It was hot. So very, very hot. Sweat was pouring down his face, his back, his legs. He wiped his brow and looked with tired, bleary eyes around the vermin infested Dodongo's Cavern. He'd been in this hellhole for three days already, finding small nooks and crannies in which to wedge himself to sleep. He had burns all over, either from lava or from steam or from fire keese that came wheeling downward to bowl him over.

Damn these Gorons. Couldn't they learn to eat other rocks?

He pushed the damp hair back from his forehead and trundled on. There had to be some way through that gigantic door. The bars went up whenever he hit the floor lever. He looked around the cavern and in the far corner he saw a heavy cube, like so many others that were randomly strewn about this dungeon. He moved towards it, taking the time to kick aside the dead body of a keese, still smoking from just recently being extinguished, and moved along.

"Damn it all!" he yelled out in rage and frustration.

The cube wouldn't move. It was wedged. He paused, looked around the cavern again and found a wall that was short enough for his to climb. Perhaps there was a way for him to go around and push it out.

After another three hour detour, several more scratches, and another two scathing, itching, painful burns, Link found the backside of the cube. He leaned against it, breathing hard and warily. His arms shook from exhaustion and he slipped forward, turning and sliding down, back against the cube. Tears welled in his eyes and spilled over onto his cheeks, refreshingly cool.

"What do I do, Navi?" he whispered in a harsh voice. "What do I do?"

Navi looked at her friend, pity and sadness in her eyes. She flew close to his face and gave a comforting smile.

"Close your eyes, Link," she said in her twinkling, sweet voice. "I will help you."

Link, tears still streaming silently down his cheeks, did as he was told and closed his eyes. Navi did the same, whispering something under her breath and then shot off. She formed circles around the half-dead boy, sparkles emanating around him. The weariness began to subside, the pain to dull slightly. His head cleared, the tears stopped, and he found he didn't need to struggle to breathe. He opened his eyes.

"Navi? What did you do?" he asked, looking for his friend.

He jerked into action as he found his tiny partner sitting on the ground by his shoe, her light dimmer than ever before. He picked her up and held her to his face. She was drawing in breaths laboriously and she was obviously exhausted, but she gave a thin smile.

"What did you do?" he asked again, on the verge of hysteria.

"Do you feel… better now?" she asked in a breathy voice.

He looked at her fondly. "You gave me your strength." She said nothing, she just let herself mold into the curves of his hand. "Thank you, friend. Now rest."

Link gently put her into one of his pouches and she didn't object. He got to his feet and began pushing the block again. It took his another two hours to finish pulling the block into place and finally, at long last, it slid into place perfectly. He heard the loud, long-awaited "click" of the lever being depressed and the steel bars over the great iron 

door slid up. Catching his breath for a moment, he then headed towards the door and slid it open.

It was a barren room. There was nothing here, nothing but a small, Goron work trunk in the corner full of bombs. He refilled his sack, then looked around confused. There had to be something in here. He crossed the room again… and stopped.

He thudded his foot down hard. The sound was different here, hollow. And when he looked he saw a crack in the mud floor. Then he picked up on the square outline of something that had been filled in recently. Or at least, more recently than the rest of the floor. Without depleting his own stock, he set a bomb on the center of the floor, just over the crack and ran for cover.

There was a gigantic bang and when the smoke cleared there was a rough square hole in the floor. Steam rose from it ominously. Link inched closer, stood at the edge and peered in. Below, a pretty far ways down, was a packed, trodden dirt floor. He leaned further forward to try to see more… and lost his footing.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

He lunged out with his arms and his fingers clung to the side of the hole, his body dangling into the void. He felt his grip weaken, felt his fingers lose their grip and slip, and then felt warm, fetid air rushing over him as he fell with an unearthly scream. He landed on his left foot mostly and there was a tremendous jarring pain as he slammed into the dirt. He moaned, eyes closed tightly, then rolled onto his side and picked himself up slowly. He was at least glad that he hadn't fallen into the previously unseen pit of lava next to him. That's where the steam had come from.

There was a sharp pain whenever he put pressure on his left leg. The foul wind blew over him again. He began to flex his arm out, trying to see if it was okay. The noxious wind once again blew at him from behind. He stopped suddenly.

This was a closed cavern. There was nowhere for the wind to blow through. So why was there…?

Link turned slowly and almost swallowed his tongue. He came face to face with the gigantic, scaly, disgusting face of an enormous, ancient reptile. At that moment, Navi flew from her pouch to see what all the commotion was. She gasped and hovered beside Link.

"That's…" she said, swallowed and tried again. "That's King Dodongo. I wasn't aware that he was still alive. I guess that no one ever really made it back to tell the good news."

Link gulped. The monster snorted, then threw his head back and gave an ear shattering roar into the hot, still air. Kind Dodongo took a step towards him, the ground shaking. Link backed up and let out a yell as he almost collapsed on his left foot. The ancient lizard opened his mouth and began sucking in a vast amount of air.

Think! What do you do?

A thought clicked and Link fumbled for his bomb sack. He pulled one out, tore off the wick, and threw it with all his force into the gaping maw of the reptile king. The beast swallowed it whole, then stopped what he was doing as it caught in his throat. There was a muffled "BOOM!" and black smoke escaped from the monster's ferocious jaws. King Dodongo collapsed with a gurgle. Link took his chance and, ignoring the pain, stepped forward, sword in hand, and hacked at the beast with all his might.



After a couple of hits, the reptile struggled to his feet, curled into a ball, and began to try to pummel him. Link braced himself tightly against the cavern wall and felt the beast roll past.

It was a ferocious battle. King Dodongo managed to land a couple of hits on the boy, almost breaking him in two. Blood was seeping out of the gaping wounds on Link's body, he was burnt worse than ever, but in the end, the boy managed to get the better of the dumb beast. After four bombs, the bones of his throat shattered and the monster couldn't draw any air from his lungs. In a stupor and a dying daze, he curled one last time and wobbled feebly into the pit of lava. The beast cried out in fury and pain as his body melted away. And suddenly, there was a burst of cold, wonderful air that blew through the whole cavern, airing it out. The evil had been expelled. The lava pit cooled, now holding the remaining portion of head and claws as a trophy.

Link sighed, collapsing against one of the rock walls, buried his head in his dirty, bloodstained hands, and cried.