A/N: Hi, I'm writing this at the top of the chapter so that you readers are alerted to this. With my exam season rapidly approaching, I hope that you will understand when I have to put this story on hold for a little while after this chapter, only for about a month, when I hope to be uploading once a week as per usual. Apologies about this inconvenience, but I need the time consolidate and fit as much information about US Politics in my mind as I can. Anyways, on with the chapter!
Link tried to keep as composed as possible as he heard the booming voice behind him, and felt the heavy hand pressing into his shoulder. Keeping his cool as well as trying to calm Shade, who was backing up against the wall of the cave with fire in his eyes, he replied, "I have no intention to do any harm." Having said this, he slowly turned around inch by inch to face the figure who stood directly behind him. He heard Epona stamping nervously and braying, but did not react.
Now in front of him stood a bulky boulder of a Goron, who bore a stony look of apprehension at Link, his large brown eyes darting down every so often to the black wolf behind Link. After a few tense moments, he spoke a slightly lighter tone than Link had been expecting.
"I didn't ask whether you were going to cause us harm, because I sincerely believe that you could harm us."
Link was shocked by this reply, and moved his mouth in an attempt to respond, but no words came from his throat. His silence gave the Goron the opportunity to speak again.
"Perhaps a better question would be, what in Din's name is a Hylian like you and…" he paused briefly, glancing down at Shade, who glared distrustfully back at him, before continuing, "… and your animals doing up here on Death Mountain, when it is clearly volatile?"
"Allow me to explain!" Link replied hurriedly, reaching towards the animal skin pouch at his side.
"What are you doing?" The Goron asked suspiciously, his grip on Link's shoulder tightening like a vice.
Link deliberately slowed down his movements, to show that he intended to harm. Carefully undoing the pouch, he reached into it and grasped the bladed boomerang tentatively by a wing, and brought it into the view of the Goron. "Her majesty, Princess Zelda, wanted me to show you this, and mentioned that you needed me to…"
He did not get a chance to finish his explanation, as the Goron suddenly released his shoulder whilst uttering a loud gasp of shock. Link saw the Goron's eyes widen in awe at the sight of the large red stone reflecting the late morning sun. However, he was more surprised by the Goron shouting, "Brothers! Come and look! The hero has finally appeared!"
Link could only watch in stunned silence as the seemingly innocent boulders and rocks he had just passed by before stopped starting shaking vigorously, as well as hearing a loud rumbling noise coming from deeper within the cave, emanating from the dingy darkness well beyond his sight.
Soon, he saw what he had thought were boulders raise themselves up from the harsh ground of the volcanic slope, and stare towards him and Shade with genuine interest and curiosity. He heard the rumbling behind him get closer and closer, and he managed to sneak a glance behind him whilst Shade fled from where he had retreated to between Link's legs in search of comfort. He saw multiple Gorons, rolling towards him before exposing their full stony bodies to him.
"We heard your call brother Darni!" one of the smaller Gorons called out. "Are you sure that it is the hero incarnate? We all know the stories of old, and don't want to be disappointed again!"
"Raise the boomerang." Darni hissed to Link, who obediently raised his gauntlet and boomerang, for all of the Gorons to see.
"The Ruby of Eldin!" a few cried out in unison. "He has returned!"
"You, what's your name?!" Darni called out to Link, who sheepishly lowered his hand again.
"My name is Link…" he replied, before gesturing down to Shade who was still hiding between his legs. "And this is Shade, my wolf companion of over 10 years."
"Ah, of course your name is Link!" Darni replied, a smile breaking over his face for the first time. "I must ask you, where did you find that stone in the boomerang?"
"We retrieved it from the Green Tower in Torma, nestled deep into the great woods." Link replied.
"Ah, a challenge I assume?"
"I suppose you could put it like that…" Link responded, soothing Shade's quiet whimperings by scratching his alert ears.
"Yes, well we should discuss this all inside." Darni replied, gesturing towards the cave with a large chiselled hand. "But first, I should introduce myself. I am Darni, second in command of the Goron tribe of Death Mountain."
"Thank you, Darni." Link replied, quietly eyeing Epona in the background.
"Worrying about your horse?" Darni asked, glancing back towards Epona. "I do hope she isn't too startled by our sudden appearance, but it has helped us to survive all these years."
"I'm sure she's fine…" Link replied, glancing up towards the smoking volcano peak high above them. "I'm just more worried that…"
"No worries!" Darni interjected, clapping his large hands. Immediately, two younger looking Gorons moved gently towards Epona, trying to undo the knot that Link had tied so that they could lead her. "She'd prefer it in the cave where we have fresh spring water supplies, as well as bomb flowers that improve the air she breathes…"
"BOMB FLOWERS?" Link shrieked, making many of the Gorons to look over at him. "Are they safe?"
"Hah!" Darni roared with laughter. "Don't worry friend, she'll be fine. Only a Goron can set them off."
Link squirmed uncomfortably, but decided to take Darni's word for it. Epona was promptly untied and led past him by the Gorons. Link gave her a reassuring pat on the nose before following behind them into the cave with Darni.
As he followed Darni and the other Gorons, Link couldn't help but look in wonder at the beautifully simplistic paintings on the walls, which depicted Gorons in a military formation, rolling aggressively towards some smaller figures bearing what looked to be clubs. Pointing towards the smaller figures, Link asked Darni, "Are they moblins?"
"I'm afraid so." Darni grumbled. "We haven't been bothered by the buggers for a while now, but they used to be rampant up and down the volcano slopes, attacking anyone and anything that moved between Goron City and Kakariko." He shook his head in thought of the simple minded creatures. "They didn't pose much of a real threat to our security, but kept stealing supplies and the like…"
"Oh, I've had my fair share of trouble with the moblins…" Link growled, with Shade adding his opinion to the matter in several controlled barks. "We've got a long past in dealing with moblins as Knights of Hyrule, mostly rescuing victims of their abductions or attempted kidnapping".
"So, you're knights as well?" Darni looked impressed. "Does Shade come with you when you deal with them as well?"
"He goes with me everywhere." Link replied, seeing the main hall of Goron City fast approaching. "We've got a certain… bond" he sighed, scratching the top of Shade's head, to which the wolf looked nervously up at Link.
"Is he still put off by us?" Darni asked, as they stepped into the cavernous space of Goron city.
"I think just getting used to being surrounded by beings who he knows he can't do anything to!" Link chuckled. "Together we've taken down only things made of flesh and bone, not rock."
"Fair point." Darni admitted, before the group of Gorons halted to face Link and Shade. Link caught a glimpse of Epona being led away by the same two Gorons further down into the depths of Goron city.
"Now, we should probably explain what's going on." Darni stated, suddenly taking a more serious tone. "The stone which is embedded in that boomerang of yours is the Ruby of Eldin, one of three sacred stones in Hyrule. They serve as a test of the skill and bravery of any hero incarnate and… wolf in your case."
"From what I've read in the texts, Death Mountain always gets more and more active when the hero returns to Hyrule, ready for him to prove his worth in its fiery core." Darni slowed down, as he saw Link's eyes widen in realisation. "Got the stomach for it?"
"Erm, are you telling us that we need to go into Death Mountain itself?"
"Yes, the next stone that you are going to collect, whichever one the goddesses have decided to place there, is located deep within the Volcano, in a sacred place to the Gorons, the Fire Chapel."
"It's where our current tribe leader, Dariuna, has been for a long while. We haven't heard from him for a good few weeks now, and some of the younger ones of us fear the worst."
"He's a tough old one, Dariuna." A few Gorons quietly murmured. "He'll be just fine."
"I see." Link breathed deeply. "How do we get there?"
"Eager to get on?" Darni raised an eyebrow.
"The less time we spend in there, the less the risk is that Shade or myself gets lit on fire." Link replied flatly. "Shade managed to get some of his fur burned a few years ago by a candle that was knocked over while he was eating. He was livid, but the knight that knocked it over got a far worse time of it. The smell and feel of his fur afterwards was horrible for weeks, so I don't want to imagine all of his fur being set alit."
"We can't offer you much to protect yourselves apart from advice…" Darni admitted glumly, but we can show you where to begin your way to the chapel. If you'd follow me…" He turned his attention briefly to the other Gorons.
"I alone will take them. Go about your normal business."
The other Gorons quickly obliged, stepping aside to let Darni lead Link and Shade down a large spiralling slope down to the centre of the main chamber of Goron city. A few of the Gorons whispered as quietly as they could in their bold voices their wishes of luck to the duo, but Link wasn't paying much attention to their words. More so what Darni had mentioned. Deeper into the volcano? It was hot enough in Goron city already, what was it going to be like further on?
"Only the Goron chief and Hero can ever follow the path to the Fire Chapel. It has been custom according to the texts for as long as they have existed. I can open the door for you, but that is it."
Link heard Shade whimpering quietly, something which was a very rare occurrence. Link knew that Shade had greater senses than he did, so he was panicking slightly over why he wasn't more scared.
"What's along the path?" he asked, as they continued their spiralling descent deeper into the depths of Goron city.
"That is for you two alone to find out." Darni grimaced. "Whatever the goddesses want to test you with."
"Brilliant…" Link groaned. "Hopefully no more moving floors."
"If I had to guess, there will most likely be lava. And magma, so the floor will technically be moving…" Darni replied with a slight smile.
Link said nothing, only glaring back at Darni with a 'Don't joke about that' look.
They continued walking down the shallow sloping curve, and eventually, Link saw a marble arch set into the stone of the cavern, standing out like a sore thumb. The marble was beautifully decorated and carved, with images of Gorons, the Triforce and other symbols of Hyrule ingrained into the stone.
"This is it…" Darni grunted.
Link looked carefully at the arch, realising that there was no actual door or passageway underneath the curved top of the arch. "Um… are you sure?"
"Ah Link, over time you will have to learn to think carefully when you are met with an apparent dead end." Darni grinned. "There is always a way." With that, Darni curled up into a rocky ball, and bounced up with a flexibility that Link would have imagined to be impossible.
Darni slammed heavily down into the ground, the floor shaking with an ominous rumble as it echoed around the cavern. Link waited a few seconds after Darni had landed again, before he heard the unmistakable sound of grating, grinding stone. Shooting his gaze back over to the arch, he was again stunned when he saw the wall rising up into the arch, exposing a small narrow passage within the rock.
Darni unravelled himself, standing quickly back onto his stout legs. "Quickly, the door only has a short window of time when it remains open!"
"But…" Link blurted.
"GO!" Darni shouted, shoving Link roughly in the direction of the passageway. Silently cursing, Link and Shade charged into the passageway, and turned around to face Darni at the entrance. He heard the stone door slowly begin to lower again, threatening to block the way back to Goron City.
"Believe in yourself hero, you can do this!" Darni said warmly. "Keep a stony resilience, and you two will persevere."
"Is there a way out at the end?" Link asked, thinking far in advance.
"There's only one way to find out!" Darni grinned, as the stone door blocked out Link's view of Darni and the Goron City. Shade whined quietly as the door locked back into place on the floor, the faint flickering of torches near them keeping the passage alight, as well as the yellow glint that came at the far end of the pathway.
"No way back Shade…" Link grimaced. "Let's do this."