Chapter 5 - Awakening

"Let me get this straight," said Link as he stepped out of the room and stoppered a bottle with a fairy inside. "These guys will heal me and will even be friendlier than you although they're mute."

He held the bottle up in front of his face. The fairy inside shone red. She winked her eye and waved at him.

"They'll even revive me if I fall." Link looked at the blue fairy next to him. "I don't even know your name." He reached back and put the bottled fairy in his backpack.

"If you need to rest, you can save the game and return at a later time." The fairy that had been accompanying Link since the beginning of all this flew in circles thrice around Link and disappeared into his cap.

Link raised his finger and opened his mouth. He held this pose for 3 seconds, decided it wasn't worth it, and continued walking to the next room in the dungeon.

Shethinksthisisagame? he thought.

The next room had a kind of trap in it. Link had to hit a crystal switch with his sword. Surprisingly, it didn't break. After activating the switch, a floating platform came up from a dark, black abyss and breached part of the gap to the other side of the room. After first inspection, Link determined he had about five seconds to cross the gap and jump to the other side before the platform fell back down and he was swallowed by the darkness.

Staring at the darkness of the abyss, Link let out a breath that echoed down the blackness. He stared, trying to discern any distortions that sound might cause to help him determine how deep down this enormous pit went. He knew it was futile and eventually realized he was just stalling.

He hit the switch, ran as fast as he could and jumped on the platform, rolled on it, stood up with the momentum and continued running. Three seconds had passed and he was in the middle of the platform. Two, one.

Part of the force of his jump was lost because the platform descended at the same time. He stretched his whole body and reached for the ledge. It was too far. He hadn't made it.

Then he felt stone and made his hand rigid. Link swung from the ledge and used his legs to swing harder and throw them over ledge to pull himself up and roll over on the floor.

Without thinking, he got on all fours and crawled to a chest, hugged it, and gasped several times before relaxing and use the wooden container to stand up.

He opened the chest. An intense golden light came out of it. Link turned his head and groped around to see what was inside. His hand closed on a cylindrical item. The light dimmed. In his hand was the map.

"Hey!" he called out. "Look! I found the map!"

The fairy came out of Link's cap and fluttered around him. She finally stopped and spoke. "If you need to rest, you can save the game and return at a later time."

Again, the fairy hid in Link's cap.

"You know." Link yawned. "That might not be a bad idea."

That very room seemed to be perfectly safe. Link took out his sleeping roll, took off his shield, sword and backpack and lay them next to him. Sleep took him.

Link was suddenly awake, on his feet. His shield, sword, and backpack were on his back again. He was no longer in the room where he found the map, but at the entrance of the dungeon.

"Din's fire take-"

"When you leave to rest, you'll appear at the entrance of the dungeon when you come back," said the fairy.

It had been hundreds and hundreds of years since the monster in the deepest room of the dungeon had been awakened. A wail of torment and despair fell on its ears. This scream stirred memories of when sacrifices were made to it to acquire its favor. Perhaps it was going to happen again.