Midna was proving herself a difficult traveling companion. Three days they had been on the road now, and the spires of Hyrule Castle still loomed ominously behind them as they went, but Midna was always restless. It made some degree of sense; magic would have made travel a convenience for the greater part of her life, and long journeys like this one would be something she saw as woefully dull and unbearably slow.

Still, whether she was accustomed to them or not, Valdr would have enjoyed greater peace of mind if he had been on his own, as looking after her was like caring for a small child, with all of the contrarianism, criticisms and difficulty that brought. Getting her to stomach the rations that Impa had supplied them with was an exercise in futility, and she complained often of hunger. The biscuitish hard tack that was all they had carried little flavor, but Valdr had subsisted on worse for longer, and all the same it provided a long-lasting strength that would carry them many a mile, whether Midna would partake of it or not.

Their camps were often a point of contention as well, and even after only a few days, Valdr had grown to dread whenever Midna ordered they stop to rest. She refused to lie down on dirt or grass, and looked at him with a mix of disgust and pity when he sprawled out on the ground. They had a single blanket between them, another generous gift from Impa, which Valdr had to fold and tuck around the little creature until she was comfortable enough to sleep. He bristled at this, and at her biting remarks at every move he made, but made no argument, for better or for worse. He had set this course, there was no turning back now.

Besides, while she may act childish and spoiled, like he imagined a princess would after a lifetime of luxury and high living in her own realm, Valdr never forgot the iron grip around his wrist when they had first met, nor the deathly peril they faced on this journey. For all her levity and the comic profile of her, Midna faced a task of insurmountable difficulty, and perhaps lashing out at him at every opportunity was the only way she could cope. She couldn't know that he understood the pain she felt; the anguish of having had everything taken away and been powerless to stop it. Maybe the equivalence between his family and her kingdom was a false one, but the sentiment was the same.

All the same, it was a difficult road they walked, made more difficult by the curtain of Twilight settled over the land. Each time that Valdr believed himself used to it, the thick, cloying air and deafening stillness made him shudder. Midna found it far more livable than he, and that only worsened his ire as they went along.

"Come on, Oaf, we'll never get anywhere with you dawdling and taking in the sights," she called from up ahead, and Valdr gritted his teeth and hoisted his pack higher on his shoulders.

"Perhaps I might march swifter with a lighter load to carry," he replied back.

Midna scoffed. "Are we in a sour mood today, Oaf? Whatever happened to grunting and keeping silent like a good pet?"

"Pet?"

"Well it seemed fitting. You're not much of a conversationalist, and thus far you've only really been good for carrying my luggage for me. I imagine I could have replaced you with an ass by now and had a more pleasant journey, that is what peasants in this realm use for baggage, yes?"

"I wish you luck in finding one to replace me with," Valdr replied, drawing abreast with her and trying not to grumble as the imp settled on his shoulder again.

It was true enough; since they had left Castle Town, they had seen neither hide nor hair of any bird or beast, at least none that Valdr could recognize as being of the regular sort. Dark-winged creatures with oily black bodies and bat wings soared about the towers of Hyrule Castle in the distance, but no ordinary birds had he spied or heard.

As for deer or wild horses, which were supposed to be plentiful in this province of the valley, there had been none, and the whole world felt silent and dead without them. No wind stirred and no rain fell, only an endless stretch of time between day and night. Valdr found himself hating it more and more as their journey wound on..

"I'm honestly surprised that this is how you light dwellers travel," Midna was saying over his shoulder. She was lounging comfortably across his back on the top of the heavy pack, head lolling down so that her mouth was just beside his ear.

"Walking?" Valdr replied drily.

"Walking the whole entire way, I mean really it's pathetic how little magic your people carry, especially compared to the Hylians of old. You know once upon a time your folk were powerful enough to seal away our entire tribe. Look at you now."

"I am not a Hylian," Valdr reminded her, and Midna snorted.

"Pish-posh, it doesn't really matter. Like I care where you're from."

"The north," he replied, and left it at that. Midna asked no more questions and Valdr was not inclined to speak more about his history.

"We owe a good deal to Impa for her aid," Midna said pensively after some time. "I should remember to reward her once my kingdom is recovered."

"You are confident that we will succeed."

"I'm confident that I will succeed. You'll be dead before we even find the first Fused Shadow."

"If I will be dead, then it harms no one to tell me what these Fused Shadows are."

"It's not a matter that concerns you, Oaf, like I said, this hero of the Hylians will be more useful in retrieving them than you."

"And if we cannot find him?"

"We will."

"A chieftain must anticipate the eventuality of failure."

"Perhaps in your culture, I find it unsurprising, but in mine we value planning for success."

"It certainly seems to have served you well."

At this Midna fell silent, and Valdr could feel a resentful stare boring into the back of his head. He wondered if maybe provoking her was unwise, but there was only so much of her barbed words he could stomach before he needed to shoot back.

"Fine, maybe it wouldn't hurt to clue you in, though I doubt your little brain will retain any of what I tell you."

"My thanks," he said evenly, and had to stifle a smile as Midna let out a frustrated hiss. Perhaps this trek would not be entirely without its diversions.

"Listen closely, Oaf, we'll start with a lesson. You'll need to understand the Twili if you want to understand the Fused Shadows.

You know the legends of Hyrule, of the three Golden Goddesses who created the world, the laws of it, and the life in it? Din, Nayru and Farore were their names, and whether you worship them or not, they did exist."

Valdr was not familiar with the legend in the slightest, save for the names, which he had learned from the prayers of his fellow prisoners under Hyrule Castle. However he did not interrupt, and instead focused on the road ahead and did his best to listen.

"When the goddesses left the world, they left behind fragments of their power, and kept them hidden within the Sacred Realm that existed alongside your own. Those fragments of power were valuable beyond all measure, and it was said that anyone who claimed the power for their own would have any wish granted. Word of this power spread, not just here in Hyrule, but all across the realm of light, and there was a war greater than any other fought for dominion over the remnants of the godly power. Surely your own folk have some stories that reference that war?"

Valdr hesitated; the history of his people was an oral tradition, not something to be recorded in books or scrolls. Even if it was, he had never learned to read or to write, and in his land war was common enough that each conflict was proclaimed to be the greatest war of that generation. If the tale Midna told was true or not, he had no way of knowing. What he said was simply: "None that I can recall."

"Figures," came the reply, "When Impa said your sort were barbarians, she really wasn't kidding around. I've met apes more educated than you."

"Your story," Valdr reminded her.

"Yes, well, as I was saying, this war was fought in all lands and between all peoples, for nobody knew where the goddesses had left the entry into the Sacred Realm, and all were eager to claim their wish. When it was discovered that Hyrule held the way into the realm of the gods, a tribe of powerful magic-users came together to establish dominance over both the sacred realm and the power that was housed therein."

"Your ancestors, yes?"

"Indeed, he can be taught," came the sardonic response, and Midna rapped her knuckles against the back of his head. "Now don't interrupt."

Valdr considered this story, wondering how much of it he actually believed. On the one hand, he had no means of disproving what Midna said, and after all that he had seen of magic and monsters over the past few days, it seemed wholly plausible that such a thing could happen; the world was wider than he had ever seen, and for all the adventures that he had been on throughout his brief life, there still was much he did not know.

Perhaps it was all true, and yet then again perhaps it was not. Midna, for her part, believed it was true, and if these Fused Shadows were real, then it could be that she had the best of it. For Valdr, to see was to believe, and until he saw these artifacts for himself, there was no telling if they existed or were simply a fabrication of the Twili.

"So yes, as you guessed, the interlopers were my ancestors, and they carried a mastery of magic that put all others to shame. But our tribe was few in number; for every one of us there were ten enemies, and they knew that eventually their power would fail. So they consolidated their strength, and came together to create an artifact of immense power, a power so great that it was rumored to rival the gods. This was the Grotesquerie, a mask which could house the combined might of our strongest sorcerers. Those sorcerers gave their lives creating it, harnessing their souls to it. Masks of all sorts were the speciality of those mages, and while there were others believed to house dark spirits or fierce deities, only the Grotesquerie remained in our keeping.

"With it victory seemed assured, though it was difficult to use without other equipment and other mages to restrain its raw power, but the goddesses intervened. Their vassals on this earth, the four spirits of light, came together to end the conflict, and drove the interlopers into the realm of Twilight. The Grotesquerie was split into four pieces, and hidden across the land of Hyrule by these spirits, becoming the Fused Shadows.

"My people were clever and more cunning than the Spirits recognized, and we were able to carry one of the pieces of the Grotesquerie into our exile, with the hope of one day reclaiming the others. Now Zant has somehow stumbled upon a magic greater than my own or that of my family's. He defeated my retainers, defeated me, and now my last hope is to reclaim the ancient magic of my tribe and turn its strength against him!"

Midna finished abruptly, seemingly waiting for Valdr to respond. He wasn't entirely certain what to say to all of that. As a legend, it certainly worked well, as well as any of the stories and myths he had swapped with his friends as a boy around the cooking fires, but whether there was truth to it remained to be seen.

"And what of this fabled hero? Where does he fit into your plans?" he finally replied. Impa had spoken much of the bloodline of the hero, as well as the Sword that Seals the Darkness, but Midna had considered them an afterthought in her own personal quest; an asset to be sure, and one worth pursuing, but not the object of their journey south. Valdr put little stock in tales of ancient magicks, and wanted to learn as much as could be gathered about this potential ally before he met him. A steady sword hand and an extra pair of eyes were far more valuable to him in battle than a dusty relic.

Midna leapt up from Valdr's shoulders and floated some ways away, shrugging her shoulders and refusing to face him. "I really couldn't say; seeking him out was Impa's idea, not mine, but I need all the help I can get. The way I understand it is this though: when the goddesses left the world behind, they left three vestiges of their presence here on this earth to defend it. The Triforce, the remnants of their strength, the light spirits, the remnants of their will, and the Sword that Seals the Darkness, the remnants of their divine courage. These Hylians seem to think that only one of a specific bloodline is able to wield the blade in battle, so a mutt like you wouldn't be of any use getting it for me. The way I see it, I know that the legends of my people are true. The Fused Shadows exist, so it stands to reason that the Hylians' legends might hold some value, too. Allies are what I need if I'm to overthrow Zant, and powerful ones at that. I can hardly cross the deserts to find another kingdom to aid me, so you and this hero will have to do."

Valdr digested that. His companion was placing an uncomfortable amount of trust in old tales and stories. He would have hoped that she had another plan in place just in case her beliefs about the Grotesquerie and the Blade that Seals the Darkness were wrong. A powerful weapon and strong accomplice would be excellent tools to bring to bear against their foe, but Valdr preferred his reinforcements to be of the tangible and reliable sort. As it was, his heart sank down to his boots now. He had made the choice that this cause was one worth dying for, and it certainly seemed like he would be dying for it sooner rather than later if this was the best plan Midna had.

"It's all more than you need to worry about, little Oaf," Midna chirped, suddenly cheery again, and she bounced off ahead to, in her own words, "make sure they were going the right way". Valdr frowned, and took another look behind them. Castle Town was quickly becoming an unrecognizable blur along the horizon, and the towers of Hyrule Castle were fading away in the eternally gathering dark of twilight.

"I wish you were with me," he said aloud, wondering if he believed ghosts were real or not. Ailee was dead and gone, no man knew that better than he did, but it harmed no one to believe, and sometimes even pretend that her ghost walked alongside him when his spirits were at their lowest. Now was one of the times in recent days when he felt he needed her most. The insurmountable difficulty of their task weighed on his mind in the same way the pack weighed on his back. Midna had her own place in this story, the disgraced princess fighting to reclaim her throne, and the hero of Hyrule had his as well. Valdr wondered where he would fit into all of this, or if anyone at all would remember he had existed once his bones lay bleached under the sun. He had buried Ailee in the ways that were customary for their people. Would there be anyone to bury him?

He glanced ahead at Midna, his companion, and contemplated the idea that she might fulfil that last wish… no. To Midna he had no value, she had said as much, and he recognized it to be the case. He was not much good to anybody as of yet, though he hoped he might change that before death came.

"Stay alive," had been Ailee's last words to him. For now, he would do what he could to abide by them.