The Legend of Zelda: The Missing Link

Chapter 21: The Goron Mines

"Oh, god, it's way too hot in here." Midna said as the two entered the mines. Zelda remained silent, instead choosing to examine their surroundings. The air was even hotter, thicker, and smokier than it was coming up the mountain, and the heat of the lava was suffocating, a stark contrast to the icy mountain they had traveled from.

There was a gentle slope before them, and a couple meters beyond that, the hard-packed earth suddenly dropped off into a pit of bubbling lava. Zelda noticed a few tall, skinny pillars of ground that jutted up from the magma; each was just big enough for a single person to stand on, but they appeared stable. Midna, without a word, melted into Zelda's shadow, and the queen then moved forward, hopping across the platforms, soon reaching the other side of the pit.

"Wait, do you hear that?" Midna's voice echoed in the mines.

Zelda stopped, listening carefully.

"H-hey! What're you doing?! S-stop that!" There was a trembling voice nearby. It sounded familiar...

Zelda continued, looking all around her as she stepped further into the mines. Where was that voice coming fro--?

Her thought was interrupted as she slammed into something--no, somebody.

"Shad?"

"Queen Zelda?! I-I'm so sorry, I didn't, I mean, what are you..?" Shad stumbled over his words and made a quick, fumbly bow. He was gripping the book he held earlier, with a small dagger sticking out from the top of it.

"Hello, Shad," Zelda's voice rang with confidence. "It's a pleasure to see you here. But, er, what are you doing here?"

Shad straightened himself and adjusted his glasses. "I came to investigate the volcano. As you are aware, there have been a series of unusual eruptions in the past week, and nobody knows why."

"Hm." Zelda digested his words, then spoke again. "I see. Well, since I have come here for the same purpose, I believe it would benefit us both if I aided you in your search."

Shad grasped for words, unable to respond to Zelda's offer. Finally he settled for a simple, "Sure."

The pair turned towards a sound to their left; a red, frog-like creature emerged from the lava.

"It's that Fire Toadpoli again!" Shad exclaimed. The Toadpoli reared back and spit forth a fiery rock, about the size of Zelda's head. Shad held up the book in front of his face, cowering behind it as the rock flew towards its target: him. The rock smashed into Shad's book, shattering to pieces. Shad carefully pulled the book down, and upon realizing that it had been set on fire, yelped and dropped it. The book sailed down, just missing the ledge they stood on and dropping into the lava.

"Dang it! I really liked that book." Shad peered over the ledge--Zelda had to hold back a giggle. With a sigh from Shad, the two continued their way through the cavern. The already immensely hot and thick air seemed to only become more suffocating as they progressed, and having to fight off the occasional fire keese or Toadpoli didn't help the pair's fatigue. They didn't quite know what they were searching for, and Zelda began to realize just how baseless this search was. Shad seemed to also realize this as well, for they both began to slow their pace as they reached the seventh or eighth room; Zelda had lost track.

"Hey, Zel--er, sorry! Queen!" Shad attempted a hasty bow, but almost tripped over his own feet.

Zelda waved away his concerns. "Please do not bother with formalities, Shad. 'Zelda' is perfectly acceptable."

The young man fumbled, unable to form a response as he straightened himself. Eventually, he replied with, "Understood." He then paused, trying to pull back the words that he had previously lost. "So, Zelda, it seems that we don't have a clear goal in here. At least, not one that I'm aware of. Did you have some sort of plan for where we might find whatever's causing this volcano to erupt, or how we can even deal with it?"

Zelda thought carefully; she had a habit of clasping her hands behind her back as she did so.  "I--"

Zelda had barely begun speaking when the two heard a loud hissing, coming from... right above them? The two looked upwards in time to see a large lizard looking down on them from the ceiling.

"Shad, look out! It's a Dodongo!" She pushed him aside just as the Dodongo leaped towards them, narrowly missing the pair and landing flat on it's back. Shad stumbled, barely able to keep himself upright with his attention completely focused on this giant lizard before him. "It's tail is his weak spot!" Zelda informed him, looking to him for confirmation that he understood.

The Dodongo wriggled to its feet and turned towards Zelda and Shad, inhaling deeply.

"No, Zelda!" Shad shoved his way past her, putting himself between her and the Dodongo. He pulled a dagger from his belt, similar to the one he had stuck in his book but longer and more elaborate. "Don't hurt her!" His voice was shaky but sure.

The Dodongo released its fiery breath onto Shad as he charged it, causing Shad to scream and pull back. Zelda, her vigor and quick reflexes from before all but gone, only stood and watched in horror. Shad pulled back the hand that gripped his dagger, which now glowed bright red. In his struggle to get away from the creature, he staggered to his right, causing his foot to slip off the ledge and bringing his entire body into the lava below.

The sound of his screams echoing through the cavern was like nothing Zelda had ever heard before, the piercing agony making her flinch. She could only watch in shock as the magma quickly pulled him under; the look in his eyes, the gleam of pure fear, was something the queen had only seen once before. His cries were soon silenced as he disappeared underneath the lava.

 Midna rose from Zelda's shadow and quickly took action, using the ice magic she had gained from the Snowpeak Ruins to pull an ice javelin seemingly from thin air. As the Dodongo was inhaling to release another round of fire, Midna sprung towards it, letting out a battle cry as she plunged the javelin into its nose. The creature let out a gargled hiss, and she then pulled her spear from its head, gracefully moving around it to stab her ice spear into its tail.

The Dodongo let out a final cry as it shriveled into almost nothing and then vanished completely in a small explosion. The javelin shattered.

Midna looked up towards the queen and shrugged. "I thought he was kind of annoying anyway."