"Fight your fears and you'll be in battle forever. Face your fears and you'll be free forever."

~Lucas Jonkman~

Ancient Roots

Chapter 5: Skyview

~Interlude~

Slipping into a small alcove to ensure his safety, Link allowed himself the briefest moment of respite he could afford. He wasn't sure how long it had been since he'd last taken a break to catch his breath, though it was most likely when he took refuge with those Kikwis; at least, that's what they called themselves. He supposed that was only a few hours ago now, yet it felt like years had passed since then.

But he couldn't rest for long; the sun would start to set soon and he was already far away from the safety of the Kikwis or even the Sealed Temple. He was on his own now, and his mind seemed gleeful in constantly remining him that he always seemed to be alone when he was at his most desperate for company. The presence of Bokoblins who stalked the corridors of Skyview Temple were not welcome company, either.

The memories of his brief time spent with the priestess at the Sealed Temple seemed fleeting now, a blur of confusion and unanswered questions before he was quickly sent on his way the next morning. She had explained the basics the Goddess's plans for him: that the Goddess had chosen two mortals to battle the great apocalypse that threatened the Surface and beyond. It was for that reason alone that he had survived his fall to the Surface, but he shouldn't have fallen so violently—evil spirits were at play and danced in the shadows.

"You possess something of great worth to the darkness which plagues this land," Impaz had told him, resting a bony finger over his heart. "The evil which clings to the shadows… your unbreakable spirit is necessary in their plans. It is of the utmost importance that you do not fall into their hands."

Yet she refused to delve deeper and tell him the whole story no matter how many questions he asked; most were left unanswered. Although he didn't have the greatest understanding of what was happening, he was more frustrated at the unmoving weight on his chest that had appeared after leaving the Sealed Temple—the weight of a past he didn't understand and his questions that were left unanswered only made things worse.

And now he was here in one of the dens of his supposed enemies. He could hear them prowling the rooms and corridors around him, air rattling in their chests with every inhale they took. They knew he was nearby too, but they hadn't found him yet—he prayed they never would. He'd already defeated their kind before, but it was far from enjoyable.

He prayed that this would all be over soon, though he sensed that this was only the beginning.

The only solace he could take was that, at some point, he would no longer be alone. The Goddess had chosen two mortals, and despite how much the priestess dodged the subject of the other mortal's identity, it was clear to Link who it was. After all, Impaz had told him how natural it was for the Goddess's chosen ones to develop some sort of closeness prior to destiny guiding their feet, and Zelda's harp had mysteriously managed to survive the fall with him. It had to be her, there was no doubt in his mind.

If anything, that was why he fought more monsters than hid from them: so Zelda would have to face less battles. As much as he wanted to wait for her, he knew deep down that he couldn't, not with the constant unease of feeling eyes watching him from the shadows. Even though he couldn't stop, that didn't mean that he couldn't make things easier and safer for her when she eventually came through here.

He jumped when a Bokoblin dragged its cleaver against the wall he was pressed against. Bokoblins, Link quickly realised, acted with determination but little thought behind their actions. They had one job: to find him and deliver him, alive, to whoever they served under. But Link was in their territory, their land, and they knew he was there; they were toying with him now, trying to psyche him out. But he wouldn't let them.

Time to head out, he told himself, tightening his grip on his weapon. He glanced up to the ceiling and sent a silent prayer to the Goddess that had brought him here before leaping back into the fray once more.

~Zelda~

Compared to the bright colours of Faron Woods, Skyview Temple has an almost ethereal air and glow to it. The sound of our footfalls bounce between the walls as we descend the dark stairway lined with a few lit torches, both the steps and the corridor we reach at the bottom covered in layers upon layers of thick dust and grass that's almost white, blue mushrooms growing in between the cracks in the walls and floor.

There's a beauty to it, but also an air of unease that puts me on edge.

"This is Skyview Temple, Dominae," Fi tells us from a few paces ahead, hers and Karane's presences greatly comforting after what happened outside the temple. "I detect an increase of hostile auras within the structure compared to those in the Faron Woods and the Sealed Grounds; do not let your guard down. My projections indicate the danger to your life will be limited if you remain calm and engage monsters confidently, using your health-replenishing items sparingly. Analysis also indicates the presence of monsters more powerful than those found in the land."

Her words, while unsettling to hear, make me feel little more in control of the environment. I nod and dismiss her. I glance over to Karane, but her eyes are on the twisting stairway before us. Following her gaze, I notice a fresh set of footprints that have disturbed the dust on the stonework. I catch her gaze and wordlessly raise a brow, not daring to break through the cold silence with my question.

She nods in agreement—Link was here recently. But with Ghirahim's words still lingering at the back of my mind, it only puts me further on edge than I was before.

If he was here recently then that means we can catch up to him, I try to reassure myself. Just focus on one thing at a time.

We start down the stairway before us, cutting through the few spider webs that stand in our way as we go. I open my mouth every now and again to say something, but the words always die in my throat before I can utter them. After all, what can I say? I don't have the energy to give words of comfort nor do I want to remark on the strange beauty to this place; what secrets and dangers could be waiting for us?

The door at the bottom of the steps is open, as if someone's been through here recently. Walking through a room with a staircase going nowhere, we emerge into a room that's barely holding its own in its battle against nature. Most of the staircases are broken, large tree branches twist and curl around the room like hands clawing away at the manmade building and vines cling to the walls possessively.

We stand on a walkway that leads to three doors, one to the left, right and centre. There aren't any monsters here, but the green blood on the floor betrays the temple's supposed peace. Since the only way that's open to us is the door straight ahead, we slowly head towards it. I try to ignore the blood stains on the ground, though it comforts me a little not to see any red blood—if Link really was here recently, then he isn't hurt.

Yet, a dark voice at the back of my mind sneers. He's not hurt yet.

I shake my head and follow Karane through the door, my heart skipping a beat when we enter in the largest room yet. A large dome sits in the centre of the chamber with a pink crystal adorning it, parts of the roof caved in and two statues of birds standing proudly outside the door into the dome—they're exactly like the ones in Skyloft, strangely. Light pours in from the ceiling above the dome, illuminating the cavernous room unlike the rest of the temple. If it weren't for the Keese flying around and the anxiety in my gut, I would have said that these ruins were beautiful.

Crossing the chamber to the dome, we try and open the door but to no avail. Taking a step back, Karane and I split up to see if there's any other way into the dome, though even that proves fruitless. The parts of the dome that have caved in are too high up for us to climb into and there aren't any mechanisms that will open the door. Once we meet back at the start, Karane points up to the crystal.

"It looks a little out of place, don't you think?" she remarks. I hum.

"It does. And if it's right above the door, then maybe it's a switch of some kind." I huff. "But it's too high up for us to active in any way."

She thinks about it for a while before her eyes light up and she riffles through my bag. Before I can ask her what she's doing, however, she pulls out my slingshot and takes some ammunition from the bag on my belt. The knight takes aim at the crystal before letting the shot fly; it misses. She exhales loudly through her nose and takes aim again, though this time her aim is true.

The crystal breaks up into a multitude of smaller ones and loses its pink colour. A few moments pass where only the sound of metal thudding can be heard, then the door slides open with ease. "Good thinking," I say as she tucks the slingshot back into my bag. She smiles and redraws her sword and shield.

"It's what I'm here for."

Even though the dome is broken in places and should, therefore, be as bright and airy as outside, we're quickly proven wrong. There's a thickness to the air as if darkness has tainted it, the moss and vegetation crawling through here darker in colour and giving off a strange aura. The hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stand on end.

Then my eyes find the pile of bones in the middle of the room.

A gasp escapes me, and for a single, horrifying moment, I think the worst. But then I shake my head and reason with myself—if it was Link, then he wouldn't be this far gone in a matter of minutes or hours. And besides, these bones are still white and have slightly rusty armour attacked to certain parts—it can't be him. Forcing myself to remain calm, I take a step forward to examine the bones.

My movement was a mistake.

By some unknown force, the bones on the floor are somehow drawn together and create a skeletal monster holding a pair of swords, like a skeletal puppet on invisible strings. Its eyes, once mere gaps were eye sockets used to be, glow an off-pink that burn with the same malice as the Bokoblins littered around Faron Woods—it won't hesitate to kill us.

I take an instinctive step back as the creature lunges forward, blocked by Karane's shield as she yelps a, "What the—?" from the force of the strike.

"F-Fi!"

The hilt of the Goddess Sword glows and Fi's voice echoes around the chamber. "Target locked: Stalfos. This skeleton soldier is born of the dead. In its previous life, it was an ordinary knight, but undeath has improved its combat abilities. It is possible to overpower it with a well-timed shield bash during the creature's attack."

As Karane takes the lead, being the more skilled of us two, I tighten my grip on my sword as the hilt goes dull and I force myself to calm my breathing. You can do this, I assure myself as I sink into a battle stance. The Stalfos stalks around the edge of the room and sizes us up, glowing eyes glaring at the both of us. I duck beneath its first swing and slash at its ribcage, sending chunks of bone flying off in one direction, though I barely hop away from the monster's second strike only a moment later.

With its dual weapons to fight the both of us, the Stalfos easily throws either of us back when we get too close. Karane and I remain on the defensive until it grows tired of waiting for us to attack, deciding to focus more on me since I don't have a shield, which naturally puts Karane in between me and the monster every few attacks.

She knocks one of its attacks wide with a well-timed shield parry that allows us to momentarily go on the offensive. Our slashes manage to break off a few more bones in its ribcage, but we can't get close enough to sever anything else before the Stalfos has recovered.

"I'll shield, you attack," Karane orders.

I nod firmly and step back a pace. Karane raises her shield when the Stalfos next brings its weapons down, standing her ground enough that one of Stalfos's swords gets stuck in her shield for a few precious moments. I leap forward and bring the Goddess Sword down, trying to sever its spine, but it's too thick to cut through with one slash. I retreat before it can bring its other sword down and hit me.

For a while, our plan is nothing but a seemingly endless cycle of parrying and slashing away at a bone or two without ever making real progress. But this Stalfos, at least compared to the Bokoblins, is smarter than I originally thought because it soon catches on to our method and uses it against us.

The undead knight steps back to recover its strength and baits us both forward. Karane attacks first, dodging one strike and slamming her shield off the other. I charge forward to get in an attack or two, only for the Stalfos to recover faster than ever before—as if it were only pretending to recover—and brings its first blade down on me before I can move out of the way.

I'm too late to stop it.

The Stalfos's blade cleanly slices through my left shoulder and I instantly cry out. The Goddess Sword slips from my grip and clatters against the stone as I instinctively reach up to clutch the wound protectively. Karane jumps over to protect me from the Stalfos's next attack, and I mentally hiss at myself for not seeing this coming.

I should have been smarter, I scold myself. I should have been—

Karane's shield suddenly goes flying, and I watch on with wide eyes as the Stalfos brings its dual blades down before my partner can recover.

"Karane!"

The swords slice across her chest and she stumbles back with a gasp. My heart jumps to my throat and my cry is nothing more than a croak. Karane staggers back a place but doesn't lose her footing, but it gives the Stalfos enough time to react and charge at her. Acting on instinct, I pick up my weapon and leap back into the fray.

I raise the Goddess Sword and meet the Stalfos's weapon with surprising ease, adrenaline pumping through my veins as my speed throws the monster off enough for me to shove it away from us and create a gap in its defences. The Stalfos's shock opens enough of a gap for me to strike, and I bring my sword down with a cry. My aim is true and the blade slides through the last remnants of its spine.

It stares at me for a moment, just like the first Bokoblin I fought did, before its glowing eyes fade away and, with a shriek, it crumples to the ground and shatters into a mound of bones. A few seconds pass before the bones disappear in a cloud of purple smoke and the thick air starts to clear. I take a moment to calm my breathing, only for the last few moments the catch up with me and I spin around to Karane with tears burning at the edges of my eyes.

I meet her gaze as I sheathe my weapon, ready to grab what potions and bandages that I have to hand, only to stop short when I find Karane offering me a tired smile, her tunic ripped but no obvious wound on display. My eyes widen when I realise why.

"You… you're…"

"A good knight is always prepared," she says simply, the light from above illuminating the rings of her chainmail. Her eyes find the wound on my shoulder. "When we get back to Skyloft, we're making sure that you're just as prepared."

Thinking about the wound is enough to remind me of the stinging pain, but the sight of Karane unharmed is enough to send me flying at her so I can wrap her up in the biggest hug I can muster. The thought of her being safe, albeit tired, sends waves of relief flooding through me. She chuckles and hugs me back, and we stay like that for a few moments before a flash of light catches our attention.

We part just as a metal chest appears in a burst of light; the white box adorned with various gemstones. Once we bandage up my shoulder, I kneel down, lift up the lid of the chest and peer inside. The interior is lined with red velvet and holds a strangely shaped golden structure covered in odd markings. It's rather large for a simple ornament, but I've never seen anything like this before.

I take the object out of the chest and admire how the sun reflects off its surface. Calling for Fi's assistance, the spirit of the blade appears in moments and explains, "That object is known as the Golden Carving, and is a key that can be used somewhere within the temple." Karane and I inspect it closer, surprised that this strange item is a key of some sort. "Further analysis of the area also indicates that the defeat of the Stalfos has triggered the opening of a nearby passageway which was previously inaccessible."

Fi returns to her place within the Goddess Sword and I place my harp into my bag so I can tuck the key under my arm and carry it with us. "Well, we have our next mission," Karane remarks. "Are you ready?"

I tighten my grip on the key and weapon, "More than anything."

My bag bounces off my hip as we exit the dome structure, the two of us sticking together as we explore the room for evidence of the new passageway that Fi described. On the opposite side of where we entered this place from, we spot a gap in the wall that wasn't there before. The entryway is blocked by metal bars, but we can see through them enough to make out a large pathway on the other side and an ornate door at the end.

I glance down at the Golden Carving in my hand—three guesses what door this key will be used for.

Karane nudging my arm snaps me from my train of thoughts and I look up to where she's pointing too; there's a pink crystal above the blocked entrance, identical to the one above the previous door. I wordlessly take out the slingshot and hit the crystal with ease. The crystal splits and dulls in colour, and after a few moments of hearing mechanisms move inside the walls, the metal bars slide up and reveal the path ahead.

Anticipation gnaws at my gut as we start down the tunnel, a horrible fear taking a hold of my heart. "I'm worried, Karane," I murmur, unable to hold it in.

"We'll be alright. We have each other's backs." But her words offer little comfort.

"I'm not worried about us," I say quietly as the corridor opens out into a cavernous room. The pathway before us remains but now we can see a large chasm below us that stretches down so far, we can't see the bottom. I swallow thickly and force myself to think about what I was saying. "We haven't seen either of them throughout the entire temple. I…" My heart sinks as I dare say the words aloud, "I'm worried about the path ahead."

When Karane doesn't respond, I look over at her as the door ahead gets closer with each step. But she's not looking at me or at the door; her eyes are focused on the gaps in the roof high above us. I follow her gaze and my heart sinks further at the sight.

"And now we have one more problem to add to the list," she says softly.

What portions of the sky we can see through the broken roof are still bright blue, but are now streaked through with orange—the sun's starting to set. With the exception of trained knights who are specifically tasked with patrolling the skies at night, the majority of Loftwings can't fly at night—they have poor night vision and struggle to see in dimly-lit places—and so the majority of the islanders don't fly at night. There are even rules about it. But Karane only has patrols on the island and I'm not a knight in any sense, so both of us need to get moving if we're going to return to Skyloft tonight.

If we don't, then we'll be stuck down here for the night. We'll be stuck down here with all the terrors that plague the Surface.

"Come on," she says after a moment. "We're going to get to the end of this temple, we're going to find Link and then we're going to go home. Isn't that right?"

"Exactly," I lie. "Let's not waste any more time."

The pathway ends and we stand before the large door I saw earlier, one that looks extremely out of place in this age old temple. It's made of metal, unlike the rest of the temple, and its golden plated edges have dulled over time. Depictions of trees have been carved into the door and are adorned with blue gemstones, but it's the lock that catches my eye—it's a perfect match to the Golden Carving.

Knowing that the lock is too high up for either of us to reach, Karane gives me a boost and I twist the key in my grip until it slots into place. I hop down as the key glows in its keyhole before disappearing. For a second, I wonder if I did something wrong, but then the lock snaps in two and silence befalls the cavernous room once more.

Neither of us speak—we know what we have to do and we're ready to face whatever challenges lie ahead of us. Karane moves forward first, placing her side against the large door and waits for me to do the same. My heart starts to beat faster, as if aware of something that the rest of me isn't, and I do my best to ignore it as I join Karane. Pushing our weight against the door, it opens with surprising ease and we almost fall inside.

And what we find inside are all my fears realised.

Despite light pouring in from behind us and in the ceiling above, the chamber is surprisingly dark; the hairs on the back of my neck immediately rise. Nature hasn't claimed this room like it has in the rest of the temple; none of the tree designs on the walls or the tiles on the floor (arranged to look like the sun) are cracked or marred by greenery. I spot a golden door directly ahead of us, but my eyes only look at it for the briefest of moments because I'm more occupied by the room's occupants.

Two figures are fighting relentlessly, and I recognise both of them instantly. The first is Ghirahim, who wields a single onyx coloured blade and battles the other figure with a ferocity that makes me panic. The other figure—

"Goddess above," Karane breathes.

Despite the Demon Lord's clear skill, Link holds his own just as bravely. Just as Bucha had described, he wears clothes similar to Karane's, though his tunic is a darker green and he isn't wearing a hat. The world seems to fall away as I watch him fight; the sight of him alive, albeit in grave danger, is enough to send my mind spiralling.

He's alive, my mind repeats over and over like a mantra. He's alive.

He's alive, just like Fi had told me and Impaz had assured me. Even though I'd doubted them and seen things that made me question how much he'd been put in harm's way in our time apart, he fights now with so much life and determination that my knees go weak. The two are so focused on the fight that neither of them react to mine and Karane's entrance, and for a moment I wonder if I'm dreaming.

"Well, you're certainly putting up more of a fight than I would have thought possible," the pale man remarks, not even breathless from his constant attacks. Link says nothing, and a part of me begs him to speak if only to prove that he's real. "But don't clap yourself quite yet. You've grown sloppy since the last time we fought."

My heart stops for a moment. They've already fought before?

Link narrows his eyes as he parries the Demon Lord's next strike, "I think I would remember fighting someone like you before." His words, although confusing me further, shatter any doubts I had. I bite back a gasp of relief at the sound of his voice—he's real, he's here, he's not just a figment of my imagination. Ghirahim makes a tsk sound.

"By the time we've finished here, boy, I'll make sure that you and Her Grace remember me and everything that you both did." Before I can even start picking apart his cryptic words, the Demon Lord stops short and snaps his attention to me. "And now she's finally arrived."

Blinking at his words, Link straightens and follows Ghirahim's line of sight. Our eyes meet and I feel my eyes heat up as we stare at one another for the briefest of moments. The sharp focus on his face drops as he takes me in, and I silently watch as he processes it all. There's a joy in his eyes, but also a fear at what may happen now that we're all together.

In truth, he should have also feared for himself, because the Demon Lord takes his moment to slam the pommel of his sword into Link's back, sending him to the ground in an instant. His sword falls out from his grip and skitters across the stone floor with a clatter, though he has no time to retrieve it before the pale man's own sword is pressed firmly against his throat.

A cry escapes me before I can suppress it. Ghirahim merely grins at me.

"It's so wonderful for you to finally join us, Your Grace," he mocks. "Now, I believe we have some business to attend to, hm?"