Strong hands pulled at Link's arms and waist. He tried furiously to wrest free of them, so intent was he to confront the demon that even now was breaking free. Its arrival had infused him with rage so great that he was choking on it.

"Come on then!" someone shouted at him.

Link's wrath suffocated him. He couldn't breathe.

"Come on then, lad!"

Link's head broke the surface of the water. His body did not register the cold, only the violent shivers it was emitting to keep itself alive. He did not even feel the iron grips of Dorian and Brigo, both of whom hauled his drenched, clothed body out of the spring. With a great final effort, they flung Link onto the stone platform.

Brigo immediately began shedding his cloak.

"Hurry, lad!" he shouted urgently to Dorian. "Give me yer cloak! Strike up a fire while I get 'im out o' these soppin' wet clothes!"

The Sheikah wasted neither time nor breath doing as the patrolman instructed. In moments, a small fire flickered to life. Brigo, meanwhile, had stripped off Link's sodden garments, wrapped him in both cloaks and rolled him as close to the fire as he dared. Now he was rubbing his friend's chest, stomach and legs while talking furiously the entire time.

"Had to go swimmin' on a bloody ice mountain, didn' yeh?" the patrolman accused the barely conscious Hylian. "Could no have taken a dip in Hateno, could yeh? I do no care what Dorian's books say nor the Sheikah child, yer a ruddy fool wi' cucco's feathers fer brains!"

Slowly, Link began to feel patches of severe heat on the parts of his body closest to the fire, while painful cold stabbed at the rest of him. His jaw was chittering almost too badly for him to ask his first question.

"W-w-w-where...d-d-d-d-dragon?" Link gasped.

"Yeh have gone barmy!" Brigo snorted while continuing to rub his friend's limbs to life. "There ain't so much as a mountain lizard up here, let alone a ruddy dragon!"

"You saw a dragon, Sir Link?" Dorian asked excitedly even as he continued to add fuel to the fire. His enthusiasm was severely blunted by the patrolman's scowl of disapproval.

"We'll have none o' this now!" Brigo snarled. "Save yer strength, yeh young fool, an' let the fire do its work."

It took some time for Link's body to fully cast off the numbing cold. Each part of him that stirred to life did so only to feel throbbing agony. He continued to shiver, partly from the intense chill, partly from the pain. The sight of his friends ebbed and faded to images of Zelda and the four Champions, then back again.

Occasionally, other scenes flashed across Link's mind. He glimpsed the large Goron looking worriedly to the top of a mountain of fire. He saw the Rito warrior flying away in the midday sky while looking down on him, his calling voice full of scorn. Then it was night, and the Gerudo chieftain was glancing at him over her shoulder, her expression one of sad understanding. Sunset appeared, and he was somewhere high in the mountains, seated next to the Zora girl - Mipha - and her eyes were filled with a love he desperately wanted to return.

Finally, Link found himself in a forest plunged into darkness by the storm surging above them. He was running, his gait slowed only by the girl he was pulling behind him. A Guardian appeared, and its gleaming red eye flashed towards Zelda.

"No!"

The Guardian used four of its serpentine metal arms to pin him to the ground. It was going to rip him apart, leaving Zelda all but defenseless.

"No!"

"I do no care what yeh say, lad, we're not lettin' go 'til yeh calm down a touch!"

Link's eyes flared open. It was not a machine's metal arms that held him, but those of Brigo and Dorian. The sight of them in place of the horror he had been witnessing left his cloak-wrapped body limp and shaking. Sweat poured over his face, mingling with the tears still leaking from his eyes.

Dorian put a hand to Link's forehead and nodded with satisfaction. "The fever is broken," the Sheikah sighed with relief. "He will live."

Brigo snorted as he released Link and went to the cookpot hanging over a fire of smokeless embers. They were, Link saw, once again housed in the large tent. He quickly wiped the moisture from his eyes before propping himself up on one elbow.

"Where are we?" he asked weakly.

"Still at the ruddy spring where yeh tried to drown yerself," Brigo quipped from across the fire. "Yeh kipped off after that. Been here all day. Night's already come."

With that, the patrolman scooped the contents of the pot into a small wooden bowl and brought it to Link. It was soup, and its aroma set his mouth watering. The moment the bowl was in his hands, Link began devouring the vegetables and broth at a ravenous pace, its heat searing the inside of his mouth in his haste.

His friends watched him eat in silence, each looking at Link with his own version of concern. Dorian's narrow, brown eyes were full of worry, while Brigo's face was parent-like in its sternness. It was he who spoke first after the Link's spoon finally scraped the bowl in vain.

"You alright, lad?" Brigo asked while still dubiously surveying his friend. Link nodded wearily in reply.

"A little tired, but I am fine," he said. Sitting up took a conscious effort, and he could tell the patrolman was about to reprimand him for it. Link put up a hand to forestall his friend. "I really am. Thank you, both of you, for what you have done."

The tension in Brigo's expression loosened considerably. "'Bout ruddy time I paid yeh back for the bridge," he barked good-naturedly. Link smiled at the memory of their first meeting. Dorian, however, could no longer hold back the questions that had been kept waiting until now.

"You said you saw a dragon, Sir Link?" he burst out. "What did it look like? Did it speak to you? Did it force you into the spring?"

Brigo tried to cut off the Sheikah's flood of questions, but Link waved his concerns aside. "It is all right, Brig," he insisted. "The least I can do is tell you why you found me as you did."

And so Link told them everything. He told them of hearing Zelda's voice, of Naydra the dragon, and the memory of Zelda and the Champions. It felt good to do that, to open himself to those whom he trusted without reservation. They were his friends, more so now than ever after saving his life. This was also the first time Link had been able to reflect on the treasure that was this recovered recollection.

He did keep certain details to himself, such as his feelings for the Zora. Mipha, Link reminded himself. Once again, his heart ached at the remembrance, even more now that he could call her image to mind. He was frustrated to realize, however, that this memory had not sparked further recollections. What had they been to each other, once, for him to feel so strongly about her? Must he find more pieces to the puzzle of his life before seeing it whole and complete once more?

The embers burned low into the night when Link finished. Dorian sat cross-legged, leaning forward with an expression of absolute awe. Brigo had pulled out his pipe and was puffing thoughtfully while absorbing his friend's tale.

"Fascinating," the Sheikah finally murmured. "To actually remember the day the Calamity appeared… you say you remember nothing of confronting it?"

Link shook his head in reply, but kept his silence. The memory was invaluable, but it was also frustratingly finite. It began and ended as abruptly as a book. Remembering its ending, however, reminded him of his own question.

"How did you get past the barrier?" Link asked suddenly. "I could not have been gone long."

Brigo looked up over his pipe bowl before swinging it to the side of his mouth. "I'll say yeh weren't," he said while shaking his head in amazement. "Yeh'd not been gone moments before the ruddy thing disappeared. We weren't sure at first, but finally we buckled down an' went to find yeh. Bloody good thing we did, too."

Link could only nod in agreement. The motion caused a sudden wave of exhaustion to come over him, and Brigo was at his side in an instant.

"Right, time to kip off fer good, lad," he said firmly while forcing Link to lie down. "Yer fever's broke, so yeh should sleep like a baby Rito in its nest for the rest o' the night."

Rito, Link thought drowsily. An image of a feathered face with fierce green eyes wavered in his mind's eye. Why did the Rito dislike me?

The effort behind the question robbed Link of the last of his senses.

Sunlight already flooded into the tent when Link awoke the following morning. Sitting up was a pleasant surprise, a reminder of strength regained. And appetite. Luckily Brigo was on hand and waiting with a breakfast of fried eggs and bread.

"Eat slowly, lad," the patrolman encouraged him. "We've a mountain to climb down an' yeh'll be no good doin' it with a great achin' belly."

Dorian had begun breaking camp the moment Link had awakened. It was well past daybreak. The sun was already halfway to Mount Lanayru's summit. The Sheikah brought over Link's clothes, which were wrinkled, but dry.

"Thank you, my friend," Link said warmly. "Come then, I'm no longer the invalid you found yesterday."

Link's heart was light as he helped his friends finish preparing to leave. Though his newly found memory was bittersweet, it filled him far more than any meal or counsel he had received since awakening on the Great Plateau. It also left him with questions. He waited, however, until they began their descent down the western face of Mount Lanayru. A broad, snow-covered trail - undoubtedly the main path taken by visitors long ago - snaked gently down the mountain.

"Dorian," Link began as they set out, "what do you know of the other Champions?"

As he had expected, the Sheikah's face lit up with enthusiasm. The path was wide enough for the two to walk side-by-side while Brigo led the way, using his spear to confirm their steps beneath the snow.

"Five Champions were chosen to aid the princess in the battle against Ganon," Dorian began, as though citing a children's primer. "Goron vigilance: Daruk. Rito confidence: Revali. Gerudo spirit: Urbosa. Zora grace: Mipha. And, of course, Hylian duty: Link."

Brigo's snort of derision was audible from ahead. "An' here I thought yeh were the humble sort!" he called over his shoulder.

"I blame your influence!" Link called back in good humor before turning his attention back to the Sheikah. "What do you know about them? What were they like?"

"Daruk was the strongest Goron of his age," Dorian continued eagerly. "They say his sword was as large as a moblin and could slay three of them with a single blow. The only thing that feared him more than Ganonspawn, it was said, was his supper."

Link laughed out loud at this. What was it Rhoam had said on the plateau? "You used to eat enough to impress even the Gorons, which is no mean feat." Recalling Daruk's girth, he thought Rhoam might have exaggerated.

"What of Revali?" Link asked suddenly. He was curious why the Rito had seemed markedly colder toward him than the others.

"Revali was the bravest Rito to soar the skies, and that is saying something," Dorian said thoughtfully as the path took another turn. "It is written his valor bordered on foolishness, but that he always came out of battle victorious. His skill with a bow was unrivaled - until you matched him, Sir Link."

Link frowned as the path twisted yet again. Rhoam had also alluded to the Rito's fierceness and sense of friendship being an earned commodity. He doubted equaling their Champion had earned him anything but resentment from such a proud warrior.

The trio was nearly halfway down the mountain, now. A fresh blanket of white powder covered the ground and trees of Naydra Snowfield below. Sunshine crept upon their backs as its source climbed ever higher above Mount Lanayru behind them.

"Lady Urbosa was the chief of her people," Dorian continued. "Though all Gerudo are warriors, she was considered their most skilled fighter - not only with a sword, but with sorcery as well."

"Sorcery?" Link asked, surprised. His memory had not alluded to this at all.

"Aye, sorcery!" Brigo called back once again. "I hear those Gerudo women can charm a Hylian with their walk an' a mere glance o' their jade green eyes!"

Link rolled his own eyes at this, but Dorian nodded agreeably. "What Master Brigo says is true, Sir Link. When they seek a man to take as their husband, they waste neither time nor charms in doing so. That is not what I meant with Lady Urbosa, however. It is written she could summon the heavenly wrath of Hylia herself."

"I'd imagine the wrath of a Gerudo woman scorned would feel that way," Link joked, but he was sincerely wondering what kind of power Urbosa must have wielded to forge such a reputation among the Sheikah texts. That left one more…

"And what of the Zora Champion?" Link asked as casually as he could.

"Lady Mipha," Dorian answered readily as they passed through Lanayru's lower foothills. "She was the daughter of King Dorephan and heir to the throne. It is written her healing magic was a gift of Hylia herself, meant to accompany the kindness already in her heart. That and her skill with a Zora trident made her among the most respected and loved of her kind."

Link's insides throbbed with bittersweet pain. Everything Dorian had said resonated with what little he now remembered. He had half-forgotten, however, that Mipha was also a princess in her own right. That made two kings the Calamity had made grieving fathers.

They were, Link saw, now passing through the frozen thickets of the snowfield. The journey down the mountain path had been far quicker than their climb up its less forgiving southern slopes the day before. The road ran straight as an arrow to the west. He could just make out the same archway he had seen in his memory.

"Do you...," Link began carefully. He was not sure how to ask the question without arousing unwanted questions in return. "Do you know anything about my dealings with them? What we were like together, I mean?"

The Sheikah frowned thoughtfully. "There is nothing so personal in the Sheikah writings I have read, Sir Link," he admitted. "Truth be told, I was hoping you might know more on that subject. It would be terribly fascinating to know what the Champions were like as companions."

"The memory didn't reveal too much of that," Link admitted. The snow was thinning, the gate to the path through the Promenade now clearly in their sights under the midday sun. "I'm hopeful that soon I will be able to —"

Brigo shouted from up ahead, but not before something slammed into Link's side with the force of a battering ram. It sent him flying into a nearby tree, the impact knocking the breath from his body.

His eyes watering, Link looked up and beheld a nightmare come to life. Its body was that of a horse striped white and purple. Its torso, however, was a man's, complete with thick, muscular arms. One of its clawed hands carried an enormous iron club, the other an over-large shield adorned with a half-moon blade on each side. Over its back was slung a thick bow also made of iron, with a quiver of arrows hanging from a chain link belt around its waist.

It was the thing's head that was most unnatural. Framed my a mane of white hair, its slit eyes and fanged jaws were that of a beast. Two curved horns rose from its forehead. With a roar that made a bear's seem a whimper, the monster charged toward Link.

Dorian's balaclava was already drawn over his mouth and nose, his small Sheikah bow unslung and strung with an arrow nocked. His arrow flew straight and true to the beast's head — and was met with a careless flick of the shield.

The Sheikah dove out of the way, but the creature continued charging toward Link. Gulping in what air he could, he also dove sideways. Seamlessly, he rolled onto his feet, unshouldered his bow and loosed an arrow in one fluid motion. It sank into the beast's hindquarters, causing it to roar in rage. Reaching backward, it pulled out the shaft and snapped it as though it were a twig before galloping madly into the surrounding woods.

"Find cover!" Dorian bellowed.

Before Link could act on his friend's words, a streak of yellow light shot from within the trees and slammed into his left shoulder. Pain stabbed through him, but not that of a normal wound. Instead of throbbing, it lanced his body again and again, leaving him convulsing on the ground. Dorian immediately seized Link by his sword belt and hauled him behind a large tree.

Still quivering uncontrollably, Link looked down and saw an arrow shaft sticking out of the side of his shoulder. Its head was enormous and unlike anything he could remember seeing: a twin set of prongs crafted to resemble lightning. Even as he beheld it, a small flash of yellow flared from the head and injected another shock of pain through his body. Gritting his teeth, Link grabbed the arrow with his right hand and ripped it out of his arm.

With the trained quickness of his people. Dorian turned from behind the tree and loosed an arrow into the woods. A roar of unbridled savagery erupted from them, and Dorian immediately began dragging Link behind a nearby boulder.

"Hylia help us this day," he muttered through his balaclava. Link barely registered the Sheikah's words; he was trying to get to his feet, but his body did not want to function properly even after removing the arrow.

"W-w-what is it?" Link stammered through the pain and tremors. Even as he did, they heard Brigo yell some obscenity from his own hiding place further up the road.

"The Hebran is smart," Dorian said grimly. "He distracts it while we move. It is a lynel, Master Link. We cannot kill it, not just we three armed as we are. Not even that many, now, for you were hit by a shock arrow."

Another roar, then a sudden bloom of orange light. Heat seared toward them. Dorian threw Link behind the boulder and dove right behind him just as a stream of pure fire streaked past where they had been. A bestial scream of rage followed, then Link heard hooves pounding furiously toward them.

"No yeh don't, yeh devil's excuse fer a mule!" the patrolman roared from ahead. "Come at meh!"

Link looked over and saw Brigo standing in the open, his bow drawn. Before he could loose it, another streak of yellow flew from the lynel's own bow and into the patrolman's leg, causing him to fall and cry out in pain.

"No!" Link yelled. Try as he might, however, his legs refused to cooperate. Suddenly, the air again turned orange, and and a blast of heat slammed into the other side of the boulder. The stone began to smoke; the trees and mulch around them were catching fire. Link and Dorian coughed in the haze, their eyes watering uncontrollably. Whatever sorcery the beast was using would either incinerate them or force them into the open.

Suddenly the Sheikah began fumbling at Link's waist. It took Link but an instant to realize his friend was reaching for the slate.

"What are you doing!" Link gasped.

"You must — get to Kakariko," Dorian replied between painful coughs. His touch had activated the map. Link fought to slap away the Sheikah's hands, but his limbs did not obey.

"No!" Link cried, but his voice was lost amid the fire's roar. Its heat was intensifying. The lynel was approaching even as it kept up its stream of magical flame. "I won't — leave you!"

Dorian ignored him. He seized Link's right hand, gripped it tightly so its random shakings could not stop him from moving it toward the slate. Link's mind screamed to resist. His arm might as well have belonged to someone else.

"Save Hyrule, Sir Link!" Dorian choked out. Because he was not directly against the boulder as Link was, the fire was burning him openly. Blisters and boils bubbled to life on the Sheikah's face, distorting his comely and youthful visage. "Save Hyrule!"

Dorian pressed Link's index finger to a tiny blue diamond on the slate, and the world dissolved in blue light.

AUTHOR NOTES

Hey everyone! I'm starting to slap these post-chapter notes at the end of previous chapters as an experiment to voice my thoughts as I'm writing this. Whether you like them or not, I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed getting this far and how grateful I am for your time in reading. If you have your own input, questions, whatever, don't hesitate to comment or shoot me a PM.

When Link first met Impa (Ch. 17: Impa), she emphasized how vital it was that he regain a knowledge of himself before confronting Ganon. This chapter is the first step of him realizing the value of that knowledge, and I hope I conveyed how it's already starting to affect him for the better.

This chapter and the previous (Ch. 33: The Spring of Wisdom) were the first true glimpses of the Link-Mipha relationship. If some of you have experience or enjoy writing romance, kudos. I have zero experience and, though I'm married, I'm not ready to proclaim myself a love expert. That being said, I enjoy how this dynamic played out for me (again, I've finished Book Two already), but that may not necessarily mean you will. I hope you will, especially as more details of their connection come to light.

Truly endangering and even killing significant characters is a huge risk. There's a reason the Marvel universe creates so many outs for itself in this regard. At the end of the day, it's hard for me to respect and even fear the antagonist if he's not truly dangerous, and that danger can only be conveyed by a sense of actual loss. Unfortunately, Brigo and Dorian fit the bill.

For those of you who played BOTW, you'll never forget nearly s****ing yourself the first time you accidentally stumbled across a lynel. I felt completely unprepared and got wasted in a matter of seconds. Yes, Link is the Hylian Champion returned, but the lynel is supposed to be the most formidable non-boss enemy in the game/story. With Link & Co. being caught unawares, I wanted that point driven home hard. I hope I succeeded.