Hello peoples of the world! Sorry this chapter took so long, but I've been having troubles with my computer lately. But here it is, and I think it's pretty good. You decide, when (if) you review… please?

Chapter Six

Relics of the Hero

Zelda played the last note of her song to Link, realizing that he was in deep sleep. She put her hand on his warm, sleeping cheek. "Goodnight, Hero." She smiled at him, but her heart ached. She hated to leave him here. But she hardened her heart, and strode out of the room.

She snuck out of Hyrule Castle through her Courtyard, the same way Link had snuck in all those years ago. She chuckled as she made an internal note to make sure the guards watched more carefully in the future. The second he was outside the Castle Gate and out of the guards view, a flash of white light surrounded her and, just as before, Sheik stood in her place.

A few minutes later, he was, again, just outside Hyrule's jail. He planted one foot on the gray stone wall, and pushed off. His hand flashed to the whip at his side, which caught the gutter at the roof. He swung up to the roof, and the padded soles on the bottoms of his feet landed silently on the red, metal shingles of the prison roof. He then walked in a crouched position to the skylight of Kaahshi's office, with the warden herself inside, going through the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet. Sheik silently opened one of the panels in the skylight, and dropped in. She landed in a crouched position just behind Kaahshi, ever so silently, and said, almost in a whisper, "What are you looking for?"

But Kaahshi was not easily startled. "Hello, Sheik. Putting your hero to bed?" She giggled, then pulled a folder from the filing cabinet and closed it with a thupathupa clack!

Sheik crossed his arms, and his sandy-blond eyebrows furled. "Shut up. I don't get what Zelda sees in him. He's just a… peasant."

Kaahshi then tossed the folder on the wooden desk with a marble top. Her brown eyes turned to Sheik, and she smiled. "Well then, maybe it's just for his eyes." She pointed at the folder, and then said, "You may want to take a look at that."

Sheik looked at Kaahshi, then at the folder. He picked it up and opened it, and even through his bandage mask you could tell he was frowning. "Scimitar of thorns?" For that was what was held in the folder. There were several Pictograph photos of a dungeon like area, of cracked and moss-covered stone.

"Yeah," Kaahshi said unsurely as she turned back to the filing cabinet; her fiery-red hair with brown streaks whirling behind her. She opened it up again, and while her eyes still scanned the folders, she said, "They say it's the only weapon that can harm the sorcerer Agahnim, in the same way that only the Master Sword can harm Ganon. While the Master Sword is a sword that gives light, the Scimitar of Thorns unleashes only shadow."

"Sounds like my kind of weapon," Sheik said as he scanned the folder. Kaahshi threw another onto the desk. "That'll give you all you need to reach it." Sheik dropped the first folder back on the desk, and picked up the second. Inside were more pictograph photos, of two small statues. They seemed to be made of gold, but it was hard to tell in the black-and-white pictures. There were notes about them, and parts of journals of the privileged few who had seen them, and the coordinates in which they were located. These were all held together with a paperclip, to the right of the photos. Above all this were the words, in large, dark print, RELICS OF THE HERO.

Sheik said, as he took the whip from his side, "The next time you see me, I'll have them in hand." His whip caught the skylight, and he swung out.

Meanwhile, Gannondorf paced his office, his eyes moving swiftly, his hands behind his back.

A Moblin ran clumsily into the room, and, in a gruff voice, exclaimed, "Mail sir!" then stood at attention on the opposite side of the large, coal door from the usual guard.

Gannondorf read the letter, and while he read it, his teeth clenched, and his bright orange brows furrowed. He was the essence of terror.

You're majesty:

I am very disappointed to announce that the Sheikah has reclaimed Slahinyr, with the help of the Hyrule prison warden. Not only that, but in the process he has killed your most powerful general, Deimos.

Many apologies,

Agahnim

"What!" Gannondorf exclaimed, causing the Moblins to cringe in fear. The room seemed to darken. "Kill them! Kill them both! The hero and the princess, watch them die! And… kill the warden. Slowly, painfully." He cackled. The back of his hand was suddenly consumed a fire of shadow, and as his evil grin spread on his face, the letter burned the letter to white ash.

Sheik quickly found the coordinates to the first of the Relic Catacombs. They were in Kakariko Memorial, the graveyard off to the side of Kakariko village. He looked at the exact location on the map, and then looked at its location on the ground. He frowned, and looked again. Where the map ended, was the grave of a great Sheikah hero who traveled through the darkest of dungeons for the evolution of Hyrule, a change he would never see.

Sheik didn't understand. How could this be wrong? This would lead to failure! He couldn't save Hyrule without what was meant to be there. He thought of what would happen… if he failed. Perhaps he already had. His hands clenched to fists, and he kicked the headstone with all his might. But it did not shatter as he expected. It only moved and inch back, revealing part of a hole in the ground.

This surprised Sheik, but not for long. He smiled, unnoticeably through his mask, and pushed the stone with all his might. It moved another inch back, and then another. Soon a hole had grown large enough for a human to fit through. Just a he stopped pushing, a black cat meowed and rubbed against Sheik's feet, then jumped into the hole. Sheik rolled his red eyes, and jumped in after it.

This was one of the most terrifying things Sheik had ever witnessed. He fell for a very long time. Then the ground began to approach, and he fell closer at an alarming rate. Just as his nose touched the ground, he was surrounded in mist, and behind that was nothing but black. Infinite, infinite, black…

The next thing Sheik knew, he was standing upright on the same ground that he had just fallen to. The walls around him were of a coal-black rock, and large, intricate, nightmarish spider webs hung on the walls. Sheik couldn't see any more than a yard in front of him, but to his sides and back were naught but black stone.

He drew his sapphire katana slowly, and scanned the darkness in front of him for any sign of an enemy. He couldn't see anything. So he took a step forward, katana still in hand. But the second his foot touched the ground, the darkness in front of him faded, and a garden was revealed. It was like paradise. The grass was a perfect forest green, and apple trees grew along a garden path compiled of stepping stones. Birds chirped and chased each other above the Warrior's head. Groups of purple butterflies gathered in the shade of the trees. There was a blue sky above Sheik, with but a few wisps of clouds. The black cat, that had seemed so threatening in the graveyard, now looked adorable. It purred and rolled in the beautiful grass, toying with the butterflies.

However, little did the Sheikah Warrior foresee that this heaven was about to become hell.

The black cat finally noticed Sheik, and its cute look went away. It made a hissing noise from a wide open mouth, and leapt at Sheik. Halfway through its jump, it became a menacing beast, a great black panther of unbelievable size. It was ten feet from the tip of its tail to its nose, and rose six feet above the ground. Sheik blocked quickly with his katana, but it did not stop the panther. Sheik was knocked to the ground, and the katana barely held up. Its claws were pushed with incredible force against it, and its face was but two inches from the Warrior's, and it growled.

Sheik glanced away from the panther's face, to see that the two singing bluebirds had become ugly ravens with a wingspan of five feet.. The butterflies became wasps the size of your fist, and the green venom dripped from their stingers. They buzzed like machines, perfectly monotonously; they had no souls, no minds; just cruelty and rage.

Sheik threw the panther off of him, and held the katana above his head, the tip face behind her. He performed a back-flip in the position, cutting one of the ravens cleanly in half. Black smoke shot from its insides, and the body evaporated.

The Warrior front-flipped and landed in a crouching position, directly in front of the Panther. It was surprised by this action, and jumped up on its hind-legs. Sheik twirled from his crouched position with his katana flat in front of him. It hamstrung the panther, and it fell backwards. Sheik jumped up, did a cartwheel, and attempted plant the katana between the Panther's ribs, but it caught the blade in long, black claws. It pushed the katana's hilt back into him, and he was pushed back into a tree behind him. But he jumped up and pushed one leg off the tree and over behind the panther, who jumped out of the way as only a cat can. But Sheik could not stop the katana's movement, and it was pushed deep into the ground. When this happened, one of the several wasps plunged its stinger deer into the Sheikah's arm. The venom in him was visible from the skin, and it slowly spread outward like a web. As the wasp attempted to pull the stinger away, its intestines stayed on the stinger, and in vanished in black smoke. But the venom kept moving.

The panther, although one leg was alarmingly wounded, it still moved fast and mercilessly. It jumped at Sheik, with less force than the first jump. Because of this, the katana caught on its left forepaw, and it jumped off quickly, growling angrily and rolling in the green grass. Sheik brought the katana down sharply on the panther, and it didn't have time to resist. It pierced it's neck and, just like the Raven and th Wasp, it evaporated in a puff of black smoke.

Sheik twirled the katana in his hands, cutting one wasp in half. He then spun in a circle, cutting another wasp in half, horizontally. They both evaporated in black smoke. He pulled the whip from his side and held it in his left hand, his katana in the right. He tied a wasp with the whip, and swung it into the Raven. The venomous stinger landed perfectly in the Raven's neck. Just before the Raven evaporated like the other creatures, Sheik pulled the Wasp away from the Raven. But the stinger stayed in the Raven's neck, which had now evaporated, and it disemboweled the wasp, causing it to evaporate as well.

Still four Wasps remained, but they were easily dealt with, taking the venom of four poison needles. They too were destroyed in a puff of black smoke. Sheik rolled up the whip and hung it on his side, then sheathed the katana in its scabbard on his back. He had killed nine vicious beasts in a beautiful garden, with a blue sky above and green grass under his feet. However, the venom was still spreading. It had reached Sheik's wrist on one side. He quickly cut off some of the bandage that made his mask with the bloodstained katana, and tied it around his arm to keep the venom from spreading. He then wiped the sword in the grass and put it in its sheath as he kept moving.

He walked down the path to a large stone door, which opened when he approached it. On the other side of this door were the shores of the sea, covered in perfect yellow sands. In the perfect blue waves were beautiful, colorful fish, and crabs roamed the beach. The sun was setting in an enormous half-circle. The only noise was the waves washing in and out.

Sheik took a step forward and, just like in the garden, the dream became a nightmare. The crabs looked up at Sheik with eyes on the end of long stalks, and became bright red and green humanoids with claws and great, broad axes with almost Celtic-looking design on them, and a gold metal at the blade. Two of the fish turned into green creatures with red fins on the sides of their heads and red lips. The crab-creatures cautiously approached the Sheikah, who quickly drew his katana.

The first to reach Sheik raised his axe high above his head, and Sheik blocked above himself. But instead of bringing the axe down, it chopped across to Sheik's heels. The Sheikah barely dodged this, almost standing on the blade for a moment. Sheik then stabbed at the creature, but the blade only bounced off the thing's impenetrable hide.

Behind the monsters, sheik noticed the fish breathing in, and a yellow orb forming in their mouths. As they breathed in, gold dust was sucked into the orb. They exhaled, as if they were screaming, and the yellow orbs flew towards Sheik, who quickly jumped to the side as they whizzed past his head. Sheik took the whip from his side and drove it across a fish's face while it breathed in power, causing it to fall backwards and lose the orb to the water. As it got back up, then wrapped the whip around its neck, and drew it from the water, to find that it was much like a Zora. It was scalier, and its fin-like ears were a bright orange, as were its lips. The rest of the creature was green, and had large, slanted, pupil-less eyes.

The monster flopped on the shore like a fish-out of water, then fell silent, and held still. However, where it had sat a great whirlpool formed and another monster rose from it. It breathed in, and the yellow orb absorbed the light in the air. It shot it at Sheik, but he kicked one of the crabs, and it fell in front of the orb. When it hit, the crab froze in the air for a second, the disintegrated in yellow powder.

Sheik quickly wrapped the whip around the other crab's neck and threw it at one of the water creatures. It hit it directly in the face, and the fish was killed instantly in a puff of black smoke. The crab kicked and splashed for a few seconds, but then the whirlpool came again and the crab was sucked into it. The whirlpool ceased, as did the crab.

Sheik's red eyes lit up; he knew how to kill them. Another crab rose from under the sand, and the sand puffed around it like a fountain, and was then blown away with the wind. The crab pulled a golden war hammer from its back and raised it above its head, as the fish breathed in and an orb formed in its mouth. As the crab raised its hammer, Sheik rolled around it and kicked into the path of the orb from the ground. He then rolled to its side and kicked it again before it evaporated, into the fish. It, like the first fell into the whirlpool and was gone.

As it sank into the whirlpool, line eight feet above the sand stretched to five feet wide. It then fell down like a curtain, revealing a stone door with endless knots painted on it in red, which Sheik presently walked through.

On the other side of the door was a city of white brick, with a beautiful golden castle in the center. Every building, even the smallest cottage, was intricately made of the same stone as the city, with thatched roofs of straw. Citizens walked down the streets, wearing green tunics and green dresses, often staring at Sheik's strange garments.

The Warrior slowly walked down the street, looking at the city around him. The path he stood on was of a white marble, and several markets and buildings surrounded it. The city was crowded around him, but when he turned around, no one was behind him. So he looked back in front of him, and again, no one was there. The streets were empty, like they had never been inhabited.

Sheik began to walk away, but heard a groan behind him. He turned around, and ReDeads poured down the city streets. There was no way one man could kill all of them. Sheik turned and ran down the streets at a blinding rate, until he heard a bloodcurdling scream in front of him. He stopped short with a skid on the marble path, and in front of him was some kind of ReDead warlord. It was more than seven feet tall and its chest was five feet wide, and it wielded a great-sword with a blood red blade and wore blue and gold armor that had almost no weakness. It stiffened its arms and curled its fingers, and let out another great shriek. Its helmet was lifted up, and inside was naught but Blue Fire. It pulled a light blue rod from its side, which had a golden handle (covered almost completely by the Warlords hand) and a blue orb at the end. The orb was transparent, and had an icy core that looked as cold as death.

The Warlord swung this rod at Sheik, and although he was more than ten feet away, Sheik moved quickly. Where he had just stood, a foot high mass of ice now lay. He swung it again, and again Sheik dodged it. The Warlord shrieked, and swung the great-sword only a foot off the ground, and Sheik jumped over it. The Warlord was ready for this, and attempted to swing it down on Sheik's head.

Sheik rolled out of the way, but he knew he wasn't going to be able to keep this up for long. He rolled and ran toward a stable, where a white horse was already saddled and reined. Sheik jumped on it, and kicked it in the sides, with a "Hyah!" The white horse whinnied, and rode away.

The warlord again screeched, and brought the Great-sword down on the ground. The second it hit the ground, the warlord was riding a large, black wolf. It followed Sheik down the streets and out of the city, away from the ReDeads who had just caught up with them.

Outside the city gates was a large field, and a forest behind it. As Sheik rode across the field, masses of ice landed behind him, and he often had to swerve his horse to avoid them. Occasionally he looked back and threw a poison needle at the Warlord, but they ricocheted off the blue armor and barely budged its body.

Before he knew what he was doing, Sheik jumped of the back of the horse in a roll, and as he rolled he drew his katana and cut off one of the wolf's feet. It fell to the ground and evaporated in black smoke, and the Warlord rolled on the ground, and then jumped to its feet. It again swung the rod at Sheik, but he rolled around the creature and cut off the hand where the rod was held. It let out another horrifying shriek and grabbed its wrist in agony and green blood sprayed from its severed veins. It fell to its knees while Sheik grabbed the rod and swung it at the Warlord. It froze in place, crystallized in steel-like ice. Sheik cut off its head where the fire had been extinguished, and it fell solidly and without any movement. The frozen Warlord exploded in many shards of ice.

Now that he had some time, Sheik held up the Ice Rod in the light. He tucked in into his belt and ran swiftly back to the city. When he reached it, the slow-moving army of ReDeads was still waiting in the streets for his return. When Sheik approached it, he heard another groan behind him. More had come, and there were more than two-hundred around him. He began to freeze them one by one, but they closed on him to fast, and there were too many. He could not stop them.

Then Sheik had an idea, but the risk in using it was very great. At this rate, he thought, I am going to die anyway, so it's worth a try. Sheik raised the Rod above his head, and swung it as hard as he could onto the ground. A wave in the ground was sent out from the Rod, and the entire army froze solid, then exploded in the same way the Warlord did.

However, where the middle of the gathering of ReDeads was, a golden key with the skull of a bull on one side hovered three feet off the ground. Sheik grabbed it, and as he did, a large, steel-looking door appeared in front of him with a large keyhole in the very middle of it. He put the key in it, and turned it three times. It opened to pitch-blackness, and Sheik walked through.

When Sheik walked through, he found himself on the top of a castle wall, without any railing or walls on either side to keep him from falling, in the rain. He took a few cautious steps forward and looked back. The door was gone.

Sheik then drew his katana. There was a cold presence here, a feeling so strong it felt like Sheik could hear it. The venom in his arm pulsed more strongly the closer the presence came, until it burned dreadfully. The pain almost seemed to fade, then came back incredibly strongly as he heard heavy breathing behind him.