The Legend of Zelda: Blood and Spirit

Chapter 35: The Flow of Time

Chapter 35: The Flow of Time

Sheik clung onto her staff for dear life as she defended herself against another one of Veress's strikes. The Sheikah leader did her best to ignore the pressing pain coming from her multiple wounds as the rain poured down upon both of them in the midst of their duel. The Interloper leader had managed to land quite a few injuries upon her, the most dire by far being the deep gash she had taken to her shoulder a while ago, but Sheik was determined to continue fighting, no matter how much it hurt. But even so, she could feel fatigue starting to weigh on her as the battle continued to rage on for what seemed like hours. The Sheikah leader knew that eventually, she would tire out, but unfortunately, the Interloper leader, empowered by all of her dark magic, most likely never would. It was for this reason, that the exchange of harsh words between the two former friends had ended quite some time ago, as they both focused on trying to defeat the other above all else.

As Sheik narrowly avoided yet another one of Veress's bursts of dark flame, she happened to glance over to her right, in the direction of where the hero and the girl were lying together. In her struggle against the Interloper leader, the Sheikah leader barely had a moment to spare for the couple, much less how Zelda had somehow managed to apparently free Link from corruption, or so it had appeared. Several minutes had passed since them, though they had felt like hours to Sheik as she continued to fight, but nonetheless, even though she was still repelling Veress's moves, she allowed herself a moment to think about them now. As she looked over to them, she could see that neither of them were moving, something that immediately brought her worry. She wanted to rush over to the two of them and see if they were alright, but Veress certainly would not let her escape this fight in anyway except for death. However, as seconds dragged on into minutes and the couple still did not stir, Sheik's concern for Link and Zelda grew more and more. She prayed that the two of them were only resting and nothing else, but something inside of her feared for something much worse.

"Link! Zelda!" Sheik eventually called out loudly to the two of them after pushing Veress back once more. She bit her lip when neither of them responded to her whatsoever, but her attention was quickly drawn back into the heat of battle as the Interloper leader managed to knock the Sheikah leader to the ground with a blast of magic. Sheik cursed under her breath as she began to pick herself off the ground, frustrated with how distracted she had been, but nonetheless, she was still incredibly worried for the hero and the girl.

However, before she could try to rush over towards them, Veress used another strike of magic to keep Sheik pinned down to the ground, quickly moving to stand over her and hold her down so she could not escape. "Well, well…" the Interloper leader said with a dark smirk as she watched the Sheikah leader struggle against her magical bonds. "What do you know, Sheik? Looks like I'm about to beat you again, just like I always used to when we were kids. I'd like to think that the fact that I was stronger than you from the beginning was proof enough that I should have been chosen to be the leader of our tribe, but I guess that wasn't enough for Impa, now was it?"

"No," Sheik said firmly, glaring relentlessly at her foe. "You're wrong, Veress. You weren't picked to be the leader of our tribe because of the darkness of your own heart. If you had been allowed to succeed Impa, you would have only led our people towards your own goals and ambitions, rather than what was best for them. You never really cared about the Sheikah at all; you just wanted to dominate them, just like you did your own followers. They were right to abandon you before it was too late. Unlike you, they were able to see through the greed and hatred blinding them and think for themselves. But you can't do that anymore, can you, Veress? Because now, the dark power you think you control is controlling you!"

"Silence!" the Interloper leader hissed vengefully, pressing her knife against the Sheikah leader's already-bloodstained neck. "You knownothing, Sheik! You are weak! Your people are weak! They will all fall right along with you in the fires I will soon set to this worthless land! Darkness is the only thing the surface will know, now and forever! Don't you see? The light is quickly fading away, giving way to shadows that will encompass everything in their wake. And…" Veress's hateful gaze turned to the unmoving couple in the distance as a cruel grin crossed her lips. "It looks as though you are the only light I have left to extinguish, Sheik…"