Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend of Zelda: Facade of the Living ❯ Illusions in the Darkness ( Chapter 7 )

-The Forest Temple…

One of the mystical shrines that the Hero of Time had once surveyed.

Years later he returned to this hallowed ground in search of the dark forces disturbing the innocent Kokiri. Forces that should have been vanquished a long time ago.

Inside this dark dungeon of despair, the brave adventurers must find this evil, and end its reign over the gentle forest dwellers the hero calls his family.

Unbeknownst to the valiant ones, the evil deep within the bowels of the temple has been watching them, carefully planning what to do when the Hero of Time enters the shadows and faces true terror…


Chapter Seven: Illusion in the Darkness

The Sacred Forest Meadow

Without knowing it, Jade had been teleported to a strange place. Since it was filled with shrubs, grass, and many other types of plant life, the boy assumed he had not left the forest yet.

He was quite right.

They had all been carried away to the Forest Temple. Jade wondered how this had happened and stood there quite puzzled. He correctly assumed that Link had something to do with it.

When this mission was completed, he would need to ask the hero how they had moved so far in so short a time.

That didn't quite matter now.

High above them on a ledge stood the Forest Temple.

It appeared to be a very ancient structure, covered with moss and ferns. The once brilliant white marble was dulled gray by the ravages of time and the unrelenting power of the forest.

The timelessness that was the Forest Temple had stood empty since the Darkness came. Horrible things had driven out the spirits that once lived inside, turning a quiet place of worship into a nightmarish labyrinth.

Behind every door there was a mystery, and Link felt watchful eyes as he moved forward. But as much as he wanted to find a better way, the hero knew that Saria needed his help, and he pressed on towards the gloom.

"Now before we go inside, I have to warn you of a few things," Link said turning to the others, "This temple is filled with twists and turns around every corner. We have to take it easy and plan out everything."

Jade was getting annoyed with Link's warnings and caution.

He was ready for action, adventure, and above all the battles. As he listened to Link talk about the traps awaiting them inside, the Sheikah thought of how he would be remembered.

Link was the Hero of Time, sworn protector of Hyrule.

Zelda was the Crown Princess and a royal diplomat.

Dreck, Gonga, and Zeta were all part of the well-known Renegades, and although that name was not held in the highest of honor, they were still legendary.

Jade was the only one who had not completed anything worth recognition.

He was not going to sit back and be left out of the historical manuscripts anymore. The Sheikah clutched his hand into a fist. He wanted to matter, to be someone that everyone would remember for years to come.

As Link finished telling them of the monsters he had faced inside, Jade put his plan quickly into action.

"We all have to take our time and follow one another closely," Link said, looking around.

Rather nonchalantly, the boy started walking towards the Forest Temple.

"Naw, that's ok. I'll just go in and take a look around," Jade said, retrieving an item looking remarkably like the hookshot.

"Hey isn't that…" Link began as Jade grappled up onto the high ledge with the hookshot.

The item that had the name "Dreck" etched into the side.









Back in the Kokiri Village

All the children ran in circles around the small Deku. He was masterfully telling the tale of Gorkhan and Trebla's treachery when a small Kokiri leaped over Dreck's head, pushing him to the ground in the process.

The boy was Mido, who was envious of everyone and in every possible way. Mido had grown tired of the story when it came to the meeting with the Hero of Time, and interrupted Dreck for the sole purpose of annoyance.

Soon, all the Kokiri children were jumping and leaping over Dreck and each other. The game was not one of Dreck's favorites. He was slammed into the ground numerous times and was extremely aggravated.

Standing to walk away, Mido dove onto his back, latching around him shrieking at the top of his little lungs with childish glee. Frantically, the Deku Scrub searched through his pockets looking for the one item he knew would help him out.

He found nothing.

"OH GODDESSES! WHERE IS MY HOOKSHOT?!"






Outside the Forest Temple

"JADE!" Link yelled, searching for his own hookshot.

He was only a second away from runnning over there, climbing the ledge, then giving the young lad a severe lecture about working as a team. Before the hero could, Zelda broke into one of her trademark fits.

"Link, don't go!" Zelda yelled, attaching herself to his arm. "Jade is Sheikah. He can take care of himself."

The hero was stunned for a moment. He had not wanted Jade exposed to this type of danger so soon. Even though the boy was a good warrior in a pinch, Link felt that Jade needed to train a bit more before he was brought into any more open field battles.

Reluctantly, Link let his arm fall limp to his side as he gave up in defeat. Sighing inwardly, he hoped the young Sheikah could handle whatever was waiting for him inside.









Inside the hallowed halls…

The smell was unbearable.

Rotting plant life that hadn't been cleaned out for years lay strewn across the stone floor. The overwhelming stench wafted into the boy's nostrils, immediately making him nauseous. Even worse, there was absolutely no light what so ever. The darkness had surrounded him the moment the second he set foot inside the temple.

Grabbing a piece of old wood and tearing off a piece of cloth from his uniform, he prepared to make a torch. With the sword Link had given him to replace his dagger, and being the resourceful Sheikah that he was, struck a piece of flint that he always carried. It made a bunch of sparks, and the end of the dry wood caught fire along with the cloth.

Sure enough, Jade now had a functioning torch that illuminated the blackness of the temple.

He was finally adjusting to the light, when he was hit on the head by an object.

Reacting quickly, Jade dove out of the way, realizing it was just a piece of moss that had eroded away from the ceiling. He glared at the ceiling, now fully capable of seeing in this shadowed cavern, and cussed silently.

The walls were overgrown with moss and the floor was now crawling with bugs and plant limbs. Gigantic spiders and psychotic Deku Scrubs were seen moving around in the distant shadows, and everywhere he turned there was an aura of evil.

It seemed the legends surrounding the Forest Temple were true.

Maybe the blackness would consume him and the monsters would devour his flesh.

Then again, maybe that wouldn't happen.

All the Sheikah knew was that most of the people who went in didn't come back out.

Jade was a bit frightened. He hadn't thought Link was going to let him go alone. The Sheikah warrior really only wanted to prove his bravery to his idol and show he had no fear.

Frightened as he was, Jade could not help but be terribly excited about the upcoming battles he was sure to encounter.

He continued down the long corridor, lighting the lanterns that were hanging from the wall. Picking up a faint sound in the distance, Jade withdrew his new sword from its sheath.

It wasn't just a minor trinket.

This was the Gilded Sword.

A blade encrusted in solid gold, a master smith forged it from hard steel and precious metals. It seemed to glow whenever drawn, even now in the dim light. Shining softly in the darkness, Jade awkwardly held it in his hand, trying to balance the torch with the other. Finally matching the weights between the two items, he held both tightly, awaiting whatever had been sneaking around in the temple interior.

The Sheikah was not very skilled in the ways of the sword, having only received this one after Zelda mangled his dagger. Jade had been trained primarily in martial arts and unarmed combat techniques.

Naturally, he was a little unsure about how he would fare in a real battle.

The boy stopped and quickly prayed to the Goddesses for courage and swiftness of the blade before continuing on.

He lit the final lantern hanging in the corridor when his torch was suddenly knocked from his hand by an object of great speed. Since the constant dripping sound of water from the vines and moss had kept him from hearing the sounds around him with ease, the boy was quite angry.

It was now that he realized what had hit his torch. As the blood flowed from his hand, Jade followed the direction the torch was sent flying and inspected the item.

It was, as he feared, an arrow.

It was not any arrow though, but the same kind of arrow that had nearly brought about the end of the Hero of Time. It was of the same type that had pinned many to their dying positions, and one now tore at his flesh, penetrating deeply into the sinew of the muscle.

This was an arrow used by Gerudo assassins.

Jades broke the arrow shaft and spun around in time to barely dodge another arrow being shot from the dark regions of the dungeon. He rolled to the side as his ears picked up the sound of air being displaced by something heavy.

This time a warhammer had barely missed his head.

Very worried now, Jade realized he was fighting off two elite Gerudo assassins. One was hard enough, but two at one time might prove to be the boy's death. Jade still thought he could take care of himself, and his confidence rose as he readied for another assault.

And then the entire world exploded.

A hookshot wrapped around his leg, pulling his feet out from under him. The Sheikah hit the ground hard, and groaned as he realized that there were three assassins to fight off. He rolled up as another arrow skinned his shoulder.

With the absence of light, A'lto was having trouble targeting the boy accurately.

Jade would make sure to use to this advantage before her eyes could focus.

The young warrior realized his mistake immediately.

He was thinking too much, and had focused only on A'lto, practically forgetting about the other two. Jade cursed himself as a blade passed a mere inch away from his nose. So'Prano had discarded her hammer and was now fighting with her bloody sword.

Flipping backwards, a chain linked grappler blurred past the Sheikah. He landed on the ground only to be hit by yet another arrow. Luckily it flew by and once more only scraped him, but he was in desperate need of help.

He might have been able to handle two of the assassins, but three was far beyond his capability.

Jumping to his feet, the boy was again hit in the leg by the hookshot. As he fell, So'Prano's blade sliced a bloody gash across his right leg. Jade screamed out, and held the wound in agony. Through the pain, he rebounded as best he could, his foot colliding with So'Prano's jaw. She backed off, and Jade was beginning to feel as if he could take them.

Then, as if it couldn't get any worse, a volley of arrows expertly pinned his clothes to the stone wall.

He was outraged, and ripped his uniform down the lines of his arms. Jade struggled free from the clothing binding him to the wall and sprung back into action.

Then the boy was trapped again as his shoulders were slammed into the wall.

His skin was pierced deep by So'Prano's shurikens. Jade screamed out in pain as the dark red blood seeped from his wounds and down his body. Tears welled in his eyes as the hookshot's tip stung into his side. All Jade could do was gasp, unable to scream due to the exhausting pain. He tried to free himself, but more arrows pushed his body back against the wall.

Jade was utterly and hopelessly trapped.

The blood was now pouring from every orifice of his tattered body. The proud Sheikah had lost to the murderous Gerudo, and was surrounded by his captors. These same women would also have the pleasure of becoming the boy's executioners.

So'Prano walked over to Jade and held her blade to his throat.

"You disgraced me before young Sheikah," she said through her teeth, the hatred spewing from her ruby red lips. "Now you shall DIE!"

Her shimmering blade pulled back, ready to slam it into his neck. Miraculously, it was halted only three inches from his jugular vein.

"STOP!" someone screamed loudly.

Jade looked up, expecting Link to be standing there in all his glory. His guess couldn't have been more wrong. It was yet another Gerudo, probably wanting to flay him alive and display his skin as a trophy in some war room.

She had steel gauntlets that seemed to shine in the darkness and an ebony colored cloak, which nearly all but covered her enormous figure. Her robes could fit a full sized Goron, and were set perfectly around her rather corpulent frame. She had silver streaks through her black hair, and were it not for her emblems and clothing, one might not believe her to be a Gerudo.

The gauntlets gleamed in the dim light, giving off an evil aura, seething with violence in the shadows. In her hand, Jade recognized the unmistakable shape of a book.

Filled with evil spells and dark magic, it was bound in human skin and decorated with hundreds of tiny, shrunken bones.

Walking towards the near death warrior, the Gerudo woman wore a smug grin. Leaning in, the old woman gently kissed his cheek and laughed. Jade flushed a heated shade of red for a second before spitting into the face of the Gerudo. She wiped away the offensive matter and smacked him with such lightning speed that he barely even felt the stinging pain afterwards.

"For that, you shall be punished," the woman said into his ear.

She placed her palm on his forehead and let the book fall. It floated in front of her and the room was suddenly filled with an ethereal purple light. Jade was now truly afraid, something that had never happened before in his entire life. He had seen many, many things as he grew up alone, magic being one of them.

Though he knew very little about its origin, Jade was well aware of its usage. Magic could be used either to create or to destroy, which was more the latter in the last few centuries. Very few people left in Hyrule knew how to perform any other magic than the black kind. Zelda was probably one of the only white mages left in the world, and by the look of this fierce spell-caster standing before him, she appeared to be quite skilled in the dark arts.

The book levitating in front of the Sheikah was an old documentary script, with the crescent moon symbol of the Gerudo on the cover. Two ancient Gerudo sorceresses named Koume and Kotake had written it. They had compiled all their knowledge in this book, and it was from this that Gorkhan and Ganondorf had drawn much of their powers. Both of their souls had gone into this book, and that certainly was a force to be reckoned with. The text had been passed down through the ages from one magician to another, growing in strength with each passing generation.

Only the elite could master the soul force of Koume and Kotake, and this sorceress was showing more than the needed power to wield such an instrument.

She started to mumble softly in Common before she switched over to a language the young Sheikah's ears had never heard.

"Koume! Kotake! Spirits of the Gerudo, hear my cries! Ent tus barat'onek! Meihasik, tomeo cuepitumels!"

A light blinded Jade, coming close to injuring his sensitive Sheikah eyes. He couldn't think, or feel, or see, or hear, nor could he even breathe. Eyes blank and as white as his hair, the boy's visage became a stone cold gaze into nothingness.

Jade was under the control of Baritoone, last and most powerful of the Gerudo assassins.

She continued to recite more of the mind-controlling spell, and as she continued, it was obvious that Jade was falling under her immense power. With each word more of the energy flowing from her hands entered the boy's open mouth. He was being filled with the evil energy of the Gerudo, and the sickly purple magic started to coarse through his veins.

Poor Jade was unable to resist in any way.

"Neptu sora tous nerotun'ips contrek…" was all that Baritoone managed before an enormous sound boomed throughout the corridor.

Smoke and haze filled the air as one of the walls on the far side of the chamber came tumbling down. Light immediately began to shine through from outside, illuminating the darkened room.

The woman was startled for a moment, and her concentration was halted, so was did her influence over the boy. Jade's head fell limply to his chest, and the spell holding onto the young adventurer's body was broken.


*****


The Hero of Time angrily kicked away a pile of rubble he had almost tripped over. Aggravated, he kicked it out of the way and continued the search for his comrade.

"JADE?!" Link howled, as his voice boomed throughout the dungeon. "Where are you?!"

"Master Jade?!" Jeison screamed, coming closer to the area where the Sheikah was being held captive. "Sir, where are you?!"

Hearing footfalls approaching and seeing the light of torches coming down the hallway, the Gerudo women quickly leaped into a darker part of the temple. All four of them huddled together in a tight circle, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Their leader was apprehensive however, as she recognized the voice of Link.

"Great, the Hylians are here too!" So'Prano complained, turning to the others. "It'd be bad to stay here."

"But my spell isn't complete!" the fourth Gerudo said. "We can't retreat now!"

"Baritoone!" A'lto hissed, "We have no time! We might have had it easy on the Sheikah, but Link and that knight are a different story!"

"You're right, but before we go…" Baritoone whispered as she cast one last spell onto Jade.

A jolt of black energy jolted through the boy, aggravating his wounds and leaving him near death.

Her task complete, Baritoone turned to follow the others, who had already gone off.

With a puff of smoke, the four Gerudo assassins disappeared into the black recesses of the Forest Temple.









Immediately afterwards

Jade's head snapped up for a split second, then weakly fell to his chest.

The knight had removed all the arrows, but his body was now in tatters. The cuts were deep, and his clothes were stained with his crimson-red blood. The Sheikah was on the verge of collapse, and losing consciousness now might result in a loss of life as well.

Link rushed into the silent corridor, still lit with a slight brown tint from the torches, and hurried to the side of the fallen youth. Upon seeing him, Link immediately gasped at the sight of the battered warrior.

He lifted him into his arms and carried him to the outside. The hero carefully sat the boy down in the short grass of the meadow, and tried to speak to him. Jade seemed to be only half there, as if he wasn't listening to anything Link was saying.

"Jade, tell me what happened?" Link questioned the badly injured Sheikah.

"The..Ger..udo..were..here," he croaked, barely making any noise at all. "Tried to k…kill me. I..beat…them all."

Her Majesty was visibly disturbed by this, and made no attempt to hide it.

"WHAT!?" Princess Zelda shouted. "That's impossible! How could you do that by yourself?! You're just exaggerating!"

Jade could not answer.

He passed out in the arms of Link, still bleeding profusely from many different wounds. The Hylian was worried as he thought of the quickest way back to the Kokiri Village. Jade might die if he were moved very far, so using the Ocarina of Time was the only option.

Link pulled out the Royal Family's treasure, and with the help of Kaepora Gaebora overhead, played the Song of Soaring.

The magical notes had the ability to transport them anywhere that the old owl felt.

In mere seconds they were gone from the meadow and would soon be back in Link's home town.









Back in Kokiri Village

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Zeta screamed at the sight of the fallen warrior Jade. "I hate it when the little twerp does stuff like this. WHY can't he respect any authority?!"

Blood left a trail from where they had reappeared, and the hero was in no mood to explain.

"Quiet Zeta. He's been through a lot today and he needs his rest," Link calmly said.

The tension was felt all around as the Sheikah was taken inside Saria's house. The little girl moved a table over to the center of the room, and Link placed the boy there. Dreck immediately went to work, ripping off Saria's nice cloth decorations off the walls for use as bandages. The Deku Scrub relieved Jade of his uniform, and examined both the deep gashes and the superficial cuts.

While the doctor worked his magic, those who did not go to the temple wondered what had happened. Even those who had been there were still unsure of what really occurred.

They only knew that Jade had risked his life, and came out on top.

Well almost on top.

He had lost a lot of blood and his wounds were grievous. It was anybody's guess if he would make it out alive.

The blades had pierced his skin far deeper than ever before. The lacerations, although bandaged, were still bleeding profusely. The only odd thing was that his cuts and bruises were an odd color. A sickening purple seemed to surround every open wound in his body, and it appeared to be spreading.

It did not look good for the young lad. His breathing was irregular and even while he slept it was as if he was constantly battling inside himself. Jade's face contorted with every breath and the look of pain on his face struck terror into the heart of Princess Zelda.

She felt angry that she had put the boy down so many times, broken his pride and turned him into a child again and again. Jade had never sworn any oaths of loyalty to Zelda personally, and she certainly didn't need a handmaiden anymore. Zelda was afraid that she had shown no affection for the boy and had lost his respect.

She was afraid he would die before that could be rectified.

If he hadn't gotten out of the forest sooner, Zelda would have been right.

"If I'd known this would happen, I would have followed him. I would have helped," Link cursed under his breath, punching the nearest wall.

"It's not your fault Master Link. He went in alone, rushing in without any knowledge or back-up," Sir Jeison replied, trying to comfort the perplexed hero.

"But I should have gone after him! I should have known he wouldn't be able to handle himself!" the hero blasted back at the knight.

Before another word was said, Dreck walked quietly out of Saria's house. He was carrying the Gilded Sword, now wrapped in a silk-white sheet.

Link knew what this meant, as he somewhat knew the background of the Deku's medicine. This was a sign that Jade would be fine, but would need time to recover for a while.

For him, it was a huge relief.

Zelda on the other hand, knowing nothing of the Deku's medicinal practices and traditions, started to cry into Link's tunic. In Hyrule, for an injured warrior to be separated from his weapon meant that he or she was going to die.

The Dekus on the other hand, viewed sharp objects as a liability, especially since they were made of wood. Also, as a doctor, Dreck could not allow the weapon to be in such close proximity to the injured Sheikah.

Princess Zelda believed Jade to be dead, and was beginning to sob heavily. Link quickly grabbed her and tried to give comfort, relaying the message that Jade would be fine, but out of commission for a slight term.

"He's…ok?" Zelda questioned. "But…his sword? "

"It's an old tradition in my people's history," Dreck said to the Princess, taking the sword out and handing it to Link. "A white cloth is for life and prosperity and a black cloth is for death and failure. I'm sorry that I didn't make it more clear Your Highness."

His little face had a slight shade of red, giving him the look of a beet.

And then, to everyone's surprise, Jade stumbled from the room and leaned against the molding in the doorway. The blood had finally stopped pouring from his body, but his skin was a sickly pale white. Such was normal for the Sheikah, but the loss of that much blood was life threatening to anyone. He stumbled to Link with his hand outstretched, trying to take back the Gilded Sword.

The hero ran to catch the Sheikah as he fell to the floor. Link dove and caught the boy, and laid him on the ground softly, being careful to avoid any more injury to the lad. Jade opened his eyes and looked straight at Dreck, his eyes giving off a dazed, half-dead look.

"I…left your…hookshot in the…Forest Temple," Jade managed to say.









Outside the Forest Temple

They had all come this time.

No one was left behind for fear of another attack.

If evil dared to strike again, then they would need every person they could find.

It was evening now, and Jade had fought for hours until Link relented and let him come along. Jade simply didn't want to be alone anymore. He had spent his life living a solitary, miserable, existence, and now that he had friends, Jade wanted to be near them as much as he could.

Princess Zelda had found this to be very admirable.

Dreck had thought it a lie, and advised against it. Most people would never be able to understand the complexities of the Sheikah. Their unflinching service to the Royal Family had continued for generations as a pure, unbroken line of personal bodyguards and advisors.

To a Sheikah warrior, duty came first. Physical well being was always secondary.

"Now where did you leave my hookshot?" Dreck called back Jade, who was walking slowly behind them all.

"On the branch…leading up to the temple," the boy said slowly, trying to save his strength. "This was…my fault. I'll get it back."

Sure enough, there it was. The hookshot swayed gently in the evening breeze, the tip firmly imbedded in the branch of an old tree. Limping, Jade walked towards the tree and began to scale the wall.

The others simply stood and watched the stubborn boy attempt to retrieve the weapon.

"You people left him alone for one minute and he nearly kills himself! Next time, I'm going with him," Zeta whispered to the little Deku.

Dreck merely nodded and checked to see if he had any bandages left.

"Link, are you sure it's okay to let Jade come with us?" Zelda questioned the green-clad warrior. "He shouldn't be exerting himself like this, you know?"

"Zelda, if that was me I would want to be with those I care about as well. Jade has to prove himself still, and maybe this will help," Link said kindly, staring into the Princess's eyes. "Nothing would keep me away from the one I want to be with."

"The one?" Gonga asked, now in on the conversation. "Don't you mean the ones?"

"Um, yeah! That's what I meant…ones!" Link said quickly, turning redder than the tattoo on Gonga's arm.

Zelda laughed to herself. She had loved knowing how Link felt about her. Though she knew everyone else had at least an inkling about their secret relationship, since no one came out and asked about it, the Princess just let Link act as if nothing was going on.

It was always humorous to see the great hero, reduced to mumbling and stuttering like a young boy in love.

The quaint little moment was broken by one of the Hylian knights.

"Master Jade, you should not have come with us. Your wounds have not had any time to heal and you'll risk of injuring yourself even more," Sir Yozefu called to Jade.

Yozefu was horrified at the scene that unfolded above the young warrior. Jade was leaning against one of the few, strangely gigantic bushes in the meadow, when up from the Temple came a veritable army of Stalfos Knights.

The skeletal creatures that were Stalfos had once been people. Now they were empty vessels, soulless incarnations of those who were not lucky enough to escape the treachery of the enchanted forest. Stalfos haunted the ruins where they had lost their mortal souls to the blackness of oblivion.

They fought like crazed warriors, giving no quarter and asking for none.

Only steel could break their evil bones.

The Stalfos monsters stood up and drew their dark blades and held their ancient shields at the ready. Ebony swords dyed in the blood of heroes who were bold enough to take on the perils of the forest. Those who did not make it past this point were turned into Stalfos. Even the ones who did make it were confronted with even more traps.

It often seemed impossible to escape the forest's tricks.

The undead warriors kept coming from their graves until almost an entire battalion filled the confined space of he Sacred Forest Meadow.

"STALFOS!" Link yelled, diving into the fray.

Drawing his Master Sword, he was ready to slice through the horde of frightening monsters.

Jeison and Yozefu unsheathed their swords and prepared for battle. The long blades of the Hyrulian knights shined with a bright light. They stood in their respected battle positions and waited for the oncoming assaults.

As one of the Stalfos attacked, Jeison expertly ducked under the blade and cut through the bone as if it were grass.

Yozefu broke away from their side by side combat to stop a group heading towards Link and the others.

Jade was pulled away from the battle by Jeison just as the Stalfos attacked.

Yozefu was fighting with all his might, trying to make up for the lack of the two warriors who were out of the battle.

Link was slashing through the Stalfos one after another alongside Zelda. They were back to back, and she was casting spell after spell.

Dreck, who had no weapons, was running between the legs of the Stalfos, making them bend over. This was where Gonga came in. He, with his mighty hammer, slammed the bending Stalfos into the ground.

Zeta was on top of the walls firing arrows at the Stalfos, occasionally scoring a hit or two.

Jade was on his feet ready to fight off the waves of evil. Sir Jeison however, would not let him go without a struggle, and smacked the young lad clear across the face with the back of his hand. The Sheikah fell to the ground and lay there as a Stalfos rose up and stabbed forward with his sword.

Jeison fell to his knees as the blade plunged through his chest. A river of blood flowed from the wound, staining the knight's shining armor a sickening shade of red.

He had sacrificed his life for the young Sheikah. Using his last breath, Sir Jeison slashed the Stalfos into pieces, killing it once and for all.

Then he fell to the ground dead.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Jade screamed, grabbing the fallen knight.

"JEISON!" Yozefu howled from the battle, running to his fallen companion. The tears in his eyes were those of love, the genuine affection between two best friends.

Both of them had spent years together alongside each other, comrades till the end. They had grown closer than brothers and either one would have laid down his life for the other.

Already one was gone, his friend soon to follow.

Yozefu never got to look upon his fellow knight. In a flash of purple haze, the man's body disappeared.

Bewildered, Yozefu stared at the empty space where his comrade had once lain, and at the boy on the ground who had a look of horror on his face. The blow that followed came so fast that the knight didn't even feel the pain.

He collapsed in a heap as his leg was slashed clear off. The blood squirted from the severed limb. Yozefu did not scream in agony as a normal man would, nor did he grasp his leg.

Instead, he picked up his broadsword and cut down as many of the Stalfos as he possibly could. At least six of the creatures fell before they finally closed in on him.

One of the skeleton warriors caught him from behind, and stabbed him through the throat.

Yozefu had joined his friend.

They were both dead.

Two of the proudest and finest knights of Hyrule had fallen, and Jade blamed himself.

"YOU BASTARDS!!!" the Sheikah screamed in anger, slashing with the might of a Goron. His speed was that of a Zora in water and was filled with an unholy rage.

For most, this would be a factor that would blur the senses and cloud judgement.

For Jade, both of those heightened.

*****

Link, now realizing what had happened, watched as the bodies of Jeison and Yozefu vanish into the ground. He had no clue why that happened, but he was certain he would find a way to give them a proper burial after the battle was over.

Dreck had been knocked into the wall adjacent to him, and was bleeding slightly from the impact. He gathered himself up and held his head in misery. Ducking under a blade that nearly decapitated him, the Deku curled into a ball.

Seeing this, Gonga picked him up and hurled him at the oncoming Stalfos.

The shrub man was dazed from the impact, but the outcome was that of good, as four Stalfos were destroyed and there were not many more.

However the ordeal was far from over.

*****

"That's all of them!" Link yelled as he destroyed the last of close to seventy monsters.

Even as he spoke he knew that there were more coming.

Two Stalfos, slightly different than any other, arose and drew their swords.

"Those are Jeison's and Yozefu's blades!" Jade screamed as he noticed them rise.

The Hero of Time came to a sad realization, and hung his head low in pity.

"Yes, that's true…" Link said silently, looking at the fallen warriors.

They were now noticeable in the dim light, hideous in all their evil trappings. Their flesh and skin gone, their eyes ablaze with eternal hatred, they had lost their souls to the darkness.

For all those who fall in the forest by the Stalfos, turn into Stalfos themselves.

"We can't fight them!" Dreck yelled as he backed away from the living dead.

"We have to, or else we will become just like them," Link replied.

The Stalfos that was once Jeison came closer to Jade as the former Yozefu slinked its way towards Zelda.

Jade moved to protect his princess.

"It was my fault you died. It's my fault you have to live as a zombie! But as I live, it will not be my fault that you must suffer this eternal terror!" the boy screamed as he dove at the Stalfos Jeison.

With a saddened heart and tears in his eyes, Jade cut down the thing that was once a man and Jeison was therefore freed of the horror that was death.

Yozefu was freed as well, as Zeta's arrows pierced his skeleton body.

They emitted smoke from their bodies, and then they disappeared.

All that was left were their swords.

In respect, Jade and Link took the blades and brought them to a quiet corner of the Sacred Forest Meadow. They placed a rock in between the swords and inscribed both their names on it.

Along with it was a short epitaph.



-Jeison sosta Yozefu
-Hyrule caen yetna karie trai'go ha ije brate qui kelle datosh.
-Dalo kelle farot'a zhet baet dea ae rotashk mov'khra...



-Jeison and Yozefu.
-Hyrule will miss the knights who so bravely fell in battle.
-May the fairies guide them to a better eternity...






Dreck retrieved his hookshot and they teleported back to the village.

Their numbers were back to six.









The Lost Woods: the next day

"You can't leave!" Saria said, kicking Link in the shins.

"I'm sorry, but we have to go," said the hero, pleading with the young girl.

The emerald haired Kokiri turned her back on Link and pouted the way she used to when he would run off to see the Deku Tree or play on the rope bridge.

That was when he was a child though. Now he was a man.

Saria wasn't really mad, but simply missed her friend dearly and was not ready to bid him farewell again. She started to cry, wondering if Link would forget her and go on without her.

"You promised me!" Saria cried, hugging Link tight.

Her grasp was not strong and the Hylian could have easily removed her arms from about his waist.

Yet he let her hold him, and would visit her again.

In the future, he would be older and she would not have aged. In a way it seemed Saria would never again see Link the way he was now.

Trying to comfort her, he leaned down and hugged her tight, the embrace of two friends wishing each other their final goodbyes.

"We don't have a lot of options Saria. If I don't leave you might never see me again," Link comforted her.

Sniffling, the Kokiri girl let him go and wiped her eyes

"You had better come back to visit! If not, I…I…I don't know what I'll do!"

"I will return," the hero promised. "You can count on that."

For the second time in his life, Link turned away from his friend of the forest and walked out of her life.

Saria stayed on that bridge for a long time. Her heart was broken once again. She had lost her favorite friend more than once, and for that she would mourn for a long time.

By the time she left that bridge, the joy in her heart had all but been extinguished.









Outsid e the shortcut leading to Goron City

"Jade, it wasn't your fault…" Link began before he was cut off.

"I don't need your sympathies Link," the boy snapped. "Just leave me alone!"

The Sheikah had been through enough and was mourning the loss of his comrades. He had considered them family, even though he had known them for only a few days. The whole of his body still ached, and his head was pounding. The darkness that had surged through him was still there, quietly eating away at his soul

He walked ahead and lay against a tree as Gonga, Dreck, and Zeta set up for their lunch.

"I suppose we're going to see the Gorons now," Zeta said to Gonga. "Is there anything of interest there?"

"No," he replied flatly.

"But I thought the city had all kinds of interesting stuff in it?"

"No there isn't."

"Don't you want to meet Darunia, the cheiftain. He's supposed to be widely acclaimed."

A nerve had been struck, and Gonga erupted violently.

"You know what, no! There's nothing for me in Goron City, so drop the subject!" he exclaimed, striking a bit of fear into the Zora.

She immediately stopped talking, and quietly poked the small fire that had been started in humiliation. Zeta didn't know why her comrade had gotten so angry, and tried to rationalize his behavior.

Gonga was more complex than she had ever realized.

On the other side of camp, Zelda and Link stood together at the entrance to Goron City, quietly peering into the tunnel.

The Princess wrapped her arms around Link's waist and began to cry into his shirt once again. He held her in his arms tightly, as she had been weeping on and off for the past few hours.

Link would never let her go.

As he hugged her tight against his chest, their heartbeats were completely in sync. Ever so quietly the hero stood there, without expression or feeling, looking towards an uncertain future.

Zelda thought she knew how would react. She believed he would cry with her and be the sensitive person he had shown himself to be. However, this complete lack of emotion was distressing to her, and Zelda wanted to beg him to say something, but couldn't find the words.

"Damn his stubborn sense of honor. Why does he hide his feelings?"the Princess thought.

She leaned up and gazed into the hero's eyes.

Only then did she realize Link was not always the adult she believed him to be. At heart, he was still a kid like her and the others, distraught over the loss of friends. She leaned up and they embraced in a passionate kiss.

As they broke the kiss a minute later, Zelda knew in her heart how he truly felt.

On the inside, Link's shell was cracked, and now he bared his feelings openly. Every feeling he felt at that moment was brought out in plain view of Zelda.

She felt afraid for some reason.

If this brought Link such pain, did he lose some of his edge that made him the great hero?

If he wasn't able to destroy the Stalfos Knights, would he be able to kill Gorkhan when the time came?

They walked back to the group and they shared lunch together. Afterwards, when they finished cleaning up, everybody took one last look at the forest.

They would never forget the battle that took place here, and they would never forget Jeison and Yozefu, the two brave warriors who gave their lives for their country...



End Chapter Seven



Proceed to Chapter Eight...