RCM- (falls to the floor, bearing several scorch marks) …let me just say I've had a rough few weeks… I don't own any of the copyrighted material present in this story. Now you may enter the Temple… of Mines… (collapses)

Chapter 26

Hot Pursuit

The first chamber had a warm, earthy glow to it, reminding Link of the Wind Temple on the Great Sea. Unlike the tower they had seen in Aurora, the upper floors were not visible from the first room. As they made their way to the first door, Lance deciphered the inscription on its face. "'To destroy the indestructible, turn its trap upon itself.'" Turning to the others, he shrugged.

Hugh scratched his head. "That makes a whole lot of sense… Come on, let's keep moving."

Proceeding to the next room, they noticed a ladder hanging from the wall. Recognizing the situation, Shadow yelled "Alright, what do we have to do?!" In response, four bulbous red turtles dropped from the ceiling. Their tails were covered with several needle-like spikes

"Argh! What is it with Chaos and sharp pointy objects?!" Snickering lightly at Hugh's question, Lance slashed at the head of the closest reptile. Before his blade could connect, the target withdrew into its shell, causing the weapon to bounce harmlessly off of the resilient surface. To further Lance's aggravation, the turtle launched a small volley of spikes at the boy, who cried out in pain as they struck his arm and shoulder. "Lance, you idiot! Didn't the CrabTurtle teach you anything?" An Aqua Sword wave flipped the shelled enemies onto their backs, rendering them completely helpless. "You have to find and exploit the weak spots!"

Lance pulled the projectiles from his side, scowling as Hugh destroyed the problem. His look faded, though, as he saw Tikal's sympathetic smile. Without a word, she cast Recover on his injuries. As the last remnants vanished from his arm, the ladder dropped. "I guess we keep going…"

Beyond the door at the top was another block puzzle, almost identical to the one in Ice Tower. To their relief, no monsters leapt out to hinder their progress, allowing them to assemble the image of the Earth Crest quickly. As the hexagonal gem formed on the faces of the blocks, the floor tiles on the far side of the room began to systematically collapse, revealing a spike pit underneath. "Uh oh…" As the chain reaction continued to draw closer, the barred exit opened. "Let's move it!"

Though they escaped the loss of ground in that room, they were not out of the woods just yet. The following three rooms also had the same puzzle trap set-up, containing obstacles to maneuver the blocks around as well as faster-falling tiles. After narrowly evading the fourth drop, Lance let out a sigh of relief. "Finally… the stairs…"

The next floor wasn't very impressive, appearing to be simply a long, narrow corridor extending to their right. No doors were present in the area, leaving them to wonder what they would have to do. The fact that the inner walls did not touch the ceiling perked Link's interest. "Hey Shadow, give me a boost."

Allowing the Hylian boy onto his shoulder, the ebon warrior lifted him up to look over the wall. As soon as his eyes crossed the threshold, Link pulled out his telescope. "What do you see?"

"It's almost like a maze, but there's only one path. This hallway just keeps doubling back on itself… I'm guessing five or six times before getting to the far side of the room. I can't quite see what's over there, the short walls are in the way."

"Well, in that case… We'd best head over there." Lance said, cautiously leading the way down the passage. As he caught sight of the first left turn at the hallway's end, a loud rumbling noise arose from behind them.

"Uh… Lance? What is that?" A tremendous crash made them turn on their heels, the source being a gigantic streamlined tank breaking through the wall behind them. The shining blue machine held a demonic look via the imposing black drills adorning its face. Blinking in disbelief, Elric whistled softly. "I'd say we have a problem."

"Not quite." With a nod to Hugh, Shadow leapt into the air. Quake Blaze and Pyro Dance met the polished metal surface, but when the flaming firestorm faded, there wasn't even a scratch. "Uh… okay, let's try Water!" Though Blizzard's frigid blast encased the tank in ice, the black drills swiftly broke free, shattering the monstrosity's confines. "Uh oh…"

"That leaves us with…" The Shock Wave, Wind Cutters and Twin Dream each bounced off, leaving no evidence the blows had struck at all. "…Nothing…"

Elric took a step back, glancing from his bow to the seemingly impervious Labyrinth Tank. "I'm going to restate my assessment…" The machine revved its engine threateningly, two red lights glowing like angry eyes. "I'd say we have a HUGE problem…"

"Run!" Each and every Protector turned and fled, with the mechanical monster roaring forward close behind. As they neared the turn at the corridor's end, Lance looked over his shoulder. Alarmed at how fast the tank was gaining on them, he cried "Shadow! Cast Agility on us! Hurry!"

The spell's yellow glow hadn't come a second too soon. With their extra boost of speed, they quickly rounded the corner, hearing the drills harshly rupture the wall only a few mere feet behind them. "Holy…! How do we get outta this mess?!"

"Less talking, more moving!" Link said, dropping a bomb in the path of their pursuer. The explosive detonated on contact, but the blast had no obvious effects on the swift machine. "Aw, come on!"

The hallway had doubled back on itself again, the tank again tearing apart the real walls with its charge. "Good thing that tank can't turn fast!"

"These halls are too long! It'll keep using the straight parts to close the gaps we make at the corners!" As they approached another turn, Elric realized just how far they had fled. Remembering how many times Link had said the corridor doubled back, he cried in alarm "I think we're going to run out of hallway soon!"

After turning the final corner, the group skidded to a halt. Behind them followed the heavily shielded Labyrinth Tank, and before them stood a full wall lined with several spikes. Out of options, the team began to panic. As the machine emerged from the corner behind them, it stopped for a moment to release a cloud of steam. Rand sighed, "Well… It was a short trip, but I had a damn good time with you folks…"

Tightly gripping the Pirate's Charm in his pocket, Link prayed that Tetra would be safe. Beside him, Shadow held the dormant Berserker in his palm, awaiting the machine's final move. The archer held the crying elfin mage protectively, defiance glowing in his eyes. Though they refused to submit to the despair, the boys from Nidero couldn't help exchanging a look of resignation. Without a miracle, they had failed.

"Sol! Now!" The small voice shattered the group's reverie just as the Labyrinth Tank charged forward. Before any of them knew what happened, the heavily damaged wall behind the tank shimmered much closer.

"What the…?" A loud crash erupted from behind them, making them turn on their heels. "Whoa… no way…" The Labyrinth Tank had continued forward, colliding with the reinforced spiked wall. Unable to withstand the intense impact, the wall collapsed onto the machine, impaling it with the heavy spikes. "So that's what the inscription meant!" With the sickening groan of grinding gears, the metallic monster shut down before exploding.

The blast would have overtaken the tired warriors, had the red fairy not erected a barrier of magical flame. "Are you all okay?"

"Anri! You couldn't have come at a better time!"

"Don't forget me!" The yellow fairy fluttered out from behind Link's shield. "I was the one who used Egress to get us behind that tank!"

Wiping the last of her tears away, Tikal smiled brightly. "And we can't thank you enough, Sol. You two saved our lives."

Lance stretched his legs, thankful for Anri's magic removing the stiffness from them. "Why weren't our weapon's working on that thing?"

The two fairies answered simultaneously, "Mithril plating."

"Hey, look over here." They all turned to Shadow, who was standing on the tank's smoking remains. "There's a door behind the spiked wall."

Anri and Sol shared a nod, knowing what lay behind the finely decorated door. "You're almost done here. Beyond that passage is the stairway to the shrine. I imagine that the Chaos monster has invaded already, so stay alert."

"What she said." Sol briefly shimmered away, reappearing a few moments later. "Ground it first, then the limbs, lastly the head."

Link cocked his head in confusion. "Come again?"

"Sol, come on! Master wants us back home soon." The red fairy smiled at the party before vanishing with her brother, leaving them to wonder what was meant by Sol's words.

End Chapter 26


Anri- Master! Are you alright?!

Sol- (checks) He's fine, just unconscious… I think all that work he had got the best of him…

Anri- Yeah… let's get him up to his room to rest, he's supposed to meet Lady Aria and Sir Primagen tomorrow.

Sol- Yeah, I know. I'll Egress him upstairs, you wrap up the update (shimmers away with RCM)

Anri- As you all plainly saw, Master's exhausted. In fact, he's been busy that he barely had time to get this chapter together. Since the workload is only going to get worse for the next few weeks, I don't imagine he'll have another update ready until maybe early November… I have a feeling you probably don't like to hear that, but I know he wants to keep this going as steadily as possible. Once his college situation and marching band is out of the way…

Sol- (calling from upstairs) Anri, can you help me heal Master? I'm running low on magic.

Anri- Be right up! We hope you enjoyed this installment. For those of you who were looking forward to it, the Dark Mages will make their appearance in only 2 chapters! See you all later!