They woke up some few hours later, still on the ground of the ancient meadow. Link stood up first, stretching as he did, and wincing in pain from the wounds on his back. Zelda sat up on the ground, still basking in the warm sun. Link held his hand out and she took it. Quickly, but carefully, he pulled her up. They stood there for a few more minutes, reflecting back on the battle they had fought. It was Zelda's first real taste of battle, and although she still didn't like it, she knew she could handle it. Link, of course, had been in numerous battles before, and this one was not that different. Whenever he fought any beast of Ganondorf's creation, he felt nothing for it, killing it in cold-blood. He wasn't particularly proud of that fact, but it had to be done.
"So where do we go next?" Zelda inquired, finally breaking the silence.
"We could either go to Death Mountain or Lake Hylia," he responded as he reached into his pack for the Bracer of Courage.
"Well, I would much rather go to Lake Hylia than to Death Mountain."
"That's fine with me. We can take the short cut to Zora's Domain, then head to Lake Hylia from there." He placed the Bracer onto his wrist, a sense of power washing over him. At first it sent shivers down his spine, but then it became just a slight tingling. He seemed to enjoy the sensation and smiled at Zelda. "I can't wait to see what I can do now!"
Zelda marveled at the beautiful Amulet sitting on his wrist. Once he put it one, the strange green light had glowed again, but not nearly as bright as it was when they entered the meadow. The light began to die down again and she released her gaze.
"Let's go then!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him back through the Lost Woods.
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As the sun peeked over the horizon the next morning, almost all of the army of Dellenia had arrived at Hyrule Castle. The Hylian army had already been split up into divisions, most surrounding the town, while others were sent to protect the remaining towns from a surprise attack.
"My men are here, Nick," Aaron informed him as soon as he spotted Nick. "Should we split them up like the Hylian army?"
"Yes, split them up, but don't mix them with the Hylians. Your men know how to work well together, as do our men. But who knows how they will do fighting side by side? Instead, your men will cover the right flank of the town. Go there and instruct the Hylian men to fortify the left flank and the middle lines."
"Good idea. What do we do when the other armies show up?"
"We may have to use them as a second wave. But it won't come down to that." Nick tried to convince his friend, but was having a hard time convincing himself. The armies of Ganondorf were sure to be large and deadly. He walked over to the window and looked out across Hyrule Field. Standing in front of the evil tower were swarms of creatures, all facing toward the north – toward Hyrule Castle. Nick knew the time had come.
The water reflected the sun's rays back into the sky, its small waves crashing onto the shore. All was peaceful at Lake Hylia. It had been left undisturbed for the past ten years, ever since it had been refilled by the Hero. Even now, with a war brewing in the fields that were northeast of it, the lake was still. Schools of fish were swimming freely through the water as they had done for many years. On one side of the lake, at the bottom of its shallow area was an opening. It was through this opening that Link and Zelda appeared. They swam to the surface, and once they broke the water, they gasped for air. They swam to shore and pulled themselves onto land.
"Ok," Zelda started as she began to wring her clothes, "now where do we go?"
Link thought about it. The Deku Tree had said something about underneath the lake. But how? He knew there were no passages on the bottom of the lake except for the Water Temple. That was for sure, he had checked quite extensively.
"I'm not sure." He looked across the water, his eyes falling on the island in the middle of the lake that represented the Water Temple. "Let's go over there."
They walked across the first wooden bridge and came upon a small island, just big enough for a stone marker. Link remembered that he had been able to pull the marker from its place and jump down into a secret chamber. But all that had been there was a deku shrub selling something. Without giving it a second thought, they continued across the second bridge to the bigger island.
Once there, they found another stone marker, this one with an inscription on it. Zelda had never seen it before and kneeled beside it to read what it said. Link already knew what the inscription read. It was how he got the fire arrow during his quest: when the lake is full, shoot an arrow into the rising sun. He had done just that and was promptly rewarded. Zelda read it out loud.
"Enter the earth and you shall find,
a treasure worthy of wisdom's mind."
Link was very confused. Had not that been the same stone marker he saw ten years ago? He walked up to, standing almost directly on top of it. It indeed was the same stone, but the inscription was changed. How in the world did that happen? He glanced from the marker to the island where he got the fire arrow, then back at the marker.
"I think I know where we go."
Zelda looked up at him, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. "Where?"
He didn't say a word, just pointed. She followed his outstretched finger and saw the solitary island. She didn't see any bridge that led across to it.
"And how do we get there, o wise one?" she asked with a sarcastic tone in her voice.
He answered matter-of-factly, "Swim."
Before she could even move, he had already dived into the water. She let out a sigh, not wanting to go back in the cold water. Reluctantly, she jumped in and swam after him. The swim took them a few minutes, and they were both quite exhausted when they got back on dry land. Although they had wanted to rest, both knew that they had to recover the other two Amulets quickly, else Hyrule should fall into Ganondorf's evil hands.
"Get back in the water," Link said to her.
"What? Why?" He answered this question by pulling out a bomb and lighting it. She soon got the picture and quickly jumped back into the water, just ahead of Link. They dove under the water to protect themselves from the explosion. When they heard the muffled sounds of the bomb going off, they resurfaced and climbed back onto land. There, in the middle of the small island, was now a hole large enough for them to jump down. Link casually walked up to it and jumped through, without so much as a hesitation. Zelda jumped after him and disappeared into the depth of the darkness.
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On the fields of Hyrule, two forces were set to wage battle on one another. One force of men of the highest honor, from this land and the next. The other consisted of vile creatures, those of the likes of Moblins, Dinolfos, Stalfos, and many others. In the setting sun, the armor and weapons of both shined brightly, and from above was a beautiful sight. But for the men down on the field, the sight meant only death. Both sides would fight for what they believed in, whether they were forced to or not. When the battle begins, it would be a hellish scene. But for now, the two opposing sides just stared at each other, trying to intimidate their enemies.
In front of the army of men, stood their leaders on top of their horses. Aaron was in charge of the right flank and was thus on the right side, William was in charge of the left. Nick led the army in the direct middle, with Charles to his right and Robert to his left. Behind them, on hills or anything that gave them more height, stood the archers, bows poised and ready. They all stood silent, waiting for the enemy to attack. They would take a defensive position for now, until at least some more troops arrived from Malaank and Larosia. Nick sensed the attack would begin shortly, so he held his sword high above his head. At that sight, all the men readied themselves for the signal. Away in the distance could be seen the first movements of the army of creatures. Their front lines slowly began to pick up speed and close the gap between the two sides. Nick waited a few more seconds.
"Charge!" he yelled as loud as he could, and at the same time pointing his sword forward at the oncoming enemy. Legions of soldiers began running, line by line, until all the foot soldiers and cavalry were running full speed. The archers held back, waiting for the enemy to come closer, so they could have a better shot. Somewhere near what could be called the "center" of the battlefield, the two armies met, sword to sword, spear to shield. The battle was extremely fast paced and many fell, men and creatures. Most of the men battled the Moblins, while the cavalry attacked the Lizalfos, Dinolfos, and some of the Stalfos.
About fifteen minutes after the battle had begun, the fields were littered with bodies and pools of blood began to form on the open fields. During the battle, no one noticed the oncoming, unnatural storm clouds. They became quite aware, though, when the rain began to come down in sheets of water. Lightning crashed into a tree not far from where some archers were firing upon the army of creatures. The blast killed three men in the direct vicinity of the tree. The remaining archers in the area became slightly confused, not knowing what had happened to the men behind them. The short amount of time that lapsed from their hesitation allowed the opposing army to gain some more ground on the Hylians and Dellenians.
Nick saw the danger that was about to strike his army. If some of the Moblins or Stalfos broke through their lines, they would be quickly surrounded and would stand no chance against the onslaught. Again, he raised his sword in the air, and ordered the retreat. The men complied thankfully, and turned back toward the Castle. Soon, almost all of the remaining men were out of harm's way and turned to form a new line of defense. Their enemies were charging at them in a disorderly way, trying to route the men as far as they could. But the defense of the Hylians and Dellenians was too much for the creatures to overcome, and they were soon sent back themselves.
On Nick's command, the army walked forward once again, this time remaining in formation. Their enemies still running, they were easily able to advance on the tower. Fearing that another frontal assault at this time would be deadly, and perhaps destroy their chances of victory, Nick ordered the army to stop where they were and to take defensive positions. He would wait.
Soon after halting, the five leaders of the men meet at the center of the army.
"So what now, Nick?" Aaron asked.
"We stay here for now."
"What? Why don't we just run them back further and completely wipe them out?" Charles was intent on killing each and every last one of them.
"Because, Charles, we don't have enough men to do that right now," he coolly responded. "We must wait for reinforcements before we begin our own attack."
"I agree with Nick," Robert added. "Besides, it shouldn't be too long for the reinforcements to arrive. My men will be here by late tomorrow."
"And mine will be here by dawn. We shall not have to wait long for them. I say we assign watches and let the men rest, one legion at a time." William's suggestion made perfectly good sense to Nick.
"Sounds like a good plan to me. If they attack, we should be able to repel them one more time before our lines break. Let's just hope that your men get here before that happens." They all showed their agreement with nods and slight murmurs, after which, each leading officer headed back to their respective commands.
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After falling through the hole in the ground, Link and Zelda had wandered around the underground caverns unsuccessfully for some time. It seemed like one giant maze, one which had them walking in circles over and over again. The cavern was only lit by dim torches that hung from the walls. Link and Zelda had each taken one from its resting place, trying to use the small amount of light. Somewhere off in the distance, Link swore he could here water, and he was desperately trying to find a way to it.
"This way," he called back to Zelda. She was almost on top of him, fearing that if she fell even a few feet behind him, she would be lost in the maze. She gave a slight nod, even though she knew he couldn't see it. Holding onto her hand, Link walked down the corridor on the left.
Almost immediately, he knew that they had never been down this way before. The sound of water was slightly louder, and the smell of the saltiness of the water hung in the air. Slowly, they made their way down the narrow corridor. Upon reaching the end of it, they noticed two more corridors, one going right, the other left.
"Ok, which way now?" Link though out loud. He began to turn left again, but was pulled back by Zelda.
"I think we should go right."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I just feel like we should go that way." Link looked down the corridor on the right, then down the one on the left. Both seemed exactly the same to him. He looked into her face with an expression of doubt.
"Please? I have a good feeling about it," she pleaded with him. He looked down the two corridors again, and decided that if she had a feeling about this way, then it was worth a shot. He nodded his approval and they began down the corridor.
They slowly came to the end of the corridor. But instead of just a wall in front of them, a pool of water covered the area from their feet to the wall. Zelda was visibly disappointed for having brought them in the wrong direction. Link turned to console her, but before he could do a thing, two Octoroks jumped out of the water in front of them. Reacting quickly, Link grabbed Zelda, pulled her close, and used his shield to protect them. This isn't too bad, he thought. Maybe we are on the right track after all. He was drawn from his thoughts by Zelda's scream. At first, he feared that one of the rocks had hit her, but he soon saw what she was afraid of. Behind them, fangs ready to attack, stood five Deelers. Of course!
He withdrew his arm from his shield and handed it to Zelda. "Hold on to this and try to deflect the rocks back at them!" he instructed her as he pulled out the Master Sword.
"What are you going to do?"
He looked back with a smile, "I'm going to have a friendly chat with the Deelers. Be back soon." He ran straight at the spider-like creatures, choosing to kill the one in front first. He came at it with such amazing speed that the Deeler never knew what happened. Link swung down through its body, easily slicing it in half. He whirled around in place, now facing the one to his right. With a forward thrust, he sent the creature back several feet, but it came right back at him. He was prepared for it and when it came close enough, he did a horizontal swing, his sword tearing through the Deeler's head. What he wasn't prepared for, though, was the sudden attack of another Deeler from behind him. He slid across the ground and jumped back up, almost in one fluid motion. Realizing that he was now surrounded by the three remaining Deelers, he tried to think of a way out. Remembering one of his stronger techniques, he kneeled down on one knee with his sword pointed behind him. It began to glow by itself, and when it was fully charged, he released a circular attack of magic. The blue wave caught each Deeler and promptly killed it. Link breathed hard after his successful attack and he thought about resting then and there, but he remembered Zelda's situation. He turned to help her, but when he did, he saw her direct a rock directly back at the final Octorok.
"Impressive, my love," he said as he took his shield back.
"Thanks," was her only reply. Appearing right next to the pool of water was a treasure chest. Link was eager to find out what was inside it. I hope it's a new weapon! He walked up to the wooden box and lifted the lid. Reaching into the chest with eager anticipation, he felt their reward. To his disappointment, the prize was nothing more than a Zora's Tunic.
"Damn! I already have one of these!"
"Yeah, but I don't!" Zelda was pleased with the prize as she took it from Link's hands. "Besides, I think it's a clue."
"How so?" He didn't think that she could ever outsmart him. I've solved more puzzles than she'll ever see!
"I think we go underwater and swim past that wall," she said as she pointed to the pool of water. His heart sank in his chest as he realized that she was absolutely right. That was the reason the tunic was there. Why didn't I think of that? Upset with himself, he reached into his pack for his own Zora Tunic and proceeded to put it on.
Zelda made the move to remove her top clothing to put the tunic on and Link politely turned around. She looked at him with a puzzled face.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Um… averting my eyes, Zel."
"Why? I mean, it's not like you've never seen me naked before. We are married."
He smiled to himself. Even after all those years, he still kept his modesty about seeing her naked. He had no clue why, but he just did. She found it cute. Finally, she was dressed and ready to go. They walked up to the edge of the pool and jumped in. The water was cool and clear. Quickly, they dove down into the depths of the water and swam forward to where the wall was located. As she suspected, there was a large opening in the wall for them to swim through. Once on the other side of the wall, they noticed that the water seemed to be illuminated by something. They looked up and saw the surface of the water, and possibly the source of the glow. Running out of air, they swam to the top as fast as they could. They resurfaced, breathing heavily, and swam over to the bank of the small interior lake. Link climbed out first and stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes came upon the object sitting at the other end of the small room. He continued to stare at it even as Zelda stepped up beside him. She, too, was staring intently at the glowing object, almost in a trance.
"We've found it!" Zelda was delighted and relieved upon seeing the Necklace of Wisdom. But something seemed strange about the immediate surroundings of the Amulet. The light-blue glow seemed to form some sort of wall around it and she wondered if anyone could get through it. "I don't like the looks of that barrier around it," she said to Link.
He was still lost in the glow of the Amulet, not fully hearing what Zelda had said. He had seen the barrier around it, but he couldn't find any reason that they should fear it. Surely it was placed there to thwart evil ones from acquiring it, but not the Hero of Time. He slowly approached the barrier.
Leaving him in his almost hypnotic state, Zelda began to search around the walls of the dimly lit room. Along one surface, she caught a glimpse of some writing carved into the stone itself. Leaning in for a closer look, she could see that the message was a warning to anyone who came for the Amulet.
ONLY ONE CAN PASS THE BARRIER, THE ONE WHOSE MIND IS WISE,
IF ANOTHER TRIES TO CROSS IT, IT WILL LEAD TO THEIR DEMISE.
She didn't like the sound of those words. She looked toward the barrier and saw Link within several feet of it. He continued to walk ever closer to it, getting ready to break through.
"Link! No!" She ran as fast as she could at him, but he never even acknowledged that he had heard her. Desperate, Zelda reached out with her hand, trying to grab a hold of her husband before it was too late. She felt the fabric of his tunic in her hand, and pulled back as hard as she could. The sudden jolt caused Link to fall backwards, as well as Zelda. Both landed hard on the ground with a slight moan of pain.
"What the hell was that for?" He was almost to the point of yelling at her.
"You were almost killed!"
"I was getting the Amulet! There was no harm in that!"
She didn't respond to his remark with an answer, but she did with an action. Nearby lay a small rock which she reached for and picked up. Watching her curiously, Link tried to figure out what she was planning to do. She stood up and faced the barrier.
"Watch," she said as she tossed the stone at the barrier. Link's eyes widened as the stone hit the barrier, instantly disintegrating into nothing.
"My Goddess! That was almost me!"
"I know. Only I can walk through."
"And how, pray tell, do you know that?" She grabbed his hand and led him over to the inscription. Upon reading it, Link understood fully the situation that presented itself. Of course! Zelda has the Triforce of Wisdom, so only she can cross the barrier! I've been such a fool thinking that I could do everything! He nodded to Zelda.
She walked cautiously toward the barrier, still unsure if she was the one that could cross it. There's only one way to find out, she thought as she neared it. She turned her upper body to look at Link one last time before crossing the barrier. She gave a faint smile of confidence, and then turned to face the barrier once more. Taking in one last breath, she stepped forward.
As she walked through the barrier with her eyes closed, Link looked on in worried anticipation. He was astonished when the barrier seemed to suddenly disappear, just as Zelda walked through it. The room was no longer filled with the eerie glow of the Amulet. Zelda kept her eyes closed and stopped where she was.
"Zel?"
"Link? Did I get through?"
"Yes you did. You can go get the Amulet now. Don't worry, it's over. Just grab it."
She nodded slightly and moved next to the small alcove that held the Amulet. She reached out and grabbed the necklace by the chain, all the while gazing intently at the unfamiliar blue stone set in the charm. Slowly, she lifted her hands over her head, and placed the necklace on herself. There was a slight tingling sensation throughout her body. After it receded, she let out her breath and walked back to Link.
"Got it. Now we just need one more," she said as he embraced her. "I hope we can succeed."
"It's not us I'm worried about," he replied as he let go of her, "I just hope that the rest are able to hold off Ganondorf's army long enough for us to matter."
"I'm sure they will. We do have the best army in all of Hyrule!"
He sighed slightly and as she hugged him once more, he said under his breath, "I just hope that's enough."