"What did we do to upset this thing?!"

"If I had to guess, it's because we cut off its flow of lava."

The beast unleashed another colossal roar, both the children covered their ears from the bone chilling sound.

"Well, I'm going to take a guess and assume that think has the harp piece, just look at the size of it!"

"What I really want to know is how we're going to defeat this magma wraith! There's no way we get close enough to it without getting burnt, and I highly doubt an arrow will do any good, Link."

Frustrated, the boy put his bow back away, he had hardly pulled it out before Saria caught him.

"Well, everything has a weakness. Nothing I've ever seen has been without one."

The titan reared its head and wheezed a breath to roar again, only this time, no sound came from its jaws, instead, a fireball flew from it, straight towards the heroes.

"How are we supposed to compete with THAT? Move! Move!"

Link and Saria both jumped from their footing to a lower fold of stone, one that circled the lava pool like an arena. The projectile collided with the cave wall behind them, and exploded with the power of a powder keg. Boulders tumbled down from the blast, and the children continued to dodge for their safety.

"Great, so it can do that! What in Farore's name are we going to do to counter that!?"

"Don't wig out, Saria, there's gotta be something in here!"

The titan breathed another ball of flame, everyone dodged again to find their previous position completely charred.

"I doubt we'll be able to keep this up forever, we need a plan!"

As they were, they stood no chance against the magma's wraith. Unless some sort of advantage came into play soon, the heroes would no doubt be blown to bits, or roasted in the process. The beast roared into the air yet again, sending several smaller blazing projectiles toward the cave roof. Smoldering rocks poured down like rain in response, and the kids used their shields as protection from the onslaught. Every so often, when one of the rocks would contact the ground, an explosion would erupt, but Link was baffled as to why. Why would stone explode upon contact with stone? After studying the pattern of the blasts, he realized that they were occurring in uniform positions, one across the area from them, another on a tall formation jutting from the lava, and the last about forty feet from himself. The boy made headway for the site of the nearest outburst, something had to be causing it!

"Where are you going?! Is the hailstorm not enough for you?"

In his usual fashion, Link ignored Saria's call, dedicated to his mission. At the blast site, there sat something that, if properly used, could be a true aid. Another charred rock smacked down, and lit the bomb flower's fuse, inciting an explosion moments later. Bomb flowers truly were strange plants, growing in the dark on rocks, rather than in the light on soft soil. Now he just needed a way to harvest it, and he could use it against the fiery monster. After the rain of stones ceased, Saria and Mari made their way back over to Link's side.

"Where did that thing come from?"

"Yes, a bomb flower! Now we just need to figure out how to uproot it! I don't suppose either of you are strong enough to pluck this thing?"

Link gave several tugs, but the bulb shaped plant refused to budge. Previously, he was able to pluck the flower with the strength of the Goron bracelet, but he had no such aid at the current.

"We need to uproot it? Should I help?"

Saria pitched in her efforts, and the plant began to rustle. After a moment or two more of tugging, the fruit detached itself from its plant, and its topside ignited.

"Oof, this thing is heavy."

"Throw it you two, it's gonna blow!"

Rallying both their strength, Link and Saria chucked the volatile plant, it did not soar far though, only just into the lava pool below. It burst with a splash, but did not get close enough to harm the beast.

"Well, we're not going to get anywhere like that. We've gotta find some way to get a bomb out there, really out there."

The titan sucked in another colossal breath, and let a fireball fly for the children yet again. It took air in, didn't it? Perhaps they could use that to their advantage.

"Move Link!"

Lost in his thoughts, the boy forgot that a massive flaming projectile was hurtling towards him. Only at Saria's prompting did he remember the situation before himself. He ran, or rather, was shoved from the flying magma's trajectory.

"You do that again, and I'm not pushing you!"

Despite her seeming bitterness, Saria was all ears when she realized Link had a plan. When the boy explained his idea to his companion, she looked all but certain.

"Are you sure that will work? Well, it's worth a shot anyhow, we're on the verge of getting cooked!"

Returning to the site of the bomb flower, the two hoisted a ripe fruit in the air, and held it in wait.

"You two do know you can't hold that forever, right? It'll blow!"

"I think we've got it handled Mari, just a few more seconds..."

As the top of the fruit fizzled and sparked, the magma wraith began to take air in for its next attack.

"Now!"

At first, the explosive only leapt over the side of the cliff, but once it caught on the suction of the beast's breath, it soared straight into its mouth. A moment later, in a brilliant flash of light, the lava monster completely disintegrated, sending brimstone flying every direction. The children ducked behind their shields for the duration of the blast, then peered over the edge of the cliff.

"... Did we kill it?"

At the center of the churning magma pool, a strange red blob floated on the surface, transparent, but not clear enough to see straight through. One thing was visible in the middle of the goo, however, there was a harp piece stuck inside!

"Is that a piece of the fairy harp?"

"Looks like it! It seems to be stuck in some sort of nuclei. Peculiar. How are we supposed to get it all the way out there?"

"I think I might have an idea, hang on."

From her pockets, Saria removed her boomerang and gave it a good chuck towards the mass. Instead of passing through the strange substance, the enchanted toy rebounded off the side, causing it to jiggle violently with another ear piercing screech.

"Agh! What'd I do?"

"I think that thing was the magma wraith's heart! Sounds like it doesn't like your boomerang."

Frustrated by the noise, Link drew his bow to fire an arrow at the blob in hopes of silencing it. Before it could contact its target, however, lava shot into the air and covered the nucleus, burning the arrow instead. From the center of the pool, the beast began to rise, again in the form of a monster.

"Hey! I thought we killed it!"

"We must've only stunned it, but the gooey bit seems like its weak spot. Get ready for another bout!"

"Mari... what's it doing?"

From afar, the strange monster's lava glow seemed to brighten, a glow brimming with energy. Whatever was fixing to happen, it wouldn't be good.

"Oh no, look out! Move! MOVE!"

After its luminosity had reached levels comparable to the sun, the lava being unleashed a beam of pure energy. Link and Saria bolted out of the way, not a moment too soon. They had cut it so close to the blast, that they had managed to singe a few hairs. With a sound like thunder, the attack completely destroyed the rock behind, and the bomb flower with it.

"Good grief! Did you see that?! It just carved straight through bedrock! That was our only method of offense too, now what?!"

"Keep your cool, Saria. If we lose our heads, we're as good as dead! There should be more bomb flowers, they usually abound in these type of environments."

Again without a word, Link took off around the stone path. Previously, he had taken note of the locations of the other bomb flowers, the next shouldn't be too far. Mari and Saria not sure what else to do, followed along. The magma wraith shot several fireballs at them while they were running, but all the projectiles moved too slow for the briskness of the children. After finally reaching the other side of the arena, Link pointed to the bomb flower, and put his effort into lifting the fruit again.

"Hang on, you've really got to stop doing that, Link!"

Saria too put her hands on the volatile produce, and the two hoisted their weapon over their heads.

"Alright, c'mon you big ugly fire face! Hit us!"

Despite the lava monster's inability to understand Saria's taunt, she managed to provoke it with her shout. With a mountainous heave, the beast prepared to spit another fireball. The heroes chucked the bomb into the flow of air, and watched as the magma wraith went up in an explosion again.

"There! There! Now's our chance! Hit it with everything you've got!"

With the speed of a postman, Link whipped out and began rapidly firing his bow. The volley of arrows each lodged in the nucleus, and the familiar shrill cry of pain breached their ears. The blob buried itself in lava once again, and began to reform.

"It doesn't look like it's got much more gusto left in it. Let's hope once more will do the trick."

"I think it's charging up again, quick, get away from the bomb flower!"

In a brilliant flash of light and an explosion of shrapnel, the monster erased the cliff where the plant once stood.

"Well, I guess we need to find another one. Did you see any more bomb flowers, Link?"

With hardly a nod, the boy raced off again, and then stopped short to point at the bomb flower's location. The other two sat simply on the beaten path, this one, however, rested atop a strange stone formation that jutted up from the lava pool.

"How in the name of Hylia are we supposed to get that one? I'm not climbing up that!"

"We'll find a way Saria, just thi- Look out!"

The magma wraith arched back and unleashed another ball of fire, the group dodged to the left of it, and resumed formulating a plan.

"This guy really doesn't want to make it easy for us. Is there no way we an reach the bomb? That outcrop looks a bit steep to climb."

"Maybe we don't have to reach it? Mayor Briggi said the boomerang can bring things back to its sender, right?"

"Yeah, but a bomb seems like it might be a bit heavy."

"It is a magic boomerang, Mari. I'm sure it's worth a shot."

The forest girl reared back her arm and released the toy into the air. When it made contact with the bomb, it uprooted it and carried the fruit with it, and Saria cheered to herself for her idea working. There was one thing she forgot, however, the bomb had to return to her. The smile was quickly wiped off her face when she saw the black object hurtling towards her.

"No, no, nononono!"

The impact of the heavy object knocked her off of her feet, and the bomb came to rest on her stomach.

"Ow... Uh, Link? A little help please!"

Having a lit bomb pinning herself to the ground was a less than pleasant experience, to say the least. Link rushed to her aid and rolled the explosive off her body, freeing her from its weight. She rolled over and pushed herself to her feet, and Link pulled her away from the bomb, the charge blew moments later.

"Thanks... maybe we had better both try to catch the bomb this time?"

With a smile, the boy nodded. Saria threw the boomerang again, and both braced for the weight of the bomb. They caught it with a stumble, barely managing to keep their balance. Now it was the monster's turn. Surely the beast's next breath would be its last. The magma wraith sucked in with strength rivaling a tornado, and the hurled bomb caught the wind like a kite. Liquidous stone flew across the room, and the red nucleus was exposed again.

"Get it! Quick!"

Instead of taking the time to prepare his bow, Link threw his sword like an oversized dart, and pinned the gooey mass like a bullseye. With a cry that could shatter glass, the magma wraith's core slowly melted away, dissipating into the lava around it.

Author's Note

Pardon my hiatus, I haven't had much time to write lately, and I've had to rewrite this particular chapter about five times to get it to feel right.