XXI.

Sheik woke him before dawn, as the world started heating up again. The unmarked, bare sky warned that the day would be boiling. They buried the remains of their fire in the sand, salvaging what wood they could and shoving it back in their packs. Sheik forced Link to finish off the third canteen but he refused to drink into the fourth.

"You're dehydrated," Sheik warned him. "You need to drink."

"I'm not dehydrated enough to impair me," Link insisted.

"Not yet. The Sea might change that." As they re-equipped and checked their packs, Link finally asked him what it was.

"I could explain it," Sheik offered, "but I don't believe words will do it justice. You'll understand when you see it."

So they moved on, trotting back into the rolling dunes and scorching morning sunlight. Link found the rhythm of movement much quicker after a day of practice. He discovered more ways to distribute his weight between ball and heel, keeping more surface tension on the fine sand so he didn't sink quite so far with every step. But even though his issue with desert travel had been somewhat alleviated, the heat intensified even more and his throat became so dry and irritated Link was in constant coughing fits.

Sheik nearly force fed him water when he almost collapsed from the force of his coughs. He drank at the liquid greedily, hating the amount he took in but knowing he was straying too far into dehydration to refuse it.

And still, Sheik needed no water.

Link made him take a few drinks, but Sheik was showing no signs of dehydration after days of not a drop before those sips. It was good news for the water supply. It was bad news for Sheik's humanity.

It was midday when things started to go south for Link. The brutal scorch of the day was heating his body up faster than the water could cool him down and it caused his eyes to blur and his head to ache miserably. His pace faltered here and there as – almost like a trance he fell in and out of – he spiraled into heat stroke.

Sheik made him stop for rest after the fourth time he fell to a knee. There would be no shade with the sun at its zenith, but Link needed to stop moving.

"It's time to rest," Sheik assured him when Link muttered a tired apology from his dizzy sprawl on the sand. "We shouldn't be travelling midday. We'll reach the Sea soon and we need all of our strength."

Link just nodded and licked his dry, cracked lips. The hot air pressed in around him as he pulled his head scarf completely over his face to try and hide from the unforgiving sun. Sheik mentioned something about him drinking more but Link couldn't have moved without help so he just ignored the suggestion. His head throbbed and his throat burned. Only two days in the desert and Link was already in misery.

And then he must've fallen asleep; he blinked and opened his eyes to white fabric and a lessened headache. With much effort, Link pushed himself up off the sand and nudged the headscarf back down, squinting in the blinding afternoon light.

He was alone.

Panic gripped him instantaneously. Despite his fatigue, Link leapt to his feet and whirled around looking for any sign of Sheik. His eyes fell on their packs, sitting close by and half covered in sand.

He'd been asleep for too long. Sheik had been gone for too long.

Where would he go? Why would he leave? Was he coming back? Was he okay? What if some beast took him? Stress dug deeply into his gut and he wanted to be sick. With heavy legs, he climbed up the nearest dune and stared out at the horizon.

And saw nothing. Waves of heat feigned bodies of water, obscuring any sign of the Sheikah.

Even with Sheik's more resilient body, the desert was a deadly place to be alone in. He left his pack. He left Link. It reminded him of the Nether, having to travel on without his companion and being left to nothing but his deteriorating mind.

You're being ridiculous.

Speak of the devil.

Link pushed the voice away and tried to calm himself. Sheik must be scouting ahead. He was prone to doing that, especially during the war. Normally he would always clear it with Link first. Sheik obviously thought he would return before Link woke…but the amount of sand on the packs indicated a longer travel than was intended. The desert was in constant flux, the landscape forever moving, but only after an hour would it cover the packs like that. Or at least that's what Sheik had told him at some point during their journey when he was half-listening through his struggle.

Telling time in the desert was essential, Sheik had said.

So where had he gone that had taken this long? Was he attacked while scouting? Was he lying somewhere, bleeding out like he did in the Nether?

You won't do any good panicking like this.

"Shut up," he grunted, voice hoarse and cracked. He pulled his pack out of the sand and yanked out a canteen, chugging half of its contents. Link needed to clear his mind of the dehydration. He needed to focus.

Link climbed back up the dune, peering back to the western horizon again and trying to find any figure in the bright gold and blue. The colors met at in a blurry line no matter how he squinted. Frustration filled him. What was he supposed to do?

Wait. Stop panicking.

Although the voice spoke reason, Link pushed it away angrily. This had to stop. He couldn't be talking to himself in one of the most dangerous places in Hyrule – if they were even in Hyrule anymore – when he was still worryingly dehydrated. Link had to get a hold of himself. He had resigned himself to keeping his head on straight out in the wilderness and he-

"You're up," came a voice from behind him.

Link spun around in a flurry of sand to find Sheik looking, for once, tired as he slid down a dune next to their packs. And never had Link wanted to punch someone as much as he didin that moment. He was an idiot for panicking. And Sheik was an idiot for just leaving without word. Link fixed Sheik with a glare and shook his hands furiously in the air.

"Don't do that!" he cried. But despite the anger, relief flooded him and he almost wanted to laugh.

Sheik gave an apologetic frown. "I'm sorry, Link. I didn't intend to be gone so long. You needed rest, so I didn't wake you."

"Next time, at least leave a note," Link snapped, sliding back down his own dune and pulling his gear back on to hide how panicked he had really been. Sheik didn't need to know how unraveled he had become in a matter of minutes.

Goddesses, he really needed to get his issues in order.

"I only intended to be a few minutes. The Sea is only a league away but I sensed something to the east so I went to investigate. And…I found beasts I don't think either of us will be too happy to see," Sheik told him gravely. Link glanced up and saw a dark look he didn't like. Sheik almost looked shaken.

"What were they?" Link asked, feeling dread fill him up. He already knew, but he had to hear Sheik say it.

"Vog."

Link couldn't help but close his eyes and grip the strap of his sword so tightly his knuckles cracked. Not Vog. Not those. Anything else. What were beasts of the Nether doing loose?

"It appears the Nether has been torn again. Presumably by us," Sheik decided, sounding just as angry and shocked as Link felt. "I saw around seven of them leagues to the east behind us. It seems my eyesight is also improved – and for the better. I'm confident we can reach the Sea before they catch us."

"Why are they following us?"

"Perhaps they're still looking for retribution?" Sheik suggested with a shrug. "Or perhaps they just wandered out this way from the tear and happened to catch our scent. Either way, there's a chance the Sea of Din will provide an escape for us."

Link's stomach twisted into even a tighter knot. He couldn't face the Vog again. And not with Sheik. He almost lost his composure over Sheik's scouting adventure; how would he react being exposed to his nightmares once more?

"The situation is different. Remember that, Link," Sheik said quietly, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. The touch brought him back to reality like he had been lost in white noise. Those red eyes, while tired and just as worried, were soft. They were the same eyes that talked him down countless times after the war. And here it was happening again. It was always happening.

By all rights, he was practically a 13-year-old but he still couldn't accept that he always needed this.

"Let's move," was all Link could say, stepping out of Sheik's touch and shouldering his pack. He pretended to not see the troubled look this caused and started up the next dune. Link didn't want to be so dismissive but it was the only way he could keep it together for what lay ahead.

So they trekked on. The heat was sweltering, but the half a canteen Link drank was doing good work – at least he was sweating again. His stride didn't falter and they kept an impressive pace considering it was the hottest part of the day.

Slowly, as the hours crawled by, the terrain began to shift. Soft peaked dunes turned to short slopes and here and there, cracked mud appeared in patches. Link, now able to navigate without watching the sand, kept his gaze on the horizon behind them and waited for any sign of Vog through the buzz of heat.

But there was nothing to see and he didn't know whether to be relieved or wary.

The sun was now blaring directly into their faces from its five o'clock position in the sky. They were forced to keep their heads down and take quick glances up at a squint. It was yet another thing to jeopardize their journey across the Sea of Din. Would they really cross it before sun down, whatever it was? It was hard to see anything ahead of them in the brightness. He raised this question to Sheik.

"The Sea is five leagues across. It is…a crater of sorts. The Vog may follow us in, but I believe we'll cross it before the sun sets," Sheik replied. "Or at least I hope…"

A crater? A crater from what? Link wanted to probe further but a piercing howl split the boiling air and they both froze like statues. It was not even a league away and Link's blood ran cold with the terrible familiarity it brought. He would probably be on his death bed and still recall the sound.

They drew their swords in tandem and dropped lower as they moved on, adrenaline negating the sun's glare and leaving their eyes wide open. It wasn't necessarily the kind of howl that indicated excited pursuit but they weren't going to risk complacency. They made it up one last dune and then Link understood why the Sea would be the hardest part of the journey.

Stretched before them, black and gaping, was clearly an enormous crater.

It spread from every direction to nearly the horizon, the sand scorched black and hard as its grade dropped downward towards the deep center before them. And from where they halted Link noticed the sand around the crater looked strange – almost like liquid. Hard black stepping stones were placed through the motionless sand to the lip of the crater, allowing passage into the Sea.

"Thousands of years ago a huge meteor landed here in the desert, leaving this crater as evidence of a great wrath. It has been said that Din herself threw the rock down to teach the disobedient people of the desert to listen to her word," Sheik explained quietly. "Since the event, the sands around it have never settled and have become quicksand for miles. The crater has always been the only way through without adding days to a journey."

Link's gut twisted once more. They would climb down into the crater and make themselves even more vulnerable, trapped in its hold until they reached the other side. Something about the black sand and old, misshapen landscape within the crater made Link feel deeply unsettled.

"If all goes well, we will reach the other side by nightfall," Sheik told him resolutely. "We'll make quick work of the Vog should we encounter them. I doubt they were made for the deserts so we may have an advantage."

Link tried to hang onto that optimism because Sheik could really be right. The Vog were born in the forests of the Nether; they would be at possibly the same disadvantage Link had been.

They reached the smooth black stones, their circumference no bigger than a dinner plate. Link stepped gingerly onto each surface, pausing for one panicked moment when the rock seemed to sink slightly with his weight.

"My ancestors placed these rocks here with powerful spells," Sheik said quietly, moving from stone to stone with obvious familiarity. "I crossed the Sea so many times in my youth and throughout the years they have remained."

It should've been reassuring but nothing could truly quell Link's anxiety as they arrived at the edge of the black crater and started down the steep slope. The way was rocky and jagged, some parts soft and weak while others were as hard as diamond and sharp as his sword. The black was like midnight, like obsidian, a darkness that seemed anything but natural. Even despite the ages Sheik spoke of, there was burnt smell that lingered about as they finally reached the bottom. The wall behind them swelled up to half the height of Hyrule castle, the isolation now a reality that did nothing to calm Link's mind.

Within the depth of the crater, the sun was now completely eclipsed and left them in cool shadow, relieving their hard day of heat stroke. Link tried to find the advantages of the Sea, despite the eerie feeling it gave him; it would make travel easier without the bright glare and the mushy terrain. Walking on firm ground finally allowed him to feel secure in his movements once more. Even if the Vog were to follow them in, Link would be quicker on his feet now than in the loose sand.

"Keep a sharp eye," Sheik warned quietly as they began their trek. Sheik spun his sword in his hand, a movement he adopted when anxious as he cast his eyes around them warily. "Dangerous things have taken residence in this crater."

Link just nodded, gripping his sword in his own show of anticipation, and followed the Sheikah closely. The landscape of the crater was haphazard; boulders ranging from the size of houses to the size of his fist littered the glittering black ground and dramatic rises and drops kept them treading as carefully as prey. There was an unsettling quiet that surrounded them and a sharp worry sat in the pit of Link's stomach. Everything about the crater seemed to insist they get out. The foreboding sensation was almost an actual push against his skin, urging him to leave.

"What an awful place," Link muttered, grimacing at the strange crunch his steps made in the scorched, ruined sand.

"The feeling never goes away," Sheik said with a nod. "It's like a sickness. I've always hated this place."

"Then why willingly go through it?"

"Kalyh and I…we were practically bullies to each other. We egged the other one on constantly," Sheik replied, a fondness entering his voice despite the dark feeling pressing in around them. "We gave each other courage through taunts and teasing. We both hated the Sea, but if one of us stayed behind the other would never let us live it down."

Link couldn't help but smirk a bit at this. It reminded him of he and Sheik's own relationship, back before everything became so difficult and complicated. They were constantly nipping at each other in spars or meetings. Any trips they made were punctuated by insistent teasing…it was comfort for Link. He could imagine, living in a dwindling tribe with a grim future, it was a comfort for Kalyh and Sheik as well.

"Did you love her?"

Link hadn't meant to ask it, honestly. In fact, Link had only just thought about asking it. But it came unbidden from his mouth and while he was marginally embarrassed he had let it escape, he also didn't regret it. Because he really wanted to know.

Link didn't know which answer would scare him more; yes would be proof that Sheik loved another but would no be the possibility that he never could?

The surprise was clear on Sheik's face as he glanced back with furrowed blonde brows. Link wished he could read that expression – he was fairly sure he had just stepped over some invisible line. But he wouldn't take it back and he wouldn't apologize.

He needed to know.

There was a very pregnant pause that followed the question, as there always was with Sheik. But it ended quicker than Link expected, as though he was beginning to crack Sheik open more and more easily every time.

"Yes, I did."

And the answer gave him a strange feeling. Or maybe it was the Sea of Din. Or maybe it was both. Part of him, deep down, was strangely jealous – he hardly recognized the emotion considering he rarely felt it. But mostly, he felt sad. Deeply, deeply sad for Sheik's loss.

"How old was she when she was killed?" Link dared to ask.

"Fourteen. As was I," Sheik answered in a flat voice. Link grimaced.

They were almost of marrying age. And Sheik had said before they would've married had the war not happened. Link didn't know how to feel about it. Because he wished so badly the war hadn't happened, not just so he could've lived his life fully, but so Sheik could've had a future with his people. But then Link was also grateful the war had happened in some ways because he never would've had the friendship they now shared.

"I wonder if I had been sent back….would this future still exist? Or would time have been reset for us all and you would have had your future with Kalyh?" Link wondered as they skirted around another hulking boulder.

Sheik halted, turning and shaking his head with a glare. "Don't even think like that, Link. Future, past…it doesn't matter. This is where we are. If you had gone back maybe we all could've started over, yes. But time isn't a straight line and Zelda gave you a choice. I will always respect that choice."

"But if I had gone back then maybe this wouldn't be happening," Link argued, beginning to feel frustrated. Because he hadn't really thought about his choice since revealing his reason behind it in the Nether.

"If not this, then something else," Sheik pressed, shaking his head again. "I believe your fate would've been tangled with the prophecy of Termina no matter what you chose. The texts have always spoke of the Hero of Time…disappearing into another land."

Link knew what his companion was talking about – he'd read the texts, too. They were always too vague and cryptic to take at face value but he had to believe what Sheik was saying. Since learning of Termina, the idea had always drawn him in. Would he be caught in the current of fate and prophecy, disappearing into that land?

"At least you would've had your future," Link amended tiredly. "Regardless of impending war, you would've had a chance and you would've had your people."

"The Sheikah are cursed, Link," Sheik said, voice icy despite the heat of the desert. "I have never had a future. I accepted that long ago."

And with that, he turned away and led them on. Link didn't dare ask what he meant; they didn't need to start an argument in such a dangerous place. He couldn't guess at what Sheik was referring to and why it made him think he had no future, but the Sheikah was clearly done opening up.

Zelda gave you a choice. I will always respect that choice.

Emotions warred in his head as he tried to add up all the confusing things Sheik had been saying since the Nether.

I meant to tell…

I don't want to leave you.

I'm glad you stayed with me.

When you told me…when you said you stayed…

You were my…

Link grit his teeth hard, working angrily to push the memories back out. He never wanted to think about that cave again. He never wanted to feel that helpless. He focused on Sheik's back, watching his sword's sheath sway against his shoulder blades and Link focused on the rhythm until he felt calm again.

The terrain slowly sloped lower and lower as they approached the center of the crater. The day still offered another good three hours of light and, if they continued at their unhindered pace, it was likely they would reach the surface before nightfall.

In the distance below them Link began to see what appeared to be a statue. It wasn't very big but he recognized it as the likeness of one of the Goddesses; presumably Din. And there was an altar below her, bowls and dried desert flowers and crystals scattered around it. The sight was so eerie with the vast expanse of black and distant walls in the backdrop behind her heavily eroded form.

"People still make pilgrimages to this place," Sheik explained, now shoulder to shoulder with Link as they approached the weathered statue. "My adopted mother first took me here when I was seven, before I began my training."

"Would you like to stop for a moment?" Link asked quietly, seeing the wistful look on the other's eyes and feeling his chest twinge at the sadness.

They paused in front of the altar, crystals glowing dully in the fading sunlight and bowls singing lightly in the desert wind that had managed to find its way into the crater. Sheik's eyes fixed intently on the completely eroded face of Din, the Goddesses he was taught to worship as his own. Link couldn't imagine what it felt like to look up at the deity he had lost faith in but was raised to trust. The Kokiri didn't put too much of their focus into Farore, but instead in the spirits of the forest.

Sheik shook his head. "We must move on."

And so they did.

They travelled in silence once again, swords still drawn in case of attack. But it appeared there was nothing in the Sea with them. More than anything, it worried Link that there was no sign of Vog or other. Even Sheik looked concerned.

"There's usually at least a Lizalfos in here," Sheik commented as they closed in on the other side of the Sea. "This is…too easy."

"Do you think the Vog being so close would scare off anything in here? They don't exactly smell natural to this world."

"Perhaps," Sheik considered, though he didn't sound entirely convinced.

And then, as it always seemed to be, everything happened very quickly. Three dark shapes closed in from three different directions and had Sheik not shouted out Behind you! Link wouldn't have blocked the blow to his skull.

Flickering in and out of sight were the large yellow eyes of a Poe. Before Link could register the one before him, another one zipped forward, catching his arm and throwing him sideways into an adjacent boulder.

Link's head rang, but he hurried back to his feet as one of the Poe charged him, cackling and barely visible in the daylight. Dehydration weighed down his mind as he barely blocked the third swipe and spun around to slash the Moon Blade through its torso. But it did just that: went right through its torso as it faded just in time to miss the fatal blow.

He'd forgotten how much he hated fighting Poe.

Sheik was parrying with the third one and also trying to taunt the second one swooping in on Link into attacking him instead, but there was nothing for it. As the first wobbled back and giggled, the second tumbled towards him with its lantern. With a frustrated grunt, Link side-stepped the maneuver and struck it down a mere instant before it faded once more. As it shuddered and wailed, an opening was left for the other one to swing its lantern into his temple with a shrieking laugh.

Link collided once more with the same boulder, head ringing sharply and warm liquid quickly trickling down his neck. The blow was potentially serious; the world tilted back and forth as his vision shifted in and out. But despite it, anger flooded his brain – stupid desert, stupid dehydration, stupid Poe. The Hero of Time, knocked round by a Poe. He looked up to find the same one racing towards him, its laughter so shrill it did nothing but incense him further.

Link thrust his sword up through its body before the strike could hit its mark and ripped it back out with a tired grunt. The thing shivered and dissolved before him, leaving nothing but its little blue soul to hover amongst the midnight sand. He wanted to stomp on it for good measure but he was too dizzy.

"Link, are you alright?"

Sheik backed away from the remains of his own Poe and pulled Link upright by his waist.

"Took you that long to take out one?" Link taunted, finding some of his bearings and sheathing his sword. The landscape was still spinning a little as he felt Sheik's hand pressing against his head. Sharp pain bloomed across his scalp and down his face, making him wince.

"I need to sleep soon. It's slowing me down," Sheik admitted, eyes worriedly assessing the wound. "This is pretty deep, Link. You need potion."

"Wrap it up for now," he insisted. "The potion will sedate me too much. We need to get out of this damn crater."

Sheik didn't look happy about it but he pulled off Link's headscarf and rewrapped it tightly to try and staunch the bleeding. Link closed his eyes and held onto the boulder as he focused on the soft touches of Sheik's fingers…

"Finish off the canteen and we'll go," Sheik ordered, voice breaking Link abruptly from his wanderings. His eyes snapped open and his head felt tight, but he took the canteen and finished it off in four gulps.

After a quick sweep of the area, the three little Poe souls flickering together in the aftermath of disturbed sand, they left for the edge of the Sea. Link's balance was still skewed from the blow and he was confident it had left a concussion. Sheik stayed close, correcting his stride anytime it faltered – and it faltered a lot. Link's vision would sway and spin every few minutes, his body periodically careening to the side to his frustration.

"I swear to Din if you tell anyone the Hero of Time was knocked out by a Poe…" Link grumbled as Sheik was resigned to maintaining a grip on Link's upper arm to keep him on course.

"Must you really suck the joy out of everything?" Sheik teased back. But Link could sense the undercurrent of concern in his voice as the Sheikah's head stayed on a swivel through the darkening landscape. The sky was turning a velvety apricot now and, if all went well, they'd be out of the Sea in a matter of minutes. But still something felt horribly desperate as Link struggled to keep himself upright and moving.

"I really hate this place," Link complained as he nearly ate it over a jagged rock sticking up through dark sand.

"It's better than the Nether," Sheik countered, practically dragging Link up the slope of the crater now. Rocks tumbled from beneath their feet and Link couldn't help but cringe at how much unnecessary noise he felt like they were making. Or maybe it was just him with a concussion.

"Don't belittle my complaints, Sheik," he sighed, his vision starting to blur further and the wound at his temple throbbing horribly. "I think my head is…"

He felt even more disoriented as Sheik looped an arm around his waist and practically half-carried him up the steepest part of the slope. But Link couldn't even see properly anymore – fine details blurred and all he could perceive was the orange sun as it rose over the dunes, one disjointed step at a time. The wind was straight and hot and dry and Link's mouth felt like a miniature desert.

"Come on, Link," Sheik insisted, an edge to his voice that should've panicked Link. "You're fine. We're almost out."

"It's just…a concussion," Link insisted, legs giving out and Sheik pulling him back up in a motion that made him nauseous. "Stop worrying. I've had worse."

"That's not the point, Link." They finally made it up and out of the crater, ten black stones between them and safety – well, more dunes that stretched to the horizon if one could really call that safe. "You're bleeding and there are Vog following us."

He had a point, but Link was too focused on the steps. He couldn't even walk in a straight line; how was he going to balance on them? Sheik seemed to realize the same thing and gave Link a sympathetic look. "I'm going to have to carry you."

"No," Link moaned, but with hardly any conviction. Sheik was right and he hated it.

"Link, you've carried me," Sheik reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get on with it. And keep your mouth shut about it," he warned as the desert started to spin again and pain shot through his head.

"Wouldn't dream of tarnishing your prestigious reputation."

"Don't be snarky."

As Sheik lifted him, the world whirled around even more. He hung over the Sheikah's shoulder, feeling the blood rush to his head and soaking the bandage. A queasiness gripped him again and he seriously start to worry he would be sick as Sheik crossed the steps with unnatural ease of balance and strength – or maybe Link was just imagining it from his upside-down vantage point.

It was only a minute or two later that Sheik was putting Link back down, terribly dizzy and ill. The head wrap was swollen with blood and liquid running down his jaw in hurried drops. Sheik reached out to check the wound when there was a howl, so loud and piercing, they both jumped.

"Give me the potion now," Link hissed, gripping Sheik's arm tightly to stay upright and drawing his sword with the other. Horror swept through him; even with the potion, it would be a good twenty minutes until he was well enough to really fight. The numbing effect of the mixture would also inhibit his reflexes and dull his senses. He was going to have to rely far too much on Sheik. But he knew in another few minutes he'd be unconscious and ultimately a burden. They would have to make due.

Sheik fished the potion out of his pack and shoved the bottle in into Link's waiting hands. He drew his own sword and pulled Link down into a crouch he could barely keep balanced. The potion burned his throat as the howls continued, echoing up to them from the crater. They hovered at the edge of the quick sands, readying themselves for imminent attack.

"Did you bring a bow?" Link asked, panting from the rush of warm moving through his body. He could feel it buzzing through his throat and stomach and numbing the throb from up his spine to his skull. "We're in a pretty advantageous position."

Sheik nodded, digging around in the pack once more. Link tried to focus his gaze into the crater and despite his dizziness, he spotted them. A pang of terror rang in his stomach at the sight of them again. Their matted fur, their rotting flesh..he didn't know if he could really already smell them or if it was his mind torturing him. They were covering ground fast. But did they know about the quicksand? The Vog made it in somehow. If they could just defend the stones, it would be a short confrontation.

"Think you can see straight enough to not waste arrows?" Sheik asked, handing him an worn, oak bow.

"No idea."

Sheik just sighed. "Just try not to fall over, Hero of Time."

Link would've elbowed him in the ribs but the Vog were scaling the slope and nearing the sands. Their hot, stinking breaths filled the air with a miasma of rot as, to Link's grim delight, the two at the front charged headlong into the quicksand.

With pitiful yelps, they struggled violently through the unforgiving sand, dragged down into suffocation. Three others nearly succumbed to the grab but were tugged out by their comrades. Huffing and growling, five Vog stood before them, empty eyes gaping in the dusk.

"Very clever, little things," the middle one snarled. "But we make fire."

Of course they did. And Link hadn't thought that far. But Sheik had, apparently, and didn't care. In a flash of movement, he nocked back two arrows and shot them into the foreheads of two separate Vog. They roared in a duet of pain and toppled backwards, into the crater. The other three let loose a tirade of fireballs, staining the sand angry red.

"Get down!" Sheik roared, drawing his sword and swinging violently at each fireball, volleying them back to the Vog. One of them hit the middle Vog, sending it back into the crater with a high whine.

Feeling particularly useless and standing despite Sheik's order, Link managed to shoot three arrows in three different places at one of the remaining Vog, leaping dizzily out of the way when a fireball exploded right where he had previously been. Fire still shot out at him, catching one of his sleeves. He patted it out in irritation, struggling to his feet as Sheik shot down the last Vog.

Fire still lingered on the sand as quiet filled the air. Not a sound came from the crater and Link listened intently, struggling for the smallest whine or faintest growl. The Vog couldn't be that easy to kill, could they? Not in his experience…

Sheik retired his sword and hurried over to Link, who was trying not to sway where he stood. A hand gripped his elbow and bright red eyes studied him. "I need you to do something. Because I can't."

Link gave him a confused look, his surroundings a little too surreal for him. He suddenly got the strangest feeling he was dreaming. "Um, sure. What?"

"I need you to cast a spell to sink these stones," Sheik explained, pulling Link back over to the quicksand, now illuminated more by the remaining fire than the half-sunken sun. "I know you're weak…but I just can't."

Link nodded. Of course. Sheik was still too wary to use his magic. It wasn't worth the risk, especially with the real danger of the Vog waiting to follow them below in the crater. He had no idea how badly the spell would drain his Mana – how hard could a sinking spell be? – but he also had to contend with the powerful spells that had been holding them in place for years.

"What is it?"

Sheik spoke three words to him, obviously in Sheikah, repeating them a few times for good measure. "It's the same as a pushing spell but this is the only thing that will work on the stones. It will push them down far enough to deter the Vog from following us."

"It's not going to kill me, is it?" Link asked blearily.

"No," Sheik promised. "I may have to carry you again, though."

Link groaned. Focusing was hard when fighting against the annoying buzzy numb of the potion. He managed to concentrate on the surface of the smooth black stones, though. Using the same movements as the pushing spell he'd used to save Sheik so long ago, he mimicked the strange words, hoping he wasn't butchering them.

And, apparently, he wasn't. Power leeched from him in an overwhelming intensity, magic coming out in a stream from his fingers like he had never seen before. It was golden and surged like smooth electricity from his hands, pushing the black stones down into the liquid sand. He had never felt something so profound or so terrifying, as though someone was using his body. It felt volatile and foreign – he never imagined Sheikah magic being so demanding. Sheik mostly used Hylian spells around him, never something so chaotic.

And then, as his vision started to fray around the edges and the stones were completely submerged, Sheik reached forward and closed Link's outstretched hands with warm fingers. The connection was severed and Link felt completely empty in a way he never had before.

And that was the last thing he saw; long fingers, worn wraps, sharp knuckles. Then nothing.

I don't know how I pooped this out so fast but I did. If I may be so vain, the travel through the desert is my favorite part of this story so I think these next few chapters will be coming out pretty fast.

Thank you to all who review every chapter, especially to those of you who give me like 6+ paragraphs of a review. I literally grin the entire time I read that shit. You guys are too much. And thank you to all of those who don't like to leave reviews but still read – you guys are just as great.

Sincosma on Tumblr – come boop me pls.