Back to Navi and Cera
"We've been past this place before!" Cera said in a squeal. Navi sighed and looked around. They had been this way before. The pot they had smashed a while back was still there.
"So we go to the right this time." Navi said tired. This had been the third time they had gone around. "We have to get out of this maze! Link needs our help!" A few minutes later….
"Aaaaaaargh!" Cera yelled. They were back at the smashed pot again. "That does it!"
"I agree. I will head left and you head right. Maybe we'll get lucky and one of us will find the way out." Navi fluttered to head to the left when Cera voiced a concern.
"How will I know if you found the way out?" Navi paused in mid flight to ponder the question. Not coming up with an answer was becoming annoying.
"I can't think of anything! How did Link get through this maze? I remember Link having only one way to go through and then he began to open other paths by pulling switches." Cera's eyes lit up.
"That's it Navi! We need to go through this place in reverse! If you remember correctly when Link pulled the switches he also closed the way behind him." Navi's fairy light brightened considerably like every fairy does when it gets excited.
"You right! The last switch Link pulled was to our right!"
"Then what are we waiting for? Lets go and help Link!" Two dots of fairy light raced down a corridor to their right so fast that it looked as a little white blur. Hoping against all odds that they would be able to let the switch go at their destination.
Now what we've all been waiting for… Link's battle!!!
The one known as Gratch circled where it's prey should have been. The creature was not one that had a conscious of it's own. It was merely a thing of magic. Created by a master and living only to do the will of the master. This creatures master was nearby so the overwhelming power that the master supplied was not diminished by distance. It was powerful, destructively dangerously powerful. Yet it had failed the master.
"Do not let anyone near the secret passageway that leads into Flora Temple. You're to protect the entrance so the mist can
continue to flow." The flow of mist had stopped. The creature almost let out a wail of grief. It had not failed the master! No one
had come near the secret entrance. The Flora temple was much too dangerous for anyone to try and conquer the trails. Yet a boy had
come out of the secret entrance.
"Hisssss." It had attacked the boy. The lad had no chance against a being such as him. The boy's feeble attempts to protect himself made the creature cautious. A fight was never good for strong prey only fought back. The creature had the boy in it's clutches! Nasty vermin had disappeared! The creature screeched it's anger out for the world to hear.
"Hyyyaaaaa!" Suddenly something had struck it! Pain!
'This is great!' Link was on a high of thrilling power. Link had powerful spells that transported you across places, protected you from damage but flight! The power to lift yourself from the coils of the ground and to soar was the most exhilarating thing Link had ever come across. After erupting out of the great fairy's entrance Link went straight for the thing that attacked him.
"Yaaaaaah!" It wasn't easy to swing a sword in midair, If Link missed he would go flying in the wrong direction. If Link hit Gratch with a powerful strike that landed on the wing. Once a wing was useless, Link would be able to fight it on the ground. Or so he thought. It was not to be that easy.
'Whoah!' A high pitch roar altered Link that there was something wrong. Gratch let open his mouth and a hailstorm of icicles blasted towards Link. Link barely had time to twist out of it's way. Link's heart dropped into his stomach. 'I was on the edge of that attack. If it had been a direct hit…' Lin imagined himself looking like a icicle pin cushion. Link shook his head trying to clear that image from his head. 'First things first, how do I turn that ice blast off.'
"Waaaa!" Link didn't have time to think. Gratch had suddenly swooped down upon Link like a hawk and it's prey. Link's body reacted before he had time to think about what he was doing and cast Din's power as the hilt of his sword came down on Gratch's head. It was enough that it knocked the attack off course and Gratch went barrelling under Link. Link however, was so close to Gratch that the mere wind force from the attack sent him spiralling out of control for a few seconds. Link got himself under control just in time to see that Gratch was stunned for a moment longer. Link the attacked the left wing and brought Gratch out from paralysis.
'That's what I have to do!' Link then formed an attack plan in his head. Whenever the thing would attack he would parry it with Din's power and then attack it while it was stunned. When Gratch tried the diving swoop attack, Link was ready. Link used Gratch's head as a springboard and catapulted high into the air above. Link would then use his strongest sword swipe on the same wing. Then Gratch tried the icicle assault.
"Take this!" Link roared. Just as Gratch opened his mouth, Link took out his hookshot and hit Gratch in the side of the head, effectively knocking the attack away. That's when Link notice that Gratch looked worn out after using the attack, Link streaked in for a in close attack. Gratch was knocked back by Link's blows and a lot of damage was done before Gratch tried to counter attack. Link noticed the movement in the creatures arm just in time to avoid the attack. To Gratch's surprise, Link was able to back off just in time, leaving the wings vunerable for just a moment. Link attacked with as much of Din's power he could cast into the sword as he attacked the open wing. The attack hit.
'What?' Link thought in awe. The wing that Link had hit was beyond useless by now. Link's speed had ensured that there was little to no damage from Gratch's claws but it was impossible to stay in the air with only one wing! That could only mean one thing. 'Magic. Great, what am I going to do about this! I have to land soon. The great fairy said that there was a time limit on this spell.' Link's experience with magical creatures of the night began to run through his head. Possibilities were dismissed as soon as they were analysed. As far as Link could tell, this monster resembled a flying dondogo. 'I'll try it.' Link quickly dodged another airborne swipe at his wings as Gratch tried desperately to keep up with the young boy. Then Link did something that took Gratch by surprise.
"Eat flame!" Link stopped midair letting Gratch pass over him. This left Gratch's back wide open. Quickly pulling out his magical bow and fire arrow, Link shot one into the creatures good wing. What happened next was unexpected. Gratch suddenly screamed in pain. The fire magic had spread like wildfire on the creatures body and lit up like a bonfire.
'Wow.' Link watched hovering as the creature began to drop like a stone in the sky. It hit the side of the mountain with a great crash and lay immobile.
"Alright!" Link smiled with pride. It had been one of his tougher battles but Link had gone through it victorious. Unfortunately, Link felt a tingling on his back at that exact moment. "Oh no…"
Back to our confused fairy friends
"Were here!" Navi and Cera floated in front of the entrance…on the inside part of it. "So… How do we get this thing open?" Cera asked no one in particular.
"How should I know. If Link was here he would just blow the door open with a bomb and…" Navi said offhand. Cera still didn't know about Link's special subspace pocket.
"WHAT!?! What in Hyrule is Link doing with explosives!?!" Cera flew so close to Navi that it looked like there was only one light that lit up the cavern.
"Calm down! He knows how to use them properly or the gorons wouldn't have allowed him to use them. Shouldn't we be thinking on a way to get out of here?" Before both fairies could react, there was a thunderous noise as Gratch smashed through the side of the wall. Navi and Cera were blown back and almost smashed against the wall.
"Wahhhhhhhhhh!" Navi was faster than Cera to look up and see Link plummeting to the ground at a great speed.
"LINK!" Navi cried out in horror. Navi was airborne in an instant, desperately trying to fly to her friend before he hit earth. Navi knew that she wouldn't make it in time and if she had, there was precious little she could do.
'Goddesses protect him!' Navi thought as Link hit the tree canopy.
Link
There had always been nightmares of falling to your untimely demise in almost any race, so experiencing it for real was terrifying. Link couldn't tell which end was up. All Link was conscious of was the swirl of green he was quickly falling to.
'Dear goddesses please let this work!' Link quickly opened his subspace pocket and searched for a bottle of magic replenisher. Finding one, Link nearly threw up as he used it to the loss of vertigo. Link chanted Farore's Flight just in time to stop himself from killing himself by smashing into a tree limb.
"Whew!" Link sighed in relief. Link righted himself with the world and sat down on the tree limb he was almost skewered on a minute ago. Link didn't get the rest he needed as he noticed the positioning of the moon. It was almost dawn.
'I've got to find Navi or Cera! Derek and Vision's can't give in to Soaran's demands. They need to know that the mist will clear.' Link shot up over the tree canopy to knock two distraught fairies from an all out flight run.
"Link!" Navi and Cera said in unison. Then Link could not decipher what each fairy was saying as they both decided to latch onto his cheeks and cry. What he did get was that they were both glad he was alright and he was in a world of trouble.
"Navi! Cera! Quick! One of you has to let Visions know that the machine that's making the mist is destroyed and that the monster guarding it is dead." Both fairies seemed to pull themselves together when reminded of the situation at hand. They also noticed another important factor.
"Link!" Cera exclaimed in disbelief. "You can fly."
"Another spell from a great fairy. Navi would you hurry? Cera can keep me company here until I can walk back." Not needing anymore persuasion, Navi flew quickly through the disappearing mist towards the Goron village of Misty Mountain.
"Are you aright Link?" Cera asked as the pair gently floated back down to the ground. Link shrugged tiredly.
"I'm exhausted." As the mist began to clear in the predawn. Link realized that they were in a small clearing in the forest surrounding the mountain. The trees were wide and tall. In fact, the forest was so old that it reminded Link of the kokiri forest. A small pang of homesickness struck the young boys heart as it did occasionally on trips like this.
"Link?" Link had grown quiet and was looking slowly at his surroundings in an odd mood that Cera had never seen before. Link ignored the query and made his way to an older tree with limbs that would serve well for a nap.
"I'm going to sleep for a while Cera. Wake me if something attacks." Was Link's reply as he hoisted himself onto a low laying branch and made himself comfortable. Cera sighed and waited until Link was asleep before settling down herself to stand guard over her charge.
Quarry
"Do you have the pendant?" Visions glared at the hideous creature before him that was obviously sent by Soaran. It was a reptilian creature with blood red eyes and a long spiky tail. Twin scales of blue covered the creatures chest like armour and talons replaced the odd creatures feet.
"I thought Soaran would be here in person." Visions said grumpily. Inwardly, Visions was still waiting for Link's signal as the fog had yet to lift from the village and it was well past dawn. The creature chuckled darkly.
"Master will not wait for Goron. Master has many things to do. Give pendant and fog disappear." Visions sighed as he fingered the pendant in his pocket.
"Don't give it to him." Visions didn't bother to turn around to acknowledge Derek.
"I might not have a choice in the matter." Visions said in a sad but calm tone. Derek stepped forwards as the reptile shot him a dark look of warning.
"We don't even know if Soaran can lift the mists. We don't have any proof that this creature is even linked to Soaran." Derek could feel the agitation rise from Visions in waves. "We also don't know if Soaran will keep his end of the bargain even if we do give him the pendant." Derek was expecting the outburst when it came.
"Don't you think I know that!" Visions roared. "At least I'm trying to do something. If I do nothing, then what good am I to my people." Visions growled.
"You already did something." Derek said with a smile in his voice. Vision sent a questioning look his way. "You sent Link. Believe in him." Visions closed his eyes and thought. What Derek said was true. But there was another problem Visions couldn't overlook.
'Should I believe in a boy I hardly know? If it was Derek in there, I wouldn't hesitate to take this filth from this world and give my allegiance to him." Visions took a deep breath and looked at Derek for answers. The look in Derek's eyes was all he needed to make a choice. Derek believed in him.
"You can tell that stuffed shirt wizard to rot in the underworld snake." Visions snarled as he turned away to leave the quarry. Then, a tiny voice was heard in the distance.
"Don't give up the pendant." Derek and Visions turned towards the small voice to see a small light in the distance. Navi was hard to see in the morning light but she was zigzagging across the sky to get noticed.
"Navi!" Derek clambered out of the quarry as fast as his legs could carry him to met the fairy. Visions stayed behind with a smirk.
"It seems you fail this time Soaran. Now if you don't mind, I have a pendant to give and a flower festival to get to." Visions suddenly hit the lizard with a bone crushing Goron punch and did what he wanted to do in the first place; smash the lizard into the quarry wall with a satisfying smack. Making sure that the possessed reptile was dead, Visions left to welcome the news of the young hero and his possible victory.
Disclaimer: I don't own Link.