Chapter 10: Death Mountain Palace
It took three days, but Link headed across the river and north, right up into the sprawling Death Mountain. He ran into many Peahats and Lynels, so got used to keeping his bow out and shooting them from far off, before they knew he was there. It was tough as the fall winds kicked in, sending in unexpected gusts that could throw his arrow off course. The winds also helped trigger rock falls, sending large boulders careening down his way. But even smaller stones proved dangerous, as a mass stream of them once engulfed a Lynel and threw it down the cliffs. Little wonder people called this Death Mountain.
He arrived at the Spectacle Rock formation, a twin pair of thick rock pillars, about as large as three huts from Link's village all crowded together and made taller. He camped near them, but not by them, so as to be less conspicuous. In the morning, he went back to examine Spectacle Rock.
The Triforce of Power clearly indicated that he wanted the eastern rock. Taking a guess, he planted a bomb where it was strongest and backed off. The bomb blasted an entrance to an interior room. This held an unlit fire pot and a spiral staircase heading down. There was also a sign stretched across the top of the staircase, stating that this exit to the palace was sealed off. Not any more. Link removed the chair holding the sign and headed down the staircase.
What he walked into was definitely a palace. The floors were covered in white marble tiles, and the walls and ceiling were both made to be white too, with elaborate trim on the edges. The gargoyles here were brightly colored and decorated with lavish jewels of all kinds. So close to an exit to the surface? Maybe that was why Ganon had sealed it off.
He passed into the next room, which seemed to be filled with even more treasures: pieces of art, rich clothing, jewels, coins made of precious metals, musical instrument, fine metal weapons, and so on, and so on. Standing in there, it was tempting to take something and leave. Many of these items, if sold, could get him an easy life beyond this. But that wouldn't solve anyone else's problems, and Ganon would still hunt him down for what pieces of the Triforce he had. And really, with the power to wish for anything, the Triforce was a much greater treasure than any of these. So Link left them alone and moved on.
The next set of rooms all seemed to be treasure storage too, but these rooms had guards: Likelikes with skull bubbles, Wizzrobes with gels, they all took him to be a thief and attacked. Link was used to them, though, and fought back more effectively. That is, until he made a full loop and ended up back near the entrance again.
Stepping back into the room he had just left, Link considered it. Of course Ganon didn't want the people under his rule getting access to these things. But the Triforce had given him this way and it had to be right. Thinking over it, there might be a room inside the loop. He went over to the wall it would be behind and hit it with his sword. It made that distinctive 'chink' noise. Link set a bomb there, then preceded into the hidden room.
And had to rush to the side as he got dashed at by two red snakes. The red snakes weren't like the fire snakes; they were faster and they didn't move through the concrete blocks. Link defeated them, then noticed a familiar layout: a number of tall blocks encircling part of the floor, usually hiding a staircase to a tunnel. He pushed a block aside and found that he had been right. He went down.
The tunnel headed north, going for quite a long ways. There were Keese as usual. He fought them, then emerged to be surrounded by those tall stone blocks. While it was still lavish looking (the blocks had abstract patterns carved into them), this no longer seemed like a treasury. Link saw one path out of he blocks, so went that way.
He immediately was faced with two Likelikes. He reached for his boomerang and threw it at them, stunning them both in place. Then he slashed them both repeatedly to dispatch them before they revived. Then a third Likelike came around a corner. Link fought it, and three more, before he ran into another doorway.
However, the Triforce did an odd thing. It shone its tendril past the door and to the other wall. Was the Triforce piece, and therefore Ganon, so close? Worried, he went to the next door cautiously and went through.
It was a dark room, but the piece led him to go straight. He lit the room first, thankfully since it turned out to have streams of acid water. These weren't so big, so he simply jumped them. And since the next doorway was open, he even ignored the Wizzrobes. They turned out to be the dumb ones and ignored him too.
In the next room, he heard a loud buzzing chorus, like a swarm of bees. And that's what lay in this room, a single large orange bee about the size of a fairy. It called up a mass of smaller blue bees to circle around it and attempt to collide into or sting Link. He brought up his shield and slashed at them. However, although his sword passed by four of them, he only hit one. The small quick targets would be hard to take down. He tried swinging at the orange bee, but it faded, not letting the hit connect. And then one of the blue bees ran into his shoulder, bounced off, then went back into formation.
This would take a long time. Link pulled out his magic rod and tried the Wave Burn spell on them. One caught on fire. They were moving so fast that when the mother bee drew them in close, the embers flew onto the next bee and lit it on fire, and so on down the line. Once all the blue bees were gone, something happened to the orange bee's magic. It could no longer go intangible. Link defeated it and got a set of bombs for his trouble. The Triforce then pointed him through the one blank wall.
If it said so. Link lit a bomb and threw it over there. It opened up a passage to the next room, which was filled with Wizzrobes, Likelikes, and skull bubbles. It seemed tough, but then he used the Wave Burn spell to set the Likelikes on fire. It didn't work on the Wizzrobes, but with the Likelikes gone, it was easier to nail them with arrows. A miniblin chest appeared.
Avoiding the Skull bubbles, Link went over to the chest and opened it up. Inside, there was a silver ring. Pulling it out, he noticed that it had a half yin or yang sign on it, a red swirl with a blue dot on it. Checking the blue one he had, he fit the red ring over it. The two rings clicked together, combining their protective powers. That was reassuring.
But now, the Triforce was directing him back into the room he had just left. It was guiding him through this dungeon palace? Considering that bee enemy, Link was grateful. He thought a prayer of thanks to the goddesses, then went on his way.
It was a good thing to have the guide. Otherwise, he might have gotten disoriented with all the tunnels, walls that needed to be bombed, plus the monsters. It continued to be lots of Wizzrobes, Likelikes, skull bubbles, and Gels, with a few of those bee things. He found one nameplate that called it a Patra, but then that had been a fake out. There had been four doors in that room with the Patra plus a staircase, all of which sealed until the Patra bees were killed. Knowing how to deal with them now, Link used fire and his sword.
The Triforce then led him south (at least, he thought it was south) in the five way Patra crossroads, which led him to another Wizzrobe and bubbles battle. The Triforce then led him to the next room (the only option) where he saw two blue colored monster snakes in the room. The two lifted their heads and looked at him with their strangely large eyes. Then they started racing recklessly about the room, seemingly not caring if they actually hit him or not.
Link was momentarily alarmed. Those snakes were moving faster than any being he had ever seen in his life. He brought out his boomerang and tried to stun them. It took some time to actually hit one, but when he did, it had no effect. They were much too fast for his bow, or the magic rod. And they both seemed intelligent enough to keep away from a lit bomb, which blew up to no effect. These things were just too fast.
Finally, he readied his sword for a spin attack, but held off on using it. When their random motions brought them near, Link released the spin attack, finally damaging the both of them. They were determined not to get killed yet; this made him glad that he had the Master Sword, because the White sword would have taken much longer. After another three spin attacks, he finally destroyed them both. They left nothing but snake skins behind. Well, that and a miniblin chest that had appeared.
Seeing that, Link felt that this was a good time for a break. He pulled out the Orb of Sanctuary, set it on the floor, and flicked the switch. It emitted a soothing white glow and a quiet hiss, but no more. But Link could also see the protective magic symbol that had appeared beneath it. This room was now safe. He knelt down and opened up the chest.
And out shot an orange haired fairy. "GAH!" it screamed. "Those frikkin frackin Miniblins…" she saw him, then blushed. "Oh my gosh, sorry for the language! But I've been through an awful time. Blah. Man it's gonna take me weeks to get rid of that miniblin stench."
Despite himself, Link smiled a bit. He bowed his head to her. She was okay now.
"Yeah, I am. Thanks, and I'll… oh wait, you're already a friend to fairies? Geez, you must be some big shot hero. Anyhow… oh, you have a magic quiver." She giggled and twirled around, then flew closer. "I know a secret that Ganon doesn't want me to," she said in a sing song voice.
He raised his eyebrows. That could be why she had been taken by Miniblins.
"Exactly! The thing is, Ganon's horrifically powerful now, having used all sorts of demonic magic to make himself invincible. But, he could only get near invincible with the magic of hell. There are two weapons which, if used in tandem, will bring him down and undo all his self preservation magic. Gosh, it sounds like he's pickled himself, huh? Anyhow, you have one weapon, which is the divinely blessed Master Sword. And the other weapon, I can enchant for you. You need the Silver Arrows, arrows that have been given a blessing to be holy weapons as well. And I can make your quiver so that it always gives out Silver Arrows. Here, I'll get right to work."
She flew over to his quiver, then placed her hands upon it and chanted something that sounded like bells. A silver glow came from the quiver. When it faded, the fairy pulled out an arrow that seemed to be coated with a fine silver dust.
"And there are your Silver Arrows! How's that?"
He took it and saw the magic, which was much like that of the Master Sword. He nodded and gave a gesture of thanks.
"Great! Now, I'm outta here. But don't think of it as me ditching you. Think of it as me ditching Ganon. Bye bye!" She then disappeared in a puff of pink smoke.
With that taken care of, Link sat down against the miniblin chest and rested. Who knew when he'd run into Ganon, or Zelda. He'd come such a long ways already. But, he had only run into the dumb monsters thus far. Maybe that was a downside Ganon hadn't considered, that the dumber monsters would be unable to report an intruder like him. They were very tough monsters, and if he hadn't been experienced with most of them already, he would have taken a lot longer to get to this point, if he even got this far at all.
After having a snack of some nuts and dried berries, Link retrieved the Orb of Sanctuary and turned it off, putting it away. He took out his sword and shield, moving ahead by following the Triforce of Power's guidance.
He went back to the crossroad room and went west this time, entering a dark room. Firing the wave burn spell revealed that it was just protected by large Gels and a ring of acid water. The upper door wasn't even shut. He was able to run through a room full of Wizzrobes, only to encounter a room with Wizzrobes and spiked wall traps. The Triforce was leading him downward, so he dispatched all the Wizzrobes first. But that didn't reveal a staircase. Instead, he spotted a block near a pressure plate. Adjusting the Goron's Power Bracelet, he pulled the block onto the pressure plate, then turned to where he heard the door open.
It was underneath one of the wall traps. Link took a deep breath, then approached the trap, making it look as though he was headed for the wall. The spike traps on three corners sprung, rushing along the wall in an attempt to impale him. But he had stayed diagonal from the corner until he could run down the stairs without worrying about being hit.
He passed through a long winding tunnel, then emerged into a room with a Patra. Almost right on top of the thing, so he got hit immediately by three of the summoned bees. He could also dispatch two of them quickly with his sword, but then he ran off to get out of range and pull out the magic rod. This one kept its ring of small bees close, tilting them. That made it easier to set the small bees on fire, then kill the Patra mother unit.
There was only one door in the room, so he took out his medicine bottle and drank some of it to ease up the bruises and stings that he had taken from the Patra. He paused to let it work, and then went through the unlocked door.
Next was a surprisingly normal looking room. It was still lavish, with black and gray marble tiles instead of white, fancy jeweled gargoyles in the four corners, a simple chandelier of those glowing crystals, a large wooden desk strewn with papers, pens, an ink bottle, and notebook, and a large classy wooden bench with a dragging set cushion. The thing breaking up this apparently normal upper class scene was the one who was sitting in the bench seat. Ganon, the massive green skinned monster-pig like man, wearing a grand black cape with a golden crest on it and a tight pair of black shorts (tight on him, anyhow).
On hearing the door open, Ganon grunted and sniffed, which came out like some disgusting slobbering sound. He remained in a slouched position; otherwise, he might have hit his head on the ceiling of this room. "Slave, if you're not bringing in a meal, then leave me alone, hear?" He flicked his hand back and casually threw a fireball the size of Link's head at him.
Link brought up his shield and blocked the fireball. Then he drew his sword back out. He gave a brief prayer for the protection of the goddesses. The three parts of the Triforce glowed.
"Didn't I tell you to get out?" Ganon demanded and finally turned his head.
He saw the glowing parts of the Triforce, getting a similar glow from a single fragment hanging around his neck. And he saw the glow of the Master Sword, sending a white light onto the dark colored floor. And he must have seen the determination in Link's eyes, since he felt it so strongly himself.
"An assassin?" Ganon whirled up from the bench, somehow sending the furniture away. He avoided hitting the ceiling, but even then, had to crouch down to fit. "Grrr, you fool! No one can defeat me now, no one! And soon, I will be able to strike down the three goddesses themselves. Do not think that Golden Power will be enough to save you, boy. You only have one whole, but I'm sure you have no idea how to use them. Let me show you what I can do with just one piece of it!"
And then, he vanished. The four gargoyles started spitting out fireballs, each in turn. Link brought his shield close, then spotted another giant fireball coming his way. He turned to block it. So Ganon was now invisible. Link ran over to where the fireball had come from and swung through the air.
He hit nothing. In the meantime, another giant fireball came flying at him. "I'm not even doing anything major," Ganon taunted him, from yet another part of the room. "I can burn entire villages just by snapping my fingers. I can bring down entire mountains by stomping at the base. I can turn a clear cloudless sky into a violent typhoon. You might as well give up."
No. He would not do that. He swung in a wide arc, still not hitting anything. He had to find out where Ganon was now. He played defensive, listening for the tyrant to speak again.
"You're the quietest hero that I've ever encountered," Ganon said before launching a fireball at him. When he spoke next it was from another spot. "Most would boast and yell. Oh wait… you must be that ignorant little boy from Waterfront. So that's twice now that one person has stood up to me. I'll make sure to have you suffer so you learn your…"
Link got near the voice and stabbed in its direction. He got a pig-like squeal in response as Ganon turned visible again. He was sitting, more or less, and Link had got him in one fatty knee. He pulled the sword out then got his bow and shot a Silver Arrow in between Ganon's eyes.
It let loose a flash of silver light which cut right through Ganon, disintegrating a hole through his head. But it didn't stop there. The silver light spread, burning away Ganon's body with a strange fire. The tyrant didn't even get to scream as his mouth and throat were swallowed up quickly. A minute later, there was nothing but a golden piece of the Triforce on top of a large pile of ashes.
His heart thumping, Link looked around the room. Was that really it? He knew what the fairy had said. But had it just taken a single stroke of his sword and a single arrow through his head to kill the evil pig man wizard Ganon?
And then something happened. The magic in the room began to unravel. The lavish setting quickly turned into gray and brown stones. With his death, a great many of his spells were coming undone. That was a sign that he was truly dead.
A black spirit emerged from the ashes. "What?" a faint echo of Ganon's voice cried out. "Some voiceless country boy is the one who defeated me? This can't be! Look, if I had been using my full powers, you would be dead seven times over now. And just so you know, I'm going to be telling the monsters under my command the secret to bringing me back to life. And that's to rip the heart out of your body and sprinkle the blood over my ashes. And believe me, you haven't seen the worst of my savages. You will die." The dark ghost then vanished, somehow taking the ashes with it.
But not the Triforce piece. Link went over and picked it up. It began to glow along with the other fragments of Power. Placing them together, the piece reformed just as Wisdom had. So all he needed now was the last fragment of Courage. Impa said that they would discuss where that piece was, once he returned with Zelda.
The three Triforce pieces then directed him into the next room. Link entered and found that either the enchantments were still strong in here or this one was more real than the rest. It was like a gray and brown cave, with blue glow crystals lighting it up. But there was a ring of magic fire surrounding the doorway. Past the room, there was a cot, a table with a stool and a bench, a spring of water, a toilet urn, and a fire pit. There was a girl sitting on the cot, wearing long red dress that was getting tattered at the edges, black shoes, and a pearl necklace.
But something was wrong. This girl had long red hair. He recalled seeing Zelda in a violet dress, with long brown hair. Was this even the right girl? At any rate, he slashed at the fires. The Maser Sword flashed, causing them to go out.
The girl got up then. "Oh, are you here to rescue me? I'm Princess Zelda. Please, let's get out of here before Ganon comes and… unless…" she looked at his necklace.
Link showed her the whole Triforce of Power to prove that Ganon was dead.
"Oh, you've already defeated him? Wonderful, thank you so much! All of Hyrule will be glad. Still, we had best leave. I recall Ganon mentioning an exit in a room around here."
It may have been a Princess Zelda, but she wasn't the one he was looking for. Still, he shook his head, then put up his sword and held out his left hand. When she accepted it, he used the Triforce of Wisdom to teleport them away.
One of the most anticlimatic final bosses ever, if not the most. True, he's invincible unless you have the Silver Arrows, but they're located right in his dungeon, along with the red ring that helps you take less damage from the multitude of fireballs flying around the room. He does take a few more hits than just two, if I remember right, but still, easy-peasy final boss. The Patras you have to get through are tougher than Ganon himself. Of course, they're quick little things and only damage to the center bee will kill the whole lot, while Ganon is so big that his sprite is crouching instead of standing.
Patra is another early Zelda enemy that would be neat to see in a modern game. I'd like to see any of them that haven't been seen since (or rarely). Although, if the Manhandla/Killer Tulips is rendered how I imagine it, it'd be pretty gross in 3-D.
As is in canon, Link now has two whole pieces of the Triforce and has rescued a Princess Zelda. Now onto Adventure of Link, where he quests for another Triforce piece and is sent to rescue another Princess Zelda! Actually, more like an interlude between the two games is coming...