Chapter 35: The Final Trial
He saw a door. It was large and lavishly decorated with precious stones and gleaming metals. He took in his surroundings.
He stood in a narrow walkway. He was walled in on all sides, with the door being his only way out. He took a deep, steadying breath, and entered.
Link stepped into a split passage way. The door slammed shut ominously behind him. As he looked back over his shoulder, he saw the door fading into the wall. Suddenly, there was no door. Only the wall behind him.
And three choices.
He remembered the King's words. It tests your heart. Your choices will be the key to the lock.
He stood absolutely still, and gazed into the first passage, to his left. At first he saw nothing. The passage was in complete darkness. But after several long moments, he thought he saw something move in the darkness, and as if something had moved out of the way, he saw a distant speck of yellow light.
Pondering this, he turned to the second passage, before him. This passage was well lit, but it soon turned a corner. It could be a trap. He thought. Or maybe it's a leap of faith. Maybe I'm supposed to turn the corner believing that it's the right path.
He finally looked into the third passage to his right. It was a mixture of the darkness of the left passage and the light of the center passage. The floor rose slowly the farther from the entrance it got, and in the end there was only a narrow gap between the floor and ceiling. He was not sure, but he thought he could see daylight through the gap.
After studying each passage carefully, he sat down. Not for any need to rest, but the idea came to him. Sitting, he would gain a different perspective of the passages. Lower down he might see more.
He gasped. It had been a good idea.
From his new perspective, he could also see the ceilings of the passages just after their entrances.
The left passage's ceiling was a mirror. In it he could see reflected, somewhere far below, another dim light, along with the dark image of a sudden drop. The floor gave way after a few steps. You could only see so, however, in the mirror.
He smiled. Whatever had inspired him to sit had been a smart corner of his mind.
He next looked again into the center passage. He again gasped.
It, too, was a mirror, but set at more of an angle. It caught the reflection of several other mirrors, that allowed him to see a reflection of what lay around the corner.
There was a large beast standing there, gripping a heavy looking axe.
He sighed. The right passage next.
He looked at the ceiling of the right passage. He saw nothing. It was just a ceiling. There was nothing to guide him.
So, contrary of what he had originally thought, the center passage was not the "leap of faith". The passage to the right was.
After several minutes pondering, he stood, and entered the passage to his right.
Ganondorf stood at the brink of a great chasm.
He had, at long last, found what he had been searching for.
He laughed.
The traitor turned to three Bokoblins standing behind him. "Give me the rope. I alone will proceed. Wait here."
The command was obeyed, and one of the beasts removed a long rope from his pouch. He handed it to Ganondorf, who swiftly bound it securely around a nearby tree. He tugged on the rope violently. The tree swayed a bit, but held. He nodded.
He tied the rope around his waist, and drew one of his newly forged swords. Jamming it into his belt securely, he turned again toward the edge.
With inhuman speed and agility, the traitor sped to the edge, and began to lower himself down the slope.
It would have taken a skilled climber at least two hours to lower themselves down the steep, craggy slope.
It took the Gueredo King two minutes.
Upon reaching the floor of the chasm, he untied himself from the rope, and pulled his sword again. Glancing around warily, he tensed up, prepared to deliver any attacker a lightning stroke with the blade.
But he was happily surprised. No one attacked. There was, for some reason, no ambush or trap laid for trespassers on this Evil Ground.
He smiled. "You may have had great powers," he said under his breath, "but in hiding them you were less than great, Father."
Link found himself blinking in bright sunlight.
He looked back at the hole in the ground just behind him. It had been a very tight squeeze, but he had barely managed it. He smiled. This trial was easier than he had expected.
He drew his sword as a precaution, and studied his surroundings.
He had, apparently, climbed into the bottom a gaping crater in the ground. He turned around a few times, blown away by the size of the crater. It was as deep as Hyrule Castle was tall, and even looked a bit deeper than that. The sky above was unnaturally blue and cloudless. A piercingly bright and hot sun beamed down upon him.
The floor of the crater was mostly bare; dirt and rocks were its main features. There were, now and then, large boulders that jutted from the ground like pointing fingers.
He could see no way out of the crater. As far as the eye could see, it was nothing but a vast hole in the earth, with the only exit being the hole he had just crawled out of.
As far as the eye can see…he thought. And he set off at a jog toward one of the boulders.
Ganondorf strode slowly into a dark cave, connected to the floor of the chasm. He was a Gueredo, and his eyes could see well in the dark, but he lit a torch from his pouch anyway.
It was a huge cave, with a high ceiling and a vast diameter. There was almost nothing within, save for a few bats that clung to the ceiling. They were disturbed by the sudden flare of light, and attacked the source.
Ganondorf dropped to the ground. The bats could be a distraction for some other airborne trap. He lay with his head up, looking forward.
He again smiled.
How appropriate, he thought, remembering his beginnings as a Language Instructor, that you must get low to gain high power.
There was a small tunnel leading to another place in the wall just before him…
Link saw, from this great height, a well concealed ledge that he had not seen from the ground. He grinned to see that he would be able to jump for it.
He steadied himself on the boulder, and then took a swift, powerful step, with which he hurled himself into the air. His arms shot out, and he felt his fingers grip the rock. He pulled himself up, and lay there awhile, panting for breath.
After recovering, he stood, wincing as he unclenched his aching fingers. He looked about him again, and saw that the ledge jutted out of the stone just at the entrance of a cave.
He entered, and gasped.
Ganondorf had to stoop to enter the tunnel. It hurt his back, but he managed. He eventually felt the rocky ceiling rise, and the tunnel widen. He quickened his pace.
He was soon able to stand full height. He again lit the torch, which he had earlier extinguished.
He smiled.
Link and Ganondorf.
The Hero of the greatest legends. The prophesied savior of Hyrule.
The King of a powerful desert tribe. The prophesied ruler of all Hyrule.
One's prophecy comes from the most ancient tales and myths. The other's comes from the mouth of a dark being.
Both stare in awe, in the same moment, in similar settings, at what their quests have brought them to.
The culmination of both their efforts is made physical in their eyes.
The two caves are different, and yet the same.
One is a place of darkness, a forgotten temple of evil, a tomb of the blackest powers.
The other is place of solitude, in a forgotten crater, a hidden tomb of the greatest knowledge.
Both will give the seeker what they are looking for…
But at terrible cost.
The stage is set. The curtain rises for the final act.
The world is waiting…