A/N: Terribly sorry for the late update. The story has already been completed so sometimes it slips my mind to post more of it. Thanks to reviewers, I'm reminded whenever I get a review alert e-mail. ;)

Chapter Fourteen
Inferno

The heat was incredible! Magma bubbled in an immense lake at the bottom of the crater. Zelda could feel her skin becoming singed through her clothes. Link had switched to a goron tunic but the heat was still unbearable.

"Seems hotter than usual! Get out of here!" Link yelled to Zelda. The princess barely heard him. The heat pounded on her senses and made her extremely dizzy. Her exposed face felt like it was on fire.

"I can't…" She collapsed onto the hot rocks and tried to get up as the rocks seared her hands. Link ran over to her and picked her up in his arms. Her face was red as if she had extreme sunburn. Casting a glance at the Fire Temple, he noticed two Stalfos patrolling the cinder cone platform. Looking for the crystal, he presumed as he ran out the tunnel.

The travelers saw Link came running out of the tunnel, carrying Zelda. Both of them were drenched in sweat.

"What happened?" Darunia asked as Link set the unconscious princess down on the cool rocks.

"The crater… It's hotter than I remember…" Link panted.

"THE CRYSTAL MUST HAVE CAUSED SOMETHING…" Biggoron mumbled, giving Darunia a guilty look.

"I saw two Stalfos…" Link managed to add before collapsing next to Zelda.

"What were they doing?" Darunia asked him. Too late, Link passed out. He would have to find out for himself. After telling Saria and Impa to stay put, Darunia rolled into the crater.

It is hotter in here. The Goron leader noted. By no means too hot for a Goron, but he estimated that the temperature had risen by at least a hundred degrees. Creeping slowly to the cliff face, Darunia noticed the two Stalfos. They seemed to just be standing around, or guarding something. His eyes moved to focus on the Fire Temple entrance where another Stalfos was coming out of the well. Using his Sage powers, Darunia listened in on the conversation.

"The crystal has not yet been found." The stalfos said; his words translated through the hearing power.

"You sure you saw it go down there?" Another Stalfos grumbled.

"Yes, it landed on that platform down there." He pointed to a small platform, hovering a few inches above the magma pool. "A Fire Keese flew down, picked it up, and flew down the well into the Fire Temple."

"Ugh… Well, you better find it. I don't want to report to the master that we were outsmarted by a bat!"

"I'll find it. Notify me if you see anything!"

"Aye sir!" The third stalfos said with dripping sarcasm.

The skeleton soldier climbed back down the well, leaving the other two on guard duty.

"How long do you think this'll take?" One of the guards grumbled. "I want to kill something, but here, everything is roasted by the time it gets to you!"

"Ah, shut up!"

Having heard enough, Darunia crept backwards until he was out of sight of the stalfos, and raced back to the tunnel.

"I don't think that the crystal ended up in the magma pool, Biggoron." Darunia said, coming out of the tunnel.

"WHAT?"

"Those Stalfos are searching the temple for it. We better go and find it before they do!"

"Let's go then!" Link jumped back to his feet, slightly embarrassed that he had passed out. Zelda was waking up as well and she gave Darunia a groggy look.

"Well, this time, wear double layers of Goron tunics!" He began pulling out the red clothing from a small backpack. "You two left too quickly for me to get these out!"

"Yeah, uh, sorry…"

"What about me?" Saria asked him as adult sized tunics came out of the bag.

"Just your luck, I had a couple special ones made for you." The goron pulled out two child-sized tunics. "Put both of those on." In three minutes, Link, Zelda, Saria, and Impa were wearing double layers of red tunics. "Ok! Follow me!"

The double tunics made it considerably cooler than last time. Zelda noted as they entered the blistering heat again. Saria was beyond comfort; she had never been so hot in her life! And I thought the outside was bad… She grumbled silently. She absentmindedly pulled of one of the tunics in an effort to make herself cooler. Big mistake! She realized as the heat went from uncomfortable to scalding. Saria pulled the extra tunic back on and ran to catch up with the others, who were peering over the cliff. Darunia used his listening spell again allowing all of them to hear the Stalfos conversation.

"Stalkag! What the hell are you doing?" One of the guards yelled at the other one, who was staring at the lava.

"Watching for Red Bubbles." Stalkag replied.

"Bubbles? What the hell for?"

"I want to kill one. Don't you want to kill something for once, Stalvok?" Stalvok rolled his rotten eyes and looked back at the Temple.

"How long is this going to take?"

"As long as it takes." Stalvok glared at the other guard.

"If you say something that obvious again, I'll kill you myself!"

"Too bad, I'm already dead." Stalkag shot back.

"Arrgghh!"

Darunia looked up and gave a nod. Link and Zelda looked up as well and saw Biggoron looking into the crater. Noticing the signal, Biggoron stepped into the crater.

"If you say one more word…" Stalvok glowered at the other skeleton. Stalkag simply stared upward. "What the hell's the matter with you?" Stalkag didn't answer; he just dashed for the platform edge and jumped into the lava. "What the hell?" Stalvok caught a glimpse of something and looked up to see a giant foot. His eyes brightened in surprise just as Biggoron crushed him.

"Wall, wall, wall." Stalkag thought as he desperately swam through the lava to get to the rough climbable wall. "Uh-oh." His legs began melting.

"Good work Biggoron! Let's get down there before the others come!" Darunia moved over to a rock on the ledge and smashed it with a punch, revealing a ladder. The travelers climbed down the rickety ladder. Link crawled down it, expecting the ladder to incinerate because of the heat. After all of them had gotten down the ladder, they crossed a wooden bridge. Using his Megaton Hammer, he smashed the obstructing rocks. Zelda was still on the far end of the bridge when the extreme heat jumped by another fifty degrees. Having endured to the last, the bridge burst in flames.

"Aaah!" Link spun around toward the horrifying sight of flames engulfing his girlfriend. Zelda leapt from the bridge and managed to grab hold of the ledge precariously. "Help!" Link dashed to the edge and grabbed one of her hands just as the other slipped. "Aah!" Something had jumped up from the flames and grabbed her leg. She looked down and saw a half melted Stalfos gripping her left leg with a burning arm. Using her other foot, she kicked the Stalfos repeatedly in the head.

"Ah! OW!" Stalkag yelped as Zelda's boot hit him in the skull. "Ooh! You'll pay for that!" He growled as he increased his grip on her shin. Zelda shrieked as the Stalfos's grip crushed her shinbone. "You're mine!" Stalkag growled, giving her injured leg a twist. Getting annoyed at her other leg hitting him in the head, his teeth grew razor sharp and he bit the boot. Zelda yelped and stopped kicking for a second. Sure of victory, Stalkag began climbing up to the ledge, using Zelda like a rope.

Link tried to pull Zelda up but the Stalfos weighed a ton. He was beginning to slip toward the ledge. Using a mental swap spell, he switched to his Iron Boots without letting go of Zelda's arm. He could see Stalkag pulling himself up and making sure to crush Zelda's ribs on the way.

"If I fall, your girl falls too!" Stalkag growled at him as he wrapped a bony hand around Zelda's neck.

"Go to hell!" Link cried. Red with rage, he kicked down at the Stalfos's skull with his metal boot.

"Aarrgghh!" Stalkag screamed as the impact broke his skull in half. After a violent death convulsion, his separate bones fell into the lava.

Link pulled Zelda onto the ledge. In shock from her wounds, the princess simply rested her head on Link's chest and gasped for air. Impa moved quickly, pulling a blue potion out of her pouch. Force-feeding the princess with the thick blue liquid, Impa sighed with relief as Zelda's mangled leg took on its normal shape. Zelda blinked for a few seconds.

"Ow…" Link gave an exhausted chuckle of relief and hugged Zelda tight.

Stalgor, the squad leader, searched room after room of the Fire Temple frantically. He had to find that crystal, the master would destroy him if he didn't! He tried to open a door, but the door began to wiggle. Uh-oh… He thought as he dodged to the left before the fake door trap smashed him. That was close… He rolled into an alcove and nearly got run over by a rolling rock, worn smooth after centuries of rolling. What is with this place? Stalgor wondered as he passed by each ancient booby trap. Whoa! He back flipped away from a wall of flame that burst out of nowhere. Hmm…

Flap, flap, flap

Stalgor snapped around at the sound of the Fire Keese.

Flap, flap, flap

There! The stalfos glared at the flying torch as it glided into a small hole. Aha! Stalgor reached the hole and peered inside. There it was! Glittering in the light of a hundred flaming wings. Oh… The stalfos ducked as fifty Fire Keese erupted from the deceptively large alcove.

"Skrit skreet skri-itit! Skit skreet!" The Keese screeched angrily.

"Er…" Stalgor reached into the hole with his long bony arm and caught the crystal. "Haha!" He pulled the crystal out and concentrated. The crystal glowed and a nasty looking blade appeared before him. Grasping the blade by the hilt, Stalgor swung the jagged black sword and lightning bolts shot out, electrifying all the Keese in a second.

"Screeeeeeeee!" The flaming bats fell to the ground and burned their own corpses.

"How much hotter does it get?" Saria asked, panting. She wiped sweat from her face and gave a heavy sigh.

"Never been this hot before…" Link muttered as he tapped a wall with his sword.

"How much longer are you going to do that? It's annoying!" Saria groaned. Link didn't respond except hit the wall again. It sounded a bit different to Zelda. Link pulled out a bomb without warning and set it next to the wall.

"MOVE!" He picked up Saria and moved to a safe distance.

KA-BOOOM!

The wall shattered revealing a treasure chest. "That's why I was tapping the wall!" Link informed Saria, who was staring at the chest, dumbfounded. He kicked open the chest and retrieved a small key. They walked around a corner and found a locked door. Inserting the key, he turned it and the lock fell off.

"Wimpy lock." Zelda muttered. Link rolled his eyes and stepped into the room. The door slammed down after they all got through and iron bars bolted the door down.

"Who are you?" A deep voice echoed through the room. A stalfos walked around a pillar in the center of the room. He was holding a gnarled black sword in his right hand and a crystal in his left.

"Be careful Brother…" Darunia muttered to Link as the crystal came into view.

"What exactly does that crystal do?" Link whispered back.

"It has the power to forge what ever weapon the user wishes. Don't underestimate that sword he has."

Link nodded and glared at the stalfos. "Give us the crystal or we'll take it from your lifeless pile of bones!" The stalfos simply stared at him incredulously for a few seconds.

"You want this?" He finally replied with a sneer. He waved the crystal in front of them. "Hahaha, I'd love to see you try!" He swung his sword at Link, blasting him with a lightning bolt.

"Aaaahhhhh!" The shocking agony brought him to his knees. A blast like that would have killed a man with a lesser will. Tapping into the Triforce of Courage, Link shot a bolt of energy at the stalfos. The skeleton waved the crystal and an iron wall appeared, blocking the blast. Stalgor leapt over the wall and waved the crystal again. Razor blades appeared out of thin air and buzzed toward the Hero.

"Whoa!" Link hit the ground and the blades collided with the stone wall. Zelda sent an energy blast at the stalfos but the skeleton blocked it with a new shield. Annoyed at the double-teaming, he waved the crystal and everyone but Link was sealed behind a steel wall.

"Hahaha! I wonder how long your friends will last behind there? They'll probably die of thirst or heat in a few days!" Stalgor practically spat at him. Link lunged for the crystal but the stalfos pulled back. "Nuh-uh! You'd better watch yourself! Or I'll impale your friends with long pointy spikes!" His teeth turned razor sharp to enunciate his point. Link grimaced at the thought but said nothing. The stalfos circled around the raised pedestal and swung his sword, releasing the electrical torrent again.

"Aaaahhh!" Zelda winced at her fiancé's scream and beat on the steel wall. The seal was light proof but not soundproof. In fact, it seemed like the wall amplified the sound from the other room. Link screamed again and the steel wall amplified the sound, hurting her ears and her heart.

"Hagrathalsonaka!" The stalfos waved the crystal again and iron javelins hurtled toward Link.

"Unh!" The Hero flew back as four javelins hit him in the leg, shoulder, arm, and stomach. "Aahh!"

"Hahahahahaha!" Stalgor screeched in laughter at his opponent.

Zelda beat on the wall again in despair. Darunia had already tried smashing the wall down but had only bruised his fist; Gorons were not bruised easily.

"Hahaha! Doesn't Link want to fight? Haha!" Zelda could feel her cheeks going hot with anger as she heard the stalfos's taunting.

"Leave him alone!" Zelda screamed through the wall.

"Aah! SHUT UP!" Everyone clasped their hands over their ears as the amplified yell came through. "You faint so soon Link? Hahahaha!" The stalfos cackled. Zelda suddenly realized something. After whispering to the others to cover their ears, Zelda began concentrating on a rare spell. This particular spell was uncommon because as most spells were based on light, this one was sound.

A tone resonated through the wall stronger than a pipe organ blaring at full volume.

"Aaahhh!" Stalgor futilely covered the ear holes in his skull with holey hands. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUTUP! SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP! ARRRGGGGHHHHH!" The intense tone vibrated his skull bones apart and Stalgor let out one last scream before crumbling into a lifeless pile of bones. Link, who had woken up from the sound and was plugging his ears uselessly, yelled at the top of his lungs. "ZELDA! STOP!"

Review Response:

God Save FF (Ch. 5 review)-- Don't worry about the story not being finished. I had already completed it by the time I posted the first chapter. I just need a heads-up now and then to remind me. lol. As for the stuff with the Kokiri, well as you can see, the stalfos were defeated and Saria gets her payback in Ch. 12. lol Please continue to R&R!