The Wind Waker

XXI

LINK STOOD up against the wall, just out of the sight line of any of the monsters above him.

He wriggled his toes against the fabric of his stockings absent mindedly, trying to think of what to do.

Quietly making his way back down to where he drew the master sword, he searched the chamber for any potential escape routes.

There were none.

The only option was through the fires of battle. And despite the staggering challenge, he... he...

He... he did not feel afraid. It was an invigorating feeling.

Gerudo, it... it was an amazing feeling! So much of his life, even some simple tasks, were dominated by fear and anxiety. He did them grudgingly, and at a painfully slow pace.

But no more.

Today, he was the wielder of the master sword. And he was going to show Farore that he could use it.

He walked back to the stairs, and ducked out of sight just in time to hear the sound of loud grunting at the top. The monsters had discovered the stairs. The statue had hidden them at the time of the battle.

Metal clanked as the creatures came down the stairs. It was not the clean, quiet clanking he'd imagined of ancient warriors. This was an unpleasant grating sound, one would hear when striking a shovel against a stone.

Link hung in the shadows, outside of light cast by braziers. The monsters walked into the chamber. They were very large, wearing rough looking armor.

There were two of them. They examined the pedestal where the master sword had once been. They weren't fools. They knew what had been there. They snarled deeply, and angrily through their helmets.

And then, to Link's horror, one of them took out a gigantic great sword. In pure rage, the beast crashed the weapon through the beautiful stained glass windows. He knocked over braziers behind them that had given them their light.

As the monster viciously attacked the windows, it moved around the room.
Soon, it was no more than a few feet from him. And its eyes - sharp yellow eyes, glowing like a predator through its helm - landed on Link.

In a second, Link had landed the master sword's tip into the helmet's eye slit.

He did not wait for the other creature to react, but jumped to the side and engaged it as well. Link had the advantage of surprise, and got in several blows on the creature's armor chinks before his opponent could fight back.

The breastplate fell off of the monster after Link severed its bands, and Link slashed the beast across its brown-grey chest.

The once formidable foe fell to the floor like its fellow warrior.
Like its companion however, neither was completely defeated, only wounded. But Link wasn't here to kill. He was going to escape.

He ran up the stairs, and ignored any sense of stealth. A primal shock jumped in his veins, as he saw the army of Ganondorf living again.

They did not waste any time.

Link ran for the stairs to the upper level of the hall. The monsters had congregated towards the center of the room, but now charged in his direction.

As he ran up the stairs, he saw his exit towards the garden blocked by several more fighters.

Fletch. This wasn't going to be easy.

He ran towards the front of the hall. Immediately in front of him, another staircase went upward.

Farore, he thought, please let there be no monsters up there...

His path wasn't blocked, but the sound of thundering armor continued behind him. Although he was on edge, he noted that they were weighed down by armor, and he was not.