Chapter Three: Bearing the Burden
Twenty Days
The two men sat silently under the great, shaded trees of the wood. Neither of them thought to speak while mechanically eating lukewarm cornmeal mush with uneven chunks of stale oat bread. Dip, scrape, mouth, dip, scrape, mouth, their movements were mindless and stiff. They were men of silence, men of deep thought; they were Sheikah, people of the shadows.
One was a man of later years, with hard-worn features and deep, reading eyes. His companion was younger, perhaps no more than two and twenty, with fair hair he wore at shoulder length, and an unforgettable marred smile, caused by the pink scar that stretched across his jaw and cheek.
The sounds of the woods echoed around them, the tiny chirping of birds, the scamper of a squirrel in the dead leaves of last winter, and the young man lifted his head and sniffed the air, taking deep, filling breaths.
"The air is different here, than in the mountains," he said, gazing levelly at the other.
"It's the earth you're smelling. There is not good rich soil such as this in the high country of Foltuc. I would have thought you'd have gotten used to it by now." Orion finished his meal and already took the task of cleaning the old, careworn bowls.
"Though I may have gotten used to it, that does not mean that I cannot marvel at it still," with a rueful smile Sheik handed Orion his bowl. "We should go in search of the pass the Council spoke of soon. The new moon is yet some time away, I know, but should we not have everything prepared before hand?" His few boyish features made him appear innocent and naïve to his companion at that moment.
"You talk of it as if we are simply planning for a harvest in the fall," Orion's tone was tight and curt. "I do not wish to think of it so."
"You misread my words, Orion," Sheik wrung his hands together, voice heavy with the same weight that encumbered his friend's. "You know that was not what I meant. I know the darkness of our path as well as you."
"Then well you remember it. This is not some simple errand we carry out!"
"I know." The young Sheikah's voice was soft and distant. "We bear the task to bring death to the One chosen by the Goddesses. Do not think I feel the weight of this any less than you do. It pains my heart more with each passing day." Orion took out a small dagger from his belt, a beautiful ornate handle with a slightly curved sickle blade and began to polish it with care.
They did not speak at length and Sheik watched as Orion focused diligently on his work. He knew that Orion did not like to discuss openly the purpose of their journey from the mountains. Their purpose was death, to play the second man to murder. It had been seen by the Sheikah Council, whose wisdom and power was rivaled only by the Sages themselves. And the Sages of the Future had sent Link to find the One, but he was to hampered by emotions to complete the task. The rest of the afternoon was spent in silence as each man rode toward the craggy cliffs, looking for an entrance into the Eidua Valley.