Twenty
The main room with the brass bell was a welcome sight after being immersed in the first trial, and we both half-collapsed to the stone flooring from sheer exhaustion. My spirits didn't clamor per se, but I felt them each, their anxiety and concern, as my connection to them was reestablished, and the energy that flooded into and through me was a welcome boost.
Link got no such boost, and was already half-asleep by the time I pulled out the Light Medallion to give it a chance of sealing my injuries. He was completely asleep when I carefully placed it in his palm, and finally put the Forest Medallion away. The room was warm enough that he didn't seem bothered by lack of blanket or bedroll, but I still somehow dredged up the energy to drape his over him.
Not that I stayed awake much longer; my magical energy was renewed, and in a pinch, yes, I could have drawn on it to boost my physical energy, but I didn't want to. I just wanted to rest, and let my confused mind and bruised heart get a chance to recover from the shocks of the afternoon... So I wrapped myself in a fur covering, curled into a ball, and let go of the world.
I am fairly sure that both of us slept for about twelve hours, give or take a few minutes. At some point, I must have rolled over, for my hand rested over the Light Medallion, and his, when I woke.
I drew away quietly and with care, feeling... not lighter, but not as if I was half-dead either. My body responded easily and without fuss to what I needed it to do, as though I hadn't recently cast strong magic, or been fighting for hours upon end. The stiffness and soreness I had expected simply weren't there.
"Feeling better?"Midna asked.
"Physically better or emotionally better?"
"...yes."
I snorted a little, and managed a wry smile.
"Physically, yes, I'm fine. Benefits of the Light Medallion."
"And emotionally?"
I sighed a little.
"I'll live. I won't enjoy this, but I'll live."
"Well, that's good. Link would be very upset if you decided to die over this."
I bit my tongue on a retort; as much as I trusted them, cared for them, they didn't need to know that I couldn't actually die. Instead I only shrugged and pulled the Forest Medallion out, generating fresh fruits that would make for a good start to breakfast.
Link was awake by the time it was ready, bright-eyed and clearly eager to move onto whatever the next challenge would be. After returning the medallion to me, he practically jumped on the food, and sooner rather than later, we were ready to head for the next challenge.
The middle-left door opened to a blast of heat, exposing us to the heart of a volcano. The roar of an angry dragon reached our ears even as we hastily swapped normal tunics for the heat-resistant Goron tunics, found by a walloping crunch of someone or something hitting rock hard enough to shatter it.
"Where's this?" Link yelped as the door snapped shut on his heels, and I was once again cut off from my spirits.
"At a guess? Death Mountain," I called back, throwing my equipment back on and looking around as the dragon's wild scream sounded again. "A young Death Mountain at that!"
It was a fair enough assumption; a number of platforms hung over a roiling body of lava, held only just in check by the low walls. Overhead the sky was obscured by the ash and smoke, but it almost look like the bright blue of early morning. It looked nothing like the Goron Mines we had traversed, or the ancient mountain that I only just remembered.
The dragon screeched a third time, and I finally pinpointed it amidst the rippling wave of heat that rose from the bubbling lava below. Volvagia, the same dragon that Ganondorf had resurrected centuries ago, whirled around in the air, using the intense heat to glide a path around a solitary figure on the largest bit of land. Though small at the distance we were, I was willing to swear the figure—a Goron, for who else could stand in a raging volcano?—was holding a hammer.
I didn't bother to stop and ask myself it this was a good idea; I avoided looking down, and jumped from platform to platform until semi-solid ground was reached.
The Goron figure had seemed small at a distance, but up close and personal, he was about the height of Darbus, though he was built more like Darunia had been. He spun at my approach, brandishing the hammer threateningly.
"Who are you?" he demanded. "How do humans walk among the heat of the volcano and no perish?"
"...let's go with magic," I said, holding my hands out cautiously, "and save the rest of the questions for another time, because I don't think that dragon is going to give us the space to actually talk!"
He wasn't either; Volvagia swooped down, and let loose a streamer of fire, which he followed up with a handful—clawful? Whatever—of rocks that were astoundingly accurate. There was a lot of swearing and dodging for a good two minutes.
' "What's going on?" Link yelped.
"Volvagia threatens my people and the lands below," the Goron replied, shaking the hammer at the back of the dragon. "To save my people and our human allies, I, Daro, Hero of the Gorons, chose to come up here and slay him."
"Obviously, he's not cooperating," I said a little dourly, checking carefully to make sure nothing of me was lit on fire.
"No, little human, he is not. He will not swing low enough to meet the hammer!"
And Daro hefted the megaton hammer like it weighed little more than a feather; for him, it probably did, but I could remember the Hero of Time struggling to heft it properly. It was just a flash of memory, but it connected enough dots that I immediately began searching about for a piece of land that would do for the lead in.
When I saw it, Volvagia had just made its turn for another blast of flame. Nothing loathe, I grabbed Daro's arm, and ducked under his bulk as he provided an excellent shield from the flame.
Seriously, Goron are pretty much indestructible. It's a very useful thing.
"Look, if you get over to that narrow bit of land, I think we can bait him in."
"Bait?"
I nodded a little.
"We'll keep the dragon distracted while you get into place, and then piss him off enough that he comes charging in. When that happens, wham goes the hammer and crunch goes the dragon. Yeah?"
"This puts danger on you, little human."
"Been there, done that, survived it last time, gonna survive it now cause I'd never hear the end of it if I didn't," I replied, making a face. "It might hurt, but then, if we win?"
Link chose that moment to dive into the protection of Daro's bulk as as Volvagia came around yet again. The Goron seemed torn, but after a moment, he nodded in agreement.
"Okay, get yourself to the end of that platform, and be ready. Link? Ready to play dragon bait?"
The hero gave me a wide-eyed stare that was somewhere between 'you've lost it' and 'Oh my god we're going to die.' Despite the clear danger in the situation, I had to grin.
"Trust me. This should work."
Daro clapped us both on the shoulders, nearly knocking us to the ground from the unexpectedness of it, then bounded off; when Volvagia turned to follow, I twisted, bringing the bow to bear on the great dragon, and shot him in the face.
Unlike the resurrected dragon, whose head had been made of bone that only the hammer could damage, this dragon was hale, and scaled from snout to tail tip. My arrow still skittered off the face, but when straight through one ear, making the dragon howl in pain.
"Welp, that got his attention~"
It did too; ignoring the moving Goron for the moment, Volvagia headed right for us.
"What are we doing?" Link yelped as he dodged the plume of fire.
"Pissing it off!" I replied with a laugh.
I heard him groan a little, but chose to ignore his muttering; it was probably unflattering, and I also deserved whatever remarks he made.
Volvagia came back, armed with rocks that it hurled at me; some I dodged by simply moving left or right, one or two I jumped over. Reflexively, I reached for a pouch of deku nuts that I didn't have, and was forced to duck behind one of the larger rocks as flame splattered the ground.
I felt more than heard the explosion, and peered around around the melting edges of the boulder to see Link, armed with a bomb bag and a look of 'I have got to be out of my mind' writ loud across his face. I grinned, giving him a thumbs up, then jumped out from behind my boulder and shot the dragon again; this time I had a better chance to aim, and my shot zinged just past his eye. I only missed because he jinked his head at the last second, and hurled rocked at both of us.
We took it in turns; Link would throw a bomb—which, while not necessarily damaging, was deafening and disorienting for the dragon—I would shoot an arrow, and then Volvagia would lunge for us, attacking either with fire or with rocks. Because the gliding was imperfect, it had to make a pass, then come back around to regain the height of safety.
But each return pass was lower; it was realizing that unless it actually swooped down, we were just as out of reach as it was.
When I finally managed to puncture one green eye, that seemed to be the end of the 'toying' phase; Volvagia's roar was loud, and shook the entire volcano, causing the lava to bubble and burst in echo of the dragon's anger.
"Okay, time to go now!"
I grabbed Link by the arm as the dragon came in low and we took off, pelting from platform to platform as the dragon gave single-minded chase; I glanced back once to see that the fiery blood had seared my arrow away and was leaving little angry pits in the ground. Beside me, just managing to keep up, Link looked almost like he was laughing from the sheer amount of extreme danger we had thrown ourselves into.
I had to laugh a bit wildly myself; of all the things I might have expected, facing the dragon was certainly not one of them. But in retrospect, it certainly seems apropos; Fire Medallion, fire dragon of death, doom, and destruction.
In any case, the plan worked to perfection... almost. As we came upon the spit of land where Daro rested, I heard the dragon breathe in; I glanced back just in time to see the flames coming straight for us, and did the only thing I could in the moment.
I yanked Link out of the way and took the hit.
He went into a fairly uncontrolled tumble to the left, fortunately nowhere near the lava; I went right, swearing as I felt the heat overwhelming the enchantment. My quiver and all my arrows were lost in that instant, as the tunic itself, the chainmail, and the shirt beneath were immolated. Pain, white-hot and deadly seared my back.
I'm fairly sure I screamed.
The fire was abruptly cut off by the sound of a hammer crushing scale and bone, and my less than controlled tumble came to a halt; I decided in the moment that not moving was probably in my best interest.
Link scrambled over, the panic evident in his steps if not his voice calling out my name. He skidded to a halt at my side, and I heard him utter a low, horrified moan. I don't know how bad my back looked, but from the sound alone, I and guess it was anything other than pleasant. No doubt if I was not mandated, that would have been the end of me.
It's not the first time I've felt fortunate to have the immortality the goddesses conveyed to me. Ir probably won't be the last, either.
"Light... medallion," I managed to cough out.
He fumbled in the pouch on my right hip and managed to press it into my hand. The pain was immediately numbed out, and I breathed a somewhat easier breath, turning my head with a wince as other footsteps, heavier ones, approached us.
"That was foolhardy, little human," Daro said gravely.
"But it worked..."
I heard the exasperated sigh, then he bent into my view.
"Be more careful of yourself, little human. And take this for your courage."
Gently into my other hand he dropped the Fire Medallion; before us, a portal opened up, allowing us to exit back to the Temple of Time. I managed it, with help from Link, who tried very hard to not touch my back, and laid me very gently on the cool stone of the balcony before he flopped down and let out a sigh of relief.
"Are you just crazy or something?!" Midna demanded. "That almost killed you!"
"Ah, but the keyword there, my dear, is almost," I said with a faint wince as I carefully adjusted how I was lying. "Besides, I've used that trick before. A long time ago."
"Okay, but please be less reckless," Link pleaded, looking over at me from where he lay. "That was scary."
"I told you that you didn't have to come," I pointed out. "Tests scaled to me aren't exactly going to be the most friendly thing in the world. Sometimes you have to do stupid things in order to win."
"That wasn't stupid, it was suicidal!" Midna retorted.
"That would be why I didn't let Link take fire to the back. I can survive such things. Barely, maybe, but I can. Beside, in that case it was an either or; I took the option that wouldn't result in crispy-friend hero!"
I was, perhaps, being a bit sharper than necessary. They were upset because they had been scared for me, and on an intellectual level, I did understand it. I have certainly been angry-scared before. But in the moment I had survived, and earned back the Fire Medallion. I was, I admit, less than appreciative of their concern.
Midna made a sound of disgust and jumped back into the shadows while Link slowly pushed himself back upright and came to sit closer to me.
"How's it looking?" I asked. "Any better?"
"...comparatively, yeah," he said, glancing at my back with a wince. "But everything you were carrying is a bit of a loss..." He paused, then gingerly touched my shoulder. "Seriously, please don't do that again?"
"I promise nothing," I said, a bit acerbically.
He sighed mournfully, hanging his head a bit, and after a moment, I sighed too.
"Look, it's not a dig about your ability to take a hit, or pain tolerance, it's about what you can survive. I? Can survive a lot of things that would kill an ordinary person. So if I see something coming that will hurt, I step in the way to take it."
"But it's not pleasant to watch..."
"And I get that, I do," and irritated or not, I gentled my voice. "It's never fun watching a friend get hurt. But here's the thing, hero. If you die? We're all doomed."
I shifted cautiously, and felt taut skin pulling across my shoulders and back. After a moment, I grimaced and settled back down on the floor.
"Hey, do me a favor?"
"...what?"
"Put the Light Medallion on my back. I need free hands for this."
He gave me a suspicious look, and I have to admit, I could hardly blame him.
"Seriously, I can't be bogged down for a day, or however long this is going to take to heal with just the Medallion. And don't tell me you didn't get slightly singed yourself a couple of times," I said sharply.
"It would serve you right if you were for freaking us out," Midna said waspishly, though she didn't emerge from the shadows.
I just rolled my eyes a little, and waited. After a moment, with clear reluctance, Link carefully plucked the Light Medallion from my hand, and quickly transferred it to my neck. I still felt the abrupt blunt impact of pain, but managed to bite my tongue on any further swearing.
Fortunately enough for me, I keep the Ocarina in a side pouch, and slowly I moved my hand down until I could get it out, then carefully brought it up to my mouth so I could play the Song of Healing. The song got an unexpected energy boost, both from the medallion and from my anxious spirits, who were also displeased that I had gotten myself so lethally injured.
Yes. Anyone else would have been dead. If not for the Light Medallion, we would have needed to visit Faron's spring for a very long soak. It was reckless, and dangerous, and given more time to think I probably could have come up with a better solution. But I did not, and thusly had to deal with the consequences, even if only for a short time.
It was not the overwhelming trance-like state I had entered into to heal Link, but I admit, I did lose at least an hour to the song and the magic, if not more.
When I sat up, the remains of the shirt and chainmail promptly fell off. I sighed and stripped, much to Link's embarrassed squawk, changing into clothing that was not ruined or damaged, then held up the remains of my fire tunic with annoyed disgust.
"This is such a lost cause," I grumbled. "I suppose I'll have to enchant a new one instead... Tch."
Most of my hair had been crisped too; that, at least, was an easy fix, though it did cause a pang of regret. I do love my hair, long or short.
Once finished with tidying up, I carefully repacked everything, and started working on making a new, temporary, quiver from some of the canvas and furs. Sewing is by far my least favorite activity, but I am not unskilled, and I was in no hurry to tempt fate with door number three. I admit, I also hoped that if I waited long enough, Link would doze off and then I could chance the test on my own.
But the boy was adamantly staring at me, almost angrily at that. It was actually kind of cute, if I'm being honest.
"Speak your mind or don't, but staying angry about a fact is just going to wear you out," I said dryly, turning the makeshift quiver to start the next seam.
"Don't you care about your own life?"
"That's a funny question."
"It.." he spluttered a bit. "How?!"
"Everyone cares about their own life," I replied, keeping my voice calm. "I just happen to be in the unique position where I don't have to care as much."
I glanced at him and saw confusion and frustration in equal measure. After a moment, I sighed a little, and shook my head.
"Puppy, whatever preconceived notions you might have about me, I advise you to throw them out the window. In case you missed this, I'm not exactly normal by any stretch of the word. Or do you know many other people who can claim to be the ally of both Zora and Goron, and a friend to the Royal Family. Were you not listening when I said that I made the Mirror of Twilight?"
I slanted him a sharp look, and saw him staring at the floor. I sighed again.
"Link, in the plainest terms, I am not like you. I do not get reborn as you do. I simply live, and believe me, it's not a lot of fun. So yes, I do recklessly stupid things, but it's not because my life has little meaning; it's because yours means more to me."
"But why?" he asked plaintively."It just.. it doesn't seem the same..."
"Probably because it's not. Look, c'mere, let me tell you a story."
He scooted in closer as I sorted through ancient memory, calling for help from my spirits who could fill in the gaps with the memories I had imparted to them.
"A long long time ago, when the Triforce was broken, I was there," I said, slowly setting my stitches. "Not only was I there, but I could have prevented it from happening, if I'd had just a tiny bit more knowledge. Because I didn't, I was told I had to fix it."
"...that doesn't seem fair."
I snorted in wry amusement.
"No, I guess not. And in the long centuries since, I've had plenty of time to complain about that. But it was my ignorance that led to the sundering, and that makes it my job to fix it. A job that I can't do alone; I need your help. I have all sorts of helpful things more or less built into me. It still hurts like hell to be injured, but I will survive things that would kill anyone else. I have to, if I'm going to fix things. And make no mistake, even though I sometimes don't appreciate the mandate, I chose this path."
I set the last stitch, then flipped the quiver inside out to make sure it didn't look too awful. Link stared at his hands for a minute, then uncertainly back up at me.
"I just don't like watching you get hurt, or risk your life because I'm not strong enough," he finally said.
"Puppy, you're plenty strong enough," I replied, patting his shoulder lightly. "And you get stronger every day, regardless of our setbacks. Believe me, I'm not a fan of pain. I just don't want you getting hurt either. You're... my friend."
A pale comparison to other Heroes, but then, friendship was—is—precious enough.
He was quiet while I sewed on the straps that I could use to tie the quiver on, and a glance over showed that he seemed to be pondering what I'd said.
"So... what next?" he asked finally.
"We be grateful that I only lost the quiver and arrows and not the bow too," I said dryly.
He snorted a little, which was exactly the reaction I'd hoped for.
"Seriously though, food, and a short nap before taking on door number three is probably a good idea. Hopefully it'll be nicer, but I'm not holding my breath. Are you sure you want to keep trying to tag along? These tests aren't exactly made for you..."
"We're coming," he repeated stubbornly. "If we don't, you'll probably get hurt again!"
I couldn't help it, I had to laugh.