Lost Legends 12

Chapter 12: Ghirahim

Kaikara felt frantically behind her once more, hoping that just maybe the barrier would give, but it was as solid as steel. She swore, then moved again in front of Trow.

"Kaikara, who is it?" Trow's voice was high and tinny.

Grimly, she answered, "It's Ghirahim." Kaikara did not take her eyes off of the white-clad figure.

Ghirahim finally turned to look at her and smirked. He gave an elaborate bow and said, "How ecstatic I am to see you again—and you remembered my name. I am flattered. Of course I prefer to be called 'Lord Ghirahim'…but I suppose I won't be too picky." He stood up and stepped toward her. Kaikara's every muscle was tensed and ready to move, and her mind was trying to fight off panic. "Now, now, there's no need to look so scared, I'm not going to hurt you." He considered, and then added, "Unless you anger me."

Kaikara didn't like the sound of that. "What do you want?" she asked, fear making her voice tight and hurried.

The demon lord waved a hand in a dismissive gesture and said, "Oh I think we're getting a bit ahead of the game, don't you? I've spent so much time finding you, I thought we've have a nice little catch-up session."

Along with the fear, Kaikara felt what she had when first she saw the creature: she could not stand him! He was smug and annoying and made her fist itch with the desire to punch the creep right in his smug face.

Said Ghirahim, "Who's your little friend?" He nodded to where Trow hovered, partially shielded by Kaikara's body.

Kaikara moved fully in front of him. "None of your business!" She didn't like how the almost bored casualness of his expression hardened into something like brewing anger, but she sure as hell wasn't going to tell him Trow's name if he didn't already know it. "What do you want?" Not liking to be flat against the strange barrier Ghirahim had erected, Kaikara edged away from it, closer to the middle of the room. Trow scuttled behind her once more. She felt him moving and hoped that he was not going to do anything that would get him (or her) hurt.

Ghirahim let an exasperated sigh, throwing his hands up into the air. "Oh, you are so boring! Fine! We'll get right down to business." He nodded to Kaikara, his eyes shifting to just above her shoulder. "The Master Sword. Give it to me…" His face broke into a terrifying grin, "…and I'll not have to…chastise you for defying me."

He stood a little straighter, looking down at Kaikara with an intensity that made her uneasy. His unnatural eyes made his gaze that much more unsettling. Kaikara glanced back once to the hilt of the Master Sword, grasped it, and pulled it out a little ways. She looked back to Ghirahim, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Why?"

Ghirahim's smile dropped from his face. "No more questions, child. Give me the sword, or face my wrath." His smug, playful tone had turned ice-cold. He was dangerous, Kaikara could tell this; dangerous and cruel and formidable. But she would not give up this weapon, a blade that had become a friend, the spirit he could so clearly feel within it having bonded with her own. It was for her only to wield, and she would not give it the monster who stood before her.

Kaikara resisted the urge to bite her lip, trying to show as little fear as possible, and unsheathed the blade. She saw the demon's expression lighten a little, leaning back toward smug and light-hearted, but when Kaikara held the weapon ready instead of giving it to him, he narrowed his eyes.

"No," said Kaikara.

Ghirahim hissed furiously. "Oh why must you heroes be so damned stubborn?" He clenched his fists and strode toward her, looking angrier than anything Kaikara had ever seen. She took an involuntary step back, and raised the sword, threatening. The demon seemed not to notice or care. "I try to be nice, I try to give you the chance to escape with your life, and you refuse!" His tone said that it was unfathomable to him that anyone could have refused such a generous offer.

Ghirahim tensed. Kaikara shoved Trow back. "Look out!" Trow scuttled away just as Ghirahim lunged, moving faster than Kaikara had expected, launching a kick at her midsection that connected solidly enough to knock her back against the wall. She was right; the chain mail had not given her much protection from the blow. She cried out, gasping, and dove to one side as Ghirahim struck again. It was like fighting a snake!

A move from the demon caught her eye and she swung the Master Sword sideways, connecting with Ghirahim, who snarled in fury and pain, and she staggered backwards from the recoil. She forced in a huge, gasping breath and looked around wildly. Ghirahim had disappeared! From several feet away, Trow stood holding his bow, looking wildly around. "Where is he?" he cried.

Teleportation! Kaikara threw herself at the floor in time to avoid another bone-jarring kick from the demon lord, who had appeared silently behind her. She scrambled to her feet and thrust her blade at him, but he turned, easily evading it, and caught—actually caught—the blade with his hands! He groaned in pain, but held on, his black eyes wide with hatred.

"HEY!" Kaikara cried, startled and outraged. She yanked back on the blade, but Ghirahim was strong. He held it with his palms together, pulling back, trying to disarm her. Kaikara clung to the hilt, twisting it as hard as she could, and the demon let it go before it could slice into his hands. Kaikara lunged with the sword again, but Ghirahim leapt back.

Kaikara jumped back also, putting some distance between her and Ghirahim, breathing heavily from the exertion of fighting this powerful enemy. In contrast, Ghirahim did not seem the slightest bit taxed by the fight. In fact he looked amused. "Tiring yet, little girl?" he taunted, his tone light and condescending. "Do you really think a child like you could defeat me in battle?"

Kaikara did not answer the demon, but she couldn't argue with him, even to herself. He was strong, skilled, and fast. Kaikara was…not. She wondered, briefly, why he had not simply killed her and taken the blade. Was it possible the fight had not been as easy on him as he professed? She remembered then what He Who Soars had said, that a being of evil could not wield it. Did Ghirahim perhaps know this also?

She could not spend time thinking about it, not now. She caught movement, and knew Trow had gotten his bow out and ready, but she did not look in his direction, not wanting to draw attention to him. Instead, she glared daggers at Ghirahim.

The demon looked less amused.

"You are making me downright frowny!" he complained, in the petulant voice of a spoiled little boy. "That sword can't seriously mean so much to you that you'd die for it, can it?" He disappeared suddenly, and Kaikara's eyes widened as she spun around, frantically scanning for the demon for only a second before something hit her in the left arm, at first burning, then sinking a horrible pain into it. Kaikara screamed in shock and pain and staggered back. An arrow protruded from the skin—one of Trow's! It had caught her just below where the chain mail stopped.

She looked up and across the room to Trow's horrified face. His mouth had dropped open, his eyes widening in dismay, and Kaikara suddenly understood what had happened. Trow had shot his arrow and Ghirahim had disappeared just in time for the arrow to pass by where it had stood. The next thing in the arrow's path had been Kaikara.

She cursed energetically and sprinted several steps to one side, vowing not to stand on Trow's exact opposite again if she could help it. She looked at the arrow shaft, sickened by the sight of it coming out of her own skin.

Before her stressed mind could try to think of what to do about it, a terrible laugh echoed throughout the room. Kaikara hunched her shoulders, her eyes darting in all directions. A whoosh sounded behind her, but not close, and she spun to face Ghirahim again, her right hand curling tightly around the hilt of the blade. But Ghirahim was not looking at Kaikara; he was looking at Trow. "An excellent shot, little archer!" Ghirahim giggled. "You're certainly making my job easier."

Kaikara snarled at the look of guilt and horror on Trow's face and she glared at the demon lord. "Shut up, you jerk!" she growled. Her arm throbbed and she tried very hard to ignore it. She did not dare try to remove the arrow, not with Ghirahim standing right there, and so she was going to have to endure the pain. Her fury and the adrenaline that went with it helped. Ghirahim's eyes widened in rage, and Kaikara added, "Leave him alone!"

The demon's unnatural eyes peered at her, the hatred in them chilling Kaikara from head to toe. He stood up straight, raised his hand, and snapped his fingers. Kaikara frowned briefly, not understanding what he was doing, but then she saw five or six dark shapes swirling around Ghirahim's head. He smiled, and flicked his hand toward her.

Kaikara let a yell of startled fear as the shapes flew at her, fast, and she could only flinch and lurch to one side in response. One of the shapes struck her side and fell, stopped by her armor, another slashed her right arm, and yet another opened a gash on her leg. She screamed, choking back a sob of terror, and a second later, she was on the floor, having tripped over something in the middle of the floor—the little stone pedestal she had seen earlier. She could see markings on the side of it but had no time to look at them.

"Kaikara, the shield!" Trow called, his voice high with terror.

Trow let another arrow go, and Ghirahim was slower dodging this one. Kaikara cursed her own stupidity and scrambled to her feet, yanking the shield off her back, jamming her left arm through the straps. She clenched her teeth, groaning at the pain moving the injured arm caused her, but when Ghirahim appeared behind her and sent another volley of the little daggers at her, she managed to raise the shield in time to deflect most of them. One cut open a gash just under the ledge of her jaw and she growled in pain. Blood began to seep into the collar of the green tunic she wore.

Trow fired his next arrow and hit. The arrow sank into Ghirahim's shoulder and he whirled, eyes flashing fury at Trow, and Kaikara didn't waste the opportunity. As Ghirahim summoned yet more of the daggers, hurling them at Trow, Kaikara lunged forward, jabbing with the Master Sword.

She felt a jolt of resistance for only a second, before the blade of the Master Sword stuck firmly into the demon lord's midsection. Ghirahim screamed, a keening sound that was almost as terrible as his laughter, and pulled back from Kaikara's blade. She almost lost her grip on it, stuck in his flesh as it was, but she grabbed it with both hands and pulled back. She was momentarily distracted and sickened to see that Ghirahim's blood was white.

She heard a whimper from Trow but could not see if he was okay. She could not take her eyes from Ghirahim, fearing it would mean both of their lives if she let herself be taken by surprise again.

Ghirahim's rage was almost a solid thing, one that burned like fire. Kaikara backed away from him despite herself. "You will regret that, Sheikah brat," he said, and despite the fury etched in every muscle of his face, his voice was low, calm, and ice cold. Kaikara swallowed hard. She wasn't sure how he knew of her Sheikah heritage, but in her current state could not wonder long. She clenched her teeth and took a step forward.

Trow shot another arrow, but missed. Ghirahim turned for Trow, lunging at the boy, and Kaikara cried, "NO!" Her muscles were coiled springs, and she jumped at Ghirahim, swiping the blade across the small of his back. Ghirahim howled, fell briefly to his knees…and disappeared. Only his voice remained, echoing sinisterly in the empty room: "This is not over, Sheikah!"

He was gone. Kaikara could feel his presence leave, and the barrier that had trapped them in the room disintegrated, shattering into the diamond shapes that composed it before they, too disappeared. Kaikara gaped at the place where Ghirahim had stood, her entire body trembling with weakness, and then a frightening faintness came over her. She dropped the Master Sword and collapsed to her knees, taking a big breath, closing her eyes, trying to stave off the faintness.

The wound in her neck throbbed horribly, and she groaned, tears streaming from her yes. She didn't know how long she had been crying, but her face was wet with the tears. She clutched the injury as Trow ran over. She looked at him, trying to see if he had been injured, and saw that he had. He was bleeding from one arm, and the leg on the same side. But it seemed he had been able to avoid the daggers a little better than she had. He had been much farther away.

Kaikara was scared. Was she going to die? Had she been hurt very badly? As the adrenaline faded from the conflict, the pain was getting worse, and she was beginning to panic. Along with everything else, the thought of Ghirahim returning now, when she was so weak….

Trow's face was as white as chalk, and he stood up, running toward the door. Kaikara gaped, her eyes wide—was he running away? Was he-?

But it had been foolish to think he would abandon her. Despite his sheltered life, the child had shown courage comparable to any guardsman in Hyrule, and Kaikara felt shame to think he would leave her there. Later she would realize it was her fear and faintness from blood loss that had scrambled her thinking, but she still could not help but feel guilty.

Trow had grabbed something from his duffel and run back to Kaikara, who was even having trouble staying up on her knees. She let herself sit down on the floor, feeling weak and nauseated. She looked at what Trow had grabbed and blinked, almost laughing. It was one of the little bottles of red potion! How could she have forgotten that Trow had brought them?

Kaikara smiled gratefully and reached for the bottle, but Trow frowned, bit his lip, and drew it back. He glanced at Kaikara's arm, where the arrow still stuck out. "H-hold on," said Trow. He stood up, and before Kaikara had time to say a single word, Trow had grabbed the arrow and pulled it as hard as he could. A tearing, ripping pain went through Kaikara's arm, all the way to the wrist, and she screamed. She let go of the wound in her neck and clutched her arm, which gushed blood. She cursed, outrage only momentarily blotting out the pain.

Looking yet paler, Trow grabbed up the bottle of red potion and with some effort, uncorked it. He pressed the bottle into Kaikara's hand and she finally understood. Had she downed the potion while the arrow was still in her arm—it might have healed around the shaft. She did not like to think what it might feel to try and remove it then.

Trow, also crying now, sat down very near her, wrapping his arms around his knees, and Kaikara drank the potion in three gulps. It tasted surprisingly sweet…in fact it was sickeningly so. Already nauseated from her injuries and her terror, Kaikara felt her stomach clench unhappily as the potion hit it. She locked her throat, closing her eyes, willing herself not to throw up.

Moments passed, and Kaikara began to feel an amazing thing. The pain in the worst of her injuries, her arm and her neck, began to subside. It did not go away completely, but it eased down to a level that she could endure. She gasped in a ragged breath, opening her eyes and gaping at her arm. It was still covered in blood, but there was no sign of the ragged hole that had been there.

Kaikara could only gape. She had known that red potion could heal wounds, but she had thought that they took time. But this—this had knitted her wounds together within moments, like someone sewing up a tear in cloth! In disbelief, she slapped at the hurt part. It twinged, but did not really hurt, and the skin was smooth.

She turned to Trow, who huddled against her, and put an arm around him. He let out a sob and turned his face to her and she held him, rocking him a little. Her own tears had stopped, but they could start up again at any time. Her body and her mind were both still trying to deal with what had happened.

They could not stay there much longer. Kaikara did not how badly she had injured the demon lord Ghirahim. Had he been a mortal man, Kaikara's blow might have been lethal, but he was no mortal man. The longer they stayed there, the longer they risked being attacked again. And this time, Kaikara was sure, Ghirahim would kill them.

"C'mon," she said in a soft voice. "We gotta go. Now."

She expected Trow to protest, but he did not. He only sniffed, his chest hitching, and got shakily to his feet. Kaikara grimaced in anticipation as she set her hand down on the floor to help push herself up. It hurt, but not as bad as she had thought it would. The slashes she had taken from Ghirahim's thrice-damned daggers hurt the most, and she saw that the minor ones had been only half healed. She guessed there had not been enough potion to heal her further. At least it had taken care of the worst wounds. Those were the ones she had been afraid would kill her.

"Are you okay?" she asked, brushing her blood-stained hair from her eyes. It was longer than ever and it just fell right back in her face.

Trow nodded. "Yeah. Just got cut. We-w-we can—use the bandages."

Kaikara hugged Trow briefly…and then looked to the middle of the floor. The little hunk of stone was still there, the only feature in the room that was noticeable. Remembering the markings she had glimpsed after tripping on it, Kaikara knelt unsteadily on the floor and peered at them. The markings were little round dots, etched onto a band of five lines. She frowned, having no idea what the markings meant.

"What is this?" she muttered, scowling. Had she come all this way, had she survived a battle with a powerful enemy, only to be halted by a message she could not read?

Trow knelt next to her, and his expression lightened inexplicably. "It's music," he said quietly. "Notes…it's a little song."

A song? Kaikara looked at Trow for a moment, before reaching down to grasp the little wooden flute that still hung from her waist. It was amazingly undamaged by the battles she had fought, and she removed it from her belt.

Kaikara did not know how to read music. "Here," she said to Trow. "You should play it."

Trow took the flute agreeably enough and sat down beside the little stone plinth. He peered at the notes for a moment before bringing the flute to his lips and playing the melody etched there. The tune was simple, pretty, and somehow chilling. Kaikara's arms broke into gooseflesh and she stared at the notes in fascination. She felt she could fall asleep to this melody, especially played on the low and mellow tones of her flute.

The plinth flashed brightly, but nothing else happened. Crushing disappointment swept over her and she felt like crying. They had come to a dead end—there was nothing more they could do, nothing else to try….

A touch at her arm made her jump a little, and she looked down to see that Trow was holding the flute out to her. "You try it."

Kaikara made an impatient noise. "I told you, I can't read music."

"I know," said Trow, looking timid in the face of Kaikara's frustration. She took a big breath and tried to get a hold of her anger. "But you know how to make the notes…remember? All the notes here I already taught you. You can do it. I'll help you."

She looked at him a moment before taking the flute and sighing softly. She might as well. What else could she do? "Okay," she finally said. She took a shaky breath, brought the flute to her lips, and looked to Trow.

Trow held his hands out as if he were playing an invisible flute, showing her the correct fingering for the first note. It was a note she recognized, and Kaikara blew air through the flute, making the plinth to flash once more. Excitement chased away her frustration and she looked to Trow eagerly for the next note.

Kaikara found that after two or three of the notes, she did not need his instruction. She had learned enough to be able to sound out the notes, and her fingers moved almost of their own accord. The haunting but beautiful tune sounded solemnly in the empty room.

She finished the song, and as the notes died, a wide slot suddenly appeared in the stone before her. Kaikara gasped, staring. The notes flashed brightly, then disappeared, and an etching of the Triforce took its place. The slot looked exactly like the one that was in the machine in the other room, and she gave Trow an astonished look. He turned to her, wide-eyed, and gestured eagerly at the pedestal.

Kaikara rubbed her throbbing head, wishing it would stop hurting, and bent gingerly to pick up her sword. She hauled herself painfully to her feet, biting her lip nervously. Now that she had time to look at it, she saw the Triforce symbol that was etched onto the side of it was glowing faintly. This was what they were here for, all right, she thought. It had to be. "Okay…" she said. "C'mere next to me."

Trow crept over and stood beside her, and Kaikara looked at the Master Sword. She took a big breath, lifted the sword with arms that felt like they might fall off at any second from fatigue, and slid the sword into the stone slot. As before, it fit in the slot perfectly. Kaikara was about to twist the sword as she had before, expecting it was another keyhole, when a strange, almost organic buzzing sound directly behind her made her flinch. Her mind at first thought frantically that Ghirahim had returned, and the sound she heard was one of his strange barriers, and she spun around.

It was no barrier. It was a door.

Kaikara had seen a lot of things disappear and appear in the past weeks, but for some reason she was astonished by this new thing. People and items were amazing enough to come out of nowhere, but a door—a door that seemed to be set into the air itself—was another thing yet! She gaped at it, squinting her eyes to see through a strange, shimmery film that barred the doorway, distorting what might lie beyond it. Sunlight filtered through the placental barrier, which told Kaikara that it led somewhere outside, but she could make out no details.

She and Trow exchanged an uneasy look. Kaikara turned back to the little pedestal, grasped the hilt of the sword, and pulled it out. She looked behind her again to see if the door would disappear. It did not. It hung there still, standing in the middle of the room, a door where no door should be.

"Uh," said Kaikara, her voice unsteady, "…creepy."

Trow nodded vehemently. "Do—do we have to go through?"

But Kaikara could see that Trow already knew the answer. Still, she put a hand on his shoulder. "I think so," she said quietly. "Let's get our stuff."

Trow nodded, and the two of them retrieved their duffels and the few items Trow had scattered when he had gone after the red potions. He tied his bag shut, glanced around the room, and took a moment to scurry about the room, picking up the arrows that had dropped to the ground when Ghirahim disappeared. He was down to four useable shafts and maybe seven arrowheads.

"Maybe we can find a town," said Trow, taking off his quiver to put the arrows in. "I have un-lots of arrows."

Trow's terminology and she doleful way he was looking into his nearly empty quiver made Kaikara laugh. It was a tired, strained sound, but genuine, and she loved him for it. Trow looked up, his old shy smile on his face, and Kaikara hugged him. "C'mon," she said. "Let's go…we're—we're gonna be okay." She was trying to convince herself as well as him.

They picked up their belongings, took one another's hands, and stepped through the shimmering doorway.

Kaikara expected to feel at least some kind of sign that she had passed through the shimmering barrier, but there was nothing. At one second she was in the back room of the Temporal Ruins, and at the next she was standing in the middle of a field covered with wildflowers. The contrast was so stark that she was stunned for several seconds.

Trow yanked on her torn and blood-stained sleeve. She winced, and looked down, shaken out of her shock. "What?" she said, sounding sharper than she meant to. "What is it?"

Trow pointed, and Kaikara looked up. A figure sprinted toward them, running at full speed, and Kaikara tensed. She did not think it was Ghirahim, though he was dressed vaguely similarly; he was shorter and stockier. Whoever it was wore a white romper, a red, square-ish hat, and was running as if his life depended on it. He was close, and he wasn't slowing. Kaikara and Trow each dived to one side as the man lunged for them, but he did not even slow down. He only ran past the two of them, panting, his legs pumping up and down as he ran.

Kaikara and Trow stared at the man's back. "Wait!" Kaikara called, but the man did not reply. He didn't even look around. What had that been about?" She rubbed her aching head.

"Where are we?" Trow asked. He sounded like he had recovered a little from their battle, and Kaikara was glad to hear it. His voice was more puzzled and curious than wary. Kaikara was also recovering, mentally at least, and could think a little more clearly.

"I don't know. Let's just…let's just try to find someplace we can rest." She paused, then added, "Somewhere there's no one around." Until the figured out where the strange doorway had sent them, Kaikara wanted to stay away from everyone.

And thinking of the door….

Kaikara looked around, searching for any sign of the doorway they had gone through, but there was nothing. She felt a little chill when she realized that wherever she and Trow were, they were stranded. The thought that Kaikara might never make it home occurred, and she pushed it violently away. It wasn't a thought she could stand.

She looked grimly around, trying to see anything…a forest, a town, a building. The field was big, but she thought she might see something several miles away to the west. At least she assumed it was west. The sun was heading that way. "Come on," she said.

They went.