Chapter 78: Stalensign, Skeleton Officer

…

Irleen took a few moments to explain that the columns, when working properly, showed the general health of the technoworks. However, due to the massive amount of damage to the wall behind them, they could not function correctly. They looked around the room for a moment, then they returned to the smaller room they had looked at earlier, the one that Irleen had dismissed as a storage room.

Which she still dismissed as a storage room even after she had Link walk to the back of the room and look for hidden switches or fake walls.

Link and Irleen emerged back into the junction and looked up at the higher level. "Do you think we missed anything up there?" he asked her.

"I really don't think so," she replied. "Airman Kaheel… didn't have anything. Those things had even gone as far as to take his clothes… those…"

"Okay, okay," Link replied in a calming tone. "So… Airman Kaheel had nothing on him. Did you happen to notice the Stalarmors carrying anything?"

"No, nothing."

Link then looked to Layna with the intention of repeating the question. But when he realized who he was about to talk to, he sighed and said, "I don't suppose you saw anything?" Layna replied with a confused frown.

"Hand her my language gem," Irleen said. "I'll ask her."

"Oh, yeah," Link said. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the language gem. He offered it to Layna, who gave it a curious look for a moment. Link thought he saw a blush come to an otherwise neutral face as she picked the gem up into her fingers.

"Layna, 'inan sabinwumak filwaf wammu thib," Irleen said.

Layna's eyes widened as she stared at Irleen. "Fay Irliyn, wa-waba yinaygithak Gilto 'anik max?" she asked.

"Layna, 'inu nadsa'ijunwak nwaki," Irleen answered. Then she paused and added, "Taf naddhozaman 'inoy 'Fay Irliyn' to. Coyhuxwnwak."

Layna seemed to hesitate before responding, "Ay'a, Cayminnadhiyf Irliyn."

Irleen gave an exhausted sigh. "Xwali…"

Link turned his attention to the large pool of water beneath the platform, having lost interest in a conversation he could not follow. The still surface was somewhat difficult to see into due to the dark lights on the surface in addition to similar lighting underneath, indicating to Link that the walls and bottom of the pool were composed of the same material as the rest of the technoworks. But even with the proliferation of concealing illumination, Link could see some odd discolorations beneath the water. One was a larger area on his right (the direction of the control rooms) which actually looked much brighter than the surrounding area. The second was on his left, a spot of darkness which, from his perspective, looked to be no bigger than his fist. It took him a moment to realize that he really had not understood why, when the rest of the facility's rooms seemed to have their own purposes, this junction had a large pool at the bottom. If anything, it looked like a hazard if anyone were to fall from the upper platform. Not that it would be anything particularly dangerous for the Sorian builders, it nonetheless made Link curious.

And, without thinking, he asked over his shoulder, "Hey, Irleen? What's this water for?" He then realized that the two were still talking and glanced over his shoulder while saying, "Hey, you two."

Layna jumped in response, causing Irleen to start as well. Irleen then turned to Link and snapped, "Dhol!?"

"The water here," Link replied, pointing a finger. "What's it supposed to be used for?"

"Dhol? Liynk, 'inu nadmathosak wabnik. Waba niygothotak 'anik 'adhofnwin 'ithab. Kwal waba niygothotak 'immu thib 'anik 'a… dho…" Link could only look at her, wondering if she realized that her words had meant absolutely nothing to him. She exchanged a look with Layna. "Oh. 'Inu ya'lu niygothotak Gilto 'anik 'ithab, 'inax?"

Layna nodded. "Ay'a, Cayminnadhiyf Irliyn."

Irleen gave an annoyed sigh and said, "Taymokwan 'anw thibbak Liynk zanak."

Layna stared at her for a moment before saying, "Amda Kyabtin zanak?"

"Ay'a, Layna," Irleen replied in an irate tone, causing Layna to start. Layna held her hands out, and Link took the gem back. "Now, what were you saying?" Irleen asked.

"I was asking about this water here," Link said. "How come there's so much here?"

Irleen let out a thoughtful sound as she moved to hover over the water. "I don't know," she replied after a moment. "If it was flowing, I'd say it's a fresh water source. As it is… yeeeeah, I'm clueless." She flew a small circle and then continued, "You know, if someone were to drop something in there, it'd be pretty hard to find. I wonder if Airman Kaheel might've dropped his magic object down there."

"Sounds like it might be worth looking," Link said as he took off his shield.

Irleen watched for a moment as Link started setting his gear on the floor. "You're going down there? Do you know how to swim?"

"What, you think I never learned to swim?" Link asked as he dropped his whip on the floor. "Line and I used to go for a swim whenever the Grand Sails was held up on an island with a lake. It didn't happen too often, but it was nice when it did." He sat on the floor to take his boots off. "What will I be looking for?"

"Uh, something metal, I guess," Irleen said. "Magic users can use practically anything. Pens, watches, slide rulers, even small instruments. It usually depends on how crazy they feel like being. I once knew an older librarian who used a shoe with a wooden foot inside."

"A wooden foot?" Link asked before pulling his tunic over his head.

"He said it belonged to his mother. Are you… stripping naked?"

"Just to my undersuit," Link said as he stood up. He dropped his trousers and stepped out, leaving him wearing just a white body suit with the sleeves colored grey up to the elbows. "I'll be right back."

"Līnca, kákirōl ahà ō," Irleen complained at him.

Link had decided to ignore her as he sat down on the edge of the platform, allowing his toes to dip into the water. The water was cool, but not unbearable, and Link carefully slid off the edge and into the pool. He kept a hand on the edge as he allowed himself to float for a moment, making sure he had his bearings right.

Then he took in a deep breath and disappeared under the surface. When he opened his eyes again, he found that visibility was difficult to determine due to the light from the surrounding walls. He located the dark space and dove toward it. He had never gone so far into a body of water before, usually out of concern for something alive at the bottom of whatever lake he had been swimming in. However, his curiosity kept his mind focused as he dove maybe a story and a half before finding a third floor.

What was more interesting was the dark space itself. Some kind of brown garment was attached to the base of the wall. As Link used his fingers to probe around it, he found that there was a source of suction from behind the wall itself. He could not tell what prevented the garment from being pulled beyond the wall, but the black hole beyond told him it might be another part of the technoworks that had been purposely sent through necrosis, although he was not quite sure what for. His lungs began to burn, so he decided to return to the surface for more air.

"Ħìtīn kahūt?" Irleen, hovering not far from where Link had surfaced, asked.

"Just a minute," Link replied. His words elicited an annoyed remark from Irleen, but he dove back under before he could hear the whole thing.

As he returned, he thought about his next course of action. He decided that, if the garment below belonged to the Sorian airman, it might be worth it to retrieve it. So when he reached the bottom again, he took a handful of the garment and pulled. But he found that the suction was holding tight, so he grabbed with both hands. The moment he managed to tug some of the garment from the hole, he felt the water around him move. It startled him, causing him to let go and almost lose his breath. Link backed away and immediately returned to the surface again, alarmed by the water in his mouth. He broke the surface and spat the dirt-tinged water out of his mouth.

"Līnca!" Irleen cried out. "Con tùkħah!?"

Link coughed before raising a hand out of the water. "I'm okay," he croaked. "Just wait."

"Káħàwò Rītánìn karōlat…"

Link dove back under and immediately grabbed the garment. After bracing his feet against either side of the hole, he started dragging the garment up like he was hauling a line. The water suddenly pulled harder on him, but he kept his legs straight and continued to pull. At first, he thought the garment was just a long piece of damp cloth. Then he discovered that it was a pair of trousers, and his hand felt something in one of the pockets as he tugged. The water pulled harder still, and Link sunk until his back was on the bottom. But he had the trousers wrested from the hole, and he tried to turn and swim away with them slung on his shoulder.

Instead, though, he found that he could not push against the wall hard enough to swim away. Twice, he tried to shove himself away, and he found that the water was pulling him back toward the hole. His third kick was much harder, and he tried to swim as frantic as possible to get away. However, he found that, having already spent some time swimming on top of all the climbing and fighting the Stalarmors, his muscles were beginning to ache. He set his feet on the wall and gave himself a moment to relax. Then, realizing that he was almost out of air due to all his movement, he used a hand to pinch his nose shut so he did not accidentally tried to breathe. His head was clouding up. He had to get out before he drowned.

His stomach touched the bottom again, and he looked up. And he realized that the surface was approaching him! The water was draining out of the room. After just a few more seconds of waiting, the water's pull weakened, and Link was able to not only move away from the hole, but stand up and take a relieving breath of air. He took in a large breath and started coughing.

"Līnca!" Irleen cried out. "Katòhan!?"

Link, although not understanding Irleen, held up a hand and nodded. "I'm okay." He looked around at the drained floor and saw something he had not been expecting. The glowing he had seen, the large spot across from the hole, revealed itself to be a doorway down another hallway. It sat on a raised platform that took up the right corner across from Link, providing a (relatively) dry path between the door and the ladder from the walkway above. Link, after much of the water had drained, stood in water now as high as the middle of his shins. Unseen previously, the water came from a number of spouts on the left side of the room, spraying loud now that they were open to the air. He turned and found that, indeed, the hole into which the water was draining was a part of the facility that had undergone necrosis, including the grate-shaped cap that had prevented the trousers from being pulled in.

Link pulled the trousers from around his neck and found the pockets at the waist. The first was empty, but the second one yielded something interesting.

A harmonica.

As far as harmonicas went, it was actually a very handsome piece for being in the water for days. If he remembered correctly, the configuration of the mouthpiece, with thick spacing between each hole, made this particular instrument a blues harp. The exterior was mostly steel, but the cover plates were set with large, thin bars of emerald. The top cover plate held ten strips of emerald arranged right above each of the holes in the mouthpiece. The bottom plate, however, was a single, solid bar. Or, at least, that was how Link thought the instrument was supposed to be oriented. He put the instrument to his mouth and blew. The result was a brief spray of water before the instrument played a clear note. Link then looked at the blues harp in concentration. He considered that he would have to see someone to make sure it was properly tuned; not having owned an instrument before, he could not be sure with his own ears.

"Àciwátōn?" Irleen asked as she hovered closer. "Kōwì luc itì wáh pīn?"

"Interesting, huh?" Link asked her.

"Līnca, Hīlīħánìn kárōl ō," she answered in an annoyed tone.

Her words killing his excitement at the find, he glanced at the walkway above. "Hey, Layna!" he called. He held up a hand to invite her down. "Can you bring my stuff?"

Ba-bam!

All three looked toward the new doorway in response to what sounded like something heavy falling beyond it. Although Link and Irleen had clear sight down the hallway, neither of them could see anything different.

"What was that?"

"Luc nūc?"

"Nwaki dhol?"

…

Link had to take a moment to get dressed and equipped before the three of them descended to the lowest level and investigated the hallway. They discovered that there was a bend to the left, which explained why Link and Irleen had not seen the source of the sound earlier. Layna, of course, strode before them with steps silent and one of her small blades in each hand. Link found himself feeling anxious about this new room, although he could not be sure why. Only after they turned the corner did Link realize that it might have been because he felt that they had not found all of the Stalarmors. He remembered that there had been four crates back at the port, as well as someone saying that the single Sorian in those crates might have been accompanied by one of the earlier Stalarmors. Or had that been something he had just thought? Either way, it seemed like a legitimate cause for concern to him. A little further on, he realized that there might have even been more than just those three Stalarmors. With their ability to collapse, there could have been two, maybe even three, to a crate.

"Link?" Irleen asked. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?"

"You've got this… weird look on your face."

"Oh." He shook his head. "Just… I think I'm just thinking about…" He rubbed his eyes. "Too much, I guess."

"Welcome to the club."

The room they stepped into was about as large as the storage room they had found earlier. However, this had the distinguishing feature of a window on the right side. Link glanced out at a much larger area which, at first, looked to simply lead out to the open sky. The area was walled by rock, but its ceiling was the same tile pattern that they had encountered all over the technoworks. The deep blue of a late evening sky darkening the surface below allowed them to see the light from the ceiling tiles shimmer off bodies of water on the other side of the glass as well what looked like a glass platform between both bodies.

After Link spent a few minutes looking out the window, he turned to another item of interest in the room: a pair of red spots in the middle of the room's floor. Something had caused damage to the floor, likely from something heavy falling on it. Link looked up at ceiling as Layna's feet disappeared into an overhead cavity she had noticed earlier.

"Think she'll find anything up there?" Link asked Irleen.

"I guess it depends on how much room there is up there," Irleen said. She paused for a moment before adding, "And, judging from how long it's already taken, it's a little extensive."

Link nodded and glanced back out the window. "What's that out there?"

"Probably just where the technoworks stores all of its water before putting it up on the surface."

"Why is it made of… glass?"

"Yeeeeeah, I'm not gonna know the answer to that one. So my best guess is that it's one of those artistic things."

Link put on a difficult face. "Maybe for a Sorian, but… really, I'm kinda done with looking at the surface."

"Oh, come on, Link," Irleen said as he started walking to the other end of the room, where Link thought he saw a hallway connecting to the water storage room. "It's not like the surface was bad."

"Except for all those big things we ran into."

"Right."

"And the fact that we fell there."

"Oh… kaaaay…"

"And that we nearly got killed a bunch of different times."

"All right," she snapped. "Now you're just being difficult. The surface wasn't all bad. You know what? You may have met your future wife after falling down there. Did you think of that?"

Link frowned, although it was actually in reaction to noticing that the connecting hallway had bare stone walls, meaning that this area was a little dark. "Hm." Then he stopped near the entrance and looked over his shoulder. "Wait, my future what?"

"Oh, come on, Link. Don't tell me you never noticed all the attention you got down there."

Link raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah, that probably had something to do with all those… what'd you call them? Bosses?"

"Wha—of course, Link! You were almost famous down there! You even impressed a whole tribe of exotic women!"

Link started walking again. "The Gelto wanted to use me! I don't think I want their attention!"

"Oh, grow up! Meilont, Valley, Dholit, Dubbl, Layna, Rosaline—I've never heard of one man getting that much attention, not even in fiction!"

Link stopped in the middle of a T-junction in the hall and turned around. "Why do conversations with you always go in this weird direction?"

"What? This is just something I like to think about."

"What, about the people who show interest in me?"

"Well… mostly the women…"

"Why would y—"

Bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam BAM BAM BAM BAM!

Link had only a split second to realize that something to his right was charging at him from down the hallway. Then he was struck by a shield the same size as him and shoved into the short corridor leading into the water storage room. Irleen screamed in response, startled by the disappearance of her partner in the blink of an eye. Link could not stop himself, and both he and his attacker fell into the room. Link landed on his back, feeling the rigid form of both his sword and his shield in the most painful way possible. His head had also snapped backwards and hit the floor, causing his vision to swim horribly. He was vaguely aware of something landing near him as he lay still and waited for his head to clear. He rolled over and looked at the thing that had shoved him out of the hallway and into the room. He knew he could fight a naked Stalarmor. A Stalarmor wearing a few pieces of armor, he might have trouble against.

But when this new Stalarmor rose from the floor, partially reassembling itself after the fall had dislocated some of its joints, Link found himself staring at a menacing freak of nature wearing full plate armor. Its cuirass had been crudely designed with outlines of skulls. Its left pauldron sported more skulls arranged in a line with two more above that line, leading Link to believe that it was actually a show of the number of people this abomination had killed. Its gauntlet sported a blade-like ridge on the outer forearm and rows of spikes over the plates designed to guard the fingers. When it flexed its reassembled leg, Link saw that the piece covering its right knee also sported a blade the length of its thigh. It did not appear to wear a helmet. Instead, a crude visor looked to have been bolted directly to its skull about where its ears should be. As if to respond to Link's look of fright, it used the hand free of its shield (which turned out to be much taller than Link stood) to life the visor. Then it angled its head so that it could show Link the permanent smile carved into its fleshless face. Overall, this one stood at a height maybe a head taller than the previous Stalarmors, tall enough that it probably had had to hunch low in order to walk the halls of the technoworks.

The Stalarmor slammed its visor down with a resounding tang and wrapped its mail-clad fingers around the hilt of a sword mounted on its back. Link immediately pushed himself to his feet and pulled his stolen shield off. He had it affixed to his arm when the Stalarmor drew what almost looked like a broadsword missing its point. Then it swung the sword, and, with a shink, a second blade slid into existence, making even the creature's sword taller than Link! Link quickly drew the Lokomo Sword and held it pointed at the Stalarmor. He realized that he was seriously outclassed. Not only was his opponent larger than him, it wore a full suit of armor that he would never be able to get past. Worse, Link had no idea where the creature's weak point was, knowing now that the Stalarmors did not keep them in the same place. He felt his best option was to escape, but his only way out was the ladder behind him. The Stalarmor would skewer him before he could make it to the doorway above.

The creature took a step forward, which automatically brought it within strike distance. Link saw it raise its sword for a horizontal swing and brought up his shield as he jumped backwards.

TANG!

Link spun and nearly stumbled into the pool on his right when the end of the Stalarmor's sword found the edge of Link's shield and nearly tore his arm out with a devastating strike. If the strike had been any closer, Link probably would have been thrown into the pool. He found his footing again just in time to see the Stalarmor was swinging in the opposite direction. Link dropped to his knees and leaned backwards and watched as the sword flashed past his face, close enough that he could feel the blade slicing through the air. He had leaned too far, though, and flopped onto his back. The Stalarmor paused to change the direction of its swing, allowing Link time to see that it was going to drop the sword down on top of him. Feeling that there was no safer place to go, Link rolled at the Stalarmor just as it swung. PANG! The sword hit nothing but the glass-like floor. Link found this to be a good opportunity and sprung onto a knee. He wrapped his arms around the Stalarmor's right leg and pulled, hoping that he was just strong enough to topple the creature.

The Stalarmor lifted its leg. Link found himself glancing at its masked face for a second.

Then the Stalarmor spun on its other foot and kicked. "YAAAAAA—Gah!" Link sailed across the room until he slammed against the opposite wall. He dropped to the floor, his hand fumbling the Lokomo Sword. He shook his head clear of the fuzziness put there when his head had struck the wall.

And he saw that, between him and the floor, lay the Stalarmor's right shin and foot. Link quickly looked back at the Stalarmor and saw that it was still standing! He found the Lokomo Sword and jumped back to his feet. He could not understand how or why, but this Stalarmor could throw its own pieces! Even if he could sever any of its limbs, it would not be affected!

The Stalarmor recalled its missing shin and, as if to prove to Link that his assessment was correct, thrust its sword arm forward and launched its gauntlet across the room. Link raised his shield and ducked out of the way. The sword's point bounced off the wall. Then Link raised his sword in defense when the Stalarmor's sword angled one cutting edge and sliced downward at him. He had to brace his sword with his shield, finding that even the detached limb possessed enough force to nearly make the Lokomo Sword embed itself into Link's skull. Link's muscles screamed at him to stop straining, sore as they were from the day's activity. Only his determination was working to keep him from getting killed, but he did not know how long that would last.

Link suddenly lurched forward when the Stalarmor's sword slid off his sword, and he watched the gauntlet return to its owner. The gauntlet reattached, and the Stalarmor flexed its arm as if to make sure its joint still worked.

Then, against any laws of physics, the Stalarmor leapt at Link with its sword raised over its head. The stunt was incredible; a skeleton coated in iron and then suited in metal plates and mail should not have been able to jump high enough to nearly touch a ceiling as far up as three times the creature's height, never mind having the thrust from standing still to launch its whole body across the room. Link had only a moment to gauge the plausibility of such a feat before he tucked and rolled out of the way of a sword which was looking to cleave him in two with enough force to put a deep gash in the glass-like surface they both stood on. The room blushed red from the attack, revealing the nature of the glass surface that they stood on.

Link sprung back to his feet and shuffled to a position behind the Stalarmor. Still no sign of anything that could help him fight this creature, at least not until he thought about it. Although he could not see the life source which had allowed him to defeat the other Stalarmors, he did find something which just might be as pertinent.

Rust.

The red pulsing of the injured technowork floor nearly hid it from Link, but in between the flashes of light, he saw that a patch of ugly orange decorated the bottom edge of the Stalarmor's left greave. The Stalarmor had a rusting problem. And if its greave was rusting, Link found it to be a fair bet that the rest of the Stalarmor's body could rust. Link's eyes immediately swiveled to the pool behind him. To his fortune, he found that the technowork block they both stood on did not stretch over the pool, but in fact formed the pool's edge.

He had a plan. And he had to check something.

The Stalarmor had just removed its blade from the floor, so Link quickly laid a strike into the back of its left knee. Unlike the bare Stalarmors he and Layna had fought before, this Stalarmor only faltered for a split second without having any of its pieces detach, as if the Stalarmor was solid underneath. The Stalarmor took umbrage to the attack and whipped its left arm around to deliver a strike to Link's head with its massive shield. Link's shoulder actually took most of the blow, which was not as powerful since the Stalarmor did not have the room to swing any harder. Link backed away with a series of light skips across the floor, opening the distance between them. He had seen that he would never get the Stalarmor to topple over like the others, not by striking out its knees.

So Link put his sword away.

The Stalarmor turned to find Link, and it gave Link a curious head tilt as if to ask what he was doing. Link, despite his predicament, grinned in response and smacked his free palm against the outside of the shield in a juvenile taunt. The Stalarmor reared back as if plotting to throw its sword at Link.

Link turned out to be both right and wrong. The Stalarmor did indeed throw its sword. And, like before, it threw its gauntlet along, probably to maintain control of the weapon. Link knew that it would have to throw the arm if it wanted to hit him; he had backed up almost to the opposite side of the room. And as soon as he had seen the Stalarmor twist to throw its weapon, Link charged forward.

The Stalarmor only had a split-second to see Link's intentions, and, in that regard, it utterly failed. Link's boots sped the boy up fast enough that the sword would overshoot him by a great margin. In addition, Link's timing was spot-on despite not really intending to find the new opening that he now had. By the time that the Stalarmor's sword had reached where Link once stood, Link was close enough to aim his shield into the Stalarmor's groin while the Stalarmor's own shield was too far and the Stalarmor's shoulder spin too heavy for the Stalarmor to bring the shield back to protect itself. Link did not even try to add power to what he was about to do; he just ran full-on into the Stalarmor's faulds with his shield aimed to take the brunt of the impact.

BAING!

The twist of the Stalarmor's hips caused Link to glance off to one side, but the resulting force of impact was enough that the Stalarmor stumbled this time. Link had fallen to the floor near the pool on his right. The Stalarmor, being top-heavy with all its equipment, reeled backwards and staggered for the pool on the opposite side. Realizing that it was about to go for a permanent swim, the Stalarmor flung its shield away (dropping its sword at the same time) and waved its arms in circles as it tried to regain its balance. Link quickly got back to his feet and, using two long strides to close the gap between them, bashed his shield into the Stalarmor's faulds again. The Stalarmor, finding that it would not recover, immediately recalled its other gauntlet and latched both hands to the edges of Link's shield in order to drag Link with it.

Link, not really expecting such a move, slid his arm out of the shield right away.

SPLAAAAAASH! A torrent of water rose into the air as the heavy, armored skeleton fell in. It sank immediately to the bottom, which revealed the depth of the pool to be about twice the Stalarmor's height.

Link backed away when the Stalarmor launched its gauntlets to the edge of the pool and began to pull itself up. Something was wrong. Link thought that getting the Stalarmor into the pool would cause it to rust, but the iron abomination was still moving. Link backed off and toward the exit when the Stalarmor got an elbow back onto the floor. Then it slung its leg up, and in just minutes, it had rolled back onto the floor. It lifted its heavy body onto its feet and took a single step toward Link.

Then it stopped. Link watched as it glanced down and back at its trailing left foot.

Which had turned an ugly combination of copper and brown. Link could hear what sounded like something crumpling. The orange discoloration continued up the Stalarmor's leg, wrapping around its greave. The Stalarmor toppled sideways, just barely avoiding falling into the other pool. It tried to pull itself along the floor, but the smooth floor provided no grip for its armored hands. Link watched as another spot of rust started spreading at its left elbow as it tried to reach out.

And at the angle Link stood, he could see the Stalarmor's life source peeking out from under its left pauldron with a soft, blue glow against the red of the floor underneath.

He waited until the rust on its arm had overtaken its shoulder. Then, as he strode forward, he drew his sword. The Stalarmor, now unable to move its left arm with any sort of quick speed, watched as Link delivered a powerful kick to its elbow, launching its gauntlet and part of its rerebrace into the pool on the right. The Stalarmor attempted to retaliate by shoving itself at Link and grabbing his foot with its remaining hand. Link jumped out of its reach and then jumped forward again to hit its left pauldron with a downward strike, dislodging the whole piece from its shoulder. The blue orb of the Stalarmor's life was actually part of the Stalarmor's upper arm bone, protruding from its shoulder opposite of the shoulder joint. Link switched the Lokomo Sword to his right hand and used a wide, circular swing to strike the orb in its rusting resting place.

Crnch! The blade broke the orb just as the Stalarmor latched onto Link's left ankle. But before the Stalarmor could pitch Link aside, its whole body fell lifeless to the floor. Link jerked his ankle out of the Stalarmor's limp grip and backed away. The rusting process had somehow slowed, leaving the Stalarmor's back, left leg, left shoulder, right side, and even part of its jawbone an ugly color. Link waited a moment longer to take a relieved breath and jerked his fist in a satisfied and victorious pump.

"Link!" he heard Irleen call out from behind. He turned to find Layna standing at the base of the wall while Irleen rushed over to him. "Holy crap, Link! Are you okay!?"

Link gave a soft nod. "I'm all right," he said. He gave the Stalarmor a glance over his shoulder before adding, "Amazingly."

"No kidding," Irleen replied as Layna approached from behind, awe-filled eyes focused on the lifeless creature. "We just saw that thing rising out of the water! We thought you were in trouble!"

"I kinda was," Link said with a sheepish grin. "I thought it wasn't gonna rust at first, but I guess it just needed time."

"And salt water," Irleen said.

"Huh?"

"Didn't you notice? The air in here's a little salty. It probably caused it to rust faster once it was exposed to air again."

Link sniffed the air and immediately became aware of how similar it smelled to the air when they had been traveling on the Goddess's Tides. "Oh, yeah."

"This room holds the ocean water the technoworks gathers. It couldn't have been any worse for that thing."

Link nodded and sheathed his sword. "I was thinking… maybe… that Sorian airman had flooded the… the larger room back there so this Stalarmor would be trapped." He let out a loud breath. "Look, let's get out of here and see what we can do about the technoworks now that we have his harmonica."

"Yeah."