~27~

The next day the four woke before dawn and had left camp by the time the sun's rays first peeked over the horizon. They rode on through the boggy mires at a slow pace, making their way through the muddy marshes. The sun rose higher into the sky and it began to grow hot. Mosquitoes came up out of the mud and began to bite the horses and them. Their steeds whinnied with annoyance, swishing their tails to sweep them away, and the riders slapped and swatted them. The sun reached its peak at mid day and sweat poured off the travelers, still slogging through the clammy, humid bog. Novur was almost unbearable as she whined regularly of the heat, which they all knew too well. They paused about then, giving their horses a chance to rest. They all took deep draughts from their canteens and ate a bit of bread before continuing.

They moved on through the day, and the sun began to sink. As it did, the travelers found the trees thinning. They quickened their pace and soon came to the edge of the swamp. There were some grassy hills ahead, but the grass was all dry and brown, and beaten. The red, sandy clay soil underneath showed through. They plodded slowly over the hill, and found it dropped dramatically down. It was so steep they decided to leave their horses then.

"Goodbye Rahona," Nayru whispered, unburdening her horse. They let the horses off there and continued on foot. The hill was terribly steep and there were no footholds of any sort. They worked their way down slowly, making grooves in the sandy soil to stand in and trying to keep their balance. Suddenly, Rondansa let out a yelp and began to slide down the hill.

"Master!" Cried Londaris, trying vainly to reach him. Londaris slid down the hill after him. Nayru and Karzad looked at each other then grabbed hands and began to slide down too. The fall was fast and dirty, and they collapsed in a heap at the bottom.

"Master, are you alright?" Londaris said, helping Rondansa to his feet.

"I'll be fine," he said, adjusting his glasses and trying to sweep some of the dust off him. Karzad stood up.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked. Everyone gave an affirmative and Karzad turned to help Nayru to her feet. They all stood in the same place and Nayru began to speak.

"Does everyone have everything? All your weapons and bags?" but, before anyone could answer a crumbling cracking noise sounded around them. Karzad grabbed Nayru's hand instinctively.

"What was thaAAAAAAAA!" The ground beneath them began to crumble and then a hole opened under their feet and they were falling. They landed in some body of underground water with a splash. It was a fast moving river.

"Help!" Screamed Londaris, and they remembered he could not swim. Nayru groped for him with her other free hand and found a wrist, she pulled it toward her. She pulled the head up out of the water but it was not Londaris. It was Rondansa. She gave his hand to Karzad and then spoke as best she could while the whipping current pulled them downstream.

"Karzad, you must let go of my hand! I have to go find Londaris!"

"Never!" yelled Karzad in return.

"I must!" She shouted and then shook her hand free of his and dove underwater. She swam swiftly with the current, hoping to catch Londaris before he drowned. She swam quickly, searching the water around her. There was no sign of him. She burst her head out of the water and was nearly blinded by a bright light that she saw. She then saw that the river ended up ahead. A waterfall! She began to swim against the stream frantically, but the current was much too strong. She felt it pulling against her, and she could not retain her strength much longer. With a huge swell of water she was swept over the edge.

****

She was falling in a rush of water. She couldn't see. She lifted her arms above her head and suddenly felt her hand hit something. She grabbed it with her slippery wet hands and held on for dear life. She felt that it was some sort of branch. She inched toward the base of the branch, out of the stream of water. She was fatigued and only instinct kept her from letting go of the branch. Londaris must have been dead. He couldn't survive a drop like the one below her. She sighed and opened her eyes, looking up. She almost laughed out loud from what she saw. Almost eight feet above her was Londaris, dangling from a branch like hers, in about the same predicament.

"Londaris!" she cried out in a hoarse voice. He looked down, his wet green hair covered his face and he shook his head to clear it away. He looked back again and he looked as though he might burst out laughing too.

"Nayru!" he cried giddily. "This is a fine kettle of fish, isn't it?" he called over the roar of the waterfall.

"You could say that," She giggled back. "I can't hold on very well," she cried. "I have another ledge above me, I'll try to climb up!" A rock jutted out above her so she hooked her leg around the branch she hung from and swung upside down. She lifted herself up into a sitting position on the branch, and then reached up to reach the rock ledge. The grasped it with her hands and pulled herself into a squatting position on the branch. She got a better grip on the ledge and lifted herself up. She then climbed up onto the ledge and stood on its small edge, pressing herself against the muddy wall. She was in reach of Londaris's boot.

"Londaris!" She called, "Do you have a good grip on that branch?"

"Not bad!" he called back.

"If I needed to, could I climb up you?" She cried,

"Could you WHAT?" he called back,

"Climb up you! There's a wide ledge above you that I could get to and then pull you up onto." She answered. There was silence for a moment.

"Okay!" he called, "But be careful!" She reached up and grabbed his foot. She pulled herself up to it, and then inched her arms up to his knees. She pulled her body that far too. She moved her hands to his waist and then came that far up with her body. She worked her way up to his chest, and then said,

"Now hold on tight, because here comes the really tricky part." She pushed her legs up in front of her and planted her feet on his shoulders. She slowly unbent her knees and worked her way up him. Then she quickly grabbed onto his same branch and pulled herself off him. Then she looped her legs over the branch like she had before and pulled herself up. She grabbed the ledge and pulled herself onto it. She slumped back and let out a huge sigh of relief. She lay down on her stomach and grabbed Londaris's wrists. She pulled with all her might and dragged him slowly onto the ledge with her.

They both slumped back onto the wall behind the ledge. They sat there for a moment or two, and then Nayru stood.

"The top isn't too far away, and the rest is sheer rock with plenty of good footholds and handholds, I think we can climb the rest pretty easily." She helped Londaris to his feet and then said, "You go first, I'll spot you."

"Alright, so long as you don't try to climb me again." He chuckled, and then began to climb the wall with ease, being a light and nimble Sheikah. Soon he reached the top and stood on the ledge where water did not flow. She climbed the wall after him and they both looked into the tunnel. "There's a ledge over here!" Londaris said, studying the wall. And sure enough there was an underwater ledge that they could walk on. The water was only ankle deep on it, so they began to move along it slowly.

****

"This must be an underwater section of the Gerudo River." Said Nayru.

"I wonder where Master and Karzad are." Said Londaris.

"Well they didn't go over the falls." Nayru said.

"We would have noticed… They must have found a way to break away from the current."

They walked on for a long while and then saw an orangish light up ahead. They moved closer and saw that it was a torch in a brazier on a little ledge against the wall that stuck out of the water. They came to it and looked over. It connected to a small flight of stairs. They climbed up them and reached doors. Carved upon them was a triforce with the seal of the spirit upon it.

"This must be some sort of underground entrance to the Spirit Temple!" Londaris said studying the carving. Nayru pushed on the door and suddenly it opened, but from behind her she heard a squeal. She looked back and saw, floundering in the eddying water, a sopping blue fairy.

"Novur!" cried Nayru, running back and snatching her up from the water.

"I thought I'd lost you!" Nayru cried, fruitlessly trying to dry off the damp fairy. She popped Novur back in her pocket and then walked back over to the door. "Well," she said, "Shall we go in?"

"After you, I insist." Londaris said, bowing her through the door.

"Gee, thanks a lot." Said Nayru, walking through the doorway. There was a long flight of stairs and they both began up it. After a while they reached the top. It opened into a cavernous room. It was stiflingly hot in it, and they walked in hesitantly.

"Karzad? Rondansa? Are you here?" Nayru called out, her voice echoing around the wide chamber.

"Master? Master, are you there?" called out Londaris. Suddenly from all around them they heard muffled yells.

"It's a trap!" Nayru heard a voice scream from the right of her. She whipped around just in time to see a blast of fire coming at her, and she blacked out.

***

She woke up bound to a chair in a dark room. A chair was bound to the back of hers and she strained her neck to see who was sitting on it. It was Londaris, and he was still out cold. She looked around the room. Where was she? It all began to come back… The river, the waterfall, the temple… She squinted her eyes and peered into the darkness around her. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she saw a form near the back of the room. She looked closely at it, and then the form stirred. It moved toward her, still cloaked in shadow. A low rasping voice echoed around the room.

"What, don't you recognize me Nayru? Your old friend?" The figure stepped out of the shadows. It was Zarij. But she was different. She was hardly recognizable from her old self. Her hair had been jaggedly cut off very short and raggedly with what looked to have been with a sword or knife. Her clothes hung in bloody, dirty rags. Not to mention she was filthy. She was grimy, and covered from head to toe in sandy red Gerudo soil. She was crusted with blood from long whip marks in her back and big black bruises boomed under each eye.

But her eyes…They were different too. Once a deep, bright green, now the green was nearly gone, they were pale, almost white, and she had no pupil in her eye at all. She stood before her with her legs spread and her arms behind her back. Her eyebrows furrowed in anger as she saw Nayru's shocked expression.

"What is it… don't you recognize me? Or perhaps you wouldn't, seeing as you betrayed me… You… you left me for dead… They beat me… Long and hard—I nearly died for you people! What did you do in return? Forgot me… abandoned me… But the goddesses had pity on me… And they gave me a power. A power you could never imagine." A foul smile curled the edges of her lips. She drew her hands from behind her back. Nayru saw them now, the skin was scabbed and burned, charred as black as ashes. From little cracks in the blackness of the skin dark red blood dribbled out. On one finger Nayru was sure she saw a glint of gold. Zarij closed her eyes and began to shudder. She turned around and put her hands out in front of her. Suddenly huge columns of fire burst from her palms. They exploded in a burning fury and then dissipated on the hard stone walls of the room, leaving black scorch marks stretching up and down. She turned back and caught her breath in a repressed sob of agony, but then regained her composure.

"But with these powers." Zarij began. "I realized I didn't need you. I could make it on my own. I destroyed many in the fortress and then ran. I found the secret entrance to the temple and then I waited here… For someone… For you…"

***

"Zarij, please, I didn't forget you! Karzad was badly hurt, and he almost died! I had to go and save him! It was the only way… I am terribly, terribly sorry… The reason we came here is that we were looking for you." Nayru said. Zarij's eyes surveyed Nayru with no pity.

"You expect me to believe that? You needed me to find your mother and after you did you abandoned me!"

"Never! Zarij! I swear to you! We did no such thing!" Nayru cried out in protest, "I would have helped you if I could have… But there was simply no way! Please. Believe me. As a friend."

Zarij's eyes softened for a moment, looking at Nayru's pain, but then she turned away muttering to herself.

"No…no! She betrayed us! She wanted us out of the way!" she mumbled to herself.

"No Zarij, no! I would never do anything to hurt you! Not willingly! I am so sorry!" Nayru cried.

"Silence!" screamed Zarij. "You abandoned us! You left us to die! Din's ring is mine! You can't take it! I know it's what you want!"

"What are you talking about?!" cried Nayru.

"Silence!" She screamed again, pushing her hands out towards them menacingly. Zarij began to mutter angrily under her breath, standing there with her hands out. Nayru looked at Zarij and had a pang in her heart. Zarij was confused and angry… How could she help her?

"Zarij, please try to listen!" Nayru began to say, But Zarij cut her off once more.

"Stop!" she screamed, "I command you to be quiet!" She said stepping closer with her hands before her.

"Zarij, please! Please try to listen to me!" cried Nayru, raising her voice.

"No!" Screamed Zarij, and a small spurt of fire burst from her hands. It missed Nayru by inches. "Be quiet! Be quiet! Be quiet!" Zarij mumbled, half to herself and half to Nayru.

"Zarij! Look! You must listen to me! The ring! It is dangerous! It will hurt you! Please it's—" "NO!" screamed Zarij closing her eyes. And a huge column of fire burst from her palms. Straight at Nayru and Londaris.

****

Nayru closed her eyes, expecting to feel the fire consume her…but the pain didn't come. She opened her eyes and looked around. She had been surrounded in some sort of sphere of blue light. The fire still swirled around them, but it didn't touch her skin. It was some sort of shield. She looked back at Londaris. The shield of light surrounded him as well. The fire stopped suddenly, and Zarij looked at them. Her arms were still held out stiff, but she was on her knees. She struggled for a moment, then her arms dropped to her sides. She looked at the two in wonder, sitting there fully whole, and then she began to sob. Nayru meanwhile had been slowly working the cords that bound her loose, and at last they finally came off. Nayru slipped out of them and walked over to the huddled form that was Zarij.

"Zarij?" Nayru whispered. Zarij looked up.

"Stay away from me." She muttered, trying to back away from Nayru. Zarij lifted herself onto unsteady feet and then began to back away more. "Stay away… I—I'm not right… I can't…I can't control it anymore… I might hurt you… get away!"

"Zarij! I don't care if you hurt me! I want to help you!" Nayru cried, moving toward Zarij's trembling form.

"No!" She said, but could not move. Nayru came over to her and then grabbed her in a long, hard hug. Zarij sobbed into Nayru's shoulder.

"It will be alright, it will be alright." Nayru said. They finally pulled away from each other.

"I—the ring…it was given to me." Zarij said, holding her hand out to Nayru. On her finger was a beautiful golden ring. Flowing runes covered it as well, and a glowing red ruby was set in the very center. "I can't take it any more." Zarij cried. "I can't…I can't…I—" And then she fainted. Nayru caught her and then lowered her to the floor. She looked around the room, Londaris was stirring in his chair and Nayru walked over to him.

"What happened?" He asked, looking around the room in wonder. "That," Nayru said. "Is a long story."