He'd thought the sunset last night over the desert valley was beautifully hypnotic, but the sunrise this morning bathed the oasis in liquid gold as it crept over the cliffs.
Dark stood outside the temple entrance, shielding his eyes as he faced east, tracking the sun's progress. His attention dropped to the dais buried in the dunes, tucked in a corner of the valley near the temple. Link had been gone about 12 hours, but he wasn't sure if time travel laws affected that. Still, worry gnawed at his stomach this morning. Unable to sleep, he rose earlier than usual and now regretted it. His brain was fuzzy and refused to cooperate, even with a hot cup of tea.
Taking care not to wake Zelda, who was surely just as exhausted as he was, Dark had wandered the inside of the temple a bit more, trying to find weaknesses in the barricaded passages, before going outside.
Now, as he sipped his tea, he lamented that Link had taken his supplies of bombs with him. The smaller, goron-crafted bombs Link carried weren't as powerful as a powder keg, but that would have been overkill. The pile of rubble inside the temple blocking access to its interior needed something more focused. Something that would cause less damage to the ancient structure and prevent a cave-in.
Dark's thoughts drifted from the problem to his time in the Snowhead mountains. He'd befriended some of the gorons who lived there; he had them to thank for his knowledge of bombs. Especially his friend Nurok, a stout little goron who liked to mess around with explosives.
Not awake enough yet to defend against it, Dark's mind took him back to Nurok's lessons and his endless spiels about the types of bombs and how to harvest bomb-making materials. Bomb flowers seeds should only be harvested at night when the flower is closed...bombchus are very territorial, and they like warm, dry places...don't touch the powder kegs, Dark...
The sun inched upwards, finding him behind the shadow of the h-shaped rock formation in front of the temple entrance. The temperature was climbing. Dark reached up to swipe at his hot face and paused. Warm, dry climates. Bombchus.
He grinned. He would have to thank Nurok sometime. A bombchu would be a perfect way to dislodge the rocks inside the temple and clear the way in. Small, mouse-like creatures with a nasty temperament, bombchus possessed a unique tail. When threatened, bombchus lobbed the swollen bulbs on the end of their tails at attackers, which exploded on impact.
If he could find a nest and capture one...it could work. He knew Link should be back soon with whatever means they needed to move the gigantic boulder blocking the other half of the temple—maybe not even a powder keg could tackle that—but using a bombchu seemed like a good solution for the rockslide problem. It also gave Dark something to do other than worry.
Dashing inside, Dark found his pack and grabbed some of the tools he needed. Checking that Zelda was still sleeping, he gathered up his things and went back outside into the desert.
It was time for a bombchu hunt.
Zelda awoke to the sound of someone cursing a blue streak.
Sitting up on her bedroll, she looked to the temple's entrance to see Dark wrestling with the cloth bag he held tightly closed in his fist. Whatever was captured inside was putting up quite a fight.
"What in the goddesses names are you doing?"
Dark gave the bag a shake. A hissing snarl erupted from it as it began to struggle more violently. "I caught a bombchu."
Zelda's eyes widened. "You caught a what!?"
Dark grinned triumphantly. "I found a bombchu nest over near the oasis. It wasn't easy catching this little bastard—or getting away from a stray leever—but it's worth it. We can use this guy to clear that first passageway."
She was already bolting out of her bed. "Are you crazy!? You could cause a collapse! You could get seriously hurt!"
"Are you worried about me?" he teased. When she huffed in annoyance, he laughed. "Don't worry, bombchu bombs are relatively stable, so the explosion shouldn't cause more damage."
"When you let that thing out, it will charge you," she warned.
"That's the plan."
He handed her the squirming bag, which she took reluctantly. Jogging up the steps to the elevated section of the room, he stood in front of the mass of rubble blocking the left alcove.
"Alright, on my signal, let him loose."
"This is a very bad plan, Dark."
"It'll work, just trust me."
"What are you two doing?"
Link's voice startled them both. He strolled through the temple entrance without a care, a confused look on his face.
"Link!" Zelda passed the captive bombchu back to Dark and rushed down the steps, throwing her arms around Link's shoulders to squeeze him tightly.
Dark hid a smile at seeing the tips of Link's ears turn vibrant crimson at her enthusiasm. He hugged her back.
"Were you guys worried about me?"
"Not anymore," Zelda said, releasing him with a smile. She idly pushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear then turned to scowl at Dark. "I'm more worried about his plan to use a bombchu to blow himself up."
"Not myself," he argued. "Just some rocks."
Link's brows shot up. "Well, luckily we don't need to do that because I have what we need." With a huge grin, Link lifted his hands, showing off the heavy, silver gauntlets he wore.
Dark ran down the steps to admire the gauntlets. The craftsmanship was superb, and the rubies inlaid on the backs of the gloves were a nice touch. "Nice," he complimented. "But accessories aren't going to help us move that giant block."
Grinning even more broadly, Link rushed up the stairs to the block in question, stretching his fingers out in front of him. Bracing himself against the stone, he dug in his feet and began to push. Incredible strength surged through Link's arms into his chest. The magic of the gauntlets made him feel strong enough to budge even the huge boulder. Slowly, the block inched forward; Link took a step forward, pushing the block ahead of him.
Dark's and Zelda's chins hit the floor. With a grunt, Link shoved the block through the passage and into an alcove out of the way.
"Can I borrow those sometime?" Dark asked, eyeing the shiny silver gauntlets.
"I had to fight a giant iron soldier for these."
"I'll fight you for them."
"We need to keep moving," Zelda cut them off, whipping past them around the corner. "Nabooru could be in trouble."
Following after her, the men lit Link's lantern and a couple of torches to light their way as they navigated through the adjoining rooms. When they made their way to the statue room, they came through a door on the opposite side, on a higher level that had been inaccessible to Link seven years ago.
"This is the place," he confirmed, watching the magical torches clustered around the room's corners flare to life in their presence.
"Nabooru told me the Gerudo ancestors used to use this place for rituals and meditation," Zelda remarked, nodding at the snake-headed statue. "It's said one of the rituals allowed them to contac the spirits of their foremothers."
"They could talk to the dead?" Dark asked, turning to her.
"The Gerudo have a very different view of death and the afterlife than we do," Zelda explained. "They believe the barrier—the veil—between the living and the dead is more … flexible, I suppose."
Dark's gaze landed on the platform at the statue's base, flanked by torches. He tried to imagine someone kneeling there, successfully reaching across the chasm to touch the spirit of someone who had been lost. Was such a thing really possible? To speak to the dead?
He glanced at Link, busy scanning the room for unexplored nooks. Dark could feel Zelda's eyes on his face, pricking him with her curiosity. Did she deduce his thoughts?
"Let me show you the way to the library," Zelda said. "There are some places beyond it we can look for Nabooru, deeper inside the temple."
Link readily agreed, and Dark pulled himself away from the statue. Even as he followed Link and Zelda up a spiraling staircase into the hidden attic of the temple, the energy of the statue room clung to his skin.
As they passed through the colossus library, he scanned the dusty tomes on its shelves for some indication, some answer. It was a tempting thought that his parents were merely waiting for him on the other side of some invisible barricade—and that the instructions to speak with them was contained somewhere in the pages around him.
But he forced himself to abandon that thought. His parents were dead. There was nothing he could do to change that.
"You can't," came Kai's voice from beside him, startling him. "But Link has the Ocarina."
Letting the other two walk a few paces ahead, not wanting them to think him insane, Dark grumbled back, "I'm not going to steal it from him. Besides, Zelda said the Master Sword is the key to traveling back, and it can only be wielded by him."
Kai shrugged and vanished from sight again, sliding back into the shadows.
In the library they found a passage which branched off into another winding staircase. If his mental map of the temple was correct, they were somewhere behind and above the snake-headed statue.
When they reached an L-shaped room, Link paused so sharply the others nearly ran into his back.
"This is just like the room where I fought the iron warrior," he warned, taking a cautious step forward.
Around the corner, sure enough, waited another iron guard on a throne. This one carried with it a massive sword and a bright, shining shield.
"Dark, do you still have that bombchu?"
Dark lifted the bag, which had started to wriggle again in earnest. "Yes."
"We'll need it."
Link drew his sword. Zelda and Dark moved to flank him. As before, the suit of armour shifted and stood, brandishing its formidable weapon as it advanced on them with clanking steps.
"The bombchu!" Link shouted.
Untying the knot and dropping it on the floor, Dark aimed the critter straight at the advancing enemy. With a hiss and burst of speed, the bombchu charged, throwing its explosive tail at the feet of the iron soldier. As the bombchu made its escape, the bomb exploded a moment later, forcing the monster back a few steps.
Enraged, it tried to regain its footing as Link and Dark seized their chance to hack away at its protective layers. With a roar, it raised its shield to block their attacks, countering with a deadly swipe.
They avoided the blade, but it collided with two of the columns with force, showering them with rubble. Zelda flung a barrier around them just in time, following that bit of magic with a fiery missile.
The monster's shield deflected it, sending it straight back at her. Zelda yelped and threw up her hands to summon another barrier, watching the flames of her magic slide harmlessly over it before vanishing.
Switching tactics, she grabbed the throwing knives Sheik had preferred and tossed them in a flurry as Dark and Link kept it occupied. They just couldn't seem to do much damage. Tiring of their attacks, the iron warrior ripped off its own outer layers of armour, throwing them aside. Now moving faster, it wielded the enormous sword with even more force, pushing them onto the defensive.
"You almost have it!" Navi encouraged them, darting around Link.
"I have a plan!" Dark called. Without waiting to hear Link's response, he ran at the iron beast just as the bombchu had done.
"Dark!"
Ducking low to avoid the attack, Dark let himself drop and slide under the creature, slashing at its legs as he went. Distracted, it twisted awkwardly to follow his movements, exposing its back to Link.
Link gripped the Master Sword, prepared to plunge the blade into its unprotected back.
"Link, wait!" Zelda cried out. "The jewel! Just break the jewel!"
On the soldier's uncovered back, between the shoulder blades, there was a decorative pink jewel laid into the leather under armour. Changing the angle of his swing, Link brought his sword up and down, striking the gemstone and cracking it in two.
The creature froze mid-swing, sparing Dark from its wrath as he rolled out of the way. With a shriek it dropped to its knees, abandoning its sword and shield, lifting its gauntleted hands to its head as if in pain.
It continued to howl, the inhuman sounds changing to a woman's scream as the pieces of armour fell away, revealing a person inside it.
A Gerudo woman knelt there on the floor, cradling her head in her hands, panting heavily to regain her breath.
Zelda gasped and rushed forward. "Nabooru!"
Shocked, Link sheathed his sword and ran to join Zelda, who was helping Nabooru to her feet.
"Where am I?" the Gerudo woman asked. Disoriented, she blinked several times, pushing her hair out of her face. Her gaze passed right over Dark and Link without recognition, focusing on Zelda. "Zelda, what's-"
"It's alright," Zelda soothed her friend. "You were under their spell, but it's broken now. You're in the Spirit Temple."
Nabooru groaned and rubbed her temples. "My head aches something wicked."
Link grabbed his pack for the remaining vial of red potion, holding it out for her. Nabooru lifted her head to thank him, her eyes narrowing as her fingers closed on the vial.
Her eyes lit with recognition. "You!"
Link chuckled nervously. "Hi, Nabooru."
She tried to bolt to her feet, then dropped back down with a groan. "Damn it." She glared up at him. "You're the kid who made off with my silver gauntlets," she accused, dropping her eyes to Link's hands. "And made good use of them, I see. I never forget the people who've stolen from me, kid, even after they're all grown up," she warned with a wolfish smile.
"Nabooru," Zelda said, inching between the two of them. "This is Link, who I told you about. Do you remember?"
The Gerudo squinted. "Huh. In that case..." She managed to stand up without swaying, extending her hand to him. When he took it, she hauled him close with a punishing grip, leaning down to say in his ear: "We'll call it even, eh, kid? I owe you thanks for breaking the witches' spell, anyways."
"Sure," Link agreed, nervously noting the wicked gleam in her topaz eyes.
Nabooru chuckled, then released him so Zelda could introduce her to Dark. While the two shook hands, Link turned to Zelda just as the room began to shake around them.
"What's happening?!"
Navi was going haywire, flitting above their heads. "Get away from the wall!" she screeched.
Link repeated the order for the others, and the four of them hit the deck as the wall behind them exploded in a burst of fire, and they narrowly missed being singed.
"Damn!" Nabooru craned her neck to see back through the new hole in the wall. "They found us!"
"Everyone up!" Dark shouted, as another column of flames came hurtling through the opening.
The four of them ran for the exit but were cut off by a frigid blast of magic that created a thick wall of ice over the doorway. Zelda threw up her arms, tossing her own magic at the barrier, but it wouldn't give way.
Gleeful cackles sounded behind them. "Nowhere to run!" a taunting voice warbled. "Nowhere to hide!"
Two tiny old women flew through the hole atop broomsticks, giggling madly.
"It's the witches," Nabooru growled. "Koume and Kotake."
Both women were identical, from their missing teeth to their tangled messes of grey hair, standing on end as if they'd recently been shocked. One sported a headband adorned with a red jewel, the other a blue one. Their cloaks and jewelry all had Gerudo designs.
"Nabooru," called Kotake, the blue-gem-wearing twin said. "You have betrayed Lord Ganondorf and broken our spell!"
"We will dole out your punishment in his stead," Koume cut in, raising a thin arm. In her gnarled hand she held another fire ball.
She launched it at them, and they scattered. The projectile hit the ice wall instead, melting it instantly.
"Princess Zelda!" Kotake cackled, as she and her twin began to circle them. "We will escort you to Lord Ganondorf personally!"
"As for the rest of you," Koume added, "We needn't bother!"
A blast of the witches' ice magic nearly struck Zelda between the shoulder blades before Link yanked her out of the way. The ice crystals dissipated harmlessly, and a shrieking Kotake readied another attack.
Nabooru ran for the remains of the iron armour she'd been trapped in, rummaging until she found the shining mirrored shield.
"Link!" she called out, but her voice was drowned out by another blast of fire from Koume.
Hiding behind a pillar across the room, Link tried to reach her. The witches flew in between them, cutting them off from each other.
Nabooru turned and ran for the hole in the wall, dragging Dark along with her. "This way!"
Link and Zelda stood from their hiding spot, ready to follow. A blast of ice shot from Kotake's hand, barring the way out.
"We won't fall for the same trick twice!" she warned, swooping towards them.
"Link, this way!" Zelda grabbed his hand and sprinted for the exit, the witches' cackles hounding them.
Bursts of fire at their backs told them Koume was hot on their heels as they ran back through the maze of corridors and stairwells. Kotake turned off to give chase to the other two.
Elsewhere in the temple, Nabooru and Dark were on a mad dash, with the witch's icy breath on their backs. Following Nabooru's lead, they found an alternate way to the statue room, where they found Link and Zelda back into a corner by the fire-wielding witch.
Link pushed Zelda behind him, lifting his Hylian shield in front of them. The move amused the witch, who unleashed the full fury of her flames on the metal barrier.
Slammed against the wall by the force of the magic, Link's arm began to shake under the strain as the magical fire started to eat through the shield.
"Damn it!" Nabooru leapt down to a lower level, landing in a practice roll before popping back to her feet. She rushed towards the others, putting herself and the mirrored shield between Link and the fiery column.
Rebounding, the fire shot back at Koume, who dispelled it with a snap of her fingers.
"It won't be so easy!" she taunted, swooping higher to avoid an attack from Link's blade.
"Link, your arm!" Zelda exclaimed.
Link let the shield fall from his fingers, tucking his right arm against his body. "I'll be fine," he replied through gritted teeth.
"We have no more red potion!" Zelda argued. "You're burned! You can't fight!"
Before he could argue, Nabooru shoved the mirror shield at him. "Protect her," she told him sternly. "Let us do the rest."
She nodded at Dark, who had joined them, and the two drew their blades. Link awkwardly hefted the shield, keeping his back to the wall while Zelda readied her knives at his side. Overhead the witches circled like vultures, resting for their next attack. Expelling such huge amounts of magic took time and concentration.
"Let's finish this, Koume."
"We've wasted enough time, haven't we, sister?"
They descended together, whipping between Nabooru and Dark, avoiding their slices with heckling calls. They rained fire and ice down on Link and Zelda, but the mirror shield deflected their magic each time. The witches grew more careful, changing their patterns, not bothering to dispel any wayward attacks sent spiralling by the shield, conserving their energy.
Rising up towards the ceiling, the twins clasped hands, flying in a circle until the magical energy they created between the two of them could be felt like lightning in the air. Lifting their free hands, they combined their magical elements into one twisting braid of flame and ice. The magic whipped towards them like a bolt, tearing into the floor and spraying them with shrapnel as it advanced.
Nabooru and Dark were flung aside by the tornado of magic. Link heard Zelda's sharp gasp behind him, but he didn't look back. Dropping his sword, he used both hands to keep the mirror shield in front of them.
The tornado was shaking the entire room, making his teeth rattle in his head, trying to shake his balance. Link held onto the shield's grips as tightly as possible. It touched the shield's polished surface and went haywire.
Shards of ice and fire splintered off, flying in all directions. Link ducked behind the shield, trying to keep as much of himself and Zelda covered.
Above them, the witches screamed as a shard of ice pierced Koume just as a fragment of flame engulfed Kotake. With their own magic turned against them, the witches were overwhelmed.
The chaotic magic tore through the room, burning itself out as its wielders were destroyed by it.
Link let the shield drop with a clank, dropping to his knee with a grunt. His tunic had been ripped where the shield hadn't protected him, a thousand little cuts over his face, arms and legs. His burned arm throbbed and howled, so he cradled it against his chest. When his strength gave out, he let himself fall back against the wall.
"Link!" Zelda's wide-eyed face appeared. "Link, just hold on. Hold on, please."
Link's eyelids fluttered. He tried to listen to her voice, but something else was tugging at him, pulling him away.
I'll see her again, he reassured himself as the darkness edged into his vision. I'll always come back.