Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda
or Fire Emblem
The Dwarf King
The air blew shrewdly through the canyon walls that surrounded Kakariko village. The night sky silent, moonless, and starless. Guards were posted at both entrance points, their eyes looking for the slightest of movement and their ears straining for for the faintest of sounds.
Moments ago the squadron had returned with the people of Ordon and they were now secured in Kakariko. Now they were on post.
Just as they were about to switch the watch the sound of tramping hooves were heard. One sounds the alarm just as an arrow takes him down. The other falls shortly after. It is the same at the other side. Now the Hylian army is trapped. They cannot get out. The ground trembles under the hooves of the bullbo boars; and the sound of horns and drums are heard in the dark. They can't get out. Shadows move in the dark. They cannot get out. They are here!
Inigo shot up off the ground he had been sleeping on, sweat pouring down his face. He placed his head in his hands and shacked himself, trying to dispel the nightmarish images from his minds eye. Tears soon fall from his eyes as he remembers the dream.
While he cries a hand is rested on his shoulder. Inigo looks up to see Gerome standing over him; Inigo's worry reflected in his eyes.
"I know how you feel," Gerome's voice is soft...and thick with worry (both of which are rare for him). "For I saw it as well in my minds eye."
"Do you think it was real?"
"I don't know. But one thing is for certain; a shadow has been growing in and across these lands. Something happened. I can feel it."
After everyone else woke up, and they had eaten breakfast in silence, they got up and set out for the mountains.
According to Link, it will be around midday when they reach the mountains. Then they will search for the dwarfs who were said to know the location of the entrance to the realm of Lorule.
After much walking and little talking they finally arrived at the foothills of the mountains. Now began the search for the doors to the dwarf kingdom.
"Link, do you know exactly where we are going?" questioned Inigo.
"Or at the very least know what we are looking for," adds Gerome.
"To answer both your questions we are currently looking for the entrance to the dwarf kingdom which lies under the mountains. As for the actual door; that is going to be the hard part.
"Dwarf doors are not made to be seen when shut. Be it by magic or craftsmanship, they are invisible when closed, and often there is a secret to opening them."
"So we are to survey for a slate of stone that is noted by a cryptic cloak-and-dagger of one type or another, that when unveiled will allow us to access the doors?" inquired Owain.
"Yes...sure... Whatever you said."
And so they searched high and low, looking for anything out of the ordinary in terms of the mountain rock. After searching for hours-stopping only for a drink of water-Owain dashed over to a wall of granite stone and exclaimed with a loud voice "Eureka! Eureka!" With a rather amused grin he then pointed to a mark carved into the stone.
The mark looked like an x with vertical lines on the sides attaching the corners up and down.
"This is it. I am sure of it."
"How can you tell Owain?" asked Inigo.
"I have been taking some leaves out of Laurent's books. Many of which are written in some ancient text or another. Because of this I had to leaarn how to translate the texts, which involved learning the meaning of runes.
"This mark here is the rune dagaz. Its equivalent in common is D, as in door. Rather simple if you ask me."
The others just shared one of those 'he's right' looks. It was then that Gerome noticed something carved a few feet above where the mark was in the shape of an arch. If he squinted really hard enough, he could just make out letters.
"There is something written above. I can't read it."
"And I don't blame you for not being able to," said Link. It is the same sentence written in all the ancient tongues of old."
"What does it say?"
"Not much; just 'The doors of the Silver mines. Say the word-my-friend, and enter.'"
"What do you suppose that means?" asks Owain.
"It's 'rather simple if you ask me.'" Gerome mimicked Owain from earlier. "If you are a friend you speak the password and the doors will open."
"That's right," Link stated. "However we must take into consideration what language the word is in."
"Dwarfish?" suggests Inigo.
"I don't think so. The dwarf language is a well kept and treasured secret that they share with no one. From what I've heard it's said to have changed little over the years, whereas our languages have changed a great deal. The chances of them using one of their own words is very unlikely due to how they keep it to themselves."
"Ancient Hylian?"
"Possibly... Yes... It just might be," Link mutters as he furrows his brow in deep thought. These doors are old. Possibly thousands of years old. Ties between the dwarfs and the hylians have not been great or good for the last few hundred years; but back then the two were close as friends.
"Those were simpler and happier times. Before suspicion and superstition caused one to grow weary of their friends and allies.
"Yes it must be in ancient hylian. Now we have to simply need to guess the word.
Link fell silent. They were all silent now. Link paced back and forth as he tried to think of the word-muttering a few under his breath. The others decided to pass the time by conversing among themselves.
Pointing towards Link Gerome asks, "Do you think he knows what he is doing?"
They turn to look at Link who was now sitting on a rock with his chin on his fist, obviously in deep thought. "Who knows," mumbles Inigo. "Who knows."
"Something bad is going to happen soon," mutters Owain; his words send a chill down the others' spins.
That's basically how it went for the next half hour. They talked back and forth while Link sat thinking on the rock; but never did their conversation turn towards their dreams from last night even once.
Then they saw Link jump up from where he was sitting; laughing and muttering "Simple so simple" to himself. He then walked briskly towards the door where he placed his left hand upon the rune dagaz and shouted, "Amica"
The rune flashes a pale blue light, then there is a loud crack as if the mountain was splitting in two. Then the outline of a door appeared as they opened with a loud deep boom.
The others stare wide eyed at the opened doors. "How?" mutters a stupefied Owain.
"I found the word. It was simple-too simple. You see, the writing on the door is a riddle: 'Say the word-my-friend and enter.' It's actually supposed to say: 'Say the word friend and enter.' So I did just that. I said the word friend and the doors opened for us.
"Amica?" questions Inigo.
"Yes, amica. It means friend. I know it's not the most original idea around, but if it is not broke, why fix it.
"Well what are we waiting for; lets enter the mines."
And so our heroes entered the mines that would take them to the dwarf kingdom. as soon as they all crossed the threshold, the doors closed behind them, leaving them in darkness.
"I told you something bad was going to happen."
"Oh, shut up Owain." mutters Inigo.
The darkness had not lasted long. Within seconds they found themselves surrounded by a group of twelve dwarfs, each one bearing a flaming torch and a battle axe, with a shield strung across their backs. They took their weapons and then formed a tight circle around them. In this formathion they were led deep into the realm of the dwarfs.
It was silent the entire walk, for the dwarfs said nothing and the others said nothing either. After what felt like hours of walking they started to hear a tink clink, clink clang sound coming from up ahead. The sound echoed off the walls, building in momentum.
"What's that noise?" asked Gerome.
Link turned towards him with a knowing smile and said, It's not called the silver mines for nothing." That said they were led into a huge cavern, and their breaths were taken away.
The entire walls were lined with dwarfs. There had to be hundreds, maybe even thousands of dwarfs, and they were all mining away with either a hammer or a pick at the rocks. Or rather the veins of silver in the rocks.
They were led through to the other side and into a long hall that led to the forges and from there they climbed a stair to another hall that was lined with torches. They followed it to the very end which ended with two doors of oak.
They were led through into what was obviously the throne room. On the far side there were two banners depicting a hammer on an anvil, and in between the two was a throne of marble stone, and sitting on it was the dwarf king.
Dwarfs being dwarfs are not that tall to begin with, so a dwarf sitting down is not saying much height wise. His beard was long and grey, tucked into his belt. His arms and legs were thick with muscle, and on his balding head was a stone helm with a single diamond set in it. Upon seeing his guards enter with the men, he raised his eyes to meet their gazes.
"What have you brought me here?" he inquired. His voice was low and boomed like thunder.
"Three men and an elf, sire." The dwarf spat upon saying elf.
The king narrowed his eyes at Link. "What are you doing here in these halls!?"
"On behalf of my queen, I and my friends-who are not from these lands-have come to ask if you'll tell us where we can find the entrance to the shadow realm."
"No dice."
"Please your majesty; it's an emergency. The fate of Hyrule depends on it. I know there has been strife between our people, but the two are a symbiotic circle. What happens to one will in time affect the other, this you must see."
"Tell me, why should I help? What do I owe Hyrule?" He then stood up from his throne and they saw that he was tall for a dwarf, standing at 5' 0". His face was grim, and anger shone in his eyes. "300 years ago, the goblin armies attacked our kingdom; what help came from Hyrule? None. We went before your king, starving, homeless, and helpless; and what did he do? He turned his back on the suffering of my people! Left us to die in the wilderness. We were forced to fight for our lives, and our home by ourselves. We managed to reclaim our homeland, but at the cost of thousands of lives.! So tell me, What do I owe Hyrule?"
"You're right," Link said. You owe us nothing. But at the moment we are threatened by a common enemy. So tell me, will you fight with us? Will you take this chance to strike a blow against the goblins?"
The king gazed down. His brows were knit together in deep thought. After much moments of silence he looked up at Link grimly and said, "I hate Hyrule. I would rather see it burn; but I hate goblins more, and would rather see them burn first."
He then turned to his guards and ordered, "Take them down to the jeweled caves." He then turned to Link. "You will find the entrance to the shadow realms at the far end. The entrance is marked by the rune fehu."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet."
After being led out of the mines by the dwarfs, they then were taken down a path to what was obviously the jeweled caves. The dwarfs then left them and returned to their realm. The four then headed into the caves and walked through them until they came to the far end where they were told the entrance to the shadow realm would be.
They then proceeded to search for the rune fehu, and sure enough, they found it. The rune looked like an F, except the usual horizontal lines were on an upward angle, making it look a bit like a tree branch.
A bit lost as to what to do, they decided to try the word amica again. However, it didn't work.
After much thinking on his part, Link step towards the door, placing his left hand upon it-as he did before-and shouted a different word. "Vinr!" he said, and the doors opened; this time to a portal of swirling colours. Not exactly knowing what to do, they gathered their courage and stepped into the portal.
When they opened their eyes, they were in a world of darkness, where the sun never shines. As they gazed over the land of ever lasting night, their thoughts turned towards those who were depending on them to succeed with their mission. They wondered how they were doing, and if they were safe.
Footnotes:
Dagaz- dagaz was a rune used by the Vikings. It meant new beginnings, transformations, and/or new day.
Amica- Latin for friend. It's not an original idea. Won't pretend it is. I'm cheap. Disclaimer: Idea not originally mine first used by J. R. R. Tolkien. You know what I reference to.
Fehu- another Viking rune. Was the rune of Freyr, ruler of Alfheim home of the elves. Since he was the ruler of Alfheim, I figured it would make most sense to use his rune to mark the entrance to a portal that leads to a realm that is home to elves.
Vinr- Old Norse for friend.
Updates for chapter ten done. Please review and stay tuned for chapter 11. Hopefully it will not take as long.