Chapter XIV: Strain

Chapter XIV: Strain

The waters which enfolded Link chilled him to the very core of his heart. They were as cold as the bitter north wind and gripped fast unto him like a school of staving leeches. He had swam before in near freezing waters, but never such a distance as he was going.
Most of the air he took in was actually water. It froze his the inside of his lungs causing Link to cough, impededing his progress. He continued pulling himself through the thick, stale, stagnant waters. When first he dove in, there was no tide to speak of. As he drew further and further away from the shore, Link could feel the lake pushing against him; as though it were trying to send him back. Fighting the lake itself became quite taxing.
With each stroke his arms became subsequently heavier, he may as well have been pulling beams of steel out of the water. He felt his triceps tangle itself into a sheepshank. His hamstrings followed followed by his latisimus. His body rebelled against him as Link could feel his heart beating in his ears. He tried to keep his eyes foreward, but as he continued the pain caused more of his muscles to join the uprising. His vision spun and his body sank and the knots began to pulsate and throb. If he did not stop he'd sink but if he did stop, starting again would be a pipe dream.

Link pressed on
His muscles coaxed his bones to join in thier coup de'tat. His ribs were the first to join; of course it occured to Link as they were perhaps the instigators. No matter. His hip joints soon joined the uprising, as did his shoulders, and his neck.
The distance he achived with each stroke became decreased. Link looked forward seeing no land, much less a palace. His stroke became futile, as the lake began to drive him back. The pain and the cold worked together to put a halt to his progress.
Link could feel the waters begin to close about his mouth. All of his pains mereged into one. What he could feel, beyond the pain, was a tugging upon his legs. He nearly resigned himself to the water but gave one last kick. Link took in a mouthful of stale air, and managed to get afoat his entire head.
Link then realized that he felt nothing. No pain. No cold.
Link pressed on.
The night had fallen upon the lake, and retreated again by the time he pulled himself upon the iceberg. Link sat hunched like a dog upon the hard cold surface taking in air voraciously. He had to get moving knowing what would happen if he did not. He jumped up and down, ran in place, stretched out, anything to get any sort of warmth in his frame.
As he approached the palace he could not but help to marvel at it. Here was a palace as large as any he'd seen, built onto an iceberg. The iceberg it self radiated like a crystal sitting in an open window. The palace it self was stark and almost devoid of radiance.
Before he could give it another thought, he entered

Link could not feel the ground he walked upon, nor could he feel his legs for that matter. His arms and chest were numb as well. He had swam in icy waters before, and he knew what lay in store if he could restore his sensation. In the first room, he paced back and forth. He twisted about, and jumped up and down, rubbed his hands together, what ever he could think of. LInk paused and drew out the Master Sword. He grasped fast upon the handle, and began to focus. The Sword began to pulsate and resonate with energy. It shone with a celestial brightness, as energy danced up and down the blade and throughout all of Link's frame. When enough feeling had returned, Link proceeded.
He realized the peril which lay ahead being that Link was in a cold dungeon, and unable to generate any heat. The next room held a white wolfos that was as large as a brown bear, and snapped and snarled at Link. It danced about like a lightweight fighter, dashing foreward, and delivered a claw. Link raised his shield, and it backed off.
He then took to the offensive. Link stepped darted foreward swinging his sword. It ducked the first stroke, leapt the second, blocked the third, and wheeled out of the path of the fouth. It sprang up towards the wall, It leapt out off of it, and landed behind Link. As soon as it's feet hit, it raked it's claws across the small of his back.
LInk swung, it dodged and brought it's claws against his face. His couterstrokes fell against its raised defenses, unable to penetrate. It slashed his shoulder, and kicked his side. Link winced as he felt his ribs crack even furhter. It took all of his waining might to remain standing.
Link endured three more swipes untill he simply got irate, and kicked it between the legs. Not hesitating, he finished the job. He lay against the cold walls hands upon his thighs, his body rising and falling with each breath he took.
Must keep moving cannot quit
Link pressed on
Being inside the dungeon was like being inside a meat locker. He could feel his sweat begin to crystalize with in his pores, like needles creeping with in his skin. To combat this, he kept moving. The knots were still present in his muscles. He may as well have had an elephant strapped to his back. With each step his legs grew heavier, they might as well have been hewn of marble.
The grounds were slick as grease. He could see his breath in a cloud before him. He had to get out as soon as possible as Link's body was racked with pain. He felt like he'd been thrown thru a trash compactor. Link tried to kept his focus upon freeing the maiden a task which became more difficult which step he took.
It was perhaps several hours later when Link realized he was lost. He gave no thought as to which way to go or where the passages lead him. He found this dungeon was empty as a school on Sunday and Link walked around aimlessly not able to distinquish the rooms he had been in and the rooms he had not.
He felt his eyes become heavy as though they had weights attached to them. His pace slowed and his stomache still quaked, though it was overshadowed by a burning knot in his arms and thighs. He paid no heed as to his objectives.
Quite sometime later, Link found himself in a dead end room and the door shut behind him. He drew his sword but keeping his sword aloft became as difficult as holding up a building. A violent rattle could be heard above him as two skeletal beasts dropped down, each holding a sword and shield and girded in full armour.

One circled Link, and the other stayed back. He took a boney foot to his stomache, and a shield smacked into his face. Link fell back, stunned and to make matters worse, his feet sailed out from beneath him, and he landed violently upon the ground. Through his stupor, Link could see a sword arcing down. He slid out of the way, and pulled himself upright.
Link knew not to charge but he bidded his time and waited for it to strike. It lunged at him and he sped out of the way. LInk delivered three solid blows, and it backed off. It came in swingnig and he rasied his shield. He did defend, but the shock nearly bolwed Link over. He leapt back as it swung again. It put everything it had into the stroke, as it teetered off-balance, Link swung, removing the skull from the remains of the owner.
Link played the other one much the same. He circled about it paitently like a wolf stalking a stag. He lunged foreward, which caused it to raise it's defenses. When no such attack came it lowered, only to recieve a blow to it's side.
He kept circling. It leapt at him, but it's blade found nothing but air. Link kicked it where his sword landed, and swung again. It dropped back and it then did the one thing Link was not expecting. The stafols lowered its shield, rasied its sword and ran at him frenzied, flailing his sword like a kite cought in a tornado.
Link slipped again when he dodged cursing as he fell. He moved just as the beast slammed it's sword down. He sprung back up as it charged at him again. This time Link met it head on. He threw down his shield, and charged, sword before him. With each step he could feel his bones loosen. With each step he felt his mucsles rise up against him. He closed his eyes as they convereged. The impact was as powerful as a locomotive.
Link lay upon ground spent, feeling no pain or anything at all. He knew he had to get up and start moving, or freeze and die. When he arose, he saw a hole in the floor that had not been there when he first entered. Link realized he had developed a bad habit of jumping into places he did not know where they took him but, Nonetheless, he leapt in.

Link landed upon the cold stone floor and lay for a moment. When he returned to his feet, Link spat out some blood. It crackled as it fell, crystalizing. When it hit the ground it shattered. Link found that to be quite a site, so he spat out some more.
Before him stood a gigantic eye, entombed in ice. He regaurded it realizing it would be his foe. He had no way of returning to the suface, nor did he wish to fight considering his weakend condition. Regardless, he knew he had to.
How am I supposed to break through? And where the hell is rest of its body?'

His sword glanced off like a bb striking the hull of a battleship. Link had nothing by which he could generate heat and He knew better than to throw himself at it. He regarded his sword. Link closed his eyes, and focused the sword's energy. LInk held it unto the icy casing, and ground it against the cold prison. After what felt like a week, Link was able generate enough friction, to breach the ice. The Master Sword became like a bolt of lightning. LInk took a step back, leapt foreward slamming the sword into crystal casing. A crack large enough to fit the sword through opened.
He jammed the sword into the opening. Link watched the eye quake as he stabbed it. He rammed it continously, It quaked and winced in considerable pain. Link was unaware that its icy tomb was begining to weaken, untill it shattered like a bottle hitting the floor. It knocked Link back into and bounded at him. He surged foreward to meet it. When he connected, the icy eye split into three eyes.
One flanked him and the second circled behind and the third one leapt up and descended like the blade of a guilitine. He rolled out from under as its impact shattered stones in the ground. Link sprang up and drove his sword into it. It winced and another rolled in behind, knocking Link against the wall. Two eyes stood before Link, and from their gazes branched tentrils of lightning. Link arose, and leapt as the thunder broke the ground.

Link felt a rumbling in his boots, and turned lunged foreward catching an eye upon the edge of the Master Sword. It fell motionless, and LInk turned his attention to the other two eyes. The other two circled like cyclone winds, the distance between them closing with each pass. Link, not wanting to get caught in its hub, charged at one. When Link slashed, it leapt back, blikned causing a pillar of ice to fall towards LInk. He slid across the ice, his side on his shield before the eye. Using the shield to gain steady footing, Link hopped to his feet and sprang at the eye, sword leading. The other eye circled behind Link and fired another volley of lightning. He bound out of the way, as the electricity slammed upon the other eye. It convulsed and shuddered, then fell silent and Limp. Link turned about, took his shield and arose to face the final eye.
The entire width of the room lay between the two of them. LInk glared at it with fire and spite in his gaze, and it returned his look. They charged, seemingly knowing each other's thoughts. With every step Link could feel his wounds revolt against him. His stomache quaked, his ribs throbbed, his back wanted to collapse. Nonetheless, he raised his sword and howled, steps growing swifter.
Just an instant before contact, Link wheeled out of the way, and plunged his sword into it's side. He then began to run, and dashed it onto the wall. Link tore his sword out, and hammered away untill he could no longer stand, which was about after a second.
He dropped to the floor, spent. His chest heaved like a billow. He felt a mountain upon him. His chest became heavy and he with each breath he took, he could feel blood going down his pipe. He knew he had to arise.

A radiant, irradescent glow filled the room that made Link remember what he was doing. He was still upon the ground when the crystal opened. He felt an energy flow into him. It circled his battered frame, and ran through every fabric of his being. He arose and wearily walked to the crystal. He locked eyes with the maiden imprisoned inside, and when he touched it, the crystal shattered, pieces falling to the ground like some rainbow waterfall.

'Hero.' called the pleasant tone of a young woman. 'Hero, you are victorious! Thank you'
'I am?' he stuttered.
She laughed 'Yes, and because of you I can escape the Dark King's clutches'
'Tell me, Just who is this Ganon anyway?'
'Well Hero, Ganon, was the King of Thieves, the god of an ancient race that once dwealt in the deserts. He wished not only to control his domain but all of Hyrule as well. To do so, he required the Triforce. He ruled Hyrule for 7 chaotic years, untill the Hero arose, claimed the Master Sword and freed the Seven Sages as well as what remained of Hyrule's royal lime. Then one gloomy night where the shadows were tall, the Hero ascended Ganon's citadel, took on the Dark King and defeated him. Afterwhich, the Seven Sages sealed him in this realm. Do you understand?'
'Yes I do. I was told that it was Ganon's dark intentions that twisted this place. Tell me now please, where do I go?'
'Swamp lands of the west. You'll find the next one of us there. Well I must go now and fortify the seal back in Hyrule. Thank you again, and may the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce.'
She gave him a pleasant gratifing kiss upon his cheek and was off. The next thing Link knew he stood at the water's edge where he first entered.