Inside the mountain, the dragon lay sleeping. Coiled like a snake, the monster waited in slumber as she dreamt through the eons. The river of fire below murmured and sighed as the years were born and died; a lullaby to sooth the silent Volvagia.

Her dreams told her both of the hoary days before even her time as well as the shadowy future to come. In her visions came a man - it would be him who would remove the spell that kept her captive. Wise and sly, the serpent saw her two means of escape. The hero could shatter the cursed door, allowing her to rise from the volcano which had trapped her for so long, or he would kill her, dealing the blow that would end her mortal life but free her spirit. Either outcome she would accept without complaint. Death was not to be feared; finally she would soar to the giant egg in the black sky to be nurtured until she could be born again. Gifted with the sight of prophecy, as all the blessed dragons were, Volvagia understood and prepared herself for her destiny. In her sleep the dragon smiled.

Steam hissed, a strange and shattering sound that broke through Volvagia's torpor. In an instance she was on her feet. She shrieked and lifted into the air in a panic. Her sight was useless! Someone was in her prison with her, but she saw nothing through the mist! Her chamber was white with cloudstuff and the heavy wetness clung like cobwebs on her skin, dampening her breath and slowing her muscles.

Helpless in the cool air, Volvagia fell from flight and crashed back onto the rocks. "Who art thou?" She asked as she stared, furious, into the fog. "Speak!"

"I would speak with thee," came a voice from afar, "If thou promise to listen."

It spoke in the tongue of dragons! Startled, Volvagia stopped her pacing and lowered her hackles. "Ah, now do I understand. I shall not attack thee, Stranger, if your words please me. But come closer, I will not bargain with an invisible man."

From the swirling mist came heavy footsteps. Volvagia chuckled delightedly, she had been correct in assuming the intruder to be a human male. Only the thin-skinned creatures had the audacity to disturb a dragon. But she had given her word not to kill him and his knowledge of her language intrigued and amused her so she let her anger slip away like smoke in the night.

The figure was tall and dark for a puny and pale human and his red cloak moved like a flame around him. Unlike the little human pests who had annoyed her in the past, this male seemed to begrudge her respect. Curiosity had sunk its sharp teeth in and Volvagia lowered her head to better investigate the man. "What shall I call thee, Stranger?"

"I am Ganondorf, Lord of Hyrule." In the swirling white chaos a pair of golden eyes flashed. "I have come with an offer."

Volvagia smiled back and lazily stretched, suddenly coy. "The word of a human means little to me. I shall listen, but after that..." Her gaze fell to her talons and she clicked them against the stones at her feet. "But I gave thee my oath. So speak, Ganondorf, Lord of Hyrule, for now my attention belongs to thee."

"My Lady, I ask of thee a single favor. Obey me and thou shall have the boon that thou desire above all others. I have conquered this Temple and the curse on you is mine to break. I ask that thou kill for me a single boy, the one falsely titled the Hero of Time. Do this and thou shall have thy freedom."

The dragon threw back her laughed and laughed, a blasting roar that shook the ceiling and cracked the layer of solidified lava. Ganondorf's magic had dampened the air to such an extent that her molten rock had cooled and coagulated but with her voice it rumbled and boiled anew. The bursting heat spread through her body like fire and her blood sang as it moved swiftly through her veins. Laughing still she rose to her greatest height, a serpentine inferno, and towered above the magician. "Little creature! I fear nothing and obey no one!" Around him she snaked, a crimson and gold circle. "I care not for thine enemy, nor of thy promises! My fate is mine own; I shall find my freedom without the help of man."

Ganondorf clenched his fists in rage. "Foolish thing," he spat back, "To sleep away thy life is remain in a stupor! Without me thou shall never realize thy destiny! Thou will languish and rot in this prison until all dragons lay dead and forgotten. This mountain will crumble into sand before thou can leave thy cage!"

"Thou art nothing but man!" Volvagia jeered. "With but a breath I can melt thee into nothingness. With but a flick of my tail I can crush thy bones. What power doth thou hold that is unknown to me?"

"I am the one in your dreams!"

The lava around murmured and sighed as it had for centuries; a continuous cycle of birth and destruction. As the lava rose it cooled and formed rocks which eventually eroded and fell back into a burning red ocean, serving to feed the tides and cause new waves to flow high enough to reach the point of cooling. Outside the mountain the sun rose and set and the seasons changed. Within the crater a dragon dreamt in a troubled sleep, remaining untouched by the passing time. The ancient curse remained in place but now the shackle of a promise strengthened the chains.