A/N: Well, here it is! The second part of the story: FARON AND LANAYRU'S DELIVERANCE. Thank you for reading! Enjoy!

Sun was setting down in the horizon. Tara and her father were driving back to Faron Woods, deeply worried about Link. The last time they had seen him, he was clad in a strange outfit and had an air of determination reflected on his face. She leaned towards her father and held his arm while leaning her head on his shoulder. They arrived into a small camp on the way, formed by other merchants who had left the Castle before them, and stopped their cart.

"We should rest here for the night," said Mr. Durian. "It's getting late and it is dangerous to be wandering at night, especially now that there seems to be a dark shadow covering the lands."

"Ok, dad…" said Tara, emotionless.

"My darling, he will be fine," said Mr. Durian. "He is a strong young man, and it seems to be he is also a fierce warrior. Anyone who tries to hurt him, he will be able to defeat him."

"How can you be sure!?" yelled Tara, tears rolling down her cheeks. "He has never been out of the forest before! He kept burning his hands with the furnace, for the Gods' sake!" she couldn't hold back her tears any longer. She was sobbing hard, afraid for his best friend's fate.

"Easy now, my girl," said Mr. Durian, patting her back as he held her. "Let's unload the tent and camp for the night."

They joined the rest of the campers by the fire after putting up the tent and feeding their horse, and one of the men handed Mr. Durian a mug of ale and a plate of roast beef. One of the daughters of another merchant came to Tara and handed her a glass of milk and a goat cheese sandwich. She took them and chewed some of it absentmindedly.

All around her, people were chanting and laughing. A group of children were playing in a pond nearby, trying to catch some small greengills with their bare hands, and men were speaking in loud voices, affected by the beers and whiskeys. She didn't notice the change in the noises until one of the children, a roughly 5 year old girl, ran past her screaming for her mother. She lifted her face and saw people were running all around the camp: women cried for their children, children screamed in fear, and men were gathering their families around and loading them to the carts. She felt a hand grab her wrist and she shrieked in panic.

"Tara, it's me!" said Mr. Durian, pulling her to her feet. "We must go!"

She saw a pair of moblins riding giant boars heading their way, and about 10 bulbins slashing with their swords, destroying the tents and looting the stacks of food and crates of goods that hadn't been sold at the Castle. She jumped to her feet and followed her father onto the cart. Mr. Durian pulled the reins and the horse started galloping into the woods, following the rest of the caravan. Tara turned around and saw the moblins galloping their way on their boars.

"Dad, they're gaining on us!" she yelled.

"Tara, jump to the horse," commanded Mr. Durian.

She obeyed and then looked at her father; just in time to see him cutting the ropes lose from the cart and allowing the horse to dash forward.

"You must warn the village!" he yelled, before being out of reach.

"Dad!" yelled Tara. She cried when she saw the moblins catching on to the cart, and then she was too far into the woods to see anything more.

The horse kept galloping at high speed for a few minutes, until he seemed to realize that the danger was over and then started to slow down.

"Dad…" murmured Tara, and she started crying full of fear and sorrow.

Sun had just set down in the horizon. Link was walking at a steady pace towards the forest. He was still far away but he could see the edge in the distance. Very close to the entrance of the path that led into the woods, there was a feint blaze, maybe a campfire. Laila came out of his hat and hovered for a while in front of him.

"I think we should stop here for the night," she said.

"We should keep going for at least a couple more hours" replied Link.

"Link, it is dangerous to be out at night."

"I can't waste any time," said Link. "Listen, if you want to sleep, go ahead, but I will keep going as far as my strength can take me." He then thought for a moment. "Let's try to get to that camp over there."

"How do you know they're not enemies?" asked Laila.

"I don't."

Laila rolled her eyes and hid again in Link's hat. He kept going for some time until the blaze by the forest began to grow. He listened carefully and realized that they were screams. He unsheathed his sword and held his shield, while he dashed forward downhill towards the camp.

When he arrived, he realized that it was already over. He walked around looking at the dead corpses, both men and bulbins, which were scattered all around the wrecked campsite. He kicked a burning crate, producing some sparks, and realized it had the emblem of Faron Goods stamped on it. Dread crept over him, and he ran back and forth examining the bodies and wrecked carts. He breathed in relief when he realized that none of them was of Mr. Durian or Tara.

"Link?" asked Laila carefully, fluttering out of his hat. "I think we should keep going."

"Yes… if we stop now we may not be able to help any survivors. This didn't happen too long ago."

He sheathed his sword and gave a few steps forward, when he felt a gust of cold wind swirling around him. He turned around and saw a dark fog coming from the sky and stretching across the camp. It then began to cover the dead bodies all around Link and then receded.

"What was…?" began Link, when he saw one of the bodies twitch.

"L…Link?" asked Laila with fear.

The corpse's skin then turned a dark shade and it opened his eyes, which now had a red glow, as burning charcoals. Link unsheathed his sword again, as the rest of the corpses began to rise and looked at him. Laila shrieked and hid in Link's hat, while he lunged forward and stabbed one of the corpses, a bulbin's.

"There's too many. I won't be able to endure much longer," he said.

"Look out!" yelled a voice.

Link ducked as an arrow flew past him and stuck itself to the head of another corpse. Link turned around and saw a cloaked figure swing a sword and behead another undead.

"Come on!" he yelled, motioning Link to follow him, while he grabbed a burning plank and held it up as a torch.

Link didn't think twice about it and followed the cloaked man into the woods. They ran for a few minutes until they reached a small clearing. Link leaned against the trunk of an old tree while the mysterious person walked around the clearing, seeing if they had been followed. Then, he turned to Link.

"You think you're so cool, with your ragged clothes and your shiny sword and shield, eh?" he said in a bossy way. "Did you think you could take on an army of re-dead on your own?"

"An army of what?" said Link, stupefied.

"I thought better of you, for the way you battled yesterday" said the cloaked man, and he removed his hood to reveal his identity: it was Taglo, his first rival at the tournament. "Listen, kid, you better show more respect to the creatures of the darkness."

"I… hey! Did you just 'kid' me?" asked Link raising an eybrow. "Who are you anyways?"

"Don't you recognize me?" replied Taglo. "I'm Taglo, from Kakariko Village. We fought yesterday. I'm a descendant of the Shiekah, protectors of the Royal Family. I was sent to Hyrule Castle to warn the King about… hey! I shouldn't be talking to you about these things!"

Link was perplexed. Laila finally came out of Link's hat and Taglo gave one step back, looking at the fairy. Then, he looked at Link, surprise in his eyes, full of realization.

"No way…" he said. "No way… it's you?"

"It's me, who?" asked Link.

"You don't know the legend, do you? The legend of the fairy boy of the forest? The Hero of Time?" he pressed. "Your clothing… that explains it all." He looked at Link and then his eyes opened wide. "I need you to prove something. Do you have… it? The mark? The crest of the Goddesses?"

Laila turned at Link and he felt his hand prickle. Instinctively, he raised his hand and Taglo saw the bright golden triangle shining on it.

Link and Taglo were walking further into the woods. Link was following him closely, while Laila lead the way illuminating the path with her soft glow. Taglo had been explaining things to Link all along.

"The thing is," he said, "since darkness began spreading across Hyrule things have been going south. There are riots all over the place, Kakariko Graveyard is now closed because of the dead rising in the middle of the night, hordes of bulbins and bokoblins have been looting around and setting camps across Hyrule Field. Even now, Hyrule Castle seems to be under the influence of Garoth, the Emissary of Darkness."

"And you came to the Castle to enter the tournament so you could approach the King and tell him," said Link. "Sorry I meddled."

"No Link, you didn't meddle," said Taglo, dismissing his apology. "It was destiny that made you enter the tournament. It is you who is meant to save Hyrule."

"People keep saying that, but I have no damn idea of what to do."

"The Gods will show you the way," said Taglo. They came to a halt and Laila illuminated a high iron gate, covered in vines and full of rust.

"Where are we?" asked Link. "I've never seen this place."

"These are the ruins of an old town of farmers, ancestors to your people. This was once the old Ordon Village."

Link saw that small houses, now crumbling into rubble, were settled along the river that flowed across the valley. Link thought that the village must have been once beautiful, but now it was immersed in darkness, as the dark shadow over the forest blocked moon and starlight.

"Come on," urged him Taglo, "this way."

Link followed Taglo, as they ventured further into the darkness of the forest.

Zelda paced around her room. "He was here," she thought. "He came looking for me. But where is he?" Her mind was a chaos of thoughts and fears. Had he been caught? Killed? No! She couldn't bear to think about that. She was sure that Link was still alive and searching for her. She then heard someone calling her name, and she looked at Viacka, who was asleep in a matt on the floor (she had refused to take Zelda's bed). Someone called her again, and this time she knew it wasn't Viacka.

Zelda heard her name once more, right behind her, so she turned around just in time to see a small orb of light shining by the window. She walked up to it and reached out a hand to touch it. The orb began glowing with intense light and Zelda closed her eyes felt as if she was being transported.

When she opened her eyes, she saw herself in the middle of the throne room of the Castle. She realized that she was in a sort of daydream, as everything was foggy and shiny. She saw a young woman, about her age, coming up to her from the throne.

"Who are you?" asked Zelda.

"Don't worry, Zelda," she replied, "for I know the sorrows that weight on your heart."

Zelda was trying hard to look at the woman's face, but the fog made it almost impossible. She realized that no matter how much she walked it seemed like she didn't move from the same spot, so she soon stopped trying.

"Your destiny has been laid out in front of you, Princess," said the young woman, "and so has been Link's. Fear not for him, as he is the Hero that Hyrule has been waiting for, and he also carries the mark of the Goddesses. They are protecting him and he will soon come back for you. Don't lose faith, as there will come a time when you will have to aid the Hero in order to save Hyrule."

"Where is he now?" asked Zelda, feeling somehow relieved.

"He is on his way to the Faron Forest Temple. He is going to break the curse that has once more fallen on it and bring light back into the forest."

Zelda smiled with renewed hope. She felt more at ease now that she heard that the hero had awoken in Link and he was going to save Hyrule.

"Thank you… but… who are you?" she asked one more time.

"I am you," said the young woman, and Zelda was finally able to see her own face, her own eyes staring back at her. "I am Hylia, the Goddess of Time."

Zelda woke up startled. Had it really been just a dream? She was lying on her bed; skies outside her window were still covered in a mantle of darkness, so she was unable to know if it was night or day. She sat up and felt a warm peace inside of her. She wasn't sure if she had only dreamt or if it had actually happened, but she was sure of one thing: the Gods had sent her answers to her questions.

Link and Taglo got to the end of the path through the woods and found a clearing surrounded by grim-looking trees. On the farthest side, there was a church-like building made of stone and wood, with a wooden staircase leading to the entrance. Link recognized it right away.

"Well, this is it," said Taglo.

"We're finally here… the Forest Temple of the Spirit Faron."