The
next day dawned and there was a buzz about the town. The townsfolk were talking about how more
half-elves had disappeared and were blaming it on the “monster” that the Watch
made up. Link was not very concerned at
all, but Riku felt slightly perturbed.
Link sensed this and asked him if anything was the matter.
“I figured that during the
time I was gone, the world would find a way to end the slavery of half-elves
and make the three races live as one.
And I thought that was the case when I was watching over your
village. I never realized that the world
was still so blind to this horrible way of life. The one and only thing people seem to care
about is money, and how they can get more.
Nothing will ever change. I bet
even the national rulers are still as oblivious as they were in the past.” Link wanted to interject and remind him of
the success that Eraqus had with creating Galor, but decided to keep it to
himself. They finished their preparations,
said goodbye to Boko and the ship, and made their way to the western wilds of
Gueron.
After
a few days journey, the two of them reached a peak where Riku was going to try
and get his bearings. Link was waiting
for him farther down the slope so that he could make sure that they didn’t lose
sight of the sun and shadows. Being
higher up in the mountains there were a lot more trees to block the sun making
it easy for them to lose sight of which direction they were going. Riku came back down the slope with a look of
concern on his face.
“It would seem that the
more we try to go north, the more we end up going south. From what I can tell from what I saw, we need
to make sure that we make in a straight line towards that peak over there. From there, we can discern the mountain we
need to get to.” Link picked his things
up and looked over at Riku.
“At this rate, the ship
won’t be waiting on us simply because we might end up in a different flow of
time, it will be waiting for us because we don’t have any idea about how to
navigate a forest.” As they made their
way up the mountain, the sun began to set.
Getting concerned, Riku moved them forward with the greatest of urgency. They managed to reach the summit just before
the final light of day vanished from the world.
Riku immediately lit a torch in order to find a safe place for them to
set up camp. He wanted a place to start
a fire, but also didn’t want the fire to be too close to the woods. The last thing they needed was to be lost in
the mountains with a forest fire on their hands. He found a safe spot with enough rocks to
start a fire on without risking a fire, and not enough trees nearby for a spark
to ignite the pines. He and Link had
dinner, and prepared for bed. Riku
decided to take the first watch due to the fact that he got more sleep the
previous night’s due to Link’s protests about wanting to help a bit more on
this quest. Link even insisted he take
first watch this night, but was finally defeated by Riku and he fell asleep
quickly.
Link
was standing out in an open field. There
seemed to be nothing around him. Nothing
but the grass on the field and the wind in the air. He called out to no one in particular
wondering if he would get an answer.
Nothing. He stepped forward with
the wind to his back and not but went ten paces before a figure appeared to his
left. The figure was too far away for
Link to make out who it might be, but he called out to the figure. To this, the figure responded,
“The dark brother has
awoken from his slumber. He is now ready
to face the power of the gods.”
“What? Who are you?
Where am I?”
“Young Link, the time has
come. You and your ancestor must take up
the mantle of your destiny. The gates
are not without their keepers. The land
of water holds the key to the blade of light.
But be wary: mortals twist facts to create stories. Things are not always what they seem. The Courage is closer to you than you
think. Link…Link….Link…
“Link! Wake up!”
Link woke up with a start to see Riku looking down on him. He could tell it was still night, but not
much more than that because Riku was right in his face. Then he realized something. While it was still night, the area was well
lit. Not by torchlight, but by light
magic. Link tried to get up, but Riku
didn’t move.
“Uh…Riku?”
“Will you please get that
spear off my back?” Immediately, Riku
got out of Link’s face, and he could see clearly. A whole army of half-elves ranging from mages
to warriors all armed to the teeth with the mages casting an illumination
spell. Link slowly got up with his hands
raised to signify he wasn’t going to fight back. He couldn’t think of anything to say. He looked at the guy who looked like the
leader and said,
“Um….We come in peace?”
The
strange soldiers bound Link and Riku and took all their weapons. They marched them down the mountain slightly
away from where they wanted to go, but still forward in that general
direction. After about a two-mile hike,
they saw torchlight off in the distance.
They couldn’t make out what it was at first, but after about another
mile or so, the outline of a village wall was visible. They reached the village wall and then the
great wooden gates opened up for the party bringing in the prisoners. As they began to walk through the town’s main
street, they noticed that every single being that came out to see what all the
commotion was were half-elves. They were
lead all the way to the center of town where they were thrown onto a wooden
podium facing a giant throne with nobody sitting in it. As they were untied and helped up, a man in a
giant flowing blue robe went up to the throne and sat down. He was a tall man, a half-elf to be exact,
with a stern face and a log gray beard and fu manchu. He seemed like he had been alive for many
years due to the pure length of his beard while his clothes looked rather
new. He held a hand up to let the crowd
know that he was now ready to speak, and all fell quiet. He stood up and asked,
“Why do you traverse
through these dangerous mountain passes at such a late hour? It seems like no mistake to me that we find
you but a few miles from our doorstep a day after the great purge of the
western shores. Before I pass my biast
judgment, I wish to hear your side of
the story. First, you with the blond
hair.” Link looked up and realized he
was pointing at him. Link didn’t know
exactly what to say.
“Uh… well, I mean,…”
“We are on a quest to find
the gate to the heavens buried somewhere in these lands.” Link looked over to see Riku step forward and
start talking. “I am a Guardian who has
lost his wings, and this is my descendant who is accompanying me on this
journey. We were camping on the top of a
peak to make sure we didn’t lose our bearings in the morning when we started
again. We didn’t have any intention of
trying to find your village nor had any idea about whatever it is you do until
we got here. We arrived here only
yesterday, on a ship known as the King of Red Suns. We planned to find the gate, and afterwards
make our way to the northern shores and meet up with our ship there. I promise you good sir. On my honor.”
The elder seemed to ponder this for a minute, stroking his beard with
great intent. He had this look in his
eyes as if he didn’t believe it, but he couldn’t deny the way he said it so
calmly. He sat back down on his throne
and contemplated further. Then he stood
up with conviction on his face.
“I would have likely
believed your story if you had not lied and said that you were a Guardian. It is impossible for a Guardian to return to
the mortal plane without his wings or halo.
Besides, this gate you speak of is a place where only the foolish
go. For as long as we have been here,
that place was a holy place for our people to offer our special prayers to the
Guardians. However, in recent weeks, it
has become a place teeming with monsters.
It would be foolhardy. That leads
me to believe you are not who you say you are, but rather spies of the government
and have lead the enemy right to us.”
“My lord,” Riku said now
starting to feel desperate, “we have no allegiance to the government that
governs the land on the western shores.
I may be of Xeladorian descent, but my friend here is a legal half-elf
citizen of the country of Galor. Link,
show them. That little thing you have in
your wrist.” Link immediately knew what
he meant and reached for his wrist. He
pulled out his card and gave it to the bearded man. He examined this for a few good minutes, but
in the end nodded his head and handed the card back to Link.
“It is true that this
signifies that you do not have any allegiance to the country of Xelador or any
of the other countries controlled by outsiders.
While I don’t’ believe you completely, I trust you enough to give you
quarter in our city for the night. However,
after tomorrow, you either stay here forever, or you go to the village to the
north and tell nobody of what you have seen here.” Riku, now slightly annoyed at this, stepped
up,
“Sir, I don’t know the
story behind this place, and I don’t really care. I am not going to stay here forever and I am
not going to return to town after coming so close to my goal. Besides, the gate is a sacred place to you
and your people, am I right? Let me and
my friend try to purge it of the darkness that plagues it, I get what I am
looking for, and you get your sacred land back.
Deal?” The elder pondered this,
stroking his beard a bit more intently than before. After another minute, he nodded, then got up
and returned to his chambers without another word. All the townspeople just stood around acting
like they didn’t know what to do next.
Then somebody in the audience piped up and said,
“Anybody got room in their
homes for these guys?”
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