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

“Boring,” he mumbled, and headed for the entrance, deciding to explore the field. He was still very reluctant about going up the mountain, and justified this side-trip by telling himself there was probably nothing he could do there at night anyway. The fact that he now only need play that song on his ocarina to bring the dawn was forcibly ignored.

“Link! There is evil in the field at night, remember?”

“So you said. But I killed off one of those dead-things, uh, re-deads? Yeah. That. I’m sure I can handle whatever is in the field.”

“Yet you’re afraid to climb Death Mountain.”

“Be quiet.” She was right but he didn’t want to discuss it. Not yet. It occurred to him that part of his dread involved a recognition of his woeful lack of experience. Sure, he’d fought a gigantic spider and won; he’d faced a couple of ghosts and reduced them to harmless flames; he’d even hacked a living-dead being into a different state of death. But was he ready for what had to be an even greater challenge on that mountain? Something told him that if he’d had to defeat a creature like Gohma for the Kokiri Emerald, winning the next Spiritual Stone would have to be every bit as difficult, and perhaps even more so.

Navi may or may not have sensed the boy’s conflict, but she didn’t reply or indicate his words had insulted her.

As he went out through the gate and headed for the long staircase, he saw the guard was there, but had paid no attention to him. He rounded the corner and started down the steps, noting how quiet it was at night.

When he was almost halfway down, a strange noise like dirt being shoveled at a frantic pace, began a few steps ahead. A second later there was a large puff of earth and a huge white skeleton pulled itself up from under the step. Without preamble, it slashed at the boy with red-tipped, fleshless fingers, its massive jaws snapping, fiery red light shooting from its eye-sockets.

Link’s instant reaction was to jump backward. He tripped when his heel caught the edge of the step behind him and he nearly landed on his back, but managed to put out a hand to catch himself while with the other he drew his Sword. Yelling in sheer terror, he slashed at the vicious white thing attacking him as he found his footing. With both hands gripping the hilt, he began hacking in earnest, and within seconds, the skeleton tumbled to the ground, broken, and disappeared in a flash of bluish light.

“What – ” Link gulped. “What was that, Navi?!”

“They’re Stalchildren, Link. You should play the Sun Song.”

He thought about that for a moment. “No. No, I think I need to face these things and learn to fight better.” He continued down the stairs.

Before reaching the stone bridge over the moat, he’d fought and defeated three more of these things. Thus far, he hadn’t been injured by any of them, but he was getting horribly tired by now and began to feel hungry once more. What time should it be? he wondered.

“Where are we going, Link?”

“I don’t know. Ack!” Another Stalchild rose up before him and after a brief battle, fell before Link’s Sword. “I need to sleep, Navi, I really, really do.”

Up ahead he could see a structure on top of a hillside. “What’s that?” He pointed with the tip of the Sword.

“Lon Lon Ranch.”

Aha! That…well, maybe not. He wasn’t sure he wanted to deal with Malon, especially since he’d managed to lose her cuckoo. On the other hand, he had succeeded in sending her father home as promised. Besides, he reasoned, it was – crap! Another Stalchild, accompanied by a smaller one, clambered out of the ground and attacked.

“Ow,” he whispered, clutching a wound on his left arm once the two had been destroyed. “Navi, I need to sleep.”

“Here, Link – cut some grass and put in on your arm.”

“Oh, right.” He did, felt a bit better, and started for the stone walls of the Ranch. What he’d been thinking before being attacked, was that Malon would most likely be asleep herself at this hour, so his chances of running into her were slim.

Twice more he had to defend himself against the crazy skeletons, but now he was getting injured in each encounter. The grass helped, but it wasn’t until he found a small heart-fruit and ate it that he actually got some strength back.

A wide grassy pathway led upward between the rocky walls of the Ranch when he reached it at last. As he did, the sun began to rise. Navi told him the enemies would leave him alone during the day – or at least those enemies. Apparently there were other kinds, but she didn’t tell him what they were.

At the top he entered the Ranch itself and found two buildings, one one either side of the path which continued until it opened into a huge fenced-in area. Curious, he entered the building on his left, and there, sitting on the floor amid a gaggle of noisy cuckoos, was Talon.

The man didn’t notice Link until he got closer and greeted him. Setting aside one of the birds that had been on his lap, Talon looked up. “Oh! Hello, young man!”

A cuckoo began pecking at one of Link’s boots and he shooed it away with one hand. “Hello. You’re Talon, right?”

“I am indeed! The owner of this ranch, in fact. And you – you look familiar. Have we met?”

“At the Castle a day or so ago.” Had it only been a day or two, then? What with meeting the Princess, and with all his jumping in and out of holes, fighting off skeletons, learning music that did odd things to his environment, and a dire lack of sleep, he was no longer sure about anything, much less what day it was, should be, or wasn’t.

“Yes! I remember!” the man was saying. “You told me Malon had sent you!” He chuckled. “I certainly got an earful when I found her.” He shook his head, his expression rueful but indulgent. “So! What can I do for you? Do you want to marry my daughter?”

Link gaped. What? What was he talking about? Marry… “I – I mean…well, no, sir.”

Talon threw back his head and gave a loud guffaw, slapping one thigh with a thick hand. “Ha! Just joking, boy, just joking! You’re far too serious about things, aren’t you! No, no, you’re a bit young for something like marriage, eh?”

More annoyed than relieved, Link nodded, his mouth a straight line. Sheesh.

“Tell you what, though,” Talon went on, “I’m going to give you a challenge. If you can win my little game, I have something nice for you, and then you can ask me for whatever it was you came here for, all right?”

“Uh…sure.” Why not? After that, maybe the man would let him go lie down in the huge pile of straw over in the corner.

“Okay! These, as you can see, are my cuckoos. But one of them is very, very special. He looks like the rest, but he’s actually a super-cuckoo! If you can discover which one he is, and bring him to me within four minutes, I’ll reward you handsomely!”

Link stared around the room, counting roughly twelve or so of the birds, all of them identical, and decided to start with the ones closest. Remembering how he’d caught Anju’s birds, he snagged the first, ran back to Talon with it, and when the man shook his head in the negative, tossed it into a space between some boxes and a staircase behind where Talon continued to sit.

Six cuckoos later, he grabbed one, and before he could return with it, Talon stood up and shouted. “That’s the one! You did it!”

Link dropped the cuckoo and went to Talon, totally exhausted, sweat creeping down his back under his tunic.

From a small box on the floor, Talon took out an object which he held up. “You’ve won a bottle of Lon Lon milk, my boy!”

“Milk.”

“Yes! It’s not just any milk, either, let me tell you! My milk is like no other. It fills you with health and energy as soon as you drink it. In fact, I’m told, it even has certain healing properties.” He gave Link a huge grin and handed him the bottle.

“Thank you, sir.” Not sure what to do with it, he held it in one hand, feeling a bit foolish.

“So now, what did you come here for? Is there something you needed?”

At last. “Yes, sir. I need a safe place to sleep for a while. I’ve been, well, I’ve been on a kind of quest, you see, and I believe it’s been at least two days since I really slept. Do you have some straw or something where I could – ”

“Straw! Never mind, my boy, you deserve better than that! You were most kind to my little Malon, even hatching her weird egg for her!”

“Um, yeah, about that…”

“Oh, she’s delighted! It flew home to her – got here before either of us did, in fact! Anyway, you’re also quite good with cuckoos, I’d say. Not many could have found the special one as fast as you did! So tell you what – climb these stairs, and at the top you’ll find a loft with a nice, soft bed. Sleep as long as you need to, and when you wake up, I’ll show you where you can bathe, clean up a little and all that. I’ll have a nice meal for you, too. How’s that?”

Link was astounded. “You – you’re very kind, sir! How can I thank you?”

“Oh, I have a feeling you’ll be thanking me by finishing whatever this quest of yours is. There’s something about you…hmm. Well, no matter. Off you go!” He gestured toward the stairs.

With another word of thanks, Link went up, and as promised, found a clean bed, its mattress filled with incredibly soft down. He removed his clothes and boots, then took off his hat, releasing a tumble of badly-cut blond hair (he’d cut it himself, of course, as all Kokiri did, but never took much care in how he did it). With a sigh of contentment, he ruffled his unruly mop, stretched, and got under the covers.

In less than a moment, he was fast asleep.

This was the second time in the past few days that Link awoke in a strange place. This time, however, he had no curiosity or any desire to get up. A brief, sleepy glance at his immediately surroundings was all he was willing to offer before burrowing deeper into the incredible mattress. Even his own familiar little bed in his own familiar little cottage was nowhere near as soft and cozy as this. The blanket was softer than his, too, as was the pillow…

“Link! Wake up!”

And then there was that. Two important changes in his life were going to force him out of the bed: a quest and a fairy. He groaned and sat