Chapter 14: In Death Mountain
"Ninety four, ninety five, ninety six, ninety seven..." Reza panted, as she did her own push ups. Sierra was watching amused at her sister's toils, taking particular enjoyment of the stress Reza seemed to be facing.
"You really should work harder, you know. The average Gerudo can do two hundred and fifty push ups." Sierra sighed, biting into a red apple and ignoring Reza's snarl of annoyance.
"The average twenty five year old Gerudo, you twit, and I'm only half that age. It would also be easier if you weren't sitting on me!" She grumbled, collapsing after doing a hundred and two push ups. She spat out a mouthful of dirt when her face slammed into the ground, rolling over to get Sierra off.
"They're just numbers. Thirteen, twenty five, they're nearly the same. Besides, a little bit more weight won't hurt you." She calmly replied, handing over a new apple for Reza to take.
Reza rolled her eyes as she took it. "A little bit of weight? A little bit of weight? Sierra, you certainly don't weigh a 'little bit'! I might as well be trying to carry a hippo for all I care!"
Sierra narrowed her eyes, standing up to look more imperious. Her eyes narrowed. "A... hippo, you say?"
Reza gathered herself, throwing the unfinished apple away and cracking her knuckles. "What do you want me to say, an elephant?"
Round one, commence.
*
"Where by Goddesses do these things come from?" Link growled, narrowly avoiding the snapping jaws of a Baby Dodongo. Navi was busy avoiding the claws of a Lizalfos, so he couldn't get any information from that source. Angrily, he punched the creature as it jumped again, then kicking its glowing body towards the Lizalfos. Hearing the satisfying explosion, he ran up close to deliver a quick knife hand chop towards the monster's throat. When it fell, he furiously stomped on its chest, preventing any breath from getting in.
He was about to proudly stand victorious on the dying body before another Baby Dodongo tried to take a bite of his ankles.
Giving that one a solid kick, he climbed onto a rock to draw out this part of the cavern.
"You do know that there are around nine or ten Baby Dodongos down there, right?" Navi asked worriedly. She doubted they could jump high enough to be dangerous, but the way they kept ramming their heads onto the rock and exploding would surely break it.
"They're nothing to worry about, but if you feel so worried," he grabbed a loose pebble that was shaken from all the explosions and chucked it into the group of creatures, hitting one solidly on the head. It yelped for a moment before exploding, taking out the neighbouring Baby Dodongos with it. Link was still calmly drawing this region of the cave.
"How come you didn't draw your sword once in this cavern? You even fought the Lizalfos with your nearly bare hands." Navi questioned, absently correcting the annotations he was putting for the rocks.
"Well, I figured it would be good magic practice if I infused it into my hands so that they became much stronger temporarily. It doesn't cost much as I only use it for a split second, and even then I don't need to use it to full power. It's quite cool, really." Link picked up another stone and chucked it at another Baby Dodongo. When he finished drawing on the map, he hopped off the rock and proceeded on. He was forced to fight again when three Lizalfos tried to team up against him.
"Great, so much for fighting bare handed." Link drew out his sword, scowling when seeing the slight crack at the base. The sword will last, though, he didn't fear of that problem.
At once two of them rushed in from his sides, swinging their swords in a wild manner. Raising his shield, he managed to block the right attack and crossed swords with the left. Of course, that left his front open which the third Lizalfos gladly took.
Link shoved the right Lizalfos had to clear up space for him to block the front one. Deciding that he needed to remove the left one as fast as possible, Link focussed his mind onto that one.
One of the problems of fighting Lizalfos was that they had a longer range than you did, and when you get too close they'll resort to their claws. The best way to defeat them was to stun them, but presently Link didn't have any Deku Nuts to help him.
Oh well, time to improvise.
*
Malik was bored. While that was usually a good thing for everyone else, it was always a bad thing for him. He had finished throwing his six throwing knives at a bulls-eye fourteen times, giving up on that sport when he struck the very centre twelve consecutive times.
"Let's see what I can do," He muttered to himself, staring out at the vast desert, "I see sand, sand, some more sand, some rocks, sand, funny little plants, sand, a fortress and sand. What am I supposed to do?" Malik laughed at the thought of annoying the Gerudo adults nearby. Hopefully, he would see another day afterwards...
"Yeah right," He grumbled, "like I will." While most men would have been ecstatic to be surrounded by sand, stone and women, it was very tricky for Malik to enjoy such thoughts when the adults treated you as a prisoner and the children as a toy to beat up.
Sighing, he dragged his feet across the sand to pluck his knives from the target. Shuffling the way back, he breathed deeply before throwing again.
"Eighty five, eighty six, eighty seven..."
*
Slinging his shield, Link only had a few seconds to act. Swinging his fist to punch the Lizalfos's face, he quickly opened it and channelled a bit of power in there. When the Lizalfos regained its composure, the first thing it saw was an open palm. An open palm that was launching a fireball into its face.
Link smiled slightly. The Lizalfos would be unaffected by the heat, since that species lives right next to lava chasms. But due to their usual life in caves, a big flash of light would blind them temporarily. It was a simple matter of running his sword through the poor victim's stomach then slashing down and letting it keel over from blood loss and agony.
It's gory, painful, sadistic, unethical, but effective. A personal motto of Link that drove him through all the fighting before: it's not what you want that has to be done but what is necessary. You do not need to enjoy what is required, you do not need to believe what is needed is right.
Link had to be grateful for having a partner like Navi. While he had been busy disembowelling the Lizalfos, Navi had kept the other two occupied by flitting in between the two and giving them good kicks in the eyes. In fear of accidentally gutting the other guy while they were trying to rip Navi into shreds half blind, they resorted to their sharp claws to randomly swipe in front of their faces. Link had to marvel how she was handling them; soon, they'll be so close to each other, scratching ferociously that they will in the end hurt one another.
Link didn't wait for that moment to come, for he instantly charged behind one and with a magically infused punch shattered the unfortunate soul's spine before kicking it. Before the other one could do anything, he whisked in front of it and surrounding its throat with his fingers, he started applying pressure. When his physical power wasn't enough to crush it, he fuelled it with magic. And more magic. And more magic.
Navi had to wince when she heard the horrifying sound of a wind pipe collapsing and the smashing of the bone. She almost felt sorry for them. Then again, it's really hard to feel pity to something that makes you look like an afternoon snack.
"Why'd you do that for? Usually you give them quick deaths and let the corpses decay naturally." Pausing at that thought, she wondered why they vanished so fast. Maybe there were some spores in the air that quickly attached to a dead thing and did its work at a frantic rate. Ideally, it should take a couple of days before anything happens.
"I decided to let the bigger Dodongos eat them. That way, we won't have to worry about them trying to eat us instead. It's good to recycle." Navi frowned slightly. Although Link tended to be very practical, this was going a bit far than normal. For a frightening second, she wondered whether Link killed the way he did not only to strengthen his mana reserves, but also because he liked the pain he saw.
'That's not like Link,' she apprehended herself silently, 'he's probably just trying to make it easier for us.' Emboldened by that assumption, she drifted over to his shoulder, trusting his ideas and what he was doing.
*
"This is a game that Link likes to play. It's a bit like chess, but with many pieces, a bigger board and once placed, the pieces can't move." Reza said evenly, though challenge burned in her eyes.
Sierra nodded solemnly, sending back just as threatening looks back to her sister as she explained the rules of the game. When she finished, Sierra brushed up on the rules of the match. "So the loser has to do sixty push ups with the winner sitting on her, correct? After that, we head onto the second round." Reza nodded in agreement, and grabbing a small fistful of black pebbles, raised her closed fist for Sierra to see. Carefully, Sierra pulled out a handful of white stones, and counting carefully, placed a certain number of pebbles down.
Two stones.
Releasing the black stones from her grasp, Reza counted the number of pebbles, and unfortunately proved to be even.
'Bugger,' Reza grumbled internally as she handed a happy Sierra the pot holding the black pebbles, 'this is not good.'
*
"Um, Link? This place looks exactly like the previous place we were before." Navi stated, pointing to the rock with scorch marks around it and a half remaining Lizalfos body.
Link frowned as he stared at the map he drew. Lifting it up for the glow of magma to help him see, he tried to remember of any errors he might have made.
'Ah,' he noticed, pinching the bridge of his nose, 'this was a left turn, not right.'
"You're right Navi," he grumbled as he rearranged what he drew, "we went in a circle."
Navi sighed and rested on the burning ground. It was better than hovering in the stuffy and hot air, where the foul stench of the body rose at least. "We need a guide, Link. You're not sufficient enough."
"We need a compass, Navi. You're not sufficient enough."
"Whatever. Oh, there's a Baby Dodongo at four o'clock." Automatically, Link picked up a random stone and chucked it at the general angle Navi said.
Link nodded slightly when he heard a small squeak of surprise then an explosion. "It can chew on that first."
Navi sighed. Looking around, she saw a small pebble that was around the size of her leg. Maybe she could pick that up, see whether she was stronger or anything...
*
"Thirty seven, thirty eight..." Sierra wheezed as Reza sat on her. It was quite a comical sight, seeing a person sitting on a smaller person that was doing push ups.
"Keep going sister, you got around another twenty to do." Reza laughed lightly. Life was good.
"Shut up. Just you wait, Reza, just you wait." She had to push those words out as her as her body screamed for a moment of relaxation.
"I'm waiting. You still got another twenty." Sierra could only fume at that.
*
After a while, Link had covered at least fifteen kilometres worth of area, and now was heading deeper into the cave. It looked just like all the other areas of the cave, but there were a few differences.
"I'm not going in there." Navi stated adamantly, not wanting to go into that area.
"Come on, sure, it's getting a bit hot right now, a small amount hotter than at the entrance, but we got a job to do." Link tried to reason, gesturing to the map.
She stared at him incredulously. "A bit hot? A BIT HOT!? Link, I don't think you really understand, but its thirty degrees hotter than when we first started! It was hot enough to boil water at the entrance; the temperatures we'll be facing will be enough to boil me!"
Link could not really find fault at that. He was grateful for wearing his Goron tunic right now. "Well, you were alright when we faced Volvagia."
Navi shook her head. "Link, when you fought Volvagia, I stayed right behind his head where the fire will not blow. I was already sweating buckets from the lava present, and don't think for a moment I was happy about that. Besides, do you see those steam jets? Those are sulphur gases being ejected from the mountain, created by a build up beneath the earth. Walking through that would definitely burn your skin and it is poisonous, as well as stinks like rotten eggs. To get to this part of the cave, we're going to be walking through that, and if I'm right (and I'm always right) there'll be a lot more to walk through."
Link took a quick sniff of the air and was a bit sick from doing that. Navi was right, it smelled bad. It would most likely hurt his skin also, even though he was wearing the Goron tunic. But Link needed to go through; after all, that was what he promised Darunia. The Gorons would most likely be unaffected by the sulphur, because in his Goron form he could sleep in acid and not feel a thing...
"Navi, prepare to see a bit of magic." Searching through the small pack he strapped to himself for the masks, he pulled out the round-faced Goron one. To say the least, Navi was a bit shocked when seeing Link placing it on his face and starting to change form.
"That looked painful." She winced slightly at the muffled scream and pain filled expression he just gave.
"You're a master of the obvious," He stated dryly, his voice a lot deeper than his normal one, "but let's go. This body can go though acid unharmed, just stay in my cap while we go over the sulphur vents." Navi looked a bit dubious at that.
To prove his point, Link strode proudly across the sulphur vent, waving to her on the other side before walking back. He was about to say something before choking badly, his eyes tearing up.
"Ok," Link muttered, returning to his normal state, "the Gorons would most likely not go in there. It stinks too badly."
*
"So what's the second match?" Reza stated calmly. There was no way her little sister Sierra could beat her. She had years more experience if it was mental and a more fit body if it was physical.
"It's who can create the most amazing sculpture." Reza cursed silently at that. Since Sierra had more nimble fingers, so that would help since they were using some weird type of clay to build whatever they would build. What did her sister call it? Reza believed it was play-dough. It was a strange name, and those that sold it said that they usually found clumps of old play-dough in the Southern Forests, and it was just a matter of recycling it properly and discovering what it was made out of.
"So what's the theme?" She asked casually, cracking her fingers to allow more flexibility. It better not be something like pretty little flowers...
"It's pretty little flowers." Sierra stated, snickering when she saw Reza pound her head on the table. She had to stop snickering though from lack of oxygen.
"No strangling!" She cried, weakly punching Reza's arms.
*
It was getting incredibly hot.
It was getting much hotter than the sulphur vent place.
It was getting so hot that all sweat Link could produce evaporated in an instant.
It was getting so hot that Link's sword was glowing red.
... No wait, that's just the reflection of the magma. Forget it.
"Do you have any water?" Navi asked hopefully, resting on his shoulders, too tired to flap her own wings to move around. Link silently handed her his bottle of water, and gratefully, she hopped to the lid as he pulled it off. Looking down, she was greeted by a load of steam.
"There should be some water left, but I still think it's boiling." Link forced those words out. All this heat was leaching his strength away and what would he do for some water. Damn the heat, if there was only something cold...
Link paused at that thought and smiled. Searching through his medical kit, he pulled out a roll of bandages, ripping some off before placing the rest back. Navi protested slightly when he poured the frothing water on the two bandages (never mind about his hand), but quietened when she saw him pull out an arrow.
Link frowned slightly. Some day, he would have to learn how to put ice into something without needing an arrow. But for now, he isn't complaining.
Narrowing his eyes slightly, he fused the arrow with magic and subtly altered it from pure mana to extreme cold. Proudly, he placed one frozen bandage on his shoulder which Navi gladly took her perch on and held one in his hand, applying it to his forehead.
Ah, the wonders of magic. The ice shouldn't melt for a couple of minutes, and even then it would be just a cold, damp cloth. It should last at least for ten minutes.
After seeing enough lava, Link deducted that they were in the Fire Temple. Unfortunately, nearly all the monsters here were covered in fire one way or the other, so he was forced to resort to his sword instead of his hands.
Ducking under a Fire Bubble, Link swung his sword upwards, neat cutting the Bubble into two. Unfortunately, that made him lose his balance on the thing ledge he was shuffling on, and flailing his arms, managed to catch the edge as he fell.
"It was a drop to a fiery death, molten rock sloshing over the possible corpse that had died from the unbearable heat. The eyes melted first, screams of the poor victim cut short as the burning liquid oozed into his brain through the eye sockets, scorching away the vital areas. Skin peeled at a tremendous rate, exposing the raw flesh underneath that smouldered from the heat. Within four vivid and cruel seconds, the poor victim had been killed, yet the flowing magma still continued to torture the dead body-"
"Navi, can you stop that? You're freaking me out." Link shuddered at her description of what would happen if he fell. He had no intention to fall however, so he didn't really need to know which parts were fiction and which parts were facts.
"I'm planning on writing a novel for us fey folk, so everyone can enjoy the thrilling tales of the grand journey we embark on. The more gruesome the tale, usually the more enrapturing it is." Navi stated, helping Link by dragging his hat back to the ledge.
"Well, those 'thrilling tales' would be cut down quickly if you keep reading them out to me." Link muttered silently as he grabbed his hat and placed it back. Nervously, he inched away from the flowing lava, releasing a breath of relief when they reached solid ground.
It was most unfortunate that when he fell, both frozen bandages were dropped, so both of them had to accustom to the draining heat again.
*
"Ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine," Malik muttered watching as the blade sunk nicely in the centre, "a hundred thousand." He stood proudly amidst the tattered collection of broken targets around him, the daggers he threw blunt from excess use and every single target sporting a mark in the very centre where one of his numerous knives had pierced. A gentle wind blew up, disturbing his blue bangs that hid his valiant eyes.
He slumped after a while, sighing. "By Nayru, I really need to get a life." In the distance, he could hear some mellow music play, mocking laughter and grunts of irritancy echo through the dunes. A short gust blew yet again, and with a noisy creak, the last target standing fell straight into the sand, a small billow and quiet thump marking its contact with the ground.
The music played on, but it was slightly more erratic than before the target fell.
"Yeah, that's my thoughts in music. The music is quite good."
*
"The violin isn't your fiddle, is it?" Sierra chuckled; laughing at Reza's snarling face as she tried to play one of the hardest pieces in the Desert.
"Shut up." She grunted, taking a second off the tune to whack her sister with the bow. "That was a really lame pun."
Sierra shrugged her shoulders, dancing to the tune and occasionally jerking. "Good pun, lame pun, it's still a pun. Music is different. This music is quite bad."
"You're getting on my nerves, my dear sister." Reza hissed through gritted teeth, the tune going out of whack.
"You lost, I won and that's all that matters. One more round and we'll see who is better among us." Sierra smiled cutely, dancing to the tune like she was suffering constipation.
*
Oddly enough, despite being in a volcano, Link was presently fishing. Rod in hand and fishing wire taut, he looked like he was ready to catch a twenty pound pond dweller. There were only a few differences though. Instead of standing like he used to, he was sitting down. The 'pond' was actually bubbling acid, something which nothing could live in.
"Have you lost your mind?" Navi asked from her perch on his shoulder.
"Au contraire, Navi," Link stated, reeling in the wire before chucking it back in again, "I know that Gorons once went through this Fire Temple long ago to fight Volvagia."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Gorons are immune to acid, so I figure that some of them walked through this pond – it's only two feet deep, after all – to get to the other side. I'm just fishing for any equipment some of them might have dropped."
Navi rolled her eyes, thinking it was best to humour Link for now. After all, walking in the heat would tire you out tremendously, so this stop would help him gather his strength. "So where did you get that fishing wire?"
"I fished it from the previous acid pond we walked through." Navi blinked at that and stayed silent.
After five more minutes of staring at Link fish in the acid pond, she was about to speak out but some caught the fishing wire first. Calmly, Link reeled it in, proving that the thing he pulled out appeared to be some shoulder pads. But there were a few quirks about it Navi found very interesting.
The first quirk was that it was in perfect condition. Age usually made things look, well, older than they first looked like, but this thing looked like it was forged yesterday. Goddess knows when the last time someone ventured this deep in the Fire Temple was. Also was the odd fact that it was in bubbling acid and yet untouched.
The second thing was its size. Navi could only think of the brave Gorons of past that traversed this far to battle Volvagia, and they (by the descriptions she read off old scripts) were around twice the size of the average Goron. These shoulder guards were smaller than a bulky Goron's shoulders, but perfect for a Hylian adult.
Link stared at the bluish gleam of the set of armour. Shrugging, he looped the set around his head and strapped them onto his shoulders (the guards were actually two objects but with a small chain connecting both of them). Immediately, he fell from the weight.
"Holy, how strong was the person who wore these things?" Link swore, using up nearly all his strength just to get on one knee. "These things weigh about a tonne! They didn't weigh this much in my hands." Link gave up on getting up again as the weight dragged him down again.
"Interesting," Navi mumbled as she neared Link, "these things are enchanted. Not only do they get heavier when you wear them properly, they fit you properly. Before, they should have been far too big for you, but look!"
"I'll look when I can get my face out of the ground." Link's muffled voice stated as he tried to push himself upright again.
*
"Back to the adrenaline rushes, I see." Sierra said, both scimitars set in a ready position, he feet placed in a stance that would allow her quick movement to any four directions. Reza was in the same posture, but instead of holding her scimitars diagonally up, they were aiming diagonally down, an improvisation she made from fighting smaller and faster monsters.
"Yes. Whoever falls to the ground first is the loser and is the loser of all three tests we made up." Reza stated plainly, gripping her swords tightly. They had called Malik to preside over the bout, and as a witness there would be no cheating or lying.
Sierra and Reza stared each other in the eye as Malik droned on the safety procedures they'll have to take. "... no targeting the neck, head, heart or kidney areas. If you want to strike each other, it'll be with the blunt side of the blade. No aiming for debilitating attacks like swinging the sword at the eyes or injuring ankles. Now that you got that, begin!"
*
It took a while, but Link managed to get back on his feet and maintain his balance. He didn't really know what the enchanted set did (aside from setting the weight underneath it above it), but he did know that it took just a bit of raw mana fuelled into it to lighten the load on his shoulders.
"Actually, those things are quite good training devices," Navi stated as she sat on Link's head. "If you're a fighter, you'll be forced to carry around your own weight – literally – which would make you stronger from the strain. If you're a mage, you'll have to keep channelling mana into it, and your reserves will eventually grow from that effort, as will your control." Presently, Link was putting only the barest amount of mana into it so it felt like he was carrying two weeks full of shopping instead of his entire body weight and armour.
"Well, if it protects my shoulders from bangs, then it's good enough." Link said as he walked down a taut rope, being extra careful not to trip with all that magma underneath him.
"Yeah, yeah." Navi lied back, staring at the rough rock that made the cave's ceiling. Turning her head slightly, she could see the glow of the magma on the rocks above. Briefly she wondered whether where they'll be going would have magma underneath them...
"Hey Link! Where are we going, anyway?"
"Out, once we find the way."
"Don't you have a map of this place?"
Link grumbled slightly at that. "It's not my fault I dropped it. It's not my fault that it was incinerated the moment it touched the lava. It's not my fault a blinking Fire Bubble tried to jump me while I was reading the map."
Navi shook her head. "So, we're lost?"
"I couldn't have put it better myself."
"Oh joy." The sarcasm was dripping so thickly on that it even took on a physical form.
"Navi, I don't like it if you spit in my hair."
*
Malik had to say, the battle was impressive. He had fought Sierra before, but seeing it from a distance he could see how fast she could move. He had joined arms with Reza before (unfortunately that was on horseback and all he did was throw knives and try to keep the horses calm with his masks), but seeing the grace of how she fought from a better distance, he almost felt a certain amount of pride having fought with and against these two people.
You could tell that Sierra was leaps faster than her sister. Her body and eye coordination was just as fast as she could move, and that was saying something. If her eyes caught sight of an incoming swing, her body will instantaneously react and either block or evade.
But Reza was the most experienced and better in terms of skill. Where Sierra fought the moment, Reza battled three moments ahead. She planned every move around six seconds before it came to that, and was expecting what Sierra would do despite her speed. It was a fair match, Reza with her superior strength and skills compared to Sierra with her uncanny speed and coordination.
*
"I seem to remember this place." Link muttered as he stared at the glowing walls and a thin bridge ahead.
"Is it because we went in circles?" Navi added helpfully, staring at the bridge as well.
Link shook his head, but kept his sight on the bridge ahead. "I don't really think that's the reason, perhaps we went here before when we travelled ahead of time."
Navi scrutinised the layout before nodding slowly. "If I remember correctly, this place was quite important. I can't remember what happened here though."
Link shrugged and started walking towards the bridge. The best way to see what happens is to be there when it happens, after all.
He was slightly surprised when the old wooden bridge collapsed after he got off it, but was happier that he was on safe ground than in the lava pit below.
"Look Navi, a round island with nine holes full of lava. I think this place is-" Link was cut short when a sudden rush of heat appeared behind him. Twirling around, he stared in a bit of worry at the red dragon that was examining him. "...Volvagia's domain."
The dragon surged out of the lava hole and curling into a hovering ellipse, circled around Link's position. "Hello, Hero of Time. I vaguely remember meeting you at some point."
Navi bobbled a bit at that. "But you met us in the future? How can you remember something that had not happened?"
Volvagia gave off a capricious laugh, lowering his head so he was staring at Link face to face. "When you live a dozen millennia like I have, seeing the effects and tampering of time is child's play. Yes, I remember you seemed to keep hitting my head with that over bloated hammer of yours." Link chuckled nervously at that.
"Eh he... well, you were under Ganondorf's control, and I had to free Darunia, which you kept in your control. No hard feelings, right?" Link said, thinking that he would have sweated if it wasn't for the fact it evaporated the moment it came out.
Volvagia nodded sagely. "Indeed, I bear no grudge against you – after all, I am well accustomed to the ways of survival – kill or be killed, though I do find it perturbing to remember my own death." He closed his eyes for a moment, bringing his tail closer to scratch his head. "Nonetheless, what brings you to this region of Death Mountain? I am assuming that it was not to greet me."
"Well, yeah, you're right on that-"
"Oh, I weep at the cruelty of youths these days! Young people ignore the older generations that linger, turning their faces to the needs and desire of those that have experienced much!"
"Huh?" Link was confused. He really didn't think that Volvagia would act like that, being the behemoth of fire that he was.
"Ignorance is bliss, I see. But never mind. What are you here for?"
"I'm actually lost." That paused Volvagia for a bit.
"What, you were searching for the North Pole and ended up here? I do remember an old friend – should be dead by now, after all, I met him seven centuries ago – who was in that problem."
Navi decided to interject. "No, we were just mapping out Dodongo Cavern and ended up here. Before we went in, we were trying to find a way out."
Volvagia chuckled at that. "Well, that'll be a bit difficult as the bridge collapsed. You can't blame it for happening, I only maintain it once every half a millennia, and I never expected anyone to walk on it. If you arrived next week, though, it would have been after I fixed it up."
Link rolled his eyes at that. Talk about bad timing. "Well, is there a way to get out? You may not mind the heat that much, but even with this Tunic this place is stifling."
"Well, you Little Sprite can fly out on your own, but yes, you Little Hero do have a problem. If I fly straight up and through a couple ventilation passages, I could bring you up to the very top of Death Mountain, right above where the Great Fairy resides. She and I were on quite good terms, I might recall, and I think it was her who showed me how to fly properly when I was a wee lad. Ah, don't I love the good old days, when I was frightened by anything larger than a mosquito."
"That's nice to know, so can you help me get out?" Link asked flatly. Now was not really the time to be reflective of a moment centuries in the past.
"I would gladly help you; after all, you are the only company I have for minus three years. However, I would like to enjoy a sparring match before you Little Ones leave."
Link sweated at that. Right now, he was a bit too small and weak to wield the Megaton Hammer and his sword was nearly broken from usage. However, he could shape-shift into a Goron (the Zora and Deku form would be too risky in this heat), and that might help a bit.
However, that form is far too bulky and slow, unless he rolled, and he definitely didn't want to fall off the edge. So...
"Sure."
*
Dodge, side step, swing, flip back, duck, thrust, spin, slice, slash, strife, evade, block, slash and finally jump and strike. Reza could already see a pattern forming in Sierra's attacks, and she was milking whatever she could off it. Just wait for it, wait for it... there! At that, she quickly and brutally lashed out, hoping to get in the single blow that would end the fight. Sierra yelped and jumped to the side, but not before her left arm took the hit. She scowled as she gripped it with her other arm (strapping both scimitars to her back for a while).
"Hey ref! She's not allowed to do that, is she?" Sierra protested, pointing to her bruised arm.
A mumble then a snore was her only reply.
Reza rolled her eyes and walked over to him. Waving her hands above his face first, she then proceeded to kick him. "Blue Boy, wake up or I'll get Sierra to sit on you, and you won't like that." Ignoring her sister's shrill cries at that, she kept on booting his side.
*
Link was running as if his life was depending on it, and unless Volvagia was pulling his blows, his life really depended on it. What he needed was for the dragon to get low enough so he could try and strike it, but he seemed smart enough to learn from his past mistakes and kept to the air where Link could not touch him.
That was one of the major problems – For Link to try and snipe at him with his bow, he needed to be still and that would give Volvagia enough time to make him into a side course. There were only a few moves he could do:
The first move he could try to do was throwing his sword at Volvagia and enchants it so that it'll resist when piercing throw the tough dragon hide. That was a very risky gamble, because that would deprive him of an appropriate weapon if it missed, and it would either be fatal or angering if it hit. Killing the old dragon wasn't high on his priorities as he was the one who could get him out.
The other move he could try was to aim with his bow, but like said, that made him an easy target towards the fiery breath that Volvagia seemed to favour as an attack. It was also very hard to aim at a moving target as well, and considering that Navi had to dart backwards now and then to keep herself safe from the fire, using her to take aim would not really help. And unless he charged it with ice, fire or normal attacks would do absolutely nothing (light arrows is going a bit too far).
The best suggestion is to call Volvagia down. How to get him down, Link decided he'll figure it out later. Maybe by tripping and playing dead, but Volvagia probably saw that trick before and would go on roasting him. There had to be a way to lure him down, but so far he was short of ideas.
Link cursed the landscape they were fighting in. As there were no jutting rocks, there were no places to hide and he had to be careful not to trip in those lava holes. Running past another stream of flame, Link turned around and acting upon memory, tossed a fireball like he did against that demon Shikaku.
Navi had to admit, for what an altered Din's Fire lacked in power, it made up with speed, tons and tons of it. She could feel the air pressure surrounding the globe as it whizzed by. However, it also seemed to have the unfortunate effect of sacrificing area of effect for inaccuracy (it whizzed past her head, totally missing Volvagia's body). It detonated against one of the stone walls, sending a few boulders crashing into the flowing lava below.
In the end, Link did not need to lure Volvagia down. Like what happened the last time he fought him, the dragon needed intense amount of heat to stay properly functional and smashing Link aside with his snout, he dived into one of those lava pits.
Link frowned slightly. This was where it got complicated.
Much unlike the previous time he fought him, instead of the lava erupting erratically, all the pits were throwing their contents in the air and welcoming it back again, the timing random as Link had to make sure he didn't get burnt. It was a great shame that Volvagia had flew out of one of those pits when he was busy watching where he took his step, gliding away while he was staring at the ground.
Navi sighed as she sprung from hovering around Link's head to Volvagia's. Link definitely needed a bit more help now, especially since the dragon didn't seem inclined to making the same mistakes as it had before.
*
"You have the right to surrender."
"Like Goddesses I will."
"You better; otherwise I'll have to punish you further."
"You, punishing me? I think you got it mixed up, lady."
"You better count on it. Just admit it: you're losing, I'm winning."
"Hah! The day that happens is the day I care!"
"Well, you better start caring."
"Oh, shut up sister."
"Then get your butt off the ground and grovel at my feet."
"I'm keeping my nose as far away from that stench pit as possible."
"You lost, Sierra, just give it up."
"You're the one with a sword at your stomach, aren't you?"
"You're the one with a sword at your throat, aren't you?"
"Shut up."
"You lost. You're even on the ground."
Malik, who was sitting a bit back, was watching with a bit of amusement. Reza had managed to clip Sierra on her shins, knocking her down and swung down to which Sierra blocked out of self preservation. She counted on that, and using her other sword targeted her sister's neck, but forgot that Sierra had a second weapon as well, and as she deflected it, aimed it at Reza's stomach as Reza realigned her aim.
Personally, Malik had to say it was a draw. Sierra was banged up at the shins and was on the ground, Reza had a couple of miniscule cuts on her arms which had to hurt. Maybe it would be a good time to end the feud.
Walking up to them, he breathed in deeply. "And the winner is," Taking a quick glance at each of them so that they both had his attention, "me!" Quickly he shoved Reza down, and kicking her sister out of the way, ran off chuckling at his own ingenuity.
Reza growled as she got back up. "Truce?" she requested.
"Yeah, truce." Sierra answered. Grumbling lightly at her abused shins (Malik tried to kick there to make her dart off) she said, "It's now time to do some boy hunting, and I'm focussing on the hunting part."
*
All in all, Link only managed to clip Volvagia with his sword around three times when Volvagia rushed into the lava and flew out again. Those cuts were very, very light, not even penetrating the dragon's armour. Link was presently bruised from dropping down to avoid the fiery breath, battered when Volvagia decided to drop boulders again and fried from the times he stepped in the lava and the dragon's breath reached him. Most unfortunately, his sword lay in two pieces from the hard strikes he used just to chip at the dragon.
What he would do for the Master Sword around now... The King Dodongo was a piece of cake, as he even slain him with a couple of bomb flowers, a tiny dagger (from his larger perceptions) and the stupid monster's idiocy of swallowing anything that went its way. Volvagia had fought him before (kind of) and was presently living, learning from past experiences. Link just had the hilt of his sword and a bit of the blade, the other part sinking in one of the lava pits.
There were a few perks to this though. The first perk was that Volvagia could throw a more magical fire, one not relying on the heat he absorbed from the lava he took the occasional dip in and combusting his breath. That fire was based on ten millennia worth of training in the arcane arts, a fire that sparked between orange, green and blue and seemed to fry everything in its path. The perk that came with that was that since Volvagia didn't seem to be under Ganondorf's influence, he was pretty much an ally, and with such firepower on his side they'll have no problems.
It would also help him forge his sword with that type of heat intensity. The Mark of the Deity can only be made by the best, with the best.
The second perk was that he was immune to that fire. Whenever he did not manage to outrun it, the special shoulder guards seemed to glow slightly and absorb the fire. It came with the downside of that he was carrying something hotter than coal on his shoulders, but the mana he kept charging into it seemed to cool it down a bit. Link was having a vague suspicion that his shoulder guards didn't just absorb magical fires, but anything magical.
The last perk that would save his skin was that Volvagia seemed to be tiring. If Link could hold his own for a couple more minutes, the dragon might surrender out of sheer exhaustion and boredom (no way could anyone find it funny that the Hero of Time kept tripping on his feet to escape a bit of fire).
The problem was that Volvagia seemed to be pulling out his big guns.
Navi yelped slightly as Volvagia suddenly cranked up the heat around him and dove at Link like a blazing meteor, red and blue flames flickering around the dragon. Link managed to duck as he swooped above, but Navi could see the scorch marks on his heat resistant Goron Tunic. She had a hard time following him now, as with his burning body kept moving in circles to build up momentum, he would suddenly charge down intending to punt Link off the island.
Thankfully, Link was smart enough to try and dodge it, not block it. Heavens know what would happen to his trusty shield if he tried.
This continued for quite a while, and Navi could see that Link won't be able to hold his own against another charge.
*
"Oh Malik, where are you?" Reza sing-sung, using an interesting claw weapon attached to each arm, three blades extended on each weapon. "I just want to show you a certain relaxation technique, we Gerudo call it the 'prisoner's massage'."
"While you're using that thing? No way!" You could hear a voice in the rafters, and looking up, Reza could see the figure of a male.
Oops.
*
Link's hope of Volvagia tiring was cut to pieces once the dragon started using his sweep-bombing attack. He was moving far too fast for Link to catch (even Navi was trailing behind instead of next to), and the only clear view he had was when Volvagia dived at him, the blue flames crackling and the sound barrier being breached. Even then it was for only a split second, so Link used it all just to get out of the way.
It's a shame he wouldn't be able to use his shield though, Volvagia was moving too fast for that.
After five attempts to knock Link off the island, Link managed to figure out a few things: Volvagia always seemed to favour attacking Link's right side instead of behind or left for some odd reason. Volvagia also seemed to use a pattern when attacking: go in circles six times and swoop down, circle round one more time and swoop again, circle around his prey for four times before swooping down before arcing back up then trying again. That pattern seemed to keep repeating, so Link had an idea when Volvagia would attack. Also, the dragon seemed to become streamlined when diving so you could only see his face.
Hoping that he had enough information to fight back, Link awaited the next attempt at him to counter attack. It was a desperate move, and if it had been recorded would most likely be overdramatic in its cause. Damn cheesy, too.
Link chuckled lightly at that. He might as well give it a cheesy name too.
Navi was surprised that when Volvagia finished his round and was aiming for Link again, instead of running like a smart self preservation person, Link was charging towards Volvagia's direction. What was he trying to do, commit suicide?
There were only a couple of metres in between the dragon and the mortal when Link jumped. With a cry of "Dragon kick!" he slammed the heel of his right foot right into Volvagia's snout.
The sound created from the impact was outstanding. Some parts of the wall crumbled at the sheer sound alone.
But Navi had to marvel at Link's adaptive skills. From what she could see, he had charged all his mana into that jump and kick, carrying out the power of over seventy tonnes worth of rock falling onto a single area in a single moment. Against Volvagia's weight and speed, it just barely managed to cancel out the dragon's attack, though there should have been the tingle of the shock waves coursing through both of them. Thank Farore Link had enough mana left to protect his own body from the heat of Volvagia as well as reinforce his hip joint.
Stumbling back to his feet, Link smiled slightly. Volvagia seemed a bit surprised that someone – a mere kid – managed to stop his attack with nothing but his own body. Link was feeling a bit sick from dispensing all that mana though, and now seemed a good time to take a nap.
He didn't hear Navi's shout as he crumpled to the ground.
A/N: And Voila! I had finished! Through days of sheer boredom on writing this chapter (I felt it was a bit too prolonged), as well as playing Harvest Moon and GunBound (not to mention reacquainting myself with Diablo II after a long while – sweet Assassins, god bless their martial arts), I have finally completed this chapter.
There were a few things I was going to say, but I seem to have forgotten them. Hmm...
Oh well, thanks for waiting for the coming of this chapter – you guys waited well over a month – and I gratefully thank all those that replied in the last chapter. Ah, it's great to know that your efforts are being appreciated.
Well, it's time to make myself rich in Diablo 2. See ya!