LURKING DANGER

Chapter two

"Well, if you don't know where we are, miss, then I suppose we're really up a creek," Sheik said in an imperious voice.

"We're in a forest." Ron said in a sarcastic tone, defending Hermione.

Sheik glared down her nose at him. "Thank you ever so much for that helpful information," she said as she crossed her arms.

"Sheik," Link cut in quickly, "what do you suppose we do about transportation? We only have two horses and there are five of us. We won't get very far if they have to carry double or triple."

Sheik glanced at the horses and began to chew her thumbnail. "You're right," Sheik sighed. "We won't make very good time as it is through this forest without a trail to follow."

"I wish this was the lost woods", Link said, looking around at the trees and brush. "At least there I'm familiar with the dangers."

Ron looked up suddenly. His eyes were wide and almost bulging out of his head. With a quivering chin, he turned quickly to Harry.

"Harry…" Ron's voice trembled as he spoke, "you don't suppose there are giant spiders in this forest, do you?"

"I seriously doubt it, Ron." Harry said. "This isn't the enchanted forest, you know."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Ron, I'm positive," Harry rolled his eyes. "I've been there twice already. I would recognize it if it was."

At the mention of transportation, Hermione had produced her transfiguration book and began to frantically flip through it. She stopped about halfway through and began to scan the page. She ran her finger under the words until she found what she was looking for. With her finger under the sentence she wanted, she began to read very quickly.

"Hermione," Ron said as he glanced over and saw her studying the book. "This is no time to do homework!"

"I'm not doing my homework, Ronald," she said. " I am calculating the proper method to use in order to transfigure ordinary wooden sticks into broomsticks."

"Will they fly?" Harry asked as his eyes lit up.

The white owl flew down suddenly, landing on Harry's shoulder. Link watched in mild amusement as the owl nipped at his ear, trying to get his attention.

"Yes," Hermione said exasperatedly, "after I cast a spell that will reverse the gravitational forces imposed on the broomsticks."

"Did you understand what she said, Sheik?" Link asked.

"Only about every other word," Sheik replied with a baffled look.

"I could explain it to you, Sheik…" Hermione's eyes assumed a dreamy look. "We could find someplace where we could be alone and quiet…."

Ron groaned and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Uh…no!" Sheik hastily raised her hands. "That's quite alright, Hermione."

Hermione shut her book with a snap and turned to Ron and Harry. "Alright, you two," as she spoke she drew a long smooth stick from her pocket. "Find me three sticks about three feet long with no side branches except on the end."

"Right," Harry nodded.

While the two of them looked around the clearing, Link noticed the owl on Harry's shoulder kept its attention focused toward the far side of the clearing. She was looking at a thick cluster of trees with heavy underbrush. Before he could comment, Sheik interrupted him.

"So why don't you act like that anymore?"

"Like what?" He looked at her startled.

"The way those boys do with Hermione." She gave him a cross look. "They did as they were told. No questions asked."

"For one thing, they aren't married, as far as I know," Link said dryly, "and besides, I used to obey without question when I was a little boy who was trying to save Hyrule."

"Well!" Sheik sniffed. "You obeyed me when you were an adult too."

"I was a ten year old in a man's body!" Link protested.

"Then maybe when we get back," Sheik's eyes were dancing, "I should get the Ocarina of Time back out!"

"Sheik…." Link said in a warning tone.

The boys had returned dragging three large sticks. It appeared that several small twigs and branches had been broken off to accommodate Hermione. They laid them out in a row in front of Hermione then stepped back as Hermione pushed her sleeves up.

"What does the stick she has in her hand do?" Link asked Harry as Hermione raised it.

"It's just her wand," Harry shrugged.

"As in Magic Wand?"

"Yeah."

"I don't believe I've ever actually seen one like that. Ours are usually more ornate and jeweled," Link said as he studied it.

"There's more to them than just wood…there's a focusing agent inside, like a unicorn hair or a phoenix feather." Harry informed him, drawing out his own wand and showing it to Link.

"If the two of you are quite through," Hermione glared at them, "I would like to enchant the sticks sometime today."

"Sorry," Link said.

She began to speak some strange words as she moved her wand in rhythm to them. The sticks began to glow and throb. After a few minutes they reshaped themselves into three broomsticks. Hermione changed the words and gestures slowly. The three broomsticks began to rise slowly into the air, until the tip of her wand flashed. The broomsticks hung in the air for a minute and then fell to the ground.

"Thanks, Hermione!" Ron and Harry chorused in unison.

As the three of them began to pick up their brooms, Link noticed the owl growing upset. It began to frantically peck at Harry's glasses. As Harry looked at the owl, it pecked the lenses of his glasses and hooted.

"Quit it, Hedwig." Harry said in a firm voice.

Then Link felt Epona tense up under him. She snorted as her ears swiveled towards the place the owl had been looking. Link drew his sword, but soon resheathed it after he had scanned the area and saw no enemies.

"Link, what is it?" Sheik asked as her eyes scanned the trees.

"I don't know," Link's face was grim, "but that owl has been trying to tell us there was danger close by."

"Hedwig, what do you see?" Harry asked her.

"Hedwig? Is that its name?" Link said, but Harry did not have time to answer.

Suddenly, eight large men dressed in ragged clothing burst into the clearing. Clutching their brooms, Harry, Ron and Hermione moved close together. Harry brandished the wand he had been showing Link, and Ron reached toward his own back pocket. Then his face assumed a disgusted look. He changed his grip on his broom and tried to look fierce, failing miserably.

"Hi Yah!" Link shouted as he kicked Epona into action. She charged toward two of the men, slicing between them. One of the men raised his rusty sword with the apparent goal of chopping Link's leg off, but the hero was too quick for him. Link's sword whistled through the air, connecting with the man's neck and severing his head from his body. Bringing his sword up in an arch to avoid cutting off Epona's head, Link brought it down to cut deep into the second man's body with a sickening sound.

Before Link could free his sword, Epona whinnied and danced sideways. An arrow had suddenly sprouted from the neck of the man he had just killed. Link's experienced reflexes took over as he tightened his legs and hung on. Epona instinctively turned toward the source of the errant arrow, a ragged archer who was fending off Hedwig. The owl was using its wings to blind the man.

Hedwig flew off just in time for the man to see Epona bearing down on him. Unable to fit an arrow into his bow in time, the archer fell beneath Epona's sharp iron-shod hooves. Link could hear the man's bones being crushed as Epona trod back and forth on him.

Meanwhile, one of the men had gone for Sheik and tried to pull her from the saddle. The disguised princess vanished into thin air with a crack, leaving the man gaping at his empty hands. A lightweight cord flew over his head from behind and settled firmly around his neck, then Shiek reappeared, putting her knee in the middle of his back. He clawed at the nearly invisible cord that was digging into the flesh on his neck.

"Sheik!" Hermione screamed.

Sheik glanced over her shoulder just in time to see a fourth man raise a gruesome looking dagger. She bit her lower lip as she tried to decide the best course of action. Suddenly, the man stiffened and toppled over. Standing just behind him was Hermione with an upraised wand.

"Thanks," Sheik nodded. In response, Hermione turned bright red.

Sheik turned her attention back to the man she was strangling. His face was discolored by now and he had gone limp. After a few minutes, she let him slide limply to the ground.

"Sheik, about the man with dagger…he's not dead, just stunned. We can't perform killing curses, they're forbidden," Hermione whispered earnestly.

"Well, that's an interesting development," Shiek hissed, eyeing the stunned man.

In the distance, two men were advancing upon Harry. His wand was raised, but for some reason his mind was blank. They soon were close enough that he could almost taste the awful stench rising off them. One of them was armed with a pair of wicked looking daggers, while the other bore a mace that was larger than Harry's head. Harry panicked and shouted the first spell to pop into his head.

"Expelliarmus!" He shouted as he pointed his wand at them.

The two men went flying across the clearing. One hit a tree very hard and sagged down to the ground against it. The other vanished among a patch of brambles. Harry could hear the second man swearing and yelling.

Ron was backing away from one of the men looming over him. He was holding his broom like a club with his eyes fixed on the dagger the man was holding. He stopped as his back touched the rough bark of a tree.

The jagged smile of the man was only inches from his face. Swallowing hard, Ron fixed his eyes on the rotten stumps of teeth. He could smell the odor of the man's unwashed body. Ron's jaws snapped together to keep the vomit from leaving his throat.

"Blimey," he squeaked.

But the man suddenly dropped his dagger as his hands flew to his neck, clawing at something. He began to make gagging sounds as his eyes began bulging out of their sockets. Ron watched as the man's tongue began to protrude from his mouth. He started screaming as the man's face began to change colors before his eyes.

The man went limp and after a few minutes slid limply to the ground at Ron's feet. Behind the man stood Sheik, who was coiling a length of cord. Sheik crouched down beside the man to check his pulse.

"Are you alright?" Sheik looked up at him.

"What do you mean, am I alright?" Ron shouted, shaking fiercely. "You nearly scared me out of my wits."

"At least you're alive, to be scared out of your wits." She held up the dead man's dagger.

Ron swallowed hard. "Um…right," he said.

Across the battlefield, Link wheeled Epona around off the man she had thoroughly trampled into the ground. She reared up as a man bearing a long handled ax took a swipe at them. As the man backed away from the flailing hooves, Link reached into his saddlebag and whipped out his boomerang.

Upon seeing Link just holding a boomerang, the man threw his head back in laughter. A few minutes later Link's accurate throw caused the boomerang to crush his windpipe. The man's head jerked at an odd angle and made a loud crack. He fell to the ground dead.

Link stroked Epona's neck to calm her down. He caught a glimpse of Hedwig flying over to check on Harry. Epona soon settled down and stood snorting. He dismounted from Epona to retrieve his sword but paused to gaze around the clearing, seeing most of the men dead or immobilized. Ron was by a tree throwing up, or at least trying to. Harry and Hermione were gazing around the clearing with wide, bewildered eyes.

Link walked to the body of the man his sword had lodged in. Sheik was kneeling next to the corpse with two fingers laid on his neck.

"I really don't think he could survive that wound, Sheik," Link said as he bent to pick up his sword.

"Doesn't hurt to check," she said as she wiped her fingers on the grass.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked over to them, still warily carrying their wands. Hedwig seemed a bit more at ease, though the owl's eyes swiveled frantically in its head, looking in every direction.

"Who were they?" Hermione said, shellshocked.

"Don't know, but they were looking for us." Link took a cloth out of his pouch and began to clean his sword.

"How do you know that?" Harry asked. "They didn't say anything."

"Your owl." Link nodded at Hedwig. "He must have spotted them while he was perched in the tree."

"She," Harry said firmly.

"What?" Link gave him a puzzled look.

"Hedwig is a she."

"Sorry, Hedwig," Link apologized to the owl.

"Quite alright," she hooted, though Link knew he was the only one who could hear her.

"So Hedwig saw them!" Ron said, crossing his arms. "That doesn't explain why they wanted to kill us, and why they waited so long to attack."

"They were watching us to make sure we were the right people," Link resheathed his sword. "Ordinary bandits would have attacked regardless."

"Oh," Ron said sheepishly.

"But why would they be looking for us? We just got here," Harry asked.

"I don't know, but I plan to find out." Link turned to Sheik. "How many can still talk?"

"I'm afraid the five we took care of won't ever talk again." Sheik glanced at Hermione. "But, the girl did something to that one to make him too rigid to move."

Link glanced over at the man she was talking about, who lay rigid as a corpse. Whatever Hermione had done reminded Link of the effect Deku nuts had when thrown, though this didn't appear to wear off as fast. He briefly thought of how many times that would have been helpful, especially on a certain princess at times.

"Is he still alive?" Link asked her.

"Yes," she nodded.

"Remind me not to make her mad," Link told Sheik, winking at Hermione.

Sheik's eyes danced with suppressed amusement.

"You should teach that trick to us," Sheik began. "It could come in…."

"There's a man coming!" Hedwig suddenly hooted to Link.

Link looked towards the brambles where Hedwig was looking. He was just in time to see the man Harry had blown into the briars emerging. His skin was littered with red marks from places thorns had poked him. A few had broken off and protruded from his skin.

Before the others had noticed the man, Link dashed across the clearing. He had his dagger drawn as the man glanced up. Before the man knew what was happening, he found himself being slammed against a tree. Link's dagger was pressed against the skin of the man's neck. The man stared into Link's cold blue eyes trembling.

"Blimey," Link heard Ron say.

"One move and you die," Link's voice was low and filled with menace. "Now, you are going to cooperate with us, aren't you?"

The man nodded.

"Where are we?"

"Shinar, sir" the man stuttered.

Sheik came up quietly behind Link. "Where exactly is that?"

"I don't understand."

"Have you ever heard of Hyrule?" Link asked.

"Only from the man who…." The man's mouth snapped shut.

"The man who what?" Link growled.

"I can't say!"

Link slammed him hard against the tree.

"The man who what?" Link shouted.

"He told us not to tell," the man blubbered. "Said he would kill us!"

"Well, my friend here will kill you now if you don't tell us," Sheik said in a sweet voice. "Looks like it's not your day either way!"

The man turned pale and looked sick.

"Just tell us," Link stared him directly in the eye, "and I might decide not to kill you."

The man shook his head.

"Tell us," Link pressed the knife against the man's throat so a little trickle of blood appeared. He heard a soft squeal from behind him, and knew that Hermione had turned away.

"Alright!" the man screamed. "There were two men besides Lord Dilwyn! One with orange hair and the other with red snake eyes. The orange haired man told us two groups would be coming to this clearing. One from a place called Hogwarts, the other from Hyrule."

"Why did they want to you to find us?" Sheik asked.

"To kill you."

"Did they tell you their names?" Link asked.

A crazy gleam suddenly appeared in the man's eye. He began to giggle uncontrollably. Link let go of him quickly and backed off. The man's face became contorted and broke into a maniacal grin.

"The shadow master sends his greetings!" The man shrieked. "Tom Riddle and the Gerudo King send their greetings!"

He began to laugh and scream, alternating between the two. His voice growing higher and higher pitched. He gave one last loud shriek and collapsed to the ground, his eyes wide open and staring at nothing. Sheik stepped forward and checked the man's pulse.

"Dead," Sheik said as she turned to Link. "We know who the Gerudo King is, but who is this Tom Riddle and who is the shadow master?"

"I know who Tom Riddle is." Harry said in a quiet voice. Ron and Hermione moved closer to him, offering him their silent support.

"Who is it?" Sheik asked.

"Lord Voldemort." Harry said. Ron and Hermione flinched at the name. "He's the worst kind of dark wizard. He's a spirit who seeks out hosts so he can survive."

"Sounds like Ganon to me." Link wiped his dagger off with another cloth. "Though, Ganon only has one host, Ganondorf."

"Only Voldemort is worse," Harry's face looked grim.

"You've never met Ganon," Link held his dagger up, inspecting it.

"But Link," Sheik's eyes were troubled, "the sages sealed him away. He couldn't be back."

"Are you sure?" Link's gaze was level. "We sealed him out of Hyrule, not here."

"I wish you hadn't thought of that." Sheik said.

"I wish I hadn't either," Link resheathed his knife, "but if someone in this world was looking for a powerful ally they might have easily have summoned Ganon. Then Ganon would have revived Gannondorf."

"They also summoned Voldemort." Harry said. "Could Ganon have given him a body?"

Link grimaced.

"Yes, he could," Link nodded. "I've seen him give his own shadow life, as well as my own shadow."

"Why bring us here, though?" Ron looked around at them with a bewildered expression.

"Sheik and I have something in our possession that Ganon would want," Link said. "What we have would make him more powerful."

"While Voldemort wants revenge on me," Harry said.

"Why does he want revenge on you?" Sheik asked.

"Let's just say he's the reason Voldemort's in the state he's in," Hermione chipped in, eager to share what she knew.

"So why bring me and Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Weren't you with Harry?" Sheik looked puzzled.

"No!" Hermione replied. "I was in France on holiday."

"And I was in Egypt with Charlie," Ron said.

"I was in Diagon Alley," Harry shrugged.

"France? Egypt? Diagon Alley? These are all different cities?" Link asked.

"Diagon Alley is a place. The other two are whole different countries," Hermione replied.

The five stared at each other in silence, more confused than ever.