Chapter 9: The Cave in the Volcano

Link walked in and ran his hand against cave wall. It was pitch black inside. Link turned around and promptly walked out of the cave. He looked around and saw a thick wooden stick. He grabbed it, and walked around the volcano area until he was right near the lava. He reached down to dip the stick into the lava but pulled is arm back as the lava moved, nearly burning his hand.

"Not now" though Link.

Link reached down again and dipped the stick into the lava, holding onto a wall for balance with his other hand. The heat of the lava caused him to sweat along his brow. He could not wipe it or he would fall into the lava. He withdrew the stick from the lava and it was alight. He set his balance, and wiped his brow. He made his way back to the cave, this time with a means of seeing. He re-entered the cave, still running his hand against the cave wall. After about 100 feet, he entered a large circular room. He looked around with his makeshift light and saw that there were unlit torches all around. He went around the room lighting torches. When he reached the final torch, he noticed an odd wire-type-object attached to the torch. He lit the torch, and the fire carried along the wire, growing more intense at various spots along the wire. Link blew out his makeshift light and threw it near the torch. He looked around the now lit room and saw that there were drawings all over the cave walls. He looked closer and saw there were captions below some of the drawings. One such drawing featured a warrior raising his sword against a dragon. Below it was written:

"Let the memory of the brave warrior Reldeif who, in this very room sacrificed his life to seal away the evil dragon and to help keep the world safe live on through the ages".

Link ran his hand across the writing taking it all in. He hoped he would not have to give his life like Reldeif to save the world. He moved on through the cave following the lit wire. It led him to a room where the wire split into two directions. Link went left and followed the wire. It led him to another room where the wire split off into two more directions. Link went left again, and this time the wire split off into three directions. Link went left and followed the wire into an empty room, with only a few arrows inside it. Link grabbed the arrows and backtracked to the previous room. Of the two remaining paths, Link chose the right one. Link followed it into an empty room. Angered slightly and the loss of time, Link backtracked and followed the remaining path. It led him to a room filled with large spider creatures. Link unsheathed his sword and swiped at the creatures. The Master Sword bounced off of their thick exoskeletons. They began to move closer to Link. Link moved around, and was backtracking to avoid the poisonous-looking spiders. Link found his back against a wall and in desperation threw his boomerang. It cut the spiders from their webs, and they fell to the ground revealing their soft underbelly. He took the opportunity to stab the spiders, and watched them die. Link exited the room, sweating from his recent battle. He backtracked to the previous room where the wire had split off into two directions. He chose the remaining path and followed it into a room where it split into two more directions.

"Not again" Link thought.

Link looked at the two paths. He chose the right path and followed it into an empty room, containing only a quiver for arrows.

"At least I have something to carry these arrows" Link thought. Link backtracked to the previous room and took the left path, following it into a room that contained an old man holding a bow and arrow

"Leave your money or your life" the old man said.

"What?" Link asked.

"Leave your money or your life" the old man repeated. This time he pulled the arrow against the bow, aiming it straight at Lin

"In that case I choose my money. Just don't kill me." Link took out his pouch of rupees and offered it to the old man.

"Keep it. I always love playing that joke on anyone foolish enough to come into these caves." the old man said, grinning, while a tear of laughter moved down his cheek.

"Ha ha very funny" Link replied sarcastically. "Look, I'd love to stay and chat, but I am very busy at the moment trying to track down..."

"Ganondorf" the old man interrupted. Link looked a little surprised at the old man, but the old man continued anyway. "Yes, I know all about you, Link. I know you are on a quest to save the land, and that you are the chosen one."

"You know my name, but I don't know yours" Link replied

"My name, is Sekim" replied the old man. "And you, you need to defeat the dragon. The dragon that was freed in the eruption. There's a reason this volcano lies dormant. It is the very seal on the dragon. Yes, I know you are confused, you thought Reldeif sealed away the dragon; you read it on the wall. Who do you think wrote that?"

"You?"

"Yep. I was but a mere adolescent when he did it, and am still amazed today the sacrifice he was willing to accept to do it. But he was only able to do it with this, his bow."

Sekim presented the bow to Link who took it graciously. He slung it over his back.

"Go on, Link, save this cave, and the world". With Sekim's parting words, Link backtracked the path to the original splitting of the wire. He took the reaming path and followed the twisty-turny path for about fifty feet. Finally, he emerged in a large circular room, where the wire went along the wall and connected to several torches around the room. Link looked dead ahead and saw that there was a wall, flanked by staircases. On the next platform at the top the stairs, there were five paths, illuminated by the wires.

"How far does this cave go on?" Link thought. Link climbed the stairs and looked at each of the paths. Link took the leftmost path, and followed it only to find a dead-end. Link backtracked and took the center-left path of the five, only to find yet another dead end. Link backtracked, and looked at the remaining three paths. Link thought back to a situation like this that he was in earlier, faced with three paths. Link knew he had to fight the dragon. Earlier, the center path led him to a room full of monsters. He remembered that it was the center path of the three that led him to that. He took the center path of the remaining three paths and followed it into a large room with lava in the center. Link climbed down to the room, and looked around. Seeing nothing, he began to climb back up to backtrack, when suddenly a large dragon swooped down at Link.

Link fell off of the ledge and landed awkwardly on his ankle, twisting it in the process. Link grabbed his ankle in pain, and glared at the dragon to see that it was coming closer. Link tried to move but was in too much pain. He couldn't get out of the way in time, and the dragon swooped down and smashed Link's other ankle. Link screamed out in pain, as now one of his ankles was twisted and the other broken. The dragon was circling the ceiling of the room, taking its time to line up one more shot at Link. It stopped circling and moved swiftly towards Link. Link could not move in time and was only able to take out his shield and crouch behind it. Link crouched behind the shield and the dragon crashed against it, sending Link crashing against a wall. The dragon then circled the room, gaining momentum to deliver the final blow. Dazed, Link crawled out of the way at the last second and the dragon bashed its head against the wall. Link took this opportunity to get to the wall and stand up. He winced in pain as the weight of his body was on his ankles. The dragon moved by Link, barely missing him. Link took out the Master Sword and stabbed the dragon, only to have it be ineffective, unable to pierce the thick skin of the dragon. Link tried this again as the dragon moved by, only to lose the Master Sword as it stuck into the dragon. The dragon seemed unaffected. Link then remembered what Sekim said, and took Reldeif's bow off of his back. He took an arrow out of the quiver and aimed it at the recovering dragon. He fired it and it pierced the dragon's thick skin. The dragon let out a breath of fire aimed at Link. Link took his shield off of his back and blocked the fire. The heat from the fire caused Link to sweat along his brow and arms. He wiped his brow, and again took aim at the dragon. He aimed at the dragon's head, knowing he must finish the battle quick or he would pass out from the pain in his ankles. As he let it go, the arrow slipped in his now sweaty fingers and missed the dragon by a foot. Link wiped his hand on his tunic and took another arrow. The dragon was coming at Link, and Link aimed his arrow at the dragon. Link let it fire, and hit the dragon in the nose. He then jumped out of the way as the dragon crashed into the wall. Link watched as the dragon circled the room. Link reached back into his quiver and felt that he had only one arrow left. He knew he had to make this one count. He slowly picked himself up and leaned against a wall, and took aim at the dragon. The dragon made its move at Link, coming straight at him. Link fired the arrow when the dragon was about five feet away from Link, piercing the dragon in the head, and causing it to fall at Link's feet. Link took the Master Sword out of its side. Link then limped towards the entrance of the room, only to hear the unmistakable sound of the dragon getting up. Link glanced over and saw that the dragon was again circling the room. Link panicked, knowing he was out of arrows. He looked around and saw one arrow on the ground. He picked it up and took aim at the dragon, knowing that this was his last chance. He let it fire, and it pierced the dragon in the head, causing it to fall into the pool of lava in the center of the room. Link smiled, knowing he had defeated the beast. He then collapsed and went unconscious from all of the pain that he had endured in his ankles during the battle, falling back onto the ground.