In a small ship, rocking on the waves, a man clothed in flowing black robes stood on the prow. Arms raised over his head, head bowed, he paid no attention to the few sailors tending to the ship behind him. The air crackled around him, seething with dark energy as he put all his power behind it, directing his spells and energies down into the depths of the water. He did not even notice when another man, garbed identically to himself, approached and stood just behind him.
Down he reached, until his probing senses discerned that he was now resting on the bottom of the sea. His magic gave him brief flashes of aquatic life as he began to sweep from side to side, scouring the sea floor, knowing that he just had to find it...it always took him a few moments to find it.
And at last, there it was.
His mind filled with the presence of a powerful being, and he felt it stirring at his mind’s touch.
‘You know why you were summoned back.’ A mind cut into his inner thoughts, and the man had to concentrate to keep his spell from faltering.
“Of course, master,” he answered aloud...more for the benefit of the man standing behind him than for the being. He’d still be heard whether he answered orally or mentally.
‘They have obtained it. They will not get to the spirits before I, is that understandable?’
“Yes master.”
‘I trust you will find my spirits and bring them to me, before they can gather them.’
“We already have the host of Jarom in our grasp, and have located the host of Kuro. It is only a matter of time-“
‘NO! ’
The man cringed as the booming voice echoed through his mind painfully.
‘Time is short. We are being challenged by two mere mortals that think they can defeat me merely by collecting the spirits. We must hurry, for I relish the chance to prove them...wrong.’
Feeling the sudden surge of bloodlust from the being, the man both cringed and shuddered with delight.
“Of course master, your orders shall be completed.”
‘Of course,’ the being purred. ‘Now...go do my bidding...or suffer the consequences.’
With that, the power radiating from below the water fell idle, and the man let his spell end.
“Albryn?” The second man asked, as the first lowered his arms and turned.
“Cast your spells, summon triple the number of horsemen. They have found the medallion and challenge us,” Albryn replied, shoving past his fellow.
“I know...I knew the exact moment I felt Tsuko’s magical wards fail,” the second man replied, narrowing his eyes. “You should have taken my advice and either disposed of the medallion or those two troublemakers first, then went after the spirit hosts.”
Albryn rounded on his fellow, suddenly seeming much taller than what he was. “Kalin, don’t tell me what I should and should not do! What is done is done and cannot be changed! Now, do as I told you or the master will devour us himself! ” and with that, Albryn stormed into his cabin to contemplate their next move.
The sailors tried very hard not to be caught looking at Kalin, tried to look as busy as possible as the other came stomping through in Albryn’s wake.
“Take us back to shore! Our business here is finished for the time being! ” Kalin snapped, going down into the cargo hold area of the ship to prepare his magic.
=========
Gentle sunrays shined down on the land. The water, overnight, had mostly either flowed into rivers and streams or sank into the ground.
Beneath the tree Link and Vitanre had shelted in, the water was perhaps four or five inches deep still, flowing between the trees sluggishly. All was quiet, in the aftermath of the tsunami.
Link’s eyes came open slowly. The first thing he noted was Vitanre no longer lay against him. He was still secure to the tree, but Vitanre was not strapped to him. Sitting up, he spied Vitanre just infront of him, perched like a bird further out on the branch.
She sat in perfect balance, crouched on the tree branch, facing the rising sun. Her face was blank, eyes unblinking, just sitting still.
Carefully, Link reached out to her. “Vitanre...?”
Slowly, she blinked, eyes still on the sun, that was just visable over the treetops.
“Land’s hero, lost child,” she said in a flat tone suddenly. “Eight to find, to set free. Locate them before Sheoas does, or the world will end.”
She fell silent, and then blinked and looked about, as though she didn’t know where she was...and then lost her balance as she was released from her trance and fell from the branch with a yelp. She flipped over and landed on her feet, water spraying up around her.
Wet again and now confused, she looked up at Link in the tree. “What just happened? Why was I out so far on the branch?”
Link shimmied down the tree, sloshing through the muck to her side. “You...well...” he smiled faintly, spreading his hands wide. “You were staring at the sunrise, and told me something...you weren’t acting yourself.”
“What...did I say?”
“You don’t remember?” Link asked, brows furrowing.
She shook her head.
“Well...you mentioned the two of us, and that we must find the eight spirits...before someone else does...Sheoas.” Link said.
Vitanre’s eyes suddenly darkened. “Sheoas.”
“You know of him?” Link asked, looking at her closely.
“Yes...” Vitanre said quietly. “The story of Sheoas is carved into the back wall of the sea shrine...”
She rubbed at her arms, eyes narrowing. “Sheoas is a great demon, a powerful beast that was summoned from the depths of the darkness by a sorceror hoping to harness his power. Sheoas proved to be too strong for his summoner to control, and soon killed him and devoured his soul and magic, making the demon even stronger.”
“Sheoas was strong, but he had been summoned on an island far out in the middle of the seas, and so he had no way of reaching the mainland because he had never seen water before and had no way to navigate it safely,” she said, snorting suddenly. “He, in his new existance in our world, was childlike and possibly even frightened...”
“He spent five years on his island, the only sentient inhabitant, always trying to catch the attention of passing ships. You see, Sheoas had much magical power, but he was new to this world and had not yet mastered the finer points of using it. But, by the end of his fifth year of solitude, Sheoas discovered the sorceror’s books on magics...and with them, Sheoas mastered his own powers and was now a very dire threat indeed to Hyrule.”
“At the first attempt of Sheoas trying to make it to the mainland, Jarom called up violent storms upon the waters, keeping the demon on his island. Time and again, the demon was thwarted...until one day, the earth simply opened up and swallowed him, trapping him in an underground vault far beneath the sea’s surface.”
Link sat there, digesting what he’d just heard.
“But...I thought Xax guarded the darkness...and how could the earth have simply ‘opened up’?” he asked finally.
“That is all that was written on the wall...my only guesses are that Sheoas was pulled from Xax’s grasp, and that Goro aided Jarom and opened the chasm...” Vitanre answered, spreading her hands out wide. “I know as much about the spirits-besides Jarom, that is- as you do.”
“...why would Sheoas seek the spirits? I thought the medallion was the only way to safely remove them from their hosts?”
“He wouldn’t need to...” she said bitterly. “Sheoas devoured his summoner...ate him, and gained all his power and abilities.”
Realization came to Link. “He needs only to find the hosts and eat them...to gain the powers of the spirits...”
Vitanre nodded. “And I swear by Jarom he won’t do that...” Suddenly, she let out a piercing whistle. “HAKA! ”
Nothing happened. She repeated her whistle and call. From far off in the forest, a faint nickering could be heard.
“And there are our horses,” she said, sprinting off that way, throwing water up in a spray behind her. Link followed right on her heels, pausing only to pick up their gear on the way (luckily for them, it had not been washed far; it’d become entangled around a tree stump and was water logged, but all there.)
Then, they found their horses. Both Epona and Haka were standing between two trees, looking unharmed, if acting a bit tired. Both were still wet, and had the situation not been so pressing, they would have allowed the horses to stand in the sun and dry themselves a bit...but there was no time for that.
Link climbed onto Epona, noting that his saddle was gone...he’d need to get a new one. He threw the saddle bags over his shoulder and carefully turned Epona around, to see Vitanre kneeling beside Haka and examining the horse’s right front leg.
“Haka’s been injured...” she said, as the horse carefully pulled its leg from her and set it uneasily upon the ground, nickering. “I think it’s just a sprain...but I can’t ride him like this.”
“Then come,” Link nudged Epona over to her and held out a hand. She took it and was pulled onto Epona, behind Link.
“Back to the village first,” she said in his ear as they galloped off. “We have a long journey ahead...and I must tell the elder that it is Sheoas...”
Link nodded and urged Epona a bit faster, setting her on a course that would lead them right into the middle of Merilarmes.
