Link and Gerik dashed out of the throne room and out onto the castle walls. There were knights and citizens all over the place looking and pointing to the East and gasping in fear. It was just as the knight had said; black smoke was rising from the East. The smoke was still far off meaning that the fire had only just begun on the outskirts of the Lost Woods, but the fact that the woods were on fire made everyone who saw fearful. Every second they watched more and more smoke rose up into what had been a clear and beautiful morning sky.
As they continued to watch, Link heard a familiar gasp come from his left. He turned to see Zelda standing there with both hands up to her mouth in complete shock as she looked out onto the now darkening horizon. She was wearing her usual royal gown and her hair was tied into a long braid down her back. As she turned to run back into the castle, she caught sight of Link. After doing a double take to make sure it was really him standing there, she ran over to him and gave him a big hug.
"Link!" she cried. "It's so good to see you. What brings you to the castle after all this time? Oh no! Your coming has something to do with that black smoke; doesn't it?"
"I'm afraid so." replied Link as he was released from her embrace. "Hyrule is facing dark days once more."
"That's alright, just completely ignore me." said Gerik jokingly as he stepped out from behind Link. "I guess there's just no room for old friends here."
"Gerik!" Zelda exclaimed as she ran over and hugged him as well. "I can't believe it. I thought I'd never see you again. You've grown."
"And so have you. You're no longer that mousy little girl I used to tease all the time."
"I really hate to break up this little reunion," interrupted Link, "but Hyrule is standing on death's doorstep."
"Right." said Zelda turning all serious. "You two better come with me."
"But don't you want to know what's going on?" asked Gerik.
"I already know. I just learned about it no more than an hour ago. I didn't want to say anything until I had some proof. I'm guessing that you two already informed my father."
"Yeah, but how do you know?" asked Link dumfounded. "Did the Sages say anything?"
"No, I didn't learn about it from them. Just follow me and everything will be revealed in my room."
Zelda took off into the castle. Link and Gerik just stared at each other in shock by this news and followed after her. Neither of them could believe what they had just heard. As far as they knew, it was only the two of them that knew about the army and had actually seen the black ships. They could only stare at each other as they wondered who, if not the Sages, knew what was going on besides themselves.
Zelda wasn't running to her room, but she was walking fast. Link and Gerik had to run to catch up since they were still a little in shock. Besides that, the soreness in their bodies was creeping up on them again, and it wasn't that easy for them to move without a little pain or discomfort. When Zelda reached her room she just burst the door open and walked in. Link and Gerik entered a few seconds after, but Gerik stopped dead in his tracks when he walked in.
There, sitting on Zelda's bed, was the most beautiful woman Gerik had ever seen. Her long, flowing brown hair was tied in a braid running down her back just like Zelda. She was dressed from head to toe in shining, golden armor that conformed to the curves of her body, of which she was very curvaceous, almost like a second skin. She had a smile that could light up a room, and she seemed to have a glow about her. Gerik just stood there in shock, but Link simply smiled back at her when she smiled at him.
"Link, it's so good to see you again." the mysterious woman said in a voice that seemed oddly familiar to Link.
"I'm sorry," said Link a little embarrassed, "but have we met before?"
"Uh–oh no, I'm sorry." she replied all flustered. "We've never met, but I've seen you walking around Hyrule Market from time to time."
"Really?" said Link a little leery. "Then how come I've never noticed you? I'm positive I would've noticed another warrior walking around."
"Um. . .um. . .uh. . .well you see. . ."
"Link, will you stop pestering the poor girl!" Zelda demanded. "She's here to help us. I'm sure that any questions pertaining to her personally can be asked at another time."
"You're right, now's not the time." said Link apologetically, but still leery nonetheless. "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it." replied the woman, the redness in her cheeks after Link cornered her disappearing. "I'm sure I'd be a little leery as well if somebody popped out of nowhere with information that nobody else knows."
"Yes, Gerik and I have been wondering about exactly what you know. Isn't that right Gerik? Gerik?"
"Huh, uh, oh yeah, whatever you just said." replied Gerik as he was just now coming out of his shock.
"Anyway," continued Link, rolling his eyes as he did so, "so what can you tell us about this army."
"I think it would be better if I showed you." replied the woman.
"Show us, but how are you going to do that?" asked Zelda, her interest peaking.
The woman didn't respond, but instead stood up from Zelda's bed. She placed her hands together flat in front of her chest and closed her eyes. She then began chanting something, but nobody could hear what she was saying. All they could see were her lips moving. As Link, Zelda, and Gerik all watched, the woman's hands began to glow a faint blue color. She started pulling her hands apart and everyone could see that there was now a glowing, little blue ball in her hands.
When her hands were at least a foot away from each other with the glowing ball floating directly between them, the woman thrust her arms out and the ball flew toward the middle of the floor. Upon impact it flattened out and grew larger. When it was no longer a ball but a large glowing circle on the floor of Zelda's room did she stop saying her enchantment. Everyone cautiously stepped toward the glowing circle and peered into it. Through the circle they had a bird's eye view of the outskirts of the Lost Woods, where the fires were now ravaging.
"How. . .how is this possible?" asked Zelda, for she had never done a spell that even came close to this.
"I'm. . .old friends with the Deku Tree." said the woman all out of breath. "The Deku Tree Sprout has allowed me to use the spirits of the forest as spies for the time being."
"This is beautiful." complimented Gerik. "I've never seen a more beautifully crafted spell before."
"Yes, it truly is." said Link, now wondering what she meant when she said that she was 'old friends with the Deku Tree.'
"You're making me blush." she replied, more to Gerik's comments than to Link's. "Anyway, down to business. If you'll look through the portal, you'll be able to see everything that is currently going on at the enemy's camp."
The scene in the portal was changing, as if whatever it was spying on the enemy was flying overhead examining everything. As it got closer the scene was blocked out by the immense black smoke rising from the burning woods. As it passed by the smoke, they could all see that a substantial amount of trees had already been burned. It wasn't really that much compared to the size of the Lost Woods, but given that the fires only started a little while ago it was a lot.
Standing by the burnt stumps of already burned down trees were several dozen people dressed in either blue or red robes. The robes covered their entire bodies, and the hoods of the robes made seeing their faces impossible. All that could be seen from the darkness of the hoods were a pair of penetrating eyes. Each one of them was holding what looked like a wand in one hand and a book in the other.
As Link, Gerik, and Zelda continued to look into the portal, they saw that the robed figures were moving forward slowly as more and more of the trees burned down. They then watched, with increasing interest, as one of the robed figures raised the arm holding the wand in the air and with a flick of his wrist flames shot out of the wand and into a so far untouched tree.
"What the hell are those?" shouted Gerik.
"They are called Wizzrobes." replied the woman with an unwavering voice. "They are very powerful sorcerers and masters of the dark arts. They are not to be taken lightly at all. As powerful as they are though, they are only the second most powerful units of this army."
"Only the second most powerful?" said Zelda, her voice becoming fearful. "Their powers could rival mine, and I'm a sage. And on top of that you're saying that there are stronger units to this army?"
"Shhh." said Link. "The scene is changing."
Both Zelda and Gerik were a little worried by the fact that Link didn't sound the least bit worried about what they just heard, but looked into the portal nonetheless. Sure enough, as Link had said, the view was moving past the Wizzrobes and toward the camp that had been made on the shore.
There were hundreds of orange tents all lined up in neat rows. Moving among all the tents were the warriors dressed all in black. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of them walking around. Some of them were practicing their fighting techniques, others were eating, and still others were running around doing various errands. Whatever they were doing though, it was obvious that they were waiting for the Lost Woods to burn down so they could start their invasion.
"What you are looking at is what makes up approximately fifty percent of the army." said the woman. "They are the bulk of the army; the main contingent of soldiers. Despite being just regular soldiers though, they are very skilled warriors. They're nothing that you guys can't handle, but remember that there is strength in numbers."
"Do they have a special name of their own?" asked Link very casually.
"They're referred to as Arcanites. Since they're just the regular soldiers, they're named after their leader. We'll get to him shortly though. Let's just continue to watch."
They all turned back to find that the view was changing once more. The camp disappeared as the view went out to sea, and to the fleet of black ships. The forest spirit, or whatever it was that was spying, hovered in the air allowing a view of the majority of the fleet. Link and Gerik had already seen the ships, but Zelda was aghast. She couldn't believe the menacing look those ships gave off.
The view now moved to only one of the ships, the flagship. Link and Gerik had not noticed this ship when they saw the fleet last, and the appearance of the enemy flagship turned their heads. They thought the fleet itself was bad, but just seeing this one ship alone was enough to make them forget everything else.
"What we are currently looking at is the enemy's flagship." continued the woman. "It is on board this ship that their leader now resides, as well as the most dangerous units of the entire army. They are called Darknuts."
"Darknuts!" laughed Gerik. "What kind of stupid name is that."
"They are not something to be taken lightly!" shouted the woman, her voice becoming extremely serious. "The Darknuts are the most elite units ever created. Even one of them is more than a match for you guys. Their armor is nearly impenetrable, their weapons the deadliest ever created, and their skills surpassed by no one."
"Oh please, they're probably pushovers."
"You cocky son-of-a-bitch! You can't even begin to comprehend the training they must go through. First of all, only the most highly skilled of the Arcanites can even apply to become a Darknut. Now the training and tests they go through are heavily guarded secrets, but of the thousands that apply, maybe only a hundred actually succeed."
"What happens to all the others?" asked Zelda.
"They die. Only by surviving all the training and tests can one become a Darknut. It's really a very simple process. If you were meant to become a Darknut, then you'll succeed. If not, well then better luck in the next life."
"So these are some really serious people that we're up against?" said Link, a tiny bit of tension in his voice. "This isn't going to be as easy as I thought, and even then I didn't think it would be that easy."
"Wait a minute." said Gerik cautiously, fearing another verbal attack. "Back in the Lost Woods Link and I faced a bunch of Lizalfos and a Dinolfos. Where do they fit into this army?"
"They are nothing more than creatures of darkness." said the woman, her voice once again calm and sweet. "Any sorcerer with even a little knowledge of the black arts could create an army of them. That's why Ganon's army was mostly made up of them; he was a very powerful warlock. Of course, boosting his powers with the Triforce didn't help much either."
"So this leader has some knowledge of the black arts?" asked Link.
"Not just some knowledge I'm afraid. He is an extremely powerful sorcerer, and also an extremely skilled warrior. He is far more deadlier than Ganon ever was."
"Impossible!" screamed Link. "I faced Ganon when he used the Triforce of Power to increase his power, and there is nobody that can even come close to that kind of power."
The woman didn't say anything, but instead looked down at her feet. She looked as if she wanted to say something, but whether she was to tell them later or it was a secret they did not know. It was clear that the woman was struggling to figure out what to do, so Zelda decided to change the subject.
"So what is this leader's name?" asked Zelda.
"His name is Lord Arcana." she replied, glad to be past the last question.
"So now that we know what we're up against," said Gerik, "what's our next course of action?"
"We need to prepare the troops." said Link. "They are in no shape to face an army this skilled. There has been peace for far too long. The only knights who would even stand a chance would be the royal guards, but there's not nearly enough of them."
"Well if the king would follow my advice and also ask the Gerudo for aid, we wouldn't be that hard pressed for warriors. You and I both know that they are currently the most skilled warriors in all of Hyrule."
"I know that, but it's the king you need to convince. Hey, if I can get in touch with Nabooru, then she can command the Gerudo to aid us. Zelda, have you been in touch with the sages lately?"
"No, I haven't talked to them for months." she replied, a little worriedly. "What's even worse, Impa mysteriously disappeared yesterday morning."
"Something's not right here."
"Um," said the woman as if they were beginning to tread dangerous waters, "all of this is good and all, but all of us have a more important mission to take. All four of us need to go and enter the Temple of Light."
"The Temple of Light?" exclaimed Link, Zelda, and Gerik.
"Yes, it is the sixth temple of Hyrule. It is also the most heavily guarded of them all. Finding it won't be easy, for truth be told, it was designed to never be found."
"But I traveled to all the temples." said Link. "The only one without a temple was Rauru, but I met him in the Temple of Time. I thought the Temple of Time was his home."
"That was what you were supposed to believe. Rauru isn't the leader of the sages for no reason. He is the most powerful of them all. That was why he was able to resist Ganon seven years ago while all the others were affected by his spell. He waited at the Temple of Time to watch over and guard your sleeping body."
"Well why is this Temple of Light so well protected?" asked Gerik.
"Because it is home to the entire history of Hyrule. Everything that has ever happened has been recorded at the Temple of Light. You can only imagine what would happen if its secrets fell into the wrong hands. They would know everything there is to know about the Triforce, as well as every weakness of Hyrule."
"But what do you hope to find there?" asked Link.
"That's not important. You'll know when we get there. Now let's hurry to the stables. If we're lucky maybe we can reach the temple before nightfall."
Zelda and Gerik agreed and immediately headed to the door. Link just stood there though rubbing his chin in thought. As he looked up he already saw Gerik and Zelda waiting out in the hallway and the woman making her way to the door. In a surprise move Link rushed forward and thrust his arm out blocking the woman's way to the door.
"Link, what's the meaning of this?" asked Zelda, surprised by Link's actions.
"She knows something that she's not telling us." he replied. "I've felt it ever since I first saw her. She is hiding something."
"What could I possibly be hiding?" asked the woman, her expression full of fear.
"There's something more to this Lord Arcana guy than you're telling us. Now out with it."
"You're not ready to hear what I have to tell you. It is too soon."
"I don't care! Now out with it."
"Fine, I'll tell you." she said in a defeated tone. "Lord Arcana. . .Lord Arcana is. . .he's Ganon's father."