…and into the next room. There was a swarm of monsters waiting for them, though Dominus seemed to have handled a majority of them already. Link rode in weilding his staff, sending rows flying back with his staff.
With the room mostly cleared, Link asked, “Where’s the pedestal?”
Mirum pointed up. There was another series of moving platforms leading up to the top of the room. Twilit keeses flew around the rising surfaces. At the very top, there was a gated alcove. Mirum said, “There should be a lever or something around here somewhere. There! You can cross that gap with your staff, and I’ll take the orb up.”
Endeavor came through the door. “The guards have entered the last room.”
“We better get moving,” Link said. He dismounted Epona, and started to climb up the series of platforms. Mirum teleported up the levels, stopped at each platform to redirect herself. Link reached the top a few minutes after her. He walked along the thin ledge that Mirum had pointed to.
There was a set of narrow stepping-stones spanning the distance. Link looked across the distance, judging how far is was across. He took a few steps back for a running start, before using his quarterstaff to vault himself over the gap. He rolled once he landed, then reached up and pulled the lever.
Behind him, he heard the gate slid open. He also heard the guards come through the door beneath them. Mirum quickly set the orb down, opening up the next door. Dominus called, “Drop it down here, Mirum.”
The twili let go of the orb. The guards began to turn around to follow Dominus. Link and Mirum leapt down the platforms. Link stopped and looked down the platforms at the guards. There was a hole in the back of the guard’s hand. Link looked at the tip of his staff, before dropping down on top of one of the guards. The hand began to look around, but Link dropped his staff down into the hole. He pulled the staff to the side, flipping the guard over.
As Link rolled out of the way, the guard tumbled on its back. He pulled himself back into his saddle. The other guard turned around to help its companion back up, giving time for Link to catch up with the others in the next room.
They stood on the edge of another deep pit. Endeavor asked, “How many pits are in this place?”
Dominus handed the orb off to Mirum before tucking his hand back beneath his robe. He said, “There’s only one sure path across, and like everything else in this place, it needs that orb for us to be able to find it.”
“We are not all going to be able cross this at once,” Endeavor said.
Mirum replied, “Well, Link has that clawshot. Dominus and I can cross, and then you two. Your horses will fit next to each other.”
Epona snorted and stamped a hoof. “What are you implying here?”
“That you’re a big horse, and Quicksilver isn’t,” Mirum replied, trotting out onto the pit. Platforms began to form beneath the Zols’ feet as Mirum and Dominus rode out over the pit.
Of course, nothing could be that simple. The path began to move, and Mirum and Dominus had to stay close together as they navigated the moving maze. Link started to pull his clawshot out to get ready for Mirum. He said, “Dominus sure is quick to get rid of that orb when he has it.”
Endeavor tightened a strap on her saddle, muttering, “You are dense.”
“What?” Link asked.
“Why would someone avoid having contact with an orb that is such an obvious representation of light?” Endeavor replied, sitting back up in her saddle.
Link replied, “Mirum doesn’t avoid it though.”
“You missed my question,” Endeavor stated. “They are across.”
Turning to look over the pit, Link saw Mirum holding the orb up. He fired his clawshot across, pulling the orb back over to them. He didn’t feel like trying to figure out Endeavor’s riddle right now. Those guards were going to catch up soon.
It was a tight fit, Epona and Quicksilver next to each other. Epona would have never fit with one of the Zol. Not that Link made a comment. The mare was still put out, just generally about being in the marsh and this dungeon. Link knew she was going to hold him to his promise about going to the beach. She’d probably bolt once they finished the dungeon.
The platforms began to move. The two of them ended up on two different platforms. Quicksilver reared. Endeavor shouted, “Link!”
Link clutched the orb, looking for someway to get over to the Drex before her platform failed. Link said, “We’re going to have to jump.”
Epona neighed. “Are you mad?”
“If we don’t, they’re going to fall,” Link retorted. Epona snorted, before taking a step back. She took a flying leap, her hooves barely scrapping onto the platform once she came down from her massive arc. She skid to a halt beneath Endeavor and Quicksilver.
Endeavor looked down at them. “We need to get to the other side, now.”
Link turned to look over his shoulder. The guards appeared at the door. They were moving faster than they had been before. Link asked, “Can you get a straight path?”
“I will tell you once I can not,” Endeavor replied.
Epona leapt to the next platform. Overhead, Quicksilver bound across the platforms. The horse couldn’t jump as far as Epona, but he could jump faster, and managed to keep up without Link having to change courses.
The guards were coming down behind them. Epona raced onto the solid ground as Quicksilver jumped down beside them. The floor sealed into one solid path behind them and the door opened up. But they hadn’t been quite fast enough.
One of the guards caught up with Link. The huge stone hand sent him flying out of his saddle. He had to drop the orb in order to put his shield between him and the hand. The orb rolled away off the ledge as Link was struggling with it. Mirum and Dominus started towards it, but the other guard grabbed the orb and began to float off with it.
After its partner left the room, the guard attacking Link backed off, and began to head back towards the other edge of the hall.
“That doesn’t mean we have to start this whole thing over again, does it?” Mirum asked.
Link stood up, his side sore from where he had been hit by the stone hand. Epona nudged him lightly, before Link climbed back up. Dominus answered, “No, not entirely. The puzzles have been cleared and the monsters defeated, but we will have to return to that end, and trek back to here with the orb.”
“It means that the shadows can gather again though,” Endeavor commented.
“Then we better hurry,” Dominus replied, asking his horse on.
As they rode back, Link asked, “How come those things were going faster than before?”
“Well, you did attack it,” Endeavor stated. “And we are getting closer to the end of the challenge. It is their job to make sure we do not get through with that orb. Not to mention, they have been exposed to shadow magic, which does not work well with twilight magic, if it even works at all.”
Link noticed their pace. “And why are we going so slow?”
“That is not my decision,” Endeavor commented, looking up ahead of them. Dominus had his hand back out from underneath his robe. His skin was white where it should have been black, though the color was slowly changing back. “Some twili are more sensitive to the light than others, particularly light magic in its purest state like that orb.”
“But, didn’t…Midna had light magic,” Link replied, trying to remember a thought.
“In a way,” Endeavor answered. “The princess of that era gave Midna her Triforce in order to save the twilight princess, but then the twili came here. Whatever light magic the royal twili line had, was given to its people, to ensure that they would not fear their new lives in the World of Light.”
Link looked at Dominus again as the twili ruler pulled his arm back beneath his robe. Endeavor added, “Not to mention, this particular twili ruler has more reason to be sensitive to light than his predecessors.”
It hit Link. “He’s the Shadow Sage, isn’t he?”
“I was wondering when you would think of it,” Endeavor said. “But not exactly. Yes, Dominus is fated to be the Shadow Sage, but he has not earned that title yet. There is something yet that he must do in order to obtain that power.”
“What’s that?” Link asked.
Mirum shouted, “Hurry up!”
Endeavor picked up her pace. Link shook his head as he rode back through the door at the end of the hall…