Hello Readers- I seem to go back and edit quite a bit after publishing. I can't help it, I have second thoughts. If the events of this chapter don't make sense, go back and re-read the last one. I probably pulled a fast one on you.

As always, please read and review as they are both constructive and encouraging. Thanks!

-C

Chapter 6:

The Shadow Temple

As I neared Kakariko village, I could see a thin streak of smoke coming from the town. There was fire in Kakariko. My heart sank into my guts. Somewhere in me I knew who the Sage of Shadows was, who else could it have been save for the last of the Sheikah? I had known it for a long time, but the fear of loosing my beloved companion shielded me from the reality of it. But now the time had come, and Impa was rising to the challenge just as in legend. I entered the town to see Impa stationed at the well. I came towards her, and she put a hand on my shoulder, thankful for my presence.

"The seal of the Shadows has torn." She said. "My seal… is being broken." She looked to me and for the first time I sensed something in her that I had never sensed in all of our years together. I sensed failure. "You must help me contain the shadows!" She said urgently. I looked below into the well and I saw this… bulge, pushing from the walls as if the stone had become swollen flesh. My heart beat fast. Impa took in her shadow magic and made to push the shadows back. The swelling recessed a bit but it fought to escape.

"Sheik, help me contain the shadow!" She said between clenched teeth. I took what little mastery of the Shadow art she had taught me and fought along-side her. She groaned as our efforts combined failed to push the shadow back, and the darkness grew and grew ominously inside the well. My hands began to shake and I feared that I would be the weak one to let go of it.

"I- I can't do it." I groaned.

"Yes you can!" She bellowed. "You are a Sheikah! I have raised you myself!" She said encouragingly. But I knew, and I knew that she knew that I was not a Sheikah. I was a fraud. I was Princess Zelda. My hands shook more violently and I felt my muscles twitch with exhaustion.

"Impa I'm sorry…" I told her. My arms gave way and they hung by my side limp with weakness. Impa then leaped into the well, and pushed on the shadow with all her physical strength, but to our shared terror it began to consume her… my dream flashed before my eyes. There had been meaning in it and I had failed to see it through. I should have been warier! Helplessly I watched the shadow envelop her, pulling her into the darkness towards this… hole. She fought, and I screamed down at her, trying now with magic of light to release her, but it was too late. It had covered her mouth and eyes until it engulfed her whole being. The darkness grew still for a moment, as if tasting its victim. Then the shadow, horribly roaring, pulled her inside. Tears broke through my eyes as I screamed down at her with shuddering breaths.

"Sheik!" A voice spoke. I turned around, my face contorted with grief to see Link standing behind me.

"D-don't come close…" I warned. The top of the well exploded from the ground and the shadow made to grab me in turn. Link ran to help and I pushed him away weakly with a wave of light. "Don't-" I muttered. I felt the mass lift me from the ground and it gnawed at me, devouring me. Then, it shrieked as its dark tongue tasted the power of light inside of me, and it spit me out in disgust. I hit the floor and looked back at the creature. The darkness seemed to gaze into me, and it had seen through my Sheikah disguise. It made to attack me again, but Link leaped before it, and slashed at it with the sacred blade. The Shadow shrieked and swung him violently to the side, knocking him out cold. It crawled, then, along the floor, seeking refuge in the shadows until it disappeared back into the well.

I was completely weak, but I ran to Link and tried to pull him from the unnatural way he had fallen unconscious. I looked back at the Inn and tried to pull him towards it. The townsfolk peeked at us around corners from where they had hidden.

"Well don't just stand there!" I screamed, horrified to realize I was shaken with sobs. "Help me!"

The townspeople slowly neared us, and I collapsed, giving way to exhaustion.

When I awoke, I looked slowly about to find myself inside of the inn. Next to me, Link laid still, but breathing. I outstretched my arm to try to touch him, but I was still too tired to move. I sighed sorrowfully as I stared at the ceiling, trapped in this room with nothing but my thoughts. A fat woman came to coo over me. She blubbered something about me finally being awake, and I could not stand her incessant prattling.

"Leave me alone." I said, consumed with grief. She continued her chattering and I reached to pull my dagger and hold it out towards her.

"I said… leave me alone." I repeated in a threatening tone. The look on her face shocked me to realize that for the first time, I had inspired fear into an innocent bystander. I didn't care. The fat woman turned to leave and slammed the door with a resounding thud. I dropped the dagger to the floor, still too weak to do anything with my arms. Link slowly opened his eyes, as if he had been awake this whole time and was waiting for us to be alone to speak.

"She's awful, isn't she?" He whispered. "I've been pretending to sleep for hours." I chuckled despite my sorrowful mood. "I woke up and listened to her for only two minutes before I feigned a faint to escape her." He turned his head to look at me, a small smile tugging at his lips. I returned the small smile, but tears betrayed the gesture. The painful memory of Impa shook me to my core. I felt empty and useless. I began to take in great gasps as an uncontrollable emotion rushed from me. My eyes were soaked with sorrow, and my head spun as I failed to catch my breath, shaken by my unmanageable crying. He got up slowly, then and I felt his weight press against me. He showed me incredible softness as he held me to him, rocking me gently whispering a mélange of 'It's alright's 'it's okay's and 'there there now's. I felt like a child but I did not dismiss his coddling. It surprised me that it seemed to work, and my gasping sobs became more regular as I won the fight to catch my breath. When I shakily managed to take in slow but heavy breaths, he made to wipe my tears away, but I turned my face from him, embarrassed. Never before had I been so vulnerable with someone that I was not ready for such profound intimacy.

"Tell me what happened." He said softly.

"Impa…" I began in a whisper, my throat still constricted from my crying. "She said she needed help with the Shadow in the Well. Something had broken the seal." I explained.

"Ganondorf…" He reasoned softly.

"Probably…" I agreed. "Anyways, she asked me to help her seal it back… and I… I couldn't." Tears spilled again, but I did not let them overtake me. "She was… consumed by it."

"You couldn't have helped that…" He cooed. I turned to look at him.

"I had a dream last night." I admitted. "About the shadows. And I was too stupid to heed it."

"I had a dream that flowers grew out of my nose, and I disregarded that too." He said teasingly trying to soften the mood. I scoffed.

"You know that I have particularly potent dreams, Link." I said. He nodded, as it was a dream that had instigated our journey seven years ago. Thinking back to it I couldn't help but feel foolish for it. It was us that had opened the Doors of Time, us that had led Ganondorf to the Triforce… Had it been… all along… all my fault. I sighed with the thought.

"Why did you do it?" I asked him, turning to look in his eyes. He looked back confused.

"What?" He asked.

"Why did you get the rest of the stones? Why didn't you dismiss my dreams?" He looked at me and thought.

"I had dreams, too." He admitted. "Nightmares… but I dismissed them. It took a pesky fairy screaming in my ear for me to get off my ass." Navi hid inside his cap at the mention of her. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Zelda you can't blame yourself for the troubles of the world." He squeezed me tighter to him and I sighed in defeat. He was right.

"Also…" He continued. "I got the rocks for you, because I thought you were cute." He said smiling. I smiled back at him and my grief was broken by his charm. A silence filled the room as we were both lost in our respective thoughts. Emotion giving way to logic, our path forward became clearer.

"Where did Impa go?" He asked with dawning seriousness.

"She was taken through a small hole at the bottom of the well. I think to the Shadow Temple." I shuffled from his hold and he released me. "This should lead you to the temple…" I said, pulling out my little harp. He brought his ocarina to his lips and we played the Nocturne of Shadows together. The song was bitter, and sad. It was awful how much it reflected my mood. At the completion of it, he pulled the disguise from my face and kissed me heavily on my lips. I breathed it in sharply and pulled his face towards mine to deepen our connection, but he pulled away. Taking my hand and bringing it to my side.

"I will find her." He said. "I promise." He groaned as he stood, and he took a long swig of red liquid. He shivered at the taste as strength returned to him. He looked back at me and smiled. "Bitter stuff." He joked, as he turned to leave.

I laid back down to continue my rest, wishing so badly that he had stayed here with me. I felt ill and alone. I tried to let sleep overtake me, but I was stricken suddenly by the total absence of Link in this world. He must have gone back, seven years ago.