Tears of a Broken Kingdom

Chapter Twenty-four ~ Burned to the ground

It had been dormant for years, that was common knowledge.

But all sense of logic had supposedly been thrown out the window, because Death Mountain was erupting.

Black smoke plumes belched out of the volcano in the distance, lava spewed out over the top, which ran down in thin streams, dark like blood. The flow slowly increased and an entire side of the mountain seemed to be painted in molten rock.

A series of rumbles shook the earth, which made Zelda lock her legs in position to stay upright. Her knee caps jarred from the shudders but she kept trudging on, her mind ran in circles, lost within itself.

The bridge that went over the moat gaped open, which was unusual at such a late hour. But circumstance had changed the typical order of things, and Zelda hoped that this detail signified there'd been survivors.

The silence was so profound, it seemed the entire world had died, nothing left but her in the giant barren wasteland. At least it felt like that.

Zelda's mind had become short-circuited, the demand to continue forward cycled through her thoughts in a repetitive loop, it consumed all the other concerns she felt. Her arms ached from carrying her son but she ignored the pain. He was out like light, stuck in a shallow sleep that stole him from the panic and confusion the night had seemed to wrought upon them. Zelda was just glad he had found her, and that he was alive.

An image of the destruction of her childhood home flooded her mind, the weight of all those dead heavy on her consciousness. She had caused this.

It had to have been her fault, was this the punishment Hylia had given her? But it made no sense, this affected more than her. Nothing made sense.

>*<

Against all rational thought, Zelda found herself in front of the entrance to Kakariko.

There was no sign of turmoil yet, but one glance upward foretold destruction, as if there needed to be more.

The ground shuddered once again as a large crash came from above, along with screams of panic that echoed down the stone walls.

Zelda fixated her eyes on the volcano again to see it coming apart, the now molten sides of the mountain were seemingly deflating, collapsing in on itself. It hurt to swallow, a heavy pain in her heart, the Gorons... Zelda hoped some had gotten out.

The yelling grew louder as a small trickle of people began down the stairs, terror glowed in their eyes.

Were these all the survivors?

She felt a small movement in her arms and saw Ashton's bloodshot eyes open halfway.

He blinked a few times before he seemed to remember where he was, adjusting to the darkness.

"I-i can stand."

His voice was hoarse, wobbly with uncertainty.

Ashton seemed just as unbalanced and weary when he was back on the ground.

Zelda watched as her son took in the surrounding area, his hand on the strip cloth wrapped around his head. The back of the wrap was dark with blood, and it became apparent that the wound hadn't clotted.

Death Mountain collapsed further, and as the world shook once more Zelda saw the glint of hurt in his eye, mixed with a steely determination as he struggled to stay up. She put her hands on his shoulders to steady him, watched as he saw the sunken mountain above, one that had once stood tall over the land. What had even happened?

"Let's sit you down, okay?"

The blood concerned her, and she hoped that worrying about the injury would help distract him from the cruel reality.

Ashton complied and lowered himself to he ground, his focus still cast elsewhere.

As she went down to his levels Zelda began to notice the eyes on her. The huddled cluster of survivors stared at her with reverent eyes. She managed a smile in response, wondering what that was all about. It seemed more than just the gratitude their princess had lived, it held a deeper meaning than that, but she pushed away that thought as well, just another thought she'd have to worry about later.

There was also the thought on whether there were more survivors, where else had people fled? There had to be more. The people of Hyrule were like grass, in the way that grass always found a way to grow. This wasn't enough to completely eradicate, although the population had plummeted for sure.

As she peeled down the fraying cloth she'd haphazardly wrapped around her son's head, she was met with the unfortunate sight of the back of his head stained red, his hair matted with blood. What had even cut him? At first she'd only saw it as a wound from the impact of hitting the ground, or a shallow cut, but something must've punctured through the skin to cause this kind of damage. If it had been a lesser injury it would've clotted at least, right?

Staring at the bloodied scrap in her hands, it struck her that she had nothing else to use.

She'd discarded the rest of that ratty cloak back in town, thinking she'd be able to find something in Kakariko. But of course, she hadn't predicted the destruction would leave the confines of Castle Town. Had that been stupid to assume? Now, as she thought about it, Zelda felt like somehow this should've made perfect sense to her. Whatever had happened in that rift, it had been detrimental.

Ashton's face was starting to look pale, and despite the expression he had, it had to be painful.

Zeldas hands went down to her pant leg, she'd rip off part of that to use. It wasn't as thick or absorbent as the other scrap, but it was better than nothing.

"No, here, your Highness,"

Zelda had been so worried over her son she hadn't even heard the footsteps of the woman standing in front of her, a piece of heavy cloth in her hand.

It must've come from her own hood, the hem of it jagged and frayed from being ripped.

"Oh no.. you don't have to..."

Her voice caught, feeling a knot in her throat for over the kindness shown to her.

"Please... take it, "

"T-thank you,"

The woman smiled and then walked back over to the other villagers. Zelda tied the cloth around her son's head, hoping it would continue to help stop the bleeding. It was absorbent, at least.

In the silence that followed, another pack of people shot out of the stairwell, Hylians and Gorons this time. One she recognized, it had been that man from before, the one with the mask.

"Is this it?" asked a Hylian who'd been with the group of previous escapers.

"Didn't see anyone else. There's still some of us up there though, double checking."

That was a Goron who'd said that, arms crossed as the Hylians ran over to the others, grim expressions on their faces, but there was a quick reprieve that gave way to relief.

While the Goron and Hylian exchanged some more short lines, Zelda found her voice and made her way to them. She hated to intrude upon their conversation, but she at least wanted to know what was going on- even if it wasn't the big picture.

"May I ask... what happened?"

Her hand pointed towards the direction of Kakariko, and as she lifted her arm she felt the exhaustion that laced her movements.

In this dark nightmarish world, despite how unreal it seemed, the ache of life still remained. It felt like weeks since she'd slept, although that wasn't true. It had been a long time since she'd had a restful night though. She missed him so much, and now the pain was brand new.

Recognition flashed on their faces and they seemed to remember who Zelda was, and her status. It shouldn't matter anymore, what kingdom would she be coming back to?

It was gone after all. Burned to the ground.