This is the latest installment of the saga! (gets hit on the head with a frying pan) Fine! If you don't wanna read it, don't!

Joking, people! Read and Review!

To Find The Future, Find The Past

Chapter Twenty Five

FIRE!

Zelda had Link and Linn move Ingo inside, and had Zel search for any other people on the ranch. Zelda was back up in the attic-room, trying to figure out what to do with the weapons.

They were too bulky to carry. Zelda could not see any way to take them with them back to the castle.

Frowning, she left the building, in search of Link. She found him in the stables, trying to calm a psychotic Ingo. Getting his attention, she took him outside, leaving Linn to deal with the raging man.

"Link," she said, "I've discovered a secret room in the roof of the main building. It full of all sorts of weapons. I need you to come and have a look at them, and help me decide what to do."

"You found weapons?" Link asked, intrigued, as he followed her, "When?"

"Almost as soon as we got here," Zelda opened the secret crack again, having closed it when she left, "I was going through it almost the whole time."

"Up here?" Link eyed the somewhat rickety ladder with uncertainty. He didn't like the idea of them going up that ladder.

"Yes, up there." Zelda said, knowing what he was thinking, "You worry too much, Link. Come on. If you're that worried about it, hold the ladder while I climb up." Zelda reached for the first rung of the ladder, and hoisted herself up. Link watched her climb, and decided that he was, despite all his misgivings, very curious as to what lay up there. As Zelda pulled herself up, he took hold of the second rung, being able to reach that high.

Exactly one second after the skirts of Zelda's riding gown disappeared through the hole into the room, Link heard a blood curling scream. He vaulted himself up the ladder, to emerge on the landing. What he saw made his blood run cold.

Angahim had Zelda draped arcoss his arms in front of him. Zelda looked to be unconscious, or under some sort of spell. Her hair had falled out of her headress, and her hat lay on the floor where she had dropped it.

Angahim laughed an ear-splitting cackle, and sent a blast of evil magic at Link. Link went soaring through the air, and into the wall which the shields hung on. There was a clang of metal, as the wall colapsed, and the entire roof came down with it. There was a dangerous creak in the house. Link couldn't even move. He was pinned underneath a beam that was supporting the ceiling.

Where Angaahin stood with Zelda, however, there was no debris. He had used his dark powers to create a forcefield around himself, sheltering him from any harm. He clicked his fingers, and a nearby bit of the thatched roof ignited in flames. Angahim laughed as he diappeared in a flash.

The flames spread quickly. Link would not have been able to get out, even if he were not pinned by the large piece of wood. He was far too close to passing out. He heard a woman's voice call out.

"Linn? Link? Zelda? Where are you?"

"I'm up here!" Link called with his last breath, unsure if she had heard him or not. He then passed out. The last thing he saw was a pile of wood colapse when it began burning.

AT THE BACK OF THE RANCH

Zel was searching through the last construction for any people. She was just about to turn to leave, when she heard a scream. Rushing out the door, she got outside just in time to hear a lound crash, as something collided with lots of metal. She had no idea what was going on.

She raced to the building in time to see it's roof colapse, and heard the scaffolding creak. It was going to implode in on itself!

Frantic, Zel called out for anyone.

"Linn? Link? Zelda? Where are you?" She called at the top of her lungs.

"Right here, Zel." Linn came up behind her. At that moment, the entire house burst into flames.

"Where's Link and Zelda?" Zel asked, frantic. As she spoke, there was a faint call from atop the building.

"I'm up here!"

Zel began to panic even more. Linn was already taking off anything that would catch alight easily. He dropped his hat, his sword belt, and his sheath in the pile he was leaving behind.

"Stay here!" He called as he entered the fire, "I'll find them!"

Zel stood there, silently panicing. she had no idea what to do. Trying to calm herself, she stood perfectly still, and closed her eyes. She slipped out of her bady, and her spirit went into the fire, searching for anyone in there.

IN THE BARN

Linn was so sick of Ingo, that he punched him to knock him out. He dropped immeadiately.

He was climbing to the top of the barn, to be out of harms way when Ingo woke up. He almost lost his balance when he heard a woman scream. Listening hard, he tried to identify the owner of the scream. Sitting there, in a sort of trance, he heard the unmistakable sound of a shield and something colliding. Possibly a body.

He climbed up through the skylight, and emerged on teh roof, just in time to see Zel shout.

"Linn? Link? Zelda? Where are you?" Linn dropped to the ground behind her.

"Right here, Zel." Linn said, drawing her attention as the roof burst into flames.

"Where's Link and Zelda?" Linn could see that Zel was panicing. He wasn't so calm himself. He just knew how to handle a crisis.

"I'm up here!" Linn heard a faint call from the centre of the flames. He did not hesitate for a second. He recalled the advice that his uncle gave him once, when his parents had died in a fire. Remove everything that could easily catch, and be perceptive. Everything removed, he leapt into the fire, calling back to Zel.

"Stay here! I'll find them!" He leapt into the house, and the room had already caught. It was amazing how fast the house caught. He wished freverantly that the people of this world had more sense and had built their houses out of stone.

He tore around the bottom floor, trying to find a way to the top while avoiding the flames. He felt an aura in the house. It was not, however, malevolent, as most auras are in his experiences. It was quite the opposite. The presence was Zel's spirit, leading him the right way.

Following the presence, he made his way to the top, and found that it was the worst of all. He was being drawn to the worst part of the fire, where it was almost as hot as a kiln. There, in the centre, he saw a hand. He was amazed that it wasn't burnt black. A plank of wood near the body collapsed, revealing a face. The skin hadn't blistered yet, but he could tell that Zel's magic could only last so far. There was no other explanation.

Grabbing his hand, Linn pulled Link out from underneath the crumbling heap. As he slid out, surprisingly easily, the pile collapsed. Linn hoisted Link up on his back, and felt Zel's presence leave them. She had run out of energy for her spell. He was on his own. He tried to go back down the way he had come, but found that it had collapsed.

Frantically looking around, he tried to find any means of escape. In the end, he had no choice. He had to jump, and pray that they both survived.

Whispering a prayer to Hyrule's shared Goddesses, Linn jumped.

OUTSIDE

Zel came back to her body in a rush, leaving Linn to get Link out alive. She was worried, but she had complete faith in him.

Out of the flames, she saw a rather large something fall. She raced over to the lump, to find that it was Linn and Link. She turned Linn over, to make sure he was still alive. He had looked pretty dead when his head hit the ground.

Neither of the men were conscious. She had known that Link wasn't conscious, but she had held on to her hope that Linn would be. Ingo chose that moment to emerge from the barn.

"Where is that little..." He saw the house on fire, "What in the name of the Goddesses happened? Talon, Malon!"

"They aren't in there!" Zel screeched, trying to drag Linn out of the fire's path, "Help me, you fool! Before they die!" Ingo looked at the two unconscious forms of the men, and helped Zel drag them into the cart that had been readied for a milk delivery in the past, before Hyrule was frozen. Zel raced to the paddock, and took the reins of the four horses that had come with them.

It took her and Ingo several minutes, but they managed to harness three of the horses to the carriage safely. Suddenly, the fire caught onto the barn, and the horses were terrified.

"Make for the castle!" Zel yelled, moutning the remaining horse, "I'll follow!"

The cart went as fast as it was possible to go. It cleared the fire easily, and raced on toward the castle, Zel close behind on her mount. They did not stop. They pushed the horses until they reached the castle gates.

Zel gave a shrill whistle. Out from the castle came the soldiers, calling for the doctors. Within a few minutes, the unconscious men were in the hospital wing, and Zel and Ingo were being checked out by the physician. Once Zel and Ingo were found to have not sufferred any injuries, the doctors set themselves to treating various broken bones and burns on Link and Linn.

Ingo was taken to some temporary quarters, but Zel refused to leave the hospital. She had not realised, until she had just lost him, that she cared deeply for Linn, and she wanted to be there when she woke up. Taking their red, burnt hands in hers, she sent a soothing spell to the both of the men, trying to stop the nerves twitching in their bodies.

Zel conferred with several doctors. It was unlikely that either of them would survive their ordeal, and even if they did, they would more than likely never be the same again. They would have permanent scars all over them, and would probably suffer permanent mental scarring, due to the large volumes of smoke that they had inhaled.

IN THE EVIL REALM

Angahim materialised with Zelda in Ganondorf's anteroom. He did not know that his welcome would not be warm.

"You fool!" Ganondorf roared, throwing a spear at Angahim's head, "You weren't supposed to hurt the Hero of Time! Do you know what you've done?"

"No." Angahim stood defiant, "What did I do, besides bring you Princess Zelda?"

"You almost killed my best warrior!" Ganondorf roared once more, "You'll be lucky if Dark Link survives! If he dies, you die!"

"I don't think so." Angahim cackled as he dematerialised again. Ganondorf, out of frustration, demolished a pillar with his magic, fixed it, then demolished it again. He continued on this rampage until he had relieved himself of some of his stress. He needed to get out of there.

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