Hebra Tower boasted a decent view of the surrounding area, even though a light snow was falling from an overcast sky when he landed. As it was, he could see Snowfield Stable and the valley of the Tabantha Tundra beyond in the waning daylight. He scanned the area for a young Rito or a gigantic three-headed dragon-monster, but the landscape offered no immediate clues.

"Sure would be nice if I could fly in two directions at once," he tried, and was rewarded with Navi's jangling snort and a good-natured chuckle from Midna as they both appeared.

"Sure would be nice if you could just ask for what you want," the imp jibed amiably.

"We're still working on common courtesy," Navi put in, shaking her tiny head.

"Fuck off," Shadow Link muttered, realizing the irony of his response as they both sped off in opposite directions, their laughter lingering in the air.

Truly alone for however many blissful moments, he reveled in the quiet and marveled at the relative peacefulness of simply watching the snow fall, realizing that it would not take him long to become accustomed to such solitude.

He didn't get the chance, however, as Midna returned just a few minutes later, having found a young Rito flying alone not far from the Tower that, most likely, was Tulin. It was no sooner crossing his mind to wonder whether they should wait for Navi to return, as well, or trust her to find them when she sparkled her way back. "Logic told me that if he was seen late in the morning, he probably went home for lunch and then left immediately after to give himself the most time before he was missed, so I only had to go so far back toward the village to check for him because Rito fly at around the speed of a normal horse," she shrugged, not bothering to point out that she'd probably been correct. Again.

He held in his eye roll as he grabbed his glider and jumped, following Midna's direction and heading for the stretch of Tabantha Tundra behind Snowfield Stable.

"There he is," Midna pointed out a short while later, in front of and below them.

Shadow Link did not alter his course at all, quietly passing above and landing along the youth's current route. His sudden appearance startled a moose into abandoning whatever it was doing to run for the nearby wooded area and whatever protection that offered.

He began walking northeast, ultimately heading toward the North Lomei Labyrinth and paying no attention when the Rito landed a short distance away.

"It's really you?!" The young voice cracked on the last word.

"Nope."

"Pfft. Of course you're you. Who else could you be? I can't believe I found you!"

"What are the odds."

"I have so many questions for you."

Shit. He'd forgotten that part about youngsters— their endless capacity for inquisitiveness. "Great."

Suspicion crossed the feathered face and colored his voice. "Did my mom send you after me?"

"No," Shadow Link answered honestly.

"Oh," the young Rito said, relaxing. "I heard you have a princess traveling with you. Where is she?" he asked, looking around expectantly.

"Right here," she said, materializing with a glint of turquoise to lounge in midair.

"Whoa! That was cool! Hi! I'm Tulin."

"Midna," she said with a little wave.

"Where were you?!" the young Rito asked, amazed.

"In his shadow," she replied, gesturing at Shadow Link. "I'm from the Twilight Realm, and your sun is very strong."

"Whoah."

"Okay. Well, see ya." Shadow Link shrugged and started walking away, heading northeast.

"Hey, wait! You're leaving? Where are you going?" Tulin asked, coming to fly near his shoulder.

"The North Lomei Labyrinth."

"Sooo… you're not going to try to keep me from doing the trial?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I'm too young and too small and I need more training and I'll get hurt and whatever else adults always say whenever anything fun comes up?"

Shadow Link shrugged. "Apparently I'm nineteen, but I've only been alive a few weeks so I'm not entirely sure I qualify as an adult yet."

"Whoa!" Tulin laughed brightly. "That means you're even younger than I am!"

"If you want to put it that way, I suppose you're not wrong."

"So you're really not going to stop me?" He asked, swiveling his head between Shadow Link and Midna with a mix of incredulity and suspicion.

Midna shook her head. "Why would I do that? Just because you're young doesn't mean you're unskilled," she said sincerely.

Shadow Link shrugged again. "I'm not your keeper. How old are you?"

"Thirteen." The slender chest puffed up as Tulin's chin tilted to the sky. "But I've nearly mastered a move I'm calling Tulin's Tornado!"

"And what is that?"

"Oh! Let me show you!" Tulin bent his knees, crouching slightly, and closed his eyes, face scrunching as he concentrated.

After a few moments, one eye squinted open. He grunted in both anger and determination and closed his eyes tightly, screwing his face up even more. A few seconds later, a slight breeze that seemed to come from around his own feet ruffled the feathers under his outstretched wings.

"That's… impressive," Shadow Link offered, drawing a snort from Midna.

"No, it wasn't," Tulin scoffed. "I can do it… sometimes."

Shadow Link shrugged. "Well, I can't do it at all."

A bit of the disappointment melted from Tulin's face. "Oh, yeah." And the eagerness returned in full force. "If you're not going to stop me, you wanna travel together?"

"Might as well." He pretended not to see the shade of relief shoot across the adolescent face as they headed off together, Midna floating along nearby.

Shadow Link was made immediately thankful for the charm Navi had put on him that made him not sink into the snow. Tulin and Midna, of course, were entirely unbothered as they simply flew over it.

The snowfall had increased at some point, coming more steadily as the night crept in. Oddly, the setting of the sun only impacted the ambient light so much; any available light seemed to bounce off each snowflake and amplify itself, brightening the night.

"Hey! I can see the Frost Gleeok!" The juvenile Rito exclaimed excitedly.

"Yay," Shadow Link said, immediately veering to the right in an effort to escape the notice of the enormous monster. He could see even from this distance the large snowflakes on each head, the frosty, glowing accents in its necks, and wicked spikes lining the back and tail.

"We're not going to fight it?" Tulin asked, disappointed, when he realized he was being steered as far away as possible.

"Fuck, no. Not if I can help it."

"What? Why not?"

"Why don't I want to fight a gigantic, three-headed, elemental dragon? Oh, I don't know… common sense?"

"My mom says mine's underdeveloped."

That pulled a snort from Shadow Link. "Yeah, and you should probably make sure you get back to her relatively unharmed." He shook his head. "Look, pal, enough trouble finds me on its own; I don't need to go looking for it, and certainly not with a teenager in tow."

Tulin scoffed. "Well, of course we don't have to go looking for it; it's right over there. Kinda hard to miss." Using his wings to stay in the air, Tulin used a talon to point in the monster's direction. Did the kid just roll his damned eyes?

"Exactly. That's why we're over here. See how that works?"

Another scoff. "Lame."

"You're not going to bait me into going over there." Assuming that was the end of it, Shadow Link concentrated on seeing through the deepening twilight and heavier snowfall to steer them toward the North Tabantha Snowfield.

A few minutes later, a light tinkle in his ear made his head turn… and that was when he realized Tulin wasn't with them anymore. Sure enough, he was halfway to the damned Gleeok already. "What a little shit."

"Are you going to chase after him?"

Shadow Link thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah. Let's see how he does on his own first. He's certainly got bravado; might as well see if he can back it up."

"Ooh, interesting. Yes, let's," Midna agreed, and they both settled in to watch, close enough that they'd be able to join the fight quickly if things went poorly.

The intrepid youth had not yet drawn the beast's attention, likely because he was doing well at keeping various aspects of the scenery between himself and the monster - until he wasn't.

The Gleeok let out a piercing bellow and beams of pure cold erupted from all three mouths, aiming at the huge boulder Tulin took shelter behind and leaving everything in their paths covered in ice.

As soon as the barrage ceased, Tulin emerged and took off into the air, bow and arrow in the grips of his talons. He fired three arrows in such quick succession that Shadow Link could barely follow the movement, bringing down one head within seconds.

But as he drew his bow to fire on the second head, the third whipped around and blasted Tulin with a bolt of ice. He dodged expertly and fired anyway, getting two arrows away before he had to avoid another icy projectile. This one, however, seemed to catch the outer tip of his left wing, sending him spiraling awkwardly to the ground where he immediately took shelter under the same boulder to avoid another icy assault.

Interestingly, when it ended, the head that Tulin had knocked out shook off its torpor and lifted up again, ready to battle alongside its twins.

Similarly, Tulin shook off the ice from his wing, flexing and stretching it out a bit before reloading his bow and taking off for the sky, face the picture of determination.

"So their wings can withstand ice?" Shadow Link asked.

"The Rito have developed an insulating layer of feathers to help combat the intense cold of Hebra," Navi said. "It does protect them from freezing, but doesn't make them immune to impact."

"Makes sense."

"He is quite fast," Midna observed. "And he adjusted his attack after that first shot winged him. See how he's constantly moving now?"

It was working, too. Tulin had managed to stun two of the heads and was busy taking down the third.

Once he had all of them dazed, the Gleeok dropped unceremoniously. It landed with a juddering thud that shook snow off some nearby tree branches. Tulin chased after to fire as many arrows as fast as he could, becoming a blur of movement.

After a few moments the heads shook off their stupor, and the Gleeok beat its wings to lift itself back into the air, Tulin shortly after.

"I must say, he is a fairly impressive warrior. Doubly so when his age is taken into account," Midna praised a few moments later when the Gleeok hit the ground again, unconscious. Tulin followed with another barrage of arrows, bombarding the stunned creature until it regained consciousness and rose again.

It hadn't gotten very high off the ground when it unleashed its icy breath at Tulin, forcing him to take cover. The frozen assault formed a sort of dome that completely enclosed the Rito.

By the time Tulin had broken free, the Frost Gleeok had risen to nearly three times as high as previously, and when the heads fired their ice beams they weren't aiming at the ground at all. Instead, the three beams criss-crossed and refracted, multiplying and amplifying until a large, localized ice storm formed above their heads. Once it reached its full strength, it began dropping icicles the size of Taluses.

Tulin darted away from the crushing precipitation, just outside the range of the huge cloud. There, he crouched and closed his eyes, scrunching up his face as he concentrated.

A moment later, a small cyclone formed around his feet, kicking up his own cloud of snow as Tulin shot into the air, quickly reaching the same height as the Gleeok and taking out the closest head and, with it, the unnatural ice storm.

"Ah, that must be Revali's Gale," Shadow Link observed, then smirked. "Or Tulin's Tornado."

"Effective," Midna noted.

A moment later, the Gleeok slammed into the ground so hard Shadow Link felt the reverberations in his feet.

"You know, I think he might defeat it all on his own," Midna said, no small amount of approval in her voice.

They watched as the final rounds played out much like the preceding ones had, until, finally, the Gleeok hit the ground a final time and exploded into black-and-purple smoke.

"Fuck me, he did it," Shadow Link muttered, impressed.

Midna snickered.

Tulin flew up to them, grinning widely. "Did you see that?"

"Sure did, kid."

"You didn't help at all," the little shit reiterated.

"I told you I didn't want to fight that thing if I didn't have to," Shadow Link reminded him with a shrug. "Besides, I wanted to see what you can do. And we were right here, should you have needed our help."

"And I didn't!"

Midna nodded. "I think you proved to everyone— including yourself— that you are a capable fighter already."

"And you even have a few tricks up your sleeve," Shadow Link acknowledged. "Well done."

The teen's beaming face said all the words his beak didn't as they turned as a group and resumed their journey to the labyrinth, Tulin flying high off his victory.

They had been traveling for only around half an hour when movement to their left drew Shadow Link's attention. He turned his head to find a Lynel stalking a path through the North Tabantha Snowfield.

"Whoa— a Silver Lynel!" Tulin marveled. "I didn't know that was here. Are we going to fight it, too?" he asked, clearly still flushed with his last victory.

But before anyone could answer, they all heard the Lynel's unmistakable roar and knew they'd already run out of time to choose. As a group, they turned to find the Lynel bearing down on them at breakneck speed.

Shadow Link and Tulin both reached for their bows, but Midna chuckled with glee and a mischievous glint came to her eye. "Oh, I've been waiting for this!"

She held back until the Lynel was just about to ram into them before growing her massive, magical hair hand and swatting the Lynel back in the direction it had come from.

"Oh, wow!" Tulin squawked in awe. He looked at Midna, eyes round. "That's amazing. I didn't know you could do that!"

"How much do you know?" Shadow Link asked.

"I know she's a princess who was kidnapped by some evil guy and that she's trapped as an imp."

"I might be stuck like this for now, but I'm far from helpless," she said, watching the Lynel shake its head and regain its feet. She turned to grin at them. "Come on, boys. Let's have some fun."

"All right!" Tulin crowed, grabbing his bow and chasing after.

They followed the Lynel across the clearing, but Midna was only about halfway there when it unleashed a fiery breath that reached farther than should've been possible, forcing Shadow Link to press the button on his ring and enclose himself in the red crystal. A small flashing drew his attention to his hand, where the largest gem pulsed softly as the ring recharged itself.

Midna and Tulin flew higher, but the Lynel's flaming breath rose, as well, concentrating on the clearest threat: Midna. Tulin immediately took advantage of that fact and flew in the opposite direction where he could safely launch his counterattack.

Shadow Link fired an arrow of his own, and his and Tulin's shots hit the Lynel in its distracted head, stunning it and dropping it to its knees.

"Get on its back and attack it with the strongest weapon you have!" Navi jingled in his ear.

When Midna was occupying it, the Dark Master Sword was not only the mightiest in his arsenal, but one of the most powerful weapons anywhere. He shouted for Midna as he sprinted over to the downed Lynel, drawing his sword on the way. By the time he leapt onto the monster's broad back, his sword was glowing vibrantly. He slashed away while Tulin continued to shoot arrow after arrow with perfect accuracy until the Lynel roared and shook him off.

He rolled as he landed, coming to his feet as Midna vacated his sword to draw the Lynel's attention away from them. Rather than sheathing the blade to grab his bow, he simply aimed the hookshot and fired at the same time as Tulin, bringing the enemy to its knees again.

Between the three of them, they made fairly quick work of one of the most fearsome and powerful foes in all of Hyrule. He was keenly aware, however, that it would be a much more difficult fight one-on-one. In the end, they were left with a puff of smoke and a Savage Lynel bow identical to the one he already carried as a spare, several large chunks of ore, and a severed Lynel horn lying on the ground.

"Whoa!" Tulin crowed, turning eagerly to Shadow Link. "Can I keep it?"

"Knock yourself out, kid. I don't need any of that."

"Oh, I just want the horn," Tulin clarified, picking it up and tying it to the strap on his quiver. "I don't have anywhere to carry the rocks and I prefer my own Falcon bow to that heavy, metal thing. At least until I earn my own Great Eagle bow and become a real warrior."

Shadow Link rummaged in his pack for a second. "Like this?" he asked, pulling out the bow he'd grabbed when he'd stopped at home. Home.

"Oh, wow! You've got one?!" Tulin exclaimed.

Shadow Link shrugged. "It was at the house I moved into recently."

"I bet if I beat the Trial of Air, I can finally get Harth to make me one."

Shadow Link held it out. "Want it? I have other bows."

Tulin's eyes widened. "Really!?" His talon seemed to reach for it reflexively, but he stopped short of touching it, frowning. "No. Thanks, but I think I'd rather earn my own."

"I can respect that," Shadow Link said, putting the bow away again. He picked up the chunks of ore and stored them, as well, intending to give them to Tulin when they returned to Rito Village.

The snowy path to the east sloped downward and was bordered by huge boulders and a dropoff into a vast abyss on the left, and Mount Drena on the right. The snow was falling a little heavier than before, obscuring much of their surroundings now that full night had fallen.

They were still thrumming with the thrill of the last battle when a small bolt of lightning came out of seemingly nowhere. Tulin caught sight of it first and evaded, but that meant its trajectory took it straight to Shadow Link.

Slow to react, he took the shock arrow to his left shoulder and his brain whited out with pain. He found himself on the snowy ground, the sounds of battle nearby on his left. "Mother fucker. That fucking hurt."

Infuriated and still tingling in his fingertips, he ripped the arrow out of his shoulder and threw it aside before grabbing the charm around his neck.

He jumped up, healed and ready for a fight to find that Tulin had also been hit and Midna, in a rage, had clearly crushed the Silver Lynel that had ambushed them in her magical fist and bashed it headfirst into the ground until it was obliterated. The poof of smoke still lingered in the air when he rushed to Tulin's side, grabbing one of the jarred Fairies along the way.

He fell to his knees, rolling the small body over and shoving the Fairy in the open beak as he ripped the arrow out of Tulin's heaving chest. A moment later, the Rito's eyes blinked open.

"That really hurt." He looked at Shadow Link. "Did I just eat a Fairy?" Receiving an affirmative nod, his face became thoughtful. "Not bad."

"If you say so," Shadow Link replied, unable to entirely repress his shudder.

Midna returned to their sides, dusting her hands off in obvious satisfaction. "Well, that was unexpected. Glad you're all right," she said to Tulin.

"I feel great!"

"Good, because we're almost there," Shadow Link said, pointing.

Through the snow, they could just make out the space in between the towering sides of the North Lomei Labyrinth that was probably the entrance. Still some distance away, the structure was really only a blocky shadow in front of the faint light from Mount Doom far behind it.

They picked up the remnants of the second Silver Lynel—another broken horn, more various chunks of ore, and a bundle of shock arrows, which Tulin and Shadow Link split between them.

A short distance down the path, a white wolf watched their approach with hungry eyes. It tilted its head back and howled, and a moment later several more wolves joined the first. The group split, obviously intending to surround them and box them in, but the wolves were simply outmatched. As soon as the first one fell to Tulin's arrow, the rest scattered to wherever they'd come from.

They continued down the path, which sloped downward to such an extent that they eventually could no longer see Death Mountain. The imminent sunrise, however, was making itself apparent as the snow finally subsided and the sky cleared, a painting in blues and oranges.

"Is anyone else getting hungry?" Tulin asked.

They decided to take a rest and everyone grabbed out something to eat. As they did so, a curious moose approached and stared at them silently, but once it determined them no threat, it moved along.

Satiated, they packed up and headed down the path in the steadily-brightening light of dawn, Midna taking refuge in Shadow Link's shadow.

The remainder of the trip passed nearly without incident— merely a lone Ice-breath Lizalfos that, quite frankly, stood no chance.

And then they were there. The North Lomei Labyrinth, a large square structure, but turned so that a corner was toward them, forming the entrance. It was eerily quiet, no birds chirping or rustling of prey animals foraging, and stepping over the threshold was like stepping into an entirely different world. Suddenly, the snow was falling heavily again, dramatically lessening their ability to see their surroundings. Not only that, but it appeared to have been falling for some time, having accumulated on the grassy floor and crunching under his boots. They were not locked in; no gate or door had closed behind them, and Shadow Link could clearly see the sun shining on the doorstep to the Labyrinth.

He was turning back to move forward when an unfamiliar, disembodied voice spoke.

"You who have reached this point, I present this challenge… Doom lies in the depths of the Labyrinth. Make your way to the end and overcome the enemies below, and you will receive a blessing as a reward."

He and Tulin shared a glance as the echo faded, each nodding at the other in resolve. Directly before them, a short staircase led up to a landing where the way forward was blocked by a floor-to-ceiling gate, and where they could clearly see some sort of statue or shrine, the space steadily lit by several torches. This was probably their destination, the end of the maze.

From their current position, staircases led back down to both the left and right; the left was completely blocked by a mass of malice that glooped from wall to wall and had formed a towering stalagmite with no visible eye to destroy.

Tulin said, "Be right back!" and took off, flying high up in the air, trying to find how far the malice went. The walls of the structure were several stories tall, but he was back fairly quickly. "Skywatcher Guardians everywhere up there!"

"Well, fuck going up and over," Shadow Link replied, turning to the only open path into the Labyrinth. "The maze it is, then. How hard can it be?"

Tedious was more apt. Logically, the way through any such puzzle without getting lost was to put one hand on a wall and simply walk until the end, which was almost surely whatever was locked behind the gate. Being a trial, Shadow Link was sure they'd have to traverse at least most of it to be deemed worthy of whatever the reward was for passing.

They spent what felt like at least an hour, taking every turn, exploring every nook and cranny and finding absolutely nothing. No malice, no enemies, no way to the center that wasn't impassable in some manner. The air was eerily quiet— until they rounded yet another corner to find an Ice Lizalfos poorly camouflaged in the middle of the path.

It spotted them and jumped up, snarling and wielding a long, jagged metal spear that it jabbed quickly and relentlessly at them.

With no time to grab his shield, Shadow Link pressed the button on his ring to enable Daruk's Protection while Tulin shot it with multiple arrows— which was enough to knock it back. Shadow Link called for Midna while pulling his sword, and it only took a few hits to destroy the Lizalfos entirely.

A snarl behind them was the only warning that came before they were swarmed by three more— two Ice and one Silver Lizalfos.

Midna was suddenly next to him, sporting a wide, toothy grin, so he sheathed his sword and drew the Great Flameblade instead.

With all three of them fighting it didn't take long until only the Silver Lizalfos remained, and as strong as it was, it was no match for their combined strength.

These monsters left behind no loot, but just around the next corner was a treasure chest surrounded by torches which yielded a bundle of ice arrows. Tulin grabbed them at Shadow Link's nod, and they continued on.

After what had to have been another hour, it occurred to Shadow Link that despite the constant precipitation, the snow had not accumulated any further than when they'd entered the Labyrinth— it should be dusting their shoulders and heads, but they remained dry. The light had also not changed, though the morning had been new enough when they'd entered that they should definitely have noticed a difference by now. He was left thinking that time was somehow magically suspended, possibly until they reached their destination, or possibly until they exited the maze completely— a suspicion that proved itself more and more likely the longer they wandered.

Tulin hummed something to himself that sounded like one of Kass' tunes (thankfully, not the one about Shadow Link). Midna, after catching the melody, added her raspy imp voice to the impromptu concert. It was… enjoyable. Fun, even. The lad had proven himself bold and clever, with a keen wit, sharp eyes, and an innate sense of direction. And Midna…

Well, she was nothing short of amazing.

They found another chest with a silver rupee inside, which Shadow Link grabbed, but no other monsters until they turned yet another corner and found themselves on the other side of the malice that had blocked the stairs to the left of the gated area.

What they hadn't been able to see earlier was that there was another path now to their left— and that's where they found the eye. Tulin took it out with a single arrow, and the entire sinister mass evaporated into nothingness.

Underneath had been hidden another barred gate, so they heaved a collective sigh and continued on the new path they'd just uncovered. Eventually, they came to another chest— this one with a gold rupee that Tulin put in his pouch, saying with a shrug, "It's only fair," which was met with twin nods of agreement.

Turning from the chest, they could see a path directly in front of them, lit by a torch at the end but partially obscured from view by a low ceiling. When they reached it, they heard the telltale snarls of another group of Lizalfos, and followed the sounds until they found the monsters.

The battle was quick and brutal, and in the end they were left with several rupees that they kept and some jagged spears that they didn't.

Shadow Link heard another growl, and only realized it had been his own stomach that had made the noise when he heard an echoing rumble from Tulin's midsection. More than a few hours had passed since they'd entered the Labyrinth, so it made sense they'd be getting hungry.

At last, they turned a corner to find a small alcove lit by two torches— and a stone ladder leading up to a hidden level above. A few minutes later, they were finally at the top of the well-lit, barred room Shadow Link had suspected they were heading for all along. They dropped and flew down to the ground level to find the shrine was actually just a hollow stone shell shielding a hole in the ground that was the entrance to what must be a lower level.

The three of them looked at each other and sat down to eat before proceeding any further. Well, Midna hovered. When they'd all eaten enough to give them energy, but not enough to make them lethargic, they shared another look and turned to the large hole in the floor.

It was deeper than expected, the bottom completely obscured by darkness.

"Okay, rumor has it there are a bunch of Guardians down there. I know you know of them, but have you fought them before?" Shadow Link asked Tulin, who shook his head silently. "The red beam will follow you until it fires the white beam that really fucking hurts if it hits you, but it can only shoot in a straight line, got it?"

Tulin nodded. "Oh, boy," he said, excitement warring with trepidation in his voice.

Midna cackled and rubbed her hands together, saying, "Oh, boy," with an entirely different inflection.

Shadow Link grinned. "Yes, I'm sure you'll get to play with them again," he chuckled, then sobered as he turned to Tulin. "Aim for the eye. And watch your ass. Matter of fact—" he dug out another Fairy in a jar and handed it to Tulin. "Take that, just in case."

"Oh, wow! Thanks!" Tulin said, securing the jar to his belt.

"Where's my fairy?" Midna teased with a grin.

He snorted. "You're the least-killable person I've met. Everybody ready?"

Receiving two nods in answer (one decidedly more enthusiastic than the other), Shadow Link grabbed his glider and leapt into the hole, Tulin and Midna on his heels.

They'd no sooner crossed the threshold than a gate slammed closed over their heads, locking them in whatever room they were falling toward. The shaft they'd jumped into opened up abruptly to a larger, darker room lit only by torches placed at intervals around the vast, shadowy area. The amount of light seemed unattributable to the amount of torches— and then he realized that some of the half-columns descending like manufactured stalactites were actually skylights. Full columns were also staggered throughout the space to support the ceiling high above and provided the only possible shelter from what appeared to be a few dozen silent, dark Guardians.

But that changed in a heartbeat. Four of them— all legless— woke and turned their heads to target Shadow Link's group when they were still a full story off the ground.

"Fuck!" he swore. "All right, here we go. Wait til they fire, then scatter!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than all four Guardians shot their white beams.

Shadow Link folded his glider slightly to drop a few feet, then reopened it to soften his landing. Tulin and Midna had, of course, flown in opposite directions.

Shadow Link sighed, drawing his bow and an Ancient arrow. "Fucking Hero bullshit."

The trick to fighting multiple Guardians was to only wake one at a time. Unfortunately, they were placed closely enough together that if allowed just two spindly steps, they'd wake the next Guardian, beginning a chain reaction where an entire line shuddered to life.

On the bright side, the arrows Robbie had made for him were every bit as good as he'd been told. Each Guardian only took one careful, well-timed shot to its eye to be stopped dead in its tracks. He laughed out loud after he destroyed his fifth, turning his head to the flashes across the room, ensuring that both of his companions were also prevailing.

Tulin truly was a capable warrior, using a combination of quickly-fired regular arrows and cleverness in getting two of the Guardians to aim at each other, each severing a leg and allowing Tulin to swoop in and finish the job. He left a smoking pile of rubble in his wake that was quite impressive.

Midna was laughing maniacally as she left Guardians as crumpled, beeping masses behind her. She showed neither fear nor hesitance as she pummeled them into good-sized metal heaps.

His inattention cost him. He heard a warning jingle in his ear, but it was too late. White-hot pain suddenly erupted from the middle of his back, the blow forceful enough to physically push him into the nearest hard surface. The next thing he knew, he was lying crumpled and facedown on the floor, face and back on fire and lungs gasping frantically for air.

And then the exact same scene replayed itself, except now his shoulder hurt, too. For a moment, all he knew was pain.

Navi was suddenly in his face. "Mipha's Grace! Use Mipha's Grace!"

He felt pressure… movement… and then his hand wrapped around something solid. In the next breath, he was wide awake and nothing hurt. He met Navi's eyes. "Thank you." He meant it. She had literally saved his life. Again.

But she had no time for gratitude. "Move!" she jangled with a tiny push to his ear.

He rolled in the direction she'd indicated, coming to his feet in a crouch behind a low wall and grabbing another Ancient arrow. "Got somethin' for ya," he muttered. Satisfaction burned in his gut when the Stalker that had shot him was immediately brought to a sparking, jerky halt.

"Bastard. You deserved that."

A (quicker this time) look around the room confirmed that both Tulin and Midna were still holding their own in the chaos. He wondered, fleetingly and in the back of his mind, how he'd have fared if he'd have had to face this alone.

Tulin seemed to be having at least as much fun as Midna— her laughter came frequently so he practically always knew where she was. Tulin was much more stealthy; if not for the flapping of his wings, he'd be as silent as he was deadly.

While Shadow Link watched, Tulin zoomed between two Guardians just before they fired—and his timing was impeccable. Both beams hit the other Guardian's eye and they destroyed each other instantly.

A third targeted the Rito with its red beam, but Shadow Link took it out with an Ancient arrow. Tulin whipped his head around with wide eyes. "What was that?"

Shadow Link showed him and explained what he'd been told. He was surprised to learn that Rito usually only carried normal wooden arrows.

Tulin shrugged. "Dad says fire and bomb arrows don't mix well with our wooden bows, and ice arrows don't do any good against ice monsters."

"You have some shock arrows."

"Now, yeah. But I learned that they don't take out a Guardian with one shot, and who knows what enemies we'll face down the road. I have a whole lot of my own, regular arrows yet, don't worry."

Midna was suddenly lounging midair nearby. "You boys need a rest? What's going on?"

"Just discussing artillery," Tulin said.

"Very interesting. Good time for a chat. Maybe let's finish this, though, shall we?" Midna said with a wink at Shadow Link before she and Tulin flew off and he went back to the task at hand.

After what could've been one hour or a half dozen of them, the sounds of battle finally wound down to a few electronic screams and death rattles. Something nearby buzzed and beeped mournfully and then that, too, ceased.

At last, on a short platform in the center of the room, below where they'd entered, three treasure chests appeared.

Midna and Tulin were at his side a moment later, and he bent to open the middle one.

Inside was… a skirt. And tights with a thigh holster for a dagger, and a pair of fur-and-leather boots that… left the toes exposed for some reason. When he pulled it part of the way out, it turned out to be all one piece.

Shadow Link frowned. "The hell are we gonna do with this? We can't even split it between us."

Tulin snorted. "That's fine; I don't have any use for those… things."

"I'm not wearing that," Midna declared.

"That makes three of us," Shadow Link said, putting the leggings back and closing the chest. "If I remember correctly, it's part of a set of armor that's hidden in the three Labyrinths and fuck if I'm doing this shit twice more for some damned clothes," he said, gesturing at the husks of dead Guardians strewn about the chamber. "Open that one," he motioned Tulin toward the chest directly in front of the Rito.

Tulin did so, and sucked in his breath. When he backed away, Shadow Link saw why: inside was a Great Eagle bow.

"Well, I already have one of those, and Midna has no use for one, so that's obviously for you," he said, motioning for Tulin to take it, which he did, hesitantly.

He turned to Midna, sure the third chest would be something for her. "You open that one."

She did, finding a beautifully-worked dagger and leather sheath. When she withdrew it, the blade glowed the same teal as her markings, revealing some delicate swirls and whorls worked into the flat sides down to the tip. "It's beautiful," she said, tucking it… away somewhere he couldn't see. She disappeared and reappeared with a flash, and her smile was genuine. "Wonderful."

"Glad you're both happy. I'm still not wearing the tights," he grumbled, and was immediately rewarded by their peals of laughter.

He blinked and found himself in familiar, silent darkness. As was coming to expect, he heard Farore's voice echoing in the nothingness around him.

"Shadow Link, you and your companions have completed the North Lomei Labyrinth challenge. Take this as a reward."

He reached out to touch the Heart Container that was suddenly in front of him, feeling his weariness melt away.

"Darkness holds the Key to the Power of the Light," the voice reiterated the lines he'd heard twice before. "Four Trials await in Earth, Air, Fire, and Water to unlock Wisdom, Courage, and Power. In successfully navigating the Labyrinth and vanquishing the enemies beneath it, you have completed the Trial of Air. Take this Key."

The glowing triangle that appeared this time was green, and it took its place on his hand.

"Go now, and bring peace to Hyrule."

"That was very strange," Tulin said.

Startled, Shadow Link's head whipped his head around toward the Rito, but just as it got there Midna said, "Oh, did you hear a voice, too?" and his head shot back around to look at her.

Cranky from whiplash, he muttered, "Damn it, stand next to each other."

Midna snorted. "'Stand'."

He rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant." Just then, he realized they were no longer beneath the Labyrinth but back at its entrance. Not only that, but the snow had stopped and the sun was in roughly the same position in the sky as it had been when they'd arrived. He watched as Tulin realized the same and looked around in questioning awe; Midna seemed unfazed, though she was carefully keeping to the shadows.

Having previously passed two other trials, he was not at all thrown off by either the change in scenery or the weather.

He turned back to Tulin. "What happened?"

"Well, everything went dark, and then I heard some lady's voice say that I had passed the Trial of Air and earned the title of Rito Champion! She did something that made me less tired, and then she said that I had made my ancestors proud, and that I was on my way to becoming a great warrior!" He sounded awestruck.

Well, it wasn't every day the Goddess of Courage spoke directly to a person, was it? Even not knowing precisely who the voice belonged to, it was still a singular experience.

"And what about you?" Shadow Link asked, turning to Midna.

She shrugged. "Not much to tell, really. I heard a voice, too, that said many of the same things— except the part about my ancestors, of course," she chuckled mirthlessly. "Perish the thought. And then it said that it regretted being unable to do or give me anything that I can't do for myself but it appreciated my assisting both of you and wished me good fortune in bringing peace to the worlds and blah-blah-blah..."

"Why wouldn't your ancestors be proud of you?" Tulin asked.

"They were evil," she said with a shrug, both summing up her history and rightly separating herself from it.

Tulin shook his head. "Well, I'm proud of you." He looked up to the sliver of bright morning sky they could see out the top of the structure, completely missing the look of surprise that flitted across her face. "Is it still today, or is it tomorrow now?"

"I had a feeling that time was magically suspended inside the Labyrinth," Shadow Link answered, "and that seems to be the case. We were in there for a long time— several hours— but I'm positive it wasn't a full day, and it's still roughly the same time of morning as it was when we entered." He shrugged. "Not much we can do about it either way, and it's a long trip back to Rito village." Even longer, seeing as it was still morning and he couldn't call Epona for hours. He sighed inwardly, resigned to a long walk to the nearest stable.

Midna yawned and stretched. "That's my cue," she said, and disappeared into his shadow with a little wave.

A friend I've known since childhood is an artist, and painted me a picture to go with this story! Thanks, 'Uncle Bud'! [Image description: Broad landscape of Hyrule done in paint and marker; yellow and gold sky, snow-capped and cloud-topped central mountain in blues, black mountains in the distance, green foreground. Image located on Imgur at /KnQk2gR