(Edit 06/02/18: fixed grammar!)
Chapter Twelve
The first indicator that Link and the Hylians were getting close to the fiery land where Eldin volcano stood was the sweltering heat the warriors now walked in. A stark contrast to leaping among the trees, the men now walked slowly, dragging their heels slightly. They were used to the cool temperatures of the forest, so being suddenly flung into this environment had caused them to be overheated massivly. Link had made sure they stopped frequently to rest and to drink plenty of water, but as he knew from experience there was nothing that could be done for the inhumane heat. Goddess, he wished for his heatshield earrings right now. If only he hadn't packaged them up and stored them safely away when they moved from Skyloft to the Surface.
"Link!" Finlaay called. Even with the intense heat, the young Hylian was still extremely energetic. He was just like a puppy; excitable, loyal, but a little bit clumsy. He came bounding up to his leader, and Link groaned just from the sheer thought of trying to run in this heat.
"What's up, Finlaay?" Link asked, wiping his forehead for what felt like the millionth time. His fringe was now so slick with perspiration it hung around his face in rat's tails. It felt extremely gross, and Link couldn't wait to get home and shower.
"Apart from the land in the sky?" He responded with a cheeky smile. Link grinned, appreciating Finlaay's joke. Finlaay waved his hand mock-apologetically. "Sorry, bad joke. I just wanted to let you know that the crew that continued ahead have reached the foot of the volcano. So we should arrive at the top sometime tomorrow."
"Thank you, Finn," Link smiled fondly at him, and Finn grinned back. It felt strange to be treated with so much respect by the boy, they were really about the same age. He shook his head, and wondered if it was weirder for the other men and the knights back home to be told what to do by someone younger than them.
Maybe Harley would make a better commander.
As night began to fall, the Hylians found a place to settle for the night about a quarter of the way up the volcano. Even without the sun, the air was still so humid so the men decided to forgo tents and just sleep out in the open, relishing in the small amount of cold breeze that flitted past every so often. At some point, Link woke up from his sleep. His dreams were never really restful, not after everything he had seen. But tonight, he didn't dream of anything. It unsettled him greatly. Realizing that he was the only one awake, and that it was a long time until sunrise, Link got up and moved to the edge of the camp, sitting on a ledge that looked out over the moon-lit burning wastelands.
He sighed deeply. Link missed his family so very much; He longed to hold Zelda in his arms, to kiss little Aria on the forehead and to spin Eric around before enveloping him in a hug. Link was well-aware that he hadn't been there for a lot of his children's early years. He regretted it now more than ever. His job and being loyal to his men had always come above his family, and now he realized how wrong he had been to think like that. Zelda had been there for him more than his men had. She had believed in him nearly all his life, taken care of him, loved him, bared his children and kissed him at the altar. His men were his family also, but it was only now, as he sat here, surrounded by near-strangers, he realized his real family should come first.
"Are you alright, Link?" a voice asked him softly, cutting through his line of thought. Link started, and turned to find Finlaay approaching him through the dark. Link sighed in relief.
"I guess so," he replied, rubbing his face with his hands. Finlaay motioned to the space next to where Link sat, silently asking if he could join him. Link welcomed him to sit with a wave of his arm.
"It's really hot, isn't it?" Finn exhaled, trying to start a conversation. "It's so hot, I couldn't sleep." Link nodded in agreement.
"It is. I've been here before, so I should've warned everyone."
"You've been here before?" Finn spun on him, awe shining in his eyes. "But I thought you lived up in the sky?"
"It's a long story," Link shook his head, not quite sure if he wanted to pour his heart out just yet. "It's one hell of a long, crazy story."
"I've got time," Finn encouraged, "I mean, it's not like the sun is going to rise anytime soon, and everyone else is sound asleep."
"It really is a crazy story," Link tried to avoid talking about it again "You wouldn't believe me."
"I've lived my entire life under the ground taking orders from people in cloaks who speak with their minds," Finn tried again to encourage Link "I'm pretty sure I can listen to whatever you have to say."
Link sighed, realizing Finn wouldn't give up. He took a second, and then started.
"At the time, I was sixteen," Link started "Me and my best friend, a girl whom I had been crushing on for years, had just admitted our undying love for each other, and she became my girlfriend. We spent the night together,"
Finn blushed bright red, and Link saw it even through the moonlight. He laughed a bit.
"But, then she fell off of her Loftwing, and fell down to the surface. I was determined to get her back. That was when I became the Hero of legend. That's leaving a bit out, of course."
"What's a Loftwing?" Finn asked suddenly, his head slightly cocked. Link waved his hand as if it was the silliest question he'd ever heard.
"It's a big bird we use to get around the island. Well, used to. Most people who live up on the island still do, but that's not the point. I came down to the surface to find my girlfriend. But, when I did, it turned out she was the goddess reborn; and also she'd gotten pregnant from our night together."
"You have a kid?" Finn piped up. Link nodded.
"Two, actually. Twins. But I'll get to that in a bit." He sighed, trying to remember where he had been up to. "I travelled around all three of the districts, trying to find her and bring her home. I fought monster after monster, and when I finally thought I had her, she went into some sort of coma. It nearly broke my heart. But, when she finally awakened, an even worse evil tried to take her from me again. This time I did very nearly lose her. But, everything turned out okay in the end, and she actually gave birth down here on the surface, to my beautiful children, Eric and Aria."
"That is pretty crazy," Finn agreed. "What happened after that?"
"I was actually terrified of what her father would say!" Link laughed "No-one knew she was pregnant except me and a few of her friends. I expected her father to be absolutely livid, so I convinced Zelda to stay down on the surface with me."
"Zelda's a pretty name," Finn nodded. "Did you know it's actually a Hylian name? We spell it S-E-L-D-A-A."
"That's interesting," Link was slightly taken aback by this, but not really surprised. Headmaster Gaepora probably took it from one of the books he had. "She spells it Z-E-L-D-A, though. But anyway, we eventually went back up to the sky, and her father was actually not as mad as I thought. He did tell me I had to marry her, but I was going to ask for Zelda's hand anyway, so I wasn't bothered. And yeah, we got married."
"So you're not only a father, but a husband! That's so cool. I wish I could get married to my beautiful Joole. You may have seen her around; she works down in the washing room doing laundry for everyone. I met her when I was late putting out my washing so I took it down myself. She has beautiful red hair, it's so striking."
"I think I have met her," Link thought back to when Faale had taken him through the endless tunnels to see the Elders. She had been there, washing clothes in big buckets. "But you'll get to marry her one day. I plan to be successful in the quest, and when we return triumphant, surely that will be enough to convince the Elders you can marry?"
"I'm sure it will be," Finlaay grinned "Gosh, what I wouldn't give to be able to hold her right now."
"I can understand that feeling." Link sighed in agreement.
As the sun rose, they set off again to the summit of the volcano. Sometime mid-morning, they finally reached the top. Everyone was glad for a rest, and to drink more water. If the Hylians plus Link had thought it was hot at the bottom of the volcano, no words could describe the heat that enrobed them now. It was nearly unbearable.
"Right," Link slapped his legs and stood up once everyone had recuperated, "Now we just need to find this necklace, and leave this forsaken place. Everyone, start looking for anything that looks suspicious. Could be an out of place rock, a randomly placed ledge, who knows."
The men nodded compliantly, and began their task. Link looked as well, searching for something that would hopefully give them a clue as to what to do next. He knew from his previous experiences that it would be the most unlikely thing that would let them progress; and they would realize how obvious it was afterwards and feel silly.
"Link, we've got something!" one of the men shouted. Well, that really hadn't taken long. Link walked over, and the warrior showed him the ground. In the brick work, there was a large circular stone, surrounded by more stones that faced outward.
"Good job," Link congratulated the man, giving him a respectful pat on the back. Instinctively, Link stood on the circular stone. It clicked downwards, and the outwards-facing stones began to glow. One by one, they began to drop away into the ground, each one stopping a little further down that the last to form a circular stairwell into the earth below. The warriors watched on in awe.
"That was pretty cool!" Finlaay breathed, and Link smiled at him. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by an ear-splitting screech from the sky above them. A cry went up, and the men covered their ears in pain. Link looked up, and to his shock and horror a huge bird flew across the sky, nothing like he'd ever seen before. It looked nothing like the Loftwings from back home; the bird had deep black feathers that glistened like oil in the sun. Link couldn't make out any other features, but what he did see was something in the bird's monstrous talons.
The bird dropped the thing it was carrying, and as it smashed to the ground a little way across from the men, it was clear that the bird was not a symbol of peace. A Stalfos rose up from the ground where it had been dropped, brandishing its swords, ready for a fight.
Link need not say a word to his new men; in fact, he stepped back and let them take the fight. It had been made clear to Link from the start that even though he was their leader, they had a very specific way of fighting, one that Link had not been trained in. It seemed that when he tried to help, he just got in the way. He wasn't used to the dance these men performed.
They took down then Stalfos with much ease; but then it wasn't so difficult when you knew how to do it. If you waited and watched, there was a time when the Stalfos moved its swords so you could strike between them. That was when to attack. You just had to be patient.
"What was that thing?" Dariil asked, his breathing slightly laboured.
"A Stalfos," Link explained, his own breath hitching, not from exertion but from the fear of what a Stalfos meant. "They are the re-animated bodies of long-dead warriors." he was extremely concerned not only at the return of evil to this world, but at the fact they now seemed to be tracking them. Both those things were not good.
There were a few mutters, but Dariil hushed everyone and pointed to the staircase.
"Are we going down or not?" He asked. Link, who had forgotten about the staircase in the fight, snapped back into it and nodded furiously.
"Yes," he replied, moving towards the staircase, "Let's go."
In the first chamber of the dungeon, a river of lava flowed freely from one side of the room to the other. They could see the door that would lead them to the next room on the other side of the river. There was no obvious way to get across.
After a few moments looking, one of the men pointed to a suspicious looking gem across the chamber on the other side past the lava river. The gem seemed to represent an eye, and in turn a bullseye used on their archery boards back home. He explained this to Link, and how he thought they should shoot and arrow at it. Link encouraged him to do so, remembered as he explained that he had done that a few times. But hey, he couldn't remember everything he had done over the months he had searched high and low for his beloved Zelda.
As encouraged, the warrior took out his bow and arrow, and shot the gem straight in the centre. The ground shook, and a bridge rumbled up through the lava down the middle of the river.
A triumphant cry went up, and the warriors moved across the bridge. As the last one stepped off of it though, a monster popped up to the surface of the lava. Link saw it first, and recognized it as a Sprume; they spat poison energy balls at their opponents, paralysing them. Link saw the Sprume swell up in preparation to attack.
"Look out!" He called, and the men looked round in confusion. Link tried to pull his shield off of his back to deflect the ball, but it was too late. It struck one of the men, and he dropped to the floor.
"What the hell!" Another of the men shouted. Link kept his attention the Sprume, and when it swelled up to attack again, he was ready. It spat a ball of energy at him, and Link easily blocked it with his shield, sending it straight back towards the monster. It hit it dead on, and the monster evaporated into a cloud of black smoke, dissipating just as quickly as it had arrived.
"Is he going to be okay?" Dariil asked. Link nodded reassuringly.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine. It's just a paralysation, it should wear off in about half an hour. Quicker, if you have medicine."
The medic of the group stepped up, and began to tend to the injured Hylian. Link and the others pressed on, eager to finish this quest. They moved quickly through the tunnels, surprisingly not finding any more enemies on their way. Eventually, they came to a very large room.
From Link's experience, he expected this to be the 'boss' room. Entering with caution, he scoped around the room, confirming there was no other ways in or out, meaning that this had to be the end of the dungeon, and the place where he would fight the biggest monster.
Yet, nothing happened. No monsters fell from the ceiling, nor rose up from the ground. It was all very suspicious.
"Link?" Dariil asked "What do we do now?"
"This is the end of the dungeon," Link said "There should be a monster, stronger than the Stalfos outside, in here that we have to defeat," he paused. "I'm not quite sure where it is, though."
The men walked around the room, trying to trigger something that would force the monster Link expected to be there to come out of hiding. Yet, still nothing.
It was then that one of the men stood on a tile that shifted under his weight. He cried out in surprise, alerting Link to it. The room began to shake, and the wall to the far side of the group began to fall away in the middle. Link readied his weapon, as did the others, ready to fight whatever came charging out. But as the dust settled, still nothing appeared.
Link moved towards the door, and was horrified to see what lay inside. Bones. Whatever monster had been lying in wait for them was long-dead. And interestingly enough, not turned into the black smoke which happened with all the other monsters. It was suspicious. Extremely suspicious.
Link moved closer, and a glint from the neck bone of the monster caught his eye. Investigating, he found it was a golden chain, on which hung a fat gem. It shone red in the light from the torches.
The first item had been found.
Thank you very much for reading!
I have a question for you all: Do you prefer long chapters or short chapters? I prefer shorter chapters since I get to an end point and I don't want to continue, but that's just me.
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