Chapter 22: Tales of the Gerudo King of Evil
Link and Midna emerged from the prison and continued through a series of steps along the outside perimeter of the Mirror Chamber. From what Link remembered upon viewing this section from the dunes, they were circling about the exterior of a coliseum structure. He could see the desert and the encampment below through the breaks in the stone where the archways were located. But he did not linger on the sight, stepping over missing stones carefully. Once they reached the end of the steps, they turned inward to the left. And enclosed, circling aisle led back along the same path; however, it did not recede downward. Instead—as Link and Midna discovered—it led to an open arena.
Six grand columns spread symmetrically along the topmost level reached toward the heavens. Each was capped by towering golden rods that held what Link had come to realize was the royal family's crest at the top. The eagles of each pillar held a stone disc within their wings, all carved differently. Some of them were cracked with age, but their mysticism remained. Link's attention was drawn to the white chains leading downward from the base of each gold spire. They connected at a central point within the chamber, elevating a massive black slab of stone. Midna's interest, however, had caught the glint that shined at the summit of a dais in the center of the arena.
As Midna started for the stone platform, ascending its stairs as Link noticed the sparkle that had drawn her in. Link pursued her, even more tentative at the thought of travelling to the Twilight Realm in his condition.
When he heard Midna gasp, he had just stepped onto the base of the stairs. Alerted to possible danger, Link drew out a dagger and raced up to the top of the platform. Yet there were no threats to be found, and—barely any mirror...
The mirror sat comfortably in its perch, but its shimmering surface had been severed. A large chunk of it remained, but at least three-fourths of its silver had been cracked away. There were no slivers of glass upon the dais, no trace of what had become of the missing sections. Midna now sat at the base of the mirror, staring up at it with a hate-filled eye. Desperation crept into her gaze, and Link understood how she felt.
With the mirror broken, they could not travel the void that would bring them into her realm. Not only could they not pursue Zant...
Midna could likely never return to her home.
Just as Link sheathed his dirk, a glowing brightness began to shine down upon them. With sunrise still hours away, he grew puzzled and gazed upward. There above him and Midna, standing upon the crest directly before them, was a white figure. Its body was cloaked in a very faint golden gleam, heavy robes billowing from its frame. Five other bodies appeared above their respective spires. The only distinction between them was the soft color that radiated from their illuminated white bodies and their masks. Red, green, blue, violet, and orange.
Midna finally looked up at them when collective voices spoke, trying to separate her anger from her curiosity. "A dark entity lurks in the twilight. It houses an evil power."
"You who are guided by fate. You who possess the crest of the goddesses…. Hear us," the red-tinted form pleaded in a deep voice, Darunia's voice.
A firm voice boomed from the glimmering violet shape, its hand resting over its chest, "At the command of the goddesses, we sages have guarded the Mirror of Twilight since ancient times."
"You seek it," the softer tone of the emerald seemed to whisper in Saria's voice, "but the Mirror of Twilight has been fragmented by mighty magic."
The next—outlined by an orange hue—raised its arms wide, and its majestic voice added: "That magic is a dark power that only he possesses..."
Link and Midna turned to the last of these ancient sages, supposing that somehow their thoughts were intertwined, their memories of the times long past mingled together. The golden sage's head was bowed, as if lamenting the times of past. With two wicked words, its strong voice sent chills up Link's already aching back. "Ganondorf Dragmire."
Their voices quieted to hums, Link tried to digest what it was exactly that these beings were telling him. Crest of the goddesses, Link thought. His left hand seemed to burn in their presence and the mention of the creators—either that or the numbness in his broken appendage was demanding his attention. Sages? Protectors? Who were these beings? And who was this Ganondorf? The name seemed strangely familiar to him, like remembering the sensation of a dream without being able to recall its events.
Link posed his question to the mystical sages.
"He was the leader of the Gerudo who invaded Hyrule in the hopes of establishing dominion over the Sacred Realm little over one hundred years ago," the orange one began. "He was known as the Gerudo King of Evil, an evil-magic wielder renowned for his ruthlessness. But he was blind..."
The amethyst sparkle continued. "In all of his fury and might, he was blind to any danger, and thus was exposed, subdued, and brought to justice."
"Yet," the weary tone of the golden figure breathed, "by some divine prank, he, too, had been blessed with the chosen power of the gods."
This news startled Link. How many times had he been called Hero chosen by the gods...? Now this man, this demon of a thief, had been chosen for divine powers? How could a heart so apparently foul be granted such a gift?
"My duty was to execute the demon," the voice of the body cloaked in gold echoed. "His body pierced with the blade of the sages, but ... the Power he held grew strong again, and he lashed out against the predecessors of my fellows and conquered Hyrule."
"When he was defeated by the Hero of Time, we called upon the power of the Mirror," Darunia recollected, "to banish him to the Twilight Realm."
"And perhaps that evil power has now been passed on to Zant," Saria pondered aloud.
Midna sat beside the mirror, barely paying any mind to the sages now. "You're just now figuring out where Zant got his power? It's far too late." Her tone accused them of their ignorance. Link turned to her, questions within his silent gaze, astounded that she apparently had knowledge of all these facts.
Link remembered how similar the blades of Zant and the Death Sword had been, and he had concluded that the soulless beings infesting the grounds were widely spoken of in her world, the netherworld ... the Twilight Realm. He had understood how Midna could have had knowledge of their kind ... but to know of the King of Evil these sages spoke so carefully and concernedly of... What other secrets did Midna hide from him?
Link sank to his knees, lost in thought, trying everything to keep him from lingering on his pulsating wrist and shoulder.
"But..." another voice—that of the orange sage—resumed, "only the true leader of the Twili can utterly destroy the Mirror of Twilight. Zant could merely break it into pieces."
A true mark of a usurper. Some things would always be denied to such greedy individuals.
Link saw a frown appear across Midna's slanted lips. Deciphering her thoughts, however, was an entirely different matter.
"Once touched by Zant's magic," the golden sage said, breaking through Link's musings, "the Mirror of Twilight broke into four fragments, two of which even now lie hidden across the land of Hyrule. And the third, in the Dragon Realms."
Hidden... So, this truly is not the end of my journey. Yet again I must set off. The sages' words filled Link with a kind of sorrow. All that he had been through had been to reach this moment, and now ... to finally stand at the gate into the Twilight Realm and be unable to travel any farther... A hollow pit formed inside of his stomach. The people of Hyrule would have to suffer even longer as they waited for Link to find the missing pieces of the mirror. But how would he even continue in this state? He could feel his blood still draining from his shoulder, but if he applied pressure to it ... Midna would realize the full extent of his pain.
Though, was his pride so unstable that he could not even appear justifiably vulnerable to the only friend he had at the moment?
The collective hum of the sages woke Link once more to the present circumstances. "You who have been sent by the goddesses. Gather the three pieces and enter here once again. But beware. A dangerous power resides in those fragments."
As their voices receded into the darkness, all but one of their bodies slowly faded as well, becoming one with the dimension in which they dwelled once more, leaving the one bathed in the blue aura. The Sage descended from its pillar and stood in front of Link. Its robe slowly changed form, as if the wearer was changing. The sage lowered its hood to reveal that it was Ruto. She placed the sword that Link gave her in his hand. "You might need this," she informed. "Thank you for letting me use it."
Link looked down, eyeing the ground a little to interestedly as he thought over these new tidings. Perhaps it was this wondering gaze that drew Midna's fullest attention.
"So, Link. It looks like we're off to gather pieces of the mirror now," she said, resentment clearly definable within her tone. She pushed herself up from her seat and started down the stairs.
Perhaps Link had been expected to follow, but he could not bring himself to even lift his head.
Midna stopped to look back at him when she realized his footsteps did not pursue her. "Come on, Link. Don't tell me we can enter by night but not leave by it." But her frustration died away when he did not react to her words. He did not even shift. The void stare in his eyes drew her attention then, realizing that even if he had heard her, he could not bring himself to a response.
"Link?" She started back for him.
When he finally spoke, she was only a few paces from him. "I thought ... this would be the end of my journey..."
"Well, so did I," she returned. "You don't see me stopping though, do you?" Link tilted his head away slightly. She recognized that he had been slightly insulted or hurt at her remark, and only then did she realize that she needed to work on her conversational skills. She had never done much in the way of comforting others in her life, and it seemed that her lack of experience was now taking its revenge on her. Everything had always been her way.
"I don't know if I can go on," Link admitted quietly. Midna just listened. "I feel like I am getting weaker. With every battle, my injuries grow more severe."
"Bones can be mended," she tried. As this mirror needs to be, she finished in her head, mentally slapping herself for such a one-sided thought.
"Midna, this is my sword arm," he said, indicating his broken wrist. "It will take weeks— perhaps months even—to heal properly. I'm not as practiced with my right."
"Then we'll take a short rest—"
"A short rest isn't—" Link's breath stopped short, his mild aggravation at his situation triggering his shoulder wound to seethe with a sharp pain. "Unless by some miracle—" he tried, but that, too, trailed away as his breath caught.
"Link, what's—?" She and Ruto noticed how he had stopped his hand from moving to his left, and realized that he was hiding something. She took the last steps toward him, and that was when she saw the red stain beginning to overtake his cloak. Link met her gaze when she looked up to him His face was ashen and his eyes drooped against his will. She went to uncover his shoulder, but his hand shot straight for it and stopped her.
"It's nothing," he assured.
"A puddle of blood is nothing now?" Midna bore her tooth when she frowned at him. "We need to get back, get you fixed up."
"To the SandWing fortress," Ruto exclaimed. "It's much closer than Castle Town and my powers don't allow me to teleport all of us. Besides, Gerudo Town lies in its shadow."
The pain in his wrist had become quite numb now, as had his shoulder ... but he could still feel how both were sapping him of energy. "Those fragments could be anywhere," he said at last.
Midna took a moment to consider what she could say to convince him that this was the only way to truly defeat Zant ... and the master of his power, Ganondorf. If she was to succeed in ripping them both from the thrones of the light and twilight, then she needed Link. Needed his courage in the face of battle. Needed the courage that still resided somewhere in his heart.
She could only think of one thing to say.
"What is the one vow you swore to keep?" she asked, and Link focused on her tiny frame, staring into her red eye. "If you falter ... what did you say you would do?"
Link's gaze turned inward in that moment, and Midna could see his mind working, could see the fire in his soul breathing naturally again.
Holding tight to his forearm, he pushed up on his knees, standing tall once again before Midna. She hovered at his side, pleased that she had helped Link keep his oath. There were people counting on them to cast away the dark evil clouding the world ... both their realms.
Link started down the steps then, looking back briefly at his imp companion. How you've changed, Midna...
She caught sight of his feeble smile before he turned away again. Content with herself but also puzzled at how awkward their conversation had made her feel … she moved on silently behind him.
Night had escaped to bring the sun, and Link battled through the intense heat of the beams and the dry sand, the Goron Armor cooling him down. Midna hovered alongside him, and though affected by the heat, her senses had not yet been lost to it. Ruto seemed to not be affected by the heat in her robe. However, the extreme warmth had begun to tug at Link's eyes, blurring their vision. The amount of blood that had escaped him since his battle with Stallord was truly beginning to have an effect on him. With the water now depleted, Link's lips had begun to crack, for he had been walking steadily for nearly an hour with no promise of a cool liquid to soothe him. His breaths soon came in rasps, the pain in his shoulder worsening.
But—he clasped his hand to it and continued on.
He could remember the heat of the Goron Mines clearly now and how the constant throb of the warmth about him had seemed to crush in upon him. His skin smoldered under the sun just as it had then within the cavernous mines, but this time—even compared to his first trek through the desert—the heat attacked him more brutally.
His mind was beginning to fog, the haze at the corners of his eyes sinking inward upon the entire plain of his vision. Link halted for a moment to catch his breath, stumbling a bit as his feet came to rest. He panted in a wave of warmed air. What he would not give for a drink….
Link looked ahead and in all directions he could see no marker as to whether he was getting closer to his destination. Sure, the prison was fixed miles and miles away but he could not surmise if he still walked in the correct direction toward the SandWing fortress. Squinting, he cast his gaze ahead. No towers or dragons assailed his vision.
We should at least be able to see them by now... Link calculated. The thought of having lost his way bit at his muscles hard. If he had indeed gotten turned around in the desert, there was no means of reacquiring his sense of direction. An unsettling discomfort lodged itself into his chest that tried to tell him that he was going to die out there. No, I will find my way. Just ahead. Link continued to repeat. Just over the next dune...
He placed a foot forward to renew his pace, but as he did so, his leg gave from underneath him. He crashed down softly in the sand, rolling off the dune to the side.
"Link!" Midna swam through the air after his tumbling body as Ruto followed.
His body came to a halt at the base of the large dune, gritty sand covering the length of him. Midna approached him slowly, concern dripping across her features. "Link?" She stood at the side of his body, which lay facedown in the golden pebbles. She pushed at his body with all her strength and managed to flip him onto his side. Though his body remained still, his eyes were open slits, unfocused.
"Link? Are you alright?" she tried.
His answer came in a mumble but could find no strength to repeat it. As his eyes closed against his will, the last thing he could hear was the distorted tone of Midna's voice. "Link ... you have to get up..."
Darkness had clotted the sky ... had clustered around him and made everything else slip away. Yet, this black had an unnaturally sharp stickiness to it, as if only the heat of the desert remained. All else seemed to matter little now.
Link opened his eyes—barely able to open them a crack—when he heard something move. The blurred image before him resembled a face. "Midna?" His voice crackled. The visage, though, did not have the same distinctive features as the imp or Ruto. He soon recognized a human skin tone and flowing, silvery green hair.
His eyes adjusted to the harsh darkness, and he could distinguish the appearance of a woman above him, defined by the perfect feminine curves. A beautiful sash dressed her thighs and the long tresses of shining emerald hair covered her chest. Wings that seemed of the purest silk, so delicate, expanded behind her, layered in so many angles that it was as if their length enveloped her and Link within another world entirely.
Have I died? Link asked himself. Am I with the gods now?
The woman sat next to him then, her wrap and wings billowing outward from her movement. The bangle upon her arm jingled when she lifted her hand to his forehead.
"Rest your weary heart, traveler," her angelic sing-song voice offered. "You will be at the Gerudo village soon enough."
Either having succumbed completely to his exhaustion or having been soothed by her melodic, voice, Link's eyes once again closed, and he knew nothing more of the harsh desert he had fallen victim to.
When he next opened his eyes, Link mistook the harsh light that bombarded them as that of the sun. Immediately, a blurry image entered his sight, moving rapidly. Mumbled tones rang through his ears and threatened to steal his sense, the panging of the noise resounding deep within his head. But then—just as quickly as it had attacked him—the sounds and sight vanished completely.
His eyes began to focus, taking in crude objects that he could make out by their hazed outlines. A dresser in the corner, a chair sitting near to his horizontal body, and an unveiled window. He lifted his right hand to cover his eyes from the blinding spectacle, mind pulsing. He looked down to the sheets blanketing him. Blood stains were plenty upon their once crisp texture, which made his vision dart directly toward his bare shoulder—skin that no longer remained marked by the battle with Stallord. Bandages dyed by the same scarlet hue were bundled up in a wash basin in the floor under the window.
Yet just then the form of a woman strode into where he lay confused. She wore a skirt that was the same color as Mipha's sash and golden shoulder armor with a matching breastplate of Gerudo origin.
"Good to see that you have finally woke up," she said. "You've been out since Ruto brought you here. The guards at the gate would have forced her to drag you to the SandWing fortress if Moonwatcher and I didn't arrive."
"Moonwatcher?" Link asked, still overcoming the hazy whiteness that now receded from his eyes.
She sat down next to him. "That's right. Moonwatcher and I convinced them to let you in, and you were covered in blood!"
How long was I out? he mumbled within his mind. It had been day when he had collapsed in the sand, but it had also been morning when Moonwatcher had helped Ruto at the village gates. His mind was too fogged to work out the days for himself, so he left the question for the moment. There was only one person who would have been able to give him an accurate answer.
"So, were any doctors here?" Link asked, and though he did not exactly like the idea of such a grumpy old man treating him, he needed a convincing explanation as to why his wound was no longer present.
"Why would you need a doctor?" she asked. "You might have had all that blood covering you, but when Ruto looked you over, there weren't any injuries on you."
Taken aback at this unreasonable statement, Link looked to his left wrist—but found that he could once again move all the fingers without any flare of pain within his nerves. Confusion had begun to overpower him, and the woman stared at him with a suspicious yet curious gaze. Without anything to explain how his injuries had been healed—and not particularly wishing to waste time in telling Telma how he had been wounded in the first place—Link pushed aside the thoughts and focused on the present.
"Where are my things?" Link asked groggily, rubbing a hand against his head.
The woman pointed toward an assortment of items. "Your weapons are there," she indicated where his swords, shield, and bow leaned against the opposite wall, surrounded by his other possessions. "And your clothes are on the dresser. They've been washed and patched, and—"
"Who—?" Link's question was cut off by the onset of another throb of pain in his head, but the woman understood quite clearly.
"Ruto, did," she smiled. "I think she felt responsible for more or less guiding you into that deathtrap of a desert. She fixed your clothes, washed you up, and she's been up to check on you nearly every half hour since she brought you here."
"So ... she was the one up here—before?"
"No, that was Nabooru," she said with a short chuckle. "Trying to be helpful."
When Link tried sitting up, the woman gently shoved him back down. "No. You still need a little rest. But when you get to feeling better, you get dressed and come down for something to eat before you leave. I daresay you haven't eaten well in the days you were out there." She gave him a pat on the shoulder, and she was off toward the doorway. Though, she peeked back in a moment later, and called over to him. "Oh, and Link? Be sure to thank Ruto and Moonwatcher, okay? She's been looking after you quite a lot."
Link nodded. "Who are you?" he asked.
The woman nodded. "My name is Urbosa, young warrior," she replied.
Link's eyes widened in realization. "Daruk mentioned you back in Castle Town."
Urbosa smiled. "So you have met Daruk."
Link scratched his head before saying anything else. "Since you mentioned Moonwatcher, how are things going in the NightWing and RainWing villages?" he asked. "I haven't seen anyone from there recently. Did Moonwatcher bring news?"
Urbosa frowned. "Queen Glory was murdered by some of those monsters that invaded Hyrule Castle," she replied. "Orders from their king."
"Zant?" Link asked.
"I don't know," she answered sadly. "Might be Ganondorf, though." She thought for a moment. "Anyway, when Sunny heard the news, she had a hard time with coming to terms with it."
"That makes sense," Link acknowledged. "Sunny and Glory were childhood friends."
Urbosa nodded. "Since you're awake, once you get dressed, Moonwatcher can take you to Castle Town on her way back to Faron."
Just then; Auru, Vaati, and Rusl burst in, looks of worry on their faces.
"Where have you been?" they asked.
"I fell unconscious on my way here," Link replied. "Ruto's idea. My arm was severely injured and I wouldn't have made it back to Castle Town."
"Oh," Auru sighed. "At least you got here safely."
"Thanks to Ruto and Moonwatcher," Link added. "I'll meet up with you downstairs."
They nodded and left—without returning moments later for another word.
It was that instant that Midna peeled herself from the shadow in the corner of the room. Something within Link was glad to see her alive and well, and he had to admit, he was getting rather attached to that crooked smiled she wore so often. "It's about time you woke up," she snorted.
Link hummed out his mind's bleariness through a moan. "How long was I out?"
"Nearly two days." At his expression, she explained. "We got into tow yesterday."
"And my wounds?" he asked, after settling his mind.
Midna paused, her eyes fogging instantly, but within the same moment she overcame whatever uncertainty there had been in her. "Your miracle happened." His puzzled look demanded a more thorough explanation. "It was a woman, a fairy."
A fairy? In the middle of the desert? Link mused. He remembered the fables he had read as a boy, about magical fairies that enchanted some parts of the world. But from all the drawings he had seen of their mythical kind had exposed them as little balls of fluff with wings to the naked eye. The only mentions of a feminine figure in the wayfaring tales he had heard had been linked to the Great Fairies, angelic women said to be servants to the queen of their kind, and the supposed sighting of what an older man had called the Fairy Queen, an angelic woman with power beyond the Great Fairies. In the old man's story it had been written that he had been injured and dying of thirst—when a woman had appeared and healed him.
Link waggled his fingers, a slight grin on his face. He did not need any more rest.
He rose from his bed and began dressing. He paused after he had slipped into his leggings, noticing the stitches and the absence of blood and dirt on his tunic and white shirt. The garbs had seen so much war, and he wondered if one day he, too, would pass on these clothes to a new hero. He frowned at first but a smile burned through his discomforting thoughts of future catastrophes. The days would pass as they were meant to. As for now … he had to live his own.
After having pulled on his hat, clothes and chainmail hugging him tightly, he re-equipped his armors and weapons and donned his cloak once more. He turned to a patiently waiting Midna who hovered near the window, peering out its open glass and listening to the murmurs of the collective voice of the crowds in the town. She noticed his gaze and understood the meaning within his eyes. They were ready to head out in search of the missing mirror pieces. She hopped into Link's shadow. The metal slabs stapled to the soles of his boots clanked as he headed out of the room, covering his forehead with the hood of his cloak. He could only hope that Auru or any of the others had not seen the faint mark of the beast upon his skin.
When Link entered the mess hall below, he was greeted with the sight of the NightWing, Moonwatcher, and her IceWing husband, Winter, talking to Auru and the others at a table. In the distance, Urbosa noticed his presence and approached him. "What are you doing out of bed already?"
"Really, I'm fine," he assured, sidestepping her bulk. If he were to receive any kind of information—possible places to search—he would need to ask the Group some hopefully not so conspicuous questions.
Urbosa narrowed her gaze. She was not entirely convinced, but he did seem to be all right for the most part.
Rusl was the first to acknowledge Link's presence, offering him a chair. "Link, good to see you about. I'll get you some food."
Glad for the offer, Link seated himself with the other members opposite Auru and tried his best to stay the hungry growl of a belly that had not eaten properly in several days. It seemed that the old man was the only one among them that thought Link's half-hidden visage bore scrutiny. Yet, if he knew the reason for this, he said nothing on the matter. Instead, he directed his conversation to the desert. "Tell me then, Link ... did you find what you were looking for in the Arbiter's Grounds—that prison?"
Why was it whenever Link was asked a question of his travels he always felt compelled to either refuse answer or reply in vague details? Was it that he did not trust those who questioned him ... or that he simply did not wish to see them harmed by the information?
Link tried to ignore this of himself, though. Auru and the others were of the same cause—to help banish the evil in Hyrule. Would it not harm them to not know the details? If they continued stumbling blindly on, without an inclination as to what was truly going on...
Link finally answered—just as Rusl placed a plate of assorted food before him. "Yes."
Auru's slouched posture suddenly became quite the opposite. He leaned against the back of his chair, taking in Link's shaded eyes. "Did you use it?"
Link took a small sip of water from the mug Telma slid toward him—she taking up a stance leaning against the wall as Rusl sat back down. "It has been fragmented."
"But you said that this mirror was protected, Auru," interrupted Vaati, having been immersed in the studies of his spellbook until now.
Link took a bite of a lump of bread, chewing and swallowing it gratefully. He supposed they had all spoken further about the desolate prison—the Arbiter's Grounds—after Link had bade them farewell.
"Yes, this news surprises and concerns me," Auru returned. "The six sages that watch over it once served the royal family. They were once appointed as tutors to the young Princess Zelda. It was from them that I first heard tales of the accursed mirror."
"There are still six sages," Link corrected after having bitten a slice of cheese, and he suddenly received everyone's full attention. "Two of them, however might be people that I know. And we all know the third." Link glanced toward Ruto.
Auru leaned in on the table. "What?" His eyes were wide, shock spread throughout their dim shine. "You might know who two of them are?"
Link swallowed and drank down another sip. "Yes. Two of them might be Saria of the Kokiri and Darunia of the Gorons. The sages appeared before me, and told me—" He paused, unsure if he should reveal their words.
"What did they say?" Rusl inquired.
Link looked round at the others in the Group. Vaati was drinking in every word now—possibly for the intents to write down the details of the conversation later. Rusl waited patiently with unnerved expressions. By the appearance of Ruto—her crossed arms and comfortable posture—one would think that either her interest or trust in what Link said wavered.
It was then Link decided to give them truth. He needed their cooperation. He needed whatever information they had or could obtain. Beating around the honest reality of what was happening would not move things along in their favor. He had to acquire the missing pieces of the mirror before anything irreversible happened to their world and that of the twilight.
"What do you know of a man called Ganondorf?" Link asked bluntly, staring straight back into Auru's eyes unflinchingly.
The question seemed to silence the entire bar, for though the merry townsfolk in the other room still spoke, drank, and sang, it was as if the name itself had sucked all life from the Group and Link's ears. It was some time before Auru spoke, stammering. "The sages told you of this man?"
"Once a king of a band of thieves, a man who had tried to take the Sacred Realm for himself," Link reiterated. "Yet a man blessed by the gods' power and ruled Hyrule for seven years before his defeat at the hands of the Hero of Time." He cocked his head. "What can you tell me of him?"
Urbosa and another Gerudo woman had come to the table, standing at an angle in which she could clearly see the other occupants as well. This conversation was not one they wanted any Hylian soldiers overhearing.
Auru put his elbows upon the tabletop, he leaned his chin against a set of fingers, his eyes deep in thought and memory. "I have not heard that name spoken aloud for some time. I suppose most Hyruleans know fragments of the stories, yet I shall tell you what you wish to know. But—" he focused on Link's visage. "—with the mere mention of his name, I can already understand now that his time is again coming. Will you tell us what you know then?"
Link nodded after a moment, and Auru mimicked the gesture, leaning in further. Urbosa and the other woman cleared their throats.
"I think it's a better idea for Nabooru and I to tell you about him," Urbosa stated.
"With a little bit of Ruto's help," her companion, Nabooru, added. Nabooru's voice was identical to that of one of the sages.
"He was once king of the Gerudo tribe, inheriting the title only because he was the only male," Urbosa stated. "You see, we, the Gerudo, populate the desert and are a race of only women."
"Every hundred years one boy was born, and that boy would be named king," Nabooru added. "During Ganondorf's time he wished to liberate us from the desert we call home, though we didn't want it. We think that he believed that all the wind brought to our home was death. Once he learned of the existence of the Triforce, he became selfish, greedy ... lusting for its power for that purpose.
"All this happened little over one hundred years ago, a time wherein a boy had risen from the forests to vanquish the evil would turn Hyrule into. The boy and the princess of the land at that time tried to beat Ganondorf to his one true desire. The Sacred Realm and with it … the Triforce. But in trying to stop Ganondorf, he had received a fragment of the Triforce. The Power of the goddess Din has marked him since that day. The Evil King had entered the Sacred Realm to find the other two, but he didn't find them. Instead, he found the empty husk of the legendary Spyro and corrupted his heart into the dark counterpart of the Hero of Time, Dark Link.
"The boy? He had been sealed away within the Chamber of Sages, for he had been too young to become the Hero of Time. After seven years, the Sage of Light, Rauru, released him and the Hero entered a world greatly changed. He brought an end to all the monsters and evils that had infested Hyrule and awakened new sages, including myself and Ruto. After challenged the King of Evil. Once the king had been subdued, the sages locked Ganondorf away within the Realm of Giratina, never to escape into the world again."
Auru looked at his wrinkled hands.
"The Realm of Giratina?" Link's question stumbled from his mouth. "But—but the sages said that they banished him to the Twilight Realm—the netherworld and home of Giratina." Auru gazed toward the youth again, his eyes fraught with dismay.
The older man's face sank, wrinkles seeming to consume his features. "So, there are many names for that place, it seems."
"Ganondorf is the source of the power of Zant, the usurper king of the twilight," informed Link. "Zant may have been the one to cast the shadows across Hyrule, but it has been this King of Evil from the beginning. I have to get to the Twilight Realm ... and silence them both."