"Charming," Ganondorf said dryly as they passed by yet another brown stain on the wall, the Temple's tomblike silence broken by a series of angled blades falling from the ceiling in front of them. Some long-forgotten magic raised them back up and then let them fall to the floor again, as if merely demonstrating their intent would scare off most intruders. "A bit overdone, I think."

From her perch on his shoulders, Zelda tried to both scan the area ahead of them with the Eye of Truth, and cower down so that the Gerudo's thick skull would stop any blades that happened to fall from above. "It looks clear for the next few yards."

They passed through the slicing gauntlet fairly easily, the diminutive warrior and the desert raider easily timing their steps to avoid the falling death. "There's no need to strangle," Ganondorf muttered as Zelda gripped his neck tighter.

A pile of bones in the corner suddenly shuddered to life, throwing off decades of dust and forming and upright skeleton. The other two stood back as Link immediately leaped forward, challenging the monster three times his size. After a few minor scrapes, he sent the dark magic that animated it back where it came from and the bones fell to the ground. Link glanced up with an expectant look at Zelda, who peered through the glass and nodded. He ran forward.

"Doesn't tire easily, does he?" Ganondorf said more to himself than to Zelda. "It's just as well he's not my enemy in this lifetime. I imagine my ancestor had a rough time of it."

Zelda said nothing, but watched carefully through the Eye of Truth. Clinging to the tall man's neck, she hoped for once she could contribute to their efforts, rather than literally leaning on them for support.

Link stopped at a side of the wall bearing a message written in blood. Anywhere else, such a thing might have inspired fear, but in a place like this it seemed an almost natural thing to do. "What does it say?" Link asked. "I can't read script."

"I can't read it either," said Ganondorf. "It's an archaic form of the script."

Zelda squinted. "It says, 'Beware the shadows that fall from the ceiling'."

They all cast nervous looks upwards, but the ceiling appeared no more or less shadowy than the rest of the temple. "How can a shadow harm us?" Link demanded.

"I doubt it speaks of our own shadows," Ganondorf grumbled. "Likely it refers to some dark magic. I've already seen more kinds of dark magic here than anywhere else in my life, and we're just getting started."

There appeared to be nothing else to do but go on, so they continued silently and carefully through the corridors. An eerie blue glow lit their way, from what source they did not know, and Ganondorf wondered why there would be any light at all. Surely pure darkness would have kept most people out. Then again, a torch would be all an intruder needed.

Suddenly Zelda's shriek nearly split Ganondorf's eardrums and he felt her weight abruptly disappear from his shoulders. Both he and Link turned just in time to see an enormous, gnarled, warty hand pull the princess right through the ceiling, both disappearing completely.

On impulse Ganondorf reached upward, only to skin his knuckles on the stone ceiling. "What on earth?"

"You lost her!" Link shouted accusingly. "How could you have lost her? Why weren't you paying attention?"

"Silence, boy!" He spread his hands over the stone, as if searching for an invisible hole; but found nothing but hard rock. "The girl is unharmed; can't you feel it?"

Indeed, through the mark on his hand, Link could somehow sense that she was both alive and unhurt; but who knew for how long? "We have to find her! Where did that thing take her?"

Ganondorf frowned, contemplating. "I imagine it would take her to the end or middle of the temple…the main chamber."

Now it was Link's turn to scowl. "She had the Eye of Truth with her! How are we supposed to get there without it?"

"Calm down." Ganondorf looked out over the wide chasm that opened up after their corridor. "There's always more than one way into a place."

Link bent down and picked up a small stone, dropping it into the chasm. He couldn't be sure he heard it hit the bottom. Still, it gave him an idea. He hurled a few more across the pit, and to their surprise, one of them appeared to bounce off in midair.

"A good idea, in theory," Ganondorf muttered. "I'm sure we'll find a flaw sooner or later…still, it's all we have to go on for now…"

BREAK

With a yelp and a thump, Zelda fell from the ceiling and hit the floor hard on her rear, her hands still clutching the Eye of Truth. Tears sprang from her eyes, in both fear and pain. "Owww…"

"Back already? That was quick!"

Zelda yelped in surprise, then stared in confusion as she found herself back in the Temple entryway, Bedelia and the talking skull in front of her. "You got caught by a Ceiling Master, didn't you?" the skull asked.

"Is that what that thing was?" Zelda shook slightly as she rose painfully to her feet.

"Thou has lost thy companions!" Bedelia exclaimed. "They must still be in the temple."

"Oh!" Zelda clutched the Eye of Truth. "They can't get through without this…but how can I get it to them?"

"You'll have to find them yourself," said the skull.

"I can't!"

"Gentle Princess, thy friends are in need," Bedelia told her in a grave voice. "Thy self may be their only salvation."

"I can't go by myself. I can't even fight! I know a little magic, but…"

"Friend, go with her," Bedelia said to the skull.

"Me?" it demanded. "What am I gonna do? I don't even have arms! Or legs!"

"Lend thy moral support."

"Why don't you do it?"

"Thou hast actually been in the inner reaches of the Temple, once."

"Yeah, and I met my death there!"

"That hardly matters now."

"Fine." The skull set its jaw. "I'll come with you, but you have to carry me."

Zelda picked it up. "Thank you for coming with me." It merely grunted. "What should I call you? Don't you have a name?"

"I don't remember," the skull said shortly.

Zelda tucked it under her arm. "Then I will call you Murray."

"That's a silly name."

"There is no time for this," Bedelia chided them. "Thou must go quickly, to save thy friends."

"I'm going." Zelda held the Eye of Truth in front of her in her other hand. "We didn't go far…they shouldn't be hard to find."

BREAK

Link and Ganondorf stepped through another door, their shoulders starting to ache from keeping their swords drawn. The room appeared empty; then they heard a click and a whirr and the loud sound of something grinding on a hard surface. They had just enough time to glance at the spiked walls hurtling toward them, then duck back into the door they came through.

"This," Ganondorf said as they caught their breath, "is irritating."

"There has to be another way out," Link said as he rose to his feet and peered around a corner. They had been walking around a maze for at least an hour, and hadn't yet seen any progress.

"Curse this place," Ganondorf muttered as he straightened his sore back. "Curse the damned fools who built it. Curse the madmen who drove them to it."

He heard Link yelp and turned round the corner to see the boy battling with a gnarled hand just like the one that had snatched Zelda. This one ran around on the floor like a spider, pausing here and there to make a snatch at the boy.

"Let it catch you," Ganondorf suggested halfheartedly. "Maybe it'll bring you to wherever Zelda is."

"No way!" Link slashed at it. "If you like that idea, do it yourself!" He sliced the hand once, twice, three times. It split into pieces and fell…then transformed into three more tiny hands!

Ganondorf drew his own sword. "Well, now it should be easy enough to…whoa!" He reached out with his other hand and pulled off one of the creatures that had fastened itself around Link's neck. It leaped back as if by a magnetic pull. Another one wrapped itself around Ganondorf's neck and the two of them stood spluttering for a moment, faces turning blue. Finally Ganondorf summoned a ball of fire and charred the monster hand, freeing himself as well as Link. "I don't know what's worse," he grumbled, "the big ones or little ones."

"As much as I hate to say it," Link said as he panted, red welts across his neck, "I think we should run when we see these coming."

Ganondorf grunted. "No point in worrying about a think like pride when your life is at stake, I suppose," he said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Not just ours. Zelda's too."

"Well, we'd best get going, then."

BREAK

"Okay, okay…stop, wait…now! Wait, stop! Okay…"

"Murray, please, you're making me nervous," Zelda said as she scampered past the falling blades. She held up the Eye and scanned the walls, ceiling, and floor. Spying a hidden hole, she carefully edged around it.

A Keese flew down from its perch, flapping in her face. Zelda shrieked and instinctively tossed one of the objects in her hands towards it. The skull smacked against the bat, knocking it out. "Don't throw me, please," Murray said with mock politeness. "I crack easily."

"Sorry." She picked him up and inched her way slowly down the corridor, suddenly stopping short. "Oh…there's a Stalfos ahead of us…and I've got nothing to fight it except…"

"Do not toss me again," Murray said severely. "Just keep moving forward. I'll take care of it." They walked forward and sure enough, the old pile of bones raised itself off the floor again, its rusted and pitted sword drawn.

"Hey, you! Outta the way!" Murray snapped. "Yeah, I'm talking to you, bone-brain!" he continued when the Stalfos merely stared at them. Zelda could not be sure this was helping. "You're too ugly even for a dog to chew on! Scram, you marrow-less, chipped-tooth charlatan's prop!"

Zelda scampered past it as it grunted in confusion. "Stupid things, best way to fight 'em is to confuse 'em," Murry said in satisfaction.

"Oh!" Zelda cried in dismay as she entered the room where she had been snatched. "They're gone!"

"Eh? They just left?"

"They might have tried to go looking for me…they're not dead, I can sense it." Zelda held up the Eye and noticed several platforms that she had not seen before. "Maybe they crossed the pit on those. But how do we get over there?"

Murray frowned at the chasm. "Ever play hopscotch?"

"No…"

"Well, no time like the present to learn…"

Link eyed the X-shaped cross of wood, bloodstains soaked into the grain and chains hanging down from the ends. More blood was caked on the ground. "How long ago do you think this was used?" he asked.

"Don't know," Ganondorf said as he poured over the map they had found. "These places have a way of stopping time within them - there's no way to tell."

Link could feel a strange disquiet washing over him. "Hyrule's not had a peaceful history, has it?"

"Neither has your own country."

"I get the feeling that it could be a scary place long before your ancestor showed up."

"It was." Ganondorf folded the map back up and gestured for the boy to follow him. "When you have something as powerful as the Triforce to guard, you can bet there will be people who will try anything to get it."

"It seems sad," Link said slowly, "that many of these people were probably taken away without their families ever knowing, and their fate is lost to time."

"You're a creepy kid, you know that? What kind of boy ruminates on such things?"

"What kind of boy fights in such places?"

"Touché. But wasn't your upbringing hard? You lost your parents to war, didn't you? And your home as well."

Link sighed. "We fought over land…land means food, to grow and to graze cattle. If you starve a dog, it will bite you." He glanced around at the bloodstained walls. "Hyrule seems like it was always a bountiful place…why fight over what you already have? Why did your ancestor take it?"

"Survival doesn't always mean just food," Ganondorf told him. "The Gerudo were not well liked by the other people of the time. Quarrels are normal, I suppose, but every once in a while you get someone in power - like the Hylian King of the time - who doesn't want to play nice. Or at least that's how my people tell it. The official Royal Archives probably say something different."

Link stopped for a moment. "Ganondorf?"

"What, boy? More walk, less talk."

"Will you stay on our side?"

The big man sighed. "I will," he answered. "Unfortunately, I can't speak for my descendants."

BREAK

Zelda navigated her way slowly down the ladder, Murray safely tucked into the rucksack. She froze as she heard the familiar clicking sound of one of the Skulltulla spiders. The creature crawled down the wall, pincers snapping as it neared its prey.

"OW!" Murray cried as he smashed into it. As both he and the spider fell toward the ground, Zelda caught him by one of his eye sockets. "I told you not to throw me anymore!"

"I'm sorry," Zelda said, shaking slightly from both fear and exertion. "I couldn't think of anything else."

"Well, be careful. If you knock my jaw off I'll lose the ability to talk. I don't want to be just another skull lying on the floor!"

"Is someone there?" a young boy's voice called from the side of the room they had just entered.

"Link!" Zelda cried. "Link, I'm here!"

She saw him run up to the platform where she stood. "You're all right!" he exclaimed. "How on earth did you get here by yourself?"

"She's not by herself," Murray said.

"I see you brought that chatterbox with you," Ganondorf said as he appeared next to them. "Does it know how to get to the middle of the temple?"

"From what I remember, you can take the boat," Murray said.

"Boat?"

"Yeah, boat. See over there?"

They squinted in the dull half-light, and could faintly see the enormous outline of a ship in the wide chamber. "What on earth is a ship doing here?" Ganondorf demanded.

Zelda swallowed. "In the stories Impa told me, she said that a great ship carried the dead to the underworld."

"Lovely. Then it fits right in with the rest of the décor."

They climbed aboard, but the boat did not move, even though they could see a small stream of water rushing under it. It had no anchor; magic held it in place.

"Well, skull," Ganondorf said, "You know any magic spells to set this thing in motion?"

Murray nodded toward a worn, nearly flat tile of metal, on which one could barely see the outline of the Royal Seal. "If I remember correctly, you had to play music here to make it go."

"Well, we don't have any musical instruments," Link said. "Isn't there another way?"

"Maybe we could sing," Zelda suggested.

"Okay…but what?"

"I don't sing," Ganondorf grunted, but they ignored him.

Link whistled several tunes; Zelda tried a number of children's songs; with some pressing from the others, Ganondorf attempted some of his people's fireside chants and ballads about chivalrous thieves. Murray tried a few ribald verses, but all he succeeded in was turning the children's faces red.

"There's one more song I know," Zelda said quietly as the others frowned in frustration. "But Impa told me never to sing it unless I was in a desperate position."

"We're in a torture chamber, standing on the boat of the underworld," Ganondorf reminded her. "Although I'll probably regret saying this, it doesn't get much more desperate than that."

With more urging from Link, Zelda hummed a short, low tune. Suddenly the boat cracked to life, shuddering in the water, the huge bells on its sides making a hollow tinkling as they began to move down the stream. All four watched and waited as the boat pushed them further and deeper into the darkness of the shadows.