Author's note: I think that winged Mothula's have a spoil, and it's a golden feather. I'm not sure though about non-winged Mothula's though. So sorry if I was wrong earlier.
If Link had known the room he'd barged in contained a mini-boss, he might have first gone in search for some hearts to heal himself. In a different chamber, there was a pink beamos in the very center of the circular chamber. It looked like a normal pedestal thing, except for the strange pink orb that orbited the top. Whenever Link had stepped onto its territory, the sphere would widen up into a huge ball. It would opened its "eye", as Link called it, and shoot a white-hot laser that could melt the floor. It would relentlessly chase Link around until he was either fried or until he jumped off the laser-zone. Link was so glad to have a shield sometimes.
Link had tried so many ways to defeat it. His first option was the boomerang. It zeroed in on the top of the pedestal. But when he threw it, it had harmlessly bounced off and returned to Link. So he tossed in a bomb. But when the smoke cleared out, it still stood. The grappling hook was an utter failure. Link hadn't even bother trying the Deku Leaf. So his last option was...
Link snapped a picto of it. It was rather easy, since it was immobile. Then, he'd done his best to skirt around the circle, though he didn't come out unscathed.
Now, the bars closed off the door of the room he was in. Link was trapped in a room with several stone pillars spread out in a loose circle. And in its center was a creature Link had never seen before.
Most times, mini-bosses were for introducing new, strong enemies to Link, and he was not unimpressed. The creature was tall and had a large figure. Thick silver plating covered it from head to toe. It even wore a menacing helmet with horns on either side of it. Its sword was grey, and it was the size of Link. The double edges looked jagged and heavy. Its belt stood out, since it was the only non-silver accessory he had. Looks familiar...
The creature (he decided to call it the knight), was still as a statue. Link almost took a step forward when it suddenly grunted. It had held its blade with the flat side showing, but when it noticed Link, it abruptly twisted its sword so that the sharp edge was facing him. It roared and swung its massive sword, just to show off its strength.
As with the beamos, Link threw his boomerang, his grappling hook, and some bombs at it, and as with the beamos, nothing happened. They harmlessly plinked off his armor except for the bomb, which had detonated out of range of the knight. Guess my sword is my only hope now.
The knight approached Link and just waited with its sword raised high. Seeing that huge opening, Link tried some horizontal slashes and a spin attack. But like with everything else, it couldn't penetrate the knight's tough armor.
Now Link was open. The knight delivered a harsh blow that sent Link reeling to the ground. Link could hardly find the strength to get up. He briefly scanned the room. For the first time ever, there was no pots or grass that could sustain Link with the hearts they held. There were only pillars. Link was beginning to panic.
Link didn't even have a fairy anymore. He'd given it to Grandma, and... Oh, YES! She gave me elixir soup! Awesome!
The knight was advancing on Link. He quickly chugged some soup and felt his strength return to him. No wait...actually it felt as though he and his sword was twice as powerful.
The knight again just stood there. It wasn't exactly a defensive stance, or an offensive one. It just sort of raised its sword into the air and waited. So is it a waiting stance?
Link tried some vertical slashes and some thrusts, but each strike hardly left a dent in the armor. Then realizing the danger he was in, Link quickly brought up his shield as the sword came down.
Link skid back into a column, but was unharmed. A second slash came in quick succession, but it didn't land, since Link got knocked into the column, away from the mini-boss.
His enemy was faster than he'd thought. How can it move so fast? And in armor? But Link wasn't all that surprised at this. Ever since that Moblin in Dragon Roost Island, Link tried not to underestimate an enemy, especially if it was a mini-boss.
Link didn't have a particular strategy in defeating the knight. He thought back on his earlier experiences with mini-bosses. With the bokoblins and the Moblin, I overcame them through strength. With the mothula, I used a item I already acquired.
But Link already tried using his items, and he already tried his sword. His only option left was to experiment with his other sword attacks.
He first tried a jump attack. He sprang at the enemy with his sword raised high. To his dismay, his powered-up sword harmlessly clanged off the armor, sending vibrations through his left arm.
Then the knight dished out a wide horizontal slash that pummeled Link to the ground by a pillar. He could feel the extra power in his sword die out. Wearily, he got up. He searched his mind for other attacks. He knew there were more. But what were they?
Link snapped out of his thoughts, since suddenly the pillar came crashing down. He narrowly jumped out of the way. Where the pillar once stood lay a sparkling recovery heart.
Link dashed for it and picked it up, feeling the sensation of instant healing. So that's what the pillars are for!
Unfortunately, the knight was marching up toward Link, fast. He hardly had any more time to recover and think up of a plan.
Link was tired of experimenting. He was certain that the enemy had to have an Achilles heel somewhere. It obviously wasn't in the front. But Link didn't know if it was back either, because he'd never seen it before. The knight kept it well protected; it always tried hard to face Link.
Bingo. That just proves that its back is its weakness. But how do I get to it? I tried every move...except for the parry.
Link groaned inwardly. That was by far the hardest attack to learn. It was because there was two ways to use the parry attack, depending on the opponents' attacks. One way was to roll to the side and get behind him, then slash upwards. This was used if the opponent attacked up or downwards. The other way was if the attacker struck left and right. Link was supposed to jump over the adversary, strike downward, and flip over to the other side.
Doing all this wasn't the difficult part, though it was challenging at first. Timing it and deciding on the parry was the hard part. Often, by the time Link figured out what to do, it was much too late. As Orca had once commented, Link's reflexes were too slow or jittery. They'd only practiced this a few times, enough that Link understood the concept of it. But Orca had let Link go after that, saying that he most likely wouldn't find enemies in the Forest of Fairies that could only be defeated with the parry skill.
But now, Link needed this skill more than ever. He wished now he hadn't neglected this move, and that he'd practiced it on other monsters. But now was as good a time as any to figure it out anyway.
Link approached the knight. He focused on it, particularly its sword. While Link didn't realize, he mirrored the knight perfectly, since he stood in a waiting stance as well. Preparing for the parry.
Its sword was coming to his left. Link, with a yell, immediately jumped over his foe, flipping and striking its helmet off. Its head had a slight resemblance to a jackal's head. He landed on his feet on the other side of the armored enemy, who was grunting in confusion and looking around for the boy. To Link's delight, his parry attack was so strong it knocked the sword from its hand.
Also, Link had an opportunity to see the the knight's back for the first time. He was surprised to see two red straps criss-crossing and holding all the armor together. Link smiled evilly. Cut them off, and...
As Link sliced them in half, they dropped the armor to the ground. The hapless knight finally turned and saw Link. No doubt it was wondering how he got there. Then Link was promptly punched in the face.
Link staggered back, not expecting that at all. The knight tried kicking him as well, but Link managed to evade it. Then, Link chucked the boomerang at the knight's head. When it came whirling back at Link, he grinned. Another reason why I love the boomerang.
Link tossed the grappling hook at the knight. It snagged the ornamental belt back. (Fortunately, the thing's trousers didn't come off.) Link inspected it. He remembered why it was familiar; it was the thing that Orca and Sturgeon had collected! Wait till I show them this! They'll be so shocked!
The knight regained its bearings. Now that most of the knight's armor was discarded on the floor, Link could have gone at it with his more basic attacks, but he wanted to practice the parry attack some more. He stood waiting for the knight to attack...
Just to get punched in the jaw. It was especially bad, since it was wearing gauntlets. When the room stopped spinning, Link saw his foe sprinting for the abandoned sword. At a rather swift speed.
Link hurled the boomerang at the enemy's head, effectively incapacitating it temporarily. Link darted for the fallen sword. It was so heavy that Link had to awkwardly wield it with both hands. He was pleased to find that he could still use some of his attacks with this giant weapon. He could even do the spin attack. When he'd tried it, he accidentally slammed it into a nearby pillar. The sword was strong enough for the pillar to crack and come tumbling down. In its place were some bombs this time.
The next column held a heart. He helped himself to it, but unfortunately the knight came back to its senses. Link effortlessly stopped the knight again, but this time it was for a picto. Not surprisingly, Link vowed to himself to never again forget a picto of a boss or mini-boss. So he was more than a little worried when he noticed that the mini-boss picto took up the third and final slot of the pictobox.
Which do I throw out? Not Niko, since I don't know if I'll ever see him again. And I don't know if beamoses exist anywhere else. But this is a mini-boss! So what so I do for the boss? Skip it again?
Link felt a twinge of annoyance at himself for that last blunder with the Forbidden Woods boss. But he couldn't dwell on it, since the dazed knight recovered again.
Link ran up to it, waiting for the mini-boss to attack. He barely dodged the strikes thrown his way, and battered the knight multiple times with its own sword. Then he threw it to the knight like an enormous dart.
He missed, but he didn't really care. Just as he'd expected, the knight reclaimed his weapon and faced Link. He'd wanted this, since he could only parry an opponent if they had a weapon. This time, it swung its sword downward. He rolled around his enemy, shuddering as he felt the sword cleave the floor and create small shock waves. Then, he shot upward with his sword in hand.
The knight finally was defeated. It bellowed and thudded onto the ground, until he finally disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. The pearl lit up, flashing as it changed colors. The treasure chest in the center of the room shimmered in the air until it became solid.
Before he collected his bounty, Link had the sudden urge to destroy all the columns with the sword. So he did, revealing various items and loot. Sure, he could've done it with bombs, but using an XL weapon just seemed much more fun.
Author's note: Actually, if Link attacks the armor enough, it'll come off, but that's more risky and tedious, in my opinion. Anyway, I may not be able to update for the rest of the week, since I'm going to be busy. Thanks for reading!