Chapter Two: The Goron’s Ruby

Before they turned their attention to the objective, Link decided that they needed to stop and 
restock their supplies. They were running low on food and they had nothing to carry water in. 
They had just reached the first paddock of the ranch they had stopped at earlier, when they heard 
a joyful voice call their names.

"Link! Kage! Welcome back! How did it go at the castle?" Malon asked, as she ran over to them, 
hugging them as though they had been gone for years. 

"Things went well. We got a clue on where to head next and we learned our first song on our 
ocarinas. But we need some supplies before we can get going." Kage replied.

"Then you’ve come to the right place! We have some water skins and some extra food packs full 
of food that need to go somewhere! I’ll go and get them if you like!" Malon offered, eager to help 
her friends.

"Yes, please! Thanks so much for your help!" Link said, cheerfully.

"No problem! By the way, while you are here, would you like to meet my two favorite foals of 
this spring?" Malon asked.

"Sure!" Link said, as he and Kage cautiously climbed the fence and walked across the paddock 
with the girl. They walked along behind her until they came to some mares and their new foals. 
One foal had a reddish brown coat with black feet, the other was solid black with a blaze running 
down his nose. 

"What’re their names?" Link asked, as he held a hand out to one of the foals, watching as it stuck 
its head out inquisitively, then shied away from him. 

"The red one’s name is Epona, the other one, the colt, is named Ryuuhi. Oh, they seem to be 
afraid of you." Malon said, noticing that the foals had taken refuge behind their mothers.

"They seem to be." Kage said, dismayed by the horses’ behaviour, thinking that it was because he 
was so unusual.

"Don’t worry, they usually stop being afraid if they hear my mother’s song." Malon said, 
comfortingly, noticing Kage’s crestfallen look.

"Your mother’s song? Do you think we could learn that on our ocarinas?" Link asked, turning a 
gentle gaze onto the frightened baby horse.

"Yeah! Now, listen carefully." Malon instructed, then started singing. Link and Kage were 
amazed by how pretty Malon’s voice really was. When she had sung it through once, Link and 
Kage started playing. Like before, when they made a mistake, they went back and corrected it. 
After about fifteen minutes, they were playing the tune flawlessly. Kage was so caught up in his 
playing that he didn’t realize that a soft nose had touched his face until an equally soft, wet, pink 
tongue licked his face.

"Ah! Hey!" Kage said, with a laugh. The foal that had come up to him, Ryuuhi, neighed a tiny 
little neigh and danced away, only to return to his side a moment later. Link had gotten a similar 
response from Epona, who now allowed him to get close and touch her soft baby fur. Link buried 
his face in the foal’s neck and breathed in the scent. 

"She smells good. Like sunshine and new grass." Link murmured, keeping his voice soft so he 
wouldn’t frighten Epona. Epona’s ears turned this way and that, taking in the sound of this new 
person’s voice so she would know who he was later.

"That’s what all new foals smell like. It looks like you and Epona and Kage and Ryuuhi will be 
good friends from now on." Malon said, watching as Ryuuhi allowed Kage to scratch the places 
behind his ears, and Kage got his elfin ears nibbled on in the process. Reluctantly, Link admitted 
that it was time to leave. With Navi and Mizuu’s urging, the two Kokiri children got what they 
needed then started off for Kakariko Village and Death Mountain. It was a day and a half of hard 
travel. The land they were now entering was rough and hilly, a far cry from the flat, grassy land 
of central Hyrule. They were relieved when they reached Kakariko Village, where they stopped at 
a well and caught their breaths, before pressing on. Village children looked at the strange 
travelers in wonder and often pointed at their attire and commented on it as they passed. When 
they reached a gate, a guard who was stationed there stopped them.

"Where do you two think you’re going? Don’t you realize what lies beyond this gate?" the guard 
asked.

"We have permission to pass through here, sir." Link said, acting twice his age. 

The guard, surprised by the show of maturity, yet incredulous of the claim, said, "Show me some 
proof that you have permission to go through here." Link in turn revealed the sealed letter and 
handed it to the guard.

"Well! This is the Royal Seal! The princess has strange taste in messengers, these days. All right, 
I will let you through. But be careful, this isn’t the place to let your guard down, you know. 
There’s all kinds of bad stuff going on around here, nowadays." The guard said, as he signaled 
the men in charge of the gate opening mechanism to start opening the gate. 

"We know. That’s part of the reason why we’re here." Link replied, as the gate opened to reveal 
the path before them.

"Great, more rocky ground to walk on!" Kage moaned, not looking forward to walking on the 
rough-hewn path. The guard chuckled at that remark, then looked grimly down the path. 

"Here’s your letter. Be careful on that path!" the guard said, as he handed them the sealed 
parchment, then stood aside and watched them walk through the gateway. 

"We will! Thank you for your time!" Link called back over his shoulder. The guard’s old, 
weather-beaten face sobered as he thought of the dangers that the two boys had yet to face.

"May the gods be merciful to those two lads." The guard said, as he made the motion to close the 
gate behind them. It was another day of hard walking before they reached their destination. 

"So this is Goron City!" Link said, as they walked into town.

"Yeah. Finally, a place to sit down!" Kage said, as he sat on the lip of a fountain, took his boots 
off, and rubbed his sore feet.

"You two have never had to walk so far before! Yet you did better than we thought you would!" 
Navi said, as Link took Kage’s example and sat down, happy enough to take a load off of his 
aching legs.

"Thanks Navi, I guess." Link said, not certain as to take her statement as an insult or a 
compliment.

"Are you children lost?" a woman’s voice asked from behind. Both Kokiri whirled around to find 
a motherly looking woman standing there.

"No ma’am. We just came here because we needed to deliver a letter to someone." Kage said, 
politely.

"Oh. Who is the letter to?" the woman asked, gently. Link shrugged.

"It doesn’t say, but, whoever it is to, it is important." Link replied.

"If it is to the king, then go down to the engraved doorway and follow the carpet inside. I’m sure 
he will hear you out." The woman suggested.

"Thanks so much, ma’am." Kage said, and he and Link stood up and dipped polite bows to her.

"You’re very welcome. I wish the village youth were as polite as you two are. But I’m afraid that 
it will be awhile before any more children are born here." The woman said, sadly.

"Why? What’s wrong?" Link asked.

"There is a serious famine going on around here. There isn’t enough food for us to eat, and the 
water supply is starting to suffer as well. We don’t have enough food to support children should 
any be born here." The woman said, gloomily.

"I see. That’s so sad. Maybe the famine will break in a little while." Link said, somehow 
emphasizing with the people of the stricken town.

"I hope so. Thank you for talking to me." The woman said, with a smile.

"You’re welcome! Hopefully the next time we come here the famine will have broken." Link 
said, as he and Kage put their boots back on and started walking in the way the woman had 
indicated.

"I hope to see you then!" the woman said, waving as they disappeared from sight. When they 
came to the door, Link, Kage , Navi and Mizuu stopped. 

"What is it, Link?" Kage asked, as Link cautiously stepped forward and touched the heavy oak 
door.

"It’s enchanted." Link replied, suddenly looking troubled.

"What’s enchanted?" Kage asked, as Link again stood next to him.

"The door. It won’t open if you push it or pull it. Why don’t you try playing that lullaby on your 
ocarinas and see what happens?" Navi suggested.

"It’s worth a shot." Link said, as he raised his ocarina to his lips and started playing the lullaby. 
Kage joined in a few seconds later. With a groan, the door complied with the musical command 
and opened.

"All right!" Kage shouted, happily. 

"Let’s go." Link said, as he led the way. They followed the pathway until they reached the inner 
sanctum of the castle and the foot of King Darunia’s throne.

"Oh, what brings you two children here, hmm? And in this time of famine too?" the king asked, 
as he looked down at the two Kokiri from his throne.

"We came here with permission from Princess Zelda, sire." Link replied, politely.

"Princess Zelda? Such a high claim for one so young! Prove it to me!" Darunia said, as he 
reclined back into his throne, obviously feigning nonchalance. Link then produced his ocarina 
and started to play Zelda’s Lullaby for him. The king listened in amazement as Kage started 
playing his and enhanced the tune with his own ocarina. 

"Now I am impressed! I haven’t heard the lullaby played like that since Princess Zelda’s first 
birthday." Darunia said, sounding very pleased with their talent. 

"Sire, I have one question. It regards a certain stone." Link said. Kage knew what he meant 
almost immediately. They already had the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, now they had to get the 
ones for fire and water.

"You mean the Spiritual Stone of Fire? I am sorry, young ones, but I can’t give you that 
information. You may have charmed me by playing Zelda’s Lullaby, but you will have to do 
much more than that to gain my trust. Now, putting that aside, would you mind playing a more 
cheerful tune so I can get these problems off my mind for a while?" Darunia asked.

"Sure." Kage said, taking up the lead and started playing a tune he remembered from his tribe’s 
town. It was a lively tune, designed for dancing, and soon King Darunia was tapping his toes in 
rhythm to the song. When the song had ended, they again received applause, but this time it came 
from Darunia. 

"Thank you for such a lively tune! I shall have to teach my court musicians that one!" Darunia 
said, with a loud laugh.

"You’re welcome, your Highness. Hopefully the next time we meet, it will be under better 
circumstances." Kage said, with a polite bow. Link did the same, before turning and walking out 
the way they had come. 

"Okay, now where to?" Kage asked, as they emerged from the castle.

"We head back to the Kokiri Forest and ask for directions to the Spiritual Stone of Fire from 
Mido. He should tell us where it is located." Link replied, grinning when he heard Kage groan.

"What’s the matter, Kage?" Mizuu asked.

"You mean we’ve got to walk all the way back to the Kokiri Forest? My feet already hurt bad 
enough as it is!" Kage complained, as Link started heading away from the city.

"Well, so much for what I’d said earlier." Navi said, getting a dirty look from Kage while she was 
at it. The trek back to Kakariko Village was much easier than the journey away from it. The guard 
was relieved to see that the two boys were all right and, since it was dusk when they arrived at the 
gate, allowed them to stay with his family for the night. The next morning they started off for 
Kokiri Forest, but when they were halfway there, a kindly merchant who was heading back from 
Hyrule Castletown and was returning home for a while offered them a ride. Link and Kage gladly 
accepted the ride and the merchant took them as far as the bridge then dropped them off. 

"Thanks for the ride, sir." Link said, as he and Kage hopped off.

"Anytime, lads, anytime. I understand how tough it must be on you two to travel so far on foot. I 
did it quite a few times myself when I was younger. Good luck!" the merchant said, as he turned 
his cart around, flicked the old cob with the reins, and then rode off.

"Thanks again!" Kage said, waving to the old man, then running into the forest, where Link stood 
waiting.

"Let’s leave the packs here, since we’ll be coming through here again in a little while anyway." 
Link said, as he shed the leather pack, leaving only the wooden Kokiri shield and the sword. Kage 
did the same, then followed him to where they knew Mido to be. Kokiri villagers looked up as 
Link and Kage strode into their small town. 

"Well, well! Look whose back! The misfits!" Mido shouted, with a laugh, trying to get a rise out 
of Link and Kage. 

"We found him faster than I’d expected, Link." Kage grumbled, as Mido strutted up to them. Link 
rolled his eyes but said nothing.

"So, was the big, bad world too much for you, Link? Kage? Hmm?" Mido jeered.

"They handled it quite well, better than what you would have, Mido!" Navi said, in Link’s 
defense. 

"Wha…? Who’re you?" Mido asked, in disbelief.

"I’m Navi, Link’s guardian sprite." Navi replied.

"Link’s guardian WHAT?!? But Link doesn’t have a sprite!" Mido yelped, his statement proving 
to be very comical to Kage, who stood there trying not to laugh.

"He’s does now, buddy. I was assigned to him by the Great Deku Tree himself!" Navi said, 
haughtily. 

"I’ll bet. You’re probably somebody else’s fairy who has been put up to this and is putting words 
in the late Deku Tree's mouth!" Mido said, contemptuously. 

"Now he’s in for it." Kage whispered to Link, as Navi started glowing a reddish orange color.

"Say what?!?! Ooohhhh! Now you’re going to get it!" Navi shouted, as she grabbed Mido by the 
ear and started dragging him around by the ear.

"OW OW OW OW!!!!!!!! LEGGO MY EAR! YOU STUPID @#!$%$&^&%!" Mido wailed, as 
Navi proceeded to drag him straight to a water trough that was set up for the Kokiri horses, pulled 
him straight off of the ground, and dropped him into the icy water.

"Aiiee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s cold!!!!!!!!!" Mido screeched, leaping up so fast and so high, that the 
rest of the Kokiri had to pull out the emergency tarp that was used during the fire season in order 
to catch him. When Mido returned to earth, he stomped up to a rather smug looking Link and 
growled, "I hate you." 

"Isn’t that fairly obvious?" Link asked, as the rest of the villagers started laughing. Mido glared at 
him.

"You didn’t come back here just to make a fool out of me! What do you want?" Mido asked, 
anxious to get the two travelers out of his hair.

"We came to ask for directions to the Spiritual Stone of Fire." Kage said, speaking up for the first 
time since they had returned. Mido looked taken aback.

"The Spiritual Stone of Fire? Don’t tell me you don’t know where it is! It was right under your 
noses the entire time! The entrance to its holding place is on the cliff overlooking Goron City! 
Now go and visit Saria, she’ll want to see you two, since you’re her favorites and all." Mido said, 
waving them off with a dripping hand.

"Thank you, Oh Great Mido!" Link said, with a blatant sarcastic air, before dashing off in the 
direction of the Lost Woods. Mido watched the four go, with a look of contempt on his face. The 
look disappeared when he let loose an earth-shattering sneeze that could probably even be heard 
from Hyrule Castle. 

"That was great Navi! Dumping the ‘great’ Mido in that trough like that! You deserve a medal of 
commendation!" Kage said, between laughs as he and Link traveled through the Lost Woods with 
relative ease, since they had been through here many times before. 

"It won’t nothin!" Navi said, with a giggle, when she thought of the surprised look on Mido’s 
face when she’d dropped him into the water. 

"It was so something! Nobody before would have had the guts to have done what you did, Navi!" 
Link said, laughing as Navi playfully tugged on his right ear. They continued walking till they 
had reached the place at the end of the twisted path; the Sacred Forest Meadow. 

"Urgh, I hope there aren’t any Wolfos out here this time! I hate those things!" Kage said, with a 
shudder of revulsion. 

"I’m afraid that that is one wish that will have to go ungranted, Kage! Look at what’s comin’ our 
way!" Mizuu shouted, as two of the snarling beasts charged out of the opposite end of the field. 
With a yelp, the two boys split up, taking a Wolfos apiece. With a quick back flip, Link jumped 
over the Wolfos’ head and landed on its back, grabbing onto a tuft of hair and hanging on for dear 
life as the beast thrashed about. Kage dashed around, slashing at the other Wolfos’ head with his 
sword, getting a few really good hits in before it swiped at his unprotected left leg with its 
unnaturally sharp claws.

"Itai!" Kage screamed, as he tucked and rolled to avoid another hit.

"Kage!" Link shouted, from atop his Wolfos, his eyes frantic.

"Don’t worry about me, Link! Take care of that one! Stab ‘im between the shoulders! That should 
kill ‘im!" Kage said, from between gritted teeth, as he dodged blow after blow from the Wolfos 
he was fighting. With a nod, Link drove his sword into the space between his Wolfos’ shoulders, 
using all his strength to do so. The Wolfos let out a pained howl as the sharp, short-bladed sword 
punctured a lung. With a wild effort, the wounded Wolfos tried to throw Link off, but couldn’t 
shed the tenacious Kokiri. Kage let out a scream of desperation and leaped forward when his 
Wolfos opened itself up to attack, stabbing the beast in the chest as far as his sword would go. 
Then before the Wolfos could reach up and slash him again, he leaped away with as much 
strength as he could, considering his wounded leg. For a moment the Wolfos just stood on its 
hind legs, with a look of hatred and hellfire in its glowing eyes, then the beast fell with a dull thud 
onto its side.

"Hang in there, Link!" Kage shouted, as Link continued to ride the flailing Wolfos. Retrieving his 
sword from his Wolfos’ chest, he then ran in to help Link kill the one he was facing.

"My sword’s stuck! I can’t get it out!" Link yelped, as the Wolfos’ turned to snap at Kage. 

"Hang on!" Kage said again, as he got underneath the Wolfos, then stabbed upwards with his own 
blade. The Wolfos stopped for a moment, then started to fall.

"Yipe!" Kage yelped, leaping to avoid getting crushed by the dead Wolfos’ body. The battle had 
begun and ended so quickly that the two fairies hadn’t even had time to intervene in the midst of 
it all. Navi heard a ripping sound and saw Link rip some material from his tunic to stanch the 
bleeding in Kage's leg wound.

"I see now! How those two, of all people, could be chosen to become the heroes of us all!" Navi 
thought, as she watched the two boys stand up, Link supporting Kage, and walk to the gate that 
had just opened. They left the dirty business of retrieving their swords to the fairies. The rest of 
the path was clear as they moved from there to the field that Saria often visited. 

"Link! Kage! You’re back!" Saria shouted, as she ran over to them and hugged them both.

"Good to see you too, Saria. We had a little run-in with some Wolfos on the way here and Kage’s 
leg got a little torn up." Link said, pointing at Kage’s bandaged leg to prove his point. 

"Oh, I see! Hold on, I’ll be right back! I have some salve here that should do the trick!" Saria 
said, as she rushed off to find the salve. Link helped Kage sit down, then went to go change his 
tunic, since the one he’d been wearing was torn, bloodstained and smudged with dirt. When Saria 
returned, Link had a clean tunic on and he had unwrapped Kage’s injury so she could treat it.

"This might sting a little, Kage, so brace yourself." Saria informed, as she started rubbing the 
salve into the wound. Kage winced as Saria gently rubbed the salve in, but didn’t even utter a 
sound when she finished and wrapped the leg in some clean bandages. 

"Thank you, Saria." Kage said, as he stood up and tested his weight on his leg.

"No problem. So, what did you two return for?" Saria asked. 

"We came here for some more information. What exactly are these Spiritual Stones?" Link asked, 
as he held the green Forest Stone in his hands.

"Those stones are the keys to the Temple of Time. Gather all three and you will both be able to 
enter the Temple. Within the temple is the entrance to the Sacred Realm. Only the heroes can 
enter there." Saria replied, as Link and Kage nodded their understanding. She smiled; it was no 
wonder that these two were her favorites. They both had had a hard time of it in the Kokiri 
Village, with Mido hounding them about being different from the others. But they had persevered 
through it all. Now they had a few battles under their belts, but there was so much more they had 
to learn, and there wasn’t much time left.

"Now I need to teach you something. Get your ocarinas out." Saria said, smiling when she saw 
Kage make a face that was a cross between disgusted and pained. 

"Another song?" Kage asked, looking like he’d seen and heard enough about the ocarina for one 
lifetime.

"Yes. Another song. Now, pay attention. This is vitally important. If you two get in a bind and 
need my help later on, you can reach me with this song. This is my song." Saria said, as she 
raised her own ocarina to her lips and played her song for them. It took only a short time to pick 
up on it and they were soon playing it through without problems.

"Thank you for your help, Saria. Now to head back to Goron City and see if the Spiritual Stone of 
Fire is there." Link said, as Kage groaned, more from dread than from pain.

"Don’t worry, Kage, your leg should heal faster now that you and Link have heard my song. You 
see that salve I put on your leg is connected to the song. Every time you hear it, the wound will 
heal even faster. Good luck on your journey, you two." Saria said, as Link and Kage started 
walking away. The journey back to Kakariko Village was much easier on them this time around. 
Some soldiers that were heading to the village to check things out were kind enough to let them 
ride in the wagon. The wagon, which was full of hay for the horses, was the perfect place to sleep 
until they got to their destination. 

"They sure are young, aren’t they, Captain?" one soldier asked, when he’d glanced into the 
wagon and saw that the two boys had fallen asleep. 

"Yes, they are. But, if they are the ones foretold of in legend, then they carry a whole lot of 
destiny on their shoulders. But they’ve already made this journey to Kakariko once. They even 
made it to Death Mountain by themselves. Now what kind of child could do that on his own?" the 
Captain replied, smiling as the two guardian sprites alighted on their charges and kept watch. 
When they got to the village, the Captain gently roused the two boys.

"Hey, you two! Wake up! We’re here. You can’t very well sleep the day away in there, you 
know." The Captain said, as he leaned over and lightly shook the two boys. With some 
reluctance, the two sleepy boys complied and got up. 

"Thanks for the ride." Link said, as he yawned and stretched.

"No problem. Glad we could help." The Captain said, as he watched the two boys walk off. As 
Link and Kage were heading towards the gate, Kage stopped and looked to his right.

"What is it, Kage?" Mizuu asked, as she flitted over to him.

"I just had the feeling that we should go in there, but there’s a graveyard over there. What could 
be in there that we need?" Kage asked, as Link stood beside him and took in the scene.

"Let’s walk through and see. We might find something in this place." Link said, as he carefully 
climbed the fence and jumped down into the graveyard.

"Ugh. We’re actually traipsing into a graveyard! I think all this ‘Hero of Time’ stuff has finally 
gone to Link’s head!" Kage muttered under his breath as he followed Link into the burial area. 
After about ten minutes, Link found something.

"Kage! Mizuu! Get over here! Come and look at this!" Link shouted, excitedly. Kage came 
running.

"What is it, Link?" Kage asked, breathlessly.

"Look at this tombstone! See the symbol on it?" Link asked, as he pointed at the symbol. It was 
the shape of three triangles facing up and a fourth facing upside down in the middle of the design. 

"That is the sign of the Triforce! Only the Royal Family can wear that crest!" Navi said, finally 
noticing Link’s discovery.

"Come to think of it, wasn’t Princess Zelda wearing something like that on her hat?" Kage asked, 
as he thought back on that previous adventure. 

"Yeah! She was!" Link said, pleased that they had found something in the place of the dead.

"What do you think? What could this mean?" Kage asked.

"I don’t know. Let me try something." Link said, as he pulled out his ocarina and stood on a patch 
of ground that matched the symbol on the stone. Kage watched as he started playing Zelda’s 
Lullaby and, when he’d finished, suddenly disappear in a cloud of dust.

"Link!" Kage yelped, and rushed over to where a hole now was.

"I’m okay, Kage! C’mon! Let’s see if there’s anything down here that might help us in our 
quest!" Link shouted, as he dusted himself off. Kage groaned. He never liked graveyards and now 
he was about to enter a tomb! 

"Where did I get such rotten luck?" Kage grumbled, as he carefully lowered himself into the hole 
after his friend.

"In a graveyard, where else?" Navi joked, receiving a scathing glare from Kage for her troubles. 

"Don’t start, you two. ‘Sides, I hear some bats movin’ around in here. We need to try not to 
disturb them, if at all possible." Link said, as his sensitive ears picked up on the faint scratching 
of bat claws on stone. They proceeded forward as quietly as they could. Then they came to where 
the bats were roosting. Silently, Link removed his Fairy Slingshot from its place on his belt, 
keeping his eyes glued on the bats. There were four bats total, and, from what Kage could tell, 
they were of the bloodsucking variety. Kage took up Link’s example and got his slingshot ready 
for firing. Silently, the two pint sized warriors took aim, pulled back, and fired, with deadly 
accuracy. Two bats fell dead to the floor, the other two then took flight, and ready to take 
vengeance on those that had killed their kin. Moving quickly to avoid getting bitten, Link fired 
another shot, hitting another bat in the wing, this bat he quickly killed with his sword. Kage 
finished the last bat off with a quick, deft stab from his sword.


"Good work, Kage." Link said, as he wiped the bat’s blood off of the blade of his sword with a 
rag from his old tunic.

"You didn’t do half bad yourself, Link." Kage commented, as he in turn did the same with his 
sword and resheathed it. They were then startled by the sound of stone grating against stone as a 
door opened in the wall that the bats had been hanging in front of just moments before.

"Let’s go." Link said, getting a thumbs up from Kage. They moved silently into the connecting 
cavern. Kage had to keep himself from yelling in horror when he saw two zombie-like creatures 
lumbering aimlessly about.

"ReDeads!" Link whispered, his voice filled with disbelief and disgust. 

"I thought those things were only fairy tales meant to scare little kids into obeying their elders! I 
didn’t think that those creepy things actually existed!" Kage whispered, shuddering with 
revulsion when he caught a whiff of one of the zombies. 

"We need to get past them and get to the next room. C’mon, I think I see a way around." Link 
said, as he motioned for Kage and the two fairies to follow. As carefully as they could, they kept 
to the wall avoiding the ReDeads as well as the occasional bat as they made their way to the door. 
When they were in the next chamber, they all breathed a sigh of relief. They had avoided getting 
into a nasty battle with the undead creatures. 

"Hey! Look at the wall! It has writing on it!" Mizuu said, as she floated over to it.

"You’re right, Mizuu! Looks like musical notes!" Kage said, when he took a closer look at the 
mentioned wall.

"The Sun’s Song? Is that the name of it? Well, might as well give it a try. It’s going to be harder 
to learn since we don’t have anyone to listen to before we try it." Link said, as he raised his 
ocarina to his lips and played each note in sequence. Kage followed his lead and started playing 
the notes, soon they were playing the song through smoothly. 

"Let’s get out of here." Link said, feeling that they had gotten what they had come down there 
for. After sneaking past the zombies again, they went again into the room they had first arrived in, 
and used their hookshots to get out of the hole. 

"Whew! Am I glad to get out of that awful place!" Kage said, breathing in the fresh air, feeling 
better now that he was out of the crypt. 

"Hey! Try out that new song and see what it does!" Navi said.

"Okay, here goes." Link said, then started playing the Sun’s Song. 

"Link! The sun! It’s going down and it’s getting dark! That’s what that song does! It controls 
daylight and dark!" Kage said, in amazement.

"So that’s what it does! Hey! That grave! The one with the flowers in front of it! It has some kind 
of aura around it!" Mizuu said, as she turned her attention to the now glowing tombstone.

"Don’t tell me that we’re about to go into another grave! We just came out of one!" Kage 
moaned, not wishing to repeat the little adventure they had just emerged from.

"Oh, stop whining, crybaby!" Navi ordered, getting a little fed up with Kage’s complaints. Link 
merely rolled his eyes as Navi and Kage started arguing about who was the crybaby and walked 
over to the tombstone. For a moment he stood there, wondering what to do next, then he pulled 
on the stone and was surprised when it moved and revealed a passageway.

"Navi, Mizuu, Kage, get over here! This thing has opened up a passageway!" Link shouted, 
trying to get their attention.

"A passageway? Where does it lead, Link?" Kage asked.

"How should I know? I only opened the thing just now!" Link said, a little testily, as he started to 
lead the way inside the passage. With a reluctant look behind him, Kage followed Link into the 
passage. It wasn’t a very long passage, but it took them a few minutes to reach the end of it and 
the contents it held.

"Treasure chests!" Kage said, in amazement, as he walked over to one and tested the lock.

"They’re unlocked as well. Let’s see what’s in these." Link said, as he threw open the lid to his 
treasure chest and looked inside. They were further surprised by what they found. Inside the 
chests were two, well made, Hylian Shields. 

"Wow. Now those are army regulation issue shields, Link. Some of those soldiers you were with 
earlier had some of these with them." Navi said, as she looked over his shoulder at the prize.

"They’ll be good for protection, but they’ll be heavy and really slow us down. Do we really need 
these things?" Kage asked, dreading the long walk to Goron City with the shields.

"You might need them later." Mizuu said. 

"I had a feeling you were going to say that." Kage groaned. Link only chuckled and shook his 
head. He knew that the constant moving around was tough on his friend, who was so used to the 
ease of the forest’s paths. It also had to be tough on his leg that of which had just begun to scab 
over from their encounter with the Wolfos. 

"How is your leg holding up, Kage?" Link asked, as they shouldered the heavy shields on their 
backs along with their Deku shields and swords and food packs.

"It’s a lil’ sore, but nothin’ I can’t handle, Link. If there’s anything I won’t complain about it is 
injuries when I get ‘em. Don’t worry about me, I’m all right." Kage replied, as they made their 
way out of the passage. Link looked relieved. Navi could tell that Kage’s injury had been at the 
back of his mind, because he’d given Kage some concerned looks back in the crypt, when he’d 
thought that she wasn’t looking. After playing the Sun’s Song again and returning daylight to the 
area, they headed out of the graveyard and proceeded straight to the gate. The gate guard 
recognized them as they walked up.

"Hello again, you two! Looks like you’ve got a back load of things on you this time!" the guard 
said, with a friendly smile.

"Yes. It’ll make the travel a little more difficult, but it’ll be worth it to have these things later on." 
Link replied, with a grin. 

"That’s wise thinking for a lad such as yourself! Good luck, you two! Have a safe journey!" the 
guard said, as the men under him opened the gate and let the two boys through. It took them a 
while longer to reach Goron City, but they made it. Kage had started to limp about a mile before 
reaching the entrance of the castle and Link had had to take his shield onto his already 
overburdened shoulders and help him walk. To reach the inner sanctum where King Darunia sat 
was a relief for both of them and offered a chance to sit down. The king of the Gorons looked 
concerned as the two boys sat there for a few minutes, panting in exhaustion. 

"Are you two all right?" Darunia asked.

"Yes, sire, we will be……in a moment." Link panted, as he wiped sweat from his brow and 
looked up at the king. He instantly regretted that move. No sooner did he do so, he felt dizzy and 
started to pass out. He could hear the fairies and the king call out, but those sounds soon faded 
and blackness covered him.

When Link regained consciousness, he found himself in an unfamiliar room. 

"Where am I? What happened?" Link asked, feeling weaker than he ever had in his life.

"Lie still, lad. You got overheated and passed out in the throne room. The king carried you and 
your friend in here himself and told us to tell him when you awoke." A man, obviously a healer, 
said, as he placed a cool, wet cloth on his forehead. 

"Where’s Kage? Is he okay?" Link asked, instantly worried about his friend.

"He is fine. In fact, he’s as good as new. My apprentice performed a healing spell on that wound 
on his leg and it healed up nicely. He is asleep in the next room. I will go and wake him, if you 
want me to." The healer said, allaying Link’s fears.

"No. Let him sleep. He needs all the rest he can get before we do any more traveling. I’m sorry 
about all the trouble we’ve caused you and your king." Link said, apologetically.

"Don’t worry about it. King Darunia has always been a kind ruler and he does everything he can 
to help people. When you passed out, he leaped out of his throne and brought you here 
personally. He wanted to be sure that you two got the best medical care." The healer said, as 
Darunia himself entered, with a young woman who was apparently the aforementioned 
apprentice.

"How do you feel, young man?" the king asked, gruffly.

"Tired, but otherwise much better, sire." Link replied, honestly.

"That is good to hear. Did you two boys come all this way to find out more about the Goron’s 
Ruby?" the king asked.

"Yes sir." Link replied.

"My people have already been through your belongings and found the Forest Stone. I need no 
further proof that you and your friend are the legendary heroes as foretold in legends. Only the 
two heroes can gather those stones together. I am ready to tell you more about the Spiritual Stone 
of Fire." Darunia said, as he sat in the plain wooden chair next to Link’s bed.

"I would greatly appreciate it, sire." Link said, feeling a little bit stronger when he heard of his 
and Kage’s objective being mentioned. 

"You see, the whole reason that my kingdom is suffering from this famine stems from the stone 
itself. A horrible beast that calls itself King Dodongo has been terrorizing my people for several 
months now. He has already killed about half of the population to satisfy his hunger for flesh. 
Dodongo has taken possession of the stone you seek, and has it holed up in his cavern. If you can 
kill this creature, young man, you can have the stone." The king said, as he looked worriedly at 
Link’s face.

"Don’t worry, your Highness. Kage and I have already beaten several evil entities already. We 
both handled Queen Gohma, we can handle Dodongo." Link said, confidently.

"There is no doubt that you can handle Dodongo, lad, but I just hate sending children to do a job 
that I should have done a long time ago." Darunia said, miserably. Link was about to open his 
mouth when he heard Kage let out a yelp and fall out of bed.

"Kage’s awake." Link said, with an exasperated look on his young face. The king only chuckled 
and shook his head, knowing all too well what it was like to fall out of bed. 

The next day the two youths stood in King Darunia’s throne room. They both had their packs 
restocked and their canteens full.

"Thank you for your kindness, King Darunia." Link said, as he and Kage bowed.

"Don’t mention it. By the way, I have one more thing to bestow on you. These bracelets were 
made for the heroes of legend. One is for Kage and the other is for you, Link. They are no 
ordinary pieces of jewelry, however. These will allow you to pick up bombs from the bomb 
flowers that grow all throughout this land. It might come in handy when you face Dodongo." 
Darunia said, as he handed the glowing golden bracelets to the two youths.

"Thank you, your Highness! Don’t worry! We’ll kill that mean ol’ beast for ya!" Kage said, 
cheerfully, as he put the bracelet on his arm (his wrist was too small to have it fit properly there) 
and walked out after Link. 

"Good luck you two. May the gods have mercy on you both." Darunia murmured, knowing that 
the survival of his people depended on the two Kokiri. As Link and Kage walked out of the city, 
they came across a lone villager with two flowers.

"Excuse me, sir, but, are those bomb flowers?" Link asked, eager to try his new weapon out.

"Yes, young man. But you can’t pick the bomb unless you have a bracelet." The villager replied, 
watching in amazement as Link and Kage casually picked the bombs from the flowers. 

"What do you intend to do now, now that you have those bombs?" the villager asked.

"We intend to kill that monster that has been plaguing your city, that is what we intend to do. And 
we’ll do it too." Kage said, as he gently eased the bomb into his pack and the two walked off, 
eager to help the stricken city and continue on with their major quest. Not far down the path, the 
villager winced when he heard some explosions, but looked down off the cliff and saw that the 
two elfin children had just cleared a way to get into Dodongo’s lair!

"Smart boys." The villager muttered, as he watched the two descend down the cliff with their 
hookshots. After Kage and Link had figured out a way to get into the cavern, they made their way 
the center alcove. As they were walking through, Kage noticed something that lay on the floor, 
covered in years of dust. 

"Look at this, Link." Kage said, as he bent over and picked it up.

"What is it, Kage?" Link asked, as he and the two fairies looked over Kage’s shoulder.

"Looks like a map of some kind. I’m going to keep it in case we need it later." Kage said, as he 
carefully tucked it away into his pack. 

"Good idea. Now, let’s get onto that ledge over there and blow the door open." Link said, seeing 
that the only way to get deeper into the caves was through the blocked doorway that was up on 
the ledge. After they had blown the door open, they carefully made their way into another room 
that had two statues in it.

"Those are probably some of the ugliest statues I’ve ever seen! This Dodongo guy sure doesn’t 
have good taste in décor!" Navi commented, with an air of disgust, as she flitted around the 
stonework. 

"They are ugly, but I think they serve a purpose other than to gross out visitors! C’mon, Kage! 
Help me push this onto that switch!" Link said, as he put his back to one of the statues and started 
pushing it.

"What switch?" Kage asked.

"The one you are standing on, Kage." Mizuu said, dryly.

"Oh." Kage said, then started helping his friend push the heavy stone statues onto the switch. Not 
too long after they had moved the statues onto the switch, the sound of stone grinding against 
stone was heard, signaling that another door had been opened.


"Let’s go." Link said, as he led the way into the next room. They ducked as soon as they heard 
the familiar screech of angry bats. With lightning fast reflexes they whipped out their slingshots 
and fired stones at the bats. This time Kage’s aim was true and killed a bat in mid-flight. Link 
took out the other bat with his third shot. 

"Just like in the tomb." Kage muttered, as he put his slingshot back in his pack. Then they heard 
another familiar sound. The sound of hissing and scales brushing against one another.

"Lizalfos!" Kage whispered, unsheathing his sword, prepared for battle. Link nodded and did the 
same, knowing that they were about to confront some creatures that were twice their height. The 
lizard-like creatures stood between them and the door to the next room. With a nod, Link signaled 
that the time was right to attack.

"Now or never." Kage agreed with the silent command. With a yell the two young warriors 
charged at the reptilian guards. The Lizalfos, taken by surprise by the sudden sound, barely had 
enough time to react before the warriors were on them. By the time the dust had settled, the two 
Lizalfos guards were dead and the doorway to the room beyond was clear. Reaching back into his 
pack, Kage pulled out the bomb he’d tucked in there earlier and threw it at the rock wall that was 
before them. The room beyond that was almost completely dark and they needed more light in 
order to continue on. With a stroke of luck, Link found some flint, and, with the aid of his Deku 
stick, lit the torches that were scattered throughout the room. Now they could see where they 
were going. 

"Take the west door, I think that’s the way to go!" Navi said, as she flew ahead to show them the 
way. When they had gotten through the doorway, Kage paused and looked down.

"Here’s another switch, Link." Kage said, as he tested it with his foot.

"At least you are paying better attention to your surroundings now, Kage." Mizuu said, getting a 
dirty look from Kage while she was at it.

"Don’t start, you two. Wait till after we kill this Dodongo thing to have a fight, okay?" Link said, 
trying to get their minds back to the business at hand. Kage scowled at Mizuu and Link could 
only guess that Mizuu had just done the same, by the way her color now switched to red. As they 
moved into the next chamber, Link could almost feel the atmosphere change. The feeling he got 
in this room was more oppressive than in the others; he knew that they were getting close. 

"Look at all the Bomb Flowers!" Kage commented, looking at the lone column in the room and 
all of the flowers that were planted around it. 

"There’s one Bomb Flower that is all by itself. Maybe that’s a clue to blow up the wall behind it." 
Mizuu suggested.

"Let’s try that. You might be on to something, Mizuu." Link said, as he shook off the feeling of 
foreboding and walked towards the lone flower. With almost expert care, Link picked up the 
bomb, motioned for everyone to stand back, and hurled it at the wall behind the flower. With an 
explosion that rang in their ears for about ten seconds afterwards, the wall was blown apart.

"Yeah! You were right on it, Mizuu!" Kage shouted, excitedly.

"Of course, I am, after all, a fairy. I should know about things like that." Mizuu said, proudly. As 
they entered the room, they saw two treasure chests.

"Oh no. Not more treasure chests! That’s how we found these shields!" Kage moaned, dreading 
opening the chests to find out what was in them. Link shrugged.

"Maybe there’s something different inside these, Kage. Something lighter." Link suggested, 
trying to encourage his friend, whom he knew was tired of lugging the heavy metal shield around. 

"I hope you’re right, Link." Kage said, as he picked the lock to the chest and lifted the lid. 

"It’s empty……………no…….wait a minute………..well what do you know? Look at this, 
Kage!" Link said, after scanning the bottom of the chest.

"What is it, Link?" Kage asked, sneezing as some dust wafted up from the inside of his chest.

"It’s a compass! This is definitely lighter than these shields!" Link said, with a laugh, holding up 
his prize so Kage could see.

"Oh yeah!" Kage said, laughing as he dove into his chest and grabbed up the small, metal object, 
glad that he didn’t have to carry yet another shield on his back. 

"It’s too bad that this room doesn’t lead anywhere else. Let’s go back into the room we have just 
left and see if we can find any more clues on where to go." Link said, as he scanned the wall for 
any openings and saw none to which they could go through next. As they emerged into the room 
they had just left behind, Navi noticed an irregularity among the Bomb Flowers that surrounded 
the pillar. 

"There’s an open space between some of those flowers. Try placing a bomb between them and 
see what happens." Navi suggested. 

"We don’t have much of a choice." Link said, as he grabbed another bomb from the flower that 
was separated from the rest and set it carefully between the flowers that were near the pillar.

"Hit the deck!" Kage yelped, leaping behind some stonework on the other side of the room. Link 
and the two fairies heeded his advice and dove for cover, just as the bombs detonated. At first, 
nothing happened, then a low rumbling sound was heard and the four adventurers watched in 
amazement as a stone staircase came down before them.

"Wow!" Kage said, voicing their thoughts with just that one word.

"You can’t just sit there gawking at it, let’s go! The Fire Stone awaits!" Navi shouted, coming to 
her senses rather quickly and flying on ahead of them. 

"All right." Link said, as he followed his fairy, with Kage and Mizuu trailing along behind. As 
fast as their legs could carry them, they ran up the stairs and across the walkway that was 
connected to it, finally making it to yet another doorway.

"And guess what? Another room! When are we finally gonna get to this Dodongo thing, 
anyway?!" Kage asked, in exasperation.

"Well, at least we’re closer than what we were to begin with." Mizuu said, offering what 
consolation she could to the slightly miffed Kokiri. Kage only sighed in frustration and followed 
Link into the room. After killing a Skulltulla, finding a ladder that was blocked and pushing the 
statue that blocked it away, then pushing yet another switch that opened yet another room, they 
were beginning to feel that they would never reach Dodongo. It was the fairies that kept them 
going. Thirty minutes and several rooms later, Kage was beginning to feel the foreboding Link 
had felt earlier. They knew that they were getting close, and that there was no turning back now, 
now that their goal was so near. 

"Well, this is it." Kage murmured, as he and Link approached a hole in the floor that they had 
made with some bombs.

"Yep. Now or never." Link said, taking a deep, nervous breath before lowering himself through 
the hole. With that said, the two young adventurers did what no Goron had the courage to do, step 
right into the very depths of hell!