Chapter 22: Gorko Temple
Inside the temple, Link and Zelda were baffled to see several stone statues cluttering the main foyer while imposing statues of Gorons stood over them. Further down, there was doorway that led to a door with a gold-colored lock on it suspended by gold chains. The smaller statues appeared to be Hylians with frightened expressions and they appeared to be running in place.
"These are the missing tourists," Zelda said.
"But why are they turned to stone?" Link asked touching one of the statues.
"Must have something to do with whatever this temple is keeping locked up," Zelda guessed. "And it's probably behind that door up ahead."
"Then we'll need to find the key for it," Link said, looking at the door with the golden lock. "I'll take a look around while you stay here."
"Oh, no," Zelda said following Link down a passage between two of the Goron statues. "I'm coming with you."
Link grumbled silently while Zelda trailed behind him. At the end of the passage was a small wooden door which wasn't locked. Cautiously, the two stepped through it and found themselves in a stone maze.
"I wonder where this leads," Link said slamming the wooden door.
There was a faint rumble and then they saw a boulder rolling past them.
"Good job, Link," Zelda said folding her arms. "You activated the trap in this room by closing the door."
"How was I supposed to know?" Link said exasperatedly. Then he looked both ways down the corridor and motioned Zelda to follow.
The two took a left downy the corridor then they were about to cross when another boulder rolled by. They waited for it to pass and continued on. Eventually they found a block that was stuck inside the wall in front of them. A third boulder rolled past them, and then Link pulled the block out with his bare hands.
"Wow, you're really strong, Link," Zelda noted as she jumped onto the block.
"Well, working on a ranch does have its perks," Link responded following Zelda's lead.
Above the block there was a ledge that ran along the outline of the maze. Link and Zelda got up onto it, and followed a path that was lit by torches but also crawling with lizard-like creatures.
"Dodongos!" Zelda exclaimed. "They're the natural enemies of the Gorons. What are they doing here?"
"Don't know," Link responded fighting them back with the Master Sword. "But maybe the Fused Shadow's power attracted them."
"Maybe," Zelda said using her Wind Parasol to knock back the bat-like Keese that were flying down from the vaulted ceiling toward her and Link. "Considering all the creatures we encountered at the last temple, that wouldn't surprise me."
At the end of the path, they came into a small room with a wooden chest. Opening it, Link found a silver key. From there, the two backtracked until they came to the ledge once more. They walked along the ledge while having to deal with Keese that came flying down from the vaulted ceiling above the maze until Link and Zelda found a door with a silver lock on it. Once the door was open, they found themselves in a hallway where walls of fire emerged from the floor for a few seconds and then went back down.
"We'll have to time this perfectly if we're going to make it," Zelda said. "I'll go first, and freeze the fires with the Kokiri Fan so you can get across without any problem."
Before Link could protest, Zelda ran forward and got past the first wall of flames after it went down. She then blew cold air onto the hole where the flames had shot up from which caused a layer of ice to cover it. After doing this to all the other ones, Zelda reached the end of the hall where a door was, but a large boulder was in the way. She signaled to Link.
"Go find a Bomb Flower," Zelda said. "I'll stay here and keep the flames down."
Link nodded and went back out onto the ledge. A little ways back, he found a Bomb Flower growing inside a niche along the ledge, and picked it up. While the Bomb Flower flashed, Link ran as fast as he could back into the hallway, across the flames as they melted through the ice and threw it at the boulder. Zelda backed away as the bomb exploded, while the door behind it stayed miraculously intact. On the other side, Link and Zelda found themselves between the doorway and the door with the golden lock.
"We've just gone in one big circle," Zelda said irritably. "And we didn't find the golden key."
"There seems to be another passage," Link said, noticing a door that was similar to the one they came out of on the other side. "But this one needs a key, and a silver one."
Groaning, Zelda walked back into the foyer where the frozen statues were and found a passageway between two Goron statues on the other side of the one they went through before. Link followed and soon the door closed behind them automatically. Inside, there was a narrow corridor where swinging blades tinged with fire sprang out from hidden niches.
"Fantastic," Zelda said sarcastically. "I don't think the Kokiri Fan will be of much use here."
So the two timed their steps and managed to barely avoid the swinging blades. On the other side, they found a chamber that was similar to the one before and another small chest. They found a second silver key inside and quickly made their way back to the door with the lock. After it was unlocked, Link and Zelda came to a room with a worn-down brick floor.
"Careful, Link," Zelda said tediously stepping onto the floor. "This looks very old and some of these bricks might come loose."
As she spoke, Link stepped onto a brick that sank beneath his feet. This caused him and Zelda to pick up the pace as the brick floor crumbled. Once they got to the other side, there was nothing but a gaping hole.
"That was close," Zelda remarked and noticed an empty room behind her.
As soon as they stepped in, Link and Zelda were confronted by several humanoid lizards wielding short swords.
"Great," Zelda said holding her Wind Parasol like a bat. "First Dodongos, and now we've got Lizalfos to deal with!"
The two fought back-to-back fending off the Lizalfos that came screaming towards them. Once they were all dead, a large chest appeared in the center of the room. Link immediately went and opened it. Inside, there were ten Bomb Flowers only they were blue instead of black.
"Wow, nice find," Zelda said. "Regular Bombs are much easier to carry than Bomb Flowers and you can light their fuses when you need to."
"All right, then," Link responded putting half of the Bombs in his new pack while giving Zelda the other half.
Behind the chest there was another door. Stepping through it, Zelda and Link discovered a path that spiraled down into a puddle of magma at the bottom. But to their surprise, the puddle of magma suddenly grew into a large blob with red eyes and a gigantic mouth that constantly spewed fire.
"It's Voltar!" Zelda exclaimed, replacing her Wind Parasol for the Kokiri Fan. "I thought Darak defeated him a long time ago. Link, you distract him while I'll try freezing his source!"
Then with that, Zelda bounded down the path while the monster known as Voltar spewed fire at Link. Using the Hylian Shield to block it, Link moved up and down the path while Zelda reached the bottom. She fanned the hole where Voltar's body emerged from causing him to briefly freeze over. This allowed Link to leap up and stab him in the forehead with the Master Sword. As a result, Voltar shrank but then the ice melted and he was back spewing fire.
After a couple more rounds, Voltar melted into a puddle of black goo which Zelda froze using the Kokiri Fan and Link shattered using the Master Sword. A golden chest appeared over the hole which Link opened. Inside he found a gold key.
"Sweet!" Zelda exclaimed. "Now let's head back to that door with the matching lock!"
To be continued…