Long ago, there lived a young man from Ordon named Link, who became the savior of Hyrule and the Hero of the Two Realms. After he had destroyed Ganondorf, he laid the Master Sword to rest and swore to never remove it from its pedestal again. He lived a long and happy life with his childhood friend Ilia, occasionally visiting Hyrule Castle on the anniversary of Ganondorf's death. He and Zelda would then make the long and arduous trek across the Gerudo Desert to the long abandoned prison, the Arbiter's grounds. The two would make their way through the many floors of the prison until they reached the Mirror Chamber, where they would silently sit on either side of the frame for the Mirror of Twilight for a full night and remember times past. Neither ever said anything, but both were hoping to see Midna once more, if only for a split-second. After the night was over, they would make their way back to their respective homes for another year.
After many years, Link finally passed into the hands of the godesses. He and Ilia died at exactly the same time in their sleep. Ilia was buried under the foundation of her father's old home, where the renowned mayor was also resting. Link was buried in the Sacred Grove, behind the Master Sword. After the rites were over, his spirit, along with that of the late Twilight Princess, sent the people home with no memory of the brave farm boy who had saved the land. Link stayed near his body and the legendary sword, gently diverting explorers and turning away curious forest creatures, waiting for the day when he could once more tell a young hero the story of his deeds, and the deeds of all those before him. Time passed. People lived and died and lived again. The land remained basically the same… until the great wars.
Termina was an ambitious land, inhabited by humans. Unlike Hylians, humans seemed to enjoy warfare and violence, and seemed to desire only wealth and material goods. One foggy day, a mighty army crossed the treacherous Keldona Mountains northeast of Hyrule and stormed the castle. The war was long and bloody. The people of all territories longed for the war to end so that they could live in peace again. Finally, after twenty long years, great rumblings began beneath the earth. Death Mountain began erupting violently and frequently. One day, it exploded in a massive rain of lava which covered the land. Link saw the charred, glowing trees around the Sacred Grove, and although he was able to prevent it from entering the grove, the Lost Woods burned to the ground. The ancient Deku Tree burned to the ground, and the Kokiri were left to wander, lost and broken, through the ruins of their homes. The Gerudos survived the great heat wave that swept across the desert and baked anything in its path, and managed to find a new home in Marda. The Terminans fled from the devastation, and the war came to an abrupt and ragged end. Thousands of both sides died in the eruption.
The next day, the people were horrified to hear the rumblings beginning again. Kakariko Village became a ghost town once more as its populace fled. However, an eruption did not occur. The rumblings grew fainter, and the only effect was that the clouds slowly grew larger and people were finding it harder to move and walk. Things seemed to become heavier. The physical philosophers were baffled as to what was happening. Months of this passed, and one day the rumbling stopped. The clouds stayed the same size, and people found it much, much easier to walk and move. Reports and rumors trickled in about Sammersa, the realm of the Zoras, slowly draining off the edge of the world. Hylian cartographers found the land stopped at one point, with nothing beyond but sky above and below. Marda, the Goronic homeland, buzzed with oremaster tales of boulders bouncing off into an abyss of pure blue. Physical philosophers of all lands concluded to their respective rulers that the entire land had broken from the central landmass and traveled up into the sky, where it was currently in a state of static equilibrium. Ghand, as the four lands were known, was floating in the air. The people slowly rebuilt their lives out of the charred remains of their cities and villages. Years passed…
A young Hylian boy woke in his bed. He opened the window and gazed out over the now-large town of Kakariko. Once a simple village living off of business created by Goron oremasters, it had turned into a bustling center of commerce, like Castle Town used to be. He smiled, looking forward to a new day.
His mother called him from downstairs. It was time for his breakfast and his lessons, and then – He thrilled with excitement. An exploration in the woods. He savored its name: Kokiri Forest. Each syllable held memories of times past, where he had played and slowly learned its layout. He rushed down the carved stairs, pulling on his green tunic and his cap. He had found it in the woods, just sitting there in perfect condition. He wore it every day now.
After he ate and learned, he rushed off into the forest, eager to see what he would discover today.
A young Zora girl woke in her hammock. Still, half-asleep, she moved over to the pool that served as an exit to her room and dove in. She moved gracefully through the water, feeling its coolness slide over her fins. With a burst of strength, she tore through the water and flew through the air, the warm air embracing her as comfortably as the water always did. Then she was swimming again, moving leisurely down towards the caves she was in almost all of the day. As she swam, she was greeted by other Zoras. She forced a smile at each of them in turn, then moved into the blissful, silent darkness of the caves.
A young Goron boy uncurled from his sleeping position and moved into the shallow pit next to the table. He rubbed himself with a flat rock to get himself nice and dusty for his rolling. His father was at a council or something, and he wouldn't be back until sun-peak, so he had the whole first quarter of the day to himself. He leaped from his door, tucking into a wheel shape, and hit the ground already beginning to roll. His intuitive rock-sense guiding him, he moved down the slopes and went off the jump that he had built. Spinning through the air, he uncurled and dismounted a thousand gorlengths away, ready to race through a new tunnel system.
A young human boy woke from his sleeping pit in the sand. He stretched, yawning silently, and moved towards his hunting equipment, checking each item he needed off on his mental reel. Pulling a bow across his shoulder, he tucked several arrows into a light metal and leather tube, clipping a hunting blade to his belt as he did so. He moved off into the sand-swamps, searching for a peahat, a red chu, or (as a last resort) an octorok for the morning meal. As always, the contrast of the sand-swamps amazed him. How could a place have deep piles of dry sand and a pool of murky water right next to one another? Much of Termina was like this, or so he had heard. He had seen nothing else of the land but the sand-swamps, so he had to believe the traders that occasionally stopped at the pub near the swamp.
But never mind. Shaking the irrelevant thoughts from his head, he settled down in a bush and waited.
Link quietly woke from his deep sleep. Something was happening, in all three corners of the land. The world was changing, and evil was waiting. Link knew that the wielder of the sword must be drawing near. It wouldn't be long now. Link, smiling silently, sat down on the well-worn pedestal, running his ethereal fingers once more over the ancient sword. Not long now. Closing his eyes, he waited for the heroes to appear.
Waiting, after all, was what he was good at.
Chapter 1
Destiny
Andin moved through the old familiar tunnels, moving out further into the mountain's heart, where few had explored. Torches grew fewer and further between, and the flickering light was soon gone altogether as Andin rolled into the unused mining tunnels. Finally, the tunnel he was rolling down came to an end at a redstone wall, with piles of rubble on either side of the tunnel and fist blows pockmarking its already pitted surface. A box of various tools stood nearby, including a small silvery-red crystal and a box containing chisels of varying size. Andin uncurled and began to work at the stone blow by blow, his rocksense telling him which parts of the wall had veins of harder stone running through them that he should avoid. After several hundred blows, Andin could feel the quiet vibrations slightly to the left that signified a cavern. With renewed excitement, he smashed away at the wall until there was only a thin layer of stone left. He walked over to the tool box and selected a middle-size chisel and a reddish crystal, almost completely covered with a dull metal. Walking over to the wall and holding his breath, he smacked a hole in the wall with the butt of the chisel and quickly plugged it with the crystal. Backing away, he released his breath and opened the dodongo-leather notebook from his toolbox. Excitedly, he inscribed his discovery of a cavern next to the date, along with a small note that he should replace his crystal soon. After about five minutes, he removed the crystal and took a small whiff of the cavern air. It smelled clean, if a little metallic. Several more punches and kicks reduced the stone to rubble, and Andin stepped through.
The small cavern was not more than five gorlengths across. It was lit with a dim white light radiating from opaque white rock crystals set into the walls. The cavern was very warm, but Andin sensed no impending eruption. He moved around the cavern, studying the walls and the crystals and feeling the slow pulse of magma below him. He turned to get his notebook, but noticed something above the opening. On closer inspection, it appeared to be runes. Reading them out loud, he said, "Keranuan ormad ud." Power is life. As he said this, the wall behind him vanished, revealing a redstone pedestal holding a hammer. Shaking slightly and stifling hopes, Andin moved to examine it more closely.
The hammer had several of the opaque white crystals on the butt and the back of its head, and one flat crystal surface for the front of the head. A leather strip wound around the handle, originally red but turned brown from the sweat and stone dust of use. Andin knew instantly that this was the hammer from legend: the Megaton Hammer used by Darunia, the mighty Goron chief. As he took hold of it, the world went white before him and a strange ringing echoed in his skull. He felt himself slipping away into unconsciousness.
-
Almea shook her head and sighed as her little Faren rushed out the door into the woods. She knew that he had barely heard her as she taught him of the archaic heroes: the line of Links and the heroic deeds they had performed against great odds. Faren's mind was already rolling under dead logs and grabbing for floating glow-worms by the time she had mentioned Navi, the original Link's fairy companion.
She smiled slightly. Oh well. Let him play. The goddesses knew he wouldn't go into the forest much when he grew older, unless he was a woodcutter or an explorer. She turned around and spread more orange Chu jam on her toast. If only… She stopped herself. No, she wouldn't go there again. His father wasn't here. He had been missing for over a year now, and hopes of finding him had slowly dwindled to a tiny spark, to be extinguished completely when his turquoise earring was to land in her palm from the leader of the search party.
She stopped herself again, shaking her head slightly as if dismissing an annoying insect. No. That wouldn't happen. She took a bite of her cold toast and chewed it slowly, thinking of explanations for his absence and knowing they were all lies.
Faren wandered through the forest, not thinking about where he was going. His eagerness had worn off over the hours, and now he wanted to think. His mother had seemed unusually melancholy, and he knew it was because of his father. Domared, the president of the town league of explorers. He had gone on an expedition one day and was never seen again. Faren liked to think he was captured by a savage tribe of purple bokoblins, and was slowly working his way up the ranks until he became chief. Then, he could lead them all to Queen Zelomore and add the tribe to the proud Hylian army, and after that he could come home. Faren believed this with all his heart, but he didn't think his mother did.
He suddenly stopped, finding unrecognizable terrain. A grove of scorched trees to the left, a boulder to the front right… Faren had no idea where he was. He tried to retrace his steps, but the forest path he had been traveling was gone, and fallen deku leaves covered the ground, blotting out any footprints. Now utterly and completely lost in the dusk-like atmosphere, Faren began to walk in a straight line in the direction straight ahead of him. It didn't matter where he went, and with luck this might be the way out.
After what felt like several hours of walking, Faren stopped to rest. As he surveyed his surroundings, he caught a flash of something grayish-white. He moved towards it, and found the flash was an old marble floor. Intrigued, he moved forward. The half-crumbled walls passed behind him and he was standing in a perfectly circular space. A stone pedestal stood at the center of the clearing, with a shining blade embedded in the stone. Faren unknowingly moved towards the sword, hypnotized at its perfect proportions and its otherworldly shine. He tugged at the handle repeatedly, but could not pull it out. Even with the mightiest efforts, the sword would not yield an inch of its beauteous length to open air. Finally, Faren calmed himself, took hold of the handle, and pulled on it with both his mind and his muscles. The sword came free as if it had been pulled from water. From above, Faren saw his body dissolve into a thousand glittering fragments, to be whisked away by the winds.
-
Nayare swam slowly through the coraleth, the porous rocklike substance that was an integral part of Zora life. As she observed the multitude of life living on the coraleth, she heard a pulsing noise come from the left. It sounded disturbingly like a distress wave… She swam quickly over to the left, arching her body up and down to maximize her speed. When she finally arrived, she saw Jorajen, the colony guard, floating slowly downward, a light green liquid slowly emanating from his chest. "What happened?" she said in the Zora tongue.
"A human…he's taken the Rutokathi… You must get help! He went off to the Eastern Leth…"
Nayare stopped him from moving. "You stay here, and don't panic. You've lost a great deal of lifewater." She swam off, scraped a blue moss off of the wall, and applied it to Jorajen's wound. The flow of lifewater slowed, but didn't stop. Jorajen slowly stopped breathing, but by then Nayare had already gone to the Eastern Leth.
The Eastern Leth was the largest coraleth field in the province. It eventually connected to Lake Hylia and Woodfall Swamp, and even the Goranic Pool, a huge body of water measuring over seven mira wide by Zora measurement. Tasting the water, Nayare followed the faint trail of lifewater still clinging to the rutokathi, the twin knives used by Queen Ruto in the mighty Sammersa Tor; civil wars that had divided Zoras in centuries of fighting.
The thief had swam into a thin tunnel. Nayare smiled. She knew the cave system better than any in her colony, and the thief had moved into a loop. She waited by the loop exit, and when the thief moved out of the tunnel, she pounced. She managed to wrest one knife from his grasp before the man slashed at her arm, leaving a long, perfectly straight gash. Nayare gasped at the sight of her own lifewater, and the thief grinned and swam away. Feeling a sudden burst of anger, Nayare threw the knife at his back.
Each individual water current seemed to add to the knife's momentum, guiding it and enhancing its speed until it finally landed firmly in his back, slightly to the left of the spine and to the right of the shoulder blade.
The man tensed and stopped moving. He slowly floated downward, a steady stream of bubbles emerging from his mouth. He finally landed on the base of the coraleth tunnel, a surprisingly red stream of blood emerging from his wound. The water became a crimson haze that Nayare struggled to see through. She moved towards the man and turned him over. His eyes, slightly rolled, were dull and blind. His mouth was open, and a small flow of green sparks flowed from it. No longer being used to adapt his lungs for water, the magic left to return to the incorporeal net that covered the world.
Nayare took the knife from his limp grasp. Holding both knives and staring at the body, she realized that she had killed a person. She slowly backed away, then fled into the coraleth maze, no longer caring about anything, simply trying to flee from the body which was proof of her deed. With a cry, she burst into a stream of infinitesimally small particles that dissolved into the water.
-
Ord moved off through the sand-swamps. Today had not been a very exceptional hunt. He had only caught a lowly harpfish, and he was feeling a little disappointed. Ah well. Tomorrow's hunt would be much better.
He reached the edge of the sand-swamps, and found the trade road that ran alongside it. It was much easier to walk along the road than through the swamps, and he might be able to meet a trader or two as well. They always had interesting stories, and they might trade him food for his meager supply of gold. He usually found it in the swamps, where will-o-wisps led unhappy travelers to their calm, quiet deaths. Ord wasn't at all perturbed by the origin of the gold: since the bodies couldn't use it, he took it for his own.
Now he had reached the small path leading into the dunes; he took it and moved deeper into the treacherous desert. After several minutes, he had reached the huge dead tree that he used as a home. Apparently, it had once been a Deku Elder, one of the great wise treants that looked after the Kokiri. He opened the mouth and entered, tossing his fish on the great slab that served as a table. As he went to put away his weapons, he stopped dead. Something wasn't right. An unusual smell permeated the tree: a smell of cleanliness and light. He slowly moved forward and entered the weapons closet.
A bow hung on the front of the cabinet. It was carved from the strongest and most supple of all woods: whip-elm. A thin design twisted down the length as ivy grew up the trunk of a tree. The handle was carved from crouching themp, the string was made of finest woven skulltula silk. The entire creation was buffed to perfection, and an unusual glow surrounded it.
Ord, dropping his pack, took hold of the bow. As his hand touched the grip, his quiver glowed, and every arrow's shaft turned a glorious blue-white. A voice was calling him. Without further delay, he pulled the quiver onto his shoulder and surrendered to the beautifully quiet voice. He felt every particle in him be pulled apart and float quietly upward, into the glorious light.
-
Link stood and opened his eyes. The heroes of the Triforce had been called. They would soon arrive. He smiled at how he used to be: a young hero full of life, not fully understanding the Triforce. Well, he knew now the secrets of the goddesses. He would explain the secrets to the new heroes, and then… the legacy would live again.
It was to be glorious.
Chapter 2
Legacy
Andin woke. He was lying on a soft yet strangely firm surface that was a brownish-gray. The world around him was reassuringly dark and small, and Andin felt instantly at home. He stood and looked at himself. His body had an odd glow around it, especially around the right fist that held the Hammer. Moving around slowly, he found the edges of the room, made of the same soft-firm substance. There was no way out. Usually, Andin would have tried to break his way out through one of the walls, but he felt oddly serene. Placing the Hammer to one side, he sat and closed his eyes.
A voice came to him, echoing as if from the tunnels in which he thrived.
Hello, Andin.
I have been waiting for you. I am Link.
No, no, not the Link that thrived half a century ago. Not the Hero of the Two Realms. I am Link. I am the spirit of the hero that lies within every incarnation of Link: past, present, future, and unrealized within the timestream. I am both possibility and reality. I understand the wills of the goddesses.
However, it is not my own destiny that I desire to talk to you about. I understand mine, but you do not.
Let me explain. Within every race, there is one like me. A hero, a legend, a legacy. You have Darunia. His hammer is yours to wield, but the weapon does not make the hero.
Look at your hand. See how it shines. Now imagine there is a triangle on the back of it, with an inverted triangle in the center and three upright triangles surrounding it.
Andin did so, and saw it appear on the back of his hand. The topmost triangle was glowing.
That is known as the Triforce. Your piece of it is the top triangle, the Triforce of Power. You are the Hero of Might. Your power will spur your group on to victory.
Now you will sleep. When you wake, you will see the other heroes.
Faren saw the wind push his body together once more, and he saw with his own eyes again. The air smelled of rotting wood and fallen leaves, and he was sitting on a log. He was completely calm. Pushing the sword into the loam at his feet, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply the smells of the forest. From behind him, a quiet male voice began speaking , as softly as a leaf falling to the forest floor.
Hello, Faren.
I am Link, and it is a pleasure to meet the Hero of Bravery.
I am the spirit of Hylian heroes, so I am most closely linked with you. I once held the sword that has accepted you as the Hero of Bravery.
Look upon your left hand and see the golden divided triangle that appears on there. Your piece is the lower right triangle, the Triforce of Courage. You are destined to help save Hyrule from the evil that has not yet been named.
However, you are not alone. You have three others to aid you in this battle. Your courage will lift your companions' spirits when you are faced with a massive evil.
Sleep.
Nayare, still holding the knives, crystallized into existence. She was in a pool that only she knew about, in the crater of a small island volcano. The only way to get to it was to swim through a massive maze of stone and coraleth that few dared to enter. She was in the safest place she knew.
She floated in the water face up, allowing the sun to play over her closed eyelids. Someone spoke, as clearly as the water shone in the dawn.
Nayare, welcome. I am Link. You have heard of me; I am the eternal hero.
Your heroism is why you have been called here. This is not your pool. This is… elsewhere.
You hold the Knives of Queen Ruto. One of me knew her, as both a child and as a young princess. I was gone before I ever saw these knives… They are the work of a grandmaster. You must feel proud.
No, actually, thought Nayare. I feel like a thief.
Don't. It was your time to wield them. Manifested in an image on your right hand, you hold the Triforce of Wisdom. You are the Hero of Thought.
But I don't feel like a Hero of Thought. I feel like a killer and a traitor to my heritage.
You will soon become more heroic. Your intuitive capabilities and quick wit will make you an expert strategist.
…But enough. You look tired.
Yes. I am, actually.
Then sleep. You will need it.
Ord found himself in the tree where he had grasped the bow. The door was healed over with new, living wood, and all of his belongings were gone. He glanced around the familiar area nervously, looking for any trace of movement. After several minutes of still silence, he sat down on his log and relaxed the tension in his body. This was odd, but there was nothing he could do about it. The instant he closed his eyes, he saw a face smiling at him. He opened them again, hurriedly, then tentatively closed them again. The face was still there, smiling in that calming way.
The mouth moved and the face spoke.
Hello, Ord. I am Link… Ah, you don't know. I am the hero of legend, the one figure that appears consistently in Hyrule's past to save it from evil. But I am not here to tell you about myself. You are special, Ord.
Ahh, Ord, even more so than the other three, you are special. You hold a fourth piece of the Triforce, created by the goddesses when they came down. Din, Nayru, and Farore… That is how it was told in all the stories. Din shaped the earth, Nayru imposed law, and Farore gave it life.
But there was a fourth.
Orda, the quiet Goddess of Time, was present at the spark of creation. The other three goddesses did not even know of her existence. She was always there, just hard to find. She gave the new land a timestream, so that creatures could die. For without death, how can there be true life?
As the three others left for the Sacred Realm, she silently followed, separating the three others by an inverted triangle of nothing.
That triangle is what you now hold in your heart, shown on the back of your hand. The Triforce of Time is yours. However, I ask of you a favor.
Work with the three others and form great bonds with them. For if you do not… the consequences will be more destructive than I can describe.
But sleep. Your epic is beginning.
-
The four heroes awoke in a spherical area with walls of perfect black. A clear floor covered a view of stars, trapped in the area beneath. Their respective weapons lay beside them. The four looked at one another in the uncaring manner that can only come after a good night's sleep.
Link spoke. You each have a piece of the Triforce within you. You are the Heroes. Talk to one another, for you all must form a mighty, unstoppable team.
There was a long pause. The four looked at one another. Finally, Faren spoke. He told his story to the others, and they gradually started speaking about themselves. Finally, after Nayare had stopped speaking, the sphere moved, the stars shone, and the four were suddenly standing on a ridge overlooking the world. Link spoke.
This is the last any of you will hear from me. I have done my duty, and I can finally go. I know what lies beyond, and though it is full of trials, I know I can persevere.
Farewell and good luck.
The voice was gone.
The four looked over the ridge at the world below. So detailed and so small. A faint veil of darkness covered the land. Almost undetectable. Almost.
A chill wind blew from the east, and a pale yellow glow rose over the jagged horizon; over the wall that kept the world from falling away. The sun rose slowly and silently, as if afraid to look upon the broken earth below. Gradually, the sun continued on its path across the cobalt sky. But not even the strongest rays of light could completely banish the wisps of transparent black that placed a shroud upon the world.
Chapter 3
Preparations
Faren awoke inside his tent. He stretched, pulled on his new green tunic and hat, and pulled open the tent flap, looking out at the thousands of other tents that dotted the green landscape. For five long years, they had adventured, trying to find the source of evil blot on the land. They finally found it, hidden inside a huge cavern deep underground. Unfortunately, it had gained enough strength to flash out of the cavern and through the tunnel the explorers had left. Today they warred. Today they wiped out this blot of evil.
Nayare awoke, filled with a deep sense of foreboding. What if her strategies fell apart because of one tiny flaw? What if Halda fell to Vaati? She strapped on her battle armor, trying to reassure herself. Walking outside, she met Faren. She shivered. "Faren, I can't stop worrying. What if they somehow find a flaw? I know there's one somewhere but I can't find it and I know it's right under my-"
Faren placed a hand on her shoulder. "You'll be fine. I've looked over the strategies and they're sound. Besides, even if the strategy falls apart, every unit is built for a guerilla campaign. We can't lose."
Nayare smiled slightly. "I hope you're right."
Andin awoke, filled with energy. He pulled on a leather breastplate and moved to the mess hall, hammer in hand. Today would be a day for fighting. In the mess hall, he found Davis, his best lieutenant, sitting alone at a table. Andin sat next to him. "You ready for today?"
Davis looked down slightly. "I guess. But it all seems like it's happening too fast."
Andin smiled a great Goron smile. "It's happening as fast as it needs to happen. But I know for a fact that you and your men are faster."
Davis said nothing, but looked less worried. Finally he said, "Where's that scout? We could really use him right now."
Ord looked out over the enemy camp, estimating their numbers. "Five thousand," he muttered, writing the number down in his small booklet. They would move out on the path to the west of them. A bluff attack would come from the southeast, but the true attack would be from the north. He moved quickly back through the bushes, avoiding an obvious net trap and walking straight into a less obvious one. Cursing, he pulled an arrow out of its quiver and began hacking through the vines with the head.
Several minutes later, a pigscout patrol saw the hanging net. Grinning, he pulled the net down to his eye and got an arrow shoved into it for his trouble. Ord pushed his way through the frayed net and rummaged through the filthy rags on the creature, finding only two rupees and a small skull pendant. Pocketing these, he moved silently through the brush.
At the edge, he saw another pigscout, this one clearly more alert than the other. Moving sideways, he saw another, then two more. Why post guards around this thicket? There was no…
Ord moved with the speed of a falcon. He shot a guard in the back and fled on the open plain. Dodging several arrows, he stumbled and failed to leap over a trench. Scrabbling up the sides, his head hit a deep purple barrier, which enveloped him in a sphere.
A tall, pale figure glided up to him. Dressed in a deep blue cloak, he held a wisp of the purple-black substance in his hand. A small silver crown lay atop his head of white hair.
"So. You have decided to spy on me. What have you learned, I wonder?"
Ord felt a thin coil seep into his mind. Baring his teeth, he snarled and let the rage flow over him, obscuring all thought.
"Ahh. The beast can use his rage. Very nice. However, you cannot stay angry for too long. If I just stand here and do nothing, your rage at being imprisoned will inevitably fade."
He was right. Ord could already feel the rational thought prodding at him, displaying thoughts and knowledge. Ord pulled his best arrow, a black one with a perfect obsidian head, and fired it.
Vaati didn't even flinch as he reduced the arrow to ash with a wave of his hand. He calmly reached inside the sphere, pulled out the Hero's Bow, and broke it cleanly in two, even snapping the bowstring. Ord's arrows returned to their usual dull selves, and Ord kneeled, frozen in shock at what had just happened.
Then - a massive shock wave inside the sphere. Ord leaped through the shattered fragments of Vaati's containment spell. He dove straight at Vaati and rammed two of his hand-whittled arrows in both of his eyes.
Vaati didn't move. Nor did he move when Ord rammed several more of the arrows through his chest and gut. Frozen in perfect color, he only moved when Ord pushed him over. With a small glint of triumph, Ord halted his new power, removing the pulsing glow around the Black Triforce inscribed on his hand. Time flowed once more as the surrounding guards started to panic. Vaati simply lay there, bleeding and small, as Ord slipped the crown from his pale head and placed it on his own.
Chapter 4
Madness
Faren stood at the head of his army, dressed in full battle armor. He stared across the mighty plain, as if he could see into the enemy camp. Finally, after an age of standing, he pulled the Master Sword from its scabbard and held it high.
"We war."
With a mighty roar, he charged across the fields, with the entire army trailing behind. Behind him, he heard Andin growling in the Goron war cry, and he had a sudden vision of Nayare sitting alone in her tent, powerless to do anything except wait.
Then he turned and saw the Zora girl streaming through the river that split the plain. He rolled his eyes, knowing he was powerless to stop her, and continued the charge.
A mighty wave of bokoblins slid across the dry grass towards Faren. He raised his sword and struck the first blow.
Andin rolled head-on into a group of them. Bokoblins were weak, and their only advantage lay in their numbers. He pulled out Darunia's Hammer and swung, smacking straight through three heads at once.
Nayare smoothly leapt out of the water and slit the throats of two bokoblins in one fluid movement. Moving swiftly, she felt the daggers settle comfortably into her hand. Battle was what they were meant for, and she wasn't about to stay in a tent, even if she was a strategist.
Faren hacked through the next group. They were actually making progress, he thought. They could win this.
Then a shadow slid across the sun. Civil and beast alike turned upwards to look at the gray-brown clouds that now smothered the sky.
Ord descended from the wild maelstrom above. Smiling, he almost used his newfound ability to stop time and slaughter the army. Then he saw Faren. Then Andin and Nayare. He had forgotten about them. Unfortunate casualties, but necessary nonetheless. He willed the Black Triforce to stop time.
And it completely and utterly failed.
Frowning, he tried again. No effect. He roared. Why was it so devoid of power?
Faren shouted up at him. "Ord! Stop this! We're your friends! We can work this out!"
Ord roared back down. "You sent me straight into the belly of the beast. You are no longer my friend!"
Nayare, moving closer to Faren, shouted, "Come down here! We can make you a new bow!"
Ord screamed long and loud, a mass of rage condensed into sound. They didn't understand! He pulled the gray-brown clouds around the four of them and turned.
The four were standing in the throne room. Ord hovered over the throne. "You never understood me. You have never known what it is to be utterly powerless! In the Terminan sand-swamps, you rely on wit and cunning to survive. You have no blessed weapons! You have no goddess fragment! Faren, you were just some rich kid living near a forest! Andin, you were the son of a goddamned ambassador! And Nayare, you were the spoiled brat of your colony, pampered and -"
Nayare screamed. "I was never spoiled! I never saw my parents, I never had a home, and I was greeted with pity wherever I went! So don't say I'm spoiled, you freakish half-human, because I'm about as far from that as I could get!"
Ord was silent after this outburst. She understood. Damn them, why wouldn't they let him break everything?
"Ord, you aren't alone. You have friends," Andin said in a low voice.
He had friends. Damn them, they still thought of him as a friend.
Ord sat there, staring into his lap. He made an odd shuddering movement. Then he stood taller than ever, tears of rage and sadness and happiness flowing, and started mumbling foreign words and making hand movements. Andin moved forwards, a rocky hand outstretched to stop him. An almost indistinguishable pulse ran through the earth, then a great screaming wisp of light shot from his body and the four heroes collapsed lifeless to the cold stone floor.
Chapter 5
Silence
Faren opened his consciousness. A white and strangely comforting void surrounded him.
There was nothing to worry about. There was nothing and everything. Now an echo of a silent voice, telling him to live.
Faren looked at the voice, which was pulsing with an invisible rainbow of light. Faren, go back. You have things to achieve to make your world more like this one.
Am I dead?
Yes. But you can go back, if you so choose. It requires a great deal of soul-searching, and it will be difficult. But you can go back. I hope you do.
Faren closed his consciousness and thought for an eon, then a nanosecond after he had closed it he opened it again.
I will. Not because I have an attachment to that world, but because I feel the call pulling me back.
You will no longer have the Triforce of Courage.
That's fine. I think I already have more than enough.
The voice smiled with the unmistakable air of a teacher knowing his student has learned.
Go, then. Good luck.
Faren opened his eyes, exhausted. Looking around him, he saw Nayare and Ord slowly sitting up as well.
"What happened, Ord?" Faren croaked, then coughed a few times.
Ord sat on the throne, head bowed. He was alone again, the crown melted into a small pool of oily silver. He had to tell them, before he forgot again. "I'm sorry. I was- well…" He regrouped his thoughts. Start from the start. "My childhood began on a trade road, abandoned by some couple for whatever reason. I was taken in by a Child of the Skull, also abandoned and living in a huge tree. He fed me from his supply of stolen milk, and I grew up to be cunning and bold. He never spoke a word, but I knew him well enough so that he never needed to. I learned Ghand from the various travelers. If the Child of the Skull was my father, the travelers were my uncles. They always had an extra bit of food in their bags, and as they got to know me, the morsels became more exotic. But the gifts they truly gave me were stories. The Child of the Skull could survive, but the traders had lived, if you know what I'm trying to say. The stories of the Zora Falls and the Fire Caverns kept me alive more than food ever could.
"However, I had very little control over anything. The traders never stopped for long, the sand-swamps conformed to their own rules, and the Child of the Skull died as a result of a hidden quicksand pit. I knew I was nobody special. I even lost the will to live a couple of times. But I kept living, and the next day I would remember the fading stories of lands far away. I would live, if only to see them.
'Then, I received the Hero's Bow. I was a very special person, as Link told me. 'Work with the three others and form great bonds with them, for if you do not, the consequences will be more destructive than I can describe.' I didn't know what that meant at the time. Now I do. He reminded me while I was dead.
"The last you saw me, I was scouting. I became trapped, and Vaati, their commander, tried to question me. I was the fastest that I could be. I pulled out my best arrow and shot it, as quick as a rat, straight at his chest.
"And he broke it.
"He broke the arrow and snapped the Hero's Bow. I almost died right there. I was nothing again, I was worthless, I had no power over anything again. But I broke the barrier and killed him, and I knew that I had power, the power I so desperately needed during my childhood. I was king.
"I was insane, I admit it. I tried to kill you, and, in the safety of my throne room, succeeded. But when I shattered the Triforce of Time, I just wanted an escape. Everything was insane, and I couldn't make sense of it.
"Now they're all gone. All four pieces of the Triforce. And Ghand is about to collapse."
Faren was silent for a while. Finally he spoke. "So Andin's dead."
Nayare glanced over. "I'm sorry. I woke up before you, but I didn't want to say just yet."
"Everything's broken," Faren said. "The world, the Triforce, ourselves, everything."
Ord smiled, the first time Faren had seen him do so. "It's all being reforged."
Epilogue
Domared smiled at his son. He had never truly appreciated how good it is to relax in a safe place until now. He had been trapped in Vaati's dungeons, tortured for no reason. Vaati, when he learned Domared had no information, had simply left him alone. However, the jailer was somewhat of a sadist, and loved hearing the sound of screams.
But that was behind him now. The bokoblins had surrendered, and were now living in the wastes beyond what used to be Ghand. What would this new world be called? He looked at his house and wondered how the goddesses had known exactly where the dent in the door was. Then he laughed at himself. They're goddesses, after all. They had remade Ghand and placed it back in the rest of the world; if they could do that, why not pay attention to the small details?
Faren got up from the carved wooden bench on which his father was sitting. "I have to go on one last quest, Dad."
Even though he had not seen his son in years, Domared knew from the look on his face that it was immensely important to him. "Go, then," he said. "I'll be waiting."
"He's dead."
Faren, Ord, and Nayare looked down. This was by far the most difficult part.
"He died fighting a madman," Ord said quietly. "He died a hero."
"Nevertheless, my son is dead." The great Goron chief was defeated, sinking into his throne with a devastated look. "I need time to mourn him. Have you brought his body?"
"Yes," said Nayare. "It's in the cart."
"Leave the body and go."
Faren quietly placed the hammer in front of the chief and turned to leave. The three quietly moved through the great stone tunnel until they were out in open air, the blistering sun baking the earth a dry dead brown. From inside they heard a deep, full-throated roar as the Goron chief screamed his defiance of the inevitable.
After a long, teary farewell, Nayare flung herself into the ocean. She had never been here before, and she had much to learn of the terrain. Nobody knew her yet, and she would be given no special treatment. She wouldn't have it any other way. The new caves beckoned to her curiosity, but she dismissed them for now. She had to make some new acquaintances first.
Faren stepped off of the cart in front of his house. He bid Ord farewell, both knowing they would see one another again somehow. The goddesses liked doing things like that. Ord and his new horse Epona slowly moved off down the mountain road as Faren glanced at his mother running out to meet his father.
He left them in peace and slowly climbed the stairs to his room. He pulled off his filthy green tunic and cap, hanging them in the closet. Hopefully he would never have to wear them again. Finally, he relaxed and sunk into his dusty bed. It had been a very long day.
Ord tied Epona to the pole outside the tavern. He opened the door, feeling the sound and smell of the place hit him like a wave. The place was teeming with life, and thousands of stories were to be told. Perhaps when he returned from his travels, he would have a few of his own. Feeling the comfortable weight of the Master Sword at his waist, he took a seat and ordered.
Link looked down at the world in astonishment. Midna floated up next to him.
"Not at all how you expected it, huh?"
"No. They surprised me. I had meant for it to work out in a different way."
Midna smiled. "Things don't always happen your way."
Link laughed. "No. They don't, do they?"
Midna giggled in her usual way. "Control freak."
Link chose to ignore this comment, instead staring out over the newly healed land. Maybe now he could finally get some sleep.