(After an agonizing few months of Junior year, I'm back guys. Sorry for the wait. Here's a new chapter of Zelda, which I hope is to your liking. I'll still be pretty busy over the next few months, but Ill try and post when I can. I'm also about to start looking for a job, so that'll take some time as well. Good news and bad news though. Next three chapters of Never Alone will be nice and long. And it'll be the conclusion of it. Can't wait. Again, I apologize for the agonizing wait. Let's get into it!)


Chapter 8: Sealed Jewels

Link POV

I knew a long time ago that being the Hero would take its toll on me. Not the fame. I could care less if people wanted my autograph. But the fighting. The constant battle against the forces of evil. I was only 24, but already after that last fight, my body was a bit aching. It's funny, because I trained constantly. And even though I felt tired, my body still kept it's natural reflexes, and I could still move just as fast as I did when I was 18. But the real problem is that I knew it's mentally taxing. I'd seen a lot over the years, and when you've seen this much, something new never really comes along. And when it does, it's either exciting, or scary. And this feeling, was scary. The love of my life was being held captive in her own home world, and Zelda was a prisoner in her own body thanks to Ganondorf. And through his control of her, I'd lost a friend. I knew too that even when I did free her, if I could, that I couldn't stay long after. Midna was waiting for me.

As I opened the door to the next room, I simply let my body move for me. I continued to ponder what had become of my beloved world, while I slashed and blew up three more jewel beasts. But as I found nothing else left in the room, I turned back towards the door.

"The Dungeon Boss Key will probably reveal itself since I've cleared every room as of now." But I didn't know how right I was. Or how much I'd forgotten. Everytime you think you know the next step, or the way to go in a maze like this, you're always at least two steps behind. As I wandered toward the exit, the jewels on the door once again glowed red, meaning they had locked. I rolled my eyes, silently cursing myself for forgetting dungeon protocol. I brought out my sword and shield as I turned around, and I came face to face with…

...Nothing. There wasn't a monster in sight. No jewel beast, no keese, no lizalfos, not even any more crystal clones. But I'd already made one mistake today that nearly cost me my life. And I wasn't about to assume. I closed my eyes, and focused on the triforce symbol on my left hand, and it pulsed. I immediately looked up, and noticed the light reflecting off of something in the middle of the room. A crystal shield. It blended in with the crystals behind it, but if I changed my angle I could see it. Then, I heard the distinct roar of a Darknut soldier. I realized that the foe I faced was the Darknut, wearing reflective crystal armour. It made him tough to see, even changing my angle. I couldn't see his sword either. I'd have to use all my skills just to be able to counter in time.

But, I could see how the light changed as he moved. A slight shadow was still visible. It disappeared from time to time, but I could still make out when it would reappear. This would be a fight based on timing, and even one miss could be my end. I felt the vibrations in the ground as he walked forward, and I took my stance. He dashed me, but I managed to roll out of the way. It seems the crystal armour was also lighter. He took a swing with his sword, and I held up my shield. The force of the blow nearly threw me back. I didn't realize that he had put that much force into his swing. And I didn't want to parry with my own sword since I still couldn't see his. I backflipped as I felt his sword slice the air, dodging just in time.

I had to figure out a way to counter, and strong enough to knock off some of his armour. I only needed one piece to fall off, cause then I would be able to see his movement's, even with only one part of his body to loot at. Then the idea came to me. I grabbed the Gale boomerang, and just threw it as hard as I could. It spiraled wildly, whipping up a small tornado gust. And although the Darknut was unphased by the wind, the fairy inside the boomerang creates a small plethora of leaves. And it was swirling around the dark warrior. He swung his sword, but this time I was ready. I dodged his sword, rolling just under it, and took a slash at his right leg. The Blade of Evil's Bane did it's job, and my sword knocked a piece of the armour off, and I could see clearly his undergarb of Chain mail. The Darknut let out a groan and fell to his knees, leaving the perfect opportunity for me to cut a few more pieces of his armour off.

After a few seconds he recovered, but I'd already taken off most of his armor, including his helmet. But instead of continuing to fight in his now ineffective crystal armour, he discarded the rest. Now it was simply a game of waiting since without his armor he was much faster. But before I could even make a move, he threw both his larger, and his smaller sword at me. I dodged both, but his actions were confusing me. What other weapons did he have other than his swords? He proceeded to answer my question, by drawing a Morning Star stick, from his chest. He swiped the air with it, and a dark ball of energy was hurled at me.

I snapped out of my trance as quickly as I had come into it, and put up my shield, barely absorbing the blast in time. And when I lowered my guard, he was already lunging at me. I managed to parry with my sword, and shield bash him. But he wasn't phased long, and launched three more dark energy blasts at me. This time, I slashed all three and deflected them back at him. But he simply absorbed the blasts back into his Morning Star. But, I noticed that it was taking him a few seconds to reabsorb the blasts. In fact, he was still taking in the last one. I threw my boomerang again, and catching him off guard, took his Morning Star from his hands, and placed it into mine. He ran toward me to try and retrieve it, and I simply held it out to him. As he grabbed the hilt, I pulled both it, and him forward, and he found his chest ran through with my sword.

"Well done… Hero…" the Darknut whispered as he began to blacken. I was a bit taken aback, it was the first time I'd ever heard a Darkworld soldier speak. "Now prepare yourself for the true Crystal Beast…"

With those last words, he exploded. But not before a key was dropped from his pocket as he faded. The Dungeon Boss room key. I picked it up as the door I had entered from unlocked. But I was again surprised, as the Darknut's Morning Star had not yet exploded, and showed no signs of doing so. However, it was glowing. The Darkness faded from it, and I found in my hand the same weapon, but bearing a crystal of a color I had not seen before, a bright, pure white, with a soft glow. I swung the Morning star three times, and nothing seemed to happen. But then, three shock waves rang out. I looked at the walls, and there were three enormous cracks in the jewels that made the room. I held in my hand probably one of my most powerful weapons. It was unlike my previous adventure's where a dungeon had awarded me two different items. A gadget and a new weapon. But I supposed that would be the pattern, as where I was going, I'd probably need them.

I made my way back to the main room where I had come in, fighting through a few more crystal beasts. And the great thing was that I simply waved the Morning Star at them and they exploded in crystal shards. I eventually found the room, and looked up at the door on the ceiling. It seemed to pulse, waiting for me to enter. I slipped on my boots and my gloves, and began the trek up the crystal wall. I bounded upward, and made a huge leap towards the door. I landed knee's first in a sort of action pose, and took out the Boss Key. Unlocking the door, I floated inside. And as expected, the door behind me quickly shut and locked. I was left standing on it, as it was the bottom of a sphere shaped room. But the thing about this room, was that it was dark. It beared the one jewel I recognized throughout the entire dungeon. Obsidian. A pitch-black crystal, and it covered most of the room, with patches of silver the only source of light in the room.

I took a look around, and as it was too dark to see, I brought out my lantern. But as soon as I did, I heard the same shrill scream that I had heard earlier. And from the obsidian rose a giant. It had long arms like the crystal beasts from earlier, but this time, it's size was no illusion. It's elbows and knees came to points. It had two fingers and two toes on each hand and foot respectively, and it's head was merely a nub. But from it was a huge mouth that creature couldn't seem to close all the way. I gritted my teeth and pulled out my sword and shield as I realized what the creature was. It opened its huge eye, and gave a powerful roar.

(Shadow Guardian #1: The Crystal Cyclops - Rackonaro)


(The first dungeon boss of the continuation to the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess! I'm excited to see Link battle it out with the cyclops. Remember though, this will be a Link focused story only until the end of the third Dungeon, in which Link will return to the Castle. Alright guys, I hope you enjoyed, and we'll see you in the next chapter. And remember, Read and Review!)