The tunnel into the mines was dark and steep, winding down into the depths of Death Mountain for what felt like miles. Link walked along it with the brand new shield he'd bought from the Goron shop heavy on his back, and the brand new lantern he'd purchased attached to his belt. He felt completely alone within the little circle of light.

Alone, that is, except for Navi.

"Listen, Link, I'm really proud of you for volunteering for this! And I know Zelda is too! I knew you were a hero, deep down!"

Link sighed softly, scuffing his shoe against the hard stone floor. "Thanks, Navi, but this is the third time you've said that. I'm just as honored now as I was then, so I'd really appreciate it if you'd just… stop repeating yourself, please."

"But it's so exciting!" The little blue fairy performed a loop in the air above Link's head. "This is really starting to feel like an adventure, and I know that we can save the day and fix the mines and—"

"Navi. Shut up. Please, just watch for monsters, alright? I don't need any more Tektites jumping on my head or Keese flying in my face—I had quite enough of that on the way up the mountain. Now that we're in the mountain, we need to be even more careful. Okay?"

"Okay!" Navi did another loop, but once that was out of her system, she contented herself to flying up near the ceiling, back and forth along the corridor as lookout.

Fifteen minutes passed in silence, until the quiet was broken by a chorus of shrill shrieks and sharp whistles.

"Watch out! Keese! Straight ahead!"

"Gotcha!" Link dropped into a crouch and drew his sword, squinting into the darkness ahead. A dark shape flew at him out of the gloom, targeting the light at his waist. Link swung his sword wildly, missing the monster by inches.

"They move erratically, Link! Oh, if only you had a ranged weapon so you could kill them from a distance!"

"Yeah, wouldn't that just make my day?" Link growled. Another Keese flew at him. He chopped it in half with a quick vertical slice. Before the pieces could hit the ground, a third Keese flew at Link's face, crashing into his shoulder and knocking him backwards.

Link swore, killing the creature before it could recover and fly away again.

There were two left. Link could hear their irregular wing beats, but he could not see either of them.

"Navi, can you—"

"There's one over here, Link!" Navi said. She found the Keese in the air and was tailing it closely, illuminating it with her bright blue glow.

Link grinned. When the creature swooped down at him, he swung, neatly slaying it. Then the last Keese hit him from behind, accidentally shattering his lantern. Light bloomed. Glass tinkled against the hard stone floor. Link fell forwards and rolled back to his feet.

"What the—?"

The Keese screamed and returned to the air, flapping its dark wings and fanning the flames that now danced along its body. Link turned and ran.

"Doesn't it care that it's on fire?!" Link shouted as he dashed down the tunnel.

Navi didn't answer, merely prompting Link to duck as the monster swooped down at his head. He threw himself into a roll just as the Keese flew past, its passage casting distracting shadows along the walls. The Keese wheeled around again. Link got his shield on his arm just in time to keep it from slamming into his face.

Link slashed. The Keese died. Navi jingled triumphantly.

"Good thinking, Link! With that metal shield, you won't get burned! Though you know, Darunia said those Fireshield earrings will keep you safe from heat and extinguish flame, so you didn't really have to run away the way you did."

"Run a—Navi! That's not the point! That thing set itself on fire to get at me! Doesn't that strike you as a little bit weird?"

"No. Keese do that, Link. It's quite ordinary."

Link groaned and allowed his shoulders to slump for a moment. Once he had collected himself, he straightened up and smoothed back his hair.

"Okay. Okay. Fire Keese. I can do this. I volunteered, and I guess Darunia did warn me. So I'm prepared. Yup. Totally, completely prepared… What else did he say lived here, Navi?"

Navi flew in a little circle, bobbing around Link's head as he resumed walking. "Don't you remember, Link?"

"Of course I do," Link replied, finally sheathing his sword, "but I don't have a clue what any of the words he said mean, and I didn't think it appropriate to ask, at the time."

Navi chuckled—a quiet, tinkling noise. "Oh, Link, it's easy to be brave when you're clueless, isn't it?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Link gave her a sharp look.

The fairy fluttered aimlessly—her version of a shrug.

Link sighed. "Never mind. Chances are your warnings wouldn't be much help, anyway. You just keep watch, alright? Otherwise I'll end up clueless and dead."

Navi was about to reply, but she was interrupted by the sight of a large, round door in the wall. She zoomed over to it, all other conversation suddenly forgotten.

"Look, Link! It's a door!"

"Yes, Navi, I can see that."

"You should open it!"

"Thank you, Navi, that's a very insightful observation."

If Navi detected Link's sarcasm, she did not show it. She darted and bobbed around the door like an overzealous fly at a window, examining it from every possible angle.

After a moment, Link cleared his throat. "Do you see a handle anywhere, Navi? Because I don't."

"No, Link. But look! There's a huge set of handprints here! Maybe it rolls?"

Link stepped closer. Sure enough, a set of Goron-sized hands had been painted onto the circular door, and faint nicks and scuffs on the hard surface suggested that it had been rolled aside many, many times.

Link nodded, slinging his shield over his back. "I think you're right. Din help me, this is gonna be a pain…"

"Do you think you're strong enough to push it aside, Link?"

"I'd better be," Link answered, placing his hands inside the painted marks. They looked tiny by comparison. "If I'm not, it's gonna be really embarrassing to have to go back and explain after all the effort it took to get down here. Now let's see…"

He gripped the door as best he could, throwing all his weight into pushing the metal slab sideways. It shifted the barest fraction of an inch. Link growled. He closed his eyes and shoved, and the door rolled a few inches more.

Just enough…

Link opened his eyes again, and worked his way to the left, carefully keeping the door in place as he forced his fingers into the gap between the door and the wall. This grip was better. He readjusted his footing, and shoved.

The door rolled aside. Link caught his breath and grinned.

"Those Gorons aren't the only ones with good arms, eh, Navi?"

Navi giggled. "I'm so proud of you, Link! You opened the door all on your own!"

Link's grin faded by a few degrees. "Don't mock me, okay? That was actually really difficult."

Navi protested and expressed her innocence, but Link waved her argument away. He stepped through the doorway and his mouth fell open.

The heat was like a solid wall, impassible and unbearable. Link's Fireshield earrings chimed in his ears and relieved the worst of it, but still, the wide cavern felt like an oven. Link crept forward warily. He stood on a high stone shelf that connected to the rest of the cavern by way of a rickety metal-mesh bridge and a series of narrow catwalks, and the entire space was lit by an eerie red light that shone up from the distant, strangely shifting floor. Link edged closer to the bridge and tested it with his foot. The clank it made was far from reassuring. For some reason, the metal just in front of him was strangely discolored…

A column of flame fountained up from the ground, filling the air with a beast-like roar. Link scrambled back, startled and swearing.

Navi circled Link quickly to check for injuries, then fluttered down to land on his shoulder. "Watch out, Link! The floor is covered in magma! If you fall in, not even the Fireshield earrings will be able to protect you!"

Link sighed, then climbed back to his feet and dusted himself off. "Right. Okay. The floor is lava… fun…" he murmured.

Navi flapped her wings once. "Magma, Link. It's only lava after it's been—"

"Navi? Please, there's a time and a place. This is the one time I'd like to save the lecture until after it's done being relevant, okay?"

Navi jingled, taking to the air again. "Okay, Link. Now remember, we're gonna need to be extra careful in here, alright?"

"Trust me, I have no intention of ending up fried today," Link said as he stepped back to examine the bridge. Though it was rickety, it seemed strong—it had to be strong, if the Gorons used it—and in most places it the metal shone brightly. However, there were irregularly spaced circles of discolored metal all along the bridge's length, and after watching for a few minutes more, Link realized that every discolored patch marked the location of a fire plume. And there—all the way at the other end of this hellish path—was another waiting door.

Link took a deep breath, whispered a prayed for courage, and ran.

One, two, three plumes spewed up in close succession just as Link passed. A fourth spot began to bubble a mere two feet ahead. Link leapt and rolled, clearing the space half a second before the column of fire roared to life behind him and incinerated everything in its path.

Link staggered a few steps forward and paused for a moment to breathe. He was at the halfway point, now, caught in the middle of the bridge between pillars of incandescent death.

"That's terrifying," he gasped after a moment, "that's—that's… the Gorons work in this place?"

"Uh-huh! They're made of stone, Link. Heat doesn't bother them, and I don't think the mountain is actually this active all the time. Didn't Darunia say the mines were extra dangerous right now?"

"I know he mentioned monsters, but giant pillars of fire never came up," Link grumbled, collecting himself once more. "Farore help us—this place is a deathtrap. I hope—"

At that moment, the mountain shook. The bridge rattled. The magma swelled. Link lost his footing.

He fell before he could think to scream, only barely seizing the edge of the bridge in time. Below him, the molten stone roiled, swelling up and ebbing down as if the mountain itself was breathing.

Link hauled himself back up and lay flat on the bridge, gripping the woven metal hard enough to make his fingers hurt. Was that the mountain shaking, now, or was it just him?

Out of the corner of his eye, Link saw Navi fly in a series of low circles. Checking him for injuries, probably.

"Link! Are you okay? You almost died!"

"I'm fine, Navi. Perfectly okay." Try as he might, Link couldn't hide the tremor in his voice.

Navi landed softly on the back of his head. "Are you sure, Link? If we time it right, we can still go back—"

"No! No—that's not gonna happen. " Link stood and dusted himself off, willing his knees to cease their shaking. "I didn't come all this way just to let a little fire and a bit of a fall scare me off. No, I gotta… I gotta… You want me to be a hero, right, Navi? Well, I'm not, yet. But this is the best chance I'm gonna get to live up to that hype. Are you ready to get back to it?"

The little blue fairy jingled and bobbed her willing assent. Link grinned.

When the fire finally fell, Link was ready. The moment the bridge was passable, he dashed, reaching the end with time to spare. The stone shelf was superbly solid under his feet, and Link felt his spirits lift as he shoved the door aside and left the burning bridge behind him.

The next room was dark enough to leave Link feeling blind after the brightness of the magma cave. Even the set of torches that sputtered and sparked by the door seemed dim after the intense incandescence of the molten stone. When Link's eyes finally adjusted to the relative darkness, he made out a small circular chamber with two passages, one branching out to the left and the other winding away to the right. A few random crates sat in the middle of the cave, as well as a few clay pots, but other than that, the chamber was bare.

He pulled the folded map Darunia had given him from his pocket and squinted at it, holding the heavily-creased sheet of paper up to the light. He could just make out the faint rectangle marked over the room beyond the left-hand passage, as well as a hastily scribbled note—something about a key. Sure enough, when Link glanced down the right-hand corridor, he saw that its door was locked by a set of heavy chains held together by a massive padlock. However, when Link looked down the left-hand passage, he found that its door was barred as well—by actual bars—with no lock in sight.

"Well… That's inconvenient. What do you think, Navi?"

The fairy flew around the room, inspecting it, then returned to hover over Link's right shoulder. "Well, you need a key for the one door, but you don't have a key… But I'm sure Darunia would have given you a key, if he thought you needed one. I bet it's being kept safe elsewhere, just in case someone wanders in who's not supposed to be here. Maybe behind that other door?"

"Okay, sure, I'll buy that. But then how the heck am I supposed to get to it when it's locked up even tighter?"

"Maybe there's a secret switch or something, Link! I mean, there has to be a way through! The mines can't be completely sealed off!"

"A secret switch, eh? That would make as much sense as anything else does… Let's see—if I were a switch, where would I hide?" Link looked around the room again. "If I were designing this place, and I wanted to lock the key to the door behind another door, and I didn't want anyone to know except the people who were supposed to know… Well, then I'd have it hidden in such a way that only those in the know could access it. Just like… Just like our cargo hold."

Link paced forwards, casting a new eye over the room, searching for the telltale scuffs that might reveal a pressure switch.

"Just like your cargo hold? What do you mean, Link?"

"I'm a smuggler, Navi. You weren't there, but Groose caught me when he accidentally pushed a crate over our secret switch. He got lucky—it was one in a million that he'd do what he did—but he did and he found us. Now please, give me a minute. I can figure this out of you just let me think."

Navi jingled a quiet assent and settled on Link's shoulder. Link bit the inside of his cheek.

There were three crates in the room, all of them identically marked with the Goron emblem. He gave one a tap with his foot. It seemed solidly built and extremely heavy, not that that mattered to a Goron. Tilting his head for a better angle, Link knelt down and brushed the floor with his fingers. Light though they were, Link felt a series of long, ragged scratched carved into the stone. He grinned.

"You might want to get off my shoulder, Navi. I'm gonna push this."

Navi obliged, cheering Link on. Link shook out his arms, rolled his neck, then braced himself against the crate, throwing all his weight against it. It shifted one inch, then another, then another, until a large square pressure pad popped up out of the ground under Link's feet.

Link stepped aside, breathing heavily. The bars over the left-hand door receded into the ceiling with a loud metallic clang. Link nodded, satisfied. Navi landed again on his shoulder.

"Good job, Link! Now, be careful, okay? I'm sure it's only going to get more dangerous from here on in!"

"Of course it is," Link replied, chuckling softly as he brushed himself off and straightened his gear, "I'm not lucky enough for these things to ever come easy. Let's just pray this next door is lighter than the first two."

It wasn't, of course, but Link pushed it open all the same.

The room beyond the left-hand door was small and circular, more an oddly-shaped hallway than a chamber in its own right. Strange, misshapen skulls from some unknown breed of monster littered the floor, and in the center of the room, a rectangular pillar stood watch, the gleaming red crystal set at its top staring out with an odd, inanimate malevolence.

"Navi, what is—"

"Watch out! Incoming Keese!"

Link hit the floor. He felt the rush of wind as the monster passed an inch over his head, then heard the shriek and the thud as it slammed heavily into the back wall and tumbled to the ground.

"Kick it, Link! Before it gets back in the air!"

Link did. His foot caught the Keese just as it was starting to shake itself off and flipped the little monster end over end towards the center of the room.

The pillar buzzed and clanked to life. The red crystal glowed. The pillar shifted. A beam of intense light shot out and incinerated the Keese before it had a chance to move. The pillar gave a low whine and settled back into its lifeless sleep.

Link blinked, his mouth shaping words he could not articulate.

"Wha—what was… What just…"

"That's a Beamos, Link. I think it's part of the Goron's security system. Beamos see the heat that most creatures give off, and they blast everything they see. But Gorons are made of stone and don't give off heat, so all the Goron workers are safe. But you're not a Goron, Link, so if you get too close, it will see you and probably try to blast you."

"Well… That explains the monster skulls, at least. How do I—how do I get past it?"

Navi fluttered in place for a long moment, thinking.

"Well, normally I'd tell you to destroy its eye, because it can't kill you if it can't see you, but since you don't have any sort of projectile weapon, I don't think you can do that without getting killed."

"I suppose it's too much to hope these earrings will protect me?"

"I don't know, Link. They take a moment to kick in, and while they might keep you alive, I think that beam will still have enough time to really hurt you before they can activate."

"Of course. Perfect. So what do I do, then? How do I get through here if I can't fight it and I don't have a way to blind it?"

Navi landed on Link's shoulder again, her wings drooping dejectedly. "Um… Run fast and pray?"

"Marvelous. I seem to be doing a lot of that, all of a sudden. Right. Well, here goes nothing…"

Link took a deep breath and bolted. The Beamos hummed to life again, its crystal eye charging in an instant to fire after Link's heels. He could feel the heat on the back of his legs—he could hear the sizzle of the air frying behind him.

Link hurled himself forward, rolling the last few feet. The beam of light followed Link to the edge of the circle—and stopped. The deathly hum of machinery petered and died. The Beamos went still. Link gave a small chuckle and dusted himself off.

"Alright. That wasn't too bad," he said, as he grabbed the next door and shoved it aside. "The key should be up through here, I think."

The instant he was through the doorway, the stone slab slid back into place behind him, and a set of steel bars slammed down from the ceiling, sealing Link's only way out. Startled, he swore and jumped forward, accidentally bumping into one of the strange, grotesque iron statues that crouched in the center of the room.

The moment Link's skin made contact with the cold metal, the statue opened it's massive singular eye and rumbled to life, opening its gaping mouth to roar at Link. Link leapt backwards, stumbling into the second statue. It shook and rumbled. Link swore, dashing back towards the wall before anything worse could happen.

To his horror, the statues followed, hopping after him on their carven, inanimate legs. Their giant green eyeballs glowed bright in the dim room, the eerie light reflecting wickedly off their jagged, rough-cut teeth.

"Navi! What are these things?" Link cried, drawing his sword and swinging at the nearest statue. His blade clanged uselessly against the living steel. He felt a fearful chill creep through his blood. "What do I do?!"

"Armos, Link! Another part of the Goron security! When you get too close, they wake up and try to jump on you—but if you can shatter the crystals they all have on their backs, you should be able to break them completely!"

"And how do I do that? How do I get behind them when they're chasing me?" Link asked, frantically backpedaling around the walls of the room. Thankfully, the Armos didn't seem very smart—they chased him mindlessly and made no effort to actively surround him, but Link knew he would not be able to run forever.

"I—I don't know, Link! Maybe—maybe if you can find a way to stun them? Or if you can get far enough away, they'll deactivate, or—"

"I'm trapped in a small round room! There's nowhere to run, Navi!"

"I don't know, Link! I don't know I don't know I don't know!"

Link gritted his teeth and tried to get a handle on his wits. Though the Armos seemed relentless, there had to be a way to stop them—had to be something he could do to save himself. If they weren't made of metal, the Armos would be almost harmless—the things were slow, and they stopped moving completely every few moments to roar at him, but with nowhere to go and no way to fight them, Link felt his luck quickly running out.

"Hey! Listen! Look over here, Link!" Navi squeaked, jingling frantically.

"I'm kinda busy at the moment!" Link shouted back, risking a quick glance over his shoulder. "What is it?" He stumbled slightly. One of the Armos caught up with Link and threw its weight mercilessly against him, knocking Link flat on his back. He couldn't breathe—but he couldn't wait. Bruised and gasping, Link scrambled back to his feet and kept running.

"I found some bomb flowers, Link! Growing here, in the center of the room!"

Link couldn't find enough air to reply, but an insane spark caught fire in his panicked mind, bringing light to an even crazier idea. Link sprinted towards the room's center. The Armos hopped after him, falling ever so slightly behind.

Link pulled a bomb flower up by its roots. The faint sizzling of its natural fuse seemed louder than everything, except perhaps Link's own racing heart. He forced himself to wait, and wait, and wait—

The nearest Armos stopped to roar. Link shoved the bomb into its gaping mouth, dashed across the room, and raised his shield. The Armos began to glow. Hairline cracks appeared on its smooth iron face. The thing growled and whirred and shrieked and spun in wild circles—and shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. Shrapnel flew everywhere, pinging against Link's shield. He felt something sharp graze his arm, but he didn't have time to register it.

The second Armos was closing in. Link sucked down a deep gasp of air, dashed back into the center of the room, and grabbed another bomb flower. When the Armos stopped to roar, Link stuffed the flower in its mouth and retreated again. Only when the Armos was gone did Link allow himself to breathe. He leaned against the wall and sank down to the floor to sit.

Instantly, Navi was in his face. "Link! Are you okay? That was brilliant! How did you know that would work?"

Link waited until he could breathe before answering. "I… I didn't. Just sorta… went for it."

"Well, it worked, and that was brilliant! Are you gonna to do the same thing for the last one?"

Link looked up. He had forgotten about the third Armos statue—it was still sitting inanimately where it had sat before, immobile, and apparently harmless.

Link sighed and got back to his feet. "No, Navi, I'd really rather not. This time, I'm going to do things the smart way."

He walked up behind the Armos, raised his sword, and rapped his hand against the back of its head. The Armos' activated, and the crystal on its back began to glow green. Link stabbed his sword through the stone before the thing could open its eye. The mechanical hum stopped. The Armos deactivated and fell dead.

On cue, a small hatch opened in the ceiling, dropping a shining silver key to the floor by Link's feet. Link picked it up and grinned.

"Well, Navi, it looks like I can finally enter the mines for real, now. Do you think I can make it?"

"Of course, Link! The hardest part might be still ahead, but I know we can handle it together!"

Ah, autumn... The fire-colored leaves, the pleasant chill in the air, the knowledge that tomorrow I get to dress up as a clown and scare everyone who comes too near... I love October! Happy Halloween, people, I hope you enjoyed this month's chapter of Red Lion's Flying!

Thanks to everyone who left a review, last time. I love seeing what you think each month-it does a lot to keep me fighting when writer's block inevitably rears its ugly head. Thanks for reading, and thanks for coming so far with me.

Anyway, next month is November, and you know what that means? Nanowrimo! (If you don't have a clue what that string of letters means, it's NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth, a contest-thing where a bunch of people all get together on the internet and try to write 50,000 words in about 30 days. It's totally crazy, but also a lot of fun.) I intend to participate again this year, and while I'm going to try to get next month's chapter finished on the side in addition to my novel, there's a very good chance I won't be able to pull it off.

I'm going to try, but even if I can't get it done by the deadline, I WILL have another chapter by the month after. Because I know how annoying extended delays can be, and I don't want to do that to anyone.

So yeah. Thanks again for reading, and thanks to those of you who decide to review! I'll see you all next time!

Have a happy Halloween!

~Garsson