The Downfall Timeline
Book 1
Chapter 26: Sages & Demons
Afternoon, January 31, 610 GK, The War of Imprisonment, Day 199
The Temple of the Forest, Lost Woods
Alfon quickly pushed Mido's body off of Link and pulled his squire onto his feet.
"Are you alright?" he asked urgently.
The boy's head was still swimming, but his strength was slowly returning.
"Yes, I think so..." he answered, "What about Mido?"
The marshal readied his bow – guarding the ominous shaft in the center of the room – while Link turned to the wounded Kokiri. Much of his face had been torn away by the phantom and a large, deep gash now lay across his chest. Somehow, he was still breathing – but it was irregular and rattling.
"Link..." he gurgled through his exposed teeth.
His brother quickly knelt beside him and leaned down. Mido reached up and grasped his tunic, pulling him very close and muttered something into his ear.
A great roar and violent quake rolled up from the chamber below them.
"Come on!" shouted Alfon, "there's nothing we can do for him!"
The dying kokiri released the hero's tunic and nodded to him. Slowly, the bright blue of his remaining eye dimmed and his body became still.
A second quake caused large cracks to form in the floor beneath their feet.
"Come on!" bellowed the knight as he shoved the Kokiri Sword into Link's hand and pulled his arm up the stairs. The boy, still grieving the loss of his adopted brother, stared back at Mido's body as the next tremor crumbled the stone floor and swallowed it down into the darkness below.
A heavy black smoke streamed upward and flooded the chamber as the pair burst through the door into the hallway beyond.
"What is that?" the marshal cried - an unusual note of fear in his voice.
"I don't know," shouted the squire, "They just called it 'The Master'."
Several loud crashes and terrific bangs followed as the great beast shattered its way through the wrecked structure and climbed into the phantom's chamber above.
Both master and apprentice fled as quickly as they could down the long corridor toward the temple entrance.
"Our horses are just outside." shouted Alfon, "We'll ride to the open plains! There we can find help!"
"No!" cried Link in reply, "The Kokiri are here! They are caged in one of the courtyards! We have to help them!"
"I will not argue with you boy!" The marshal bellowed, but the young hero had already broken off and dashed into another chamber on the right.
"Damn that boy!" he growled as he turned and chased after him.
At a full sprint, Link frantically tried to find the hidden courtyard where he had seen Saria and the others. After several dead ends and empty rooms, he finally burst out into the overgrown garden where Mido had captured him, but the roaring monster and sounds of absolute chaos still followed closely behind them.
"We have to be quick!" he shouted as he ran to the nearest cage and pulled at its bars.
Each of the ashen captives shrank with fear at the sight of Alfon as he came through the doorway. He stopped, briefly, and stared at each of them in turn.
"These were your... family?" he asked his squire in disbelief.
"The forest has changed them somehow. Argh! Help me!" Link shouted back.
The great knight dashed forward and pulled him back away from the cage.
"Stay back!" he commanded, drawing his long sword. "You, get as low in that cage as you can!" he ordered the frightened creature inside.
The ashen Kokiri obeyed and flattened himself against the bottom of the cage. With one great swing, the man clove the wooden cage in two and kicked its top to the side. He repeated the maneuver until each of the shadowy children had been freed.
"All of you, come on! We're leaving!" he shouted as he turned to the door.
"No... we cannot leave the temple!" a meek little voice argued.
A violent roar and crash nearby warned all that the monster had reached the doorway to the courtyard.
"The well!" cried Link as he pointed to the vine covered reservoir, "We can use it to escape!"
"No! No! You mustn't!" sobbed Saria, "The beast is Ganon's link to the forest. If you flee, it will continue to corrupt our land!"
The marshal moved to grab the children and carry them to the well, but was knocked down by the explosion of stonework behind him.
The entire entryway to the temple, including much of the surrounding wall, suddenly burst outward and crumbled to the ground. From within, a great wave of darkness and smoke flooded out into the courtyard, covering the ground and darkening the sky above.
A deep growl and thundering footsteps, heralded the approach of the temple's 'Master'.
Within the dark smoke, a massive, shadowy form stepped up to the broken wall and glared down at the courtyard's pitiful inhabitants. For a moment, Link sat frozen in horror staring back up at the beast. It was massive – far larger than the bat had been! It stood on two large, hooved legs and carried two powerful, muscled arms which clasped a pair of bloody cleavers. No features could be seen from its face, save the long horns protruding upward, and its burning green eyes.
In that instant, Link felt the sickening cold and numbness from the Temple of Time return.
With a furious roar, the demon lumbered into the courtyard - shaking the ground as its hooves fell. Lord Alfon leapt back onto his feet and raised his longsword.
"For the Goddess!" he cried, as he charged directly at the beast.
Link drew his little sword once again and shouted to the Kokiri to flee down the well. His master's cry had shaken the cloud from his mind - for the moment - and he realized that if he just focused on helping Alfon, then he might be able to keep it at bay. He rushed into the fight, desperate to buy time for Saria to escape.
The marshal ducked, dodged, and parried the beast's attacks skillfully, but his foe possessed incredible strength and the knight was soon knocked back against the edge of the well.
His squire now found himself standing before the menacing shadow, alone. The monster gave a deep, bubbling growl as it raised one cleaver to strike. In near panic, Link dove between the monster's legs and rolled behind it, just as the weapon crashed to the ground.
Pivoting quickly, the boy drove his sword into the back of the beast's knee with all of his strength. Roaring in pain, the monster collapsed to its knees and thrashed its arms to its sides, trying to catch the small boy.
Again, and again, the valiant little squire slashed and stabbed at the beast's back - but beyond the cries of pain, he could not tell if he was actually harming it.
Dropping its weapons, the shadowy demon twisted round and finally seized the boy with both of its claws. His master, now recovered, slipped his bow down from his back and notched another silvered arrow.
The squire struggled to breathe against the monster's crushing grip, as it lifted him off the ground. The venomous glow of its eyes began to fill Link with the same fear, the same icy numbness that Ganon had in the Temple of Time.
"Surrender!" it seemed to command, "Just give up… and die!"
The shadow's jaws opened wide and lifted the boy closer. The world was falling away now and he could feel the icy will of death reaching out to him - when Alfon's arrow struck.
With a burning wail, very different from the cries it had made at Link's attacks, the monster dropped the boy and thrashed in agony at the argent arrow, now buried into its back. The squire, rising to one knee, frantically slashed at the beast's belly as his master loosed several more arrows.
In moments, the shadowy terror's movements slowed and its cries grew weaker. With a dull groan, the great demon slumped forward and crashed onto the ground – the final arrow sticking in to the back of its neck. The smoke around its body faded under the warmth of the sun and lazily blew away in the breeze as the beast's form began to melt into nothingness.
Keeping another arrow notched and ready, the marshal quickly dashed around the giant's corpse and came beside his squire.
"Are you hurt?!" he asked urgently.
"I-I don't think so." coughed Link, who still struggled to regain his breath after the beast dropped him.
As the clear daylight returned, the shadow upon the ground before them was reduced to a sickening, black oil that oozed outward over the grass, then slowly evaporated with a repulsive hiss.
Saria and the other kokiri crept back up the vines covering the well and approached the two soldiers.
"T-Thank you for saving us." she said meekly to Alfon.
The marshal stared at her for a moment. How could such a frightening creature possess such a sweet and innocent voice? He quickly returned his arrow to its quiver and slung his bow across his back once more.
"You must come with us," he answered her, "It is not safe here."
"He's right Saria," added Link as he picked up the other silver arrows from the ground where the beast had fallen, "We can take you to Lake Town. There are many good people there, you will be safe."
"No." she replied, "We are the children of the forest. We cannot leave it and..." she now turned to face the temple, "... and a new sage will need to be chosen."
"What are you saying?" the knight asked skeptically as his squire handed him the gathered arrows.
"That beast, was sent by Ganon several months ago." she explained, "It corrupted the Sage of the Forest and poisoned the landscape with its evil. Now that it has been destroyed, the forest may be free to recover, but... a new sage must be chosen."
Link thought for a moment, then realized, "The grey phantom. She was the old sage, wasn't she?"
"Yes," answered the kokiri, "She could not resist Ganon's evil and became the phantom of the forest."
The others crept back into the temple and began to walk toward the ruined chamber where Mido and the Phantom had fallen.
"What are you doing?" The boy asked.
"We must tend the forest Link. It is our purpose." she answered, "and I must tend the temple... as its new sage. The Deku Tree was preparing me for this in case anything ever happened to the old sage."
The squire now noticed that the ashen leaves that made up her hair had started to rejuvenate and regain some of the brilliant green that Saria's hair once had.
The group soon reached the broken doorway to the main chamber. The entire floor, beyond the staircase, had collapsed into the level below.
"That was the sage's sanctuary," murmured Saria, "It is there that this temple is connected to the sacred realm. I will work to keep Ganon's evil from returning here." She finished, turning to Link and smiling, "Thank you Link for coming back for me! I never gave up hope that you would."
Gently she brushed her hand against his cheek.
"This is madness!" objected Alfon.
"This is destiny, my lord." she replied softly. "Please, tell Princess Zelda that we are here and that we are with her!"
With a final, mournful glance at Link, she turned and followed the other Kokiri down the shattered stonework and into the ruined sanctuary below. A faint blue glow began to light their way as they descended.
"Come." said the marshal, "It's their choice. We need to get back to the lake."
By sundown, the two had returned to the ruined village. Link dropped down from Epona and asked Alfon to wait for a moment.
"I... need to say goodbye." he stammered as he looked back at Mido's old hut.
The marshal narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Very well, but be quick." he answered.
His squire walked into the damaged house and returned a few moments later.
"Done?" asked Alfon, and the boy nodded.
Climbing back onto Epona, they returned to their journey and made their way back down the forest path to Hyrule.
Link remained silent as they traveled and despite the darkness, his master could see that he was rather downcast.
"All wars bring loss son." he tried to soothe, "try to take pride in the lives that you have saved and the evil that you helped to destroy."
But he was not listening. The squire grunted an acknowledgement to his master, but his mind was focused on the small bundle hidden beside his ribs, beneath his tunic. His brother had told him to search under the floor of his house and there, Link had found a rolled bundle of cloth. He didn't know what it was, but he was sure it was something important to him.
Several hours passed before they emerged once again onto Central Hyrule's plains. Alfon ordered a halt as he carefully scanned the horizon for any threat.
Turning this way and that in the saddle, he suddenly muttered, "Well, look at that!"
Link started, believing his master had located some enemy, until he noticed that his master was looking upward - toward the sky. The little hero lifted his head and drew a small gasp of surprise. The heavy cloud layer that had blanketed Hyrule since Ganon's attack was slowly breaking and giving way above the forest. For the first time in many months, the two now saw the silvery stars of the Hylian night sky.
They stayed there for some time, watching their enemy's corruption lose its grip over the forest and drinking in the beauty of the uncovered heavens.
The boy's heart was stirred. There was hope after all and somehow, he knew that Saria had opened the sky for them.
"Do you think it will last?" he asked the knight.
"I hope so lad." he answered softly, "It would do all of us some good."