…about the close call he had just caused. Endeavor just shook her head at him, studying their surroundings instead. Link turned back to his surroundings as he heard a hiss. A red flare passed by, lighting up hundreds of speckled eggs along the walls.
Endeavor looked up, and gestured for Link to follow her glance. She said, “There is another mine shaft above us, and I sense pressure beneath us.” She pointed around the room to tall stalagmites. She went on, “If we get enough of those to fall, we may be able to help the tension release and bring this floor up to that shaft.”
“Make a lift up?” Link asked as he pulled his bomb bag back out.
“That is the general idea,” Endeavor replied. “And it may destroy those nests in the process.”
Link nodded as he lit the fuse on one of his bombs and set it down beside one of the stone pillars. He quickly retreated back into the center of room as the bomb exploded and rubble flew everywhere. A few pieces bounced off his shield as Link pulled another bomb to blast the next stone tower.
There was a horrible cry as the pillar crashed into the wall. There were screams in agony through the gap as dodongos were caught beneath the huge stone or the debris that flew from the crash. It was grinding against the ears, and Link regretted his very sensitive ones as the sound echoed through the cavern. He quickly pulled another bomb out of his bag to try to end the creatures as soon as possible.
While he planted the second bomb, Link asked, “How am I going to restock on these?”
“In here?” Endeavor said. “The gorons would have stored some bombs for what they couldn’t punch through. I do not see what use it would be for Zeal to remove those, or that she would care enough to do so. Outside of this place…there are some stores that may have them among their wares. Or you could put the King’s permit to use and take them from the people.”
“I’ll stick to the stores,” Link said, disliking the way Endeavor worded the statement, as the pillar crashed down into the wall. The floor began to crack, and steam poured up around them. He swiped his wrist guard against the side of the bomb, the fuse lighting. He rolled it over towards another pillar. There was a flash, and the stalagmite tumbled over into the wall, followed by another terrible screech.
Steam began to stream out from the edge around the crack. Link rolled another bomb at the final pillar, before standing next to Endeavor, though not looking at her. Link still felt like she was mad about nearly being exploded.
The pillar fell through the wall. There was the sound of shattering as the floor and the last of the dodongo eggs broke. The newly formed island was pushed up by the powerful amount of steam beneath it, launching Link and Endeavor back up to the main level of the mines.
The shaft they had landed on returned Link and Endeavor to the tunnel they had entered from the core of the mines, only a floor above it. Before they could drop down, Groko came rolling along from deeper in the mine, most likely returning for his brothers trapped across the lava chasm. Endeavor called down, “Is all fair with the stone people?”
Groko skid to a halt, and unrolled himself. He looked up at the twosome above him, and smiled. “You did it, brothers!”
“The dodongo is vanquished,” Endeavor said. “And we have found a source of explosions.” Link showed Groko the bomb bag he had found.
The goron’s expression brightened at the sight of the dark blue bag. He said, “Those can open the tunnel up for us, brother! We can cleanse the mines and save my brothers!”
“Do not get ahead of yourself,” Endeavor said. “There is still a matter of reaching and dealing with what Zeal has placed between us and the temple. If I can get a view of the mines, then I may be able to find a way to get into this sealing room. You said your leader hid a key?”
“The Fire Goddess’s Key.” Groko said, suddenly recalling the information. “That’s what Big Brother used. Or most likely what he used. I wasn't there to see that part. But the Fire Goddess’s Key is a goron relic. It’s blessed by the Fire Goddess. No darkness can touch it.”
Endeavor replied as she dropped down to the floor below, “As most keys of the kind are. Which is why Zeal could not reach the temple beyond this sealing room. And why she made it so difficult for our progress to this key.”
Link jumped down to the main level and set a bomb down by the blocked tunnel. He made a quick retreat back at the way on opened. A few more red chus dropped from the ceiling, sensing the small party as the tunnel opened up to the rest of the mine.
Drawing his sword, Link dissipated the small enemies. He looked down the tunnel, noticing that it split off in two directions, both were blocked off by rubble. Link fished around in one of the near by pots, pulling out a few bombs and a handful of rupees. As Groko and Endeavor joined him, Link asked, “Do you remember which way these tunnels go?”
Groko shook his head. Link pulled two more bombs out, and lit them to clear both paths. As the rocks fell, Link looked at the two paths. The one of the left was very short. It stopped at a door with a iron lock on it. The other climbed up a level to the grated platforms Link had seen while venturing the mines.
Having nowhere else to go, Link climbed the stairs up to the second level of the mine. The grates rattled as Groko joined him. Link looked up at the chains. Groko laughed. “No worries, brother. These are goron-made. They carry gorons all the time. They’ll hold us.”
Lava shot up in front of them. Link stopped, taking a step back as the boiling liquid filtered back through the floor. Endeavor said, “These will roast us alive before we get anywhere.”
“Don’t worry,” Groko replied. “You can tell when the lava’s about to come up. It starts snapping and popping. Gorons don’t worry about it much though, but we know the signs for our southern brothers.”
Link heard a bubbling beneath them as Groko went on, “The grates are designed to cool off as the lava falls back through. We designed them special for our brothers from the south when they come to work in the winter.”
Taking a few steps back, Link backed away from the bubbling spurt of lava. It began to gurgle and rise a bit. Link looked across at Endeavor, who was rubbing her temples as she listened to Groko go on about the special grates the gorons had invented. And still standing on the grate the bubbling lava was beneath.
On instinct, Link raced across the grate, plowing into Endeavor. Heat licked behind Link as he came in full contact with her. They tumbled for a moment out of the way. Endeavor looked back at the lava geyser, where Groko was sputtering in the midst of the liquid fire. Endeavor shoved Link off, and pulled herself to her feet. Link caught a brief nod of approval as she walked away from him.
Link pulled himself up, looking back for a moment. The grate led across the main room of the mine, and to a huge iron door. He recognized it from below, but now he could see the detail of the lock. It was gold, and its design had three waves, with a circle on opposite ends. The whole thing had a fiery red glow to it, though Link could only imagine what it had looked like when it was new. Years had stolen some of the door’s former glory.
“Link!”
Leaving the door, Link followed Endeavor deeper into the mines. They came to a stone landing at the other end of the grates, a brief tunnel, and then the walls opening up to the room where Link had fought the lizalfos, only a floor higher. Link saw that many tunnels broke off from this room.
“Ohwp!” Groko shouted. “I remember this. Big Boss put the map in one of these rooms.”
“Which one?” Endeavor demanded.
Two lizalfos dropped from the ceiling in front of one of the tunnels. Link drew his sword, making a guess which one it was. Endeavor drew her own blade, rushing the one of the left. The monster hardly saw the attack coming, before it was split down the center. The second erupted with blood from its gut, and Link saw Endeavor remove her sword as the creature fell. It was unearthly how fast Endeavor's attack was.
Wiping her blade down, Endeavor said, “I have had enough with pointless delays from these creatures.” She glanced at Link for a moment, before turning her head back to a dignified glance directed at no one. Link wondered if this was Endeavor’s way of repaying a debt. He would have hardly held her to it, but it was nice to see she had such a strong sense of honor and respect, even for him. He felt he hardly deserved such things from her.
“Hurry up!”
Link hurried over to Endeavor. Light leaked through a hole in the wall, and Link assumed it was another one of those magic chests forming. Link set a bomb down, and took a few steps back with Endeavor as it exploded.
Sure enough, a huge chest had materialized behind the rock wall. Link pulled the lid up, squinting his eyes against the light. He found an aged piece of parchment inside, and pulling it out, he found that it was a map of the mines. Endeavor pulled it from his grasps, quickly looking over it. She returned it after a matter of seconds.
The map had a faint glow to it, like the map he had found in the Deku Fortress. Link could tell where he was in the mines, and where the others were. There were a few white blurbs on the map. He asked, “What are these?”
Endeavor answered, “They are enchanted markings I can give such maps only in person. They mark chests, boxes, or crates of high significance. I can not say what is in them, but I can tell they will help you on this quest.”
“This says there’s another chest in here,” Link said, pointing to a white mark on his map. “Over there,” Link muttered, looking towards where the map said it would be. There was another rock blockage in the way. Link spied a few pots against the wall. He fished through them to help restock his bombs, before walking over to the blockage. As he set a bomb down, he heard a gurgling behind him. Link had caught himself between a rock and a hot place as a torrent of lava burst up and blocked his way back.
The bomb hissed as it was about to go off. Link dropped over the side of the ledge, hanging from the side as the rocks flew off in all directions. A bit of the flames from the explosion licked over the skin exposed through Link’s half gloves. Link cringed, but didn’t release his grip on the wall despite the searing pain. Landing in the pool of lava beneath him would be a much cruelly fate. He pulled himself up once he was sure that the area was clear.
There was a small wooden chest sitting in the alcove. He crouched down, and popped it open. A small, iron key sat inside. He pulled it out tenderly, his fingers still pulsing red from the exposure to the flames.
Putting the key in his bag, Link hurried back across the grates to his companions, and then on back towards the locked door…