Rise of the Goddess

Chapter Seven - Zariah

Zariah and Raeden returned to the road soon after the meeting with her mother. They rode in silence, both of them braced with a new surge of determination.

Before they left Zariah told her father and Miko all about the source, the crack beneath Hyrule Castle. If she couldn't personally find it, she would have others do it for her. It had to be found. She also sent Raeden to make sure a messenger was sent for Aadil, sharing the information. Around 2 weeks had already passed since she'd been to Gerudo Town, travel took so much longer than she expected. Strangely enough it was Raeden who kept pressuring her to leave as soon as possible, even though he knew everything that was at hand.

There had also been a strange spark between her and Raeden, something new. She no longer regarded him as some irritating servant of her mother, but a friend. She could tell he genuinely cared for her, that his worried shouts were more than him just following his duty. There was a new kindness to his actions, small caring touches here and there. She couldn't help but feel closer to the knight.

Not only was there this new spark between her and Raeden, but the world itself seemed to have changed since the Spring of Courage, she noticed it soon after they'd left for Hyrule Castle. There was a new thrum of energy, she could sense it all around her. She could almost see glowing threads of power and energy streaming from the people around her. The old shrines were surrounded by these fields of energy, Miko and most people she came across barely had any, Raeden sometimes seemed to blur from the threads around him. Her mother and father both were practically glowing, overflowing with divine power, the Triforces must be the cause of that. She'd also seen the Gerudo Desert radiating this golden light, it was like a shining sun from the south. Whenever she was alone she tried reaching out, thrumming her fingers across the threads, but it did nothing, never did.

She rode on, headed east through Hyrule Field. They'd hopefully make the woodlands stable by nightfall. She'd just reached a forest when Raeden pulled back his horse, stopping it. She stopped Sappho.

"What is it?"

Raeden stared off into the distance as if seeing something Zariah couldn't, "There's something in the air, can you smell it?"

She focused on the air, and then she could smell it, the unmistakable scent of smoke and ash.

She locked eyes with Raeden, and then reared Sappho back and rode, riding as fast as she could towards the stable. As she approached, riding over the hills, she could see the smoke from the north, she pushed Sappho further.

As soon as she got to what remained of the stable, she jumped off of her horse's back and sprinted towards the fires.

The entire stable had gone up in flames, and the woods surrounding it had caught and now she could see the beginning of a wildfire, stretching closer and closer towards the Great Hyrule Forest, the Lost Woods, deep within which was the sacred Korok Forest.

"Zariah, wait!" Raeden grabbed her arm, stopping her.

She spun around, "We have to stop it, I don't know how, but—" frustration built up in her, "If we don't, it's going to consume the entire forest!"

Raeden looked at her, worry thick in his green eyes, "There's nothing we can do, someone will find it, help will come," he said, his hand sliding down to her hand, he rubbed his thumb comfortingly into her hand, "Please, Zariah, I— I can't watch you die, not here, not like this,"

She ripped her hand from his grasp, "Why? Don't pretend to care about me, Raeden, I don't need it. It's just gonna get you killed,"

Raeden looked shocked, "I'm not pretending," he said.