Chapter 39

The Unsettling Dark

I stopped in Nabooru one last time for supplies before setting for the southern mountains. And it was here where I learned a rather interesting story. Apparently, true or not, there was a rumor of a monster living at the river there. They called him the River Devil, and his tales brought fear to the people in this region, stopping them from wanting to cross the bridge. According to them, he was a giant, dark, arachnid beast that owned the river and ate any passerby wanting to cross his bridge. They said he was too strong to be harmed by any weapon, and had few flaws. According to them, this beast has never lost a fight.

Seemed like nothing more than a ghost story if you asked me, but since I'll be crossing that very bridge, I should keep an eye out.

The river next to the road came into view several hours later. I slowed my pace once I reached the old bridge, thinking to observe this area, just in case the tales were true.

The water trickled by calmly and the silence was filled with the chirps of birds and insects. The road was clear. Everything was normal. I guess the story was nonsense after all...

Now my only concern was the bridge itself. Since people were too scared to come out here for any reason, the bridge hasn't been tended to in who knows how long. The wood was severely weathered and worn. Would it even be able to hold my weight?

Approaching it slowly, I dropped one foot on it first. It creaked quietly, but held its form. The river underneath was quiet and calm. I suppose if the bridge snapped, I wouldn't be swept away in dangerous currents.

Holding on the wooden rails tightly, I took the first few steps. The mountains on the other side were squeezed tight on either side of the road, almost like they were built around the dirt path. If there was such a thing as a river devil, those tall rocks would be a great place to hide and wait for someone to come by.

But I never did see one, and the bridge remained intact. It's a pity the legend scared the people so much. All that's doing is preventing them from using this road. It's bad for business and there's no reason for it. What happened that caused the story to spread in the first place?

The mountain trail was long and tiring. It was made worse because some of Ganon's minions who stalked me there. The battles weren't very important or threatening, but they were taxing after a while. It was shortly after that when I grew paranoid about more whizzrobes being nearby. But I never saw any of those, luckily.

Finally the path led me outside of the tight mountains and into green wooded lands. There was a graveyard nearby, and if my map was correct, then this was Kasuto's graveyard. The city, Kasuto, was just a few miles south of here. Of course, one would have to cross this upcoming bridge and wrap around the jutted mountains blocking the way.

But something wasn't right, the graveyard looked abandoned. The grass was overgrown, and no flowers or gifts to honor the passing remained here. The place was a mess. Why would its city allow this to happen? What was wrong with Kasuto?

The Hidden Palace on the map was just a few miles east, past the bridge and located in the center of three giant rocks. It seemed odd to me that the palace would be so close to that city. Perhaps it really is hidden? That seemed the most likely, and if that be the cause, I'll go to the town and see if anybody there knows anything about the palace.

I've made it to the bridge, but I hesitated. This place felt dead and sinister. It was nothing more than a gut feeling, but I casted the shield spell and continued on anyway.

And my sixth sense wasn't wrong. This river was full of bago-bagos. As soon as I was over the water, they came soaring in from all directions. I unsheathed my sword and did my best to try and fight them, but like my last encounter, my best chance was to leave the bridge as soon as possible.

Luckily, it was a short bridge, and the undead fish moved on once I was out of reach. And thanks to the shield spell, their bites were nothing more than annoying scrapes. I took a second to catch my breath, and then I hesitated yet again.

This is where the woods thinned, and revealed an open, dry wasteland, but once again, something here was wrong. The few shrubs and plants that were here were bent, broken, and dying, and I don't think it was from lack of rain. No, there was something else going on. It was like the sun was too shy to really show here, too ashamed to show this damaged land. Even the creatures and insects have moved on. The only sound that would dare disturb this land was the travelling wind, which screamed a dying sorrow. What happened here?

Glancing about the land, I found the rocky pillars. Those were the rocks by the palace, and I went to examine them. The Hidden Palace itself wasn't there, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't find anything interesting.

The rocks were indeed quite a sight, especially from this close. They proudly stood out from the otherwise flat land. And unlike anything else here, they were still strong and sturdy. But they still didn't hold any answers for me. I carefully looked over each one, taking my time to go around all three, but as impressive as they were, they were just rocks.

My maps told me I was in the right place, but there was no sign that a temple was ever here. The ground was flat, free of rubble and mound. It was like someone picked up the palace and ran away with it, leaving absolutely nothing behind. Sadly, my map didn't tell me how to reach the palace, just where it stood.

The sun was retreating this dead land, and it would soon be growing dark. I guess I should continue on to the town, if that too wasn't missing. For now, I'll have to put off the riddle of the Hidden Palace, but maybe someone there can tell me something about it.

Kasuto wasn't too far away, but there was another bridge I had to cross to go into town. And I was truly worried when I had to fight with the bago-bagos again. This was too close to town for this to be a problem.

But I finally moved past it and entered Kasuto... Or what remained of it at least.

I was given the same feeling here as the wasteland, the only difference being the destruction of buildings and roads. Hardly anything here was complete, and nothing moved other than the wind.

And then I finally came across the first corpse... She was lying next to an old, crumbled well, forgotten and rotted. She's been here for a while for sure, though I couldn't tell just how long. The smell of the old blood wafted through the air as I decided to kneel down to check for wounds. It appeared that she was gutted through with some sort of weapon. There was a hole in her torso that ran through the back. There was a battle here!? But with who, and why? How many innocent people died here?

This town is not going to help me find the answer to the palace. But what can I do? This was the only city for miles! The next closest one being Nabooru, and I wasn't ready to retrace my steps.

There wasn't nothing more to do here... And I can't figure out this riddle by myself, I have no choice but to see if anyone in Nabooru knew anything. Looks like I'll have to find somewhere suitable to sleep tonight.

Standing up, I looked about the dead city, trying to scope the scene one last time. The air was dusty and cold, and the wind continued its old whine. It's too quiet here, it didn't feel safe. I think my best chance at finding a safe shelter would be somewhere outside the borders of the city. The land was mostly flat however, it'll be harder to find anything, but I still felt it was the best I had.

Every step on this cursed ground seemed to echo in this odd, dark silence. I couldn't help but to walk carefully and slowly. I still didn't think there was anyone here, but something about this place was frightening to me.

Moments passed as I moved from littered roads to broken houses. Was I growing mad? I swore the wind twirled around me, watching my every step. Then a soft laugh followed. I stopped. There was something here, but what?

Then something rushed by me, and as soon as that happened, more started to follow until this mysterious being flew into me, sending me into the air. I landed hard on the ground. From down here, I looked for the source, but still saw nothing.

Then the laughter continued.

I didn't know what was going on, but I needed to get out of here! I scrambled to my feet and jogged, wishing to be safe outside of the city line, but I was slammed again and it sent me rolling on my side. I got back to my feet, unsheathed my sword, and held it high before me, but the sight of the weapon didn't bother my attackers. I slashed at the empty air, but it was only met with yet more laughter and the attacks thickened.

The next few minutes were blurred as I was rammed into invisible creatures to the point where I could barely continue to stand, let alone walk. I scrambled on my hands and knees to try and get away, but I kept getting pushed around. I wasn't making any progress.

I hardly noticed it, but just then, a broken door from a nearby building creaked open, and an old man stuck his head out. It looked like he was beckoning me to come over, though I couldn't respond. Whatever was attacking me was now screeching horribly and yanking on my clothes and hair.

And then the man took action. He stepped out of the house and yelled, catching the attackers' attention. Wind flurried away and swept for him, but he didn't flinch. He held his hands before him, and made small pulling notions in the air, and with each one, fire responded in quick bursts on the ground.

The screech was louder now, and the wind whisked away. "Quick!" The man yelled to me, swinging his arms for the door. His long red sleeves sweeping the air. "Come this way before they come back!"

I obeyed without question, once again scrambling for my feet and heading for the door. He held it open and came in only after I did. He shut the door and sat in the corner next to it, and once again asked me to do the same. As I followed suit, he warned me to be quiet.

The wind whistled by, carrying a faint laughter before it slowly faded away in the distance, swallowing us in the normal discomfort of the city once more. I finally released the breath I didn't realize I was keeping, and deflated into the floor.

The man next to me seemed to relax more as well. And for a while, we sat in silence, the only thing now filling the air beyond the frightening wind was our own breaths. Finally, he turned to me. "Are you all right?" He asked barely above a whisper. I couldn't tell if it was because of exhaustion or if he was still trying not to bring about attention.

I nodded, too stunned to speak.

He sighed, muttering something to himself about how we were lucky this time. And now that I've regained some sense of being again, I was able to identify my rescuer better. The first thing I noticed were his long red robes. Of course, I already knew him to be a magic user, but these robes showed high rank. They were made of a fine material and dropped to his ankles.

It brought the image of the renowned town elders to mind. But if he was an elder, he would be the youngest one I've seen so far. He was not a young man by any means, but his thick brown hair didn't show any gray. His beard and eyebrows was bushy and full of life, and while his figure was rather slim, it showed he still had muscle and strength. And his eyes, when they weren't buried by all that hair, looked kind and caring.

"Thank you," I finally replied. "I have no idea what I would have done to escape... Whatever that was out there by myself."

"Moas," He answered simply, speaking a little louder now. His voice was rough, but soft at the same time. "Those were moas. I'm pretty sure they came from Death Valley to revel in the destruction of this town." Then he shuffled upright as he finished. "But don't judge these based on other moas. These are different, no one's ever seen them, they've remained completely invisible! Luckily, if you keep a low profile, they don't usually tend to care about bothering people."

"I'll have to keep that in mind." I responded. "Do you know what happened here?"

He shifted again, this time uncomfortably. "Unfortunately, dear old Kasuto was attacked by a gang of moblins. But these weren't like any moblins, no, they were much too smart. They knew exactly where to hit us, and they moved like one unit, they covered every opening, every weakness."

This was familiar; could it really be that group of moblins? The group that the prince sought to destroy?

"We had no choice, but to let them have our home." He said sadly, looking down at the broken planks of wood. "But many were able to escape. I've led everyone I could far from here, into a quiet wood, into a new Kasuto."

"Then why did you come back? It's dangerous here, especially for just one person."

He answered by bringing something from his robes, medicinal supplies, and showed them to me. "I came back to gather what remained of our medicine house. I know we'll need them if we are to survive in a new land. And I came alone because I was worried the monsters would still be here, it is my duty to ensure all of Kasuto's people remain safe." He carefully stuffed his robes with the medicine again. "Though I thought it would be that group of moblins who were here, not the moas from Death Valley."

"So you are the elder of Kasuto then?" I asked, though I believe that was already answered for me.

He cleared his throat, and he might have had a glimmer in his eye if it wasn't for his destroyed home. "Yes, I am the elder of Kasuto. I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself before. My friends call me Sun-Summoner because of my specialty in fire magic. Don't mistake it, I know other great spells too, but I could cast a fireball the size of the sun when I was just a young magic user."

"You seem a little young to be the town elder." I replied, still rather curious.

He smiled. "Thank you. And I am, so far, the youngest elder at least on this side of the kingdom. My uncle was the elder before the attack, and he passed a few days before we were hit. There was one other with the title, but he didn't carry it for long before he was run through by a moblin spear. So that just leaves me to carry out the responsibility. And now it's my turn, what are you doing in this place? Were you hoping to stop for the night?"

"Something like that, it's a long story." I admitted. "I came through here looking for a place to rest, but I also wanted to ask someone about the Hidden Palace."

Sun-Summoner was taken back in shock. "The Hidden Palace?! Really?" Then he clamped his mouth shut, like he worried he was too loud. The next he spoke he was quieter. "You're seeking the Hidden Palace?"

"What do you know about it?"

He froze, still looking nervous. "Not much." He finally answered. "There is a legend that it's near town, buried deep in the ground in the center of the three pillars just east of here. But no one's been in there, even the most skillful of treasure hunters haven't been able to find a way in."

Of course no one's been able to enter. I sighed, sinking into the broken wall yet again. This wasn't going to be easy. A silenced moment passed as the elder thought for a while, staring up at the ceiling and scrunching up his face. "But the topic brings something interesting to mind." He whispered after a while. I regarded him fully, hoping he had something useful to add. "I don't know if it's related to the palace or not, but I've found an odd... Thing... On the edge of our new home."

I patiently waited for him to elaberate.

Finally, he shrugged, his arms tossed in the air and fell in his lap. "I don't know how to explain it, but we were fighting back lesser monsters when they grew too close to the town. I ended up casting a powerful spell to turn them all to gels, but they weren't the only ones who reacted to it. The land rocked, and a pillar grew in front of us straight from the ground. We don't know why it was there or why my spell brought it from the ground, but there it was. And stranger yet, it was covered in the old language of the hylians. None of us have been able to translate it. Of course, it would be nearly impossible to."

Yes, there were few people alive now who could read that old language. It was the tongue spoken by the hylians in the ancient times. And yet, I was able to read it on that scroll Impa gave me. I knew the powers were granted by the power of the Triforce. Maybe I could read what was on the pillar? "I'm curious, and I'd like to see it for myself. Would you mind if I came back to town with you?"

He hesitated again for just a second, though I wasn't sure if it was because of what I asked of him or if it was for something else. "It should be fine." He finally answered. "We just need to be careful coming back, we don't need to lure anything with us."

"Thank you, I really appreciate this." I was more than half expecting him to say no. After all, his town and people were vulnerable. But then again, if I meant them any kind of harm, he could just blast me into a burning puddle on the ground. "By the way, I'm Link."

That took his attention. "Link? You're Link?" He laughed, nearly rolling backward. "Of course, I should have known! You fit the hero's image exactly, but I never thought you would have come all the way out to this part of the kingdom."

Wow, I knew my stories were pretty popular, but I didn't think I was well known in these parts. I mean, I've been to Eastern Hyrule before, but only a few times, and I never went far from Nabooru.

"Well, Link, it may be late in the night as it is, but I don't think it's safe for us to stay here. Even if we do take up shifts, it's too risky for us to stay in one place for long. I think we need to escape the town first and camp somewhere out there."

That also sounded a bit risky to me, but it would be safer than staying here, certainly. I agreed, and Sun-Summoner rose to his feet, where he rushed for the last few supplies of medicine on the shelves. I waited, brushing the ashes and dirt from my tunic until he finished. Finally, he told me to keep low and quiet as we headed out the door.

The state of the buildings and the ghosts that were here made it seem that the town was empty and in ruins for many years. I heard more of the moas as they hovered by, one with the wind, but we weren't bothered by them. The sun met with the horizon and left the already haunted town to become slowly darker. The haunting darkness quickly crept into my very soul and made me anxious to reach the end of the ruined village.

Luckily, the walk through town was nothing more than a quiet, dead haunt, and we made it to the last step, the dreaded bago-bago bridge, but now it wasn't as scary as it was when I was first crossing it. Sun-Summoner was as powerful as he said he was, and with every undead fish that flew our way, he incinerated it to ashes, leaving me to dealing with few stragglers.

The rest of the way was uneventful, and Sun-Summoner led me for the thinning woods just out of the wastelands, claiming it would be safer and more comfortable to rest here.