Legend of Zelda: Compass of Secrets II

Chapter 6

I stood there waiting for the first move. The first thing it did was rush me. I blocked it with my shield. I staggered back a bit. That plant could hit hard! I just got to dodge its blows. It tried ramming me again, so I side-stepped out of the way. And I started wailing on its head. The giant plant reeled with every hit. "Huh, so you're as bulky as you are ugly." I bantered, "Maybe we should fix that." The plant took offense and it snapped at my leg. I side-stepped again and used a spin attack on it.

"Just headbutting and biting? And I thought you'd be harder that this!" The plant rose and it slammed its head down, and it started spinning. I took a dive in the dirt. I was caught off-guard. As I got up, the plant snapped again, and it bit my leg. I screamed in pain as it started dragging me. I started stabbing it in its bud. "Let go, you stupid, ugly, son of a…" It let go before I finished my sentence. My left leg was bleeding where it bit me. The only reason it wasn't as bad as it should was because of my natural hardiness. "All right, time to end this!" I held up my shield and waited for an opening. The plant tried another spinning attack, but I jumped backward as it kept going around. When it stopped, I set up a combo slashing attack as I finished it off with a spin attack. The plant roared in pain as it exploded into purple dust. I twirled my sword as I sheathed it, proclaiming, "That takes care of that." in an annoyed tone.

The monstrous plant in the middle noticed the absence of its partner and it revealed a set of fangs in its mouth. I winced a bit at that sight, as well as the pain in my leg. I still wasn't sure how this Hylian damage resistance worked yet. Was it so that I won't feel the pain as the actual damage was taking its toll, or is my body resistant to damage, so I won't get seriously hurt? If I jumped off a building, would it still hurt, or would I just walk it off as if it were nothing? I shook that train of thought away as I decided to walk around. My leg stung as I walked around the room. In the corner, I discovered a familiar sight. "A bomb flower!" I ripped it off its roots and the fuse lit. "Well, if you liked that chest," I said to the plant, "then you'll find this a blast!" I threw the bomb flower into the plant. The plant inhaled the bomb, then the center bulged as smoke came out of its mouth. The plant shriveled up and exploded into purple dust. In its place was a chest. I walked up to it and opened it. A light shined inside it, and when it died down, I discovered a boomerang.

"A boomerang…" I examined the boomerang. It was wooden, and ornately designed. It had a red gem in the bend. Its edges were sharp, which was good. I decided to try to throw it. I held it over my shoulder with my fingertips on the end of the pointed tip. I flicked my arm and tossed the boomerang. It started spinning and turning to the left. It arced in a circle until I caught it in my throwing hand. I threw the boomerang again, but this time I started walking backward. I focused on the boomerang, and it started arcing back toward me. This is no ordinary boomerang. I knew for a fact that normal boomerangs don't really come back, but this one came back no matter what! I turned back to the vine covered door. "Maybe this thing can cut those vines! I focused on those vines. They were pulsing as if they were alive as before. These were no doubt like the ones that took Laurel. I tossed the boomerang at the vines, and the boomerang cut through them as if they were made of butter. The vines started spraying green… whatever it was, like a fire hose until they withered into dust. The door was now freed, and I exited that room.

I turned the corridors, but they both were blocked by fallen rubble. I noticed more of those vines covering a door behind me, so I tossed my boomerang at them. Instead of arcing into the wall, it went straight for the vines, where it cut them clean through and returned. I searched for a place to put it, so I placed it on a loop. It looked like it was meant for the boomerang. I opened this door and discovered another bomb flower. I rolled it toward an unstable wall that looked bombable and it gave way to another small chest. I opened it up and it contained a small key.

With nothing left to do, I went back to the room with the ladder in it. As I climbed down, the plant hanging from the ceiling started snapping at me again. To be honest, I forgot it was there. I pulled out my boomerang and tossed it at the hanging plant. "I'm back." I told it as the boomerang cut its stem. I then pulled out my sword and cut it in half. I opened the door and went down the other corridor I didn't before. There were more vines and an open door. I cut the vines off with my boomerang, and then I entered through the door.

Inside was an ornate looking chest guarded by three of those plants. One of them was rooted to the ceiling, like the one in the other room. I drew my boomerang and threw it. It cut through all three of the plant's stems and I finished all three with a spin attack. As I caught my boomerang, I noted, "I'm getting better with my sword play. And this thing can hit more than one target? That's handy." I opened this chest to reveal a large, sinister looking key. The head had a green gem and strange pictures on it. The most prominent looked like a slug with several tendrils emanating from its body. I put it in a pack that I had when I got these clothes. To be honest, I still hadn't found all the pockets and loops on that thing. I exited, and then I entered a room next door.

n this room, there was one of those plants in the corner. I brought out my shield just in time, and then I slashed at it a couple times. The plant shrieked, crumpled up, and died in a purple dust. As soon as the dust cleared, a bomb flower sprouted in its place. I examined the wall across from me, and it looked weak, as well. I pulled it out, and I rolled it at the wall. I held my shield out to block the explosion. Inside was another chest. Inside this one, was a small compass. I held it up to the map I got earlier, and the compass embedded itself in the map. After that, a skull icon appeared on the third floor. "That must be where that monster be! That's where I'm heading next." I referenced my map and I opened a door to the stairs. My leg started bothering me again when I climbed up the stairs. Without warning, some vines started waving in my face, knocking me down.

Grumbling indistinctly, I pulled out my boomerang again, and I threw it at the thrashing vines. The vines kept spasming as they hit the floor, until they exploded into purple dust. I put away my boomerang, and I limped up the stairs. When I exited, I noticed a small elevator, but it didn't respond when I pressed the up button. Referring to my map again, there was one room left. I entered that room and was greeted by a lot of buttons and knobs silent. I looked at one of the gauges, and it read, "Water pressure." I tried to look out the window, but it was boarded up. I drew my sword again, and I broke the boards off the window. Out in the distance was a lever that was holding the water back. I aimed my boomerang carefully and focused on that lever. Then, I tossed it out the window. It twirled at the lever, and then it slammed the lever to the other side as the boomerang arced to the left. As soon as that happened, the water started rushing into the electric part of the plant. The power came back on, and all the ceiling lights came on. I searched the control panel until I saw a switch that said, "Elevator control." I flipped the switch and I heard the humming of machinery. I walked back to the elevator, and this time the door opened. The elevator climbed up and lurched to a stop.

This was the third floor, where hopefully Laurel was being held. When I exited the elevator, to my right was a gigantic metal door, with a turnstile lock on it, with a bigger, but more sinister looking lock that chained the door shut. There was no doubt that this is where that monster is being kept. I grabbed the big key that I found earlier, and I said to myself, "Well, for every big lock," I jabbed the key into the lock as it turned and the lock and all the chains fell with a clanging noise, "there's a big key." I turned the turn lock and opened the large door.

I could only hope I wasn't too late…



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Chapter 7

Inside the room was a very horrifying sight. The roof was a bunch of pipes that was steaming, now that I turned on the power. But, that's not the horrifying part. What was terrible was that the walls and ceiling was covered in those vines. But the worst part was that on the ceiling, there were several vines with skeletons trapped in them; most of them human. The clothing was still on the ones hanging on the ceiling, the others were strewn across the floor. I started looking around, calling, "Laurel?" I heard nothing. "Laurel?" I heard some faint mumbling. I called her name again. "Laurel, can you hear me?"

"Link? Is that you, Link?"

I turned around, and there she was, bound to the roof with the oozing vines wrapped around her like a cocoon. "Laurel! Are you okay?"

"Aside from the vines sucking the life out of me? Never better!" Laurel said in her sweet, playful, and sarcastic tone. "Now, could you please get me out? I think some of these vines are getting curious."

I whipped out my boomerang, and I aimed for the vines holding Laurel to the roof. I then tossed it at vines where it cleaved through them like a paper shredder. Laurel fell ungracefully to the ground. I caught my boomerang and placed it on its loop. I rushed to Laurel to free her from the vines. She sat up in my arms and said to me, "Thank you, Link. For a minute there, I thought I was a goner." She them moved up to kiss me on my cheek. I heard some grotesque squishing, and then, the door shut and locked itself.

"Can you get to the corner of the room?" I asked her. Laurel nodded and started crawling to the corner of the room. "It doesn't look like we're through yet." I looked to the room, and the mass of vines came to life as a white blob with white tentacles on its back. The tentacles had bright purple bulbs on the tips of them. It reminded me of a plant I remember reading about. It was a carnivorous plant, like a Venus fly trap, except it envelops its prey with sticky tentacles, like what it almost did to Laurel, except this was a slug of some sort. For sake of simplicity, I'll call it Slugdew. I drew my sword and shield and waited for it to attack. Slugdew started whipping its tentacles at my shield. It didn't have any effect, so I stepped aside and lobbed them off. Only after I cut them, they started regrowing before my eyes. What I didn't notice is that the other tentacles had hit my other side. They didn't hurt where my tunic was, but where they hit my arm was stinging. "Great, the thing must be poisonous or something."

"Link!" Laurel was calling. "It's connected to the roof! Cut off the vines on the roof!"

I looked carefully, and there was indeed vines connecting Slugdew to the roof. I sheathed my sword and pulled out my boomerang. I tossed it at the vines connecting Slugdew to the roof. The left side of him was hanging from the roof. I kept my shield out to block Slugdew's tentacles, until I could get his other side. I tossed my boomerang at it again, and Slugdew fell to the ground, exposing a green underbelly. That was my chance to strike! I drew my sword and started venting my frustration on Slugdew's weak spot. The slug flipped over and crawled on the walls and back to its original position on the roof.

Slugdew grew more tentacles and started rushing them at me. I deflected them with a spin attack and threw my boomerang. "Well, it's bulkier that it looks. Still won't be a problem, though. The boomerang hit Slugdew's vines and it was almost falling. As I caught my boomerang, one of the poisoned tentacles hit my bad leg. I keeled over in pain as I tossed the boomerang at Slugdew again. Laurel whimpered when she saw me fall over. I tried to ignore the pain as I slashed away at Slugdew's underbelly again. I would have done more if it weren't for my stupid leg.

Slugdew started to crawl on the ceiling again and went for one last stand. The tentacles wrapped around Laurel hiding in the corner and dragged her to its body, as she let out a terrified shriek. "Link, help!" I tossed my boomerang at the tentacles and I caught her as she fell. She jumped out of my arms as I held my shield to block the tentacles. I tried to get a better shot at the vines, holding Slugdew to the roof, but the tentacles were chasing Laurel again. I had no choice but to throw the boomerang at the tentacles again.

"Laurel, it's going after you! Hide behind me so I can get a better aim!" Laurel crawled behind me as I threw the boomerang at Slugdew's vines holding it to the ceiling. I blocked more of the tentacles with my shield and slashed the flanking tentacles with my sword. As we circled around Slugdew, I threw my boomerang to cut the last vines. I finally jabbed with all my might into its underbelly. "This is for taking Laurel." I yelled as I stabbed the monster. "This is for fighting those stupid plants." The monster was shrieking with each hit. "And this is for being annoying!" With the final blow, Slugdew shrieked a final time. As it was dying, all the other vines withered around us and melted into purple dust. Slugdew's body finally withered into a brown husk, as Laurel stomped it under her foot.

I twirled and sheathed my sword as a shining light appeared in the center of the room. "So, this is it."

Laurel nodded. "Thanks again for saving me back there, I…"

"Don't mention it. After all, I am a hero. Aren't I?"

"Yes." Laurel was blushing. "Yes you are." With that we both stepped into the light.

Inside, I was alone. There was a gazebo in the center of a room like Nayru's except there were bushes and trees around the pillars. Sitting in the gazebo was another woman, except she had a flowery dress, as if it would blow away when the next gust of wind came. Speaking of wind, it was nice and calm, as if it were gently rocking me to sleep. The woman suddenly appeared in the seat across from me. "I am Farore, Goddess of Courage. You have truly proven youself worthy of the hero's garments." She motioned for me to have a seat. I sat down in the wicker chair across from her. "Since your coming, the world has become more and more unstable. I hid here where nature runs naturally, but recently, I have been sealed away by a dark power. The time is now for you to act against this threat. Go now, and accept your destiny!" As she said that, the world faded in a blend of autumn colors.



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Chapter 8

When the light faded, I found myself with Laurel back outside the entrance to the plant. We started to walk up the path when my leg was bothering me. "Are you okay, Link? What did you do?"

"Just some stupid plant. It's been bothering me all day."

"Well, we'll make sure you get better before we…" She noticed a bunch of people coming down the street. "Who are those…"

"It's them! It's the kids!"

"They killed the monster!"

"They're amazing!"

"I'm Reporter Kate Burgund from Channel 12 News. Tell me, what compelled you to come here?"

I was speechless. I hadn't been interviewed before. Well, never interviewed seriously before. All the other times, I failed on purpose to prevent my adoption. "Well, I heard the rumors, and I just had to check it out. I mean, it took Laurel here, and I couldn't let that happen."

Laurel snatched the microphone and started spieling. "I wanted to go because I lost a… umm… a family heirloom inside. Link here tried to stop me, but I wouldn't listen. I bravely went forward. Before I walked forward twenty feet, a slimy vine grabbed my leg and carried me away!" The crowd gasped. "I was dragged away, until I found myself face to face with some… mutated… abomination… It slowly drained the life out of me, until I was cut free by Link right here, and then he killed the thing, and saved me!" The crowd cheered and Laurel gave the mic back. I chuckled to myself. She should've been an actress.

"There you have it, a classic tale of a damsel in distress and a hero there to save her. Now, in other news…"

We started walking back as I collapsed. I guess losing all that blood from that bite did a number on me. I felt myself being lifted as I drifted out of consciousness.

When I finally came back into consciousness, I was in a hospital bed. My leg was in a bandage and Laurel was sitting right by my side with a bouquet of flowers. "Huh, Laurel?" I asked her. "Where am I?"

"This is a hospital. You fell unconscious from losing blood. The doctors are amazed at how fast you've recovered."

"Well, I guess it's because of that Hylian thing."

"Link, listen. When they learned that we were orphans, they wouldn't stop trying to adopt us."

I was aflutter. "Really? But, we're so old… almost adults."

Laurel shrugged. "They're so excited to have the town hero in their homes. I guess age doesn't matter…"

"Something's upsetting you." I noted.

"Well, I think it's fabulous that you're getting this attention, and that I can tag along, too. I mean, I've been dreaming of this moment since I was a kid, and well…"

"It's not like how you dreamed it would be."

"I feel something calling me, like something still needs done. How can I settle down with this feeling nagging at my very soul?"

I smiled, "Your words are very artistic…"

Laurel faintly blushed and started talking again. "Link, just… I don't know what to do."

"Laurel, do you still have the gem?" She nodded and pulled it out of her jacket. It was glowing with a powerful green light. I took it from her hand and placed it in the compass. The compass glowed brighter and the needle spun around again until it stopped abruptly. The needle was pointing outside, away from the town.

"Link, I just want to tell you that I'm going to go. I've got to finish what we've started. She tried to take the compass, but I put my hand over her hand and replied, "No. I won't let you leave. This time, we'll go together." Laurel hugged me and I said, "When my leg finishes healing, we'll sneak out tomorrow night. Alright?" Laurel nodded, and I watched her leave the room. As I lay there, I was thinking about what I was doing. I had found two of the gems, which left only one left to find. I almost killed myself trying to get this one. Who knows what could be waiting ahead?

The next day, I was ready to move on. It had started to snow earlier, and now the flakes were starting to cover the ground. Laurel was wearing her jacket, while I was still wearing the tunic I had acquired. It did very well at keeping me warm. At sunset we finally left town. I looked back, knowing that I probably wouldn't come back for a while. "Link, hurry up. The wind is starting to pick up!" I started jogging to Laurel's side, and we were walking across white hills dotted with bare trees. It felt like we were walking for hours. Laurel started falling behind as her jacket was starting to fail. Laurel was shivering as we made it to some rocks. I decided to take shelter as Laurel sat on some of the rocks.

"Hey, Link. These rocks are warm. It's really refreshing." Laurel was starting to enjoy the warmth of the rock formation. I guess it saved me the trouble of making a fire. I decided that we should rest here for the night.

That night, I had a dream. It was dark and raining. I was running away from some castle when I ran into a man with a black, armored horse while the rider was in dark armor. He had a sinister laugh as he said, "Hero of Time. You thought you could hide your princess from me. It was very clever to hide in a separate dimension. But even now, my power is growing, and I have found your hiding place. Soon, I will rat you out like the mice that you are. And there is nothing you can do to stop me." He laughed more powerfully as my vision was growing darker. I leaped awake as Laurel was starting to wake up.

"Laurel, we need to get out of here."

Laurel rose slowly, still groggy from sleep. "Why do we need to leave?"

Not willing to share my dream, I replied, "We just do." I pulled out my compass, and the needle was pointing to the rock formation. I tapped the compass and turned slowly. The needle was still pointing to the rock formation. "That can't be right…"

Laurel was fully awake now. "What can't be right?" She asked.

"The compass. It's pointing to these rocks."

Laurel started pulling away some rocks. "Well, then that last gem must be here somewhere!" I was about to stop her when she revealed a tunnel small enough for the two of us to crawl through.

"Great job, Laurel." I said. Laurel stooped down to crawl but I stopped her. "You'd better let me go down first. We don't know what's down there." Laurel nodded and stepped back. I crouched down and crawled through the hole. It was a really tight fit, and it seemed to go on for a long time. When the tunnel finally ended, I was greeted to a deep cavern with lava spurting at the bottom. The view down was littered with rope bridges and rock formations, and bat-enemies flying around. The lava was erupting in lava spouts nearly everywhere I looked.

Laurel came out of the tunnel soon after and said to me, "Hey Link, what 'cha looking at? She saw the treacherous landscape and she was as speechless as I was. I looked over at her, and she was breathing with more urgency. I could practically feel her heart stop as she was looking around. When she regained the ability to speak, she half-whispered, "Oh, my, god, we're going to die here…"



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Chapter 9

"This is it, end of the line! We're dead! I mean, just look at this! It has a fiery death written all over this place! How are we supposed to get through this in one piece?" Laurel was pacing back and forth panicking the entire time.

"Don't panic, Laurel…"

Laurel snapped back, "Don't panic? This is the perfect time to panic! Aren't you at least afraid of the burning lake of lava?"

"Well," To be completely honest, I wasn't comfortable with this heat. My tunic wasn't properly equipped. "I am afraid, but I know that I have a job to do." That calmed her down a little bit, but she was still floundering like a chicken without a head. "Laurel, don't you remember what heroes do? They risk their own lives for the good will of others, and can take on anything in their way!"

Laurel was red in the face, but not from heat or embarrassment. "I was the one who told you that! Besides, you're the hero! I'm just the damsel waiting to be rescued! And since I don't need rescuing here, I'm off the clock." Laurel sat down on a nearby rock and crossed her legs. "So, if you don't mind, I'll wait outside."

I called back, "It's either out into the blizzard or in here with me."

Laurel sighed, and crawled back to me. "Fine, but just because I don't do so well in the cold." She started sulking beside me up to a rickety rope bridge over the lava. "There's always a rickety rope bridge in dangerous places like this! You'd think that they'd take better care of their bridges in dangerous conditions!" Laurel complained.

"Well, I'm guessing that people don't regularly come down here to fix the bridges here…" I paused to look at the bridge again. "Well, ladies first."

Laurel yelled, "What? What happened to 'we don't know what's here, so I'll go first?'"

I shrugged, "Well, we know what's here now, so you go first." Before she could react, I replied, "Don't worry. I'll be right behind you this whole time. Just don't look down." The two of us walked slowly across the rocking rope bridge. I noticed the geysers of lava that were spurting out everywhere. Then one flew almost right next to us. The heat from it was intense, and it was shaking the bridge. As the geyser went down, Laurel screamed, "Link! I'm looking down! It's not a very pretty sight!" I took Laurel's hand and dragged her across the bridge and set her on a rock. "What did you do that for?" She yelled angrily.

"I couldn't let you screw that up. You know in the movies when someone panics over a bridge, at least one of them falls into the deadly pit below. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be going forward."

"Fine, I'm going back." As soon as Laurel took the first step, a lava geyser split the bridge in half.

"I guess that ends that." I stated as I entered the room. Laurel quickly followed suit.

The room that I entered had a river of lava flowing through the center. Laurel expressed my current feelings. "It's so hot in here! My skin feels like it's melting away!" I wiped off some sweat from my brow and made my way to some large blue pots marked with a tear drop. Sure enough, there was water in there. Laurel took one and dumped it on herself. "That didn't help at all! I'm still too hot! I don't get it, that water was ice cold in the pot, but out here it was still hot!" I thought for a moment, and I got an idea. I picked up the pot and threw it in the lava. As soon as it entered, there was a harsh cloud of steam, and a rock island floated to the top. "Link! What are you doing?"

I jumped to the rock island, and quickly leaped to the other side. "Burning the soles off my foot!" I yelled back. Seriously, don't ever walk on freshly hardened rock without proper protection. It burnt like hell. Now that I was on the other side, I saw more water pots, and a treasure chest! I opened it, and I found a parchment with a map of the cave. I threw another pot into the lava and I nimbly leapt across again.

As we left the room, Laurel asked to see what I found. I showed her the map. There was an area above and two floors below. This was much bigger than the misty cave and the abandoned water plant from earlier. Laurel turned my attention to a raised drawbridge. "Hey, Link," I turned, "can you use your boomerang on those ropes?" I brought it out and I tossed it at the ropes. It cut through them easily, and the drawbridge crashed down with an earth-shaking thud. I guided Laurel across, where she noticed a decoration on the wall. "Link, that eye, it looks like it's staring at me. It almost looks real!"

"Just ignore it, Laurel, and let's move on." I said. I pushed up the next door and we were greeted by a hand full of those monsters from earlier. Laurel backed behind me as I drew my sword. One of the monsters drew a sharpened club and I met it with my shield. I then swiped its club away and stabbed it in the chest. As it crumbled into dust, two more jumped to attack. I blocked the first with my shield, but the second hit my shoulder. I used a spin attack and knocked the two of them away. The one that had hit me had a wooden shield. "A wooden shield? Well, first thing, your shield looks weak, like it could shatter with a strong attack!" I leapt forward and slashed his shield into two splintery pieces. I used another spin attack to finish him. The third monster came back so I used another spin attack. I was starting to get dizzy with that, but there were no more monsters.

Laurel came by and asked, "What was the second thing?"

I shrugged. "Eh, they're dead now, so I don't have to come up with one."

Laurel started climbing a nearby ladder, and I decided to look around. There was one door underneath, but it was blocked by iron bars and there seemed to be no way to open it. I climbed the ladder after Laurel to a wooden catwalk. There were two doors with a raised stone area that looked like something went there. One of the doors were locked. Laurel was eerily staring across the room. "Link, there's another eye… I think we're being watched…"

"Come on, Laurel, let's go." I dragged her to another door. I pushed the stone slab up and Laurel and I went through. As soon as we walked through, iron bars came down on the door. I decided to look around. This room had a rickety rope bridge with lava on both sides.

"No. No, no, no, no, no! There's no way you can possibly make me cross this rickety rope bridge this time!"

"Fine, I'll cross alone this time. Just stay here." I carefully walked across the rope bridge to the other side. On this side were two unlit torches. I was wondering how I could light them when I remembered back to the lantern that I had got in the misty cave. I remember that it ran out of fuel, but… I went ahead and lit the lantern, and it lit ablaze. I lit the torches and a light shined and turned into a chest. I looked inside and I saw a compass. I walked carefully across the rope bridge and back to Laurel. The compass embedded itself in the map and revealed the locations of items. Laurel took note of the skull icon that was on the first floor. "Is that where whatever's watching us is?"

I dissuaded her, "Laurel, there's no one watching us."

"Then what are the eyes there for?"

"They're for something later. Now, we've got to figure out how to get out of here."

Laurel looked at the map. "Well, we're here," pointing to a spot on the map. "There should be an area below us we can go."

I looked below the rope bridge. "There's a chest down there."

Laurel looked too. "I see, but how are we supposed to get down there?" There wasn't a ladder, and the door back there was barred. After that, I did the only thing left. I drew my sword and cut the ropes off the bridge. "Link! What are you doing?"

"I'm making a ladder to get down!" I yelled back as cut the rest of the rope bridge. The bridge fell to the ground. "See? It worked!" I climbed down the makeshift ladder, and I opened the chest. "It's a key!"

"Great! Now, how do I get down?"

I outstretched my hands. "Jump! I'll catch you."

Laurel backed up. "No, it's too high! I can't!"

"Laurel, just come down! It's perfectly fine!" Laurel closed her eyes and fell into my arms. "See? That wasn't so bad…" Laurel held onto me as I walked back to the door. Laurel jumped down and I opened the heavy stone slab. As we both walked through, iron bars fell across the door. "I guess we're not going back there." We climbed back to the wooden catwalk. I unlocked the door with the key and the iron locks fell off the door. I opened it and we walked in. Again, iron bars blocked our escape again. I walked forward a little bit. Laurel started tip-toeing forward, but I motioned her to stay back. There were five square platforms in the lava. I jumped across to the middle platform. There was something wrong about this, everything about this screamed 'ambush.' I drew my sword in preparation. When I looked up, there was a duo of lizardmen that dropped from the ceiling and drew their own swords.

Laurel screamed bloody murder, yelling, "Link! Raptors!"



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Chapter 10

I held up my shield while I waited for an attack. The raptor-thing swung its sword willy-nilly at my shield, which blocked every one. After it attacked my shield again, I attacked myself and it staggered back. It leaped to the other side of the room as the other raptor came and attacked me. I parried its blade, and tried to attack it. My blade cut through air. I felt a blade slash into my back, and it caught me off guard. I attacked it back and it fell backwards. As it got up, it jumped back to its partner as the first one took its place. I blocked its first blow with my shield and I slashed it more times. This time, I paid attention to it, as it leaped over my head, and I used a powerful spin attack which finished it off. I jumped across the islands and attacked the other raptor-thing as I jumped. It fell backwards into the lava. I turned my back as I sheathed my sword. After the raptor's deaths, a brilliant light shined and became a large treasure chest. Laurel carefully jumped from island to island to see the chest. The treasure chest was large and reinforced with iron bars.

"Are you okay, Link?" Laurel said as she felt the scar on my back, which was rapidly healing.

"I'm fine," I consoled her. "Now, let's open this chest." As I opened it, a bright light shone, and I pulled out an old looking shortbow with a small quiver filled with arrows.

"It's a bow. It looks so old and used. Does it still work?" Laurel asked.

I pulled out an arrow and notched it on my bow. I pulled the bow string back and let go. The arrow went in the wall with a soft thud. "Yep, it still works. Works like a charm." I looked back at the door. Iron bars were still blocking our exit. "Now how do we get out of here?" Laurel was once again staring across the room. "What are you looking at?" I asked her.

"There's another one of those eyes, on that wall." She pointed to another eye decoration. "I swear it looks like it's watching me!"

I shrugged and notched another arrow. If this was like the games, then maybe… I fired the arrow at the eye decoration. As it hit the decoration, the eye closed. Laurel jumped, as the iron bars retreated. "Hey, the door's open now!" she jumped to the door as I followed her. She looked to the other eye decoration. "Hey, shoot that one, too!"

"Already on it." I notched another arrow, and fired at the eye. It closed like the other one, and a light turned to a small chest. Laurel kicked it, and stubbed her toes. "Ow! I thought that would work!" I walked over and tapped it lighter with my foot and it opened to reveal a key. "How come you can do that?"

I shrugged and walked back through the door as Laurel followed suit. Laurel noticed the eye decoration again and I fired another arrow at it. Another chest appeared. "What's inside this one?"

I opened it and took out a bundle of arrows. "Just arrows? What kind of treasure is that?"

I ignored her and put the arrows in the quiver and looked across the room. There was a raised metal drawbridge over a chasm of lava. "I don't think I could use my boomerang for that one. There are chains up there instead of rope."

Laurel looked at the drawbridge across from us. "Maybe you can break the thing the chains are being held."

"Hmm?" I didn't follow.

"Well, you see the top of the drawbridge? The chains are on top of some wooden knob that's keeping the drawbridge from falling. Just shoot the thing in half and the bridge will come crashing down!" Laurel said with accompanying hand gestures.

I thought about it for a moment. Testing her theory, I notched another arrow and aimed for the wooden plank. I fired, and the arrow split the wood in half. The chains fell off and the bridge fell with a mighty thud. "Well, that worked." Laurel and I walked across the metal drawbridge to the other side. There was a large clearing with another metal drawbridge and a gazebo-like metal thing to the left and a locked door to the right. I walked over to the locked door, but Laurel ran the other way to the drawbridge. "It's not going to work, Laurel, the bridge is on this side. I'd need to be on the other side to shoot the support down."

"Well… I'll… make… it… work!" Laurel said as she pushed it. "Okay, I give up."

"Good, now follow me." Laurel ran behind me as I opened the locked door. In front of us was another locked door.

"You got another key?" Laurel asked. I shook my head. "Darn. Well, let's see what's at the end of this corridor." Laurel dashed ahead while I followed slowly. I saw a door at the side and I went through. In this room was a rickety rope bridge to a treasure chest. I walked across slowly and steadily. I stepped across a hole in the bridge and opened the chest. Inside was another small key. I nimbly ran back across and opened the door. As soon as I went back, Laurel yelled, "Link! Why'd you leave me out here?"

I showed her the key and said, "I found the key to the door."

"Well, that's great, but you shouldn't have left me like that! What if I got lost? What if another one of those raptors got me?" Laurel said.

"Well, what was down there?" I asked her.

"Oh." Laurel motioned to follow her. We ended up in a balcony carved from the cliff face. Out there was a metal plate. "Can you do something about that?"

I took my boomerang and threw it at the ropes holding it up. The metal plate fell, revealing another eye decoration. I caught my boomerang and fired an arrow at the eye. The eye closed, but nothing happened. I shrugged and started walking back. Laurel followed behind me. "Now, we can open the door here." I opened the locked door as Laurel walked through. After I walked in, bars covered the door again. "Great," I said as I drew my sword. "That can only mean…"

Laurel screamed again, "More raptors!"

I turned around. Two more raptor-things fell from a lava waterfall and landed on two more islands. I jumped to another island and started attacking the first one. Now that I knew its tricks, fighting these guys was easy. As the first one disintegrated into purple dust, Laurel screamed again, "Link! Help!" One of the raptors had cornered him while she was curled up in the corner.

"Hey! Get away from her!" I threw the first thing that I grabbed which happened to be my boomerang. It hit the raptor in the head and it stopped and looked dazed. As I caught it, I said aloud, "Huh, so it stuns these guys, too!" Laurel went into action and gave the raptor a mighty push, and retreated into the corner. The raptor lost its balance and fell into the lava. Laurel just froze as she watched her handiwork. After it died, an ornate chest appeared from thin air. After an awkward silence, I said, "Nice work." Laurel slowly nodded.



(next chapters coming soon...)