Hero by Heart

Chapter 66

The world had exploded.
     Link knew he was dead. Zelda had died and he had gone with her.
     It was okay. He wanted it that way, for he could not go on without her.
     But she wasn't here. He couldn't find her.
     He was lying on his back, but nothing seemed to be right.
     His senses had left him. He couldn't hear, smell, or feel anything. He only saw blinding white light, surrounding him like the sun itself.
     She should be here. If this was death, then Zelda should be here with him.
     He had seen the position she was in, had registered the blade aimed for her head.
     In that final moment, he had even recognized her attacker.
     A burst of anger shot through him, a white-hot rage coursing through his blood at the thought of that betrayer.
     Fin.
     He had known he was a soldier of the enemy, had known who the man worked for, but he had let him go.
     He had followed the bastard into their lair, thankful for the information he had procured from it.
     He should've killed the man instead.
     Fin killed his princess.

The rage shot through his head like hot knives, and pain exploded in his mind.
     Suddenly everything hurt.
     He screamed and heard his own voice crack through the silence.
     When he pushed himself up on his elbows, he realized two things.
     One was that he wasn't dead yet. The second was that he had seen this kind of light before.
     With a sudden rush of adrenaline that made his breath hitch, he jumped to his feet.
     The light was fading now and slowly the world appeared again.
     'Zelda!' He screamed, his voice hoarse and painful.
     When finally his world had returned to normal, and his senses worked again, he recognized the place where they had fought.
     The two dead women were still lying there, just like their commander, who also appeared to be dead now.
     Only a few steps away from them, he finally found her.
     She was still sitting on her knees, her hands lying limp in her lap and her head bent.
     The blinding light was still hanging around her like a halo, shimmering in the air above her and dancing in her hair.
     'Zelda,' Link pushed out of his strangled throat, as he dropped to his knees in front of her.
     She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face, but unharmed. And so beautiful.
     The golden light reflected in her eyes, in her tears, and made her shine like a star, not even tempered by her muddy, blood-stained clothes.
     Without another word Link put his arms around her and pulled her into his chest, silently sobbing in her hair.
     The relief of seeing her unharmed was overwhelming and threatened to drown him.
     He had lost her. He had been convinced that she had died. Had been willing to die himself.
     Tears ran over his face and landed in her golden hair, but he didn't care.
     Very carefully she pulled away a little, to look at him.
     They were both crying, tears blurring their eyes, but she smiled softly, before wiping one of his tears away with her thumb.
     Link returned a sad smile, and wiped at her tears, before gently kissing her lips.
     He looked at her again, completely at a loss of what to say. Words didn't seem to be enough to express his feelings right now.
     She nodded slightly, her eyes telling him that she understood, that she felt the same way.
     'We're okay,' she whispered.
     He nodded. Kissed her again. Then he grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet, holding on tightly.
     Link went to stand beside her and focused on the battlefield surrounding them, which had changed drastically.

Their allies were slowly working themselves back to their feet, or sitting on the muddy ground, looking around dazed and confused.
Their enemies had fared a whole lot worse.
Monsterparts and discarded weapons lay sparkling in the sunlight, with an occasional human body spread out over the field.
With a painful stab in his heart Link recognized a few Rito and some Zora among the fallen ones, but most of their warriors seemed to have survived.
In a large circle around them, with the princess at its center, all monsters had perished. Most of their human enemies, however, had survived the explosion of power and were running for safety, away from that terrifying force.
That was when Link noticed him. The man who had tried to kill his princess.
An ice-cold rage washed over him, roaring in his ears and blurring everything around him but that one man.
He grabbed his sword from the ground and clenched his jaw, never taking his eyes off of Fin.
He had once believed that this man had some good in him. That there was maybe a chance to reason with him if they ever met again, but that was before this. Before he had seen the sword swinging down on Zelda.
Now there was no more room for mercy in his heart. There was only hatred.