Chapter 22: The King of Evil

Chapter 23: The God of Evil

    A pink crystal floated down from the empty dark grey sky and shattered as it touched the tower top.
    “Zelda!” Link cried in relief. “How are you?”
    “I’m quite fine,” said the princess, sounding quite different from the ninja he had become used to. “It’s good that pitiful man is dead…”
    “Well, now, Sheik, I think you have some explaining to do,” returned the Hylian, grinning. The princess smiled back. “Gosh, I’m tired. So glad that’s over. What are you going to do now? What’s the first thing you’re going to do?”
    “Let me see…” Zelda thought.
    Link cupped his hand over his mouth thoughtfully. “Well, for me, first of all, I think I’m going to spend some time in the Zora and Goron lands and get to know my friends better. Then I’m going to build a slightly larger house in Kokiri Forest, if the Deku Tree allows it, and…”
    “Get married?” finished Zelda.
    “Yes,” Link grinned, blushing a bit.
    “I see… I’m going to get the Sages to help me rebuild Hyrule Castle. It won’t be exactly the way it used to be, but it will be even better.”
    “Ah, the innocence of youth,” joked Link.
    “I mean it,” Zelda smiled. She was lovely when she smiled. “It will be better. I don’t know exactly how I’m going to plan it, but I’ve only just started thinking about it, thanks to you. What are you going to do now that you don’t have to be a hero?”
    “Uh… I think I might be either a knight, under your command, or maybe I’ll be a… farmer! Farming is an active profession, so I’ll stay strong, and it’s very productive.”
    “I see,” said Zelda again. “I suppose I’ll have to ascend the throne… I really would have rather married you, but it’s quite all right that you love Rana. She was a very good friend to me before she disappeared. I wonder whom I will marry, then…”
    Their star-crossed dreams of the future were interrupted by one last gasp from Ganondorf.
    The floor began to shake violently. Zelda looked around.
    “Oh, no! I should have realized… the clouds would have gone away if the evil was wholly gone! We have to get out, now! He’s trying to bring the castle down on us!”
    “Stay close to me!” Link shouted, running for the ramp where the stairs used to be.
    At first he thought he was on a different staircase, but no… it was only that at the bottom the door was barred. Zelda gave an upward shove with her hands and the bars lifted. The two charged through. Link glanced curiously at Zelda’s lovely gown. ‘How can she run so fast in it?’ he wondered.
    At last they reached the bottom of the stairs and ran over the bridge. At least, Zelda ran over the bridge. Link was halted in his tracks by a Redead scream. It moved towards him, and he strove with all his considerable will to break the curse and get out. It was wasting their precious time!
    Zelda’s hands glowed, and the creature burst into flame. Link shouted a thank you to her as they hurried up the last flight of stairs to the gate. Heavy rocks were dislodged out of the ceiling. Some smaller ones struck them, but they managed to get out.
    “Rana! Ranaaa!!!” Link shouted around the empty plateau. She wasn’t there.
    “Stay here!” he shouted to Zelda. “I have to go and get Rana! If I don’t, she won’t come out!” Before Zelda could answer he dove back into the castle and dimly heard the princess’ shriek behind him. He dashed back down the shaking stairs and took the left, downwards passage.
    “Ranaaaaaaa!” He screamed her name over the rumble of the collapsing castle, often, and repeatedly. He heard the sound of fighting, and ran faster. Rocks tumbled around him.
    Rana was, yes, still fighting ferociously. Link didn’t count the number of dead Ironknuckles, but there were many sprawled about. Some of them had bows.
    “Rana!” cried Link. “We need to get out of here! The castle is collapsing!” She turned and almost attacked him. He ducked. “Rana!”
    He picked her up and flung her over his shoulder. Then he ran the fastest he had ever run in his life. She shrieked, and he felt an arrow in her side, but couldn’t shift.
    That was a nightmare. Rocks not only fell from the ceiling, but were catapulted past him. Rana moaned, and Link knew she found it a nightmare too. They heard Zelda’s voice as Link pounded up and out.
    “Link! You have to come out! Please don’t die! …I’m coming in to look for you!”
    “No!” yelled Link. “Don’t come back in!” He flew out, propelled by a sudden jet of air from deep in the castle, along with a lot of debris. He landed on his back, grunting in pain, and skidded, clutching the girl safely to him.
    Rana twisted in his arms. “Wow! Look at it go!”
    When all was still, he sat up. Rana was not going to die from that arrow just yet, but he wanted to get her to Lauri or a fairy healer soon. First, though…
    “So, anyway, this is Princess Zelda, and, Zelda, this is my best friend Rana… Hang on, you already know each other.”
    “We do?” Rana asked, looking up from trying to pull the arrow out. “Like, personally other than that half-hour meeting when we were little-ish kids?”
    “Yes,” said Zelda, smiling. “You might know a wild young Shiekah boy… Well, he’s actually a girl. My anti-Ganondorf disguise.”
    “Ohhhhhhhhh,” Rana made a long drawn-out gasp, and the other two chuckled.
    Zelda looked at the sky again. “It’s still not clearing up.”
    “Hmm…”
    A strange noise made its way to their ears. Link stiffened and flung his arm in front of the girls.
    “What was that?” Zelda asked in a small voice. Link took a step forward, but Rana grabbed his arm.
    “I want to come.”
    “Rana,” Link said firmly, “stay here where you won’t injure yourself more. I’ll take you somewhere to fix your injury just as soon as I find out what’s going on over there. Okay?”
    “All right…”
    He trotted forward, to the largest pile of rubble. The ground was nearly flat; he wondered why that could be, in the ruins of a castle. Even a magic castle.
    He didn’t even get close to the pile, when Ganondorf sprang out of it, into the sky. The two girls cried out and ran forward, and they were all trapped in a ring of flame.
    Ganondorf screamed to the clouds, and a change began to take place.
    The King of Evil flickered with blue lightening and darkness cloaked his body. It swelled and distorted into a large, boar-like shape.
    Ganon, the ancient enemy of Hyrule, landed on his hoofed feet on the ground and drew two enormous blades. He swung them, roaring, and the Master Sword was ripped from Link’s grasp as he tried to defend himself. The sword landed point down outside of the ring of fire. Zelda dove for cover, and Rana ducked.
    “Link!” Navi cried. “I can help you this time! We can’t be parted again!” She sounded so brave and defiant, that Link felt his heart swell with pride for his little fairy. He glanced at the unreachable Master Sword, then looked up at Navi and snapped his fingers, grinning.
    The Megaton Hammer appeared out of nowhere. Link hastily slung his shield on his back and took it in both hands. Then he had to run, as Ganon was chasing him.
    There was a long strip of smoother wreckage extending along a diameter of the circle, and he ran one way until Ganon’s footsteps didn’t sound on top of his skull, then turned around.
    Rana was already hacking at the boar’s hide, and getting nowhere. It ignored her. The arrow in her side was gone.
    Link dashed back, but the huge swords that Ganon held swooshed meatily through the air, almost slicing the hero in half. He glanced around and saw that Zelda had taken refuge on a pile of fallen blocks, where the monster couldn’t climb. Rana was trimming the edge of Ganon’s robes into shorts, but otherwise doing nothing to him.
    “Rana, could you help me… differently?” Link called. She grabbed one of Ganon’s bulky arms and pulled. The monster, distracted, tried to brush her off, but flinched with a roar as Link’s hammer slammed into his tail. Rana let go and back flipped to avoid getting decapitated. Ganon turned around, rather majestically, Link thought sardonically, and found his opponent still behind him.
    Rana began laughing as Link hid behind the King of Evil, preying on its rear end. Though no one knew it right away, each blow, powered as the non-magical weapon was by the Triforce of Courage and wielded by a good heart, was a deep wound to the Evil One.
    Link was at last faced and forced to run to the other side of the arena. Rana hopped down from her perch on a rock to help, and Zelda began to climb down also.
    “No, stay there!” Link cautioned the Princess. She glared playfully at him in an un-princess-like fashion, but obeyed. Rana grabbed the boar’s arm again, giving Link time to somersault around Ganon’s left hoof and hack away.
    Ganon collapsed, breathing heavily, and the ring of fire died for a moment. Rana backed away, catching her breath: her face was pale and sweaty, her hair hanging limp, the hair-tie gone. Zelda seemed to be preparing something, but darkness came between her and the beast and she hid it behind her back quickly. Link turned and dashed for the Master Sword. It seemed even more comfortable in his hand after giving the heavy hammer back to Navi and taking Evil’s Bane in his grip once more. As he charged back, Ganon slowly rose. Link twirled his sword and fixed the beast with his hard blue gaze.
    Rana, right on cue, seized Ganon’s left arm again. Ganon flicked his left arm.
    Hard.
    Zelda screamed as Rana flew to the edge of the island, an explosion of fire wreathing her body as she passed over the ring. The princess jumped off her heights and ran to the rim of the ring to see.
    She saw Rana’s hand clinging to the edge of the cliff, knuckles white with exertion. Bit by bit, Rana hauled herself up and onto firm ground and fainted. Naeri fainted along with her.
    Link was committing virtual suicide: a full-fledged front attack to Ganon’s leathery hide. The flat of Ganon’s sword caught him and sent him too flying several metres to land heavily against a fallen pillar, but he picked himself back up and flung himself against Ganon again.
    “She’s still here!” Zelda informed him. “She’s fainted, but alive.” The homicidal maniac slowed down his assault briefly. Then Link re-attacked even more strongly. Ganon roared and thrashed, but couldn’t shake him off, and he then turned and ran from the miniature – to him – Hylian who would not stop hurting him. The silver Master Sword sliced his tail off completely.
    With a moan, not a roar, not an explosion, Ganon, King of Evil, slumped on his face for the second time.
    A beam of light, as from the sun, smacked him in the face, and the monster writhed in his torment. Zelda was holding him with enchantments.
    Link stalked around to face him. His boots echoed on the hard stone surface, echoing off the stark surrounding cliffs.
    Ganon opened his yellow-red eyes reluctantly. Link’s image burned into his brain, but he only remembered one thing, something familiar from two memories…
    His eyes.
    The brilliance of their gaze hit Ganon, and he trembled. The King of Evil had lost to the Chosen One for the fourth time. Ganon was afraid again, too afraid to revow his vengeance yet, afraid of this small avenging Hylian.
    Link brought up his sword. Ganon tried to break free, to escape the pain coming, but failed.
    Link stabbed four times, meeting Ganon each time. Blood sprayed everywhere. Ganon’s body flopped, and then flew into the air, transforming back into Ganondorf.
    Zelda fell exhausted on her knees, crying out: “Sages! Now!”
    In the Temple of Light, the six held their hands high. They vanished and six coloured balls of light appeared on their pedestals. The balls – the sages’ power and being – drew back, and then dove together and collided with a colossal bang. A miniature black hole appeared over the grey pedestal.
    The white, hazy dream state enveloped the Sages, Ganondorf, Zelda, and Link.
    “CURSE YOU, SAGES!” Ganondorf howled as he fell into oblivion.
    “CURSE YOU, ZELDA!” The words were a scream.
    “CURSE YOU, LINK!” The scream rose to a shriek, louder and more filled with hatred than the other two curses.
    “AS LONG AS THE TRIFORCE OF POWER RESTS ON MY HAND, I WILL COME BACK! I WILL EXTERMINATE YOUR DESCENDANTS, LINK!” A long high pitched wail echoed out of the Evil Realm, echoing throughout Hyrule, and the wind stopped.
    Link awoke from the trance state like struggling to the top of a very deep pool of water. His eyes sought Zelda.
    “Is he gone? For good?”
    She answered shakily. “Yes.” Stars were visible overhead, but the sun was going down in fiery glory over Lake Hylia.
    Link exhaled long and gratefully, then went to sheath his sword. He stopped. It was red, black, and green with blood and Ganon’s flesh. He carefully wiped it off on a shred of cloth lying on the ground, sheathed it, and then hurried to Rana.
    When he got to her, he wished he had hurried faster, was angry with himself for showing off in front of Ganon. She was white and cold to the touch; the arrow had twisted deep into her guts. Naeri’s glow was faint. Navi fluttered desperately beside her fairy friend.
    Link scooped Rana into his arms, listening to her breathing. She was still alive. He looked anxiously at Zelda. She shook her head, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.
    “No!” he cried, his heart skipping.
    As if his voice called her, Rana stirred.
    “Link?” she queried weakly. “Is Ganon dead?”
    Link nodded mutely, trying not to let her see him crying.
    “Yay!” she whispered. Link could not keep back his tearful smile.
    “I’m so glad. Now, we can go home… if I can live that long. Do you think I can?”
    “Rana… … …I want you to live! I want you to come home with me. I want you to live a normal life now, like you did seven years ago before I left. Only with…”
    A troubled look crossed the girl’s face. “I’m sorry. I almost wish you hadn’t lo-“
    “I love you,” Link whispered earnestly.
    “I love you,” she echoed tenderly. “But I am dying. I think. I’d better say good-bye just in case. I’m so very happy that you have won, Hero of Time…”
    “No… Rana…”
    “You are the hero, whether you like it or not.” She grinned a bit, having wilfully misconstrued his comment. “I’m sorry you’re so sad…”
    “I can’t live without you!”
    Rana looked at him unhappily for a moment, but then turned to Zelda. “Princess… uh, I mean Zelda… wow, you are dazzlingly beautiful. May you rule Hyrule long and well. … … Navi?”
    Navi was holding Naeri, who was fading.
    “Please, continue guarding Link as only you know how.”
    She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then opened her emerald eyes and stared clearly at Link.
    “Link, my best and truest friend… and – I will always love you…”
    “I will always love you…” Link echoed, hunched over her. Her hand weakly caressed his face, and her arms encircled his neck. He cradled her close and kissed her.
    She was still.
    Link wept.

Chapter 22: The King of Evil

Chapter 21: To Find Tranquillity     Chapter 23: The God of Evil

Chapter 22: The King of Evil

    A pink crystal was forming around the princess. She cast several spells, some of which Link had never seen before, but the crystal’s surface hardened into an impenetrable shell. Link felt the shell, tapping it cautiously, and then slamming his fist into it with all his strength. He cast Nayru’s Love and drew the Master Sword, but even the legendary Evil’s Bane merely bounced off the caging spell.
    A deep voice boomed through the Temple. “You foolish little bugs… you are no match for me! I commend you for eluding me for so long. At last, I have found the princess, and now Hyrule will truly be mine!” The cage began to rise and spin. Link tried one last futile time to shatter it, but failed.
    “That was Ganondorf,” Navi said in a low voice. “The Triforce. Its strength gave him power to resist even the Master Sword.”
    “I see,” Link said grimly, running out of the Temple.
    “Rana! We need to go really fast! Ganondorf’s got Zelda!”
    “What? How?”
    “I have the Light Arrows!” Link hadn’t heard her startled shout.
    The two Hylians tore up the hill to Ganondorf’s castle.
    A giant, irregular block of stone supporting a huge tower built of black rock hovered over a lake of lava. Link skidded to a halt on the closest bit of solid ground, staring hopelessly at the distant, wide open gate. It was too far even for his hookshot.
    “Don’t despair,” Saria’s voice sounded in his head. “We’re here.”
    Light, unrolling like a carpet, many coloured, blossomed from the ground at Link’s feet and stretched in a wide arc to the gate.
    He smiled at Rana and stretched out his hand. “Come on, kitten. We’re facing this one together, like we used to.”
    Rana smiled broadly back at him and took his hand.

    The entrance was dark. Link almost tripped on stairs leading downwards. They were soft, carpeted in a red rug. As his eyes adjusted to the dim torchlight, he made out two Beamos on either side of an open door. Rana giggled and set robotic mouse bombs on them.
    “I love bombchus,” she said.
    Through the doorway, there was a huge fat pillar surrounded by a grey force field. The pillar had a gate like a flat dragon’s face in it, and a bridge led to it. All around the room, there were six doors with the Sages’ symbols on them. Link stepped into the room.
    There was a cry behind him. Rana was kept back by a shield of energy.
    “Oh!” cried Navi.
    “I’m so sorry,” panted Naeri, draining her energy in an effort to penetrate the barrier.
    “Oh, Rana… I wish you could have come.”
    “Me too. Well…”
    Link looked to see Rana turn and head for a little side door, by the left Beamos going in.
    The girl looked at him. “This way leads to the prisons and the barracks. I’m going down there.”
    “But… you don’t need to.”
    “Yes, I do,” she argued. “There are a couple of normal people down there. And you can’t have a companion up there…”
    “And you want revenge, don’t you.”
    She shifted uncomfortably.
    “Oh, well. Please, please don’t get yourself killed; please don’t die.”
    She smiled brightly. “I won’t.”
    “I won’t let her,” Naeri promised solemnly.

    Link turned back and looked around. There was a bridge leading to a gate directly ahead of him, but it was bound round and round with a multi-coloured crackle of energy.
    “I suppose that is constructed out of energy stolen from the six dominions of the Sages while they were still asleep,” he said.
    “You’re right,” Navi replied.
    Link turned and headed for the first door, green. It led him to a puzzle, after which, he entered the door at the end of the room and saw Saria, slightly transparent, hovering on the wall. The green stream of energy was pouring out of a red, pulsing ball.
    Link shot an arrow of light into the conduit-ball, which exploded, and shared a brief moment with his best friend as their eyes met. She flickered and turned into a bright ball of green light.
    Next thing he knew, he found himself back in the main hall. The current of green energy flowing to the shield dried up. Around the pillar in the centre, the green shield had vanished.
    Next was the water barrier. As Link smashed through the conduit, he met Ruto’s eyes; she was standing on the wall where Saria had been in hers. She looked very serious and determined. Link guessed that she was actually a deeper person than he had thought.
    The shadow barrier was next. Though the room appeared bottomless with an invisible pathway across it, he saw a tricky side path winding down very narrowly, and went on it out of curiousity. At the bottom was a treasure chest, filled with a ton of junk – money – and also with a pair of gauntlets in them.
    “These are… the Golden Gauntlets?” Navi said. “They must be even better than the silver ones. We’ll give these back to Nabooru as soon as we can, right?”
    “Yes.”
    He made it, carefully, a little wobbly, to the other side and cut the spell drawing Impa’s power.
    The fire’s puzzle was difficult and far too hot, even for the Goron tunic. Back in the main chamber, Link sagged. Sweat poured off him in what felt like rivers.
    “You better drink something,” Navi suggested, watching him. Link nodded and got out his waterbottle.
    He went to the door on his left and found it was the source of the light shield, judging from the symbol above the door. After that there was only the desert shield.
    Finally, the barrier around the central pillar was gone; the energy had all dried up. Link crossed the bridge and walked through the toothy doorway.
    There was a red-carpeted flight of stairs, leading upwards. Fire Keese flew around, giving Link more light than the feeble torches. He ran up the stairs and got through the next door before the bats attacked him.
    Navi helped him take down the Ironknuckle in the next room. The room was octagonal, well-lit, and rather nicely decorated. Link wondered why Ganondorf had gone to all the trouble of designing his castle the way he had, but decided that even the wicked usurper had a liking for… perhaps art would be the proper category, he decided.
    He hurried up the next staircase, this one carpeted also, but lined with stained glass windows. Zelda could take care of herself, he knew, but he was still anxious. Besides which, he didn’t know what would happen when he got to the top of the tower, where Ganondorf lived, and he wanted to find out fast. He began to hear distant, deep notes of music, vibrating the stones under his feet.
    He fought four more Ironknuckles in pairs, and then he had to take a rest before tackling the last stair. He could tell he was getting close, because the dour, creepy music was much louder. He could hear the upper registers now, and it was pretty loud. The stained glass windows were all the same pattern, but more and more light seemed to get through them, giving him a bizarre feeling of hope.
    At the top of that one, there was a door of steel and bronze, half again as high as Link was tall. The carpet abruptly changed to green.
    Link opened the door, lifting it up over his head. It fell behind him with an echoing boom, hardly audible in the deafening music.
    The wall across from the door was a solid bank of organ pipes. A red-haired man sat at the tiny console at the base.
    Hovering in her pink crystal, like a decoration on the organ, was Princess Zelda! Link waved at her. She looked relieved to see him, but still frightened.
    Abruptly, the organ music stopped. Link was glad; it vibrated in his chest uncomfortably.
    Ganondorf pushed the bench back until it cleared the pedalboard and stood.
    “So. You’ve come, have you?”
    Link squared his shoulders and said nothing.
    “You pathetic fools… I’m so glad you came. I can crush you and take Hyrule at last!” He whirled, his red and black cloak swirling behind him, and raised his clenched right fist. A golden, triangular mark glowed brightly, and swirling purple waves blasted out at Link, who automatically raised his sword arm to block it.
    A lovely ringing sound echoed through the room, resonating in the pipes. The back of Link’s hand felt… protected. A new presence seemed to brush his mind, a presence of greenness, of life and vigour.
    “Farore…” Link’s lips said.
    Navi hovered near Link, shivering in agitation. “I can’t get through the darkness, Link! I can’t help you! You’re all alone on this one! I’m so sorry!”
    Another bell-like sound echoed, and Zelda gasped. Link looked up, and saw another gleaming golden triangle imprint itself on the back of her right hand.
    Ganondorf ceased his curse and stared at Link.
    “How… but of course. Just like your stupid ancestors, you have been granted the Triforces of Wisdom and Courage, while I still have Strength.” Link stared at the Triforce on the back of his left hand in awe. Navi flew into his face, asking for comfort, and he stroked her delicate wings while exchanging a startled glance with Zelda.
    “It is always so,” Ganondorf growled. If Link had not known that he was evil before, he knew it now. “This time, it is different! I swear it, Ganon! We shall rule the world, even the Sacred Realm, as you have long desired, and we can take and destroy and command at our will! You weaklings are no match for me!”
    The King of Evil rose into the air, and the wall with the organ and Zelda vanished. Link flipped sideways as the floor fell out from under him. He got into a corner, his Hylian Shield out in front of him. A spell, a very familiar spell hit the shield with a thump, and he was racked with a familiar pain: the spell was the same one he had been hit with when he was twelve, defying Ganondorf outside Hyrule Castle Town.
    He picked himself up and stood ready for the next spell. He knew what to do next. How many days had it been since he had fought Shadow Ganon?
    Ganondorf lobbed a spell at him, and Link batted it back. Yes, it was exactly the same. Link smiled tightly behind his shield. It had been a mistake for the usurper to make a copy of himself for the hero to fight. He also knew that his shield did nothing to protect him against this magic, but it felt comfortable standing by.
    At last the spell hit the evil king, but he still hovered in the air, paralyzed. Link jumped towards him, but he couldn’t reach him even with his long sword. Ganondorf began to recover and Link leaped away.
    The previous performance repeated, and this time Link pulled out his bow and charged up his arrows with Light. He only had a few seconds, so, aiming by instinct, let fly.
    Ganondorf sank to the floor, groaning pitifully. Link charged him and hit him with the Master Sword: only a glancing blow on the shoulder, which was disappointing. But, still, he had found Ganondorf’s weakness to the bottom.
    Returning to his corner, he faced into an incensed Ganondorf. He raised his hand to the ceiling, and the room went dark. Magic flowed to his hand like lightening. Link braced himself.
    Five spheres of magic headed out on irregular paths at Link. He tried to duck and slice with his sword at the same time. Four balls slammed into his torso, and the last one was deflected by Ganondorf and hit him anyway. Link crumpled to the floor, gritting his teeth tightly, and Ganondorf laughed.
    Another spell was incoming, only a single ball this time, and Link swung his sword in time, clambering to his feet in time to hit it again. Only one more time, and Ganondorf swung late. Link snatched his bow and sent a shining arrow at the Gerudo King. He missed, and ducked to another corner.
    Ganondorf prepared his five-hit spell. Link readied his sword.
    Five spheres arced in. Link waited until they were half-way to him, then let loose with the fastest spin he could manage. Five spheres whacked Ganondorf askew; Link shot him with a glowing piece of sun.
    He jumped to the centre platform where Ganondorf hunched on one knee, left arm back, right arm and shield up, and stabbed the King of Evil in the stomach.
    A horrible scream tore from his throat, shattering the windows. Link swayed on his feet, clamping his hands – which were full of gear – over his long, sensitive ears. The window frames dissolved, and the roof fell in, the huge pieces of masonry barely missing the hero. Ganondorf gurgled and fell on his face, green blood leaking from his front and his mouth.

Chapter 21: To Find Tranquillity     Chapter 23: The God of Evil

Chapter 20: The Broken Laugh     Chapter 22: The King of Evil

Chapter 21: To Find Tranquility

    Rana’s brilliant green eyes slowly moved, shifting up near his face, then darting back to make sure his hands hadn’t moved.
    Her gaze met his.
    Abruptly, she fell over, clutching her stomach. Her face was crumpled up.
    “Rana?”
    She sat up slowly.
    “Do you know what you are doing to me?” Her words were unsteady. “The memory… the pain… … your eyes… … your eyes… They are the same! I did know you… and I liked you, too! But the… remembering is the equivalent…”She mimed stabbing herself. “I… I…” She began to weep, tears pouring from her eyes now.
    “Rana, I’m sorry… I will take you away from this. I’ll teach you yourself again.” He put his hand on her shoulder, and she did not flinch or slap it away; instead she took it with her own and held on with a tight grip.
    “I must get you out of here,” Link said again after a while. Rana nodded and sat up, almost straight.
    He picked her up and carried her to where Epona was waiting, with only a brief stop – Rana wanted her ocarina, and she knew where it was. Then he rode to Lon Lon Ranch.

    Talon walked into the main room. Malon was cooking something that smelled wonderful. The farmer saw Rana.
    “Is that our stray kitten?” he asked jovially. Rana gave a momentary flash of anger; tensing, baring her teeth, and clenching her fists. Talon was taken aback.
    “I’m sorry, Daddy, it is her, but she’s not quite herself yet.”
    Talon watched Link trying to teach Rana to stand up straight. “I can see that. I’ll go milk the cows. Smells good, Mal.”
    “Just stand against the wall,” Link told Rana.
    “My head feels funny in this position,” she mumbled.
    “Well, it’s really too far back. But before, it was too far forward. Now- oh, straighten your knees.”
    Rana stepped away from the wall, frustrated, almost crying. “Ah, now I don’t know in what position I’m supposed to be.”
    Link eyed the wall. “You’re standing taller. You’re above that knot in the wall now, that one that’s at my chin. Try bending backwards and see if that helps.”
    “I can bend backwards,” Rana said, her expression clearing somewhat. She stretched her hands over her head and leaned backwards. Link stared at her, amazed, as she practically bent in half.
    She stood up, her face covered in almost comical astonishment. “I feel… normal, mostly. How did you know how to fix my posture?”
    Link shrugged, smiling. “I guessed. I wondered what it would feel like, and what I would do to compensate… it all worked out, and that’s the important thing.” He moved a step closer. “Now let’s see if we can’t get you to smile…”
    Tears came immediately to Rana’s eyes. “I don’t…” She shook her head, confused and angry, and ran away, out into the field.
    Malon looked out the window. “She doesn’t know who she is… she says she remembers all the happy times, but she’s still… unhappy.”
    “Overdeveloped vengeance complex,” Naeri spoke up from her perch on a high cupboard. “Please make her come back inside, Link.”
    He nodded and left the house.

    He came up behind the girl, staring at the sunset and waited silently.
    “I don’t understand,” Rana said softly. “Naeri is all right. Why am I so upset?”
    “I wish I had been allowed to stay,” Link whispered back. She whipped around, ready to attack, but relaxed quickly. “I could have helped you the day they captured you.”
    “I wish you had been there too,” Rana cried, shoulders slumping. He stepped forward and hugged her, hesitantly, comfortingly.

    Malon sent the two Hylians to the Kokiri Forest the next day, hoping that Rana would find spirit enough to laugh.
    All the Kokiri met them at the bridge. They swarmed around both Hylians, chattering and laughing.
     “Hey, Rana’s back! Where were you?”
    “We missed you!”
    “Is that really Link, Rana?”
    “Hey, there’s a new Deku Tree! Did you know?”
    Rana’s face relaxed, but she couldn’t smile.
    “Rana’s had some trouble, so go and play for just a bit. If I can make her laugh, she’ll come and play. If not…” Link shrugged helplessly.
    After they ate, sitting by the new Deku Tree, Link sat back contentedly.
    “Do you want to hear my adventures?”
    “Sure,” Rana admitted.
    He told her what had happened, about Sheik, and the Master Sword, and the Forest.
    “And then I was taken here, and the Deku Sprout was only this high out of the ground… except I didn’t know it was him; I thought it was just a baby plant. So I bent over it… and he went Poof!” Link threw himself backwards and yelled the way he had then, or a close imitation. Then he watched her.
    Rana stared for a while. Then, slowly, she began to smile, and then she actually giggled. The giggling turned into a small laugh, which suddenly exploded into her old, carefree, uncontrolled laugh, just the way Link remembered.
    He grinned sheepishly, got up, and hugged her. “It’s not that funny.”
    “Oh, Link, I haven’t laughed for two or three years. Thank you, thank you…” She gulped and swallowed some tears that always came after a hysterical outburst. Link hugged her tightly, and she looked up, puzzled.
    They walked around the forest with an arm around each other.
    He told her of Little Link, and Ruto, “-and she is definite about wanting to marry me… but… I don’t want to. She’s completely deluded herself.”
    “I understand,” smiled Rana. “I didn’t see her very often, compared to Saria and Malon, but she was always talking about you. Always.”
    “Did it bother you?”
    “I knew you didn’t like her enough to love her, so it was kinda embarrassing…”
    “Hm. Sorry.” He continued with his tale of Shadow Link, and his enjoyment of being able to breathe underwater – “Not quite as good as being a Zoran, but that’s not going to happen, now, is it?” he teased her. She laughed, then made round eyes.
    “But where did you get your ears pierced? Or, I mean, when?”
    “Pierced ears?” Link brought up his hand and fingered his long left ear. Sure enough, he found a small ring of metal. “What colour is it?”
    “Blue, sort of like your eyes.”
    “I have no idea where that came from. I never noticed it before. Anyway…” he dismissed it as unimportant.
    Then he went on to the Shadow Temple, and Rana learned how anxious he’d been there, and how he’d seen her in the windmill. Then he remembered.
    “I… oh, Rana, I… I found out that I’m not the first Link!” His words stumbled over each other in his eagerness. “There’s been a Link I and he rescued Princess Zelda twice, and once was from a monster named Ganon. The other one travelled a bit more and saved two other lands… I forget their names… uh… Holodrum? and Labrynna. And Princess Zelda. And I’m the third in history.”
    “Wow!” was all that Rana could say, with rounder eyes.
    He finished with the Desert Dungeon, and about Nabooru and the witches. “After that, well, I had awoken all the Sages, so I was going to go to the Temple of Time to talk to Sheik, but I saw an Ironknuckle behaving oddly, so I followed it… I’m glad I did.”
    He held Rana very close, aware how close he had been to losing her and not knowing it. Now she was close to him again… too close?
    “Go and play with the Kokiri, now. I think I need to think for a bit,” he told her. With a happy sigh, she got up and danced over to the nearest girl. Link watched her skinny, nimble figure as she swung the cord for a game of jump rope. He was glad she was back to the way she was, all happy and cheerful… but…

    That afternoon, Rana demanded more detail of his journeys. He gladly gave her the particulars of every battle and maze.
    “And, Rana, the best part of all this is…”
    “Yes?” she prompted him, curious.
    “You were… are my best friend. And… now I know you are safe… and…”
    He almost couldn’t say it.
    “I love you, now.”
    Rana was silent.
    “I… don’t know what to say,” she mumbled finally.
    “May I kiss you?” Link asked shyly.
    She nodded, not looking directly at him.
    His lips met hers.
    They stayed that way for a long moment before they parted.
    “I love you…” Link whispered.
    She sighed contentedly. “I… I think… I love you back.”
    “You don’t know?” Link teased her. She hugged him more tightly.
    “I do! I do! Only, I’ve only really known you for two days…”
    “Plus all those years,” he reminded her. She nodded.
    “I’m just wondering if it’s normal or good that this happened in such a short time.”
    “Well,” Link began hesitantly, “I think I have an advantage over you. I have very recent memories of you as a child, and then to grow up very suddenly, and find the child, oh, so beautiful…”
    “I… have memories of you… but it’s more like a nice dream that happened long ago. But you’re so kind and handsome and brave and noble… etc. etc.” She smiled up at him, and he kissed her again, holding her close.
    They stayed with the Kokiri for the rest of the day before returning to the ranch.
    After supper, Malon turned to Rana.“Rana, d’you want to help me put the horses to bed?”
    “Sure!” Rana agreed readily.
    As they rubbed down the horses in the barn, Malon turned to Rana.
    “So, what’s the secret?”
    “The secret?” repeated Rana.
    “Why do you look so blessedly happy?”
    Rana smiled, and whispered to her friend: “I’m engaged to Link…”
    “Ah, yes. Link’s been obsessing over finding you since he got here, and you know, I figured that would happen sooner or later. I just had a crush on him… but then, everyone does! So, just be in love. I understand completely.”
    “Whoa, that’s a convincing argument.”
    “It’s true!” Both girls laughed. Malon winked. “Besides, there’s this cute guy in Kakariko named Alan. He used to be a knight until Ganny took over. I might decide to fall in love with him.”
    “That’s wonderful!”

    On the second day, they went to Zora’s Domain. Shoza and Bitu were hacking at the frozen waterfall and carrying the ice chunks to a bonfire near the entrance, dumping the melted water into the river.
    “Gotta get a head start on spring, you know?” Shoza said. Then he saw Rana. “Hey, Rana! Kittengirl!”
    Rana laughed and hugged the Zora. “I asked you not to call me that, finboy.”
    “Yeah, I know, but you’re alive! I was pretty worried, since you didn’t show up for two or three years… and meanwhile I was wondering if I was alive. Anyhow…”
    “Hmm? Link, who’s that?” asked Ruto, startling all of them.
    “Ah, this is Rana, the girl I was looking for.”
    “Ah, I see,” Ruto smiled. “I recall you a bit, now that I see you. Let’s go chat.” The Zoran princess grabbed an ice saw and wandered over to the waterfall, Rana following. Bitu trailed after both of them.
    “So, are you going to marry the princess?” Shoza asked slyly. “She’s begun to talk of nothing else. Not to King Zora, though.” He laughed.
    Link blushed a bit. “Well, I wasn’t really listening the first time she proposed…” Both men chuckled. “Anyway, now…” His gaze travelled over to Rana.
    Shoza looked closely at him. “I see.”
    “Huh?” Link blinked and looked around, directly into Shoza’s blue-black eyes.
    Shoza grinned. “I can see you’re sweet on that pretty giggly sword girl, huh? Anyway, it’s just as well for me, since…” he looked over at the ice chippers too.
    “Ah.” Link nodded. He leaned in close. “What say we…”
    “Hmm…” Shoza considered. “We get Ruto’s crush off you and on me?”
    “Precisely. Just after I beat Ganondorf, we’ll get together and … make it happen.” Link’s shy smile turned into a mischievous grin as he imagined the amusement the project would generate. Shoza grinned along with him.

    The day after, Epona at last carried Link and Rana to Hyrule Castle in the rose of dawn. They got off and walked to the Temple door.
    “Stay here,” Link told Rana. “I’ll go in and see what Sheik wants.”
    She nodded.
    Link ran in. On the pedestal close to the entrance, he waited.
    There was a light sound, like the flit of a bird’s wing, behind him. Link turned, smiling.
    “Hello, Shiek. Sorry I’m late; I found Rana.”
    “Good morning, Hero.”
    “Hero again? I thought you didn’t like that formal language.”
    Shiek stood straight and slim. “This occasion is different. This is the final turning point for Hyrule.” He paused, and said impressively: “You have awoken the Six Sages. However, the Seventh Sage must still join you.”
    “There’s a Seventh Sage?”
    “Yes, which is why I never knew why they called the group the Six-Sages-and-one-extra.” Sheik rolled his eyes. Link smiled.
    Shiek’s knees bent, and he shifted his weight into an awkward looking pose. There was a brilliant flash of light.
    When Link could look again, he saw pink.
    He caught his breath.
    The Princess Zelda stood before him, ten times lovelier than she had been before. Her shimmering golden hair flowed down her back and her sky-blue eyes were large and shining in her pale face.
    Link tried to say something, but couldn’t.
    Zelda quickly grasped his hands. “I need to give you this. Without it, you won’t win.” Link felt a quick surge of magic pulse through him, and twitched in astonishment. He could make his arrows magical! Light magic! The Hero of Time stood taller, feeling almost invincible.
    “I am the Seventh Sage,” Zelda was saying very rapidly. “I disguised myself with magic all these seven years so Ganondorf wouldn’t find me; crimson Shiekah eyes, and my outer magical layer of skin tanned in the sun… We must go quickly, before he does someth-” She cut off with a cry. The ground rumbled, and dust quivered from the ceiling. The two Hylians looked around wildly.

Chapter 20: The Broken Laugh     Chapter 22: The King of Evil

Chapter 19: The Land of Sand     Chapter 21: To Find Tranquillity

Chapter 20: The Broken Laugh

    “Nabooru?!?” Link cried in shock and disbelief. She didn’t seem to be hurt, although he had struck the hulking Ironknuckle in the torso more than once; perhaps the massive padding under the armour had protected her.
    She raised herself to her knees. “Who… who are you…”
    He knelt beside her, trying to help her stand. “My name’s Link. I met you seven years ago. Do you remember?”
    Two swirls appeared in the corner of the room, condensing into witches; one with red and black robes, the other with blue and black.
    “Oh, look, Koume, she’s woken up again.”
    “Oh dear, Kotake, you’re right. What should we do with her?”
    Nabooru sprang to her feet, keeping a wary eye on both of them, growling like a wolf.
    “Let’s lock her up again,” said Koume. Both witches now held glowing balls of light in their colours.
    “Run, Nabooru!” Link shouted, jumping in front of her. The Gerudo woman didn’t need telling twice. She was out the door before the old crones could fire their spells.
    Instead, they fired them at Link, who blocked them both with the Mirror shield.
    “We’ll wait for them in the big room, right, Kotake?” cackled Koume.
    “We will, Koume,” screeched Kotake. With a swirl, they both disappeared.
    Link charged through the door behind the Ironknuckle’s chair. He guessed that the big room meant the room with the large statue, but he didn’t want to leave any room unexplored.
    He found himself in a short corridor, leading to a massive door. He opened that door and his mouth fell open with surprise.
    The next room was huge, far larger than it had any right to be in the monolith of rock that stuck out of the desert. Actually, Link was not great at calculating the dimensions of the inside compared to the outside; this was the reason that he did, indeed, occasionally become lost.
    The room was filled by a large stone block about three stories tall and surrounded by four other pillars. Four skylights in the corners of the room let light into the otherwise dark room. Still, the light level was not the greatest, and Link tripped on his way to climb up the central block. He was a bit uncertain as to what the witches meant by ‘the big room’ now. Perhaps it was this one.
    When he stood in the centre of the mosaic on top of the stone, the witches warped to opposite pillars.
    “Look, Koume, this young man’s come to offer himself as a sacrifice to the Great Ganondorf!”
    “Oh, Kotake, he’s so nice! Ganondorf will be so happy!”
    Link, tired of whipping his head back and forth to focus on both of them, backed up and went into a crouch.
    “I’ll burn him to a crisp!” they chanted. “I’ll freeze him to his marrow!”
    The witches began to circle him, still making mouth noises.
    The blue one raised a wand and a patterned ring of blue light appeared in front of her. Link brought his shield up just in time. A blue spell hit it with a whump, and then… his shield started to glow, pulsing with blue light. Link stared at it, startled, and almost missed another blue spell.
    His shield started glowing faster. And when another spell hit it, it flashed brightly and a stream of icy air shot out of the front. Somehow, it hit the red witch.
    The witch screamed, and Link felt one step closer to victory.
    The one who had been hit then began to cast spells at Link, and his shield hummed with stored power. This one, he tried to aim at the blue witch, but he missed.
    Many times, he absorbed their spells and tried to throw them back, but much of the time the seeking beam of wind or flame missed completely. Finally, though, they stopped and stared at him.
    “All right, Kotake, time to get serious!”
    “I agree!”
    The two began to circle each other, tighter and tighter, and faster and faster. With a bright flash of purple light, they hit each other.
    A huge woman exploded into being, hovering in midair. She was younger-looking than the witches, but wore skimpy Gerudo clothing and make-up. Link shuddered.
    “Yes, fear us! We are the Twinrova!” shrieked the woman, posing flirtishly. Link shook his head to clear it and gripped his sword tighter.
    The Twinrova held two wands, one red, one blue. Her method of attack was the same as the witches had been, but now she cast her spells randomly. Link found that absorbing a flame spell after an ice spell meant the stored power vanished out of his shield.
    Then he hit the Twinrova with a flame spell. She screamed and sank to one of the towers. Link ran and jumped towards her, attacking with his sword.
    The Twinrova dissolved in another flash of purple light, and two witches hovered.
    “What happened, Koume?”
    “I think we lost, Kotake.”
    “What? This is all your fault!”
    “Don’t try to blame it on me! It’s your fault!”
    “How can you do such a thing to your little sister!?”
    “You’re my twin! Don’t lie about your age!”
    “I’m only 380!”
    “You’re 400!”
    “Imbecile!”
    “Nitwit!”
    “Senile!”
    “Hag!”
    Navi giggled. Link hid his own grin behind his hand.
    A white light came down and absorbed the two arguing women.
    A blue crystal formed around Link, and he relaxed into the healing power of the warp.

    He appeared in the Temple of Light. Appearing out of the orange platform across from him was…
    “Nabooru?”
    “Hello, hero-boy. Long time, no see.”
    “You’re the Sage of Spirit.”
    “The Desert.”
    “Same thing!” Navi interrupted. “You got away!”
    “Yeah,” Nabooru said, grinning wolfishly. “I’m still a nimble lone wolf thief, though I was brainwashed for so many years. They were worried about you. They forgot. Now I’m a Sage, so I’m even more powerful. Heh.”
    “Um… that’s good,” Link said, unsure how to respond.
    “Yeah. Oh, and you can keep those gauntlets.”
    “Thanks. They were amazing.”
    “What do you mean, ‘were’? You’re gonna use ‘em again, aren’t you? … Mmmm…” Nabooru stared at Link with large golden eyes. “If only I’d known you’d grow into such a handsome man…”
    “Uh…”
    “If only… heh, that’s past now. For the future, take this!”
    She reached up, and the orange Desert Medallion spun down into Link’s hands. Holding it in both gauntleted hands, he looked at the Sage.
    “Thank you, Nabooru.”
    Nabooru whispered “If only…” again as the world turned white around him.

    The Hero of Time reappeared in the desert. Sheik was not there to greet him this time, but that didn’t worry Link. He warped to Kokiri Forest and went to sleep.
    The next day, he rode to Hyrule Castle Town. Warping would have been faster, but Link enjoyed the ride, bright with the expectation that Ganondorf would be ousted that day, and that he needn’t hurry since everything was in place. Navi, watching his face, saw it shifting often, from gay and carefree to anxious to determined and back to happy.
    He dismounted and left Epona at the broken drawbridge, wading through the shallow water in the centre of the ford. Striding through the gate… he stopped. All thought of the Temple of Time went right out of his head.
    An Ironknuckle was stomping into the square, leading a Redead. Link hid behind the well and watched. The armoured soldier plopped the monster down and began clanking away down a side street. Link followed softly.
    The houses and buildings down this side street looked less dilapidated than those in the main square, and the Ironknuckle went into one.
    Link slipped after it and peered through a crack in the door. There was a horrid stink coming from inside, and he heard moaning, deep unearthly moaning.
    He opened the door, not bothering to be quiet about it. He had found another nest of Ganondorf’s monsters, and he was going to exterminate it, quickly.
    Once he found all the inmates of the house looking at him, he wondered if he had made a mistake – there were about ten armoured knights, and one of them rushed to a sliding gate and opened it.
    Redead poured out, and Link charged in, Master Sword blazing. The Redead seemed unfinished, somehow; they looked more human than most of the ones he had fought before, and they were even slower and clumsier than most others as well. The Ironknuckles were much more difficult. He felt his head was too exposed.
    Leaping and spinning and ducking so much left him drained at the end of the battle. He drooped, panting, in the middle of a pile of bodies.
    “Maybe that was a lot to do at once,” Navi chided him.
    “I’m going to ache tomorrow,” Link grinned back. “I’d better save my strength.” Sheathing his sword and shield, he went to explore the rest of the building. There were two corridors leading from the opening room.
    He found a great number of empty, cold stone cells lining the one corridor and wondered. There were other rooms on the other corridor, like a small kitchen, in which the main ingredient available seemed to be cabbage, and something like a barracks, which he supposed was for the armoured guards.
    “Is this some sort of Redead farm?” Navi asked, inspecting odd implements the use of which neither could guess at.
    “Looks like it,” Link replied, unhappily.
    He left that room and continued down to the last rooms. All that was left were dank prison-like holes, all locked. He smashed the locks.
    The first two were empty.
    In the third lay a girl, huddled in a corner. She was asleep, but was muttering and moaning. She was no redead, though. Link gave a slight smile – one person was saved out of this mess, at least.
    “Hey, wake up!” Navi chirped, fluttering down to near the girl’s face. She was incredibly skinny and was covered in worn, dark grey clothes. Her ribs showed through, and her brown hair was lank and tangled.
    Link knelt beside her too, touching her shoulder. “We’re here to re-“
    The young woman twisted under his hand and lunged suddenly for his throat, knocking him backwards to the floor. Her green eyes burned unnaturally bright with an incredible hatred, and her grip on his neck was surprisingly strong.
    “Ra – Ra –na!” Link gasped, prying her hands away from his windpipe. She withdrew suddenly, backing into a combat-ready crouch, glaring defiantly. Link sat up and rubbed his neck.
    “How do you know my name?” snarled the girl.
    “I – “ Link stopped short. “My name is Link. You don’t remember me?” Navi flew down to his shoulder, staring at Rana.
    “No,” she snapped, staring always at his hands, now idly fallen to his lap. “You’re a new guard, aren’t you? Come to see if you can break me? Try!” Her voice was taunting now.
    “No! We were friends… once. A long time ago, Rana… You don’t remember?” Something felt uncomfortably wet in his eye, and he knew he was going to begin crying soon. “My dear kitten friend… I called you a laughing butterfly… What happened to you after I drew the Master Sword? How did this happen?”
    “Master Sword?” Her mouth worked for a moment, and when she spoke, her voice was weary and bitter. “Are you that heroic idiot that deserted Hyrule just when it needed one most?”
Link stared miserably.
    “Rana?” Navi said. “Where’s Naeri?”
    Rana pointed to a lantern near the door without taking her eyes from Link’s hands. Navi swooped up to it, and opened it. Naeri woke at that, and seeing Navi, flung herself at her friend and hugged her.
    Meanwhile, the two Hylians had been frozen in their impasse. Link broke the deep silence first.
    “Why won’t you look at me?”
    “Hands are dangerous.”
    “Would you trust me?” he whispered.
    “No!”
    “Rana…”
    “Shut up.”
    “Please?” He sat on his hands, looking at her pleadingly. “Please, my friend…”

Chapter 19: The Land of Sand     Chapter 21: To Find Tranquillity

Chapter 18: Held by Bandits     Chapter 20: The Broken Laugh

Chapter 19: The Land of Sand

    There was a huge stone in the distance, much closer now. Link staggered towards it.
    “Want some more water?” Navi asked.
    “I’ll hang on for a bit, thanks.”
    As they got closer, Link could see the stone more clearly. There was an ancient, broken statue of a woman sitting crosslegged with her hands palm upwards that was carved directly into the face of the rock. In front of her was a rough stone arch, rising out of the desert.
    There also was a Triforce pad.
    Link walked past the pad and over to the entrance under the statue’s feet. He stood looking around a bit.
    “Isn’t Sheik supposed to meet me here?” he asked Navi. He turned around to scan the desert.
    Sheik was there, smirking. At least, Link thought it was a smirk. He couldn’t tell. The other youth’s collar was too high for him to see.
    Link clutched his chest, pretending to have a heart attack. “Goodness, Sheik, where did you come from?”
    “Up there,” Sheik answered, pointing at the top of the arch. “I’ve been watching you. You need a drink, don’t you?”
    “I guess so.” Navi gave him his bottle of water.
    “Also,” Link began, “how did you land so quietly? You just seem to appear and disappear out of nowhere.” Sheik disappeared. Link started.
    “I’m a ninja,” Sheik’s voice sounded in his ear. Link started again, putting a hand up to feel the silver chain suddenly looped around his neck. The man’s breath was hot on his cheek.
    Sheik released him and walked around to face him. “I’ve been training like mad ever since you vanished seven years ago. I thought you might not come back.” He paused. “Are we gonna learn a song or what?”
    Link shrugged and took out his Ocarina.
    Sheik played a sombre melody. It didn’t seem to fit with the desert or the Gerudo, but it fit the idea of ‘Spirit’ Temple perfectly. Link played it back gravely.
    “This will take you here in any port of time,” Sheik said, looking at him closely.
    “You mean…”
    “You need another tool to enter this… um, the Temple proper. However, it’s been taken seven years ago. Probably by you.”
    Link groaned. “Not again. Right.”
    “You can’t see much of the Temple now. On one side of the foyer is a tunnel so small even I can’t fit. On the other side is a block so heavy that even both of us together pushing it wouldn’t be able to move it. That’s why you need to go back”
    “Thanks.”
    Sheik resettled his harp and played the Song of Time. A blue portal appeared in the archway. Link walked into it and disappeared in a flash of blue light.

    On the other side of time, seven years ago, Link yelled and ran for his life as two ugly old women on broomsticks chased him into the Temple entrance, firing blasts of fire and ice magic at him. He stumbled in the sudden cool darkness inside, dashing up the stairs. At the top, an arm came out of nowhere, looped around him, and yanked him into a dark corner. Link kicked and tore himself away from his attacker.
    The girl held out her hands placatingly. “Whoa, kid, relax! I’m just trying to help you!”
    “Sorry,” Link panted, crouching in the alcove with his rescuer. “Who are those witches?” They were flying away. Using a magic portal, they flew right through a solid stone wall.
    The Gerudo’s face hardened. “They’re Ganondorf’s henchmen. They’re using this place as a hideout…”
    “The Spirit Temple, a hideout?” Navi spluttered indignantly.
    “What’s that?”
    “This is Navi, my fairy. My name’s Link. Who are you?”
    The girl drew herself up. “I’m Nabooru, the lone wolf thief. I’m completely against Ganondorf and all his evilness! Yeah, he’s a thief too. But he steals from the needy and kills people!” She glared at him. “You aren’t one of his spies, are you?”
    “We hate Ganondorf!” Link snapped. “He’s done terrible things to my friends, all in his insane quest for power. I’m taking him down. I’m the Hero of Time, by the way.”
    “What’s that? Wait. I’ll explain our custom, and you explain yours. Every hundred years, a male Gerudo is born. That one man is the King of the Gerudo. I’m not bowing to this one. What’s a Hero of Time?”
    “It seems whenever the land of Hyrule, or even other lands, is in danger, a Hylian is chosen to wield the Master Sword, Evil’s Bane, and strike down whatever is causing the problem.”
    “Goodie. I suppose I can trust you then. First, I need your help. How old are you?”
    “Um…. Twelve.”
    “I’m fifteen. I’ve already grown up, so I can’t fit through this hole, and I can’t trust any of the other Gerudo girls. They all have a crush on that idiot king, and besides, they’re too young to fight. Beyond here is hidden the Silver Gauntlets somewhere. If I can get those, I’ll be able to sneak into the rest of the Temple, steal all Gannie’s treasure, and mess up their plans.”
    “I’ll go,” Link said instantly. “I can fight.”
    “Yeah, yeah, hero-boy. Is that the Master Sword? It looks small.”
    “No, this is the Kokiri Sword. I’m too small to use the big sword. Just wait seven years. I’m sure I’ll see you sometime in the future after this.”
    The boy wriggled his way into the tiny crawl tunnel.
    As he wandered, he found many new creatures, most of them attacking him. He also found a room that was vast, dark, and mysterious. He liked it. A huge statue of another cross legged woman, with her palms up, a katana carved on her back, and a snake wrapped around her waist and neck and hooding over her head was placed in the centre of the room. Link felt quite dwarfed.
    Following the path laid for him, he trudged up some velvety red carpeted stairs and came to another door.
    The room was full of brick pillars and had a red painted walkway on the floor. It took a right angle left. Link glanced towards the end of the room in a combat-ready crouch.
    A massive, armoured warrior sat in a throne of brick, battleaxe at the ready. Seeing Link, it rose to its feet and came towards him ponderously.
    He darted in and stabbed it, then backflipped away with an abrupt inhalation as the axe cleaved the air he had just vacated.
    The hulking figure kept lumbering towards him, swinging its axe when he came close enough. Often Link misjudged his shorter Kokiri sword, shorter than the Master Sword, not coming close enough to hit. He would rather be cautious than dead, though, and persisted.
    Finally something parted in the armour, and most of it fell off. Link had no time to celebrate, though because now the soldier was free to run towards him quickly.
    Link hit it, and it flinched. Staying in close, ducking around behind it, he kept attacking it, taking advantage of its reactions to keep stabbing it.
    At last, it crumpled in a blue flame, and Link crumpled in a pile of sweaty green tunic. Navi gave him another drink, a big one.
    “That warrior was called an Ironknuckle. I think they’re robotic soldiers of Ganondorf.”
    “So, not alive, you mean?”
    “Yes. At least, I don’t think so. Maybe they are, but they’re not Hylian or Gerudo or… anything anymore. They’re half monster now.”
    “How can you tell?”
    “Something with the feel of the spirit. It’s different.”
    “All right. I’m ready to go now.”
    Exiting the door behind the throne, Link found himself standing in the palm of one of the hands of the woman on the outside the Desert Colossus. Beside him was a huge treasure chest. Link looked up, wondering how old the statue was to have been half broken away – the woman was missing a breast and one side of the lower half of her face. He wondered where the broken rocks had gone, too. He could see no sign of them.
    He turned back to the chest and opened it, finding the gauntlets. They looked exactly like those he had as an adult, but with silver plates on the backs.
    Then he heard a scream. A high-pitched cry echoed around the cliffs of the Temple.
    Link edged carefully to the brink of the drop and looked down, catching sight of the two witches who had chased him; they were circling quickly. In the centre of their ring, in the sand, was a purple-black hole of magic, and being sucked into the circle was Nabooru.
    Link almost called to her, but Nabooru cried above the whir of magic. “Kyaaaa! Link, wherever you are, get out of there! These witches… they…” Her head sank below the sand and her words were lost.
    The witches flew back into the Temple as their magic hole faded from view.
    Link gritted his teeth in anger, and hopped off the hand to the desert ground, many feet below. He ran back to the blue swirling magic of time in the archway and jumped through.

    He appeared again in his adult body, still clutching the Silver Gauntlets. He pulled them on. The temple looked exactly the same.
    “That was fast!” Sheik called, sitting in the shade of the doorway.
    Link walked over to him. “It wasn’t too difficult, but something bad happened.”
    “What?”
    “We met a nice, Ganondorf-hating Gerudo girl named Nabooru, and she was captured by two witches.”
    “Ah. I’ve heard of them. They’re called the Twinrova. I don’t know why.”
    “It’s probably too late, but I’m going to go in there and see if she’s still stuck… Wait. One of the Gerudo at the fort said something about her! She said she was going to prove herself to Nabooru…”
    Sheik thought for a long while. “Well, we don’t usually have much to do with the Gerudo, but I believe that Nabooru did become the chieftain of the Gerudo. She must have escaped.”
    “Oh. That’s good. Well, see you later!”
    “Bye, Hero! After you’re done, come to the Temple of Time! I’ll be there!”

    Link re-entered the Spirit Temple. He turned to the right this time, glancing to the left. No one was there. Ahead of him, to the right of the entrance, there was a huge black stone block with a carving on it.
    Link rubbed his hands together and set his shoulder against the block. Energy rushed through him like lava through the veins of a volcano, astonishing him completely. The block moved easily. He continued pushing, not knowing, or really caring what would happen, when it would stop.
    He felt it sliding through his hands and stopped pushing. It had fallen into a hole.
    After countless puzzles and passages, Link entered a door and found himself outside again.
    He was on the carved woman’s left hand, with an enormous treasure chest. He opened it. The lid was very heavy.
    The treasure was a polished, shiny shield of silver bordered in red, decorated with Gerudo symbols.
    “So shiny…” Navi said.
Link grinned. “It’s as good as a mirror. I bet it’s magical.”
    “Ooh! Ooh! Try it on!”
    “Sure, but I’m keeping my Hylian shield mostly.”
    “All right.”
    The sun reflected off the shield in a blinding beam that stretched a long way into the desert. The sun was setting again.
    “I think it’s almost time to sleep again. This seems like a safe spot.”
    “Good idea!”
    Link had some supper and curled up on the warm gritty stone.
    The next morning, he ate breakfast and went back inside. He wandered all over the temple, even finding access to some of the places he had been as a boy, searching every nook and cranny. It was a fantastic temple; not damp and mouldy at all, and not too dark, and every spare spot was covered in amazing carvings which he couldn’t read.
    Several hours later, he found a platform that lowered him directly in front of the inside seated statue’s face.
    He stared at it. Light reflecting from mirrors above shone down on him, and he’d gone to a lot of trouble to make them match up properly even when he had no idea what it would do.
    “Now what?”
    “I don’t know!” Navi cried frantically. She was very upset. Soon the light would move and then they would have to wait a whole day, which would be absolute boredom, not to mention it was against their natures to sit around while Ganondorf was at large.
    Link tried using the Lens of Truth, but he could see nothing different. He tried aiming the hookshot for the snake-hood, he tried throwing a Deku nut at it, he shot arrows at the stone jewel and the statues eyes; anything to find the hidden portal that surely must be there. He managed to throw a Deku stick like a javelin, he cast Din’s Fire, he played songs on the Ocarina…
     “Hurry!” Navi said frantically.
    Link let his Ocarina fall from his lips. “Wait. Navi, why are we so concerned about the light?” He rubbed his forehead. “Farore help me, I’m so dense.”
    He took the Mirror shield and focused the sun’s light on the face of the statue.
    Dust rose and dangerous-looking cracks appeared on the face of the statue.
    Link lowered his shield before the damage got any worse. “I’m not sure I’m supposed to do this…”
    “DO IT!” Navi screamed at him.
    “Okay, okay, fine. But I’m telling Nabooru it’s all your fault.”
    “That’s fine, just hurry up!”
    “Navi,” Link snapped, his patience wearing, “stop talking. Please.”
    The light was dim; otherwise there might have been time for an apology and making-up between them. They both knew it, so they only exchanged a glance and Link raised his shield again.
    The stone of the statue’s face crumbled under the fire of the sun and fell to her lap. Behind, there was a round tunnel with a grill in it.
    Link fired his hookshot at the grill, not really knowing if it would stick. It did, and he landed gently as the hookshot came loose and the grill slid into the ceiling of its own accord. Behind the grill was a plain stone door.
    “Link, I want to say that what you said about telling Nabooru was funny.”
    “Hey, thanks!”
    He opened the door.
    Here, a straight red carpet led down to another brick throne occupied by an Ironknuckle. Walking up the aisle towards it, he noted the positions of six brick pillars and also the fact that the Ironknuckle had a red cloak.
    When he had come only halfway down the room, it stood, raised its arms above its head, and… wait a minute…
    The Ironknuckle looked at its empty gauntlets, peered around the room, and snapped its fingers. Link laughed. A huge axe popped out of thin air and fell into its hands.
    It shook the axe above its head, roaring, and Link’s laughter ceased as he readied his sword and shield, though he kept a wide grin on his face.
    He danced around the clumsily slow enemy, stabbing abruptly when he saw a chance. It was actually fun; his range as an adult was much better and the moments that worried him to the point of heart-attack were few and far between. The deadly axe missed him with every swing, and Link felt he had never backflipped more easily in his life; though being far heavier than a child, he was much stronger.
    At last, the armour fell in pieces. It seemed the Master Sword had severed a vital cord that kept the heavy plates secured in place.
    A slim figure fell to the floor.

Chapter 18: Held by Bandits     Chapter 20: The Broken Laugh