Their Kokori guides led them through the trees, this way and that. They had to bob and weave to escape the brambles of the undergrowth, and soon enough they all had scratches in their legs and pants. The only exceptions were the soldiers, who were protected by their armor, Navi, who floated above Link's head, and Darumai who merely tromped down anything in his path.
Ramiro and his platoon had joined them, as Link had requested. They were now being led through the Lost Woods by several Kokori. They were so deep into the forest that Link thought they would have been lost without their guides.
Nabooru shrieked and then cursed as a thorn struck her leg. She spat and removed the thorn. The Kokori children giggled and said, "Naughty Sage shouldn't use that languge."
Link had no idea where they were going, but Saria seemed pretty sure of herself. He started to walk next to his horse but suddenly he looked up and saw an end to the Lost Woods. He blinked. "Can't be," he mouthed to himself.
But when they reached the edge of the forest, he saw that it was as he'd expected. The forest ended abruptly and beyond were only barren lands of rubble and death. He had been here before, where the dead walked at night and the spirits wandered for all eternity.
The Kokori turned and their leader stepped forward. "We can't come any further. The Duku Tree Sapling forbids it! You must go on alone."
They all gave Saria a hug and were gone before Link knew it. Everyone looked at Link as if they expected him to know what to do. Nabooru said, "Where in the underworld are we?"
Link knew. He pursed his lips and then said, "We are on the edge of the Barren Lands. We must pass through them if we are to reach Termina. This is a very dangerous place. I've been here before. The dead walk here at night. We must be cautious."
They proceeded warily. It wasn't long before they saw corporal whisps of light dancing above the ground. Before anyone could say anything Link called for silence, and they proceeded without a word.
When the sky began to dim Link sought out a campsite and found one: a small promontory overlooking some rocky dunes. Darumia used his Sage powers to light a fire, as there was no wood to be found. They unpacked their rations and ate in silence.
"We'll need a watch tonight. Ramiro, have three of your soldiers on watch at once for two-hour shifts. The two of us will take the midnight watch," Link said to the captain.
Ramiro nodded and gave orders to three of his men. The Hylians walked to the edge of the camp and stared out into the darkness, staring outwards.
Everyone unpacked and unrolled blankets. They cleared an area of the ground and tried to sleep, through few were successful. Link managed to concentrate on the loud snoring of Darumia and Rauro, and before long he was asleep.
It was nearly time for Link and Ramiro's watch when the guard cried. "Everybody get up!"
Navi flew into the air while Link leapt to his feet. Ramiro screamed for picket lines and the soldiers created a circle around the camp with their bodies, spears pointed outward.
The dead appeared outside the camp. Link unsheathed his sword, Navi floating above him. They were re-dead, the bodies of the dead unified with the souls of the demons. They rushed at the picket line, charging with fury. There were ten in all, screaming with rage.
They met the picket line with a rush and some impaled themselves on the spears, breaking the spears. This had no effect, and the soldiers were holding broken hafts. Some soldiers beat at the re-dead with the hafts, but it had no effect either, except to draw the re-deads' attention. The re-dead lifted the soldiers into the air and sent them flying.
Yet some remained, and Link was one of them. Ramiro stood next to him, his sword in the air. Navi used her magic to draw Ramiro's attention to one re-dead. Ramiro picked up a broken spear, threw it at the re-dead, and it buried itself in the re-dead's face. It fell over, dead, again.
Thus the battle began. Rauro shielded Ruto and Saria with his bulk, but the other Sages were also fighting. Impa's arm flashed like lightning and several knives appeared in a re-dead's body. Nabooru was wielding two scimitars with agility and skill, and another re-dead fell before her. Darumia punched two re-dead so hard that they flew through the air and laid there, unmoving.
Ramiro and Link stood back-to-back. They defeated a re-dead each. Suddenly Ruto was on her feet and charging at a re-dead closing on Link. She whipped out her forearm fins and slashed at it. She cut its arm, but it pushed her into the ground. However, this gave three soldiers the time to impale it with their spears.
Link slew the last re-dead. He stabbed it in the stomach, cut off its arm, and cut off its leg. When it fell over he stabbed it in the face. He wiped what blood and dirt he could off of his face before cutting up the rest of the re-dead so that they would not regain animation.
"he first night is over," he breathed. "Glory to Hyrule."
The soldiers lifted their weapons. "Glory to Hyrule," they echoed.
The days went on like that. Sometimes at night there would be a battle, but always they won without casualties. Some thought it was luck, some thought it was the goddess' will, some thought it was the Hero of Time.
Eventually they reached a cliff. It should have been seen as an ill omen, but it was a change from the unending rocky dunes, and that was good to the travelers. They looked over the edge. There was only mist below.
Link backed away, nodded, and laughed. Then he led Epona to the edge of the cliff and led the horse off. They both decended, not fell, down the edge rapidly.
Then a giant gust of wind blew from behind them and blew them off. They fell, fell, fell and all they could hear was the inssesant cackling of the spirits from the Barren Lands.