PALACE 6
The Hidden Palace was sort of a deep pink sandstone. Link was determined to take the most linear route through the palace. He knew he didn't need to go searching for keys now.
Link was relying almost completely on instinct now. The first floor seemed irrelevant since he didn't need keys. He took the elevator all the way to the bottom floor.
"AJIS!"
This first room that he had reached reminded him of the Island Palace somewhat with its high pedestals. The Reflect spell had been necessary due to the presence of Wizzrobes. It didn't hurt to have this spell activated to take on the nearby Doomknocker either. It felt great not to have to dodge hammers for once. Link was slightly more sympathetic to these Wizzrobes than to the Magos. In the case of the Wizzrobes, they had become puppets. Magos still had free will. You'd think by now the fact that so many elves had chosen to side with Ganon would have ceased to shock Link. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
To Link's dismay, the next passage contained not one, but two Blue Ironknuckles. This section of the palace was also home to the endless hole which he was not prepared to take just yet. It was tempting to drive the first Ironknuckle into the pit but he had a feeling it would only pop up again if he did.
The first Ironknuckle kept its shots high and he had no trouble defeating it. The second was hardly so generous. If only these things weren't so fast! Nobody can crouch, jump and stand, all in one second. And of course there's the blade itself. Link walked out with his legs cut up pretty bad but his pride was hurting him far worse.
Link traveled through a passage full of Wizzrobes and shooting statues. The ceiling was low in certain points. This was just an exercise in blocking, pure and simple.
The corridor led him to a portion of the palace that seemed EXACTLY like the Island palace. There was an Ironknuckle encased in brick, a guarded elevator, and a nearly identical layout. However, this time the hall that would have led him outside took him into a long hallway. This hall was full of Wizzrobes but the one thing that stood out about it was all the Ironknuckle statues on pedestals. If he didn't know better he could have sworn they were watching him.
"Yah!"
Well he hadn't seen THAT coming. A part of the floor only appeared to be real but was, in reality, a well-disguised hole dropping to the floor below. Well if Elezaar could conceal a fake wall it's hardly surprising that he could do the same with a floor. But this time it was magic, not an illusion.
The area Link had dropped to had nothing worthwhile waiting for him. His journey back up to the upper floor was unpleasant. Link fought his way through Ironknuckles, Skull Balls, Moas, Wizzrobes, Stalfos Knights and Doomknockers and he had done all that fighting in a grand total of only three rooms. By now Link had maximized all of his abilities. Back when he had first started his quest that area would have been the death of him easily. Now he had gotten through it without a scratch but not without a few close calls. As upset as he was about falling he had to be a little impressed with how skilled he had become. Well at least he hadn't gotten too far off course. The elevator took him right back to the section where he had first entered this area.
The second time around, Link was quite careful to jump over the area where he had fallen… oh crap he didn't jump far enough.
OK, the THIRD time around he made real darn sure to jump with the aid of magic over the entire section where he had fallen. If he had thought this place was reminiscent of the Island Palace before he would feel even more so in a moment.
Link wandered into a seemingly empty room only to walk smack dab into a force field. No! It couldn't be the guardian, could it? Already? Where were the drapes?
In rode his old friend the Mounted Ironknuckle. Questions would have to wait. In four hits he managed to knock the Ironknuckle off its horse and leapt back away from the rider. Was this a new one or had the old one been resurrected? The rider attacked, blades flying. Link was now much tougher than he had been the last time he fought this punk. While he wasn't quick enough to avoid the Sting spell completely he was easily fast enough to make sure those blades only nicked him. In a mere two hits the Ironknuckle was dead. As far as what lay ahead…
It had only been a treasury room! All that just to guard the Magic Cross. But then again… then again the key to surviving the Valley of Death was in Link's hand.
Link walked all the way back… oh not that damn hole again…
OK, Link fell down the hole AGAIN and THEN walked all the way back to... ta-da! Another hole! This one was the endless hole. Of course he took the time to grab a red jar from the statue up above before he jumped.
I suppose yelling "Geronimo" would have been absurd since Geronimo hadn't lived in that world. Link just bit his lip and jumped.
The first spot where he landed was useless. To his sides he found two dead ends with two Blue Ironknuckles he didn't need to fight and a P-Bag that he no longer had any use for. So he jumped again.
Hmm… well this hall seemed to lead somewhere but just to be safe he jumped down again to see what else he could find before he committed himself to a path.
Nope. Two more dead ends. Jump again.
Link finally felt the sensation of teleportation as he landed onto the spot he had jumped from in the first place. It felt like he had become the air itself. So this was what the Magos and Wizzrobes experienced. Well his path was certain now. He let himself fall two floors.
The passage he had reached contained a gate guarded by a Blue Ironknuckle. Link managed to slay it before it even had a chance to draw its sword.
The gate lead to a series of lava pits with Myus and a pack of Demon Heads flying all over. The prospect of falling head-first into lava once again was not one he relished. This time he wouldn't try to move until he had killed every enemy in the room. The Demon Heads required just a little patience and a stationary thrust. But when he turned to face the Myus he found his work had been done already. Not having eyes, they had accidentally jumped off the edge and landed in the lava.
As if fighting off a group of Wizzrobes wasn't challenging enough, Link also had to deal with an Ironknuckle in the next room. Link applied the Reflect spell and the very first Wizzrobe to die left a red jar behind. But a pack of strong enemies still remained. An interesting idea popped into Link's head.
"AFIERNA!"
Link's own spell nearly sent him flying. The air sizzled with a violent flash. Every single enemy in the room was killed at once.
"OH KICK ASS! I LOVE THIS FREAKING SPELL!"
This was great! If only he'd learned this spell earlier! No wonder those Moas left that old man alone. Something as weak as a Moa wouldn't even leave ashes behind if it got hit by that spell. Just one problem though. It drained Link of an enormous amount of magical endurance. Well he had a red jar right now but he might not be so fortunate down the line. But what a trump card!
The biggest lava pit Link had seen thus far lay waiting for him in the next room. And there was no way across. It was obvious the Fairy spell was needed. But a swarm of Skull Balls was flying all over the place. He'd be defenseless and there was no way he could dodge them all. Not with a fairy's speed, anyway. Since the last new spell he had tried had worked out so well, he was eager to try another one.
"AROKA!"
One of the Skull Balls turned into a Bot and fell to its death. Just one. Oh well.
"AGRA!"
Link couldn't travel as fast by flying as he could by running. He hated being slowed down like this. Even though he was a small and hard to hit target, the game of tag he had to play with these Skull Balls was unfathomably tough. The dripping red stuff from the ceiling didn't make matters easier. In fact I'm not sure he could have made it across without eliminating that first Skull Ball. The spell hadn't been a waste after all.
The path onto which Link emerged had no strong enemies but presented him with a choice. To take or not to take an elevator. Well he didn't need any more keys. But since when had there been an unnecessary elevator? On the other hand, he had seen tons of dead ends in the last palace. Time to rely on instinct again. Straight ahead. He could always go back, though the thought of wasting time was starting to bother him far more than usual.
"Not again!"
Link ran into another force field. And yet another Mounted Ironknuckle came charging. This time it put up more of a fight. At one point Link didn't jump quite right. He managed to just barely dodge the lance but the Ironknuckle itself crashed into him pretty hard and he was thrown several feet. But of course in the end it too fell to his sword. Not much to tell about that.
Link continued uneasily down the path. He came up to another gap. Up ahead he could see another one of those little dolls that the fairies had made sitting in a corner. It was comforting to see but impractical to get to. There wasn't enough room to jump and it was well guarded. But what about this pit? Well there was no way this thing would provide a never-ending fall like that gap earlier on but where would it lead? Only one way to find out. Link jumped. He had never had to make a split second decision like this in midair before but he could see the area where he would have landed and he could see a corridor to the east at the exact same moment. But which one? He had already avoided that bottom floor by not taking the elevator. Might as well stick to his decision.
"AGRA"
Link floated into the side corridor. He had been correct. Within moments he was standing in the guardian's lair. But once again, where was the guardian? There were three platforms above a pool of lava but no guardian. Link jumped onto the middle platform and looked around. Oh man, if this was another Mounted Ironknuckle he was really going to be pissed.
Link turned around and was startled so badly that I'm pretty sure his heart really did skip a beat. He found himself staring straight into the face of Barba, an enormous dragon that had emerged from the lava without a sound. He had no time whatsoever to recover from his shock. The creature opened its mouth and blew a volley of fire at him. He had to jump out of the way.
There was no opportunity to counterattack. Barba immediately descended back into the lava.
"AFE"
"AJIS"
Link had a pretty good feeling his shield wouldn't stand up to Barba's fiery breath by itself. A moment later Barba appeared by the far right platform and launched another barrage at him. Link leapt over there to counterattack but didn't arrive in time. Barba ducked back into the lava. Now it was over to the left. Once again, by the time Link got there it was too late.
"Settle down," Link told himself. "You can't fight that thing it you take a tumble into the lava trying to get to it. Let it come to you"
Link waited on the center platform. Barba appeared to the side twice more. Link didn't move from his spot. He just blocked the fire coming his way. Finally Barba came up right next to him. Link eagerly slashed at its throat. No good. A dragon's neck is often well-protected by tough scales. Link should have realized that. The head. It had to be the head.
Link blocked another volley with his shield. As Barba descended, Link slashed its head. Worked like a charm. Right away, Barba popped up on the other side of the same platform. Link upward thrusted and nailed it pretty good.
Something was wrong. It wouldn't die. Link was at his strongest and Barba didn't seem phased. Was Barba that tough? Oh yes. Hit after hit it took and kept coming at him. One wrong move meant certain death for Link. Now he wished it had been another Ironknuckle. How long could this thing hold out?
"OW"
Barba had managed to surprise him. Link's back had been horribly burned but the force of the blast very nearly knocked him to his death. The pain was bad but he'd been through worse. Barba rose up right in front of him to finish him off. Though it hurt more than he could bear, Link jumped up, the seared flesh tearing in the process, and stabbed Barba one more time. He collapsed to the ground.
Barba was dead, Link could barely move, and somewhere in Southern Hyrule, preparations were being made for war. It had begun.
End Chapter 14