Unbelievable pain was shooting through Volvagia's head when the heavy steel hammer was coming down on him. He remembered that pain too well. All those years ago... he felt it just seconds before the ancient Goron hero slew him.
He was starting to panic, and in his fear, he scrambled out of the crater he was in, not even realizing that it would be much quicker and safer to fly. "No..." he muttered. "No... anything but that... I DON'T WANNA DIE!!"
"See?" a cackling voice came from above his head. "All of this is just because of your stubbornness... I should let them kill you, you mangy excuse for a fire-breathing lizard!"
Shampoo gasped. "E-elder Koume..."
"I'm getting to you in a minute... traitor!" the fire witch spat. "I should have known that Cologne's spawn would be nothing but trouble to us... especially since the same happened with her aunt..."
"Auntie Nabooru?" Shampoo shouted. "What have you done to her?"
"I'll let you question her anytime you want, Shampoo..." Ryoga growled as he cracked his knuckles and stepped forward. "But this witch and I have a score to settle..."
"Don't make me laugh, foolish boy!" Koume snickered. "Still, I'm not your enemy... the dragon is! So, why don't you take out your anger at him?"
"Please..." Volvagia begged while he dragged his miserable hide across the floor. "Don't let them kill me... they've got the MEGATON HAMMER!"
"And whose fault is that?" the witch screamed. "I know I'm just too generous... but Lord Ganondorf wants the Gorons to die. And I mean ALL of them. So..." She raised her hands and muttered an ancient spell, and sparkles of red came raining down on the crouching dragon.
Suddenly his eyes flared up again. Link, who was still standing close to him, stepped back in surprise when the dragon reared up with a mighty roar. He drew back his head and then spat another plume of scorching hot flames at the heroes.
"Get back!" Link yelled and raised his shield. Once again, it barely protected them from the intense heat.
Volvagia roared again as he rose up into the air, a crazed gleam in his eyes.
"That's better!" Koume cackled. "Now he's nothing more than a mindless beast... and beasts always have been easier to control. Now kill them all, my pet!"
The undead dragon answered with another roar that made the whole room shake. Boulders came dropping down from the ceiling, and Ukyo barely managed to dodge one.
"This is getting too intense," she gasped as she rolled back up to her feet. "Shampoo, what did she do?"
"Gerudo warriors know nothing about Elder spells..." Shampoo winced. "They are very protective of their secrets... not even Great-Grandmother told Shampoo anything about them..."
"He's still a dragon we have to slay," Link shouted as he raised his hammer. "As soon as he comes back down again, I'll just pound him again!"
"How are you planning to do that?" Ryoga asked, then he winced as a heavy boulder dropped down directly on his hard head. "No one of us can really fly..."
"I have an idea," Link said and ran over to his Goron friend. "But I need your help."
"Okay... what do you want me to do?" the Goron asked.
Link whispered something into his ear, and Ryoga's eyes widened. "That... might just work," he finally admitted. "But... you know that is very dangerous... and risky! If I miss..."
"You'll do just fine!" Link smirked. "Ukyo told me what you did with that Dodongo, so I trust in your abilities."
"Whatever you two are up to, you better hurry, or else all of us are toast!" Ukyo yelled when the dragon dove down for another attack.
"Okay, here goes nothing..." Ryoga grumbled. He reached for Link's Goron Tunic, grabbed it tightly... and began spinning the young Hylian around and around.
"Heeeere weeeee GOOOOOOO!" he shouted as he let go of Link, throwing him through the air... so that the Hero of Time landed directly on Volvagia's face.
The undead beast roared with fury and tried shaking Link off his head, but Link held on tightly. The intense heat of the dragon's fiery mane made him wheeze, but he kept a firm grip on his hammer.
"End of the line for you!" he shouted, raised the hammer and slammed it down on Volvagia's head, once again.
The dragon screeched and roared with pain as he stumbled blindly through the air, continuing his swooping flight path towards Link's friends.
"Look out!" Ukyo shouted, and she, Shampoo and the fairies dove to the side.
Ryoga, however, was just a little bit too slow...
He gasped in surprise when the massive dragon head slammed into him, sending him rolling towards the edge of the platform... and down into the pool of liquid lava below them!
"RYOGA!" Ukyo shouted. "NO!!"
Link never noticed how Ryoga fell into the lava, however. He gritted his teeth when Volvagia's body flew higher and higher up into the air.
"Time to let go..." he grumbled. He gulped when he realized how long his fall was going to be. Still he let go of his rampaging ride, let go of the hammer during his fall, rolled up while reaching the ground and came to his feet safely.
High above him, the undead bane of the Goron tribe was still squirming with pain, while his whole body started to burn away. The fire from his mane and inside of his body was eating away his undead flesh and burnt him down to a skeleton, whose parts came clattering down next to the heroes, one after another.
In the end, only the dragon's heavy skull was left... and it fell down next to Link with a loud crash. The green fire inside the creature's eye sockets started to dim... and then they grew dark, while the skull dissolved into ashes.
Link sighed. "That's the end of that..." He then noticed how his friends were all looking over the edge of the platform. "Um, guys? What are you doing?" He then noticed something. "Um, where's Ryoga?"
Ukyo looked back at him, tears in her eyes. "Ryoga, he... he fell down... into the lava..."
Link paled. "Oh no..."
Navi sniffed. "N-not even a Goron can withstand the heat of molten lava... nor can he swim back up to the surface. He... he's just too heavy..."
Evil laughter made them all look up in surprise. They almost forgot about the Gerudo witch. Koume was hovering above them, holding her broom like a scepter.
"Fools, that's the fate of everyone who dares to oppose the mighty Ganondorf... and now it's your turn!" She pointed the tip of her broom at them. "You may have defeated that ugly lizard Volvagia, but I am an Elder of the Gerudo clan... I won't be as easy to beat!"
Shampoo growled as she raised her scimitars. "You just wait and see!" she yelled.
Ryoga blinked. A gentle light was surrounding him. "I'm... dead?"
"Not yet, young hero!" an amused voice spoke to him. "But your friends need your help more than ever."
Ryoga noticed that he was lying in a strange place, on top of a hexagonal platform, surrounded by circular emblems that were decorating its surface. On two of these circles, someone was standing. An old man in a wide robe... and a young girl in the green garments of the Kokiri.
"You have been very brave, Ryoga," Saria smiled. "Without your help, my friend Link would have never been able to beat the dragon. Thank you!"
Ryoga stood up in confusion. "Wh-where am I?"
Rauru spread his arms. "This is the Chamber of Sages in the Sacred Realm... and we welcome you as one of us."
"Me? A sage? But I always thought that..."
"That your mentor was the Sage of Fire?" Rauru smiled. "Yes, Volvagia and Koume thought that as well. But Darunia always knew what destiny would await you, and he kept it a close secret from anyone. And he stepped back from his duty to slay the dragon... because he knew that the Hero of Time, together with your help, could do the job much better."
"But you must hurry," Saria said. "Take the medallion to your feet and help your friends."
Ryoga looked down. "The medallion...?" Indeed, there was a small, red medallion lying to his feet, just at the edge of the red, circular emblem he was standing on himself. He picked it up... and was amazed at the amount of information that was flooding his simple mind.
"I... I see..." he finally murmured. "So, this is my destiny... okay! I will do my best to help Link and Ukyo on their quest. But first..." He furrowed his brow. "I have to chase an evil witch out of my temple."
"Think we can beat her?" Tatl asked nervously as the witch charged up a spell.
"Maybe..." Ukyo murmured. "I mean, we also beat that dragon, didn't we?" But she didn't sound too certain herself.
"This is your end, dirty rebels!" Koume screeched when her spell reached its full power. "DIE!"
Bust right after she launched her fire spell, a red light appeared in the middle of the room, blinding her so much that she had to shield her eyes.
A powerful Goron warrior had appeared in front of his friends. He raised his arms, and the deadly fire spell dissipated just before it could hit its mark.
"Ryoga!" Ukyo shouted with joy and surprise.
Ryoga stared up at the Gerudo witch. "You won't use fire against us in these sacred halls," he growled. "You will leave this place... and tell your evil master that the Gorons will NEVER surrender to him!"
"You insolent fool!" the hag yelled. "I take no orders from you!" And she shot another lance of fire at him.
But again, the fire could not harm him. "It's no use," Ryoga calmly said. "As the Sage of Fire, no flame may ever harm me."
"What now, witch?" Link smirked as he aimed his bow at her. "Still have some tricks left?"
"Or do you wanna take us on all by yourself?" Ukyo grinned as she took one of her small throwing spatulas.
Koume was seething with rage. "You... once the Great Ganondorf finds you, you will pay for what you did!" And in a cloud of fire, she vanished.
Ryoga turned around to his friends. "Ryoga!" Ukyo was amazed. "What... what happened? The lava... we all saw..."
She gasped in awe when he showed her the Fire Medallion. "Seems like I am the Fire Sage you've been looking for," he smirked. "Oh, and Link? Your friend Saria says hi!"
Link sighed. "And all the time we believed that Darunia was the one..."
"Wait..." Shampoo murmured. "Sheikah warrior told us sage would wait for us in temple... but Ryoga no was in temple when he told us."
"Maybe he meant to say that in the temple, the Fire Sage will find his destiny," Navi assumed.
"That's what I figured as well," Tatl nodded. "So let's just be happy we found the third sage."
"But Ryoga," Ukyo said. "Does that mean you won't come back to Goron City with us? What shall we tell Yoiko?"
"It's not like I'll be gone forever," Ryoga said. "As soon as Ganondorf is finished, I will go home again... but for now, the circle of sages needs me. The more we are, the more can we support you with our powers. For now, I have to return to the Chamber of Sages... and guys?"
"Yeah, what's up?" Link asked.
Ryoga smiled. "Thank you for saving my sensei... and all of my tribe!" And in a flash of red light, the new Sage of Fire vanished.
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(Posted Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:38)
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