Author's Note: Thank you to Post Rapture, DoomRater, Mihaele Rose, Ides of Diamonds, and everybody who read and/or reviewed my first fic. This is the third and final part of my epic trilogy and I hope you all enjoy it. And I'd like to give credit to any author whose characters or excerpts from their stories that I used. I can't stress enough how much I'd like everyone to READ AND REVIEW, because I feel we may be approaching the end of something special.


Chapter 1

When Saria was taken out of the grave, she recognized exactly where she was. She was at the graveyard in Kakariko. She only wished that Link knew where she was. Saria had been abducted by the evil shape-shifter, Meyson, and taken from her home in the Forest Temple. The fiend was assisted by his three Lizalfos cohorts, COMBAT, and his Iron Knuckle, Titanos. She was being held in a giant crystal with no way out. And she had no idea what Meyson planned to do with her.

Saria was taken to what appeared to be the Royal Family's tomb. Meyson stopped and looked at his three reptilian sidekicks.

"Kreature, hand me the rope," Meyson commanded.

Kreature, the tall Lizalfos, reached for his rope and handed it to Meyson. "Here you go, Meyson."

Meyson grabbed the rope and tossed it up towards what appeared to be a huge gate above the Royal Family's tomb. The Lizalfos and the enormous Iron Knuckle began climbing the rope. Meyson mentally moved the crystal holding Saria up over the gate. Finally, the sinister shape-shifter floated over the gate. Saria looked around and recognized where she was. This was the Shadow Temple, home of Impa, the Sage of Shadow.

"H-Hey, Meyson," Kreature stuttered. "This place gives me the creeps."

"Yeah, it's real spooky," Krash, the short one, continued.

"Where are we?" Og, the chunky lizard, asked.

"You three are even more ignorant than I thought," Meyson said angrily. "We're at the Shadow Temple. This is where I will execute the next phase of my plan."

"Well, how do we get in?" Kreature asked. Saria looked forward and could see that a colossal door blocked the entrance to the temple.

Meyson grinned evilly. "We just invite ourselves in. Titanos!"

The huge Iron Knuckle, Titanos, stepped forward. "Yes, master."

Meyson pointed at the door. "Titanos, destroy that door. Make an opening for us."

Titanos walked up to the door and began swinging away with his huge axe. As much as he tried, it didn't seem as if the Iron Knuckle wasn't even making a dent in the large door.

Og walked up to a circle of torches near the door. He walked up to the only lit torch. "It's dark in here. Maybe I better light these torches." The chunky lizard lit a Deku stick and lit the other torches. The ground around the door began to shake. Titanos ceased his assault and stepped back as the gargantuan door began to open.

Meyson looked at Og. "Excellent, Og. Maybe you aren't as stupid as I think you are."

Og smiled. "Do you really mean that, Meyson?"

Meyson sneered. "No! Now get in there!"

The lizards and the Iron Knuckle walked in. Meyson followed with a helpless Saria in tow.


Chapter 2

Saria immediately noticed a huge pit near the entrance of the Shadow Temple. She hoped it would convince Meyson to turn around, but she was dreaming if she thought that would happen. Meyson mentally floated COMBAT, Titanos, and Saria over the pit and they continued walking. They stopped when they reached a room with a large bird block in the center.

"You three morons stay here with the Forest Sage," Meyson ordered. "I shall take Titanos to find the Shadow Sage and come back for you." He grabbed the three lizards by the scalp. "I'm warning you three! If she gets away, I will make you PAY DEARLY!!" Meyson dropped the reptiles. He and Titanos walked through a door and left them alone with Saria.

Saria almost felt sorry for the lizards. "There it is again."

"What do you mean?" Kreature asked.

"There what is again?" Krash added.

"Exactly what I said before," Saria answered. "Meyson's putting you down, abusing you, and threatening you. Don't you guys get tired of it?"

"Oh, no. Not this again," Kreature said.

"You're trying to turn us against Meyson again," Krash accused.

"Yeah! We told you, whatever you're selling, we aren't buying it," Og said firmly.

"I'm just looking out for you guys," Saria said. "And I know you don't have to take this."

"Take what?" Kreature asked.

"Yeah, we're doing just fine," Krash added.

"Come on, guys," Saria pleaded. "Don't think I'm not concerned about this, because I am."

Kreature laughed. "You? Concerned about us?"

Krash was laughing too. "We aren't stupid. Who are you trying to fool?"

"Yeah. Why would you be concerned about us?" Og asked. "No one's ever been concerned about us in our lives."

"Well, let me put it this way," Saria began. "What did you guys do before Ganondorf asked you to guard that cubed shell? What were your lives like before you served Meyson?"

The Lizalfos began thinking. Saria wouldn't be surprised if they had completely forgotten life before Meyson.

"Well, we were just trying to survive out there," Kreature said. "It's tough being a lizard in Hyrule."

"You'd be surprised how much the Hylians hated us, just because we were lizards," Krash added. "We were just trying to live our lives like any other lizard."

"Every time they saw us, they started running away," Og said sadly. "I can't understand why. It's not our fault we were born to be reptiles. We just wanted to live normal lives."

Saria began to feel pity for these three lizards. For Saria, this started out as a plan to cause a rift between Meyson and his cohorts. But now she actually felt sorry for these three reptiles. She didn't realize that they actually tried living normal lives. It sounded a lot like the prejudice the Hylians had against the Kokiri. It didn't sound fair that they were condemned just because of what they were. Just because of what they were born to be.

"After years of rejection by the Hylians, we finally heard of a huge Lizalfos brigade," Kreature continued.

"They had a huge training camp calling all lizards rejected by Hylian society into action," Krash added. "Lizards would come from around Hyrule to learn fighting skills. They would train to serve Ganondorf's army. Ganondorf said that any lizard who served in this brigade would get their opportunity to exact revenge on the Hylians who rejected them and hunted them down."

"We trained there for a couple of years," Og continued. "We had what we wished we had a few years before that. We were finally able to fight and fend for ourselves. We became fighting lizards. And we wanted our revenge against the Hylians."

"But that's when Ganondorf came up to us personally," Kreature said. "He told us that he had an assignment for us. He took us to an empty grave that only had a cubed shell and he told us to watch it until further notice."

"And by further notice, he meant until he, himself, called us back or until the shell cracked open," Krash added. "And when that happened, we started serving Meyson. And we haven't looked back."

Saria felt sorry for COMBAT and all they had gone through. "I guess I can't blame you guys for being angry at the Hylians. There was a time when I couldn't trust Hylians, either. I once left my home in the forest to try and find Link. When I got to Hyrule Castle, I began to succumb to the disease of the vastness. I had lost my memory while I was there and I lived for five years with a Hylian family in Kakariko Village. When I got my memory back, I felt angry. My life during those five years was a lie. Then the Hylians tried to force my people to move to Kakariko and that's when I stopped trusting Hylians altogether. But between then and now, I realized something. Yeah, there are some really rotten Hylians out there. But there are many more good Hylians than there are bad ones. I saw that when I reflected back on my Hylian family. They had taken in a complete stranger and cared for her…loved her. And I'm convinced that there are many more good people like my Hylian family out there. You just have to look and not expect everyone to be bad."

Kreature looked at Saria suspiciously. "Just what are you trying to say here, short stack?"

"Yeah," Krash added. "What's your point?"

"I've been around you guys for a few days now," Saria said. "And…I'm starting to think that you guys aren't really evil. I think you guys are just misunderstood and confused. I don't think you guys are bad at all."

"What are you talking about?" Kreature demanded.

"Yeah, what do you mean?" Krash added.

"I mean think about what you guys are doing," Saria pleaded. "You guys aren't bad, but Meyson is. You can't really help him free Ganondorf. If he comes back, then he'll destroy everything. Then picture your lives. You'll be living in a wasteland, without freedom, and as slaves of Ganondorf. Do you really want that to happen?"

Krash looked at Saria coldly. "Frankly, it makes no difference to us. Our lives have stunk since day one. And Meyson's been the only one around for us. We'd do anything for him."

Saria looked at the Lizalfos sadly. "Well, do you think he'd do anything for you?"

The three reptiles stood silent. Suddenly, Meyson and Titanos walked in.

"I found her," Meyson declared. "Let's go have a chat with the Shadow Sage."


Chapter 3

Link and his party had settled down for the night in a remote part of Hyrule Field. He didn't know what to do next. His party had now expanded to five. He was now joined by Malon, Princess Zelda, Sodo, and Nabooru. They had all gone to sleep, but Link couldn't sleep that night. He sat on a nearby rock and began to ponder his situation. Meyson was holding his childhood friend, Saria, captive and he didn't know where. And he still didn't know how Meyson would go about trying to free Ganondorf. Just as he was thinking these things, Malon walked over to him. Link guessed that she couldn't sleep either.

"Are you all right, Link?" she asked him.

"No," Link confessed. "Malon, I'm worried about Saria. She could be anywhere. I don't know what Meyson could possibly want with her. He doesn't want the Spiritual Stones. I can feel that, because if he did, he would have gone after Darunia or Ruto again. He wants something else, but I can't figure out what."

Malon sighed. "Link, I'd like nothing better than to say that everything's going to be ok. I'd like nothing better than to say that Saria will be just fine. But…I honestly don't know how she's doing. I don't know if she's hurt or not."

"That's what's scares me," a small voice said. Link and Malon turned around to see the young peaceful boy, Sodo. He was obviously distraught.

"And you know what kills me more?" Sodo continued. "I love her. And she may never know it. I've had every chance to tell her...but I didn't. Now it might be too late."

Link pitied the poor boy. He must have been torn apart. Link began to feel horrible for trying to keep him in the Forest Temple.

"That is so sad," Malon said compassionately. "Sodo, I'm so sorry."

"But she's not dead though," Sodo said firmly. "I can feel it. She's alive. And I can only hope she stays that way until we find her."

Sodo seemed to be sure of his words and that made Link feel a bit better.

"Doesn't anybody ever sleep around here?" another voice said. Link turned around to see that Nabooru had woken up. She walked over to Sodo. "Trust me, boy. I've known Saria for a while now and she can be very resilient. I'm sure she's just fine. But what I'm worried about is what might happen if Meyson releases Ganondorf. If he gets out, then we'll all be in trouble."

"And that's why I want to find Meyson," Link agreed. "But where would he go?"

"I don't know where he'd go," another voice said. It was Princess Zelda. "But I know that we have to prepare for that possibility. When we get back to the castle, I need to immediately call the Hylian army into action."

"Well, as long as we're all awake, we might as well continue towards the castle," Link said.

They all nodded and began to pick up their things. Link wished more than anything for a lead as to Meyson's whereabouts. But it didn't look like he'd get one that night.


Chapter 4

Impa could sense that something was wrong. She sensed that an evil had made its presence felt. She felt this for many weeks and began to worry. When Impa became the Sage of Shadow, she knew that she could no longer watch over Princess Zelda. While security around Hyrule Castle had been beefed up, she knew that they couldn't equal the security Zelda had while Impa was around. It's hard to find a defense equal to that of what a Sheikah can offer.

Suddenly, Impa heard something. She was on a ferryboat that had been restored after it sank during the Imprisonment War. The boat didn't float on much; it only floated on air. Impa began to look around. She couldn't see anyone, then something grabbed her shoulder. The Sheikah instinctively turned around in a fighting stance, but she only saw a familiar figure. It was Princess Zelda.

"Princess?" Impa asked in near shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I sense that there's something wrong," Zelda answered. "And I believe you have sensed the same thing."

"Yes, I have," Impa agreed. "I haven't had many contacts to Hyrule, but there are many spirits that come by this temple. They tell me of a new evil that's been around. He's a shape-shifter who calls himself 'Meyson'."

"Really?" Zelda asked intrigued. "What else do you know?"

"He has an evil plan to release Ganondorf from the Sacred Realm," Impa continued. "But I know that the time for that has not yet come."

"How do you know that?" Zelda asked curiously.

Impa smiled mischievously. "Like I said, I have some contacts here. And they've not only told that the time hasn't come…but they tell me that the real Princess Zelda is in Hyrule Field with the Hero of Time…and you're not her."

The fake Zelda looked shocked. Before she could react, Impa reached out for an assassin's knife and struck. She got a piece of the fake Zelda's arm and Impa's suspicions were confirmed. The fake began to bleed black. Then the fake Zelda's eyes began to glow red. It then transformed into a tall being with brown skin.

Impa was ready to fight this thing. But that's when something struck her in the back of the head, knocking her out.


Chapter 5

Saria was amazed. She thought that Impa would fall for Meyson's evil disguise, like everyone else. But somehow, she managed to see through it. It didn't matter though, because she couldn't see that Titanos was standing behind her. Impa was chained up in a room that Saria was told was the evil lair of Bongo Bongo. Meyson waited patiently for her to recover from the crippling blow.

"Congratulations, Shadow Sage," Meyson told the now revived Impa. "I'm impressed that you're the first to see through my flawless disguise. But alas, it wasn't enough." He looked at Titanos. "You couldn't see my servant, Titanos, standing behind you. Good work, Titanos."

"Thank you master," the Iron Knuckle bowed.

Saria noticed that Impa saw her for the first time.

"What do you want, fiend?" Impa demanded. "And why are you holding young Saria hostage?"

Meyson laughed evilly. "My reason's for holding the Forest Sage are none of your concern. But I am here for a reason. You see, the time is nearly upon us. It is almost time to free the great Ganondorf, but first I need…an army."

"An army?" Impa asked. "What do you mean?"

Meyson grinned. "What better place to create an army of evil, than in the Shadow Temple, the domain of evil spirits and beasts? I shall create my army here and take it with me to Hyrule Castle. Once there, they will stand by while I prepare to release the great Ganondorf. And once I do, they will all move in and take over. They will destroy anything and everything in their paths. And Hyrule will fall to my master!" Meyson walked over to the end of the room and faced the wall. He pulled out a crystal necklace and placed it around his neck.

"Hey, Meyson?" Kreature asked. "What's the necklace thingy for?"

"This is the Crystal of Darkness. It is simply to keep the essences of all my new minions," Meyson answered. "With it, I can store my new army and unleash them at my leisure. And best of all, they cannot be destroyed unless the crystal itself is shattered." He looked at COMBAT and the captive Saria. "Step back, fools! I don't want to take the chance of the Forest Sage accidentally getting struck."

COMBAT dragged Saria's crystal back far from Meyson. The shape-shifter soon began chanting in a dialect that wasn't familiar to Saria. Soon, though, the spell began to take effect. Appearing out of thin air were dozens of ReDead, Gibdo, Floormasters, and Stalfos knights. They all lined up in vast lines of twenty, totaling up about thirty rows. Saria had never seen such an enormous army of evil. And they were all there to serve Meyson.

Meyson stood up. "Excellent! With an army of this magnitude, Hyrule will fall. Return, my minions of destruction!" Meyson held out his Crystal of Darkness and the entire army vanished. The crystal glowed with the essences of the monsters.

Impa looked on in shock. So did Saria. If Meyson unleashed this army on Link, he couldn't possibly survive. Or worse, if he unleashed it on Hyrule, then many innocent people could be killed.

"It is almost time boys," Meyson called out. "It is time we regroup, before heading out to the castle." Meyson then walked up to Impa. "And since you were the first one to see through my disguise, then I feel I owe you a special reward."

Meyson held out his arm and thrust a huge ball of energy at Impa. She was knocked out. The evil shape-shifter then walked up to Saria.

"And as for you," Meyson continued. "It is almost time for you to learn of your purpose in my master plan."

Meyson waved his arm and they were surrounded by a black light. Saria remembered this. They were being transported out of the Shadow Temple.


Chapter 6

"Are you sure you're going to sleep this time?"

Link nodded. He couldn't blame Malon for thinking this would be another sleepless night, with all that's happened. They stopped in the middle of Hyrule Field and were about halfway to the castle before night had fallen. But Link was tired. He wouldn't be able to go on without a night's sleep.

"Trust me," Link said. "We could all use some rest. And frankly, I don't think sleep would do you bad, either."

"What do you mean by that?" Malon asked, almost insulted.

"I don't mean your beauty sleep," Link said comfortingly. "You're already beautiful the way you are. But what I mean is, you need rest. Your ribs haven't exactly healed, you know."

"I know that," Malon admitted. "But it's not that bad. I'm not in too much pain." As if on cue, Malon tried lying down and began to wince in pain. "Ok, maybe it does hurt a little."

"See?" Link smiled.

"Just go to sleep," Malon shot back. "I'll be fine. Good night."

Link laid back and closed his eyes. It looked like this would be the only rest he would get in the next few days.

Link looked around. And he recognized where he was. The gloomy atmosphere, the darkness, and the spooky environment, he could only be in one place. It was the Shadow Temple. Link then recognized what he was standing on. It was a huge drum. It was the evil lair of Bongo Bongo, the shadow beast.

Link looked to the far side of the room and saw Impa, the Sage of Shadow. He looked to another direction and saw the three Lizalfos, COMBAT, standing by Saria, still being held captive in her giant crystal prison. Then he looked to another way and saw the being that plagued him. It was Meyson and he was chanting in a dialect that Link was not familiar with. Suddenly, Meyson turned around and stared directly at Link.

Link realized he had been spotted and unleashed his sword. He was ready for a fight. But he soon found himself surrounded. There were hundreds of evil creatures surrounding him. Creatures that included ReDead, Gibdo, Floormasters, and Stalfos knights. They circled around him, ready to pick Link apart. Then a side of the circle parted, making way for Meyson to make his way through. He looked at Link and smiled evilly.

"The war is almost lost for you, Hero of Time," Meyson began. "You cannot stop all of us. And my master, the great Ganondorf, will soon lead us all to victory!"

As soon as Meyson said that, the monsters moved in on Link. They kept moving in until everything went black.

Link woke up in a cold sweat. He was frustrated that he obviously wasn't going to get his night's sleep that night, but he did realize something. He had his lead. Meyson was at the Shadow Temple. But something else disturbed him. Link hadn't seen that many monsters since the days of Ganondorf. Had Meyson released his own army of evil? And would he use them against Link? Or would he use them against Hyrule? While Link sat up to think about these questions, he saw Malon wake up as well. Link must have made a lot of noise during that nightmare and it probably woke her up.

"Link? What happened?" Malon asked.

"I had another nightmare," Link said.

Suddenly, Link heard Zelda cry out. She had just woken up from what appeared to be a nightmare of her own. If Link knew the princess, though, it was probably the same nightmare he just had. Sodo and Nabooru had now woken up as well.

"Can't a girl get some sleep around here?" Nabooru said, obviously irritated.

"Zelda, what happened?" Sodo asked. "Are you ok?"

"No," the princess answered. "Meyson's at the Shadow Temple. I've got to get there right away. I've got to help Impa!"


Comments? Then feel free to review below or mail me at HyruleKokiri13@hotmail.com.