Chapter Text
"It’s… awake…"
They stood and watched in horror as the dark clouds billowed into to the sky like smoke from a conflagration, a roar like fire and thunder as flashes of unearthly, reddish lightning crackled and raced across the sky.
Everyone turned to Zelda. Without her powers, she would be helpless. Getting her to safety was Link’s first priority. But she shook her head, desperately.
"At the very least… let me be with all of you!"
Frustration and sympathy both surged within Link. The princess was admirably stubborn and there would be no convincing her to stand down once she had set her mind to it. She never made his job easy for him. But he was not deaf to the unspoken meaning of her words. At least let me be with all of you . If they all died, she would rather perish with them than run and save herself, believing she had doomed them. He understood, as much as he did not like it.
Then, his destination was the beast. The eye of the storm seemed to be swirling where he knew Hyrule Castle and its town to be. His chest tightened. They had expected an assault from outside their borders, or some mysterious and barely explored region. Castle Town had prospered, perhaps partly due to the impression that it would be well defended. If the Calamity had erupted from beneath it, there were already too many dead.
He took Zelda’s hand and drew her towards where they had tied their horses, she followed quickly. His horse was pawing at the dust, bristling with fear. Its ears were pricked, eyes wild as they searched for a predator that was everywhere and nowhere. The birds had fallen silent, and it seemed that every wild creature had hidden itself. Even the insects were gone.
He spoke quietly, soothing his horse, then jumped on its back. Zelda’s white horse was agitated, tossing its broad head as it whinnied, and shifting on its feet as if it were about to rear. Link caught its reins and restrained it, stroking its neck reassuringly while Zelda climbed on its back. He tugged on the reins as he spurred his own horse, leading them both in the direction of the castle.
The closer they drew, the less real it seemed. The clear, bright sky had been replaced with inky clouds, the reddish lightning giving everything the cast of twilight though it was still day. The air was hot and sticky, like that of a swamp. Beneath their horses’ racing hooves, the grass began to dull and wither. Everything looked sickly in the half-light.
Just west of the town, jagged grey stones sat half-sunk into torn up grass, gouges in the earth pointing back to the castle from which they came. Some force had torn the great stone walls and sent them flying this far. Ahead of them, smoke was rising to join the evil clouds in the sky, traces of firelight flickering between the houses. They urged their horses onward.
People were already beginning to flee the town, ash and dust on their faces and bundles of clothing and valuables on their backs. They turned to stare as the Hylian champion and princess arrived on the main road. Link pulled back on the reins, and turned to Zelda. Her expression was anguished, but she gave a nod.
"Citizens of Castle Town! The Champions of Hyrule are preparing to face the Calamity in battle. You must evacuate now. Take only what you can carry. This is an order from your Princess, Zelda Alastrina Hyrule!"
Wide-eyed, the townsfolk did as they were told. Link dismounted from his horse and handed the reins to a father with a small, crying boy by his side. Behind him stood a woman with a wailing bundle in her arms. He nodded at the man. It was a good horse, sturdy and obedient. With luck, it would take them to safety. On foot, he took the reins of Zelda’s horse, and began leading it down the stone causeway to the castle. Flames were crackling now, and there was a distant crash of a roof caving in. He hoped the townsfolk had evacuated safely.
The heat and heaviness of the air only intensified as they approached the castle. It tasted stagnant on his tongue despite the swirling winds. The clouds were like soot, leaving a thin film of grime on everything they touched. Something like oil was pooling on the ground, dark and iridescent. Before him, a stem rose like a twisted mockery of a plant. A bulbous growth split open to reveal a fierce orange eye. He drew his sword and the blade shone bluish-white in the haze. With a single strike he severed the eyeball from its stem, and it vanished in a puff of grimy dust.
It was beginning to take form.
The great wooden doors to the castle were swinging open. Within, he could just make out a robust figure lying on the ground. There was a gasp from Zelda and she leapt from the horse, running for the doors.
"Father!"
Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule lay in a pool of blood, sword by his side, a charred and bloody swath across his body from shoulder to hip. Link had never seen such an injury. Had the Calamity attacked him?
The old man began to groan, "Zelda… not safe...The Guardians…"
There was a flash of red light, a shrill noise of warning. The metal creature hung from the walls and shelves like a colossal spider, its single eye fixed on the princess. Before he knew what he was doing, Link tackled her, sending them both sprawling to the ground, the heat of the laser singing their hair, her eyes wide with shock. He pulled himself to his feet, deflected the second blast back toward the glowing eye with a swing of his sword. The Guardian crashed to the floor.
"What is wrong with it? Why would a Guardian attack us- Father!"
Zelda scrambled on hands and knees to where her father lay, but the king was silent. Kneeling by his side she took one of his broad hands in her own, staring out into the storm. She made no sound, but even without looking, Link knew that tears were falling onto the hand she held in her lap. He wanted desperately to leave her be, but they had to keep moving. He put a hand on her shoulder and she rose to her feet, wiping her eyes on her sleeve like a child.
She froze.
"Where are the others?"
"The Guardians?" he asked.
"The Champions. I know they have a long way to travel to the Divine Beasts, but at the very least, Revali should have made it by now… If we can’t trust the Sheikah technology… if that Guardian isn’t the only one… they may all be in very grave danger."
Horror was written all over her face. She had spent so much time with the machines, and now one of them had killed her father. It also meant that two of the three weapons they were planning to use against Ganon might be out of their reach, both the Shiekah technology and Hylia’s power. Link’s hand tightened around his sword. It glowed steadily, firm in his grip. He hoped it would be enough.
"If the other Guardians…"
He was interrupted by the clanking of metal limbs, the shriek of an alarm. He grabbed Zelda’s wrist and charged for a staircase, spiralling upwards. The Guardian in the hall had lost sight of them, but another barrelled down the stairs toward them, its claws punching footholds in the walls. A thrust from his blade shattered the glass eye, it slumped and they clambered over it, both gasping for breath.
As they ascended, a thick black liquid began to drip down the walls. Beady orange eyes peered down at them from ceilings and corners. A drop of the black ooze fell onto his arm and he choked back a scream as flesh sizzled under it. Zelda was panting and stumbling, but he pulled her on even faster. Finally they arrived at the entrance to the Sanctum, the highest point of Hyrule Castle. The winds were howling now, the sky as dark as night.
Through the murky clouds, he could see a glow, taking the shape of a vast pair of wings. Vah Medoh. The great stone bird flew clumsily, flashes of pink and blue light rippling across its surface. One of its wings clipped a tower, sending grey stone crashing to the ground. It moved like a creature with two minds, a struggle occurring within. The sickly pink light clouded its eyes, and a laser blast burst from its curved beak. At the last moment, its head spasmed, sending the blast crashing through the wall behind them. Zelda screamed.
"No!"
Her voice was thready and shaking, but she tried one last time, "Hylia, hear my prayer! Seal the beast and protect this land!" The air remained still and stagnant, no power stirred. Her shoulders slumped. She wrapped her arms around herself like a lost child.
Link’s mind was racing. He looked over the castle and the land beyond it, Guardians spilling like skittering spiders from every castle gate. Three more stone behemoths were approaching from the gloom, twitching and spasming like creatures in horrible pain. He wondered if he could possibly fight them all, and what that would do to the Champions inside. It was impossible. With the swarming Guardians, he’d never even reach one of them. And, as Revali had so helpfully pointed out, he had no way of reaching Vah Medoh while it was airborne.
There was one option left to him. Take the princess and run. Run far and fast and hope they could buy time to regroup, to somehow unlock her power, retake the Divine Beasts and return when they could fight. He knew the princess would not like it at all, perhaps she had lost hope of ever finding her power, perhaps that was why she had insisted on coming. He looked at her, her eyes wide and helpless with terror. Even if she would hate him for it, he had to fulfil his duty as Champion.
His sword glowed in his hand. He reached out to take her wrist.
We did this before.
Who had spoken? The voice came from everywhere and nowhere, speaking not so much with words as flashes of images and fragmented memories. He froze, bewildered.
Behind him, arching its great serpentine body over the castle, was the Calamity. Its monstrous jaw gaped, two piggish eyes set like burning coals in the grimy fog of its face. He moved himself, placing the princess behind him. The sacred blade glowed white hot in the presence of the beast. They had hoped to prepare three weapons, the princess, the Divine Beasts and the sword. They were down to one. Surely an attack would be hopeless.
There will not be another chance for one hundred years.
Again, it came in images and feelings too intense to describe, or even make sense of. His mind reeled at an incomprehensible sense of loss.
My chosen hero, you must strike!
"Farore…" He breathed the name, half question, half prayer. The Goddess of Courage, his favorite of the pantheon and the one he prayed to for strength. He didn’t know if the strange message came from her, the sword or something entirely unknown. But he put his faith in it, charged with the sacred blade, and leapt off the tower towards the beast. Zelda gave a cry that was half scream, half sob.
He fell, putting his weight into the blade. It pierced through the murky darkness of the beast, above the eyes, and struck something like bone. The creature howled and thrashed, he lost his footing and was thrown into the stone walls, tumbling down onto a balcony. He lay there, stunned and breathless, until he was revived by the sheer agony of drawing air. He choked and sputtered blood.
He reached out, fumbling, and found the sword by his side. The blade was nearly humming with energy now. He dug the tip into the stones, tried to pull himself to his feet. Everything hurt, one of his legs refused to take weight. He leaned heavily on the sword.
"No…" Zelda was scrambling on her hands and knees, peering over the edge of the tower. The words spilled from her lips in a continuous, trembling moan. "No, no, no, no, no…"
The creature wheeled around again, teeth like daggers baring to finish him off. He arranged his limbs, as far as they still obeyed him, into a rough fighting stance. A golden light seared like a brand on the back of his hand, pain mingling with a thousand other pains. He raised the sacred blade.