CHAPTER 31: DOMINION OVER THE ANCIENT
(unrevised)
Once Link and Rusl had passed through the secret passage, they were once again met by a fleet of stairs that receded down through a long hallway. They reached a massive room at the base of the last flight of steps, its high walls bending inward as they rose, meeting in the fashion of a dome at their tips. Stretching upward from the sides of the room were more stairs that winded back and above the opening from where the men had just entered.
Yet, within the second that Link and Rusl entered the room, their attention had been more directed toward what lay in the center of the space. Sitting upon the stone tiled floor was a giant, golden bell. At least, it appeared to have the same shape as a bell. Whether or not the ornament had any definite purpose was impossible to distinguish. Etchings much like that found on the statue guardians stretched across its entire surface.
Just as Link had stepped up to investigate its wonders further, Rusl had moved out further into the room. He called back to Link, "Over here."
Link stripped himself from the bell and stepped up alongside the older man. A doorway stood before them, the royal crest sculpted into the block above the sealed path. Intricate line and square designs were carved into the door. To the sides of the obstruction were alcoves, yet only the one on the right was occupied. A large and rather excessively detailed statue rested silently within its ancient home. Its torso was much bulkier than its bottom half, and it grasped a fancily chiseled hammer raised before its eye line.
"It seems that there is supposed to be another of these here," said Rusl, pointing to the empty niche. "In the grove and in the temple entry, there were matching ones on either side."
Link nodded. "So, all we need to do is find this statue and bring it back somehow."
Rusl noted the tone of doubt in Link's voice, and he understood his concern. How indeed were they supposed to move a statue so large that surely weighed more than either of them ten times over?
"We'll worry about that when the time comes," dismissed the bearded man.
Link had to admit that he had found his uncertainty of the situation surprising. Usually he would have been the one to respond in such the way that Rusl just had. Of course, his laid-back, pessimistic partner was forced to hide throughout this excursion. He had always sliced straight through her skeptical tone with ease, but now that she remained within his shadow, he wondered if she was somehow voicing her disbeliefs through him. The thought unnerved him, and he pushed away all considerations regarding this possibility as he followed alongside Rusl up one of the grand stairways. It was simply an unrealistic thought. To be able to move a statue as large as the one in the chamber now below them would be an impossible feat if there was not some other means of relocating it than by their strength alone.
Rusl and Link came to the base of another short incline of steps that led up to a bolted doorway. Link stared at the door without any sign of movement for a solid few moments before he spoke, brow furrowed. "Something's wrong."
Rusl, who had stepped forward, stopped immediately and looked back to Link. "Yes, the door is locked. Come help me."
"No," said Link, turning about and walking toward the edge of the balcony area.
"No?" repeated Rusl, as Link scanned the room below. Rusl had thought he had simply refused his help, but.... "That's not what I mean," corrected Link.
"What is it then?" he asked, seeing the lines on Link's face that indicated he was trying to fit together pieces of a puzzle.
"It doesn't make any sense," he said. At Rusl's still clueless expression, the youth elaborated. "There aren't any guards. Why aren't there any guards?"
"Remember, Link, we are in the past," replied Rusl as if to wave off the young man's concern.
Link turned to him then, "And yet we have come looking for a fragment of the Mirror of Twilight, a mirror that Zant broke, a king that we suppose could have hidden such a piece here. If he had planted the piece here, why did he not also station guards as an extra precaution?"
Rusl fingered his finely trimmed beard, "I see your point."
That uneasy feeling that had followed Link into the secret passage of the Temple of Time rose within him again, and a fear pulsed within him. It was not a dread that concerned his wellbeing, however. Instead, it was Rusl for whom he worried. His personal issues with the man had been drowned, and it was only the worry of bringing him into unsaid terrors that Link spoke. "Are you sure you want to come with me?"
Rusl fixed a surprised eye upon Link. He had known that Link had unresolved matters with him, some that perhaps Rusl did not even realize to be as troubling as they truly were to the youth, but the hostility and resentment within Link's voice with which he had previously regarded the man had suddenly disappeared. He was impressed at how the boy he had know for so long could so quickly dismiss his own needs or wants so that he could move on to more pressing matters. Nevertheless, Rusl was not to be swayed.
"It's like I said, Link. This time, someone has your back."
Rusl was not sure if it was surprise at the comment or a change in Link's view toward him, but the thin line that passed for a small smile reassured Rusl.
Without another word Link drew his blade, and, lacking any sign of forced concentration, a glimmer of red encapsulated the Master Sword, producing a faint hum. Link lashed out at the chains covering the door in the same moment, and the thick steel fell to the floor in a clump. The veiling color then dispersed from the surface of the blade, and he returned it to its sheath. Rusl came forward then to assist Link in lifting the heavy door. As they pulled it upward, mechanical clicks vibrated from the door frame and through the mass as it crept upward, assuring them that if they lost their grip it would only fall as far as the point at which the previous clack had sounded.
When they had raised the door far enough to allow them reasonable entrance, they carefully released their grasp, being sure that their feet were not underneath its weight in case the door did not remain in place. Yet, the door did not budge when they stepped back to look onto the entryway.
Link peered into a darker corridor, and hid a grimace.
It had not been that Link had minded that there were no guards. It was simply that their absence would likely prove that there were far worse terrors within.
As Link stepped through the opening, Rusl following close behind, a musty air greeted him. A sour stench clouded the darkened hall, and, with it, a wave of nausea attacked his stomach. An eerie unnaturalness had settled into the temple, making the atmosphere seem abnormally stiff. The ancient walls seemed to watch Link and his companion closely, as if gauging whether or not to lunge outward to capture them within their stones for the rest of time. That was how Link felt ... as if he were being swallowed deeper with each step he took down the hall.
Neither Link nor Rusl did anything to begin a conversation, and further down the long corridor, windows laden with intricate tracery scarcely began to line the walls. Rays of light peeked through their patterns, shedding small amounts of light onto their path. It was at the first pane that the hall began to wind upward slowly, long and wide stairs spotting the ground and making it more difficult to proceed along their way. They found themselves stumbling more often, their toes often hitting the edges of the stairs, and they were forced to slow their pace even more.
Link's thoughts passed back to the strange, golden bell as they ascended the winding path, but he shifted his attention from the decoration. Trying to understand the tastes of the ancient ones who had built this temple had nothing to do with why he and Rusl had come. Rusl had sensed something ill over the forests since Link had taken the Master Sword, and it was Link's full hope that they would locate another piece to the mirror.
He looked to Rusl then and wondered.... Would Rusl or any of the others persist in following Link into the Twilight Realm? They all knew of his plan now, and the Group had been successful in joining with him once out of three attempts. Would they truly insist on journeying with him into the Twilight Realm? Though he did not much like that they volunteered to venture with Link into the dangers of such temples, Link accepted their help. However, once it came time for his battle with Zant—to stop Ganondorf from returning to Hyrule—Link would not allow them to risk their lives so foolishly.
Link at last reached the end of the path, stepping into the hexagonally shaped junction that joined them to another path off to the left. He paid the bell in one of the corners little attention. Instead, he had instinctively peered into the darkness that shrouded the next path. Seeing still no threats, he passed under the archway. However, when a mechanical click sounded beneath Link's foot, both he and Rusl were too late to act. As soon as Link's foot landed, the stone tile sunk into the floor slightly. Just as Link turned back to Rusl, golden bars slammed shut between them in the doorway.
Link grabbed onto the barrier, pulling in vain at their iron weight. Grinding his teeth in frustration Link banged his fists into the bars and backed away slightly, pacing back and forth. He could have gone on without Rusl ... it would have been his perfect opportunity.... But he hated the thought of leaving him alone within the temple. If anything were to happen to him he would blame himself forever.
Finally, with a grunt, both at having been tricked and having to let Rusl continue on with him, he called through the pockets in the bars. "Look for some kind of switch," Link said, as he also searched around the immediate area of the gate. "There has to be a way to open them."
Rusl felt around the walls and inspected the ground, but all that he seemed capable of finding were cobwebs and cracks. He stood at the gate peering through the golden poles. By the look on Link's face, he had not been able to find a means of reopening the barrier either. Just then a low, humming growl sounded, and an icy chill raked up Link's spine as his eyes widened. He felt slight tremors reverberating from the ground through his boots. Rusl's expression of surprise, confusion, and fear willed Link to turn about. Dim blue lights approached him. Most were jagged and straight lines; however, there were also two glowing orbs side-by-side.
Link unsheathed his saber, and when the stomping figure came into better light, it took on the shape of a blackened statue. How...? Link's thoughts on how a statue could possibly move were cut off abruptly as it closed the distance between them and cast a huge hammer down in front of it, aiming at Link. Link leapt to the side of the narrow hall just in time to avoid the instrument that instead crushed the stones where he once stood.
Its movements were stiff due to the fact that it was made of stone, and it moved rather slowly in relation to its bulky size that skirted down and widened toward the bottom in a cone like shape. Yet, its one tiny hand packed a power swing, and with each attempt it took in pounding Link, it splintered the floor and sprayed the broken pieces of stone all over the passage. Link stumbled down the passage to gain distance between him and the armed statue, but he tripped on a tile, and it, too, clicked under his weight.
Just as he righted himself, another gate behind him hurled across the corridor, closing him in with the hostile statue. Link spent a split second in an attempt to pry the bars from the wall, but the statue was once again upon him. He raced again to the other side of his new prison, ducking under the swing of the moving sculpture. Rusl had frantically returned to his search for a hidden switch of some kind on the other side.
Still unable to help Link, Rusl turned to him with a helpless expression. Link twisted about. The statue had lost no time in regaining its towering position near Link. A realization sprung within Link, as he remained immobile. Though the magicked mass of stone quickly removed its hammer from the floor with each missed stroke, it lacked speed in casting its hits. Link waited until the monstrous block was directly upon him, its arm lifted high.... Its colors seemed to sharpen in satisfaction at seeing Link unable to evade, however, just as its hammer rained down ... Link bolted to the side.
The hammer landed with a shattering crash as it broke through the golden bars where Link had just been standing moments ago. The statue, oddly, seemed dazed, stiffly twisting about in the rubble of the gate, searching for its prey. Once it located Link sprinting across the fallen barrier, it followed ... angrily. Its growl echoed in the chamber as it pursued them.
Link and Rusl split to separate corners of the room, and as it followed Link, Rusl cautiously circled the foe in the hopes of isolating any possible weak point in its construction.
"Link!" called the older man, as Link rolled out of the way of yet another pounding strike. Link cast him a quick glance. "Keep it distracted!"
Easy enough for you to say. Link pulled himself up from the cracked floor and kept the sculpture's gaze only upon him as he moved, giving Rusl complete freedom to progress unnoticed by the stone beast.
The blacksmith had in fact laid eyes upon a large, blue crystal inset on its backside. He moved in on the statue as it continually attacked Link, missing each time. Yet with each time it failed to hit Link, it would jerk violently and twist around to once again face Link. This gave Rusl some difficulty in reaching its rear. Noticing this, Link remained in place for as long as he could ... the hammer coming down upon him.
Those extra few moments had allowed Rusl enough time to dance around the creature and slash out the glimmer of its sparkling crystal. As soon as Link heard the shatter he hurled himself away from the dropping mallet.
The statue quaked, its life-force depleted from its stone body. Its mass jerked about in its stationary position, and it was then that both Link and Rusl noticed the danger in its movements. Rusl was already racing away as Link called, "Run!"
Together, they dove into the path that had been Link's cell. In the last moments, the blue lines that served as the statue's veins flashed in colors of green and white and yellow. Instantly, an explosion boomed within the room, echoing down the halls as its pieces blasted in all directions of the room, spearing into the floor and the walls. Link and Rusl gathered themselves up and peaked back into the room moments later. All that remained was a blackened floor and pieces of its remains littering the room in various sizes.
Relived, Link then turned back to their next problem. The other gate.
Rusl looked as well and just shook his head with a grin. "At least one good thing came from all that."
A large chunk of the statue had collided into the gate and given them free passage to the hall beyond.
No. We're just back to where we began. An open hallway with likely even more traps through it, Link replied within only his mind. There could have been even more of those armored statues lining the walls further down the hall, and with only spotted light they would gain little forewarning save for the glow of their blue eyes.
Nevertheless, despite the fact that Link did not much like the idea of traveling blind—seeing as he had not brought his lantern—he followed behind Rusl.
They had barely progressed two steps before they heard a strange sound emanating from the room behind them. Link peered into the junction and he heard the oddest chattering and fluttering noises, but something in Link's memory was awakened. He knew that sound … knew it quite well from all his excursions into Faron Woods.
Just as Link was turning to push Rusl into motion, a swarm of flapping keese swirled down around them, sailing down from their nest in the ceiling of the room. Link and Rusl batted at their clawed feet and sharp teeth as they circled about their bodies. They raced down the hall, blind to all the dangers that the darkness held secret. All they knew were the tiny bodies trying to tear into them for disturbing them from their slumber.
Link and Rusl spotted a doorway ahead in the patched brightness and through the ripping claws. They skidded to a halt and grabbed at the bottom of the door, lifting it as they tried to make their nerves numb to the small scratches with which the keese littered their faces and bodies. In moments they had lifted the door high enough and they raced into the next room as most of the keese followed.
Link and Rusl once again dug their feet into the floor, sliding to a halt just before plummeting off the side of a broken ledge. The keese, having more room to flutter about in the huge room, flew past the pair. However, most of the winged creatures were caught moments later in the silky nets that covered almost the entire chamber.
They had entered into a three story, circular chamber wherein spider webs had littered the floors, walls, ceilings, and windows. The grand stairway to their left had been chewed away by the darkness that had infused it for so long, and the path had been reconstructed so that only one species could traverse its length ... fuzzy, brown-legged, one-eyed spiders. The arachnids—half the size of Link—skittered all about the chamber and the extensive webbing that shrouded the room. Some of the spiders drooped down on their silk lines, the pinchers covering their mouths clacking excitedly.
It was clear that the flesh of new prey thrilled them, many racing across their webs to tend to the winged victims caught in their homes. Link and Rusl stepped carefully as they inched backward from the smashed floor before them. Link assumed it had once been a catwalk that had connected their ledge to the circular platform in the center of the room, for there were demolished signs of other such footbridges at other angles of the platform.
The keese that had not been caught unawares by the change of environment flapped wildly back toward the entrance. Though some rammed into shadowed traps, most of those that remained were able to evade the arena of the arachnids, fleeing back to their nest. With their presence banished from the room, the spiders concentrated on the other intruders.
No retreat for us, Link thought with a frown as he looked to their right. The grand stairway continued at this point, but it was battered and crumbled in places. What space remained was mostly covered in the silky grids of the spiders' designs. The sight trigged a memory from long ago, when nothing mattered to Link save for rescuing Malo from the mysteries of the woods. He did not much care to be ensnared in another sticky trap as he had on that day, but the stairs were the only route forward accessible to him and Rusl.
Just as the several spiders surrounding them lunged forward, Link pivoted to the right, slashing his saber across the dark backside of the one nearest him. Rusl followed closely behind Link's surefooted steps as the youth navigated the stairs between the crumbled stones, glossy webs, and biting arachnids. He stepped in all the same places as Link where possible, for at times the spiders would crowd in Link's wake. Rusl either leapt over them over raked his sword through their legs and bodies.
When Link had finally reached the next and last level, he bolted straight toward the open doorway, but he had spotted the trap before he had climbed the last step. He only hoped that Rusl would see it as well. With the creatures scuttling toward them at an increasingly swift pace, there was no time to call back to him.
With practiced agility Link stepped past the block in the floor that would have triggered another trap, and as if by luck or skill, Rusl missed it too. As soon as Link had crossed through the doorway and saw Rusl race past him, he twisted about, grabbing a small statue head from a large plinth set into the wall. He lobbed the heavy stone toward the approaching spiders, and the block landed on the slightly raised tile, tripping a golden gate to shoot from the cavity in the door frame before it rolled away to tumble over the broken.
The shining bars were set close enough together so that none of the creatures could press themselves through to reach Link and Rusl. There had been one unfortunate spider that had nearly slid past the opening, however, once the barrier had erupted, its bars had inserted themselves into the wall through the body of the creature, snaring it and producing a wretched squeal from its alien mouth.
Grateful that his improvised plan had worked in their favor, Link took the moment to catch his breath. Rusl was again alongside him then, having turned back after realizing that Link had no longer been with him.
"Worse than guards?" asked a panting Rusl.
Link let out a short chuckle at the blacksmith's attempt at some levity. "Slightly," he nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow and lips as he straightened his posture. Suddenly his adventurist gene had kicked back in.
"You know," the older man said, still in that teasing tone, "we're going to have to come back this way."
"Yes," agreed Link, watching as the spiders slowly retreated from their unattainable meal.
"That gate is going to pose a problem," Rusl pointed out.
But Link shrugged off the comment, retorting with: "Well, then I suppose we'll worry about that when the time comes." Link traipsed off down the new corridor open to their exploration, and Rusl grinned.
There was the boy he knew.
===============
After a twisting network of corridors, Rusl and Link entered at last into another junction. Within the room were several walls that did not connect directly with the ceiling. Each wall panel had been severed into two sections, wherein one met with the top of the room, the bottom half seemed secured only by the pillars that joined the walls together.
"What's this?" Link thought aloud, searching the walls of the dead end.
"There must be a way through here," Rusl said. "It would make no sense for us to progress this far only to turn back."
"Unless a dead end was exactly where Zant wanted us to end up," suggested Link bitterly. He tightened his fist around the hilt of his sword, for if that were the case, there would likely be another ambush waiting to be tripped.
"This place was built by our ancestors, Link," reminded Rusl. "If Zant truly designed that our path should end here then perhaps he was fooled as well. Look at these walls, Link. There must be a way through."
Heaving a stressed sigh, Link turned back to gaze about the room, sheathing his sword. He could feel Rusl's gaze linger upon him for a moment, but when Link moved forward to one of the walls, he heard Rusl's cautious footsteps as they echoed over to another section. Just as with the golden gates, Rusl searched the surrounding wall for some kind of switch or lever.
Link also sought some such device; however, just as he ran his fingers down the corner where the obstacle and the wall had been fused together, a thought occurred to him. If switches had been absent from the gates' designs why would these barriers be any different? Link's attention flew upward to the open split that divided the wall.
How cryptically obvious, Link smiled.
After gauging that the opening was at least four meters high, Link turned to a pillar. The simplistic designs that had been carved into its surface would offer the perfect assistance. He found two evenly spaced handholds on its wide body, and after gathering one foothold he boosted himself upward to latch onto the two spaces he had seen. This awkward movement had drawn Rusl's attention, but as the blacksmith held back any comment, Link supposed that he had gathered his intent.
Link climbed the face of the column until he reached the opening. He shifted his footholds so that he could pivot his waist to peer through the tear. Beyond was another room, rectangular in shape, yet consisting of the same barriers and gates that had so annoyingly impeded their journey already. He called down his findings to Rusl, but the sight of a glimmering green crystal cut him short. Rusl questioned his sudden silence, yet Link's mind raced and muffled the older man's voice.
The gemstone had been set high into the surface of the wall, as if it were a precious ornament. However, Link knew that this was the switch that they had been looking for. He need only prove it by striking its surface somehow.
Link hung there for a moment, going over in his head what possible items he could use to throw through the opening in a precise line while confined to the restricted movement that the pillar brought. Using his bow was out of the question. He would need both of his hands to operate his bow and one more to hold onto his support. The only option he had was to use one of his acquired daggers. At least he had chosen to climb the pillar to the right of the fracture, enabling him to use his trained left hand to cast the weapon.
Link pulled the dirk from the backside of his belt and concentrated closely on his target as he angled his hand. He had to swing in a powerful arch to combat the distance and the small space he had been forced to work through ... and he had to aim exactly. If he missed he would only be able to attempt one more throw.
Without further delay Link cast his dagger through the opening with amazing speed. It chimed against the crystalline surface, and Link grinned despite the pain of his twisted position. As the gem flickered a crimson color the walls surrounding them began to quake. Rusl called for Link to dismount the column, and Link did so without hesitation. Either he had successfully triggered the switch that would allow them to proceed, or … he had inadvertently prompted the very ambush he had feared was contained within this room.
The color drained from Link's features as a stone wall began to close over the opening that had guided them there. So, it was a trap after all.
Link and Rusl raced to the closing passage, but the stone had sealed the way back before they could squeeze through. They drew their blades simultaneously and turned back to the room, grim expressions pasted to their faces, ready to battle whatever surprise lay in store for them. Yet the true reality of the situation dazed them more than the worst that they had imagined for themselves.
Contrary to what both of them had believed had come of Link's discovery, the crystal had not caused an ambush to break out within their confinement. Instead, as the one doorway had closed ... three others had revealed themselves. With further, cautious investigation, Link and Rusl found that one passage dead ended not far down and another had collapsed in on itself.
I suppose that leaves our last alternative, Link thought as they stood before the now unblocked entry into the very room within which the scarlet colored crystal hummed with life. As they stepped within the next room, the details of its construction were imprinted in their minds in one swift glance. The rectangular room held more of the golden gates, but these were more permanently structured, completely closing off a section of the back wall where another of the large bells was imprisoned ... and his dagger.
The purpose of the bells began to plague Link's mind upon seeing this particular one shielded from the rest of the room. Where they some kind of religious artifacts? Ceremonial in nature? He doubted now that they were strictly for ornamental intentions. He was convinced they had some type of function. But as Rusl motioned him on, Link decided now was perhaps not the best time to reflect on the matter.
The right half of the room consisted of two more of the moveable walls, one straight ahead and the other off to their right, and Link was only thankful that this time he had the room to utilize his bow. Nocking an arrow he pulled back as hard as he dared on the bowstring. The arrowhead would need a great deal of force behind its feathered tail if it was going to have the same effect as the hard surface of the dagger and not just simply bounce away.
As soon as the shaft flew away it smacked into the surface of the crystal with a satisfying thwack, and as the arrow fell from its target, the gem again pulsed with its thick emerald hue. The entrance sealed itself once more as the other two sections peeled away to reveal two more passages. The corridor ahead seemed as logical a choice as the one on the right, but there was one difference. Whereas the one before them simply led directly forward, the other was adjoined to another room much like the previous two. Though it was a small room, there were two further moveable panels on its left-hand wall. It seemed perfect sense to explore its depths first.
After a short discussion with Rusl, the blacksmith agreed, and they moved into the next room. Link turned back to face the opening, readying another arrow. It sailed off after he had taken careful aim and struck the crystal once more. The brimming red color was the last Link saw before the wall before him shut away all light.
A tremor of uncertainty brought an icy chill over his mind in that moment. Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling? Why do I feel as if I have just sealed our doom? Link tried to bat away the nagging feelings, but their persistence diseased his thoughts, and as he turned to watch the two passages open, his apprehension feel over him even thicker ... just as cold and dark as the rainy night when he had taken up the Master Sword as his blade.
They peered down the dual passages lit dimly from a brightness on the other side of their length. As far as they could tell the side-by-side corridors led to the same area, so they chose the nearer and ventured slowly through it. Halfway through, an eerie quiet descended upon them, and a tinge of fear sprouted within Link as he realized they were walking down a hall flanked by a row of the armored statues.
He looked to Rusl. He had noticed it as well, but for the moment, the hammer-wielding statues did not stir with sapphire life. Link willed himself to remain calm, for just as his senses had detected signs of possible traps before, such perceptions had usually been cast away as merely his imagination producing the worst possible scenarios that did not essentially come into actuality.
Although, he could not shake the feeling that exiting through this corridor would not be as easy as entering through it.
The room they crossed into was the first that had not been ravaged in any form by the same ruined stated that ailed the other rooms and corridors. The high ceiling domed inward, a circular sky light cut out of the center. A waterfall of sunlight poured in through the hole, and yet another of the bells was stationed directly below the shaft. The only other source of light within the room funneled in through a single window frilled with the same embellishments as those throughout the temple. Yet, before this very window was a sight that both Link and Rusl were pleased to accept.
There, sitting upon the a nice in front of the window was the statue that had gone missing from the first room the Master Sword's chamber had led into. It sat in all its ancient grace, but there was only one problem ... that which Link had initially pointed out to Rusl. How would they retrieve the massive statue ... much less return it to its original standing?
That was when Link turned his attention once more to the bell, studying its etchings as well as those carved upon the statue. The designs were distinctly similar. Link was not precisely sure, but he now understood one thing. The statue and the bells were connected in some way, yet what strung them together ... he still could not put his finger on it.
Link took one step further into the room ... and he regretted it soon after.
Some unnoticed force had suddenly knocked full into Link and flung him meters away from where he had once stood in front of Rusl. Winded and sprawled sideways on the floor, Link choked as he regained his breath. Link sat up holding the side of his stomach as he looked toward Rusl. The blacksmith rushed toward him, saber bared and ready to fend off the unannounced attacker. Rusl helped Link to his feet, as Link breathed out the thudding pain in his side.
Link grabbed for his sword even before the pulse of the hit had completely faded from his body, but if there was an enemy bound on taking their lives, tending to such minute pain would do Link little good. Keeping his breathing steady to fizzle out the tinge quicker, Link joined Rusl in sweeping over the chamber as they stood back-to-back.
Rusl whispered back to Link a moment later, and the youth looked in his direction. Near the bell there stood a dark figure facing away from them, bulky in its heavy armor. As if had sensed their eyes upon it, the figure turned about in one slow menacing movement. A dark knight, barely a gap in its shell of body armor, faced them, eyes absent behind an ominous helmet. It held up a circular shield on its left forearm and flashed the long blade it held in its other hand.
Desperately wanting to destroy this foe before Rusl had a chance to move in and be harmed, Link flicked his finger over the clasp of his cloak and left it drift to the floor as he reached back to slide his shield onto his right gauntlet. He stepped alongside Rusl. No matter how much he might inwardly resent the man, he wished death on no one save those in servitude to Ganondorf.
Familiarizing himself with the balanced weight of his shield on his arm and the recovery of his full agility from shedding his cloak, Link shifted his weight back and forth from one leg to the other as he sized up his foe. Link had had practice in the technique more frequently than Rusl in the past weeks, and it was Link who moved in first. He sailed first to one side of his opponent and then to the other as he memorized how the knight shifted in defense. It knew Link was studying its movements, and it struck, sending a forceful blow whipping through the air toward Link's head.
Link did not have to be able to see Rusl to know that, by some paternal instinct, he had inaudibly heaved a fearful gasp for Link's safety. But the blacksmith need not concern himself, for Link reacted to the strike with precise timing, ducking under the blade when it should have passed through him. After the failed attack, Link saw Rusl approach out of the corner of his eye. Link rolled to the right while crouched to bring the knight's attention fully onto him while he opened its backside fully to his comrade.
But the knight was extremely perceptive and it seemed to be able to feel Rusl's approach in the undetectable tremors in the ground caused by his quick steps. It wheeled around and reared down its massive sword just as Rusl struck out. Fortunately, Rusl was still swift enough in his older age to evade the coming blow, jumping back as far as he could without sacrificing his footing.
As the knight had twisted about, Link had noticed the leather straps that fastened its armor to its under armor. Link charged in immediately and slashed out at the nearest part of the knight. In an instant, its left greave fell away to the floor. Before Link could blink, however, the knight had turned upon him, and Link was again struck and sent flying across the room. He landed hard and dazed against the wall, a long but shallow cut crossing over his right collar.
Link could see the blurred image of Rusl stepping into a fiery dance of blades with the knight as he lay momentarily motionless. The memory of once seeing Rusl beaten and bloodied lying on his bed recalled Link to his senses. That had been a time that had pained Link not only seeing the man in such pain but also watching helplessly as Uli's emotions suffered from the strain of care and worry.
No, Link said to beat back the haze clouding his eyes. He has a wife. A son. A newborn by now.... I will not ... let you take him away from them....,
Link pushed himself up from the floor, only temporarily using the wall as a support. Seconds after he once again stood, a growl gurgled in his throat, and he sprinted toward the attacking knight. Rusl, avoiding a blow from his enemy, was startled to see Link's lunge at the knight. Link had drawn its full attention, and he and the warrior stepped into a gruesome exchange of blows. As Link attacked at its armor, it continually batted away Link's blade, used its shield to block him, or simply stepped out of the way. When the knight assaulted Link, he evaded by ducking, sidestepping, or somersaulting backwards, and Link would then engage in his own barrage of thrusts and slices once again.
The battle continued on in this fashion for some time, and Link began to tire from the constant strain of remaining one step ahead of his foe's lethal blade. Yet, by this time more than half of the knight's armor had been cleaved away to clank unceremoniously against the cold ground, for as Link had maintained its watchful eye, Rusl had been able to slip in quite a few unguarded strikes before it was able to parry away further harm.
Though, the damage had been done. Link had absorbed its style of fighting, and he could clearly see each attack and defense before the knight moved. Before long, Link and Rusl were able to strip the knight of its heavy armor to reveal its coat of simple maroon and gray under armor. Now it moved much more swiftly, and either in anger or determination, it let its shield fall from its arm as it threw its massive blade toward Link, and it yanked out its slimmer secondary saber.
Link arched backward just in time to evade the flying sword. It landed with a jarring clang in the wall behind him. Forced to move even lighter on their toes, Link and Rusl were able to maintain their offensive ground against the knight for most of the ensuing battle. Now they were able to parry against its blade rather than dodge since the knight's new sword was not as deadly in its weight as the last.
When the knight was able to attack, its swings were short and focused blows. There was no fancy or amazing technique to the way it moved about so efficiently, but that in itself impressed Link. Its arm seemed so precise ... yet it was not enough to best both Link and Rusl.
As Link stepped to the right to draw it attack, Rusl plunged in as Link blocked a hard blow. Seeing Rusl's quick movement, Link pounded his blade against the knight's so that, in using its strength to combat the assault, it did not see the older man coming.
The next image presented to Link was that of Rusl's blade piercing through the chest of the dark knight. There was a moment of silence before the warrior's body stiffened and fell to the floor, and as Link gazed down at the defeated enemy, he took that moment to reclaim his calm.
Rusl stepped over to him. The blacksmith merely clasped his shoulder for a moment before walking past him toward the statue. A wave of relief washed over Link. He sheathed his blade and returned his shield to its place. The battle with the dark knight had ended … and Rusl was still all right. Halfway there, Link sighed as he walked past the dead knight to retrieve his cloak.
Link picked up the black cloth and tossed it around his shoulders once more as he started toward Rusl. And as long as he remains safe.... Link's last thought trailed off as his eyes rolled over something among the knight's armor.
What was that?
Link crouched down to the plates of armor beside the warrior, clueless as to what Rusl was saying to him just then. Link reached out and picked up a staff from between the chunks sprawled across the floor. He gripped in one hand it at the center where a handhold had been constructed. His other fingers traced along its length. The staff was intricately carved, but it did not feel like wood as he had expected. It felt more like some sort of metal, and there was a vibration that hummed within its length that Link could barely discern. The top of the staff was formed by two crisscrossing half circles, a flattened spot in the center of their junction.
"Link," the youth finally heard from within his trance. "Link?"
Shaking himself from his state, Link rose and turned to meet Rusl.
"What's that?" his comrade asked.
"I'm not sure," Link replied. He waved it through the air, feeling the hum within the staff massaging his palm. The vibrations seemed to spike each time he moved it, and so he swung it, testing it. However, just as he did so, a ball of yellow green light ignited within the nest of the half circles. Sparks of the same green color flickered at the tips of the staff, energizing the orb.
Link was not sure what the staff had been intended to do, but seeing the statue towering over them from the window ... he had a hunch.
Link swung the staff toward the statue, and the orb of light was launched from the device. It smacked squarely against the stone figure above them, and in an instant, a yellowish glow lit up its engravings and it raised its arms higher. The sight much reminded Link of the armored statue that had brimmed with blue life.
Rusl exchanged a glance with the youth.
Link had not truly expected to find a means of relocating such a massive statue, but even from his first encounter with a living statue he should have predicted that there would have been some mystical way of transporting the figure. But then again....
It was not moving.
Why isn't it moving? Link wondered. He asked this of Rusl, but he was also puzzled by its inactivity.
Link looked about as if searching for an answer within the walls. But the only good that did was to offer out a second question to Link. The bell in the middle of the floor had risen as if by magic. It, too, now shimmered with the colors of the staff, and it had exposed a platform beneath it.
He started for the bell ... but halted after one step.
The floor had shaken, and, immediately, Rusl grabbed his shoulder.
"What was that?" Link asked.
Rusl motioned toward the statue. "When you moved, it moved."
Link's eyebrow rose. Indeed the statue appeared closer to the edge, but Link had to see such a feat for himself. He took another step toward the bell as he continued looking up at the figure. In the same moment that he had moved away, the statue had hopped forward.
The staff was a work of ingenuity, Link admitted. How it worked exactly was beyond his understanding; though, neither he nor Rusl cared at the moment. The device would help them accomplish their goal of returning the statue to its proper place.
Now, all Link hoped was that when the statue fell from its perch it would not break apart from the impact. He continued moving forward and after three steps and hops the statue tumbled down to land perfectly balanced on its base. Pleased with their progress, Link turned to Rusl who looked on in admiration of such ancient technology.
"The bells must have something to do with this as well," said Link, and he unconsciously motioned with the staff to gesture toward the golden marvel.
Immediately, Link and Rusl were dodging stone debris crunched and coughed up into the air by the casting of the statue's hammer. Once they had realized that the statue had attacked only when Link had shifted the staff, Rusl called over to him. "Try to be careful with that, will you?" He was smirking despite the fact that the newest addition to their party had nearly stamped them out of existence.
More aware of how he moved, Link had to consciously keep himself from tilting the staff in any large motion. Rusl stepped up alongside of him as the statue followed closely behind at a pace that seemed contradicting to its size and the manner in which it was forced to move. They could feel every tremor in the floor as it pursued them, and Link could feel its very essence, connected with it by the power of the staff's humming energy.
They stopped at the edge of the circular platform underneath the bell, and Rusl bent down to inspect it as Link remained passive in his examination. There was a central notch in its structure, and both Link and Rusl came to the same conclusion. Link stepped passed over the platform and continued walking until the statue fell onto its surface with its last hop. A loud click signified that it had locked into place, and Link turned back to Rusl and the figure. No longer did it turn or move with Link's motions.
Next moment, the bell descended upon the stone and engulfed it. When the device again rose ... the statue had disappeared, and the staff's energy withered to a weaker hum.
At first, confusion lined their faces ... but when Rusl's wrinkles tightened in fascinated understanding, his expression lifted the perplexity from Link as well. The staff and the bells worked together in transporting such statues about the temple.
Without delaying any further, Rusl and Link turned back the way they had come, but blocking their path were armored statues glowing with bright blue sockets that stood within the door frames of either passage. Rusl had again drawn his saber, ready to battle them. Link and Rusl stepped back as the statues approached them, more exiting the corridors from behind the first.
Their numbers continued to grow by the seconds. We can't fight them all at once, Link thought. But ... he smiled ... luckily for us, they don't move as fast.
Link noticed Rusl about to attack, but he called him back. "Let them move in!"
"What?" the older man called back, stupefied at the request.
"Just trust me!"
Link and Rusl continued backward as the armored statues descended upon them, surrounding them in a cluster. Link could see the tinge of panic within Rusl that he tried to conceal. Trust me, Link repeated, trying to comfort himself with his plan. This will work.
"Remember. They move slowest as they attack," the youth called calmly over to Rusl, his eyes never straying from the gathering. He could see comprehension finally counter the flicker of fear in his partner. Come on, Link willed. Just a little closer. You have to be closer. He watched the figures as they finally met Link's mark. "Go, now!"
Rusl dashed through the throng of stone figures. He dodged their hammers easily, but once he was through he realized that Link was not beside him. Turning about, he watched as Link remained within their ever tightening circle. "Link!" he called in a panic.
What was he...? Realization dawned, but Rusl grew even more worried.
Yet, as the statues all reared their hammers back to strike, Link fell into motion. He danced about their bulk with perfectly balanced, twisted steps. As he emerged from their mass, their hammers all thudded upon nothing ... just as Link slammed the butt of his staff into the backside of the last one he passed.
Rusl raced alongside Link as he sprinted past him. Already the statue he had struck was festering with flickering light.
Link and Rusl darted through one of the passages, but they were met by the blocked doorway. Link knew they would not have enough time to open the path, so he ducked down in the furthest corner. Rusl followed.
With the chain reaction that would ensue ... the explosion would be big.
Within moments, a loud blast shook the ground, and in the same breath, some of the bits of the figures were blasted through the connected corridors. As the air settled, the companions rose from their cover. Though Rusl lingered on what had just happened, staring at pieces of debris, Link had already tucked the staff snuggly in the side of his belt and begun ascending the pillar next to the barrier. Rusl turned back to watch Link.
How he had matured into a fine young man. Rusl smiled at the thought. But he was still plagued with worry for the youth. Through all his concerns, though, he was proud that Link had developed quick reflexes and that the goddesses had chosen him to be the hero of their age. He could already hear the stories being told years from now. Link, the hero of Hyrule, one among many of the legends of their great land.
Link leapt down from the column as the way opened, and he and Rusl moved back into the rectangular room with the green crystal. Standing before them opposite the golden bars, was the statue, the bell hovering above it. Link firstly shot an arrow at the crystal to redden its sparkle and to open the path. He then pulled out the ancient staff and cast another orb of green energy toward the inert figure. Once more, its body gleamed with the mystic light. With a quick turn and swish of the staff, the statue pounded down the gate confining it.
So that Link would not have to endanger himself with precarious movement, Rusl retrieved the daggers that Link had used to access the room from their way in and now their way back through. Link took the weapons and returned them to his belt.
Within moments, Link, Rusl, and their stone ally had returned to the gate that Link had tripped to prevent the spiders from pursuing them. With great difficulty Link maneuvered the statue into a position before the gate so that he and Rusl were standing behind it. This way the statue would serve a dual purpose as the one to free them to the route ahead and as their initial protection from the spiders.
Rusl drew out his blade, as he and Link discussed their strategy. Link would have enough trouble navigating the statue across the perilous stairs. Rusl would need to cover him.
With a thunderous boom that reverberated off the walls of the large room beyond, the statue's hammer sunk into the golden bars, breaking away their grip of the corridor. Link and Rusl moved slowly inside, the stone figure scouting the chamber with unseeing eyes. The skittering noises had suddenly stopped once the statue had emerged onto the ruined stones.
The silence before the growl....
As Link and Rusl stepped out into the crumbling chamber, they were greeted by the swarm of arachnids; however, they stared at them as if waiting. Taking advantage of their stillness, Link and Rusl covered as much ground as they could, but then they heard what sounded like a thousand scuttling feet.
The statue had nearly reached the bottom of the passable stairs when smaller spiders the size of their feet stampeded toward them. They flocked around Rusl and Link, speedily racing over their feet and around them and up their bodies. Rusl was able to fling most of the creatures from his body as long as he kept in motion. For Link, however, could only stomp on the white bubbles that made up their little bodies. He kept the staff as steady as possible as he batted them from his form with his opposite hand. He could not risk straying from his path to twist away the multitude of spiders, for if the statue deviated, it would fall into the depth of the chamber, and if Link moved the staff, its hammer would further dislocate the steps that remained to send them all plummeting down.
Link's chainmail protected the better half of his body from their biting, and when they at last reached the balcony below, he immediately swiped down with his staff. The hammer met solidly with the low doorway and smashed through it and the archway. Now that the hall was accessible to all of them, Rusl and Link darted through. The statue fell behind as Link and Rusl dusted off the remaining spiders attached to them, stomping out their life. Link then turned around to watch the statue as he cast the staff in many directions. The figure obeyed his every movement as it squashed spider after spider that attempted to follow Link and Rusl. Link stepped into what seemed a strange, ancient dance, twisting his body to the right and left, facing backwards and forwards as he continued waving his arm.
As soon as all the small arachnids were smears on the stones, Link hurried the figure forward as fast as could propel its motion. Just as they were reentering the junction where Link had first encountered magicked stones, they heard the collective voice of the larger spiders approaching. As Link guided the statue into the niche below the bell, Rusl stood at the passage ready to fight off their attack.
The mass of the creatures had just begun their invasion of the room when Link had securely planted the statue in place. Immediately he called to Rusl as he belted the staff, and the two of them sprinted through the first passage back toward the main entryway of the temple. Though they stumbled in the darkness of the descending corridor, they dared not slow their pace, for they could hear the keese nest also erupt in squeals and fluttering.
When Link and Rusl reached the door they had lifted, they bolted straight under it, and Link cast his sword in a vicious swipe as if on instinct. A red flame like energy poured from his blade and struck with a resounding blast into the door frame. The door fell loose and crashed to the ground, smashing the spiders that had managed to keep up with them.
Finally able to really relax for the first time since entering the temple, Link slouched over, one hand balanced on his knee while the other kept a firm grip of the Master Sword. Rusl was leaning against the wall, but Link could feel his eyes upon Link. No doubt the blacksmith was either excitedly bewildered by the power that had emerged from Link's blade, or ... he was pondering worriedly about Link.
Link admitted that the blow had taken much energy out of him, to the point of being slightly dizzy, but he did not allow the seriousness of the sudden weakness to go noticed by his older comrade. He could feel the shifting of a dark entity within him, and he realized that Midna's worry for him had just been voiced ... whether the imp had been consciously aware of communicating with him or not.
Rusl moved toward the edge of the balcony. "Let's finish this," he said, gesturing toward the statue that had been transported into the room below.
Link nodded and gathered himself up. He sheathed his saber and again removed the staff from his belt. They descended the stairway quickly, and Link used the device he held expertly now as he guided the statue toward the alcove next to the sealed door. Once it nestled back into its proper place, it turned about to face the two adventurers.
And the doorway opened into a dark hallway.
Link's gaze narrowed upon seeing the lightless corridor. Link again traded staff for saber and concentrated hard, allowing his lupine senses to take over his vision. He had tried not to rely on his wolfish characteristics, but it seemed that darkness had penetrated this temple deeper than the resting places of the other pieces of the mirror. They would find a shard within this mass of stone and dark, Link was sure.
"Stay close behind me," Link said. Objection was within the older man's eyes, however, when Link tossed him a glance, Rusl could see a strange quality infused within Link that he could not comprehend. There was something feral, something inhuman within him, and yet ... focused and selfless.
Rusl nodded, and Link led the way into the darkness.
With Link sharp instincts and aided sight, he was able to guide Rusl across ruined parts of the floor. Nearly thirty paces into the hall; however, Link spotted several reddish eyes. Recognition of their form and purpose struck him within an instant, and he was in motion before the red lines of energy had blasted toward them. He pushed Rusl behind the crumbled chunks of what used to be a pillar, as the multiple strikes missed their feet by mere inches as they fled.
Link peered over the top of their concealment. Just the same as the devices that he had encountered within the mines of the Gorons, only these were rather more decorative in their white marble framework. It made sense, Link supposed. This temple was generations old. Some of its designs were sure to have been passed down among the peoples of Hyrule … even if the origins had been lost to most....
"I don't have enough arrows," Link stated. "We'll have to time it right," he added as he watched the heads of each sculpture rotate in slow circles. Only one eye had been afforded to each, but they were each timed differently.
Rusl peeked out, and as he was able to see their shining sockets, he, too, studied their pattern. After only moments of watching them, they had each absorbed their pattern. Their waited another moment and then sprang out from behind their defense, stepping carefully. They maneuvered quickly at points, sluggishly at others, and at one spot, they ceased all movement for a split second before sprinting the last of the way through, each turning behind the shield of an upright column.
The sculptures behind their worries, Link looked ahead. The path seemed clear; they had bypassed half its length already. But as he took his first step, he retreated backward once more, for as he had stepped forth, a sharp scythe-like blade had appeared from the wall, swooping down upon the floor where he had stood.
More traps. How does this fail to surprise me?
Rusl had seen the whir of the blade, and he understood the situation even before Link looked toward him. They had yet another obstacle to overcome before they would be able to continue on. With only a vague idea of what to expect, they would simply have to rely on pure impulse to guide them through.
Nevertheless, waiting and pondering would solve nothing of their circumstance, and Link and Rusl launched themselves into the throng of what became a minefield of various bladed traps. They ducked, swerved, back stepped, and leapt through the oncoming attacks, reacting on split second decisions that would decide whether they emerged from the corridor in one piece, in halves, or in several fleshy lumps.
The last of the traps emerged from either side of the wall. Two blades appeared from each wall, their opposites meeting horizontally at the points. Only one option came to Link and Rusl in that moment, and with a leap of faith, they sailed as directly as they could through between the blades coming at their knees and those aimed at their necks.
Both of them tumbled through the open door into a dark room. They had suffered minor scratches from their dash through the blades, but their small injuries did little to attract their full attention. Gathering themselves to their feet once more, Link and Rusl stepped further into the room. It was a circular room like most of those within the temple, and if Link could recall the layout of the above levels, they were directly below the large chamber where those many countless spiders had decided to nest.
They stopped at the center of the room. Rusl placed his hands on his hips, a frustrated look overtaking his features. "All that? For a dead end?"
It was true, Link noted. He could not see any further paths leading out from this chamber. He squinted through the darkness as he tossed his vision all about the chamber, and he distinguished four colossal statues lining the walls in symmetrical positions. However, unlike those of the other statues within the temple, they did not hold decorated hammers. Instead their gigantic hands had been fisted, one resting on the floor while the opposite one hovered next to its head.
"Maybe it was a ceremonial chamber," mused Rusl, "but that doesn't help us much, does it?"
Link agreed as much, and he looked beyond the giants to all corners of the ceiling. It seemed the same as any other, but in the dark, he could not quite make out the irregular design that covered it. That in itself appeared unnatural to Link, for all else within the temple had been carved and painted quite evenly. Upon further inspection a section of the ceiling near to the door through which they had just entered looked disfigured ... there were lines and geometric shapes that did not seem to relate to the pattern of the ceiling.
At first, Link assumed that this area of the ceiling had been deformed in much the same way as the rest of the ancient rooms, but in that moment ... one of the lines seemed to twitch.
Realization dawned within Link. Not a dead end. Exactly what we've been looking for.
Rusl noticed as Link took up a guarded stance, and he turned about. He could not see anything worth their defense, but he knew that Link's senses had become much sharper than his own. He steadied his saber within a tight grip and awaited any sign to reveal the existence of the threat that seemed so distinct to Link.
Yet, it was in that very same moment that the presence of such an opponent made itself known to them. It had realized that the two figures that had tumbled into its domain had become aware of it. There was nothing left to do than to capture them and savor the juices of their bodies.
Just as the other arachnids, there was only one central eye upon the massive spider that spanned the length of nearly a sixth of the size of the ceiling.
"Armagohma...." Rusl uttered in an awed whisper.
Link tossed him a sideways glance. "What?"
"Such a creature is said to spawn only once every generation," he replied.
Rusl's knowledge of the giant arachnid did not surprise Link. The blacksmith had given him countless lessons on such things, and this was likely the mother of the other spiders that they had previously encountered. But this creature was surely a manifestation of something much more than some rare species. The dark power of a mirror shard.... He could sense its presence somehow.
The mother's eight prickly legs spun it into motion then, crawling across the web that it had constructed over the roof of the chamber. The membrane covering the eye on her hairy head split open, and she looked down upon them, the pinchers over to her mouth squirming excitedly. Link immediately tossed a hand back to exchange saber for bow. Glad I didn't use the last of my arrows....
However, just as Link had reached back to prepare his attack, she closed her eye and let her backside hang lower. Her body quaked in that moment, but Rusl knew what was happening before the silky eggs emerged from within her. Just as they were twitching and hatching unnaturally fast, Link followed Rusl into their cluster, slashing through the better half of them before the tiny spiders breathed life, their infant forms a squishy white sack with legs.
Those that had been able to escape their eggs descended immediately upon the two of them. Link was prepared this time, though, and he and Rusl stomped and cut them out of existence within moments.
The dying squeals of her young snapped Armagohma into action. Infuriated, her eye opened to its widest, and the only indication that an attack was coming was the bright orange light that infused the chamber. Rusl and Link were alerted to the danger in that flash, and just as a hot bolt of orange shot towards them, they were on the move. The ray of energy shifted its path to follow them, creating blackened lines in the stones as it pursued them. The speed of the mother spider's attack pushed the companions to move swiftly, but the light soon vanished from the room just as suddenly as it had arrived.
Link and Rusl took only a moment to catch their breath. Surely such an ability was only made possible by the dark presence of the mirror piece infesting the arachnid.
Glossy objects again began falling from the ceiling, and Link and Rusl occupied themselves with their destruction. A few of the baby spiders had been able to evade the edge of their blades and to climb up their bodies, however, the tiny critters did not travel far before being beaten away to the ground once more ... only to have a large foot stamp out their lives.
It was during one such event that upon turning to trample over a spider he had just batted to the floor, Link saw the approaching form of the mother. She had used her offspring as a device, a distraction so that she was able to sneak neared to the invaders without their initial notice.
Link screamed toward Rusl, and they jumped out of the way of the monster in opposite directions just as it lunged at their last position. They then took advantage of the spider's close proximity to deal it damage, weaving through its scuttling legs and thrusting at its body and head. It squealed, and noticing that the two trespassers could outmaneuver her, she fled from them, snapping her pinchers and tossing her legs at them as she retreated.
When she reached a high point of the wall, she halted and again opened her eye. Another jet of orange light rained from her orb, singing Rusl's foot as it followed after him and Link. Rusl made no signal that he had been weakened by the strike, scurrying away from Armagohma's attack as quickly as Link. This angered the beast further, but she was unable to focus her energy for too long, and her attack was suffocated before she could inflict a more severe wound.
Rusl took that moment to associate pain to his foot, moaning slightly, but even as he now favored this appendage as he walked, the injury did nothing to stop his action.
Before the mother could rekindle her energy for another of these assaults, he traded weapons, bringing out his bow and nocking an arrow. His arm followed the spider as she trailed away yet again to the ceiling, and with precise aim, Link let loose the shaft to plunge directly into her eye before it sealed itself away once more.
Armagohma screeched at the infliction, jerking her body about ... so much so that she inadvertently dislodged her legs from her web. She landed with a forceful thud on her backside. Her legs convulsed with pain from both the fall and that such a landing had surely lodged the arrow deeper into the soft tissue of her eye.
Rusl called to Link almost hysterically, and Link realized why he had become so uncharacteristically frantic. The mother had landed at the base of one of the four statues, and Link's eyes lit up with the same frenzied understanding as Rusl's. Armagohma would not linger in her agony for long, not while they were present within her nest, so Link did not have much time in which to act.
He tossed his bow down and drew out the staff. He swiftly cast out an energized orb from its tip, lighting up the veins of the colossal figure that loomed over the arachnid. Life consumed its bulk.
And with one swift motion, its raised fist slammed down upon the monster in front of it. A tormented squeal emerged from Armagohma, as the stone crushed her body, but as her body still wriggled with life, Link cast the staff again, and the statue attacked once more.
Link hated hearing the dying shrieks of the monster, but it was just that. A monster ... and it had to be destroyed.
After several more poundings, any life within Armagohma ceased to exist, and Link finally ripped out the life-force of the statue with a twist of the staff. Belting the ancient device once more, Link approached the dead arachnid, Rusl limping alongside him. They inspected the creature, and it appeared dead, but ... its legs had not folded in on itself as was customary for spiders.
In a final attempt to strike down the intruders, Armagohma snapped at Link, but he jumped back quickly, and Rusl's reaction overtook his own. The older man speared his saber into the monster's mouth, and after a spasm, its legs at last curled into its body. Next moment, its figure blackened and exploded. White specks floated amongst the red and black bits, and soon everything faded away save for the silvery white pieces. They glowed brightly and sucked in on one another in bursts of silver wind.
At the point of their convergence, a luminescence cascaded from a newly formed mirror shard.
Link stretched out his hands to catch the piece as it fell toward them, and Rusl retreated to reclaim Link's bow. Yet just as the shard rested within Link's arms, a sudden vibration crackled through the floor and walls.
The use of the statue had killed the creature ... but its pounding had also destabilized the framework of the chamber. And by the growing tremors in the floor, it was clear that the entire temple was beginning to collapse on itself. Link dashed toward Rusl.
"Run!"
Yet, within the second that Link and Rusl entered the room, their attention had been more directed toward what lay in the center of the space. Sitting upon the stone tiled floor was a giant, golden bell. At least, it appeared to have the same shape as a bell. Whether or not the ornament had any definite purpose was impossible to distinguish. Etchings much like that found on the statue guardians stretched across its entire surface.
Just as Link had stepped up to investigate its wonders further, Rusl had moved out further into the room. He called back to Link, "Over here."
Link stripped himself from the bell and stepped up alongside the older man. A doorway stood before them, the royal crest sculpted into the block above the sealed path. Intricate line and square designs were carved into the door. To the sides of the obstruction were alcoves, yet only the one on the right was occupied. A large and rather excessively detailed statue rested silently within its ancient home. Its torso was much bulkier than its bottom half, and it grasped a fancily chiseled hammer raised before its eye line.
"It seems that there is supposed to be another of these here," said Rusl, pointing to the empty niche. "In the grove and in the temple entry, there were matching ones on either side."
Link nodded. "So, all we need to do is find this statue and bring it back somehow."
Rusl noted the tone of doubt in Link's voice, and he understood his concern. How indeed were they supposed to move a statue so large that surely weighed more than either of them ten times over?
"We'll worry about that when the time comes," dismissed the bearded man.
Link had to admit that he had found his uncertainty of the situation surprising. Usually he would have been the one to respond in such the way that Rusl just had. Of course, his laid-back, pessimistic partner was forced to hide throughout this excursion. He had always sliced straight through her skeptical tone with ease, but now that she remained within his shadow, he wondered if she was somehow voicing her disbeliefs through him. The thought unnerved him, and he pushed away all considerations regarding this possibility as he followed alongside Rusl up one of the grand stairways. It was simply an unrealistic thought. To be able to move a statue as large as the one in the chamber now below them would be an impossible feat if there was not some other means of relocating it than by their strength alone.
Rusl and Link came to the base of another short incline of steps that led up to a bolted doorway. Link stared at the door without any sign of movement for a solid few moments before he spoke, brow furrowed. "Something's wrong."
Rusl, who had stepped forward, stopped immediately and looked back to Link. "Yes, the door is locked. Come help me."
"No," said Link, turning about and walking toward the edge of the balcony area.
"No?" repeated Rusl, as Link scanned the room below. Rusl had thought he had simply refused his help, but.... "That's not what I mean," corrected Link.
"What is it then?" he asked, seeing the lines on Link's face that indicated he was trying to fit together pieces of a puzzle.
"It doesn't make any sense," he said. At Rusl's still clueless expression, the youth elaborated. "There aren't any guards. Why aren't there any guards?"
"Remember, Link, we are in the past," replied Rusl as if to wave off the young man's concern.
Link turned to him then, "And yet we have come looking for a fragment of the Mirror of Twilight, a mirror that Zant broke, a king that we suppose could have hidden such a piece here. If he had planted the piece here, why did he not also station guards as an extra precaution?"
Rusl fingered his finely trimmed beard, "I see your point."
That uneasy feeling that had followed Link into the secret passage of the Temple of Time rose within him again, and a fear pulsed within him. It was not a dread that concerned his wellbeing, however. Instead, it was Rusl for whom he worried. His personal issues with the man had been drowned, and it was only the worry of bringing him into unsaid terrors that Link spoke. "Are you sure you want to come with me?"
Rusl fixed a surprised eye upon Link. He had known that Link had unresolved matters with him, some that perhaps Rusl did not even realize to be as troubling as they truly were to the youth, but the hostility and resentment within Link's voice with which he had previously regarded the man had suddenly disappeared. He was impressed at how the boy he had know for so long could so quickly dismiss his own needs or wants so that he could move on to more pressing matters. Nevertheless, Rusl was not to be swayed.
"It's like I said, Link. This time, someone has your back."
Rusl was not sure if it was surprise at the comment or a change in Link's view toward him, but the thin line that passed for a small smile reassured Rusl.
Without another word Link drew his blade, and, lacking any sign of forced concentration, a glimmer of red encapsulated the Master Sword, producing a faint hum. Link lashed out at the chains covering the door in the same moment, and the thick steel fell to the floor in a clump. The veiling color then dispersed from the surface of the blade, and he returned it to its sheath. Rusl came forward then to assist Link in lifting the heavy door. As they pulled it upward, mechanical clicks vibrated from the door frame and through the mass as it crept upward, assuring them that if they lost their grip it would only fall as far as the point at which the previous clack had sounded.
When they had raised the door far enough to allow them reasonable entrance, they carefully released their grasp, being sure that their feet were not underneath its weight in case the door did not remain in place. Yet, the door did not budge when they stepped back to look onto the entryway.
Link peered into a darker corridor, and hid a grimace.
It had not been that Link had minded that there were no guards. It was simply that their absence would likely prove that there were far worse terrors within.
As Link stepped through the opening, Rusl following close behind, a musty air greeted him. A sour stench clouded the darkened hall, and, with it, a wave of nausea attacked his stomach. An eerie unnaturalness had settled into the temple, making the atmosphere seem abnormally stiff. The ancient walls seemed to watch Link and his companion closely, as if gauging whether or not to lunge outward to capture them within their stones for the rest of time. That was how Link felt ... as if he were being swallowed deeper with each step he took down the hall.
Neither Link nor Rusl did anything to begin a conversation, and further down the long corridor, windows laden with intricate tracery scarcely began to line the walls. Rays of light peeked through their patterns, shedding small amounts of light onto their path. It was at the first pane that the hall began to wind upward slowly, long and wide stairs spotting the ground and making it more difficult to proceed along their way. They found themselves stumbling more often, their toes often hitting the edges of the stairs, and they were forced to slow their pace even more.
Link's thoughts passed back to the strange, golden bell as they ascended the winding path, but he shifted his attention from the decoration. Trying to understand the tastes of the ancient ones who had built this temple had nothing to do with why he and Rusl had come. Rusl had sensed something ill over the forests since Link had taken the Master Sword, and it was Link's full hope that they would locate another piece to the mirror.
He looked to Rusl then and wondered.... Would Rusl or any of the others persist in following Link into the Twilight Realm? They all knew of his plan now, and the Group had been successful in joining with him once out of three attempts. Would they truly insist on journeying with him into the Twilight Realm? Though he did not much like that they volunteered to venture with Link into the dangers of such temples, Link accepted their help. However, once it came time for his battle with Zant—to stop Ganondorf from returning to Hyrule—Link would not allow them to risk their lives so foolishly.
Link at last reached the end of the path, stepping into the hexagonally shaped junction that joined them to another path off to the left. He paid the bell in one of the corners little attention. Instead, he had instinctively peered into the darkness that shrouded the next path. Seeing still no threats, he passed under the archway. However, when a mechanical click sounded beneath Link's foot, both he and Rusl were too late to act. As soon as Link's foot landed, the stone tile sunk into the floor slightly. Just as Link turned back to Rusl, golden bars slammed shut between them in the doorway.
Link grabbed onto the barrier, pulling in vain at their iron weight. Grinding his teeth in frustration Link banged his fists into the bars and backed away slightly, pacing back and forth. He could have gone on without Rusl ... it would have been his perfect opportunity.... But he hated the thought of leaving him alone within the temple. If anything were to happen to him he would blame himself forever.
Finally, with a grunt, both at having been tricked and having to let Rusl continue on with him, he called through the pockets in the bars. "Look for some kind of switch," Link said, as he also searched around the immediate area of the gate. "There has to be a way to open them."
Rusl felt around the walls and inspected the ground, but all that he seemed capable of finding were cobwebs and cracks. He stood at the gate peering through the golden poles. By the look on Link's face, he had not been able to find a means of reopening the barrier either. Just then a low, humming growl sounded, and an icy chill raked up Link's spine as his eyes widened. He felt slight tremors reverberating from the ground through his boots. Rusl's expression of surprise, confusion, and fear willed Link to turn about. Dim blue lights approached him. Most were jagged and straight lines; however, there were also two glowing orbs side-by-side.
Link unsheathed his saber, and when the stomping figure came into better light, it took on the shape of a blackened statue. How...? Link's thoughts on how a statue could possibly move were cut off abruptly as it closed the distance between them and cast a huge hammer down in front of it, aiming at Link. Link leapt to the side of the narrow hall just in time to avoid the instrument that instead crushed the stones where he once stood.
Its movements were stiff due to the fact that it was made of stone, and it moved rather slowly in relation to its bulky size that skirted down and widened toward the bottom in a cone like shape. Yet, its one tiny hand packed a power swing, and with each attempt it took in pounding Link, it splintered the floor and sprayed the broken pieces of stone all over the passage. Link stumbled down the passage to gain distance between him and the armed statue, but he tripped on a tile, and it, too, clicked under his weight.
Just as he righted himself, another gate behind him hurled across the corridor, closing him in with the hostile statue. Link spent a split second in an attempt to pry the bars from the wall, but the statue was once again upon him. He raced again to the other side of his new prison, ducking under the swing of the moving sculpture. Rusl had frantically returned to his search for a hidden switch of some kind on the other side.
Still unable to help Link, Rusl turned to him with a helpless expression. Link twisted about. The statue had lost no time in regaining its towering position near Link. A realization sprung within Link, as he remained immobile. Though the magicked mass of stone quickly removed its hammer from the floor with each missed stroke, it lacked speed in casting its hits. Link waited until the monstrous block was directly upon him, its arm lifted high.... Its colors seemed to sharpen in satisfaction at seeing Link unable to evade, however, just as its hammer rained down ... Link bolted to the side.
The hammer landed with a shattering crash as it broke through the golden bars where Link had just been standing moments ago. The statue, oddly, seemed dazed, stiffly twisting about in the rubble of the gate, searching for its prey. Once it located Link sprinting across the fallen barrier, it followed ... angrily. Its growl echoed in the chamber as it pursued them.
Link and Rusl split to separate corners of the room, and as it followed Link, Rusl cautiously circled the foe in the hopes of isolating any possible weak point in its construction.
"Link!" called the older man, as Link rolled out of the way of yet another pounding strike. Link cast him a quick glance. "Keep it distracted!"
Easy enough for you to say. Link pulled himself up from the cracked floor and kept the sculpture's gaze only upon him as he moved, giving Rusl complete freedom to progress unnoticed by the stone beast.
The blacksmith had in fact laid eyes upon a large, blue crystal inset on its backside. He moved in on the statue as it continually attacked Link, missing each time. Yet with each time it failed to hit Link, it would jerk violently and twist around to once again face Link. This gave Rusl some difficulty in reaching its rear. Noticing this, Link remained in place for as long as he could ... the hammer coming down upon him.
Those extra few moments had allowed Rusl enough time to dance around the creature and slash out the glimmer of its sparkling crystal. As soon as Link heard the shatter he hurled himself away from the dropping mallet.
The statue quaked, its life-force depleted from its stone body. Its mass jerked about in its stationary position, and it was then that both Link and Rusl noticed the danger in its movements. Rusl was already racing away as Link called, "Run!"
Together, they dove into the path that had been Link's cell. In the last moments, the blue lines that served as the statue's veins flashed in colors of green and white and yellow. Instantly, an explosion boomed within the room, echoing down the halls as its pieces blasted in all directions of the room, spearing into the floor and the walls. Link and Rusl gathered themselves up and peaked back into the room moments later. All that remained was a blackened floor and pieces of its remains littering the room in various sizes.
Relived, Link then turned back to their next problem. The other gate.
Rusl looked as well and just shook his head with a grin. "At least one good thing came from all that."
A large chunk of the statue had collided into the gate and given them free passage to the hall beyond.
No. We're just back to where we began. An open hallway with likely even more traps through it, Link replied within only his mind. There could have been even more of those armored statues lining the walls further down the hall, and with only spotted light they would gain little forewarning save for the glow of their blue eyes.
Nevertheless, despite the fact that Link did not much like the idea of traveling blind—seeing as he had not brought his lantern—he followed behind Rusl.
They had barely progressed two steps before they heard a strange sound emanating from the room behind them. Link peered into the junction and he heard the oddest chattering and fluttering noises, but something in Link's memory was awakened. He knew that sound … knew it quite well from all his excursions into Faron Woods.
Just as Link was turning to push Rusl into motion, a swarm of flapping keese swirled down around them, sailing down from their nest in the ceiling of the room. Link and Rusl batted at their clawed feet and sharp teeth as they circled about their bodies. They raced down the hall, blind to all the dangers that the darkness held secret. All they knew were the tiny bodies trying to tear into them for disturbing them from their slumber.
Link and Rusl spotted a doorway ahead in the patched brightness and through the ripping claws. They skidded to a halt and grabbed at the bottom of the door, lifting it as they tried to make their nerves numb to the small scratches with which the keese littered their faces and bodies. In moments they had lifted the door high enough and they raced into the next room as most of the keese followed.
Link and Rusl once again dug their feet into the floor, sliding to a halt just before plummeting off the side of a broken ledge. The keese, having more room to flutter about in the huge room, flew past the pair. However, most of the winged creatures were caught moments later in the silky nets that covered almost the entire chamber.
They had entered into a three story, circular chamber wherein spider webs had littered the floors, walls, ceilings, and windows. The grand stairway to their left had been chewed away by the darkness that had infused it for so long, and the path had been reconstructed so that only one species could traverse its length ... fuzzy, brown-legged, one-eyed spiders. The arachnids—half the size of Link—skittered all about the chamber and the extensive webbing that shrouded the room. Some of the spiders drooped down on their silk lines, the pinchers covering their mouths clacking excitedly.
It was clear that the flesh of new prey thrilled them, many racing across their webs to tend to the winged victims caught in their homes. Link and Rusl stepped carefully as they inched backward from the smashed floor before them. Link assumed it had once been a catwalk that had connected their ledge to the circular platform in the center of the room, for there were demolished signs of other such footbridges at other angles of the platform.
The keese that had not been caught unawares by the change of environment flapped wildly back toward the entrance. Though some rammed into shadowed traps, most of those that remained were able to evade the arena of the arachnids, fleeing back to their nest. With their presence banished from the room, the spiders concentrated on the other intruders.
No retreat for us, Link thought with a frown as he looked to their right. The grand stairway continued at this point, but it was battered and crumbled in places. What space remained was mostly covered in the silky grids of the spiders' designs. The sight trigged a memory from long ago, when nothing mattered to Link save for rescuing Malo from the mysteries of the woods. He did not much care to be ensnared in another sticky trap as he had on that day, but the stairs were the only route forward accessible to him and Rusl.
Just as the several spiders surrounding them lunged forward, Link pivoted to the right, slashing his saber across the dark backside of the one nearest him. Rusl followed closely behind Link's surefooted steps as the youth navigated the stairs between the crumbled stones, glossy webs, and biting arachnids. He stepped in all the same places as Link where possible, for at times the spiders would crowd in Link's wake. Rusl either leapt over them over raked his sword through their legs and bodies.
When Link had finally reached the next and last level, he bolted straight toward the open doorway, but he had spotted the trap before he had climbed the last step. He only hoped that Rusl would see it as well. With the creatures scuttling toward them at an increasingly swift pace, there was no time to call back to him.
With practiced agility Link stepped past the block in the floor that would have triggered another trap, and as if by luck or skill, Rusl missed it too. As soon as Link had crossed through the doorway and saw Rusl race past him, he twisted about, grabbing a small statue head from a large plinth set into the wall. He lobbed the heavy stone toward the approaching spiders, and the block landed on the slightly raised tile, tripping a golden gate to shoot from the cavity in the door frame before it rolled away to tumble over the broken.
The shining bars were set close enough together so that none of the creatures could press themselves through to reach Link and Rusl. There had been one unfortunate spider that had nearly slid past the opening, however, once the barrier had erupted, its bars had inserted themselves into the wall through the body of the creature, snaring it and producing a wretched squeal from its alien mouth.
Grateful that his improvised plan had worked in their favor, Link took the moment to catch his breath. Rusl was again alongside him then, having turned back after realizing that Link had no longer been with him.
"Worse than guards?" asked a panting Rusl.
Link let out a short chuckle at the blacksmith's attempt at some levity. "Slightly," he nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow and lips as he straightened his posture. Suddenly his adventurist gene had kicked back in.
"You know," the older man said, still in that teasing tone, "we're going to have to come back this way."
"Yes," agreed Link, watching as the spiders slowly retreated from their unattainable meal.
"That gate is going to pose a problem," Rusl pointed out.
But Link shrugged off the comment, retorting with: "Well, then I suppose we'll worry about that when the time comes." Link traipsed off down the new corridor open to their exploration, and Rusl grinned.
There was the boy he knew.
===============
After a twisting network of corridors, Rusl and Link entered at last into another junction. Within the room were several walls that did not connect directly with the ceiling. Each wall panel had been severed into two sections, wherein one met with the top of the room, the bottom half seemed secured only by the pillars that joined the walls together.
"What's this?" Link thought aloud, searching the walls of the dead end.
"There must be a way through here," Rusl said. "It would make no sense for us to progress this far only to turn back."
"Unless a dead end was exactly where Zant wanted us to end up," suggested Link bitterly. He tightened his fist around the hilt of his sword, for if that were the case, there would likely be another ambush waiting to be tripped.
"This place was built by our ancestors, Link," reminded Rusl. "If Zant truly designed that our path should end here then perhaps he was fooled as well. Look at these walls, Link. There must be a way through."
Heaving a stressed sigh, Link turned back to gaze about the room, sheathing his sword. He could feel Rusl's gaze linger upon him for a moment, but when Link moved forward to one of the walls, he heard Rusl's cautious footsteps as they echoed over to another section. Just as with the golden gates, Rusl searched the surrounding wall for some kind of switch or lever.
Link also sought some such device; however, just as he ran his fingers down the corner where the obstacle and the wall had been fused together, a thought occurred to him. If switches had been absent from the gates' designs why would these barriers be any different? Link's attention flew upward to the open split that divided the wall.
How cryptically obvious, Link smiled.
After gauging that the opening was at least four meters high, Link turned to a pillar. The simplistic designs that had been carved into its surface would offer the perfect assistance. He found two evenly spaced handholds on its wide body, and after gathering one foothold he boosted himself upward to latch onto the two spaces he had seen. This awkward movement had drawn Rusl's attention, but as the blacksmith held back any comment, Link supposed that he had gathered his intent.
Link climbed the face of the column until he reached the opening. He shifted his footholds so that he could pivot his waist to peer through the tear. Beyond was another room, rectangular in shape, yet consisting of the same barriers and gates that had so annoyingly impeded their journey already. He called down his findings to Rusl, but the sight of a glimmering green crystal cut him short. Rusl questioned his sudden silence, yet Link's mind raced and muffled the older man's voice.
The gemstone had been set high into the surface of the wall, as if it were a precious ornament. However, Link knew that this was the switch that they had been looking for. He need only prove it by striking its surface somehow.
Link hung there for a moment, going over in his head what possible items he could use to throw through the opening in a precise line while confined to the restricted movement that the pillar brought. Using his bow was out of the question. He would need both of his hands to operate his bow and one more to hold onto his support. The only option he had was to use one of his acquired daggers. At least he had chosen to climb the pillar to the right of the fracture, enabling him to use his trained left hand to cast the weapon.
Link pulled the dirk from the backside of his belt and concentrated closely on his target as he angled his hand. He had to swing in a powerful arch to combat the distance and the small space he had been forced to work through ... and he had to aim exactly. If he missed he would only be able to attempt one more throw.
Without further delay Link cast his dagger through the opening with amazing speed. It chimed against the crystalline surface, and Link grinned despite the pain of his twisted position. As the gem flickered a crimson color the walls surrounding them began to quake. Rusl called for Link to dismount the column, and Link did so without hesitation. Either he had successfully triggered the switch that would allow them to proceed, or … he had inadvertently prompted the very ambush he had feared was contained within this room.
The color drained from Link's features as a stone wall began to close over the opening that had guided them there. So, it was a trap after all.
Link and Rusl raced to the closing passage, but the stone had sealed the way back before they could squeeze through. They drew their blades simultaneously and turned back to the room, grim expressions pasted to their faces, ready to battle whatever surprise lay in store for them. Yet the true reality of the situation dazed them more than the worst that they had imagined for themselves.
Contrary to what both of them had believed had come of Link's discovery, the crystal had not caused an ambush to break out within their confinement. Instead, as the one doorway had closed ... three others had revealed themselves. With further, cautious investigation, Link and Rusl found that one passage dead ended not far down and another had collapsed in on itself.
I suppose that leaves our last alternative, Link thought as they stood before the now unblocked entry into the very room within which the scarlet colored crystal hummed with life. As they stepped within the next room, the details of its construction were imprinted in their minds in one swift glance. The rectangular room held more of the golden gates, but these were more permanently structured, completely closing off a section of the back wall where another of the large bells was imprisoned ... and his dagger.
The purpose of the bells began to plague Link's mind upon seeing this particular one shielded from the rest of the room. Where they some kind of religious artifacts? Ceremonial in nature? He doubted now that they were strictly for ornamental intentions. He was convinced they had some type of function. But as Rusl motioned him on, Link decided now was perhaps not the best time to reflect on the matter.
The right half of the room consisted of two more of the moveable walls, one straight ahead and the other off to their right, and Link was only thankful that this time he had the room to utilize his bow. Nocking an arrow he pulled back as hard as he dared on the bowstring. The arrowhead would need a great deal of force behind its feathered tail if it was going to have the same effect as the hard surface of the dagger and not just simply bounce away.
As soon as the shaft flew away it smacked into the surface of the crystal with a satisfying thwack, and as the arrow fell from its target, the gem again pulsed with its thick emerald hue. The entrance sealed itself once more as the other two sections peeled away to reveal two more passages. The corridor ahead seemed as logical a choice as the one on the right, but there was one difference. Whereas the one before them simply led directly forward, the other was adjoined to another room much like the previous two. Though it was a small room, there were two further moveable panels on its left-hand wall. It seemed perfect sense to explore its depths first.
After a short discussion with Rusl, the blacksmith agreed, and they moved into the next room. Link turned back to face the opening, readying another arrow. It sailed off after he had taken careful aim and struck the crystal once more. The brimming red color was the last Link saw before the wall before him shut away all light.
A tremor of uncertainty brought an icy chill over his mind in that moment. Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling? Why do I feel as if I have just sealed our doom? Link tried to bat away the nagging feelings, but their persistence diseased his thoughts, and as he turned to watch the two passages open, his apprehension feel over him even thicker ... just as cold and dark as the rainy night when he had taken up the Master Sword as his blade.
They peered down the dual passages lit dimly from a brightness on the other side of their length. As far as they could tell the side-by-side corridors led to the same area, so they chose the nearer and ventured slowly through it. Halfway through, an eerie quiet descended upon them, and a tinge of fear sprouted within Link as he realized they were walking down a hall flanked by a row of the armored statues.
He looked to Rusl. He had noticed it as well, but for the moment, the hammer-wielding statues did not stir with sapphire life. Link willed himself to remain calm, for just as his senses had detected signs of possible traps before, such perceptions had usually been cast away as merely his imagination producing the worst possible scenarios that did not essentially come into actuality.
Although, he could not shake the feeling that exiting through this corridor would not be as easy as entering through it.
The room they crossed into was the first that had not been ravaged in any form by the same ruined stated that ailed the other rooms and corridors. The high ceiling domed inward, a circular sky light cut out of the center. A waterfall of sunlight poured in through the hole, and yet another of the bells was stationed directly below the shaft. The only other source of light within the room funneled in through a single window frilled with the same embellishments as those throughout the temple. Yet, before this very window was a sight that both Link and Rusl were pleased to accept.
There, sitting upon the a nice in front of the window was the statue that had gone missing from the first room the Master Sword's chamber had led into. It sat in all its ancient grace, but there was only one problem ... that which Link had initially pointed out to Rusl. How would they retrieve the massive statue ... much less return it to its original standing?
That was when Link turned his attention once more to the bell, studying its etchings as well as those carved upon the statue. The designs were distinctly similar. Link was not precisely sure, but he now understood one thing. The statue and the bells were connected in some way, yet what strung them together ... he still could not put his finger on it.
Link took one step further into the room ... and he regretted it soon after.
Some unnoticed force had suddenly knocked full into Link and flung him meters away from where he had once stood in front of Rusl. Winded and sprawled sideways on the floor, Link choked as he regained his breath. Link sat up holding the side of his stomach as he looked toward Rusl. The blacksmith rushed toward him, saber bared and ready to fend off the unannounced attacker. Rusl helped Link to his feet, as Link breathed out the thudding pain in his side.
Link grabbed for his sword even before the pulse of the hit had completely faded from his body, but if there was an enemy bound on taking their lives, tending to such minute pain would do Link little good. Keeping his breathing steady to fizzle out the tinge quicker, Link joined Rusl in sweeping over the chamber as they stood back-to-back.
Rusl whispered back to Link a moment later, and the youth looked in his direction. Near the bell there stood a dark figure facing away from them, bulky in its heavy armor. As if had sensed their eyes upon it, the figure turned about in one slow menacing movement. A dark knight, barely a gap in its shell of body armor, faced them, eyes absent behind an ominous helmet. It held up a circular shield on its left forearm and flashed the long blade it held in its other hand.
Desperately wanting to destroy this foe before Rusl had a chance to move in and be harmed, Link flicked his finger over the clasp of his cloak and left it drift to the floor as he reached back to slide his shield onto his right gauntlet. He stepped alongside Rusl. No matter how much he might inwardly resent the man, he wished death on no one save those in servitude to Ganondorf.
Familiarizing himself with the balanced weight of his shield on his arm and the recovery of his full agility from shedding his cloak, Link shifted his weight back and forth from one leg to the other as he sized up his foe. Link had had practice in the technique more frequently than Rusl in the past weeks, and it was Link who moved in first. He sailed first to one side of his opponent and then to the other as he memorized how the knight shifted in defense. It knew Link was studying its movements, and it struck, sending a forceful blow whipping through the air toward Link's head.
Link did not have to be able to see Rusl to know that, by some paternal instinct, he had inaudibly heaved a fearful gasp for Link's safety. But the blacksmith need not concern himself, for Link reacted to the strike with precise timing, ducking under the blade when it should have passed through him. After the failed attack, Link saw Rusl approach out of the corner of his eye. Link rolled to the right while crouched to bring the knight's attention fully onto him while he opened its backside fully to his comrade.
But the knight was extremely perceptive and it seemed to be able to feel Rusl's approach in the undetectable tremors in the ground caused by his quick steps. It wheeled around and reared down its massive sword just as Rusl struck out. Fortunately, Rusl was still swift enough in his older age to evade the coming blow, jumping back as far as he could without sacrificing his footing.
As the knight had twisted about, Link had noticed the leather straps that fastened its armor to its under armor. Link charged in immediately and slashed out at the nearest part of the knight. In an instant, its left greave fell away to the floor. Before Link could blink, however, the knight had turned upon him, and Link was again struck and sent flying across the room. He landed hard and dazed against the wall, a long but shallow cut crossing over his right collar.
Link could see the blurred image of Rusl stepping into a fiery dance of blades with the knight as he lay momentarily motionless. The memory of once seeing Rusl beaten and bloodied lying on his bed recalled Link to his senses. That had been a time that had pained Link not only seeing the man in such pain but also watching helplessly as Uli's emotions suffered from the strain of care and worry.
No, Link said to beat back the haze clouding his eyes. He has a wife. A son. A newborn by now.... I will not ... let you take him away from them....,
Link pushed himself up from the floor, only temporarily using the wall as a support. Seconds after he once again stood, a growl gurgled in his throat, and he sprinted toward the attacking knight. Rusl, avoiding a blow from his enemy, was startled to see Link's lunge at the knight. Link had drawn its full attention, and he and the warrior stepped into a gruesome exchange of blows. As Link attacked at its armor, it continually batted away Link's blade, used its shield to block him, or simply stepped out of the way. When the knight assaulted Link, he evaded by ducking, sidestepping, or somersaulting backwards, and Link would then engage in his own barrage of thrusts and slices once again.
The battle continued on in this fashion for some time, and Link began to tire from the constant strain of remaining one step ahead of his foe's lethal blade. Yet, by this time more than half of the knight's armor had been cleaved away to clank unceremoniously against the cold ground, for as Link had maintained its watchful eye, Rusl had been able to slip in quite a few unguarded strikes before it was able to parry away further harm.
Though, the damage had been done. Link had absorbed its style of fighting, and he could clearly see each attack and defense before the knight moved. Before long, Link and Rusl were able to strip the knight of its heavy armor to reveal its coat of simple maroon and gray under armor. Now it moved much more swiftly, and either in anger or determination, it let its shield fall from its arm as it threw its massive blade toward Link, and it yanked out its slimmer secondary saber.
Link arched backward just in time to evade the flying sword. It landed with a jarring clang in the wall behind him. Forced to move even lighter on their toes, Link and Rusl were able to maintain their offensive ground against the knight for most of the ensuing battle. Now they were able to parry against its blade rather than dodge since the knight's new sword was not as deadly in its weight as the last.
When the knight was able to attack, its swings were short and focused blows. There was no fancy or amazing technique to the way it moved about so efficiently, but that in itself impressed Link. Its arm seemed so precise ... yet it was not enough to best both Link and Rusl.
As Link stepped to the right to draw it attack, Rusl plunged in as Link blocked a hard blow. Seeing Rusl's quick movement, Link pounded his blade against the knight's so that, in using its strength to combat the assault, it did not see the older man coming.
The next image presented to Link was that of Rusl's blade piercing through the chest of the dark knight. There was a moment of silence before the warrior's body stiffened and fell to the floor, and as Link gazed down at the defeated enemy, he took that moment to reclaim his calm.
Rusl stepped over to him. The blacksmith merely clasped his shoulder for a moment before walking past him toward the statue. A wave of relief washed over Link. He sheathed his blade and returned his shield to its place. The battle with the dark knight had ended … and Rusl was still all right. Halfway there, Link sighed as he walked past the dead knight to retrieve his cloak.
Link picked up the black cloth and tossed it around his shoulders once more as he started toward Rusl. And as long as he remains safe.... Link's last thought trailed off as his eyes rolled over something among the knight's armor.
What was that?
Link crouched down to the plates of armor beside the warrior, clueless as to what Rusl was saying to him just then. Link reached out and picked up a staff from between the chunks sprawled across the floor. He gripped in one hand it at the center where a handhold had been constructed. His other fingers traced along its length. The staff was intricately carved, but it did not feel like wood as he had expected. It felt more like some sort of metal, and there was a vibration that hummed within its length that Link could barely discern. The top of the staff was formed by two crisscrossing half circles, a flattened spot in the center of their junction.
"Link," the youth finally heard from within his trance. "Link?"
Shaking himself from his state, Link rose and turned to meet Rusl.
"What's that?" his comrade asked.
"I'm not sure," Link replied. He waved it through the air, feeling the hum within the staff massaging his palm. The vibrations seemed to spike each time he moved it, and so he swung it, testing it. However, just as he did so, a ball of yellow green light ignited within the nest of the half circles. Sparks of the same green color flickered at the tips of the staff, energizing the orb.
Link was not sure what the staff had been intended to do, but seeing the statue towering over them from the window ... he had a hunch.
Link swung the staff toward the statue, and the orb of light was launched from the device. It smacked squarely against the stone figure above them, and in an instant, a yellowish glow lit up its engravings and it raised its arms higher. The sight much reminded Link of the armored statue that had brimmed with blue life.
Rusl exchanged a glance with the youth.
Link had not truly expected to find a means of relocating such a massive statue, but even from his first encounter with a living statue he should have predicted that there would have been some mystical way of transporting the figure. But then again....
It was not moving.
Why isn't it moving? Link wondered. He asked this of Rusl, but he was also puzzled by its inactivity.
Link looked about as if searching for an answer within the walls. But the only good that did was to offer out a second question to Link. The bell in the middle of the floor had risen as if by magic. It, too, now shimmered with the colors of the staff, and it had exposed a platform beneath it.
He started for the bell ... but halted after one step.
The floor had shaken, and, immediately, Rusl grabbed his shoulder.
"What was that?" Link asked.
Rusl motioned toward the statue. "When you moved, it moved."
Link's eyebrow rose. Indeed the statue appeared closer to the edge, but Link had to see such a feat for himself. He took another step toward the bell as he continued looking up at the figure. In the same moment that he had moved away, the statue had hopped forward.
The staff was a work of ingenuity, Link admitted. How it worked exactly was beyond his understanding; though, neither he nor Rusl cared at the moment. The device would help them accomplish their goal of returning the statue to its proper place.
Now, all Link hoped was that when the statue fell from its perch it would not break apart from the impact. He continued moving forward and after three steps and hops the statue tumbled down to land perfectly balanced on its base. Pleased with their progress, Link turned to Rusl who looked on in admiration of such ancient technology.
"The bells must have something to do with this as well," said Link, and he unconsciously motioned with the staff to gesture toward the golden marvel.
Immediately, Link and Rusl were dodging stone debris crunched and coughed up into the air by the casting of the statue's hammer. Once they had realized that the statue had attacked only when Link had shifted the staff, Rusl called over to him. "Try to be careful with that, will you?" He was smirking despite the fact that the newest addition to their party had nearly stamped them out of existence.
More aware of how he moved, Link had to consciously keep himself from tilting the staff in any large motion. Rusl stepped up alongside of him as the statue followed closely behind at a pace that seemed contradicting to its size and the manner in which it was forced to move. They could feel every tremor in the floor as it pursued them, and Link could feel its very essence, connected with it by the power of the staff's humming energy.
They stopped at the edge of the circular platform underneath the bell, and Rusl bent down to inspect it as Link remained passive in his examination. There was a central notch in its structure, and both Link and Rusl came to the same conclusion. Link stepped passed over the platform and continued walking until the statue fell onto its surface with its last hop. A loud click signified that it had locked into place, and Link turned back to Rusl and the figure. No longer did it turn or move with Link's motions.
Next moment, the bell descended upon the stone and engulfed it. When the device again rose ... the statue had disappeared, and the staff's energy withered to a weaker hum.
At first, confusion lined their faces ... but when Rusl's wrinkles tightened in fascinated understanding, his expression lifted the perplexity from Link as well. The staff and the bells worked together in transporting such statues about the temple.
Without delaying any further, Rusl and Link turned back the way they had come, but blocking their path were armored statues glowing with bright blue sockets that stood within the door frames of either passage. Rusl had again drawn his saber, ready to battle them. Link and Rusl stepped back as the statues approached them, more exiting the corridors from behind the first.
Their numbers continued to grow by the seconds. We can't fight them all at once, Link thought. But ... he smiled ... luckily for us, they don't move as fast.
Link noticed Rusl about to attack, but he called him back. "Let them move in!"
"What?" the older man called back, stupefied at the request.
"Just trust me!"
Link and Rusl continued backward as the armored statues descended upon them, surrounding them in a cluster. Link could see the tinge of panic within Rusl that he tried to conceal. Trust me, Link repeated, trying to comfort himself with his plan. This will work.
"Remember. They move slowest as they attack," the youth called calmly over to Rusl, his eyes never straying from the gathering. He could see comprehension finally counter the flicker of fear in his partner. Come on, Link willed. Just a little closer. You have to be closer. He watched the figures as they finally met Link's mark. "Go, now!"
Rusl dashed through the throng of stone figures. He dodged their hammers easily, but once he was through he realized that Link was not beside him. Turning about, he watched as Link remained within their ever tightening circle. "Link!" he called in a panic.
What was he...? Realization dawned, but Rusl grew even more worried.
Yet, as the statues all reared their hammers back to strike, Link fell into motion. He danced about their bulk with perfectly balanced, twisted steps. As he emerged from their mass, their hammers all thudded upon nothing ... just as Link slammed the butt of his staff into the backside of the last one he passed.
Rusl raced alongside Link as he sprinted past him. Already the statue he had struck was festering with flickering light.
Link and Rusl darted through one of the passages, but they were met by the blocked doorway. Link knew they would not have enough time to open the path, so he ducked down in the furthest corner. Rusl followed.
With the chain reaction that would ensue ... the explosion would be big.
Within moments, a loud blast shook the ground, and in the same breath, some of the bits of the figures were blasted through the connected corridors. As the air settled, the companions rose from their cover. Though Rusl lingered on what had just happened, staring at pieces of debris, Link had already tucked the staff snuggly in the side of his belt and begun ascending the pillar next to the barrier. Rusl turned back to watch Link.
How he had matured into a fine young man. Rusl smiled at the thought. But he was still plagued with worry for the youth. Through all his concerns, though, he was proud that Link had developed quick reflexes and that the goddesses had chosen him to be the hero of their age. He could already hear the stories being told years from now. Link, the hero of Hyrule, one among many of the legends of their great land.
Link leapt down from the column as the way opened, and he and Rusl moved back into the rectangular room with the green crystal. Standing before them opposite the golden bars, was the statue, the bell hovering above it. Link firstly shot an arrow at the crystal to redden its sparkle and to open the path. He then pulled out the ancient staff and cast another orb of green energy toward the inert figure. Once more, its body gleamed with the mystic light. With a quick turn and swish of the staff, the statue pounded down the gate confining it.
So that Link would not have to endanger himself with precarious movement, Rusl retrieved the daggers that Link had used to access the room from their way in and now their way back through. Link took the weapons and returned them to his belt.
Within moments, Link, Rusl, and their stone ally had returned to the gate that Link had tripped to prevent the spiders from pursuing them. With great difficulty Link maneuvered the statue into a position before the gate so that he and Rusl were standing behind it. This way the statue would serve a dual purpose as the one to free them to the route ahead and as their initial protection from the spiders.
Rusl drew out his blade, as he and Link discussed their strategy. Link would have enough trouble navigating the statue across the perilous stairs. Rusl would need to cover him.
With a thunderous boom that reverberated off the walls of the large room beyond, the statue's hammer sunk into the golden bars, breaking away their grip of the corridor. Link and Rusl moved slowly inside, the stone figure scouting the chamber with unseeing eyes. The skittering noises had suddenly stopped once the statue had emerged onto the ruined stones.
The silence before the growl....
As Link and Rusl stepped out into the crumbling chamber, they were greeted by the swarm of arachnids; however, they stared at them as if waiting. Taking advantage of their stillness, Link and Rusl covered as much ground as they could, but then they heard what sounded like a thousand scuttling feet.
The statue had nearly reached the bottom of the passable stairs when smaller spiders the size of their feet stampeded toward them. They flocked around Rusl and Link, speedily racing over their feet and around them and up their bodies. Rusl was able to fling most of the creatures from his body as long as he kept in motion. For Link, however, could only stomp on the white bubbles that made up their little bodies. He kept the staff as steady as possible as he batted them from his form with his opposite hand. He could not risk straying from his path to twist away the multitude of spiders, for if the statue deviated, it would fall into the depth of the chamber, and if Link moved the staff, its hammer would further dislocate the steps that remained to send them all plummeting down.
Link's chainmail protected the better half of his body from their biting, and when they at last reached the balcony below, he immediately swiped down with his staff. The hammer met solidly with the low doorway and smashed through it and the archway. Now that the hall was accessible to all of them, Rusl and Link darted through. The statue fell behind as Link and Rusl dusted off the remaining spiders attached to them, stomping out their life. Link then turned around to watch the statue as he cast the staff in many directions. The figure obeyed his every movement as it squashed spider after spider that attempted to follow Link and Rusl. Link stepped into what seemed a strange, ancient dance, twisting his body to the right and left, facing backwards and forwards as he continued waving his arm.
As soon as all the small arachnids were smears on the stones, Link hurried the figure forward as fast as could propel its motion. Just as they were reentering the junction where Link had first encountered magicked stones, they heard the collective voice of the larger spiders approaching. As Link guided the statue into the niche below the bell, Rusl stood at the passage ready to fight off their attack.
The mass of the creatures had just begun their invasion of the room when Link had securely planted the statue in place. Immediately he called to Rusl as he belted the staff, and the two of them sprinted through the first passage back toward the main entryway of the temple. Though they stumbled in the darkness of the descending corridor, they dared not slow their pace, for they could hear the keese nest also erupt in squeals and fluttering.
When Link and Rusl reached the door they had lifted, they bolted straight under it, and Link cast his sword in a vicious swipe as if on instinct. A red flame like energy poured from his blade and struck with a resounding blast into the door frame. The door fell loose and crashed to the ground, smashing the spiders that had managed to keep up with them.
Finally able to really relax for the first time since entering the temple, Link slouched over, one hand balanced on his knee while the other kept a firm grip of the Master Sword. Rusl was leaning against the wall, but Link could feel his eyes upon Link. No doubt the blacksmith was either excitedly bewildered by the power that had emerged from Link's blade, or ... he was pondering worriedly about Link.
Link admitted that the blow had taken much energy out of him, to the point of being slightly dizzy, but he did not allow the seriousness of the sudden weakness to go noticed by his older comrade. He could feel the shifting of a dark entity within him, and he realized that Midna's worry for him had just been voiced ... whether the imp had been consciously aware of communicating with him or not.
Rusl moved toward the edge of the balcony. "Let's finish this," he said, gesturing toward the statue that had been transported into the room below.
Link nodded and gathered himself up. He sheathed his saber and again removed the staff from his belt. They descended the stairway quickly, and Link used the device he held expertly now as he guided the statue toward the alcove next to the sealed door. Once it nestled back into its proper place, it turned about to face the two adventurers.
And the doorway opened into a dark hallway.
Link's gaze narrowed upon seeing the lightless corridor. Link again traded staff for saber and concentrated hard, allowing his lupine senses to take over his vision. He had tried not to rely on his wolfish characteristics, but it seemed that darkness had penetrated this temple deeper than the resting places of the other pieces of the mirror. They would find a shard within this mass of stone and dark, Link was sure.
"Stay close behind me," Link said. Objection was within the older man's eyes, however, when Link tossed him a glance, Rusl could see a strange quality infused within Link that he could not comprehend. There was something feral, something inhuman within him, and yet ... focused and selfless.
Rusl nodded, and Link led the way into the darkness.
With Link sharp instincts and aided sight, he was able to guide Rusl across ruined parts of the floor. Nearly thirty paces into the hall; however, Link spotted several reddish eyes. Recognition of their form and purpose struck him within an instant, and he was in motion before the red lines of energy had blasted toward them. He pushed Rusl behind the crumbled chunks of what used to be a pillar, as the multiple strikes missed their feet by mere inches as they fled.
Link peered over the top of their concealment. Just the same as the devices that he had encountered within the mines of the Gorons, only these were rather more decorative in their white marble framework. It made sense, Link supposed. This temple was generations old. Some of its designs were sure to have been passed down among the peoples of Hyrule … even if the origins had been lost to most....
"I don't have enough arrows," Link stated. "We'll have to time it right," he added as he watched the heads of each sculpture rotate in slow circles. Only one eye had been afforded to each, but they were each timed differently.
Rusl peeked out, and as he was able to see their shining sockets, he, too, studied their pattern. After only moments of watching them, they had each absorbed their pattern. Their waited another moment and then sprang out from behind their defense, stepping carefully. They maneuvered quickly at points, sluggishly at others, and at one spot, they ceased all movement for a split second before sprinting the last of the way through, each turning behind the shield of an upright column.
The sculptures behind their worries, Link looked ahead. The path seemed clear; they had bypassed half its length already. But as he took his first step, he retreated backward once more, for as he had stepped forth, a sharp scythe-like blade had appeared from the wall, swooping down upon the floor where he had stood.
More traps. How does this fail to surprise me?
Rusl had seen the whir of the blade, and he understood the situation even before Link looked toward him. They had yet another obstacle to overcome before they would be able to continue on. With only a vague idea of what to expect, they would simply have to rely on pure impulse to guide them through.
Nevertheless, waiting and pondering would solve nothing of their circumstance, and Link and Rusl launched themselves into the throng of what became a minefield of various bladed traps. They ducked, swerved, back stepped, and leapt through the oncoming attacks, reacting on split second decisions that would decide whether they emerged from the corridor in one piece, in halves, or in several fleshy lumps.
The last of the traps emerged from either side of the wall. Two blades appeared from each wall, their opposites meeting horizontally at the points. Only one option came to Link and Rusl in that moment, and with a leap of faith, they sailed as directly as they could through between the blades coming at their knees and those aimed at their necks.
Both of them tumbled through the open door into a dark room. They had suffered minor scratches from their dash through the blades, but their small injuries did little to attract their full attention. Gathering themselves to their feet once more, Link and Rusl stepped further into the room. It was a circular room like most of those within the temple, and if Link could recall the layout of the above levels, they were directly below the large chamber where those many countless spiders had decided to nest.
They stopped at the center of the room. Rusl placed his hands on his hips, a frustrated look overtaking his features. "All that? For a dead end?"
It was true, Link noted. He could not see any further paths leading out from this chamber. He squinted through the darkness as he tossed his vision all about the chamber, and he distinguished four colossal statues lining the walls in symmetrical positions. However, unlike those of the other statues within the temple, they did not hold decorated hammers. Instead their gigantic hands had been fisted, one resting on the floor while the opposite one hovered next to its head.
"Maybe it was a ceremonial chamber," mused Rusl, "but that doesn't help us much, does it?"
Link agreed as much, and he looked beyond the giants to all corners of the ceiling. It seemed the same as any other, but in the dark, he could not quite make out the irregular design that covered it. That in itself appeared unnatural to Link, for all else within the temple had been carved and painted quite evenly. Upon further inspection a section of the ceiling near to the door through which they had just entered looked disfigured ... there were lines and geometric shapes that did not seem to relate to the pattern of the ceiling.
At first, Link assumed that this area of the ceiling had been deformed in much the same way as the rest of the ancient rooms, but in that moment ... one of the lines seemed to twitch.
Realization dawned within Link. Not a dead end. Exactly what we've been looking for.
Rusl noticed as Link took up a guarded stance, and he turned about. He could not see anything worth their defense, but he knew that Link's senses had become much sharper than his own. He steadied his saber within a tight grip and awaited any sign to reveal the existence of the threat that seemed so distinct to Link.
Yet, it was in that very same moment that the presence of such an opponent made itself known to them. It had realized that the two figures that had tumbled into its domain had become aware of it. There was nothing left to do than to capture them and savor the juices of their bodies.
Just as the other arachnids, there was only one central eye upon the massive spider that spanned the length of nearly a sixth of the size of the ceiling.
"Armagohma...." Rusl uttered in an awed whisper.
Link tossed him a sideways glance. "What?"
"Such a creature is said to spawn only once every generation," he replied.
Rusl's knowledge of the giant arachnid did not surprise Link. The blacksmith had given him countless lessons on such things, and this was likely the mother of the other spiders that they had previously encountered. But this creature was surely a manifestation of something much more than some rare species. The dark power of a mirror shard.... He could sense its presence somehow.
The mother's eight prickly legs spun it into motion then, crawling across the web that it had constructed over the roof of the chamber. The membrane covering the eye on her hairy head split open, and she looked down upon them, the pinchers over to her mouth squirming excitedly. Link immediately tossed a hand back to exchange saber for bow. Glad I didn't use the last of my arrows....
However, just as Link had reached back to prepare his attack, she closed her eye and let her backside hang lower. Her body quaked in that moment, but Rusl knew what was happening before the silky eggs emerged from within her. Just as they were twitching and hatching unnaturally fast, Link followed Rusl into their cluster, slashing through the better half of them before the tiny spiders breathed life, their infant forms a squishy white sack with legs.
Those that had been able to escape their eggs descended immediately upon the two of them. Link was prepared this time, though, and he and Rusl stomped and cut them out of existence within moments.
The dying squeals of her young snapped Armagohma into action. Infuriated, her eye opened to its widest, and the only indication that an attack was coming was the bright orange light that infused the chamber. Rusl and Link were alerted to the danger in that flash, and just as a hot bolt of orange shot towards them, they were on the move. The ray of energy shifted its path to follow them, creating blackened lines in the stones as it pursued them. The speed of the mother spider's attack pushed the companions to move swiftly, but the light soon vanished from the room just as suddenly as it had arrived.
Link and Rusl took only a moment to catch their breath. Surely such an ability was only made possible by the dark presence of the mirror piece infesting the arachnid.
Glossy objects again began falling from the ceiling, and Link and Rusl occupied themselves with their destruction. A few of the baby spiders had been able to evade the edge of their blades and to climb up their bodies, however, the tiny critters did not travel far before being beaten away to the ground once more ... only to have a large foot stamp out their lives.
It was during one such event that upon turning to trample over a spider he had just batted to the floor, Link saw the approaching form of the mother. She had used her offspring as a device, a distraction so that she was able to sneak neared to the invaders without their initial notice.
Link screamed toward Rusl, and they jumped out of the way of the monster in opposite directions just as it lunged at their last position. They then took advantage of the spider's close proximity to deal it damage, weaving through its scuttling legs and thrusting at its body and head. It squealed, and noticing that the two trespassers could outmaneuver her, she fled from them, snapping her pinchers and tossing her legs at them as she retreated.
When she reached a high point of the wall, she halted and again opened her eye. Another jet of orange light rained from her orb, singing Rusl's foot as it followed after him and Link. Rusl made no signal that he had been weakened by the strike, scurrying away from Armagohma's attack as quickly as Link. This angered the beast further, but she was unable to focus her energy for too long, and her attack was suffocated before she could inflict a more severe wound.
Rusl took that moment to associate pain to his foot, moaning slightly, but even as he now favored this appendage as he walked, the injury did nothing to stop his action.
Before the mother could rekindle her energy for another of these assaults, he traded weapons, bringing out his bow and nocking an arrow. His arm followed the spider as she trailed away yet again to the ceiling, and with precise aim, Link let loose the shaft to plunge directly into her eye before it sealed itself away once more.
Armagohma screeched at the infliction, jerking her body about ... so much so that she inadvertently dislodged her legs from her web. She landed with a forceful thud on her backside. Her legs convulsed with pain from both the fall and that such a landing had surely lodged the arrow deeper into the soft tissue of her eye.
Rusl called to Link almost hysterically, and Link realized why he had become so uncharacteristically frantic. The mother had landed at the base of one of the four statues, and Link's eyes lit up with the same frenzied understanding as Rusl's. Armagohma would not linger in her agony for long, not while they were present within her nest, so Link did not have much time in which to act.
He tossed his bow down and drew out the staff. He swiftly cast out an energized orb from its tip, lighting up the veins of the colossal figure that loomed over the arachnid. Life consumed its bulk.
And with one swift motion, its raised fist slammed down upon the monster in front of it. A tormented squeal emerged from Armagohma, as the stone crushed her body, but as her body still wriggled with life, Link cast the staff again, and the statue attacked once more.
Link hated hearing the dying shrieks of the monster, but it was just that. A monster ... and it had to be destroyed.
After several more poundings, any life within Armagohma ceased to exist, and Link finally ripped out the life-force of the statue with a twist of the staff. Belting the ancient device once more, Link approached the dead arachnid, Rusl limping alongside him. They inspected the creature, and it appeared dead, but ... its legs had not folded in on itself as was customary for spiders.
In a final attempt to strike down the intruders, Armagohma snapped at Link, but he jumped back quickly, and Rusl's reaction overtook his own. The older man speared his saber into the monster's mouth, and after a spasm, its legs at last curled into its body. Next moment, its figure blackened and exploded. White specks floated amongst the red and black bits, and soon everything faded away save for the silvery white pieces. They glowed brightly and sucked in on one another in bursts of silver wind.
At the point of their convergence, a luminescence cascaded from a newly formed mirror shard.
Link stretched out his hands to catch the piece as it fell toward them, and Rusl retreated to reclaim Link's bow. Yet just as the shard rested within Link's arms, a sudden vibration crackled through the floor and walls.
The use of the statue had killed the creature ... but its pounding had also destabilized the framework of the chamber. And by the growing tremors in the floor, it was clear that the entire temple was beginning to collapse on itself. Link dashed toward Rusl.
"Run!"
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REVIEWS FOR THIS CHAPTER:
~silverheartlugia2000 Dec 4, 2011 ohhh darknut fight!
~Spiritdark7 Dec 5, 2011 that was awesome! I can't wait for the next part!
~Zutara-Zukolover Dec 5, 2011 omggg amazing! totally awesome! I hate it that in videogames the characters can't feel pain, and when you die, you just do a 'new game'. that sucks. Your story captures the feelings and the difficulties very well! It's just like: "hmh. I've got a just a half heart left. Too bad." And he never gets tired and is never hurt even when he DIES >.< LMAO. I like your story 'cuz you give Link a personality
~ApolloStudios Dec 5, 2011 Cool! i loved the battle with the darknut and how you put in the "once a generation" thng with Armagohma. that was definitely one of my favorite bosses
~Spiritdark7 Dec 5, 2011 that was awesome! I can't wait for the next part!
~Zutara-Zukolover Dec 5, 2011 omggg amazing! totally awesome! I hate it that in videogames the characters can't feel pain, and when you die, you just do a 'new game'. that sucks. Your story captures the feelings and the difficulties very well! It's just like: "hmh. I've got a just a half heart left. Too bad." And he never gets tired and is never hurt even when he DIES >.< LMAO. I like your story 'cuz you give Link a personality
~ApolloStudios Dec 5, 2011 Cool! i loved the battle with the darknut and how you put in the "once a generation" thng with Armagohma. that was definitely one of my favorite bosses