He kissed her again...very softly, very slowly. She shivered and little and draped her arms around him, terrified yet all too willing. Link bit his lip. He couldn't seem to control his own body anymore; she was so close, close enough to touch, close enough to...

He remembered her dancing in front of the fire, remembered her quiet reassurance, remembered the way she calmed him when all seemed lost. His heart was pouring over and just the thought of her settled so deeply inside him that he couldn't bring himself to look at her for too long, fearing she would vanish, leaving him alone, lost...and without her...everything was meaningless...

Aloarn strove between extremes of hating her dishonor and falling apart over him; she could see him laughing, hear his heart beat in his chest, feel him stare at her as she moved surrounded by flame, eyes that numbed her into soft joy that she dare not hold onto for long. Yet he had done nothing to hurt her...he had listened, he had comforted her...she could barely hold herself together, barely breathe...and when he kissed her...

This time she leaned in, overflowing with emotion, praying that he wasn't a dream she had made up. Link met the kiss with perfect willingness, too weak to resist and without willpower against her. She broke the kiss suddenly, falling again into dishonor, betrayal of the Code...

Link caught his breathe as she turned away from him - but even in his extreme he knew exactly what she was thinking. Taking her slowly into his arms, he pressed his cheek to hers.

"It's ok...I know. Don't think that..."

Aloarn swallowed and buried into him, confused and afraid for the second time in her life. Only this time, the man beside her had no intention of harming her. The thought made something flutter briefly in her chest and she slipped her arm over his shoulder.

"I can't...you..." her words escaped her momentarily and Link waited in silence, though he knew her words would pain him. She clung a little tighter to him and regained her voice.

"You are the Hero of Time...and I am...I am just a Gerudo Advisor. We...the Code..."

"Aloarn," Link whispered, gazing intently into her eyes, his last chance. "I love you, Aloarn. You know that." The smile on Aloarn's lips was too sudden and joyous to deny.

"I love you, Link," she whispered back. The very act of saying it released something inside of her and she felt at peace in his embrace. Link pressed his forehead to hers and made his decision.

"When this is over," he spoke softly as the rain began to die away. When he didn't go on, Aloarn looked up into his sapphire gaze. The emerald reflected in his eyes gave him an inner strength he had never had before.

"When this is over...we'll be together. Is that what you want?"

Aloarn did not need to speak. Link wiped away the tears in her eyes as she gave him a quiet nod.


"Fire is power, Darunia. Fire is what I thrive in..."

Darunia took a step back, planting his feet firmly onto the molten hot soil of the dormant volcano. The Gorons had fled to the caverns of the mountain where they waited the return of their lord and leader, though Darunia feared their patience would end in vain. Yet he could not dwell on doubt at this moment; Ganon had finally taken a physical form, his strength increased by the fury of the volcano. The black outline of his body still remained shadow, but his eyes were the same - glaring, deadly eyes that tore through flesh, cracked bone, pierced and burned the living soul. Eyes that searched through smoke and ash to find the outline of his victim.

"You will be defeated as you were before, Ganonondorf," yelled Darunia, taking cover behind a large earthen boulder. "Hyrule will not suffer you again. The Princess has returned."

The laughter that echoed through the cavern was unbearable. The minute Darunia heard it he knew something was wrong - in his heart, he called to Impa for help. Ganon was approaching his hiding place, staggering a little, still unsure of his stability in a physical state.

"Princess, is she? No, no, Darunia...Queen of Ter'zai she calls herself. She betrayed the Triforce, fool, miserable vain wretch that she is!"

The boulder exploded as he struck it and Darunia rolled towards him, thrusting both fists into the Gerudo King's stomach. Fire swirled around his palms and the shadow burned from the inside out. As he withdrew his hands, Ganon let out a faint gasp of pain and fell to his knees.

"Your fire thrives on hatred," said Darunia slowly as fire spread slowly up his arms, his gaze igniting into rage as the volcano shook around him. The glittering red medallion around his neck was blazing a fierce orange. "My fire is in purity, in deliverance. Repent, and pray mercy to Din."

But the victory of Darunia was short-lived. The fire inside of Ganon suddenly reared up and engulfed him, and it seemed to give power to the Dark King. Darunia tensed and backed away, his medallion glowing brighter in expectation. The eyes of Ganon turned on him and pierced into his soul. His pupils faded into red flame and smoke poured from the sockets.

He screeched a devil's cry and leapt as Darunia tore the medallion off his neck and roared his own funeral prayer.


Impa fell suddenly to one knee. The group halted and Nabooru's legs suddenly gave out, so that she fell down beside her and her knees tore open. They were merely feet from the Goron City Gate, the cliffs of Death Mountain rising in silent majesty above them, the red-dusted rocks glowing in the daylight. Link and Aloarn were both off their horses in a moment and leaning over the two forms of their friends; Zelda was struggling to get off her mare without damaging her dress.

"Nabooru, what is it? What's wrong?" said Aloarn in terror. Link helped Impa to stand up, but the Sheikah's eyes were watering and distant.

"Din has built both rock and bone, this body will grow stiff," she whispered.

"And lay your servant ever more in the sunset-dusted cliff," responded Nabooru. A second later she leapt up and looked despairingly up the path.

"No...Darunia..."

There was a scream and the right side of the mountain burst into thunderous confusion. Boulders fell from on high and the earth shook; the cliffs broke and scattered into avalanches that rolled down into the vacant crevasse between the mountains. Against the light in the sky, something dark slid down into the abyss and was lost.

Link's heart stopped. He didn't think, didn't even try to hold back. His feet shifted and he broke into an all-out run towards the Goron City gate, a gate that had been melted and tossed aside like it was no heavier than a feather; he didn't pause when he reached the inside cavern, didn't even check himself. He ran full off the edge of the first level and free fell to the bottom floor, where the giant Goron statue lay in pieces on the broken, uprooted ground. His legs hit the ground and he rolled forwards into the rubble, heedless of the pain and confusion. It looked like an earthquake had shaken the place; rocks sprang like daggers from the angry, twisted earth, tearing apart pathways, blocking tunnels. But Link refused to see the destruction around him, refused to acknowledge the devastated state of the ancient city. His mind was on Darunia, on the words of Impa and Nabooru, who were following into the city close at his heels. Aloarn was right behind him, seeking in vain to find the same thing that he sought - dark eyes of wisdom, a booming laugh, the father he had never known. Link ran faster than he had ever remembered running before. Something was tearing, deep and malicious, into the deepest foundations of his heart.

He knew before he thundered through Darunia's private chambers and leapt through the secret passage, past the guardian statue that lay in pieces across the floor. He knew before he reached the molten wasteland and felt the heat bite his face in sudden wrath. He knew before approaching the long, flat pedestal that bore the Triforce mark. He knew before he reached the Temple.

And all he wished, even as he came to a halting stop, was that by some trick of the Goddesses, by any mercy of Nayru, that he was wrong..

In the midst of the intense heat, of the living lava, Link's body was numb. Aloarn stumbled through the doorway and stopped short at the sight. Nabooru saw it the second she gained the door and fell to her knees in prayer; Impa continued for a few more steps before freezing on the spot and buckling beneath the heat.

Link lowered himself slowly to his knees. The roaring of the volcano slowed and went mute in his ears. Rocks collapsed in flame around him, but he did not see them. From the far end of the chamber, several Gorons began to emerge from the Temple's tunnels.

And upon the pedestal of the Fire Temple, the Medallion still clenched in his mighty fist, lay the torn disfigured body of Darunia, Lord of the Gorons.

Link felt the grief seeping into him like some sort of slow, malevolent poison. His shoulders shook slightly and he leaned over the Sage, not daring to believe it, not daring to think, not even to breathe. Slowly he turned over the body, biting his lip in anguish. From across the room, one Goron gasped and bolted to the side of his motionless father.

"Dad...dad!" yelled Goron Link, his heart crushing to dust before Link's eyes. He tried to reach out and shake his father but another Goron restrained him; he burst into tears and struggled furiously towards the body of his father, screaming his name, screaming anything...

"Silence, son..."

Link eyes shot open and his grief seemed to vanish; he leaned over the Fire Sage's body and saw the eyes of Darunia opened feebly. The death mist was coming over him.

"Darunia -"

"Father -"

"I said silence!" he spoke a little louder. The room went dead quiet as he started to cough blood.

"We need to get you help -"

"No, Link..." whispered the great Goron lord, his strength fading away from him. Death was taking hold and though Link saw it, it did not register. Darunia turned towards the Hero and spoke very slowly - but this time, no one dared to interrupt him, not even his son.

"Link..." he started hoarsely, blood pouring from his eyes sockets now, eyes that had once been filled with life and happiness...eyes that now fell in and out of focus in an effort to cling to life.

"..Hero, of Hyrule...Zelda, has...betrayed us all...the Triforce does not live in her...the forest...is burning, Link...Saria is running...you must destroy him...death must...take the Dark King...a Gerudo bears it...she was chosen...by Me'lkmar, himself...the coward..."

He rolled his head over by extreme effort and Goron father met the eye of his son. Goron Link was freed and, with tears still in his eyes, leaned down next to his father. Slowly Darunia raised his hand, and placed the Medallion of Fire into his son's palm.

"Young Link..." he whispered faintly, losing his grip on life more quickly, "you will lead us...in war. You will bear my helmet...my sword...and my flame. Hero..."

He took one last look at Link, and began to open his mouth to speak again; blood dribbled from the corner of his lip and his body convulsed.

"...The Lady, Link...you must speak with...the Lady..."

He began to shake and Goron Link leaned down to help him, but he never got the chance.

"Leave me!" yelled Darunia suddenly. His body oozed with blood and he crawled away, his skin peeling off and his bones beginning to show through. Link watched the curse in horror and ran to hold the Goron Link back as his father reached the edge of the Pedestal. From atop the outcrop, both Nabooru and Impa screamed. Aloarn, half stumbling, ran down onto the platform and, despairingly, threw a fistful of blessed sand over his body.

"H'ra esia li ak'o Darunia!"

Then his body fell apart and the bones of the great Goron fell, scattered and burned, across the flaming ground.