[EDITING] The Legend of Zelda: Goddess of Secrecy

Dungeon Chapter 22 - Mansion Ruins

            …that was the Water Temple. He slid for a moment over the icy floor, before stumbling onto a carpeted surface.

            Bruce, Frostbar, and Freya walked in behind him, followed by Yore swooping into the building. The hawk landed on a rafter and looked down at them.

            “Would you like me to scout the area, or do you trust that your abilities with what you will face?”

            Frostbar said, “I know little about the creatures that would reside here, other than any wolfos that may be lurking about this place. What do you know about the monsters we may find here?”

            “For starters, freezards, of various sizes. They can freeze you if you even slightly touch them, and if they are large enough, their breath is freezing and can cover a good distnace. I am not sure, but they very well may be some chilfos, knights made from ice. Ice keese and bubbles, most likely as well. I would not be surprised if there is not some other kind of creature in here that I do not know about yet, either.”

            Bruce looked up. Link followed the glance. The building was falling apart. Huge gaps in the upper floors were missing. Parts of the roof were gone. The tiled floor was cracked and crumbling. It was hard to believe that this had been a Sage's home.

            There were several locked doors around them, mostly on the upper floors. Link asked, “Do you really think there are that many keys hidden in here?”

            “I doubt it. Most of those doors are probably fake.”

            Frostbar shook his head. “I doubt that. This is a big building, with many rooms and halls. I wouldn’t be surprised if they could all open.”

            “There weren’t that many rooms in the Deku Fortress,” Bruce said. “Why would this place be bigger than a temple for a goddess?”

            “The temples for the Goddesses are sacred halls, but they were built to be shrines and alters, not living quarters. Once a Sage comes to their temple, they are expected to live there. Also, the temples crafted for the Goddesses would not be strong enough to protect the Sages, and thus these halls are bigger for defense and crafted and styled to comfort the sage who would dwell there.”

            Pointing up to an aged painting, Frostbar said, “The first Water Sage to live here was a zora, not surprisingly. He built this mansion to keep the cold out and the firelight in.”

            “Then this place is like the Sunken City?” Link asked.

            “This fortress stood long before the zoras sent that city down to the bottom of their lake,” Frostbar replied. The yeti walked further into the building. Freya hopped down off his back, looking around at the ruins herself.

            Link looked around for an open door. He wasn’t sure if anything was hidden behind these doors or not, but there was only one way to find out. He heard the sound of ice sliding and he looked up. A trio of red eyes looked down at him. Link stepped out of the way as a boulder of ice came crashing down from the ceiling to the parlor.

            Pulling his sword and shield out, Link took a few jumps back from the creature. The boots from his new mountain gear helped him keep his balance as he moved, something he couldn’t have done in his regular boots. He raised his sword to swing at the monster when Frostbar shouted, “Don’t!”

             The warning was too late. The Master Sword shattered the ice monster, sending a cold jolt up Link’s arm, but he was fine otherwise. Frostbar paused, a little confused. Bruce said, “On normal metal, maybe, but that’s evil’s bane there. I don’t think a little ice magic is going to stop it.” The yeti nodded. Bruce added, “But thanks for the reminder. I’d probably frozen myself if you hadn’t brought it up.”