Chapter 8: Trials of the dead
Link fell and fell until he felt his feet touch solid ground. He also heard the crunch of bones and saw the assortment of Hylian and animal skeletons. He began to feel sick to his stomach, but quickly realized his duties and hurried on. He quickly followed the network of tunnels in a desperate attempt to find his friends before who-knows-what happened.
Soon he found a metal door and opened it. Inside, he found 3 ReDead with Saria and Darunia being held hostage. All he had was his sword, so he drew it and prepared for anything. A ReDead approached him, but Link's razor-sharp sword easily cut through the zombie's gummy hide and he beat it in less than three strikes to the neck. The ReDead's head bounced as it hit the floor and the body's knees buckled under the weight.
"One down, two to go." Link said to himself.
Link was about to go for another one, when all of a sudden, there was an earsplitting scream and he couldn't move. All he could do now was move his eyeballs to look at what happened. The ReDead were slowly lumbering toward him, mouths gaping for human flesh. Link was going to die, but then a voice spoke.
"Leave them!"
This voice was deep and strong and as Link looked up, he saw a person made of bone staring down at him on a hovering throne. Instantly, the ReDead stopped in their tracks and tunneled back underground. The skeletal thing snapped his fingers and Link became un-paralyzed. After he recovered from the ReDead experience he looked at the figure.
"Who are you?" Link asked.
"I am the king of the dead." The skeleton replied.
After those words, he got out of his throne and walked toward Link as though on invisible stairs.
"What do you want?" The King asked, a fleck of curiosity in his voice.
Link finally got a look at the skeleton's face. There were eyes in the sockets, but they were clouded and lifeless. Some patches of dead skin still clung to his skull. Link began to feel even more sick, but he still looked the king in the eye.
"I only want the Kokiri and the Goron back. I don't want trouble." Link answered.
The King could see the uncomfortable look in Link's eyes. His emotionless face would have smiled a rather wicked smile if he could.
"You may have your friends back if you pass the test." The skeleton told him.
He hovered off the ground with a finger pointing into the darkness.
"I want you to go through this tunnel. It will contain your worst fears. If you come out without cowering, your friends will be released and I will lead you to the Shadow Temple. However, if you fail, you and your friends will join the dead." He informed the hero.
Link looked a little uneasy about this, but realized that the safety of the sages and his friends were far more important than simply being afraid.
"Okay then." Link answered, confidently.
"Right this way." The skeleton said as he beckoned toward a door with a large, black python on it. Link opened the door and boldly stepped through it.
At first, there was nothing. Then he saw a burning land with arrows dotting the landscape. He wanted to do something, but knew his duty and kept walking forward. A few minutes later, he saw the Kokiri Forest and saw many Kokiri with arrows in their backs and a blank look of fear in their eyes. Link decided to keep moving. His pity would have to wait. After the forest incident, he saw a helpless Goron being devoured by a fiery dragon. Link was sweating a little, but remained calm. Every thing seemed to be worse and worse by the second.
A few minutes later-Zoras frozen in blocks of ice showing no signs of life. A few minutes later-Gerudos were being sucked in quicksand struggling to get away. A few minutes later-Hyrule Castle was in ruins with the King's severed head in the window. A few minutes later-Ganondorf was rising out of the wasteland that was Hyrule. A few minutes later-The moon was going to slam into Termina with more force than a meteorite the size of Mt. Everest. A few minutes later-Zelda was motionless on the floor with blood trickling down the side of her head. Then, when Link couldn't hold any more, it stopped and there was the light of day.
"So, you made it through?" A voice said.
Link whirled on his heel and saw the king of the dead right in front of him.
He would have grinned as he asked, "Tell me, were you afraid?"
Link was beginning to sweat. He had been scared. He was afraid he would lose everyone he cared for. He hung his head and shamefully said, "Yes. I was afraid, but I knew my duty."
The king was a little surprised and said, "So, you were?"
Link shamefully nodded, but the king didn't order ReDead to take him away.
Instead he said, "Many people have made it through here and claimed they weren't afraid. You were willing to admit your worst nightmares frightened you."
He put a skeletal hand on Link's shoulder and continued. "You know the bravest warrior is not the one who fears nothing. But the one who is willing to FACE his fear." Link felt very relieved and his spirit strengthened.
The king hovered above the ground and put a hand over where his heart used to be.
"Because you faced your worst nightmares and were brave enough to admit you were afraid, I will set your friends free." He said kindly.
He snapped his fingers and Link's friends were on his sides. Darunia on his right, and Saria on his left who both had a look of joy on their faces.
Then Link asked, "Where is the Shadow Temple?"
"It's right behind you." The bony monarch replied.
Indeed, the entrance to the Shadow Temple was right behind him. Link looked at the Undead King and knew that if the corpse had his face, he would surely be smiling. Link quickly remembered the promise he made to Zelda.
"Wait, I have a promise to keep."
He looked down and saw Zelda sleeping near the tomb he moved. Link leapt down from the cave and got to Zelda. Slowly, she woke up and saw Link in front of her. A great smile spread across her face and she embraced Link in a big hug. Link took Zelda and Ruto through the path he went. Strangely, the king of the dead was no longer there.
Soon they were in the Shadow Temple. It wasn't a very pleasant place, full of skeletons and spooky stuff. Its walls even had skeletons in handcuffs and skulls lit with torches. When they thought that they were lost for sure, they came across a giant room with Sauros. Behind it was Impa in chains. The massive lizard was licking Impa with its forked tongue, but then it caught scent of Link and whirled around to meet him with a snarl like an enraged leopard.
"Sauros, it's dinnertime! Devour these infidels!" A voice shouted.
At the sound of that command, Sauros leapt across the room toward Link. Link managed to roll out of the way and Sauros smashed into the wall. Its red eyes could be seen closed in pain. The tail zoomed toward Link, but Link blocked it with his sword. He swiped his sword at the creature, but only put a gash on his tail. It was probably about as painful as a pinprick. Sauros whirled to meet Link and its tail caught a piece of him. Warm blood soaked Link's tunic and dyed it dark bronw. Link clutched his arm and almost ended up with teeth running through his torso if something hadn't whistled past and caught Sauros in the side. Saria had launched an arrow, but with a single movement, Sauros pulled the arrow out with one of its four arms. It then launched itself at Link again and Link swiped with his sword. This time, it caught the lizard across the nose and a gash went past both nostrils. Link followed up with another strike that cut through its nose horn. Before he could get another attack in, Sauros simply cut swiped Link away with one of his many limbs. THIS was going to be a bit of a challenge without his friends.
"I have to get Impa the sword. You guys hold him off." Link commanded as he avoided another tail swipe.
"Okay then." Saria responded.
When Link started toward Impa, Saria got out the Fairy Bow and fired another arrow at the creature. It hit him in the nose and he grunted in surprise. A single swat from its massive claw sent Saria to the floor. Five large claws narrowly missed cutting her stomach open. Sauros turned to see Link heading toward Impa and scuttled after him like a gecko. Darunia saw this and balled up a fist as he charged the lizard. When Sauros was 10 feet away from Link, something slammed into his back. Sauros turned in order to get a good look at his attacker. It was Darunia, he had curled into a ball and smashed into the massive lizard. Sauros then took the non-blade part of his tail and smashed it into Darunia, sending him into the wall with such force that he left an imprint in the stone. Sauros was about to devour Darunia like a meatball when something blue sparked him. It left a shiny burn on him, but it didn't slow him down. He turned to see Ruto fire more electricity and dodge it. He then scrambled after her, which unfortunately let him draw his attention away from Link.
Link managed to free Impa from her binding chains and shown the light on her forehead. She was transported to the Realm of the Sages and was in front of a sword with, not emeralds or sapphires, but amethysts. It had what appeared to be the Sheikah eye in the place where the blade and hilt met. The hilt edges appeared to be made of amethyst as well, unlike the others, which had steel.
"Impa, you must pull the sword of shadows out of the pedestal now!" Rauru's voice demanded.
Impa nodded and pulled the sword out. A purple light surrounded her and she was back in the Shadow Temple with Sauros. Link was by her side while the others were distracting the giant reptile and getting clobbered while doing so.
"Where's Zelda?" She asked desperately.
Link pointed over toward the battle just in time for Impa to see Sauros pin Darunia with its tail, Ruto under one foot, and Saria under another. Before she knew it, the lizard had grabbed Zelda in a free hand and pulled the struggling princess toward its gaping jaws. Seeing that lit a fire inside Impa and righteous fury was let out. Link went ahead to leap into the air and completely sever the massive reptile's hand. It was still clutching Zelda and Link had to cut off its thumb in order to free her. While the thing roared in pain, Impa planted her sword into Sauros' forehead and the amethyst blade immediately started glowing purple. Sauros' roar in pain increased to the frequency of a plane taking off as he started shrinking.
"What's happening?" Link asked. Zelda inspected it and then came to a conclusion.
"Her sword is draining Sauros evil soul of power. He's weakening!" Zelda explained.
Impa's sword had indeed done the job. The lizard was no bigger than Link now and Link took the opportunity to shove the Master Sword through the creature's heart. He gave his death rattle and evaporated into rainbow-colored dust.
Impa gave Link a little smirk and said, "Now will you choose to harass Zelda?"
Link scoffed and Ruto was glad to see the light of day again.
Somewhere miles away, Ganondorf/Majora felt Sauros' presence leave.
"NO! My chance of ruling Hyrule is going to be ruined at this pace!" Majora shouted in anguish. Ganondorf suddenly got that feeling of suspicion toward pretty much anyone.
"YOUR chance?" Ganondorf asked with a cocked eyebrow, but Majora ignored him.
"I'm going to destroy Link and the place he calls 'home'!" Majora continued, acting as though Ganondorf wasn't even one with him.
"Hold on a second! You said we could rule this world side-by-side!" Ganondorf shouted.
When Ganondorf said those words, Majora was silent. He remained like this until a few minutes later.
"We still have two more chances. If we fail them both, our plan is history!" Majora covered quickly, "I'll send my strongest servant after Link and the sages!"
Ganondorf looked rather puzzled and thought, "I don't trust this mask. If he tries to overthrow me, he'll wish he hadn't done it!"
A flash of his orange eyes and a humanoid creature vanished and reappeared in the room of Twinrova. Where it immediately began a bit of redecorating with…mirrors.
Whew! This took a while. For those of you reading this, I hope you're enjoying it so far...