Chapter 1
Link looked around, the floor was dark with ashes, bone splinters dusted his boots, and blood splattered on the walls and ceilings. He looked at the exploded animal in front of him. A creature that he had never seen in Hyrule before. It was something menacing, evil, and terrifyingly new. Link rubbed the back of his neck with a heavily gloved hand, the rough leather palm scratched the already bruised skin. He winced and pulled his hand away. He knew he needed to get to the castle, to warn Zelda. She needed to know that, once again, evil was beginning to brew from the depths of the underworld to take over the power rich country.
Link shuffled his feet near the beast. It was a large animal, the size of a horse, but with talons and claws that could mimic that of an owl and bear. Its head was massive, with dead red eyes staring at Link. The malice and anger stuck on its face in an everlasting snarl. The hole that was blown apart in its stomach leaked a dark brown fluid that smelled of death. Link covered his nose as he examined the animal. It somehow was able to get it through the floorboards of a rancher's home. It did not hurt the people inside but was very close to doing so. The rancher and his wife were waiting outside, horror expressed upon their faces. Link looked at them, he felt bad that the state their home was in was almost unrecognizable.
"Is-is it dead…?" The woman asked, peering into her doorway. Link sighed and nodded. "Thank the goddess, but what of our home? Do you think the kingdom will help us get back on our feet?" She took a step forward, closing in on the door way.
"Love, it's ok. Hyrule takes care of its people. Link, we are in your debt. Thank you for aiding us. I will bury the beast in the woods, and we will wait for assistance with our home." Link's blue eyes shimmered and he smiled.
"You're very welcome. I will let Queen Zelda know so she can have help come to you. I would be more than happy to help you with the beast." Link looked quietly over at the young man, a man he could never be.
"Sure, that would be great. I sure hate to ask you to do more work after you spent all this time killing the beast for me." The rancher gently moved his wife to the side and crouched down to grab one of the legs of the beast. Link knelt to help him. The woods were a mile from the clearing of the ranch. They drug the animal outside and attached it to one of the larger work horses. They made their way to the woods in silence. Link was still deeply troubled by this new monster that appeared from the underworld.
"I appreciate the assistance Link, but I can take it from here. Why don't you head back to your home?" The ranched wiped his hands on his pants, smudging them with brown blood.
"I need to see the Queen before I am able to go home. Are you sure you don't need any more help?"
"I'm just fine." The rancher extended a dirty hand out to Link. Link took it, although it made his hands even more repulsive. They needed at one another, and Link walked back towards the small ranch home where Epona waited for him. As he approached, the nervous wife was looking out of her window, watching the woods as if her husband were never coming back. Link waved encouragingly at her, but she was too busy worrying to notice.
Link mounted Epona, he stroked her neck gently feeding her a carrot before their ride. It was a day's journey back to the center of Hyrule. Link would have to find a place to sleep for the evening. He was going to have to find a safe place to camp. He pulled Epona off to the edge of the woods. It was getting darker faster now, the sun skimming the blades of grass on the plains. Link led Epona through the thick trees until they found a small opening. The trees were surrounding them, but the center was beautiful and green. The flowers were in full bloom, and the last traces of daylight played against the colors. Link smiled a little to himself. He enjoyed the forest, even though it could be very dangerous in a country like Hyrule.
"Well girl, this is the spot. Let's start the fire." Link tied Epona to a low-lying limb and crossed over the meadow. He found a few dead limbs from the forest floor and brought them back to the clearing. Epona was lazily grazing on the soft carpet of grass. The simple things in life are worth living Link thought as he dropped the dead limbs. He began a fire and sat close in the soft grass. He knew that once the sun went down, it would no longer be a beautiful safe place to stay.
He had a way to protect himself and Epona during these few hours of darkness. He had a spell he learned from the witch in the town. It protected them from all the dangers of the forest at night, so they could sleep peacefully without being attacked. Link set the spell around Epona and himself and began to hunker down for the evening. He could hear the magic of the woods calling to him in his sleep. It was full of life, and he enjoyed everything about it. It was his solace from a tormented and disturbed mind. The moment he closes his eyes, the dreams come to him like the crashing of the tides.
"Link… where are you…?" He could see her in the distance, see the flash of her green eyes and red hair, "Link, you were supposed to be here, where are you?" She called to him. The wind had picked up, and her ghastly figure was turning, twirling her skirts. The fireflies were on the pasture, making her light up in a haunted way. Her eyes were dark, red rimmed, and fluorescent green.
"I'm right here! I'm here Malon! I'm here!" Link called out to her, across the meadows at LonLon Ranch. He began to go forward to her, to get to her, but he was going too slow and the wind was so strong.
"Link! He is coming for me…. Link!" She screamed out as a dark figure swarmed to her. The thing was made of a thousand tiny black particles. Link tried to call out but no noise came to him. He watched these particles form into a solid form, one that he was all too familiar with. Ganondorf stood there, hovering over Malon.
"LINK!" She screamed out but it was no use. Ganondorf turned back into particles and entered every orifice of Malon's face. Her eyes, ears, nose, mouth. Malon fell to the ground, rapidly losing consciousness. Link was trying to get to her, trying to run to her but it was no use. The earth was swallowing him up, never to release.
"Malon, please, no, wait for me…" Link let out the whisper and was struggling against his dream.
Malon laid in the grass, the wind whipping her hair across her face. She was pale as the mood, the fireflies were gone, and Malon was too. Link was too late, always too late.
Link woke up in a cold sweat. He was panting and crying. He looked around himself, checking the surroundings of where he was. He looked at his sleeping horse, she was still against the tree where he had her tied. It was night still, nowhere near waking hours. Link decided not to go back to sleep, and instead tried to understand his dreams. He put his hands on his face, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He needed water, cold crisp water.
Link touched Epona to make sure she knew he was stepping away. The spells were still in place, allowing him to wander the woods at night without being spotted. He enjoyed the woods at night, it was a different experience. Not many Hyrulians have seen the inhabitants that scurry in the woods during the dark hours.
A skeleton group slowly shifted through the trees. The moon lit up their boney bodies. Link moved to the side to let them wander aimlessly past. They had no idea what they were doing, only that they had a purpose to kill. They were always aggressive towards flesh and bone. If they came across a live person, they would attack until there was nothing left but bones. The remains would then become animated and join the rest of the skeletons on their hunt for death. Link watched them disappear into the night, it was nice not being noticed. They weren't difficult to fight, but he was too tired to want to fight them.
There was a melodic hum coming from the trees, including a faint glow of blues and greens. The pixies were out. It must have been witching hour. Link hadn't realized. Pixies were harmless, but they normally worked for Poes who hated people. Poes typically used to be a Hyrulian, only to have been betrayed or killed in anger. Their spirits would get trapped between Hyrule and the underworld, and they would become vengeful finding and luring people to the woods or graves to kill and collect the spirits. Pixies area Poes' way of enticing victims to the woods. A Hyrulian would look upon a beautiful pixie and follow it into the darkness until meeting with an angry spirit. Unfortunately, that was the way these things worked in Hyrule.
A small pixie fluttered past Link. Her tiny frame highlighted by green and blue magic. Her wings looked translucent in the night. A trail of fairy dust followed her. Link put his hand out to catch some and store away. Pixie Dust was very flammable and could make very large bomb weapons. Link carefully sprinkled the dust into a pouch attached to his belt.
The dun was beginning to make way through the trees. Link had been wandering aimlessly for hours. Not realizing where he was or where he had gone, he played Epona's song. Her reigns were loose enough for her to get free from the tree and run to him. As she approached, Link turned towards the sun. he could find his way out with a guiding hand. He had another few hours to get to Zelda and tell her the news.
Link mounted Epona, feeding her an apple from the saddle bag, and had them run towards the sun. Once they were out of the woods, the path to the castle was cleared. Link saw the faint outline of the large castle in the distance. He sped up the pace, trying not to hurt his faithful friend, but trying to get them back to their town before it was too late.
Once they reached Castle town, Link left Epona out by the water and ran up the steps. He had immediate entry into the castle whenever he wanted. As Zelda's trusted Hero, he was allowed on the grounds without escorts or hesitation. Once he reached Zelda's throne room, he noticed something was wrong. There was another man in the room with her, and he was very close to her.
"Zelda!" Link called out to her as he ran towards them, his hand on his sword ready to fight for his Queen.
"Link, stop, this is Luiced, King Luiced. He is from the country across the sea, Whitehall." Luiced turned and faced the alarmed hero. Luiced was a foot taller than Link, his hair dark black with hints of silver with eyes to match. His skin was very pale, and he would have looked almost sickly had he not been so large. Link took his hand off his hilt and held it out to the king. They shook gingerly, and Luiced returned his focus to Zelda. Link stepped forward to hear the conversation.
"They are all over the kingdom, Zelda. I heard you may have seen them here as well." Luiced crossed his arms over his chest and looked Link up and down. "You, you fought one of the beasts didn't you?" Link looked a little baffled. He didn't know this man knew anything about their kingdom.
"Y-yes, I just defeated one. That is why I'm here. Zelda, the creature was derived from the underworld. This was no earth spirit, it was a demon. Something pure evil. The stench, the blood, everything about this creature was evil." Link looked at Luiced. "Could it have spread here from your kingdom?" Luiced looked appalled.
"It's not like they know how to swim! We did not bring them on a boat and let it loose onto your land. This is a catastrophic event in out kingdom. So many people dead. So many… We are overrun. I beseech you for refuge, for my people." Zelda's eyes glimmered like they always did. Her eyes a deep violet storm. Link looked to her, feeling what she felt. It was the right thing to do, until the beasts were abolished from the earth.
"Yes… Of course Luiced. I will make the arrangements form y men to go with you to your country. This will be a progressive arrangement. We must make accommodations for your people. I will not have them on the streets." Zelda stood, but Link and Luiced bowed.
"Of course, your majesty." Luiced stood and took Zelda's hand and squeezed. "I thank you for your compassion and kindness." He turned and began to walk out the door. Zelda's seriousness had not faded as she turned to face her old friend.
"Tell me what you know about this beast." She said calmly, going to the window to peer into her courtyard.
"They are massive, the size of horses, claws of a bear, talons of an eagle, and heads of lions. They are very dangerous, and extremely hard to kill. Their odors are noxious, and eyes glow with hatred." The red eyes reminded Link of Ganondorf.
"The eyes, red like…" Zelda was quiet. Link dared not to breathe his name. Zelda understood the silence and turned to look at Link. "You are not to speak of this to anyone Link. We must meet with the sages tomorrow and speak of this. We must find out what is going wrong that the goddess would bring such a venomous fate to Hyrule yet again." Zelda turned back around. "Go and rest my dear friend, I will summon you tomorrow…" Link bowed his head and walked out the door, looking back to glance at her. She was only in her youngest years, but she had the soul of an elder. Link felt sorrow in his heart for her, she never asked to be punished so heavily, and neither did he.