The Legend of Zelda: The Forsaken Knight

Chapter 3

The following morning, Zelda woke up and found that she was still freed from her restraints. She looked at the young man, remembering how skillfully he dealt with those Bokoblins the previous night.

An idea had come to her then, which she had been mulling over for a while. It would require for her to swallow her pride, however she knew that the benefits would outweigh the disadvantages if he agreed. The princess cleared her throat, causing him to look up at her.

"You are... only doing this for the Rupees, correct." She asked hesitantly. He nodded curtly, his eyes focused on the ground in front of him again. "If I offered you a greater fortune for helping me... would you accept?" She went on. The young man thought for a moment.

"Most likely." He responded quietly, and she felt slightly more hopeful.

"Well, you see... Have you heard of King Eradus of of Aquila?" The young man gave another nod. "I fear that lately he has been acting rather aggressively and rashly towards Hyrule. In the royal court, his threats are taken with a grain of salt, but I believe there is intent behind his words. I am certain that he has been behind a few small attacks lately, and it will only get worse. That man, he has evil in his eyes. And with his kingdom so close to ours..." She paused. "I must help my people, however I am somehow powerless on my own. I watched you, and I see that you have a way with your sword." The princess fixed her gaze on the leaves on the ground in front of her. "I need your help to stop him." She paused. "I will give you whatever you wish for." He furrowed his brow for a moment, thinking.

"I'll do it."

And for the first time, he saw the princess's lips curl up into a smile.

"Thank you." She uttered, a weight lifting off of her chest. "I am not ready to face him as I currently am, so we will have to travel a good bit. I must pray to the goddesses at the springs of Courage, Wisdom, and Power." She took a breath. "Seeing as we are now in the forest, it would be wise to first visit the temple hidden deep in Faron Woods. Do you have a map?"

The young man searched his bag until he found a rolled up piece of paper. He opened it up and the princess peered at the map. She pointed at a location in the far west.

"It should be around there." He nodded. "We should get going, then, if we want to arrive today."

He began to saddle the horse, and Zelda tried to help in any way that she could. Just as they were about to depart, he turned back and looked to her.

"I didn't bother to tell you, but my name is Link." She paused. Link. It sounded fitting, a name that she felt she had heard before. She had never met Link, however it was not unfamiliar at all.

"Very well." She responded. "Thank you for telling me." She climbed onto his horse as Link got on behind her. Then, the two of them began a long day's journey to the temple in the forest.

~

Along the way, they spoke little, but it was more than they ever had before. Zelda was not sure whether to resent him to or be kind to him. He had kidnapped her, after all. On the other hand, though, Link had saved her life and agreed to help her. He had never hurt her, either. The princess was left feeling awfully confused, however she had plenty of time to think it over as they made their way to the temple.

After a few hours, they found themselves even deeper in the woods. The trees had somehow grown greener and thicker, and they cast darker shadows. In the distance, a thick layer of fog could be seen. On the ground, flowers of many different colors sprung out of the dirt. Leaves crunched under the horses hooves and the humming of insects and songs of birds echoed throughout. The further they went, the greener the trees got. Eventually, a very large tree could be seen in the distance, and Zelda insisted that they go in that direction.