There was a moment of silence before the peaceful meadow started to blur around them, twisting into a different scene of what appeared to be the midst of the Asterlin swamps. The cube of ice surrounding the woman blurred out of sight, along with her inside. Lowering his bow, Link winced as he put a hand over his chest, being slammed into the ground multiple times had taken its toll on his body.

"Are you ok?" Saria came over to him after untangling herself from the roots.

"Of course, I've been through worse," Link gave her a weak smile.

She knew he was trying to put on an act but didn't want to argue.

"I think we should take a rest for a few minutes," she told the others who all willingly agreed.

"Ugh, where am I?" Amber mumbled from her place on the ground. Sitting up, she rubbed her head then looked at the group. "Where did that crazy woman go? And where's the meadow?"

"We defeated her," Taj explained. "And now we've somehow been warped somewhere else."

"It was just an illusion," Alanna spoke up. "She, that woman, created it to make us believe we were far away, when in reality we were here all along."

"Hang on, are you saying I missed all the action?" Amber shouted, ignoring Alanna. "Well that sucks!"

"Hey, your shield was quite useful," Link grinned, sitting on a mossy rock. Turning to Alanna, he shot her a curious look. "How do you know that was an illusion?"

"Because she's one of them."

All eyes were suddenly on the summoner.

"One of who?" Amber asked, forgetting her annoyance at missing the last battle.

"I suppose you would have found out sooner or later," Alanna sighed. "There are a group of people in Asterlin who believe that what's happening right now with the spirits is meant to happen. They want chaos to fall over the land so the spirits will eventually destroy each other and Asterlin will finally be free of them."

"But won't they destroy Asterlin in the process?" Saria asked.

"That's what they don't realise. They think once the spirits have gone Asterlin can reform into a new nation, free of constraint, but that won't happen unless everyone and everything is destroyed first."

"This gets crazier and crazier," Amber got to her feet, dusting a cluster of rose petals from her trousers. "I didn't sign up for bad guys to be involved too."

"You don't get a choice in these things," Link snorted, stretching his arms before standing. "I think we should go find that bear."

"Right," Taj nodded his agreement.

"Wait! You're forgetting that we need to go into town first," Alanna reminded them.

"Listen, I know we said we'd go there after dealing with whatever was in here but now we're here wouldn't it be quicker to find the spirit first?" Link suggested. "I'm sure the council will understand the situation, especially if this group you talk about is set on stopping us."

"Um, I guess so," Alanna frowned. She hated changing plans at the last minute but he did make a good point. It would be a waste of time trekking all the way to the city then all the way back to where they were. "But didn't you want a better sword?"

"I think I can manage for now, and I have plenty of other weapons," Link grinned.

"Where did you get so many weapons anyway?" Amber asked the boy. She realised they hadn't really spoken much about what he, Saria or even Taj did before they started this journey.

"Yeah, I'd be interested to know too," Alanna nodded, moving beside Link as they began walking deeper into the swamp.

Following behind Link and the two curious girls, Taj and Saria listened to him explaining what each of the weapons did as he took them out. Saria had heard the explanations countless times, it was amazing the number of people who were fascinated with simple things such as the bow and boomerang. Of course, the more unusual weapons like the gust jar still made even her wonder how it managed to work they way it did.

"I'm tired!" Madi sighed, sitting on Saria's shoulder. "All this flying is exhausting."

"Flying? You've spent most of the time sat on someone's head or shoulders," Saria reminded the fairy.

"Yeah, well…" The golden fairy tried to think of another excuse. "Hey, did you notice that this place keeps getting darker the further we walk?" She managed to change the subject.

"You're right," Taj stared up into the masses of trees which twisted and turned in all directions, creating the thick canopy of plant life covering the swamps.


The deeper they ventured into the swamps, the murkier the water around them became. Soon the thick trees were twisting so far down that they almost blocked any signs of the path from being seen. Not many animals appeared to be moving amongst the leaves, only the odd skulltula that would scurry away when they heard footsteps nearing. The only sound was the rustling of the trees as a light wind wrapped around their branches, causing them to sway gently.

"This is disgusting!" Amber moaned as they trudged through a pool of fresh mud, her feet treading on various stones and twigs which had been caught in the sludge.

"We're getting closer to the deepest parts of the swamp," Alanna explained. Leading the way, she led them through a series of shallow pools and clusters of trees. "The shrine shouldn't be too far from here."

"Another shrine?" Link raised an eyebrow. This would be the second one they had been to that day.

"Well, shrine is a loose term for it. You could call it a lair or temple if you wanted," Alanna shrugged.

"Are there going to be more things that try to kill us in this next shrine?" Amber asked, almost stumbling over a jagged rock hidden within the mud.

"Probably…" Alanna replied, paying more attention to the map she had taken out than to the Gerudo. "Over there!" She pointed to a group of trees which were off to one side of the path.

Walking in the direction Alanna was pointing, Link approached the trees to find he could pull them apart to reveal an entrance that spiralled downwards further into the swamp. However, the only way down seemed to be a wide mudslide which had formed during the bad weather.

"Um, how do we get down there?" Alanna looked at the map, there wasn't anything about mudslides written on it.

"Down where!" Amber shouted from behind them. Jumping over another large rock, she misjudged the distance and went tumbling into Alanna who shrieked in surprise as both of them fell face-first into the mud.

"I suppose we have no choice but to get very muddy," Taj mumbled. He didn't particularly want to slide down in the mud but there didn't appear to be another way.

"Not necessarily," Saria grinned. Moving past the girls on the ground, she plucked five leaves from the nearest tree and held them up to inspect them.

"Yeah, those will be a real help," Amber said from the mud. "You've finally lost it Saria."

Ignoring Amber's comment, the Kokiri held the leaves for a second before each grew to the size of a large deku leaf.

"There's only one way to get down a mudslide," she smiled, handing each of them a leaf. Placing her leaf on the edge of the slope, she took a breath before stepping onto it and giving it a quick push.

"Whoa!" Amber gasped as the green-haired girl disappeared down the mudslide, surfing on the giant leaf. "I guess I'll join her!" Placing her own leaf down in the same way she'd seen Saria do, she jumped onto it, only to almost fall off before she had even started.

"This will be funny," Koda laughed.

Deciding it was best to avoid standing for now, Amber clutched the leaf to her chest before running at the mud, throwing the leaf out in front of herself and sliding head-first down the slide. As soon as the leaf hit the mud, she felt a whooshing sensation shoot through her body as a rush of adrenaline took over. Holding on for her life, she had never felt so alive, even during the extensive horse-riding lessons her mother had put her through. Catching up to Saria, the Gerudo was still impressed that the girl was able to stand on the leaf without losing her balance, it was as if she'd been doing this all her life, as if she was one with the forest.

"Wait for me!" Link called to them as he too caught up with the two girls.

Amber stared in fascination at him too. He wasn't as 'one' with the leaf as Saria was but the boy still managed to stand up without falling face-first into the mud.

"Um, I don't think I can do that," Alanna stood nervously at the top of the mudslide. She knew she didn't have to stand on the leaf but even lying on it like Amber was doing would more than likely end up with her flying into the mud.

"Here, I'll help you," Taj placed his leaf on the ground and took a seat on it. "Come on, sit on yours, it's not as hard as it looks."

Hesitating for a moment, Alanna took a deep breath and knew he was right. It couldn't be that hard, especially if Amber could manage it. Stepping cautiously onto the leaf, she slowly lowered herself into a sitting position before grabbing hold of Taj's hand to steady herself. Giving the ground a push with her other hand, she closed her eyes as their leaves started sliding down the mud. This was going to be a long ride.

"Fancy a race to the finish?" Saria challenged Link who eagerly took up the invitation.

"You know I'll beat you," He grinned, making his leaf move faster down the slide.

"We'll see about that!" Saria took off after him, swerving around the next corner, leaving Amber lagging behind.

"Hey! I want to be in on this too!" Amber sulked. Attempting to stand once more, she was able to kneel before wobbling back into a lying down position. "I'm not going to give up!" Grabbing the first long stick she saw in the trees, she smiled to herself as her plan came into action.

"You're losing your touch," Link laughed as he kept up his lead on Saria who wasn't far behind.

Narrowing the distance between herself and Link, Saria looked up to see a string of branches hanging down on both sides of the mudslide. Waving a hand before he noticed, she sent one of them tumbling down right in front of him.

"Whoa!" Link struggled to keep his balance as he twisted his leaf through the mud to dodge the fallen branch. "Two can play that game!" Taking out his boomerang, he aimed at some of the branches over Saria's head, only to see both her and the leaf disappear. It was common for the Kokiris to vanish from sight whenever they wanted back in the forest, some would use this to protect themselves from threats while others liked to mess about and play tricks on each other. Even though he'd known Saria all of his life, Link still wasn't able to see her when she did that, no matter how hard he tried. The Deku Tree said he might be able to one day but only he would be able to work out how. Lowering his boomerang, he sighed, there was no point trying to knock down branches when he didn't know where she was.

"Look out in front!" Amber's voice shrieked. Digging her stick into the thick mud, she pulled herself up into a standing position before giving the leaf a mighty push. Using the stick like an oar, she pushed herself at full speed down the mudslide.

Realising Amber was headed right for him, Link sighed with relief when Saria reappeared. Leaping onto the back of her leaf, he slid his arms around her waist as a speeding Gerudo shot past the both of them, mud and leaves splashing in all directions. Reaching the end of the mud at breakneck speed, Amber braced herself for the hit as her leaf shot into a moss-covered brick wall with such force it was surprising the wall was still standing.

"Ow," the girl rubbed her aching head, "Well, at least I won!"

"Can you still see straight?" Koda flew over to where she had crashed. "I've never seen someone slide so fast on a leaf before!"

"You could have seriously hurt yourself," Saria said, arriving at the bottom with Link.

"Yes mother," Amber staggered to her feet. "Didn't know you cared."

"Saria cares about everyone, even those who don't always deserve it," Madi joined the conversation.

"Saria can also speak for herself," Saria half smiled . Turning around she still couldn't see Taj and Alanna.

"Shame I didn't fall backwards, this thing would've cushioned the fall," Amber took the shield from her back, the front covered in a thin layer of mud.

A few minutes later, Taj and Alanna finally appeared at the top of the final turning of the mudslide. Alanna had almost broken the poor boy's hand with how hard she had been holding on the entire way down. Grateful to have reached the shrine, Taj helped her off the leaf, stretching out his hand to make sure nothing was broken.

"Sorry about that," Alanna said quietly. Turning to face the others, she nodded when she saw the almost crumbling wall behind them. "At least we made it."

Leading them around the wall, they eventually arrived at what must have been the entrance. A giant stone arch covered with thick vines and various shades of brown and green moss reminded Link of the various other woodland temples he had come across during his travels. Peering into the darkness of the entrance, he heard the hollow sounds of the underground barely audible over the rustling of the plant life surrounding them.

Carefully making their way down the cracked stone steps, the group had to allow their eyes to adjust to the pitch darkness which seemed to swallow them the further they ventured inside. The air become damp and ice-cold the moment the last speck of light had disappeared behind them, causing some of them to question whether it really was a good idea to be doing this.

"Maybe we should leave," Alanna said, wrapping her arms tightly around herself.

"I didn't realise it would be this cold!" Amber shivered. The Gerudos hardly ever experienced anything colder than a mild day so this was a totally new experience for the girl.

"if this is where the spirit is then we have no choice," Link reminded them. "Here, each take one of these." He reached into his pocket and brought out some deku sticks.

"Oh yeah, like this is going to help protect me," Amber rolled her eyes.

"It's not for protection," Link sighed. Taking out a burning orb of light from another pocket, he motioned for each of them to light their sticks.

"Nice idea," Taj technically didn't need the extra light but it wouldn't hurt.

"I hope I don't drop this," Alanna whispered, letting herself take up the rear of the group as they moved onwards.


"Uh, how are we going to cross this?" Amber gulped as she looked down into what must have been at least six foot of murky water. The pool stretched across the room before meeting with another platform and a door on the other side. The water appeared to be silent until a series of bubbles surfaced in several different places, revealing multiple sets of gleaming red eyes, each surveying the group in a hungry manner.

Examining the layout of the room, Link tried to spot anything that could be used in someway to help them get across, either by being used as a hookshot target or some kind of bridge. However, there wasn't much available to them. Glancing at the ceiling he noticed some vines growing upwards, probably towards a source of light outside. But they were too far away for anyone to reach.

Looking in the same direction as Link, Saria also noticed the vines which gave her an idea. Raising a hand towards them, she focused on the plants, pulling her hand back towards herself. As she did this, the vines also began to unravel themselves from the rocks of the ceiling, twisting down until they were long enough to be used to swing across the water.

"Are they safe?" Alanna asked, anxious about ending up in the water with whatever was lurking down there.

"We'll soon find out," Link took hold of the nearest vine. Standing near the edge of the water, he gripped it tightly between both hands before letting himself swing towards the next. Reaching out a hand, he got a surprise when one of the pairs of eyes leapt from the water, revealing a skeletal body in the shape of a small fish. Puling himself a little further up the vine, he managed to dodge the attack and move quickly across the vines.

"Sometimes, it's good to be short," Saria swung across the vines without having to worry about her legs being grabbed, being a few inches shorter than Link.

Following quickly after, Amber flung herself from vine to vine, kicking the enemies back each time they attempted to drag her into the water.

"Would you like to go first?" Taj turned to Alanna who was trembling behind him. He would have offered for her to go across on his back but was afraid both of them would fall in if they tried that way.

"Don't worry, I'll deal with anything that tries biting," Link took out his bow.

Taking a breath, Alanna edged her way towards the vines, her shaking hands reaching out for the first one. Glancing down, she saw a series of gleaming eyes, eagerly waiting for her to make a mistake and join them in their murky home. Shaking the thoughts out of her mind, she focused on the other side of the pool where she was sure she would be in less than a few minutes. Launching herself from the ground into the air, she tried not to scream as the creatures below started snapping and jumping for her legs. With a few quick actions, Link managed to distract them with some arrows long enough for the girl to grab onto the next vine and the next until she was safely across.

"See, wasn't so hard was it?" Amber slapped Alanna on the shoulder, almost causing her to fall over.

Following shortly after Alanna, Taj joined them on the other side.

Continuing deeper into the shrine, they made their way along what seemed like a long, narrow cave. Shining newly made torches on the walls revealed withered carvings of pictures which must have been created centuries ago in honour of the spirit who watched over the forests. Various images of a bear appeared more than once as they trekked further into the darkness, each more detailed than the last. One that particularly stood out was of a tall bear standing on its hind legs, its paws raised and teeth bared in anger as it was surrounded by a group of people who looked as if they were either trying to calm the beast down or attack it. Moving past the pictures, they eventually arrived at a tunnel which forked into two directions.

"So, which way are we meant to go?" Amber turned expectantly to Alanna.

"Um," Alanna hadn't been expecting to have two different paths to choose from.

Before they had a chance to discuss the situation, a deep flapping sound echoed along the path they had just walked along. A large brown figure hovered around the corner, its huge wings scraping against the top of the cave as it made its way towards the light of the torches. A small, oddly shaped head with two dark eyes zoned in on the group as the thing moved slowly closer, atick-thin legs helping it crawl along the ground where it was impossible to fly. As soon as the light landed on the creature, there was a series of screams from the girls.

"What is that!" Saria exclaimed.

"Nothing I've ever seen," Link said, watching the creature flapping towards them. Stopping to take in the appearance of its victims, the gigantic enemy sent a river of thick, purple liquid in their direction from the thin line on its tiny head which must have been its mouth.

"Run!" Amber screeched, grabbing Alanna's arm and dragging her down one passage while the other three shot down the opposite tunnel.

"You three need to run faster!" Madi yelled over their footsteps as she and Koda flew ahead.

"Easy to say when you can fly," Taj replied, catching up to the fairies with relative ease. "And aren't you two supposed to know what that thing is?"

"Uh…" Koda gulped. He had never come across whatever that thing was during his training.

Arriving at a dead end, they were greeted with a large, circular stone wall which had various patterns of different kinds of plant life engraved upon it. Finding there was no way to get past, there was only one thing to do. Taking out his bow, Link shot a series of flaming arrows towards the creature, slowing it down enough to give them some more time. Using the extra time wisely, Saria sent her fist into the ground, a stream of emerald flames tearing through the dirt and surrounding the thing in another burst of searing heat.

Bracing itself through the attacks, the creature lunged forward, spraying another wave of purple liquid which would surely hit them this time. However, before Link or Saria had a chance to cast Nayru's Love, Taj leapt in front, spinning his sword vertically in the air where it created a silver, oval-shaped transparent barrier which reflected the liquid, sending it splashing back towards the stunned creature. Screeching through the sting of its own poison, the enemy flailed its body from side-to-side as it tried to recover.


"I think we lost it," Alanna took a breath, keeping her eyes on the path behind in case the creature decided to suddenly appear.

"I think we lost everyone," Amber frowned, she had assumed they would all follow her, not go off in different directions. "We'll have to go back and help!"

"No, wait," The summoner turned to peer along the tunnel. "There might be something that can help further along."

Thinking it over for a moment, Amber didn't get much of a choice when Alanna started walking away without her, Realising the others could take care of themselves for now, she hurried after the fizzy-haired girl; after all, there was no one else around to protect her if there were any more surprises lurking deeper in the shrine.

Coming to the end of the tunnel, the girls arrived at a room which was inhabited by two huge stone guillotines. The one in front was swinging back and forth quite quickly, making it very difficult for any trespassers to manoeuvre past. However, the one behind may have been larger but it seemed to be moving at a slower pace, as if the creators intended it for it to be used for something.

Lighting the torches near the door, Alanna got a shock when she saw more pictures carved in similar ways to the ones they had seen only moments ago. However, these represented the creature that attacked them chasing a group of people which looked like the ones in the earlier drawings. Turning to point it out to Amber, she gasped when she saw the Gerudo attempting to run past the first guillotine.

"Are you crazy? That thing's going too fast!" She moved to where Amber was standing.

"You're right. Here, take this," Amber gave Alanna her torch. "I may have dropped it but now have a better chance!"

Alanna sighed. Peering into the distance of the room, her eyes adjusted to the dim light where she could make out something square-shaped high up on the furthest wall. Clearly, whoever designed the room had wanted to stop visitors from getting near it.

Taking the shield from her back, Amber held it out in front of herself so the sun on the front was facing upwards. Watching the movements of the guillotine, she timed it just right before shoving the shield between it and the wall. There was a loud clanging sound but to both girls' surprise the shield managed to bring the thing to a sharp halt, giving Amber the chance she needed to leap over into the centre of the room. Moving towards the second guillotine, the girl was about to attempt to run beneath it when she had the switch brought to her attention by Alanna. It was too high for her to reach by herself but if she was able to stand on something…

"I wonder," she rested a hand on the slow-moving guillotine. It had a wide surface on top which would be easy enough to stand on long enough to press a switch. Walking a few steps backwards, she braced herself before taking a running jump, landing half way over the still moving guillotine. Clutching onto the cold stone, she pulled the rest of her body into a kneeling position where she was able to wrap her arms around the central piece connecting to the ceiling. Pulling herself up to stand, Amber knew if she let go of the centre she was sure to tumble off; she hated to admit it but her balance wasn't as good as it could have been. Steadying herself as best she could, she reached out a hand towards the wall as the guillotine swung her in the direction of the switch. Her fingers were inches away when she realised the only way to press it would be to jump. So jump she did.

Alanna winced as the Gerudo flung herself towards the switch, slammed her hand into it and fell to the ground. As soon as the switch was activated, a series of tiles below began shuffling on the wall to reveal a large carving of the creature yet again. However, this time it displayed the same people wrapping what appeared to be long ropes or chains around the enemy's neck. Then it hit her, that was how they had to defeat it!

Before the girls had a chance to leave, a series of skeletal hands tore from the walls of the room, fingers grasping at anything they could get hold of. The entrance quickly become blocked by a set of steel bars meaning the only way out was to fight. Not wasting a moment, Amber leapt to her feet and span around, sending a foot sharply into the nearest hand, instantly splitting it in two. Realising how weak these hands were, she climbed back over the guillotine and began punching at the next ones she came to.

Ducking under an unexpected attack from above her head, Alanna whacked her attacker with both torches, causing it to shrink back into the depths of the wall. Watching Amber take out a few more hands, she noticed that no matter how many they defeated, more would appear in their places. There had to be a better way to deal with these things.

Grabbing her shield from between the wall and guillotine, Amber joined Alanna near the entrance, slicing through another group of bones as she moved. Holding the shield to one side, she felt a surge of energy vibrating from the weapon when she held it at a certain angle. Looking exactly where she was holding it, she raised her eyebrows in surprise; Alanna's torches were causing the sun on the front to glow a dim orange, soon changing to bright yellow the longer it was pressed against the flames. Holding it up towards some of the hands she gasped when a spiral of flames shot from the sun, scorching the bones within seconds.

"Haha, cool," Amber grinned. Making her way back to the centre of the room in the same way she'd done before, she stood directly in the middle to make sure she could reach every wall. "You might wanna duck," she warned Alanna. Gripping the shield by the edge, she began to spin her whole body around. Faster and faster she became until she was a blue of silver and orange, the sun still shining a bright yellow, bathing most of the room in its blinding light. Flames soon started to burst from the centre of the shield, shooting towards the ceiling where they incinerated any hands above. Bringing herself to a halt, she shook her head to get rid of any dizziness before holding the shield towards the walls where she repeated the process.

"Eek!" Alanna threw herself to the ground as a rush of fire flew over her head, taking care of the group of hands behind her.

Soon the room had been cleared of enemies, the door finally reopening for them to escape.


"You have to strangle it!" Amber's voice echoed throughout the cave as she arrived behind the creature which was still trying to attack the others.

"Huh?" Link blinked. "I guess it's worth a shot." Taking out the spiked ball and chains Shinro had given him, he swung them around in his hands for a second before attempting to lasso them around the creature's neck. Unfortunately, the chains couldn't get around its throat due to being too thick in such a small space.

Putting a hand on the cold wall, Saria wondered if plants were able to grow this far underground; after all, if there had been vines in the ceiling of the first room they'd been in then there might be a chance some would be growing in the ceilings down here too. Concentrating on the rock, she could feel vibrations of water trickling through the stone which was a good sign that plant life could be growing there. Reaching her hand towards the ceiling, she beckoned for the vines to come forth, focusing her mind on the plants.

Seeing Saria was up to something, Link decided it was better if the creature was distracted in the mean time.

"Hey, girls, can you distract it?" He called over the noise of another onslaught of purple liquid which was swiftly blocked by Taj.

"How does he expect us to do that?" Amber huffed. They were now standing in almost darkness due to the deku sticks fizzling out so it was even more difficult to see what was going on. Taking out her penknife she figured it was about time it was put to use. Rushing towards the back of the creature, she stabbed the small weapon into one of its thin legs, causing it to shriek in agony.

While the creature was distracted, a cluster of dark vines burst from the ceiling, their colour owing to the lack of natural light. Wrapping themselves tightly around its throat, they held the enemy in place as it tried desperately to untangle itself.

"I can't watch," Saria closed her eyes. Even if it was trying to kill them it was still a living being, just like the rest of them. And here she was, choking the life out of it.

In minutes the entire cave was silent. The creature was dead.

"It had to be done."

Feeling a hand take hers, Saria opened her eyes to see Link looking at her with a concerned expression.

"You're right," she nodded. "Besides, I suppose if I wasn't afraid to set it on fire, I shouldn't be too upset,"

Link wanted to laugh, even in a dire situation like this Saria would see a lighter side.

There was a loud rumble behind them as the large stone door rolled slowly out of the way, revealing a dark passage which led down towards light.

Picking up her penknife and helping Alanna over the lifeless creature, Amber joined them at the top of the newly formed passage. Glancing at the shield, she noticed the sun had returned to its normal golden colour. Following the group as they made their way down the stairs, she started to wonder what other things this weapon could do; it was clearly more powerful than she'd first imagined. Shame they were here to return it.

"So how did you work out how to kill that thing? Taj turned to ask her.

"Oh, I'm just a genius," Amber said casually.

This time Link laughed out loud.

"Well, good work, genius." He grinned, letting her have her moment.


There was a series of awed gasps from all of them as they entered the room at the bottom of the stairs. The ceiling was home to numerous holes which let in streams of golden daylight which lit up the room, giving it a majestic feel, something quite different from the rest of the shrine. Various plants and carvings were dotted around the walls: greens, browns, yellows, all merging together to create am earthy, natural atmosphere. The room itself was empty apart from a large stone statue at the back which took the shape of a bear on its hind legs, just like the one they had seen in the carvings. Even though it wasn't alive, the statue's eyes looked as if they were glaring at each of them in turn.

"So you have finally arrived, summoner ." A deep voice boomed throughout the room.

Alanna was shaking slightly but knew she had to do this.

"I was imprisoned here by humans who knew terrible magic almost two years ago." The voice continued. "I sensed you would be arriving soon."

A ghostly figure appeared in the room, its shape indistinguishable due to the beams of sunlight bouncing off the walls. Lowering itself over the statue, the figure appeared to become one with the stone.

"However, if you require my assistance there is something you need to do."

The eyes of the statue lit up into a blazing yellow.

"Prove yourself."

The stone bear charged forwards, bounding across the room in only a few strides. Lashing out at the nearest target who happened to be Link, it got a surprise when the boy back flipped out of the way of its long claws and rolled beneath its legs.

"It's fast," Link grit his teeth, watching Taj move in front of Alanna as the bear thrashed towards her.

Not letting the statue get the better of him, the Sheikah drew his sword, bringing it up to match its claws as it sliced downwards. The clash of metal against rock screeched around the room as the bear swiped furiously at Taj who blocked each attempt with quick movements of his blade. However, he wasn't sure how long he could keep it going until the bear managed to get past his weapon to his face.

As if to answer Taj's thoughts, a strong gust of wind suddenly took over the room, the immense force of the energy dragging the statue away from the boy, giving him the chance he needed to get in some extra attacks.

Appearing out of nowhere in front of Alanna, Saria held up a hand, changing the direction of the wind with ease. Using her other hand, she sent a wave of emerald magic towards the statue which seemed to gradually suck the life from it, bringing it back towards the Sage.

Joining Taj in the centre of the room, Link took on the bear's other paw so the Sheikah wasn't battling both at once. Both boys held their ground well but neither could make a hit that looked to actually weaken the stone of the statue. However, the spirit did seem to be weakening due to whatever Saria was doing to it.

Deciding she had better make herself useful, Amber dashed into the fray, sending her fists into the back of the bear, not even making a dent! Whatever this statue was made out of couldn't be harmed with physical force, but what about magic?

Letting out a mighty roar, the vibration of the noise sent the three flying across the room. Slamming into the far wall, Link growled, this thing was impossible to beat and Alanna had said it was one of the calmer spirits!

Turning its attention to the other girls, the bear rushed towards them, its claws ready to tear them apart in seconds. However, its plans were ruined the moment its claws reached a bright green barrier, unable to rip through it no matter how hard it tried. Not wanting to give up, the bear continued slamming its paws down on the transparent magical wall, determined to get to the girls behind.

Saria winced each time the bear hit the protective wall of Nayru's Love. It didn't look like it but each time the bear made contact, the wall was gradually weakening, it would only be a matter of time before it left her and Alanna defenceless. If it had just been her she could have easily moved whilst using the spell but since Alanna wasn't used to such magic it would surely come undone around her, leaving her open to attack.

It wasn't long before Link was back, sword in hand ready to take on the statue for however long he needed to. Getting its attention away from the girls for a second, he took out his bow and started firing light arrows at every angle he could land them on. They didn't do much damage but seemed to be working better than any physical attacks they'd tried. Leading the bear across the room, he looked towards Amber who had taken off her shield and was heading for Saria.

"Saria, can you power this up?" Amber held up the shield. She hoped that if fire could energize the weapon then maybe magic could too.

"I can give it a try," Saria dropped Nayru's Love so she could focus her magic into a blast of energy which was instantly absorbed by the shield. The magic rippled across the surface and instead of powering up the sun it remained in the rim, turning the weapon into a sizzling saucer of bright forest magic.

"Not what I imagined but it should do," Amber gave herself a quick spin before lobbing the shield across the room in the direction of the bear. As soon as it made contact with the statue, there was a small explosion, sending the bear tumbling to the ground with a startled cry.

Quickly taking out his ball and chain, Link shoved one of the balls in the bear's mouth so it was unable to send them flying away again. As soon as the statue bit down on the ball, it got a nasty shock when two of its front teeth cracked due to the strength of the weapon's material. Link was about to continue when there was a blinding flash of golden light from the statue.

Hurrying over to the fallen bear, Alanna held out her staff but wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do. Closing her eyes, she pictured the spirit being drawn into the staff then lifted it above her head.

"Please, mighty Magnus of the woodlands, lend us your aid on our journey!"

The ghostly figure reappeared from within the statue, this time it was clear it was that of a giant bear. Hovering for a moment over the fallen statue, it turned to Alanna with the staff and nodded. Twisting into a spiral of yellow energy, the woodland spirit wrapped itself around the wooden staff before becoming a part of the ancient artefact itself. A small carving of a bear on its hind legs appeared at the bottom on one side.

"Well done, it will be my honour to help such worthy battlers." Magnus' voice said, however, this time it seemed to be in her head, rather than in the room.

Lowering her staff in relief, Alanna smiled at the new spirit they had acquired. Perhaps this journey wouldn't be so impossible after all, maybe they really would be able to make a difference to Asterlin. Taking out her sketchbook and pencil, she took a seat in front of the broken statue and began to draw the scene which would lead them towards their next destination.