The day passes and I feel as though I am being watched by a ghost. Link's fearful glances and silence follow me wherever I move. Navi, talkative and cheerful, seems to be his voice. I wonder why I frighten him so; his personality is a little unnerving. Whenever he wants to say something, he'll stutter most of the time. Then he'll stop and just look at me, ears reddening like a Hyrulian sunset.

During such a sunset, Navi comes to a stop, hovering in the air like a star upon the earth.

"I dunno about you, but I'm hungry!" She chirps. "Let's make a fire and cook up the rest of the Deku Nuts!"

Link smiles and runs off in search of kindling. I follow, looking around for any rising bones.

"The Stallchildren will be here soon," I warn. "They will like our fire." In the corner of my eye I see Link shudder.

"They're scary," Navi replies.

"You must have seen them before. What do you do when they come?"

Link drops a pile of twigs on the ground between us and Navi says the duplication spell. Afterward, she replies, "Run."

These two are meant to save Hyrule? Suddenly their cowardice - Link's cowardice, especially - annoys me. "Tonight we will fight," I announce. Link, kneeling before the wood and trying to set a blaze, looks up at me, as surprised at my words as I am. "We have to be brave if we want to help Zelda," I tell him. "So tonight we will fight."

I sit as the fire begins to catch and the sun sinks lower. Link lays the Deku Nuts close to the flames and waits to hear a popping sound, then places them on the cool soil. After baking a handful, he gives some to me and chows down, making loud crunching sounds as he eats. Navi takes one and bolts it as quickly as she can. They seem to love them, but try as I might I can't seem to like the taste. Their shells crumble into smooth dust and the roasted tang feels too smoky. I give the rest back to Link, who looks bewildered.

"You don't like them?" Navi says through a mouthful. I shake my head. "But that's impossible! Everyone in the forest loves them!"

"I am not from the forest," I remind her. "There are no trees in the desert."

Link looks mortified at the thought.

"What do you like to eat, then?" Navi asks. "What do you Gerudo like?"

"Beer," I say, to which she looks so horrified I can't help but laugh. "And sweet bread with lentils."

"What are lentils?" Link asks. I try to explain to him how they taste, but I don't think I get the point across. How can you explain beans to someone who has probably never had them before?

"So they're like magic bean soup, Link," Navi exclaims, to which the light of recognition enters his eyes.

Magic bean soup? These people are weird. I shake my head and ask, "What is your home like?"

His eyes brighten. For the first time, he speaks without stuttering. "The forest is wonderful! We have music and games every day, and we play with the animals and fairies. The Great Deku Tree took care of us." At this, he looks downcast. "Until Ganondorf…"

Navi blues. "That no-good, lousy leaf sucker!"

Link flinches at that, as if she had cursed.

"Who was the Great Deku Tree? Was he like your mother?"

Link nods. "He guarded the forest and took care of all us Kokiri. Before he died, he said to go to the castle in Hyrule, to meet with the Princess." He looks between Navi and me. "Navi says that death is like sleeping and never waking up. Death is that you never see someone again. Is that true?"

"How should I know?" I say after a while. His question caught me off guard. "I've never died before, and I don't know anyone that's dead."

The conversation dies after that, and after a while, the flames burn away into smoke.

Not one Stallchild came to meet us that night.

I gradually get used to having Link around, and he seems to grow more comfortable with me. He still watches my every step, but not out of fear; he seems to be more curious than anything. It's almost as though he looks for me to guide him, though why or how he expects me to, I don't know. We do end up fighting monsters during the night; he is as natural with the sword as he is with the Ocarina, though his music skills are far better. When I awake deep in the morning, it is often to him practicing on that pink Ocarina, and now I can pick out Zelda's lullaby from the first note. As we walk, he thinks up games and challenges me to races, half of which I lose only because I let him win. Sometimes all this annoys me, but most of the time, it makes me strangely happy.

We reach the foot of the mountain after a week or two of travel.

Kakariko village is a quiet, sleepy place at first glance. We are greeted by the clucking of Cuccos and the glares of an aging man near the town gates. Avoiding him, we slip further into the town and are met with the sounds of construction and mayhem. As we walk, we point to things we don't understand and Navi explains them to us. Among them are Cuccos and a well (for Link, who apparently drinks straight from a river), and a windmill for us both. As we pass the source of the construction, something in the corner of my eye makes me stop. Or, not something. Someone. I catch him staring at me with a slight sense of recognition in his eyes. He only thinks he knows me, but him, I will never forget. He's more well fed now, less pale, and he looks more adult, somehow. Even though he can't be more than six years old. He stands waiting by the construction site with a basket of food.

It's the boy from the Valley. The son who was with his father in jail. The son Abana and I fed the night my life changed forever.

After the shock subsides, a flash of anger strikes my heart. It's because of them I was cast out! If they hadn't been set free, I would be at home now, in the King's favor. Abana would never have betrayed me…

"What's wrong, Anali?" Link asks. His eyes are pools of innocence.

"Nothing," I reply, shaking my head. "I thought I saw someone I knew."

"Who?"

Hearing this, the little boy runs over. "I know you!" He chirps. "You were in the desert, in the bad place. What are you doing here?"

I look at Link, shame creeping up into my cheeks. I feel as though a secret has been exposed.

"What do you mean?" Link asks, looking between us both. Navi flutters beside him, looking confused.

I open my mouth to explain, but the boy chimes in before I can speak. "Daddy and I were in the desert doing trade, but bad women took us and put us in a dark place for a long time." He shudders, then looks at me. "She was there. She fed us."

Link looks at me, and I clam up.

"Pica," a man calls. The boy turns around to see his father, who wipes his sawdust-covered face with a towel. "What are you doing here?"

"You forgot your lunch, Daddy!" The boy replies. He runs over to the man and hands him the basket. The man tussles the boy's hair, then looks at us.

"And who might you be?"

Navi flies up and addresses him. "I'm Navi! And this is Link and Anali. We're passing through town. Impa said you could help us?"

The man blinks, eyebrows raised. "You know Lady Impa?!" He exclaims.

"Yes! She said she grew up here. Do you know her?"

"She's only a hero here in Kakariko!" He waves us forward, a huge smile on his face. "If you know Lady Impa, you're more than welcome to stay with us for the night!"

"Really?" Navi cries, looking at us. "Thank you!"

"Pica, take these three to our house, will you? I have to get back to work."

"Sure, Daddy." I think for a moment he will say something about me and the Gerudo jail, but he doesn't. Instead, he just chirps at us to follow him.

His home is small and wooden and lightly furnished; the smell of fire-cooked soup fills it from floor to ceiling. A fat woman stands at a fireplace and stirs a slow-boiling pot. She looks up at Pica and smiles.

"Did you give Daddy his lunch, sweetheart? Oh, and who are your friends?" When we introduce ourselves, she tells us her name is Sancha and goes upstairs to the loft to prepare us some space. "We don't have much," she tells us. "But I hope you are comfortable anyway. Follow me." She brings us to a small room complete with two small beds, one more recently used than the other. The creaky wooden floor has a few toys scattered across it, and the used bed is messy in a boyish kind of way. The other is unnaturally clean.

"We have a spare bed for when Pica's little friends come over. Ye'll have to share it. But that's no problem for you, eh? Aye, ye're too young to know better…" Then she chuckles and walks back downstairs to mind our supper.

I don't know what she means, but the thought of sharing a bed with Link makes me gag. Isn't it bad enough I have to travel with him, but now I have to sleep with him too? In Hyrule field, we were never that close. He farts in his sleep, and plus, he snores…

"What did she mean, 'too young to know better'?" Link asks. "Saria and I had sleepovers all the time…"

Navi shakes her head. "I dunno, Link. But I think we should take a nap now. Aren't you two tired?"

We both are, but going to sleep is a hassle. Navi is lucky, she gets a night stand all to herself, but Link doesn't understand why he has to take one side of the bed while I get the other. I refuse to hug him like his friend does during sleep overs, and I have to ignore the hurt look in his eyes.

"I don't care who this Saria is," I tell him. "I need my space, got it?"

"But don't you have nightmares?" He whispers. "We would help each other when we had bad dreams…"

"That's dumb. Why can't you get over them yourself?"

He grimaces like I'd said something awful and curls up at the foot board of the bed. I soon fall asleep. After a while, Pica wakes me up, a concerned look on his face.

"He won't quit shaking," he says, pointing to Link, who tosses and turns in his sleep. "Is he having a nightmare?"

"I think so…" I shake his shoulders to wake him up, but it doesn't work. "Link," I call. Nothing. "Link. Link! Hey!"

Navi hears me and awakes. She rubs her eyes and yawns. "He's like this, sometimes. I used to think he was lazy, but now…" She shakes her head. "I know what to do!" She flits down and pulls at the lobe of his long ears. "Wake up, sleepyhead!"

He jumps up immediately, clutching his head. For a moment, he looks dizzy, dazed and confused. "Navi…? Where am I…?"

"You're here, silly! What did you dream about now?"

"The same one, again, with that man and the girl on the horse… But now I know who they are. I could tell, this time. Princess Zelda, and Ganondorf, and Impa…" He shakes his head as if he's trying to deny tears. "I couldn't do anything, even though I knew…" I can feel his eyes on me, even though I could barely see the blue slither over the white. He breathes. "It's ok… I can deal with it."

"Really, Link?" Navi seems surprised. "Usually you say…"

"I'm ok!" He chirps, smiling. "It's just a dream, right?"

Pica speaks up. "Mommy says it's time for dinner. You guys slept all day! Come down!" He off, beckoning us. Link moves to follow.

"Wait," I say, reaching for him. But I don't know what to say. In the moment that follows, Navi titters.

"I know what Ms. Sancha meant by too young, now."

"What?" I ask.

The fairy blushes bright blue. "Well, when a girl and a boy love each other very much…" The story that follows makes me gag.

"Ugh, Navi! That can't be real!" Link cries.

"Eww!" I agree, crossing my arms, unable to look at him.

"Hee hee hee! It's true! You can't doubt a wisdom fairy!"

"Gross," Link hisses. Then his stomach rumbles. "Come on. Let's go see what Sancha made us to eat!"

Sancha's stew is filling, made of rabbits and potatoes and magic beans and lentils. Link and I each have two helpings full before Navi tells us to slow down.

"Don't you see how much you're taking from these people?" She cries. "Be more considerate!"

Pica's father laughs and tells us to ignore her, but neither of us are hungry anymore.

"How long will you be staying in Kakariko?" Pica asks.

"We don't know," Navi replies. "We have to go up Death Mountain and find the Spiritual Stone of Fire…"

"Aww," Pica grumbles, picking at his soup.

Sancha chuckles. "You like having friends to play with, don't you Pica? Well, we hope you stay with us whenever you come through Kakariko. Kirin tells me you know Lady Impa. If that's so, you must have something very important to do. We wish you safe passage."

Navi smiles. "Thank you!"

"But we wanna thank you for helping us," Link says unexpectedly. "Is there anything we can do to help you tomorrow, before we leave?"

"Oh, I can think of a few things," Sancha says with a wink, as though she was playing a game with us.

The following morning, the family has us running about the town doing tasks for them. Little things that are no work at all - but Link seems to take it seriously, as though the list they had given him contained some glorious tasks. Like get eggs from their neighbor, Anju, for example. A simple thing like that would have been no trouble, had she not lost her Cuccos and asked for our help. While Link ran around looking for them, he met a man worried about their neighboring family, who hadn't been out of their house in a while. Link offered to visit them for him. And so on - the family asked him a favor, and the person he met for them asked one, and the person after that…

After I caught the last of the Cuccos, I went back to Pica's house and played with him until Link came back. It was hard not to be happy when he returned, tired and worn out, but pleased with himself. His smile was easy and it made me happy to see.

Navi yells at us both after lunchtime. "We could have gotten halfway up the mountain today, but instead, you had to go and please people…"

"But they needed help," Link protests, and Navi cuts him some slack.

"It's fine that you want to help people, but you have to remember what the Princess sent us here for." She pokes the tip of his nose with her tiny finger. "We should leave, now that we've eaten."

So we do. Our bags packed and supplied once more, we headed toward the gate to Death Mountain. A guard was there, and he halted us in place.

"Can't let you through! It's too dangerous up there for youngsters like you."

"But Sir, we have to go!" Link cries. "Princess Zelda sent us!"

From the edge of his visor the guard gives us an incredulous look. "Princess Zelda sent you, huh? I'll believe it when I see it."

"Sure!" Link reaches into his bag and pulls out the Princess's letter. He hands it to the man and he reads it.

"T…this is certainly Princess Zelda's handwriting! What game is she playing now…?" With a chuckle, he pockets the note and looks at us. "All right, I'll let you pass. But, in exchange, would you mind doing me a favor?"

Link's eyes light up.

"Link," Navi hisses, making him frown.

"Just if you have time," the guard clarifies. "I'm not at home much and my son really wants this mask we saw in town… It's called the Keaton mask… I hear it's popular with you kids."

Link dives into his bag again. "You mean this?" Out comes the face of a fox with pointed ears and slitted eyes.

"Yes! That's just the one. If you don't mind, would you mind letting me have it? I can send it to him in Hyrule Castle… He would love it!"

Link hands the mask over, and the guard puts it on, a huge grin on his face. Link's smile is just as wide as we ascend Death Mountain, and it's hard for me not to crack one, too.

Scaling the mountain takes us three days. Strange boulders seem to watch us as we climb, and more than once I think I hear yawning.

"The Gorons live here," Navi tells us the second morning. "They're rock people that like to eat rocks! But I think they're hungry… Something is in the way of their food, so they can't eat! Something dangerous… Something that feels like Ganondorf."

"Did I hear you say food?" Mumbles a voice. We look around, but can't see anyone. Then, the rock beside us unfolds and stands up. Link and I scream and leap back, but when it doesn't attack, we freeze, confused. "Why are you so loud?" It asks. It's a giant, round thing, its eyes a beady purple. Its back is lumpy and brown, like the mountain's rocks, but its arms and legs are thin. It scratches itself, head cocking from side to side. "It's dangerous to be so loud up here…" There is a low grumbling sound, as though the earth itself had rumbled. The thing holds its stomach. "If you're up here looking for food, there isn't any! You can't eat the rocks up here, only the ones in the cavern, and those are guarded by monsters…"

"Monsters?" Link asks, eyes widening. "What kind of monsters?"

The rock thing shakes. "A kind so terrible that Brother Darunia sealed the cavern away! I heard an evil man came looking for the Spiritual Stone, and called those monsters here when Brother wouldn't give it to him…"

"Ganon," Navi murmurs. Link and I share a nod.

"And now we're all hungry… I think that man, whoever he is, will let us starve until we give him the stone…"

"We need the Spiritual Stone, too," I tell him. "So we can stop that man from hurting any more people… Is there anyone we can talk to that will let us have it?"

"Brother Darunia is the one you should go to - but I warn you, he's been in a bad mood! Still, if you are willing to help us Gorons, maybe he would reconsider…"

"Will you lead us to him?" Navi asks, flying in the Goron's face.

"Sure," he says with a heavy blink, as though her brilliance were too much for him. "Let me show you the way."

The Goron leads us up the mountain a bit further and then through some narrow passages - secret entrances we would never have been able to find ourselves - and into the Goron's city. You would be surprised how fresh the air is inside the mountain - holes that freshen it line the walls. Stony pathways wind over and around each other from floor to ceiling. Gorons roll from room to room with deafening crashes, more than once almost crushing us to death. It's all so beautiful and scary at the same time; simple and rich. Hunger and solidarity hang in the air. Off in the corner, we see three Gorons comforting each other, patting and rubbing each others' backs. In another, a Goron is helping its friend get to his feet.

At last, the Goron leading us stops us at a door. "Here," he says. "Brother Darunia lives in here. But he won't see you unless you give him the right sign…"

"Why didn't you say that before?" Navi snaps. A dumb smile alights the Goron's lips.

"Sorry. I forgot! I'm so hungry, I forget things…"

A note cuts through the air. "Link?" I ask. He has his ocarina out, and the melody of Zelda's Lullaby is floating from it. "What are you doing?"

A voice thunders from inside. "At last, the castle's envoy is here!" The door opens. "Come in, come in!"

I look at Link, and he at me. "How did you know to do that?"

"I dunno." A goofy grin appears on his face. "It just came to me."

"Come in, brother! I haven't got all day!" Darunia calls. But when we go inside, he frowns. "What's this? A bunch of kids, when I asked for a messenger from the King? Unless he means to insult me…?! Go away! I don't have time for you…" The more he speaks, the more he moves and flails. He's so big and his movements are so sudden, I have a strong urge to run away.

"Link, we should leave," I say, but once again he puts his ocarina to his lips.

"What are you doing?!"

This time, another song comes out, one I'd heard in snippets before, but never heard in full until now. Its airy and light melody affects Darunia in a peculiar way; first he stops his rampage, and then, as he listens closer, he starts… to dance?

"Hot!" He screams. "What a hot melody!"

Soon enough, Link and Navi are dancing, too, and somehow I find myself laughing. It's a moment of bliss too strange and complete to pass up. I don't know how, but my hips move to and fro, too.

And then the music stops.

Darunia laughs and wipes his brow. "Phew! I haven't danced like that in an age!" He looks at us in a new light. "How did you know the song of the royal family, anyhow? You're just children…"

We explain that Princess Zelda sent us, and that we need the Spiritual Stone of Fire. "Is there anything we can trade you for it?" I ask, drawing up my best bartering face. We Gerudo love to bargain, and though the thought of them hurts me like a punch to the stomach, maybe…

"You can see what in Goddess's name's in that cavern! My people haven't had decent food for days now…"

For a moment, I am caught by a flash of the King Ganondorf I thought I knew - the man who only wanted to protect us… But then I shake my head to push the thought away.

"I know you are only children," Darunia continues. "But the Princess must believe in your abilities enough to send you here… Please, will you help us?"

"All right," I agree. "As long as it's just to have a look…"

"I won't send you in alone. Here, take these." From his desk he hands us two arm bands. "These will make the bombflowers recognize you; if you don't wear them, they are especially dangerous to pick. But now, maybe they can help you, if anything attacks… They are everywhere in that cavern."

Link and I put them on. "Thank you," he says, inspecting his.

Darunia looks at us both, uncertain, as if unsure what to say. "Right," he says at last. "Now, we will move that boulder for you."

It takes a team of hungry Gorons to clear the cavern entrance. It's heartbreaking to watch them struggle. To see them push and pull a heavy stone until, at last, it moves, just a crack, enough for us to slip inside. As we enter, the weary Gorons wish us luck, and a few of the older ones say prayers of protection. The sunlight cuts a clear path into the dark heat, and deeper in, we can hear a boiling sound.

And then the light snaps to a close, and we are in darkness.

"Hey!" I scream, racing back to the entrance. "What're you doing! Let us out!" My first thought is that they had tricked us, left us here to die like fools, but as Navi approaches, now the room's only light, she shushes me until I'm able to think clearly.

"They can't have any of the monsters coming out, can they?" She asks. "It's ok! They'll come for us when we have the information we need."

"Okay," I say, taking a deep breath. Link lays a hand on my shoulder, and though the touch is odd, it isn't unpleasant.

"Come on," he encourages. "I think I see a light up ahead."

The light he sees is the glow of a hot orange water, the source of the boiling sound - it looks and acts like the soup Sancha made, only it's the color of fire and it makes a haze as it bubbles.

"Lava," Navi murmurs. "Be careful."

Rising and descending from the lava are three platforms of hot earth, and in the center of the room, below a giant monster skull, is a small stand with a light buzzing around it.

"What is that?" Link asks, breathing hard. It's hard to move or breathe in the heat, and I don't think either of us will last much longer in it. We'll have to move fast.

"I dunno," I say. "Let's go check it out." The platform rises again, and I wait for Link to jump across. "Well? Come on."

"I don't know, Anali," he murmurs. "Didn't they say something about monsters?"

"Oh, come on!" I cry. "You've got to! You want to help Princess Zelda, don't you?"

"I know, but -"

"Then follow me! You've got to be brave, Link!" I hop across the makeshift bridge, the ground warm beneath my feet, and onto the platform with the stand and the light. Then I turn and open my arms wide, as if to show him something. "See? There's nothing to be afraid of -"

"LOOK OUT!" He yells. That's when I hear the sound.

A horrible hissing noise like I've never heard before. I turn. The light has turned from blue to red, and, like an eye, has trained on me. A ray of red light shoots my way. I back up.

My feet skid against the edge.

I freeze, eyes wide.

And then I feel the heat.

It brushes against my skin as a blade cuts between me and the red light.

"Link!" I cry. He'd jumped across and drawn his sword, so quick I hadn't seen or heard him coming. Clutching his sword in both hands, he deflects the beam and scrapes the ceiling with its reflection, striking the inside of the skull's eyes as it goes. As the light falls downward, it strikes the eye that makes it and destroys it.

It shatters like glass.

A rumble from the sky throws us to our feet at the lava's edge. Pieces of the ceiling cave in around us, and when the falling is over, he looks at me, stands, taking his arm from around my back, and asks, "Are you all right?"

"I… You saved me…"

He smiles, a little nervously at first, then laughs and looks around. "That was scary! Wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but… You SAVED me…"

The smile widens. "Yeah, so? You needed my help."

"I…"

Somehow, my arms snake around him and won't let go. "Thank you…" Tears fall, one after another, and I can barely hear myself saying, "I could have died… You saved me, I could have died." He just smiles and pats my back and lets me cry.

As though I had woken up from a nightmare.

"I'm sorry," I say, and pull away. He looks confused for a moment. What a jumble my words must seem. "I'm sorry I didn't help you when you needed me, at Pica's house…"

"It's ok," he says, but I'm not finished.

I sniffle, and murmur, "I'm sorry I cry…" The Hylian gets caught in my throat and my face flushes with embarrassment.

He pats my shoulder and Navi caresses my face and I'm suddenly so happy I could burst…

Something hits the floor.

The mouth of the giant skull… Its eyes glow red, and even in the heat, we both shiver. A hole in the mouth leads inward, beckoning us.

"Should we go in?" I ask.

Link turns to his fairy.

"I can feel something awful in there," she says. "Something dark, like Ganondorf."

"Guess that's what we're looking for," I whisper, pulling away from Link's embrace. Together we climb up the jaw of the creature and down its bony gullet.

And then we fall into a hole.

The bright light of lava surrounds us and we are hit by a heat stronger than in the room behind us.

"Are you guys ok?!" Navi cries, flying down after us.

"I think so," Link replies, getting up on hands and knees.

The first thing I see is a small ball growing in the ground, a small flower blooming on top of it.

"Oh, look," Navi exclaims, flitting toward it. "A bombflower!"

"That's a bombflower?" I ask, brushing myself off. "They really do grow down here…"

"Anali," Link murmurs, suddenly completely still.

"What?"

"Don't. Move."

But of course, I turn.

Black scales cover the claws that sink into the ground below us. A leg twice my size leads to a shoulder thrice my width, which connects to a triangular head.

A huge mouth opens and lets out a scream that bounces off the walls and scratches my ears.

"DODONGO!" Navi screams.

Link and I bolt, wails trailing us like ghostly tails.

The Dodongo cries again and chases us.

"Link! I think we've seen enough now. Time to go home!" I yell, pumping my legs as fast as they can go. He's right beside me, skirting the lava and looking back at the creature in our wake. Then he slows.

"What?" I say, pausing before him. But then I see it. The creature has stopped. But why?

It huffs.

It puffs. A black tongue comes into view.

And it blows a stream of fire in our faces.

We leap out of its way before it comes toward us again, only to stop and cock its head side to side, as if confused.

"What's it doing?"

"It can't see us!" Link cries. "Its eyes…"

Navi cuts in. "They see heat! It can't see us because of how hot this place is. But it can feel you moving - so you've got to be careful!"

"What do we do?" I ask. I look at the bombflowers, the nearest by the Dodongo's feet. "Blow it up?"

Link's eyes brighten. "Its tongue! It's scorched by the fire… It can't tell what it's tasting!"

"So if we feed it a bombflower…"

"Gotcha! I'll be the distraction!" He runs off before I can protest, toward the thing, and leaves me to fend for myself.

"Link, wait!" I cry, but it's too late. The Dodongo has already 'seen' him. It rears its head and sucks in the hot air.

I dash for the far corner, where a second patch of bombflowers has sprouted and rip one from its root.

"NO!"

For a second, I see it all ending.

As I run, I see the head come down, flames curling into the air.

Passing over Link's skin.

Tearing into his green tunic.

I hear his blood-curdling scream.

And then I throw the bomb.

It catches.

Spirals into the beast's throat.

And ignites.

BOOM!

Muffled by the thick skin, the explosion is like the sound of someone puking. A rattle comes from the Dodongo's mouth before its neck rips apart, the black, shiny scales ripping into fleshy pieces on contact. Not quite dead, but missing half its neck and shoulder, the creature topples, blood pouring from its wounds and dripping into the lava. The smell of burning flesh floats up to the ceiling.

It tries, in vain, to lift its head.

We stand there a moment, watching its body twitch, and then it dies.

I dash to Link's side and knock him down in an embrace. "You're crazy!" I scream. "You're absolutely insane! You could have gotten yourself killed!"

He takes my abuse and Gerudan insults in silence, and then begins to shake. I look at him, amazed to find him in a fit of laughter.

"That was the coolest thing that's ever happened in my life!" He cries, eyes bright and wet with hysterical tears. The adrenaline rush in his veins make his body shake harder. "Woo!" He stands and pushes me off him, looking around at our handiwork. "You saved me," he says with a smile. "I could have died, but you saved me."

I just look at him, speechless.

Then, from the above depths, unfurls a ladder.