The Legend of Zelda: The Guardian of Sages

Chapter Nine: Playing With Fire

A door opens in the front room of the Fire Temple. Carrie then pops her head out and looks around. She then opens the door wider and walks in, "All clear...."

Link follows from behind, "Alright then..."

Carrie sighs, "Thank God....no Fire Keese...."

Link looks around and smiles, "Nope. No Fire Keese."

Carrie and Link then walk across the landing in the front room towards the other door on the otherside. There was a silver lock on the door. Link then opens it with the key he had recieved from the Goron's cell. Link then opened the door and went in first. Carrie then follows close behind. Inside the next room was a giant room with lava, a large bridge going across the room, and ledges upon the small lake of fire. Carrie then looks to their left and sees a rock ledge on the very edge of the rock walls of the temple. She then jumps down and began to carefully walk along the edges, with her back against the wall. Link's eyes widened, "Carrie? Where are you going??"

Carrie kept on sliding herself towards the otherside, "Just follow me."

Link sighs and then jumps onto the ledge, beginning to follow behind. Carrie and Link then walk across the ledge, avoiding the lava beside them. After a few minutes or so, they see a ledge with a door. They both then climb onto it and look around. Carrie then runs to the door and opens it. Link then follows. On the otherside was a big hallway made from bumpy rocks. Torches were lit on the walls at every few feet or so. They run towards the end and see another cell with a Goron in it. Link then saw a yellow switch on the floor. Link then stomped on it. The cell then opened. The Goron then sits up and stares at the two. Carrie and Link then go up to him. The Goron then blinks his eyes, "Are you releasing me? Am I free to go?"

Carrie nods, "Yes, you are. We're here to help."

The Goron smiles, "Well then.....here's a secret for saving me! A wall that you can destroy with the Goron's "special crop" will sound different than a regular wall if you hit it with your sword."

Link's eyes widened, "Alright. We will keep that in mind."

The Goron then runs off, "Thank you!"

Carrie sighs, "There's two that's free."

Link looks to see another chest, "Hey....there's another chest..."

Carrie smiles, "Well, open it..."

Link then walks up to the chest, "Alright..."

Another silver key was found inside the chest. Link then pockets the key, "Let's move on."

Carrie then heads back to the door, "Okay..."

Link then goes on ahead. They open the door and re-enter the fire filled room. Carrie then takes a few steps and turns around. She looks up and sees another blue block, like in the Forest Temple, on top of a ledge above the door they just came through. She points, "There..."

Link goes beside her and looks up as well. He then says, "Another one....okay then."

He then gets out his ocarina and then plays the Song of Time. A blue light then surrounds the blue block. It then fades and then fades back into view in place of the door they came out of. Link then puts his ocarina away and climbs up the block. He then turns and squats down, holding his hand out to Carrie. She then looks at his hand and then at him. She then grabs it tight. Link then pulls her up. Link then takes a step back as Carrie fell into him. Carrie backs away, "Sorry...."

Link smiles widely, "Don't be..."

He then turns around, away from Carrie, to see another door on top of the ledge they were on. The two then go up to the door. Link then opens it. Carrie and Link then go through the door. On the otherside was a big room, made from green tiles. Carrie then looks across the room and sees a blob-like thing, moving back and forth. Carrie gasps, "Oh...no....I hate those things!"

Navi finally comes out, analyzing the creature. Navi then says, "It's a Like Like..."

Carrie sighs, "I already know what it is....I was just saying I hate those things!"

Link then says, "Don't worry....I'll fight it off."

Link then gets his sword and shield out. Carrie then says, "No! Together..."

Link's eyes widened as he looked at her. He then nods with a smile, "Together...."

Carrie smiles back as she then draws out her Dragon Sword. Suddenly, a swift, spinning sound was heard. Carrie's eyes widened a bit. Link gasps, "Carrie! Look out!"

He then dives in front of her and blocks an attack with his shield. A big bump was heard as the attack bounced off of Link's shield. Carrie looks to see tiles floating off from the floor and fly at them. Carrie gasps and hits one away with her sword. Link then blocks off two more tiles. Carrie then slices another one in two with her sword. Link then runs to Carrie and blocks another tile. Carrie jumps back and ducks, allowing another tile to smash into the wall behind her. Link then blocks one last tile. No more were flying at them. Carrie sighs, "Now for the Like Like."

Link then stands and begins to walk towards the Like Like. It then slides over towards Carrie and Link. Carrie then grips her sword, bracing herself. Link then lunges forward, slicing the Like Like, "Hah!"

Link then jumps back, dodging the Like Like's grasp. Carrie then runs forward and stabs the Like Like, "Yah!!"

The Like Like then slides forward and opens it's wide mouth. Before Carrie knew it, the Like Like then swallowed her. Carrie gasped, "G-guh.....aaaahhhhh!!!"

Link's eyes widened, "Carrie!!"

The Like Like then spits Carrie out, causing her to fly back onto the ground. Carrie screams before landing with a big thud on the ground. She felt as if the wind was knocked from her. Link runs to her, "Carrie! Are you alright?!"

Carrie sits up and grunts in pain, "I...I think so....."

Carrie then sees that her sword and cloak was gone. Carrie gasps and jumps to her feet. Link's eyes widened, "Your sword and cloak!!"

Carrie growls in anger, "That son of a bitch!!!"

Link's eyes widened as he let out a huge gasp, "Carrie! Such words......"

Carrie growls more, "I don't care!! I'm pissed off!!!!!"

She then runs at the Like Like, "Gaaaaaaaaahh!!!"

Link gasps, "Carrie! Don't!!"

Her Light Bracelet then glows in reaction to Carrie's anger. Carrie then waves her wrist and then blasts a whole beam of light at the Like Like. It then explodes and fades into sparkles and light. Carrie's sword and cloak then drop to the ground. She then begins to breathe heavily as she picks up her sword. She then sheathes it and then picks up her cloak. She then puts it on and lets out a sigh of relief. Link then walks up to Carrie, not believing what he had just witnessed. He then takes a deep breath and asks, "You.......you feel better?"

Carrie takes one last breath and nods, "Y-yeah......I do...."

Link nods, "I'm glad..."

Carrie felt a small wave of exhaustion take her under. She then sighs once again, "Let's go, there's nothing in here."

Carrie then turns around and begins to head towards the door they just came through. Link then follows along as he puts his sword and shield away. Carrie then opens the door and goes through it, with Link right behind her. They were now back in the fire filled room. Carrie then jumps down off the ledge. Link follows behind and does the same.

Carrie takes a deep breath and begins to run really fast, using her Wolf Claw. She then jumps from a square platform, to a very small rock island, and then jumps onto a ramp made from a log. She then walks up it and turns a left. She then jumps onto another square platform and runs onto a moving platform. She stands on it and jumps forward and lands onto another ledge. Carrie takes a breath, realizing how fast she went. Carrie turns and sees Link still standing on the otherside of the room. She called over, "Come on, Link!!"

Link's jaw dropped, not believing the speed he witnessed from Carrie. He then sighs and jumps forward onto a square platform. It then begins to sink into the lava. Link gasps, "Uh-oh!"

He then jumps forward onto the small rock island. A Fire Bubble then jumps out of the lava, nearly hitting Link. He takes a step back, "Woah!"

He then jumps down, running on top of the thin lava floor. Link's eyes widened, surprised that the tunic was protecting him from being burned. He then keeps running and goes onto another rock floor. He then runs up a log ramp and turns left, looking down at another square platform. He then jumps down. Again, the platform began to sink into the lava. He gasps and jumps forward onto the moving platform.

Carrie sighs and crosses her arms, finding Link too slow. Link then leaps up and grabs onto the edge where Carrie was standing on. Carrie then squats down and grabs his wrist, pulling him up. Link pulls on Carrie's arm, helping himself up as well as she was. Link then stands in front of Carrie, "Thanks..."

Carrie says before turning away, "Don't mention it...."

Carrie then walks towards a small part of the wall, covered in gold tiles. Link looks at it, "Hmm..."

He then gets his sword out and taps at the tiled wall. It sounded odd, with a light clank. Link then turns to Carrie, "It's hollow!"

Carrie laughs and says sarcastically, "No....really?"

Link then says, "That means something's on the otherside. I'm gonna blow it up!"

Carrie then says, "Yeah, you do that."

Carrie then jumps down from the ledge and onto a rock one. She then trips, "Gah!"

She was inches away from being in the lava face first. Her eyes widened. A Fire Bubble then jumps up and almost hits her. She pushes herself up on her feet, "Ah!"

Link on the other hand, was setting up a bomb. He then lit it. He then ran and jumped down from the ledge. He then sees the Fire Bubble almost hit Carrie. He sighs, "Geez....I can't turn my back for one second without you being in danger...."

Carrie then says, "I didn't mean to. I tripped. A rarity for me really."

Link sighs and shakes his head, chuckling, "What am I to do with you?"

Carrie smirks, "Anything you want?"

Link's eyes widened. Carrie laughs, "It's a joke. People in my world do that all the time."

Link raises an eyebrow, "Ohh....."

Just then, a boom was heard. Carrie and Link then climb up the ledge to see an opening where the tiled wall use to be. Carrie then runs in and sees another door. Link follows behind. Carrie then opens the door as the two go inside. On the otherside was a bumpy rocked hallway. Dead ahead was another cell with a Goron inside. Carrie then runs and jumps onto the yellow switch. The cell then opened. Link then runs up to the Goron as it said, "Are you releasing me? Am I free to go?"

Link nods, "Yes. We are here to rescue you and the others."

Carrie sighs, "So far, all of them had the same reaction...."

Carrie then thought, "Then again....they all do....just give different advice...."

The Goron then said, "I'll tell you a secret for saving me! There are switches in this temple that you have to cut to activate. But, you can also use the Goron 'special crop' to do the job."

With that, the Goron runs off, "Thank you!"

Carrie says, "You're welcome."

Link then sees another chest inside the cell. He then opens it. Inside was another silver key. He then pockets it with his other key. Link then says, "Let's go..."

Carrie nods, "Okay."

Link then leads the way out the door, once again going back into the fire filled room. Carrie comes behind Link. She then runs passed him and jumps off the ledge to their right. She then runs fast along the edge near the wall. She then runs up another log ramp. She then comes across a door with a silver lock. She looks to see the wooden bridge that lead to the door they entered the room through in the first place. Carrie turns and sees Link a little ways, running to catch up. He goes up to her huffing and puffing, "You....you really gotta stop doing that....or at least warn me before hand...."

Carrie chuckles, "It's not my fault you're slow."

Link then crosses his arms, "Uhh.....I'm sorry if not all of us has a necklace that can make us run at top speed."

Carrie chuckles more, "I'm sorry......I'll keep the warning thing in mind, okay?"

Link sighs and uncrosses his arms, "Thank you...."

Carrie winks at him with a smile, "Now open this door."

Link smiles, "Alright."

Link then gets out a silver key and unlocks the door. He then opens it and goes inside, with Carrie behind him. On the otherside of the door was a big room with a very high ceiling. There was a log ramp leading downwards with a square opening. The rest of the room had a big wall of fencing made from a metal substance. On the otherside of the fence was a small hole in the middle. A big flame shot up from it like a rocket's flame. Carrie then looks up. Link does the same, "Climb?"

Carrie nods, "Yeah..."

Link then smiles, "Okay then."

He then walks ahead and allows himself to slide down the log ramp. He then runs through the opening and sees two giant pillars, similar to greek. Link then looks up and begins to climb up the fence. Carrie then slides down the log as well. Carrie then runs to the fence wall and looks up, watching Link climb higher and higher. Carrie smirks and shouts, "Warning!!"

Link looks down, "What?"

Carrie then leaps herself up as high as she could. She then goes up to Link's level and grabs onto the fence. She then began to climb up higher than Link. Carrie chuckles, looking down at Link, who's jaw was dropped. Carrie smirks, "You said warn you..."

Link sighs and shakes his head. Carrie then looks up and keeps climbing. Link then follows along. Above them was a bridge made from the same substance as the fencing. Carrie then pulls herself up onto the bridge. She sighs in relief and looks down to see Link catching up. As soon as Link put a hand on the ledge, Carrie then grabbed his wrist and began to pull him up. Once Link was up, Carrie lets go of his wrist. Carrie and Link then smile at one another. Carrie then looks to see two Keese sitting on the bridge. Carrie and Link then look at one another and then back at the Keese. Carrie then holds her wrist out while Link pointed his Hookshot. At the same time, Carrie shot light at one while Link shot his Hookshot at the other. Both Keese made a loud squeak and faded. Carrie and Link then smirk and then look at one another. Carrie then turns and looks down, seeing a gold platform with a gold block with a face on it. Carrie then jumped down onto the block and then onto the platform. Link then followed behind Carrie. Link then says, pointing at the gold block, "Do we push this thing?"

Carrie nods, "Yeah, we do."

Link then said, "Alright then."

Carrie and Link then push themselves into the block, making it move. The block began to slide towards the edge. Finally, the block then falls off the ledge and lands onto the hole that shot the flames in the air. Carrie then says, "Quick!"

She then jumps down off the ledge onto the block. Link does the same and lands behind her. Carrie turns around and looks at Link. He then says, "What are we expecting?"

Just then, the block shot up into the air from the flame in the hole. Link gasps a little from being startled. Carrie chuckles as they go up higher and higher. They then go into a square hole in the ceiling. The block then stops at the very top, which was a very small room. Carrie and Link then walk off the block onto the tiled floor. The block then falls back down like a small elevator. Carrie then says, "That's what we were expecting."

Link chuckles and shakes his head. Carrie and Link then look ahead of them. Right in front of them was another locked door. Link then unlocked it with his last key. The two then go through the door. On the otherside was another room with green tiles. They both saw another cell before them. Link looks around, "Where's the switch?"

Carrie then says, "On the otherside of the cell...."

Link then asks, "How do we get there?"

Carrie replies, "We go around....but it requires going up."

Link then says, "What do you mean?"

Carrie sighs, "Follow me...."

Carrie then walks on ahead. She makes a left, where big ledges were seen into a form of a very big and spread out stairway. Carrie then climbs the first ledge. Her eyes widened at what was in front of her. It was a red and flat-like blob crawling around, on fire. Carrie whispers to herself, "Torch Slug...."

Link then climbs up behind her. He looks to see the foe before Carrie. Link then says, "Allow me..."

He then draws his sword and shield. He then jumps forward and slices the Torch Slug. It made a small squeak sound. The fire on the slug then goes out. It was now grey and brownish. It ran about, trying to get away from Link. He jumps to its side and stabs it. Another squeak was heard as it ran about even more. Link then stabs it one last time before it faded away. Link then sheathes his sword and then puts his shield away. Link turns and smiles at Carrie, "There..."

Carrie smiles and crosses her arms, "Are you trying to impress me?"

Link then says, "Not really.....just doing what I usually do......vanquishing enemies."

Carrie nods as she uncrosses her arms, "I see. Just making sure."

Link gives Carrie a sly smile, "Do you want me to impress you?"

Carrie chuckles, "Not really. You've done more than enough to impress me already."

Link chuckles, "Like what?"

Carrie turns away, "Let's just move."

As Carrie went to climb the next ledge, Link then goes behind her, "Come on....tell me."

Carrie then climbs up, "No.....don't wanna."

Link chuckles, "Oh, come now. You don't have to be shy around me."

Carrie looks down and smirks slyly, "Maybe later...."

Link shakes his head, "Fine.....after we get through this then."

Carrie then says, "Okay. That sounds fair."

Link then climbs up the ledge and stands beside Carrie. Another Torch Slug was in front of them. Carrie looks to Link, mocking him, "Allow me..."

Carrie then looks at the Torch Slug. She then powers up her Light Bracelet. She then points her wrist at the Torch Slug. She then blasts a big beam of light at the slug, demolishing it. A loud squeak was heard and it faded from one hit. Link's eyes widened, "Geez.....when you fight a foe, you overkill on them!"

Carrie smirks, "Damn right. You better remember that."

Link nods, "I'll keep that in mind."

Carrie smirks at Link once more and then walks on ahead. Carrie then looks to her right, seeing another ledge across the room with a crystal and a big block. Carrie points to it, "There."

Link nods, understanding what she meant. Carrie then backs up a few paces, "Warning..."

Carrie then runs really fast and jumps across, making the jump on the ledge. Link's eyes widened, still not believing the speed. He sighs and then backs up a few paces as well. Link then runs and jumps across to the ledge. He then lands on the very edge. Link then waves his arms in a circle, almost falling backwards, "W-woah!!"

Carrie gasps and grabs him by the shirt, pulling him back towards her. Link then stumbles forward, causing Carrie to back into a wall. Link then lands against Carrie. Link puts his palms on the wall and looks down at Carrie, who was looking up at him wide eyed. Link's eyes widened at the closeness between himself and Carrie.

Carrie finally spoke, "You okay?"

Link nods and whispers, "Yeah..."

Carrie swallows, suddenly feeling more warm than before, aside from the heat in the temple. Carrie then says, "L-let's move the block...."

Link nods, "Okay."

Link finally turns away from Carrie, releasing her from the wall. Carrie and Link then put themselves against the block and began to push. The block began to slide. They kept on pushing the block until it fell off the ledge. Carrie sighs, "There."

Carrie then jumped down on the block and then to the floor. Link then followed right behind. Carrie then grabs the block, as did Link. The two began to pull. They both let out a deep grunt from the weight. They kept on pulling until the block couldn't be pulled anymore. Carrie and Link began to breath heavily. After regaining breath, Carrie then climbed the block and jumped to her right, landing on another ledge. Link did the same, only this time he didn't lose balance. To their left was a fence-like substance on the wall, clearly for climbing. Carrie and Link then began to climb it. Once they've reached the top, there was two ledges that looked like big stairs. Carrie then went to the smallest ledge, "Link....at the top....there should be a circle of fire."

Link then climbs up on the bigger ledge at the very top. Link then saw a circle of fire blocking a metal fence for climbing. He then says, "Yes....I see it."

Carrie then nods, "Good....stay by there. As soon as the fire is gone.....climb up!"

Link then says, "What about you?"

Carrie then says, "Don't worry....I'll catch up."

Link sighs, not liking the idea. He finally says, "Okay...."

Carrie then looks down, seeing the crystal from before. It was almost like a diamond, standing on a grey steel, triangular stand. She then jumps down and looks at the crystal. She then blasts it with her Light Bracelet. A clinging sound was heard.

Link saw the circle of fire disappear. He then ran to the metal fence as fast as he could and began to climb.

Carrie then took a deep breath and jumped up, landing on the above ledge. She then jumped again and lands on the top ledge. She then ran really fast to the metal fence. She then looks up, seeing Link halfway up. She then crouches down, shouting, "Warning!!"

She then springs herself in the air and grabs onto the fencing, landing next to Link. His eyes widened when Carrie was beside him. Carrie winks at him, "Told ya I'd catch up."

Just then, the circle of fire then reappeared again. Link then smiles, shaking his head, "What am I to do with you?"

Carrie smiles and then looks up, "Let's start by climbing."

The two then continue their climb up. Once they've reached the top, it was nothing but green tiled wall and ceiling. Carrie looks to their right and sees a ledge. Carrie and Link then began to climb to the sides. They finally let go and allow themselves to land onto the green tiled ledge. There was another door, only this time it wasn't locked. Carrie then opens it and goes inside, followed by Link. On the otherside was a big, faded gold, tiled wall with a woodland-like face. The room was gigantic in size and width. Carrie's eyes widened, "Th-the maze!"

Link raises an eyebrow, "A maze?"

Carrie nods, "Yes. Here, we have to be careful. Around some of these corners are big boulders that could easily hit us. Just follow my lead."

Link then says, "Alright then."

Carrie then runs to the left near the nearest tiled wall. Link follows along. Carrie stops as Link bumps into her. A big boulder just went passed them. Carrie then continues on, turning right. Carrie and Link then keep running, passing a small covered opening that had nothing inside. They keep running ahead, passing rectangular pillars. Carrie's eyes widened as she saw a boulder begin to chase them. She shouts, "RUN FASTER!!"

Link's eyes widened as he saw the boulder too. He then runs faster. As the boulder was about to hit the two, Carrie then rams herself into Link, causing them to fly to their right. They fall onto the ground, landing between two pillars.

Link opens his eyes, trying to snap out of it from Carrie's tackle. His eyes widened when he found Carrie was on top of him. Carrie then lifts herself a little, grunting in pain. Link's eyes widened more, "Carrie? Are you alright?"

Carrie looks down at him and nods, "Yeah. I will be. Are you alright?"

Link says, "Yeah. Just trying to get over the impact from your tackle."

Carrie smiles and chuckles a little, "Sorry. It was the only thing I could think of to get us out of the way of that boulder."

Link smiles, "Well.......I won't argue with the results."

Carrie's eyes widened when she realized she was still on top of Link. She gasps and stands up quickly, "S-sorry..."

Carrie then sticks her hand out for Link. He then sits up and smiles, "Don't sweat it."

He then grabs Carrie's hand as she helped him up to his feet. Carrie sighs, trying to prevent herself from blushing, "Let's just go before something else happens."

Carrie looks around from the corners, making sure no more boulders came their way. They then sprint straight ahead, avoiding another boulder. The two then run passed a locked door. They kept on running. Another boulder came tumbling in front of the two. Link's eyes widened, "Look out!!!!"

He then shoves into Carrie, causing the two to go against the nearest wall. The boulder went passed them, barely hitting them. Carrie's eyes widened when Link was right up against her. Link smiles again, "Now we're even."

Carrie smirks, "Not by a longshot, pal."

She then slides herself out from between the wall and Link's chest. Link smiles, thinking of Carrie's last remark. He then runs to catch up to Carrie. They run passed another boulder and then run another right, passed a really long pillar. They ran around it and then took a left. They ran around another pillar and saw another opening that was covered. They go under it and see a yellow switch. Carrie then stomps on it. A cell in front of them opens. The Goron gets up and looks at the two with widened eyes. Link then goes up to it. The Goron then says, "Are you releasing me? Am I free to go?"

Link nods, "Yes. We are here to rescue you."

The Goron smiles, "I'll tell you a secret for saving me! In this temple, there are doors that fall down when you try to open them. When one of these doors start to fall, move! If you use a sample of the Goron 'special crop', you can break it....."

The Goron then runs off, "Thanks!"

Carrie smiles, "No problem."

Link then opens the chest to find another key. He then pockets it, "Which way now?"

Carrie looks around the corners, "Follow me."

Carrie then runs out of the cover and goes passed another boulder. Link runs right behind her. They take a right just after a boulder went passed them. They follow the wall and keep running. They take another right and go inside another cover. Carrie grunts, "Not here....."

Carrie then runs back out and goes back a few paces. She then takes a right, with Link right behind her. She then takes a right and runs straight ahead. She sees a cover with a brown door. Carrie smiles, "There!"

Carrie and Link then go to the door and open it. On the otherside was another hallway, made from the bumpiest of rocks. There was another cell inside. Link then sees the yellow switch and stomps on it. The cell then opens up. The Goron inside looks and sees the two as it stood up. Carrie then walks up to it. The Goron finally spoke, "Are you releasing me? Am I free to go?"

Carrie sighs, "Like we told your other friends.....yes!"

The Goron smiles, "Let me tell you a secret as a reward for releasing me! When you are on fire, you can put it out by swinging your sword, or by rolling forward....Did you know that?"

Carrie nods, "Uhh....yeah. Stop, drop, and roll?"

The Goron then runs off, "Thank you!"

Link smiles, "You're welcome!"

With that, Carrie opens the chest and grabs the key inside. The two then run back into the maze, finding the next door to unlock....