Chapter 8: The Sheikah Woman and the Boy in Green
The steady and unrelenting beat of his heart was impossible to ignore as he pushed out the stones blocking his way out of the passage. When the heat of the inferno was upon his face he knew there was only danger ahead. The smoke filled his lungs and burned his throat. He choked and spat but the air was thick with death and flame. The secret path had done exactly what he had both hoped and worried it would, it had led him right into the center of the battle.
Link was just beyond the second wall, and the courtyard burned all around him. He had always heard stories of how the magnificent flowers of Hyrule’s castle courtyard lifted the spirits of all who saw it. Now it was a burnt and somber thing that brought him only despair.
His eyes searched ahead as he looked beyond and into the mass of Gerudo and Farorian Knights that still did battle in the courtyard. The fires burned around them as they fought relentlessly. The dead lay strewn across the grass and over the hard stone floor. He was disturbed to finally glimpse the truth of battle. There was no glory or beauty in it, only the devastating image of unbridled chaos.
As he looked, dumbstruck at the scene, he choked back the thick, burning air and felt his stomach sink as his eyes rested on something familiar further ahead. In an instant all that he had known changed, and he felt the unstoppable walls of fate collapsing in around him. Lying against the castle steps with his green tunic stained red was Feltus, his father.
Link ran ahead madly, paying no attention to the warriors around him. They didn’t catch sight of him as he rushed passed their sweeping swords and metal shields. He landed hard against the ground and grabbed his father’s hand, weeping as he did.
Feltus stirred slowly. There was very little life left in him. “Father!” he cried, “what has happened??”
Feltus offered only a weak smile at the sight of his son. With the small amount of energy he had left he squeezed Link’s hand gently. “Save Zelda,” he said softly. Then, in less than a breath, he was gone.
Link sat there, the battle going on all around him, as he continued to weep. He stared at his father’s lifeless body and wondered what hope there was left. He had never known life without his father, the man whose wisdom and skill had guided him since birth. Now there was only Link.
When the Gerudo warrior came at him from behind, he was only stirred by the deafening howl his attacker made as they raised their sword. As though pulled by some invisible force, Link dove out of the way just in time to miss the blade.
Fear replaced sadness and his mind went blank as he was overcome with terror. He pushed back wildly against the ground in a mad attempt to get away from the Gerudo who now came at him. He did not think once to draw his sword.
The desert soldier wore no armor, only gray and tan robes that served to conceal most of his skin. His bare hands were stained with blood, as was his sword, and he came at Link with the fury of a rabid beast.
When Link made it to his feet and scampered, helpless, into the darker courtyard beyond the castle entrance, the Gerudo followed, whipping his sword at the boy’s heals.
Further back the flames had not yet reached, and Link had only the advantage of darkness keeping him safe from the warrior’s sword. He was frantic, reaching into the thin air and fighting with every fiber of himself to keep away from his assailant. His breath burned like hot coals in his lungs as he ran with legs that worked like thick bars of lead.
He fell against the floor, tripping over some unseen obstacle, and the Gerudo threw his sword down toward the boy again. Link rolled out of the way, and the metal blade met the dirt before Link was on his feet again. With a strike like a viper the Gerudo’s sword whipped across Link’s chest, just over his ribs. The boy cried out and fell, the gash ripping through his skin like red-hot fire. With all his might he pushed off the ground and was on his feet in seconds.
