Silent Hero: a tribute to Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda
Page 16
Chapter 13
Zora of Old
Midna opened her eyes. Blackness consumed her, but not the sort of fearful blackness she would have expected. A calm, cool peace wrapped around her, snuggling her securely as the folds of her cloak. Perhaps this was death. She thought if it was, she ought to feel worse about leaving Link behind to fend for himself and possibly perish alone. Yet, perhaps such a lack of despair was why this was death.
Then, a bluish-white light descended. From how high, she could not be certain, as the blackness spanned unending on all sides. There was nothing else to do save to watch the blue light. No need to rush or worry met her mind. Instead, she focused on the light, watching curiously.
The thin column of light widened just a bit then paused to form a ring, like a circle of sapphire flame, on what might have been the floor, if such concepts as floors existed in death; while Midna felt secure, she felt weightless enough to move in any direction in the blank space she so chose.
Gradually, something silvery began to sparkle in the midst of the blue ring. Its glistening intensified then solidified into some shape Midna could not quite make out. Stepping forward, she floated towards it until she held it clearly enough in her sight. Then, with a small gasp, she halted. A stone pedestal, the Triforce carved unmistakably within its side. She knew enough lore of the world so closely intertwined with her own to know the Master Sword had once resided in that pedestal.
The silver spread out from the pedestal, creating a wide, round, marble slab which stopped to rest at her feet. Stepping up and studying its glittering smoothness by the dreamy blue glow of the light column, Midna again gasped. Not so much out of surprise—she already knew where she stood—but out of awe that, of all places, Death should lead her to such a Sacred Realm before she took that final passage to eternal slumber....
Movement caused her eyes to snap up. And then, she stared for a third and most captivating time.
A figure, half concealed by the shadows, half illuminated by the sapphire glow. As the figure stepped forward, Midna saw its skin radiated an ocean blue hue of its own. A dark cloak and hood concealed everything except the bluish arms, feet, and eyes as brilliant a cerulean as the sky at Hyrule’s first Creation, when all was entirely pure and new.
“I’ve been waiting for you, Princess of Many Times and Realms.”
A woman’s voice. Soft, young, yet old with many experiences and much knowledge. Her eyes glistened with a certain sharpness demanding Midna’s full attention.
“Welcome,” the woman continued. “Welcome to the Sacred Realm of old. Inside a different time, a different Hyrule...yet, its memory is preserved for those who know the old tales and would seek its refuge in times of trouble.
“But as for the true Sacred Realm, that of your time, as you shall someday have need of it....”
She waved one side of her cloak in a great arc. For just a few moments, visions of a vividly green wood blurred by Midna in all directions. She gasped again as she recognized the glen where her Mirror lay. So that place would hold more than one key in hers and Link’s mission. That place would become the new Sacred Realm, where they would use her Requiem and the Stones to open the path to the Master Sword....
Link.
“Link,” she breathed. “So...if I am not dead, I must get back to him. I don’t know how I may aid him, yet I can’t abandon him in such danger.”
The woman gave a solitary but firm nod. “I know. Tis why I come to you, though I can do so only in visions. The Codiya holds the key. It is wingless, yet not without wings. Remember the Goron’s sacred crop. It holds more than one key, just like the Sacred Grove of the Kokiri.”
Midna stared. Did this wise creature read her mind?
No time to wonder about such thoughts. Link. She must get back to him at all costs.
“You will see me again,” the woman said, starting to recede back into the shadows. “I will grant you further aid on your quest. But for now, it is Link who needs the true aid.”
“But I still don’t understand—”
Midna held out a hand to stop her, but the woman had already gone. The blue light enveloped Midna, and she began to float up and up, heart racing as she hoped the help the woman offered would not be a waste. How could knowing of the bomb flowers help?
Gradually, the light faded, then darkened, and then, at the last...
Midna opened her eyes, sitting up with a start, coughing terribly as she inhaled a sharp burst of fiery dust and ash. Link knelt beside her, eyes closed and face raised towards the heavens, brows furrowed deeply as if he implored the goddesses with all his might.
Midna reached out a hand to touch him when her eye caught on a glimpse of red. Leaning over, she cleared aside the debris to reveal a small patch of bomb flowers, their velvet petals somewhat crumpled yet still vibrant crimson and violet hues.
“Link!” she cried. “These flowers—look, don’t look at me like I’m crazy, I don’t have time to explain—but these flowers can help. Help me feed them to the Codiya!”
With a fervent nod, he scrambled over to help her start uprooting the blossoms. It was tough work as they were lodged securely in the earth, and having to dodge more than occasional razor-sharp boulder didn’t help matters. The Codiya had taken to stomping about in fear, sending even more violent tremors beneath their feet.
With a final tug, they hefted one of the flowers and waved it in front of the Codiya. He ceased his frightened thrashings long enough to lock eyes on the flower, sniff it with hungry eyes, and then devour it, nearly taking Midna’s hands with it.
Midna scowled at the beast, preparing a sassy retort when he lifted his face to the sky, released a mighty screech, and pushed off from the ground. Hovering only a few inches above the quaking earth, his blazing eyes encouraged them towards adventure. Sharing a look and nod, Link and Midna scrambled onto the back of the Codiya.
The Codiya swerved with lightning precision as a lethal rock catapulted towards them. Then, he shot up in the air, zooming towards the volcano’s exit far above.
Link nudged Midna and glanced back with a wide grin.
“Great timing, I know!” shouted Midna, thinking not only upon the Codiya’s dodge but the mysterious knowledge of the woman in the vision as well.
“You can compliment my excellency later though; steer the Codiya and make sure you grab enough bomb flowers on the way up!”
With a firm nod, Link latched onto the dragon’s long whiskers which waved behind his massive head. Gently tugging them, he veered the Codiya up and to the right, avoiding a rain-fall of spewing fire and bits of lava.
Their upward climb proved rocky at first; Midna gripped Link’s shoulders hard as they crashed into the walls to avoid the flaming boulders splintering from above. Soon though, Link and the Codiya worked together to weave a sort of swerving pattern, steadily climbing while zigg-zagging from one side of the volcano to another, pausing only to let the dragon gulp down a bomb flower or two and keep the flames of his tail illuminated.
“We’re almost there!” cried Midna as the circular opening above morphed from smoky grey to sky blue. The outside world drew closer and closer. The Codiya protested with a weary snarl, but Link tugged the whiskers hard, spurring him on with a kick in the side—
“Link!”
He realized it right as she screamed it—too late.
The Codiya screeched in fear and pain as it banged against the wall. Sinking its claws into the stone, it struggled to keep hold but was fast slipping, the rock too hard for him to dig deep. The constant rumbling shook them steadily towards the bottom; already, bubbles of lava erupted between the stony crags and climbed steadily up to meet them in the middle.
Link glanced around frantically, all the while trying not to feel or look too panicked. Midna had done a wonderful job of bringing them this far, of figuring out about the bomb flowers, but now, none lay in sight—
Across the volcano, on the far wall. There was no way the Codiya could crawl all that way in time—not to
mention he would probably have slipped too far down by then anyways. What would the ancient Hero have done? Probably whipped out his boomerang and nonchalantly drawn the bomb flower to himself. Figured they had received not so much as a few rupees and some songs on their quest so far—
The hookshot, of course. How fear blinded the mind, almost lethally so.
He tried to aim the laser. His hand shook, the Codiya shook, the volcano shook, making it difficult to focus on the bomb flower or even catch sight of the hookshot’s laser. He couldn’t afford to try too many shots; it would take too long for the chain to spring forth and retract several times, despite its speed. The Codiya already slipped slightly below the bomb flower, forcing Link to aim up a bit—
As the pain ripped through his arm like fire, he dropped the hookshot. If he could have cursed, he would have; pain stabbed through him as something pounded against his aching flesh. As his blurring vision cleared for a moment, he saw Midna beating the flames leaping on his arm, extinguishing them.
Shaking his head and holding his arm, he tried not to look at the stony shard protruding from seared flesh. The sight made him want to vomit almost as much as the pain, so he looked down—
Only to find the hookshot wedged between the Codiya’s claws and the wall he yet clung too, sliding more steadily now. Looking up at Midna with mingled torment, hope, and urgency, she granted him a glance which read both, “Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” and, “I really hope I can pull this off or we’re both doomed,” before stretching down and, after a bit of a struggle, prying the hookshot free.
Midna looked up. So did Link. She’d have to hurry before they slid beyond the hookshot’s range of reaching the bomb flower. Holding the hookshot tightly in both hands, she aimed up and released. Link remembered thinking with annoyance how, after all these years, someone should have utilized technology to create a homing device for the hookshot, as well as the fact that, between his arm nearly falling off and being assaulted by Gorons earlier, this truly was proving the worst day of their journey—
Then, the world disappeared into solid black.
He heard a victorious roar from the Codiya, followed by a deafening explosion.
Wind and heat rushed past as their speed accelerated. Whether they moved up or down at such a speed, he couldn’t tell, nor whether Midna’s cry was one of distress or victory.
Then, his mind and memory darkened as well.
***
“I will need to set the bone first, before he awakens... after soothing the pain, I can bring him back into the conscious realm....”
A gentle hand upon his forehead. Midna’s fingers curling tight around his unbroken hand. Another pair of hands, gentle but strong, grasping the arm still radiating with pain—
The hands pulled sharply, there was a loud snap, and he faded away.