Hero by Heart

Chapter 67

As soon as they stepped through the gate Zelda felt her heart plummet.
In front of them was a massive, solid wall of enemies, crowded together to try and breach the gate to the castle.
Link quickly organized their warriors into some sort of formation, in the shape of an arrowhead. He was at the front, with Sidon and Riju half a step behind him on either side.
Zelda herself was wedged between them, relatively safe in their midsts.
     Behind her came Yunobo, flanked by two Gorons on either side, resulting in something resembling a moving stone wall.
The rest of their allies chose position behind them, and they started moving. Quickly and quietly their warriors ran across the open terrain, focused on the backs of their enemies.
Most of those monsters were Bokoblins, forced back through the ranks by their bigger and stronger allies.
Coincidentally, one of those Bokoblins glanced over its shoulder, noticing the group of warriors running towards them.
The monster shrieked and pointed its crude spear in their direction, gaining the attention of the monsters surrounding it.
More and more Bokoblins turned towards this new threat, but they were too late.
Link shouted a command and they charged forward, meeting the first of the monsters.
Weapons clashed and soon cries of pain went up, as one after the other Bokoblin fell.
With speed, precision and surprise, their small group of warriors managed to get through deep into the enemy's forces.
More Moblins and Lizalfos now appeared in front of them, but it took them a long time to realize what had happened, their simple brains unable to comprehend this sudden threat.
It was enough for Link and the others to fight their way through the ranks, hitting deep into the heart of their army.

Zelda fought with all her might, swinging her Gerudo Scimitar at every enemy that got a little too close.
She tried to use her Sealing Power, but she didn't really know how to do that. She had only ever used it in massive quantities, and had never aimed it specifically in one direction.
From her previous outburst she knew that it took its toll on her, and she doubted she could deal many more of those blows, if at all.
So she tried to concentrate the power and control its direction.
Her tries to focus on this task made it hard to also keep focused on her immediate surroundings, and if it wasn't for Link, she would probably be dead three times over.
Whenever one of those monsters managed to get past her defences, Link stepped in and protected her weak side.
He seemed to be everywhere at once, never missing a step, all the while also fighting his own opponents, showing exactly why he had once been chosen as her personal knight.
Zelda wondered how he did it, and how he knew when to step in. He seemed to know exactly when she was in need of a helping hand, and when she could deal with it on her own.
Still, she couldn't seem to figure out how to properly use her powers.
Their charge through the enemy's ranks had slowed down considerably, now that they had recovered from the shock and their huge numbers started to play a role.
     It was starting to get problematic, their group surrounded by enemies. It was like a small island in the sea, and monsters came at them like waves smashing against the shore.
     Their warriors bravely fought on, but Zelda heard Sidon grunt in pain, soon followed by agonizing screams from someone further back.
     They would never get out of this alive. Not if something didn't change soon.
     Zelda clenched her jaw and smashed her sword into the arm of a Moblin. She had to get this power under control. How could she ever live with herself if she wasn't able to do this? Her power had showed itself too late before, and now her lack of training with it would be fatal. Again.
     Despair started to take control of her, as she stubbornly kept swinging her sword.
     Her arms were burning, her fingers were cramped from the grip on her sword, and her ankle hurt because she had sprained it earlier in an attempt to keep her head on her shoulders.
     She cut down on the tail of a Lizalfos that was trying to sneak up on Riju, taking it clean off.
     The creature screeched and trashed violently, but fell down and didn't get up again.
     Zelda let out a frustrated groan after another failed attempt to activate her power. What use was it when she couldn't make a difference when it mattered most?
     Suddenly Link's hand was on her arm, as he pulled her towards him and stabbed the Master Sword over her shoulder, into the chest of a Moblin.
     Zelda stared up at it in shock, wondering how she hadn't seen it approach, thankful for Link's watchful eye.
     'What are you doing?' He grunted as he took down a Lizalfos.
     'I'm trying to use that damned power!' Zelda answered, irritation clear in her voice.
     'Do what you did last time!' Link stepped out in front of her to block the swing of a Moblin, before stabbing it through its stomach.
     'You want me to throw myself in front of a sword?' Zelda called out defiantly. 'That doesn't seem very helpful to me.'
     Link shot her a quick look. 'Of course not!' He grabbed her arm and whirled her around, swinging at something behind her. 'Just think of what you felt- duck!'
     Zelda noticed how his eyes widened at some unknown danger, and she dropped herself to the ground, just in time to avoid Link's sword.
     She heard the soft thud of the blade hitting resistance, and felt a spray of droplets fall over her. Then Link's hand pulled her back to her feet and his eyes quickly brushed over her, checking for injuries.
     '-And of what you were thinking,' he then finished sheepishly, offering her a crooked grin.
     Zelda just nodded, trying to remember that moment. She then saw a Bokoblin appear behind Link, and pushed him aside.
     Almost effortlessly she jabbed her blade forward, leaving the creature clawing at its throat as it sunk to its knees.
Link nodded in thanks, before turning his attention to the next monster.
Suddenly she remembered.
All those feelings and thoughts she had had when she believed she was about to die. And the other times when she had used her Sealing Power, long ago.
One thing all of those moments had in common was one simple word. Love.
When it had first awaked it had been because Link was about to die. Back then she had already cared very deeply for him, and she couldn't bear the thought of losing him.
The second time was when he had rescued her from the terrible confines of the castle, where she had beat back Ganon time and time again. She had been so grateful, and so happy to see him again, alive and well.
For the first time in a hundred years she had experienced happiness and love again, and it had been no great feat to unleash her power.
And today, when she herself had almost died, it was again the thought of Link that had been her main motivation.
After all of their history together, she simply couldn't leave him.