Once again, it's me. Time to see what's on Death's Head Mountain, huh?
Disclaimer: Yak yak yak yak yak.
Chapter 5
At first, the trail was normal, merely sloping uphill. But it got steeper. And steeper. And steeper. Until finally it was just a very steep slope leading to a small patch of flat land in front of a sheer, mile-high vertical wall. Struggling, almost slipping a few times, Skull Kid made it to the patch of flat land, then stared in disgust at the cliff facing them. There were no trees for his hookshot to grapple onto. No handholds for him to climb up. It was a sheer vertical cliff. He had brought climbing tools, like a rappel and cable, but he had nowhere to place the hooks. He sat down, trying to figure out a way to solve his problem. Finally, he thought of something. He changed his boots to the grooved ones he had bought, and pulled out one his hooks and the hammer for driving it in. He hammered the hook to the wall, then cursed himself, realizing this equipment was useless without at least two people climbing. Angrily, he threw the climbing gear down the slope, except for
the boots, which could be useful. He sat down again, trying to figure out a way to get through this obstacle. Tael had no ideas. Skull Kid sighed. "Damn it, how am I going to climb this wall?"
"Help I can perhaps." Said a voice behind him. Skull Kid turned around to see a Garo. He reached for his knife. The Garo raised his hand, showing he had no weapons. "Relax. Here to help you I am."
Skull Kid frowned. "Who are you, and why do you talk like that?"
The Garo bowed. "Garo you may call me. Like this I talk because created that way I was. Your spirit guide I am."
Skull Kid put away his knife. "You're my spirit guide? The guy who shows up now and then to give me advice and steer me down the right path?" The Garo nodded. Skull Kid lunged at the Garo and grabbed him by the neck, shaking him. "THEN WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I WENT BERSERK OVER THE DEPARTURE OF THE GIANTS AND WRECKED MY ENTIRE LIFE UNTIL RECENTLY?"
The Garo backflipped out of Skull Kid's hands. "Recently assigned to you I was. Died I did quite recently."
Skull Kid calmed down. "When did you die, and how?" asked Tael.
"Slain by Majora I was. Reborn in this form, and assigned to you I was."
"Who were you in life?" asked Skull Kid.
"Former Sage of Light I was, then owl. Now ninja I am."
Skull kid realized something. "Wait a minute. Owl? Kaepora Gaebora, is that you?"
Garo nodded. "Kaepora I was, Garo I am. Help you up this cliff I shall."
"How? Can you fly?"
Garo shook his head, reached into his robe and pulled something out, handing it to Skull Kid. It seemed to be a purple sun visor. "Help you this will."
Skull Kid examined the visor then looked up. "How will it..." Garo was gone. "Whoa...Tael, did you see him leave?"
"No, I was looking at the visor."
"Dang. I wonder what this thing does." Skull Kid put on the visor and looked at the cliff wall. "Wow!"
"What? What is it?"
"There are handholds on the cliff! A carved ladder! I think it goes straight to the top! And there are lots of ledges to rest on to build your strength. These visors must be Lenses of Truth or something."
"Cool! Can I see them? Please?"
"I'm sorry Tael, but these are too big for you. You might break them, and then we wouldn't be able to tell how to get up the cliff."
"Aw..." said Tael, sagging. Skull Kid dug into the handholds and started climbing. He had to be very careful not to fall. Whenever he saw a ledge, he rested on it. After three hours, they reached the top of the cliff. And looked around in amazement. It was snowing. In the summertime. This was obviously a sign that something was wrong. The ground was covered in white, giant snowballs were everywhere, little snowballs littered the slope. The trees were dead, and those that weren't were completely white. They walked up they slope, staring around in disbelief. As they walked up the slope, they passed the frozen husks of the mountain's former population of Red Tektites. The trail stopped in front of an archway blocked with a wall of ice. There seemed to be no way to get through. Then Tael saw a huge precarious-looking icicle hanging just above the wall. "Hey Skull Kid, I think if we can knock down that icicle, the wall will break!"
"Good idea. I don't want to waste my new arrows, so I'll just use my hookshot." (The arrows Skull Kid is referring to are the arrows he bought in town to refill his quiver. After all, he did use approximately thirty-nine arrows back in Forestfall Temple.) Skull Kid fired his hookshot at the icicle. It wobbled. He fired again. The icicle fell from the rock, smashing the wall to pieces. The way cleared Skull Kid and Tael walked through the arch to the next part of the trail. It was a long, twisting slope going up the mountain. As they walked up the path, giant snowballs fell from higher up the mountain, smashing to bits around them. Not wanting to get hit, Skull Kid and Tael ran away from the snow boulders. As the trail twisted and turned up the peak, the frequency of the boulders increased. Finally, they reached another stone arch, which was really more of a very long, upward sloping tunnel. Since they were now safe from the boulders, they took their time. However, Skull Kid
was starting to get affected by the extreme cold. He had a tunic, so wasn't very warm. Tael tried his best to warm him up, but this was worse than it had been when Skull Kid had lain out in the freezing rain for hours. Tael turned his intensity to maximum, but it didn't help much in combating the cold. When Tael's heat started to scorch the tunic, Skull Kid told Tael to forget it. The tunnel was longer than they thought. Eventually, they could hear the muffled Wolfos' howl, signifying sundown. Remembering Impa's advice, Skull Kid stopped walking and set up camp.
"Skull Kid, what are you doing?" asked Tael.
"Heeding Impa's advice. She told us that no matter how close we are to the deadline, we should not travel the mountain at night."
"But we're in a tunnel! What could happen?"
"I shudder to think." Skull Kid finished the tent and went inside. It was warmer inside the tent than it was outside. They had dinner, then went to sleep, Skull Kid in his new sleeping bag, Tael in his hat.
Majora fell to his knees, gasping and clutching his chest. His nemesis, that stupid imp, stood over, looking at him in contempt. Majora could feel the hatred of his prisoners as well. The imp raised his blade over Majora's neck. "Majora, you have ravaged the land and its people. You have enslaved its populace and tortured many. Your reign has gone on too long, and it is now at an end. What do you have to say for yourself?" "I...will...kill...you...no...matter...how...long...it...takes...I.... will...kill...you..." The imp sighed. "I was expecting that." He brought the sword down.
Majora woke up, gasping and sweating. He blinked a few times, his large eyes immediately adjusting to the room's darkness. He groaned and got off of his bed, a large slab of brimstone and rubbed his eyes. He looked around his room. His stuffed carnivorous griffin was on the ground. His bedroom was nowhere near as palatial as his room back in the Infernal Citadel was, but he would take this room over his old one any day. Sure, he missed all the furniture and decorations, but all that could be moved into this dimension once the portal to Hell had been fully established. Even though he missed his old room, he liked his room on this moon better for one reason: it was not a part of his prison. Hell was a nice place, but it was a prison for his kind. He would be happier once his father brought a little taste of Hell to the mortal realms. Though it was true that they would never make it to Heaven, the least they could do was dominate all dimensions so the gods would be imprisoned
in Heaven, just like the demons had been imprisoned in Hell. While it was true things would diminish so it wouldn't be as bad as Hell was now, it would still be very bad. Majora looked forward to that. But, back to the room description. He had covered the walls in carvings of screaming, twisted faces. There was a door on the far side of the room, and one closer to the bed. In the furthest corner of his room were the crystals containing Link and Zelda, and those accursed fairies. His magic had preserved them from needing any meals, toilets or baths, but they still could sleep. His magic also made the crystals soundproof so they could not shout through the walls of their prison, though they could hear everything outside. It also kept them from transforming and smashing their way out of the crystals. Majora pondered the meaning of his own dream. He had been battling his former slave, that stupid Skull Kid. That was odd, since he had killed Skull Kid two weeks ago. They were in
Majora's throne room, with his prisoners looking on. Skull Kid was winning because he was using a holy blade, something similar yet different than his knife. Majora couldn't remember what the blade was, though. He shook his nightmare off as a bad dream caused by eating too much Dodongo Stomach. Then he remembered that demon's don't have dreams, only premonitions. He frowned. Did this mean that Skull Kid was still alive? Was it even Skull Kid at all? It might have been a different Skull Kid, one of those imps from the forest. They all look alike to the average being. He frowned. He knew premonitions could be wrong. And he didn't think that the blow the imp was about to deliver when he woke up would be enough to slay him. He decided to forget about it. He walked over to the crystals. He scanned the minds of his prisoners, looking into their dreams. Zelda was dreaming she was running in a field of flowers, with Link coming towards her. Tatl was dreaming about the times when her
mother was still alive. Navi was dreaming she was a human. Then Majora scanned Link's dream and was angry. Link was dreaming he was chopping off Majora's head! The demon was not happy with this. He got an idea for something really mean to do to Link. He concentrated. Suddenly, Link's dream changed. He had been standing on the carcass of Majora, his sword plunged through the demon's heart in victory. Zelda was running towards him, ready to give him a kiss. Suddenly, Zelda exploded her guts and blood showering everything. The severed head of Majora floated up, laughing at what he had just done to Zelda. As Link stared in horror, the demon's head blasted Link with its heat vision. Link woke up screaming, which woke Navi up, causing her to shock Link by accident, which caused him to curse a few times. Majora grinned at the hero. Link glared at Majora, realizing whose fault it had been for that dreams ending. He shouted at Majora. Majora could not actually hear Link, but could
sense his thoughts. "Oh my. I had no idea you knew such language, Link! Of course, your words do not bother me. Back home, those words are commonplace. Hmm? You're calling me a what? Ahahahahahahahahaha!" Link seemed to have run out of derogators. Then Navi started whispering some more in his ear, causing Link to shout them at Majora. Majora was surprised. "Why Navi, I'm surprised you knew those insults. They're quite effective, but don't harm me." Link paused, like he was listening to something. He grinned, then said a single word. Majora blinked. "What the? How did you know how to say my name in the demon tongue?" Not answering, Link said something else. Majora clutched his head, which suddenly hurt a lot. Link was using his name to somehow cause him pain. Roaring, Majora walked away from the crystals, trying to get rid of the headache. Once he was far enough away, Link let off, and Majora's head returned to normal. He glared angrily at Link. Finally, he grabbed his
stuffed griffin, climbed onto his bed, and went to sleep.
Skull Kid yawned and go up. After waking Tael, they repacked all of the camping gear and continued down the tunnel. After a few hours, they finally reached the end. The tunnel exited onto a ledge that immediately narrowed to being only six inches wide. Any slip would result in death. Skull Kid carefully started edging along the ledge, his back on the wall. It seemed like they would make it. That's when more giant snowballs started falling. They crashed down the mountainside, barely missing Skull Kid. Skull Kid gulped and leaned closer to the wall. He carefully continued edging along the ledge, looking up occasionally to watch out for boulders. After several close calls, Skull Kid made it to the other side of the ledge. Another tunnel went up from there. This one was a lot shorter. At the exit was a slope with a railing to prevent you from falling off the mountain. Skull Kid walked up the slope, dodging the dozens of boulders that kept rolling at him. At last, he reached the
top of the slope and found another trail. It went higher up the mountain. Skull Kid started up the trail. It was a long hike. Just as Skull Kid was about to reach the top, night fell. He quickly set up camp and went to sleep. The next morning, Skull Kid was even colder. He had managed to keep up his metabolism by eating and exercising, but was still freezing. He walked the relatively short distance to the top of the slope. Just before he reached the slope, he turned around to see how far he had come. He shuddered. He was really high up. If he fell, his carcass would be ripped to shreds several times over, crushed by boulder, and smashed to pieces before reaching Kakariko Village. He turned forwards, shivering from the extreme cold, and went over the top of the slope. He wasn't really surprised by what he found. It was the area where Mountain Village had once been. White Wolfos and Blue Tektites prowled the area, looking for anyone stupid enough to cross their path.
Snow-covered trees were here and there. The pond was frozen, and the cliff above it led to the mixed Goron Graveyard and Dodongo's Cavern. To the far right of the cliff was the trail that led to Goron City/Village. To the far left of the cliff was a trail that led to the top of the mountain. Skull Kid blew on his gloved hands and rubbed them together, trying to warm them up. He needed to figure out how to get some heat and fast. The nearest place that would be even remotely warm would be the cave at the top of the cliff. However, Skull Kid wasn't sure he could make it. He had been getting colder and colder during the long hike, and he was still cold even while in the sleeping bag. Skull Kid was feeling a bit ill. He was worried about the various sicknesses he might be having. He knew he could cure any and all diseases currently in his body if he got warm enough. But the hike to the cave in the cliff might kill him. He had no choice, though. It was either fight his way to the
cliff, or die of cold. He started walking towards the iceberg-ridden pond in front of the cliff. The Wolfos and Tektites immediately made a beeline for him. As the large group of monsters came towards him, Skull Kid charged up his Spinning Knife attack. Just as the monsters were about to jump on him, Skull Kid unleashed his attack, killing most of the monsters and severely injuring the others. The injured ones ran away, deciding not to mess with him. The monsters that had been too slow to make it to the original attack wisely decided to stay away. Skull Kid used his Deku Mask to easily hop across the icebergs in the pond. He didn't want to risk swimming in ice-cold water in his current cold condition. He pulled off the mask at the base of the cliff, put on the Lenses of Truth to see the invisible ladder, and started climbing. It was harder than the cliff at the base of the mountain, even though it was not as tall. This cliff's ladder went all over the place, zigging and
zagging. There were no ledges to rest on. The handholds were slippery because they were covered in ice. Also, an extremely cold wind was blowing. And since his fingers were getting numb, Skull Kid slipped several dozen times, barely managing to keep his grip. Tael was constantly floating over Skull Kid's fingers, trying to heat them up enough for him to keep going. After what seemed like an eternity, he made it to the top of the cliff. Once there, he panted for a moment, shivering madly. He couldn't feel his fingers or his toes. After several minutes of Tael trying to warm him up, Skull Kid decided to enter the cave. He recalled that the Goron Graveyard had a hot spring that he could quickly recover in. As he entered the cave, Skull Kid wondered why he hadn't seen the tunnel from the ground level. It would have saved him a lot of time and trouble. And he also wondered whether or not the Gorons were okay. Then he realized that since Majora had probably put his servant, the
demon Goht, in charge of this mountain, the Gorons were definitely not okay. They were probably being put to work, just like the forest creatures. Of course, this also meant that some of the monsters in charge were forced to do this as well, so he had to watch for any signs. He knew he couldn't go to the top of the mountain until he at least tried to help the Gorons. He looked around. The cave was different than it had been the last time he was here. He saw plenty of Goron graves and the spring of hot water in the middle, but now there was another opening in the back. Also, there were two Bomb Flowers on either side of the spring. Skull Kid staggered over to the spring and jumped in, relaxing his sore and cold muscles in the spring's wonderful heat. He sighed and closed his beady little eyes, basking in the heat. True, he would be wet now, which would probably kill him if he stepped outside before he was dry, but those matters were not on his mind right now. As the feeling
in his limbs returned, he felt a sharp pain of pins and needles, which he ignored. The heat revitalized his immortal immune system, driving out the viruses inside of him. Once he felt a hundred percent healthy, he got out of the spring. He immediately shivered since the cave was a bit chilly, but it was not that bad. He shook himself off.
"Skull Kid, are you ready to move on?" asked Tael.
Skull Kid stretched his arms and legs, glad to feel them again. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go through that opening in the back of the cave and see where it leads." Still dripping, he walked over to the opening that led deeper into the cavern. It was a tunnel that went downwards. As Skull kid went down the tunnel, he could feel quite a lot of heat. He was drying off fast from this heat. Eventually, he began to sweat like mad. They weren't that deep inside the earth, what was causing this heat? As he reached the end of the tunnel, he found out. He was in a huge cavern. The floor was mostly covered with lava. Straight ahead of him was a metal pier over the lava that led to a stoner pillar that rose and sunk out of the lava. In front of the pillar was a large platform. The platform had two other pillars like the one in front, except the one on the right went up to a higher level. On either side of the platform, where the pillars led from, were two wide ledges, each with three
openings on them. Ramps on either side of Skull Kid's pier led to the floor, where one could walk around the lava to ladders that led up to the ledges. Directly across from Skull Kid, on the back wall, was a huge skull of some dinosaur, with glowing red eye sockets. The ribs of that dead dinosaur supported the ceiling. The skull's mouth was open, resting on the edge of the platform. An opening at the back of the skull's mouth led to a different chamber. Two bridges on the upper level ran across from one end of the room to the other. But that wasn't what got Skull Kid's attention. He was focused on the people in the room. Fire Keese were flying around the ceiling. Dodongos and Lizalfos walked around the chamber. Gorons were in the lava, digging out chunks of mineral from underneath it. Skull Kid slapped on the Stone Mask on walked to the edge of the pier to get a better look at the Gorons. He saw an old Goron stopping for a moment, wiping sweat from his brow. One of the
Dodongos noticed and turned towards the elderly Goron. Inhaling, the Dodongo let loose a blast of fire breath, which hit the Goron in the back. It did not hurt the Goron, but did incite him to get back to work. The Lizalfos were standing around the room, looking depressed. Of course, it was kind of hard to tell from their long reptile faces, but their body language showed it. The Lizalfos were probably monsters who were forced to do this, like the Stalfos had been. The Dodongos were more bestial than the Lizalfos, but they seemed to have an inflated air about them. They seemed to strut around in pride, and took pleasure in blasting the Gorons, even if it didn't hurt them. Since Keese are bats, Skull Kid couldn't tell whether or not they were forced to do it, but he doubted they had much of an opinion on the matter. Skull Kid did not want a repeat of when he had decided to be a Scrub back in the forest to see how bad the workers had been treated. He decided to just watch. He
wondered why the Gorons didn't fight back. Even without a hero, a lone Goron could still usually summon the courage to fight. A single Goron could probably kill most of the enemies in the cave. So why didn't they? Then Skull Kid noticed that each Goron had a sort of muzzle made of stone affixed to their faces. The reason that they didn't just eat these muzzles was clear: they were made from gneiss, a mineral despised by all Gorons. The muzzles explained why the Gorons couldn't fight back. The muzzles kept them from eating good rock, so they were slowly starving. Without food, a Goron is quite weak.
"What's our plan of action?" asked Tael.
"Well, it seems to me that the big skull at the back of the room is where we should go."
"We're not going to blend in with the Gorons?"
"Hell no! Last time we tried that, I ended up exhausted and whipped a few times."
"But you said it didn't hurt."
"No, I said I've gotten worse. It actually hurt a lot, but it is nothing compared to some of those other tortures I mentioned. I have had enough torture in one lifetime. Let's just go in and kill whoever the hell is in charge of this operation."
"Sounds good to me. Let's roll!" Still wearing the Stone Mask, Skull Kid hopped across the pillars in the lava. He reached the open skull and walked through the hole in the back to the next chamber. It was a large square room with a block set into the floor, a high opening straight ahead, and a door on either side of the room. Dodongos lounged about, basking in the heat from the lava pool in the room's northeast corner. Since Skull Kid didn't want to disturb the dinosaurs by going through the east door, he headed to the west. He entered another large chamber, with a huge pit in the floor. The pit dropped straight down to another cavern. There were even more Dodongos in here. They were walking around the edge of the pit, while others were walking up or down the walls of the pit, using the sticky pads on their feet to move vertically. In the middle of the cavern was a large pool of hardened lava. Skull Kid couldn't see the rest of the cavern too well, but he got the idea that
this was where the chief was. He took a running jump of the pit's edge, falling into it. He landed on the hardened lava, which was fortunately soft enough to break his impact. He looked around. Sticking out of the lava was the skull and front paws of another giant Dodongo. He heard voices, so hid behind the skull, peeking over to see who was there. There was a medium-width strip of land running around the pool. Across from him was a bunch of Dodongos, heading for something unbelievably huge and monstrous that he couldn't believe he hadn't seen when he was above the pit. It was like a Dodongo, but gargantuan. It was even bigger than the old King Dodongo was!
"Tael, what is that?" whispered Skull Kid.
"Eep! That's the Imperial Dodongo! It's an even worse monster than the Master Stalfos was! He can see through the illusion caused by your mask, so don't get too close. Fortunately, his eyesight is pretty lousy. His nose is superb, though."
Skull Kid looked over the form of Imperial Dodongo. He had a lower body built like a King Dodongo, with a spiked back, a long tail, and four legs. However, his body then sprouted a torso from where its head would be, jutting upwards from a flexible point. The torso was heavily muscled. More spikes were on its back. It had two mighty arms, one of which wielded a huge hammer. Its head was basically the same as the common Dodongo, with the green-blue eyes, wide mouth, and single horn, but this one had spines growing from the back of its head. "What kind of attacks does he have?"
"He can curl up into a spiky ball and roll at you, he can crush you with the hammer, he can jump and stomp to cause a shockwave, and he can breathe fire."
The Imperial Dodongo roared. The smaller Dodongos bellowed back. "What are they saying?" asked Skull Kid.
"I think the Imperial was asking whether or not ore production has increased, and they're saying that there will soon be enough ore to make the invincible war machines to assault other countries."
"What do they mean by invincible war machines?"
"I don't know, but I think we have to put a stop to it. Do you think you can slay the Imperial Dodongo?"
`That depends. What are his weak spots?"
"His hide is too heavily armored to launch a direct attack. His mouth, tail and eyes are the only spots that you could damage him at. But his mouth won't be a good place to kill him, possibly to stun him. If he's stunned, you can poke him in the eye with your knife. Bombs should stun him. Did we get any back in Kakariko?"
Skull Kid grinned and pulled out his bomb bag. "I got forty bombs right here. When should I throw bombs at him?"
"Do it when he's inhaling for his fire breath. But don't get too close or he'll suck you up and eat you."
"Guess I should start the battle or something." He pulled off the Stone Mask and walked around the skull. The Imperial Dodongo noticed him and bellowed a challenge. "Yeah, that's right you big lizard! I want to fight you!" The Dodongo bellowed again. The Dodongos all scurried up the walls to watch the battle from the room above. The Imperial stomped towards Skull Kid, moving quite slowly. "Can't he move any faster?" asked Skull Kid.
"No, I don't think so." Said Tael.
"Oh well. I throw the bomb when he starts to inhale?" Tael nodded. "Good. I'm ready." The Imperial made it over to Skull Kid. He tried to squash him, but was too slow. Skull Kid easily dodged the dinosaur's feet. The Dodongo got angry and leaped into the air. Skull Kid rolled out from under his shadow just before the monster came down. He slowly turned. Skull Kid ran behind and did a jump attack on the Dodongo's tail. The Imperial roared and spun around fast, knocking Skull Kid away with his tail. As Skull Kid groaned and pulled himself up, the Imperial began to inhale. Skull Kid pulled out a bomb, lit it, and hurled it into the air. It got picked up by the vacuum from the Dodongo's inhalation and was sucked down the monster's gullet. A moment later, it exploded in the Imperial's stomach, stunning him. He fell to the ground, his torso leaning to the earth. Skull Kid saw that he couldn't use his knife on the monster's eyes, but he could use an arrow. With Tael's targeting,
Skull Kid shot an arrow right into the Imperial's eye, making him half-blind. He screamed in pain and got to his feet. Furious, he tried to smash Skull Kid with his hammer. Of course, now that he had only one working eye, his depth perception was shot, so he missed Skull Kid completely. He curled up into a ball and rolled towards Skull Kid, also missing him completely. Finally, the monster just gave up and prepared another dose of fire breath. Skull Kid hurled another bomb into the monster's throat, stunning him again. Skull Kid shot an arrow into the beast's other eye, making him completely blind. He roared and shook his head in pain. After a moment, he relied on his excellent senses of smell and hearing to pinpoint the imp's location. He charged, waving his hammer. Skull Kid ran. Even though he was faster, the beast covered more distance. The beast leapt into the air and came down with an awesome crash, barely missing Skull Kid. As the Imperial swung his hammer, Skull Kid
ran behind the Dodongo and jump attacked the tail. Spinning around, the Dodongo kicked out at Skull Kid, knocking him into the cavern wall. The Dodongo spectators cheered their emperor on. Skull Kid struggled to get up, but found his ankle was sprained from that kick. As the Imperial stomped towards Skull Kid, brandishing his hammer, Tael anxiously tried to think of something that would help. Then he got an idea.
"Skull Kid, use the mask!"
"What, the Deku Mask? The Imperial would kill me immediately!"
"No, the Goron Mask! This is a cave, the Goron's home turf! You'll be able to take on that monster with a better chance, since Gorons can't be harmed by fire. You also won't have a sprained ankle. Come on, if you don't he'll eat you!"
Skull Kid looked at the Imperial. He was halfway there. Skull Kid reached into his pack, pulled out the Goron Mask, and slapped it on. He immediately felt immense pain flowing through his body. His bones got bigger and thicker, his skin got harder, his muscles bulging. His legs widened, his arms grew much longer, and his stomach expanded. His head changed shape, sprouting facial hair. He screamed, and it was over. He looked at himself in amazement. He was huge! Well, he was a lot bigger than he had been before. He was eight feet tall, with tan skin. He still had the lower half of his tunic around his lower parts. His thick legs ended in bigger versions of his boots. His arms were long and unbelievably muscled, his gloves transformed into gauntlets. He had a necklace of blue pearls and an actual beard. His numerous scars, hidden by his clothes, were now quite visible. His back was rocky. His scarecrow hat was perched on his head, looking slightly awkward. His eyes were larger
and black. He was a Goron! The other Dodongos grunted in surprise. The Imperial stopped, confused at the change in scent of the imp. He sniffed the air, wondering what a Goron was doing here. Then he heard the bellowing of his subjects, telling him that the imp had somehow changed into a Goron. Skull Kid grinned. "It's payback time." He ran towards the Imperial and discovered that he wasn't much faster than the Dodongos were. The Imperial started inhaling. Skull Kid pulled out a bomb and hurled it with his new Goron muscles. Since he wasn't as close, the bomb took longer to get to the dinosaur. When it actually reached his maw, it exploded, scorching his mouth and permanently destroying his taste buds. The Imperial roared in pain, hacking out smoke. This imp had deprived him of his two most important senses! He would pay! The Imperial hit the ground with his hammer, sending a shockwave in Skull Kid's direction and knocking him off his feet. Bellowing, the dinosaur charged,
moving a bit faster than normal. Skull Kid surprised himself by curling into a ball and rolling away. The Dodongo curled up as well, rolling after Skull Kid. As he rolled around the cavern, Skull Kid tried to think of a plan. He could tell that the Dodongo was following his every move. Maybe he could use that to his advantage. Picking up speed, he rolled straight towards the skull of King Dodongo. The Imperial followed. At the last second, Skull Kid made a sharp turn away from the skull. The Dodongo rolled right into it and ricocheted into one of the walls. Stunned, he uncurled. Skull Kid made another sharp turn, getting even faster as he rolled right for the dazed dinosaur. He rolled for the Imperial's tail, going faster and faster until spikes sprung out of his body, giving him extra traction. He rolled towards the Imperial at great speed, rolling over his tail with his spikes. The Imperial screamed. Skull Kid swerved, rolling over the tail again and again. Finally, just
before rolling over the tail once more, he bounced into the air and performed the Goron Slam, hitting the Imperial's tail like a falling six hundred-pound spiked weight, which he was, in a way. This hurt the Dodongo a lot. He slumped over, his head inches from the ground as he panted, trying to recover. Skull Kid uncurled and ran over to the face of the monster. Rearing back his arm, he hit the Imperial Dodongo with an awesome Goron Punch. The monster roared once more before his head slumped to the floor, dead. But his body was still twitching. It began to glow.
"Skull Kid, shield yourself, quick!" shouted Tael.
Skull Kid got down on his belly, his rocky back serving as a shield just in time for the Imperial Dodongo's final attack. The Dodongo exploded in an awesome blast, shaking the entire cavern. Skull Kid got up and looked around. There was nothing left of the Imperial. He looked up. The other Dodongos were all dead as well, as signified by the multiple explosions he could hear from above. Skull Kid pulled off the Goron Mask and grinned. "Woohoo! We did it! We killed the Imperial Dodongo! And the transformation must have healed my ankle, because it's not sprained anymore!"
"Uh, Skull Kid, not to detract from your victory dance or anything, but how do we get out of here?"
Skull Kid stopped. "Uh, that's a very good question Tael."
A Goron peeked over the top of the pit. "Hey! Is anyone down there!" he yelled.
"Yeah, we are!" yelled Skull Kid.
"Did you kill the Imperial Dodongo?" yelled the Goron.
"Yes, I did!" yelled Skull Kid.
"Really? Great! Come on up and all of us Gorons and Lizalfos will thank you for it!"
"How do I get back up?"
"There's a secret passage! I'll come down and open it for you!" The Goron pulled his head back. A few minutes later, a part of the wall near Skull Kid pulled up, revealing the Goron and the secret tunnel. The Goron noticed Skull Kid. "Wow! Did you kill the Imperial?"
"Yup."
"But you're just a little imp! How did you do it?"
"I'd rather not reveal my methods. Can you please take me out of this pit?"
"Oh, sure! Just follow me." The Goron led Skull Kid back to the upper level of the cave. When they entered the main chamber, there was a large group of Lizalfos and Gorons celebrating their freedom. The Goron was about to call their attention, but Skull Kid stopped him.
"Uh, could you please not tell everyone what happened yet? I don't want to get caught up in a victory celebration. I need to get to the top of the mountain, and fast." He whispered.
"How come?"
"I'm on a mission to get to the temple at the top of the mountain. I can't go into details, but can you please do what I asked?"
The Goron shrugged. "I guess so."
"Thanks. I really appreciate it. Come on, Tael."
"Wait. Before you go, you should learn this song that will allow you to get into the temple. It's called the Goron's Lullaby. I'll whistle it softly so no one falls asleep."
He whistled a tune. Skull Kid played along on his flute. Nobody fell asleep because they were talking to each other and couldn't hear the song. When the song was mastered, Skull Kid and Tael left the Cavern. The pair were soon out in the cold again. It seemed like such a drag after the heat of the cavern. After climbing down the long ladder, they made their way to the trail that led up to the top of the mountain. It was steep and very twisty, zigzagging up the mountainside. Snowballs were constantly falling. After many hours of hiking, night fell, and Skull Kid had to set up camp again. They started off again the next morning, still going up the trail. Despite their slow progress, they were always getting closer and closer to the top of the mountain. White Wolfos now and then attacked them, but were no match for Skull Kid. At noon, they finally reached the last leg of the trail. It was a ledge going over a deep pit, with snow boulders constantly raining down on them. The
ledge had several gaps in it. Skull Kid was able to traverse these gaps by rolling across as a Goron at top speed. When at top speed, he was also able to mow down all the snowballs in his path. After traversing the pit, Skull Kid took off the mask and they continued up the trail, going higher and higher. After a very long hike, they made it. They reached the top of the mountain, just outside of the volcano's crater. It was unbelievably cold, and the gusts of wind made it even colder. There was a small cave that went into the crater. As Skull Kid started to enter, he heard a deep, booming voice behind him. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY, WHAT ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRE YOOOOOOOOOOU DOING HERRRRRRRRRRRE?"
Skull Kid turned around and saw a thirty-foot tall Goron. Tael hid behind Skull Kid's hat quivering in fear. "Who are you?" he asked nervously.
"I'M BIGGORRRRRRON, THE BIGGEST GORRRRRRRRRRON ON THE MOUNTAIN. I MAKE SWORRRRRRRRRRRDS AND WATCH ALL OF THE LAND FRRRRRRRRRROM ON HIGH. WHO ARRRRRRRRRRE YOU?"
"I'm Skull Kid. I'm trying to stop the mountain from staying frozen over. Is the temple inside the crater?"
Biggoron nodded. "YEAH, IT'S RRRRRRRIGHT IN THERRRRRRRRRE. IT"S CHANGED A LOT, AND THERRRRRRRRRRE'S A WEIRRRRRRRRD GUY IN THERRRRRRRRRRRRRE WHO LOOKS LIKE ME, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY THE TEMPLE."
"Thanks." Said Skull Kid, heading into Death's Head Crater.
"YOU'RRRRRRRRRRRE WELCOME. GOOD LUCK, LITTLE GUY."
As Skull Kid entered the crater, the first thing he noticed was how hot it was. It immediately recovered him from the harsh cold and winds outside then immediately made him sweat like a pig. It was hot. He looked around him. He was on a high, wide cliff overlooking the molten heart of the volcano. A ramp to his far left led to a ladder that led down to a lower ledge. On that ledge was a bridge that led to another ledge, with a bridge leading to a large rock island in the center of the crater. There were two large cones on the island that spewed smoke and a hexagonal platform with an owl statue on it was in between the cones. A stone bridge on the island led to a building built into the wall of the crater. It was like a huge tower, with spikes coming from the top of it. It was the temple. Sitting in front of the entrance was another thirty-foot Goron, who was blowing out gusts of wind across the bridge in front of him. Skull Kid made his way to the ladder and climbed down it
then walked across the bridge. On the ledge, he noticed a tunnel that led to somewhere else. "Tael, can you see where that tunnel leads?" asked Skull Kid.
Tael flew down the tunnel. A few minutes later, he came back. "It's a two-way wormhole that leads straight to Goron City/Village."
"Wait, you mean we could have used this shortcut to get here instead of walking, and have saved us a hole day not to mention a lot of warmth?'
"I guess so."
Skull Kid groaned. "Damn it! Why didn't we think about using the shortcut? Link told us about it!"
"I guess we just forget." Said Tael.
Skull Kid sighed. "Well, at least we can use it on the way back. Come on, let's get to the temple." He walked across the bridge and onto the rock island. He could see the Terminan Biggoron in front of him, breathing out gusts of wind that would knock him off the bridge if he tried to cross. He tried to think about what to do. "Tael, do you have any ideas on how we can get past this guy?"
"Well, that Goron said tat Goron's Lullaby would allow us to get into the temple. Maybe you should play it?"
"Hey, good idea! I'll try it." Skull Kid pulled out his flute and played the Goron's Lullaby. Biggoron stopped and blinked. He yawned and tried to keep his eyes open. He couldn't. He curled up into a ball and fell asleep. He fell off the bridge and into the lava. A minute later, he emerged, sputtering.
"What happened?" he asked, his voice much softer than that of the Biggoron outside.
"You were having a weird dream, so I woke you up." Said Skull Kid.
"You did? Gee, thanks. I don't know what I'm doing here, but I know something's wrong."
"What makes you say that? The fact that it's snowing on the top of an active volcano? The large building across this bridge? The fact that the mountain is higher? The other Biggoron right outside the crater? The weird cloud above the mountain?"
"That, and my last memory before I fell asleep. I saw this huge mechanical goat coming out of the shortcut to Goron City. It was dragging two blocks of ice with Gorons in them. It somehow walked across the bridge. When it got to me, it hit me with a bolt of lightning or something like that. Next thing I know, I'm here." Biggoron swam over to the island and pulled himself up. "If you're here to fix whatever's wrong, do it quick. I think something bad will happen otherwise."
"Acknowledged." Said Skull Kid. He ran across the rock bridge and entered the temple.
That is the end of this chapter. What will Skull Kid and Tael find inside Death's Head Temple? You'll just have to see for yourself. And don't forget to review!
Disclaimer: Yak yak yak yak yak.
Chapter 5
At first, the trail was normal, merely sloping uphill. But it got steeper. And steeper. And steeper. Until finally it was just a very steep slope leading to a small patch of flat land in front of a sheer, mile-high vertical wall. Struggling, almost slipping a few times, Skull Kid made it to the patch of flat land, then stared in disgust at the cliff facing them. There were no trees for his hookshot to grapple onto. No handholds for him to climb up. It was a sheer vertical cliff. He had brought climbing tools, like a rappel and cable, but he had nowhere to place the hooks. He sat down, trying to figure out a way to solve his problem. Finally, he thought of something. He changed his boots to the grooved ones he had bought, and pulled out one his hooks and the hammer for driving it in. He hammered the hook to the wall, then cursed himself, realizing this equipment was useless without at least two people climbing. Angrily, he threw the climbing gear down the slope, except for
the boots, which could be useful. He sat down again, trying to figure out a way to get through this obstacle. Tael had no ideas. Skull Kid sighed. "Damn it, how am I going to climb this wall?"
"Help I can perhaps." Said a voice behind him. Skull Kid turned around to see a Garo. He reached for his knife. The Garo raised his hand, showing he had no weapons. "Relax. Here to help you I am."
Skull Kid frowned. "Who are you, and why do you talk like that?"
The Garo bowed. "Garo you may call me. Like this I talk because created that way I was. Your spirit guide I am."
Skull Kid put away his knife. "You're my spirit guide? The guy who shows up now and then to give me advice and steer me down the right path?" The Garo nodded. Skull Kid lunged at the Garo and grabbed him by the neck, shaking him. "THEN WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I WENT BERSERK OVER THE DEPARTURE OF THE GIANTS AND WRECKED MY ENTIRE LIFE UNTIL RECENTLY?"
The Garo backflipped out of Skull Kid's hands. "Recently assigned to you I was. Died I did quite recently."
Skull Kid calmed down. "When did you die, and how?" asked Tael.
"Slain by Majora I was. Reborn in this form, and assigned to you I was."
"Who were you in life?" asked Skull Kid.
"Former Sage of Light I was, then owl. Now ninja I am."
Skull kid realized something. "Wait a minute. Owl? Kaepora Gaebora, is that you?"
Garo nodded. "Kaepora I was, Garo I am. Help you up this cliff I shall."
"How? Can you fly?"
Garo shook his head, reached into his robe and pulled something out, handing it to Skull Kid. It seemed to be a purple sun visor. "Help you this will."
Skull Kid examined the visor then looked up. "How will it..." Garo was gone. "Whoa...Tael, did you see him leave?"
"No, I was looking at the visor."
"Dang. I wonder what this thing does." Skull Kid put on the visor and looked at the cliff wall. "Wow!"
"What? What is it?"
"There are handholds on the cliff! A carved ladder! I think it goes straight to the top! And there are lots of ledges to rest on to build your strength. These visors must be Lenses of Truth or something."
"Cool! Can I see them? Please?"
"I'm sorry Tael, but these are too big for you. You might break them, and then we wouldn't be able to tell how to get up the cliff."
"Aw..." said Tael, sagging. Skull Kid dug into the handholds and started climbing. He had to be very careful not to fall. Whenever he saw a ledge, he rested on it. After three hours, they reached the top of the cliff. And looked around in amazement. It was snowing. In the summertime. This was obviously a sign that something was wrong. The ground was covered in white, giant snowballs were everywhere, little snowballs littered the slope. The trees were dead, and those that weren't were completely white. They walked up they slope, staring around in disbelief. As they walked up the slope, they passed the frozen husks of the mountain's former population of Red Tektites. The trail stopped in front of an archway blocked with a wall of ice. There seemed to be no way to get through. Then Tael saw a huge precarious-looking icicle hanging just above the wall. "Hey Skull Kid, I think if we can knock down that icicle, the wall will break!"
"Good idea. I don't want to waste my new arrows, so I'll just use my hookshot." (The arrows Skull Kid is referring to are the arrows he bought in town to refill his quiver. After all, he did use approximately thirty-nine arrows back in Forestfall Temple.) Skull Kid fired his hookshot at the icicle. It wobbled. He fired again. The icicle fell from the rock, smashing the wall to pieces. The way cleared Skull Kid and Tael walked through the arch to the next part of the trail. It was a long, twisting slope going up the mountain. As they walked up the path, giant snowballs fell from higher up the mountain, smashing to bits around them. Not wanting to get hit, Skull Kid and Tael ran away from the snow boulders. As the trail twisted and turned up the peak, the frequency of the boulders increased. Finally, they reached another stone arch, which was really more of a very long, upward sloping tunnel. Since they were now safe from the boulders, they took their time. However, Skull Kid
was starting to get affected by the extreme cold. He had a tunic, so wasn't very warm. Tael tried his best to warm him up, but this was worse than it had been when Skull Kid had lain out in the freezing rain for hours. Tael turned his intensity to maximum, but it didn't help much in combating the cold. When Tael's heat started to scorch the tunic, Skull Kid told Tael to forget it. The tunnel was longer than they thought. Eventually, they could hear the muffled Wolfos' howl, signifying sundown. Remembering Impa's advice, Skull Kid stopped walking and set up camp.
"Skull Kid, what are you doing?" asked Tael.
"Heeding Impa's advice. She told us that no matter how close we are to the deadline, we should not travel the mountain at night."
"But we're in a tunnel! What could happen?"
"I shudder to think." Skull Kid finished the tent and went inside. It was warmer inside the tent than it was outside. They had dinner, then went to sleep, Skull Kid in his new sleeping bag, Tael in his hat.
Majora fell to his knees, gasping and clutching his chest. His nemesis, that stupid imp, stood over, looking at him in contempt. Majora could feel the hatred of his prisoners as well. The imp raised his blade over Majora's neck. "Majora, you have ravaged the land and its people. You have enslaved its populace and tortured many. Your reign has gone on too long, and it is now at an end. What do you have to say for yourself?" "I...will...kill...you...no...matter...how...long...it...takes...I.... will...kill...you..." The imp sighed. "I was expecting that." He brought the sword down.
Majora woke up, gasping and sweating. He blinked a few times, his large eyes immediately adjusting to the room's darkness. He groaned and got off of his bed, a large slab of brimstone and rubbed his eyes. He looked around his room. His stuffed carnivorous griffin was on the ground. His bedroom was nowhere near as palatial as his room back in the Infernal Citadel was, but he would take this room over his old one any day. Sure, he missed all the furniture and decorations, but all that could be moved into this dimension once the portal to Hell had been fully established. Even though he missed his old room, he liked his room on this moon better for one reason: it was not a part of his prison. Hell was a nice place, but it was a prison for his kind. He would be happier once his father brought a little taste of Hell to the mortal realms. Though it was true that they would never make it to Heaven, the least they could do was dominate all dimensions so the gods would be imprisoned
in Heaven, just like the demons had been imprisoned in Hell. While it was true things would diminish so it wouldn't be as bad as Hell was now, it would still be very bad. Majora looked forward to that. But, back to the room description. He had covered the walls in carvings of screaming, twisted faces. There was a door on the far side of the room, and one closer to the bed. In the furthest corner of his room were the crystals containing Link and Zelda, and those accursed fairies. His magic had preserved them from needing any meals, toilets or baths, but they still could sleep. His magic also made the crystals soundproof so they could not shout through the walls of their prison, though they could hear everything outside. It also kept them from transforming and smashing their way out of the crystals. Majora pondered the meaning of his own dream. He had been battling his former slave, that stupid Skull Kid. That was odd, since he had killed Skull Kid two weeks ago. They were in
Majora's throne room, with his prisoners looking on. Skull Kid was winning because he was using a holy blade, something similar yet different than his knife. Majora couldn't remember what the blade was, though. He shook his nightmare off as a bad dream caused by eating too much Dodongo Stomach. Then he remembered that demon's don't have dreams, only premonitions. He frowned. Did this mean that Skull Kid was still alive? Was it even Skull Kid at all? It might have been a different Skull Kid, one of those imps from the forest. They all look alike to the average being. He frowned. He knew premonitions could be wrong. And he didn't think that the blow the imp was about to deliver when he woke up would be enough to slay him. He decided to forget about it. He walked over to the crystals. He scanned the minds of his prisoners, looking into their dreams. Zelda was dreaming she was running in a field of flowers, with Link coming towards her. Tatl was dreaming about the times when her
mother was still alive. Navi was dreaming she was a human. Then Majora scanned Link's dream and was angry. Link was dreaming he was chopping off Majora's head! The demon was not happy with this. He got an idea for something really mean to do to Link. He concentrated. Suddenly, Link's dream changed. He had been standing on the carcass of Majora, his sword plunged through the demon's heart in victory. Zelda was running towards him, ready to give him a kiss. Suddenly, Zelda exploded her guts and blood showering everything. The severed head of Majora floated up, laughing at what he had just done to Zelda. As Link stared in horror, the demon's head blasted Link with its heat vision. Link woke up screaming, which woke Navi up, causing her to shock Link by accident, which caused him to curse a few times. Majora grinned at the hero. Link glared at Majora, realizing whose fault it had been for that dreams ending. He shouted at Majora. Majora could not actually hear Link, but could
sense his thoughts. "Oh my. I had no idea you knew such language, Link! Of course, your words do not bother me. Back home, those words are commonplace. Hmm? You're calling me a what? Ahahahahahahahahaha!" Link seemed to have run out of derogators. Then Navi started whispering some more in his ear, causing Link to shout them at Majora. Majora was surprised. "Why Navi, I'm surprised you knew those insults. They're quite effective, but don't harm me." Link paused, like he was listening to something. He grinned, then said a single word. Majora blinked. "What the? How did you know how to say my name in the demon tongue?" Not answering, Link said something else. Majora clutched his head, which suddenly hurt a lot. Link was using his name to somehow cause him pain. Roaring, Majora walked away from the crystals, trying to get rid of the headache. Once he was far enough away, Link let off, and Majora's head returned to normal. He glared angrily at Link. Finally, he grabbed his
stuffed griffin, climbed onto his bed, and went to sleep.
Skull Kid yawned and go up. After waking Tael, they repacked all of the camping gear and continued down the tunnel. After a few hours, they finally reached the end. The tunnel exited onto a ledge that immediately narrowed to being only six inches wide. Any slip would result in death. Skull Kid carefully started edging along the ledge, his back on the wall. It seemed like they would make it. That's when more giant snowballs started falling. They crashed down the mountainside, barely missing Skull Kid. Skull Kid gulped and leaned closer to the wall. He carefully continued edging along the ledge, looking up occasionally to watch out for boulders. After several close calls, Skull Kid made it to the other side of the ledge. Another tunnel went up from there. This one was a lot shorter. At the exit was a slope with a railing to prevent you from falling off the mountain. Skull Kid walked up the slope, dodging the dozens of boulders that kept rolling at him. At last, he reached the
top of the slope and found another trail. It went higher up the mountain. Skull Kid started up the trail. It was a long hike. Just as Skull Kid was about to reach the top, night fell. He quickly set up camp and went to sleep. The next morning, Skull Kid was even colder. He had managed to keep up his metabolism by eating and exercising, but was still freezing. He walked the relatively short distance to the top of the slope. Just before he reached the slope, he turned around to see how far he had come. He shuddered. He was really high up. If he fell, his carcass would be ripped to shreds several times over, crushed by boulder, and smashed to pieces before reaching Kakariko Village. He turned forwards, shivering from the extreme cold, and went over the top of the slope. He wasn't really surprised by what he found. It was the area where Mountain Village had once been. White Wolfos and Blue Tektites prowled the area, looking for anyone stupid enough to cross their path.
Snow-covered trees were here and there. The pond was frozen, and the cliff above it led to the mixed Goron Graveyard and Dodongo's Cavern. To the far right of the cliff was the trail that led to Goron City/Village. To the far left of the cliff was a trail that led to the top of the mountain. Skull Kid blew on his gloved hands and rubbed them together, trying to warm them up. He needed to figure out how to get some heat and fast. The nearest place that would be even remotely warm would be the cave at the top of the cliff. However, Skull Kid wasn't sure he could make it. He had been getting colder and colder during the long hike, and he was still cold even while in the sleeping bag. Skull Kid was feeling a bit ill. He was worried about the various sicknesses he might be having. He knew he could cure any and all diseases currently in his body if he got warm enough. But the hike to the cave in the cliff might kill him. He had no choice, though. It was either fight his way to the
cliff, or die of cold. He started walking towards the iceberg-ridden pond in front of the cliff. The Wolfos and Tektites immediately made a beeline for him. As the large group of monsters came towards him, Skull Kid charged up his Spinning Knife attack. Just as the monsters were about to jump on him, Skull Kid unleashed his attack, killing most of the monsters and severely injuring the others. The injured ones ran away, deciding not to mess with him. The monsters that had been too slow to make it to the original attack wisely decided to stay away. Skull Kid used his Deku Mask to easily hop across the icebergs in the pond. He didn't want to risk swimming in ice-cold water in his current cold condition. He pulled off the mask at the base of the cliff, put on the Lenses of Truth to see the invisible ladder, and started climbing. It was harder than the cliff at the base of the mountain, even though it was not as tall. This cliff's ladder went all over the place, zigging and
zagging. There were no ledges to rest on. The handholds were slippery because they were covered in ice. Also, an extremely cold wind was blowing. And since his fingers were getting numb, Skull Kid slipped several dozen times, barely managing to keep his grip. Tael was constantly floating over Skull Kid's fingers, trying to heat them up enough for him to keep going. After what seemed like an eternity, he made it to the top of the cliff. Once there, he panted for a moment, shivering madly. He couldn't feel his fingers or his toes. After several minutes of Tael trying to warm him up, Skull Kid decided to enter the cave. He recalled that the Goron Graveyard had a hot spring that he could quickly recover in. As he entered the cave, Skull Kid wondered why he hadn't seen the tunnel from the ground level. It would have saved him a lot of time and trouble. And he also wondered whether or not the Gorons were okay. Then he realized that since Majora had probably put his servant, the
demon Goht, in charge of this mountain, the Gorons were definitely not okay. They were probably being put to work, just like the forest creatures. Of course, this also meant that some of the monsters in charge were forced to do this as well, so he had to watch for any signs. He knew he couldn't go to the top of the mountain until he at least tried to help the Gorons. He looked around. The cave was different than it had been the last time he was here. He saw plenty of Goron graves and the spring of hot water in the middle, but now there was another opening in the back. Also, there were two Bomb Flowers on either side of the spring. Skull Kid staggered over to the spring and jumped in, relaxing his sore and cold muscles in the spring's wonderful heat. He sighed and closed his beady little eyes, basking in the heat. True, he would be wet now, which would probably kill him if he stepped outside before he was dry, but those matters were not on his mind right now. As the feeling
in his limbs returned, he felt a sharp pain of pins and needles, which he ignored. The heat revitalized his immortal immune system, driving out the viruses inside of him. Once he felt a hundred percent healthy, he got out of the spring. He immediately shivered since the cave was a bit chilly, but it was not that bad. He shook himself off.
"Skull Kid, are you ready to move on?" asked Tael.
Skull Kid stretched his arms and legs, glad to feel them again. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go through that opening in the back of the cave and see where it leads." Still dripping, he walked over to the opening that led deeper into the cavern. It was a tunnel that went downwards. As Skull kid went down the tunnel, he could feel quite a lot of heat. He was drying off fast from this heat. Eventually, he began to sweat like mad. They weren't that deep inside the earth, what was causing this heat? As he reached the end of the tunnel, he found out. He was in a huge cavern. The floor was mostly covered with lava. Straight ahead of him was a metal pier over the lava that led to a stoner pillar that rose and sunk out of the lava. In front of the pillar was a large platform. The platform had two other pillars like the one in front, except the one on the right went up to a higher level. On either side of the platform, where the pillars led from, were two wide ledges, each with three
openings on them. Ramps on either side of Skull Kid's pier led to the floor, where one could walk around the lava to ladders that led up to the ledges. Directly across from Skull Kid, on the back wall, was a huge skull of some dinosaur, with glowing red eye sockets. The ribs of that dead dinosaur supported the ceiling. The skull's mouth was open, resting on the edge of the platform. An opening at the back of the skull's mouth led to a different chamber. Two bridges on the upper level ran across from one end of the room to the other. But that wasn't what got Skull Kid's attention. He was focused on the people in the room. Fire Keese were flying around the ceiling. Dodongos and Lizalfos walked around the chamber. Gorons were in the lava, digging out chunks of mineral from underneath it. Skull Kid slapped on the Stone Mask on walked to the edge of the pier to get a better look at the Gorons. He saw an old Goron stopping for a moment, wiping sweat from his brow. One of the
Dodongos noticed and turned towards the elderly Goron. Inhaling, the Dodongo let loose a blast of fire breath, which hit the Goron in the back. It did not hurt the Goron, but did incite him to get back to work. The Lizalfos were standing around the room, looking depressed. Of course, it was kind of hard to tell from their long reptile faces, but their body language showed it. The Lizalfos were probably monsters who were forced to do this, like the Stalfos had been. The Dodongos were more bestial than the Lizalfos, but they seemed to have an inflated air about them. They seemed to strut around in pride, and took pleasure in blasting the Gorons, even if it didn't hurt them. Since Keese are bats, Skull Kid couldn't tell whether or not they were forced to do it, but he doubted they had much of an opinion on the matter. Skull Kid did not want a repeat of when he had decided to be a Scrub back in the forest to see how bad the workers had been treated. He decided to just watch. He
wondered why the Gorons didn't fight back. Even without a hero, a lone Goron could still usually summon the courage to fight. A single Goron could probably kill most of the enemies in the cave. So why didn't they? Then Skull Kid noticed that each Goron had a sort of muzzle made of stone affixed to their faces. The reason that they didn't just eat these muzzles was clear: they were made from gneiss, a mineral despised by all Gorons. The muzzles explained why the Gorons couldn't fight back. The muzzles kept them from eating good rock, so they were slowly starving. Without food, a Goron is quite weak.
"What's our plan of action?" asked Tael.
"Well, it seems to me that the big skull at the back of the room is where we should go."
"We're not going to blend in with the Gorons?"
"Hell no! Last time we tried that, I ended up exhausted and whipped a few times."
"But you said it didn't hurt."
"No, I said I've gotten worse. It actually hurt a lot, but it is nothing compared to some of those other tortures I mentioned. I have had enough torture in one lifetime. Let's just go in and kill whoever the hell is in charge of this operation."
"Sounds good to me. Let's roll!" Still wearing the Stone Mask, Skull Kid hopped across the pillars in the lava. He reached the open skull and walked through the hole in the back to the next chamber. It was a large square room with a block set into the floor, a high opening straight ahead, and a door on either side of the room. Dodongos lounged about, basking in the heat from the lava pool in the room's northeast corner. Since Skull Kid didn't want to disturb the dinosaurs by going through the east door, he headed to the west. He entered another large chamber, with a huge pit in the floor. The pit dropped straight down to another cavern. There were even more Dodongos in here. They were walking around the edge of the pit, while others were walking up or down the walls of the pit, using the sticky pads on their feet to move vertically. In the middle of the cavern was a large pool of hardened lava. Skull Kid couldn't see the rest of the cavern too well, but he got the idea that
this was where the chief was. He took a running jump of the pit's edge, falling into it. He landed on the hardened lava, which was fortunately soft enough to break his impact. He looked around. Sticking out of the lava was the skull and front paws of another giant Dodongo. He heard voices, so hid behind the skull, peeking over to see who was there. There was a medium-width strip of land running around the pool. Across from him was a bunch of Dodongos, heading for something unbelievably huge and monstrous that he couldn't believe he hadn't seen when he was above the pit. It was like a Dodongo, but gargantuan. It was even bigger than the old King Dodongo was!
"Tael, what is that?" whispered Skull Kid.
"Eep! That's the Imperial Dodongo! It's an even worse monster than the Master Stalfos was! He can see through the illusion caused by your mask, so don't get too close. Fortunately, his eyesight is pretty lousy. His nose is superb, though."
Skull Kid looked over the form of Imperial Dodongo. He had a lower body built like a King Dodongo, with a spiked back, a long tail, and four legs. However, his body then sprouted a torso from where its head would be, jutting upwards from a flexible point. The torso was heavily muscled. More spikes were on its back. It had two mighty arms, one of which wielded a huge hammer. Its head was basically the same as the common Dodongo, with the green-blue eyes, wide mouth, and single horn, but this one had spines growing from the back of its head. "What kind of attacks does he have?"
"He can curl up into a spiky ball and roll at you, he can crush you with the hammer, he can jump and stomp to cause a shockwave, and he can breathe fire."
The Imperial Dodongo roared. The smaller Dodongos bellowed back. "What are they saying?" asked Skull Kid.
"I think the Imperial was asking whether or not ore production has increased, and they're saying that there will soon be enough ore to make the invincible war machines to assault other countries."
"What do they mean by invincible war machines?"
"I don't know, but I think we have to put a stop to it. Do you think you can slay the Imperial Dodongo?"
`That depends. What are his weak spots?"
"His hide is too heavily armored to launch a direct attack. His mouth, tail and eyes are the only spots that you could damage him at. But his mouth won't be a good place to kill him, possibly to stun him. If he's stunned, you can poke him in the eye with your knife. Bombs should stun him. Did we get any back in Kakariko?"
Skull Kid grinned and pulled out his bomb bag. "I got forty bombs right here. When should I throw bombs at him?"
"Do it when he's inhaling for his fire breath. But don't get too close or he'll suck you up and eat you."
"Guess I should start the battle or something." He pulled off the Stone Mask and walked around the skull. The Imperial Dodongo noticed him and bellowed a challenge. "Yeah, that's right you big lizard! I want to fight you!" The Dodongo bellowed again. The Dodongos all scurried up the walls to watch the battle from the room above. The Imperial stomped towards Skull Kid, moving quite slowly. "Can't he move any faster?" asked Skull Kid.
"No, I don't think so." Said Tael.
"Oh well. I throw the bomb when he starts to inhale?" Tael nodded. "Good. I'm ready." The Imperial made it over to Skull Kid. He tried to squash him, but was too slow. Skull Kid easily dodged the dinosaur's feet. The Dodongo got angry and leaped into the air. Skull Kid rolled out from under his shadow just before the monster came down. He slowly turned. Skull Kid ran behind and did a jump attack on the Dodongo's tail. The Imperial roared and spun around fast, knocking Skull Kid away with his tail. As Skull Kid groaned and pulled himself up, the Imperial began to inhale. Skull Kid pulled out a bomb, lit it, and hurled it into the air. It got picked up by the vacuum from the Dodongo's inhalation and was sucked down the monster's gullet. A moment later, it exploded in the Imperial's stomach, stunning him. He fell to the ground, his torso leaning to the earth. Skull Kid saw that he couldn't use his knife on the monster's eyes, but he could use an arrow. With Tael's targeting,
Skull Kid shot an arrow right into the Imperial's eye, making him half-blind. He screamed in pain and got to his feet. Furious, he tried to smash Skull Kid with his hammer. Of course, now that he had only one working eye, his depth perception was shot, so he missed Skull Kid completely. He curled up into a ball and rolled towards Skull Kid, also missing him completely. Finally, the monster just gave up and prepared another dose of fire breath. Skull Kid hurled another bomb into the monster's throat, stunning him again. Skull Kid shot an arrow into the beast's other eye, making him completely blind. He roared and shook his head in pain. After a moment, he relied on his excellent senses of smell and hearing to pinpoint the imp's location. He charged, waving his hammer. Skull Kid ran. Even though he was faster, the beast covered more distance. The beast leapt into the air and came down with an awesome crash, barely missing Skull Kid. As the Imperial swung his hammer, Skull Kid
ran behind the Dodongo and jump attacked the tail. Spinning around, the Dodongo kicked out at Skull Kid, knocking him into the cavern wall. The Dodongo spectators cheered their emperor on. Skull Kid struggled to get up, but found his ankle was sprained from that kick. As the Imperial stomped towards Skull Kid, brandishing his hammer, Tael anxiously tried to think of something that would help. Then he got an idea.
"Skull Kid, use the mask!"
"What, the Deku Mask? The Imperial would kill me immediately!"
"No, the Goron Mask! This is a cave, the Goron's home turf! You'll be able to take on that monster with a better chance, since Gorons can't be harmed by fire. You also won't have a sprained ankle. Come on, if you don't he'll eat you!"
Skull Kid looked at the Imperial. He was halfway there. Skull Kid reached into his pack, pulled out the Goron Mask, and slapped it on. He immediately felt immense pain flowing through his body. His bones got bigger and thicker, his skin got harder, his muscles bulging. His legs widened, his arms grew much longer, and his stomach expanded. His head changed shape, sprouting facial hair. He screamed, and it was over. He looked at himself in amazement. He was huge! Well, he was a lot bigger than he had been before. He was eight feet tall, with tan skin. He still had the lower half of his tunic around his lower parts. His thick legs ended in bigger versions of his boots. His arms were long and unbelievably muscled, his gloves transformed into gauntlets. He had a necklace of blue pearls and an actual beard. His numerous scars, hidden by his clothes, were now quite visible. His back was rocky. His scarecrow hat was perched on his head, looking slightly awkward. His eyes were larger
and black. He was a Goron! The other Dodongos grunted in surprise. The Imperial stopped, confused at the change in scent of the imp. He sniffed the air, wondering what a Goron was doing here. Then he heard the bellowing of his subjects, telling him that the imp had somehow changed into a Goron. Skull Kid grinned. "It's payback time." He ran towards the Imperial and discovered that he wasn't much faster than the Dodongos were. The Imperial started inhaling. Skull Kid pulled out a bomb and hurled it with his new Goron muscles. Since he wasn't as close, the bomb took longer to get to the dinosaur. When it actually reached his maw, it exploded, scorching his mouth and permanently destroying his taste buds. The Imperial roared in pain, hacking out smoke. This imp had deprived him of his two most important senses! He would pay! The Imperial hit the ground with his hammer, sending a shockwave in Skull Kid's direction and knocking him off his feet. Bellowing, the dinosaur charged,
moving a bit faster than normal. Skull Kid surprised himself by curling into a ball and rolling away. The Dodongo curled up as well, rolling after Skull Kid. As he rolled around the cavern, Skull Kid tried to think of a plan. He could tell that the Dodongo was following his every move. Maybe he could use that to his advantage. Picking up speed, he rolled straight towards the skull of King Dodongo. The Imperial followed. At the last second, Skull Kid made a sharp turn away from the skull. The Dodongo rolled right into it and ricocheted into one of the walls. Stunned, he uncurled. Skull Kid made another sharp turn, getting even faster as he rolled right for the dazed dinosaur. He rolled for the Imperial's tail, going faster and faster until spikes sprung out of his body, giving him extra traction. He rolled towards the Imperial at great speed, rolling over his tail with his spikes. The Imperial screamed. Skull Kid swerved, rolling over the tail again and again. Finally, just
before rolling over the tail once more, he bounced into the air and performed the Goron Slam, hitting the Imperial's tail like a falling six hundred-pound spiked weight, which he was, in a way. This hurt the Dodongo a lot. He slumped over, his head inches from the ground as he panted, trying to recover. Skull Kid uncurled and ran over to the face of the monster. Rearing back his arm, he hit the Imperial Dodongo with an awesome Goron Punch. The monster roared once more before his head slumped to the floor, dead. But his body was still twitching. It began to glow.
"Skull Kid, shield yourself, quick!" shouted Tael.
Skull Kid got down on his belly, his rocky back serving as a shield just in time for the Imperial Dodongo's final attack. The Dodongo exploded in an awesome blast, shaking the entire cavern. Skull Kid got up and looked around. There was nothing left of the Imperial. He looked up. The other Dodongos were all dead as well, as signified by the multiple explosions he could hear from above. Skull Kid pulled off the Goron Mask and grinned. "Woohoo! We did it! We killed the Imperial Dodongo! And the transformation must have healed my ankle, because it's not sprained anymore!"
"Uh, Skull Kid, not to detract from your victory dance or anything, but how do we get out of here?"
Skull Kid stopped. "Uh, that's a very good question Tael."
A Goron peeked over the top of the pit. "Hey! Is anyone down there!" he yelled.
"Yeah, we are!" yelled Skull Kid.
"Did you kill the Imperial Dodongo?" yelled the Goron.
"Yes, I did!" yelled Skull Kid.
"Really? Great! Come on up and all of us Gorons and Lizalfos will thank you for it!"
"How do I get back up?"
"There's a secret passage! I'll come down and open it for you!" The Goron pulled his head back. A few minutes later, a part of the wall near Skull Kid pulled up, revealing the Goron and the secret tunnel. The Goron noticed Skull Kid. "Wow! Did you kill the Imperial?"
"Yup."
"But you're just a little imp! How did you do it?"
"I'd rather not reveal my methods. Can you please take me out of this pit?"
"Oh, sure! Just follow me." The Goron led Skull Kid back to the upper level of the cave. When they entered the main chamber, there was a large group of Lizalfos and Gorons celebrating their freedom. The Goron was about to call their attention, but Skull Kid stopped him.
"Uh, could you please not tell everyone what happened yet? I don't want to get caught up in a victory celebration. I need to get to the top of the mountain, and fast." He whispered.
"How come?"
"I'm on a mission to get to the temple at the top of the mountain. I can't go into details, but can you please do what I asked?"
The Goron shrugged. "I guess so."
"Thanks. I really appreciate it. Come on, Tael."
"Wait. Before you go, you should learn this song that will allow you to get into the temple. It's called the Goron's Lullaby. I'll whistle it softly so no one falls asleep."
He whistled a tune. Skull Kid played along on his flute. Nobody fell asleep because they were talking to each other and couldn't hear the song. When the song was mastered, Skull Kid and Tael left the Cavern. The pair were soon out in the cold again. It seemed like such a drag after the heat of the cavern. After climbing down the long ladder, they made their way to the trail that led up to the top of the mountain. It was steep and very twisty, zigzagging up the mountainside. Snowballs were constantly falling. After many hours of hiking, night fell, and Skull Kid had to set up camp again. They started off again the next morning, still going up the trail. Despite their slow progress, they were always getting closer and closer to the top of the mountain. White Wolfos now and then attacked them, but were no match for Skull Kid. At noon, they finally reached the last leg of the trail. It was a ledge going over a deep pit, with snow boulders constantly raining down on them. The
ledge had several gaps in it. Skull Kid was able to traverse these gaps by rolling across as a Goron at top speed. When at top speed, he was also able to mow down all the snowballs in his path. After traversing the pit, Skull Kid took off the mask and they continued up the trail, going higher and higher. After a very long hike, they made it. They reached the top of the mountain, just outside of the volcano's crater. It was unbelievably cold, and the gusts of wind made it even colder. There was a small cave that went into the crater. As Skull Kid started to enter, he heard a deep, booming voice behind him. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY, WHAT ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRE YOOOOOOOOOOU DOING HERRRRRRRRRRRE?"
Skull Kid turned around and saw a thirty-foot tall Goron. Tael hid behind Skull Kid's hat quivering in fear. "Who are you?" he asked nervously.
"I'M BIGGORRRRRRON, THE BIGGEST GORRRRRRRRRRON ON THE MOUNTAIN. I MAKE SWORRRRRRRRRRRDS AND WATCH ALL OF THE LAND FRRRRRRRRRROM ON HIGH. WHO ARRRRRRRRRRE YOU?"
"I'm Skull Kid. I'm trying to stop the mountain from staying frozen over. Is the temple inside the crater?"
Biggoron nodded. "YEAH, IT'S RRRRRRRIGHT IN THERRRRRRRRRE. IT"S CHANGED A LOT, AND THERRRRRRRRRRE'S A WEIRRRRRRRRD GUY IN THERRRRRRRRRRRRRE WHO LOOKS LIKE ME, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY THE TEMPLE."
"Thanks." Said Skull Kid, heading into Death's Head Crater.
"YOU'RRRRRRRRRRRE WELCOME. GOOD LUCK, LITTLE GUY."
As Skull Kid entered the crater, the first thing he noticed was how hot it was. It immediately recovered him from the harsh cold and winds outside then immediately made him sweat like a pig. It was hot. He looked around him. He was on a high, wide cliff overlooking the molten heart of the volcano. A ramp to his far left led to a ladder that led down to a lower ledge. On that ledge was a bridge that led to another ledge, with a bridge leading to a large rock island in the center of the crater. There were two large cones on the island that spewed smoke and a hexagonal platform with an owl statue on it was in between the cones. A stone bridge on the island led to a building built into the wall of the crater. It was like a huge tower, with spikes coming from the top of it. It was the temple. Sitting in front of the entrance was another thirty-foot Goron, who was blowing out gusts of wind across the bridge in front of him. Skull Kid made his way to the ladder and climbed down it
then walked across the bridge. On the ledge, he noticed a tunnel that led to somewhere else. "Tael, can you see where that tunnel leads?" asked Skull Kid.
Tael flew down the tunnel. A few minutes later, he came back. "It's a two-way wormhole that leads straight to Goron City/Village."
"Wait, you mean we could have used this shortcut to get here instead of walking, and have saved us a hole day not to mention a lot of warmth?'
"I guess so."
Skull Kid groaned. "Damn it! Why didn't we think about using the shortcut? Link told us about it!"
"I guess we just forget." Said Tael.
Skull Kid sighed. "Well, at least we can use it on the way back. Come on, let's get to the temple." He walked across the bridge and onto the rock island. He could see the Terminan Biggoron in front of him, breathing out gusts of wind that would knock him off the bridge if he tried to cross. He tried to think about what to do. "Tael, do you have any ideas on how we can get past this guy?"
"Well, that Goron said tat Goron's Lullaby would allow us to get into the temple. Maybe you should play it?"
"Hey, good idea! I'll try it." Skull Kid pulled out his flute and played the Goron's Lullaby. Biggoron stopped and blinked. He yawned and tried to keep his eyes open. He couldn't. He curled up into a ball and fell asleep. He fell off the bridge and into the lava. A minute later, he emerged, sputtering.
"What happened?" he asked, his voice much softer than that of the Biggoron outside.
"You were having a weird dream, so I woke you up." Said Skull Kid.
"You did? Gee, thanks. I don't know what I'm doing here, but I know something's wrong."
"What makes you say that? The fact that it's snowing on the top of an active volcano? The large building across this bridge? The fact that the mountain is higher? The other Biggoron right outside the crater? The weird cloud above the mountain?"
"That, and my last memory before I fell asleep. I saw this huge mechanical goat coming out of the shortcut to Goron City. It was dragging two blocks of ice with Gorons in them. It somehow walked across the bridge. When it got to me, it hit me with a bolt of lightning or something like that. Next thing I know, I'm here." Biggoron swam over to the island and pulled himself up. "If you're here to fix whatever's wrong, do it quick. I think something bad will happen otherwise."
"Acknowledged." Said Skull Kid. He ran across the rock bridge and entered the temple.
That is the end of this chapter. What will Skull Kid and Tael find inside Death's Head Temple? You'll just have to see for yourself. And don't forget to review!