Chapter 11: The Shadow of Evil

    After stopping at Kakariko, where he remet Lauri, who fed him, and where he learnt a new magical song called the Song of Storms which abruptly drenched him, and where clues Sheik left behind led him to a shiny new weapon called the hookshot which was a sort of spring-loaded grappling hook, Link returned to the ranch with Talon following him dazedly. He had found the ranch owner napping dejectedly in an inn.
    Ingo was awake again, but it seemed Malon had been correct – the strange necklace had been controlling him, for now he was irritatingly cheerful and subservient. The girl was overjoyed to see her father, and they invited Link to sleep there that night.
    The next day, Malon officially gave Epona to Link. “She obviously likes you just as much as she likes me, for some reason… and you’ll need her for your saving-of-the-world. So no arguing, got it?”
    “All right,” Link said, laughing. “Don’t panic. Epona will be safe with me. But can you teach me how to really ride the next time I come along? I need to go to the forest now and see if Saria and Rana are there.”
    “Do that! Now!” Malon grinned as she said it, eager as he was to see her friend again.
    So Link rode to Kokiri Forest. When he got there, he dismounted and led Epona among the trees on foot.
    Abruptly, the pleasant mood of the forest was shattered as a huge Deku Baba, about as big as Link himself, attacked him. Epona reared and screamed, and Link swept his sword out to attack it. Fortunately, bigger did not also mean tougher, just meaner and toothier, and it soon fell in little pieces at his feet.
    They were almost at the village, and it did not look promising. His heart sank. He had lived in the forest all his life; a sick forest made him feel sick to his stomach. Nothing was really the same. He ran into the nearest house he could find, that being the Wise Brothers’. They all jumped up, startled.
    “Hi, everyone,” said Link. “Is everybody safe?”
    “Who are you, mister?” asked the eldest brother. “You’re not allowed in Kokiri Forest, even if you’re wearing the same stuff. Hey! Where did you get a fairy?”
    “I’m Navi, remember?” said Navi indignantly. “And this is Link!”
    “Yeah, whatever,” said the middle brother, not convinced. “Everybody’s safe, because they’re inside, out of the way of the monsters.”
    “Saria?”
    “She’s in the Sacred Forest Meadow. She went there when the monsters started showing up.”
    “Rana’s been missing, too,” added the eldest. “She started growing up, though, for some reason.”
    “I don’t think she’s Kokiri,” whispered the youngest brother ominously.
    “Where was the last place- When was the last time you saw her?”
    “Don’t know. Hope she’s all right, even if she’s not Kokiri. Maybe the forest is keeping her out, but it let you…and that beast… in.”
    “That’s my horse. I understand why you don’t recognize me,” said Link. “Thank you for telling me where Saria is. Honestly, I still don’t recognize myself. I’m getting used to it, though.” The brothers stared at each other. “Never mind, then. I’ll go clean out the monsters.
    “Strange guy,” said one of the Wise Brothers.

    Link climbed up to the Lost Woods entrance and began to traverse the maze. By the Zora pool, there was a very short boy blocking the way.
    “Mido!” cried Link. “Believe it or not, I’m glad to see you alive.”
    “What?” asked Mido, completely confused. “I’ve never seen you before in my life. You’re not allowed through here. Saria told me not to let anyone go to the Meadow.”
    “Mido,” said Navi impatiently, “This is Link. Is he that grown up that you can’t recognize him?”
    “Yeah, sure, it’s Link!” said Mido sarcastically. “I’m not stupid.”
    “Will Saria’s Song convince you otherwise?” Navi chirped.
    Mido’s face was a study in confusion, but he stepped aside. “Um… Well… I still don’t believe you, so there! But… If you see Link… The real one… looks just like you, only he’s much smaller, with a different sword and shield… would you tell him… I’m sorry I was so mean to him years ago.”
    Link nodded. “I’ll tell him.” And he left him.
    “That’s nice of him,” said Navi.”
    “Yes.”
    They arrived at the meadow. Link heard strange grunting noises and drew his sword cautiously. He peered around the bend – and came face to face with a large, grotesque head. The troll-like Moblin growled and charged with its spear. Link brought up his shield, but was ploughed into a muddy pool. The monster peered at him for a couple of minutes and then turned away stupidly. Link felt behind his back for the sharp thing he had fallen on and touched the Hookshot. He came up on one knee and fired it.
    The thing worked just as he wanted it to, and the Moblin died. As Link continued, he peered around each bend carefully, hiding behind trees; the first Moblin had knocked the wind out of him and he didn’t want that to happen again. However, he was still startled again several times.
    “I hate these things,” said Navi. “They’re going to give you a heart attack.
    Link trotted into the Sacred Forest Meadow.
    Saria’s stump was empty. Link walked close to it, rather sadly, remembering when he had last seen her there. Abruptly he turned around.
    Sheik was there, watching him.
    “You have come,” he said in his lilting voice. “The passage of time…” noting Link’s glance towards the empty stump, “it must be unsettling… Especially in these dark places…”
    “Where is she?” asked the Hero.
    “I don’t know. I believe she is inside the Temple.”
    “I’m starting to guess she’s the second Sage after Rauru.”
    “You met Rauru already?” Sheik sounded delighted. “Excellent; then you do know what’s going on.” Sheik reached behind his back and pulled out a curved harp from somewhere. “My job here is to teach you the song that will bring you to this spot whenever you need to.” He played a lilting tune in 3/4 time. Link played it back on his Ocarina. The octave was a bit difficult; to lift all four fingers without dropping the tiny instrument. His hands were bigger.
    Out of nowhere, the eerie sound of stringed instruments melded with the harp and ocarina. The tune danced and sparkled through the air.
    “That is the Minuet of the Forest,” Sheik told him when they had finished.
    “It’s very pretty,” commented Navi. Sheik seemed to smile behind his high floppy collar.
    “You have… red eyes?” exclaimed Link suddenly. Sheik shrugged.
    “What of it? I’ll see you around, preferably when you finish. Have a good time, now, solving puzzles.” Another flash of light, and Sheik disappeared.
    Link grinned to himself. He liked this other young man. He brought out his hookshot and aimed it at a tree limb above the broken staircase. His feet were yanked off the ground and he dangled for a moment before disconnecting and landing firmly on the landing. He walked inside for the first time.

    The antechamber of the Temple was dark and covered in brown, withered ivy. As he ventured further, he discovered both dark, cavernous halls where he could barely see where he was going, and bright, sunny courtyards that would normally have been extremely beautiful if they had not been so dry… and if the giant sized Babas hadn’t been everywhere.
    And it was very quiet. It seemed the whole Temple was silent, except, in a duel with two hulking skeletons, for Link’s shouts of exertion and Stalfos grunts. One of them fell in pieces, the Master Sword piercing its collarbone. The other one crouched behind its shield. Its sword swung out. Link jumped back just in time. There was no time to think; the other Stalfos fought fiercely. Duck, hop, swing sword, and hope not to get cleaved in half in the meantime.
    Finally the thing died, but the other one had somehow put itself back together. It was still missing a leg, so he dispatched it easily. The bones vanished and Link took a deep breath of relief, wiping his forehead.
    Navi applauded. “That was so amazing I can’t believe it. You’re even more super at this age!” Link grinned, running his hand awkwardly through his hair before turning to the treasure chest at the back of the room. He drew out a bow, and his face lit up the way a small boy’s does on Christmas morning. He pulled out a quiver and strapped it on his back next to his sword sheath.
    “You’re happy,” commented Navi.
    “Yes, I am! This is beautiful and very useful. Since all my stuff fell out when I was in the time warp, I didn’t really have a ranged weapon.”
    “I know. I wonder where your stuff went.”
    “Maybe we can ask Shiek, later.”
    “Yes, let’s get out of here.”
    After wandering for a very long time, discovering odd little rooms and strange and vicious new monsters, they found themselves in an octagonal room with… handles.
    “Where could Saria be? We haven’t seen any hint of her.”
    “No,” said Link, pushing one of the handles and turning the room sideways.
    “I hope no one’s kidnapped her.”
    “Yes,” answered Link, jumping on a switch.
    “What’s the matter with you?” asked Navi impatiently. “Why are you acting funny all of a sudden?”
    “I’m worried, that’s all. If Saria is dead, then… then I’ll kill every last monster in Hyrule. No, I would do that anyway.”
    “I have no suggestions,” Navi told him.
    The last room in the Temple was a round room, up circular stairs to a circular platform ringed by a red velvet cord. Spooky moonlit paintings of a woodland path were hung around the walls, each identical to the next.
    As Link passed to the centre of the ring, nothing happened. Saria certainly was not there either. He turned back to leave.
    The entrance was now blocked by spikes.
    A rolling baritone laugh echoed, bouncing off the paintings. Link whirled and looked up, in time to see a black horse and a strange looking Ganondorf leap over his head and gallop into a painting and down the path.
    Navi called shrilly to be heard over the deafening hoofbeats that filled the room: “It’s only a shadow of Ganondorf! It’s not the real Ganondorf.”
    “That makes me feel a lot better, Navi,” Link said half-jokingly, half-sincerely. He spun, watching all the pictures. He caught a glimpse of the horse, and nocked an arrow. A warp portal appeared, and the horse galloped through it; at least until Link’s bow twanged and sent the arrow deep into the horse’s chest.
    The phantom horse screamed and spun, disappearing into the painting.
    Link’s eyes darted back and forth, watching for the next attack.
    He heard warp whirl from behind him and jumped around. His arrow missed in his hurry, and he flung himself to the side to avoid being trampled.
    His next try hit the shade. He caught sight of his opponent almost immediately, and watched him ride towards him.
    Warp whirl whined from behind him.
    “What!? Where!?” Link demanded of Navi, rolling to the side.
    “Oh, there must be more than one in the pictures, but they’re not real! I’m sorry!”
    “Never mind it,” Link assured her, adjusting his stance. He saw several Ganondorfs galloping through woodland and turned constantly, trying to keep them all in view.
    “Here!” called Navi, hovering next to one. His arrow was true this time. The horse burnt up in a blue flame.
    “Gah,” grunted the fake Ganondorf. His voice was much deeper than the real Ganondorf.
    The real Ganondorf, who was watching from his tower, though Link didn’t know it, shouted at the hero.
    “All right, kid, you killed the horse. See if you can beat… this!” The fake Ganondorf twirled its staff and a ball of dark energy appeared. He threw it at Link, who jumped aside. He remembered how much it had hurt when he had gotten hit before, just after he held his silence to protect Zelda. That was to hurt. This, here, was to kill.


Chapter 10: Horse    Contents    Chapter 12: The Depths of the Dragon