He finds himself standing before a large stone ingress. Behind him there is a deep, spiraling pit in the earth and greenery surrounds all. He feels incredibly lucid, and he stands wondering at this place before he decides to push the doors open. Inside is an ancient temple. Huge columns laced with vines rise from the mossy stone floor as he passes through. He has been here before. At the far end of the room stands a flight of stairs beneath an enormous door. He stops, looking about him as he slowly begins to realize that he is dreaming. Curious, he steps forth again to the light bathed steps. As he draws nearer, from seemingly all around him he hears the echo of harp strings. They slowly, sweetly pluck out the tune that the Fairy Queen had sung him so long ago. A tune he has heard many nights in other dreams. He whirls around, looking above him for the source of the music. He turns back toward the stairs. A swirling cloud of light seems to hover there for a moment and as the song continues, the light solidifies into a figure. At first, the being's glow is so bright that he cannot make out its form or features. But as the radiance dims, he begins to see the figure of a woman, strumming a harp upon the steps. She looks to be made of clouds, light and water, wavy and ethereal; unearthly in every sense of the word. A halo of stars seems to hang about her head, her impossibly long, golden hair coiled around her on the steps as she plucks out the last notes of the song. She looks up at him then.
"Zelda?" He asks.
The figure stands, her white garments flowing in a celestial wind as she steps toward him.
"Not quite…" She says.
He swallows, his senses overwhelmed with her.
"…Hylia, then?" He says.
She stares back at him, her features seeming to shift as the light of her dims and brightens.
"Because of the girl's extended time in the spirit world, I was able to detach my consciousness from hers and speak with you here… It has been a long while since you have stood before me… my knight." She says.
He looks on at her in awe, her presence so huge and unnerving and yet the familiarity of it makes him bold.
"Why are you here?" He asks.
The Goddess continues her unblinking stare.
"I am here because I feel that I owe you a proper explanation of your fate, one I have never given you… one you deserve." She says, her voice seeming to come from everywhere at once.
He looks at her in confusion.
"Why? When this life is over... I'll forget... That's how it works isn't it? I just reset?" He asks.
The Goddess moves closer.
"...The part of you that is immortal... that which you call your soul... That part of you, never forgets. You have seen much. Many people have loved you. You carry your experience with you... so on some level... you will always know."
He shifts his weight nervously, and she turns then, starting back toward the stairs.
"You must understand that you were not created solely for this purpose you now serve. Once, long ago, you were just as any other human. You lived and died, changing forms each time you were born again to the world. I watched you even then. In every life you lived, despite what form you took, you were always the same valiant, benevolent creature. You looked after those weaker than yourself... Always willing to stand against injustice... against tyranny... always kind and gentle. You quickly became my favorite… and so I gave you the choice the first time I came to you... though I knew that you would not refuse... It was very difficult to watch you suffer… knowing that when your life ended… this eternal cycle awaited you… but I could not entrust this task to any other. I ordained your years in confinement. It was a means to make you stronger… and you fared just as I knew you would… You became a mortal being of unsurpassed light to rival absolute darkness...the one who could wield my blade, and in spite of all your misery… you took her up… and so… you have not really changed since that time... as I have willed it. Your form will forever resemble that of the young knight that took up my sword in defense of the land that spurned him, your name will always be as his was… and upon your head... there will always be a curse…" She pauses, her shoulders seeming to sag.
"When you sealed Demise within the sword, before his spirit took on a mortal form, as I, he placed a curse on both you and the girl, dooming the both of you to endless battle, death, sorrow, and bloodshed… Though I have managed to spare the girl some of its effects… I cannot do the same for you... Because of this curse, every couple who bares you again into this world will die… and you... you will very often meet a tragic end yourself…" She says. She turns to him once more, something like grief set in her luminous face.
He exhales a waiting breath, staring down at the ground for a moment. He lifts his eyes to her.
"...And the Triforce? Why did the Goddesses leave something so powerful with us? With people like Ganondorf?" He asks.
The Goddess seems to smile knowingly.
"Din, Nayru and Farore, created the Triforce so that their world… their people… would never die… As you know, it is a meaningless trifle in their hands. They entrusted it to the mortals so that they could save themselves when the time came… and so that in the hands of the pure-hearted, it could create a wondrously rich and beautiful world. For this reason they created me, to ensure that it remained protected from those that sought it only for its power… a task that I would pass to the spirit maiden, my mortal incarnation, Zelda… and that is where I owe you the most explanation… and perchance an apology."
Hylia starts down toward him.
"…Knowing that the two of you would be bound forever to the same struggle, and that she would be the eternal guardian of the Triforce, I had to ensure that you would have an incentive to protect her… that you would be willing to die for her… The love that you feel for the girl is part of the grander scheme… I crafted her for you… She will stir something within you, each time you lay eyes upon her… you will feel compelled to go to her aide… and you will love her... if you are near her for any length of time…Like you, she is always the same… and she guides you to your destiny... again and again... Perhaps this was cruel of me… for I have used your human feelings to my own ends… Though… it has had repercussions… which have caused me much anguish… as I am only part of the girl now... and the longer I've dwelt within her… the more human I have become…" She says, a note of sorrow in her proud, omniscient voice as she steps forward.
She draws close to him then, seeming to become smaller as the light around her dims. For a moment, she takes on the appearance of the starry-haired Zelda from the portrait. She stares up at him, clutching the harp to her chest, her eyes filled with some bittersweet reminiscence of long dead years. She lays her hand to his cheek as he looks raptly back at her. She is Zelda, but not quite his Zelda, though beautiful and familiar nonetheless. Unexpectedly, she softly presses her lips to his. The shock and the sweetness of it takes his breath as he closes his eyes. He falls into her as she lingers there for a moment; the kiss, innocent as a never known spring. He opens them slowly as she pulls away, her bright glow returning as she turns her back to him.
"The girl will have no memory of this… I have acted independently. So you must tell her of the information I am about to pass onto you." She says, forlornly.
She begins to fade then.
"At the southern-most end of this mountain range, in a cave within the tallest peak, there lives a dragon. Her name is Iloudin, She is of the last with the power of speech. If you can convince her of your worth, she will take you to what was once the city in the sky. The pages lie beneath the ruins…when you reach the door…the girl's song… play it backwards… Farewell… Link."
He awoke as the sun had begun to rise, coloring the sky a vibrant orange as he slowly pulled himself up to sitting. Zelda lay beside him, still fast asleep with her hair strewn about her face. Reeling from the dream, Link gently smoothed the golden waves back against her head, exposing the soft, ivory beauty of her face. A bittersweet smile curled his lips at the sight of her, this Zelda. He pulled his gaze from her with a sigh as he looked out on the sunrise. Hylia herself had finally answered him... had given him the long awaited explanation of his destiny he had so desperately wanted. He found himself struck numb staring blankly off into the vast expanse of rock. His thoughts lingered on the other Zelda. The look in her eyes, the eagerness of her lips to his that seemed to beg some long sought closure. She had been saying goodbye to him. Link looked again to the sleeping girl. Somberly, he drew his knees to his chest in the golden morning light. Link sat there in silence for a time contemplating his many lives, his many deaths, his ancient, unspoken love for the princess and the uncertainty of all as he stared out into the stony horizon. Link closed his eyes.
Is that it then? He comes back over and over... and we kill each other... How many times have I actually lived to see what the world is like after I defeat him?
He drew a breath and he watched the sun climb higher into the sky, illuminating the majesty of the land that had borne him for untold generations.
... It's worth dying for...But... it can't be that every one of my lives end that way… I can feel that. I know I was happy before… that I was older before. And Zelda… Do I love her because I'm supposed to? Because I've been baited by a Goddess who had no idea what feeling that emotion was like? Did Hylia mean her as my companion… a means of control over my actions… or both? Does it even matter? Zelda... she is Hylia, but she's not. She didn't even know at first... all that power, and she had no idea. Every time she comes back, she comes back as this smart, sensitive girl who would do anything for her people... and she watches her world get ripped apart..."
Lost in thought, Link felt a gentle hand on his side and he jerked harshly, the unexpected touch quickly ripping him from his solemn rumination. He turned to see Zelda leaning up upon her elbows.
"I am sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." She said softly, her expression timid and remorseful.
He smiled, uttering an unsteady chuckle as he turned to face her, her hair unkempt and hanging in her face…only Zelda, and no one else.
No... It doesn't matter...
"You didn't… I was just thinking." He said.
Zelda yawned into her hand and sat up.
"About what? You jumped so hard." She said.
Link smoothed a hand through his hair, the flaxen strands instantly falling back around his face.
"Something I dreamt last night…" He paused, turning his head to look back to the mountain sunrise.
Zelda shifted closer to him.
"…More nightmares?" She asked, and the boy shook his head.
"No… just really weird dreams." He said quietly, still staring out at the horizon.
As she'd begun to fully awaken, Zelda sensed an air of affliction about her friend as she sat beside him.
"What's wrong, Link? You seem despondent." She said.
He brought his eyes to hers, searching her oceanic gaze for some recognition of the dream, disturbed in part when he found none.
Hylia was telling the truth… she really doesn't remember… I can't tell her about the curse... not now... not right at the end like this. When it's done... if I'm still alive...
"I'm fine… I'm just a little worn out from everything." Said Link, his voice tense.
Zelda flitted her eyes to the ground and then back to his, concerned but reluctant to press him. She stood, streching a bit before she walked a few paces away to the remnant of last night's fire. The coals were still agolw in the morning light.
"Well, I suppose since we're both awake we should get dressed... though, I am not sure at all where we're supposed to go now..." She paused, casting a glance over her shoulder at the boy.
"...Unless the two of us learn to fly at least. The city in the sky that Nabalia was talking about... I am sure that must be what remains of Skyloft. The only structure I've ever read of that could possibly hold the key was a place called the Tower of Winds... and it was said to have crumbled when Vaati was destroyed." Said Zelda, her voice dispirted.
Link looked to the princess as he gathered his things.
"I think I might know a way to get up there." He said.
Zelda raised an eyebrow.
"Really…How?" She asked.
"At the southern end of this mountain range, on the tallest peak, there's a dragon who can still speak our language. Dragons fly, right? If we can convince her to take us there..." Said Link.
Zelda tilted her head, her brows knitting.
"How are you going to convince a dragon to take us anywhere?"
The boy shrugged.
"I don't know, but I'm going to have to try."
Zelda turned to him.
"Wait a moment, how do you know of a dragon on this mountian? They are incredibly rare these days." She said.
"I saw it...it was part of what I dreamt last night." The boy said, knotting the laces on his boots.
The princess looked questioningly at him for a moment.
"Link, are you sure?" She asked.
Link stood, pulling the mail again over his chest.
"I'm certain."
The ride through the rugged pass was undertaken in relative quiet. The princess rode beside the boy, her thoughts still wound achingly around the night before. Every so often she would think of Nabalia. The thought of her ancient, smiling face saddened Zelda in the sweetest of ways.
Dear Nabalia… She waited for me all that time, and I hadn't the slightest memory of her. She must have known that her end was near... perhaps it was what she had wanted; to be released at last from the promise that bound her to this world.
Zelda looked up at the boy beside her. Her concern for him had grown all the more with each passing nightmare and waking memory of the past. The things she had seen the night prior were absolutely torturous. It had also confirmed her fear that while they may be successful at sealing the evil, it didn't necessarily mean that things ended happily, especially for the boy. She considered his mortality as she looked aside to him. She tried hard not to think of the possibility that she could lose him now. It was easy to forget at times, that he was only a boy with bones that could be broken and blood that could be spilled. He killed with such a ferocity and skill that it was nearly poetic. As she had watched him fight beside her, watched him keep guard on her so many nights he'd thought her asleep, he had seemed somewhat invincible to her. She loved him, didn't she? On the night she had slept within the well, after she had bid him goodnight, as she lay there upon the straw mattress she had wondered briefly what it would be like to lie next to him; to lay her head over his heart and dream of something other than death. She sighed, silently admitting it to herself. She straightened. She could not act, it would be inappropriate in several ways. She could not think of herself nor him now, while her people were dying. The two of them both had their own duties to uphold and duty came first, always. She was the heir to the throne before she was a girl. So, as she did with so many badly timed emotions, she buried it and took a deep breath of the warm summer air atop the saddle. Pulling herself from her thoughts, she felt the boy's eyes on her. His presence was oddly heavy, it had seemed so since she had awoken that morning. She looked to him, wondering for a moment what else he had seen or heard within the dream world.
"So… I presume we are near the end of this search now." She said, breaking the silence.
"We are…" He returned.
Zelda reined Midge a slight closer.
"…What do you think you'll do when all of this is over, Link?" Asked Zelda.
"I don't know… It depends on what happens." Link replied, his eyes remaining on the steep, stony road.
Zelda looked on at him.
"Well… Let's say that everything ends well… We manage to seal the demon, recombine the Triforce and hide it where no one will ever again find it. What then?" She asked softly.
"I suppose I'll go home then… try to put into perspective what just happened to me… spend a few days with Khai, Rue... Yolandea… Sleep... help rebuild my village... and then I guess try to figure out what to do with the rest of my life. I don't think anything will ever really be the same after all this… What about you?" He said, his eyes wandering back to hers.
"My coronation... then I shall go about my business as queen… reconstruct my country… grieve my father... perhaps write all of this down if I have the time…" Said Zelda, dryly.
A lull passed between the two as they rode higher into the mountains.
"Would... you come to visit me often?" Zelda asked.
"I'd write to you all the time, and I'd come to see you as much as you'd have me…" He answered.
Zelda laughed.
"I think I could stand you about three days a week...perhaps more." She teased.
Link looked sidelong at her, an impish grin on his lips.
"Be careful princess, you might just get sick of me tossing rocks at your window every other day."
Zelda giggled and shook her head.
"Never."
Link slowed Epona as the pass began to narrow, she and Midge mere inches from each other.
"You should come out to Ofaria for a while… when all this is over. Go in the fall and go way back into the woods. That's when its the best, when the leaves all turn red and yellow. It's funny, I used to think about leaving my village all the time. Now, after all this traveling...I can't think of any place I'd rather be... It's beautiful when the seasons change... I think you would love it, Zelda." He said.
"I am sure that I would." She replied.
They looked on for a moment at one another before turning their sight back to the steepening road.
As they pressed forward, the pass became more and more narrow and the pitted faces of the cliffs grew higher around them, lined with small trees and shrubs in places now. The two of them came to a large clearing, shaded by the towering white and gray walls of rock. Coiling upwards was the continuing path, too tight to ride abreast any longer. Link pulled his horse to a stop. Dismounting, he looked above him at the craggy wall as Zelda came about to his side.
"That path's too small to really tell if there's something coming at the other end. I think I should probably climb up there and find out if I can see anything." He said.
Zelda nodded.
"Mind if I join you?" She asked.
"If you want." Link answered and the two of them began the short climb up the rocky cliff side.
The top, they found, let out into a large, tree covered plateau from which they could see the dip into the gully beyond the pass. To their dismay the both of them could see now, beyond the open gulch lay a massive camp of Bulblin. Archers atop wooden towers stood guard in several places as the sprawling demon camp snaked upward through the pass. They were armored, just as the monsters in Ofaria had been. Beyond in the distance, lay the sharp, white spire of Iloudin's peak.
"This is a war camp… they are readying themselves for battle." Said Zelda.
Link shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun, watching as the small, horned figures moved about fitting armor to their boars and wrapping the hilts of swords that had no doubt come from the castle forgery.
"We're going to have to go through them to get up to the peak." Said Link.
The boy and the princess turned to each other.
"Well, that would mean we would have kill them all, would't it?" She asked.
Link gave a slight shrug.
"At least most of them."
Zelda walked to the edge of the cliff, pensively leaning against the small tree jutting from the rocky earth.
"But how will we destroy the lot of them without getting ourselves killed?" She muttered.
Link thought for a moment, looking back into the camp. He could see a building from which the Bulblin came and went; carrying from a crude, busted wagon weaponry and all manner of explosives which they loaded into the shack. There was, from what he could make out, really only one way in and out of the camp. They would have to pass through a narrow path into the gully, below a precarious shelf of rock. A plan began to form in his mind.
"We'll wait… We'll go at night. You'll take out the guards on the towers, after that I'm going to sneak in and blow up their armory. That should pretty much get their attention, I think… and then I'll get them all to chase me down into the clearing... You could sweep the rocks down on them from the top of the cliff as they pass through. What do you think?" He said.
Zelda leaned against the tree for a moment, playing out a dozen scenarios in her head; silently calculating the likelihood of each.
"It's dangerous… what if I cannot break the rock quickly enough?" She said, apprehensively.
Link stepped up beside her, lightly tapping her shoulder with his own as the two of them looked out upon the hordes.
"You'll do fine, Zelda. I trust you." He said.
After camp had been made, the majority of the day they spent in a large hollow in the rock wall at the bottom of the clearing. Link had taken off his belts, gauntlets and chainmail and he'd felt a strange weightlessness as he'd moved about with nothing but linen on his back. Now he lay in repose upon the sleeping mat with his back against the cool surface of rock. He and the princess, too anxious really to sleep, had entertained themselves that day mostly with storytelling, various word games, and a very confusing round of chess they had attempted to play with random stones they had found scattered over the ground.. Even so, the day had seemed to drag and the two felt listless as the afternoon drew on. As Link had begun to doze off out of sheer boredom, he felt Zelda lay her forearms across his bent knees, staring expectantly at him. He opened his eyes, grinning at what he saw.
"Yes, your highness?" He asked.
She smiled playfully.
"Link…I am bored to death. I want you to spar me."
Link raised an eyebrow as she came to sit beside him.
"Spar you? You mean with a sword?" He asked.
"Yes, I want to know what it's like to fight you." Said Zelda.
Link shook his head, closing his eyes again as he shifted his shoulders against the rock.
"No… I'm not swinging a razor-sharp sword at you, Zelda... that sounds like bloodletting waiting to happen." He said.
She sighed, and sat up on her knees, turning to face him.
"You know, I know well enough how to go about it. I've sparred before." Said Zelda, gently gripping a handful of his wheat colored hair, ruffling it between her fingers.
Link smiled irrepressibly as he slowly leaned into her touch. He opened his eyes.
"Yeah… with foils. It's different with real blades." He said
"Oh, come on. You've told me before that you, Khai and Roland used to do it all the time." She said, beginning to lightly prod his now palpable ribs.
The boy laughed, squirming as he gently slapped away her hands.
"Yeah, but we also used to make each other bleed all the time too." He said.
Zelda continued her assault on his sides.
"I do not care! spar me, boy!" She said.
Still laughing, Link sat up and grabbed both of the girl's wrists, pinning her hands to the wall behind her and she giggled delightedly.
"No." He said.
Zelda struggled to free herself for a moment before she lifted her eyes mischievously to Link's.
"Alright, fine then. It's not as if you would best me anyhow." She said.
His eyes narrowed.
"Oh really?" He said, releasing her hands.
She snickered.
"Oh yes, you would be no challenge at all, actually. I am sure that it would be quite a waste of my time." Said Zelda.
The grin upon Link's face widened.
"Well then, I guess that's good to know, because I'm not doing it." He said, flopping back down against the stone wall.
"This rock is just way too comfortable anyhow." He said, closing his eyes once again.
Zelda continued her protests and the boy continued to lie with his eyes closed; smirking while she still groped for his sides though he wouldn't let her hands near them. Finally, after a moment of quiet, Link felt Zelda press her hands to both of his cheeks. He opened his eyes again to see a ridiculously embellished pout set on her face.
"Please?" She asked coquettishly.
He looked back at her for a moment; annoyed, but incredibly charmed by her all the same.
"You aren't used to being told no, are you?" He asked.
Zelda smiled and shook her head.
"Fine." He said, and she gently pulled away from him, her face beaming.
Link stood, pulling his sword from her scabbard and laying it back against the rock. Zelda unsheathed her rapier and stepped forward.
"Now, I'm only going to touch you with the flat side of the sword, like this..." He said, demonstrating by gently tapping her leg.
"...Don't make any stabbing motions, okay?"
Zelda nodded, her brows knitting as she looked the boy over.
"Shouldn't you put the mail back on first?" She asked.
He chuckled.
"Where's the fun in that?" He said with an exaggerated shrug.
The two of them tapped their swords together and the duel began. Link, as he had been taught, waited for Zelda to come toward him before he countered her. Though he found that as she was with all else, her movements with the blade were swift and graceful. It took him a moment to adjust to the speed at which he had to parry her blows. He drove her back, though he found himself having to do more than a bit of dodging and deflecting as he did so. She was fast.
"So did Impa or Eolan teach you to fight, Zelda?" Said Link, as he deflected another round of quick maneuvers.
"Quiet!" She retorted, smiling uncontrollably as she backed the boy to the side.
The cliffs rang with the sound of laughter and steel upon steel as neither opponent seemed to be able to land a single hit on the other. Zelda could not penetrate his defense and Link could not get close enough to her to land a blow. As he finally pushed her back into a corner, very quickly she dropped to her knees, tapping the blade against his breastbone as he brought his sword down against her hilt.
"Hit!" She cried joyously.
She got eagerly to her feet and Link offered her a slight bow.
"Well done… give me a second." He said surprisingly winded.
Zelda rested her hand at her hip.
"Oh come now, you cannot possibly be tired already; you're just mad that you lost." She said.
Link shook his head, smiling as he moved to stand near her.
"I'm not, I just need to catch my breath, honestly..." He said.
He gently took Zelda's free hand in his and pressed it lightly to his chest. She could feel his heart pounding fiercely under her palm. The girl couldn't help but smile as their eyes met, her already flushed cheeks somehow deepening their shade.
"...You're quick." He said laughingly.
Link slowly released her hand and took a few steps backward. Drawing a deep breath he raised his blade in a guard stance.
"Alright, come on princess. I'm going to beat you at least once."
The sparing session lasted another three rounds. The last of which both exhausted youths declared a tie on the mutual presumption that the both of them would most definitely be dead. Winded, the two of them returned to the hollow of the rock and sat side by side as their breathing calmed. Each of them wearing a sleepy grin that seemed to hang perpetually on their lips. Link looked to Zelda.
"Remind me never to make you mad at me." He said.
She laughed; a certain way she had laughed only a few times since he'd know her.
"Oh I will… I shall never let you forget this day for as long as you live." She said, as she turned to him.
"Fair enough…" Link replied.
They looked on at each other for a time before a cloud seemed to steal across his face and Link let his gaze fall into his lap.
"We should sleep… at least for a little while. I think tonight's going to take a lot out of both of us." He said.
Zelda nodded absently. With a light sigh, Link stretched himself backwards onto his palate as Zelda shifted herself onto her own. She watched him for a moment as he lay on his back, staring meditatively at the smooth stone ceiling of the alcove.
If I laid myself down there beside him… if I put my arms around him, he would let me… wouldn't he?
She chided herself as she flopped down onto her own pallet, her cheeks bright.
Get a hold of yourself, Zelda…
"Sleep well Link. I will see you at dusk." She said softly.
"You too… being bored with you was great… I had a lot of fun." He answered.
"As did I..." Said Zelda.
Zelda woke that night to the boy's hand gently shaking her. He softly called her name and she opened her eyes to see the fully dressed and armed Link beside her in the dark. She sat up next to him, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and feeling somehow less rested than she had when she'd lied down. Without a word she absently dressed, bound her hair and armed herself. Zelda looked to the moon as she shook off the last of sleep. It was very late indeed. The moon, though still nearly full, had already drifted to the western side of the sky and darkness abounded. She came to stand beside Link as he finished pulling the bombs from Epona's saddlebag. He turned to her then.
"Are you ready?" He asked.
"I am." She replied.
Side by side, the two of them walked through the narrow pass winding through the sloping, rock-strewn hills. Eventually they found themselves at the top of a gravelly crest stretching down into the naked gully through which a small stream flowed. On the other side lay the continuing mountains and the demon camp. Both Link and Zelda could see from where they stood the faint glow of torches throughout the place. Very carefully, they moved along the wall until they were sure that they were out of the sight range of the first guard towers. Then they quickly crossed the gully, ducking behind a boulder as Zelda prepared to make the climb up the rocks. She turned to Link.
"When I have taken down the archers, I will return to the pass at the entrance, above the sheet of rock. Wait out of sight near there until I signal you, like this…" She said, drawing her sword and flashing the thin steel in the moonlight.
"You should see the two at the entrance to the pass hit the ground, but do not proceed until you see the signal… be careful, okay?" She said.
Link nodded, and then Zelda turned and began to scramble up the boulders. Once he was alone in the dark, the boy made his way along the rocks to the entrance of the war camp.
After the steep, nearly vertical climb to the top of the cliff side, Zelda now crept along toward the towers in the distance. From where she crouched, she could see the glowing eyes of the creatures as they stood surveying the horizon. On her knees near a large boulder she notched the first arrow and took aim, praying that her shots would be quick and lethal. She let the first arrow fly, immediately notching the second and the two guards fell from their towers only moments apart. Stealthily, she moved on about the shadows. She could hear below her, from what appeared to be kind of ramshackle mead hall, the vulgar chattering of the Bulblin soldiers. They talked of war; the humans were hopelessly outnumbered and would be fairly easy to kill off. It would take days, maybe even only hours. She heard one or two of them fighting about the best way to eat human flesh, sparking a heated argument between raw or broiled and Zelda could hear the sound of bottles smashing as she took out the next archer. After she had silently killed every archer that guarded the camp, Zelda quickly made her way back to the pass. On the ground, she could see Link huddled against the rocks, his eyes scanning the top of the cliffs for her. She drew her sword and gave him the signal as she stood upon the hanging sheet of rock, looking far larger and more difficult now than she had expected. She watched him uneasily as he slowly entered the camp, knowing full well that his life was in her hands this night.
Link crept to the first wooden battlement of the seemingly empty camp. Quickly taking a look behind it, he could hear the squealing voices of two Bulblin. Each of them held a lantern and seemed to be arguing about something. With an angry gesture, the two of them went off in opposite directions, their swords drawn. Link pressed his back against the wooden wall as the glow of the creature's lamp drew closer. Slowly, as quietly as he could he readied his blade. The guard walked past him at first, pausing for a second at the sensation of the boy's presence though it did not have time to turn or utter any cry before Link had severed its spine at the back of its neck. The creature dropped soundlessly and Link quickly doused its lantern before he hurried behind the building a few yards to his left. To his chagrin, he realized now that within the walls he now stood against, housed nearly the entirety of the camp in drunken revelry. He sighed anxiously and peeked around the corner, slowly lowering himself to his knees and preparing to crawl beneath the lighted windows. He jumped back as he heard the door crash open. Three inebriated creatures came shambling out, chattering in their shrill language. He watched as they made their way to their respective huts before he crept beneath the windows. The armory was in sight now, about two hundred yards away, across from a grouping of stolen grain barrels behind a flimsy wooden fence. Link ducked behind them as he saw the other creature with a lantern hurrying back across the camp. It had no doubt seen the bodies of the archers on the ground ahead and Link heard the boars shuffling angrily in their pen aside as they caught his scent. As soon as the creature had shut the door to the large, poorly constructed hall, Link sprinted across camp and into the arms shack. Lining the walls, there were enough explosives to level a small village. Licking his dry lips, the boy pulled a bomb-flower from the pouch at his side. Taking a breath and steadying himself, he ripped the stem from it and rolled the little blue ball across the dirt. He ran, barely making it back behind the barrels and raising his shield before the blast. It threw a cloud of fire into the sky, crumbling the cliff side as thick smoke filled the pass. Wood rained down in chunks and splinters around him. His ears ringing, he stood slowly. As the smoke began to clear he could see, from all sides numerous sets of eyes appeared, staring fixedly at him. As the air became clear again, Link now realized he was surrounded by hundreds of Bulblin soldiers, their weapons at the ready. With an up swell of angry screeching, the creatures rushed the boy as he quickly kicked the barrels toward the assailing creatures. Vaulting over the wooden fence before him, Link ran faster through the pass than perhaps ever in his life. The small army in turn mounted their boars and gave chase, speeding after the figure of the Hylian boy in the dark. Link took a glance over his shoulder.
It's on you now Zelda.
Sitting before the great ceiling of rock above the tight passage, Zelda sat anxiously waiting. She laid her hands to the stone before her, trying to reach within it and feel the crack that she would need to make. Though, as she had often noticed, stone was much more difficult and she could not quite press her will into the rock. For a moment, she nearly began to panic.
Calm yourself Zelda… you can do this… you must concentrate…
Zelda sighed and sat with her legs crossed upon the top of the cliff. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to fall backwards out of herself. As she floated in the velvet blackness of the void, she felt herself enter a relatively new sense of consciousness. She was awake, and aware of her environment but her senses seemed to stretch on. As it had during the exorcism, all things around her began to take on shades of colors light and dark. She could feel the presence of the monsters and the bright aura of the boy as she hovered there. She was vaguely aware of the explosion, but more than anything she could sense Link speeding toward her, the black cloud of the Bulblin army behind him. Slowly, she lifted her arms and with a fluid motion she sent a ripping fissure through the cliff before her. Link, his legs nearly seizing as he flew out into the gully, turned to see a massive cloud of dust kick into the air as the top of the cliff broke. Seeming to fall at an impossibly slow pace, the tons of rock rained down upon the screaming horde, burying them beneath what looked to be a small mountain as the rumbling ceased. Aside from his own labored breathing, all was silent for a moment under the dark sky as Link let himself drop to his knees, his muscles burning. Suddenly, he heard a victorious cry from the hillside and he saw Zelda, laughing madly and waving her arms at him from atop the cliff. Link found himself laughing along with her as he caught his breath and then started the climb up the mound of stone that entombed the army of Bulblin.
After the two of them had carefully made their way down the rocky hill that now blocked the pass, and had moved forward through the destroyed war camp the pair found themselves walking steeply uphill. The peak loomed sharply before them as the moon disappeared over the mountains. As they neared its base, they saw now that carved directly into the side of the mountain was a staircase, stretching for a mile or two toward the top. Link turned his head to Zelda as they began the ascent.
"Did someone used to live here? I was expecting a pretty intense climb, not that I'm complaining." He said.
Zelda shook her head.
"No, I don't think so. If this dragon speaks, then she is very ancient. There was a time long ago when the dragons were revered creatures, and presenting offerings to them was believed to bring luck. That is very likely what this staircase was used for… dragons were once the stewards of this land." Said Zelda.
Link thought on her statement as they continued to climb the steps.
"What happened to them? Why is it that they don't speak now?" He asked.
"I am not entirely sure. I know that many books I've read tell of a time that Hyrule was filled with them... living representations of the magic that flowed through the land like blood. It is likely though, as cites grew and humans began to proliferate the land, the dragons began to recede, and they became more like animals." She said.
The two made their way on together quietly for a time, the horizon becoming more incredible with each flight of steps they scaled. After a little over an hour of climbing at last, the top came into view. The staircase brought them to a very large, flat section of the peak and set into mountain was a small cave like opening that seemed to lead down a tiny hall. Link stood before it, feeling a strange heat emanating from dark, he turned to the princess.
"Zelda, when we get down there, when we find her, I want you to stay back out of her sight and keep your bow notched. However this goes, I'm not going to draw my sword unless I'm positive she's going to try and kill me… I might need you if that happens." He said.
Zelda sighed.
"Let us hope it does not come to that…" She said.
Link and the princess descended in perfect silence. As they walked, they found the interior of the mountain opened up into a vast, glassy cave; illuminated by a strange, otherworldly light that seemed to pass through the shining crystal of the walls. All the while, as the uneven stairway twisted down into the cavern the pair found themselves heading toward a bluish glow that seemed to come from a room at the very bottom of the mountain. As they reached the gargantuan arch of the stairway leading to the blue-lit room, Link motioned for Zelda to wait as he moved slowly ahead. Apprehensively, she readied her bow on the steps and peered into the strangely glowing room as the boy passed its threshold. Within the hollow crystal mountain, curled in a massive heap upon the floor lay the dragon, Iloudin. Link slowly approached her in awe and trepidation. She looked as though she where made of pearls in different gradients of white, blue and silver. Six great, ivory horns crowned her skull on either side. Fascinated with her beauty Link moved toward her, noticing now the tips of the huge, dagger like teeth in her slightly open mouth. The dragon's eyes gradually opened at his approaching steps, and she slowly raised her head. Her eyes fixed on the boy, she emitted a low, rumbling growl. Link stared up at her as she stood, more than fifty feet tall.
"Iloudin?" He said, his voice echoing loudly.
With an angry snarl, the dragon swiped at him with armored claws that Link just narrowly caught against his shield.
"Please, I need to talk to you… I…" He was cut swiftly off as a whip-like tail shattered one of the enormous crystals that jutted from the floor mere feet from him.
"Get out!" She hissed, her voice the sound of the earth itself.
"I have to talk to you! Hyrule is in danger, hundreds of people are already dead!" Link answered.
Iloudin furiously unfurled her huge, white wings. Link watched, his eyes widening, as the red-hot glow of fire grew from within her jaws. Dashing quickly behind another row of crystals, the boy took cover as the dragon's fire illuminated the cavern.
"I said get out!" She roared.
"I'm not leaving until you talk to me! Hylia sent me to you!" The boy shouted.
Then Link heard the crystals behind him crack under the creature's mammoth claws. Before he could turn he felt himself ripped into the air so quickly it nearly knocked the sense from him. The dragon gripped him helplessly in her claw, her steel-colored gaze cold and set on his. Smoke curled above her nostrils as her eyes narrowed.
"You are only a child. What could you know of Hylia? Hylia is dead." She said, the thunder of her voice nearly deafening.
"She's not… She just took a mortal form. I have her with me. Hylia still exists, and she told me to come to you." Said Link.
Iloudin tilted her head, slowly she set the boy back on his feet before her.
"Talk child, and choose your words wisely… the only reason you still live is because I did not wish to kill you… You knew my name." She said.
Link drew a breath in relief, and from the very corner of his eye he saw Zelda, in the shadows, disarm her bow upon the steps.
"Thank you… I'm here because I need your help. There's going to be a war very soon. Princess Zelda, Hylia's incarnation and I, we're trying to stop it at its source before Hyrule is completely destroyed." Said Link.
The dragon laughed mirthlessly.
"All of your wars of greed and dominion have reduced us to little more than stupid beasts as your kind have torn the land to shreds, squabbling like animals over the power The Three so misguidedly left to you. Why should I lend you any aid? I care not for your kind nor your wars. If your world is to end, than perhaps it should. You think your Hyrule the first? How arrogant…" She said, lying down once more.
Link felt his fists balling, incensed by her utter indifference.
"So thousands of innocent people should just die then?! Listen to me… please. I came here to ask you if you would take us to the place where the last pages of the Sky Book are held, in the ruins of the sky city… If we could get them, it might show us a way to recombine the Triforce." He said.
Iloudin sneered.
"So you can make yourself a king with even a fraction of its power and the cycle will repeat itself." She said, dropping her head so that her eyes where level with the boy's face.
Link sighed, stepping backwards. He slowly removed his left gauntlet, showing the dragon the mark upon his hand.
"I already have a piece of it… I'm… an incarnation of the knight that Hylia chose. I want to put the Triforce back together and hide it… away from anyone who would take it for power's sake. I just want peace... that's all." He said.
Iloudin seemed to smirk, and she uttered a vicious chuckle.
"And would you lay down your life for this peace… knight? As nothing more than you are now?"
Link looked up into her smiling ivory maw.
"I would..." He said
The dragon stared down at him, seeming to contemplate his words.
"That is a rare quality in a human…if you do not lie. I have heard of you… many call you hero. If you are truly he, it has been said also that your soul is pure… that it shines with a light unlike any other mortal's on the face of this world…"
The dragon slowly craned her neck around the boy as he whirled around to follow her. He caught his full reflection in her silvery eye as it came to rest on his face. She raised her head, instantly stories above him.
"I am going to join my mind with yours… If I see that you are indeed the innocent for whom this world despairs, I will help you… if I see anything less, I will kill you where you stand." Said Iloudin.
Link nodded, and the dragon dropped her head down. He could feel the heat of her breath against his chest as, despite her sheer size, she gently touched her bejeweled forehead to his. The boy closed his eyes as he stood with the immense, primeval creature. She stayed there for a moment before she slowly pulled away, holding him in her iron gaze.
"So you spoke the truth… Wait for me at the peak. I will lend you my aid. I will do this only because I have seen within you… I now know your fate. " She said.
After climbing back up the jagged steps of the cavern, Zelda and Link stood under the dusky blue sky of early morning. The dragon had not come and so the two of them stood close to one another, quietly, in waiting. As the sun began to rise Iloudin finally glided over the top of the peak, puncturing holes in the rock as she landed on the spire. Glimmering in the sun, the great white dragon settled herself upon the plateau beside the boy and the princess. Zelda looked up at her in astonishment, and the dragon regarded her for a moment with a critical gaze.
"Come." Said Iloudin.
Uneasily, the two of them climbed atop her back and as soon as she felt them settle, she shot from the cliff and into the air. Soaring above the earth, thousands of feet up in the yellow light of dawn, Zelda gradually found herself far too amazed now to be frightened. Link sat behind her, his arm looped tightly around her waist as they each leaned forward into the rushing wind, gripping the soft, fleshy spikes on the dragon's back. They flew through clouds, obscuring the light as they ascended higher, the air thinning and each of them finding themselves a slight dizzy. As they passed through another thick, misty cloud, in the hazy distance they could see the massive floating isle of rock coming into view. As the dragon touched down on the weathered stone of the strange world above the clouds, Link and Zelda slid from her back alight with the ghosts of memories.
"… We are home… this is where it all started. This was Skyloft once…" Zelda said quietly, her chest tightening as she looked about her.
Iloudin craned her neck toward them.
"I shall take my leave… do not fear, I will not strand you in this place." She said, and quickly dove again into the clouds.
The two of them were left standing in an overgrown field of grass, the wind sweeping steadily across the vast, cool emptiness. An enormous, rounded and half collapsed structure towered over head, dominating the landscape. The stones that had fallen from it littered the ground in jagged chunks. They stepped up through a dilapidated wall and up in to a sprawling tile room beneath the open sky, full of broken stairways. There was however an archway to an intact staircase, one that led to an upper floor of the ruins that had remained standing. Each of them looked uncertainly up the darkened passage.
"Do you think it is safe?" Asked Zelda.
"I don't know… I guess let's see." Link answered, taking the girl's hand as they began to climb the flight of steps.
The rooms above were lit by the morning sky through the perforated walls and ceiling. Tiny plants had begun to spring up through the weathered stone tile, some bearing white, bell-shaped flowers as Link and the princess made their way through the ruin. The travelers climbed a short staircase into another room, full light streaming in from the fallen ceiling. The chamber was nearly as large as the room on the first floor had been. Still in some places along what once had perhaps been windows stood enormous winding columns. Others lay like granite logs beneath the sky. They each wandered about, looking in wonder around the decaying chamber. As Zelda explored the far side of the room, she stepped over something odd embedded in the stone tile. It bore, to her surprise, the Hyrulean crest.
"Link! come and look at this. I think it may be a door." She called.
Standing over the shiny aperture, the both of them noticed now that it was not a door, but rather a seal. It appeared to be made of some kind of glass. Zelda sat beside it, pressing her hands to the strangely cool surface.
"I… I put this here… I just do not know how I did it, or how to unlock it." She said, followed by a long, weary sigh.
Link knelt beside her. Thinking back to Hylia's words, he pulled the little flute from his pouch and handed it to Zelda.
"What is this for?" She asked.
Link looked to her.
"I think it's how we break the seal… you know that song you showed me, the lullaby?"
Zelda nodded.
"Try playing it backwards." Said Link.
Zelda raised an eyebrow as she brought the instrument to her lips. After a few stray notes, the melody began to take shape. It was choppy and awkward at first, but as the girl played the music began to flow from her fingertips as if she had known the tune all her life. It was a song that had lingered on the edge of her dreams since she could remember. As the melody filled the desolate antechamber, the seal began to shine and before their eyes it dissolved into fragmented light, leaving a hole before them in the floor. Zelda sat dumbfounded for a moment, flooded with familiarity.
"I have heard that song… I would never have guessed..." She lifted her eyes to the boy's.
"How did you know?" She asked, her voice hushed.
Link shrugged, a tired smile pulling his lips. He gently took the flute from her. He slid the interment into the pouch and hopped down into the dark, landing upon a platform that looked like it had been bricked over for countless centuries. He took Zelda by the waist and helped her down beside him. Eyes adjusting to the dimness, the two looked about the strange alcove. On all sides, the small room beneath the floor appeared to be nothing but walls of shattered brick and piles of rubble, save for the odd statue on the far wall. Curious, with Zelda at his side Link moved closer to the round stone atop a pedestal. He gently brushed the dust from it, tracing the eye-like rune etched into the strangely smooth surface with his fingertips. Zelda knitted her brows as she laid her hand against the blue, egg-shaped statue.
"...Strange... it feels as though it's sleeping." She said.
The boy lit a match for the oil lamp at his belt, examining the eerily shining statue.
"What is it?" He asked.
Zelda inched forward.
"I saw an illistation of this in the Sky Book... it's called a time stone." She replied, her nerves alight with the buzzing aura of the stone.
"How does it work?" Said Link beside.
The princess shook her head.
"I don't know."
Thinking for a moment, the boy drew his blade and took a step backward. Zelda looked to him in confusion.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"I don't know, maybe it'll react to the sword." He replied.
He struck the stone with a light clank and both of them looked on as the statue blinked into a spreading blue light. As the room illuminated, both Link and Zelda stood in astonishment as time bent around them. The walls seemed to fall away. Instead of the low, rough stone ceiling that had been above their heads seconds ago there was now a high wooden one. They seemed to be standing on a staircase within the blue halo that spread across the room, all outside of it seemed to turn once more into flaking brick. The room below curved into a long hallway. Zelda took a step, pausing as her eyes moved cautiously about her surroundings.
"Link… It… it's the school... I must have seen it in my dreams hundreds of times." She said.
The boy nodded, uttering an amazed chuckle.
"So have I..." He said and the two of them moved forward into the dark.
It seemed different somehow, then they had dreamt it. Suspended in time, all life seemed to have been removed from the place, the colors muted and the air stale; just a shadow now of what was. They passed the doors of dorm rooms, ajar, their contents empty. Both of their minds flooding with the names and faces of people dead for thousands of years. Zelda stopped abruptly in front of a certain door. She stood there for a moment, laying phantom memories against each other and then she stepped inside with Link close behind. He looked about the room. There was hardly anything left there save the frame of a bed, a chair and a small tin chest in the corner. Zelda stopped, struck with sudden realization.
"This must have been your room once… that's why…" She paused, kneeling on the ground near the chest.
Very gently, she lifted the lid and from within it she pulled the last pages, bound in cloth; a torn sleeve. The sleeve of his school uniform, the one she had promised to sew back on for him hundreds of years ago.
"That is why I hid them here…" She whispered, holding the final pages to her chest.
Link knelt down beside her. Zelda looked as if she would cry for a moment as she looked up at him.
"It's kind of funny that we would end up back here. Essentially... this is where we first met…" Said Link.
He looked around the dark, bare room and for a moment he thought he could recall it exactly how it was. Something crossed his mind then. Something he knew he'd forgotten long ago and yet it was somehow always there, clear as yesterday.
"I just remembered something..." He said, turning to the girl at his side.
She lifted her gaze to his, her head spinning, her eyes glistening in the dimness.
"…When I was younger, I used to have a dream about this little girl who would show up in my doorway at night... a little blonde girl... She always seemed so scared...sometimes she and I would walk to the the edge of an island...where we'd look down into the clouds. " He said.
Zelda smiled.
"Did she tell you about her nightmares?"
Link moved closer to her, their shoulders lightly touching.
"I think so... I saw older versions of her too. She would knock...and I would see her standing there... I could never make out her face and she talked to me in a language I didn't understand, but I always remembered her hair...and I knew somehow that she was really important to me." He said softly.
She laughed in spite of the tumult spiraling within her
"We must have been close that time... that was why the hero went to the surface...to find the spirit maiden..." She said.
They looked at each other for a time then, in the skeleton of the place that had been their home so many lifetimes ago. For a moment, each of them felt the soft, cold breeze through the window; saw the yellow candlelight on the walls illuminating a shelf of school books and wooden figures. Link turned to her, glancing down into her bleary eyes for what could have been the billionth time.
"I don't think every one of our lives is full of tragedy… some of them are… but not all. Regardless, it's good to be alive, to know you... despite what happens... I want you to understand that, Zelda…" Said Link.
She looked back at him, her gaze waxed over. She let her head fall against his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his waist and he laced his fingers at her back, resting the side of his head in her hair. They stayed that way for a while, each feeling fate deferred in the moment. They were safe there together, in the ghost of a long ago time. Once they moved, one they let go of each other, the unknown events of this life would fall back into motion and time would flow on unhindered. They would have no choice but to move with it. She held him a little tighter before she pulled away from him and stood, clutching the final pages to her chest.
"...We should go." Said Zelda.
Link got to his feet beside her.
"Yeah… we probably should." He said.
The two of them made their way back through the ruins, their inner selves quiet as each felt the other at their side. The past, present and future seemed to bleed together now as they found themselves again on the vast stone floor, the wind catching their hair as they hopped down into the field. They could see Iloudin on the horizon gliding, graceful and shimmering through the clouds, among what was left of the floating rock in the morning sky. She caught sight of them and came to land quite close to the boy and the princess, the gust of her wings nearly blowing the both of them off of their feet. As they turned to go, Zelda took one last look behind her at the crumbled palace. In its highest alcoves, she thought she saw a pair of enormous birds roosting atop a great carved eye, though she couldn't be sure. The flight down was somber. Link and Zelda sat laced together much as they had that morning, but now they rode with the knowledge that their search was over. There was nothing left but war and the final confrontation that lied in wait. By mid-day, the dragon landed in the gully before the pass and the two of them got down, looking up into her primordial face once more.
"Farewell, knight… your grace… your endeavor is a noble one." She said, and with that she took off for the peak once more.
With daylight burning, the two hurried down the path to the horses. Quickly saddling their mounts, Zelda and the boy sped down the rocky trail; bound for Kakariko with the completed Sky Book in tow.