Chapter 10

Link scrambled up the slippery, rock-covered face of Death Mountain with Chitz the Imp happily bouncing from one boulder to another. The air was still cold from the storm, but it felt fresh and clean. Breathing deeply, the Hero of Time felt alive. Above him the Mountain puffed slowly, a ring of grey ash encircling its tip.

The trip to Death Mountain had been uneventful. They had spent a night in the old Sheikah village of Kakariko to shelter themselves from the storm. Grey clouds still floated across the sky, but now the sun was now shyly peeking out from behind them.

"Stunning, don't you think, Chitz?" asked Link.

"What? Me? Haha," the Imp replied, looking coy. "Why I didn't realise you felt that way. Haha."

Link smiled, leaning back on a rock. "You know what I mean. Up here Hyrule looks so peaceful and beautiful." He paused, searching for the right words. "Like a baby sleeping."

Chitz made a face. "Haha. You're not going to start reciting poetry on me now, are you? Haha. If so, let me go find some rocks to plug into my ears. Haha."

The Hero of Time laughed. First Zayna, then Fran and Tessa and now Chitz. Link suddenly realised how much he had missed the company of other people, holed up in the desert for five summers. Yes, there had been his friend Shade, but he had only visited infrequently. What a waste. Moping in his hut, thinking about the past. He had taken an unheroic like perverse pleasure in simmering in his own misery.

But that still did not mean he wanted to see Zelda. Or did he?

Link sighed, closing his eyes. He could not quite work out his feelings for the Queen. Thinking of her sometimes brought out a warm feeling of affection in his heart. But at other times the memory of their parting and the words she had said gripped him in bitter fury. So much so that he had to sometimes go outside and just .. hit things. Usually just old, dead tree trunks with his sword, but still. Cyle had taken both Malon and Zelda away from him and now he ruled Hyrule while Link had a little wooden hut that desperately needed cleaning to call his own. Life, he mused, was a very strange thing.

Still. He had learned not to dwell on things for too long and so he turned his attention to Darunia, King of the Gorons. It would be good to see him again, but he knew that his friend was very sick. Link hoped he still lived. Idly rolling a pebble in his hand, the Hero of Time wondered what had been so important that a Goron had died just to give him the summons. He scratched at his hand. Something so important that the Triforce itself seemed to be telling him to attend to it.

Nice to be busy though. He had spent the five past summers spending his days at Xeno's tavern, talking to Shade and digging for ore in the desert to sell to foreign traders. Now he had something to aim for .. now he had responsibility. The last reflection made him think about Zayna. His grand idea about training a new Hero had failed quite spectacularly. Not only had he taught her next to nothing, but he had also lost her and had no clue how to get her back.

Chitz bounded over to him. "Haha. So, Hero, tell me about these Morons."

"Gorons."

"Yes, haha, Gorons. They don't eat Imps do they?"

The corner of Link's mouth twisted mischievously. "Actually," he said, looking thoughtful. "I think they do."

Link had to grab onto the Imp's neck to prevent him from bolting down the Mountain in dread.

"I jest with you, Chitz," he laughed. "Gorons only eat rocks."

Chitz glared. "They better do."

Link noticed that that was the first time the little creature had not laughed.

"Haha. Well, let's get going then," Chitz continued. "Quit your morbid musings and let's move. Haha." He pointed up. "I think I found myself a nice little cave up there. Haha."

"Oh?" Link said, distracted. Chitz was right. It was time to move on both mentally and physically. He had put off his meeting with Darunia for far too long. Absentmindedly, his gaze followed to where Chitz was pointing and his heart froze in recognition.

He blinked hard to make sure he was not seeing things. At that moment, he felt another small tingle from the Triforce markings on his hand. He chewed on his lip, pondering as the emotions churned within him. Finally, he came to a decision.

"Wait here, Chitz," Link said grimly. "There's something I have to do."

*

Small clouds of sand puffed upwards as Zelda, Tyron and Prince Chizan trotted along Death Mountain Trail. Once, long ago, enormous boulders would roll down the path from the top of the Mountain, surprising unwary travellers. Now though, the path was clear and perfectly safe.

Zelda looked at her two companions. The Prince's face was covered in a deep blue cloth that wrapped around his head to hide his features. There was a tiny slit for him to see through, but other than that he looked like something from a small child's nightmare. She herself had her hood up to cover her identity. Tyron had his silver hair tied in a ponytail, but had done nothing to conceal his face. Not many people knew what he looked like anyway, so he had little need for deception.

"I heard Darunia was sick," the Queen said. She still held the title, despite the end of her marriage. She was of true royal blood and Cyle was not. But now it was a title with no power behind it.

"Yes," said Tyron. "Chalance Vance poisoned him."

He had said it with such casualness that Zelda had thought she had misheard him. "What?"

"It is as I said," Tyron continued. "Vance visited him one night a few months ago. Darunia got sick soon after. It does not take the Triforce of Wisdom to realise what had happened."

"The sorcerer is a devious one," the Prince mumbled.

"Why wasn't I told about this?" she asked, her voice alarmed.

"What would you have done?" Tyron said. "There was no proof. There was nothing to tell."

"I could have sent help!" she said angrily.

"I visited him," Tyron said calmly. Zelda wondered when exactly he had done that. She had not known Tyron to have actually ever left the castle in all the time she had been acquainted with him. "He is beyond help. This sickness will consume him." He turned to the Queen with a small smile. "I apologise for not notifying you, Your Highness."

Zelda bit down her frustration and kicked at her mare. She galloped ahead of the others, suddenly feeling that she had to get to Darunia as fast as possible. Small rocks scattered and the wind tugged at her hood as she rode on.

Again she felt the markings of the Triforce tingle and she wondered what it was trying to tell her. She still had so much to think about. Sometimes she felt her head would burst. Cyle's betrayal cut at her soul. Ironic really, considering what she and her friends had been planning to do to him first.

She felt sorry for Chizan, dragged into a war not of his making. The Prince, however, had remained his unflappably calm self. Sometimes she found this annoying and yet at other times, his serenity was a rock to hold onto as the stormy waves of life battered her. It helped that his tranquil composure augmented the natural beauty of his features. She shook her head. Now was not the time for thoughts such as these.

Her personal feud with her husband had now spread out of control. People were going to get hurt. People were going to die. She closed her eyes as guilt flooded through her. She was certain that taking an army to reclaim what was rightfully hers would not be as bad as anything Cyle and Vance had planned for the world.

Her mind drifted to Link. She wondered where he was. A bittersweet sadness tugged at her every time she thought of her old friend. Had not the Door of Time been closed, she would have used the Master Sword and gone back in time to give her younger self a good shake. She remembered the time Link had stood before her, sheepishly asking her hand for marriage. Every fibre in her body had screamed at her to say 'yes!' but idiotically she had let her foolish feelings for Cyle overrule her good sense. Plus, people had been in her ear. Cyle is of good noble stock, they had said. Link was a Hylian with no pedigree, they had said. And then there were the words she had said to him afterwards. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Tears threatened to appear, but she was distracted by the two men calling out to her. She glanced behind her and saw Tyron beckoning frantically. She trotted over to them, and got off of her horse.

"What is the matter?" she asked.

The Prince violently pressed her to the rocky face of the mountain. "There is someone up there!" he hissed, pointing.

Zelda's heart thudded. The sour taste of trepidation lined her mouth and she broke out in a sweat. Had Cyle's agents found them already? Would he really kill her? Of course he would, she thought bitterly.

Her mind crowded with too many thoughts, she let her gaze rise up to where the Prince was pointing.

*

Zayna waited. She was dressed in fresh clothes and she had a bag ready full of spare garments and other things she needed. No weapons, obviously.

She hoped they would not be travelling via whatever portals the Demon Riders used. Then again, she thought ruefully, she hoped she would not be travelling with any of them at all.

Finally, she saw the thin, sallow skinned face of Chalance Vance appear. She tensed, ready for what she had to do.

"You are ready, I see," he said, looking her up and down. "I will notify the King."

Zayna gazed back, her arms folded. "I have decided," she said in her most arrogantly sounding voice. "That I do not wish to go."

"Don't be foolish," he breathed. "I will make you go."

She walked up to the energy bars, her eyes hard, her face set in a cocky smile. "Chalance Vance. You could not make a Kokiri climb a tree."

He hissed, a little annoyed. Zayna saw the texture of the bars change slightly.

"In fact," she continued. "A Kokiri is probably a lot smarter than you, a lot more resourceful and a heck of a lot more better looking than you."

"Do not mock me, woman," he spat. She saw the bars flicker.

"My, my, what a temper," she said. "You know what? I think I've hit a nerve." She paused, as he hesitated. "What was it? Pretty little Kokiri girl reject you did she? Not man enough for her were you? I bet she told you to go live with some Gerudo - after all, you'd fit in perfectly in a place where there was no one but your fellow females right?"

Chalance Vance roared, his ire ignited. At that instant, the bars expanded, split and then burst into a million crystal coloured shards. Vance stood there stunned, his mouth hanging open, as Zayna's fist rammed into his nose. He fell back, hitting his head on the wall. Another kick and he was knocked out cold.

Pausing to pick up her bag, she stepped over the prone sorcerer and made her way down the dimly lit corridor. Briefly, she wondered if she should break the man's neck, but decided she did not have enough time. Besides, it was a cowardly way to kill someone.

She realised she had no idea where she was going as she made her way through the winding passages. She knew the Temple of Time was above her, so clearly she had to find some stairs.

Zayna felt their presence before she heard them. Pressing her back to the wall, she held her breath staring at the end of the passage, which crisscrossed with another corridor. She watched the flickering torchlights as her heart pounded. There. The Demon Riders floated past in the other opening, not even giving a glance in her direction.

Tiptoeing slowly, she made her way to the other walkway. Peering around, she spotted the stairs towards the left and let out a sigh of relief. She softly crept her way to the stone steps, her eyes and ears alert. She paused for a moment, listening.

Silence.

She bounded up the stairs, straining her leg muscles. The steps seem to go on forever. One hundred. Two hundred. Her legs ached and she was bathed in sweat by the time she saw the comforting sight of a stone door at the top. Pushing against it, she fell into the main hallway of the Temple of Time, the familiar humming sounding like the best thing she had ever heard in her life.

Briefly glancing at the Master Sword stuck in its pedestal, she rushed for the door. Outside, the sunlight stung her eyes. They had not yet gotten used to seeing anything else but gloomy darkness. She did not care.

She ran straight into Hyrule Market, knocking people out of the way. They spun around angrily, giving her annoyed shouts and shaking their fists. She slowed down, attempting to catch her breath. Trying to calm herself, she walked with the people hoping to blend into the crowd. She saw a child chase a dog and a couple oddly dancing despite there not being any music. People stood, talking, laughing and trading.

Just like at the tavern in the desert, the sound of so many human voices soothed her soul and she sighed contentedly. She was free! Free!

Now all she had to do was figure out what to do next.

*

Link walked along the tunnel, his hand trailing against the rock wall. The air felt oppressive like the Mountain itself grieved over the terrible sight it had witnessed here. He swallowed trying to bring some moisture to his dry mouth. He realised he was also trembling slightly.

The tunnel opened out into a cavern and suddenly he was there. The lava had solidified and was now a bumpy grey mass of rock. He glanced to the right. One small alcove. He glanced to the left. Another small alcove. He peered closely. The lever was still there, but half broken and rusted brown.

He gazed up at the ceiling. Knotted to the top were two small broken stumps of rope. He looked across to the other side. A wrecked wooden platform stood, decayed with age. Link remembered back. Had he possessed a magic arrow he could have taken out the wizard instead of having to have to shoot for the ropes. Somehow, Cyle had brought one, even though Link swore that he had not fetched one with him from Lon Lon Ranch.

The chamber was silent. Peaceful, even.

Like a tomb.

Each heartbeat brought a painful twinge to his soul. How things could have been so different, he thought bitterly. If the lever had just been allowed to move, everyone's life would have been different. His. Zelda's. Malon's.

Tears came to his eyes as he slowly reached back for his boomerang. He flipped it up into the air and then caught it. His hand was slippery with sweat. He paused, staring at the lever with narrowed eyes. Link pulled his arm back until the muscles in his shoulder screamed in pain and then hurled the boomerang with a snarl. He watched as it chopped through the air. With a metallic clang that echoed in his ears, it hit the lever. The rusted metal column shifted from left to right.

There was a deep rumble. The cavern shook slightly. Some loose rocks fell from the ceiling. Nothing else happened. No hidden platform revealed itself. He guessed that the lava was too solid and the mechanism too rusted from disuse for it to work.

He sighed as he watched the boomerang float back towards him, readying his hand to catch it. What had possessed him to come here anyway? There was nothing but pain and bitterness here. Nothing good could have come out of this.

Like a hurtling arrow, a black clad hand shot out in front of his face and caught the boomerang. Link spun around swiftly, instinctively reaching for his sword. He cursed himself, so lost had he been in his own thoughts that someone had snuck up on him unawares.

"Hello, Link," said Zelda.