"It's ready, slide it into place!"
A crew of four Gorons hefted the massive stone slab in front of the molten dispensary. The crew cleared away, and one more worker pulled a chain to hoist up a gigantic seal made of the toughest bedrock. Like molasses, the glowing liquid seeped into the specially cut groves in the stone, filling out the mold slowly, but perfectly. The seal was dropped, and the dispensary no longer output molten iron.
"Bring in the counter-mold!"
The same crew of Gorons heaved another stone over the original mold, and gently slid it on top. Almost like a building block, the stone fixed into place, forcing the malleable substance within to conform into a specific shape. The crew removed the top mold for a manager to inspect their work. Using a pair of titanium tongs, the craftsman removed the still glowing, but now solid object. With the care of a surgeon, he dipped the metal into a vat of water, clouds of steam arise in the process.
"Here you go, kid, a shiny new shield!"
"Woah..."
Saria stared into the shield's glare with a look of ecstasy and awe. The metal was refined and polished, to the point that she could see her own face on its surface. Even Link looked with jealousy at the finely crafted piece of metal, it was specially tailored for her, he had purchased his own at a market store.
"Are you... going to take it?"
"Oh yes, sorry."
She removed the tool from the Goron's large hands, it was lighter than it looked. She hoisted it over her back and drew her old wooden shield.
"What should I do with this one?"
"Well, unless you have an emotional attachment to it, you really don't have any need for it."
"Hm... I guess I don't. Sorry to see such a good piece of wood go to waste."
"That's just life for you, all good wood will rot away eventually."
'All good wood will rot away eventually...' Saria repeated the words in her mind. Things always did pass away with time, the Great Deku Tree, the peace and prosperity of Hyrule, even now, her own life flew by. Before, time had no hold on her, herself and her friends were all to live an eternal life in the forest. Now... her and everyone she knew was bound by the eventual sentence known as death. By now, everyone she had known was no doubt dead in her reality, Fado, the know it all brothers, the twins, even Mido. Time had been very cruel to her. 'What are you doing? Don't get sappy now. You knew the repercussions when you accepted this task. You will see this out to the end, for the good of Hyrule.'
"Ah, there you are! Enjoying your new shield, hero?"
Dartoga stomped his way into their tunnel, alive with excitement.
"Yeah, it's shiny..."
"Whatcha gonna do with the wood one, hm? I don't think it'll be any good compared to your new one."
Saria glanced at the Deku wood shield one last time, then replied with a somber smile.
"Get rid of it, all good wood will rot away eventually, after all."
"Heh, that's right. So, I got my workers to unseal the path to the molten rivers, you two sure you're ready for that? Ya sure you want to try your little selves at the heat? We don't joke when we say it's hot down there, we really mean it!"
"Sir, these two can handle it. The heat shouldn't even phase them."
"If you say so, fairy. Come, I'll take you as far as I can go."
The very air was full with sparks, lava poured all around them. Despite not being able to feel a single degree of it, both the children sweat just from the sight of their surroundings. Dartoga had to turn around long ago, the children had been navigating through the flaming mess alone for at least an hour. Lava spewed up around them, but they remained safe on a stone walkway against a cliff, high above the magma itself.
"Wow, it's like a fireworks show or something! Where are all these flames coming from?"
"Well, they're coming from deep underground, all the pressure heats and liquidates the stone, and it turns into lava."
"Mari, you know I didn't actually want to know, right?"
"Yeah, but I was getting at something else. While it is normal for a lava tube to be somewhat violent, it's about as tempestuous down here as an active volcano! Not only that, but the air must be well over two thousand degrees! Something is definitely tampering with the balance of nature, we must be heading in the right direction."
Another burst of molten slop shot into the air, Link held his shield over his head like an umbrella, and Saria tucked under it with him.
"I know these tunics protect us from the heat, but maybe we shouldn't try our luck with lava, eh Link?"
Even the Goron tunic from Death Mountain didn't offer complete resistance to lava, he had gotten many burns in testing its dexterity. Odds were, their shirts were no different, but he did not want to find out. As they traveled down the high path, both kept their shields up to guard themselves from magma spray. The deeper they went, the more constant lava would explode into the air. The ledge they traveled grew more and more narrow, soon, Link found himself with his back against the wall, toes hanging over the pit below.
"Link, are you sure we're going the right way? it only gets more narrow from here."
"Did you see anywhere else to go, Mari? The last split was well before Dartoga went back up."
"I'm just saying we could run out of ground pretty quick. There has got to be a better way to traverse this nightmare!"
Nightmare was hardly an understatement, they barely had room to stand, and the churning lava was relentless. Just before the ledge receded into the face of the cliff, another platform of stone jutted up from the floor. It was much more spacious than their current arrangement, but it was going to be no simple task to reach. While the protrusion they were edging against had been connected the entire time, the platform was not, a river of lava flowed between it and them.
"Well, I guess we had better turn around."
"No, we can make that jump!"
"Saria, now is not the time to show off, think this through!"
Before the fairy could finish her sentence, the girl kicked off of the stone wall, and barely managed to catch her fingertips on the edge of safety. She pulled herself up, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was a bit closer than I would have liked, c'mon Link, your turn!"
While the forest girl was enthusiastic to leap, the boy was a bit more adamant.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't fall! I never let you fall from any trees, remember?"
Though this was nothing like a tree, Saria was right. She trusted him, so he trusted her. He put his foot back and prepared to leap, however, unbeknownst to him, his foothold had began to crack.
"On three, ready? One, two, three!"
Link took a jump, but as he did, the narrow ledge he stood upon crumbled, stunting his momentum. He flew across the gap, but he was to low to snag his fingertips on the precipice. He smacked into the stone, and began to fall. Before he could drop two inches, however, Saria reached down and caught him by the hand.
"I told you I'd make sure you wouldn't fall!"
He wasn't out of trouble yet, another arc of molten surged into the air, its trajectory was straight towards him. Saria pulled with all her might, but she did not have enough strength or leverage to hoist him up over the ledge. If something didn't change soon, things were about to get pretty crispy.