Franne here! Yay more updates! I got a few chapters ready already, so beware ;) Thanks to RandomButLoved, ShadowNinja1011, CreCra, and The one who writes the ones for reviewing! As always, written by me and edited by BlueFrenchHorn97 :) This chapter is written from Callia's POV.
"What's the situation, Zurin?" Link asks as we touch down in the Faron region. I'm still a little nervous… if the Imprisoned creature has broken loose again, then we don't have time to sit around and make idle chit chat.
"It doesn't bode well," the demon replies, "Demise is about to break out of the seal, so we need you down there. The rest of us will have to help since there's nowhere else to go. I hope you all came ready to fight."
Fear is bubbling in my stomach as we make our way along the wooden tracks for Groose's bomb flinging weapon. The ground is shaking even as we walk, making me feel like we're on a death march, headed straight towards something terrible. Link's fought this creature before, he stressed how difficult it is to defeat and how it had evolved the second time that he fought it. What if it's changed again? What if it's too strong to take down this time?
"Aight," Groose says by way of greeting as we arrive by his 'Groosenator'. "It's good to see ya again, just a shame that ol' grease wad here is the reason why."
"How long do you think we've got?" Link asks, looking grim.
"Not long at all," Groose sighs as he wipes his brow. "The ground's been tremblin' like crazy. I reckon it'll break out any moment. You might wanna get down there."
Link nods as he turns to make his way down to the centre of the pit.
"Hey Link," Pipit says. "Do you want us to help you?"
Link shrugs. "It might help, though Groose could use a hand too. Uhh... how about Leala, Pipit, Bryarly and Karane, you come with me to the center. Callia, Zurin and Fledge, you stay up here and help Groose with the Groosenator, ok?"
I nod, knowing that I'll certainly be more use aiming and calculating the strength needed than I would be trying to chase a monster. The ground begins to tremble again, shaking more ferociously than the last time.
"Come on, let's hurry!" Bryarly says. "We don't have much time to lose!"
I glance down to see that the ground around the spike seems to be inflamed, the seal markings on the ground burning an angry red. I try to keep an eye on the seal spike. The ground is shaking violently and the black smoke is growing thicker and thicker with each tremor.
Suddenly, with an ear-splitting roar, the monster rears up from the pit. It is big… impossibly big… terrifyingly big! It is covered in moving and shifting scales, all of which seem red in the dim light. And if that wasn't enough, it has giant teeth that look like they can devour you in one bite.
I hear Bryarly scream out of fear. My legs feel like they have turned into jelly, and I feel terribly sick.
"O MY GODDESS!" Karane screams with terror.
The monster bends down and lets out another loud roar.
Even from up here I can see how minute my friends are in comparison to the enormous monstrosity. His arms, long and clumsy are stretched before him, giving him and almost zombie like presence. Short stubby legs stamp at the ground, sending out dangerous shock waves. And to top it all off, his overly large tail swings back and forth worryingly. Luckily, the spike that seals the pit crowns his head - it must be his weak spot.
"GET ABOVE HIM!" Groose bellows from behind me. "WE'LL STUN THE GREASE-WAD!"
Our friends don't reply, but they seem to have gotten the message because they start making their way towards the vents dotted around the sealed grounds. Groose runs off to grab himself a bomb, Fledge holds the Groosenator in place, and Zurin wheels us around to the correct position, while I calculate the aim that we'll need to hit the creature. The wind ripples through my hair as the Groosenator moves on its tracks, pulling into the right place.
Once we're all set, we launch the first shot and the bomb flies off towards the monster, striking him on his head. He's temporarily paralyzed, allowing our friends the time to jump down onto his head and ram the spike deep into his skull.
It seems to be in a world of hurt, but isn't close to done yet. Getting back on its feet, the monster reveals what must be its new mutation; an enormous halo that somehow causes the beast to float out of the grounds at an alarming rate.
Everyone is moving double time to get a bomb flower into the Groosenator. The bomb is set as the Imprisoned reaches the halfway point of its destination, and Zurin cranks the wagon component into place and lets the bomb loose with help from Fledge and I, blasting the beast out of the sky and onto his back at the bottom of the pit.
As Zurin stops the wagon back at the path to the bomb flowers, the group hears the sound of another successful attack barrage on Demise. "So far, so good I suppose, but that was far too easy..." the demon muses.
Groose's face tells a different story when everyone else jumps off the cart to help place a new bomb. Turning to what must have ruined his spirits, everyone can see that the bomb flowers have been crushed by a pile of rubble dislodged by Demise.
"This isn't good! Without bomb flowers we can't stun that... thing!" Groose shouts.
Trying to at least move the rubble away with magic and salvage what was left, Zurin is surprised to find that he couldn't use any of his abilities. His explanation is that Demise has definitely realized the demon's presence and suppressed his spells.
"We can use the bomb flowers anymore, see if you can get up here and help us with a new plan!" Zurin calls down to the other group below. "Hurry!" Even as he speaks, The Imprisoned is readying for another attempt at flying out of its prison...
"GO GO GO!" I yell as our friends sprint to the wind gusts and go up the pit. They dash towards us and the catapult, and we are urging them to run quicker. We stop and I glance towards the pit, which makes me cringe, seeing that the Imprisoned is flying up, and fairly fast too.
"Link! You got no choice! You have to get on his head! Quick now!" Groose shouts, readying the Groosenator.
"What no! That's way too dangerous!" Bryarly and I yell together.
"It's like Groose said, I have no choice!" Link says as he sits ready in the catapult.
"Ok we'll send you straight for the spike on its head!" Zurin shouts and he starts wheeling the wagon into the right place.
"Here you go!" Groose yells, and Link flies across the sky, right onto the Imprisoner's head.
He lands right on top of it, quickly gets out his sword and slashes the spike back into its head.
To everyone's relief, the Imprisoned lets out a final howl and disappears in an explosion of his own scales, re-materializing as a small black stain in the bottom of his pit.
Link wastes no time in activating a third seal on the tainted spot, then makes his way back up to the temple entrance where we and the old woman stand waiting.
"Thanks to everyone's efforts, the beast has been sealed again, but we are running out of time. Link, your friends here tell me that you seek the water dragon? This will be unexpectedly difficult, considering that Faron Woods is now overflowing with so much water that a seal was necessary on my part to keep the deluge away from the grounds. I apologize, but everyone will have to find another way to the dragon; let me know if I can be of assistance."
As the old woman excuses herself and Groose gives one of his usual dialogues before leaving as well, the remaining group huddles together and discusses their options.
"Obviously, we can get Zurin to teleport us right in..." I ponder.
"...but we have to worry about Faron seeing him, and that wouldn't go well at all." Fledge finishes the thought for me.
"I was wondering along those lines," Zurin admits, "so I was thinking, perhaps I will move everyone to the edge of the flood and sit the rest of this one out. No matter the options though, you are all going to need these." Reaching into his pouch, Zurin hands around the scales that Faron had tossed at him so long ago. "With these you can swim in whatever puddle that dragon has conjured up, but does anyone else have ideas on how to get there?"
"I might have an idea..." Leala says with a slight smirk. "But you're not going to like it..."
"Tell us!" Link says.
"Well, we could use the catapult and fling ourselves up towards the woods..." Leala says quietly.
"This is absolutely INSANE!" Bryarly howls.
"It's the only way to get us over there!" Leala replies, suppressing her giggle.
I chew the inside of my cheek. "Isn't there some other way?"
"You're the smartest one here, Callia," Pipit cuts in. "If there was another way, you should have thought of it by now! Now come on, get in!"
Reluctantly I take Pipit's arm and he pulls me up into the large spoon of the Groosenator where the rest of the group is standing. Zurin watches us with a rather queasy look on his face.
"I'm not sure about this..." he muses. "What if we've calculated it wrong and you get catapulted into the great tree!"
"We've calculated it fine. Besides, there's no other way and we need to find the dragon!" Link says, bracing himself.
"Alright..." Zurin says reluctantly. "Good luck..."
We already ourselves for launch as Zurin pulls the Groosenator in position with a grim look on his face. There's a moment of tense silence before the ground shifts beneath us and we're all flung into the air. My stomach feels like it's been ripped right out of my body as we all fly through the open air, over the trees, out of the sealed grounds, headed right towards the giant mass of water that floods Faron woods...