Chapter 30: The Lost Woods, No Stops Here

…

Link found he could not sleep for what little of the morning remained. The dream, although long vanished from his memories, still haunted him with the feeling that something bad had happened. The best he could remember was Line, that his best friend had been angry. He toyed with the notion that he had a dream similar to the vague memory he had had before of the Horizon's Eye being attacked. But he dismissed the possibility almost at once. He remembered the first dream clearly, if at a later point in time; he had all but forgotten this one instantly. His last memories of that dream had shown Captain Koroul unconscious at the end. Would the captain be awake to show him the aftermath of the fight that had claimed his ship? No, this dream, in all its vagueness, did not sound like the kind to show prophecy.

Although he wished it would. He would like to know whether or not he would return to the sky kingdom.

He lay in the dark of Cale's windowless apartment room for what felt like days while Cale and Irleen slept peacefully. The night's fatigue had given way to fear of another nightmare, forcing him awake for most of the morning. Cale's brass alarm clock started ringing at one point and immediately stopped when Cale's hand swatted it across the shelf at the head of his bed. This also silenced the clock's ticking, leading Link to believe that he had broken it. Although Cale did not get up afterwards, Link decided to get up and wander to the bath hall behind the apartments. He bathed while one of the women running the bath hall washed his clothes, and he found the warm water to be one of the most relaxing experiences he had had in a long time. Of course, this was only after reflecting on some of the torment he had faced on the Grand Sails. The bath loosened his muscles, and his body felt a little more comfortable when he finally stepped out. He put on his cleaned clothes and returned to Cale's apartment just as the scholar was dressing.

First, Cale took Link and Irleen back to the Library. Madame Seilon was already waiting in the office, looking about as awake and active as the evening before. She gave Cale a thick journal with a slip of folded parchment tucked into the cover. Link did not get a good look at the parchment when Cale opened it, but the audible groan seemed like a good indication that it contained the details behind his assignment. She also informed them that Luggard, having arrived before them, was already paid and should have been waiting for them at the Western Platforms. After wishing both boys and Irleen luck (and nearly squeezing Link's organs out through his mouth in another hug), they set out through the busy midday streets of Library Town.

Cale chose not to wear his scholar's robe on the excursion, instead electing to put on a blue waistcoat over a clean, white shirt and black trousers with the legs rolled up into cuffs. His writing utensils, along with the assignment journal, rode clattering in a tattered satchel slung from one shoulder. His shoes did not appear very appropriate for the kind of off-the-path walking they might be doing, but Link still had the impression of having an airman flank him based on the clothing choice. Link still wore the green tunic over his lime-green bodysuit and brown trousers. His right hand rested on the hilt of his sword while his left thumb tapped on the journal in his pocket.

Link then pulled the journal out. "Cale, can you do me a favor?"

"Yes?"

Link passed the journal to him. "Would you put this in your bag? It'll probably be safer with you."

"Of coahse," Cale said as he accepted the book. "What is it?"

"It's a log I've been keeping since I came to the surface."

Cale opened the top flap of his satchel. "I'll keep it next to my assignment book. It should be safe theah." After stashing it, he pointed out towards the individual platforms. "Look, theah's Luggahd."

Link followed Cale's finger to the black Number Seventeen engine. It kept its tender, bearing the engine's number in a gold script on the side, but the trailing cars had been reduced to a single passenger car with no cargo car as Link had seen it before. Luggard leaned out of the cab as they approached, having exchanged his blue uniform for an open, padded waistcoat of bright red on top of a grey shirt and black work slacks. He had washed his face, so it surprised Link to find that his skin was actually very pale.

"Mornin' there, fellas!" he greeted with a wave.

"Good morning, Luggard," Link replied. He glanced down at the passenger car. "Are we going to need that? I thought we would be riding in the cab with you."

Luggard nodded. "Ya is. Tha's a special car we freelancers like t' use. It's an office car."

"Yes, I've heahd of those," Cale said. "They'h paht sleepeh cah and paht office with enough desk space foh detailed wohk."

"It's go' berths for three people. Figured we could use it if we stop for anythin'."

"Are you okay to drive, Luggard?" Link asked.

Luggard shrugged. "I think I go' me plen'y o' sleep. No big deal." He waved at them. "'Op on."

Link stepped on first. The cab was just large enough for three people to move about with enough space and had no overhead protection, leaving the upper half of the cab exposed to the sky. In front of a complicated instrument panel and running the length of the cab on the side opposite the entrance was a bench with a suitcase stashed underneath. Link could feel the heat from the open firebox door at the base of the instrument panel, and a shovel rested next to it.

As Cale boarded, he looked to his left just on the inside of the cab. "What's this?" he asked, pointing out a thin, metal pipe strapped to the barrier.

"A pipe," Luggard replied as he reached out and pulled the door closed.

"What foh?"

Luggard reached up and tugged down a lever. "For anythin' tha' wants t' ge' close 'nough t' look a' us. We's goin' in the Los' Woods, bu' I ain' goin' in unarmed."

Irleen jumped out from under Link's hat as Luggard continued to work the controls. "What kind of creatures could we run into?" she asked.

"I ain' really in the know," Luggard said. "Jus' assume anythin' tha' lives in those trees ain' tha' friendly 'n bea' it t' death; tha'll do for me."

"Well, what about people living in the Lost Woods?" Luggard paused his operations to join Link in a confused stare at Cale. "W-what?"

"Who in the 'ell'd be daffy 'nough to live there?"

Cale stammered for a moment. "Wha-I-d'a… well, someone had to build this crypt we'h looking foh! Oh, and! Ah we not looking foh someone who spent a lot of time theah? What if he built a house?"

"I don' give a loogie's pre'y li'l 'at if someone's livin' there!" Luggard told him. "If they ge' near me, I's gonna break their shins!"

"Guys, can we just go?" Irleen shouted.

"Ya two jus' si' there 'n shu' it," Luggard said, pointing them to the bench. He stepped to the back of the cab and picked up a large log book hanging off a chain bolted to the end of the bench. He perused the pages before finding what he needed. Then he pulled a pocketwatch from his waistcoat to reference it. Then he dropped the book, stuffed the watch back in his pocket, and jumped back to the front to grab the shovel leaning against the instrument panel. He crossed again to thrust the head of the shovel into the tender. The coal he drew from the tender flew across the cab and into the firebox with amazing accuracy. One, two, four… six frantic shovels later, Luggard slammed the door back over the firebox. After double-checking the gauges, he reached up and tugged on a thick cord twice, eliciting two wails from the whistle mounted on top of the boiler.

He threw forward a lever built into the floor, and the whole train jerked in response. Link and Cale looked over their shoulders as the train began to pull away from the platform backwards. The locomotive gave a few hefty chu-chugs as it drew back. Luggard leaned out of the cab to see behind the train. Link stood and leaned out, too, holding his hat to his scalp. Another, longer train looked as if it would bash into the office car, but it suddenly jerked onto a different track and rounded the Seventeen without problems. The Seventeen turned onto a track perpendicular to their line of travel. Luggard waited until the whole train was settled onto the new track before throwing the braking lever. The Seventeen's undercarriage squealed to a stop. Then Luggard blew the whistle twice again. A distant whistle answered once, and Luggard started throwing levers on the control panel before releasing the brake. The train started forward, the chugging of its engine slowly gaining in frequency as it drove faster.

"If ya wanna turn back, now's the time!" Luggard called over the sound of the locomotive.

Link glanced back into the cabin to watch him monitor the gauges. He spotted Irleen's light lingering on the underside of the overhang above the instrument panel. One hand tightened its grip on the wall next to him.

It already felt too late to turn back.

…

~~Day 11, afternoon

~~We stopped for a late lunch in Fishington before continuing to the Lost Woods. It was weird eating fish. I've had it before, but the fish they have here on the surface are unusually spicy. And the oil reminds me of the kind of grease they use to polish cannons. Maybe it's just me.

~~I've come to the conclusion that I just might not stay on the surface. It's not for a lack of interest; I imagine I could manage a very happy life down here if I had no other choice. But these events lately have me convinced that simply settling down might not be an option. I think it might be my years onboard airships somehow manipulating things around me to make sure I don't stay in one place too long. Then again, maybe it's just something wrong with me. What kind of insane world would compel me to move around all the time, anyway?

Link wrinkled his nose at the page, having already forgotten what else he wanted to write. He still suffered from a lack of sleep, but he could not get a nap in the berths at the back of the office car. Cale did not seem any more capable, so he just lay in the bottom berth reading his assignment over and over again by the grey light of the open windows. Link still had yet to see the parchment bearing the actual details, but he could tell that it was something Cale did not want to do.

Link felt a change in the train's movements, and a high pitched squeal caught his attention. He set down the pen he had found in the desk he sat at and looked out the window in front of him, pushing against the arms of the chair he used. Cale did not respond until he saw Link's reaction. "What's that? What's happening?"

"We're stopping," Link replied as he stood. The window only showed him a view of a vast field, so he walked over to the car door and, after wrenching aside the rusty handle, slid it open. The door gave him a view of a dead forest, looking eerily similar to the half-dead trees which surrounded Whittleton. At least, that was how it looked from the outside; Link could barely see beyond the trees due to a fog contained behind the trees. The train stopped on a straight track, allowing Link to look forward at the locomotive. But he did not see any sign of Luggard or Irleen calling them up. So Link leaned back into the car. "Come on, let's see what's going on."

They stepped out of the train, and Link fought with the door until it closed and locked again. Then they strode across the barren ground, Link with a hand on his sword in case he had to draw it. The locomotive gave a hiss. When they came closer, they could hear Luggard working in the cab. "Is everything okay, Luggard?" Link asked the top of the cab's outer wall.

"Yeah, come on up," Luggard huffed. Link fit his feet into the small ladder suspended under the locomotive's running board and stepped up to the running board so he could reach the door. He pushed it open and set foot in the cab so that Cale could follow him. Luggard was shoveling coal into the open firebox again. "Sorry 'bou' tha'," he said after he finished, closing the firebox door with the shovel's head. "Jus' occurred t' me wha' I's doin', so I stopped."

Cale climbed into the cab, and Link shut the door behind him. "It just now occahed to you what you weah doing?" Cale asked him. "That you weah about to drive youh train into the most dangerous forest in Hyrule?"

"I 'ad a momen' o' sanity, a'right?"

"That's okay, Luggard," Link said. "I'd prefer if you knew what you were doing before you went and did it."

"Don' much like it, though. The though' made me forge' t' feed the firebox."

"Do you have an idea of how you'll navigate?" Cale asked.

"I 'ope so. I talked it over with Irleen 'ere, bu' she don' say much."

"There wouldn't have been much of a point," Irleen told him. "Link left. I can only talk to you guys when he's nearby. Everything you told me on the way here sounded like complete gibberish to me."

Luggard rested a hand on the brake lever. He gave a shrug and told her, "Was talkin' more t' meself, anyway. Ready?"

Link glanced out over the side of the cab. The pit of his stomach churned at the sight of the Lost Woods this time, every fiber of his being suddenly telling him that something was very wrong with this place. He frowned at that; on the subject of turning around, he found that he simply did not want to. It reminded him of traveling through the Undying Storm. Could that have been dangerous? Yes. Had he been afraid of it? Maybe, in some small way. He had still ordered the Island Sonata into it.

So he took in a deep breath and said, "Let's go, Luggard."

Luggard released the brake, and the Seventeen started forward. Cale sat down on the bench near the instrument panel, staring at it just to keep his eyes away from the trees. Luggard leaned over the right side of the cab's wall, his left hand hovering near the brake lever.

Irleen moved over to Link and disappeared under his hat. "What are you doing?" Link asked.

"I think I'll just stay in here for now," she answered, only a fraction of her light protruding from the hat.

"Why?"

Irleen's voice seemed casual as she answered, "Oh, just having that feeling of approaching my impending doom, that's all. I thought I'd acknowledge it in a more… personal… spot…"

"My head?"

"Hey! It's the only personal space I have right now."

"But it's my head."

"Get over it!"

Luggard looked over his shoulder at them. "Ya jus' lose yar 'ead t' a fairy girl?"

Link reached up to scratch his head, thought better of it, and just answered, "She seems to enjoy doing things to it."

"Luggahd?" Cale asked. "What weah youh ideas foh navigating the wood?"

"Mos' I figure is no one ain' tried this for years," Luggard said. "We jus' stay on this track 'n don' change any switches, we either find Ryain's las' dig or go righ' t' Diggerton."

"What happens if we reach Diggehton?"

"We turn 'roun'."

The train crossed the edge of the Lost Woods, and all three shifted uncomfortably, feeling like they had been thrown into a pot of hot water as the train moved into the woods' humid atmosphere. Between the chugging of the Seventeen's engine, the boys could hear rustling in the dead brush near the tracks. Although there was very little said between them after first entering, they all hoped that it was only wind or draft caused by the locomotive (the second one exclusive to Luggard). Cale and Link, who did not have to focus on the path ahead like Luggard, looked at the trees. The inside was a dusk-like dark, caused by the thick growth around the tracks as well as the fog. Still, they thought that they could see the glare of eyes in between the surrounding trees.

The four passed through the trees in silence. Luggard kept his hand on the brake, occasionally applying it when the train felt like it was going too fast. After a few moments, he decided to throttle back the regulator a bit to slow the train instead of wearing out the brakes. He then decided to keep his hand on the regulator in case the need arose to throw the train into full steam. Cale kept to the bench. His shoulders remained hunched, ready to duck behind the cab's wall the moment something looked wrong. Link wandered to the instrument panel. He saw that one of the bulbs close to the regulator controls was a compass. And, true to Luggard's claim earlier that morning, the disk inscribed with the cardinal directions spun around as if it had lost its mind. It would switch between bouts of mad revolutions then stop and indicate many different directions as north.

Luggard reached for his pocketwatch at one point. After checking it, he told Link, "Jus' a few minu'es in. Mus' be barely a quar'er o' the way through." He paused to watch a junction in the tracks pass. "Straigh' track all the way through, it is."

"Should it be?" Link asked.

Luggard shrugged. "Couldn' tell ya. Bu' tha's the secon' junction we passed. Should be clear t' Ryain's las' destination."

Cale's eyes shifted forward. Then he stood and said, "I see light."

Luggard leaned out of the cab. "Tha's weird. We can' 'ave gotten through tha' fas'."

"I can live with that," Irleen said from under Link's hat.

But Luggard shook his head. "No, this ain' righ'." Cale shrunk behind the cab's wall.

Link stepped in front of Cale to look over the side. "Keep going."

"If ya say so," Luggard muttered, nudging the regulator so that the train sped up.

Passing through what appeared to be a large door made of light, the Seventeen emerged into a lighted plain which blinded all three boys for a moment. Luggard, once he had his vision back, glanced at the compass on his instrument panel.

Then he threw the brakes on with such ferocity that Link's face almost collided with the edge of the metal plate framing the right side of the instrument panel. Link spun, one hand clamped to the wall, and banged his elbow against a spot of bare iron on the panel.

"Ow! Agh…"

"Sorry, Link," Luggard said. He glanced out over the plain for a moment. "'Ow 'ave we done tha'?"

"Done what?" Cale replied, sitting up to he could look outside the cab.

"We's on the same side we wen' in."

"What?!"

Link slowly rose to his feet, cradling his left elbow. "Are you sure?"

Luggard pointed across the cab. "Tha's north there. Three rails enter from the east side, 'n it looks like we switched from the middle tracks to the southern tracks." He indicated the south. "Tha's the coastal hills, tha' is. We's well south o' Whi'leton."

"But… but that's mad!" Cale shouted.

"It's worse than tha'," Luggard continued. "We only traveled for…" He checked his pocketwatch again. "… no' even a 'alf-'our. Bu' we managed t' make twice tha' distance in less time than it should."

Irleen emerged from Link's hat. "So. Lost Woods, huh?" She sighed. "This isn't going to be easy."

"So, what now?" Link asked.

Luggard released the brake, allowing the train to roll forward. "Well, obviously, we can' jus' take a straigh' line through the woods. We 'ave t' switch tracks." He groaned. "Means we go'a stop the train."

"Is that bad?" Cale asked.

Luggard shook his head. "It ain' somethin' I was lookin' a' doin'. We go' lucky nothin' wanted t' ea' us, bu' tha's b'cause we didn' stop."

Cale gulped. "E-eat us?"

"Then, if we have to stop," Link said, flexing the fingers of his left hand, "we'll just have to make it fast."

…

This setback slowed down the boys' progress horribly. Luggard drove them back to where they had entered the woods, eating through daylight until the sky outside the woods had died to a dark grey with a hint of red peeping through the treetops. The evening's lack of light made the woods even worse to see into, the fog now thick enough that only the trees lining the perimeter could be seen with any sort of clarity. This forced Luggard to stop the train just outside the woods again, giving another pause as he decided between chancing the trees again and returning back to Library Town as he strode to the front of the locomotive.

He returned to the cab about a minute later, idly sparking the striker he carried. He walked past the cab toward the back of the tender. Link, Cale, and Irleen watched him disappear behind the tender.

"He's been quiet," Irleen said.

"He's probably thinking," Link said. "We don't have any means of navigating now that we know that the straight track won't take us to either Diggerton or the Forest Temple."

"Yes, but," Cale spoke up, leaning forward on the bench with his hands steepled in front of him. "Now that we've detehmined that much, how do we navigate from theah? And what's keeping us from simply running off the tracks? It's mad to travel in a straight line and not find ouhselves on the opposite side. Who's to say we'll make anymoah progress making tahns? Luggahd's already made it cleah that stopping in the middle of these woods might invite trouble."

"Thanks for getting that out in the open," Irleen said in an annoyed tone.

"I just wish I hadn't been given this assignment," Cale said, pressing his thumbs to his forehead.

"'Ate t' dis'poin' ya, Cale," Luggard said, his voice startling both boys as he clambered up the side of the cab with a lantern in his hand, "bu' I don' much like the job, either."

Link shook his head. "I don't want to force you two to do something you don't want."

"I won' say I'm 'ere jus' for the money," Luggard told him as he placed the lantern on a hook on the overhang protecting the instrument panel. "Bu' tha' is part o' the reason I came. The other's tha' ya would try this with or withou' us, Link."

Link scratched the back of his neck. "Somehow, I think I agree with you."

Luggard released the brake and slowly opened the regulator. "We'll give tha' firs' junction a try."

Both Link and Cale nodded as the train entered the woods again. Link blinked at the sudden sensation of being blind from the darkness inside. His eyes adjusted after a moment, and he could see the trees and scrub around the tracks dyed a subtle grey against the black of the unknown beyond. Link looked up, but the canopy prevented him from confirming if it had turned to night the single minute they had traversed the trees. Again, Luggard drove the train at a slow pace with a hand resting on the brake lever. But Link watched Luggard, saw him drumming his fingers on the brake lever while shifting his gaze between the track ahead and the trees beside him. Link had seen airmen on the Grand Sails act in a similar fashion, usually when something like rough winds or fragile cargo made their job a little harder. They had been nervous, and Luggard was nervous. And, well… Link could not see Cale, huddling under the wall with his satchel clutched against his chest, being anything except nervous. Irleen was a harder read because she did not have any features. She hovered near the lantern Luggard had hung in front of the instrument panel, occasionally circling it. The three of them made Link nervous. So he took in a breath and leaned out the cab to avoid watching them.

His eyes narrowed as he realized something about the track they followed. "Luggard? Is… is the track glowing?"

Luggard released a sigh and glanced at Link. Link met his gaze, so Luggard shrugged. "Yeah, it glows sometimes. The Spiri' Tracks isn' same as the iron rails tha' ge' laid these days. They's go' magic or somethin' in 'em. 'Ard t' see in the day, bu' it 'elps a' nigh'. Mos' say it's energy travelin' b'tween the temples 'n the Tower 'o Spirits t' the northeast o' Library Town."

Link looked over the edge of the barrier at the blue glow from beneath the train. Then his eyes swept forward, locating the switching mechanisms at the junction further down the track. "Luggard. Keep us on this track."

"Wha' for?" But just as Link opened his mouth to answer, Luggard suddenly held up the hand previously holding the brake to stop him. He glanced out in front of the train, and then he crossed to Link's side. Link moved out of the way so that Luggard could lean over the side. "Aaaaaaaah," he droned, nodding as he turned to Link. "The track glows a straigh' line t' the temple. We-we jus' go'a follow the tracks. No one else'd think it b'cause only an idio' would ride the woods' rails a' nigh'!"

"Isn't that what we'h doing?" Cale spoke up.

Link pointed a finger at Luggard. "I'll bet the energy turns up ahead. If we follow it—"

"We're a' the Forest Temple in a flash!" Luggard said.

"B-but… we still have to stop," Cale answered in a nervous voice.

"'O cares?" Luggard told him. "We can navigate!" He returned to the other side of the cab and opened the throttle a little more.

A few minutes later…

"Well, we knew this was comin'."

The train slowing, both Luggard and Link leaned out of the cab as the Seventeen approached the second junction. Although it was not absolutely clear, they could tell that the illuminated track turned to the right. The brakes began to squeal when Luggard applied them, and the train came to a stop.

Luggard slapped Link's shoulder. "C'mon. Ya can watch me back."

Cale shot to his feet as Luggard opened the door. "W-wait! What about me?"

"We can stay here and keep an eye on them," Irleen said, fluttering away from the lantern.

"Wai', wai'," Luggard said. One finger pointed between Link and Irleen as he asked, "If ya stay 'ere, 'ow's ya gonna warn us? Ya can' tell Cale."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure screaming's universal." Link shared a stumped look with Luggard, certain that the remark had been accompanied by a grin.

Luggard clapped a hand on Cale's arm, a grin of his own visible in the lantern light. "Well, if anyone knows 'ow t' talk screamin', I's sure it's ya, Cale." Cale's only response was a silent stammer as Luggard grabbed the pipe attached to the wall.

He and Link descended to the ground, Luggard already wielding the pipe ready for an attack. But other than the low rumble of the idle train and their feet crunching in the gravel along the rails, Link could barely hear anything. He maintained a cautious eye on the trees nearby, believing that anything interested in them would jump from that direction.

They did not share any words until they entered the cone of light at the front of the train. "I go' the switch," Luggard said. "Keep watch. Soon as I ge' the track switched, we run for it."

"Anything I should watch out for?" Link asked.

"Yeah. Me runnin'."

They approached a triangular junction with two tracks (one of them glowing blue) curving in a perpendicular direction to the rail they had been using. At each point of the junction, set back far enough that passing trains would not hit them, were mechanical posts. The one closest to them looked to be covered in green rust, most of its moving parts melted together. It was capped by a square sign with an arrow pointing up.

Luggard put a hand on a crank near the thick base of the post and tugged. His shoulder popped, but that appeared to be the only thing to happen. "Figured it rusted over," he commented to Link with a half-grin. "Jus' needs a li'l more pull." He set the pipe next to the post, placed both hands on the crank handle, and jerked as hard as he could. Still, the crank refused to budge.

"Luggard…"

"Jus'!" Luggard replied to Link, holding up a rust-covered palm. "I go' it."

Then he picked up his pipe and struck it against the base of the crank, eliciting a loud clang from the metal-on-metal impact. One, two, three… Link lost count after five. He could see cracks forming in the green surface, likely what Luggard intended to do. But most of the cracks formed along the body of the post; the crack remained solid. Luggard then set the pipe down and tried again, grunting and grumbling his luck. Not wanting to interrupt, Link glanced down the path they needed to take.

In the few seconds of silence Link had before Luggard struck with the pipe again, he became aware that the woods were not as quiet as he first thought. Away from the dull groan of the train's boiler, he could hear an infrequent scratch of an origin he could not really place. The best comparison he had was someone ripping a dry leaf in half, a crisp sound if almost hard for him to hear. He wished he had borrowed the lantern Dissal had used when the Bulblins had attacked Whittleton; its directed light would be useful for seeing what lurked in the trees around him.

Clink! Clink! Clang!

"C'mon, ya stupid…" Luggard's voice devolved into a growl as he leaned over to press his shoulder into the crank handle.

Khiut. Khiut. Link's attention snapped back to the unidentified sound, aware of how loud it had become. His left hand crossed to grab the hilt of his sword, his eyes searching the dark for the source.

Cruncha. Khiut, khiut. Cruncha.

"Luggard?"

Luggard, about to kick the crank's handle in frustration, leaned his raised boot on it instead. "Yeah?"

"Do you… hear anything?"

Luggard's eyes wandered the area around the junction. "No, no' now," he said. They spent a moment listening for movement. When no other sound presented itself, Luggard reared up again and kicked the crank handle. This time, the handle jerked loose, and Luggard quickly set to turning it. "Jus' a bi' longer, Link. Then we can be gone."

Cruncha. Link felt a shiver traverse the length of his spine at the sound he heard just above Luggard's grunting. The rails nearby gave an irritated screech as they shifted. Link stepped around Luggard to get a better view of the opposite side of the clearing in search of the sound's origin. Still no sign of the source.

Luggard's work concluded with a clank and a huff. He glanced up to confirm that the arrow had rotated to point at the new direction. "Go' it," he told Link's back. Link turned to face him.

KHIIIIIIIUT!

"Look out!" Link caught Luggard's waistcoat and hauled the young man to the ground with him on impulse.

Because the large spider behind him had been just seconds away from taking a bite out of Luggard's head.

"Wha' the—" Luggard started to say.

"RUN!" Link shouted, already scrambling to his feet.

Luggard then caught sight of why Link panicked. The spider hanging in the air next to the track switch was taller than any other man Luggard had met. The most prominent feature of this monstrosity was the grotesque, white markings on its large abdomen, appearing as if someone had tried painting a milk-white skull on its body while being eaten. Its eight, spindly legs, black like the rest of its body save for spots of yellow at the cap of each joint, writhed as if trying to reach for both of them.

Link pulled his sword and, in the same movement, delivered a strike to the side of the asymmetrical skull in front of him. The sword bounced off with an annoyed tink, sending the creature swinging backwards. The toughness of the creature's shell caused the hilt of the sword to sting Link's hand, and he switched hands so he could shake the pain off. He had no idea that the spider swung back until its hard body slammed into him, sending him sprawling face first onto the non-glowing tracks. He caught himself just before his face dug into the gravel base of the rails.

KHIIIIIIIUT! KHIIIIIIIIIUT! KHIIIIIIIIIUT!

And when he looked up, he saw more skulls descending from the treetops just outside of the Seventeen's head lantern.

"Time to go!" Luggard said. Link felt a hand seize the back of his tunic, and he grabbed his sword from the ground before Luggard hauled him to his feet. Luggard then used his opposite hand, now armed with the pipe again, to deliver a blow to the spider swinging to meet him. The blow bounced the spider against the track switch, causing it to spin until it fell from its thin perch onto its stomach on the ground.

Luggard and Link did not wait around for anymore, already running at full speed for the train. "What are these things?!" Link shouted.

"Skulltulas! Pu' shor'? Bad spiders!"

KHIIIIIIIIUT! One suddenly descended right in their path. Luggard jumped around it, one leg taking scratches from the sharp branches of a nearby shrub. Link swung his sword, landing it against the head of the Skulltula. The Skulltula swung, having survived by the tough skin on its head, but Link still continued to run past it since the blow had cleared it of his path.

Both of them heard a girl scream from the train. "Irleen!" Link cried out, picking up his run. He overtook Luggard (much to the engineer's surprise) and leapt up the ladder to the running board, holding himself there with one hand on the wall next to him.

His eyes only took in a split-second of one Skulltula reaching past the overhang at the front of the cab while another had terrorized Cale into the corner opposite the brake lever. Link swung for this one first since it had actually set foot in the cab. His sword caught the Skulltula's face in between its reaching mandibles. Link drove it backwards into the coal pit and pulled up on the sword to jerk it out of the spider's face. The Skulltula was surprisingly light, and the force of Link's withdrawal had it standing straight up for a moment. Link took that moment to swing his sword into the softer exoskeleton of the Skulltula's underside, opening the spider in a display of green guts.

Link then spun to find Luggard beating off the other Skulltula with his pipe, his hand unable to get near the brake lever due to the sharp appendage guarding it. He immediately crossed the cab, swinging his sword. The blade caught one of the Skulltula's limbs against the top of the cab, cutting off about a third of its foremost segment. This caused the Skulltula to lurch forward. Its face, flat and bearing four green eyes just barely visible in the lantern beneath it, caused Link to duck down in response. But this was where Link wanted to be, as he stabbed his sword from below into a sliver of unprotected exoskeleton under its head. The Skulltula jerked in surprise. Link then pushed it to the left side of the train. It flopped off the top of the locomotive, and Link pulled his sword out just as it disappeared over the wall.

Luggard immediately set the train into motion, opening the throttle to half. Then, after grabbing the shovel, he crossed to the back of the cab. The Skulltula Link had sliced open lay with its back on the coal pile. Luggard dug the shovel underneath its abdomen and hauled it over the side, causing the fatally wounded spider to meet the ground in an unceremonious splat. Then he whipped off the Skulltula's entrails in a single swing of the shovel and started moving coal into the firebox.

KHIIIIIIIUT!

"Luggard, look out!"

Link's call alerted Luggard to the Skulltula descending towards the rear of the coal pile. He jumped backwards as Link dashed forward, mounting the coal pile. The loose coals caused him to trip, and he fell forward onto the pile. Fortunately, the Skulltula, as it tried to grip the edge of the moving tender, was not any more graceful. Its head thunked against the trailing office car, and it detached from its web to settle on top of the car. Link managed to find firm footing on the coal pile and moved towards the back of the tender. Using the train's gathering speed, he jumped the gap between the tender and the office car.

Only to have his stomach land into the edge of the car's roof, knocking the air out of him. His sword dropped onto the flat roof, Link reached for a metal joist in the car's top structure. One hand caught just as he began to slide off. Catching a glimpse of the Skulltula recovering from its landing, he pulled himself onto the roof of the car as fast as possible. The Skulltula charged, raising its front end to show its fangs to Link.

Link, lying flat on his belly, reached for his sword. In the next moment, the Skulltula fell on top of him.

"Link!"

"No, Link!"

The Skulltula shifted, falling off the side of the car. Link lay unharmed, the green body juices of the latest arachnid attacker slowly crawling down the blade of the sword. His head rose for a moment to look at the blade.

Then both his head and the sword fell against the metal roof in exhaustion and relief.