Chapter 9

Link rubbed his eyes. He was beginning to feel worried, but he was too confused to figure out what about. Tael and he were in a prison cell, and some dark shadowy guy was "here"? How were they supposed to get out of a cell, anyway?

"Link, pull yourself together! He could have heard us yelling! We need to get out of here before we get ourselves killed!"

Killed? The way Tael had said that sounded serious, but no matter how hard Link racked his disoriented brain, it didn't make any sense. He blinked his eyes a few times, pressing his lids together tightly to try and clear his thoughts. Suddenly a chill came over him. He spun his head around to see a pair of glowing red eyes in the barred window of the cell door.

All at once, all the painful memories of the day before exploded into Link's brain, and his eyes shot open. Instantly full of adrenaline, he dove into the air duct and started crawling as quickly as he could in the tight space. He could only hope Tael was following.

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Amathar Mountains, year 132

Gerald slowly sidestepped against the wall toward the archway of stone that led into Pyrobia. On his way up, the shouts and crashes had ceased, leaving nothing but his own forced breathing and the crunch of pebbles under his dusty sandals. He was desperately trying to reassure himself that everything would be fine, but he was unsuccessful. Had the Ikanians gotten here first?

He reached the archway, from which a dim, flickering light shone. He was now aware of quiet, echoing grunts and the sound of metal softly clanking against stone. It sounded as if it were quite a ways down the tunnel, so he decided to take a peek around the wall. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he slowly moved his head around the corner.

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Sweat poured down Link's face, despite the freezing feeling sweeping upward from his feet. His good arm was throbbing with bruises from crawling at high speed. As soon as he was under the next grating, he thrust his hand upward to knock it out of place, and then climbed out. He cried out in agony as he remembered his surroundings. It was the cell he had first gotten himself trapped in, and now it would be his final resting place, if he didn't defeat Dark.

He spun around and reached for his sword, and then to his surprise felt air where the hilt was supposed to be. Turning his head, he found the same thing. His sword must've slipped out somewhere.

"This isn't fair!" he yelled out at nobody in particular, his face burning. Just then, the familiar ball of shadow burst from the hole in the floor, landing in a corner. As Link's head turned to follow Dark, he noticed something standing against the far wall. It was the white staff.

Link lunged for the staff before Dark had time to scan his surroundings. The shadow turned around, his eyes grew wide, and before he could dodge the white blur streaking towards his head, he was out cold on the floor. Or so Link thought.

"Link! Are you okay over there?" Tael's voice came through the grating.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened to you?" Link called into the vent. Tael came flying out.

"I hid under some bones. He just went after you. So, where is he?"

"Right over th-" Link stopped in the middle of the word, his finger hanging in midair. He was pointing to nothing. His gaze shot across the floor, but the shadow was nowhere to be found. "He must've warped into the dark world and escaped...darn it! Look what you did now, Tael!"

"It's not my fault! Why weren't you watching him?"

"I thought I knocked him out! Nobody gets up and leaves within a few seconds of being unconscious! Besides, you distracted me by calling through the vent!" Link yelled.

"How was I supposed to know? I was worried that you were dead!" Tael argued.

"So you yelled through the vent? If Dark had killed me, what would've stopped him from killing you too? You would've given away your location," Link replied.

"Look, I'm tired of arguing. Dark is probably just sitting around the corner laughing at us."

"Ok, then let's just both shut up and get out of here," Link suggested.

"We can't leave! The map, Link! The map!" Tael yelled.

"Look, Tael. Something about this whole thing just feels wrong. I'm not sure if I fully trust Garod any more."

"Are you saying he lied to us? Maybe the books were wrong! Or maybe the map is here and we just aren't looking hard enough!"

"Tael, either way, I'm out of water. That's a liquid that people need in order to survive. And in case you weren't paying attention, there ISN'T ANY here."

"Yeah? Well, why don't you just shut up and...and..." Tael spun around and crossed his arms, fuming.

"Ok Tael, let's make a deal. I won't talk, and you won't talk, and we'll go get some water. We can come back later and be more prepared." Link waited for an answer. It was a fair deal, he thought. Tael shook his head and turned around, obviously annoyed.

"Fine. Let's go. We can let Tatl decompose while waiting for us."

"Tael..."

"Well? Are you coming or not?" Tael hovered there, waiting.

"I need my sword."

"It's back in the tunnel. Dark left the other cell door open, so you can get out that way. I'll wait for you." Tael flew out through the cell window into the hallway, and Link shook his head, sighed, and lowered himself into the air duct.

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"I'm pretty sure I tried climbing the wall around here. That would mean the woods are in...that direction," Link said, pointing out into the desert with his left hand and shielding his eyes from the sun with the right.

"I thought we first found the ruins over on the other side," Tael said quietly.

"Look...there are a bunch of dirt clods broken off from when I climbed...you can see where they came from. It looks like it was just done recently. I think it's this way."

Tael shrugged and started floating off in that direction. Link followed.

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Link might have been sweating, but if he was, it was evaporating into the air as soon as it left his pores. The sun was blinding. Of all the luck, they had to be going toward it. Suddenly he stopped. They weren't going in the right direction. If they had been in the ruins all day, then the sun was getting ready to set, and they were going west.

"Tael, stop. We need to turn right," he croaked, finishing his sentence with a few raspy coughs.

"Why?"

"We're going west, into the sun. We're supposed to be going north."

"But the sun's going up."

Link looked up. He couldn't tell if the sun had moved, but Tael's suggestion sounded possible. Had they really been in there so long? Was it morning again? If that was the case, they would have to turn left.

"Well, we need to wait a little to see which direction it - " Suddenly Link stopped, his gaze frozen on the horizon. He thought he saw bumps in the distance, a slight protrusion from the endless flat landscape. Squinting, he tried to find them again. There they were. Probably mountains.

"Tael, do you see that? Mountains mean water. And they're probably closer than the woods."

"Since when did all mountains have water? We're in the middle of the desert!"

"There should be caves. With water inside. Come on, Tael, work with me. I'm thirsty here."

"They look really far away. Are you sure it wouldn't be quicker to head toward the woods?"

"We're not even sure where we are. If we get some water, we can take a rest and figure out how to get back," Link said, his feet continuing to plod toward the mountains by themselves. Tael had no choice but to follow.

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"Link, get away from there!"

"I'm just looking! I think it's an old mine shaft." Link winced at the pain from his cracked lips as he peered into the opening at the base of the mountain range. Dust-covered wooden beams supported the entrance, and some kind of elevator contraption was hanging inside, over a deep pit. It was a wooden platform suspended by four fraying ropes attached to the corners; they went up to a jumble of pulleys and gears. The end of a rope hung down from there, coiled in the middle of the elevator.

"Well, it doesn't look safe. I doubt there's water down there, and that elevator will collapse if you put any weight on it!"

"Wanna bet?" Link jumped onto the elevator, and Tael winced as it swung back and forth for a few seconds until Link steadied it. "See? It's perfectly safe."

"Link, you scared me half to death. Get off that thing!"

Suddenly, the elevator jerked downwards a few yards and stopped. Link toppled over, one leg breaking through the rotten wood.

"Link! Are you okay!" Tael shot down into the shaft next to Link.

"I'm fine...a few scratches, but nothing big," he said, pulling his leg out of the hole.

The ground was too high for him to reach, so he grabbed the rope and pulled on it, hoping it would lift the elevator. Instead it snapped, and the frayed end flopped onto the wood in front of him. The platform didn't fall, to his surprise. But just when he caught his breath, he heard something from below.

"I hear drums," Tael said quietly. At that moment, there was a loud grinding, some kind of mechanism was locking...or unlocking...or something. The platform started lowering into the darkness, with a squeaky, clicking noise. Link's head spun around to look at Tael with big eyes.

And the steady pounding below continued to grow louder. As the light above faded, Link heard a new sound. He leaned over the edge, tilting his ear downward. Turning back toward Tael, his face was barely illuminated by the dim purple glow, but Tael could see the fear in it.

There was silence for a few seconds, aside from the drums and clicking. Then a roar echoed through the shaft. A burst of chanting, cheering and screaming followed. Tael looked back at Link with the same expression. They looked up at the faint point of light far above.

Link was about to grab one of the ropes and attempt to climb up, even as difficult as that would be with one arm. But he was stopped. In the dim light, he saw the rope he was about to grab. Most of the strands had split at one point, and only one was left. Just then, right in front of him, seemingly in slow motion, that strand snapped apart.

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