Stone Tower Temple {U5+Quill}

(Continued from here)

Jacob, Eysseth, Marcus, and Loft walk towards the gate leading to the fabled Stone Tower Temple, the Undead War Front line and the last Ikanian Stronghold against the mindless undead hordes. A company of fifteen Ikanian Warrior Stalfos march through the dust on either side of them with a sergeant in front next to Jacob. The standard warriors wear no armor and wield axes, swords, lances, and the occasional sword and shield. The sergeant wears a rusted helmet and greaves, and wields a giant Greataxe. He walks next to Jacob watching any and all hiding places for the mindless undead. The barren landscape that used to be the outskirts of the beautiful and thriving Ikana Capital offered many places for things to hide in the long forgotten ruins of the city. The march was silent, the sound of the occasional bird and the creaking of the Stalfos' bones are the only noises to be heard. The Ikanian Warriors read themselves for the next major battle they are sure they will be in. The silence is finally broken by the Stalfos sergeant who speaks to the entire company that is assembled. "Men lisssten up. As you warriorssss know it hasss been going on for a few monthsss now. They ssswarm usss from the Temple. The Captain himssself is in the bassse camp organizing the defenssse of our kingdom. We are the proud defendersss of the Ikana Kingdom. Death could not ssstop usss! Are we going to let sssome mindlesss undead ssstop usss?!"

The sergeant was met with the rest of the Stalfos chanting in unison, "Ssssir! No sssir! For Ikana!" As the company nears the gate the sergeant turns to Jacob.

"Sssergeant Temple. Before we left I recccevied a messsage from Hisss Majesssty, King Igosss, hasss awarded you the temporary rank of Lieutenant and the rank sssergeant to your sssubordinant Marcusss. Nothing wasss sssaid of Loft. It has been many, many yearsss sssinccce there hasss been a living officccer in the Ikana Legionsss. A rare honor. Well sssir. sssstatusss report isss that the Sssstone Tower Basssecamp isss vital for the Kingdom'sss defenssse. We mussst not let it fall. The Captain himssself is leading the camp. I am ordered to take you to sssee Captain Keeta for you to recccieve your ordersss. After we aid in the defenssse of the camp."

Jacob unsheathes his sword and readies his mirror shield. "Right. Marcus. Yer a sergeant. I want ya ta have at least one Stalfos wit ya at all times. Unless ya think Loft is enough. We ain't gonna have an easy time, even at the camp, if the mindless undead 're gettin' through tha line anyways. You ready Marcus? Loft? How 'bout you Eysseth?" Eysseth gives a snort and nods her head yes looking towards the tower bearing her teeth and growling.

Marcus agreed, formally introducing himself and his companion to the Stalfos that the Sergeant waved over. As much as he hated to admit it, Marcus couldn't see much difference between this new Stalfos and all the others marching around them. Their bone structures were nearly exactly alike, and aside from the quantity of armour each Stalfos possessed, there seemed to be very few distinguishing factors between each one. Marcus had little doubt that the Stalfos themselves had little difficulty telling each other apart, but to him, as an outsider? Each skeleton looked exactly like the next. Marcus remembered that the rank of a Stalfos could be determined by how much armour was worn, and by applying this to his assigned Stalfos, he was reassured to know that the soldier was completely without rank. This lowered his chances of being second-guessed by his guard.

He thumped Loft on the head to keep him from complaining about his lack of rank- it may seem rude, but who could blame the Ikanans for not granting Loft any military position? The less power that boy had, the better. He nodded to Jacob, indicating that he was ready, and Loft mumbled an assent, rubbing his aching head and pouting.

The Sergeant barked a command to the head of the group, and the gate was slowly pushed open. They marched through it, and into an ordered collection of small, grey tents. The Sergeant led them to a tent a little ways in- away from the Temple, but not exposed to surprise flank attacks. It was identical to the other tents in all but two respects- it was larger, both horizontally and vertically, and it had a dull red cloth strung over the entrance. The Stalfos waved Marcus and company in, and he lifted the very large flap and stepped inside. The room was lit by two lanterns in the far corners of the room, flooding the tent with light and clearly illuminating a map in the center of the room, over which a large Stalfos was prodding small statues, muttering softly to himself. This must have been Captain Keeta, and Marcus felt happy to have found a Stalfos that he could easily tell apart from the rest. This skeleton was enormous- he was deeply crouched over the table, yet he was still easily as large as Marcus himself. His breastplate gleamed, apparently newly polished, and his eyes shone from within his helmet's sockets as he looked up at the newcomers.

"What business does the living have here in the land of the dead?" He asked.

"My name is Sergeant Marcus," Marcus said, as boldly as he could when facing a skeleton more than twice his size, "and these are my companions; Loft, Lieutenant Jacob, and Eysseth, a wyvern who waits outside the tent." He indicated each as he spoke their name. "The King ordered us to enter into the Stone Tower Temple and destroy the source of the zombie horde." As proof, he raised the golden medallion granted to him by the King.

"You bear the King's symbol," the Captain mused, "and you come here escorted by my men. Very well, Sergeant." He indicated the map, spread on the table before him. "This is the Stone Tower Temple," he said as the others drew in. "We are here," he said, tapping a small grey figurine by a drawing of a black gate. "The enemy," he said, "is here." He did not tap another figurine, instead waving a hand over the entire map. "We are focusing on the main bulk of the enemy, which is concentrated around the Tower. Our mission is to contain the mob, destroying as much of it as possible. We are to begin fighting at sundown, which is in approximately five minutes. Your mission is to enter the Stone Tower Temple, find the source of the hordes, and destroy it. Any questions?"

"Yes," Marcus said, "will you be sending any Stalfos to accompany us into the Temple?"

"No," Captain Keeta said. "The enemy is great, and we will need every available soldier to combat it. I can't send a guard with you to the entrance, either. Sending soldiers that deep into enemy lines with no way back is suicide, and a waste of valuable manpower. The King trusts in your skills, that's why he chose you to search and destroy the source of this horde. If you die before even entering the Tower, then you wouldn't be able to eliminate the target, and we won't have to waste any time waiting for you to return."

Marcus looked to Jacob. "Well, that's encouraging. Anything to add?"

Jacob snapped a crisp salute to Keeta. "Cap'n sir. Lieutenant Jacob Temple. Sir, what formations have tha mindless undead been assaultin' tha outpost in?"

Keeta returned the salute. "Lieutenant Temple. Ironic that you are storming the Stone Tower Temple, but we need to get down to business." Keeta points to the map. Magically it zooms in to the entrance to the temple and the camp. Black figures pop up showing the mindless undead and white figures showing Ikanan Troops pop up as well. "The mindless come in waves of about thirty. ReDead Knights are the leaders with there only being two or three leading the regular ReDeads and Gibdos. Fire Arrows work really well on the Gibdos. The ReDeads screams can stun even my troops so watch out for that. They all attack at once and rush the gate. I would suggest that you make good use of that mirror shie..." Keeta was cut off by an ear piercing unhallowed screech and a Stalfos yelling, "Contactsss!"

Eysseth began yelping as Jacob ran out of the tent to see Stalfos running to their posts. A dark grey boned Stalfos in a rusted breastplate points Stalfos to their stations and barks out orders. "Sssergeant! Get your archersss up the rampart now! Azzzor! Get your assss moving and grab an axe! Come on Thetor! Get over there!" Jacob mounts Eysseth and looks down at Marcus and Loft.

"Marcus. If yer healin' spells'll work on tha Stalfos use then. I don't want ya in direct combat alright? Loft. Don't let em near Marcus. Got it?" Before waiting for a responce Eysseth flaps her wings and the two are in the air and see the archers taking down one or two ReDeads. Eysseth charges towards the mindless undead mob.

Eysseth pushed off the ground, scattering dust and small rocks as she flew off into the sky. Marcus huffed, crossing his arms. "Right. Heal the Stalfos. They're creatures of the dead, animated by the power of the evil realm leaking into the world of the living. Somehow, I doubt that pouring the magical concentration of life into their bodies is going to do them any good."

Loft nodded. "Flippity floppity bobs don't like chickens."

Marcus pursed his lips. "Assuming that you're not completely and totally insane, I'm going to take that to mean 'complicated magical stuff doesn't like...' why chickens?"

"Chickens!" Loft said happily. His stomach growled loudly.

"Ah," Marcus said, looking back at the battle. "Well, this is boring. I'm a Healer that can't heal, and we're stuck here." He sighed, crossed his arms, and leaned against a tent post, watching the battle.

"We are?" Loft asked.

"Yes, Loft," Marcus sighed. "Jacob told us to stay put, and he's our superior."

Loft frowned. "I don't remember hearing him say that. I couldn't hear anything over the dragonfly's wings."

Marcus grinned. "Loft, you're a genius!"

Loft blushed, nudging the ground with a toe. "Well, yeah, I am, aren't I?"

"Come on!" Marcus said, grabbing Loft and dragging him over to the tents.

"Where are we going?" Loft whined as Marcus pulled him towards the Captain's tent.

"I just need to check something," he said. They burst into the Captain's tent, which was unoccupied, and he ran over to the lanterns in the corner of the room.

"These attacks," he said, "they've been going on for a while. Remember everything he told us, all that detail? He knew exactly how they were going to attack, their tactics, even their leaders." He pulled the lantern down, and slid back a little door. "The only thing they didn't know was when they were going to attack."

"Meaning?" Loft asked, watching as Marcus blew out the lantern and dipped his finger into the door.

Marcus hissed. "Still hot." He shook the lantern slightly, and grinned. "So, Loft, they've been camped out here for a while. These lanterns," he said, setting it down, "they're full." He grabbed Loft's arm again, and the two of them were running back out of the tent. They darted into another tent, and Marcus' face split into a smile. "Yes!" He said. He darted past several bunks, and grabbed another lantern.

"Why do the Stalfos need bunks?" Loft asked. "They're dead."

Marcus waved this aside. "Unimportant. For right now, I'm worried about this." He shook the lantern again, and laughed. "Yes! Full! Oh, Loft, you know what this means, right?"

"Uh," Loft said, "the dead don't have good night vision."

"Well, yes," Marcus conceded impatiently, "but that's not the point. These lanterns," he shook it again, and it sloshed loudly, "they're all full. They've been camped down for a while, and these are seeing a lot of use. If every Stalfos is needed to fight, then they can't afford have dozens of Stalfos carting oil to these tents, and what does that mean?"

Loft shrugged. "It means that the Stalfos are using Bottomless Bottles filled with oil."

"No," Marcus groaned, "if the oil isn't being carted in from somewhere else..."

"It means that they've got tons of it here," Loft gasped.

"That's right!" Marcus said. "And remember what the Captain said, what the Re-deads are weakest against?"

"Fire arrows?"

"More specifically?"

Loft grinned wickedly. "Chicka-chicka-BOOM BOOM time?"

"Yes, Loft," Marcus said, running towards the flap, "we're going to burn those Re-deads right back to the Evil Realm."

They burst out of the tent, and they dashed towards the easily recognizable form of the Captain, who was surveying the battle. Marcus couldn't tell his expression, since the skeleton had no eyebrows, but since he was watching a battle for his homeland, he would have guessed that his expression was "worried."

"Captain Keeta," Marcus gasped, "where are your oil supplies?"

"Not now," the Captain said, bending down to issue instructions to a runner that had just appeared. "Tell the second squadron to begin flanking manoeuvres."

"Captain," Marcus said again, "I have an idea that could destroy a lot of Re-deads, but I need to know where your oil supplies are."

"No." The Captain said flatly.

"But-"

"No." The Captain repeated. "You will not use our oil to try and burn the enemy."

"But," Marcus repeated.

"What," the Captain said, still not looking at them, "did you think that the idea hadn't occurred to me? I've been a Captain for centuries, I've seen more then you can possibly imagine, Hylian."

Loft, squatting on the ground and drawing with a small rock, giggled.

Marcus sighed. He looked out at the battle, at the hordes of Re-deads pushing against the Stalfos army. "They're getting stronger, aren't they?"

The Captain blinked, and looked at Marcus for the first time. "What did you say?"

"They're getting stronger," Marcus repeated, "aren't they?"

The Captain sighed, and Marcus again wondered how that was possible without lungs. Captain Keeta stared out at the battlefield. "When they first appeared, we were caught by surprise. The Re-deads have always had a presence in this valley, but this time they were an organized force. We were caught off guard, but we quickly retaliated against them. They were easily cut down by our trained soldiers. The strongest of them were downed in a single strike. They were weak, their army hardly a fitting opponent. Yet, now I watch as our weapons become caught in their tough skin. Damaging them is difficult, killing their Knights nigh-impossible. Their blows, which used to feel as mere gnats buzzing against our bones, now shatter us upon impact. Yes, little Hylian, they are growing stronger."

"We can't afford to wait anymore," Marcus said, "we need to go all-out now, or else we may not survive. My friends and I need to get into that Temple and destroy the source, and to do that, we need to win this battle."

The Captain hesitated.

"You wouldn't need to use all of your supplies," Marcus continued hastily. "Remember, we have a Wyvern with us. All we need is one barrel, and a really good archer. We can drop it right over the group of Re-dead Knights, and then-"

"Down by the gates," the Captain said. "The tent with a skull on it. I will attempt to contact Sergeant Temple."

"Thank you," Marcus breathed. "Come on, Loft." They raced over to the gate. Several dozen feet to the right of the gate stood a large pole stuck into the ground. At the top of the pole hung a grinning skull. "Charming," he said.

The tent was small, but packed. Barrels were packed to the ceiling, and Marcus and Loft grabbed one, tipping it on its side and rolling it out the flap. "You're lucky," Marcus grunted to Loft, "that none of the Stalfos saw what you were drawing back there."

Loft tilted his head. "Rainbows and butterflies?"

Marcus snorted. "Not unless 'rainbows and butterflies' is code for 'exploding skeletons,' no." Together, the two of them rolled it over to where the Captain stood. Beside him, an archer stood tall, quiver slung across its back, and an arrow already notched in the bow. A lantern hung from his belt, and Marcus guessed that they dipped the arrows into the actual oil to create their fire arrows. The arrow heads must have been specially designed, he guessed, to carry the flames through the air towards their targets.

"Have you flagged them down yet?"

Stalfos archers are peppering ReDeads with arrows as the mindless swarm moves closer and closer to the Temple Base Camp. Several ReDeads scream immobilizing the archers as the rest march forward in their unrelenting hunger for death and destruction. A Wyvern screech sounds louder than any of the ReDead screams. Several ReDeads look up just to see a large white Wyvern landing on and crushing them. A Hylian man riding on top of the Wyvern begins to hack and slash at any ReDeads close enough as the Wyvern begins biting at them and using her tail as a mace impaling a few. The ReDeads quickly start their swarm tactics and start overrunning the Hylian and Wyvern. "Eysseth! There's too many of 'em! We gotta go!" Jacob shouts above the sounds of battle while hacking at a few ReDeads.

With a nod Eysseth gives a mighty flap of her wings and rises into the air. A few ReDeads that cling to Eysseth are either thrown off by Eysseth or cut down by Jacob. "Alright...time ta do our old job. Bombin' run Eysseth!" Eysseth perks up and gives as best of a smile as she can as she dives towards the mob again. Jacob readies some bombs from his bomb bag. Eysseth sweeps low over the horde of undead and Jacob drops the bombs that go off a few seconds later. ReDead body parts fly as the bombs go off. Jacob and Eysseth complete a few more bombing passes before Jacob notices a Stalfos archer waving him down.

Jacob steers Eysseth away from the still numerous horde back into the Base Camp. Eysseth lands as Marcus asks, "Have you flagged them down yet?". Jacob looks at the barrel of oil then at the archer with the oil soaked arrowhead already notched in it's bow. Jacob smiles getting what they want him to do.

"I'll do ya one better Cap'n." Jacob smirks as he tosses an unlit bomb up and down in his hand. "Archer. Cover me will ya?" The archer looks to Keeta who nods approval. The archer nods to Jacob. "Thank ya. Eysseth. Let's give 'em a surprise." Eysseth snorts and grabs the barrel with her talons before giving a mighty flap of her wings sending her and Jacob into the air.

The horde had reformed into a more collective unit, it now has two ReDead Knights in the center of it leading the lesser undead. "Perfect." Eysseth screeched as she flew over the center of the horde dropping the barrel. Several ReDeads started attacking the barrel as did one ReDead Knight. Eysseth made another pass as Jacob dropped three bombs next to the barrel. Eysseth raced as fast as she could to the Base Camp as the wicks on the bombs ran out.

The entire area rocks as the three bombs go off at the same time igniting the barrel of oil. Even the undead Stalfos needed to shield what was left of their eyes because of the massive fireball that had once been a horde of Mindless Undead. Charred bodies and bits and pieces lay scattered among a few still living ReDeads that continue to claw their way forward. Jacob and Eysseth land next to Loft, Marcus and the Captain as Stalfos pour out of the camp to clear out any stragglers. "Welp. That was one pretty light show right?" Jacob laughs as he dismounts Eysseth and salutes Keeta.

The majority of the undead army was destroyed. The rest was quickly falling prey to the organized attack lines of the Stalfos squadrons. The battlefield stretching between the Stone Tower Temple and the rows of Stalfos tents was covered in rancid chunks of burned, decaying meat, and Marcus retched. He quickly decided to breathe through his mouth from then on.

The Captain congratulated Jacob on his actions, then turned to address a runner who had just appeared. He turned back, and informed them that the latest wave of undead had been completely destroyed. The Captain pointed towards the entrance to the Stone Tower Temple, across the stinking canyon floor, and ordered them to move quickly.

They agreed, and set off. Marcus took care not to step on any sizzling chunks of undead flesh. Loft, on the other hand, took delight on racing forwards and jumping on them, as a child would with puddles. He giggled at the squelching sounds they produced, and shrieked with delight whenever strange fluid would burst out from the meat. Marcus wondered idly what exactly the fluid was, however this was merely an idle interest. This was not the time for scientific dissection.

They stopped at the entrance to the Stone Tower Temple, pausing to ready themselves before plunging into the structure which radiated with twisted desire, bloated pride, and abominable lust. Marcus asked Jacob what he was planning to do with Eysseth. The entrance looked large enough for her, but they would undoubtedly have to pass through doors and Hylian-sized passageways.

Eysseth looks Marcus in the eyes for a moment before looking to Jacob. Jacob sighs a bit. "I think she's gonna follow us as long as she can. Like arguing with a Wyvern" Jacob chuckles a bit before he heaves the door to Stone Tower open with a loud grunt and a great amount of strength. "Welp...let's go on yeah?"

Jacob slides through the door into a very large open ceiling room that looked to have a walkway hanging upside down over the doorway. "Tha hell?" Jacob says staring up. The screech of a ReDead freezes Jacob in place. 'Fuck, shit, bitch, Goddess damn it!' Jacob starts screaming to himself in his head. Eysseth roars back at the ReDead seemingly unaffected.

The entrance slammed shut behind them, and Marcus stared at the open expanse of sky above their heads. The great chamber had no roof, and the blue sky was unclouded by vapour or fog. The sun had already begun to set, and Marcus was glad that the blistering heat would be absent from this leg of the journey. Of course, he was concerned with the idea of having to spend the night in an ancient temple filled with zombies, but he planned to stay very close to Eysseth if they did decide to bunker down for a few hours.

"Tha hell?" Jacob said, and Marcus followed his gaze up. Protruding from the wall some ten feet above their heads was what appeared to be a bridge. An upside-down bridge. Marcus knew it was upside down from the railings, which were reaching towards the ground. Marcus had little time to wonder what this peculiar piece of architecture meant, however. A piercing shriek ripped through his mind, tensing his muscles and freezing him in place. He couldn't move, and he wasn't sure if it was because of the terror coursing through his veins or some magical paralysing property of the scream.

He made some quick calculations. Jacob was paralysed. He himself was paralysed. Loft was right beside him, and as he couldn't hear anything from him, Marcus assumed that his companion was paralysed as well. They were cut off from any outside aid. Their only hope was Eysseth, really. He had heard her roar, and he hoped, staring at the upside down walkway above their heads, that she would attack before he felt a rotting hand on his shoulder.

Eysseth walks through the door with Jacob, Marcus, and the idiot. Jacob looks up and says something, but Eysseth is more interested in looking at a shiny red stone on the wall behind them. A ReDead screech breaks Eysseth's thoughts and freezes the Hylians she is traveling with. Eysseth looks over to see a group of four ReDeads crawling up the walls of a pit. The first one just barely above the edge as the other three just crest. Eysseth roars back taking the undead's challenge.

Eysseth lumbered towards the undead as they finished crawling up the ledge and started shambling towards the Wyvern. Eysseth bites into the closest ReDead. The moment her teeth sink into the undead and Eysseth can taste it her eyes widen. Eysseth bites the ReDead in half them instantly spits it out the half an undead and vomits. A pool of dark green with spots of different colors. The ReDeads are somehow drawn to the horrid mixture of fish, other meats, and bile. Eysseth, still a bit woozy from the taste of undead, flails her tail about wildly hitting all of the undead currently ingesting the Wyvern's almost digested meals.

After slinging the ReDeads that stuck in her tale across the room Eysseth vomits again and falls forward beside her second pile. Eysseth looks up to see Jacob running towards her. "Eysseth! Ya okay girl? Come on Eysseth. MARCUS!" Eysseth sees a very scared and worried look on Jacob's face as she purrs at his touch. Eysseth purrs louder as Jacob hugs her head.

Marcus shook free from the paralysis and hurried over to the wyvern. He stretched his neck, wincing as the stiff muscles protested after being frozen in such an awkward position for so long. Marcus could tell at a glance that the winged creature was breathing; it was so large that its breaths were easily audible. He reached a hand down and pushing against Eysseth's stomach. He hadn't been able to see what had happened to the wyvern, but he could guess what had happened. One of the corpses looked like it had been ripped in two, and bile covered the floor. He concentrated carefully to the thumping of Eysseth's heart against his palm. He really couldn't remember what a healthy wyvern's pulse was like, but he was working on the assumption that the basics were still the same. The thumping was strong, which was good. She hadn't actually eaten any Re-dead, a fact he quickly checked with Jacob, so it was highly unlikely that she was poisoned.

He stood up, stretched, and turned to Jacob. Eysseth was perfectly fine, he said, she just reacted very badly to the taste of magically animated chunks of rancid, slightly liquidated corpse. He looked meaningfully at the pools of vomit dotted across the floor, and told Jacob that she shouldn't be moving around too much right now. Her stomach was badly upset, and the last thing they needed was to be covered in sick. He left it up to Jacob whether he wanted her to gently follow them in a strictly no-combat role or stay behind.

While Marcus inspected the mutant moth, Loft knelt down beside the putrid pool of puke. He pulled a small bottle from his pack and dipped it into the rancid stuff, filling it and quickly capping it tightly. Thankfully, the bottle didn't smell after he wiped it off. He tucked it back into his pack. It never hurt to be prepared, and a bottle of dragon puke was like a sonic screwdriver; it could be used in absolutely any situation for absolutely any purpose. He didn't know just yet how he would use it, but he was confident that an opportunity would present itself.

Loft left the shallow pool and headed over to the pit where the Re-dead had crawled out of. It lay maybe a dozen feet in front of the entrance, and Loft wasn't disappointed by its size. It was the length of a swimming pool, and it slanted down into the middle like a drain. At the very bottom of the pit lay a hole that Loft could easily slip through, and Loft had to remind himself that there were nasty zombies waiting to get a chunk of delicious Loft-flesh on the other side of it.

Luckily for his flesh, there was a very strong distraction from the mysterious hole: a shining red gem set above the entrance. Loft jogged back to the entrance and craned his head up to get a better look at it. He noticed that it wasn't reflecting the light cast by the setting sun, but rather generated its own light as if someone had poured liquified fairy dust into it.

Jacob looks worrying into Eysseth's eyes. "Whadaya think girl? I don't wanna leave ya, but I don't want ya gettin' hurt followin' us." Eysseth purrs and whines softly. The Wyvern struggles, but eventually manages to stand herself back upright. Jacob pats her stomach gently. Eysseth looks like she's going to vomit again, but she swallows it back down. She snorts and motions her head onward telling Jacob to go on without her. "But...will ya be okay Eysseth? I don't wanna..." Jacob stops mid sentence as Eysseth looks deeply into Jacob's eyes. Although Eysseth does not speak Jacob seems to understand what the Wyvern is saying. "...alright. Be safe girl. Alright? Yer all I got left in this world. Please...please keep safe Eysseth." Jacob smiles a few tears falling from his eyes. Jacob gently hugs Eysseth. Eysseth wraps her wings around Jacob hugging him back. Jacob and Eysseth both let go as Eysseth pushes Jacob a bit with her wings a tear falling even from her eyes. "Goddess speed Eysseth. Be safe."

Jacob wipes the tears and walks over to Marcus. "She's gonna stay here 'til she can fly outta here. Let's go. Where's Loft?" Jacob sees Loft looking at a stone above the door. Jacob walks next to Loft. "What'd ya find Loft?"

"Dunno," Loft said, pulling out his throwing knife, "but it's glowing, and glowing things do cool stuff." He tossed the throwing knife straight into the air, caught it, and hurled it into the center of the shining sphere. Red light blazed out like fire, and the world shuddered and flipped on its head. It happened so quickly that Loft could barely feel gravity being flip-flopped. Something tugged at his feet and whipped him upside down, so he fell feet-first towards the empty sky. Thankfully, there was something between him and the never-ending nothingness. He landed on the stone walkway, and looked around. Up was now down, and down was now up.

He walked to the railing and peered over the edge into a blue void unhampered by cushioning gray cloud, a void that he could easily just tip over and fall into forever. He shivered, but whether it was from excitement or terror he couldn't tell. What was after the blue, he wondered. Would he fall right into the Sacred Realm? Would he have to apologize for flipping the Goddesses furniture upside down? Would they make him pay for damages? If he couldn't afford the golden vases, maybe they'd enslave him until he'd worked his debt off.

Loft pushed himself up onto the railing and spread out his arms. "Loft," Marcus yelled, "what are you doing?" He felt two hands pull at him, trying to get him back onto the safety of land, but Loft resisted.

"Let me do this," he said, "I want to be with the Goddesses and work as their personal dishwasher for all eternity!"

"That's... what?" Marcus sputtered. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

"It's stupid to you," Loft said angrily, "but the Sacred Realm's right there, and once I get there, I'll have to pay for flipping their house and breaking all their stuff!"

"Loft," Marcus said, breathing deeply to avoid yelling, "do you really think that this stone is strong enough to flip anything outside of this temple?"

"Well," Loft said, "it is filled with fairy dust, so you never know."

"Loft," Marcus said, "do you see any flying skeletons? No, no you don't. That's because nothing is flipped but this room! If you were to jump, you would probably just fall until you reached the edge of the spell, then you'd just hang in an awkward limbo until normal gravity is restored and you'd fall to your death to the ground."

"Oh." Loft frowned. "Well, you never know until you try!" Loft bent his knees, but before he could push off Marcus grabbed him and yanked him back to the walkway. "Marcus!" Loft whined.

"No!" Marcus said sternly. "If you jump, you'd have to wait for Eysseth to recover enough to pick you up, and- Farore, Eysseth!"

"Loft THA HELL ARE YOU...?!?!" Jacob about got through his sentence when the entirety of reality was turned on a head, literally. What was up is now down, what was left is now right. Jacob started falling into the blue void that once was the sky. "SHIT!" Sheathing his sword quickly Jacob hoped to grab onto the railing of the walkway. As Jacob get closer to the railing gravity starts speeding him up. Jacob reaches out hoping to get a solid grip. Fate has another idea. Jacob reaches out too early and his forearm hits the railing with such force the bone in his arm snaps sending Jacob now yelling and tumbling into the void uncontrollably.

Eysseth watches as Jacob walks away. A few more tears fall from the Wyvern's eyes. Eysseth tries flapping her wings a bit barely lifting herself off of the floor. She feels a bit queasy, but nothing too bad. She lands again as Loft throws his knife at the stone. Eysseth had no sooner looked over to Jacob's yelling when the room flipped. More vomit instantly erupted from Eysseth's mouth as she herself began to fall. After a few seconds Eysseth regains her senses enough to realize she has to fly. She begins flapping her wings and slowing her fall. After she stops falling entirely she hears a loud snapping sound and a yell of pain. Eysseth looks up to see Jacob clutching his arm tumbling past the Wyvern. Without regard for her weakened stomach Eysseth dives after Jacob as quickly as she can.

Jacob clutches his arm as he prays to the Goddesses. His time is up and he knows it. "Someone...anyone...take good care o' Eysseth. Din, Nayru, Farore please watch over Eysseth an' keep 'er safe." Jacob closes his eyes and continues praying more tears falling from his eyes. Jacob is suddenly jolted by something wrapping around his stomach. Jacob opens his eyes to see he is in Eysseth's talons being carried back up.

Eysseth speeds down towards Jacob. She ignores any and all gag reflexes that she gets on her way down. Only one thing is on her mind and that is saving the only family she has ever had. Her mind goes back to as early as she can remember. Herself as a small Wyvernling watching hunters killing her parents and brothers and sisters. Wandering around the lands of Hyrule looking for companionship. Everything running and hiding from the scary Wyvern leaving Eysseth all alone. Her being captured by Hylian Guards as a Young Adult Wyvern many, many years later. Her being assigned to Jacob, who cared enough to give Eysseth her name. Jacob treating her with the first kindness she had ever known from anyone or anything. Jacob and his wife actually treating Eysseth as part of their family. Jacob is the only person to show her kindness that is still alive. Eysseth is going to keep it that way even at the risk of her own life. Eysseth nears Jacob and wraps her talons around his stomach and begins flying back up. Eysseth drops Jacob on the walkway carefully and barks to get Marcus' attention. Suddenly all the gagging she ignored came back in one wave. Leaning her head over the railing Eysseth started vomiting almost violently. Eventually leading to dry heaves after having nothing left to vomit up.

Jacob is placed by Eysseth on the walkway. Jacob still holds his arm which is still in much pain as he watches Eysseth vomit until she has nothing left. Jacob jumps up and runs over to Eysseth. He hugs her with his good arm. "Thank ya Eysseth. Thank ya so much girl."

Loft watched the clods of sick fall down to the blue space below the walkway. He grabbed Marcus' sleeve and pointed down. "Marcus, look, you were right!" The chunks of vomit and regurgitated food stopped falling, spinning steadily in circles and hovering unsteadily. "They must have reached the end of the stone's flippy powers," he said, "can I try? See, Eysseth can fly!"

Marcus frowned, and pointed back at the sick. "You want to be picked up by a puking wyvern? Besides, see how they're spinning? Eysseth wouldn't be the only one vomiting." He tugged his arm out of Loft's grasp and headed over to Eysseth. He rummaged around in his pack and pulled out a few leaves. He handed them to Jacob and told him to give them to Eysseth. They would calm her stomach and help her rest. He also assured him that they wouldn't cause drowsiness, something that might prove fatal here. He turned to Eysseth, and told her that she needed to be ready for the room to flip again. It was possible that the stone had a set time limit, or perhaps it would rever to its original state of the activator, in this case Loft, left the room.

Behind Eysseth, the walkway continued straight on until it hit the far wall. There wasn't a door there, instead it was just a hole in the wall they could walk through. "If we're ready," Marcus said, "we should keep going."

Eysseth reluctantly munches on the leaves and swallows them she tries her best to smile at Jacob. Jacob returns the smile as he pats Eysseth's stomach softly. "Be safe Eysseth. I want ya ta get back ta tha Ikana troop camp as soon as ya can alright?"

Eysseth nods to Jacob as Marcus speaks up again, "If we're ready, we should keep going." Jacob nods as he walks towards the hole in the wall. Jacob unsheathes his sword with his good arm and looks over the room on the other side of the hole.

The room is decently large with a raised walkway in the middle leading to a barred door. Two giant blocks sit on the floor at each side of the raised walkway. "Clear!" Jacob yells as he walks further into the room. Jacob inspects the large block on the right of the walkway. "Huh. Might be able ta move it...SON OF A BITCH!" Jacob drops his sword onto the ground and clutches his broken arm after trying to push the block with it. "Din damn it! Why tha fuck'd I try that!"

Marcus winced and hurried forward. "What happened?" He asked. "Is it broken?" He held out his hand and healed Jacob's arm, fixing the bone and softening the pain. The tissue was inflamed, but Marcus soothed it over. "There," he said, drawing his hand back. "All better. Sorry for not getting to it earlier."

He looked over at the rest of the room. The door was barred, and there were two giant blocks. Normally, these blocks would be pushed onto some type of switches, but there weren't any that Marcus could see. Besides, these blocks were enormous, easily much taller than Marcus himself. He didn't like their chances at being able to move those. He remembered the flip-stone of the previous room, and looked around for another one. Sure enough, there was another shimmering red stone on the wall. Moreover, there were deep, box-shaped grooves on the ceiling directly above the blocks.

"I think that if we hit that switch, the door will open," Marcus said. "Jacob, would you like to do the honors?"

"Thank ya. Ain't that tha same thing Loft hit out there? Ya really want me ta hit it? Well okay." Jacob looks around on the ground for something to throw. Luckily there were small stone bricks laying on the floor. "Welp...here goes."

Jacob picks up one of the bricks and tosses it into the air a few times before launching it towards the shining stone. The room started to flip as the brick made contact with the stone. To Jacob the flipping seemed slower than the last time, but Jacob was more ready for it and his reflexes took over. As gravity started to pull him towards the once ceiling Jacob quickly flips himself and as the room finishes flipping Jacob lands feet first crouching a bit as he lands.

"Ain't so bad when ya know it's commin'." Two near deafening crashes sound as the two blocks hit the new floor. Jacob covers his ears as he is standing right next to where one falls. "Sunova...that was loud." Jacob looks to the door as the bars slide up with a rusted metal on metal sound. "Welp...tha door ain't barred no more..."

"Correct," said Marcus, and he nodded at Loft. "Flip it again." Loft picked up one of the bricks that had fallen with them and tossed it at the glowing red stone. The room turned on its head again, and they landed on what had been the ceiling, was originally the floor, and was so again. Now that they were on the same plane as the door, they could progress through the Stone Tower Temple.

Marcus walked over to the previously barred door and opened it. On the other side of the door lay a room shaped like an octogon. The ceiling was lined with windows, and light shone in from one side of the room. Marcus wondered whether they were in some kind of turret, to have a room surrounded by windows like this. There was no door, but rather a large section of one wall was comprised of dark blue stone, dotted with white and silver as if it was the night sky. In the center of the stone sat a sun that appeared neither painted nor carved.

"It's eyes are closed," Loft said, "maybe it's sleeping?" The sun appeared dull and lifeless, its colors faded and its previously brilliant hues darkened to a sleepy gray. "Can't we do something?" He asked.

Jacob follows Marcus and Loft into the next room. Jacob eyes the wall with the lifeless sun in confusion. "Now what tha hell is this supposed ta be fer? It stands out like a sore thumb, but how does it work?" Jacob walks over to it and knocks on it a few times. It's solid, but doesn't feel like the rest of the wall.

"Hm. Maybe..." Jacob pulls out a bomb from his bomb bag and places it in front of the strange section of the wall. "Fire in tha hole!" Jacob sprints a good fifteen feet away and ducks behind his shield as the bomb detonates doing nothing. "Well that didn't work..."

Jacob walks forward again with shield in hand. He passes through a beam of light coming from one of the room's windows that reflects off his mirror shield hitting the wall for a second or two giving a little color and life to the sun on part of wall. Jacob stops as he sees this. "Huh?"

"That's it," Loft said, bouncing up and down and pointing to the dark blue block. "That's it! You made it happy! Don't stop!" He was really very excited; he felt so bad for the sun, all cold and lifeless like that. It made him think of flowers stuck perpetually in the shade, their petals sunken and gray, with no hope of ever reaching the life-giving warmth of the sunlight above.

The light reflecting off of Jacob's mirror shield shone directly onto the sun, and gradually the gray gave way to a warm golden yellow. The sun's beams of light glowed, and the sun began to spin on the stone, its rays waving softly back and forth as they spun. The light from the sun grew more and more intense, and with a flash of blinding golden light the block resembling the night sky disappeared. The sun remained hanging in the air for but a second before fading, finally free and alive, into the warm, sunlit air.

In the newly created opening stood a doorway. Marcus headed over to it. "Nice job, Jacob," he said. "Good thinking."

"Bye-bye sunshine," Loft sang as he bounced over to the door. "See you later!" He opened the door and stepped inside. "Whoa," he said, blinking as the door slammed shut, "flaming swords! Marcus, can I have a flaming sword?"

"Sure," Marcus said, pulling Loft back to keep him from walking too close to the caped man with the fiery weapons, "you can take them once he's dead."

There were two things interesting about this room. The first, obviously, was the figure in the center of the room. It was short, shorter than Marcus, and entirely cloaked in a robe coloured as the desert sands. It held two swords by its side, their blades dancing with magical red fires. The second was a large stone slab standing behind the cloaked man.

"I am the Garo Master," the figure said, its voice as calm as an icy lake, "defeat me, and you may pass. Fail, and you shall die."