Fields of Gold

Brilliant Golden Light

Heart pounding and breath shaking, Zelda rushed through the hallways of her castle, rain echoing in the silence. The normally relaxing noise was irritating and distracting to her already frayed nerves. Zelda inhaled a deep breath in an attempt to relax herself, but to no avail. That encounter with Ganondorf had set her ill at ease and now every muscle in her body was like a tightly wound spring. Zelda felt as though she were about to burst open. No amount of steady breathing would help her ease the tension now.

If the man she had just left behind was not enough of a dark cloud over her mind, Zelda had an unexplainable sense of anxiety that suddenly welled inside of her and it urged her onward. Her destination was the tower room where she had been imprisoned in those early days, now seeming like a hazy dream. She had not wished to ever return to that lonely place, but that gnawing worry she could not ignore forced her to return. With each step that brought her closer to the tower, the tension in the air grew thicker and Zelda's chest constricted with waves of fear. Even a slight tingling in her Triforce warned her that something was amiss. So she rushed to the tower and worried what could possibly go wrong now.

Zelda forced thoughts of Ganondorf and the conversation she had just walked away from far into the recesses of her mind. He was not of any importance now. He could not be. Something far more urgent was lingering on the horizon.

Zelda soon found herself hastily climbing the narrow spiral stairs of the tower to the room above. Her heart continued to beat madly inside her body as she neared the dimly lit landing. Her throat was so tightly tensed that the air could hardly pass through. Her Triforce burned as though she had just put her hand in fire. Tears from the pain stung her eyes as she stopped at the top of the stairs. The door to her room was open. That was not such a surprise that she would have left the door open, but what made Zelda pause was the noises that drifted from the supposedly empty room. Claws clicking on stone floor and wheezy breathing. Zelda tiptoed across the landing, making sure that she would not be heard in case the occupants of the room were not friendly.

Cautiously, Zelda approached the open door and peeked inside. There she saw a familiar shaggy gray beast standing over something that was lying on the floor. The beast was softly whining, his cries nearly drowned by the downpour outside. She could not quite see what it was. Zelda stepped over the threshold to get a better look. The Hero, still apparently cursed as a wolf, shuffled around the figure on the floor and Zelda saw with horror what he had been whining at.

Midna. Her once rich, dark skin was now glowing a deathly white. As little as Zelda knew about the Twili race, this drastic change in color could not be a good omen. Midna's breath rattled pitifully as her tiny chest moved slowly to bring life to her lungs. Her body lay limply on the cold floor and Zelda watched as the Hero helplessly circled his companion.

There was no time to waste. Zelda crept quietly into the room and knelt on the hard stone floor. She brought her gloved hand to rest on Midna's shaking shoulder. The wolf snapped his head up in surprise at Zelda's sudden presence. The three of them were silent for a long moment before a weak voice emerged from the dying Twili.

"Please...please tell me...how do we break the curse on this one?" Midna breathed between gasps. Zelda lifted Midna's frail hand and held it in her own, hoping that that warmth from her own hands would seep into her icy fingers. Zant must have done this, Zelda guessed as she recalled how Ganondorf hinted at sending him on a mission. If anyone knew how to truly harm a Twili, it could only have been another member of that race.

"This...is the one...you need him to save your world!" Midna continued, sounding as if every syllable brought her pain to speak. "That's why...Princess...please...You must help Link..."

Zelda's fingers tightened their grip on the Twili's hand as that name spilled from her mouth. Link. Now Zelda finally knew the Hero's name. Zelda could have choked on the irony. The Hero was called Link. Just as her name was Zelda. And the Bearer of Power was Ganondorf. Their names had not differed throughout the years. They remained the same. Nothing would ever change for the three souls. An invisible cord wound through their fates, tying them together for eternity. Zelda looked up from Midna and gazed at the Hero, at Link. She had to put these thoughts out of her mind, for this was not the time to dwell on their inescapable fate. Hyrule needed the Hero, and Zelda's duty now was to help Link.