The Adventure of Link
Chapter Twenty One: The Smart Choice
Link had come up against some pretty tough creatures over the course of his life, but none of them were even close to the gigantic and imposing form of Barba. This massive serpent chuckled a bit, more smoke and puffs of flame coming from its nose and mouth, while its whole body moved, the base still not visible from the glow of the magma down below. Then it blew out a short breath from its nose, sending down a glob of flame so powerful that a whole section of the stone bridge was engulfed in flames.
"Do you really think that you can cross my bridge?" The serpent asked, its words echoing around the cavern. "See those shadows toward the center? Each one was made from a fool who thought the same; I'm on an important quest to save Princess Zelda, I'm the chosen one, I can't be defeated… why don't you ask the shadows how well that way of thinking worked?"
"Barba, listen to me!" The Lord Sheriff shouted. "This curse has gone on for long enough… I don't know where your loyalties lie, but you have to understand that if I get the Triforce of Courage and save Zelda, then… then things can only get better for all of us, you included!"
The serpent just looked down at him for a second, before blowing out another glob of flame that set the bridge on fire, this time closer so that Link had to step back from the heat. Fine, maybe Barba wasn't in the mood to negotiate… but maybe this creature also didn't believe that anyone could stand up to it. Taking the boomerang from his belt, the Lord Sheriff waited until the flames died down, before stepping out and throwing the weapon.
Spinning through the air as it flew toward its target, the boomerang was on a direct course for the serpent's eye… until Barba opened its mouth and caught the weapon in its teeth. With an effortless crunch, the serpent's powerful jaws broke the boomerang into a dozen pieces that fell down toward the magma. Well, that was… disheartening, the Lord Sheriff thought as Barba started laughing again, but wait… maybe he could run across the bridge while it was too busy laughing to notice him.
Waiting until the serpent had thrown its head back in laughter, Link ran for it; sprinting with all of his speed, and running across the bridge faster than he had ever ran before. Of course, he hadn't realized just how long the stone bridge really was, and the Lord Sheriff was getting out of breath by the time he had reached the halfway point. The good news was that he was suddenly given an opportunity to stop running and catch his breath, but the bad news was because the break was provided by Barba.
Looking down at him, and then breathing a glob of flame from each nostril, Link found himself completely surrounded by flames on both sides, leaving only a space of a few meters for him to stand on… a place where all of the burned shadows permanently engraved onto the stone. There was nowhere to run, and now the serpent was slowly bending downward so that its massive snout was only a couple feet away from the Lord Sheriff, making him sweat profusely from the heat coming out.
"Looks like you've gone and trapped yourself, hero." Barba said, Link's whole body completely reflected in each of its eyes. "There is no way for you to win, and if you attack me, then your form will remain permanently added to the bridge, just like every idiot that came before you."
The fire that the serpent produced felt like it was going to roast him alive, even though it wasn't touching him, and the thick scales that covered Barba's body looked touch enough to protect the creature from any attack. With his sword still sheathed because of the attempt to run, the only means of defending himself that the Lord Sheriff had was the small shield on his forearm, but… but he had to pass the trial and get the Triforce, he just had to.
"Barba, please." Link pleaded. "The whole Kingdom is depending on me, and if you help me break this curse, I'll make sure that no one ever disturbs your rest again."
"Silence." The serpent ordered. "Your situation is hopeless, boy… I am bigger, stronger, faster, and more intelligent than you could ever dream of becoming. Every single hero that Sing has brought here has died because they were too ignorant to make the smart choice. What is the smart choice, you ask?"
Suddenly the flames behind him went out, and although the temperature drop felt wonderful, it didn't take a genius to figure out what this so called smart choice was. There was no way to get through the flames that blocked his goal, let alone fight off Barba without getting melted where he stood, and now the serpent wanted him to give up. But how could he? How could Link, the Lord Sheriff of all Hyrule, simply give up and return home a failure?
"Make the smart choice and walk away, boy." Barba continued as Link looked at the exit. "There is no shame in realizing that a situation is hopeless, and a few moments of humility is worth it so that you can live another day, is it not? I know you're thinking about using your blade to attack my eyes… as did all the others at this point… but out of a dozen charred heroes… I still have both eyes."
Try as he might to think of a way out of this, nothing was coming to mind, and the curse would remain in place if he got himself killed, just as it would if he gave up. He wanted to fight this monster just like he had fought Ganondorf, and return to the North Palace a hero once again… but there was nothing he could do. So as much as it violated every instinct in his body, the Lord Sheriff took another look into Barba's eyes… and then turned away.
Part of him felt like a coward, turning tail and retreating from this monster, but another part knew that it was the only way for him to survive. So he hung his head, walking back to the start of the bridge, and half expecting the serpent to burn him alive… but this didn't happen. True to its word, Barba did not interfere with Link's retreat, and the cave grew cold by the time that he had reached the cavern exit.
How was he going to face Façade and Zelda? The Lord Sheriff wondered as he moved back through the cave toward the surface of Pillar Island. How was he going to face Agahnim or Miranda, now that he had been scared off by a giant serpent, and mostly… how was he going to face Sing? The dark haired magician had bene so hopeful that he would be the one to succeed where everyone else had failed, and… and now he was about to find out her reaction, since she was waiting for him just inside the mouth of the cave.
"Sing… I'm sorry." He said, fighting back a tear from the shame that he was feeling. "I couldn't… Barba, he… there was no way…
"Link… you're alive?" She asked in a bewildered tone, taking a step toward him. "You did it? Oh my God, you did it!"
Instead of being angry or disappointed in him, Sing ran toward him with tears of her own starting to run down her cheeks as she leapt into his arms. Giving him a big kiss and then hugging him incredibly tight, she just kept repeating that he did it, even when she started to cry into his shoulder. But he hadn't done it… the Lord Sheriff had failed, retreating from the serpent like a coward, and…
"No, Link, no you didn't fail." She explained, kissing him on the cheek. "Barba is older and more powerful than anything in this world… nothing can beat him, don't you see? The test was for you to have enough wisdom to realize you were outmatched, instead of getting yourself killed. You did it, Link, you did it!"
Hugging her back, the Lord Sheriff was confused by this trial, that is until he started thinking about the others that he had faced. In the ruins of Parappa Palace, he had won a duel against that horse monster, beneath Midoro Swamp he had stayed the course instead of taking a shortcut when confronted by the ghosts, and now he was smart enough to retreat from Barba. These trials had tested him in the areas of power, courage… and now wisdom… just like the three Triforces.
Just like when the other trials had ended, there was a rumbling in the ground as if something was changing, but now that his power, courage, and wisdom had all been tested, was that it? Was the curse ready to be broken? Sing had told him that the Triforce of Courage was hidden within the ruins of a Great Palace located at a place called Death Valley, so did he just have to walk inside and take it?
"No, Link, it won't be that easy." The dark haired magician explained as he held her. "My curse made Zelda sleep and created the barrier around the Great Palace, but I didn't hide the Triforce away, the old King of Hyrule did. I can now take you to the palace, and you'll be able to get inside, but I honestly have no idea what's in there."
"Whatever it is, I'll face it." The Lord Sheriff replied, feeling a surge of hopeful energy that he hadn't experienced since facing Ganondorf. "I'm going to get the Triforce of Courage and then free both you and Princess Zelda from the curse."
Sing smiled before they kissed again, even more passionately and for longer than before, and then the dark haired magician took the recorder from the pocket of her dress. From what she knew, magic was the only way for anyone to enter Death Valley, at least without getting killed within a minute of arrival, but even though Link as eager to go, she put the device back into her pocket.
"No, Link, not yet." She explained. "We're heading back into town, and tonight you rest and get your strength back. Tomorrow morning we'll head for Death Valley, and I just hope… I just hope that you're ready."