Chapter 5: Lanayru Desert
I felt tingles of electricity pulsing through my body as I floated through a tunnel of space. My body floated like a ghostly apparition through the tunnel to the ending light. "Keep your eye on the horizon Your Grace." Impa cautioned, following closely behind me. The sound of her voice startled me. I had been floating through here several moments longer than her and for her to catch up so suddenly, my heart couldn't take it.
My stomach felt seasick when my feet finally touched solid ground. The portal disappeared into thin air behind Impa and me. We found ourselves at the entrance to the Sealed Temple once again. I was growing rather impatient with having to stop at this same temple over and over again. Impa held the familiar doors open for me and we met with the Shawoman again.
"You have returned safely again Your Grace." She said, bowing. "I trust you were successful?"
"Yes. More memories have surfaced." I reported. "Link has made an appearance."
"The Chosen Hero? You know him?"
"We grew up together…" I sighed, remembering the times we played in the plaza together and the wonderful games. I remembered the way he smiled at me when we were little; the memory of it made my heart skip a beat. "He's my best friend in the whole world."
"If I may say, Your Grace, we still have one last temple to visit." Impa interrupted.
I shook my head. "Oh yes, of course."
"There is one temple left." The shawoman said. "You must hurry now. Demise will break the seal at any moment. Only Link can defeat him now."
"What if he needs help? I can't abandon him, I won't." I refused. Impa placed a calming hand on my shoulder.
"He is the chosen hero Your Grace. He will be alright." I sighed and complied. "Let us not forget, you were the one who chose him." There was no point in arguing the matter further. The shawoman gave us the instructions and we headed for Lanayru Province.
Impa opened another portal. When we stepped through it, it brought us to the surface of the desert. "I apologize Your Grace, but we must walk to the Temple of Time and the path is not an easy one."
"That is alright Impa. Please, lead the way." I asked her. She nodded her agreement and ushered us onward. The desert sand was very hot, even through the bottom of my sandals. The hot grains seeped into my sandals, making walking difficult. I was starting to fall behind, when Impa noticed, she turned to me and offered me her aid.
"We must move quickly, Your Grace. I sense that Ghirahim will soon find us and catch up quickly." She pulled me to the broken down wall and out of the sand. "Would you like me to carry you through the desert?" I nodded and approached her cautiously. She bent down on her knees and offered me her back. I slowly and carefully wrapped my arms around her neck and my legs around her waist. "Hold on tight Your Grace. I'm going to run."
As fast as she could go, she ran through the desert, jumping over pools of quicksand, and jumping onto the ruin walls. She paused for a break when we got to a raised path above a lake of quicksand. The two of us, walked along the path until we reached the stepping stones.
"Your Grace, if you will allow me, I can leap the two of us across this quicksand waterfall to the other side. The Temple of Time is just on the other side of that tunnel." Impa proposed.
"Yes. The sooner we get there, the better." I hopped up on her back again and held on for dear life as she jumped from rock to rock. She set me down on the other side and led the way to the tunnel through the cliff. "How much farther Impa?" I asked.
"Just a little longer Your Grace." She stopped at the cliff side. A great valley blocked the way to the temple. "The temple is on the other side of this gap. There is a way to safely cross, follow me." A series of tracks wound from rock platform to rock platform. The final tracks took us through the colossal tree rising from the center pillar of sand. The inside of the tree was more hollow than my imagination, the sun glistened off the wood inside of the tree.
The cart screeched to a halt in front of the Temple of Time. The sight of it could bring anyone to tears. It truly stood the test of time; remaining pure and untouched by the harsh realities of the world beyond its safe walls. I was overcome with excitement and I dashed to the front gates. "Oh Impa!" I cried with pleasure. I turned to find her slowly following me with a tender smile on her face. "It's so beautiful. More so than I could have ever dreamed!"
"Indeed it is Your Grace."
"Is the spring in the Temple?" I asked.
"It is Your Grace. Our journey is almost complete; however, there is one thing I must do before we proceed." As I watched in amazement and awe, Impa stood at the archway between the desert and the temple. She closed her eyes, moving her hands close to her chest. She took one deep breath. With all her might, she forced the land around the arch to crumble, creating a rockslide to block the way to the temple.
"Why did you do that?" I asked her. "How will we get out?"
"Fear not, Your Grace. That is only a precaution to ward off Ghirahim. I feel his presence drawing near and he must not pass through." She rushed back to me and gently grabbed my elbow. "Now quickly, we must move."
Together we entered the Temple of Time. Its gray walls welcomed us to the Chamber of Sages. Impa explained to me that long ago the seven sages slept within this temple before the great battle in which the Goddess Hylia separated a part of Hyrule that later became known as Skyloft; the place I once belonged. A sacred altar situated itself in the center of the chamber that held a golden statue of the goddess.
I slowly approached the statue and knelt down. I pressed my palms together and prayed. "Oh Goddess Hylia, here I am for the final time, ready to accept the last of your memories. May your wisdom shine through me and guide us on the last leg of our journey." Suddenly, my body was overcome with the urge to dance and sing.
I rose to my feet, placed my hands together again and swayed to the music in my mind. The Goddess Hylia began to surround me and envelope me in her final memories. Along with those memories came a vision of the future. I saw myself being encased in a long slumber until the Chosen Hero defeats Demise. In the vision, I saw Link's face; I saw the look of pain as he watched me succumb to the power of the spell.
"Let's hurry Your Grace. We have completed this part of our mission. It is time." Impa said. We left the temple, thanking the Goddess for allowing me the gift of her memories. Impa faced me toward the entrance of the temple and prepared to open the portal.
"What now Impa? What else can we do?"
"We must go to the Sealed Temple and await the arrival of the Chosen Hero."
"He has a name Impa, it's Link."
"Apologies Your Grace. We will go to the Sealed Temple, travel through the Gate of Time, and that is where we will seal you in the deep slumber until Demise is defeated."
"Shouldn't we find Link first? He may need my help."
"That is not what we are to do. Link was named the Chosen Hero for a reason and he shall indeed find us when the time is right." She began to open the portal but it was taking longer than usual.
"I just hope that wherever he is, he's safe." I said. The portal finally opened.
"Zelda!" Link called out.
I turned around and saw him again. "Link?"
"Zelda…are you oka.." Suddenly, the rock barricade burst forth, nearly hitting Link in the head. Ghirahim had found us; and he was eager to take what he wanted. Link tried to approach him head on but Ghirahim put up a wall of magic to keep him cut off from me and Impa.
"Now you're mine!" Ghirahim growled. He charged toward us with full force.
"Not if I have anything to say about it." Impa raced to meet him, blocking him with her magic. She was doing her very best to keep him at bay but she would not be able to hold him off on her own. I looked to Link, the magic was starting to fade but he was still unable to pass through to defend Impa. "Go Your Grace, quickly to the gate!"
"NO!" Ghirahim screamed in defiance. He pushed harder with his sword to get to me. Impa wasn't giving up and neither would I. I raced down the path opposite of Link.
"Link!" He turned his head. "Here, you'll need this where you're going." With all of my might, I threw the harp to Link. He was able to catch it and put it in his pocket. I glanced over at Ghirahim and Impa before hurrying to the gate.
"Go now!" Impa cried and then I heard a shattering glass sound coming from behind me. I turned to find Impa falling through the air.
"Impa no!" Link finally freed himself and jumped to strike at Ghirahim. Ghirahim managed to dodge his attack and back flipped out of Link's range.
"Link?" Impa asked in surprise.
"Go!" He ordered her.
"You have my thanks. I will leave him to you." She scraped herself off the pavement and ran over to me. "Let's go Your Highness." I stepped through the gate; waiting patiently for Impa. "Link," She conjured the magic needed to pass through the portal and sent it flying to the gate. "You must go now. Return to the old woman at the Sealed Grounds. Tell her what happened here. She will know where you must go!" Impa told him. "And know we will.."
"This isn't goodbye Link!" I interrupted her. "I will see you again. I promise." I couldn't believe I had lost my control and blurted that out but it might have motivated him after all. We disappeared through the gate, leaving Link behind yet again.