Chapter Seven
Death Mountain
Link and Zelph said goobye to Aqua and the other Zora' and Zora' Domian, retrieved Epona and headed back to Kokiri Village to catch up with Zane and bid farewell to Nanna and Mya.
"Do you have to go Link?" Mya asked with big eyes
"I do Mya but the Kokiri will look after you, I don't think I can take Epona with me to Rome, I certainly can't take her up Death Mountain or whatever that mountain is actually called" Link said, "Will you look after her for me?"
"Uh huh!" She nodded, suddenly feeling important,
"It is Death Mountain" Zane told Link
"Hey Zelda?" Mya said with a nudge, they stepped aside, "Will you take care of big brother for me?"
"Uh huh!" Zelph grinned, they giggled and shared a hug, "You are adorable"
"Right, you have the tickets for the flight?" Nanna asked
"I have, it's in three hours and Skit is driving us" Link replied
Link and Zane shared a look, Skit was leathal behind the wheel of a car.
After a few more goodbyes and a re-stock of supplies Link, Zelph and Zane were off to Rome. They had pleantly of time to ponder what was awaiting them as it was a 27 hour flight.
They had pleanty to talk about given their recent adventures and had a lot of questions for Zane about Nanna and Skit and the Skull Kid and Pip and Zane was only too happy to answer them all. Between this talk and their outfits the other passengers on the plane thought these three had gone mad or were heading for a convention.
Link and Zelph were asked for photos by a few people, who were actually going home from a convention. Link was tickled by this. Zane was only sad no one had asked him so Link had a word with the hostess who came over nervously and asked if she could get a photo with just Zane as she was a Hylian and a big fan of his kind. They got on great and Zane walked off the plane with the girl' phone number.
They realised that they had been awake for 51 hours and didn't think it wise to just head straight for the mirror leading to Kakoriko Village and Death Mountain so they instead found a hotel overlooking the Colesium and literally crashed out where they sat.
The following morning they were in for a great shock for from the view of the balcony they could see a ring cloud over Vesuvious and from the breakfast bar a lot of nervous talk about the fact the volcano has been overdue a massive eruption that could wipe out Rome for years.
The other thing that surprised them was the sight of a fellow guest, who was very familiar indeed.
"Borak!" Link called,
Borack was just as stunned to see Link,
"Yo! Brother what's up!?" Borak called, then making his way over to them he said, "See the state of Death Mountain? Yo, we got word and came straight here but you can't go anywhere near that place in those clothes, you'll fry"
"Shush. Not so loud, people in this place already think we're mad" Link said axioulsy
"Not here bro, this hotel is stictly for the people of Hyrule. Zoras come here for the entire stretch of winter sometimes you know; Hylians and even some Garudo. They can get a bit testy with the male staff here"
"Where's the mirror to Kakoriko Village?" Link asked Borak
"It's on a road about an hour's drive from Pompii. Bro that place is legit, Kakoriko is to the right of it and Death Mountain is to the fore; want a guide?" Borak replied, "We're going that way anyway"
Link looked at Zelph and Zane and then nodded at Borak.
Borak and his parents joined Link, Zelph and Zane at their table and discussed the events that had driven them to make the trip from America.
"There have been more and more quakes since you left, even one recorded in the UK, we thought the quakes caused the readings coming from Death Mountain and Vesuvious, Death Mountain sits over Vesuvious. Then we read the Hylian reports about the Forest Shrine, Hylia Shrine and the fact that the Shanklin is moving in the exact order you need to be going in to activate the portals and re-energise the Master Sword is a bit of a coincidence. I have a horrible feeling Shanklin has spies and is setting up a way to utilise the power of the minerals to break Demise' decsendant out of his seal. It's not often Demise reincarnates but when he does he's deadlier than he ever was before" Borak' father told them dramatically,
It sent shivers down everyone's spines.
"Is there a fire tunic?" Link asked
"It's not so much a tunic more a whole outfit, the top half and the arms are made up of a red heat proof material and dragon scales, it comes with a white heat proof shirt, red trousers and red boots with gold dragons embossed on them" Borak' father told him, "You can buy one in Goron City"
"We are not going to make the Hero of Time pay for a tunic so he can do what we can't" Borak said
"He may accept a deposit and then get you the money back if your return the outfit in one piece" Borak' mother said,
"Man, forget that!" Borak yelped
"Bargin with him then if you can't afford the outfit, though I do agree the Hero shouldn't have to pay for it, maybe if you do the Goran shop owner a favour he'll give you the outfit for free" The waiter interupted, they could tell from his hair that he was a Garudo, it was bright red, "Oh don't stare, once every 100 years a boy is born to the Garudo, boys are always telling me they think being surrounded by women is a great thing, it's not, it's a bloody nightmare, I ran away as soon as my legs could get the picture"
"My man!" Borak said fist bumping the waiter, "Sorry I slagged them off though, just what I heard is all"
"Don't be, they're dogs and thieves, all of them, look who their first King was? Though I should be careful about what I say, if I die anywhere near a female Garudo I'll come back as an Un-Dead and I'll be forced to live out the rest of eternity screaming my way around their Shrines"
"Never mind that, that's just one outfit, what about me?" Zelph asked in outrage
"You're not going up Death Mountain" The waiter said
"What would you know anout it? I never met you in my life and I did not sit on a plane for 27 hours to sit in a cave, twiddling my thumbs" Zelph huffed
"You don't get it, only the Gorons or the Hero is permitted to pass the gate out of Kakoriko, you're a Royal Hylian/Hi-Range, any one of you that visits the village in times of trouble must bless the Shadow Temple or the beast in the well will suck the life right out of you" The Waiter told her
"Oh that's actually true" Zane told her
Zelph looked absolutely terrified.
"What is this blessing? Why have I never heard of this before?" Zelph panicked
"It's a song, you'll find someone there who can teach it to you" Zane said mysteriously
Zelph worried about this task of hers the whole way there and couldn't apreciate her new surroundings at all. Not even Link could reasure her so he left her to her own thoughts and took in the view of Mount Vesuvious in the foreground,
"You think she's impressive wait until you see Death Mountain" Borak told him.
They were in one of two jeeps being driven by Borak' parents, along the road that lead to Pompii, then all of a sudden it vanished and there was a massive wall to their right, a clear water stream on the other side and a pefect lawn. They were closer to Hyrule Castle here too and Link imediately knew he was in a new part of the old Hyrule.
"A Hyrule segment, of course!" Link exclaimed, "Hey Zelda, maybe you'll meet Impa' descendant here"
Zelph pondered this as the jeeps stopped, they got out and were guided up some steps and onto a well trodden path that curved round until they reached a wall with vines and an arched gate, being guarded by a Goron.
"Halt" The Goron said, "What business do you have here?"
"Brother it is I Crunk, Millstone and Borack, we have brought the Princess Zelda with us and the Hero of Time, along with their guide, a Korki, Zane. Link has defeated two Anti-mineral guards, one in the Forest and one in Lake Hylia. Look at that mountain, that is not a normal eruption. The Princess is here to bless the Shadow Temple, Link and Borak are here for the Anti-Mineral"
"I'm sorry did he just throw me into the volcano?" Borak asked Link
"Uh huh" Link replied
"Yo that's cold" Borak said as the guard let them through.
"It'll be a good education for you Borak" His father told him.
"I'm the next Goron leader, well, I will be when I come of age...or graduate" Borak told Link.
This was a modern looking village with cobbles for paths from building to building, there was a schoolhouse, a windmill, a watermill, chickens ran free, lovely little cottages but old looking, and some were covered in vines.
There were three levels to this village, there was a library on the second level and an observations tower on the third.
On the far right a path lead to a graveyard and another lead to farmland. Zelph was drawn to the path leading to the graveyard.
"Do I know anyone in that graveyard Zane?" Zelph asked
"Very well" Zane replied, then to Link he said, "You should go and get your hands on a tunic, Zelph is safe with me"
"OK" Link said, "I'll call you if I need you"
"Link" Zelph called before Link could leave,
"Yeah?" He replied
"If I don't make it out of here alive..." She began
"Shut up" Link told her
"I love you" She finished
"Shut up" Link told her, "You're not going to die here, you're not aloud, I need you"
Zelph turned to smile at Link but he was making his way up the stairs with Borak and Borak' parents.
"Ready Zelda?" Zane asked
"I just need to know what to say or do, and who's in that graveyard?" Zelph said I question
Zane walked a stride behind Zelph as she followed the path to the Graveyard. There was a section for Royal tombs and one of those tombs was the resting place of her dear mother.
"Oh my God" Zelph gasped, tears welling, "Father told me he had no idea where my mother was buried and she's been here all this time, why would he lie to me?"
"She had the blood of the Godess in her veins but the hope that it would unite the old Shieka that live here in Kakoriko with those that went rogue, was banished. She was asked to choose between those of the Twiglight Realm and those of this town and she chose to protect this town so they killed her" Zane told Zelph
"That's horrible, she wanted them to be united, after all those years, how could generations of people just adopt the grudge of a small group?" Zelph questioned, "Zane, I don't understand, how does the Hyrule Royal Family connect with the Twilight?"
"There was a princess once, in the era of the Wolf, she was of the Twilight, she used Link at first but after seeing him defend and go into battle without a second thought, just to save the ones he loved she fell in love with him and wanted to help him save Hyrule and indeed her own Realm, a Realm he could not be a part of. He saved her and Zelda gave the Princess her piece of the Tri-Force. They defeated the one that had opressed her people and Ganondolf too, thus saving Link' world. Stunned by her true form this Princess played her love for him down, even his clear devastation of her return to the Twilight Realm. Hyrule no longer had a Royal family and so one day a baby was dropped off in Ordon, along with a note from this Princess. This baby had the blood of the Godess in her and could not survive in the Twilight. Wolf Link brought her to Hyrule. Wolf Link became the new King of Hyrule for that child and the Godess in her. Wolf Link had a son and that son was brought up by a knight of the last King, that boy was gifted with the powers to slow down time in order to defeat the monsters that still plagued Hyrule. He became that Princess' knight. This is where Calamity Ganon was created. The Hero of Time died trying to save Zelda right as she discovered her love for him was the key to activating the power of the Godness. She placed him in a resurrection shrine, he awoke with no memory at all. By this time Wolf Link was dead and Zelda had the throne. It was a long road but eventually he regained his strength and this time, with Zelda' help he succeeded but as we all know that beast will always come back we just never know when or how"
"So I'm of Twilight descent, another parallel to Wolf Link' time line" Zelph said
"That curse Demise placed on us will always bring the Hero of Time and the Royal family together" Zane told her,"
"In what way will my mother be able to teach me this tune? This blessing" Zelph asked
Zane took out his whistle,
"Link' not the only one, who can go back in time" Zane told her
While Zane and Zelph went back to when her mother was 18 Link and Borak had travelled up the dangerous path to Goron City. They had to constantly duck into alcoves as Gorons bounded down the path or bounced from great heights. Any that got in his parents way were grabbed and tossed onto another path, which annoyed these Goron' a great deal.
"OK, the mountain I get but what is up with these Goron'?" Link asked getting fed up with having to duck and dive,
"It's the Goron races tomorrow" Borak told him
"That's still going ahead?" Link asked in surprise, "The Zora' cancelled their diving competion this year"
"Even after what you did?" Borak asked
"Guess they don't want to take the chance until I've dealt with Shanklin"
"That's sad, I like that competition" He said, "Used to be open to everyone, I tried entering once, I dive bombed the pool and emptied it of Zora'" Link spat out the water he had just sipped at this comment,
"You're joking right?" Link asked in shock
"I wish he was" His father said, "Took a week to find everyone, they found three Zora' in Tazmania, one in Tyland and another four in Japan"
Link laughed the rest of the way to Goron City.
"Oh we can laugh about it now but it wasn't funny to the Zora' he shot out of the pool at the time" Borak' mother said with a shake of the head, "The shame of it, even if it was an accidenal overshot...what an overshot"
This only made Link laugh even harder.
Link loved the Goron City, it was surprisingly bright in here, what with a central sky light, the houses were built into the round walls and from the bridge they stood on you could see that it went on for miles in both directions, shops one side, a school and a medical centre and a hosptial and guards station on the other. There was also a great foutain in the centre of the ground floor with water that reached their height some four floors up.
"Oh this places is awesome!" Link exclaimed.
Borack pointed out the shop they needed; it was a fair distance off to the left.
"That's the shop we need"
"Great, let's go and meet him" Link said with a smile.
Link and Borak walked but Borak' parent' rolled ahead to the shop they needed to be in,
"Show off'" Borak complained
Link and Borak deliberately took their time and met and spoke with some of the Goran' going about their business. Borak followed Link' lead as he was a little awkward about his status here. Back at school he was just a regular kid.
Link and Borak were surprised to find that Borak' parent' were right about the shop owner, he wanted to charge Link 7,000 rupees for the outfit,
"You are having a laugh Mr, until a month ago I was a normal kid in Japan, at what point do you think I would have been able to collect that amount of money? Think about it, this is real life not a game, Rueies don't hide out in the grass or grow in human eating plant life" Link fumed
"Good luck up Death Mountain then" The shop owner said
"I'm the next leader of the Goron tribe and I say give him the outfit; he needs it!" Borak demanded
"Huh! Next leader not present leader, that leader doesn't know this one from Adam. Try again small fry!" The shop owner scoffed
"What if we did you a favour? What do you want? Please I need that outfit" Link said
"Hmm, I would like some hot spring water but the Volcano is blocked in places, the larva can't get to where it needs to, to heat it up, if you could get a barrel of hot spring water from the central point, down here I might concider giving you the outfit" The shop owner said
"Oh you...!" Borak began, steaming mad now
"Alright, we'll do it, no problem" Link told him
"How!?" Borak called as Link left the shop, "We can't go back in time, by the time we go back to the present the water will be cold"
Link didn't say a word until they were at the central point, the heat from the sun was glorious but the water was freezing cold.
"See that patch of dead grass over there?" Link asked pointing it out, "get some rocks together and a slate and start a fire underneath it"
Borak grinned,
Using a bottle Link filled up a barrel with cold spring water and he and Borak waited until the water boiled before sealing it tight and carrying it back down the moutain and through the city to the shop owner, who was stunned.
"This...this" He bagan, pouring the water over himself, "Is perfect!"
He whooped and jumped and danced around, bringing a long cue to the door of his shop,
"Uh outfit?" Link asked, "We had a deal"
"Oh, right, sure whatever, take it and go away, I don't care about that now I have the hot spring water, the only shop in the city with it, I'm rich"
Link and Borak looked at each other and then frowned as the Goron' in the cue behind them shoved them both out of the way and into nearby shelves.
Back down in Kakoriko Village Zelph was struggling to hold it together as she watched her mother do the blessing for them as Link' father looked at her from the gate leading to the path up Death Mountain, it was the tune for the Shadow Temple from Ocorina of Time and as she played, spirits came down from the sky, raining their light over the village and sealing the well.
When she was done she came over to Zelph and placed a hand on her cheek,
"Do not fret my child, the well has been sealed, the Godess' have blessed this plane once more, the dead shall sleep now, Canon will not get through this barrier" She said, then as Zelph sobbed in Zane' arms her mother addressed the Shieka, "If you need me I shall be with the Zora'"
"Wait" Zelph said,
"Yes my child? What is it?" She asked gently
"I...I am she, the time has come and I must learn that tune from you" Zelph said through sobs
"Zelda?" She asked in surpise, "But you are just 5, how can this be?"
"Do you not recognise me?" Zane asked her. "Link of our time is heading up Death Mountain now to defeat the Anti-Mineral and the people of this village look once again to the Princess"
"Where am I in this picture?" Zelph' mother asked, Zelph' tears were enough and she grabbed her into her arms, "Oh my brave girl! You must tell me everything, we can go to Impa' old home to speak"
And so to Impa' home they went and Zelph told her the whole story so far, everything she and Link had overcome to get here,
"Even now Link does not think himself worthy of the title; Hero of Time" Zelph finished
"His father' just like that, won't take an ounce of praise. Of course I will teach you that tune" Her mother reasured her.
Once again Zelph' mother played the tune for the Shadow Temple and played along with Zelph until she had it right.
As much as Zelph wanted to spend time with her mother she also had a sense of duty now and though breaking inside she left her still living mother and returned to a time without her in it.
Upon her return and exit of the graveyard she found that all the Sheika had gathered, she stood where her mother had and played the song, the well was sealed by the three Godesses and as she looked up at death mountain there was Link and Borak, on a cliff top watching her and smiling.
She smiled back, though tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I wonder what happened?" Link pondered as they turned to make they're way up to the Goron Srine
"Bro, her mother is buried in that graveyard, she's a Sheika, daughters of the daughter of the Twilight Princess Zelda gave the Tri-Force piece to" Borak told him, "She'd have had to learn the song from her for it to work" Link pulled a sympathetic expression, "Oh before I forget, you're going to need these" Borak said handing him some gold bracelets, "You'll be able to lift heavy stuff now like our trademark hammer"
"That's real too?" Link grinned, putting the bracelets on
"Yeah but I don't know where they put it last time" Borak told him honestly
"So where is the entrance to this place?" Link asked
"Inside the volcano itself" Borak told him
It was hard work climbing this volcano, between bolders falling, nasty mineral spiders with skulls for backs and the heat overall. Link was sure if it wasn't for the outfit he wouldn't just be dead he'd be nothing but ash by now.
Eventually they came to a path, blocked by a rock. Link looked at Borack, grinned and then simply picked the rock up and tossed it over his shoulder. They got hit by a huge wave of heat that forced them back a foot or two in shock but once they'd regained their composure they ventured onto the path.
It led them round and round, eventually coming out onto a platform just above the larva inside the volcano. Link was both afraid and in awe,
"Can't beat mother nature" Link commented
"No you can't" Borak said
"So, I'm guessing the Shrine is actually under the larva and with the danger of an eruption on Vesuvious too we need to be very careful" Link said
"Yep" Borak said, he was looking all about him, "I think we need to offer the gods the golden eggs that are up there on those pillars but how?"
Link looked up and saw that these eggs were switches that needed to be activated, he shot an arrow each at them but this didn't work as when as the second lit up the first went dark. Link frowned, took out his whistle and blew into it
"Zane, can you hear me? I need advice, I can't get the switches to activate long enough to light the symbol on the platform beneath me so we can get into the Shrine"
"I can hear you Link, if you play the song from windwaker, the one to create whirlwinds, then target the two switches, drop the pips you bought from Kokiri into the whirlwinds and you'll activate both switches at the same time" Came Zane' voice
"That' cool" Borak said, then to Link he added, "Do you remember that tune?"
"Down, left, right up or up, left, right, down" Link said, "Sorry, I can see the game controls in my mind, I know the tune, just have to figure it out on this thing"
It took Link less time to play this tune than it did the first one he had to play, he did so twice to create two whirlwinds, one between two targets, he then targeted the switches and dropped the pips so that they flew with the whirlwinds and activated all the switches at once.
Link and Borak took a step back as the Shrine rose up from under the larva, and they realised they were on the roof of it.
There was a horrible screech from far below,
"Someone' not happy" Link said,
They looked over a wall and piered down at two eyes in the larva,
"Oh man, that's our guardian, looks like he has something stuck in his head" Borak commented
Suddenly there was a bright light and a laugh and the dragon grew an armour and larger fangs, and spikes, "Yo, that's not good"
The dragon dived uner the larva and into the Shrine, shaking the whole place.
They found a way in under the symbol on the platform they were standing on and lowered themselves down onto a dark platform, lit up only by the larva at the very bottom.
The first thing Link did was use the whistle and the larva to light torches all around them so they could get a better layout of the Shrine.
There were several platforms and all of them were blocked. The dragon poked it's head out of the larva below and created a platform to cool the top of the larva and turn it in to rock before shaking the whole place, nearly knocking Link and Borak over,
"Link...Link can you hear me?" Came Zane' voice, "You need to bring the platform up to you by releasing the larva in the other rooms, don't worry if he cools it the levels will still rise a little"
Borak and Link nodded at each other and parted ways, Link went through the right door and Borak went through the left door.
Borak was faced with a floorless corridor but he couldn't hope to roll round it as it was too tight a space. There was a ladder on the wall leading up to a platform further along. He went back out of the corridor in hope of finding a jar of water or something but there was nothing. Then he went back into the corridor and started banging on the wall and the floor until he had four different sounds and taking a chance he drummed out the whirlwind tune, to his shock it worked and he side jumped into the whirlwind, riding it back and forth along the corridor until he could grab hold of the ladder and work his way up to a plaform above. He followed this round to just above the door and pushed a rock into the larva. He then swung down onto the ledge with the door leading out and rolled on one spot to generate the speed the rock needed, the rock heated up until it was picked up by the whirlwind and carried to the end where it then exploded and smashed the blockage.
The Dragon raged but did nothing as the larva poured down, tilting the platform below on one side.
Link had found a similar corridor but was slimmer than Borak and could sidle along a small gap to the ladder on the left wall. He followed this around until he found a rock he could push into the larva below. Once he'd done this he jumped down and created a whirlwind, targeting it to sit just above the rock and into the whirlwind he tossed a bomb that spun in circles as the rock was propelled along the corrdior and round to the left where the bomb exploded, clearing the blockage.
Link rushed out of the room to see what had changed and he and Borak watched the larva pour down and level out the platform. At this point the draggon broke out of the centre and cooled the larva pouring down both sides, before screeching, melting a pool for himself, diving under, cooling this and then ramming the wall once more,
Link and Borak stayed up on their feet but barely.
Now they had to get to the other side of the Shrine and there were no bridges for them. Link created a whirlwind and had Borak roll into it, he did and was propelled across the Shrine to the lower platform on the other side.
Link waited for the whirlwind to come back across before jumping off the barrier, into the whirlwind, hoping for the best. His scales caught the wind and he was also propelled across to the other side. Though a little too fast as he went smack, cheek first into the wall and slid down in shock.
"That really hurt"
"I felt that" Borak said giving Link some jelly hearts.
He needed three before he could even stand up.
This time they decided to stick together and ventured through the door on the left.
Here they found themselves trapped, with bars coming up from the ground. This area was grassy and would have been really pretty had it not been for the lit giant slugs on the ground.
"Oh I hate these things" Link said
They came after them, Link froze and then shot arrows at them but they stopped attacking after one and then two and then three blew up.
"Hold up, let's properlly look around, what if we had to use them to blast the blockage?" Borak asked
With difficulty they avoided the slugs and searched the room, hitting the walls for the one that sounded different. Link used a bomb but this made barely a scratch. Then he attacked a lit slug, froze it, picked it up and placed it by the wall, when it thawed out and blew up into purple smoke it took the wall down with it, revealing a path that dipped and went back around to the left.
Link and Borak followed it round until they found a larva stream that curved and stopped by the blockage, they then backed up and attacked the slugs, froze them, picked them up and tossed them at the blockage where they blew up into purple smoke.
As this blew apart allowing the larva to flow out Link and Borak figured they'd just be able to get back out of the room but they found that the bars were still there.
Link and Borak then destroyed the rest of the slugs revealing a small key and releasing the bars, allowing them out.
On leaving the room they saw that the platform was once again at a tilt and it did seem closer, but they couldn't be sure. The dragon screeched as they crossed the platform and used the key to unlock the door on the right.
Beyond this door they found more bars trapping them and came face to face with two spinning scarecrows. Borak used his dive bomb attack to stump one of the scarecrows, while Link used the hookshoot to take the head off the second and throw it at the fiirst. The head blew up and did some damage to the scarecrow that Borak had stumped.
The scarecrows let off a barrage of fireballs and caused two of eight pillars to crumble. Once they had stopped doing this and were just spinning in one spot Link and Borak swapped scarecrows. Borak stumped the second while Link grabbed the head off the first and threw it at the second. It blew up and did damage to the second. Now the two scarecrows combind into one and created a hole in the ground. Link saw the larva and then a with a look, Borak rolled around, trying to find the wall they needed to blast in order to find the blockage.
Once he had, Link used the hookshot to take the head off and throw it at the wall, blasting it. He then had to trick the scarecrow along the path, around him and into the larva stream just before the blockage before using the hookshot to take the head off and throw it at the blockage. This had the desired effect and the scarecrow exploded into purple smoke.
"Hey Link! Guess what I found; it's the hammer!" Borack called as Link got his breath back,
Link went back to Borack and lifted the hammer in the air before grinning at Borak. The two of them then left the room to see the platform level out.
Again the dragon melted some larva and flew up out of it before cooling the larva pouring in and diving back down, cooling that and then ramming into the wall, this hit did bring Link and Borack to the floor.
"It's because he's getting closer to us" Borak said, taking a jelly heart
"I think he's in pain because of the mineral on his head but we're going to have to hurt him even more if we want to get out of here alive and save Rome, not just Goron City and Kakoriko" Link observed
"I know but I feel bad about it man" Borak said
"Me too" Link said, "One more floor"
This time, Link found a grate he could hook on to and he had Borak shimmy down to it before climbing the bar and firing himself across the void. Link jumped down beside Borak and they looked around. They couldn't see a door anywhere but they could see two statues.
"Ocorina!" Borak and Link said at the same time.
Link went up to the statue on the right and used the hammer to smash it to pieces. This revealed a smaller statue. Link took a swing and smashed this one to pieces and a smaller statue appeared again. Li shook his head, smashed this up and then found a crack in the wall behind it. Here he placed a bomb and found the door.
"Someone did not want us to get into this room" Borak exclaimed
In the next room Link and Borak found a statue of a dragon, there were gold bars around it and instead of breathing fire it was breathing ice.
"Oh I know why, if this is moved, if this mouth is pointed in the wrong direction then you'll freeze the larva that keeps the Goron' alive but can we use it to stop Vesuvious erupting?" Link wandered. The eyes of the dragon glowed, "We're not ready for you yet, we have another dragon to take care of"
The eyes dimmed and Borak and Link passed it and found a small crawl space with larva flowing through it,
"This could be tricky" Link sighed
"You're skinny, I'll lean over and you can climb my back, onto the wall the larva is under, it doesn't effect me as badly as it would you, climb round and see what you can see" Borak suggested
Link nooded and used Borak to climb up onto the wall, he then carefully made his way around to the right where he found the blockage.
He used the hammer to smash part of it and then placed a bomb on the rest of it, edged his way back, then slammed the hammer onto the wall to cause a vibration that set off the bomb before being fired back across the room.
The hammer landed inches away from his delicate area and caused a look between Link and Borak,
Link shook his head and got up,
They had the same problem getting into the room on the left and here they found a dragon breathing fire, which they summerised would be for emergencies during a cold snap on Death Mountain.
Borak helped Link onto the wall this side and then burrowed through the crawl space beneath it. Link used the hammer first then got out of the way before calling out to Borak to spin and clear the blockage. He spun backwards so that he wouldn't end up on the platform below.
Link and Borack left the room and the battle began, the dragon forced them onto the platform by flying at them at speed. He then knocked them down by diving into the larva he melted in the middle of the platform.
Link and Borak really struggled to stay on their feet until a familiar voice sounded,
"Link! Listen! Stay crouched on the platform and find the dragon' point beneath, once you have it, use a combination of the dive bomb and hammer to force the dragon out of the larva. When he's up in the air shoot the glowing point with your arrows and when he falls use the hammer to break the armour created by the mineral!"
Link and Borak crouched around, as the platform shook beneath them, they worked out the where he was by hitting the platform, when it made a different sound Link used the hammer and Borak dive bombed to get the dragon to come up out of the larva.
Link waited to get the right shot as the dragon flew around in circles, dropping rocks at them and breathing fire and then brought him to the ground so he could crack the armour with his hammer. It took three rounds to break it and then they had to deal with the mineral.
"The arrows aren't working on it!" Link called out in a panic
"Use the ice breath, give him brain freeze" Came Zane' voice,
Link used the pips to turn the dragon blue in places so he stopped flying and just hovered, before looking up and shooting a switch that hid the ice breathing dragon. Link then used the arrows to shoot the direction the ice breathing dragon needed to be in until his ice breath shot the mineral, bringing the dragon crashing down and allowing Link to use the final blow, shattering the mineral and calming the dragon down.
It cried out in pain for several seconds and then bowed it's head as if trying to catch it's breath,
"Who did that?!"
Link and Borak felt awful,
"I'm really sorry but you were being overpowered by an anti-mineral stone" Link told him, terrified and sad at the same time
The dragon looked up and saw Link and Borak,
"I was? I'm sorry, did I hurt anybody?" The dragon asked
"We've had better days" Link said with a smile, "Though on a serious note it's woken Vesuvious, we need to stop it from eupting or they'll lose the whole of Rome, let alone pompii again, will you please tell us how?"
"Climb on my back" The dragon said
Link and Borak climbed onto the dragon' back and he flew with them, up through the ceiling of the Shrine, which opened out of him as he got close, then up through the summet of the volcano and out onto the ledge around it, where sat a map and four blue orbs,
"Do we just have to redirect the ice breath to those orbs?" Borak asked
"And then skyward so that it breaks through the mirror and cools the chambers of Vesuvius" The dragon said
Link and Borak turned the tiles so that they would activate the four orbs and then they used the hammer to hit the central button neither could sink on their own.
If they had been below they would have seen the ice breathing dragon turn and lay flat so the ice breath hit one of several blue pipes, the blue orbs were activated and an ice pillar shot up from the centre and beyond the sky above them.
Clouds appeared high above Vesuvious and ice rained down on just the summet alone, making everyone that could see it stop and stare in wonder at this strange twist of fate.
The dragon guard took Link and Borak back to the rooms with the elemental dragons in them, the one breathing ice and the one breathing fire. The ice breathing dragon was back in it' first position and on instruction Link placed his sword into it's mouth to power it up. He did the same with the fire breathing dragon and then they found themselves teleported to the roof where Link activated the portals.
"I will send word to the King, this portal will take you back to Zora' domain but if you or Borak need to return here one day then that platform will act as an elevator for you. Thank you again, may the God's shine upon you"
"How are we getting out of here now though? Could you maybe give us a lift back down Death Mountain, maybe just to the city" Link asked
Link got his wish and found the shop keeper waiting for him and Borak, he looked far from pleased with them,
"I don't know what you did but now everyone in Goron City has hot spring water in their shops, I want the outfit back or payment for it"
"You'll have to catch him first you ungrateful, grumpy little rat" The dragon guard snapped before grabbing Link with his foot and flying him down to the etrance to Kakoriko Village,
"Yo, that's savage" Borak laughed before running from the shop keeper.