Chapter 45

Drexxel and Aurdain opened the door to the next room. Remembering Drexxel's advice, everyone tried to be careful. Brad gulped nervously.

"This is scary. Who would've known there would be a room with a floor crumbling beneath us?"

Link reached over and patted him on the shoulder.

"Courage, Brad. I know you can do this if you put your mind to it. I'm a little scared myself. I don't want the floor to give away as we step on it."

Drexxel turned to address everyone once more.

"I want you humans to go across first. You are lighter and you shouldn't break the path. Me, Aurdain and Argus will cross last."

Argus nodded and grinned happily. He patted Drexxel on the back.

"Way to go, brother. That's the way to do things. You would make a great patriarch in our clan."

Drexxel scuffed his feet on the ground in embarrassment.

"Thanks, chief. I'm honored that you think that."

Link walked ahead to cross first. He watched his step and took his time. He made it across and sighed with relief. He turned around. Brad was next to cross. He shouted words of encouragement over to him.

"It's not as hard as you may think, pal. You can do this. You're the most skilled swordsman I've ever met."

Swelling with pride from Link's words, he started to cross, his mouth dry with fear. About halfway across, the walkway started to crumble beneath him. Charlie was watching Brad's progress and he saw what was happening. He ran over to warn Brad.

"Brad! Keep moving! The floor is about to give out where you are standing!"

Brad gasped in shock and looked down. Suddenly, the floor gave out and Brad started to fall down to the lava pit below! Everyone gasped in shock. Link screamed with rage.

"BRAD! I should've carried you on my shoulders! Now you're gone!"

Without even thinking for his own safety, Charlie ran over and dove down into the hole to try and rescue Brad. Link screamed in shock.

"I can't believe this! Not you too, Charlie! Why did you do that?"

Argus called over to Link.

"They'll be alright. Just you wait and see."

Link sighed.

"I have my doubts, but I hope you're right."

Brad was in a blind panic. He was falling at an incredible rate of speed and there wasn't any way to stop. What was going to happen to the kokiri without him? For that matter, what was going to happen to Link and the resistance? His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an object beside him. He turned and he realized that it was Charlie. He laughed hysterically.

"I must be seeing things. How could you have caught up with me? That's impossible. You can't be real."

Charlie smiled.

"Believe me, I'm real. I dove down to rescue you. I'm not exactly sure how I caught up with you though."

Brad looked down. They were almost at the bottom floor. The lava pit was in plain view below them. Brad turned to Charlie.

"Okay. If you're going to do something, you might want to try it now! Before we end up as permanent residents of this temple."

Charlie nodded. He understood what he meant. He grabbed a hold of Brad's hand and concentrated quickly. Within seconds, Charlie teleported them. Brad opened his eyes, expecting to be in the lava. He looked around. They were both on solid ground. They ended up teleporting on the one side of the broken bridge. Unfortunately, it was the wrong side! Brad turned to Charlie and grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously.

"Thank you for diving down and saving my life. I am eternally in your debt. I am never going to fight or argue with you again. I owe you my life."

Charlie smiled.

"See? I told you that I cared about what happened to you guys. These powers are incredible and I will try to never use them against you. I'm glad Argus talked some sense into me earlier."

Brad smiled.

"Me too, pal. Now, how are we going to get up to Link and the others?"

Charlie looked up and sighed.

"I don't know. The only way I can think of getting back to them is by somehow getting across this lava pit and working our way back."

Brad groaned.

"But that will take us forever! Can't you just teleport us back up there?"

Charlie shrugged.

"I can teleport myself across great distances, but when I try to take someone else far by teleporting, it fails. Remember when that happened earlier?"

Brad nodded. Suddenly, an idea began to form in his mind.

"Okay then. What if you go back up there and let everyone know I'm okay? In the meantime, I will wait for everyone at the entrance to the temple."

Charlie thought his idea over and then nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea to me. Sorry, you have to sit this one out."

Brad shrugged.

"It's alright. I don't like this place anyway."

He turned around and walked back to the entrance of the temple. Charlie began to concentrate hard. He would need to in order to teleport all the way back up to Link and the others.

Link glanced down the hole, wondering if both Charlie and Brad survived their fall. He looked over at the gorons.

"I don't think it's safe for you guys to cross now. I know the lava wouldn't hurt you, but the fall probably would."

Argus nodded.

"You're right, brother. I don't know what to do."

Suddenly, their thoughts were interrupted as Charlie appeared beside Link. Link cheered. He was very happy to see his friend alive and well.

"Charlie! You're okay. I'm so glad you didn't get hurt. Where's Brad? Please don't tell me he fell in the lava!"

Charlie shook his head.

"He is just fine. He went back to the entrance because I am unable to teleport people to great distances yet."

Argus smiled as he shouted over at Charlie.

"Don't worry about it, brother. As long as you and Brad are okay, that's all that matters."

Drexxel chuckled.

"Too bad Brad's back at the entrance. He's going to miss out on all the fun!"

Navi glared at him.

"Really? What fun are you talking about? This place has been a nightmare so far. Bridges keep collapsing behind us and people are almost getting killed. I don't know if I can handle much more of this fun."

Aurdain smacked Drexxel across the back of the head.

"She's right you know. Don't be suck a knucklehead. But onto more serious matters, how are we going to cross this now? It must've weakened after we crossed it the first time."

Argus turned to Drexxel.

"Is there any other way to reach the prison cells?"

He shook his head slowly.

"I don't believe so. Our best bet is crossing this."

Aurdain shook his head.

"Our of the question, Drexxel. Can't you see that big hole in the floor that Brad fell through?"

Charlie was racking his brain for a solution to their problem. The only thing he could think of was trying to teleport the gorons. But he knew his teleporting ability seriously needed work. He shrugged. What was worst that could happen by just trying? If anything, the practice might help. He cleared his throat.

"I can try teleporting you guys one at a time. It's not that far, so I might be able to pull it off."

Valerie butted in.

"But remember what happened back at the lava pit below us? You tried to teleport Brad and it failed."

Charlie glared at her.

"If you were listening to what I just said, you would've known that it's not as far. That lava pit was a long stretch. This isn't very far at all."

Izzy smiled.

"I think we should at least let Charlie try his idea. If it doesn't work, then we can explore other options."

Argus grinned at Izzy's statement.

"Now I see why Brad has you with him. You are a rock of good sense. Okay, Charlie. I'll be your first attempt at this. Try to teleport me."

Charlie nodded and teleported and appeared beside Argus. He then grabbed his enormous hand and concentrated. Within seconds, they both disappeared and they reappeared on the other side with Link. Argus held his head.

"Wow... That felt very weird. You're lucky to have an awesome power like that."

Charlie nodded.

"That I am. I'm not sure what I would do without them now. This time, I want to try to teleport both Drexxel and Aurdain at the same time."

Link gasped.

"Are you sure you have the skills to do that?"

He shrugged.

"I'll never know until I try. I'll be back, hopefully with the two gorons."

He concentrated and teleported beside Aurdain. He held out both hands, one in Drexxel's direction and the other in Aurdain's. He looked at both of them with a determined look in his eyes.

"Hold onto my hands tightly you guys but don't crush it. Let's try this."

They each grabbed Charlie's hands. He began concentrating. He had to maintain a high level of concentration in order to make this work. Charlie's hands began to glow dark black. Drexxel and Aurdain felt nervous. Suddenly, Charlie cried out and released a wave of power. Shortly after, Charlie teleported with the two gorons in tow. Seconds later, they all appeared on the other side with Argus and Link. Charlie sat down on the floor. He was breathing heavily. Link was worried and he rushed over to him.

"Charlie, are you okay, pal?"

He looked up at Link weakly and nodded.

"Yeah. I just need to take a break. That took a tremendous amount of power. I'm wiped right now."

Argus nodded understandingly.

"That's fine. Now that we are across that chasm, we can take a short rest."

They all sat down close to the door into the next room, waiting for Charlie to regain his strength.

Vaati was walking out in the fields of Hyrule, trying to think of a way to defeat Link and his friends. He couldn't seem to hit them with any sort of attack while Charlie had those powers still. He sat down on the ground and tried to think of a strategy.

Meanwhile, Veran had spotted Vaati. The description Ganondorf had given her was exact. Now she only had to fool him into trusting her. She grinned evilly, her black hair flowing in the breeze. Her charm would ultimately spell his demise! She started to walk in his direction.

Vaati was busy still attempting to think up a strategy. He never noticed the girl with black hair and blue eyes behind him. Suddenly, Vaati heard someone calling him.

"Hey you! What are you doing?"

Without turning around, he replied back.

"None of your business! Now go home before you get hurt!"

The voice answered back, this time more softly.

"Now why would I do that before I got your name, handsome?"

Vaati cursed in anger. This peasant was asking for it.

"I said go away!"

He turned around and gasped. The voice belonged to a beautiful black-haired girl with blue eyes. She wore a long purple robe. She smiled sweetly.

"My name is Veran. What's yours, handsome?"

He stammered a reply. He couldn't help it. She was so beautiful!

"V-V-Vaati. N-n-nice to meet you."

She grinned. Her plan was working perfectly!

"Likewise. So, what are you doing out here by your lonesome on a beautiful day like this?"

Vaati wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Uh, I don't think you should hang around me, Veran."

She cocked her head to one side.

"Oh? Why not? What's so bad about hanging around with you? Your black hair is simply stunning!"

He blushed with embarrassment.

"Thanks, but I'm an evil sorcerer. You should head back to Kakariko."

She grinned evilly.

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere. I'm here to teach you a lesson, traitor!"

He was taken aback. He grinned at her.

"What lesson are you going to teach me? A beauty lesson? A sewing lesson perhaps?"

She shook her head.

"Not exactly. I was sent here by King Ganondorf to teach you a lesson in pain!"

Suddenly, she turned black and when she was normal, she looked different. Her skin was a pale purple and she had glowing red eyes. His black eyes glinted dangerously.

"You're messing with the wrong person. I should've known that fool would send somebody after me! Well? What are you waiting for? Let's see what you're capable of."

Veran laughed.

"Very well. Prepare yourself! This is going to hurt."

Vaati concentrated and attempted to form a shadow ball. Veran's eyes glowed bright red. Suddenly, Vaati lifted into the air. He gasped with shock. What was happening? Suddenly, with a tremendous amount of power and force, he was hurled back onto the ground. He groaned in pain.

"So, Ganondorf actually grew a brain and sent a worthy adversary after me. Let's see how you handle this!"

Vaati suddenly began floating in the air. With quick concentration, he began to hurl fireballs at Veran. Her eyes glowed blue and a magical shield formed around her body. The fireballs bounced harmlessly off. Veran grinned.

"Nice try! You have to do better than that to defeat me! Unlike you, I am composed completely of dark energy. I can bend my body and change my appearance. Observe!"

She turned black once more. Her body started to bend and twist into a bigger figure. When she reappeared, Vaati gasped in shock. She turned into Ganondorf! She grinned evilly.

"So, what's your next move, boy?"

Vaati gasped. She even sounded like Ganondorf. The thought made him shudder. He attempted to cast a shadow ball at her. It hit her, but it did absolutely nothing. She grinned.

"Did I forget to mention? Since I'm made out of dark energy, I can also absorb dark energy like your shadow ball!"

Vaati groaned. This fight was beginning to feel hopeless. Veran cast a lightning spell at Vaati. He tried to dodge it, but it was too fast. It hit him directly in the chest. He yelled in pain and fell down in a heap. Veran turned black and reverted back to her normal self. She walked up to Vaati and kicked him in the chest. He groaned weakly.

"You're not so tough anymore! You truly saw what I was capable of. Now, I'm going to get Link and his friends. I'm going to let you live, so count yourself lucky!"

She disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Vaati groaned weakly. He was only half conscious. If she found Link, he was in trouble. He smiled weakly. At least he would finally get a thrashing, even if it wasn't him doing the thrashing. Vaati groaned once more as he went unconscious in the fields of Hyrule near Lon Lon Ranch.