The biggest fire Link had ever seen roared angrily before him and surrounded him on all sides. It weaved around him convulsively, like a giant howling fire dragon, and shot through his chest. He beat his hands at his clothes to put out the flames, but found there were none on him.
He circled to his left and saw a dark castle burning to the ground. Screams for help rose from behind its walls and thick smoke billowed into the sky, painted black against the growing fire. Link looked on in horror as the looming castle was devoured by the inferno.
He turned to run, but found himself face to face with Lon Lon ranch, consumed by flames. Horses ran wildly away from the ranch, running past him and nearly into him. He stared up at his home as it burned up before his eyes. He heard a familiar voice screaming in pain.
MALON!
He ran toward the house, but a jut of flames sprang up and blocked his path, and the ranch was engulfed in one huge swallow. Link fell to his knees with hot tears seeping down his cheeks, and watched as the flames died away. Not even a speck of ash was left of the ranch. No matter which direction he looked, there was nothing but darkness and silence.
This can't be real. It's just a dream. Nothing but a dream.
It isn't a dream.
Link smashed his hands against his face and cried. He cried until he heard thunder rolling. He moved his hands away from his face, and was cascaded by sudden falling rain. In his peripheral vision, he saw a flash of lightning crash in the sky, and realized he was standing before the same castle he'd watched go up in flames. It stood tall and erect, as though nothing happened. The clouds overhead slathered the sky a ghost's blue, and another bolt of lightning lit up the sky.
As Link stood before the castle's gates, he heard chains clanking together, and noticed the castle's drawbridge being lowered. It fell with a thud across the moat. No sooner did this happen did Link hear the clip-clopping of a horse's shoes on a stone road. A white mare appeared out of the thick rain and headed straight for the drawbridge, tearing forward at top speed. He barely managed to jump out of the way before the horse crossed the bridge and galloped away from the castle.
Mounted on the horse was a tall dark woman with silver hair, and a girl his age in a glowing violet dress. The girl looked back towards Link, and swung out her arm. He heard splashing behind him and turned to look in the moat, but couldn't see past the rain drops. When he looked harder, he saw something shining in the bottom.
A harsh whinny rang up behind him and made him jump. He whirled around and saw a huge black horse standing on the drawbridge, and sitting in the saddle was the biggest man Link had ever seen in his life; a dark man with broad shoulders and fire in his eyes. The man looked in the direction the white horse had gone, but then turned to face Link. Link froze to his spot, paralyzed by the man's direct gaze.
The man lifted his hand and a bright light appeared at his fingertips. Link only enough time to gasp before he was engulfed in light and excruciating pain. He cried out as he felt himself being thrown back.
"NO!"
Link was sitting straight up in bed, his arms extended out, a cold sweat across his face and rigid body. He gasped for breath, and found he could move again when he brought his open hands back, gazing at them.
He suddenly noticed Malon was clinging to the wall in front of him.
"Where am I?" he whispered.
"We're on Romani Ranch, remember?"
Cremia sat in a chair next to the bed and Romani knelt by his pillow. The sound of heavy footsteps thumped from the hall, and Fado appeared at the door.
"I heard shoutinh! Is he awake?"
"Not so loud," Cremia shushed him. "Yes, he's awake."
"What happened?" Link gasped.
"You fell into a trance," she explained.
Malon peeled herself off the wall and sat on the bed.
Link wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was exhausted and trembling violently.
"You'd better lay back down."
Cremia gently pushed him back into bed and pulled the covers he'd thrown off over him.
"What are we gonna do?" asked Fado. "Can we go to Ordon with him like that?"
Cremia didn't answer.
Link stared up at the ceiling and noticed the room was dimly lit. A weak orange glow peered in from the window.
"What time is it?"
"Almost sundown."
"But what about the ranch? I thought…"
"It's okay, Link. You're more important."
Cremia placed her hand on his forehead.
"You have a bit of a fever. I'll bring in some ice for you, okay? Get some rest. You two."
Malon and Romani sat at attention.
"Don't bother him too much."
Cremia stood up and walked out, with Fado following behind. When they left, Romani finally spoke. She pressed her hands into Link's pillow.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you. I was mad because you're so much better at shooting than me. I didn't mean to make you faint!"
"You yelled at me?" Link asked weakly. "When?"
"It was right before you collapsed," Malon said, moving closer. "Don't you remember?"
"No. The last thing I remember was looking into the fireplace, and then everything went black."
"Did you even hear Romani yell at you?"
"No. I'm sorry. I didn't know you were mad at me."
Link looked at Romani, and saw she was taken aback. Malon got off the bed and sat in Cremia's chair.
"Link. You saw something again, didn't you? Just like when you disappeared in the forest yesterday."
Link peered up at the ceiling again. All he could think about was…
"I saw a dark man with fire in his eyes. He burned down our ranch, and Hyrule Castle, too. With everyone inside."
Romani gasped, "What a horrible nightmare."
"Did you see anything else?" asked Malon.
"I can't remember," Link rubbed his head. "I'm so tired."
Cremia came back in with a wet towel and a bag of ice in her hand.
"Here. Keep it on your forehead."
She placed the towel down on Link's brow first, and then the bag of ice. He shivered under its chilly touch.
"It's cold," he moaned.
"I know, sweety. Try and get some rest. Girls, it's time to go."
"But-"
"No buts. Link needs rest."
The girls reluctantly left his bedside and followed Cremia out of the room.
"Please don't go," was what Link wanted to say, but had no energy left. He heard them ask something, and heard Cremia respond with, "We'll see how he is tomorrow morning, and go from there." He heard shuffling as they walked down the hall, and then silence.
His thoughts went back to the horrible man from his nightmare, and he was filled with more dread than he'd never experienced in his life. Nothing he'd ever experienced in his life had prepared him for the fear he felt when seeing him.
"Please don't let me see him again."
He turned to lie on his side, but the pack of ice rolled off and fell onto the floor. He reached down, picked it up, and put it back on his head. He rolled onto his back and didn't try changing position again.
"I don't ever want to see him. Even if I have to stay awake all night, I never want to see him again."
But he didn't stay awake. Instead, the orange light from the setting sun slowly faded away, taking Link's consciousness with it. He drifted into a dreamless sleep.
Link stirred, opened his eyes, and sat up in bed. He looked out the window beside the bed, and saw that night had fallen. The clouds covering the sky earlier had disappeared, and were replaced by twinkling stars that lit up the room.
On the nightstand next to his bed were the melted ice pack and towel. There wasn't much else in the room, though if there was, it was hiding in the shadows where the starlight couldn't reach. Link felt loads better, and was grateful. Though he was raw and sluggish for sleeping at an odd hour, he didn't feel hot or feverish anymore, and his shivering had dissipated. All in all, he was composed and rested.
He threw off the covers and placed both feet firmly on the ground. As he stood, he noticed something else on the nightstand; his ocarina. He picked it up and held under the light of the window. The pink-tan color gleamed silver in the starlight.
"Saria…"
Link stuffed the ocarina into his pocket and walked towards the door. He lifted his hand to turn the handle when it suddenly opened on its own. Link halted as the person on the other side tiptoed in.
"Link!" Romani spoke in a hushed tone. "Sorry, I hope I didn't wake you."
"It's okay, I was already awake."
"I came to check on you. How are you feeling?"
"A lot better, but why are you checking on me in the middle of the night?"
"To see if you were awake, and if you could help me."
"With what?"
"Them! The ones I told you about, remember?"
Link recalled as best he could the day before.
"Not really," he finally answered. "I don't think you told me anything about them. Just that they come and steal the cows every year."
"Really? I guess I forgot in the confusion. It doesn't matter now, since they'll be here soon. Will you help me?"
Romani laughed nervously.
"It's not like you have anything better to do now that you're awake, right?"
Not really, he thought. Since he was awake when no one else was, he want to see if he could talk to Saria. He hadn't planned on twiddling his thumbs and waiting for morning, but he knew that if someone or something was stealing the cows from Romani ranch, he had to do something, and Romani trusted him to help. Saria would just going to have to wait.
Before Link could give her his answer though, Romani began to cry.
"Huh?! What's wrong?"
"I can't do it by myself!" she sobbed. "Cremia has it hard enough, but she doesn't know anything about them."
"What do you mean?"
"I've tried telling her before, but she doesn't believe me, so I've been fighting them off every year when they come to the ranch as best as I can, but I'm just a kid! They get stronger every year, and I can't fight them anymore! If they take the cows, Cremia and I won't have a ranch anymore! We'll have no place to go!"
She grabbed his sweater and cried onto his shoulder. An occasional hiccup interrupted her blubbering speech.
"Please, Link! I need your help. I know we're both just kids, but if we fight them together, maybe they'll go away for good this time. Please help me."
Since nine year old boys usually possess no knowledge for how to comfort weeping ladies, Link did the only thing he could think of, which in his case was perfectly timed.
"I'll help you."
"What?" Romani stopped crying and looked up at him.
"I promise. I'll help you protect the ranch."
Romani, still clinging to his shirt, looked silently at him and waited for his words to absorb. Then, she shocked him by wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders and kissing him on the cheek, causing him to turn ruby red.
"Thank you Link! Thank you so much!"
Link stammered a bunch of nonsense before she released him and headed outside.
"Let's hurry. They'll be here soon."
Romani left the room and hurried down the hall, while Link followed behind quickly.
"Don't make a sound," she whispered. "We can't wake my sister, or she'll stop us before we can stop them."
They tiptoed across the main living room together, and Romani carefully opened the door. When its hinges squeaked, they stopped short.
"Do you think anyone-"
"Shh!"
They waited, but when they heard no tell-tale creak of the floor boards of an approaching interceptor, they swiftly pushed the door to keep it from creaking again, but left it open behind them as they left.
A warm breeze passed through the ranch from the west. The ground was still soaking wet from the rain, but not a single cloud remained in the sky. Link could see every detail of the ranch in the starlight. Even in the dark, he could see just how rundown the place really was.
"Malon was right," he thought. "They really do need help."
"This way," Romani breathed. She led Link to the entrance of the barn, but stopped short.
"Oh no!"
"What? What's wrong?"
"The other bow! We never picked it up!"
The events of the previous morning ran through Link's mind. He recollected Malon leaving the bow on the ground as she'd left to help Talon and Cremia. Link searched the ranch with his eyes, but saw no trace of the bow in the bush-ridden and tree-filled field.
"What do we do? We can't both protect the ranch with only one bow."
Romani looked down at the bow in her hand, clutched it tightly, then held it out to him.
"Here."
"What?"
"Link, you're the best archer I've ever seen, and certainly better than me. If anyone can hold them off, it's you. While you're taking care of them, I'll find the other bow, and come help as soon as I get it."
"But what are they? What am I even trying to stop?"
The breeze halted, and the ranch stilled as though time froze. A barely noticeable orb of bright yellow light fell from the heavens and plummeted to the earth. It looked as though it would fall with a clunk onto the ground, but stopped itself in midair. It hovered for a few moments, then began to whirl in the air all around the field. Link hadn't seen the orb of light, but Romani saw it immediately.
"There's no time, Link! They're coming right now!"
Link turned around and saw the orb a second before it disappeared and was replaced by the strangest creatures he had ever seen in his life.
"HOLY- What the heck are those?!"
"Don't let them get to the barn no matter what! Hurry!"
Without thinking, Link ripped the bow from Romani's hand.
"Take these, too! Hurry!"
Romani hastily removed the quiver from her shoulder and strapped it around his own shoulder. She took off for the center of the field, ignoring the creatures as she went, and knelt down in the grass, feeling around with her fingers.
The ghastly creatures took no notice of Romani and hovered steadily towards the barn. To Link, they looked like ghosts; big purple ghosts with sharp claws and black eyes. He didn't have time to get a good look at them, because they were already approaching the barn faster than he had anticipated. He ran while pulling an arrow out of the quiver.
One of Them had nearly approached the barn door when Link attacked it, shooting an arrow straight into its face. The purple beast reacted in horror to its wound, and exploded into a million vanishing pieces. Without stopping to watch, Link readied the bow and took off for the next alien invader. Twenty or so had infiltrated the ranch, and had their grotesque claws extended towards the barn. They hummed loudly, like angry hornets. Their buzzing hurt Link's ears.
Link sidestepped to his right and aimed an arrow at one that was approaching the barn from the east side. As soon as he fired, the freakish creature yelped out, and burst. He had only taken down the first two and was running towards the next one he saw when he heard the sound of a dog growling. The others were still a ways away, so he ran behind the barn to find the dog, but instead found himself face to face with one of Them, so close to the barn that it could reach out with its claw and touch the wall.
Link staggered back at the sight of it, then pulled an arrow out of the quiver and dealt with it the same way he'd dealt with the others. As soon as he did, he saw the terrier run past him, barking loudly as it went. Without thinking, he followed the dog as fast as he could, and it led him to the closest one. Thankfully it wasn't as close to the barn as the others had been, but was still too close for comfort. With a flick of his arm and wrist, Link pulled out an arrow, nocked it to the bow, and destroyed the ghostly being in the blink of an eye.
"This isn't so hard," he thought. "There's a lot of them, but they're aren't as fast as me. There's no way they'll get past me."
He called out to Romani, "Have you found the other bow yet?"
"Not yet!" She called back. "I'll let you know!"
Link looked out at the field to see where she was, and did a double-take. Twenty or so of them were in the field, the same number they'd started with.
"Where did they come from? I thought I killed them!"
"They don't die!" Romani shouted. "They keep coming back until morning! We have to keep fighting them until the sun rises!"
Link's heart sank in his chest. It had been no trouble taking the first three down, and killing all of them once would've been a good workout, but killing all them over and over until morning?! Just looking at the ghastly creatures made him exhausted.
"Couldn't you have told me that sooner?!"
"Just keep going! I promise I'll be there to help soon!"
Without a moment to waste, Link pulled himself together and formulated a plan as best as he could. He'd be at this for well over three hours, so the most important factor would be conserving his energy. He figured that as long as he stayed in front of the barn, and kept away the ones that got too close, then he wouldn't have to run around the entire field disposing of the others and wouldn't use up all his energy. It would keep the arrows he fired at a retrievable distance for when he ran out, and it would keep him close enough to the dog, so that when the one that spawned behind the barn got too close, its growling would alert him immediately. Link grit his teeth and set to work.
One of Them had moved around the side of the barn and towards the west wall. Link heard its droning over the others, faced it head-on, and destroyed it with a particularly sharp arrow. Without taking a breath, Link streaked to the other side of the barn and destroyed another one from thirty feet away. In the corner of his eye, one of them floated steadily for the barn door, so he whipped out an arrow and shot it down without moving from his spot. One more headed straight in his direction and was dealt with in the same way. Link hadn't noticed the one hovering straight behind it, but the arrow he'd fired flew straight through the intended one and destroyed both in the process.
By now, Link's blood was pumping hard throughout his veins. A sweat began to break out all over his body, and goosebumps formed on the surface of his skin. His breathing grew heavier the longer he fought. Every alien ghost he destroyed made his heart beat faster out of exhilaration. By the time he went through the first round of all twenty, he didn't want to stop at all. He felt angry at himself when he had to stop to collect all the fired arrows, wishing he'd done so sooner. His anger only relented when he resumed shooting at them. In this way, Link destroyed them over and over again, without needing a break. He felt like his blood had been replaced by adrenaline as every one of them went down again and again. Half an hour, an hour, two hours, two and a half hours went by, and it was only now that fatigue finally began to set in.
After running around the ranch for so long, Link's reserves finally began to fail him. He now stumbled with nearly every other step he took, and found that his aim was faltering. It now took him at least two arrows to remove one of the ghouls. Meanwhile, Romani grew more dispirited as she combed the grass for the whole two hours and three quarters of another. Tears formed in her eyes, blinding her as she moved her now filthy fingers through the dry weeds.
In the east, the sky began to change into a familiar pink as the sun moved closer up from underneath the horizon. The air was thick with moisture from the previous day's raining, and the breeze that had wafted through the west earlier that morning picked up again.
Link fell to his hands and knees and heaved. He had a stitch in his side, and his body was drenched in sweat. He felt as if he would vomit.
"Romani!" He gasped. "Have you found it yet?!"
"I keep telling you! No!"
By now, both of them were weary and frustrated with themselves, each other and pretty much everything else.
"How can she possibly do this every year?!" Link panted, but didn't stay down long before the dog started going off like an alarm. He hastily stood up, and managed to destroy another one before he collapsed again.
"This is ridiculous!" He thought.
After hours of deterring the ghosts' attempts of reaching the barn, he had reached his limit. His endless campaign up until now had been incredible, even for a small boy, but he is by no means invincible, and all the time he'd spent trying to conserve his energy had done little to dissuade the Them. Slowly, but steadily and surely and, They had drained nearly all of Link's energy throughout their takeover of the ranch, through sheer patience and determination.
Romani was by no means any better off. She'd combed the field several times, but the other bow was nowhere to be found. It would have done little to help, for she was at her wit's end, and even if she did find the bow, she was just as physically drained as Link. What little spirit she had left was long gone, and she now only searched the grass out of absolute necessity.
Their only solace was that the sun was only minutes away from rising, but even that was of hollow comfort. Time ticked by so slowly for them that every second was a minute, and every minute another hour. Without a doubt, Link and Romani were ready to throw in the towel.
…
Malon stirred in the bed that was Cremia's, and slowly opened her eyes. Light shined gently through the window next to her, raising her from her sleep. She rubbed her eyes with loose fists, stretched, and smiled at the waking sun which had yet to rise.
"Good morning," she said out loud happily.
She didn't linger in the bed; Malon threw off the covers and shoved both of her feet into her boots which lay patiently on the hard wooden floor. She pulled her long and soft red hair out of her face and combed it with her fingers. Unable to find a single knot, she laughed softly. Her laughter faded, and was replaced by cool curiosity when she saw the empty bed on the other side of the wall.
"Maybe Romani went to check on Link. I bet he's not even awake yet."
She stood up and took a step forward, but when her boot squeaked loudly and creaked the wooden board, she pulled her boots off and strode in her bare feet across the floor. She tiptoed out the room and down the hall.
From the room across from hers, she heard Cremia's mellow breathing. Fado, however, snored loudly from the living room. She was surprised his snoring hadn't kept everyone else up all night.
She turned to the room down the hall, and saw the open door.
"Romani? Are you in here?"
She peered inside, and saw nothing but an empty bed.
"That's weird. Where are they? I hope Link's okay."
Not knowing what else to do, Malon headed back down the hall, and into the living room, where she noticed the ajar front door.
"Has that door been open all night?"
"Romani!" Link's voice rang from outside. "Have you found it yet?!"
His voice was shortly followed by Romani's.
"I keep telling you! No!"
"What are they doing out there?"
Now infinitely curious, she carefully stepped over Fado and his makeshift bed, and walked out the door. The sight that awaited her froze her to the spot the moment she stepped out of the house, and she did the one thing natural for any girl her age.
"AAAAAAAAGH!"
Fado's sleep was cut short, and he sat straight up off his makeshift bed on the floor. He staggered upwards in shock and surprise, then fell flat on his face, hitting his forehead on the fireplace's brick hearth. Cremia stormed out of her room, carelessly throwing on a robe.
"Malon! What's going on?!"
"What the heck ARE THEY?!"
Fado, fiercely rubbing the bump on his head, stood up and trotted over to see where Malon was pointing. Cremia sprinted across the room to the front door and saw what was outside.
"Holy Mother of Hylia!"
What they saw was, of course, the matter the two other kids had been managing with about as much perfection as was expected. Gruesome creatures hovered menacingly across the field, while Link was squatting with his hands on his knees in front of the barn, gasping for air with a bow in his hand, and Romani was down on her hands and knees desperately searching through the weeds and bushes.
When Malon screamed, Link found himself staring straight at the house, and at the others' aghast expressions. One of the creatures edged dangerously close to Link and outstretched its claw toward him.
"Link!" Malon pointed towards the deathly being. "Watch out!"
Link lashed around, and within seconds the creature found itself penetrated with an arrow and destroyed.
Malon broke into a run, but Cremia grabbed her from behind before she got very far.
"Let me go!" She struggled against Cremia's grip. "They need help!"
"Fado! Go get Romani!" Cremia ordered.
He streaked out of the house and plucked Romani from the ground as if she was weightless. He carried her back to the house while she writhed and shrieked.
"Let go! Put me down!"
The dog yelped wildly and ran in little circles, so Link followed it. The droning of the alien ghosts grew louder and louder by the second as the sky grew brighter and brighter.
"Link!" Cremia shouted at him. "Get back in here!"
He ignored her calls as he ran around to the back side of the barn and disposed of the monster that spawned there once more.
"Let me go, Fado! They're gonna steal the cows!"
Romani kicked and screamed the whole time Fado held her captive, until one of her kicks landed and hit him in his privates. He dropped her and doubled over in pain. Romani literally hit the ground running and raced towards the field.
Link was heading back around the front of the barn and had aimed towards another one when a sharp jutting rock caught his foot. He fell and sprawled out on the ground, and as he fell he heard a loud crack erupt under his chest. When he picked himself up, the bow was snapped in half.
Malon finally managed to break free from Cremia's grip and raced towards Link. One of the ghastly monsters looked viciously at her, and swiped her up in one of its claws as she tried to run by. Romani had only begun to search through the fields again when she too was plucked up and held hostage.
"LINK! HELP!"
Romani resumed kicking and screaming, only this time in retaliation to the creature. The alien ghosts made haste for the barn, moving faster than they had in the last three hours. Link watched on in horror as the inevitable unfolded. The bright yellow orb, which had dropped Them off, now appeared over the barn, blew the roof off, and began levitating the cows and goats that were inside up and out. Cremia sprinted out of the house and raced after the monster holding Romani.
"LET GO OF HER!"
She beat against the alien ghost with her fists, but to no avail. Instead, it shoved her to the ground as it quickly hovered towards the barn.
As Link felt his hope go out the window, the dog streaked by him, planted its hindquarters on the ground not too far, and barked loudly. He tried to follow the dog, but staggered when his foot pained him. He looked down and saw blood flowing freely from a deep cut on his foot. The strap of his sandal had been slashed, and the shoe was now flapping about.
Fado recovered from Romani's kick and ran for the creature holding Malon. With one swift punch, he knocked the alien out of the air and sent it sprawling into the dirt. Malon fell out of its claw and fell flat on her stomach, but didn't stay there long. She hurriedly stood up and rushed to the spot where the dog was bouncing as it barked. Sitting on the ground next to the dog was the lost bow. She picked it up and hurled it as far as she could.
"Link! Catch!"
The bow sailed through the the air and fell with a clunk ten feet in front of Link. He limped over to it as fast as his foot would allow, and picked it up. The ghost carrying Romani was now inside the barn, along with all the others, and was ascending into the light, taking Romani with it.
"CREMIA! HELP ME!"
"ROMANI!"
Cremia fell to her knees and watched in despair, with tears falling freely from her eyes, as Romani writhed and shrieked and floated into the light.
"Please don't miss, please don't miss, please don't miss!" Link repeated over and over as he struggled to nock an arrow onto the bow.
"Please, oh, please don't miss!"
He aimed straight at the orb, winced, and fired.
The arrow flew straight toward the orb. It wavered in the air for a moment, and almost faltered. At the last second, it regained its path, and shot straight through the orb.
The minuscule orb detonated in an unbelievably-sized explosion. The cows and goats that had been absorbed sailed through the air in all directions, mooing and bleating in shock and pawing at the ground that wasn't there, until they hit the ground. Flopping onto their bellies, they picked themselves up, shook themselves off, and walked away in annoyance, but mostly unharmed. A few unlucky animals were sent flying into the outlying trees and beyond the ranch.
Romani plummeted like a rock into the barn, screaming the whole way down.
"I'm coming, Romani!"
Link ignored the pain in his foot as he sprinted toward the barn, slammed the door open, and dove to catch her. She landed right in his arms as they fell together into a pile of hay sitting in a corner, sending the needles flying everywhere.
"Ouch," Link groaned as he landed headfirst.
"Are you ok?" Romani asked as she tried to sit up, but sank back into the hay, so she decided to remove the needles from her hair instead.
"I'm fine. What about you?"
"Are you kidding?! I couldn't be happier!"
"Huh?"
Romani tackled Link, sending more hay flying out. She squeezed him tightly.
"You did it, Link! You saved our ranch!"
Cremia, Fado, and Malon ran through the barn door to find Romani lying on top of a very red Link in the hay.
"What is going on?!" Cremia screamed, beside herself.
Romani released Link and jumped out of the hay.
"I'll tell you what's going on! Link just saved the ranch!"
Link attempted to climb out of the hay until a sharp pain went through his foot, and he grabbed at it instinctively. Fado noticed Link's reaction immediately, looked down at his foot, and saw the blood from the cut.
"Cremia, maybe it'd be best if we get back inside."
Cremia followed Fado's gaze and saw the deep cut.
"Everyone, inside. Now."
She spoke so firmly that no one dared to remain in the barn. Fado carried Link in his arms while Romani and Malon followed closely behind Cremia, and everyone marched back into the house under her order. Fado placed Link in the chair in front of the fireplace.
"Fado, start rounding up the loose animals. I'll be there in a minute."
Fado saw the pleading looks on the girls' faces, knowing that if he left they were sure to meet their doom at Cremia's hands. Alas, he had no other choice, so he shrugged his shoulders helplessly and headed outside. No one else said a word while Cremia went silently into the kitchen. Malon looked over at Romani with wide confused eyes, but Romani returned the same glance. They both turned to Link, whose hard gaze looked as though it would pierce the hardwood floor.
Finally, Malon whispered, "Are you okay, Link?"
His lips didn't move. He ignored them and continued his hard gaze at the floor.
"Are we in trouble?" Malon asked as low as her voice would allow.
"I don't know," Romani replied. "Cremia's never acted like this before."
Cremia came out of the kitchen carrying a first aid kit and a towel. She plopped down in front of the chair and went to work cleaning the cut and examining it.
"This is really deep. I'll have to give you some temporary stitches until we can get you to a doctor. Bear with me, Link."
She pulled out a thin wire and a sewing needle.
"If it hurts too much, bite down on this."
She handed the towel to Link, but when he took it, he left it in his hand instead of putting it in his mouth while Cremia pushed the needle in and closed the cut on his foot. When she finished, she wrapped cotton gauze around his foot, then put the tools, save the needle, back into the kit and moved Link's foot onto a nearby stool. She stood up and pointed a slender finger at the girls.
"No one leaves this house. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am," they promised nervously.
Cremia took the first aid kit and needle into the kitchen, then went outside to help Fado.
"Link?"
Romani sat by his side and tried to look into his eyes, but still he sat in the chair glaring at the floor. Malon stood up and whacked him across the back of his head.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"What's the matter with you?! Everyone's worried about you and all you can do is sit in that chair and stare off into the distance! Can't you at least say something?"
Link looked at Malon angrily, but then relaxed his face.
"Sorry," he said. "I'm really tired."
"What happened out there, Link? What were those things?"
"Wasn't it incredible?" Romani clapped.
"Incredible?! It was stupid! He could have gotten hurt! He did get hurt! Look at him!"
Link tried to hide his bandaged foot in shame.
"He saved my life, Malon! And he saved the ranch, too!"
"What are you even talking about?!"
"Maybe we should wait until Cremia and Fado get back before we tell her," Link pointed out, his voice weak. "That way, everyone can hear it at the same time."
"Hear what at the same time? What's going on?"
"Link's right. I promise we'll explain everything, but we need to wait for Cremia and Fado to come back."
She was by no means satisfied, but Malon gave up and sat down in the chair beside Link's, and stared out the window, waiting for the adults to return. At last, the sun was rising. Malon was watching the sunrise when she heard snoring behind her. Link was sleeping soundly in the chair.
"What the heck?! How can he be sleeping at a time like this?"
"You should've seen him, Malon."
Romani moved even closer and carefully moved Link's hair away from his closed eyes.
"He was so brave."
"Do you like him or something?"
Romani stumbled back at the accusation.
"No! I was just thinking how cool he looked out there!"
"Whatever."
After that, Romani didn't go anywhere near Link, but stayed on the other side of the room. Malon watched outside for Fado and Cremia, until she finally saw them bringing back the stragglers. They left the animals to graze in the field and walked to the house. Cremia came in first and placed her hand on Link's shoulder, gently shaking him. He stirred in his seat.
"Hmm? What?" he asked half-wittedly.
"Sorry, Link, but you need to wake up."
"It's not his fault!" Romani suddenly blurted. "It's mine! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"
Cremia stopped her short by putting her finger to Romani's lips.
"Just… tell me what happened."
Cremia sat in the chair beside Link's and waited for an explanation. Link and Romani looked helplessly at one another.
"Well?" she repeated.
They sighed and began as best they could. After a long explanation and a round of questions from everyone, Link and Romani managed to share the full pictures of that morning's experience with everyone else. Cremia was first to talk when they finished.
"So those things," she began. "were here to steal the animals."
"And you two were up since two this morning fightin' them off?" Fado finished her statement.
"Yes," Link replied.
"Link did most of the fighting though," Romani explained. "I was still trying to find the other bow when you guys came out."
"Romani?"
Cremia took her sister's hands in hers.
"Are these the things you told me about? The ones that attack the ranch every year?"
"Yes. I knew if I tried to fight them myself, I'd never be able to stop them. That's why I asked Link to help me. He didn't know until yesterday, and Malon didn't know anything. Please don't make them go home, Cremia!"
Romani started crying.
"None of you are in trouble, sweety. And I'm not mad either."
Cremia and Romani wrapped their arms around one another.
"I was scared, Romani. So scared that I'd lost you forever."
"Link saved me, though! Link's a hero!"
"If Link hadn't been here today, Cremia," said Fado. "Who knows what would've happened."
"I don't want to think about it," Cremia shivered. "Link?"
Link looked up at her, feeling rather incapacitated. Suddenly, he found Cremia giving him a hug so tight, it crunched his shoulders.
"Thank you," she sniffled. "You risked your life to save our little ranch, and my sister. I don't think there's anything I could ever do to repay you. I'll never forget this as long as I live."
He realized then that Cremia was crying.
"And you too," Cremia turned back to Romani and wiped her nose. "I'm so sorry I didn't believe you, Romani. I never once imagined you'd be telling the truth about such ugly evil creatures. I still don't want to believe it."
"Neither would I," Malon piped up. "If I hadn't been so scared, I'd be laughing right now. The idea of alien things coming to the ranch to steal cows and goats, and two little kids doing everything they can to stop them? No offense, but it's almost hilarious."
"That's why we're not going to tell your father."
"What?!"
Everyone in the room gaped at Cremia, as if she'd lost her precious marble collection.
"Not tell Talon?!" Falon raised his arms in disbelief. "Have you gone mad?!"
"Even if we told him any of this, I doubt he'd believe any of it, and he'd be liable to think we're all insane."
"The man's not blind, Cremia! He's gonna see that bandage on Link's foot, and he's gonna ask questions! And what are we gonna tell him about the roof on the barn, or rather the one that isn't there anymore?! We can't exactly blame it on bad weather! It's been bad, but not that bad!"
"I don't like the idea of hiding this from him either, but we don't exactly have many options. If you want to tell him yourself that monsters came down from the sky and tried to abduct our animals while two little kids fought them off using nothing but toy bows, that's fine by me."
Having lost the argument, Fado gave in.
"I guess I see your point, but what are we gonna tell him?"
"Dad's not gonna be happy when he sees that Link got hurt," Malon exclaimed. "And he definitely won't be happy if we don't tell him why."
"I'm afraid there's no helping that," Cremia shrugged. "Talon is well on his way to Hyrule by now, and we can't reach him from here."
"We still better think of something!" Romani retorted. "If he gets mad at us that Link got hurt, he might not let Link or Malon ever come back to our ranch!"
"I don't think he'd be that brash, but there's no helping that either. No matter what we tell him, he's going to be upset. Link is every bit his son as Malon is his daughter, and he'd be just as upset if she were the one who got hurt."
"Before we discuss anything else," Fado headed for the door. "Maybe we better start preparing for our trip. Despite everything that's happened, we've still got milk to ship."
"You are right, Fado," Cremia stood up from her chair. "I'll come up with a story, but it's time we salvaged what's left of this morning."
"What about Link?" Malon pointed out. "He can't walk like that."
"Yes I can!"
Everyone turned to Link.
"I can walk just fine!"
He got out of the seat before anyone could stop him and began walking around the room with perfect stature and pace.
"Doesn't that hurt?" Romani asked.
"No way! I can't feel it at all!"
"Are you sure you can walk, sweety?" Cremia extended her hand towards him in case he should fall.
"Of course I can!" He smiled brightly.
Cremia raised her eyebrow.
"Ok then. Why don't we start getting ready then?"
Fado left the living room and headed into his own room―where Link had slept the previous night―to change clothes.
"Romani, go see if you can let Malon borrow some of your clothes, okay?"
The girls left down the same hall, but turned into the room where they had slept. Cremia turned around, and noticed Link was staring sadly at the floor.
"What's on your mind, sweety?"
Link whipped his head up, jolted out of his train of thought. He took a moment to recollect himself.
"Do you think I'm weird?"
She raised her eyebrow again.
"Why do you ask?"
He looked down at the floorboards to avoid her gaze, but she smiled.
"No, I don't think you're weird. I certainly think you're accident-prone, but I also think that you are very brave and strong. I'd even go so far as to say that you remind me a bit of my father."
Link looked up at her in shock. It seemed to Cremia then that he scared.
"There's more to this than what happened this morning, isn't there?"
She sat down, and gestured for him to do the same.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"I don't know," he murmured.
"I promise not to think you're weird," she reassured him.
"Well, okay," he finally said.
He sat down in the chair next to hers, took a deep breath, and spilled his guts. It started slowly at first, but it wasn't long before his experiences came pouring out of him. He told her about all the dreams he'd had, the vision he'd received, all the things he'd seen in the forest, and everything that had happened to him. By the time he finished, Cremia had a very hard and serious expression on her face.
"Link… is this true?"
"I wish it wasn't," he whispered, and hid his head in his folded arms. "I wish it would all just go away."
"Does anyone else know about this?"
"I told Malon, and Talon and Ingo too, about the wolfos made of light. And I tried to tell Malon about what happened to me when we went into the forest, but she didn't believe me. I also told her about the ocarina, but I didn't tell her where I got it from. She also knows about the dream I had when I collapsed yesterday."
"Where's the ocarina now?"
"Right here."
Link pulled the ocarina out of his pocket and showed it to her. She gazed upon it, awestruck.
"Malon knows the most, but…there's so much she doesn't know."
"I get the feeling you don't know much about it either."
"Yeah…"
"I'll be honest Link. I wish I had the answers you were looking for, but I don't have the first clue as to how to help you through this. I'm just a simple farm girl. I wouldn't even know where to begin with that vision of yours."
"That's okay," he sighed, stuffing the ocarina back into his pocket. "It still felt nice to talk to someone about it."
"However…"
"What?" Link sat up.
"I think I know someone who can help."
"You do?"
"Do you remember Rusl at all?"
"I think so. He lives in Ordon, doesn't he? I remember seeing him around the village when we went last year."
"That's right. He's a blacksmith there, but he does a lot of traveling, and is wise beyond his years. He's picked up a lot of information during his travels, so the people living in Ordon, and even a few who don't, go to him when they need answers. I bet if you ask him nicely, he'd be happy to help you. And if he can't, he'd know someone who could. When you travel a lot, you tend to meet a lot of people."
"Do I have to tell him about everything?"
"He can't help you if you don't."
"Yeah but-" he frowned. "What if I tell him everything and he can't help me? What if I end up having to tell everyone I meet, just so I can find one person who knows what's wrong with me? Then everyone will know I'm a freak!"
"Link, listen to me."
Cremia firmly grasped his shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes.
"There is nothing wrong with you. You are exactly the way you're supposed to be. These dreams and visions that you're having don't make you weird, or a freak. If anything, they make you special. For all we know, your visions could be good things. It's up to you whether you want to talk to Rusl, but if you decide to, I'll be there to help. I promise."
"…Okay."
"We can talk later if you want, but for now…"
She plugged her nose and waved her hand in front of her face.
"I think you need a bath."
Link lifted up his arm and sniffed at his armpit, and was blown away.
"Aagh! I stink!"
"Fighting those things for three hours straight will do that. I'll show you to the bathroom."
Link had his bath while his foot was propped onto the side of the tub. Afterward, he put on a fresh change of clothes. Everyone pitched in with the morning chores so they could leave for Ordon sooner; Malon helped Cremia and Romani get the cows milked while Link, despite his impediment, helped Fado tend to the goats and bring in fresh firewood. The chores were completed before the sun went late into the morning. Clothing, food, and other necessities were packed and loaded onto the carriage.
"It's a good thing we got all the milk packed from yesterday into the carriage," Malon gratefully told Cremia. "Otherwise we'd be here all day."
"I think we're just about ready to go. Will you be able yo hold up here, Fado?"
Cremia climbed up into the driver's seat, taking the fastened reins.
"I think so. I'll take good care of the ranch while you're gone."
"Cremia, is it okay if I stay here?"
Link and Malon looked shockingly over at Romani.
"Why?" Cremia was just as shocked as they were. "Don't you want to go to Ordon with us?"
"I wanna be here in case those guys come back," Romani grinned confidently. "I'm pretty sure they won't ever show their faces here agian, but you can never be too careful."
"No! Absolutely not! You were almost taken away today, and you wanna fight those things again?! There's no way I will knowingly let you put herself in danger like that!"
"But Cremia!"
Romani whined and stamped her foot. Link, who sat in the back of the carriage on top of one of the milk crates, spoke up.
"I thought you said they only attack once a year, Romani. What makes you think they might come back?"
"Yeah," Malon agreed. She sat in the seat beside Cremia. "And if they never come back, then you'll miss out on going to Ordon for nothing."
"Maybe, but…"
Romani looked over at Link, then gazed explicitly at the ground.
"Maybe she's right, Cremia," Fado spoke up. "She knows more about those things than any of us, and if they do come back, she'd be able to handle 'em, with my help. Besides, this way you've got one less kid to watch."
"I'd feel a lot better letting a professional handle this!"
"And who would that be, Cremia?" Fado asked with arms folded.
"I don't know!" Cremia rubbed her forehead. "I have a headache, and I don't want to deal with this. Romani, we don't have time to change our schedule. You're coming with us."
"Fine," Romani grumbled under her breath, along with something else that was incomprehensible.
"Fado, if anything does go wrong, see if you can get the animals moved over to the dogs' track, or someplace where they'll be safe."
"Will do, ma'am."
"Up you go, Romani."
Cremia reached down from her seat and lifted a sulky Romani into the seat beside Malon.
"We'll go out through the Milk Road exit. We'll be back in a few days."
"See you then!"
Cremia snapped the reins and set the horses at a canter.
"Bye Fado!" Link and Malon waved their hands as high as they could from their seats.
"See you later, kids!" Fado waved back.
The carriage rode slowly away from the ranch, and down the dirt path that was now thick mud. As they got farther from the ranch, short but steep rock walls slowly rose and stood on both sides of the wide road, and the farther they got from the ranch, the taller the walls grew. Soon, the carriage was passing through a canyon of clay and sandstone.
"Keep your voices down, everyone," Cremia murmured while looking up at the walls.
Malon leaned over in her seat towards Cremia.
"Cremia, how long will it take to get to Ordon?"
"It's usually half an hour or so, but with the roads like this from yesterday's rain, it'll take us a few hours."
"I'm sick of riding in carriages."
Link's voice came up from the inside of the carriage.
"At least you don't have to ride in the back!"
"Link, when we get to Ordon, we can talk to Rusl if you want."
"Okay."
"Who's Rusl?"
"Why does Link need to talk to him?"
Cremia didn't answer. With one hand on the reins, she hugged Romani and ruffled Malon's hair.
"Hey…"
Malon's hands went to her hair to put it back in order. Link laid across the milk boxes uncomfortably and stared up at the giant burlap cover of the carriage. He pulled the ocarina out of his pocket and looked deeply at it for a long time, before sleep overcame him.