A land that sits on a peninsula, separated from the rest of the world by a mighty ocean corralling it on three sides and a range of mountains. A land of forests, plains, deserts, croplands, villages, and isolated homes. A land chosen to be the focus for the magic of an entire world. A land where a kingdom was created for the creatures of that magic. A land where a legend was born and heroes recognized. A land called . . . Hyrule.
Zoe, Princess of Hyrule, fingered a dagger set out in the display case. The proprietor of the weapon shop smiled down at her. "Looking for something?"
"A gift for someone special," she looked up into the man's broad, cheerful face. "How much for this dagger?"
"This dagger," he hefted it out of the case and weighed it in his hand. "Is very special. Old, too. It has a magical property; it will hit anything you throw it at. Would you care to try?" He offered it to Zoe.
She took it and weighed it in her hand. Cleverly crafted, the silver blade merged seamless into the green hilt. The hilt was forged into a frozen serpentine dragon, complete with intricate scales and ruby eyes. The hilt conformed to her hand and she tossed it toward the pillar in the center of the weapon shop. It hit the exposed wood with resounding force. "How much?"
"Forty-five rupees, lovely lady." He walked around the display case and easily pulled the dagger out of the pillar.
Zoe smiled slyly. "It's worth much more, just on its antiquity. Why are you giving me such a reduced price?"
The shop owner smiled back. "Obviously, from the way you threw the dagger, you know weapons." Zoe smiled. She wasn't wearing her sword with her simple green and brown jerkin (much like her father's); she usually didn't when she came to town. The shop owner knew his craft. "And I saw you admiring my picture."
She turned to the framed picture hanging over the mantle. A woman in full armor with a regal expression on her noble face brandished a flaming sword. She stood next to a stone altar that supported a jewel that appeared to have a flame engulfing it. The background had an erupting Death Mountain, spewing green fire into the sky. "She's very," Zoe searched for the right word, "mysterious. Who is she?"
"The Hyrulian, witch-slayer, goddess of warriors, protector of knights, champion of the Fire-Sword, creator of Hyrule, wife of the god Orden."
"The Flame-Thrower," Zoe finished. "The jewel, right? I heard most myths represent him as a fire-encased jewel."
"I'm glad you know your mythology. So many young people don't these days. Just because most of the gods of old have proven to be Gensiarians doesn't mean we can't learn anything from myths. They have a base in truth somewhere in the past."
"I love mythology," Zoe smiled. "My father would tell my brother and I the ancient myths and legends he knew until we knew them by heart."
"A very wise man," the shop owner commented.
"I always knew he was."
"You have an interesting variation on a simple chess move, Orden." Prince Kevin, the thirteen-year-old twin heir to the Kingdom of Hyrule's throne, walked down the halls of the North Palace with his hands resting on his belt.
"I told you I have played a game similar to your chess," Orden smiled, tossing his thick, orange mane of hair over his shoulders. Zoe's younger brother and sister took after their mother in their faces rather than their father like Zoe. They had her blonde hair. He was told that Lin, the oldest child of Queen Zelda and Prince Link, looked like Link too. Orden had never met him. He never pushed Zoe to introduce them because no one in the Palace ever mentioned Lin and it seemed like a royal taboo to do so. Besides, the rest of Zoe's family was hard enough to comprehend. But he had nothing against Kevin and Kelamane for being stronger in brains rather than brawn; in fact, it was the reason for his and Zoe's great proposal.
Princess Kelamane, Kevin's twin sister and his joint-heir to the throne, joined them before they started down the Grand Staircase. Almost like she read Orden's mind, "What proposal are you and Zoe suggesting to Mom?"
Orden laughed, "It's a surprise, Kela."
She sniffed disdainfully. Favoring her mother almost completely except having brown eyes, Kela had giving-herself- airs down to an art. But airs that worked for a Queen of a kingdom and a mother of four made a thirteen-year-old child look ridiculous. She let her thick, blonde braid fall from her shoulder. "We're going to be the rulers one day. It only makes sense that you tell us too."
"You're not in charge yet," Orden replied and let his orange eyes twinkle at Kela's displeasure. "Stop fretting, you'll know soon enough. Show a little patience like your brother." That was the right thing to say; they would attack other people together or separately but they would never attack each other. She wisely dropped the subject.
Zoe wrapped her arms around Orden's neck and squeezed his shoulders as he reached the first floor. "I saw your wife today."
"Did you look in the mirror today?" Orden laughed and kissed her brown-tanned hands.
The twins' confusion didn't surprise him. It was a private joke between him and Zoe about their marriage--or rather lack of it. "How can she be your wife," Kela began.
"If you two aren't married?" Kevin finished.
Zoe rolled her brown eyes. "I thought you two had given up talking in half sentences."
"Sorry," Kela quickly replied.
"We fall back into the habit without realizing it," Kevin answered.
"And the reason she's my wife without being married is if she doesn't marry me, I'll die a bitter and heartbroken man." Orden squeezed Zoe's hands and released them so she could join him by his side.
"Then why haven't you got married yet?" Kela asked.
"Because every time I ask her she tells me to wait a little longer."
"Oh, stop complaining," Zoe popped Orden's arm. "I've never told you no, have I?"
"I may stop asking all together. A guy gets tired of being humiliated all the time."
"Let's go talk to Mom."
"You always change the subject when I bring it up."
Kevin and Kela watched the two young adults continue down the corridor, bickering all the way. "Kev?"
"Yeah, Kela?"
"If I didn't know better, I would say they got married and haven't told anybody."
"Do you really think they would be so devious?"
"Zoe would! I'm not sure about Orden. What do you think?"
"I think you're just mad at them because they won't tell you what they want to talk to Mom about and you're trying to get them in trouble." Kela opened her mouth to retort Kevin but quickly shut it. As usual, he knew her better than she knew herself.
This was your idea, wasn't it? Zelda turned her mind viciously toward her husband.
I'm innocent, your Highness, Link proclaimed hotly through their telepathy. I'll admit I helped them research it but they came up with the idea.
Zoe guessed what her parents were discussing telepathically by the expressions on their faces. "Mother, I would never go over your decision, but Hyrule needs an order of Knights again. There are increased raids from foreign outlaws in the Borderlands, increased riots from ruffians in the towns, and increased trouble all-round the Kingdom. Without Ganon to unify the people, certain types have decided they want to stir up things."
Zelda grimaced, "I know; I've been studying the reports all day." She gestured to the stack of papers next to her ornate throne.
"Who do you two have in mind to run the show?" Link leaned back in his slightly-less ornate throne.
"Actually, we were planning to run it, your Highness," Orden answered respectfully. He could overlook Zoe and her younger siblings' royalty, but he found it difficult to see Zoe's parents as anything besides the rulers of a kingdom. "We would find the recruits, train them, and hold them accountable."
Zelda frowned, "Just you two? Alone?"
Zoe's frown matched her mother's. "Yes, what's wrong?"
"Appearances."
"Mo-ther, Orden and I have been traveling together for a year now and no one thinks anything's wrong with it."
"That's different," Zelda insisted.
Zoe turned to her father. "I'm going to have to agree with your mother on this one, Zoe. Before, you have had someone with you, even if they weren't chaperones."
"We'll have the recruits."
"But not at first and not always. Besides, you'll be in charge, they'll ignore what you tell them to."
"Do you really think I would do that?! Is that how far you trust us?" Zoe spluttered angrily.
"We trust you, Zoe," Zelda soothed softly. "But that's what people might think."
"By the Triforce! I think you're still trying to put me in a dress! I'm not staying locked-up in the Palace while Orden has all the fun!" Zoe marched across the throne room, threw open the doors, and slammed them shut behind her.
Orden grimaced. Not the best way to end a royal interview, but it could have been worse. They had bothered to dress up, and dressed up meant wearing their swords. She could have drawn hers and caused a bigger scene. "I'm sorry, your Highness."
"No need to apologize for our daughter, Orden," Link answered. "We know what we're up against." Orden left, and he sighed. "I wish you weren't so stubborn. Then we wouldn't have so much trouble getting those two married."
"Me? She doesn't get this hardheadedness from me!"
"She doesn't! How 'bout a kiss, Princess?"
"All right, half at least. But do you think she got the idea?"
"Zoe got the idea. And if she didn't, Orden did. But that's not the problem. Will she decide to go with it out of love and convenience or not to go with it out of spite at us?"
Orden braced himself and stepped out on the battlements of the North Palace. Zoe sat there, wrapped in her yellow razer, the cloak of honor of a Dragon Slayer, and looking sorrowfully across the land. "I think you misjudged your parents. They are only concerned about your honor."
"I can take care of my honor just fine by myself."
"And they definitely don't want to keep in the North Palace when you are suffering from a bad attitude." Zoe smiled and Orden leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. "Why not just marry me?"
"Didn't we already have this conversation today?"
"Well, at least then no one can say we are doing anything wrong."
"I'm just sick and tired of the stupid double standard. If two boys are in charge; it's okay. If two girls are in charge; it's eccentric but okay. But if a boy and a girl are in charge; it's a cover for premarital sex!"
"You've given this a lot of thought, haven't you?"
"Orden, don't make fun of me. But the whole thing is so stupid."
"I agree."
"Even the legends and myths make more sense. A goddess was the protector of knights."
"Was that what you meant when you said you had found my wife in town?"
"Actually, she's your namesake's wife. The Hyrulian, goddess of warriors, protector of knights, champion of the Fire-Sword, ex cetera, ex cetera."
"Sounds like someone I would like to know better," Orden grinned. He turned toward the west. "Almost sunset; it's been a long day. Let's go in and try to act civil at dinner."
"I'm always civil at dinner," Zoe replied stiffly as she took Orden's hand. "You can keep your mouth full and use it as an excuse not to converse."
He laughed as he pulled her close. "No wonder your mother finds you so exasperating."
"I learned the trick from Dad," Zoe laughed.
Orden started to reply when a blinding flash of light interrupted him. He pulled Zoe slightly behind him, not to protect her but to make it easier for him to maneuver. Zoe realized this and fell back a little. A man stepped out of the light, a tall, thin man with long, black hair. Orden stared into his thin-featured and noble face and locked eyes with the stranger's silver and blue ones. The stranger gestured and the light surrounded him and Zoe.
"Orden!" Zoe grasped his hand. "Where are we?"
He gazed around at the thick forest. "It's not Dragonsworld. Are you sure it isn't another location on your world?"
Zoe's eyes looked at him worriedly. "It is Hyrule. But no part of Hyrule I recognize!"
Lyle woke up in a cold sweat. Something had frightened him. Not a dream, something he had done. Or hadn't done yet, at least the mortal part of him hadn't done yet. Something bad, that's what had happened. He had put someone in danger. "Mommy! Mommy!"
Josh quickly rushed to his only son's side. He and Lissa had decided not to have anymore children after Lyle; Lyle was enough trouble. "What's wrong? Stomachache back? That's what you get for eating too many green apples."
"I need Mommy!" Lyle screamed.
"Mommy's away on a trip," Josh tried to explain to the six-year-old.
"I need Mommy!"
"Mommy's not here."
"Yes, I am." Lissa rushed into the room, her robes flapping and her long, brown hair streaming.
"Lissa, I thought we agreed that we weren't going to cater to Lyle's every command."
"This is different," Lissa insisted as she pulled the crying child onto her lap.
"That's the mother in you."
"No, it's the Gensiarian in me." Josh remained silent. This was a bond between Lissa and Lyle that went further than mother and son and one he could not understand. "What happened, Lyle? What did you do?"
"A bad thing, Mommy. Could hurt Zoe and Orden."
"That doesn't mean it's a bad thing. What did you do that could hurt Zoe and Orden?"
Lyle turned his big eyes, his big blue and silver eyes, to his mother. "I don't know; can't remember. I don't think I've done it yet, but I've done it. Mommy?"
"It'll be all right, Zoe and Orden can take care of themselves." She laid the boy back in his bed and smoothed the covers over his thin body. She could hardly believe that this gangly child that never seemed to stop growing was her plump baby just six short years ago. "Go back to sleep."
Josh closed the door softly behind them. "What's wrong, Lissa?"
"I'm not sure. I think the Gensiarian part of his mind is remembering something he has done but chronologically, he hasn't reached the physical age that he was when he did it. And his poor little mind can't comprehend it. Do you understand?"
"I think so," he replied as he pulled his wife close. "Will he be all right?"
"He should be," she replied as she squeezed her husband. "I think I managed to calm him down."
"Do you think Zoe and Orden will be all right?"
"I hope so." Lissa released Josh. "I have to get back."
He brushed her lips with his. "Be careful, Lissa."
"Aren't I always?" She smiled and vanished with a flash of light.
"I can't explain it. The guy who sent us here seems familiar to me." Zoe handed Orden her razer as they stood in the shadows of the forest beside a road that led into a town. "I'm not sure what the townspeople will think of your orange hair."
"What about you? What will the townspeople think of a girl with a sword?"
Zoe opened the pouch on her sword belt and pulled out a dark green, hooded cloak. "Kela gave it to me to hold." She threw it around her shoulders and pulled the hood over her head. The cloak only reached her thighs but it managed to disguise her. "Are we ready?"
"As ready as we'll ever be," Orden replied. "Be my brother and let me do the talking. Nothing unfair about it; you just don't sound like a boy."
"I hope not," Zoe answered as they stepped out onto the moonlit road and marched into town.
The town was quiet and dark, except one building. "Is this place familiar?" Zoe wordlessly shook her head. "Don't worry, we'll go to the tavern and find out where we are." Zoe let Orden lead the way. Her meek attitude troubled him slightly. It wasn't like her. Maybe it was the shock of being in a world that she knew was Hyrule but didn't recognize.
The tavern was large and filled with smoke and men, large country-folks. Orden walked up to the bartender. "Can I help you two?" He asked cheerfully, even though he was wary of the two strangers.
"What town is this?" Orden asked casually, trying to sound like a weary traveler.
"Saria Town," the bartender answered. Zoe gave a start but quickly recovered herself. "Would you like anything?"
"A meal for both of us," Orden led the way to a corner table, away from everyone else. The regular customers watched them for while then turned back to their affairs. "Are you all right?" he asked Zoe quietly.
"This can't be Saria Town; it can't be!" she whispered back fiercely. "I've been to it hundreds and hundreds of times. This isn't the same place!"
"But it's still Hyrule?"
"I can't explain it, but it is," she broke off as the bartender set steaming plates of food on the table.
Orden cleared his throat slightly. "My brother and I are travelers. Who is the lord over Saria Town?"
"That would be Lord Saria, vassal to King Mechkeoff," the bartender answered.
"So this is King Mechkeoff's kingdom?"
"Nay, his kingdom is over the Border Mountains. We're just settlers who chose a Lord who chose to remain under the rule of a far-away King." The bartender said no more and left them to their meal.
"King Mechkeoff, a distant ancestor of yours?" Orden whispered to Zoe.
"No, Hyrule isn't even a kingdom. Orden, I think we've traveled back in time!"
"Possible, that would explain what you have been experiencing. We have to find a way back."
"What if there is no way back?"
"Don't think that, Zoe. We have to keep hope."
"Why are we here? Why did he send us here?"
"Maybe we're needed."
"But how do we know when we're needed or when we're messing up the past?"
Orden paused, "This is going to be difficult."
Suddenly, screams erupted outside the tavern. A man stumbled through the door. "Moblins! Moblins are attacking the town!" He fell to the floor, exposing the wicked gash that sliced his back open to the patrons of the tavern.
The men jumped to their feet. "The weapons, Jolo!" One yelled as the bartender wrenched open a door and passed out swords, bows, and axes.
Zoe grabbed hold of a man's arm. "Ganon's moblins?"
"Who's Ganon?" The man shook off her hand. "The witches control these moblins!"
"Before Ganon," Zoe murmured, confused. "Witches?"
"Come, Zoe!" Orden shouted as he plunged through the door.
Zoe drew her sword and ran into the street. A group of screaming children ran past her, dodging between the tavern and another building. Two sneering moblins cornered them swiftly. The largest boy pushed the rest of the children behind him and curled up his fists. "You fight us, boy?"
"Pick on someone your own size!" Two blinding flashes of light enveloped the moblins and they disappeared. A cloaked figure stood behind where the moblins had been. "Are you all right?"
"Aye," the boy answered. "How did you do that?"
The figure didn't answer. "Where can you go and be safe?"
"We usually go to the forest and hide until the moblins leave."
"Then go." The boy led the way to the edge of the forest. Zoe followed them until she was sure they were safe, then turned back to the town. She scooped up a moblin spear and ran down the street, letting loose a blood-curdling cougar scream. She batted moblins left and right as she wielded the spear like a sickle.
Orden looked up as he smote a moblin. Hoof-beats pounded on the road behind him. He turned and saw the gleaming white horses bearing down on--his heart stopped! "Zoe! Zoooe!"
Zoe whirled around and held her spear ready. But she never had time to attack. The lead rider scooped her up into his saddle, and Zoe swum into blackness.
Gleaming silver blades and arrows cut through the remainder of the moblin group, enveloping the monsters in light, and the moblins vanished from sight. The riders continued down the road and disappeared in the night.
Orden continued to stare down the road as he stood there. His razer, bloodied with purple moblin blood and torn, flapped in the wind but he never noticed. As the townspeople crept out of hiding, he fell to his knees and howled at the sky.
"Easy now, Prince. I think the changeling's waking." Zoe groaned and opened her eyes. A cheerful, young face beamed down at her, a young face that held eyes as old as the stars. "Hello, lovely. Awake now, are you? Good, sit up here." The woman, small in stature, pulled Zoe upright then piled pillows behind her back. "The Prince wants to talk with you." The woman left the room still clucking to herself.
Zoe stared around the fire-lit room. It was underground, for the smooth walls with no windows had been worked flat. "You carry a sword made from Elvenblade, you have Elfin features, but you are bigger than most Elfin men-- not to mention women--and you fainted riding a teragrade." Zoe's wandering brown eyes finally found the speaker. He sat beside the fire, a thin circlet of silver gleaming around his forehead. His long hair was a silver blond and his ears were highly pointed. When he finally matched her gaze, it startled Zoe to see Lin's intense green eyes staring out of a stranger's face. "Who are you, strange lady-warrior?"
"Teragrade?" Zoe questioned. Her voice and thoughts felt sluggish, as if swimming through a strong current. "My father knew a song about teragrade. I capture a maiden by a stream, My lady she shall be. Away we'll ride till we fade, On my teragrade." She stopped, realizing she was singing it. Nervously, she pulled on one of her brown braids that hung on either side of her face. "But he said there are no more teragrades."
"They are the mounts of the Elves; we are the only ones they permit to ride them." He sighed patiently, "Who are you?"
"Zoe. My name is Zoe."
"Where did you get this sword, Zoe?"
"My father gave it to me for my eighteenth birthday. Only one in each generation can use it and it has been in our family for years."
"An Elvenblade with a geis? I have never heard of such."
"Good, then we're even."
This remark brought a confused look to his face but he hid it quickly. "Why were you fighting moblins?"
"Because they're big, dumb, and ugly and I know how; why do you think? They were attacking the townspeople who didn't provoke them. Why were you?"
"Because they attacked my people in the Underworld and killed many of them. What are you, Zoe? You seem like an Elf that has forgotten how to be an Elf."
"Is that why you kidnapped me, because I fascinate you? Hardly justifiable." Zoe had a strange feeling, a warning of danger. Lamonica, one of the Elves now living in the Underworld that Ganon had left, had told her that the oldest Hyrulian families had Elf and human ties and throwbacks in these families had Elfin features. She was the product of throwbacks--Elfin blood flowed in her veins. Much more human than Elfin, but she somehow knew not to tell this Elf-man that.
"I apologize," the Elf bowed to her. "It seemed the safest path to follow. Humans hate and fear Elves to the point of murder. I did not want to leave a woman in that situation."
"Instead, you grab me up, don't tell me anything, leave Orden behind; Orden! He doesn't know where I am! He must be worried sick! I have to go to him!"
"No!" The Elf grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back into the bed. He was about Zoe's height but his strength surprised her. "You cannot leave the Underworld for this Orden or anyone else!" He stormed to the door and threw it open. "If I can't have my heart's desire, no one else can have theirs!" He strode out, taking Zoe's sword with him.
The Elf-woman returned, quivering with fear. "You put him in a dark mood, Changeling. Why? The Prince is hard enough to keep pleasant as it is."
"Prince?" Zoe turned to the woman. "He's a Prince?"
"Aye, Prince Holias, Prince of the Elves." Zoe gazed back at the door with bewildered feelings coursing through her heart.
Lord Saria was a sparse man, long and bony. "I can't thank you enough for your help in saving the town. Is there anything I can do for you?"
Orden looked up at the nervous lord. He decided he wasn't the case of the lord's uneasiness but that the man was always this twitchy. "The riders that ended the moblin battle kidnapped my brother. I would like help in tracking them down and rescuing him."
Lord Saria's face fell. "I'm sorry, my lad, but those riders were Elves. And those the Elves steal away never come back." Orden bowed his head in despair. Never to see his precious Zoe again! Lord Saria noticed the boy's change in attitude. "It may not be much consolation but I can offer you a position. My daughter, Zeldra, needs constant protection. The Elves want to steal her away. She's my most precious possession and I will give her to whom I choose! Do you accept this duty?"
Orden bit his lip. He wanted to search for Zoe but if the Elves that kidnapped her wanted to kidnap Lord Saria's daughter, maybe he could find out something about Zoe. "I accept this honor, Lord Saria."
An old woman hobbled forward. "I will instruct him, Lord Saria, if you so wish?" Saria nodded and Orden followed the decrepit creature down a hall. "I am Scphores, chief advisor to Lord Saria. And I want to help you." The woman reached into a pouch hanging off the belt wrapped around her waist. She whirled around with surprising agility for one that looked so old and blew dust into Orden's orange eyes. She gazed up into his face. "So strange. You are human but no human has flame-colored eyes. I wonder if you are a witch-child? No matter." Her voice rang sharper and louder, "The Elves are your enemy. They have killed your brother and they want to dishonor the Lady Zeldra. You must destroy the Elves! Now, go to Lady Zeldra." Orden wordlessly walked past Scphores and continued down the hall.
"This is madness, my Lady," Sir Lont, the youngest Knight to Lord Saria, followed the girl through the twilight of the forest. "If your father discovered this . . . ."
"He will not discover this unless you betray me." Zeldra smoothed her colorful frock and brushed her long golden hair into its plait with her hands as she sat on a moss-covered boulder. "Now go. I will be safe." Lont sighed and walked away, disappearing into the trees.
A sigh from the trees reached her ears. "I thought you would never tell him to leave." The silvery figure slipped out of the shadows and sat beside her.
"Holias," Zeldra whispered as she fell into his arms. She pulled away almost as quickly. "We can no longer see each other. My father is arranging a delegation to accompany me as I go to betroth King Mechkeoff's son. We will leave next week."
Holias jumped to his feet. "My warriors will attack the delegation and carry you away! Your father can't stop that!"
"No," Zeldra grabbed his arm. "You can't give my people any more reason to hate your people." She dropped his arm. "I wish it were not so."
"Oh Zeldra," Holias cupped her face in his hands. "I thought it was dalfas when I first saw you. But something keeps forcing us apart."
"It's Scphores," Zeldra pulled her golden braid over her shoulder and brushed the wisps of golden hair behind her ears. "She has convinced Father I need a special protector and now I have one that she has already influenced. I keep Lont busy so he's never alone with her, lest he fall under her spell too, but Father has already decreed he must stay here. My friend does not deserve that."
"If only there were someway to deliver your Father from the witch. Then he would listen to our hearts."
"I know but what can we do? Scphores's hold is too powerful. Only a hyrueliana could stop her. And we are cursed to live in a time without one. You better go, Holias. I must go back." Zeldra turned away.
"Gone but not forgotten, my Lady," he slipped away quietly. And when Zeldra was sure he was gone, she burst into tears and buried her face against the boulder.
Lont followed the sound of the spring, muttering to himself. "If she loves him so much, why doesn't she just run away with him? Lord Saria would understand eventually." He pushed aside a tree branch and stopped.
The spring was where he usually waited for Lady Zeldra to finish her secret tryst with her Elf-lover. He was content to watch the natural beauty of the land unfolded before him. But today, someone had beaten him to the spring. A silver-clad woman sat on a boulder next to the pool of water, humming a tune to herself as she ran her fingers through her long, black hair. The sight mesmerized Lont and he stumbled forward into the clearing. She jumped up and whirled around, her sky-blue eyes eclipsing her face, and pressed her hand to her breast. "Don't go," Lont managed to gasp. "I will not hurt you. I'm sorry I frightened you."
She wrapped her silver-sleeved arms around herself as the wind whipped her silver skirt. "I never saw anyone like you. You are like a piece of the earth and trees come to life."
"I'm the homeliest knight in the land. What do you find so extraordinary about me?"
"What do you find so extraordinary about me?"
"You are like a storm cloud visiting the earth." He took a lock of her black hair and raised it to his lips. He kissed it softly and let it fly in the wind.
"You hold the soul of the sturdy oak tree in your brown eyes." She wrapped her arms around his neck and planted her red lips on his. "Dalfas," she whispered.
"Dalfas?" Lont asked.
"Destiny only stronger. Destiny can be balked or changed but not dalfas."
"I am Lont," he whispered back. "What is your name?"
The girl pulled away, "I cannot tell you. I cannot betroth myself to you as long as your people kill mine." For the first time, Lont saw her pointed ears.
"I do not want to betroth you now; I just want to know what to call you."
"For an Elf, giving away your name after a kiss is a betrothal. I am sorry, Lont, but I cannot."
"Wait! Don't go!" Lont shouted, but to no avail. The Elf-girl had vanished into the forest and she had taken his heart with her.
Holias darkly looked about the anteroom. He could hear laughter from the Queen of the Elves's chambers. The door opened and Contraite, the Elf-woman who had healed the Changeling during her teragrade sickness, led Zoe out, escorted by the Queen. Zoe's brown eyes found Holias and they darkened ever-so-slightly, even though her face remained unchanged. They left the rooms. "A delightful creature you found, my son." The Queen ushered Holias into her parlor. "But she doesn't like being held here against her will. Why will you not allow her to travel freely like the other Elves?"
"Because she's not like the other Elves, Mother. The humans would kill her."
The Queen laughed at her son's naivete, "I doubt any human would find Zoe easy prey." Her mirth died as she watched Holias's face. "Zeldra?"
"Her father is forcing her to marry King Mechkeoff's son," he cried bitterly. "I cannot allow it! I will not lose her!"
"Holias, Holias," she soothed. "Swearing oaths will not bring you any closer to your goal. Go talk to your captive."
"The Changeling? What help could she be to me?"
"More than you realize."
Zoe looked up as the door opened and looked back down at the book she held in her lap. "Come to see the lowly prisoner, Prince Holias?"
"You act like we are treating you miserably," Holias replied, a little stung at her attitude. "I am only keeping you her for your protection."
"By the Triforce! Don't you think if I can handle moblins I can handle humans that don't like the way I look?" She threw the book onto a table. "Please don't patronize me. I know why you're not letting me go, your Highness."
"Enlighten me," Holias commanded haughtily. This Changeling was entirely too arrogant.
"Because you can't have your heart's desire. I'm assuming it's a girl. Why won't she have anything to do with you?"
"Her father hates Elves and she doesn't dare disobey him." Zoe snorted. "Her father is Lord Saria and he wants her to marry King Mechkeoff's son."
"You're better off without her," Zoe replied as she relaxed in her chair.
"How dare you! How dare you judge Zeldra and me? You! Who has no idea what we are going through!"
"How dare I!" Zoe jumped to her feet. "Looks like we're all in the same boat! You got someone keeping you from your precious Zeldra and I got someone keeping me away from Orden!" She turned her back on Holias, trying valiantly to keep down her temper. "If only I had my sword to knock some sense into you," she finally muttered at the end of the brief inner struggle.
Holias stared at her. "What would you do if your father would not allow you to marry the man you loved?"
Zoe snorted again, "My father wants me to get married. He would encourage any signs of marriage in me and wouldn't care who it was toward. But if he was keeping me from Orden--which he wouldn't do because he has more sense--I would run off with Orden."
His green eyes grew wide. "You would brazenly disobey your father?"
"If I loved Orden--which I do--I would. Now, I wouldn't get myself caught doing it, but that's beside the point."
"I don't think Zeldra is capable of that."
"Have you ever heard of the vow Forsake all who stand in our way?" Zoe snapped irritably. "Tell Zeldra if she really loves you she should be more than willing to run away with you. And maybe once you're happily married, I can get out of here."
Holias turned away from the Changeling. This idea had possibilities; but Zeldra? Would she be willing to attempt it? There was only one way to know.
Zoe looked up at the slamming door with a bemused smile. Then she picked the book off the table and tried to become interested in the dry history.
The Queen of the Elves gazed worriedly at the doorway Holias had opened to the Overworld as it shut behind him. "Be careful, my son, be careful."
Meletas bobbed her dark head as she curtsied to the Queen's back. "You sent for me, your Majesty?"
"Yes, Meletas. You can rise." The Queen turned and gasped, "My dear child, what is wrong?"
"Nothing, your Majesty." The Elf-girl sniffled and tried to dry her red-rimmed blue eyes.
"Do not lie to me, Meletas. You are my lady-in-waiting, what happened to you?"
"I met a boy, your Majesty. He wanted to betroth me. And . . . and . . . and I was too afraid to follow through with it!"
"Why did it frighten you?" The Queen asked gently. "Do you love him?"
"Yes! Very much," Meletas answered. "But he is human." She burst into fresh tears.
"Oh, my poor child! No wonder you are so frightened." The motherhood buried deep inside her royal soul sprang forth for the orphaned girl she had long ago taken as a lady-in-waiting. She took the crying girl into her arms.
Lont ran the brush through his horse's mane. "Does that feel good, girl?" The horse snorted with content.
"Sir Lont?"
He whirled around to face a silver-cloaked figure. He had been alone in the stables. "Who are you?"
"Lady Zeldra calls you her friend. Would you take a message to her?"
Must be her Elf-lover, Lont decided. "I will take it to her. What is the message?"
"Tell her if she truly loves Holias, she will meet him at the boulder at moon-rise and never return to her father."
"So one of you finally made a decision." The green eyes shone brightly from under the shadows of the cloak. Lont set down his brush, "I will tell her right now." The Elf nodded as faded into the shadows.
Zeldra paced her room. She would have to leave tomorrow; Father had decreed it after moving up the date again. What could she do? She had pleaded in vain with him. King Mechkeoff hated Lord Saria and the Lord was trying to win the King's favor by sacrificing Zeldra to his toad of a son. She threw herself into a chair. Holias would think of something. He had too.
Lont paused at the head of the stairs. The yellow-cloaked stranger named Orden sat in a chair in front of Lady Zeldra's door. He straightened his back and gripped the small box he carried tighter and hoped that his excuse sounded plausible.
Orden sat up straighter. Lont smiled nervously, "Hello, I am Sir Lont. Lady Zeldra asked me to come play chess with her tonight." He opened the small box filled with chess pieces. Orden wordlessly nodded and opened the door.
Zeldra looked up and smiled as the door shut. "I knew you would see me, Lont! Thank you!"
"Very cheerful bodyguard Lord Saria chose for you," he commented, throwing his head back toward the door. "I could not get him to stop talking."
Zeldra frowned, "He is a strange one, is he not? I would like to trust him because he looks like as if a terrible burden is tearing apart his soul. But Scphores has already pulled him into her clutches." She sighed, "I have to leave this place!"
"Never fear, my Lady," Lont's brown eyes twinkled. "I have a message for you." His voice sank to a whisper. "I was in the stables caring for Cathina when a green-eyed Elf appeared out of nowhere. He said to tell the Lady Zeldra that if she truly loved Holias, she would meet him at the boulder at moon-rise and never return to her father." Zeldra stared at Lont's face while she sunk into a chair. "What is wrong? You said you wanted to leave this place. This is your chance!"
"I am so afraid. Father will never forgive me."
"And your lover will never see you again if you do not go," Lont countered angrily. "Lord Saria will never consent to your marriage to an Elf. And if you do not marry this Holias, you will doom him to a life of misery. I know."
"How do you know?" Zeldra asked softly.
"I met a girl; a girl I cannot live without."
"That's wonderful!"
"An Elf-girl that will have nothing to do with me because I am a human."
Zeldra bowed her golden head in thought. She looked up, a bright, strange light filling her blue eyes. "Meet me under the window with Cathina in an hour." Lont nodded. "Do not fail me, my friend."
Holias jumped off the boulder as the hoof-beats sounded closer. He whirled around to face this new foe and his expression lit with joy. "Zeldra!"
She slipped down off the horse's back and wrapped her arms around the Elf. "Did you doubt me, Holias?"
"I was afraid you had been discovered, my Love. Are you willing to go with me?"
"To death, if you lead."
"I hope it shall not come to that too soon."
Lont smiled and turned his head. So he missed the yellow-cloaked figure descending on them until Zeldra screamed. Orden threw her aside as he punched Holias away. Holias tried to protect himself from the blows, but Orden had lost all control and struck like a man possessed. Holias threw himself away from these punches, bleeding badly now, but they still managed to find him. "Holias!" Zeldra screamed as the Elf fell prone to the ground.
Orden drew his sword above the fallen Elf. Lont spurred Cathina forward and scooped up Holias before the sword struck.
Orden watched the horse and its two riders disappear into the forest. Then he turned back and grabbed Zeldra's arm who stared at him. "You would have killed him!"
"And you would have gone willing with your killer," Orden replied as he tried to drag her away.
Zeldra resisted. "Holias loves me; he would never hurt me! Do you not know what love means?!"
"I did once. But your lover destroyed my love."
Zoe looked up as the door flew open. A black-haired Elf-girl stood there panting. "Come quick, Changeling! I need your help!" She ran back into the main cavern. Zoe followed her but took the time to grab her sword and sword belt that was hanging near the door.
The Elf-warriors had their swords drawn and barricaded a doorway opening to the Overworld. A brown-haired-and-eyed human carried Holias into the cavern of the Underworld. The warriors started forward, swords help menacingly. The Elf-girl leading Zoe ran forward with a cry and threw herself between the warriors and the two entering. "No! Do not dare to kill him! You do not know what has befallen in the Overworld! Do not kill him!"
The warriors stepped back, confused by her intense intrusion, but soon stepped forward again. Zoe followed the Elf-girl's lead and stepped between them. "There will be no bloodshed until we know what has happened." She knew how to sound regal when she had to. The warriors responded and stepped back. She turned to the human, "What happened to Holias?"
The human looked pained, "Lady Zeldra's protector. Holias was trying to run away with her. I never saw him; he came out of the air! He will take Zeldra back to Lord Saria and she will never be free!"
"Not if I have anything to say about it," Zoe waved a warrior forward to take Holias. "Take him to his mother." The warrior took the Prince with a nod and carried him away. Zoe tuned to the Elf-girl, "Open the doorway."
She quickly followed Zoe's order, "Be careful."
The human gaped, "You!"
Zoe grabbed his arm and pulled him through the doorway, "We'll come back!"
Zeldra yanked her arm away from Orden and fled into the darkness. The branches snatched at her hair and her dress, almost catching her. She could hear Orden's heavy footsteps behind her. And suddenly, a pair of arms grabbed hold of her.
"Zeldra! Zeldra! It's me, Lont!" He shook the screaming girl.
"Lont?" She hugged him in relief, "I knew you would return! Is Holias well?"
"Look out!" He tried to yank her out of Orden's sword's path but he knew they would never make it. He closed his eyes against the sure death.
But all he heard was the sharp clang of sword on sword. He opened his eyes to see the strange Elf-girl warrior pushing Orden back. "Orden!" she screamed. "It's me; it's Zoe!"
Orden staggered back and fell to his knees, dropping his sword. He held his head as if he was in great pain. "Zoe? Zoe? Is that you?"
She sheathed her sword and knelt in front of him. "Girlwithsword."
"Larksphere," he murmured. "Oh, Zoe, it is you. They told me you were dead."
"I'm not. What are you trying to do?"
He pulled down the hood of the razer and looked around. "I don't know. I've never been so filled with hate. What have I done?"
"It'll be fine," Zoe soothed as she kissed him. Better not tell him Holias looks like he's near death. "Come with me."
Zeldra watched them fearfully. "Who are they, Lont? What are they?"
"I do not know, my Lady. But I think they want to help us."
Suddenly, a black cloud filled the air, complete with thunder and lightening. Zeldra screamed as a figure emerged from it. "It's Scphores, the witch!"
"You thought you could escape me," Scphores hissed. "Fools!" A staff appeared in her hand. She brandished it like a sword.
"Get out of my way!" Zoe shoved Orden away as she dodged the fireball erupting from Scphores's staff. "I'll take care of her." She drew her sword and pulled her magically-shrunken shield out of her pouch.
Lont's mouth dropped as the shield expanded as she threw it on her arm and drew her sword. "What manner of weapons are those?"
Orden pulled Lont and Zeldra to safety. "What kind of creature is that?"
"She is Scphores, a witch," Zeldra answered. "She had you and my father's court under her spell of hatred. All except Lont and I."
"Watch yourself, Zoe," Orden yelled. "That's a witch you're fighting!"
"I already figured that out, Love." Her shield deflected another magical fireball. She whipped around her sword as she jumped up and fired off a magic bolt.
Scphores screamed as she dodged the bolt. "An Elvenblade like no other; an Elf but not an Elf. What manner of creature are you?"
"I'm your bane," Zoe growled as she rushed toward the witch. "What'll happen if I do this?"
The witch tried to scream out a spell but Zoe's blow cleaved her staff in half. Scphores pulled back in fear. "My power!"
"I guess I was more right than I thought," Zoe smirked as she stalked closer. Scphores tucked her hand into her robe and pulled out a magic whistle that was hanging around her neck. The whirlwind she called blew Zoe back as it carried away the witch. "Where did she go?"
"Probably to Death Mountain," Lont answered as he helped Zeldra climb to her feet. "You destroyed her power so she must grovel to her mistress, the Sorceress Agmaraa, for more."
"Agmaraa," Zoe murmured thoughtfully. "I've heard that name before."
"Please," Zeldra pleaded, "I must see Holias. Can we go to him?"
"Let's go."
The Queen of the Elves strode forward to meet the group, regally dressed in her thin silver crown with its bright green gem, her long silver hair flowing to her feet, and her richly embroidered, silver gown. She clasped the human girl's hands. "You must be Zeldra. My son is asking for you. Will you come to him?"
"Yes, of course," Zeldra answered as she followed the Queen.
This drove Lont speechless. "Holias is their Prince?"
"Yes," Zoe answered. "And though I'm tempted to call him a spoiled brat too, I won't."
The black-haired Elf-girl touched Lont's arm shyly. "You!" he said sharply as he turned.
She curtsied low to him. "We have prepared chambers if you care to use them."
"Yea . . . yes. I'll stay. What about my horse?"
"She is being cared for as well. Come this way."
Zoe sighed as she took Orden's arm. "I'm very tired, Love. And I know I'll be exhausted after we finish explaining to each other. So I don't think anyone will object if I take you to my chambers."
"Zoe," Orden murmured, "what would your mother say?"
"You could have tried to get word to me that you were still alive," Orden reproached between bites of food.
"What do you think my trying to get Holias and Zeldra together was? Once Holias had him heart's desire, he would let me go."
"I guess I can't blame you then." He pulled Zoe to him as her face saddened. "What's wrong?"
Zoe looked up into his orange eyes. "I want to go home, Orden. I didn't mind be on another world; but on my own, in a different time . . . . How do we know we're not changing everything?"
"Until we find away back, maybe we should start a life for us here," Orden suggested.
"How?"
"Guess." He raised Zoe's chin and kissed her sharply.
The Queen gazed down sadly. It had been a very tiring night trying to save her son's life. Elves might be immortal but they could die. That was their punishment for siding with the humans in the battle between the mortals and immortals when the world was first born. And Holias had come very close to dying.
Orden came up softly behind her. "I am sorry I attacked your son."
She turned to him and favored him with a smile. "You were under the influence of a witch; I do not hold you responsible. He is healing and there will be no lasting wounds."
He stared down the tunnel instead of replying. "Where does it lead?"
"To Death Mountain. But it is the Forbidden Way, no Elf can travel that route."
Orden's eyes glowed. "Death Mountain, that is where the witch went!"
The Queen gasped and grabbed his shoulders. "Desist that plan of action! It is surely death for you!"
"If the witch is responsible, the witch shall pay," Orden vowed as he grabbed the hilt of his sheathed sword and strode toward the tunnel's opening.
"But that is the Forbidden Way!" the Queen cried.
"But I'm not an Elf," Orden replied as he stepped through.
Contraite burst into the room. "Changeling! Changeling!"
Zoe pulled the blanket around her body as she sat up and stared bewilderedly at the Elf-woman who had been caring for her since she was brought to the Underworld. "What is it?"
"The Queen wants to see you. Your husband has done something!"
"My husband?" Zoe cried. She stopped herself from asking "What husband?" just in time.
"The flame-haired human you brought back from the Overworld," Contraite answered, watching Zoe's reaction shrewdly.
A cold vice froze Zoe's heart as she dressed and grabbed her sword. She met the Queen beside a tunnel entrance. "He has gone to Death Mountain to avenge my son's honor against the witches."
"That's Orden," Zoe replied, gritting her teeth. "I'll have to go after him."
"That is the Forbidden Way! No Elf can travel it!"
"I'm not all Elf," Zoe replied as she strode forward.
An invisible wall slammed her back. Zoe picked herself off the floor and gazed up at the Queen. "No Elf nor any with Elf-blood can travel that way. It was closed by an Elf-King of long ago who had more sense than we do in these times."
Zeldra helped Holias forward and Lont and the black-haired Elf-girl came with them. "What is happening, Hyrueliana?" the Prince asked.
Zoe started, "What did you call me?"
Holias smiled, "Hyrueliana, witch-slayer."
"But I didn't slay the witch."
"Zeldra told me what happened in your battle with Scphores and I know when I have met my master." Holias stood straight, letting go of Zeldra's arm, and drew his sword, laying it at Zoe's feet. "I pledge myself to you: Zoe, the Changeling, the Hyrueliana. Command your Knight."
"I, too, pledge myself." Lont went to draw his sword and with chagrin realized he didn't have one. "Just as well, that was the sword I received from Lord Saria. Command your Knight," he followed Holias's elaborate bow.
Zoe remembered before the start of a panic attack that they couldn't treat her as royalty because they didn't know she was royalty. They were her Knights and she was their Captain. "Orden went to attack the witches at Death Mountain. Lont, you're human. Follow him through the Forbidden Way. If you can't make him turn back, chase him to the Overworld. Holias and I will take that route." Lont nodded and the Elf-girl pulled him aside. Zoe turned to Holias, "Can you go?"
"Able and willing, Hyrueliana."
Zoe handed him back his sword. "Say your good-byes. I have a feeling this quest will change all of us."
Lont tightened Cathina's cinch and checked the saddle. The Elf-girl came up behind him. "Sir Lont?"
He turned to her sad face. "Do not worry, I will return."
She pressed the wrapped sword into his hands. "You may need it."
He pulled the sword out of its sheath and gazed at it. "I always wanted to try an Elvenblade." He bent down and kissed her. "I will return. Just for you."
"I am Meletas," she whispered in his ear.
Lont kissed her again, "Now, I will be sure to return, Meletas." He sheathed the Elvenblade in his sword belt.
"Be careful, my love," Meletas whispered as Lont rode into the Forbidden Way.
Zoe mounted a teragrade that had agreed to carry her. A majestic white creature, five hands taller than a normal horse, with large liquid-blue eyes. "How do you feel, Holias?"
The Prince, on top of a teragrade, laughed and brandished his sword. "I feel ready. Perhaps Agmaraa's reign over this country has started to end."
"Well, don't look to happy about it." Zoe threw her head back to where Zeldra nervously waited.
Holias guided his teragrade to Zeldra's side. "Do not worry, my Precious. The Hyrueliana will slay Agmaraa and we will create a kingdom to match any other kingdom in the world."
"A kingdom for humans and Elves," Zeldra replied, her blue eyes shinning brightly.
"For everyone," Holias replied as he drew her up to his saddle for a quick kiss. "I must go now."
"Good luck, my Love!" she cried.
Orden paused as he entered the cavern off the main tunnel. But the warm tone of firelight drew him closer. The room appeared empty, but Zoe had taught him nothing is what it seems in Hyrule. He had to destroy the witches, why was he wasting his time here? But maybe there was something in this cavern that would help him.
As he gazed around the poorly-lit cavern, something stirred to life behind him. Orden tried to whirl around but the thing struck him in mid-turn. His sword clattered to the floor some place away from him and he fell to the floor to avoid the creature's blows. He rolled to his feet out of its reach and quickly looked for his opponent.
His original assumption that anything was possible in Hyrule was correct. The creature attacking him looked like a piece of the rough wall come to life. The creature saw Orden and roared, charging straight toward him. Orden dodged to the side and rock creature slammed both its fist into the wall. The wall crumbled away from the impact. Orden gulped, there were times he wouldn't mind going back to just slaying dragons. The rock creature turned around quickly as Orden glanced around for his sword. The lumpy, rock face shattered into a grin as it balled chunks of the wall in its fists.
Orden spied his sword lying behind the rock creature and jumped as a rock slammed down where his feet had been. He jumped again to dodge another rock, and before the rock creature could pick up some more, he flipped over the creature. But the creature shifted suddenly, throwing Orden's landing off, and he landed roughly on his back. The rock creature roared and swiftly turned to face him. Orden, as he rolled to his feet, grabbed his sword, swiveled around, and zapped the creature for all he was worth. The creature flashed and vanished.
Now where is the firelight coming from? Orden sheathed his sword and followed the light.
A stone altar rested against the furthermost wall. And resting on the altar, without any means of support, was a brightly burning fire. Orden stared speechless at it and a voice from nowhere spoke. "I am the Flame of Justice. If you and your quest are worthy, the power will remain with you until it passes to another. Claim the power."
"How?" Orden managed to ask.
"If you are worthy, you can carry part of me away with you." Orden reached out, letting his hand enter the cool flame. It closed around something and he pulled it out, a palm-sized orange gemstone that flickered and glowed with a fire all its own.
Zoe let Holias lead the way through the forests. The Elf Prince knew the quickest ways. He plunged ahead at a break-neck pace that even Zoe normally wouldn't have approved of, but her worry over Orden had driven all concerns of her safety out of her mind. But suddenly Holias drew his teragrade to a stop on top of a ridge. "What's wrong?"
"Look, Hyrueliana," his finger pointed down into the river valley. "A legion of moblins. Agmaraa is well aware of our coming."
"When are the evil ones aren't?" Zoe asked sardonically. "Is there any way around?"
"Not without losing many hours, Zoe. We would have to double-back on much of the progress we have made."
"Then we'll have to go through them," Zoe declared and urged her teragrade down the ridge.
Holias followed her lead, shocked at her allowing the teragrade free reign. But that only lasted long enough for her to draw her sword. He quickly drew his; it wasn't wise to chase a legion of moblins without a weapon.
Zoe urged the teragrade straight through the middle of the moblin horde, zapping them left and right. Holias gaped as he hewed down the moblins, the witches' created slaves and brought to life by their black sorcery. Elvenblade was the only metal known that could destroy the spell that gave the black magic a moblin form. The Hyrueliana did not even have to touch the moblins with her Elvenblade sword to send the evil enchantment back to its source. She commanded a sword of white fire.
In a short time, the legion of moblins was no more. Holias reached Zoe's side at the other end of the river valley. "Surely, the gods have blessed you."
"I hope so, since it's the gods' fault that I'm here," she answered cryptically. "Let's go."
Cathina's hoofs pounded against the rocky surface. Hopefully, it wouldn't take Lont long to catch up with Orden. For someone on foot, the enigmatic human was still out of sight. He urged Cathina forward; Meletas was waiting for him to return.
Suddenly Cathina pulled up short. "What is it, girl?" Lont asked as he pulled out his sword. He sensed nothing but Cathina had saved his life more than once by acting in the same way she was now. "Is it a moblin?"
A sharp, piercing laughter filled the tunnel. Cathina shied away from the sound. "Easy, Cathina." The laughter resounded, and a bright light darted in front of the horse. Cathina screamed and reared. Lont lost his seat and fell back. His sword landed on a rock, splitting the blade in half.
"Oh dear," a voice lamented. "You're not hurt, are you? I didn't mean to frighten your stead."
Lont gazed in amazement at the tiny feminine creature with iridescent wings hovering over his face. "What manner of witchery are you?"
The perfectly-proportional girl laughed. "I'm no witch, I'm a faerie. I live here. What brings you to these caverns, human?"
"I'm following another human who is trying to reach Death Mountain," Lont answered as he sat up.
"Death Mountain! Very bad place, no good springs of water, filled with witches. Why would your friend want to go there?"
"He is going to challenge the witches."
"Crazy human," the faerie answered.
"And I am trying to stop him." Lont gazed around and cried out, "My sword!"
"Oh dear," the faerie gazed woefully at the cloven parts. "I didn't mean to break it. Wait, I'll fix it!" She grabbed the two halves in a mighty glow and flew away with them.
"Wait!" Lont cried. "Where are you going?" He ducked through a small opening in the tunnel wall and stopped short.
The fountain filled the room, bubbling up high enough to reach the ceiling and cascading down into the pool beneath it. The faerie dropped the pieces into the pool and the water began to glow. The faerie floated in this glow and it seemed to course through her, leaving a strange gleam in her eyes. She spoke in a voice unlike her own. "A land where the air and water and earth is filled to the brim with magic. Where it comes from, few know. The witches you seek do not know the source; they only pervert the apparent magic for their uses. But one shall come that will stumble onto the source of this land's magic and shall try to corrupt it, forgetting that magic is incorruptible but human nature is not. He shall be this land's greatest scourge. However, evil cannot exist without good. And from your love shall descend heroes that shall battle this scourge. They will know great despair, may even give up hope. But this land of magic claims its own. Generations and centuries later, they shall return." The glow faded and the faerie blinked. "Oh dear, what have I been saying? Something came over me and I couldn't stop it. Ah well, here." The whole sword floated out of the pool and into Lont's hands. "All fixed. And it'll never break again. But . . . ."
"But what?" Lont asked fearfully.
"It will only serve one master in each generation of your descendents. Others can use it, but not to your extensive skill. When the child destined to possess it comes of age, you must let it go. The sword will tell you which one is the right child. Always give it away and never possess it longer than you should. Some things with no life often have a stronger will than those that do."
"Thank you," Lont said as he sheathed the sword.
"It's only fair," the faerie replied. "Now, don't you have a quest to finish?"
Orden crept into the main chamber. He guessed he was somewhere inside Death Mountain and the cathedral-like chamber seemed empty. But the gem in his hand burned without pain.
"Enter, enter," a voice crooned. Orden stepped forward to see a beautiful woman with pale ivory skin lounging on a stone couch. A large, golden headdress shaped like a bird rested on her black head and matched the golden hue of her dress. "I have heard much about you, Orden," she purred. "I knew you would come. Yet, so much remains a mystery, Witch- child. Enlighten me."
"You are the Sorceress Agmaraa?" Orden clenched his fist as he asked his question that he already knew the answer to. "How do you know who I am?"
Agmaraa sat up on her couch, stretching seductively as she did so. "Power brings loneliness, Witch-child. I have great power, but no one to share it with. No mere mortal is good enough. So I watched for one who I could share my powers with, and you are that one, Witch-child."
"I care nothing about sharing any powers and I'm not a witch's child."
"Surely, you jest with me! There is something to unearthly about you for you to be a mere mortal. And you have power; power as great as mine." Agmaraa patted the couch next to her. "Come, sit by me. Tell me of your toils and troubles."
Orden steeled himself. "I want to see Scphores."
"That old hag? Very well." Agmaraa snapped her fingers.
Scphores appeared and bowed low to Agmaraa. "You summoned me, Mistress Agmaraa?" She turned and saw Orden and drew back with a hiss. "I will slay him, Mistress, if you so desire!"
"You will slay no one!" Orden thundered as his orange eyes flamed. "You will pay for your crimes!"
"Crimes? They are not my crimes! Mistress Agmaraa told me what to do!" Orden held aloft his left hand that held the gem and fire surged from it. Scphores screamed as it engulfed her and disappeared.
"Very good." Orden looked up at the Sorceress. She clapped her hands in delight. "I was tired of Scphores's muddling."
"What was she muddling?"
"Oh, everything. I sent her to stop the romance between Holias and Zeldra, and everything she did only made it stronger."
"Why would you want to stop a romance between Holias and Zeldra? What do you have against them?"
"Nothing, really. But it was prophesied at my birth that a crossbreed will destroy me, and I can't allow that. Now, we must become one. With our powers combined, we could rule this entire world-- instead of this paltry land!"
"With all respect," Orden bowed low and kept down his stomach. "But I already have a love, and I'm not interested in ruling a world. Now that I have completed my task, I'll be leaving."
Agmaraa jumped to her feet. "That is where you are mistaken, you pitiful example of a would-be-hero!" Her green and silver eyes flashed. "I offer you the power of the universe and you toss it away! Feel my wrath!" The visible power shot forth from her hands and struck Orden. He screamed and fell to his knees, but he didn't drop the gem. "Did you really think I could let the power you possess go free to stop mine?!" Agmaraa lashed out again as she rose above the floor.
Orden screamed again, but managed to shriek out a name in his torment. "Girlwithsword!"
Zoe paused in the tunnel. Holias stopped beside her. The tunnel led into Death Mountain and flickering torches lit it. "What is wrong, Zoe?"
"I thought I heard something." Zoe frowned in concentration. The sound was faint but recognizable. "Orden!" She sprang ahead and ran through the tunnel.
Holias sighed. The teragrades refused to enter Death Mountain and he feared they would never reach the heart of the mountain before it was too late.
Moblins tried to block Zoe's path but she paid no heed to them, hewing them down as she ran. Holias finished the one she missed as he followed her. "What shall we do when we reach Agmaraa?"
"Stop her from killing Orden!"
Lont left Cathina in the tunnel. He emerged in the main chamber of Death Mountain in time to see Orden fall. He ran forward with a battle cry and threw his shield between the witch's death spells and Orden. Agmaraa paused, "More humans? This is most intriguing. But I have no time for this foolishness. Moblins, attack!"
Lont drew his sword as he remembered how Zoe fought the witch Scphores. He could not leave Orden's side because Agmaraa would renew her attack. "I hope this works." He extended the sword and willed its power forward. A moblin was caught in the light and vanished. Agmaraa screamed and Zoe and Holias burst through the moblin ranks.
Moblins never change, Zoe managed to observe as she fought her way through the mob. Lont was standing at the other side of the chamber, using his sword to zap moblins from a distance and not moving from his position. Her heart thudded; he must be protecting Orden!
"Fools!" Agmaraa screamed. "You will never win, never! No human or Elf can destroy me!" She raised her hands above her head as she enlarged to fill the chamber. "Prepare to meet your doom!"
Zoe jumped forward, "Slight problem with your plans, Agmaraa! I'm not human or Elf! I am Zoe, the Changeling!"
"The Hyrueliana and the Champion of the Fire-Sword!" Holias shouted.
"Protector of knights!" Lont added.
"And you just made me very mad!"
Agmaraa snorted, "A string of titles means nothing to means nothing to me and changes nothing for you!" A glowing, green sphere formed between her hands.
They all held their swords ready when Orden looked up. He squeezed the gem tighter and lurched to his feet. Lont half-gazed at him, keeping most of his attention focused on Agmaraa. "I thought you were dead!"
"Not yet," Orden wheezed as he stumbled toward Zoe.
Fear leaped into Agmaraa's eyes. "I shall not fall as easily as Scphores!" She shifted her hands to strike.
Orden tossed the gem into the air. "Zoe! The Fire-Stone!"
Zoe swung her sword and zapped it as Holias and Lont zapped Agmaraa. The Fire-Stone captured Zoe's beam and focused it on the Sorceress. She screamed and withered under the barrage, but they continued their attack. Her green sphere shot toward the ceiling an exploded with deafening thunder, followed by another horrific flash of brilliance. When the flash, smoke, and cascade of rocks cleared, all that was left of Agmaraa was her charred golden headdress.
Orden caught the Fire-Stone before it hit the floor and he fell--prone--to the ground. "Orden!" Zoe cried as she sheathed her sword and grabbed hold of him. "Orden!"
"Is he dead?" Holias whispered to Lont.
"I do not know," the knight answered the Elf Prince. "But look!"
A bluish light appeared next to the couple, a light that condensed to the form of a man that knelt beside them. Zoe looked up with tears in her brown eyes. "Take us home, Lyle, please!"
He looked at her and smiled, but his silver and blue eyes held no mirth. "I never could hide from you."
"Please," Zoe pleaded. "He could be dying."
"He'll survive." Lyle, the man, surrounded them with blue light and they vanished.
Holias and Lont blinked. "I knew those were no ordinary mortals. Friends of the gods or gods themselves?" The Prince sighed, "Nothing will ever be the same again." He turned to Lont, "Elf-friend, I made a vow to my Lady to create a kingdom for humans and Elves. You have proven to be a true warrior and a brave knight. Do you wish to help me?"
Lont grinned, "I would happily. Nothing, probably, would please my Lady more. A Kingdom of Hyruelianas. Are you really the Prince of the Elves?"
"Yes. You did not know?"
"Lady Zeldra keeps her secrets well; I had no idea." Lont grabbed Cathina's reins and coaxed the horse into the chamber. "It would be best if you rule. I know I cannot handle the responsibility, and all who know her love Lady Zeldra."
"Then you shall be the Captain of my Knights," Holias replied. "I do not believe that the transaction will be easy for all; we will need knights. There is a stretch of land north of Saria Town that is sparsely inhabited, yet very beautiful and fertile. It is a perfect place to begin a kingdom."
"I know the place you speak of, but let us leave this accursed place and return to our Ladies. It is a long ride and they shall be sorely worried about us."
Zoe gasped for as her eyes flew open. Aunt Lissa hovered over her and the other white-clad figures faded from the background. "Where are we?"
"Home again, by the Triforce! If you ever scare me like that again!"
"I don't feel well, Aunt Lissa," Zoe managed to say before blacking out again.
"Aunt Lissa?" Kevin peered out of the stairwell nervously to look down the battlement. "Mom sent me to find Zoe and Orden; what happened?"
"Get help, quickly!" The boy clattered back down the stairs and she turned back to the comatose couple. "We finally got you back, don't you dare die now!"
Zelda sat in the hall, her body rigid and her fists clenched. She was so protective, this had to be tearing her apart. Link sighed as he reached her and stroked her still-wet cheek.
She let out a slow, shaky breath, "What right does your sister have to kick me out of my daughter's sick room? What right?"
Link knelt beside her chair. "Would you rather not sit by her bedside and have Zoe alive or sit by her bedside and have Zoe die?"
She shrugged away the details. "I need to be with my daughter; I need to be her mother. She needs me." He carefully controlled voice began to break. "She needs me. Zoe's accused me of not being a good mother when she needed one and now I want to try, and I . . . I can't!" Link grabbed hold of his wife and let her sob against his shoulder.
Lissa grabbed Zoe's swaying form. "You should be in bed!"
"Other than the reoccurring sickness, I feel fine. And the sickness is what's making me dizzy." But Zoe let her aunt push her into a chair and handed her a goblet of water. "How's Orden?"
"In worse shape than you. What were you two thinking, getting pregnant in a different time--much less before you're married?!"
Zoe's face turned deathly white. "I'm pregnant? That's why I feel this way? I can't be; Mom will kill me!"
"You should have thought about that before hand."
"I did think about it, but we thought we'd never come back. Aunt Lissa, you haven't told Mom, have you?"
"How crazy do you think I am? It's your and Orden's responsibility; not mine. You handle it. Now listen to me." Zoe stared into Lissa's silver and blue eyes. "It took the combined effort of all the Gensiarians a whole month to drag you and Orden back to the point of time you traveled from because you both had objects that held you to that time and its magic."
"I wouldn't call a baby an object."
"That's beside the point. You are both a month older than everyone else."
"Is that going to hurt us any?" Zoe asked fearfully. Why had Lissa brought it up if it didn't have a repercussion?
"It might hurt your explanation, if you ever come up with one."
Zoe frowned, "I don't remember Mom being this cross when you were pregnant with Lyle."
"I was also married for five years before that!" Zoe buried her face in her hands and burst into tears. Lissa repented her harsh tone and hugged the girl. "I'm sorry, Zoe. This is a lot to hit you with at once."
"I must see Orden," Zoe finally lifted her head. "I don't care what condition he's in! I have to see him!"
Lissa swallowed, "He's not very well. He hasn't waken yet."
"I have to see him! Don't you understand?"
She looked at her niece's desperate face. "I understand."
Zoe gasped and grabbed Orden's waxen hand as she fell into the chair next to his bed. Josh joined Lissa's side by the door. "Are you sure it's the right thing to do, to let her see him like this?"
"She wouldn't have it any other way. I couldn't deny her wishes. I think we better leave them."
Zelda was waiting for them in the hall. "Is she all right? Can I see her?"
"Yes," Lissa answered. "You better see her now. She needs you."
Zoe barely felt the gentle hands on her shoulders. "It's like I'm losing him without knowing what I had."
Her mother's grip tightened, "You haven't lost him yet. Don't give up."
Zoe pulled away. "How do you know what I'm going through?" she demanded, just slightly bitter.
"I almost lost your father many times, Zoe," Zelda returned sadly.
Zoe burst into tears. "I know, I know. I'm sorry, Mom. It's just . . . I'm sorry." She looked up as Zelda hugged her. "I love you."
"I love you, too. Even if I ignore you sometimes. I never meant to."
"I know you didn't. And I can see now why you did." Zoe squeezed the hand wrapped around her. "I'm not holding it against you."
"Well, I'll hold it against you if someone doesn't say hi, welcome back," Orden grinned weakly. Zoe gave a wordless cry and kissed him. He took her hand and pressed something into it. "For you."
She opened her fist and gazed into the dark orange jewel with an amber gleam like and ember coming from deep in its center. "It's beautiful," Zelda said aloud, then looked at them. "I'll leave you alone now." She gave Zoe one final squeeze and left the room.
Zoe quickly turned back to Orden. "Ask me to marry you."
Orden blinked, "Haven't we done this enough? No, I refuse to be humiliated anymore."
"Orden, please!"
"Can't it wait until I feel better?"
"No, it can't!"
"All right, all right. Princess Zoe of Hyrule, will you marry me, Orden, Larksphere of Dragonsworld?"
"Yes," she breathed.
"Now, I hope you're happy. I can't understand your thrills. Maybe now you'll let me get some sleep . . . wait did you say yes?"
"Yes, I said yes." She leaned over and kissed him.
Orden pulled back and looked at her curiously. "What about all that talk about waiting?"
"We can't afford to wait any longer." Zoe paused to look at the firmly shut door. "I'm pregnant."
Orden gulped, "You're pregnant? As in going-to-have-a-baby pregnant?"
"You know of another kind of pregnancy?"
"Who told you?"
"Aunt Lissa. She says were month older than everyone else, even though we came back to when we left. I don't understand all of it, but we have to get married or Mom will kill both of us!"
Orden sighed as he reached up and stroked Zoe's cheek. "Have you though about how this will interfere with gathering the Knights?"
"How come I have to do all the thinking? We're both the parents."
"You've been awake longer than I have."
Zoe sighed, "It shouldn't interfere that badly. Besides, I'd rather not be in the Palace where people can count months." She looked down at the jewel in her hand. "What is this?"
"The Fire-Stone; I found it in the caverns of the Forbidden Way. You can have it. I doubt I can use it again."
Zoe pulled at one of her signature braids on the side of her face then looked at Orden. "Let's give it to the baby. Since it started where--when--this comes from. Oh," she remembered and pulled something out of the pouch on her belt. "This is for you. Something I got for you before this quest began."
Orden turned the dragon dagger over in his hands. "It's beautiful, Zoe. It'll make the perfect gift for firstborn." He smiled as she settled on the bed close to him.
"What's wrong?" Zoe asked as she dismounted her horse at the Gateway to the Golden Land. "Lin's different but he's still my brother."
"I'm afraid he's going to challenge me to a duel," Orden answered as he took her mount's reins and tied them with his horse's to the sapling.
"He wouldn't do that."
"Why wouldn't he? You did and so did your father! And you have never explained what makes him different from the rest of your family."
Zoe paused, "I want you to see for yourself. Maybe you won't see anything different. It's difficult to explain."
"What's so difficult to explain?"
"A long story."
Elaine pushed her black hair out of her blue eyes as she stared at the paint-splattered wall. "What are you doing?"
She whirled around, "Zoe! Why didn't you tell us you were coming?" She quickly embraced the older girl.
Zoe pulled away, "I wanted to surprise you, but you surprised me. What are you doing?"
"Painting. I realize how mundane it is, but it is boring here. And there is only so many times you can impose on relations."
Zoe nodded, then remembered Orden. "Orden, this is Elaine, my sister-in-law. Elaine, this is Orden, my fiancé."
Elaine squeezed the orange-haired-and-eyed boy's hands in greeting. "I'm so glad to meet you finally." She turned to Zoe with twinkling blue eyes. "When is the wedding?"
"Next week. I came to invite you."
"Isn't that rushing it?"
"Don't complain," Orden admonished as he grabbed hold of Zoe's shoulders. "I've been asking her for an entire year!"
Elaine laughed, "Lin is in the study. Go tell him while I finish this chore."
Orden gazed at the scene. It was a dark room, all wall-space filled with bookshelves, and a bright, cheerful fire burned in the fireplace. Two men sat in comfortable, high- backed chairs, conversing in low tones until Zoe cleared her throat. One quickly looked up, "Zoe!" and sprang up to hug her. He was a brown-haired young man about their age with deep, haunted eyes colored green. "Wedding time already?"
"Next week," Zoe laughed. "This is Orden. Orden, this is my brother Lin."
Lin shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you at last, Orden. Zoe's been hiding you well."
"We've been busy," Zoe admonished. "Will you come?"
"Of course! Do you think I would miss the chance to see you walk down the aisle in a dress? Come meet my other guest," Lin gestured toward the chairs and two more appeared.
"I see what you mean, Zoe," Orden whispered. "He is different. What happened to him?"
"It's a long story," Zoe whispered back as she sat. "Cassonn!"
"Who?" Orden asked bewilderedly as he stared at the white-haired man with laughing hazel eyes.
Zoe recovered from her shock while the old man next to her smiled. "This is Cassonn, the chief historian of Hyrule."
"Former chief historian," Cassonn amended.
Zoe swallowed, "I didn't know . . . I should have known. But really the thought never crossed my mind that . . . ."
"That I would die?" Cassonn finished with a laugh. "It's the natural order of life, Princess; an order I'm quiet happy to leave. I started my dream--to collect all the history of Hyrule in one place and begin to compile it--which is more than what some men do in their lifetimes."
"We were just talking about history and you before you came in," Lin announced quietly. Orden watched Zoe's brother carefully. He was different, and the longer one looked at him the more different he became. He looked like an ordinary Hyrulian but Orden sensed an untapped reservoir of strength, power and goodness contained by Lin's sheer will. Yes, it would be a long story to explain what happened to him.
"Actually, we were discussing the mythology about your namesakes," Cassonn clarified.
"Our namesakes?" Orden asked nervously.
"Orden the Flame-Thrower and Zoe the Hyrulian. You must have been named after her."
"Must have," Zoe replied with a smile aimed for Cassonn.
Lin fell back in his chair with laughter. "The man's dead, by the Triforce! He can't give away your secrets! Especially when he already knows the truth."
"You know?" Orden stared at the old man with unbridled surprise.
"Yes, I know. I know that you are Orden the Flame-Thrower and that the Princess is Zoe the Witch-Slayer, along with a slew of other titles. You traveled back in time and the people then and their descendents mistook you for gods." Cassonn sighed, "You should feel privileged. Not many people get to see the beginnings of their family origins."
"Family origins?" Zoe repeated. "I guess some families were started but I don't see what that has to do with my family tree."
"Don't be bull-headed about this, Zoe," Lin admonished. "Holias and Zeldra were the first King and Queen of Hyrule-- or what became Hyrule. Mother descended straight from them. And Lont and Meletas started Father's family." He sighed, "I wish I could have gone with you. The fourth Link meeting the first."
"What's stopping you?" Orden asked curiously, only realizing after he said it how reckless the question was.
"My destiny," Lin replied, locking his teeming green eyes with Orden's orange ones. And they call my eyes inhuman, Orden thought wiry as he averted his head.
"What do you mean forth Link?" Zoe demanded. "You're the second!"
"Forth, dear sister, forth. My counting isn't that badly off. Dad was the third, there was one before him, and Lont was the first. Lont is an ancient rendition of Link. You should have paid more attention in language class," Lin shook his finger mockingly at her.
"I had more important things to worry about then. Just like now." She turned to Cassonn, "What can you tell us about this?" She pulled the Fire-Stone out of her pouch.
Cassonn took it gently. "A Fire-Stone! This must be the last one remaining. Ganon destroyed the Fire of Justice when he took over the Underworld. A Fire-Stone can be used generationally . . . ."
"Generationally?" Orden asked. Hyrulians had strange terms for things. He thought they made them up as they talked.
"Used by only one in each generation. Like Zoe's sword," Cassonn explained. "Now where was I? A Fire-Stone can be used generationally and only for a cause that is just. But there is a legend."
Lin leaned back in his chair. "I just love legends. They can say anything, mean anything, and get away with it because they're a legend. There's a certain irony to being a legend. But are sure it's a legend and not a prophecy?"
"A mixture of both. The offspring of gods will control a Fire-Stone and rekindle the Fire of Justice." Orden squeezed Zoe's hand. "A shame the legend was almost completely lost."
"Maybe it just hasn't completely begun," Lin murmured as he gazed at the oblivious Zoe and Orden.
