The Legend of Zelda: The Regal Flame

Chapter 23: Ganon's Eyes

     "What?" Link gasped, "You would take us all the way to Estpal?!"

     Poppy giggled, as she loaded up her caravan the next morning. "I have to take a trip to the Castle Town anyway to help keep the supply of goods running. I wouldn't mind extending my route to go to Estpal. Besides, you could use a caravan to cover yourself up while passing through."

     "Wow, you're really offering to smuggle us over the river?" Link laughed nervously at how strange it sounded. "I don't know... I would be putting you in danger.."

     "Oh, you really don't need to worry about that, I-"

     "I'm sorry, but no!" Link raised his voice, startling Poppy and Mari. Then he calmed, and spoke more softly, "I'll have to refuse your offer. I'll be fine, but I can't accept anymore help from you. But thank you for your kindness." He smiled, and bowed his head.

     "Oh.. of course, I'm sorry... I got a little carried away." Poppy sighed, lowering her eyes. "Well, if that's how you feel, I can't stop you from going on your own. Do be safe."

     "We will!" Link promised, as he waved goodbye, before turning, and walking away.

     "Um, wow," Mari chuckled nervously.

     "'Wow' what?" Link asked, pulling his hood up, as he guided Epona out of town.

     "I was.. just a little surprised at how worked up you got," She answered, "I didn't expect you to."

     Link shrugged. "It's just like I said. I didn't want to take a risk like that."

     "I know. I guess that's pretty nice of you," She said with a shrug.

     "Eh.. not really." He mumbled.

     Mari laughed. "Oh, you're just too modest. Hey, look!" She flew up ahead of him, gesturing to the path where the end of the orchard met a gate. "There's the edge of town! Better get your weapons ready."

     "I'll have them ready," he assured her, "But I doubt I'll need to use them. Any monsters that are lurking about in broad daylight don't pose much of a threat. And besides, it's not too far from Castle Town. Maybe thirty minutes.. fifteen by horse."

     She nodded. "I guess you're right. Hm.. I wonder what it'll be like when we get there."

     Link narrowed his eyes at the thought. He almost didn't want to get to the town because of what he might find. "Can't be anything good after the other day... Mostly, I'm just hoping we might run into Bian and get an update about Impa. I'm concerned after what that Vire creature said about her back at the Riverroot Tunnels..."

     Mari was silent, her lack of words stating her agreement. After all, Impa was up against an entire hoard of monsters. Perhaps she wasn't on her own, with all the knights fighting by her side, but a town wasn't the best place to have a battle. Very little room to fight, and civilians in the way. Link felt guilty for leaving, even though Impa made up for his absence at least five times over.

     As he predicted, they didn't run into too many monsters. If there were thieves lurking around, they didn't bother Link. And no other travelers crossed his path. So far, so good, he thought.

     The gate wasn't closed. In fact, it was still broken from the attack. Link sighed at the sight, thinking of how it left the town very vulnerable, even while they were still licking their wounds. In any case, he fastened his hood around his face, and entered.

     The sight of the town was worse than he expected. Most buildings were either charred, or the foundations had just been wrecked. Every building that had been spared was filled to the brim with the injured. Overfilled, really, since alot of people had to await attention on the sidewalk. Some food carts had been set up, and the kind souls running them worked tirelessly to serve endless lines of hungry people. On top of that, groups of men pushed carts of things covered in tarps down the road. When one of the carts passed Link, he realized human feet were sticking out from one side of the tarp.