Nought to say here.

Chapter 19

The Eye of the Storm

Everyone was assembled in the library of Hyrule Castle. A large round oak table adorned the centre of the circular room will bookcases fitted to the walls stretched up to the high vaulted ceiling. Books bound in covers of every hue, filed in order of genre were stacked into shelves. Smaller free-standing shelves stood around in a circle, the top shelf of books reaching just about eye-level. The ceiling was painted with a mural depicting the creation of Hyrule, with the three goddesses cultivating the world into a land able to sustain life. Light streamed through the stained glass windows, throwing patchwork patterns onto the soft crimson rug.

Princess Zelda sat at the table, once again in simple non-formal attire. Her long auburn hair was plaited down her back, and her soft cotton dress was the colour hyacinths. She sat straight backed, head held high, her hands clasped on her lap. To her left sat the members of the resistance. Telma in her leather outfit had a glass of milk in one hand while the other rested on the arm of the chair. Rusl was leaning back in his chair, his helmet on his lap. Sitting on the arm of his chair was Falcon, preening his tawny feathers while taking the occasional titbit from Rusl. Auru (just realised I got his name wrong) was leaning on one hand, his elbow on the arm of the chair. With the other her stroked his goatee, pondering something obscure notion. Shad was of course absent, taking refuge in the Sky City. Ashei however, had her arms crossed over her chest and she leant back in the chair, a petulant look on her face. To the right of Zelda sat Link. His fingers fiddled and twitched while his eyes flickered around the room. His penetrating gaze caused more than one to shudder beneath its stormy glare. Silver had allocated a chair to herself, and now kept fidgeting to keep herself comfortable. Dal also had a chair to himself though he seemed more frightened and awed at those present. Ashei's glinting armour particularly frightened him, reminding him of the metallic beast that led to his meeting with Link and Silver. Epona, unable to get into the castle, was not present and instead was grazing in the courtyards while an army of stable hands fussed over her. Other members of the animal and human council were present.

"So, how has everyone fared in their separate tasks?" Zelda asked.

"Well, you beat me to the zoras. Which is hardly fair!" Ashei muttered angrily, glowering at Link darkly.

"Not at all." Zelda assured her. "Your findings helped me to work out the entire story. I'm just sorry you could not be there to witness the passing of sage-ship."

Ashei mumbled a curse under her breath and looked away.

Rusl patted Falcon's head.

"We spoke to Impaz. He didn't know much about the shadow sage. He only said that no descendent of Impa still lives in this world. I'm afraid that he knew nothing that didn't concern the sky tribes. Which is to say, nothing of any use."

"Yes, I had a feeling you would. Before Shad's impromptu departure, he did leave us a few notes." Zelda said, indicating a heavy tome that lay on the table in front of her. "His research dictates that the sheikah's ability to appear and disappear at will was often referred to as shadow travelling. Furthermore their power of concealment was also known as a form of dark magic. It gets better; apparently, Impa's daughter was often referred to as The Dark Sorceress. I believe the tribe of sorcerers the interloper war refers to is in fact a tribe of Shiekah who broke away from the main faction. It's possible, that Impa's daughter was among them."

"So that would mean that…?" Ashei growled.

"That it's possible a descendent of Impa is in the Twilight Realm." Zelda explained.

"But Midna sealed our only link to their world. There's no possible way we can reach them." Silver said, the memory of the twili's departure still fresh in her mind.

Link shook his head and looked at Zelda, silently communing with her.

"Are you sure? But surely it's closed, and with Nubia, it would be far too dangerous."

Link glanced out of the window at Epona, who could be seen eating a pile of fresh apples, oblivious to the goings-on inside the library. Link shook his head again, his hands translating what he spoke to Zelda.

"Alright, but I wouldn't let you go there alone. If you must go, the Resistance goes with you. If Nubia did appear, they could buy you time to escape."

"What is his proposition?" Telma asked, eyeing Link's face.

"That he use the old grey path through the lost woods to reach the twilight realm. The greys often travelled between both worlds, so there must've been a route through. But Nubia is a grey as well; she would know the route, particularly once she's told about the mirror of twilight." She looked at Link. "Not to mention, it's horribly dangerous. I dread to think what Nubia would do to you if she got her claws on you. She nearly killed you the last time." The princess turned to the rest of the table. "The Resistance and I will stay here in the library and we will see if we can find an alternative route to the twilight realm. Rusl, I want you, Dal, Silver and Epona to head to Ordon. Find out what you can about the forest sage."

Link held Zelda's stare for a moment longer, obviously ruffled by her blatant statement about his own weakness. Then his duty as her grey guardian took control and he dropped his gaze.

"Is it even still safe here?" Ashei asked. "Those giant things got in here pretty easily."

"She has a point Princess." Telma said.

"Yes, I've considered that myself. The only other alternative I can think of is relocating to the Sky City. But once up there…"

"If the party remaining here are attacked we might not be able to reach them in time." Telma said, nodding her head sagely.

"And we would be cut from the surface. Too much movement of Sky Dragons or indeed cans would surely put Nubia and her allies on our scent. Plus we would need to transport the books as well…"

"Not necessarily." Falcon said, stirring for the first time. "There is an island up in the city with a vast library, vaster even this one. The books there, while extremely old do detail many accounts of the sages and past civilisations. It may be worth looking through those, no surface-dweller has read those books in nigh on century."

While Zelda translated, a murmur of approval rippled across the table.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Ashei said.

"Then its settled, the Resistance and I shall travel to the Sky City to see what we can glean from their library."

"One moment before we adjourn." Auru said. "Can I just clarify who we have? My mind's not quite what it used to be."

Zelda nodded.

"We found Lera the sage of Spirit, Darbus (possibly got his name wrong and all) the sage of Fire and Lana the sage of Water. We are still missing the sage of Forest, the sage of Light and the sage of Shadow."

Auru's face creased into a frown.

"We're short one. What about the sage of time?"

"That sage-ship has never left the royal family." Zelda replied. "Now, we all know what we are doing. I believe this meeting is adjourned. Silver if I may have a word."

The wolfos nodded and jumped down off the chair to follow Zelda out of the room.

Rusl looked outside, watching the black storm clouds gather on the horizon.

"Looks like there'll be a storm tonight, we'll wait till tomorrow before we leave." Link nodded. "I think you'll need that cloak of yours."

Zelda stood by the window in an adjourning room.

"What happened in the vault?" she asked.

Silver blinked, momentarily stunned by the question.

"I have the triforce of wisdom Silver, I know something happened up there."

Silver looked down, her tail limp and her ears flat.

"We met the past incarnations. Fi's database had turned her memories of the past Zeldas, Links and Eponas into walking talking people. Me and Link were separated. Some form of evil had penetrated the sword, one of Fi's memories of Link told me we was after the sacred flames inside the blade. I don't know much of what happened, but I know Link and the other incarnations were staging a final battle by the flames. The darkness, he was a some sort of puppet master. He turned Link into a puppet, tried to use him as a weapon. But, the Zelda that was with me broke his spell. Her magic turned all the puppets back into the real forms. The demon panicked and tried to throw Link into the flame to release the evil of all evils. The first Link stopped him, he…" Silver's voice cracked and she was forced to choke back strangled sobs. "He stabbed…"

Zelda came and knelt before the wolfos, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"He's alive now, there's nothing to fear."

Silver shook her head.

"But, I talked to Zi. She said, she told me that history always repeats itself."

Zelda gave her a reassuring smile.

"But it is people who have the creativity to change it, to break old cycles."

"I heard what Link said to you, about getting to the Twilight Realm. You have to find another way, he would face Nubia. You don't know what she did in Death Mountain, what she nearly did. If that woman hadn't stopped the fight, if she hadn't saved Epona…you can't let him take the forest route."

Zelda nodded.

"I will do all I can."

"Thank you."

Zelda kissed the wolfos' forehead.

"It'll be alright in the end. It always is."

Rusl was right, and a vicious storm ravaged Lanayru Province that night. Lightning sliced the sky and thunder rumbled through the air with the ferocity of a tiger. Rain lashed the windows in droves, it battered the panes and beat a rapid angry rhythm against the glass. The water streamed from the eaves, creating miniature waterfalls that cascaded down onto the courtyards below. The wind howled and clawed at the doors. It rushed down the chimneys and made the candles flicker and dance.

In the castle, Silver and Link sat by the windows, watching the rain and listening to the swirling chaotic melody that threatened to smash the windows in. The mist curled around Link's fingers, he wriggled them and the mist wrapped itself into a vague form before collapsing in on itself and becoming a simple cloud once more. Link growled and tried to focus again, but to no avail.

In the end he gave up and leant back against the window frame, exasperated.

"No luck?"

Link looked at her, eyebrows raised.

"Well, it's just like you then."

He gave her a half-hearted cuff.

When morning broke, the sun was still hidden behind the thick blanket of slate grey clouds. Rain still fell in sheets, but the worst of the storm had passed.

"What a miserable day." Epona muttered, shaking water from her mane.

A waterproof rug had been thrown over her rump under the saddle to keep the worst of the rain off. Link had his cloak around his shoulders, the material pulled up over his head to make a hood. Silver didn't have much protection from the rain save for her coat, so she sat there beside the mare looking very bedraggled and sorry for herself. Likewise Aaron had a rug over his rump and Rusl had a hood over his head.

"Let's see if we can get home before dinner."

Link nodded, and cast one last glance around the castle courtyard. No sign of any giants or evil psychotic lynxes. He hoped it stayed that way. He didn't fancy playing capture the castle for a second time.

The heavy rain had turned the cobbled streets into rivers of mud. The town was still deserted, the residents having taken refuge in the nearby Kakariko. The gauze of rain gave the town an almost ghostly quality, as if it were completely devoid of all life. Link pulled his hood lower over his face. The little waterfalls that cascaded down from the gutters made every alley seem packed with movement. For Link, it was like being trapped in the twilight realm all over again, only without Midna's guidance.

The horses trotted through the streets, mindful of the slippery pavement. Once out of the streets however, the horses quickly picked up a canter across the field.

The field in question was boggy and soaked. Puddles of water created marshes that spanned the distance between hills. The small lakes that dotted the field had burst their banks and one of the bridges looked just about ready to fall. With each renewed onslaught of rain, it juddered shrieked, wobbling precariously. When the horses thundered across it, it shook and the sound of splintering timber rung in the party's ears. Silver just about leapt clear of the bridge before the swirling currents sucked it down into the ever rising water.

The thick black clouds over head continued to throw down water, almost as if they were intent on flooding the land to be rid of the darkness that now inhabited Nubia.

The howling wind clawed at the branches and as the day wore on, the clouds begun to churn once more.

Lightning lit the world, blinding the landscape in its brilliant light while thunder boomed and clapped. Trees creaked ominously, their roots beginning to peek from the soil. This was the eye of the storm that was blowing across Hyrule. The wind clawed at the horses' legs, threatening to sweep them off their hooves. Silver also had was keeping close to Epona to avoid being snatched away by the elements.

The swirling calamitous melody spun around the party's heads, threatening to drive them mad with its confusing tempestuous call.

Link could feel the melody's siren song scrabbling at his ears. It wanted to lift him up and spin him round and round in an everlasting tornado, ripping his being into billions of tiny pieces to be played with by the freezing wind. The swirling storm wanted nothing more than to dance across the land, spinning it over and over so that it might understand what it was like to be part of the cacophony of fighting elements. To his surprise, the mist inside him, almost seemed to copy the chaotic movements of the wind, spinning and swirling inside him. Despite the danger, it was fun. Adrenalin coursed through his body as the mist swirled faster and faster inside him.

"Link!" Epona's cry broke his thoughts. "It'll rip you to pieces."

The boy shook himself out of his daze and the mist too calmed, settling down inside him like an obedient dog. The sound of the storm also seemed to subside, though its influence on the world did not. At one point, Silver had to swim through a part of the lake that had flooded out completely while the horses ploughed through.

Lightning split the sky to their left, branching down and smashing into a tree. It immediately burst into flame before being quenched just as quickly. The thunderclap that followed drowned out the world.

Still the soldiered on.

The wind grappled with the rain, creating vortexes of spiralling air and water. Trees finally yielded to the might of the storm and toppled down, crashing into the waters below that rose ever faster.

The wind screeched and wailed like a banshee.

The rain battered the ground, adding to the ever growing waters.

Lightning lit up the clouds and thunder rumbled through the ground.

It went on…

…and on…

…and on…

…and on…

…then it was silent…

...