Hero by Heart

Chapter 63

It was not a sight Zelda had ever wished to see.
     In front of the Main Gate, spread out over Hyrule Field, were dozens of the biggest monsters she had ever seen.
There were so many Hinoxes and Taluses that she wondered where they had all come from, and if there were any left in the land at all.
A handful of Lynels were scattered among them, instilling outright terror in her heart.
'Look there,' Link called out over the noise of the rumbling footsteps. He pointed to somewhere in the middle, where a small group of men stood out between the giants.
'Those are their leaders. They have come for the endgame,' Link said casually, looking suspiciously calm in the face of this enormous threat.
     Zelda looked at the small group of humans, seeming so out of place in the middle of that field.
How could he be so relaxed? Those people were far away, safe behind the lines of monsters, looking at the castle and undoubtedly trying to find ways to get it in their hands.
'Is everybody ready?' Link asked the warriors behind them.
They had gathered a sizeable group, but compared to the oncoming monsters, Zelda feared they would never be enough.
Still, all faces were set grimly, and they nodded in response to the question.
With some help from Buliara and two Zora Link threw down ropes, to help their group down the wall and onto the battlefield.
One by one they disappeared, until Zelda remained with Reeza and Link himself.
'I'll try to stay close,' Link said with a serious expression on the Gerudo. 'But if something happens, I'm counting on you to keep her safe.'
Reeza nodded. 'I won't leave her side.' She smiled at the princess.
Zelda tried to smile back, but didn't feel like it was very convincing.
    'Don't worry. Let's go get them.' Reeza grabbed the rope and jumped down the wall, smoothly walking backwards and landing gently on the ground.
     Zelda shot one more look at the terrifying enemies still approaching the wall, slow but steady. She then looked up at the sky, where the sun was more than halfway across the horizon already. She briefly wondered what would happen if this war was still being fought when night fell. Would they keep fighting in the dark? Would there be an unofficial break? She had no idea what was going to happen.
     Suddenly Link's hands were on her shoulders, his bright blue eyes gazing intently into hers.
     'We will get through this. Keep your eyes open, stay close and trust your instincts.' He smiled. His calm voice and confident eyes slowly settled her nerves a bit, and she nodded.
     With a signal from Link, Zelda followed Reeza down the rope, a little more clumsily, but safe.
     Link stayed on top of the wall until she was on the ground, then pulled up the rope and safely put it away, out of reach from possible attackers.
     Zelda waited impatiently for him to climb down, feeling the nerves of the warriors around her buzzing through the crowd.
     Finally he was there, and she followed him to the front, where he smiled confidently and pointed his sword forward.
     Loud cries went up, and the entire group charged as one, focused on sending those monsters back to the hell they came from.

Zelda could stand and watch Link for hours, in awe of the finesse and speed at which he attacked.
Before she had even fully realized, Link had shot a bomb arrow, running at full speed, at the gem on top of a Stone Talus, making it stumble to the ground. He then jumped up, landed right beside the smooth, glinting stone, and smashed it with a few quick blows.
The Talus never knew what hit it, and started disappearing into black fog, while Link was already en route to the next monster.
Zelda meekly followed the knight, shooting a shocked expression at Reeza, who grinned at her, mildly amused and deeply impressed.
Their moment of shared bewilderment was quickly over, though, when a Blue Hinox presented itself.
Link and Buliara combined forces to try and take it down, and Zelda looked up at the monster in fear.
It towered high above her, its hands bigger than her entire body, and seemed unstoppable, its thick skin impenetrable.
Still, Link managed to cut deep gashes into the legs, and Buliara's massive blade struck its exposed belly.
The monster trashed violently, beating its hands down on the ground in hopes of flattening the pests that annoyed it.
     Zelda stared up at its face, where she could see a single, large, vicious eye, squinting down at her knight. She felt utterly powerless, small and insignificant with her curved blade in hand, unable to protect anyone with it.
     At that moment a Rito flew over, and in a flurry of movements two arrows embedded themselves in that eye.
     The archer did not wait to see the result, and flew on, searching for its next target.
     It was enough, though.
     The Hinox roared and fell backwards, giving the warriors on the ground a better reach of its head.
     Buliara yelled something and climbed over the shoulder, quickly scrambling towards the eye. Without hesitation she brought up her blade, shimmering deadly in the sunlight, and struck deep into the Hinox' only known weak spot.
A collective sigh seemed to go through them, as Zelda and her companions watched the Hinox blacken and disappear.
     'On to the next one,' Reeza muttered, pointing her sword towards another Hinox.
     Zelda sighed, but followed the others. There was nothing else to do anyway. She only wished she could actually be of use.
     This one was already being attacked by two Rito, who had littered its head and shoulders with arrows, sunken so deep into the flesh that only the feathers were still visible.
     The creature was so busy swatting at its assailants with the trunk of a tree, that it never saw them coming, until Buliara stabbed her blade deep into its leg.
     The sudden pain made the Hinox buckle, and it sunk to its knees, frantically searching for a cause of its misery.
     When the yellow eye settled onto the four of them, it narrowed in anger.
     The next thing she knew, Zelda could see the tree coming at her at incredible speed.
     Without thinking she fell flat to the ground, from where she could clearly hear a crash, followed by a grunt of pain, as the wood struck someone.
     She didn't stop to look, she didn't even think, before she was back on her feet and running at the monster.
     The image of Link flying through the air, his body limp and wounded, went through her head, making her tremble in rage.
     Even if it wasn't him, there was still somebody hurt, and she had to do something. Anything.
The Hinox was distracted by something behind her, where it was still swinging the tree trunk back and forth.
Low to the ground as it had to stoop, Zelda could clearly see its face, and she grimaced anxiously. She had never been this close to one, and she could hardly believe that she was really about to kill it. But she had to.
She jumped as high as she could, using all her force to push her blade into the gooey mass, feeling the jolt through her arm as she hit resistance. Then the rest of her body slammed into the creature, her face nastily close to the slime and blood pouring out.
The Hinox screeched, making her flinch away, feeling as if her ears were bleeding.
She let go of her sword and tumbled to the ground, from where she could see the monster sway dangerously above her.
On hands and feet she scrambled backwards, as far away from the creature as possible.
When she bumped into something soft, she screamed and tried to crawl away again, but was held by two hands on her shoulders.
His strong arms wrapped around her and she inhaled Link's scent, an unexpected beacon of safety in this insane world of giants.
She let out a strangled sob and clutched onto his hands, never taking her eyes off the Hinox as it fell over, shaking the ground at her feet. Then it disappeared, and her sword clattered on the grass, disgusting and slimy.
Suddenly she remembered, and turned around sharply, frantically searching Link's face and body for signs of injury.
'Are you okay?' She whispered, eyes big. Her heart was still pounding, both from adrenaline, fear and her renewed worries.
Link smiled without joy. 'I'm okay. You scared me half to death, though!' He jabbed his finger at her accusingly, but his eyes shone in undeniable pride, and relief.
Then his face turned darker, and he jerked his head. 'Reeza got hit. I don't know how bad it is.'
Zelda's heart clenched together, and she searched the surroundings for the familiar red hair and golden armour, so bright and fierce in any fight.
Some way off, in the shelter of a large boulder, sat Buliara, leaning over her friend, who lay slumped against the stone, her face hidden from view.
Zelda quickly got up and ran towards them, wanting to help, but uncertain of what to do.
'She needs to get back to the castle,' the older Gerudo said as soon as they joined them. 'There is no way I'll leave her here to be found by any of those monsters.' She shot a searing glance out to the field, before returning her attention on her wounded friend.
Reeza herself lay quite still, but was conscious and looking up at Zelda with bright eyes. Her left arm seemed to be in an unnatural angle, lying limp against her body, and blood flowed from a couple of scrapes and gashes.
Still, so far as Zelda could see, it wasn't life-threatening, and would mend fully, in time.
'Can you get her back?' Link asked Buliara with a glance towards the castle.
They were some way away from the wall, and monsters had gotten between them and its safety, making it difficult to get back at all.
Buliara looked skeptically from Reeza to the castle, but nodded. 'If we go around east, we can hopefully get to the castle without fighting.' She exchanged a knowing look with him. 'That is if they haven't reached that part of the field yet.'
Link nodded, trying to see past the giants on their right. 'I can't tell how many there are, but I don't think they got that far yet.'
Zelda tried to see too, but could hardly see the wall itself, let alone what lay beyond the field up ahead.
Buliara didn't hesitate, though, and got up, carefully pulling Reeza to her feet.
'Wait!' Zelda called out, looking at Reeza sorrowfully. 'I'm sorry,' she whispered.
The Gerudo shook her head, grinning her usual grin. 'Nothing to be sorry for.' Her eyes then turned darker, a pained expression taking over. 'I'm sorry for failing you.'
Zelda shook her head, tears threatening to spill out. 'You didn't. Just get back safely, okay?' She tried to make it sound like a command, but her voice failed her.
Reeza smiled again, gently patting her shoulder with her good hand. 'Don't worry about me.' She shot a stern look at Link. 'You protect her well, you hear me?'
He nodded solemnly, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
'Call down two Rito,' Zelda suddenly said to him, as a thought struck her mind. 'They can cover them, and give some news of the fight up there when they return.'
Link nodded slowly, a mildly impressed look on his face, before loudly calling out to the two closest Rito he saw.
When that was all arranged, the four of them soon disappeared from view, leaving Link and Zelda alone on the battlefield.
'They'll make it,' Link said softly, squeezing her hand in reassurance.
Zelda nodded, but her heart was heavy with worry, and she looked around gloomily.
Although their group of warriors was giving one hell of a fight, there were a lot of monsters, and it seemed impossible to stop them.
'One at a time,' Link whispered, following her gaze. 'One at a time.'
     Together they walked away from the shelter of the boulder, searching for familiar faces and trying to fight their way through the giants.
     The only way out now was to move forward.