Chapter 25: The City of Souls
Link rode across the open field with sharp eyes facing forward, his mind fixed on his destination. Epona seemed to sense her master's drive and pushed herself faster than his intended canter. Would that they could go faster still, but Link restrained himself. Who knew what they would come across and when they would need Epona's strength and stamina the most?
Saying goodbye to the children had been just as difficult as the previous time, yet Link had left with higher spirits. In the early hours of the morning, the first of the gorons' warriors arrived to safeguard Kakariko. No less than ten had volunteered to take up the noble duty; more than enough to keep the village safe. Four guards and one lookout stood at each path out towards Hyrule Field, serving as a wall that would prevent any enemies from barging through. With the burden of that peril taken from his shoulders, Link was free to mentally prepare himself for his next journey through the twilight. Hopefully it would also be his last.
Before leaving, Link had consulted Renado about the Lanayru Province and the possible location of its light spirit. The shaman was not keen on allowing Link to run off on his own while his wounds needed more time to heal, but Link insisted that he could not sit idly when Ilia was still in trouble. When the lad promised not to do anything too strenuous, Renado reluctantly conceded.
In answer to Link's original question, Renado recommended visiting the shrine at Lake Hylia. The lake itself sat near the border between the Lanayru and Faron Provinces, and Midna had later argued for cutting through southern plains to save time. But the bulblin orgr had said that Ilia was north of the Eldin Province, not west, and Link had been remarkably adamant about starting their search from that direction. They had been lucky that no one overheard their bickering on the matter inside Link's room, and in the end Midna groaned exasperatedly as she gave in to her partner's thick-headedness.
The stone bridge to the north, or the Bridge of Eldin as Link now knew it to be named, was coming into view; as did the carnage resulting from their battle against the bulblin horde. The carcasses of bulblins and bulbos alike littered the grass, already picked halfway clean by carrion eaters. The sight and smell turned Link's stomach, and he clasped his hand to his mouth as he drove Epona through the mess of bodies.
They ran along the bridge quickly. Link's thoughts flashed back to his bout against Strongaxe, and a chill rose up his spine as he remembered how dangerously close to death they'd been through the entire time. A part of Link wondered where the bulblin king was now; in some distant part of Hyrule if the goddesses were kind.
Snapping back into full focus, Link reined Epona in to a halt. A large pile of rocks stood in the road no more than a few metres from the bridge's north end, blocking their passage. Link dismounted to examine the debris but before he could assess anything, his ears picked a sound from behind him; the sound of something heavy slamming onto the ground.
He spun around as demonic shrieking filled the air. Epona screamed and reared in a panic. Quickly, Link put himself between her and the four shadow beasts that huddled at the bridge's mouth. "What the hell?" Midna shrieked for the both of them, emerging from Link's shadow.
The shadow beasts lurched forwards, stalking their prey like a pack of animals. Link went to meet them halfway and dodged when the first beast charged. He spun and drove his sword into its side. The monster screamed and collapsed onto the hard ground, its limbs twitching weakly.
Link almost did not see the second beast in time and barely stopped its descending paw by hacking it off with his sword. He then slammed his shield into the creature's face, stunning it. "Midna!" he called out, finishing his foe with a clean cut through its neck. Link glanced back at Midna, who hovered next to Epona, frozen in shock. Link's eyes widened.
"Midna! What are you doing?" Link turned his attention back in time to block another claw with shield. The shadow beast's other hand swung at him a second later, and he lopped the appendage off at the wrist before thrusting his sword into the beast's chest. Link retreated quickly as a high-pitch scream drilled into his ears.
Enduring the pain, Link skirted towards a stronger position, watching the shadow beasts' wounds knit themselves together and new hands grow from bloody stumps. The closest demon lunged at Link quicker than he expected. No time left to evade, Link braced himself for the impact.
If the reviving scream had done anything good, it had jolted Midna into action. She sped forward as the beasts rose up and extended her power to them. The black shroud she created caught the beast charging Link and froze it in a half lunge, sparing the swordsman from harm.
Link responded quickly with a swing of his sword. Once, twice, thrice, four times; each of the shadow beasts fell dead at his feet. Panting as the adrenaline left his system, Link turned to Midna, whose stare was fixed on the bodies. Her visible eye was wide and her mouth hung agape. Link could see the short and rapid rise and falls of her chest to match that of his. "Midna?" he questioned, his voice tinged with concern.
A prolonged moment passed before Midna slowly shook her head. "This isn't right..."
"What's not right?"
Midna snapped her head to him. "This! Don't you see it?" Her response cracked like a whip, and Link started before shaking his head.
That only made her more livid. "Those are shadow beasts; beings from the twilight! We're in the light realm, in the middle of the day! They shouldn't be able to survive in the light! I can't do that," she pointed to herself with both hands, "so how the hell can they?"
Realisation came to Link more swiftly now. Up until now, they had only encountered the shadow beasts inside twilight-infected regions. All except for one instance...
"There was that shadow beast that we fought in Ordon," Link pointed out. "The twilight hadn't reached that far yet."
Midna looked away in deep thought. "It was night at the time," she reasoned. "I never thought something was amiss..."
She held her hand in her hands and shook it slowly once more. "There's something very wrong here if the shadow beasts can withstand light. We have to find out what Zant's done to them and stop him."
Link blinked. "Wait. What do you mean Zant did something to them? Why would we care? They're just monsters, right?"
Midna did not answer him and instead set the creatures' corpses ablaze. Tearing her gaze upwards, she began working on the portal that gaped overhead. Then Midna drifted towards Epona, who by now had calmed down from the shadow beasts' ambush. "Let's go," she ordered him. "We need to hurry and find that light spirit."
Glancing one last time at the burning bodies, Link followed Midna and resumed his inspection on the rubble blocking the road. He thought of leaving Epona and climbing over the rocks before remembering the bombs Barnes had sold him. Link took one from the bag tied to Epona's saddle and lit it with his flint. The fuse hissed as sparks ate ravenously at its end. Keeping a safe distance, Link lobbed the bomb at the rocks and waited.
A few seconds later the bomb exploded with a volume rivalling a shadow beast. Epona danced away in a new panic and Link was quick to grab her reins and soothe her. Once she settled, Link looked back to the rocks, finding them blown into a scatter of smaller fragments. Whistling in awe, Link led Epona through the debris, kicking aside any loose stones so that she didn't roll an ankle.
Link continued to walk Epona along the track. After two scares in such a short time, he felt it would be better for her nerves if she saw him in front of her. Midna followed close behind, appearing distracted when Link glanced over his shoulder. He grew more worried for her.
The mountain pass they entered was quiet and eerie, setting Link on edge as the minutes rolled by. Eventually the tension in the air became more pronounced and Epona turned increasingly skittish. Link did his best to keep her calm, yet he could tell he was reaching a limit with her.
Another minute passed when the twilight finally came into view. At nearing it, Epona began to resist Link's pull, whinnying as she threw her head about. At this response, Link turned her around and led her back. He watched the fear in her eyes subside while he stroked her neck gently. "We can't take her with us."
"Well, that's obvious," Midna remarked, hands on her hips.
Link sighed and shifted behind his horse. He removed all of the gear fixed to Epona's saddle then slapped her on the flank. Epona screamed and reared before racing off back down the path. Link watched her go dismally.
"Is she going to be okay on her own?" Midna asked, surprising Link with her concern.
He nodded. "Epona's a smart horse. She'll return to the last place she rested."
"Hopefully your friends don't freak when they see her without you."
Link slapped his forehead. "Crap. I hadn't thought of that."
Midna flashed a grin. "Oh well. Nothing we can do about it now," she said. Link gave a weak shrug. "Ready to enter the twilight?"
Link met her gaze. There was none of the fear that his eyes bore from the first time, nor the silent hostility from the second. Now they held a strong sense of resolve, one that Midna found to her liking. "Let's do it," he said.
With a nod, Midna led the way closer to the shadowy wall. She slipped through it without complication, and seconds later her golden hand reached back out to carry Link in. As the darkness washed over him, Link noted that his partner had been far gentler than the previous two occasions.
What was not so gentle, though, was his body's transformation from man to wolf. Once his bones reset and his fur ceased growing, Link rose slowly to his paws. As Midna hopped onto his back, she stretched and rolled her body in various ways, sighing in pleasure of being physical again.
When the pair collected themselves, they noted their surroundings and gaped in disbelief. More rocks lay on the road in patches, but what grabbed their attention more was the massive pile of rubble cutting off the path further ahead. The pile reached high above them, causing Link and Midna to crane their neck all the way to see the top.
"Looks like there was a landslide here," Midna stated. "I wonder what caused it?"
Link made a noise in his throat to agree and padded up to the bottom of the pile. He hopped his front paws onto a boulder, which rocked under his weight. Link then tested a different boulder and found it to be more stable, so he climbed onto it. Slowly and carefully, he began to scale the rubble. Midna helped him by getting off of his back and checking the rocks above Link to mark the safest route. A few times, Link slipped and slid back several feet. On the fourth incident, Midna had to catch him with her magic before he tumbled all the way down.
It took the best part of an hour for them to overcome the giant obstacle, and when Link's paws touched the ground on the other side, he and Midna let out a shared breath. They leaped back in fright when Link found a half-eaten arm protruding from under a large rock. Judging from the green of the remaining flesh, the poor soul had been a bulblin.
Not far away from the crushed bandit, there was a patch of dark red on the ground. Link sniffed it, recognising it as blood. It wasn't the bulblin's, so someone else had been injured here. The person or creature's identity, though, was a complete mystery. All that Link could distinguish was that the blood trail led further into the pass.
There was no conversation had as Link bounded along the road, however one-sided. Midna did not sigh or hum or toy with the chain on Link's collar once so far, and that struck him as odd. During one of the few times that Link glanced back to check on her, Midna's expression was just as solemn as at the bridge. She was probably still thinking about the shadow beasts. Link only wished he could help her make sense of the puzzle.
There had been a tiny settlement several hours down the pass, as well as a couple of lookout towers built against the mountainside. The buildings were all damaged and barren of life, including that of any survivors of the landslide. Link and Midna left as quickly as they arrived, and continued running until Link's fatigue forced them to stop and rest.
Early on the next day, the mountains finally gave way to open fields again. Thick shrubland soon dominated much of the scenery, in addition to monsters too far away to be considered a threat. They passed through several villages and a town as they followed the main road. Spirits of people still dwelt inside the houses, though every door was locked and the people all huddled into the furthest corner there was. Not one of them had been Ilia, so Link moved on with a heavy heart.
By then Link was regretting his haste to locate Ilia. Running as a wolf irritated his leg, causing it to bleed where the beamos had burnt him. The pads of his paws were little better as dirt smeared into the cracks reopening in his skin. Both problems caused Link a great deal of discomfort, and they stopped so that Midna could dress the wounds. Unfortunately, Link's medical supplies seemed to have disappeared along with his human form, so precious time was wasted as Midna spirited off to one of the villages to steal bandages and disinfectants.
Towards the end of the third day, Link was tired, irritated and running low on confidence. It had rained long and frequently in that time, making things worse as Link's coat became waterlogged. Midna, however, was back to her normal self and found a way to break the monotony by whipping her chain lightly against Link's shoulder. Link was so bored and fed up with everything else that he had long since stopped caring.
Without warning, Midna tugged the chain back. "Hey, look over there!"
Link followed her finger towards a cluster of towers in the distance. Around them was a high stone wall, stretching beyond the towers to encompass a greater area, which likely contained a number of smaller buildings.
"Remember this place?" Midna asked with a hint of amusement. Link glanced at her. "After all this time, we're back where we started from. I wonder how the dear princess is faring."
Now Link knew why the towers were so familiar. They were the towers of Hyrule Castle.
"It's sad," Midna continued, becoming forlorn. "She must spend all of her time worrying for her people. And yet Zelda does nothing to help them because she's afraid of how Zant will retaliate. The only she can do is rely on us to clean up this mess. So much for good leadership."
Link frowned and grumbled a low growl. Midna did not turn her gaze to him, but instead released a drawn-out sigh. "I suppose it's not her fault, though. There was no way Zelda could have prevented any of this. She's not a fighter, and I know there's no way she'd risk the lives of her subjects when her situation is so hopeless."
With nothing to say on the matter, Link resumed walking. Up ahead was a small stone bridge spanning over a dry river. At the mouth of the bridge, Link stopped and spotted a small bag abandoned on the bricks. His breath caught as he recognised it as Ilia's.
Link brought his nose to the bag and sniffed it. It smelled of hay, honeysuckles and daisies, just like home; and mixed in with Ilia's natural scent. Commiting the scent to memory, Link picked the bag up with his teeth and held it to Midna, who eyed it strangely.
"What? What do you want with that?" Understanding dawned on her. "Is that the girl's?" Link nodded. Midna took the bag from him and shook it, discovering that it was empty. "Alright, I'll let you track her down. But as soon as we find her, we're going straight to the light spirit's spring. Okay?"
Again, Link nodded and turned his nose back to the ground. A trail of dried blood marked the brickwork where Ilia's bag had been, though thankfully it didn't smell like hers. He set off to follow Ilia's scent along the bridge and the road beyond. Some fifteen minutes after crossing the bridge, a group of shadow birds attacked them. Together, Link and Midna made short work of the monsters, and proceeded on their way as the Hyrulean capital steadily inched closer.
It began to rain again when they reached the city gates, the downpour building fast and heavy. The gates consisted of a massive drawbridge and a similarly sized set of thick, oaken doors. The doors were open just wide enough to allow a train of carriages into the city. Soldiers inspected each wagon before permitting it to pass, all the while nervously glancing out across the fields. The soldiers were eager to get the carriages through as quickly as possible, as were the drivers to get inside the safety of the stone walls. Link heard the two groups whisper harshly to each other, shooting occasional glances to the sky. Link and Midna copied the nervous actions to see a portal floating above the ground before the bridge. They quickly searched around, expecting shadow beasts to appear, yet there was nothing.
"Maybe it's an old portal. Could've been there since the first invasion," Midna guessed. She dismounted from Link and he looked at her curiously. "Go on ahead. I'm going to make sure Zant can't send reinforcements through here. I'll catch up in a minute." Link nodded and proceeded along the bridge. With none of the guards or merchants being the wiser, he slipped through the great doors.
Inside, Link came to a halt as his awe-filled eyes swept around him. The buildings of Castle Town stood tall and close-packed, built from a mix of wood and brick splashed with a variety of colours. The hues would likely have been bright and cheerful under the sun's light, yet presently they were lacklustre and morose. Shutters on ever window were drawn closed, and only the gentle smoke rising from chimneys showed sign of human residence.
The cobbled streets themselves were lifeless as well. Apart from a few men, armoured and not, hurrying this way and that, there was practically no one outdoors. Perhaps the rain was part of the reason for this, or that most people could be asleep right now, but there was little doubt that it was also due to the oppressive screen of twilight bearing down upon the city. This was not how Link imagined Castle Town to be like, and the reality disappointed him. Midna rejoined him shortly and then they were back on their way.
Link kept following Ilia's scent through the thoroughfare, passing a church as a group of people stepped out with hoods up to cover their heads. One walked into Link, and the wolf yelped as a biting chill washed over him while the spirit moved on obliviously. Link darted away from the group as quickly as he could, and soon wound up in the midst of a wide plaza.
A fountain sat in the middle of the open space, surrounded by various shops occupied only by beggars sleeping at their doors. The fountain's basin was empty save for the collected rainwater, giving a clear view of the green and blue rupees sitting at the bottom when Link walked up for a drink. No other water flowed in from the holes drilled into the fountain's statue, which was carved in the shape of the Hyrulian crest. Why was there so little water?
Three other roads stretched out from the plaza into othe parts of the city. Ilia's scent led south, so Link followed it down through a market for several minutes. The trail then turned into a side street and to a large building that smelled of warm food and alcohol; an inn if its three storeys were to judge by. Above the door were the words 'The Green Swordsman' with an emerald-painted outline of a man with a sword.
"Would you look at that," Midna chimed. "You've already got a building named after you. Aren't you the popular one?" Link rolled his eyes as she giggled. At that moment, another soldier walked up and entered the inn, somehow managing to turn the doorknob and push it inwards. Link darted through while the door was open, but not before the solder closed it on his backside. He snarled from the pain and pulled himself the rest of the way as the soldier reopened the door, baffled as to how it got stuck.
It was much warmer inside, and Link felt at bliss as he shook the water from his fur. He was getting better at these dog-like actions. Similarly, Midna wiped the rain from her own sleeker pelt and wrung her hair. Together they formed a large puddle on the wooden floor. A serving girl was quick to blame the soldier for the mess and stormed up with a mop and bucket ready. The soldier's protests fell on deaf ears, so he sauntered off to the back of the room with a crack on the head and a wounded pride.
While Midna took enjoyment in the man getting struck with a mop handle, Link searched around for Ilia. Almost instantly, his gaze fell on a familiar blonde head and Link's heart shot straight to the moon. However, it came down just as quickly.
Around Ilia's head was a thick, white bandage, clearly visible under hair that was longer than he remembered. In place of her usual blouse and short pants, she now wore a pale rose shirt with sleeves reaching to her wrists, as well as long, light brown leggings. But it was not the bandages or the change in clothes that gave Link pause. It was the sad expression that occupied her usually cheerful face.
Ilia stared fixedly at a boy lying on a table beside her chair. He was young and definitely not a human child. His skin was encrusted with greyish-blue scales, and a short fish tail-like appendage protruded back from the top of his head. The rest of the boy's body was covered by a thick blanket. His breathing was shallow and inconsistent, and there was a damp cloth rested atop his forehead.
"Is he going to be okay?" Ilia asked, turning to the person standing behind her; a buxom woman with tanned skin and scarlet hair.
The woman placed her hand on Ilia's shoulder and smiled sweetly. "Don't you worry, hun. The doctor will be back soon. He'll do all he can for that little zora, I'm sure."
So the boy was a zora, Link realised. The zoras were a tribe of fish people who dwelt in the lakes and rivers of the Lanayru Province. He had heard that their main village was in the northernmost part of the region. This boy was far from home.
Ilia was watching over the zora again, only partially assured by the older woman's words. Link reached his paw up to rest it on her leg. It passed through like Ilia wasn't there, and Link tore it away from the freezing space where her spirit was.
Dejectedly, Link glanced over his shoulder when Midna tapped on his shoulder. Her attention was not on Ilia or the zora, but on the soldiers gathered in the far corner of the room. The men spoke in curt tones, and with his curiosity picked, Link padded over and stood behind a soldier facing all of the others. Link assumed that he was the group's leader.
"So are we clear on our mission?" the soldier asked his comrades. "The general wants us to go to Zora's Domain and investigate why the rivers have run dry. All the routes have been cut off, except for the Zora River. So we'll first head to Lake Hylia and follow the river from there to find out what's going on." The other soldiers nodded in affirmation.
"So there's a problem at Zora's Domain," Midna said softly, unheard by everyone apart from Link. "I hope this doesn't make it hard for us to reach the light spirit. We should go check it out for ourselves."
Link nodded and headed back towards the front door. Midna turned the knob and allowed the door to swing freely. Everyone in the inn spun immediately to their direction, alarmed that no one seemed to be there, yet no one cried out in panic. After Link slipped outside back into the rain, he overheard the same serving girl mutter about idiot soldiers who could not close a door properly.
Retracing their steps through the city streets, Link and Midna returned to the western gate. The carriage next to last had made its way through the doors and the guards were beginning their inspection of the final wagon. Just as Link stepped outside the wall, an arrow hurtled towards the wagon and sunk into the back of a soldier's neck. The man fell with a gurgling cry, drawing everyone else's attention to the band of bulblins coming in from across the bridge.
"Raise the alarm! Defend the gate!" the lead soldier shouted. He drew a bow and arrow and shot it at one of the bulblins, but the projectile passed harmlessly through his chest. A bell sounded from the ramparts as a handful of guards ushered the final cart inside the gate. The rest of the soldiers formed a defensive line as the enemy charged, aiming to break through before the doors closed.
Link stopped to watch the stricken soldier die. As his life faded so did his body, and like mist under the morning sun, the man simply ceased to exist. In that moment, Link's blood turned cold. His mind struggled to accept what his eyes had witnessed. It took a slap from Midna to wake him, and Link turned to the human soldiers beating at a lone bulblin who had tried to smash them down with his giant boar. Their swords and spears phased through the boar uselessly while its rider struck back and dissolved two more guards.
Link lowered his body and snarled, more beast than man, with his hackles raised. In a flash, he lunged at the closest boar and bit down on its neck, making it scream. Before its tusks could gore him, Link let go and bit the boar's leg with enough force to crack the bone. The great pig fell, unsaddling its master, and Link snapped the bulblin's neck without hesitation.
Recovering from the shock from her partner's sudden frenzy, Midna spotted another bulblin aiming his bow at Link. She quickly shot off a bolt of magic, which sent the bandit flying into the ravine. Midna then cast her ensnaring spell over as many of the bulblins and beasts as she could without catching the humans as well. The guards were confused and alarmed by the mysterious black veil that had appeared from nowhere, but were quick enough to take advantage of distraction and regroup. Link darted across the bulblin force, dealing death as quickly as his teeth and instincts were capable of.
By that time, the last carriage was well inside the city and the humans were ready to fall back. However, Midna's demonstration of power had disheartened the remaining bulblins, and the raiders promptly retreated. Those soldiers who had survived unscathed cheered in victory, then turned sombrely to attend to their wounded. Away from the men, Link collapsed to his haunches as the surging storm in his blood quelled. The points of his fangs dug into his gums, and his eyes screwed shut as his body began to shake.
Midna slid down his back and stood in front of him with a firm glare. "Oh, come on, Link. Get it together. I thought we were past this killing thing."
Link silently shook his head, his eyes screwed shut as he refused to look up at her. Midna tilted her own head. "That's not it?" The wolf nodded. "So what is it?"
When Link opened his eyes, they were dull and wavering. He glanced over to where the soldiers had vanished. "This is the first time you've watched someone die, isn't it?" Midna said, finally understanding.
Link nodded. People had already died in this war, and he knew that more were going to regardless of what he did. Death was not a stranger to him anymore, but when Link had killed it was to protect himself or the ones he loved. That man... Link would never know him... But that man hadn't deserved to die. He never even saw the arrow coming. And watching him die like that... It made Link feel so... useless... so angry.
"Link, look at me," Midna said. Her tone surprised Link, and he found himself meeting her gaze. It was soft; empathetic. "I know it feels rotten, but there was nothing you could do to stop what happened. Nor can you do anything to change it."
She broke contact for a brief moment, taking in a breath before restoring it. "But because you couldn't do anything, you can't allow it to affect you like this. The best thing you can do right now is prevent more people from meeting that same fate. And to do that, we need to rescue the light spirit in this province and find the last Fused Shadow. Then we can take the fight to Zant and put an end to all of this. Okay?"
Link stared as her words slowly sank it. She was right; and more incredibly, what Midna said actually made him feel better. Link gave her a nod, to which Midna smiled at. He then surprised her by pulling her in with his paw and pressing his head against her in a hug.
Midna recoiled at first, but soon she sighed and patted him on the back. "Yeah. Yeah. You're welcome," she muttered, then pried herself free. "Now can we go?" A single bark was her answer.
Once they were dashing out onto the field, Midna made a final glance at the soldiers retreating into the city. "Still, though. That's a terrible way to die; to have your body erased from the world... This can't continue any longer."
Link agreed and increased his pace along the southwest road. It took them a few hours to reach Lake Hylia, with plenty of monsters around to slow them down. Fortunately the weather had cleared for the entire journey, which made the trek more bareable.
The pair stopped when an impressive stone bridge came into view, with archways that were similar to the bridge in the Eldin Province. Creeping close to the cliff side, Link and Midna gazed down at an incredibly large body of water.
"This is the lake?" Midna gaped. "It's huge! I bet you could build an entire town on top of the water." Link gave a muffled woof in agreement. "Well, I suppose we should now try to find a way down."
They searched around their edge of the valley for a path but found nothing, except for a closed building with chairs mounted on a pair of cables running to the lake shore. As they made their way across the bridge to check the other side, Link noticed an odd scent in the air. It was familiar but he couldn't place it.
Midna frowned and sniffed the air as he did. "You smell that?" They both looked around. The bridge was slick from rain, yet the stone bricks appeared darker in some places than others.
The snap of a bowstring startled the pair. Link quickly dodged sideways although nothing sailed by them. He looked up in time to see a burning arrow fly high over them and trailed it to the back end of the bridge. Where the arrow landed, flames began to grow rapidly on the ground.
Link snapped his head towards the opposite archeway, where a pair of bulblins stood. One had an empty bow in his hand while the other carried a torch. The second bulblin lowered the torch to the ground in front of him and the bricks caught alight as well. The two bulblins laughed as the flames spread into twin walls that left Link and Midna trapped.
"Oh Great Din, no," Midna exclaimed. "Link, that's oil on the ground! They're going to burn us alive!"
Link whined loudly and twisted back and forth between the flames. They were halfway across the bridge and the fires were creeping in ever closer. There was no way out.
Midna flew off of Link's back and landed on top of the bridge's side wall. She was looking down, which added to his fear.
"We have to jump," she said. "It's our only chance."
Link whined again in response. That sounded like a terrible idea. He hopped up against the wall and followed Midna's gaze. The drop seemed way bigger from this angle, and he'd heard that falling into water from a great height could crush a person. His horror at its peak, Link turned to Midna and yelped.
"It's suicide, I know," she exclaimed, wide-eyed. "But I can't warp now. If I do, we'll have to go all the way back to where we first started! We can't afford to waste that much time!"
Link checked the flames. They were now a quarter of the way towards them on both ends. Midna swallowed hard.
"I might be able to slow down our fall... so we don't die when we hit the water," Midna said. Her shaky tone betrayed her attempts to sound reassuring.
The flames were now halfway to them. Link allowed merely a few seconds to consider his options. He either trusted Midna's capabilities or he redid four days worth of running through the twilight. Neither option was great, but they were all he had. Making his decision, Link gave Midna a nod and clambered up onto the wall.
Midna seated herself on Link's back and grabbed a firm hold of his fur. "Okay," she breathed as they faced the high drop. "On three... One..."
Link glimpsed through the corner of his eye. The flames were almost on top of them.
"Two..."
He tensed his muscles, ready to leap. Link closed his eyes, hoping that would make the act that much easier. He prayed to the goddesses.
"Three!"
Link jumped.
When I was going over the Eldin bridge fight scene, I realised how odd it seemed that twilight beasts were standing in broad daylight without a problem, and the thought never left me. I'm not saying that there isn't a logical explanation for why this is, and I have my own idea in mind, but what I am trying to say is that this fact doesn't seem to get enough attention.