Chapter 25:
The Boss Chamber consisted of a plain octagonal room with a hole in the center of the room. Across the hole was a large ball with dark shadow energy crackling next to it, traveling from the ball along two membrane-like structures that extended to the floor and the ceiling. Standing next to the Shadow Barrier was a figure that strongly resembled a Hyrulean Knight only he wore dark armor that had spikes on the shoulders and helmet. The spikes were long and looked to be more for ornamentation than for utility. The Knight was armed with a sword, which was in a sheath at his hip, and had a shield on his back, but in his left hand was a ball of dark swirling magic. Link grimaced as he drew his sword and Mirror Shield. The Knight merely grinned, though his helmet concealed his grin from the hero and drew his sword, a tough, thick broadsword that looked like it had seen a great deal of combat.
"So we finally meet face to face," the Dark Sage of Shadow scoffed, stepping forward. He studied Link, gazing at his sword and shield. "I expected one who was said to be such a great hero to be more imposing," the Sage shrugged, not impressed at the stature of the hero before him.
Link gave no response as he looked past the Dark Sage and the barrier, expecting to see Bongo Bongo, or at least evidence of the shadow beast, behind them. However, there was no sign of the shadow beast. The Dark Sage shrugged again. "Expecting to see Bongo Bongo?" the Dark Sage asked, as if reading Link's mind. "Don't worry, he's not here. It's just me for the moment."
Link said nothing as he held his sword out in front of him "What, nothing to say? No witty comment? The child hero was far more talkative, as is my lord, Link. Don't worry, though. I'll cure you of your muteness. You'll be singing like a professional once I'm through with you, probably soprano, too," the Dark Sage added with a chuckle.
As the Dark Sage was speaking, Link heard Midna's voice echo through his mind, "What are you waiting for? Take down that barrier now."
Link considered doing just as Midna suggested, but something in the back of his mind stopped him as he considered sheathing his sword and bringing his bow out in order to shoot the barrier. He gazed at the Dark Sage some more and saw the Dark Sage's sword become as black as midnight. He quickly realized that the Dark Sage would not give him an opportunity to take down the Shadow Barrier unless he was defeated first. The Dark Sage then shifted his position and proceeded to charge towards the hero, initiating the fight.
The Dark Sage held his sword high as he charged towards the hero, ready to bring his sword down upon the hero's head. Link raised the Master Sword to intercept the blade, not wanting to risk damage to the Mirror Shield. He caught the sword and a loud clang rang out over the room. The moment the Dark Sage's sword made contact with Master Sword, the dark energy field over the blade promptly vanished and it looked to be a normal sword once more. The Dark Sage almost recoiled at the sight.
"What the…? What happened with my sword?"
Link gave no answer as he quickly retaliated with a slash of his own, catching the Dark Sage off guard. The blade struck the armor of the Dark Sage, a shadowy energy field flickering into existence and stopping the sword for a brief instant before collapsing and allow the sword to pass through. Brief second allowed the Dark Sage to dive out of the way so that his armor only took a glancing hit, but that glancing hit still managed to dent the armor and had Link's momentum not been slowed by the shield, the blade may have been able to bite into the armor and actually injure the Dark Sage.
Seeing that Link's weaponry was far more deadly to his own items and defenses than previously believed, he backed off and decided that he would try using magic to defeat the hero. He began the fight by proceeding to extend his own shadow in order to try to use it to strangle the hero. His shadow extended from his body and reached out to try to grab the hero. Seeing the shadow reach out and knowing that it making contact with him would be a very bad thing, he dove out of the way of the shadow. That was when the insidious nature of the attack was revealed, for while Link had managed to dodge the attack, himself, it had still managed to attach itself to his own shadow.
The dark shadow of the Dark Sage's attack began to cover Link's own shadow and grabbed his leg, making the half Hylian's leg feel as if it were now made of solid steel that was stuck in tar. Try as he might, he could not release his leg. Looking down, he could see the shadow traveling up his leg and trying to reach his chest. He quickly realized that he had to do something now or the shadow would cover him entirely and either crush him, strangle him, or do any number of increasingly horrifying things to his body. Seeing that he had little choice, he took out a Deku Nut and threw it as hard as he could at the shadow. The nut detonated and the blinding flash of light overwhelmed the shadow for an instant, causing it to stop rising over his body but it was not enough to dispel it and it only retreated for that brief instant before continuing to make its way up his body, currently covering his lower abdomen. That was when Link realized that he needed a new strategy.
Remembering that the Master Sword was the Blade of Evil's Bane and that it could not only repel evil magic but outright destroy it, he knew that the only way to cause the shadow to retreat and allow him to escape would be to have the Master Sword touch his own body where the shadow was traveling. Readying the sword, he then brought the flat of his blade across his lower abdomen right where the shadow was beginning to make its way up to his chest. Upon having the blade touch his body, the shadow instantly disappeared and he could feel himself returning to normal. Looking across the room at the Dark Sage, the body language of the Sage indicated that he was less than pleased at the recent turn of events.
"Well…that was unexpected," he noted. "No one has ever managed to outright destroy the shadow tendrils that I have sent against them, especially once they have made contact with that person, not even the previous Sage of Shadow. And that Sage was one of the most powerful of the Sages that fought in the war."
The Dark Sage studied Link further and his eyes were soon drawn to the Master Sword. His body language indicated a sigh. "So, the rumors are true. You are armed with the Master Sword." The Dark Sage then readied his own sword once more and continued, "You may wield the Blade of Evil's Bane, but make no mistake, it will take more than a sword to defeat me, even one forged by the Sages and blessed by the Goddesses."
Link smiled inwardly. The Dark Sage was not familiar with the true power of the Master Sword. Perhaps that could be used to his advantage. As for the Dark Sage, he quickly proceeded to launch some more conventional magical attacks on the Hero of Twilight. The first one was a series of magical balls made of Shadow Magic. They were balls made of black and purple energy that looked to be dripping darkness on the ground which formed their own shadows, something Link was quick to catch sight of. He raised his Mirror Shield to intercept the shadow balls and reflect them back at the Dark Sage. Each ball of Shadow Magic struck his shield, the contact emitting a clang similar to metal striking metal, and was sent back to its source. The Dark Sage held out his sword to catch the balls of Shadow Magic, the first ball that made contact covering the tip of his sword with the magic. He then positioned his sword to catch the other balls of magic coming his way. With each ball that made contact with his sword, more of the sword was encased in Shadow Magic. After each ball had been caught, his entire sword was covered in Shadow Magic once more. Link focused on the Dark Sage, knowing that he would not simply go charging into a swordfight with the hero knowing that the Master Sword could dispel his Shadow Magic.
The Dark Sage engaged in his new plan of attack by stabbing his sword into the floor. The shadow that covered his sword immediately stretched towards Link, prompting the hero to take evasive action far earlier than he had before. This time, he was clear of the shadow before it was even close to his own. That was when the Dark Sage revealed the true nature of his new attack. The shadow's edge then maneuvered in its attempt to follow Link. Seeing this, the hero quickly reversed his grip on the Master Sword and rushed the shadow, stabbing it as it got close to him. The shadow seemingly spasmed and cracks of light formed along the shadow before it shattered and disappeared, the shadow being dispelled. Still, Link was not satisfied and he felt as there was something more to the Dark Sage's attack.
Suddenly, he heard Midna's voice scream in his head, "Duck now!"
He obeyed and quickly ducked his head and moved to his right. It was fortunate that he did, for a shadowy sword passed over his head, missing him by inches. He was keeping his sense open and had not heard the attacker approach. Turning around, he saw that his attacker looked to be none other than the Dark Sage, only he was able to see four other Dark Sages of Shadow in the room, three of them having emerged from the dark shadows that had dripped from the shadow balls. He grimaced as he realized that he had no idea which one was the real one. While he did have the option of transforming into his Wolf form and using its heightened senses to identify the true enemy, he knew that doing so would limit his fighting ability, albeit also giving him a new option in Midna's paralyzing field, which would likely be able to paralyze the 'Dark Sages'. Still, he decided that it would be best for him to fight more conventionally until the Dark Sage revealed his full repertoire of techniques.
As such, he began his offensive by slashing at the 'Dark Sage' figure in front of him. As he slashed at him, the figure raised its shield to intercept Link's attack. His sword struck the shield and instantly sliced through the shield as if it were merely made out of wood, the shield dispersing in a blaze of unnatural blue fire. The shadow retreated a bit, his left arm dripping shadow energy as if it was having difficulty maintaining its integrity. This one was clearly a false Dark Sage. That was when the other 'Dark Sages' decided to get in on the action. Two of the 'Dark Sages' stood back while two others charged in towards he hero. The two that stood back unleashed a barrage of black lightning bolts Link's way while the other two raised their swords high and attempted to cleave him into many pieces while the two ranged attackers would sacrifice themselves by forcing Link to use his Mirror Shield to protect him from their attacks, leaving him open to attack by the other two, as well as from the wounded false Dark Sage. Link did as they suspected he would, raising his Mirror Shield to intercept the lightning bolts, but he then did something that they did not expect. He retreated from the others in order to put some distance between him and the two oncoming 'Dark Sages'.
This caught them off guard, the 'Dark Sages' suspecting that Link would not flee from them. As such, when he caught their black lightning and reflected it back at the two 'Dark Sages', they had to scramble to increase their own defenses in order to survive their own reflected attack. It would not matter, though, for they could not increase their own defenses enough to survive their own onslaught. The lightning struck them and began to arc over their bodies. The moment the lightning arced over their bodies, they instantly dispersed, revealing themselves to be false Dark Sages, as Link had suspected they were. That left only the two 'Dark Sages' with the swords and the wounded false Dark Sage, who looked like he, or it, could lose its integrity at any moment.
Link, not wanting to have to engage in a swordfight if he could avoid it with these 'Dark Sages', decided to use his bow and arrow to try to disperse them or reveal which one was the real Dark Sage of Shadow. As he drew his bow out, he strapped his Mirror Shield to his back and exposed his back while notching the arrow to his bowstring. The 'Dark Sages' had raised their hands in order to fire a either a dark lightning blast at him or some other magical attack his way, but when he showed them his protected back, they decided on a different course of action. Instead, they called shadows to themselves in order to increase their own defenses. Once Link was ready, he turned and fired an arrow right at them. He targeted the wounded false Dark Sage first so as to get it out of the fight, suspecting that the other two were already forming plans of their own, and fired. His arrow scored a direct hit on the false Dark Sage's chest and the damage inflicted was sufficient to disperse the false Dark Shadow Sage.
He quickly drew out another arrow and targeted one of the other 'Dark Shadow Sages' and fired just as they fired a bright yellow ball of magic his way. The arrow streaked through the air and scored a direct hit on the chest of the nearest 'Dark Shadow Sage'. The arrow bit into the 'Sage' but failed to penetrate the shadow deeply enough to inflict much damage. Still, it caused the false Dark Sage to stagger backwards, black magic 'sludge' leaking from the wound. Link then targeted the other 'Dark Sage' as he drew another arrow and fired on that 'Sage', too. As with the other one, this one only stuck a couple inches into the body, the physical force being enough to push the 'Dark Sage' backwards but not strong enough to inflict a fatal wound on this now revealed to be false Dark Sage. Still, the shadowy liquid leaking from the false Dark Sage indicated that he was still wounded. That was when Link put away his bow and took out his sword and shield once more. Once he drew his weapons, he charged towards the false Dark Shadow Sages, raising his Mirror Shield so that they would not attack him using magic, and when he closed in on them, he performed a Great Spin to finish them off. The wave of energy released by the Master Sword was sufficient to destroy the false Dark Sages, dispersing them as well as any shadows that they had dripped onto the ground.
"Very good," Link heard a voice call from somewhere in the room. "You took down by Dark Shadow Clones with little effort. You most certainly do live up to your name as the most dangerous of the heroes, despite the fact that you do not have any magic that is innate to yourself. However, this is where your life comes to an end. I'm not like the other Dark Sages. Unlike them, I actually do know how to use my powers effectively. Allow me to demonstrate."
With that, Link felt a gust of wind come from behind and he quickly drew out his Hylian Shield and turned around. He felt a weight hit his shield and heard a loud clang ring out over the room, indicating that a sword had just struck his shield. The hero quickly backed away and went evasive, quickly changing into his Magic Armor, knowing that he was about to take a hit. Sure enough, he felt a weight collide with his side and heard a ringing sound as Rupees, the source of the armor's magical defenses, were expended. The loss of the Rupees was a small price to pay for surviving what would have almost certainly been a fatal blow.
"I must say I'm impressed," Link heard the voice of the Dark Shadow Sage echo throughout the room. "But I'm familiar with how magical armors work. Such armor that negates all damage and protects the wearer from all attacks has a significant cost, usually in magical power." Link then felt another strike and heard the ringing of more Rupees being expended from his wallet. "Judging by the fact that you don't have any intrinsic magic to yourself, I would guess that your armor runs on something else, maybe Rupees or some other type of gem such as Force Gems, which were not all that uncommon a century ago. Now, however, they are very rare since they were used by lord Link to power up the Four Sword in order to fight Ganon. As such, I'm guessing that your armor runs on Rupees," the Dark Sage concluded.
Link grimaced as he could feel the Dark Sage's smirk. This foe was different from the others that he had faced. He was far more dangerous than any of the other Dark Sages, the first two having either been destroyed by an enemy that Link had already defeated or was slaughtered by Midna.
"Link, transform into a wolf," he heard Midna suggest inside his mind.
"But I won't be able to reflect his magic," Link countered, thinking back to how the Dark Sage could use his shadow to try and strangle him.
"I'll help out against the Dark Sage. He uses Shadow Magic, which I can counter without too much difficulty, even in my Imp form without the aid of the Fused Shadows. It's our only chance."
Midna had a point. At the rate he was taking hits, he would run out of Rupees pretty quickly and once he did, he would be helpless, not to mention absolutely broke in the event that he needed to buy any equipment for later on in his quest. While he would be in a weaker position without having access to the Master Sword or the Mirror Shield, he would at least be able to know where the Dark Sage was and, if he got in a lucky hit, he could possibly kill the Sage or injure him to the point where he would become visible once more. In addition, his transformation would expose Midna, assuming that the Dark Sage did not already know about her but he felt as if it would be a necessary risk. And if she remained in her Imp form, then he may not have been able to connect her to the Dark Woman that had appeared earlier. As such he made his decision to transform into a wolf and hope that being able to see the Dark Sage would allow the battle to become more even. And if nothing else, Midna's paralyzing field could be used to freeze the Dark Sage and allow him to score some hits on him.
Transforming into a wolf, Midna appeared above him in her Imp form and plopped right down onto his back. Activating his senses, Link scanned his surroundings and found five Dark Sages standing in front of him.
"So, the shadow imp finally reveals itself," they both heard all five 'Dark Sages' note in unison, making it impossible to identify which one was the real one. "I always knew you were there, somewhere."
The 'Dark Sages' grinned as they stepped closer to Wolf Link and Midna. Link snarled at the 'Dark Sages' as they approached him, the wolf backing up a step as they approached and pointed their swords down at him menacingly.
"It's hopeless hero. You need to be a wolf in order to see us, but without your Master Sword or shields, you are at a distinct disadvantage in a fight."
Link had to admit that the Dark Sage was correct. His only advantage was the fact that the Dark Sage may not have known about the full combat capabilities of Midna. If he underestimated her, then he may still have had a chance. And a plan had already formed in his mind. He looked back at Midna and barked his suggestion to her. Midna nodded, knowing fully what he was planning.
The duo let the 'Dark Sages' approach. The real Dark Sage could not hide completely from them. He was visible; the only issue was finding out which Dark Sage approaching them was the real one. They would quickly find out, though, for all of the Dark Sages were now within range of Midna's paralyzing field. Now was the time to strike: and strike they did.
Midna let out a field of Twilight Magic that encompassed all of the 'Dark Sages' that were approaching her. Orange sparks of Twilight energy arced across their bodies and Link went on the offensive. With lightning speed, he slashed and bit at each Dark Sage, dispersing all of the clones with single hits, his fangs and claws being strong enough to pierce even the armor worn by the 'Sages'. Eventually, he reached the true Dark Sage of Shadow and went straight for the throat, the only place on the Sage's body that had relatively light armor. As he leapt onto the Dark Sage, who managed to catch him, and snapped at the neck. His reach was just enough to manage to bite him and inflict a minor flesh wound on him. It was not much, but it was enough for what he wanted and he quickly realized that the Dark Sage was now visible once more.
He immediately transformed back into a human and drew the Master Sword and his Hylian Shield. Once he was in his human form, he followed up with a Great Spin, unleashing a massive wave of energy that the Dark Sage was unable to defend himself against. The energy wave washed over him and destroyed his Shadow Armor, as well as piercing his normal armor and inflicting a great deal of damage to his body. Still, despite the power of the attack, as well as his earlier injury from Wolf Link's bite, he was still alive, albeit severely injured. Even with the injury, he was able to fight, which he demonstrated as he fired a blast of magic Link's way.
Link saw the blast coming, though and swept his sword at the ball, striking it and sending it back towards the Dark Sage of Shadow, who was too slow to react to the ball. The ball struck him in the chest and magical sparks of electricity arced over his body and he cried out in shock and pain. The hero then charged him and performed a Jump Attack on him, knocking him to the ground, the blade also biting into his armor and inflicting a noticeable scalp wound on the Dark Sage. Link then performed the Ending Blow on the Dark Sage of Shadow, jumping into the air and landing on top of him, thrusting his blade into the helmet of the Dark Sage, the Master Sword piercing the helmet and burrowing into the skull of the Sage. He then withdrew the blade and placed a bomb next to the Dark Sage's body to make sure that the Dark Sage was truly dead. After a few seconds, the bomb detonated and made the fate of the Dark Sage of Shadow certain.
With the Dark Sage having been killed, Link took off his Magic Armor and then turned his attention to the Shadow Barrier in front of him. As with the other barriers, the hero promptly drew out his bow and notched a Light Arrow to it, the crystal glowing a bright gold as he pulled back on the arrow. He then let fly with the arrow and the arrow streaked right into the barrier, piercing its membrane and burrowing deep into the round barrier. The energy flow from the barrier suddenly stopped and the interior ball expanded for a brief second before it exploded into a shower of golden sparks. The Shadow Barrier was destroyed and Link breathed a sigh of relief. Midna, however, did not share Link's sense of relief or accomplishment. From Link's shadow, she extended her senses and still felt a great deal of energy leaving the Shadow Temple and fueling the barrier over Hyrule Castle, something that she was quick to reveal to Link, emerging from his shadow and appearing to him in her true form.
"Link, something's wrong. I'm still sensing a great deal of power flowing out of the Shadow Temple."
"Are you sure?" Link asked.
"Positive," Midna answered, nodding. "There's no doubt in my mind. We're not finished here."
"Where is the energy coming from?"
Midna closed her eyes and extended her magical senses to try to ascertain its location. Almost instantly, she sensed a great deal of power coming from below them. She motioned to Link, pointing downward. Link nodded and quickly realized that he would need to descend into the pit below in order to reach the true source of the energy emanating from the Shadow Temple. Putting on the Pegasus Boots, he walked over the hole and allowed the boots hovering ability to keep him aloft for the second required before he fell through the hole, Midna following him and floating down to the next level.
Link descended from the Boss Chamber above to touch down softly on a strange surface that almost seemed to give as he landed on it. Midna gently floated down to him and landed softly next to him. Just then, he felt the ground shake a bit and force him into the air. Strangely, there seemed to be a note sound as the ground shook. It soon shook again and he heard another note sound. The ground's shaking soon became rhythmic and he could tell that the note that was sounding was more like the pounding of a drum. The rhythmic shaking of the ground indicated that it was, indeed, being played as a drum. He and Midna were standing on just such a drum. He then looked behind him and found a dark gray beast with two arms, no legs, one red eye, and two disembodied hands that were still under the control of the beast.
"This is the source of the magic," Midna told Link in no uncertain terms.
Turning to see the look in her eye, he could tell that she was absolutely certain about it. "We'll want to use Light Arrows to destroy this thing," she added. "If we can get a clear shot at the eye, it should fall to a single Light Arrow. If a single arrow isn't enough, the Master Sword should be able to finish it off. We'll need to stun the hands in order to get it to expose its eye."
Link nodded and he realized what he had to do. He saw the creature's hands form fists and proceed to charge towards him. He dove out of the way, barely able to do so because of the decreased traction of the Pegasus Boots. He quickly took off the boots and turned to face the hands, one of which began to beat on the drum, causing it to shake and Link to bounce up into the air. He could also hear the beast sing, or hum, in a deep inhuman voice to the beats of the drum. In response, he took out his bow and readied an arrow. Targeting the hand, he fired the arrow at it. The arrow struck true and managed to stick in the hand, but it was merely a pinprick compared to the thick calluses of Bongo Bongo's hand and barely annoyed him. He would need something more than an arrow in order to either stun the hands or freeze them.
Link quickly drew out an Ice Arrow and took aim at the hand that was forming a fist in order to ram him. Adjusting for the bouncing that resulted from bouncing, he targeted the hand, pulling back on the bowstring. As he did so, the ice crystal activated and he could feel the icy energy emanating from the Ice Arrow. Once he drew a positive bead on the hand as it approached he let fly with the arrow. The arrow scored a direct hit on the disembodied hand and ice began to form over the hand, spreading until it encased the entire hand, causing it to fall to the ground and stop moving.
The other hand promptly stopped beating the drum and proceeded to form a fist and take aim at the frozen hand. Bongo Bongo must have been trying to free his frozen hand. The beast also grunted in discomfort and seemed to shiver. Link was not about to let the beast free its frozen hand, though, and drew out another Ice Arrow. Pulling back on the bowstring, he targeted the hand, a task that was much easier now that the shadow beast was not beating the drum, and let fly with his Ice Arrow. The Ice Arrow struck true and encased the hand in ice, the hand dropping to the ground and remaining motionless, now frozen just like the other hand.
Now that Bongo Bongo's hands were frozen, it was now time to find the eye and shoot it with a Light Arrow, making certain to end its threat and stop the flow of energy from the Shadow Temple to Hyrule Castle. Link proceeded to draw a Light Arrow from his Light Quiver and notched it to his bow. Pulling back on the string and activating the arrow, the entire chamber was illuminated by the Light. As if he were in his Wolf form or had an ability to see invisible enemies, the eye and body of Bongo Bongo became visible to the hero. Not stopping to question how that was possible since the beast was charging him, he let fly with the Light Arrow. Since the beast was only a couple of meters away from him when he let fly with his arrow, he could not have missed the beast if he had tried. The Light Arrow struck the beast squarely in the eye and exploded in a blast of light upon impact with Bongo Bongo's eye. The Light from the explosion then congealed into balls of light that were drawn back into the beast as if they were being drawn into a black hole. The balls struck Bongo Bongo and exploded again, engulfing the beast in heavenly Light.
The Light inflicted obscene damage to the beast and it gave a screech of pain and horror as it fell to the ground and writhed in agony, struggling to move so it could fight against the hero. Link had no intention of letting up, though, and when he saw that the Light Arrow was not quite enough to destroy the beast, he drew the Master Sword and rushed towards the beast. Once he arrived, he repeatedly slashed at the eye. With each slash, blood was drawn and Link could tell that the beast was about to die. After a few slashes, he drew back his blade and thrust it into the eye. The moment he did that, the beast went silent and was completely still. Its body then melted into shadowy particles and disintegrated until there was nothing left at all.
As soon as the beast was dead, a blue portal appeared in the center of the drum, indicating that the fight was over and that their mission in the Shadow Temple was accomplished. Before relaxing, though, Link looked over to Midna and asked, "Is it over? Is Bongo Bongo dead and has power stopped flowing from the Shadow Temple?"
Midna nodded, smiling. "Yeah, it's finished. We've won here."
That was all Link needed to hear. He then made his way over to the warp pillar, followed by Midna. He took one last look around and, seeing nothing of worth to take, he proceeded to step into the pillar, joined by Midna only a second later. Once both of them were in the portal a crystal formed around them and lifted them into the air, a pillar of energy forming around them. Then, after spinning around for a few seconds, the crystal shot into the air and vanished from the Shadow Temple.
The crystal deposited the duo on top of the central pillar inside the Chamber of Sages inside the Light Temple. The moment the crystal deposited them onto the pillar, Link turned towards the pillar with the Shadow symbol. A pillar of light formed on that pillar and rising from the symbol was none other than Impa, who gave a knowing smile towards the hero.
"I can't say I'm all that surprised that I turned out to be the Sage of Shadow," she began. "I am a Sheikah and my ancestor was the original founder of Kakariko Village. Before you go, though, know that your next target should be the Fire Temple. It does not have any items inside, but the Gorons have been fighting off an assault by the Hyrulean Military and they are close to liberating the temple, though your help will be useful in helping them limit the number of casualties."
Impa then smiled as the pillar formed around the duo once more and lifted them out of the Temple of Light. As they disappeared from the temple, they heard the words of Impa echo, "Stay strong and courageous, noble heroes. You are Hyrule's last hope."