Chapter 3: Drakyira

 

“Who’s hungry?” Nathan and Zelda both admitted to the rumblings in their stomachs. Link looked to Nathan.

“I snipe them, you fry them?” he asked.

“Same as always. We don’t want you burning down all of Hyrule.” Link dug through his equipment and pulled out a bow and a quiver full of sharp, broad-tipped arrows.

“The sun’s setting,” he said, “I’ll be back before long.” He headed off into the woods.

“I better get a fire going,” Nathan commented, starting to put some wood in a pile.

“I’ll help.”

“That’s okay, your Highness. I can take care of it.”

“I’m still going to help. And call me Zelda.”

It was one day after Link and Nathan had rescued Princess Zelda. After thanking them several times, she told them about Miniras, the Hylian fortress hidden deep within the mountains. It was as strong, if not stronger, than Hyrule Castle. It was large enough to hold all the civilized people of Hyrule. It was true that many families had to share rooms together, but that was the least of the people’s worries. Link and Nathan were surprised when they heard that it really existed. As children they had been told stories about it, but thought it was just stories. In fact, only the Royal Family, its closest friends, and the village leaders knew of its existence and location. Not even Ganondorf knew about it. Zelda told them that that’s where everyone would go, and where her father would be, if he was still alive. She was rather quiet after that, worried about the condition of her father and brother. Only the news of Impa had brought a small inkling of joy to her heart.

The two of them collected pieces of wood and after a few minutes had a fire going. They sat, watching it burn.

“So what is it exactly that you and Link do?” she asked.

“We’re adventurers, to put it bluntly. We wander the land in search of… well, adventure.”

“Don’t you have homes? Families?”

“Nope,” Nathan responded. “Well, we both have our own little houses, but we don’t stay in them very often. And both our families are dead.”

“What happened?”

“My mother died giving birth to me. My father…” Nathan stopped talking, looking to the ground.

“I’m sorry,” Zelda said, “I didn’t mean to dig up anything.”

“It’s okay. I just… I just find this painful to talk about.”

“So how do you know Link?” Zelda asked in an attempt to change the subject.

“We’re childhood friends. After we lost our parents, all we really had left was each other. So we decided to stick together. Both of us wanted to see the outside world, and seeing as how no one was going to miss us, we packed up and left.” Zelda looked at Nathan. It surprised her that what seemed to be such carefree young man was really full of painful memories. She wondered if Link was the same way.

Nathan looked back at Zelda. Her blue eyes were among the most beautiful he had ever seen. He noticed that she was looking back at him and they both immediately looked back to the fire, blushing lightly.

 

Meanwhile, Link was in the forest, hunting. He saw a small, plump, brown rabbit hopping along. Link silently pulled the bowstring back and released it, the arrow instantly killing the small animal. He removed the arrow and picked up the rabbit along with the other he had killed a few minutes earlier. As he headed back to the campsite, his thoughts wandered. More specifically, they wandered to the young princess that he had helped rescue the day before. She was as beautiful as people said, if not more. He loved her smile; as little as he saw it. As Link got closer to Nathan and Zelda, he could hear them laughing.

“And then,” he heard Nathan say, laughing, “I finally found him, desperately beating a tree branch with his sword!” They both laughed. Link sighed. Nathan was sharing Link’s “Undead Tree Incident.”

“Hey, you saw it from a completely different angle. From where I was lying, it looked exactly like the hand of a Redead,” Link said, emerging from the trees. Nathan and Zelda laughed, while Link just shook his head.

“Take these,” he said, handing the rabbits to Nathan. He sat down and looked at Zelda. “Tell me, your Highness, have you ever seen a guy get a full-blown kiss from a Moblin?” Link asked, Nathan immediately giving Link a horrified expression.

 

“Explain to me,” Ganon said slowly, trying to contain himself, “Exactly how an entire kingdom can completely disappear.”

“I-I don’t know, Lord Ganon,” the Moblin said, terrified of his monstrous superior. Ganon glared down at the Moblin. He was hiding something.

“Is there something that you’re not telling me?”

“N-no, my lord. I tell you all I know.” Ganon studied him hard.

“Where have I seen you before?” he asked.

“I… I am humble servant, Lord Ganon.” Suddenly, Ganon remembered.

“You were the driver of Princess Zelda’s prison carriage,” he said. He focused on the Moblin, and, using his magic, raised him in the air. The mortified Moblin squealed, his legs flailing around.

“What happened?” Ganon asked.

“W-we attacked. W-we try to s-stop them, but they get away with Princess. They say you should leave pointy-ears alone.” Ganon’s eyes narrowed.

“Who?”

“T-two adventurers. One wear green, the other red.” Tears of fright streamed down the Moblin’s face.

“Where?”

“L-lost Woods.” Ganon snarled and shot a fireball from his fingertips, incinerating the Moblin. High-pitched screams emanated from the creature.

 

“Hey, Zelda, wake up.” Zelda woke up to Link shaking her shoulder. It was very early in the morning. The sun wouldn’t come up for another few hours.

“What is it?” she asked, yawning.

“You’ll see. Follow me.” Zelda wrapped a blanket around herself and followed Link. They walked through the forest for a short distance, meeting Nathan at a small clearing with a stream running through it.

“Shh,” Nathan whispered, not taking his eyes away from the clearing. He pointed. “Look there.” Zelda looked to where he was pointing and gasped. The animal was very similar to a horse. It had a shimmering, almost glowing, silver coat. A soft white mane ran down its neck. A single horn protruded from its forehead.

“A unicorn,” she whispered.

“They’re fond of maidens, you know,” Link said. Zelda looked at him. “Go ahead.” Zelda cautiously stepped out into the clearing. The unicorn looked up quickly, and then slowly bent its head back down to the stream, lapping up the cool, clear water. Zelda slowly continued toward the graceful beast, and finally reached it. She slowly and nervously reached out, and began to gently caress the animal. It slowly raised its head again and looked at her. All she found in its big gray eyes was comfort. She smiled at it. It suddenly nuzzled its head against her, making her laugh. Link and Nathan smiled, watching this spectacle. Nathan nodded to Link, and they slowly approached the gentle beast. Seeing that Zelda didn’t view them as a threat, it allowed them to touch it as well. Suddenly, they heard a twig snap. The unicorn snorted and ran away.

“Wait!” Zelda cried, but it was too late. Link and Nathan peered into the woods, seeing a Goriya quickly trying to get away.

“We’ve been spotted! Come on!” Nathan yelled, he and Link drawing their swords. The three chased after the monster, winding between the trees. Link took the lead, Nathan in the middle, and Zelda at the end, trying to keep up.

 

The chase led them to a cave. Torches lined its rock walls. The entrance finally opened up. The Goriya, tired of running, turned around, drawing its crude blade and snarling. Link blocked its attack and twisted his sword around, disarming it. He stabbed it in the center of its chest. The Goriya made one final, desperate swipe at his face and died. Link removed his sword and turned back to Nathan and Zelda.

“Are you two okay?” he asked. Zelda nodded, but Nathan was staring in another direction, his eyes wide with fear. Zelda and Link turned and found what had drawn his gaze. A loud screech echoed from deep inside the cave, along with several tapping sounds. The outline of a giant arachnid appeared in the shadows. It was a red Deeler, greatly increased in size. It finally stepped out of the shadows. It looked down on them with eight black eyes. Link, being the tallest, only came up to its knees. Zelda shrieked, and Nathan and Link both took a step back, raising their swords. Snarls echoed from other tunnels leading into the cavern. Stalfos and Lizalfos, clad in crude armor, trailed out of the tunnels. Zelda chanted in a foreign tongue, and stalagmites shot out of the ground, impaling several of the monsters to the ceiling. The Deeler lunged at Link, its fangs wide open. Link barely blocked it and returned with a blow to its head. The monster squealed, but it did little damage to its hard exoskeleton. It smacked Link out of the way with one leg and chased after him.

 

Zelda and Nathan were having their own problems. More skeletons and lizards poured out of the tunnels. Nathan proceeded to hack his way through the swarm, Zelda firing bolts of golden magic. Nathan slew a Lizalfos, and twisted out of the way of two oncoming attacks, causing the two attacking lizards to stab each other.

Zelda continued to use her magical powers, but she was quickly running out of energy to do so. She turned around to see the skeletal face of a Stalfos. It smacked her across the face, knocking her to the ground. She turned to see it raise its sword coming down towards her face, but another blocked it. Link shoved the Stalfos back and chopped its head off. Suddenly, the Deeler knocked him away. Nathan, finishing off the last Stalfos, ran over and helped Zelda up.

“Listen,” he said quickly, “I’m going to break open its abdomen. When that happens, I want you to blast the hole. Do you understand?” Zelda nodded weakly. Nathan ran to help his friend. The Deeler had grabbed Link by its fangs and had thrown him against the wall. Link’s sword was still doing nothing to its head. Even its eyes were protected. Nathan summoned all his strength and chopped off the monster’s stinger. Zelda immediately fired a golden bolt of magic into the creature’s wound. It squealed as its exoskeleton suddenly shriveled and became softer. Link took this chance to stab it in the eyes, his blade going straight to its brain. It dropped him and backed off, screeching horribly and bleeding black blood. Finally, it fell still. Link removed his weapon from the corpse. He turned to face Nathan, who was supporting Zelda. Both of them looked afraid.

“Link,” Nathan said, “drop your weapon, turn around, and kneel.” Link let his sword clatter on the ground and slowly turned around. He immediately kneeled before the sight he saw. A large, powerful dragon with gold scales had come from the passageway.

“Powerful one,” Nathan said, knowing that disrespecting the beast would mean certain death, “Forgive us of our intrusion. We do not wish to take anything that is rightfully yours. We merely followed a beast not nearly as civilized as you into this cave, and we were just about to leave.”

“Silence,” the dragon responded, with a deep, gruff, and yet feminine voice, “and do not fear. You have slain the creature that held the key to my imprisonment. A dark man named Ganondorf Dragmire held me as a prisoner of my own cave after I refused to aid him.” The three remained silent. “However, you have dealt me a great service.”

“We are happy to have done this, Superior Lady” Nathan said, slowly and nervously. The dragon seemed amused.

“I have already told you to not fear me, Hylian.” Link, Zelda, and Nathan all slowly looked up. The beast was frightening, and yet, beautiful. “Tell me your names.”

“Link, son of Arn.”

“Nathan, son of Tannis.”

“Zelda, daughter of Harkinian and Princess of Hyrule.” The dragon looked closely at all three of them.

“I am Drakyira, leader of the Golden Dragons. Great troubles will come to all of you. Zelda, daughter of Harkinian, you have a great role to play. In time, you will understand the secrets of the gods’ most sacred emblem. Nathan, son of Tannis, you will face your worst fear. Do not be troubled by thoughts of what may happen; you will see all of this to the end. And you, Link, son of Arn, your trials will be the greatest of all. Never fear the powers of darkness, for that will surely be your downfall.” She looked at the three of them again. “Go in peace. Know that we will meet again. My people will aid you in the final hour.” The dragon turned and left, leaving Link, Zelda, and Nathan completely bewildered.

 

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