Link quickly discovered that the Ovli was a plain in name only. The grassy terrain rolled with alarming frequency, and stone outcroppings more than dotted the landscape. He did not bother to ask Brigo why the place was so poorly monikered. Speaking was useless while riding at a breakneck pace.
Despite their desire to arrive at Hateno before the now-alerted Ganonspawn, Link was not sure how feasible traveling at night would be. Doing so would risk major injury to their horses. Leaving their mounts behind would very nearly negate the advantage a night's forced march might otherwise earn them. For now, their only goal was to reach the lake, find Dorian and hasten to the village.
Link did not know how long they had ridden. Brigo was his only guide, one that was fast becoming nothing more than a shadowy figure as the rear-facing sun descended further behind the horizon. A small group of trees loomed ahead, forcing Link to follow his companion as closely as he dared in the gathering darkness.
A jarring sparrow's song sounded to their left. Link pulled up at the exact same moment as Brigo, which was the only reason the former did not collide head-to-haunches with the latter.
"It is I, friends!"
The young Sheikah's voice was unmistakable, and Link breathed a sigh of relief. Though he did not doubt Dorian's skill, he had been afraid a simple lack of luck would prevent them from reuniting quickly.
"Where are yeh, lad?" Brigo was searching the surrounding trees intently, the sun's light all but gone from the sky.
For answer, there was a clack of stone on stone, followed by a soft, blue-green light gently blooming to life at their left. Link looked in wonder at Dorian, who emerged holding a pair of stones that appeared to be the source of the eerie glow.
"By Hylia's robe!" Brigo breathed. "Luminous stones! Where did yeh get yer hands on those, lad?"
Dorian shrugged. "They were already among the village supplies. Those who plan to leave for any length of time request a pair in case they are needed."
Link felt the brush of fate — or would Brigo have said it was Hylia? — on the back of his neck.
"We've need of them now, Dorian," he said urgently. "The Ganonspawn know we are here. Whatever time we had may very well have flown. We must reach Hateno as soon as possible."
Dorian nodded, coming closer and holding up the marvelous stones to get a good look at his companions' mounts.
"Your horses are spent," the Sheikah bluntly concluded. "We will need to water them. Fortunately for them, we could not do more than walk, even with the stones to guide us. After they drink, we must leave them here and proceed on foot. With luck, we can reach the village before dawn."
It was the best Link could have hoped for. With Dorian guiding them, Link and Brigo escorted the horses to the nearby lake, where they gratefully bent their necks for a well-deserved drink. Link patted the chestnut's broad neck, hoping fate would allow them to be reunited.
"I shall have to think up a name for you," he said to the still-drinking animal. "Until then, farewell."
"You know, I believe one of the Sheikah histories actually mentions the name of the legendary hero's horse," Dorian mused. "I cannot say for certain, but I believe—"
"We'll worry about that when we've the time, lad," Brigo interrupted while shouldering his enormous pack. "For now, let's crack on to the village. I've only my memory to go on after dark, but I'd say Hateno lies southeast o' here, no?"
Dorian's head, illuminated by the rocks he was holding, nodded. "Yes. We will follow the lake coast until it turns away from us. After that, we'll need to find the hill on which one of the farms is built. We can follow its base to the main gate. The hill is just apart from the forest, so we should avoid any Ganonspawn hiding there."
"I'm not keen on being out in the open while they remain hidden, especially now that they're expecting us," Link said worriedly. "Is there another way into the village without passing the forest?"
It was Brigo who answered.
"The north side o' the same hill Dorian mentioned," he responded. "'Tis no rock face there, but a narrow slope. Leads to the back of a farm. I've used it many a time leavin' the village. I dare say a few young 'uns 'ave as well when they want to run away from 'ome. If Dorian can get us to the hill, I ken take us in."
Link nodded. "Then that is our path."
Dorian handed one of the luminous stones to Brigo, who took up the rear position of the small party. Link followed closely behind the Sheikah, who was already setting out along the lake's edge. The horses, unsaddled and left to roam free in case bokoblins found them, watched until they were lost from sight.
Only one rocky hill interrupted their route around the lake's thin pebble beach. As soon as they cleared it, Dorian took a sharp left. By the dim light of the luminous stones, Link could see they were still on the plain, though how far from the village he could not begin to guess. The stones' glow did not cast itself very far, yet Dorian seemed confident in guiding their way. Link thanked the fates that the clouds obscured the moon. The grass was not tall enough to hide them from view, especially if they ran into another scouting party.
The night dragged on. Link focused on putting one foot in front of the other, using the bobbing glow of the Sheikah's luminous stone as a mesmerizing guide. He did not know how long they had been traveling like this. A quick look at his Sheikah Slate revealed his yellow arrow nearing the blinking dot that represented Hateno, but Link had to put it away when he nearly fell for lack of paying attention to where he was going. He still felt the urgency to reach the village, but that need was slowly being dulled by fatigue and their timeless surroundings.
Link nearly stumbled when the front of his foot hit the sharp beginnings of an upward slope. The suddenly dropping light behind him told Brigo had also failed to recognize the change in terrain.
"Nearly there," Dorian whispered from just ahead.
"Best let me go first, lad," Brigo gasped from behind. "I'm the only one they'll recognize."
The Sheikah and the patrolman switched places, leaving Link to remain between them. He could feel the pressing presence of natural walls on either side of their path, which climbed higher with every step. He had wondered why the Ganonspawn had not recognized this way as a possible entrance to the village. Its narrow confines and rocky rise seemed to be the answers.
The trio's labored breathing was the only noise as they made their way up the passage. Link's vision was beginning to swim. This was the second night out of the last three he had marched without sleep. He had to keep reminding himself of the imminent threat outside the village, one that would not wait now that his presence was known.
Torchlight flared up ahead.
"Who goes there?" a male voice demanded in an unconvincing tone of intimidation. "State your name or be slain!"
"Nack, yeh great fool of a farmer, 'tis Brigo an' a pair o' friends!" the patrolman hissed urgently. "Put the torch out! Yeh might as well light a bloody beacon for the Ganonspawn!"
The light vanished at the hiss of water meeting flame, dousing Link and his companions in temporary darkness. Once his eyes adjusted back to the muted glow of the luminous stones, he followed Brigo up the final portion of the hill before arriving at the flat surface of a small wheat field.
The man who had accosted them was waiting. By the dim light of the stones, Link saw he wore a large straw hat and bore a three-pronged pitchfork.
"Brigo!" the villager whispered loudly. "What's in your head, sneaking up here in the dead of night with strangers? Is that magic light? Who are these strangers?"
"We're here to pull yer fat out o' the fire, that's wot!" the patrolman answered impatiently. "Where's Reede? We need to see him straightaway!"
The farmer scratched his head while trying to get a good look at Link and Dorian. "He'll be at the inn, I'd expect," Nack said reluctantly. "There's a fair number needin' medical attention, after all."
"Why?" Link interrupted urgently. "What's happened?"
The farmer eyed Link askance. "Don't have to tell you anything, now, do I?" Nack said cautiously. "The village head's business is his own, especially when it comes to strangers sneaking about at night!"
"Yeh daft twit, Nack, the lad's here to help us! Him an' the other one both!" Brigo was nearly done whispering in his impatience, but Link credited him for maintaining whatever restraint remained to him after the forced night's march. "Tell us what happened afore I tell Reede yeh acted the fool!"
Nack uncomfortably shifted his feet for a moment before sulkily addressing Link. "People been getting hurt in the Ginner and Midla Woods outside the village, haven't they? They say monsters are hiding out, waiting for anyone foolish enough to take the path to or from the village. Reede's got all the wounded down at the inn. Doing his best to heal them up proper, isn't he?"
Brigo thanked the farmer with a less-than-gentle cuff on the side of his head. "We're goin' to see 'im. Keep a weather eye on this pass, and for the love of Hylia, don't go lightin' yer bloody torch! Makes yeh the easiest target a pigspawn'll ever have!"
Nack rubbed his head and muttered something in a truly sour tone, but Brigo was already leading the small party through the field.
A small break in the clouds allowed lancing moonlight to illuminate Hateno Village. Link immediately noted conical buildings topped with the majestic windmills Dorian had described the previous day. They spun slowly, the creak of their motion audible this close in the still of night. Smaller houses squeezed in between the larger, all built of cream-colored stone and topped with four-sided chimneys.
Several sources of torchlight came into view as they continued down the sloping path. A cow lowed to their left, while a restless cuckoo clucked in a pen to their right as they passed. The trio cut between the walls of a large windmill and a smaller abode, coming out onto the main road of Hateno Village.
Several people were up and about despite the hour, clearly engaged in some errand or another. Link realized Dorian had stored away the luminous stones before their arrival on the road, no doubt to keep them from arousing more unwanted suspicion or questions. Now they were just another three dimly lit silhouettes among many.
"They are fools," Dorian murmured. "We could be Yiga and they would be none the wiser."
"Yiga?" Link asked questioningly.
"No time for that, now, lads," Brigo interrupted. "It's the pigspawn they need to worry about. That there's the inn. If yeh've a plan, Link, now's the time to have it ready."
A plan? Link's only goal had been to get here before the village was overrun. Now that he had arrived, what did he intend? The thought alarmed him, but only for an instant. He gazed further down the road, where a pair of torches illuminated the main gateway into Hateno. Link noted a lone guard, whose head was drooping forward. His eyes darted elsewhere around the village, taking in as much as they could.
They were, he realized, heading away from the village entrance and deeper into town. The hollow sounds of boots on wood, combined with a small trickling noise, told Link they had just passed over a footbridge spanning a small creek that must run through the community. Larger buildings lined both sides of the main road, too big to be family dwellings. It wasn't until they passed a small stable that Brigo turned off the path and up a series of wooden steps built into a small hillside. The sound of several muffled voices strained to emerge from behind a closed pair of wooden doors, which the patrolman pushed open to reveal the inside of Hateno's inn.
The place was of moderate size. A young woman was manning the counter to the left of the entrance, and she eyed the three visitors uncertainly. Most of the inn's space was to the right. The bottom floor was divided into two rooms: a large common room with a pair of wooden tables and a fireplace, and a small sitting room complete with a set of shelves containing two dozen or so well-used books. The latter was occupied by two men. The common room was empty.
Link assumed the upstairs was reserved for those sleeping at the inn, until he saw a man descend the stairs that climbed along the back wall. His brown hair and beard were cut short, and Link guessed they would normally be well-groomed. Now, however, he bore the disheveled look of one who had not slept nor stopped moving for some time. He wore a cream robe cinched at the middle with a red belt, over which rested a dark green vest. A narrow black rope circled his neck and fell down his chest, its two ends held together by a silver badge of office. Consumed as he was by fatigue, the man had not yet noticed the three newcomers.
"Yeh don't look too pretty now, do yeh, Reede?" Brigo called out.
The bearded man looked up, his soft eyes taking in the patrolman and his companions. A worn smile stole across his face.
"I must say I am glad the bokoblins failed to take your head or your humor, Brig," he said wearily. "Welcome back. Do either of your friends require medical attention? I must warn you, space is running scarce here. I may have to attend them elsewhere."
"Nay, Reede, these lads are fit as fiddles an' ready to help yeh outta this keese nest," Brigo said grandly with a sweeping gesture toward Link and Brigo. The village head eyed the pair of them with upraised eyebrows.
"We're grateful for any help you bring us, Brig," Reede said earnestly as he descended the last of the stairs and approached the trio. He was, Link saw, looking at Dorian as he spoke. "Especially if that help includes a member of the legendary Sheikah tribe. You honor us, young man," he added with a bow.
Dorian returned the bow with the same gesture, albeit the rigid version of his own people. "I am glad to be of service, Master Reede, but your honor of first address is mistaken. It is this man," the Sheikah added with a courteous gesture to Link, "that has risked all to save your village - and save it he can."
The village head looked curiously at Link, who only now realized that Brigo's familiarity and Dorian's status left him lacking in the category of first impressions.
"I do not know you, sir, but I am grateful that you have placed such urgency in lending us your aid," Reede said graciously. "I am sure that with you three, along with Sirs Garill and Joute, can easily extradite the bokoblin band in the forest."
The village leader had gestured toward the sitting room, where the two men Link had seen upon entering finally deigned to look up from the books they were reading. One — a yellow-haired man about Brigo's age with a beard that left the upper lip bare — lazily waved a hand in acknowledgement before returning to his book. The other was a grey-haired man with a somewhat gaunt face. He merely glanced at the newcomers before likewise returning to read.
"They are here to help?" Link asked quietly.
Reede bowed in acknowledgement. "But of course. Sirs Garill and Joute have been nothing but helpful in teaching us how to keep watch now that a band of pigspawn lurks outside the village. They even say young Thadd has the makings of a regular patrolman! He's manning the front gate for a third straight night even now!"
Link barely processed Brigo's snort of disgust.
"That would explain why he is falling asleep on his spear," Link informed Reede bluntly while looking over his shoulder toward the two strangers. "I am curious why Sirs Garill and Joute are not out helping your people at night, when Ganonspawn are most likely to attack."
"Had much experience with the beasts, have you boy?"
It was yellow-hair who asked the question while lazily rising from his chair with a smirk on his face. The expression was made even more unpleasant by his eyes, which were disturbingly off-center. His older companion remained seated, but he had put his book down to look at Link with a frown furrowing his forehead. Link was startled to see that his eyes were unnaturally uneven as well. Something about them told Link they knew how to handle themselves, but he could not say what.
"Don't worry your head over these villagers," yellow-hair continued while casually sauntering toward Link's group. "Joute and I have got them sorted out. You're welcome to help out tomorrow if you've a hunger for slaying half a score of pigspawn… unless that many is too much for you."
"Where are yeh from, laddie?" Brigo interrupted sharply. "I've been 'ere a fair number o' years, now, an' I've never seen yer shirkin' face before."
Garill shrugged, the insolent grin still plastered on his face. "We're travelers, so we're not really from anywhere...laddie."
"Wherever you are from, you are fools," Link said quietly while hoping that Brigo's temper held out. The last thing they needed right now was Hylians fighting each other. "It is not ten bokoblins that lie in wait out there, but a hundred. Perhaps more. Hateno is in danger of being wiped out, and you have set ill-prepared villagers to the tasks that you are better equipped to perform."
Garill said nothing, but his odd eyes had hardened even as he maintained that irksome smile. For one wild instant, Link thought Garill was going to strike him, though no weapon was visible on his person. Instead it was Joute who interrupted the tense moment of silence.
"Come, Garill," the grey-haired man said while rising from his chair and hauling up a small pack to his shoulder. "It is clear our assistance is unappreciated. Perhaps the village thinks a hotheaded patrolman and two boys are better help than we."
"Now, be reasonable, sirs!" Reede exclaimed, trying to corral the pair to the common room. "Whether it is ten or two hundred of the beasts, we are grateful and in need of all the help we can get!"
His pleas went ignored as Garill and Joute exited through the double doors. Link was surprised to see Dorian monitoring their exit even more closely than he, his hand subtly gripping the long hilt of the curved sword hanging from his side. As soon as the pair departed, Reede turned to face those that remained with a look of utter confusion.
"Why would they just… leave?" the village head asked, bewildered. "Where can they go at night with bokoblins waiting… especially if there are a hundred… but there can't be—"
"Siddown, Reede," Brigo said gently while guiding the exhausted village head to the common room table. "I know 'tis a lot to take in, but we do no have much time. We'll git yeh caught up to speed an' be ready for the devils."
"Do what you must," Dorian said over his shoulder while heading for the doors. "I plan on seeing where that pair is headed."
Brigo appeared on the verge of halting the young Sheikah, but Link laid a restraining hand on his forearm. He trusted Dorian's instincts, especially when they so closely mirrored his own. The patrolman looked at Link's hand, then at him, and nodded in assent.
Reede had missed the brief exchange. His head lay in his hands, their palms briefly cooling his bloodshot eyes. Brigo walked around the table and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, which startled the village leader.
"Forgive me," Reede mumbled. "The wounded are many, and there are few of us skilled enough to attend them."
"There is nothing to forgive," Link answered as he sat down on the opposite side of the table. "We are all in need of sleep, but that will have to wait until after we discuss the preparations to defend your village."
Fatigued though they all were, Reede and Brigo paid rapt attention to Link as he outlined his plan.