Chapter 3

PALACE 1

Parapa Palace was a very intimidating sight to say the very least. An aura of death surrounded the place. Grey rock which looked like it could and likely would crumble into dust at any moment made up its structure. Link was reminded of the underground bunkers where the pieces of Triforce had been guarded by rivals of Ganon. The first time he had entered one of those places he had a lump in his throat. This time he had an entire boulder.

As he approached he noticed the prominent Ironknuckle statue. Instantly Impa's warning came back to mind. "A walking tin can with my family's magic could knock you on your ass, kid." Great. Wonderful. Link edged up towards it carefully.

"I come in peace," he said with a nervous grin. Nothing happened. Link was certain that at any moment this thing would come alive and take his head off. But it never moved. Even so, as Link headed to the entrance he would look over his shoulder every few moments. He approached a door and pressed the crest against it. Slowly it opened and led into… a box? What was this?

Obviously Link had never seen an elevator before much less an elevator powered by magic. He stepped inside expecting something to happen but nothing did. Ten minutes went by and nothing. "What am I supposed to say, 'open sesame'?" grumbled Link. "I wish I could get in and get this over with." Instantly the elevator responded to his desire, scaring the hell out of Link as it descended with no warning. It occurred to him, strangely enough, that this thing had responded to his words. "Stop!" Immediately it obeyed. "Go back up." The elevator rose. "Maybe I don't have to say anything," thought Link to himself. "Maybe it would respond to the mere desire to go back down." As if the elevator had read his mind it descended all the way down into the palace.

The second the elevator reached its destination Link was attacked by the oddest creature he had ever seen. It had the body of a man, wore armor, and carried a dagger. But the head was that of a dog. Or maybe it was a rat. Or was it a goat… Oh it doesn't matter, it was some kind of animal and it was white. Whatever it was, it didn't have much endurance. Link used the Sting spell just once and it vanished. However, another immediately came trotting along towards him, blade drawn. This too he slew. Then two more took that one's place. Link was getting the distinct impression that there was no end to these things. He needed to move. But where to? He had no map of the inside of the palaces. Even the bunkers had those. He turned opposite the direction he had been facing in the elevator and ran down the hall slaying these…well these things, whatever they were, every few feet.

The room he entered was large and not at all well-lit. Certain bricks protruded far from the wall far above him. These bricks were infested with Bots. They hissed at Link in a threatening manner but made no move. Link hissed right back at them and kept going.

About that time he encountered another old acquaintance of his. It was a Stalfos. If the other creatures he had encountered in the south were so much tougher here, he could just imagine what the Stalfos was capable of. One had nearly killed him back in the old days. And this one had a shield. Within moments Link found out that he knew how to use it too. The two futilely traded blows for a few moments but each one was deflected by the other's shield. It was quite by accident that Link discovered its weakness. He had stumbled and made a swipe at its legs without thinking. Lo and behold it worked! The bony Stalfos wasn't nimble enough to protect its own legs and was destroyed rather quickly.

Link turned around only to discover that he had taken a wrong turn by going this way. It was a dead end. But what was that on the shelf on the wall? Link found a key. If you think that was a pleasant surprise for him, think again. Link was bitterly disappointed to find that palaces, like the bunkers, had locked doors inside. Grabbing the key, Link ran off in the other direction killing more of those… well whatever they were… oh heck, let's just call them Goat Heads, shall we?

Taking the eastbound path, Link soon found a locked gate that the Goat Heads seemed to be able to pass through as though it were an illusion. Link unlocked the gate and stepped forward only to see a new enemy that very much reminded him of a Bubble. It was a Skull Ball and when Link stabbed it, it merely paused before flying up and burning him slightly. Link thought better of messing with it further and went on his way.

The next room produced two more Stalfos and another elevator. After Link had dispatched the Stalfos he decided to see where the elevator would take him. With no map he had to travel by trial and error. The second the elevator had reached its destination Link regretted his choice. He fell prey to four Skull Balls at once, all of which were too fast for him. Since he didn't know whether or not they could be destroyed he had no recourse but to run, but not before he got hit twice.

A warmth filled the hall and Link soon found himself in front of a stone bridge guarded by four Bots, two on each side. The reason for the heat was to be found under the bridge. Magma had seeped up from a crack in the earth. From the smell in the air, Link deducted that this lava was not there by chance. He correctly guessed a spell from Elezaar had produced this unnatural phenomenon. He couldn't help but think this lava would not have produced an obstacle to would-be thieves until he set foot on the bridge. Immediately he had to run for his life. The very stones upon which he stood were vanishing as soon as he stepped on them. As he crossed, he noticed a small cloth bag in the middle. When you are running for your life you have no time for curiosities and thus he ignored it and kept running. Just made it too. But now he was trapped. With the bridge gone, how could he get back?

Link reasoned that if he went onward he might find some alternative means of reaching his goal. But as soon as he entered the next room he realized it was another dead end. This odd room was not well-lit either. Link looked above him and noticed the third Ironknuckle statue he had passed. This one also thankfully did not come to life.

THUD!

Now what?

A small spiked ball of iron attached to a short chain landed at Link's feet. The monster who had thrown it was something truly intimidating. It was a large Troll, red in color, about six feet tall, huge muscles, horns, big teeth, and enormous eyes. At first Link honestly thought this thing was the Guardian. At this point Link made a big mistake. He tried to use his shield.

CRASH!

"Ow! Damn!" screamed Link. His shield had been shattered and the projectile had given him a mild rib fracture. Now luckily a properly enchanted shield repairs itself if it's destroyed but the shield would be useless against this foe anyway. All around Link the heavy hammers rained down. Could he time this right and lunge forward? Wait, there was a pattern to this. The Troll could only throw straight up. Every few seconds a few hammers didn't fly quite so far. Timing this just right, Link jumped forward and lo and behold, being this close to the Troll the hammers sailed harmlessly over his head. A few quick stabs killed the Troll. But there was no time to celebrate. No sooner had the Troll died than Link saw an Ironknuckle coming straight at him.

"ADAMI!"

It didn't work. Impa had managed to turn one of these things back into stone with this word but the spell had no effect on the Ironknuckle which had now drawn a sword. As Link tried to attack he noticed that much to his dismay, this thing handled a shield far better than the Stalfos. Link had to leap out of the way after each attempt at attack to avoid being stabbed. He tried every strategy he could think of including turning his back as if to flee and suddenly attacking. Man this thing was tough!

Yet again it was more by accident than by trial and error that Link discovered its weakness. When he leapt up to avoid getting skewered, he noticed the Ironknuckle's shield drop momentarily. BINGO! Link jumped up again, the shield dropped, and Link stabbed him in the head. A couple repeat performances of this procedure and the Ironknuckle was dead.

"Aw crap!"

Link had come down here without a key and behind the Ironknuckle was a gate between him and a magic Red Candle. Impa had been wrong. Bringing the Red Candle he had acquired on his first quest would indeed have helped. "Damn that senile old bat!" muttered Link angrily as he turned around to go back the way he came.

Link was surprised to find that the bridge over the lava pit had been restored. But once again when he tried crossing the bridge it began to disappear. Running for dear life (again), he saw that bag again but chose to skip it. Again. Running the gauntlet of Skull Balls, Link was hit only once this time. As he jumped into the elevator and ascended, he saw one of them try to follow him up the shaft. Vicious little bastards, weren't they?

Now he was back on the main floor. Link soon came face to face with a Bot and another Skull Ball. After killing the Bot he suddenly felt very determined. "Dammit, I'm going to see if that buzzard can be killed," he grumbled. He waited for just the right moment and when the Skull Ball was at waist-height he stabbed. The monster paused but didn't die no matter how many times he hit it. After what seemed like an eternity it finally vanished. "It wasn't worth it," said Link to himself with a smile. At least he hadn't run.

After dispatching another Stalfos Link once again had to choose his path. There was another elevator that could take him to an upper or lower floor. And the path also continued straight ahead. Three options. What was that sound…buzzing? Buzzing! It was a fairy! Link raced forward to see a tiny black haired fairy waiting for him. Wasting no time, the fairy descended and healed his wounds.

"We told you in the woods we are with you and to our word we hold," said the fairy. "I cannot stay but I can give you one word of advice. Take the elevator to the top floor before doing anything else. Farwell."

Before Link even had a chance to thank the fairy, it flew away. So Link got into the elevator and took it to the top floor. A long hall. More Goat Heads. And… oh joy! A key! Link was tempted to go back and get the candle right away but the hall continued onwards. What if he missed something important? Decisions, decisions. Oh well. Link continued down the hall.

There were two more Goat Heads, one Bot, and, oh crap, another Troll. Time for the Shield spell. This time the confrontation was more challenging. Link had to jump up onto a shelf in order to get at the Troll and doing that threw off his timing. Dodging three hammers he tumbled forward in a summersault and slew the Troll.

As he picked up the key behind where the Troll had been standing he noticed something odd. The Ironknuckle statue behind the key had a slit in its armored chest plate the exact size and shape of a blade. The slit had a faint red light glimmering from within. Link's curiosity got the better of him and he stuck his blade in. He wasn't sure what to expect and was ready for anything but he certainly was surprised when a red jar appeared out of mid-air. One sip told him this stuff was far more potent than the mixture in the blue jars. He felt ready for anything which was good because he still had to go back and get the candle.

This time he did pick up that bag on the bridge. On the other side of the bridge, he had a chance to examine its contents. It was full of a gold dust that turned into magic sparkles that surrounded him. Immediately Link was filled with a sense of great power as if he had just slain several enemies.

As soon as Link had gotten the candle and had found his way back upstairs to that second elevator, the logical conclusion seemed to be that he should take it down. And down he did go. And straight into the path of another Ironknuckle. This time Link's timing was off. The low ceiling didn't help either. Before Link finally managed to kill it he had gotten his arm pretty badly lacerated. And of course this was hardly the end of his troubles in this corridor. There were two Stalfos. There was a Troll that kept ducking through a locked gate. It was hard to open the gate without getting hit. Of course there was another Ironknuckle. You didn't think he'd seen the last of those babies, did you? Then nothing.

Link crept down the corridor to its very end and into a huge room with drapes hanging from the ceiling. He correctly guessed that this was the Guardian's lair. He had been expecting a dragon or large monster or something like that. Nothing could have prepared him for what he found. It was an eight foot tall man with the head of a horse.

Too say that Link was creeped out would be an understatement. Horsehead hadn't seemed to have noticed him yet. Link crept closer and closer. Still nothing. Link took one more step and then it happened. The creature's eyes flashed red and it seemed to come alive.

"AFE!"

Link screamed out the Shield spell almost in a panic. Horsehead inched towards Link, swinging its mace in a menacing manner. Link ran up and stabbed at its midsection only to discover that the creature's armor was impenetrable. No sooner had Link failed to pierce the armor than Horsehead swung its mace. Link had no time to get out of the way. The pain was indescribable. Link was knocked all the way across the room. Even with the Shield spell he knew he had been horribly injured and had the wind severely knocked out of him. As Link stood up, the blood ran down his clothes. It hurt to breathe. He was sure he was done for.

The head. He had to attack the head. It was the only part of Horsehead's body that was uncovered. But could he get to it without getting the crap knocked out of him again? Link crept up and as soon as Horsehead swung its mace he jumped up and made a wild slash at its head. Success! The blade swung home and its body flashed. Link was so excited he forgot to get out of the way.

BANG!

Once again, Link went flying. He was surprised to find that he was still alive and he had a horribly difficult time getting to his feet. He was coughing up blood now and he found that breathing was far more difficult now. Link was pretty sure he would be killed if that thing hit him again. Cautiously Link crept up again and as soon as the mace swung he jumped and stabbed. As soon as the sword hit its mark he jumped back. But now he had a new problem. He was running out of room as Horsehead crept closer. Link tried to retreat into the hallway but an invisible force field seemed to be keeping him in the room. Quickly he ran past Horsehead, getting kicked in the back on his way past. It took Horsehead a few seconds to turn around. Link used this as an opportunity to stab its head again.

As Horsehead advanced on him once again he had more room to work with. He easily used his fake-out and slash strategy twice more. Horsehead stopped moving completely and its body glowed. Before Link could wonder what this meant, Horsehead's body self-destructed in a brilliant flash of light. But the force fields were still up. He couldn't leave.

Just then, a key magically appeared and fell from the ceiling onto the floor. Link picked it up. When he checked again, the force fields were gone. Link used the key to unlock a gate and found himself face to face with a statue. So this was what Elezaar had been talking about. Link fumbled around in the small purse on his waist and pulled out one of the crystals. But what to do with it? He walked up and looked for an opening. Finding only one that he could reach, the mouth, he placed the crystal inside. Immediately the crystal turned from green to violet and ascended up the face of the statue until it settled into a notch in the forehead. Immediately a light surrounded Link. Not only were his injuries healed but the ripped fabric and bloodstains in clothes disappeared as did any exhaustion from fighting or from use of magic. As a bonus he felt his power skyrocket once again.

An Ironknuckle statue seemed to guard the unlocked door that exited the palace. Link opened the door and left. The most unusual thing happened when he walked away. He heard no noise, saw no flash, but when he turned around the palace had turned into a gigantic boulder.

End Chapter 3