Chapter 16: Fire and Ice

Link stepped carefully across the rocky ledges of Eldin, watching for the dangerous creatures in the area. Especially the ones the mogmas called pyrups. There was nothing really that compared to them in Skyloft, but they looked more as if they were meant for water than for land. They had—Link wasn't really sure what to call them—fins? Or maybe they should be called flippers, like Levias had. Bright red with a blue bob attached to the end of a long antenna, the strange creatures looked as friendly as remlits. But they would greet anyone they saw with a blast of fire. Nothing about them made any sense to Link, but he had been forced to defend himself from them fairly often as they skittered underneath enormous skulls or into holes and spewed a stream of fire at him.

Link knew the creature speaking in front of him was a mogma, since he had already encountered several of the mole-like creatures. He could also see that the mogma was quite distressed.

"Agh! Sorry! Thought you were one of those demons! The name's Tyto, and I reckon I'm officially the unluckiest mogma alive."

Tyto looked down the long tunnel in front of him. "Those demons-they seem to think they own the place! Not only has my team not been able to dig for any of the treasure in that tunnel-and that's our best treasure tunnel-but I just know they're going to take all the good gems for themselves!" he gave Link a horrified expression.

Link only stared back at him. He didn't really understand Tyto's obsession with gems. He supposed what the demons were doing was kind of bad, though. They were using the mogma's tunnel without permission, after all.

Tyto sighed. "I wish someone would do something about them. I called for the authorities, but they took one look and said we'd have to subdue the demons ourselves before they'd take them in. Yeah, we're like at the bottom of their priority list, I guess. All my team has left. I keep trying to nerve myself up to evict the trespassers but-aw, I'm such a coward." He looked sadly at the ground.

Link offered his help. He pointed to himself and then gestured with his sword down the tunnel where the large group of demons dwelled.

"Um, I guess you're not the chatty type? But it seems like you want to help. Am I right?" the mogma gave him a hopeful look. Link nodded.

"That's great! Um, just tap the dirt here three times when you're done!" Tyto disappeared under the ground.

Link traveled slowly down the tunnel in the direction the mogma had indicated the group of demons could be found. It wasn't long before the sound of picks and voices became distinct.

"Can't wait to get this over with," Link heard one of the demons say.

"Yeah. I was hoping there would be more surface involved in taking over the surface."

"Look, I'll give everyone a break in another half hour," a smooth voice Link didn't recognize said. "Then you can all go enjoy the sunshine for a while. It's just that—this is important to me."

Link slowly inched his way along the wall and carefully looked into the large cavern-like tunnel the demons currently occupied. Though he had hoped he might see Ghirahim, the demon lord wasn't present in the cavern. Instead, he saw a large party consisting entirely of floppy-eared demons with two small horns and sharp, pointed teeth. He remembered he had seen quite a few of this type of demon in Faron woods and Skyview temple. He could see that all the demons were busy carefully excavating the tunnel with picks. It didn't look like the demons were after gems, though. Instead, it looked like they were excavating pieces of rubble.

"In half an hour?" A red demon standing on a long wooden platform said hopefully. "Thank you, Lord Rend!"

Lord Rend? There was another demon lord? Link had never given too much thought to what the title of Lord meant to the demons, but now he wondered. Skyloft didn't have any lords.

"No problem," the blue demon next to the red one said, concentrating on hitting the wall in front of him with his pick. He wore a monocle and a black vest with a white shirt and pinstriped trousers. He also wore a silver earring in each his floppy ears. On his belt hung a cream-colored curving horn and a machete.

"I'll work extra hard!" a green demon on the other side of the blue one said.

"Your enthusiasm is heartwarming," Lord Rend said.

Suddenly, a demon on the ground pointed towards Link and said, "Someone's been spying on us!"

Link's eyes widened. He had hoped the darkness of the tunnel would hide him, but then he realized a flickering fire cast a light over his right leg. Deciding there was no point in attempting to hide any longer, he drew his sword and prepared to fight.

Lord Rend turned to face Link. "That's the Sky Hero!" the blue demon said.

"What should we do with him, my lord?" a soldier asked.

The demon gave Link a hard glare. "Well, as it has been made quite clear to me, no one is to kill him-that whole disastrous agreement Lord Ghirahim made with the sword spirit, you know. But I want you to make sure we recapture him. Oh, and rough him up. Alot."

A large group of demons with machetes approached Link, their expressions grim. Link momentarily considered retreating back down the tunnel, but just as had happened with the goron and the kikwis in Faron Woods, his desire to help others outweighed his desire to flee. He briefly worried that his life would eventually turn into nothing but a series of quests to solve other people's problems. But perhaps the smiles of the people he helped would sustain him. Assuming that the people he fought didn't reduce him to a bloody pulp first.

While clashing his sword against multiple sharp weapons, Link glanced around the tunnel, estimating the number of demons in it to be about thirty. He winced. That was less than the number that had been in Skyview Temple, but he had considerably fewer options for attacking them here, unless he wanted to bring the entire tunnel down on top of everyone. He knew that Fi wouldn't be able to help with this, either. She couldn't directly attack the demons without breaking her agreement with Lord Ghirahim.

Despite how crowded the tunnel was, Link felt very alone.

Link had finished knocking all the demons in the tunnel unconscious. Except for one.

"Hah! Not as tough-as those old prophecies-claim you are, are you?" Lord Rend said, blocking three of his attempts to knock the blue demon lord over.

Link dodged the demon's attempt to bludgeon his head with the side of the machete.

"You may intimidate others, but you don't frighten me," the demon growled. His machete clashed with the sword, striking against it again, and again, and again. He suspected that the demon's strategy was simply to exhaust his opponent. Link was tiring, but the demon seemed to have no trouble keeping up his constant blocks and strikes.

As he slashed towards Link's sword hand, the elf remembered his shield and brought it forwards suddenly. The machete bounced off the solid metal surface of the shield, which absorbed much more of the shock than his sword did.

Rend was thrown temporarily off-balance and Link took the opportunity to knock him over his head with the side of his sword. The demon fell to the ground, unconscious.

Link took a few moments to catch his breath as he eyed the unconscious demons around him. He looked back down at Lord Rend. He really did need to remember to use his shield more often. Sometimes he forgot it was there.

Link paused and used his new mogma mitts to dig carefully in the closely-packed dirt of the ground. Tyto had given him the mitts after he had returned and the mogma had called in several uniformed mogmas who took the unconscious demons away. Link gathered from Tyto's enthusiastic words to him that the demons would be held in some subterranean jail. Link wondered what the demons had been after. Whatever it had been, though, surely they shouldn't have just taken over Tyto's tunnel to get to it. Still, maybe they had had some understandable reason? The more Link thought about the conflict between the surface dwellers and the demons, the more it troubled him, and the more he felt the immense need to do something about it. But for now, he had to find Zelda. And so he dug further into the ground. The claws of the mogma mitts hit something hard, and Link pulled the key shard out of the earth. Fitting it with the two other shards he had collected, he stood and prepared to douse for the next one.

He stopped when he saw a creature even stranger than anything he had seen thus far. Link tilted his head and struggled to make sense of it. Every inch of the creature was entirely covered by a metallic bodysuit of some kind. Two glass jars protruded from its back, attached to a variety of tubes and filled with water. Small bubbles came out of the tubes attached to the jars. The creature had three appendages, or perhaps it was two fin-like appendages and a tail, since the third was longer and dragged the ground. There was a large frill, almost like a dress, covering the three appendages. Two eyes jutted from each side of its face, covered with metal and glass. And the creature's cylindrical snout had two tubes coming out of it which snaked back to the jars on its back. A metal frill jutted out of the top of the silvery suit's helmet. Just when Link thought the surface couldn't get any stranger, he saw something like this.

The creature copied his movement, tilting its head at him as well. Then it reared up on it's tail and threw a blue shard at him. Link dodged the unexpected attack. Another blue shard materialized in the creatures hand (fin?) and that one was thrown at him as well. This time the shard hit his shoulder, causing Link to wince. But the weapon shattered on his chainmail. Looking down at where it had fallen, Link could see it was—melting? The creature was throwing ice at him!

The creature gurgled and then jumped off the side of the cliff. Link ran over to the edge and saw that it was sliding down the cooled lava on the sloped side of the mountain. One eye facing toward Link, it fired one last parting shot at him. Link dodged the ice shard and ran away from the cliff face towards the locked temple entrance. Once there, he stopped a few moments to catch his breath. He wondered what the creature had found so distasteful about him that it had felt the need to attack. Link certainly planned keep an eye out for it, in case it appeared again.

As Link prepared to open the door to the Earth Temple, Fi flipped out of the sword.

"Master, I have something important to report to you," she said.

Link turned his gaze to the sword spirit floating several inches off the ground.

"I detect an unexpected and powerful energy emission from this temple. Its signature is identical to one that I encountered only once, long ago-during the final fight with Demise. It will not harm you or me, but once you enter the Temple, I will not be able to assist you in this form." She tilted her head. "Master, you will be in mortal danger the moment you enter through that door. I am unsure why this relic is only being used against us now. If I were to hypothesize a reason, it would be that its current owner took some time to retrieve it from the Lower Realms. Are you sure you wish to proceed, Master?"

Link glanced towards the door. If he would be in mortal danger on entering the Earth Temple, then clearly Zelda would be as well. He had everything he had been able to take with him, and he had prepared himself as much as he could. He had to keep going.

Link nodded firmly.

Fi was silent for several moments. "Good luck, then, Master. Please be cautious." Fi flipped back into the sword.

Link stared at the empty space where Fi had stood. Then he turned back to the door, and turned the key in the lock.

Link ran into the side room in the Earth Temple, chased by a flock of winged demons. The door closed quickly behind him. He took a few deep breaths once he was on the other side. But his relief was short-lived. Three figures from a type of creature Link had never seen before stood in front of him. Unlike with the pyrups or the strange metal-clad creature, Link was able to compare their form to something he had seen before.

Skyloft had small green lizards that wandered the grass on their four legs. The creatures in front of him now looked like an elf-sized version of those lizards, and stood on two legs. They wore spiked clubs on their tails and a metal gauntlet around one of their arms. They were a vivid, spotted green with yellow underbellies, and they wore simple loincloths and sandals, along with a strap across their shoulders and chest. Also unlike the lizards of Skyloft, their eyes gleamed with a sharp intelligence.

"Looksss like we have ourssselvesss another fake Hero," the one in the front hissed. "I do hate fakesss."

Link shook his head. Maybe he wasn't the best Hero, but he certainly wasn't a fake!

"Oh, you're trying to deny it, eh?" the one on the left said. "don't bother. We've seen enough pretenders to not be fooled by another."

The one in front held up a hand. "Wait. Let's give him a chance." It's gaze turned to Link. "If you really are the Sky Hero, then prove it! Sing the Ballad of the Goddess!"

Link began humming the tune of the song Zelda had sung to him so many times.

"I did not sssay hum!" The lizalfos in front snapped, making Link jump. "I sssaid sssing! What'sss the matter? Don't know the wordsss?"

Link gave the creature a nervous smile. Even if he broke his vow, it wouldn't help him with this. Because the lizalfos was right. As many times as he had heard it, he should know the words. But he had never really paid that much attention. There was something about the Goddess, and the light tower, and a path, but he had never really learned the entire song.

The expressions on the faces of the three lizalfos made it clear that he had failed an important test.

The one in the front grinned and its tongue snaked out in a hiss. "Oh, don't worry, little demon. As the acolytessss of the great Eldin, we will give you a proper welcome."

The one in the middle lunged forward, it's spiked tail lashing out towards Link. The elf backed away hurriedly, drawing his shield. He rolled to the side as the two others approached, one of them slashing its oversized stone gauntlet towards Link. Link ducked and drew his sword.

The metal gauntlet clanged against the sword, and his weapon absorbed its blow.

"What a fancy fake Goddess Sword you have there!" the lizalfos said. "Of course, if it were real, we would be seeing the sword spirit berating us right about now."

Link thought about what Fi had told him at the entrance. He felt he had somehow become immensely unlucky. It would have been nice if sword spirit could have talked to the lizalfos, called them off somehow. Link didn't really want to be fighting people who were supposed to be his allies.

At least the sword skills she had taught him were helping. He had already knocked one of the lizalfos out. This wasn't going to be easy, though. There were still two of them and they were so fast.

Ghirahim could hardly believe what the soldiers in the Earth Temple were telling him. Had he really already won?

Ghirahim teleported to the room to where Trelan and Nix would take Zelda if they caught her. And paused.

There she was, right in front of him. The two guards flew over to him on seeing that he had arrived.

"You caught her?" Ghirahim said, his mood brightening.

"Yes, my lord," Nix said. "Apologies. We tried to contact you earlier, but we couldn't reach you-"

Ghirahim waved a hand dismissively. "I imagine not. I was underground, and all the Eldin Ore would have blocked the message-spell."

Nix shifted her wings slightly. "I see."

"Anyway, the two of you have done well," he said. "Please guard the entrance of this room. I wish to speak to our—guest."

The two guards nodded and flew towards the entrance. Ghirahim danced around the stone path in delight and rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He had done it! The Goddess was his now!

He stopped when he saw Zelda looking up at him, her expression filled with anxiety.

"You are difficult to catch up with, you know?" Ghirahim said. "I apologize for the lack of decent accommodations. I did have something prepared, but I'm afraid it would no longer be very secure."

"What do you want from me?" Zelda asked.

"That is simple," Ghirahim said. "I wish to make sure the Sheikahs don't use you to imprison the demons."

"I don't want to imprison anyone."

"Good," Ghirahim said. "Then we are in agreement."

"Impa told me what you planned to do to them, when you claimed you just wanted to send us home."

"I see. What did she say?"

Zelda hesitated, as if unsure if she should continue speaking. Ghirahim said nothing, waiting for her to continue. She didn't speak for several minutes, but the demon lord waited patiently.

"She said you would kill them or—make them slaves."

Ghirahim chose his words carefully. "I would have no quarrel with the Sheikahs—if they didn't want to kill me and seal the rest of the demons away."

"What happened to Impa?" Zelda asked. "Is she-"

"Let's not discuss the Sheikah right now," Ghirahim said. His soldiers had seen her fall into one of the lava pits. Sheikahs were much tougher than Sky People, but both had the same low heat resistance compared to demons. She could not have survived that. "You can be sure that no one will be getting in here, though. This temple is mine now." He looked up in the distance toward the dragon statue and pointed to the golden portal glimmering below it. "Except for that—one door." He gave her a small smile. "What I need to know is—what is behind it?"

"I—don't know," Zelda said.

Ghirahim chuckled. "Oh, now that's a lie."

"Impa told me not to tell you," Zelda said, looking down.

"That's because the Sheikahs want me dead," Ghirahim said. "Do you also want me dead?"

"No."

"Good," Ghirahim said. "Why don't you tell me what's behind that door, then?"

"And—if I don't?"

"I shall be very disappointed. But I cannot make you tell me." He paced along the side of the ledge. "However, if you tell me what is behind that door, I will tell you what I know of the whereabouts of your friend—Link."

Ghirahim was gratified to see that Zelda's eyes widened instantly at the mention of the Sky Hero's name. "You know where he is? Is he okay? How do you-?"

Ghirahim smiled and held up a hand. "All of these questions you have! But as I said, I will tell you that, if you tell me what is behind the door."

Zelda looked toward the golden door, her face creased in concern. "I—I'll tell you."

Ghirahim leaned forward. "Really? Go on, then."

"There's a spring on the other side."

Her words are true, but useless. Ghirahim gave her a small frown, and stood to his full height. "That description is rather lacking in detail," he said. "Still, let me reciprocate with an equally useful tidbit of information. Your friend, Link? He is not here with us at the moment."

"Please—I need to know if—he's okay."

"And as I said, I will tell you what I know, if you tell me what is behind the door," Ghirahim said. He gave her a cheerful smile. "Or we can play your game where we tell each other useless facts."

"I'm worried about-what you'll do to me if I told you."

Ghirahim sighed. "I already know that whatever is behind those doors is nothing to fill my heart with songbirds. You can rest assured that I am not in the habit of harming the bearer of bad news."

Zelda looked thoughtful. "If I tell you, then—you promise not to harm me?"

"Yes." Ghirahim said. "And I will answer your questions about Link."

"The spring—contains my memories."

Ghirahim tilted his head, confused for a moment. "I don't-" he paused, the meaning of her words suddenly obvious to him. "You mean Hylia—the springs store her memories. Is that correct?"

Zelda nodded.

"Please, speak your answer," Ghirahim said.

"Yes," she said.

Ghirahim narrowed his eyes. "You've already been to one spring—what do you remember of being Hylia? And how many springs are these memories stored in?"

"You told me you would tell me where Link is," Zelda said.

"So I did," Ghirahim said. "A while back, I captured him."

"Is he—okay?"

"Answer my questions, and I will finish answering yours."

"I—I don't remember anything of being Hylia. Impa said—she said the memories would have to be completed first before that could happen. As for the springs, she said there were three."

Ghirahim breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to be dealing with Hylia, even if it was only part of her. The goddess would undoubtedly be extremely crafty. And ruthless. Zelda, on the other hand, was not.

"Thank you." Ghirahim said.

"And—Link?" Zelda asked, apprehension written on her features.

"I did not harm him. Yesterday, the Sheikahs managed to teleport him from the locked room where he was kept. I am confident he is still well."

Zelda let out a great shuddering breath. "Thank you."

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Ghirahim asked, smiling. He snapped, and a glass appeared with a red liquid inside of it. He snapped again, and several diamond shaped objects appeared in the liquid. Ghirahim handed it to Zelda. She looked into the glass, poking one of the clear diamond-shaped objects inside of it. It was a piece of ice. "What is this?"

"I believe the kikwis call it sour-sweet-fruit-berry juice. I thought you might appreciate it, given your species' susceptibility to heat."

"Oh. Thanks." She sipped the cold beverage. It was delicious. Zelda decided that the kikwis had very good taste. She looked up at Ghirahim. He didn't look like someone bent on the destruction of the surface dwellers. And he didn't act malevolent. But what could have driven him to capture her and to—do whatever he had done to Impa? Zelda didn't want to think about what could have happened to her. But she had to accept that her guardian might be—gone. Impa would want me to brave, though. I can't give up, even if she is—dead.

She thought about something that Owlan had taught the knights—that to understand another person, you had to understand their situation and their motives. You had to put yourself in their shoes. Not that Ghirahim wears shoes, she thought. It seemed he was comfortable enough with only the cloth of his jumpsuit covering his feet. Zelda put the metaphor out of her mind. If she wanted to help solve whatever was wrong with the surface, she had to understand what drove the surface dwellers to be so—violent. She knew something of what the Sheikahs wanted, and why. But of Ghirahim's motives, she knew only what the Sheikahs told her. She needed to know more.

"Can I—ask you something?" she asked hesitantly.

"Certainly," Ghirahim said.

"What is it that you want? Why are you doing all of this?"

Ghirahim tilted his head and gave her a small smile. "I'm glad you asked." He straightened to his full height. "The Sheikahs have certainly told you that they seek to Seal us away in the ground, have they not?"

"Yes," Zelda said. "But they-"

Ghirahim waved a hand dismissively. "Yes, I'm sure they have some excuse to do so that seems valid to them. Revenge on a long-dead king or some such thing. But what I want, what all of us who are sealed in the ground wish for, is that one thing that we cannot get inside the seal. Sunlight."

"I—see. That's why you want to live on the surface, then."

"Yes. We want our sunlight." He grinned. "And I am willing to go to great lengths to get it back."

"Is there something I can do to help? If I had my memories back, maybe I could-"

Ghirahim shook his head. "Zelda, I realize you don't remember being Hylia, so I will not blame you for anything she has done. But surely the Sheikahs told you-surely you understand-" his hands clenched and unclenched, "-that Hylia is responsible for sealing the demons away. Whatever grievances she had with Demise, and I am sure there were many, they should have died with him. There can be no possible justification for sealing all the demons away."

"I understand. Impa said it was done because you were all under a curse," Zelda said. "But maybe, if I had my memories back, if I had more time, I could figure out how to break it?"

"A curse?" Ghirahim said, raising an eyebrow. "What is this curse you claim we are under?"

Zelda felt more hopeful. This was her chance to explain! Of course, just explaining something couldn't possibly break a curse. But maybe it would help somehow, if Ghirahim knew.

"Impa just told me at first that the demons would always try to kill or enslave the surface dwellers. Later, when I asked her why, she told me that Demise put a curse on all the demons, so they would always fight the surface dwellers. And she also said they would try to destroy all of Hylia's magic."

Ghirahim looked thoughtful. "I cannot dismiss what you say out of hand—if it is true, it would be a difficult thing for me to check for." he chuckled. "Nevertheless, such a thing sounds unlikely to me in the highest degree. Still, if this is what the Sheikahs truly believe, it explains a great deal."

"I wish there was something I could do to fix this," Zelda said, looking at the ground.

"Oh, but now that you're here, you will," Ghirahim said. "You see, I think the Sheikahs will cease their fighting once they know that you are my hostage. And if they stop fighting me, I can stop fighting them."

Zelda noticed one of the guards flying towards them then. It was Trelan.

"My lord—we have located the Sky Hero in the temple and trapped him in one of the side rooms, as you instructed."

Zelda saw Ghirahim's eyes light up, even as she felt her own her heart sink.

The demon lord did a small dance that Zelda found amusing despite how worried she was.

"Oh, today is just full of good news, isn't it? Tell me where he is!" the demon lord said, his eyes bright.

The guard described the room. Ghirahim glanced over at Zelda. "It seems you will get the chance to talk with the Sky Hero today. After I see what he has been up to, of course." Ghirahim snapped and disappeared in a flash of diamonds.

Link looked up when he saw the flash of diamonds. Ghirahim looked between Link and the unconscious lizalfos. "I guess you didn't find them agreeable company?"

Link sketched and image and held it out to Ghirahim.

"Hmmm. There's you, and an arrow pointing to—several demons? Ah, you mean they thought you were a demon?"

Link nodded.

"How odd." Ghirahim handed the paper back to Link and turned back to the Lizalfos. "Well, I'll have to make sure they don't trouble you further. You, and you, and you can go to my dungeons now," Ghirahim said, kneeling on the grating and tapping each unconscious lizalfos once. Their forms dissolved into diamonds. He looked up and gave Link a bright smile. "You, on the other hand, would escape too easily, I suspect." He disappeared again and Link felt the demon lord's breath in his ear. "But I don't really want to imprison you."

Link gasped softly as he felt the demon lord's tongue on his neck. It felt unexpectedly cool in the blistering heat of the Earth Temple. He took a few deep breaths to try to calm himself. It wasn't easy. Ghirahim had moved his attentions to the tip of Link's ear. He forced himself to turn around and look up at the demon lord. Ghirahim only crossed his arms and gave him a lazy smile. "So good to see you again."

Then he moved closer to Link. "I missed you, you know."

Link hesitated. He was torn between the conflicting emotions he felt towards the demon lord. The dark looks he had given the lizalfos troubled Link, and he worried about what would happen to them. But then the demon lord's mood seemed to have completely changed on seeing Link, and the way his cool tongue had felt on his skin...Link shivered.

He made his decision. Link moved forward and embraced the demon lord, noticing that he was pleasantly cool despite the stifling heat. His head darted forward impulsively and he licked Ghirahim's neck. It tasted kind of like—paint. Link made a face. Ghirahim laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry." His brown eyes looked amused. "My makeup isn't edible. Perhaps I should look into that."

Link reached up and wrapped his arms around the demon lord's shoulders. Ghirahim closed his eyes and leaned in closer, his body pressed against Link. A cool hand brushed across Link's face, and Link leaned into it, kissing the gloved fingers.

"My, you are affectionate today. I guess you missed me, too."

Link nodded.

"Though I won't complain if you're just using my body to cool yourself. You're probably a bit overheated from all the lava."

The heat had been making Link feel a bit—unwell.

Ghirahim handed link a cold metal jar. Link opened the lid and saw it contained water. He took great gulps of the water, nearly emptying the jar.

"Didn't you bring any water on your quest?" he asked. "What is this I see?" The demon lord riffled through Link's adventure pouches. "Hmmm...health potions, deku nuts, and-ah! Some of that Sky Food of yours!" He snatched a half-full jar of pumpkin soup from the pouch. "I'll admit, I am most curious about this—substance." He tilted the jar left and right, examining the viscous soup as it moved inside the jar. "May I?" he asked.

Link nodded.

Ghirahim opened the lid and sniffed the substance in the jar. "Mmmm...the scent of this—is the same as yours. I had wondered about that." his long tongue snaked out and lapped up some of the soup from the jar. He closed his eyes and smiled blissfully. "Delicious." He returned the jar to Link's adventure pouch.

The demon lord's eyes lit up, his expression suddenly becoming mischievous. "I'll bet you could use some training with that sword of yours. Do you still swing it around like it's an axe?"

Link frowned. He thought he was getting really good with the sword. Better than he was doing with the jumping, anyway. Ghirahim only laughed. "Oh, that look of yours! Priceless! I'm sorry—I didn't mean to insult your skills. But I think there are a few things, at least, that I know about swords that you do not. Would you like to learn one or two of them?"

Link backed up and drew his sword.

Ghirahim's grin widened. "This should be fun!" His own sword materialized in a flash of diamonds. He pointed it towards Link and began circling him. Link turned to keep Ghirahim in view.

"Now, I don't think any wordy explanations are necessary when I can just show you what I mean," Ghirahim said. He lunged forward and Link held up his shield. The sword clashed harmlessly against the spelled metal. Ghirahim smiled.

"Ah, now that's a shield!" he said. "I think I can get around it without difficulty, however." He rushed towards Link again and the tip of his sword rapped Link's chain mail lightly on his side. "You see?"

Link tried several times to tap Ghirahim with his sword, but the demon lazily blocked every one of his attempts. Ghirahim gave him a small smile. "Oh, don't be discouraged. I don't leave many openings."

He lunged towards Link, and the elf jumped out of the way.

"Better," Ghirahim said. Then Link felt a sword on his neck. "Though I don't recommend leaving your back open to your opponent." Ghirahim's arm leaned over Link's shoulder. The demon lord leaned his head forward to face Link. His tongue brushed lightly across the side of the elf's face. Link closed his eyes momentarily and made a small sound in the back of his throat. Then his eyes opened and glanced over at Ghirahim, who licked his lips.

"I would love to stay longer here with you. Unfortunately, there are some other things I must attend to first. But then, you can see your friend again."

Link wrinkled his brow. What did Ghirahim mean by that?

The demon lord seemed to sense his confusion. "You know-Zelda? I found her."

Link's eyes widened in alarm.

"Oh, she's fine, of course," Ghirahim said. "Like I said, I'll take you to see her a little later on. But—I'll have to keep you confined here for now. I admit, I just don't know what to do with you." The demon lord looked unusually troubled. He handed Link another jar of water and said, "I just need to think about how this will all work out. But don't worry. I'll be back soon."

Ghirahim dissolved into diamond shards. Link sighed and turned back to the barred door. It would take some effort, but he thought he could pry it open with his sword. He felt an overwhelming worry, despite Ghirahim's reassurances. He had to get out of this place and find Zelda as soon as he could. Then everything would be all right.

Link slid the tip of his sword under the door.

Ghirahim looked at the empty chain on the floor, alarmed but not fully comprehending for those first few moments what it meant. Then something slammed into his side.

Ghirahim instinctively drew his sword and slashed at his attacker. He heard a gratifying hiss and saw the red stain on his blade. Got you that time, Sheikah dog.

He frowned at the shallow gash on her shoulder. That hadn't been where he was aiming—she had been too fast for him again. "You were dead."

Impa was dressed in a black cloak that covered even her mouth. She laughed, holding one hand to the gash on her shoulder. "Obviously not."

I'll have to correct that, then. Ghirahim lunged towards her with his sword. She moved out of the way just as he reached her, leaving only the edge of the path in front of him. Ghirahim had anticipated this, however, and teleported just as his momentum brought him to the edge.

He appeared directly in front of Impa and plunged his sword into her chest. And nearly fell over the edge as his sword went through air instead of an opponent. The image of Impa dissolved as he teleported away again.

He growled as he looked over at two Impas standing near the edge of the other side of the path. Both of them chuckled darkly, holding identical shoulder wounds. Ghirahim held his sword out, his eyes darting between the two identical figures.

That was when someone behind him tackled him to the ground. Impa grabbed the wrist of his sword arm and twisted. Ghirahim cried out as he heard a cracking sound in his wrist. The Sheikah ripped the sword from his hand and it clattered onto the rocky ground.

Then she grabbed his other hand, but instead of breaking it, she yanked the glove off and quickly traced the shape of a triangle on the back of it. Ghirahim gaped as the Shard of Truth rose out of his hand and the Sheikah snatched it away.

The demon lord narrowed his eyes and growled. "Give that back!" He healed his wrist and grabbed at the shard. "It's mine!"

"It will never again be yours." He saw her wince slightly as she rose and ran toward the golden door. Ghirahim teleported in front of her and snatched at the shard, but missed. The Sheikah kicked him to the ground, but tumbled over with him when he grabbed the hem of her cloak, tripping her. They rolled to the edge of the path over the lava. Impa held him down with one hand while the other clutched the shard.

"Give me the shard, you impudent twig!" Ghirahim demanded. He grasped at the fisted hand holding the shard.

Impa seemed to be wincing more now. Ghirahim didn't know why. He could see that she had already healed the gash on her shoulder. She moved her hand into a chokehold around his neck.

Ghirahim backhanded her in the face and she dropped the shard right over the lava.

In an instant, Ghirahim had snatched it out of the air. Then he dissolved into diamond shards, laughing.

"Never is a very short time, I suppose."

Impa stood still, scowling at the empty space in front of her. "So you're going to be a coward again, are you?"

"You tried to take my shard," Ghirahim's voice growled from the air. "How did you find out about it?"

Impa laughed. "You really think I'd tell you?"

"It was worth a try."

The Sheikah crossed her arms. "Don't you want my blood, demon? I've heard you like the taste of blood."

"The sound of my bones breaking rather ruins my appetite," Ghirahim replied. Her words were true, though, and not only in the sense that she believed them to be true. It was taking all of his self-control to stay in his air form. He really wanted to run her through with his sword. But it wasn't worth the risk. He had almost lost the shard, and that was unacceptable. What does the Sheikah want with it, anyway?

"Unfortunate," Impa said. "I wanted to get this over with." She waited for several minutes, but when he didn't appear, she walked over to the golden door and walked through it as if it wasn't there.

Ghirahim materialized onto the path and took a few moments to catch his breath. Then he teleported to the other side of the red double doors. Trelan and Nix were standing guard at the door calmly, as if nothing had happened.

"What are you doing here?" Ghirahim asked. "I told you to both to guard the girl."

Nix spoke first, her confusion evident. "But-you told us to guard the outside of this door when you returned, my lord."

Ghirahim grimaced. The Sheikah must have cast an illusion of me...

"My lord!" Nix said, tilting her head as she looked him up and down. "What happened to you?"

Ghirahim looked down at his scuffed and dusty clothes. "I was attacked by a Sheikah."

"But—how?" Trelan asked, clearly agitated. "With the spells you placed on the door, surely no one could have come through!"

The demon lord sighed. "Well, that Sheikah who came in with the spirit maiden somehow managed it."

Nix grimaced. "My lord, we thought she was dead. I don't know how she survived-"

Ghirahim held up a hand. "I do. She is an illusionist. She must have cast an image of herself falling into the lava so that we would think she was no longer a threat. She also cast an illusion of me asking you to return here—I was not the one who requested that."

"What happened to the spirit maiden?" Trelan asked with trepidation.

"Gone," Ghirahim said.

Both of the guards looked horrified. Nix spoke first. "What do you want us to do?"

"We must pursue them, of course. But I don't know where they're going yet, so just gather up the soldiers here and prepare to return to the Sealed Grounds for now."

The two guards nodded grimly. Ghirahim teleported back into the temple room behind the red doors and collected his dusty sword and glove.

Ghirahim appeared on the top of the dragon statue and collapsed onto it, his legs dangling over the edge. He pressed the shard back into the top of his hand and it was absorbed back into him. He stared at the black triangle of skin that had been revealed when the Sheikah had tried to take the shard. Finally, he pulled his glove back on and dissolved the sword back into his teleportation cache.

Everything had been going so well. Then he had lost the girl to the Sheikah, and he had almost-almost-lost the shard to her as well.

He clenched his fist. The next time he saw her, that Sheikah was going to pay for all of the pain and trouble she had put him through.

Link opened the enormous red double doors. He entered an enormous cavern with a long, winding path and made his way up it until he heard a familiar voice. "Oh, it's you." He looked up and saw Ghirahim standing on a dragon statue head far up in the air.

Ghirahim sighed heavily. "It seems I didn't do a very good job of confining you. I suppose I should be unhappy about that, but I find your persistence impressive. Also, I really need your help." He appeared in front of the elf. He gestured towards the rounded golden door under the statue. It glinted faintly in the distance. "Your friend and that Sheikah dog are on the other side of that door. But you can to open it for me." His eyes lit up.

Link looked between Ghirahim and the door. He shook his head. The elf took his sketchbook out of it's pouch and drew a quick sketch.

Ghirahim examined the drawing, and frowned at it. "You're afraid that the Sheikah and I will kill each other? Well, you don't have to worry about that. No Sheikah is going to kill me. Please, if you don't help me, the Sheikahs will soon have everything they need to Seal us away! Surely you don't want that."

Link shook his head. He sketched an image.

Ghirahim looked at the picture. It was an image of him talking to Tala. He looked up at Link, frowning. "I'm not sure you understand, Sky Hero. This conflict will not solved by negotiation."

Ghirahim sighed. "You're not going to help me open the door, are you?"

Link shook his head. He wished Ghirahim would at least consider his request.

"I understand," Ghirahim said, his expression pained. "I won't harm your friend, though. Surely you know that, right?"

Link nodded.

"I suppose this is as difficult for you as it is for me," the demon lord said. "But if you would only-" Ghirahim stopped. "Never mind. I can see in your eyes that you won't do it." He gave Link a disappointed look.

"This day has been absolutely infuriating," the demon lord began slowly, beginning to pace. He looked over at Link. "I hope you don't mind if I-vent a bit. You see, I was so happy when I saw my guards had finally found your friend. She was right here." he gestured to the ground link stood on. But then that agent of the goddess...she had once again...you see, what I'm trying to say is..." Ghirahim raised his clenched fists, "That Sheikah dog escaped with the girl!" Link backed away a few steps, and Ghirahim's expression changed from rage to regret. The demon lord lowered his arms and sighed. "Sorry. I suppose I got carried away. I just don't deal well with-complications to plans I've laid out so carefully. It's a character flaw of mine."

Ghirahim returned to his pacing.

"That Sheikah is certainly a complication. I must make sure that she doesn't succeed! She even tried to-" he paused. "Never mind. You see, though, the only way that something good can come of this day is if you help me open that door."

Link shook his head. Ghirahim was looking at him so hopefully. Link wanted to help him. But he knew he couldn't.

"Please, I-" the demon lord paused. "Sorry, just a moment." The demon lord went silent and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he looked agitated. "The Sheikahs are attacking my shield over the Sealed Grounds. I can't linger here. I—I'll talk to you later." He reached out his hand and brushed it against Link's before pulling away. Then he disappeared.

Link felt suddenly alone. For a long moment, he didn't move, only stared at the space in front of him. Then he began walking forward towards the golden door. He had been slowly trudging up the incline in the path when he heard a strange noise, like thunder. Looking up towards the source of the sound, he saw two figures he didn't recognize standing on top of the dragon statue. One was a red demon wearing robes and the other was a lanky green demon wearing a featureless mask. The demon with the mask tilted his head toward Link as if he could see the elf through the blank mask.

"So we meet again, Hylia's Beloved," the masked demon said. Link recognized the voice. It was the same cadence, the same tone, that the many-eyed creature in Skyloft had spoken with. "I am so very much going to enjoy seeing you die."