Alexis stirred as the heat from the rising sun hit her flesh. Slowly, she opened her eyes to the bright glow of the sun up above her. Covering her eyes with her right arm, she turned to her left and saw Gerik sleeping soundly next to her. It took her only a second to realize what had happened and quickly jumped up. Link and Zelda were still sleeping as well and the three horses were grazing nearby.
"Wake up!" she screamed.
Both Link and Gerik jumped up suddenly with their swords drawn ready to strike. They both circled around looking for any sign of danger, but there was nothing that they could see. They stopped when they saw Alexis and lowered their weapons realizing that it was her that had screamed. Both of their hearts were still racing.
"Jeez you guys," said Zelda as she got up and fixed her gown. "Just because you hear someone yell doesn't mean we're under attack. I'd have guessed that you two would've grown out of that habit by now seeing as how we've had peace for seven years."
"A true warrior is always prepared for the unexpected," said Gerik confidently.
"Well then show me a true warrior and then we can see if your theory is correct," Link said to deflate Gerik's ego. "Anyway, it's good to see that you're okay Alexis."
"Thanks Link," she said while still giggling at Link's little quip. "I feel a lot better. I'm sorry guys; I didn't realize that the spell would take such a toll on me."
"Hey, it's no problem at all," said Gerik trying to comfort her. "Your safety is what matters most."
"Yeah, Gerik's right," added Zelda. "What good is getting to this temple if you die in the process?"
"Speaking of the temple," Link said, "shouldn't we get going? We did lose several hours yesterday because of what happened."
"Oh don't worry," said Alexis. "We're not that far away now. I said that we could've made it before nightfall yesterday, and I wasn't lying. Let me guess, we had only an hour or so before nightfall when we arrived here, right?"
"Yeah, that's absolutely correct. You mean you knew exactly how long it would take to travel through the desert?"
"I wouldn't say exactly, but in the general area yeah. There is only one extremely narrow path through the desert to get here. The rest of the desert is filled with bottomless pits and monsters the likes of which would make Ganon himself run with his tail between his legs. That's why there were so many turns and backtracks. If we didn't take that path, then we would probably still be out there, or possibly dead."
"Damn!" exclaimed Gerik. "This Temple of Light really is important. There's less protection around the Triforce for heavens sake."
"I wouldn't say that. The Triforce is the most heavily guarded item in the entire world, but we don't have time to discuss this. We need to look around the lake. There should be a small pedestal someplace. Chances are it's been buried in the sand."
Link, Gerik, Zelda, and Alexis headed toward the lake. They began circling it digging in the sand as they went around. As Zelda was searching, her hand grazed something hard. She called everyone else over as she bent down and started dusting off the small pedestal that was buried. When she was finished she stood up and everyone looked down at it. The pedestal was outlined in yellow and engraved in the middle of it was the Triforce.
"Hey, I remember those!" Link shouted. "Every time I came across one of these pedestals I had to play Zelda's Lullaby."
"I know that all to well," said Alexis without thinking, "and that's what Zelda needs to do now."
Without another word Zelda placed both feet onto the pedestal and pulled out the Ocarina of Time. She played the lullaby and just as what always happened to Link, the yellow outline and the Triforce began to glow. The lake before them froze over and in the middle of it a glowing portal appeared out of thin air.
"That my friends," began Alexis when Zelda stopped playing, "is the last stage of our journey. The horses will have to stay here, but they'll have plenty of food and water to tide them over till we return."
Without waiting for a reply Alexis stepped forward and entered the portal, disappearing from sight. Link, Gerik, and Zelda all looked at each other and then one by one they all stepped forward and into the portal. In the blink of an eye they disappeared and reappeared on what looked like a mountain path.
Once they were all through they examined their new surroundings. On either side of them were towering solid rock cliffs. The surfaces were smooth so climbing them was impossible. The tops of the cliffs were so high up that one could only reach them by flying. Behind them was the same rock surface, but the portal that they had traveled through was still glowing waiting for them to step back through. In front of them was a long and winding path, but it was the only way to go.
Alexis was already walking up the path by the time the others arrived. When she heard them arrive she turned around and waited for them to stop looking around before waving for them to follow her. They quickly ran to catch up and without speaking a word the four of them walked along the path.
It was slow going for them. The sun was directly above and beating down on them. Because of the confined space the mountain walls created, it was extremely hot. Luckily they had brought plenty of water and fruit from the oasis. They stopped once to have some breakfast, but the longer they sat there the hotter it seemed to get. When they were finished they decided that they would not take anymore breaks until they reached the end or it got cooler.
They walked through the unforgiving heat for about an hour before the path straightened out and started to open up. Gerik was beginning to think that they would start running into skeletons of people who had died from the heat, but as far as he knew they were the first ones to ever make this journey. The path now opened up completely and the heat seemed to dissipate immediately.
They all looked forward with hope in their hearts and saw the top of a huge building which they all assumed to be the temple. The path ended at the top of a cliff. The cliff in turn opened up into a huge expanse that was surrounded by huge rock walls. In the middle of this expanse sat the Temple of Light. It was a huge pyramidal shaped building that had dozens of tall, stone columns leading to the entrance. Standing on either side of the entrance were four stone statues each holding a broad stone sword in their hands.
"Welcome everyone," began Alexis, "to the Temple of Light. We have reached the end of our journey."
"Well let's get going then," said Link. "The longer we stand around here the closer Lord Arcana's army gets to Hyrule Castle."
"We may have reached the end of our journey, but we're not out of danger yet. You see those four statues standing guard next to the entrance? As soon as we approach those statues are going to come alive and try to kill us."
"You've got to be kidding me!" shouted Gerik while throwing his hands up into the air in defeat. "As if the godforsaken desert and killer heat weren't bad enough. Give us a God Damn Break!"
"Get a hold of yourself Gerik," said Zelda. "We're almost there. Let's just get past those statues and complete what we came here to do."
"Yes, but how exactly do we defeat the statues?" asked Link.
"They have only one weakness," said Alexis. "They are invulnerable to everything but magic. In order to kill them, a destructive spell must be fired at their neck. It must be a direct hit though. Only a direct hit to their necks will destroy those stone guardians."
"So that means you have to kill them?" asked Zelda.
"Not me. I'm going to have to help Link and Gerik distract those things. There's no way that those two can distract those things by themselves; no offense. It's going to fall on your shoulders. While the three of us are keeping them busy, you need to fire whatever kind of destructive spells you have at your disposal at their necks."
"I don't know if I can do it. I may be a sage and all, but my level of magic is no where even close to yours. I'm still a novice."
"Come on Zelda," said Link, "you're selling yourself short. I've seen what you can do and your not bad at all. I'm not saying there still isn't stuff for you to learn, but there isn't another person I would rather trust my life with than yours."
"That's so sweet," replied Zelda with a smile and her cheeks growing red. "All right; I'll do it."
"Good, it's settled then," stated Alexis. "Okay now, Link, Gerik and I will all take one of the statues for ourselves and we'll trade off on the fourth one. Zelda meanwhile will power up her spells and fire whenever she has a clear shot. Everyone agreed? Good, then let's get down to business."
Alexis reached over to the golden scabbard hanging from her belt and pulled out the sword contained within. It was a long and very slightly curved weapon. The hilt of the sword was made out of ivory. There were intricate patterns etched all along the handle and where the hilt met the blade were brightly colored gems that had been cut and placed to look like the Triforce. Link just took one look at the sword and knew that it was a finely crafted and deadly weapon.
After drawing her weapon, Alexis jumped down off of the cliff and charged toward the temple. Link and Gerik drew their weapons as well and jumped down after her. Zelda nervously took the ladder down the cliff instead. As she climbed down she was thinking of what spell would be best to use against the statues.
Just as Alexis had said, once they approached the temple the ground began to shake. Loose rocks fell off of the nearby columns and the statues themselves as the statues drew their arms wide as if stretching and stepped off of the pedestals that they had been standing on. Link, Gerik, and Alexis just stood their with their swords held in a defensive position as the statues awakened and slowly made their way toward them with their stone swords held ready to strike.
"On my signal we'll break," said Alexis as the statues drew ever closer. "Link, take the statue on the left. Gerik, the one on the right. I'll keep the two in the middle busy until I can pass one of them off to either of you two. Now!"
Link, Gerik, and Alexis all jumped out of the way as the four living statues slammed their swords into the spot they had been standing in only seconds before. Link and Gerik did as they were told and took off into their respective directions, drawing two of the statues after them. Alexis meanwhile had run behind the two remaining statues and stood there waiting for their next move.
One of the statues quickly turned around and swung his blade. Alexis ducked and then quickly jumped to her left as the other statue swung its blade at her. Alexis recovered from her jump and ran toward the nearest statue. It swung its blade trying to hit her, but missed and slammed it into the ground instead. Alexis used this opportunity and did a front flip right onto the stone sword that had been slammed into the ground.
Alexis quickly ran along the length of the sword as the statue drew it from the ground. The statue went to shake the sword to get her off, but Alexis jumped off the sword and onto its arm. She then proceeded to climb up the arm toward its head. While she was doing this the other statue walked over and made a fist. It threw a punch trying to squash Alexis, but she saw this and jumped down off of the statue she was climbing. The punch collided with the other statue instead and sent it flying to the ground. With one statue currently incapacitated, Alexis got up and ran trying to lead the other statue away.
Zelda all the while had been hiding behind one of the stone columns. She was watching the fighting intently waiting for her moment to strike. As of yet she hadn't had a clear shot at any of the statue's necks. As she waited she heard a large crash and seconds later the ground shook. Zelda peeked out from behind the column and saw through the dust that had been kicked up the statue that had been knocked down thanks to Alexis's maneuvers.
Zelda figured that this was as good a chance as any and ran out from the behind the column. As the statue tried to get up off the ground Zelda had a clear view of its neck. She gathered the energy required for her spell and transformed it into a glowing ball in her hands. When the spell was done she aimed and fired it at the statue's neck. She watched as the ball of energy drew closer and closer. Her face lightened up with excitement as it sped toward its target, but then turned to dismay as the statue stood up and the spell bounced harmlessly off of its leg. With the statue now aware of her presence, it picked up its sword and began to run after her.
Link was happier now more than ever that he had his Biggoron Sword with him. Ever since splitting up Link had been blocking and parrying every swing the statue made with its sword. If it had been any other sword it probably would've broke in half by now. Link's knees were beginning to buckle as the statue swung its sword down at him over and over again. He braced himself again and again after each strike, but he wasn't sure how much more he could take. He wasn't sure how much more his arms could take either. He was holding the sword high above his head to block the attacks, but each strike brought his sword closer and closer to the top of his head.
The statue now drew its sword high above its own head and Link knew that this was the attack that was to finish him off. He waited for the statue to start bringing its sword down and jumped out of the way. He rolled safely out of the way, but as soon as he rose and turned around the statue kicked him. Link flew straight through the air and collided into one of the stone pillars. The wind was knocked out of him and the column broke in half from the impact of the hit. Link fell to the ground in extreme pain. His chest was on fire and his eyes were all hazy.
Link tried to get up, but his body wouldn't respond. He managed to turn his head and look at the statue he had been fighting. It was coming toward him with the intention of finishing him off. Link willed his body to move, but it just wouldn't listen. The statue now approached Link and raised its sword. Link looked up awaiting the blow that would finish him off, but it never came.
Link watched as there was a flash of light, and then an explosion on the statue's neck. The head flew off and the rest of it crumbled to the ground in front of Link. Link looked and saw Zelda standing there, the worry in her face being replaced by a smile when she saw that Link was all right. Link smiled back at her, but his expression changed to one of horror as Zelda was grabbed from behind by the statue that had been following her. Both Zelda's hands were caught in the bind so she couldn't perform her spell, and the statue was slowly tightening its grip crushing Zelda in the process.
Link pushed his body beyond its limit and slowly got up off the ground. He picked up his sword and charged at the statue. Knowing that his blade would do nothing though he stopped dead in his tracks. He could hear Zelda's screams of pain, but he didn't know what to do. He had left most of his weapons back at the oasis. He did have his bomb bag with him, but unless he could get close they were useless. Link then remembered that he had a few Bombchus in the bag as well. It was a long shot, but it was the only option he had.
Without hesitating Link took out a Bombchu, lit the fuse, aimed it carefully at the statue, and let it go. The Bombchu sped off toward the statue. The statue was content with squeezing the life out of Zelda, so it wasn't moving around. It didn't even notice the Bombchu until it started climbing up its leg. The statue looked down at it trying to figure out what it was and loosened its grip on Zelda a little. The Bombchu started glowing red which signaled that its fuse was running out as it approached the statue's head.
The Bombchu exploded directly in the statue's face. The statue stumbled backward and raised both hands up to its face, dropping Zelda in the process. Zelda fell to the ground with a crash and Link quickly ran over to her as fast as he could. She rolled over and smiled when she saw Link standing worriedly over her. Link went to help her to her feet, but Zelda thrust both her arms out suddenly knocking Link to the ground in the process.
Link was stunned by her actions, but then realized that she had put up a protective barrier around them and that the statue was swinging its sword down directly at them. The sword hit the barrier in a brilliant explosion shattering the stone blade. The statue pulled back it's arm to examine what was left, and Zelda used this opportunity to lower the barrier and fire a spell at the statue's neck. The spell hit dead-on and the statue crumbled to the ground.
"Are you okay?" Link asked Zelda when the dust had settled.
"As fine as can be expected after having the life squeezed out of me," she replied with a smirk. "Other than a few bruises I should be fine. Thank you for saving my life."
"You saved mine first. It was the least I could do."
The two of them now sat there staring at each other with smirks on their faces. The debris from the broken columns and the remains of the two statues seemed to disappear to them. Everything that had just happened seemed nothing more than a bad dream as they continued to stare in each others eyes. Then, all of a sudden, there was a huge crash from somewhere nearby and the ground shook violently.
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Zelda. "Alexis and Gerik; we need to get to them."
"Come on then," said Link as he helped Zelda up off the ground. "Let's go kick some more statue ass."
Gerik didn't have a scratch on him. The entire battle he had been using his amazing speed to outrun and outmaneuver the statue he was distracting at every turn. In his wake were several destroyed columns and many holes in the ground caused by the statue swinging its sword and missing. Gerik didn't even have his swords out anymore. He had put them away for fear of accidently tripping and stabbing himself.
Every time Gerik used his speed to dodge the statue's swings, he would sneer and stick his tongue out at the statue. Gerik knew that his taunting was working because he could tell that the statue was getting pissed off. Every time it missed it would stamp its feet like a child in a tantrum. Gerik just laughed every time that happened.
Alexis meanwhile was hiding behind one of the stone columns. Ever since she had led the one statue away from the other she had been running to avoid it. She was beginning to become exhausted and was hiding behind the column to catch her breath. She had no idea why the other statue she had left behind hadn't come chasing after her yet, but she didn't really mind. The sound of an explosion several minutes later told her that Zelda had dispatched the other one.
As Alexis stood there glad that one statue was now gone, the statue that had been following her finally found her. It swung its blade cutting the column in half and nearly taking her head with it. Alexis quickly ran out of there as the statue prepared another strike. She ran with what energy she had left wondering exactly where Zelda was on this battlefield.
As she was running she spotted Gerik taunting his statue. An idea sprang to her mind and she hurried over to where Gerik was with the statue hot on her trail. She waited for Gerik to dodge a blow directed at him so as not to distract him and whistled. Gerik heard the whistle and turned toward Alexis. As he was staring at her she pointed to the two of them and then pointed at the two statues. Gerik didn't understand at first but soon realized what she wanted when she continued to perform the hand motions.
Gerik waited till he had the statue's attention and then ran full speed toward Alexis. The statue took the bait and followed him as fast as it could. As Alexis and Gerik got closer and closer, the statues just continued to follow them blindly. The two of them passed each other without a word and then slipped between the oncoming statue's legs. The two statues couldn't stop in time and slammed into each other. The resounding crash was followed by a small earthquake as the two statues fell to the ground.
"Are you all right?" Gerik asked Alexis worriedly after seeing her all out of breath.
"Yeah, I think so," she replied. "Boy, it's a good thing you knew what I wanted. You and I make a good team."
"Yeah, we do; don't we? Oh crap! They're getting up."
Alexis turned to see and sure enough the two statues were slowly rising up off the ground. The two of them just stood there not sure what to do next. Alexis knew that they wouldn't have been destroyed by that maneuver, but she had thought it would have bought them a little more time. As they stood there two explosions hit the statue's necks and sent their heads flying and the rest of their bodies collapsing into piles of stone. When the dust had cleared Alexis and Gerik saw Link and Zelda standing behind the now piles of stone just as tired and a little more battered than they were. In fact, Link was helping Zelda to stand up.
"We did it!" cried Zelda in joy. "We did it."
"Yeah, but we couldn't have done it without you," said Link smiling down at Zelda. "You were great."
"Yeah, who would have guessed that the pampered little princess had such power," said Gerik jokingly.
"Hey, who are you calling pampered little princess?" Zelda replied. "If I recall correctly I kicked your butt a few times."
Link was about to make fun of Gerik, but before he could speak the ground began to shake. All four of them looked around wondering what was causing it. They were all worried that there was one more test that they had to accomplish. They soon found the cause and all worry left their hearts. It was the door to the Temple of Light. The thick stone door was slowly rising from the ground to allow them entrance to the temple.
"There it is guys," said Alexis when the door had fully opened. "There's the fruit of all our labors. We have been permitted to enter the Temple of Light."