Chapter Thirteen
Ascent

"Alsagrath!" A fireball erupted from the Stal-King's hand and blasted a statue of Zelda to pieces. With an unsatisfied grunt, he snapped his fingers and the statue reappeared. "Solgonakag!" Lightning shot out from the king's hand and zapped the statue with a trillion volts. The statue came to life, screamed in agony, and collapsed on the ground sparking. After a few seconds, the statue dissolved to dust. "Hmm… I like that one!" He looked at the dust pile sorrowfully. "Too bad that really wasn't you, princess!"

"Sire, our troops report that the Kakariko survivors are climbing the mountain."

"Oh? Maybe they'll save me the trouble and boil to death. Has Dodongo Caverns been completely excavated of artifacts?"

"Aye sire. Last shipment has been delivered to the storeroom. I am curious about this artifact sire." The stalfos offered a small metal object to his master. After a small glare at the guard for daring to touch an artifact, the King took it.

It looked like a bracelet of a strange design. The gilded surface was adorned by blood rubies and a detailed depiction of a skull was imprinted on the thickest part of the band. Long spindly tendrils sprouting from the side quivered faintly as if straining to bind themselves around something.

"Hmm… Very interesting…"

"What is it, sire?"

"I'm actually not sure but it seems to be a weapon of some kind…" He slipped the device on his Triforce arm and the tendrils clasped around his bony wrist, sealing the bracelet on his arm. "Hmm?" He aimed his arm at the wall and as he did so, he could feel the device's power practically warping time and space. It let off a shrill whine before…

Ka-BOOM!

The stalfos guard jumped at the sound and stared at the immense hole in the wall. The king stared curiously at the hole and the valley beyond and his rotten tendons slowly pulled his dead face muscles into a grin...

Death Mountain towered over the travelers as they looked up at the discouraging climb. Skulltulas covered every inch of the cliff. Link took out his bow and blasted a spider to oblivion. This was going to take a while… There had to be at least two hundred of them! His face fell as the destroyed Skulltula was quickly replaced by three more.

"We'll never make it up this!"

"No… But we must get the Forger Crystal from Biggoron!" Darunia said with a sigh. He looked to the right thoughtfully. "There is an old path this way, though I don't know if it is still travelable."

"Lets go then!" Zelda replied urgently. She had gotten rid of her dress in Kakariko and was now dressed in a shiekah uniform; very similar to the one she wore as Shiek, her disguise in the alternate timeline. She didn't wrap her head in a turban this time though, Link thought thankfully.

"There are some dangers to this trail, princess. That's why we stopped using it."

"What kind of dangers?" Saria asked, staring at the immense cliff the entire time.

"I haven't been there since I was as young as my son, so it's probably even worse now…" Darunia muttered. "It's been about oh… Three hundred years…" Link did a double take.

"Three hundred years?"

"Yes, Gorons do live about five hundred years. Didn't you know that?" The Goron leader replied as if everyone knew that information.

"Uh… no. How old is Biggoron?" Link asked curiously.

"Ah, he's still a teenager in our standards. About a hundred."

"Really? How did he get so big?" Darunia rolled his eyes.

"That whole family is made up of gluttons. Its said that Biggoron's great grandfather ate all the rock at the top off the mountain, creating the Death Mountain Crater, but I seriously doubt that story's sources."

"Uh…" Link and Zelda looked at each other with dumbfounded looks.

"Anyhow, what's your opinion Impa?" The goron asked, turning to the Shiekah.

"It appears that this second trail is our only option." She replied coolly.

"Hmm. Very well, come along!" Darunia walked over to a crack in the wall and gave it a powerful punch. The wall crumbled revealing a tunnel leading off into the darkness.

"The Skulltulas have done their job sire." General Stalakor reported as he gazed into the obsidian ball. The Stal-King barely heard the elite's words as he fired his new toy at the living Zelda statue.

Ka-BOOM!

The statue was obliterated as was three feet of solid stone, exposing the black desert below.

"Yes, very good." The Stal-King said as he repaired the wall with a careless wave of his hand and looked at the ball. Link's group was following Darunia into a dark tunnel. "Excellent, the others will never survive that trip! Assemble your troops for the next stage General!" The elite saluted and walked briskly out of the room.

Zelda stumbled through the pitch-black tunnel, wondering if she'd ever see daylight again. Link was in front of her, having as much trouble as her on the uneven tunnel, despite his lamp. Rocks crumbled as Darunia plowed through stalactites, causing even more damage to the old tunnel.

"Aaah!" Saria shrieked as rocks began showering down. Impa picked her up and ran through the cave-in.

"No going back now…" Impa muttered grimly. She carried the girl quickly to catch up with Link's retreating lamp.

"Hmm…" Darunia mumbled as he came to a halt. A large stone blocked the way. Link leaned in with his lamp, observing the rough black surface. Darunia delivered a hard blow but the stone remained intact.

"Hey wait!" Link said as the Goron wound up for another punch. Link dashed to the bottom of the rock and dug his hands underneath. The gold plates on his gauntlets seemed to glow brightly as he slowly lifted the immense stone. With a heave, he threw the black granite pillar forward and the rock crumbled, revealing a large valley. After a stare of astonishment at Link, Darunia turned to the unfamiliar valley.

"Whoa…" The valley was far from a happy one. Dark storm clouds covered the landscape. Black sand blew around with the random gusts of wind. At the far end of the valley rose a menacing tower. A black dragon was perched on a cliff next to the tower, blasting fireballs at the valley floor. Whatever was down there wasn't going to last long! They couldn't see any details at this distance, not that any of them particularly wanted to.

"That wasn't here three hundred years ago…" Darunia muttered. Link only nodded and finally managed to pry his eyes away from the terrifying sight. He focused on the cliff face at the back of Death Mountain.

"Come on, let's climb."

"Uh…" Saria said looking at the five hundred foot climb.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. Want someone to carry you?"

"I can climb up myself, thank you very much!" Saria replied indignantly. "I'm older than you, for crying out loud!"

"Suit yourself…" Link muttered. He wasn't about to go into a fight with his best friend at the moment. He noticed that ever since they had left the forest, the kokiri girl had become increasingly more irritable. Must be homesick… Link thought. "Ok, Darunia, mind climbing below everyone? You can catch falling climbers the easiest." Not to mention I don't want a couple tons of Goron to come crashing into me… Link added silently.

"Very well. Link, you lead the way." Darunia grumbled.

"Right, uh… This way!" Link grasped a handhold and began pulling himself up. Next came Zelda, then Saria, Impa, and Darunia.

After an hour of free climbing, Zelda stopped for a second. Wiping the sweat from her face, she looked around. The surface of the volcano was becoming hot to the touch. Less rock between her and the magma inside, she presumed. The air was hot and dry, scorching any traveler's skin. Zelda took a painful swallow through her parched throat and looked up at Link who had stopped and was looking down at her. She increased her climbing rate and caught up with him. Handholds were becoming sparse, they noticed.

"How are you holding up?" Link practically croaked through his dry throat.

"Been better…" She croaked back. "Got any water? Mine's dry." Link took out his canteen and shook it.

"Got a couple more gulps. Here." Zelda took the leather canteen and took a single gulp.

"Thanks." Link took a gulp and put the container away.

"Will you two move?" Saria snapped at them. Surprised at the tone of her voice, both the hylians looked down at the girl. Saria's face was red from the heat and, to Link's surprise, she was scowling. He couldn't remember a time in his life when he had seen Saria with a scowl.

"Saria? Are you alright?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Link and Zelda looked at each other with surprised looks. "Move it." Saria pushed past the hylians roughly.

Gripping the large handgrips with her small hands, Saria pulled her light form up the mountainside. Saria had always liked climbing; the Great Deku Tree had always let her climb to his highest branches and giving her a view of the immense canopy of the forest. Curious, she looked away from the cliff wall. The view was more incredible than she could have imagined! Snowcapped mountains surrounded the volcano, spread out as far as the eye could see. The forest curved in from the west and she felt a desperate longing for home. She looked down at the tower and was instantly hit by a wave of vertigo. Fear struck her heart as she felt her hands slip on the handgrip.

"Aaaahh!" Link looked up and to his horror saw Saria slipping down the mountain. She fell away from the cliff and was out of Link's reach by the time she passed him. Realization that she was going to die went through her mind and her life began flashing before her eyes. The first time she saw the Deku Tree. The first time she saw Link as a baby. The time she found the Sacred Forest Meadow. The time when Link left the forest to save the world. A beefy orange arm… Huh?

Darunia snatched the falling Kokiri out of the air and pulled her back in his arm.

"You better watch your step!" The Goron said to her. "You don't want to end up down there!" Saria smiled weakly at him and rode on his back the rest of the way.

Link's moments of panic slowly wore off after Darunia caught his falling friend. Zelda's face was pale from the shock and he imagined that he looked the same.

"She's alright!" Darunia yelled up. "We must keep moving!" Link nodded and continued the ascent. Within another half hour, the climbers had reached the summit.

"Man, Its much easier coming the other way!" Link complained as he stood before the familiar entrance to the crater.

"Why do you think the trail we just used was closed?"

"Hmph…"

"MAY I HELP YOU?" Link spun around at the loud voice and found Biggoron looking at the travelers. Zelda and Saria gaped at the immense Goron.

"Biggoron!" Darunia commanded. "We need the Forger's Crystal!"

"ER…" The Goron leader glared at the obese adolescent.

"What do you mean by 'er'?" Darunia said menacingly.

"THE STALFOS CAME FOR IT… SO I THREW IT INTO THE CRATER TO KEEP IT FROM THEM…" Darunia sagged visibly.

"Destroyed then?"

"NO, IT IS INDESTRUCTABLE. THOUGH NOW IT'S AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MAGMA POOL…" Link pulled away from the group as Darunia and Biggoron bickered on. Zelda followed him and they went through the tunnel into the inferno.