Chapter 33

The Sheikahn Council

They stayed there the next day, too, Sheik concerned for the wellbeing of their horses. "I don't like the delay," he said to Link as they rose in the morning, "but it can't be helped. The horses are exhausted. It would be stupid to push them further today."

This didn't upset Link, who was happy to stay by the lake and have some time to enjoy its beauty. Although he had been fearful during their encounter with the lynels, he was still revelling in the Hylia and was quickly falling in love with its scenery. Sheik left him to his own devices for the day, and he wandered along the bank of the lake.

A mile south of the town was a small copse, the trees creeping down to the lake edge. It was a warm day, Din's Fire again burning from a clear blue sky, and Link could feel the difference as he passed into the shade under the branches of the first boughs. He walked amongst the trees, keeping the lake nearby, until he passed through the spinney and came to a small, sandy bay.

Sand was not something Link was particularly familiar with, except what he had come across travelling by the river in northern Hyrule. Sitting in the bay, he spent a long while watching the sun playing on the water. The trees hid the town from view, and all was quiet except for the wind playing in the grass and the leaves, and the occasional chirping of a bird.

A calm crept over Link as he sat there. It was the first time he could remember being truly alone for any significant period. He imagined having Navi with him, wishing he could still have her company, but he also found that he did not miss her as he had done initially. He knew she was where she had to be, and that she was playing her part in protecting the forest.

Over the winter, the enormity of the task that had been presented to him had overwhelmed him. The responsibility of this dark world had been too much to bear. Now, though, he found that he was satisfied that Talon had returned to Lon Lon Ranch and that the Forest was once more safe. With those obstacles cleared, the task ahead seemed far less daunting.

It was mid afternoon when he returned to the small town at the head of the lake. "Did you enjoy your walk?" asked Sheik, when they sat down to dinner in the common room of their inn.

Link nodded. "It gave me time to think. To be alone. I've not had a lot of experience of being on my own.

The edges of Sheik's scarf twitched, a rare smile. "It seems strange to me that you should find it odd to be alone. You always cast such a solitary figure. Sometimes you can be so taciturn that it's easy to forget you have always had one companion or another with you."

"I suppose it comes from my long journeys with Navi. We never had much need to talk."

"Such is the bond between a fairy and the one they are bonded too."

"So I'm told. I realise now that our bond wasn't a normal one."

Sheik gave him a piercing look. "Do not think that your relationship was any less than it was because you are not a kokiri. I know it must have been difficult for you to learn that, but it does not change the way things were. The flow of time is always cruel, its speed seems different for each person, yet none can change it."

Link looked away. "You said the same thing outside the Forest Temple."

"About your friend, the Sage? Yes, I did. Do you remember what else I said?"

"Something about memories."

"A thing that doesn't change over time is a memory of younger days."

Link fell silent, and neither spoke again for a long while.

The next day they continued their journey. They were now deep amongst the hills of the Hylia, a long way off the course Sheik had planned for them. It took them several days meandering between the hills, as the roads they were forced to take were often rough and circuitous. Even so, they did stick to the roads and tracks rather than taking any short cuts, eager to avoid any further encounters with the region's wildlife.

One such road led them up a steep hill, and when they reached its crest there lay below them the greatest lake Link had yet seen. It stretched for several leagues in all directions, looking more like an inland sea than a lake, and several islands reared above its surface.

"Lake Hylia," Sheik said, in his husky voice. "The greatest of the lakes of Hyrule, and the second capital of the zoras."

"Where do they live?" asked Link.

Sheik pointed to the largest island. "Beneath there is a great underwater city, the like of which is not known in all the northern world."

"It sounds impressive."

"It is. Even the king of Hyrule never saw it, for the zoras hold it as a holy place enshrined to the water spirits. They allow none of the other races of Hyrule to enter it."

"Could they, if it's underwater?"

"There are ways. But the zoras would not allow it."

From there, they continued to press north, and eventually they passed out of the hills, several days behind their initial schedule. Link did not know of any pressing reason that they needed to get to Kakariko Village, but he did not resist when Sheik began to increase their pace, trying to cover more and more leagues each day.

Winter was now far behind them, and as he looked about himself Link often thought Hyrule seemed to have forgotten entirely the blankets of snow and the biting winds. They had come now to the more cultivated lands of the north, where there were more dwellings, cities and farmsteads, and fewer rolling plains.

Their road now rejoined the river as it flowed south towards Lake Hylia. Link enjoyed travelling along the waterway again, remembering his trek with Marduk and Timbull. They had stuck to the widest part of the river, following its course down the Avehn Gorge; it filled a basin where the town of Cumberlann straddled the banks, and split to north and south.

This part of the river was new to Link, as his earlier journeys had all been further north. One day, they passed through a small copse and came to a powerful waterfall, crashing down into a wide pool.

It took a while for them to negotiate the path here, as they had to ascend steeply to reach the top of the falls. It took them an hour, and they were forced to dismount and carefully lead their horses up the narrow track. The trees were thinner at the top of the precipice, and Link could see far about them. Looking ahead, he could see a purple haze on the horizon.

"Is that the mountains?" he asked Sheik.

"Yes, that is the far border of northern Hyrule. We are not far from Kakariko now." The sheikah's voice was even more solemn than usual.

They pressed on, and that evening reached Cumberlann. Link could remember staying in the busy market town before. It surprised him when he arrived, as it seemed to be the first place he had revisited since his awakening that did not seem to be tainted or darkened. Once he and Sheik had checked into an inn and sat down in its common room, Link shared this thought.

"Yes, you could say Cumberlann has escaped much of the darkness of the Evil King's reign. Nowhere is truly free of it, though. The people will not trust a stranger, trade continues but this town is not as prosperous as it was seven years ago. Walk through the market tomorrow and you will see fewer fine clothes than when you were here before."

"I suppose I wouldn't have noticed the finery of people's clothes before."

Sheik drank from his mug of ale. "No. I suppose not. The innocence of a kokiri wouldn't pay attention."

"Not a kokiri," Link muttered. Sheik offered no response, either because he had not heard the comment or simply had nothing to say. Link looked down at his green tunic beneath his well-worn cloak. They were only simple clothes, but then he had no need for anything greater. Sheik's clothes seemed good quality, but they looked so patched and frayed it was impossible to guess their real worth.

The following day, they did walk through the market as they left the town, and Link could not help looking about him at the quality of clothes and goods. He did not know if he was imagining it after Sheik's dour prediction, but the people did indeed seem to be less prosperous than in his memory.

For two further days, the mountains grew in the distance, slowly taking form and resolving themselves into the immense, tall peaks that filled Link's vision in a wide curve from east to west. As he remembered, standing slightly apart and rearing into the sky, was Death Mountain.

They reached the foothills in the early afternoon, and soon came to Kakariko Village. It was still only a small town, its windmill slowly turning atop the hill, and it occurred to Link how strange it was that it seemed such an important place for Sheik. He had now seen so many large cities that the little village seemed almost insignificant.

He thought for a moment of saying something about it, but a memory rose before his eyes. When he had first come here, as he had wandered the graveyard, he could have sworn he saw a figure in a doorway. Kakariko might only be a small town, but it remained the ancestral home of the sheikah.

Thinking of his first visit and remembering the graveyard, Link was for a moment taken aback to realise they were in fact heading in that direction. Sheik was not sticking to the main thoroughfare, but was instead going away from the busiest part of the town.

At the edge of the graveyard, hidden from the town by the hill and its windmill, Sheik dismounted. "Wait here," he said to Link.

"Where are you going?" the hylian asked.

Sheik turned to look at him. "I need to inform some people that we've arrived. I won't be long. I'm guessing they'll want to talk to you, as well." He walked away from Link, leaving him feeling slightly uneasy, alone amongst the graves. Sheik skirted along the edge of the graveyard, not going amongst the main plots but moving instead towards the tombs Link remembered, in the deep shadows cast by Death Mountain.

Just as he remembered it, the mausoleum stood out from the wall, its dark entrance foreboding and ominous. Crossing his arms, Link tried to put his feeling down to the eerie sensation of the graveyard, but he knew it was really what awaited him inside that mausoleum, knowing Sheik would soon call him in there. Perhaps another trial awaited him.

His friend returned after a few minutes and beckoned him to follow. As Link had expected, he had to go in to the dark entrance. Crossing the threshold, he winced for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Although this part of the graveyard was in shadow, it was still a stark contrast with the unlit stone passage he was now in.

His sharp eyes straining, he quickly realised there was a sheikah stood on either side of the doorway; Link could not helping thinking they felt like guards, and that he was being imprisoned. For a moment, his mind ran through scenarios of being held captive by the mysterious Shadow Folk, and if he would be able to escape. Shaking his head, he dismissed the idea, trusting that Sheik had led him here in good faith, but nonetheless he could not help feeling unnerved.

Guided by Sheik, he followed the dark passage, and after they had gone twenty or so yards Link realised there were torches further along the tunnel. It was only the entrance that seemed in darkness, creating the disorientating sensation he had experienced, but now they passed the crackling brands set on the wall he began to feel more reassured.

They left the main tunnel and went along a side passage. The walls seemed not to have been built but delved into the rock of the mountain. They reminded Link of the passages of the goron mines, though this rock was dark and grey.

The new passage soon opened out into a room with a door at the far side and a long table in the centre. Torches were set in brackets on the walls. Papers were strewn on the table.

Three sheikah sat in chairs around the table. They looked up as Link and Sheik entered. Two were men Link did not recognise, both older than Sheik and both looking more stern and more severe than his companion. The other was a woman Link recognised as Impa, Princess Zelda's bodyguard. He had last seen her fleeing Hyrule Castle with Zelda the day Ganondorf attacked Hyrule Castle.

"Ah, Sheik," said one of the men. "And this must be Link."

Sheik nodded his assent and sat in one of the unoccupied chairs. He indicated for Link to do the same thing. Self consciously, Link sat in the chair nearest the exit.

"You're certainly not the boy you were when we first met," said Impa. There was an awkward silence while Link tried to think of an appropriate response. He wished Navi was there.

"Link has come on a long journey to be here today," obliged Sheik, filling the gap. "We have not even rested yet."

"I am Mido," said one of the men. Link started at the name, but Sheik leaned into him and said in an undertone, "It's a common name throughout Hyrule. It was well known before most Hyrulians stopped entering the forest."

"This is the leader of the Sheikahn council, Hebra," said Impa, indicating the third sheikah.

"You have been to the forest. We know the Evil King had penetrated deep into the Lost Woods," said Mido.

"His hold there has been broken," replied Sheik. "The army he was breeding has been destroyed."

Hebra and Mido's faces remained impassive, but Impa raised an eyebrow. "Indeed? That would seem to be the first good news we have had in a long while."

Sheik inclined his head. "The magic of the forest is repairing itself. My hope is that the Evil King's attention will be drawn there. He has lost a servant of great potency and will wish to regain power immediately. It buys us time to strike elsewhere."

There was another silence, and this time Link knew it was ominous. "Then news has not reached you recently?" said Mido, in a dour voice.

"What news?" asked Sheik.

"We sent out riders to look for you but evidently you did not meet any on your road," explained Impa.

"We were delayed in the Hylia. What is the important news that we have not heard?"

Hebra now spoke for the first time. "The Evil King has not looked towards the forest to make reparation for what has happened. He has struck closer to home."

"We suspect he must have known very quickly that someone opposed him, and why," supplemented Mido.

Sheik turned to Link. "Can he have known?"

"I met his phantom, in the Forest Temple. Before it was completely killed, Ganondorf-"

"Do not speak his name!" hissed Mido. His face was contorted, it was strange to see such emotion from a sheikah.

"Link does not know our ways," Sheik quickly interjected, then turned to his friend. "Remember that to acknowledge someone's name is to acknowledge who they are. So long as he sits on his usurped throne we call him only the Evil King. We will not allow him the honour of being called by name."

"I'm sorry," muttered Link. "I'm not a sheikah."

"But you are in our halls," intoned Hebra, solemnly.

"You were saying?" prompted Impa.

"Yes. In the Forest Temple. Just before his phantom disappeared, he spoke to me through it. Wherever he was, he was aware of me."

"Did he know who you are? Did you tell him what you were trying to do?" asked Mido.

"No. I don't think so. I don't remember."

"This could be critical. If the Evil King thinks we are trying to awaken the sages-"

"He does not know all the legends," interrupted Impa. "He has never set great store by the words of the sheikah, to his detriment."

"Even so. If he suspects that we are trying to find that sort of strength, it would explain much."

"Explain what?" asked Sheik. "You still have not told us what news we have missed on our journey."

"A message was sent from Goron City," answered Hebra. "It was hastily written, simply stating there was some sort of danger on Death Mountain. We sent three sheikah to see what this danger was. They have not returned."

"How long ago was this?"

"Four days."

"Is that that bad?" asked Link

The four sheikah turned to him, and the look they gave would have frozen all of Lake Hylia. "Three sheikah do not take one day to report, not when they are only going to Goron City, let alone four. At least one should have returned within hours with some sort of information."

"Then they are either dead or captured?"

"So it would seem," said Mido, scathingly. "No one has come down the mountain since the first messengers. We are talking about three of the most highly trained warriors in Hyrule. Something must have gone seriously wrong."

"It would make sense that this is the Evil King's response to what took place in the Forest Temple," murmured Sheik.

"Indeed. The question is what action do we take now?"

"I'll go up the mountain in the morning," said Link, softly.

Mido snorted. "What do you intend to do that you think three sheikah could not?"

"The gorons are my friends," he replied simply.

"This boy is no help to us!" The older sheikah disregarded him and turned to his companions.

"Mido," said Hebra in a low voice, "You come close to stepping out of line."

"I believe in Link," asserted Sheik. "I think he should be given at least the chance to see what has happened. It was by his hand the Forest Temple was freed from the Evil King's grasp and its sage awoken."

"So it would seem. The same thing that revealed him to the Evil King and has now placed all the gorons in this imminent danger. How do we know he is any sort of hero to redeem Hyrule?"

"Link is the Hero of Time. We know this. The Master Sword does not make errors," said Impa

"And yet we have spent six months wondering how it can possibly have chosen correctly." Mido's voice remained impassive, but his words were damning.

"All the legends of the Sheikah say that only one worthy of the title Hero of Time may open the door to the Sacred Realm," stated Sheik. "Link has been judged, it is not for us to question that."

"His indecision and paralysis have enabled the Evil King to continue his rule. Who knows how many more people have died or had their lives ruined since he came out of the Temple of Time? If it were not for Sheik's intervention, perhaps he would still be milking cattle."

"You go too far," interrupted Hebra, but Link had already pushed his chair away from the table and stood. Mido's accusations were too much for him. He turned and left the room, walking quickly along the passages, past the sentries. His boots seemed strangely quiet on the stone floor, unheard over the pounding of blood in his ears. His eyes flicked to the motionless sheikah, but none moved to impede him.

Out in the cool evening air, he walked quickly away from the dark threshold, heading towards the windmill. He moved onto the grass and slowed, concentrating on regulating his breath and calming down.

Behind him, he heard a door open and close, but he did not turn. For a moment, he considered the irony that it was another person called Mido who was taunting him with his failures, his inadequacies.

"Link!" Sheik's call was not loud. It was as low and husky as always, a strange contrast with Mido's clear voice, still ringing in Link's ears. He stopped, but did not turn round.

"Mido does not know you. He judges you unfairly."

"Indecision and paralysis," Link echoed the words.

"You awoke in a world you could not have expected. I do not blame you."

Belatedly, some of Mido's words came back to Link through the haze of his anger. He turned to glare at the other man. "What did he mean, your intervention?"

"He spoke of things he does not really understand," replied Sheik, but there was something in his tone that Link did not trust. It was not his normal, impassive voice, but suggested he was choosing his words carefully.

"Mido said I would still be milking cattle if you hadn't acted. So you knew I was at Lon Lon Ranch."

"Link, you've talked about Lon Lon Ranch many times as we've travelled from the forest."

"Yes, but Mido doesn't know about that. And it doesn't explain what he meant about you intervening."

"Please don't be angry," Sheik continued.

"The letter," Link said, as realisation hit him. "You sent the letter to Ingo, the one that made him go to Loxton."

"I didn't do it out of malice."

"Why did you then? To manipulate me into going to the forest? Into being your hero?"

"To prompt you. I did it because I believed it was the best thing. Would you disagree, now? I did nothing other than send a letter to Ingo. Talon's return was your doing, you acted completely separately once you knew Ingo's concern."

Link had no answer to give his friend. He had wondered several times about the letter Ingo had received, that had led to their trip to Loxton.

The sky above had turned purple as Din's Fire sank behind the mountains. There were dark clouds in the sky that had been clear earlier in the afternoon. Link took several steadying breaths of the cool evening air. Sheik remained silent. "In the morning, I will climb Death Mountain," Link said, finally. "I'm not doing this because you want me to, or because Mido doesn't. Maybe you're just manipulating me again, but right now I don't really care. I'm committed to doing this for the people I love, not because of the sheikah and your damn cryptic messages."

Sheik nodded. "I'll be ready at dawn."

"No, I don't want you to come with me. I don't need the sort of help you're offering. I'm going up Death Mountain because I'm looking for my friends. Right now, I'm not sure you fall into that category."

"Very well." The normal sheikah implacability disguised any emotion as Sheik spoke. "Then allow me to say only this. It is something that grows over time, a true friendship. A feeling in the heart that grows stronger over time. The passion of friendship will soon blossom into a righteous power and through it, you will know which way to go. I hope when that happens you will see that I seek only ever to help you. Even more, I hope you can believe again that I am your friend."

Without answering, Link turned and walked towards the lights of the village.