Burying a Dragon

Remei gave a crisp nod, moving behind the knight and wrapping her arms around his chest, lacing her fingers tightly and wincing. This would probably strain her muscles a little, but it was better than having Callad fall from the grate into lava or solid rock. That would...okay, that would probably kill him.

“I’ll hold you like this,” she said. “That way my wings are free entirely. Don’t wriggle,” she instructed him, stretching her wings upwards. She took a deep breath before bringing the wings down with a loud fwoomph, forcing Remei upwards. For a moment Callad remained on the ground, but a second sweep of the wings brought him off the ground.


She grunted with the exertion of it, barely managing to clear the tall grating- and even so, there was a clank the first time as she misjudged their height and clanked his greaves into the metal grate. She made a noise that she hoped he understood was an apology as she lifted them higher, barely avoiding smacking her wings into the ceiling, before moving forwards and putting him down on the flat surface of the horizontal grates. She dropped to her slippered feet with a sigh.


“Ow,” she muttered, opting to release the wings. They folded back into the tunic and she rolled her shoulders, stretching them out. “Okay, there we go. Find anything good, Keera?”

Oh. Ah, embarrassing. That wasn't awkward at all, Callad thought as he stood up, grateful he hadn't had to climb the grate/cage yet flustered at his striking inability to think creatively. The knight turned to the Gerudo and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Remei. I wouldn't have made it up here without your help." He peered down and saw that Keera and her fairy were standing in front of a rather eerily carved block of stone. She looked like she wanted to try and move it.

Callad jumped down, landing beside the Kokiri with a clatter of metal as his chain shirt jingled. He pushed against the block, and it inched forward. He'd blow his strength if he finished the task without help. "Keera, Remei, help me. This thing is heavier than I expected it would be."

"Oh my!" Keera exclaimed, her attention drawn away from the block. She watched the pair fly upwards and over the grates, exhaling with relief once they'd both arrived on fairly solid ground. Callad seemed unfazed by the trip, immediately dropping down beside her and getting to work on the stone block. Remei however, looked like she needed some respite.

"Are you alright?" Keera called, shuffling into the extra bit of space Callad had created by moving the block. He really was impressively strong. "You didn't pull anything, did you?" She was worried about having Remei strain herself further if she was required to push the block.

Not waiting for her response, Keera wiped an unflattering film of sweat from her brow and dried her hand on her cardigan. That taken care of, she turned to Callad's request for help. Although she was certain her contribution would be meagre, she hoped it would take some of the strain off of the Knight's muscles. Keera glanced up to see what Melda was up to as she heaved, her fingers pressing into the eye sockets of the carved face.

"Don't look at me- you wouldn't notice the difference if I tried to push that thing." Melda said. flitting around, as if to show her lack of force. "Make sure you don't pull anything either."

"Nah, didn't pull anything," Remei assured the girl. "Just a bit stiff,"
When she was satisfied that her shoulders and chest muscles were loose enough, Remei turned her focus to the carved block of solid stone that appeared to be daunting them. At Callad's behest, Remei stepped forward and planted her hands solidly against the face of the stone, joining the other two; their combined strength moved the stone painstakingly forward until it toppled off the side of the pillar and down, landing right in the centre of where the geyser would erupt.
"Oh, wow," she remarked. "We couldn't have aimed that better if we tried,"

A blast of lava surged upwards, and for a moment the stone resisted the force before it was lifted bodily upwards, smoothly sliding into the hole in the ceiling. Remei stepped back, aware of the possibility of lava splashing on her, and watched as the geyser died down once again and allowed the stone to hit the ground once again.
"Looks like we've got ourselves a path up," she said, eyeing it. "I should probably carry you back down, Callad, with that arm of yours. Can you climb back down, Keera, or do you want me to carry you too?"
Ugh. Look at all the charity she was doing today! How repulsive. She wondered where she had picked up this irritating habit of offering people things with no recompense. It wasn't Dahlia, and it definitely wasn't her mother. How un-Gerudo of her.

"Not necessary this go, Remei, but I thank you for the offer," he replied, hopping down lithely. He looked up to his companions. "Probably best if we do this one at a TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME?!" The geyser of molten rock sent him flying upwards, catching him by surprise in the middle of 'time.' Up the chute he went, and when he was at the top, he hopped off the stone, which slid back down the chute like one of those bizarre weighted platform contraptions he'd seen in the Castle.

His eyes were wide, his heart was pounding, and he hadn't quite caught his breath yet. He fell over, his back winding up against the wall, the knight slumped over himself.