Nine
I had never before seen the city so utterly silent as it was when we arrived. The torches were lit, though some of them were just barely, and there was no steady murmur of Goron voices. Just the faint hint of rumble and crash from a lone, small Goron rolling around and around the second tier of the city.
We searched, before we tried to stop the young one. Darunia's room and the Goron shop were both sealed by doors that we couldn't get through. I searched the interior from top to bottom while Link went outside and searched down the trail to the base of the mountain and back, dodging boulders that came rolling down from the mountains and flying from the volcano itself.
By the time he came back in, I had managed to cover the fact that everyone missing had made me physically ill. I knew Darunia wouldn't blame this on me, but I blamed me. If I had hidden somewhere else, perhaps, none of this would have happened.
I know now that they are right, Ruto and Darunia both. It was not my fault. If anyone was to blame, it was Ganondorf, for his desire for power and control. He had placed the curses on the temples to prevent the awakenings, and to gain some revenge for the fact that they had defied him for so long. My presence, or lack thereof, would have made no difference.
But at that time, I was still so very young, and I loved much easier. The Gorons and the Zora had both become, in small part, my new tribe, and them being gone was almost too much to bear.
"...he's the only Goron left," I said quietly, nodding at the rolling Goron child. "He won't respond to me when I speak. I think his crashing into the ground prevents him from even noticing me."
Link took my hand for a moment, and squeezed gently. I managed a weak smile, one that I knew didn't—couldn't—reach my eyes, and squeezed back.
"So... if he won't talk while he's rolling, can we make him stop?"
I half-shrugged.
"I don't know," I admitted. "I had thought my voice my reach him, as they all know me, but... but clearly that was overly optimistic."
He squeezed my hand again, clearly trying to be comforting. I sighed gustily, and let myself lean against him for a minute, even as I wished that he were Sheik. I contemplated briefly why Sheik hadn't even acknowledged me that much in the Sacred Forest Meadow, before shoving the question away.
"Other Gorons would provide a blockade if they needed to stop the rollers, but... well, if we try it, we'll just get run over, and probably break things. Like bones," I continued after a minute. "Which, y'know, wouldn't end well."
"The Light medallion would help with that," Link volunteered. "Rauru said that it would help the person holding it to heal faster."
"Faster doesn't mean instant though," I pointed out, "and having to wait weeks because we did something stupid in the name of something good kind of defeats the purpose, don't you think?"
He nodded after a minute, and looked down, towards the rolling Goron child.
"Who is it, do you know?"
This got a real smile, even as I stayed away from the edge. Even a fence between me and the edge gave little comfort from the fact that it was so very high.
"I think it's Darunia's son. Link."
Link turned and blinked at me. I couldn't help the weak giggle.
"Yeah. He named his kid after you, because you cleared out the dodongo."
"Not you?"
"Link's a boy. I think. Don't ask me, I'm not a Goron. I just called them all Brother, and they called me Brother." I paused for a moment, then smiled a little wryly. "Except Darunia, who called me Sister, when he didn't call me by name."
That made Link smile too.
"But not much hurts them," I said thoughtfully. "I've seen them shake off bomb blasts with no troubles."
"Throwing bombs at a kid just sounds so wrong," Navi opined.
I half-smiled, half-grimaced in agreement.
"Still, if it's the only way to stop him, then we should probably give it a try," I sighed a little, rubbing the back of my neck with my free hand. "I need to know what happened here..."
Of course, stopping him was easier said than done. While Link still had the bomb bag, and we'd both grown enough in strength to pull bomb flowers with ease, it was a matter of timing. And that was a small bit problematic. As in, neither of us were very good at it. We avoided blowing ourselves up to be certain, but more often than not, Link the Goron would simply roll back in the direction he'd come from. Or bounce over the bomb, and let it detonate behind him.
In the depth of Goron City, there's a sort of... timelessness. Without being near the surface entrance, the passage of time was hard to keep track of. Gorons tended to eat or sleep as they grew hungry or tired. Link the Goron seemed to not feel either of those, which only added to a growing sense of frustration.
I had never cast Din's Fire in anger before. But I was so stressed. Link laid the bomb, hissing, in the small Goron's path; when he jumped over it, then hurriedly started turning around to avoid running into us—something that I hadn't entirely expected the first time but had grown annoyed with as the hours passed and bombs were wasted—something in me just popped.
Now, the default form of Din's Fire is a dome of fire with the caster at it's center that expands rapidly outwards, dependent on the power the caster puts into the spell. I had had the crystal for a handful of years, and learned other ways to utilized the flames.
Like... fireballs.
I am still not proud of that, but it did do the trick. The explosion of fire and bomb knocked the young Goron sideways, and he rolled to a stop against the wall. When he came up, he was ready to fight, his hands curled into fists, one of which was already cocked back and ready to swing.
"All right you, you Ganondorf's soldiers!" he cried. "Bring it on, goro!"
I just muttered a few choice phrases under my breath about children being stubborn, and tapped my foot irritably.
"Do I look like a solider to you, Link?" I demanded.
Both Hylian and Goron jumped at the sharpness of my voice. Link the Goron looked at me for a long moment, then rushed in and gave me a hug that squeezed the air right out of me.
"Gentle, gentle!" I yelped, feeling my back popping.
"Oh! S-sorry, goro," he said sheepishly, putting me down gingerly. "Brother, you've come back! Are you here to save everyone?"
I massaged my ribs gingerly, nodding a little, then quickly warded off another hug.
"Link the Goron, meet Link the dodongo buster," I said hastily, pointing to the blonde young man. "Link, Link."
It sounded ridiculous, not to mention confusing, but it did the trick, diverting the young Goron in his tracks.
"Really? The legendary dodongo buster and hero, Link?" he asked, eyes shining.
"Uh..." Link looked at me, and I nodded. "Yes?"
"Wow! Brother, you brought someone really strong to help you! You'll definitely be able to rescue the others!"
I frowned.
"Excuse you," I huffed. "Pretty sure I could save them on my own!"
Link the Goron looked a bit sheepish. After a moment I sighed, relenting.
"But he will be helpful, yes. Tell us what happened."
Link the Goron nodded, looking serious for a moment.
"When Dad took you down the mountain, Ganondorf's men came and rounded up the others who guarded the path up, goro," he said, expression falling a little. "And then a few weeks later, other Gorons started going missing too, until eventually there were only a few left here, and then Ganondorf's men came in force somehow, goro, and caught everyone else but me and Dad.
"Dad locked us in his room, and they didn't try to break the door down, goro, they only laughed and said that they'd captured enough of us to feed to Volvagia, a-and..."
And the Goron child burst into tears. I winced, stepping forward to put an arm around his shoulders.
"What's 'Volvagia'?" Navi asked, bobbing light around the wailing Goron's head.
"A legend and spooky story, mostly," I replied. "I think..."
"A-a long time ago, goro, there was a mean dragon in the mountain," Link interrupted, sniffling. "He ate Gorons! B-but the hero of the Gorons... Boom!" And he smacked a hand down onto the ground, producing a small indent and a myriad of cracks. "Killed him just like that, with a huge hammer! Dad says it's a myth, but it's also true, because we're descended from that hero!"
He rubbed at his eyes, but it wasn't hard to guess that he was starting to feel teary again.
"Where is Darunia?" I asked hastily, wanting to ward off more wailing.
"He w-went to the Fire Temple, goro, to try and save everyone. That's where the dragon is, goro."
"Which means that's where they took everyone else..." I nodded slowly. "Link, kiddo, we'll get them all back, but I need you to do me a favor, okay?"
"Wh-what, goro?"
"Two things. I need you to open the door to Darunia's room, and he," I motioned to Link the Hylian, who had been listening quietly, "is going to need a Goron tunic so that the heat doesn't flatten him to death."
"...Dad said I shouldn't b-but..." Link the Goron sniffled a little, and straightened his spine a bit. "But you can help, goro, so I will."
I smiled a little, and patted him on the head.
The young Goron preceded us down the stairs, and lifted the doors that blocked the way into the Goron shop, and Darunia's chambers. I felt almost nostalgic to see the heavy stone door lifting up, and I shook myself after a moment. We weren't children any more, and now was not the time to think such.
Link went into the shop and returned quickly, handing over a Goron tunic to his Hylian counterpart, who glanced over at me. I nodded a little.
"Trust me, you'll need it," I said with a dry smile. "Just change."
I was glad to change out of my wolfos-blood-spattered shirt, and lacked the modesty to care that I was essentially stripping before Link, trading the ruined shirt and leggings for the magical Fire tunic, and clean pants. It was almost amusing to see that he'd turned a bright red and was torn between staring and not staring as I adjusted my belts, and slung the bow over my back.
Modesty is entirely a Hylian thing, I swear. Though perhaps it's born from there being a disparity of genders? Hm.
Either way, once he noticed I had noticed, his blush got worse, and he quickly traded his Kokiri-green for the Goron-red. And I will not lie, it looked very attractive on him. Being much less on the easily embarrassed scale, I nodded approvingly.
"Looks good on you," I teased.
That just made him blush harder. I couldn't help but snicker.
I had known for a while that the statue in Darunia's room could be moved; while it was near-flush with the wall, there was just enough leeway to feel hot air sliding through every now and again. And I'll say again, the hot air of a volcano is not the same as the hot air in a desert. This heat tended to make me feel like I was actually melting.
The interior of the volcano is much bigger than it initially appears. Lava that never cools rumbled softly below the solid portions of the large ledge we came out on, and the heat hit like a hammer blow. Link immediately staggered, and I swore a little; it was my first time actually going into the crater myself, so while I had some experience with the heat of lava—there was some held in a sort of abeyance in the Goron City itself—to feel it on this level was... well, staggering.
A light haze made the air wavery and somewhat difficult to see through. Once we'd both regained our balance we looked around, with me staying far back from the visible edge; looking down onto lava was much like looking down onto the ground that was very far away. Either way meant death to me.
Eventually Link found the broken bridge, and waved me over.
"Think you can jump that?" he asked.
Assessing a gap without looking down wasn't easy, and despite the smothering heat, I shivered, and shook my head.
"Probably not a good idea for me to try," I admitted, rubbing my palms lightly against my hips nervously. "I can't decide if that makes Darunia clever or dumb..."
That made him snort a little.
"All right, well, if you can't jump it, you'll have to hold on. Dropping the hookshot in the lava would probably be bad too."
It was the first joke I'd heard him make, and I blinked at him in surprise, then managed a tiny smile.
"Thanks, Link."
It was hard to tell if he was blushing, the heat from the volcano had us both rather flushed. But I still think he was.
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, and closed my eyes. He put an arm that trembled, just a little, around my waist, then used the hookshot to get us safely across the gap. When my feet his the wooden slats on the other side, I loosened my hold some, and peeked very carefully before releasing him fully; the bridge had no rails, no, but as long as I looked at the end of the bridge, and not down at the gaps, I would be fine.
As if sensing this, Link took my hand, giving me an anchor should I mess up, and led the way. We made it halfway down when Sheik appeared. This time, it was my Sheik, though how I knew I wasn't sure. I watched him land easily on the dirt that comprised the anchored end of the bridge, watched him straight... and watched him break character as his visible eye moved from Link to me.
It widened, and I felt my heart jump, even as confusion passed through me. He had seen me, not a few days before, I assumed—I had lost all sense of time while in the Forest Temple, and going straight from there to the Goron City hadn't helped any—and hadn't cared to acknowledge me then, but now...
Whatever character he had been preparing to play, whatever he'd been meant to do, it all fell away as he stared at me. Only at me. I stayed where I was, rooted by indecision and confusion, feeling both happy to see him and frustrated by the lack of knowledge about what was happening. I wasn't close enough to read the minute shifts of his expression, though I could guess it was happening; Sheik always had the better poker face, something that took me so much effort to learn.
And after several long minutes, Link squeezed my hand, jolting me from my paralysis. I jumped a little, and Sheik's gaze flickered between the two of us. The abandoned character was gathered up in bits and pieces; he could not pretend that nothing had happened any more than I could, but he did have dignity to maintain.
"Raiha," he said quietly.
"Sheik," I replied, more confused than anything else.
"I'm sorry."
The apology startled me; I didn't understand what spurred it, or why I could hear a hint of anger under his placid tone. Not knowing what to say, I remained mute, and Sheik finally turned to Link.
"And to you as well, Link," he sighed a little. "There was a speech to make, but it has been replaced by other thoughts. Raiha, when there is a chance moment, I will explain. For now, I must apologize, as this is not the place to do so. Instead, there is a song you must learn, that will bring you back here, should you require to leave, and travel takes you a great distance. The Bolero of Fire is a song dedicated to the power of the heart..."
Out came the harp. The notes played had a militarial flare to them; I could practically hear a drumbeat, and marching steps as he played, Link slowly following suit on the Ocarina. There was a place for my voice as well, and when I joined in at last, I felt the magic that took hold, swirling around like sparks from a campfire, tossed up into the air.
Sheik nodded slowly, and put his harp away, then simply vanished before Link could take another step towards him. Link looked from me, to where Sheik had been standing, then back. I closed my eyes for a minute, then let out a long breath.
"You okay?" he asked.
"...I don't know," I said after a moment, my voice soft. "I'm... confused. There's something going on that I don't understand. Something..."
After a moment I just shook my head a little helplessly, and allowed Link to lead me onto solid ground.
It made no sense at the time; Sheik had barely acknowledged me in the Sacred Forest Meadow. Why he not only acknowledged me now, but looked both pleased to see me, and angry about something—I was mostly guessing, but looking back now, I know—I had no idea. I knew there was some difference about the Sacred Forest Meadow Sheik, and the one I had just seen, but it would take me more time than I had then to understand the biggest difference.
"Let's just go save Darunia," I said finally.
Link nodded, and after a long minute released my hand. It felt oddly colder without the comfort of his touch.
We crossed the remaining land between us and the Fire Temple's entrance in silence, broken only by the occasional burble of lave as it spat out a flaming projectile that soared over the lip of the volcano. It would, I knew, gain traction in rolling down the mountainside, and I could only hope that there was no one in the way.
The entrance to the temple was almost a mockery of my fear. A single ladder that descended down into shadows and then again into light at the base. Link looked at me, standing there, then went first down the ladder. I bit my lip, feeling dry skin bleed a little as I forced myself, one shaking step at a time, to approach the ladder.
I had to close my eyes to make it, and if Sheik had not been doing the job he told me he'd been assigned so long ago, I would have fallen. As it was, I felt familiar, strong hands catch me, then guide me in the correct direction, getting me onto the ladder.
"We will talk," he promised quietly. "But now it is more urgent that you reach Darunia before Volvagia does. Be careful."
I nodded automatically, feeling bubbles of confusion popping even though I bit back the words and the questions; he was right, it was not the place. Link was waiting for me at the base of the ladder, and the smothering, all-encompassing heat of the volcano made speaking an effort.
I made my way carefully down the ladder to Link at the bottom, who caught me and helped me to sit before my trembling legs gave out. He gave me water to sip slowly, and waited until I felt steady enough to continue, surprisingly patient despite what felt like our limited amount of time.
The main room of the temple was what I thought a temple dedicated to fire ought to look like. Stone monoliths and fires burning in their open mouths made... sense to me. The heat in the room was surprisingly less, considering the fact that it was inside of a damn active volcano, but somehow, it was.
Darunia waited at the top of the stairs, pounding fiercely away at a large stone door that had marks from bombs as well as his large fists. He didn't hear us coming, but he must've sensed us somehow, because he turned around, ready to wallop someone, and almost did! He pulled himself up short, for which I was grateful, since I'd taken the lead there for a moment.
"Raiha! And... is that Link?" he asked, peering at him. "It really is! ….You're not supposed to be here."
"I talked your son into letting us through," I said dryly, unable to help a small smile. "We're here to help."
He looked tired. So tired and stressed, and if ever there was a being I could think of as a father, it had been Darunia, with his kindness and stern teachings. I was not about to leave him to beat on this heavy door alone.
"You both helped save us last time," Darunia said after a long minute, nodding wearily. "It seems imposing to ask for your help without having a real conversation with you, Link, but..."
Link smiled too, and reached out to pat the Goron leader on the shoulder.
"You helped us with the Spiritual Stone," he said firmly. "And we're Sworn Siblings, right? Better than best friends, and friends always help one another."
I nodded in agreement as Darunia ran his hands over his face, undoubtedly stifling tears.
"I am glad of your return, my Brother and Sister," he said finally. "Please, I need your help in rescuing my people, and finding the lost treasure of the Gorons. Possibly in defeating the dragon as well..."
"We'll help," Link said, beating me to the words by a fraction of a second.
The gusty sigh Darunia released was full of exhausted relief. How long, I wondered, had he been standing there, pounding away at a door that refused to give under the onslaught? Too long was the natural response, and I did what any concerned friend would do.
"You need to rest," I told him firmly. "And eat something. Your people aren't weak; if this dragon needs someone to bring Gorons to him, then we have time. No one's getting past us."
Link nodded in agreement, and Darunia spared only a few minutes to look between us before he gave in without an argument. If anything, he seemed glad to be bossed around. It also gave Link and I a chance to eat and take brief naps of our own while Darunia slept like... well, a rock.
Link and I took turns napping, because we had promised that no one would pass us with a Goron for the dragon. I don't really know if that was the reason, or if no one was there and it had been a bluff to get Darunia—which, looking back on it now, I would willingly believe—within reach of Volvagia's claws and teeth, but I silently blessed this fact.
Unfortunately, being awake and on guard meant there was plenty of time for my mind to turn over the quandary that was Sheik. In doing so, I realized at least one thing that I had missed; the Sheik that I mentally identified as mine—inasmuch as he could be claimed—had not made my hand feel like it was going numb.
I pondered the idea for a minute; why would one Sheik cause me pain, and the other Sheik not? What was the deciding difference between the two? I know now that the pain was caused by my body reacting to the Triforce pieces, but at the time, I had no idea that such a thing could happen, let alone happen to me.
My questions only led me to more questions, and I could not feel the subtle, pervasive weight of Sheik's gaze. Despite having two very dear friends by my side, I felt very much alone.
Eventually, Link woke up to take a shift, and I tumbled into dreams of fire and weight, hearing the roar of a dragon even as I heard the rumble of the mountain.
I didn't sleep for very long, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Darunia woke not long after I startled out of slumber, and after a token attempt at eating for all of us, we headed away from the indomitable stone door, in hopes of saving what Gorons we could find.
We had saved a handful of them when we ran across an enemy that defied my attempts at shooting, and Link's swipes with his blade. Darunia called it a flare dancer, right before he lifted an arm and brought it down to the ground hard enough to send both Link and myself staggering. The flames died so abruptly that the creature within the magic fire fell gracelessly to the floor and wobbled back and forth on its back for several moments. Darunia's next punch launched the thing practically through the wall, from which it fell and seemed to shatter like clay pottery. I whistled, impressed by how easy—not to mention decisive—that had been.
Darunia, not immune to flattery despite the tense situation, flexed slightly. I couldn't help laughing, nor was I alone; Link snickered a bit himself, and when I looked, it was clear that he was glad of the help as well. Nor was that the only moment Darunia was of great help; the temple weaved and wended its way upwards, with great gaps in the floor that gave me no peace of mind in the slightest. Instead of trying to coax, or lead me across, Darunia simply hefted me up onto his back and carried me across.
He was comfortable, for a being that was more rock than flesh. And he was kind. I probably wouldn't have managed a third of the temple as easily or with such grace without his help.
Finding the Megaton Hammer was more luck than skill; the room it was locked away in was occupied by flare dancers. Dancers, plural. A handful came out at once, leaping around us and cordoning us off from one another, in rings of fire. My fire, Din's Fire, did no damage, but then, I hadn't really thought it would. I could, with some effort and much gratitude for Goron smithing, cut through the flames that the dancer threw at me, but that was not getting me freed.
Darunia, across the room, pounded the ground once. Twice.
The third time I heard Link yelp and risked looking his way. What little I could see through the wavering flames was not comforting; he had fallen, and the flare dancer seemed to be advancing on him. I had a Deku nut in hand before I could even think, wanting to distract the flare dancer before it could hurt him.
In the end, my protectiveness was unnecessary. Link rolled back to his feet even as I tried to get through the barrier of flame, a large, heavy-looking hammer held between both hands. As Darunia pounded the floor again—he clearly had more flare dancers than either of us—Link swung the hammer down hard enough to crack the floor himself, knocking the flare dancer out of its flames.
That was all I was able to watch, as my own opponent struck me in the side. I didn't go flying, but I did go rolling, nursing a gash in my tunic and side both, which bled freely. I swore, quite a lot, and clamped one arm down to try and stymie the flow of blood. I had, in truth, no means of defeating the flare dancers; Link held a bomb bag and the hookshot both, as I rarely made use of either, and while I could—and did—parry the blows of the flare dancers, all I could do was buy myself some time.
In this case, I managed to buy just enough for Darunia and Link to work in concert and prevent further injury. The Megaton hammer rattled the round, making me stumble and swear as I slipped and hit the stone. On my injured side, even. Darunia's fist went through the air that my body had just occupied, and the flare dancer made friends with the wall, then shattered as the others had. Link did not drop the hammer when he ran to my side, but it was a near thing. He fumbled around in the pouch I knew held the two medallions that we—he, really—had collected, and brought out one that seemed to be carved of sunlight itself, pressing it into my hand urgently.
I took it, if only to appease him, knowing with unfeigned reluctance that I was going to have to get stitches for my side and the tunic both, then stared in shock as the injury began to pull itself back together. Link and Darunia both sighed in overt relief.
"We should rest here," the large Goron said firmly. "Healing or not, you have lost... quite a bit of blood, my Sister."
I looked, and grimaced; he was correct. I could see splatters of blood—mine—and a few crimson footprints that told me I had bled more than I'd thought smeared across the stone floor. Whatever it seemed the Light Medallion could do—and I had clearly underestimated the ability it did have—replacing lost blood was beyond it.
Not really wanting to wear my own blood—and glad that I had a number of spare clothes at my disposal—I stripped out of what I was wearing. Link almost immediately turned away, embarrassed, but Darunia sat next to me, watching as the power of the Light Medallion healed my injured side with no sign of a scar. I was, I admit, impressed. I was also quick to sew up the rent in my tunic and pull it back on.
"Link, what'd you do?" I finally asked, once I had managed to wipe the worst of the blood off my skin and had pants on again; it was the lack of pants that seemed to embarrass him the most. "What is that?"
He looked down at the hammer, held much more loosely now with its head on the ground, and shrugged a bit uncertainly.
"It's the Megaton hammer," Darunia said, holding out one large palm.
Link relinquished the hammer without protest, and sat on my other side, trading the Light Medallion for the Forest Medallion so that we could eat. In Darunia's hand, the hammer seemed small, which took me a bit of puzzling to understand. In truth, it wasn't so much that the hammer was sized oddly—though it certainly seemed it—as it was that Darunia was actually bigger than the average Goron. What took Link two hands and no small effort to use accurately was easy for Darunia.
"The legendary weapon of my people," he said at long last, letting the hammer come to rest on the floor again with care. "You used it well, my Brother."
Link ruefully rubbed at his shoulders.
"It's really heavy," he said. "I thought it was gonna pull me over."
Darunia laughed a little.
"It was made for a Goron hand, but you are not weak, Brother. You used it quite well."
"I'll say," I nodded fervently. "The only way that could have ended for me without the help is bad."
"Perhaps you should borrow the bombs, Sister," Darunia suggested. "There are still a few rooms to search for my people, and it would not do to have you trapped again."
Link nodded, and passed over the bomb bag before I had a chance to protest. Since it did seem like a good idea, I accepted the bomb bag and tied it to my belt.
We rested there for a while longer before Darunia felt it was wise to allow me to test my legs. I wobbled, a little, but didn't fall over, so we continued in. Eventually, the temple wound its way back to the entrance, and Link—who had been carrying the hammer at Darunia's insistence—handed it to him as we confronted the previously immobile door.
Darunia lifted the hammer in his hands, and hit the stone. Once, twice, three times. At four it began showing great cracks in the stone. At five, chunks fell off, crashing to the left and right of the hammer-wielding Goron. At the sixth hit, the door essentially gave up and crumbled into pieces, releasing a wave of heat, and the sound of a dragon's roar.
Darunia roared back, charging in with the hammer held high, leaving us to scramble after into the large bubble cavern that was half-filled with rushing lava. It contained—inasmuch as something like Volvagia can be contained—one dragon, and a large stone platform on which the dragon rested. And it was resting, up until we stepped in. When it rose into the air, I couldn't help but feel a semblance of awe.
Volvagia was never considered a 'good' dragon, if such a thing even existed. It was long and serpentine, its body rippling with the reddish orange of the lava that surrounded its resting place. It had no visible wings, and as I watched, I realized it couldn't actually fly either; it was riding the updrafts of hot air and gliding more than anything else.
It could, however—and did—breathe fire. Darunia stood solidly before us, blocking the flames with the solid stone of his back.
"My Siblings," he said as the flames roared around us, "we must lure that fiend within reach of the hammer. It has been destroyed by it once before, so it will no doubt be wary. But we must win, else the mountain will never settle. We Gorons could handle that, but the people of Kakariko should not suffer so."
I nodded, pleased by his concern for the village at the foot of the mountain. Harrying the dragon seemed like a good idea, really; it had tried to eat my family, and I wanted a little payback. My only regret was that there was a distinct lack of moisture to the air; had there been enough, I could have used one of the spells from Impa's book to make ice.
Link looked uncertain, but as the flame ceased, the dragon swooped low as though it would try and take a chunk out of Darunia; the Master Sword cleared the sheathe in a heartbeat even as Darunia turned and swung with the hammer. Link once more moved to the left as I jumped right—amusing to recall how often we led with our dominant hands—and as Darunia swung, we both ducked and rolled, getting out of range of the hammer and the claws the dragon swiped at us with.
Volvagia swung upwards to avoid the hammer, arcing in my direction. Ready or not, I pulled out a weapon that might have a chance of causing damage, and aimed for the skull. It was the only part of the dragon that seemed solid enough for an arrow to impact.
My arrow hit all right, but it only bounced, falling away into the lava it soared over. Darunia seemed planted in place, between the dragon and the doorway; I could hardly blame him, considering what could happen if the dragon escaped from the mountain. The blight Ganon had spread would be nothing in comparison to the fiery death that would follow Volvagia.
As it swung low for another pass, Link took a swipe at it and was forced to jump back as quite literal lava splattered from the injury the Master Sword caused. The dragon roared it's fury and pain, and the tail came about, smacking Link across the chest. The Goron tunic prevented what could have been a serious—not to mention severe—burn, but he still tumbled ass over teakettle towards the edge.
I didn't even know I could move so fast, but I darted his way, grabbing for his right wrist before he could fly fully off the edge. I caught him and braced hard, pulling backwards with everything I had, yanking him back onto solid ground.
He landed, very briefly, on me. But there wasn't time to be embarrassed, I simply pushed him off to the side and rolled to my feet, and he followed suit. If he was shaking, it was hard to tell; we were both dealing with adrenaline from the fight. This time, we didn't split up. With whoops that admittedly more suited children at play, we ran straight at the dragon, directly challenging it, and ducking the fire that was the response.
In lieu of anything better, I threw a Deku nut into Volvagia's face, temporarily blinding it. Link laughed a little—a wild sound that Darunia, still planted near the entrance, echoed—and imitated me. I don't think I really had a plan beyond making the dragon so annoyed that it would chase us and not see Darunia until it was too late...
That was, in the end, precisely what happened. We nicked at the dragon, using anything that came to hand that we could throw—mostly stone, from the few times it went up to the top of the cavern and worried at the ceiling, sending rocks crashing down on us—until it was more or less literally seeing red. We did not—could not—stand in the flames that came our way, but we didn't have to. We pelted back in the direction of Darunia as Volvagia did a gliding charge after us.
Halfway there, Darunia charged himself, and we hastily dodged to either side.
I slipped. Again, strong, familiar hands caught me, and I looked up in time to catch just a glimpse of Sheik before he shoved me back onto the path and vanished again. But it was heartening to know that he was once more looking out for me, even as I almost fell flat on my face. Not my most graceful landing, to be certain.
As I managed to keep my feet and turned to watch, Volvagia almost, almost, managed to jink out of Darunia's path. But almost was not good enough, and the hammer came down with a rumbling cracking crash that made me glad I was standing near the entrance, where the ground was more solidly built.
The dragon's head met the floor and, like the flare dancers, cracked to pieces as though it was nothing more than clay. It landed heavily on the ground, still dripping lava from where Link had wounded it, and then more or less exploded with red light. Darunia released the hammer to cover his eyes, and after a minute I had to cover mine, it was so blinding.
A wave of cool air practically slapped me in the face, and I lowered my hand to see that we were, to a being, within the Chamber of Sages. And Darunia, his face alight with awe and pleasure, was standing directly on the Fire Pedestal.
"I certainly did not expect this," he said with a chuckle. "I, the wild Darunia, the Sage of Fire? Destiny is clearly a strange and odd thing, is it not?"
"...you could say that," I said after a minute, not sure whether to be pleased or worried.
"Thank you, my Siblings," he said firmly. "With the defeat of Vovalgia, the mountain should return to normal, and my people will once more be safe, as will the Kakariko folk. You should tell my son that he will have to be the Big Brother now; tell him also that I said he will do well."
Darunia pondered for a minute, hand on the haft of the hammer.
"Brother, take this," he said, hefting it in Link's direction. Link hesitated, then carefully grabbed the haft in both hands. "If you can, return it to my people when you no longer need it, so that we may mount it in a place of proper observation. And for you, Sister," he smiled at me, and I felt my heart ache at the thought of not seeing him again, "take the Medallion. It will give you light, heat, and warmth when you ask, and you are always welcome to call upon me through it."
He flicked his hand lightly, and red light flare, as it had done seven years ago. A medallion flipped through the air towards me, and I caught it, feeling a gentle warmth wrap around me as I did so. I smiled sadly at him, and red light wrapped around us, then neatly and gently, deposited us back in Goron City.