CHAPTER FOUR

Jamie led his team of ten soldiers up Death Mountain. According to the map, they were supposed to climb in and descend on the other side. Their horses could not make it up the steep paths, and Jamie reluctantly had to order that they leave them behind. It would slow their progress, however now it was necessary. They had passed several large caves and were now approaching the summit. Jamie glanced down at his men. None of them seemed to be suffering from fatigue, which was fortunate. He looked back down again, and then stopped.
"Halt!" her ordered his men. They froze on the spot. Jamie looked at them and counted. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine...nine? There were meant to be ten.
"Is everyone here?" Jamie called out. The men glanced around at each other for a few seconds before someone called out, "Falon's missing, sir."
"Do you know what happened to him?" asked Jamie. The men shook their heads, made visible in the dark by the soft light of the lantern that Jamie tried to shine down the trail.
"FALON!" he called out. "ARE YOU THERE?" He paused for a few seconds, waiting for a response that never came.
"FALON!"
His voice echoed down the sides of Death Mountain. Jamie looked back at his men. "He's definitely not here?" he asked.
"No, sir," the soldiers replied.
"Well," Jamie sighed, "We have to continue on. There's not a whole lot we can do. I only hope that he decided to head home."
"I'm sure that's what happened sir," one of the men agreed. The resumed their march and headed back up the mountain.

* * *

Once again, Link and Zelda were huddled over the treasure map. This time, however, they were in Hyrule Field, having made it out past the guards relatively easily.
"That leads over Death Mountain," said Link, "I'm sure of it."
"Well," Zelda replied. "Over Death Mountain it is then!"
"Okay," said Link.
They marched on until they reached the border of Hyrule Field. Link knew the way well. As they approached the trail leading up the mountain to Kakariko Village, and further on up Death Mountain, they were surprised to find several horses roaming around. Zelda walked over to one and looked at it.
"These are my father's horses," she stated. "I can tell by the saddles, and the ornaments. He lets his soldiers use them."
"Didn't he send some soldiers out earlier after this same treasure?" asked Saria.
"Yes," replied Zelda. "These must be their horses, but why would they just leave them here alone?"
"The horses can't climb the mountain," said Link. "Well, Epona can't and she's a strong horse, so these one's probably can't as well. It's pretty steep on some parts of the trail."
"You've been here before?" Lyla asked Link.
"Yeah, I've climbed the mountain, but I've never gone over it before."
"Wow!" Lyla looked at the boy in amazement. She couldn't imagine a thirteen-year-old climbing all the way up to the top, but then she looked at Zelda and Saria, and wondered if they would be able to make it. Link seemed to think so, and so they continued.
"We'll have to go through Kakariko," said Link when he saw the entrance to the village. "It's the easiest way up."
As it was night, the village was deserted. One house had its lights on, but the rest of the place was eerily quiet.
"There's a graveyard just over there," Link pointed, taking advantage of the mood.
"Don't tell me that," Saria said. Sometimes her imagination could go overboard, and she freaked herself out. Link laughed in a fake evil voice. To Saria's relief, though, they didn't need to go near the graveyard, and instead climbed a staircase that led to a wide-open gate.
"That's weird," Link said. "Usually there's a guard here, even at night."
"There is," Lyla said.
"What?"
Leaning against one of the buildings near the gate was a guard, who was fast asleep. His mouth was wide open, and he was mumbling to himself. His head drooped over forwards and his spear lay about five feet in front of him. He also carried a sword, however that too lay on the ground. When Link, Saria and Lyla began walking up Death Mountain Trail, Zelda went over and picked up the sword.
"This may come in handy," she said, but really she wanted to be like Link. She quickly jogged up the trail and caught up with the others, who assumed she'd been there the whole time.
"What's that place," Lyla asked, looking at a huge cave.
"That's Dodongo's Cavern," Link replied.
"Can we look inside?" Saria asked.
"No, we'd lose time," Zelda answered.
"Plus you might not like it in there," Link added. "I didn't really."
"You've been everywhere!" Lyla exclaimed. "Have you been there?" They were now hiking past Goron City.
"Yeah."
"That's Link for you," Zelda said. "He's always off having these adventures, traveling around Hyrule. But that's what you'd expect I guess, him being the Hero of Time and all."
"The Hero of what?" Lyla asked. She was very impressed by Link, who seemed to be a lot older than he actually was.
"Never mind," said Link, taking the lead. The trail began to get steeper and narrower, and they had to leap across some large boulders. Then it leveled off for a bit, however they four of them could see that at the end it reached an almost vertical wall. The flat ground relieved Saria, as her legs were beginning to kill her. She wasn't used to this kind of physical activity. As she caught her breath, something hard hit her on the head.
"Ow!" she exclaimed.
"What is it?" asked Link, turning around. Then something hard bounced off his head as well. He looked down to see a small rock strike the ground. Then he heard a rumbling sound that quickly grew louder.
"Oh no," he said. He threw his shield at Saria, who caught it. "Use this to protect your head."
"Okay, but what is it?"
"You two, put your bags over your heads like I've done," Link said, holding his bag over his head. "It's a rock fall!"
Zelda and Lyla copied Link, hoping that the food and bedding inside their bags would be enough to cushion the impact of any falling rocks. They started to run, dodging small boulders that suddenly appeared in their paths. The dust stirred up by the rocks limited their visibility. As Zelda ran, a huge rock fell straight in front of her, and she quickly jumped out of the way, only to trip over another rock that she didn't see. She fell hard, jarring her entire body.
"GET UP!" Link screamed. Zelda forced herself to her feet and ran towards Link, just in time because only a second after she got up, a large stone slammed into the ground where she had been lying.
Saria was out of breath and the amount of dust in the air choked her. She heard several dull clangs as rocks bounced off the shield she held over her head, and she hoped that the large ones wouldn't hit her. She felt totally alone because she couldn't see any of the others, and she began to feel scared.
"Link?" she yelled. "Where are you."
"I'm here Saria," said Link. "Just keep going, we've nearly made it."
Saria felt relieved and continued running. After a few more minutes that seemed like an eternity to everyone, the dust began to clear, the rumbling sound ceased, and most importantly, the rocks stopped falling. The four of them all stopped to catch their breath and waited for the dust to clear. As everyone's figures came into view, Zelda heard Link gasp.
'What's wrong?" she asked.
"Oh, it's nothing," Link replied, "Stay where you are."
Zelda however, didn't listen, and she walked towards Link's voice. Saria and Lyla followed her, when suddenly the dust cleared some more, and right under their eyes the figure of a man came into view. He was lying on the ground, however they could only see less than half of him. The other half was buried under a large boulder. Link bent down to feel the man's pulse, and then stood up and shook his head. Zelda and Saria just stood there with their mouths wide open. They had never seen a dead person before, however finally Zelda recovered her composure.
"That's one of father's soldiers," she said.
"Come on, let's keep going," Link said.

* * *

It had been over an hour since Jamie and his soldiers had climbed over the summit of Death Mountain. Although they were all physically fit men, Jamie decided that it would probably be the best for them to get some sleep. They quickly set up their camp, and soon many of them were fast asleep. Jamie lay awake for a while and thought about their situation. He didn't want to let the king down, and he certainly didn't want the Royal Family's treasure to be stolen by somebody else. They had lost a unit of men to these unknown strangers because of this treasure, and Jamie wanted to ensure that they wouldn't lose anything else to them. So far, they hadn't seen anybody else on their hike. Apart from a brief encounter with some falling rocks, their journey had so far been harmless. Jamie's last thought before he drifted off into sleep was that he hoped no one was following them.

* * *

"Come on, Saria, you can make it!" Link shouted to his best friend, as she climbed the steep vertical wall up Death Mountain. He stood with Lyla looking over the edge. Zelda had nearly made it to the top, and with a bit of effort she managed to pull herself up. Saria, however, seemed to be struggling.
"I'm going to fall," Saria said, so quietly that Link nearly missed it.
"No you're not," he said firmly. "Look, you're almost there. I've been knocked off this wall before, and trust me, you won't like falling." Link shuddered, remembering his encounter with a Skullwalltula spider monster.
Lyla meanwhile, was rummaging around in her bag. When she found what she was looking for, she jumped up and threw the end of several meters of rope down to Saria.
"Grab the rope," Lyla called down. "Hold it while you're climbing."
Saria took the rope and firmly grasped it in her right hand, grateful for the security. With her confidence boosted, she scaled to the top in no time, and was pulled over by Lyla.
"Thank you," Saria said while pausing to catch her breath.
"Wow, so this is the top," Zelda said gazing at the amazing panoramic view of Hyrule that surrounded her.
"It would be great to see this in the daytime," Saria said. "I had no idea that Hyrule was so big. I mean, I thought the Lost Woods were huge!"
Link laughed. "I have wanted to show you this for a long time, Saria."
Lyla had wandered into a nearby cave. She felt a bit left out with the younger three. She could see that Link and Saria shared a very tight bond; they were the best of friends. And for some reason, she felt that Link and Zelda also shared a deep understanding, like they had been through a very tough experience together. She knew that Saria and Zelda had only recently met, but they already shared something in common, and that was Link. Lyla thought that Link seemed a lot older than the other two, more like he was her age. He was surprisingly mature for a thirteen-year-old boy, and he boasted a strength and knowledge and was far beyond his age. Yet, he was also down to earth and had a sense of humor that did suit his age. She found herself liking him as soon as she met him; in fact she also liked Zelda and Saria as well. As the map was hers, and also because she was the oldest, Lyla began to feel responsible for them as well. She went back outside to see what they were doing.
"Let's keep going!" Zelda said excitedly.
"We'll have to be careful," Link said, "Because there's a narrow ledge here, and it's the only way down. Just take it slowly and we should be right. I've never been on this side of Death Mountain before!"
Link took the lead, with Zelda following him, Saria behind and finally Lyla at the rear. On one side of them was a sheer drop over the edge of the cliff. Some parts of the trail were very narrow, and the four of them flattened themselves against the sides of the mountain as they descended. Eventually, the trail got wider and wider, until it was more like the trail the led to Goron City. In the distance, Saria spotted a clearing up ahead. Link noticed it too.
"That looks like a campsite," he said.
"Shh," whispered Lyla. "I hope it's not those bad men who want the treasure as well."
They crept over to the tents, where the loud sound of several men snoring cut through the still night air. Zelda recognized the crest of the Royal Family of Hyrule on the sides of the tents.
"They're the soldiers!" she exclaimed. Link, Lyla and Saria let out their breath in relief.
"Should we camp here?" Saria asked, because she was starting to feel tired, and the sight of the tents made her realize it.
"No way!" Zelda exclaimed. "If they see us here, they might send us home. I think we should keep going, because it would be so funny to beat them to the treasure. Imagine what my dad would think!"
They crept past the tents. The sleeping men inside never heard them, and they continued down the mountain. After another hour or so, Saria began to lag behind, and the others were stifling yawns.
"Maybe we should stop," Link suggested. "There's a cave up ahead, and I think we should have some sleep in there."
"I agree," said Saria enthusiastically.
The entrance to the cave was narrow, but inside it widened out and was quite large. Link and Zelda set up the bedding, and within a few minutes, the four adventurers were sound asleep.