Cory found the throne room within only a minute of wandering. All the hallways led to the huge circular room, so it had doorways all around it's circumference. In between the doorways were marble plinths and atop those statues of former rulers. These, unlike those he had seen while on route to the throne room, were covered in golden gilt and encrusted with jewels of varying sorts. The throne itself was positioned in the exact center of the room, just below the circular pinnacle of the beehive-like dome. Mid way up the dome was a railed platform that circled around, opening up in the places where the bridges spanned the distance between the outer towers and the main hall. A spiraling staircase at the back of the huge room led to the upper level.

A red carpet led to the throne, where the queen sat with straight-backed dignity and eyes that were always analyzing. Two guards stood on either side of her with long steel battle-axes and shining golden armor. They were probably the hugest Zora's he had ever seen. Most of the aquatic people were slight but these were more heavily muscled than he was, with a hard eyes and square jaws. The queens personal guard, no doubt.

The queen herself was the very epitome of dignity and beauty. Her eyes were blue and piercing, her cheekbones high and her face shaped like a heart. Her body, from what he could see beneath the billowing silken folds of her gown, was firm and young.

Cory approached the throne and went to one knee, his head bowed. Evara was not his queen, but he felt it a crime not to bow to such a enchanting and regal Zora. He stayed in that position for a long moment, until the queen deigned to speak.

"You are the Champion of the Gorons?" She asked. Her voice was musical and womanly, firm but gentle at the same time.

"I am, Your Grace." Cory replied.

Evara weighed him for a moment, as if trying to decide if he was worthy enough to serve her. She looked to each of her enormous guards in turn. "Eaden, Aaden, test him." She said, her tone brooking no argument. The guards closed as one, their battle-axes raised in their huge arms.

"Your Grace, I don't understand--"

"I suggest you draw your sword," She said, her voice stopping what he was about to say in its tracks. "They are quite deft with those weapons."

Cory saw the truth of that as one of them raised the axe over his head and brought it down with such force that it would have cleaved him clean in two if he hadn't of jumped to his feet and rolled out of the way at the last second. The blade of the huge axe glanced of the marble floor, leaving a huge fissure and sending glimmering sparks into the air. That was when Cory realized they weren't faking.

He took the fur-covered scabbard of his back and drew the Sword of Darunia, throwing it asunder as he held the blade in his hand. It was a hand and a half sword, so called because it could be used for both two handed and one handed strikes. It was no match against the huge battleaxes of Eaden and Aaden.

The only chance he had would be to divide and conquer, the most fundamental tactic of any swordsman. He analyzed his opponents. They were both heavily armored, with half-helms that had long nose guards. They wore heavy breastplates that his sword wouldn't be able to penetrate. Greaves protected their shins. He couldn't go right at them, they were too strong. But he was fast, and confident that he could avoid the sweeping blades if he was focused enough. He would have to get in close aim for the joints between their armor.

He danced around his opponents. Their eyes held no emotion, and they were intent only on him. Their eyes...An idea sparked in his mind. He charged, ducking under a sweeping axe and sliding in between the huge legs of the first Zora. When faced with his broad back he jumped on him and grabbed his half helm, wrenching it to the side and blinding him. The bodyguard tried to grab him with his free hand but he couldn't reach. He tried to straighten his helm but Cory held it firm.

He looked behind him, seeing the other Zora charging toward him and his companion. His axe was raised, and just as he was about to swing at Cory's back he hurdled over the blind Zora and rolled to the ground in front of him. The battle-axe clanged against the back of the huge Zora, steel and mithril met in a gout of sparks, and the head of the steel battle-axe shattered, sending deadly shrapnel airborne. One of the pieces raked against his forehead and blood began to stream down his face, dripping onto the marble floor. The blind Zora fell to the ground, and when his head banged against the ground it must of rendered him unconscious, for he lay still. There was a great slash in the mithril of the Zora's armor but it hadn't penetrated, just as Cory expected. Mithril was as hard as dragon scales.

The remaining Zora threw what was left of his weapon to the side and approached him with no weapon but huge fists that could no doubt crush his head. The blood flowed over his eyes and everything around him took on a crimson hue. He was becoming lightheaded from the blood, but he stood to meet the approaching Zora.

"Enough, Aaden. He has proven himself." The queen's voice said, though it seemed that it came from the other side of a long tunnel. Aaden went to one knee and bowed his head. Cory had no trouble doing so himself.

"Kara, would you kindly see to his wound?" Evara said. Through the crimson waterfall he saw a woman approaching him. She wasn't a Zora. Her pointed ears identified her as elven, along with the graceful way in which she walked. Her hair was dark, a rare thing among the elf-people.

"I'll need Aaden's help to get him to the infirmary. This will need to be sewn up, it is quite the gash." The she-elf said, her navy blue eyes appraising the cut in his head.

"I can walk on my own." Cory said, but it didn't come out that way. It was slurred.

"Fine, but you'll die long before you make it. I care not either way." The woman said. Her voice almost sounded bored. He heard Evara say something, but he didn't know what. He felt his body being lifted and the last thing he remembered was the marble floor moving beneath him, his blood leaving a trail. Then everything went black.

* * *

He awoke in a dark, cool room. He was atop a soft white bed and his shirt, furs and boots had been taken off. He felt his forehead and found that it was bandaged where his gash had been. Under the bandage he felt a long line of stitches. His skull felt heavy, and when he made to rise pain sliced through his head and he almost lost consciousness again. The room was small and simple with only the bed, a chair by the wooden door, and a washbasin on the other side of his room. After splashing his face with water from the basin he began looking for his things. His sword was hanging on the back of the chair and folded on the seat were new clothes, far cleaner and better smelling than his old clothing. His fur boots had been replaced by heavy leather ones, his musky furs by a thin black coat that was tight fitting and fell to just above his knees, so as not to impede him during battle. It was fox fur he believed, died black. There were new breaches also, and a leather belt to cinch them.

It felt odd to dress in such fine clothing but he did so anyway. There was no shirt, but the coat was heavy enough that when cinched with the belt it provided all the warmth he would ever need. He was strapping the Sword of Darunia to his back when there came a knock on the door. Cory opened the door to be confronted with the same beautiful she-elf that he had seen in the throne room before he had blacked out.

She was wearing a blue dress, tight in the bodice and flowing below, with slits on either side for easy horse riding. Her dark brown hair was tied behind her head, with the occasional small braid here and there. Her face was as fair as they came, but her navy blue eyes seemed tired and uncaring. It surprised Cory to see that she had both a bow and a quiver of arrows tied to her back and a long curving knife on her belt. The bow and arrows were of Zoran make but the knife looked elvish with its long, sinuous design.

She appraised him. "You look halfway human without those smelly old furs." She said, her voice sounding bored again.

Cory was surprised by the abruptness of her speech. He had been taught the Goron way; females were to be seen, not heard.

"What do you want?" Cory asked with disdain in his voice. He didn't like this she-elf's manner.

"I am sent by the queen to accompany you to the lair and help you slay the beast. Come quickly, the quicker we finish this task, the quicker we can be rid of each other." She replied. She walked away then, seeming not to care whether or not he followed.

Cory hurried behind, feeling his anger rising. "What makes you think I need your help?" He demanded.

"I said quite the same to the Queen of you," she said without slowing, "but she doesn't want to take any risks. Hurry now, there is killing to be done."

"Who are you?" He asked.

"My name is Kara. That is the only thing you need to know of me, that and the fact that I know how to kill and how to avoid being killed."

* * *

And so it was that Cory found himself exploring the high, outer reaches of the enormous cave with torch in hand, searching for the lair of a troll with the most unfriendly person he had ever met. She spoke little, and when she did it was only terse commands like "Point the torch up there," or "Look down here".

The outer reaches of the cave were a maddening maze of jagged rocks and rounded boulders slick with lichens of every color imaginable. There was a constant drip, drip, drip from the stalactites that were sharp and imposing hanging on their outthrusts of rock. Kara turned out to be far more agile than he as she leapt from rock to rock with her long legs. She was always upright, when at times he was on all fours trying to scramble up a rock embankment or boulder.

At times she would pause to sniff the air, as if she were trying to hunt the troll with her nose. She always had her hand clutching the hilt of the elven knife, which seemed perfectly sized for her hand. For the most part he let her lead, because her eyesight was far better than his and she always picked the most hospitable route across the perilous rocks.

About two hours or so into her wandering the elf stopped in her tracks. Cory was looking at his feet as he walked to prevent himself from slipping, so he ran right into her. She halted him with an outthrust arm, turned her head and put her finger to her lips to signal him to be quiet.

She sniffed the air, and her face went sour. Cory sniffed the air himself and it took a moment for him to smell what she was smelling. It was the most rancid scent he had ever come across. It was a nauseating mix of rotten eggs, dung, and sweat. Kara walked to the left, climbed a boulder and went to her knees at the top, looking down. Cory climbed the boulder and looked down to see a pit with a large hole in the center that led down. All around the hole were the remnants of the Zora's the troll had eaten. There were skulls, and hands, and here and their a rib cage.

From the hole came a ghastly mix of sounds. Grunting, and the crunch of bone, and the wet sounds of flesh being devoured. Kara took the fine bow from her back and nocked a Zoran arrow. She descended the slope, and Cory followed with the sword in one hand and the torch in the other. Kara looked cautiously over the edge of the hole, and motioned for him to follow as she leapt down. Cory waited until she cleared the hole at the bottom before he leaped down.

* * *

He found himself in a medium sized cave. The place where they dropped down was behind a line of natural rock pillars and arches. Kara was looking out into the opening of the cave, where a small fire crackled and filled the place with eerie, flickering light. Cory looked around the side of the pillar alongside Kara and saw his quarry.

The troll had its back to them, chewing on a severed Zoran arm. It was a river troll, he could tell by its slender, gangly build. Its cousin the mountain troll was larger and more powerful, and far less intelligent. At its side was a long spear, sharp and serrated with fresh bloodstains all along its cruel edge. Zoran skin served as a grip for the deadly weapon.

Kara looked at him. "You distract him. I will wait in the shadows with an arrow nocked. All I need is a clear shot at the throat, its most vulnerable area. Can you provide that, Strongsword?" Her voice still sounded bored, but when she pronounced his title there was a hint of sarcasm.

Cory didn't respond. Instead he left the shadows and approached the beast with as much boldness as he could muster. The troll didn't know he was there until he nailed it in the back of the head with his torch. It roared in pain and twisted around with fury in it's eyes. It tried to bludgeon him with the Zoran arm, but Cory dodged and responded with a hard vertical strike from his sword. The red metal bit into the troll's hand and cut of two of its fingers. The beast roared again and took up the spear thrusting it forward with the strength of five men. It would have taken him in the chest and skewered him if he didn't parry with his sword, pushing the thrust away and to the left.

The troll stumbled forward, the momentum of the spear thrust causing it to lose it's balance. Cory took this opportunity to throw the torch to the side and hamstring the creature with a brutal, two-handed slash from the glowing red sword.

It was when the beast reared it's head up to roar that Kara was greeted with a wonderfully clear shot at the throat. The Zoran arrow impacted exactly where it was meant to, puncturing skin and flesh. The beast stumbled, and for a few moments resisted death. And then the poison of the Retla plant entered the bloodstream, causing paralysis followed closely by death. The troll collapsed in a heap.