The Legend

The Legend: Chapter 43 - Near Death Encounters

Link's P.O.V

I wasn’t really fond of charging blindly into a fight, especially if I am obviously outnumbered. I had burst through the cloud of smoke making my presence known to the Gerudo warrior. “There he is!” One of them exclaimed as he waved the other Gerudos over. I glanced up where the archer was perched before, but he was suddenly gone. “She must have taken care of the archer.” I thought to myself. “Well are we going to continue stand here or fight?” I mocked as I widened my stance and braced myself for battle. They all roared in unison as they charged me. I ducked and rolled, easily evading their poor attempts to wound me. This basically went on forever, I wasn’t able to make any attacks due to the fact I was outnumbered. Every time I tried to make a move another Gerudo took a swung at me with their weapon. “Where is that Sheikah!” I exclaimed in my head. Suddenly the cover of night began to give way. The stars’ light was slowly consumed by the overpowering light of the sunrise. “Morning already?!” I gasped. “If Zelda wakes up and finds me gone, she’ll probably try to find me.” I sighed to myself.  “You seem a little tired boy!” One of the Gerudos shouted as he took jab at me. I sidestepped and evaded his attack smoothly. I spun on my heel and took off to distance myself, but as I turned I came face to face with more Gerudo warriors. “Just give up boy, you’re outnumbered.” One of the laughed as he twirled his curved sword. I stepped back from him but quickly felt the point of a sword. I straightened and slowly raised my hands in surrender. “There now was that so hard?” One of them stated as he reached for my sword. As he gripped the handle of my sword that was sheathed I made the split decision to attack. I drove my knee upward into his groin, causing him to gasp out in pain. He staggered backwards but didn’t fall. I felt myself being pulled back. The Gerudos behind me grabbed my arms causing my shield and sword to fall from my grip. “No!” I exclaimed as I attempt to fight out of their grip. The Gerudo who I had kneed pulled back my head by my hair and punched me in the stomach. His punch caused blood to pool in my mouth; I could taste the thick metallic liquid over filling my mouth. I let the blood drip out of my mouth causing it to drip down form my chin. More punches were thrown and more blood dripped out of my mouth until the whole front side of my shirt was stained. The sun was nearly up, and soon Zelda would know of my absence. “What’s this boys?” The Gerudo who was punching me asked. I snapped my head up to look at him. He was examining my sword carefully. The Master Sword was sheathed, but the intricate Hylian inscriptions could still be seen on the handle. The Triforce marking near the handle is what instantly caught his eye. “The Triforce?” He questioned. His eyes were panic stricken as he gazed at my weapon. The rest of the warriors wore similar expressions. Suddenly the Gerudo unsheathed the sword, but as he did a golden light burst from the blade as it was unsheathed. He cried out in pain and fell backwards. The sword fell from his grip and skit over the side of the bridge. I watched helplessly as the Master Sword fell below, into the cavern. “Great.” I huffed. “What happened?” One of the warriors asked as he inched over to the Gerudo who had unsheathed my sword. “He’s dead.” He stated shakily. I glanced at the corpse on the ground. His body was completely blackened almost as if the sword’s light had burnt him to a crisp.  “Well good thing that sword fell over otherwise….”A Gerudo trailed. “Otherwise you would have met the same fate as him.” I finished mockingly which in turn I received another punch to the stomach. It was until that moment I realized how tired I was. These past few nights I haven’t slept a wink in order to ensure Zelda was safe. My limbs wouldn’t respond to my efforts to move them, so I dangled from my arms where the Gerudos held me up. Suddenly I realized that my adventure pouch was still firmly tied to my waist. “Bombs.” I thought to myself. I squirmed until a small bomb fell from my pouch onto the ground. The moment the bomb touched the ground it lit, causing the Gerudos to cry out in fear. “Get Back!” One of them exclaimed as he ran away from the bomb. The two warriors who held me by my arms released them and retreated. “This is going to hurt.” I sighed as I glanced at the bomb in front of me. The flames had burnt up the wick and reached the explosive. Within half a second it exploded and I was blown backwards as was most of the Gerudo warrior who didn’t make it faraway enough. I flew through the air, over the edge of the bridge. I flailed my arms in hopes I would grab onto to something to prevent myself from falling down into the river below. Fortunately my hand met with the edge of the bridge. I dangled from the edge, one slip up and I would fall below. Due to my lack of sleep and to the fact that I was up all night fighting Gerudos, my fatigue began to take over. “Come on arms!” I exclaimed as I tried to gather enough strength to pull myself up. My muscles were shaking and I could feel myself slipping. I roared in impatience. Slowly my right hand slipped off of the edge so now I was only holding on with my left hand. I tried to grip the edge again with my right hand but the extra movement caused my left hand to begin to slip. Just as I thought it was hopeless I felt a hand wrap around my wrist and pull me up. I crawled over the edge and turned over on my back. I laid on my back panting, not believing that I managed to survive yet another near death encounter. “I see you took care of the Gerudos.” A rough voice stated almost comically. I sat up to see it was Lady Impa. “Did you just help me?” I asked dumfounded. She smirked at my question as she offered me her hand. I took it but instantly remember how tired my body was. Impa let me lean against her, as she through my arm over her shoulder. “Are you alright Link?” She asked almost motherly. I groaned in response. “I see…” She trailed. “That whole bomb idea nearly got you killed huh?” She laughed. I shot her an annoyed glance but it quickly disappeared as soon as I heard a familiar voice. “Link!” Zelda’s voice shouted.