The Legend

The Legend: Chpater 70 - The Battle Begins

Link’s P.O.V

Zelda was being extra cautious for some reason. As we rode on horse back I lingered behind her in order to insure her safety. But she constantly looked back at me. She was hovering like a worried mother, but something in her eyes told me it wasn’t motherly. She seemed frightened in a way like a scared little girl, so I caught up with her to bring her at ease. But as I rode beside Zelda I could literally feel the tense atmosphere around her. “Zel-“ I tried but wasn instantly interrupted by one of the Zora warriors that were a part of our company. “We need to leave the horses here in order to continue.” The Zora instructed. We did so and then followed the Zoras towards a fast running river that flowed beneath Castle Town and into the Castle itself. There was a gutter that visibly flowed beneath the outer city walls and down into a sewer system. I pulled out the gift that Queen Rutella had given me before and hung it around my neck. One of the Zoras then handed me one to give to Zelda who seemed so lost and on edge at the moment. “What exactly are these?” I asked one of the Zoras. “They are blessed scales. Those are the only two in existence. “ He explained. “Better be careful with them huh?” I chuckled as I faced Zelda. Her face was unmoving and unreadable. I could literally feel my heart twinge. She was hiding just like she did when she found out about all those deaths in Castle Town. Zelda made no move to grab the scale form me and place it on her own neck, so I did it for her. She lifted her braid so I could clasp it properly; which was surprising since she was practically a statue up till that point. “We must hurry.” The Zora warrior insisted as he dove into the water. One by one we jumped into the water and were washed away with the current. When we emerged once more we were inside the city walls and more importantly inside the castle. We had entered through the garden’s stream. The beautiful garden where I had been captured previously was now dead and barren. The cherry blossom trees were blackened while dried petals were scattered over the white marble ground. As we gathered round in the dead garden I could sense Zelda’s distress. She looked over the garden with watering eyes and then blinked them away as she realized I was staring. “Are you okay?” I asked. “Yes, I am fine. Do not worry about me.” She stated firmly as she wrung out her wet hair over her shoulder. Yes, we were all soaked, and worse: we were cold. The summer weather had changed dramatically once this whole adventure started. It was a dark and cold day. I shivered involuntarily as we pressed on. The Zoras took the lead as we wandered through the castle, while Zelda and I hung close towards the back of the company. It took only a matter of minutes until we finally met some enemies. At first it was just the usual Gerudo solider but as we advanced deeper into the castle we began to face creatures of sorts. They appeared goblin like, with their morphed faces and red and green skin hues, while their eyes glimmered with pure malice. The blackness of their eyes seemed to pour directly into your soul. Fortunately these beasts appeared to be slow and dim-witted so they didn’t appear as a threat but soon different species rolled in. The Zoras had peeled off to surround Zelda in a safety circle, while I remained beside her. Zelda and I both armed ourselves with bows and took aim at all of the enemies who had taken their perch in the sky or in higher places. The Zoras held their own well as enemies upon enemies piled on. The Moblins, or the goblin like creatures I had currently nicknamed were number less. Their number seemed infamous. There was no end to the amount of them, and soon some of us began to fall back. “Link!” Zelda shouted as she pointed towards a black figure coming at us at a great speed from the sky. “What the hell is that?!” I shouted. Almost instinctively I stepped in front of Zelda and began to fire arrows at this new enemy. As it got closer and closer it became clear that it was some sort of phantom bird. It was smaller than a dragon yet bigger than a horse. Its black feathers were tainted with blood and white paint that were drawn into Gerudo symbols from the desert. Its yellow beady eyes were fixed on Zelda, and its long talons opened wide as it swooped down in attempt to snatch Zelda. In one quick swoop the bird grabbed not just Zelda but me as well. I felt myself get lifted up off the ground and soon I was soaring high up above the castle. In the distance I could see the battle on Hyrule Field. Flames had risen while bodies piled. It was hard to tell from such a height on who was winning and who was losing, but that didn’t matter. They were all just a diversion. The real enemy was Ganondorf, and in his defeat light would return to the land, and Zelda would be safe. Again I was thinking of her. This whole time I had been constantly pushing her away without knowing. I glanced over to see her in the other foot of the bird. She too was trapped within the grasp of this strange demon bird. She had her eyes sealed shut in fear of seeing the ground far below I presumed but as we slowed the bird screeched and tossed us onto a balcony like two dead fish. We skidded past the open balcony doors and hit a rug which in turn slowed our skidding.