Chapter Two

Link arrived at the library and hurried inside, the librarian looked at him. "How can I help you boy?" She asked.

She was a kind looking elderly lady, rearranging books on the shelf. "I am looking for a certain book." He said, still catching his breath from the run.

"Oh? And what would this book be? History? Fantasy?" She asked with a smile.

"No... It's called the book of Mudora." He replied.

She stopped what she was doing and came around the counter to get a look at him. "So... You are the hero of legend then? The one the wiseman said would rise up in this new age of horror? The one destined to fight the risen Ganondorf?" She said, her tone hushed and critical.

"I guess so... The wiseman says I need this book to complete the quest." Link said in reply.

"Of course you would! You wont make it very far without it. This book is an ancient one. It aided the last hero of legend to succeed in saving Hyrule. You cannot read the Hylian Texts without it." She exclaimed, fishing through a bookshelf. "Ah! Here we are, the book of Mudora. You must be careful with this. This book is one of the oldest books in Hyrule. With this you can translate the ancient writings in the temples, and perhaps even unlock the ancient seal that was reformed after Ganondorf fell last time." She informed him.

"Thank you... I must hurry though. The longer I wait. The worse things are going to get." Link said, taking the book.

"Go child! Save this world from evil once again! Live up to the legend of your ancestors!" She exclaimed as link left the building.

And links quest had now truly begun. He hurried down the steps infront of the library, and then down to the eastward path. As he left the edges of Kakariko Town, he went left off the path into an old forgotten park. The weeds heavily overgrown. And a statue covered in plantgroth stood there. Link brushed away the leaves and weeds from the inscription, but it had faded over time, and was no longer ledgible. But the statue was of the hero that saved the princess and the lands from Ganondorf's evil reign so long ago. He looked up to the statue in awe, this was his ancestor, the one who stood up against a vile beast, and rescued an entire world. This reminded him to get back on the road, and he hurried from the park, and then eastward down the road. The road turned north for a ways, and then continued eastward. He knew this part of the road well, as it took him past his own home. He considered stopping for a rest, but refused for the simple fact that he must continue on to be a hero as well. When he reached the bridge to cross the river, he stopped. The sign there read: Eastern Palace Ahead. He started to cross the bridge when he heard something. "STOP!" A guard yelled running after him.

Link turned around as the guard reached him. "Where do you think you are going boy?" The guard said.

"To the eastern palace." Link replied.

"That area is off limits! I cant let you through!" The guard shouted.

"I must go there, to stop the evil that is plauging our land." Link replied and began to walk again as he heard a sword unsheath.

The sound of the sword threw him off for a moment, the guards of Hyrule did not use swords anymore. So why... Link spun around to face the guard, hiking the shield up onto his arm and drawing his sword as well. "You are one of Ganondorf's soldiers aren't you!" Link yelled.

"My lord ordered us to not allow anyone pass!" The guard replied, charging at Link.

Link dodged the attack, and came around with his own strike, hitting the guard in the back and knocking him forward. The guard regained his balance and charged once again, his moves overly predictable. Link jumped to the side and hit the guard again, knocking him off balance. The guard let out a scream as he stumbled off the edge of the bridge. Link hurried to the side only to see the guard sink to the bottom in his heavy armor. "Oh god... I killed him!" Link said horrified.

Suddenly a flit of light seemed to float about him. He looked up at the fairy, the same one that awoke him the other night. "Link... You must realize. This journey will be a difficult one. Sacrifices will be made, these soldiers and guards are no longer what they once were. They are the minons of Ganondorf now. They are his army. You must stop them and him at any cost." The fairy told him.

"But I just killed a man. How does that make me different from Ganondorf?" Link asked.

"That man was corrupted by the evil and power that makes up Ganondorf. He would have killed you to stop you from achieving the task at hand. You must collect the three sacred pendents. One from each of these temples. To be able to wield the master sword." The fairy responded.

"I see... But... I understand." Link said, and began down the bridge towards the eastern palace.

The fairy flew off and Link traveled alone to the barren area near the palace. Ridges, steppes and walls created a sort of maze leading to the temple. Soon after climbing several flights of stairs, he gazed upon the entrance to the Eastern Palace. Old and dusty, the building had lost much of the glory it must have held in appearance many years before. Link walked up the cracked old steps to the doors, and slowly into the temple itself. There was a dusty stench to the dungeon. He walked through the dimly lit corridors until he reached a room. Bones of creatures littered the floor, broken pots and the like sat in the corners, underneath one, it looked as if something were there. Link walked to it and brushed the broken bits of clay away, revealing a switch. He pushed it, and the iron door blocking the only way to move on past this room rumbled and lifted. Link hurried through the doorway and down the steps. The path turned left up ahead and as he rounded the corner, he dove back where he came from as a large iron ball rolled past him. He looked down the path the ball came from, and saw another set of stairs leading up. "Great..." He said to himself.

He watched the pattern of the balls, two smaller ones, one on each side of the hall would roll, one a moment after the other, then a large one that took up nearly the whole path. There were spots inbetween statues to duck into. He waited for the large one to pass before hurring down the hall. He dodged the first two balls and then ducked into a little nook as the large one rolled past him. Then he repeated the process and ran up the stairs. He let out a sigh of relief and continued on down the path. A lever sat on the wall next to a closed door, and the door read something in Hylian. Link pulled out the book and began to translate what it read on the wall. "Beware the Stalfos... What is a Stalfos?" Link said aloud, "Well. I have to keep going. I've come this far already."

He took a breath and pulled the lever, and entered the room, the door slamming shut behind him. He now was locked in this room. Bones littered the floor here as well, but there were Human skulls in the piles. "Oh no... Im trapped no..." He started to say as the bones began to move, forming into skeletons that began to come after him. "What is this?"

He attacked the nearest one, and it just stumbled back and came back for him. Hitting it again it crumbled and did not reform, he continued the process until the other three had finally dropped and crumbled, and the door on the opposite side of the room opened. Link was frightened now. He entered the next room and there was a chest in the room, as well as the bones of another Stalfos, but there was something imbedded within the skeleton this time. He fought the stalfos and killed it. They werent much a challenge anyway. And pulled a large oddly shaped key from the bones. He then opened the chest, and found a map of this dungeon. He contined forward through the open door, examining the key, and then found a massive chest. He walked to the chest, and looked at the keyhole in it. Using the large key he had found in the previous room, Link opened the chest and found a bow with ten arrows. Link reached in and took the bow and arrows, and then continued on to the next room. This was a long narrow corridor that was well lit by torches still. At the end was a massive door with Hylian text scribed across it, as well as a large keyhole. He approachd the door and opened his book to translate. "The Pendent of Courage is gaurded by the Fearsom Armos Knight" It read.

Link took a breath and unlocked the door, walking in and found a statue of a Knight, and behind him a door, upon entering the room, the door behind him slammed shut. The statue began to move, hopping around as if to crush him. A swing of the sword would not work, he had to keep his distance from this thing. Link pulled out the bow and loaded an arrow, firing off at the Knight and missing his first shot. He ran to the otherside of the room to avoid being crushed and fired again, this time hitting the knight. The arrow stuck in the side of the night and it began to move faster and more franticly. After several close calls and dodges, Link fired again. Hitting once again the knight moved faster yet. Link now panicing, fled from the rampaging statue and got off one more shot, the statue stopped cold when the arrow stuck into it. And collapsed breaking apart upon impact of the ground. The door opened behind where the Knight stood, and link advanced into the next room. Finding upon a pedistal the Pendent. He grabbed it and hurried from the temple out the nearby door, finding himself exiting a cave to the south of the eastern palace. He returned to the main road and chose to go back to Kakariko to make sure this was what he needed. He hurried back onto the road, one of three pendents in his possesion now, and well on the way to becoming a hero of legend like his ancestors.