...into the gaping wound the plant had made in the side of the wall. Link leapt, as high and far as he could, only barely managing to scrape past the pile of rubble before he tumbled through the air to the floor three feet below. He rolled over himself, before skidding around to face the beast as it loomed its fanged mouth overhead him, waiting for him to turn to face it as it grinned down at him.
The monster bobbed its head back and forth, maw agape and tongue lolled out as silvia drooled between those pointed teeth. Its orange-ish red head contrasted the deep greens on the vine it was suspended on, thorns and all. That vine went up and up to the crown of the ceiling, deep into the crevice it had been coiled into while it had been sleeping.
Below, Link could see the massive grate had moved, and now an excess of water pooled into the space below. If he fell, he was aiming for that. Falling was better than getting eaten. That thing only needed to take one bite and Link would be history. Possibly not even that.
The plant monster kept its distance though, hovering far enough out of reach that Link doubted he would be able to strike it with his sword. He wasn't sure he wanted to try, not with how close it would have him from being plant food to get into range of that thing's head. Baiting it just seemed reckless and stupid, and Link hadn't survived this long to get swallowed for doing something stupid like that.
He would rather try stunning it, probably by aiming at the thinner parts of the beast's neck. That would mean gaining some height on it, having to out race it up the pit to get above its head, but with the skulltulas gone, Link didn't have any other obstacles for that. He just had to outrun the plant's head and avoid getting bitten off of the wall while he was climbing.
Link jumped forward, sprinting around the monster's head until he was far enough behind its head he felt like he had enough time to climb the first level up the pit. He threw himself up, scrambling over the vines until he pulled himself up to the next level, and began sprinting again as the head turned to face him.
Despite his new position, the monster only turned its head. It barely rose to face him, still lingering half way between this floor and the floor he had been on. As Link sprinted around the monster again, he found out why. While Link was running, the monster dunked its head down into the pool of water below. When it drew its head back, it gargled the water for a moment between its fangs before spewing the now toxic water in Link's direction. The poisonous miasma lingered in the air, chewing at the vines until they grew weak and withered. Slowly, new vines began to take their place, but Link had more than one reason to avoid the spray. The greenish color already told him he didn't want to pass through it.
"I have rebuilt the hole the creature made in the wall," the Restoration commented as Link swung up to the next level.
"Thanks," Link grumbled, turned on his heels as he retreated back the way he came. It looked like the monster wasn't just going to follow him in one direction clockwise around the room. Unfortunately for it, Link had spotted a weak spot in the vines before it could completely catch up to him. He pulled back his bow, shooting an arrow off before the monster had time to track him.
As the arrow embedded itself into the monster's neck, the creature recoiled, thrashing its head around wildly until it collided with the wall. The blow stunned beast, and it collapsed, its long tongue lolling out of its mouth. When Link fired another arrow at the tongue, the whole thing shuddered in pain.
Drawing his sword, Link took a dive over the side of the pit. His sword pitched down, he slowed his fall by piercing his blade through the monster's tongue, before following up the airborne attack with a barrage of small slashes. Each time, the monster shuddered and recoiled with pain, before finally it drew its tongue back into its mouth and hoisted its head back into the air. It shook itself for a moment, before unleashing a roar.
As the sound echoed off the chamber, the ground shuddered. Fissures in the walls ruptured, leading more water to pour out into the bottom of the pit. The water continued to rise, lapping at Link's shoes, and continued until it passed his knees. By the time Link had started to climb out of the water, it had already pushed him up a level of the pit.
Link gasped, pulled his head above the water and paddled for the closest edge. He yanked himself out, throwing himself forward as the monster lapped at the water behind him, the poisonous toxin between its jaws.
While technically Link had less room losing the bottom floor, the floors left to him were also the widest. And he had only had to climb up two floors to get in shooting range of that monster's neck. Granted, the larger pool of water also made it easier for it to launch those poisons at him, but he had more room to dodge. Or so he felt. As he started running around behind the monster, that feeling start to change as he saw the vines walls take much longer to regrow.
Link pulled himself up one of the only green patches he could find, scrambling up just in time to avoid a snap from the monster's furious jaws. He skidded back a few steps, avoiding a follow up snap from the beast. The maw finally retreated, but a grin gleamed over its wicked lips.
Kiting around the head, Link reached for his bow. He didn't have arrows to waste on bad shots, which meant he would have to keep getting down there to face that monster when it knocked itself out instead of shooting it from the safety of the top of the pit. But that also meant he would have to time his attacks with the vine walls. He could whack that monster all he wanted, but if he couldn't get out of the pit once it pulled itself back together, he would be stuck down there. Particularly if the water continued to rise every time he did serious damage to it. He needed to knock this thing out before it managed to flood the entire room.
Link ran laps around the room, redirecting himself when the head lashed around, and watched. He waited for the first sign of greenery to reappear on those walls. He climbed up to the very top of the pit, drawing the monster even further and further away from the lower levels of vines. If it did spray again, he could afford to lose these top vines, but not the bottom ones where he would be trapped.
When he spotted the first sprig, Link turned on his heels and let an arrow fly. He watched as it plunged itself into the neck of the monster, again sending the beast thrashing in pain as the pointed tip lodged itself deep inside the vines.
As the plant monster threw its head down and tongue out, Link was already in the air. He overshot the jump, landing in the water instead, but only an arm's length away from the edge. He pulled himself out, practically flying up out of the water, and embedded his sword into the monster's tongue.
Ready for the monster's roar, Link was already up the first layer of the vine wall as the head snapped back and bellowed. He was hightailing it for the top floor when he heard the stones breaking and water gushing in.
His heart was pounding as the monster locked Link down to two levels of the pit. Its tongue lolled back and forth as the head bounced along, its eyeless face watching Link move.
So close. He was so close to getting out of here. To getting answers from the Restoration, real answers. Yet the difference between dropping his guard now could mean his life. It was hard, constantly throwing himself from challenge to challenge. Every part of him was protesting, his muscles, his head, his attitude. Even his heart was fighting to escape his chest in that moment, physically and metaphorically.
Link rocked himself back on his heels. He tightened his grip on his bow as he unstrung it one last time from his back. One more shot. He would take this thing down with one more shot. The monster licked its lips in returned. It could smell him, Link figured. His exhaustion, his sweat, his fear. But dominant smells weren't dominant emotions.
He wasted an arrow, firing it down the monster's throat as it grinned at him. It did nothing to hurt it, wedging itself in its throat for just a moment, causing the beast to cough. Clumps of poisonous goop plopped out into the water. Not a scratch was left on the monster, nothing to wound it.
But it wasn't grinning anymore.
Link finally ran, not out of fear, but out of a need to act. The monster drew its head back, almost immediately dunking it down into the water. As Link raced around the rim of the room, he realized he need a different strategy. He had had a height advantage of two levels before, but now he only had two left, and no way of getting any higher. At least not anything that didn't sound utterly reckless like trying to jump on that thing's head.
The monster cast its spray out in a stream now, coating the wall behind Link, and quickly gaining on him. With no way to outrun it, he jumped down to the level below, and waited for the spray to stop, before scrambling back up the vines as the monster lapped up the poison off its lips.
It had to be when it dunked its head into the pool to drink. That was the only time Link would be able to aim at its neck, and get close to hitting it. If he missed, he would have to drop out of the way of that stream and try again until he hit it. And if he ran out of arrows...well, the Restoration had other plans if that happened. Maybe they would even find someone better for this job than him.
He didn't plan on dying down here though, not if he could help it. Patience, that's what he needed. To wait for the right shot and take it. And stay alive until he got that chance.
When its spray didn't work, the monster waited to launch another stream of poison. Instead, it swung its head, striking out towards Link. He backed up to the wall to save his breath, inches away from the tip of the beast's tongue as it snagged its neck against the lip of the ceiling over the top layer of the pit. When it couldn't reach it, it drew its head back and tried again.
Link kept dodging, just a step out of reach. He taunted it, retreating when it came too close and then stepping back into reach to toy it into attacking again. Anything to get it to plunge its head back down, to expose its neck. But the monster took its sweet time to try that attack again. Link started to wonder if it knew what he was planning to do to it.
Finally, after Goddesses knew how long of baiting, it pulled its head back and plunged into the water. Link had his bow drawn in seconds. There was so little time to aim, but so much to risk if he missed. He would have to wait however long after this for another shot. The skinny patch of its neck turned itself just towards him, almost level with his brow.
He took the shot.
The arrow drove its way straight through, severing the head from the neck. The monster's head bounced over the water, tongue snapping around as the head rocked around. As it beaned itself on the corner of the wall, the vines began to reach up, stretching out for the limp branch down hanging from the ceiling, an attempt to regrow the monster.
"Oh, no, you don't," Link growled, again jumping over the edge of the pit. This time, his jump was lined up. His sword cleaved down, cutting down and down until it severed the fibrous, cellulose tendons holding the tongue on the monster's mouth clean through. The stump of a tongue dropped and the head cocked over to move no more. Those reaching vines browned and wilted, shriveling up as the head turned blacker and blacker until it turned to ash and dust.
Link dropped to his knees, sword and shield falling from his hands as he nearly collapsed in exhaustion. The water began to drain out from the pit, leading down and out to the chamber at the very bottom of the pit. Yet in that moment, Link couldn't even feel his legs.
He hurled, throwing up nothing but bile and water. There was nothing left in him to remove, all of it burned surviving this prison. As Link splashed a bit of water on his face from a remaining puddle of water, he dropped his head back and sighed. He had done it though. He had lived. Now it was time he got some Goddesses-damned answers out of the Restoration.
Collecting his weapons, Link drew himself to his feet. He drew water from another puddle, not the one he had cleaned his face in, and slid down the vines until he felt soil under his feet. At the bottom of the pit, he turned and walked down the soggy but now open pathway into the chamber at the far end.
The room beyond the circular entrance was some kind of shrine, smaller but just as grandiose as the one at the very top of this temple. Link scoffed, a little disappointed. He had half expected some kind of control room for the Restoration and to find some demented old person down here pulling all the switches. He had no such luck as he walked into the green stained room. He recognized the symbol carved into the floor at least, a trickle of water flowing through the etching. Farore. He could have guessed the nature Goddess had something to do with this place.
An emerald medallion rest on a pedestal beyond the carving. A beam of light, sunlight or otherwise, cast itself over the stone from a window near the ceiling, causing the gemstone in the center to glimmer. Link didn't know if it was a real sunlight, but he wouldn't be surprised if dawn had come by the time he had beat that monster. Based on how tired he was, he could have guessed he had been down here a week.
Link leaned over the emerald, and shoved his hands in his pockets. He expected the Restoration wanted him to take it, but the thought of it felt so cliche. Collecting gemstones, likely to unlock some secret doorway for the legendary Master Sword. It was something out of a fairy tale.
There were the ashes of a dead plant monster in the last room though, so Link figured his life might have been toeing that line a lot more closely than it had before. With that in mind, he removed it from the pedestal. As he did, he felt a pulse of magic course through him, and some part of him felt healed.
Touching his cut, Link found no wound. His exhaustion wasn't gone, but at the same time he felt...better. Though he regretted the thought of that, and the idea of this place somehow making him stronger.
"The medallion has increased your constitution," the Restoration said.
"Where are my questions and when can I leave?" Link asked, pocketing the emerald into his bag. He didn't have time for the Restoration's explanations about sacred stones or the lessons he was supposed to have learned in this place. He was ready for a nap.
In the light, words began to form. The Restoration had listed out three suggestions, though Link was only interested in one. "Are you going to kill Dwarf?"
"I will not directly end either your, Zelda Hyrule, or Ganondorf Dragmire's lives. That will come down to you, your abilities to survive, and your people's decisions if you manage to defeat him in combat at the end of your quest."
They wouldn't kill Dwarf, not themselves. But Link knew what they meant. They would throw the nation against his friend, including Link at the end of all this. And if he lost himself to the Restoration, if they took control of him like they had Dwarf, he knew how it would end for his friend.
"When you are ready, Link Sayre, please travel to the Temple of Smoldering Melodies in Death Mountain. I will give you as much time as you need to recover. I understand that this has been a very emotional experience for you. I hope when I see you next that you will be more level headed."
"Sure," Link grumbled, doubting it. In front of him, a second beam of light appeared. This one came from nowhere though, no beam of light appeared from the wall. This one was just there, magically conjured from nothing.
Link figured that the Restoration could easily teleport Link directly to the next temple, but he also figure the Restoration could have teleported him off into the middle of a volcano three hours ago if they wanted. Exhausted and ready for sleep, Link stepped into the ring of light...