Chapter 41

The Hidden Palace of Ice

Despite my declining several times, New Kasuto convinced me to stay the night. Everyone was overjoyed in the victory from yesterday's battle and were happy to give me room in a tent and even eat their precious food. Even though I felt it was wrong to consume the camp's supplies, it was really nice staying in such a warm and welcoming settlement, especially since I've been traveling alone for so long.

But I couldn't delay it for too long, even though I wanted to. Zelda was waiting for me, I needed to find the Hidden Palace. And so, I ate breakfast the next morning with everyone, packed up my things, and left my tent.

And as I headed for the mountain passage, I saw Sun-Summoner emerging from a nearby tent. "Heading out?" He called as he joined me. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going back to where the palace is," I answered without stopping.

"That's right, don't you know how to enter it now?"

That did give me pause, and I looked to him curiously. He laughed. "I figured you were able to read what was on the slab. You are the chosen one after all." Then he cleared his throat and crossed his arms. "But anyway, I came out here to see if you were going to the palace, and if you were, I wanted to offer assistance."

Now that last part caught me off guard, I didn't expect it in the least. He was the elder of Kasuto, he had a lot of responsibility and moral to offer in this hard time. "What?" I asked, growing more confused and unsure by the second. "You mean, you want to come with me!? What about Kasuto, what about the damages?"

"You see, I don't think there is a better time for me to leave." He began. "It's about my son, Daniel. He's always taken on duties for the town and its people, deep down, he's always been its leader, even before I became its elder. He has that passion, but he doesn't see that as I do." He paused, and I regarded him fully. I was curious where he was taking this. "I want to push his leadership skills. Kasuto has lost so many people now, there's no one to really lead it. I know I've been trying to help and fill the role, but it's not the elder's job to be mayor. I'm growing old, and one day, I won't be able to help like I want to. Kasuto needs someone young enough and passionate enough to take over. Are you following me?"

"I believe so," I answered. "But have you talked with him about this?"

"I have. I told him I wanted to join you, and he was upset and nervous at first. But he's better towards it now. I told him to take full command and do whatever he feels he needs to work on next. I'm sure by the time I'm back, they won't need me much anymore."

"And you wanted to come with me because...?"

"Because you helped us." He finished. "I just thought it made the most sense for me to return the favor, especially since I wanted to leave Daniel to the town anyway. Besides, it's kind of exciting, isn't it? So what do you think?" The eyes I could see past bushy eyebrows sparkled, but I refused to give an answer right away.

What should I do? He had a good reason for wanting to come with me I suppose, and it'll be nice to have some company again. I could use the help too. When His Highness and Tog were with me in the last palace, it went by a lot easier. I wouldn't have been able to do it without them.

But it would be dangerous, I'm sure he already knew that. If something happened to him in there, it would be my fault. I'm not sure if I could live with that guilt. Rebonack once again came to my mind. I need to seek the Triforce alone. I need to fight the guardian alone. I don't need the last fight to repeat itself.

It was too risky, looks like I had little choice. "I want you to come along but-"

"Great!" He yelled as he clapped his hands together. He was already marching forward and asking something of me when I was forced to stop him.

"Wait!" I cried, he spun, sinking back into reality. I was going to correct myself, how I refused his offer. But maybe I didn't have to, I thought. What if I could bring him, but still eliminate much of the risk? That gave me an idea. "There's going to be some rules."

He scrunched his face, making his eyes completely invisible. But he nodded and listened.

"You have to do exactly what I say. No questions and no exemptions."

"Sounds fair." He replied.

An image of Rebonack slicing the prince came to mind once more, sending a horrible chill through me. Was I doing the right thing? Or was I making another mistake? "Even if I tell you to stay out of a horrible battle," I added. I held my ground and met his eyes, trying to show him how serious I was about this.

He slowly stood straight and thought quietly for a moment. But despite a lingering hesitation, he agreed. "Very well then. Shall we be on our way?" He turned and took up a slower march this time. I sighed, feeling better now that I had my rules across. But in the end, will he even follow them?

…...

The closer we came to the wastelands, the more anxious I became. To think, just the other day, I was standing before these very pillars with everything I needed to enter the palace. But I suppose I wouldn't have had that key if I figured it out on my own somehow.

Sun-Summoner however, grew more excited once we stepped onto the grounds. Almost this entire time, he's been telling me rumor after rumor about the Hidden Palace. It occurred to me that maybe his excuse for wanting Daniel to lead Kasuto was just half his story. He knew every rumor there was about this place, he even had a bounce in his step! He talked something about making history, and finally being about to see this legendary place with his own eyes. I shook my head, his voice continuing to drone on in the back of my concentration as I began to tune him out.

Finally, we stood before the three pillars. The tall rocks seemed to stretch beyond the sky, I could almost feel the soil pulling me down, making me much smaller before them. Slowly, I brought the flute back and pressed it to my lips.

The ground was already shaking after I played just a few random notes. I observed the rocks and the ground carefully, looking for any sign from the Hidden Palace, but it wasn't until Sun-Summoner grabbed my arms and led me away did I realize it was right under our feet. The ground cracked first, and then the rest crumbled as a white spire pushed through. Then, the rest of the palace followed, splitting the dry earth and shaking the dirt away. It rose many stories up and caught the gleaming sun on its already bright surface.

When the world finally stopped, the palace was only a few feet shorter than the three pillars. It was a sight to behold for sure, this was by far the prettiest palace I since so far. And it was so spotless and clean! It was like the temple expelled any dirt from staining its perfect sheen. I dropped my gaze to the elevator, and there it was, clear and waiting.

I turned to Sun-Summoner, but he was still stunned speechless. His mouth hung open, and his wide eyes were fixated on the spires. But the time for astonishment was over, we came with a purpose. It was time to see what was inside. I called for his attention. He responded with a blink and regarded me. A beaming smile slowly spread on his face. "I never once thought I would see one of the great palaces within my lifetime."

I replied with a smile, then urged him to continue. He was still pretty distracted as I lead him to the elevator, and at first, he hesitated before the platform as well. But it was just for a second, then he joined me.

I saw him glancing at every wall as the platform moved steadily down, and when it finally landed on the floor beneath, the wise man quickly stepped off with his eyes to the ceiling. It was hard not to give it a look, as it was as white as it was outside, with barely discernible light blue runes running through in and out all of the walls. The ceiling was so high that it made me feel so small and insignificant. The walls and floor were gleaming like they were outside, but there was something different about the way it looked. I had to give it a second glance, but I realized that the walls and floor were covered in ice! Not just that, but there was a large frozen mass in the center of the room.

I turned to tell my companion about the realization, but he wasn't listening. He was already exclaiming something about the fancy light marble pillars when his foot slipped, he fell on his back, and he continued to slide. I winced when the frozen spear was the only thing that stopped him, but luckily, there was no damage done, save for a sore back, I thought when he groaned. I carefully walked closer and extended my hand.

He accepted my help. "We've only been in here for a minute, and already I've had quite the adventure!" He said after rubbing his back.

"Just be cautious," I replied. "It looks like this ice is everywhere."

He nodded and placed his hands on the ice mass before him. "This is powerful magic. It would have to come from a powerful castor for this to survive after his passing." He scoffed. "That is if he didn't prolong his life and is still out there today."

"Summoner, can you melt this ice?" I asked, gesturing at the frozen spear. "Do you think this is important?"

"Could be." He agreed. "But no matter the ice wizard who did this, I should be able to counter it." He wove his hand to the ground in front of him and almost at once, the flame outlined the bottom of the ice and cackled soothingly. But nothing happened.

"Hmm, that's odd." Sun-Summoner stroked his bushy beard in confusion. "The ice isn't melting…" He knocked on the flat surface with his fist. "It's not even wet! Why didn't that work?"

"Well, at least we tried," I replied to his solemn stare, but he shook his head, growing upset.

"I am one of the greatest fire wizards!" He exclaimed. "Even if this is a spell of ice, I should be able to melt it!" Fire then erupted from his hands and onto the spear, but still, nothing was happening.

"Whoa, calm down!" I called. "It probably can't be melted until we meet some kind of criteria. We should go look around and come back later."

His fire spells clashed together and offered one final burst of flame before he acknowledged me. "I guess that could make sense." He growled. "Fine, let's continue."

There was only one door and it was behind the ice spear and at the end between the pillars. Sun-Summoner offered one final glare at the ice pillar before following me into the room beyond the single door.

My heart jumped, and I unsheathed my weapon when I saw the three moblins just standing on the other side of the door. But after a second look, I saw that they were also frozen. "We might not have to worry about the protectors of the palace this time," I said, sliding my sword and shield away. I wondered if the guardian was iced over as well?

Sun-Summoner moved closer to inspect the thick shell over the creatures. "I don't understand…" He said solemnly. "If this temple is under a spell, then why are the monsters like this? I thought they were supposed to be guarding the place… Or are these trespassers?" He brought up one stubby finger and tapped on the transparent cover over a moblin's face. "No," He decided after a while. "Because the Hidden Palace has been underground for years, they wouldn't have been able to find a way in."

I shrugged in response. "I don't know, but either way, it looks like we don't have to fight them." The spears were wedged in their hands close to their bodies, but the monsters' blue-tinted faces were held in a non-threatening expression, almost like whatever happened to them, it wasn't any sort of attack. I took my focus on the frozen forms away to the rest of the room and saw that while there were no doors in this chamber, it looked like there were passages continuing out of sight to the rest of the palace. The ceiling was lower here than the main chamber we came from, perhaps there was a second floor, I thought. Like in the last room, the floors and walls were coated in the slippery ice. One could almost see the white marble walls in this room with close inspection.

"I suppose we should go this way first," I remarked and nodded towards the right hallway opposite the door we came in.

As we rounded the bend, we came into a room where more ice-covered creatures, this time two moblins and five dairas, stood standing in random positions. This room was more spacious than the last one, and two short flights of stairs flanked a heavily iced opening on our leveled ground. Up where these stairs led was a frozen door just above the opening in the wall and a lever was on either side of it.

There was nothing more to try. I carefully climbed the slippery stairs and stopped before the levers. Sun-Summoner joined me there, shifting nervously as he watched me. "You're not really going to do it, are you?"

"We have no other choice," I answered as I studied each one. They looked exactly the same... Finally, I decided to choose one at random and pulled the left one. Luckily, it wasn't frozen like everything else was, and it slid easily down with a click.

A sound of rolling stone soon was followed by a large cracking and shattering. We both turned then and saw a large boulder had come crashing out of the frozen opening below us. The giant rock continued rolling at its fast pace and even collided with the iced over beasts until they fell over before the boulder then ran into the wall and came to a sudden stop when it wasn't strong enough to take it down.

Meanwhile, the monsters' cold shells started to crack while they were on the ground and the creatures struggled to stand up past the ice. They didn't seem confused about being stilled in the frost; instead, they brought their weapons up and approached threateningly.

"Now, hold on a minute!" Sun-Summoner called. "You were just now released from your frozen shell, and you want to attack us!?"

But the beasts didn't stop.

I unsheathed my sword, the magical blade giving a shrilling song in remark to the action. "Looks like they weren't trespassers," I added before running carefully down the iced stairs to confront them.

The first attack by the creatures was from one of the dairas. It came in a hurried rush and brought the axe swinging down, but it was easy for me to spot the strike coming and I quickly avoided it. By stepping to the left, I came close to a moblin, and I barely had time to bring up my shield in order to defend myself against a slap of the cold spear tip to my shoulder. Meanwhile, the large crowd quickly began to surround me, and I was running out of room to protect myself. Luckily, I wasn't alone in this fight! A blue sphere shot from the elder's position and exploded in the midst of daira and moblin, leaving only two confused monsters before me. I quickly stole the opportunity and stabbed through the moblin. The daira then turned to me, forgetting its allies still standing back up from the wise man's magic bolt.

As I was locked in battle with the remaining daira by my side. I was still too close to the wall to have the advantage, and I had to duck awkwardly to the side in an attempt to avoid a swing from the mighty two-headed axe. When I stood straight, I focused at once on blocking another incoming swing and I stepped back away from the daira and the wall.

The daira slammed the weapon right into my shield once more, and I responded by shoving the magical cross painted shield forward until it was forced to step back. I then let my blade swoop low across its legs. The daira stumbled, slid on the ice, and was forced to fall to the slippery surface. I stabbed down at the creature to ensure the fight was done, and then I was met with two more of the crocodile beasts.

The force of them collectively hitting my shield was strong enough to throw me back, but I took the form and swept the blade across my opponents' legs. One was expecting such a move and stood back, but I was able to strike the first daira before he could react. He then stumbled back right into his ally.

The daira caught his companion and pushed him back up to his feet. They showed strong enough teamwork in that quick move, that I didn't even have time to strike them down, and the only thing I was able to do in that time was standing straight before they came swinging again. I took a step to the side and held up my shield to protect from the flying blades, but I moved far enough out of harm's way that I didn't need the shield's protection. I flung my blade low once more in a feint swing, and when the creatures responded by moving back and bringing their axes to block it, I stabbed at the nearest shoulder.

One daira fell to the floor, and I had one more to go. The remaining daira next to me didn't know how to respond. I held my sword up and flung it forwards and the beast jumped back and broke into a run for the hallway we just came in. I thought a monster appointed by the king would protect this palace to the death! I shrugged and turned, curious how Sun-Summoner was holding up.

A daira who he took out was lying on the ground while his attention was still drawn to the rest of the enemies, and as he held one of his hands up with his index finger and thumb together like he was pinching the air, he flung the gesture towards the monsters one by one, and they instantly burst in flame in response. After one of the dairas and one moblin were lit up, the last moblin charged for him. Luckily, Sun-Summoner turned just in time to see the foe and he stepped back, letting the moblin charge harmlessly in front of him. The elder of Kasuto then made a low sweeping motion towards the monster's feet, and the spell pushed it onward. That was probably the only thing the spell did, but the quick boost of speed left the moblin yelling for lost balance until it fell and slid the rest of the way to the wall.

I helped by defeating the monsters who were desperately trying to put the magical flame out, and Sun-Summoner ran to finish the fight with the moblin by the wall. By the time I was done with my job, Sun-Summoner casually turned around. "I think you pulled the wrong lever." He remarked. "Does this always happen?" He made a gesture to the entirety of the bodies lying around in the room.

"Sometimes," I admitted. "And sometimes with tougher monsters and death traps too."

He scoffed and shook his head. "'Sometimes,'" He mocked and lingered back over to where the boulder came crashing in.