Chapter Text
The Calamity roared overhead, hordes of monsters swarmed over Hyrule Field-desperate for any chance to take the upper hand in the battle against the citizens of Hyrule Kingdom once and for all. The knights of Hyrule, led under General Alaric, formed into a shield line in the middle of the field, pushing past the pig-like bokoblin enemies that began swarming at them.
“Sir, there’s a lot of them!” One of the Hylian knights yelled from his position beside the general. “We might not have enough force to hold them off!”
General Alaric grunted and spared a glance at his subordinate. “Stay the course, we mustn’t falter now!”
“Yes, sir!” The knight called and yelled back to the others who were awaiting orders. “Hold the line!”
The Bokoblins pounded their clubs on the knights’ shields, grunting and using whatever force they had to get past their defenses. Some Bokoblins on the further side of the field used their elongated spears to throw it at the knights, some of which accurately made their mark and injured some of the Hylian forces, much to their detriment.
“Soldier wounded! He’s down!”
Alaric heaved a heavy grunt, throwing off a bokoblin that was pounding on his shield, trying to get him. “Leave him! We have to fight them off first then we can deal with the injured!” The general’s voice rang out, crisp and rough, in the clamour of shields, clubs, and weapons. “Time waits for no one!”
On the other side of the field, in another battalion, Link swerved between multiple knights to come to a wounded soldier's side, who was one of the fellow squires who had been knighted alongside him around five years ago.
“Nado!” Link called out, kneeling to his side and tearing off a piece of cloth from his uniform and wrapping it around the fallen soldier. “You’re going to be fine-”
“Link-!” Nado weakly grasped at his friend’s arm, holding onto it as if it was the only thing keeping him alive. He made a painful expression and let out a groan of pain before letting his head fall back on the blood-stained grass. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine-”
“No,” Link said, with determination in his voice. “I’m going to get you out of here, I promise.”
“You don’t have time.” Nado tugged on the cloth on Link’s arm which was being stained with the blood on Nado’s hand as he held it. “Hyrule needs you, you have a duty-” Nado coughed violently and raised his head, to which Link held it up from touching the ground. “-don’t fail in it by saving me, my friend.”
Link stared at him and let his gaze travel around to the soldiers who were fighting off the Bokoblins poisoned with the Calamity, and he noticed that larger enemies-Moblins-were on their way as reinforcements. Which only meant tougher opponents, tougher battles, and less chance for the knights to push back due to weakness already.
Nado spoke again, looking into his friend’s bright blue gaze as he spoke. “You are special, Link, you-” He coughed again, his face already paleing. “You always have been.” Despite Nado being a few years older than Link, they still found common ground together and were the closest duo in the Knights Academy in Akkala Citadel.
“Remember,” Nado grasped Link’s hand and placed a dagger in it-a small one that Link knew to be his friend’s special weapon he carried everywhere. “A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it..” Nado looked at Link and paused, waiting for him to speak the words that they heard many times during their training.
“Has courage.” Link breathlessly echoed, grasping the dagger from him, staring into his friend’s gaze almost in a trance.
Nado nodded then rested his head back, letting out a long breath as blood began pooling out of his wound in his chest. “Now go, my friend-” He coughed, his body now shaking as he was practically lying there dying on the battlefield. “Bring peace to Hyrule.”
Link stared at him for a moment, contemplating, and let his gaze shift to the surroundings around him. Hyrule needed him, the kingdom needed him, Zelda needed him.
Link paused.
Right.
Without him, the calamity could never be sealed, even if Zelda did her best with her power. The Triforces of Wisdom and Courage have to go hand in hand for this part to work-to defeat the growing power once and for all.
Link steeled his resolve and held his friend’s hand tighter one last time, sparing him a glance before placing it on his chest honorably and standing up. “May we meet again someday, Nado.”
Nado weakly muttered something Link couldn’t make out before his eyes began to sag closed. Link turned away from the sight and pulled his sword-the Master Sword-out from its sheath, the shining metal glowing a bright light amidst the darkness of battle.
It’s now or never, Link thought, turning around and setting his gaze on Hyrule Castle-where the Calamity was the most fierce. He shoved all nervousness he had down and lifted his head, watching as General Alaric and the knights in another battalion were struggling against what appeared to be both Moblins and Bokoblins. Link leapt forward, suddenly in the rush of battle yet again as he swung the sword with expert skill that was unparalleled by hardly anyone in the entire kingdom. Bokoblins disintegrated under his blade, and Moblins dropped their weapons in surrender to the mighty warrior-the true embodiment of the Spirit of the Hero.
“Sir Link! Over here!” Another knight called from the back of the line, where General Alaric was standing, his blade shutting out any bokoblin that it touched. Link raced quickly over, hitting one of the enemies square in the face with his shield.
“What is it?”
“Castle Town’s been under siege. You need to go help them there,” The knight paused. “We can handle this.” Seeing the concern on Link’s face, he added. “I promise you.”
As if that was going to calm his fear.
Link gave a steady nod and quickly placed a hand on the knight’s shoulder. “Fight bravely, we need every amount of strength we can get.”
He and the knight shared the same glance before both gave a nod to each other in regards. Link raced up ahead, heading north to Castle Town which was just a few miles away from Hyrule Castle. Still, too close enough for Link’s liking. As far as he knew, Zelda was inside Hyrule Castle along with her father, the king, who Link had been trying to protect for as long as he could before the king dispatched him when new knights came to their aid. He was needed on the field, the king had said-which by no means made Link feel okay with leaving them alone, even if it was the king’s orders.
Although, even then, after a moment of pause he conceded and followed in his command.
Link turned a corner and narrowly dodged a Guardian’s laser as he blocked it with his shield. Before the Calamity struck, the Guardians were on Hyrule’s side. Zelda even studied them for a time alongside Purah and Robbie, the Shekiah scientists. But nothing prepared them for the Calamity’s influence possibly seeping into the mechanics of the Guardians, which caused them to turn against them in the most vicious way. The knights of the Hylian army were barely a match for the malicious machines, and despite the fact they used to be training with them to use as weapons in combat-they didn’t have any experience on fighting against them.
Luckily, Link figured out that the strategy was to use a shield to parry the laser accurately back at them so they would be hit instead, but even that was a feat in and of itself.
Link continued running, staying low and ducking behind walls or buildings to avoid the Guardian Scouts. When he caught sight of a battalion facing off against a smaller group of Bokoblins and Moblins, Link easily swept in and quickly defeated them with a huff of relief as he was finished. He glanced back to look at the other knights and let out a couple of heaved breaths. “Where…do you need me?”
One of the knights looked concerned in the group and stepped forward, placing a hand on his arm in comfort. “You’ve been doing much in this fight, truthfully.”
Link didn’t respond to that, all but blink solemnly and glance back at him. “The Calamity can’t be defeated without me, so I’ll do what I can,” Link said, looking around for any other enemies. “So, where do you need me?”
“I’d say Eastern Castle Town area,” the knight muttered. “We’ll head on the Western Side, unless of course you need aid.”
Link shook his head. “I’ll be all right.”
Link was just in the process of turning to leave and bounding off again until he felt another firm hand rest on his shoulder.
“Stay safe, young soldier.” The knight muttered, motioning to Link’s left hand which was now slightly glowing in response to the Calamity since he drew closer to the castle. The imprint of the Triforce lit up and showed all who were near that he was the embodiment of courage itself. “Hyrule needs you, but it also needs you alive.”
Link gave a slight nod, some of his tiredness showing although he quickly returned to his knightly stoic attitude. “It needs us all alive, sir.” He muttered, and with a slight look back to them he bounded off in the Eastern direction once more.
Link bounded off, his breath coming in tired gasps as he was running far faster than he ever had in a desperate attempt to aid the other knights in that section of Castle Town. Despite Link being only seventeen years of age, he was already one of the strongest knights in Hyrule-and that, definitely, was no lie whatsoever. He had bested old squires and even knights at the age of seven, and despite that, it was true that Link’s father had forced a sword into his hand at the very moment he could stand.
Link was practically born into knighthood.
Link expertly leapt over the broken shards of boxes lying on the ground, torn apart due to the Guardian’s attacks and sieges. The village of Castle Town was mainly empty of residents, the only residents still lying around were the ones who were already dead. Link reached the Eastern area at record time, arriving at a perfect moment to pull out the shield from his back and hold it out protectively in front of him as he dealt a blow to one of the lingering Bokoblins that stood in his way. He growled, leaping into the other battalion of knights as he swung his sword with expert precision, the blade meeting the mark of many enemies.
If there was one thing Link was to be praised for, it was his courage.
“Sir Link! Thank koroks you’re here!” One of the knights commented as he brandished his sword at a clumsy foe. “We thought we had beaten them but another wave of Moblins came and hit us head on.” The soldier placed his sword in its sheath and gave a little nod to him. “I thank you.”
Link dipped his head respectfully in response. “Of course.” He muttered, his voice calm amongst the thundering roars of the battle around them. “It’s what I’m here for.”
“Look above you!” Someone from the battalion called, and Link’s head instantly shot up into the sky, where Vah Medoh, the Divine Beast of the Ritos that flew in the sky, was fighting off a bunch of attacks from the Guardian Skywatchers that floated about like little helicopters. Although, these “helicopters” were lethal killing machines armed with fierce lasers.
Not that Vah Medoh wasn’t prepared, of course.
Vah Medoh’s pilot and best archer of the Rito- Revali-was unparalleled in aerial combat throughout all of Hyrule, and although his skill spoke for himself, Revali still liked to talk it up a bit more than was necessary. He was arrogant, at times, but he was proud, and he had great strength, courage and determination.
All three of those things were needed to fend off the Calamity.
“Vah Medoh’s under attack,” Link breathlessly breathed out, placing his shield on his back yet again. “Those Skywatchers are lethal.”
“Indeed,” a knight commented from behind him. “But if anyone can defeat them, it’s Vah Medoh and Revali.”“He sure made a pretty good point of telling us that before.” Another knight commented, to which the other replied shortly thereafter.
“That he did.” He muttered in agreement.
Link said nothing, keeping to his stoic facade in disciplined silence. He didn’t gossip about the other Champions, nor made rude remarks about them. He was a loyal boy, a good knight, and he would never dare say anything bad about his friends behind their backs.
Link huffed. “The Calamity is getting more desperate,” He noticed, motioning to Hyrule Castle in the distance. “It knows its time is drawing to a close, which means…”
“It’s going to increase its violence.”
Link nodded in correction. He stared at the castle for a few moments, thinking up his next attack. Any general who ever trained knights at any garrison or citadel always told them to think of your plan before you make your next move, otherwise your action will be your last. Link always remembered those words and kept them to heart, and tried to remember all of his training for this very moment.
The power of the Calamity cannot be sealed away without Wisdom and Courage together keeping it at bay.
Link recalled the next stanza.
Wisdom and Courage, hand-in-hand-
Link paused, then glanced to his left hand which glowed with the Triforce symbol on it-a symbol that meant he held the Triforce of Courage and the Spirit of the Hero. He muttered the next part, the ending part, but his voice was speaking to no one in particular, so he kept it as a soft, gentle whisper.
“Must bring light back to this land.”