Chapter 44: The Volcano Tunnels

…

The tunnel Link, Irleen, and Valley found themselves in was definitely manmade. The entrance had been built with large slabs of rock (probably to accommodate whatever mechanism operated the doors) while the continuing tunnel had been carved out of the mountain. The tunnel was large enough to fit a locomotive inside with plenty of room to spare. Glass tubes filled with lava and set into the walls at about head-height provided a red glow, enough for the three of them to see. Unfortunately, it had a side-effect.

"Okay, I's done."

It made the tunnel unbearably hot. Even worse, Valley and Irleen seemed to be the only ones to feel it. Even wearing his tunic and work trousers over a long-sleeve, heat-retaining undersuit, Link, while noticeably no longer cold, could not tell how hot the tunnel was. However, Valley's perception had forced her to strip off her warm clothing and stuff it into her pack. Even after, she found she still had to strip off her waistcoat. Minutes after that, she had told Link to turn around so she could make a few more modifications. Link had not been sure how she would do that, but the sound of ripping had given him an idea.

When he turned, Valley had her orange waistcoat on again, but her shirt's sleeves and torso had been cut off. Her work trousers had been sliced off at the knees, and the removed legs had been folded over the tops of her boots. This change allowed Link to see the sweat glistening all over her exposed skin. Suddenly, he felt a little uncomfortable.

She giggled at him. "Wow, Link," she said. "It's a good thing da light here's red. It hides what color your face is."

"W-what's that supposed to mean!?" Link's voice cracked, and he felt his cheeks warm up.

She gave him a dismissive wave. "Oh, come on, now, Link. It isn't like I noes knows what goes on in a boy's head."

"You're just teasing me, aren't you!?"

"It's all circumstantial."

"Come on, you two," Irleen said, carefully circling the air above her. "The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can get back to the mountain. You know, where it's nice."

"Take it easy, Irleen," Valley said as she and Link started walking. "Between climbing up one mountain and down another, you has to allow someone to have fun at Link's expense. Personally, I thinks dis innocent demeanor is a little cute."

Irleen dropped so she was in Valley's face. "Don't get any ideas, Valley," she said in a threatening tone.

"I's kidding," Valley told her, holding up her hands. "I prefers older boys anyway. You gets Link aaaaaaall to yourself."

"Thank you."

"You two… know I'm here, right?" Link asked over his shoulder.

"Yeah, we knows," Valley said. "Dat's why we's having fun."

Irleen circled her for a moment. "At least you're a lot more obvious than the last girl I had to drag Link away from."

"What 'last' girl?" Link asked. "You mean Meilont? What did she do?"

"I tried to explain it, but you kept interrupting me."

"What were you explaining!? None of it made sense!"

"Because you kept interrupting me."

"What was you telling him?" Valley asked.

"How a girl's heart works. How a mysterious boy like Link couldn't even begin to understand a girl on the surface. How poor Meilont had her heart broken."

Link's mind flashed back to the train platform outside Whittleton again. He saw Meilont's lonely figure at the end of the platform, catching just the movement of those last words leaving her lips before she was out of sight. Link forced the image out of his head and said in a loud voice, "How would you know?"

"I'm a girl, Link," Irleen said, fluttering around his head. "Remember?"

"It's not like I won't ever see her again."

"Of course, unless you intend to become a lonely captain out on the sea—"

"I'm an airship captain."

"—forced away from your home and your heart by a storm of magical proportions—"

"We don't get that kind of weather."

"But! You've come upon another girl, an educated, sophisticated girl whose knowledge is rivaled by the elders of her race."

"Oh, oh!" Valley called out, stepping up next to Link with her arms in the air. "Dat's me, right? Right?"

"See?" Irleen said. "She gets it."

"Mm hmm," Valley said. "So, how dis educated girl meets da captain lost at sea?"

"Found adrift as if thrown out by the world!" Irleen continued in a grandiose voice. "Rescued by the captain from oceans as cold as they are merciless."

"I'm an airship captain," Link said, although his interest in the conversation was waning.

"Ooh, cans she has a fancy dress?" Valley asked.

"Yeah, I suppose," Irleen replied. "But it'll be messy from being in the water."

"Still an airship captain," Link sighed, noticing that the tunnel was curving.

"So I's gonna have to change out of it, right?" Valley asked. "I means she. Right?"

"Of course," Irleen said. "After all, how else will she have a majestic encounter with the captain?"

"Which way?" Link asked.

"How else, Link?" Irleen said, spinning around his head.

"No, I mean which way," Link said, pointing to the fork in the tunnel ahead of them.

"Oh," Valley uttered.

"Hmm…" Irleen said, bobbing left and right. "Which way looks safer?"

"Irleen, there's nothing else in here but us," Link told her.

"Riiiiight, just like we thought there weren't any creatures outside that would like to kill us."

"I says dat way," Valley said, pointing to the tunnel on the left.

Link craned his head a bit. The left tunnel looked like it rose as it curved, while the tunnel on the right seemed to go deeper before turning the same way. So Link asked, "Why that one?"

"Because I's standing closer to it."

"That's an insane reason!" Irleen snapped at her. "I say we take the other one."

"Why?" Link asked.

"Because it isn't the one she's standing closer to."

"That's an even worse reason!" Link shouted.

Valley strode forward, towards the tunnel on the right, and held a hand up. "Da air here feels warmer. I noes wants to go where it's warmer."

"What's wrong, Valley?" Irleen asked as she fluttered by Valley's head. "Afraid of a little heat?"

"I's running out of clothes!" Valley cried.

"Too bad you haven't gotten out of that taboo like me~."

"Didn't you used to wear clothes when you were in your normal body?" Link asked as he stepped up behind Valley.

"Not that it matters now," Irleen called back as she moved deeper into the tunnel.

"Irleen!" Valley called out, cupping her hands around her mouth. "We should probably stays together!"

"I thought you were too busy…" Irleen's voice faded as she continued alone.

Link exchanged a worried look with Valley. "Irleen?" Link called out.

Irleen flew back into sight.

Then she called out to them as she sped up the other tunnel, "Isaywetakethisone!"

"Irleen, wait up!" Link called.

Then he felt Valley tug on his sleeve. "Uh… Link?"

Link followed her gaze back to the tunnel on the right. Five or six balls of fiery light approached them from the tunnel. And they approached fast. As soon as Link realized that they were Keese, he had grabbed Valley's hand and was running up the other tunnel after Irleen. "Irleen, wait for us!" he shouted.

"You said Fire Keese didn't exist!" Irleen screamed backwards.

"Obviously, she was wrong!" Link shouted back.

"I'm not taking advice about monsters from her ever again!"

"I's sorry!" Valley shouted.

"You were wrong twice!" Irleen shouted.

"I's very sorry!"

Link saw Irleen ahead, her green light almost lost in the large flow of—

Link immediately stopped, and Valley almost fell to the ground trying to stop with him. The way forward was blocked by a flow of lava falling from some source above them into a hole in the floor. Not a drop spilled on the floor in front of them, as if the floor had been carved to prevent it. Through his strange defense against the ambient heat around them, even Link could feel the hot air produced by the lava brushing against his skin. Although he had never encountered lava before, just being able to feel how hot it was from a distance told him he probably did not want to chance running through it.

"There's no way around," Valley said, her grip on Link's hand tightening.

Link looked back. The Fire Keese were still following and would be on them in a moment. He steeled himself, pulled his hand from Valley's grip, and drew his sword.

"Is he doing what I think he's doing?" Irleen asked.

Link charged, calling out as he dove straight for the Fire Keese. They responded by scattering as Link swung his blade into their glowing cloud. He could feel the heat from them, too. It amazed him that they did not suffer from being on fire, but he pushed the thought aside as he spun around to prepare for their inevitable attack. He had to keep them away from Valley, unarmed as she was, and Irleen, whom he feared would become a snack just as Valley had mentioned.

The Keese had the advantage of being small. They were all turning on Link in the next moment, and the two closest dove for him at the same time. The quick movements alarmed Link, and he jumped aside instead of taking a swing as he had intended. There was loose rock where Link's feet landed, and he dropped a knee to catch himself from slipping and planting his face in the stone. He looked up as a Keese (he did not see which one it was) dove at his face, giving him a glance at its large eyes and wide ears. Link did not have the time to set up a strike, so his reflexes settled for swatting at it with his sword. The Keese bounced from the blade to the floor, giving Link room to stand back up. He took advantage of his hand position and delivered a backhanded swing as the cloud attempted to swarm him. His blade found one while the rest scattered again, cleaving its wing and sending it into the wall nearby. Link took a step forward and gave the sword an upward swing which nicked the wing of another. This one flipped backwards and thumped against the floor.

Something landed on his right arm, and Link quickly swung his arm to remove the Keese. He could feel the heat from his body now that he knew it had been there, but he did not stop to see if it had done anything. As much space as they gave him, the Keese seemed eager to attack him as soon as they had their chance. Link was losing track of them; he could not tell how many of them were still attacking. However, to their disadvantage, Link could see them moving in for a strike due to the fire they cloaked themselves in. Just a flicker of motion caught Link's attention, and he struck another one out of the air with a quick slice to his left. He dodged out towards the middle of the tunnel, where he had enough room to swing for another without hitting the wall. Without a target, Link swung around to see if any were still in the air. This allowed him to see that his pack, being thick enough that he would never feel an attack from behind, had caught fire. He pulled his arm from one strap and flung it down the tunnel. The pack released black smoke, and Link started to wonder what exactly it had been made of as he backed away, free hand over his mouth and nose to protect them from the rancid smell. The Keese seemed to like it even less, as he caught sight of two of them fleeing back down the tunnel under the smoke. He turned to the lava flow that had cut off their escape to make sure that none of them had tried to reach Valley.

He bolted down the tunnel as soon as he saw Valley collapsed on the floor. "Valley!" he called to her, trying to sheathe his sword as he ran. Valley did not respond, and Link dropped next to her unmoving form to turn her over. "Valley! Oh—… oh, no. Valley!?" Valley's face looked an unnatural red color under the bright glow of the lava near them. Small blisters had formed on her shoulders and in patches down her arms. She appeared unconscious, but once Link put one arm under her shoulders to hold her up, she stirred. "Valley! Come on, say something!"

"You's… cool, Link," she said, her faraway eyes giving Link the impression that she might be delirious.

Link coughed out a smile. "You… you scared me for a moment," he said.

She looked down at her cupped hands, and Link followed her gaze as she opened them. Irleen rested in her palm, her light noticeably pulsing between dim and bright every few seconds. "She just… fell out of da air," Valley said. "I… tried to help her, but I started to feel… so exhausted…"

"It must be the heat," Link told her. "I have to get you two out of here."

Her eyes formed a relieved look. "Dat sounds nice. I wants to go back to da Yook."

Link nodded. "Okay. We're going to get out of here."

"Ugh," a small voice groaned. Link looked back down as Irleen's wings began to move. "Wha… what happened?"

"You and Valley passed out from the heat," Link said. "It's so hot down here… And being next to this lava probably didn't help."

"Yeah, but I'm feeling much better now," Irleen said. "It's like this place got cooler."

"Link, I thinks it's coming from you," Valley said. "I feels more comfortable, too."

Link shook his head. "But why? I haven't done anything to stop the heat."

"Link?" Valley asked. "When you started wearing an armband?"

Link started and glanced down at the Yook charm still wrapped around his right bicep. He thought back to his discussion with Soog, and the answer dawned on him. "Soog said this would protect me from heat," he said. "I-I guess I didn't take him seriously enough." He set Valley's head on his lap and reached up to grab the charm.

"Link, wait!" Irleen cried out. "Don't take it off. If you do, you'll just wind up like us."

"I've got to give you some protection," Link said as he prepared to remove it.

"No, think about it," Irleen said. "It protects us, but only as long as we're touching you. If we just keep in contact with you, we should be safe as well."

"Okay," Link said, nodding slowly. "How do we do this, then?"

"I'm too weak to fly," Irleen told him. "Put me on your head; I can just hitch a ride." Link held out a hand and watched Irleen climb onto it from Valley's. When he held his hand near the edge of his hat, he could feel Irleen pulling herself by his hair until she settled under his hat. "Thanks. Did I ever mention that you're head is very soft and comfortable."

Link gave a half-smile. "Is that why you're always up there?" Irleen gave a little hum of response, but she did not say any more. Link glanced down at Valley. "How about you?"

Valley smiled. "Actually, I cans walks," she said. "It's probably better; I noes wants to share your head with Irleen."

"Good," Irleen said.

Valley put a hand on Link's shoulder and pulled herself to her feet as he stood up. She gave him a larger smile and said, "Dere. All better."

"Good," Link said with a nod. "We should move before those Keese come back with friends."

Valley, sure to keep one hand latched to Link's sleeve, bent over and retrieved her pack. "Where? Dere noes is a way past here."

"You two need to get back outside," Link told her. "If we get attacked again—"

"I cans hides and waits," Valley said. "Until then…" She took his right hand. "Dis makes it easy to move, right?"

"Uh…" Link looked down at his hand. "S-sure, I guess."

"Den we explores more!"

"I think I might've seen a door back there as I went by," Irleen said.

Link glanced up at his brow, then back to Valley. "Are you sure?"

"Yyyyyep!"

Link gave an uncomfortable shrug. "Okay."

Valley glanced at Link's back as they started walking. "Where your pack went?"

"I… had to get rid of it," Link said in a nervous tone. "It caught fire."

Valley hooked a thumb under one of her pack's strap and examined it. "Dese isn't supposed to burn," she said. "What was your pack made of?"

"Stuff that… burned?" When they reached the burning pile of the pack, Link pointed it out. "See? Burned."

"You had anything in dere?"

"Just rations."

Valley frowned. "I wishes I left my stuff behind…"

"We'll just have to make sure yours doesn't catch fire."

They continued down the corridor, heads ducked down under the smoke for a bit. The tunnel began to descend, and the smoke was no longer an issue. They found the door to their left soon after. It was a circular door made of metal with a pipe protruding from the upper-left like a handle. As they came closer, Link reached his left hand to grab it.

"Hold it," he told Valley, freezing in place. Only an arm's length away from the door, Link could feel the heat radiating from the metal. "Do you feel that?"

"Yyyyyep," Valley said. "You thinks dis door has lava behind it?"

"I don't think we should touch it until we know for sure," Link said. He knew that they should try opening it. If there was lava on the other side, it should flow down the tunnel before them instead of catching them. But how was he supposed to open the door? Trying to touch it would surely be a bad idea. Then he had a better idea and asked Valley, "Do you have anything long in your pack? Something we can tie to that handle?"

"I cans checks," she said.

Then she stood on Link's foot. "Ow!" he cried.

"Sorry," she said as she unshouldered the pack. "I noes wants to let you go."

"Yeah, but… you stepped kind of hard."

Valley dropped the pack to the ground and started rummaging through it. "I noes knows if I has anything… Oh. You wants a rope?"

"Uh… sure," Link said as he accepted the rope. "Wait… what were you just about to say?"
"Oh, I noes knew I had something long in my pack. I guesses I was wrong."

Link glanced down at the rope. "You couldn't remember this?" Valley just replied with a smile, and Link shrugged. "Okay, well, let's get going then."

Valley shouldered her pack again. Then she held onto Link's shoulder as he reached up and tied the rope to the handle. He hoped that the door slid the way they needed and backed to the up-slope side of the tunnel. He had to tug a few minutes before the door budged.

When it opened a bit, lava poured out. Link jumped back, bumping into Valley. He held onto the rope, not wanting to let it near the new flow. The lava, true to what Link had hoped, followed the tunnel down away from them. Both he and Valley could feel the heat. Link tugged more on the door, and it squealed open enough that they could fit through. Still, they allowed the lava to flow out before going near. It took a few moments, and a new patch of black covered the ground where the lava had dried.

"Wow," Link said. "That looked like quite a bit."

"Dat was done on purpose? I wonders," Valley said, her eyes watching the last glow of molten lava disappear down the tunnel.

Link glanced down at the black rock coating the metal frame of the door. "I wonder, too. Come on." He took a few moments to untie the rope and loop it around his shoulder. Then, carefully, he squeezed between the door and the frame, feeling heat still venting from the metal surfaces. Valley kept a hand on his sleeve as he went through, then she followed with Link helping her through with his hand. Their boots crunched on black rock here as well, and it coated the new tunnel all the way until just a bit of the top was the same, red rock as the other tunnel. This tunnel also had tubes filled with lava running its length at head height.

"Whew," Valley breathed. "It feels a little warmer in here. I's still holding your hand."

Link nodded in agreement. "It might be because of all that lava we just released. We shouldn't stay long. Are you sure you want to go on?"

"Link," Irleen spoke up, "stop arguing with us. You're never going to win."

"She's right," Valley said with a grin. "You is never gonna win."

"Okay, okay," Link sighed. "So… which way?"

Both looked down either end of the tunnel. Then Valley pointed out one direction. "Dat looks like it goes straight up, so we noes cans goes that way."

Link nodded. "Okay, so this way."

They walked down the tunnel, finding the hole that led into the tunnel below. As they passed by, they saw that, at the end of the fall, there was a massive pit of lava. They continued up into the volcano, taking whatever tunnel further up whenever they encountered a fork. This only happened a few times, then they found a door. As before, they had to release lava from the other side before venturing into it. This tunnel wound in a curve, going neither up or down, and had a cap at one end near the door. The lava in this room had not gone as far up. They discovered another door, and Link had to bust the black crust off with the pommel of his sword before they could try opening it.

Unlike before, this door led into a small room. The rock walls sported a few levers protruding from a metal panel. This room also featured a wooden ladder. Valley and Link craned their necks to look up at a metal hatch covering the top.

"Where you thinks dat goes?" Valley asked.

"I'm not sure," Link said as he mounted the ladder. "But I bet, if we're going to find any remains of this Neektam person, it'll be on the other side."

"I likes dat bet," Valley said as she released Link's hand and took a hold of his foot. Link went a few rungs up, then he held out a hand to the hatch. He could not feel any heat from it, so he moved two rungs closer. Still no heat. He climbed close enough to put his hand on the surface. No heat, at least nothing differentiating it from the air around them. He took another step up and pushed against it. It felt heavy, but he managed to put enough push into it to budge it loose from the frame around it. It swung aside, and Link climbed up until his head protruded from the floor.

Link's eyes fell on what he first thought was someone's recreation of the Grand Sails' engine room. A conveyor belt from somewhere behind him fed lumps of rock into a top-loading furnace on the opposite side of the room from him. From there, a number of gears and fans squealed as they turned doing… something that Link could not quite make out with all the confusing machinery. Glass tubes lined the wall to his right, some on a table and some protruding from the wall. Lights in the ceiling above appeared to be electric bulbs, and, seeing this, Link wondered if the furnace was part of an electric generator. The wall on his left sported a metal door similar to what they had been finding. It also had a number of crates, all of them made of warping and cracked wood.

Link pulled himself out and looked at the other end of the room as Valley climbed up. The conveyor fed from a hole in the wall. There was another door here, this one a regular door with hinges, along with what appeared to be clothing piled up just beside it. The floor had a rug, but it appeared that the last resident had been unsure which side of the rug was down since the rug was twisted in the middle. More glass tubes protruded from the wall, but these were vertical and empty. A series of levers occupied the wall immediately above the tubes.

"What is dis place?" Valley asked.

"I don't know," Link said, turning back to the furnace. "It looks like a laboratory. I guess." He stepped over to the table of glass tubes and glanced into a beaker. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"You thinks someone still lives here? The air feels more comfortable than down below."

"Someone must still be here," Link said, indicating the conveyor belt. "Even if that thing's automatic, like on an airship, someone would have some reason for leaving it on." Then he pointed to the furnace. "And someone must still be using that, or else this room might've been burned down."

Valley picked up another beaker from the table. "You thinks dis is water? I's thirsty."

She offered Link the beaker, and he sniffed its contents. He recoiled and held the beaker at arm's length. "Whoa, I don't think so," he said. "It smells like raw grog."

"Huh?"

"Raw grog. In short terms, fruit juice and alcohol. But this smells like he forgot the fruit juice."

Valley wandered to the crates across the room and peered into an open one. "Hey," she said, leaning over the side so her legs were off the ground. Link turned as she settled back to the floor. "Look. Rations." She turned the cloth package over. "Old rations."

Link shrugged. "Soog did tell me that Neektam left a long time ago. How old are they?"

"Maybeeeeee… forty years?"

"A long time all right," Irleen spoke up. She popped out from under Link's hat. "With all that lava and this heat, do you think anyone survived to today?"

"I hope so," Link said. "It would be a good lead on finding another Architect."

"Link… in case you didn't notice, we have yet to find one."

"What about Leynne?"

"Who, Mister Grouchface?" Valley asked.

"He keeps telling people he's an inventor," Irleen said. "It's not very encouraging."

"He learned everything from his grandfather," Link argued. "It's close enough."

Valley opened her mouth to speak, but something hit the metal door. All three of them froze in alarm. When the door started pulling itself aside, Link, Valley, and Irleen moved to the back of the room. Link put a hand on his sword when he saw an arm reach past the door. Then a shoulder clad in a bright orange sleeve slid through. The door gave another squeal. Then a tall, lanky man wearing an orange body suit under a dirty, yellow waistcoat stumbled in. His hair was long, blond, and horribly unkempt. Although he had faced the direction Link, Valley, and Irleen had ducked in, he did not appear to acknowledge their presence as he stumbled over to the table. He picked up the beaker Link had investigated and, holding his nose, leaned back so that he could dump the contents into his mouth. Valley and Link shared a surprised look.

The man gave a throaty grunt and slammed the beaker back on the table. Then he turned to the intruders and froze with a dumb look on his face.

Then his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he flopped to the floor. Link and Valley shared another look, and Link started edging closer to the man.

"Is he okay?" Valley asked.

Link leaned forward to get a good look at the man's face. Surprisingly, he wore a satisfied smile. "Uh… I think he's just passed out," Link said, recognizing the kind of smile he had seen on many airmen passed out drunk on the deck of the Grand Sails the following morning. "Whatever that alcohol was, it must have been pretty strong."

"Well, we found someone," Valley said, stepping next to Link. "Now what?"

"I-I don't know. I've never had to… talk to someone who had just passed out."

"Maybe we sho—"

"Gyaaaaah!"

"Yikes!"

"Whoa!"

Both Link and Valley jumped backwards when the man suddenly sat up and hollered. He wobbled for a moment, as if he was about to fall over again. He put a hand on the table and pulled himself up. "Kay," he grunted with a graveled, throaty voice, "Keeze meat… doesn't a drink make."

"Keese meat?" Irleen asked.

The man glanced up from the floor, finally taking notice of Link and Valley. "Whoa… visitors. Right?"

"Uh… y-yeah," Link said. "I'm Link, and this is Valley and Irleen."

"H-ruup!" he hiccupped. "I'm Sello."

"Sello?" Valley asked.

"Hah-yup."

"Is there… anyone else here?" Link asked.

"Hah… nope. Juzd me."

"That's encouraging," Irleen moaned.

"Is you sure?" Valley asked.

"Yeah-huh," Sello said, nodding vigorously. He had to brace himself on the table to keep from falling over. "Beenz alone fer… uh… wha year z'it?" Valley opened her mouth to answer, but Sello interrupted, "Ya know, I don' zink I know when Fargo died. So I guezz it doesn' madder."

"Sello, do you know a man named Neektam?" Link asked.

Sello perked his head up. "Hey, I know dat name! Da'z ma dad's name!"

"Is he… dead?"

Sello thought for a moment. Then his eyes suddenly welled with tears. "He… he…" Sello dropped to his knees and started to bawl at the top of his lungs. "He… he didn' even see when the actuator popped; he was too drunk! An… an' if Frizzy hadn't left dat bottle of toofpaste on the scaffold… he'd've never fallen into da pressure tube and got shot outta da volcano into dat frozen lake!" He scooted across the floor on his knees and wrapped his arms around Valley's waist, burying his face in her stomach. Link watched as Valley's attempt at a sympathetic pat fell into awkwardness as she tried not to laugh aloud. He could not quite see what was so funny about it; he had found Sello's words a little horrifying.

"That's just…" Irleen began before her words failed her. "Uh…"

"Luckless?" Valley managed to get out before clapping a hand to her mouth.

"I've heard of accidents that didn't sound that elaborate," Link said. Sello reached over with one hand and found Link's tunic. He pulled Link closer so he could blow his nose on the tunic. Link, attempting to be sympathetic towards the man, gave him an awkward pat on the shoulder. "I'm-I'm sorry for your loss, Sello."

Sello nodded. "Wuz a bad day fer tryin' 'Naked Foreman Day'."

"E-excuse—" Valley quickly retreated to the far side of the room, losing her composure.

"It… happens to the best of us," Irleen said. "I… I guess."

"Oh, iz okay," Sello replied as he stood up. "I needz a drink."

Link watched him pick up the same beaker and said, "You already drank that."

"I did?" Sello examined the beaker. "Oh, yeah." He set it under a tube protruding from the wall. Then he knocked on a tube filled with clear, green liquid. The liquid suddenly slid into the rock and back out to pour into the beaker. Sello picked up the beaker again and told Link, "Boddomz up."

"Sello…" Link began.

"Hey, Link?" Valley asked. Link turned to see Valley staring into the hatch. "I noes thinks dis is good."

"What?" Link asked as he and Sello stepped over to the hatch.

They looked down just in time to see the ladder catch fire from the lava on the floor. Sello, responding quickly, reached past Link and slammed the hatch closed. Then he looked between Link and Valley for a moment. "Uuuuh… how'd you guys geddin?"

"The… door at the base of the volcano," Link answered.

"You take da lef' paf or da right?"

"Uh…" Valley droned, giving Link an uncomfortable look.

"The left, I believe," Link said.

"An' you opened a door, right?" Sello asked.

"Yeah, why?"

Sello gave a sigh. "'Cuz da right paf had a elevator."

Link and Valley groaned and covered their faces. "I told you guys!" Irleen shouted at them.

"You didn't know, either," Link told her in an irritated tone.

"Z'kay," Sello said as he stepped over to the vertical tubes in the wall. "We juz… uh oh."

"What-oh?" Valley asked.

"No lava," Sello said as he knocked on one of the tubes. "You guys open another door?"

"Yes," Link groaned.

"Dere was stairs further down dat tunnel."

Link slapped his forehead. "Is there anything else we should know?"

"Well, all da tunnels you took're flooded wif lava," Sello said. "Soooo… da only way out'z drough da top of da volcano."

"That can't be too bad," Irleen said. "We can just climb back down from there."

"Yyyyyep," Valley said. "It noes looked like a hard climb."

"Kay," Sello said. "But we godda go now, dough."

"Why?" Irleen asked.

"'Cuz da volcano's gonna go boom."

Link and Valley shared horrified looks. "Uh oh," Irleen said.

"Okay, then," Link said, his voice cracking a bit. "Let's, uh… l-let's get out of here."

"Gud idea!" Sello said. Then he realized that the beaker was still in his hands and took a gulp of its contents. He smacked his lips. "Hmm… too zweet." He tossed the beaker back to the table, which shattered both itself and the tube it collided with, and indicated the door. "Le'z go!"