The Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction ❯ Gerudo Forest ❯ Chapter 27 ( Chapter 27 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The further in they traveled the more overwhelming the feeling of dread got. How could they not feel it? A couple times she had to resist the urge to cling to Ganon and hide under his cape. She figured he would probably find that amusing but it would only make them think her weaker. Instead she stuck as close to him as she could without making her fear so obvious. The tunnel was dark and she had to refrain from putting her hand to the wall to guide herself due to the heat radiating off. Even Darunia made a comment to how hot it was starting to get. Where was this leading them and what would they find once they got there? As they rounded a bend in the tunnel they could see a red glow at the end. Entering the next chamber seemed to have brought them to the very center of the volcano. An old unsafe looking rope bridge connected to a lava ringed island of rock that rose from the middle. Ganon put his arm out halting her and Darunia. Melissa could then see the source of all the unease she was feeling. Agahnim and a few nervous looking guards stood in front of a statue that looked reminiscent of the statue she had seen in the Spirit Temple. Instead of a woman this time it was a goron holding the dragon like snake. “Get back into the tunnel.” Ganondorf whispered to her. She was more than happy to oblige. From her hiding spot she could see the wizard searching the surface of the statue. “It's just like the other.” She could here Agahnim say more to himself than the three guards that stood behind him. “I am so close but how do I retrieve the piece?” Melissa guessed the wizard must have liked to hear the sound of his own voice because he was doing a lot of thinking out loud. “How did he get here before us?” Darunia whispered with a incredulous look on his face. Melissa had a guess at how. She remembered seeing the drag marks on the ground the other night. It didn't take much for her to figure out there had been something hidden there. Agahnim could have snuck in at anytime from last night to this morning. “Sir shouldn't we hurry? What if the gorons figure out we got in?” said a soldier uneasily. “Silence your prattling. I am almost done.” Agahnim said hovering his hand over the statue. With out warning the wizard punched the statue shattering the goron portion from the chest up using the strange purple energy he had used to send Darunia flying. The saute’s head flew and almost landed on top of one of the soldiers. Melissa could feel the sensation of fear worsen as Agahnim searched through the wreckage . The little voice that had lightly called to her mind on the way here was now screaming for her to find what they were here for before the wizard. “ How dare you!” Darunia shouted coming out of hiding blowing their chance of taking them by surprise. “Ah! Here for round two? Well I'm afraid you will have to wait. I have more pressing matters at the moment.” Agahnim said turning giving the goron a cold stare before turning back to his search. “Stay.” Ganon said to Melissa pushing her further down the hall and out of sight before joining Darunia who was now fuming at being ignored. Melissa inched back to the opening of the hall to watch. As the two made their way across the bridge where the soldiers rushed to meet them. Ganondorf and Darunia made short work of them and threw their unconscious bodies to the side. The commotion had drawn the attention of the wizard once more. She like the wizard were now watching as Ganon strode to the center of the island followed by the goron. No words were spoken. Agahnim just let the most evil smile spread across his face. Darunia was the first to charge with Ganon backing him up shooting balls of energy at the wizard. In the chaos her perception of the events unfolding slowed down as she watched. It was almost like watching a scene from the Matrix. Agahnim was incredibly fast and Ganon seemed to be keeping up with him fairly well. Darunia on the other hand was having difficulty even landing a blow. If anything the goron's presence distracted the wizard enough to help Ganon land a few well placed punches. Agahnim seemed to be catching on to this though. He grabbed Darunia and tossed him at the statue breaking the head of the snake dragon. It left the goron out cold. Once again she heard the voice calling. It's screams of panic filled her head. It almost felt as if it was saying “Look! I am here! Find me!” It had a sense of urgency that she just couldn't shake. What did the voice want he to see and find? She craned her neck searching for what it could be. As her eyes scanned the area she spotted a shimmer of something gold protruding from the section of neck that still remained attached to what remained of the statue. That must be it! The voice echoed a confirmation of her thoughts. “See me! Retrieve me!” The voice urged but how was she to do that with the the epic battle now taking place between her and her goal? “Hurry!” The voice shouted in her head once more. She didn't have the luxury of thinking on it anymore. If she thought on it she would just chicken out. She searched for courage within to do what needed to be done. She reached for the power within to become a dragon. She could feel the changes slow at first but willed them faster as the voice called once more encouraging her to do what she feared. This time it hurt like hell. She wondered if it had something to do with the injuries she had gotten from being thrust against the crates. She ignored it the best she could. Luckily the hall was big enough to allow the change in size. Once it had stopped she took one more look at the two battling. Agahnim's back was to her and though it gave her little courage as she sprinted forward taking a flying leap towards the statue. She landed on the severed neck and quickly ripped the golden piece out of the rock with her teeth hiding the piece in her mouth. Instantly the voice died down and a feeling of peace came over her. She knew that there was no way to miss a dragon flying over your head but she had hoped by some miracle she had been missed. Hopefully Agahnim hadn't seen what she was up to. She turned quickly and faced the two fighters who had stopped to look at what had rudely interrupted their duel. Ganon didn’t look at all pleased that she had once again ignored his orders and she knew she would be in for it later. Maybe he would forgive her when he saw what she had found. “So good of you to join us this time.” Agahnim said evil smile once again spreading across his face. Perched on top of the statue she still didn't quite feel safe. Even less so when the evil wizard was grinning at her. Ganon used this distraction to place a strong energy blast to the wizards gut which threw Agahnim a little ways back. When the wizard stood he looked livid. He clutched where he had been hit. The blast had created a hole in the wizards fancy armor. “Impressive. Your power has grown since we last fought. Guardians are truly handy indeed.” Agahnim spat then turned eying her. Melissa let out a growl surprising even herself. What had he meant by that comment? Did her presence give him a boost? “ Why not join me?” He said returning his gaze back to Ganondorf ignoring her. “ For your loyalty I would give you and your people a fertile expanse of land to live upon. Think on it. No more scrounging out a living in a forsaken desert.” The wizard tempted him. She could see Ganondorf thinking heavily on it. “Don't listen to him! He is the reason that the gerudo live in a desolate wasteland in the first place. There has got to be a way to change it back. King Midas said there was a way.” She thought desperately to him. Ganon looked to her then back to Agahnim. “All you need to do is serve me and you will have what you desire.” The wizard said with a smile that gave her the creeps. Ganon shook his head. “ I am King of the Gerudo's. Bearer of the triforce of power. I serve no one.” and with that Ganon sent another bolt of energy his way. Agahnim even with his wound jumped gracefully out of the way. The wizard didn't know Ganondorf very well if he thought he could control him. “What about you then?” The wizard said turning to her now. “I could send you home. Don't you miss your friends? Your Family?” Melissa didn't even have to think about it. She knew better than to trust this man even if it was a very tempting offer. She would find a more reliable way back home. “I could help you. All you have to do is help me.” Agahnim went on trying to convince her. She growled at him once again giving him the most menacing look she could muster. “You both are fools!” The wizard hissed. “I am offering you what you want and still you want to fight.” “Tell him he can stick his offers where the sun don't shine.” Melissa thought to Ganon jumping to his side showing her teeth without giving away what she had found. Ganon laughed at that and went back to fighting stance. The piece of what ever it was started to get uncomfortable in her mouth and she couldn't wait to spit it out. Agahnim just held up his hand.“ Maybe I should give you time to think upon it. In the meantime have fun with my little friends here.“ He smiled cockily. He raised his hand toward the three soldiers who were still unconscious. An evil glow spread over them and then flashed brightly making her have to close her eyes. She heard frightened screams from the men. When she opened them again the soldiers had been replaced by a huge monster and Agahnim was nowhere to be seen. Melissa was mortified. Agahnim had transfigured the three soldiers into a giant ugly centipede looking creature. It writhed as if it was in pain and rolled into the lava. How could the wizard have that much power? She almost felt bad for the men but didn't have much time to ponder the events. An ear splitting screech pierced the air startling her out of her thoughts. “Get ready.” she heard Ganon speak in her head. The monster exploded from out of the lava sending it spraying in every direction. It was truly grotesque. It had one large red eye that searched the room till it found them. It's mandibles clicked in agitation. It had large praying mantis like claws that held it to the platform. “Move.” Ganon yelled as the centipede arched back ready to strike. Melissa launched her self into the air and flew out of range while Ganon jumped back just far enough that the monster face smashed into the ground. It looked as though it was stunned and Ganon took the opportunity to gouge out it's eye. It shrieked in pain and thrashed around blindly as it pulled it's self out of the lava and coiled it's entire body around the perimeter of the island. Melissa worried about Darunia being unconscious in the middle of all this. She soared down and tried to lift him finding it imposable. He weighed so much he could have been a huge boulder. The best she could do was stand over him and act as a shield. At this point Ganon was busy dodging it's claws and each claw strike sent down a rain of rocks from the ceiling. Luckily they weren't too big but she was being pelted badly and the bruises she already had were making each hit feel ten times worse. Where was the monster's weakness? She looked it over the best she could. Every dungeon boss always had a weak point. They needed to solve this soon because she didn't know how much more of the rock fall she could take. She spotted something on the tail of the monster gleaming in the red glow of the room. It looked to be a black swirling jewel. That had to be it. “Attack the tail!” She called to him. Ganon jumped back and came over to where she was. The lack of Ganondorf slashing at the creature made it stop. It's head perked up and she could almost swear it was listening for the sound of movement. “Look do you see that black thing on the tail? I think that might be a weak point.” She thought to him pointing her head in the direction she wanted him to look. He nodded and sped off toward it. The sound of his foot falls caught the monster's attention. It shrieked and lunged following the sound. Soon Ganon was to preoccupied with the front of the creature again that he couldn't reach the tail. Another shower of rocks hit her making her hiss in pain. She had enough of this Darunia would just have to live with a couple rocks to the head. She tried to take off but her wings had been so badly hit it was pure agony to even attempt to fly. She would have to make a run for it. The centipede seemed to hear her and sent a claw her direction. “What are you doing!?!?” Ganon yelled at her but she just sped on. She pulled her wings in close to her body and slid across the ground barely making it under the claws swing. Pushing herself back up she ran once again to the tail and took a running jump at the gem. The giant bug didn't seem to like that at all. It let out scream and tried to lunge her way. Ganon blocked it bringing his fist down on it's head reminding her of the skulltula he had protected her from. It's tail thrashed about and she could hardly stay on. Gripping the gem she pulled with all her might . It came loose cracking the it's exoskeleton. The crack spread up the centipede’s body making it writhe in pain. “Throw it here!” Ganon called. She threw it his way and he caught it easily. Taking his sword he smashed it to pieces which caused the cracks in the centipede glow. The light grew stronger causing the monster to shatter. Finally it had been defeated and she could relax.