Chapter 20: Mercy

Ghirahim paced restlessly in his room. He hated waiting. He wanted to be doing something—planning, plotting, brushing his silvery-white hair, anything. But he also couldn't imagine doing any of those things right now, not when so much was at stake. Not when he was worried about the outcome of this battle, a battle he could have no personal influence over, but the result of which would change everything. And no matter what happens, it will not be good news for me. Link will not be happy with me if we win today. And if Tala wins...

"I don't like this," Orynx said.

Ghirahim stopped his pacing and looked up at Orynx's heavily-scarred face. " Are you agreeing with me? How odd. You so rarely do that, Orynx. Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, but I must wonder if you are. Why did you give Lord Terrin the sword?"

Ghirahim grimaced. "Because he is the only one who can approach Tala. I explained this to you earlier, I believe."

"I know that," Orynx said. "But it seems unnecessarily hasty. Lord Terrin cannot be trusted with such a powerful relic. His actions at the council meeting should have shown that to you beyond a shadow of a doubt."

"Don't be ridiculous. I knew long before that council meeting that Lord Terrin is not remotely trustworthy."

"Maybe if you took more time to plan, you could find another way to-"

"I see no other way to destroy Tala. Not without making unacceptable sacrifices."

"You are an unacceptable sacrifice," Orynx said. "You told me that the sword contains part of your essence. Your personality, not just your magic. What if the Sheikahs capture the sword, and find some way to cut you off from it permanently? They will be destroying part of you."

"Yes, I know. Which is why it is for the best in this case that I do not care about the fate of my wielder. After all, if the Sheikahs win this fight, less harm would come to me than it would to the one who wields the sword. I would just have to—adapt." he shuddered. He knew what it felt like to be cut off from the sword. Orynx was right. If anything, the loss of his magic was the least of his fears about that.

"What was it like, the last time it happened?"

"Let's not talk about that." Ghirahim stopped pacing and stared out the window at the forest below.

"My lord, I think it is important to-"

"Maybe I don't agree, Orynx."

Orynx growled. "Maybe I think you should tell me what to expect, if we should lose the sword. The loss would affect more than just you, after all."

Ghirahim gave the trees outside the window a wan smile. "I might be persuaded to tell you, if you tell me how you were able to defy Thressan."

"That is completely irrelevant to-"

"You want to know personal information. No matter what advantage you think it would give you to know it, I must disagree that it behooves me to tell you. So-why don't you humor me, if you really must know?"

"You ask far too much!" Orynx roared.

Ghirahim turned and brandished his rapier. "You're awfully touchy about this secret of yours. Perhaps you just need some outlet for all this unhealthy anger you have. A duel, perhaps?"

Orynx went silent.

"Well? Do you still need to rage around a bit?" Ghirahim asked. "Because I am more than happy to oblige."

"No."

"Ah, well." Ghirahim put the rapier away and turned back to the window.

"I have never told anyone what happened to me, all those years ago," Orynx said.

"Yes. And if you don't want to share, then neither do I." Ghirahim experienced an internal realization at that moment. Thank you, Shard of Truth, for telling me that I am being petulant. I plan to continue doing so.

Silence. Ghirahim wondered what Terrin was doing now. The sword was still sheathed. Probably still sneaking up on the Sheikahs' Temple. At least he has some caution. And at the very least, Terrin will not easily yield the sword to the Sheikahs. Of course, a wielder of the Unbreakable Sword could easily vanquish most opponents, especially those who wielded a sword. But many of the Sheikahs did not, and some of them were immensely skilled fighters.

"Never mind," Orynx said. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about Lanayru as well. You shouldn't be going into that death trap."

"Would you like to suggest a better idea?" Ghirahim stared out the window.

"How about you don't go? Maybe you should just give the other sorcerers a little talk, convince them to do their job?"

"You know, I thought you wouldn't be complaining. You've seemed more irate than usual lately. Surely you tire of hiding away from all of the battles?"

Orynx roared and Ghirahim heard a clattering sound. He turned and tilted his head at the splintered wood on the ground. "Tsk tsk, Orynx. Is this how you act when you don't get your way? By destroying my furniture? What did the poor table ever do to you?"

"Of course I hate waiting around here! But the only reason I need to be there is because you plan to be. And you are the last person who should be anywhere near that desert."

The demon lord narrowed his eyes. Could Orynx really still underestimate his abilities so badly? "Do you truly think I am so helpless that I can't handle a bit of irritating sand and a few inconveniently placed timestones?" He felt his rapier in his hand again. "I think you need a reminder of just what exactly I am capable of."

Orynx roared again. "Is that what you want? A duel? And what is the prize?"

Ghirahim grinned, his eyes narrowed. "I don't need any prize," he said, and licked the pristine sword. "But do feel free to beg for mercy."

Orynx snorted.

Of course. This is what I needed. The sword was about to fight a battle. Ghirahim couldn't expect himself to stand around passively while his other half had every sense on edge, preparing for the pivotal battle that was soon to come. He pointed his rapier at the blue demon. "And you? What do you imagine that you might win?"

Orynx shrugged, looking amused. "Should I even bother? As long as I get to break more furniture, I win either way."

Orynx unsheathed his blue scimitar and began to circle the demon lord. Ghirahim stood still as his ears listened to the sound of Orynx's footfalls from behind him. He lazily examined the red ruby on his sword hilt. As he heard the demon's sword slice towards him, he brought his own sword out and sliced an arc until he faced the other demon. The sound of the swords clashing was the sweetest music to Ghirahim.

He effortlessly drove the guard back towards the wall. Orynx picked up a chair and held it out like a shield.

Ghirahim laughed as he sliced the chair in half. Orynx dodged the blade as it sliced back up towards his arm. Then the guard ducked as Ghirahim's sword swiped at his nose. The demon lord gave an exasperated sigh as his sword sliced through the wardrobe instead.

Ghirahim lunged towards Orynx, his sword easily deflecting the larger one as the guard tried to find an opening. The demon lord used his most powerful blow to knock the sword from the guard's hand. Orynx winced as the blue steel clattered to the ground. But as Ghirahim's sword slashed the guard's arm, he felt Orynx kick his feet out from under him.

As the Demon Lord fell, his sword sliced through the back of another chair.

Ghirahim took a few moments to catch his breath while he contemplated the blue and yellow patterned carpet beneath him. Then he jumped up and pointed his sword at Orynx, who was breathing heavily. The tip of his sword rested on the guard's neck.

"You're getting blood on my carpet," Ghirahim said.

Orynx glanced down at his arm where Ghirahim had nicked him. "Looks like I win, then."

Ghirahim lowered his sword and surveyed the wreckage of his room. "Hah. You wish. But I suppose it is a tie of sorts, as you seem to have succeeded in your goal as well. This room is a mess."

Suddenly he leaned forward, using his rapier as a support. The Unbreakable Sword had been unsheathed.

"Are you all right?" Orynx asked, moving forward.

Ghirahim held a hand out. "I'm fine, but thanks for asking." If he wanted to focus most of his attention on the sword, he had to allow most everything else to be blocked out. Fortunately, the room Ghirahim stood in was free of any major distractions. Besides a bit of broken furniture. The demon lord was able to easily concentrate on the location of the sword.

He could see the inside of the Sheikah temple in great detail. Terrin faced an enormous crowd of the red and black-garbed warriors.

"All right," the masked demon said, brandishing the sword out towards the group in front of him. "This is very simple. I am Lord Terrin, the vengeance incarnate of Demise. Oh, and I am here for Tala. But I will be more than happy to kill any of you who get in the way. Cower and run, or fight, and die now. Which will it be?"

"Neither," a voice behind the crowd of Sheikahs said. Ghirahim sensed Terrin turn toward the voice. He stalked toward the crowd, who parted to reveal the red-robed Sheikah woman. "I will fight you myself."

Terrin lunged towards Tala with the sword. A tree erupted from the ground. Terrin sliced it in half with the sword. Laughing, he hacked at the old woman in front of him, but when her form abruptly disappeared he shrieked angrily. Vines snaked down from the ceiling. Terrin hacked at them and at any Sheikahs who approached him, but Ghirahim could see that he was greatly outnumbered. The Sheikahs closed in on him, clearly intent on destroying the intruder in their midst.

"Get out of there," Ghirahim muttered.

Almost as if he had heard him, Lord Terrin turned and hacked his way through the vines and back toward the doors. He crashed through them and ran towards the shielded pit. As he approached the shield, an arrow hit him in the shoulder. Terrin halted abruptly. Taking the crossbow from his back, he shot back at the Sheikah. She went down as she was hit in the chest. Terrin turned and ran the rest of the way through the shield. Ghirahim cursed as the masked demon sheathed the sword, then turned to Orynx. "He failed, but managed to escape. Let's go retrieve the sword from him."

Orynx nodded, frowning. Ghirahim teleported them both to the last area he had seen Lord Terrin in. They appeared behind the masked demon, who was walking briskly down the incline on the side of the pit despite his injury. He stopped suddenly. "My apologies, Lord Ghirahim. It seems they were too well prepared for me."

At that moment, Astaroth also appeared in front of Lord Terrin.

"My lord, your injuries-"

"Was the arrow poisoned?" Lord Terrin asked.

Astaroth frowned, briefly touching the arrow. "No, but-"

"Then I am not in any immediate danger." Terrin turned to face Ghirahim and Orynx. "I would ask for more time to kill Tala, but I know you cannot give it. Still, I could carry the sword for you in Lanayru. As I understand, the one who guards the goddess incarnate is quite the troublemaker. If you wish to-"

"No," Ghirahim said. "You are not one who will follow orders if they displease you. Is that not so?"

Terrin said nothing for a long moment. "I only disobey foolish orders."

"Those being anything you don't like. No, when I go to capture the Goddess, I will need the wielder of the sword to be more—disciplined. I cannot be distracted by insubordination at such a critical time."

Terrin's blank mask looked between Ghirahim and Orynx. "Then I cannot possibly understand why you trust him more than me. But I can see you will not be convinced." He unsheathed the sword and held it out, hilt first, toward the guard. "Try not to die anywhere too remote, Orynx. I'm going to be needing this back."

Orynx took the sword and resheathed it. "I try not to die in general."

The moment Link returned to the sky and landed on the back of his Loftwing, he could sense the difference in the connection between Firestar and himself. Instead of just a whisper in the back of his mind, her thoughts were loud and bright and clear. Images and emotions swirled into each other, revealing details he had never known or imagined. He wondered-would she understand one of his thoughts...?

Link held on tightly as he felt Firestar go into a tight spin. He let out a yell of joy. As they came out of the spin, Link took a few moments to adjust his sense of direction. Then he practiced directing Firestar with thoughts, rather than movements.

They landed near the light tower. Link jumped off of Firestar and walked toward the bazaar. He stopped at the door.

"This tastes disgusting!" Groose said. "And it doesn't even work very well! I demand my money back!"

"Er, eh, well, you see-" Bertie began. The baby strapped to his back began to cry.

Luvina stalked over towards Groose. "No refunds," she said crisply. "And it's not Bertie's fault that all you brought him were some mangled butterflies. What's he supposed to do with such poor raw materials. Pah!"

Groose scowled. "Those were hard to catch!"

"Maybe you should just go ask your friend for some of his-"

Groose gave her an affronted look. "You must be kidding me. Strich gives those things names."

Luvina shrugged. "Not my problem." She turned to Link and smiled. "Now, how can I help you, dear?"

Groose scowled and stalked off. Link held out one of his empty bottles. He wondered why Groose had been trying to buy potions. The brawny elf had always said disparagingly that only weaklings needed healing aids. Link thought that was silly, but he had to wonder what had changed Groose's mind on the subject.

He considered the potions in front of him and tried to decide what he could take. At least with Firestar by his side, he could have a lot more supplies with him. He would need them. He had been told that the land he journeyed to was a barren desert, a land that was dead and without mercy.

Ghirahim glanced at the six demons seated around him and said, "Let's get started. Lord Terrin is having his injuries tended to, so will not be able to attend the meeting today."

The nobles seated around him all looked more cheered on hearing that. Not Ferrik, though-he had already looked as enthused as Ghirahim thought it was possible to look seated in a chair. Well, it is his first council meeting. Orynx looked the same as ever, a small frown on his heavily scarred face. He was reading a book.

Ghirahim continued. "Anyway, I need to make this short, since I leave for Lanayru tonight."

Grendel gave him a curt nod. Rustling his papers, the green demon said, "First item on the agenda is-"

"-a grievance I wish to address between myself and the Lord Grendel." Rend sharpened his machete.

Grendel's eyes shifted to the blue demon and then very deliberately to the two guards at his side. The two large red moblins both carried a large, square shield of steel and a lance. The green demon stood and read from a paper. "Ahem. First item on the agenda is for Lord Ghirahim to explain how he can vanquish one who possesses the Unbreakable Sword."

Lord Rend looked over at Ghirahim, his expression nonchalant. "My item can be second."

Ghirahim examined the two guards who flanked Grendel. The green demon lord had not brought the two last time, and in fact had never brought them to any Table meetings. It seems he is feeling especially threatened. Ghirahim scowled.

Lord Terrin will feel so terribly left out. He always likes when there is the promise of bloodshed. Ghirahim, however, would be very cross if any of his noble heirs decided to wage war on each other.

Even with the two hulking guards at his side, Ghirahim noticed that Grendel twitched slightly as he seated himself. Rend only chuckled softly. Ghirahim leaned back slightly in his chair and massaged his temples. After a few moments, he stopped, took a deep breath, and turned his attention back to the matter at hand. One disaster at a time. I have a secret to give away first.

He glanced between all of the assembled nobles and his two Elite Guards, and spoke. "I have agreed to tell all of you this because I no longer see much advantage in keeping it secret." Ghirahim took a deep breath. And because I cannot allow Terrin to have anything to blackmail me with. He was silent for a long moment. What will they think of me, once they truly understand what I am? The four nobles watched him with rapt attention. Grendel's guards looked no less interested. Ferrik smiled smugly. Orynx ignored them all, turning a page in his book.

Ghirahim stood, placing the palms of his gloved hands on the table. "I cannot say this information will help any of you, but I believe you all wish to know it, regardless. The reason I can defeat the wielder of the Unbreakable Sword is because I am the Unbreakable Sword."

Lady Pyre murmured something to Lord Rend. Amelia tilted her head, appearing to consider this new information. Grendel paled, looking mortified. Ferrik continued looking smug and Orynx continued not looking at anyone at all. So quiet. I wish I could ask them all what they were thinking. But I cannot measure everything that way, not without changing the very thing I try to measure.

So instead he explained how he had become bonded to the sword, and what that meant for him, and for the sword.

Ghirahim gave them a bright smile. "Any questions?" he asked. "I would not want there to be any unfortunate misunderstandings."

Lord Rend looked fascinated. "So you're a sword spirit. Like an opposite to that Fi creature?"

"Yes," Ghirahim said. "Although I am the combination of the sword and a demon. I'm—not at all sure what kind of creature Fi was, before she was joined to her sword." Or even if she ever existed independently of the Goddess Sword at all.

"Why did you keep this a secret to everyone for so long?" Amelia asked.

This was the question that Ghirahim had worried over. How should I answer? He took a deep breath. "I cannot wield the sword. I was worried that some might believe—that wielding it would give them some special power over me."

Amelia gave him a small smile. "That didn't seem to work out for Releris. But I think I understand your concern. That sounds like it could be quite the hassle."

Grendel slowly raised his hand.

"Yes, Lord Grendel?"

"So does that mean that the sword gave you its personality? I mean, is it really vain and-"

Ghirahim composed what he thought would be a fitting response. "Yes, Lord Grendel. The Unbreakable Sword demands its wielder to praise its beauty daily or it sulks. Aren't you glad you learned that?"

Grendel only narrowed his eyes in response, though his two moblin guards chuckled slightly.

"Ah, I have another question," Lady Amelia said.

"Yes?" Ghirahim asked.

"Do you wish us to keep this information to ourselves?" she asked.

Ghirahim took a deep breath. He had already considered what should be done in the matter of continued secrecy. "No. I certainly won't be, so feel free to tell whomever you like."

"I wish to ask a question," Lady Pyre said.

"Yes?" Ghriahim turned to face her.

"Of what significance is your wielder to you? I notice that your guard Orynx often carries your sword."

Orynx frowned deeper, although he could have just been reading a particularly unpleasant passage.

The demon lord glanced between Pyre and Orynx. "I have had many wielders in the past, and will surely have many more in the future. Such a thing requires careful consideration, but in this case, it is a matter of convenience. I prefer to keep the sword near me when possible, so choosing one of my guards seemed best."

Ghirahim looked at the sundial in the center of the table. "Ah, it seems we are out of time for item one on our agenda, although I will be happy to answer more of your questions later." He gestured to the blue bokoblin. "On to you now, Lord Rend."

Lord Grendel ducked his head lower behind his papers.

Lord Rend stood. "I wish to address an apology to Lord Grendel."

Grendel lowered his papers abruptly. He stared at Lord Rend. "Er—sorry?"

"Yes, much like that," Rend said. "Only I will try to be more eloquent. You see, it has come to my attention that there may still be bad blood between our houses."

Ghirahim clasped his hands and leaned back in his chair, his eyes alert for any sudden movements. Orynx is right—nobles are nothing but trouble.

Grendel's eyes narrowed. "You only just noticed that, did you? Do you mean to challenge me to a duel or somesuch honorable thing to clear it up?" The green demon rolled his eyes.

"Of course not," Lord Rend scoffed. "That would be a rather poor apology, I should think, even if your father would have thought otherwise."

Grendel's mouth thinned into a line. He grabbed a book and opened it to what Ghirahim assumed was a random page, since the cover title was upside down.

"My father would have insisted on single combat with you for the slight you dealt our house, and not have been satisfied until he had spilled your entrails to the floor. But he is many years gone. Still, are you sure you don't wish to make some use of that bit of metal you're always waving about? I find duels such messy and distressing things. But my cousins here quite enjoy them, and I would not wish to deny them their-amusements."

Grendel's two moblin guards grinned and tapped their spears on the floor.

Rend only shook his head. "I could best those two easily, but I am not interested in dueling. I have a much better idea. You see, I owe you an apology, but so too do you owe me one."

"I owe you nothing," Grendel said curtly. "Your words of apology are meaningless to me."

"I could give it back to you."

Ghirahim raised an eyebrow. It, as the item was always referred to, was whatever token that Rend had taken from Grendel. For whatever reason, neither would disclose the nature of the item, but Ghirahim had confirmed through various oblique questions that whatever it was, it was of no interest to him. Whatever item Grendel wants back so badly could hardly be anything of great worth. Though I must still wonder what it is.

Grendel stared at the bokoblin. "Give—it back?"

Rend nodded. "We can trade apologies."

"It is mine by rights." Grendel scowled.

"I won it fairly. But I will only return it if I may have a similar apology from you."

Grendel seemed to consider this. "Very well. In that case, I'm sorry to have left you in the dark. It was very wrong of me."

Rend inclined his head. "That is most gratifying to hear from you. And if it were just me you had slighted, I might even be willing to accept such an apology."

Grendel frowned.

"But you also left a large number of my soldiers to rot in those cells. So you must apologize to them as well."

Grendel's features settled into a thin-lined frown. "Certainly. If you would bring them by sometime soon, I could say my apology to all of them as well."

"That's not what I meant. You said yourself that words are meaningless to you."

"But-"

"Still, you seem to be willing to accept other kinds of apology, so I shall extend the same offer to you."

"What do you mean? I do not have anything that I could think you would want in return."

Rend chuckled slightly. "Time, Lord Grendel. Time is the most precious thing of all."

"I hardly see how I can give you that."

"I have a great deal of Eldin Ore in a mine shaft that needs to be cleared away for a current—project of mine. I could use some assistance with that."

Grendel only stared at him for a moment. "I don't have any servants you can borrow."

"I wasn't talking about servants," Rend said. "I was talking about you."

Grendel made a choking sound. "No," he said forcefully. "How dare you even suggest-"

"Then I think I'll keep that trinket of yours."

Rend glanced briefly over at Ghirahim. The blue bokoblin stood, and addressed everyone. "I wish to vote on the acquisition of temporary assistance for the purposes of finishing my work at the mogma mine quickly. They shall, of course, be compensated fairly for their work-"

"Fine!" Grendel said, slamming his book shut. "I'll do it! But I want you to give back what you have stolen."

Rend glanced over at Grendel. "You have a deal." He smiled at the others at the Table. "Never mind. It seems this matter is now resolved."

After the meeting, Ghirahim reflected that it had gone better than expected. Although he hoped that he wouldn't have to deal with the mess between Grendel and Rend later. He briefly considered those he had chosen for the Diamond Table. He had had good reasons for choosing all of them, but unfortunately their feelings of goodwill towards each other had not been one of those reasons. It would not have been possible to choose a group who all got along with one another. And at least only some of them hate each other—that in itself was genius of me.

As Ghirahim walked to his room to gather a few supplies, he considered the meeting. No one had seemed too appalled that Ghirahim was a part of the Unbreakable Sword. He hadn't really been sure what to expect. Still, maybe their acceptance was simply because they hadn't had time to realize what that really meant. He would have to hope that they would still be as accepting when they did.

Link looked down into the dark river waters from Firestar's back. He was glad that Loftwings were skilled at floating on the water's surface. When he had drawn a picture of that for Sheik, the Sheikah man had laughed and said that he hadn't known that the legendary birds of the Sky People were giant ducks. At least he hadn't seemed disappointed like some of the other Sheikahs, who had said they were expecting a great eagle or hawk, or at least some kind of mount fit for a warrior. Link hadn't known what any of them were talking about, and he felt a bit defensive about his bird. Nearly everyone in Skyloft thought she was extraordinary, but apparently the surface dwellers had different standards.

Link returned his thoughts to the present. The area was dim and quiet, which increased the tendency of his mind to wander, but he had to pay attention. Somewhere in the river, he knew he would find Fi. He held the lantern Sheik had given him out, examining the waters closely. Sheik had seemed to think that he would be able to find Fi easily. Link hoped that was true.

That was when he saw a brilliant blue light around the next bend. Link urged his Loftwing forward. As he turned the bend, he saw her. Fi was floating in the air, though her gaze was turned toward a group of—some kind of creatures. They swam at the surface of the water, their long snouts pointed up towards Fi.

Link approached the sword spirit.

"Ah, Master Link," she said. "I knew you would find me. I have been assisting the river parella."

Link turned to face the parella. They looked somehow familiar, but Link had no idea how that could be. It wasn't as if there was anything like them in Skyloft. They had a long tail and two fins under a mantle. Peering out from their long necks were faces with large eyes and long snouts. Their skin glowed with blue or red light in the darkness of the canyon.

Link looked back at her. Did these people need help with something?

"Ah, do not be troubled, Master Link. This parella family was looking for one of their young, but I have already located her."

A large, bright green tadpole stuck its head out of the water. "Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks to the Great Sword Spirit Fi!"

A parella used its tail to hold the Goddess Sword out to Link. He realized that the small parella must be fairly strong to be able to hold the sword like that without much effort. "Here—Fi has been waiting for you, and I'm sure you wish to take her sword back. Still, I don't know what I would have done if we hadn't seen her suddenly fall out of the sky. She was able to locate Lilyfin, when we had given up hope of ever finding her."

Link grasped the sword and gave the parella a smile. He had wondered what Fi might be thinking, trapped in the canyon river. She never gave much indication of her feelings, but Link knew she had them. Apparently, though, she had made the best of it.

Link had resheathed Fi, and was readying Firestar to fly away, when he heard the screams. Looking up, he saw a woman emerge from the river. A woman with long black hair and pale white skin. And dead, merciless eyes. She grabbed one of the river parella and began dragging him away. He bellowed for help from the clawed hand that clutched him. Link jumped into the river, attempting to swim after the redead.

Too late he realized his mistake-his chainmail and sword were too heavy for him to swim with. He began to sink to the bottom. Flailing about wildly, he suddenly grasped onto feathers underneath him. Firestar brought him to the surface, where he gasped for air.

He urged Firstar to follow the parella who was being dragged away. Link unsheathed his sword and took a deep breath before Firestar dove after the redead. When they caught up with the creature, it turned, swimming easily through the water. Baring it's teeth in a feral snarl, the redead slashed at Firstar with its free hand. Firestar bit down on the arm, holding it in place. Holding on to his bird's mane, Link plunged his sword into the creature's chest.

The submerged body was lit briefly with a bright blue light, and then the redead emitted a shrill scream before seeming to dissolve before his eyes. Firestar surfaced again, her beak clicking open and shut, and Link gasped for air. As he caught his breath, he saw a parella emerge from the water.

"Th-thank you for saving me, Hero," the parella said, his voice shaking.

"Dad!" Link saw the small green Lilyfin swim over to the shaking parella. The other parella were not far behind.

"I-I'm okay," the blue parella said, holding out a fin to his daughter.

Fi flipped out of the sword. "Master, the creature you just vanquished should not exist in this realm. From my brief contact with it, I was able to analyze it sufficiently to trace where it entered the river."

She pointed to an area ahead that Link could just make out from the light she gave off. Link urged Firestar to swim to the canyon wall Fi had pointed to. When they stopped in front of it, Link saw a small hole in the wall, one that might be just large enough for a person—or a redead—to fit through.

"I can seal this area off," Fi said.

Link nodded emphatically. Fi held up her wings and a bright blue orb came out of them and settled over the canyon wall. When she finished, she turned back to Link.

"The entry into our world of the one you just fought is a side effect of the Seal weakening. We must find the power that can restore the Seal soon."

A part of Link emphatically agreed. But he also remembered that doing so would trap the demons along with these creatures. He had to help Ghirahim and the other demons work out a peace with the Sheikahs, and soon. He couldn't bear to think of Sealing the demons away, but something had to be done about the redeads. He thought back to what the Lower Realms was like, with its countless walking dead, and shuddered.

Ghirahim rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He looked around the bottom of the pit at the crowd gathered around him. So far, half of the soldiers traveling to Lanayru had gathered here to be teleported to the outer fringes of the desert. They bustled around him, checking their weapons and gear and reining in the horses. The horses had been an afterthought, almost. But Ghirahim had seen no reason not to steal a few from the Sheikahs.

Ghirahim fed the reddish horse in front of him an apple. She had been the one he liked the most, so he had decided she would be his steed. Hmmm. You should have a name...

"Epona," he said on impulse. "I think I will call you Epona." He gave the horse a brief pat on the nose, where she was marked by a streak of white. The mare didn't seem to have any opinion on her new name, bad or good. He decided she was probably too occupied crunching the apple between her teeth to pay any mind to such things. Certainly her kind seem much more intelligent and good-natured than the giant millipedes we use for mounts in the Lower Realms. She doesn't even seem inclined to try to eat me. What a lovely creature.

His eyes glanced up at the slivered moon for a moment, and then back to the torches. Then he glanced at Epona again before his eyes moved away to settle on the thing he stood next to. He brushed a glove against the Seal. The stone spike was covered with a tracery of glowing runes and centered in a patterned spell-circle of immense power, its beauty a mockery of the pain and suffering of which it was the source. He sent a spell into it, idly seeking some weak point. He hadn't found one yet, but he was sure he would eventually, if he kept trying.

Shouts and the clash of swords broke out far above him. Ghirahim's head jerked up. Some of the demons were attacking a party of Sheikahs. He squinted. A large shape stood towering over them, but Ghirahim couldn't make out any more detail. He teleported to the top of the pit and drew his sword. Immediately, he recognized who the towering shadow was.

Granite. His attention quickly moved back to the battle around him, however. The Sheikahs had been winning, as Ghirahim could see from the many fallen demons, but their eyes widened when they saw him. The demon lord grinned. He stabbed one of them in the chest before the man could bring down his sword to finish one of Ghirahim's soldiers.

All of the sounds-the screams and shouts of battle, the clash of swords, seemed to grow quieter. The world seemed to focus itself into the movements around him. This is what I was meant to do. He enjoyed the looks of terror on the Sheikah's faces as he laughed and slashed at them.

A well-muscled Sheikah man came at him with an axe. He caught the other weapon easily on his sword, much to the surprise of the Sheikah. Then he backed the man into a half-ruined wall. "Surrender, and I'll spare your life."

The black longsword materialized into his right hand and blocked the blade behind him. In a single stroke, he had disarmed the Sheikah woman who had tried to sneak up on him. He held the longsword at her neck. He realized these two were the last of the Sheikahs in the group they had been fighting. Breathing deeply, he could feel the eyes of his remaining soldiers on him.

"You are outnumbered. Agree to retreat, and you may both return to your temple in peace". His eyes glanced briefly towards Granite. "And leave the goron with us."

"I will never-" the Sheikah man said, his large arms straining to push his axe against Ghirahim's sword.

"No! Please!" Granite said. "Let them take me, Kel." She gave the demon lord a pleading look. "Don't hurt them. I'll go with you."

The demon lord gave the two Sheikahs a sharp glare. Even now I can see in their eyes that they plot to gain the advantage. I should never have offered them mercy.

"It's simple, really," Ghirahim said. "You can both be cut down in a valiant but pointless display of defiance, or you can retreat with your lives. And if you don't take the second option, I will be all too happy to give you the first one."

"Fine, you win," the man growled. "We'll leave."

"Good. Drop your weapons. Leave now." Ghirahim said. "And don't try anything."

"At least let us take our dead-" the woman said.

"No! Now go, unless you'd prefer to join them."

Both Sheikahs let go of their weapons. They backed slowly away, their open hands raised. Ghirahim gestured to his soldiers to let the two Sheikahs pass, and a space opened up in the circle of demon soldiers who stood around them. Ghirahim expected the two to try to attack again at any moment, but they both retreated back to their temple.

Ghirahim took a deep breath and looked at his rapier. It was covered in blood. Blood he longed to taste...But I won't. For Link.

Instead, the demon lord dissolved both of his swords and gave a bow to his soldiers, who cheered.

Ghirahim had the dead soldiers and Sheikahs both dragged away to the burning pits. He said a few words, lit the fires, and then left two sentries to watch the fire. Normally, he would have preferred to wait until the end of the burning before leaving. But time was short, and there was someone he owed a great deal to sitting in his dungeons. It wouldn't do.

He found the soldiers who had captured the goron and had them bring him to her cell. At least they brought her to one of the hostage cells and not the ones on the lower floors.

"Ahem. Which one of you led the capture of this goron?"

"He's being burned, sir," one of the soldiers responded. She gave him a deep bow. "But I am the next in rank, so I am to take responsibility for his actions."

"And what is your name?"

"Hecate."

"If I may ask, Hecate, how did you come across this goron?"

"We saw her being transported by those Sheikahs, sir. She seemed very important to them so we decided to take her for questioning. We—underestimated the ability of the Sheikahs, though. If you hadn't appeared-"

"Yes, I noticed you weren't doing so well. But-I did ask that no soldiers bother any goron except in self-defense."

"True. We weren't planning to harm her, though, only the Sheikahs. And we thought she might be important for questioning. The Sheikahs were guarding her very closely, so she must be quite valuable to them."

Ghirahim said nothing for a moment, wondering if the soldier would notice her mistake.

"Sorry," she said. "I meant-we only planned to rough her up a bit. We were aware of your orders sir, but—the gorons are clearly friends of the Sheikahs, and we do not like them. I apologize for how badly we assessed their strength."

Ghirahim sighed. "There is nothing I could say that would tell you anything you don't already know." He glanced at their uniform insigna. "You will all be demoted down one rank for disobeying my orders."
"Understood, sir," Hecate said.

"But you will all receive medals of commendation for bravery. If you can learn from your mistakes here, I may reverse your demotion. Otherwise I will be forced to take more drastic action."

Hecate nodded. "Thank you sir. We won't fail you again."

"Good. Please leave me now. I wish to question the goron alone."

Hecate nodded and the four soldiers filed down the hallway. Ghirahim teleported into the cell. He tapped Granite on the arm, and the scenery around them shifted.

"It is unfortunate that we must meet this way, but I am glad to see you alive, Granite."

"Where—is this?" She looked at the pointed rocks jutting up from the depths around them, and then at the pond with the waterfall.

"Close to the summit of Eldin. I thought it might be best to talk in a more private place." He peered up at her craggy face. "I am surprised to see you, Granite. What brought you so close to the Sealed Grounds? Surely you must know they are not a safe place to be right now."

"I find my words hard to express. Perhaps you are not the person I remember, who spared my life and vowed to spare the life of my family. Perhaps you know only bloodshed now."

Ghirahim took a deep breath. "I know you must be shaken by what you just saw. But I want to know what I can do to help you. Here." He took his glove off and traced the outline of the Shard on his right hand. The Shard floated out of his hand. He snatched it up with his left hand and held it out to Granite. "Borrow this, so you can know the truth of my words."

Granite seemed to calm as she took the Shard. "It's my daughter. She told me-" Granite paused, took a deep breath. "She told me you tried to kill her."

"Me?" Ghirahim said, surprised. He felt a strange emptiness without the Shard. "You said your family would all wear the amulets so they could be easily identified. Anyway, I haven't even met any other gorons yet, and my soldiers are under orders not to harm any, although I see that did not quite work out as I had hoped-"

"My daughter is not a goron," Granite said.

"Then who do you refer to?" Ghirahim asked, trying to think of who she might mean.

"Impa is my daughter."

For a moment, Ghirahim could say nothing. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Granite gave him a worried look. "Years ago, I gave the amulet to her and told her to wear it, but—I couldn't tell her why. I don't think she ever really liked the look of it."

Ghirahim took a deep breath. "I didn't know."

"Yes, that's why I had to tell you."

"This presents a problem," Ghirahim said. "Your-daughter, she is the one who guards the spirit maiden, is she not?"

"Of course," Granite responded.

"I did not realize that in order to keep my word to you, I would have to agree to lose." Ghirahim paced back and forth over the weathered rock, pulling at his hair in agitation. "Impa is one of the most dangerous of all the Sheikah. Only Tala is more of a threat. I'm afraid that I will have to break my oath to you—I am sorry, but I have no other choice."

"Please-there must be some other way!"

Ghirahim looked up at her. "Granite, I understand your distress. You trusted that your family would be safe from me, but you find me unwilling to keep my word. Still, I do not take the breaking of any promise lightly."

Granite tilted her head. "What do you mean by that?"

"I cannot say that I will not fight Impa, because I will not lose my life or this war to her. But I will grant her that mercy which I would not have otherwise considered. I will not kill her."

Granite's expression was more hopeful. "Thank you."

"It is the least I can do. I should probably be heading back soon, and then I could teleport you back to wherever you'd like to be. Is there anything else you wished to tell me?"

"Yes. I—came to ask for asylum from the Sheikahs."

"What?" Ghirahim asked, surprised.

"I did not plan to encounter the Sheikahs at all when I came here—they stumbled on me while I was sleeping. But I can't bear to think of facing Tala. I was tasked to tell her that you still possess the Shard of Truth. But in order to do that, I would have to admit that I was the one who gave it to you, which is treason. There is no worse punishment than that for traitors. I might have been forgiven, but I just couldn't risk that. And now I know it is too late even for that hope."

"What about your daughter?"

Granite looked down. "I will be a traitor in her eyes as well. But I have done what I can for her, at least."

"I will help you. The Sealed Grounds is not at all a safe place to be at this time. But you could go home, or to a new hiding place of your choosing-"

"No," she said, smiling, though there were tears in her eyes. "I cannot hide from my dear Impa. I must instead be in a place that she cannot reach. If the Sealed Grounds are too dangerous, I must ask if I may stay somewhere in the Lower Realms."

"You escaped that place once," Ghirahim said quietly. "I am—unsure how you could wish to return."

"I was a prisoner, then. I would not be now."

"This is truly what you wish? Even though you would not be a prisoner, you would still have limited freedom there."

"Yes. I understand."

Ghirahim tried not to let his misgivings show on his features. "Then I will make the arrangements immediately."

"Thank you." She held the Shard back out to him, and the demon lord took it back.

Ghirahim stood in the sand of Lanayru, the sun shining down brightly and seeming to make the entire place glitter. But the most striking thing about the place were the ruins.

"I wonder why there are all these giant heads," Ghirahim said idly, as he walked past one of the giant monuments, Orynx and Ferrik at either side of him. He surveyed the odd-looking ruins around the teleportation site.

He had reused the same teleportation site the first ill-fated group had used. It had been their only piece of luck, really, that their initial teleport hadn't been directly onto a timestone site. Ghirahim hoped he could fix whatever what was wrong with this place. It wasn't really that bad, after all.

"Comfortable weather," Ghirahim remarked. "A bit dry. We'd need to port in water. But—lots of space, and not many current occupants. We could build new cities here."

"What about those things the Lanayru contingent warned us about?" Ferrik asked.

"We'll just have to wait and see what we can learn about them. I don't think we should-" Ghirahim paused as he noticed a movement in the distance. His sword materialized in his hand. "Actually, I think we are about to find out."

Ghirahim heard both guards unsheath their swords. He watched the figures in the distance approach slowly. As they drew closer, Ghirahim was sure they had to be the same creatures that the Lanayru contingent had encountered. They hovered in the air as they approached, their cream-colored bodies gleaming in the sunlight.

"Do you want us to attack?" Darrow asked. Ghirahim looked to his side. The red bokoblin was now standing to one side of Orynx, holding a shortsword.

"Not yet," Ghirahim said. "Let's wait to see what they do first."

Darrow nodded.

When the five creatures were about twenty feet away they stopped. The one in the middle, which had a slash across one of its eyes, spoke. "I see you did not heed our warning."

"Perhaps you could elaborate," Ghirahim said. "My soldiers did not mention you giving them any warning."

"I should think their fate would have been warning enough." the creature tilted its head.

"What should I call you?" Ghirahim asked.

"I don't see why that is of any importance, but we are all of the LD-307 series."

"I see. So that is the kind of creature you are. An LD-307. But what is your name?"

The creature tilted its head in the other direction. "You mean my designation in the series? I am One, the commander of this unit, of course."

"Well," Ghirahim said. "I can't say it's nice to meet you, One. But I would like to introduce myself. I am Lord Ghirahim, the Lord of the Surface. Naturally, I wish to know what your quarrel is with us."

The creature beeped. "You mean to say that you do not know why we attacked your soldiers, Demon Lord?"

"No. Please enlighten me."

"We fought your soldiers because they attacked us first, destroying hundreds of those whom we protect until they were forced to call upon us for help."

Ghriahim frowned. The LD-307 was telling the truth. "I don't-"

"Enough of this," the LD-307 said imperiously. "You must turn back, or we will destroy you."

Ghirahim scowled. "You seem to have an overly high opinion of yourself. You are greatly outnumbered and do not appear to have any significant weapons."

"Ah. Ha. Ha," One said, and emitted a shrill whistle. The sand erupted with hundreds of orbs that rose into the air. Ghirahim heard a 'clink', and saw ten long claws emerge from One's fingers. The other four LD-307's did the same.

Ghirahim looked around himself. This might be a bluff. The orbs, painted with stylized red eyes, looked threatening, but it was unclear to Ghirahim what they might actually do. Still, it would be unwise to act rashly.

Ghirahim heard screams in the group behind him and saw that several of the orbs had opened their outer shell and were firing small bombs at the soldiers. Then again, it seems the time for negotiations have ceased. Ghirahim ran at One and slashed at the LD-307 with his sword. Ghirahim heard a metallic ring as the creature caught his sword on silver claws.

The demon lord growled and slashed again at the claws. He had been told that the creatures possessed retractable claws, but no one had mentioned that they were made of metal. He hacked again at the claws but the creature deflected the attack easily.

He heard a scream from Ferrik and turned to see that the red demon was being electrocuted by another one of the LD-307's. Ghirahim turned and slashed at the shoulder that bright blue lightning flowed from. The lightning ceased both the LD and Ferrik slumped to the ground. Ghirahim gave him a worried look before slashing at One, who had come up from behind him. Ghirahim snarled at the creature.

"What is the meaning of this?!" the demon lord growled. "You attack us without provocation."

"What your friends who came this way before did is provocation enough," the creature said. "And when I am finished, you will learn the meaning of fear and pain."

"There must be some misunderstanding," Ghirahim said. "Stop this madness so we might negotiate a truce."

"It is too late for that," One said, "We demand justice. No mercy to monsters!"

Ghirahim stabbed the creature in one swift stroke. It's blood was strange—thick and black, with a sharply unpleasant scent. Blue lightning traveled down his sword, tingling harmlessly at his fingertips. Ghirahim ripped his sword out and stabbed the creature again with what should have been a killing blow, but suddenly he doubled over in a spasm of pain. He fought to stay conscious over the agonizing and unfamiliar sensation that coursed through him. Then a large rock hit One, releasing Ghirahim from the hold of the blue lightning and causing the creature to at last tumble to the ground and grow still.

Ghirahim toppled to his knees as he heard someone run up from behind him. "My lord? What happened?"

Ghirahim took a few deep breaths before standing. He realized with a chill that he couldn't feel the sword anymore. That's why, then. With my magic gone, the lightning nearly overtook me. "Where's Orynx?"

Darrow gestured into the distance towards a group of soldiers surrounded by orbs. "Helping them fight off those orbs. I think we got all of the LD-307's. Are you all right?"

"I—yes, I'm fine," Ghirahim said. He turned towards Orynx, Who was being attacked by two of the LD's and a large group of the orbs. "I must go assist him." He hobbled towards Orynx. Relief washed over him when he could once again sense the sword. Ghirahim helped Orynx to defeat the LD's. Once they lay motionless on the ground, the nearby orbs became easy to dispatch. Unlike the five LD's, the orbs did not seem to be intelligent. Their movements and attacks were predictable. After watching the remaining orbs carefully, Ghirahim said, "Draw them all over here. Then everyone will retreat from them except Orynx and I."

Darrow nodded, and the soldiers drew the orbs over the area. Ghirahim raised his arm and the sky darkened.

"Now retreat!" he said. The soldiers dispersed quickly. The orbs began to hover after them. Ghirahim called down lightning on the orbs and watched as they crackled and fell to the ground. Then, when he had confirmed that all the orbs were downed, he turned and surveyed the damage behind him. The LD-307's and their orbs had taken their toll-six of his soldiers were dead and twenty more were seriously injured. He was relieved to find that Ferrik was not among either the dead or greatly injured—he was only singed and slightly disoriented.

Ghirahim healed as many injuries with his magic as he could, and had the rest of the injured carefully moved to the healers' tents. He had the bodies of the dead, including the LD-307's, moved to one place. Then prepared to perform the burning ritual for the dead. Only fitting that the Fool who brought you here should perform this last task for you.

He was about to light the torch to burn them when Orynx placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Wait."

"What is it?" Ghirahim asked. Orynx pointed to the LD-307 that had called himself One. "I think I saw something glowing from the rent in his armor."

Ghirahim grimaced. "Are you saying you want to open him up and see what's inside? That seems grisly."

"I agree, but it could be important."

Ghirahim sighed. "Do it quickly, then."

Orynx nodded and severed the body in half. To Ghirahim's surprise, the inside of the LD-307 contained only a collection of gears and levers and pulleys, and a large purple stone carved with white symbols. The outer shell hadn't been armor, as the demon lord had originally assumed. It seemed the entire creature was made of metal and rock. Ghirahim decided to ponder that bizarre fact later. Instead, he turned to examine the stone that Orynx had dropped into his hand.

"That's a timestone," Ferrik said from his left. "It's a lot smaller than the one King Guld had, though."

"Yes," Ghirahim said. "You're right." He turned the stone over in his hand, puzzling over it. Had it been intended to be used for a weapon? If he had teleported before Orynx had left his side...

"Sorry, I don't wish to delay the burning—but if I may make a request?" The voice was Darrow's. Ghirahim turned to face the bokoblin, who was dwarfed by the nearby Orynx.

"Certainly," Ghirahim said.

"Judging from the one Orynx tore open, these five weren't ever alive—I mean—they're some sort of constructs. Perhaps they were being controlled by sorcery. Could I examine them further?"

"Yes, please do." He levitated the LD-307's and moved them away from the dead soldiers. Then he lit the torch and dropped it on the six corpses.

Ghirahim watched until the flames, made hotter than any normal fire, burned themselves out and left nothing but ash and melted metal. If this is what it is like to be the victor of a battle, I can scarcely imagine what it is like to lose one. I suppose it will always be like this, until I can win the war. He glanced briefly at Darrow, who was frowning as he knelt to examine the lifeless LD-307's. The red bokoblin had been one of the few survivors of the first contingent he had sent against the Sheikah, before Ghirahim had come to the Surface himself. He would know better than I what loss felt like. Still, as he turned to face the ash mingling with the sand, he couldn't help but brood.

If he had only been the sword, the losses would not have bothered him. Death was what happened in battle, and the sword had no concept of sorrow. The sword had not understood such things, only the excitement and action of fighting, the sound and feel of steel on steel. But the reason it had been willing to bond with Ghirahim had not been because he shared that same single-mindedness. In fact, it had required exactly the opposite. Lord Terrin could believe what he liked about how the sword chose one to bond with it. And in a way he was right—the sword would never have chosen him. But the full truth of it was that the weapon would only choose one who exemplified those qualities that it did not have. The demon completed the sword, and the sword completed the demon. That was how it had to be.

"You said you had discovered their secret," Ghirahim said. "What did you mean?" He ran a gloved hand through his hair grimacing at the feel of the sand in it. The sand gets into everything. Orynx stood behind him. It had been a couple days since the battle. So far they had not seen any more of the LD-307's or their deadly orbs.

He solemnly examined the blue tent and the furniture in it. Maps of the desert were pinned to the tent walls and a wooden chair and table stood in the center. The five LD's were spread out across the table. He had looked at them three days ago, after the burning, and confirmed that no outside force had controlled them. Instead, something within them must have guided their actions. It was unprecedented—the stones in them must be their source of power, but what could possibly be their source of thought?

That discovery had made the five of them a mystery. At that point, Ghirahim had begun to understand the contingent who had returned with confusing and impossible tales. Ghosts had seemed as good a hypothesis as any for what drove these bizarre beings, which had clearly never breathed and yet had also been uncontrolled by any outside sorcery.

Darrow gestured to the five on the table. "I compared what was inside them. From what I could see it was identical. They look quite a bit like the clockworks my parents used to make."

Ghirahim approached the table and peered at the collection of parts assembled there.

"So I tried to put one of them back together," Darrow said. He gestured to one of the LD-307's.

"Why?" Ghirahim said, recoiling from the table. These five had tried to kill them—he didn't want a repeat of that experience.

Darrow gave the creature a dark look. "For—questioning."

"Oh. Hmmm, that's worth a try, I suppose."

Darrow looked back over at Ghirahim. "I was thinking we could chain this one up and reactivate it. The power stone they use—I believe if we reattach this component and-that one, it might start working again."

"If it doesn't," Ghirahim said, "I won't be entirely disappointed, but I agree-it is worth the risk to see if we can find out anything useful."

Ghirahim snapped and sturdy chains made of his magic appeared around the creature and snaked into the ground until they could attach to the stony ground buried beneath the sand. He watched as Darrow walked over to the creature and reached out to reattach the components.

"Maybe I should do that," Ghirahim suggested.

Darrow seemed to consider his words for a moment. Then he attached both components to the stone.

"What are-" Ghirahim began.

"Aaargh!" Darrow said, jerking his hands away and shaking them. He looked over at Ghirahim and grinned. "No worries, my lord. Just got a bit of a shock, that's all."

"Well, that's exactly why I should have-"

"Phooo-weeep! Alert! Alert! Enemy hostiles! Aler-" The creature stopped as its head turned to face its four dismantled companions. "-Oh." The LD-307 blinked several times and looked between the three demons surrounding it.

Ghirahim leaned his hands on the table, grinning. "Ah, so nice to speak to you again! Only, you'll have to tell me your name because I seem to recall that your friend One did all the talking last time." Ghirahim glanced towards One's dismantled form. "However, I'm sure you've noticed that he isn't feeling very talkative today."

"I am—Three."

These LD's aren't much for creative naming, it seems. Ghirahim smiled. "You realize, I'm sure, that your fate rests on my very limited mercy at this time."

Three emitted a series of beeps and struggled in his chains. "Ha. And what are you going to do to me? There is nothing you can threaten me with. Perhaps you'd like to try your hand at some torture? Amuse me."

Ghirahim considered this information. Not really what I was planning, but interesting that he is telling the truth. I must assume that nothing I could do to his rather unusual form would trouble him. Not surprising, really. Still, I think he is wrong in assuming that there is nothing that I can do to him.

"Amusement? I have a better idea for that. Let's play a game!"

"What?" The LD-307 said, confused.

"I call it random truth and lies," Ghirahim said. "The rules are simple: you respond by always answering yes to any question. You start. Ask me a question."

"Are you going to let me out of here?"

"Yes," Ghirahim said. "But come now, I'm sure you can do better than that."

The LD-307 considered this. "Are you a rock?"

"Yes," Ghirahim said.

"Do you really find this even remotely amusing? There must be something wrong with you."

"Yes," Ghirahim said. He smiled widely. "Don't tell me you aren't at least mildly amused by this?" Ghirahim grabbed a map. "My turn now. Are the rest of your friends hiding here?" He pointed to a spot on the map.

"Yes," the LD-307 said. It's expressive face looked perplexed.

"What about here?"

"Yes," Three said again.

Afterwards, Ghirahim considered what a productive questioning session he had had. Three had seemed all too happy to spend his time in a way he claimed to view as pointless, though his later escape attempt had surely been the reason for that. Three must have known that Ghirahim had an ulterior motive, after all, but likely he had been betting that he could use the extra time to his advantage. And likely he did not anticipate that I would find his answers so useful.

Darrow was storing the now deactivated LD-307 with the parts for the rest of the four robots. Ghirahim didn't think he would need to ask the LD's any more questions, but Darrow wanted to figure out how the remaining parts worked. He had said he had an idea for them. Something about improved weapons.

Link checked the packs of water and food attached to Firestar's sides. Then he peered down from the top of the statue. Fi had insisted that he train with sword and shield before entering Lanayru. So Link had trained. First with Eagus, and then with various Sheikahs. After two days of that, Fi had finally agreed that he was ready to continue his search.

Firestar looked around from his side. The air was dry and stifling, and the sun beat down with an intense glare. Link shielded his eyes and looked around. Maybe it would be cooler in the air.

He hopped onto Firestar's back and she flew into the sky. But they were both still stiflingly hot. Firestar soon landed near some ruined buildings.

Link jumped down into the sand and looked around. His attention was drawn to the door that had a rail running into it and some rubble piled around it. Link wandered over to the door and began removing the rocks from the front of it.

"That is unnecessary. Master Link, there are a few things you should know about this place."

Link turned to face Fi. She gestured to a large purple stone in the center with the Eye of Truth etched onto it.

"Eight hundred years ago, this area contained a mining facility created by the Sheikahs. The powerstones here needed to be refined in order to create the Gate of Time."

Link wondered what such a thing could be for.

"It was an attempt to use an empty parallel plane of existence in order to simulate the flow of time and allow anyone to view a prophetic occurence."

Link tried to imagine what a parallel plane of existence would be like.

"However, the project was never completed and will only show the time period in which its creation was finished. Despite this limitation, we can still travel more effectively in this area by utilizing the timeshift stones, and perhaps the Gate itself once we meet up with Zelda again."

Link considered her words. Fi's suggestion sounded like a good idea. How could he activate the timeshift stone, though?

"The timeshift stones are activated by striking them once. They can be deactivated by a second strike."

Link nodded and struck the timestone once with the sword. The entire area became alive with color, greenery, and—a kind of people he had never seen before. They all looked to be moving around busily. Some were directing colorful carts traveling on the rails between the doors, while others were digging through the ground.

"We can move forward through-" Fi paused at the sound of a cheer. The small cream-colored people had stopped their work and were all looking towards the Timestone. Towards Link.

"Mercy of the Makers!" one of them chirped. "The Hero has come to save us all!"

All of them cheered again.

Link looked towards Fi in bewilderment.

Fi's expressionless eyes gazed back as she floated just above the ground. "My apologies, Master," she said. "This is-unexpected."