Disclaimer: I don’t want to get in whatever trouble people can get into when using other people’s characters so - .The Legend of Zelda, Link, Zelda, Ganon, Hyrule and other related characters and settings belong to to that wonderous console company, Nintendo. No infringement intended.

By Kirsty Singleton (Indigo_Spacen@mail.com)

Chapter 5

Link leaned over the small ledge, that lay not far from the entrance of Goron city. Underneath him, he saw a huge boulder, that was presumably the one which was blocking the entrance to Dodongo's cavern.

"How am I supposed to move that?" he asked hopelessly.

"When there's a will, there's a way," quipped Navi, most un-helpfully. Link glanced at the bracelet slipped halfway up his arm.

"Didn't Darunia say this would give me the strength to pull up bomb flowers?" he asked thoughtfully. Navi chewed on her lip, thinking.

"I think he did, well sure, that's what it would be for anyway," confirmed Navi. Link glanced around, and spotted a solitary bomb flower planted nearby.

"These things pack a pretty mean punch, right?" he asked, walking up to it. Navi smiled.

"Oh, good idea. Use the bomb flower to blow up the rock, right?" she asked. Link nodded, placing his hands on the tufts of scratchy leafage that sprouted from the top of the plant. He yanked it up, holding it high above his head. A faint hissing filled the air, and smoke. "Link, that thing's, well uh, glowing!" said Navi worriedly. A deep voice boomed from behind them.

"Hey! Kid, that bomb plant, it was the last of our crop, for emergencies! What're you doing with it?" yelled the voice. Link turned to see an angry Goron stalking towards him. The hissing above his head grew rapider.

"This is an emergency!" said Navi. Link turned back towards the ledge and hurled the flower towards the boulder below.

"No! Don't do that!" yelled the Goron.

"See ya!" said Link, before stepping off the ledge, and plunging to the ground below.

"Link! Don't you ever do that again!" scolded Navi as she reached the ground. Link was sitting there, a little dazed. He said nothing and glanced toward where the huge boulder had once been. It had now been reduced to rubble by the bomb flower. "Good shot," commented Navi, forgetting her anger. Link hauled himself up, and dusted off his tunic.

"Don't ask me if I'm okay," he said, pretending to sound hurt. Navi glanced at Link.

"I can see you're fine. Now come on, we don't have any time to lose!" said the faerie.

"Ooh, I hate it when you say that!" complained Link as they walked towards the entrance.

"Say what?" asked Navi. Link sniffed.

"It doesn't matter, come on, we have no time to lose!" exclaimed Link, almost mimicking Navi's previous tone. Navi glared at him, and fluttered on ahead into the dark cavern, Link trailing behind.

"Whoa, this place is sure warm," commented Link as they stepped into the main cavern of Dodongo's cavern. Navi nodded her head.

"Well what did you expect? It is near the heart of a volcano you know," she said.

"Yeah but," began Link. He looked ahead. Below the platform he and Navi were on, the ground was submerged with thick, and nasty looking lava. There was another platform, directly ahead, broken up by a lava stream. On it stood a strange one-eyed statue, which revolved around its base. "What's that?" he whispered. Navi followed his gaze.

"Oh that. Boy, I haven't seen one of those in a while," she began. The truth was, she had never seen on ever before, but she knew what it was.

"What is it?" repeated Link.

"A Beamos, it shoots a laser from its eye whenever it spies its prey," explained Navi. Link walked closer to the edge of the platform.

"It doesn't seem to see me," he said.

"You'll be out of its range," said Navi.

"Well, it looks pretty easy to thwart, I just wait 'til it looks away, jump on, then onto that platform on the left," said Link.

"Sounds like a good plan to me," agreed Navi. Link nodded, and carefully timed his jump, so the Beamos was just looking to the left as he landed. He made a mad dash to the left side of the platform, and leapt away from it, just as the Beamos' gaze swept to the left, and it fired a stream of white hot energy at the exact spot where Link had just been.

"Whew! That was close!" exclaimed Link wiping his brow. The heat of the place was already getting to him, his face and tunic soaked in perspiration, as well as the steam of the cavern.

"Look, there's another one," pointed out Navi, to another statue a little further down the platform they were on. Link spotted a bomb flower nearby and smiled.

"I know a way to deal with it," he said, grinning. He grasped the plant in his grasp and hauled it from the earth, and carefully edged his way along the wall to the unsuspecting Beamos. He chucked the flower as far as he could, hitting the Beamos straight on, making the bomb flower explode on impact. The statue's head, or eye, flew into the air and then back down, exploding as it touched the earth, leaving no more than a shattered base as to indicate of what had once been.

"Nice move," complimented Navi. Link grinned at her, brushing his hair from his eyes.

"As always," he retorted, joking. Navi smiled, and flew ahead.

"There's a door down here, come on," motioned Navi. Link nodded and quickly jogged towards the door, and pushed it open.

"It's barred," added Navi. Link grimaced and looked around. "There must be a switch somewhere around here to open it," continued the faerie.

"Well it's not round here," said Link. He ran his sword along the wall, making a scratching noise. The pitch suddenly changed, to a higher noise.

"Wait! That wall! It must be hollow!" said Navi.

"Eh?" asked Link.

"The wall, it must be..." began Navi.

"I heard what you said, how do you know it's hollow though?" said Link.

"Find a bomb flower, I'll bet there's a switch behind that wall!" instructed Navi. Link didn't have to look far. He grabbed the plant and dropped it next to the section of hollow wall before getting a safe distance away. There was a shuddering explosion, and when Link turned, the section of wall had been blown away.

"Yes!" he cheered, punching the air in victory. He ran over to the exposed wall, but no switch or lever awaited, just a chest, a big one. Link shrugged. "That'll do too," he conceded, yanking open the chest. He dived inside and grabbed the scrap of scroll that lay at the bottom. "Map," he said, turning to the expectant Navi. She nodded and looked around.

"We can go over there, there's another door see, maybe the switch is behind there.

"What I don't get, is why are the chests so big for just a map?" asked Link, ignoring Navi's suggestion, or seeming to. Navi frowned.

"I said..." she began.

"I heard you, come on," said Link, rolling up the map and sticking it into his belt. He watched the central Beamos carefully, then leapt across to the central platform, ran round the Beamos, avoiding it with skill and jumped over to the right side of the cavern. Navi fluttered after him, and arrived on the other side of the cavern just as Link disposed of another Beamos, leaving another statue stand shattered. Link turned and saw Navi just appearing. He waved at her. "Come on, hurry up!" he urged, before walking to the door and pushing it open, stepping into whatever was beyond.

Inside was a long twisting corridor. Link slowly walked along, Navi by his shoulder, and as the corridor widened out a little, they heard a scrabbling sound beneath their feet.

"Link, I think you'd better..." began Navi, but Link had already drawn his sword, and shield and took a step back from whatever was emerging from underneath. Two scaly snouts poked up, and then hauled themselves from the ground, making their way towards Link, their tales and snouts moving from left to right simultaneously.

"What are these?" asked Link, striking the first lizardy thing to approach him. It howled and turned belly up, twitching uncontrollably.

"Link, step back, make it a big step too!" advised Navi. Link quickly somersaulted backwards, just in time to avoid being caught in a small explosion.

"What the?" asked Link.

"Dodongo Larvae, they always blow up when they're killed, it's some kind of defence mechanism, don't ask me how, they are already dead!" explained Navi. Link let out a small chuckle.

"Some defence mechanism, it looks like it caught its friend in the blast," commented Link. He shook his head, still grinning and walked a little more down the long cave. The familiar sound of scrabbling filled the cave, and Link readied himself for the next attack of exploding Dodongo Larvae. This time however, it was only one of the blighters, and Link deftly disposed of it, and scrambled up the ledge at the end of the cavern just in time to avoid being torched in the ensuing explosion.

"Those things could be nasty," commented Link, yanking at the collar of his tunic, trying to get a little more air in to cool himself down.

"Could be? They are!" exclaimed Navi.

"Nah, I dunno, they could be worse," said Link, walking along, glancing at his faerie friend.

"You should be darn well glad they aren't!" said Navi. She then spotted something at the end of the chamber. "Uh-oh, Armos, you want to be careful around those critters, now they, they are a lot worse than Dodongo Larvae," said Navi, looking at the two stationary statues, perched near a wooden platform. Link walked over, inspecting each one separately.

"Yeah, they're really fearsome!" he said mockingly, leering at one of the Armos'. Suddenly, it began to shake, and roared to life, beginning to hop madly around the room. Link slipped backwards, falling promptly on his behind. He scrabbled backwards, and managed to stand up.

"What do I do?!" he asked. Navi laughed.

"I thought you said they weren't very fearsome!" giggled the faerie. Link attempted to stab the stone, yet very animated, statue as it charged towards him. It just skipped of the stone, sending a thousand sparks flying. It also did no damage.

"Navi, this isn't even funny!" yelled Link, edging backwards as the angry Armos bounced around almost insanely.

"Get that bomb flower, it's right by you! That'll deal with it!" shouted down Navi, eventually giving into Link's cries for help. Link looked down and saw the flower and pulled it up, and turned towards the mad statue, throwing the flower at it. It blew up, shattering the Armos into a million pieces. Link stood there panting.

"Hah, that'll teach you to mock me!" laughed Navi, who was still fluttering up high. Link growled angrily and drew his slingshot, firing it teasingly at Navi. Navi let out a shriek, just moving in time to avoid the flying bullet.

"Link, that was NOT funny!" she shrieked. Link grinned.

"That'll teach you!" he smirked. Navi shook her head. Link peered over the edge of the raised wooden platform and spotted a barred door. He jumped on the raised switch by his feet, and heard the sliding of metal as the bars slid away from the door. He climbed the wooden ledge, only to hear another sound, the same he had just heard.

"Looks like that switch needs to be kept down all the time," said Navi. Link nodded and jumped back down. He looked down at the raised switch by his feet, and then to the other stationary Armos statue. He walked over to it, and prodded it experimentally with his sword, nothing happened. He crouched down by the edge of the statue and gripped the base with his hands, pulling it towards him and the switch. He scraped it onto the switch and for the third time heard the bars slid away from the door. Grinning, he climbed up onto the ledge again, and through the door into the next room.

The next room contained several hexagonal platforms, all raised above a pool of lava. There was a tall precipice far up above, and a waterfall of lava slowly oozed down the wall near the door which Link had entered. The popping and hissing of the lava was pierced by a high pitched scream, snapping Link's attention immediately to his right. A few platforms away, stood two green creatures, lizards, armed with swords and standing upright.

"Lizalfos," muttered Navi under her breath. Link waved his sword in front of him.

"Come on ya cowards! Come an' get me!" he tempted. His call was met with another screech, and one of the creatures began to hop towards him. Link thrust his shield out in front of him, and watched as the Lizalfos arrived on his platform. It seemed to stalk him for a second, then hit out, but missed, and Link stepped forward and thrust the Kokiri blade into it's belly. The Lizalfos shrieked, and tried to hit Link again, but he was to quick, and retorted with an uppercut to the chest. It wailed in pain, and quickly retreated away.

"Now it's partner will attack," whispered Navi, Link nodded. Sure enough, the other Lizalfos approached, looking slightly more menacing than its injured friend. It glared at Link and then smashed it's blade straight at him, contacting with the hard worthy wood of his Kokiri shield. The blow sent a shudder through Link's bones, and he failed to attack. He quickly recovered though, but the creature then jumped over his head, and landed at his blind side, hitting him in the back. Link let out a wail and fell forward, inches from sliding into the lava below. He turned over to see the Lizalfos leering over him, and took a swipe at it with his legs, causing it to fall forwards, almost on top of him. He rolled away just in time and jumped up, pushing the creature into the lava below. It, and its friend let out howls of anger, and pain as it sank beneath the scalding hot liquid. Link turned to the injured, and more cowardly Lizalfos and charged towards it, spearing it with his sword, and killing it.

"Hah!" he exclaimed, before turning and leaving through the next door.

The next room was somewhat murky, and visibility was poor. But Link heard the slow crawl of something through the darkness. He carefully edged forwards, and spotted something lurking in the darkness. It apparently spotted him too, for he heard a noise, like something taking a sharp intake of air, then a line of flames pierced the darkness, straight at him. He leapt aside just in time, avoiding the chance to become Hylian toast. He rolled to the ground and got up, running towards the creature, which turned out to be a larger version of the Dodongo Larvae he had encountered not to long ago. He stabbed it with his sword, but its scaly skin proved to strong. It whirled at him, and attempted to set him alight, but he jumped on its head, ran down it and sliced off it's tail. It shrieked in pain and began to quiver.

"Don't tell me you're like your little brothers!" pleaded Link, throwing himself to the ground and attempting to protect himself from the explosion.

"Are you okay?" asked Navi, flying over to him after the smoke had cleared.

"I will be, once we get outta here," said Link, spotting a doorway nearby. He stood up and ran through it, before he could be apprehended by anything else that lurked in the darkness.

"Looks like we're back to square one," said Navi, they were back in the main room.

"Suits me just fine," said Link, spotting a switch. They weren't actually in the main room yet, but the corridor, which was raised a little above the ledge that surrounded the main room, was were they were. He stepped on the switch, and saw across the huge chamber another set a bars slide up from a previously barred door.

"You really shouldn't just push switches like that, they could be booby trapped," warned Navi. Link shrugged.

"They could be...but this one wasn't," he said coolly. Navi frowned.

"That's not the point! The point is..." began Navi, but Link had already gone ahead and jumped down from the ledge, down onto the lower ledge. Navi let out a cry of despair and flew after him. Link had continued to make his way over to the other side of the huge cavern, cleverly avoiding the Beamos in the middle of the room for a second time. Once in the other side, he stopped outside the door, which was now unbarred and turned and waited for his faerie friend. "Don't run off when I'm talking to you Link!" scolded Navi as she approached.

"But we can't waste time, every second counts!" said Link.

"Yes, but..!" protested Navi. Link turned around and pushed open the door, running through into the next chamber.

In the next room, Link find found a stone staircase that first few steps were way too high for him to even climb up. It was lined with bomb flowers. Link scratched the top of his head thoughtfully and glanced round the rest of the room. There was another bomb flower, near the back wall. He smiled. He ran over to it and yanked it up, but a thorny leaf caught his hand, causing him to drop it in surprise. The flower began to flash red, and hiss faster, so Link dived away from it, covering his head trying to protect himself. Seconds later, the ground shook, and fragments of rock and earth showered over the top of Link. After a few seconds, he sat up, just to see Navi entering the room.

"Where were you?" he asked the faerie.

"I was coming, what happened here?" answered Navi. Link looked across to the gaping hole in the wall.

"I dropped the flower, I cut my hand on it," said Link, looking down at a thin line of red streaked across his hand.

"Well, looks like you dropped it in the right place," commented Navi as she flew into the darkness, exploring. Link followed behind. The room, the secret room, contained three Armos statues, all surrounding another large chest. Link saw another bomb flower, and pulled it up, a little more wary this time and threw it at the Armos at the front of the chest. He plugged his ears with his fingers and watched as the bomb shattered all three statues.

"Wa-hey!" shouted Link in glee, but quickly stepped back to avoid a stone horn, one that had once belonged to one of the statues, landing on his foot. He ran over to the chest, and heaved it open, and looked inside. There was a bag. He picked it up and opened it, to discover it was full of bombs. He turned and grinned at Navi.

"It's full of bombs!" he told her. Navi smiled.

"That'll make life easier," she said. Link grinned and took another glance around the room, before heading back out to the staircase room.

Back in there, he grabbed another bomb flower and placed it in the middle area around the steps were there was no flower. He paused for a moment, taking a few steps back, and watched as the flower hissed and flashed until it blew up. The explosion caused the two flowers beside it to blow up, and they set off the flowers beside it, causing a chain reaction. The staircase began to rumble as it began to lower to the ground, until it was low enough for Ewan to climb.

"I'm impressed," remarked Navi at Link's ingenuity. Link smiled.

"I didn't know if it would work," he admitted.

"Well it did," said Navi. Link nodded and walked up to the staircase and climbed up the first step. It was covered in dust and muck, and it coated the palms of Link's hands.

"Yuk," he muttered, hauling himself up the next step. Finally, he reached a sort of intersection, with a choice of two different direction to go. He looked behind him and saw that the two branches eventually joined up on the other side of the room. He went left and followed the ledge around, avoiding the overhanging cobwebs and Skulltulla's that stood, or rather hanged, in his way. He pushed open the door into the next room, only to be confronted with a stone pedestal, guarded by another four Armos statues. "Boy, these guys are popular," commented Link. He pulled a bomb from his bomb bag and lit it, throwing it at the feet of an Armos that stood in the way of the ladder up to the top of the pedestal. It roared to life, and jumped towards Link, but the bomb went off, shattering it into a hundred pieces. Link shielded his face from the blast, then climbed up to the top of the pedestal, and pushed down the switch that was on top.

"Link, what did I say about pushing switches like that?!" screeched Navi in desperation. The door on the other side of the room slid open.

"I dunno!" said Link, grinning cheekily at the frustrated faerie and then leaping down from the pedestal and dashing out of the door.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Link, stopping just short of the narrow ledge that lay beyond the door. He looked won from the ledge, and saw the main room below.

"Link! Watch out!" warned Navi, Link turned just in time to see a flaming bat come flying towards him. He drew his sword and slashed at it, stabbing it through the belly, it let out a whine and fell to the lava below.

"Sheesh, I just hate those Keese," said Link. He looked around. There was a very, and I mean very, rickety bridge that took him to the other side of the cavern, and it lay a fair way up from the ground floor. Link stepped out onto the bridge and grabbed the rope railing with both hands and made his way shakily along, until he came to a gaping hole in the bridge. He swallowed shakily, looking to Navi for guidance.

"You'll have to jump," she said. Link looked at the gap. He could make it, but if he didn't. "Just don't look down," advised the faerie. Link looked down. He jumped over the gap, and landed on the other side, causing the rope bridge to shake violently. Link grasped the rope railings again and dashed along the bridge, rolling onto the safety of the solid ledge on the other side, just in time to avoid being fried by another Fire Keese. He dragged himself up, but the Keese had already left its mark.

"Link! Your back! It's on fire!" screeched Navi. Link let out a yelp of surprise, and shrugged his wooden Deku shield from his back, flinging it as far away from himself as possible. He turned and watched as the smouldering shield feel the same way as the last Keese that had messed with Link had.

"Oh great!" moaned Link, realising he now had no shield. Muttering angrily to himself, and drawing his faerie slingshot, he targeted the Keese that had burnt his shield, and fired away, sending it to its inevitable doom.

"Gee great a maze, just what I need," muttered Link, still a little sore after losing his shield. That had cost him his entire savings!

"You never what will be around the corner in places like these, so watch out," advised Navi, just behind him. Link stepped out into the first passage, and stepped back just in time to avoid being skewered by a flying spike!

"That was TOO close," exclaimed Link.

"Well I did warn you to watch out," said Navi. Link nodded and peered round the corner, just as the spike began to slide back to is original place. Link waited for a few moments for the spike to shoot across the passage again, then jumped out and into the next safe haven between the spike infested passageways. He navigated his way through the rest of the maze, jumping and dodging his way from the path of those horrible spikes, until he came to a moon engraved block. He climbed on top of it, and up to the ledge, and looked around. Just before him, he saw another raised platform, from which a bomb plant was growing, and there was a chest too. "Link, that wall behind you, it looks odd," said Navi, flying up to him. Link glanced behind his shoulder, and pulled out his sword, tapping the wall with the metal blade.

"It's hollow too," he said. He jumped across onto the other ledge and pulled up the flower.

"Timing is essential," reminded Navi, catching on that he would blow up the wall with the flower. Link nodded, and waited, and waited, then flung the flower towards the wall, so that just as it met the section of hollow wall, it exploded, reducing the piece of wall to nothing.

"Not bad eh?" asked Link, grinning. He turned to the chest and tapped it open with his foot. Inside there were two blue rupees. He smiled and grabbed them, placing them into his money pouch. "I guess they'll go to paying for a new Deku shield," he sighed, suddenly remembering the incident with the Fire Keese not long before. He sighed and leapt to the ledge were there was now a gaping hole, and strode confidently through it.

The next room, Link found had a platform covered with flames! A Golden eye was placed above the exit, and was currently open.

"Shoot the eye with your slingshot, I bet it'll trigger something that will make the flames go out, temporarily at least!" said Navi. Link drew out his slingshot and aimed carefully into the centre of the eye and let go. He hit the middle of the eye, causing it to close, and just as Navi had said, the flames went out. Link grinned and leapt onto the now flame absent platform, and to the next, and into the next chamber.

"More Dodongo Larvae," warned Navi in the next room as they heard the familiar scrabbling sound. Link drew his sword, and sliced the first two to come his way, ran past them and stabbed the next Baby Dodongo to arrive, he just left the corridor in time to avoid one big explosion, caused by all three of the Larvae exploding at once. The next room was another lava filled room, with more hexagonal shaped platforms floating in the lava. And, like the last room to be like that, there were two more shrieking Lizalfos. Link looked down at his sword, and his shield free hand.

"Something tells me this is gonna hurt," he whispered. The two Lizalfos approached from either side, it looked like they were going to attack him at the same time. They leapt across onto his platform, waving their swords, and both, rather stupidly raced at him the same time. Link simply ducked down and rolled away, leaving the two hitting each other in the chest, rather than Link. Link grinned to himself and hopped across the platforms and onto a small precipice. He ran along it, but suddenly realised it came to a dead end. He looked won and gulped, realising he was actually above the room he had been in the last time he had encountered to Lizalfos.

"Link! Watch it! They're coming right for you!" warned Navi from somewhere behind Link. Link turned behind to see the two Lizalfos leaping at him. He ducked, and the two stupid and rather clumsy creatures ended diving up over him and over the precipice, into the pool of lava below. Link shook his head, and made his way back along the precipice, and found his way to another door, which he had not noticed as he had ran along the precipice.

"TWO platforms in flames?" asked Link in desperation. As far as he could see, there was only one eye to shoot. He grudgingly withdrew his slingshot and fired into the eye. The first platform of flames died down, and Link hopped onto it, but the platform in front of him still was covered in a ring of fire.

"To your left, there's another eye!" exclaimed Navi, yanking on Link's sleeve to get his attention. Link turned and spotted the eye and quickly, and accurately fired into it. The flames before Link died out, and Link thankfully hoped onto it, and to the next ledge, onto safety.

Link opened the door, and passed through yet another winding hallway, this time without much disturbance. He walked out of the end, and found himself back in the main cavern. He spotted a switch before him, and stepped on it, ignoring the sound of Navi groaning. There was a grinding noise, and a platform from down below began to rise, until it became level with the second floor ledge.

"Shortcut," sighed Navi in relief. She couldn't believe Link had gotten away so many times scot free with just pressing switches. She was sure switches like that were supposed to be booby-trapped. Not that she was complaining of course, it made her life a whole lot easier.

"Hey look, an inscription," said Link, running up to a mound of rock, covered in ancient Hylian runes. He began to read it out.

"Giant dead Dodongo...

when it sees red,

a new way to go,

will be open."

He turned to Navi. "What do you suppose it means?" he asked. Navi looked down at the huge Dodongo skull that lay just above the central platform down below. She glanced at the nearby rope bridge, which lay above the skull.

"When it sees red, that'll be something to do with the eyes right?" asked Link following his companions gaze.

"But how to make it see..." said Navi thoughtfully. Link stepped out onto the bridge and walked carefully along it, until he was positioned above one of the gaping eyes of the skull.

"Fire is red," commented Link.

"Bombs! Drop a bomb into each eye, the fire will light them red!" exclaimed Navi suddenly. Link looked down.

"That might just work," he admitted, pulling a bomb from his bomb bag. He lit it and threw it into the gaping eye hole, and ran along the bridge until he was positioned over the next eye, depositing an eye there as well. As the first bomb erupted, the eye began to glow red as the flame of the bomb ignited whatever was in the bottom of the eye.

"It's working!" cried Navi enthusiastically as the next bomb exploded, lighting up the other eye. The jaw of the skull suddenly began to fall open, hitting the central platform just below, and revealing a new way to go. Link swung over the bridge and leapt down, landing on top of the skull, sliding down and landing on the central platform. He got up and ran into the mouth, just before the Beamos spotted and attempted to set him alight.

In the next room, the first thing Link noticed was a hole in the floor. He walked over to it and peered in, spotting a switch. He jumped down onto it, and heard a click, and looking to his left, he saw an open door. He grinned and climbed out of the shallow hole, but as soon as he took his weight from the switch, the door slammed down again.

"I hate those kinda doors," he complained. He looked around for something he could push onto the switch, but the only thing he could see was a moon engraved block which was on a ledge far up out of his reach. He walked up to the ledge, looking for any foot holes which he could climb up, the ledge was smooth, nothing could be used to climb up.

"Looks like you'll have to go this way," chirped Navi suddenly appearing, and pointing to the right. Link glanced and saw another lower ledge to his right and scrambled up it.

He followed the side pathways until you reached two more moon engraved blocks. He paused and waited for Navi, looking at the two blocks thoughtfully. He then pushed one underneath the other one, and pushed the raised block down onto the ground. He paused for a minute, panting. Then he started again pulling the now grounded block and pushing it underneath the other raised block, and then pushing it forward so that he could move to the end of the hallway.

"Whew!" exclaimed Link, pausing yet again.

"Keep going Link, there's no time to lose!" said Navi, eagerly pushing on the young hero.

"Gimme a break wouldya?" asked Link, wiping his damp forehead with the back of his hand. He walked to the ledge and looked down. He was now back in the room with the switch in the hole. He turned back round and got himself behind the moon engraved block and then pushed it with all his might, onto the ground below. He jumped down and heaved the block towards the holed, before getting behind it again and pushing it the rest of the hole. It fit perfectly. The door to his left slid open, and Link warily stepped inside.

The room was empty.

"Huh?" asked Link, walking into the centre of the room, pulling out his map and consulting it. There was a grimacing skull painted over the top of the room on the map he was currently in. This was the lair of whatever creature lurked here. Or at least according to the map.

"Jeeze, this place is HOT!" exclaimed Navi. Link nodded in agreement, tugging at his collar uncomfortably. The whole dungeon had been hot, but this room was stifling, steam even rose from the floor. Link edged a little closer into the centre of the room, rolling up his map and slipping it into his belt. He shrugged.

"Well I don't see nothing here," he stated.

"I already gathered that," said Navi, fluttering about. Suddenly, Link felt the ground from his feet crumbling away from beneath his feet. He let out a surprised yell, just as he feel into whatever was below.

"Umph," muttered Link, shaking his head, feeling a little dazed.

"Link!" cried Navi from up above. Link slowly turned his head, catching sight of a huge reptilian creature not far away from him. The room he had fallen into, consisted of a bubbling lava pit, surrounded by a narrow, and very unstable looking ledge. Link gulped. "Link!" screamed Navi again, as Link remained seated on the ground, frozen as the huge creature came crashing towards him. "Link! Move it!" bellowed Navi as loudly as she could. Link still found himself unable to move as the creature stopped just behind him. It opened up its huge mouth, displaying a hundred rows of huge, razor sharp teeth, and reared up, letting out a terrifying roar. "Link!" screamed Navi for a third or fourth time. This time Link managed to hear Navi's words, and began to scrabble about on all fours, trying to get up. He began to run as fast as he could, rounding a corner on the ledge. "Link! Watch out, he's..!" warned Navi. Link glanced over his shoulder, only to be confronted with a barrage of flames.

"Yow!" exclaimed Link, falling to the ground. He quickly pulled himself up again, although his tunic and hair were already partially singed. He glanced at the creature as it rolled itself into a ball, and began crashing towards him. Link's eyes widened, and he began to run once more. "What do I do! What do I do!" yelled Link loudly, his voice only just managing to raise over the crash of the rolling Dodongo.

"Um," stalled Navi. Link heard the Dodongo stop and take a sharp intake of air. Navi watched as the evil creature prepared to toast Link for a second time. "Link! Throw a bomb into its mouth!" Navi suddenly called, realising she had found the creatures weak point. Link nodded turned and drew a bomb from his bag, hurling it into the creatures mouth. The Dodongo couldn't prevent the bomb from sliding down its throat, and gulped loudly. Seconds later, the bomb exploded inside its stomach, causing it to fall to the ground with shock. Link ran forward jabbing the creature with his sword, once, twice. Then he quickly backed away as the Dodongo recovered. It glared at Link and began to roll up again, and pursue Link around the ledge. "Keep it up Link!" called Navi encouragingly, as the Dodongo attempted to toast Link once more. But Link was already ready, and the hapless creature could do nothing but swallow the bomb. As it fell to the ground again, Link leapt forward dealing a powerful blow to the creature's head with his sword. It howled in pain, as Link dealt another powerful blow.

"Here we go again," muttered Link preparing to run from the rolling Lizard as it seemed to recover from Link's latest attack. But this time, the lizard swerved past Link on a mad path, lurching and jerking everywhere. It then rolled over the edge, and fell into the lava and began to sink. A high pitched screech emerged as the Dodongo uncurled, but it was already too late, already half submerged in the burning lava. It flailed its two front legs about helplessly, but it just sank deeper and deeper into the lava. It only stopped when nothing more than the tips of its front claws and its snout still showed. It opened its mouth in one last protest, a thin scream piercing the air. Link and Navi watched on, both breathless, as some strange skin began to form over the lava, solidifying it in a matter of minutes. Link wiped his forehead with his arm. "I don't want to go through that again," said Link, breathing heavily. As with Queen Gohma, a shining blue light suddenly blinded the pair, and when they both opened their eyes again, a blue portal lay just beside the dead Dodongo making a high humming noise. Link gingerly stepped onto the solid lava, and quickly ran towards the portal, diving through it. Navi followed.

Link slowly floated to the ground, just outside the entrance of the Dodongo cavern. He looked around for Navi and smiled.

"We did it!" he said happily.

"Now Darunia will have to give us the next Spiritual Stone!" said the faerie enthusiastically. Link suddenly heard a thump behind him. He turned, coming face to face, or rather face to chest with Darunia. Link looked up. The Goron boss must've jumped from the ledge that lay above the cavern.

"It's me kid! Darunia! Well done!" exclaimed Darunia, patting Link on the back. It may have only been a pat to Darunia, but Link almost feel to the ground on impact. "Thanks to you we can once again feast on delicious rocks from this cavern until our stomachs burst!" continued the Goron boss.

"Er..." began Link shyly.

"What a wild adventure huh? I'll tell it to my descendants for years to come! Looks like you proved yourself to be a real man, and you're only a kid!" said Darunia, grinning widely. Link smiled back.

"I did didn't I?" he asked, pleased with himself.

"You sure did kid! In fact, you risked your very own life to save us Gorons, and I want to make you an honoury sworn brother!" said Darunia happily. Link shrugged a little.

"Uh, sworn brother?" he asked, a little unsure of the term.

"Oh no, you don't have to worry, there's no big ceremony, just take this as a token of our sworn brotherhood," said Darunia. He lifted his arms into the air, and a glowing red ball of bright light materialised above him. He lowered his arms, sending the ball above Link, were the light slowly faded, revealing a beautifully crafted Ruby, encased in a gold setting. "Take it kid, the Spiritual Stone of Fire, it has been passed down by the Gorons for centuries, but know, as you are an honoury brother, you take it, you deserve it," thanked Darunia. Link waited as the stone floated into his hands, looking at it proudly.

"Thanks," he murmured, staring into the stone.

"Come on brothers, let's give our new Brother a good seeing off!" roared Darunia. Link's attention snapped away from the stone as he heard a few more thumps as a couple of Gorons jumped from the ledge above. They all began to surround Link, big loveable grins on their faces, but it kinda scared him a bit.

"Uh, catch you later guys!" he said quickly, before ducking under one Goron and dashing up the hill. They all turned and waved after him.

"Bye Link!" they all cried.

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