The Legend of Zelda - The Tainted Blade (Season 1) | WATTYS WINNER 2018

The Will of the Darkness - (S1.E7)

Zel took a piece of rope from his pack and carefully lashed the sword to his back for safe keeping. He set a steady pace along the road, consciously trying not to constantly look back at the hulking lynel following him. They passed no other travelers, but twice more bokoblins emerged from the forest with shrill cries, only to be swiftly pierced by arrows from Rangtar. That night, Zel found an old structure, one side crumbled to the ground, and he took shelter there while the lynel lay with his back to Zel and watched the forest.

The next day, the road widened and the soft dirt became packed clay. A stone signpost stood at an intersection, pointing right for Lake Hylia and left for Faron. Zel eagerly turned left and quickened his pace. As he topped the next hill, a large town sprawled out before him. A stone fence surrounded the town and a tall gate straddled the road, with two men standing next to the entrance, each clasping a long spear. Zel glanced over his shoulder, but Rangtar had disappeared...probably not far away and probably still watching.

One of the men eyed Zel closely, but neither moved to stop his passage. Rather than ask one of the guards for help and risk Rangtar revealing himself, Zel quickly passed beneath the gate and set his eyes on the largest structure in the town.

In the middle of the homes and buildings, surrounded by an open square filled with market stands, stood a towering structure, parts of which could have been hundreds of years old. The top of the building had the rough shape of a horse head, covered with gilded gold panels, but easily the oldest part of the building. To the right of the center structure, a long building stretched out, the newest construction, which looked as if it had been added onto over the years to make longer. Out of some of the small windows, horses watched the pedestrians walking by. To the left of the center, a similar building stretched out, with people coming in and out of a door near its middle.

Zel set his eyes on the center, a large round building, teeming with life and laughter floating on the wind from its open doors. Three men pushed past him as he tried to enter. To the left was a large opening that led to the inn rooms. Along the wall on the right, where an entrance to the stables might have been, was a long bar with men sitting on stools and drinking from pewter mugs. Along the back wall was a small stage, where a woman in a colorful dress sang in front of a handful of enamored patrons.

"Can I help you, son?"

Zel turned to the man behind a small counter to his immediate right.

"Yes," said Zel, clearing his throat and stepping toward the man. "There's a lynel following me, and I don't know what to do."

The man narrowed his eyes, studied Zel for a moment, then his face split into a wide smile and he laughed. "A lynel following you? That's the best one I've heard all day!"

Zel's heart sank. If he couldn't get help here...but there was still one more hope. "I need a room."

The man took a deep breath to ease his chuckling. "How long?"

"Two nights."

The man reached behind the counter and pulled out a brass key. "Room eleven, then. That'll be fifty rupees. Half now, half when you return the key."

Zel nodded and reached for his purse.

For two days Zel waited. He explored Faron, sat in the tavern, and passed the time in his room. None of his friends ever came. He knew he had to leave soon, because eventually monsters would attack for the sword. He also knew that Rangtar still waited for him. He could feel the lynel, as if something inside of him pointed to Rangtar. Zel could never escape or stop running. Without his friends coming to help, his last chance lay in reaching Hyrule Castle.

After unsuccessfully trying to buy a horse and having the stable master laugh at him for asking for one that could outrun a lynel, Zel set out on foot. He departed first thing in the morning at the same time as a small band of merchants. They let him walk with them, though their course humor and constant belittling of him forced Zel to drop back and follow far enough away that they forgot he was there. So long as the merchants were near, Rangtar never showed himself, but Zel could still feel him following a bow shot away in the trees.