--Chapter 25--

Link considered what few options he had; there were no other tunnels down the hole that he had come through; he would have felt them. Going back would lead him nowhere, so forward was his only way to advance.

"Link, are you sure about this? Once you go down, you won't be able to climb back out!" There were holes in the ceiling, and vines trailing down to the tips of the walls in the centre of the labyrinth. If he could get that far…

Link climbed down the ladder, hesitating one last time at the final rung; once he dropped to the ground, he would have to face whatever had been watching him on its own terms. He let his fingers slowly loosen, and with a swarming dread, landed on the floor, turning and readying the lance the moment he felt the earth beneath his feet. He had been expecting a reaction. There was none. Boleru drifted down to join Link, staring ahead at the entrance to the forebodingly ashen labyrinth. The walls surrounding them now provided only one option – the passageway. Everything within looked quiet – dead. The edge of the labyrinth fell down at a steep angle; like the ladder, it was obviously meant to direct any trespassers one way and one way only. But where did that one way lead?

"I have a very bad feeling about this, Link – a really, really bad feeling about this." Link's heart echoed Boleru's warning. The hero tested the ground in front of him with Merrowin's lance, checking for traps.

"Boleru, could you go forward and have a look inside, please?" Link asked the fairy cautiously, knowing already the answer he would get.

"Link, I'm scared! Don't make me go in there alone!"

"Only to that wall there and back," Link pointed to the dead end not more than ten metres ahead. "Please – it's easier for you to go in and back than it is for me." Boleru dawdled but grudgingly went on inside. Once again, the faint light that Link's fairy companion emitted revealed a detail about the surroundings that Link would otherwise have missed – from what he could see of the labyrinth, the 'ceiling' was finely latticed with what looked like glass.

"There's a spiky thing in this wall here, Link. But other than that, I can't see any trouble… it looks like an ordinary – if creepy – maze to me." As Boleru spoke Link watched a shadow flick overhead, moving fiercely towards him. Link readied his sword, watching the thing approach. Closer, closer – just like before…

Painful spasms wracked Link's spine. Consciousness focussed and awareness gave Link the sickening feeling that he was being thrown forward. He fell on his side and slid the rest of the way down the slope before falling and landing on a solid floor two metres further down.

"Link! Link! Are you okay?" Boleru flitted to his side while Link dusted himself off and picked up the lance. Shock startled him when he saw the spiked, curved wall that he had almost fallen onto that had previously been undetectable from his last vantage point. It would have hurt him had he landed on it – and Link knew that it would give them trouble yet.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Boleru…." Link stepped back and looked up at the grating and the labyrinth entrance. "…There are at least two of them; I was pushed from behind."

The sound of a lever or switch being activated clacked in the distance. The wall of spikes clicked and moved up and down, back and forth disconcertingly. Link knew from his previous adventures what this small action foreshadowed.

"Boleru, come away from the wall – it's time to go!" Link ran into the split passageway. To his right was another dead end and clicking spiked wall. Left was his only option. "Boleru, now!" The fairy raced towards his commanding words, barely avoiding the spikes as they came away from the wall and began rotating in his direction.

"Link! I don't like this, Link!" The spiked wall stopped abruptly before the end of the corridor, but the other mechanism had already begun rumbling loudly down the slope at them. Link noticed it was moving faster than he could run, but it did not stop him from trying to outpace it.

"Fly ahead of me, Boleru – scout out the best route!"

"Right!" The little green light sped on and vanished around a corner. "This way!" Link followed the voice, the spike-trap following the curve of the corridor and still closing on the boy-hero. Boleru flew up and down in the corridor ahead of him. "Keep going straight, Link – the side passages all seem trapped!" There was a ditch in the floor up ahead. The spikes were brushing against his back. Link had little choice – set off a side-trap, jump, or be squashed to death.

Link jumped.

Eyes gazed back from the bleakness below Link as he kicked off of the labyrinth wall. The spiked-roller collapsed into the pit, blocking up the hole and preventing any possibility of going back the way that they had come. Something was still under there, directing his movements, setting off the traps. Where was the other? Or were there more than two?

"Link, is it just me, or… are the walls moving?" Link removed his gaze from the ditch and looked at his surroundings. The tablet-like sections of the walls did seem to be wobbling. An inner voice grabbed his attention and he noticed how wide the corridor was.

"Oh, no…" Link groaned.

"What?" Before the fairy had finished his word, Link started running again. The front half of the walls began to collapse in on them. The force of the toppling structures left a wind that was felt on their backs and the sound shook their hearts with fear. If they stopped moving for a moment, they would be squashed. Even the passageway in front began to shake – Link wondered if he would survive; there was nowhere else to go but to follow the maze around. Boleru darted ahead like before.

He could hear them, following him still. He could hear their breath; he could hear the rhythm of their limbs, pounding against the grating. He could hear their hearts, pumping to the same ferocious beat as his. The falling walls, the thumping feet, the continuous drive to be elsewhere – there was nothing but the rhythm and it compelled him onwards.

"Link! We're almost at the middle! Take the next left, then right, then follow the path around!" Boleru went down the route that he had instructed, the walls already poised to fall in this side-route. Link could see another hole in the floor. He did the same as before – jumping and kicking against the wall. He barely avoided the hand that shot out to grab him and as he rolled he felt the tumbling wall barely centimetres from his head. Run – he had to run! He had to get back into the pace! "Look, Link! There's the centre!" Link's eyes were too blinded with sweat for him to see properly, but he could see Boleru's light right in front of him. "Hurry! Only a few more walls to pass." With the promise of an end to the danger, Link's legs began to fail him – conscious effort was all that kept him alive as he ran to the centre of the new chamber.

The falling walls stopped. The pursuers were gone. The strange change in atmosphere gave Link time to catch his breath. Boleru said nothing, but flitted around the area, observing one dark stone structure upon another, tablets engraved with indecipherable writing and images in the walls and broken statues strewn about the ground. Faint, grey light from somewhere far above spilled down from the hole in the ceiling, illuminating only this area.

"Oh, Link!" The male fairy gasped despondently. "We're in a mausoleum!"

Link did not have time to look up. He saw the eyes watching him from the grate he had not realised he was standing on. He saw long, bony fingers reach up from the small holes. The grate shattered behind him – something grabbed his ankles and pulled him down. The 'mausoleum' became a distancing light in the greater darkness. He could see Boleru, staring down at him helplessly from above. His fall suddenly decelerated, until something sinewy snapped. Link fell again – the process repeating itself until he reached out and took hold of what felt like a thick cord. Link smacked into a wall and slid down the twine until his feet found a strong and stable surface. The boy hero dedicated another moment to catching his breath, wiping the sweat away from his eyes. His demonic eyes adjusted well in the complete darkness; he could make out every curve and angle with sharp clarity. He was at the bottom of some kind of pit – bones were heaped in piles near the walls. Some skeletons were obviously human, others looked animal.

"Liiiiiink!" Boleru was distressed – he did not want to be left alone, but he could not tell if the boy was still alive.

"I'm down here – I'm fine!" The above labyrinth was obscured from view by vines growing up the walls and across the empty space. He had not expected any plant life to be growing here, yet the environment was surprisingly hot and moist. A cold breeze blew on Link's neck and he turned to see a roughly carved staircase, leading to an unknown destination. Link walked over. The vines shot across the orifice. Some sense in Link took over and he dropped to the ground an instant before the clawed hands from earlier swiped at where his head would have been. Link rapidly rolled out of the way and got to his feet. Finally, he had the chance to get a good look at his stalkers. His enemy stood in front of him, teeth bared and snarling. Strong muscle covered a large, upright frame. Clawed hands and feet clicked with expectation and a sturdy tail flicked from side to side. Scales covered the hairless body, but what looked like moss and water seemed to coat sections of the creature's charcoal limbs, back and tail, giving places a slight iridescent tone. Another noise from behind signalled the presence of another – a 'twin' that was more lightly coloured than the one that had first attacked.

Link readied the lance. So these were the two halves of the zoran mage's soul. The Shield or Irishati was close.

--End of Chapter 25--