"These really are magnificent machines," Shrike said from beneath the air-bike. "The way magic has been fed into the metal is nothing short of astounding."
"I'm glad you think so, Shrike," Numaru replied. "I love reveling in the genius of the enemy."
They had been flying for nearly a day and a half, and were now resting on, of all things, a sunny beach. As the forest had opened up onto a barren ice field, the ice field had opened up onto a wide blue expanse of water. Having seen no sign of Necron or his army, they had decided to risk a few hours rest.
Some were enjoying it more than others.
While Mattalla and Malon took the time to sleep, Shrike had been engrossed in figuring out how their new mode of transportation worked. Link and Numaru had passed the time between talking and sparring. Zakro, elated to finally find some water, had dived into the sea and had been swimming in it since.
Link stood at the shoreline, watching as Zakro leapt out of the water, spiraled once in the air, and dived back in. "Understanding the enemy is a step in defeating them, Numaru," Link said over his shoulder. "You taught me that, remember?"
"Yes, I remember," she sighed in exasperation. "And you never seem to forget anything."
Link chuckled and looked back over the sea. It was only the second time he had seen this much water, the first being the Western Ocean in Termina, and the sight was breathtaking. Over those waters rested the Triforce. Link could feel his mark pulsing as they drew nearer to the relic, as if the piece of the Triforce's power that rested in him yearned to once again become one with its origin.
"The sooner the better," Link thought, and turned towards Shrike as he emerged from beneath the machine. "What can you tell us, Shrike?"
"The air-bike is made entirely from metal, as we surmised. No special stones or crystals or anything of the sort. But within the shell there is some sort of container, with different pipes originating from it and spreading throughout the bike. I could sense the magic within this container, and through the constant recycling and redirection of this magic, the bike can be lifted and propelled forward, or weapons can be fired. The magic supply seems inexhaustible."
"Of course," Link said, "Magic is neither created nor destroyed, merely changed. The core probably draws in residue magic from the air here. I doubt we'd ever get the machines to fly back home." He stared at the bikes for a moment, thinking. "That wizard—Shumbo, or whatever his name was—he must be the one providing the raw energy."
"We will have to deal with him," Numaru added. "Necron himself is a powerful warlock, or so the legends say, and with the addition of Shumbo that magic becomes an even greater threat. Even if Necron's power has diminished since confronting Ganon, as the owl said, I highly doubt that same handicap applies to Shumbo."
"Yes," Shrike agreed, "There is great power in him. Even I could surmise that, and I'm nowhere near as sensitive to magic as Link is. What I'm more concerned with is his ability to help Necron to the Realm of the Dead and back again. As long as he can do that, Necron will be able to heal himself no matter how much damage we do to him."
"That has also been troubling me," Numaru said. "If Shumbo is such a master of teleportation, how is it that Necron has not yet found the Triforce? Surely he would be able to sense that much magic and simply teleport there."
"They haven't had the time," Link answered. "Remember, neither he nor Ganon knew about the Triforce until Ganon siphoned off his power. The longest he could have been searching is a year. That's when Ganon beat him. On top of that, there's so much magic in the Sacred Realm that pinpointing any single source would be nearly impossible, which is why Ganon didn't just grab the Triforce instead of using me to escape."
His audience waited for him to continue, and after a few moments he did. "The simple fact is that Necron has no idea where the Triforce is hidden. He's been searching every square inch of the Sacred Realm for that one year, and he's still come up short. Which is why he's following us."
Numaru's face went hard as she sucked in air. "What? Have you seen them?"
"No," Link explained, "But it's the logical thing to do. I've been thinking about this ever since we escaped. It was too easy; they had dozens of air-bikes and far better fliers than us. And from what Necron told Shrike and me, he has been in contact with Ganon recently. I'm willing to bet that Ganon discovered how to trace the Triforce, thankfully after he had already escaped to Hyrule, and he no doubt told Necron about it. Necron's a good tactician; he realizes that by letting me live a little longer, we'll take him straight to the Triforce. By then, he's guessing that his army will be more than enough to take out six lone warriors."
"I'd be hard pressed to disagree," Numaru agreed. "What do you suggest we do?"
Link shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "We have no choice to play along. We need the Triforce, and we can't afford to sit around until we think of something better. The best we can hope for is that we can find the Triforce and use it before Necron can stop us."
"Hey!" The three of them turned to see Zakro emerging from the water. He waved them over as he said, "I think you better take a look at this."
* * *
"Well," Link said as he hovered over the place Zakro had brought them to. "That certainly is something."
Link, Malon, Mattalla, Shrike, and Numaru were riding their air-bikes and hovering over the water a good deal away from the beach. Mattalla was using Link's longshot to tow Zakro's vehicle as the Zora swam.
"Is that," Malon asked, "What I think it is?"
"It is," Zakro confirmed. "A sunken ship. I didn't know what it was at first; no Zora has seen one in over a thousand years, even longer for Hylians. They're legends now."
"This is very interesting, friend fish," Mattalla grumbled. He tried to avoid looking too long into the water; Gorons and water didn't get along too well. "But why show us? We should be on our way."
"Well, boulder buddy, I swam down to explore it a bit before I came and told you. There's writing in the ship, carved into the wood. I couldn't read it, though. It was written in that mixed-language we found in the castle. I thought it might hold a clue to the Triforce's whereabouts."
"Is there anyway you could copy down what's written and bring it back up?" Malon inquired, but it was Link who answered.
"It would take too long, and we need to hurry." He turned his gaze back to the ship. "How deep down is it, Zakro?"
"I don't know, about a five, ten minute swim. For you, anyway."
"Hm." Link was silent for a moment, thinking things through. After a few minutes, Malon said, "Link?"
"We don't need to breath here," Link said. The others looked at him with puzzled expressions. He laughed, and then explained. "Try holding your breath. We don't need to breath, just like we don't need to eat or drink!" After a few minutes, they discovered that he was right.
"But in the castle we were breathing heavily," Malon said. "And when we fought Necron's men. Weren't we breathing then?"
Link thought for a moment, then explained. "It's like phantom pains. Soldiers who have lost limbs sometimes feel like they still have them. We're so used to breathing that we don't even notice when it isn't needed."
"Amazing," Mattalla admitted. "But how does that help us? I don't know about the rest of you, but I wasn't exactly built for diving."
"I'll go," Link was already shedding his cloak, shirt, and boots. He secured the Master Sword to his back. "I'm the only one who can read all the languages. Lead the way Zakro." And with that, the two of them began their swim.
Link was amazed by how clear the water was; he could see exactly where the ship was. It was lodged onto a huge island of coral overhanging a deep trench. As Zakro led him closer, Link could sea what had sunk the vessel. They passed through a gaping hole in its side, and considering the inward bend of the broken wood, something had gone into the boat and not come out. They swam through the holds, and Link did his best to ignore the bones that littered the floor. They looked like Hylian bones, but there were a few he had never seen before. Returning his focus to the mission at hand, he followed Zakro into what must have been the captain's room.
There was moss and various water plants unlike any Link had ever seen before growing on the walls and furniture, which consisted of what were once a bed, several bookshelves, and a desk. On the desk there sat a globe, though half of it was missing. Link eagerly began to examine it, his boyhood curiosity of the outside world returning. He thought he could make out the name Hyrule on one of the landmasses, but everything else was blurred beyond recognition, save for a few scattered letters.
It took a poke on the shoulder from Zakro to break him from his reverie, and Link smiled apologetically at the Zora's impatient expression. Zakro had apparently found a secret door in the floorboards and was indicating that what they were looking for was down there. Link followed Zakro down through the hole, and gaped in amazement at what he saw.
Littering the floor—no, covering the floor—were piles of gold. Jewellery, chalices, rare jewels, rupees; there was more wealth in this one hold than there was in some castles Link had visited. Once again, it was up to Zakro to stem his curiosity. Zakro grabbed his elbow and steered him towards one corner. He lifted up a gold and silver sword and handed it to Link. Link examined the decoration, noticing the letters Zakro had brought him to see. Reading one side and then the other, he translated the inscription.
What was broken shall be restored. The enemies shall join as one. The Magic's Son must join the worlds before Death's dark work is done.
Link frowned at the sword, as if doing so would reveal the riddle. Zakro floated in front of him, arms crossed, with a surly expression on his face. Link nodded and pointed through the hole they had entered. Zakro nodded and swam back up through it. Link had no sooner placed the sword back on the ground when a silver and black blur shot back through the opening. It took a moment for Link to realize the blur was Zakro. The Zora was struggling to right himself in the water when Link saw his attacker. Staring down at them through the hole was a single red eye.
The eye disappeared, only to be replaced by a gaping maw lined with three rows of dagger-like teeth. Link and Zakro looked at each other, and then drew their weapons, the Master Sword and the arm fins. Again, the creature—whatever it was—disappeared. After a few minutes, Zakro swam cautiously to the opening, poking his head through it. A moment later he looked back at Link and grinned. Relieved, Link returned the smile and began to follow Zakro back out of the room, when suddenly the wall behind him shattered, and the head of a giant serpent crashed through. The head alone was almost as long as Link's body, and the mouth could have swallowed him twice. The creature began to force its way through the hole it had made, and Link kicked backwards, propelling himself against the opposite wall. He raised his sword, but soon realized that he would never be able to swing it fast enough under water. He had to think of another way to attack.
Zakro, apparently, had already found his method of attack. Kicking powerfully, he swam up above the beast's head then shot back down, arms forward, driving the tips of his razor-sharp fins into the serpent's skull. Even underwater Link could hear the creature's roar of pain and anger. The head shot back out with Zakro still attached. Link kicked off from the wall and swam after it. Once outside of the ship Link could see how huge the sea snake actually was. It spanned almost twice the length of the ship itself, and was about as wide as three Gorons standing abreast. Link no longer needed to wonder what had caused the hole in the side of the ship.
Zakro was stilled hooked to the serpent's skull, looking for an opportunity to attack again. Link sped towards its neck, sword in hand, already pulsing with magic. Righting himself in the water, Link planted his feet on the scaly back, reversed his grip, and drove the point into the snake's flesh.
* * *
"I swear to Din, we cannot leave that boy alone for two minutes."
Malon was hard pressed to argue with Mattalla. Thanks to the clarity of the water, the remaining companions had a bird's eye view of the battle taking place beneath the waves. Link and Zakro were fighting what appeared to be a giant snake. Shrike had already dived in and was on his way to join the battle. Numaru and Mattalla had little experience in the water, and Malon was too weighed down by her armor, so the three of them were forced to watch as their friends battled for their lives. "I don't suppose you guys know any magic that might come in handy here…"
"Not unless you count being able to eat my own weight in limestone as being 'handy'," Mattalla grunted. "There must be something we can do from up here."
"Do you think we can fly the bikes down into the water?" Malon offered.
Numaru, who had been deep in thought, shook her head. "No, the iron would be too heavy, and once we brought them back to the surface rust would begin to set it." Suddenly she smiled, as an idea came to her. "But if we were to fire magic into the water…" Pulling back on her handlebars she lifted the air-bike higher. "Quickly!" she commanded, "Fire your weapons at the creature!"
Malon and Mattalla followed her into the air and began firing the bolts of magic through the water. They aimed towards its rear so as not to hit their companions. The projectiles cut through the waves and impacted with the beast's tail. The sea-snake once again cried out in pain and thrashed about, almost causing Link and Zakro to lose their hold on its head.
"Excellent!" Numaru praised. "Again!"
* * *
Link couldn't help but feel a slight case of déjà vu as he held onto his sword for dear life as the serpent thrashed about. "Oh well," he thought, "At least this one doesn't breathe fire,"
Zakro was having a little more luck. Every time the beast thrashed its head, the Zora's razor-sharp fins dug a little deeper into its flesh, resulting in even more spasms. However, he was stuck in the one position like Link, and couldn't do anything more than let the beast hurt itself.
Link decided that enough was enough, and pulled the Master Sword from the serpent's neck. He looked down the length of the snake, trying to find a weak point. He saw flashes of blue light strike the beast's tail from the surface, and also saw Shrike swimming down to join the struggle. He ran over the options in his head, working out a plan from the tools at hand. By the time Shrike drew level with him, he had it.
He waved a hand towards the surface, hoping one of the three would get the message. Apparently they did, and increased their assault, this time a little higher on the beast's body. He then looked at Shrike and pointed at his own eyes. Shrike hesitated a moment, then nodded, drawing one of his swords. The Sheikah swam over to the other side of the snake's head and waited. Link swam next to Zakro, floating above the snake's head, and began to make signs with his hands. They must have looked silly, because for a moment the Zora king stared at Link as if he had lost his mind. Then understanding dawned upon him, and he nodded his head. Link positioned himself in front of the serpent's other eye and waited as Zakro pulled his fins out. Zakro swam in front of the snake's face, waiting.
The magic projectiles struck the snake's back, pestering it like a hundred mosquitoes, keeping it unfocused on what was happening right in front of it. Link raised his sword, and Shrike did the same. Simultaneously, the plunged the blades into either eye. The serpent roared in pain, opening its gullet its full width as it screamed in agony. Zakro shot down the monster's throat, arms extended. The snake suddenly stopped moving, green blood oozing from each of its eyes. Link silently prayed for his plan to work. Just when he thought that it had failed, he saw a bulge appear in the monster's back, followed by a blood-soaked Zora. Blood and other fluids leaked from the gaping wound, staining the waters, and the sea serpent sunk deeper into the ocean, lifeless.
Link, Zakro, and Shrike looked at each other once, then swam back towards the surface. When their heads broke the water, they were met by the cheers of the other three companions. Mattalla reached down and hefted each one of them back onto their bikes. Malon leaned over to Link's bike and embraced him, but quickly pulled away, crinkling her nose. "Goddesses, you guys stink!"
Shrike laughed a little and pulled down his mask. "If you had bathed in snake blood you'd smell a little too."
"I finally understand how Zora's can eat raw fish and not stand the smell," Link joked to Zakro. "Under water, you can't smell a thing."
"Please," Zakro panted in a less irritable tone than usual. "Never mention seafood again. After being the food for once, I think I might have to switch to Mattalla's rock diet. At least rocks don't bite back."