Part Two: Hero of Time

Chapter 20: Link's Awakening

When light from the lost land shall return,
Six Sleepers shall ride, six Signs shall burn.

~Susan Cooper, The Grey King

I no longer know who I am. It's as if I've been unconscious, and my mind has changed so much in the interim that I'm little more than a stranger to myself. The boy I was once is gone. Somehow, I know this, even without seeing physical evidence of it.

I dream, too, but the dreams are so many and so detailed that I feel I've gained a lifetime of memories in what, to me, seems like minutes.

Some of the dreams are familiar. They remind me of who and what I have loved and lost and fought for.

Especially her.

She is there in all my dreams. Her words ring through my head like continuous thunder. I cannot help but think of her, but will I ever see her again?

The dreams have never answered that question.

"Awaken. Awaken, Hero of Time, for the hour has come!"

I've heard this voice in my dreams a thousand times. Now it's calling me to life.

"Hear me, Link! Hyrule needs you. You are the only one who can wield the blade of evil's bane!"

Where is Navi, I wonder? Has she been with me all this time?

"Wake up, Link!"

The familiar voice of my fairy finally convinces me to open my eyes.

And there he is, standing before me in a golden robe with long sleeves. His arms are draped at his sides, and his snow-white mustache covers his face. His presence is intimidating, thanks in part to his stout frame.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"I am Rauru, Sage of Light." His voice is distant, neither warm nor cold. "I have been watching over you these past seven years."

Seven years.

Reality hits me like a backhanded slap. I've been asleep for seven years! The implications are staggering. I look at my hands, half suspecting the truth already, but still in shock when I note that my arms have thickened, growing several inches longer since the last time I saw them.

What about the rest of me?

The glare of a bright light hitting a reflective surface draws my attention to the platform I'm standing on. The reflection on its deep blue face confirms the truth of what Rauru, Sage of Light, has just told me.

I am seven years older.

"Why?" My voice is deeper, fuller, not quite a man's voice, but not a child's voice, either. "Why so long?" And why at all, I wonder?

"Think back to the time you first encountered him."

Before I can ask who "he" is, my mind goes back to the scene at the drawbridge, to the ease with which Ganondorf threw me aside. "He knew what we were planning."

"A child of your stature could never have wielded the Master Sword," says Rauru. "If I had brought you here a moment later than I did, he might have killed you."

The sense of terror I felt when I found out Ganon had followed me to the Temple of Time returns. I quickly change the subject. "What happened while I was gone?"

Rauru's eyes continue to search mine as he speaks. "Seven years ago, Ganondorf violated the Sacred Realm and obtained the Triforce. With its power, he became the King of Evil, and Hyrule became a world of monsters."

That's all the detail I get for now. "Where are we?"

The glare in the room departs, and I can see past the edge of the platform. Dim spears of light trickle like rain in the endless void before me. No barrier prevents me from leaping to my death, if there is any solid surface beyond the one I stand on.

"We are at the very center of the Sacred Realm." Rauru makes his first gesture, slowly spreading his hands to either side. "This is the Chamber of Sages, built long ago within the Temple of Light."

"Where are the other Sages?" The question comes out of nowhere, as if someone else, and not my own curiosity, suggested it.

"They too are asleep." Rauru's hands return to the folds of his robe. "Most of them believe they are ordinary citizens of Hyrule, but they are the last hope of a dying world, unaware of their destiny."

"Who am I?" I say. "What's my part in all this?"

Rauru's eyes narrow. "You must awaken the other five Sages."

"Why can't you do it?"

"I chose long ago to confine myself here, in the Sacred Realm. I cannot leave unless called upon by the Hero of Time."

"I don't understand."

With sudden force, the Sage's hands come out of his robe. He thrusts his arms to the sky, and a shrill clamor erupts in the silence. A golden disc comes spinning down from above, forcing me to catch it, lest it knock me senseless.

"What's this?" I ask, turning the disc over in my hands.

"It is a Medallion, one of six. You may use it only once, in dire need." Rauru's hands slip back into his robe. "Return to the Temple of Time and place it on the pedestal that bears the image of the Triforce, and I will come to your aid."

Another glare slices my field of vision. Six smaller pedestals light up around the edges of the platform. One is yellow and lies just beneath Rauru's feet. The others are different colors. Each has a unique design engraved on its surface.

"Our time is short," Rauru says. "Awaken the Sages."

"How will I find them?"

"A voice from the past will guide you."

The light is disappearing. The chamber itself dissolves into broken specters.

"Wait!" My voice echoes, falling back on my ears until it fades to nothing. "I still don't understand!"

But Rauru is gone, and he cannot answer.

Link fell through an endless tunnel of fire, awash in his memories of the Sacred Realm and the dreams of a seven-year hiatus from the world of the living. A rainbow of colors swirled about like a river pulling him to the end of the tunnel, into the Temple of Time.

The light dissolved all at once, and as he stood there facing the block that had kept the Master Sword through all the ages of Hyrule, he sighed. It seemed but a moment since his hands had jerked the sword from its place, and yet if Rauru had spoken truly, he had slumbered through the better part of his youth.

"We're back," said Navi.

"Are we?" Link took stock of the inner chamber, looking for any changes in its physical structure. Finding none, he turned, an action that woke his numb arms so that he finally noticed the weight in his left hand.

This time, he lifted the hilt of the Master Sword as if it weighed no more than a Deku Stick.

"So much has changed," he said, a hint of awe creeping into his voice.

"More than you will ever realize."

Both Link and Navi whirled to face the Door of Time. A boy, no more than a year younger than Link, stood in the doorway, staring out at them from the folds of a short turban. A tight blue fabric covered most of his body, highlighting a slender physique.

The boy's resemblance to Impa impressed Link. "You…you're…"

"A Sheikah." The boy nodded slightly, while his eyes flickered up and down as if examining Link. "My name is Sheik."

Link noted the emblem on the boy's chest, a crimson eye with a teardrop—or a drop of blood—dangling from the bottom. "You were waiting for me?"

"It was agreed that I should guide you."

"I don't even know who you are."

Sheik raised an eyebrow. "Were I a servant of Ganondorf, I would waste little time in bringing you before my master. Since I am not, you would do well to heed my advice."

Link traded glances with Navi. "Where do I go from here?"

Sheik took a step backward. "'When evil rules all, an awakening voice from the Sacred Realm will call those destined to become Sages, those who dwell in the five temples.' This is a prophecy from the Book of Mudora, an ancient text of the Royal Family."

"I thought..." Link shook his head. "I thought the Sages were ordinary people. How can they live in temples?"

"The Sage's power is concentrated there. In times of peace, that power protects the area surrounding the temple, no matter how far the Sage strays from that area. However, in times of war or great evil, that power fades, and the Sages lose their identity. In order to restore the Six to their place, the temples must be purged by someone who remains unaffected by the evil."

Navi squeaked. "Someone like us?"

Link nodded. "How do we find them?"

Sheik narrowed his eyes, like Rauru. "First, you will return to your childhood home in Kokiri Forest. A temple is hidden deep in the woods there. As for the other temples, you need not concern yourself with their locations until you have purged the forest."

"Is that all?"

"You will need a shield."

Link was about to ask where Sheik expected him to get one when the boy pointed to the floor just behind him. Bending down, Link picked up a shield forged of iron and illustrated with colorful symbols, including a red bird of prey and one other image he recognized: the Triforce.

"I have kept it safe here since its last bearer was slain," Sheik said. "It once belonged to the King of Hyrule."

Link had been strapping the shield to his right arm, but when Sheik said this, he paused. "The King? Zelda's father?"

"Do not be ashamed to wear it. Who better to protect the legacy of the Royal Family than you, Link?"

Link frowned. Many questions, few of which had been answered, troubled him. For instance, where was Zelda? Just knowing she was alive would have bolstered his resolve to find the Sages.

But he never got the chance to ask. Even as he mulled over what he had learned from Sheik and Rauru, he saw Sheik finger a small nut between thumb and forefinger, raise it up, and fling it to the ground.

A flash of light stung his eyes. Beside him, Navi wobbled dizzily in midair.

"Sheik!" Link struggled to regain his sight for half a minute. Smoke curled around his ankles and drifted into his nostrils. But he already knew what had happened.

Sheik was gone.