Chapter 4
Under the Great Deku Tree
Link clung to the sides of the shaft and lowered himself carefully, ensuring firm hand and foot holds every time he shifted his weight. The soil was loose from whatever had made the tunnel, so he was making sure to be especially careful lest part of the wall gave way.
The shaft was a lot deeper than he had initially thought. It might have worried him, but he felt a patient certainty radiating from Navi that alleviated his concerns. As he continued to lower himself cautiously, he began to pick up a rustling sound at the edge of his hearing.
Down he went, and the further down the louder the rustling grew, until he started to imagine horrible things as its source, slimy things creeping and crawling below him, unseen. There was no light, except Navi's illumination, and that did not spread far.
Suddenly he could tell from the close air that the passage had widened considerably. Clinging to the wall, he twisted. He was in a broader space, an earthen cave, narrow but nonetheless larger than the cramped hole. The little grotto was lit by an eerie light, which Link realised immediately was coming from what looked like an enormous, thick, pulsing log. It was a root, its potency and essential magic shining as an eldritch light.
That was not the most shocking thing, though. Something had clearly attacked the root. There were thick gouges on it, and it looked as if chunks had been ripped out. Luminous green sap had oozed from the wounds and congealed, the blood of the Deku Tree seeping out.
Skulltulas were crawling over the root. Link shuddered. They were not uncommon in the Lost Woods, but they were not pleasant creatures, and it was rare to see so many together. There must have been at least thirty crawling over each other to feed on the Tree's lifeblood.
The huge spiders were about the length of Link's fore arm, and had patterned backs looking like stretched skulls, which gave them their name. They were creatures born of the enchantment of the forest, just as much as the scrubs or the kokiri, and so the magic of the damaged root must have called to them like a banquet to a starving man.
The shaft went no further, but Link could see that a tunnel had been formed following the root. Link had the unpleasant sensation that whatever had burrowed into the earth above had gorged itself when it came across the root. The tunnel was much larger and wider, as if the creature had swelled after consuming the magic of the Tree.
"What did this?" gasped Navi, in a hushed and shocked voice. It was clear that the audacity shown by any creature attacking the Deku Tree was beyond her comprehension. "This can only be the curse the Deku Tree talked about. We have to find out what's responsible for this."
Link dropped tentatively to the floor of the tunnel, next to the root. The skulltulas made no response to his movement, they seemed too taken with their feast to worry about one out of place kokiri.
Watching them with a wary eye, Link cautiously drew his sword and began to creep down the tunnel.
His heart was hammering so hard he wondered if it was going to burst out of his rib cage, but he kept going. He could feel Navi's fear as well; it was less than his, but she was certainly unhappy. He could also tell, though, that she was more scared about what had been done to the Deku Tree, and he felt her resolution to find the source of this evil. Her determination strengthened his own resolve.
They progressed down the tunnel, but it was not long. Link had concentrated mainly on climbing during his descent, and had not thought about the direction of the shaft. It seemed only to go down. Had he paid more attention, however, he would have realised it was at a steady angle, moving away from the Deku Tree. Whatever had made it had not simply shot downwards into the earth but had unknowingly moved away from the Tree. Upon finding the root, it had changed direction. The new tunnel led back towards the main trunk of the Tree.
Very quickly, the root veered upwards, reaching for the daylight above. The tunnel did not continue to follow it, but again progressed directly into the earth. Link was even more shocked than he had been before when he looked at the root before it disappeared from sight in the soil. It had been almost severed, huge teeth marks ripping through it. Link gripped his sword yet more tightly, furious at the creature that had done such a terrible thing.
After this point, the tunnel widened out very quickly, and Link found himself in a much wider space. It was filled with the same eerie green light that the root had emitted, and it came from above him. Looking up, he was filled with awe to look at a wide dome. It appeared wooden, but it clearly wasn't normal wood. Slowly it dawned on Link that he was directly under the woodland spirit, this was the bole of the Tree itself.
"This shouldn't be possible!" gasped Navi, horror-struck, and she was right; the Tree could not have stood like this without its enormous weight collapsing into this space. Looking up, though, Link realised that there were gouges on the living wood, just as there had been on the root. The creature had burrowed its way here and then hollowed out this great space by eating, gnawing away at the forest deity. It should not have been possible, and yet it had been done.
There was a noise, and Link was distracted from his shock. It was a wide space, nearly as wide as the whole of the Deku Tree, and the ethereal light was dim, which explained why it took Link a moment to see what was clinging to the roof of the grotto.
It was a gohma, a giant skulltula. It was also clearly the thing that had been devouring the Deku Tree.
Enraged, Link ran towards it with a yell. The creature saw him with its one bulbous eye and almost leisurely dropped to the floor. The ground vibrated under the impact and as he looked at it, fear gripped Link, pulling him to a halt.
It was clearly not a normal gohma. They were rare in the Forest, and the same as their smaller brethren they were attracted by powerful magic, but the magic of the forest ordered itself, so no gohma could have attacked the Deku Tree on its own and thrown that normal order so out of kilter.
It must have been a normal size when it burrowed into the ground above, but it was swollen mightily now, obscenely so. Link had once seen a gohma that he still swore was two feet long, and that had been large enough. This creature had to be at least ten times that, grotesquely engorged. It seemed to have been stretched as if its enormous body could not hold what it had tried to consume.
Disgust overcame Link's fear, and with disgust his anger returned. Skulltulas were creatures of the forest, part of the natural order, but this was a monstrosity, something that should never have been allowed to exist. Its consumption of the Deku Tree's essence had changed it into something more than evil.
The gohma let out a terrible screeching roar and ran at Link, its enormous bulk swaying on its long legs. Link barely had to time to throw himself out of the way, rolling over on the rough floor and quickly getting back to his feet.
The giant spider hissed and Link saw enormous pincers clicking ominously as it lunged at him. He jumped backwards, and the pincers only just missed him. The gohma pushed forwards, trying again to catch him. Ducking, Link escaped the only way he could, by diving under the monster's belly.
His adversary seemed only to want to get rid of the irritation that had interrupted its feast, and tried to flatten Link against the ground. Again, Link escaped only just in time, rolling out from under the main bulk of the creature. He did not entirely escape its mass, though, and found himself pinned by the gohma's flabby stomach. Had he not moved when he did, he would have been immediately crushed. As it was, he felt like he was going to suffocate. Besides the pressure that was threatening to pulverise him, the gohma's hide was rancid. He thought if he ever managed to breathe again he would probably vomit.
Unable to tell through its thick flesh whether or not it had achieved its aim, the gohma was forced to get off Link. The moment he felt the pressure ease, he was moving. He dodged between its legs and ran across their arena, the eerily lit grotto. His only thought for the moment was putting distance between himself and the monster. When he had achieved this, he spun, panting.
"Link, its eye looks like a weak point!" cried Navi. Looking, he could see what she meant. The magic it had gorged itself on had made its hide thick, almost impenetrable, but its eye was unprotected.
For itself, the gohma did not seem bothered about him. It was already turning back to continue gorging itself on the Deku Tree's life force. Link intended to make sure it did not ignore him again. It was his turn to attack, and he dodged round the thing and slashed at its face with his sword. His attack went wide, unable to reach his target, and the gohma paid no attention. Changing his tactic, Link thrust his little blade at its nearest leg, putting all his might into the attack.
The shriek this prompted was unearthly; he certainly had its attention now. It was spluttering with rage as it turned back to him, snapping at him with its pincers. Moving quickly, Link danced backwards. He ran nimbly, keeping out of range of the creature but close enough that it kept following him. Then he jumped to the side and slashed. It was far bigger than him, so to get to its eye he needed it to come down to his level. The only way he could think of to achieve that was to disable its long limbs.
They were tougher than he had anticipated, though: stabbing it had pierced the leg and wounded it, but he could not sever it entirely. His sword rebounded with terrific force and flew from his grasp, and he had barely done any damage to the monster. He dived for his sword, but the gohma was faster. It moved surprisingly quickly for its size, shuffling round to block him from his weapon.
Now, it came at him again. He was easily able to escape its pincers once more, but it was learning quickly and before he knew what was happening, it reared its head and a strand of webbing shot at him. It caught him round the hand. He yanked it back, but the webbing stuck. Hissing with delight, the creature spun more webbing to ensnare him.
Link felt overwhelmed by this sudden change, and stumbled backwards. He could only think of one thing, which was to get to his sword. He began to move sideways, pulling away from his aggressor, hoping he could stave off the webbing long enough to reach his blade. The gohma, enthralled by trying to cocoon him, moved sideways with him.
Staring frantically through the gloom, Link espied his sword. He dived. It felt for a moment as if he was on elastic. The webbing was not properly around him, but sticking to all of his right hand and wrist. Nonetheless, flinging his left arm as he fell and scrabbling frantically he was able to wrap his hand around the hilt of the sword. He twisted, and as he twisted he slashed. The blade, the enchanted steel that had for millennia rested peacefully in the Forest Temple, passed through the thick webbing as if it was only string.
Leaping to his feet, Link again charged, but the gohma was becoming angry now. This little fly was becoming more than an irritation. It seemed to spin, and Link thought it was again abandoning the fight, but then he saw the enormous length of its sting. He did not need Navi's cry of "Look out!" as he hurled himself out of the way, thudding onto the earth once more. Desperately trying to spit soil out of his mouth he rolled as the gohma again lunged with the sting.
On the third time, though, the gohma tried too hard. The sting was driven into the loose earth and stuck, just for a moment. It was enough, though. Link darted forward and swung his sword. The sting flew out of the ground and spun away into the darkness, severed. Green blood spouted from the stump on the gohma's rear. Again it shrieked in anguish and turned towards Link. Any clarity of mind was gone, its only idea was to charge him, charge him and kill him.
Link was obliged to turn and run. In a straight line, he was much faster than the hulking creature, and he cleared the enclosure quickly, again putting space between them. Reaching the wall he twisted, sword at the ready, as the gohma advanced on him.
All this time, he had been almost wholly unaware of Navi. His attention had been given over to what was in front of him. Her emotions, when he noticed them, were similar to his: a mixture of fear, anger, and exhilaration. Now, he became distracted, as a strength of curiosity overcame him from his fey. He turned to see what had she had seen. There were five large, round brown spheres in this corner of the cave, just behind him. It was immediately evident what they were.
"Its laid eggs!" exclaimed Navi. Link was not sure if the certainty that followed was his own or his companion's, but it did not matter; he swung his sword quickly and shattered all five in two strokes. Fragile shell and a thick slime stuck to the blade.
The gohma's third unearthly scream was the worst. Until now, it had been roaring in pain, but now the intruder had destroyed its eggs, and it was overcome with fury. It charged without any kind of thought or idea beyond smashing and obliterating this horrible little beast.
Distracted as he had been by the eggs, Link did not move nearly quickly enough, and found himself hoisted into the air and pinned against the earthen wall, all the wind knocked from him. The gohma had its pincers around his midriff and they were squeezing the life from him, now.
He still had enough of his wits about him, though. He had kept a firm grip on his sword and now, with difficulty, raised it above his head. Putting all his might behind it, he plunged it deep into the monster's eye.
The creature convulsed and Link was thrown over its head, the sword wrenched from his grasp. He flew for what seemed a long time before slamming into the floor, hard. Struggling to his hands and knees he gasped and coughed, trying desperately to suck air into his lungs.
Shaking his head to clear his vision, he looked up and saw the Gohma staggering from side to side, screaming and wailing. Then, its legs seemed to give way, and it fell with an almighty crash to the ground. For a moment, it shuddered, then lay still.
Link got to his feet with difficulty and walked over to the creature, still drawing rasping breaths. He walked around it to the where his sword was protruding from its destroyed eye. The blade may only have been small, but it had plunged right into the creature's brain. It was dead.
Link had won his first battle. He took hold of the hilt and pulled it from his vanquished enemy.
"Well done, Link. That was well fought. The Deku Tree spoke truly when he placed his faith in you." Link looked up, blearily. Now it was over, exhaustion was overtaking him rapidly. He smiled at Navi and felt a rush of gratitude to her. She had been here with him, she had guided him down here. For the first time in what now seemed a terribly long day, he was glad not only that he had a fairy, but that it was her.
Looking at his sword, Link was surprised to see how covered in grime it was. The remnants of the eggs still clung to it, and it was coated in the green blood and pus of the gohma. A moment later, he realised that he himself was in no better state. He was covered in dirt, slime, filth and blood, and his right arm was almost useless because it was still covered in stiff strands of the monster's webbing.
It did not matter, though. He wiped the sword on the dead beast, cleaning it as best he could before putting it back in its sheath, then considered the enormous corpse.
"Can we just leave it here?" he asked.
"I think that's for the best. It will go back into the ground and so will the magic it stole. That's where it should be. Besides, it would be impossible to move it, even if we wanted to."
Link nodded at the wisdom of this and turned to leave the grotto. He could not resist turning at the beginning of the narrow passage, though, to look one last time on the fallen, and relish his victory.