In Nayru's Palm

I heard hoofbeats behind me, and I swerved to see Impa astride a moon-white mare—the selfsame mare that had carried us from the castle. My mare. Impa had told me she had fled in a terror. Horses, I am told, are prone to such things.

However, her usual tack wasn’t there. Her bridle no longer adorned her head. Her legs were unwrapped, and her tail, too, was unbound, and flowed freely to her fetlocks. The only tack remaining was her saddle.

“Mirage!” I exclaimed, rising to my feet. The mare hesitated before moving forward again to put her nose in my hand.

“She returned to us just after I left you here,” Impa explained.

“How did she find us?”

“She was born here, in the desert regions.” Across the dark night she gestured to the blue-grey sands in the distance. “You can tell she’s desert bred by her head. You see how it inclines between her eyes and her nose? And her tail,” she continued, leaning back and placing her hand on the dock of her tail, “like the rest of her kin, her tail will rise up when she runs, to form a banner for us to admire.”

“I didn’t know she was from the desert,” I breathed, stroking her dished face. Mirage was a horse that was promised to me when I was a young child, and had been carefully tamed at Lon Lon Ranch for me to ride when I was old enough. I still hadn’t ridden her yet.

“Say thank you to your teacher, Sheik,” Impa instructed, so I turned and bowed to the owl.

“Thank you very much, Kaepora,” I said. Then, thinking further, I added, “I apologize for arguing with you.”

The owl gave a hoot that sounded vaguely more like a “Hmph.” “Arguing is what makes it easier to learn. Points get across, as long as those debating are willing to listen to both sides. I look forward to more of such arguments.” And with that abrupt dismissal, he spread his wings and took off, startling Mirage into backing away with a high head. I waved to the owl as his large form disappeared into the sky.

“So I take it you learned something?” Impa asked mildly. I grinned sheepishly.

“Yeah. Eventually.”

“Good. Let’s return.” With no visible cue, the mare pivoted and started walking.

“Im—” I stopped mid-complaint and followed the pair down the slope.

Rue was apparently less than enthusiastic to greet us. She shot Impa a look that would have stripped the flesh from a Goron, then grabbed her bone and dragged it away.

“She did not like her excursion outside,” Impa told me from the path outside. I watched her dismount and pat the mare’s shoulder before removing the remaining tack and limping inside. Mirage tossed her head and sauntered off.

“You’re just gonna let her go?” I queried, incredulous.

“She’ll stick around. When you have been versed in minor magicks, you will be able to call her to you easily, and she will be faithful to you the more you work with her.” She dropped herself into a chair, laying the saddle on its side next to her. “Hylians train horses so oddly. They do not command magic, and so must use simple words and crude gear to get them to obey. A true horseman will train a horse so that they can use such obstacles as a bridle, but can do just as well without. A saddle, though, is good to have, for it makes it easier for a horse to carry you, and does not strain their back as much as our weight alone will do.”

I nodded. I would try to remember that.

“Of course,” Impa continued. She seemed to be just thinking aloud now. “There are those that know horses so well that they don’t need magic to get them to listen. Such is true with all living things; understand them, and you can coexist peacefully and even beneficially.”

“Makes sense,” I agreed. She nodded, and remained still. Understanding her to be done talking, I sat down at the table and removed my gloves. The mark still glowed gold.

“What do you mean?” I hissed at it. Its glow did not change. It was a mark. Nothing more.

But a mark of what? I had not been touched by anything that would leave such a thing on my skin. Besides, only the goddesses dared to mark mortals with their insignia. It was a mark of favor to the Hylian royal family that it was allowed in our coat of arms. We were the people that upheld the goddesses, and followed them diligently, protecting the Sacred Realm with all we had.

Had Ganondorf reached that Sacred Realm? If he had, how had Link reappeared in the desert? Link had seemed different, though. But that would mean…

Ganondorf hadn’t possessed him, had he?

He could have, I realized with a jolt. It was well within the scope of his black magic to possess a child…

My stomach growled. I glanced down at it, then at Impa. I was hungry, and she seemed to be asleep. I stood and peered down at her, but she seemed just as out from here as she had from the table. Indecisive, I looked around, and then decided that I would try for myself. Everybody wanted that, didn’t they? Let’s have Princess Zelda do some things for herself for once. Well, I would. I could.

I strode resolutely to the cold room where Impa kept the meat. It was just as neatly sliced as it was when we put it in there, so I pulled a chunk off the shelf and walked out, closing the door behind me.

What was I to cook it on, though? I needed fire. I searched the room, but couldn’t see any means of starting a fire. But I needed fire to cook. I needed to do this right, and then Impa wouldn’t feel the need to babysit me anymore. I just needed fire…

Heat boiled in my palm. My head swiveled quickly on my shoulder and I could hear the meat sizzle slightly. I grinned triumphantly, but then the meat started to blacken. Startled, I tried to make it stop, but it wouldn’t. My knees shook, and I heard Rue howl and yip somewhere in the distance, but my world was shrinking to the hunk of meat in my hand, slowly blackening with dark pieces of ash falling from my hand.

The world spun and I heard a thump that was instantly followed by pain. I grimaced, then yelled as fire bloomed under my hand. Hungrily it moved toward me, and I screamed. It came closer to my face, I could feel its heat…

Gerudo dancers moved smoothly over the stone floor of the audience chamber. Their scarves spun around their heads like blood in a whirlwind, their eyes peering over their veils with cold curiosity. Their bodies undulated to a beat originating from the back of the room, and I was shocked at how much skin they showed—nearly all of their torsos were bare, covering only a small strip of chest with an equally small strip of cloth. The only things covering their browned arms were the multitudes of bangles on their wrists. Ironically enough, their hips and legs were covered with cloth, but they wore pants like men, be they baggy or not. The amount of foreign energy they exuded astonished me, and it was all I could do to stand still at my father’s side as a man in black armor made his way down the center isle, through the middle of his dancing entourage…

People screamed from the outside of my window. I burst from my bed, only to see Impa run to me with a look of panic in her eyes. She yanked me from my bed and threw my dress over my head, seeing that my braid was wrapped into a headcloth before my arms were even through the sleeves. No sooner had my hands come free when she had grabbed me around the middle and opened a door beneath my vanity, shoving me through. I registered the flames I had seen through my window as I fell…

“Sheik, what in Nayru’s name were you doing?” Impa implored me. I tried to answer, but when I raised my head it gave a throb that had me shoving it back into the pillow. “You could have been killed, trying magic like that. I don’t know how you did it, but it was reckless. I think you hit your head when you fell. You’ve got a concussion.”
Pause. “There will be no lessons for you tomorrow—you’ve drained all your magic, and you trying to wield anything right now is laughable. You can stay home…”

I landed on a flat piece of land. It was hot where I was—the pit of lava to my left might explain that. Heat was visible, billowing transparently in the open air. Behind me, thuds sounded. Unsure of what that could be, I wheeled, and looked a large, black lizard straight in the pig-eyed face. Its lips curled back and it growled at me, opening its mouth to show me all its teeth in a cavernous mouth. I had barely begun to fathom it when it closed again, and it took a few ponderous steps toward me. A me that it wouldn’t reach if I had anything to say about it.

I turned and ran down the path around the lava. I heard it snarl behind me and suck in a huge breath. I looked over my shoulder to see its mouth opened wide again, but it seemed to have a different reason for it. I understood that reason when gouts of flame issued from a gaping mouth held close to the ground. I ducked out of its path, coming perilously close to the lava pit as I did so. Something struck the ground and made a rolling sound. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that the lizard had curled into a ball and begun rolling at me. When it came close enough to be a threat—at least, a bigger threat than it already was—I sprinted to the path it had already traveled, and watched as he bowled right past me.

Something in me said that I needed to kill it. I pulled my sword from its sheath again, but apparently my shield was not for guarding my front, since I did not reach for it. Instead, my right hand groped inside a bag, and I pulled out a round object and ran back to the monster. It crashed into the wall several yards away, but the athletic legs beneath me carried me quickly over such a distance. I wondered what the round object would do. Could it possibly kill a monster with such a tough-looking hide?

The beast turned to me, and its mouth opened again. Something in my head clicked to the right place, and I swung the object over the lava until it hissed. Seeing some kind of fuse alight, I threw the bomb overhand using both my arms, and it landed satisfactorily on the back of the monster’s tongue. Its mouth snapped shut, its breathing apparently plugged until it swallowed with an audible gulp. There was a blasting sound, and it screamed, falling to the ground at my feet, and I stabbed at its face with my sword. Amazingly enough, the sword seemed to be able to reach and penetrate under the armor on its face, and it recoiled with another snarl.

Armor? Dodongo!

But, by Farore, that was a bigger dodongo than the one Impa had brought back…

It curled into a ball again, and this time I was more ready. I did what I did last time and sprinted after its rolling form. It hit the wall with a solid thud, breaking out of its ball-like position, and turned slowly to me again. I grabbed another bomb and lit it easily, though I never reached for the lava this time…

The dodongo opened its mouth, and the bomb went in as smoothly as the first, and had the same effect. It fell, and I stabbed its already bloody snout. Blood gushed freely from its nose when I hit it a second time, and it screamed. I got a glimpse of a rolling eye before I realized the rest of it was rolling too, and I only got out of the way in time to avoid being flattened. I didn’t, however, manage to avoid a glancing blow, and a spike from its armor struck me in the shoulder, and I stumbled and crashed to the ground. My hand felt a swell of pain, and I pulled back, seeing it grow pink, shiny, and blistered from just being so close to the magma. I rolled away, watching some of my sleeve fall from my shoulder in a blackened powder. I staggered to my feet and glanced around the room, seeing the giant lizard crash into the wall again at the end of a heavy trail of steaming blood. I licked at my dry lips and ran as fast as I could to him. The bomb in my hand came alight the moment I pulled it out, and I dropped my sword to throw it into his already-closing maw, barely making it in time. The reptile made an odd, hiccupping belch sound, blood still dripping from its nose, and I ran forward and swiped it with my sword right where it still bled. I could feel its blood soaking through my boots as I sliced through what must have been a major blood vessel, and it shuddered. I drew back as it curled up again, and it started rolling again. I watched it drunkenly weave down the red path, amazed that it could still move, but my fascination came too soon. It rolled right off the path and into the lava, sinking deeper into the magma the more it feebly thrashed, until it died in the center with only its head and forefeet visible. I saw its eyes go dull after another shudder.

Was that its heart? The jewel-like thing glimmered and shimmered in the heat waves, but they didn’t seem as heavy as they had when I had come in. Tentatively, I stepped to the lava, but it had hardened. It was still hot beneath my feet, but it was endurable, so I walked across. The heart healed my arms and made the ache in my body disappear, and I was able to stumble to the pool of cool blue light that enveloped and soothed my body after so much fire.