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Link lay in the peaceful air, enjoying the cool wind and warm sun. His perch swayed beneath him, nearly rocking him to sleep. He brought a hand down to run through the golden locks below him. “Zelda,” he murmured, “I love this land.”
The rings on his right hand, each engraved with the vow of a sage, caught the light. He could just make out the shoreline of Lurelin Village from here, rebuilding efforts in full swing, full of song and cheer once more. Death Mountain stood calm on the horizon, and the Stormwind Ark’s silhouette graced Hebra’s skies.
Only the gloom seeping from Hyrule Castle’s base marred the landscape, but Link was almost ready to change that. Purah had asked for a few more days; she thought she might be able to claw some further advantage out of her research, and Link was inclined to believe her.
He crawled forward, past the iridescent horns. “I'm going to save it all. I’m going to save you.” His voice died away. I love you, he mouthed, no sound crossing his lips.
He pulled himself upright, standing on the Light Dragon’s snout. He laid a silent princess across her brow and hopped off, paraglider in hand. He had seen a shrine below, and in a moment he would be on his way, but he couldn't resist a last lingering look.
He didn't expect to see the Light Dragon's nostrils to flare, or for her to tilt her head down and send the bloom sliding off her snout. Much less for it to be buoyed up on the wind, then snapped up into her mouth in a single deft motion. The edges of her mouth curled up a touch, and her vacant eyes closed in a slow blink.
Huh.
Link did make it to that shrine, some two hours later, a wide grin plastered on his face. Zelda’s diet was mostly unchanged; she would rush to wildberries and honey candies, mostly turned her nose up at fish, and despised spicy foods — as soon as a pepper came out of the pad, she would snort and turn slightly away. The only notable change was glowing cave fish, which this form would eat happily. He’d have to get her to try some in her Hylian body, once this was all over.
Link perched somewhat precariously on his mount, readying another treat. He wound up the electric safflina bundle, aimed carefully, and threw it with all his might. Farosh barely had to crack her jaws, and it slipped right in.
Link smiled and folded his arms in satisfaction. His foot adjusted the flying machine’s steering stick to keep his heading about straight. The Thunder Helm was propped up over his brow, its magic keeping him safe in Farosh's domain.
The electric dragon favored the savory, and was partial to intense ingredients. Voltfruit’s sharp sourness and electric safflina’s slight tingling taste had never appealed to Link, personally, but Farosh ate them up like hotcakes.
A shadow fell over Link for a heart-stopping moment, as a chunk of sky island careened down from above. It missed Link’s aircraft, thank the Three, but the wind was strong enough he had to grab the controls with both hands to bring it back upright and flying safely.
Finally stable, Link gasped a few breaths, and thought a quick prayer. He wiped the sweat off his brow, and noticed a couple things.
First: no metallic mask met his hand. The Thunder Helm had slipped off his head in the chaos. Second: he had drifted towards Farosh in his rush to restore stability, and one of her lightning orbs was drifting towards him, rather quickly.
Fortunately, fairy healing magic is potent stuff.
On the bright side, Link landed right next to the Thunder Helm, a fortunately placed pond breaking both of their falls. The only lasting damage was to his pride. And to the flying machine, the burning wreckage of which crashed onto the lakeshore.
Oh well. He’ll just make a new one later.
Link kicked his heels, and Epona redoubled her speed. They barreled along Tanagar Canyon’s lip, just keeping pace with the burning dragon. Dinraal and her kin seemed ponderous and slow from afar, but that was mostly relative. They took a long time to move their body length, but they were also miles long, so it all evened out. Up this close, the illusion fell apart, and Link’s equine friend was having trouble keeping up — not helped by the load she was towing.
Link twisted the slightly cannibalized steering stick, and the wheeled contraption on his cart swiveled. A little left, a little higher — there! He slammed the button down, releasing the spring in the device on wheels, and a bundle of peppered fish and meat flew from the barrel. It curved a graceful arc in front of the dragon's head, though she had to surge forward a tad to grab the morsel.
Package delivered, Link finally let up on his horse. Dinraal let out a contented rumble as she passed by. Link smiled and set to the work of resetting his spring cannon.
Link was most of the way through wrangling the spring back to its compressed state (his, ah, modifications to the steering stick seem to have broken its auto-retract functionality) when Epona started stomping at the ground. A quick glance over his shoulder showed a boss bokoblin and its unruly gang, tromping their way.
Shoot. Half cocked like this the cannon would tear itself apart if he just let go. He had a few seconds before the slow-moving monsters arrived, just long enough to get the spring secured and send Epona away if he hurried.
Buried in his work as he was, Link didn't notice the red scales of Dinraal’s tail wave deliberately. Whiplike, her tail flicked around a corner, and a loose shard of her spike shot out like a burning star. It landed in the middle of the monsters and exploded into a firestorm, immolating them instantly.
Link felt a wave of heat wash over him, then turned to find ashes and scorched earth. A great bellow of victory came from Dinraal, echoing through the canyon. A dopey adrenaline smile came over Link's face. Suddenly he was very glad to be getting in the dragons’ good graces.
Link flopped over onto the blanket he’d lad across Naydra’s snout. Even with the full snowquill set, all blessed by each Great Fairy, a thick downy blanket, and a warming elixir, being so close to the dragon of ice chilled Link to the bone. She’d finally ignored an offered chillshroom, so he'd move on before long. The hot-air balloon he’d reached her on was still moored to her horn, a low-burning flame emitter keeping it afloat.
“I wonder,” Link mused aloud, “if you're like Zelda. Transformed. I wonder who you were, before. I wonder why you chose to take this path — what need was so great that you would give yourself up?” He looked down at the majestic creature below him, prepared for his questions to never find answers.
So he was shocked when a tear began to well up in Naydra’s eye.
He dove after the falling drop without a second thought.
Zelda’s memories were like stories.
I struggle to hold in laughter, but it escapes in giggles and snorts. My sister has no such restraint. “It's not funny!” the youngest of us shouts, face red with embarrassment. Her long hair is hopelessly tangled and so full of sticks it looks like a whole flock nests there. “Stop laughing!” She storms away in a huff and I follow after her. I help her brush her hair back to life.
“I'm sorry, sister," I say, my brush finally gliding smooth through her hair.
“...It's okay," she murmurs. "It was kinda funny looking back. And… I know I can always depend on you.”
They were vivid, yes, but he’d never had trouble telling where he ended and she began.
My littlest sister lay dying in my arms. “Don't mourn me,” she choked out, barely conscious. Blood stained her skin and my dress. “I love you.”
She closed her eyes. “Farosh!” I screamed, “No, no, no! I won't let it end here! I'll save you!” I scrambled for anything that could help, wracked my brain for an answer. I saw it, then. Her secret stone. If it would save her, even for a moment, I would do it.
I shoved her secret stone down her throat.
Zelda crafted her memories with her full will and mind.
I rocked the beautiful baby boy in my arms, singing an old lullaby. His sister played among the flowerbeds, trying to teach the gardener construct to dance.
Naydra did not.
“How dare you!” Sister shoved me away, and I let her. “You killed her! She’s- she-” Her words dissolved into sobs. I didn't reach out to comfort her.
“She was already dying. This way we can research, maybe even bring her back!”
Her sobs redoubled.
All of Naydra's sorrow and joy and anger and grief echoed through that single tear.
I led a procession of worshippers down the thoroughfare. My sisters, resplendent in their ceremonial raiments, joined me, and the three processions became one. We all sang praises to the triune, a festival for the ages.
Link experienced it as she once had, adrift in the raw emotion of it all.
The final battle had come. The Goddess clashed against the Enemy further afield but I could not notice. Only the great red dragon burning through ranks of monsters held my attention. “Dinraal…” The name slipped from my lips like a crystal glass from my fingers, and I shattered.
Link cried tears of mourning.
The legends are clear. To become an immortal dragon is to lose oneself. Forever. My children have grown into fine leaders. I have grown old.
My sisters are exactly the same. They drift through the skies, aimlessly wandering. No matter how often I try to draw their eyes, they ignore me. No magic nor science can even interact with them.
But I will never leave them behind. We are three of a kind, and we can always depend on each other. I will not break that promise.
It was over. All of it. The kingdom and all of her peoples were safe. Link and Zelda got a couple weeks to hide away in their Hateno house before Purah started swinging by with the news every morning.
They settled into a new routine, not so different from the old one. Link's wanderlust would send him far afield, bringing back stories, pictures, and gifts. Zelda’s curiosity would send her down into her study, emerging days later with a prototype of some wonderful new device.
It was the latter sort of day, and the sun was starting to set, so Link stepped out towards the well. It was futile to try to get her to sleep in these times, but he could usually convince her to have a meal. He knocked on the side of the well.
“Come on down!” Zelda called, her voice echoing up. Did it sound a bit off, Link mused as he descended the ladder. If she had a cold, maybe he could persuade her to sleep it off.
Zelda was hunched over her desk, ancient Sheikah parts scattered around a small Zonai wheel with its cover pried off. An empty vase sat beside her. He’d brought a silent princess down in that vase earlier — where had it gone?
“Did you need something?” Zelda asked, voice definitely affected. She turned around and Link saw the reason. The silent princess was stuffed in Zelda’s mouth, a distinctive petal tip slipping out one side and the stem out the other. As he watched she chewed a couple times, then swallowed. “Link?” she asked, voice clear. Did she not notice?
“Um. I made dinner,” Link said, covering his surprise. “It's a new recipe, glowing cave fish sushi. Do you want some?”
Zelda smiled, then stood. She took his hand. “That sounds lovely.”