The Legend of Zelda: Dreamweaver's Shield

by Light Onthemayo

After two years of searching, Captain Link and the valiant crew of the airship Island Symphony have found Obeeta, a massive island in the sky sporting a city-like landscape. What looks to be a simple visit in a quest to locate Irleen's people soon turns into one massive living nightmare as Obeeta's nights spring surprise after surprise on the crew of the Island Symphony.

42. Epiales Versus the Agathodaemon

Chapter 42: Epiales Versus the Agathodaemon

…

"So. Now what?"

Flower simply voiced the question that was on the rest of the minds of Link's command staff. This included Flower as the head of the night shift, Leynne, Sello (along with Randy, who was now enjoying being suckered into hauling Sello around simply because it let him sit in on a vital meeting), Dubbl (who made a point of avoiding eye contact with Leynne) as the day shift's chief, and Cale. Irleen was incidentally listening in since she had decided to sleep in Link's cabin, which she now found difficult after Link had shared what he had seen through the goggles.

"Now," Leynne said as he tried to settle himself comfortably on Link's footlocker, "we have to find some way to utilize one of ouh comrades against The Night."

"How hard can that be?" Randy asked as he leaned against the forward bulkhead, Sello slouched on the deck against his left leg.

A moment of silence passed.

"Quite hahd, it appeahs," Irleen spoke up from her small bed.

Leynne leaned forward and, with his elbows resting on his knees, steepled his fingers together. "Unfohtunately, ouh options ah limited," he said. "If we ah to take Janni at heh wohd, the Dreamweaveh's Shield won't allow anyone except Link to enteh the dream wohld."

"Janni?" Irleen asked. "That… creatuah thing in the dream wohld?"

Leynne heaved a sigh. "Sohry, I guess you haven't been around to heah the latest," he groaned. He cleared his throat and said, "Janni has been supplying Link with infohmation eveh since he fihst went into the dream wohld. Whateveh we haven't discovehed fihst-hand about The Night has come from heh."

"And you trust this pahson?" Irleen asked Link.

Link, leaning his bottom against the front of his desk, gave a shrug. "She seems all right, just a little creepy," he said. "She thinks telling the truth is more fun because it's… kinda horrible at times."

"If that's heh motivation, I would prefeh that she keep telling him things," Leynne said. "Otheh than what we cannot confihm, it seems quite legitimate."

"I cleahly need to be filled in at some point," Irleen commented.

"Don't worry, Irleen," Flower spoke up as he idly rolled a pencil back and forth on the map table. "We're probably getting as much as you."

"It isn't as if we do it on puhpose," Leynne told him. "Things have been happening fast."

"Let's get back on-track here," Link said, holding up a hand to interrupt his crew. "We need to find a way to turn Sello against The Night."

"Well, as I said," Leynne began, "we cannot place him into the dream wohld since the shield will only affect Link."

"Think we can get him to belch hard enough to wipe out this storm?" Randy suggested. The staff glanced in his direction to see him wearing a smug look.

"We need ideas, Misteh Randy," Leynne said in a harsh tone, "not jokes."

"Arr, sir. I'm trying."

"Seems to me we're overlooking the obvious one," Flower said.

Link and Leynne traded looks. "What 'one' would that be, Misteh Floweh?" Leynne asked.

Flower shrugged. "Let The Night have him."

"No."

"Not an option."

"Hk—Cumquat!"

"Uh-uh."

"Yeah, no."

"Giyroxwan."

A pause followed the rest of the command staff's negative reaction. Then Cale spoke up from where he sat on Link's bed, "It would appeah that youh suggestion has been… ill-received."

"Thanks, I noticed," Flower grunted in annoyance, leaving the pencil alone.

"As obvious as it may appeah," Leynne said, "we have some difficulties to contend with. Fihst, we ah discussing placing Sello in serious dangeh. Janni has already given indications that attempting to botheh The Night eitheh asleep oh awake can be costly to all involved. The fact that we don't know what kind of consequences we would be dealing with should be motivation enough."

"The Obeetans scream whenever they get near wherever The Night is," Link added. "They know what happens if someone goes into The Night."
"And let them keep that knowledge between them and the Goddesses," Randy spoke up.

"Second," Leynne continued, "we cannot let anything happen to Sello." He glanced at Randy. "Unless you've become an expeht on inebriated engineering, Misteh Randy."

"We think we need a few more holes in our heads, Lieutenant," Randy replied.

Sello gave a snort and said, "Mishmashed ma pants…"

"Couldn't agree more," Randy told him.

Link showed Leynne a grim look. "Unfortunately… I think he's right," he admitted.

"I know," Leynne replied with a similar expression on his face. "I'd just ratheh we try to think of something not potential lethal to ouh chief engineeh. How likely is The Night to attack us should we decide to commit to such an insane plan?"

Link shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised if The Night tried to stop us. It might even punish us."

"What's it gonna do, make us sleep naked?" Randy asked.

"I don't believe The Night is going to provide you with such favoh, aihman," Leynne said.

"Besides, I already tried," Flower spoke up. All eyes in the room fell on him in the ensuing silence. Flower held his hands up in surrender. "I swear, I just thought it'd be worth a shot if we saw the ladies do it, too. I didn't get a chance to sleep that day."

"'In'utxak 'afi'il 'ikwu koday'un ga'na…" Dubbl groaned to herself, shaking her head.

"I do not suppose theh is a safe way of committing to this plan," Leynne said to Link.

"Lieutenant, we ambushed a demon airship with a fleet of empty hulls and only three armed ships," Flower pointed out. The comment caused Randy to give him a surprised look. "No offense, sir, but we don't do safe. We do stupid."

"Pehhaps," Leynne said. "But theh must be a way to… hedge ouh bets, so to speak. We cannot simply let Sello go into The Night expectant of a resolution. It would be ratheh like asking a sugah pill to cuh the common cold befoh shoving it into a pehson's mouth."

"Weee could… tie him to a tree?" Cale suggested. "If he stahts pulling hahdeh on the rope, we can pull him back."

"Fishing with the chief," Randy said with a chuckle. "Generally means something else on other ships."

"Something recreational, I assume," Leynne said.

"For everyone but the chief," Flower answered with a grin.

"But probably about as useless," Leynne said. "If we ah to go ahead with this plan, we need some kind of goal." He looked back to Link. "How was it that you defeated the fihst two pahts of The Night?"

Link shrugged as he said, "I really don't get it myself. Both times, there was a large monster at the end that I had to fight. After that, The Night just disappeared."

"I'll get the bucket and a wrench," Randy volunteered.

"Aaaaand… how is Chief Ding Dong supposed to fight?" Flower asked. "Half the time, the guy's limp as a noodle."

"Considering that these creatuhs only seem to exist in the dream, I don't expect Sello will have the option in any case," Leynne pointed out.

"Yeah, maybe," Link agreed. Then, during the short silence in his cabin, he came up with an idea. "But then… there's the mystics' things."

Leynne raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"The what?" Randy asked while Dubbl's confused look bounced between Link and Leynne.

"The mystics," Flower repeated. "Those are the guys with the plan against The Night, right?"

"Something along those lines," Leynne said with a nod.

"The things they left behind helped me so far," Link said. "I don't know if I can get through the mines as I am now. It might help if I can get the mystics' item before I go in again."

"So we send the chief on a treasure hunt?" Flower asked. "The same guy who spent five months losing his stupid couch?"

Link gave a slight grimace. "Right…"

"That soht of ventuh could use some insurance," Leynne said. "Especially if it's meant to grant us an advantage."

"You might… n-no," Cale said.

"What? What is it?" Link asked while Randy and Leynne turned toward Cale.

"Nevahmind," Cale said. He waved a hand. "Po—very… bad idea."

"That's kinda the idea we need, Chief Twig," Flower pointed out.

"C'mon, what was it?" Link asked.

Cale cringed. And then he said, "W-well… you-you might… tie youh…"

The last of Cale's statement was mumbled, causing Leynne to lean toward him. "What was that?" he asked.

"I, um… I-I think Link might do well… if-if Sello was tied to him."

The room fell silent again. Except for Sello muttering, "Fried chicken limbo…"

"Well…" Flower said before faltering for a moment. Then he concluded, "If nothing else, it is exactly what you said."

"That was why I'd ratheh you'd fohget it," Cale confessed, looking down at his lap.

"Captain?" Leynne asked in search of an opinion.

Link took in a deep breath. "I haven't gone into The Night during the day before," he said. "It's possible that I could go in with Sello to find the item. A short bit of rope and some luck might be what we need."

"Zis sound bad," Dubbl spoke up.

"Agreed," Leynne said. "Howeveh, given ouh cuhrent cihcumstances, it may be ouh only option."

"How 'bout it, Chief?" Randy asked Sello, leaning over to look him in the face.

Sello blinked at him for a moment. And then he glanced around to see the rest of the command staff was watching him. So, he put a stupid grin on his face and said, "Tickle da square an' scooch da tailored monkey."

Link, Leynne, and Flower cringed. "Kinda like sending a child to pay off Big Beef the Debt Collector…" Flower said.

"Uh… despite that child being able to design an engine that outruns most of the Skyridehs' fleet," Leynne pointed out.

"He signed on just like the rest of us, didn't he?" Randy asked.

Link bit down on his lower lip as he recalled Sello approaching him two years ago. Sello's single question about the job had been whether there was alcohol in the sky. The definition of signing now included drawing a large X shape on the sign-up sheet, slamming his head on the sheet, and leaving the room with the sheet stuck to his forehead. "Yeah," Link answered with a nod. "Yeah, he, uh… he did."

"He's gotta go with the risks just like the rest of us," Randy said.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Flower said, holding a hand up. "There's going with the risks, and then there's ordering a man to commit suicide."

"We haven't the luxury to debate the chain of command oh Sello's capacity to make decisions," Leynne said as he stood up. "The Night will be going to sleep soon, and the sooneh we commit to a plan, the sooneh we might be able to leave."

This caused the room to fall into silence again. Link took in the dour looks on everyone's faces as interest turned to the deck beneath them. He did not want to make the decision to take Sello into The Night just to see if they could retrieve the next mystic item. So, he took in a deep breath.

"Sello, we leave in two hours. Leynne, please assign three more airmen to the shore party and have them bring some rope."

…

~~10/4, Expedition Day 49.

~~I've never had any problem taking responsibility for my actions. I've even had people tell me that I act responsible for things I couldn't help. In another hour, I'm going to go to the mines in the daylight with Chief Sello and attempt to force my way in. This means walking straight into The Night while it's asleep. I'm about to feed one of my crew to this thing. I know that the Skyriders' regulations don't really cover sending a chief airman into a creature the size of an island. I hope the fact that I'm going with him is enough to satisfy whatever butt-chewing I'd receive if I tried doing this back in the kingdom.

…

Once daylight was somewhat visible a few hours later (much later than Link had expected to be off), he departed in the Conductor with Sello, Flower, Line, and Dholit. The fact that Line and Dholit came along made Link wonder if Leynne was really trying to assign him some stable crewmembers or if he was sick of dealing with them. Flower looked just as Link felt: grim. As a seasoned airman, he probably had the same impression as Link, that taking Sello into The Night in an insane bid to save the crew broke a few regulations somewhere in the book. Dholit was hidden in the deckhouse, not being one of the few crewmembers used to flying around on the fastest launch in the fleet. Line was gloomy, only giving half-hearted responses to the few orders Link uttered to steer the boat in the right direction. And Sello, well… Sello was Sello. Vacant. Out of touch. Drunk. He seemed more interested in following the grains in the boards that comprised the Conductor's weather deck.

What little daylight that braved the storm allowed Link to find the mine's entrance much faster. The lack of black outside the cave confirmed what Link had thought before, that The Night rested inside the cave while it slept. Link ordered the Conductor over the clearing between the buildings with some distance from the mine's entrance to keep his crew at relative ease. He directed Line and Flower to drop the sandbags to anchor the boat.

As he hauled the net over the side, Dholit emerged from the deckhouse. "So," she said as she stepped up behind Link. "How ah we to proceed, My Captain?"

"The plan's simple enough," Link told her. "Sello will be tied to me, and you three are gonna tie us to a tree or something. Something solid."

"Pehhaps a hahd rock?" she asked.

Link finished tossing the net over and turned to find her giving him a suggestive look. "If we get in trouble," he continued in a stern tone, "you three will have to pull us out."

"I feel I should remahk," Dholit said, causing Link to pause as he lifted a foot to climb over the transom. "I do not believe that a man has evah had to tell a woman to 'pull out'."

"Dholit!" Link snapped in annoyance as Flower snorted and slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Oh, My Captain," Dholit said as she sat on the transom. "I would expect you to appreciate my humoh at this point."

Link paused for a moment while she slid off the transom and climbed down the rope net to the ground. That was when he realized that not only was she trying to behave normally (well, her definition of normally, anyway), she was keeping Link distracted from what they were about to do by giving him reason to holler at her. At least, that was his interpretation of her comment. For all he knew, she was just having a good day and decided that he was lacking his usual amount of aggravation.

"My Captain?" Dholit called up. "The eahth is shaking today."

Link decided that the latter of the above conditions must have been the correct assumption and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Dear Goddesses, please make it stop…" Link groaned.

"Okay, Dholit!" Flower called back, his own voice betraying the quick onset of impatience. "We know you're horny again, so you can cut it out!"

"Horny?" Line asked.

"Shut up, Line," Link quickly told him. Line stuck his tongue out in response.

"N-no, that wasn't what I meant," Dholit called back. "I mean to say that the island is actually shaking."

Link exchanged confused looks with Flower and Line on either side. Then he climbed onto the net. "You guys bring Sello down with you," he told them.

"Aye aye," Flower and Line chimed.

The moment Link set foot on the bare earth under the boat, he was surprised to find that Dholit was not joking. He could feel the subtle vibration through his boots, an experience he knew to indicate something large was moving. So, he asked, "Did you see anything wandering around out here?"

Dholit shook her head. "No."

"Keep your eyes open," Link said.

"I shall keep everything open."

Link gave an exhausted sigh. "It's gonna be a long day…"

Then he backed away as Flower stepped over the transom with Sello on one shoulder. He climbed clumsily down the net. Pffut. "Augh!" Flower suddenly jolted in revulsion and dropped Sello. Perhaps to Sello's fortune, he was only a couple of steps from the ground, leaving Sello to fall into a heap with very little apparent effect. Of course, nothing ever seemed to faze him anyway.

Still, Link snapped, "What was that all about?"

"He farted in my face!" Flower complained as he dropped to the ground. He used a foot to roll Sello onto his back. "You okay, Chief Ding Dong?"

"Ah fall?" Sello asked.

"No, we shot you out a cannon," Flower replied in a flat voice.

"Didn' hurt!"

"Well, what does hurt!?" Flower snapped.

"Mister Flower," Link said in a level tone. "Just calm down. Sello, can you stand?"

While Line climbed down the net with a pair of ropes slung over his shoulders, Sello used the net to pull himself up. "Yikes!" Line hollered when Sello, in an attempt to catch himself, fell to one side and clasped onto one of Line's buttocks. Line twisted and knocked Sello on the head with a fist, which caused the bundle of rope on that arm to drop onto Sello at the same time. "Watch what you're doing!"

"D'oh!" Sello grunted at the same time before he collapsed to the ground with the bunch of rope around his neck.

"You guys…" Link groaned, one hand covering his face.

"He grabbed my ass!" Line whined once he set foot on the ground.

"Would you prefah that I had?" Dholit asked.

Line gaped at her for a moment. So, Link spoke up, "Dholit, stop giving him ideas. Flower, would you pick him up?"

"Oh, c'mon!" Line whined. "I'd let her."

"C'mon, Chief Ding Dong," Flower grunted as he picked Sello up. "What's the plan, Captain?"

"Line, do you remember how to tie a clove hitch?" Link asked.

"You've sent me to that course four times in the past two years," Line said while he took back the other bundle of rope. "Of course I can tie a clove hitch."

Link pointed to Sello. "Put one around his waist. Leave enough length so I can tie myself to him."

"Ah you suah theah isn't anotheh way?" Dholit asked. "This, by faah, seems much moah dangerous than anything else we've done."

"Can't argue with it, Captain," Flower added.

"I know," Link said with a nod as he watched Line tie the hitch around Sello's waist. "But we're out of options. And that's why I'm hoping you three will be able to pull us out if anything goes wrong."

"Like the rope snaps and you're lost in there forever?" Line asked.

Link glanced at him to see if he had a large grin on his face. Instead, Line had a sincere, worried look opposite his sarcastic tone. "Thanks a lot, Line," Link said in a dry voice.

"He does have a point," Dholit said. "What ah we to do if The Night decides to simply break the rope?"

Link sighed and glanced at the entrance to the mine. Surely, if The Night was spiteful enough to simply cut their rope and separate him from Sello… He turned a glare on Flower. "Then you're in charge, Flower," he said in a grave voice. "Get back to Leynne. Unless we come out on that rope, don't trust us. Even if we come out, keep an eye on us. If The Night does anything to us, we might not even know it."

"Goddesses above…" Flower groaned.

"You cannot be serious," Dholit told him.

"I am," Link said. "Don't let me do anything crazy. I probably wouldn't appreciate it anyway." He held out a hand to indicate to Line to give him the rope around Sello. Line hesitated for a moment before sighing and handing the rope over. "I want you…" he started, but paused as he whipped the rope around his waist and tied a bowline in it. "… to tie us to that tree." He pointed to the lookout tree on the right side of the mine entrance, the closer of the two. "If we go deep in there, you might have to untie us and put in a bend. I assume you still know how to do those, right?"

"I can do it, My Captain," Dholit replied just as Line opened his mouth (with a corresponding look on his face indicating he was about to level an insult). "Afteh all, these two big, strong men will have to hold the line to make suah you ah not swallowed while you ah loose."

"We could probably cut down on how long it takes to tie another one if we tie the rest of the ropes to the tree," Flower suggested. "That way, all we have to do is join them."

"Sounds good," Link said. "Ready… Sello?"

Much to Link's surprise, Sello had a sober look on his face. Even more astounding, he was staring at the entrance of the mine. Link glanced in the same direction. Then he slowly waved a hand in front of Sello's face just to see if he would respond. Link could not think of a time he had ever seen Sello so focused, unless he was drooling over an engine or other piece of machinery. He found it difficult to believe that Sello knew what was going on; while the crew hardly ever had reservations about talking in front of Sello (sometimes outright insulting him), Sello rarely seemed to acknowledge what was going on around him unless he was directly addressed. Years of drinking had dulled his ability to interact with others. Yet, it felt like, every so often, he did something that made most of the crew wonder if he was really as ignorant of his surroundings as he acted.

He knew it might be useless. Still, he tried asking, "Sello, are you okay?"

"Da booze iz wif meh," Sello replied in a clear, if still slurry, voice.

"No doubt about that, Captain," Flower said.

"Pehhaps it is his way of preparing foh this… situation," Dholit suggested.

"Well, that makes one of us…" Link commented.

Link waited and watched as their first rope was joined with two more to give him and Sello some distance into the mines/technoworks ahead. While Dholit was doing that, Flower and Line retrieved additional bundles and tied them to the tree Link had indicated. With Sello tied to him and staring at the mine entrance, Link felt a little useless. He did not have any of his usual equipment with him except his flare gun. He did not want to bring a sword with him in case The Night thought he was pushing his luck with threatening it. But then, he had to wonder how much The Night was paying attention to him when his plan involved something it was immediately afraid of.

Once they were done, Sello and Link approached the entrance. Yet again, The Night was doing something strange. He could vaguely remember encountering The Night's physical form in both the library and the tower, and he recalled that the black blobs were still and nearly solid. Link now understood why the island was shivering beneath his feet. It was The Night itself shaking. The black surface visibly rippled, reflecting a purple pattern barely noticeable unless one stood just outside of arm's reach. The shaking was dislodging tufts of dirt from the opening, leaving the black surface with a light dusting as well.

"Okay, that's… different," Link remarked.

"I will milk da jack," Sello said.

"Ew… Let's—"

"PAAAAAAANTS!"

Without warning, Sello charged forward. Link just barely caught sight of The Night jolting in response before the short stretch of rope between them suddenly pulled taut. Link grabbed the rope, but, since Sello was much larger, he was yanked off his feet. Link held the rope as Sello dragged him into The Night, each of Sello's steps another kick in the ribs, knocking the wind out of Link. Somewhere in the middle of the run, one of Sello's heels reached high enough to smack Link in between the eyes, knocking him senseless. He lost track of how long or far Sello had been running.

Then the rope reached its limit. The sound Sello made fell somewhere between a grunt and a rubber squeaky toy as the rope suddenly cinched harder around his waist. His arms, legs, and head stretched forward violently enough that his own knee struck his face. He landed on his rear end. Link, with the rope having slid up to his armpits, was saved from a similar landing.

Link rose onto his knees with one arm wrapped around his ribs. "Ladies Above…" he groaned. "I'm glad Nester wrapped this up. You okay, Sello?"

Sello chuckled. "I ate ma breakfas' twice…"

Link doubled over for a moment. "I think I did it three times," he replied.

When he looked up, he saw that they were completely surrounded by darkness. And he could see this because that darkness was emitting a faint, purple glow in quivering ribbons across its surface. Once Link's mind was clear enough, he could feel a short, rapid thrum in the air rattling his eardrums. The only piece of their surroundings that was not moving was the ground. Link used his free hand to feel the ground and found loose soil. He concluded that they were somewhere in the mine. It was not the technoworks, but it was a start.

"Okay, Sello," Link said as he gave the rope a quick tug to check if they had reached its limit. "We'll need to wait for a moment."

"Da can's in da boof, ma turdle," Sello replied.

"Right…" He looked around the "room". "I should've brought a lantern…"

Link and Sello spent a few minutes in silence while Link waited with the rope to the outside in one hand. When he felt a single tug before the line became slack again, he adjusted the loop on his length of rope so that it was at waist height once more and prodded Sello into walking again.

To his relief, Sello did not feel like running this time. This gave Link the opportunity to watch The Night as they moved. The rippling blackness around them sloshed like water. Link watched The Night recede before each of Sello's steps. Meanwhile, behind them, The Night dared to shift back into place, thickening the distance from his crewmen. Link's greatest concern was that, now that The Night was disturbed, it might simply decide to consume the both of them. Minutes felt like they turned to hours. Each step made Link wonder if it would be his last as a sane man. However, after they trekked further into the mine, Link remembered something Janni had mentioned before. The Night should not want to kill them. At least, not Link, since Link was a source of dreams it could feed on. Sello, though… he wondered what it might have done if they had tried to send him in alone.

"How are you doing, Sello?" Link asked after a while.

"Ah tickle yer lef' spleen," Sello replied in a calm voice.

Link heaved a sigh. "I don't think I'm ticklish there." He mistakenly glanced around at the darkness on either wall. Or, at least, he thought they were walls. Despite being drunk, Sello appeared to know which direction to go without running into anything. The only direction Link could identify was the way behind them, indicated by the short stretch of rope disappearing into The Night's rippling surface.

Link watched Sello for a moment. Then he asked, "Do you know where we're going?"

"Heh, yep!" Sello answered. Link considered asking for him to elaborate on their task, and then, he thought better of it. It was pointless to question it now that they had gone so far in.

They had to stop once more to let the rest of the shore party add another rope. Link tried not to consider the possibility that The Night was simply untying their ropes and letting him and Sello go further inside with no means of escape.

Then, Sello suddenly stopped.

"Ghofh," Link grunted when he bounced off Sello's back. He quickly grabbed the back of Sello's waistcoat to keep from falling over. "Don't you warn people anymore?"

"We're here," Sello replied as he turned around.

Link made the mistake of glancing at their surroundings. He only found The Night around them. So, his arms wide, he asked, "Where?"

"Da booze iz strong here," Sello explained to him. "In da seed, dere iz da plant. In da plant, dere iz da seed. In da seed, dere iz da plant. An' in da plant, dere iz da booze. Da booze iz in ma belly. An' den ah godda pee. So ah pee."

Link let his arms slap against his thighs in exhaustion. "This is starting to look like a waste of time…" he groaned as he placed a hand over his eyes.

"Ah guh dig dig dug, an' da ya dig dug," Sello continued in a rhythmic style, as if he was singing. "An' when ya dig dug, ah dah ga dig dug. Diggity diggity dug doh be, to da bee dee dig dug. Ah am a toofpick, and da toof be da picking pick dug."

Link let his head droop. "Must be nice knowing The Night can't touch you when you're already insane…"

"Hot diggidy dug," Sello said with a cheerful tone, stomping one foot. Thunk!

And Link froze. "Thunk"? The ground beneath their feet should have been solid earth. Link had hit enough decks and bulkheads to be able to tell what a wooden surface sounded like. His eyes wandered around Sello's feet. Then he carefully shoved Sello backwards. Just barely visible in the dirt that was directly under Sello's left foot, outright unnoticeable if Sello's actions had not brought attention to it, Link could make out the cracked surface of bark. He made to crouch, but he only reached a third of the way before the stretch of rope holding him to Sello tugged on his waist.

"Sello, do you mind?" he asked.

"In a pig's lef' petunia, ma buddy," Sello answered.

"Right, who was I talking to," Link groaned to himself. Then he grabbed the rope between them and tugged it to his left. Sello lost his balance and fell over with the grace of a sack of potatoes (and a comparable fwump sound). This allowed Link to drop to his knees and start brushing dirt away from the bark.

It was not long before Link uncovered a chest identical to the one in the river's technoworks. At least, that was what it looked like; he had only uncovered part of the lid. He continued to dig with his hands, finding that this spot was barely more than loose soil. Link spent a few minutes unearthing the lid, after which he had to move more out of the way in order to open the chest far enough to pull out the contents. He was eager to get out of the mine, so he dug enough out of the way to slip his arm inside.

He found something like a handle and pulled. The item was too wide for Link to pull out, so he tugged up to cause the chest to shift. The item slid out, and Link examined it. It was a four-sided lantern made of iron, giving it considerable weight compared to the lanterns on the ship. The handle was a large ring loosely attached to the top by another, rigid ring. One glass panel bore the same eye design as the Sorian goggles, and Link opened it up. However, he found that the inside did not contain a candle or a wick to light. He did not smell any oil, either, although the lantern did not appear to have an appropriate reservoir anyway. The bottom piece was simply a flat plate.

Link gave the lantern a difficult look. "I… think we've just run into another wall," he admitted to Sello.

"Ah dink we's cheesy," Sello said, pointing at Link's other side.

Link glanced up at Sello's hand. And then he looked to his right. While he had been looking at the lantern, The Night had been slowly crawling along the ground toward him.

"Whoa!" Link hollered, falling toward Sello. He slipped his left hand through the ring handle and grabbed Sello. "C'mon, Sello, we gotta get outta here." Link helped Sello to his feet, aggravating his side in the process since Sello was not placing any effort into helping himself up. Once Sello was standing, Link reached to grab the rope leading outside.

"AH SAVE MAH CHILIIIIII!"

"Wha!" Once again, Sello broke into a run without warning. Link felt the rope yank him in the same direction. This time, Link was dragged on his heels for a moment and took a few blows to the head from Sello's feet before he rolled onto one side. The loop on his waist slid up to his chest once again, and Sello kicked the lantern into Link's opposite arm twice. Link's legs flailed as he tried to get back to his feet, but Sello's frantic running as well as his own disorientation left him unable to do more. He hoped Sello knew the way out. Along with the beat of Sello's feet, Link could hear a rumble filling their little space inside the mine. He saw blackness lash out at him. He had the distinct impression that The Night was through playing.

Then there was a blinding flash of light.

"Sello, Sello!"

"Hey, Chief!"

Sello dropped to his knees, bringing Link to a sliding halt. He could hear Sello breathing hard, which he found unusual since he had done the same thing going in without any sign of fatigue.

"Captain!" Flower hollered. Link glanced around until he found Flower and Dholit running toward him. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Link said as he pushed himself up from the ground. He glanced down to see that, somewhere in all the running, the hitch holding Sello to the rope had slipped off. So, he grabbed the loops on the ground as he stood. "Line! You're hitch slipped off!"

"Glad to see you're fine, too!" Line hollered from the tree.

"How long were we in there?" Link ask as Flower and Dholit jogged to a halt nearby.

"About an hour or so," Flower said. He glanced backward to follow the length of rope connecting the tree to The Night. "You were going in pretty deep; we weren't sure if we'd be able to pull you out fast enough if anything happened."

"Did anything happen?" Dholit asked.

Link shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "The Night wouldn't touch Sello, and it didn't seem very interested in me, either. Still. You might wanna keep an eye on me!"

The last word out of Link's mouth came with more stress due to Link being alarmed. The loops that remained of Sello's hitch had just been tugged free of his hand.

Then Link felt the rope around his chest cinch up.

Before Link could do anything else, the rope jerked him backward. He landed hard on the ground, his head striking the bare earth. His vision was blurry, but he could feel the ground scrape by under his back.

Then something latched onto his legs. "My Captain!" Dholit hollered. Link glanced "down" to see that she had grabbed him by the ankles. "My Captain, you have to release the rope!"

Dholit did not even have the traction to slow them down, her thin shoes sliding on the bare ground with the same speed as him. Link grabbed the rope and made to undo the bowline. However, he found that, with all of the tight tugging, the bowline had slipped closer to Link, and the knot was constricted too much for Link to slip his fingers into. The bitter end in the loop had caught a fold in his tunic, and he could not force it up.

Flower dashed past Link and collapsed onto the rope. Link thought he felt the pull slow. If Flower thought he was going to sto—

Just as suddenly as The Night had decided to pull him, Link stopped. He rolled himself over, causing Dholit to release his ankles, and pushed himself off the ground. Just short of being pulled back into the mine, Flower had pulled out a rigging knife and cut the rope.

"C'mon," Flower told him as he rushed back to his feet. "Let's get outta here."

Link felt Dholit grab the shoulder of his tunic and pushed off the ground so that he could return to his feet quickly. He turned and ran toward the Conductor. "Flower, get Sello!" he commanded.

"Aye aye!" Flower responded.

"Line!" Link hollered. "We're getting outta here!"

"What about the ropes?!" Line called back.

"Ditch 'em!"

Krrch! Link turned his head in the direction that he had heard a loud crunch. Line was running away from the tree, not because the rest of the party was frantically trying to reach the Conductor, but because the safety rope that The Night was pulling on had caused the tree to shift. Link waited until Flower had stepped out of his path to retrieve Sello. Then he let the boots speed him up until he stood just behind the Conductor in the next second. He leapt up over the transom and onto the deck with the aid of the feather in his pocket. He stumbled for a moment, and then he stepped into the pilot's station. Krrch! He carefully slid the ballast control to lower the Conductor even more, despite his instincts telling him to outright drop the boat. Kunk! The Conductor gave a jolt as its keel bumped the ground.

Krr-krrrrWAKH! Link stepped back up to the transom and watched as the tree, down to its thick roots, was wrenched free of the ground. Line, who had stopped halfway between the tree and the launch, watched the tree fall. Then he resumed scampering toward the Conductor when he saw the tree being pulled toward the mine.

"My Captain!" Link turned as Dholit clambered over the transom. She turned to watch the tree. "What is it doing?"

Link looked back just in time to see the bulb that had once served as someone's station be crushed against the rock face outside the mine entrance. "I don't know," Link said as he removed the lantern from his wrist. "I don't think we wanna find out."

"Hey, up there!" Link and Dholit leaned over the transom to find Flower trying to lift Sello up. "This idiot passed out!" he hollered. "I need some help!"

Link and Dholit leaned further with hands outstretched. Flower picked up Sello by his shoulders and tried to offer him up only to find that he was just out of reach. "Line!" he hollered.

Line, finally reaching the Conductor, wrapped his arms around Sello's legs and lifted. This allowed Flower to adjust his hold so that he could haul Sello up further. Dholit grabbed one strap of Sello's waistcoat and tugged, giving Link an easier reach for the opposite strap. The moment Flower felt them lifting, he placed a hand firmly on Sello's bottom and shoved.

"Wha!" Link and Dholit cried out as Sello suddenly flew at them. He only made it halfway into the boat, falling with his stomach on the transom while Link and Dholit had stumbled backwards. They pressed their feet on the transom to give them enough leverage to haul Sello the rest of the way onto the deck.

PAKH! Krr-krrrwagh! While Line scrambled over the transom, Link stood and looked at the mine. He caught sight of part of the trunk slipping into the entrance, the root-covered stump having been snapped off and discarded to one side.

"Line, take the wheel!" Link hollered, shoving Line toward the pilot's station.

"Whoa!" Line cried out as he stumbled into the Conductor's controls.

Link then looked over the transom to find that Flower was only part of the way up. "C'mon, hurry!"

Fwoom! No one had time to respond to the new noise.

BAM! The Conductor's stern bucked hard from impact. Link slammed onto the deck while Line bounced off one side of the partition around the pilot's station. Dholit, sitting on the deck next to Sello, simply slid into the nearby bulwark. All three tried to keep themselves from moving as the Conductor continued to lurch side to side for a moment before settling.

"What the hell was that!?" Line hollered.

Link stood and hustled to the port bulwark, the direction of the mine. Over the side, the log that remained of the tree The Night had "eaten" lay just underneath the boat.

And the rope was still attached all the way to The Night.

"Link!" Link's head spun in the direction of Dholit's cry just as he had seen the rope tense. She was standing at the transom with one hand indicating the ground. "It's Flowah!"

Link slid toward the transom to peer over the side. Flower writhed silently on the ground, hands clasped on his head. Link's eyes immediately identified Flower's left leg bending outward at the middle of his shin.

"Cut the bags!" Link said just before slinging both legs over the transom and dropping to the ground. With the feather cushioning his fall, he dashed over to Flower and planted a knee down. "Mister Flower, are you all right?" he hollered over the sound of the tree scraping against the ground.

"It's my head, Captain," Flower replied through his teeth. "Oh, Ladies, it hurts. My leg's burning, too. What happened?"

"I'll tell you later," Link said as he grabbed Flower's left shoulder.

"Owow—OW!" Flower hollered as Link pulled him into a seated position. "Don't, don't!"

"What?" Link asked.

"That shoulder that got hit!"

"Shit…" Link quickly stepped around Flower and grabbed his outstretched right arm. "Can you climb the net?"

Flower's face was already paling at the sight of his twisted leg. "I-I don't think so, Captain."

Link glanced over his shoulder to see that the tree trunk was almost to the mine entrance. "C'mon, we gotta get outta here," he urged Flower as he pulled him up.

"Hu-raaagh!" Flower growled. His weight immediately fell across Link's back, forcing Link to stagger just to keep both of them up. They hopped closer to the net. "Captain, give me the net!"

Link did not question the move, allowing Flower to fall into the section of net still hanging from the transom. Flower used his hurt arm to keep himself up while he weaved his right arm into the net. Link climbed onto the net next to him and also weaved an arm, his left, in the net. They clasped their hands to each other's wrists.

Link then hollered upward, "Get us outta here!"

Above, Line did not bother questioning what airmen had come to call a "holy lift". While the general lifestyle of an airship crew did not need to rely on such a technique, there were occasions when something needed to be taken into the air with alacrity. It normally fell under the category of removing airmen or other trained professionals from a location full of imminent danger, and most airmen knew what the technique was. This was another reason for using a net on the Conductor, rather than a safer and sturdier ladder made of rope or wood (which would be temporarily mounted outboard). Airmen described the concept of the holy lift as "grabbing each other through a net and praying to all three Goddesses your partner doesn't let go while you're dangling for your life".

Line slammed the ballast into action, and Link and Flower felt the net jolt as the Conductor lurched back into the air. Both of them quickly fit their dangling legs onto the net to help support their weight.

Fwoom! Ba-BAM! Bassssh! Link dared a glance down to see that the tree trunk had been fired out of the mine again. This time, it sailed past the Conductor just under the reach of the net and crashed into a tree past the barracks. Then he heard the engine whine to life.