Chapter 46

Malon was still living at Lon Lon Ranch. After seven long years, the ranch seen its downfall. The ranch hand Ingo had taken over the ranch and kicked out her father. She began to reflect on the past. He changed drastically after the castle town fell seven years ago. He had heard things were bad outside its walls and he left the ranch, hoping to scope out the situation and see if he could help. He told Malon and Talon to stay behind and care for the horses while he did some investigating. He returned later that night, but something wasn't right. He had always been a grouchy person, but he had always maintained self-control. Ingo glared at the ranch owner and his daughter.

"I have great news! The great Ganondorf gave this ranch to me!"

He narrowed his eyes at Talon.

"You know what this means, don't you?"

Talon gulped nervously.

"What do you plan on doing?"

Ingo laughed manically.

"I'm glad you asked! I want you out of this ranch! You are hereby banned from this ranch. Go rot in a ditch for all I care, but never return here!"

Malon shouted in protest.

"What do you think you're doing? You can't kick my dad out! He owns this ranch!"

Ingo sighed.

"Didn't you hear what I said you idiot girl? Ganondorf gave this ranch to me so now, I'm making some long needed changes!"

Malon began to walk away with her father, their heads hung low. Ingo grabbed Malon by the arm.

"Where do you think you're going? I need an assistant to look after the horses. You love this ranch so much after all!"

Talon grabbed a hold of Malon's other arm.

"Please leave my daughter alone! You have no right to do this!"

Ingo closed his eyes and began to focus. He held out his hand and it began to turn purple until a ball of energy began to form. Upon seeing what was about to unfold, Talon let go of his daughter's hand as Ingo hurled a ball of dark energy and sent him flying backwards.

Malon couldn't believe what she was witnessing. She quickly ran over to her father, her face full of concern and worry.

"Dad! Are you okay? Ingo, what have you done?"

Talon grunted and sat up. He reached out and stroked his daughter's hair.

"That really hurt! I'm sorry, dear. I'm going to make my way to Kakariko village when the pain clears. I'll figure out a way to rescue you, don't worry!"

Ingo smirked as he walked over to the two former ranch owners.

"You're welcome to try. That is if you wanted to see a lot of injured horses."

He took Malon by the arm and pulled her back into the ranch and closing the doors, leaving Talon to his pain and misery.

Malon's daydreaming didn't go unnoticed. She was supposed to be cleaning out the stables, but Ingo poked his head into the stables and realised she was staring off into space. He roared at her angrily.

"Get back to work! If you slack off, remember what happens to the horses."

She sighed heavily.

"Understood. I'll get back to work right away sir!"

He left the stables with a grunt. Malon breathed a sigh of relief. At least he finally left her alone. All her dwelling on the past made her think of her father. Was he okay after that magic blast? She hadn't seen him since that fateful day. She hoped he was alright and hoped for the day when the ranch would be free again. She secretly wished somebody would come to her rescue. For the past seven years, she felt like nothing more than a slave. She couldn't do anything herself. She feared the horses would be in peril if she tried anything. Suddenly, she heard Ingo call to her.

"Malon! I need your help out here. Hurry up!"

Malon sighed and went out to see what the commotion was about. Ingo had a unconscious man by the arms and was trying to drag him into the ranch. He was urging her over. Malon groaned. The unconscious stranger had dark hair and he was wearing black armor.

"What's so special about this guy?'

Ingo snapped at her.

"Watch your tongue, girl! Don't you realize who this is? He is none other than Vaati, one of the great Ganondorf's sons!"

She gasped and backed away nervously.

"Why did you bring him in here? Who knows what he'll do when he wakes up!"

Ingo silenced her with a wave of his arm.

"Enough! Take him into the house and put him into one of the spare beds. This will win me favor with the great Ganondorf. Imagine, I'm the one who saved one of his sons. I'll be a hero to his cause."

Malon rolled her eyes. There was no talking to him when he was in one of his crazy moods. She grunted as she dragged him into the house and laid him in on of the beds in the large farmhouse. She bit her lip with worry.

"This is a really bad idea you psycho. I have a really bad feeling about this man."

Link got up and stretched. He looked at his companions.

"Alight. Is everyone okay to move on? I'd like to get out of here and get this armor off as soon as I can."

Charlie nodded as everyone else started getting ready to move on.

"I'm alright now, Link. I'm feeling stronger now. We should be able to- "

Argus held up his hand.

"Wait, everyone! Can you hear that?"

Navi began to fly around and stretched her wings.

"I don't hear anything. Do you, Valerie?"

The fairy shook her head.

"I don't hear anything…wait! I can hear faint voices! I think they are coming from the room ahead."

Drexxel and Aurdain stood up. Argus gritted his teeth.

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go find the source of the voices."

Izzy flew up to the closed door.

"We're all ready, Link. Let's see what's on the other side of that door."

Gulping nervously, Link opened the door. It opened up into a large cavern. On the left side of the room was an enormous cage. He gasped in shock. Inside the cage, the rest of the goron tribe were held prisoner. The rest of the room was practically empty aside from a single door on the other side of the room. Argus roared with delight. He patted Link on the back gently.

"Well done, brother. We found my people. Let's get them out of there!"

They began walking towards the cage. The imprisoned gorons were anxious and nervous. One of them cried out.

"Look out behind you!"

They all turned around and a purple cloud of smoke was beginning to form on the ground. When it parted, there was a weird creature standing before them. It looked like it was composed entirely of fire except for a black body and protruding blades sticking out of its arms and legs. It then began to spin rapidly around the room on the blades on its legs. It then started to spin towards Link. Charlie glared at the creature.

Stupid creature! Link, I think we can take it out by aiming at its body, but it's going to be difficult with it spinning all over the place. If only we could make it stop somehow. I have an idea. Maybe if I can focus hard enough, I can slow it down with my magic. I'm going to need everyone to cover me while I attempt this. Understand?"

Link nodded as he drew his bow.

"Got it. We'll try to distract it while you focus on your spell."

Link dodged the creature's attack and tried shooting its body with his bow. It was moving far too fast, and he missed the shot. He scowled.

"Dammit! It's too fast. Anyone got an idea how to stop this thing?"

Argus nodded to the other gorons and they curled up into balls and rolled around the area until spikes protruded from their bodies. Unfortunately, they were unable to match its speed and ended up crashing into walls.

Valerie looked at the creature nervously and then looked at Charlie who was creating a black orb of magic.

"Is that spell almost ready? That thing isn't easy to catch up to."

Charlie nodded.

"I think this will do. I hope this works!"

He cried out and launched the ball of energy. It was very fast, and it struck the creature right in the center of its body. A cheer arose from the party as the thing started to slow down drastically. Link took the opportunity and let fly an arrow. It struck the creature in its body and stunned it. He then ran up to it and struck it several times with his sword until it stopped moving entirely and let out a wail of pain and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Link held up his sword in victory.

"That takes care of that. Good job, Charlie. We wouldn't have been able to pull it off without your spell."

Charlie patted him on the back.

"No problem, Link. Now, let's go free the gorons!"

The party walked over to the cage. The gorons were cheering. They never personally witnessed anything so heroic.

"Way to go, guys!"

"That was a quick escape, Drexel and Audrain. Way to go, brothers!"

Argus sighed.

"Okay that's enough celebrating. Stand back from the door, brothers."

The gorons did as they were told and moved away from the door. Argus hauled back and gave the door a mighty punch, sending it flying towards the back of the cage. He smiled with satisfaction.

"You are now all free, brothers! You are no longer sacrifices to Volvagia. One problem still remains however, how are you guys going to get back to the entrance without being caught again or possibly hurt?

Everyone started to think of ideas. Link brightened up.

"Wait! What about the warp song Shiek taught me?"

Charlie shook his head.

"That would take you to Death Mountain Crater, not the gorons. This is going to be risky, but I'm going to try and teleport them to the entrance."

Navi looked perplexed.

"I thought you said your teleport couldn't go that far."

Valerie spoke up.

"It…might be possible if I linked my magic power with yours. I'm an advanced magic user, it should give you the boost you need."

Izzy gasped.

"A-are you sure, Valerie? That is a great risk to your body. You might not survive the process!"

Valerie nodded.

"I should be fine. I'm stronger than you think! I just…. might need a lot of rest afterwards."

Charlie walked over to Valerie.

"As long as you're sure, let's give it a try."

Charlie walked over to the gorons with Valerie right behind him. He looked at the gorons. There were at least fifteen gorons excluding Drexxel and Aurdain. This wasn't going to be an easy task. He walked around them nervously.

"O-okay gorons. Everyone, stay close together. We're going to try this."

Charlie nodded at Valerie and they both began to focus their energy. Valerie's energy started Channelling into Charlie and vice-versa. The former adversary opened his eyes. They were now glowing white. He roared and raised his arms. The entire remaining goron clan disappeared from sight. The glow from his eyes faded and he dropped onto the floor unconscious, as did Valerie.

Link rushed to their aid.

"Guys! That was incredible! Are you two okay?"

Valerie was already passed out. Charlie opened his eyes weakly.

"Did…it…work?"

Link shrugged.

"I don't know for sure, but the gorons are gone. How do we know they made it to the entrance though?"

Charlie gasped out a reply through his exhaustion.

What…about…your…. telepathic…. Li-"

Charlie passed out from exhaustion. Link frowned. Was he referring to the telepathic link he and Zelda had? He didn't know how to make a link though. All Zelda told him was that she focused on Link's face and entered a trance-like state and communicated with him. Navi flew around Link and flexed her wings in thought.

"Was he talking about that telepathic link you shared with the princess? Are you able to create one yourself, Link?"

Link shrugged. He had no idea. The thought never occurred to him until now. He could try and focus and see what happened, but who would he focus on? A realization struck him like a thunderbolt. His friend Brad. Of course! He was still waiting for them at the entrance and could easily tell if they were nearby. He nodded to Navi.

"Alright. I'll see if I can contact Brad through telepathy. He'll be able to let us know if the spell was a success or not."

Izzy was sounding skeptical.

"I don't know, Link. Just because the princess could do it doesn't mean you can too. Didn't she receive training for her telepathy to function properly? As far as I know, you've received no such training."

Link groaned.

"I know! But what other choice do we have? I don't want to risk sending you or Navi in case you run into trouble. I'm going to try and sit down and focus on Brad and see if anything happens."

Without another word, He sat down, closed his eyes and focused on Brad. Everyone watched as Link appeared to enter a trance-like state. Suddenly, Link's medallion he wore that he got from Zelda started to glow as Link entered a deep state of focus.

Brad was sitting down beside the door. He was beginning to get very bored. Why did he have to stay behind? He wanted to help and do his part for the team! Not be stuck at the entrance doing absolutely nothing but await their return. Suddenly, he heard loud noises coming his way. It sounded like…laughing? Before long, gorons began to run out of the furthest door from his position and quickly surrounded the stunned Kokiri. He yelped in surprise.

"Whoa! Where did you guys come from? Where's everyone else?"

One of the gorons spoke up.

"Your comrade Named Charlie used his magic and teleported us here. We're free, Goro!"

Brad had a puzzled look on his face.

"Who are you calling Goro? My name is Brad. How is everyone- "

Brad stopped midsentence. He was suddenly very tired for some reason. He groaned loudly.

"I don't…feel so good."

Without another word, Brad moved out of the way of the gorons and laid down until he felt better. A cry of concern issued from the goron who had spoken up.

"What's wrong, brother? Why are you going to sleep right now?"

Brad didn't hear him because he was already unconscious.

Brad was dreaming, or at least he thought he was. He was floating in a white void. Suddenly, he could see himself fighting Mido as scenes appeared in front of him like a movie reel. He saw himself winning the battle and attending the celebrations afterwards. What was going on? Why was he floating? Suddenly, a voice called out to him.

"Brad! Can you hear me?"

Brad looked around. Where was the voice coming from? Why did it sound so familiar? He decided to answer back.

"Yes, I can hear you. Who are you?"

A chuckle issued forth from the void.

"It's me, Link. I'm talking to you through telepathy."

Brad was dumbstruck.

"Link?! How are you performing telepathy, buddy? I didn't know you could do that! Are you responsible for me feeling weird and passing out?"

Link sighed.

"I'm afraid so. I went through the same thing with Princess Zelda. I wanted to ask you something. Are the gorons with you? Charlie teleported them with Valerie's help."

Brad laughed.

"Hah! You bet they are! They are likely still standing around me, waiting for me to wake up."

Link breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's a relief! So, their spell worked. Listen Brad, I think we are nearing the end of this place.

I don't think I can maintain this for much longer. Now, we'd better awaken before anyone starts to worry about us. Just hang in there, okay?"

Brad chuckled.

"Alright, buddy. Don't do anything I wouldn't do, and I'll see you when you're done. Now, go kick some monster butt for me, will you?"

Link replied, but it was barely audible. Suddenly, the void around Brad started to dissipate. When he opened his eyes, he saw the worried faces of the gorons staring back at him. They grunted with excitement.

"Look! Our small brother is awakening. What happened to you, brother?"

Brad groaned and shook his head.

"Well, that was the weirdest experience of my life. I fell asleep and found myself floating in air. Next thing I knew, I was talking to my buddy Link through telepathy. That was both weird but awesome at the same time."

One of the gorons nodded.

"Well, it's good to have you back, brother. We don't know anything about this…what did you call it? Tele…pathy?"

Another goron piped up.

"Now that the human is okay, let's go home!"

They left the temple amid loud cheering. Brad chuckled to himself. What an odd race of beings!

Link groaned as he opened his eyes. He couldn't believe what he just achieved! He communicated to his friend through telepathy. He didn't know it was even possible for him to do so. He rubbed his eyes as Navi flew in front of him.

"Hey, Link. How are you feeling? Did the telepathy work?"

He nodded drowsily.

"Misson successful. I talked to Brad and the gorons are fine"

Upon hearing this, Argus walked up to Link.

"So, my fellow brothers are okay? They were teleported successfully?"

Link nodded once more.

"According to Brad, they were watching over him as he talked to me. No need to worry there. How are Charlie and Valerie?"

Izzy sighed.

"They haven't woken up yet. While you were communicating, your necklace glowed brightly white in colour. Was that maybe why that worked?"

Link pondered this. Maybe she was right. There was a chance the necklace he wore was some kind of Shiekah artifact. He simply shrugged.

"I don't honestly know. All I know is we've got to get out of this place. Has anyone peeked into the room ahead?"

Without a word, Drexxel stepped forward and dropped something in front of him. It was a gigantic hammer! Navi explained.

"Yes, we investigated the next room, and this was in a treasure chest right in front of us. Beyond that, there is a giant pool of lava to cross and then, there is a huge door that has a purple glow to it. We might be able to get over there when Charlie wakes up."

Link and his friends decided to wait until Charlie awakened. They didn't have to wait long. In less than an hour, there were groans coming from him and Valerie. Charlie sat up slowly and looked in Link's direction.

"I finally feel better. How long was I out?"

Navi answered for him.

"About a couple of hours altogether. In that time, Link contacted Brad and discovered that the gorons are fine."

He gave Link a puzzled look.

"How did you talk to Brad? I teleported him to the entrance when he fell."

Link chuckled.

"With telepathy of course. Because if this medallion I wear, I was able to contact him. Thanks for the suggestion."

Charlie looked at him oddly.

"I believe you, but I don't remember telling you that."

Link chuckled dryly.

"You were only half-conscious when you told me. It's no surprise that you don't remember."

Valerie groaned and began flying around slowly.

"Ugh my head! I'm glad to hear that our combined magic made that teleport possible, but let's get moving before my headache gets any worse."

They all agreed readily as they made their way into the next room.

When Charlie saw the big lava pit, he groaned.

"I guess there's only one way across there. I'm going to have to teleport us, aren't I?"

Argus scratched his chin in thought.

"Maybe not, brother. I just had an idea. We gorons are resistant to lava. It doesn't hurt us. What if we carried Link across and you just teleported across yourself? Would that be easier for you?"

Charlie readily agreed.

"Yes! That would help. That way, it wouldn't be such a strain on my energy."

Link gulped nervously.

"It sounds good to me, Argus. Whatever you do, please don't let go of me!"

Argus put a hand to his chest.

"That's a promise, brother! I won't let go of you. You have my word!"

Without another word, Argus picked up a surprised Link and lifted him high above his head and walked into the lava. It wasn't far to go, but to Link, it felt like an eternity. He was very nervous about being cooked in lava. Before long, they made it across, and he dropped Link in front of the door. Drexxel and Aurdain were close behind as they too walked through the lava. Charlie simply teleported himself across while the fairies flew across.

Charlie investigated the door carefully. He smirked.

"Leave it to Ganondorf. He magically sealed the door shut. I can break it. It's not a complicated spell. Good thing I was his former pupil, eh?"

He focused intensely on the seal and used his magic and before long, the glowing around the door ceased and he pushed on the door and it opened inwards.

Everyone cheered as they made their way through the door. Inside the room, there was a single large pillar that was suspended above a lake of molten lava. It had multiple holes in it, and they were all filled with lava. They made their way to the pillar and looked around. Argus scratched his chin in bewilderment.

"Okay, this looks like the right room where Volvagia is supposed to be, but where is he? I have a bone to pick with that dragon!"

Just as the words left his mouth, they all heard a loud roar. Out of nowhere, a large dragon emerged from the lava. It had a snake-like body with two arms and fire-red scales. Navi screamed in panic.

"Th-that must be Volvagia! How is that thing floating with no wings?"

Argus grunted.

"How you ask? This menace is a magical dragon that can fly in the air with no wings. It doesn't matter how it's floating. That's not the issue. The problem is stopping it. We're not going to be able to hit it while it's flying around like this. I'm going to wait until it gets closer to this platform and then I'm going to jump at it and attempt to climb it and smash it down. Link, when that happens, that's your cue to take that hammer and smash its head in! Everyone else, stand back!"

Charlie chuckled to himself and crossed his arms.

"Well now this I got to see!"

Valerie was thinking ahead. She focused her power and put a defensive shield around Link. He gave her a thumbs up and watched the dragon's movements. It got lower and breathed fire towards him. It hit him but did no damage thanks to the shield. After that, the shield broke. Link sighed. It was time to use his actual shield. He held it up in anticipation.

Argus saw his chance. He growled at the menacing dragon.

"Look out, ugly! Here I come!"

Argus braced himself and leapt towards the dragon. He ended up grabbing onto its tail. The beast hissed in anger as it wiggled back and forth trying to release the goron. He never released his grip as he continued to climb. After a few agonizing minutes, he managed to climb up to its head. He reared back and punched it as hard as he could. Smash! It sent the dragon plummeting to the pillar below. He jumped off of it and landed beside Link.

"The gorons' hopes and dreams are riding on you. Put an end to this!"

Link grabbed his hammer and started to smack the dragon multiple times. After like 7 or 8 hits, the dragon let out an agonizing roar and sent him flying back towards Argus who was a few feet him. The dragon went up into the air, roaring the whole time as his scales began to fall apart revealing bone. In a short amount of time, the dragon was nothing but bones and it dropped from the sky defeated.

All of a sudden, a blue light enveloped the party and they once again found themselves in the sacred realm. Suddenly, Darunia appeared in front of them. Argus, Drexxel and Aurdain gasped in shock.

"Commander? What are you doing here?"

"Are you the sage of fire, brother?"

"How did you end up here? We thought you were back in the city!"

Darunia laughed.

"Surprised to see me here, eh? Little did I know I would end up here as the sage of fire. I have awoken to my purpose and I am extremely proud. Link, Argus, thank you for saving the gorons. You have my utmost gratitude. Now, please take this medallion and save Hyrule!"

Once again, a blue light enveloped them and they ended up at the base to Death Mountain. Charlie patted Link on the back.

"That was awesome! I can't believe that technique worked. I was very skeptical, but you and Argus pulled it off. Well done!"

Suddenly, Brad came walking down the path from Goron City. He congratulated Link.

"Good work, buddy. I overheard that you kicked some monster tail. I went back to Goron City with the rest of the gorons. I'm glad we're finally reunited at last."

Navi, Valerie and Izzy flew around in excitement.

"You two were amazing, Link. That dragon never stood a chance!"

"I'm glad that shield came in handy. Don't forget to use your actual shield once in a while, okay?"

"I think we deserve a well-earned rest after that dreadful place. Let's go back to Kakariko Village!"

Drexxel and Aurdain started to walk in the opposite direction. They turned to everyone.

"We are heading back to the city. Thanks for all your help, everyone!"

"Be sure to visit anytime you like!"

Argus went with Link and the others back to the resistance headquarters.

Meanwhile, Vaati woke up in a bed at Lon Lon Ranch. He looked around in confusion. Where was he? Ingo was in the room with him and came to his bedside.

"Sir, you're awake! Can I get you anything?"

He got up out of bed and looked at the stable owner and nodded at him

"Thank you…for your service. It will not be forgotten! I have to go now. I have a score to settle with someone."

He decided not to tell Ingo about the falling out between him and Ganondorf. It was none of his business anyway. He left the ranch, eager to enact his vengeance against the foul sorcerer Veran.