of dawn's approach. "It is written that horse's name was Epona, and that she served her master well in victory."
Link savored the name while admiring the chestnut's dark red coat and white points.
"I carry enough reminders of a past gone wrong," he mused while gesturing briefly to the sword at his back and the ruined Sheikah blade at his waist. "Something from a happier ending will do me well."
With that, Link swung up easily onto the saddled mare. Impa hobbled alongside them and rested a wrinkled hand on the animal's chest.
"The blessing of Hylia goes with you, Link," she said softly. "Let it soften the past and brighten the future, for the latter is what needs you most, now."
A silent nod, and Link had galloped off on the path that exited Kakariko to the northwest. The narrow canyon through which it ran had been empty. Now, looking back the way he had come, Link could see why. The rolling Sahasra would tax even the most well-built stock attempting to scale it. Even if a foe reached and discovered the concealed road he had just taken, the canyon's bottleneck would render any army all but useless. Even so, Link would not hesitate to wager that the pass was watched at all times.
Link returned his gaze northwest, for Impa had told him he must continue in that direction to circumnavigate the Lizalfo-infested wetlands.
"Make straight for the castle until you meet the road," she had told him before adding sternly, "and follow the road north, boy. You will do Zelda no good as you are now."
Link understood the admonition now. Hyrule Castle reared in plain sight to the northwest, the red tendrils of Ganon's essence still swirling around its base. He had not lain eyes on the structure since first setting out from the Great Plateau. Seeing it now - and knowing Zelda was somehow trapped within - renewed his urgency to hasten.
Link glimpsed a glimmer of blue dividing the valley before him from the plain on which the castle stood. Impa had told him the road he sought ran on his side of the river, that he must follow it to the Wetland Stable. There, he might find the best way - and possibly willing aid - to circle the swamp and make his way to Zora's Domain.
A quick glance at his Sheikah slate confirmed that his knowledge was reduced to what Impa had told him. The yellow marker indicating Link's location stood at the edge of the revealed portion of the map. Looking up and to the northeast, he could see a Sheikah tower rising from a series of foothills beyond the wetlands. Time - and the enemy's presence - would tell whether that tower could be safely reached.
Stowing the slate back on his belt, Link mounted Epona and resumed guiding her down the slope. He followed a wide and shallow furrow that followed the northwestern direction he sought, knowing it would conceal him from any enemies near the wetlands' southernmost edge.
Another element began to aid Link's cover: rain. It was little more than a drizzle, but enough to make him draw the hood of his cloak over his head. The land flattened rapidly. He was leaving the Sahasra behind, the southernmost edge of the wetlands appearing to his right. Despite the rain, Link retrieved his bow from the saddlehorn and nocked an arrow to its string. Impa had warned him this open stretch of land between slope and stable would be the most dangerous, leaving him exposed to lizalfos and Hylia knew what else. Link's goal was to reach the woods nestled between the road and river, then use it for cover until he arrived at the stable.
The road revealed itself in short order, but Link kept just off its now muddied track so Epona could find better purchase among the neighboring grassland. The rain was still thin, allowing him to glimpse the edge of the woods he sought. He was about to guide his now besodden mount across the road when movement ahead caught his eye.
Where the path split some feet ahead, half a score of armed lizalfos surrounded what Link could only assume was a Zora, for the creature was very similar to Mipha in his memory. The front of her body was milky white and bore feminine curves sheathed in a silvery breastplate. The rest of her rubbery skin was turquoise in color, with small, multi-colored fins protruding from her elbows and shoulders. The Zora's face was human, save that her eyes were yellow. Headfins hung where ears would normally be, while a long caudal fin extended from the back of her head down to the middle of her back.
Link might have appreciated the creature's unique beauty were she not so desperately outnumbered by the armored lizard monsters circling her. The Zora's teeth were bared as she hissed at her assailants. Only her long spear - silver and tipped by a graceful arrow-shaped head, kept the Ganonspawn at bay.
Even as he booted Epona forward, Link was forcibly reminded of Brigo, who had been similarly surrounded and outnumbered at their first meeting. The lizalfos numbered more than thrice the bokoblins that had assaulted his old friend, however, and they were far larger than the pig-like Ganonspawn. Each was nearly the size of Epona, their curved backs encased in serrated metal armor. A sinuously curved horn protruded from between their round eyes, which Link intuitively knew could observe much more of their surroundings than any Hylian. Roughly half of them carried crude spears tipped with viciously jagged iron tips, while the others made do with wooden clubs.
The Zora was already bleeding heavily from several wounds. She would not last much longer. Link's only hope was to draw her assailants' attention as quickly as possible.
Link rode straight into the Ganonspawn. Despite the lizards' size, Epona did not balk as she plowed into their midst. Link trampled the first one in his path, then forced his steed to rear and strike out with her shod front hooves at another. As the latter crumpled from the blow to its skull, Link leapt from his saddle with his bow already drawn and nocked. Instinct guiding him as though he had done so countless times before, Link loosed a shaft in midair. The steel-tipped arrow took another of the beasts through one of its swiveling eyes. Landing upright in the muddied road, he slapped Epona in the hindquarters, urging the horse to flee out of harm's way.
The lizardspawn hissed and spat at the unexpected interruption. Link's first goal was complete. After losing three of their number so quickly, the monsters' attention was diverted from their original prey.
Link tossed aside his bow and drew the sword from his back. Even wet, the weapon felt one with his hands, his arms - with him. He held it point up and forward, his eyes darting quickly to keep track of his foes. Ignoring her wounds, the Zora took up her stand at Link's back, ensuring the Ganonspawn would catch him unawares from behind. Back-to-back, the rain still drizzling from above, Hylian and Zora waited for the monsters to attack.
A lizalfo to Link's left rushed first, followed quickly by a pair to the right.
"Take the one!" Link quickly shouted. He did not wait to see whether the Zora did as he had ordered. The lizardspawn were fast - far swifter than bokoblins. They scurried forward, their muscular hind legs propelling them swiftly and lightly across the waterlogged road. Their shorter forearms held spears leveled and ready to strike.
Link pivoted smoothly to one side of the first Lizalfo's spear thrust, then forward under its guard. His upward stroke sliced cleanly through the monster's throat and face. He carried his blade's momentum left then down, where it parried the second foe's swinging attempt at waist-height. Link spun inward, his sword whirling with him and into the animal's stomach. The beast collapsed in a convulsing heap.
A spitting rattle told Link the Zora had succeeded in slaying her assailant, but the remaining four monsters were now rushing en masse. Three of them made for Link, while the last attacked the Zora.
Impa's reprimand ringing in his memory, Link whipped out the slate with his left hand and, as he had done at Hateno, pressed the glowing symbol of a padlock with his thumb. A beam of yellow light erupted from the slate's end and slammed into the nearest Lizalfo. The stasis rune would, Link knew, keep the creature immobile for but a moment. The yellow light enveloping the frozen monster was already beginning to blink faster, its hold quickly waning.
Link stowed the slate and resumed the sword just as the remaining two Lizalfos were upon him, their spears stabbing forward simultaneously. Link rolled forward to avoid both seeking spearpoints, then turned and swung upward. One of the Ganonspawn was dead before it hit the ground. Already back on his feet, Link's sword turned down once more. The blow severed the last lizalfo's spear in a mass of splinters, leaving the creature's narrow chest completely exposed to Link's following thrust.
Link turned to finish the lizalfo he had frozen, only to find the Zora already dispatching the creature. She ripped her spear free of the scaled body and leaned heavily upon it, blood trickling from half a dozen wounds on her tall, gracefully built body. The gash atop her fish-like crown was the most severe, and her breathing was labored as she addressed him.
"Who... are you?" she gasped.
Link had already sheathed his blade and was now scanning the surrounding area for more Ganonspawn. To his immense relief, he saw only Epona trotting back to him, clearly aware the battle was over. Knowing time was short, he hurried over to put a supporting shoulder under the Zora's arm. She had to hunch over to take advantage of the gesture - she was at least half as tall again as her Hylian savior.
"I am Link," he said quickly, taking care that his haste did not aggravate her injuries. "We must move before more of them arrive. Get on the horse and we will get you to the stable."
To his great surprise, the Zora drew up to her full and considerable height, her yellow eyes blazing with offended pride.
"I am Mei of Zora's Domain, a walker of waters and fisher of the deep currents!" she declared heatedly. "I will not submit myself to lolling about on some beast like a sack of landbound meal! Point me to the river, that I may resume my noble quest and aid Prince Sidon in the salvation of our people!"
With that proclamation, Mei collapsed onto the mud-strewn road, completely unconscious. Shaking his head in disbelief, Link stowed her spear along with his own gear and began the arduous task of lifting the Zora onto Epona's back. The effort caused hot sweat to pour down his face despite the rain-cooled weather. When he finally managed to heave Mei belly-down across the saddle, the chestnut mare whinnied and craned her head to give Link what he interpreted as a look of extreme reproach.
Patting her neck to show his understanding, Link led his Zora-burdened horse northwest. The edge of the woods was clearly visible, though they stood on ground slightly elevated from the road. Despite his urgency to find cover, Link was forced to take extreme caution. One hasty step on the wet, rising ground would lose him both steed and stranger. Between carefully guiding his mount and keeping watch for more Ganonspawn, over an hour had passed before he reached the trees.
Link welcomed the forest not only for concealment, but for cover from the increasing rainfall. Even the thick chickaloo leaves did not prevent heavy drops from trickling through to the forest floor. Mei remained inert, her shallow breathing the only sign that she had not succumbed to her wounds.
The mud-bound battle, combined with the exhausting task of depositing Mei onto Epona, began to take its toll on Link as well. He kept a tight grip on Epona's reigns as he led her through the woods, raindrops spattering him until he was soaking wet. He stumbled at the last minute to avoid a rock outcropping from which several trees sprouted. Link's body slumped with weariness, but he refused to give in to fatigue's call. They had to keep moving.
Link ran faster than he had ever run in his life. He had been running for so fast and so long that even the sword on his back, which had always felt a part of him, was digging painfully into his back. He could feel the long, angular end of the hilt jab into his shoulder blade again and again and again, rubbing raw the skin that could be seen through his torn and mud-spattered tunic. The rhythmic pain of the sword was matched by a similar fire searing his side, a stitch that jabbed as sharply as any blade.
He did not care. They had to get away.
Rain poured from the heavens in an unceasing deluge as Link struggled to avoid trees, shrubs and rocks in his headlong sprint through the forest. Pools of water and mud gathered to further punish him every time he failed to avoid an obstacle, but Link paid them no mind. Cleanliness and stealth were no longer options. They had to get away.
Link did not look back, but he felt his companion's hand gripped firmly in his own. It was a smaller hand, smooth to the touch where mud did not cover it. He knew that if he loosened his iron grip, if he so much as let it slip, she would fall, and likely not rise again. He could not let that happen.
Like a pair of foxes fleeing the hound, they fled those that hunted them. Link inwardly thanked and cursed the rain. It gave them additional cover, but it did the same for their pursuers. Link knew the odds were greater that they would be discovered before evading discovery.
Movement to the right. Link did not wait. He swung his companion by the arm, flinging her behind the cover of a great chickaloo tree. He stood in front of it, hoping to draw the thing's attention. His sword was drawn, its magnificent blade glowing blue in the darkness. Unsheathing it had been an unconscious act that took no more time nor thought than a breath. He peered through the trees, willing his enemy to reveal itself.
A single eye flared red and blue. Its glow intensified. Link snarled at the thing, willing it to attack him so his charge could escape. Anything was worth that. Anything.
Blue light erupted from the eye, and Link had only a split second to meet it with his blade.
The light rebounded back to its source. The Guardian's eye burst in a flash of fire that immediately hissed in the rain. The six-legged machine toppled backward off the rock where it had perched itself. Its vantage point had been perfect. Its luck had not been.
Link looked down at the Sword That Seals The Darkness. To his relief, the blade's blue light flickered and died. No more Guardians were nearby, nor anything else contaminated by the Calamity's Malice.
His comfort, however, was short-lived. A third of the way down the blade - at the exact spot where the Guardian's light had met the sword - a small scorch mark surrounded an even smaller chip in the edge of the blade.
Link stared numbly at the blemish. In the five years he had borne it, the Sword That Seals The Darkness had never shown the slightest sign of imperfection. It had cut through Ganonspawn, Yiga and - most recently - Guardians without needing sharpening or even exhibiting natural rust.
Link's shock was interrupted by the sound of weeping. Weapon raised, he raced to the tree behind which he had thrust Zelda. A quick survey of the princess revealed no wound nor threat, only tears pouring down her mud-stained face. Her ceremonial white dress - the same one she had worn at Mount Lanayru - was muddied and ripped. She had discarded the golden necklace bearing the royal symbol of Hyrule some time ago, but the bracelets encircling her forearms remained. The hands beyond them now clenched the sopping wet earth, forcing mud to ooze between her once pristinely clean fingers.
"How?" Zelda pleaded without looking up. "How has it come to this?"
Link thrust his blade point first in the ground - it would warn him if more Guardians approached - and knelt, his blue eyes seeking the downcast green of the princess. For the first time since the madness had begun, he allowed himself to recall the horrors they had witnessed. The Calamity's rebirth from within the castle. The Guardians, emotionlessly turning on those they had been built to protect. King Rhoam forcefully thrusting him away in the chaos, commanding him to flee with his daughter. Castle Town, alight with the flames of its own destruction. As he, Zelda and a handful of Sheikah and Hylian warriors had fled, distant plumes of smoke began to mark the Divine Beasts' wrath upon Zora's Domain to the east and Rito Village to the west. He could only assume the same had occurred at Gerudo Town and Death Mountain.
"Zelda," Link said softly, "we must go."
The princess moved, but only to lift her gaze. Link had heard her weep before, but this was the first time he had seen it face to face. Her golden hair was dirty and unkempt, a far cry from its careful preparation just a day ago. Its ragged tresses framed a gentle face smeared with dirt and tears that left fresh tracks running from round eyes to delicate chin.
"Where would we go?" Zelda asked, seemingly without hope for an answer. "Our only chance at defeating Ganon is lost, all because I could not harness this cursed power! Everything - everything I've done up until now - it was all for nothing!"
Link recognized the despair, could see it in her eyes, hear it in her voice. For the smallest instant, the image of his blunted blade still fresh in his mind, he empathized. Since she was a child, Zelda had trained for this moment so that the ancient sealing power of Hyrulean princesses would answer her call. When the Sword had awoken and chosen Link to be its bearer, it was clear that time was drawing near. Zelda had doubled her efforts, only to find unanswered prayers and a magical void at every turn.
Now, with the moment of need finally at hand, it was certain: Hylia's power bestowed upon the royal line of Hyrule would not come. Ganon had won, and was even now spreading his Malice and destruction across Hyrule. The Sword That Seals The Darkness - the ancient weapon forged to combat him - was breaking. What remained but to accept the bitter fruits of defeat? What could he say to comfort the only one who had ever dedicated herself to her calling more than he had to his?
The Sword was still dark, but Link's gaze was drawn to it nonetheless. If anything, its flawed features shored up the brief crack in his own courage. He would not bend knee to Ganon's coming. Like his blade, he would break first.
"Goponga Village is just east of here," Link said decisively. "We will regroup with those we find there and make for Fort Hateno. We can make our stand there if we must. If not, Hateno itself will provide refuge."
Zelda, who had bowed her head in grief, once again looked up at Link. She did not seem to register his words, however. Instead, her eyes screwed shut as her face wrenched itself with grief of the soul. With a sob, the Princess of Hyrule fell toward the Hylian Champion and rested her head against his chest. Link knew then that she was no longer royalty - Zelda a girl seeking solace from the only one who could provide it then and there.
Hesitantly at first, but then as naturally as if he had done so before, Link encircled his arms around Zelda's shaking body. She buried her face in his chest, her cries muffled by the sky-blue Champion's tunic he wore. Like Zelda's dress, it was ripped, wet and muddied. He drew her close, uncaring of the mud beneath their knees or the rain that continued to pour down upon them. Disregarding the danger of discovery for a few precious moments, Hyrule's two remaining and fallen symbols of hope embraced amid the horror sweeping the land around them.
An upraised tree root caught the tip of Link's boot, causing him to pitch forward head-first into the sodden forest floor. He scrambled to his feet, wiping away dirt and leaves and tears from his face in an effort to fully regain his senses. In his mind's eye, Link could still see Zelda's anguish, could still hear the hopelessness in her voice. The image pierced him like Guardian's sword at Kakariko.
Link could only just remember the threads connecting this memory to others, but they were vague. Fleeting images of Rhoam, Guardians and even the swirling horror of Ganon flitted across his recollection. None were as clear as the scene in the woods. It stood out in sharp relief from the rest of his buried memories, like a flare of sunlight amid a leaden sky.
Why had the sealing power not come to Zelda's aid? LInk could still remember the feeling of shock that it had not. How, then, had she returned and prevented Ganon from fully unleashing himself upon Hyrule? New questions, but these carried the fresh sting and confusion of pain recalled.
The smallest stirring of sound - one not caused by rain or wind - snapped Link out of his reverie. His sword was out of its scabbard and in his hands in the blink of an eye, his gaze locked towards the noise's origin.
Cado stepped out of the woods, empty hands upraised to show he neither bore nor meant harm.
"It is I, Sir Link," the Sheikah announced formally. "You are as observant with your ears as you are with your eyes."
Link saw then that Cado was wearing Sheikah garments of the same make as the ones Impa had given him before leaving Kakariko. Like Dorian had in life, he wore a short, curved Sheikah blade at his waist and a longer version of the same weapon on his back. A small, horned bow and quiver completed his arms.
"What are you doing here?" Link asked wonderingly as he sheathed his blade. "Did Impa set you on my trail to ensure my success?"
"To a point," Cado acknowledged with small bow. "As you have no doubt seen for yourself, Ganonspawn infest these lands like a plague. I am sorry I did not found you before I did. I see you and a - friend? - have run afoul of them already."
Cado's questioning expression was directed toward the still-unconscious Zora laying across Epona's back.
"She was set upon by lizalfos when I found her," he answered wearily. "I must get her to the stable. Unless you are a healer as well?"
The Sheikah strode swiftly to Epona; Link could not help but notice his nearly silent footfalls. Cado took care not to touch Mei as he carefully surveyed each of the wounds that had only half-clotted due to the downpour.
"Her wounds are too many and too deep to treat here," Cado finally said. "The stable is her best chance. This way."
With that, the Sheikah immediately turned north, his bow out and eyes searching the surrounding woods. Taking Epona's reins by the hand, Link followed.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Slowly but surely, Link's expanding world begins to include members of other races. Mei is just the first of many Zora to come, and so far I'm pleased with how their personalities have developed. Right away we see Mei's pride in her people and their way of life, even if that pride borders on life-threatening stubbornness. I'm really looking forward to revealing more Zora in the chapters to come.
Link's memory of Zelda and the Guardian is not a new one, but this edition includes much more than his previous recollections. I am sure other writers chose to skew these memories toward a more romantic angle. As of right now, I'm not there. We'll see if that changes. Romantic or not, their relationship is no doubt precious in a moment when all else seems lost. I can only hope you enjoyed it.
With Wetlands Stable fast approaching, don't hesitate to refresh yourself with the state of affairs there by re-reading the Book Two prologue. Link's straightforward mission is about to encounter a new set of obstacles, some old, others new. If you like what you've been reading, feel free to give that Fav/Follow button a click or drop a review, even if it's just your own take on the story's most recent developments. Can't stress how grateful I am for your time. Hope life is treating you well. - mattwrites