Sheik needed to take action.
If Dark had trusted him before the attack on Kakariko—which Sheik seriously doubted—he no longer did. His suspicion of Sheik combined with his nightly disappearances made sense if Dark was visiting Sienna in secret inside Hyrule Castle.
Sheik hadn't meant for Sienna to see him, but it was likely she sent the message to Dark that Sheik was not to be trusted. By all appearances, he wasn't.
"You going to buy that or not, boy?"
Sheik tossed a few rupees at the impatient shopkeeper and thanked him. Grabbing the bundle of cloth on the counter, he turned to scan the crowd for his companions.
They were on the edge of desert territory, having traveled for a day and a half through the vast Gerudo canyon on Hyrule's western side. The town they stopped in to buy supplies for the rest of the journey wasn't so much a town as a trading post plopped into the canyon mouth.
Thanks to Ganondorf's soldiers using it, the place remained bustling even now. A loose collection of tents, booths and sandstone buildings housed a mixture of peoples and goods. Remote as it was, it attracted traders from neighbouring lands and those from nomadic tribes to stop by.
Watching some of those milling around, Sheik was glad he kept his face covered. Followers and Ganondorf were everywhere, and there was always someone eager enough for a reward to turn on them.
Spotting the other two standing with their horses, packing their saddlebags with water, Sheik slipped through the crowd fluidly, beneath notice. Quiet as he was, Dark's shoulders still twitched at his approach. Did the man have eyes under his hair? Sheik wondered in annoyance.
Dark's mistrust of Sheik was making his mission that much more difficult. But he couldn't fault him—Sheik was, after all, playing both sides. Out of necessity, he reminded himself firmly.
"Sheik," Link greeted him with his usual smile. "Did you get what you needed?"
At least Link still trusts me, Sheik thought. He unfurled the bundle in his hands, revealing three long, lightweight cloaks. They would protect them from the wind and sun during their passage through the desert. The Gerudo's fortress was well-hidden in another area of the canyon, inaccessible unless one crossed the wasteland. It was dangerous, but it was the best way back to the Colossus. Sheik was also counting on the help of the Gerudo still loyal to Nabooru above all else.
Taking his cloak and securing it around his shoulders, Dark said, "How long will it take to cross the desert?"
"A day," Sheik replied. "We'll have to make camp in the haunted wasteland for one night."
"Haunted wasteland?" Dark repeated, one black eyebrow arched.
"We'll be fine."
Dark snorted. Link pulled his hood up over his head, covering his face. "What about when we reach Gerudo Fortress? Do you have a plan to sneak through the gate?"
Sheik nodded. "Leave that to me."
Finished with preparations, the three of them each grabbed the lead of their mount and cleared a path through the throng. Amid the squawks and calls of cuccos and other animals, the lilting roar of the crowd and the hot breeze causing trinkets to rattle and clink, a man's voice cut through.
"-better place to hide, is there?" he said.
"In the desert?" his friend scoffed. "Surely the princess could do better."
Sheik internally groaned when Link snapped to attention. Dark bumped into his back with a grunt and a frown.
"What is it?"
Link, wide-eyed, searched the sea of faces until he picked out who'd spoken.
"She'd be wiser not to hide in Hyrule at all," the man was saying. He sat at a table outside the tavern, tapping the edge of his cup against his knee. "I'd head to Labrynna, were it me."
"All I know is what my friend told me," the other man responded with a shrug. "It's just a rumour."
Link edged closer, pushing past others. Sheik laid a hand on his shoulder, tugging him back.
"Rumours, Link," he said quietly. "Nothing more. Princess Zelda isn't here." What's one more lie? He thought bitterly.
"You don't know that." Link jerked around, his expression a contorted mix of hope and doubt.
Sheik shook his head, lowering his eyes so he wouldn't have to look into Link's. "We can't waste time searching for her on such limited information. You know that."
To his surprise, Dark agreed.
Dark gave Link a sympathetic look. "People say all kinds of things," he said to his friend. He glanced briefly at Sheik. "We will help you find her; I promise. But right now, we need to keep moving."
Reluctantly, Link turned away. Dark fixed Sheik with a discerning stare before following. With a heart of lead, Sheik walked in their wake. Throughout this whole charade, painful and perilous though it was, the thing that hurt most was lying to him.
And you are still lying to Link. Keeping secrets from him.
Sheik forced himself to concentrate on the task at hand. Keep your mind on the next objective. Don't let yourself dwell. The mission comes first, always.
He needed to get Link to the Spirit Temple and the final Sage.
And then, the traitorously optimistic thought slipped in, this will all be over.
~oOo~
Gerudo Canyon was an eerie place. Its high walls and narrow passages lent themselves to ambush, which made the back of Dark's neck itch with alertness.
The haunted wasteland, though, was downright spooky.
The Gerudo Desert stretched on for miles and miles of sunbaked sand and windswept dunes. Dotted with small hubs of civilization huddled close to the trade road that traversed it, the desert welcomed travellers coming to and from Hyrule from the west. The rest of its territory was unknown. Largely unexplored except by Gerudo and ghosts.
It was into one of these unmapped territories Sheik was leading them, and its very atmosphere made Dark shiver despite the intense heat. There nothing but sand as far as the horizon, and yet he felt invisible eyes on his back, watching their progress.
There was no road to guide them, but Sheik marched forward with confidence. He was following the strict directions of the woman they were seeking: Nabooru.
Dark harbored his own doubts about the Gerudo woman's willingness to help them, Sage or not, but he kept them to himself. But he didn't dismiss the possibility that their guide was leading them into a trap.
And what better place to strand us? He mused, looking up at the searing sun. Even in its setting, it was too hot—a huge, boiling ball of fire on the western horizon. It shimmered across the sand, changing its colour as twilight neared.
"We can stop here for the night," Sheik announced, steering them to a large overhang of brown-red rock. Beneath it there was some shelter from the wind.
By the time the sun set and blackness so absolute it smothered them arrived, their camp was set. The flames of their campfire kept the darkness at bay. It hung in the air like smoke, waiting for one of them to leave the protective circle of light.
While the horses munched on the scant vegetation they found in the sand, Link, Sheik and Dark ate dinner and tended the fire. The stars were abnormally bright in the desert, and their pure white light illuminated the shadows and made the landscape seem less menacing. While the other two curled up in their bedrolls, Dark lay on his back on his side of the fire, tracing invisible constellations in his mind.
He wasn't sure why, but his mind rebelled against sleeping. The gently rolling dunes, now edged with silver-white, were actually sort of pretty. The sky was incredible—a mosaic ceiling of light.
But the usual nighttime sounds were gone. Instead he heard whispers, harsh but indistinct. They came from nowhere, drifting to his ears. But when he turned his head, there was nothing there.
Stuffing his cloak under his head as a pillow, Dark settled down to bed. He began to hum softly, a song that Sienna used to sing often, drowning out the voices until he could sleep undisturbed.
~oOo~
She was the most beautiful woman he'd laid eyes on.
Silver-blond hair hung down past her waist, framing that angelic face, falling gracefully over her brow. She was very tall, intimidating but not imposing, in a plain white dress that covered her head to toe. Her eyes were warm and cerulean as a tropical sea.
Her pale mouth curved in a sweet smile.
"Who are you?" Link asked.
But his mouth didn't move. His words weren't spoken.
Her mouth opened. She spoke in a voice so light and comforting it felt like a physical touch.
"I have chosen you," she said. "You are Hyrule's last hope."
Without his command, Link's knees bent to rest on the ground. His hand raised to his heart.
"If you have need of me," said a deep voice from Link's throat—was that his voice? — "I will fight alongside you."
Her smile grew, but the ground began to shake violently, heaving upwards and it was rent apart by enormous cracks. A yawning chasm opened before Link—he could see down into the depths of the earth.
The vision of the woman in the white dress was gone, and once again Link's body reacted on its own, moving away from the edge, drawing his sword. Link watched through a familiar stranger's eyes as the gigantic, dark form of a demonic creature pulled itself free from the chasm, crawling out into the light.
Howling in rage, making the earth tremble anew, the monster came towards Link. For the battle that ensued, Link was a mere spectator. It went on for hours, days maybe. The vision passed in a blur of metal, teeth, claws, light and darkness. When at last the great monster fell with an agonized shriek, the blinding light faded to reveal the woman in white.
This time her eyes were sad as she leaned over him. Was he lying on the ground? Her hands brushed his face, cradled his head. A tear trailed down her smooth cheek.
"I'm so sorry..."
The strange dream dissolved so abruptly Link needed several moments to remember where he was.
The desert. He was lying in his bedroll, safe. The earth wasn't splitting open. There were no monsters trying to kill him.
Link exhaled sharply, lifting his hands to swipe them over his face. At least his body was his own now.
Rolling onto his side, his gaze caught Dark's sleeping form across the fire and a surge of adrenaline shot through his heart. Standing over the other man was a Stalfos, a skeleton soldier with glowing red eyes as cold and cruel as the blade it carried. Instinctively, Link reached for his bow and quiver.
"Dark!" he bellowed. In seconds Link knocked and fired an arrow. It hit its mark, but the Stalfos was unharmed. With a hollow cackle, the phantom disappeared in a swirl of smoke.
Dark jerked awake, his hands already on the hilt of his sword, head on a swivel as he looked for the unseen danger. Link stared open-mouthed at the spot where the Stalfos vanished.
"Link? What's wrong?" Sheik's voice, calm and steady as ever. Unfazed.
Link lowered the bow. "There was a Stalfos...right there, about to attack Dark."
Dark glanced warily over his shoulder as if the beast might suddenly reappear to finish the job.
"It wasn't real," Sheik explained. "The desert will make you see things that aren't really there. Things that cause you pain, or grief. Memories of your greatest sorrows."
Link and Dark shared a look. "I had...some strange dreams," Link admitted.
Dark raked a hand through his hair. "I haven't been able to sleep much either," he muttered.
"It should pass," the Sheikah assured them. "I'll keep watch. You both need rest for tomorrow."
"What if you see more visions?" Link asked.
Sheik's eyes tracked over the expanse of sand. "It's just a desert," he said. "I see nothing."
Dark frowned at Sheik, his jaw clenched. Link's eyes were on Sheik's back as he walked a short distance away from the camp.
Not for the first time, Link wondered what it was about Sheik that made him so uneasy. He seemed to have no fear of anything. No feeling at all, really. How could the desert's influence not affect him?
What was he?
The group settled back to sleep; Link was almost drifting off when a piercing cry ripped into his eardrums. He shot up from the bedroll, his body reacting to the unseen danger before his sleep-fogged brain. From his peripheral vision he saw a dozen figures charging down from the ledge above.
The Gerudo skittered down the cliffs like lizard, swarming the camp. Before Dark and Link could grab their weapons, six warriors seized them and tossed them into the sand, subduing them long enough to restrain them.
While Dark cursed a streak and tried unsuccessfully to squirm away on his belly with his hands tied behind his back, Link was flipped to his back.
With their faces covered, only their eyes were visible, cold and blank.
"It's them," said the woman to Link's left. "Get them up."
Roughly jerked to his feet, Link wasn't surprised to see that Dark wore a bandana wrapped over his mouth and was glaring murderously at the Gerudo soldiers holding him.
When he glanced at Sheik, his adrenaline spiked. The Gerudo completely ignored him, leaving him unbound.
"Sheik!?"
Sheik didn't look at Link. Instead, he turned to address the Gerudo warrior dressed in a red tunic, the leader of the group. Dark muttered something incoherent, his expression pinched in angry disbelief.
"Imara," Sheik said with eerie calmness. "What are you doing?"
The woman, Imara, ignored the question. "Bring the horses," she instructed the others. "We have what we came for." Sheik reached out for Imara's arm, and she spun, snatching his wrist in a punishing grip. "We leave immediately."
Tossing Sheik aside, she stomped off, making no sound in the soft sand. Dark stared after her, shouting muffled insults at her back while he was unceremoniously heaved onto the back of a horse. Link was hauled up like a sack of oats and treated the same. Sheik, dusting off the sand, stood up and glanced at Link.
Wanting to fling insults as Dark was still doing but unable to come up with a single thing to say, Link glared back. Sheik flinched.
"Link, listen to me-"
Link lifted his head as best he could. "How could-"
Stars exploded in front of his eyes when someone struck him in the back of the head. Sheik's image in front of him became fuzzy, blurry and then black.
~oOo~
Link woke up on a cold stone floor.
He rolled to his back with a moan of pain, lifting his hands to his face. His head was broken. His lungs burned in his chest and his wrists ached. Moving his head any tiny bit made bile rise in his throat.
"Din's flaming fists! Are we dead yet?" came Dark's irritated voice.
"No idea," Link groaned. "Where are we?"
"What amounts to a Gerudo prison, I guess." Dark sighed.
Link finally found the strength to open his eyes.
The bare room was big enough for six people to sit comfortably, with a very high ceiling, with a trap door slammed shut in its centre. From the single window high up on the wall, Link could see the purplish hues of dawn creeping in.
Dark, hunched against the wall cradling his head, looked up. "They took all our weapons, so no help there," he grumbled.
Link considered standing up and trying to reach the distance to the window ledge with a jump, but his aching head reminded him that standing up wasn't an option right now. He slumped against the rock beside Dark, closing his eyes when he felt dizzy.
"We need to find a way out of here," Link mumbled. "I can't believe I was so stupid," he added in a growl. "I can't believe I trusted Sheik and he was working with Ganondorf this whole time."
"This is my fault. I should have warned you about Sheik back in Kakariko."
Dark's words registered in Link's mind after a few seconds. "Wait...you knew Sheik would betray us?" He tried to stand up in outrage and slipped, nearly crashing headfirst into the wall. "You knew!?"
Yanking Link back to the floor, Dark scowled. "Sit down before you kill yourself. You have a head injury, you idiot."
"I have a head injury because one of my friends betrayed us to the Gerudo and my other friend didn't tell me about it!"
"Look," Dark hissed. "Before we left on this little trip, I got a message to Sienna. She saw Sheik at Hyrule Castle when they brought her there after the battle in Kakariko. She told me he couldn't be trusted."
Link glared at Dark. "Why didn't you-"
"Sheik was already there when I got back," Dark explained. "You were still recovering – from being poisoned, I remind you - I didn't know what he'd do, and you and Impa clearly trusted him."
Link sighed and let his head rest against the wall. The throbbing pain intensified with the feelings of anger and betrayal. How could Sheik have fooled him so easily? How could he help Ganondorf? When he'd first met Sheik at the Temple of Time, he'd felt something was a little off. Every time since then, around Sheik, that persistent feeling had followed. There was just something about Sheik that didn't add up. Yet
Link frowned. "I feel like an idiot."
Dark sighed again and bumped his fist against Link's shoulder. "You're not an idiot. Sheik's a bastard."
Sighing, Link looked back up at the window. "Either way, we have a job to do. We need to focus on getting out of here." He dropped his gaze back to Dark and asked, in all seriousness, "Can I trust you to help me?"
Dark laughed through his nose and clapped Link on the shoulder. "Of course. Let's get the hell out of here."
"Any ideas?"
"Not a one."
Link snorted. "That was a bit hopeful of me, I guess."
Pushing his feet against the floor, Dark slid upwards, using the wall as support. "Alright," he said, stretching his arms above his head. "Let's get a look through the window, see if we can keep track of the guards."
"How are we supposed to reach it?" Link asked doubtfully, climbing to his feet with a wince.
"I'll hoist you." Dark noted Link's skeptical expression and tacked on, "You're a child in a man's skinny body, I can lift you."
"I'm not skinny," Link defended.
Dark braced himself against the wall and crouched, holding his laced fingers out. Link moved to step up, and Dark hauled him up.
"Grab the ledge, tell me what you see."
Able to see down into the camp, Link did a quick head count. "Six guards that I can see. The fortress is built in levels—there's too many entrances where we could be spotted."
Dark grunted. "Any way down?"
"Yeah, if you want to plummet several stories straight down."
"Faron's teeth," Dark growled.
"Wait!" Link leaned further out the window. "How do you feel about jumping from this ledge onto another ledge?"
"Better than sitting around here," Dark said, then paused as another solution occurred to him. "I have another way—I could use the shadow trick Impa taught me."
Link turned back to him. "But I'll still be stuck here if you do that."
"Well, I could find my way up to the top and haul you through the trap door in the ceiling," Dark mused, glancing upwards. "Or, I can help you make the jump onto the ledge below us."
The blond made a skeptical face. "It could work. Our timing will have to be right."
"Now's my turn to ask if I trust you."
Link tossed a grin over his shoulder. "The roof of the next level is almost perpendicular to this window. The drop isn't too far, but the angle is tricky. If you can find your way over there without being seen, we can help each other and go from there."
"It'll have to do," Dark replied. "Give me some time to check this place out. I'll be back."
Perched in the window, Link watched as Dark shut his eyes, summoning the magic within him and commanding it to send him to the world of Shadow. Dark's form blurred like ink on water, becoming nothing but a black haze of magic that seeped into the stones and vanished like smoke.
When he opened his eyes again, the Gerudo's fortress had taken on a new appearance. No longer confined in the stone room, Dark was out in the open, with bright sand under his feet and a grey sky overhead. The ghost-like figures of the guards passed by him without seeing him, going about their business in the world of light.
"Welcome back."
Dark spun around, only to groan when he realized who'd addressed him. "Not you again."
"You mean, not 'me' again," his shadow-self replied. He moved to Dark's side, more gliding than walking. "Want some help navigating this place? It's a maze."
Looking where the shadow pointed, Dark's confidence wavered. The fortress was changed. More than that, it was completely different. It remained carved of sandy-coloured stone, hewn from the desert cliffs and well-hidden, but the layout was shifted. Where a door had been was now a solid wall. Where nothing had been there was now another structure that didn't exist in the other world.
"Well, that's..."
"Frustrating?" the shadow asked. "I agree."
"Okay, numbskull, so how do I find my way back to Link?"
The shadow chuckled. "You just called yourself a numbskull."
"Shut up and answer me."
"Fine. You want the same spot, there's just a different path to take here. It's not that hard to understand."
Dark scanned the area above his head. There was a door on an upper ledge, which should be approximately the right location.
The shadow sighed and pointed at a nearby entrance at ground-level. "Take that door."
Bristling with annoyance, Dark obeyed, walking through and into a long, nondescript corridor. The inside was no less labyrinthine than the exterior. Following his other self's instructions—he at least seemed to know where he was going—Dark took turn after turn, climbing upwards into the fortress's interior.
When he emerged into a wide, high-ceilinged room, the shadow hissed, "Careful."
Dark instinctively backtracked and flattened to the wall outside, peering around the corner to see where the danger was. Four guards stood around a mess hall of some kind, talking quietly. What was more, they were completely oblivious to the evil creatures scurrying around their feet like rats.
"They're creatures of shadow," the other him explained. "They've infested this place because of all the dark magic growing here, changing them into nasty little beasts."
Dark watched one of them leap onto a table, its glowing yellow eyes searching. "I can't bring any weapons with me here."
"You have magic, don't you?" the shadow asked sarcastically.
Expending some of his dwindling magic, Dark summoned fire to dispatch the shadow critters easily. He would need to hurry if he wanted to make it back to Link before his magic ran out and he couldn't get back. Hopefully, there were no bigger threats crawling around this place.
As they continued, Dark began to understand what his shadow-self meant by a dark magic infestation. The entire fortress felt...off, somehow. As if a terrible storm raged just outside its walls, threatening to collapse them. Once or twice, he swore he saw the very stone walls shift or shudder, like they couldn't hold their place. Could dark magic affect the physical reality of this place?
Different environments behaved certain ways in the Shadow world, he'd noticed. Death Mountain, a deep well of natural magic, appeared almost as a living organism of rock. Whereas the Great Fairy's fountain was utterly still and lifeless in Shadow. Perhaps, as Impa had called Shadow the element of change, places of pure light magic could not be affected by its forces?
Dark climbed another narrow stairwell to the topmost floor, alarmed to see the passageway was vanishing behind him, leaving behind an empty void. Shadow reflected the Light World. If Ganondorf's dark magic attacked the fortress, its reflection reacted.
"Evil magic erases," his shadow said, following his train of thought. He gestured at the pitch blackness behind them. "Makes you forget yourself."
Disturbed by the idea, and the way his shadow's eerie red eyes were fixed on his face, Dark quickened his pace. The doorway he needed was just ahead, and it brought no small relief to be back outside. The cold fingers of apprehension slipped off him as the desert sun greeted him.
"It's here, I think," he said, realizing he was just talking to himself and feeling a bit foolish. "Let's try it."
Wordlessly, Dark let the Light World pull him back, glad to see his feet solidly planted on level ground. Up and to the right, Link waved from the window. Dark released his breath. At least he'd made it back.
"We can do this," he said, then frowned. He'd been talking to himself far too much lately.
Link adjusted his position and then leapt from the edge, pinwheeling through the air for a brief second before his outstretched hand caught Dark's arm and the latter hauled him to safety. They collided and rolled across the roof, pausing to catch their breaths.
"It worked," Link panted, turning to help Dark up.
"Now we escape and find Nabooru. Do you know where we look?"
"Sheik was supposed to guide me, but he said we needed to pass the 'desert trials' first."
"Sounds fun. Did he mention what they were?" Link shrugged in response. Dark sighed.
Link took off his hat, peering inside to check on Navi. "The heat must be bothering her," he announced. "She's still pretty weak."
Dark peeked at the blue fairy hiding in Link's hat. Her wings were dimmer than usual. "It's not the desert," he grimaced. "It's this place. When I visited the shadow realm, I could tell there was a lot of dark magic here."
"We should leave as soon as we can, then. Who knows what could happen?"
They agreed to sneak over to the fortress stables, as crossing the treacherous desert would be easier and faster with horses, especially if they were pursued. The number of guards on duty was surprisingly few, and they managed to make it across the valley unseen, winding their way in and out of the fortress.
Progress was slower as Dark and Link took care to discreetly explore each room, searching for their confiscated weapons and supplies. They found them in another unguarded room but didn't pause to question their strange luck.
The stables were empty of Gerudo guards, which was odd, but they pressed on. Epona's white-striped face poked out of the farthest stall. She nickered when she saw Link, who greeted her with a pat on the neck.
"When we reach the gate," Dark whispered, petting the nose of his own mount. "I'll open it, you watch our backs. I imagine as soon as we leave, they'll be on us."
"It's weird there's no one around," Link remarked, grabbing Epona's saddle and bridle.
"Maybe Ganondorf needed more soldiers in Castle Town." Dark shrugged. "Let's focus on hurrying."
Out from the stables, the expanse of the valley was a golden gauntlet of Gerudo guards, ending in the broad wooden gate to the desert. Link took a readying breath. Once they galloped into the open, any number of guards could come swarming out of the fortress, or rain arrows down on their heads.
Link prayed their luck would hold a little longer.
He dug in his heels, urging Epona faster and faster until she sprinted. Dark and his horse were close behind, shield in hand ready to deflect any attack. The guards posted outside jumped into action but could do nothing as Link and Dark blazed past them, kicking up sand.
Shouts chased them, but they were halfway to the gate, their goal in sight. Epona's hooves thundered beneath him; his heart hammered in his ears.
Thwip. Thwip, Thwip.
Arrows whizzed by. Link ducked, pressed against Epona's neck to make himself a smaller target. A few projectiles bounced off their shields with metallic clinks. Epona whinnied as Link drew her up short, spinning them around before the gate. Dark jumped off his mount, spraying sand as he landed and ran for the gatehouse.
Link grabbed the Master Sword's familiar hilt. A dozen Gerudo fighters were sprinting towards them, spears and swords raised. Link lifted his shield. The gate began to rise, inch by inch.
The Gerudo were almost there. Epona stamped her hoof. Link inhaled and exhaled slowly. The gate groaned upwards.
From the corner of his eye, Link saw someone approaching, calmly and resolutely, in contrast of the Gerudo. Link tore his eyes off the guards for a second look.
It was Sheik.
Without a care in the world, the Sheikah came to a stop at Epona's shoulder, facing the oncoming Gerudo at Link's side.
"Sorry I'm late," he said.
Link stared. "What are you doing!?"
Sheik's eyes flicked up to Link's. "Helping."
There was no time to reply, as the Gerudo reached them and Link was caught in the fight. Dark appeared in the gatehouse's door, defending it from two guards who tried to undo his progress. Sheik moved through the chaos like quicksilver, not even using his weapons but subduing or disarming his opponents before striking them quickly and knocking them unconscious.
"Don't hurt them!" Sheik called to Link and Dark. "They're under a spell!"
Link would have protested, but he saw the truth in Sheik's words. The guards' eyes were dull and sightless. They were acting without thought. He thrust aside the point of spear, using the sword's hilt and smashing it against the owner's head. She dropped like a stone, no longer a threat. Dark joined their efforts, catching Link's eye with a frown but not attempting to use lethal force.
"It's working!" Sheik called.
Their attackers' numbers had dwindled, but a crowd of Gerudo perched on the roof of the fortress were readying another volley of arrows. Too late, Link saw the arrow screaming towards Sheik.
"Sheik!"
It hit him in the side, a simple graze, but enough to do damage. Sheik gasped and fell back, stumbling in the sand. Link charged ahead to defend him, blocking a hit from a Gerudo scimitar.
"We need to move!" Dark bellowed. "Get on Epona!"
Link hesitated but did as Dark said. His friend grabbed Sheik under the arms and slung him over Epona's back. Sheik slumped against Link's back with a groan. Gerudo reinforcements charged out of the fortress, ready for a renewed assault as the archers reached for more ammunition.
"Go!" Dark shouted, swinging onto his horse.
Link turned Epona's head to the gate and she took off. Link's head narrowly missed hitting the not fully open gate on the way out. He stayed close to Epona's neck, silently urging her fast as Sheik's now limp form bounced against his back. Dark, his face set in a determined scowl, was at his shoulder, snapping the reins of his mount.
The chaos of battle faded as the desert stretched on. The fortress gate became smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely, swallowed by the horizon. Epona's pace finally slowed, and the sound of Link's pounding heart was no longer deafening.
Link longed to stop and rest, but they could not. His fingers felt frozen to the reins, they were so stiff. Dark's head was on a swivel, watching for anyone pursuing, making Link anxious. Sheik hadn't said a word. He suspected he was unconscious.
"Link."
He glanced up at Dark's voice, then yanked on Epona's reins in surprise. She snorted irritably.
Ahead of them was a deep chasm, a rift that split the desert in two. Link felt the breath leave his lungs. It was too far across for Epona to jump, and on either side, it stretched farther than he could see. Across from them were two tall wooden posts with red flags tied to the top. To mark the place?
"We might be able to go around," he offered.
"I think this is the first trial Sheik mentioned," Dark said. He nodded towards the far side. "There's a building of some kind there where we can rest."
"How can we if we can't get across?" Link demanded.
Dark turned to him. "Your hookshot will get us across."
Link blinked. "What about the horses? We can't leave them out here. And what about Sheik?"
Dark dismounted, reaching to unbuckle the horse's saddle. He strapped the supplies he carried to his back, turning back to Link's confused expression. "Sheik needs help for that wound. Unless you'd rather leave him here, which I'm all for," he added with a wicked grin.
Link scowled. "Of course not."
"Okay, then I'll carry him across. You can bring the supplies." Dark held up his hand when Link opened his mouth. "The horses will be fine. I wouldn't tell you to leave Epona behind if we could help it. We're not far from the fortress; she'll find her way back and they'll take care of her. They did before."
Link stroked the mare's neck. He disliked this plan, but he could see he had little choice. Dark came over to help with Sheik, checking the wound in his side.
"It won't kill him, as long as we dress it as soon as possible," he said.
Link leaned over to see. The gash across Sheik's ribs was deep, but not gushing blood. With a sigh, Link turned to Epona, giving her flank a reassuring pat.
"I'll come back for you," he murmured. "I promise."
The mare's chocolate brown eyes, intelligent and gentle, flickered in seeming understanding. Link stepped back, and she took off at a canter in the direction of the fortress, the Dark's mare close behind her.
Dark hoisted Sheik onto his back, wrapping his limp arms around his shoulders. "Ready?"
Link nodded. "I'll go across first."
With the hookshot in hand, he walked over to the chasm's edge. Taking aim and releasing the trigger, he was satisfied when the speared end embedded itself firmly in one of the wooden poles on the other side. After a tug to test its strength, Link retracted the chain, pulling himself across the wide gap.
He crashed into the pole ungracefully, standing up to dust himself off. Then, he placed the hookshot on the ground and took a step back.
On the far side, Dark's eyes were closed in concentration. If this didn't work, Link thought sourly, I sent Epona away for nothing.
A moment later, the hookshot's shadow stretched underneath it, growing until it enveloped it in magic. Like quicksand, it sucked the hookshot down as it shrunk again. Beside Dark's boots, the hookshot was seemingly spat back out of the earth.
Dark picked it up with a grin, giving Link a little wave. Link resisted rolling his eyes as Dark took aim and fired the hookshot, joining him moments later.
Link reached to help Dark with Sheik, surprised that the Sheikah boy was light enough that he could carry him in his arms easily. Together they trudged the short distance to the small stone house.
Nighttime was falling fast, and the wind had grown from a whistle to a howl. They staggered inside the small house, shutting out the sound with the rickety door. Link laid Sheik on the floor, using his rucksack for a pillow.
He removed his hat, relieved to see Navi was faring better, and set it next to Sheik so she could sleep for a while. Dark was busy lighting their lanterns and closing the wooden shutters on the windows.
The sound of the windstorm was strangely muted inside the cabin, and Link let himself relax. They were safe again for now. But Sheik's wound concerned him. His earlier anger at his betrayal had dimmed a bit.
He leaned over Sheik to pull back the fabric of his form-fitting blue tunic, exposing the damage. Sheik stirred but didn't wake, so Link carefully dabbed it with a rag to clean it and then pressed a clean bandage in place.
"How is he?" Dark asked over Link's shoulder.
"He'll live, like you said. We'll need to take his tunic off to dress the wound properly," Link said. "But-"
Link's words faltered when he noticed the strange golden glow emanating from Sheik's right hand. Confused, Link peeled back the fabric covering the back of Sheik's hand, revealing something he never thought to see.
On Sheik's hand was a golden Triforce, its lower left corner glowing softly.
"Is that..." Dark sounded equally awed and confused as Link.
"It's the symbol of the Royal Family," Link muttered, frowning at his friend's sleeping face. "But why does Sheik have it?"
Sheik's crimson eyes flew open. Jerking upright, he snatched his hand from Link's grasp and cradled it to his chest. The three of them stared at each other, hardly breathing.
"Sheik..." Link started.
"What are you doing?" Sheik snapped.
"I was just treating your wound," Link said, lifting his hands.
"You were injured during our escape from the fortress," Dark added.
Sheik's wide eyes swept between the two of them, but he said nothing.
"Sheik," Link said. "Why do you have the symbol of the Royal Family on your hand? Who are you, really?"
When he still said nothing, Dark shot him a narrow-eyed glare. "I think you owe us that much. You did betray us and then turn around and help us escape, all in one day."
Lowering his gaze, Sheik stared at his hands in his lap. "I'm sorry," he said to Link. "I thought the Gerudo would help us, and when they attacked us, I had to keep up appearances."
"Because you're working for Ganondorf?" Dark accused.
Sheik's shoulders drooped. "Yes," he sighed.
"It's true?" Link asked, frowning.
Sheik met his eyes. "I've been spying on him," he explained. "Gerudo who were no longer loyal to him have been helping me. After they captured you, I discovered they'd been brainwashed to do his bidding, likely as punishment for betraying him." Sheik inhaled, wincing at the pain it caused, and continued. "It took some time, but I managed to free some of them. They'll wake later, and no longer be under the spell..."
"That doesn't explain who you are," Link interrupted. He was glad his friend hadn't betrayed him completely, but Sheik was still hiding something.
His gaze locked with Link's, full of some emotion Link couldn't place. "You're right," he said. "I hope you'll forgive me."
Before Link could ask what he meant, Sheik got to his feet unsteadily, raising his right fist in front of his face. Blinding light shone from the mark on Sheik's hand, filling the entire room. Link and Dark shielded their eyes as the light seared them. A ringing sounded in Link's ears, growing louder and louder until it stopped abruptly, fading with the light.
Opening his eyes, Link stared in disbelief at the spot where Sheik had been standing and was no more. In his place was someone Link never expected.
"Zelda," he breathed.