The ceramic floor of the shrine had made for a stiff back in the morning, but Farrow wasn't complaining. Link had made a fire for them to sleep by, seemingly unconcerned about vandalizing a possibly sacred site.
But it worked well. The floor hadn't conducted the heat from the fire, and the ceiling was high enough or there was some hidden ventilation, that smoke hadn't been an issue. That meant Link had made some hot stew and Farrow got to sleep in a warm bed. For traveling in the north, it was the coziest night of sleep she'd had in a long time.
The platform rose with a hum and Farrow watched her view of the shrine shrink until they reached the platform shaft and it was sealed away.
"I wonder if the lights stay on when no one's there," Farrow wondered out loud. She couldn't see Link well enough for him to sign, but she felt him shrug.
That shrine had been there for over a thousand years, if the legends were true. She and Link had visited for a night, a matter of hours really, and were now leaving. Link had accepted the gift from the monk and its purpose was at an end. It might never see another human enter it. Farrow wondered how long it would stand empty and purposeless. It gave her a weird sense of melancholy.
The darkness that surrounded them lifted as the platform reached the shrine entrance. It settled them back in the alcove without a sound.
Farrow stepped out and took in the tundra. A dark ceiling of clouds obscured the morning sun. She'd expected more winds tearing across the land, but instead fat snowflakes drifted down in slow motion. Not a whisper of wind stirred them and a hungry silence muffled the crunch of snow under her feet. Snow blanketed the ground in a flat sheet.
It was beautiful, and eerie, but Farrow was relieved they wouldn't be fighting the wind again.
'It's beautiful,' Link signed, staring out at the landscape.
"It is." Farrow caught sight of his face and grimaced. In the daylight, it was obvious Link had a sunburn. Unfortunately it was too cold for her to make him some chillshroom cream, but the clouds would shield him better today. She told him as much.
He lifted a hand to his face and grimaced at the friction. Farrow guessed a hundred years in a shrine left him pretty pale. Some sun now might do him good later when they reached Gerudo. She still made the mental note to get some sun potions before they got to the desert.
Link used the slate to lead them west. The only sound that broke the frozen quiet was the crunch or snow underfoot.
They seemed to be heading for a narrow flat land between two mountains. The mountains obscured their view for the first couple hours.
As they came around the northern mountain, something beyond Farrow's Imagination came into view.
A narrow strip of land formed a gentle uphill slope with the two mountain faces bracketing it in from the north and south. At the top of the hill, beyond the mountains and at what must have been the edge of the canyon, loomed a colossal structure.
It was only a silhouette from so far away, but the dark walls stood impossibly tall and uniform. It was as if someone had cut a square piece of night and placed it atop the hill. The snow fall obscured any further detail.
Farrow realized Link had stopped beside her. They exchanged amazed looks. The ancient structures like the towers and shrines were they're own kind of impossible, but none of them reached the incredible scale of the labyrinth ahead.
As they neared Farrow found her eyes seemed to gravitate back to the labyrinth. When it left her line of sight as they passed through a grove or around a rock face, a part of her was startled to find it still there, and even taller as it got closer. It just seemed like something that shouldn't be. She understood now why the merchant thought it cursed, and they weren't even there yet.
Farrow's gaze was again locked on their goal when something cracked in the trees a few yards to their right.
She looked and froze at the same time Link did.
A beast with the body of a house and the torso of a man stepped out of the tree line. It's eyes, slit like a cats and flashing in the low light, were locked onto them. It's mane of hair was frosted and its silver furred skin covered in scars. A sword hung off its back and a bow hung from its hand.
Link strapped closer to her and Farrow whispered. "Lynel." It had to be. She had been hoping they weren't real.
It started pacing a circle around them, arcing in the direction they'd come from. Farrow blood pounded in her ears as she and Link rotated to keep it in view. Farrow checked over her shoulder. The Labrynth was too far away to make a run for it, and there was no guarantee of safety there. Link's hand drifted to his sword.
The moment Link's hand touched the leather of his hilt the beast roared. The bow it had held almost lazily snapped up and an arrow drawn.
Farrow threw herself the the side in the same moment Link did, and the arrow when whistling through the space they'd been.
Hoofbeats thundered and Farrow drew her bow, shoving off her pack in the same motion. The Lynel galloped toward her.
It was too close. It raised its sword above its head. A vicious snarl revealed teeth like a wolf's. Farrow abandoned her bow and at the last possible moment raised her shield.
The blow came like the weight of a mountain. It slammed her shield back into her face, nearly tearing her arm from her shoulder and knocked her into the air to land hard.
She couldn't breathe for a terrifying few moments. Then she sucked breath back into her lungs and realized she was sprawled in the snow. Something warm trickled down her forehead and into her ear.
She rolled, imagining thundering hooves headed her way, and tried to get up. Her shield arm didn't move right and buckled when she tried to push up, forcing her to lurch the other way to her feet.
The lynel had left her to focus on Link. She caught sight of him stowing his bow to draw his sword as he back away from the lynel. An arrow stuck from the it's flank. He'd shot it to get its attention off her.
She went to draw her own bow, and found her arm still didn't move. She looked down. A crack in the wood of her shield reached from center to the top edge. It clung to her dislocated arm.
"Shit," she swore and grabbed the arm with her working one. She watched as the lynel swung at Link, its sword whistling and Link leapt out of reach.
Forcing herself to keep her eyes open, Farrow raised her dislocated arm with the good one straight in front of her. She'd helped an injured fisher woman do this once, after she'd fallen from a dock and hit her shoulder on the way down.
Suppressing a scream Farrow raised the arm and kept going until she felt a pop, and the pain was gone. She gasped and dropped the arm to reach for her bow.
A twinge in her shoulder told her to stop. She ignored it and nocked her arrow.
Link had gotten clear of the lynel's devastating swings and Farrow took the opportunity to fire at the lynel's back right leg.
Her arrow hit the lynel, but pierced its hip, not the thigh muscle she'd been aiming for.
It bellowed in pain and spun to face her.
Link lunged forward and scored a strike on its flank. The lynel snarled and bucked.
Its hoof whipped up and slammed into Link's shield. Link let it knock him back into a roll. He came up, expression twisted in pain but eyes locked on the monster.
Farrow, another arrow readied, aimed for the lynel's face and fired. But it twisted away to face Link and the arrow went zipping past.
Malice leaked from where her arrow was still lodged, but it did little to slow the monster down.
It was on Link again, galloping at him. It didn't slow and Link was forced to throw himself out of the way. The lynel swung as for him as it passed and Farrow saw Link's foot jerk as the sword swiped past him.
He'd been hit.
Farrow bellowed as she aimed. "Over here!" It was a long shot, but she was mostly trying for a distraction now anyway.
The lynel, still galloping, spun and charged her. Her arms shook, fighting her will for them to hold steady. When she had only heartbeats before the monster was on her she fired.
She didn't wait to see if or where the arrow hit. She ran for a nearby tree, the snow fighting her every step. When she felt the thundering hoofbeats in her feet she threw herself behind the tree.
Bark cracked and exploded from the side of the tree as the sword whistled inches from her back. She scrambled the rest of the way behind the tree as the lynel galloped on. She caught sight of the gash nearly halfway through the small spruce.
A whistle cut the air. Link was back up.
A dark stain glistened on his right pant leg but Farrow couldn't see for certain how bad it was from her.
Link stared down the lynel, sword clutched in hand. As the lynel wheeled to face Link, he pointed his sword at the beast. His face was pale, but his arm was steady and his expression burned with focus.
The lynel growled and started its charge.
Farrow reached for an arrow to grip air. They were scattered at her feet, half buried in the snow. She felt for them, eyes locked on Link.
She'd be too late to fire a shot, the lunel was almost on him.
He wasn't moving and the Lynel raised its sword, feet from Link.
A strangled sound of terror clawed up her throat as the sword came down.
Link blurred.
With that impossible speed he had he made a quick side step, ducked, and came up behind the swing of the sword.
Link buried his blade in the beast's side to the hilt and wrenched it and himself away as he returned to a human speed.
The lynel bellowed, long and ragged. Its gallop continued as it leaked malice into the air. Some of it dripped steaming into the snow.
Farrow felt a spike of terror. How could it still be going?
Then it slowed, slowed, and stopped.
It stood there staring at Link and heaving heavy breaths. It didn't reach for its bow, but it didn't drop its sword.
Farrow forced herself to move. She walked toward Link, her eyes locked on the monster.
But it paid her no mind. Malice dripped down its side from the arrows and trickled from where Link's sword had found it. Steam rose from its sides, pluming in the air as its heaving breathing slowed.
Its legs buckled, and it fell to its knees, still. Its head bowed almost like a prayer, its weapons dropped into the snow. The remained motionless, its breath gone. A heartbeat later the dark spots of malice began to grow and the lynel dissolved.
Farrow sprinted the last few steps to Link.
His eyes were locked on where the monster had died, his own chest heaving for air.
"Link sit down," Farrow said, reaching him and seeing the blood staining his leg had traveled down to melt the snow at his feet. Steam rose from it. Little dots of blood splattered the area around him like little bits of shells on the shore of a beach.
Link didn't move, or look at her. It was as if he didn't know she was there.
"Link," she shouted, shaking his elbow. His eyes snapped to her, wide with surprise. His sunburn stood out a sickly red against his too pale face. "Sit down! Now!"
Link sat with a sudden drop of his weight, like his body just remembered how injured it was.
Farrow ripped her gloves off, tore her knife from her belt and cut Link's pant leg out of the way. A gash, deep and leaking blood, ran up his leg from just above his ankle almost to his knee.
Farrow took the slate from his belt and shoved it into his hands. "Get a belt and a branch." She put the scrap of pant leg over the wound and pressed down.
Link gave her a dazed look and Farrow's fear doubled. If Link passed out, she wouldn't be able to get anything out of the slate for him. Her pack was around here somewhere, and she could use his belt, but that would take time Link might not have.
"Link," she shook him. "I need you to get a belt and a branch out, now."
Understanding lit his eyes and he activated the slate. A moment later one of Link's belts snaked out of the slate and a branch fell beside it.
Farrow snatched up the belt and wrapped it around his leg just above his knee before shoving the branch under it and pulling the belt tight. By twisting the branch she cinched the belt as tight as she could. When the blood stopped flowing from the wound she wrapped the belt back around itself and secured the branch in place.
It wasn't a permanent solution but it would keep Link from bleeding out.
Link stared at the tourniquet with a tight expression. He was probably in a lot of pain.
"I'll be right back," Farrow ran to find her pack and returned a moment later with it. She bandaged Link's leg, grateful not to see bone. His boot was soaked in blood.
'Are you hurt,' Link signed as she finished up. He tapped her forehead gently.
Farrow frowned, then remembered her shield had been smashed into her face. "No, it's just a cut." That might have been a lie, but she didn't think she was concussed. Not seriously at least.
"Are you injured anywhere else?"
Link shook his head. Farrow scanned the area. The only thing that might make decent shelter was the labyrinth. She grimaced.
"I know you can't walk so I'm going to support your bad side. We need to get to the labyrinth and reassess."
Link squinted at his leg. 'I can walk.'
Farrow sighed. "Sure, hero. Now I'm gonna help you up on three."
She scooped him onto his feet and ducked under his bad side. She forced him to let her support his weight, despite his sour expression, and they trudged toward the labyrinth.
It felt like it took years to reach the looming relic. By the time they stood before the yawning entryway Farrow was almost certain she did have a concussion. Her balance was off and a headache pounded at her temples and the place she'd been struck.
The walls stretched so high that she nearly lost her balance and fell when she craned her neck to see the top.
A long hallway stretched before them, with gaps that she guessed lead into the snaking passages of the maze. The snow had vanished from the air, giving this place an eerie stillness. She couldn't hear anything either, not even the wind.
Just to their right after they entered there was a little alcove made by a corner in the walls. Burnt logs were shoved into the corner and half buried in snow, indicating a fire had been lit there once.
Farrow guided Link over to it. He was doing well considering. He hadn't passed out and appeared alert, gazing around at the blocky etchings on the walls.
Farrow leaned him against the wall and helped him slide down it to sit.
"Watch behind me," Farrow said as she knelt to reassess Link's leg. Her back faced the echoing hallways of the labyrinth and it made her skin crawl. Link nodded and fixed his gaze beyond her.
She worked Link's boot off his foot. Luckily she didn't have to cut it off. The cold had probably kept it from swelling.
Link had shaken some branches and logs from the slate as she worked. Farrow swept as much snow as she could from the frozen fire pit and set about making a fire. The dry branches from the slate saved them. If they didn't have those, Farrow didn't think she would have been able to get a fire lit on these icy coals.
When the fire was crackling and had taken to the logs she'd fed it, Farrow helped Link scoot closer to the fire and then sat on his other side.
Link frowned. 'Sit closer to the fire.'
Farrow shook her head. "We need to keep you warm. I'll warm up once I'm sure you're not going into shock or hypothermia. I'm going to have to stitch you up soon. Like, in a few minutes."
Farrow knew the tourniquet would need to come off soon with how cold it was here. The lack of blood flow to the limb would have been a lesser issue in warmer temperatures, but here the limb would get frostbite in less than an hour.
She had never stitched up such a serious wound. A few years ago she'd sew up her own knee, but that cut had been half the size of this one. She got out the sewing supplies and a bottle of her hair dye base to distract herself.
'I don't think now's the time to dye my hair,' Link signed with a joking grin.
"It's alcohol based," Farrow said. "I'm going to use it as a disinfectant." She had all the supplies out now.
"Are you ready?" She asked.
Link's amused look vanished under a bemused frown. 'Let's get it done.'
Farrow scrubbed her hands in some nearby snow before pealing back the bandages she'd applied. She was happy to see the wound had mostly clotted already.
Farrow uncorked the bottle, splashed most of the contents over Link's injury and the rest over her hands. Link jerked and his hands curled into fists.
"Sorry," she said, "I do better if I'm not warned about the sting." She readied the needle.
Link gave her a sharp nod and bit his lip as Farrow started her first stitch.
She focused on moving quickly but carefully. She wanted this over with as quickly as possible. She just hoped Link's leg was mostly numbed by the cold and tourniquet.
Farrow pulled the last stitch tight. The torn skin had been pulled back together. It was bleeding slightly again, but new clotting was already starting. She rebandaged the wound.
"We'll wait a bit then take the tourniquet off," she said, scrubbing her hands in a fresh pile of snow. Link's blood still caked under her fingernails and she cringed at the sight.
She dug out her wool blanket from her pack and threw it over Link. He held open one side for her to slide under, and they sat staring at the ancient walls around them.
The fire light danced on the designs etched in the walls. Now that she had the chance to really look at them, they seemed different from the designs in and on ancient technology. One pattern in the wall depicted the toothy smile of some animal, and the squarish lines were at odds with the wandering, curling patterns of the shrine walls. The highest point of the walls were slowly disappearing into the shadows of night.
She crossed her arms over her knees. "I don't think the ancients made this."
Link nodded. 'Looks different.' They sat a while longer in silence before Farrow stood.
"Alright let's get that belt off." She knelt by Link and undid the knot she'd tied to keep the branch in place. Slowly, she untwisted the branch and watched Link's bandages for any sign of bleed through.
'I'll tell you if I feel it bleeding through,' Link signed.
Over the next few minutes, Farrow let the belt untwist until it was slack again. The stitches and clotting seemed to hold.
"You're not allowed to even breathe too fast for the night, got it?" Farrow asked, slumping back against the wall in relief. A huge bruise wrapped around Link's thigh where the belt had been, but it was a small price to pay she figured.
'Sure,' Link signed. He grabbed some of the spare bandages and rubbed snow into a piece. He reached for her forehead and Farrow let him wipe the blood from it. When he was done he raised an eyebrow.
'You've got a good bruise,' Farrow guessed that sign means bruise, 'are you …?' Another sign she didn't know, but could assume.
"Concussed? Maybe a little. I'll be alright though, just a little headache. I'll take the first watch since you're not supposed to sleep with a concussion and you shouldn't move."
She could see Link trying to find a reason not to let her take first watch, but he gave up.
Link eased himself down until he could lay down, waving away Farrow's offered help. Farrow made sure he was covered by the blanked, and threw more logs on the fire, before she sat back against the wall with her bow in hand.
A sliver of stars peered down at them from in between the walls above. The fire barely lit the area around them and did nothing to illuminate the dark of the passages snaking off from this one. The black shadows where the corridors should be left her incredibly unease. She couldn't help but imagine what might be wandering the passages, only feet away from them and moments from lurching into the firelight. She knew she and Link both stank of blood.
Farrow drew her knife and forced the images from her mind. She listened to the fire and waited for sunrise.
AN: And with that the story is caught up with whats posted on AO3. Thanks for reading! If you leave a review I'll smile!