The Legend of Zelda

Legacy of the Sages

Chapter 11: Rivers and Royalty, part 2

Link met Darin over at the stables. As Link saddled Epona and finished the final preparations for his horse, Darin took an opportunity to mention something that was circling both of their minds right about then.

"So," he said, "about what happened at the river…"

"I'm pretty impressed myself," Link said, "I never thought I could take a Peahat down like that. After the first one, I doubted I would actually survive. However, something's really bugging me…"

"I think I can explain why," Darin said, buzzing up in front of Link, "It mostly has to do with you meeting up with that fairy back on Death Mountain. It also has to do with you and your ancestry. You managed to tap into your inner self and cause something extraordinary to happen. In shorter terms, I think your magical abilities are expanding."

"That's what I was thinking," Link said, "Though I can't get why that's happening. I only discovered how to use my powers when the great fairy showed me how, so how could I be gaining new abilities? I didn't even have a chance to visit the fairy back at the palace yet, and yet I still managed to learn something new."

"This is what I wanted to talk to you about," Darin said as he hovered by Link's face, "You see, the immortals, such as the three goddesses and all those who share a spot beneath them, don't like to interfere directly with their work. Mortals can deal with themselves well on their own, and they will only interfere when a deadly crisis occurs that must be averted. Lesser immortals, such as the Great Deku Tree, the Sages, and even the Great Fairies have rules that they follow that reflects their positions given to them by the three goddesses. One of these is to not directly interfere with mortals. The Great Fairy back at Death Mountain had merely shown you how to access your magic, a talent that you could discover accidentally on your own, but the likelyhood of that happening is well beyond normal standards. She did not give you magic, or grant you the power to access magic, or even force your body to accept magic so that you could use it on your own. She merely showed you how to do it yourself, and trusted you to do it on your own.

"The fact that you chose determination as your first power was rather surprising, though it has great results. It's an emotion that I use to access my magic quite often, though I prefere to use only that emotion instead of others, because when I put my mind to it I am always determined to get the job done. You, however, have a wider array of emotions that you can access, many of them having different results. An emotion that I think that you managed to tap into when you were attacking the Peahat, and before that, when you were about to be attacked by the Stalchildren, is Courage.

"Courage is one of the three most powerful emotions involved with magic. There are two others, though I think it would be best that I don't explain them just yet. However, their highly potent powers can help access an almost limitless source of powers and abilities. Courage mostly taps into the magic used to accomplish feats that couldn't normally be done, like being able to increase your muscle power, or to be able to reach far distances in the blink of an eye, or, in your case just now, being able to shoot bolts of light from your sword."

"So I did do that," Link said, clarifying that it wasn't just Rose that noticed what he did. He had a sudden and rather scary thought, "You don't think that all emotions can affect how we use magic, do you?"

"It's happened before," Darin said, "It's part of the reason why highly experienced magi need to keep their cool when using their powers. Although it rarely happens, it is possible that someone can cause something terrible to occur when trying to accomplish a specific task using the wrong emotion. Many accomplished wizards had died when trying to fight impossible odds and getting scared at the last syllable of a spell. I wouldn't worry about it though; it only happens if you are trying to use high level magic, and you are clearly not even at the rank of a novice yet."

Darin's words did little to comfort Link of his fear. Expert wizards were killed in the past by using the wrong emotion for a spell? What would it do to him if he did it wrong? What if he messed something up by being afraid when attempting something that requires courage? What if he couldn't control his emotions and become enraged when he was supposed to be calm?

He sighed and shook his head. He forgot an important detail; he wasn't attempting to learn full-blown magic. He was more like a swordsman using minor magic to make things easier, not a magi in training who was using a sword instead of a staff or a wand. He had nothing to worry about; not for the moment at least. Besides, once he got back to the ranch there would be no need to worry about his magical talent anyway; unless he would use it as a part of the ranch life he had no interest in working on much of his skills of battle. It was back to the ranch life for him, no buts about it.

He swiftly got Epona out of her stall, made sure that he said goodbye to all of the other horses, and led her out of the stables. He made sure that he was as quiet as possible, taking care not to make any noise that would alert everyone inside the main building that he was sneaking away. He barely managed to make it to the front gate, when he stopped cold in his tracks.

His mom was standing in front of the gate post, hands clasped together, carrying a small bundle in front of her. Link felt another lump form in his throat when he spotted her, knowing full well that he didn't want to say goodbye again. His mom smiled at Link as they both stood there for a time.

"You didn't think about leaving without saying goodbye, did you?" his mom asked.

Link smiled. He swiftly came up and hugged his mother. As he hugged her, he felt her hand brushing his hair the way she did when she was proud of him. Link was glad that this goodbye would not be quite as painful as the goodbye he gave to Rose.

"I managed to save you some of my raisin bread," Link's mom said, handing Link the bundle as he left the hug, "It's freshly baked. You'd better get going before your father finds out you are gone. Be safe, little one."

"I will mom," Link said. He took the bundle in his hand and placed it in his Kokiri's Bust Bag. He quickly gave his mom a goodbye kiss on the cheek, then mounted Epona and took off, out into the grassy plains of Hyrule. He took a quick backwards glance at his home, glad that his troubles will all be over soon, and that, eventually, when this was all over he could at last stay home again.

Vaati was in a rather good mood. Like always, everything was going according to plan. In a short while, he would prepare for the takeover of Hyrule Castle, and he would eventually carve the path that would lead the rest of the Seven Sorcerers straight to Ganondorf's prison, where they would open the gate into the Dark World, and bring forth the horrors from within.

Right now, he was busy with a maiden.

The maiden had come to the castle by orders from Vaati. She had arrived from the inn, making many people from the castle believe that she was to be a sort of entertainment for the man. Many women of the castle wept painfully at the idea that Vaati would choose a common whore instead of one of them…

They just didn't know his true motive.

The maiden was no hore at all. She was a shaman's apprentice, a woman who served under a ragged old man for a few crusts of bread and some magic lessons, as well as the right hand girl of the tribe of brigands awaiting outside of the castle at some distance away. He had no interest in her physical form, as she looked at least 20 years younger than she really was. He was interested in information, as well as the next phase in the plan.

His guards were posted outside of the door, as usual. Vaati had made sure that nobody would be able to hear what was going on inside. He wanted to make sure that if any woman tried to listen in, all they would hear was absolute silence, instead of the dark scheming within.

"So," the maiden said, "We are the exact number you asked for…at least a thousand strong, more than enough to take on whatever defenses are within this castle. We trust that you shall at least open the gates for us. We may be good at pillaging and invading, but we are outmatched for a siege."

"Of course I'll get the gate open for you," Vaati said charmingly, "That part is no big deal. All I need is a couple dozen gallons of the finest malt whiskey in the land, being shipped here in the morning, plus a sleeping potion that is sure to drug the lot of them while partying. They would be out like lights and would wake up to splitting headaches and knives to their throats in the morning."

That remark was met with an insane cackle from the maiden, indicating more and more that she would soon grow up to become the very spitting image of a hag, an appearance that Vaati was rather disgusted at. To keep his appearance up, however, he laughed along with her, though he had to force it at time because half the time he wanted to hurl at the woman's gross appearance.

The maiden ceased her cackling, and her face became more serious. She stared down at Vaati while he was in his chair, openly showing a face full of distrust and anger of many generations of want and desire.

"I trust," she said, "that you have what we seek."

"Do not worry," Vaati chided, "I've got it. I'll give it to you along with your pay on the night of the attack, but not a moment beforehand. I do not care what your leader has told you to do ahead of time; I will only give it to you when you give me the results I need. That is my final word."

The maiden's face lowered its anger, though she was more dissapointed now. "May I gaze upon it, sir, for proof?" she asked.

"You will do no such thing," Vaati hissed, rising from his chair and glaring menacingly at her. The maiden took a step backwards out of surprise. "Do you not take the word of Prince Vaati, Wind Mage of the Seven Sorcerers, future ruler of Hyrule and husband to be of Princess Zelda?!? You are very distrusting indeed! Why should I even think of dealing with the likes of you?!"

"No, no master!" The maiden said, coming down on her hands and knees, "I'll take your word for it! I'll go and tell my master. You'll see. We'll wait for you as promised. When can we expect your signal and where do we await the attack?"

Vaati smiled. Sow the seeds of doubt and the women fall all over you, regardless of their appearance or tastes. He slowly returned to his seat and propped his feet up on the table.

"You will wait about a half a day's ride from the castle, to ensure no one sees you," Vaati said, "I shall come to you on the eve of the morning of the attack. We will be able to ride over and storm the castle by morning, and then all of Hyrule shall know the wrath of your tribe."

"That comforts me a great deal, my lord, but our tribe is a little far. We'll have to pull forward in order to prepare for the attack, and we must ensure that the tribe staying behind is ready for the coming attack. Could we send a messenger to let you know that you are ready?"

"By all means," Vaati said, "I want my soldiers to leave and know that their families and belongings are secure and safe. Take all the time that you need, as long as you are back before the announcement of the engagement between the princess and myself. Eventually, we shall soon have all of Hyrule to its knees…"

Another insane laugh followed. Vaati was getting annoyed by this woman. If it weren't for her importance in this quest he would turn her into dust and shove her remains down a pigeon's throat!

The maiden went out the door once her cackling fit was done. Vaati made sure that one of his bodyguards led her out of the castle. If any of the castle maidens got brave enough, his messenger would end up turning into a feast for the crows…

He smirked at the thought. That maiden was only worth her weight in crow's meat anyway. If only she was someone a little less important…

He began to dig into his meal. The food was delicious. Roast duck with gravy, mashed potatoes, yams, and sweet wine, along with some other fruits and vegetables. Whoever was cooking his meals sure knew how to get the job done. He guzzled down another goblet of wine and dug in deeply into his meal.

Above him in the rafters of his room, a silent shadow crept outside of a single open window, taking care not to be spotted by the arrogant fool below.

Link rode Epona onwards to the river where his family had managed to witness their first sighting of Link fighting a monster. He wanted to make sure that they could get to the third Spritual Stone quickly. The sooner he got it done, the better.

It was when they got to the river that Link realized how late it was, and how tired he was. It was almost nightfall when they arrived to the cool and flowing waters of the river, and after all that happened today, Link deserved a bit of a rest. He hopped off of Epona's saddle, carefully tied her up to a tree, and got camp set up.

The sun had gone down when he managed to get a working fire. By now, Darin had zoomed out and helped to find kindling and suitable berries and herbs to help supplement dinner. Link had gotten out some jerky and dried meat and began to prepare a pot of water for some stew. With a few of the herbs that Darin found, plus some vegetables he had prepared inside of the pack, the stew was ready within a few minutes.

Link had only made enough for three bowls full. Two of them would be for him, and the other bowl would supplement for Darin. He provided Epona with some oats and an apple he had brought during the trip. The horse neighed her appreciation before returning to a patch of grass at the foot of the tree.

Link took several sips of the stew. It was pretty bland, not very many spices, though it was fine just the same. The meat's flavor spread into the broth while it was boiling, easily providing the right source of flavor for the meal, as well as plenty of nutrients for the road ahead. Cut chunks of celery, potatoes, and turnips helped add to the nutrition of the stew, while rosemary and bits of oregano helped add flavor to the mix. Mixing a little bit of flower with water and seasoning salt and adding it into the pot after it boiled helped provide a gravy to the mixture.

Link quite liked it. Darin enjoyed it tremendously. The shadowy fairy easily ate up his portion of the meal, though he had quite a trouble flying afterwards. Link could almost swear that the fairy's orb of a body had gotten bigger since before the meal.

After dinner was finished and everything was cleaned up, Link's attention began to focus on the bracelet that he had received before. He had no idea why, but for some reason he felt protected when carrying the bracelet, as if its power meant something to him…or at least to the Stalchild that gave this to him.

The bracelet was mostly made of bone, though some kind of leather kept it all together. The leather seemed to keep itself from decaying or fraying by some kind of magical means. Link could faintly tell by brushing his hand over it while focusing his mind upon the bracelet. The bracelet was also studded with obsidian-like stones, giving it a black and white appearance. A single kull was carved on one of the bigger bones, its eyes being set in place by a pair of dark pieces of obsidian no bigger than a piece of dust.

The bracelet itself was about as narrow as two fingers, and about as thick as half a finger not including the square, polished pieces of stone sticking out. It was quite beautiful, in a creepy and undead sort of way.

Link had the insane notion of putting the thing on. He didn't know why, but he felt that something important revolved around this thing, something that would help him solve a much bigger problem in the future. He was about to slip it on when he heard the rustle of some bushes nearby.

Sword at the ready, he turned to see what was hiding in the small thicket. He sighed to see that it was just a couple of squirrels who had managed to run from tree to tree and needed a hiding place before climing up the one where Link decided to make camp. The boy in green let the pair at peace, and settled himself down for the night.

Darin quietly slipped into Link's pocket. The two of them seemed to wait until the fires were almost dead before they managed to fall asleep. Link figured that he would find out what the purpose of the bracelet was later after he got up, and closed his eyes in sleep.

Kaepora Gaebora was not in a good mood. Gone for only a day and things were spinning out of control at home. He wished that things were a bit simpler like in the old days; at least then he could make some sense about what was going on with the enemy side…

He had discussed with Karnak about what he had seen a week earlier after the owl managed to get back from his trip to the Gerudo Desert. Karnak went into a fit after Kaepora described the creature that he had followed since Darkridge Pass. The fact that a vampire was anywhere in the world, especially since almost all vampires were pretty much dead, was like a living nightmare. What made matters worse was that this vampire travelled by daylight instead of just night, which meant big trouble in the grand scheme of things. It's bad enough that a creature that can suck your blood could sneak up on you while you are in bed, but in the daylight, where you expect to be safe, is another matter.

Kaepora was glad that Biter and Farore were getting along, but Farore's teething had managed to cause a lot of disruption in Karnak's hiding spot. The small cave, with an entrance barely big enough for Kaepora to stand in, was cluttered with furniture, books, and other things; objects that Karnak used as records for spells, civilizations, races, even books for food. Kaepora found that rather strange; why have books about food when you can find it on your own? There was no need to keep track of what kind of food there was when all one had to do was go out and hunt for it. This, among other things, was one of their constant arguments that they shared daily. It was a wonder how Biter and Farore could tolerate them both.

Karnak and Kaepora both agreed that something had to be done. The fact that there was a vampire inside of the Gerudo Desert meant trouble. Sure, the Gerudos knew how to take care of themselves, but what of their future king? Oh yes, Kaepora knew quite well that there was a male Gerudo amongst the princesses of theives; he had witnessed and blessed the birth himself, being a very wise and old owl as he was. The fact that the boy was well disliked by his own Gerudo was something that troubled Kaepora enough as it is; would they be loyal enough if a servant of Ganondorf or any other dark force were to come up and attempt to assassinate their future king?

The Dinolfos and owl made a commitment to decide how they were going to get the news out about what was going on. In case Ganondorf were to make an appearance, a suitable resistance force had to be made in order to combat him. In order to do that, the two of them had to work fast and hard, letting the right people know that something big was about to happen fast, and that they had to be ready in case the time came.

Kaepora had been flying since the day they chose to split ways and prepare for the fight ahead, almost four days ago. He had recently gotten to the Kokiri Forest, and managed to convince the Great Deku Tree to prepare a resistance force for when the time to act against whatever evil was to come, and now he was on his way to the west, hopefully to convince the Zoras of Lake Hylia to prepare for a very long and hard battle ahead.

It was night by the time he could see Lake Hylia, a tremendous disk of dark blue reflecting the silvery light of a full moon. Normally, Kaepora would have stayed a while and viewed the scene, but now was not the time for sightseeing. He kept up his pace, taking care to ensure that he wasn't seen in the night sky, using his owl eyes to keep track of his surroundings.

He was about to reach the edge of the forest where the lake could be found when an arrow suddenly flew through the air, grazing his right wing. The owl was so startled that he almost fell from his height at about 1,000 feet above the ground. He looked down and spotted his assailant; none other than a very big and very nasty looking Lizalfos.

What are Lizalfos doing near Lake Hylia? Kaepora asked himself.

He had no time to answer his question when two more arrows managed to follow their brother, barely missing the now rapidly fleeing owl. Kaepora may have been old, and he may have been quite a mighty fighter, but he knew when he was outmatched. The owl quickly took off in the opposite direction, heading east where he came.

He was about a mile or so away when he stopped and hovered an about-face. This was getting more confusing by the minute, but from what he had just seen he believed that this battle, this war, was coming sooner than any of them realized. They might already be too late…

He just hoped that Link could complete his quest and save them all…

"You cannot hide…"

Link awoke screaming once again. His tunic was wet from sweating, and his body was shivering from fear. He slowly sat up, leaning his back against the tree trunk, and began to try and bring his thought process back to normal.

He was almost done when Darin flew out of Link's pocket. The two of them stared at each other for a while, unsure what to say to one another, until Darin finally broke the silence.

"You know," he said, "you should really tell me whether or not you have nightmares."

"What makes you think I have nightmares?" Link asked defensively.

"I sleep in your pocket whenever we are away from your home," Darin replied, "Two times now I have woken up to find that you have been sweating like crazy during the night, and unless you find it hot out I find something like that to be one step above a nightmarish dream. Want to talk about it?"

Link sighed. Although he really didn't want to do this, he may as well trust Darin. He was his friend and Guardian Fairy, after all. He decided to tell him everything about this nightmare, and of the dream he had the week before his 11th birthday.

Darin listened to Link intently. The Shadow Fairy hung onto every word, taking in the description like a book. When Link was done with both dreams, Darin hovered over to a blade of grass and landed atop it, quietly reflectiong on what he had just heard.

"Well, I can at least say that it's important," Darin said, "It's probably no coincidence that the dream you got on the night of your birthday woke you up and managed to give you the chance to spot me. However, I'm not sure about what the dream about the temple and the weird eye is about, but I can guess that the seven ledges means the Seven Sorcerers. Why a giant eye is involved, I am uncertain…"

"Well," Link said, "it's obvious that it's important. It isn't the first dream I had that seemed to have some importance in my life, and it certainly won't be the last as far as I know. I just wish that I can forget that voice so that I can sleep easy."

"Can't help you with that," Darin said, "Sleeping isn't my strong suit as far as most things are considered. It might be hard to tell since you are always out like a light, but I have to toss and turn in order to get into the right sleeping posture in your pocket. It gets kind of cramped in there every now and then."

Link smiled. The two of them proceeded to break camp. Link was finished packing and placing the supplies on Epona's back, while Darin quickly began to wipe away the evidence of their campsite. They both agreed that after recent events and the fact that the Seven Sorcerers probably knew of their presence, they were to do their best to ensure that few people would follow their tracks.

Link hopped up on Epona, Darin flew into Link's pocket, and they began the long trek downriver. Nearby, he could see the carcass of the Peahat he had killed yesterday washed up on the shore, though a large portion of the Peahat was still flowing downriver towards the mouth of the Zora River. Link followed the river as quickly as he could, guiding Epona as they made their way to the Zora River, and the last Spiritual Stone.

In the water, Link did not notice as a pair of fins broke the surface. The owner of the fins watched the intruders pass with a pair of black eyes, making sure that he wasn't seen beneath the waves of the river. He ducked back down towards the deeper reaches, and began to swim his way downriver, back home in the realm of Zora River.

To be continued…

Kerian: At long last...the wait is over and I can start posting chapters more often once more. Link seems to have a "watcher in the water" (no relation to Lord of the Rings, for those of you who actually get that), Vaati has a meeting and an extreme hankering of chicken (or goose, I forgot which...lol), and Kerian is finally able to access the internet enough to get this story posted on time!

I was inspired greatly by a fan fiction for the next Zelda parts of my story. However, I am doing my best to keep it as original as possible. I hope you like it in the future, and if the original author notices resemblance, I will give him(or her) full credit in the future, and I will do my best to keep it even more original and less inspired.

If any of you guys were rather appalled by the use of wording in Vaati's latest scene, I would like to apologize. I personally don't like writing that kind of stuff down either. I just wanted to intigrate the fears that I am trying to have the women of the court feel due to the appearance of a strange lady of about 20 or 30, even though she looks much like an old hag, and the fact that Vaati wishes to see her. If any of you guys feel that this is inappropriate, then please let me know and I'll edit this at once...thanks

Well, let's get on with the journey then, shall we? A river needs to be trekked, a plan of takeover needs to come into fruition. Soon, the time of the Sorcerers will come...me, out!

-Kerian