The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild  

Bonus Chapter: Courage, Wisdom and Power

I pulled Epona to a stop. We finally reached the gates of Hyrule Castle. It has been a harsh trip getting here for sure. Making it past all those monsters and the Guardians. I needed to admit, that the Shiekah-Tribe, which had built these ancient spider robots 10 000 years ago, really must have known what they were doing. I got off from my loyal horse, which just shook her mane. She looked like she was worried.

No worries. Nothing can go wrong. I’m just trying to save a princess from the demon king himself, who are both located on top of an extremely high-guarded castle. What could possibly go wrong right?

 I quitted my anxious thoughts, gave Epona a last loving pat on the back and then climbed the outer castle wall. The castle was huge. Apart from the overwhelming decay and the smell of death in the air, it was just like 100 years ago, the time I last saw it. The city around the castle was all in ruins, nothing left of the people that had once lived there. The castle itself was mostly positioned on the huge hill in the middle of the complex. And in the middle, the highest point of the building, there was the throne room. That was my destination. But there was one thing I needed to do first. I looked to the right of the throne room. There it was, the only thing that seemed kind of untouched: Zelda’s studying tower… and also, her room.

I sneaked toward the tower, which was rather difficult, just as I had expected. It was frightening to sneak around the guardians, which roamed the area. And they weren’t just on the ground. No, they were also in the air: big, flying guardian drones with blinding light beams that searched every inch of ground. And of course there were all types of monsters, with weapons that cut you just by looking at them. Just as I passed a white Bokoblin, I stood onto a branch. He immediately turned around and pulled his horn to alert everyone else. But I was faster. I pulled my Sheikah-Slate and pressed a button. Suddenly, he was frozen in time. He didn’t move at all. His runny pig nose and his large ears were frozen in a weird state of movement. I put the Sheikah-Slate back into my pocket. Man, I loved that thing, with its many functions. I took my bow from my back, pulled an arrow onto it, pulled the string back and released it. The arrow hit him right between his eyes. Still no movement. I didn’t wait for the stasis to wear of. I was about to scale the tower.

I was close to one of the windows. There was some kind of muggy ash in the air. It was not natural, without a doubt. I reached the window and entered it. I was in Zelda’s lab. She had loved to experiment around. Especially with the guardians, after our people dug them out. She had been obsessed with them. Her lab was an absolute mess. All the papers were on the ground and the glass jars were broken. Only her Silent Princess was still in place inside a pot. I remembered the day I picked the flower for her. We had been on Hyrule Field for researching plants. She had tried to make me one of her test subjects and had wanted to feed a frog to me. I smiled, remembering the day.

Just past a small bridge was the entrance to her room. Also, a mess. There were boulders all around the room, her mirror was shattered and her bed was all dusty. I sat on it for a second. It felt kind of harder than last time. I stood up and searched the room. Where was it? Not in the wardrobe, not on the night table… Then I remembered. It rested on the table in front of her shattered mirror. I picked up the picture frame. Inside was our first picture together. The day we became friends. I put it inside my pocket. I remembered the last thing I’ve had told her that day…

“I promise that I’ll be there for you, no matter what. I can’t die… because I need to protect you.”

And then it had all went down so fast. The appearance of the demon king himself, his overtaking of the robotic brains of the guardians, our escape of Hyrule Castle and the city, the destruction of our home, the death of all our friends and King Rhoam, Zelda’s dad. And then, just in front of an outpost fortress, the guardians had catched up. We couldn’t have walked any further. We had been wounded and all wrung out. Of course I had protected her. I had stood right between her and a guardian, with nothing but a sword. I would’ve died for her that day. But at the end, it had been her, who saved me from certain death. After years and years her magical powers, which the goddesses of creation had gifted to her at birth, had awoken. The last thing I had seen before I got unconscious had been her, standing in front of me, like a protecting angel. After that they had put me into a regenerative sleep… for 100 years. Zelda then returned to the castle to seal the demon, to wait for her hero to arrive.

“I didn’t protect her. I could’ve prevented her century-long imprisonment ”, I thought to myself. Tears were in my eyes, the room was spinning around me. I slapped myself.

Get it together Link! Stop being a little cry-baby and start to be the appointed knight of the princess. Be the hero of legend!

 It was then, when I heard a voice: “Link… Link… Link! Please… help me…”

Zelda’s voice. I ran out, onto the bridge. There was a small glowing point behind all the smoke that surrounded the castle. I knew what to do. I climbed over to a ledge over Zelda’s bedroom, where the garden had been. But there was nothing left but a huge wall of stone, that separated me from the castle. Well nothing except… a waterfall! I changed into my zora-armour, a present of an old friend. I entered the small pond in front of the waterfall and charged towards it. In the blink of an eye I was swimming up the waterfall like a fish. Or, like someone of the zora-tribe. I flew up into the air and then landed on the ground. I changed back into my Champion’s tunic.

Only a small pathway was separating me from the throne room. A red moon rose behind the castle. I ran. I was so close to her. I would not fail! And then, a dark silhouette appeared from the smoke. It almost looked like a boar made of smoke. And there were these stinging, yellow glowing eyes. There he was: Calamity Ganon, the Demon King – Scourge of Hyrule Castle. He charged at me but he bounced off a barrier in front of me. My right hand was glowing. It was an ancient, god made relict, meant to meet with his two fellow pieces, once again. Legends told of it; the legendary Triforce. It had chosen me as its hero… No time to think about it. I ran into the throne room.

In the middle of the room, there was a red, pulsating cocoon hanging from the ceiling, almost looking like a heart. I was certain, that Ganon was resting inside of it, preparing his body to destroy the whole land of Hyrule. And on top of the cocoon, there she was. Fixated in the lotus position, surrounded by a golden glow. I heard her voice, but still only in my mind. Her lips weren’t moving: “Link… I’m sorry… I can’t hold him back…”

With those words, the cocoon broke open. All the smoke around us was sucked into the figure that dropped onto the ground. Ganon rose. He looked awful. There was nothing left of the man that he once had been. He looked like a zombie… a monster. The result of countless times of reincarnating after getting beaten had did this to him. But this was his true and final form: the incarnation of hatred and malice. His pure will pulled me to the ground. My brain hurt. He was in my mind.

His voice was rough and sounded like death itself. He gave me all, that such a perverted and deformed monster could say: “You… can’t… save… her.”

“We’ll see about that.”

I fought against the pain and rose to my feet again. I pulled my sword from my back. Ganon stumbled backwards. He feared the blade that could destroy him once and for all, the blade of evils bane: The Master Sword. I pointed it at him and the sword flashed. It was glowing now, revealing its true power. The spirit inside gave me strength against Ganon’s hatred. He on the other hand had found his balance again. A white long sword appeared in his hand out of thin air. It had trimmings on it, which were so old that no one could ever understand their meaning. I saw his right hand glowing. I could still hear Zelda’s voice: “I’ll try to weaken him, Link. I know this is dangerous. I know you’re afraid. But I also know your courage. The Legend of yours will fade out of existence one day. But courage is not to be remembered, for it is never forgotten. I believe in you, Link.”

Ganon and I rushed towards each other and our swords collided.

He through everything he had at me: Lightning strikes, energy balls, dark magic and rapid sword attacks. But nothing could’ve stopped me. The power of the Triforce, the Master Sword and the spirits of all my deceased friends gave me powers unimaginable. I parried all of his attacks with ease and rushed him with heavy attacks myself. I was bursting with the powers of the Triforce. Courage, Wisdom and Power. It all came together. I rushed into him fearless. I foresaw all of his movements and attacks. My sword strikes could’ve blasted boulders. I first cut of his left hand. Then the right one. It stopped glowing. Then I pushed the sword through his heart, or maybe the spot his heart must have been long ago. A moment we just stood there. He twitched a little before fading out of existence. I put my sword back into it’s casing.

I turned around, back to the remaining pieces of the cocoon. Zelda was floating in the air. I realised that her golden glow came from her right hand. She wore her white ceremonial dress. The same she had worn all those years ago. Her blond her was shining. Her glowing faded and she fell. I caught her in my arms and we were sitting on the floor now, clinging to each other. She whispered in my ear:

“I’ve been keeping watch over you all this time… I’ve witnessed your struggles to return to us as well as your trials in battle. I always thought – no, I always believed, that you would find a way to defeat Ganon. I never lost faith in you over these many years… Thank you, Link… hero of Hyrule. May I ask… Do you really remember me after all this time?”

I looked into her bright, blue eyes. We smiled. I kissed her.