Fortune Favors the Courageous

Chapter 9: Rescue Part 1

rescue
n. an act of saving or being saved from danger or distress
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"Shit," Link cursed, pulling his bow out. His shoulder twanged as he pulled back the bowstring, but he clamped his jaw tight and remained steadfast. The arrow nailed a knight in the wagon, and he slumped over the edge and fell.

The earth was crying out beneath him, and Link could feel its familiar heartbeat in his feet. Ga-thump! Ga-thump!

"Shit shit shit!" The second arrow missed the knight dangling off the back and sank into the wood instead.

The rest were just pathetic.

Link let out a fresh string of curses as he gave chase, but his efforts quickly proved futile. Trying to catch a horse on foot was a pipe dream. He knew better.

As the wagon carried on out of sight, Link's sense of duty to the crown threatened to topple him, the ache of defeat too strong.

Princess Zelda was conceited and snarky and way too quick to accuse him of being... duplicitous or whatever, but she was still his sovereign. Too many gravestones bore his blood already, and he was not about to add the princess of motherfucking Hyrule to that list.

A groan from below drew his attention downward. The one knight he managed to hit lay awkwardly on the grass.

The royal chestplate hardly fit, and Link was able to hoist the knight up by the collar underneath. Link was shorter, and his shoulder screamed fire, but none of that mattered. Raw anger and panic allowed him to lift the knight clean off the ground.

"Who are you people?" demanded Link. "Where are you taking the princess?"

The suspended knight was much too jovial for his position. His hazel eyes twinkled with victory as he brought his own hands up through a series of practiced gestures. With a flash of smoke, he vanished from Link's hands and reappeared on his own two feet. Gone was the knight's armor with the royal crest. Hazel-Eyes was suddenly clad in an all-too-familiar uniform.

"Yiga," Link muttered.

In response, Hazel-Eyes placed triumphant hands on his hips. "That's right! And you can bet your princess is as good as—ack!"

Before he could finish, Link kicked his legs out from under him and brought his forearm down on Hazel-Eyes' throat. When the Yiga tried to use vanishing jutsu again, Link pinned red-sleeved arms to the ground with his own free hand and a foot.

"Do not make me ask you again," he grit, punctuating his statement with the slightest bit of added pressure on Hazel-Eyes' trachea.

"I'll tell you!" he choked. "I'll tell you!"

Link lifted his forearm, but only enough for him to speak freely.

"She's being taken to the Yiga Clan hideout! It's north of the Gerudo Desert, hidden in the canyon! Master Kohga is going to offer her to the Demon King to win his favor—"

"The Demon King? Ganondorf is here in Hyrule?"

"Yes! But that's all I know, honest!"

Link released him and Hazel-Eyes immediately leapt backwards. He choked on a chortle before adding, "But you won't last one minute inside the hideout, assuming you can ever find it! Master Kohga is going to mount your head on the wall like a trophy!"

Then he vanished before Link could respond. In the wake of their conversation, Link's shoulder ached. He looked to the western horizon where he lost the wagon. If he wanted to get to the princess before Ganondorf, he was going to need a horse.