Hero by Heart

Chapter 44

He was too late. He had never for a second considered the possibility that Zelda would be in more danger than he was, but the world played a cruel trick on him.
Ever since the conversation he had overheard last night, he had tried everything in his power to get back, but it was like his luck had finally run out.
Despite his rush and the threat of imminent danger constantly at the back of his head, it seemed like everything on his path had tried to slow him down.
First he had made his way to the exit, where he found out that the day outside had passed. He was stopped by a guard who wouldn't let him leave at night without an official order, so there was no way out.
Link then searched for a hidden exit, but in vain, so that he was forced to hide between the stalagmites and try to get some sleep.
When he woke in the morning after a turbulent night, he once again tried to leave, and this time the boulder was removed without question.
Outside Link discovered that his biological clock had been knocked out of whack after spending all this time in the dark tunnels, as it was already well past sunrise.
Silently cursing himself, Link started the laborious walk back to town, since this time he didn't have a sand seal at his disposal.
As if the soft sand and oppressing heat weren't enough to slow his progress, the desert was littered with small groups of monsters, who attacked him as soon as he was spotted.
With only his dagger and bow to defend himself, he tried to avoid fighting as much as possible, but he couldn't go out of his way to get around them forever.
Eventually he managed to defeat a group of three Bokoblins and raid their weapons, which weren't much to begin with.
If he had known that he could hide his sword once he was inside the caves, then he wouldn't have such difficulty to find a proper weapon now.
But of course Link hadn't foreseen any of it, and he had to make the best of the circumstances, terrible as they were.

As far away as the Bazaar he could already hear the clashing of weapons, and see the black mass spread out over the sand, indicating for the first time just how massive this attack really was.
With new determination he rushed on, no longer caring what monster would get in his way, convinced that it would soon regret doing that.
In the end he was exhausted and irritated, but when he noticed the giant Hinox all inconveniences were instantly forgotten.
He ran as hard as he could, knowing how much damage that thing could cause inside the town's walls.
From a large distance he took out his bow and fired two bomb arrows, both colliding with the thick skin of the giant and doing little more damage than toppling it.
He now had a clear view of its eye, though, and quickly sent his regular arrows towards it, moving faster than he had ever done in his desperate need to find Zelda.
The Hinox was lying on the ground blinded and Buliara quickly ended it, but Link noticed that it was not over yet.
Still running as fast as he could, he threw away all skills or techniques and simply barrelled himself into the Moblin that had wanted to sneak up on the Gerudo.
After quickly piercing it with the rusty sword he had taken from a Bokoblin, he looked up to judge the damage.
That was when he saw her.

She was standing under the gate, just behind a row of Gerudo Warriors, but it was obvious that she had been fighting.
Her hair was sticking out in all directions and she looked hot and exhausted, swaying a little on her legs.
When she noticed him looking he couldn't help but smile, and felt his heart flutter when she blushed and smiled back.
     As soon as the smile had appeared on his face, though, so soon did it disappear again when he noticed the Lizalfos breaking through the Gerudo and running toward his princess.
     He screamed a warning, his heart seeming to stop at the realization that he was too far away to protect her.
     After all this effort to get back to her side, an ironic twist of fate now forced him to watch as the spear disappeared deeply into her side.
     'NO!' He screamed, with so much force that he startled the monsters closest to him.
     'Zelda!' He screamed, his voice breaking as he violently started slashing around in his attempts to break through the lines.
     Without pausing for a breath he screamed and yelled, roaring in powerless anger at the monsters in front of him.
     'Link!' A voice called out from behind, but he ignored it.
     There was only one goal left in his mind, and that was to move forward, whatever it took.
     'LINK!'
     He shot an annoyed look over his shoulder, only to find Buliara coming after him, holding up his very own sword.
     He halted long enough for her to catch up and took the weapon without a word, seeing the grim face of the Captain as she nodded.
     He nodded back, turned around and unsheathed the famous Master Sword, its sharp blade blinding in the sunlight.
     After that everything went red.