Ice to see you

[Illidan Stormrage]

A cave! Link waddled through the snow, each step harder than the last. A dancing light stood out against the white landscape, protected by the rocky hill. Link saw bodies huddled around the orange flames, their heads turning at the crunching of snow.

"Hey!" Link shouted, his voice echoing. "Hey! There's someone here who needs help!"

The figures stood. They were tall and lanky, dressed in thick furs. Tusks jutted from their jawline on either side, hugging their cheeks. Leather quivers hung off their backs, filled with arrows. They stepped forward out into the mouth of the cave and peered out at Link.

"Yes! Over there!" Link pointed behind him. "He needs your fire!"

As Link drew closer, he noticed the skin on the cave dwellers; blue. Their hair was dishevelled and clogged with snow, and their eyes narrowed. Link felt a pang of dread as the three figures reached a hand into their quiver and pulled out an arrow. No, not an arrow. A spear.

A moment later, three spears hurtled towards Link. The Hylian's first instinct was to grab his shield, but with his dexterity claimed by the cold, he knew he had no time. He fell face first into the freezing powder, the spears sailing overhead, and jumped back up.

"What are you doing?" Link yelled. "That guy needs help!"

"You be helpin' da dwarves, elf?" one spoke with a heavy accent. "Den you be no friend of ours."

Link found the hilt of the Master Sword and wrenched it free, fighting through a thin layer of frost over the scabbard's seal. There was no reasoning with creatures that were blinded by racism. Link needed that fire, and those spindly savages would kill him and let that frozen 'dwarf' suffer.

"I don't want to fight," Link said, finally getting his heavy fingers around his shield on his back and holding it forward.

"Oh, really?" another answered, chuckling. "What's dat sword and shield for, hmm?"

"Protection," Link said. "All I want is to warm myself and that poor injured man over there. He's still alive!"

"Alive?" the first said. "Guess we didn't do a good enough job, den."

The three blue men laughed.

Link furrowed his brow. "You would just leave him to die?"

"He's a dwarf!" the ostensible leader yelled. "Dwarves want us trolls dead! It be us or dem!"

"Here's a new choice," Link said, finally reaching the cave. "Save that dwarf or this 'elf' will want you dead, too!"

All three trolls grasped a throwing spear and crouched slightly. Somehow they seemed more menacing than when they stood at their full height. "So be it, den."

It occurred to Link that fighting native savages acclimated to the cold had a massive advantage over him. His legs were numbed, his bones stiff and heavy. He couldn't evade attacks like this, and he wasn't confident that he could move his shield fast enough. In fact, Link realised just how close he was to collapsing. What had he done? That dwarf would die without him, but his concern for another might get them both killed.

The alpha troll twirled the spear in one hand as the three of them circled Link. "What'chya think, boys? A quick one?"

"He won't put up much of a fight," another said. They all chuckled.

Link grimaced, but his anger wouldn't keep him warm. The strength fled from his legs and he dropped to one knee, surprising even himself. More arrogant laughter. The Hylian warrior struggled back to a standing position, but it was only temporary. He'd drop again soon. Even if he managed to block their attack, the first solid hit to his shield would knock him over. Link felt his eyelids growing heavy. The adrenaline wasn't enough; his body was shutting down.

<Link,> the Hero's Shade said. <Let me handle this.>

"How ... " Link asked weakly, cold vapour rushing from his mouth. "You ... can't ..."

<Stand down, trolls,> his ghost said. <Or I will streak the snow with your blood.>

The alpha troll cocked an eye. "Who ... who be dere?"

"It be dat scrawny elf," another said. "He ... he be playin' mind tricks."

Link looked at the skeletal ghost. "What ... how can they hear you?"

The Hero's Shade faced Link, and his transparency faded until his entire body was opaque. <I'm no longer a spirit, Link.>

The trolls' eyes widened. "A-a skeleton!"

"Don't be a baby!" the alpha troll roared. "We be livin' in a magic world! Just cut its head off and be done wit it!"

The Hero's Shade rushed forward, snow parting before him. The first troll stood, frozen in fear. The future ghost cut him down with a single slash, red spraying into the white.

Link's chest tightened. "You're ... real."

The alpha troll grabbed another throwing spear from his quiver. "Don't be a coward, kill it!"

The remaining troll stabbed forward, but the Hero's Shade turned ethereal and he passed right through him. The ghost resolidified and slashed the troll's back. He stumbled forward and collapsed into the snow, a deep red line running up his spine.

The alpha troll growled. "Damn spirit magic bullshit!" He threw both spears one after the other at the Hero's Shade. The first clanged harmlessly against his shield, but the second caught him in the skull, quivering in place. The Hero's Shade stabbed his sword into the cracked earth, tugged the spear free from his forehead and hurled it back. The metal point pierced the alpha troll's chest and felled him without another word.

Link stared wordlessly at his future self. "I don't understand."

The cold crept into his mind, and Link fell forward, world black.

Warmth tingled in Link's toes, and he opened his eyelids. He took in his surroundings. He was inside the cave, fire blazing, his back against the wall. The frozen dwarf, still grey and unconscious, lied on the other side of the fire. The Hero's Shade sat beside him, forearms propped on knees, his single red eye glaring into the flames. He was still opaque.

He looked up at Link. <Good. You're awake.>

Link's body was still chilled and rigid, but at least feeling was returning to the once perpetually numbed areas. He looked out the cave mouth; it was dark outside, and still snowing.

"The dwarf?" Link asked.

<Alive. Barely. The heat will help him.>

Link shuffled about, finding what little extra comfort could be had in a rock wall. His shield and swords laid next to him. "What ... happened back there?"

<As I said at the lake, I grow more capable of interacting with this world with each passing day. I still theorise our innate connection shares this Omnilium with me, and I can in turn use it to change my state. Instead of a visiting spirit, I can become whole.>

"That is certainly useful," Link said. "You ... saved my life out there. I charged into a situation without thinking it through and it nearly cost me everything. Thank you."

The Hero's Shade's eye brightened, then dimmed. <I shan't let you die while I can stop it. You are me.>

"So what's next?"

<What do you think?>

Link looked to the chilled dwarf by the fire. "We need to help him. I almost killed myself trying to save him. It'd be foolish to leave him. Plus we can't leave him here when there's a chance he could still live."

<Then that is what we shall do. But for now, rest. We will begin again in the morning.>

Link leaned back against the coarse wall, and his thoughts stilled. The last thing he heard as he faded out was the crackling of the flames and the howl of the wind.