Chapter 21: The Depths
Dust billowed around the cave entrance following the cave in Link had caused. To his relief, he hadn't fallen far. He and Zelda had both landed on a pile of mud displaced from the island above.
As he struggled to regain his senses, he heard loud creaks coming from above.
The trees above were falling towards him, following the new hole in the island.
Adrenaline flooded him as his heart raced and his reflexes became sharp. Rolling to his side and kneeling, he picked up Zelda in his arms and ran as hard as he could.
As the trees above came crashing down, the sound of snapping boughs and crushed branches echoed around the cave.
"Ow!" yelped Zelda, as he saw a chunk of wood land on her head. She cradled it as he carried her.
His legs refused to tire now, so he ran further up a slope he recalled from the first time he was here, towards the doorway.
Rocks fell as the tall trees crashed into the ground behind him, shaking the rough ground beneath him. He had barely made it to the arch of the doorway as rocks piled just behind him, sealing the way out.
There was no guarantee that they were both safe, so he put Zelda down, an inch of space between them.
"Thank you once again, Link. How many times is it that you have saved us both?" she asked as she rubbed her head.
"No idea, but don't worry about it. Are you alright?" he asked tentatively.
"Yes, slight headache but otherwise alright."
Nodding, he knelt down as the rocks behind him pressed in to his back more than he would have liked.
Getting his fingers under the lower lip of the door, he heaved it up as the door retracted upwards, revealing the old temple.
"Why are so many old doors built like this? It has to be the least practical way to open a door" he wondered, realising just how many old doorways opened the same way.
"Ah, I wondered about that too once. From what I recall, they are stronger at resisting great forces if built like this. I would imagine the old designers were planning ahead in case there was a flood. Maybe" Zelda offered with a gentle shrug.
Satisfied, he turned and looked in to the grand building. Everything appeared to be exactly as it was the last time he had been here looking for the pieces of fused shadow with Midna. He also recalled how dangerous it had been. The jellyfish being particularly worse to deal with.
Stepping in to the main room with Zelda, he saw the old doorway to the large cistern was still open.
He remembered having to fight the gigantic eel inside to claim the piece of fused shadow. He shuddered at the memory. He was already afraid of drowning, he had discovered he liked fighting things with huge mouths underwater too.
"Where do you suggest we start? I do no know this place." Zelda said as she looked in wonder around the ornate temple.
Link took a moment to recall the layout and the different rooms. "This place looks bigger than it actually is. If we go from room to room, I think we can see all of it in twenty minutes. If we run. I'll need to swim through a few areas though" he explained.
Zelda nodded as she followed behind him. They began walking down the rotating stairway and began exploring the lower levels. One thing he had noticed was the absence of any creatures that had previously occupied the halls.
No jellyfish, keese or anything living still wandered around. Either the influence of Zant and Ganondorf was what kept them here in the first place, or something involving the source of the parasites influenced them.
Though their absence left the halls and rooms quiet, it did make it easier to travel.
Room by room, they searched for anything that could help or explain the parasites.
The place looked more pristine than it had when he first came through. The Zora had been working to restore it before they had been afflicted, he recalled.
Rooms went by, exactly as empty and lifeless as the next. Zelda remained quiet as she tried to determine the function of each room, seeing as how the structure was responsible for purifying the whole lake.
Eventually, they arrived in a room on the upper levels. This where Link had made good use of his first clawshot, using a giant rotating cog to traverse the room.
Link looked across the room, noting how quiet it was, even with waterfalls flowing through it. They weren't even tainted with algae, so perhaps the water purification was still working somehow.
Zelda remained still as she looked over the room, her eyes on the giant cog, attached to an enormous spindle that reached deep in to the lower levels.
She had been staring for a while, Link noticed.
"What are you thinking?" he asked.
"That cog...I think it might be what powers all of the strange devices here."
"Oh? How come?" he asked, looking over to it and wondering how she had figured that out.
"Well any device needs power in order to work. In most systems, motion is the easiest force to turn in to power. So, that cog must be spun by something to drive the motion. But there is a problem."
"What's that?" he asked, eager to learn more
"The cog is not rotating, Link" she said, a little worn out.
"Oh…"
Link felt stupid for missing such an obvious problem. Blushing, he saw she was right.
There had been constant motion from it when he had last been here.
"What do you reckon drove it in the first place?" he asked, hoping to shift his embarrassment.
"I have no idea. Though that spindle goes down quite far. Perhaps there is something further underground that provides the motion." she suggested.
Link realised what she was implying. That because the cog wasn't moving was why the whole lake above was infested with algae.
So, if they needed to go further down, there was one part of the temple where it went far lower. The cistern.
"Alright. The lowest room of this whole place is the cistern. It's huge. It was also fairly plain, so I have no idea what's in there that's useful to us." he explained. "But there are other rooms we should check first, just in case."
Zelda nodded and followed as the navigated through the rest of the rooms. Each of which were as bare as the last. One of them, containing the spiral waterfall, had no water coming from it. Link remembered it flowing freely on his last visit. He supposed it must be connected to the large cog they had seen.
Relenting after finding nothing else, they ate a brief meal. The battle outside was still on going as far as they knew and they wanted to be done as soon as possible.
Wiping his mouth, Link spoke. "Alright, getting inside the cistern might be a problem though. It's got no water in it."
Zelda went quiet. Even without having seen it before, she knew she was likely going to have to contend with heights again.
"Do heights bother you?" Link asked as they entered the upper level of the main room.
"They always have. Even since I was a child. It took me years before I could stand by windows in the upper levels of the castle" she admitted quietly.
"And you willingly climbed an ice cliff with me?" he asked, horrified at himself for not even considering if she could handle heights.
"It was difficult. But hard things can be worth doing. You managed to claim a piece of the Triforce of power, after all"
She might have been more worthy of the Triforce of courage than him, he thought.
They carried on, making their way further down the structure. Knowing the battle was likely still raging outside, they pressed on more urgently.
After jumping in to the fresh water pool at the base of the structure, they both climbed out on to a platform. Shaking the excess water out, they stood before the open door, where there was a plain hole in the floor.
Link inched closer to it to peer over the edge. The drop was enormous. There had been water to the brim the last time he was here, but a fall from here would be fatal.
"Alright. We need to get down… and we have no rope…" he said to himself as he started pacing. He didn't want to have to rely on Zelda to solve everything. He wanted to be more active, considering he had done that with Midna in the past.
"I have two clawshots…"
He stood still. Prince Ralis had said the Zora were restoring the temple to its former glory. There were six tall pillars in the cistern before the great eel creature had smashed them in its death throes.
There was a small chance, over the two years since he had been here, that the Zora had repaired them. Peering over the edge, he found the view to be too restricted as he only saw the floor in the distance.
"Zelda, I have an idea. I need to see what's in there before we both go down. Can you wait for a moment?" he asked, unsure if his idea would work.
"I do not mind. Please hurry though" she urged.
Link took one of the clawshots from his pouch and shot it in to a hook in the ceiling above the hole. Manipulating it, the chain extended slowly as the device lowered him further in to the empty cistern.
From above and without any water in it, the structure looked massive. Either it held clean water to pump back in to the lake somehow or it held water for the machines in the temple to clean.
To his relief, he found his suspicion to be correct. The Zora had rebuilt the fallen pillars, taller than they were last time. Though they were still not directly beneath him. One solution came to mind, but Link knew Zelda would not like it.
Retracting the chain, the clawshot pull him back up in to the ceiling. Zelda looked relieved as he stepped back onto the stone platform.
"Welcome back. Did you find what you needed?" she asked politely.
Link had a suspicion she hadn't looked in to the hole yet.
"Yes. But you probably won't like what I suggest we do next." he said timidly.
Her eyes narrowed.
"I need you to hold on to me whilst I lower us both with this" he said, pointing to the clawshot. "Then, we will need to time a swing perfectly so we can both land on top of a narrow pillar"
Zelda held her head in one hand and the other on her hip, letting out a weary sigh.
"Whilst I regret that you are the one that had to face so many horrors during the Twilight crisis, I also do not think anyone else would have been up to the task. I hate this, Link"
Link blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected her to be so honest about herself.
"I'm sorry. I wish I had something clever or wise to say that would help somehow, but I have nothing. For what little it's worth, I promise I won't do a thing until I'm certain it will work" he explained, feeling more bad by the second. Though she did manage a weak smile.
"It is our best option. I imagine I'll be fine after we make our way down there." she said.
Link nodded. He shot the claw in to the hook above the hole and stood ready. Zelda held around his waist as she wrapped her legs around his.
He took a deep breath, steadying himself as the clawshot's chain extended, lowering them both into the abyss-like cistern. The air grew noticeably colder as they descended, the chill biting at his skin and making his breath visible in the dim light filtering down from above. Zelda's grip around his waist tightened as they descended deeper into the cavernous chamber.
The vastness of the cistern was overwhelming, and as they dangled from the chain, Link could see the stone pillars below them, each one rising like ancient sentinels from the cistern floor. The pillars were narrow, and even in the low light, he could see the fine mist swirling around their tops, a reminder of how perilous their situation was.
When the chain stopped its descent, leaving them suspended in mid-air, Link assessed the distance to the nearest pillar. It wasn't far, but the margin for error was dangerously slim. He could feel Zelda's heart beating rapidly against his back, a steady reminder of the stakes.
"We're okay" he whispered, more to reassure himself than her.
Link leaned back slightly, feeling Zelda's body tense in response. He began the first swing, pushing his legs forward to build momentum. The motion was slow at first, the weight of them both making the initial swing feel sluggish. The cold air rushed past his face, carrying with it the faint scent of damp stone.
As they reached the apex of the first swing, Link felt a jolt of fear. The top of the pillar was close but still too far to reach safely. They swung back, and he kicked his legs forward again, increasing their speed and the width of their arc. The tension in the chain creaked above them, adding to the unnerving ambiance of the cistern.
"Almost there," he murmured, focusing intently on timing the next swing. Each time they moved forward, the top of the pillar loomed larger, the mist swirling around its narrow surface. He had to land perfectly, or they risked toppling off the side into the deadly drop below.
On the next swing, Link knew it was now or never. The cold air stung his face as he pushed forward with all his might, the pillar rushing up to meet them. As they neared the apex of the swing, he released the chain with precision, dropping them both onto the stone surface
They landed hard, the impact sending a shockwave up Link's legs. He instinctively bent his knees to absorb the force, his boots scraping against the slick stone. Zelda's grip on him tightened as she adjusted her balance, both of them teetering on the edge for a heart-stopping moment before they stabilized
Link exhaled sharply, his breath ragged from the effort and the lingering fear. The pillar felt unsteady beneath their feet, but they had made it. He looked at Zelda, who was still clutching him tightly, her eyes wide with the residual adrenaline.
"You did it..." she whispered shakily.
Link nodded, offering a small smile "I want to retire".
"After this, I do not think I will ever complain about castle life again" she said mirthlessly.
The pillar was narrow, but it was enough to give them a moment to catch their breath and plan their next move. Below them, the cistern stretched out in all directions, a daunting reminder of how much further they had to go. But for now, they had made it safely to this first step, and that was enough.
She took a few calming breaths as she tried to relax a little. Link remained stock still. He had gotten to the top of a pillar, but they still had to descend. Being inside the cistern now, he could see around it further. At the floor, there was scaffolding. It surrounded the entire lower level. Well within reach of the clawshot.
"One more, then we should be where we want to be. Hold on tight." he said, feeling her tighten around him once more.
Aiming the clawshot, the chain launched far and clasped on to a piece of scaffolding and pulled them both at speed. He had used the devices plenty of times in the past, but it was exactly as disorienting at first. His stomach and centre of gravity lurched as he was pulled.
This time though, he did not have to perform any acrobatics with it.
Landing, he let himself stumble forward to slow the momentum of the landing. He was surprised how he could still move with Zelda clinging to him.
"We're here! You can let go now"
Zelda exhaled deeply. She let go finally and Link felt his circulation return to his waist and legs as he felt pins and needles. He shook his limbs to shift the feeling off.
"My apologies Link. I feel as if I have been relying on you to do everything since we started travelling together. I feel as if...I am burdening you with things like this." she said, gesturing up to the whole cistern.
Link was taken aback. He hadn't thought she had burdened him once since they set out together. If anything, things were easier with her here and her royal authority had helped even more. He imagined if she had been with him during the Twilight crisis, then it likely would have been over far faster.
"Zelda… I don't think you're a burden. In all honesty, I've enjoyed every moment with you. Thanks to you being here, I feel as if I am doing things far more effectively. You're fine, please don't think of yourself as a burden to me. You're the exact opposite" he replied honestly.
Zelda wore such a sweet smile, he felt his heart skip a beat.
"Thank you, Link" she said warmly, touched by his sincerity.
He smiled back as he put away the clawshot finally. Before he could plan what to do next, Zelda wrapped her arms around his waist once more as he turned to face her. She planted a kiss on his cheek, a rush of warmth flowing through him.
They lingered in the embrace for a long moment, letting the warmth between them chase away the chill of the cistern. But the weight of their mission soon pressed back into their thoughts, and with a small sigh, Zelda gently stepped back, her eyes sweeping across the room as the reality of their surroundings settled in once more.
"What do you suppose they were doing here?" she asked, looking around the new scaffolding.
It ran around the edge of the cistern, reaching some twenty feet tall. Several tools had been left at points around it.
Parts of the surrounding walls actually looked brand new. Either the Zora had been cleaning the old structure or replacing it piece by piece.
"I…don't have a clue…" he replied, his mind racing.
The soft touch of Zelda's kiss lingered on Link's cheek, sending a flutter through his chest that he hadn't expected. It wasn't the first time he'd felt close to her, but this was different—more personal, more real. For a moment, he let himself savour the feeling, but then reality pulled him back to the present. He couldn't afford to be distracted, not with so much at stake. Still, the warmth she left behind made the daunting task ahead feel as if it could be a little easier.
He shook his head and rolled his shoulders, bringing his senses back to himself.
Looking around with Zelda, there was nothing to indicate movement or something that powered the cog system they had seen in the upper levels of the temple.
"What was this place like when you were here before?" she asked
"Full of water for one thing. There was also a giant eel trying to kill me" he said plainly
Zelda shot a quizzical look at him.
"Ah. Likely one of Zant's machinations. I...cannot imagine what it must have been like"
"Not fun." he replied.
She looked around the cistern, trying to discern something.
"So where did all the water go?"
Link blinked. It was a room meant to hold large amounts of water after all, so it had to be able to be pumped out somehow. But he was sure it had happened differently when he was last here.
He replayed the fight for survival in his mind. After he had landed the killing blow, the great eel had thrashed around in its death throes.
He remembered it crashing through the original pillars. The sight had been incredible, tall pillars crumbling as if they were made of paper under the weight of the giant eel.
Then, it had crashed face first in to the wall. Then, slowly, the entire cistern had drained there.
Zelda had raised a good question. Where had all the water drained to?
"Let's look for a big crack in the...oh" Link said as he found what he was looking for.
Part of the scaffolding was built around it. The Zora workers had been attempting to repair the crack, some of the outer branches having been filled. But there was no mistaking its profile.
Zelda followed his gaze to the broken wall.
"An eel made a crack that large…" she said quietly as she walked to it.
Both of them looked over it. The water had drained through the crack, but there had to be a significant amount of open space on the other side for that to happen.
"Well...All I can suggest is breaking through that crack and seeing what's on the other side. I don't have bombs, but I do have one thing that might work" Link suggested.
Zelda looked at him, wondering what he was going to do.
Out of his pouch, he withdrew the ball and chain he had taken as a prize from the Snowpeak manor armoury. Whilst bombs could have worked, they also could have collapsed the entire cistern on top them. A solid strike was needed. At least Link hoped.
"Very well. I will get some distance first" Zelda said.
Taking a spot further away, Link nodded to her, closed the distance to the wall and faced the crack. Swinging the bundle of chain around, he built up momentum on the ball as he felt it fight his centre of gravity, threatening to pull him off his feet. The chain was rattling as it swung around his head.
With instinct guiding him, he flung the ball straight to the centre of the crack.
The impact echoed on both sides of the wall as chunks of debris fell from it. He was going to have to try a few more times.
The effort made him sweat as he kept swinging the chain and hurling the solid steel. The exertion he could handle, he was used to it after years of farm work and repelling the Twilight crisis. Sweat however was the one constant.
On his fourth attempt, the ball slammed in to the centre of the crack again, but this time the wall dented inward as dust filled the air.
"Almost there" he said, catching his breath.
"Wait a moment" Zelda replied, her footsteps growing louder.
She stood next to him as she rummaged through her pack, producing a couple of her tablet cubes and offering both to him.
"Oh! Thank you!" he said eagerly. He was growing fond of the little sweets. They packed an enormous amount of energy. Chewing both crumbly cubes, the sheer sweetness revitalised him as the sugars worked their peculiar magic.
"I hope this becomes a common sweet in all of Castle Town one day. You'd sell out of it, day after day" he remarked.
"It is exactly why I had an entire crate of it sent to us with those reinforcements. I felt you might need a few"
He smiled in response, too focused on enjoying the taste. It took a few minutes for the sugars to kick in, but soon enough he felt ready.
"Alright. A few more should do it I think. Please, step away" he asked.
Zelda moved back again as he hefted the ball and chain overhead as he started swinging.
As he built more momentum, he felt his instincts flare again so he let the chain fly.
The steel ball collided with the wall with a resounding crash, sending shards of stone flying in all directions. Dust billowed out as the wall began to give way, a jagged hole forming where the crack had been. Link felt the ground beneath him tremble slightly, a reminder of the delicate balance they were disturbing.
"Well done, Link!" Zelda exclaimed happily. "Are you alright?"
"I'm alright. That's a hell of a weapon to have, but not one I look forward to using." he said as he stowed it away. "Let's see what's behind that wall"
They navigated through the chunks of debris to the hole. The closer they got, the colder it felt.
Link was the first to look through, the change in temperature was enough to make him inhale by reflex.
He saw pitch black beyond the hole. The small sliver of light sifting through illuminated nothing.
"Hello?" he said aloud. There was no echo.
"What do you see?" Zelda asked a moment later.
"Well...nothing. It's just blackness in there" he replied.
He stood aside, gesturing for her to look. As she peered in, her brow creased as she tried to make sense of the other side. She whistled in to the emptiness, hearing no echo herself.
"Very curious. I would rather we knew what we were looking in to. I think best make use of my magic. I will enchant a piece of this rubble with light, throw it in and hopefully we will see something"
"Good idea." Link replied.
Picking up a loose piece of rock, she held it in her hand and closed her eyes. Whispering words to it, her hands began to glow with a soft golden light once more.
As she finished, the lone rock glowed with a persistent light, bright enough to cast it all around them both.
"This should be enough." she said as she threw the rock through the other side.
They both stuck their heads in the hole this time, eager to see if they could learn something new.
As they watched, the rock fell for a moment before it hit a body of water, a faint splash coming from the surface.
They both watched as the rock continued to sink peacefully. As it did, the light source gradually became less intense as it continued to sink.
Link felt dread forming in him again. He knew whatever was going on with the Lakebed temple, and maybe even the Zora, would be down in the water.
The light faded from vision, a faint pinprick far below.
"That's not good…" he said weakly.
Zelda looked at him curiously. "Because it is so deep, so dark, or perhaps both?"
"Yes" he replied, his voice trailing off as he stared into the abyss.
A shiver ran down his spine. The silence was thick and oppressive, as if the darkness itself was a living thing, waiting for him to step into its grasp.
Zelda's brow furrowed as she turned the possibilities over in her mind. "Well, I may have an idea. I could make use of the Bow of Light again."
Link raised an eyebrow, curious. "You can do more with it?"
"It may be a divine relic, but another benefit of it is that I can weave magic into it," she explained, her voice steady despite the situation
Link watched as she stepped back from the hole, raising her hand and muttering softly. The air around her shimmered as golden light gathered, swirling like fireflies on a summer night. The Bow of Light materialized in her grasp, its brilliance a stark contrast to the darkness they faced.
Without hesitation, Zelda knocked an arrow from the quiver that appeared alongside the bow. The arrow glinted, the light pure and holy, making Link's breath catch for a moment. He had seen this bow in action before, but the awe it inspired never faded.
As she drew the bowstring, Zelda whispered an incantation, infusing the arrow with even more light. She aimed into the void and released, the arrow soaring through the air, leaving a trail of golden light in its wake. It struck a distant wall with a sharp crack, illuminating a vast section of the cavern and revealing the surface of the water far below.
"Whoa…" Link whispered, blinking against the sudden brightness. The wall was farther away than he had imagined—whatever lay beneath the water, it was hidden deep within the earth.
Zelda didn't stop. She repeated the process, loosing several more arrows, each one creating a path of light across the water's surface. As they struck the walls below, Link saw shadows flicker and dart away from the light, like creatures of the night scurrying from the dawn.
Link narrowed his eyes, catching sight of the moving shadows. "Ah… great. Suppose those are the rest of the afflicted Zora?"
"It would be reasonable to assume so, yes," Zelda replied, her voice tinged with unease.
Link stared at the path of light, now clearly visible against the dark water. The shadows had retreated, but for how long? He clenched his fists, steeling himself for what was to come. "How many more arrows can you make like this?" he asked, knowing she couldn't keep this up forever.
"I am alright for now, thank you. Manipulating light is not so costly, but knocking the arrows is what takes the most effort. The amount I am given in a quiver is the limit I have," she explained.
He counted the remaining arrows— six. It would have to be enough.
"Right," he said, taking a deep breath. "I think I have an idea."
He explained his plan. Zelda critiqued some parts of it and offered suggestions of her own. He couldn't fault them, so the ideas got adjusted. Eventually, they agreed on what to do.
Zelda turned as Link dressed in his Zora tunic. The blue fabric was just as pristine as he had left it. Slipping in to the outfit, it fit perfectly. The flippers on his boots were a little unwieldy, but would be vital for what he had to do next.
He took long deep breaths, bracing himself. There was no way around this after all.
"The light will sustain itself for as long as I draw breath" she said, unable to look him in the eye.
"Zelda...are you alright?" he asked, wondering what was bothering her.
"This idea puts you in to danger once more Link. I have no idea what you will find, and that is what worries me."
Fear of the unknown. A common fear everyone shared.
"You're already helping with that. I don't imagine anyone else could have lit up the cavern like you have." he said, pointing out the clear path of light she had made in the strangely still waters.
He adjusted the scabbard of the Master sword, adjusted the fittings on his pouch and made sure he was comfortable. Then, he stepped towards the hole, eager for it to be over.
"Good luck Link. I will see you when you are done" she said, her voice still tinged with concern.
"I'll be back before you realise it" he said, as he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She squeezed back.
Stepping through the hole and standing on a rocky ledge, Zelda leaned around and fired another brightly lit arrow in to the near side of the wall. The light glinted off the water casting gleaming reflections around the dark cavern.
He had a path of light to follow. Diving in to the water, the sheer cold caused him to exhale. He quickly slipped the fine mesh over his mouth that was sewn in to the suit. Taking a few breaths, the mesh filter worked its wonders.
Looking around, the water was clean and easy to see through. He wondered why there was no algae here, but remembered that it generally needed sunlight to bloom as it had on Lake Hylia. Kicking his legs in rhythm, he swam just under the surface of the water to the other side of the cavern. As he remained in place, he looked in to the depths.
The swarm of black shapes were more agitated now, swimming more aggressively. He saw glints of trident tips with the light cast from Zelda's arrows. But, thankfully, they remained far away from the light.
Breathing through the mesh mask, he swam carefully down in to the depths. The water began to get colder the further from the surface he went. He felt pressure on all sides too, surprised as he had never dived so deep before. Fighting the great eel in the cistern, it had been easier to move around there. Here, his movements were getting to be more sluggish as it took more and more effort.
Zelda had shot five arrows to light the way down. As the minutes passed, he swam further down. Link saw the cavern wall turn inwards on itself, forming a kind of giant cave that receded further inwards than he could see.
Pitch blackness, biting cold and an intense pressure hampered every movement he could make. He was finding it harder to breathe. At the edges of the light were swarms of afflicted Zora darting around with ease. They pressed forwards constantly, only to retreat as they got closer to the light. Link did his best to put them out of his mind. He had to remember why he was here.
He knew there should be some kind of mechanism that would power the cog back up in the Lakebed Temple. No matter how long he looked in to the cave mouth, he couldn't make anything out. The longer he stared however, his vision started to adjust as he floated near the edge of the last source of light. He could swear he saw streams of something cloudy being pushed along by a current, out of the giant cave. In the wide abyss, other currents seemed to be pushed in to the giant cave. He wondered if this kind of motion would be what the Zora had harnessed to manipulate the devices in the temple above.
The longer he looked, the clearer the currents appeared to look. As his eyes adjusted further, he swore he could see some kind of shapes further inside. There looked to be a silhouette of some kind of rectangle, straight in the path of both currents going in and out of the cave. He wondered what it could be. It looked as if the object was meant to catch the currents on either side of it. It could be strong enough to generate motion, he thought to himself. There was something else there too, indistinguishable in the dark.
He dared himself to inch closer. As he descended, the pressure increased, squeezing his chest and making each breath through the mesh mask feel like a struggle. His lungs started to strain and burn, and his heart pounded faster, not just from exertion, but from the growing sense of dread gnawing at his mind. The further he went, the more oppressive the darkness became, until it felt like a living thing, waiting to devour him the moment he left the light.
And then, it happened.
A wave of dimly shimmering energy erupted from the cavern below, washing over him with a sudden, icy sting. Link gasped, the shock of it sending a jolt of fear through his body. He looked up, just in time to see the nearest arrow's light flicker and die, swallowed whole by the darkness.
"No… no, no, no!"
The words were muffled, lost in the water, screamed in panic. The second light snuffed out, then the third, each one extinguished as the shimmering wave passed over them. The darkness closed in, tightening around him like a noose, until only a single light remained above him, flickering like a dying star.
"Please… please, no…"
Link's heart pounded in his chest, a frantic drumbeat that matched the terror surging through his veins. The cold was unbearable now, freezing his limbs, making it harder to move, to think, to fight against the despair clawing at his thoughts. The final light blinked out. And Link was plunged into absolute darkness. For a heartbeat, there was silence—utter, complete silence. Then, the panic hit him like a tidal wave.
His breath came in rapid, shallow gasps, the mesh mask suddenly feeling suffocating against his face. He couldn't see. He couldn't move. The cold wrapped around him, squeezing the air from his lungs, and all he could feel was the crushing weight of the water above and below, pressing him from all sides. His mind raced, every thought tangled in fear.
The afflicted Zora were somewhere in the darkness with him. He was vulnerable, exposed, and there was no light to protect him, no warmth to fight off the cold creeping into his very being. Link's hands trembled as he reached for anything—his sword, his bombs—something to hold on to, something to remind him that he was still alive, still able to fight.
But even as his fingers brushed against the hilt of the Master Sword, the darkness whispered back, a cruel, taunting reminder that he was lost in a void, and no weapon could cut through it. He wanted to scream, to call out for Zelda, for anyone, but the water swallowed his voice, leaving him mute and trapped. The cold bit deeper, and he shuddered, his breath hitching as the full weight of his situation crashed over him.
He knew the monsters were closing in.
And he was cold, lost and utterly alone.