Triforce of Essence | Legend of Zelda Fan Fiction

Chapter 6: Chance

Link’s POV

I hear a scream—and it isn’t that far away.

I bolt to my right, skidding under a fallen branch and Midna flies up off of me to view from above. One thing I don’t expect is for the ground beneath my feet to suddenly disappear, so I run over the edge of a ten-foot miniature cliff made of a smoothed rock face, like the rain has completely worn it over through the millennia. I hear a whimper, and do a roundabout to face the cold stone incline of sediment; to see the bloodiest sight of my life.

A tannish-white wolf with black markings identical to mine on its forehead with a black and orange long sword sticking through its pale white stomach. It goes all the way through the front and out the back at an angle that barely misses its spine, and it is laying on its side. The little blood there is stains the soft cream fur crimson. The only reason the wound is barely bleeding is because the sword is still there to plug the flow—the moment we remove it, the blood will be everywhere.

Everywhere.

But that’s when I realize that the wolf isn’t an it. It, is a she.

She is Neri.

“Neri!”

Midna hops off my back and runs to the tan and white wolf, her eyes wide as she heaves. I’ve never seen her hyperventilate so much. Her small dark feet pad against the ground until she leans against Neri, and almost collapses. I feel a million pounds settle in the pit of my stomach that eat away at my insides.

This is my fault.

I almost scream, but it comes out as a distraught howl. Midna’s horrified face turns to mine and she gives a defeated glance to me and raises her arm to extract the twilight crystal. The patience to wait for my bones to reform takes too long, and I brokenly limp as I get up and run to her. When the last of the fur recedes into the palms of my hands, I full-on sprint to Neri.

“NERI!” I yell. Her eyes are closed, and she isn’t breathing much at all. I limply fall to my knees and pull her whitish-tan head onto my lap. “Neri, come on! Please wake up!” I scream at her desperately. My heart is in my throat and I feel faint, like I could pass out—but I won’t. I have to save her—I have no choice in the matter.

Midna materializes a potion: a purple one for the critically injured. I give her a nod as the neck of the bottle flies into my hand, and I waste no time pulling the cork from the flask I try to open the wolf’s mouth, and pour in small amounts so that I don’t choke her. I look over at the gruesome sight of her stomach, but blood steadily leaks from the gouge. I grit my teeth and look over to her again, and I hear her breaths. They’re louder than before, but rattling and wheezing.

While I want to make her drink all of this potion, I know it will do very little. Most of the work will have to be done with my own hands—but they are trembling too much. More of the bitter violet fluid is poured down her throat, and I wait a few seconds for it to take effect. I bounce my knee, take a deep breath, everything, but the seconds stretch on over hours. I glance back to the hilt of the sword again, and I see that the wound has stopped bleeding slightly, slowing it to a gradual dribble.

“Link...” Midna murmurs quietly. She has her hand on the black designs on Neri’s forehead—that are the exact same as mine—and is looking to the black hilt of the sword, engraved with orange designs. “We have to take it out, don’t we?” She looks pale and sickly, like she’s being forced to kill someone.

Her eyes are blank and emotionless, something I never aspired to see. The two liveliest people I know, Midna and Neri, both have dead eyes. Something I promised myself I would never allow or cause.