"CHYVALRY": PART III

Two Stalfos appeared before Link even had a chance to become accustomed to his surroundings. They separated and attacked him from either side. His agility and prowess served him quite well, for he effortlessly took them down, one by one, then sheathed his sword behind him. He located the key to the door in front of him, unlocked it, and entered…

There were battles here he’d never imagined he would face. Large spiders coming down at him from the ceiling, fierce Stalfos twice his size attempting to cut him into tiny bits, twisted hallways, invisible hands, and not to mention those four Poes. He’d been able to take down three of them pretty easily, once he managed to get the Bow and Arrow, which was hidden deep inside the temple. Navi had helped him out a little too, pointing out some of the enemies’ weak spots for him. He remembered everything Zelda had taught him about using a bow and arrow; aim straight, keep his body tight, and above all else, focus…then explode….

When he faced the fourth Poe, who called herself Meg, he was in for a very different battle. After he defeated the third Poe and wound up in the very room he started in, he could see blue fire on each of the four posts in the middle of it. Those weren’t there before. He was very aware of his surroundings; this temple had taught him much, and he would emerge a better fighter than he was before he entered this place. He stepped into the middle of the four posts, readied his bow and arrow, and Meg broke off into four identical Poes, circling him, drawing him in…

"Link…I’ve been waiting for you. See if you can catch the real me"….

"Bring it on, I’m ready"…he said, keeping his steel eyes fixed on her…

The familiar whirling sound began, and she rotated her four ghosts around him in shaky, jerky movements, taunting him, teasing him…

He fired an arrow and she winced with pain, desperately trying to regroup. Link scoffed.

"Heh heh."

She began again, this time faster….

He struck her again in her middle, and she grimaced. "Now I’m getting really angry," she roared.

Now moving even faster, Link tried harder to catch the real Meg, but he was too slow. The arrow caught one of the decoys, and she coiled back in mischievous laughter.

He felt something hot stinging his back, and he reached back immediately, howling in pain.

"Gotcha," Meg taunted. "Now who’s the boss?"

Link, in a sudden flushed burst of anger, began firing a stream of arrows at her until he’d hit her three more times. When she was defeated, she screamed, "How dare you! How dare you! When you meet the evil one, I hope he shows you no mercy!"

And she disappeared into thin air.

This released him from the upper floor, and he felt himself going down…down…

He found himself in a room filled with paintings, similar to an art gallery of some sort. All of the paintings were alike; they all showed the road leading to Hyrule castle. When he tried to approach one of them, iron bars shot up in front of him, blocking his path.

The unmistakable sound of Ganondorf’s laughter rang throughout, chilling Link’s blood. He whirled around, drawing the Master Sword. "What have you done with Zelda?" he screamed. But Ganondorf wasn’t paying Link any attention. He started to disappear into one of the paintings on horseback. Link furiously sheathed his weapon, drew out the bow and arrow and fired at him. He missed. He circled the paintings, waiting for him to emerge…

"Come on, coward," Link said angrily. "Show yourself"…

His feet paced the floor, impatient for this enemy to come forth…

It was so quiet in this room one could hear a pin drop…
Then from out of the corner of his eye Link could see a flash of purple, and he fired an arrow at the apparition, bringing Ganondorf out of the painting and into head-head combat with him.

"HA HA HA HA" Ganondorf laughed as he readied his fireballs…

"HEEYAAHHH!" He screamed, releasing a stream of them at Link.

Link used the Master Sword to dodge them back and forth, hitting his enemy several times. When Ganondorf fell to the ground, he rushed forward, pummeling his body with whistling cuts of his blade. Ganondorf staggered back onto his feet, and mounted his horse again, repeating this same process. Link could now sense the rhythm of this battle, and was more ready for him when he brought him out of the next painting…

Another set of fireballs released, bat back and forth, bringing Ganondorf down…

"Something’s not right with this," thought Link as he struck his enemy again with the Master Sword. "It’s almost…too easy, like a trap"…

His last thrust of the blade caused the light in the room to brighten suddenly, and the real voice of Ganondorf thundered throughout it. "That was good, young Link, you’re getting stronger. Unfortunately, you weren’t fighting the real me. When you do, it will not be so easy. I must now send this horrible excuse of a phantom from whence he came"…

And the phantom’s body twisted violently, revealing it’s grotesque face. It shuddered and screamed as Ganondorf condensed his body into absolute nothingness.

The battle was over. Link had won, and released the evil that lurked in the forest.

He now found himself in the Sages Realm again, facing someone he’d not seen in quite a while.

"Saria? Is that you?" he asked.

The Kokiri girl stepped forward, only she was an older version of the young girl Link became friends with long ago…

"Yes, it is me, Link. Thank you for awakening me as the Sage of the Forest…our home, Link."

A green medallion, similar to the Light Medallion, floated down from above.

"Please take this, and combine our powers…now our home is at peace once again."

Then she was gone, and he found himself sitting in the forest. But where would his adventures lead him now?

"Hey!" Navi shouted. "Listen! There’s a mysterious cloud floating over Death Mountain. We should go check it out, Link. Hurry! Let’s go!"

Taking a quick rest, Link decided there was no time to waste. He’d better head over to Goron City…

Indeed there was a mysterious dark cloud hanging over Death Mountain, just like Navi said, blacking out almost everything visible. Entering Goron City at night, Link discovered that all of its’ inhabitants were missing, save for one who rolled about, with no apparent destination. He placed a bomb next to him, and….

POW!

The Goron came to a frantic stop, and it almost made him dizzy. He introduced himself as Link, the son of Darunia, and told him of how Ganondorf had come to Goron City to round up all of the Gorons to feed to his pet dragon Volvagia, who lived deep within the fire temple. He explained that in order to enter the Fire Temple, Link would have to wear the special Goron’s Tunic to avoid being scorched to death in the temple’s searing heat. Link agreed and took the offered gift.

"There’s a secret entrance if you move the statue in Dad’s room," he said. Scratching his chin, Link thought about things for a moment, then patted the little Goron on the head, who was crying by now.

"Please save them! Or else Ganondorf will surely feed them to his beloved pet!"

"Don’t worry," Link reassured him. "Consider Volvagia dead, my good friend."

Link then hopped down a couple of floors to Darunia’s room, entered, and then moved back the stone statue. Immediately he could feel the searing heat coming from Death Mountain, and he quickly put on his Goron’s Tunic…

He had to familiarize himself with these new surroundings. Everything was dark, and if it wasn’t dark, it was glowing red. Thick bubbling lava boiled all around him. He made his way to the edge of the cliff, and could see that the bridge leading across was out, so he pulled out his hookshot, targeted the faraway beam, and pulled himself across…

Almost immediately Sheik dropped down from above, startling Link for an instant.

"We meet again, Link"…Sheik said in a mysterious voice. "It seems you are becoming…quite a hero now."

Link looked down at the ground then back at Sheik again. "I’m just doing what I have been asked to do. I don’t want to see my kingdom torn apart by this Ganondorf. He has murdered my King, and he will not live"…

"It is good that you seek to avenge your King," Sheik began, "but in order to do so, there are four more temples you must conquer. I have come again, to teach you a song you must play to enter this temple of fire. Memories of the past shall serve you well, for young love will grow into deep affection"…

A pang of sadness rang through Link’s heart at the sound of that. Love for what? For whom? Oh well, it didn’t matter now. Forcing all thoughts of his past away, Link let Sheik teach him the Bolero of Fire, which had a very emotional undertone to it. After he lowered his ocarina, Sheik began to back away.

"Wait a minute," Link said, raising his hand. "Who…are you?"

"We’ll see each other again soon, Link"…Sheik replied. "Very soon."

And again, with a flash of a deku nut, he was gone.

Link stood there puzzled, scratching his head for a moment. He put away his Ocarina and proceeded down the long, dark ladder, to the fiery bowels of the Hylian earth, to confront this monstrosity they called "Volvagia"…

At the same time Link was descending down into the fire temple, King Harkinian, ruler of Hyrule, was being laid to rest in the royal graveyard. The crowds were too thick to count numbers. Almost everyone turned out at his funeral in the Temple of Time. All except for one woman, whose identity was kept hidden by a cloak of black. She watched the goings on at the burial from the entrance to the Shadow Temple. It was dark by that time, so she was not in danger of being discovered. Tears flowed down the young woman’s cheeks as she witnessed her King being placed in the cold hard ground. A cold hard ground that would never give him up. Ever.

As much as she wanted to, she could not approach the casket or the grieving citizens of Hyrule. Her heart ached, not only for the loss of one so special to her, but also because she’d not been able to reveal the real reason she went into hiding. This weighed heavily on her soul as she clutched the black hood tighter to her, to keep the strands of her blond hair from flying about.

As soon as the funeral was over, she would have to go back to her hiding place, one where she hoped and prayed that Ganondorf would never find her…

Link found himself face to face with Darunia, the leader of the Gorons, as soon as he entered the forbidding door of the temple. Darunia explained what he was doing, and that he needed Link’s help in trying to squash out Volvagia. He told him there were several Gorons trapped here, and Link would have to rescue them all before he could defeat the fiery dragon. Link hopped across the small platforms leading to the other side of the room, careful not to fall into the deathly pits below. When he reached the other side, he took out the small key he’d found and unlocked the gate, releasing the first Goron.

The Goron was quite grateful, but begged Link to save his other friends still trapped inside. He gave him some advice before he left about using a "special crop" to destroy certain items inside the temple. When he left, Link took the key inside that cell. He went from room to room, releasing more Gorons, and each time receiving a new key for the next secret waiting to be unlocked. When he reached the boulder maze, he had to time his steps carefully to avoid being squashed by the mammoth rocks as they rolled towards him, then away from him, with increasing speed. He finally made it through the maze, and released another Goron. But he wasn’t anywhere near being done yet. Another room…another weapon.

A curved staircase loomed before him, and at the top stood a large chest, with a wall of flame surrounding it. To get to the top, he would have to step on that switch, and try to avoid the fire Keese flying high above him, so high that they did not see him…at least, not yet.

He decided to take down the fire keese with the bow and arrow first, then race up the steps, and try to keep from falling into the yawning cavern below…

His shots rang true as the tips of his arrows pierced through each of the three Keese, sending them shrieking downward in a straight spiral. He stepped on the switch, dashed up the stairs, and opened the chest, revealing the Megaton Hammer!

He’d never had anything like THIS before. This was really cool. Now he could squash everything in his path. Well, almost everything. He went back down the stairs, raised the Hammer above his head, and pummeled the platform below him, sending him back down to the main floor…

Now he would have to face that Fire Dancer one more time, and set the last Goron free.

He released the wall of fire again, and entered the chamber where the Fire Dancer resided…

"HA HA HA HA. You have come back," it taunted, spinning around in the fire in the middle of the room. "I’m ready for you. Come and get me…if you can"…

It changed colors quickly, from green to blue. Link chased it around the room until he could get a good lock on its head with his hookshot, then fired. The head bobbed before him, and he pounded it with the hammer. He knew it would run away, and so he met it around the opposite corner, pounding it yet again. Its laugh sounded like the brattiest child he’d ever heard. One full swing and it froze for a moment, then ran away again. Then it disappeared into the flames, rejuvenating its energy. Link continued to play its’ taunting little childish game, reminding him of Mido’s incessant teasing from his younger days. He focused that resurfacing anger into his final blows. When the creature’s head began to swell, he knew it was all but over. He leaned away, ducking down…

SQUISH!

Red goo went everywhere, and Link had to wipe his cheek with the sleeve of his tunic.

"Glad that’s over," he muttered to himself, as he went into the opposite door from where he entered and grabbed the Boss Key. He admired it for a moment, then placed it along with its dangling chain into his tunic pocket.

Now, for the final battle….

Before him was a large round platform with huge holes in it. Oh, this didn’t look good! There was no escape, only a death plunge into the volcanic fire below should he fall off. But…this was where Darunia said she’d be….

He hopped across the bridge leading to the platform, and the ground began to shake…

The biggest man-eating dragon arose from within the bowels of this fire temple and loomed above Link, hissing at him, batting her huge eyelashes. She couldn’t speak, but he knew what she was trying to tell him.

She took one swipe at him with her huge claws, and he had to duck quickly out of the way…

She continued to circle above him, and he wondered if she had young underneath this platform with her…

He didn’t have time to wonder long. Suddenly boulders from out of nowhere began pummeling the surface and Link had to run to the edge and grab hold to avoid being crushed by them. Volvagia continued hissing, swiping her claws, doing everything in her power to rid herself of this Hylian invasion wielding the Megaton Hammer…

She disappeared down into a hole, and the boulders stopped falling for a brief time…

Link risked everything, and dashed into the middle of the platform, waiting for her to emerge.

When her fiery head popped up next to him, he pounded her as hard as he could. She retreated, only to emerge from another hole…

Link’s strength was unbreakable, as he chased her, going from hole to hole, each blow of the hammer bringing her closer to death.

When her body finally rose above him again, she did not hiss, or swipe her claws at him anymore.

She merely froze, turning into ash, her head crumbling beside him…creating the warp portal back to the Chamber of Sages. Link stepped inside, and…

The familiar face of Darunia appeared in the darkness, and he began to speak to Link.

"You have grown into a fine warrior," the wise Goron said. "You have proven yourself, and your honor, quite well. There are more temples that lay ahead, and many more challenges. Stay focused, and I am confident you shall succeed at them all. Please take this Fire Medallion and add it to your power. The more power you gain from the Sages, the weaker Ganondorf becomes. He has stolen the Triforce of Power, and it must be regained, or Hyrule will suffer the dire consequences"…

Link was then transported back to Goron City. Even though the Gorons he saved begged him to stay to rejoice with them, he knew he needed his rest. Navi was speaking to him of Zora’s Domain being frozen over, and a chilling wind. He thanked the Gorons for their hospitality, then left to go home, to get his much needed rest before setting out tomorrow...

He didn’t realize just how exhausted he was until he mounted Epona just outside Kakariko Village. His legs felt like they weighed a ton. As he rode alone throughout Hyrule Field, he waved to Malon when he passed by the ranch. She didn’t try to motion for him, as he thought she might. She knew he was on a quest, and obviously wasn’t going to disturb him. His thoughts drifted to Zelda, and where she could possibly be. If she were dead, he would surely have found out by now. Why did she disappear from him like that on the night of the ball? That just wasn’t like her. Something was wrong, terribly wrong, and if he could just talk to her, he could help her, and comfort her.

Little did Link know that somebody was watching him from above the trees in Kokiri forest, and waiting…

The Hylian dismounted, then tied Epona to the tree outside his house. He stepped onto the ladder to go up, so ready for his bed….

Suddenly he felt a rope go around his neck, choking the breath out of him. Then strong arms pulled him to the ground…

"Arrrgggh!"…he cried out, desperately trying to pull the tightening rope from around his windpipe. He struggled, trying to wiggle out of its’ grasp.

"Now I’ve got you alone," a voice hissed, "and I shall have the pleasure of killing you, Link"…

Link recognized that voice. He elbowed his captor hard in the chest, allowing the rope to break free.

He whirled his body around in the dark, facing his enemy dead on.

When Link saw who it was, his eyes squinted in anger.

"Raven…you have come to challenge me I see…alone, just like the coward that you are"….

Raven tossed the rope aside, grinned, then drew his sword from its’ sheath.

"I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since that night at the ball," Raven taunted, his angry green eyes piercing through Link. "Waiting to rid myself of you forever."

"Well I wouldn’t want to disappoint you," Link quipped, reaching for the Master Sword.

"Here I am. Come and get me."

Raven lifted his blade and pointed it at Link.

"With pleasure."

He ran toward Link and swung forward, growling loudly, and Link raised up his blade, blocking him. Their swords collided with angry vengeance.

"Just what is it that you want with Zelda?" Link asked, wincing, pushing his sword against Raven’s.

"What are you, her personal bodyguard or something?" Raven asked. "I hear she can take care of herself, that she needs no help from you"…

Link fell to the ground, and when Raven tried to attack, he pushed him back with the heels of his boots, then got to his feet again.

"Personally I like aggressiveness in a woman," Raven sneered, parrying Link. "It makes her all the more…challenging to conquer."

"If it’s Zelda you’re planning to conquer, think again," said Link. "You’re no gentleman, and I will protect her from you, at all costs"…

"Even with your life?" Raven asked, in mock interest. "That’s quite a price, but one I’m happy to take"…

Link angrily thrust the Master Sword forward, and Raven continued parrying his attacks.

"You never answered my question, Raven. What do you want with Zelda?"

Their blades scraped together again, and the two men growled at each other, their angry eyes locked in a dance of hatred.

"Ha ha ha," laughed Raven. "The beautiful Zelda…her trademark locks of blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin, and let’s not forget those pert breasts, all for the taking"…

Link flung himself away from Raven, and punched him hard in the mouth, knocking him to the ground.

He dropped his sword, and before Raven could retaliate, he found Link on top of him, his hands around his throat.

"You can just stick your head between your legs, and kiss your ass goodbye"…

His grip tightened around Raven’s throat.

"Don’t you EVER refer to Zelda that way"…

Raven was beginning to turn blue, when his hand grasped around the handle of Link’s dagger, pulled it out, and sliced Link in the upper arm. He’d aimed for Link’s heart but was not successful. Link winced in pain, and fell away from him to the ground….

Raven quickly grabbed his sword with one hand, while holding his throat with the other, trying to breathe.

Link felt the tip of Raven’s blade against his throat, and his evil voice in his ear.

"Time to die"…

Link froze for a moment, his hand closing around the handle of his Megaton Hammer…

When Raven raised his blade to strike the final blow, Link rose up, and with both hands, put all the force behind him as he swung the hammer directly at Raven’s head, crushing his skull instantly. He let out a loud growl as he heard the flat head of the hammer silence Raven’s arrogant laughter.

He was used to the sight of blood and death around him, and this moment was no exception. He watched as Raven’s limp body slumped to the ground, his black hair and tunic covered with his own brains. He wiped his chin with the sleeve of his tunic, then his brow.

"Time to die, Raven"….

He looked down at his hammer. Well, he would have to clean this up before he set out tomorrow.

Link couldn’t sleep a wink that night as he lay in his bed. All he could think about was Zelda, and the fact that her life was in danger…

He reached over to his bedtable, and picked up Marin’s necklace. What was happening? He asked himself. He suddenly had this feeling overcoming him of wanting to protect Zelda more fiercely than ever before. Yet he still missed Marin terribly. He tried to picture her sweet face, that red hair, and her linen dresses, her sandals…the beach….the moonlight…and the night he had made love to her. He’d never loved any woman like he loved Marin. There could never be anyone like her. But when he closed his eyes, all he saw was Zelda, in her pink sheath gown, watching in horror as her father was being murdered, unable to do anything…her eyes so wide with fear. He wanted to take that fear away, and hold her close to him…

He sat up in bed, grasping his hair on both sides of his head. Two women, two separate worlds, pulling at him from opposite directions…

At about 6am the sun began to rise, and Navi stirred Link from his sleep.

"Link, come on! We must go to the Ice Cavern!" she shouted.

Had he only slept about five hours?

His head was foggy, his thoughts distorted for a moment as he tried desperately to awaken.

Rubbing his eyes, he glanced around the room, then looked down at his tunic. Raven’s dried blood was still on his clothes. Looks like he’d have to change quickly, couldn’t be seen around Hyrule looking like this…

After he’d put on a fresh tunic, he loaded his weapons back onto his body, then climbed down the ladder to begin the next chapter of his journey…

The Ice Cavern was actually quite easy to maneuver through. He just had to be careful with the Ice Keese and those freezards. One whiff of their frozen breath and he would have to take a while to thaw out. The ice blocks in the main room were a bit tricky though. He didn’t want to fall into the bottomless pits at the edges…

At the end of the dungeon, he found himself face to face with a large Wolfos. This was quite similar to the ones he’d battled at the forest temple. He was able to take it out quite easily. When it fell dead, he noticed a chest materializing in the corner. When he opened it, he found the iron boots.

"Huh?" he asked himself. What on earth would he need these for? He wondered.

"You’ll need those for your next journey, to the Water Temple," a voice behind him said.

Link, surprised, whirled around to see Sheik standing there. "How did you get in here?" he asked.

"It doesn’t matter," the youth replied softly, his eyes sparkling at him. "I have come to help you again, Link. You will need to learn this song in order to warp to the point at Lake Hylia. Remember it well, for I feel you will need to use it often. Your journey gets more difficult at this point, Link."

He produced the harp and played "The Serenade of Water" slow enough for Link to learn it, then let him play it on his own.

"That’s it!!" Sheik exclaimed. "You’ve got it! Now all you have to do is remember it. I have released the Zoras from underneath this ice. Princess Ruto thanks you for all your help."

"I still don’t know who you are," Link said. "When will you tell me?"

"Patience, Link, patience," the mysterious youth said. "All will be revealed to you…in time."

And again, just like all the other times, he hurled a Deku nut to the ground and vanished.

Link donned the Iron boots and proceeded to the bottom of Zora’s fountain. He had to act quickly, for he could not survive underwater for very long. To his surprise, when he returned to Zora’s Domain and thawed out King Zora with the blue fire he’d bottled in the Ice Cavern, he rewarded him with a Zora’s tunic, allowing him to survive underwater for indefinite periods of time. This now completed this task. Now he must go to Lake Hylia, and release the evil trapped there…

When he played "The Serenade of Water" on the ocarina, Link was warped immediately to the point just in front of Lake Hylia. Night had fallen. When he stepped out of the blue "cloud," he noticed that all of the water was gone from the lake. What had happened here? Ganondorf’s power since he stole the Triforce of Power was getting much stronger, and the effects were being felt more significantly. Poor Zelda. He shook his head as he thought of what this must be doing to her. Then he felt the sting of rain hitting his cheek. He rolled down the steep hill, then dropped down to the very bottom, and put on the Iron Boots. When he looked up, he saw some sort of crystal switch above him. He aimed his hookshot at it, and fired. It raised the massive iron gate, and he went inside…

This temple was the most confusing one he’d visited yet. First there was Princess Ruto mumbling something about an engagement ring from a long time ago. He stood there and scratched his head for a moment, then realized what it was. Oh yeah, that Zora’s sapphire he retrieved from inside Jabu Jabu’s belly. Was she really going to hold him to this after all this time?

"Link, I’m just kidding," Ruto teased. "We can’t be married. What would our children look like?"

She shuddered and made a funny face. Link smiled.

"I am really glad you’re here though, because you need to destroy the evil that lurks here so that the water will flow freely again from this beautiful lake"…

He took off the Iron Boots and followed her to the top of the water column, where he began his journey. There were crystal switches, water levels to rise and lower, tektites to defeat, not to mention those awful Like Likes. Link almost got his tunic, shield and sword swallowed by one as he proceeded to each room, drawing him even closer to the evil boss lurking in this temple.

One enemy stood between he and Morpha, however, one that Link was NOT expecting to turn up during this quest…

At the end of a puzzling set of statues he’d had to raise and lower in order to get across, Link managed to climb up to a ledge, defeat two more tektites, and a Like Like before he proceeded onward…

A door slammed behind him, bars went up, and he found himself in a room surrounded by inch-deep water and a tree on an island in the middle. There were odd-shaped objects in the far ends of the room, but Link wasn’t paying attention to that. His attention was focused on the shadow lurking near the tree. It wasn’t moving, and this just didn’t sit right with him. He moved forward a little, then a little more…

The apparition came forth, and it was a gray mirror of himself, wielding a blade just like the Master Sword!

"I’ve been waiting for you," the apparition said. "You’ve grown up, Link. It shall be a pleasure to take you down."

"Who are you?" Link demanded.

"A presence from your past, from your dreams. I am a dark shadow of you, Link," he replied. "I have come to test you, and hopefully…to kill you."

He said that with such calmness it gave Link chills. What am I in for? he asked himself.

"You can’t escape me," Dark Link taunted. "You must face me, here and now."

He raised up his blade, and his eyes locked with Link’s. "Remember Marin?" he teased, swinging his blade down in a forward arc. The master sword bashed against his blade. This was worse than Link imagined. Not only was his dark twin going to challenge him physically, he was messing with his head.

"Too bad she’s dead, isn’t it?" hissed Dark Link, swinging his blade back and forth, while Link tried to dodge him.

"I am your opposite, every thought you have, mine counters it. Every desire of yours is my hatred. Every hatred is my desire. I serve Ganondorf loyally, just like you once served Harkinian"….Dark Link surmised. "Now you have no King left to serve, only a"---

He was cut off by Link’s confident attacks, parrying him well. Each strike of one was mirrored by the other. It seemed as if this could go on forever.

"I was told of many lies that would be brought forth to me," Link asserted. "I shall not listen to you, for you are nothing but an evil creation sent by Ganondorf to taunt me."

Clash…clash…clash…

Link managed to strike Dark Link in the shoulder, sending him down through the glassy bottom, only to reappear in front of him again. Link raised his shield to block his evil twin’s continuous thrusting attacks.

The battle carried on, and it was being drawn out into probably the longest one Link had ever fought. This evil twin of his was proving to be quite a physical foe. His strength was unparalleled.

"You seek to destroy me, but you will only make me stronger," Link sneered.

"Give up your kingdom, for Zelda will never rule like her father. She’s a coward." Dark Link retorted, slashing his sword from side to side, while Link continued to block him.

"I think you underestimate Hyrule’s powers…..Sir."

Link reached into his tunic pocket, pulled out Din’s Fire, and unleashed it on his enemy.

Dark Link howled in pain, falling down through the glassy surface again…

When he regained his stance, Link unleashed the unforgiving spell once more, sending him down into the watery abyss, never to arise again.

The bars on the far door arose, and Link ran across the wet surface, his boots making a sloshing sound. When he entered the long hallway from the open door, a large chest awaited him. He opened it, to find the longshot!

This item would prove to be very valuable, for he would not be able to battle the evil Morpha without it.

His search for the boss key ensued, taking him through more tests of courage, strength, and wit. Getting in and out of the cold water was wreaking havoc on his immune system. He felt himself developing a slight cough and congestion as he pressed onward, through the swirling vortexes that threatened to pull him under, to leave to trace of his body behind.

He finally did reach the end, and used his longhot to pull himself across the huge gap, after he’d opened the eye above the portcullis with an arrow.

Whew. The rushing sound of the water left his ears as he finally grabbed the boss key and headed into the huge room where Morpha lay waiting…

A huge pool, surrounded by spikes along the walls, and the eerie blue color of the water were what greeted Link as he entered this boss’s lair. Jumping onto one of the platforms in the middle of the pool, he waited, and waited….

Suddenly the sound of gurgling water filled his ears. He looked all around him, and the watery tendrils of Morpha fingered out of the pool, trying desperately to pull him in…

This was why he needed the longshot. Staying here on this platform wasn’t a good idea, he decided, so he hopped off and began chasing Morpha’s red and yellow nucleus around the room, firing at it with the longshot, then slashing it with the Master Sword. He had to duck the tendrils as they tried to grasp him from all sides of the pool. At one point he was cornered against the spikes, and let out a fierce cry as his body slammed into them. When he tried to regain his footing, he slipped on the wet surface of the edge of the pool and a tendril fingered out and grabbed him, shaking him high in the air like a toy. He tried as hard as he could to push the jelly-like matter gripping him away, but it was no use. He was tossed about, back and forth, back and forth, then released against the spike wall once more. He thought he heard his arm break in two as he slammed into the spikes, but it was the sound of his shield instead that blocked the spikes from piercing through his heart.

Getting to his feet, he drew his longshot and aimed it angrily at her. "Damn you, Morpha"…he muttered, firing his weapon once more at her nucleus. It worked, and when the red and yellow ball was deposited at his feet, he slashed it as many times as his strength would allow. She suddenly shriveled up into a tight ball, then exploded like a fierce wave against Lake Hylia’s shores…

Link stepped into the portal she left behind, allowing him to travel back to the Chamber of Sages…

Ruto presented him with the Water Medallion, to add her power to his.

"Thank you for destroying the evil in my water temple and awakening me as the Water Sage. By the way, a nice young man named Sheik saved all the Zoras, I wish to tell him thank you. If you see him, will you thank him for me?"

Link nodded his head. "Sure, Ruto. I wouldn’t mind at all."

Link felt the familiar blue glow around him once again, transporting him back to Lake Hylia…

Sheik was waiting for him there. When Link stepped off the portal, sparkling water filled Lake Hylia once again, and the sun returned, warming the morning air.

"Link…you have done it once more, you’ve saved one more part of Hyrule! Ganondorf grows angrier with every Medallion you collect. I can feel it. You only have two more to collect, and then your time will come to face him. I...only wish"…

"What? Please, you must tell me"…Link begged.

"No, I cannot."

Sheik held his hand up at Link and shook his head firmly, beginning to back away.

Link’s sword fell a little bit away from his hand as the sadness of still not knowing who this was continued to haunt him.

"Ruto said thank you for saving the Zoras"…he muttered.

"Well…I had to do it, Link. We must work together"…

"How can we work together if I know not who you are?" he exclaimed. "Why so many secrets, Sheik?"

Sheik’s expression became quite strained. He sighed heavily and lowered his head.

"Goodbye, Link…my friend"…

Then he disappeared with the Pow! of the deku nut, those last words sounding quite choked, like they were being painfully wrenched from him…

Link pondered hard over this as he tied his Iron Boots onto his back to make the trek back to the forest, to get some much-needed rest before his next search for the Shadow Medallion. Morpha had taken her toll on him. Link could only take being squeezed around the middle so many times by that horrifying tendril. Before he went back to Kokiri forest, however, he decided to venture out to the middle of the lake to retrieve those fire arrows he’d heard about in passing while in Hyrule Town recently. Raising his bow and arrow up to the sun, and squinting his eyes, he shot an arrow straight and true into the sun’s path, revealing the secret of the fire arrows across the lake from where he stood. Then he dove into the water to get them. As he stretched out his arms, relaxed and let the waves of the lake gently glide him across, his thoughts turned to that day in the forest when Zelda had helped him with his bow and arrow. Her body language had definitely spoken to him that day. She’d not made the slightest move on him, yet when she breathed into his ear and traced her hand along the muscles in his arms as she helped him steady his bow, Link felt her talking to him in ways she’d never dared to before. Maybe she was afraid of making him feel uncomfortable, because of Marin. But he had definitely gotten the hint, subtle as it was. Zelda was his lifelong friend, his childhood companion, and now his heart was beginning to tell him that she was growing into something more. It had been so long since he’d seen her. He had hoped of news of her every day, but none ever came. Certainly she was still alive. He was kicking himself over and over for not grabbing her quickly enough the night her father was murdered. There was no telling where she was now. When he reached the little island where the fire arrows were located, he picked them up and stuffed them under his shield, then dove back into the water to swim back across. He thought of Sheik, and the songs he’d learned on the Ocarina since he began his quest. Sheik’s eyes were haunting him. It seemed like every time he tried to get close to see the identity of this mysterious friend, he pulled away just before he got too close. And now he was gone again, obviously tormented by something very awful…

But little did Link know that he was being watched right at that moment in secret, by beautiful blue eyes, as he reached up to slick back his wet hair and readjust his weapons before heading out of the Lake Hylia gates. Sheik stood hidden in the bushes, admiring him, then felt a little guilty for doing so, because Link was a friend, a trusted friend, someone that didn’t deserve to be spied on like this, but it just couldn’t be helped. Link’s battle tactics had gotten so much fiercer, his confidence and stamina had grown so much, and since he was the chosen one, he held an aura about him that was irresistible. Not to mention his body; how much it had changed. So hard and muscular, like a dream sent straight from the goddesses above. No, he was not the same young man who had returned from Koholint so long ago, unaware of his destiny. He was the brave and confident one…the hero…the one that stirred Sheik’s heart like no other ever had. A single tear fell from the watcher’s eye.

"Link…I love you"…

It was nightfall when Link reached Kokiri forest, and he was never so glad for his own bed more than he was now. As he drifted off to sleep, he thought how nice it would be to have a royal massage, something Zelda’s father took advantage of quite frequently long ago. He smiled as he thought of that, because the idea of a warrior like him actually having that service performed on him was quite unlikely.

"Link, I’ll take care of you"…

The sweet voice entered his thoughts, and he closed his eyes. He imagined hands upon him, female hands, and they touched him with great delicacy and care. He smiled, then opened his eyes. The image of Zelda, and not Marin, was in his bed with him, gliding her hands along his hard muscles, feeling every inch of him. She watched his reaction with fascination and pleasure.

"Link….I’ve wanted to do this to you for so long"….she whispered. "I’ve always wanted to touch you"…Link couldn’t breathe. No matter how hard he tried to think about something else, it was Zelda’s hands he saw upon his body, and she felt so good…

"I….I’m not stopping you," he whispered back in his thoughts, very surprised that he had done so. Her sweet feminine scent filled his nostrils. Stretching his arms way out on the bed, he was giving her permission to continue with her exploration of his being. She began by rubbing the soreness from his thighs, his calves, working up to his abdomen, then his arms…

She straddled her legs around him, leaning over to give one arm full attention, then reaching across for the other….Link suddenly grabbed her wrist and looked up at her with burning desire. Grasping the back of her neck, he pulled her mouth down to his, and when her whole body was completely on top of him, he rolled her over onto her back, not taking his lips away. He unbuttoned her dress, dying to reveal what lay underneath…

He shook his head and clasped his hand over his eyes. Zelda would never do this! He felt guilty and ashamed for even thinking these things. Zelda was his lifelong friend! And she was Princess of Hyrule! No, he must stop this now, lest he go totally mad. Why was he seeing her in his dreams, and in his fantasies?

"Oh, Zelda…where are you?" Link whispered to himself. "Please tell me you’re okay, that we’ll see each other again soon"…

The sounds of the owls hooting outside and the night breeze blowing through his treehouse finally lulled Link into a deep, quiet sleep, pulling him away from the conscious world and into the subconscious. He dreamed of Zelda, and of Marin. The two women collided in his dreams like two swords in battle. Nothing made sense anymore….

In her secret hideaway, Zelda lay sound asleep, not having moved since she went to bed. The poor girl was exhausted from trying to help Link in disguise and still maintain her sanity at the loss of her father. When all this was over, and she would no longer be in hiding, she would be crowned Queen of Hyrule. Somehow that thought just didn’t comfort her any. She wanted to be queen when it was her time, not before. The one person who could take away her pain and sorrows could not be here with her, as much as she wanted him to be. In her dreams, she was standing by the waterfall near the entrance to Zora’s Domain, and her eyes were watching Link as he refreshed himself in the privacy of the lagoon, not aware that she was right behind him. He was not wearing a shirt or his tunic, but she could only see his back, for the strength of the water hitting the pool underneath created a froth that clung to his waist, hiding everything else. He lifted his arms above his head to run his fingers through his hair, emphasizing the strength of the muscles in his back.

Zelda rolled over in her bed and smiled, still in a deep slumber….

Walking closer to him, her smile widened, and her hand lingered against the rock a little longer…

Then he turned to face her. When their eyes met, they smiled nervously at one another, then Link held out his hand to her… there were no words spoken as he pulled her underneath the waterfall, tilted her head back and covered her lips with his. The taste of his tongue and the salt water beating down on them was intense, making her go completely weak against him…

She clung to him fiercely, as if it were the last time they would ever meet. He gripped her shoulders, moved her against the rock behind the waterfall, and deepened his kisses, forcing the rest of the world away…

She could barely hear his groans against her from the loud roar of the waterfall, but his body told her everything she needed to know. His hands gripped her waist, his thumbs running up and down along her stomach, begging for permission to move upward….

"Link…Link"…she murmured.

He said nothing, but pulled his lips away from hers and took wild control of her neck, needing her, wanting her…

She suddenly awoke, and then felt quite disappointed when she realized this was just a dream. Laying back against her pillow, tears began to fall down her cheeks, and she didn’t have the strength to stop them...

When the sounds of the birds awoke him the next morning, Link stretched himself fully awake and rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on the world around him. Navi appeared just above his head. "Link! Link! Listen! Something is looming over Kakariko Village, we must go check it out!"

Closing his eyes, and laying the back of his hand on his forehead, he sighed heavily. "Okay, Navi, give me a minute, okay?"

"Okay," she replied, and left the treehouse so he could get dressed. He dressed in his green tunic, prepared his weapons, and drank some blue potion he’d bought on his journey, to rejuvenate himself fully. Standing up on his tiptoes and adjusting his belt, he was finally ready. He leaned over and looked in his mirror, ran his hands through his hair, and vigorously rubbed his finger over his teeth.

When he reached the village, indeed there was something going on. Everything was on fire! How could this be? When he tried to approach the middle of the village where the well stood, Sheik suddenly appeared before him again.

"Hello, Link," Sheik said. "You’ve got to destroy the evil that lurks here! Impa is trying to save the village, but she needs your help! In order to enter the Shadow Temple, I must teach you the "Nocturne of Shadow."

Their eyes met for a moment, and Link was really tempted to reach forward and grab that turban off Sheik’s head, and reveal who he was, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he brought his Ocarina to his lips and let Sheik teach him the needed song. Then something happened. An incredible force picked Sheik up and tossed him to the ground several feet away from Link.

"What the"…

When Link drew his sword and shield to protect Sheik, he felt himself being attacked by the same force, causing everything to go black…

Then he awoke to see Sheik above him. There were those hauntingly familiar eyes again.

"Link," Sheik said, "I was so afraid you wouldn’t wake up. Do you see how evil it is? It’s escaped from the well, you must help us!"