God Games: A Legend of Zelda

Din's Fires

The trio drove their horses as hard as they could take until they reached the Spring of Power, and, once again, Arn and Kyta were left waiting outside while Zelda ventured into the shrine.

As she walked in, the cool and quiet descended into dimness and building, bellowing inferno.

There loomed Din, veiled in sheets of chain mail and fitted in steel as a queen in silk and velvet; her eyes burned with a depth of fire that would make Death Mountain feel like Hebra Peak by comparison. She held a massive broadsword before her, and her face shape was wide, square, and sharp- though Zelda barely noticed, as she dared not break from Din's gaze. There was no anger in the goddess, no malice, only certainty, presence, and power. Zelda could feel her own power swell in Din's presence, wild and unmanageable, and she struggled to keep it restrained as she spoke.

"Zelda of Hyrule." Din spoke at a normal volume, in a calm tone, but her voice seemed to pierce through the roaring of fire all around them.

"Din, Lady of Power and Fire," Zelda bowed. "I come seeking the full support of the goddesses of the Triforce."

"Why do you deserve to wield such power?" Din asked evenly, staring Zelda down as the princess' hair stood on the back of her neck.

"Not for my own sake, but for my devoted knight," she told the goddess. "After everything he's done for the land of Hyrule, for your land, surely he deserves something in return- even if it's as small or as simple as your support of me."

The heat around them blazed bright and terrible, and Zelda flinched in spite of herself.

"Why does he deserve divine intervention?" Din asked. "How does the act of one powerful person defeating another merit further power being used for his sake?"

"His actions have saved lives that would have inevitably been destroyed," Zelda said. "Now your inaction may allow him to be destroyed. I have been directed to seek out you and your counterparts by Hylia."

"His actions failed to save Hyrule during the initial Calamity- as did yours," Din said. "It could be argued that making up for the loss of life evened the score, and he does not deserve a favor in return."

"If not for Calamity Ganon, what about Demon King Ganondorf?" Zelda asked. "That was a burden placed on him because of someone else, and he still managed to save Hyrule."

"You have power, little princess," Din told her. "Use what you have. I see no purpose for my interference."

Zelda frowned, and without warning she felt something push at her mind, a clarification and an opening to her thoughts, something sharpening her focus. She'd felt it to a minor degree in Nayru's presence, and now she could feel the goddess of wisdom's promised support as she began to speak. "Power- in this case your power -is only meaningful by virtue of its mere existence up to a point. It wanes in its significance if no situation is good enough for you to use it. Lady Din, I came to you with respect and hope. I wish to leave with the same sentiment."

"You are little more than a child," Din said. "Even now my presence strips you of the control of your power you do have." She raised one hand from the hilt of her sword in a demonstrative gesture, and Zelda's power went from a simmer to a boil within her- as did her anxieties.

She felt both attempt to spill over, but she felt Nayru focus her, and Farore bolster her against Din's intimidation.

"You want to see control over power?" Zelda said, surprised at the quiet and calm in her own voice. Along with Nayru's and Farore's help, Hylia's power seemed to focus within her. "Fine."

She held up one hand, and the light building within blazed from her palm with pinpoint precision. She refracted the light off the pommel stone of Din's sword, between and narrowly above her crossed hands, at a precise 45° angle.

The fires in Din's eyes and all around Zelda flared. "You dare-"

Zelda aimed a much larger, more concentrated blast at Din, and she was forced to summon a rounded shield made of fire in front of her. Zelda narrowed her eyes and pushed against it until it cracked and shattered, and let off at precisely the right moment so that not a trace of her power actually reached Din.

The goddess' demeanor finally shifted to shock for a moment. She looked at Zelda, once again inscrutable.

"... Very well," she said. "I will stand with you. Get out."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." Zelda turned away and headed back between the walls of fire on either side, and Din's domain vanished around her.

She found Kyta braiding a teeny braid into Arn's hair, and the archer looked up as Zelda approached.

"Didja win?" Kyta asked.

"What do you think she's doing when she talks to goddesses, Kyta?" Arn raised an eyebrow at her.

"Arm wrestling, duh."

Zelda laughed. "She's on our side. Let's get out of here."