Key Quest: Air and Fire by Judy Colella (color ebook reader TXT) 📖

had to act like that. I apologize. Now then, let me introduce myself.” It made a throat-clearing sound. “I am one of the Ghostly Composer Brothers of Kakariko Village.” He paused.

Link suspected he was waiting for a response that indicated the boy was somehow impressed. Too bad, he thought. You whanged me with your stupid lantern – I’m not impressed at all, and my shoulder and head hurt, crazy ghost-thing!

“Ah. Yes. Well, you see, all the people in this Village are born to serve the Royal Family of Hyrule,” he continued after several more seconds during which Link simply glared.

Like Impa, he wanted to say, but was still too miffed to speak, his sense of shock fading.

“We Brothers also served the Royal Family, and were assigned to study the hereditary and mystical powers of the family.” The greenish flame crackled for a second or so before continuing. “Though we never could figure out the power of the Triforce, we had almost completed our study of controlling time with the tones of ocarinas.”

“What? You can do that?” Despite his annoyance, which had become more of a pout than anything else, Link was suddenly interested. Maybe this poe-thing could tell him how to deal with the strange way time was behaving in his own life these days. And the ocarina was involved somehow - !

“No, like I said, we had almost completed our studies on that topic.”

“Oh. Never mind, then.” Link started to turn away, disgusted now.

“Wait! I mean…uh, all right. Actually, we did complete our study.” It sounded like the ghost was pouting this time.

Link turned back and crossed his arms. “And?”

“Yes, and. You know, we would have been famous! Famous, I tell you! Well, if that hateful Ganondorf had not tried to steal our results.” If flame was capable of fuming, this one did. “Honestly, boy, we had no choice – we could never let him reap the fruits of our research! That’s why we gave our lives to protect the secret.”

Link bit his lip, the ghost’s revelation making him feel somewhat guilty for his childish behavior. “You really did that?”

In response, the ghost merely sighed and faded away.

“Guess he wasn’t about to tell me the secret, either,” Link muttered, walking off. And once again, he found himself in front of the matching headstone on the other side of the monument.

Like the first, this gave the identity of the body buried beneath, and Link learned that this one’s name was Flat the Younger. He muttered the name, wondering why anyone would call a child something so bizarre, apparently forgetting what his audible musings had caused at the first grave.

He was harshly reminded with a whack on the skull by the second ghost. “Owwww!” he wailed, backing up. “Not you, too!”

Whirrr…whack!

With a yell of pain, Link began slashing at his new assailant, chasing it around the gravestone, and then waiting for it to re-emerge from the wall when it disappeared. As soon as it showed itself again, the boy swung at it over and over until, like its twin, the ghost was reduced to a flame – a bluish one this time.

“Gyaaah! I’m dead again!”

Link sighed, waiting.

“Wait – have we met before?”

“Just here, while you were busy hitting me with your lantern.”

“Ah. Well, I don’t know why, but you – you remind me somehow of Princess Zelda.”

Several sarcastic comments crossed the boy’s mind having to do with dresses and a pretty face, and he was torn between being flattered and highly insulted. He held his peace, however, and listened as the ghost continued.

“Hmmm…since you may have some connection with the Royal Family, I will tell you a little more of our tale.”

“How do you know I’m connected with them?”

A weird opening in the flame that looked suspiciously like a smile gaped at him as the voice said, “Is that an ocarina in your pocket, boy, or are you just…” The smile disappeared. “Sorry. Never mind. You’re too young. But yes, I can feel that you have magic in you, magic like the Princess.”

Unable to make any sense whatsoever of the ghost’s remark about the ocarina, he nodded. “Okay.”

“Yes! Well! Back then – when we were alive, that is, heh-heh – people called us great composers because of the many musical masterpieces we wrote. But mind you, we brothers were not just composers! Oh, no! You see, we had a mission. Our mission was to analyze the mysterious powers of Hyrule’s Royal Family.”

That explained the King’s willingness to accept Zelda’s assertions about prophecies, Link thought, pursing his lips.

“Our names would be part of Hyrule’s history if we could complete our research,” the ghost was saying its voice sounding wistful.

“Wait – I thought you said you had.”

“You’re not listening, child. I never said we didn’t. Now pay attention.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s all right. As I was saying…what was I saying? Oh! Yes. We kept our study extremely secret until we completed it. You see? To tell you the truth, each of us was studying a different song – one to summon the sun, and another to summon the moon. These were things the Royal Family seemed to understand instinctively.”

“So, day and night…time. Yes?”

“Very good. You know, if you were really sent by a member of the Royal Family, I will tell you about the results of our study. And from what you said, it rather sounds like you were.”

“I was.” Link considered taking out Zelda’s letter, but wasn’t sure it would prove anything to a ghost.

“We inscribed it on the royal tombstone. As a messenger of the Royal Family, you should show your royal credentials on top of the Triforce mark.”

So that’s what it’s doing here! He glanced over at it. “What do I – hey! Where’d you go?” When he turned back, the ghost was gone. “Great.”

“Link!”

“Are you going to tell me the Triforce symbol is here?”

“No, Link. You already know that. I was going to remind you about what Impa said – how the notes of Zelda’s lullaby had magic in them. Isn’t that what the ghosts told you?”

He nodded, putting it together, and went to stand in the middle of the gigantic golden triangles. Here goes, he thought, taking out his ocarina. Putting it to his lips, he brought to mind the pattern of how to play the melody and began.

As the last note faded, he felt a drop of rain, then another, and a second or two later, found himself standing in a veritable downpour. Over head, lightning crackled, followed by deep rumbles of thunder.

Had he caused this with the song? he wondered. What about – a ball of fierce lightning settled on the huge monument in front of him, spikes of brilliance shooting out from its center, and before Link could react, he was thrown backward, landing hard on the ground near the Triforce as the tomb exploded. The wind had been knocked out of him, and he panicked for a few seconds, unable to breathe at all, his body one, huge ache.

“Link!”

He couldn’t answer, couldn’t see, in fact. Was this how his life was going to end? Was –

“Sit up, Link! You’re okay. Try to take a breath!”

He obeyed, and a moment later was able to suck in some air as his vision began to clear. It took awhile, but he was finally able to get to his feet, albeit on shaky legs, and the spots dancing before his eyes disappeared in a slow fade.

“Link!”

“I – I’m all right, Navi,” he whispered. “What happened?”

“Look at the Royal Tomb!”

He couldn’t actually look at it – it was gone. Shattered into thousands of pieces, most of them too small to identify as having ever been part of something artistic. “I see, Navi.”

“No, look! A hole in the ground, Link!”

“What?” Seriously? What would be down there – the skeletons of dead Royal Family members? Why was she bothering him with this?

“Jump down, Link!”

“Fly down, Navi!”

She turned red. She bobbed up and down in front of him. Then she turned pink, then red again, and finally a sickly yellowish-green. “Are you afraid, Link?”

He took a long, slow, deep breath and went to the edge of the hole. Some residual lightning showed only that it was incredibly deep, but no details. “Yes, Navi, I am. Jumping down dark holes in a graveyard is not something sane people do.”

“Have you met any?”

“What?” He turned and gave her a strange look.

“Never mind – jump! You have to go down there! This is why you were told to play the song!”

“So I could blow up the Royal Tomb and…fine. Whatever. If I break a leg, or maybe a neck or two, be sure to have some grass nearby for me.” Checking to see that his weapons were secure, he closed his eyes and jumped.

Okay, so it hadn’t been all that deep after all. He was standing at the top of a ramp made of wide grey stones that led down into what looked like a hallway with a door at the end.

“You only have one neck, Link.”

At first he thought maybe the hole had been very deep and he’d died or been knocked out, and was in a strange dream-state. What was she – ah. He suddenly remembered his snide remark before heading into the hole. “Thank you, Navi. I know. I was being sarcastic.”

“Okay. Let’s go!”

“Right.” He walked forward, the slope proving too steep to allow him to go very slowly. At the bottom was indeed a doorframe, but what filled it didn’t look like any door he’d ever seen before. If in fact it was a door. Made entirely of stone and inscribed from top to bottom with runes, it was clearly too solid to move. He put out a hand to touch it, and with a rumbling whoosh, it lifted, opening upward.

“Oh, cool!” He went through and would have continued across what proved to be a large stone-walled chamber with torch-stands positioned here and there, but something stopped him. Not the scratching sounds of spiders, but something else.

Flapping. Not constant, but almost fitful, like a winged creature getting comfortable. It was all around him, too. Instantly alert, he took out his sling-shot and fitted a deku seed into it. What now? he asked himself. What now?

Chapter Seven

 

One of the reasons Link had always excelled at games was his eyesight and unerring focus ability. Apparently, he’d been born with dead-aim, the skill to zero-in on the exact center of things and coordinate his movements to match. Because of this he had found jumping pathstones without missing ridiculously simple. Targeting things with the sling-shot had been every bit as easy for him, even if his life had never depended upon that accuracy before.

Well, now it did, he suspected, as he took aim at a creature he could barely see attached to a side wall in the chamber. Only one of the torches was lit, making it difficult to make out details at a distance. So he concentrated on the thing’s fitful flapping, guessing at its center.

Zing! Squeak! Thunk. One down. He turned slowly, looking for the next tell-tale movement of what sounded like leathery wings. Nothing…nothing…ah! There!

Zing! Squeak! Thunk. Two. He could still hear them, though, and turned about to find the next. And – yup, there it was, closer than the