Using some of the explosives, Link placed them down just outside the entrance. He grabbed a bow and used one of the flaming torches to light the flint tip on fire. He pulled back the arrow before letting it whiz across the air. He covered his ears with his hands, Zelda did the same, fascinated by how skilled he was at setting such a thing up, he likely had experience with utilising explosives in battle. Zelda felt a rush of heat against her face which quickly subsided. She removed her hands and looked at a now gaping hole in the side of the mountain. She shivered with slight disgust, for whatever laid inside, was not pleasant. She looked over at Link who nodded gently, indicating it was time to set off. She grabbed a torch and climbed up onto the beast before watching Link take hold of a piece of rope which was used to lead the cow.
Upon entering, the atmosphere immediately felt different. It was cold, and dark. The light seemed to struggle to even come as far as an inch inside. There was definitely something dark within this cave. They travelled slowly, for the animal could only move so fast which such a vast array of items. The structures down here appeared to be of Zonai origin. They passed a large wall which was certainly built by the Ancient tribe before continuing on. Had the circumstances been different, Zelda would have been ecstatic at these findings, but she was single-minded in what they must do down here.
The cavern was longer than she expected. There seemed to be very little activity down here, apart from the occasional squeak of a rat in the distance. There appeared to be remains of travellers who had come down here and lost their lives, and there were also the remains of monsters. They came down to a small body of water, the animal must have been thirsty. "We'll stop here and stock up on water." It was Link who suggested such, and she nodded quietly before placing her torch onto a small holder on the beast's horn. She grabbed a few empty bottles before kneeling down by the water and beginning to fill them up. She heard the gentle splashes of water as Link did the same mundane task, but it was necessary, neither of them were aware of how much time would be spent down here, so they needed to be prepared.
After some time, she heard a soft rustling noise to their right. "What was that?" She asked quickly, standing up and looking in the direction. There was a glowing tendril, malice. She froze and watched it with curiosity. It snaked its way across the floor before stopping at the body of a dead moblin. Zelda watched as it stayed next to the creature for a few moments, before the creature stood up. Her eyes widened as she watched it, parts of its skin had rotten but were now being patched up by malice. It let out tortured screams as it slowly limped its way towards them. It was in obvious pain from being so rudely awaken from its peaceful, eternal slumber. It barely made any progress before its body failed and it fell to the ground, dying for a second time. Zelda didn't think t was possible, but she pitied the entity, for experiencing such a cruel fate.
Link slowly walked over to it and knelt down by it before neatly slicing its head off. "Hopefully that won't happen to it again now." He stated solemnly before looking at her. "That was the work of malice." She commented. "I know, it would seem as though it holds more power than we previously assumed." He explained before getting to his feet. "We should keep going." Was his suggestion, to which she nodded.
Nothing of much significance happened until they came to a bridge. The view was rather impressive, but she didn't wish to step close to the edge. "Stop." Link said suddenly, she halted before peering down to see what the issue was. There was a large crack in the bridge. Link vaulted the gap before taking hold of the rope. "You can try pushing it along." He suggested, so she hopped down off of the creature and began to push it, though it wouldn't budge. They struggled for about ten minutes before giving up. "We can't get it to move, we must press on without it." Zelda wasn't fond of abandoning all their resources back here, but they had little choice. "Alright, I'm on my way." She came to the ledge and peered down. She gulped softly, one slip and she could fall straight down into the ravine below. She looked over at Link who held his arm out. "I'll catch you, I promise." She nodded slowly before taking a few steps back. She ran towards the ledge before jumping into the air. The torch slipped from her grasp during the jump, falling far below them. She crashed against Link who barely managed to stay upright. "Thank you." She stated gently.
They continued along the bridge before coming to a seemingly dead end. "That's strange.." Link muttered softly before stepping closer to the wall. Upon closer inspection he noted that there were Guardian legs present, but they were larger than normal. A moment later he felt a soft rumble and the sound of humming as a machine came to life. He turned around slowly and looked up, seeing the eye of a giant Guardian. "Oh dear goddesses.." He muttered before watching a leg swing towards him. He dodged it with a back flip and watched another leg come towards him. He tossed the torch back to Zelda who caught it with relative ease before he unsheathed his sword and drove it straight into the leg which shot at him. He then heard a beep as the Guardian primed its laser. Without a second thought he pulled his shield out and parried the beam which shot back into the eye of the machine, stunning it.
He took this opportunity to scale the wall next to the machine and attempted to stab the eye of the creature. However, as he was climbing, the autonomous creature came to its senses and raised a leg towards Link, pushing him against the wall, pinning him down. He struggled against the grip, but he could not move. He looked down at Zelda who was retreating, he frowned and watched her hop the gap in the bridge. For some time he could not see anything before a projectile which shone a bright blue shot across the dark cavern and hit the Guardian. Its grip weakened slightly, and he took the opportunity to wriggle free before running along the leg of the machine. With one swift motion he leaped into the air and drove his sword straight into the large eye of the beast. A few moments later, its internal components exploded, revealing a pathway behind it.
Link fell to the floor, regaining his breath. He heard Zelda's footsteps behind him. "You okay?" She inquired, a hint of worry present in her voice. He got to his feet and nodded quickly. "I'm fine, for now." He replied truthfully before looking at the hole which was created. "Let's keep going." Zelda led the way as she held their last remaining torch. They were in a narrower hallway now. There were some primal drawings etched onto the wall, the flame of the torch highlighted them rather well. They stopped for a moment, Zelda raised the torch from the bottom of the wall upwards before highlighting a figure which appeared to be riding a horse. She gasped lightly and he focused his eyes on her, wondering what had caused such a reaction. "This drawing, it is from one of the children's books which tells of Ganondorf. This is him.. if this is down here then.." She turned to face him. "His existence certainly wasn't made up."
They came to a point where they had to climb a small ledge. Link ascended it first before taking the torch, he then reached down and took hold of Zelda's hand, helping her up. Link held the torch as they continued forwards, coming to what seemed to be a large wall with a singular entrance. Link paused, he heard something. "Shush, do you hear that?" He looked over her, she strained her ears before he watched her eyes widen. There was a soft pulsing thump. "It resembles a heartbeat." Her voice cut through the silence like a dagger, but she was right. It was slow, laboured, as though it was in a slumber. Within the entrance to the structure, one of the walls was illuminated with a soft, green glow. Link felt uneasy.
They slowly entered the structure, it had brick walls and a brick flooring. There was a left turn up ahead, where the glow originated from. As they continued, the sound became louder and more fierce. Just before the turn, it deafened them, being the only thing they could head. It was torture. That was when they turned the corner, and the sound died altogether. They froze, taking in their surroundings. What struck Link first, was a large swirling spire in the middle. It glowed a soft green. There were large spikes scattered around the room, and a singular beam of malice travelling up to a larger spire. This must have been the room which Maz Koshia had mentioned. "But where's the body?" He whispered softly. Zelda pointed towards the bottom of the spiral. "There."
They slowly etched closer to it, more detail became present. There was a figure, bent backwards as if in an eternal pose of death. Its skin was shrivelled, much like that of the monks, and it had long, flowing hair which was a dull red. "This is him.." Zelda took the torch from Link and slowly circled the being. Link kept his eyes locked on the face of the creature, it was a sickly sight. Zelda came back around. "Let's get some ancient arrows and finish this." She stated simply. They turned to leave when the ground began to shake. They turned around, there was another rumble and then a crack. The bridge which they stood on snapped in the middle, and Zelda dropped down below. "Zelda!" Link called out desperately, she had vanished so easily. He feared for her safety. He peered over the edge, trying to see if he could see her. There was another rumble and he lost his footing, falling forwards. He expected to fall completely, but something grabbed him, pulling him back up.
He feared it was the creature, but instead, it was the hand which held it down. He watched it examine him for a moment before it shot into his hand. He yelped and took hold of his arm as it absorbed this raw energy. The arm became deadened and hung loosely at his side, immobile. He watched as a ball of malice grew at the chest of the creature before firing up at the spire above, causing another ripple. The body slowly tilted backwards before falling into the same crevice which Zelda had fallen down into. "No.." He whispered softly.
She tumbled down and down, hitting against multiple rocks before landing in a shallow pool of water. She coughed softly as she got to her feet. She was in tremendous pain, but nothing appeared broken. She heard some thuds above her, she wondered if Link had fallen down too. She spun around quickly. She saw something cascading downwards, it got snagged on some rock. She watched as its head jerked backwards. It was the corpse. She approached it cautiously before noting that its fingers moved slightly. She took a step back before seeing its head vibrate slightly. She then head a sickening snap as the head turned towards her and eyes of malice came to life. She yelped before turning around and beginning to run, dropping the torch in the process.
She soon heard soft thuds behind her, footsteps. She kept going. Her breath became ragged, her body ached. She ran still. It was cold, damp. The ravine. She was under the bridge. The footsteps, louder now. She ran still, she couldn't stop. They were louder now, growing closer. Her breath was hard to control. She was terrified. She kept running until something hit her side, a hand batting her away. She crashed against the wall of the ravine, and looked up, seeing the figure walking towards her. She struggled to scramble to her feet before feeling a cold hand close around her neck. She was lifted off of the ground, and found herself staring into two eyes of yellow and red.
"It is at last that we meet, Princess." Its voice was raspy and threatening. "I have been waiting for this moment for a long time." She watched its mouth twitch into a smile, it was revolting. She struggled against his grip, but the grip around her throat only tightened, reducing her airflow. "You all played straight into my hands. The Sheikah were idiots, they constructed their Divine Beasts using my own life force. I just needed to ensure that you pathetic fools dug up the technology, for it was buried after being abandoned." The grip closed her windpipe completely, and she struggled for air. "The fortune teller, was a member of my clan. The Yiga clan. She fed you information which led to you unearthing the machines which I would use against you, and then I just needed to ensure that your powers didn't reach you so easily." She continued to kick and struggle, but she could feel her energy being sapped. "The fortune teller poisoned your mother, preventing her from ever teaching you how to unlock your powers, and from there, my plan was simple. I reduced Hyrule to a state of destruction it never saw before. And now, I shall sweep in and destroy it entirely." She felt his grip weaken a little, keeping her conscious for a little longer. "It would make sense for me to just kill you now, but I would rather allow you to enjoy watching the event that will be this kingdom's destruction. All you, and your incredulous excuse for a kingdom, will come to know now, is death, pain and suffering. Enjoy what wasted time you have left." He dropped her to the ground before walking away from her. She gasped for air before glaring at him. "You won't get away with this! You'll fail.. like you always do! We will kill you, you monster!" Ganondorf turned. "It is my curse which has shaped me to be the monster I am" He sounded, saddened, as though he felt as though all this was unfair. "But redemption is too far gone, this is my destiny now." He threatened in a low tone before leaving her in darkness.
Link looked down at his arm, the green which had shot in it was present on his skin, though the glowing light began to fade. He tried moving it, but it was paralysed from the shoulder down. He had more important issues to worry about though. Without a second thought, he began descending into the hole. He struggled without the use of one arm, and eventually he slipped and crashed down below. He groaned in pain before rolling over and propping himself up with his left arm. He got to his feet before looking down, it was evident that no-one was down here. He noticed a quenched torch on the ground, by an exit point, he began to run in the direction.
He came into a large cavern which opened out from the hallway. His eyes scanned across the room, seeing Zelda laying down against a wall. He quickly bolted over to her, kneeling down next to her. She was awake, alive. Relief washed through him. He pulled her close to him with his left arm and she began to sob against him. "Are you okay?!" He asked worriedly, he pulled away momentarily to check her over, she had no evident damage present, apart from red marks around her neck. He hugged her once again, staying silent now, allowing her to cry against him. "Ganondorf.. he's smarter than we thought.." She pulled away from him, her eyes were full of fear and sadness. "This whole time.. he's been pulling the strings.. my mother, his servant killed her.. the technology.. he ensured that we dig it up for it to be used against us.." She looked away from him momentarily, though when she looked back, he now saw anger in her eyes. "He's going to kill everyone, Link. Unless we stop him."