The Heroes of Hyrule °Wattys 2017°

Zelda's Wrath

"Link..."

"Link."

He scrunched up the fabric of the pillow in his hand, clenching his eyes shut in his sleep.

"Link!"

His hands leapt to his throat as he gasped for air. He glanced beside him where another unmade bed was. His bare chest heaved once again, scanning the room. His eyes shot to the other wall where a chest of his belongings were. His sword rested safely against it. Untouched.

He felt his feet grip the woven mat beneath him with a tiny thud. He glanced back at his sword, and decided against taking it. His feet padded against the wood flooring of the inn now, as he opened the sliding door, holding his breath.

Immediately after the cold air of the night brushed over him, he examined both of his arms:

The air stung his lungs as he exhaled, bearing witness to his bare chest bathed in scarlet glow. Motes of black ash wafted to the ground. It took him a few moments to regain the ability to breathe again.

"Zelda..."

The grass tickled his feet as he hurried to the center of the village. Impa's home was just behind him.

There he saw Zelda's silhouette in front of him with her back to him, her hands were clasped to her chest, looking up to the crimson midnight. The wind whipped her golden hair.

"Zelda..."

Link's ragged breath made his speech barely decipherable. 

His eyes trailed to the only other thing shining as bright as the blood moon, resting on Zelda's hip was the Sheikah slate.

"Zelda."

The sky took on a new form as red streaks painted beyond the mountains while the scarlet moon rose like a terrible beacon, yet the worst of it all was that Zelda was entranced in its brilliant glow.

"Zelda!"

Slowly, she turned her head behind her and glanced wordlessly at him with her doleful green eyes before resuming her gaze at the blood moon, which was now almost at its peak.

Her right hand raised up toward the sky. The triforce on her ungloved hand glowed faintly, yet she kept it raised.

All he could do is look on as his heart sank.

Finally, the moon reached its peak in the night. Zelda closed her eyes with a sigh as her palm met the trajectory of the blood moon.

He remembered the true power of her bloodline that was inherited by her and what it could do to the evils of the world, yet he knew that she only had so much power left. She had her own battle scars left upon her by Ganon...

Link's eyes darted to the sky as a weak, yet prominent golden glow pierced the red sun. He could see the bend in her light. Her face twisted with pain and focus as she made a single step forward. The two energies clashing yielded a holy, yet dark shrieking sound. Link's eyes widened as he witnessed her radiance blanket the blood moon, giving the illusion of a golden sun in a white sky.

She released a small, desperate groan in the back of her throat. And Zelda sank to her knees, collapsing into the grass as her radiant power was pulled into the darkness of the dying night.

●●●

She could only see inky black. Throbbing pulsed through her skull at a steady beat, making her dread the next shot of pain. Zelda inhaled an incense of a familiar plant she could not recall the name of. The fragrance made her dizzy with sleep, however, she was vaguely aware of the events leading up to her pain.