Tears of a Broken Kingdom

Chapter Twenty-three ~ The World was on Fire

They stayed close to the wall as they worked their way to the front of the castle.

The fire cackled and the night sky was littered with smoke trails.

Zelda still didn't know what the world had come to, what any of this meant.

There wasn't time to think about it now though, finding a safe haven was first priority.

The night sound were nonexistent, there were no owls or the rustle of grass. Hyrule was quiet except for the fire and sounds of destruction in the distance.

Castle Town. Zelda thought, a shaky realization that whatever had come to the castle had torn through there first.

It was eerie, so silent and yet loud at the same time. Ashton was completely silent, a quiet determined look on his face like his father, although Zelda had a feeling her son was a lot more scared than his expression showed.

As they neared the path down to town, a seemingly meaningless dread consumed Zelda. What were they going to see when they went through town? Destruction would be inevitable, and with that, death too. That sent her off the edge.

A humming power filled the air as the square of Castle Town because visible, the buildings reduced to rubble. Burnt corpses littered the ground, already many were reduced to bones. They must've been trying to escape... from what? What had caused this? Had anyone managed to escape?

The dread only grew and soon it became clear that this had been a head-on attack.

Zelda saw some life in the other wise lifeless town, Gerudo warriors rooting around the streets and into the alleys.

And there he was. Presumed dead. Executed. Ganondorf.

Zelda's legs turned to jelly in her fear and she tried to turn herself around but she was frozen to the spot, eyes so wide she thought they might pop out.

He looked almost the same, but it was the way he walked and the way he seemed to act that was off. It was so lifeless, devoid of emotion. It was just like how Link had acted- or whatever that had been. Her neck throbbed.

What had Hylia said again? It hadn't been so long ago and yet it felt like centuries had passed since then, her words half forgotten, the screams resonated again in her head.

She saw his eyes land on her, just as dark as Link's, pitch black. No expression registered on his face, nothing that signified she'd been spotted. What was the delay? It was almost as if it wasn't Ganondorf anymore.

Zelda saw a small spark of light began to flare out across the barren town, dark and yet bright at the same time. She finally saw a sly grin appear on his face, although it was just a limp as the rest of his behavior- a cheap imitation.

Energy buzzed in the air, sending her heart into a frenzied pattern. Zelda fought the paralyzed fear and managed to back away, still unable to look away or to run. This had to do with what Hylia had mentioned, and in all honesty, it was almost too preposterous of a sight to glance away.

The energy seemed to fizzle and crack in the air, stars popped on the edge of Zelda's vision.

An explosion bloomed out of the figure of the man that was supposed to be dead, was dead. It was loud and yet it was mute, a burst of light and air clapped out of nothingness and everything went up into an inferno of darkness, screams and howls of agony tore at Zelda's ears, they seemed to break the barrier of sound itself.

>*<

The world smoldered with heat and it didn't take any time at all for Zelda to know where she was.

The air burned her lungs as she struggled to breathe, the air was hot and dry- it reeked with destruction.

She'd been blown to the ground, whatever the explosion had been- it's been powerful enough to throw her down. A hole had been torn on her pants, blood soaked the edges. Her head throbbed with a headache and the cloak only helped to add to the heat and pressure on her shoulders. Zelda sat herself up and ripped it off and ignored the vacant feeling around her neck. It felt better. Time to get rid of the ratty thing anyway. She didn't care if anyone saw her bruise now. Who else was left to judge anyway?

There wasn't time to think, no time to examine her wounds, she still didn't know the extent of her injuries.

Time to get out of here. Ashton was on the ground too, still blacked out. She forced herself into a standing position and lifted him off the ground.

The back of his head was sticky and wet, and Zelda knew she'd see red when she pulled her hand away.

She bit her lip, trying to decide a course of action.

Nothing made sense anymore. She just wanted to find somewhere safe away from the destruction of castle town and work out something from there. But his head injury could be serious, she'd have to treat it quick.

It ended on a compromise, Zelda snatched up the cloak and found a worn part, tearing off a large strip of material. That'd be good enough for now, she'd wrap it around her son's head, try and stop the bleeding. It'd at least help to absorb the blood.

She shifted the weight of her son in her arms and began the walk out of town, the sky hazy with smoke and filled with fire. It seemed to snow, ash fell in soft drifts to the ground, most of the destruction and bodies now obliterated. The fire left dramatic shadows across the night landscape.

The Gerudos seemed to have disappeared, but the feeling of being watched still seemed to follow her. Whatever had happened to Ganondorf, he was gone. Torn into nothingness from the blast, destroyed by his own power. Even more power than he should've had. Too much.

So much was missing from her consciousness there wasn't enough to form a single concise image in her mind.

As she neared the bridge, she felt the ground shudder beneath her, her legs began to shake with a violent intensity that seemed to consume her.

What now?

Zelda wasn't able to form more of a cohesive thought.

Her head craned to the left as she felt the rumbles seemed to be from that side and saw the world erupt into fire again.