A Shed of Hope

Chapter Fourteen: Impa

I watch as Ganondorf walks away, leaving Link unconscious on the floor. I wait until I hear him start walking down the stairs, wait until he is no longer in sight. Then I leave my hiding place from around a corner and kneel down next to Link. There's something I want to do before I wake him up. I take his left hand and hold it in my right, looking at the back of his hand. The symbol of the Triforce is still glowing faintly, the bottom right triangle shaded in in a golden light. I suspected as much when he started standing up for himself and Zelda against Ganondorf. Link is the bearer of the Triforce of Courage. No one else could have been so bold against the Gerudo Prince, who already wields great power even without the Triforce of Power. But now that I know, I make it my priority to protect Link until he knows what he is destined to do. Now I know why he was brought to the castle, it is fate that his journey should start here of all places.

            “Link,” I call his name into his ear. He moans, but does not wake up. Going into a nearby bathroom, I fill a glass with some water and return to Link. I pour the water on his face, making him gasp and cough.

            “What,” he says groggily. “What happened?” He sits up and rubs his head where blood has started to trickle down his neck.

            “Ganondorf is what happened,” I answer him. He looks around the hallway until he finally focuses on me.

            “Why did he do that,” he asks, still dazed and looking around.

            I hold out a hand to help him to his feet, and he takes it, unsteady, but still standing. “Because that’s just the person he is. When he gets angry, he lashes out.”

            “Never again,” he says as he leans against the wall, slowly making his way back to his room. “Never again am I wondering the corridors alone.”

            “That’s a lesson learned for all of us,” I reply as I help him to sit down on his bed. I sit down next to him and pull his hair back to reveal a gash on the side of his head just below the hairline where Ganondorf punched him.

            “Are you alright,” I ask him as I go into the bathroom and wet a washcloth.

            “Yeah, I guess,” he replies as I sit down next to him and start washing the blood away. He lets me, probably still in a form of shock from what happened.

            “Do me a favor and don’t stray far from the castle within the next coming days,” I tell him.

            “Okay,” he says absently. I don’t think he's going to remember this conversation later. I finish cleaning the blood off his face and leave his room, leaving him to make sense of everything. I travel down to the courtyard, needing a little time to myself and wanting to see if Ganondorf is gone yet. But what I find shocks me even more.

            I almost stumble over his lifeless body. I don’t see his carriage anywhere in sight and the hilt of a sword is visible, though the rest of the sword is embedded in his side. His yellow eyes stare up at the sky, unseeing and glassy. Blood coats his suit, spreading like ripples of water from where the sword is, though all the blood is dry. It’s clear: Ganondorf, the Gerudo Prince of Thieves, is dead. Though the question remains: where is the killer and do they have the Triforce of Power now that Ganondorf is dead?

            I almost run all the way to Zelda’s room. When I open her door, I see her out of her ball gown and in some simple white pajamas. She jumps when I slap the door open before closing it behind me.

            “You will never guess what I just saw,” I say, sitting down on her bed opposite her.

            She frowns, thinking. “You saw the Happy Mask Salesman and he freaked you out?”

            “Good,” I say, “but no. I saw Ganondorf lying dead on the path to the front doors of the castle.”

            “Really,” she asks, her face lit up in a smile. I can't help but smile as well.

            “Really,” I reply. “Someone killed him.”

            “But if he was the holder of the Triforce of Power,” Zelda continues, thoughtful. “Then who has it now?”

            “I don’t know,” I say, “but that’s what we need to watch out for. “Whoever killed Ganondorf is after the Triforce.”

            “But we have no idea where the other two pieces are,” Zelda exclaims.

            “Actually,” I say with a knowing smile. “I think I do know where they are, and I also think it’s time for you to know, I've kept this from you for too long.”

            “What do you mean, Impa,” she says, looking at me with confusion written in her face.

            “Your parents and I have known this since you were born,” I say hesitantly, knowing that she’ll be angry with me for keeping this from her. “But your parents made me promise not to tell you until I had to and now, I think, is the time to tell you. You, Zelda, are the holder of the Triforce of Wisdom.”

            “I'm what,” she cries, standing up from her place on her bed. “Oh, whatever, it’s not really that big of a surprise! But we still don’t know where the last piece is!”

            “Actually,” I say, getting to my feet as well and facing Zelda. “I just found out where the last piece is.”

            “Really, where,” she asks, impatient.

            “It has chosen Link as its bearer,” I say, completely unprepared for the shocked look on Zelda’s face.