Seven

The most pressing matter for discussion by the small group of warriors gathered in the Sacred Grove was, of course, how Nemo had obtained the Triforce of Shadow.

"Could he have gone through the same portal you did, Midna?" Shad asked.

The Twilight Princess shook her head. "If he did, he must be able to walk through walls or something. When we found the portal room, it took four of us to get the outer door open, and when I was walking through the passage, the floor was covered in dust and there were a bunch of spiderwebs in there." She shrugged. "I guess that was why I thought it was just an abandoned storage room. We found enough of those."

Link was thoughtful. As the only other member of the group to have been inside the Palace of Twilight, he knew his question -and the answer to it- wouldn't make sense to anyone but Midna. "Which part of the Palace was the entrance in?"

"It was in the main building, in the large room right before the throne room entryway. You know, the one with all the floating platforms and the really big royal seal on the wall that had a ledge at the bottom?"

The Hero chuckled. "You mean the room where that blasted Zant head kept knocking me off the platforms before I could use my Clawshot?"

Midna smiled. "That's the one. Well, the door to the portal was on that ledge underneath the giant royal seal. One of my guards found it by accident."

Link rubbed his chin. "You know, when we went through there, I figured that platform went there for a reason."

She laughed. "That's right! You must have spent ten minutes staring at that wall before I finally got you to leave."

"So how did he get the Shadow Triforce if he didn't use that portal? He couldn't have used the Mirror of Twilight, since it was destroyed." Link was puzzled; How many entrances did the Twilight Realm have?

Erik spoke up for the first time in their discussion. "I might have an answer. This creature is known to my people."

They all turned to the Sheikah warrior.

"I suppose I'd better tell you a bit about it first. We call it the Antihero. Its sole purpose is to oppose the chosen warrior of the gods. Not even our oldest texts tell us the origin of the thing, but we do know some things about it.

"It can change shape to match the appearance of the Hero. What you saw was its natural form, but Nemo could change to look exactly like you if he so chose. He may do this to confuse people and turn them against you.

"The creature possesses great strength and speed, but little to no magical ability. It relies mostly on its physical skills to defeat opponents, and it is said to have considerable sword skills."

"To match the Hero," Midna said.

Erik nodded before continuing. "His abilities are usually the equal of the Hero, and he occasionally possesses devices that the current Hero has been seen using. He is very dangerous, and you must not underestimate him.

"As to how the creature came to be in possession of the Shadow Triforce, I have a theory. Most of you know about the Mirror of Twilight and how it was used to send criminals to the Twilight Realm, correct?"

"The Twilight Princess found a secondary portal, but there are others. Ordinarily, I wouldn't be telling you even this much, but this knowledge is something you deserve to know." Erik looked over at Midna before continuing. "There are three more entrances to the Twilight Realm besides the Mirror of Twilight and the portal you found. Only one goes both ways, and all are hidden in abandoned cities. Precautions have been taken to ensure only a select few know about them, but I believe the Antihero used one of these to travel to the Twilight Realm and somehow got his hands on the Triforce of Shadow. He found that he was unable to use it, so he came here, thinking that the Master Sword was sealing its powers."

"But when I took out the Master Sword, Nemo's Triforce disappeared. Why was that?" Link asked.

Midna looked thoughtful for a moment. "Okay, this is only a theory, and it's kind of out there, so bear with me. I think…" She paused for a second. "I think that since the Triforce of Shadow was made by a man, Ganondorf, it may not function like the other pieces. The Sages said that he modeled it after the piece he already had, the Triforce of Power. But, no matter how much he might think otherwise, Ganon is not a god. He might have made a mistake when he made the Shadow piece."

Link was starting to see what she was getting at. "And, being Ganon, he might have somehow made it so it would only work if he was the one using it. That might explain why it drove Zant insane when he tried to use it."

"Has anyone given any thought to what would happen if all four pieces were brought together?" Arnak said. "Zelda told me that when all three original pieces are joined, whoever touches the Triforce gets a wish granted by the gods. What would happen if the Shadow piece were placed in the center?"

"I believe I can answer that."

They turned to see a single Sage standing a few feet away. The marking on his robe was the same symbol that Link had seen in quite a few places in the Temple of Time, the ruins of which they were currently sitting in.

"You must never let Ganondorf's Triforce come into physical contact with the Three Pieces made by the Goddesses. It was made with foul Shadow magic, and is nearly the polar opposite of the holy relics. If Ganon's Shadow piece is placed in the center of the Triforce, the reaction would be catastrophic. This world might be undone."

Link was about to ask a question, but the Sage continued speaking.

"Hero, we promised to tell you more after the battle in Castle Town. I will tell you what we meant to tell you then, but I must be brief, since there is another fight that requires your attention." The ghostly Sage turned to Shad. "Your theory about the City in the Sky is correct, young one. The creatures the Hero encountered there did not build that city.

"What you currently know as Oocca are not the race from which that name originated. They were bred as pets for the nobility, and when the original owners of the city abandoned it, the pets were eventually confused with their masters, since they had a measure of intelligence bred into them.

"Also, what the Hero and the Twilight Princess explored was not the entire city. You may have noticed a fourth path at the entrance to the city, which was broken off."

Link and Midna nodded at this.

"The real Oocca took most of their floating city to another part of the world, where they have stayed peacefully for the last several hundred years. But, they recently experienced a change in leadership, and their new ruler is militaristic and bloodthirsty, intending to enslave or destroy all those who live on the ground. He has brought the city back to Hyrule, and has been attacking with flying fortresses all over the world."

Link was so shocked and enraged at what the Sage said next that he was utterly speechless.

"One of these fortresses is currently attacking your hometown of Ordon."


Talo wished he could do more. But, since a tree had fallen in front of the door to Link's house, he was effectively trapped in here. He was at the very top of the house, peering out of the window at the battle in the village.

From what the boy could see, it wasn't going well. Everyone from the village except Colin, Fado, and the Mayor were in Link's house, milling around the main floor anxiously. A few of the King's servants were inside, as well, but the monarch himself was nowhere to be found.

Ilia and Beth had gone down to the basement to see what supplies Link had down there. Talo had assigned himself the duty of lookout, and was standing on Link's bed to see out of the window.

He hadn't seen Colin in a while, and that worried him. He knew his friend had stayed in the village to help defend it, but even the King's soldiers were getting cut down out there. Talo wondered how much of a chance Colin had.

Talo hadn't ever had to deal with death much before. He hadn't ever seen a dead body before today, and now he could see several from his perch. He forced himself not to look at them, and to instead focus on what was still moving.

Wait, what was that? Talo saw a flash of yellow and strained to get a better look. He wished he had a Hawkeye like Link. Talo leaned so far out of the window that he almost fell out, and had to catch himself.

Yes, it was definitely Colin. His friend was running for the bridge near Talo's house, being pursued by one of those bird-things.

Talo's view was partially obstructed by trees, but he could still see his friend duck under the bridge as the feathered creature smashed into it. He pumped his fist in the air at seeing this. "Take that!" he yelled.

He saw Colin roll out from under the bridge and take a swing at the thing with his sword. Talo heard a screech, and assumed that the slice had connected.

The bird creature grabbed Colin's arms and shook him until the boy dropped his sword and shield. It started to fly upwards, clearly intent on taking Talo's friend up to the massive flying fortress that still hovered over the village.

It was most of the way up when Talo heard another screech and the thing dropped Colin. It started to fall, too, when Talo saw three more arrows sprout from the bird-creature's chest.

Surprised, Talo looked around saw half a dozen men rush into the village, running past Link's house. Two of them were sprinting at top speed towards where Colin was falling. One man whipped off his cloak and tossed one end to his partner.

They skidded to a halt just as Colin hit the outstretched cloak and bounced into the air a few feet. One of the men caught him as he was coming back down and took off running back to the entrance to the village, dodging the still-falling bombs and swerving around the wreckage in his path.

Talo saw three men with bows in their hands and quivers on their backs leap up to where the tree had fallen in front of Link's door. One of them climbed up the side of Link's house until he was on the part of the roof that ran under Talo's window and took up position there.

The warrior, a roguish-looking man with bright eyes and a trim dark beard visible under his hood, grinned at Talo before he started firing off bomb arrows at the bird-creatures' flying fortress. Talo could see the other two archers firing regular arrows at the bird-monsters.

The boy was relieved that the strangers had shown up and were helping, but he wouldn't feel truly safe until the Hero came to protect them.

Talo wished he would come soon.


Telma idly scratched her cat behind the ears as she sat, waiting. Louise mewed at her and wandered off, sniffing at a few of the other cats that had somehow made their way down here.

A few feet away, Ashei and Rusl were practicing with their weapons, while a few townspeople who were interested in learning to fight watched.

The group of survivors had set up camp in an abandoned chamber of the waterways far under Castle Town whose purpose had been forgotten by time. Most of the civilians had separated into small groups, staying with those they knew from their neighborhoods and workplaces.

The short journey here had been difficult, as there had been a few sudden drops, lots of water, and the occasional giant rat. Fortunately, nobody had been seriously injured.

The three adult Gorons who had been in Castle Town at the time of the attack had taken it upon themselves to patrol the perimeter of the camp. The two young ones were playing with some of the Hylian children.

Beyond the dim torchlight, Telma could see two figures approaching. She couldn't make them out very well, to tell if they were friend or foe, but it couldn't hurt to be cautious.

She waved Rusl and Ashei over, picking up her shoulder cannon and propping it against her leg. Easily accessible, but not exactly threatening, either.

As the two figures got closer, Telma could gradually tell that one of them was Auru. She set the cannon down and stepped closer to one of the torches, intending to greet her friend. Perhaps Link had found the older man and was coming back to help them defend the encampment.

Telma dropped to one knee as the other person came into the light. So did everyone else that could see the Princess.

An awed hush fell over the encampment of survivors as the news spread. Most of them had never met Princess Zelda, and some had never even seen her before.

"Rise," she said. There was no force in her voice, but it carried across the whole camp.

Telma looked at the ruler of the kingdom and was surprised at how young she looked. Zelda couldn't have been more than nineteen or twenty. The Princess moved to the approximate center of the camp and stopped there while the crowd of people settled down around her, waiting for silence before she started speaking.

Her first words were depressing, but everyone there had already accepted them as the truth. "The castle is taken."

"But," she continued, "there is hope. The Hero is doing his best to combat the threat, and he has assistance from the new bearer of the Triforce of Power."

Most of the survivors had met Arnak, and were heartened at this.

"There are still enemies here, and we need to leave this place if we all want to survive. I have come to lead you to safety. There is a small village south of Faron Woods where we should be able to go without difficulty."

Rusl perked up at hearing his home village mentioned.

"The King should already be there, and I will be bringing any soldiers I can find to protect us on the way." Zelda looked around at the survivors of the siege. "I do not promise the journey will be easy, but I will do my very best to take all of you to Ordon safely."

A voice called out from the crowd. "So we're just abandoning our home?"

The Princess turned to the voice, a determined look on her face. "We are not. When the time is right, the Hero and the Hyrule soldiers are going to take back the city. Do not think of this as a defeat, but merely a setback."

Zelda looked at the crowd again, making eye contact with as many of them as she could. "We will return here, and we will carry on with our lives. I know that the last year has been very hard on us all, but I know that together, we can overcome any obstacle Fate chooses to set before us."

She stepped away, signaling that her speech was over. The crowd dispersed, starting to pack up and get ready to go, murmuring among themselves.

As Zelda and Auru passed Telma, she heard the Princess talking with the older man. "I only hope the Hero succeeds in his mission. If he does not, I fear for us all."


Link leaped to his feet, looking ready to run out of the temple then and there. Midna was ready to join him. She had never formally met any of the residents of Ordon herself, but she had seen them plenty of times from Link's shadow. She knew how he felt about the people of his home village, and felt a similar sense of protectiveness towards her friend's surrogate family.

The Sage gestured, and a barrier appeared across the entrance to the room. "Do not be impatient, Hero. They are receiving help as we speak. I must inform you of one last essential thing, and then you may leave."

Midna kept herself from scoffing. The Sages could be so pretentious!

"You must pursue the creature you fought here. He may not be able to use the Triforce of Shadow, but the object is still within him." The Sage turned to look at the wall Nemo had jumped over when he fled. "You will not be able to catch him at this time, but I believe he is bound for the Gerudo Desert. One of Ganon's fortresses is there, where a number of his writings are stored, and the aberration may be headed there to find some answers."

He turned to Midna. "Since the Twilight Princess has control over the warp portals, you can still help your friends, then warp to the desert and follow the Antihero. You may want to follow him to the fortress before you confront him, for there are many secrets within that you may be interested in learning."

The Sage waved again and the force field disappeared. "We will speak again when it is convenient." It faded out of sight.

They agreed to rest for a few minutes before going to Ordon. Erik was still a little sore from his battle with Nemo, and they all wanted to be at their best during the coming battle. Link was visibly impatient, though, and he spent most of the break pacing, clenching and unclenching his hands.

Midna walked over to where Nemo's sword had landed and poked it with her foot, not wanting to touch anything that had belonged to such a vile creature. It didn't move or hiss at her or anything, as she expected, so she gathered a handful of her robe and picked it up with that.

It vaguely resembled Link's Ordon sword, but was of poor craftsmanship, with the handle wrapped in cheap, low-quality leather. The blade was pitted and rusted, like it had been left out in a few storms and never cleaned properly. It was in terrible condition, and Midna was immediately even more disgusted with the creature, Link's attitude toward weapons having rubbed off on her at some point during their journey together. If Nemo was supposed to be some kind of twisted double of Link, he was certainly opposite the Hero in his treatment of his equipment.

Midna thought she saw some kind of lettering on the blade, but as soon as her fingers touched the sword to brush away some of the grime, the blade shattered into powder, blowing away in the slight breeze. She tossed the hilt away in disgust. What sort of weapon was this?

On the other side of the chamber, near the entrance, she saw Erik and Shad talking with Link about the temple, gesturing at the ruined structure as they spoke.

Arnak came over to her and spoke in a low voice. "Are we bringing those two with us to Ordon?"

"I don't see why not," she answered. "Why do you ask?"

The big man frowned. "Well, I do not trust that Erik fellow. There is something… off about him. He unsettles me somehow." He gestured at Shad. "And the little one with glasses does not look like he even knows how to hold a sword. I would have to look after him in battle, and that is something I do not enjoy."

Midna whispered back. "Don't tell Link, but I have the same opinion of both of them. If you ask me, our Hero is a little too trusting for his own good. We'll both of us keep an eye on Erik in case he tries anything sneaky, okay?"

Arnak nodded as the other three men walked over to where they were standing.

"Ready to go?" asked Link. He had his sword in his hand already, and a determined look in his eye.

Midna spread her arms as they gathered around, and the five of them disintegrated into black squares, headed for the portal at Ordon Spring.


Arnak still didn't like being teleported. It wasn't painful, just unsettling. It didn't seem natural to be broken up and then re-formed.

But, since this sorceress Midna was going to be traveling with him, he supposed he had better get used to it. They had both agreed to keep an eye on Erik, but the person Arnak was going to be focusing his suspicion on was this Twilight Princess. It was a personal rule of his to never trust anyone with magical powers. He knew she had helped him after Nemo had spit acid on him, but in Arnak's experience, magic users were unpredictable and dangerous.

As they ran along the forest path, he smirked to himself despite the situation. By his own rule, he ought not to trust himself, since he had discovered a wide array of abilities that might be considered magical since his Triforce had appeared.

All other thoughts were driven from his mind as the flying fortress came into view.

A low, almost guttural growl started building in Arnak's throat. He felt himself start to shift, but forcibly pushed that urge down, seeking to replace it with calm. It would not do to turn into a bear now. It would provide a satisfying outlet for his rage, but it would frighten the villagers, and he did not want to do that.

They came into a small clearing with a house built out of a hollow tree on one side, and a few men were gathered there, some of them firing arrows at the fortress and the flying creatures that swarmed over the village. Arnak recognized them as members of his group and jogged over to a tall man in a blue cloak.

"Ivan, how goes the battle?" he said without preamble.

Ivan's face temporarily registered surprise at seeing his commander here, but true to form, Arnak's second-in-command recovered quickly. "Most of the buildings are destroyed except for this house, where most of the survivors are." Ivan gestured at the structure behind them, where two of the men were straining to move a tree that had been blasted out of the ground and landed in front of the door.

Arnak looked up and saw another of his men, Raskys, on the roof of the house blasting away at the fortress with bomb arrows.

"Have we lost anyone?" he asked Ivan.

The other man shook his head. "No, sir. Theomer caught some shrapnel in his leg, but he insists he's fine."

"Have Kraytos take a look at him anyway. He's still with your group, isn't he?"

"Yes, sir." Ivan gestured with his sword out at the village, his voice low. "We've only been here for about half an hour, but we've already managed to kill twenty of them."

Arnak smiled grimly. "Good." He gestured behind him at the others. "I brought some allies to help us. This is Link, the Hero, Midna, the Twilight Princess, Erik, a Sheikah warrior, and Shad, a scholar."

Ivan nodded to them. "Good to meet you."

Link simply nodded as he climbed up the nearby ladder and helped the two men break the log into smaller pieces to get it out of the way of the door.

Arnak drew Ivan aside while the rest of the group talked with his men about where they could best help. "Is Jorrek's group anywhere near here?"

"No, sir. They are in the Eldin lands. Cassius is north, searching Zora's Domain. There are some Hyrule Soldiers still alive, but most of them left with the King. I'm afraid we're on our own for the time being."

"Where did the King go?"

Ivan shrugged. "None of them would tell me."

Arnak kicked a rock. "Blasted fools!" He stopped and looked back at the entrance to the clearing, frowning. "Princess Zelda is leading a group of refugees from Castle Town here." He sighed. "This village was supposed to be a safe haven for them."

The big man looked around. "Send Eddard and Shad up the road. Maybe they can intercept Zelda's group before they walk into this catastrophe."

Ivan whistled sharply and waved one of the men trying to move the tree down to him. He relayed Arnak's instructions as the big man moved into the main village to survey it for himself.

Totally destroyed, just like every other place the bird-creatures had hit. At least now he knew what they were called; Oocca. Arnak scoffed. It was not at all a fearsome-sounding name. Disappointing, really.

Arnak heard a familiar screech. He looked up to see an Oocca swooping toward him, a bomb clutched in its claws. Drawing a throwing knife from his belt, he readied his arm and waited for the opportune moment.

When the creature was about eighty feet away from him, he threw the small dagger with practiced skill. It hit the bomb in exactly the right place, and the explosive and creature disappeared in a bright flash of light and smoke thirty feet over the big man's head.

Arnak started to turn around, ready to pull his men and the survivors out, when he noticed what he had thought was a body roll over. Staying low, -something that was difficult for someone who was almost seven feet tall- he ran over to the body to check it.

Arrows and bombs continued to fall like rain around him as his men and the remaining Hyrule archers fired at the Oocca, and the flying creatures retaliated. He was nearly hit a few times, and was attacked by an Oocca twice, though the bird-creatures were no match for him.

When he reached the survivor, Arnak saw it was a man, in his late forties or early fifties, bald, with a mustache. He was bleeding from a minor head wound, probably the one that had knocked him unconscious, but was otherwise fine. He slowly blinked his eyes and groaned.

"Wh- What's going on?" he said, holding a hand to his head.

Arnak pulled the man to his feet. "Your village is under attack, and we're leaving, now."

The man pulled away, looking around desperately. "Wait! My daughter, where is she? I'm not leaving without her!"

Arnak grabbed the man's arm and pulled him toward the edge of the village where the other defenders were gathered. "She is probably with the rest of the survivors. Now, let's go!"

A bomb hurtled down and exploded a few feet away from where the two men were standing, knocking them to the ground. The man Arnak had rescued helped the big man to his feet and they ran for safety, dodging more explosions and falling arrows

Arnak rescued a Hyrule Soldier and a woman who looked like one of the King's servants on their way back to the house his men were defending. Once they arrived, the villager Arnak had rescued charged up the ladder of the house to help move the tree. Arnak looked around to see what the others were doing.

Link had joined Raskys on the roof, and was also firing bomb arrows at the massive flying fortress.

Erik had made his way up to the treetops, and was nimbly leaping between them, slashing at any flying creatures that got too close. It was an incredible display of skill, but Arnak considered it a waste of energy.

Midna was firing bursts of magical energy from her hands at the fortress, dealing it great damage. Great swaths of the structure vanished every time one of her blasts connected with it, and Arnak was impressed with the display of her power. Combined with Raskys and Link's bomb arrows, the Oocca structure was beginning to crumble.

Finally, it appeared that whoever was in command of the flying fortress had had enough. A shrilling screech echoed out from the structure, and the surviving bird-creatures started flying back to it. The monstrous flying castle clawed its way back up into the sky, eventually vanishing among the clouds.


The Castle Town refugees followed Zelda through the passages of the waterways, emerging out of a secret entrance to the south of the city few knew of.

Zelda was disappointed to find a group of soldiers already there, running for the exit to Hyrule Field. When they noticed the refugees, they came over to them, claiming that they were searching for survivors. Almost everyone knew better, but they were glad to have what protection the soldiers could provide.

The Princess walked at the head of the column, with Telma's group spread through the crowd of civilians to keep them going in the right direction.

Zelda shivered. It was getting towards the end of the year, and the days were cooling off. It was cold in the mornings, when the sun was still low in the sky. She felt someone slip a cloak over her shoulders, and Telma smiled at her as she turned to thank the bartender.

It was large, obviously made for someone much taller than her, and it dragged a few inches on the ground. The cloak was brown, and scratchy to the touch on the outside, but the inside was soft, with a few pockets and loops sewn into the lining.

Curious, Zelda looked through the pockets of the cloak as she walked. She found two small knives and a pack of matches, but more interesting was a small framed pictograph of a smiling woman.

Thankfully, Hyrule Field was free of monsters that day, and Zelda walked with no distractions as she examined the pictograph more closely.

The woman was very beautiful, probably in her late twenties or early thirties, with long red hair and blue eyes. She had some kind of pendant around her neck, but the picture was too small to tell what it was.

When the group stopped for a rest break, Zelda opened the frame to see if there was any writing on the back of the pictograph. She wanted to know who this woman was, since she reminded Zelda somewhat of her long-dead mother. She wondered who the cloak originally belonged to, since it was unlikely it belonged to Telma.

There was only one word written on the back, but it was in a unfamiliar alphabet. Zelda thought that it was probably the woman's name, but she wasn't sure. The Princess again wondered who the cloak belonged to, and where they were from. She looked at the cloak again and thought that it might belong to Arnak, since it was certainly big enough for him. Also, he had said something about his wife, but he had only mentioned her once, and hadn't said anything about her being with him now.

Zelda was saddened as she realized that, if the woman in the picture was Arnak's wife, then she was probably not still alive. She carefully set the pictograph back in its frame and closed it, placing it back in the pocket she had found it in.

The Princess heard running footsteps, and looked up to see two men coming towards the group. One of them was dressed in warrior's garb, a sword at his side, and the other was a young, scholarly-looking man. Neither of them was familiar to her.

Telma walked over to her as the two men slowed to a stop. "Shad!" she called out, waving. "Who's your friend?"

The smaller man, who was wearing glasses, answered. He was out of breath, and there were pauses in between a few of his words. "This… is Eddard. He's with… Arnak's group."

The other man bowed. "Pleased to meet you." He wasn't out of breath at all. Since Shad was still catching his breath, Eddard continued. "We have come to warn you away from Ordon Village. It has been attacked."

There were gasps and groans from the crowd. Zelda heard several shouted questions, ranging from "What happened?" to "Where will we go now?"

Rusl pushed his way through to where Eddard was standing, his face concerned. "Were there survivors?"

The warrior nodded. "Yes. Quite a few people had taken refuge in a house just outside the main village. I didn't see any civilian casualties when I was there, but some of the King's soldiers were wounded or dead."

"Is my father safe?" Zelda asked the man.

"You are Princess Zelda?" Eddard asked.

"Yes," she answered.

The warrior shook his head. "I am sorry, but I did not see the King while I was there. His guards may have already taken him somewhere else."

Zelda sighed. Ordon was supposed to be a safe place. Where was she going to take these people now?


Erik's senses prickled, as if he was being watched. He turned to see one of Arnak's men looking at him. The man saw Erik looking back at him, and he flipped him a jaunty salute before going back to what he was doing, which was searching the bodies of the Oocca the men had slain.

The Sheikah warrior tried to remember what the man's name was. He thought Arnak had called him Raskys or Rascal or something like that. The man certainly looked rascally enough. Erik hadn't really been listening to their conversation, but his sharp ears had picked some of it up anyway.

He had started paying attention when he thought he heard Arnak tell the man to watch Erik, but be unobtrusive about it.

Erik turned as someone called his name. It was Link, the Hero. "Could you come here, please?" the green-clad warrior called.

Raskys came jogging over as well, at Arnak's signal.

Link, Midna, Arnak, and Ivan were standing next to the stable on the side of Link's house. The rest of Arnak's men were helping the villagers search through the rubble of their homes for anything salvageable.

Midna greeted him. "We need to get going if we're going to get to the Gerudo Desert before Nemo. We have to pick a hiding place to watch for him, and all that."

"Who is coming with us?" Erik asked.

"I am, for one," said Raskys. "I know my way around the western desert pretty well, and I've had some contact with a few of the tribes that live there."

Arnak turned to Ivan. "I will be staying with the Hero. Take the rest of the men and the villagers and rendezvous with Princess Zelda's group. Protect them with your lives, and obey any orders the Princess gives you." He started to turn away, but stopped. "On second thought, leave Theomer and Benjen here in case the King comes back. His party will need to know where to go."

"Yes, sir." Ivan left to relay his commander's orders.

One of the villagers walked up to their little group, accompanied by a young woman who Erik thought was probably the man's daughter. The man had a bandage on his head, but he looked like he was all right.

He extended his hand to Link, grinning broadly. "Well, you've saved us again, Link. There's no doubt in my mind that you're a true hero."

Link smiled modestly.

"I know you have to get goin' an' all, but I have somethin' to give you. Ilia?" The man waved his daughter forward.

The young woman handed Link a wrapped package. "We found this when the King's servants were cleaning out Father's Sumo room."

The man gestured at the package. "They're called Icarus Wings. Don't ask me where the name comes from, 'cause I don't know. They belonged to my father, an' I used 'em a bit in my younger days, but I completely forgot I had 'em, otherwise I would have given 'em to you sooner. They let you fly short distances, but they're real hard to control and they tend to give out on you occasionally. Be careful when you use 'em."

"Thank you," Link said, stowing the package behind his shield without opening it.

The group that was going to the desert clustered around Midna, used to the routine by now.

Just as they were preparing to go, the young woman, Ilia, ran up to Link and hugged him tightly, whispering something in his ear before kissing him on the cheek and running back to stand by her father.

Link smiled at her, and the villagers waved as the group walked out of sight.


Author's Note: Reviews are always welcome. (Chapter orginally posted 9/3/07, revised 4/2-3/08) I didn't do much to this chapter beyond fixing some places where the wording could have been better, and I expanded a few of the descriptions, also. The next chapter marks the end of my major revisions, as I'm pretty happy with the story from Chapter 9 onwards.