by N Felts
him. Narrowly avoiding the pointy end of the shield, he sees his opening when it spears into the ground, leaving Link open for an attack. Lunging forward with a haymaker punch, his fist meets steel when the Hylian jerks his shield out of the ground at the last second. Even so, the impact sends Link flying backward, tumbling to a graceless stop as he finds his footing. Wasting no time, the skull kid claws both hands into the earth, kicking dirt up behind him like a bull preparing to charge. Determined to simply overpower the hero, he launches himself forward, descending upon his target at blinding speeds. Just as he’d hoped, Link raises his shield to block, unaware just how hard the kid intends to hit him. Enclosing one fist in the other, the Skull Kid swings downward in a hammering motion just as Link jumps back a step. Spinning into a back-fisted attack, Link can’t help but grin when he sees the kid took the bait, his arms down at his sides from the failed strike. The blow produces an unsettlingly brief cracking sound, the kid continuing forward while tumbling head over heels. Bits of shattered bone fly in every direction, one of the horns landing next to Link’s boot as the debris quickly settles. Skipping to a stop in a barely conscious stupor, the skull kid scarcely notices Link prying the gauntlets from his arms before reclaiming his ocarina. Staring down for a moment longer, Link sighs as if he feels sorry for the punk who made this simple task so difficult.
“Nynngh, alright you win.” The kid mumbles, slowly recovering his senses.
“We know!” Navi promptly points out. “You’re getting off light. This is the last time we entrust something to the likes of you,” she concludes, drifting over to link when she realizes he has already begun to depart. The sun has nearly set, though it is difficult to determine through the veil of trees, the entire sky glowing a dark shade of orange. Moving to an ideal spot in the clearing, Link stares at the ocarina for a nostalgic moment. The bluish-purple instrument’s reflective surface shines in the sparse light, bringing back memories of past adventures. Adventures he’d intended to put behind him by leaving the potato-shaped flute in the skull kid’s protective custody. Lifting it to his lips, he flinches when a reflection of light hits his eye just right. Stepping closer while briefly shielding his eyes he spots a fragmented piece of metal lying in the grass. Upon closer inspection, Link sees the sharpened chunk of forged steel has a partial Triforce engraved upon its side. The moment he touches it, Navi is infected with energy, circling Link’s head enthusiastically.
“It’s a fragment of the master sword!” She exclaims with an odd certainty. “It’s so strange, I can feel it now,” she reveals, fluttering about while adjusting to the sensation. “I think Fi is trying to help us. It’s hard to tell exactly where, but there is another shard northwest of here,” She reports, confused by Link’s emotionless expression. The news is fantastic. Enough to put a smile on Link’s face any other day, but he has scarcely heard a single word Navi has said. His throat has long since dried completely as the familiar feeling encircles him like an unwelcome embrace. A thirst for blood resonates in the very air he breathes as he can practically feel Garo’s essence drift through him in anticipation. He is watching, and he is waiting.
The Empty Handed:
Some Men Cast Evil Shadows
Another sickening crunch. Another vanquished crustacean. Flipping off the shell-shocked foe’s back, Rift takes a more confident battle pose as the crab wobbles and falls down for good. Better prepared for the onslaught this time around, he’s made short work of the angry sea dwellers en route to the portal below. The waving lights dance along the sloped walls of the cove as the boy makes his way further and further down the gradual arch leading into the water.
“Okay, now you’re only going to be in the water for a second. Trust me on this one, you’ll be back out on the other side before you know it,” Mai assures, studying the trepidation on his face. The arch’s slope increases dramatically near the bottom, the plunge into the pool becoming a vertical drop. Deep beneath the water’s surface, the sandy floor is visible through the pristine waters. Directly beneath Rift, the sand is a dark red in an obscure shape. Certain he is going to regret this decision, he slowly works up the nerve to jump. “Ready,” Mai asks, doing her best to usher him along. A deep breath and a nod later, the boy sprints into a dive, darting head-first toward the crimson sand below. Hitting the water with plenty of force he sails strait through the red sand, emerging through a yellow blight upon an entire floor of red. Beginning to lose his momentum, he opens his eyes and panics when he finds himself nowhere near the surface.
A translucent outstretched arm and an assuming smile quickly greet him, latching onto his right hand and pulling him upward. Turning her head to determine the distance, the first of Mai’s features are revealed to the boy. Her young face hardly compliments her voice while her dark, wild hair splashes into view as she turns. Little more than a flowing bit of cloth conceals her breast as her ethereal form vanishes beyond that. A sudden blast of speed launches Rift up and out of the water forcing him to run along the vertical section of the arc until gravity allows him to slow to a stop. Quickly catching his breath, he finally takes in his surroundings for the first time. The Dark Water Temple in no way mirrors its counterpart, the path the boy stands upon leading into a dark, massive ravine of a structure. The water is only a slightly thinner shade than blood red, the dark sand below creating the grim impression. Primarily shaded blue and green on the other side of the portal, this dim counterpart prefers variants of brown and small bits of yellow where the sporadic, glowing crystals embedded in the stone emit ample lighting. Failing to captivate him in any way, Rift is far more entranced by his brief glimpse of Mai.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” She asks, feeling as though she may have underestimated his time spent underwater.
“N-no I’m good,” he eventually stammers, his focus returning gradually as his clothing sheds water slowly.
“Well this is no time for daydreaming, let’s go!” She commands with a peculiar, optimistic sort of sarcasm. Trekking into his second temple, Rift cannot help but feel anxious, his last adventure nearly killing him on more than one occasion. The hallway before him stretches further than the eye can see, the canyon overhead widening gradually as it ascends. The temple seems to have been overrun with stalactite, the smooth stone walls only partially revealed between cancerous growths of mineral deposits. Continuing down the seemingly endless path, Rift suspiciously scouts overhead, the dark canyon void of any of the illuminating crystals sporadically present near ground level. Further ahead a large opening appears, the narrow passage suddenly growing into a much larger, dome-shaped arena. Upon entering the area, Rift cannot believe his eyes when he spots a large treasure chest resting at the center of the barren stone plain.
“No way,” he mumbles under his breath.
“Yeah, this is a little too easy for my taste,” Mai agrees as the boy cautiously approaches. Long before he steps close enough to access the wooden box, a pillar of limestone leaps into the air carrying the chest along with it. Now just out of reach, the box is barely visible atop the oddly shaped pillar. A strange glyph has appeared beneath the boy’s feet, encompassing a large portion of the floor, and its intricate design is the obvious culprit behind the treasure chest’s currently unreachable position. Beginning slowly, but gradually increasing its pace, a consistent flow of water works its way up Rift’s body. Tracing his extremities and crawling up his chest and neck before falling upward, landing out of sight far above on the dark ceiling. Rift’s sense of gravity is thrown by the profoundly odd sensation, but even so, his overall situation has changed little.
“So that’s different,” he chuckles, more fascinated than confused by the feeling as he watches water droplets move up his open hand, tracing his fingers before they are plucked away by the inverted gravitational effect the temple is producing.
“Yeah,” Mai agrees. “Seems like it only affects the water though. Don’t you start floating around on me.�
�� Now studying his surroundings more thoroughly Rift spots a camouflaged doorway positioned much higher than the pillar along the wall of the large dome. With no perceptible means to access it, he lets out a long sigh, irritated by the rapidly increasing challenge the temple is presenting. “My time to shine,” Mai mutters to herself with a giggle. Without warning, the floor below the boy turns transparent as if it’s become a glowing window to another dimension. Immediately falling through, Rift lands clumsily upon solid ground as the hole above him quickly closes.
“W-what?” He stammers, attempting to get his bearings. Glancing to his left only serves to further confuse him, the doorway overlooking the large room filling his vision. Far below he finds the chest resting upon the raised column, and further down the large glyph which activated it. “How?” He blurts out, utterly unable to articulate his confusion.
“Hee hee,” Mai laughs excitedly. “Works even better than I thought. I told you I’ve got the hang of my portals now.”
“Portals?” Rift asks, carefully eyeing the smooth ceiling overhead, as well as the space