Chapter Four

As soon as I was well enough (in my opinion, five minutes later, though they made me wait a day to make sure), we continued forward. We reached another challenge by the end of the second day. The desert was no longer following one direction; if any, it was several.

Meanwhile, members of our group were disappearing every day. Everyone was nervous, less they be next. Sometimes the bodies were found. Sometimes not. We managed to conquer the challenge of finding our way by a ghost, a Poe, to be exact. He was wandering the desert (the ghost of the carpet merchant? I hoped not) in search of treasure. For an exceptionally large fee, he agreed to guide us and all other Gerudos who came through the wasteland to whatever lay beyond. And that, in case you are wondering, is where it got the name “Haunted Wasteland.”

We followed the Poe, stopping at night to rest, still futiley trying to ignore the sand the winds blew around us. Meanwhile, more and more of our expedition were disappearing.

Then one day, for some reason, the Poe disappeared. We had payed for a guide across the entire rest of the wasteland, yet he had only guided us through half. And the members of our group were still disappearing. Soon it was down to me, Ganon, and five others as we tried to find our way through the wasteland. Then me, Ganon, and three. Me, Ganon, and two. Me, Ganon, and one.

I awoke one morning to find Ganon’s tent across from mine, and the tent belonging to the last Gerudo soldier to the right. I walked over and pushed aside the flap. There lay Mishoora, the last of our soldiers. Struck dead through the heart by an arrow.

How could this have happened?! There had been thirty-six! First, we’d lost one to the ROS, then the seer, then the two to the bombchu exploding, if what Ganon had told me was correct. Two to his examples. That was thirty left! Twenty-eight, excluding me and Ganondorf. But then, he had slain the healers anyway, though I’d told him not to. Minus five. That made twenty-three. Had we really lost twenty-three people in the last week and a half?

I felt eyes on my back, and turned around to see Ganondorf standing behind me. “Lost another one, eh? Guess it’s just you and me, Commander.” He sounded almost cheerful.

I shrugged and grabbed our sack of food, trying to act as though it didn’t bother me. Trying to act as though I didn’t care that an unseen force had killed over twenty people in less then two weeks, and that I was probably next.

“We must be almost to . . . somewhere,” I remarked to Ganon as we began trekking across the sand once more. “How long could this Desert Wasteland possibly go on? That stupid Poe.” I muttered to myself.

Ganon did not look up. Instead, he asked me a strange question. “Do you remember your childhood, Nabooru?”

I stared at him dumbly, unable to speak for a moment. “Oh, that, um, yes, I suppose I do,” I stammered, struggling to recover. “Why do you ask?”

He stopped walking and stared at me. His eyes were red with bloodlust. I swear his stare ran my blood ice cold. “You are still young, Nabooru. You know not of riches, power, the evil in this world.”

Had I been feeling like my normal self, I would have spoken right up and started arguing with him immediately. I didn’t know power, riches, or evil! That was a joke!

But I was feeling very nervous at the moment, so I just shrugged and glanced at the ground. Ganondorf turned and continued walking. I dashed after him.

“Someday,” he remarked. His voice sounded far away, though he was walking right next to me. “Someday, Nabooru, I will rule this world. The power of the Triforce will be mine. I will take it from the Sacred Realm and hold it in my hand, and Hyrule will be mine!”

Inside, I was thinking, This guy’s a psycho! But out loud, I said, “Sounds like a good plan. I wish luck in your quest.” Had I any idea what his quest actually was, I would have taken a spear to him. But at that point, I knew nothing.

Ganon laughed a deep laugh that made me want to cover my ears. I winced, despite my mask of ignorance toward him. “Thank you, Nabooru.” I cringed again as he said my name. “And now that I have told you of my plans, there is something else I must tell you.”

I felt fear clutch at my throat. Inside, I was shaking like a leaf. But once again, outwardly, I showed indifference. “What is it?” I asked as though I didn’t care. I increased my speed to a greater pace so that Ganon had to jog a bit to catch back up to me.

“Well, you know how many of our expedition have died in these past two weeks?”

I walked faster. “Yeah, so?” I muttered without looking up. This was it. I had to . . . had to run. Just had to get away from this man, this pitiful insane creature lusting for power.

“Well, guess what? Now, it’s your turn.”

Too late! I had to move! Now!

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ganon leveling his bow at my back. I didn’t have time to think. I didn’t have time to plan. I just had time to react.

Immediately I ducked, and felt the breeze ruffle my hair as the arrow past over my head. I didn’t wait to see it land. Still crouching, I spun, crawled, and kicked out with one leg, all in one fluid movement. I caught Ganon behind his knees. With a grunt, he fell to the sand. My nimble fingers yanked the bow from his hand, and I snatched an arrow out of my own quiver. I pointed the bow at the huddled figure crouched on the ground. Slowly, I stood, still pointing the bow at his throat. “Make one move,” I snarled, “and you die, here and now. No second chances, no regrets.”

Ganondorf, the great Evil King Ganondorf, did not beg for his life. He did stare at the arrow riveted at his throat. He did not plead with me, tell me it was all a joke.

No. The great Evil King Ganondorf, in the face of death, was laughing.

He’s going to die laughing! I thought with disgust, but then, confused, I slowly lowered the bow. “What are you laughing at?” I asked warily, ready to snap the bow back up and send an arrow into his throat at any moment.

“Oh, good show, Nabooru,” he said around chuckles. “You will do nicely.”

“'Do nicely'? For what?” I said, my voice turning cold.

“Second-in-command, of course!” He finally managed to stop laughing. “You see, I had to test you. I couldn’t pick just anyone to serve below me. You have met all requirements with ease.”

“You think that was easy?” The words were out before I could stop them.

“Ha ha ha!” He began laughing again. “A sense of humor too! Perfect! Just what I need!”

I stared, confused. I had never seen him so emotional before. “Well, uh, thank you, sir,” I said slowly. “This is just what I’ve always wanted.”

“Good. As soon as we are out of this desert, we’ll see about getting you officially promoted.”

“Uh . . . gee, uh, thank you, sir!”

“Call me Ganondorf.”

“Thank you, sir Ganondorf!”

He laughed some more. I worked hard to keep from covering my ears.

Finally, he stood up and brushed the sand from his cloak. “Well, shall we move forward? I would like my bow back now.”

I hesitated, still unsure if this was a trick. Ganon chuckled. “It’s all right, you’ve proven yourself to me. I have no reason to kill you. Really, I won’t hurt you.”

Blushing, I handed him the bow.

“Good. Now, let’s get going.” We began walking through the sand once more. We walked for a full half-hour in silence. I tried to make an assessment of this man. He seemed to have short, psychotic outbursts of energy and emotion, followed by long periods of silence and indifference. Strange. But not strange for a person of insanity, of that I was sure. This man was mentally unstable.

We had been walking for around forty minutes when I saw something glint from far off in the sun. “Hey! Look over there!” I cried, despite myself.

Ganon slowly lifted his head. “Ah, good. I can always trust my second-in-command.” He smiled thinly.

Seemed as though the outburst of emotion was over.

We walked for another hour and a half, and then I saw a building looming up before me. We continued plodding until we reached the building. The winds had long since subsided (thankfully, and especially thankfully before my encounter of being made second-in-command), so I could see the building clearly. It was very tall, with pillars and such. Strange. And yet, I felt drawn to it. It was as though I had been here before.

“What is this place?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

“It is the Spirit Temple,” said Ganondorf, standing up from the step on which he had been sitting to rest. “Now, remember, we are looking for a place to set up headquarters. Keep an eye open.”

“Well, why not use that place?” I blurted without thinking.

At first I thought Ganondorf would scold me for some reason, but then slowly he began nodding his head. “Yes . . . yes, it just might work.”

He came over to me and shook my hand. “Impressive place, isn’t it? You were a good commander on this expedition, Nabooru. Good job.” With that, he turned and went to inspect the Spirit Temple more closely.

Gee, how weird. His hand’s as cold as ice, I thought to myself, not at all annoyed at his brushing me off to inspect the building. The less I talked to that guy, the better.

Of course, now that I was serving just under him, I would probably be seeing him a lot. I tried to feel happy about my promotion, but right then, on that fateful day in the desert where the first step on the way to Ganon’s rule was performed, a step that I was responsible for, a step that would end up practically destroying all of Hyrule, I felt only fear.