Chapter 3
In the Midst of Uncertainty
The sun broke past the horizon as Link and Dirige stepped through the ancient, decaying archway into the graveyard. It was eerily silent and a thick fog coated the ground. A cool breeze swept through making the trees creak and groan.
"Uh, let's hurry through here, I would really rather not stay here any longer than I have to," Dirige said shakily. Link nodded his head and proceeded tenderly. Each step he took made his heart race. A twig snapped beneath his foot and he bolted forward in an effort to escape the imaginary assailant.
"Slow down, boy! There's nothing there!" Dirige scolded, "You cannot let your imagination get carried away like that!"
"He's right you know," a raspy voice said from behind Link, "Some unsavory character could hear you." Link spun around to come face to face with a bony skull. The deep, black pits pierced into Link's eyes as the smell of rotten tissue wafted out from behind its jaw. Then a sharp pain struck the back of his head and the world faded away. When the world finally cleared, Link found himself in a cage and stripped of his sword. A couple of skeletal beings dragged a burlap sack across the ground and heaved it into an open grave.
"Dirige, what are these things?" Link asked.
"Stalfos, warriors whose souls have stayed bound to their bodies," Dirige replied, "and by the looks of it, we happened upon a band of stalfos thieves." Link gripped the cage bars, searching for a way out. A small object glinted from the guard's waist.
"Dirige, the key is on the guard's belt, can you see it?" Link whispered, "Do you think you can get it for me?"
"Yes, I think I may," Dirige whispered back. He slithered across to the guard, coiled around the key, and dropped to the ground. Link picked him and the key up, and hid it in his clothes.
After nightfall, Link slowly turned the key, feeling the tumblers fall into place. The door swung open and Link crept away. The sound of clattering bones came from a nearby tent. Link silently made his way to the open grave, and leapt in. The sack held his sword and a small wooden shield.
"Take it! It'll definitely be of some use, now let's go before they go to check on you!" Dirige urged. Link hoisted himself out of the grave, where a Stalfos was waiting for him. The grotesque form raised its club and brought it crashing down in front of him. Link barely had time to raise the shabby hunk of wood to deflect the blow. The stalfos struggled to raise the massive weapon, as Link circled around it striking a few blows on its ribs. They shattered with each blow, but the skeleton moved as though it hadn't felt a thing. The creature swung again as Link leapt back.
"This is getting you nowhere!" Dirige complained, "Think of something else!" The mass of bone raised its club once more, and Link readied his shield. The stalfos swung at Link's head, but he dove beneath it. Link quickly rolled behind and made a jump for its spine. His sword ran perfectly down its spine, shattering the form, and sending bones in every direction. Link sheathed his blade and turned away. Then something dug into his ankle. The skull was moving on its own and had bitten him. Link shook it off and kicked it into the grave.
"Hey, get him!" another raspy voice shouted. Link sprinted across the graveyard with the stalfos close behind him.
"I can see the exit!" Dirige yelled, "It's just up ahead!" The sun was just about to rise as they broke through the archway. Link collapsed on the ground just outside the archway, where his pursuers were watching.
"Why aren't they coming after me?" Link asked through gasps of air.
"They are bound to that place," Dirige explained, "Not a more fitting place, I would think." Link sat up and stared off in the distance, contemplating what exactly he had gotten himself into.