A Shed of Hope

Chapter Twenty-seven: Zara

The morning sunrise hurts my eyes. I tend to like the darkness better, so all the curtains in the castle are to remain closed. But I have one goal in mind today, and that’s to get that information out of the boy. I make my way down to the dungeons and down to Link’s cell. I notice at once that something's wrong. For one, the keys to the cell are pushed into the lock. Two: I don’t see his usual shape leaning against the wall. Three: a tray with an empty glass and bread crumbs sits on the floor of the cell. I reach up to the nearest torch and tight it, casting an eerie glow on the nearby cells. I open the cell door and stifle a scream of frustration. This is it: Link is gone. My number one prisoner has escaped.

            I leave the cell, not wanting to see my failure, and walk to the throne room where the King and Queen of Hyrule met their ends. “Milo, Estrella,” I yell so loud that my voice is probably echoing throughout every hallway throughout the castle. But I soon hear their footsteps outside the door. The door creaks open and Estrella and Milo are soon standing in front of me.

            “Zara,” Estrella says at the same time Milo says, “sister.”

            “Which one of you was the last person with the prisoner,” I ask, glaring at both of them as they stand in their purple and black armor.

            “Which prisoner,” Estrella asks, shifting where she stands.

            “Link,” I hiss at them. “Which one of you was the past person inside Link’s cell?”

            “Estrella was,” Milo answers, pointing to the dark-haired girl. “But why do you want to know?”

            I don’t answer but instead summon a ball of magic in between my hands and fire it at Estrella, who jumps out of the way just in time as the magic explodes right where she stood seconds ago.

            “He's gone,” I yell as I summon yet another magic ball. “What did you do, Estrella?”

            “I talked to him then left,” Estrella yells as she summons a shield and blocks my magic from hitting her.

            “But he's gone, so you had to have done something else,” Milo cries, suddenly taking my side. He draws the Dark Sword out from its sheath and holds it, ready to fight if it comes to that.

            “But I swear that I locked the door behind me and that he was still sitting against the wall when I left!” She summons her own magic and throws it towards me, causing me to form a shield using my magic and go on the defensive.

            “But you were the last one to see him,” Milo cries as he rushes towards Estrella with his sword ready to swing. Estrella holds her hand out and Milo hits an invisible barrier, knocking himself to the ground.

            “What did you do,” I screech as I summon a wave of magic to throw at her. But Estrella is faster than me and a blast from her own Shadow Magic causes me to fall to the ground and cry out in pain. I rub my forearm and glare at Estrella before summoning the shadows. They seem to crawl towards me and form a barrier between me and Estrella, defending me for the time being against her attacks.

            “I used another source of magic,” she replies with a smile. She holds up her hand and I see the mark of the Triforce gleam on it.

            “Where did you get it,” I whisper, shocked by being so close to such power and not realizing it.

            “I am the one who killed Ganondorf, its former holder, and obtained it,” she answers as she makes a barrier to block keep me from moving beyond my shadow guardians. She takes down the one blocking Milo and Milo rushes forward. But he is no match for Estrella, as she uses the Shadow magic to make a dagger from the shadows and empowers it using magic from the Triforce of Power, making it glow with a golden light. Throwing it, I watch in horror as the dagger goes straight through the Dark Sword, which Milo had put up to block it, and hits him square in the chest. He stops in mid-step and falls to his knees, clutching the invisible dagger, for it is no longer there, and breathing heavily. Estrella looks away from Milo and faces me, a smirk playing on her lips. Of course she doesn’t care, she never liked Milo. But I can feel the tears threatening to come, the way my throat feels tight, the way I start to shake at watching him clutch the bleeding wound in his chest. Now I hate her, I hate her, I hate her, and I hate her! I hate her and there's nothing she can do to redeem herself!

            “What else did you keep from me,” I ask, hearing my voice shake with grief.

            Estrella walks up to the barrier she formed around me and leans against it, making herself comfortable and ignoring the dying gasps from my brother. “That I know where the other two pieces of the Triforce are,” she answers my question in a whisper.

            “Where are they,” I ask, my voice still shaking as I work to control my silent sobs.

            “Link and Zelda,” she whispers as she takes down her own barrier and summons a blast of magic towards mine. I'm thrown to the ground by the impact and defenseless as she towers over me, holding a magic dagger in her hand. “The Triforce of Courage was under your nose the entire time and you didn’t even realize it.”

            “Why are you doing this,” I ask as I feel the agonizing pain of the knife entering my chest.

            I start to gasp for breath as Estrella draws the knife out and I watch as my own blood starts to soak the carpet. “I'm doing this because I believe that it’s finally my time to shine, my time to taste the glory, my time to take control . . . my time to show everyone who the most powerful person in Hyrule is.” She whispers the last part and leaves me to deal with my pain as I die alongside my brother.