The trip from the lake back to Kakariko took all night, even with Zelda riding high on Ganondorf;s shoulders. This was not just to keep pace; strange things still came out at night, especially on the edges of the wood and the open plain, and Zelda had no means of defending herself. With her safely on his shoulders, Ganondorf could easily dispatch any threats alongside Link.
"Is the temple really in the graveyard?" Link asked, surprisingly not out of breath from all the running and fighting.
Zelda nodded. "It's in the back, actually, behind the tomb of the Royal Family. The Shekiah, the ancient guardians, used it as both a place of worship and an interrogation center for enemies of the Crown. They were said to have one foot in death and one in life, constantly walking a fine line between this world and the next."
"I thought I knew all the races of Hyrule," said Ganondorf. "I've never heard of the Shekiah."
"They have been gone for many years," Zelda replied sadly. "It's a terrible shame…as frightening as they were, they also held the key to Hyrule's most ancient secrets. Much of their knowledge is gone forever."
"Is it possible that they just moved away, like the Gerudo did?" Link asked.
"I suppose, but…given the little I know about them, it's not very likely."
They arrived at Kakariko just after sunrise. Link didn't say anything, but he was secretly relieved that they would not be wandering around the graveyard at night. His home country had seen many wars, and the dead rested uneasily in the ground, muttering curses upon the night wind.
Few paid any attention to the three travelers, even deliberately ignoring the enormous Gerudo man who dwarfed his companions. Ganondorf scanned the town suspiciously; like the castle town, the people seemed afraid to call any attention to anything unusual. He did not doubt that there were spies in this town, but did doubt that they would attempt to follow them into a Shekiah Temple.
The graveyard rested at the far side of town. No one was there save for an old man who simply told them not to trod on the grass in front of the tombstones.
They reached the royal crypt. Zelda raised her head and pointed upward at a cave and platform above them. "That's where it should be," she said. "But it looks like it's blocked."
"Blocked" was an understatement. Enormous boulders rested in front of what had once been the entrance. The hillside above it appeared eroded, as if the top of the cave entrance had collapsed. "Looks like a recent development," Ganondorf noted. "There is grass in the collapsed area, but no bushes or saplings."
"It was the King's doing, blew up the entrance, he did. Made a fine mess of it," a voice spoke from out of nowhere in a dry, reedy tone.
"Who's there?" Ganondorf demanded, as Link drew his sword. "Show yourself!"
"Down here," said the voice. "No, more to your left. Your other left! Hot, cold, colder…warmer, warmer, there you go! See me now?"
All three gaped in surprise and disbelief. At their feet lay a human skull, speaking to them as casually as if it were in a normal body and not conjured up from dark magic.
"What in blazes?" Ganondorf demanded as the other two took hurried steps back.
"No need to be alarmed," the skull sighed. "Not much I can do other than bite your toes off."
"What are you, a leftover Stalfos?" Link demanded.
"Pffft! Stalfos? No. Those things are all bone and no brain. Well, I don't have a brain either, at least not a physical one, but…forget it, too hard to explain. Anyway, I was one of the Watchers of the Temple. That temple, up there," it said with a jerk of the jaw toward the blocked entrance. "But when the King blew up the entrance, I went flying out here."
"Blew up the Temple? Well, that explains a lot," said Ganondorf, glancing back up at the pile of rock. "Is there anything left?"
"I exaggerated just a touch," said the skull. "The entrance is blocked. But I can sense the other Watchers moving around in it."
"What does a Watcher do?" Zelda inquired. "Do you alert the shadows inside of intruders?"
"Nah, nothing like that," it replied. "I just warn intruders to stay out. Like this…."
"Here lies Hyrule's bloody history."
Zelda drew in her breath at the sudden change in tone, from almost squeaky to deep, resonating, and ominous. "Pretty good, huh?" The skull said with pride. "Most curious trespassers would wet themselves and leave with just that short sentence. Most don't normally come across a talking skull at any point of their lives, after all. So, we keep the riffraff out and only let Shekiah or other warriors in."
"Speaking of getting in," Link cut in, "any chance we could find a way to do that? Is there maybe a back entrance or something?"
"No back entrance," the skull replied. "Nobody can get in…except you three, maybe. You're marked."
"Marked? You mean our hands?" Zelda asked.
"Yep. Which one of you has Power?" it demanded.
Ganondorf raised his hand.
"Well, move along then," it said. "There's really no point to me hanging around out here, when I should be in there. I don't have anything against the Chosen Three going in the Temple."
Ganondorf scowled at it. "How?"
If it could blink, it would have. "What, are you serious? The Bearer of Power doesn't know how to use it?"
Scowling deeper, Ganondorf said, "I do, I just figured there might be more to it than brute strength. Stand back," he instructed the two children. They did so, Link picking up the talking skull as he scrambled away from the Temple entrance.
Ganondorf had scaled the cliff faces of the Gerudo Fortress in his youth, so it didn't take much for him to get to the top of the rock pile. He concentrated, letting the borrowed power that he bore coalesce into his fist. Then, with a sharp movement, he slammed his fist down on the boulders.
Suddenly the air filled with rock dust. All of them, the skull included, coughed in the mass of cloudy grit. "Whew! Overdid it a bit, did you?" the skull exclaimed.
"Enough of your chatter," Ganondorf grumbled. "The Temple entrance is open again, isn't it?"
As the dust settled, they could see a yawning cave behind him, and Link helped Zelda scramble up to the entrance. The skull made a tutting sound. "Tsk, that King took out the Shekiah etchings with that blast. The whole temple's wide open for anyone to come in."
"I thought you said that you kept people out," Link said.
"What, just one kind of security in a place like this? Think, boy. No, there was a door and it was locked by a Shekiah spell, but that's all blown to dust now. Oh well, it looks like the rest of the Temple escaped harm. Come in, come in, I can introduce you to some of the other ghosts."
They found a deep pit right after the cave entrance, but with the remains of their rope and some magical maneuvering on Ganondorf's part, they crossed without any trouble. A woman's voice pierced the silence. "Who hast disturbed our deep sanctum?"
"It's just me, Bedelia," the skull called out. "Brought a few visitors. Triforce Bearers!"
"Oh indeed! Thy voice is most welcome! Come, legendary Bearers! We servants of the Shadows had feared the end of our connection to the Holy Relic." A ghost floated into view, a Hylian noblewoman. She was finely dressed, in colorful silks and golden jewelry, and could be called ravishingly beautiful if not for one small thing. She held her severed head under one arm.
Floating forward, she grasped the head in both hands and pushed it out toward the three still of the living, as if giving them a once-over. Zelda shrank ever so slightly behind the other two. "Fear not, Gentle Princess," Bedelia said. "Thou cannot suffer any injury from us."
"Yeah, it's the ghosts in the deeper parts of the temple that you have to worry about," said the skull.
"What happened to you?" Link demanded of the lady ghost, never having been taught such things as etiquette.
"The King of Hyrule in my time did have words with me," Bedelia replied, "and I came out the worse for it."
"I'm sorry."
"No need for apologies, Hero. Throughout history, the paths of the Royal Family and thy constituents hath crossed in many ways, and scores are often settled with the blade. The Keepers of the Shadows invited me to stay here, and I accepted."
"The Shekiah are still around, you know," the skull informed them. "If they weren't, we wouldn't be talking to you now. They keep this Temple running with their power. But they're in hiding, and have been for many years."
"Speaking of the Shekiah," Ganondorf said, "did they stock this Temple with the ghosts further inside, or are they creatures of darkness outside their magic?"
"Oh, there have been nasty things unrelated to the Shekiah living here at one time or another," said the skull. "This place kinda has an atmosphere for breeding such creatures."
"But the Guardians who remain doth serve the Shekiah," Bedelia added. "Very ancient, they are, tormented souls that the Shadow Keepers bent to thine will. They answer to none but the Shekiah, not even the Triforce Bearers."
"Wonderful," Ganondorf grunted.
Zelda opened her pack and showed them the Shadow Sigil. "We need to get this to the end, or center, of the Temple," she told them. "The Goddesses told us it would help restore Hyrule."
"Ah! A Quest of the Chosen!" Bedelia seemed to glow with excitement. "What aid we can provide, we will, but there is little we can do in our present state. We be Watchers only."
"We could give them the Eye of Truth," said the skull. "That thing's been collecting dust since it was brought back here." It turned in Link's hands to face the others. "There's a lot of traps in this place, but the Eye of Truth will show you which way to go. It's not much help against ghosts, but it'll keep you from meeting a number of other untimely demises."
"Follow me," Bedelia ordered, floating to the side of the room. "I will show thee the way to the Eye. I wouldst give it to thou, but…"
"Yeah, we understand," said Ganondorf. But when she floated right through the wall, he protested, "Hey, we can't pass through solid rock!"
She poked her head out. "This one, thou can," she explained. "It is a false wall, cast by the Shekiah to deceive intruders. Follow my path, and thou wilst reach the Eye."
Bedelia floated silently through the hallways decorated with the skulls of the dead. Only thei footsteps of the living members of the party made a sound on the floor beneath them, and even that seemed muffled somehow. Zelda clutched Link's sleeve, and Link wondered if the others found the air hard to breathe.
As Bedelia led them through the sixth or seventh room, Zelda let out a loud shriek, clutching at her dress. A pallid white hand had reached up from the ground and grabbed the hem. Link drew his sword, slicing it off at the wrist. It raised itself on its fingers and ran forward, making another swipe at Zelda's dress, only stopping when Ganondorf incinerated it with a ball of fire.
More hands appeared, along with a shapeless, fleshy body, its mouth open in a soundless scream. Ganondorf and Link dispatched it quickly and with little effort, but the skull commented, "I thought all the Dead Hands had been cleared out of here."
"Our apologies," Bedelia said to the Three. "We are mere Watchers, and cannot stop the other creatures from moving about the Temple."
"Don't worry about it," Ganondorf assured them. "We've seen a lot more before we came here."
"Bleechh. I hate those things," the skull grumbled. "Yechh, I bet there's ReDeads in the room where the Eye is kept. I knew I heard groaning in here." It turned to Ganondorf. "Fire should get rid of 'em. Don't let 'em touch you, though. I won't say why. Just don't."
Three ReDeads, in fact, guarded the chest where the Eye was kept. Ganondorf dispatched them easily with more fireballs. "They move too slowly to seem much of a threat…I won't tempt fate, though."
"Who will carry the Eye?" Link asked.
Ganondorf took it and gave it to Zelda. "You will ride on my shoulders, and Link and I will defend. Sound good?"
Zelda nodded, and let him help her up onto his massive frame.
Once they returned to the room where they had met Bedelia, the skull said, "Hey, do me one favor. Hang me up above the entrance to the next room. See that little shelf there? That's where I need to go."
Ganondorf reached up and placed him there. "Good luck, Chosen Three," said Bedelia."
"Yeah, we'd come with you, but we don't really have any defense against the other ghosts," said the skull.
Link gave them a smile. "Thanks so much for your help. We'll be fine. Let's go!"
The three of them disappeared into the inky blackness of the Shadow Temple.