The cave was exactly as Link had remembered it; Hot, humid, and smelling of dead lizard. He slid down the rock wall leading into the chambers without a hitch, landing on the ground with a thud. He looked around with a feeling of nostalgia.
The cave had a very high roof, and two layers. The bottom layer, the one Link currently resided on, had what appeared to be four doorways. Most of them were locked, it seemed, but it was no worry to Link. He had done this before.
The second layer was the same, except for the long rope bridge that connected the two sides, in which locked doors lined the walls of both. The front of a giant lizard lined the back wall, with its large law trapped shut. It has to open eventually, though. Link knew this.
The dungeon wouldn't take long, Link had a fantastic memory and he had been through the caverns once before. A sweat ran down Link's face.
"This place is hotter than I remember." Link looked down at the lava moat that surrounded the inner platform. "I guess it makes sense, though." Link looked around.
"I'm talking to myself." He sighed. "Let's get this over with."
Link had mapped the dungeon perfectly in his mind, but his young body was still significantly over-worked when he reached the final room of the caves. It was the hottest place in the entire cavern formation, as a giant lake of magma centered the large square room. Link landed roughly on his feet after a long fall, and the ground began to rumble.
"Here we go, a fight worthy of my time." Link readjusted his newly acquired bomb bag on the side of his waist. "Come on out, you freaky lizard beast." The floor suddenly stopped vibrating, and the boss did not appear. Link grew confused, and as he looked around, a deep voice rang from an apparent nothingness.
"You, boy, are probably the most interesting specimen I have studied in my extensive travels. However hard I try to phase you, you stay stuck to one pathetic goal. Even after I stained your fleshy appearance with concentrated darkness, you marched along this beaten path. Impressive, yet fruitless."
Link reached a hand up to the 'darkness' that was spreading on his face. Anger boiled in him. He wanted to meet this guy, and give him a taste of his sword.
"That, however, is different. The anger you feel now? It's quite interesting."
Link frantically searched the empty room for a source of the familiar voice. Nothing.
"Not interesting enough, though. You bore me, child. I have no more purpose for you to live in this world. Begone with your life." The voice vanished, and with that came more trembling. The beast had finally arrived.
Link prepped his sword, and smiled as he took a charging stance. He thought this would be a relatively easy fight, as he had already memorized the boss patterns and attacks. Something felt different, though. The lizard, instead of jumping on to the rock in front of Link, he crawled out of the lava as if he were fighting against something. When he finally dragged himself out, he collapsed onto the ground, seemingly unconscious.
"Is it over? Really? That was awfully boring." Link replaced the sword in its scabbard, and walked over to the seemingly dead beast. He poked its nose gently. No response. "Ah, I guess you are dead. Oh well, I was looking forward to a fight." Link began to walk away.
"THAT WOULDN'T BE ANY FUN, WOULD IT? YOU'RE STILL NOT DEAD!" Link froze, and turned around with a look of shock. The beast had regained its footing and was a foot away from Link, breathing heavily into his face. It let out a blood curdling roar, and large boulders fell from the ceiling. Link ran for his life, and barely grabbed his hat as he jumped behind one of the boulders at an unnatural speed. Navi flew around Link's head frantically.
"Link! How are you supposed to beat this thing? It's been supercharged by that being that just talked to you. I can feel it's demonic power, it's the same as that voice!"
"Why haven't you said ANYTHING before now?" Link screamed.
"I was scared!"
"This is just like last year's Christmas party..." Link shivered at the thought of the party disaster. That wasn't the point, however, as a demonic lizard beast was still searching for him. "Navi I need you too peek over this boulder and tell me where the beast is." Navi nodded an flew over the large rock.
"It's at the opposite side of the room. If you ran left and hid quickly, I'm sure it wouldn't be able to find you." Link nodded, and as Navi hid back under his hat, he quickly dashed to his left, until he reached the next corner of the room and hid behind another rock.
"Navi, listen." Navi flew out of Links hat and looked at him with determination. "Okay, good. I'm going to cut a hole in that thing and dive into it." Navi's eyes grew wide.
"What? Are you crazy?
"No, hear me out, I plant three bombs right next to his heart. "
"Why three?"
"It's the most I can place if I don't want to be blown to shreds." Navi looked extremely worried, but nodded nonetheless. She was obviously still hesitant at the plan, but neither of them had any better plan. "Stay here and hide. I'll be back."
"Be careful." Navi said. Link smiled and patted her on the head with his index finger. He unsheathed his sword, and charged at the beast. The lizard noticed him, and roared another ear bursting scream. Link jumped onto his his back and dug his sword into the hard scales, until a hole big enough for him to fit in was formed. He dug into the beast.
Silence. Navi held her breath for just a moment, until a hissing sound came from within the beast. Then another, then another.
Then one more.
"Link! What are you doing? You said you could only light-"
BOOOOOOOM.
Blood and guts splattered the walls and floors. Link laid a bloody, burnt mess at the center of the blast. Navi screamed, and flew over to him at fast as she could "Link?" He shouted, desperate for any sign of consciousness. "LINK?" Silent tears started to stream down Navi's face."Link, please... We have a world to save..."
"Would you calm down? This isn't my blood" Navi formed a weak smile, and flew into Links not-bloody hair.
"I'm just glad you're okay. Come on, let's go."
Link was bombarded by the Gorons after leaving the cave. They thanked him, named him an honorary 'brother', and gave him the Goron ruby.
"Good, we can leave now. I need to head home to see if Saria can clean these bloody clothes." Before Link could head off, the ruby began to glow in his pocket. It rose up, and stopped in front of his face.
"What the...?"
"A curse was cast on an innocent soul...
...its evil powers have taken their toll..
...however, with magic of which I've been blessed...
...I'll come to aid, I will heal your flesh!"
Links face began to glow and tingle, and the concentrated darkness seemed to rise from his skin and form into a half heart in front of the ruby. The ruby released gold light, and it completed the heart. A light voice spoke to link.
"Beware of an enemy with power you have never seen before. It is watching you." The heart vanished.
Link pondered for a moment as he stroked his newly healed face. "It must be talking about that thing that possessed the lizard beast... Well, at least I got that 'dark face' problem solved. But I still need my clothes cleaned. Let's go, Navi." Link began his journey to the forest.
"Master, the boy has defeated the beast. He has also been healed through divine magic. We will not be able to read him any longer." The man's master stood standing at the edge of the crater, chuckling to himself.
"Oh, calm yourself, Gerudo. This is all under control. While I did not expect him to be healed, the beast was nothing more than a pawn. Everything will work itself out. After all, I'm the one in control. Leave me be."
"Yes, Master." The man swished his cape and disappeared in a flash of light. The figure stood still as a statue, overlooking the kingdom through unchanging yellow eyes.
"So, you want to fight power that surpasses your own gods, boy? So be it." The figure put a bony hand up to his ancient mask.
"Enjoy your life while it lasts." The figure vanished like a wisp of smoke into the cold night.
[Author's Note: Why hello! So sorry to intrude on the chapter and to be three months late, but I had reasons. I had to move, there were some family issues, I lost my sense of reality for a while, blah blah blah. The point is? I'm back. See you soon. -BoyAwesome]