Ch.6.

“So you lost a chunk of your shoulder," Link said, eyeing Impa's shoulder. She had returned to the entrance and found them waiting at the top of the stairway. They were continuing down the cave path, hoping to find an exit to the non-snow-covered side of the mountain.

"Yes, the Dinolfos just tore it off," Impa said. Sheik was walking beside them, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Then why is your shoulder intact and…well…complete?"

"When I killed the Dinolfos, a chest fell from the ceiling, and in it was a bottle with a red potion, which I hastily drank, healing my shoulde. There was also a golden cane." She pulled the Cane of Pacci from her belt, and Link took it from her hands.

"What does it do?" Link asked, running his hand along the sides of it.

"It flips stuff over," she said, and pointed to a large rock that soldiers were forced to step around. Link swung the cane, and the rock flipped over.

"Hmm…Pretty useful, I guess," Link said as he handed the cane back to Impa. She hooked it on her belt, and they continued down the cave path.

 

***

 

Cia swung her scepter, knocking Volga over. "You let her go?" she screamed.

"I-I had no choice Master…She was too powerful for me…"

"You could have tried!"

"I-I did. I left th-the dragon!"

"No! No you didn't try! If you had tried, she would be dead! I brought you back to life so you could kill them!"

"I thought we needed them alive!"

"No! You kill them, claim the Triforce, and be done with it!"

"What about the Hero of Legend?"

"Was he there to kill?"

"No, but…"

"So you should have killed her!"

"Master, she was too powerful!"

"I don't care! You could have at least tried to wound her!"

"Mas…"

Cia swung her scepter again, and Volga was thrown backwards. She walked over to him, and pointed her scepter at his chest. He tried looking at her face, but it was hard with her being so close, with her legs open, and her chest…

"I'm going to give you one more chance!" She threatened, "If you fail me one more time, you will be the one blown away!"

"Yes Master. I will confront them at the Temple of Power, and I will have Wizzro weaken their army at the volcano!"

"Good! Remember, Volga, if you fail me, you will only have failed yourself." Volga nodded and vanished. Cia turned, and once again watched the Heroes’ progress.

***

Link, Impa, Sheik, and the army could see a glowing red light in the distance. They all knew that the mountain's exit was near. They were thankful, too. They had been walking for quite a while, and Link planned on having the army stop and rest after they exited the mountain. On their walk Impa had described in vivid detail every second of her experience in the Fire Temple, right down to using a foot-long cane to flip a rock the size of Link's house.

When they reached the exit Link waited there while the army passed through. Sheik and Impa hopped out of the mountain after the army passed, and Link soon followed. When he landed he struggled to gain his footing. Two soldiers had already rolled down the steep mountainside. When he finally braced himself, he inspected the area they were in. He could see for miles, and the lava didn't seem to get far from the volcano. Little lava poured down the side, and the foot of the mountain was all hills and plains un-scorched by the earth's heat. The only threats he could see were monsters roaming the plains—they could be dispatched easily—and small pools of lava which they would have to avoid.

They started their descent down the mountain. Link's feet continued to trip over rocks and scatter pebbles down the mountainside. He could now see that the soldiers who h had falledn had dispatched a small group of Bokoblins and were now struggling against a Lizalfos. A few soldiers were brave enough to dash down the mountain—or even slide—to save their comrades, but the majority were too scared or clumsy to go down that fast. When they finally reached the bottom Link and Impa dispatched the monsters terrorizing the soldiers, and Sheik helped heal the wounded.

Link and Impa sheathed their weapons and headed over to the army. "Take a rest!" Link shouted, and the soldiers quickly sat down. Link sat down on a huge rock, and Sheik and Impa joined him. He pulled a canteen from his belt and took a swig of it. Impa and Sheik both took a sip from theirs, and they waited for Link's command.

"So how do you think we'll approach the Fire Temple?" Link asked.

Impa twisted her mouth in decisiveness. "I think…" She took a swig from her canteen."…you guys should be able to come in with me, but I may be wrong."

"I just hope we don't have to walk down another staircase like the Fire Temple," Sheik said and took a drink from her canteen. She twisted the cap back on and hooked it on her belt. She stood and stretched.

Link turned his head from her and toward the plains in front of them. He hoped they didn't have trouble crossing them and didn't have trouble with the lava pools. He waited a few moments longer, and Sheik finished her stretching. He put the cap back on his canteen and twisted his back to relieve some of the tension. He stood and shouted out to his army. "Alright! That's long enough for a break! We're moving out!" He started walking down the plain, and Impa and Sheik followed suit. Link avoided lava pools, and when needed, took out stray Bokoblins.

They came to a stop at a cliff edge. Link hadn't noticed the drop which, at a rough estimate, was probably a few hundred feet. He turned to face his army. He could see a few boulders not too far from the cliff edge, and an idea came to mind. "I want those boulders moved to the cliff edge!" he shouted to his army, and they dispersed, each group heading to a different boulder. He waved a few soldiers over to him, and they jogged to his side.

"Yes general?" they all asked.

"Do you have any rope?"

Each soldier nodded. They pulled a line of ten or so feet from their backs and held it out for the general. "We keep it with us at all times in case this kind of situation happens."

"Good," Link said, and pointed to the boulders that were already rolled up to the edge. "I want you to have every soldier tie their ropes together in lengths of one hundred feet."

"How many ropes do you want, General?" one of the soldiers asked.

"One for each boulder," he ordered. Then he turned to the cliff edge.

Impa looked at him. "I'm impressed, General," she said. "Your ability to lead your army continues to amaze me, and so does your innovation."

He often took advice from her, as she had more experience. She had been the general before him, but when Zelda's father decreed that women couldn't hold a post that high in their military, Link had to step up. When the king died and Zelda took rule, she changed that law, but she let Link stay in his place as general. He had done very good things in that post, and Impa wanted her to keep a commander. She had already had suspicions that Link could be the Hero of Legend, and she wanted to keep him in command, just in case. Lana had been so delighted when he received the news of his promotion. He proposed to her the night of his dubbing. He missed her; he missed her long blue hair, her petite curves, her sapphire smile, her light footing, her violet eyes, her personality, but he missed her soothing presence the most, and her love.

"General!" A soldier was at Link's side. "The ropes have been tied together and have been looped around the boulders. We suspected that was your intention."

"Yes," he said, nodding quickly, "it was. Start the descent down the cliff, if you would."

The soldier dashed off to the boulders, and soldiers at the other boulders began sliding down the ropes. Link hoped they had gloves on; rope burns were very painful. When all the soldiers had descended, Link, Sheik, and Impa slid down. Link landed gently on the ground and wiped his hands off, brushing off the sticky residue from the ropes. He turned to his soldiers.

"I want those boulders down!" he shouted out, and about twelve soldiers went to each rope and started pulling. One group had bad luck, as the rope fell apart, but all the others were successful, and the boulders crashed down to the scree of the cliff. The soldiers were quick to get out of the way, though, so they weren't crushed by the massive stones.

"Get those ropes off, and let's move out," Link ordered, and the soldiers started untying the ropes, handing them to random soldiers. When the ropes were removed the army headed out, and Link felt a tingle in his spine. He spun around, drawing his sword in the process, and slashed the air behind him, cutting down a Stalchild.

Impa stepped back, and pulled her Naginata from her back. More Stalchildren appeared, and Link shouted to his soldiers. "Ambush!" The soldiers quickly drew their weapons, and began hacking down Stalchildren. Link slashed and stabbed his way through several of them and found himself at the center of his army, which was growing smaller as more Stalchildren came. Sweat poured from his brow, and he was soon surrounded by Stalchildren. He did not give in, but he could see that his numbers were dwindling. If he wanted to survive, he would have to get out of this mass of bones and find the summoner of these monsters. He spun his blade around, cutting down a few Stalchildren, and thrust his blade into the ground, sending a shockwave through it. The Stalchildren near him either vaporized or flew away from him. He dashed from his position and spotted a large purple robe fighting Impa. He furrowed his brow, and sprinted over to them.

He leapt into the air and brought his blade down on the robe from behind, but his blade passed through it. It vanished, and then it appeared next to him. He looked at it from the front and saw that it had two large red eyes, a huge pair of red lips, and long brownish black arms with two blue and red rings on each hand. Impa lunged at it, and Link slashed his blade at it. It held its hands up, and a protective shield arose between them. Link continued to hack at the shield until the robe-wearing shadow shot out a blast of energy that penetrated the shield and slammed into Link. Link’s body twisted and contorted, and he dropped his weapons. His body began to morph, and soon shadows filled his blood and breathed through his lungs. His skin grayed, and his clothes blackened. He snapped his fingers, and a large black broadsword appeared in his hands. He let out a roar and lunged at Impa.

Impa deflected the attack and swept her feet under Shadow-Link’s, tripping him to the ground. Sheik turned when she heard the roar and dashed over to them, cutting down Stalchildren in her way. She jumped into the air as Shadow-Link stood back up. She kicked him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. He scrambled to his feet and swung his broadsword at Sheik, who blocked the attack with her Kunai. She twirled around his sword and leapt onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck, choking him. When he fell back, she leapt into the air and landed lightly on her feet. She sheathed her Kunai and picked up the White Sword. She thrust it into Link's chest, and he shrieked, causing the robe-wearing shadow and its army to disappear. His body returned to normal, and his chest remained unharmed. He panted for breath, and Sheik stepped off of his chest. She grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet.

"Link? Link, are you okay?"

He nodded and collapsed to his knees. He took a deep breath, and Sheik handed him his sword, which he sheathed. He picked up his shield and hooked it to his sheath. He looked up at Sheik and Impa, who had intense looks of concern on their faces.

"What happened?" he asked.

Sheik sat down and crossed her knees. She turned her head and looked at him curiously. "Link, you turned into something else. When that shadow hit you, you transformed into a monster, a monster we all have locked inside us. Fortunately, your monster—or shadow—was defeated easily."

"How did you do it?" he asked.

"I stabbed you in the chest with the White Sword."

"Then why am I not bleeding out?"

"Because your shadow is a different person. You didn't get stabbed; your shadow did. When I stabbed you the White Sword killed that monster, using the gift of light."

"Is it gone for good?"

"No, it could be revived easily by a bolt of dark magic."

"Like the one I was shot with?"

"Yes."

"Okay…It makes a little sense now." He stood and looked at his army, or what was left of it. He put his hand to his mouth and silently counted the remaining soldiers. Seventeen. He didn't shout this time. "Okay guys," he said to the group of soldiers, and Impa and Sheik. "We were just ambushed. We learned new things about our enemy. It may look grim right now, but we can make it through this journey."

"I am sending a request for reinforcements," Impa said. "There is a small army at Lake Hylia, and we can rendezvous with them at Faron Woods."

"If we get there," a soldier muttered.

"I heard that!" Sheik snapped. "Now, as my comrade was saying, things may look grim, for now. We will be receiving reinforcements." She waved her hand to Impa, "And Impa will be claiming the Triforce of Power soon, so our quest will be one-third complete!"

The soldiers sighed and sheathed their weapons.

"Look," Impa said, and pointed forward to a cliff. On it was a huge temple made of gold and rubies. "The Temple of Power!"

Link and Sheik smiled. They were close.

 

***

 

Volga watched from the roof of the temple as the heroes talked, and then one pointed toward him. He froze, fearing they had seen him, but the Hero of Legend pumped his fist and started talking to his pitiful group of soldiers. Volga didn't think they could see him. He vanished into the temple where he would continue to wait.

 

***

 

Cia finally smiled. "Good," she said to Wizzro. "You succeeded, for once."

"Yes," Wizzro hissed, trying not to be annoyed with Cia. "I shrunk their armies’ numbers and showed them their weakness."

"You did, and they know they are close to the Temple of Power. You know, Wizzro, if Volga fails, it will be up to you to stop the heroes at Faron Woods."

"Yes. I do think that Volga will be powerful enough to stop them by then, though."

"He may be, but he has failed me several times already."

"Yes, he has, hasn't he?" Wizzro said, and vanished form Cia's sight. She turned and cackled. The hero would be hers any time now.