Chapter Text
Despite the dark miasma growing thicker around them with every step downwards, Zelda could not keep her excited grin off her face. Those murals were the discovery of a lifetime . She couldn’t wait to tell Tauro and the rest of the archaeological research team about them. This was concrete evidence for the mythology of her childhood – and confirmed Tauro’s controversial theory that the “gods” who founded the ancient kingdom of Hyrule were truly Zonai.
Link, by contrast, looked unusually grim-faced, which worried her almost as much as the gloom did. He had been so full of laughter and mischief after the Calamity’s defeat, but now… she was fairly certain he hadn’t smiled once since the gloom had appeared a few months ago. It was all too reminiscent of the early days before the Calamity, when sickness spread and monsters encroached further and further into Hylian settlements. Their new kingdom was so fragile – it terrified both of them to think of another Calamity-level threat arising. Link had confided in her several nights before how glad he was that Purah and her team had destroyed all the ancient Sheikah tech.
She raised her arm to cover her mouth as the rotten, putrid stench of gloom grew stronger in the fetid tunnel. Her earlier enthusiasm subsided again, replaced by the growing dread as they descended further. They had to be getting close to something , surely…
She was suddenly aware of Link stopping dead in his tracks up ahead of her.
“What is it, Link?”
He didn’t say anything, just turning to look at her with those hunted, haunting eyes.
She looked over his shoulder, towards where the tunnel suddenly opened up into a vast cavern illuminated by a sickly green glow. The chamber looked to be at least the size of the castle throne room, if not even bigger…
“What is this place?” she gasped. Link shrugged, unsheathing the Master Sword from its scabbard on his back. Its blue glow seemed to pulse with each step they took towards the centre of the chamber.
“What is that?” she jogged towards the silhouette outlined in the green glow. It almost looked like… a body?
Yes, that’s exactly what it was. A dessicated corpse, grasped at the chest by a glowing green arm, the source of the spiraling light illuminating the chamber.
“Zelda, don’t…” Link started to speak as Zelda approached the figure.
“I’ll be careful, Link,” she assured him. He huffed in mild annoyance, which she supposed was fair. How many times had she said those exact words to him before inadvertently getting herself tangled up in a Lizalfos nest, or staring down a suddenly irate Lynel?
She took another careful step closer. There was a slight thrum of energy, like she was crossing over some invisible threshold. She held the torch aloft to get a better look.
As she did so, the hand that had been so tightly grasping the chest of the dessicated body suddenly relinquished its hold, flopping down to the ground. A piece of jewelry came detached, bouncing towards her and landing right at her feet.
Almost as if it wanted me to pick it up… she thought, taking the small, bright, glowing stone in hand.
“It’s warm !” she exclaimed. Almost as if in response to her words, the stone seemed to sparkle with a new and brilliant luster.
“Zelda, get back!” Link cried, grabbing her coat to pull her away from the figure.
“Link, what…?”
But then she saw it. The corpse was moving . Its creaking, dessicated joints crackled as it bent backwards. The stench of gloom was becoming overwhelming, and it seemed to be pouring out of the creature’s chest…
Before she could react, a red torrent flooded out, twisting into tentacle-like branches. They whipped around the room, as though seeking something.
She cried out in horror, and the tendrils seemed to latch onto the sound. Suddenly they were rushing towards her. She desperately tried to draw on her dormant power, but like always, it slipped through her fingers like water. She closed her eyes, bracing for the tendrils to take her…
Link swatted them away with the sword. Of course! The sword that seals the darkness could repel this gloom attack from… whatever this creature was.
No sooner had the flicker of hope been lit within her than another tendril of gloom surged towards them, this time focusing entirely on Link. He raised the Master Sword again to deflect the attack, but the thing seemed to have learned quickly. The tendril wrapped itself around the sword, and up his arm. He screamed, and Zelda watched in horror as the gloom burrowed into his flesh, searing away skin and sinew. Somehow, Hylia knew how, he kept his grip on the sword, raising his destroyed arm once more to strike the last tendril whipping towards them.
The blade shattered.
“Link!” Zelda screamed, as he staggered forward, the broken blade clenched in his burned and blackened fist. He stared at the hilt, dumbfounded.
This is it then. This is how we die, she thought, as fear knotted itself in her guts.
“ Was that the sword that seals the darkness?” a voice hissed, and Zelda dimly realized it was coming from the corpse.
Not corpse , she thought to herself. Whatever that thing is, it’s definitely somehow alive…
The hissing, grating voice continued. “ A blade that shatters so easily against my power cannot save you from me.”
The creature turned its burning red eyes onto both of them. “ Zelda…” it called. She shrank back, clutching the tiny, warm stone against her chest like a talisman.
“ You, who carries that fragile sword, are Link…”
The creature grunted and cracked as it drew itself upright. It was far taller than any Hylian she had ever seen. They both stared in abject horror.
“ Rauru placed his faith in you. And that was all you could do?”
“How do you know our names?” Zelda’s voice cracked with terror. Both of them were on their feet now, stumbling back from the imposing figure as Link cradled his destroyed arm against his chest.
The creature laughed. Another storm of gloom gathered itself in its chest, pointing it towards them. She clutched onto Link, certain that this was the moment of their deaths.
“NO” another voice called. She looked around frantically for where their unknown saviour might be, but she couldn’t see anyone else amid the swirling haze. Nonetheless, the creature seemed to stagger backwards involuntarily, the blast that was being aimed towards them suddenly diverted towards the roof of the cavern.
The energy from the blast shook the very foundations beneath their feet. The stones beneath the creature gave way, and it fell, tumbling into the darkness.
Link stumbled forward, the excruciating pain in his arm finally forcing him to his knees.
“Link!” she screamed, stepping towards him as the floor beneath her collapsed. She lunged forward on the crumbling stones, but they cracked beneath her feet , and she found herself falling with them, down into the depths below.
Without hesitating for a moment, Link dropped the destroyed Master Sword. He leapt into the chasm after her, as though resigned to joining her in this painful, dismal fall to their deaths. In the flickering torchlight, she could see him reaching out for her, trying to clasp their hands together…
She felt the whistle of a breeze over her fingertips as their hands just barely brushed.
She clutched the tiny stone to her chest, scrunching her eyes shut. Hylia, help us! she thought.
That was the last thing she remembered before the world disappeared into dazzling golden light.