Chapter XVIII: Broken Trust

The way was much easier on the way out rather than in. They had passed through the edge of the forest and were staring out across the broad, windswept plains of Hyrule Field by late afternoon, though the sunny noontime had faded away due to gathering clouds, and it looked as if rain could be expected that night.

“Splendid,” Link muttered. “Of all the times when it could have rained when we had shelter to take—now it decides to storm when there isn’t so much as a tree in sight.”

“Bloody miserable rain,” Navi agreed grouchily, still harboring bad memories of being nearly drowned to death in a gutter and having to endure the explorations of the Water Temple last week.

“Well,” Sheik sighed, “the best we can do is to cut across the field instead of taking the roads around. Perhaps we might reach Lon Lon Ranch if we hurry about it and waste no time in taking rests.” He turned to Link. “Do you think you could manage, Junior?”

The Hylian smiled cockily. “Just try to keep up, Old Man. Hyaa!”

Glynfrid galloped ahead merrily, leaving Sheik grinning, shaking his head helplessly and urging his horse to follow.

Veil was unusually quiet during the journey, his mind fixed upon what lay ahead in his future: Hyrule, the Temple of Time, the Sages, the Princess herself. It all sounded very frightening and exciting. He was so busy pondering and fretting that Link, out of concern for his twin’s prolonged silence, finally had to ask if he was all right.

“Oh, y-yes. I’m fine, quite. I was just thinking,” he replied.

Navi giggled and turned around to face Veil. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Link won’t let anything happen to you.”

They rode briskly for several hours, and then night began to fall. Still there was no sign of shelter, and they were forced to make camp out in the open. Sheik suggested that they refrain from building a fire in case, though uncommon, there were any wandering bandits or thieves scouring the plains in search of an easy target. And also, he pointed out, because there wasn’t exactly anything with which they could build a fire, anyway. They had to make due with the lanterns for now.

They set up for the night on the lee of a small hill with one steep side, and Sheik called Veil over to help hitch the horses to a rock cluster several paces away, and to assist in unloading the supplies while Link stayed at the site and looked after Navi, who needed another poultice treatment applied to her wings.

Alone together, the young Hylian sat on a small boulder, held his fairy companion in his hands and carefully rubbed the pasty mixture onto her wings. “You really frightened me, you know,” he told her gently. “I was sick with worry. I thought I would never see you again.”

“Bah!” laughed Navi. “Did you think you could be rid of me that easily? Really, Link. You ought to know by now that I’ll still be alive and flying when you’re long dead and put down in history as the Greatest Hero of All Time. Ha ha!”

Link didn’t reply immediately, his thoughts traveling backwards to the night when the fairy had vanished, their first night in the southern wood. Unbeknown to him, Veil was returning from around the hill with the bedrolls and blankets tucked underneath his arms, but he stopped when he overheard his master’s next words:

“Navi, there’s . . . ” Link’s voice fell to a hushed and urgent whisper, and he placed her back upon his shoulder. “I have to tell you something, but you must promise you’ll not say a word to another soul. I just can’t bear to keep it to myself any longer.”

“Of course, of course,” the fairy agreed wholeheartedly. “You know you can tell me anything that’s on your mind.”

Veil, though he knew he shouldn’t be eavesdropping, couldn’t help but to feel as if something very personal and powerful was going to be spoken in the next few moments, and did not wish to interrupt this baring of truth by barging into view when it undoubtedly needed to be said. He set down the supplies and remained just out of sight, though he could just barely see Link sitting on the rock from around the rise of the hill.

The Hylian clasped his hands together and gazed pensively at the ground between his knees. When he spoke, his voice was soft and unusually timid: “The night you disappeared, I had a dream. I dreamt of death and graveyards, and even in my sleep my heart ached in its loneliness, as if I’d just lost everyone I’d ever cared about.”

“How dreadful!” said Navi.

“That’s not all. I-” Link raised his head to gaze up into the dark night. “Then I was suddenly cloaked in white, lying upon my back and gazing up at a cloudless blue sky, and I felt rain falling upon my cheeks. Rain from a cloudless sky. And then . . . ”

Even in the dark, Veil could see the rosy blush creep across Link’s face.

“Then Sheik’s face was above my own. He leaned down and he . . . he kissed me, Navi. And it . . .” Link shook his head numbly, trying to find words. “It was the most wonderful feeling I had ever experienced in my life.”

A sword of both fire and ice was driven into Veil’s chest and through his heart when he heard the words; fire, for Link had been aware of the kiss that Veil had given him that night in the forest. Ice, for it had been Sheik, not Veil, that Link had dreamt of. The shadow’s joy and agony was so great that he felt as if his entire body would be torn in half for the opposing forces. He wrapped his arms around his own body—to keep himself from splitting down the middle—and slid to the ground, senseless and silent and shocked.

But unfortunately, it did not end there.

Link continued with mounting animation: “It was so real, as if he had actually been there with me. I wanted him to keep kissing me, Navi. It felt so right, so real, so good. I didn’t want him to stop. I felt all of his love and passion as clearly as if he had told me himself how he felt. I, I’ve never experienced an . . . attraction like this before, not to anyone, man or woman. Navi-” He closed his eyes and smiled gently. “-I think I am in love with Sheik.”

If woe were a poison, Veil would have surely died of it after hearing his master’s words. The sword in his heart twisted, bleeding his bare emotions out like a broken levee. This isn’t happening. No. No, it was not Sheik! It was me! It is your shadow who so loves you! It is Veil whom you feel that love for!

It was not so much the idea of Link being in love with Sheik that so filled Veil with despair, but the thought that his efforts to show Link that he loved him so purely and so honestly were for naught. Now there would be no hope of ever seeing his affections returned, not ever.

How could Veil come forth and confront his twin of light with such a confession? It was I who kissed you in your sleep. Your dream was supposed to be of me. Foolishness! He could never tell him the truth, not without the total loss of Link’s trust, the trust he had worked so hard to attain! . . . But if he did not make a clean breast of it, Link would lead himself to believe in a love that was not real. A case of mistaken identity. It would be the end of it all, of them, and Veil would have that single regret festering in his mind for eternity thereafter.

But at least one of them might still find happiness. Link would smile again, but not for Veil. Link would laugh again, but not for Veil. Link would love someone with all his heart, but it would not be Veil. And that is all Veil wanted. It was all he needed. He needed him. Link was everything to Veil, but Veil meant nothing at all to Link . . . But as long as he was happy, what did it matter?

It was painful. It was powerful. It was a killer in the night. It was cruel. It was merciless. It was a tyrant upon his throne. It was bitter. It was ironic.

It was love, in its ugliest, truest form.

“You should tell him how you feel,” came Navi’s gentle voice. “If there is no doubt in your heart, then go to him.”

“How could I possibly tell him that I’m in love with him?” Link asked with desperation in his voice. “What would he think? How will he react? What if it jeopardizes our friendship?”

“Does Sheik mean more to you as a friend, or as a lover?”

The silence that followed the fairy’s inquiry fell heavily upon the ears, and Veil wanted to bury his face in his hands and scream until blood spurted from his throat. The emptiness . . . It felt as if some terrible creature had crawled into his body and eaten him from the inside out, leaving nothing but a hollow shell.

But that’s all I am to him, anyway, Veil thought drearily. A shell. A soulless shadow that feels nothing and gives nothing. Why? Why do I suffer so? What did I do to deserve such misery? Is there some greater power out there determined to see me all but die of grief?

“Veil? What are you doing down there? Are you all right?”

The shadow’s head snapped up and he beheld Sheik, standing before him and gazing down at him worriedly. Pain twofold ripped through Veil’s heart, and he wanted nothing more than to curl into a tight little ball and be left alone. But reality endured, and Veil pulled himself to his feet, brushing it off with: “Yes, of course. I was just . . . admiring the scenery.”

Sheik smiled humorously. “What’s there to admire besides the great expanse of grass? Come on—let me help you with some of those.”

As the blond haired Sheikah knelt down and picked up some of the dropped supplies, Veil gazed at him remorsefully and thought: why shouldn’t Link be in love with him? Sheik was everything: smart, skilled, handsome, strong, compassionate, witty, charming . . . No wonder his master loved him so; he was worth much more to him than some useless shadow who was ignorant about everything in the world.

When they appeared from around the hill, Link started slightly but remained composed, though Veil saw the way he gazed longingly at Sheik, and the way his cheeks colored to a deeper shade of rose.

Pain tenfold.

The shadow spoke sparingly the rest of the evening, and even when he lay down at his master’s side that night and took up his hand, watching him sleep peacefully, it did nothing to quell the aching in his heart.

Now Veil understood how Death could seem so merciful.

Dawn came darkly to Hyrule Field, and though it did not rain the night before, it remained cloudy, and a heavy dew shrouded the grass and cloaked the plains in a thick blanket of fog. They rose early with the intentions of making it to Hyrule Castle by midday, and while this normally would have been a cause to celebrate to most of the party, all of them were very quiet and reclusive as they packed the supplies and made the horses ready for travel.

An unsettling tension was growing between the three young men, whether any of them were aware of it or not. Navi noticed it immediately: Veil’s lifeless expression and dull eyes, Link’s mounting apprehension and nervousness as he rode alongside Sheik, who himself seemed nothing out of the ordinary, being that he wasn’t inclined to talk very much. Nonetheless, he noticed Link’s sideways glances toward him and inquired if the Hylian were feeling all right, what with looking as if he had a slight fever from the redness of his cheeks.

Link said he was fine, and a little part of Veil died with his words.

The shadow was in the midst of a full-blown depression by the time they stopped for a mid-morning stretch. Navi, meaning to get to the bottom of Veil’s gloomy mood, climbed from Link’s shoulder onto the shadow’s so that she could ask him what was bothering him. It was she who suggested that Veil go to refill the water skins from a stream just beyond the rise of a nearby hill, that way they could talk alone. He listlessly agreed, leaving behind Link, and Sheik who was preoccupied with readjusting the saddlebags on his horse.

The black-haired young man knelt down at the stream’s edge and placed the leather pouch against the flow, waiting for it to fill. Navi slid herself close to his ear and asked softly, “Veil. What’s wrong? Something is troubling you, I can see it. You can tell me-”

“Anything that is on my mind?” he interrupted, pulling the skin from the river and corking it firmly.

The fairy held her breath for a few moments, slowly realizing the meaning behind his words. “Veil,” she whispered delicately, sorrowfully. “Oh, Veil . . .”

“I didn’t mean to overhear it,” the shadow murmured. “But now I wish I hadn’t . . . I heard everything, Navi. Everything.” He buried his face in his hands.

“Veil, dear Veil,” the fairy said soothingly, climbing to her feet and hugging the side of his neck. “I’m so sorry. I know how much you adore Link. I understand it must be horrible for you to go through something like this-”

“How?” he snapped, his voice cracking hoarsely as tears built up behind his closed eyes. “How could you possibly know how it feels to be me right now?”

Navi was riddled with pity. “I’m so very sorry, Veil. What . . . what do you plan to do now?”

“Nothing,” he uttered, looking away across the other side of the stream where a canyon wall stood tall and dark in the slowly vanishing mist. A tear ran down his cheek and across his scar, but other than that, his face was empty of emotion. “Nothing at all.”

You should tell him how you feel.

Link stared as Sheik finished adjusting the saddle and gave his horse a pat on the neck.

If there is no doubt in your heart, then go to him.

How could I possibly tell him that I’m in love with him?

The crimson-eyed young man tucked a few strands of pale yellow hair behind his pointed ear and stretched casually, taking no notice of his friend’s gaze. Link swallowed down the butterflies in his stomach, bolstered his confidence, and took a deep breath.

“Sheik, I . . .” Link began as he stepped forward, and the Sheikah turned to look at him with full attention.

The Hylian felt his mouth go dry. “I’ve been meaning to tell you something.”

After a long pause, Sheik stuck his neck out expectantly. “Yes?”

“Th-that is,” Link swallowed and tried to remain composed. After having faced countless enemies without so much as a tremor, here he was now, sweating, heart pounding, shaking and more nervous than he could ever remember being. “I . . . I think I . . . uh, you . . . I . . .”

“Link, for goodness’ sakes, just tell me wha-”

Words were being of no aid to Link, so in that instant he decided that his thoughts were best spoken with actions—in a single swift movement, he stepped forward and pressed his mouth to Sheik’s, ending the other lad’s sentence prematurely and causing his ruby eyes to widen in sheer, absolute shock.

A moment later, Link opened his eyes and slowly drew away, his expression worried and quizzical. No words were spoken, and they gazed at each other for several long seconds, slightly breathless, mostly astounded, their faces flushed red with heat.

The gravity presented itself in full when Sheik placed his hands upon Link’s arms and pulled him close, leaning forward to return the kiss that the Hylian had just given him. But instead of soft lips, he met with fingertips and an apologetic face staring back at him with remorseful sapphire eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Link breathed. “I can’t. This . . . it was a mistake.”

Sheik righted himself and nodded slightly, taking his hands from his friend and looking dismayed and perturbed. “I understand. I overstepped my boundary. Forgive me.”

“Don’t apologize. I’m the one who . . . I thought that it would be different.” Like what I felt in my dream. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s all right. No harm done.”

“Right. No harm.”

But they both knew otherwise.

They parted when their words had run out, and a wall of stone slowly built itself up between them as they waited for Veil to return. At last they saw him appear over the rise and attempted to pretend that nothing had happened by being abnormally chipper and bright, but an invisible black cloud of woe hung over the shadow’s head, making him appear even more shadowy and inhuman.

Replacing the replenished water skins to the saddlebags, Veil turned and stood facing Link, who was waiting for his twin to mount the horse so that he could follow. But Veil became frozen when he saw the broken hearted, disappointed expression on Link’s face, an expression that should never grace such a picture of beauty, and his thoughts were wrenched back to that night in the forest when he realized that the day would come when Link would walk the earth no more. For one day he would be cold and dead, lying in a box beneath the earth in an eternal sleep, never to wake again, all traces of his existence washed away like soot in rain. And he would never be coming back. Never ever. There was no such thing as forever, not for Link.

Life, Veil realized, was too short to keep secrets hidden from each other. And it was too precious to waste on dreams that could never come true.

Panic seized a hold of his heart, a blind, frantic fear that already it was too late to do anything to bring his master’s heart back to him, that he would never again feel the soft skin of Link’s lips so long as they were warm and alive; it sliced through his being like a cold blade, and he knew then that he could not bear this burden any longer, for it would surely kill him if he kept it inside.

“Oh Link! Master-!” Veil cried in anguish and fell upon his knees before the Hylian, wrapping his arms about his legs and pressing his cheek to his thighs. “Forgive me! Oh gods, forgive me, Link! I did a terrible thing!”

Navi held on for dear life as sobs wracked Veil’s body, and Link gazed down at him, stunned. “Wh-what? What are you talking about?”

The shadow turned his tear-streaked face up toward his master, and stammered in a throaty voice, “Th-that night in the forest. The first night. I-! It was me! I’m so sorry, Master! I became f-filled with the fear of your death, and I placed my brow to yours, bestowing you th-those horrible dreams! I did not mean to! I d-didn’t know!”

Sheik stared, open-mouthed. Link looked likewise. But his face began to change with Veil’s next words:

“And I-! I had no right to do what came next, but . . . but it’s because I love you. I love you so much, Master! I love you because I was made to love you, because I am part of you. And I . . . it was I who kissed you in your sleep that night. I’ve been too cowardly to come forth and tell you, because I fear . . . I fear that you shall leave me again, and I can’t survive without you any more than you can survive without me! We belong together, Master! Forgive me for my vulgarities I committed to you while you slept, but . . . I simply love you too much to keep it stowed away inside of me.”

He closed his eyes and pressed his face against Link’s legs. “I love you. I love you. And I shall never cease to love you.”

“You . . . ” the Hylian whispered dryly. “No. No, no!” He wrenched himself away from Veil and held his hands to the sides of his head as if he were about to swoon, breathing heavily. Calm insanity flashed within his blue eyes. “No, I can’t take this,” he said in a frightened voice. “Not now. You don’t. None of this is supposed to happen. This . . . this isn’t right. You’re not even supposed to exist and now you tell me that you-”

He turned his back on Veil and began pacing erratically, frantically, as hysteria slowly wound its way into him. He began talking to himself wildly in a hushed voice: “-not happening. Where was I? The inn. I don’t faint. I’ve never fainted. I’m sixteen, not seventeen. Red potion won’t help. Gods!” He clapped his hands over his ears as if trying to keep a torrent of voices from rushing in, and whipped around to face Veil with tears flowing from his wide, frightened blue eyes. “What the hell are you! What are you trying to do to me?”

“Master,” Veil begged weakly, reaching out to the distraught young man.

“Don’t! Don’t!” Link shouted angrily, backing away. “Don’t ever touch me again! I’ll let my soul die a thousand times before I . . . before you . . . I trusted you.” He took a breath and screamed: “I trusted you!”

The echo seemed to reverberate off of the canyon walls and carry away across Hyrule Field for hours, but its ringing went on forever within the hollow chasm where Veil’s heart once beat. His hands, once reaching for his master, now fell to his sides, and the light of life seemed to go out of his gray, colorless eyes.

Link slumped to the ground on his knees and held his head in his hands silently, rocking back and forth with gentle movements while no one dared to move. The whole world seemed silent. Not a bird, not a breeze, not a sound of trees or grass, not even the stream below the hill. Nothing. A bare and empty void, a shell. Nothing beneath the ground, nothing above in the sky.

Nothing.

Just nothing.

Sheik had found himself faced with a delicate and difficult situation to obtain a grasp on, but somehow he managed to break the tension with hurried talk of the little further they had to travel, and pull Link together long enough to get him into Glynfrid’s saddle. Sheik offered his own saddle to Veil, but the shadow replied in a hollow voice that he would rather walk from now on.

And so he did, and so they continued onward slowly. Soon they began to see other horses and riders, carts, peddlers, merchants, all coming to or going from the Hyrule Castle marketplace. As they neared the crossroads before the great city wall, Veil hung back a few paces, staring at all the people. Though their numbers were by no means an army’s, it was the most he had ever seen in once place.

Different people of all types and races, young and old, man and woman, some indiscernible, all mixed in together. Foreign languages and accents fell upon his ears, and everywhere he turned there seemed to be animals he had never seen before: dogs, chickens, geese, goats, and one fearsome man with tattoos on his arms had a small monkey sitting on his shoulder.

Veil was made very nervous and jumpy by these alien surroundings, and the only thing keeping him anywhere close to calm was Navi’s gentle reassurance as she remained firmly seated upon his shoulder.

People stared as they made their way across the drawbridge and into the city, mainly at Link and himself. No doubt they were marveling at their likenesses and their differences, wondering perhaps if they were brothers, twins, cousins? Who knows? They stared at Sheik as well, for his people had become so few that it was rare to see them out in public, if at all, for the Sheikah were revered for their mysterious abilities to slip past peoples’ notice.

They made quite the attraction at the marketplace. Veil heard music for the first time and wanted to smile with joy, but the agony bearing down upon his heart would not allow him to do so. He walked with his eyes upon the ground and ignored the whispers and glances as he passed by.

The cobblestone ended as they walked across the entire square, and a wide path flanked on each side by the high faces of a grassy ravine slowly wound its way from the marketplace. When Veil next looked up, they were standing before a ponderous iron gate, and beyond it glimmered the white stone walls of Hyrule Castle. Two sentries in full armor approached and greeted Sheik, who nodded to them curtly.

“Tell Her Highness that we are returned,” he bade. “And we bring with us a matter requiring her—and the Sages’—immediate attention.”

Veil looked askance when the sentries lay their eyes upon him and remarked with awe and alarm at his identical appearance to Link. The Hylian himself said nothing, and they passed through the heavy gates without another word. A horn sounded, a signal that the travelers had returned. Sheik, glancing behind to make certain that Veil was following, couldn’t help but to feel as if they were returning with a prisoner of war who was going to face brutal interrogation and cruel torture. He had been in service of the royal family long enough to know that not all of Princess Zelda’s subordinates were cheerful and easygoing, and had seen for himself the chambers where enemies of the throne were debriefed. Sheik hoped with all the mercy in his heart that that was not to be the shadow’s fate.

Veil’s heart was in his throat when he heard the gate close behind him, and fought the instinct to flee in panic, feeling like a trapped animal that was about to be inspected and examined by these mysterious “Sages” that Falavus had warned him not to trust. Navi kept herself firmly planted on his shoulder, and whispered words of reassurance to him.

When at last they came before the broad staircase leading up to the ornate doors of the castle, Sheik and Link dismounted and allowed the grooms to lead the horses to the stables. The Hylian attempted to make himself look at least presentable by dusting off his tunic and trying to comb his hair into place. Veil watched in fascination and did the same, though he did not know why; he supposed it was because they were about to be mingling with some very important people, and perhaps appearances mattered on occasions like this. Sheik didn’t seem to care what he looked like, with his hair disheveled and messy, his uniform ripped and carrying old bloodstains in some places, and he still bore faint scratches on his face from the battle with the giant Siridu.

Just then the doors opened with a heavy creak and a tall, middle-aged man with graying hair and sharp emerald eyes stepped crisply down the stairs. He was the royal chamberlain, the officer of the court responsible for granting audiences the permission to speak with Her Highness, and was something of an ardent and hawkish personality in himself.

He smiled however as he recognized Sheik and Link, and said as he reached the bottom of the stairs: “Well, by the looks of it, you lads certainly seemed to have gotten yourself into plenty of danger and adventure, haven’t you? It is a relief to have the both of you back. Her Highness was beginning to grow concerned with your prolonged absence.”

“We do apologize for the delay, Leith,” Sheik replied informally, for the chamberlain had been an officer of the court years before the young man had been inducted as the guardian of the royal family. “It couldn’t be helped.”

He took a step to the side, revealing Veil who had been hiding himself behind the Sheikah. Leith took a slow breath inward as he stared at the frightened-looking lad with a fairy sitting upon his shoulder. “Is this . . . the remnant?” he inquired, turning to Sheik.

“Yes,” Link answered coldly.

“We hadn’t prepared ourselves for anything such as this,” Sheik explained. “Veil here is-”

“Veil?” the chamberlain interrupted. “You mean you’ve named it?”

Sheik tensed indignantly in the shadow’s defense. “Only after he begged us. He is the shadow of Link’s soul, cast into a human form. He is an immortal, but as mild as lamb and the kindest, gentlest person you could possibly hope to meet.”

“Unbelievable,” Leith murmured, thoughtfully rubbing his beard and gazing at Veil thoughtfully.

“We didn’t know what to do, so we decided to bring him before the Sages and ask for their assistance in determining what must be done to save Hyrule . . . and Veil as well.”

Link started with burning ire: “Sheik-!”

The crimson-eyed young man cast a frigid glance at the Hylian and uttered, “Don’t.” He turned to face Leith again and said in a low voice, “Time is short. Link’s life and soul are in dire straits, and a decision must be made immediately if we plan on keeping him in this world.”

“Understood,” the man nodded solemnly. “I’ll send for the Princess to meet you at the Temple. I’m afraid not all of the Sages are available on such short notice, but it must suffice if matters are as grave as you’ve described.”

“They are,” Sheik assured.

“Duly noted,” said Leith. “The sentries shall escort you to the Temple. Princess Zelda will be with you soon.”

“There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Navi whispered to Veil as they were guided by two armed guards down a grassy path on the east side of the castle.

The shadow looked blanched with worry. “Perhaps,” he agreed hesitantly. “But it was only the beginning. There is plenty of time for things to turn foul.”

“Don’t be so gloomy!” the fairy admonished.

“I cannot help it—I’m a shadow.”

Navi didn’t know if he were joking or being serious, but she kept her mouth shut and turned her attention to the thunder clouds gathering above. An uneasy feeling was slowly creeping into her like a cold wind, and it came neither from her injuries nor the darkening weather above.

The Temple of Time loomed ahead like an ominous figure, crouching and waiting for its prey to walk unsuspectingly through its dark maw of chiseled granite and marble. It filled Veil with a brand of fear the likes of which he could neither determine nor describe, and he wished terribly that he could hold onto Link where he knew he would be safe. The sentries and the three young men ascended the stairs and entered the temple, walking unhurriedly across the lavish red carpet and past the upraised section of floor that bore the Symbol of Light upon it. Ahead of them on a stunted monolith glimmered the three Spiritual Stones: the Kokiri Emerald, the Goron Ruby, and the Zora Sapphire.

Veil stared in awe at everything around them, wandering about the temple cautiously. Sheik nodded to the sentries, indicating that it was all right to allow the shadow to roam at his leisure as he was no threat to them.

Presently, footsteps sounded outside and Princess Zelda, surrounded by a few retainers and counselors, glided in with illustrious grace, her glittering tiara sitting beautifully upon her fair brow and her silken skirts gathered into her gloved hands as she stepped across the marble floor as smoothly as water flows down a fountain’s stones. She was incomprehensibly beautiful. Accompanying her was Chamberlain Leith; Rauru the Sage of Light, a balding, stocky man with a bushy white moustache; and Impa, a tall and muscular Sheikah woman of silver hair and crimson eyes who was a retired royal guardian and currently the Sage of Shadow.

Veil immediately rushed himself back to the safety of his companions and, after their manner, bowed deeply to Her Highness as well.

“Link,” the young woman said with happiness and relief in her voice as she strode swiftly toward the Hylian, taking his hands in her own and smiling. “I’m so glad you’ve returned.” She turned to gaze at Sheik. “Thank you for watching over him, Sheik. I am most grateful for your service.”

“My pleasure, your Highness,” he replied properly. “But it was not I who saved Link’s life when it was threatened.”

“Really?” she inquired. “Then whom?”

Sheik gestured with his arm to the shadow, lingering behind his companions and staring at Zelda with dumbfounded awe. Immediately the princess released Link’s hands and stepped back, marveling with equal shock at the young man who looked so much like the Hero of Time.

“My word,” she breathed. “What kind of magic is this?”

“Dark magic,” Sage Rauru said, stepping forward to stand beside Zelda and scowling openly at Veil. “It is the evil conjured by Ganondorf himself, the shadow that has outlived its Dark Master and now seeks to usurp all that dwells in the light of divinity.”

“I am no such monster!” Veil defended himself against these frightening accusations. “Link is my Master, and I obey only he. Ganondorf may have created me, but his evil no longer is a part of my being!”

“So says the creature brought forth from the iniquitous loins of Darkness,” Rauru muttered.

Sheik jumped in: “He is not the villain you think he is, I can vouch for that. When Link first defeated him in the Water Temple, he killed the evil that was holding the shadow captive. He has since become a model of compassion and understa-”

“Don’t you dare to negate me, Master Sheik,” Rauru said gruffly. “That shadow represents the last trace of Ganondorf’s evil, and it must be destroyed-”

“You cannot!” Sheik flew into a heated passion, forgetting his lesser rank to the Sage. “Veil is more than just a mere copy of Link himself, he is the shadow of Link’s soul! Without him, Link’s divine light will eventually poison itself and he will die, both physically and spiritually.”

“It cannot be,” Zelda whispered vehemently, gazing at her beloved Link. “Is this true, Link? Is that creature your . . . your soul’s shadow?”

“Yes,” he replied laconically. “It is, unfortunately.”

“What is the matter with you?” Sheik shouted at Link. “Suddenly he’s not a person to you anymore? When did this happen? Was it after he threw himself to his knees and begged for your forgiveness for loving you so much? Or was it when you decided that you would rather put your trust in some pompous old man like Rauru instead of your own heart-”

“Ilya!” Impa said sharply. “Shiile ni tenar lodun!” And Sheik allowed his sentence to go unfinished.

Rauru’s face was red with anger as he growled, “You snide little whelp! What kind of audacity do you dare to flaunt in-”

“Sage Rauru, that is enough,” Zelda interrupted in a regal voice that demanded obedience. The old man shut his mouth and glowered.

Link turned to stare incredulously at the withdrawn Sheikah. “Ilya?” he echoed.

Sheik looked up with an almost apologetic glimmer in his eyes. “You didn’t really think ‘Sheik’ was my actual name, did you?”

The Hylian looked betrayed. “Wh-why did . . . When . . . ?”

“Gentlemen, please,” Impa said. “Can we return to the matter at hand?”

“Yes, I’d like to know how to be rid of this problem and focus upon restoring any damage that this shadow might have caused,” Rauru muttered.

Veil shrank away behind Sheik, the only one who seemed to be defending him from these unpleasant people. “I don’t want to be here anymore,” he whispered to Navi. “Something bad is going to happen, I can feel it.”

Navi didn’t reply, but tightened her hold on Veil’s tunic, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

“I’m afraid it won’t be as easy as you think,” Sheik—or the young man known as Ilya—said with a tone of satisfaction in his voice. “Veil, as a part of Link’s soul, is immortal. He cannot be killed.”

“How then can we hope to return time to its normal flow and keep the world from falling into darkness if we cannot destroy the very thing that is endangering it?” cried Rauru. “All things have a weakness; we need only to find it.”

“We do not need to,” Impa said levelly. “As Sage of the Shadow Temple, I have seen for myself how beings of little substance thrive and live on as if unaffected by death or injury. If what Ilya says is true, then none of us holds the means necessary to remove the shadow from this world. Only the one who has given him life has the power to take it away.” She gazed at Veil and nodded once. “Tell us, how did you receive that scar, Shadow? From a certain sword, perhaps?”

The dark haired young man uttered a silent gasp and grabbed tightly onto Sheik for protection. Sheik stood tall and unmoving, though he gazed at the faces around him with uncertainty in his rouge eyes.

“Ah, so I see,” said Rauru slowly. “It is the power of the Master Sword. As the blade that holds the memories of the Hero of Time, it is the only tool which is directly connected to his original quest . . . and all the original evil he defeated. While no weapon of this current course of time is able to scratch the shadow, the Master Sword alone is the key to which this door to a future free from evil shall be opened.”

Link frowned as these words slowly seeped into his understanding, the alarm apparent in his expression. “Wait. Wait, what are you saying? You’re not going to kill him, are you?”

“No,” said Impa. “We can’t. But you can.”

Link’s blue eyes went wide. “Wh-what?”

“The Master Sword, Link,” said the Sheikah woman gently. “No one here was granted the power to wield that blade. It is a destiny that no one but you possesses, and only you were chosen by the Goddesses to be the destroyer of evil. With you, and with the Master Sword, lies the ability to right all that is wrong, and set time on its correct path once again.”

Zelda stared sadly at Veil for a moment before turning to the Hylian Hero. “Link,” she murmured. “I know it must seem difficult for you to destroy something that looks so much like you and acts as human as the rest of us-”

“What!” Veil cried desperately from over Sheik’s shoulder. “But I am human! It’s not an act! I-”

“Silence, you fiend!” bellowed Rauru, and the shadow pulled himself behind Sheik’s back once more.

Zelda looked distraught as she gazed up at Link. “You must understand. You must take up your sword and put an end to this. For Hyrule. For the world. Please, Link. You must do this.”

Link tried to speak but no words came from his mouth. His eyes were vacant, lost, unable to believe.

“What’s the matter, Hero?” Sheik’s voice cut through the air like a knife. “Regret something?”

The Hylian looked over at his companion, and the shadow that was holding so desperately onto him. And in his heart he did indeed feel regret. He felt a mountain of it falling down upon him, crushing him into a darkness devoid of light and air. He found his words, though his voice was trembling and weak:

“Surely . . . surely, there must be another way?”

Sage Rauru stepped forth. “There is no time to find another way, boy! The clock is counting down, and if we do not act now then it may be too late to act! And if there is any question as to what might happen if this remnant continues to exist, I can assure you that it shall result in more than just the loss of your shadow.” And he pointed to the floor at Link’s feet where the faint light coming in from the stained glass windows cast no shadow of his person across the polished marble.

“He is right, Link,” said the princess slowly. “We do not have time to sit around and think of ways to spare this . . . creature while the end is fast approaching.”

“Your Highness,” interrupted Leith, who had remained quiet during most of the argument, “what if the shadow’s death affects Link somehow? What if it kills him as well?”

“Its destruction should not affect the Hero,” answered Rauru gruffly. “After all, it is merely a shadow of his soul, is it not? It is not his actual spirit. It is not connected with his life in any way. He shall survive, as he did when he first killed it.”

Navi looked over to see Veil’s reaction to this dreadful conversation, expecting him to be crying tears of anguish and despair . . . but strangely enough, he seemed unusually calm. “Veil?” she whispered. “Veil, are you all right?”

“No,” he replied lowly. “They are right, Navi. He does not need me to survive.”

“Veil, wait. Don’t talk like that! Veil!” But the fairy’s words went unheeded as the shadow stepped out from behind Sheik and picked her from his shoulder gently, and placed her upon the Sheikah’s shoulder.

“I am ready to face my fate,” he said loudly to them all, the turned to gaze at Link. “I never thought that death was anything but useless and filled with unnecessary sorrow . . . but now I see that death can be merciful and used toward a greater good. If I must die to save this beautiful world of yours, then I shall. At least, perhaps, some part of me will live on, and I’ll rejoice that you are still alive, Master.”

Link shook his head numbly. “Veil-” he began, but the shadow did not let him finish.

“You heard the Sages, Link. I was never meant to exist in this world. I have no place in it, and without your love I do not want a place in it. Everything I’ve seen here: the stars, the sun, the trees, the grass, the flowers, the birds. It means nothing to me without you there to see it with me. Without you, the day is nothing but a waste of light. Without your love, my life has lost all its meaning, and I am nothing more than the shadow that follows you wherever you go, as empty and dark as the void from which I came.

“Think of it this way: kill me out of mercy, not out of duty. Send me back to the darkness, for there’s no difference between it and a blue sky over green fields; it all looks the same to me without you.”

Veil faced Princess Zelda, who had tears brimming in her eyes. And he said simply, with all the calmness he could ever possess, “I am ready to die now.”

It was ironic how he never noticed things until now, like the way the large tendon in his wrist pronounced itself over his pale blue veins when he tightened his fist. Or that the cloth of his tunic was actually made up of very very small strings all woven together so tightly, one on top of the other and crisscrossing over until they formed something bigger. Or the way tears caused everything he saw to look distorted and bent out of shape. Or how the dark bangs that fell into his eyes on the right side were shorter than the ones on the left, because they had been cut by Link’s sword when he had given him the scar across his face . . . the same sword that Link now held in his hand as they stood upon the platform where the pedestal of the legendary blade itself lay. Dim light filtered down through the single window above, and outside the low rumbling of distant thunder could be heard. Veil would have liked to have seen rain, but now he would never know.

Not that it mattered to him anymore. He had broken Link’s trust. He had lost him, and now he was going to be put out of his misery. It all worked out, though. Veil’s biggest fear was living in a world without Link, and now he was going to have that fear put to rest. He would never again know Link’s smile, never again see him laugh, never again hear music or birds singing or smell flowers, but he would never know despair and agony and woe that would inevitably come when his Master died. That in itself was worth this noble suicide; to never have to know a world without Link. It was the most merciful wish that could ever be granted to him.

Princess Zelda, Leith, Rauru, Impa, Sheik and Navi gathered at the steps of the platform and watched—some with grim acceptance and others with sadness—as Veil went down on his knees before Link, who looked as if he were locked in a trance from which he could not escape.

The shadow reached up and removed the pentacle that Falavus had given him, and held it out to Link. “Here. I have no use for this any longer.”

The Hylian gently took the necklace from him without a word, and tucked it into his tunic.

“Link,” Veil said softly so that no one else could hear, and gazed up at his beautiful master. “Promise that you won’t forget me. I am sorry for the pain I have caused you, and for everything I have done that has ever upset you. Know that whatever I did was done with the love of you in my heart, and that nothing which awaits me in death shall ever alter the fervor of that love.”

He bowed his head and folded down the collar of his shirt, exposing the back of his neck for the clean cut of the blade. “I am ready now.”

Navi buried herself in the silk gauze of Sheik’s collar and wept bitterly.

Link, staring down at his shadow with a vacant numbness, slowly raised the Master Sword above his head with both hands and placed the tip of the blade to the vulnerable flesh of Veil’s neck. And then his mind went out from underneath him, rushing and roaring full of thoughts like a river swollen from years of pouring rain.

Do you like it? I made it just for you.

All I’ve ever wanted . . .

For you are my light, my keeper, my salvation.

. . . was to belong, to find my place in this life, to find a home, a family to call my own . . .

You can belong to me if you’d like.

. . . to find my true purpose as a human being, not as a tool to fight evil . . .

I want to be given a name and a place in this world of yours, more than anything else, because this world is so beautiful, and I would like to stay here. With you.

Tears filled Link’s eyes, and he was blinded. How could he do this? How could he take the life of something that had come from himself?

I know the pain you feel, for it is also my own. And as long as I remain here in this world, you shall never be alone.

How could he survive the regret? How could he live with the memories? They would last forever, and he would remember forever, and he would feel the pain. Forever.

Don’t worry. Nothing lasts forever.

Link could suddenly see again; the tears had fallen from his eyes, and now he saw the single bead of blood forming where the tip of the sword was pressing into Veil’s neck.

Am I not human, like you? Does my flesh not bleed, like yours?

A glittering ruby of life, a ruby that should have never been but somehow was. It was not beautiful because of how it looked, but because that it had taken a miracle to create it. Every particle, every tiny thing that made up that single drop of blood, simply could not have been created by accident. There had to be a purpose and a meaning to it. There just had to be!

A cry of anguish escaped Link’s throat, and he lifted the sword from Veil’s neck and tossed it down, where it clanged loudly against the platform and slid down the stairs to the floor. The spectators stared in shock as Link sank to his knees, threw his arms around Veil’s shoulders and embraced him tightly.

“Forgive me!” he begged. “Forgive me, Veil. I never meant to hurt you. I’m sorry I. For everything!”

“Link,” the shadow whispered, “you shall always have my forgiveness, no matter the transgression.”

The Hylian pulled back and took Veil’s face in his hands, leaning forward and kissing him in front of the Goddesses, the Princess, the Sages, and the whole world. It was a hurried, frantic kiss that lacked depth and skill, but was more powerful to Link and Veil than any touch they had previously shared. Rauru began sputtering like a boiling kettle of water, and Zelda made a small, tortured noise in the back of her throat, no doubt stunned beyond all reckoning at this shocking, immoral behavior from her beloved Hero.

In another instant, their lips were separated and they pulled each other to their feet, standing defiantly before the crowd.

“What—what is the meaning of this!” Rauru roared, his voice ricocheting off of the stone walls.

Impa darted forward to take up the Master Sword, but she had barely reached for it when it was snatched up and suddenly pointed in her face. Looking beyond its edge, she saw Sheik positioned defensively, blocking the path to his companions and holding onto it steadily with both hands.

“I don’t want to use this,” he uttered, “but I will if you provoke me.”

“Guards! Seize him!” Rauru ordered, but as the sentries moved in to surround the rebel Sheikah, there came a bright light from the platform, and all eyes turned up to behold Link standing with a ball of glowing white fire billowing from his left hand, looking shaken but otherwise determined. The guards instead surrounded the princess for her protection in case the crazed Hylian should start throwing fire around.

“Everyone,” Link said evenly, “calm yourselves. There has to be another way of working through this.”

“Link,” Zelda whispered tragically. “Link, don’t do this. You’re only getting yourself into trouble.”

“Ilya, put down the sword,” Impa tried to coax the Sheikah, but he remained set in his stance.

Link tried to reason with Rauru: “Falavus Talrhos told us everything about you, and she also told us of a legend that her people had about soul shadows.”

“You what?” the old Sage bellowed.

“Listen, she might be able to help us! We stayed with her for several days and she was working on finding out all she could of this theory the druids had-”

“There is no time for theories. The shadow must die!”

“He doesn’t have to! I’ll find a way to save him!”

“Link,” Sheik muttered, “don’t waste your breath. I suggest you get out of here while you still can. These imbeciles are simply not willing to listen to you.”

The Hylian lingered, torn between trying to explain to the Sages the druids’ theory and fleeing from their ignorance. Veil tugged on his arm. “Sheik’s right,” he said urgently. “We need to go. We can return later after we’ve learned how to set things back to normal.”

“Link, no!” cried Zelda. “Don’t do this! You’ll be an outlaw! Every soldier in Hyrule will be after you. Please, think of what you’re doing!”

“Link, make a decision!” Sheik shouted, giving the sword a good brandishing to keep the approaching guards off of him. “I can’t hold back the army when it arrives!”

“Come on, we must leave,” Veil said, and Link extinguished the magical fire in his hand and dashed down the platform stairs.

“Link!” cried Navi. “Wait for me!” And with a small huff of exertion, she stood upon Sheik’s shoulder and threw herself into the air. Halfway to the floor, her fluttering wings found their strength again and she soared into the air after her friends.

“Navi!” Link exclaimed joyfully as the fairy flew above his head, raining down sparkles of light. “You can fly again!”

“Link, catch!”

He turned in time to see Sheik toss the Master Sword, spinning, into the air toward him. Veil threw himself out of the blade’s path and Link caught it neatly by the hilt, and slipped it into the scabbard that was strapped to his back.

Sheik smiled. “Nice catch. Now go! Get out of here!”

“GUARRRDS!” Sage Rauru shouted to the soldiers they had left stationed outside of the temple doors, but that was all he managed to say before the rebelling Sheikah threw his fist into the fat man’s jaw, sending him crashing backwards to the floor. Guards were on top of Sheik in a flash and hauling him away.

Link looked back over his shoulder and stopped running, wanting desperately to fling himself into the mass of armor and free his friend, but there was no time for it, and the guards from outside were storming into the temple. He and Veil lay into them like a tornado, sending them scattering like frightened rabbits when Link drew his sword and, using his gifts of magic, caused it to glow with a threatening power.

It was a pandemonium, a crushing throng of madness.

Thunder boomed and lightning cracked just overhead, and Veil and Link barreled down the steps of the Temple of Time with Navi zooming up just ahead. Armed guards were shouting and tearing after them in a confused mass of clanking, clattering steel. Despite the severity of the moment, Link found himself laughing out loud.

They burst into the marketplace and elbowed their way through the crowds, tripping over squawking chickens and bumping into shrieking women, and at last broke into a sprint when they made it to the drawbridge. There was an unattended horse hitched to a post, and they helped themselves to it and were off with a thundering of hooves and a cloud of dust. Behind them they could hear the angry voices of the guards they had thwarted.

The sky opened up and the rain poured down on them in torrents. Link felt Veil’s arms squeeze him tightly and a warm voice say in his ear: “I think I made something of a first impression, wouldn’t you?”

Link laughed.