The climb was silent. Micah could no longer hear the Dodongo's wrath, nor the anteroom's crumble, nor the clamor of the battle outside. All he could hear was the stomping of his own feet against the red carpet.

The climb was long. Faintly visible through the dusty windows were the tops of the towers. Clearly, Micah was already a great deal high.

He reached a door. Painted on its face was a giant Karod, holding his hands over a sleeping kingdom. Above Karod's head were the words "ALMIGHTY KAROD MASTER OF THE DREAM CASTER". Micah opened the door.

The next room clearly covered the entire breadth of the tower, for it was much larger than the anteroom. The floor was covered with shallow water. Micah waded into the room; the walls faded away, and were replaced by an eerily false sky, like that of a painting. In the center was a crude looking palm tree. Everything was obscured by mist, and everything had the cracked, faded appearance of a painting forgotten by age. Nothing else existed.

Micah waded deep into the painting, past the palm tree. Suddenly he heard a voice.

"Welcome to your dream."

Micah turned, and his shadow suddenly lifted itself out of the ground and stood before him. It unsheathed its sword.

"Or shall I say, your nightmare."

The shadow jabbed forward. Micah strafed, and the shadow smoothly spun around and slashed at him. Micah jumped again, surprised at the shadow's agility. It leapt forward, sword upraised, and sliced downward. Micah rolled out of the wall, spun, and lunged with his own sword. The shadow leapt onto the blade, and in the same heartbeat kicked Micah in the face and back-flipped away.

Micah collapsed; the reflecting water before him was pink with blood. Out of the mist, the shadow came again, running its sword through the water. Micah leapt out of the way, getting a nick in his shirt. The shadow attacked again, driving its sword towards Micah's head. He skillfully parried the blow, but was immediately faced with another. Fiercely and cleverly, Dark Micah swung again and again. The clash of metal rang in his ears and the smell of sparks lingered in his nostrils, but Micah kept it up. Dark Micah suddenly swung for his legs, but Micah jumped and slashed downward with his sword. Dark Micah suddenly flipped in midair, kicking Micah in the chest and sending him sprawling into the water.

Micah recovered as quickly as he could. Dark Micah slashed at him, but Micah struck it away, spun, and jabbed towards Dark Micah's heart. But his shadow jumped a stunning height, stood on Micah's sword... but Micah suddenly dropped it. Startled, Dark Micah collapsed, and Micah viciously kicked it in the head, grabbed his sword, and drove its blade deep into its heart. Dark Micah was vanquished.

The painting faded, as did his enemy. His normal shadow returned. He sheathed his sword and went through the opposing door.

He encountered more stairs. The walls were no longer large black bricks, but slender ones, painted blue. The steps were again covered with thick red carpet. The walls were lined with beautiful stained-glass windows.

The stairs ended. The floor was level again, and before him was another door, much larger, and covered with a design of blue and gold. Micah took a deep breath, drew his Sword, and opened the door.

Again he was faced with a ridiculously large room. But there was no sky. There was no pool of water. There was no shadowy incarnation of him. There wasn't even Karod.

In the middle of the room stood Link.

Micah dropped his sword and ran wildly towards his friend, blinded with tears and joy. He jumped up and tightly hugged him, laughing joyously.

"Link! Oh, Link!" he cried. "I thought you had died!"

Suddenly, Link grabbed him and held him tight. Micah's feet were bound by chains and secured to the ground. He looked at them dumbly. He shook his head, confused.

"But... why?" he muttered.

And then the dark robes of Karod flowed down from the ceiling, and the nemesis appeared before him. Karod stepped forward, grinning. "Because he is my servant," he said. He shook his head and laughed, his dark laughter echoing in the enormous room, taunting Micah. "You pathetic little boy. No matter how many of my soldiers you slaughter, or how many you control yourself, or how many miles of desert you can endure, all it takes is a single symbol of nostalgia to seal your fate."

Link stepped away, and Karod's Army of Minds appeared all around. They approached slowly, unsheathing their swords and holding them before their dark, hidden faces.

Micah shook his head, allowing his tears to flow freely, but no longer out of joy. "I don't understand," he wailed.

"Did I not tell you?" said Karod, backing away. "Any and all who are destroyed by my Army of Minds will join their destroyers. Link was killed you fool." He laughed again. "Ah, but 'tis wisdom gained too late for Micah, the ridiculous crusader! There is no escape!" His laughter continued, escalating to hysterical proportions.

Micah closed his eyes. Memories flowed from his mind. He did not know if this was what it was like to see your life flashing before your eyes, but he did not care. He dropped his head, and was immersed in memories.

"Life is full of mistakes. I'm sure you have made a choice that you came to regret. A choice that, if you only could, you would change. While in this world, play this song... the Eulogy of Dreams... to go back and have the chance to change a choice you wish you never made."

Micah opened his eyes.

The army closed in. They held their swords high, making it clear that all in the front row would strike at once, obliterating Micah's existence immediately. In light of all this, he reached into his pack and removed the Forest Ocarina.

"What are you doing?" said Karod, scornfully. "Playing your own eulogy?"

"No," said Micah, touching the instrument to his lips. "The Eulogy of Dreams."

He closed his eyes, and played.