Chapter 47: Where Legends Walk

…

~~Day 19

~~I'm convinced now that these nightmares have some kind of meaning to them, but I can't quite figure out what. Somehow, I think I've seen through the eyes of another the Island Sonata when it was sunk in the Undying Storm, what the Sorians call the "Storm of Purgatory". I keep thinking it's Captain Koroul, but something just doesn't seem right about it. I just can't understand it at all.

~~Cale suggested going through charts of the railways at the Library. He's suggested that we might be able to find another way to the Gorons' town. I hope he's right. Without access to the Fire Realm, we'll have a hard time finding more Architects.

…

Link had taken advantage of staying at Cale's apartment by using the bath hall again. It felt nice to be clean, especially after the nightmare had caused him to remain awake the rest of the night yet again. Now, he sat at one of the tables in the central room of the Library, his eyes partially focused on the rail map in front of him. It was only a little late in the morning, but Link's lack of sleep was already taking its toll on him. He kept his head propped up on a hand, trying to look like he was examining the map while imagining how comfortable the table was. Luggard sat across from him in an equivalent state of drowsiness. He had explained earlier that he had been kept up by Sello, who had not only insisted on getting drunk but had succeeded in becoming completely incomprehensible through an insane combination of beer and Mel's Boiler Soup. Luggard then had decided to stay with him at a nearby inn, but by the time he had awoken, Sello had disappeared. A quick check on the Seventeen had revealed Sello somehow passed out on top of the locomotive's boiler. Leynne had yet to appear, however Link had managed a passing glance at Valley before joining Cale in the central room.

"Ħō, ħō, Cīla!" Irleen's voice suddenly cried across the room, snapping both Luggard and Link out of their drowsiness.

"What, what!" Cale cried in response, startled by her voice.

"Kūlhònka rìláh," Irleen said in a loud tone. "Àt kūlvoice is so dull that half of youh sounds just don't come off as saying anything cohrectly or even grammatically sound."

"Don' Irleen jus' sound weird, talkin' like Cale now?" Luggard whispered to Link.

Link offered him a weak smile. Cale was originally supposed to have a couple days of rest from the Library, agreed upon by Link and Madame Seilon due to his work on finding the Goron Architect. He declined and, instead, indicated an interest in Irleen's native language. His exposure to it (through the concussion he had received during the forest crypt adventure) had left an impression, and he asked if Irleen would be willing to teach it to him. To help him along, Link let Cale borrow the translator gem so he could control hearing Hylian and Sorian when necessary. The result was Irleen, from the perspective of the other Hylians in the room, switching between the two languages mid-sentence as well as speaking Hylian with Cale's Hovela dialect.

"I'm so used to hearing her talk the other way," Link said.

"I thin' I's used t' 'er talkin' in tha' pirate-y accen' o' yours."

"Yeah…" Link answered, not noticing the comment about his accent. He was already drifting back to sleep.

Fuuhhhhhhhhhh. Eouuuhhhhhhhh. Link only vaguely acknowledged the wind, not realizing how unnatural it was at first.

Fuuhhhhhhhhhh. Hihhhhhhhhhhhk.

Hihhhhhhhhhhk.

—Link!—

Fuuhhhhhhhhh.

Link's eyes immediately snapped open. Though his drowsiness and the unusual wind, he heard the sound of his name loud and clear, and it definitely had his attention. There was something about the female voice. It sounded familiar, and he thought he had heard it recently. But as his eyes wandered around the room, he saw that Irleen was too busy talking to Cale to say anything and there were no other girls in the room.

Luggard glanced up, having barely caught himself nodding off again. After a moment of watching Link angle his neck to peer beyond the bookshelves, he asked, "Somethin' wrong, Link?"

"You didn't hear that?" Link asked.

"'Ear wha'?"

Link stood up. "That wind. Where'd that wind come from?"

"If yar talkin' 'bou' wind, Irleen's jus' there," he said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. His comment, loud as it was, went without a response as Cale was listening to her talk in Sorian.

"No, it was real wind. Strong wind."

"'Ow? We's in the middle o' a ol' castle."

"I don't know, it just… it was really strong wind. I think."

"Ah you suah, Link?" Irleen, now hovering above Luggard's head, asked.

"It—" Link stopped himself. He did not want to say anything about hearing his own name in the wind. He could not be sure he had even heard it right, drowsy as he was. "I'm sure I did."

"It may have been a draft," Cale said as he approached Luggard. "A numbeh of the adjoining cohridohs have holes in the outeh wall; ones we don't repaih foh storage ah usually neglected. I'm not suah about this room, though. I've neveh noticed."

"Well, be quiet and listen foh a moment," Irleen said.

They fell silent. Someone in the hall outside coughed a few times. A small whistle, just barely audible, pulsed somewhere in the back of the room. It was not the deep, subdued howl that Link had heard, but Link decided to follow it through the shelves. Curiosity caused Irleen, Luggard, and Cale to trail him until he stopped on the other side of the room.

This side of the room had a dais which had been left clear of any sort of object, leaving only a floor carpeted in green. Link glanced up at the wall opposite from him, finally noticing the stained glass window set at the top. The figure appeared to be a girl with blond hair, a tanned face, a blue waistcoat left open to reveal a lavender shirt, and a red scarf. Behind her, Link could not be certain if it was meant to be a sun or the bow of a ship; the window's frame made it difficult to tell, and the glass of that part of the window appeared to be a little murky. Two large, red doors sat on either side of the wall. As Link stepped onto the dais, he could hear the low whistle sound from the door on the left.

He pointed and asked Cale, "Where does that door go?"

"Uh—storage, I believe," Cale said. Link started towards it. "As I said, some of the adjoining cohridohs let aih in."

Link put a hand on the door, feeling its weight with a gentle push. Then he shoved the heavy door out of the way, revealing a corridor of grey stone. Directly across from him was a stairway going down. On his left, a pair of boys organized some of the spare furniture into manageable walkways in a corridor too narrow to be used as a storage space. They paused to look at him, but Link's attention fell back on the stairway. The whistle was still low, but he could tell that was where it came from.

The stairs twisted around before opening into another room. Link glanced around, but the room, with the same stone build as the corridor above, was filled with old, cracked pottery. The room appeared to be lit by a window on the far side from the stairs. There was a wall to the right of the stairs, so Link went further into the room, moving between the pots as carefully as possible.

"Wha's 'ere?" Luggard asked as he and Cale tried to trace Link's route.

"I-I'm not suah," Cale said. "I don't think anyone comes down heah very often. This stuff looks quite old."

"I've seen trees oldeh than these," Irleen said. "Just wheah ah you expecting to go, Link?"

"I don't know," Link answered, adjusting his sword to get through a particularly narrow opening. He saw a pair of doors against one wall and moved towards it. "Cale, where would you say we are?"

"I can't say foh cehtain," Cale answered. "Pehhaps somewheah at the back of the Library."

Link reached the door and pushed open, eliciting an annoyed creak from it. Light blinded him for a moment. When his eyes adjusted, he looked out onto a small field lined by trees until the cliff on the far side. He stepped outside, finding the air to be warmer than usual. The grass grew at least over the toes of his boots, at most to his knees in small patches.

"Well… theah's youh answeh," Irleen said as she came to a hover above his head. "This is… actually, quite astounding. You would neveh expect to find such green behind a castle. I wondeh if anyone else knows about this."

"Give me tha'," Luggard growled at Cale, tearing the translator gem from his hand.

"Wha's goin' on?" Irleen asked, turning around.

"'Ere," Luggard said as Link turned around. Link found the translator gem shoved into his chest and held up his hands to grab it. "I can' take it anymore."

"What?" Irleen snapped.

Luggard pointed at her. "Tha's be'er."

"That huht," Cale said.

"Cale?" Link asked. He pointed to the cliff. "What's that? Where does that go?"

Cale glanced around Link at the cave opening at the base of the cliff. "Oh. I wondeh. Supposedly, theah's a tunnel from heah to the Toweh of Spirits to the nohtheast. Well, it's no wondeh no one could eveh find it. Everyone was always undeh the impression that the tunnel stahted inside the castle."

"Bu' the Tower o' Spirits' been closed for years," Luggard said. "Ya don' thin' the tunnel'd still be open, do ya?"

Cale shrugged. "The possibility exists. No one's known wheah this tunnel is foh almost a century." He thought for a moment, then he jogged to catch up after Luggard, Link, and Irleen had already started walking. "You know, it might be the pehfect oppohtunity if this goes as fah as the Toweh of Spirits."

"'Ow'd ya figure?" Luggard asked.

"Well, accohding to legend, a pehson on the very top of the toweh is supposed to be able to look out at the entiahty of Hyrule. A vantage point like that must allow foh someone to find a cleah way to the Gorons' home."

Link silently agreed with Cale, but he had something else on his mind. Someone had called to him in the Library, whether the others had heard it or not. He felt it in his heart that he was supposed to go this way. Although he had never had these feelings before, his gut told him that he was doing the right thing. The only question was why.

They climbed up a small hill and crossed to the cave. But Link halted at the entrance, putting up a hand to stop Cale and Luggard. "Wha' is it?" Luggard asked.

"There's light inside," Link replied.

"What, somebody's inside?" Cale asked.

Link shook his head. "I can't tell." He put a hand on his sword. "Let's take a look."

"Las' time I 'eard someone say tha'," Luggard said as all four stepped inside, "we 'ad t' pull a Bullbo off a conductor."

Cale gulped. "Wa-wa-was the conductoh all right?"

"Yeah, bu' 'e never looked a' bacon the same way 'gain. Tha' Bullbo was lookin' for a connection."

"Wait, you mean…" Irleen trailed off. Then she let out a disgusted sound. "I wish I had a stomach; I need to puke."

They walked through a short tunnel into a wider cave. Torches lined the walls, looking freshly lit. Water dripped somewhere in the back.

"Tha's jus' weird," Luggard said.

"Looks like a good place to find Keese," Irleen said.

"Who lit the tohches?" Cale asked.

"Maybe ghosts," Irleen suggested.

Luggard burst into a short laugh. Then he stopped and asked, "W-wai', ya thin' so?"

"Someone had to light them," Irleen said. "Unless you think they've been lit ever since this cave was discovered."

"I prefer tha'."

They continued on, locating another tunnel on the other side. Torches had also been lit in this tunnel, which came to a corner at one point. Link, Cale, and Luggard had to take running jumps over small pools of water in the floor. At the end of the turn, they found another branch which led into a room. Some discussion bounced among them as they examined the broken crystal balls and stone tiles that they rested on.

Then they found a stairway leading up. They followed it into another tunnel. Their presence startled a bunch of rats, which scrambled into holes in the walls of the cave. Keeping their eyes open for any that decided to brave an attack, they continued until the end of the tunnel. Link could see light beyond the massive rocks blocking their way and figured that there must be something further on.

"Well, tha's jus' a li'l disappointin'," Luggard said with a sigh.

Cale tried to look around the rocks. "What could be up theah?"

"I can take a look," Irleen said. Without waiting for a reply, she squeezed into one of the openings near the top and disappeared from sight.

Link started examining the rocks near the cave wall. "Do you think we could move any of these out of the way?" he asked, trying to shove a rock just a little shorter than him.

"If I 'ad me pipe, maybe," Luggard said.

"Pehhaps," Cale said, pointing, "but look at this bouldeh. It's much moah massive than the othehs, and it looks to be right in the middle of the doohway."

"Hey, guys!" Irleen called from the other side. "I've got daylight up here."

"Irleen!" Link called. "Can we use this gem of yours to move some of these rocks?"

Irleen emerged from behind the rocks. "I suppose, but I wouldn't recommend being anywhere near it."

Link removed the gem from his pocket and looked around for a place to plant it. He squeezed it between the largest boulder and another big rock. "Irleen, can you trigger it once we're around the corner?"

"Yeah, but I'm coming with you," she replied, following them back into the tunnel.

Link ducked around the corner, hunched down, and placed his hands over his ears. "Wha's ya doin'?" Luggard asked.

Link took his hands from his ears and glanced up at him and Cale. "That gem explodes. We probably don't want to hear it go off. Irleen set it off in the middle of town yesterday, and I couldn't hear anything for a bit."

Cale and Luggard glanced at each other. "Yeah, good enough for me," Luggard said.

Irleen waited until they huddled against the wall and covering their ears. Then, to be safe, she ducked around the corner with them. "And the world goes boom!"

BOOM! Even around the corner, Link could feel the force of the blast permeate the air. He squeezed his eyes shut when dirt fell from the ceiling and pressed hard on the sides of his head to keep his ears protected.

"Wow!" Luggard declared as they slowly stood back up. "Wha' a blas'!"

"Good for knocking books off a shelf," Irleen said. "Rocks… not so much."

"What?" Link asked. Then he looked around the corner. Dust still hung in the air, but Link could see that the rocks had not budged. "Hmm."

"Wha'?" Luggard said, following Link around the corner. "Oh, c'mon!"

"What!" Luggard jumped aside at the sound of Cale's shout. Link turned and saw that Cale was looking between them. "What ah you saying!"

"I think we blew his ears out again," Irleen said. Luggard held a hand up and snapped his fingers in Cale's ear. Cale spun around, looking for the source. "Don't worry; it'll clear up after a bit."

Link stepped up to the rocks and tried to move one. He found that it budged, and he rolled it out of the way. "I think it worked," he called back to them. He found the gem on the ground and picked it up. After brushing it off, he slipped it back into his pocket. Then he found an opening around the large boulder and squeezed through. "I'm out!"

Luggard stepped through next, followed by Cale after Luggard reached back in to pull him through. They followed a set of stairs and emerged from a hill onto a prairie broken by one thing.

Link looked up at a tower standing high enough that it could probably see the whole world. The base of the tower was square with splashes of earthen colors forming ribbon-like patterns all the way until the top. The top looked like a large gear with a locomotive's smokestack planted on the top. But, instead of smoke, the top looked like a drill. Down back at the base, Link saw a large doorway with a spot of light in the center.

"Luggard," he said. He pointed at the doorway. "Look at that."

Luggard cupped his hands against his brow. "Yeah."

"Is that the tower you two mentioned?"

"Oh, yeah. Tower o' Spirits. And it's open." He put his hands down. "Tha' doesn' make sense."

"When was the last time it was open?"

Luggard jerked a thumb at Cale, who was looking at the top of the tower with an awed expression on his face. "'E'd be the one t' know. Me guess is 'bou' a 'undred years."

"It sounds like something strange is going on," Irleen said.

"Yeah," Link said with a nod. "But if Cale's right, it might be a good way to find a path to the Gorons' home."

"Tha's a loooon' way up," Luggard said, leaning backwards. "Gonna go all the way up, is ya?"

"That's the plan," Link said.

"Can' say I wanna give it a try. 'Ow 'bou' this. Cale and I, we go back t' town 'n ge' the Ol' Seventeen. Time we ge' back 'ere, ya could be back down, right?"

Link shrugged. "I guess so."

"Okay. See ya in a few 'ours." With that, he tapped Cale's arm and led him back towards the tunnel.

Link sighed and looked back at the tower. "Ready?"

"Yeah," Irleen answered. "Let's go."

…

Link jogged across the prairie, fueled by his eagerness to find whatever had called to him. When he found Spirit Tracks (indicated by the subtle glow he could just barely make out in the daylight), he followed them into the tower. As he approached, he saw that the doorway was tall enough that a train much higher than the Seventeen would be able to fit inside. He wondered if it had had to accommodate such a train at one point.

Inside, he found three other openings in a large chamber arranged in a cross with a large, single track in the center. The central track did not appear to connect with anything, but Link noticed that there was a large circle cut in the stone floor around the track. Lights hung from the ceiling, and he could not tell if they were oil lanterns or electric lights. Each doorway in the chamber bore a relief on either side, decorated by symbols that probably indicated where each track led (he recognized the Yook symbol in one of the reliefs). This included a stairway which looked to lead up into the tower, and Link definitely recognized those symbols. A wing-shaped half-circle with a single, down-pointed triangle on top.

"For just investigating something which you thought was wind," Irleen said, "you sure seem to be going far."

"I just want to make sure I'm not going crazy," Link said as he started for the stairway. "When we were in the Library… you didn't hear that wind at all, did you."

"I… I think I was busy with Cale."

Link nodded. "I know it sounds a little crazy, but I heard the same thing that evening we found the Horizon's Eye." Irleen was silent for a moment, prompting Link to stop and look up at her. "Something wrong?"

"Just a thought," she said, "but it's impossible."

"What?"

"I think that… no, forget it. The gem I gave to Captain Koroul shouldn't be causing you to hear things. I know it causes dreams to be shared when you're asleep, but it's never done this kind of thing when someone's awake." She gave a groan. "This magic can't be that finicky."

Link looked back to the stairs. "We'll figure it all out later. If we're going to do anything, we need to get up there first."

"Right."

Link took the stairs up to the next floor. He came upon a landing overlooking the tracks below. When he looked up, he saw that the stairs spiraled around the circular interior wall of the tower. Silently groaning about people who liked building stairs in that manner, he started up. He walked past doorways and platforms in the shape of gears with the same design as the relief below. The walls were painted different colors as he continued up: first grey, then green, white (he had to rest here), blue, and purple, where the stairs stopped at the final landing. None of the doors were open, not even showing seems where they were supposed to open.

Interestingly enough, when he reached the last landing, he saw that a blue pool sat in the far corner. He gave an exhausted sigh, his legs beginning to ache from the jog and the walk up the tower. "What is that?" he asked.

"I don't know," Irleen answered as she approached it. Link followed. The pool, now that he stood closer, looked more like a flower. Each pulse produced a wave of petals that faded away at the end. "Do you think it's safe?"

"I don't know," Link said as he stuck a boot out to test it.

Irleen looked at the door. "Well, this is a dead end," she said. "Maybe we should turn back."

But when she turned back to Link, she found that he, along with the pool, had disappeared. "Ùħ… L-Līnca? Līīīīnca… Ħō, hòt rìláhhhhh."

…

Link could not tell how he disappeared. He was not even aware that it had happened until he realized that Irleen had cut off in mid-sentence. When he looked around, he realized that he was standing in a small room on a blue marble floor. The floor was divided by stone tiles which connected a pair of doorways: one leading to the floor below and one leading above. Cautious, Link pulled his shield on and drew his sword.

"Irleen?" he asked, starting toward the downward stairs. "Irleen, are you there?"

Fuhhhhhhhhhh. He heard the wind from behind and turned around. Light from above cast a yellow glow on the steps. Link turned in that direction and, with his shield raised to protect himself, walked up the steps.

He emerged into a larger room illuminated by the yellow stained glass that provided the wall on the opposite side from the stairs. A blue, octagonal platform filled the floor between him and the window, and Link ventured onto it. After looking at the designs on the platform, he stepped down on the other side. One of the panels of glass was missing from the large window, giving Link a view of the outside. Still holding his shield up, he stepped out onto another hanging platform. He felt a breeze as he glanced out over the Forest Realm, which he could tell just by looking down towards Library Town. He also looked to the left over what he determined to be the "Ocean Realm" Luggard had mentioned. Here, the wind had an audible howl, but… it still did not sound like the bursts that he had been hearing. To his left was another spiral of stairs. He paused to think about his next action. Should he go on, or should he go back to find Irleen? The latter was not much of an option since he did not know how he had suddenly appeared in the room below. He could not even be certain that he could get back down without taking a leap off the tower. So he decided to go up.

The stairs were wider and held up on the outside by chains anchored to wooden posts overhead. Link realized he had walked a full circle when he reached the top of the stairs, able to look out at the Forest and Ocean Realms again. He turned to the open space behind him. The roof was held up by eight, white pillars. The floor was a combination of yellow and green tiles in a pattern which Link could not quite make out. An altar of dark grey stone sat in the center, its stairs looked over by a pair of closed, golden eyes. After determining that nothing was around to attack him, he sheathed his sword and stepped closer to the altar. The eyes, even closed, unnerved him a bit. A glint from atop the altar caught his attention, and he took the steps up.

A small pedestal sat on top of the triangle of the wings symbol he had seen before. A sword had been shoved into it. The blade looked a little wider than Link's sword, and the metal had been stained so that a zigzag stood out in the light. The guard, which looked like teal stone, stood out like the wings in the symbol under his feet, each box with a triangle pointed towards the handle. A gold triangle was embedded in the middle just under the blade. The pommel was made of the same stone-like material formed into a pair of square spirals with a common stem. Link marveled at the sword, wondering why it had been left here.

"Wow…"

Link glanced up upon hearing the voice. A child stood in front of the altar, just barely tall enough to see the surface of the altar. He had black eyes and long, straight, black hair which had been tied at the top of his head. His clothes were a black jacket with brown sleeves and lining along the bottom and trousers matching the color of his sleeves. But what confused Link the most was the gentle glow his body gave off while he appeared semi-transparent.

He caught himself staring at Link and shook his head. "Oh, sorry. I-I didn't mean to stare."

Link realized that he was staring, too, and blinked himself out of it. "That's… that's okay."

"You just… look so much like someone I used to know." Then he glanced down at his feet. "Well, I think I used to know him. I've at least met him before."

Link lowered his shield. "Who?"

"A young Hylian named Link. Or… is your name Link?"

Link nodded. "Yes, it is."

"Oh," he answered, showing an irritated scowl. "Huh. I guess I'm confused somewhere."

"Do you… live on this tower?"

The boy shook his head. "No one has lived on this tower for over a hundred years. Not since my people left this world."

"Your… people?"

"I am a Lokomo."

Link had to ponder the name for a moment. "Yeah, I remember… I remember Cale mentioning you while we were in the crypt in the Lost Woods. You used to live in Hyrule before Hylians ever set foot on it, right?"

The boy tilted his head. "I think so. It's hard to remember that far back, at least as I am now."

"Do you know anything about the Spirit Tracks?"

The boy nodded. "Before, they were used to hold the demon king Malladus here. But since he was defeated by the last person to hold that sword—" He indicated the sword next to Link. "—the people of this realm just use them as regular train rails. They still defend the surface world from evil, but the lands of the Sorians are in trouble."

"The lands of the S… You know who the Sorians are?"

"Yes. Kind of. I know that, while most of the Spirits of Good fought Malladus here on the land, some of them fought alongside the Sorians against Malladus' general, Cunimincus."

Link nodded. "Irleen… a Sorian friend of mine told me about it. He's sealed inside the Storm of Purgatory." He tilted his head. "I wonder if the Sky Lines are doing the same thing that the Spirit Tracks used to."

"If they are, they are about to fail."

Link's expression turned into one of mild shock. "What?"

The boy walked around the altar. "Although we Lokomo aren't in the physical world anymore, we can still tell when something is wrong in this place. It's only happened recently, but evil is beginning to emerge from the sky. Its influence is spreading even as we speak." He stopped and pointed out at the sky. "And it's coming from there."

Link stepped down from the pedestal and looked in the direction the Lokomo boy pointed. He had to step out from under the roof to look up at the Undying Storm far above. Then he looked back at the boy. "You're saying that Cunimincus is free?"

"Not yet, but it feels as if he is about to be."

"Is there any way to stop it?"

The boy nodded. Then he pointed his finger at Link. "You can."

Link put a finger to his chin. "Me?"

"You're the one I've been waiting for. I can at least be sure about that."

"But…" Link offered a helpless shrug. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Well… b-because I'm here." He spread his arms to emphasize. "My airship was shot down weeks ago."

The boy gave a casual nod. "Yeah, that's probably a good reason. You need to get back up there."

Link took in a deep breath and let it out in an exhausted sigh. "I've been trying. I've gone all over the Forest Realm and up to the Snow Realm trying to find people who would build me an airship that I can use to get back to the sky."

The boy smiled. "Well, it sounds like you've got the problem solved, then."

But Link shook his head. "No, I don't. I only have two people. There may be a third one, but there's no way to reach him in the Fire Realm. One of my friends is an engineer down here. He says that there's no way to reach the Gorons' home because most of the realm is covered in ice. We can't go through the Ocean Realm, either, because the tracks through there are flooded."

The boy had been nodding throughout Link's explanation. Then he pointed out towards the Forest Realm. "Far south of here is a gateway which leads into the Sand Realm. From there, it connects to the Fire Realm. I don't know how far you'll get, but it's a start."

Link gave him a dubious look. "How do I use this gateway? And how come no one else knows about it?"

"The gateways were only usable by the hero who restored the Spirit Tracks. As for using them…" He pointed back to the altar, and Link turned to it to have his eyes fall on the sword again. "That sword contains the last Force Gem free to roam in this world. It should grant you access to the gateways that can take you to the Fire Realm. With a long whistle from whatever train you ride, it will open up for you and take you to where you need to go."

Link glanced back at the Lokomo. "Is it… is it okay for me to take it?"

He nodded. "On a couple of conditions. First, that sword contains power that the Spirits of Good used to defeat Malladus and his minions during the war. If you should take it, you are accepting the responsibility of defeating the evil that is Cunimincus. The second is that, when you prevail, you return the sword here for the next hero to find."

"When I prevail," Link repeated with an incredulous look.

The Lokomo smiled again. "History has yet to see a hero fail in his quest. This is also something I am sure of." He stepped past Link and stood next to the stairs in front of the altar. "So how about it? Would you like to become the Hero of Journeys?"

"The… the 'Hero of Journeys'?"

"You've come a long way, Link. And you still have a long way to go. Across the surface and back in the sky."

Link could feel his heart pounding against his breastbone. It sounded like more responsibility than he was prepared for, never mind trained for. He knew nothing more than simply being an airman; being an airship captain was still barely over his head. Despite his reluctance, his feet moved him back to the altar while the Lokomo child watched him. Step… step… step… step… step…

Step.

Step.

Step. He stood in front of the sword. The single triangle in the middle, the Force Gem, felt as if it was staring at him. Did he dare pull it? Did he dare commit himself to the role of a "hero" when all he wanted to do was go home?

Did he dare disappoint Irleen by not doing all he could to make sure she found home?

That last thought helped him make up his mind. He did not know what would happen once he got up there, whether he might have to face Cunimincus or not. But Irleen had been right about him. He would do everything in his power to get her home. It was a lot to take in. But then he realized that it was not a choice. It had never been a choice.

He would do it.

He wrapped his left hand around the grip, feeling leather that had aged well with the sword. Then he realized that he could not put a lot of strength in his arm like that, so he reversed his grip so that his hand was on the sword as if to pull it from a sheath. No turning back. He did not even want to think about it. His grip tightened, and he yanked the sword as hard as he could. "HAH!"

The sword released from the pedestal, and a bright light blinded Link as the sword arced over his head. When it cleared, he found that he was still holding the sword. Its blade shone in the setting sun. Enthralled by the gift, Link swung it in an X shape to get a feel for it. The balance felt different from the sword he had received in Whittleton; he could not seem to put the same amount of force in the blade, but he felt that it was easier to swing this way. He gave a thrust, spun with a heavy strike at chest-level, and then twirled it in a circle at his hip. On the second up-swing, he brought his arm up so that the blade contacted the scabbard at the throat with a tink. He slid the blade back to fit it into the throat and thrust it into the scabbard so that it gave a loud click.

Then he thought for a moment and, dropping his shield, pulled the belt of the scabbard over his head. The scabbard he found was made of the same stone substance as the sword's guard. Gold bands formed a double-helix down its length. Both the throat and the chape were also gold. The shoulder belt was fresh leather bolted to the scabbard with bare steel.

Link looked down to find the Lokomo still smiling at him. He replaced the sword and picked up his shield. He fit the shield on his back over the scabbard, but the sound of it hitting the scabbard as he stepped away from the pedestal told him that it was a little loose.

The Lokomo nodded his approval and held a hand out towards the stairs. A pool, similar to the one that had brought Link there, appeared at the top of the steps. "This portal will take you back to your companion," he said. "I'm sorry that I had to separate you two. It was not intentional."

"That's… okay," Link said as he stepped down from the altar. "I…" He scratched the back of his head. "I don't know what might happen, but… I'll do my best to return your sword."

He nodded. "I know you will."

"Will I see you when I come back?"

At this, the Lokomo shrugged. "I don't know."

Link nodded and started for the portal. But just before he stepped into it, he stopped and turned. "You know… since we've been talking… I never heard your name."

He tilted his head to one side. "My name?"

"I… I assume you have one, right?"

"Oh, right. I'm sorry. Up there, no one ever seems to refer to each other by name. It's been such a long time… It doesn't come easy. I think…

"At one point, I think my name was Byrne."

"Byrne," Link repeated. Then he held up a hand. "I'll be back." He stepped forward into the portal, not seeing that, when he turned his back, "Byrne" had already disappeared.