LINK WALKED up to a beige stone statue, placing Din's Pearl in the statue's cupped hands.

He had already gone to the other two islands, giving up the other two pearls.

The statue was sculpted in the shape of a robed girl, her face staring stoically back at him. The statue's eyes glowed a warm red.

And then it exploded.

Link was thrown backward, and he painfully struck the shore of the small islet. When he finally exerted himself upright, he saw that the statue was swathed in red smoke, but was still intact.

A bolt of red light was coming from Din's Pearl, the statue now raising its arms towards the skies.

He stared at the path of the bolt of light, watching it advance into the distance.

A cacophonous roar sounded on the wind. A gigantic white pillar broke through the surface of the water, and began to rise into the air. It climbed higher, and higher.

"Fletch!" Link shouted.

The King of Red Lions rose as a large wave rolled across the ocean.

"Yes," the King of Red Lions ignored his interjection, "it is an impressive sight."

"What is that?" Link asked.

"The tower of the gods," his companion answered.

"Is the master sword there?" Link asked in anticipation.

"It will lead you to it," the King said. "If you surmount the challenges contained therein. It is a task constructed to prove the worth of one who desires to reach the ancient land of Hyrule."

"What kind of challenges will be in there?" Link asked.

"I do not know," the King told him. "The goddesses will decide."

Link glanced back at the statue, and to his shock saw that the pearl was gone. Right as he was beginning to gasp, the King of Red Lions interrupted.

"Remember, it is as I said. They have served their purpose," he reassured, "and have returned to their rightful owners."

Link relaxed. The wind bulged hard into the sail as they glided across the water. The tower grew taller, until it became an unfathomably large structure. A pounding noise, like the sound of a foundation stone behind dropped into place, finally echoed across the empty stretch of sea, and the tower ceased to rise.

"Gerudo," Link uttered in awe, "that... is big."

Link guided them into a circle of archways in front of the tower.

A large gilded arch adorned the tower's entrance. Though the structure was formidable, he did not feel the fear he'd felt so much in the past.

Trimming the sail, he steered the King of Red Lions into the tower itself. Braziers of white hot fire burned around him.

"This was just underwater," Link remarked, "how are these still lit?"

The King of Red Lions chuckled.

"You witness an ancient tower rise from the depths, and travel inside on a vessel that speaks, and you ask how the goddesses can cause mere torches to burn?"

"You have a point, I suppose," Link said.

"Be strong, be wise, and be brave," the King cautioned. "Though this tower is not one of evil, the goddesses have made it the final test. It is not easily overcome."

"Alright," Link said, grabbing his equipment, then he stepped onto the canal's stone edge.

As usual, the King said nothing more.

Link made his way towards the stairs leading up the tower. At first, Link jogged his way up the spiraling steps, then started to realize that was not the best idea.

He finally came to the end of the stairs. The room was lit with bright red fire. Vaulted ceilings were filled with crimson designs, and frescoes on the walls depicted images of fire and the red earth. He spied symbols reminiscent of the one on Din's pearl.

This was a test, he reminded himself. It was designed to test his abilities. This seemed to be a test of power.

He readied his sword and shield.

The room stayed silent as the grave.

Link gripped his sword as something struck against it. A humanoid statue held a stone rod against his blade.

Link prepared for the statue to make the next move.

It didn't do anything. Bizarrely, this living statue had carved facial features. The stone eyes blinked. If the statue had been a real human, it would've been about his age.

Link lowered his sword. Immediately, he had to parry away another strike from the statue.

It looked like it was alive. The statue had a determined looking expression, as though it was defending something. Inlaid in the stone were veins of blue, surreal light.

It was very off-putting.

Link circled around the statue, and it would turn and face him, attacking any time he lowered his guard. When he backed up, the statue would walk with him, striking at his sword more.

He held his sword against the state's weapon. The statue blinked. Waiting.

This wasn't accomplishing anything. Link glanced away from the statue and he -

Just narrowly parried a strike. He glanced the stone rod out of the way, and took an exhausted breath.

This magic statue really wasn't making it easy on him. The continual focus that the statue demanded was hard to maintain. Link exchanged more blows with the statue, carefully leading it around in a circle.

As he did this, he was able to examine the room without taking his eyes off the statue. He noticed that at either side of the room, there were large rectangular pits.

Leading the statue closer, Link saw a stone floor far below. Or at least he was pretty sure he did. All he could get was a quick look.

It was simple. He had to back the statue into the hole, and it would fall down to the ground, and break apart.

He began giving more power to his strokes, now that he knew what he was doing. The statue would not back up, no matter how hard he tried to force it. It might step side to side, but never back up.

Link fought his discomfort, and drew nearer to the drop in the floor. The pit loomed beside him, daring him to come closer. He was so close, just a bit further. He tried to get the statue near the corner of the pit.

The statue suddenly made fiercer, more wild strikes, and then suddenly, it lowered its weapon. Link held his sword stance. The statue almost wore a worried expression.

"Are you going to destroy me?"

The statue could speak. It wasn't really surprising to him anymore.

"Uh...," Link said, "I don't know."

The statue bent down, the strata of its body sparkling in the crimson light. It set down its rod.

This felt like a trap. If this was really a test made by the goddesses, would they be comfortable tossing him down a pit if he failed? He lowered his sword slightly.

The goddesses would not do that. He knew what to do.

Link sheathed his sword.

"I could attack you right now," the statue said.

"You could," Link replied.

"If you pushed me into the pit," the statue said further, "then you would not be in this moment of danger any longer."

"But then," Link said, "I would've destroyed you. And I wouldn't have known if you really intended to hurt me. So I am not going to push you off the edge without cause."

The statue picked its rod up, in a relaxed manner. It then stood up the rod like it was a walking stick.

"You have passed the trial offered by Din, Link of Outset," the statue declared. "The following trials await you."

A wall at the back of the room lowered, revealing a passageway.

Link stared at the statue awkwardly. Should he thank the statue? It hadn't really helped him or anything. Was the statue even alive?

"You should not wait," the statue said, eerily blinking again. "The Gerudo thief continues his dark designs."

"Sorry," Link said, turning around. He began walking to the passageway, and to his surprise, heard footsteps coming near him. He almost unsheathed his sword.

The statue was motionless. Link walked further. The statue then followed.

"Are you going to follow me?" Link asked.

"Yes," the statue said candidly. "You will need me for the following trials."

"Okay," Link said, unsure of how to react. "Is there something I should call you?"

"Comon."

"Are you alive Comon?" Link asked.

"I am a spirit from long ago," Comon answered. "I now possess this statue. so that I may serve the goddesses for this time."

"Oh," Link said, "okay."

As they walked to the wall, Comon started to walked at his side, walking with his stone staff.

The passageway, shockingly, led to more stairs.

After coming onto the new floor, they entered a large circular chamber that passed on much the same styles and motifs as the last. Here, the braziers burned white and blue. Bookshelves lined the walls, with stained glass accents beside them. The glass portrayed images of water, sky, and the other dominions of Nayru.

As he looked around the room, he couldn't see any path forward. The only exit to the room was the way he came in.

"There's no way forward," Link said aloud.

Comon did not say anything.

Link turned to face him. It. Whatever Comon was.

"Do you know what I'm supposed to do?"

Comon stood stoically. "The goddesses have not informed me of what the tests of wisdom and courage entail, or what the design of such trials may be."

Link took a deep breath. "Did everyone in the past talk like this?"

Confusion came onto Comon's face, and the glowing veins on his body thrummed in their brightness, then calmed again.

"I... I'll admit," Comon said, "it was not, but I am... retrenching myself. I simply wish to fill my task well, whatever it may be."

"Who were you in life Comon?" Link asked.

Comon sighed. It was like the sound of a breeze flowing through a cave.

"It is something that I do not feel I should discuss. I was not instructed to do anything more than aid you."

Link stared at Comon, waiting.

Comon wrung his stone hands around the top of his staff, in a state of visible discomfort.

"I was the same age as you," he said, "when I died. I was taken in with lying, blasphemous words, against the goddesses and the kingdom."

If Comon had been alive, Link was sure that he would've started breaking into tears.

"I joined with this wicked people, and fought, and killed many honorable defenders of Hyrule. Including..."

He hesitated, for quite some time. The sound of Link's breathing was the only thing that could be heard in the room.

"including...," Comon bowed his head, "the father.... of the Hero of Time."

Link's mouth hung open. Comon did not look up at him.

"So...," Link asked hesitantly, "why are you here?"

Comon shook his head. "I don't know. The goddesses decided to give me a second chance."

Neither of them spoke a word.

Comon straightened his posture.

"I'm distracting you," Comon said, "you must concentrate."

Link walked across the room. The room seemed big enough that it encompassed the entire floor of the tower. There was no place that a staircase upward could be, with the bookshelves and stained glass covering the walls. He craned his head backward, looking up at the vaulted ceiling high above. There was a opening in it.

"How in the world am I supposed to get up there?" Link asked.

"It is a trial of wisdom for a reason," Comon said.

Link paced around the room, and began opening the books. They were written in the complex angular script of ancient Hylian. He could make out the words with difficulty. The names of the goddesses were easily recognizable, though the names were of a more primitive form, such as Nara-ru, instead of Nayru.

As Link studied one book intensely, he was able to discern that it was a collection of old Minish folktales. He picked up another book, and found that it contained a history of Hylian architecture. One book contained accounts of trade agreements between Hyrule and Labrynna. Yet another held transcriptions of ancient Goron folk chants.

He put that one away, and spun his gaze around the countless books.

There was no way he could read them all, and he wasn't even sure if he was supposed to. Maybe he could make a gigantic tower of books and climb his way up. Considering this was a trial of wisdom, that seemed like a decidedly unwise idea.

He paced around the room, trying to think. Maybe there was something in common among all the books. He couldn't think of anything specific. Comon stared at him as he walked around the room.

"I'm not sure if you're supposed to help me or not," Link said, "but do you have any idea how to get up there?"

Comon glanced up, and then back down at Link.

"Have you examined things other than the books?"

Link stroked his chin. "That might be a good thing to try."

He walked over to the stained glass. It seemed to be almost like a story depicted purely in pictures. The goddess Nayru held the hands of her fellow goddesses, Din and Farore, symbolizing her role in maintaining order, and lawfulness between the other two forces.

She stood on dark clouds, and blue shards of glass rained down from them. The raindrops fell on mountains, where they became rivers, flowing towards the bottom of the glass.

He looked at the other windows, and noticed that while they had certain variations, all of them included the river flowing down toward the bottom. They all faced inward. Flowing inward. Toward the center of the room.

Link bent down, and looked at the floor, and saw symbols etched into the stone. They were not normal old Hylian, but rather pictorial symbols, representing certain objects or ideas.

He ran over to a shelf, and on the spine of a book there was a symbol on its spine, matching one of the floor. It was a history of Hyrule, from the creation of the world to just before the Hylian civil war. The symbol represented the idea of remembering.

He took the book to the center of the room, and compared it to its matching symbol. He tried to think of what he was supposed to do now. He set the book on top of its symbol. The block of stone glowed at its edges.

"Yes!" Link exclaimed in triumph.

He raced to the shelves, and found other symbols on book spines; symbols of Health, of Change, of Thought, and many more. Finally, he found the last book.

A copy of the Codex of Time, with a symbol of Time. He set down the final book in the circle of ten others. The circle of stones cast rays of light upward, and the stones began to carry him and Comon up.

Comon directed his gaze at Link once again.

"You have completed Nayru's trial," he said. "Only one trial remains."

"The trial of Courage," Link said.

The passed through the opening in the ceiling, and the light grew dim, then nonexistent.

Link wasn't sure what to expect this time. The previous two trials had been more complex than he had been expecting. He reminded himself that he was being tested. Perhaps it wasn't just about if he succeeded or not - but rather how he succeeded.

It was pitch black. The stones lifting them jolted to a stop, and Link steadied his balance. Green light formed around the circle. Not like the light they'd made before, but this was more like green fire.

They slowly burned brighter, and then trails of the fire shot out in several directions, lighting up the room. The fire traveled up the walls, and the walls began to glow green, revealing strange ancient patterns. Extremely ancient. Unlike any he'd seen in any book. The green light gave the entire room an eerie cast, made more mysterious by the moss growths at the base of the walls.

"YOU HAVE DONE WELL TO FIND YOUR WAY HERE."

Link gasped in surprise at the sudden, booming voice.

"NOW, ACCEPT THIS FINAL CHALLENGE."

The flames on the floor and walls began to glow more softly, like embers in a dying hearth. Two places on the walls suddenly burned bright, and formed two large shapes.

Stone separated from the walls, and floated magically in the air.

The shape of the stone became more defined, and Link realized what they were. Hands.

Veins of green light, similar to Comon's stone body, flowed across them. A brighter green light illuminated the wall once again, and revealed a gigantic stone head, wearing a stone carved helmet.

The frightening face flew away from the wall, and hovered near the hands. Bright green flames trailed from the statue's eye sockets. And not a moment later, it began to attack.

Link jumped out of the way of one of the hands. It glided above the floor, almost like a giant trying to shoo away an annoying insect. As he jumped away, he nearly fell into the burning fire at the edge of the room.

Comon sidestepped his way around the room's circumference, watching their opponent intently. Link continued avoiding its blows, watching the stone creature for any sign of weakness.

It seemed to move in certain patterns, making similar attacks over and over again.

One such pattern was that it would clench one of its hands into a fist, and raise it up in the air to attempt to crush him. If he could just jump onto it...

He got closer to one of the hands. It tried to sweep him into the fire, and after jumping out of the way, Link turned back around, and jumped onto it, holding tight onto a carved finger.

Sure enough, it raised the hand up near its head, clenching it. Link got on top of it, and thrust his sword into the statue's right eye. Immediately, the eye stopped burning, and the fist dropped to the floor, knocking him off.

He struck the floor, trying his best to roll to lessen the damage. After a moment to catch his breath, he got up slowly, but felt sick. Link's heart was pounding loudly in his ears, and his throat was rough from breathing hard.

To make matters worse, the flying statue began to move faster. He put all he could into avoiding the attacks of this challenge Farore had given him. Link truly began to wonder - would the goddesses really let him die if he took a misstep?

Would they have put in all this time bringing him this far, only to let him fail?

The statue was no longer raising its fist like before. Now, it was extending its hands to the side, flinging them inward in a clapping motion. The room quaked every time the hands collided, further disorienting him.

His body wanted to stop.

His mind wanted this to end.

His heart feared the growing possibility of failure.

Finally, he saw one of the hands moving up towards the face. He ran towards it, and saw the other hand suddenly move in his direction.

Wait - not in his direction.

Towards Comon.

Despite his protesting exhaustion, Link summoned all his energy, and ran to the living statue. Link jumped at him, knocking him out of the way right before the hand struck him. The two of them tumbled, skidding on the floor. Comon's stone grated loudly against the floor's stone.

When he stopped sliding, Link coughed harshly. He could taste blood in his mouth.

Ominous green light illuminated his face. The flying statue had opened it's mouth, and a fire grew inside it, becoming brighter, and brighter, until it was too bright to look at.

Comon struggled to stand, and hurled his stone rod at the statue. The rod struck it in the still glowing eye, and it and the fire in its mouth were immediately extinguished. The head abruptly crashed to the ground, shaking the ground beneath them.

The green veins of light throughout the room dimmed once again.

And there was silence. Wonderful, beautiful silence.

Link groaned loudly as he forced himself into a sitting position. Comon had already stood up, and offered Link a helping hand. Link took it, and slowly worked his way into standing up straight.

"Link," Comon said, "you have completed the final trial."

"Yes...," Link sputtered out.

Surprisingly, it seemed like a look of amusement came to Comon's face. It soon changed to a simple smile.

"You did not have to help me," Comon said, "but you did."

Link silently returned a friendly smile of his own.

"You truly are of the same stature as heroes past," Comon commended.

Link shook his head. "It is much more my parents, and others who are to thank for that."

"Do not misunderstand," Comon said. "When I say this, I am honoring those who shaped who you are as much as I am honoring you."

"Thanks...," Link said.

The sound of scraping stone issued throughout the chamber, and steps extended out of the walls, leading to an opening in the ceiling.

"The path is open," Comon said. "In the days ahead, you will no longer be able to retreat. If you choose this course, you will not be able to turn back."

Comon walked over to the fallen statue.

He casually climbed up its face, and yanked his stone rod out of the eye. Link chuckled quietly. He was going to miss this curious individual. It was still strange to him that the boy had been deceased for more than a thousand years. Comon grasped the rod like a walking stick once again.

"Make haste," Comon reminded, slight impatience in his eyes.

"Thank you Comon," Link said. "I hope that you are remembered for the good you've done, and not your past mistakes."

"I hope the same for you young hero," Comon said. "Though your path is not ended yet."

Link began climbing the stairs.

"Your path," Comon said, "has only just begun."