A Shed of Hope

Chapter Seventeen: Link

For days we travel, never staying in one place for too long. The Stalchildren are no longer a problem, we've discovered that firelight will keep them away. We move from town to town, sometimes not reaching a town before nightfall and spending a night on the road. We pack food and water at each town we stop at, making sure we never run out. Nobody pays us any attention, so we can stay one night and be gone the next and nobody will know it. We have no idea where we’re going, just that we’re staying out of harm’s way.

            “Do you think they’ll find us,” Zelda asks one night as we build a fire to stay warm and keep the Stalchildren away throughout the night.

            “Who,” I ask, not really comprehending who ‘they’ is.

            “The one with Power,” she says, sitting down near the fire and digging through her pack.

            “I don’t know,” I say, sitting down next to her. “But, it’s only a matter of time before something happens.”

            Zelda gasps and I look over at her, diverting my eyes from inside my pack, where I was searching for some food. “What,” I ask.

            “I've been hearing a voice in my dreams recently,” she says, her eyes drifting to somewhere beyond the fire in front us. “And they’ve been saying that it’s only a matter of time. It’s only a matter of time before they find us. It’s only a matter of time before something happens to us. It’s only a matter of time before we find them. It’s only a matter of time.”

            “I've been hearing the voice as well,” I say, knowing it’s true. “It’s been saying the same things to me, and I can't seem to get the voice out of my head. ‘It’s only a matter of time’.” ‘It’s only a matter of time before you screw things up. It’s only a matter of time before I find you. It’s only a matter of time before you die.’

            “Me neither,” she says, her eyes drifting from the fire to me. She places a hand on my cheek, moving her fingers along my jaw. I unconsciously lean towards her, my eyes drifting from her eyes to her lips. I remember the way they feel on mine, the way our lips seem to fit together. My hunger comes back to me, and it’s not for food. I've gone without food before, I've gone hungry before. But this sort of hunger is new to me. I've felt it before, but never this powerful. We lean closer to each other until I can feel Zelda’s breath on my cheek. I reach up and brush her hair back, keeping it from falling in her face.

            The ground suddenly rumbles and shakes. Zelda and I break apart and look around for whatever is causing the mini earthquake. A flash of light blinds me and I instinctively look up. I look over at Death Mountain, the only mountain near Hyrule Castle and the home of the rock-eating Gorons. That’s where the light is coming from. Death Mountain is a volcano, the only volcano in Hyrule. People know that if they know their geography. It is erupting.

            “Zelda,” I say, grabbing her chin gently and guiding her sight towards the mountain. She gasps in shock as she sees the bright red flames landing on the ground, almost near the castle. The bright lava runs down the side of Death Mountain, shining brightly throughout the dark night. The ground shakes again and flames fly out of the top of the mountain.