[EDITING] The Legend of Zelda: Goddess of Secrecy

Dungeon Chapter 2 - A Well-Placed Puzzle

...only to immediately attempt stopping before he slammed into a Skulltula's back. The squishy underside launched him backwards, slamming Link into the stone door of the room, which suddenly decided not to open. He winced a bit from the shock, before pushed himself back to his feet.

The massive spider spun around to show off its skull shaped exoskeleton. Link drew his sword and shield, moving to a ready stance. He bounced on the balls of his feet, waiting for the creature to make the first move.

Before long, the creature grew impatient and broke itself away from its web. Its pincers clicked together and venom dribbled out. Eight black legs clattered across the floor, rushing across the room with concerning speed. Link steadied himself, letting out a slow breath as he held his ground.

The Skulltula lunged, and Link raised his sword to block first. The monster run into the edge of the blade, cracking into its shell. It hissed and began to retreat in surprise. Link went on to berate it with blows, mostly, if he could help it, from the right side. After a few aimed strikes, the massive spider lost its balance, and fell over to its side, then on to its back as its curved back tipped it over. Its legs danced franticly, trying to turn back over, but Link's finishing blow came too soon.

As the monster curled up and died, Link hurried by and began to study the room. A shallow pool covered most of the bottom. Parts of branches had fallen off into the water. On the east side of the room, there was another locked door. There were three bokoblins on the northern side of the room, up a short staircase and blocked by parts of fallen trees. Behind them, was a pillar much like the one in the room Link had found Bruce in with a brazier on top. Link figured that it was part of the puzzle.

Link jumped from log to log, trying to make as little noise as possible. The water rippled beneath his weight as he progressed across the room, but there wasn't enough noise to be heard. The monsters continued on their idle chatter, not even the slightest bit concerned.

That is, until he landed on the platform beneath theirs. The moment Link's boots hit the stone again, the bokoblins were at attention. They charged at him, running head on to his sword. Link's blade cut one, and it shuffled back to let its friends take care of Link.

While he prepared for another blow, something whizzed past his ear. The noise was familiar, and Link had enough wit to dodge as the Deku Nut splintered against the floor. He wasn't as fortunate as a second Deku Scrub fired at him while he was moving.

The hard shell made Link stumble as it caught him in the head. One of the bokoblins swung, and sent Link back into the water. His head groaned, and he quickly raised his shield as the whizzing sound resonated again. This time, the Deku Nut fell off harmlessly, and Link heard the rustle of leaves as the short wooden creatures burrowed back down to hide.

Link turned his attention back to the bokoblins. They had little interest in swimming out to fight him, even if it barely came up to his waist, so they wandered back to their post. Link glanced up at the ledge where the Deku Scrubs were nested. Three bush headed Deku Scrubs sat on the ledge, just out of range of a reflected attack.

As Link waded through the pool to a small ledge, Yore made his way down to Link's shoulder.

"I see no progress to be made against those at present. You will need to press deeper, deal with the monsters some other way."

There was already a welt on Link's right arm where his armor had smashed against the muscle, and a bruise was growing on his cheek from where the Deku Nut had hit him. He sat down for a moment on the ledge to attend the injury. As he massaged the wound, he asked, "Me?"