A Link to the Past

Chapter Twelve: The Knights of Hylia

As amazing as it was to simply be able to run across the dirt and mud of the dunes like the wind, Link found that even with the power of the glove giving him strength he was only able to do this for a short amount of time. After the distance of about equal to climbing up one of the larger sand hills and then going down the other side, the young man found himself out of breath, having to stop and then huff and puff in order to catch his breath for a little while before doing so again. Now, while this was still much faster than just walking at a steady pace like he had done on the way in, it was still annoying to have to completely stop, not to mention the fact that this fatigue left him vulnerable, since he didn't even have the strength to pick up his sword until his breathing slowed back down.

Maybe this side effect would lessen over time, or maybe it was something that he would just have to get used to, but either way the dunes eventually came to an end, the sand slowly giving way to the thickening grass and trees, making it much easier for Link to get back to the village. The guards must've started searching elsewhere, since now there were not nearly as many patrols as there had been before, giving the young man a much easier time of sneaking past the first few houses, before ducking into the library. It was just as it had been, shutters rattling over the windows, and the flickering light of candles and lanterns showing that the whole place was still empty… or was it?

"Hello?" Link called out as he walked in, his voice breaking the silence. "It's me again, and, I, uh… I have the glove. Was that what you sent me there for? Are you even still here… hello?"

Now having walked back as far as the rows of book cases, the young man looked down both rows only to find nothing, and was just about to accept the fact that the owner of the voice had tricked him, when he was startled by a sudden presence from behind. Unable to keep from crying out as the figure overtook him, the candlelight revealed an old man with a long white beard, his frail, boney hands grabbing onto Link's wrist in order to closely inspect the form-fitted gray glove that was now almost as a part of his hand. Ignoring the rest of him completely while pulling him over closer to the light, the old man turned the young man's gloved hand over a couple times, examining the faint writing on the sides before finally looking up at him almost in disbelief.

"Over the years a great number have tried for it." The old man spoke in a soft, yet urgent tone of voice. "This simple looking glove was forged hundreds of years ago for the Knights of Hylia, and such treasures are said to respond only to their order… or to those descended from them."

"So, this means… my family is descended from some group of knights then?" Link asked as the old man rushed away to begin scanning the rows of books. "Hey, wait a second… if this glove only works for the knights of… whatever, then… if I wasn't descended from them, then the glove wouldn't have done anything, and… and I would've been trapped down there…

Either the old man hadn't heard his words or chose to ignore them, instead announcing that he had both found the book he was looking for, and that yes he was Sahasrahla the elder of the village that everyone seemed to be searching for lately. Link tried to tell him about the girls from noble families being taken to the castle dungeon and vanishing, and about hiding Princess Zelda at the temple and how his uncle and the King had both been killed, but surprisingly the old man dismissed all that as unimportant, at least for the moment. Instead he opened the book and turned several pages to the image of a sword stuck inside some kind of alter, not that the sketch was very detailed, or… any good at all.

"Regardless of what Agahnim is doing to the kingdom or its noble families, such knowledge is useless without a way to stop him." Sahasrahla explained, running his finger down lines of text in that same unreadable language. "I know his family as I know yours, his father and your grandfather were great heroes; one wielding magics beyond compare, but the other rumored to be worthy of the greatest prize."

Now Link understood what the old man was talking about, and had been told that story several times throughout his childhood; his grandfather proving himself worthy or wielding the legendary Master Sword and using this to defeat Ganondorf at the battle of Spectacle Rock, before fulfilling his promise to return it to its resting place once the need for it was over. Of course, his grandfather had never mentioned where that resting place was, or any other details about the sword or anything except for the fact that Ganondorf was defeated and the kidnapped Princess was rescued. So was the old man now suggesting that the young man attempt to do the same thing?

"I only know of two documented cases of warriors being able to wield the Master Sword." Sahasrahla continued, turning the page. "One was a Knight of Hylia who used it to defend the seven Wisemen during the containment of a great evil, and the other was your grandfather to defeat Ganondorf. Perhaps it was made only for the Knights of Hylia, or maybe that's just a coincidence, but I will share with you what I know."

Moving through the book, the old man explained that several generations ago there was a great battle in which the Knights of Hylia protected the seven Wisemen from hoards of rampaging monsters while they worked together to create a magical seal. This seal was to prevent anything from coming back through as well as preventing anything else from entering, but such a spell required time and effort, and even though the Wisemen were successful, the Knights of Hylia were nearly wiped out. The only reason any of them survived was because one of the knights had proven himself worthy to wield the Master Sword through a demonstration of courage, wisdom, and power, and not even the strongest of the monsters could stand against the purifying blade.

"Agahnim's power is nearly as great as his father's was." Sahasrahla said, slowly closing the book and putting it back on the shelf. "However, I believe that the Master Sword will put you on even footing, and it is imperative that you complete the challenges of wisdom and power. Go far to the east, to the ruins that once served as home to the Lord of this land before it became the new capital of Hyrule… there your wisdom will be tested, and if you return I will tell you more."

"Why won't you just tell me everything now?" Link asked, not wanting to leave the kingdom under the wizard's rule for another second. "If I know where the other challenge and the Master Sword are, then I can just go right to them, and then the Princess will be out of danger."

The old man agreed that this was possible, but on the other hand it was also possible for the guards or even Agahnim himself to capture the young man before his quest was complete, and even though it was doubtful for someone as evil as the wizard to claim the blade for himself, it was far less doubtful that Agahnim would find a way through his magics to make sure that no one else could even use the Master Sword again. The thought of the ancient weapon being gone was pretty frightening, as was the prospect of getting captured and tortured until he told the wizard what he wanted to know, so for now Link agreed that only knowing what was necessary was probably for the best.

With that, Sahasrahla retreated into the rows of books, to wherever his secret hiding place was, and now the young man was back out in the rain for another long walk to the test of wisdom. The two nice things about this next challenge were the fact that he still had the power of the glove that was claimed from the dunes, and also that Link knew right where the ruins of the old Lord's castle was, and thankfully not anywhere that was difficult to reach. In fact the roads led right to it, which would have been great if the guards weren't still patrolling, and by now it was getting later in the day. With as long as it had taken to rescue the Princess, find the village elder, and recover the glove from the dunes, there were only a couple hours of daylight left, and if the young man didn't hurry, the guards would be manning their check points again.

Of course, now that it was starting to get darker outside, would he be able to meet whatever the challenge of wisdom was when it was harder to see? On top of that, the young man hadn't been able to get any sleep since being woken up in the middle of the night by the dream of Princess Zelda, so… no, it was a bad idea to try and do all this tonight. But where was Link going to go since the guards were probably watching his house? There was no harm in getting close to the ruins of the old Lord's estate so long as he didn't enter them, and then… I don't know, maybe he could find a halfway decent place to sleep for the night. In the stories his grandfather spent years living in a cave, so maybe that wouldn't be so bad, just as long as the guards weren't able to find him.

"Boy, I wish I could go in there." He said quietly to himself, passing by his house that was in fact being watched by a large group of armored men. "My bed would feel so good right now."

Since a lot of the guards were busy getting their check points setup for the night, Link had a pretty easy time of sneaking past them as long as he moved behind trees or stuck to the tall grass, moving east away from both his house and the castle, until there was now only a single stone bridge between himself and the edge of the old Lord's estate. With each passing minute the sky got a little darker, and with that came stronger winds and heavier rain, leaving the young man unable to see or hear anything around him. Out of desperation for a break from the never ending storm, Link found himself climbing over the guardrail on the side of the bridge, swinging himself down onto the small patch of grassy rocks underneath.

The wind was still loud, but at least now the rain was pouring down on his head, and the young man was trying to think of what he was going to do next, only to realize that right there was probably the best kind of shelter he was going to get tonight. Only a few minutes later the sky was so dark that Link could barely see the rain hitting the river below, but now at least he could be certain that the guards wouldn't find him… so with that the young man laid down on a more grassy spot, closed his eyes, and was snoring before he even realized it.