The Serpent's Egg

By Nicolle

Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda belongs to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo. Thank you for letting your fans borrow them.

Chapter Eight

Link stepped over Droz's body. Taking the path to the left, he came upon the bodies of several guardsmen and Gerudo. The door to the passage hung open.

"You're him, aren't you? The Hero of Time."

Link turned. A Gerudo warrior lay against a tree, bleeding out from a wound. Link knelt next to him. "If I give you a potion, will you stab me in the back?"

The Gerudo smiled ruefully. "If you gave me a potion, I would die faster."

"The poison."

The Gerudo nodded. "There was a spell on the door. It discharged when the door opened. I don't know who it caught, but it would have taken them back to the palace."

"You're being singularly helpful."

The Gerudo shrugged and then winced in pain. "I was supposed to stop you, but I'm not of much use like this."

"The wound is deep, but it won't kill you if it's sewn shut. Ganon is sure to have an antidote to his clever little killer. Lay back."

"You'd help an enemy?"

"Do you stay my enemy afterwards?"

"No."

"Then it makes sense for me."

After bandaging his patient, Link entered the passage. Not even the dust was disturbed. He reached into a shadow and pulled out the other.

"Where are they?"

"My Queen rests in the palace. The princess is on her way to the shrine."

"And?"

"It's not going to go well for her." The other dissipated and a soft chuckle filled the air. "Look out for the Gerudo. They're crawling all over the place."

The floor went out from under him and Link dropped into a room filled with Gerudo warriors. He rolled to his feet and readied himself.

A female Gerudo came forward. "For the Hero of Time, you really did take a while getting here."

Link sheathed his sword. "And who do I have the pleasure of speaking too?"

She smiled and cooed, "Ooh, Nabooru told us you'd be handsome, but she didn't mention you were so polite."

Link frowned. "Nabooru passed hundreds of years ago."

The woman stepped up to Link and walked around him slowly. "She left us her stories and we remember them well."

"And what exactly does that mean, Miss Coy?"

She smiled wide and leaned into him. "While we are not quick to honor debts, we will always honor the one we owe you. At least, those of us who don't serve Ganon." She sneered over the name. Stepping away and standing tall, she continued, "I am Wen and I have information on what he is doing. He plans to steal the Egg and use it to make himself the new royalty of Zoebha."

"But he didn't intend on the land dying."

Wen raised a finger. "No, but he is sure to use it to his advantage."

Link put his shield down and leaned against it. "Do you know the passage well?"

"We've been exploring it."

"Great. If you wanted to put someone through hell, where would you drop them?"

Wen's face suddenly went ashen. "There is a thing in here. It's intelligent. It killed four of us the first time we encountered it. It called us 'dinner.'"

"Par for the course," Link muttered. "Which way is the quickest to it?"

Wen shook her head.

"Princess Elana is likely somewhere in its vicinity. So I really need to be doing the hero thing about now."

"He talks a lot more than the stories mention," one of the Gerudo men whispered.

"Didn't feel like doing the silent type this lifetime. The way?"

Wen gestured to a tunnel going deep into the mountain. "The last we saw of it, it was down that passage, at the end."

Link nodded and headed into the passage. Nearly a mile down, the tunnel opened into a enormous and empty gallery. Link stopped at the edge and leaned against the wall, listening. The sound of a slight breath caught his ear. It was behind him.

He turned in time to have the other shove him off the edge of the passage. Reaching into his bag, Link pulled the clawshot and fired it into the rock ceiling, pulling himself back up to the tunnel entrance.

"Come on, you coward!"

The other hissed. "Only as much as you are."

Their swords locked and Link dropped his shield to grab the other by the tunic. "Let's dance." He rolled back and flung the other over the edge. Falling, the other dissipated in midair reappearing in a cave entrance across the gallery.

Link fired the clawshot into the stalactites and swung across. The other was flitting through the shadows. Link fired the clawshot. The other screamed when it hit him and dug in. Link pulled the other back.

"No playing, shadow-boy."

The other sneered and drew his sword. "I will not lose! Not this time!"

Link rushed the other, slamming him into a stalagmite. "What? Did you say something you regret?"

The other gritted his teeth and slashed at Link. Link jumped back and the other disappeared. Link paused, turning slowly to scan the gallery. A quick movement caught his eye and the clawshot pulled him to a high tunnel. Their swords clashed.

"What did you say to her?"

The other moved back slightly and rushed forward, sword point leveled for Link's heart. Link fell backward, letting the other rush over him. The other stepped over the edge and Link pounced, using the momentum of the fall to slam the other into the gallery floor. Unfazed, the other slammed his fist into Link's cheek and sent him sprawling. Link kipped up and their swords clashed again.

"What did you say to her?"

The other said nothing. He backpedaled when Link slammed him with a shield to the face. The other rounded about and was knocked off balance when Link mirrored him. Taking the opportunity, Link knocked the other's sword from his hand and pinned him to a stalagmite.

"What did you say to her?"

The other put two fingers to Link's forehead. Both shuddered at the contact and Link closed his eyes. The memory passed.

"You liar." Link slammed the other's head of the stalagmite. "How dare you?"

With renewed strength, the other pushed Link away and grabbed his sword. "I will not lose!"

Both screamed and they swung. Both swords hit home, but Link's pierced the other's heart. The other sank to his knees and looked up at himself.

"Make my apology for me."

Link pulled his sword free. "You arrogant idiot." He grabbed the other by the tunic and lifted him up. "I never wanted her to know what happened. Ever."

The other smiled before his eyes closed. "Now she has to know." The other turned black, sliding out of Link's hand. The shadow pooled around his feet before becoming his again. Link sank to the floor, hand holding the wound that opened over his heart.

"Oh sweet Farore, give me the courage to tell her."

The door to the throne room opened and Sheik was pushed into a room filled with Ganon's minions. Old Pig-Face himself stood in front of the throne. He turned with a smile.

Sheik summoned the Light Bow, knocked an arrow, and let it fly. The arrow arched around the room, going through every minion surrounding him. Ganon's jaw dropped. Sheik knocked another arrow and leveled it at him.

"You were about to monologue weren't you? Well, go on. I've been dying to hear it."

Ganon gritted his teeth. The power of the Triforce resonated through the room. It was there, waiting. All Sheik had to do was say yes and the Triforce of Power would rest with him. It would mean the end of Ganon. All Zelda had to do was reach out her hand. And the dark Queen would rise. She would stand at her throne while a shadow of her hero knelt before her, pure in his devotion and absolute in his hate. The man she spurned would return and her eyes would remain red until the end of time.

The tension snapped. A sword had found it's mark and a door had opened. Sheik smiled and threw a smoke bomb.

At the end of the tunnel stood a door. Elana set Annie down and opened it. She was immediately sucked in and the door slammed shut.

"Princess!"

"I'm all right!" Elana turned to the room. "I have to do this part alone." She walked toward a large stone slab.

Elana stood before the tomb of Eriendal Zoebha. She touched the cold marble and the light poured through the room, revealing the tombs of every heir to the throne. She walked down the hall, moving forward through history, each tomb covered with the great deeds of each king and queen. At the end stood the tomb of her parents. Hands shaking, she pushed on the slab covering the tomb. Within lay her parents, embracing. Elana sank to her knees and wept.

"My dinner has arrived."

Elana's heart went cold and she looked up. Two faces looked down at her; a hairless cat's and a human's, both a pasty blue with big yellow eyes. She backed up quickly and hit a marble pillar. The thing dropped down from the slab on all fours, but it's legs were twisted the wrong way. The human face on the thing twisted and changed, becoming... Elana.

Thing-Elana licked its lips. "To feast on an heir of Eriendal is a rare treat. There is magic in your blood. And that makes it sweet."

Elana scrambled to her feet and spun around the pillar as it pounced. She heard a sickening crack as it hit the pillar. Rounding the pillar, she grabbed the thing by its cat head and slammed it against the floor. It hissed at her and she kicked it in the face.

"I'm tired of this! You're not going to eat me and I'm not going to die here!"

The thing shook its heads. With a quick turn it rounded on her and knocked her flat. "You are trespassing on my domain."

"Trespassing?" Elana spit in its face. "This is the tomb of my ancestors!"

"These men and women were great rulers of incredible wisdom and goodness. And what makes you think you have any place here?"

She kicked at the thing and managed to hit the under belly. It groaned and rolled off of her.

"Maybe I don't. But you're not stopping me from finding the Egg."

The thing pounced again, pinning her to a tomb. Thing-Elana's face came close. "Finding the Egg will not produce a happy ending."

"Not for me, no."

The thing sat back like a cat. "You do not have the necessary knowledge to retrieve the Egg."

Elana crossed her arms over her chest. "Not my fault."

Thing-Elana leaned forward. "I will show you what you need to know." It touched Elana's forehead and her eyes rolled back. She woke up alone. Her tomb appeared in the royal line, though no carvings decorated its sides. Elana ran down the hall, shoving the door to the shrine open, and dove into the blue.