Girahim vanished from the stone dragons head with a snap and a flurry of diamonds. A low rumble sounded, and the dragon's jaw dropped open. The large round stone that I had used to reach the chamber door flew out and came rolling towards me. I broke into a sprint before rolling to the side, the stone barely missing me. Grit sprayed in my face as it passed, and I rose unsteadily, certain that nearly being crushed wasn't the worst of what would happen.

I was right: as the stone hit the bottom of the hill, it twitched suspiciously. And then several legs made from glowing lava burst from it, flailing in midair. Then the feet reached the ground and the large boulder stood up, a large horizontal crack opening like a huge mouth. I could see the molten rock swirling inside its jaws, gleaming under the charred rocky shell on its round body. Somehow, I didn't think it was going to be friendly.

Right again: the rocky lava-beast roared once, very loudly, and flames erupted all along its outer shell. And then it charged me. I, of course, did the only logical thing and ran up the hill, away from the giant monster. But it was gaining; I could feel the air growing hotter as it closed in.

And then there was a loud boom and a shriek. The hill rumbled and I chanced a look over my shoulder. The rocky monster had run into a bomb flower and was now rolling down the hill, having retracted its legs. It reached the bottom with a crash and laid still for a moment before it got to its feet again. It inhaled deeply...then spit a fireball. The flames rocketed up the hill and I dove to the side, covering my head protectively as the heat blew past me. I think it may have singed my hat, but I don't seem to be hurt—my hair included. By the time I can struggle to my feet, the rock/lava ball creature has begun scaling the hill again.

For the first time, I wish I had Fi with me. Her advice might be annoying at times, but she was always able to give me some kind of hint at a weakness whenever I was outmatched like this. But Link had taken my sword with him to the Spring; I was totally on my own. I noticed the bomb flower the creature had hit was sprouting another of its explosive fruits-was it a fruit? Or was it a flower bud? Wait, this isn't the time to be wondering about this-as if nothing had happened. I decided to wait. Sure enough, the rocky monster hit the bomb again and pulled in its molten legs, obeying gravity to roll down the hill. As it got to its feet for a second time, it opened it's mouth wide...

I had a stupid idea. I grabbed one of the bombs—every instinct I had screaming that I was being incredibly stupid—and threw it as hard as I could. The little explosive was caught in the vortex of air...and the rock monster swallowed it.

For a second, I thought the molten rock inside my enemy had destroyed the bomb before it could go off. But then there was a colossal BOOM and a cloud of smoke surrounded the lava creature. When the obstruction vanished, I saw that several chunks of its hard, rocky exterior had been blown away, revealing a large, neon-colored eye roving around the magma.

That's the weak point. I knew it was, by some strange revelation, and didn't have a doubt that if I struck the monster there, that it would fall. One problem: I didn't have a weapon big enough to do the damage. All I had were bombs and a little beetle contraption. Was the beetle's claw strong enough to hurt it?

The answer to that question was "sorta". The rock monster had roared when the tiny flying machine hit it in the eye, but hadn't seemed injured enough to impede it, because it just got back onto its feet. It definitely annoyed the thing though: it began to spit flaming sparks from its shell. What else could I do? I ran back up the hill like my life depended on it—which it probably did.

It would seem I had found a pattern: once again, the magma ball hit a bomb flower and pulled its gleaming legs back in and rolled back down to the bottom again. As it inhaled, I plucked another flower and threw it into the vortex of air. Once again, it swallowed the bomb and lost another layer of its rocky shell when the explosion went off in its belly. I had no other options, so I shot my little beetle at the thing's eye again, though I knew it would only annoy the rock beast even more. And then my eye alighted on a long wedge of rock. It looked like a stalagtite that had fallen to the ground, nearly three feet long and formed to a sharp point.

Well, desperate times call for desperate measures.

The beast was still down when I reached it, but it was twitching, struggling to rise. With a loud—and probably unnecessary—war cry, I planted my feet and drove the makeshift stone weapon into the creature's eye. It screamed, its legs flailing before it actually managed to get up onto its feet. I dove out of the way, but it didn't charge. No, it wobbled around on its legs unsteadily, the red-hot magma of its body slowing and cooling into a brownish shade, screaming like there was no greater agony in the world. Then it collapsed, the lava hardening before it shrank into black smoke and exploded out into the image of a horned purple skull and several diamonds.

I collapsed to the ground. My legs had given up entirely on support and I laid flat on the stone, panting and sweating more than I ever had in my life.

"Do not rest here, my Grace," a sudden voice said. "The Spring must cleanse you."

Sitting bolt upright, I whirled around to see a dark-skinned woman with blonde hair coming down the rocky slope. I quickly got to my feet, putting a hand on my bomb pouch. The woman saw it and smiled.

"You need not fear me," she said. "Please, allow me to take you up to the spring. Your friend is there."

Link. I didn't need any more encouragement. I ran past the woman and mounted the hill, reaching the door at the top with the glowing symbol. At my approach, the marking glowed brightly and vanished, unleashing a blast of cooled air from the inside. I wasted no time: I sprinted straight inside.