Chapter 21: Ghosts and Inner Demons
Link leant back against a column, wasting no time in retrieving, and downing, an entire bottle of the ultimate medicine. That door was not marked on his map of the Spirit Temple; who knew what lay beyond. He took a moment to appreciate the energy coursing through him, before stepping over to the door unbarred by the defeat to the iron knuckle. "Open," he said, his voice hoarse and ragged; that fight had taken a lot out of him, more than a mere medicine could restore.
It lifted, and he walked out of the room, and out of the temple itself, into bright sunlight. He found himself standing, a short time later, on what he slowly realised was intended to be a cupped hand. Peering across a gap, he could see that there was a second hand visible, far outside leaping distance. Each hand held a big treasure chest.
Looking down, he could see a belt tied around a waist, and that the hands were stationed atop a statue woman's knees, where she sat, legs akimbo, perhaps in a pose similar to that of the statue inside the inner sanctum of the temple.
As he stood in the entrance—or exit—to the temple, a huge shape fluttered down, momentarily unrecognisable, before resolving itself into the familiar shape of Kaepora Gaebora the owl. He twisted his head at an unspeakable angle, and spoke.
"Hoo hoot! Well met, Link Sylvanus!" said Rauru's voice, and Link frowned, folded his arms, gritting his teeth. This was the last thing he needed. Why did the owl always show up when Link was in a hurry? "Hmm. Even I thought that the tales of a boy who could travel through time were just tales. It seems even I have things yet to learn. But, that is not why I am here. No. Hoo!
"Within this temple are the treasures of the gerudo people. They are valuable artefacts with special abilities few people properly understand. Before you lies one such treasure, the silver gauntlets. The other is an even more indescribable prize.
"This will be our last meeting, I am sad to say. After all, I can see in your eyes that you are no longer a child…you have grown and fully matured as an adult, haven't you? I can see it in your eyes. You know too much to be treated as a child, any longer, and that was the duration of my duty as your advisor. Soon, we must part for good.
"I will leave you with some final parting advice. Within this temple dwell two evil witches, the sorceress sisters Twinrova, Komei and Kotakei. One is mistress of fire magic, the other of ice magic. Together, they are a formidable foe. But perhaps, if there was some way to turn their magic against them, that strength could be made into a weakness, hoo hoot! Well, that's all I have to say! Take care of yourself, Link! Goodbye!"
Before Link could decide what an appropriate response to this series of revelations was (Kaepora Gaebora, out of his life forever? Twinrova? How had he changed since he and the owl had first met?) the owl flew away, into the bright sun of midday. Link stared after him, uncertain, and then made his way down the slope to the hand, resolving to think about this later. He wasn't sure whether to grieve or rejoice for the parting.
Link shook his head, staring at the flat table that Sheik would drop from, seven years hence, and then down at the ground, far below. He approached the big treasure chest, swiveled the clasp, opened the chest, and somehow managed to precariously balance long enough to dredge up the silver gauntlets from their resting place on the bottom of the chest. They were incredibly heavy. They were unbelievably light.
He frowned at them, perplexed, as he grabbed a secure hold, effortlessly hoisting them out of the treasure chest, staring at them.
Oh, yes, he knew these gloves. He recognised them without any effort. They were mostly of silver, with patches of red fabric, especially at the end, where the metal might chafe against their wielder's arms. He peered at them, drinking in their appearance, studying them, well-aware that someday, they would be hidden in the heart of a volcano. If the Wind Waker was real. If he failed.
His head snapped up the moment he heard a woman's agonised scream. He stepped to the very edge of the hand, heedless of any danger, and peered down below, where Naburu was sinking in a sandy vortex, being dragged under, as two figures clad in black flew around her in circles. If he wasn't mistaken, they were riding on brooms.
Naburu struggled valiantly against the vortex, but to no avail; it continued to drag her down.
"You! You evil witches! Release me at once! I will never help your demented schemes!" Naburu cried, her head jerking back and forth between the two figures circling around her. Link breathed in sharply, glancing at Navi, who looked pale and out-of-sorts. She landed without grace on his shoulder, staring down at the scene below.
Link considered leaping off the hand, sliding down to the ground, and running to help Naburu, but what would he do then? Maybe it would be better to attack the witches from afar. But…these must be Komei and Kotakei. If he attacked them, Ganondorf would surely know.
"You! Kid! Get out of here! Don't let them capture you! Don't worry about me; save yourself! It's too late for me!"
Despite her struggles, she was now up to her armpits in the hole. Link could hear an evil cackle, coming from somewhere below him. The witches did not seem to be heeding Naburu's words, perhaps thinking that she was attempting to trick them into thinking she had help, when she didn't. Link gritted his teeth, pulling out the slingshot.
"Go, kid! Can't you see it's Ganondorf's surrogate mothers, Komei and Kotakei? Get out of here before they realise you—"
Her head sank below the sand, as the witches cackled again. Too quick! He thought he'd have more time! The witches, still cackling, flew off, back into the Spirit Temple, as Link stared at the place where Naburu had sunk below the sand.
So. This was what had happened. He'd caused this, after all. Naburu was going to be used, somehow, by the sorceresses, and he'd led her to this. He shouldn't have left her alone. He should have checked on her. Neither of them were a match for the witches alone, perhaps, but together—!
Link picked up the silver gauntlets; clenching them tight, he sent them to his inventory, unthinking, staring straight ahead, as something unfamiliar rose up in his chest, an overpowering force. Naburu was a decent person. He could tell that at a glance, from the way she spoke about Ganondorf, the values she espoused. They'd taken her away, would do who-knew-what to her. What gave them such a right? How dared they?
He stood, heedless of his proximity to the edge of the hand, his own hands clenched into tight fists, jaw locked, eyes hard and cold. Navi took one glance at him, and reconsidered speaking. She'd seen that expression before, but not for quite some time. That hard glare to cut through stone, it belonged on a different Link. She found herself holding her breath, wanting to cry.
Link leapt off the hand, bracing himself against the smooth chiseled rock of the Spirit Temple, he slid down, cautious, if thinking of other matters. He stormed into the Spirit Temple by the same entrance, as if to confirm Naburu's disappearance. He dodged the flying jars, climbed the steps, walked over to the crawlhole. There was no one there, of course.
He cast the spell to return him to his warp point, and a moment later, they returned to the little ledge that had held an armos statue. He leapt off the edge, walking over to the treasure chest from which he'd retrieved the dungeon map, staring hard around the room. Navi realised that he was looking for the entrance to the boss's lair. Not good. He wasn't ready.
Link, for his part, was too angry to think straight. He recognised this, in some corner of his mind, but the rest was bent to the purpose of finding the way to the boss's lair, retrieving Naburu, defeating Twinrova, purging this temple of evil. He didn't hear anything Navi said. Her protestations, her pleas, her warnings, might as well have been spoken to a statue.
He climbed onto the ledge holding the treasure chest, and, bracing himself, climbed up the thighs of the statue, and then was forced to pause. The statue woman's stomach was a flat cliff. She didn't even have a navel to serve as purchase. He glared around the statue, eyes narrowed. Navi swallowed hard, and said nothing. He attempted to stab the Kokiri Sword into the statue, but froze, guilt temporarily washing away the anger, as a nick appeared in the Sword, and not the statue.
He sheathed the sword, gently, and peered around the room again. He noticed the cliff standing next it, and marched over to it, instead, hands scrabbling for purchase in gaps that didn't exist. The wall was too smooth to climb. The target of white on its grey background that stood over a nearby ledge in the corner across from the one he was trying unsuccessfully to scale suggested how he was intended to get there. He walked along the wall, searching for weaknesses in the rock, and then kept walking until he came to the lower ledge, intended to be reached by hookshot.
And, this one, he managed to scale. But, the gap between the two ledges turned out to be too great, and he fell to the floor instead. There was a treasure chest sitting in the corner of the ledge next the statue. He was supposed to use the hookshot to cross, and then use the hover boots, or perhaps even leap across to the hand.
He leant back against the wall of the temple, set his face in determination, and set to climbing the northwestern corner wall again. There was a door at the top of the stairs, but it was barred. He scowled, looking around the room for a switch that might cause it to open. He found one in the southeastern corner of the room, near to the statue's right hand. He launched himself, again, from the greater height of the top of the stairs. It was still too far. This time, he fell a much greater distance.
Gradually, his anger bated, defeated by time and the drain on his energy. He sagged against the wall of the temple, slammed a fist into the wall beside him, and slumped down, crying.
He put his head in his hands, and remembered Navi.
"Oh, Navi. I'm so sorry," he said, head in his hands muffling his voice, but Navi understood with ease. She dared to flutter over to him, and to land on his shoulders, brows furrowed in concern. "It just…it feels that everyone I care about suffers. Sheik, and Darunia, and Saria, and Malone…. And you, too. I've brought you into this. If only I'd stayed behind…."
Navi fluttered over to rest a hand on his cheek, her expression soft, as reassuring as she could make it. "It wasn't your fault, Link. You couldn't have known."
He tilted his head back, resting it against the wall. It was true. He couldn't have known.
But, they were in this mess only because he'd first drawn the Master Sword, unlocking the Sacred Realm. Although…Naburu had been set against the sorceress sisters, and Ganondorf, even before. Perhaps, this would have happened even if he hadn't come…but he would never have learnt about it, never have met her, never have known that she needed saving. And she was the Sage of Spirit. Surely, she was.
He stood, resolute, staring straight ahead. He knew that there was no saving Naburu on this side of time. The carpenters' words had already told him that. But, perhaps he could save her in the future. He must.
He held a hand out for Navi, a wordless apology, contrition written in the downward cast of his face, the way his eyes were clouded over, the way he bit his lip, and shuffled his feet, unable to meet her gaze, unable to look at her.
"I'm sure you were saying plenty of helpful things, weren't you? But, I was too consumed with guilt to listen. Ah, well. I suppose it doesn't matter how long we take in the past, again. No more time limit. I'll go buy the hylian shield, and then to the frogs at Zora's River. Then, I'll return to the future and see what lies in the Gerudo's Training Ground. I want to be as prepared as possible before I return to the Spirit Temple. Let's go, Navi."
Navi nodded, settling back onto this shoulder, as he withdrew the Ocarina of Time. He played the "Prelude of Light", and a moment later, they appeared in the heart of Hyrule Castle Market Town, where the people still spent their days blissfully unaware of the horrors that were to come.
Link's success in the horseback archery contest cheered him up a little. After far too many attempts, accompanied by Navi's half-hearted scolding, hands on her hips as she watched him, shaking her head, but smiling, he finally managed to score two thousand points. Tarasha gaped at him, realised her mouth was open and promptly shut it, and shook her head, as if she couldn't believe what she'd just seen.
"Prodigious skill such as yours should not be wasted on the outside world. I'm half of the mind to kidnap you and try to keep you penned up somewhere, but I doubt that would even work. I'm sure that, knowing you, you'll want to see if you can do that again, am I right? Well, go on, then. I don't even have a reward for someone who gets a perfect score, so you'll just be competing against yourself."
Link nodded, paid her a red rupees, and then set to the task of trying his skill again. He had the sense, even at the time, that he was training for more than even the upcoming battle against Twinrova. He was training for the battle against Ganondorf, too. He needed to be at his best, to learn as much as he could, before the inevitable battle against Ganondorf. Who knew what uniting the six Sages might set into motion? He suspected that, with all six Sages awoken, things would suddenly move very quickly. He needed to make all of his preparations that he could before then.
Once he had hit twenty bull's-eyes a second time, he rode down into the fortress proper. He approached the Training Ground, paid the fifty-rupee entry fee, and entered the cavernous central nexus of the grounds. It was dark inside, and cool. There were three doors.
The first door he opened was the one in the centre, a maze filled with doors locked with small keys, corridors and rooms of varying sizes broken by high walls, some of which were made of chain link, others were simply high stone walls. It gave a sense of complexity to the room. He didn't have any keys, however, and therefore, he was forced to retreat without doing anything.
Next, he entered the room on the left. It was filled with sand, and moving spike traps, and a woman's voice—the voice of the woman to whom he'd paid the fifty rupees, he realised—informed him that he had two minutes to defeat all of the enemies in the room, thus clearing the way to progress. Said foes were two stalfoi. Well, at least he'd bought a hylian shield before he'd come forward in time.
There was no time to take a defensive stance, and therefore, Link went on the offensive, relying on his skill in dodging to avoid damage. The stalfoi seemed to have been trained to regard this as a duel of honour, engaging him one-on-one. This was useful, and perhaps the sole saving grace of the task.
He sliced through the rib cage of the stalfos as it made to leap at him, and it finally collapsed into blue flames. The second stalfos then edged up on him, but he held out the Master Sword, grateful to have it back, trying not to think about his rough treatment of the Kokiri Sword, waited until the blade burnt blue, and then released a powerful spin attack, that penetrated deep in the whatever it was that lodged within a stalfos's chest, the invisible animating force that drove them. Call it a soul, call it a spell, call it a purpose, whatever it was, it was vulnerable to the purgative effects of the Master Sword.
The soldier leapt back, and then leapt forward, swinging its sword in a vertical arc, but Link somersaulted to the side, and then leapt at its more vulnerable left side.
Next, it tried a horizontal slice, and Link was given another opportunity to try out the parry attack. He got around its guard, sliced upwards through the ribs in the back, and caught the blade at an angle that knocked it from the skeleton's hands. Said stalfos grunted, groaned, and punched at Link with its disarmed hand, blocking his hits with its buckler. These things didn't quit.
He charged up another spin attack, releasing it as the stalfos made a move to attack him while he was vulnerable. The blue flames ate up the stalfos, leaving behind nothing at all. Link yanked his feet out of the sand, and turned to face the treasure chest that appeared on a short stone platform that lay just outside the door leading to the next room. Bars shot up from across the door, and a treasure chest slowly materialised on a discoloured square next it.
Link opened the door, and nodded to himself when he saw the first small key. He went through, and found himself in a strange, intricate maze of upward and downward slopes, with targets stationed here and there (did the gerudos have hookshots? How common was the hookshot, anyway? And if they didn't, what use the targets overhead?) providing a way past suddenly appearing walls of flame reminiscent of those in the Fire Temple.
"You have five minutes to collect the silver rupees," the woman said cheerfully, and Link gritted his teeth, frowning.
Link only got turned around about fifteen times, heading down the same paths, barely avoiding the boulders falling from one side of the room at a higher elevation and rolling down into abysses at the other. Once or twice, he nearly ran into a wall of flame, but at length, he made it through safely, but that wasn't enough; he also needed to reach the exit door.
He made it through, stumbling into the next room.
"Only one with Eyes that can See the Truth can make it past this room," said the gerudo, sounding smug, as well she might. Hylians usually didn't have the ability.
He frowned around the room impartially, and made to approach the huge block that stood on the far side of the room.
Halfway there, he was alerted to an ambush only by the easily recognised piercing howl of a wolfos. It was, in fact, a white wolfos. He'd only seen one of those before. It raised the question, just who created this obstacle course? Was it perhaps Ganondorf, or Twinrova? Where did the monsters come from?
He held up the hylian shield, and watched the white wolfos, unblinking. The moment he saw it preparing to lash out at him, he somersaulted to the side, and noticed that it had a difficult time perceiving his whereabouts. Also, it left its back exposed to him.
Its claws and fangs, its head and legs, were all as tough as iron, but the back was another story. He plunged the Master Sword deep into its back, and yanked it out. The combined energy of five Sages apparently was enough to slay the monster with only a single blow.
He yanked the sword back out, and then straightened up. He made a perimeter of the room, wary for any other approaching foes, before returning to the block he had noticed before.
He pulled it out to reveal a hidden passage. At the far end was a hidden door. He noticed that it had a handle, and he frowned at it.
But, the two previous doors had also had handles. The only real reason it was suspect was that the woman who was watching him had told him that only someone with Eyes that could See the Truth would find the next passage. Still, he was cautious in his approach. "Open?" he asked the door, and it swung open.
Beyond was a room filled with likelikes, and Link reconsidered his options, before stepping through the surprisingly patient door.
It slammed shut behind him, and bars shot down across it for good measure. Link sighed, but pulled out the bow, taking aim at the nearest of the likelikes. After three seemingly ineffectual arrows hit it, it shrank into a puddle, and burst into blue flames, leaving behind a treasure chest and a slight depression in the floor that had trapped it from approaching closer.
Link cocked his head, considered, and stared at the likelikes, none of which had come any closer. Ah. Well, then. That was something, at least.
He took more careful aim, no longer as hurried as he had been before. He had no idea how the arrows affected likelikes, but it seemed that they each took about three hits to defeat. After spending twelve arrows, and a few minutes, carefully aiming at each likelike in turn, the last of them shriveled up, bursting into blue flames. There was a treasure chest in each pit. Some of them, however, were invisible.
"Link…there are too many treasure chests," Navi said, voice somehow distant, as if thinking of other things. "I think some of them are traps."
Yes, that definitely made sense. How could he tell which chests might have keys?
It would be an invisible one, of course. Hadn't the woman in charge of this place practically told him that outright? He kicked open one invisible chest, finding fifty rupees in the form of a purple rupee, and then a second invisible chest, containing a silver small key. Ha!
He returned to the previous room, and frowned. Was that what she had meant? And, if that was the case, why tell him in this room, and not the one with the likelikes? It couldn't be to avoid distracting him; that seemed to be half of her pleasure.
He peered slowly around the room, staring around the wall, until a wall to his left simply faded away. There was a high ledge, and a hookshot target providing a way up. He withdrew the hookshot, aimed, shot out the chain, and dropped down from the target, landing on a step-on switch.
A treasure chest appeared down below.
He walked back out of the alcove, and dropped down to the floor below, heading over to the small chest for his third small key. Then, he had to withdraw the hookshot again to return to the alcove. The door at the end of a short passage was unlocked, unbarred, and handleless. That was a relief.
On the other side of the door, however, was a rotating stone disc sitting atop a pool of lava. That didn't seem very plausible. He realised that he was still wearing the goron's tunic, which was something. He was at the top of a thin shelf of stone extending in a semicircle around his door of entry. There was a second door level with it, but it was barred.
Link paused, ensured that there was a way back up to the shelf if he once fell down, and leapt off onto the ring of stone, noticing that it circled around four statue heads, each with one eye at different levels. As it spun, he saw that there was also a door at the other side of the pool of lava, one level with his current location.
Sure. He pulled out the bow, aiming it carefully at the stone statues' eyes. It didn't matter that they were statues, and that the eyes were therefore also made of stone. He was coming to realise that the training grounds were something like a dungeon, and dungeons were predictable.
He was not expecting the lifelike groan of a monster when he hit the first eye, any more than he expected for the iris and pupil to glow red, as the white of the eye turned, well, white. By the time he circled back to this eye, it had returned to being plain grey stone, however, and Link realised that he was expected to hit every one of the eyes in a single circuit. That fit with what he understood of gerudo society, but he huffed.
Still, he notched his next arrow, took aim, fired, notched another arrow, took aim, fired, notched another arrow, took aim, fired, notched a fourth arrow, took aim, fired, all in swift succession. The horseback archery practise was invaluable for his current task.
When the last statue groaned at the attack, and all four eyes glowed red, the stone disc ground to a halt, as bars shot up from over the door above. He ignored the lower door for the moment, climbing back up the invisible ladder to the high shelf he had entered onto, and approaching the second door.
Beyond was a door filled with statues like in the Fire Temple—the kind that could be smashed with the Megaton Hammer. Torch slugs squelched around the room, before registering his presence and all turning as one to attack him. Naturally.
He drew the Master Sword, and lashed out at them without finesse, too busy analysing the rest of the room, wondering about the Fire Temple décor. He barely noticed the last of the torch slugs withering away in a shrinking pile of dark ashes. Instead, he looked at the segmented statues lying around the room. He whipped out the Megaton Hammer, and took to whacking at them, one by one. There was also a false door, and a ring of fire surrounding another small treasure chest, with another small key.
He eventually returned to the previous room, with its still-glowing eyed statues, and climbed the invisible ladder back up to the cliff whence he had originally entered this room.
He exited the room into another, complicated passageway, with a lava sea supporting several towering pillars. He emerged from a door with a target made of that strange grey…wood…standing over it. Stone islands rose out of the lava, and three platforms stood directly against walls. Each of these contained a door leading in a different direction. Most probably, north, south, east, and west. Without a dungeon map (and he somehow suspected he wouldn't be receiving one of those) it was impossible to tell.
He switched out the kokiri boots for the hover boots, as he glanced over the room. Many of the rising spires were thin, the flat area upon which he might safely stand small. He wondered again about the nature of this place, and who had made it, even as he marked the location of each of the silver rupees scattered around the room. He reached out, taking hold of the rupee hanging in the air directly before him. He noticed a standing target across the room, and, for lack of a better plan, withdrew the hookshot, aiming for the circle, hoping it wasn't too far away.
It carried him across the room too swiftly for the two red bubbles to intercept him, setting him down on its tiny platform. Link grabbed hold of the silver rupee, and then walked across to the small spire separating his current location from the ledge in the wall to the left of the door through which he had originally entered.
This must be a thinking place. Most likely, a gerudo woman didn't have to traverse seas of lava to collect silver rupees. She'd have to do something slightly less…suicidal.
He walked across to the other ledge, ordered the door to open, and the door swung open, slamming shut again when he walked through.
Beyond was a miniature indoor pool. Though narrow in length and width, it was unfathomably deep. He frowned, but focused hard, switching out the zora's tunic for the goron's, and the iron boots for the hover ones. He stomped over to the pool, swung his legs over the side, and pushed off the ledge into the pool, which was cool and clear despite being only a couple of meters away from a boiling lake of lava. Navi seemed to be trying not to laugh, and Link realised he was making a face. He couldn't help it. This entire place made no sense to him.
There were more silver rupees in here. Also, judging by the way the water rushed by him as he sank, currents of water flowing around him. Naturally.
He set about plucking the silver jewels one by one out of the water, hindered by the occasional clam or spike at the bottom of the trench. And by the currents themselves, of course.
Upon surfacing, he pulled himself out of the water, immediately returning to his previous outfit of goron's tunic and hover boots, and walked over to the small treasure chest now sitting on a red rug by a corner of the pool. He kicked it open, and reached inside to pull out another of the skeleton silver keys. How many of these did he need, anyway?
He shrugged, returned to the room filled with its floating islands in a sea of flames, and began to chart the best course through the room.
Then, he paused. From here, he could see that there was a small key sitting on the ledge leading who-knew-where at the far side of the room, directly before him. The other two doors to the room were covered in bars, he noticed as he peered around the room, trying to understand the function of collecting the silver rupees. He'd need to collect them to unbar the door.
Collecting them was easier than he had anticipated, despite the hover boots' slippery nature. There were five silver rupees, two of them located on the ledges to either side of the higher cliff, with the small key sitting in the centre.
Reaching the small key took more work. There was an invisible path leading up that he missed, several times, before staring fixedly at the wall ahead revealed another invisible ladder. He climbed up it, retrieved the small key, turned to look at what lay behind the door near him (it was the room with all of the walls, the maze), and then dropped over the other side to the last of the silver coins. The bars silently shot up from their positions blocking the two doors to left and right. He pulled out the hookshot, returning again to the ledge near the room with the pool inside. From there, it was easy to head to the lower shelf holding the door leading to parts unknown.
"You have three minutes to defeat all enemies," said the woman's voice, for the first time in several minutes, and he jumped, not expecting it after this long. He noticed first the ledge running along the room, and then the beamos standing in the middle of the room. He sighed, pulled out the bomb bag, pulling out a bomb, breaking the fuse, and throwing it at the monster, grateful that the room was not more complicated, but as he approached closer, two monsters appeared, as if out of nowhere. He mistook them for lizalfoi, at first, owing to their green, scaly skin, bipedal stance, and the triangular swords they bore. But these had sharp looking frills to their sides, broader snouts, thicker muscles…and they bore shields.
"They're dinolfoi," said Navi, unprompted. "They're stronger than stalfoi, and smarter than lizalfoi. But, you defeated an iron knuckle as a child; the real problem is that you don't have time to be cautious. Still, if they appear here, we'll surely run into them again…."
He remembered her saying that about the redead, as he'd balked in the Royal Family's Tomb. She'd been right then; she must be right, now. No matter how implausible it seemed (he only had the Spirit Temple left to venture through, with one last Sage to save).
What she was saying was that, if he could, he should try to learn the behaviours of these foes as well, to analyse their weaknesses, that he be the better prepared when he next encounter them. He gave a terse nod, lunging at the first of them with the Master Sword. As with the stalfoi earlier, these seemed content to give him the courtesy of single combat.
It was just as well. Those were wicked-looking swords, probably used for impaling someone.
He slashed with the Master Sword every time it tried to make an attack, watching it closely, noticing the duration of its feints, the way it didn't brace itself, stepping back, the way it did when it was about to lunge forward for a real attack. It also seemed less inclined to use its buckler than the stalfoi were.
These were more difficult opponents than the stalfoi only because they were stronger and faster. Also, he was on a time limit, and their hides were hard and scaly as a dragon's.
Eventually, he cut through to its chest, and it fell, and a pillar of blue flames erupted over it. The second dinolfos moved in, and Link bit his lip, glancing at Navi.
"One minute, I think," Navi said, with a worried glance in his direction. He nodded, understanding without her needing to say more.
He held out the Master Sword to the side, staring at the dinolfos as it approached, pumping the Sword full of energy, unleashing it in a wave of blue fire as the monster approached. It shrieked, and drew back, but Link sheathed the Master Sword, backflipped, pulled out the bow, and drew an arrow from the quiver at his back, clenching his fist hard over the arrowhead as he focused fire into it.
He right away raised the bow, and fired a single shot. The arrow hit the monster, and set it ablaze, and Link used its distraction, as it began attempting to put out the flames, which barely seemed to harm it, and lashed out with the now-drawn Master Sword. He knew that he was almost out of time, could feel the tension in the faerie bond he had with Navi, but the distraction worked, and the monster collapsed in a tower of blue flames.
A treasure chest appeared in the centre of the room, where the beamos had stood, and Link kicked it open to find another small key.
He walked to the door opposite the one through which he'd entered, and ordered it to open. On the other side of the room was the very same room through which he'd originally entered the training grounds. He'd made a circuit of the grounds. Perhaps, that was why the woman had fallen silent as he'd traversed the rooms, until he'd come to the final one—he'd moved too far from the entrance.
He nodded to himself, shrugged, and returned to the middle door. What else was there to do? He commanded the middle door to open, and walked through into the familiar maze. He started with the door to the left of the entrance, and slowly made his way through, choosing doors by instinct when he couldn't see his way further ahead, acting under the assumption that his goal was in the centre of the maze. After using three of his skeleton keys, he saw the big treasure chest in the middle of the room, and knew what he was heading for.
The seventh key led him directly to the innermost chamber of the maze, and the big treasure chest. He pushed open the treasure chest, and reached inside. At first, he couldn't find anything. Then, his hands closed around a thin rod. He lifted it out of the chest, and held it up towards Navi's light—the best illumination in this place.
Hoarfrost ran all down its length. It was bitter cold to the touch; already his fingers felt numb. The head of the arrow was as white as if it were made of packed snow—snow, not ice—and almost glowed. It hurt, and did not hurt. It breathed off a chill.
Knowledge flooded him, how the arrow could be filled with ice, similar to how the arrows of the sun had been filled with fire. He drew a goron arrow out of his quiver, and clenched his hand over the head, willing it to fill with ice. He took aim, firing at the treasure chest. A block of solid ice formed around it, as he stared, wide-eyed.
Weren't Komei and Kotakei the sorceresses associated with flame and frost? Was this their magic? Could it be used against them?
His hands clenched tightly, although he did not realise it, as he thought about the twin witches. Navi noticed, and flew down to alight upon the arrow he had held before.
"Wow, Link!" she said, not seeming to focus on her own words. "So, this is the hidden treasure of the gerudos. I'm sure it will be very useful…."
She didn't sound sure. In fact, she sounded downright dubious. Link sighed, frowned, crossed his arms. Then he nodded, glanced around the room, aware that if the woman running the training ground had known to speak to him in the left- and right-hand rooms, she'd know too that he'd retrieved the ice arrow.
He made his way back through the maze, crossed the darkened entranceway, and emerged into the twilight of dusk. He decided that he hated dungeons, and places that thought that they were dungeons. On the other hand, he had songs that could warp him instantaneously to places throughout Hyrule. And, travel through the desert was, supposedly, safer at night.
He nodded to the woman in charge of the training grounds, and climbed the slope back to Epona, cocking his head to stare at her. Once again, she seemed undeterred by the lack of provisions. No one seemed to have harassed her, despite the unanimous agreement that she was an impressive horse.
"Epona, are you alright, girl? You'd better go back to Lonlon Ranch. I'm sure the bridge is repaired by now."
Navi raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing. Epona nickered, and shook her head, pawing the ground.
Did that mean what he suspected it meant? Link sighed, folding his arms. "Malone can take much better care of you than I. There isn't even food to eat, or water to drink, out here. I keep leaving you alone, at the mercy of thieves—this is a thieves' fortress. Don't you think you ought to go home?"
She just stared at him, with those bright blue eyes.
"Epona, I'm going to the Spirit Temple in the morning. I do think you should go home first, however. I'll lead you out, I suppose."
Epona set her feet, and refused to move as he attempted to lead her with a rope. There was nothing to be done.
He climbed up the slope leading up the archery range, and fell asleep.
He woke to Epona nudging him repeatedly with her nose, and slowly stood up, staring at her in wonder. What sort of horse was she? He remembered Malone's long-ago words, about what a special horse Epona was, and conceded that she had a point.
"Epona, go home?" he ventured, again, but she merely stood aside to give him room. After five tries, he gave up trying to pull the water barrel out of his inventory, which was his last idea for how to go about getting her water. Apparently, once it was there, it was there for good. He'd subconsciously assumed the same before, remembering the other materials that he'd imagined being in the room at the start; barrels were useful for holding materials, but were not materials in themselves. It was still rather aggravating.
He continued up the slope towards Tarasha's archery range, stopping when he was far enough for the guards of the Fortress not to hear him play the "Requiem of Spirit". He was less wary of Tarasha hearing the same.
A moment later, he stood on the steps outside the Spirit Temple, reflecting again upon the events of yesterday, seven years ago. He stole into the temple, shield already out to deflect the murderous jars as they threw themselves at him. He climbed the stairs, and turned aside towards the crawlhole where he'd met Naburu.
His expression tightened, and he turned to the grey wall to his right. He withdrew the silver gauntlets, took off the kokiri ones, and pulled the silver gauntlets on over his hands, tightening the straps, one after the other.
Link sent the kokiri gauntlets to his inventory, and took a moment to examine the gloves. These must be the self-same gauntlets that the Hero of Winds had found inside a volcano. How had they come to be there? Had he himself put them there, or was it some long adventure lost to the whims of time?
Navi frowned, furrowing her brow, and crossed her arms. She must be wondering what he was doing. He sighed, glancing up at her with a sheepish smile.
"Just thinking… that these are the same gauntlets that the Hero of Winds found in a volcano. It's impressive that they lasted for such a long time… and also, strange to think of how they might have come to be there. I suppose, since the island is just south of the civilisation of birdmen, one of them might have carried it in. They didn't seem troubled by heat, although it was located rather far in… behind old-fashioned doors that only responded to commands. That alone makes me think that they might have been there almost since our time."
He shrugged.
Navi nodded. She flew down to land on his shoulder. He turned to the grey "wall", and began to try to pull at it. Although he felt certain that the handholds cut into the rock would break off, the block itself didn't budge. He narrowed his eyes, glancing at the not quite square arch overhead. The triangular corners might be enough to prevent the stone from moving this way, or maybe the block was wider than the opening.
He braced himself against the block instead, and began to push it, leaning his weight against it, as it began its laborious trek forward. He continued pushing it along its path, inch by painful inch, until it abruptly toppled down into a square hole, revealing a door at the other end of the chamber. He nodded, walking over to the door and ordering it to open. It hastened to obey.
Beyond was an unforgiving room filled with boulders running back and forth, and silver rupees stationed at inconvenient places throughout the room. The door on the ledge at the other end of the room was barred. He frowned, and set about carefully timing and aiming his leaps. This was a good-enough method of retrieving the rupees hidden in alcoves cut into the pit, but not good enough to help him obtain the last two rupees, obtainable only by carefully jumping onto the boulders, and leaping off them. That was a harrowing experience. Link climbed the ladder to the ledge on the other side of the room, and paused to catch his breath.
Next came a room with another anubis floating in the air before him, just out of reach. He took the opportunity to charge an arrow with fire, and then shoot it at the mummy monster. This room unfortunately looked very similar to the previous, as well, except that there was only one door, to the left.
He opened it to find a room with four armos knights around a switch. He knew that they were armos knights because he activated each in turn, destroying each as he went. He knew that the step-on switch they surrounded was one that required someone standing on it to remain tripped because he stepped on it, first, and then stepped off. Each of the four statues were armos knights, and they were each independently heavy enough to trip the switch, but how to make them stay there? Link was at a loss.
But, there had to be a way; the bars covering the door near the entrance only retracted when the switch was tripped. He lured one onto the switch, and then ran for the other door. He made it in time to make it into the next room, which initially seemed empty, before the door slammed down behind him.
It was not, as it turned out, empty. The floormaster inside was, instead, merely invisible. He stared hard at it, making sure to keep it in sight, and hacked it to pieces with the Master Sword. There was no room for finesse with these things; given half the chance, they would regenerate by feeding off his life energy, and he'd have to slay thrice as many as before. The room could quickly become filled with floormasters; not that it would matter to him; the energy that would require would ensure his death long before.
He pushed such thought from his mind, and readied a fire arrow, and set to shooting the mini-floormasters without compunction. When the last of them burst into blue flame, an orange light appeared, a spark that spiraled around an area in the floor, generating a small treasure chest. Inside was a small key, which was just typical of a dungeon. This room was almost impossible to reach, and had an invisible life-draining monster with the capacity to create infinite offspring. Of course, it would give him an essential object of little worth.
At least the bars over the door didn't seem to be tripped on this side, although…wait a minute, could he even leave the room by any other means than a warp song?
He approached the door, hesitant, and requested that it open in his politest voice. The door rose into the ceiling. The bars had not yet appeared to block the entrance. He passed through; the bars slammed down behind him, the door itself touching the floor a split second before the bars themselves did.
He swung the Megaton Hammer at the final armos knight as it bounced towards him, and it whirled around before exploding. On the far side of the room, across a long hall running perpendicular to the path he'd already taken, bars shot up from across a door. A long stretch of corridor, a beamos, and several moving spike traps shooting back and forth across the hall—widthwise, and therefore never coming near to where the armos knights had stood—separated him from the door.
He sighed, bomb already in his hand, ready for its fuse to be broken, long before he came to the beamos. He broke the stem, tossed it at the beamos, and waited. The beamos exploded on impact, leaving only the spike traps separating him from the unbarred door. It was a simple enough thing to reach the door, command it to open, and walk into the next room.
What followed were a series of forgettable rooms filled with beamoi, stalfoi, and the occasional anubis and spike traps. He resisted any urge he might have to pull out the dungeon map and check his progress. He knew where he'd end up.
Sure enough, after a series of forgettable rooms, he opened a door into a familiar room, at the bottom of a familiar staircase, facing a very familiar statue. He remembered this door; he'd climbed the ledge leading up to it only yesterday. He peered at the statue, and then set up the stairs for a second time, taking a moment to glare resentfully at the hookshot target attached to the bottom of the landing. He looked at the barred door, noticing the eyeswitch hanging above it. Had that always been there? Or had it appeared during the seven year gap?
He shrugged, and then fixed his eyes on the treasure chest across the gap; the gap he'd tried several times yesterday to cross, but had been unable to without either hover boots or hookshot. Either would probably be sufficient for the task, but he switched out the hover boots for the kokiri boots, and then pulled out the hookshot. If either would do, then you couldn't go wrong with both, right?
The hookshot caught on the treasure chest, as he'd assumed that it would, and carried him across. An instant later, there he stood before the chest. He kicked it open, to retrieve the small key from within. He didn't have any other small keys at the moment, and had dared to hope that there wouldn't be any more locked doors in this temple—a foolish, futile hope.
He sighed, and sent away the key instead, before sliding along the cliff edge towards the statue's left hand. From this vantage, the painted triforce was clear and conspicuous, as if not intended to be there by the sculptor. Navi fluttered over to the hand ahead of him, and he followed. She was tapping her index finger against her chin, seeming deep in thought.
"Well, that's interesting," she said. Link turned to her. He'd just withdrawn the Ocarina of Time, but he was always interested in what Navi had to say. He lowered the ocarina and turned to her, silently prompting her to continue.
"Look, Link! The triforce mark is on the statue's left hand. Think back to what you told me before: remember when you told me about the Great Sea? You said the mark of the Triforce appeared on your left hand…."
"That might not be I," he reminded her, "or even real."
"All the same, think about it. Did the mark of the Triforce appear on Zelda and Ganon's left hands, too?"
He frowned, thought back. The memory was hazy and indistinct, distant, perhaps only on account of the amount by which he'd distanced himself from his earlier thoughts, or the recovery of his childhood memories, or the large lacuna of time he now realised separated them from him. Or, perhaps, by their being merely a dream.
"No," he said, at last. "They both had the Triforce on their right hands." He frowned, trying to discern Navi's point. She sighed, crossing her arms as she fluttered onto his shoulder.
"Do you suppose it's because they're right-handed, and you're not?"
Yes, he had absolutely no idea what her point was. And then, he did. He peered at the inscribed insignia with interest.
"But, this is the palm of her hand, and it was on the backs of theirs. Anyway, this is rather newer than the statue itself; the paint looks fresh. And, we're in a dungeon, which you yourself told me tend to change themselves, and all the objects within that are under their jurisdiction."
Navi nodded, and tilted her head back. "Ah, but Link, think about it. Doesn't this room strike you as…different? Nothing has tried to harm you here, present or past. There are no monsters waiting to ambush you, no spike traps or lava pits. There's nothing but a statue of this woman—probably a deity, Sheik's 'goddess of the sand'—sorry! Her entire statue is of red earth…and she bears the mark of the Triforce."
Was Din the "goddess of the sand"? Now he thought about it, the matter made sense, and explained why Ganondorf so valued power. But, was Din left-handed? How would anyone even know?
"I just thought it was a thought," said Navi, arms crossed protectively in front of her. She sounded huffy and defensive. He smiled at her and nodded.
"It's an interesting thought. But, I don't know the answers," he said. He stared across at the other hand, wondering how he was supposed to get there. There was a step-on switch located on the nearby cliff, but he knew he'd only be able to reach it by carefully launching himself from the statue's right hand.
He shrugged, raising the Ocarina of Time to his lips, he played the familiar melody of "Zelda's Lullaby", the first one he'd learnt. The Triforce beneath his feet warmed, and then a small treasure chest dropped down out of nowhere, landing on the statue's outstretched right hand.
Oh. That was one way to make the journey across.
He shrugged, nodded to Navi, who crossed her legs, still perched on his shoulder, and waited. He rotated the disc, and it latched onto the chest, pulling him across. He landed on the other hand, kicking open the chest and withdrawing a second small key. Then, he launched himself into the air, just managing to grab onto the cliff, and pulled himself up, striding over to the switch and stepping on it before turning back to face the now unbarred door at the top of the flight of stairs. What did that eyeswitch do, then?
Link leapt off the cliff, but the hover boots caught him, depositing him gently back onto the statue's right hand. He frowned, switched out the kokiri boots for the hover boots, and then leapt off the hand, sliding back down to the dungeon map's empty chest. Then, he struck off for the ledge he'd climbed as a child, returning the hookshot to his hand as he walked. He aimed at the target on the underside of the landing, and let the hookshot carry him up to the door through which he'd first entered this room as an adult.
Then, he raised his hands together above his head, and slowly pulled them back down, murmuring a prayer to Farore under his breath as he did. He risked a backwards glance at the sand goddess, half-expecting it to move, to attack or to reproach, he wasn't sure, but it was as still as the stone from which it was made. That was something.
He climbed the stairs, and turned to face the eyeswitch. He pulled out the bow, shooting the eye with a gerudo arrow from a closer distance than strictly necessary. Somewhere below him, the bars across a door retracted with an audible shing. He peered over the railing of the staircase's landing, and saw the mysterious central door of the room was now unbarred.
He withdrew the dungeon map, and frowned. Well, according to the map…this mysterious middle door led to a short passage leading to a way up or down. The sequence of rooms was almost certainly shorter than the twisting mess the map claimed lay beyond the other door. He nodded to himself, and swung himself over the railing, landing lightly on the ledge below, as Navi glowered. He leapt off the shorter ledge, too, and walked up to the door.
"Open," he told it, in his levelest voice, and it obligingly rose into the ceiling.
Link walked through to find himself in a corridor that, after much twisting, at last was barred by a giant stone block—another of the dark grey ones with the gerudo crest on it. He pushed it ahead of him, after a moment's consideration. Eventually, it toppled into a hole in the floor, revealing a fork in the road ahead.
Neither path was very long. One of them was apparently useless; the other held a rusty switch. But, when Link swung the Megaton Hammer at the switch, firmly depressing it, the entire room shook, momentarily, and then the previously empty dead end revealed its secret: a square of what he'd previously assumed was solid floor separated from its surroundings, and began to slowly move towards the ground, whatever lay beneath this room. Its descent was too slow and gradual to be considered a fall.
He peered over the side, and watched in disbelief as it settled onto the floor of the entry to the Spirit Temple, far below. It stood at the top of the flight of steps, between Naburu's crawlhole, and the initial position of the grey block Link had first pushed aside. As he watched, the square stone rose back up into the room before him, and then, after waiting several seconds, began its trek back downwards. Ah. He rather suspected that he'd just wasted a substantial amount of magic, then.
He drew back, making his way through the corridor back to the statue's room. He sent the hookshot's chain at the target attached to the underside of the landing, and from the ledge, climbed the stairs back up, before heading through the door into the room beyond.
In this room, two beamoi flanked either side of a wall which, judging by its wall skulltulas, he could climb. After he got rid of the skulltulas, of course. And the beamoi.
He withdrew a bomb from his bag, broke the stem, and threw it at the first beamos. Even before they connected, he had already pulled out a second bomb, and was throwing it at the second one. They exploded at almost the same time, leaving their plinths unoccupied. Link climbed onto one of them, and withdrew the bow, pulling out a gerudo arrow, and carefully sighting at the highest of the skulltulas. Navi crossed her arms, and stared at him, as if desperate to scold him, and then sighed, shaking her head in exasperation.
He smiled at her, but made no explanation; none needed to be made. He shot the second one, and then hit the third with the hookshot; it was near enough. Then, he climbed off the plinth, and approached the wall, beginning to climb.
The climb was easy enough, but at the top was a confusing room, with two sun sculptures hanging on the walls. There was the high ledge upon which he currently stood, and then a sheer drop to a lower room where something hung suspended by chains from the ceiling. It was a very reflective something, that bore suspicious resemblance to a mirror. Not that he had much time to look around before every jar in the vicinity hurled itself at him. He raised the hylian shield, and crouched down to the ground, tilting the shield that the violent jars break against it.
When the stream of pots stopped, he finally looked around the room. There were two doorways, both covered by bars. One was at the far end of the (more or less rectangular) cliff overlooking the lower chamber with what was most definitely a mirror. This one held no door, being instead an empty archway, through which Link could see a rough-hewn rocky room. The other barred passage had a door, and stood to Link's left, and was halfway between that door and the one through which he had entered. A diamond switch stood next to it.
The next step could not have been clearer. Despite that, Link walked over to the edge of the cliff upon which he stood, and peered down into the room with the mirror (as more jars threw themselves at him). The way the chains hung from the ceiling from a source out of sight suggested that there might be a way that the mirror could be raised and lowered. How eluded him, but he found himself thinking about the subterranean Earth Temple. Perhaps….
He backed away from the cliff, shaking his head, and turning to the left-hand door. Then, Link walked over to the diamond switch, and lashed out at it with the Master Sword. He watched the bars rise, and stood back, thinking.
Beyond was, if he wasn't mistaken, another iron knuckle, and at the far side of its hall, behind its throne, would be a door leading to outside, to the statue's other hand.
He put his hands at his waist, tapping his feet, trying to disguise the fact that he wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of fighting an iron knuckle at the best of times. He suddenly remembered that he wasn't at full magic capabilities anyway. He did, however, have at least one bottle of the ultimate medicine left. He nodded to himself, resolved to return to Kakariko Village once he'd found the boss key; or perhaps sooner, and ordered the door to open.