The Story of Hyrule
The Fury of Volvagia
The Legend Unfolds...
With the arrival of the Fire Dragon Volvagia, the surface was once more plunged into chaos. The hopes and dreams of both the Hylian people and the Goron tribes were smothered in ash, as the relentless scourge flew across the land leaving death in its wake. Both the town of Hyrule and the newly encountered village of Kakariko suffered repeated nighttime raids, the dragon giving no warning before it swooped down to carry out its infernal desires. Many homes and buildlings were destroyed in these attacks, including the rebuilt Temple of Hylia when the dragon caved in it's walls. The Goron Cities were spared the attacks from above, since they were always built underground during this era (it would take the coming of the Lord of Fire for them to do otherwise) but suffered still as the dragon repeatedly tried to force its way inside by any means possible. None could harm it by sword, bow or bomb; this is indisputably shown by the fate of the Goron City on Mount Lanayru when the scourge turned the caverns above the city into molten rock and drowned the Gorons alive. A death toll for all races is difficult to estimate due to weak records, but the diaries of Zelda and her daughter Karane speak of overfilled graveyards and an all-encroaching scent of death.
Perhaps if there had been a hero of the era, Volvalgia might have been easily defeated. But the previous Hero had passed away mere months before and for now his bloodline only resided in an already middle-aged woman and a five year old child. None the less, Karane the mayor of Hyrule began preparations to bring the creature down. In the secret caverns of the former Sky Keep - underground and therefore out of Volvagia's reach - she ordered the construction of a multitude of catapults and other siege weapons based on the blueprints of Groose (who himself had passed away 2 years before the Hero). Also prepared was a vast variety of ammunition for the weapons, ranging from simple rocks to bombs to in one case, a scavenged Timeshift Stone from Lanaryu Desert. Though they did not have much technology to spur their progress, or indeed a large understanding of the technology they did have; their need was great and that sped them through a number of discoveries. The beginnings of the modern practice of packing the explosive part of a Bomb Flower (nicknamed Black Powder) inside of an artificial shell began here, though it would take several centuries until the Hylians discovered how to make artificial Black Powder. Indirectly this also led to the Triforce becoming semi-common knowledge among the surface settlers, though the first Zelda refused to truly reveal what the artifact was.
So it came to pass that when Volvagia appeared to burn the town of Hyrule again, the Hylians were ready. But despite great bravery and daring, their bombs did not succeed in killing the dragon, only driving it off for a time (which was nonetheless a victory and presumably saved many a life). The leaders of the town feared they had only angered the scourge and so continued to speed through production of weapons. They may have been right as the dragon was spotted circling the town from afar and would attack any groups which lead the safety of Hyrule's walls. Karane and the other leaders of the town were faced with the alarming realization that they were effectively trapped within their own town, cut off from help - or food as the dragon had destroyed all their crops and would happily munch on Loftwings and their riders. The Hero's own Loftwing died this way when Link's daughter attempted to fly it to Skyloft for help, only to be attacked by the dragon in an attack that left her crippled for the rest of her life. Slowly but surely, the Hylians began to starve.
Kakariko Village both had a worse and an easier time of the dragon's wrath during this period. The village itself was burnt to the ground for the first of many a time in its history (see the Second Hyrulian Civil War, the Era of the Hero of Time, the Lord of Fire, the Breaking of the Four Sword and the Great Calamity) but much of the population escaped into the caves close to the village or into the Goron City on Eldin Volcano - where the friendly tribe was only too happy to receive them. The Shiekah would regularly fire upon the beast with arrows as it travelled around looking for prey, though their attacks only ever managed to be an annoyance for the beast. The closest the Sheikah would ever get to slaying the beast was when a girl named Impa (after the guardian of the Sealed Temple) snuck over to the beast when it was sleeping and sliced off one of it's horns. She got nearly incinerated for her attempt by the dragon and was grounded by her parents. The dragon would make multiple attempts to seek out the girl to gain revenge, only to be driven off once again when the girl snuck up and cut off its other horn.
The people who suffered the most from the dragon's rampage however were undoubtedly the Goron Tribe themselves. The dragon had made it's home in the crater of Eldin Volcano and considered the Goron's presence there to be a great insult - even after destroying the other city on Mount Lanayru. It would regularly take a Goron who had dared to leave the city and carry them to it's lair to eat over a period of days. Many a theorist has proposed a relation between the two species because of this, as the dragon was never known to attempt to consume anyone of another species - a theory supported by its behavior when it was resurrected by Ganondorf. The connection between the two has also influenced a massive amount of Goron culture, with the icon of the dragon taking on an almost heretical role in Goron society - even moreso than the Demon Lords themselves. It did retain however the traditional opposition to the Golden Goddesses, particularly Din who the Gorons revere highly as their creator (often called the Mountain Goddess). The creature was despised by the Gorons and it in turn despised them enough to bring ruin upon their once prosperous species. But the Gorons are no cowards and were plotting their own battle against the dragon as it continued its assault on the Surface.
The Hylians in Skyloft knew nothing of any of this. They knew something was up as no Loftwings had travelled to and from the Surface in several months, but of the Dragon they had no knowledge or of the massacres taking place on the land below. It was accepted that some great misfortune had befallen the settlers of Hyrule and in truth many of them regarded that prospect as a punishment from the Goddesses for the Hero's pride. But they did not allow their minds to rest on the matter, for surely nothing would harm them in the Sky? Even with the Cloud Barrier gone and even after the Aeralfos invasion, nothing would be able to attack Skyloft itself?
This belief was shattered when Volvagia annihilated the Knight Academy and the town's bazaar in a single afternoon, roaring down from behind a cloud to bring flame and death. Most of the actual knights were killed in this single confrontation (records indicate that either 2 or 3 knights survived and 1 student), along with their instructors and teaching resources. The loss of the bazaar also crippled Skyloft's economy, even with the survival of the small market that had sprung up in the central plaza (primarily for trade with the surface. The death toll was staggering for the small community - estimated casualties are 40+ - with only the Loftwings escaping devastation due to their roosting island being unknown to the Dragon. In effect the community was not only defenceless in practice now but in spirit as well, for any suggestion of invulnerability had been swept away. The land in the Sky had always been the refuge for the Hylians, their sacred land protected from the demons and monsters of the surface. But now that idea was gone, destroyed by dragonfire and death.
Attacking the island would prove a costly mistake for Volvagia itself, however. By invading the peaceful Sky it had angered the great Sky Spirit Levias - by now recovered from the wounds inflicted by Bilocyte - who roused himself to put down this scourge. It would be a battle that rocked the foundations of the world and left neither of its combatants in good shape. They clashed over the burnt out husk of Kakariko as the Shiekah looked on, the thunder and lightning of the Sky Spirit competing with the fire of the dragon. The wisdom and age of the heavens against the fury and youth of the fires. Much of the surrounding landscape was distorted by the powerful magic of both the titans, as failed attacks missed their intended target only to smash into the hillside. In the end the dragon came away covered in scars and missing an arm. It would flee with speed back to its lair in the caldera of Eldin Volcano to lick its wounds. But Levias didn't fly away from the fight. The damage inflicted by the dragon was too great even for the Sky Spirit to handle and so with a great sigh this ally of the Goddess Hylia died. The place where he fell overlooking Kakariko Village would come to be called the Pillars of Levia, the site of many a temple over the ages.
But the dragon would not long outlive its most famous victim. As it fled back to Eldin Volcano, the patriarch of this tribe of Gorons - Baron, still revered centuries later as a God of War and the Hero of the Gorons - took up the Megaton Hammer and marched into the caldera to defeat it. Wounded as it was, the dragon still put up a monstrous fight though it was never able to lay a hand on the experienced warrior. It's fury would prove no match for his in the end and with a final blow of the hammer the dragon died, its body collapsing shortly into the nearby magma in front of the victorious Goron. The place where it fell would become revered by the Gorons, who would later construct a Temple to Din on the site (the place would be commonly known as the Fire Temple).
In time the scars of the dragon's rampage would heal. But the Hylians, the Shiekah and the Gorons had known loss now and they would never forget it...
The Legend Unfolds...
The Temple of Hylia was destroyed (more or less) by Volvagia in this chapter so Rauru can later rebuild it as the Temple of Time as per Hyrule Historia.
Lanayru City is destroyed like this to make sure that no signs of it are left for when they might complicate things.
In this chapter we see the beginnings of the artificial bombs of later Zeldas, and the reason Bomb Flowers fell out of favour. We also see the beginnings of cannons here, though they won't become important for a long time.
The deaths of more Skyward Sword characters. Had to be done, no matter how sad it is.
Here's the start of my explanation for the Loftwings vanishing, the next part will come next chapter.
Why does Kakariko Village look so different every time? Because people won't stop setting it on fire.
We see the first hints at the friendship between Kakariko and the Gorons here, this will be important later (which I appear to be saying a lot...).
Mini Impa! Just as badass as big Impa!
The Mountain Goddess title comes from somewhere, though I'm not sure where exactly.
The reference to a hidden Loftwing roost is a nod to a piece of artwork from Hyrule Historia of a concept Loftwing island.
Pillars of Levia are from Breath of the Wild.
Baron (the name) is from one of Tingle's games which technically isn't canon but, meh...
Fire Temple is from Ocarina of Time.
A note on Pairings:
In several places in the this timeline, it's likely I am going to have to mention who exactly the respective heroes ended up with. This will not always be the most popular choice, but I will try to pick the one that works best for the sake of the timeline. If this happens to upset you, I'm sorry.