Chapter 9: A Cut Too Close

When Link arrived in the Zora town with the Song of Soaring, he immediately went to the inn and apologized to the innkeeper for leaving his horse there so long. "I got caught up with two monsters who go from dawn to dusk without stopping at the days or nights between them."

"Oh, the Dust Devil twins?" the innkeeper asked. "Don't worry about it, you're not the first to have that kind of trouble with them."

"I will be the last," he said, passing over the money he owed for all that time.

She accepted the payment with a bow. "That's wonderful, but I do have some bad news. Although it might not be much trouble to a hero like you, the population of monsters through all of Hyrule has increased dramatically in these past two weeks. We no longer have the Zora Eaters to worry about, but we're still unable to leave our town for long. Many of the road guards had to be pulled back to protect the waterfall area so the fishers can keep working."

"I'll keep that in mind," Link said.

As he headed to the pasture to get Epona, he wondered how bad it was going to be. There had been Bokoblins and Chus wandering around the river road when he'd come here, neither of which were more than a minor threat. And how should he take this trip over to Death Mountain? He had to take the river road to get Epona out of this area, but then going straight from Narin to Kakariko meant getting close to the castle. The surrounding lands were all open fields with a few towns. It might be best to swing south close to his home province since he knew that area better than the northern fields.

Epona noticed him immediately as he came out of the inn. A few of the Zora children were brushing her down under the eye of an adult; they all backed up when she whinnied and came right over to him. "Good to see you again," Link said with a smile, giving her neck a hug. "Sorry I was gone so long."

She pressed her head against his and whuffled close to his ear, happy just to see him. "You're back!" one of the kids said excitedly. "What did you do in the desert? Did you see the great roc there?"

"Yes, but I need to get back on the road now," he told them. "Have to find the keys to the Master Sword so I can defeat Ganon."

"You can do that!"

"Yeah, we'll be cheering for you here!"

Seeing them jump around all eager in belief, Link felt glad for their encouragement. "Thank you, I'll make sure Hyrule is peaceful again." Then he took Epona towards the stable to put her gear on and head out. She certainly looked well, eager to be going. "Did those kids spoil you while I was gone?" he said to her. "I hope so, we've got an even longer trek ahead of us now."

"You should go see Sophie," one of the Zora kids said as they walked by to leave the pasture. "She said she'd made something for you."

Right, it had been two weeks. "Do you know where she is?" Link asked.

Fortunately, they did and he could go over to the schoolhouse where she and a few other children were studying. Sophie had her gift in her schoolbag, which she got after giving him a hug. It was something Link recalled seeing on the belts of the night guards among the Zoras: a clear orb where a number of the small colorful crystals glowed in liquid, wrapped up in braided netting. "It's a lamp you can take underwater with you," she explained. "If you shake it up, it gets brighter for a long time. And most monsters don't like the light it gives off. The big squids didn't care, but a lot of them like Bokoblins and Tektites won't come near the light."

Link wasn't sure if he'd end up on another underwater trek, but having a lamp that repelled most monsters would be handy for camping. "That's handy, thanks for making it."

"I just did the net, but I hope I made it extra nice for you," Sophie said with a smile. She was walking around normally and looked healthy again, which made Link glad that he'd found her in good time. He excused himself and headed out to leave town with Epona.

The Bokoblins were patrolling the river road rather than the Zoras; Kagarocs were now perched on high points, waiting to dive on the unwary. At some points, it was easier on him to dismount and clear out a group of them with his sword rather than to use his bow and risk them rushing towards Epona. She stamped her hooves and wanted to take turns carefully, to make sure there weren't a bunch of monsters grouped just out of sight. But he was with her; Link spoke often to encourage her to continue on their way. It was enough that he wondered if he should attempt to get a horse more used to running by monsters and take Epona back home to Taven. He didn't want to walk across Hyrule himself and didn't know the Death Mountain area well enough to warp over there with Song of Soaring.

By the time he got to the end of the river road and had the town of Narin back in sight, Link had changed his mind about his route. He would head northward instead, following the roads to find towns and landmarks along the way. When he got done with his business in Death Mountain, he'd take Epona back to Taven. He could use the Song of Soaring to get back to Onduran and various other points around Hyrule then. It might be a hassle at that point if he had to go into other areas like Sudai, which might happen since Ganon was from there. Even so, this was getting too dangerous for her.

More monsters forced him to stop Epona, but these weren't the same as those on the river road. These were gooey quivering masses of gelatin. Some Likelikes were plain while others had antenna that imitated objects like rupees, rocks, or foods. And they weren't just on the road; he could see them all through the streets of Narin, not a person or animal in sight.

"I heard they were bad this year, but not like this," Link said to himself. Were the people in town safe? He dismounted Epona and patted her side. "Stay safe, all right? Run if you have to; I'll call you back when it's clear."

She snorted and took a step away from an approaching Likelike. Link hurried ahead and used the quick draw to dispatch the closest one. While that worked, there were so many around that he didn't want to try that with all of them. They were resistant to his normal attacks and he knew they had a habit of swallowing people whole. He tried out arrows and bombs, but other than the quick draw, it seemed he didn't have any way to kill them off quickly.

After taking out a dozen, the rest of the Likelikes started to back away. Link was partly glad because it let him gather back some arrows and bombs that the others had dropped. Then he looked back to Narin's main street and saw that it was swamped with Likelikes. It was almost mesmerizing watching their strange bodies jiggling in sync. In the middle of it all, a Likelike much larger than the others swallowed up the rest. This cannibalism caused it to swell up even more until it became the size of a small house. Gurgling, it shimmied towards him.

That was going to take a long time to wear down, Link thought. Possibly longer than he could hold out. Now what? He looked around for anything that might help. Over in front of the nearest tavern, there was a trader's wagon full of kegs. Could Likelikes get drunk? Whether they could or not, there was a possibility here. He sprinted towards the wagon and gave it a quick look. The brakes weren't applied, the reins were broken, and there was some blood there. That tugged at his heart; the horses for this trader must have died, possibly the trader as well.

The giant Likelike contorted itself around to expose its gaping maw on top. Link got behind the wagon and gave it an experimental push. Although it was too heavy for him to move on is own, the pull from the Likelike was more than enough to swallow up the wagon full of beer, whiskey, and other spirits. It tried to yank him in as well; Link activated a bomb and hurled it towards the Likelike. He ran away, but the strength of its pull and the lightness enchantment of the Helmaroc feather was almost too much for him.

A muffled explosion sounded behind him; Link skidded forward as he stopped being drawn to the monster. He turned around and saw that it was now a melting pile of rubble. With a second explosion, a shower of colorful rupees cascaded over the area, thumping on the roofs and filling the street. But the boozy fire was still going, reeking of something like bad eggs and burnt milk.

Someone came out of the tavern then. "Did you kill off…?" then he caught a lungful of the stench and gagged.

"We have to get the fire out," Link said. The man nodded and pointed out a box on the tavern's porch. Link pulled on it, setting off a fire alarm that got the remainder of the townspeople into the streets to help stop the fire.

While they got the fire and stench under control, no more Likelikes popped up to disrupt them. The people started cheering and celebrating that the mass of Likelikes was gone. They wanted to thank him by giving him the majority of the rupees that the giant had exploded into. Link had no idea what he'd do with all that money. He insisted that the trader be compensated for the loss of his entire wagon and cargo. Even after that, he had enough to buy another horse and still have too much left over.

"Is there someone I could buy a good horse off of, one that isn't afraid of monsters?" Link asked the tavern's owner.

"I don't think so," he said. "Any horse in this town belongs to a trader or is a work horse."

"I see." Something else came to mind, something that might have made his fight with the dust devil twins easier to endure. "What about a blacksmith? I could use a better shield."

"That I can help you with, we have a master blacksmith here in town who took orders from the Hylian knights regularly." The tavern owner directed him to the blacksmith in question, who agreed that he could finish up a new shield and have it ready by tomorrow morning.

As Link had to wait on that, he took a room at the tavern, then went out to call Epona back into town for the day. He felt more confident with Gale's help, so he spent the day talking with the locals and getting news from them. This got him a first-hand account of the execution of the Hylian king and queen as well as the most recent news: Ganon was threatening to use the Septdraco to release dragons into the world along with his hordes of monsters. How long would it take him to do that? The time he had might be short, but he still had to get to Death Mountain somehow.

He wrote Gale a letter in the evening and plotted out a path to take across the northern fields of Hyrule.

Dear Gale:

Thanks for all you did for me yesterday. I'm feeling a lot better today, although I really wish it hadn't been cut off that suddenly. I want to see you again soon.

Today was rough in many ways, not just because of wanting to see you. It took me and Epona a lot longer to get down the river road this time due to the masses of Bokoblins and Kagarocs there. When I got into Narin, I found that the town was swamped with Likelikes. Dozens of people and many animals have gotten swallowed up by them. After I dispatched a group in the road, all the rest were swallowed up into one gigantic Likelike. I don't have any good ways of dispatching those monsters, but I managed to make the giant swallow a wagon with beer kegs as well as a lit bomb. That got it to explode into a disgusting fire. Thankfully, the townspeople were able to help put it out.

As I'm waiting on the blacksmith here to fix up a better shield for me, I decided to stick around this town for tonight. But I remembered what you were teaching me last night. With that, I was able to talk with the people here and hear more about what's gone on in the past two weeks. It's a lot easier than I was making things out to be, like you said. It's a huge relief that I'm doing decently now; I'm not sure you could understand that, but again, I'm really grateful you helped out.

How did things turn out with that emergency? I hope your coworkers are fine. Also, would you happen to know where I might be able to get a horse more used to battle? Epona's a good horse, but I've never brought her into battle and she might bolt if monsters get too close to her. I'd like to be able to take her back to Taven and leave her there to be safe, but I have a long distance to travel to get to Death Mountain.

From Link

P.S.: I do have some more time to write tonight.

Dear Link:

I'm glad to know that I could help; I knew you'd be fine. My trade group is safe because I arrived in time to bail them out, but I'm starting to get fed up with them. They're talking about some foolish decisions, like accepting a trade deal with Ganon in order to keep themselves safe. I told them that the offer looks bogus; they agreed that it seemed suspect, but still thought it was a better chance than risking things on our own. If Ganon still had his human troops with them, I might consider taking the offer. But the Sudain troops have scattered out of the castle and I got good word that they've abandoned him as our king. They've apparently got somebody new who wants to take the trial we hold to decide on our leader, but I have to find more information about that to pass on to you.

I wouldn't have trouble with Likelikes, not even a giant one like that. That kind of thing doesn't happen often, but it's known to occur when the population of that monster gets extremely high. You should look into getting some elemental attacks. Attack magic might be difficult to you if you don't have something to cast with. On the other hand, if you can find the right pieces to enchant your bow, elemental arrows would be very handy for you. You might keep an eye out for such parts in shops that sell odds and ends, or one that focuses on magical gear.

And I agree with you that I hated having to cut off our evening together like that. I've never fallen so fast for someone else; you just hit all the right notes for me. Part of me wants to keep respectable and not move on so fast if we meet up again. But I also want to forget all about respectability and just not care what others might think of the two of us being together.

If you really don't care about them either, I could write you something that you'd never want anyone else to see.

From Gale.

As the sun touched the mountains the Zoras lived on, Link caught a scent that he'd smelled far too much in the past few days: magical fire. There was a grove of trees nearby, obscuring what was around the next turn of the road. Was it red Wizzrobes, fire archers, or another kind of monster? He clutched the reins tighter as Epona kept running along the road. The next town was some distance ahead. If they kept stopping for these battles, they wouldn't reach it until after dark. "Come on, Epona, we might outrun them," he said.

There was a woman's scream from the other side of the trees; sounds of fighting were just in hearing.

"You run away from them, I'm going to help," Link said, signaling her to go faster. From her ears, Link could tell that Epona didn't like that. She still followed his lead, bringing him around the trees and in sight of the battle.

From his quick glance, he saw a wagon with a recently extinguished roof, a few frightened people, one knight with a shield marking him as a Hylian knight, two other knights with Sudain arms, four bulky Moblin pigmen being kept from the civilians, three armored horses, and a red Wizzrobe trying to hide within the trees so it could set the wagon on fire again. Link turned Epona closer to the trees so he could dismount quickly by the Wizzrobe and slash at it. It had been trying to cast, leaving it open to being struck down in one blow. With his horse running away from the battle, Link then turned to join the three knights in fighting the Moblins.

Two of the Moblins went down quickly once he joined. The Hylian knight glanced over the area that the civilians were in. "You have a bow?" he asked.

"Yes, took out one Wizzrobe," Link said.

"There were three, look to take out the other two," the knight said, then went over to the civilians to protect them closer.

Two others. Link swapped out his sword for his bow and looked into the trees. Before long, he spotted the red of one Wizzrobe deeper in the trees. It warped away after his arrow struck it. Sticking to the outside of the small grove, he searched for it or the other. The next flash of red was actually a fireball that he had to catch with his new shield. It was heavier than his wooden shield, but also larger and made to deflect such magic. Fortunately, he managed to send the fireball into the ground rather than into a tree. The next chance he had must have been a different Wizzrobe as his arrow didn't destroy it. Then the pair appeared outside the trees and he had to fire at them quickly to get rid of them before they attacked the civilians.

By then, the other two Moblins had been dispatched as well. "Thanks for helping," one of the Sudain knights said to him. "Actually, aren't you the one who dispatched the Zora Eaters?"

"Yes, I am," Link said. There were a couple of the civilians who had burns on them, but their friends were already taking care of them now that the danger had passed. Three children were with the group, still scared and quiet. "Is this everybody?"

"All except the horses that had been pulling the wagon," the knight said. "We got jumped from the trees there and a Wizzrobe snapped the harnesses."

"Did they go off that way?" he asked, pointing where Epona had been running. "I have to get mine..."

A horse's scream from that direction, alarming him even more than when he'd heard this group first. Link sprinted off without a second thought as another one cried out. By the time he got there, three horses were down and a Lizardfos with a small pack of Bokoblins were nearby. How dare they… Link focused solely on the monsters, wiping out two of the Bokoblins with a quick draw before challenging the Lizardfos. With its two short swords, it kept blocking him with one and stabbing him with the other. Then it had the gall to waggle its tongue at him; Link stabbed it in the face for that one and followed up with a strike of all his strength. Something hit him in the back, probably one of the Bokoblins. Link didn't care and kept striking the Lizardfos until it went up in smoke with its death.

After destroying another Bokoblin, he turned and realized that one of the Sudain knights had helped him. The rest were already dead. His mind still burned with rage, but there was still some hope that maybe she wasn't here. With the monsters gone, she might come over to him and be glad he was all right. He looked over the fallen horses and… no. No, Epona was there and she was already gone. Those wounds were deep, not something that could be survived.

"I'm sorry, but we have to take care of the living," the knight said, putting a hand on Link's shoulder. "Want to come to Ruto with us?"

He hated leaving her like this, but the knight had a point. Not able to think of anything for the shock, Link nodded and followed him back over to the wagon. They managed to get two of the knights' horses attached to the wagon so they could hurry to get to town. On seeing his injury, a woman who knew healing magic fixed that for him, letting him use his arms without pain. Link brought out his bow and kept an eye out as best he could. Right now, he didn't feel like talking.

The others did, so he learned that this group was the last survivors of a small farming village that didn't even have a name. When the swell of monsters began, a group of them took over the farms and would have killed all the people if the Hylian knight hadn't been there. They had lost nearly all of their animals too. They decided to try escaping to Ruto, a larger town that had set up some fortifications against the monsters. Even with the help of the other two knights, the ambush could have wiped them out due to the Wizzrobes had Link not shown up.

Then the two Sudian knights explained some of where they came from, including about their former king. "He's completely changed from what he was," the one riding the unattached horse said.

The one riding on the very back of the wagon nodded. "Right, I remember him from when I was just a castle guard. He abstained himself from the luxurious trappings of royalty in order to make sure that all of us working there could keep a steady income to support our families. And when monsters from the deep swamp became a problem for one town, he went down there himself and took care of them with his own magic."

"I didn't work in the castle, but he always talked about how we would find a way to rise above the violence and still earn our sovereignty back. Now all he seems to care about is power and he will kill anyone who becomes an obstacle to him."

"You be careful when you run into him, he's extremely skilled as well as being powerful," the second knight said to him.

Link nodded. This was just more reasons he had to fight Ganon with all he could muster, for people like these poor farmers who were suffering for no reason, and for avenging Epona's death. As he thought that sadly, he noticed a large Peahat starting to spin its leaves. The sun was almost down which meant that it would try to get back in the ground soon. But it might have enough time to startle the horses or even ram them. He took an arrow and fired at it while it was getting in the air. As it immediately exploded into smoke, it must have already been injured from something else.

"Good eye, I didn't even notice that one," the knight on horseback said. Link shrugged at that. They still had some distance to cross although Ruto was in sight. With the light falling, this was getting more dangerous by the minute.

One of the farmers in back said, "Didn't you say you were waiting on your new king?"

"We haven't heard how the trial turned out, but yes, there's someone we're hoping earns the respect of the great falcon and becomes our new king," the knight in back said. "He's actually a Hylian, a government official named Joachim who dealt with our invasion bravely."

"Bravely for someone who can't really fight," the other one said.

"But that is more impressive, in my opinion. He treated us fairly and did what he could to save the Hylian civilians from harm."

"I've met that man," the Hylian knight said. "Some of us were hoping he'd marry Princess Zelda so we could replace Albertos with a more reasonable king."

"Yeah, that's right. He didn't want to leave the castle without her and we tried to get them both out. But Ganon came out just to get her back."

"He left Joachim alone, which I thought was odd when I heard about it," the Sudain knight in back said. "Joachim had the Falcon Ring at that time, and someone as skilled in magic as Ganon is would surely notice its presence. But he only took Zelda back. Now it's him, her, and one of our generals, Velken, who remain in the castle town with all the monsters."

"Velken's there as a spy to help us, though, so we don't have to worry about him," the other said.

"Yeah, if Velken was actually loyal to Ganon, he'd be a far bigger threat than the monsters."

Since they still had some distance to go, Link got Sophie's lantern out of his bag and shook it up. He may as well do all he could to keep these people safe. It scattered a gentle warmth over them, a light that should be reassuring. However, he should have been able to take care of Epona and keep her safe as well with this light. She was gone and he had abandoned her out there.

"Isn't that going to draw attention to us?" the knight on horseback said.

"No," the healer said. "That kind of light distresses most monsters and they'll keep away from us."

"Mister?" One of the children tugged at his shirt, seeming like he'd worked up enough courage to talk to him. "Are you the hero who's going to destroy the king of evil?"

He really didn't want to talk right now, but this was a child who might have lost his parents; he'd certainly lost a lot. Link clasped the boy's hand a moment to reassure him. "I hope so. I still have to prove myself at Death Mountain before I can claim the Master Sword, but I really hope I can."

The defenses at Kakariko were not much, mostly wooden barricades with spiked edges. But it was something and there were other soldiers here defending the town as best they could. While he probably should see about helping them with that, Link wanted some time to himself so he could figure out what to do now. There were logistics to getting to Kakariko to figure out. But, he couldn't keep his thoughts on that. His mind kept going back to seeing the deadly wounds on Epona, hearing those screams, and wondering if he could have done something different so she didn't have to die. And there was that boy's question too, the fear and sadness to his eyes and the hope that there was someone right there who could save them.

While he didn't want to talk with any of the strangers in the inn, there was someone that Link wanted to talk to. But once he finished the letter, he realized that the envelope was currently with Gale. Would he write back tonight?

Dear Gale:

Are you serious about that? It makes sense, but it's also one of those things that makes me wonder where you learn all this stuff. Nobody I knew would talk about it. If they had, it would be embarrassing, I admit. But from you, you're just making me want to see you again even more. But would it really be all right when I'm staying at these inns? Maybe not the rooms I usually get.

Tonight wouldn't be good, I'm afraid. today's trek was exhausting. I've seen way too many Likelikes for my liking. At least with them, I can run Epona by without trouble. The Bokoblins seem to be more skilled over here in eastern Hyrule somehow, especially the archers. They have fire arrows and I'm thankful I got through with Epona unharmed. Maybe it seems odd, but she's been my partner and best friend for several years now. I wish I didn't have to put her in danger for this. Hyrule's just too large to be trekking across just on foot.

Well, I'm going off to sleep. I'll write you again tomorrow.

With love, from Link.

"Why are you wasting all this time?" Ganon grumbled to himself as he reviewed this letter. "If I knew what exactly makes that Triforce appear, I'd tell you so you could get it done with already."

Though he really shouldn't be surprised. Other heroes often seemed to waste time during their quests by helping out people with small problems and exploring areas that had nothing to do with their objectives. Plus, Link had been explaining about this all along in the letters. Most of this detouring was about his horse. She had been a calm and obedient horse in what Ganon had seen of her, but most horses did not deal well with monsters. And Link did care about her a lot. Perhaps if she was gone, he'd be more focused and less cautious.

It would be a straightforward solution, but one that Ganon didn't like much. He could remember his Gerudo past; he knew the worth of a good horse. With proper training, they could be more valuable than most people. They'd be more obedient and never turn disloyal. As such, he didn't like the idea of killing off a horse. Especially not Link's; whatever minor worth there was in getting him focused like that, it'd be detrimental in the long run.

Feeling relieved that he could dismiss that idea, he reviewed how he was doing in drawing Link closer. He was certainly affected by a strong lust that he didn't know how to handle, which was excellent for Ganon's purposes. It enticed Ganon too, like seeing the fear and vain anger in Albertos right before he died. Maybe he should do more than just tease him. That thought made him make the reply letter shorter so that he could see if this was a good night to go see him. According to his route and the spread of monsters, Link should be arriving in the town of Ruto shortly before evening.

The envelope came back less than five minutes later. Maybe it was a good night then.

Dear Gale:

Epona's dead, I really shouldn't have taken her on this longer route. I'm sorry if this letter is awful, but it wasn't that long ago and it all happened so fast. I'd let her run ahead while I stopped to help some knights protect a group of refugees going to Ruto. It only took a couple of minutes, during which another group of monsters killed her and another pair of horses. Maybe I should have kept her with me, but she's afraid of the monsters and she could have been hurt there too.

Is there any chance you could come see me tonight? I don't know anybody here in Ruto and I'm not sure what I should be doing now.

From Link.

Well this was bad. He should restrict what letters Zelda sent out now. As the Triforce of Wisdom might let her in on that, she could contact Link to console him. Instead, he should go be with him now. It would make it seem like he fully cared. Ganon did feel bad for Link losing his horse like that, but he didn't need to be swayed by such emotions in this. After telling a pair of his Seeker monsters to catch any letter Zelda tried to send this evening, Ganon teleported himself out to Ruto.

He arrived in a dark alley of town. In the lit street ahead, he saw one of his former soldiers patrolling around to keep the townspeople here safe. Good, that was helping the common Hylians to have a positive attitude towards them for whatever ended up happening. Ganon couldn't risk being seen by them. The Gerudo were such a small population now that others might not recognize him, but his former army was sure recognize him as their former king.

Now, where was Link? He must have gone to an inn, narrowing down the locations he could be. Searching with a spell, he located the hero and teleported to his location. That brought him to a rooftop lookout. Even with the moon illuminating some of the fields, only Link was up here. He wasn't keeping watch, just looking out towards the middle of town from here.

"Link?" Ganon said, going to the railing by him.

He looked over to make sure of who it was. "Oh, Gale. Thanks for coming."

"I had to when I read that," he said. "Don't blame yourself, it was beyond your control."

"No it wasn't," Link said, turning back to the town. "There was just no good choice there. I had to help the refugees there or they might have died. Since she'd been fine so far, I went ahead and let Epona run. She usually keeps away from monsters, so they must have been ambushed by surprise too. I should have trained her better so she wouldn't panic in a situation like that."

"I still think it was beyond your control," Ganon said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We met about a month ago, right? You had no idea before then that you would get called to this position. If you had kept around that small town, you wouldn't have a need to train her like that. It is a terrible loss; she was your closest friend."

Link nodded; he wasn't wearing his cap, so he seemed more like a normal swordsman tonight. Or it could be be his grief making him seem that way. "I was going to take her home soon. Hyrule's changed so much while I was in the desert. Like those refugees, they'd lost almost everything because the monsters overrun their farms. I have to get the Master Sword soon to end all this. But it's too late for those who've already lost their lives and livelihoods."

There was a momentarily feeling of guilt that it was his fault for those deaths, and for hurting Link this much. But it was all of Hyrule that was suffering for this; his goal was the ruin of Hyrule and its legends, after all. He would be the end of Hyrule this time, something he could be proud of. For now, he had to act for Link's benefit.

"I can get you to Kakariko without trouble tomorrow," Ganon offered. "But before that, I'm guessing you didn't get a chance to take care of Epona afterward."

"No," he said, regretful for that.

"I'll help you with that in the morning," he said. Even if he could order the monsters to keep away, it was too dark out there to be handling a burial. Or whatever he wanted to do for his horse.

"Thank you," Link said quietly, his voice breaking. Thinking it would be the appropriate thing to do, Ganon put his arm around him and let him grieve for a while. Meanwhile, he considered how to proceed up until he had to confront Link with the truth.