A Couple of Trials (ZeLink)

Chapter 74: The Perch of Tabantha

Link felt his body re-form, the roughness of the platform he now stood on massaging the soles of his feet. He opened his eyes to rid himself of the darkness behind his eyelids, yet no light was visible. Confused, Link rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times, yet still, darkness was all he could see. Slowly, he took a small step forward, just enough to remain on the teleportation pad he had arrived on. When his foot touched the ground, he hummed. There was no question about it; he was on the next floor.

Furrowing his brow, realizing this was intentional darkness, he took another very slow and careful step forward, allowing his foot to cross over the platform and onto the ground that surrounded it. A light crunch accompanied the feeling of grass collapsing under the weight of his feet. The moment he stepped onto the grass, a few dim, orange lights appeared with a whoosh, floating in front of him within the darkness. Upon closer inspection, the lights-quickly determined to be flames-blazed on top of tall lanterns, their iron and wooden bases stuck firmly in the ground.

Link glanced around the room again, with one foot in the grass and the other still on the platform. When nothing else happened, he carefully took another step, placing both feet in the grass. More dim flames appeared, each whooshing to life, yet these were much higher than the lanterns before him. Some were higher, others were lower, some further than others, all of them surrounding what Link assumed was the perimeter of the room.

The collection of lights allowed him to make out some of the room's features. He was again in a forest, trees and tall grass surrounding him, yet instead of the usual bright blue ceiling above, this one was filled with lanterns. There wasn't an enemy to be seen through the darkness or the sparse light, and yet, Link's hand slowly made for the bow on his back, his eyes swiftly darting between every light surrounding him.

The moment his fingers wrapped around the bow's handle, all the flames in the room flickered-except for the two lanterns in front of him-before blazing slightly brighter, revealing a room full of large, orange eyeballs. With each flaming iris now locked onto Link's position, caution was abandoned as he yanked the bow off his back. The moment the weapon was in front of him, his free hand reaching toward one of the arrows on his back, the balls of fire began spreading their wings. For that's all they were-eyeballs with wings, covered in flames growing fiercer by the second.

The flapping of wings caused stray flames to rain down, igniting the leaves of the trees and the tall grass below. The room was beginning to grow brighter and hotter thanks to the fires surrounding him. Link jumped back, sweat falling from his brow as he began to hold his breath. As the flapping of wings and the raging fires slowed, he nocked an arrow into the bowstring and pulled its feathered end to the corner of his mouth. He released the arrow to strike one of the flaming pests slowly flying toward him. Still holding his breath, he fired more arrows in rapid succession, striking as many eyeballs as he could before finally releasing his breath, easing the strain on his lungs.

Though many of the flaming creatures had fallen into the fire raging in the grass, the swarm had barely diminished in size. Taking deep breaths to regain his stamina, Link swapped the bow for the broadsword on his back, the flames increasing in both size and intensity, closing in on his bare feet. Regardless, he gritted his teeth, readying his blade as he watched the creatures gathering together, creating a wave of flames in the air above him in anticipation of consuming him.

A swarm of fire keese, he thought to himself, watching the keese fly above him just as the ground beneath him began to shake.

Confused, he looked around, trying to see past the flames burning across the ground, when he noticed a spark behind him. As the ground shook more, globs of thick, green liquid oozed forth from the soil, their growing, squishy forms coursing with electricity. In a matter of seconds, what looked like two large blobs of jelly with bulbous eyes had jumped up from behind him, their electricity coursing stronger around them now that they were free from the confines of the underground.