LOZ:Twilight Princess:31:P2 Rev

----Chapter 31: Dominion over the Ancient: PART 2


Some unnoticed force had suddenly knocked full into Link and flung him meters from where he had once stood in front of Rusl.  Winded and sprawled sideways on the floor, Link choked as he regained his breath.  He sat up holding the side of his stomach as he looked toward Rusl.  The blacksmith rushed toward him, saber bared and ready to fend off the unannounced attacker.  Rusl helped Link to his feet as he breathed out the thudding pain in his side.

Link grabbed for his sword even before the pulse of the hit had completely faded from his body; if there was an enemy bound on taking their lives, tending to such minute pain would do Link little good.  Keeping his breathing steady to fizzle out the tinge quicker, Link joined Rusl in sweeping over the chamber as they stood back-to-back.

Rusl whispered back to Link a moment later, and the youth looked in his direction.  Near the bell there stood a dark figure facing away from them, bulky in its heavy armor and at least a body taller.  As if had sensed their eyes upon it, the figure turned about in one slow menacing movement.  A dark knight, barely a gap in its shell of body armor, faced them, eyes absent behind an ominous, metal-plumed helmet.  It held up a circular shield on its left forearm and flashed the long blade it held in its other hand.

Desperately wanting to destroy this foe before Rusl had a chance to move in and be harmed, Link flicked his finger over the clasp of his cloak and let it drift to the  floor as he reached back to slide his shield onto his right gauntlet.  He stepped alongside Rusl.  No matter how much he might inwardly resent the man, he wished death on no one save those in servitude to Ganondorf.

Familiarizing himself with the balanced weight of his shield on his arm and the recovery of his full agility from shedding his cloak, Link shifted his weight back and forth from one leg to the other as he sized up his foe.  Link had had practice in swordplay more frequently than Rusl in the past weeks, and it was Link who moved in first.  He sailed first to one side of his opponent and then to the other as he memorized how the knight shifted in defense.  It knew Link was studying its movements, and it struck, sending a forceful blow whipping through the air toward Link's head.

Link did not have to be able to see Rusl to know that, by some paternal instinct, he had inaudibly heaved a fearful gasp for his safety.  But the blacksmith need not concern himself, for Link reacted to the strike with precise timing, ducking under the blade when it should have passed through him.  After the failed attack, Link saw Rusl approach out of the corner of his eye.  Link rolled to the right while crouched to bring the knight's attention fully onto him while he opened its backside fully to his comrade.

But the knight was extremely perceptive and it seemed to be able to feel Rusl's approach in the undetectable tremors in the ground caused by his quick steps.  It wheeled around and reared down its massive sword just as Rusl struck out.  Fortunately, Rusl was still swift enough in his older age to evade the coming blow, jumping back as far as he could without sacrificing his footing.

As the knight had twisted about, Link had noticed the leather straps that fastened its armor to its under armor.  Link charged in immediately and slashed out at the nearest part of the knight.  In an instant, its left greave fell away to the floor.  Before Link could blink, however, the knight had turned upon him, and Link was again struck and sent flying across the room.  He landed hard and dazed against the wall, a long but shallow cut crossing over his right collar.

Link could see the blurred image of Rusl stepping into a fiery dance of blades with the knight as he lay momentarily motionless.  The memory of once seeing Rusl beaten and bloodied lying on his bed recalled Link to his senses.  That had been a time that had pained Link not only seeing the man in such pain but also watching helplessly as Uli's emotions suffered from the strain of care and worry.

No, said Link to beat back the haze clouding his eyes.  He has a wife.  A son.  A newborn by now....  I will not … let you take him away from them....

Link pushed himself up from the floor, only temporarily using the wall as a support.  Seconds after he once again stood, a growl gurgled in his throat, and he sprinted toward the attacking knight.  Rusl, avoiding a blow from his enemy, was startled to see Link's lunge at the knight.  Link had drawn its full attention, and he and the warrior stepped into a gruesome exchange of blows.  As the youth attacked at its armor, it continually batted away his blade, used its shield to block him, or simply stepped out of the way.  When the knight assaulted Link, he evaded by ducking, sidestepping, or somersaulting backwards, and Link would then engage in his own barrage of thrusts and slices once again.

The battle continued on in this fashion for some time, and Link began to tire from the constant strain of remaining one step ahead of his foe's lethal blade.  Yet, by this time more than half of the knight's armor had been cleaved away to clank unceremoniously against the cold ground, for as Link had maintained its watchful eye, Rusl had been able to slip in quite a few unguarded strikes before it was able to parry away further harm.

Though, the damage had been done.  Link had absorbed its style of fighting, and he could clearly see each attack and defense before the knight moved.  Before long, Link and Rusl were able to strip the knight of its heavy armor to reveal its coat of simple maroon and gray under armor.  Now it moved much more swiftly, and either in anger or determination, it let its shield fall from its arm as it threw its massive blade toward Link, who arched backward just in time to evade the flying sword.  It landed with a jarring clang in the wall behind him, and the knight yanked out its slimmer secondary saber.

Forced to move even lighter on their toes, Link and Rusl were able to maintain their offensive ground against the knight for most of the ensuing battle.  Now they were able to parry against its blade rather than dodge since the knight's new sword was not as deadly in its weight as the last.

When the knight was able to attack, its swings were short and focused blows.  There was no fancy or amazing technique to the way it moved about so efficiently, but that in itself impressed Link.  Its arm seemed so precise … yet it was not enough to best both Link and Rusl.

As Link stepped to the right to draw its attack and block the hard blow that ensued, Rusl plunged in.  Seeing Rusl's quick movement, Link pounded his blade against the knight's so that, in using its strength to combat the assault, it did not see the older man coming.

The next image presented to Link was that of Rusl's blade piercing through the chest of the dark knight.  There was a moment of silence before the warrior's body stiffened and fell to the floor, and as Link gazed down at the defeated enemy, he took that moment to reclaim his calm.

Rusl stepped over to him.  The blacksmith merely clasped his shoulder for a moment before walking past him toward the statue.  A wave of relief washed over Link.  He sheathed his blade and returned his shield to its place.  The battle with the dark knight had ended … and Rusl was still all right.  Halfway there, sighed Link as he walked past the dead knight to retrieve his cloak.

Link picked up the black cloth and tossed it around his shoulders once more as he started toward Rusl.  And as long as he remains safe….  Link's last thought trailed off as his eyes rolled over something among the knight's armor.

What was that?

He crouched down to the plates of armor beside the warrior, clueless as to what Rusl was saying to him just then.  Link reached out and picked up a staff from between the chunks sprawled across the floor.  He gripped it with one hand at the center where a handhold had been constructed.  His other fingers traced along its length.  The staff was intricately carved, but it did not feel like wood as he had expected.  It felt more like some sort of metal, and there was a vibration that hummed within its length that Link could barely discern.  The top of the staff was formed by two crisscrossing half circles, a flattened spot in the center of their junction.

"Link," the youth finally heard from within his trance.  "Link?"

Shaking himself from his state, Link rose and turned to meet Rusl.

"What's that?" his comrade asked.

"I'm not sure," Link replied.  He waved it through the air, feeling the hum within the staff massaging his palm.  The vibrations seemed to spike each time he moved it, and so he swung it, testing it.  However, just as he did so, a ball of yellow green light ignited within the nest of the half circles.  Sparks of the same green color flickered at the tips of the staff, energizing the orb.

He was not sure what the staff had been intended to do, but seeing the statue towering over them from the window … he had a hunch.

Link swung the staff toward the statue, and the orb of light was launched from the device.  It smacked squarely against the chest of the stone figure above them, and in an instant, a yellowish glow lit up its engravings and it raised its arms higher.  The sight much reminded Link of the armored statue that had brimmed with blue life.

Rusl exchanged a glance with the youth.

Link had not truly expected to find a means of relocating such a massive statue, but even from his first encounter with a living statue he should have predicted that there would have been some mystical way of transporting the figure.  But then again….

It was not moving.

Why isn't it moving? Link wondered.  He asked this of Rusl, but he was also puzzled by its inactivity.

Link looked about as if searching for an answer within the walls.  But the only good that did was to draw in a second question.  The bell in the middle of the floor had risen as if by magic.  It, too, now shimmered with the colors of the staff, and it had exposed a platform beneath it.

He started for the bell … but halted after one step.

The floor had shaken, and, immediately, Rusl grabbed his shoulder.

"What was that?" asked Link.

Rusl motioned toward the statue.  "When you moved, it moved."

Link's eyebrow rose.  Indeed the statue appeared closer to the edge, but Link had to see such a feat for himself.  He took another step toward the bell as he continued looking up at the figure.  In the same moment that he had moved, the statue had hopped forward.

The staff was a work of ingenuity, admitted Link.  How it worked exactly was beyond his understanding; though, neither he nor Rusl cared at the moment.  The device would help them accomplish their goal of returning the statue to its proper place.

Now, all Link hoped was that when the statue fell from its perch it would not break apart from the impact.  He continued moving forward and after three steps and hops the statue tumbled down to land perfectly balanced on its base.  Pleased with their progress, Link turned to Rusl who looked on in admiration of such ancient technology.

"The bells must have something to do with this as well," said Link, and he unconsciously motioned with the staff to gesture toward the golden marvel.

Immediately, Link and Rusl were dodging stone debris crunched and coughed up into the air by the casting of the statue's hammer.  Once they had realized that the statue had attacked only when Link had shifted the staff, Rusl called over to him.  "Try to be careful with that, will you?"  He was smirking despite the fact that the newest addition to their party had nearly stamped them out of existence.

More aware of how he moved, Link had to consciously keep himself from tilting the staff in any large motion.  Rusl stepped up alongside him as the statue followed closely behind at a pace that seemed contradicting to its size and the manner in which it was forced to move.  They could feel every tremor in the floor as it pursued them, and Link could feel its very essence, connected with it by the power of the staff's humming energy.

They stopped at the edge of the circular platform underneath the bell, and Rusl bent down to inspect it as Link remained passive in his examination.  There was a central notch in its structure, and both Link and Rusl came to the same conclusion.  Link passed over the platform and continued walking until the statue fell onto its surface with its last hop.  A loud click signified that it had locked into place, and Link turned back to Rusl and the figure.  No longer did it turn or move with Link's motions.

Next moment, the bell descended upon the stone and engulfed it.  When the device again rose … the statue had disappeared, and the staff's energy withered to a weaker hum.

At first, confusion lined their faces … but when Rusl's wrinkles tightened in fascinated understanding, his expression lifted the perplexity from Link as well.  The staff and the bells worked together in transporting such statues about the temple.

Without delaying any further, the swordsmen turned back the way they had come, but blocking their path were armored statues glowing with bright blue sockets that stood within the door frames of either passage.  Rusl had again drawn his saber, ready to battle them.  Link and Rusl stepped back as the statues approached them, more exiting the corridors from behind the first.

Their numbers continued to grow by the second.  We can't fight them all at once, thought Link. But … he smiled … luckily for us, they don't move as fast.

Link noticed Rusl about to attack, but he called him back.  "Let them move in!"

"What?" the older man called back, stupefied at the request.

"Just trust me!"

Link and Rusl continued backward as the armored statues descended upon them, surrounding them in a cluster.  Link could see the tinge of panic within Rusl that he tried to conceal.  Trust me, repeated Link, trying to comfort even himself with his plan.  This will work.

"Remember.  They move slowest as they attack," the youth called calmly over to Rusl, his eyes never straying from the gathering.  He could see comprehension finally counter the flicker of fear in his partner.  Come on, willed Link.  Just a little closer.  You have to be closer.  He watched the figures as they finally met Link's mark.  "Go, now!"

Rusl dashed through the throng of stone figures.  He dodged their hammers easily, but once he was through he realized that Link was not beside him.  Turning about, he watched as Link remained within their ever tightening circle.  "Link!" he called in a panic.

What was he…?  Realization dawned, but Rusl grew even more worried.

As the statues all reared back their hammers to strike, Link fell into motion.  He danced about their bulk with perfectly balanced, twisted steps.  As he emerged from their mass, their hammers all thudded upon nothing … just as Link slammed the butt of his staff into the backside of the last one he passed.

Rusl raced alongside Link as he sprinted past him.  Already the statue he had struck was festering with flickering light.

Link and Rusl darted through one of the passages, but they were met by the blocked doorway.  Link knew they would not have enough time to open the path, so he ducked down in the furthest corner.  Rusl followed.

With the chain reaction that would ensue … the explosion would be big.

Within moments, a loud blast shook the ground, and in the same breath, some of the bits of the figures were blasted through the connected corridors.  As the air settled, the companions rose from their cover.  Though Rusl lingered on what had just happened, staring at pieces of debris, Link had already tucked the staff snuggly in the side of his belt like a secondary blade and begun ascending the pillar next to the barrier.  Rusl turned back to watch Link.

How he had matured into a fine young man.  Rusl smiled at the thought, but he was still plagued with worry for the youth.  Through all his concerns, though, he was proud that Link had developed quick reflexes and that the goddesses had chosen him to be the hero of their age.  He could already hear the stories being told years from now.  Link, the hero of Hyrule, one among many of the legends of their great land.

Link leapt down from the column as the way opened, and he and Rusl moved back into the rectangular room with the green crystal.  Standing before them opposite the golden bars, was the statue, the bell hovering above it.  Link first shot an arrow at the crystal to redden its sparkle and to open the path; he then pulled out the ancient staff and cast another orb of green energy toward the inert figure.  Once more, its body gleamed with the mystic light.  With a quick turn and swish of the staff, the statue pounded down the gate confining it.

So that Link would not have to endanger himself with precarious movement, Rusl retrieved the daggers that Link had used to access the room from their way in and now their way back through.  Link took the weapons and returned them to his belt.

Within moments, Link, Rusl, and their stone ally had returned to the gate that Link had tripped to prevent the spiders from pursuing them.  With great difficulty Link maneuvered the statue into a position before the gate so that he and Rusl were standing behind it.  This way the statue would serve a dual purpose as the one to free them to the route ahead and as their initial protection from the spiders.

Rusl drew out his blade, as he and Link discussed their strategy.  Link would have enough trouble navigating the statue across the perilous stairs.  Rusl would need to cover him.

With a thunderous boom that reverberated off the walls of the large room beyond, the statue's hammer sunk into the golden bars, breaking away their grip of the corridor.  Link and Rusl moved slowly inside, the stone figure scouting the chamber with unseeing eyes.  The skittering noises had suddenly stopped once the statue had emerged onto the ruined stones.

The silence before the growl….

As Link and Rusl stepped out into the crumbling chamber, they were greeted by the swarm of arachnids; however, they stared at them as if waiting.  Taking advantage of their stillness, Link and Rusl covered as much ground as they could, but then they heard what sounded like a thousand scuttling feet.

The statue had nearly reached the bottom of the passable stairs when smaller spiders the size of their feet stampeded toward them.  They flocked around Rusl and Link, speedily racing over their feet and around them and up their bodies.  Rusl was able to fling most of the creatures from his body as long as he kept in motion.  For Link, however, could only stomp on the white bubbles that made up their little bodies.  He kept the staff as steady as possible as he batted them from his form with his opposite hand.  He could not risk straying from his path to twist away the multitude of spiders, for if the statue deviated, it would fall into the depth of the chamber, and if Link moved the staff, its hammer would further dislocate the steps that remained to send them all plummeting down.

Link's chainmail protected the better half of his body from their biting, and when they at last reached the balcony below, he immediately swiped down with his staff.  The hammer met solidly with the low doorway and smashed through it and the archway.  Now that the hall was accessible to all of them, Rusl and Link darted through.  The statue fell behind as Link and Rusl dusted off the remaining spiders attached to them, stomping out their life.  Link then turned around to watch the statue as he cast the staff in many directions.  The figure obeyed his every movement as it squashed spider after spider that attempted to follow Link and Rusl.  Link stepped into what seemed a strange, ancient dance, twisting his body to the right and left, facing backwards and forwards as he continued waving his arm.

As soon as all the small arachnids were smears on the stones, Link hurried the figure forward as fast as could propel its motion.  Just as they were reentering the junction where Link had first encountered magicked stones, they heard the collective voice of the larger spiders approaching.  As Link guided the statue into the niche below the bell, Rusl stood at the passage ready to fight off their attackers.

The mass of the creatures had just begun their invasion of the room when Link had securely planted the statue in place.  Immediately he called to Rusl as he belted the staff, and the two of them sprinted through the first passage back toward the main entryway of the temple.  Though they stumbled in the darkness of the descending corridor, they dared not slow their pace, for they could hear the keese nest also erupt in squeals and fluttering.

When Link and Rusl reached the door they had lifted, they bolted straight under it, and Link cast his sword in a vicious swipe as if on instinct.  A red flame like energy poured from his blade and struck with a resounding blast into the doorframe.  The door fell loose and crashed to the ground, smashing the spiders that had managed to keep up with them.

Finally able to really relax for the first time since entering the temple, Link slouched over, one hand balanced on his knee while the other kept a firm grip of the Master Sword.  Rusl was leaning against the wall, but Link could feel his mentor's eyes upon him. No doubt the blacksmith was either excitedly bewildered by the power that had emerged from Link's blade, or … he was pondering worriedly about Link.

Link admitted that the blow had taken much energy out of him, to the point of being slightly dizzy, but he did not allow the seriousness of the sudden weakness to go noticed by his older comrade.  He could feel the shifting of a dark entity within him, and he realized that Midna's worry for him had just been voiced … whether the imp had been consciously aware of communicating with him or not.

Rusl moved toward the edge of the balcony.  "Let's finish this," he said, gesturing toward the statue that had been transported into the room below.

Link nodded and gathered himself up.  He sheathed his saber and again removed the staff from his belt.  They descended the stairway quickly, and Link used the device he held expertly now as he guided the statue toward the alcove next to the sealed door.  Once it nestled back into its proper place, it turned about to face the two adventurers.

And the doorway between the statues opened into a dark hallway.

Link's gaze narrowed upon seeing the lightless corridor.  Again he traded staff for saber and concentrated hard, allowing his lupine senses to take over his vision.  He had tried not to rely on his wolfish characteristics, but it seemed that darkness had penetrated this temple deeper than the resting places of the other pieces of the Mirror.  They would find a shard within this mass of stone and dark, Link was sure.

"Stay close behind me," said Link.  Objection filled the older man's eyes, however; when Link tossed him a glance, Rusl could see a strange quality infused within him that he could not comprehend.  There was something feral, something inhuman within him, and yet … focused and selfless.

Rusl nodded, and Link led the way into the darkness.

With Link's sharp instincts and aided sight, he was able to guide Rusl across ruined parts of the floor.  Nearly thirty paces into the hall, however, Link spotted several reddish eyes.  Recognition of their form and purpose struck him within an instant, and he was in motion before the red lines of energy had blasted toward them.  He pushed Rusl behind the crumbled chunks of what used to be a pillar as the multiple strikes missed their feet by mere inches.

Link peered over the top of their cover.  The devices were just the same as those he had encountered within the mines of the Gorons, only these were rather more decorative in their white marble framework.  It made sense, Link supposed.  This temple was generations old.  Some of its designs were sure to have been passed down among the peoples of Hyrule … even if the origins had been lost to most….

"I don't have enough arrows," stated Link.  "We'll have to time it right," he added as he watched the heads of each sculpture rotate in slow circles.  Only one eye had been afforded to each, but they were each timed differently.

Rusl peeked out, and as he was able to see their shining sockets, he, too, studied their pattern.  After only moments of watching them, they had each absorbed their pattern.  They waited another moment and then sprang out from behind their defense, stepping carefully.  They maneuvered quickly at points, sluggishly at others, and at one spot, they ceased all movement for a split second before sprinting the last of the way through, each turning behind the shield of an upright column.

The sculptures behind their worries, Link looked ahead.  The path seemed clear; they had bypassed half its length already.  But as he took his first step, he retreated backward once more, for as he had stepped forth, a sharp scythe-like blade had appeared from the wall, swooping down upon the floor where he had stood.

More traps.  How does this fail to surprise me?

Rusl had seen the whir of the blade, and he understood the situation even before Link looked toward him.  They had yet another obstacle to overcome before they would be able to continue on.  With only a vague idea of what to expect, they would simply have to rely on pure impulse to guide them through.

Nevertheless, waiting and pondering would solve nothing, and Link and Rusl launched themselves into the throng of what became a minefield of various bladed traps.  They ducked, swerved, back-stepped, and leapt through the oncoming attacks, reacting on split second decisions that would decide whether they emerged from the corridor in one piece, in halves, or in several fleshy lumps.

The last of the traps emerged from either side of the wall: two blades from each side, meeting horizontally at the points.  Only one option came to Link and Rusl in that moment, and with a leap of faith, they sailed as directly as they could between the blades coming at their knees and those aimed at their necks.

Both of them tumbled through the open door beyond into a dark room.  They had suffered minor scratches from their dash through the blades, but their small injuries did little to attract their full attention.  Gathering themselves to their feet once more, Link and Rusl stepped further into the room.  It was a circular room like most of those within the temple, and if Link could recall the layout of the above levels, they were directly below the large chamber where those countless spiders had decided to roost.

They stopped at the center of the room.  Rusl placed his hands on his hips, a frustrated look overtaking his features.  "All that?  For another dead end?"

It was true, Link noted.  He could not see any further paths leading out from this chamber.  He squinted through the darkness as he tossed his vision all about the chamber, and he distinguished four colossal statues lining the walls in symmetrical positions which created the illusion of corners.  However, unlike those of the other statues within the temple, they did not hold decorated hammers.  Instead their gigantic hands had been fisted, one resting on the floor while the opposite one hovered next to its head.

"Maybe it was a ceremonial chamber," mused Rusl, "but that doesn't help us much, does it?"

Link agreed as much, and he looked beyond the giants to all corners of the ceiling.  It seemed the same as any other, but in the dark, he could not quite make out the irregular design that covered it.  That in itself appeared unnatural to Link, for all else within the temple had been carved and painted quite evenly.  Upon further inspection, a section of the ceiling near to the door looked disfigured….  There were lines and geometric shapes that did not seem to relate to the pattern of the ceiling.

At first, Link assumed that this area of the ceiling had been deformed in much the same way as the rest of the ancient rooms, but in that moment … one of the lines seemed to twitch.

Realization dawned within Link.  Not a dead end.  Exactly what we've been looking for.

Rusl noticed as Link took up a guarded stance, and he turned about.  He could not see anything worth their defense, but he knew that Link's senses had become much sharper than his.  He steadied his saber within a tight grip and awaited any sign that revealed the existence of the threat that seemed so distinct to Link.

Yet, it was in that very same moment that the presence of such an opponent made itself known.  It had realized the two figures that had tumbled into its domain had become aware of it.  There was nothing left to do than to capture them and savor the juices of their bodies.

Just as the other arachnids, only one central eye rested within the head of the massive spider that spanned the length of nearly a tenth of the size of the enormous ceiling.

"Armagohma…." uttered Rusl in an awed whisper.

Link tossed him a sideways glance.  "What?"

"Such a creature is said to spawn only once every few generations," he replied.

Rusl's knowledge of the giant arachnid did not surprise Link.  The blacksmith had given him countless lessons on such things, and this was likely the mother of the other spiders that they had previously encountered.  But this creature was surely a manifestation of something much more than some rare species.  The dark power of a mirror shard….  He could sense its presence somehow.

The mother's eight prickly legs spun it into motion then, crawling across the web that it had constructed over the roof of the chamber.  The membrane covering the eye on her hairy head split open, and she looked down upon them, the pinchers over to her mouth squirming excitedly.  Link immediately tossed a hand back to exchange saber for bow.  Glad I didn't use the last of my arrows….

However, just as Link had reached back to prepare his attack, she closed her eye and let her backside hang lower.  Her body quaked in that moment, but Rusl knew what was happening before the silky eggs emerged from within her.  Just as they were twitching and hatching unnaturally fast, Link followed Rusl into their cluster, slashing through the better half of them before the tiny spiders breathed life, their infant forms a squishy white sack with legs.

Those that had been able to escape their eggs descended immediately upon the two of them.  Link was prepared this time, though, and he and Rusl stomped and cut them out of existence within moments.

The dying squeals of her young snapped Armagohma into action.  Infuriated, her eye opened to its widest, and the only indication that an attack was coming was the bright orange light that infused the chamber.  Rusl and Link were alerted to the danger in that flash, and just as a hot bolt of orange shot towards them, they were on the move.  The ray of energy shifted its path to follow them, creating blackened lines in the stones as it pursued them.  The speed of the mother spider's attack pushed the companions to move swiftly, but the light soon vanished from the room just as suddenly as it had arrived.

Link and Rusl took only a moment to catch their breath.  Surely such an ability was only made possible by the dark presence of the mirror piece infesting the arachnid.

Glossy objects again began falling from the ceiling, and Link and Rusl occupied themselves with their destruction.  A few of the baby spiders had been able to evade the edge of their blades to climb up their bodies; however, the tiny critters did not travel far before being beaten away to the ground once more … only to have a large foot stamp out their lives.

It was during one such event that upon turning to trample over a spider he had just batted to the floor, Link saw the approaching form of the mother.  She had used her offspring as a device, a distraction so that she was able to sneak near to the invaders without their initial notice.

Link screamed toward Rusl, and they jumped out of the way of the monster just as it lunged at their last position.  They took advantage of the spider's close proximity to deal it damage, weaving through its scuttling legs and thrusting at its body and head.  It squealed, and noticing that the two trespassers could outmaneuver her, she fled, snapping her pinchers and tossing her legs at them as she retreated.

When she reached a high point of the wall, she halted and again opened her eye.  Another jet of orange light rained from her orb, singing Rusl's foot as it followed after him and Link.  Rusl made no signal that he had been weakened by the strike, scurrying away from Armagohma's attack as quickly as Link.  This angered the beast further, but she was unable to focus her energy for too long, and her attack was suffocated before she could inflict a more severe wound.

Rusl took that moment to associate pain to his foot, moaning slightly, but even as he now favored this appendage as he walked, the injury did nothing to stop his action.

Before the mother could rekindle her energy for another of these assaults, Link traded weapons, bringing out his bow and nocking an arrow.  His arm followed the spider as she trailed away yet again to the ceiling, and with precise aim, Link let loose the shaft to plunge directly into her eye before it sealed itself away once more.

Armagohma screeched at the infliction, jerking her body about … so much so that she inadvertently dislodged her legs from her web.  She landed with a forceful thud on her backside.  Her legs convulsed with pain from both the fall and that such a landing had surely lodged the arrow deeper into the soft tissue of her eye.

Rusl called to Link almost hysterically, and Link realized why he had become so uncharacteristically frantic.  The mother had landed at the base of one of the four statues, and Link's eyes lit up with the same frenzied understanding.  Armagohma would not linger in her agony for long, so Link did not have much time in which to act.

He tossed his bow down and drew out the staff.  He swiftly cast out an energized orb from its tip, lighting up the veins of the colossal figure that loomed over the arachnid.  Life consumed its bulk.

With one swift motion Link turned his body, flicked his wrist, and the statue's raised fist slammed down upon the monster in front of it.  A tormented squeal emerged from Armagohma, as the stone crushed her body, but as her body still wriggled with life, Link cast the staff again, and the statue attacked once more.

Link hated hearing the dying shrieks of the monster, but it was just that.  A monster … and it had to be destroyed.

After several more poundings, any life within Armagohma ceased to exist, and Link finally ripped out the life-force of the statue with a twist of the staff.  Belting the ancient device once more, Link approached the dead arachnid, Rusl limping alongside him.  They inspected the creature, and it appeared dead, but … its legs had not folded in on itself as was customary for spiders.

In a final attempt to strike down the intruders, Armagohma snapped at Link, but he jumped back quickly, and Rusl's reaction overtook the youth's.  The older man speared his saber into the monster's mouth, and after a spasm, its legs at last curled into its body.  Next moment, its figure blackened and exploded.  White specks floated amongst the red and black bits, and soon everything faded away save for the silvery white pieces.  They glowed brightly and sucked in on one another in bursts of silver wind.

At the point of their convergence, a luminescence cascaded from a newly formed Mirror Shard.

Link stretched out his hands to catch the piece as it fell toward them, and Rusl retreated to reclaim Link's bow.  Yet just as the shard rested within Link's arms, a sudden vibration crackled through the floor and walls.

The use of the statue had killed the creature … but its thrashing had also destabilized the framework of the chamber.  By the growing tremors in the floor, it was clear that the entire temple was beginning to collapse on itself.  As the last of Armagohma's babies skittered across the floor in an attempt to escape, Link dashed toward Rusl.

"Run!"