BLAZING DRAGONS: OCARINA OF TIME
Chapter 8: The Spirit Temple
"Five down and one to go!" said Blaze.
"Where could the Spirit Temple be?" said Flame.
"We've been north, south, and east," said Flicker. "The only place left is the Gerudo Desert to the west."
The dragons made their way to Gerudo Desert. Count Geoffrey and his Evil Knights ran, panting, after them.
The entrance to Gerudo Desert was blocked by Treize.
"I am Treize Khushrenada," said Treize. "I come on behalf of King Tatanga."
"Not him!" said Flame.
"I challenge you to a duel," said Treize.
Flame raised her sword. Treize pulled out a sword with one hand and dueled Flame 1 on 1.
The fight lasted ten seconds. Flame jumped at Treize and swung her sword to cut off his head. Treize casually sidestepped and knocked Flame's sword out of her hands.
"I can't believe it!" said Flicker.
Treize held his blade to Flame's throat.
"I… I can't believe I have to marry this evil man!" said Flame.
"I never said anything about winning your hand in marriage," said Treize. "I've heard about your skill and I wanted to have the honor of fighting you myself. You may meet one of the others in the Spirit Temple. I'll leave the rest to them. Good fight, Flame."
Treize walked away.
"He's different from the rest of Tatanga's henchmen," said Flicker. "He seemed much more honorable."
The dragons entered Gerudo Valley and flew across the gorge. Geoffrey and the Evil Knights set up their catapult.
The dragons reached Gerudo Fortress and searched through the fortress for any clues about the Spirit Temple.
"Hey you! Stop!" said a Gerudo guard.
The dragons raised their swords, but were swarmed by Gerudo Guards, who threw them into the dungeon.
"Stupid dragons! Get in there!"
The dragons flew out the window.
"Locking dragons in a cell with an open window?" said Blaze. "Airheads. I don't like flying, but I will to escape this place." He raised his bow and shot the Gerudo Guards with arrows. Flicker and Flame could see stars dancing around their heads.
"They're unconscious?" said Flicker. "How is that possible? They got shot with arrows!"
The dragons entered the Thieves' Hideout, with Blaze shooting any guards they encountered, and soon found a carpenter in a cell. A Gerudo Guard jumped out to attack them, but Flicker fought the guard 1 on 1, and eventually defeated her. She ran off, leaving behind the key to the cell. Flicker opened the cell and the carpenter walked out.
They found three more carpenters. They had been interested in joining the Gerudo's all-female team, but the Gerudos had locked the carpenters up because they were men. Flame defeated the second Gerudo thief, Blaze defeated the third, and Flicker defeated the fourth.
Once all four carpenters were free, another Gerudo Guard walked up to them. "You must have some good thieving skills," she said. "I used to think all men besides the great Ganondorf were useless, but now that I've seen you, and you" – she briefly turned toward Blaze – "I don't think so anymore. Here's a Gerudo Membership Card."
As the dragons walked over to a gate leading to a desert, they heard a Gerudo guard yell "Hey you! Stop!"
The dragons turned to see guards hauling Count Geoffrey and his Evil Knights into the dungeon.
Flicker walked over to the guard at the gate. "Can you open the gate for us?"
The guard said "Yes, but you must complete two tests in order to reach the Desert Colossus. The first test is the River of Sand. You can't walk across it. After you cross it, you must follow the paths to the Phantom Traveler. Only those with the Eye of Truth can follow her and find the correct path to the desert."
She opened the gate, and the dragons entered.
Geoffrey and his Evil Knights climbed out the dungeon window and snuck out after them, unseen.
The dragons reached a river of quicksand.
"This must be the first test," said Flicker. They flew across the sand, Flicker and Flame landing gracefully while Blaze landed headfirst on the other side.
Evil Knight 3 stepped forward and began to sink into the river. Geoffrey, Evil Knight 1, and Evil Knight 2 grabbed his arms and pulled him back up.
"Get the catapult ready!" said Geoffrey.
The dragons followed the poles until they reached a tower. They climbed up the tower just as Geoffrey and the Evil Knights reached it.
Flicker looked through the Lens of Truth to see an invisible Poe.
"Follow me," she said. Flicker ran after the Poe, and Flame and Blaze ran after him. Geoffrey and the Evil Knights ran after them. Leevers came out of the sand and attacked the dragons. Flame and Blaze were able to strike some of them down with their swords, but Geoffrey and the Evil knights were hit by a few of them.
Finally the dragons reached the Desert Colossus.
"A goddess of the sand," said Flame. "That must be the Spirit Temple!"
The dragons raced toward the Spirit Temple, when suddenly the dragons stopped. So did Geoffrey and the Evil Knights, despite this perfect opportunity to kill the dragons.
"It's… cold…" said Blaze.
"This is a desert," said Flicker. "It's supposed to be hot here. Why…"
But the answer to their question lay above them. A familiar-looking ship touched down in front of them, and the two creepy men with the blue gloves, one with a mad look in his eyes, stepped out.
"Are you here to challenge me to a race to the Spirit Temple?" said Flame.
"No," said Hands of Blue 1. "We challenge you to a battle. If we win, whichever of us disarms you wins your hand in marriage."
Flame wasn't sure if she could defeat them after her duel with Treize. On the other hand, Treize was the only one she couldn't beat, and the others had been no problem at all. The last time the Hands of Blue competed with her, Tatanga had tried to cheat.
The Hands of Blue drew thin swords. Flame drew her sword and fought the Hands of Blue. The fight lasted no longer than the fight with Treize. Hands of Blue 2 was disarmed within five seconds and put his hands up; In Hands of Blue 1's moment of shock, Flame slashed him across the chest.
The dragons stared. Under his suit was blue metallic skin with metal screws in them.
"What are they?" said Flicker.
"Paradigm, Dodgson, and Tatanga await in the Spirit Temple," said Hands of Blue 2, and they got into their ship and took off.
As the dragons approached the Spirit Temple, Sheik appeared and taught them the Requiem of Forest.
The dragons entered the Spirit Temple. On the left side was a hole too small for them to crawl through. On the right was a large block.
"I can't push something that heavy!" said Flicker.
"I can," said Flame, and she pushed the block down the hall until it fell into a hole.
Flicker remembered the time she held him up with one hand while wearing Evil Knight 3's armor.
The dragons traveled through the Spirit Temple, with Geoffrey and the Evil Knights on their tail. Soon they reached a room with a giant statue in it. As they made their way up the stairs to the next door, Paradigm appeared.
"Princess Flame!" said Paradigm. "See those cards on the ground? They are a game of Clock. If you lose, I win your hand in marriage!"
"You probably set all four kings in the middle," said Flame, and she hit Paradigm in the chest with the Megaton Hammer. Paradigm fell over the rail to the ground below. He was so angry that he transformed into Piranoid.
Blaze picked up the four cards in the middle and looked at them. "Yep. All kings."
Soon they reached a room with a knight in the middle. The knight was motionless. The dragons slowly walked over to him.
"Is he asleep?" said Flicker.
Geoffrey lunged at the dragons with a dagger. The dragons saw his shadow just in time and dove out of the way. Geoffrey hit the knight, who stood up and raised his axe.
"Oh no, this could only be bad news," said Geoffrey.
The Iron Knuckle swung his axe and hit Geoffrey toward the opposite end of the room, smashing into Evil Knights 1, 2, and 3 and knocking them down.
The dragons breathed fire at the Iron Knuckle, who continued marching at them. Flicker ran forward and then stepped back as the Iron Knuckle swung his axe. Before he could attack again, Flicker slashed him with his sword. He took it in turns with Flame and Blaze to attack him, until part of his armor fell off and he charged at them. The dragons breathed fire at him again, and he fell to the ground and disintegrated.
The door opened, and they stepped out the door onto the hand of one of the statues. A treasure chest appeared. Flicker opened it for the Mirror Shield.
"This will reflect light," said Flicker.
Dodgson flew up to them. In addition to his pterodactyl wings, he now had sharp claws and a velociraptor tail.
"Paradigm injected me with velociraptor DNA," said Dodgson. "Flame, I challenge you to an aerial battle. You lose if you touch the ground or any part of the Spirit Temple. If I win, I get your hand in…"
"I know, you get my hand in marriage," said Flame. "Let's fight."
Flame and Dodgson faced off in midair. Dodgson slashed at her with his claws, but she avoided his attacks, however, he avoided her attacks. Flame considered throwing the Megaton Hammer at him, but knew that if she did, then it would probably fall and be gone.
Dodgson whipped his tail at Flame's eyes, intending to blind her. Flame grabbed his tail, spun him around, and threw him into the wall, forming a Dodgson-shaped hole in it.
"Ouch," said Dodsgon.
"You lose again!" said Flicker.
The dragons re-entered the Iron Knuckle's room and made their way into new rooms of the Spirit Temple, reflecting light.
While wandering aimlessly in the temple, Evil Knight 1 got eaten by a Like Like, which spit him out and took his armor. Geoffrey stabbed the Like Like in the stomach and killed it. It disintegrated, and Evil Knight 1 got his armor back.
Eventually the dragons reached a platform that lowered them into the main room, with a ray of light shining on them.
Tatanga flew in with his ship, which was recently upgraded.
"Rematch!" said Tatanga. "And if I win…"
Flame breathed fire at Tatanga, sending his ship falling in ruins. Tatanga climbed out of it before it exploded and raced out of the temple.
Flicker reflected light at the face of the giant statue, which crumbled. The dragons flew over to the door inside the statue's head and entered. Seeing this, Geoffrey and his Evil Knights set up another catapult.
"It's a good thing we have all these catapult capsules," said Evil Knight 2.
Inside the next room, the dragons saw two witches.
"Someone is here, Kotake," said one witch.
"Yes indeed, Kotake," said the second witch.
"O loyal minion," said both witches, "destroy these dragons on our behalf!"
An Iron Knuckle appeared. He realized he had no weapon, and snapped his fingers. An axe appeared in his hands. He walked toward the dragons, who breathed fire at him. As the Iron Knuckle charged at the dragons, Flicker slashed him, and his armor fell off, revealing him to be a Gerudo thief.
"Where am I?" she said. "Now I remember. Those witches brainwashed me and made me their slave!"
"I'm Flicker," said Flicker. "This is Princess Flame, and Sir Blaze. We are here to save Hyrule from Ganondorf."
"I also want Ganondorf defeated," said the Gerudo. "My name is Nabooru. I was Ganondorf's second in command, but I'm completely different from him. He stole from women and children, and even killed people. I tried to steal all his treasure and mess up his plans, but those witches caught me and turned me into that Iron Knuckle."
Koume and Kotake appeared. "Looks like she's back to normal," said Koume.
"Let's brainwash her again!" said Kotake.
Nabooru tried to run, but the witches shot a magic spell at her and she disappeared. So did the witches.
The dragons entered the next room, with Geoffrey and the Evil Knights following them. All of them climbed up to a platform.
"With my flame, I will burn them to the bone!" said Koume, rising up from one of the side platforms.
"With my frost, I will freeze them to their souls!" said Kotake as she appeared.
Kotake shot an ice beam at the dragons. They ran out of the way, and it hit Geoffrey, freezing him. The ice beam spread across the ground, freezing the Evil Knights as well.
The dragons all breathed fire at Kotake, scorching her.
"Let's get serious, Kotake!" said Koume.
"Oh, OK, Koume," said Kotake.
"Kotake and Koume's Double Dynamite Attack!" They combined into a single witch, Twinrova, who winked at Flicker before moving to a platform and shooting a beam of fire at them. They ran out of the way, and the fire hit the ground and spread all over the ground. It unfroze Geoffrey and the Evil Knights, but set them on fire and they ran around in pain.
Flicker, Flame, and Blaze breathed fire at Twinrova, knocking her to the ground.
"Why do I have to be weak to both fire AND ice in this form?" muttered Twinrova.
Flicker, Flame, and Blaze jumped up and brought their swords down on Twinrova, who separated into Koume and Kotake.
"This time we'll get serious!" said Koume.
"What is that above your head?" said Kotake.
"I don't know, but you have one over your head two, Kotake," said Koume.
Both had halos over their heads and a light from the ceiling was shining on them.
"But I'm only 400 years old!" said Koume.
"And I'm just 380 years old!" said Kotake.
"We're twins! Don't try to lie about your age!"
"You must have gone senile!"
"Who are you calling senile? Is that how you treat your older sister?"
"We are twins! How can you be older!"
"Keeyah! How heartless you are!"
"How can you be so ungrateful?"
"You're heartless!"
"You're ungrateful…"
Both witches disappeared into the light, saying "I'll come back to haunt you!"
"Why did they go to heaven?" said Flicker.
"Why did Koume say she was older right after saying 'We're twins! Don't lie about your age!'" said Blaze.
In the Chamber of the Sages, Nabooru stood before the dragons.
"I am the Sage of the Spirit Temple," she said. "Now, take this Medallion!" She gave Flicker the Spirit Medallion.
"Finally, all six sages are awakened!" said Rauru. "The time to face Ganondorf has come. But first, go to the Temple of Time."
"She beat us all, but good," said Tatanga.
"She didn't beat me," said Treize.
"Are you serious?" said Tatanga. "That means… you and her are engaged!"
"No," said Treize. "I merely wanted to fight an honorable duel with her."
"You and your stupid sense of honor!" said Tatanga. "Lawrence III's plan will be a stake battle, so remember that if you choose to participate."
"I was going to fight her again," said Treize, "but I suppose I can participate in Lawrence III's plan. If I win, I shall receive her hand in marriage and rule Camelhot for Ganondorf."
"We must wait for the right moment to strike," said Lawrence III.
"You guys are so evil!" said Link. "Those dragons will destroy you sooner or later!"
Next chapter is the final chapter: Ganon's Castle!
