Chapter 7: A Puzzling Situation
Link, his instincts honed to perfection from evading death by the narrowest of margins a few hundred times, didn't take long to realize the implications of this discovery. All of Kakariko's defenses, what little was left of them, were concentrated against attack from Hyrule Field and, if the monsters in the graveyard attacked, the village would be overrun in short order.
"Then let's get in there and deal with them before they cause any real trouble," Link quickly advised. "If they get out, it's over."
"Right. But listen, my powers can't tell us exactly what we'll be up against," Kelli warned. "We must be careful."
"Got it. Just one thing. How are we going to get up there?"
"…Good question."
"Hmm…" Link contemplated, bringing his hand to his chin. "Ah! I have an idea. I'll give you a boost, then you can pull me up."
"Alright, I'll try."
With that, they quickly approached the rise. Link then kneeled to allow Kelli to climb atop his shoulders and then stood up so she could reach the top of the small cliff. Grasping the edge of the cliff, and praying to all the Goddesses that it didn't crumble in her grasp, Kelli swung one leg over the lip of the plateau and hoisted herself up. She then flattened herself against the rock and reached a hand toward Link. Link quickly grabbed it as if it and, as if walking up the cliff face, he and Kelli worked together to get him over the ledge and up to the cave's entrance.
"That worked out better than I thought," Kelli commented, rolling her shoulder to relieve some minor cramps. "We should do this more often when we have to climb walls like these."
"You got that right," Link agreed with a smile. "Though you were only pulling half my weight, that's still quite a bit considering my shield and other equipment. Good job!"
"Ah, it was nothing. Let's get moving though. There's no telling when the monsters in there will decide to make a move on the village. Also, there's one thing I forgot to tell you…"
"What's that?" Link wondered, raising his eyebrow as the pair began entering the cave.
"While I can indeed sense the presence of these monsters, they can also detect me."
"Now you tell me…"
"But hey, that's only if they decide to use that ability. Plus, it's only the sun monsters that can do it anyway. The moon monsters, thankfully, cannot. Though both do tend to work together, much like the Sky Guardians do…"
"You said I was destined to be a Guardian of the Moon, right?" Link recalled, to which Kelli nodded. "Could they sense my presence too?"
"What, getting cold feet?" Kelli jibed, snickering at Link's scowl. "Well, you don't have the Moon Sword or the Moon Shield yet, so no."
"That could help us," Link noted. "They'll know you're here, but since they can't detect me, I can take them by surprise."
Before Kelli could reply, however, they were startled by the grinding sound of rock moving against rock. At first, Link feared that part of the tunnel had given way and was about to come crashing down on them, but soon saw the situation was even worse. A slab of rock descended over the cave entrance, sealing them in. The ground slightly trembled as gasps escaped both Link's and Kelli's mouths. Even in the dim light of the torches lining the walls, both adventurers could tell that they could not hope to dislodge the obstacle.
"Oh that's just terrific!" Link blurted. "I did not plan on getting trapped in here!"
"Who would?" Kelli replied rhetorically. "But anyway, look there."
Link soon turned his attention to where Kelli was pointing. Before them, six stone slabs, resembling doors, were built into the wall. Each one had a strange rune carved above it, with no two runes being the same.
"I don't like the looks of this," Link murmured. "I can't read any of these runes, but I'm guessing that if the monsters were going to use this place to launch attacks on Kakariko, one of them has to lead out."
"Yeah, but which one?" Kelli wondered. "We already found one booby trap and some of these doors likely lead to others."
"My thoughts exactly. I don't think the monsters just carved this place out; I think it was prepared for them in advance by whoever's been enhancing them. I doubt the monsters would bother with booby traps when they're so strong in a straight fight. Maybe we should split up so we don't both fall into a trap?"
"Too risky," Kelli decided. "If we stick together, we can probably handle whatever we run into. I think we should go single-file though. That way, if one of us does fall into a trap, the other can get them out."
"Good idea. I'll take point. Which way are we going though?"
"How about we take turns choosing doors?"
"…Well, alright. It's really all we can do, I guess. Who chooses first?"
"Doesn't matter to me. You go ahead."
Link nodded and contemplated his decision. He had six doors to choose from, which didn't exactly thrill him if, indeed, five of them led to booby traps or dead ends or the lurking monsters. Link had no idea how many monsters might be inside the cave but, with his luck, it was probably quite a few. What's more, Link was certain that the runes above the door had to denote which door led where. If the enemy was planning to use this cave as a defensible rallying place for the monsters, then it stood to reason that the enemy would want to make sure the monsters didn't fall into the cave's traps. However, the runes made no sense to Link. They took the form of bizarre shapes and angles which left him bewildered. He simply sighed, knowing there was no way he'd decipher them without some sort of clue to their meaning.
"Eh, I'll just go from left to right, so let's start with the door on the far left," Link decided.
"Alright then. I'll just go with the door next to it if it happens to be the wrong way," Kelli replied, her brow furrowing in concentration. "Though to be honest, something is oddly familiar about those runes up there. But I just can't figure it out."
"Huh… Perhaps as we work on this, it'll come to you."
"I hope so. We're on the enemy's turf here and we'll need all the help we can get."
With that, the pair proceeded through the door on the far left. At their approach, it slid up into the ceiling with a most unpleasant grinding sound. However, instead of being brought closer to the cave's exit, the pair found themselves in a fairly small chamber. All it contained besides a few torches resting in wall sconces was a sarcophagus set against the back wall. Before either Link or Kelli could take another step, however, the door ground shut behind them while the sarcophagus slowly creaked open. A misty cloud of darkness was revealed within, menacing and impenetrable. Before either adventurer could react, dark tentacles suddenly shot out of the cloud. Link and Kelli were each seized by the waist in a grip of iron and then yanked clean off their feet into the dark mist. The pair soon blacked out, only to awaken moments later to find themselves on the ground in the first chamber. Kelli quickly scrambled to her feet.
"See, I told you this crazy place probably had traps!" she blurted. "We were just lucky that trap wasn't the kind that kills you."
"Yeah, that was kinda freaky though," Link replied, standing up and brushing himself off and then his jaw dropping in alarm. "Aw, say it ain't so!"
"Huh?"
"The runes! They've changed places! Well this certainly makes things easier!" Link exclaimed sarcastically, pointing to the new arrangement of the runes above the doors.
"Ugh… Hey, why don't we keep going through the same door until it becomes the correct one then?"
"Sigh… Well, what have we got to lose?"
With that, the pair proceeded through the door on the far left once more. This time, luck had been with them and they were led to another chamber containing six doors with one rune inscribed above each. The door ground shut behind them, leaving them no choice but to move forward once more. Kelli then chose the next door, the one on the far right, hoping she and Link would get lucky once more. The pair sighed nervously as they entered. Before they could even take in their new surroundings, misfortune struck once again. More grinding sounds were heard and the pair followed the sound to see the floor dividing in half to slide out from under them, revealing a seemingly bottomless chasm below. Cries from both warriors echoed off the walls as they hurtled into the darkness, blacking out once more.
The two awoke once more on the floor of a chamber containing six doors. Once his vision became clear, Link glanced behind him and shook his head in astonishment. There was no door, only a wall of rock.
"Aw man…!"
"What's wrong?" Kelli inquired, rather nervously.
"We're back where we started!"
"What?"
Kelli quickly turned her attention to the wall behind her.
"Curses… You're right. At this rate, we'll never get out of here," she opined.
"Well, we have to!" Link snarled. "We'll likely starve if we can't get out quickly. Besides, Hyrule needs us."
"I know… This is really troubling."
"Yeah, the only good thing is that we haven't run into any monsters yet."
"True. They must be hiding deep within the cave. I doubt they know we're here though. I think they'd rather fight us than let us stumble around like this."
"Probably. There's gotta be something we can do to get past these traps."
Kelli fully agreed. Both warriors returned their attention to the runes inscribed above each door, certain there had to be some way to decipher their meaning. They were sure now that they were related to the solution of the puzzle. However, Kelli still could not recall where she might have seen or even heard of such bizarre inscriptions before. Unfortunately, Link appeared to be even more befuddled than she was, his brow furrowed in perplexity and his hands massaging at what Kelli suspected was a roaring headache. He soon brought his hand to his hair and scratched his head, utterly at a loss, but then something caught Kelli's eye. Her gaze darted back and forth between Link's hand and the rune above the middle door and soon realized that his hand had taken on a shape similar to the rune. It was then that the answer hit her like a bolt of lightning.
"Link! I've got it! I remember now!" Kelli gasped. "Judo can help us!"
"Wha…? But he isn't even here," Link pointed out, raising one eyebrow in confusion.
"I know, but I remembered something he told me a long time ago which gives me an idea."
"Well, don't keep it to yourself!"
"Alright, just hold your horses. Anyway, Judo used to tell me about the stories his mother often told him in her spare time. One of them was about a powerful Hylian mage. The mage had a lot of enemies, or he was just very paranoid, Judo wasn't very clear on that point, so he devised a unique means of protecting his home. It was called Manu Propria."
"Man what?"
"Manu Propria. In an ancient tongue, it means 'with one's own hand.' It's a system that's meant confuse and scare off trespassers who might try to break into a place such as a fort or supply unit. All it took to activate was a spell known as the Multum in Parvo, or 'much from little.' The monsters must have either learned the mage's spell or somehow recreated it."
Kelli continued to explain that Manu Propria, as the translated name implied, was a spell dependent on hand gestures. The basis for the system was a set of corridors lined with chambers leading to the actual fort or supply chamber was the basis for the system. Each chamber held six doors, five of which that led to traps while the sixth led to the next room. Each door had runes inscribed above them. Their shapes represented hand gestures which were required to manipulate the enchanted doors. If one desired to reach the fort or supply chamber, they would have to use their hands to recreate the runes above the doors in the correct order. Each rune that was imitated correctly and in the proper order would then glow white while an error would cause it to glow red. The act of imitating the runes, the Multum in Parvo, would, if performed correctly, cause the doors leading to the trap rooms to vanish leaving only the door leading onward.
"So, you can beat this place by just flexing your fingers?" Link asked, surprised. "Huh, that is 'much from little.'"
"Rather like what comes out of that head of yours," Kelli replied with a smirk.
"Yeah, just like...hey, did you just insult me?" Link realized, his tone suggesting that he thought so.
"I wouldn't dream of it," Kelli replied, smiling like a Kokiri trying to con someone out of a basket of sweet rolls.
Link wasn't convinced, but Kelli went on regardless by telling him that if a person entered a trap room for whatever reason, they would be sent back to the first chamber and both the runes above the doors and the order they had to be presented in would be rearranged.
"Oh, and one more thing. If we get the order wrong, then it'll set off another trap. Not the kind we've run into so far but something like bombs magically flying out of the runes above the doors," Kelli finished. "No doubt the case will be the same here, but since the rune will glow red, we'll have some warning."
"I see. It'll probably still take time to reach the end of the cave, but at least we now know how to get through this place."
"Precisely. Now, I'll try to crack the first code to give you a demonstration."
Link nodded and watched as Kelli began working her hands and fingers to take the shapes of the door runes. The first one she chose, the one above the far right door, glowed white. However, the second rune she tried glowed red. Remembering what Kelli had told him, Link brought up his sword and shield in time to meet a flock of Keese that seemingly erupted from nowhere.
"Blast! This cave's Man whatever is rigged to conjure monsters if you get it wrong!" Link exclaimed, nearly stumbling backwards as he dodged a swooping Keese.
"No wonder I detected so much of their energy in here," Kelli realized. "The runes are infused with that energy. Link, you deal with the Keese while I figure out this code."
"Like I have a choice? Just don't mess up this time!"
Keese flew and dove so fast that they seemed to blur from sheer speed. Link's sword did likewise, cutting the bat-like creatures to ribbons while Kelli continued to reproduce the runes with her hands. Of course, this was complicated because her trial-and-error work conjured more and more Keese. It was fortunate that Link ate Keese for breakfast and that one strike of the Great Fairy Sword's large blade could cleave half a dozen of them in two with one slash. Although, he did wonder how long he'd be able to hold out before the Keese wore him down through sheer numbers. Thankfully, Kelli had finally produced the correct code minutes later and the doors leading to the trap rooms disappeared. Only one door, which led onward, remained.
"Finally!" Kelli exclaimed with eagerness. "Let's go. I have a feeling the monsters we face will gradually get tougher as we move on, so be prepared."
"Wonderful."
The pair lost no time entering the door and moving on to the next chamber. As expected, the room looked nearly identical to the one they'd just left behind. Once again, they faced a room with six doors, each one with a rune inscribed above them. However, the runes were different this time around, implying that the proper order was different as well. Link, not particularly thrilled at the notion of getting swarmed by Keese again, turned to Kelli once the pair came to a halt.
"How about I give it a shot this time?"
"Good idea. We'll take turns so that whoever holds off the monsters before has a chance to recover," Kelli agreed, drawing her blade. With that, Link set to work, shaping his hands and fingers into the shapes of the runes as Kelli had demonstrated in the last chamber. However, the first one he had attempted glowed red. Knowing what this meant, Kelli brought up her blade and let her gaze roam the chamber to find her opponent. Sure enough, a trio of Stalchildren shimmered into existence. Link and Kelli were soon gritting their teeth in shock, Link in particular recalling his near miss with these creatures in the Death Forest.
"Oh boy…" Kelli uttered.
"Well don't just stand there!" Link retorted.
"Alright, alright, geez…"
With that, the two picked up where they left off. Kelli drove her blade into the first Stalchild she approached. Though a pair of Stalchildren like these had nearly beaten Link in the Death Forest, they were creatures of the moon and Kelli's Sun Sword gave her a clear advantage. Her first thrust lobbed off her attacker's claw and her following strike cut it to pieces. Just as Link had managed to discern the first two correct runes, however, the creature's skull came hurtling towards his forehead, hitting him squarely and knocking him backwards to the floor.
"OW! Come on! Watch it!"
"Oops… Hee hee, sorry about that!" Kelli replied, a grin forming on her face. She had to admit the act was funny as she watched Link clamber to his feet, slightly dizzy from the blow, while rubbing his forehead. However, the trance was broken when a Stalchild's arm swung towards her head. Kelli, luckily, had caught wind of it in time to duck and launch her foot behind her into the creature. Being dead, the Stalchild didn't find such an attack particularly painful, but the impact of the blow sent it staggering and gave Kelli the time she needed to bring her sword back to the ready. Before she could strike, however, Link caused another rune to glow red. Blast… she thought, irritated, as a new trio of Stalchildren shimmered into existence. Link grimaced, hoping he wouldn't end up creating an army of them, and continued working on the code.
Thankfully, Kelli managed to destroy all four of them before Link could cause more to appear. Though these enhanced Stalchildren were swifter and their attacks more powerful, the creatures were still as fragile as ever. Link's third attempt to decipher the code was successful and, by which time, Kelli only had two opponents remaining. Link quickly aided her in finishing them off so no time was wasted, and swiftly swung his blade into one of the Stalchildren.
"Man, this is nuts…" he opined moments later, breaking the silence. "I'm going to go crazy if I run into another Man whatever spell after this."
"Tell me about it. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be surprised if those monsters did use it elsewhere," Kelli replied, sheathing her sword and shield. "Either this cave is an important rally point or they're hiding something valuable in here. I don't see why else it would have such heavy defenses. Luckily for us though, the Manu Propria's inventor was never able to make it create more than six main chambers. Still, I can't guarantee the monsters couldn't either."
"S-S-SIX?" Link very nearly blurted.
"Oh come on, that's not a lot."
"Yeah, but the idea of having to go through even one more of these things sickens me, let alone four!"
"I guess, but be glad you're not alone. It would be harder to get through if I wasn't with you. Now let's go before we waste anymore time."
"Alright, alright…"
From then on, the two repeated the process, taking turns cracking the codes of each of the cave's main chambers. As Kelli had surmised, the enemies had indeed grown deadlier with every room. The third chamber produced two Wolfos each time the incorrect rune was shown while the fourth yielded two Lizalfos. The fifth room, however, was quite unique. Instead of a group or pair of one enemy, this room's runes released one Stalfos and one White Wolfos every time they were incorrectly mimicked. The sixth, and hopefully final chamber been ensorcelled in a similar, but deadlier fashion. Its runes produced three Lizalfos using Wolfos as mounts, which were the very same enemies that pursued Link and Kelli after they'd first met.
This chamber was indeed the most challenging one yet and Link prayed it would be the final room as he worked to decipher its code. Kelli was also relieved that she took the liberty of battling the Lizalfos Knights, since it was another enemy Link was not very familiar with, especially since his skills were still not on par with her own. This soon led to another train of thought as Kelli downed the first Lizalfos Knight by using a spin attack to eliminate the Wolfos and then leaping into the air to plunge her blade into the gut of the Lizalfos once it crashed to the ground. Link would need to learn more techniques if he was to prevail in this quest and she was just the person to instruct him.
Unfortunately, by the time Kelli managed to destroy another Lizalfos Knight, Link had discovered an incorrect rune and another trio of enemies had been summoned. Kelli's eye twitched as she frantically began looking for a solution to the situation. Within moments, she shook her head, as Link made yet another trio appear after his next attempt at the code.
"Oh man…" Link uttered, eyes wide with disbelief at how badly outnumbered the monsters had the pair.
"Curses! There's only one way to deal with these guys and I don't like it," Kelli opined. "Link, duck to the floor and stay down there until I say it's safe to come up."
"What?"
"Trust me. You'll thank me for this later."
"Alright, if you say so."
With that, Link flattened himself against the floor and Kelli thrust her sword out behind her. She began focusing power in her blade while the Lizalfos Knights, as if sensing what she was planning, charged towards her. They were half a second too slow. Her blade soon glowed a vicious golden color while sparks showered from both edges, the irises of her eyes fading into the same color. Just as the Lizalfos Knights approached her, she unleashed her attack and threw herself into a spin attack. However, this was no ordinary spin attack. It surpassed a normal spin attack the way the Master Sword surpassed a rusty kitchen knife. And that was a stupefying margin.
"What in Hyrule—?" Link gasped as he watched Kelli's attack carry her through several full spins while a golden beam encircled her and carved every Lizalfos Knight to pieces. Kelli at first seemed to have spun so fast that she blurred to invisibility, but Link suddenly realized his eyes must've been fooled by all the light, for she did not move very fast during this incredible attack. Judging from the dead monsters, however, it was fast enough. Once she finally came to a complete stop, she constantly staggered backwards and forwards, which made Link suddenly aware of how dizzy he was after that display.
"Kel! Dang, what was that all about?" Link inquired, bolting to catch Kelli and help her regain her balance.
"It was the ultimate technique of the Sky Guardians," Kelli explained. "The Hurricane Spin. I hate using it though, because it makes me really dizzy and vulnerable, as you can see. Plus, you have to practically be at full strength to use it. If you're injured, feeling exhausted, and things like that, then you can't focus enough power in your sword. I was lucky enough to be able to use it at all."
"Yeah, I bet," Link agreed, allowing Kelli to lean on him until she felt she could stand up on her own again. "Kinda doubt doing it on a full stomach works either. Still, it looks like just the trick if things get ugly."
"True. I feel alright now, so let's move on."
"Good. Man, I hope I get it right this time..."
With that, Link made a final attempt to decipher the rune code. Much to his and Kelli's relief, each rune finally glowed white. Five of the doors vanished, leaving only the one leading forward.
"Yes!" Link blurted, raising a fist. "That door better be an exit, or so help me, I'll go ballistic."
With that, the green-clad hero bolted for the door.
"Hey! Wait up!" Kelli called, racing after him.
The two reached the other side of the door within moments. However, Link came to a sudden halt moments later while Kelli came plowing into his back. Before she could say anything, however, she realized why Link had stopped so abruptly. The room they were now in did not contain anymore doors or runes. Instead, standing before them was a pair of Dinolfos led by an Armosaur carrying an enormous sword. Behind them were two treasure chests sitting atop a raised platform.
"Curses…" Link uttered, gritting his teeth. "I should've known."
"Yeah well, it's better than that Manu Propria business," Kelli pointed out.
"Point well taken."
"Anyway, leave the Armosaur to me. The ones who carry swords like that are tougher than their lance-wielding brethren. I'll help with the Dinolfos when I can."
"Sounds good to me."
With that, the pair charged towards the monstrous trio. Kelli clashed blades with the Armosaur while Link sidestepped the Dinolfos' fiery breath. He quickly launched himself into a forward roll that carried him behind the pair. Link then sprang to his feet and, in the same motion, performed a spin attack which raked his blade across both of their backsides. Heh, that wasn't a bad move, he thought, a smile forming on his face. I think I'll call it the roll attack. Kelli, meanwhile, was hard pressed by the Armosaur and finally had to give in to its superior strength by playing dirty. She rammed her foot into its gut, feeling certain she'd sprained a few toes in the process, but the blow had thrown her enemy off balance. She followed up with a stab to its side.
As Link rolled away from the Dinolfos' counterattack, he realized that the pair was still standing shoulder to shoulder and that the Armosaur was just beyond them. All three monsters were lined up as straight as an arrow's flight. The analogy giving him an idea, he smiled confidently and produced his Guardian's Bow. Moving quickly, lest the enemy realize his intent and scatter, he maneuvered until he was adjacent to the monsters, and readied an arrow on it before the creatures could return to their senses. Kelli almost immediately figured out his strategy and darted out of the way. The monsters soon looked up to see Link aiming straight for them with a newly powered up arrow and shooting them a cocky grin.
"Bye!" Link blurted and launched the arrow straight for their hearts. It soared through the Armosaur's armor and flesh first. Once it burst out of its back, the arrow pierced through both Dinolfos as if they were made of thin parchment and continued to fly until its arrowhead became embedded in the rocky wall behind the beasts. Link couldn't help but chuckle with delight as all three monsters remained frozen where they stood for a single second and then collapsed to the floor in near perfect unison. Kelli shook her head upon witnessing this act.
"Link… Wow. I have to admit, you're more skilled than I'd given you credit for," she complimented.
"Heh, thanks," Link replied, rather proudly. "You're still better, though. …Hm?"
Before Kelli could respond, small blocks of wood emerged from the wall near the platform to form a rough staircase, allowing the pair to proceed to the treasure chests.
"Ah, excellent," Kelli commented. "Whatever is in there must be valuable if the monsters were protecting it so well."
With this, Link could not disagree. The pair had gone through quite a challenge in the previous chamber alone, much less the entire cave. They agreed to open one chest each, both wondering if perhaps Elemental Jewels were inside. To their disappointment, however, neither chest housed one.
"Geez, all of this for mere bomb bags?" Kelli opined once she saw the contents of both chests.
"Yeah, I was expecting more than that too," Link added, his tone slightly dejected. "But hey, at least with these, we can get up Death Mountain again."
"True. I'm getting the sense though that this cave wasn't a rally point like we thought, though. I think it might've been a munitions storehouse. It looks empty now but I suspect there were plenty of bombs in here before they were used…" Kelli contemplated. However, her words soon trailed off and turned into a strangled gasp.
"What's the matter?" Link quickly inquired.
"Lon Lon Ranch!" Kelli blurted angrily. "And Castle Town! This must be how those fiends leveled them!"
"Whaaat?"
"I'm not kidding either!"
"Well then, we've got to get the heck out of here! They must be stopped! And, let's see if we can use these to give them a taste of their own medicine."
"Indeed! Oh wait… Link, look around…"
It didn't take long for Link to scan the entire room and discover that not a single door was in sight.
"GAAH! You mean to tell me after all we've been through WE'RE STILL TRAPPED?"
"Now hold on, one of these walls could be bombable," Kelli pointed out. "Let's start hitting them and see if any sound different than normal."
"Ah, right."
The pair made no hesitation to begin striking the rocky walls with the blades of their swords in hopes one would emit a telltale, hollow sound. Thankfully, the wall to the left of the platform rang hollow when Link's blade struck it.
"Bingo. This better be a way out, or I will feel the need to strangle something," Link opined, his words causing Navi to shiver since she knew her friend was not stupid enough to try strangling Kelli. The bomb Link set in front of the wall managed to blow it open and reveal a short tunnel. Thankfully, it wasn't empty. Faintly visible on the other side was a ladder leading towards the surface. The adventurers' attention, however was drawn to what looked like a small cage at its base. Link and Kelli quickly bolted through the tunnel, eager to investigate this strange find. Kelli soon halted in her tracks once she saw what was in the cage, another gasp escaping her mouth as her lower jaw plummeted earthwards. Navi followed by halting just as abruptly and remaining frozen where she hovered. Link could almost see why. Within the cage hovered another guardian fairy that looked exactly like Navi, only this one was a light purple color rather than bluish white. Link could only assume that both his friends somehow knew this imprisoned fairy, and his suspicion was confirmed moments later when Kelli and Navi shouted at the same time.
"Vira!"
