[EDITING] The Legend of Zelda: Goddess of Secrecy

Overworld Chapter 40 - Sea Legs

            …though he should have known better than trying to get any kind of rest so close to a temple.

            Fire coiled around the plane like a snake, before flattening out to coat the entire existence with flames.

            Link looked around, sword in hand. Suddenly the blade lit of fire. Link released the flaming sword, his hand burnt, some of his skin charred and gone. The blade was completely consumed by the fire, leaving Link with nothing but his shield.

            A figure loomed in front of Link. He put his shield between him and the figure. The motion just made it laugh. “Intolerable fool. Your insufferable sense of courage has become a serious interference. Two temples lost, another sage born...and of course my minion seems entirely unable to succeed in stopping you.”

            Slowly the figure began to take shape. Link had seen the Gerudo before, and this man was everything that the Gerudo were not, but would admire. His build was absolutely solid and huge, towering well over Link. It made Link feel shorter than he already was. The man could have just looked down at Link, but instead he held his head up higher, looking down over his hooked nose.

            “Of course, you’ve wandered into the reach of a temple of the Goddess Din,” the man said. He extended his hand. A blade of fire formed in his hand. “And now you’ll never find peace again.”

            He drove the sword down at Link. Link raised his shield, knowing that it wasn’t going to be enough against the monstrous blade. As the flames collided though, the image on his shield came alive. As Link started to return to the world of the living, a Loftwing emerged from the shield, forcing the man back. And then the world was white.

            “Link!”

            Link’s eyes snapped open. Zelda was shaking him awake. Lynard was standing behind her with a worried expression on his face. “Night terrors…”

            Zelda gasped. “Link, what happened to your hand?”

            Link started to lean up, only to feel a sharp pain in his hand. He looked at his left hand and found his skin red and black, burnt from a flame. Link muttered, “They’re becoming real.”

            “You can’t fight with your hand like that,” Zelda said. She walked by both of them to Lynard’s porch, where she began pacing.

            Slowly, Link pulled himself out of the hammock. Lynard shook his head. “I guess it never way going to be simple, was it?” He shook his head. “Both of you, come with me. I know how to solve this.”

            Zelda turned around as Lynard started down towards his dock. He pulled a cane off a ledge in the cliffs, before climbing into his small ship. He shouted, “Well, come on, we haven’t got all day.”

            Keeping his left hand close to his chest, Link used his free hand to carefully pull his sword and shield back over his back. With his equipment ready, he made his way down to the dock. Zelda followed quickly, her Bow of Light appearing in her hands. She pulled an arrow from her quiver and set it over her bow.

            Lynard pushed the ship off, before he pulled his sail out. The wind caught them, and they began to cruise through the rocky reef. Lynard navigated them slowly through the maze of stone until they left the rock walls behind and out into the open sea. Lynard kept close to the wall of the cliff, avoiding the pirate schooners sailing boldly in the deeper waters.