Dark by

Part twelve Cryptic Message

We were three days out from the temple where we'd stopped during the storm when we finally reached a town. The ride had been less pleasant in some ways than our ride across Hyrule, for it was cold and windy, with occasional brief showers of rain, the whole way. Summer, it seemed, was giving way to autumn, and the good days might be precious and few from here on. Though I for one would rather ride through snow, sleet, or hail than have to cross Hyrule Field's horrible openness again.

The town was a fairly large one, easily as big as Hyrule Castle Town, probably bigger. It bustled with life and activity, and Link and I both stared like bumpkins at the many people that thronged the streets.

"Well, now what?" I asked.

"Find somebody to ask... I don't know. About magic, I guess. Where to find a wizard or a sage or somebody who might know about your problem."

"Who do we ask?"

"Whoever we find," said Link. He looked around, and saw a portly man who didn't seem particularly busy standing in front of a shop. He kneed Epona over in that direction and called out, "Excuse me sir!"

"What is it?" The man looked up, a surly expression on his face.

"We're seeking for information about magic. Do you..."

"You?" the man broke in rudely, "are asking me about magic? Is this some kind of joke?"

Link looked taken aback. "No, sir, I assure you..."

"Look elf boy, I don't take getting mocked from anyone, least of all a freak like you. Get lost!" And he spun around and stomped into his shop, shutting the door behind him with a loud slam.

Link stared after him, jaw open in shock. "What did I just get called?"

"'Elf boy,'" I replied bemusedly. "Whatever that means."

"Don't mind him, he's a sour one to his own kind as well as to yours," broke in another voice. I looked down to see a middle aged man, dressed in dark, practical clothing, grinning up at us. "You two are from Hyrule, aren't you?" he said.

"Yes," I ventured, feeling confused.

"Well, there aren't a lot of your folk around here. Most of 'em stay in Hyrule, you know. You've only just come from there, haven't you?"

Link and I both nodded, and the man smiled and continued, "Now Jake there thought you must be having a go at him, seeing as how you're magical, pointy-eared, Hylian Elves, and he's just a plain old human, he don't know nothing at all about magic." He fingered one of his ears as he said that, and with a bit of a shock I saw that it was short and round, as if it the tip had been cropped off for some inexplicable reason. But glancing around at the others passing by I quickly realized that they all had short ears like that. And on the heels of that realization came another the long pointed ears Link and I had stuck out like, well... like long, pointed ears. They were extremely obvious. "I expect your question is sincere," continued the man, "else you wouldn't have been so surprised when he flipped his lid. But you should know that magic's a rare thing around here. I'm sure you two have more magic in you than the whole town put together."

"But we're not mages," I protested, "we're warriors."

"So you can't cast any spells at all? Not even one? And no magical weapons or suchlike?" said the man with a sly grin.

"Uh... well... I can only cast the one. And, uh..." I looked over my shoulder at the hilt of the Master Sword. "I guess you have a point. But what is an 'elf'?"

That got me a brief look of blank incomprehension. "Why... you are, of course. You and your quiet friend there." He gestured at Link.

"Oh."

"You don't call yourselves elves?"

I shook my head. "No. We call ourselves Hylians."

"Well out here folks what look like you two get called elves."

"I see." I had a sinking suspicion that this was going to be the first of many unforeseeable surprises. We weren't in Hyrule anymore and apparently things were very different out here. "But... about our question..."

"I don't know nothing at all about magic, boy."

"I know. But is there anyone in town who might? Some sage or wise woman or wizard?"

"Well... there is a wise woman, old Matilda who owns the potion shop."

"Do you think she might know anything about how to break a spell?"

"I don't rightly know. But if anyone in town does, she will. And she knows some folks from abroad too, she might be able to point you at somebody."

I felt a touch of relief. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, boy. Just follow this road past the fountain, then turn left. The shop will be on your right, can't miss it."

"Thanks again."

He waved as we nudged our horses forward. It was surreal, riding down the seemingly ordinary street and seeing all these seemingly ordinary people, who were an entirely different race from us, possibly as alien as Zoras or Gorons.

We dismounted at the potion shop. Inside, shelves stacked with relatively familiar contents greeted us, and I'll confess I felt a bit of relief to see them. Especially the familiar bright red healing potion. We had only one fairy left, and that needed to be saved for emergencies, but healing potions were nearly as good and it looked like they'd be readily available, even in this less magical land we found ourselves in.

Dusting the shelves was an elderly woman. She was wrapped in a hooded cloak, even here inside, so I could barely make out her features, but her stooped form made her age clear. She looked up at us as we entered and set her duster aside. I had no idea if she was surprised to see us or not, since her expression was in shadow. Her voice gave no clues. It held a quaver of age but was otherwise even and calm. "Greetings, welcome to my shop."

"Are you, uh," I fished through my memory for the name, "Matilda?"

"That I am, child. What can I do for you two fine young Hylians?"

"We have a question about magic, ma'am." Something about her inspired the honorific.

She peered up at me. "And why would you folks, who no doubt have more magic in your hair than I've got in my whole body, be asking old Matilda about magic, hmm?"

I sighed. This again? "Ma'am... we're not mages. We're just fighters. This is beyond us. We need to know how to break a spell."

"I see. Well, breaking as spell is sometimes easier said than done, but mayhap I can aid you. Tell me about it."

"I, uh..." How on earth was I going to explain this? I got the feeling that telling her I was Link's evil twin wasn't going to get us off to a good start.

"We need to break part of the spell, ma'am, while leaving the rest of it intact. That is our difficulty." Link broke in, relieving me of my dilemma.

"Ah. That's beyond me, child. I can't help you, I'm sorry. I do simple magics, that kind of thing is for great wizards and sages, not for an old wise woman like me." She turned away from me and picked up her duster again.

My face fell. We'd hit a dead end.

"I'm sorry Dark," said Link, putting a hand on my arm.

"Wait." The old woman turned back around. "Your name is Dark?"

I blinked in surprise. "Yes?"

"That old goat," she muttered with a laugh. "Mayhap I can help you after all, child. I have a message for you."

"You... you do?"

"Aye. A sage I know, last time I saw him he told me I needed to tell dark something when I met him. Sages, they like to be cryptic, and I thought he was being worse than usual, I do confess. I never thought I'd simply meet a fellow who went by the name! But this is what he said. 'Tell dark, when you meet him, that his light's song is the key to his heart's desire." That's your message. Tell you anything?"

I looked at Link. "Maybe," I ventured.

"He said 'his light's song', not 'the light's song,' or 'a light's song'?" asked Link intently.

"That's what he said, 'his light's song.'"

Link nodded. "That's me, then. You're my shadow, Dark. It follows that I'm your light."

I nodded. It made sense. "But we already knew that your song frees me. This doesn't tell us anything new."

Link grinned. "Yes it does. It tells us first that the music angle is the right track to pursue. And it tells us second that there's somebody who may well be able to tell us more."

Matilda cackled. "You're a smart one, child. Yes. The sage in question is named Bertram. He lives in Questra, which isn't too near here, it'll be a bit of a trip, but the trade road leads there. Follow it east and you'll get there eventually."

"Thank you very much!" said Link. He turned to go, then stopped. "Oh, before we leave, I think we had better stock up on potions. If it's going to be a long journey, we ought to be prepared."

We left the shop with all our spare jars filled, though also with our wallets considerably lighter.

"How much do we have left?" I asked.

Link frowned. "Not as much as I'd like. It's getting colder, and I'd wanted to get some cold weather gear. Hopefully we'll at least have enough for some warmer bedrolls." He looked over at me, and his cheeks reddened. "I haven't minded sharing, exactly, but all the same... We should at lest see if we can find something waterproof to carry them in."

I coughed and blushed. With the frequent drizzles we hadn't had properly dry bedding for the last several nights, so we'd been forced to repeat our arrangement from our night at the unknown temple. I hadn't really minded either, but it was a little bit awkward. Especially as I'd woken Link up with my nightmares two out of the three nights we'd spent thus.

We scouted the whole marketplace, and eventually with some careful budgeting we were able to get waterproof bags and some warmer gear, including coats for both of us. But that took nearly all our funds, there wasn't a coin left to pay for a room once we'd gotten some food and fodder for the horses. So we didn't linger, but set out immediately along the trade road towards Questra.

That night when we made camp I was able to sleep in my own bedroll, warm and comfortable. But though I wasn't sure I wanted to admit it, I felt a little bit lonely. Even though Link was only a few feet away, I missed sleeping by his side. And my sleep was troubled with nightmares once again, so that when morning came I rose before the dawn, feeling nearly as tired as I had before I'd laid down.

I sat and watched the sun rise. Link was sleeping with his hammer by his hand, and I had to fight back another fiery flash of anger when I looked at him. I wanted to jump on him and strangle him with my bare hands.

But I was getting better at fighting those feelings. I managed to calm myself to the point where I was only a little irritated with him. Still the mental effort left me feeling even more exhausted, and that combined with my irritation left me morose and impatient.

Thankfully Link woke before my impatience made me do something we'd both regret, and we broke camp fairly efficiently and headed out. I muttered curses at Link, the horses, our meager breakfast, the still-chilly weather, and everything else I could think of to curse as we went on our way.

"So how far do we have to go anyhow?" I asked around midday.

"I'm told it's about a month's travel by horse," said Link

"What? A whole month? But... you could cross the whole of Hyrule and back again in that time. On foot. Twice."

Link chuckled, and I had to grit my teeth as the urge to throttle him rose again. "I get the impression that Hyrule is a very small and insignificant kingdom, by the standards of those outside it. Perhaps that is part of why it has so little to do with the rest of the world."

I thought about that, as something to think about other than killing Link. "Ganondorf sure wanted to conquer it pretty badly, for somewhere so insignificant." I finally said.

"Ganondorf wanted the Triforce. Which as far as I know has never been taken outside of Hyrule... until now, that is." He looked down at his hand and the mark there. In some metaphysical way he was carrying the Triforce of Courage. And we were well outside the borders of Hyrule by now.

"Does that mean anything?"

He shrugged. "I doubt it. But I suppose if it does we'll find out."

I brooded on that for a while as we rode. What if we somehow ruined things in Hyrule by leaving it? The Hero of Time, the Triforce of Courage, and the Master Sword were all gone. What if they were needed while we were away? And should I care if they were? I glanced over my shoulder again at the hilt of the Master Sword. Things seemed to be getting stranger and stranger the further we went along. I had thought it was a little crazy when Link had willingly sparred with me. I had thought it was insanity when he'd bought me a horse, and utter madness when he'd said he would make helping me his quest. I didn't even know how to categorize the level of lunacy required to give me the Master Sword.

And most of that had happened just over the last week or so. With a month on the road together, what else might happen? I wasn't sure I wanted to even think about it.