I walk into Hyrule River. Shivers rip through my body when the ice cold water hits my ankles. I wonder how this blue tunic will help me breath underwater.
The water temple is somewhere down below, near the center of the lake. There was something about this place the made me feel queasy. I had the iron boots in my garment bag that was well hidden and seemed like it could hold anything.
I decided to suck it up and jump in, or Navi would yell at me, when I heard the sound of horse hooves. That's strange. I knew it couldn't be Epona because I had left her at the ranch.
Out of my curiosity and naive head I turn to my left to see what the source of the noise was.
I wished I hadn't.
What I see makes meet want to throw up. There was a figure in warrior armor that was sitting on a decomposing horse.
Half of the horse's face was a scraped up skeleton while the other half was decomposing flesh. On the decomposing side of its face its eye was hanging from its socket. That's what most of the horse was like from below too with the occasional armor here and there.
The figure on the horse seemed to be a male but I couldn't tell because its features were just old bones.
The skeleton man wore garments that seemed to be from an ancient war. He jumped off his horse and it vanished. The man approached me slowly. I was so paralyzed with fear that I didn't draw my sword at the closing threat.
I could smell the death radiating from the old warrior. I snapped out of my shock when I heard the sound of his sword sliding out of its holder.
I pulled out my sword and was ready to attack the armed figure when I heard a croaked voice come from him.
"Young lad, heath my warning, for you shall only hear it once. I must fight you till one of us is caressed by death."
That was when he attacked. But I was ready for it.
Our swords clashed and sparks flew. As we were battling the skeleton man kept on speaking.
"I was sent from Ganondorf to kill your ancestor, The Hero of Time. He bested me and the King of Evil locked me away. It tis not my wish to kill you, but that was why I was created."
I back flip just in time to miss the deadly blow of his sword.
What did this Ganondorf minion want and what did he mean by warning?
He stopped attacking me and pointed his sword in the direction of the water temple.
"I will not let you win this battle. You must beat me on your own because if you can't beat me fairly you will die the second you try to defeat Ganondorf."
Questions raced through my mind.
Was this a trap or was he trying to help me?
All of these could be a possibility. Being my quite self I listen to the man curiously.
"Smoke and mirrors is what this temple truly is. What you see you mustn't deny. It will reflect what tis in you and it can change you into the thing you very fear. I must leave thee now or you may be too late."
I grunted in confusion. He just told me I had to fight to the death with him and now he is leaving.
He gave a disgruntled laugh and twisted his face into what looked like a grin.
"In due time young lad, all your questions will be revealed."
With that he was gone.
I played back his warning in my head. In due time young lad, all your questions will be revealed. What had that meant?
I put on my iron boots and dived in. I sunk to the bottom and took a breath in…..I could breath! This tunic really did work.
It was a slow trek to get to the temple entrance. I looked at the gates of the temple as they started to open and I released a sigh.
Too late to turn back now, I said to myself.
Room after room I solved puzzles and fought off the occasional monster. The deeper I got into the temple the more I wondered about what the warrior had told me.
So far there weren't any booby traps or challenging feats of bravery. I was now in front of a blue door with brass knockers. I looked at my dungeon map and according to the old thing it said that the hook shot was right behind this door.
Once I got the hook shot the sooner I would be out of this temple.
I opened the door, but as soon as I walked in the doors closed and metal bars locked it. This room hadn't been on the map.
The room was surrounded by fog that made it look endless. In the middle of the room was a small island with a dark dying tree in the middle. The floor was covered in shallow water.
I took a step into the water, but instead of falling through I walked on top of it.
I walk to the other side of the room with my sword drawled. That's strange. There were no enemies in the small room.
I walk to the door opposite of the one I came through. It was locked too. Was this a trap the skeleton man was referring to? I felt chills run down from my neck to the tips of my fingers and toes.
That was when I heard the dark sinister voice behind me.
"Are you scared, hero?"
I spun around in time to see a dark figure morph from the tree.
The monster looked so much like me, but everything he wore was black. His skin was a light shade of grey. His hair was a dark white and those eyes….Bur! Those eyes could paralyze with the evil and bloodlust in them. Actually his eyes are a dark red; they were the same color as new blood spilled from a body.
"Come on, Hero. Try to kill me or are you to afraid. You're just like your ancestor."
What was with all of this ancestor business?
"Who are you?" was all I was able to mumble out.
He laughed at that. It bounced off of the invisible walls of the room. His laugh was filled will so much evil, that it took away what courage I had left.
"You don't even recognize yourself, you ignorant child. You are pathetic. Everyone believes a child will save them from their sins. Ha! You mortals are so foolish."
Recognize myself? Mortals like you? None of this is making sense.
I was about to open my mouth again when he disappeared.
I looked around confused. Where had he gone? The doors were locked and there was nothing to hide behind. I stopped my wondering thoughts when I felt hot breath on my neck.
"Don't you get it? I'm you or better yet I am your ancestor's shadow. You and I are the same, Hero. Different sides of the same coin. You can't out run your shadow."
With that he grabbed my blond hair and yanked my head back. He put his blade to my neck. I couldn't move. He had done something to me. He put his lips up to my ear and whispered to me.
"They all think the great hero is invincible, unable to be sliced by any blade, never touched by fear or death. But who would have thought that he is afraid of his own shadow."
He threw me to the ground and bound both my wrists with his hand. He ripped one of my tunic's sleeves. He entangled his free hand in my hair and pulled my head back again. He sunk his sharp teeth into my shoulder. I let out a strangle scream.
Blood oozed from the wound and down my shoulder. I felt something wet and hot on the bite. I looked out of the corner of my eye to see this shadow me lick and suck up the blood.
"Mmm... You're even tastier than the finest wine."
He started to cut down my arms. I tried to hold down the screams of pain, but some were able to escape. He let out more of those spine chilling laughs.
"I was given the name Dark. I want you to beg my name for mercy."
He stabbed at my arms some more, laughing at my attempts to muffle the screams. He was enjoying himself so much that he loosened my wrists. I swung my arm and elbowed him in the gut. Let's just say he wasn't expecting that.
He fell over trying to regain his breath. I jumped up and ran to my sword that was a few feet away. Dark was just getting up when I swirled around with my sword in hand. I charged at him, but he was able to pull out his sword to block my blow.
We fought for what seemed like hours.
"You should just give up, child. You won't be able to beat me."
With that he lunged at me. He tried to slice me with his blade parallel with the floor. But all his sword did was smash the ground. I swung when he was still absorbing the shock.
I got him in the ribs. He grunted with pain when the blade was buried deep in his side. He hunched over to feel the spot I had stabbed him. That was when I did a spin sword move and it sliced deep in his chest.
Instead of dying it looked like something was throwing him towards the dark tree. He screamed out at the invisible force and he disappeared.
The locks on the doors went up. I took one last glance around the room that was now fading and I sprinted to the hook shot.
If I had really looked at the room I would have seen the two faded figures.
"Do you think he can beat Ganondorf, my lord," Said a certain skeleton man.
"We'll have to see. But once he does I with rule Hyrule," said the red eyed figure.