The Legend of Zelda: Goddess of Secrecy

Dungeon Chapter 2 - A Well Placed Puzzle

            ...only to attempt stopping before he slammed into a skulltula's back. The squishy underside launched him backwards, slamming Link into the stone door of the room. He winced a bit, before pushed himself back to his feet.

            The massive spider spun around to show off its skull shaped covering. Link pulled out his sword and twisted it in his hand. He bounced on the balls of his feet, waiting for the creature to make the first move.

            Eventually, the creature grew impatient and broke itself away from its web. Its pincers clicked together and venom dribbled out the fang mouth. Eight black legs clattered across the floor, but Link remained calm. Panic didn't help anything.

            The skulltula lunged, and Link raised his sword to block. The thing cut itself on the edge of the blade, before retreated quickly with a bleeding mouth. Link went on to berate it with blows, mostly, if he could help it, on the monster's right side. Finally, the massive spider lost its balance, and fell over to its side, then tumbled on to its back. Its legs danced franticly, trying to turn back over so it could defend itself, but Link's finishing blow came too quickly for it to have a chance.

            As the monster curled up and died, Link studied the room. A shallow pool covered most of the bottom. Parts of huge branches had fallen off into the water, as round as tree trunks. On the eastern side of the room, there was another locked door. On the northern side of the room, there were four bokoblins, up a short staircase and blocked by parts of fallen trees. Behind them, was a pillar much like the one in the room Link had found Bruce in.

            Link figured that it was part of the same puzzle he had seen in that room. And well guarded, because an attacker would have to go in behind the natural blockade the trees made to get to the pillar or the defenders.

            Link started to cross the room. He jumped from log to log, trying to make as little noise as possible. The water rippled beneath the logs as his weight moved them as he progressed across the room, but there wasn't enough noise to be heard. If there was, none of the monsters noted his approach. The purple creatures didn't seem to see him coming.

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

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

            The hard shell made Link stumble. One of the bokoblins swung, and sent Link back into the water with its blunt club. His head groaned with a throbbing pain, but he didn't have time. Link quickly raised his shield as the whizzing sound resonated again. This time, the Deku Nut fell off harmlessly, and Link heard the rustle of leaves as the short wooden creatures burrowed back down to hide.

            Link turned his attention back to the bokoblins. They had little interest in swimming out to fight him, so they wandered back to their post. Link glanced up at the ledge where the Deku Scrubs were nested. Three bush headed Deku Scrubs sat on the ledge, just far enough away that he couldn't return their missiles back at them with his shield.

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

            "If only there was something that you could launch at them. Deku Nuts are too temporary to hold on to. Maybe there will be some kind of wallet you can hold stones in. Either way, until you find a way to get those Deku Scrubs out of your way, that pillar is out of your reach."