(Author's note: I updated this chapter because there might have been confusion for some readers.)

Chapter 7: Diababa the Twilit Parasite

As baba serpents slithered out from the walls, enclosing around his position, Link sprinted for the only reachable exit. He leapt sideways in his run to avoid being bitten by the teeth dripping of prolonged hunger. With a hop he propelled himself up one of the totem poles, tucking the boomerang inside his belt. He had no time to center his balance atop the pole before the serpents above him began stretching their heads downward, and he leapt unsteadily for the opening in the wall.

Roughly, he caught onto the roots of several baba serpents which clung to that area, and without delay he climbed their limbs to reach the crack a few feet above. His monkey friend had been able to remain clinging to his tunic all the while. Just as the owners of his rope came at him, jaws snapping, he had lifted himself up and over.

Link fell through the opening head-first and dropped several feet before his hand latched onto a recess in the bark. His body jerked upright again and he was left dangling. Though grimacing at the strain put on his arm, he had to be thankful for being able to escape his previous predicament. However, his luck had gone from good to bad-for being stuck on the outside of a tree-to worse-for now he realized that it was with his sore shoulder that now kept him from falling into the abyss of the giant grove.

It was then he realized that his monkey companion was no longer with him. Where it had gone he had no idea. It had been on his back when he had flown out of the lair. Now, he could only guess that it had fallen into the unknown below him.

He vowed he would not meet the same fate.

He let out a grunt, more from the stress being put on his shoulder than the overall situation. He scanned the bark for another handhold, yet the several outcroppings he could find were meters below his position. He moaned in frustration, but with an intake of breath he released his fear, and after angling himself, let go.

He fell five meters until his left hand skidded across a patch of bark to stop at a rock. He grabbed hold quickly before he could descend any further. Pieces of stray bark tumbled over his head, broken loose when his feet had made intermittent contact with the tree on his descent. As the splinters flew past him to fall into the abyss below, Link looked up to see that his handhold was solid. In the same glance, he remembered that this arm was also injured. Though his right shoulder could rest from its tenderness, he had momentarily forgotten that it was his left forearm that had been torn by a baba serpent during his altercation with the baboon. The splits in his skin now dripped with thin trails of blood, which stained his white sleeve.

Yet, all pain aside, he would need his entire body to escape from his predicament. He stretched his legs out and his feet found crevices to hold himself aloft. Ignoring the annoying throbs in his shoulder, he gave in to the fact of needing it as well.

Just as Link was about to begin his descent, utterances of repeated squawks lifted his head. Holding onto a vine, his monkey friend descended toward him. It was evident that the animal would knock into him at its current rate of speed, and Link tried to accelerate his movements, but it was no use.

The monkey knocked into Link, causing him to lose his grip.

Screaming, he fell.

"Link," Sparx cried out. He dived after his brother.

He remembered his dragon form … he willed himself to change form.

He was about to spread out his wings when surprisingly, Link felt a prickly vine latch around his wrist. He looked in its direction, but his eyes were met by that of another monkey. That which had seized him he realized not to be a vine but a tiny monkey hand instead. Its other hand grappled a hanging vine. Thankful but confused, Link rode the wind within the monkey's grasp, glad to sail anywhere but down.

At the height of the vine's swing, the monkey let go and they fell into the hollow of another tree. All round him the area a darkness much thicker than that which had surrounded the previous outcroppings hung in the air. The thick canopy above made the daytime seem to shift directly into night. He could see monkeys peering down, up, and across at him from their perches in the trees encircling them. Their eyes revealed an emotion that Link rarely saw from their race. They were afraid, but not of him … of something lingering in the wood. Their eyes beckoned him. The mysticism about them and about this place, this deeper, darker corner of the giants' wood, made Link feel that he had come ever closer to his destination.

Meanwhile, Saria was talking to the Great Deku Tree when they heard screaming coming from the Forest Sanctuary.

"Saria," the Deku Tree said, "your friend needs your help. Go to the Sanctuary and give him assistance!"

"I will, Great Deku Tree," Saria replied. With the Gilded Sword in hand, she rushed toward the Sanctuary.

Gratified his life was still intact, Link turned to his rescuer. It looked quizzically at him for a moment, but then clutched onto one of the vines dangling at its head. Pointing toward another tree just across the chasm, it held out the vine to him.

Oddly, he felt he understood the deeper meaning of what the monkey and its friends wanted of him. He raised a claw and gestured to his wings. They backed away to give him space to gain lift before taking to the air once more.

"Link," a voice called. He turned and saw that Sparx had caught up to him.

"About time you caught up," he scoffed. "Let's go."

He kicked off the edge of the hollow and spread out his wings. He soared through the air just like a bird, and landed moments later on the projection of bark his savior had indicated. Link cast a glance back at the monkeys.

Next moment, he entered the tree. It was larger than the others that he had explored. Through the space that he walked he could hear the distinct trickle of rushing water, and it continued to grow in volume as he neared a central chamber.

He soon came to the end of the passage and was awestruck by the enormity of the chamber. Leafy vines hung down at various spots. A tree was growing inside of the tree, at least six meters in diameter if not more at its base but grew thinner as it spiraled upward. Three waterfalls crashed down into the chamber from above, the water spilling in from an unknown source from the outside of the chamber. The droplets had amassed in the bottom of the huge oval-shaped room and wrapped around the center tree; though, it was apparent that the floor of the space was slanted or that there was a drop-off. Several meters into the room, the ground was not touched by a single sprinkle of water, but the liquid amassed at a shore-line and grew deeper and deeper still. Link could not understand, however, what had caused the water to turn a violet color. Perhaps it was the rot of the bark.

A plank of wood floated in the water, and a few rotted stumps smaller than the central tree jutted up only a few feet above the water. Of which had what looked like living bombs standing on them.

Link approached the shore line, and just as he bent down to take a closer inspection of the water, it began to churn in front of the tree, the entire place rumbling loudly. Giant ripples flew outward from the growing bubbles, and in the next instant, two long-necked serpents shot out of the pool. They tossed their large red heads and grumbled at Link's presence. Slimy drool dripped from their razor teeth, hungering for Link's flesh. Sparx freaked out.

"What is that thing," he said in terror.

"This must be what has those monkeys so spooked?" Link smiled. "No problem."

And as one of the serpents lurched forward to crunch on his thin waist, Link sidestepped. As it recoiled, he took to the skies with a mighty roar.

He snagged one of the things that he recognized as a bombling and started swinging it around in circles.

When he let it fly, it flew right into one of the creature's open mouths. After a few seconds, smoke and a muffled explosion billowed from it, causing the serpent to sink back into the water.

Just then, the other serpent lunged at him, knocking him out of the air. Link landed on his back, pain erupting from his right wing. He looked at it and saw that his wing was bending at a place where there was no joint.

"That's just great," Link groaned. "How am I going to defeat this thing if I can't fly?"

Just then, the door to the chamber opened and Saria rushed in.

"Link," she said; looking around. Link slowly got back to his feet.

"Saria," Sparx yelled, "get out of here!" She heard his voice and turned toward the injured dragon.

"You must be Spyro," she said. "Cynder has told me so much about you."

"What," Sparx asked. "You must be confused. He isn't the Purple Dragon of Legend."

"From what Cynder told me," Saria continued, "that Spyro originated from the future, along with his brother, Sparx, and the Twili named Midna."

From within Link's shadow, Midna's eyes widened in realization and shock.

"Can't we talk about this later," Link replied. "I need to defeat this thing!" Saria looked at him; confused. "I can't let you get hurt on my account!"

Link turned toward the remaining serpent and turned into his human form. Saria's eyes widened in surprise.

"Link..." Saria gasped. "How-"

"I'll explain later," Link replied. "Just get out of here!"

The serpent lunged again.

Link and Saria drew their swords as they sidestepped, and slashed their blades fiercely down its leafy textured head. Roaring, it drew back. Link pulled out the Gale Boomerang and threw it.

A miniature tornado erupted and encompassed the boomerang. It sailed over one of the bomblings and to the serpent's mouth. The serpent swallowed the bombling and the item returned to Link's hand. A few seconds later, the serpent did what its fellow did after the bombling exploded in its mouth.

Another low rumble vibrated the room, and from within the rippling bubbles of the water, another serpent burst from the depths. However, Link noted-as it threw its head from side to side, shaking the droplets from its body and onto the shore-that this serpent was of an unmatched size.

Link had been told stories of the creature Diababa from mythical tales that Rusl had told him. No one had ever seen such a creature, one with an elongated neck of enormously thick leather-like skin, the backside protected by hard red scales. Its head was as large as four normal-sized serpents' heads. A crown of slithering red tendrils flexed from its neck joint, its only eye placed delicately on the end of its watery tongue. He had only ever heard one story involving a Diababa plant. Through that tale-which had involved four nomads allegedly disappearing after facing it-Link knew its defensive tactics and its weaknesses.

It roared loudly at Link and his companions, nearly shattering their ability to hear altogether. Water and saliva dripped from its three-jawed mouth. It then spat out a steady spray of violet liquid, and Link just had enough time to race out of the way and bring up his shield as a defense. Knowing fully that the Diababa plant was way out of reach, he did not want to chance any encounter with the violet water it sat in. If it used such liquid as a defense, then he did not want to find out what would become of him if he jumped into the mess and covered his entire body with it.

To his surprise however, he heard the squeals of a monkey. Looking up he found that the baboon that had once been his enemy had come to aid him. It swung down on a vine from its perch and swept Link up to save him from a biting jaw of one of the smaller heads. When they came within reach of the larger head, the baboon released him and continued on its way to grab hold of the opposite wall of the room, watching.

Link landed on its neck and threw a hand out to grab onto one of its red-plated scales. It wriggled at his weight, but he managed to climb up its neck, ducking every so often as the serpents bordering him and the main body bit at him. After a few minutes of calculating each move up its neck with precise timing from the serpent heads and the struggling movements of the plant, Link had been able to reach the crown. He dove past the red tendrils for its jaw. He did not need to pry its teeth apart, for as it tossed about, its mouth remained open, shouting roars of anger and displeasure.

Crouching under the assault of the serpents, Link then thrust his sword down between the monster's jaw bones. The metal made direct contact with the Diababa's eye socket, the sharp blade slicing through it, blinding it. Then, as it threw itself around, Link twisted his body about and slid down its side to hold himself suspended at its underbelly. With a roar all his own, Link shot his blade several times in and out of its skin.

Link barely had time to climb to its back again and leap to the shore before the entire plant began wriggling and sloshing about in the water. He watched as the plant stretched out its long necks as they shriveled, decaying before his eyes. Their heads wilted and withered and cracked; then, with a loud, snapping pop, the existence of the Diababa disappeared behind the dark haze that it became. It was then shattered into tiny black shards, bursting outward then sucking back in to create a most curious fragment.

Link bent over and picked it up, looking over the strange markings of the grey object that seemed to fit against another piece of the same texture and color. It was then that Midna popped out of his shadow to stand before him.

"Well done!" she giggled. "That's what I was looking for." Her black hair, tipped with a red hand, grabbed the fragment from him. "A Fused Shadow." She brought it eye-level and inspected it. As she looked over it, she spoke, her eyes never averting from the object. "It's what the light spirit called dark power. And do you remember what that spirit said? About how you had to match the power of the king of shadows?" She left that statement for him to ponder alone and looked up at him, seemingly satisfied about the fragment. "There are a total of three Fused Shadows. I think the other light spirits have the rest." She smiled crookedly. "If you want to know exactly what Fused Shadows are … well, I'll tell you if you help me find the other two. So, I guess you better do your best to find them, huh?" Link turned toward Saria.

"I'll explain my abilities really soon," Link told her. The Sage of the Forest nodded.

Midna's black hair shrunk back into the head of her darkened form, still smiling at him. Link was not sure why, but even though he still had no reason to trust her, he felt compelled to help Midna find the other pieces. Perhaps it was human curiosity, or the plea for help from the spirits. Yes, he was doing this for them … and for all of Hyrule. But truthfully, he imagined that the true reason that he had agreed to journey with Midna to the far reaches of Hyrule was due to his one hope of finding the lost Ordonians.

Link looked above with the intent to give a silent thanks to his baboon ally, but he found that it had already gone. He turned back and watched as the violet tint of the pool receded and took on a more natural color and shine.