…and on into a solemn hall. Tombs were leaned up against the walls. An eerie feeling ran down Link’s back. He swore he heard someone ask, “What is this place?” but it wasn’t from any voice he knew.
Endeavor stopped and looked back at them. She said, “This is the Hall of the Dead. The Drex bring all their kindred and those who died in their homes here to this place to be buried.”
“We didn’t ask,” Zelda replied.
“Be kind to wayward souls, Princess,” Endeavor answered and continued walking on down the hall. Link had a bad feeling about what that meant. “They would have hidden the key on the far side,” she added.
They continued on their way down the hall. It really was more a labyrinth, but Endeavor seemed to know her way through. Link glanced at the tombs. Each coffin was uniquely carved and named who was in it. Link noticed some tombs had their names scratched out. He moved closer to one to get a better look as to what had happened to the stone coffins. Endeavor turned back on her heels and hissed at him, “Do not disturb the Dead.”
Link took a step back as Endeavor studied the coffin. She said, “I fear they have suffered enough already.” She kept going. Link looked at the stone tomb one last time, before heading after Endeavor.
They passed through a doorway at the end of the hall. The tombs in this room where lain down on the floor, instead of leaned up agains the wall like the rest. They were studded with gems like those on Queen Justice’s crown. These must have been the past rulers of the Drex.
But there was something very wrong with these graves. Several had their lids pushed aside. Some lids were still over top of the coffins, others were pushed to the ground. Endeavor drew her sword. Link drew his as well, though he wasn’t sure what they were fighting.
The stone door rolled shut behind them. Link looked back as a purple glow came off the stone. That door was not opening until this room had been emptied of whatever it was lingering here. He returned his focus on the tombs.
A hand gripped the side of the coffin it was in. Its bony fingers echoed against the stone as it pulled itself up. The body wobbled on its feet for a moment, before letting its arms hang down beside it, its head tilted to one side. It was wrapped in red cloth and breaking chainmail hung loosely to its body. Skin clung to it from years of mummification.
“This is no Drex queen,” Endeavor exclaimed. “For which I will destroy you for what you have done.” Her sword separated the head from the body in one stroke. The skull hit the wall and shattered. She snarled, “ReDeads.”
There was a piercing scream. Link didn’t have time to block the sound out, leaving him paralyzed. Journey whimpered from the noise, before launching herself at another decaying body of the ReDead as it rose out of its tomb. The monster tossed her back, and continued its approach on them.
More tombs slid open. Endeavor shouted, “We need a diversion. There is too many of them.” She was right. They were being circled, and losing ground.
There was a faint memory in the back of Link’s mind. It was like the first rays of sunlight as it crept into his mind. He pulled out the Ocarina of Time and played the memory as it came to him.
“You learned the Sun Song. Its brilliant tune can raise the sun, and brings light even to the darkest place.”
There was a flash of light. As it faded, Link saw that the ReDeads had frozen. Without waiting, he pulled out his sword and unleashed a mighty spin attack. The ring of ReDeads fell back against the walls. It gave them room to breathe, and then launch their attack on the monsters.
After two more bursts of the Sun Song, followed by fighting, the room was cleared. A chest formed against the back wall. Zelda asked, “Where did you learn that song?”
Link shrugged. Endeavor commented, “I do believe in one of your past lives you visited and died in the land of Termina. While your spirit went on to become the Hero’s Shade, it seems your body remained there. It would be most likely then that somewhere among these tombs that soul resides, and assisted you in battle once more.”
It was the best answer they could find. Link opened the chest and pulled out a small key. The door rolled open again, letting the sound of falling stone echo down the hall to them. The tombs were opening.
“We’re going to be trapped between them and the exit,” Zelda muttered.
Endeavor agreed, “Even if they are not all ReDeads, we are still very much outmatched…alone…” She drew her short helix dagger, saying, “Link, your past life has given me an idea.”
She walked to the back of the room. Link noticed a gap in the wall, almost like a pedestal, if pedestals could be vertical. Endeavor asked, “You do know that each Goddess has two elements They preside over?” She held her dagger up in front of the wall. “Din, the Goddess of Power, commands Fire and Spirit.”
Tossing her cape aside, Endeavor went on, “Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom, commands Water and Shadows.”
Link heard Endeavor take a deep breath in, before finishing, “Farore, Goddess of Courage, commands Forest and Light.”
“But you do not know my Goddess entirely yet,” Endeavor stated, after uttering a brief prayer. “She is the Goddess of Secrecy, yes, and commands Earth, you have gathered, but you do not know Her full power.”
Endeavor pulled her hand back. “Reechka, Goddess of Secrecy, commands Earth…” She stabbed the opening with her blade. “…and Soul.”
There was a hollow sound that came up from the ground. The wailing of thousands came from beneath. Endeavor said, “I am no Goddess, and cannot control what is about to happen. Thought, they cannot leave this place, but they do not love the living, be it the first life or one brought back. I suggest we run.”
The earth trembled. The ground began to glow a bright purple. Link saw the shapes of people below. They were hollow and see through, revealing only more people through them. Endeavor withdrew her dagger, grabbed her cape, and left the room at full speed. As the light grew brighter, Link and Zelda joined her and the threesome made it further and further away from the room.
The ground trembled. The noise was louder than even a ReDead’s scream, but not as halting. ReDeads lined the hall now, along with Staflos with ranging levels of armor. When the swarm of creatures got to close, Link would drop a bomb, and carried on running. The wall of wayward souls was fast approaching behind them.
Link dove through the doorway back into the hub. Behind him, he heard the sharp sound of stone closing behind him. He looked back to see if a door had been closed.
Rather, he saw thousands of faces staring back at him through some unseen wall. They just hovered there, watching, before after a while, they went back down the hall the rest, forgetting what had disturbed them. Another chill ran down Link’s spine after seeing so many dead and their hollow, unforgiving faces.
Endeavor stood up. Yore and Journey stood loyal with her as always. Zelda stood up and collected her bow from where she had lost it in her leap into the room. Endeavor said quietly, “It is the Hall of the Dead…and the Dead keep it that way.”
Zelda tested her string once, before turning to Link. “Well, come on! We’ve got that key, now we can go on into the temple!”
Pulling her cloak back over her shoulder, Endeavor nodded. “Zelda is right. The passage on is now open to us.”
Link pulled out the key and walked up the other hall. After a short while, he reached the locked door Endeavor had mentioned. He slid the key into the lock. The two metal pieces stuck together. The lock dropped and rolled away. The chains hung limp, before falling off. Lastly, the door rolled open.
Drawing his sword, Link walked on into the room ahead…