Chapter 26
Dark Lanayru
Link couldn't sleep. The more he tried to shut his eyes, the more the scenes of that giant, green-poison, winged snake setting him ablaze flooded into his mind. When it wasn't happening to him, it was happening to Midna and that made it worse. The swordsman then pressed his hands on his face in frustration, mentally scolding himself:
This is ridiculous! I never get nervous like this, even when I was going to face Zant and Ganondorf. Why does it have to be now?!
Deep inside, Link knew what his fears were, though he tried to deny that he felt any. Many people depended on him, so he couldn't stop and worry about what could happen. But he was human too and it was natural for humans to feel afraid of something.
Realizing that staying on bed wasn't going to make him feel any better, Link rose and exited his room, thinking that a night walk might calm him down. The Inn was silent at night and a little emptier, since the Hylians who were sent to the heavens on the borders of Hyrule were mostly those that were on the three story building.
Descending the stairs, Link opened the Inn's door and found, to his surprise, Midna there, leaning on the wood fence at the front of the Inn. The Twilight Princess looked behind and smiled to see Link there, who returned it. He approached to her and also leaned on the fence, looking to the skies together.
"So, couldn't sleep?", Midna asked.
"Not even a bit.", Link replied, still looking to the nocturne skies.
"Yeah me too.", Midna said, looking to the green clad swordsman and back to the skies. They stayed quiet for some time until she said. "You know, it's really strange. We know we need to rest to fight tomorrow, but we get so anxious about it that we can't even take a nap. It's like, some really bad joke."
"I think that too."
They stayed there a while in silence, just gazing at the stars. After what seemed some minutes, Midna decided to break the silence and ask:
"So, why couldn't you sleep?"
Link sighed, fearing she would probably ask that. He was never the kind to get worried and he was sure she would find it very silly for him to be worried about their battle when they had already faced many other things as bad as, or even worse, than this.
"It's just that I keep getting these images of you or me dying, whenever I think about it.", Midna looked to him at that. "I know, it's really silly, isn't it? Me being worried about a fight... some hero I turned out to be."
"And who said that heroes don't have the right to worry now and then.", Midna talked, putting her right hand on her hip. "You could be a coward for all I care and I would still love you. And don't worry about the battle, if things go wrong, I'll just have to finish it myself, like I have done most of the time on our journey. To tell you the truth, I still have to do all the work even now. You should stop being so lazy, having a lady to do your work."
Link couldn't help, but laugh at Midna's remark. He knew that even if she meant those things, she just said that to make him to stop to worry. Turning to his lover, Link thanked her. Midna smiled and returned her hand to the fence as she spoke:
"Don't mention it.", she then reached to touch Link's face, her tone softening and her smile turning seductive. "But if you're so worried, maybe I can do something to easy your tension."
Even though they were a couple, Link couldn't help, but blush at Midna's offers. She always had that power over him. Strange how that was, since he should be the one making suggestions like that. But when did he ever paid attention to the so called "society standards"? Plus, Midna liked him the way he was, even though he could be quite oblivious some times.
"Well, if you want...", Link said, not being able to look at Midna's eyes for too long, which seemed to gleam with what he thought should be passion, or lust, or maybe a mix of the two, he was never the romancer to know the difference.
"Doesn't my tone and my proximity say enough?", Midna asked, now with her usual pose and tone, though she was still with her hand caressing Link's cheek. The Hero then noticed how close she was to him, so much her head was even inclined to be closer to his lips. "Man, you're dumb, but at least you're cute."
"I thought that you just said you didn't mind if I was an idiot, you would still love me.", Link replied.
"I said if you were a coward."
"Same thing to me. Anyway...", this time, Link was the one who approached Midna's lips and kissed her.
Though the exotic-looking woman got a little surprise by Link's initiative, she quickly recovered and kissed him back. As their kiss deepened and the need for air got stronger, Link and Midna broke the kiss, taking their breath. As soon as they recovered the air, the two lovers kissed again, deepening the intensity.
While doing that, Midna's hand went to the edge of Link's belt, tugging it like she wanted to take it off. Her other hand also started to unbutton the tunic on his chest. When the passionate princess had already unbuttoned enough to touch Link's bare chest, the Hero came to his senses and broke the kiss.
"Mi-Midna! What are you... ?!", the Hero asked, a little out of breath, but Midna was already kissing him again. Link could feel she now tugging the buckle of his belt and again the Hero had to break the kiss, holding her shoulders to try and contain the passion driven princess. His face was beet red as he spoke. "I-I don't know how you do in the Twilight Realm, but here we have laws about making out in public places."
"Humph. Fine then.", Midna said, sounding really disappointed. However, she quickly returned to her seductive tone and smile as she talked and passed her hand on Link's chin. "We'll end this in my room.", the Hero let her go and she then opened the door to the Inn, stopping before enter. "Oh, one more thing.", Midna then snapped her fingers of her right hand, a surge of magic running through it.
Link heard a nearby railing on the cliff collapse and fall on something. He could hear someone distinctly scream, in a very familiar voice:
"ARRRGHHH! MY BACK!!! AND MY NECK TOO!!!", Llorest yelled.
Does that guy ever quit?, Link wondered, looking to where the scream had come from.
- - - - -
Zelda was having breakfast, watching many people leaving the Inn while the guards gave instructions for the civilians to get on the carts that had been arranged to transport them to the nearby heavens. The Princess was waiting for Link and Midna to arrive, but there wasn't any sign of the two.
"Good day, Princess.", Tenros' voice sounded.
"Good day, Tenros.", Zelda answered in Twili. She had mastered enough of the otherworldly language to form simple sentences as that.
"Aren't Princess Midna and Sir Link already here?", the First Guard Twili asked. Zelda shook her head. "Man, she never used to sleep in late like this. I wonder..."
As the first floor of the Inn became deserted, Llorest appeared from a nearby shadow. He walked a little arched, like he had woken with a problem on his back that morning. Tenros then appeared from Zelda's shadow and walked to the jester. The Princess found that a little curious and stood, going to the eccentric Twili too.
"Ah. Hello Tenros. And Princess Zelda too. What can I do for you?", the jester asked, bowing to them but wincing in pain as his back seemed to snap.
"What happened to you? No, never mind. I can already guess. Anyway, could you go and wake Princess Midna and Sir Link to us? They should be going to face Lanayru by now.", Tenros said.
"I don't know. Princess Midna never approved my waking methods.", Llorest said, putting a closed hand on his chin while looking to the ground, in a thoughtful fashion.
"Please, Llorest. It's really important.", Zelda said, her tone as solemn as always.
"Well, since you asked so nicely, my 'radiant' Princess, I shall do so. But please don't tell Princess Midna I said that, or she might think I want to be your court's jester.", Llorest bowed at the first phrase, with his usual grin on his lips, and assumed his normal pose as he put his hand near his mouth, like someone telling a gossip to another person.
While the jester disappeared in the shadows, Zelda just stood quiet, analyzing if the adjective the jester linked to her title was an intended pun or not. Tenros sighed and shruged, turning to Zelda and saying:
"I doubt that will ever happen. If Midna has not been able to get rid of him yet.", Tenros commented.
The two sat on a nearby table and waited for the jester to return. Not two minutes passed and they heard a scream coming from the second floor. Zelda and Tenros stood at once, in time to see Llorest descending the stairs running, hands covering his eyes. Surprisingly, the jester didn't run into anything on his mad dash to exit of the Inn. Zelda and Tenros could hear him yelling:
"MY EYES! MY POOR, INNOCENT EYES ARE BURNING!!!"
The jester then disappeared in another shadow while some people peered inside the Inn to see what the commotion was. Soon enough, Midna came down, followed closely by Link. Her fiery-red hair was disheveled in some places and Link was still ting his belt and buttoning his clothes. Midna had an angry expression on her face as she said:
"You must be joking! This guy was always talking about me on bed and now that he see it, he acts like a drama queen."
Zelda and Tenros just sat, not uttering a word as Midna and Link also took a table. Too busy trying to get rid of the images of what Llorest might have seen...
- - - - -
After saying their farewells to Zelda and Tenros, Midna and Link arrived at the entrance to Lanayru's Fountain. The two looked to each other and nodded. As Link entered, he drew his Master Sword and Midna made her black sword appear, ready in case of a sudden attack.
The fountain was exactly how they last saw it, save the emblem on the upper level of the fountain. If it wasn't for the feeling of constant menace, they could even think the fountain was back to its state when Lanayru's light had been stolen by Zant's Shadow Bugs.
"Lanayru! We've came to purify you!", Link called.
The water below shone with a red color and the corrupted spirit shot out of the water, hissing at Link and Midna, making their clothes blow in the wind it created. The two didn't get intimidated by the spirit's aggressiveness, though. They were ready for that kind of welcome.
"We can do it the easy or the hard way. Which one will be?", Midna asked.
Lanayru glared at them with its shinning red eyes and inclined its head behind, roaring while the entire fountain shone. Link and Midna had to cover their eyes when a bright flash came from the floor. When they could look again, the entire fountain had transformed.
The couple was now in a giant, circular room with rock walls similar to those of Lanayru's Fountain. Two paths with grass and vines growing at its edges spiraled upwards, forming platforms when they met. Below them there was a pit, which the bottom they couldn't see. Dark Lanayru was at the center of the room, flapping its wings at full span, signifying the fountain had increased its size, and the spirit remained completely out of reach to Link. Looking behind them, they saw the smooth, rock wall, meaning they were imprisoned in the new scenery with the corrupted spirit.
"Ok, I didn't know he could change the shape of the fountain like this.", Link said.
"Beings like him tend to be more powerful in their own territory.", Midna explained.
Link was about to ask if Lanayru was powerful enough to change the scenery, how could he had been defeated twice, when the giant, snake-like spirit in front of them front threw its head back, flames escaping from its mouth. Link and Midna realized what the winged snake was going to do and jumped aside when Dark Lanayru breathed fire on the platform they had been on moments before.
The green-poison snake kept breathing fire and tried to catch Link while the Hylian swordsman ran to escape it. When the attack failed, Dark Lanayru flapped his wings stronger to stay at Link's level and tried to bite the Hero, who rolled to avoid it.
Midna saw from the other side of the spiral the corrupted spirit attacking her lover, completely ignoring her. When Link had arrived on the platform on the upper level, where the two paths crossed, Dark Lanayru flapped its wings faster, hissing and creating a strong wind that pushed Link back.
This thing wants to throw him into the pit., Midna thought while she saw Link trying to fight back against the strong winds.
She then charged a shadow sphere on her hand, hoping that if she hit Dark Lanayru, it would turn its attention to her. However, when the Twilight Princess shot the magical sphere to the winged snake, it was caught in the winds and blown away, towards Link's direction.
The Hero widened his eyes at seeing the magical attack coming to his direction. It hit the ground, but caused a slight explosion that made him lose his footing and be picked by the wind. Thinking quickly, Link took out his Iron Boots and put them, landing on his feet and stopping. When the wind finally stopped, he spared a quick glance to Midna, which clearly asked "what side are you on?".
Dark Lanayru then resumed biting Link again, as the Hero avoided once more by jumping and rolling aside. Midna charged another spell, electrical energy flowing around her as sparks appeared in the air. Three electrical spheres formed above her, with minor ones appearing when the sparks of the bigger ones collided with the ones of the others. From the minor spheres, bolts of lightning shot to Dark Lanayru, hitting its body, but not doing any visible damage. Midna then pointed to the vicious snake and the bigger spheres of energy shot to the corrupted spirit.
The electrical attack impacted with Lanayru's neck, releasing several sparks and lightning, creating some kind of light show. However, all it did was to make Dark Lanayru's attention turn to Midna, as he seemed to be completely unaffected.
Dammit! Either this guy is impervious to Twili magic, or he has really good defenses now., Midna thought.
"Link, I'm going to keep him distracted while you attack his essence! It's the only chance we have!", Midna shouted to Link, who still one level above her. When the green clad swordsman gave signs he would protest, she said. "I'll be fine, but you're the only one who can beat this thing, so do your job!"
Though Midna's tone was a little sharp, Link could tell the true meaning of her words. As Dark Lanayru tried to breath fire on her, Midna enchanted her reflexes and casted a levitation spell on herself. With one great jump, the Twilight Princess avoided the flames, reaching the path above her.
Dark Lanayru's head followed Midna as Link took the opposite path to her and descended until the first level. When he arrived at the platform he saw the corrupted essence of Lanayru wasn't in view, the end of his long body was still down below. Midna would need to go up a little more if he wanted to hit it. There was also the question that the body of the snake-like spirit was at the center of the spiral path, out of his reach. Thinking, Link came up with an idea.
Two levels up, Midna was avoiding another fire breath of the vicious snake. Dark Lanayru tried to bite her, but she floated fast forward to avoid the fangs of the corrupted spirit. However, while running, she saw the vicious snake's red eyes shine and some kind of rays came from them. Dark Lanayru then shook its head to the side, the two rays accompanying it. Midna took the shield and tried to reflect the attack, but she was still running and part of it hit her arm, burning her.
She winced in pain and tripped in the floor of the platform she had reached, falling to the ground. If it wasn't for the shield, she would probably have a great scar across her torso. Dark Lanayru looked to her with murderous intent on its eyes and hissed. Midna could already guess what it would do and closed her eyes, waiting for the sharp, giant fangs to close on her, but it never came, instead she heard a loud hiss of pain.
Three levels below, Link had finally saw Lanayru's corrupted sphere coming into view and put on the Iron Boots again. The Hero then took out his Clawshot and grabbed the rocky surface of the sphere, pulling it to him. It probably had called Dark Lanayru's attention, for the Hero saw it stopping its attack and looking below. Not losing any time, Link quickly drew his sword and proceeded to slash at the dark sphere. The corrupted spirit hissed in pain each time Link hit its essence. The snake tried to attack him, but the dirty-blond swordsman quickly prepared a Jump Strike and unleashed it with all his force on Lanayru's essence.
Dark Lanayru roared in pain, trashing its body. Before Link could remove the Iron Boots, he saw the vicious snake's "round bell" coming to him and before he could do as much as widen his eyes, it hit him head on and threw the swordsman off of the platform and into the pit. In panic, Link took his Clawshot out again and aimed the vines that grew on the side of the path, releasing the claw at the end of the chain. It grabbed the strong vines and pulled the swordsman back to the path.
Thinking it had gotten rid of the Hero, Dark Lanayru turned its attention to Midna, who was standing, without any idea of what happened to Link. Seeing the snake hiss and throw its head back again, Midna tried to teleport, but discovered it wasn't possible. She quickly chanted a powerful levitation spell and practically flew from the platform she was to the opposite one, one level up. Seeing it missed its attack, Dark Lanayru attacked the Twilight Princess with a bite again, but as she jumped to the side, instead of backing to its position on the center of the spiral, it slid in the platform, closing its wings and pressing them to its body while snaking around the platform, its head appearing from the opposite border in which it had disappeared.
Midna realized what the corrupted spirit was doing and floated forward the ascending path one more time, running as Dark Lanayru snaked around it, trying to bite her each time it completed a turn. Eventually, Midna reached the last platform of the giant, spiral path and Dark Lanayru stopped snaking around the path to stand with its head high, flames escaping from its mouth as the vicious snake prepared to burn the Twili woman to ashes.
However, at that time, Link had climbed good part of the spiral path using his Double Clawshots. When he saw Dark Lanayru snaking around the ground while trying to bite Midna, the Hero quickly located the point of its tail and located the nearest vine to it. Link then pulled himself to the path and climbed it, readying his sword while Dark Lanayru threatened to burn Midna. When the giant serpent was about to release his fire breath on Midna, Link thrust his sword on its essence, making the corrupted spirit hiss in pain again and throw its head upwards, releasing its infernal fire and completely missing the attack. Taking the chance, Link thrust the Master Sword more three times. He could see red cracks appearing on the rocky layer of solidified darkness that covered Lanayru's essence and chunks of it falling on the ground.
Midna then saw Link and a smile appeared on her face seeing her love hitting the giant snake's "round bell". However, the corrupted essence glowed red before releasing an energy wave that threw Link away, almost out of the path again. Dark Lanayru opened its wings again and dived inside the spiral center unblocking the path to Midna. Link ran to her and asked if she was okay. The Twilight Princess nodded, trying to hide the burn she got on her arm.
Below them, Dark Lanayru stopped its dive and stood on the level of the first platform. It then breathed two great, fire balls on it. The fire balls took the form of dragon's faces and started to ran up the paths, burning everything in their awake. Link and Midna saw that when they peered the edge of the platform to know where Dark Lanayru had gone. It was obvious those fire balls were enchanted, but what worried them the most was that the paths were covered in flame, making it impossible for them to go to the lower levels.
"What do we do?!", Link asked, seeing the two, flaming projections of dragon's faces reaching the upper levels quickly.
"Maybe we can absorb them with the shields.", Midna suggested, already taking her Mirror Shield.
"Maybe?!", Link asked, a little worried by the tone of uncertainty on her voice.
"If they don't slide on them.", Midna said. Link understood what she meant. "But it's not like we have any choice."
Link nodded and two turned to each path that took to the platform. The dragon fire balls came closer, their reptilian faces facing Link and Midna. The two then positioned their Mirror Shields and when the flaming faces were about to shallow them, they hit the shields and started to converge to the polished surface of the defensive equipments.
As the flames were absorbed, Dark Lanayru appeared. Link and Midna turned their heads at the same time and saw the giant, green-poison snake glaring at them. Its eyes then gleamed, magical energy gathering on them. Midna recognized the attack and shouted for Link to release the magical fire their shields just absorbed on Dark Lanayru's face.
The Hylian warrior nodded and when the fire at their front was finally sucked by the reflective surface of the shields, they turned to Dark Lanayru right when he released the rays from its eyes. The Mirror Shields released the powerful flames on them and the two attacks clashed. The flames eventually won and covered the corrupted spirit's front, burning its wings and making it hiss in pain.
Dark Lanayru then fell back, hitting the path behind it. Midna saw the opportunity and chanted a spell, waving her hand at her front, leaving a trail of light on its path, which formed the half of a giant, light shackle with Twili runes on it. She then pointed her hand to Dark Lanayru and the shackle turned and shot to the giant snake, binding its neck to the platform behind it.
Midna maintained her hand pointed to the light shackle while Dark Lanayru thrashed its head and neck, trying to free itself. The Twilight Princess spoke to her lover, still concentrating on maintain the winged snake bound to the platform:
"Link... hit him, now!"
"But how? Everything is still on fire.", Link said, pointing to the rest of the spiral path, which indeed was still on fire. Midna quickly thought on that as Dark Lanayru struggled more.
"I'll cast a levitation spell on you... then you'll be on his level... now, jump off the platform."
"What?!", Link asked, looking down bellow to the bottomless pit. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"You trust me or not? Do as I said! I can't hold him for too long!", Midna said, chanting and creating another half, light shackle, with one hand still holding the first one.
A great advantage of high level spell casters was that they could concentrate on several spells at the same time with enough training. Being the true ruler of the Twili, Midna could cast a great number of spells at the same time without much problem. However, the more spells you casted, the weaker the enchantments already active get.
Link considered what she said and nodded, even though he still thinking that was crazy. He then jumped, praying Midna would be able to prevent him from falling into the pit down below. The Twilight Princess then murmured the enchantment and achieved to make Link stop in air right near Lanayru's essence. Though a little surprised, the Hero didn't lose any time and aimed the corrupted spirit's essence as it passed near him.
Striking the sphere covered by the solid darkness with all his strength, Link delivered it a last, horizontal slash, making Dark Lanayru roar in pain as it got free from Midna's light shackles. However, the giant snake didn't move its wings anymore and started to fall. Link widened his eyes at seeing the corrupted spirit was going to fall on him, but before he could do anything, he was hit by Dark Lanayru's long body and thrown inside the pit, the levitation spell broken.
Midna saw that and her heart almost jumped out of her chest. In a desperate act, she jumped off the platform and dived after Link. Dark Lanayru's body had hit him so hard, he blacked out, so it was up to her save him. When the powerful spell caster reached him, she searched on his magical aura and got his Clawshot. Passing her arm around Link's waist and aiming on a nearby vine, she released the claw at the end of the chain. Like in slow-motion, the claw flew in the air and grabbed the strong vines. Midna then pulled the handle of the gadget and was pulled to the path, avoiding Dark Lanayru, who now hissed as it continued to fall into the pit.
When the Twilight Princess found herself securely latched to the vines and with Link still on her arm, she sighed in relief. He wasn't exactly heavy, but wasn't too light either, adding the pull of gravity to the count, Midna was glad the Twili could enchant their strength. Link woke and looked around, seeing he was being hold by Midna with just one arm.
"Now you owe me one... again.", Midna said, with a smile. Link smiled too as they were levitated by her to the path. The fires had finally died down. When they were there, Midna fell to her knees, panting.
"Are you alright?", Link asked, kneeling at her side.
"I... I'm fine...", she tried to say, her loud breaths cutting her speech.
"No, you're not. You're getting pale.", the Hero pointed out.
"I just feel like... I used more magical energy than normal... this place must quicken the lost of magic energy...", Link then helped her to stand and the two looked to the wall of the circular room. There was a great opening on it now, from which they could see the Lake Hylia. "Looks like the exit finally opened...", whatever she was going to say next, died on her throat as they heard a loud hiss.
The couple then looked below and to their horror they saw fire covering pit, like it was erupting, and quickly coming to them. The two then broke in a run as the flames covered the spot they were moments before and now chased them to the exit. When Link and Midna finally reached the entrance to Lanayru's Fountain, they jumped into the lake, avoiding the inferno that came behind.
When the flames passed, the two surfaced, taking their breath. Midna spoke:
"Ok, this isn't so funny the second time.", another hiss attracted Link and Midna's attention. They looked to the entrance of the fountain and saw Dark Lanayru coming out of it, diving with its mouth wide open to swallow them. "Oh dammit! NO!!!", Midna then aimed a wind spell on the water between them. As she predicted, it created waves that threw them to the sides by the time Dark Lanayru dived into the lake.
Midna and Link saw the vicious snake swimming beheath the surface. The Twilight Princess then cast another enchantment on them and she and Link suddenly started to surface more, until they were practically standing on the surface of the lake.
"Whoa!", Link exclaimed, taking a step forward and seeing that his foot didn't sink in the water a centimeter.
"When you want walk on water, all you have to say is Meroh. I thought it would be better since our enemy can swim with more ease than any of us.", Midna said.
Link nodded to her and when they saw Dark Lanayru again, it surfaced, splashing water everywhere and hissing loudly. The winged snake then stayed with its body out of water, including the point of its tail.
"Looks like we're going to the second round.", Link said, already with that fierce gleam on his eyes and taking his stance.
"Yeah. It's time to end this once and for all.", Midna said, also assuming a battle stance.
With another loud hiss, Link and Midna ran to Dark Lanayru, who used his "round bell" to beat the water, creating great waves. Link and Midna jumped to avoid the waves and got closer. The Twilight Princess then enchanted her blade with ice and swung it on Dark Lanayru's face, extending the blade as it cut the air, hitting the winged snake.
Dark Lanayru shook its head breaking the ice that formed where the magical blade connected. It then lowered its head and breathed fire again. Midna ran to avoid the flames as Link took the opposite direction and reached the tail. He looked back and saw Midna charging another spell.
As electricity crackled in the air, lances made of it appeared around Midna. Link combined his timing with her attack and swung his sword at the exact moment one of the thunder lances hit Dark Lanayru. The green-poison snake seemed not have noticed it was being attacked on its back too, being distracted by the thunder lances that embedded themselves at its body. Link started another sequence of blows when the last lance struck on Dark Lanayru's body and lightnings fell from the twilit skies, hitting each one of the lances struck on the corrupted spirit's body, which exploded on sparks and electrical currents.
After another powerful blow of the Master Sword on its essence, Dark Lanayru submerged, splashing water on Link and Midna. The two observed the snake-like spirit's image from the crystalline surface of the lake. It then opened its mouth and breathed several fire balls inside the lake. Surprisingly, the flaming spheres didn't evaporate on the water, but glowed and started to approach the surface.
Midna widened her eyes at seeing what Dark Lanayru was doing and quickly teleported near Link, grabbing his arm and teleporting to the skies at the time the pillars of fire came out of the lake, with just bubbles and a sudden raise in the water's temperature as warning. The couple reappeared in the air, out of the reach of the infernal geysers, floating.
Link was being firmly held by Midna's arm, grabbing it with his two hands, but was still not used to be in heights like that. The Hero then felt sweat on her hand and could now hear she panting. All that fighting was taking a big toll on her. He had to end it quickly for her sake.
Looking back to the water, they saw Dark Lanayru coming out of the lake, right below them, and opening its wings and mouth, ready to swallow Midna and Link. The Twilight Princess quickly floated out of the way the moment the green-poison serpent's jaws closed where they had been moments before. Dark Lanayru made a turn in the air and breathed fire on them. Midna floated lower and to the sides, circling the flaming stream.
She then saw Dark Lanayru's body passing near her and saw the spirit's essence at the point of its tail. Thinking on a plan, Midna then looked to Link and said:
"Next time he passes near us, try using your Clawshot at him together with those Iron Boots. I doubt he will be able to fly with extra weight."
Link nodded at her, freeing one hand and taking his Clawshot. Dark Lanayru made another turn in the air and flew to them, opening its mouth, sharp fangs at show. When the winged snake was almost at them, Midna floated up, avoiding yet another attempt of the corrupted spirit to shallow them.
"Now!", the powerful Twili said.
Link didn't need to be told twice, as he took aim and released the claw of the gadget, which latched to the rocky surface of Lanayru's essence. Midna let him go and the Hylian swordsman was pulled to the "round bell" at the end of Dark Lanayru's tail.
Link then put his Iron Boots and the extra weight pulled Dark Lanayru down. The vicious snake still tried to fly, hissing while frantically flapped its wings, but it was of no use. Link then held his breath as he and the corrupted spirit hit the water and submerged. The dirty-blond swordsman then took off his Iron Boots.
Dark Lanayru could now swim and tried to make a turn to attack Link, but when it did, it couldn't see the Hero. He had decided to keep attached to Lanayru's essence to avoid attacks on water and to attack it now. When the winged snake seemed to reduce its speed, the green clad swordsman took the Master Sword and started to stab the corrupted sphere he was attached to. Dark Lanayru's hisses could be heard even underwater as Link plunged his blessed blade on the rocky surface.
With a more powerful stab, Link managed to make the blade of the Master Sword enter a little in Lanayru's corrupted essence. However, the giant snake started to swim up and down, forcing Link to release the Clawshot and take the Master Sword out of Lanayru's essence. Dark Lanayru made a close turn and was now facing Link, its eyes shining.
Knowing what the corrupted spirit was about to do, Link said "Meroh", making bubbles come out of his mouth. He didn't know if the enchantment would work if he said it inside the water, but right now he was quite desperate, since he couldn't swim fast enough to avoid Dark Lanayru's attack. To the Hylian swordsman's surprise, he was pulled out of the water in great speed while Dark Lanayru shot the rays from its eyes, but missed the Hero.
Link then found himself surfacing until the sole of his boots were floating above the surface of the water. He looked around and saw Midna leaning against a snake statue in Lanayru's Fountain's entrance. She was panting heavily and had her head down. It seemed the fatigue of the fight had finally caught up to her. Before Link could make any signal that he was alright, Dark Lanayru's head emerged from the water again, ready to swallow him whole once more.
The green clad swordsman had just a fraction of second to make a move and, though he did, his reflexes were a little late. When he rolled to the side, escaping being crushed by Dark Lanayru's powerful jaw, one of the green-poison snake's fangs grazed his back, cutting through the tunic's fabric and skin. The cut was quite superficial and Link could feel the pain from that attack.
Midna looked up when she heard the corrupted spirit's hiss and her mouth opened slightly when she saw Link getting hurt. However, she knew she couldn't do much to help him now. Her magical reserves were already at their limit and she felt like her blade weighted a ton. If she tried to cast another spell now, depending on its level, she could as well be knocked out from the effort.
Link tried to ignore the pain and looked to the lake, seeing Dark Lanayru was about to come again and try to bite him once more. He ran at the time the giant snake came out of the water, rolling aside as it once more closed its mouth where he had been moments before. As he broke in a run again and had to avoid another attack, he saw Dark Lanayru's body was still in the surface even after its attack failed.
The Hero saw Lanayru's essence appearing in one of the arches Dark Lanayru's body made on the surface, before it submerged again. Knowing how he could take that to his advantage, Link ran to the nearest arch, avoiding another attack. He stopped near the arch and quickly positioned the Master Sword behind him, with his arm stretched.
Looking to the water, Link saw the corrupted spirit's essence coming and readied himself. He was already tired, but maybe, if that attack work, he could finally break the corruption around the light sphere of the Light Spirit. The layer of solid darkness was already weak from his last attacks.
Link then unleashed his Great Spin, hitting the corrupted essence and this time taking a great portion of the rocky layer out. Before he could see if it made effected, though, Dark Lanayru emerged at his side and made a turn around him. The winged snake then closed its body on Link, binding him and taking him from the surface while crushing the Hero.
Link tried to release, but the grip of the vicious snake was so strong he couldn't even move his arms. To worsen the situation, he could feel his bones being crushed while the giant snake's face came closer, as if to admire the scene.
Midna had had enough of watching when she saw Link was unable to free himself. Putting her mind into full work, she realized she had just one chance to release him: she had to hit that corrupted snake with a powerful attack. But all of her spells had made little to no damage to Dark Lanayru and magic was already a risk to her.
If this thing at least had a weak spot., Midna thought, quickly looking for one. The essence was out of question, the Master Sword was the only thing that could damage it. The only thing that was left would be Dark Lanayru's eyes. It seems I don't have choice., the Twilight Princess thought, looking from the eye of the vicious spirit to Link and then to her blade.
Quickly reuniting all the magical energy she had left and concentrating it on the sword, she also broke part of the enchantment that she used to make the blade, rearranging it in a way the rest of it would get unstable. Combined with all the energy she was transferring to the blade, Midna knew this would be the last attack her sword would perform.
Sharpening her senses and enchanting her strength, Midna aimed and threw her black blade with all the strength she could summon. The sword cut through the air and hit Dark Lanayru's left eye dead on. The power accumulated in the blade finally reached its critical state and the enchantment that bound the twilight matter broke apart.
A great explosion occurred, combined with a powerful magical backslash when Midna's blade exploded on several tiny, dark squares. Dark Lanayru's eye was practically obliterated and it finally released Link, roaring in pain while Midna fell to her knees, before lay in the ground, completely exhausted and out cold.
The vicious snake fell on the lake's surface, floating while Link landed on the water, the fluctuation enchantment on him still active. He quickly turned and saw this was his last chance. Ignoring all the pain from his bones (it seemed he had broken nothing, but he had fractures in some places he was sure) and back, Link put all his last strengths on his feet and jumped high in the air, holding the Master Sword with his two hands and aiming for the spirit's corrupted essence.
The hero then plunged his sword on the layer of solid darkness, using his weight. The Master Sword sunk until just the Triforce symbol on it was visible and a ray of white light came from where it had pierced the rocky layer around the sphere. Link then jumped out, right when Dark Lanayru began to thrash violently, even taking flight, while a ray of pure light pierced its body.
Already high in the air, the rocky layer on the spirit's essence started to crack, rays of light appearing as the cracks spread, the red lights it emitted were gone. Dark Lanayru's body seemed to reflect its essence's state as more and more rays of light continued to pierce its body, inside out. With a final, loud hiss, the winged, green-poison snake exploded in thousands of red points. Following it, the solid darkness on Lanayru's essence also exploded in thousands of black squares, which fell like glass before dissolving into dots of light.
Finally giving in to his own fatigue and wounds, Link fell behind, sinking a little in the lake before floating back to the surface. The last thing he saw before surrendering to unconsciousness was the orange, twilight clouds dissipating and showing the blue of the skies again...