A Link to the Past
Chapter Thirty Eight: The Knights of Hylia
"Come on, Link, you know I'm gonna catch you." Stalfos's voice echoed from behind. "This just means you're gonna be out of breath when I freeze you."
Now that everything wasn't covered with ice anymore, it also meant that there was no way to reflect the sunlight into illumination, meaning that the only light came from the small holes in the stone ceiling. It was enough for the young man to see the shape of the tunnel, and which way each junction went, but that was about all, and sometimes he was surprised by shallow water in the low spots that made plenty of splashing noises when he stumbled through them. These loud noises were sure to be heard by the big skeleton, and with his arm and Master Sword still frozen in a block of ice, there really wasn't any way for Link to fight his enemy off, at least none that would gain him longer than the few seconds it took for the bones to roll back together.
The tunnels turned several times, leaving the young man completely turned around and lost, not that he had any idea where he was in the first place, and to make matters worse it seemed like no matter how quiet Link was or how carefully he moved, it seemed like Stalfos was always right behind him. It was only then that he noticed the ice around his arm was starting to melt now that the cisterns were much warmer than the icy dungeons, leaving a trail that reflected just a bit in the small amount of light, and not quite melting enough for any chance to free his trapped appendage. The frozen arm was good for scattering the big skeleton's bones if a well placed hit could be achieved, but that required getting really close to Stalfos, and all his enemy had to do was get him once with that ice rod.
Suddenly Link's thoughts were interrupted when there was suddenly nothing underneath his foot, causing him to plunge face first into a pool of standing water that was almost as deep as he was tall. The young man's first instinct was to get to the surface and keep heading down this latest tunnel, but then he stopped and thought about it for a second… if Stalfos was following his trail, then the big skeleton would have to pass through the deep water in order to keep after him, but as long as Link was submerged this might be the only chance he got to get behind his enemy without getting frozen. So he waited at the bottom of the shallow pool, and sure enough a set of boney legs splashed down into the water a short time later.
Not wanting to waste even an instant of this opportunity, a pulse of power from the glove allowed the young man to jump up, breaking the surface of the water while making a wild swing of his slightly less frozen arm. As he hoped, the big skeleton was caught off guard, the whole top half of his body scattering into a dozen bones that included his shield arm that was severed at the shoulder, the whole thing dropping down into the pool along with… along with the ice rod! So while Stalfos's body fell forward, the young man dove back down into the water, reaching for the shield arm and feeling his fingers wrap around something metallic… just as another boney hand clamped down tightly onto Link's shoulder to roughly pull him back up to the surface while the last of the bones rolled back together.
Since his shield arm hadn't quite reattached yet, Stalfos pulled the young man back so hard that his whole body left the water for a second, splashing down again in the nearby shallow part so that Link's back hit the stone incline. In the time it took for the young man to shake off the dizziness from being tossed, the big skeleton's shield arm had been reattached, and since Link could still fee something metal in his free hand, it was time to give Stalfos a taste of his own medicine. So he lifted the ice rod out of the water and aimed it at his enemy, only to realize that it was the red and gold colored shield that Link was holding up… while the big grinning skeleton aimed the ice rod to finish him off.
There was no time to get out of the way, so mostly out of reflex the young man locked the red and gold colored shield onto his forearm, and desperately trying to stay behind it as much as possible as the chilling silver mist flew toward him. Instead of being frozen solid, however, the mist disbursed in all directions upon hitting the shield, coating part of the nearby stone wall with a layer of ice, and forcing Link to scoot his way out of the water when it began to freeze as well. The ice didn't get very far across the standing water, but the young man still scrambled to his feet, keeping the magical shield up defensively just in case his enemy tried again, but instead Stalfos just slowly walked toward him through the standing water.
"That shield won't protect you." The big skeleton said almost angrily as Link backed away. "It won't let you escape, and it certainly won't stop me from giving you to Ganondorf… I will get back to Hyrule… I will!"
"No you won't! Not with Ganondorf!" The young man exclaimed. "For the thousandth time, that creature doesn't know how get back home, and even if you give me to him, he'll probably just kill you so no one finds out what…
His words were interrupted when Stalfos roared with anger, firing the ice rod a second time, and then drawing his sword when the shield was able to deflect the chilling mist a second time, and then making a downward swing with the blade. Since he was still deflecting the last bit of the mist with his newly acquired shield, Link's only option was to raise his still frozen arm, crying out in a throb of pain when a lot of the remaining ice was knocked from it. Even though the young man's arm was almost completely freed, it was numb from being frozen, so for now that magical shield was his only defense, and the big skeleton was still attacking. Parrying the next two sword attacks, each one with enough force to make him take a step back, the only thing that saved Link was that it took Stalfos a second to be able to use the ice rod each time, but then it happened…
The big skeleton cried out in surprise the next time he used the ice rod, and this time he was standing so close to the young man that some of the chilling mist was deflected onto his sword arm, slowing Stalfos's movements. This was the first time in a while that an opening to attack appeared, so Link used the glove to rush forward, bashing the big skeleton with his shield, but then almost tripping over some of the scattered bones as they fell on the floor. Just like the other times, the bones rolled back together, but this time something was different… the bones that had been coated with ice from the freezing rod had not come back together, instead just laying there on the stone floor while the two of them both stared in disbelief.
Now that he only had one arm, Stalfos was unable to use his sword without letting go of the ice rod, while Link's sword arm was starting to move a little as the feeling slowly came back. The big skeleton waited a second as if seeing if the bones would ever roll back to where they were supposed to be, and when they didn't he used the rod again, just not pointed at the young man. No, this time he pointed it downward, freezing the ground Link was standing on solid so that he slipped and fell onto his back, but the ice spread a bit farther than Stalfos probably thought it would, because soon the big skeleton was slipping and sliding as well. He tried to lean on the wall to steady himself, but it was the section that was already frozen earlier, causing the bones to scatter again when he fell on the stone floor face first.
Almost immediately the bones started to reform, and now Link was slipping as he tried to grab onto the ice rod that had fallen nearby. Stalfos reformed first, but the young man stopped this by kicking the big skeleton's legs out from under him so that he fell and scattered again, and this time Link was able to reach the ice rod. Without really understanding how it worked, the young man just aimed the blue diamond on its top toward the reforming skeleton, and there was a brief tingling sensation throughout his whole body while the chilling mist was sprayed out. Because of the way he was laying, the mist only touched the big skeleton around its head and shoulders, but apparently that was enough since the rest of Stalfos's body collapsed almost immediately after.
Link shot him with the silver mist again just to make sure, and then grabbed the crystal from among the fallen bones, the whole world around him fading to black just like it had done when he touched the other crystals. No, the girl inside this one wasn't Princess Zelda, either, but he was still happy that she was no longer in the clutches of these monsters. With Stalfos frozen and the danger, or at least this one, over, the young man didn't mind taking some time to catch his breath while hearing what this one had to say as she spoke into his mind.
I was so frightened that you were going to be killed by him, but I shouldn't have doubted the great hero who already rescued three of us before me. The desperation of Ganondorf's followers to return home drives them to serve him… to imprison us, and to hunt you… but my grandfather used to tell me stories about the Golden Land, and how it used to be much easier for people to travel to and from.
"It did?" Link asked. "But I thought the barrier had always been there, that's why Ganondorf is trapped, right?"
Several generations ago anyone could enter the Golden Land, many on a pilgrimage to see the Triforce, but then a terrible legion of monsters appeared. These monsters waged war on the ancient Hylian people, attempting to enter the Golden Land and seize the Triforce for themselves, leaving the people no choice but to seal the Golden Land forever with a barrier that nothing could break. Seven wisemen performed the ritual while the Knights of Hylia protected them from the monsters, led by one who wielded the Master Sword.
Apparently even with the Master Sword on their side, the Knights of Hylia were nearly wiped out in the battle, but the ritual to create the barrier was completed. The survivors of the monsters scattered to the winds since now there was no way to enter the Golden Land, but over several generations the barrier's magic had begun to crack. This was why people were able to enter, but hardly anyone could get back out, at least not until Agahnim began unlocking its secrets with his own terrible magic.
Link, I don't know if this is true, but some of us believe that you are a descendent of the Knights of Hylia, since you claimed their legendary sword and continue to stand up to Ganondorf's monsters against all odds. I can't help you in your fight, but Stalfos knew the locations of the other captured girls… Ganondorf told him so that traps could be set for you. One is down here in these very cisterns, but be warned… she is in the possession of a terrible beast that makes its home here, and it might already be hunting you.