Two in one day...that hasn't happened in a while. So anyhow, here's chapter 18. R&R
The Legend of Midna: Clockwork Darkness
Chapter Eighteen
Eoghan could feel himself falling, but there was nothing he could do to steady himself; it was too late. He could hear his sister calling after him, could feel her fingers curl around his ankle, but as soon as they had closed they were gone. All he could hear now was the air rushing past him. As soon as it had all begun, he found himself in a dark dungeon-like place.
Hello, Eoghan, rang an all too familiar voice in Eoghan's head.
"What the hell do you want?" Eoghan demanded aloud.
I like you, Zagros' voice said in Eoghan's mind. You're a go-getter. That's why I designed this little test for you. I want to see what you're made of. You've got a sword and a shield, and you're a pretty good fighter. I want to see how well you can use those skills when it comes down to life or death. Have fun…
"What a bastard," Eoghan sighed. He could barely see anything, but what he could see was that he was alone here, wherever he was. "Well, let's see what he's got planned, then."
Eoghan set forth down a long, dimly lit corridor. The light that did come in to the corridor was red and fluctuating, which created a sickening sensation in conjunction with the shadows that crept through the passage. Every so often there would be a burst of red light, and Eoghan could plainly see long broad smears along the walls.
"I bet I know what that is," he said to himself.
He continued on down the corridor, his hand on the pommel of his sword ready to draw at any moment, when finally he came upon a portcullis. A crank mechanism was set into the wall just to his left.
"Thank gods," he said aloud. "Now maybe I can get this over with." He turned the crank and raised the portcullis enough that he could get through the opening.
He stepped through, and the corridor gave way to open air. The sight he was met with was sickening. He was standing at the edge of what appeared to be an arena of sorts, but the stone walls of the arena were broken and crumbling, the relic of some lost civilization. The sky overhead was blood red. The bloody sand of the arena floor was littered with corpses, some the victims of gruesome deaths. More than one body was impaled on enormous spikes. They brought to mind images of some demon waiting just beneath the arena floor, waiting to rise up and devour him, and those spikes were its horns. Finally, after taking a moment to absorb all that he could see, Eoghan steeled himself and stepped forward into the middle of the arena.
He drew his sword, knowing that some unknown adversary would come soon enough. Then, from his right, another portcullis opened and a band of five armored lizalfos charged at him. He steeled himself behind his shield, ready for the impending blow. The first of the gang leapt and brought its sword down hard onto Eoghan's shield. He deflected the blow and had just enough time to give the lizalfos a hard kick in the midsection before turning to block a strike from another of the beasts. The first lizalfos was still reeling from the kick he had given it, and so he took the opportunity to plunge the Gilded Sword into its heart. Seeing their leader downed, the other lizalfos began a relentless assault against Eoghan. After a long and hard battle, the last of the lizalfos fell dead at Eoghan's feet. However, Eoghan was not unharmed. He had taken a nasty stab to the inside of the thigh, where the protection of his tassets was nil. Before he'd really even had a chance to catch his breath, another portcullis on the opposite side of the arena opened.
That was pretty good, Zagros' voice echoed in Eoghan's mind. Let's see how you do against this. Out of this portcullis came a Darknut flanked by two Iron Knuckles.
"You've got to be kidding," Eoghan sighed exasperatedly. He heaved his sword up and readied himself for the assault.
This fight was not nearly as easy as his last, even though he had fewer opponents this time. Each time he tried to get near enough to strike the Darknut, he would be forced to retreat or else be cleaved in half by one of the Iron Knuckle's massive axes. After a few minutes of playing cat-and-mouse with the three armored behemoths, something caught Eoghan's eye. Up on an outcropping above the portcullis he had used to enter the arena was a tuft of leaves that could only belong to one kind of plant. It was just out of reach, unless…
"I've got to be out of mind," Eoghan said aloud. He then did something that most would consider clinically insane; he allowed an Iron Knuckle the opportunity to deliver a chop with its axe. At the last minute he dove out of the way, causing the axe blade to become stuck in the ground. Knowing that time was everything, he ran up the Iron Knuckle's arm and climbed across its broad shoulders. Before they had realized what had happened, he had run across the Darknut and the other Iron Knuckle's bodies, which put him high enough in the air to make it to his goal. Without thinking, he dove off of the Iron Knuckle, pushing off of its helmet with his foot. He barely made the jump, but he was able to grab hold of the outcropping and pulled himself up.
"Gotcha, bitches," he declared triumphantly. He gave the plant a great heave, and, with difficulty, pulled the bomb flower from where it was rooted. He pitched it at his opponents, and it exploded, causing pieces of armor to fall off of all three of them. He repeated the process each time another bomb returned to its flower, until the Iron Knuckles were reduced to scrap heaps and the Darknut was unarmored. It cast its massive sword aside and drew a smaller one from its hip sheath.
"Now you're mine!" Eoghan cried. He quickly drew Link's clawshot and launched it at the Darknut, knocking it off balance. As it reeled, he picked the Gilded Sword back up, leapt from his perch, and swung the blade. As his feet touched the ground, so did the Darknut's severed head.
You're good, boy, Zagros said inside Eoghan's head, but you've still got one more test to face.
"Bring it on, bitch," Eoghan answered aloud. Just then, a final portcullis opened at the opposite end of the arena from where he stood. He readied himself for whatever it was that was coming for him. Finally he saw his final adversary; it appeared as a man, but its body was made of steel and bronze gears. In its clawed hands it carried a pole with two curved blades attached to either end.
The mechanical man rushed at Eoghan with much more speed than he thought should be possible for something as large as it was. Once it was upon him, it looked to be somewhere around seven feet tall, and it must have been immensely heavy considering it was made entirely out of metal. It brought one end of its pole weapon down in an arc with such speed that Eoghan barely had time to block it. He staggered backwards, having been thrown off balance by the force of the blow, but then was forced to the ground as the mechanical man brought the other end square into his back. Maintaining his presence of mind, Eoghan rolled between the machine's legs and jammed his sword through its pelvis. It faltered for a moment, but then its entire upper body whirled around to face him. It then swung its weapon upward, knocking him off his feet and tossing him through the air.
"Damn!" Eoghan said to himself. The machine then began to advance on him, walking backwards with as much fluidity as it did forwards.
"There's got to be something," Eoghan thought as the mechanical monster advanced. Then a thought occurred to him. The man's joints were all made of clockwork; gears controlled all its movement. "I sure hope this works," he thought. He set his sword aside and drew the clawshot once more. He aimed, and as the machine raised its weapon high, ready to finish him off, he fired the clawshot. The claws sunk into the machine's chest, and as it recoiled back to its default position, the chest plate covering the man's inner workings was torn off. Not wasting any time, Eoghan reached for something disposable. His fingers closed around a bone that was lying nearby, and with it in his grasp he forced himself off of the ground and jammed the bone into the machines exposed inner gears. It sputtered and whirred, jerked around for a moment, and then finally fell before him. Eoghan gathered his gear, spat on the machine's face, and then left the arena through the gate the machine had used.
"Now on to find the others," Eoghan said to himself. He made his way through another corridor, like the one he had gone through before, until finally he came to a door just like the one that had brought him here in the first place.
Without hesitation, Eoghan stepped forward.