The Legend of Zelda: Transient (third book in the Timeless series)

Chapter 7

The sun beat down on his face, and he scrunched his eyes closed even more. He was already sweating, and it wasn't even 9 in the morning. He knew there was a reason he hadn't liked it the first time. He groaned and got up, grabbing his cap off the ground beside him. He stretched, strapped his sword and shield on, walked out into the sand,
"When are we scheduled to leave?" He asked the general, who was leaned over a map,
"Hello, King Link. What do you mean?" He asked, looking up at him,
"I'm going home today, along with a few of the other men," he said, crossing his arms. The general stood straight,
"Oh! You didn't get the news?" Link raised an eyebrow,
"What?"
"You must have already been asleep. We finally got a lead, so your departure has been postponed," Link sighed. That sucked. He wanted to protest, but he knew he was needed here if things started happening,
"What is it?" He asked instead. The general beckoned him over to the map,
"Well, before you arrived, the main horde of the entities seemed to circle around here." He said, pointing to where the prison was. Link nodded, "Well, it seems the power of the triforce so close forced them back. There is still darkness surrounding the prison, it seems, but no spirit has shown its face since you have been here. We haven't been able to figure out where they went, until now. I just received a letter from the King of a neighboring kingdom. It seems they have fled there to regroup. They're causing havoc there, and the Kingdom isn't strong enough to fight them back on their own,"
"What are you saying? Do you think we need to head there?" Link asked. The general shrugged,
"It's not clear yet. I will say that it's probable though. We should know for sure in the next few days." He responded, looking up at Link, "But, of course, it's your call. I will let you know when we know more. For now, a group is going out to try to break into the prison. They've asked for you to lead them," Link nodded and walked away. He sincerely hoped something would happen to where they wouldn't have to go. It took a long time to get to the Kingdom, and the problem wouldn't exactly be fixed overnight. It would mean being gone a lot longer,
"All right. Stop lounging around, let's go." He said, walking up to the group geared up and chatting among themselves. They nodded and headed to the boats they had rounded up. Link pulled himself onto a boar, and was reminded again how different it was than riding a horse, which he hadn't really done since Epona. He flicked the reins and they started on the uncomfortable ride.
It took awhile to get to the prison from the other side of the dessert, and when he finally unmounted in front of it, he wasn't sure if he would ever even be able to have another kid. He turned to the others,
"Ok, let's do this. And let's hurry up with it. I'd rather not be here when night falls." The others nodded, pulling out tools from the pouches on the boars.
They had been working on the gate for some time. It looked just like ordinary metal, but never budged, but Link had never been there, either. He pulled out the Master Sword and pried it in between the metal and the wood it was stuck to. It pulled away immediately. He turned and raised an eyebrow at the others, who were looking at what he had done, wide-eyed,
"How long have you been doing this, exactly?" He said. They looked at each other,
"I-it never came off!" A man said, shocked,
"Looks like it," Link said sarcastically. He kept going, throwing back the metal for them to get rid off. It didn't take long before the entrance was clear. He wiped the sweat off his forehead. He then motioned for them to follow him and he walked inside.
The sky started getting dark as soon as they were close, just like it had when he came there long ago. He rolled his eyes before walking forward slowly, looking around as he went. One of the others had his hawkeye and was checking the towers,
"Nothing, sir," he whispered. Link nodded and walked to the gate, peeking around the corner. Nothing.
They continued on like this, but there were no monsters around. They were at the entrance to Arbiter's Grounds in not much time. On the inside, he split the group in three, two parts going in either side doors, and him, along with a few others, through the main door straight ahead.
~~
He grinned,
"Finally. He's here. I was running out of patience. Give me his darkness." he lifted his hand, grinning wickedly.
Nothing happened.
"Sire, he has already conquered his darkness, as well as the Queen." A spirit said to him. He ground his teeth, dropping his hand,
"Fine. If that's how it's going to be, I can do that. There's one more person who has part of my son in them." He said wickedly, disappearing.
~~
Hours later, Link sat around the fire, chewing on a roll. They hadn't found anything, and he hadn't been able to sleep when they had gotten back. Now it was 4 am, and everyone else was asleep.
He pulled out the small folded paper from his pocket and unfolded the drawing. Zelda and Erick smiled back at him. He missed them so much, and he wished he had been able to go home that day,
"Sir Link! We finally got news from them!" the general said, walking over to him. Link was surprised he was up,
"Ok. And?" He said, but he could tell what it was from his face. Link sighed and looked down, bracing for it,
"We have to go help. We leave out in the morning."