LINK STOOD up against the wall, just out of the sight line of any of the monsters above him.

He wriggled his toes against the fabric of his stockings absent mindedly, trying to think of what to do.

Quietly making his way back down to where he drew the master sword, he searched the chamber for any potential escape routes.

There were none.

The only option was through the fires of battle. And despite the staggering challenge, he... he...

He... he did not feel afraid. It was an invigorating feeling.

Gerudo, it... it was an amazing feeling! So much of his life, even some simple tasks, were dominated by fear and anxiety. He did them grudgingly, and at a painfully slow pace.

But no more.

Today, he was the wielder of the master sword. And he was going to show Farore that he could use it.

He walked back to the stairs, and ducked out of sight just in time to hear the sound of loud grunting at the top. The monsters had discovered the stairs. The statue had hidden them at the time of the battle.

Metal clanked as the creatures came down the stairs. It was not the clean, quiet clanking he'd imagined of ancient warriors. This was an unpleasant grating sound, one would hear when striking a shovel against a stone.

Link hung in the shadows, outside of light cast by braziers. The monsters walked into the chamber. They were very large, wearing rough looking armor.

There were two of them. They examined the pedestal where the master sword had once been. They weren't fools. They knew what had been there. They snarled deeply, and angrily through their helmets.

And then, to Link's horror, one of them took out a gigantic great sword. In pure rage, the beast crashed the weapon through the beautiful stained glass windows. He knocked over braziers behind them that had given them their light.

As the monster viciously attacked the windows, it moved around the room.

Soon, it was no more than a few feet from him. And its eyes - sharp yellow eyes, glowing like a predator through its helm - landed on Link.

In a second, Link had landed the master sword's tip into the helmet's eye slit.

He did not wait for the other creature to react, but jumped to the side and engaged it as well. Link had the advantage of surprise, and got in several blows on the creature's armor chinks before his opponent could fight back.

The breastplate fell off of the monster after Link severed its bands, and Link slashed the beast across its brown-grey chest.

The once formidable foe fell to the floor like its fellow warrior.

Like its companion however, neither was completely defeated, only wounded. But Link wasn't here to kill. He was going to escape.

He ran up the stairs, and ignored any sense of stealth. A primal shock jumped in his veins, as he saw the army of Ganondorf living again.

They did not waste any time.

Link ran for the stairs to the upper level of the hall. The monsters had congregated towards the center of the room, but now charged in his direction.

As he ran up the stairs, he saw his exit towards the garden blocked by several more fighters.

Fletch. This wasn't going to be easy.

He ran towards the front of the hall. Immediately in front of him, another staircase went upward.

Farore, he thought, please let there be no monsters up there...

His path wasn't blocked, but the sound of thundering armor continued behind him. Although he was on edge, he noted that they were weighed down by armor, and he was not.

He passed out of their sight as he got to the top of the stairs, and came to a junction of hallways. Making an instant decision, he whipped into the left hallway, and tore through a door, then immediately shut it.

He heard the muffled sound of his pursuers going up the stairs.

He was silent as the grave.

Although Link preferred to avoid problems, he did not enjoy hiding. The tense feeling of his heart pounding was too stressful. He hated the constant tenseness in the air - the fear that you could be caught at any time.

He was in what appeared to be a kitchen. Alive again after being frozen in time, it looked as though someone had just been cooking. Various types of produce were laid on tables, and a pot was steaming on top of a stone oven.

Link waited for his pumping blood to slow, and then snatched what looked like a pear off the table, taking bites as he ran towards a door at the other side of the room.

Ugh, it was more sour than he was used to.

He couldn't hear as much clanking armor outside, but he wasn't going to risk going back into the hallway. His hand grasped the door handle, but he paused.

He heard sound on the other side.

Link was surrounded.

Gerudo.

He thought about hiding in the cupboards. He was too big, and that would cause too much noise.

As he looked for a way to hide, he saw a strange box inset into the wall. Going up to it, he saw ropes and pulleys attached to it. When he pulled on a certain rope, the box moved up.

Link didn't hear immediate danger, but he wasn't going to wait for it to come. With all the quiet grace he could muster, he carefully got into the box, and started pulling on the rope.

The box carried him up, and into darkness. Now, a little bit more hidden, he breathed a sigh of relief. He was cramped in the small box, but he was safe. He pulled the rope slowly, trying his best to avoid making more noise.

Light came into the box again, and he saw a dining room in front of him. After waiting for a minute or so, he felt safe getting out.

Gigantic windows flooded the room with light. In the darker corners there were more burning braziers. The walls were intricately decorated, shining with gold highlights. Even the walls sparkled.

Nearly as grand as the tower of the gods, the vaulted ceilings weren't just plain, but had the same gold inlays as the walls. Here, here was a different time. A time where the Hylian people were not sprinkled across the ocean, but were capable of rearing elegant, beautiful structures.

The floor beneath his feet was soft. There were long rugs of soft fabric, the likes of which he'd never seen.

He left the dining room, walking into a hallway. He did not hear the sound of any of the monsters as he explored this part of the castle, though he was always very cautious.

He was in the process of trying rooms in a hallway, when he opened up to a very large chamber. Matching the chamber's size was a fittingly large bed, and an abundance of furniture.

Glass doors opened to a balcony, overlooking the lake.

With the color restored, Link briefly gawked at the expansive, grand landscape. It was a world they had lost.

Paintings of individuals he didn't recognize hung on the walls - probably people in the royal family.

He wondered if this was one of their bedrooms.

Link walked up to the bed, and found a worn book on top of the covers.

Even more difficult to read than the books in the tower of gods, this was written by hand - it seemed to be a journal. He turned to the back of the book, and examined its contents.

I hath failed my kingdom.

Ganondorf's army is marching for the castle, and shall arrive in no more than a day.

In the midst of terrors caused by Ganondorf, I hath not risked mine troops, peradventure he should destroy them, and make me appear as a failure in the eyes of my people.

And in my pridefulness, I hath cost many lives as the Gerudo army plows this hardened land.

And to add to my sorrow, Zora's River and Lake Hylia hath risen higher and higher, flooding many villages.

I see that the goddesses are afflicting this people, for our pride and forgetfulness. We ceased following their ideals, and now we shall perish - whether it be in the cold flood or the fire of battle, I do not know.

Zelda hath begun leading many to the hills and mountains. Even mine own daughter doubts if I am able.

Link found one more entry.

The flooding has grown worse in less than a day. Though much of the army was destroyed in the deluge, and they are slowed for a time, it has done as great a damage to our own forces.

I ordered the kingdom to escape. And most of the people have done so.

But most grievous to my soul; some remain who are as foolish as me. A number of guards, and some servants. Whether in bravery or denial, I know not. It mattereth not. Death will come upon all of us who do not flee.

We hath cried to the goddesses to bring forth a hero, but I know in my heart that none shall come. There are none in Hyrule who would accept a call from the goddesses, for we have grown complacent with our wealth, and forgotten them.

I assumed Ganondorf was dead. I waxed fat in my pride, and now shall watch my negligence travel in its natural course.

I hath failed you Di-nan, Nara-ru, and Fae-roreh. I plead that these last acts I hath done in haste hath removed some of my former errors.

Oh why hath ye forsaken us! Why, oh why hath we lost our kingdom? Did our prosperity not bring joy into your eyes?

All that is left to me now, is to weep. The foreseen glory of the Hylian kingdom hath been destroyed by our own wickedness.

I shall die alone. And even worse, I shall die, having become more wicked than the violence my father and grandfather dealt. In these final days, I hath done worse than they.

I selfishly pray, here, that with the destruction of this kingdom, that I may be forgotten.

That none will remember that I became as heartless as Ganondorf.

Link felt the heavy sadness that this land was stricken with. He'd never known that some people had died in the flooding of Hyrule. He'd assumed that it was almost easy leaving it. He hadn't considered that these people had homes that they loved, and had worked hard to build.

And then there had been those who died. People always died. But something about this felt different.

He imagined how he would feel if Outset Island slowly began to sink, day by day. He felt guilty. He doubted he could've done abandoned it.

Link dropped the journal back on the bed, and paced around the room. Why did the goddesses ask so much of them? Why didn't the hero of time stay in the land? Why didn't the goddesses send a new hero?

It was an uncomfortable feeling, imagining the destruction of the ocean falling on top of the kingdom.

He had heard stories in his day of massive storm waves tearing apart entire villages. He'd heard accounts of the horrible suffering.

He felt ashamed for doubting the goddesses - he knew they had guided him on this journey. They had helped him obtain the master sword.

But what about everyone else? Why didn't the goddesses try to save Hyrule again?

In the midst of his inner turmoil, he was interrupted.

A loud crack rang in his ears as an axe blade splintered through the door.

Link ran for the balcony, and got through the doors right as he heard the door blow open.

He didn't think. He grabbed at thick vines on the outside walls of the castle, and began climbing.

The monster sounded a guttural roar behind him.

He didn't turn around to look. He grabbed up on the edge of the roof, and climbed up.

A spear struck the indigo roof tiles near him, and he desperately staggered up the roof. The tiles were smooth, and made it hard to gain any traction.

He should've torn the vines off. Now he was just going to be followed!

Link dared to look back, and watched in fright as the monster leaped from the balcony straight onto the roof.

Link continued slipping his way up the roof until he reached the ridge of the roof. There was no place to run - large towers flanked him on every side.

He drew the master sword, ready for battle.

The monster - a moblin, struck his axe into the tile as Link got out of the way. Link slid part way down the roof, knocking tiles off.

He caught himself, and thinking quickly, grabbed the one rope he'd found on Dragon Roost Island.

The moblin was straining to pull its axe out of the roof.

Link cast the rope towards it.

He missed. It hooked onto the other side of the roof. Link tugged on it, and used it to help him climb back up.

The moblin nearly drove the axe into his back. Link rolled out of the way, sliding down the roof again.

He put the master sword in its sheath, and carefully moved further down the length of the roof. The moblin tried hitting him with the axe again, but once again, got it stuck in the wood beneath the tiles.

It discarded the weapon, and drew a spear from its back. Link jumped at his combatant, striking the spear hard, and driving the moblin back.

As they fought, Link felt the master sword invigorate him. He tired less, and his strokes were more precise. The monster retreated backward. Link was winning.

He fell into a defensive stance, waiting for his opponent to come near again. If he got in a good blow to the side, he might be able to get it to fall off the roof.

But the moblin seemed oddly distracted by something. It looked off into the distance. Link couldn't see anything in that direction.

Something echoed across the landscape. It grew louder, and louder. Link soon recognized it. It was the sound of horn blowing, far in the distance.

He struck the moblin in the side, and it bellowed as it tumbled down the slope. It flew off the roof, and plummeted to the water below.

Link breathed deeply as he continued to hear the horn. Looking down at the bridge to the castle's front entrance, Link saw a massive flood of monsters run out of the castle.

They ran in the direction of the horn.

Link didn't have any idea what was happening. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. What he did know however, was that he was free to escape.

A few minutes later, Link carefully lowered himself back onto the balcony, and his instincts for survival felt a rush of relief.

He glanced back at the book on the bed. As he walked passed it, he felt like he should take it.

It was someone's private journal. Perhaps that was insensitive.

He felt the compelling feeling again.

Link put the journal in his satchel. He also saw a bookshelf, and felt impressed to grab several of the books from there as well.

He grabbed a volume of Hylian history, and two books that appeared to cover scientific topics, then some others that he didn't entirely understand. He was unsure what the purpose of these were, but they added no weight, with the unique properties of his satchel.

The hallways were vacant when he left the room. It felt as still as it had when time was frozen.

He found his way back to the entrance he'd come into the castle through.

Light flooded into his eyes, casting away the shadows in the castle. And hope flowed into his heart, casting away the fear of the past.nHe was going to fight Ganondorf, the king of evil, the Gerudo thief.

Hyrule's ultimate enemy was waiting for him.

And for the first time, Link felt ready.