Chapter Four
What Will Follow
The autumn sun was bright but gave little heat, and though cold didn't seem to touch Rael now, he would have appreciated some warmth. Alone on the wide grassy plains, in a valley between rolling hills, in a clearing beneath tall pines under wispy white clouds, Rael breathed in the fragrant air of the great Hylian south.
"Is it here?"
Rael spun around towards the sound of a faint whisper. Back in the far reaching slopes of the valley, he saw no-one. That voice, thin and cold… he was sure he had heard it.
"Is it he?"
He had heard it for sure that time, but as he had first suspected, it came from all directions at once. He tightened his coat and jogged up the rock-and-heather hill to get a better vantage of his surroundings. In the distance, land met sky in a blurred haze – endless blue met earth in a sea-green mist. "Where am I?" he wondered aloud.
"The Father of the Sun," said the voice from all angles, in a confirming tone.
"Where am I?" he called out, hoping for a response.
At first there was no reply. An icy ale cut through his coat, and he shivered for warmth. "Rael al'Link," said the voice more strongly. "I am the Illivartan."
Rael fell silent. The Illivartan, the name of the one who spoke the prophecy to Zelda. "I am dreaming?" asked Rael, as boldly as he could.
After a while there was a reply again, a voice echoing out of the sky. "It would seem so."
"Who are you?"
"I am the herald of war." After a brief pause, the emotionless voice continued slowly. "I will show you what will follow." A great wind engulfed Rael, pouring out of the heavens like a torrent of light and air and wind and fire, and he was carried on a hurricane over the vast plains of the south, over seas and oceans, mountains, continents, until in a uplifting rush he burst above the clouds and higher, higher through the sky into a field of stars.
Into that bleak abyss a brilliant flame ignited, and before Rael's eyes a being of light shifted out of the very fibre of matter. The immense being was faceless, featureless. All that was clearly visible about him was the form of his body, an impression of legs in sweeping robes and wide outstretched arms. In his hands he held the sun and the moon. The moon burned like fire and the sun was a frozen mass of silver mist.
I AM THE ILLIVARTAN, came the voice again, loud and unmistakable. The voice resonated inside his skull, and he felt his head would shatter. HEED MY WARNINGS RA'AEL, FOR RA'ALIS WILL BREAK YOU AS DUST BENEATH HIS FEET IF YOU WAVER FROM MY GUIDANCE.
"Please, give me answers!" screamed Rael into the darkness. "What must I do?"
I MUST AWAKE IN YOUR WORLD. ALREADY THE HALISARIN CYCLE SEEKS TO BEGIN ANEW. AS EVER, WITHOUT YOU THE WORLD IS SURELY DOOMED, AND I MUST GUIDE YOU!
"How!" Rael yelled. "I tire of riddles!"
TWICE AND ONCE THE HORN MUST SOUND,
TWICE AT DUSK AND ONCE AT DAWN.
WHERE THE ALMIGHTY THREE FERMENT THEIR WINE,
THE CHOSEN MUST DRINK DEEP IN THE BLOOD OF SALVATION.
TEN WILL RIDE FORTH, AND FIVE RETURN,
THE FATHER SHALL WEEP AND THE MOTHER SHALL MOURN.
"No! Not more twisted words! End this petty game."
MY WORDS ARE AS TWISTED AS YOUR MIND MAKES THEM. REMEMBER THESE WORDS. I HOPE WHEN WE MEET IN THE FLESH YOUR MIND WILL BE CLEAR.
Rael expected to wake, but he did not. Suddenly his mind truly did shatter, his thoughts torn apart as images flashed in his mind. A throne of rock and sand, encircled by a giant amethyst snake with thousands of people worshiping it; all gripped in his own fist. Then a volcanic mountain, red rocked and tall, cascading with falls of water, tightly held within his other fist. A sword of gold and diamond and radiant light, alone before a tower of darkness. A golden crown, set with firedrops and rubies and pearls, atop a male face, eyeless, made of flame, and dripping with blood. And finally, a young ragged girl, faceless, with a newborn babe in her arms – she cast the babe into the sky and it became the stars themselves. Then all was black again, and silent.
When Rael awoke, drenched with sweat and heart pounding, pale sunlight was shining through his tall narrow windows. He rolled out of bed lazily and hung his head in his hands. "Gods save me…" he whispered. Coughing, he let his feet find the floor and then his boots. He had slept in his shirt and breeches. Dragging himself to his feet, he gathered his jacket around himself and crossed the room to the door.
These dreams had to mean something. They couldn't just be his imagination. No, definitely not. Someone was really talking to him through dreams – like the Lord of Dusk had. He shuddered as he thought of Ralis in the throne room, dripping with blood.
He drew himself up when he reached his oak bed chamber door. He took hold of the iron handle and pulled it open lazily. He was surprised to find Link on the other side, standing in the hallway, waiting for him. The Marshal stood in his usual garb, caped black as night, with a red tunic showing down the centre of the folds. He opened his mouth to speak to him but found no words.
Link looked at him and smiled, nodding quietly to himself. He reached into the folds of his cloak, and pulled his long sword from its scabbard. Rael had no time to react, Link lunged at him, and the air was stolen from Rael's lungs as the blade burst through his lungs, heart, and out through his back. He fell to his knees in horror, and screamed aloud.
Rael tore his sheets aside as he bolted upright in bed, shouting aloud. Pale sunlight was shining through his tall narrow windows, and motes of dust glittered in the air. Another dream? He felt at his chest – there was no wound. He was alone in his bedchamber. Panting, he grabbed his sword from his side-table and leapt across the room to the bedroom door. He flung it open and saw nothing but the opposite grey stone wall. The corridor was empty. Heaving a sigh of relief, he collapsed back on his bed. "Gods save me…"