The Legend of Zelda: The Ancient Power
Prologue
In the vast land of Hyrule, there exist many great tales of heroism and war, both ancient and recent, well-known and obscure. The most famous of these legends is the tale of the Hero of Time, a boy who traveled between present and future to bring an onslaught of evil to its end. With the aid of the seven sages, the Hero of Time successfully sealed away the great evil and returned peace to Hyrule. His long quest complete, the young hero was said to have crept away from that land on a personal journey in search of an invaluable friend.
However…
Unbeknownst to the citizens of Hyrule, another story was unfolding in the neighboring land of Mayia. A creature of terrible evil invaded the kingdom in search of a mysterious Golden Power. As they knew nothing of this great power, save that the horrific creature would not cease his rampage until finding it, all the people could do was pray to the gods for salvation. The answer to these prayers appeared one day in the most unlikely of forms. A young girl carrying little more than a sword and shield stepped forth and opposed the great evil. Much like the Hero of Time, she, too, defeated her foe and restored peace to the land.
Despite the victories these two heroes achieved, the power of the girl and the creature she defeated remained but a mystery to many of the people. When beings similar to those the girl battled in Mayia begin appearing in Hyrule a year later, another legend that had centuries before been buried and forgotten would soon be reborn.
This is the legend of the Sky Guardians.
Chapter 1: The Return
It was a late afternoon as Link rode his horse, Epona through a thick, dense forest, the sun sinking below the horizon to his left. Ever since he saved a mysterious land known as Termina seven years before, he had been on a long journey seeking his old guardian fairy, Navi. It was, in fact, that very quest that led him to Termina by chance, where he discovered the land gripped in terror as the moon slowly but inexorably fell out of the sky. There simply wasn't enough time to save them...but that was hardly a problem when one can manipulate time. Link's hand found the pocket where he kept the Ocarina of Time, a treasure of the Royal Family of Hyrule. The delicate instrument was ensorcelled with numerous powers that had saved his life every bit as often as his sword.
Link shook himself back to attention and turned his thoughts back to Navi. He searched day and night for her, only interrupting the quest to allow himself and Epona take a rest from the insane amount of traveling that was required. Whenever he saw a town or village, Link would stop for a brief rest and supplies and then continue to search for Navi there as well before moving on. Still, it had been years of searching and goddesses only know how many miles. Link was tired, frustrated and lonely. At the moment, he was finally considering giving up the search. However, he knew that that was not the answer. No matter how long or what it took to succeed, Link knew he would eventually lay eyes on his friend again.
As he slowed Epona to a halt deep within the forested area he had begun journeying through earlier that day, Link carefully scanned his surroundings. His blonde bangs swayed back and forth in the light breeze that had begun to rustle the leaves as his eyes shifted from tree to tree and shrub to shrub. However, it wasn't long before his eyes had begun to water and a tear trickled down his cheek. He missed Navi terribly, even if she had been a little annoying every now and then. However, the fairy's friendly personality and her talent for granting him line-of-sight on his enemies and discerning their weaknesses had by far made up for the slight annoyances, enabling them to build up the friendship the two had shared.
Link brought a hand to his eyes and wiped his tears away as he pressed on. Navi was out there somewhere, he believed, maybe even looking for him. He continued on his way, reminding himself of the great adventure he had with her in his homeland of Hyrule. Navi's advice had been very helpful to him, even if she did repeat it unnecessarily, and Link could tell she only did it so he would never forget. In fact, he actually enjoyed listening to her exclaim "Hey!" or "Listen!" or "Watch out!" or "Look!" It was because of this that he knew Navi cared about him just as he did her.
As the sky grew darker and darker with the onset of night, Link had begun having difficulty seeing through the darkened woods due to the canopy of the trees which blotted out the guiding moonlight. Even so, he didn't let it hold him back. However, he soon became so focused on his thoughts of Navi that he didn't realize he was steering himself and Epona right towards the face of a tall, rocky cliff. When he finally snapped himself out of his trance, Link gasped in shock and suddenly yanked Epona's reins, causing her to come to a complete halt in her tracks and whinny in surprise.
"Daaah! Whoa, girl!" Link exclaimed, relieved he'd realized what he was doing before what would have probably been a rather embarrassing, and possibly deadly, collision could occur. Link immediately began to turn Epona around in hopes he could locate another route through the forest. Before he could recollect his thoughts, however, a faint rumbling noise echoed from atop the cliff. The rumbling grew louder for the next few seconds until suddenly, chunks of rock came bursting away from the formation and plunged down straight towards Link and Epona. Link's eyes widened in fear as his grip on the reins became tight.
"Oh man, c'mon Epona, GO!" Link shouted as he pulled Epona about to dash off as quickly as he'd halted her. Luckily, he soon managed to locate a new route and turned onto it immediately. Much to his dismay, however, the new path only led the hero to another section of the cliff, with more rocks sliding from above. The two instantly bolted off again down another trail with Link frantically wondering where he would go if he ended up back at the cliff again. That is, until he had become so concerned about where he was headed that he stopped paying attention to his surroundings. It took Link mere minutes to collide head first into a low tree branch, knocking him right out of the saddle and sending him crashing into the dirt back first. His world instantly went dark out of the blow.
Link felt a sharp blow to the back of his head and the world above him began to spin before he succumbed to unconsciousness. The spiraling world above him seemed to bleed through the darkness, melting into iridescent vortices of color that flittered about just within each eyelid. The images were very pretty but, when a harsh golden light seared through his vision, he lost all recollection of what those images were. Link opened his eyes, his vision blurred and his head still throbbing. First he saw the sun and then the moon in a grayed, darkened sky full of billowing blackened clouds. Below the hovering sun stood a blonde-haired girl wielding a mysterious sword and shield with mysterious markings. Link could discern little from her hardened features, save that she was clearly a skilled warrior and didn't look particularly friendly. Link himself was standing opposite to her and below the moon, but he was holding a different sword than the one he currently carried, which was the Great Fairy's Sword, a blade he obtained in Termina. Instead, the weapon in his hand was a dark blue-hilted sword he'd never seen before which also bore markings he could not decipher. Without warning, Link and the blonde girl held up their swords and the sun and moon began to glow…
"Link!" a feminine voice suddenly called. "Link! Hey, are you alright?" Link's eyes fluttered open almost on the instant, yet he could've sworn he was awake before. A bluish white ball bearing wings hovered above him and when he realized what he was looking at, Link found himself wondering if this was another dream.
"Link!" Navi repeated, her tone as joyful as ever while the flapping of her wings grew faster. "Oh Link, I'm so relieved you've awakened!"
"Huh…? …What happened? …Navi?" Link wondered, sitting up and still working to dispel the fog over his mind. "Navi! It is you!"
"Yes! I found you here unconscious. Oh Link, I can't believe this is happening after such a long time!" Navi replied.
"Neither can I. Navi, where have you been during these seven long years?" Link wondered, wanting to cry with joy at seeing his beloved fairy partner again. "My adventures have never been the same without you by my side! Or, is that my head or in my hat?"
"I…I'm so sorry, Link. I returned to the Kokiri Forest…" Navi reluctantly admitted, knowing how long Link had been away from Hyrule.
"What? You mean to tell me you never even left Hyrule?" Link exclaimed, his eyes widening. "I left and never saw my home again for years, Navi!" Navi stopped flapping her wings so hard and felt the most regret she ever had in her life.
"I know, Link…it's all my fault," she pleaded with guilt. "I should have said something before we parted ways back at the Temple of Time. I never thought of you actually leaving Hyrule to go find me…"
Link was instantly deep into thought once more upon hearing Navi's words. She was right, but then again, he never thought she might have remained in Hyrule. Now he began to feel his own share of regret over the entire misunderstanding. He could have searched Hyrule first instead of leaving completely, but why didn't he? And why did Navi appear to randomly fly out of the window of the Temple of Time, for no discernable reason and not come back? Unable to answer these questions floating in his mind, Link decided to in instead focus on what was more important about Navi's return.
"You know what? I have to apologize as well," Link decided. "I never considered the idea that you might have stayed. But although we're both at fault here, I'm merely glad we're reunited after all these years."
"Yes, so am I!" Navi responded in a cheerful voice. "And I miss Hyrule. What say you to a journey back home together?" A smile formed on Link's face as he gripped Epona's reins again.
"I say you bet!" he agreed. He, too, missed his homeland dearly and returning with the friend he had been searching for so long and hard had to be the best idea he'd heard in a very long time. Although Link was excited to set foot in Hyrule with his fairy by his side once more, he still had some questions floating in his mind as they were traveling.
"Hey, now that I think about this, did you eventually leave in search of me too?" he inquired.
"Actually, yes. A while ago, well quite a while ago, I decided to find you but I didn't know where to look. Then Zelda came to me and she told me that you left on a search for me three months after we parted ways, and I felt like I'd made a horrible mistake," Navi explained. She continued to say that she, too, had not seen Hyrule in seven years because she had been searching for Link to apologize for everything.
"Oh…I'm so sorry to have put you through that," Link apologized, his guilt probably reaching the same peak as Navi's by now. "Zelda… I'll have to thank her for letting you know where I'd gone. I've missed her terribly as well." As the words left his mouth, his meandering thoughts suddenly fixated upon Zelda, princess of Hyrule. Link had spent his final three months in Hyrule with her and it had felt as though he'd found a little piece of heaven that had fallen to earth. Zelda's kind nature, and her crafty mind and fondness for pranks were always good for a laugh, even if it was Link who was on the receiving end. Knowing Zelda, she would also be happier than ever to see Link again. However, that train of thought soon led to another matter Link had begun to ponder about. How did Zelda know where Navi had gone and why she didn't give Link the information?
"But wait a second, if Zelda knew where you'd gone, why didn't she tell me?" Link asked, arching one eyebrow.
"She didn't know at first. Saria told her I'd gone home," Navi explained.
"Yeah, that makes sense, with Saria being one of the sages and all," Link replied. "Now I really feel ashamed of myself." Not only had Link left Hyrule, but he'd left his friends behind as well, and Saria, a Kokiri and sage of the Kokiri Forest, was his only real friend during the lonely years before his adventure began.
"Don't punish yourself, Link. We're together again," Navi assured. "Everything's fine now."
"Yeah, you're right. No use pouting about it even more," Link agreed. "But still, nothing's been the same without you. Especially since I had another fairy following me around in this land called Termina." He went on to say that even though the fairy, whose name was Tatl, had helped him, Link detested her attitude and the way she treated him. And, of course, the way her voice sounded like a shrill bell being rung right in his ear hadn't helped much either.
"She acted as if I were a freaking moron who didn't know the first thing about adventuring, for crying out loud!" Link complained. "I needed you back too much afterwards, and because of that, I left that land without a second thought. Don't ever leave me like this again. Please!"
"Oh…of course I won't," Navi promised, looking abashed at the confession. "I didn't know you needed me so much. I thought you had no use for me because you're a Hylian, not a Kokiri. But I promise I won't think such things ever again!"
"Thank you, Navi. I may be a Hylian, but that doesn't change anything."
"It certainly doesn't." At that, Navi flew close to Link and huddled against his shoulder in a fairy hug. Link smiled and brought his hand around her as he kept steering Epona. They were definitely inseparable friends.
A fairly short time had passed after Link and Navi had finished their conversation when the faint sound of a horse's hooves echoed from elsewhere in the woods. Link instantly pulled Epona to a halt and glanced around to see where it was coming from, but the sound seemed to echo off of the tree trunks and then become muffled by the leaves making it difficult to even hear, much less track to its source. Fortunately for Link, a palomino horse came in to view minutes later, galloping towards him. However, 'fortunately' might have been a premature term, as Link had no idea if the rider was friend or enemy. Link shook his head when he laid eyes upon the horse's rider. It was a blonde-haired girl who appeared to be no older than him and, to his astonishment, bore a striking resemblance to the person from his vision. The girl had a yellow-orange hilted sword and shield at her back and her features were hardened but not unkind, indicating she was a warrior like Link himself. The girl pulled her horse into a complete halt in front of Epona and Link, her deep teal blue eyes looking straight into him. Feeling too shocked to say anything, Link simply concentrated on how he could see a girl he did not know in a dream. Finally, the girl herself spoke up seconds later.
"Excuse me, your name is Link, right?" she asked politely. The girl's expression bordered on concerned as Link searched for his reply. Waiting for an answer, the girl perked up her pointed ears. Having trouble getting a sentence out, Link finally spoke.
"I…oh, yes, I'm Link," he responded, finally snapping out of it. "H-how did you know?"
"I was told of you by the King of Hyrule. He sent me to find you. …Is something wrong?" the girl wondered, sensing Link's astonishment.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that you look a lot like someone I saw in a dream. And…and she was holding a sword just like yours!" Link exclaimed, feeling a wave of shock go through his body once again when he got a closer look at the hilt of the girl's blade.
"Is that so?" the girl replied, not seeming the least bit surprised. "Then there's no doubt about it. You're definitely the man I'm looking for."
"Huh? Now I'm really confused," Link admitted, scratching the top of his head. The girl smiled, hinting to Link that she knew something he didn't.
"Ah, let me explain. My name is Kelli. I'm a Hylian warrior and protector of Hyrule. As I said before, his majesty King Daphnes assigned me to find a man named Link, also known as the Hero of Time," the girl explained. Kelli said she had been given details about Link to help expedite her search. Link knew from the moment Kelli mentioned his title that she, indeed, was a confidant of the Royal Family because, as from Link and the Sages, King Daphnes and Zelda were the only people to know about his adventure in the dark future he and his friends had prevented from coming to pass. Convincing the King that his then ally, Ganondorf was in actuality a traitor had been difficult but the Triforce emblems on Link and Zelda's hands had been difficult to refute. King Daphnes had explained to Kelli how Link was affected by evil presences in the form of terrible nightmares based upon them and that it'd be wise to ask if he'd had any such dreams lately. Kelli was also given a brief physical description of him as well, although it wasn't much due to Link having not been seen in a long time.
"I see," Link replied. "But what does his majesty want me for? What's going on?" Kelli looked away for a minute. Link could easily tell something was very wrong.
"I'll explain later. We have to hurry," Kelli replied. Link nodded with concern as the two warriors began their journey back to Hyrule together.
As they traveled, Link found Kelli easy to get along with despite her reluctance to share details of her mission, as the two ceaselessly conversed during their long journey. He learned her horse's name was Sunfire and that she was a gift to Kelli from Zelda. Sunfire was quite an attractive horse for the steed of a warrior. Her curly blonde mane and tail radiated beauty. Her saddle was a light sky blue and burnt red in color and bore the emblem of the Hyrulean Royal Family, the Triforce mark, while the straps were colored gold. It showed the beauty of a royal saddle. Link shared tales of his past adventures in Termina and Hyrule, explaining how he wielded the legendary blade, the Master Sword, and even about his traveling through time to first overthrow Ganondorf, the evil king of the Gerudo tribe in the west, in the dark future and then return to the past to prevent his rise to power. Kelli refused to give many details about herself, however, and whenever Link mentioned the Kokiri Forest or Zelda, she would cut him off and change the topic. Although he found this rather odd, Link could detect an edge in her voice and decided it was too harsh a subject to inquire about for the time being.
Around half an hour later, Kelli suddenly brought Sunfire to a halt, causing Link to follow her example with Epona. Her eyes shifted quickly from each direction, indicating she was sensing a nearby presence, but Link couldn't hear or see anything but themselves. He decided it was best to inquire about the matter.
"Kel, why are we stopping?" he whispered, still glancing around.
"Shush. I heard something," Kelli replied, so softly that Link nearly missed it. The two were silent for the next few moments until Kelli's expression bordered on frantic.
"Oh no… We're being pursued. Follow me quickly!" she instructed. "Fight only if you absolutely have to! We can't lose any time!"
Link, deciding Kelli knew what she was doing, obeyed and followed behind the warrior closely and quickly. In no time at all, however, Lizalfos, humanoid lizard creatures who carried fairly short swords, riding atop White Wolfos had appeared waiting in ambush and gave chase to Link and Kelli. These monsters were familiar to Link, but something appeared different about them this time. They seemed to be more intelligent than the last time he encountered them, they'd never had mounts, and their eye colors were not the usual eerie bright red. Most of them had golden eyes, but a select few bore navy blue eyes as well. Hoping Kelli knew what exactly was going on, Link continued to follow her winding paths through the trees and helped fight off the monsters that caught up with them until their pursuers were far behind.
"We should be safe now," Kelli wheezed out a few minutes later. The enemy's numbers had by then dropped by a lot. The remaining ones began to flee.
"Can I ask what that was all about?" Link wondered in confusion. "I've never seen Lizalfos riding Wolfos before, nor have I seen them so intelligent or have those eye colors."
"You'll understand when I explain things later." Taking Kelli's word for it, not that there was much of a choice, Link decided not to inquire about it again until they finished their journey.
About an hour after Link and Kelli first left, they finally entered the vast land of Hyrule. However, Link couldn't believe what he was seeing around him. The scene he beheld was eerily familiar, and in the worst possible way. Dark clouds were hovering over Death Mountain, Hyrule Castle could be seen completely consumed by dark skies and fog, the drawbridge into the town was torn down, the town walls were full of holes and partially destroyed, and monsters were roaming all over Hyrule Field. Link's mouth hung open in shock as he watched a scene from his oldest nightmares playing out before him. Somehow, despite the tireless efforts of himself and the Sages, the dark reign of Ganondorf had come again.
This was Link's first thought, for he was at a loss as to what else it could be. But the broad expanse of tragedy he gazed open was more than enough to overwhelm his sense. It meant that everything he'd done, and everything that had been done to him, all that his friends had accomplished, and all they had suffered, everything Hyrule itself had gone through, all the years of savagery and slaughter and the deaths of countless innocents...had all been for nothing. Because it had all been done to prevent a dark and terrible future, which had happened anyway. Somehow, Link shook himself back to attention. The Sages, Malon, the Kokiri, the Gorons, the Zoras, the Gerudo, the Great Deku Tree Sprout, and Zelda. Were they alright? Were they even alive?
"Link? Link?" a voice tore through his whirling thoughts and he turned to Kelli, who also bore an expression of concern.
"Oh no… This can't be," Link said, his eyes wide, though he was all too aware of how the sight before him disproved his words. "Is this why we were being chased?" Kelli closed her eyes and her gaze drooped earthward, almost mournfully.
"I'm afraid so. A mysterious evil did this…" she explained as her eyes opened and scanned the field once more. "No one knows who, but this evil invaded the land and let loose a raid of these intelligent monsters without warning. I didn't think any had gone so far outside of Hyrule, though."
"I have to find my friends," Link realized urgently, and he was about to spur Epona into motion when Kelli's mount trotted forward to bar his path.
"I can't let you do that," she informed him calmly.
Without thought, a reflex born from having wielded a sword against foes in countless varieties, Link's blade leapt out of his sheath, it's tip hovering a hair's breadth from Kelli's throat. A torrent of thoughts whirled through Link's mind, most centered on what could be happening to his friends at that very moment and Kelli's reasons for preventing him from helping them. Whether she was, despite her earlier claims, an enemy or whether she was giving him the run-around like Sheik and the Giants had in his prior adventures, Link did not know. And, frankly, he didn't care.
What could be happening to Saria, to Darunia, to Malon, to Zelda, while he was halted here in this standoff filled him with dread. And, anybody who tried to stop him from saving them did so at their own peril.
"I don't want to hurt you," Link told her, feelingly. "But, I need to find out what's happened to my friends. They might need my help. Now, move out of my way or I'll move you." Kelli's expression remained unchanged, doubtlessly sensing the conflict in Link's mind as he weighed the prospect of cutting his way through an ally or risking that such a delay could cost the life of friend. Sensing that the tension in Link's sword arm might not be a good sign, she chose to merely leave him a warning.
"If you think you can beat me in a battle with your current skill, then you're being more reckless than I thought you would," Kelli commented, her tone turning less friendly. At blinding speed, she swiped her sword from her sheath and struck Link's blade away from her throat. Link, nearly gulping at the act, made no effort to resist further. Kelli had clearly implied that she knew sword techniques he had never even heard of, though where she could have trained to learn such skills, he could not figure out.
"I don't know where your friends are, or what's happened to them," Kelli admitted, but continued before Link could respond with drastic action. "But I know someone who does. If you come with me, you'll learn more than you would gallivanting off on your own. I will also offer my help if you trust me."
Another few tense moments passed, during which Link mulled over the prospects of forcing his way past or taking Kelli at her word. Eventually, he sheathed his blade and nodded.
"Alright, we'll do it your way," Link replied, his tactical mind already mulling over the situation. "Do you know anything about who or what caused this?"
"No. That's what we need to find out," Kelli explained. Link could tell she was confident in her ability to find out whom exactly this new evil presence was. She then bravely said, "The first thing we must do is see his majesty. He will surely have counsel and orders for us."
"Where is he?"
"Everyone, including his majesty, have taken shelter in Kakariko. Somehow, the village is the only place that has hardly been touched by evil."
"Hm…"
Link still didn't like not getting a straight answer out of Kelli but he could tell she was sincere and decided he could trust her. His earlier musing about Sheik came back him; Sheik had also been evasive and cryptic to the point where Link seriously considered grabbing the lyre strumming Sheikah by the neck and shaking him until he told Link where Zelda was hiding. One could imagine Link's surprise when he learned that Zelda had been hiding behind Sheik's cowl, right in front of him, the whole time. Perhaps Kelli was being similarly tight lipped because she too had things in hand? The possibility helped to calm Link's worried mind.
Still, Link's concerns yet lingered in his mind even though Kelli had assured him that he'd know where his friends were soon enough. With things the way they were, however, monsters could attack anywhere at any time whatsoever, which meant Link and Kelli would need to keep their guard up at all times. Link also pondered about who could be behind such horrific devastation, but no reasonable ideas came to mind besides Ganondorf, the evil Gerudo king who was defeated by the young hero when he wielded the Master Sword. And even Ganondorf being behind this didn't seem possible because how could the man have broken out of the seal he was sent into so soon after Link and Zelda reported his treachery to Daphnes? Link decided, as a result, it had to be an unknown adversary, at least in Hyrule.
As Link and Kelli directed their horses across the monster-inhabited Hyrule Field, Link noticed Lon Lon Ranch had also seen an attack. There were cracks and holes in the walls and pieces from where it had been bombarded were lying in the dirt-stained grass. Link grew even more nervous as he lightly scanned his surroundings. He hoped Malon, Talon, Ingo, and the animals were safe and sound. Well, Ingo he could do without, but Malon and Talon were amongst the first real friends he'd had since leaving Kokiri Forest. After an extremely close, but missed encounter with a pair of bird-like monsters known as Guays, Link and Kelli arrived at the entrance to Kakariko Village. However, before the two warriors could even dismount their horses, a Hyrule Castle guard appeared on the stairs leading to the village. The one thing that managed to catch the eyes of Link and Kelli the most, however, was the soldier's blood-stained lance and the limp in his walk. His panicked expression turned into relief when he spotted Link and Kelli at the base of the stairs.
"Lady Kelli!" he exclaimed, limping faster. "You've returned with Link at our time of greatest need, but I'm afraid I have bad news!"
"What's going on?" Kelli asked with slight nervousness, sensing trouble.
"The village was raided by monsters and they took his majesty hostage! We tried to stop them, but they were much too strong."
"What?" Kelli gasped, her nervousness turning into fear. "How?"
The guard carefully explained the event to both warriors, who listened with all ears. Daphnes was speaking with a few of the guards, including the one sent to the field to keep a sharp eye out for Kelli's re-arrival. Within the next few minutes, a sharp reptilian cry echoed from above and a pair of dinosaur-like creatures dropped from the sky. Like the Lizalfos Link and Kelli had encountered earlier, these had strangely colored eyes and showed unheard-of intelligence. Despite that they were carrying swords, they did not attack anyone in the village, but instead immediately snatched Daphnes by his arms and bolted for the exit.
"Sounds like Dinolfos," Link interpreted.
"I thought that's what they were," the guard agreed. "I also noticed something big flying in the sky above us as well, probably what brought the creatures there in the first place. After the other soldiers and I gave chase, I managed to attack one of the monsters, but they shoved me away. I tripped on a tree root and slammed into a wall."
"Hmm…" Kelli replied, her mind wandering to new ideas. "I may know what that flying creature was, but I can't say for sure. Did anyone see where the Dinolfos were taking the King after they escaped the village?"
"I rushed to the stairs for that very reason and spotted them heading for the castle," the guard continued. "I fear they've locked the King up in the dungeon. Oh how our poor castle has suffered…!"
"Blast! I knew we had little time, but I never imagined how little," Kelli fumed with concern. "Link, you saw what happened to the castle, didn't you? We must both go after his majesty."
"Agreed," Link replied. "The guard said the monsters responsible for his capture were very strong, which means those guarding the dungeon are likely to be similar, if not stronger. One of us going alone would definitely be unwise."
"My thoughts exactly. Let's go," Kelli agreed and then returned her attention to the guard. "As for you and the few other guards, it seems the monsters have already come for what they want and shouldn't be back for awhile, if at all. Are you still able to fight?"
"Yeah, I should be fine once the pain in my leg goes away," the guard assured.
"Then you know what to do. Just in case, keep your guard up!"
"Yes, ma'am!" the guard obeyed and returned to his post as quickly as he'd come out. Link and Kelli turned their horses in the direction of Hyrule Castle Town and headed off, these events weighing heavily upon their minds. For a trip to the castle in its current state would surely not be pleasant, especially when the enemy they faced was apparently intelligent enough to know a means of giving already dangerous creatures the intellect to become even more deadly. Whoever this new villain was, he surely had to be more dangerous and menacing than even Ganondorf, which meant both Link and Kelli needed to be prepared for anything and everything.
