Chapter 15

The ride to the Goron quarry more resembled a funeral procession than it did the grand adventure Zelda had always imagined her first glimpse of the Goron mines to be. She didn't even glance at the road. She only held the broken Keaton mask in her hands and stared at it with blank eyes, the usual vibrancy of blue glassed over like a stormy sky. There weren't any more tears left in her. Her father had left her all alone in a world she was not just meant to survive but also meant to rule. How could anyone rule over all of this chaos?

Zelda was in Gwen's lap for most of the trip, on the same horse, which had carried them all the way to what she could only think of as the last time she saw Link. The pirate held the girl gently with one arm, keeping her from sliding off the horse. Zelda needed the help. She had not been able to stand properly after using her magic to heal Scarlett's badly cut legs. It had been a final act of mercy by the Goddess before a thick layer of clouds had descended over the mountain like a belated omen.

Eventually the winding trail leveled out high above the village, which they could see in the hazy distance, like a mosaic pattern of clashing colors and softly burning fires. Down the slope ahead of them, the Goron quarry waited like a silent palace of hewn stone, an inverted pyramid of steps, infinitely longer than wide, and graduating into the very heart of the ageless mountain.

"Do you see it?" said Scarlett, sharply.

Gwen brought the horse alongside her Captain. Zelda looked at Scarlett, and the pirate had no discernable emotion. She was chisled. Solid. Stone. Not a person at all, not with that mask on.

"Yes," said Gwendolin, "There's no one down there."

The canyon felt oppressive and haunted. They could hear the clopping of the horse's hooves echoing off the far side of the quarry like calling drums. They quickly elected to tie the animals up where they stood and continue on foot for fear of alerting someone hiding behind one of the million quiet doors which pock-marked the cavernous space before them. Scarlett approached the nearest door, motioned for the group of them to be quiet, and tested the handle. She tore the door open and leapt into the room, sword drawn. They found the chamber cold, the fire long since burned out, and the place deserted. Down the way they walked, and door after door they tried, until they came to the level below, and the level below that. Each level only crowned the next by about twelve feet, so they began using hookshots to go from one to the next without using the ramp ways, but that only made them lose count of which level had been last. The process became maddening until at last Scarlett called for a halt.

"Gwendolin," said Scarlett, "What do you make of this?"

"There aren't any Gorons here," said Gwen.

"And what do you suppose happened to all the Gorons?" said Scarlett, her eye closed and brow furrowed in thought.

"Killed," said Gwen, grimly, "Or captured, Captain."

"It seems to me that the wizard has already been here," said Scarlett, "Likely he's already found the temple we're looking for."

"Aye, Captain," said Gwen.

"What's on yer mind, Ms. Gwendolin," said Scarlett. It felt more like a demand than it did a question.

"We can't get it, can we?" said Gwen, "Without the boy. There's no way we can get it without him."

"We'll figure something out," said Scarlett, "We don't know until we get there."

"But you do know," said Gwen, "You know, and you're taking us there anyway."

"Are you saying that you aren't coming with me?" said Scarlett, "Are you saying that you're considering defecting from this crew, Ms. Gwendolin?"

"No, Captain," said Gwen, "I'm asking what our plan is now?"

Scarlett turned away from Gwen, walking over to the edge of the tier they were on. She gestured out over the open cavern with a broad sweep of her arm, as if presenting it to them.

"Look at this," said Scarlett, "Do you see what he can do? It's terrible. Whole races swept away with one motion of his hand. I won't bow to it though. Not I. I don't care if I can take that treasure from him or not. It's the only chance to undo anything that's happened now. And I'm gonna plunge like a poisoned dagger straight into the bastard's chest, with or without that boy. Him being gone doesn't change anything, not for me! I wasn't doing this for him."

"Then what do we do, Captain?" said Gwendolin, sternly. Her eyes seethed with choked up anger, but the First Mate stayed true to her station. She waited, breathlessly for Scarlett to reply.

"We find some Gorons," said Scarlett, "There were thousands of them, there may still be some left behind. We find them, and we get them to show us where the other Gorons were taken and where the entrance to the Temple of the Heart might be."

"We find Gorons," said Gwen, flatly, "So we just keep checking doors until either Nyarlath shows up to kill us or we find some Gorons that have all the answers to our problems?"

Gwen got right up in Scarlett's face.

"Aye, Captain," said Gwen, "I'll start searching immediately."

Gwen went to the nearest door and slammed her foot into it like a hammer. The door splintered where it had been deadlocked into the stone, swinging in on sturdy hinges and bouncing back from slamming on the rocky wall.

"Oh, look, empty!" yelled Gwen. She had fire in her eyes as she stormed on to the next door. She kicked it in too, knocking it clear off the hinges. "Oh, this one is empty too, Captain! Well, I'll let you know when I get to the end of the row."

Gwen went on down the line, knocking the doors off their hinges one after the other. Scarlett turned away in quiet frustration, glaring out at the other side of the quarry. Zelda watched the pirate silently gazing at the gallery of lifeless doors and felt like there had never been a more unpleasant moment in her life. There was nothing left in carrying on. Gwen was right, without Link there would be no retrieving a shard of the treasure. He was the only one among them who understood how to travel in the Dreamworld and recover the precious shards. Every moment they spent there was just a moment closer to them following in Link's footsteps, another resistance group snuffed out by the long and menacing arm of Nyarlath.

Zelda felt the tears welling up in her eyes, and she felt the breath leaving her chest completely. She was already beginning to sob as she dashed inside the nearby door; the first one Gwen had forcibly unhinged.

She found herself in a tiny room hewn out of the sandy-colored rock. It contained a hearth, which still burned with the slowly dying coals of a blacksmith's fire. Beside it, a smelting pot glowed, though its stock was steamy and cooling, and thick islands of solidifying gold floated at its surface. Zelda felt powerless to marvel at the sight of a quaint Goron hovel, or notice the one torch against the wall that was knocked askew. She collapsed beside the door and became reduced to sobs.

In the corner opposite Zelda, there was yet another thing the Princess had not noticed: an open wooden chest containing copious and various rocks. Inside it, something was gently stirring, making little more sound than a pebble landing on a pincushion.

"Hey, Doro," hissed one of the rocks.

"Yeah, Toro?" said the other.

"I think one of those lizard-men is back!" whispered Toro.

"Oh no!" said Doro, "What will we do Toro?"

"We have to go on the offensive!" said Toro, "We can't just hide here forever. What would the Legendary Hero do?"

"I dunno, Toro," said Doro, "I think we should just stay hidden and wait for dad. We're not big enough to fight lizard-men!"

"Come on, Doro, we're Gorons!" said Toro, as if this were plain to see, "We can do anything! Here, take this."

Toro handed Doro a jagged piece of Quartz, which they had been saving to eat for dinner that evening if they were still hiding in the food bin. Toro then selected his own jagged piece, and he brought his brother into a close huddle among the piled stones.

"Okay, Doro, on three we jump out and smack it a good one with these chunks of quartz," said Toro, "You got that?"

"Wait, Toro," said Doro, straining to listen. He thought he could hear the sound of someone crying gently. "Do you hear that Toro? I think the lizard-man is crying."

"Can't be!" said Toro. He silenced himself, straining his young Goron ears to listen. He couldn't believe it, but he heard sobs! "It's gotta be a trick!"

"I dunno, Toro," said Doro, "It sounds pretty sad. I'm gonna see what's wrong with it."

"Doro, no!"

It was too late. Doro stood up, the chunk of quartz still in his hand, and shook off the other rocks, climbing over the side of the treasure chest with little pebbly noises. The figure slumped in the corner near the door was crying so intensely, the young Goron could see now, that it hadn't even heard him get out of the bin. It was a Hylian, too! He hadn't seen many Hylians, but it seemed shorter than the ones he'd seen before, so he guessed it must be a child as well.

"Toro, it's a Hylian!" cried Doro.

"What?" said Toro, standing.

Zelda suddenly noticed that she was not alone in the room. She squeaked with fright, her eyes snapping up in horror to find… a pair of tiny round faces with beady black eyes, flat noses and smiling mouths.

"You're Gorons," said Zelda, "Baby Gorons. But where are all the adults?"

"Oh, thank goodness," said Doro, "We thought you were a lizard-man!"

"Doro!" said Toro, "Don't be rude. Remember what dad always says. 'Politeness is part of the essential Goron character!' Hello, Hylian. I'm Toro, and this is my brother Doro. He was born fifteen centimeters below me. Pleased to meetcha! What's your name?"

"I'm Zelda," she said, "And the pleasure is mine. Well met young Gorons. I apologize for my present state, but it has been a difficult journey that has brought me here."

"That's okay," said Toro, "But why were you crying?"

"Yeah," said Doro, "Did the dragon come and get your daddy, too?"

"No," said Zelda, "What dragon? What happened to all the other Gorons, anyway?"

"Lizard-men came and took them away in the middle of the night," replied Doro, "They were working for the Evil King! We know where he took them though. The same place the Evil King took the Gorons last time."

"Yeah," said Toro, "Deep into the temple under the mountain, for the big fiery dragon Volvagia to gobble up!"

"What are you talking about?" said Zelda, "You mean the Lizalfos took your father?"

"Yeah, the lizard-men took everyone away, but they're just doing what the Evil King says," said Toro, "Whenever the Evil King is around, all the moblins and dragons and re-deads and every mean monster you can think of has to do whatever he says."

"But that doesn't explain why you were crying," said Doro, "What's wrong, Zelda? Maybe we could help."

"No, you cannot, but thank you very much, Doro," said Zelda, gently, "Its just that… well… well a very dear friend of mine left."

"Oh," said Doro, "Well when is he coming back?"

"He's not coming back," said Zelda, fighting another outburst of sobs.

"Well," said Toro, giving Doro a worried glance, "We're real sorry about your friend, Zelda. But you mustn't worry! Just when things look hopeless, that's when the Legendary Hero turns up."

"Yeah!" said Doro, "Its in all of dad's stories. Any time anything seems like it can't be fixed, the Legendary Hero shows up and fixes it. You'll see. That's why we're not scared of the dragon."

"Oh, Doro," said Zelda, sadly. How could she explain to the little creature that things weren't the way they seemed in myths and fables? There wasn't such a thing as a legendary hero who could never lose. There were just people, trying as they might to get by day to day. The world was harsh. It was like the dragon in the baby Goron's bedtime story: it would eat you. But how do you say that to a child?

"Come on, you two," said Zelda, standing, "It simply will not do for you to stay here all alone. Come with me for now. My friends will probably want to talk to you as well."

"Okay Zelda," said Toro, taking the Princess' hand.

They headed toward the door, but Zelda turned back. Doro still stood at the center of the room. His eyes were cast worriedly at the spilt bin of gemstones and rocks he and his brother had been hiding in.

"Dad made us promise not to leave," said Doro.

"Doro, if we don't leave then we might never see dad again," said Toro, "Its okay, we can trust Zelda. Come on!"

"Okay," said Doro, but he was still glancing back reluctantly as they ventured out into the quarry.

Scarlett was still standing near the edge of the tier they were on, gazing out at the deserted floor of the Goron quarry. Zig was up on the tier above, his legs dangling off the edge and eyes closed in a meditative silence. Gwen was far down the aisle, still trudging from door to door, searching for some survivor of the mysterious Goron disappearance.

"Scarlett," said Zelda, quietly.

The pirate turned around to regard the princess, and looked as though she might be about to say something snide before her eyes came to rest on the pair of tiny Gorons at Zelda's heels.

"Babies," said Scarlett, remembering a place to be snide after all, "Well, doesn't that just figure? Well, can you two pebbles speak, or what?"

"Hello, Hylian," said Doro, stepping forward, "I'm Doro, and this is my brother Toro. He was born fifteen centimeters above me but dad says I'm heavier. Pleased to meet you! What's your name?"

"You can call me Captain, ya crusty little twerp," said Scarlett, "Now tell me, what happened to your daddy?"

"Dad and the other Gorons were taken away by the lizard-men," said Doro, "but we already told Zelda that. She was much nicer asking us about it than you were, too, you big meanie."

"Yeah, we're not crust at all!" said Toro, "We're pure bedrock. Go miners!"

"Go miners!" echoed Doro.

"Calm down, ye little ruffians," said Scarlett, "Where exactly did these lizard-men take your daddy?"

"The temple under the mountain, for sure!" said Toro, "That's where the Evil King takes the Gorons."

"Temple under the mountain, you say," said Scarlett, scratching her chin in contemplation.

"Scarlett, they are just kids," said Zelda, "They are talking about a bedtime story their father told them. They do not know what happened to the Gorons any more than we do beyond that the Lizalfos took them away. Do you not see? It is time to go now, Scarlett. We have to get away from these mountains while there is still a chance. No one else has to die."

"You have no idea what you're saying, Princess," said Scarlett, frowning, "You have no clue what I'd be sacrificing if I turned back now."

"Scarlett," said Zelda, "Is it worth the lives of these children as well?"

"Hey, look at that!" cried Toro.

"It's the fairy light!" said Doro, pointing at the sky, "Just like in the stories. See? I knew he would come."

"Yeah! It's the Legendary Hero!"

Zelda and Scarlett turned to regard the smoke-gray sky above the silent quarry. A shaft of glowing blue light was coming down like a beam from heaven. Its column landed on the ground at the bottom of the quarry, and from its highest point in the milky clouds overhead a remote figure, like a speck of black tinged with forest green, began to descend.

"What in the world is that?" said Zig, from his perch on the upper tier.

Scarlett snapped open her spyglass, which she kept at her side. She raised the thing and pointed it into the dreary overcast. She focused on the silhouette drifting earthbound in the glowing column of light.

"Well I'll be keel hauled," said Scarlett, her mouth agape.

He could hear the melodic, haunting tinkle of distant harps, and feel the gentle, soothing breeze upon his cheeks. He was flying now, high over the forest through an open sky, the endless canopy of green stretching away to the golden horizon, and all the fairy lights dancing upon the leaves. There was a peace within him unlike any he had ever felt, and no more could he remember any pain. Some part of him was vaguely aware of the shards of wood and shrapnel in his chest, and the blood soaking his clothing, but that all seemed so faraway and surreal, as if it happened to someone else in a long forgotten dream.

"Hello, Link."

The soft and comforting feel of straw and feathers, the gentle call of birds in the trees, the earthen aroma of dew soaked leaves. Was he back in the forest? Back in his tree house, safe and sound again?

"Wake up."

The words made no sense, yet the ring of their tiny, melodic voice felt so familiar. He felt as though he should laugh, or cry, but he could not. He could not even move. Yet so acute were the aromas, so real the soft touches of his cushions.

"The Great Deku Tree wants to talk to you!"

Could he really wake up like this, so far away from everything, as if his life had been a mere dream to wake up from?

"Link, get up! Hey, c'mon!"

The voice was urging him to consciousness, but he felt more as if he were drifting further into sleep. Where had he been all this time? There was a girl somewhere out there with green hair wasn't there? Out there through the window? But no… that was wrong…

"Can Hyrule's destiny really depend on such a lazy boy?"

Zelda needed him. Zelda needed him there beside her. In the world where people lived and died, not the one that comes next. He could wake up there another time.

His eyes were open.

Everything shimmered. Curtains of gently falling water poured from nothingness down the dark walls. Pearlescent white stones comprised a fountain surrounded with expertly carved columns. There was a shining blue light above the water. Link watched it twinkle at him, his feet not touching the ground. His mind swam with opiate haze, and he could no longer tell what was real.

"You finally woke up," said the voice, and though it was the same voice as before its tone had changed. Soft and full of melody it remained, but tinged with the beautiful sadness of a tragic ballad rather than the joyful piping of forest flutes.

"Who are you?" Link managed to whisper.

"I am Navi, the Great Fairy of Magic," said the voice. The twinkling blue light began to sharpen, and the haze of Link's vision focused on the silhouette of a woman. She floated over the fountain before him, her hair shining azure, and her lips and eye shadow deepest blue. She smiled at him dazzlingly, her loving orbs watching him through dark pupils at the center of golden irises.

"And you," began the woman, wistfully, "You are Link, the hero of this land, and my friend."

"I don't know you," said Link, weakly.

"Your mind does not know me, but your soul does," she said, "It is an old soul, yours, and worn from over use. Tired, and longing for rest. Yet it still shines as bright as when it were band new."

"I don't understand," said Link.

She floated closer to him, her soft hands caressing his cheeks lovingly. Waves of euphoric warmth spread through him and whatever dull throb of pain he might have felt seemed to melt away. He looked at her and saw that she was beautiful.

"Don't worry, Link," she said, "I will send you back to your friends. You have a world to save, after all."

Then she kissed him. He had never been kissed before. It made his lips tingle with electricity.

"I've always loved you, Link," she said, "Make me proud."

A blue column of light came down around him, and he could feel himself drifting upward. The light was so bright! The room faded away like the ghostly shadow of a time long past. His head was becoming clearer. He wanted to say more to the fairy, but even as his senses became sharpened the entire scene was growing rapidly more distant from his mind. He began to feel as though it all had been a pleasant dream just as the sweet, beautiful, distant voice rang out clearly once more in his longing ears.

"When battle has made you weary, please come back and see me…"

And then there was nothing.

When he came to, Zelda had him in her arms. The world was a blur all around him, all he could see were her blue eyes, red with tears.

"Zelda, don't cry," said Link.

"Always come back to me, okay?" she said, her lips trembling with the effort of speaking through the tears, "You have to promise me, right now, that you'll always come back."

He had never seen anything so devastatingly heartbreaking in his entire life. There was nothing he could do wrong if Zelda wanted him to do it. It had been one of his worst fears that he would die someday and no one would even care. Now he knew, he had found his family. He had found a thing he could die proudly for.

"I promise," said Link.

She hugged him for a long time.

"Captain, are you tearing up?" said Gwen, quietly, her elbow poking Scarlett in the rib.

The elder pirate turned away.

"Its all this dust down here," hissed Scarlett, "You try going on like this with only one eye."

"Mmmhmm," hummed Gwendolin, brightly. Scarlett acted grumpy, but the feeling was absolute and unmistakable. Love was in the air, like a static charge, and up their spirits went like standing hairs. Suddenly the empty Goron quarry seemed just a little bit less sad a place.