Chapter XI
Mid-day Sunrise
"Tomorrow we'll be passing the Desert Colossus, then it'll only be about half a days journey to get to where we need to be" Kirra explained to the weary warriors. As they set up camp Jonah kept seeing something out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked it would vanish. He quickly put it out of his mind as dinner was served and Kirra invited him over to talk.
After dinner, as they were getting ready for bed, Jonah saw a small rock tumble down the wall of the canyon. He told Link what he'd been seeing and Link volunteered to keep watch until it was time to leave. So he found a large rock to sit on.
As he sat there the hours passed and he fell into a trance caused by his sword. He could sense everything around him, from the lizards under the surface of the sand, to a weird disturbance behind him. He immediately came to his senses. Without even looking, Link swung his sword in an arc behind him, and when he heard a wince he turned. There, behind him with a bleeding cheek, stood a pale looking older man. He looked like he was in his fifties with a small scraggly beard and plain brown eyes. He was rather thin and tall.
"What's the matter with you? You trying to kill me?" the man said in a really shrill, high-pitched voice.
"That depends on you, sir." Link said forcefully. "If you don't want trouble, then you're perfectly safe here."
"The last thing I want is trouble. I just need some water. Is that too much to ask for? By the way, the name's Daniel" he said.
"Well, here you go, some fresh cold water." Link said kindly as he handed the man a flask. He drank gratefully and once he was satisfied he sat back by the fire and made himself at home.
"So why are you all the way out here in the desert? You don't look Gerudo, so why even bother coming here?" Link questioned.
"Well, I'm a professor doing research in this here desert. Just bad timing I guess, with all the storms an all." the eccentric old man explained. "I've been expelled from the Science Academy for my theory that something lies in the desert. Something evil, yearning to get free and cause a lot of trouble."
"What makes you think that?" Link asked curiously. He knew that there was something was wrong and maybe this old man's theory could help them out. Daniel quickly told them that he had set up his own research center. So Link thought it was important enough to wake the others.
As soon as Link introduced them all, they got ready to leave. It turned out that Daniel's so called research center was just a little hut towards the end of the pass. The place was cluttered with hundreds of books and maps.
"Welcome. Sit here while I gather some things." Daniel said as he went about looking for certain books. After a couple of minutes he returned with a map and a large book.
"This is the Chozoa, the ancient Gerudo's holy book." He said as he opened it slowly. He pointed to a particular page and read the ancient language. Then he translated it into Hylian.
"It reads. At the end of the second age of Hyrule a great shadow shall descend upon the land. Out of a great flat shall come the Heart of Shadows. It shall reign darkness upon the land for millennia. However in the same time a group of heroes shall arise. They shall work as one to vanquish it."
"So are we that group?" Jonah asked.
"I don't know, but it's possible. Earlier in the book it speaks of one with a white blade, who wields the power of Courage." he said.
"Well, I have the Crystal Blade, and the mark of courage on my hand.' Link said hopefully.
"Then I can be of help." Daniel said excitedly. He pointed to an area on the map. "This is where you need to go, and I know an easy way to get there."
So Link and his team followed Daniel outside to the top of the plateau. Out of his brown robe, Daniel pulled out a trumpet carved from what looked like the tusk of a dodongo. The horn made a low bellowing sound as his breath passed through its chamber. For a minute nothing happened, until in the distance three small shadows began to advance toward them. When they came closer their amazing features could be distinguished. They were like falcons with a few major differences. First of all, they had a wingspan of about fifteen feet. They also had four powerful looking legs, two rear legs like a tiger's and two front like a birds
"Behold! The gryphons!" Daniel exclaimed. "I discovered them while traveling in another land. I managed to get three to come with me. They are suitable for carrying human weight and can easily fly over three times faster than a horse. They could easily get you to your destination by tomorrow afternoon."
"What about Epona and the other horses?" Link asked concerned.
"Leave them with me. I'll be sure to take great care of them all." the old professor answered.
With a sense of urgency in his voice Jonah said. "Link, Kirra, we have to go now. If we don't, I fear that it will be too late, for everyone. The feeling has been growing steadily stronger, now it's driving me crazy." So after packing their bags onto the muscular gryphons, they prepared to depart. As Link sat on the dip in its shoulder the creature let out a loud shriek. Then it was off. Before Link could brace himself he was a hundred feet into the air. Jonah and Kirra soon joined him in the air.
"Whoa, this is great!" Kirra shouted ecstatically. The trio waved their good-byes to Daniel. Soon they were speeding through the skies on their new mounts. The speed that they were traveling made a constant wind sweep past them, so they stayed cool even through the heat of the day. By nightfall they had traveled over three times the distance that they could have on horseback. They were now only about two hours from their destination, but Link knew that they would need all their full strength for what lied ahead.
The three set up camp and after eating a quick meal, went to bed. The night was bitterly cold and restless in spite of the weariness of the group. Finally, at about midnight they finally found their way to sleep. The camp was quiet until Jonah woke up in the early morning. He was violently ill and was doubled over in pain from his stomach. Kirra and Link rushed over to his tent immediately as they heard his groaning. Link helped walk him over to the fire to warm him up. As they were walking Jonah suddenly fell to his knees and vomited his stomach out.
"Link, I'm so sick. I can't ride again." Jonah said out of breath.
"Yes you can!" Link commanded with a concerned look on his face. "You've been through much worse than this! Jonah get up now!"
"No Link… it's different. The evil is trying to take my soul. I'm being ripped apart from the seams." Jonah whispered weakly.
"Link, there is one thing that could save him, the Ring of Binding. You can use it to fuse yourselves onto one being for a while. He can use your strength as a crutch to save his own." Kirra explained.
"I'm willing to do that to save him." Link said without second thought.
"There's only one thing… You'll immediately know every detail of the other person's life, from feelings to memories and even dreams." Kirra warned.
"I'm still going to do it… that is if Jonah doesn't mind." Link said as he looked at this new best friend. Jonah gave a weak nod in agreement. Seeing this Kirra told Link how to merge. They were to touch the rings together and recite a simple incantation.
So in unison they touched their rings and recited these simple words. "Ring of Binding, let two become one. Meld our spirits for the sake of the just and let our light prevail." As they recited this, the ring began to radiate with a white light until it enveloped them both. When the blinding light receded there stood only one single being.
He was a shocking combination of both Link and Jonah. He kept most of Link's physical features including the new body that resulted from his transformation. There were only a couple of differences. Link's hair had turned dark brown like Jonah's and the red-brown eyes that Jonah had. The biggest difference was on the inside though. For the instant they combined Link was flooded with all of Jonah's thoughts, feelings, and memories. He immediately felt an overwhelming sorrow as Jonah's emotions ran through him. He could remember how Jonah's parents were ruthlessly slaughtered and how hard his life at the academy was. Then he felt the single good emotion that Jonah held; his love for Kirra. He could feel that it was the only thing Jonah had to hold onto.
Link slowly stood; his head still spinning with everything from Jonah. "I really think we should go right now." He said in a voice that was a strange combination of both warriors' own voices. "Jonah was right, if we don't do something soon, the world will fall into chaos."
"Okay, it should only take a couple of hours to reach our destination." Kirra explained. Her voice was less cheery than usual now that Jonah himself was no longer physically there. It was more like duty now, less enjoyable. She hadn't noticed it before, but Jonah was the real reason she decided to go on this quest. Now that he was not there it just wasn't the same.
So after they finished packing up the camp they put all the equipment on one of the gryphons to make their own load lighter. Then they mounted and were off. Kirra was right, about two hours later the two saw a gigantic whirlpool of sand. It was at least one mile across and was raging at speeds faster than the sandstorms in the desert. However, it was something else that caught Link's attention. He saw two figures on the far side of the whirlpool. When he could finally make out their identities his face went white with horror. It was Ganondorf and Thanagog.
"Kirra! Land immediately! We could be in big trouble!" Link shouted as he sent his gryphon into a nosedive. Kirra followed suit and they both ran to the edge of the pool. Link unsheathed his weapon feeling a renewed vigor. Ganondorf was the first to notice them.
"Boss! We've got company." He said with an evil grin. Thanagog looked up and when he did Link noticed how much he had changed. His platinum hair had grown to his waist. He had actually sprouted two huge, dark, dragon-like wings. His skin had turned an unnaturally dark color, as if he had been dropped in a vat of black dye. His horns now protruded from Thanatos' skull and were sharpened to a deadly spike.
"Ahh Link, you've changed a little from when I last devastated you." Thanagog said noticing Link's new body; from the transformation and from his combining with Jonah.
"I could say the same of you!" Link shouted back.
"You're lucky, you've made it just in time for the show of the century. You see, I have finally discovered the location of the fourth piece of the Dark Triforce, the Triforce of Domination!" Thanagog shouted in a low evil voice. "Now prepare yourself to see the destruction of the great nation of Hyrule, and soon the entire universe!" He shouted with a bout of maniacal laughter. "Soon, you shall see my true, whole power unleashed!"
Then as if hearing him, something began to ascend from the center of the enormous cyclone of sand. First a great feathered head rose, with long squinted eyes that glowed deep blue. Then the top of the wings came out; its feathers a radiant orange. Then its glorious chest revealed itself. It was like looking into the sun; the light that shone was like an unquenchable fire. Its long tail was the last thing to emerge from the sand. The tail itself was over three hundred feet long and had seven feathers, each a different color. When it had fully emerged it let out an ear splitting screech, like an eagle's. The flames that had been contained in its chest now spread over its entire body, wreathing its five hundred foot wingspan in a magnificent aura of fire.
"Behold! Tolrec has risen! And with it my key to invincibility and immortality!" Thanagog shouted at the top of his lungs. It was then that Link noticed something in the gigantic phoenix's talon. A small triangle that literally canceled out all light that passed over it. It was like a black hole; sucking all light into its never ceasing vortex.
"It's the Triforce of Domination." Link said through his mouth that had dropped open upon seeing Tolrec. He realized that Tolrec had been the symbol of the royal family, with the dark Triforce in its talon.