Worlds Apart
By Miss Lydia

Chapter 11

"Well? This is the Fire Temple. Go on in, Gordon."

"Um, no. Ladies first, I insist."

"No, really, you go in first."

"Are you crazy? I'm not goin' in there first."

Link crossed his arms across his chest and sighed loudly as Gordon and Lydia continued to bicker with each other as siblings do.

"Who knows what's right inside that door?" Lydia said. "I'm NOT going in first."

"You're the most powerful of the three of us, though," Gordon argued. "YOU go in first."

"Not at the moment, I'm not!"

"OKAY," Link cut in loudly, uncrossing his arms. "I'll go in first."

The two sorcerers looked at Link. "…Nah," Lydia said, "that's okay, Link. You don't have to go risking your back on my behalf. You've certainly done that enough. I'll go in first."

"Hold on there!" Gordon shouted. "I'm not letting you go in there first! You don't have all your powers back yet."

"Even so, I'm still powerful! You'll just get yourself hurt. I'll go in!"

"No, you'll stay here until I see if it's safe to go in."

"Like hell you will!"

Before Gordon could say anything back, Link's voice came from ahead of them.

"It's safe!" he called. "You two can come in anytime you feel like getting around to it."

Lydia and Gordon looked toward the temple. In their argument, they hadn't noticed Link had squeezed by them and entered the temple first.

"Well," Lydia said, "I guess that settles that."

"Nope," Gordon said, "I'm still going in before you." Like a flash, Gordon ran past and joined Link inside the temple. After swearing at him, Lydia caught up.

Lydia looked around them. The inside of the Fire Temple was stained red, just like the rest of the crater. She could see the heat rising from the floor. Ahead of them were some stairs, and two doors on either wall.

The sorceress started to move forward, but Link suddenly stepped in front of her and pulled out his bow. He held it toward the ceiling and let two arrows go. Two Fire Keese that were hiding in the corner squeaked and fell to the floor.

"Good eye," Gordon commented.

Link smirked proudly.

"Well," Lydia said, "looks like we have two choices, guys. A door on the right, and a door on the left."

"I hope whichever we choose leads to the Gorons."

"And the Megaton Hammer," Link added.

Gordon looked at the right door. "I wonder how much time we have left to rescue the Gorons."

Suddenly, a terrifying roar sounded from somewhere deep in the mountain. The temple shook violently. The trio fought to keep their balance as the walls of the temple creaked and moaned.

When the roar died down and the shaking finally stopped, Lydia grasped Link's arm tightly.

"Something tells me we don't have much time at all," she said.

Link nodded. "I think you're right."

"So," Gordon asked quietly, "where do we start?"

Link glanced up at the left door, then the right door, thinking hard to himself. Then he turned to face the sorcerers.

"We're almost out of time," he said. "We'll have to split up."

"Split up?" Lydia asked with a strong hint of objection in her voice. "Link, that's entirely not cool. That's what all the people in the horror movies do, and they always die! I don't want to split up!"

"But I think I see what he means," Gordon said. "We have two things to find: the Gorons and that hammer. We don't have time to search together."

"Right," Link said. "Here's what we'll do. You two go find the Gorons and set them free. I'll look around and see if I can find the hammer."

"……All right, all right," Lydia said, "It sounds like a good plan. If we have to split up…. Gordon and I will take the left door."

"Whether or not we find what we need," Gordon added, "we'll meet back in this room."

With a parting nod, Link turned and headed for the right door. Lydia and Gordon went left. As Gordon opened the door, Lydia turned around and waved cheerfully.

"Good luck, Dodongo Buster!"

At the other end of the chamber, Link shouted "You, too, Litter!" Without waiting for her reaction, he slipped through the open door and closed it behind him with a loud creak of age.

Lydia sighed and looked at her brother. "Let's get going."

With that, the sorcerers quietly slipped though the door. The main chamber was once again quiet.

***

By Fanore, Link thought to himself. This room is huge.

Right on the other side of the door he stepped through was a truly humongous room. The floor was a giant lava pit and there was a door on the other side of the room. A long, creaky wooden bridge extended across the entire room. Fire Keese flew all around the ceiling, and flaming skulls frequently jumped out of the lava.

With a silent word of caution to himself, Link started across the bridge as quickly as he could. The bridge cracked and swayed under his feet, but he did not slow. His only thought was to find the hammer, and make it back to the temple entrance.

Without warning, a Fire Keese rammed itself into Link's shoulder as he ran by. Link winced in pain as his tunic caught fire. The flames burned themselves out rather quickly, leaving no damage behind. Link's red tunic was fire resistant as well.

Swearing every oath he knew, Link turned to face the bat. The Keese, having rammed itself into its enemy, was no longer covered with flame and was defenseless. It turned in midair and flew away as fast as it could.

"Seems they're smarter than I thought," Link said to himself as he pulled out his bow and released an arrow. "Won't save him, though."

With the bat out of the way, Link continued across the bridge. He was about halfway across when his acute ears picked up a faint screeching sound coming from all around him. Looking up, he saw a huge group of Fire Keese coming at him from all directions. Completely surrounded, Link quickly looked around for a way out. All the while, the Keese closed the circle of safety around the Hylian.

A platform moving freely across the lava came close to the bridge, and suddenly Link knew what to do. Reaching under his shield, he pulled out a large blue bomb. As the Keese got closer, Link lit the bomb's fuse and set it on the bridge in front of him. He stood there and waited a few more seconds to lure the Keese close. Just when the Keese were almost on him, the lit bomb trembled violently. Link dove off the side of the bridge onto the platform, landing on his stomach. Without standing, he covered his head with his arms.

Behind him, the Keese didn't react quickly enough to Link's sudden movement and the entire group rammed into each other. The bats untangled themselves quickly and tried to fly away. Inches below them, the bomb exploded. The group of Fire Keese was blown in several different directions and disappeared from view. With a charred mark on the bridge and a puff of smoke, the bomb showed its victory.

Link stood and brushed off, quite happy with himself. With a quick jump, he was back on the bridge and heading toward the other door. As he opened it, he thought he heard a very faint growling sound, but wasn't sure. He stood very still for a moment to see if it would come again, but it didn't. Shrugging his shoulders, he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

At the far wall of the room was a chest.

Link's face brightened. Only one thing could be in that chest, he thought, and that's just what I need.

As he started forward, the growling sound came again, louder and distinguishable this time. The ground shook slightly under Link's feet.

"Damn," he cursed, "I knew it couldn't be that easy."

***

"Well, that was simple," Lydia said happily. "Mission accomplished."

Gordon and Lydia had found themselves in a room with an elevated floor. Farther down was a lava pit. Several raised platforms allowed passage around the room. At the far wall of the room was a very large door with a dragonhead etched into the stone. In the farthest corner of the room was a big prison cell with iron bars. Inside the cell were about 15 frightened Gorons.

Gordon grimaced and pointed to the door with the dragon on it. "D'ya think that's where Volvagia is?" he asked.

"Possibly," Lydia answered. "Let's move quietly. The last thing we want to do at this point is announce to it that we're here messing up its plans."

The sorcerers hopped from platform to platform until they reached the cell. One of the Gorons sat up and looked at them. It then nudged another Goron next to him. The second Goron sat up and looked at Lydia and Gordon as well.

The first Goron asked the second "Am I dreaming?"

The second Goron recoiled his huge arm and punched the first in the head. The first Goron held its head and groaned.

"Hey!" he complained. "What'd you do that for? That hurt."

"Then you're not dreaming, are you?" the second replied. "Someone has actually come to help us."

At this point, all the Gorons were awake and looking at the sorcerers.

"Hi there," Lydia said to them quietly. "We're friends of Link's. We're here to bust you out."

"Dodongo Buster and Hero Link sent them!" a Goron in the back shouted. "They must be heroes, too!"

Lydia chuckled under her breath after hearing Link's nickname again. She quickly stopped as soon as she heard a growl and a snort. Could that be Volvagia? she wondered to herself.

"Shh!" Gordon quieted the Gorons. "We need to be very quiet. That dragon might be close."

Lydia tapped her brother on the shoulder and whispered in his ear. "I think the dragon is very close. Most likely in the next room."

Gordon quietly walked to the door of the cell and tried to open it, but it was shut tight. He turned to Lydia and shook his head.

"There must be a key around here somewhere," she whispered.

The closest Goron stuck his face close to the bars and whispered in his deep voice. "I don't know where one is. The door was closed and it wouldn't open again."

Lydia sighed and gently pushed Gordon away from the door. "Then we'll just have to take care of it the slow, somewhat quiet way." She crouched down to the cell door's lock and held her hand about six inches from it. As quietly as she could, she whispered "Digger Volt."

Instead of a huge blast of electrical energy, a very small bolt of electricity extended from her hand and snaked its way into the lock. Lydia held the lighting there and continued to concentrate.

Gordon found the way she was controlling the spell to be rather interesting, but his attention was jerked away when he heard a soft growl from somewhere near them. She was right, he thought, Volvagia is very close. He knelt down beside his sister and whispered harshly "Hurry up. I think the dragon is coming."

"I'm working on it," she replied defiantly. As she held the electricity in place, the lock to the door suddenly began to melt and lose its shape. Within seconds, the lock had completely melted. The door swung free with a loud creaking sound. Lydia cringed and grabbed the door, stopping its movement. Any sound like that will have the dragon on them in no time.

"The door just had to be old and rusty," she snarled. "As if we didn't have enough problems."

"Kind of figures, doesn't it?" Gordon said.

"Here, I'm gonna try something. Gimmie a boost."

"Wha—"

Before Gordon could finish, Lydia grabbed hold of his head and pushed him toward the ground. Gordon, on his hands and knees, winced as Lydia grabbed hold of the bars for balance, then climbed up on his back. With the extra height, she reached for the top hinge of the cell door.

"Aqua Create."

A small column of sparkling water fell from her hand and trickled through the top hinge, then fell down to the next hinge, then the next. Lydia jumped off her brother's back and started to open the door. With the hinges wet, the door swung open soundlessly. But because of the extreme heat in the room, the water dried up quickly, and the door creaked loudly just as Lydia finished swinging it wide open.

Gordon gritted his teeth as the door creaked. Suddenly, a dragon's mournful roar shook the room. Volvagia knew they were there.

Lydia jumped to the side and motioned the Gorons through. "Move it! Move it!" she shouted, no longer worrying about keeping quiet. "He's coming!"

Moving faster than one would've ever thought them capable, the Gorons zoomed through the door and disappeared from the room. Once back into the entrance, they all balled up and rolled with incredible speed out of the Fire Temple, back toward the safety of Goron City.

Back in the cell room, Lydia grabbed Gordon's arm. "Volvagia's coming! We need to get outta here or we'll be lunch!"

With quick words of magic, the two sorcerers flew over the lava pit and, after blasting it open with a spell, through the door. They were back in the first room. The entrance to the temple was in sight. Suddenly, Lydia landed at the bottom of the stairs and turned back toward the temple.

"We have to find Link first!" she shouted. "The dragon will kill him if we leave him behind!"

As Gordon landed beside her, the entire temple began to shake. Parts of the wall began to fall. It seemed that the whole temple was going to come down on top of them.

Before either of the sorcerers could move, the entire left side of the room exploded. Lydia and Gordon were thrown through the air, landing hard on the other side of the room. Pieces of the left wall flew all over the place, landing all around them.

The sorcerers stood quickly and looked across the room. The left wall was almost completely gone. And coming through it was what Lydia thought was a humongous snake. It was easily 100 feet long. It flew through the air as if slithering on the ground. It had two clawed arms and a large, fanged head. The creature stopped just inside of the room and reared its head back. The snake's huge horns gleamed in the head as it let loose a horrifying roar that echoed throughout the whole temple. Fire shot from its mouth and webbed across the ceiling, heating up the room so much that, even with Gordon's spell in effect, the sorcerers could feel it. Lydia realized that it wasn't just a flying snake. It was the dragon. It was too late – Volvagia had found them.

The tough girl on the outside gave way to the scared little girl on the inside as Lydia screamed in terror.

***

Link looked around defensively. There was definitely something else in the room with him. He took another step forward and glared around the room.

"Show yourself!" he shouted into the air bravely.

Answering his challenge, an overlarge creature fell from seemingly nowhere and landed in the center of the room. The large creature shook the floor so badly that Link lost his balance and fell. Stalking around the center of the room was a Dodongo. However, Link noted that it was not like any Dodongo he had ever seen. It was at least three times as large as the biggest one he'd ever run into, and looked about five times as fierce.

Link stood carefully as the giant Dodongo stared him down, hissing at him. Link sized up his foe and began to circle slowly around it.

"Well," he said to himself, "I suppose this is the real test of the Dodongo Buster and Hero."

Link drew his sword and quickened his pace around the Dodongo. He knew that these creatures, while very large and very dangerous, were also very slow. As the Hylian circled around it, the Dodongo tried to follow him. The agile elf was too fast for it and was quickly behind it. Link raised his sword high and slammed the sharp edge down on the Dodongo's tail. The overlarge lizard roared in pain and fell on its stomach.

With unusual speed, the Dodongo jumped to its feet and swung around. Link barely jumped out of the way in time of the swinging tail. The Dodongo sucked in a breath and let loose a stream of fire. Link side-flipped out of the path of the flames and continued to circle the lizard.

"Ah," he said to it, "It seems you're a bit faster than regular Dodongos, aren't you?"

Making a note of that detail, Link slammed his sword down on the lizard's tail again, then quickly jumped out of the way before the Dodongo could attack him. The Dodongo flew around and breathed fire again. Link was again too fast for it.

Link was ready to continue this pattern when he heard the dragon's roar far in the distance. He snarled and looked at the Dodongo that was slowly crawling closer to him.

"It seems I don't have time to play around with you," he said. "Time for a change in strategy."

After a running start, Link leapt clear over the Dodongo's gaping mouth and did a front hand spring right off its back, landing at its tail. Link swung the Master Sword as he turned, hitting the tail hard. As the Dodongo began to swirl around, Link flipped through the air and landed on the creature's back again. The Dodongo didn't seem to notice. As it began to draw in its breath for the fire attack, Link's quick hands produced another bomb, lit it, and set it in front of the Dodongo's mouth. It sucked the bomb right in.

After a quick smile of triumph, Link leapt off the creature's back and fled toward the farthest corner of the room. The Dodongo turned to chase him, but didn't get too far. Its stomach suddenly expanded and the bomb inside exploded. The creature fell and began to flash a bright color.

As a final defense, a defeated Dodongo's corpse explodes like a bomb. It usually catches its naive attacker off guard and destroys him as well. But Link, being the "Dodongo Buster", knew what was coming. And since this Dodongo was overlarge, the explosion would be overlarge as well.

Link crouched on the ground with his back in the corner and hid behind his shield. The corpse exploded, and it was indeed a large blast. Chunks of rock fell off the ceiling and all walls. Link moved the shield from in front of him to a position over his head. Large chunks of rock fell from the ceiling, hitting the raised shield repeatedly.

Finally the room stilled again, and all that was left of the Dodongo was a charred spot in the middle of the room. The only thing left was the treasure chest in the back.

Link smiled to himself. "They don't call me Dodongo Buster for nothing, I guess."

He sheathed his sword and hung his shield over his shoulder, then started toward the chest. He opened it to find only one item sitting in the bottom. The Megaton Hammer. Smiling, he reached in and tried to lift it with one hand. When that failed, Link reached in with his other hand and heaved the hammer out of the chest, making an exaggerated estimate that the hammer weighed a good 800 pounds. He gritted his teeth as he held it with both hands.

"Geez," he muttered quietly. "It really would take a Goron Hero to use this thing effectively. Now I understand why they call it the MegaTon Hammer."

Suddenly, Link heard a loud crash, like part of the temple had fallen apart. A dragon roared loudly. Then he thought he had heard a faint scream in the distance.

"Cripes!!" Link cursed. "Volvagia!"

Without another thought, Link bounded through the door and sprinted across the wooden bridge, back toward the temple's entrance.

***

Volvagia hissed loudly and began flying around the large room. Lydia and Gordon stayed close to each other in the center of the room, watching the dragon. Volvagia continued to fly in circles around them, but didn't attack.

"It's like he's stalling on purpose," Gordon muttered. "Like he's just playing with us."

"We need to do some stalling, too," Lydia replied, "until Link can get here. Let's just hope he found that hammer."

"Would you like to start?"

"I would, thank you."

Lydia took a few steps forward as the dragon continued to circle them. Volvagia stopped and hovered in air, his big red eyes fixed on the sorceress. To him, she was a weak little human. Easy lunch. He opened his gaping mouth and prepared to attack.

"So you like to play, huh?" Lydia shouted bravely. "Play with this!" She held her hand above her head, pointing her middle and index fingers at the ceiling and began to chant.

"You who crosses between sky and earth, gently flowing water, gather in my hand and give me power."

Beams of white energy appeared from the walls of the temple and traveled through the air to Lydia's fingers as she recited the spell. Volvagia drew in a breath for the attack he would use to kill his next meal.

"Demona Crystal!" Lydia threw her raised hand toward the dragon, but all that extended from it was a small puff of ice fog. Nothing happened.

Volvagia reared its head and blew its fire attack at the confused sorceress. Gordon flew at her from the side and carried her out of the path of the flames. He hovered near the ceiling, trying hard to keep his hold on his sister as she kicked and punched at the air angrily.

"Argh!!" she shrieked. "I can't believe I'm still not powerful enough for a spell like that!"

"I guess you'll need to stick to the smaller stuff," Gordon said.

"Okay, listen, it's a fire dragon. Use as many ice spells as you can."

"Right!"

Gordon flew back down to the ground as Volvagia started circling the room again. He dropped Lydia and flew back up to meet the dragon. He flew within range of the dragon's head and attacked.

"Icicle Lance!" A thick beam of ice energy slammed Volvagia straight in the eye. The dragon whipped its head back in pain and roared loudly. Volvagia whipped its tail around at Gordon. Gordon quickly flew out of the way, barely missing the flaming tail.

Back on the ground, Lydia held her arms as if holding a bow and arrow.

"Freeze Arrow!" The arrow of ice energy pierced Volvagia's monstrous nose. The dragon shrieked and flailed its clawed arms around, then swung its tail at Lydia. She tried to move, but the tail slammed her in the back, sending her spinning into the front fall. She slid to the floor and didn't get up.

Gordon was rather pissed off. "Dynast Breath!!"

A thick ice fog appeared around the dragon, and he was frozen in place in a sheet of ice. Gordon took the opportunity to fly down and check on his sister. But before he got far, the dragon suddenly broke out of the ice. Gordon was caught completely off guard. Ordinarily, that spell kills whatever's frozen inside, but Volvagia was too powerful. The dragon burst out of its icy prison and swung his tail at Gordon, hitting him this time. He slammed into the wall and landed next to Lydia.

By this time, Volvagia was sure that it was dinnertime. He hovered close to the ground and put his face close to his next meal. Lydia and Gordon each opened an eye when they could feel the dragon breathing on them. Lydia lifted her arm to attack, but dropped it again weakly. Volvagia opened his fanged mouth, roared softly, hissed, and drew in its breath for the kill. The sorcerers backed closer to the wall, both seeing the end in sight.

A red blur suddenly dashed between the sorcerers and Volvagia. A loud clang was heard, and the dragon reared back in pain and fell to the floor across the room. Lydia looked to the side at the red blur that had just attacked Volvagia.

Link was standing there, clutching a huge steel hammer. It looked heavy; he was holding onto it with both hands. Lydia nudged her brother with her elbow.

"He found it!" she said.

Gordon smiled and waved at Link. "Great timing, as always!"

Link smiled back at them, and then turned his attention to the dragon, who had pulled himself off the floor. Volvagia hissed loudly at the Hero of Time and bared his huge teeth.

Link waved the hammer in the air and shouted at the dragon. "You want some more? Come on!"

He started running toward the back of the room, trying to lead the dragon away from Lydia and Gordon. The dragon decided that the little red pest looked tastier, and followed him, turning his scaly back to the sorcerers.

Lydia stood painfully and helped her brother up. "Link's giving us the chance we need," Lydia said. "Let's not waste it."

"Right," Gordon said, preparing another spell.

Lydia looked at the dragon. It repeatedly snapped its jaws toward the ground, each time narrowly missing Link, who was running around like a rabbit.

"I just wish I could use the Demona Crystal!" she snarled loudly. "That dragon would be in trouble then! Damn that time of the month!!"

Gordon raised his arms to attack. "Have you tried the Sorcerer's Rune?" he asked, then he ran forward. "Howl Freeze!!" Again the dragon was frozen in ice, but this time Gordon knew it would hold him longer.

Back by the wall, Lydia's mouth hung open. Of course!, she thought to herself. What an idiot! The Sorcerer's Rune should give me the extra power I need! Stupid stupid stupid!

She dashed away from the wall and stopped next to Link, then grabbed his tunic and pulled him close. "Listen!" she said. "I'm gonna charge up the hammer with a really powerful ice spell. You charge up the Triforce of Courage and go for the attack!"

Link looked at her, then nodded confidently.

Above them, the dragon blasted out of the ice and began flailing around. Link and Lydia dropped to the ground as Volvagia's tail whizzed over their heads.

"Gordon, again!" Lydia shouted. "We need more time!"

"Howl Freeze!!"

Volvagia was again frozen for a few moments' time.

Link held the Megaton Hammer over his head and recited a short spell. "Astral Vine." The hammer was quickly coated in red magic. Keeping his eyes closed, he concentrated hard. His hair gently blew away from his forehead and a hollow Triforce mark appeared there. The Triforce of Courage slowly filled in and the mark started to glow.

Volvagia again broke out of the ice and was very angry. The dragon immediately began to attack, swinging its arms at Link.

"Howl Freeze!!" The dragon stopped in its tracks once again.

"Lord of Darkness and the Four Worlds, grant me all the power you possess!" The Sorcerer's Rune shone brilliantly, and Lydia felt magical energy course through her body. She again held her two fingers in the air. "You who crosses between sky and earth, gently flowing water, gather in my hand and give me power." White beams of energy flowed from the walls and ceiling of the room, and gathered in a glowing ball above her fingers. In front of her, Link opened his eyes and gripped the hammer with both hands, raising it above his head. Behind him, Lydia shouted at the top of her voice.

"Demona Crystal!!"

With the extra power of the rune, Lydia was able to cast the spell. She threw her hand toward the hammer and released the ice energy. The Astral Vine spell around the hammer absorbed the Demona Crystal, and the hammer began to glow with incredible energy. Link lowered it to chest-level and glared at the dragon.

It was then that the dragon again broke loose of the ice. It glared angrily at the Hylian, and then moved to attack.

"Ray Wing!" Lydia flew up behind Link and grabbed him, then veered up toward the ceiling just as the dragon snapped its jaws into the floor. Lydia circled the room. Link, still clutching the glowing hammer, looked up at her.

"I need to go for its head!" he shouted.

"Then I'll give you the extra lift you need!" she shouted back with a smile.

Lydia circled around the angry dragon, veering her flight in all directions to avoid its jaws. She looked down to the ground and found Gordon. She swooped down past the dragon, down to him. "Slow him down!" she shouted as she flew by. As soon as she was past him, she veered back up toward the ceiling.

Gordon looked up at the dragon. "Hey, you oversized salamander!" he shouted at it. "Do I look tasty? Come over here, why don't ya!!"

The dragon turned around with a hiss and began to fly down toward the small sorcerer. The dragon landed in front of him, digging its front claws into the stone floor.

"Sucker," Gordon chuckled. He knelt down and slammed his hand on the floor. "Van Rehl!" Streams of ice webbed across the floor and traveled up the dragon's clawed arms that were dug into the stone. The ice traveled across Volvagia's body, severely slowing it down. The dragon roared angrily as it tried to move. Gordon laughed at it, then turned and ran to the other side of the room.

As the dragon started to break free, a gleam of energy drew its attention toward the ceiling. Link's Triforce mark had started glowing again. "Go for it, Dodongo Buster!" Lydia shouted, and dropped him. Link started falling right toward Volvagia's head. He raised the hammer high with a wild look in his eyes. With a fierce battle cry, the Hero of Time slammed the Megaton Hammer down on Volvagia's head.

There was a bright flash of light as all the energy in the hammer was released along with the power of the Triforce of Courage. The sorcerers had to shield their eyes from the light, but could still hear Volvagia's painful shrieking.

As the light died down, Link dropped to the temple floor and scurried away. Volvagia reared back and held his head in his arms. He flew off the floor and began making tight circles. His body began to fall apart, starting at the tail, then toward the head. Parts of the dragon's skeleton crashed to the floor, leaving only the head, which dropped to the floor in front of Link and disintegrated.

Back outside, the people of Kakariko Village were diverted from their daily routine as an explosion sounded from the mountain. They looked on as a column of smoke quickly rose from the crater into the sky. The smoke dragged up with it the fire cloud around the mountain, and the gray clouds that hung over the village. It all disappeared into the sky. All the damage that Ganondorf had done to the mountain and surrounding area was gone in seconds. The mountain again looked normal, and the sun shone down on the village from a blue sky.

In the Fire Temple, cheers and congratulations were going all around. Lydia slapped Link a high-five, and in so doing, tricked him into holding the hammer with one hand. Its weight pulled him down to the ground, and Lydia started laughing really hard.

"You really are a hero," she laughed, holding her hands out slightly, "but you're so gullible!"

Link stood as Lydia continued to laugh, and then dropped the Megaton Hammer in her outstretched hands. She fell to the ground under its weight.

After Gordon stopped laughing, he said, "Well, guys, we did it."

"Yeah, we did," Lydia said as she lifted the hammer a few inches off the ground, and then dropped it on Link's foot. Link yelped and jumped away.

"I didn't think we could actually destroy a dragon," she continued. "And Link over there did a fantastic job."

Link stopped swearing and hopping around on his good leg long enough to speak in a squeaky voice that wasn't his. "Thanks a lot," He then returned to getting feeling back into his foot.

Suddenly, a circle of blue light appeared where Volvagia had once been. It hummed with gentle energy. Lydia strolled over to Link, who was testing his weight on his foot.

"What's that?" she asked him.

Link looked at the light, but didn't answer. His eyes were unusually dull and spacey. He started walking toward it without a word.

"Hey!" Gordon called after him. "Don't go into it – you don't know what it is!"

"No, it's all right," Link replied quietly. "I can hear the Sacred Realm calling me." Without another word, he stepped into the circle of blue light. He was encased in a case of blue crystal, and then disappeared.

Lydia kept her eyes glued to where Link had been standing. "Wha... what just happened?"

"I dunno," Gordon replied, "but somehow I have the feeling that he'll be fine. Let's get outta this place."

"How can you be so sure? Link just disappeared again! Remember what happened last time he disappeared like that? We didn't see him again for seven years!"

Gordon didn't answer. He was already out of the temple and was going up the ladder.

Lydia stamped her foot on the ground. "Man!"

Outside the temple, Lydia looked up through the top of the crater and saw the blue sky. It brightened her spirits, but she was still concerned.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

Her brother shifted his gaze to the elevated Triforce platform near the cliff of the crater. Suddenly, Link fell from nowhere, surrounded by blue light. He landed softly on the platform, then turned and ran to meet them.

Gordon nudged his sister. "Told you he'd be fine."

When Link met them, Lydia jumped forward and grabbed hold of his ear. "And just where did you go in that thing?"

Link smiled and pried her fingers off his ear. "Easy, easy," he coaxed. "I met Darunia in the Chamber of the Sages. He's the Sage of Fire."

Gordon then smacked his fist into his open palm. "Aha!" he shouted. "It's just like Zelda said. Every time we defeated an evil spirit, one of the Sages would appear to help us."

Link nodded. "Darunia utilized the evil power that Volvagia was using. Our Triforce pieces now possess that extra power."

Gordon cracked his knuckles quietly. "Now that you mention it, I do feel an extra surge of energy in the Triforce of Wisdom."

"So," Lydia cut in, "we need to do that with the other sages as well. Each time, we'll get more powerful. By the time all six sages are awakened, we'll have enough to defeat Ganondorf and his Triforce of Power. I get it, I get it."

Link smiled and put his hands on the sorcerer's shoulders. "That's our battle plan. But I think now we should go home and take the rest of the day off. Fanore knows we deserve it."

Lydia nodded. "We'll move out again tomorrow. By then, I should have my full powers back."

"Today was just one victory for the forces of good," Gordon said, "but the fight isn't over yet. I can see more victories on the horizon for us. All we have to do is keep our focus, and Ganondorf will go down!"

Feeling very content with themselves, the three adventurers started back toward Goron City.