Chapter 35: Farore Hill

Following Professor Phosile's directions, Zelda and the others came to the hill he described. It was a fairly small but round hill with a crown of trees on top and green grass grew all around.

"If Lanaryu was referring to the Hylian District as the 'iron forest,' than this must be the hill he was referring to," Zelda said thoughtfully.

"So where's the Light Spirit, then? Or the Wind Instrument needed to summon him?" Impa asked out loud.

"The Wind Instrument is inside the hill," Sheik said, wandering to the other side of the hill. "You just need to know where the entrance is."

Following Sheik, the three woman came to a patch of grass that was greener than the rest and it formed the Triforce symbol.

"This is the only way in," Sheik said. "Though it's typically sealed to keep people out."

But when Sheik pressed his hand against the patch, it swung inward revealing a stone stairway that led downward.

"One of the Twilight Wolves must've been here," Lana said. "And so the seal on the door is broken, along with any others that might be down there."

"There's only one way to find out," Zelda said and lit the lantern she carried in her satchel.

The four made their way down the stairs and into a circular room lit by torches. There were no apparent paths available and a single Beamos stood in the middle of the room. It opened its single eye and fired a laser that followed everyone's movements. While the others kept the Beamos distracted, Zelda used two of the Bombs she had taken from Gorko Temple in the Goron District and used them to blow the Beamos up. Once this was accomplished, a large chest appeared in its place. Opening it, Zelda discovered a small copper shovel with a flower-shaped head and a wooden shaft and handle.

"That's the Copper Ore Shovel," Lana explained. "It can dig up to 10 feet of dirt and break through solid wood."

With the shovel equipped, Zelda used it to dig several holes until she found a hidden switch which she stepped on that in turn opened a hidden door to the right. Through it, Zelda and the others found a wall made from planks of wood blocking their path. Using the shovel, Zelda was able to break the wall in half only to meet a Deku Baba on the other side. After defeating it, there was another wooden wall which Zelda broke as well only to find another Deku Baba. This continued several times until they came to a door with a silver lock. Going back into the main room, Zelda dug more holes until she found another switch which unlocked another hidden passage. Here, Zelda and the others found a room that was filled with Armos that resembled statues and moved toward them wherever they stepped.

Using the Bellow of Frost to freeze them in place, Zelda was able to defeat any Armos that came her way. Meanwhile, Lana used fire spells to blast them away and Impa simply punched them. Sheik, on the other hand, threw Deku Nuts at incoming Armos which exploded upon hitting the ground. Once they were all defeated, another large chest appeared. Inside, Zelda found another shovel that looked like the Copper Ore Shovel only it was silver with a slightly longer shaft.

"The Silver Ore Shovel," Lana said, examining it. "Unlike the Copper one, it can dig 50 feet and break metal."

"Neat," Zelda said, and dug holes around the room till she found a small chest with a silver key.

Back in the passage with the Deku Babas, Zelda unlocked the door which led to another stairway that took them deeper underground and the torches became scarcer.

"Whoever set up these torches must've not liked it down here," Impa said.

"Not necessarily," Lana noted, examining an empty torch next to a lit one. "Some of these torches have been stuffed out, so I think someone deliberately sabotaged us."

"Maybe the same member of the Twilight Wolves that was down here?" Zelda suggested.

"Most likely," Sheik nodded. "Maybe something will happen once we light up all the torches."

"The air's cold enough, so the Kokiri Fan should work," Zelda said and took it out.

Once all the torches on the second stairway were lit, the metal bars came off the door at the bottom of the stairway allowing Zelda and the others to step into another room with two Beamos inside. After defeating them, a third large chest appeared. Inside, there was another shovel that was gold-colored with a longer shaft.

"Oh, my," Lana exclaimed. "This is the Gold Ore Shovel. It's capable of digging 100 feet deep and breaking through just about anything."

With the Gold Ore Shovel, Zelda dug a really deep hole that led into another passage. There were several Blade Traps crisscrossing from adjacent holes. Avoiding them, the four came to another door with a silver lock. Backtracking, Zelda and the others went to where the self-made hole ended and found a wall made of solid iron. Using the Gold Ore Shovel to break it, they found themselves in a room with a small chest and Keese flying down from the ceiling. After taking the silver key from the small chest, the four went back to the silver locked door and found another flight of stairs only they were gold in color and appeared to be sticky.

"Smells like honey," Impa noted as her nose twitched.

"We must be close to the guardian of this place, who's said to be a giant queen bee with smaller ones working for her," Sheik said looking around at the honey-comb shaped walls. "But I don't see any worker bees."

"Something must've scared them off," Zelda suggested then she heard a buzzing noise from above. "What is that?"

"One of the worker bees?" Lana thought out loud.

"Worse," Sheik said, pointing to the ceiling of the stairway where a giant wasp-like creature was crouched with giant pincers, a large stinger, and bright red eyes. "Its Sapper, the Subterranean Wasp."

"What could he be doing down here?" Impa said, pulling out two crossbows that were attached to leather braces on her arms. "I thought the guardian of this place took care of him long ago."

"I don't know," Lana said, opening a page in her spell-book and producing a flame-thrower. "But we should probably kill him for good."

To be continued…