Hi guys, I got bored so I'm updating early again. I want to apologize that my previous two chapters have been a bit below standard; being rather short and uneventful. This chapter is chock-full of good stuff and is the longest chapter in this story. I had originally intended for this to be two separate chapters but then they would have been even shorter than Chapters 8 and 9. From this point on, every chapter is going to have something interesting that moves the plot along so hopefully we won't have any more dry segments. Enjoy.

Chapter 10: The Hero and the Sage

The following morning the group woke early, eager to move on as soon as possible. The Kokiri girl from the previous day led them back into the dense woods with little concern of getting lost. The path they took twisted and turned back on itself and as a result the Peacekeepers quickly lost their bearings.

At one point the air in front of them shimmered slightly with a faint green hue. As they passed through, they felt a strange sensation as though walking into giant bubble. Link reasoned that they had just passed through the barrier that protected the Forest Temple, meaning that they were almost there. After climbing a large stone staircase, their escort stopped at a hexagonal alter facing an ancient, moss-covered structure.

The Kokiri girl told them that she could go no further so she bid them farewell and returned to her village in the clearing. Alone, Link and company looked up at the entrance of the temple, twenty feet above the ground with no stairs or ladder to reach it. Midna took the initiative and flew up to the entrance with Groose following via warping spell. Link could have simply used one of his clawshots but not wanting to be outdone by his companions, he focused his thoughts in preparation of a spell. He concentrated on where he wanted to be then he spoke the incantation.

"Farore's Wind," he exclaimed, using the same warping spell that Groose had used. A small tornado surrounded the Hero and in less than a second he vanished. Within another gust of wind, he reappeared next to Midna and Groose atop the stone passageway. They then walked inside the temple, entering a large room with multiple doors leading onward. The Master Sword at that moment flashed in its scabbard as its spirit materialized before the group.

"Master Link," Fi reported, "deep inside the temple have I detected a strange mystical energy. I predict a 73% chance that the source is the Forest Medallion. I have analysed the energy signature and have calibrated the dowsing ability to trace it."

"Dowsing ability?" Link copied, he never heard of such a thing.

Fi nodded. "Using the dowsing ability, I am able to determine the approximate location of people and items of interest. To use the dowsing ability, point your sword outward and move it about your surroundings. When the blade begins to resonate, it indicates the direction of the target."

Link's eyes bulged out in astonishment. "Wow. That will make searching this place a lot easier."

Midna snorted in derision. "If you were able to do this, it would have been nice of you to share it with us before now. You could have saved us a lot of time getting the pieces of the Mirror of Twilight." Link gave her a disapproving look.

The spirit faced the Twili but expressed no emotion. "I sense hostility in your tone and body language," she analysed. "Have I done something to offend you Midna?"

Feeling the glare she was getting from Link, rather than speaking her mind, Midna crossed her arms and looked away. "It's nothing. Let's just find that stupid medallion and get out of here."

With nothing more to say, Fi returned to the Master Sword which Link then drew. As instructed, he pointed the tip of the sword forward. Its blade lit up with a faint violet and the hilt pulsed in his hand. He moved the tip around him, finding that the flashing of the blade and the vibrations changed frequency as he did so.

He continued the sweep until he pointed it at the second door on the left, where the sword began to glow brightly and the handle buzzed like a hive of bees. Link lowered his weapon, causing the vibrations to cease. He began moving towards the door with his teammates following close behind.

The interior of the temple resembled a mansion, with tinted windows, rich velvet carpets and old portraits hanging off the walls. Torches burned at various points which seemed peculiar if the place was meant to have been abandoned. Was there someone still living there or was there another explanation behind the flames?

Link constantly checked the Master Sword to make certain that they were heading in the right direction. Fortunately no monsters dwelled within the temple, so the only obstacles concerning the team were a few ancient traps that were still active. Thanks to Link's acquired talent for exploring however, he was able to lead the others around them with ease.

At one point the Master Sword went off like crazy when Link rechecked their bearings. He assumed that their target was likely in the next room. They opened the stain-glassed door in that direction, after which the team found themselves standing in a grand garden. The grass was green and fresh, flower beds were filled to the brim and beautifully arranged, insects of various species danced around gracefully. The entire area resembled a scene from a painting.

In the center of the garden however was the strangest thing. There stood a tree that was unusually shaped. Its trunk was thinner in some places than others, it only had two branches on either side of it like arms and the top of the tree was odd as well as etched in the bark was the sad face of a girl. Tangled in the tree's twisted roots was the last thing Link expected to see; a skeleton lying down wearing familiar looking armor that was heavily stained with blood.

"Goddesses," he whispered, "it's the Hero's Shade."

Midna turned to him in astonishment. "You mean that ghost who taught you the hidden sword skills? Are you sure?" The Hero's Shade came to Link in a plain that existed outside of the mortal realms, so the Twilight Princess had never seen the deceased warrior herself. Up until then the Twilight Princess had teased him of making up stories to explain random episodes of fainting.

"It's him, I know it," Link affirmed. "I'd recognize that armor anywhere. But what is he doing here?"

Groose stepped closer to the corpse so that he could examine it. There was a hideously large split in the plating that covered the skeleton's side, as if the warrior had taken a swing from something heavy and sharp, perhaps an axe or a greatsword. The wound was definitely fatal. Around the warrior's neck was the chain of a pendent, containing a green disk roughly six centimeters in diameter and bearing a swirling symbol.

The burly Peacekeeper studied the objects before him a few minutes longer before speaking. "I can't be completely certain but I think that this is the Hero of Time, and the tree here could be Saria, the Sage of Forest during his lifetime."

Link and Midna approached the remains, unable to look away. "What happened here?" Midna wondered. "It looks as though the Hero of Time was in a battle but everything around here looks so peaceful."

"I know what happened," Groose stated. "They taught us the Hero of Time's life story in school back on Skyloft." When he looked up he noticed his friend's curious expressions so he continued. "You might know this already, but the Hero of Time was raised by the Kokiri before he set off to save Hyrule from Ganondorf... well, the Ganondorf who lived back then. His best friend at the time was Saria, a Kokiri girl, and during the Hero's quest she became a Sage.

"After the he defeated Ganondorf, the Hero of Time was sent back to the past to relive his lost childhood and hopefully prevent Ganondorf's reign altogether. It didn't really work out and events ended up repeating themselves. As a kid, the Hero then left Hyrule in search for his missing fairy partner while a second version of him fought the Dark Lord again." Groose began scratching his head. "Apparently there were two of him because of some time paradox or something like that. The whole thing kinda goes over my head.

"When the Hero of Time grew into an adult again, peace had returned to Hyrule. The Peacekeepers had been unable to help because there was a ton of other problems going on back then and they didn't have the manpower to confront Ganondorf. The Order was impressed that the guy was able to save the kingdom so they asked him to join them.

"The story doesn't end there though. The Hero of Time had been torn from all of his friends after he was locked in the Sacred Realm for seven years so leaving Hyrule was relatively easy for him. However there was one person that he kept on seeing; his friend Saria. The two of them grew closer and eventually became lovers. Though it broke every rule in the book, the Order allowed it since she was a Sage and was a higher power... sort of. She even gave him the Forest Medallion to keep as a symbol of their love."

Midna butted in. "Wasn't she a little girl though?" she said in disgust. "If you ask me, the Hero of Time had some pretty sick tastes."

Link had to admit, she did have a point. No matter which way you looked at it, the relationship was still disturbing. He felt awkward knowing that the spirit has had the greatest respect for used to be a pervert.

Shock lit up Groose's face and he hurriedly raised his hands in a defensive manner. "No, no, no, it was nothing like that at all, I swear. You see, she was a Sage, so she had a whole heap of special powers. One of them was the ability to change her size and appearance. That way she could match his age whenever she wanted to. I've seen tapestries of those two together and I'll tell you, she was hot."

"Do you mind?" Link scolded, pointing to the tree and bones. "They're right here, remember? Show some respect."

Groose went red with embarrassment. "Uhhh... Sorry. Anyway, things were going good for them for a while until the Hero was sent off to fight in a war. As you can tell, he was wounded badly. Saria was watching and when he went down, she pulled him out of the battle. She knew there was nothing she could do for him so she brought him here to share his final moments. When he died I guess she lost the will to live and turned herself into a tree, maybe so that she could follow him into the afterlife."

"That's so beautiful," Midna said softly, "and sad."

"Yes, such a touching story," an unfamiliar voice chuckled callously. "Now step aside and hand over that medallion."

Link, Midna and Groose spun around and came face to face with a really flamboyant man. He was slender with grey skin and cold eyes. His hair was as pure white as his lips and tight-fitting clothes, which had diamond patterns cut out of them, exposing milky flesh beneath. He also wore an extravagant blood-red cape that covered his upper body. The stranger was surrounded by a small group of minions, ten in total, all dressed in hooded orange robes with fiery designs. Each of the minions wore a different demon mask, hiding their identities.

Whoever the leader was, he wasn't human. His cruel smile vanished when he saw Link's face and glared with a deep hatred. "You! How are you here sky child, of all places? You should be dead! You're remains eaten by maggots and crumbled into dust!"

He pointed to Groose next. "And you. There is no way that something as pathetic and worthless as you could possibly still be alive after all these millennia."

The creature's ranting gave Link the clues he needed to deduce who he was. "I think you have us confused with someone else. I take it that you're Ghirahim right?" If he was correct, then the people in the robes must be members of the Demon's Flames.

"That's Demon Lord Ghirahim to you, insect!" the demon spat. Suddenly his fury vanished and he started laughing. "Oh how foolish of me, of course it's impossible that you are the same humans who constantly stood in my way. You both look exactly like them though and the resemblance was enough to infuriate me."

Ghirahim then turned to Midna with sharp interest. "My, my, I don't believe I've seen a creature like you before, my dear," he said seductively. "Such beauty for a lesser being and an intriguing level of dark magic coursing through your veins. Siding yourself with weak humans, what a terrible waste of potential. You would do well to join us and help bring the end of this pitiful world." He licked his white lips with a freakishly long tongue.

Midna grimaced at the demon. She drew her rapier and pointed it towards Ghirahim. "No thanks, creep. How did you even find this place?"

Ghirahim gave a snort of disdain and snapped his fingers. One of the cult members moved to the front of the group holding a wooden horn, the same one that belonged to Skull Kid.

"I happened to chance upon this little whelp whilst my followers and I were searching through this cursed forest. When I ordered him to lead us here, he unwisely refused to cooperate. I decided to take the information I needed from his mind by force and ended him when he served no further use to me."

Link's blood ran cold. Skull Kid was dead? The sprite was annoying but he certainly did not deserve that fate. "You monster," he growled, raising his own sword.

The demon lord stared at the Blade of Evil's Bane with a scowl. "So," he sneered, "you possess that damned sword just as he did. It makes no difference however; there is no way that you can possibly defeat me. My men and I will be taking that medallion, but in the meantime I will relish in soaking the earth in your blood." With another snap an evil looking sword materialized in his hand which glowed with a dark aura.

"Bring it on," Groose challenged, drawing his own blade.

"The one in green is mine," Ghirahim told his men. "The rest you may do as you wish."

With bloodthirsty cries, the Flames raised their weapons and charged. They split into two factions to flank the Hero's team. Midna and Groose, standing on the outside of their small party, each threw destructive spells at one of the incoming groups before they got too close. One foe on Midna's side went down though the rest had protected themselves with magical shields.

Link focused on his own opponent, who remained where he stood at the far side of the garden. The Demon Lord crouched with his sword pulled back then raced towards the Hero with unnatural speed. Link barely had time to block the incoming blade with his own and held the demon's eye as their swords locked together. Ghirahim then punched Link in the gut with his free hand, winding the Hero and sending him back a few steps.

Link fought for breathe, using his shield to protect himself as he tried to restart his lungs. Ghirahim hacked and hacked at him mercilessly yet the metal shield withstood the assault, albeit barely as parts became bent out of shape. With one last almighty effort, Link managed to successfully inhale sweet oxygen. Able to fight again, he pushed his shield forward to stun his opponent then swung his sword at the Demon Lord's torso.

The sacred blade hit home, knocking Ghirahim backwards however the demon's flesh was not even scratched. The Demon Lord recovered and disappeared in a burst of diamond-shaped lights. Link scanned his surroundings, trying to locate his opponent. A six sense made him spin around and raise his shield to catch Ghirahim's sword. He was too slow to block the attack completely and the black razor edge bit into Link's shoulder. Thankfully the wound was not too deep so the Link was able to keep his shield up.

"Seriously," Link taunted despite how much pain he was in, "do you really think you're the first person to try that on me?" If it had not been for Sarafi's training, Link would have lost his arm or worse. Joining the Peacekeepers just officially became the smartest decision he ever made.

Ghirahim chuckled menacingly at the Hero. "Has anyone tried this before?" He raised his free hand and aimed his palm at Link's face. In a flicker of panic, Link did the first thing that came to mind.

"Nayru's Love!" he shouted as fire streamed out of the Demon Lord's hand. A prism of blue light surrounded the Hero, protecting him from the flames as they licked the sides of the ethereal barrier. He slashed at Ghirahim twice then retreated a few steps. Relieved that he had saved himself from the attack, Link looked at his foe and indignantly exclaimed, "Yes."

Ghirahim still did not appear to be injured at all from the battle. He wore no armor, which had Link wondering what the hell was the creature made of to make his so damned invincible? Link raked his brain furiously for a strategy. How was he supposed to beat this guy?

As if in response to his thoughts, the gem on the Master Sword shone brightly. Ghirahim had been in the middle of preparing for another sword dash but froze like a statue. Link thought he could use that chance to strike again, only to find that his body refused to move. Through the corner of his eye, he saw Midna also frozen in the middle of fighting two opponents at once with her sword. Link panicked. What was happening?

'Master Link...' Fi's voice echoed in his mind.

Whatever she was going to say, Link interrupted her. 'Fi, what's going on? Why can't I move?'

'Do not fear Master, nothing has happened to either you or anyone else in the immediate vicinity.' Her voice was calm and composed, although that was hardly surprising. 'What you experience now is a meeting of our minds. This function accelerates your consciousness and as a result your environment appears to have been slowed to a standstill. However, you will not be able to move your body while we communicate in this fashion.

'I have information for you regarding your opponent. His name is Ghirahim, he is the servant of the fallen god, Demise, and refers to himself as Demon Lord...'

'I know who he is Fi,' Link reprimanded. 'Just skip to the bit that tells me how to kill him.'

He might have imagined it, but Link thought he could have sensed a minuscule wave of annoyance that did not belong to him. 'I have no information available about how to defeat him permanently, although I am able to provide a strategy that will serve for the current situation.'

'That's better than nothing,' Link said. 'Lay it on me.'

'Ghirahim's skin is like an armor, therefore it is impervious to most attacks,' Fi explained. 'However, I have analysed that his strength decreases when you attack his chest, despite lack of physical evidence. I recommend searching for openings in his defense and attacking him when possible.'

'The old "hack-and-slash" tactic,' Link surmised. 'Simple, effective, love it. Thanks Fi.'

'You are welcome, Master. I will terminate our connection momentarily. Once this is done you will be vulnerable to attack again so prepare yourself.'

The light from the Master Sword began to die down and slowly the world resumed at its normal pace. Ghirahim charged at Link in a blur but before the demon could strike him, the Hero swung his sword at the last moment. The Demon Lord was stunned when the sacred blade struck his chest. Link followed up with three more slices, forcing Ghirahim back with each hit.

Ghirahim stood there, panting heavily. He held his head in his hands and screamed in pure rage. "I will not be made a mockery by a lowly human child!" The air became electrified with tension as if the demon's fury was radiating outwards.

One of Ghirahim's followers cried out over the battle. "My Lord, I have the medallion." Both Ghirahim and Link turned to see the speaker raise the green disk. Including the man, there were only four cultists still fighting, the rest dead or wounded.

The tension dissipated. The Demon Lord snarled, realizing that his followers were losing. "Men," he shouted, "we have what we came for. There is no reason to linger here. Retreat now." He then looked at Link scornfully. "This is not over child. Mark my words; you will suffer your insolence."

Already the Demon's Flames who were still able had abandoned the fight and ran for the exit. Ghirahim warped to the doorway then turned back to the Hero and his companions. The demon smiled wickedly and thrust both hands towards them.

"Din's Fire!"

Midna screamed a warning as a wall of flames exploded outwards from the Demon Lord at a rapid rate. Blinded by intense light and threatened of being burned, Link shielded his eyes with his arm. Screams of cult followers who had not been able to flee filled the air as they were consumed by the ravenous blaze, sickening Link to his stomach.

When he felt no heat, he opened his eyes to see the inferno raging around him. He saw that Midna had protected him and Groose with a barrier. When the fire died down, Midna ended the spell and collapsed from exhaustion. Link hurried to her and wrapped his arms around her. She saved them, he realized, and it was a good thing too as Link would not have had the time to raise his own barrier.

He looked around, Ghirahim was gone and not only that the entire garden was ablaze. Flames blackened the grass and the flowerbed, basking the area in an orange glow. Saria's tree was burning along with the Hero of Time's remains, the exposed cloth around its metal plates catching alight. With Midna's protection gone, Link could feel the intense heat. Smoke made it difficult to breathe and partly obscured his vision.

Groose shook him urgently on the shoulder. "Come on, we have to go after them."

"No," Link protested. "We have to put out the fire. If we don't do it now, who knows how far it will spread. It might put the Kokiri in danger."

Groose grimaced with indecision, switching his gaze back and forth between the door Ghirahim escaped through and the blaze. Finally he gave an exasperated sigh. "Alright, fine." He then stepped away and faced the burning tree. Link took out his Gale Boomerang and pulled back his arm to throw it.

Groose raised his arms to the sky and furrowed his brow. "Get ready," he said. "This one takes a lot of energy so I can only do it once. Tempest Call!"

Black clouds gathered above, wind blew fiercely and a crack of thunder boomed from the heavens. Droplets of rain began to fall with a steadily increasing ferocity until it became a heavy torrent. The flames were being extinguished yet some places persisted to burn. Link threw his boomerang at the remaining fire. The artifact's magic snuffed them out with powerful gusts of wind. Within a minute the blaze was out, but there was nothing left of the beautiful garden except for a smoldering stump and the blackened bones of men murdered by their own leader. With its purpose fulfilled, the rain gradually receded to a light drizzle.

They did not have time to mourn the scenery as their enemy was escaping with the medallion. The three Peacekeepers sprinted through the temple, retracing their steps as they pursued Ghirahim and his followers. Groose's strength was almost spent from the weather spell but he toughed it out and managed to keep up. Midna was faring worse so Link had to pull her by the arm to keep her moving. They jumped out of the temple entrance and did not stop running when they hit the ground. Soon they reached the trees where reluctantly they skidded to a halt.

"We'll never find them in that," Midna panted in defeat. "It's over, we lost them."

Link shook his head. "No, we can still find them. We'll just track the medallion like before." He drew the Master Sword and held it out. Nothing. He moved it one side to the next. Still nothing. 'Why isn't the dowsing ability working?' he wondered frantically. Unless the medallion was out of range, he rationalized. They must have crossed the temple's barrier already and warped away. Link growled in frustration. They had been so close, the Forest Medallion was right there in front of them and they let it slip through their fingers. Now that their enemy was in the woods there was no way to catch them. They failed.

Midna looked over to him and gasped in horror, her exhaustion forgotten. "Link! You're hurt!"

Link eyed the cut on his shoulder briefly. It was bleeding profusely and the agony was terrible now that the adrenaline in his system was fading. "It's nothing," he lied, "don't worry about me."

Midna was not convinced and as she fretted over his wound, he noticed that she was not much better. There were half a dozen nicks on her arms and legs. From experience, Link could tell that they were all shallow but the amount of blood that had spilled from them worried him far more than his own injury.

Groose on the other hand, leaning against a tree trunk to stay standing, had fewer injuries. He uncorked a bottle of red potion and took a swig of it, his face scrunched up in disgust. He passed the bottle to his companions who shared what remained of the foul-tasting medicine. The potion would not close their wounds on its own but it would go a long way in easing their fatigue and recovering from blood loss.

Midna then commanded Link to sit on the rain-soaked ground so that she could bandage his shoulder. As she did so Link chuckled inwardly to himself. He could remember a time when he would have been painted in his own blood yet Midna refused to allow him to rest for even a second. These days, however, she would have a heart attack if she ever saw even the smallest drop of red leaking out of him.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of tiny feet pattering in the mud. Link turned to the direction the sound was coming from and saw a Kokiri girl running towards them, out of breath and terrified. "Link!" she cried. When the little girl reached them she bent over with hands on her knees and panted heavily.

Link moved up to the girl and kneeled down to her eye level. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

The Kokiri did not answer for several moments, still catching her breath. When the girl's breathing slowed, she looked up at him. "Some scary looking people attacked the village. Most of them were wearing masks and were following this creepy guy with a funny cape."

Link's eyes widened. "Is everyone okay?"

The girl nodded. "Everyone ran and hid in the woods. The scary people didn't chase us but they smashed all our houses. As soon as I thought it was safe, I ran here as quick as I could to warn you."

"We saw them," Link told her. "They stole something from the temple. We tried to stop them but they got away."

"Is Saria okay?" the Kokiri asked, clearly worried. Link did not have the heart to tell her that her friend had been dead for decades.

"Saria's fine. I told her to run and find somewhere safe to stay."

The girl smiled in relief. Link tried to hide his guilt. "That's good," she said. "Link, you're going to get those bad guys and teach them a lesson, aren't you?"

Link placed a hand on her shoulder. "I will," he said solemnly. "I'm not going to let them get away with this, I promise."

At first I wanted to name the spells 'Din's Fire' and the like something original but after a while I decided you guys might appreciate it more if I stuck to the old names. I realized recently that the notion of Saria dying in this chapter contradicts the existence of the Sage of Forest seen in the game. I couldn't be bothered fixing this so for argument's sake, let's assume that Ganondorf was a different incarnation in OoT and TP and that Saria was replaced before his banishment. This story has been pretty good so far so I think I'm entitled to one loophole.

Later,

EquinoxWolf