Silent Echoes

Chapter 2

"Hey! You awake?!" A pounding on Link's door gradually made its way into his sleep-fogged mind. He blinked drowsily for a moment, then as the racket continued, he threw back the blankets and got out of bed. Getting to the door was actually a bit of a squeeze, the dorm room was so small the bed took up nearly all the available floor space, and the desk crammed in next to it monopolized most of what remained, but Link, still yawning and dressed only in boxers, eventually opened the door.

On the other side, as he had expected, was his roommate Groose, his hand still raised to knock again. "Oh, you are here. Hey man, we're headed out. Cawlin's got the truck loaded up, and the cooler has nothing but beer. It's going to be real sweet, you sure you don't want to come?"

Yes, very sure, signed Link.* Like I was the last three times you asked.*

"Huh? You were three... something?"

Link sighed and ducked back into the room. A moment later he returned to the door with a notepad and pencil. He wrote out his answer and held it up for Groose to see.

"Okay, but it's going to be a truly epic spring break. It'd be a shame for you to miss it. And you could, you know, bring Zelda along. The forecast is warm enough for bikinis, and the hotel has a pool..."

Link managed to resist the urge to roll his eyes and merely shook his head. I still have an exam this afternoon, and Zelda is going home for spring break, her parents insisted, he wrote.

"You going to go visit her at the family mansion then? I know you and she have a thing going."

Link scowled and scribbled, *We have a thing called friendship. *

"Well you'd think you two were an item, they way you're always together, and the way she doesn't see anybody else."

Is there a point to this? Link scrawled, his handwriting getting sloppier as he got more annoyed.

"Nah, I just gotta give you a hard time. I think you're crazy to not try and get together with Zelda, she is something else. And you're pretty crazy to miss out on a vacation like this! You need to learn to live a little."

All the same, I'm not going, wrote Link.

Groose regarded the notepad and shrugged, then turned away. "Your loss."

Link closed the door. He glanced at the clock, and it was time for him to get up anyway, so he set about getting ready for his day. He had all his usual classes, but he was particularly looking forward to the mid-term exam in fencing that afternoon, since that meant a chance to spar with Impa. She always won, of course, but last semester he'd managed to get a touch on her, which he regarded as an accomplishment to be proud of.

With clothing donned, a quick breakfast eaten, backpack slung over his shoulder, and a smile on his lips, he set out across campus to face another day of mental and physical challenges.

When he emerged from the gym at the end of the day the smile had broadened to a grin. He'd scored twice on Impa, and though she'd beaten him quite thoroughly all the same he was absolutely thrilled. Holding a duffel full of his gear in one hand and a pair of swords in the other, Link set off towards home. Today had been a good day, and he was looking forward to an entire week of peace and quiet. No classes, no loud roommates, not even any noise from the apartments that shared the dorm building, since nearly everyone was going somewhere for the week. Indeed as far as he knew only himself and Vaati, who had a room on the ground floor, would be staying the whole week. And best of all, there would be nothing to do but read books and practice fencing.

In the common room outside his apartment he found Zelda waiting. "Hey there Link! How was the fencing final? Did you beat Impa?"

Link lifted his full hands by way of reply, and Zelda laughed. "Let me get the door for you. We can talk when you've put your stuff away."

She had just set her hand on the doorknob when suddenly the world turned upside down.

A vast booming sounded, loud enough that Zelda clapped her hands over her ears. The sound went on, like a roll of thunder but louder and rising steadily in pitch. Link was forced to drop his things and clap his hands over his ears as well as the sound grew unbearable. The big plate glass windows that looked out over the lawn shattered. The sound stopped abruptly, leaving behind the wail of car alarms that seemed quiet compared to what had proceeded it.

"What was that?" asked Zelda, looking shaken. Link's ears were still ringing, so Zelda's voice sounded strangely muffled.

I don't know. Link stepped cautiously towards the shattered window and looked out. He gasped. Floating above the university was something straight out of his science fiction novels. A metallic sphere, dully gleaming in the afternoon light, with a complex tracery of lines on its surface, hung in mid-air, supported by nothing.

For a moment wonder filled Link. He had wanted for so long to go to the stars. Had the stars now come to him? Then he heard a second booming, like the first but mercifully further away so somewhat softer. His line of sight happened to include the hill that rose above the university, where the capital building stood, partially embraced by the ruined walls of Hyrule Castle. The Hyrule Senate and the People's Council met there, and most days the President himself was there as well. The second sphere hurtled down from the sky, halting instantly above the capital itself.

A third booming heralded another, though he couldn't see where this one had stopped. He stepped back, wonder turning to dismay. Surely ambassadors from the stars would come one ship at a time, not wanting to overwhelm a newly contacted race. That they were arriving in numbers, and positioning themselves over strategic points was a very bad sign. Additional booms indicated even more ships, and Link turned to Zelda to see the same fear he felt showing on her face.

"It's an invasion, isn't it?"

Link nodded.

"We can't just stay here."

Link shook his head. * No. We have to go do something. Even if they don't attack there will be people hurt by breaking glass, people who need help.*

"Yes."

Link glanced down to his dropped gear. He scooped up his epee. It would probably be useless, but he would bring it anyway, just in case. Zelda nodded and bent to pick up the second blade, the lighter rapier. It was even more useless than the epee, neither had been intended for combat, but Link just nodded and led the way down the stairs towards chaos.

By the time they reached the exit the spheres had opened up like metal flowers and were dropping clusters of little pods from within. The pods spilled down towards the earth below. Link saw one strike the ground in front of the student center. It cracked open to disgorge four armored creatures. They were tall and spidery, or perhaps more like praying mantises, with heads set high on long necks and forearms lined with razor-sharp spikes, while their lower torsos were supported by a profusion of chitinous legs. They had a second pair of forelimbs with skeletal, claw-tipped hands, but they carried no visible tools. Link hesitated in the doorway, wondering at that. They'd come in what seemed to be spaceships. They'd landed in high-tech landing craft. Why weren't they armed? Were they so advanced their weaponry was invisible? Or cybernetic perhaps? Did they use magic instead of technological weapons? Or were they peaceful after all?

Campus was nearly empty at the end of the last day before spring break, so there were few students about. The creatures began to move purposefully among the buildings, perhaps seeking out those who remained, perhaps on some less explicable errand.

Link heard someone coming up behind him and turned to see Vaati. "Link. What's going on?"

"It looks like an alien invasion," said Zelda grimly.

Vaati looked out the door, then nodded, seeming hardly surprised. But then Link had seldom seen Vaati show any emotion. He was always calm, almost unnaturally so. He looked down at the narrow blade Link clutched, then over at the one Zelda held. "You'll want weapons then."

Zelda blinked at him. "Yes."

"The firing range behind the gym," said Vaati. "There will be guns. And the kendo class has a few real swords"

Link nodded, and managed a one-handed, good idea. He wouldn't be as expert with a single-edged sword, but at least it would be a real blade! But as he turned to go he suddenly realized that they might be leaving behind people who needed their help. He tucked the epee under one arm and signed, is there anyone else in the building?

"Let me check" answered Vaati. Somewhat to Link's surprise a third eye suddenly opened in the center of his forehead. He frowned in concentration as it moved back and forth, seeming to scan the walls. "There are two people hiding in closets, three who have run out the back exit, and one who seems to have managed to sleep through it. Everyone else has already left, looks like."

Let's go then.

"How do we get from here to there without being attacked?" asked Zelda.

"I have a shield spell. Though going unnoticed will be best. But it can protect us, assuming they don't have a counter of some kind."

"Good."

Vaati lifted one hand and made a gesture, and Link saw a faintly glowing bubble form over the three of them, then sink down to cover each of them with a faint glimmer.

"There. Now we should go."

Link nodded and took the lead, following a slanting course that led along the building rather than directly across the lawn. He intended to stick as close to cover as possible. Fortunately there were no alien creatures in sight when they were forced to cross an open space between the dorms and the campus proper. His heart was racing as they made their way cautiously among the buildings. And yet though he was afraid and uncertain, something in him responded to the danger with eagerness. He was doing something. Something heroic, even. Something that might matter. All his life he'd been learning, reading, preparing, now at last he was doing!

And he knew every path and shortcut that existed on campus. He took routes through building hallways, over low fences, among shrubs and seemingly impassible landscaping, and it seemed like they might actually reach the gym. Along the way they picked up a handful of other people, who were willing to follow anybody who seemed to know what they were doing. Mostly professors finishing up with grading their mid-terms, since the students had nearly all left. Vaati was able to cast his shield over the larger group, though he was straining a little, and they had to keep bunched close together. Link started to keep a little bit ahead, scouting as he led the way, so the shield didn't cover him.

So it was only his quick reflexes that saved him with one of the creatures dropped from where it had been clinging to a wall above and landed where he had been standing only an instant before. Link rolled forward out of its way while the others behind him moved back, one of the more timid running away outright.

Three more of the things dropped down after, bracketing the group.

One of them made a burbling, hissing sound, and Link realized with a shock that it was speaking Hylian. Distorted and strange-sounding, but recognizable all the same. "Hylian people. You will come with us. There will be no violence if you come," it said.

The cluster of incredulous Hylians stared at it for a long moment. Finally Zelda spoke. "What do you want with us?"

"There will be no discussion, only obedience. There will be violence if there is not obedience. Come."

"I don't think so," said Zelda.

With lightning-fast speed the creature struck at Zelda, and there was a shower of magical sparks as it drove a claw-tipped limb straight at her. The speed of the blow might well have been fatal were it not for Vaati's shield, but as it was Zelda staggered back with a yelp of shock.

But the creature had its back to Link, and he didn't hesitate a moment longer. It was taller than he, and obviously fast, but its spindly limbs meant he outweighed it, and he flung himself on its back with a wordless shout. It let out a noise like a rusty hinge and collapsed into a pile of legs. The other three moved with snakelike quickness, but their strikes were no more effective than the first had been and the little knot of Hylians ran from them, out through the gap Link had created by bringing down the speaker.

"Quickly, run!" shouted Vaati. "To the gym!" Link scrambled to his feet, though the creature beneath him clutched at him, thrashing around trying to reach him even though several of its limbs seemed to be broken. He managed to get free and raced after the others with the remaining three immediately on his heels. He spun, sweeping the epee still in his hand in an arc behind him. It bounced uselessly off their hard shells but they at least hesitated for a moment, and Link continued his turn without losing any speed..

Vaati in the lead had reached the gym and pulled open the doors. Behind Link one of the things let out a screeching cry, and it was answered from somewhere else on campus. More would shortly be coming, he was sure.

Link dashed through the gym doors. The things were right behind him, too close for him to slam the doors in their faces. And he was right behind the little group of teachers and students, with Vaati and Zelda in the lead. Up ahead was another door, blocking the entry area off from the hall that led onward. It was a heavy door, the sort with a piston at the top to keep it from slamming, but that meant it opened with glacial slowness, no matter how hard you pulled on it. Vaati yanked on the door, but the precious seconds it cost were too many. The whole group had to halt and the creatures immediately sprang to attack. Link was back inside the radius of the shield spell at least, and he was immediately grateful for it, for he was the only one actually fighting the things. His sword was little use but it could at least drive them back a bit. But while he was attacking one, another was attacking him from the side. The third leapt over the entire group to strike at Vaati, who still hadn't quite gotten the door open enough to go through.

Link was hit with two bruising blows, and Vaati was slammed into the outward-opening door, shutting it again. The creature attacking him screeched in frustration and stabbed him half a dozen times in rapid succession. Link swore and lunged at one of the things still attacking him. He finally managed to find a weak point in its chitinous armor and drove the epee through it almost to the hilt. It screeched and fell, though its fellow knocked Link off his feet. On the other side of the stunned teachers, none of whom seemed to know what to do, the third creature was still beating at Vaati. Then Zelda leapt in, swinging Link's rapier. The wire-thin weapon did no harm whatsoever to the creature, but it did startle it. But then it knocked the blade aside with one razor-spiked limb and struck out again with the other, catching Vaati directly across the face. Whether it was just dumb luck, or whether the creature had somehow known that Vaati was the one responsible for the protective spell was impossible to tell, but either way the effect was the same. Vaati fell over backwards, stunned, and the protective glow winked out. Aware of his sudden vulnerability Link lunged desperately upward, managing to drive the epee through a vulnerable point in one creature's armor, killing the second insectile enemy.

Which left just one. And Link, lying on his back on the other side of the huddle of teachers, couldn't get to it in time. Zelda struck at it again with her futile blade, and the creature struck back with its razor-edged forelimb, which drove into Zelda with terrible force. She screamed. It yanked the blade-like appendage free and she screamed again, blood suddenly showering from the wound.

Link scrambled to his feet with horrified desperation. Even as he began to move there was a roar that for a moment Link couldn't understand at all. The creature that had struck Zelda jerked, then fell like a puppet with its strings cut. And through the now open door stepped Ganondorf with a pistol in his hand.

But Link had no attention to spare for his rival, everything was focused on Zelda. He scattered the professors in his way and threw himself to his knees at her side. Her injury was horrible. One look was all it took for him to know there was no hope. Perhaps if she could be gotten instantly to a hospital something could be done, but there were more creatures coming and even though the hospital was near campus he knew there was no way to reach it in time.

She looked up at him. "Link..."

He gripped her hand, telling her wordlessly that he was there.

Zelda's eyes went suddenly wide. "Link!"

Link squeezed her hand, wishing harder than he had ever wished in his life that he could speak, could say something, anything to her.

"I... I remember. I remember. Link... Hyrule needs the Triforce. You have to find it again. It's the only way to stop this. Remember it. Promise me. Find the Triforce."

Link looked at her, baffled, feeling helpless. What was a Triforce? What was she talking about?

"Promise me." Her eyes were still wide, her expression filled with desperate urgency.

With his heart twisting, and tears half-blinding him, he let go of her hand to hold his where she could see and signed, I promise.

Her face relaxed and she smiled up at him. "Link..." she said once more, and then her eyes slid closed and she went utterly still.