XI
He could not feel anything. He did not know who, or what, he was. Not that this mattered, for he wasn't even trying to remember. All he knew was that he existed. He felt as if in a void, a strange lack of sensing anything pervaded him. Time had no meaning. He knew he existed before, somehow, yet could not remember anything of that life. Or form any sort of coherent thought. Soon, though, he felt something. He was lying down, it seemed, yet none of his other senses were working. Slowly, his mind cleared. Things started to return to normal. Thoughts returned to his head slowly and painfully. He tried to figure out what he was doing here, and where he was immediately beforehand. A crow cawed in the background as he tried to fit the sensation of hearing into what passed for his thought processes. And then a voice, but he could not discern where it came from or what it was saying. He finally opened his eyes. Slowly, Link returned to a state of consciousness.

As he finally gathered his wits around him, he noticed a man staring intently at him. Sefia? No, Sefia was dead. Link tried to remember why this was important, but couldn't. He tried to focus again. This wasn't an evil; it wasn't someone trying to kill him. A name finally connected. "Aron?"

The young soldier nodded. "It is good to see you awake sir. Don't try to move yet, you've been hurt pretty badly."

Link raised his head to look around, but a fierce pain shot through him. He almost blacked out from the effort, but managed to hold onto consciousness. He tried to remember what happened. But it was all so blurry. A wizrobe. An army. An earthquake. But they were just fragments, pieces of a puzzle that was far from complete. He groaned from the pain and frustration. "What happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us the details. There was an avalanche, and you seemed to be in the middle of it. It looks like you had a concussion, so try not to move around much."

Of course. Link remembered the cliff falling out from under him clearly. But why was he on the cliff? He thought back, and it started to become clear. The vast armies marching, the fight with Sefia inside the cave. But why? He sensed it was urgent, and he tried desperately to remember. Fighting Sefia, and a mist rising in the background. And... and... Ganon. Of course. The king of evil returned. Which means the armies were his. And he must be marching against Hyrule now. "We have to warn Hyrule. The..."

"Don't worry, sir. We saw the armies as well. The rest of the group that found you returned to Hyrule to warn the Queen. They would certainly arrive with enough time to prepare for those beasts. You need only be concerned with yourself."

No, it wouldn't be enough. The army of Hyrule might have a chance against that horde, but not against Ganon. They would need him. But he was in no condition to fight now. Link sighed. At least Zelda knew what was going on and would protect the Triforce. But did she know? How much did this group see before they returned. "How did you find me?"

Aron smiled. "This may seem strange, but a little messenger flew into Hyrule a few days back." And with that, Reni flew over and hovered beside Link's head.

"I was probably better off with that merchant than worrying about you, you know." Link smiled as Reni continued, "I managed to convince another fairy to heal that other Hylian when he started giving orders. He practically forced me to go find your castle and relay his orders there. I still don't know why I agreed to it. But I went there, told anyone who would listen to me what happened in the forest and to send some people up this mountain. Apparently your friend knew you'd get in trouble. And then they told me to go with them, and this soldier here refuses to let me leave until I can heal you again. Not only do I not feel ready to use the healing power again, but I really don't want to. So you had better give me a good reason for helping you out here or else I'm leaving."

"You could have left at any time though. I'm sure Aron did not imprison you through force."

Reni paused and looked away. "No, but.... I just felt guilty leaving you here. And considering how serious you all seem to be, it sounds like this is all important for you.... This isn't how I thought I'd be living once I escaped."

Link smiled again. "Thank you Reni. I appreciate your help. And you're right, this is very important. I need to return to Hyrule as soon as possible. And I would be very grateful if you were to heal me again, although I cannot ask anymore of you."

Reni sighed. "I still feel a little weak. It takes a very long time to regenerate our powers after using them. I should be fine in a day or two. And, um, good luck."

"Thank you. I'm afraid we will need all the luck we can get."