A Link to the Past
Chapter Nine: In the Library
Each break that Link got from the never ending rain outside was a blessing, as was being out of sight of the patrolling guards, lanterns hanging on metal hooks along the walls while lit candles sat on the reading tables illuminating each row of book cases in dim flickering light… but it was very quiet. The wooden shutters over the windows were closed, but muffled rain falling on the roof as well as gusts of wind could still be heard as the young man stepped inside, allowing the door to slowly close behind him, but at first glance he appeared to be alone. Leaning to the side in order to look down one of the rows, and then another in the opposite direction, there was no sign that anyone else was there at all.
"Hello?" Link asked quietly, stepping closer to the rows. "Is anyone there?"
No response, which was expected because on a day like this most of the people who could use the library, such as children or older people who didn't have to work every day, were stuck at home because of the foul weather. But if Sahasrahla wasn't hiding out inside the library, admittedly a place unlikely for the guards to go, why had the old woman sent the young man there? Had she really not trusted him? Had she thought that he was in league with the armored men patrolling the village and sent him there so that the elder would have time to escape from his real hiding place? If so, then her plan worked, and unless some kind of miracle happened, there would be no other way to pick up his trail.
Guards could still be heard patrolling around outside, every now and then stopping someone from the village and asking them if they knew anything about either him or the elder, which thankfully no one seemed to. Even if Sahasrahla's trail had gone cold, the young man's saving grace was that no one had seen him enter the village, so hopefully the same thing would be true when he snuck back out. But what was he going to do now? Go back to the temple and ask the Sage and Princess Zelda if they had any other ideas about what to do about Agahnim and the missing girls?
"Strange place for a strong young man to spend his time." A voice said, interrupting his thoughts. "Not many people appreciate the value of a good book, nor of the knowledge contained within. Is that what brings you to the library, boy? Knowledge?"
The voice was older, and the movement that came along with it from around the other side of the row of books sounded like he was walking with a cane, a kind of soft thumping sound along with a shuffle while the young man moved around to the end of the row so that he could look around at the other side. However, there was no one in sight when Link got there, just move shuffling, thumping movement along with the playful laugh of an old man… that was now coming from a different part of the library. Was this him? The village elder that he was looking for? If so, he had a pretty good hiding place, since no matter where the young man looked, there was no sign of the owner of the voice.
"Princess Zelda sent me." Link said, taking a risk on whether or not it was the person he was looking for. "Agahnim sent the guards after me for helping her escape, and I'm pretty sure he wants you as well. What I don't know is why. The Princess hopes that you know how we can beat the wizard, or at least you have some idea what his plans are. If you do, I… he… he killed my uncle, and he needs to be stopped."
"Indeed? Stopped by what, you, boy?" The voice scoffed as if the owner were amused at the prospect. "I knew Agahnim when he was young, knew his father, too, and the magic that runs in their family. That wizard has power, boy, real power, and you don't have what it takes to stand against him."
The young man had seen some of what Agahnim could do during the fight with his uncle, but even though Link was sure the wizard had plenty more tricks up his sleeve, that didn't mean he didn't need to be stopped. In the short time he had been back in Hyrule, Agahnim had killed the King and Lord Sheriff, jailed the Princess, turned all the guards into traitors, and kidnapped a bunch more girls from noble families. He was doing something that would let him take over the kingdom, that much Link was sure of, but nobody was invincible, there had to be a way to defeat him or else the Lord Sheriff, who claimed to be an old friend, wouldn't have tried to fight him off like that.
"If you know something, please tell me." The young man said, looking around another row of books. "Princess Zelda is counting on me, the whole kingdom is counting on me, and I won't fail… I can't… not after what happened to my uncle."
"One can always fail, boy, don't forget that." The voice replied, a bit sterner now. "If you fight Agahnim now, you will be killed or worse, but… if you truly think you're worthy of this challenge, then head south into the dunes."
Now, as far as Link knew, there was nothing in the dunes, which was the common name for a gigantic sand pit far to the south of the village, well maybe it was more like a miniature desert, but the point was that it was empty. There might've been a couple caves around the rocky edges, but there were no towns or people because of lack of water and shade, and even animals tended to avoid the place. Naturally, the young man wanted to know why he should go to such a place, but instead of telling him the reason, the older voice just gave him more directions, beginning with the fact that the dunes weren't quite as empty as most people thought.
"Enter the dunes and walk straight ahead until you see nothing but sand all around." The voice continued. "In the exact center you will find ruins, the only thing ever built there, and it is inside those ruins that your courage will be tested. If you prove your worth and return we will talk more, but until then I will say nothing."
"What do you mean, my courage will be tested?" Link asked. "What exactly am I supposed to do once I get there?"
This time there was no response, nor movement to avoid the young man's attempts to find the owner of the voice when he started looking around the rows of books again, as if they had simply vanished. He only looked around a little more before giving up, since the older man was obviously too good at keeping himself hidden, so Link supposed that he was to follow the instructions and head south for the dunes. However, before the young man could even think of having his courage tested, whatever that meant, he was going to have to get out of the library and leave Kakariko Village without being seen. Opening the wooden shutters to see out the windows might be noticed, so Link's best option was to just peek out the door and slip out just like how he had gotten in.
Just as the wind and rain masked the sound of his own movements, it also made it harder for the young man to hear the armored men on their patrols until they were much closer than he liked, so he simply waited for the next two to pass by before passing through the door and moving along the wall of the building toward the southern limits of town. The two guards were heading in the other direction and didn't notice him as they moved farther away from each other, but that didn't mean Link was about to take his eyes off them until he reached the end of the wall he was scooting along. Now there were only a couple houses between him and the exit from Kakariko Village, so the young man turned to start running, only to immediately run into something.
"It's you!" A female voice yelled in surprise and fear. "You're the Sheriff's nephew! You kidnapped the Princess! Help! Guards! Guards!"
At first he thought he had walked right into another patrol, but instead of an armored guard the person Link bumped into turned out to be one of the women from the village, the surprise nearly causing both of them to fall down. Instinctively beginning to apologize, this quickly turned into shushing her and begging the woman to stay quiet as soon as he saw her expression change from confusion to fear. Now, up to this point the young man had been pretty lucky that the people he encountered hadn't turned him in, but now as the frightened woman ran away, quickly disappearing through the door of the nearest house, Link realized that his luck had run out.
"There he is!" One of the nearest guards called out in a loud yet calm voice. "Over there by the library!"
Oh no, now things were getting really bad… Link was able to handle one or two guards by himself, and had done so already, but the armored man's shouting got the attention of another patrol, who in turn shouted for another, and in the span of several seconds there were half a dozen guards rushing toward him, swords drawn for the kill. The young man didn't care how skilled a swordsman was, even his grandfather, the great hero of Hyrule, couldn't have defeated six armed guards on his own, so he did the only sensible thing he could think of, which was to run away. With only a couple buildings between himself and the southern limits of the village, Link turned and sprinted away, hoping that the guards would be slowed down by the armor they were wearing.
Giving an angry look toward the house of the woman who sounded the alarm as he passed by, the young man breathed heavily while moving his legs as fast as he could, feeling relief for a moment after passing underneath the hanging wooden sign, but then realizing that the guards were still chasing him. Fortunately, his assumption that the guards' armor would slow them down was correct, with the sound of their heavy footsteps getting farther away until he was able to break sight with them after rounding a small group of trees. However, there was no way for him to outrun the armored men forever, so the young man leapt to the side, throwing himself into a patch of tall grass, and then trying to keep from breathing too loudly as his pursuers approached.
Holding his hands over his nose and mouth to keep himself quiet, Link was sure that the guards would spot him or hear the breathing right away, but instead the whole group just kept on running by until they vanished around some more small groups of trees. Waiting several seconds to make sure they weren't going to double back, the young man allowed himself to gasp for breath much more loudly than expected. There was no time to rest, though, so as soon as he caught his breath enough to get up, Link crawled out of the tall grass and began making his way south… toward whatever was waiting for him at the dunes.