Chapter 10: The Great Library
Flee. Run. Escape. You must run! A voice cried out. Dark swirls warped and created shape, showing a vague image of a castle. But that was not what kept the audience enraptured. It was the odd tinge of purple and grey, deforming the shades and hues and giving a grim effect.
But that was not what made it grim. The physical appearance was far better than the feelings, vibes that rolled off it.
What has happened? Our World is being tainted, poison creeps through the very blood of nature, venom lurking within the Streams of Time. What has happened to this World, what has happened to its civilians?
A sudden and brief black flash sparked, swallowing the image of the castle, and replacing it with the previous dark swirls. The dark swirls and thoughts.
It was being replaced with angry thoughts, mad thoughts, and crazy thoughts.
It was the thoughts of civilians.
Alex doesn't think I can beat him in sword skill, eh? Well I'll show his pompous face that nobody lives after gloating. I'll show him that nobody lives after being stabbed in their sleep. Let's see him beat me there, but he can't beat me, and I'll make sure he never will.
An emotion cracked upon the mind of the visitor to these new and disturbing images. He held his hands to his head and tried to block it out.
I shall be the best. Cassandra might have the best garden, but I'll remedy that. I shall grow my garden the best, and pull ruins among hers. I will win. And the thing I love about this deal is this: I will win, she will not. Let's see that upstart idiot cry.
He gripped his head, shaking it side to side and murmured, "No, make it stop, don't speak like that, please..."
My child is dead! I bet it was that vile, nasty witch from that Potion shop that drugged him! I feel it in my bones! She will pay for the life of my child, with blood! My daughter's life will not have left un-avenged! That old hag must be burnt at the stake! That old hag must DIE!!!
He clutched as tight as possible into a ball, small trickles of tears appearing. What by the Goddesses was going on?
Our World has been tainted, and our greatest ally and worst foe is the only one who can aid us. But the madness is encroaching on our lands, and we must run.
We must flee...
...we must escape...
Malik bolted up awake, his chest heaving heavily from the assault and sweat drenching his clothes. What by the Goddesses was that?
*
Malik was a bit silent and brooding after the dream. He, along with Link and Reza, were riding horses at a slow gait, the gates of Castletown as their destination. Malik felt like visiting the Temple to see the priests if they could help him interpret the weird dream he had. It seemed to be focussed around the emotion of madness, he believed. They could help him.
Navi was bobbing to a tune that only she knew, singing softly to the winds as she danced around Link's head. Link was stroking Epona's neck, staring at the horizon in deep thought. Reza was just being grouchy at something for no apparent reason.
Now that Malik thought about it, Link never told him – he doubted Link told Reza either – about how he attained his fairy, aside from staying with the Kokiri and those interesting spells and items. He was sure it would be a very interesting tale to hear. After all, the hookshot that Link seemed to carry around at his waist was once rumoured to be the fabled treasure of Dampe the grave keeper.
He was cut out of his musings with Reza's shriek.
"What by Din's Fire are you doing?"
Looking over at Link, it seemed that he had given up on staring at the horizon. Now, he was doing the very risky act of firing an arrow into the sky at an angle forwards, and catching it when it falls down. It bore great risks of stabbing his arm, and also of falling straight into Epona's back. Link had already done two successful tosses and catches, gripping it in between his index and middle finger just after the tip when it fell.
"I'm entertaining myself." Link responded, firing the same arrow back in the sky again. But before he could catch it again, Malik tossed a knife to cut the thing in two and deflect most of its momentum. Link caught on the meaning and seemed mildly disappointed, but soon resumed staring at the horizon again.
Riding closer to Reza, Malik whispered, "Is it just me or does Link seemed to be slightly odd today?" Reza nodded lightly, but motioned for them to take this discussion sometime later.
They had already covered two days worth of travelling, and by what Link and Navi said, only would have needed at the very most another two days.
*
Reza had to grudgingly admit something about Link: he was a great strategist. If the game was chess, checkers, go, or anything remotely relying on your own logic and employing tactics, Link would most likely have won. They were presently hiding under a jutting rock against the sun's rays, and Malik was panicking at how many pieces he was losing in the game of go. Link was calmly waiting for him to make his move.
They weren't really worried about attacks right now. In broad daylight, Stalchids wouldn't dare rise from their graves to disturb passer-bys, and she highly doubted that those Dark Copies (Link made that name up, considering that Navi didn't know what they were either) would be stupid enough to attack while sunlight isn't filtered. After all, if what Link said was true, that they were pretty much condensed shadow with a mind, sunlight should have been very painful to their skin.
How wrong she was.
Navi, who had been hovering above, to monitor the landscapes while the three were engrossed in their little board game, gave a small cry of surprise, alerting Link and the others of something, possibly threatening, coming. Folding away the go board and tossing the stones into a small pouch, Link scrambled over the rock to see what was going on.
Over in the distance, coming from the direction of the Kokiri Forest, was a group – no, a battalion – of Dark Copies, armed with adequate weaponry and armour. Link had just wondered why they looked so tall and were moving so fast.
Malik was the first to figure it out. "By Nayru, those things are mounted!"
Navi looked troubled at that, and flew closer to the approaching Copies, before zooming back and confirming what Malik had said.
Reza frowned. "Well, it looks like we found out why those Dark Copies in Lon-Lon ranch wanted horses."
Link was quick to action. He whipped out his bow, knocked in an arrow and charging it slightly with mana, whispered a soft word of 'light' before releasing it. The shot was a marvellous one, but it did not achieve what the four of them had hoped for – the Dark Knight and the two accompanying him that the purifying arrow had been targeting at raised their arms, and with a small amount of effort dispelled the magic on the arrow and calmly blocked the normal arrow with his shield.
Link motioned for them to come over. "I think that the best way to tackle these guys is on horseback and up close." Reza nodded in agreement, but Malik looked slightly worried.
"I can't fight on horseback, I only use knives!" Malik said, but Reza waved that excuse off.
"Your masks should deal sufficient damage, providing those things aren't immune to that too." Malik paused for a second, before nodding hesitantly.
Mounting their horses, the group charged forward.
Covering half the distance, they encountered a few problems.
Those Dark Knights, and possibly those Dark Horses were giving off a feeling of fear, and while Link, Reza and Malik were strong enough to ignore it, Reza's and Malik's horses weren't. Epona, who had once, ran through thick and thin, wasn't too affected by it, but those two mounts were trying to turn back in fear.
That was the first problem, but it was easily countered. All Malik had to do was keep up a mask of calmness to ward away the interfering emotions, but he told them that it would tax his powers the longer he had to hold it up.
The second problem was what Navi had noticed. "Hey! Those things are armed with spears, so I don't know how you're going to get close, and they're wearing a veil that is protecting them from the sunlight! Whatever your plan is, I hope you complete it fast!" It was very unsettling that from the Dark Knight's horse's steady gait charged into a full out stampede of thirty mounts of death.
Link was knocking another arrow into his bow and firing like crazy, hoping to catch them off guard without giving them time to diffuse the magic. Some times that plan worked, and he pulled down the closest two among the thirty Dark Knights without too much problems, but other times it was harder as they advanced slower this time to maintain their formations so that surrounding Knights could help block the magic attack.
Reza had no idea why Link was maintaining his fruitless attack, but while it was keeping them distracted, she charged in, Malik nearby to keep her horse calm while throwing a few knives to keep the nearby Knights occupied. She growled in annoyance – at some point, she would have to remind her superiors in the Fortress to start teaching how to fight on horseback – with her scimitars, she could only swipe at the Knights on her sides, having to ride round by guiding the horse with her heels, a task she was stumbling with, and swinging with one sword to strike the opponents, as using her standard two would take much of her control away from her and would require her to share out the strength of each blow. Also considering that it would have been hard to do that while on a horse, using two swords wasn't practical.
They were closing in on her, while she kept on hacking away, a furious expression on her face, when Malik came to her rescue.
Charging closer while they were distracted, he flipped his mask and let loose a strong wave of sympathy, trying to deter those surrounding Knights to hold off. It worked better than that, knocking the closer Dark Knights off their horses and sending the rest tumbling backwards. Reza did not waste this opportunity, running her mare over the downed Dark Knights and leaving some painful hoof prints on them.
A few metres to their left, Link had given up on firing Light arrows and was slashing wildly with his Gilded Sword. He scowled as he had to raise his sword to block an incoming spear, but was smiling throughout.
'These Dark Knights', Link thought, a faint smile could be traced on his lips, 'are either very confident in their protection against Light or very stupid.' Link remembered in the Ikana Castle, when he fought Igos de Ikana and his two guards; they were very weak to light. It was only those curtains that protected them.
As the Dark Knights slowly encircled him, a light smile appeared on his face. 'Fools' a hollow laugh escaped his lips at the thought.
"Din's Fire!" Link yelled out, imbuing a small amount of magic into his clothes, equipment, Navi and Epona to protect them from the blazing fire. The Dark Knights weren't granted that protection, and the mystical inferno scorched at them.
But that was not what vanquished them from the world. As Navi had noted, they were protected by the sun's light by a veil, and the fire had left what was left of that protection as a cinder.
Earlier on, when the Great Fairy had granted him access to the gem of Din's Fire, he had spent two days contemplating on how to work it. At first it had a radius as long as his spinning sword attacks, with the only bonus of setting things on fire and taking them by surprise. Otherwise, he had concluded that it was a waste of energy, being heavily taxing as he could only cast four of them before sweating from exhaustion.
Now, through using the fire as a weapon (and a shield, he remembered in the Water Temple, to vaporise those water tentacles), the spell could cover six of him with his arms outstretched in each direction. With a fifteen metre diameter, it was amazing how he had obliterated half of the Dark Knights.
Five of the remaining sixteen Dark Knights chose him as the greater threat, and they went off to corner him. Link decided that their numbers wasn't big enough to waste another chunk of his magic on, so met them head on.
Reza was enjoying the tactic that she and Malik mutually agreed with. Malik would send out a wave of compassion, knocking a few of the Dark Knights back down onto the ground where she'll stampede (with Malik following behind) over them, taking a few swipes at the still mounted but stunned Knights, actually managing to destroy a few.
She was startled with the cry of 'Din's Fire' and so were the Dark Knights, and turning around she was greeted to the view of Link surrounded by a radius of toasted ground and the faint wisp trails that was evidence of Dark Copies dying at that spot.
Five of the group that she once was pounding endlessly on turned away to take on Link. Reza almost laughed at that.
'They dare turn their backs to a Gerudo,' she thought with grim amusement, 'fools.'
She didn't get to charge at them when Malik completed the job for her. The moment they turned around, he pulled out seven throwing knives and with deadly accuracy, aimed at their necks. It didn't exactly hit their necks, but it certainly damaged that veil they wore.
Link, who was still charging, took a while to notice that his quarries were not there anymore. Epona, however, did notice, and was using this to her full advantage. While the eleven remaining Dark Knights were being stunned, hesitant and apprehensive, she charged into the lot and bulldozed one into the ground, hooves flailing as she snuffed the animation out of that one.
Link would have used Din's Fire again, but Malik and Reza were too close to be in range, and too far for him to offer the protection against the fire. Once he had gathered his wits, he was hacking mercilessly at the nearby Dark Knight.
That prompted the rest into action, as they were trying to jab their spears into Link. Unfortunately, they had forgotten about Reza and Malik, and that proved to be most of their undoing. Malik gave off another wave of fealty, which surprisingly did not unhorse any of them, but stunned them. Reza had started swiping at their necks, seeing that the veil was the thing protecting them against the sun.
The Dark Knights were forced to turn around to engage this threat again, when Link hacked at them again from behind.
This volley continued for a while, and when there was only one Dark Knight left with surprising common sense, it fled the scene.
"Well guys," Link spoke finally, once making sure the remaining Dark Knight was out of sight, "I believe we would have to travel on foot now – those horses don't look very healthy to me."
*
While Malik and Reza left those horses behind to rest and recover, Link assured them that Epona would be able to find them. To make things fair, he also walked on the ground as well, using Epona to carry the food supplies and equipment.
The present topic they were aimlessly talking about was weapons.
"You guys got impressive weaponry, but I believe that they could be improved," Link said, gesturing to his sword. "It's a shame that this blade is getting a bit short, and I'll have to replace it soon, but I believe a bit of gold dust and a good smith would be able to make your swords incredibly durable."
Reza nodded, thinking about it. "Gold dust is very rare, and I highly doubt you'll get any in Hyrule anymore – I think that the Royal Palace Guards' equipment used the very last of it. I also don't think that there is a smith alive that can forge with it anymore." She sighed in demoralization.
Malik glumly nodded. "Too true I have to say. I have to say though, there has been rumours among the peddlers were passed by of something called diamond sparks, it was said to make a sword so sharp it could cleave steel effortlessly. I'd love to get my hands into some of that."
Link smiled. "Well, if we can get any of that stuff, I know a great Goron smith that would be able to create our dream weapons, though when I say 'great Goron', I mean it figuratively and literally. He lives on a side of Death Mountain, and while the trip to reach him is perilous with all the falling rocks, it's worth it in the end."
Reza nodded as she stared at the sky. The sun was setting slowly; painting the sky with a tinge of red, and to moon was slowly cropping up from the east, with stars steadily glowing into existence. The contrast of colours was magnificent, the soothing glow of the moon reflected off clouds, and the relaxing glow of the sun travelling across the sky. With the dark bluish purple on one side of her vision, and with just a turn of her head to see the ending red glow, it suddenly became not so surprising that it was the sky that kept Link cheerful throughout his battle-weary life.
"We'll need to quicken our pace slightly, the drawbridge closes at night."
They managed to get inside in time, the soldier warning them that next time they should come in at daylight if they don't want to rouse suspicion. Link waved it off, and searched for a stable to put Epona.
"Through all my life I have never seen such a large number of Dark Copies," Navi said bewildered. "I bet I have travelled further than you have, in Hyrule at least, and not once do I know of a place where these things live."
Link responded while unhooking all the equipment off Epona. "Maybe they're like swords: they're manufactured to fight. Maybe they're from another place far from Hyrule, where light doesn't touch. There, Epona, sorry you had to carry our load around."
Epona whinnied in response. Navi looked thoughtful. "It's possible, though it would take a lot of magic to infuse Shadow into a body and make them bow to your will, and it will take a lot of time to march an army through just to get here. Neither sounds possible with all the mortal restrictions."
Link was silent for a moment, giving Epona a good scrub. After that, he shifted the hay around until it made comfortable bedding for her. "Well, maybe the creators are like you fairies, living very, very long? Have a good rest, Epona." Taking the lamp out and closing the door while Epona took her required rest.
"You spoil that girl, do you know that? But even we fairies are bound by some rules to prevent us from doing anything outrageously powerful." Navi settled under his cap again when they were out in the open again – no need for anyone to know that a fairy resides very close to them.
"I guess whoever made them is one heck of a rule breaker. Look at the way we lived, Navi, on the road and in the bush, usually with a lot of thorns – if I can offer any luxuries to you or Epona, I will." He whispered softly, a serene smile on his face as he approached the inn. A few dogs barked outside, whining when he wouldn't let them in. Navi mumbled in agreement before heading off into slumber. Heading upstairs, he decided to follow her example.
*
"Well, well, it looks like this thing can be beaten after all." A lady murmured, revolving around a boy. "Wake up, Link, you do not need to be asleep in sleep." She booted him to drive in her point.
"Ouch, I'm up." Link groaned, to be welcomed by the sight of Farore again. This time, she was sitting cross-legged on a drifting cloud, resting her head on one palm with that arm's elbow on her knee, with the other arm free to gesture.
"No actually, you're still asleep. Why do you still insist on snoozing through your sleep, anyway? But back to the point: I suggest that you guys stay in Castletown, if you can stay in the Palace for a while. The healing would do you good. Go donate in the Temple of Time if you can, the priests that reside there live off nothing but their faith; I dare say that they deserve more."
Link rolled over, and tried to conjure a cloud of him to sit on too. Figuring it as something only a Goddess could do, he just went to his question. "What do you mean by healing?"
Farore paused in deep thought. "Well, since it looks like it will be cured in no time, I might as well tell you anyway. You know when what you called a Dark Saria hit you with the energy blade?" Link nodded, peering down to see the cut. It was almost gone. "Well, that thing contained a bit of very dark essence, which was slowly infecting you like a virus. Being near Princess Zelda, the only person nearby that is mostly light instead of dark, is slowly removing this infection."
Link blinked. "So... what would have happened if it finished infecting me?"
Farore shrugged. "You'll become a mad, pessimistic bloke that follows the words of whoever created those Dark Copies, as you call it. That's an interesting name you came up with to give them, really, where'd you get the idea."
Link chose to forget the second part. "Speaking of which, who created those Dark Copies?"
Farore sighed and closed her eyes, her expression showing that she was concentrating hard. She eased out of that expression, and gave her all knowing reply: "I don't know."
Link stared. "You're a Goddess for crying out loud! How can you not know?"
Farore nodded. "Yes, I'm a Goddess, but remember, I did not create everything, and my sisters and I aren't the only divine beings in existence. There are more, far more, and there may be a dark deity of some sort that creates that stuff. Nayru, Din and I are pretty much oriented around Light, so in balance there should be some that are oriented around Shadow." Link had to agree with that. Balance was fundamental, and if it was to exist down in the world, it should exist up there wherever divine beings live.
"So, how come you can't cure me then, if you're a Light person?" Farore sighed.
"There are rules that even we have to follow. Rule number one: unless of great importance or of high crisis, you are not allowed to intervene."
"Then what do you call now?"
"I am not intervening, as I am not here. That too is why I can't heal you, even if you can see me."
"Then what do you call the time when you went down to act as a storyteller?"
Farore paused. "I call that rule ignoring."
Link sighed, and was about to ask another question when Farore interrupted. "Well, it looks like it's waking time for you now – don't forget about looking into the library, alright? It's amazing how a moment here is a hour in your world." Before Link could respond to that either, she booted him out in her customary fashion.
Seeing him wink out of this plane, she mused for a while. "I'm grateful that only his clothing accompanies him. It would be a shame to change my routine of kicking him just because he's wearing steel. Heh, he's certainly one heck of a kid." Smiling lightly, she hopped out of that plane afterwards.
*
When Link had roused Reza and Malik from their sleep (receiving a flick at his nose from Reza – apparently she likes her sleep), they strolled towards the castle gates.
Malik and Reza were astounded by the sights that greeted them. As Reza lived in a desert, people tended to keep a small distance away from each other to prevent from absorbing unneeded heat, and didn't talk much unless were in doors where it was cooler. Here was a bustling town, fully packed with people all shouting, laughing, talking or bargaining at full volume. Malik was also surprised by the numbers, but since Kakariko village was a sleepy town, quiet in most cases, the noise was certainly bombarding.
It was quite the juxtaposition of the palace grounds, where the guards were sparse and spread far apart, and rarely did they talk to each other.
"Halt! Who are you three, and why do you approach?" The gate guard questioned, to which Link answered.
"We are not of great importance, but please tell Princess Zelda that Link is here and requesting use of the palace's facilities."
The guard raised an eyebrow, but sent a runner to deliver the message. In the mean time, "So, anyone for a game of cards?"
It took quite a while, but when the runner returned seven minutes later, he was surprised to see that the guard was had left his spear at his post, took off his helmet and was sitting cross-legged while he played a game of blackjack against the other three.
The runner cleared his throat to gain their attention. "The Princess Zelda grants them permission to enter the palace grounds."
The guard looked slightly disappointed as he wiped his brown hair away from his face. "Ah well, what a shame. This probably was the most fun I had in my eight months worth of duty. If you pop by, I guess I could show you around a bit." Getting up, he donned his helmet again and took hold of his spear.
"Well, we'll be sure to see you at some point. We'll see you later, Tylos!" Malik said to his new found friend, Tylos gave them a brief salute before they walked in.
*
Zelda was in the middle of a geography lesson where the teacher was lecturing on and on about suggested course of action if Hyrule's population was shrinking or expanding too fast, ways to maintain farmland without requiring the need of destroying too much wild forestation. Zelda was taking notes half-heartedly and doodling at the edges of her manuscript.
In short, she was bored.
It came as a great relief when Impa had arrived, saying that Link wished to come into the palace. Zelda gave her reply almost instantaneously; finally, she can do something aside from sit on a chair and take notes for a while! While she did know that they were trying to mould her to the best leading figure, storing the required information in case the land was having difficulties, did they have to make it so boring?
Now she was waiting at the beginning of the grand halls that led through the palace. The last time she saw Link was about a year ago. Impa was waiting beside her, arms crossed in her usual fashion, standing poised.
Impa flicked a glance at Zelda. "Stop fidgeting, princess. Link is not going to bite you."
Zelda nodded, a faint blush adorning her face. "Well, yes, but I never saw Link for a long time, and I wonder if he's still angry with me."
Impa gave off a short laugh. "Oh princess, you worry too much. If he's still the same Link as we remember, he doesn't hold grudges for long. You can see it for yourself, for here he comes."
As the doors creaked open, layers of ornate gold and hidden steel slowing the time it took, Zelda awaited the dramatic entrance Link might try just for the fun of it.
"Ow! You hit my face!"
Zelda blinked. Looking at the scene, a boy with blue hair was clutching his face, a girl with red long hair looking apologetic, and Link laughing at the scene.
"Well, Link ducked my backhand! How was I supposed to know that you were in the way?" The red haired girl said, to which Link gave off another laugh at. Seeing that Zelda was around, he tried to contain his mirth and elbowed Malik and Reza to get their attention.
"Um, welcome to Hyrule castle." She said, a tinge of confusion adorning her speech and face. Impa simply looked amused.
*
"So, you came to ask if you can use the palace library." Zelda stated, trying to place the facts back into the right spot. Link nodded. "You won't tell me what you are searching for; because it's a secret you want to keep." Link nodded. "You say it is of utmost importance that you find the information." Link paused for a moment, and then nodded.
She sighed. "Oh well, Impa will be able to lead you to the library. Anyone you would like to bring with you?"
Link thought for a moment. "I'll bring Malik along. You and Reza can catch up on girl-talk or whatever females do in their spare time." Zelda looked somewhat surprised, and Reza looked insulted. Before Reza could do any bodily harm to either Link or Malik, Impa dragged both of them along.
"Well, at least you made friends along the way. I was worried that you would be roaming the grounds alone." Impa started. Link nodded silently, admiring the architecture. Malik was hopping from one side of the halls to the other, staring through the windows and taking a good look at the raised pictures of the royal family and some majestic paintings of some anonymous people and places.
"I think that when I decide to settle down a bit, I'll become a smith." Link said, gazing at a rack of halberds they just passed by.
Impa gave a snort. "Well, you'll have to grow a bit chunkier, but I believe you can do it." Considering the fact that he had probably used a sword and shield more than anyone else, he should know the exact measurements to make the perfect weapon, should he decide to be a sword-smith. "Well, here's the library. I'll be back in four hours, which should be enough time to find what you're looking for."
Giving a short bow, she departed, leaving both of them in a room with dozens of rows full of books. Link took a long look at the agonising numbers of books. "I'll start on the left, you search on the right."
*
Reza found Zelda to be a boring person to be with. She seemed to enjoy the wonders of gardening, reading and all those stuff that princesses did in their free time. Reza, being from a battle trained society, found those wonders really plain. She understood the values of gardening and reading, but didn't hold those values as high as everything else.
They were sitting down in one of the halls (Reza swore there were more than just six), reading in companionable silence. Reza found it annoying that there were no such things as fiction books, tales from mouth to ear then to paper. It was with great relief that Impa came back, with Link and Malik trailing behind.
"So, did you find anything?" she asked.
"Well, what we were searching for didn't seem to be in the usual sections of history, geography, science, mythology or craftsmanship, so we had to search in the mystical section."
Zelda raised an eyebrow. "You can read ancient Hylian text? I'm impressed."
Link smiled slightly at that. "There, we learnt two, no, three things." Impa gestured for them to continue.
"Well," Malik said, sticking out his fingers to count off, "the first thing we found was that you have a lot of books." Impa stared for a moment. "The second thing was that those books are very old." Zelda paused. "The third thing was that we can't read a word from any of those books." Reza laughed.
"I take back what I said about being impressed." Zelda deadpanned. Link gave an apologetic smile, shrugging.
"I might as well go with you this time, I can read ancient Hylian." Zelda shook her head, muttering about incompetence under her breath.
Impa could only think 'this is going to be a very long day.'
A/N: Ha! I finished! Sorry if the time it took was far too long for your liking. I'm testing to see if ff.net shows word formatting if I use HTML format. Well, hopefully the next one won't be such a drag, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter at least.