Scars of a Caged Bird | Zelink Medieval

Chapter XVIII

Sneaking through passages and creeping past guards, Zelda and I finally arrived at the front of the Castle. I was so paranoid, killing anything I saw on sight. Zelda seemed slightly perturbed by this, but I couldn't care less at that point. I was seeing red, and Ganondorf and Ren would pay. I had rescued Zelda, and I would rescue Relena.

My new chain mail was quite light, yet I still found moving to be more difficult compared to my lightweight Gerudo clothes. I supposed I just had to get used to them. In time, I was sure that they would become like a second skin. We had yet to run into Nabs, Impa, or any of the others, and I was worried for them. If Ganondorf knew that I was here, then wouldn't he know that the others were here as well? Now was not the time for questions.

At this point, I wasn't even completely in control of my mind. All I could think of was how I would end Ganondorf and Ren. We made it to where the throne room was, and no one was there, oddly enough – no one, not even Zelda and Sheik's father, the king. We all found that to be very weird, especially Zelda and Sheik. They stated that their father rarely left his throne – for anything.

A sound was heard from behind me, and I whipped around instantly. My heart sunk as soon as I saw a Gerudo wielding two twin scimitars. Her brows were drawn, and she glared at me, "Fancy meeting you here, 'Prince' Link, huh? You're just a traitor." Without another word, she charged at me. Other Gerudo followed her, and I could only assume they were a part of her team.

I quickly blocked an attack with my sword, gripping it with both hands tightly. Zelda was quickly on the alert; her hands were pressed together, working on some magic spell. Sheik continued to lend me some of his strength before slipping out of my shadow, on the defensive with an endless supply of Deku nuts, grenades, and needles.

Rota spoke, "Link – There's one behind you!"

I whipped around, sword meeting scimitar. Blades locked, our eyes met, fighting a battle of their own, and I realized that I knew her – I wasn't sure what her name was, but I knew her and remembered seeing her around when I was back home. What felt like ages ago, I would have most likely felt sorry for her – But not now. I was fighting this battle to win not lose. I was in this to win and do nothing else.

Sparks flew, and she moved her blade away quickly; I stumbled forward slightly because of all the force I had been applying but recovered speedily, taking another swipe at her. I couldn't run out of stamina now; I had to save all my energy for my battle with Ganondorf. Unable to stare into her amber eyes anymore, I brought the tip of my sword to her throat, cutting off her life. She made a choking, gurgling sound, and her eyes widened with shock.

Stabbing guilt pierced me, but I brushed it off, moving on to the next Gerudo. From my peripheral vision, I could see Zelda using her magic to manipulate a Gerudo's limbs. Sheik was using his various weapons to kill as well; Rota was nowhere to be seen. I found myself killing without thought, callous, cold, and distant. I really didn't care about these people. They didn't care about me or Zelda when Ganondorf and Ren were hurting us. They hated us enough to pursue us to the Castle.

We had to make our way to the main door – our exit out of the throne room and into the Castle courtyard – our ticket to freedom. But it looked too big; how were we going to open it? The Gerudo I was currently fighting kept looking up somewhere, again and again. I focused on trying to to end her then looked up to where she had been looking before I ended her.

I spotted several Sheikah eyes near the top; it was a long shot, but I supposed that it was worth a try. Sheathing my sword and switching to the bow on my back, I took aim and released a flurry of arrows in rapid succession. Zelda seemed to catch onto what I was doing and defended my back with her magic.