Chapter 12: The Depths of the Dragon     Chapter 14: The Desperate Battle

Chapter 13: The Realm of Silence

    Link swung the hammer with both hands and brought it crashing down on the fire-dragon’s head. Volvagia roared, pulled back underground, and exploded out, sending rocks flying everywhere. Navi yelled and Link ducked.
    The dragon flew around, spewing fire at Link. He jumped sideways and rolled, dropping the hammer. Volvagia dove. More rocks flew. Link grabbed the hammer. The dragon appeared again at the far side of the platform. Link ran. Volvagia breathed fire. Link rolled sideways.
    He jumped forward, trying to catch the dragon off guard. It wasn’t. It swung its head, and its long fiery mane hit him and knocked him back. Link sprang up and smacked the hammer down on its head.
    “Are you trying to kill it or give it a headache?” Navi asked facetiously.
    “Navi!” Link snapped, trying to concentrate and not in the mood for jokes at that moment.
    “Sorry.” Link rolled sideways to avoid another blast of fire. When Volvagia popped its head out of one of its holes, the Hylian was ready. When it swung its mane, he backflipped and bounced forward again, slamming the hammer dead on target. He was also getting tired. The heat was starting to leak through even his tunic.
    Happily, the next time he repeated the pattern, Volvagia erupted from his hole right away. Link crouched warily, but Volvagia burst into flames overhead. Nothing but a few ashes fell to the platform.
    Darunia uncurled. “My, that was exciting. Thank you, Brother. Now Volvagia is dead forever. Let’s go to the Sacred Realm.” Before Link had time to blink, he was enveloped in blue and transported magically to the grey pedestal.
    Across from him flared a burst of red, and Darunia materialized on his own pedestal.
    “Brother! You have once again saved our people. Seven years ago, we were in need of food. Today, we almost became food. If not for my son and a few other hardy souls, we all would have been toast for that monster last week.”
    “Darunia, how long has this… expulsion been going on?”
    The bearded Goron frowned. “Ganondorf had never been friendly towards us, as can be expected. He can’t stand plain, honest people like us. But he couldn’t do anything to us until just recently when he revived Volvagia. Even though he comes from a desert country, he can’t stand the heat of Death Mountain, and he never knew that we could make protective tunics; he never saw Rana.”
    “Yet, somehow he managed to call the dragon…”
    “Yes. He hovered over the crater and cast his spells up there, where he can still breathe the air… and we could do nothing.” Darunia shook his head in regret. “I can only thank you again, Brother, that we lost none of our people.”
    “We’re just happy to have come in time.”
    “Yeah!” said Navi.
    The Goron leader smiled broadly and drew himself up. “Now, my friend, it is time. Seven years ago, I gave you the greatest gift of our people. Now I give you only the greatest gift I can give. Bear it well.” He raised his arms and Link, in turn, raised his.
    A glittering scarlet medallion twinkled down from the darkness above and into the Hylian’s hands.
    “I give you my strength, Hero. Restore the land! Farewell!”
    “Farewell, Darunia!” cried Link and Navi as they were returned to the ordinary world.

    Link warped to the Lost Woods and went to sleep in his own bed. The forest was recovering; the leaves were greening in the summer sun. In the morning there was a message on his pillow asking him to come to the Temple of Time.
    The next day, he called Epona and went there. He walked straight into the back room; a figure stood there.
    “Hi, hero!” the young man greeted him. “You came. Good. Let’s learn a song.”
    “Where does this one warp me to?” Link asked.
    “Right here. Aside from the fact that it’s pretty –“
    “And I like pretty tunes,” Navi interrupted.
    “- it’s also useful.” Sheik played a ringing, clear melody. Link played it back easily.
    “Lovely,” Link commented afterwards.
    “Isn’t it?” Sheik seemed to smile behind his collar. “It is my favourite of the legendary songs… It makes me think of home, the way the kingdom used to be…” He seemed to be remembering something rather sad. Link waited silently, hoping the young man could feel his empathy.
    Sheik shook his head ferociously. “Anyway,” he said, “the next temple to free is up to you. Do you have somewhere you want to go?”
    “What are our choices again?” Navi asked.
    “Water, Shadow, or Sand.”
    “I’ll go to the Water Temple. I’d like to see the Zorans again too.”
    “That may not be easy,” Sheik remarked pensively. His voice turned grim. “I think most of them have been frozen. An unnatural winter has fallen upon Zora’s Fountain, likely Ganondorf’s magic. I help out whenever I can, but I have too many places to be to help them all the time…”
    “I understand,” Link said. “I’d better get to work, then!”
    “See you there!”

    Link hurried out to Hyrule Field and mounted Epona; she was grazing quietly where he had left her. They cantered to Zora’s River, crossing it, Epona often swimming up to her knees. At last, they came to the cliff with the waterfall and the stone arches, where Link left Epona and climbed up to stand on the carved Triforce symbol.
    The water coming over the cliff was merely a trickle; icicles dripped from the top edge. Anxiously, Link jumped to the tunnel entrance. He walked slowly through the corridor, looking from right to left at the iced stone walls.
    “I can see what Sheik means… this is not good. I wonder if anyone’s still here…”
    They came to the great cavern, and found it frozen solid. Not a drop fell from the delicate sprays of the waterfall. As Link looked closer into the blinding whiteness, his eyes widened. “Navi, there are Zorans frozen in! That’s…”
    “That’s sad…”
    Link hurried up the stairs to King Zora’s chamber. The guard was frozen at her post. The king was frozen in a big lump, but the entrance to the fountain was still open. The shivering Hylian took the opportunity to search the rest of the Zora’s home, trotting through tunnels and passages still lit by magical, yet weak torches. In the living chambers connected to the corridors, there were hundred of Zoras, curled up in what Link supposed were sleeping pools – like beds, but more comfortable for Zorans. Outside of one room, he paused. His sharp ears had caught a sound. It sounded like a strangled gasp, a weak splash…
    Link flung open the door and charged in. There were about five torches arranged in a circle around a sleeping pool, which hadn’t been frozen in yet, and a Zora coiled into a fetal position, shivering uncontrollably. His scales were bluish-white, not naturally, but from cold. Even as Link watched, ice was forming on the surface of the pool. Struggling for air through chattering teeth, the Zora shoved it away.     He looked up.
    “Rana? You came back?”
    Link, horrified by the spectacle, scooped the Zora up in his arms and hurried out. He ran flat out to the river, slipping and sliding on the slick surface. Once in the sunshine, on the grass, he stopped and sat down, rubbing the Zora’s arms roughly to restore warmth and circulation.
    The Zora snuggled close to him. “Ah, Ruto, you shouldn’t be saving me… I’m not worthy…” All of a sudden, he sat up and flung his arms around Link. “Ruto! I love you!”
    “Whoa, Shoza!” barked Link mock-irritably. “I’m not Ruto! Don’t kiss me, finboy!”
    “Huh?” Shoza sat back, startled by the tenor voice, scrubbing his arms and spreading his fins to catch sunshine. “Uhh… Rana?”
    “You said that before. I’m not Rana, it’s me, Link! Remember, the boy who was with Rana. You’re probably confused by the green shirt. …Are you sick? You seem delirious…”
    “Zoran hypothermia,” moaned Shoza. “That is, I’ll be all right in about an hour, after I have a chance to defrost. Dude, it’s been seven years! Are you sure it’s you?”
    Link laughed.
    “Of course it’s him!” Navi chirped. “And we’ve come to save everyone, so just hold tight. How many others are still… mobile?”
    “Just me here, I think. I was trying to unfreeze the Domain, but you see, you need fire – blue fire, magical – from a cave in the back of the Fountain, and I couldn’t get it. I mean, I got in, but it was… hard…” He pondered for a moment. “Lord Jabu-Jabu has gone into hibernation at the bottom of the fountain. There are some ice floes that we pushed into a sort of path to get to the cave, ‘cause it’s above the water level, and it’s a good thing he’s not there ‘cause his big tail would be right in the way.”
    “Who’s we?” asked Navi.
    “Um, some guy named Sheik. And me.”
    “That’s what I thought,” Link said. “He’s been helping me get around, and he mentioned you at a previous meeting. He got in?”
    “Yeah, and he had bottles, too, and mine’re all frozen in somewheres. So, we filled ‘em all and tried to unfreeze people… we succeeded with some, and they all got out double-quick… they’re somewhere downriver now. If you head to the desert, you might find them. I can’t blame them for getting away from all this…”
    “And the princess? King Zora’s still stuck…”
    “Yeah, old fatty just froze back as soon as we unfroze him. He had just time to say ‘Good job’ before his eyes glazed over again.” Shoza half-grinned. “He’s too fat to get out. And then I think the Princess is at the Temple in the lake, so she’s okay. Oh, and if you’re looking for Rana, right, well, we haven’t seen her for a couple of years… she’d come around regularly, and we gave her a blue tunic for breathing underwater, so she could swim with us, and I think it’s still in the front guard’s post. Well, she’s disappeared…” He smiled a little. “She called me finboy too, when she was annoyed with me, y’know that?”
    A blue-green head popped out of the water. “Shoza, man! You’re still alive!”
    Shoza smiled. “Barely, Bitu. If it hadn’t been for the Hero of Time, Link here, I wouldn’t be. Link, this is one of my buddies, Bitu. He still hangs around a bit.”
    “I keep tellin’ ya, you hang around this ice pit and you’ll be an icicle! But, do you listen? No!” The new Zora was grinning his face off. “Thanks, Hero.”
    “Hey, I’ve got to get into the Water Temple, too. Ruto might not be able to handle it on her own. Do you have any advice?” the Hylian asked.
    “Well, in the cave…” began Shoza.
    “The cave behind the Fountain…”
    “There’s supposed to be a pair of boots…”
    “Hyrulian boots, made of iron.”
    “They’ll work. The gate to the Temple’s too far underwater to get to.”
    “For a Hyrulian. I mean, Hylian. You’re a Hylian, right?”
    “Yeah. I see. Thanks, guys. Take it easy, okay, Shoza?” Link rose to go. “I’ll see what I can bring you in the way of blue fire, if you like…”
    “Sure, that’d be great. If you’re going to the Temple, then together you and the Princess can break the curse for sure, and restore summer to this frozen dump.”
    “It’s not a dump!” Link and Navi ejaculated at the same time. “It’s really beautiful, even frozen like this…” Navi expanded.
    Link smiled at the Zoras.
    “Hey, man, you be careful too, okay?” Shoza pleaded. “Oh, and you can’t use the secret tunnel for obvious reasons. You’ll have to take your lovely horse, there, and ride across the country. After I’m better, we’ll get started on thawing the place out. I’ll be a lot more careful and a lot less stubborn from now on, too, so don’t worry about me.”
    “Good luck!” added Bitu.
    Link nodded and trotted off to the Fountain.
    Within the ice cave Shoza told about, it was bitterly cold. Link and his fairy had quite the discussion about it, while Link fought off ice keese, ice demons, and dodged falling icicles.
    “Link, I think that this cave is the source of the cold.”
    “Yes. It’s cold in Zora’s Domain, but colder in the Fountain and this place is utterly bone-chilling.”
    “And Shoza went in to get the fire…”
    “Poor guy.”
    “Yes, Zorans are susceptible to changes in temperature. They overheat or… or…”
    “Catch hypothermia.”
    “Yep.”
    Link fought a pack of white Wolfos in a small chamber. When they died, he was able to kick open the treasure chest nearby. “Here’s the boots. You’ll have to take these too, Navi. If I wear them all the time…” Navi teleported them onto his feet instead of his forest boots. “Yes. They’re way too heavy.” He tried to run and managed a slothful shuffle. “I’m going to trip from trying to go too fast.”
    He did so, and they both laughed.
    “Let’s get out of here!”
    They staggered – well, Link staggered and Navi fluttered – out of the cave and back to through Zora’s Domain. Shoza and Bitu were eating some sort of Zora food that looked like seaweed. He nodded to them, and Shoza stopped him.
    “Hey, Link, before you ride off into the sunset, take Rana’s Zora tunic. It will come in handy, I promise. It’s just in the little room off to your right when you…”
    “Got it,” Link said, reappearing with the blue cloth wrapped around his hand. “Thanks. Very much. See you later!” He mounted Epona, trotting down river.
    They crossed the land of Hyrule and came to Lake Hylia at dusk. The lake level was low, just a pond, but that was no surprise. The river was a mere stream, and the Zora’s Domain passage was frozen right up to the mouth. Leaving his mare on the bank, he walked out onto the boardwalk to the little island with the tree, feeling sure that Sheik would be there. A crow attacked him, but he beat it off crossly.
    “You bothered by those pests of Ganondorf?” came the young man’s voice casually from behind him. Link turned to see the bandaged, blue-clad youth climbing up the steep bank of the island. He was soaked.
    “Looks like you got here the hard way,” Link commented amiably.
    “Sure, horseboy. Song? ”
    “Right.”
    Sheik played a lovely, rising melody.
    “No fair, you’re using accompaniment,” Navi giggled. Sheik raised an eyebrow mock-angrily.
    “Do you want to use the song or not?”
    “Oh, yeah, whenever he plays anything there’s always this magic music that comes out of nowhere and fills in the harmony.”
    “Navi, shut up. I’m trying to learn it.” Link played it back with a few false starts, but eventually got it. Then he added vibrato.
    “Nice,” Sheik said. “How’re the Zorans?”
    “I helped an old friend of mine, Shoza… heard you’re a good fire-carrier, though King Zora couldn’t take advantage of that. Um… Ruto’s apparently in the Temple right now. Where is it, by the way?”
    “Right under your feet,” grinned Sheik. Link looked around.
    “Link! Don’t act daft. The entrance is over here,” Navi pointed out. Link climbed cautiously down the side of the island, using his hand to steady himself, and saw a portcullis underwater.
    “Oh, right. What… Bitu said.”
    “Well, let’s go!”
    “Right. Goodb-“ Sheik was gone, and Link bit off his farewell as he realized it. “Where’d he go?”
    “He keeps vanishing,” Navi complained. “Maybe he’s going to go see Shoza, or Darunia.”
    “Or Saria.” Link smiled. “I think this gate needs activation. What do you think that jewel has something to do with it?”
    “Well, if you hit it, and it breaks, the Zorans will be really mad at you.”
    “Well, if that’s not it, then what is it?” Link demanded. Navi flew around, trying to find something, but couldn’t and said nothing. Link jumped in the water and swam to the other side of the pool to get a better shot. There, he took his bow and fired an arrow at the jewel. It came and rose to the surface, looking like a large, shining fish.
    “You broke it!” Navi cried triumphantly, and horrified.
    “No, see, there’s the gate opening. Boots?” Link put the Zora tunic on over his Goron tunic, but pulled the Kokiri tunic on top. With the iron boots on his feet, he waded slowly into the water. He took one last gulp of air, and ducked his head under, seeing if he could breathe thanks to the tunic’s magic. It worked perfectly, and Link almost laughed in delight. If only he could keep under like a Zoran instead of always floating to the surface, or using the great heavy boots that he must! If only he could fly gracefully under the water like the Zoras…
    Link shook himself out of his sudden longing and entered the gate, walking until he saw a wall ahead, and an opening above. He gestured to Navi, and she removed the heavy boots.

Chapter 12: The Depths of the Dragon     Chapter 14: The Desperate Battle

Chapter 11: The Shadow of Evil     Chapter 13: The Realm of Silence

Chapter 12: The Depths of the Dragon

More and more balls of black magic flew through the air, and Link’s energy began to be sapped by his constant dodging. One was heading straight for his midsection, and he swung the Master Sword in a last ditch attempt to block it.
The ball bounced off the sword and hit Shadow Ganondorf. The clone moaned and sank to the floor. Link seized his chance and bounded up, slashing down with his sword. Ganondorf was hit many times before he rose off the floor again, throwing off his injuries with a laugh.
“Yes, laugh,” Link snarled at him, “but I will kill you in the end.”
Another ball was flung at him, and he swung back. So did Ganondorf.
“Tennis,” Navi labled the new battle style.
“Baseball,” Link retorted. He and his fairy didn’t stop arguing until finally the ball hit Ganondorf again.
The Master Sword blazed as it smashed through shadow bone and ghostly muscle.
Shadow Ganondorf melted into a puddle covering the whole platform, and Link shifted his feet uneasily. It began to swirl in the centre like water in a bathtub after the plug is pulled, and then drained into nothingness.
“Stupid clone,” Ganondorf was muttering. “I’ll get you next time, stupid hero…” His voice faded out as Link stepped into the blue portal that appeared.

The green-clad youth felt and heard his boots click down onto the grey platform in the Light Temple. A green glow poured out from the emerald platform in front of him, and someone short began to appear.
Saria stood before him.
“Hooray!” she cried, giggling. “I got into the Temple this morning, but then there was a Deku Baba that almost ate me, so I climbed down a dry well and hid. I’m not too smart, am I?” She laughed again. “I didn’t know I was a Sage. I just knew I was the only Kokiri left after you left and Rana disappeared who was… um…Well, anyway, I knew it was the Forest Temple that was the problem!”
Link had gotten a cold shock. “You don’t know where Rana is?”
Saria sobered. “I haven’t seen her for two years. I think the Ironknuckles got her. I was in the forest, before the Wolfos and Babas took over, and I heard her Ocarina playing. It stopped suddenly, but I didn’t know anything bad had happened until I got there. There were two dead,” Saria shuddered, “Ironknucles and I never saw her again after that.”
“What are Ironknuckles?” asked Navi.
“They’re big, clumsy armoured guards of Ganondorf. They go everywhere, at least they used to. I haven’t seen much of them recently, though…”
“I’m forgetting!” she exclaimed, and laughed again. “I am really worried about her, but I’m so, so happy to see you alive and well. Here’s the Forest Medallion!”
An emerald green disk tumbled down from high above, and Link took it with both hands.
Impulsively, Saria ran through the shallow water to his platform just as he gave his medallions to Navi. He knelt – he was quite startled at how small she seemed – and she threw her arms around him as far as she could.
“Even though you’re grown up now, and everything’s changed so, we’ll never, ever not be friends.” Saria hugged him tightly, burying her face in his shoulder. He stroked her green hair.
“No, we’ll always be friends, even if I fall,” he murmured.
“You won’t,” Saria said.

Link floated down in the meadow of the Great Deku Tree. There was the petrified wooden colossus of the ancient tree.
There was a little green sprout growing between the largest roots of the tree, by far the most vibrant plant he had seen all day. Link bent over it curiously, a tender expression crossing his face as he studied the beautiful green of the leaves.
BOOM!
A shock wave knocked Link over sprawling on to his back. He let out a startled yell that trailed off when he realized that no one was attacking him. He picked himself up.
There was a funny little fat tree where the sprout had been. It had a face and was looking at him.
“Boy, oh boy! Thank you, Hero of Time!”
“Wha-?” Link peered at it through his blonde bangs, making him look extremely foolish. “A… plant is talking to me? I thought it was only the Great Deku Tree who could do that…”
“Stop talking to yourself,” Navi told him. “This is the new Great Deku Tree.”
“Yes, I am! I’ve been growing for seven years, but my physical growth was stunted by that evil power from the centre of the kingdom. So then you break the curse on the forest, and wake up the Sage, and boom! I grow. Properly.”
“That’s great!” Navi cheered. “We’re doing the right thing, Link! It’s working!”
“You have a long way to go, though,” said the Deku Sprout. “And… and I have something very important to tell you.”
Link sat down cross-legged to listen.
“A short time ago,” began the Deku Sprout, “about eighteen and a half years, there was a great war in Hyrule. The Gerudos, led by their king, attacked Hyrule. Many knights died. There was chaos.”
“One day, a young Hylian woman arrived in the forest with her baby son. She was mortally wounded, but begged the Great Deku Tree, my father, to take the boy. Even the cost of her own life seemed not too great to ensure her son’s safety.”
Link was silent, but his sky-blue eyes were wide.
“I suppose you know what I am talking about,” continued the Sprout. It paused. “She told the Great Deku Tree that the boy’s father, a brave young knight, was dead because of the war. She died soon afterwards. The baby was brought up by the eldest of the Kokiri.”
“That was me,” Link whispered, futilely trying to remember.

As Link curled up on his old bed, he looked at Navi.
“Do you think the king would know of my father?”
“I don’t know if the king is alive,” Navi answered hopelessly. “Go to sleep. We need to save the Gorons in the morning.”
Link smiled slightly and rolled over, breathing gently.

With a last pat to Epona’s shoulder as she was stabled in Kakariko, Link turned to the mountain path and began hiking.
The inside of Goron City was dark. Only a few lamps flickered, but there were quiet noises below. Link walked down the stairs, looking in every corner, but he couldn’t find any Gorons, even following his ears.
On the third level from the bottom, there was a quiet rumble. Link walked along, looking for the big Goron who used to roll and roll and roll along.
“Oof!” Link grunted as he was knocked down by something. Something very hard and very heavy, like a large stone, had crashed into his midsection.
“Are you all right?” Navi cried.
“Yes,” Link gasped, completely winded. He stood up and looked at what had knocked him down. It was a little Goron, curled up, trembling.
“You won’t eat me, will you?” it asked.
“Why would I do that?” Link responded, bewildered.
“Because that’s what happened to Daddy and the others, sla- oops, I mean servant of Ganondorf!”
Link chuckled a bit. “I’m not a servant of Ganondorf. I’m fighting him. Why don’t you uncurl?”
“No! You could be just saying that. I’m not even supposed to talk to strangers.”
“If you looked at me for just a second, you would see I couldn’t be a minion of a dark lord.”
“Yeah!” Navi agreed. “What redead has a fairy partner?”
The Goron uncurled a bit. Then it jumped upright. “Wow! Are you… like… the Link? With… the Navi?”
Link’s left eyebrow went up, but it was hidden by his hair. “Who told you about me?”
“Daddy did!” squeaked the Goron boy. “My Daddy is the leader of the Gorons. He is old and wise. He told me that once, seven years ago, a little boy and girl came in and blew up all the Dodongos in Dondongo’s Cavern. He said that he made the boy his Sworn Brother! He also said that the boy was dressed in green with a funny hat and a fairy called Navi with him. I met the girl and her fairy sometimes. Miss Rana came here a few times to chat. She’s my Sworn Sister. She killed a Tektite for me once. It might have eaten me! Anyway, that’s why Daddy named me after the hero.”
“Darunia… named you… after… me?” Link said slowly. The Goron nodded enthusiastically.
“I’m Link! And you’re Link! And I hope you go and rescue Daddy and the others now, because Ganondorf took them all away to the Fire Temple and is going to feed them to Volvagia once he captures me and the shopkeeper. He can’t get Big Boy, though. Big Boy is toooo fat.” Little Link giggled. Tall Link’s mouth fell open.
“They’re in trouble?” He turned to run and search for the Fire Temple.
“Wait!” cried Little Link. “I have some more things to say!”
Link turned around.
“Come to Daddy’s room,” said the Goron. “First, you, a Hylian, can’t go in Death Mountain.” He rolled down the stairs and waited for Link at the bottom. “Second, there’s a really short way to get to Death Mountain Crater from Daddy’s room.”
In Darunia’s room, Goron Link began rummaging through a drawer for something.
“This was Miss Rana’s, when she came here,” he said, handing Link a red, leathery tunic. “We made it for her. It might be a little small for you, but it will do for today.”
“What’s it for?” asked Navi. Link took off his swordbelt and pulled it on over his Kokiri Tunic. It fit fine.
‘It must have been huge on Rana,’ Link thought.
“It protects you from great heat. It’s made of Dodongo hide and Bomb Flower leaf fibres. It should also allow you to breathe well enough in the Crater. As for the passage…” He waved at the statue in the back of Darunia’s room. “If you pull this, you can go through. There’s a secret passage. I can’t open it yet, but you might…”
Link took hold of the statue’s arms, braced his feet firmly against the ground, and pulled. The statue ground against the rocky floor.
“That’s good!” Navi called. Link stopped and looked. A steady, hot wind was blowing through a dark opening. Link waved at Goron Link and walked through.

Death Mountain Crater was dark. The darkness came from great clouds of dust and noxious gases spouting from two tall cones in a lake of lava. Link looked up and saw blue sky. He walked forward along a ledge until he came to a broken, wooden bridge. Link looked at the gap. He pulled out his Hookshot.
He aimed at the far side of the bridge. The weapon yanked him off his feet, and he landed on his stomach on the rough wood. He sat up and rubbed his nose.
“Look out, Link!” Navi called. Link jumped up and moved quickly, and then turned.
Sheik landed with a thump where he had been sprawled.
“Quick,” he gasped in a muffled voice. “Get your Ocarina out. I’ve gotta teach you the song before I inhale or get heat prostration.” Link grabbed his ceramic flute. Sheik had his harp out already.
“It’s called the Bolero of Fire,” he said, and launched into it. It sounded like a march based on a minor triad, then a diminished triad, then minor again. It was difficult, but Link and his magic Ocarina played it first time.
The eerie strings were back, along with percussion.
Link looked at his Ocarina. He distinctly remembered missing at least one note… how had the music come?
“See you at the Temple of Time,” Sheik called, already back at the ledge. “I’ve got to get out of here. Good luck.”
“Thank you!” shouted Link and Navi; Sheik was already off, bounding from boulder to crag to exit from the tunnel at the top of the mountain. A thin silver chain flicked out rather like Link’s Hookshot, wrapping around a rock and pulling him up.
Link watched him go, and then looked for his destination. Ahead, there was a carved cave opening. He headed over to it and in, and found a ladder, which he naturally climbed down as quickly as he could.
The ladder seemed to never end, even with his hurry. The dim light failed, but Link could see more below him. Navi flitted about nervously.
Finally, he was down, far below the crater, and entering the Temple under the lake of lava above.

The entrance was quite grand. A great staircase led up to a wonderfully carved wall, with strange smiling faces on it, lit up by many torches. A door led left, and another led right. Link chose the left one.
Platforms sticking out of the molten rock pooled on the floor were scattered, seemingly randomly around the room. There was a particularly wide one across from him, and a great door. And there…
“Darunia!” Link shouted. The old Goron turned.
“What?! Can my eyes deceive me? Is that really you, my Sworn Brother?”
“It’s me,” Link said, normal volume now.
“Pardon? Speak up, youngster,” Darunia bellowed testily. Link jumped as close as he could, until he was almost at Darunia’s platform, but he could not go any further.
“It’s me,” repeated the Hylian. “Are you unhurt? What’s going on? Little Link said something about…” he thought. “Ganondorf eating everybody…”
Darunia laughed. “My son! Ah hah hah! He would say that. No, there’s a great dragon named Volvagia. It is recorded in our history, but now Ganondorf has revived it. It is said that a Goron hero with the Megaton Hammer killed it and then stored the hammer somewhere in the Fire Temple. I searched, but I couldn’t find it. I am going to go and face the dragon anyway. Would you go and look for it? I didn’t look very well. I was afraid for my people. They will be eaten by the dragon soon if I don’t go in.”
“I will look for it,” Link promised. Darunia grinned and opened the door.
“Wait!” the Goron leader exclaimed, turning back. He tossed Link a map and a magical compass. “You’ll want these.” He took a deep breath and walked in. Link set his teeth and turned away reluctantly.
When Link returned after exploring the Temple from the highest cone to the lowest crevace, he had the massive, heavy Megaton Hammer with him. Navi carried it for him most of the time, so it wouldn’t slow him down or tire him out. He also found a way to traverse the lava to the last platform.
He took a deep breath the way Darunia had done, and entered the door.
A vast circular chamber awaited. There was a round ‘stage’, or really big rock, in the centre. A couple of rocks poked out of a raging sea of lava, sloshing around the base of the platform. Link jumped onto one and then onto the middle.
A large brown boulder sat up. “Link!” cried Darunia. “Do you have the hammer?”
“Yes, do you want it?” Link asked, running to him.
“Look out!” Darunia pushed the Hylian down. A roar and a hot fiery blast passed over him. Darunia bellowed.
Link rolled and stood up. A long fiery serpent was attacking Darunia, who had curled up again just in time. He noticed for the first time long gashes in the thick rocky hide of the Goron’s back.
The dragon gave up and turned away. It flew in a circle around the ceiling. Link nodded to Navi, and she gave him the heavy hammer. Volvagia saw him and dove.
Link jumped sideways out of the way, and Volvagia plunged headfirst into the ground. The young man went to the side of the arena, beside Darunia.
“Do you want it?” he repeated.
Darunia shook his head. “I saw that just now. You’re doing far better than I am, youngster. Keep at it!” Volvagia’s head came out of a hole in the ground close to them.
Link swung the hammer with both hands and brought it crashing down on the fire-dragon’s head. Volvagia roared, pulled back underground, and exploded out, sending rocks flying everywhere. Navi yelled and Link ducked.

Chapter 11: The Shadow of Evil     Chapter 13: The Realm of Silence

Chapter 10: Horse     Chapter 12: The Depths of the Dragon

Chapter 11: The Shadow of Evil

    After stopping at Kakariko, where he remet Lauri, who fed him, and where he learnt a new magical song called the Song of Storms which abruptly drenched him, and where clues Sheik left behind led him to a shiny new weapon called the hookshot which was a sort of spring-loaded grappling hook, Link returned to the ranch with Talon following him dazedly. He had found the ranch owner napping dejectedly in an inn.
    Ingo was awake again, but it seemed Malon had been correct – the strange necklace had been controlling him, for now he was irritatingly cheerful and subservient. The girl was overjoyed to see her father, and they invited Link to sleep there that night.
    The next day, Malon officially gave Epona to Link. “She obviously likes you just as much as she likes me, for some reason… and you’ll need her for your saving-of-the-world. So no arguing, got it?”
    “All right,” Link said, laughing. “Don’t panic. Epona will be safe with me. But can you teach me how to really ride the next time I come along? I need to go to the forest now and see if Saria and Rana are there.”
    “Do that! Now!” Malon grinned as she said it, eager as he was to see her friend again.
    So Link rode to Kokiri Forest. When he got there, he dismounted and led Epona among the trees on foot.
    Abruptly, the pleasant mood of the forest was shattered as a huge Deku Baba, about as big as Link himself, attacked him. Epona reared and screamed, and Link swept his sword out to attack it. Fortunately, bigger did not also mean tougher, just meaner and toothier, and it soon fell in little pieces at his feet.
    They were almost at the village, and it did not look promising. His heart sank. He had lived in the forest all his life; a sick forest made him feel sick to his stomach. Nothing was really the same. He ran into the nearest house he could find, that being the Wise Brothers’. They all jumped up, startled.
    “Hi, everyone,” said Link. “Is everybody safe?”
    “Who are you, mister?” asked the eldest brother. “You’re not allowed in Kokiri Forest, even if you’re wearing the same stuff. Hey! Where did you get a fairy?”
    “I’m Navi, remember?” said Navi indignantly. “And this is Link!”
    “Yeah, whatever,” said the middle brother, not convinced. “Everybody’s safe, because they’re inside, out of the way of the monsters.”
    “Saria?”
    “She’s in the Sacred Forest Meadow. She went there when the monsters started showing up.”
    “Rana’s been missing, too,” added the eldest. “She started growing up, though, for some reason.”
    “I don’t think she’s Kokiri,” whispered the youngest brother ominously.
    “Where was the last place- When was the last time you saw her?”
    “Don’t know. Hope she’s all right, even if she’s not Kokiri. Maybe the forest is keeping her out, but it let you…and that beast… in.”
    “That’s my horse. I understand why you don’t recognize me,” said Link. “Thank you for telling me where Saria is. Honestly, I still don’t recognize myself. I’m getting used to it, though.” The brothers stared at each other. “Never mind, then. I’ll go clean out the monsters.
    “Strange guy,” said one of the Wise Brothers.

    Link climbed up to the Lost Woods entrance and began to traverse the maze. By the Zora pool, there was a very short boy blocking the way.
    “Mido!” cried Link. “Believe it or not, I’m glad to see you alive.”
    “What?” asked Mido, completely confused. “I’ve never seen you before in my life. You’re not allowed through here. Saria told me not to let anyone go to the Meadow.”
    “Mido,” said Navi impatiently, “This is Link. Is he that grown up that you can’t recognize him?”
    “Yeah, sure, it’s Link!” said Mido sarcastically. “I’m not stupid.”
    “Will Saria’s Song convince you otherwise?” Navi chirped.
    Mido’s face was a study in confusion, but he stepped aside. “Um… Well… I still don’t believe you, so there! But… If you see Link… The real one… looks just like you, only he’s much smaller, with a different sword and shield… would you tell him… I’m sorry I was so mean to him years ago.”
    Link nodded. “I’ll tell him.” And he left him.
    “That’s nice of him,” said Navi.”
    “Yes.”
    They arrived at the meadow. Link heard strange grunting noises and drew his sword cautiously. He peered around the bend – and came face to face with a large, grotesque head. The troll-like Moblin growled and charged with its spear. Link brought up his shield, but was ploughed into a muddy pool. The monster peered at him for a couple of minutes and then turned away stupidly. Link felt behind his back for the sharp thing he had fallen on and touched the Hookshot. He came up on one knee and fired it.
    The thing worked just as he wanted it to, and the Moblin died. As Link continued, he peered around each bend carefully, hiding behind trees; the first Moblin had knocked the wind out of him and he didn’t want that to happen again. However, he was still startled again several times.
    “I hate these things,” said Navi. “They’re going to give you a heart attack.
    Link trotted into the Sacred Forest Meadow.
    Saria’s stump was empty. Link walked close to it, rather sadly, remembering when he had last seen her there. Abruptly he turned around.
    Sheik was there, watching him.
    “You have come,” he said in his lilting voice. “The passage of time…” noting Link’s glance towards the empty stump, “it must be unsettling… Especially in these dark places…”
    “Where is she?” asked the Hero.
    “I don’t know. I believe she is inside the Temple.”
    “I’m starting to guess she’s the second Sage after Rauru.”
    “You met Rauru already?” Sheik sounded delighted. “Excellent; then you do know what’s going on.” Sheik reached behind his back and pulled out a curved harp from somewhere. “My job here is to teach you the song that will bring you to this spot whenever you need to.” He played a lilting tune in 3/4 time. Link played it back on his Ocarina. The octave was a bit difficult; to lift all four fingers without dropping the tiny instrument. His hands were bigger.
    Out of nowhere, the eerie sound of stringed instruments melded with the harp and ocarina. The tune danced and sparkled through the air.
    “That is the Minuet of the Forest,” Sheik told him when they had finished.
    “It’s very pretty,” commented Navi. Sheik seemed to smile behind his high floppy collar.
    “You have… red eyes?” exclaimed Link suddenly. Sheik shrugged.
    “What of it? I’ll see you around, preferably when you finish. Have a good time, now, solving puzzles.” Another flash of light, and Sheik disappeared.
    Link grinned to himself. He liked this other young man. He brought out his hookshot and aimed it at a tree limb above the broken staircase. His feet were yanked off the ground and he dangled for a moment before disconnecting and landing firmly on the landing. He walked inside for the first time.

    The antechamber of the Temple was dark and covered in brown, withered ivy. As he ventured further, he discovered both dark, cavernous halls where he could barely see where he was going, and bright, sunny courtyards that would normally have been extremely beautiful if they had not been so dry… and if the giant sized Babas hadn’t been everywhere.
    And it was very quiet. It seemed the whole Temple was silent, except, in a duel with two hulking skeletons, for Link’s shouts of exertion and Stalfos grunts. One of them fell in pieces, the Master Sword piercing its collarbone. The other one crouched behind its shield. Its sword swung out. Link jumped back just in time. There was no time to think; the other Stalfos fought fiercely. Duck, hop, swing sword, and hope not to get cleaved in half in the meantime.
    Finally the thing died, but the other one had somehow put itself back together. It was still missing a leg, so he dispatched it easily. The bones vanished and Link took a deep breath of relief, wiping his forehead.
    Navi applauded. “That was so amazing I can’t believe it. You’re even more super at this age!” Link grinned, running his hand awkwardly through his hair before turning to the treasure chest at the back of the room. He drew out a bow, and his face lit up the way a small boy’s does on Christmas morning. He pulled out a quiver and strapped it on his back next to his sword sheath.
    “You’re happy,” commented Navi.
    “Yes, I am! This is beautiful and very useful. Since all my stuff fell out when I was in the time warp, I didn’t really have a ranged weapon.”
    “I know. I wonder where your stuff went.”
    “Maybe we can ask Shiek, later.”
    “Yes, let’s get out of here.”
    After wandering for a very long time, discovering odd little rooms and strange and vicious new monsters, they found themselves in an octagonal room with… handles.
    “Where could Saria be? We haven’t seen any hint of her.”
    “No,” said Link, pushing one of the handles and turning the room sideways.
    “I hope no one’s kidnapped her.”
    “Yes,” answered Link, jumping on a switch.
    “What’s the matter with you?” asked Navi impatiently. “Why are you acting funny all of a sudden?”
    “I’m worried, that’s all. If Saria is dead, then… then I’ll kill every last monster in Hyrule. No, I would do that anyway.”
    “I have no suggestions,” Navi told him.
    The last room in the Temple was a round room, up circular stairs to a circular platform ringed by a red velvet cord. Spooky moonlit paintings of a woodland path were hung around the walls, each identical to the next.
    As Link passed to the centre of the ring, nothing happened. Saria certainly was not there either. He turned back to leave.
    The entrance was now blocked by spikes.
    A rolling baritone laugh echoed, bouncing off the paintings. Link whirled and looked up, in time to see a black horse and a strange looking Ganondorf leap over his head and gallop into a painting and down the path.
    Navi called shrilly to be heard over the deafening hoofbeats that filled the room: “It’s only a shadow of Ganondorf! It’s not the real Ganondorf.”
    “That makes me feel a lot better, Navi,” Link said half-jokingly, half-sincerely. He spun, watching all the pictures. He caught a glimpse of the horse, and nocked an arrow. A warp portal appeared, and the horse galloped through it; at least until Link’s bow twanged and sent the arrow deep into the horse’s chest.
    The phantom horse screamed and spun, disappearing into the painting.
    Link’s eyes darted back and forth, watching for the next attack.
    He heard warp whirl from behind him and jumped around. His arrow missed in his hurry, and he flung himself to the side to avoid being trampled.
    His next try hit the shade. He caught sight of his opponent almost immediately, and watched him ride towards him.
    Warp whirl whined from behind him.
    “What!? Where!?” Link demanded of Navi, rolling to the side.
    “Oh, there must be more than one in the pictures, but they’re not real! I’m sorry!”
    “Never mind it,” Link assured her, adjusting his stance. He saw several Ganondorfs galloping through woodland and turned constantly, trying to keep them all in view.
    “Here!” called Navi, hovering next to one. His arrow was true this time. The horse burnt up in a blue flame.
    “Gah,” grunted the fake Ganondorf. His voice was much deeper than the real Ganondorf.
    The real Ganondorf, who was watching from his tower, though Link didn’t know it, shouted at the hero.
    “All right, kid, you killed the horse. See if you can beat… this!” The fake Ganondorf twirled its staff and a ball of dark energy appeared. He threw it at Link, who jumped aside. He remembered how much it had hurt when he had gotten hit before, just after he held his silence to protect Zelda. That was to hurt. This, here, was to kill.

Chapter 10: Horse     Chapter 12: The Depths of the Dragon

Chapter 9: When is a Hero?     Chapter 11: The Shadow of Evil

Chapter 10: Horse

    Link stepped out of the Temple of Time and looked around bleakly. The bright, neat colours of Hyrule Castle Town had disappeared into a sea of rot and decay. Houses had crumbled under slimy timbers and brick and stone walls had collapsed. Shadows twisted in reclusive corners, cast by the buildings and the massive black clouds overhead. They were thickest to the north, where Link could see a tall black tower jutting into the sky.
    As he made his way over to the well in the town square, he heard something low and disturbing… like someone with a stomach-ache. Several someones, in fact.
    He looked around, but he couldn’t see anyone… no, wait, he could. But they weren’t people as such…
    One of them shrieked at him and he found that his body was frozen in place.
    “Redead!” cried Navi. Link gasped as best he could and wrenched himself into a run. Rolling swiftly past another one, he drew his sword and slashed at it. The creature didn’t react, but the group of redead was growing and moving in his direction. Bile rose in his throat.
    “If we don’t get out of here soon, we’ll be dead!” Navi called. “Let’s get out of here!”
    “But the people,” Link began.
    “They don’t seem to be here. Come on!”
    Link obeyed his fairy and ran for the gate.
    The chains of the gate had been shattered and were now rusted beyond repair. The drawbridge itself was lying in two pieces in a much shallower stream than it had been seven years ago.
    As the Hylian picked his way through the ford, he looked up and saw that Hyrule itself was not covered in perpetual thunderclouds. The sun was shining brightly, reflecting off the red roofs of Lon Lon Ranch nearby.
    Link smiled. “Time to meet all my friends.”
    “How big do you suppose Epona will be?”
    “Don’t you know?”
    “I’m only a fairy. I’m not a farrier.”
    Link laughed at Navi’s pun. “She’ll be all grown up, just like me. Do you think Malon will let me ride her?”
    “Probably. I wonder if she let Rana ride one? Well, I don’t suppose it can be too hard. I heard that real horsemen use their knees more than their reins, but you can ask Malon about that.”
    “And Talon…”
    “Talon’s probably got about five times as many chickens as he did last time. You’d better watch out for their toes.”
    Link smiled and strode up the hill to the gate of the ranch. “I hope Rana is there today. Do you think the Princess will be there as well?”
    “Who knows?”

    The Hero turned left and opened the door of the main house.
    There were no chickens, and no snoring. Talon was not there.
    Link bounded up the stairs and checked in the living room. No one was there either.
    “Hello?” Navi called timidly. They couldn’t hear anyone.
    Link hurried back down and out, heading for the barn. Of course, chickens were a bit messy inside, even Talon’s prized birds, and the barn was where most of the work was done anyway.
    “Hello?” he called in. He heard a muffled sob and a gasp. “Malon?”
    “Please go away,” Malon’s voice answered him tremulously.
    “Malon?” Navi called.
    “Naeri?”
    “No, Navi. Link’s fairy.”
    “You know, the fairy boy,” Link said, smiling, trying to find Malon. She was hiding very well.
    “Oh!” There was a clatter, and the red-haired girl stood up from in an empty stall. “Rana’s friend! Oh, Link, I’m so glad to see you… things are terrible!”
    “What kind of things?” Link asked.
    “Where’s Talon? And… Ingo?” Navi asked. “Are the chickens okay, and the horses?”
    “Um… Daddy’s gone. I don’t know where. Ingo said he was going to take over the ranch because it was so incompetent, and next day Daddy…” She muffled another sob in her apron and sat down again on a milking stool. Link knelt in the hay beside her and waited until she could talk again.
    “The chickens are outside, and the cows and horses too… but… Ingo is cruel. He cheats visitors, and now they don’t come, and if they find out and tell him, he doesn’t let them come; and he doesn’t let me help in the field but he is the only person in the corral with all the horses, and if I don’t do exactly what he tells me he threatens to beat them with a rake, and I haven’t seen Epona for so long… He’s going to sell her to Ganondorf!” Malon put her head down and cried. Link patted her shoulder.
    “There’s one more thing,” Malon sniffled, after a long while. “I haven’t seen Rana for a long time, either. Even longer than Epona. I don’t know exactly how long, but it seems like about two falls ago she was here last, and that was before Ingo went wrong, because she would have chased him out if she had been here.”
    Link couldn’t help smiling. “Chase him out? Really?”
    Malon looked up, and smiled back timorously. “Really. She’s a really good fighter now. She saved me from monsters once.”
    “Imagine that,” Navi said, pleased. “I hope she’s okay, but if she’s saving other people all by herself, she must be able to take care of herself.”
    “Let’s see… have you seen the Princess?”
    “No, not since I was ten once and there was a parade in the Castle Town… Um… I haven’t ever been to the forest, so I don’t know how your other friends are doing… Kakariko is doing all right, though. Most of the people from Hyrule Castle Town fled there when Ganondorf took over the castle, so… Oh! The healer lady, Lauri, she’s all right. I saw recently. She’s set up shop in Kakariko.”
    “Well, that’s good,” Link said. “I’ll go chase out Ingo in Rana’s stead, okay?”
    “And save Epona!”
    With Malon in tow, he trotted out to the field where the horses were grazing… and one was bucking.
    “That’s Epona!” Navi criedWhat looked like a clown was clinging for dear life to the saddlehorn, and in another moment was sent flying.
    “Is that… Ingo?” Link asked, incredulous.
    “Yes,” sighed Malon. “In addition to being a most awful jerk, he has no fashion sense whatsoever. I’d rather you didn’t cause any permanent damage, even so.”
    “I can do that,” the Hylian replied. “Does Epona still like that song you used to sing?”
    “Yes, but I’m not allowed…”
    “That doesn’t stop me.”
    Link ran into the field, Ocarina in his hands, and played the song. The tall horse seemed to calm down, not prancing quite so wildly, and looked at him with dark brown eyes.
    Link reached out to touch Epona’s nose, and she nuzzled his hand, making soft horse noises.
    The touching scene was interrupted by a scream of anger. Ingo had recovered and was jumping up and down in rage. “What do you think you’re doing, boy!?”
    “Er…” Navi began.
    “Get away from that horse! I’m training her personally for the Great Ganondorf!”
    “Well…” Link started.
    “Why does that horse even like you, anyway? She’s never seen you before! Get out!” The irate fraud started towards Link, but the mare snorted and placed herself firmly between the Hylian and his antagonist. Epona pawed the ground irritably, tossing her head, and Ingo backed off slightly. His manner was subtly different.
    “Well, now, if she likes a complete stranger that much… How ‘bout a wager?”
    “What kind?” Link asked cautiously.
    “How about if you beat me in a race? You win, and you can keep the blasted animal. I win,” Ingo sniggered confidently, “and you help me train her for Ganondorf.”
    “I’ll do it!” Though Link’s mind flew back to his unfulfilled intention to ask Malon how to ride…
    “Right,” he mumbled to himself. “Here’s the stirrup, and I should get on… like… Here we go!” He found himself astride, and rather proud of himself for his first time. “I still should ask Malon how to get on properly instead of like climbing a ladder. Now…”
    “Knees,” Navi said.
    “Right.”
    Link nudged Epona and she moved forward obediently, turning as he directed. He glanced at Malon and she gave him a shy thumbs up and a smile.
    He guessed he was doing all right and rode slowly over to her. Malon patted Epona’s nose and whispered softly up to him: “When you race Ingo, don’t be afraid to kick her to make her gallop. Ingo will cheat, you’ll see.”
    “But-“
    “Your boots won’t hurt her at all. You’re not wearing spurs… Just win the race, okay? You’re doing fine.”
    “I hope.”
    Just as Malon hinted, Ingo counted to three and went on two and a half. Link kicked Epona as he’d been instructed and leaned forward. Slowly, he began to draw level with Ingo’s horse.
    The ranch hand struck out at him with his riding whip, and Link ducked. Hugging Epona’s neck, he urged her further forward. Ingo tried to block. Epona went the other way and flashed past in a quick burst of speed. Ingo reached as if to grab Epona’s tail, and fell off his horse.
    Link immediately slowed down and stopped, waiting for Ingo to get back up.
    “Go!” Malon screamed at him. “What are you waiting for?”
    “If I go ahead of him, he’ll say I cheated,” Link called back evenly.
    “Well, look what he’s doing now!” Navi hissed.
    “I know,” replied Link, smiling at Ingo, who was trying to run on foot now. Link leaned forward, and Epona broke into a canter.
    “Only horse-racing here, Ingo!” he called as he passed the panting man.
    “You… you jerk!” screamed Ingo. “You won’t get out of here alive!”
    “Are you just saying that…” Link began as he crossed the finish line.
    “…to be impressive?” Navi ended.
    “Because it’s not working,” Malon added.
    Ingo swung the heavy iron main gate shut with a triumphant sneer, smashing the lock.
    Link rode up close to him and stared at him impassively.
    “What?” The clown shifted uneasily.
    “What’s that?” Malon darted forward and seized something around Ingo’s neck. It came off with a snap and Ingo collapsed in an unconscious heap.
    “I don’t know what that was all about,” Navi said.
    “I think this thing might have been controlling him. He got it soon after he went bad… But how are you going to get out of here?”
    “Um… Can we jump the fence?” asked the fairy.
    “Yes… Do you want to try?”
    “Yes!”
    Riding Epona in a wide circle, Link turned back to the fence and nudged Epona, who began to run, faster and faster. She soared over the sealed gate in one glorious leap, and Link found himself laughing with delight.

Chapter 9: When is a Hero?     Chapter 11: The Shadow of Evil

Chapter 8: The Door of Time     Chapter 10: Horse

Chapter 9: When is a Hero?

    Link opened his eyes. He felt heavy. His gaze swirled around woozily, coming to rest on a large man on a golden platform.
    Only then did Link take in his surroundings and realize that he himself was on a grey platform, surrounded by a small island of water, an isolated floating point in a vast darkness. Light and beautiful patterned waterfalls came from shadows above and fell to blackness below.
    Directly in front of him stood the rather stout man; a man with rich red and gold robes and white hair and beard.
    “Greetings, Hero of Time.”
    Link, still partly asleep, blinked before he realized the man was speaking to him.
    “I am Rauru, the Sage of Light.”
    “Where are we?” asked Navi.
    ‘Thank goodness’, thought Link, ‘she’s still with me.’
    “We are in the Temple of Light, in the Sacred Realm.”
    Rauru’s even voice took on a gentle tone. “Link, look at yourself.”
    Link looked, and started. His boots were longer, and he had fingerless leather gloves on his hands; under his larger green tunic he was wearing a white sweater and leggings. But it was the length and strength of his limbs that interested him the most. His Hylian shield felt usable now, and his heaviness vanished as he shifted his feet. Navi flew in excited circles around his head. He looked at his reflection in the water and blinked. His own face was no longer recognizable to himself; a strange, handsome blonde man stared back at him. His eyes, though, were the same brilliant blue that he saw every time he had stared into his mirror, in his house in Kokiri Forest, for clarification of his puzzled life.
    “Link!” cried Navi. “You’re all grown up!”
    “Well, seven years ought to do it,” Rauru told him rather facetiously.
    “I’m nineteen now,” said Link wonderingly. He started at the sound of his voice. It had deepened into a rich tenor. “Is that it? I have grown seven years? Why? Haven’t we lost time against Ganondorf?”
    “You… when you pulled the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time, you were too young, too small to wield it as the Hero.”
    Link smiled at his reflection. “Seven years ago, I might have argued that, but now I agree with you.” He straightened up again to hear Rauru.
    “Your spirit was passed to this time in order to more directly challenge the King of Evil. If you succeed in breaking the curse over all of Hyrule-“
    “By which he means that if we kill Ganondorf –“ interrupted Navi.
    “-then your past life during those seven years will be unchanged.”
    “And if I fail?” asked Link softly.
    “You will not,” thundered Rauru. “You are the Hero, wielding the Blade of Legend.” His voice deepened and softened. “However, if such a thing does come to pass, you will disappear at the moment you drew the sword.” He cleared his throat. “But now, to business. When you break the curse, you will travel back seven years, to do whatever you have been doing. I beg your pardon. For me, it is past. For you, it is future.”
    “I understand the challenge and I accept it.”
    “Me too!” cried Navi.
    “Very good. You know your ultimate goal. But, before that, you must go throughout Hyrule and awaken the Sages. There are Seven Sages. I am one. One is hidden, and I do not know who it is. The other five sleep as ordinary people, waiting for you to come.”
    “And when you leave this place, hidden in the Sacred Realm,” warned the Sage of Light, “do not be shocked by what you see of Hyrule. My power has weakened; it is now confined to this chamber. It is as the saying is… ‘Together we are strong. Separated, we are broken.’”
    “For now, take my power with you, such as it is. Add it to yours.” A medallion floated down from somewhere high in the darkness. It was golden, and shining with an inner light.
    “The Medallion of Light,” said Rauru, as Link reached up and plucked it out of the air. “It has my power in it. Perhaps it will not help you much as yet. You must waken the other Sages, and we will help you enter Ganondorf’s castle.”
    “I understand,” Link acknowledged. He saluted the Sage as a blue warp crystal formed around him. The world greyed out…

    Link found himself standing on the Pedestal of Time, exactly where he had been what seemed like fifteen minutes ago. He swung his arms, looking at them curiously. He felt rested and completely ready to take on anything with his new strength.
    “I wonder what Rana would say if she knew. Maybe she’ll come running in the way she said she would… I wonder if it’s Sunday.”
    “She’ll probably say… well, I say you must have been working out those seven years. I wonder if she looks the same.”
    “Of course she does. Only, she’ll be taller.” Link imagined the round face of his carefree, laughing friend, green eyes flashing and brown hair swirling… and tripping… He sat down on the Pedestal of Time to ponder his first move. He could go to Kokiri Forest and see Saria and Rana, or he could drop in on Malon, or see how the Gorons were doing, or talk to Shoza… He had a lot of choices.
    Navi interrupted his thoughts. “I wonder how things look outside? Rauru didn’t sound too optimistic. I think you’re needed right away, Hero.”
    “Right.”
    “But,” Navi said, stopping him as he was getting ready to move, “don’t wear yourself out trying to save the whole world in one day.” He nodded.
Link got up and strode towards the entrance. Halfway to the Door of Time, he stopped, getting a prickle on the back of his neck. He drew the Master Sword and his shield in one swift, fluid motion, and turned.
    Beside the Pedestal was standing a tall and slender young man, clad in tight fitting blue cloth emblazoned with the Eye of Truth, an ancient symbol, and with his head swathed in loose grey bandages. Blonde hair spilled out of his cap. His silent coming and ready stance seemed either ominous or magical to Link, depending on whether this stranger was a friend or enemy.
    “Greetings, Hero of Time,” said the stranger. His voice was light and high-pitched. Link wondered if everyone was going to say ‘good morning’ in the same way to him.
    “I have been waiting for you. I am Sheik, the last of the Sheikah… I have come to help you on your journey. You should first go to the forest.”
    “Good, I think we were going to go there anyway,” said Navi.
    “Before you can go there, however, you must go to Kakariko to obtain an item that will allow you to enter the Forest Temple.”
    “Enter the Forest Temple!” Link exclaimed. “That’s not possible! The stairs are broken!”
    “Impossible for some… not for others. I for one, have been inside. For a small way.” He turned slightly away. “I will see you there, I think. Hurry.” He took a step backward.
    “Please, wait for a moment, Sheik,” begged Link. “Can you tell me if my friends are all right? Saria, Rana, Shoza…”
    “I am sorry,” answered Sheik. “I have seen Saria recently, and Shoza the Zora is coping with life, but I have not heard of your other friend for at least three years. Then she was in the forest, but I know she is not there now.” He took a step backwards. “Do not expect me except when you see me. I will help you as I may. Farewell.” Light flashed, and Sheik was gone.
    Link sighed to himself and walked out of the Temple. His mind was fully occupied with the day’s startling events, and apprehension over both men’s half-hidden warnings. He was not feeling quite as good as he had been. When he stepped out of the door, he felt even worse.

Chapter 8: The Door of Time     Chapter 10: Horse