Deep inside, the bells rang.
James’ thoughts were preoccupied despite the dark atmosphere around him. Like outside the temple, it was slightly more difficult to breathe in such a place. The cloak he wore was far too big for him. It hung on his body. He had to lift it around his hips to keep him from tripping over it.
After heading through the stone corridor, he was greeted with a junction of three possible doors he could go through. He heard screaming coming from the door on his left. He wasn’t going in there. He tried the door to his right. It was locked. At the end of the corridor, he could hear a commotion.
He swung his head around quickly and decided to go through the door that was in front of him when he entered. Thankfully, there was no one on the other side. It was a long hallway. He lifted the cloak and pressed onward with caution. He stepped in the gray stone corridor.
He hadn’t seen many operators for a while so he knew they were bound to show up somewhere. As he made his way down the winding corridor, he wasn’t disappointed. He came up to a ledge that suddenly led down to about eight feet below him. There was a group of three operators holding another naked prisoner. He was bound and he had a tear-streaked face. He had clearly been begging for mercy.
A guillotine blade was swinging up and down in the air. The man was forced to get on his knees. It was then James noticed that he had strange markings on his back. They were blood. It was an odd design like the ones he had seen in the well. It was a large triangle with three smaller triangles encircling it around the top. It liked the paw of an animal. It was the same insignia that was on his cloak. Was that what they did to prisoners?
He watched the whole thing from the ledge. He got on his stomach and looked over. He didn’t want them to see him. It didn’t seem they were paying attention to much else. He slowly placed his hands on the end. Then he slowly brought his head forward so that he could see beyond the ledge.
One of the operators had a scroll while the other two held each of the man’s arms. Despite the man’s pleas, the operator read the scroll indifferently and kept the same, eerie calm voice throughout the whole thing. From James could gather, the man’s chargers were conspiracy of treason, possible leaking of diplomatic procedures, and suspicion of theft. James didn’t understand what most of those meant, but what he could get was that none of them said that his “crimes” were definite! He wasn’t proven to have done anything wrong!
But James couldn’t just leap up and say it. After his chargers were read, the man, crying and begging, was placed under the guillotine. It seemed like forever for it to come down, but when it did, James jerked his head away and tightly shut his eyes. The man’s screaming ceased and all James could hear was the thumping noise after it had fallen. The sound of the blade cutting through flesh; it sounded like slicing an orange. He’d never think of eating fruit the same way again.
Slowly he opened his eyes and turned his head back forward, not looking down. He could see the guillotine’s blade lifted up again. It was covered in blood. James suppressed the bile he could feel coming up his throat.
“Hey! Operator!” called one of them from below. James immediately regained his composure and stood up. Luckily, no one looking up at him can tell how much shorter than him he was.
“Yes?” James said, forcibly making his voice deeper. James knew this was it. He would be discovered. His heart was racing and it seemed like forever for the operator to answer him.
“We’re done here. You can pass through.”
To James’ enormous relief, he let out a long sigh. He eased his way off the ledge and fell the eight feet down below him. “Thank you.” He gave the slightest nod. One of the operators held the chain, keeping the blade from falling. James kept his head forward, obviously trying to keep his gaze from the headless body to his left.
There was another blade in front of him. It was also coming up and down. He gave an uneasy look back at the other three. They were all too busy getting the body. He turned his head forward. When the blade was in the air again, he dashed forward and was on the other side before it fell again. He slid a little, but that was because of the boots he’d used to get across.
He ran off from the others lest he be noticed that he wasn’t near tall enough to be an operator. There was only one more corner he went around. He finally came up to an enormous room. He was on beige bricks that formed square pillars. Under his feet lie another abyss, he assumed.
Head of him was another guillotine. Everything in this temple seemed to be made for death or torture. At least the Well had a designated room for such deeds. But in this place, even the hallway could serve as someone’s final resting place. The lingering sound of that final slice of the man’s head echoed through his mind.
Walking over to the next pillar was an easy task with the boots. It was like walking on a floor. He easily went under the blade with the aid of the hover boots. He was up to a large square floor against the wall. To his left, there was a platform far away. He wondered how anyone could reach that. He supposed that, like the walls in the well, there were invisible floors in here too, but he didn’t dare test out that theory.
To his right, there was a large square platform suspended by four chains. It was rising up and down in a rhythmic motion. Once it was all the way up, it would drop down. It looked safe enough. James waited until it was all the way down before he ran off the ledge. The boots suspended him long enough for him to land safely on the platform as it was coming up.
James didn’t know how he managed to summon up all of that courage, but with his disguise, he seemed to be more at ease. He waited for the platform to be as close to the other ledge as possible before he jumped over. He was able to land just right on the other side. He was about to approach the hall far in front of him. But he saw shadows of more operators coming through.
He looked behind him and noticed that the platform would not get to him in time for him to go unnoticed. So he looked to his immediate left and saw a small path leading up to another place. But it was in vain.
“Operator!” a voice called behind him. James turned around. “Where is your lens?” Again, James was befuddled at why they didn’t inquire about his height. Not one of the seven operators that stood there. “Do you not know where you’re going?”
James, again, made his voice deeper. “I’m going to the room…” he said, not knowing what to do.
“Which room?” asked the man. “The torture room? The burning room? The decapitating room? The Vessel? The-”
“The Vessel!” he blurted out, not wanting to hear the others.
“Alright. Then you’re going the right way. What is your business there?”
“They…uh…sent for me.”
“Ah, I see. They probably wanted you to deliver something to the entrance. Don’t forget to use the whistle. Did you lose your Lens of Truth?”
James had no idea what he was talking about, but decided to play along. He seemed to be doing a good job so far. “I did.”
“Anno, give him yours,” said the man. Another operator handed him his lens without hesitation. This action led James to believe he was a high ranking operator, or at least very intimidating. He handed the lens to James. He bowed in gratitude and walked onward.
He looked behind him and saw the operators making their way onto the platform. He wasn’t able to see any of their faces. But their voices, although well meaning, were cold from what he came to understand.
He looked at the odd lens. It was purple and had that same red insignia as he saw on the naked man not too long ago. It looked like an ordinary lens and he wondered why it was given to him. He flipped it over. Still nothing out of the ordinary. He took another glance back at the operators that were now out of sight.
He looked back at the lens. He put it up to his eye, unsure of why it was so special. Instantly, he saw floating platforms behind another guillotine. Shocked, he almost threw it away from him. But he did, fearing it would fall down the abyss and he wouldn’t be able to get it back. He eased the lens back up to his eye again.
Really all he needed was a place to rest and regain his complete composure. There was a door on the other side of the abyss. He was going to make his way there. Hopefully, there wasn’t another torture session going on the other side of that door.
With more anxiety, he made it under the guillotine. He didn’t fully believe that the platform was there, but he had been fooled before. He had already guessed that there were invisible floors in this temple, but never thought he’d be able to see them. He shut his eyes tight and fell onto the platform. He slid a bit, but he remained on something solid.
He was on all four and he looked down. He wasn’t using the lens so all he could see was deep into the abyss. James was scared beyond belief when his eyes saw no ground to stand upon. With shaking knees, he stood up straight. He seemed out of breath, but not from fear.
He breathed heavily and looked at the lens. Did it require energy to use? That was a small price to pay for being able to see in this dreaded temple. He looked before him and saw two creature-like statures holding a chain. He used his lens again and saw another platform moving along the chain. Making it quick, before he ran out of energy, he walked to it with the help of the hover boots. Once on there, he immediately took the lens away.
Just then, he heard a scream. He looked up on a higher ledge; the very one he walked on when he first entered the place and saw another naked man with the bloody mark on his back like the one he’d seen before. He was also begging for mercy. He was louder than the last. James didn’t even hear his grounds for punishment.
Only this time, he didn’t have time to turn his head away. They didn’t take off his head but his legs. The blade came crashing down and James, at once, saw the man’s legs fall and small spots of blood hit his face; his mouth was agape. The man’s cries filled the enormous room.
The operators took what was left of his body and kicked it down into the abyss as his screams still echoed in the room. He was dropped off on the side opposite of James, but he could still hear him. His voice gradually faded. James would have preferred to at least hear a thud. At least then he’d know his suffering would be over. But he knew that wouldn’t happen. He had to hear his echoing screams all the way down…until he was too far away to be heard…
Daniel was feeling the pressures of the temple now. Without Dampe’ there to guide him, he felt so lost. He clutched the shovel tight. Even though he didn’t know much more than Daniel, he always seemed to know what he was doing. And he seemed to care much about Daniel and his brother even though he didn’t show it that much. He’d imagined he took quite a beating back there.
But he couldn’t be concerned about that now. He was in a long stone corridor. Fear was taking him, just like in the well, but he had to press onward. James was somewhere in this temple, he was sure. He was most likely alone now. The guard that Dampe’ and him took out wasn’t wearing a cloak like the others, so he assumed James must’ve taken it as a disguise.
He came up to an opening with three door options. He didn’t hear anything coming from beyond either of the doors, so he went to the one on his left. He didn’t have any trouble getting in, but wished he hadn’t when he saw what was on the other side. It was a slowly spinning statue in the center of the room with large protruding blades that nearly reached the walls. The statues resembled the cloaked operators of the place.
Among the gray stone floor lay blocks of wood with black metal bands wrapped around the ends and in the middle. They were the same blocks used to make the “X” in the Well. Something in the air didn’t smell right. Aversely, he turned his head in the direction of the smell. A dead body, cut in half at the torso, lay on the floor!
It was face down. It was contorted as if the person was pushed. But unlike the other victims, this one wasn’t naked. He had on a uniform that resembled the one he saw the guard wear at Hyrule Castle. Only this one had far much less. He had on just the under garments but not the helmet, the boots, or even the breastplates.
Daniel looked closely. It was as if the man was in the middle of torture (he had the blood streaks on his back) and he managed to escape, only to be balked in his path. He was just barely in the range of the statue. By his foot was a wooden block. He had tripped. The whole thing reminded him of his ordeal in the Well. The bloody streaks on the man’s back formed the same shape that was on the Lens of Truth. He also recognized the markings from the first man he saw in the Well.
The bastard operators didn’t even move him. They probably laughed at his foolish attempt. Daniel clutched the shovel even harder. He bared his teeth. He took in a sigh. He forced himself to turn away. There wasn’t anything for him to find in there. He went for the door and shut it behind him. He walked forward. His Lens of Truth was dangling on his belt.
He then set his sights on the next door. It was a long winding hallway. He stopped cold in his tracks at the sight of the guillotines. He didn’t want to believe they were really there; especially when he saw blood on the one in the front.
He swallowed hard. There wasn’t anyone about. He began to grow suspicious at the eerie quiet that followed him. He approached the ledge. He was eye level with the blade in front of him. He looked down and saw where the wall stopped. It didn’t look too far down. He easily leapt down to the bottom.
The guillotine’s blades were falling and retracting in a rhythmic motion. Although they were moving slow enough, Daniel was very hesitant to make a move. Still no one was about. He held Dampe’s shovel close to him as he waited for the blade to rise up again. Before it hit its highest point, he ran under it and made it.
It seemed simple enough. He let out the deep breath he was holding. He felt his forehead under his long, straight brown hair. He was sweating from anxiety. But he couldn’t let that slow him down. He ignored the blood that was on the blade behind him. He knew that under his feet was a fresh puddle of blood, but he didn’t dare look down to check.
He took out the Eye of truth, his Lens of Truth, and held it up to his eyes to make sure there weren’t any traps. There weren’t any. Relieved he put the lens back on his side. He couldn’t use it too much. He braced himself and ran under the next guillotine. It was surprisingly simple. After making it through that, he seemed to be feeling more confident.
Around the corner, he found himself in a vast room filled with more guillotines. He looked ahead and saw a large square platform on the other side. He made his way under the guillotines. He looked to his left and saw a door far away. He knew there were invisible platforms there, but he didn’t want to use them.
To his right, he saw a platform hanging by chains. He decided he’d go that way. After quickly making sure there were not traps or other means of getting across, he ran back as far as he could, then he jumped on the platform. He bent his knees upon his impact. Shakily, he lifted himself, up. The platform was going up and down, so he waited until it was at its highest peak before he jumped to the other side.
When he safely made it, he looked to his right. He saw more guillotines and, by using his Lens of Truth, he saw that there were more invisible platforms there. He saw an operator go in there and decided that he’d go there later.
There was a hallway in front of him. He went in there. He approached it with caution. He held the shovel close time. There didn’t seem to be any activity coming from the hallway. He went inside. He followed the corridor and came upon a group of operators. This was the largest group he’d seen. They had six uniformed men with them.
Looking at them, Daniel recognized that they weren’t the same as the Hylian he saw back at the castle. These men must’ve been from another kingdom. But, why then were they being executed? They didn’t seem harmful. They looked more like messengers.
All of them had their backs to Daniel, so they didn’t see him come in. There were two square platforms in front of him. But these weren’t for taking someone up and down. These were suspended by chains in the very center. They had spikes on the bottom. Daniel’s heart sank. He knew what they were for.
An operator took the shoulder of one of the victims. As he was pushing to his fate, the man said, “I die proudly!” Those were his last words.
Even though he wasn’t able to him get pushed, he saw his body when the platform was raised up again. His body was impaled numerous times and the spikes refused to release him. Daniel saw one of the operators take a long stick and literally just pick him off. It sickened Daniel that, even in death, they defiled those poor people. To think that they killed the one so the others could watch!
He turned and fled before they could spot him. It wasn’t until he made it back to the huge area that he realized his heart was racing. He took one step toward the rising and falling platform, but he stopped himself when he looked up and saw a few operators congregating on the high up platform. Going up there would be a bad idea, so he reluctantly made his say to the path with the guillotine. He raced past it.
He used his Lens of Truth to see the invisible platforms. Like he guessed, they were there and he landed on the invisible one floating in the air. Ahead of him, there was a visible chain held by two demon-like gargoyles. He used the lens one more time to see it moving back and forth. He jumped safely on the platform and took the Lens from his eyes.
Once he was already on the platform he didn’t need to use it to see the door he needed to jump to. He leapt to the door. He was hesitant to open it since he saw the operator go through this very door not long before. But He had a mission to find his brother and knew time was wasting away just standing there, wondering.
He was in the room. It was rather empty but large. There was a door to his left and one in front of him that seemed to be on another level. He took one step, but stopped. Someone else was in the room. The operator must’ve not heard him come in for he had his back to him. Daniel clutched the shovel close to him once again. He was surprised he kept hold of it that long. Since the operator was alone, he could probably subdue him easily.
He made three slow, quiet steps toward the operator. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain go into his right shin. A huge cry was lumped in his throat as he restrained it from coming out. He looked down. Blood was gushing from his leg and making a puddle by his foot. With shaking hands, he put the Eye of Truth, his Lens of truth, up to his eyes and saw a heap of white spikes going in all directions. One was a good two or three inches deep into his shin.
He couldn’t hold it in anymore. “AHHH!” he yelled as loud as any animal he’s ever heard. The operator turned around. His hood covered his face. Daniel knew this was it. After all of that, he’d be captured and be forced to endure the tortures and atrocities in this place.
“D-Daniel!” yelled the operator.
Daniel’s head shot up. “J-James? James, is that you?” he asked in a quivering voice. He didn’t forget about the scorching pain surging through his body.
The operator took off his hood, revealing the face of the most beautiful person in the world to Daniel. He let go of the shovel, letting it clang on the ground. James picked up the robe so he wouldn’t trip and ran over to his brother. He put Daniel’s right shoulder on his own to help him keep his balance.
“James, I finally found you…” said Daniel in a quivering voice.
“Daniel, you’re injured,” said James. “We have to get that spike out of you.” He positioned himself next to Daniel’s ankle. He placed both hands on his leg; his left behind his shin above the wound, and his left on front below it. Daniel placed his right hand on James’ shoulder to keep balance. He winced as James eased his leg off of the spike. The blood continued to gush out as it covered his hand. Slowly, James removed the spike from his leg. The blood dripped and pooled under his foot.
When he finally got it off, James took Daniel on his shoulder again. He then used his free hand to pick up the shovel. Daniel limped over to the wall and sat down up against it. “There are spikes in here,” said James. “They have them concealed. I think they let victims run around in here and let them impale themselves one by one. I was able to use my Lens of Truth and spot them.”
“You have the Eye of Truth too?” asked Daniel. “How did you get it?”
“An operator thought I was one too and gave it to me. I told him that I lost mine. How did you get yours?”
Daniel adjusted himself, wincing in the process. “Dampe’ and I went back into the Well. We-”
“You went back there? How could you? Why did you even come after me?”
“I couldn’t leave you like that. You did it for me…”
James sighed. “I did it for you risking my life. I don’t care if I live or die; I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Well, my thoughts exactly for you. And now I’ve found you.” Daniel hugged James closely. He was, after all, all he had in the world. “I’m so glad I found you.”
James slowly withdrew. “We have to get out of here. I’ve spent this whole time trying to find a way out. The entrance was occupied with some sort of fight, so I went deeper into the temple.”
“How were you able to make it across the abyss?”
James smiled. He stood up and lifted his cloak, revealing those strange boots again. “These boots allow you to walk on air for a short period of time. I was able to simply walk across.”
Daniel was shocked. He had an opportunity to have those boots, but thought them to be useless. He pushed the thought aside. Right now, they had to concentrate on getting out. Daniel remembered something else. He smiled. “Were you the one that tied up that guard near the entrance?”
James chucked as he used some cloth from the robe to dress up Daniel’s wound. “Yes I did.”
“Your victim kicked me in the stomach.”
James laughed. “I’d imagine he was pretty mad.” James finished up. “Can you stand?”
James assisted Daniel onto his feet. He was noticeably in pain, but he managed to stand. James had Daniel on his shoulder again. “Try not to walk on it; it’ll make it bleed more.” Daniel nodded in understanding. The blood loss he experienced was making him dizzy.
“Where do we go now?” asked Daniel.
James looked around. “Let’s try that door,” he pointed to the one on the left. Even with Daniel’s weight on him, he was able to walk at a normal pace. He carried the shovel in his free hand. He opened the steel door easily. There wasn’t anyone inside. But before them was an enormous skull with blue flame coming out of the top.
It frightened the two, but they regained their composure quickly lest some operators come out of the shadow and discover them. There were two stairways on either side of the skull leading up behind it. James recalled what the other operator said. This was the burning room, he was sure of it.
Going up the stairs proved to be more difficult than walking on a flat surface. He was exhausted by the time they got to the top. He put Daniel’s body up against the wall. It was like he was saving him all over again. Daniel shook his head to shake the dazed cloud over his sight.
“How’re we going to get out of here?” asked Daniel. He was breathing heavily. He too saw that it was somehow a little harder to breathe in such an atmosphere.
James thought a moment. “No doubt they already know we’re in here,” he said. “Going out the way we came in is out of the question. There has to be another way.” He looked back at James, wearing an uneasy expression.
Daniel had never seen him wear one before. James was always sure of himself. He hated to think that the one with the brilliant ideas had finally met his match. “You’ve wandered around here haven’t you? There must be something you know.”
James thought harder. “Well…it may sound silly, but one of the operators mentioned a vessel. I don’t know what he meant; it could’ve been something else. He also said something about a whistle. I guess its something that activates it.”
“Then we need to find it and hurry.” Daniel used the shovel to help himself onto his feet.
“Hey! Don’t stand on your injured leg, it’ll bleed again!” said James. He looked down at Daniel’s shin. The piece of robe he used to dress the wound was already soaked in blood.
“It’s fine. I think it’s stopped bleeding.”
“It doesn’t matter. You must rest.”
“And do what? Stay here and let them corner us so we can’t escape? We’ve made it this far, we have to keep going.”
James reluctantly nodded. He put Daniel on his shoulder again. He took the shovel in his free hand and walked down the steps. When they were back in the spike room, Daniel used the Eye of Truth. There were only a few heaps of spikes in there.
James knew he didn’t want to go back into the large room he came from to get to this room. He looked to his left and saw the door that seemed to be on another level. There was an old ladder there. “Daniel, I don’t think it can support us both at the same time,” he said.
Daniel swallowed hard. “It’ll be fine. We’ll just go one at a time,” he said.
“Will you be able to? Maybe we can find another way out…”
“No, I’ll be fine.” He pushed himself off James’ shoulder. He went up to the ladder and put the shovel down. He clutched the first rung and used his good leg to go up. He never put weight on his bad leg, so he had to dangle on his two hands before going up another rung. He finally made it to the top.
James took off his robe. He wouldn’t be able to climb in it. He left it there and took the shovel in his hands. He quickly went up the ladder. But on the second to last rung at the top, it broke under his weight! The ladder fell down behind him as he held onto the ledge. It was a good thing Daniel had gone first. He was able to pull him up with ease.
They went through the door and found themselves in another one of those blue corridors. Turning the corner, they saw two moving spikes on the ground. They were easily avoided but the two wanted to know why it was so easy. A large wall of wind hit them dead on. It almost blew them back onto the spikes. James saw Daniel start to fall back, but he yanked him forward so they were on their stomachs. He used his hand to put Daniel’s head down along with his own. The wind subsided and they were unmoved.
James lifted his head up and helped Daniel up as well. He hopped on his good leg and leaned on his brother for support. The dashed around the corner to find another fan at the end, but there weren’t any spikes. Once a few steps into the empty hallway, James brought Daniel down on the ground so they could dodge the wind. Once it stopped they got up again and took a few more steps.
A large spider fell down upon them. Daniel was able to move his head in time, but James was hit in the face with one of its legs. Its legs were like knives. It made a small cute on his cheek. It was hair-thin but it stung badly. He put his hand up to it. Daniel clutched the shovel and threw it right at its mouth. It went right through it and disappeared.
Another wind blew and the boys easily dodged it. Around the corner, there was a small pit in front of them along with another fan on the other side. Daniel and James held on to the corner closely so the fan on the other side wouldn’t blow them away. James bit his lip. How were they going to cross this? There weren’t any chains for them to swing on like they did the last time.
He looked down and saw that he was still wearing the hover boots. It was a risk but they were already this far. He told Daniel to get on his back and hold on tight. He did so and clenched the shovel around his neck. James wasn’t sure the boots would hold out the whole way across, but he didn’t dare let that onto Daniel.
He held his brother’s legs firmly and dashed across. He wasn’t sure how, but they managed to sustain them the whole way across. James’ heart was pounding loud but he caught his breath. There was another fan right in front of them. There was also a way leading down, so they both gripped the edge of the floor they were on for the next wind to blow.
They dropped down and there was a catwalk sprawled out in front of them. There were two fans on both sides on the far walls separated by bottomless pits. The fans were spaced out so there were places they could stand without getting blown off. James and Daniel readied themselves.
As soon as the closest one stopped blowing, they ran across to the gap between that one and the next one. They continued this until they were on the other side. The door there was not only locked, it was barred down. They wouldn’t budge. James pounded the adjacent wall once in frustration.
“It looks like a dead end…” Daniel said uneasily. “They’re probably after us now…”
“…No…There has to be something we overlooked…” said James. James took his Lens of Truth out and looked to his left. There was nothing. Then he looked to his right and saw an opening. “That’s our way out of here.”
Daniel was off of James’ shoulder and was leaning on the shovel for support. “Will the boots carry us that far?”
James chewed his lip. “We need some backing up…” He continued to think when he felt Daniel tap him on his shoulder. He looked up and saw James pointing to the fan on the left side. Then he saw him move his hand slowly towards the left at the false wall. Again, Daniel mounted James’ back again and waited for the wind to blow. They went forward without hesitation.
They were in a small corridor and even in there they could feel the wind hitting them. The door at the end was especially hard to open, but after some working on it, it finally opened up for them. What was on the other side of the door amazed the two boys.
There before them were large golden bells attached to an especially large ship. “This must’ve been the vessel the other operators were telling me about,” said James. Daniel got off of James’ back and leaned on the wall. He was slightly out of breath. James went down and saw that his wound had stopped bleeding but knew there was considerable loss.
“Come on, we have to get up there and get on,” said James, pulling his brother forward. There was a ladder leading up to what was probably the dock. Again, Daniel went up the ladder first. James was about to get on and saw a whistle-like object hanging on a nail by a string. That was probably the whistle the operator told him about. He yanked it off and went up the ladder. When James was halfway up, he heard the door they came in on open up. He jerked his head in that direction.
Three operators were coming in. With wide eyes, he kicked the rungs down hard so that they wouldn’t be able to follow easily. About half of it was on the floor when they came up beside them. “Let’s go!” said Daniel helping him up. They jumped on the vessel. He didn’t see the operators following.
He put the dazed Daniel down on the back of it and told him to stay calm. He looked at the whistle he held. It looked like a rusted bronze. He put it to his lips but paused when he saw three yellow triangles painted on the wood. Where did he see that before? He knew he saw it somewhere.
Suddenly, it hit him. In the graveyard was where he saw it. It was in the place where they honored the Royal Family. The tombstone before him was that of the Royal Composers. Maybe he had to play it on there. He walked over to it and blew into the whistle. Out of it came a beautiful tune. The bells rang and the vessel began to shake as it rose. It seemed to be going forward.
“Daniel, take the rudder and steer it upward!” called James. Daniel nodded and took the rudder. They were heading upward now. He heard a thud coming from the side and looked over. He saw the operators jumping up on the vessel!
“James!” Daniel called as he tossed the shovel up to him. James took hold of it and knocked one off of the side, plunging him to his death. But two others still got on. He even saw a few running on the walls up to them. He wasn’t sure on the exact number, but James was sure there were at least 8.
The vessel continued to rise up. James fought them up as best as he could. He did his best to make sure that they didn’t see Daniel. James did a large swing to two of the three’s heads. Both of them fell but the third one had a weapon of his own. It was a large sword and was about to have it come crashing down on his head but was suddenly knocked down by Daniel. He tackled him!
The force made him fall down as well. But now that Daniel wasn’t at the rudder anymore, the vessel began to tilt. The back side was leading it up while the front was pointing down. One of the operators toward the back fell forward and landed on the beak of the bird that sat at the front. He held on closely for dear life.
Daniel clawed his way up to the rudder again and was able to stabilize it. This time it was the front that was leading it up slightly. James took the shovel and knocked him off easily. He was at the very front but stared wide at the wall that was coming closer. He turned to Daniel and sat beside him and covered his head with his arms and hands.
“This is going to be loud!” said James.
He was right. The front end of the ship crashed into the wall and scraped up against it. Debris and wood pieces were going everywhere but the vessel still continued upward. He didn’t see the following operators, but he imagined they were trying to get them on all sides. He looked up and saw something coming into view. It seemed to be some sort of bridge-like object that stopped in the middle of whatever it was for to help you cross. Were they in that main room again?
When they were almost at the top, James was sure of it. He took Daniel’s hand and they both jumped off just before the vessel collapsed entirely. Daniel leaned on James for support as they both just stood there. They both laughed slightly when they saw they crashed the whole thing.
When the dust cleared, they could see the hallway across the abyss. There were some operators following them! They knew where they were going! James and Daniel ran toward the entrance. To cross the last pit, again James put Daniel on his back and crossed. They were almost there!
The sound of the operators was approaching. This time he was sure they brought weapons. Daniel got off James and limped beside him. They could see the door ahead of them opening! Suddenly, Daniel could feel the support gone from under him. He went ahead a few more steps before he looked back and saw that James had been shot in his leg by an arrow!
The operators were right behind James now. He saw them swarm around him. “NO!” Daniel screamed as he ran back to him. As soon as he stepped on his bad leg, he felt his wound open up again. He could feel the hot blood gush down his shin and onto his foot, but he didn’t care. All he knew was that not all of the blood on the floor was his.
He gripped the shovel and started swinging wildly. He was able to get a good number of them, but he knew he couldn’t take them all. He grabbed James’ arm and started to drag him out. He was finally out and he slammed the door slammed down behind him. He picked up the shovel and wedged it in the door. It wouldn’t hold them off for long, but it would buy them some time. He dragged James’ body farther away from the door.
He propped him up on the pedestal in the center. “Wake up, James! Please! Wake up!” said Daniel as he frantically shook his brother. He was getting no response. He shook him harder. He saw two streaks of blood running down his face from the top of his head. He made James lean forward on Daniel so that he could see he back. They had got him with that unholy mark.
He slowly put him back. Then he put his limp body on his shoulder and ran up the stairs and out of the awful place. They found themselves in the graveyard again. It may have been raining, but to Daniel, it was the most beautiful place he’d ever seen. He looked over the gate and saw Dampe’ tending to the graves. He hopped over the fence and down the small cliff with James still on his shoulder.
“Dampe’! Help me!” called Daniel as he ran toward Dampe’.
“You made it out? Yer one tough little guy,” said Dampe’.
“Dampe’, its James! He’s hurt, you have to help him!”
“Les take a look.” Daniel placed James, now unconscious, against the small shack on the ground. Dampe’ took one look at him and said, “I’m sorry kid…yer brother’s gone…”
“What? No! You’re lying!” Daniel pushed Dampe’ aside and began to shake his brother’s shoulders frantically. “James, you can’t die! You just can’t! Please! Open your eyes!”
James did not move.
Daniel felt a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, kid,” said Dampe’. “Yer brother’s gone.”
Daniel’s body quivered. “So…all of that for nothing…”
Dampe’ made Daniel face him. He saw that Dampe’s face was horribly disfigured and scarred. Those operators must’ve done a lot worse than he thought to him. “This wasn’t fer nothin’ at all. You take your brother and to all the way up the stream. Place ‘em in the water and the current’ll carry him up to the castle. They’ll recognize these markings. When they see it’s a child, they’ll have to shut that place down.”
Daniel still shook. “What about me then? Where will I go?”
“Far away, kid. Jus’ keep runnin’. Go to the forest. They won’t look fer you there.”
Daniel looked up and smiled at him. “You’re a good person, Dampe’…” Before he left, Dampe’ dressed Daniel’s wound. He still limped when he walked, but he could still move. The operators were going to be too busy repairing that vessel to come after them now.
It was nightfall by the time Daniel made his way out of the village. There was no moon and the sound of crickets was loud in the air. It was far from silent, but Daniel did what he was told. He went to the end of the stream. Before he placed him in the water, he set him down first to say a few last words. The cricket noise was still loud.
“You know…I always wondered what our purpose in this world was…” Daniel said in a shaky voice. There were long pauses in between his phrases. “Even growing up I never thought we’d do anything for this world….like no one would know when we were gone.” His voice was cracking. “But we always had eachother…right?” He made a nervous smile. He looked down at James’ body. He looked so damn peaceful. Like he was asleep.
“But we did do something good for this world, James…” He continued. “We put an end to something that needed to be stopped…Your death…is the proof that we lived…You are the evidence of our lives…and I love you, James…I love you so much…” The tears were spilling down Daniel’s face now. “You’ll always be…my brother…and even in death…I will always love you…”
He picked him up and gently placed him in the stream. “Goodbye, James…” He watched until his body drift away from him and into the castle. He wiped the tears from his face and ran. He ran as fast as he could across the fields. His future was ahead of him and the determination of carrying on for his brother was coursing through him.
It took two years for the King to finally shut down the temple for good. The operators were banished from the kingdom and were never seen or heard from again. The vessel that resided in the temple was rebuilt but was never used again.
James, after he was discovered by the water source guard, was buried in the graveyard at Kakariko Village. He was honored for dying nobly in the Shadow Temple.
His brother, Daniel, was said to have survived and lived in the forest for many years until he set out to help the kingdom in any way he could. It was in disguise and in secret of course, but he helped anyone who needed. His true fate is unknown.
Thus concludes the story of James and Daniel.
