We made our way across a lava pit to a fenced area with 2 streams of fire we had to put out by standing together on a metal switch, before running past before the flames returned, Linkette then shrunk while I floated us over to the next area, after we stood together with Linkette in normal size to force down the platform switch.
We then continued on to the next area which had a tower with bulbins in the center, we took a side path down and dealt with the Bulbins there and collected a small key, we then made our way to the opposite path, while I wished we had a way to destroy the bulbins in the tower from this distance safely. If I summoned the cannon, I could accidentally destroy the tower, which was a no go. In the next room, we killed several Dodongo, before I pulled a sliding wall out that we crossed before it closed. Though I did have trouble not being pulled back to early.
The next room, Linkette shrunk down and I carried her while floating to the door on the cliff over water with a strange rock material making it up. After she grew. ack we entered the next room, and was surprised to see a Goron Elder here.
"Ah!" he said, "I thought I felt a presence… it what a suprise to find two young humans. Word has come to me of one of you that Gor Coron trusts, but not the other. Why is that?"
Seeing no other choice we sighed.
"Both of us were sent here by Eldin to retrieve the item the spirits asked you to protect in order to use them to fight the king of shadows since as half Hylians or other half will protect us from its power, so we are not corrupted, but when they saw me the Gorons on guard duty said that the design of my clothes was especially dangerous, before trying to crush us, so Linkette used her shrinking magic to hide me."
"I see," the Goron said. "Well, if the spirit sent you then I will trust you. Besides, the designs are different if you look at them, less corrupted, and more pure. I am one of the four Goron elders. Gor Amoto is my name. Please lend this tribe your power."
He then handed me a broken key.
"That is one of the key shards that when merged together open the door to the room our patriarch Darbus is held in. The key is split into three pieces. Each of us elders hold a piece. You must hurry to the other elders!" He said.
After getting the dungeon map front he chest behind him we climbed the nearby ladder, where we found a strange creature called Oocoo. It had the body of a cuccoo and the head of a woman. That remembered Linkette from helping her in the Forest Temple. Though I was never introduced. After that we went back to the room with the tower, which I noticed was more like a large crane when I floated us to the door at the top of the room. The next room had red tektites that we destroyed before noticing it had water and pillars, and looking up I saw a crystal that I floated up and hit, opening the way to the next room, while Linkette found a chest underwater with a small key. In the next area there was two beamos, and a locked door blocked by a bridge tied up with rope that we were able to destroy.
On the other side was an outside area, with lots of bulbins shooting fire arrows, that we had to dodge as we found a small key in a chest before heading to the nearby locked door. Inside we jumped across the spinning platform before I floated us past the longer one, where we found another Goron elder.
"Oh… ah, the young humans. I am pleased to see you make it this far, brudda. I am one of the four elders of the Goron tribe. I am called Gor Ebizo." He said. "You have heard of the plight of our patriarch. Otherwise you would not have come to see me. Here, take this brudda."
He then handed us the second key shard.
"Now there is but one shard left," Gor Ebizo said. "But seeing you has reminded me of the dangers that line the path to it. There is something that may help you. A weapon said to have been left in this mine by a hero of old."
This caused me and Linkette to look at each other knowing she was a previous hero of old.
"It is beyond price," he continued. "And so we have protected it through the generations. The heroes weapon is just up ahead. Just talk to the guard and take it with the blessings of the gorons."
We then headed out and I floated us to the next door. Which locked with bars behind us. We then saw a large Goron guard.
"Whoa… humans?!" He said. "What business does a human have coming here?"
We were about to answer when he continued. "None! No business. This is a forbidden place! I will protect the treasure from you!"
With that he dropped the area we were in down to float onto the lava as he attacked.
Linkette used the Goron Bracelet to increase her strength while I used the Darklight mirror to fight back, finding to my suprise by accident that by moving it to intercept a physical attack I could reflect the damage back while because the mirror was moved by magic where I want it, there was no recoil for me. We ended up using that to stun him, enough for Linkette to push him into the lava remembering from her time that gorons could survive that. Eventually he laid there defeated.
"Uh… that… hurt a lot… who knew humans were capable of such feats of strength," he said. "Uh… maybe… you are going to see the patriarch of our tribe?"
"We are!" we agreed.
"Ah! So THAT is why you are here!" he said, "in that case take the weapon of the hero of the past. But in exchange you must save the patriarch of our tribe!"
"We will," we agreed as the guard somehow raised the lava level so we could reach the weapon in the next room, which we discovered to be the Hero's Bow.
I used the bow to lower a platform to an area with lots of Beamos, that I destroyed the energy core of with the bow, and we found the compass behind one, and the last goron elder behind another.
"Ah! You are here at last! I heard that you might pay a visit you and younger human. I am farsighted in all things. Here you go. The last key shard. Combine all three shards!" he said, giving me the last key shard, which I recombined into the Big Key. "If you use that you can enter the room where Darbus the tribal patriarch is held. Who knows how powerful Darbus is in his new grotesque form… but I suppose I should trust your power considering you came this far. But it is late now. You will need to be at full health in the upcoming battle, please take a rest here tonight."
"Thank you!" we said going to sleep in the area he showed us, which had very soft sand.
When we woke up the next morning we headed past the beamos room, and floated over the lava to the door where I combined floating and the bow to hit the Crystal to open the gate blocking it, that took us back to the crane room, where we headed to the outdoor area with bulbins that I shot, before shooting the large bridge roped up, bringing it down, and letting us get to the next area.
That area had more bulbins, and another tied up bridge that imshot down before smirking and summoning my cannon when I saw the mob behind it, and using it to destroy them with ease, clearing the way to the boss room, where we found Twilit Igniter Fyrus chained up. When we approached the gem on its forehead gained a pupil like an eye, as he awoke. He tried to get to us, but was stopped by the chains, before setting his body on fire, and using his strength to break the chains, and attack.
"How do we defeat him?" I asked, dodging out of the way a few minutes later. The growth magic prevented Linkette from shrinking him, and I could not use my cannon without risking killing him. We knew we needed to destroy the gem, but all the bow did was make him walk around blindly for a short time, and his body being on fire prevented us from getting closer.
"I got it!" Linkette said. "Shoot the Crystal, then while he is walking around blindly grab the remains of the chains trailing from his legs and trip him, that will get the gem closer to us, and the pressure from the fall will put out the fire!"
"Right!" I agreed, doing so, only for us to find the hard way, that even with our combined strength it meant nothing if Fyrus could just pull our weight around, instead of being tripped. "Now what?"
"I don't know," Linkette said before we were interrupted by two voices we were not expecting, and did not want to hear this close to danger.
"Luna! Linkette!" they said causing us to turn to the voices and saw a dirty, soot-covered pair of children. Beth, and Luda.
Unfortunately Fyrus also heard them, and went to attack when I used the darklight mirror to block his attack, and shoot him in the gem as Linkette shrunk all four of us.
"Whoa!" they said as we grabbed them, and pulled them underneath some rubble from a destroyed pillar.
"Beth! Luda! What are you two doing here?" I asked, "It's dangerous."
"I know," Beth said. "But I had to deliver this to you to make it up to you."
"And I wasn't going to let her go alone," Luda said.
"From the beginning," Linkette suggested.
"Right!" Beth said, before explaining. "Shortly after you two went up the mountain your horse Epona ran through in a panic, throwing off two bulbins."
"Is she alright?" I asked worried.
"She's fine," Luda said. "Saria managed to use her forest magic to calm Epona down. Father then suggested Saria use Epona to inform the people of Ordon what happened to the children."
"But when she returned, she had these with her," Beth said, revealing a pair of iron boots. "Mayor Bo gave them to her to give to you Luna. He thought they would help. And after Saria saved Colin."
"Wait what?" I asked.
"Talon was walking around grumbling about you and didn't notice King Bulbin, the one who kidnapped us in the first place passing through." Beth said. "Colin pushed him out of the way, but was captured again, just as Saria, Epona, Navi, and Ember returned. They saved him, and Saria healed him back to full health."
"She always was good at healing minor injuries," Linkette smiled. "Big ones would be a problem for her, but if she healed him to full health then that wasn't a problem."
"Good," I sighed, happy my brother is safe.
"Well, me and Luda were walking around, when we noticed Saria heading into the spring as Eldin appeared." Luda said. "He thanked her for saving Colin, and said that while the iron boots is the far easier of two ways for you to defeat the corrupted Darbus in the mines, it is not the only way. Something about you needing the iron boots to trip him, or you can just use many arrows into the gem, until he falls on his own. And so she did not need to bring them up to you."
"Since I wanted to repay you for the bullying, when everyone went to bed, I stole the boots, and left to deliver them." Beth said. "By the way did you know that Navi snores?"
"She woke me up in the process and I followed to make sure she was safe," Luda said.
"Since it was so late it was easy to sneak past the Gorons, but well getting through the mines to find you was very difficult." Beth added. "Even with the boots letting us walk on magnetic stone."
"Thank you," I sighed accepting the boots which were too big for Linkette before knowing I had to nip this in the bud. "But I am disappointed. That was very dangerous. The two of you don't even have any weapons. What would your families say if you died trying to deliver these?"
"Sorry!" they said looking down.
"It's okay," I sighed. "Just be more careful."
"I'll protect them while you deal with Fyrus," Linkette said, getting a grateful nod from me, before she grew me ba k to normal.
Luckily with the iron boots it was very fast, and afterwards Midna appeared to collect the fused shadow.
"Well done, now we have two fused Shadows," said. "Hmm you know, you've been extremely helpful so far, so I'll tell you an interesting story. Zant. That's the name of the King of Darkness who cast this pall of shadows over your world. He's very strong. You would be nothing to him in your current states...but Zant will never be MY king. I have nothing but scorn for him. Still once we collect the last Fused Shadow we will be able to match him and save both of our worlds."
"You're helping save the world?" Beth said.
"I am," Midna smirked. "I'm Midna. I'm from the land that Zant took over from it's rightful ruler in order to launch his attack. And I will stop him for what he's done. Well let's go. Oh by the way, you two can keep my presence secret right? Only these two, Saria, and Princess Zelda know about me and I don't want word getting out about me."
"Well keep it a secret," they agreed before we went through the portal, back to Eldin.