The Dream Sequence/FONT>

By Alan Fleming


Chapter 1: The Tower To Forever

     The sun was well over the horizon when Link awoke in the sweet comfort of his soft bed in Hyrule. Link stared out the window wondering how and when had he returned home. The journeys into the foreign lands seemed only a prolonged nightmare, yet, they still remained fresh in his mind. Link found himself wondering where the line between his dream and his own reality was drawn.

     Link got out of the bed and dressed himself in his usual garb. After he returned to his bed room he realized that his sword and armor was missing. Link didn't like the idea of being without his sword but what was he to do.

     Link left his house and headed at a fast pace for the castle. The castle was as he had seen it so long ago, its body intact as if the war had never taken place. Link believed now that the dream had began somewhere before the deadly siege. Guards which he had thought once dead now stood guard of the magnificent castle. Link slowly ascended the stairs to the castle, nostalgic depression seeping into his brain. Children played games in the courtyard as guards equipped only with story books entertained the children. The castle's doors stood wide open, this bothered Link for never in his life had he seen the gates of the castle left open allowing anyone to enter.

     "Greetings, Link," The officer hailed, "where have you been the princess has been waiting for you?"

     "I seem to have slept in." Link responded as he had flashbacks of this mans horrid death.

     "That is an acceptable answer in these days of peace." The man smiled.

     Link worked his way through the corridors of the castle in search of the princess who had seemingly summoned him the day before. Zelda sat staring into a fountain of crystal clear waters. Link just stood at the doorway waiting for the princess to acknowledge his presence.

     Zelda looked up, "Come here." She beckoned. Link walked over to the fountain and looked into its lucid waters, fish swam through the cool calm waters with ease. Each fish a unique creation of nature none of which Link had ever seen.

     "Link, did you have pleasant dreams?" Zelda inquired with a scanty smile on her face.

     "I...ah..yeah..I guess." Link stammered at the thought of the question.

     "Zelda, the king has requested your presence." A servant announced.

     "See you later, Link." Zelda promised and then she dashed out of the room.

     Link slowly walked down the long, winding dirt road. Link had decided to spend the rest of the day at his favorite pond, where he had always gone to clear his head. Link approached the pond and looked deep into the clear waters. Something was amiss Link could feel it but could not tell what it was. As Link looked up he saw a huge tower looming over the drab landscape. The tower stretch up to the sky with no end in sight. The essence of the tower sent chills running through Link's body. Link now found himself more confused than ever.

     As Link approached the baneful tower the urge to leave became more and more pronounced. Link found that he was, at times, almost unable to move but he trudged along, powered be his curiosity.

     Link stood at the base of the tower, looking up made through the mist but the tower did not end but spiraled upward, forever. Link walked up to the door and touched its mammoth handle. The handle was painfully cold, a chill that froze the soul not the body. Link opened the door wide but only saw darkness. Link light his lantern and walked through the doorway. The door sealed behind him leaving him lost in darkness. Link could not figure why the lantern had no effect, it either had gone out or had no influence on this evil tower.

     As Link maneuvered through the blackness he suddenly collided with a wall. Within seconds of the accident link could see everything previously hidden before. His blindness had been caused by his eyes being closed. The place was beginning to make Link hysterical, the cave now seemed to be taking control of his body. The tower was actually composed of a small room, nothing more everything else had been an illusion. An old man sat at the corner, he raised his eyes to see me looking about his dwellings.

     "The perfect life wasn't enough for you was it? Now to the depths of Hell for you!" The old man snickered.

     "What do you mean?" Link asked without any understanding of the situation.

     "You shall find out soon enough." The old man made some mysterious movements and a void appeared in the wall. The vacuum drew the helpless body of Link into itself.

Chapter 2: The Enigma Mirror

    Link awoke and surveyed his surroundings, this was his Hyrulian home, but something was different. Link wondered what the old man had spoken about and what exactly had happened.

     A misshapen creature burst through the door and began to yell profanities at Link. "Get up and get to work!" The slave master ordered in a language Link had never heard before but he understood perfectly. The beast carried a thorn laden whip and a short, spiked mace.

     Link got out of bed and dressed in a ugly blood stained uniform. Link reached the door of his house and looked out. Soldiers he had once fought with and befriended toiled hard to please the boorish beasts. Link also saw horrid torture machines at work on the fearful citizens of Hyrule. Giant wheels and gears rotated, extracting energy out of the earth.

     "Join formation, now!" The commander ordered, as Link joined in with the other slaves in their rhythmic march. The men seemed to no longer care or dream for a better life but have submissively fallen under the beasts' control. Link had never liked rules or averages and did not plan on conforming to the masses, who labored endlessly on hellish mines and plantations.

     "Stop here!" The slave master ordered and the captives did as told. "You are required to mine for ore in these rocks, if you do not meet the Leader's expectations you will be sent to the Catacombs." The mens' bodies twitched with the mentioning of the "Leader" and the "Catacombs". The men split up into small groups and mechanically began to split the rocks and search their scraps for any hint of ore.

     Link was assigned in a group with a father and his young child. Link began to work with the two who seemed in perpetual fear of the slave masters. As the demonic beasts began to relax, Link planned his escape. The two demons on "slave watch" began to drift into conversation, and Link sneaked off.

     Link looked back once to check on the slave masters but his gaze was caught by the father and son whom he was working with. Their eyes pleaded for him to return, for they feared the consequences if the demons found that Link had escaped. Link turned his head away from their stare. Link knew, or at least hoped, it was another dream world and decided to return to where the tower had been in the other dream land.

     Link approached the infernal tower, which seemed much larger than before. Link was now careful not to trust his perception as he advanced to the towers doorway and began to open the door. A static charge climbed up Link and spread throughout his body. Link screamed feeling as if he was burning alive.

     Link awoke at the base of the huge tower after being asleep for how long, Link didn't know. Link entered the large tower, eyes forced open. The interior was identical to its previous appearance, except for the lack of the old man who had sat in the corner. Link searched the room for some sign of what he should do, but found nothing.

     Link looked deeply in a mirror that hung on the wall, the reflective surface flickered from an image of himself to the image of the old man. Link slammed his fist into the mirror, but his fist passed through the illusion's surface and into another dimension or maybe into reality.

Chapter 3: Prison of Dreams

    Link stood in a small house and stared face to face with the old wizard. The building seemed similar to the other mystical sanctuaries Link had visited. The wizard stared fearfully at Link.

     "Where are we now?" Link questioned the old man.

     "We stand in a building which serves as a link between dreams and reality," The wizard poked in a stern voice.

     "Why did you send me to those strange worlds?" Link tried to keep conversation going in order to give himself enough time to retrieve his sword which lay in the corner of the room.

     "You had destroyed Ganon and I decided that I should eliminate a person of such power. The two great beasts I had sent at you were killed, and so I knew you were not a mortal being. I then decided to strike your mind instead of your body. I sent you first to a dream world of peace where you could be at ease. The other world was comprised of your own nightmares and fears. You eluded the persuasive power of both and went in search of me. Now we stand here but one of us will soon die." The sorcerer spoke the story with complete confidence in his own abilities.

     Link picked up his great sword and spun to face the wizard, who acted surprised by Link's eagerness to fight. The sword flowed with hate and with power as Link attempted to slam the blade into the shaman's body. The shaman deflected the blow with his bare arms.

     The evil wizard began to fire small bolts of electricity at Link. Link blocked many of the vicious charges with his sword but others managed to embed themselves into his body. The wizard then set a wall of white flames between himself and Link. No heat seemed to be emitted by the ivory wall and Link leaped through. The wall was only an illusion, this made Link realize that the wizard could produce no physical attacks, only assaults on the mind.

     Link straightened his body and, trying his best to protect his mind from the shaman, approached his foe. Link drew up his great blade and slammed it into the body of the helpless old man. The blade pieced the flesh as the body of the wizard began to convulse. Link pulled the sword out of the body and watched as the body faded into nothingness. The walls of the house began to fall as Link searched desperately for a door, but found none.

     Link awoke and looked about himself. Link, relieved to be certain he was back in reality, drifted back into sleep.



Back to Story Menu