Hero by Heart

Chapter 27

At the crack of dawn Zelda got up bursting with energy. She woke Link, whose eyes widened and flitted around the room. He instantly reached for the sword that stood beside his head, but as soon as he saw Zelda his eyes softened and he smiled up at her. 'I'll be ready in five minutes,' he said, his voice still hoarse from sleep.
     Zelda smiled, a wave of warmth washing over her at the realization that he would always be ready to follow her anywhere, anytime. He also looked cute with his hair a mess and his sleepy eyes, something that she took a moment to appreciate.
     'Take your time, babe,' she whispered, smiling when his eyes grew big. She then quickly turned and headed out to make breakfast.
     When Link appeared, all freshened up and dressed for the day, he never commented on what she had said, but he looked extremely joyful. For a second he grabbed her hand and squeezed it, releasing it just as quickly, fully aware of the lack of privacy.
     It was the first time Zelda would not mind for people to find out, if only he would hold her for a little longer. Still, she didn't say anything and instead focused on her food.
     When they were finally ready to set out Zelda stalked towards Thunder, an excited skip in her step. She was dying to investigate the Citadel. Even before the Calamity she had hardly ever been there, so the place held a great deal of mystery for her. Now that it was so heavily damaged she figured it might be hard to find anything of interest, but she still welcomed the challenge.
     With Link right behind her, she spurred on Thunder and bounded out, up the steep path. She heard Link's joyous laugh, the sound echoing between the rock walls along the road.
     Zelda now neared the top, where the ground would level out again, but suddenly stopped Thunder dead in his tracks, making him neigh in surprise.
     On top of the hill, only just visible above the curve in the road, she could see something moving. That would normally not be so surprising, but something felt off about the amount of movement she saw.
     No less than ten heads were visible, dimly reflecting the early sunlight. While she stood watching that amount only increased, as smaller creatures appeared on the horizon. Zelda cleary recognized the pig-like faces and clumsy way of walking.
     Moblins and Bokoblins. Lots of them.
     Link reined in behind her and she shot him a worried look. He was staring up at the creatures, his jaw set and an angry look in his eyes. She noticed his white knuckles around the reins and the tension in his posture.
     Zelda suppressed a shiver. If he ever looked at her that way, she would be sure to run.
     'Turn around,' Link said, his voice a low groan, his eyes never leaving the group of enemies.
     She shifted uncomfortably in the saddle, but didn't move. 'I... I can help,' she stammered, barely believing it herself.
     Now Link snapped his head towards her, his eyes softening for just a fraction. 'I don't want to hurt you,' he whispered.
     Zelda looked at him in surprise. He didn't mean that he didn't want her to get hurt. He meant he didn't want to hurt her himself. It was enough to make her heart pound and a cold sweat break out on her back.
     She knew what the knight was capable of. She had seen him fight. It had been in practice mostly, but she vividly remembered the day of the Great Calamity. Never had she seen anything like it. The way he had fought then had been something she would never have thought possible. He had been fearless, unwavering, swift, without equal.
     The thought of accidentally falling victim to that onslaught was enough to stop her from protesting.
     Zelda nodded meekly and turned Thunder, but stopped there. She looked over at Link, who had returned his gaze to the approaching monsters, steadily growing in numbers. 'Please be safe,' she whispered, her throat clenched.
     He briefly turned his head to give her a tight smile. 'You too.' In a flurry of movement he was gone, galloping towards the hoard of enemies.
     Zelda sighed, watching him for a moment longer, but then spurred on her horse and galloped back down the hill, away from her knight. Away from the only person left in this world she truly, deeply cared about.
     Suddenly there was a loud explosion, accompanied by a flash of light and the shrieks of numerous monsters. With a startled yelp Zelda came to a halt and turned to look behind her.
     There she saw Link, standing in the stirrups with the Master Sword in one hand and the reins in his other. Around him lay several lifeless Bokoblins, as well as some that were convulsing heavily, unable to move. The Moblins had stayed back some more, out of range of whatever had felled the smaller creatures.
     As Zelda sat watching, Link slashed through one Bokoblin after the other, seemingly unhampered by their crude weapons.
     When there was a short moment of respite between attacks, he sat very still on his horse, his sword held up to the sky. All of a sudden another deafening roar of thunder sounded, and lightning flashed in a wide arch all around him. More creatures fell to the earth, while others seemed too stunned to move.
     Link then galloped up the hill, slashing at every monster he passed. He moved with a certain grace that made it almost impossible for Zelda to look away.
     Within another minute the group of monsters was thinned out to almost half of what it had been.
     That was when she became aware of movement a little to the left. There were three Bokoblins there, one silver and two red, and one black Moblin. They had stayed away from the slaughter and now hurried further down the road, straight towards her.
     A rush of panic coursed through her body. Zelda frantially searched her mind for ways to defend herself. The only thing she had was a knife and no clue of how to use it properly. Her sessions of sword fighting with Link had been too few and too long ago to be of any value now. Besides, she didn't even have a sword.
     She looked up again at the small group of monsters approaching fast now, as if they sensed her fear. Behind them she could see Link fighting off multiple Moblins at once, while expertly steering Epona out of harm's way.
     Zelda took a deep breath. 'Link!' she shouted at the top of her lungs.
     His head snapped in her direction, a bewildered look in his eyes at the panic in her voice. In an instant he glanced at the monsters and back. Even from the distance she could see him grit his teeth. He slashed at a Bokoblin near his right foot and succesfully cut off its arm, instantly spurring on Epona to rush to her side.
     Before he could reach her, however, he was stopped by a horde of Moblins stepping in his path. They had formed a line that he simply couldn't avoid and now started slashing at him with clubs and swords, some even throwing rocks or the smaller Bokoblins. Whatever Link tried, he couldn't force his way through. Before long he had to do all he could to defend himself.
     'Zelda!' he shouted, now hidden from her view by all those monsters. 'Run!' She could hear the slight crack in his voice, evidence of how awful it was for him to not be able to protect her. It instantly made her insides turn into a knot and her throat clench shut.
     With effort she took a deep breath. She glanced at the monsters, who would be on her in mere seconds now, and pressed her heels down, steering Thunder further down the road.
     Slowly the sounds of metal clashing on metal or wood became softer, until she couldn't hear it at all over the sound of Thunder's hooves on the hard earth. It became quiet around her, making her all the more aware of her own panting and the blood rushing through her head, producing a constant buzzing in her ears.
     At full gallop she approached the stable, where a group of civilians had formed to see where the commotion was coming from. She reined in and came to a stop next to them. Only now did she become aware of the silent tears streaming down her face.
     'Monsters,' she gasped, evoking shocked outcries from the small crowd. 'Link is fighting them. We need to help!' She looked around frantically, searching for any form of help, anything that could defeat those monsters.
     'What can we do?' One of them asked, his arms wide. 'We are no soldiers.'
     Zelda looked down on him and realized that he was a regular Hylian. He wore a backpack, but no weapons. He was also one of only three males present in the group and the only one who looked even remotely capable of lifting a sword. These people couldn't help her.
     When she glanced back over her shoulder she could see the small group of monsters, now standing still and watching them from a distance.
     Again she looked around in growing despair. There was nothing she could do. Link was still fighting those monsters up the hill, all alone. How long could he hold them off?
     Her eye landed on a few crates and supplies scattered beside the stable. A torch lay at the ground next to it and a pitchfork stood against the dark wood.
     She made her way over there and dismounted to grab both, before going back to the cooking pot and lighting the torch. With the fire burning in her left hand, the pitchfork balanced in her right, she shot one more look at the civilians who stood watching and kicked Thunder to a gallop.
     At full speed she raced towards the smaller group, the pitchfork bobbing up and down as she kept her gaze on them, anger bubbling in her chest.
     The monsters saw her coming and scattered a little, but still looked ready to attack her as soon as she was close enough.
     Just before she would storm right through the middle of the group, she steered left and swung the torch forward, making one of the Bokoblins screech. She then stabbed at another with the pitchfork, miraculously hitting it in the shoulder and dragging it a few feet before it got loose.
     She immediately lifted the pitchfork and swept it horizontally, right against the side of the head of the Moblin. It fell down to the earth, leaving her a small path to ride up the hill.
     Kicking Thunder to even more speed she rushed up the road, but not even halfway there she had to halt because of the sheer amount of enemies blocking her path. Armed with only a torch and a pitchfork she would never be able to fight them all.
     Still she tried. She slashed at every monster that came too close and actually lit a few of them on fire. That caused some panic, offering her a little room to move forward. And yet, there was still no sign of Link.
     Zelda called out his name, but either he didn't hear her over the screeches of the monsters and their weapons clashing, or he was not able to answer.
     With new panic rising in her chest she pushed forward, slamming straight into a Moblin and sending it tumbling to the ground. Thunder neighed and she smashed the torch in the face of a Bokoblin trying to grab her.
     Enemies started to close in on her from every direction. With a sinking feeling she realized that this was it. They would overwhelm her and she would die there today. It seemed such a useless way to die. After everything they had been through, she would be alone, trying to safe Link for a change, and miserably failing.
     Angrily she stabbed two Bokoblins at the same time and pulled back, but the pitchfork got stuck and it was yanked from her hands, lost in the midst of her enemies.
     A deep desperation now took hold of her, but Zelda pushed Thunder on, determined to at least find Link before she died.
     Waving the torch in circles around her head gave her some more room, but the tiny shiver of hope that grew in her was quickly shredded when a big claw grabbed her arm and jerked her from the saddle. With a dull thud she landed on the hard earth, making her cry out in pain.
     Like a mircale, she still held the torch, but her left shoulder was throbbing painfully. Without giving herself time to check it out, she scrambled to her feet and quickly slashed the torch in a wide circle, making sure the monsters would keep their distance.
     Thunder was some ways off, having come to a halt when he realized she was gone, and now stood neiging nervously. He danced around, trying to get out of reach from the Bokoblins grasping for his reins.
     'Thunder!' Zelda shouted, causing his ears to perk up. 'Go! Get out of here.' She wasn't sure how much he understood of what she said, but the combination of a simple command and her trembling voice seemed to get the message across.
     The horse reared and turned on his back legs, immediately starting a gallop down the road. He barreled straight through lines of Bokoblins, throwing them left and right.
     Now Zelda was sure that her horse was safe, she turned her attention to her immediate surroundings. All monsters seemed to be starting at her. More than ever, she was aware of how vulnerable she was. She stood in the midst of them, barely armed, unprotected and alone.
     There was no time for despair, though. No time for doubts. She would have to act fast.
     With her right arm she slashed and stabbed the flaming torch at every monster in her vicinity and ran up the hill, in a desperate last attempt to find Link.
     It took a moment for her to register when the Moblins and Bokoblins higher up the road started to screech. They seemed to panic and were soon running in all directions, completely forgetting about whatever purpose they'd had there.
     Stunned, Zelda stood still, trying to determine what caused them to flee, for she was certain it wasn't her. Whatever it was, though, it was too far away and there were still too many monsters in between to see.
     She felt a spark of hope ignite within her, giving her the strength to continue slashing at the monsters surrounding her, which had all stopped to stare at their panicking kin.
     At least three Bokoblins fell to the earth before the others seemed to realize anything happening, but she now made a break through the lines and continued her way up, straight towards the mysterious source of their panic.
     It had to be Link. He was still there, still fighting.
     All of a sudden she stumbled onto a clear part of road, where the monsters had fled. She could finally look up the path properly and immediately noticed what had caused all the commotion.
     It wasn't Link.
     Sunlight reflected on the impressive weapons and golden armor of at least six Gerudo Warriors. The light flashed as the women swung their weapons in terrifying skill to dispose of some more monsters.
     Zelda was left feeling confused, yet deeply grateful for their presence. At the same time she felt a sinking pit in her stomach at the realization that Link was not with them. Where was he?
     She forced her feet up the rest of the way to meet the warriors, who seemed rather surprised to find her there.
     'Princess!' one of them called out, dropping her arm to stare at her.
     Zelda looked them over, noting their typical Gerudo outfits consisting of golden armor and colorful fabric. Each one of them had red hair tied together in a pony tail on top of their heads and they all held a Gerudo Spear. No matter how hard she tried, she could barely keep them apart.
     'Are you alright?' one of the women asked, directing a concerned look at her.
     Zelda nodded absentmindedly, but she couldn't keep a concerned frown from her face. 'Have you seen Link up there?' she asked, trying to look past the group of Gerudo.
     The women all looked at each other, worry and confusion plain on their faces. One of them stepped forward and shook her head. 'I'm sorry, Princess. We haven't seen anyone.'