Chapter four: The Dead Fortress

The Hero of Time opened his eyes, and found himself staring right into the head of a black arrow. He forced himself not to jump up. He would have an arrow through his brain before his head had lifted.

The black moblin archer holding the bow glared down the arrow shaft with fiery red eyes showing pure evil hatred in every line. Fear touched Link as he saw those piercing eyes.

"You're coming with me, elf," the creature grunted gruffly, and seized him roughly by the neck. He forced him up to his feet. Two others were at his sides at once, holding swords to him.

"Try to escape and you're dead," growled the one on his left.

"Yeah," added the one on the right.

Link just stared blankly, trying not to let his anger reach it's boiling point. He had to bide his time before trying what he was thinking about doing...

The black moblin's led Link outside, and Link was not surprised to find Darunia standing outside in the bitter mountain air with a guard of around ten moblins. Apparently they did not trust a goron. Though Link did not blame them, he gritted his teeth in anger. He mustn't lose his temper...they might have the answers they were looking for...

"What is it you intend to do with us?!" Link growled, struggling to keep his voice even.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" a moblin yelled, and whacked him over the head with a spear butt. Little white stars popped in front of Link's eyes. He sagged to the ground, his mouth open.

"Don't.....touch me....."

Link could not control it. His anger was too much. The Triforce on the back of his hand glowed brightly. It flashed across the ground, blinding everybody but Link and Darunia. The power took hold of Link, and he suddenly forced his muscular arms upward, sending the surrounding moblins flying in all directions. He dove through the flying crowd, his eyes blazing and fiery green. He reached Darunia's guard, and without bothering to draw his sword, punched one moblin in the head. The force of the Triforce punch crushed it's skull inward, and caused it's brain the rip out the back of it's head, showering dark blood everywhere in the melee. Link drew out his sword and hurtled it into three other moblins at once. He ran at unnatural speeds, and jumped atop the last living demon. He forced his hands into the moblins mouth, took both sides....

And tore the moblins head into two pieces.

Darunia saw the entire process, and was stunned. He had never seen Link fight so ferociously.

The Triforce light faded, and Link's eyes returned to blue.

Bodies littered the mountain grounds, and blood and bowels splattered the mountain sides. It was grotesque, but Link did not care at the moment. He was so angry at himself, he actually considered punching himself for a second.

"NO!" he bellowed, slamming a fist into the mountain wall. "WHY COULDN'T I CONTROL MYSELF?!"

Darunia laid a hand on Link's shoulder comfortingly.

"Do not worry," the goron said soothingly, "we will still find their base. We're on their path and they will have no way to stop us."

"Yeah," Link said, not convinced at all, "yeah, I spose..."

He walked over to his sword which was still buried in a moblin's heart. He put a foot on it's head, and yanked the blade out. He sheathed it, picked up the pack of food that the moblin's had taken, and with a simple "let's go," walked off further down the valley, Darunia hurrying along in his wake.

"Malon! You're holding the blade the wrong way!" snapped Zelda impatiently.

"Sorry!" gasped Malon, straightening out the dagger in her hand. This was the first training session and she wasn't doing very good. Zelda was an impatient teacher, but a good one at that.

"Here," Zelda said, "what would you do if I came at you like this?"

She swung her dagger at Malon's head. Malon was a bit surprised, but caught on quickly enough the block the blow and stab back with lightning fast reflexes. But it wasn't enough. Zelda blocked it with ease, and swung at Malon's kneecaps. She wasn't fast enough, and felt the cold steel touch her legs.

"You have a ways to go," the princess said, taking her sword off the ranch girls leg and putting it in her sheath. "But you're getting better."

"I don't feel like it," said Malon angrily, also sheathing her dagger. "Why can't I get it right?"

"You're being too hard on yourself," replied Zelda, "just relax. You've made nice progress for your first training session. If we catch up to Ingo today, I may have to take him alone."

Malon felt both annoyed and angry at herself. She wanted to hurt Ingo, and torture him for information. She wasn't usually like this, but in the face of that man, she would do anything to kill him. He had caused her far too much annoyance and pain over the years. And if she was going to do something about it, she wanted to be part of it, rather than sit back and watch.

"Again," said Malon quietly.

"What?" Zelda said sharply.

"Again!" repeated Malon, taking her dagger out. "I want to learn more."

Zelda stared for a second, then took out her sword again. "Very well," she said, "but we must be brief. If we are to catch up with him, it must be soon. No more taking breaks."

And so they practiced, and practiced......and practiced. They did it sometimes not moving, but usually on the go, walking and talking about sword moves, Malon's experience with the blade growing all the while. Zelda was not nearly as good as Link in the art of sword fighting, but she was good enough to put up a very strong battle. She taught Malon all she knew, and by 1:00 in the afternoon, still on Ingo's trail, Malon was very skilled. She felt confident, and Zelda admitted it to herself that she had all her confidence in the ranch girl, also. Malon was very good. For this, she was grateful. She was no longer the only one with power in this fight.

Link and Darunia stood still, staring around at the big clearing.

It was the end of the valley, and all they had walked into was a huge empty clearing, with nothing but rocks. The mountains towered over them, casting long threatening shadows over the ground. It was ominous, but there was nothing here.

Finally, Darunia broke the silence.

"What the hell are we supposed to be looking for?" he blurted. His deep voice echoed off the mountain walls. Link just stared blankly. Had the dying moblin pointed them in here to trap them? He doubted it. Few people who were that close to death could think that quickly. No, there had to be something here...there just HAD to...

Without really thinking, Link found himself walking into the large open area. Darunia stood still, watching the Hero of Time studying everything. If anyone was to figure out this mystery, it was him.

Link ran a hand along a boulder, trying to shut out all thought and consider every possibility. He closed his eyes and scrwed up his face in thought.

Nothing came to mind. Frustrated, he slammed a hand against the boulder.

"What are we–?"

The rock shifted. It was so small and such a tiny, distinct movement that Link barely felt it, and it could have been easily overlooked. He looked back at the boulder, looking it up and down. He put both hands on it, and walked alongside it. He felt nothing unusual, but still, did not leave it. He examined it a bit longer, then pounded it again. The stone wobbled, but remained stationery.

Link took out his sword, and slapped the flat of the blade as hard as he could against the rock, making a peculiar noise ring through the mountains. He nodded, and sheathed his sword.

"This is not a rock," he stated, "it is only a mimic."

He pulled back a fist, and slammed it as hard as he could into the boulder. On contact, it burst to pieces, little pieces flying everywhere, sending a wave of dust over the ground, reaching around their ankles.

Link and Darunia stared. Where the rock used to be, there was a large gaping hole in the ground, wind sucking into it.

Link stared at it for a second, then walked toward it, drawing his sword back out.

"Come on, we're going in," ordered the elf. Darunia stared for a second longer, then walked over to him.

"Are you sure?" the Fire sage asked, "it looks dangerous."

"As if all of this so far hasn't been?" countered Link, and without another word, he leapt into the hole, with the pack of food still upon his back. He was closely followed by Darunia.

Surprisingly enough, it was not a long drop. They fell for a second, then landed on thier feet on solid ground, in complete darkness. Link felt Darunia drop down next to him.

"Turn on a light!" he exclaimed.

Link muttered a word from the ancient language, and felt the magic rush to his hand. A ball of fire rose from his palm and hovered there, casting flickering shadows around them. As far as they could tell, they were in a small room, with close walls on either side of them. There was an opening in front of them, so they walked through it. It stayed just as dark, and they found themselves walking down sloped ground. They followed the trail for at least a quarter mile in complete silence, neither wanting to say anything. It was as if they were afraid to break the eerie quiet. All that was heard was the strangely muffled footsteps from their walking.

Finally, after around 15 minutes of walking, they felt the ground level out, and the tight walls suddenly disappeared. They were in an ENORMOUS cavern. It looked to be at least 70 yards long, and likewise wide. The grimy walls were faded blue, there were small candles dotting the walls, but they were blue flame.

But the thing that was most strange about the place, was that almost every square inch of the floor was covered in the dark, bloody skeletons of dead moblins.

When they saw this, it was followed by one of the loudest silences Link had ever experienced.

Everywhere, as far as they could see in the darkness, the floor was made of bones. There might have been multiple layers, they didn't know. Nor did they want to find out. The walls were splattered in dark sticky liquid, and Link was very sure it was their blood. Link, horrified, tried not to puke. He looked at his feet, and saw a moblin skull inches from his left foot. It's dark, blank eyes stared right through his soul as he looked at it. The top of the skull still had pieces of bloody skin attached to it.

"Oh.....oh goddesses...." Link leaned over and heaved loudly, emptying his stomach on the floor beside him. Darunia reached over and patted the sick elf gently on the back. He continued to throw up for a few more minutes, then, taking a deep, steadying breath, pulled himself back up, staring around at the gruesome sight.

"We have to go across it," announced Darunia.

"I....I know..." breathed Link. "who could have done –?"

"I have an idea that the shadow must have something to do with this."

"Yeah, your probably right. Let's go."

The pair cautiously stepped onto the skeletons. They crunched under their feet. They stood for a second, then walked right onto the floor of the dead.

For nearly a half hour, they crunched through the skeletons, again in absolute silence. It was so disgusting, that Link almost threw up again. Darunia actually almost did too, but he had a stronger stomach than Link, which was strange, seeing as how Link had seen many many terrible and horrible things in his life. Link had ripped enemies to pieces and been showered in their blood, and not even taken a second glance, but there was something about this sight that made him sick. He tried to ignore it, trying to stare straight ahead, still holding the ball of fire.

When they finally reached the opposite wall, they only saw one thing – a large throne with a huge skeleton still sitting in it, pieces of his skull missing, and beside the throne, engravings in ancient Hylian in the wall.

"I don't believe he can tell us much," noted Link, "but perhaps that could be important."

He pointed at the inscriptions. It was a paragraph, and it did not take long for the pair to decipher it:

May the goddesses have mercy on the soul of the person who reads this, for it has caused great pain and suffering to all

If one is ever to find the three sacred diamonds, scattered, divided, in secret, he will have the greatest power of all planted inside of thou. They are the things of dreams, and of nightmares. If ever one of evil intent was to find these sacred stones, blood will be spilt, the sky will darken, and everything will fall.

May he who read this be forewarned: you may be the last hope we have. For if anyone is to ever find them, this world will surely fall.

Save us.

Link finished reading it out loud, and stared at Darunia in fear.

"The three sacred diamonds...." he whispered, more to himself than to him.

"The sapphires," finished Darunia. "They are in Hyrule, hidden..."

"Hidden from evil," Link said, "the greatest power of all, if that shadow finds them, the world will fall. And we are the only ones who read this inscription....unless...."

"He was here," stated Darunia, his eyes widening. "HE did all this!"

He gestured around at all the dead moblins.

"He knows that they are in Hyrule, and he's searching for them....oh...oh my god...."

"What?"

Link had a horrible thought. An epiphany. He staggered, and his heart thumped madly. Fear coursed through him like lightning.

"Brother, what is it?!" yelled the fire sage, grabbing the stricken elf by the shoulders.

"The....the map that Ingo had....." said Link shakily, "it has the location of the sapphires on it! Zelda told me about it. Malon told Zelda that it had three places on the map circled...."

"And Ingo has the map!" shrieked Darunia. "If we don't find him, he could get to one of the sapphires!"

"And bring it and the map back to his master," breathed Link, "...the shadow."

For around ten seconds, the two stood there in fear, then Link shouted "we must get back!!"

"Yes," agreed Darunia, turning, "and we must hurry. Come!"

And the two raced off through the piles of skeletons, back the way the had come, back out of the Dead Fortress, to get back and try and save Hyrule from the coming darkness.

The sky was black overhead, and it was nearly midnight, as Darunia and Link raced from the Dead Fortress, but Zelda and Malon were now running as fast as they could, their weapons drawn. The footsteps they saw now were fresh, and Ingo was less than 10 minutes away from them.

"Let's hope he's sleeping," muttered Malon, "that would make things much easier."

"No doubt," agreed Zelda, "listen, Malon, if he isn't asleep, you realize what we have to do, right?"

Malon gulped as they ran, but nodded.

"We have to kill him," she stated.

"Yes," Zelda said. "It does not matter if he has information. He could kill us, and we must fight back. That map you told me about...does he have it with him?"

"He had it with him when he ran out of the house after he hit me," Malon shrugged.

"Good," said Zelda, "then we can use that to help us with this mystery."

They were running for five more minutes, when Zelda suddenly whispered "stop!"

Malon immediately skidded to a halt, and looked over at the princess. She had changed into Sheik, and was staring ahead of them, her red eyes glaring.

"He is up there, he is awake, and he has a fire going."

Malon's heartbeat quickened, and she twirled her dagger, getting ready to fight. This was it, the moment of truth for her. She was either going to chicken out or fight for Hyrule.

"Let's get him," snarled Malon, and the two dashed forward, swinging their swords. They crashed through trees for a second, then smashed into the clearing, where there was a small fire in the middle. Ingo was sitting at it, holding the map in his hands. He whirled around when he heard them, and, seeing who it was leapt to his feet.

They immediately registered two things about him. He looked fearful, and he was cut up. Probably from the branches in the forest.

"Hey Ingo," growled Malon through clenched teeth, acting mockingly cheery. "Did you miss me?"

"How did you find me?!" hissed the evil farmer.

"That's not important," Sheik said, "I'll tell you straight out why we're here."

And she leapt for ward, swinging her sword at his head. Malon charged after her, her dagger out, ready for action.

Ingo reacted swiftly, drawing out a sword, and blocking Zelda's swing. He was completely surprised to see Malon come flying up behind Zelda, and swing her dagger at him also. His eyes widened, and he blocked her stab. Zelda stabbed at his head, and he blocked it, but Malon was much too quick for him. She slashed him viciously in the side, and he fell to the ground screaming. He dropped his sword, clutching his side where blood was starting to ooze from his deep cut.

Malon and Zelda stood over him, eyeing him with distaste. Zelda made to chop his head off, but the ranch girl caught her wrist. "Let me do the honors," she said with a small smile. Zelda grinned, and stepped back.

Malon moved forward, dagger in hand, ready for the final action. Ingo looked up at her, his face twisted with pent up rage.

"This is not over, girl," he snarled, "it is only the beginning!!"

Malon glared at him coldly, and, with one final move, she swung her dagger forward, and chopped off his head.

The head flew away, hit a tree, and landed at it's base with a small thump. Ingo's decapitated trunk sank to the forest floor, and lay there, blood pooling beneath it.

Malon stared at the dead form for a second, then smiled. She was so happy to finally be rid of him! She almost cheered.

But, miles and miles away, just outside Hylia City, a black shadow felt his final servant crumple to death, and his eyes flashed with rage. He let out an unearthly howl of rage. The shadow began to run, as fast as he could, across the dark plains of Hyrule, bent on getting to the two people who were responsible. If they had that map, all his plans would be over. This could not happen!

Link and Darunia desperately sprinted back through the mountains, trying to get back to Hyrule, and reach Zelda and Malon before the shadow did.

The race for the sapphires had begun.