AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm back! (boom-bam baby's in order...) Anyhow, sorry for the delay. Hope you enjoy. Please read and review.
He was so far past pain, so far past hurt and heat and anything that resembled human emotion. Little droplets of fire rained down and singed him, sending the scent of burning flesh into the thick, fetid air. There was a deep, deafening roar and Link watched as an angry, bleeding Volvagia came wheeling down from the fire-filled sky.
"Watch out!" Navi warned in her high, piercing voice.
But Link didn't move. He watched through blurry, exhausted eyes as the fire dragon spiraled closer and closer to him. He gasped for air, but there was no relief as his lungs were coated with the hot, sticky oxygen that rushed in to meet them. He shook his head.
"I can't," he murmured through the blood that had pooled in his mouth. It streamed out in a thin line down his lip and onto his chin. "No more. I can't."
"Link, you have to. Link… LINK!"
Navi yelled as Volvagia, enraged, swiped a razor sharp claw at the young hero and sent him flying through the air. There was a deep grunt and a small, heart-wrenching cry of pain as the boy sprawled through the air. There was another grunt as his body hit the hard, packed earth and he slid, almost to the end of the arena. He rolled through another lava pit, steam hissing as sweat droplets fell into the melted fire. There was sudden, explosive pain, then a dim relief as he continued to roll past it, stopping just on the other side. He whimpered, broken and burned, still magically holding onto the painfully heavy hammer in his bloody hands. Volvagia disappeared into another one of the lava pits.
"Link… Link, get up. Please," Navi beseeched in a tear-filled whimper, trying, to no avail, to lift her partner's head. She drew her luminous hands back, sticky with fresh blood. "Please, Link, fight this…"
His head was a swirling mass of images, smells and sounds. His eyes blurred and blackened. The heat disappeared suddenly as a gray, foggy haze consumed him. He felt the sudden cool, refreshing water of Zora's Domain sliding over his bare shoulders. He faded into a deep, wonderful darkness as the hearty grunts of the Gorons feasting filled his ears, echoing in the background. And then it was a flurry of dappled sunlight shining in through the thick blanket of trees in the eerily comforting Lost Woods. The twinkling sound of a familiar laugh… Saria's laugh. Darkness enveloped him again. There was the smell of hay, of grass and sunlight and of wood being burned under a stove from a distance. A sudden flash of red, of powder-blue… and then a song. The familiar, cherished notes hung in the air. They were sung in the rich, beautiful tone he had come to yearn for. And suddenly, with a flash of brilliant clarity, the only vivid, palatable image struck him. Malon's grin widened on the sweet, happy face. She reached out to him.
Something stirred in him. A violent shock ran through his heart and his eyes ripped open. There was a sudden strength.
"No," he murmured.
He pushed himself up off the floor, pushed past the pain, the intolerable pain, pushed away the sweet, intoxicating darkness, and stood firmly on his feet. He couldn't lose everything. He couldn't let go of everything he'd gained, everything that mattered. Volvagia erupted from the lava pit in front of him with a grotesque, brazen roar. The drops of magma that flew from his scaled body burned Link before sliding off , but he ignored them. His grip tightened on the legendary hammer.
"No!" he yelled, raising the hammer high over his head.
There was a shrill, piercing cry and Volvagia crumpled before him. He dropped the heavy hammer and reached back. There was a glint of light that trailed from his scabbard as he pulled forth his sword. Link yelled, an unearthly sound, as he struck, jabbing forwards and catching the lava beast between the eyes. Another hideous wail stung in the air and Volvagia slipped limply into the lava, Link's blade retracting, spurting blood from the deep, fatal wound. Volvagia emerged again, fighting his way into the air as blood flowed, covering his eyes, thrashing and blind. With his final death throws he smashed heavily into the ceiling causing a bombardment of heavy rocks to fall through the air. But Link didn't move, the rocks crashing mere inches around him, watching the dragon writhe until, at last, he dropped to the ground before him, dead.
There was a sudden silence, nothing but the bubbling of the molten pits strewn about the arena floor filling the air. Link's breathing was rough and ragged. A sudden, sharp tang struck out as his sword slipped from his grasp and clattered heavily to the floor. Link sagged. Navi came to him then, perching herself by his ear.
"Just a little longer, Link," she promised. "Just a little longer."
With a trail of shimmering, wavering sparkles she flew towards the downed beast and hovered. He had seen her do this many times before, enough to know that a small, temporary relief was coming. She pulled forth a crystallized mass that she arranged into the sharp of a heart with supple movement of the air in front of her. She came back and presented it to him. Link took it greedily and didn't hesitate to pop it in his mouth. The life essence melted on his tongue and slipped refreshingly down his burnt and sore throat. Never before had the sudden, sweet coolness in his mouth ever taste so wonderful. He felt the crystallized essence pulse through his veins, giving him the ability to stand erect, though still weary, still battered, still hanging on by a thread.
Navi then aimed her lithe hands downward and a bright blue beam of light emerged. Link bent, picked up his sword, then picked up his hammer and stepped into it.
It was odd how for the next hour, while he was transported up to the Chamber of Sages, he was able to stand straight and give the appearance of being somewhat fine. It seemed as if the adrenaline that was still pumping viciously through his body was still keeping him up. Darunia spoke to him gratefully, smiling at his old friend with pride. Link accepted the medallion he offered, and his help. Then he was beamed down once more into the eerie, lonely Temple of Time.
And then, Link suddenly sagged. Navi whispered small words of comfort to him at his ear. The world blurred before him as he stepped out of the temple and across the desolate entrance. He fumbled down the steps, wincing in utter agony as his wounds were jarred.
The world was filled with the sudden, overwhelming song of the Redead. He didn't know how, but he was sure that Navi had a great part in getting him out of the deadly, unholy creature-infested marketplace, unscathed. Link stepped out onto the field, the unnerving sensation of his leg going numb sending a faint chill up his spine. There was a whinny and suddenly, Epona was there.
With weak, tattered hands, he managed to pull himself up, but that was all. He slumped forward on the horse as she began to trot, then gallop. All he was aware of was the wild grass of Hyrule Field racing underneath them. He was wheezing in stilted breaths and his eyelids dropped. The smell of hay filtered suddenly in his brain.
Malon looked up from her feet, pausing on her way from the house to the stable as she heard a familiar neighing and the sound of hoof beats. She smiled as Epona's glorious red head broke through into the ranch.
"You were due for a visit," Malon scolded teasingly. "How long has it been? Three weeks? You really…"
Her voice petered out as Epona came to a stop before her and he saw the realization dawn in her eyes that he wasn't sitting in the saddle, he was collapsed into it. His eyes closed, the darkness whispering, beckoning to him.
"Link?" Malon asked, fear seeping into her tone.
With a sudden scrape, he slipped off the saddle and thudded, dead weight, to the floor.
"Link!" Malon screeched, running forwards.
She grabbed at him frantically and stopped suddenly. There was a stilted gasp as something wet met her hands. She looked down at them in horror. Blood. Her hands were covered in the sticky, grotesque stuff. She flipped her friend over, half onto her. He was covered in scratches and burns, bruises and blood. He was drawing in laborious breaths, and his eyes were blinking, long and slow in weary rhythm.
"Oh Lord," Malon cried, petrified tears seeping down her cheeks. "What happened to you? What have you done?"
The image of her face blurred before him. Don't cry, he wanted to tell her. He wanted to lift his hand to her face and wipe the tears from her cheeks. But all he could do was shut his eyes and let the darkness consume him.
In the last moments before he completely seeped under the calming, wonderful influence of the darkness, he heard her yell.
"HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP!"