It was a sweltering day in the Eldin region. Link wiped the sweat from his forehead as he trudged up the rocky hill, annoyed at the way some of his bangs stuck to his skin.

They had been traveling for a while now. After meeting with Daruk in Goron City to help him with Vah Rudania, they were headed to the military training camp where Link would stock up on gear and Zelda would oversee the preparations for the impending Calamity. However, they'd had to go all the way around the Goronbi river of lava, since the bridges over it were being replaced, as they often were, due to the stress of being built right over the lava. Link had had to brew up more fireproof elixir at the Southern Mine's cooking pot. At least now they were far enough away from the burning air of Death Mountain. Link looked back toward Zelda, who was covered in sweat. She wasn't used to physical exertion like he was.

"Is it... much longer?" she panted.

Just then, they crested the hill to where it dropped off into a steep cliff. They'd have to find an easier way down, but he pointed into the distance. The training camp was just visible between the spikes of volcanic rock jutting out of the ground.

"Good. My feet are beginning to ache."

I suppose this is a good time to take a break. He took out a waterskin for each of them and gave one to her. He also fished out two wedges of hydromelon from the Gerudo Desert and a pair of rice balls. Zelda chose a rock to sit on and Link joined her.

"I swear, that bag of yours must be bottomless," she said.

Link shrugged. His bags had been blessed by one of the Great Fairies, after all. He'd done the Fairy a great service by getting rid of a camp of moblins that had settled too close to her fountain, and she'd repaid him by casting a spell on all of his pouches and bags.

They ate in silence for a few moments, enjoying the chance to rest. Link, being a fast eater, finished his snack long before her and leaned back, looking up at the sky. Since the Yiga incident, the two had gotten along much better. Zelda no longer took her frustrations out on him and began trust him deeply. Each day, they grew just a little closer. Link had gotten to the point that he was completely used to her presence. He was still a bit awkward at times, but that was just part of who he was.

"Link?"

He kept his gaze on the wisps of clouds that floated above, but knew Zelda knew he was listening.

"Doesn't it seem... a little quiet?"

He glanced at her, then looked around. She was right. Usually, he could see various types of wildlife from a distance. There should have been Eldin ostriches, small birds, fireproof lizards, and insects like smotherwing butterflies. However, he didn't see any. He scanned the horizons for any sign of life, but it seemed everything had gone into hiding.

Something was very wrong.

Then Link smelled it. With no breeze, it had taken too long for him to sense it. The faint stench of monsters. The aura slowly grew closer. He drew his sword, then took Zelda by the hand and led her to a small cave. It was mostly hidden by a pile of fallen rocks. Not the best hiding place, but it was the only one close by. After making sure she was out of sight and giving her a look that told her to stay no matter what, he went to investigate and draw any unwanted eyes away from her. Then he waited, tense, ready to spring at any moment.

A sound broke through the silence. The whistling of an arrow.

Link leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the arrow as it struck the volcanic stones right where he'd been standing. A red bokoblin crested the rock face overhead, squealing in frustration at its failed shot. Link focused his energy and slashed the air with his sword, sending a whirling beam of light at the foe. But just as the bokoblin fell, two more took its place. A blue bokoblin and a red moblin, running up the hill from the other direction. Link sprang to action, dodging the moblin's club as he thrusted into the bokoblin, then took down the moblin by its legs.

More monsters came charging toward him. Four bokoblins, three moblins, even a chuchu. How many are there?! Before he'd even finished off the last of this group, more came at him.

He worked on driving the horde downhill away from her, but that gave him a greater risk of being cornered. Thankfully, it proved to be a manageable task. They were monsters. Unorganized, untrained. Of course, they could wreak havoc on common travelers, but Link would not go down easily. Soon, he fell into the flow. He dodged, parried, and attacked, slicing through the enemy. Any moment now, the fight would be finished, and Zelda would be safe.

Then he heard the lynel's roar.

The massive beast thundered uphill, past the corpses of the fallen monsters. Not a red maned lynel, not even blue. The mane on this thing was white. White maned lynels had the thickest skin out of the three, and the most savage weapons. You have got to be kidding me! Link held his ground until it arrived. He backflipped away from the swing of its massive, wicked blade. Time seemed to slow down. He lunged and began hacking at the beast. It roared and leapt back. It opened its maw wide and breathed three massive balls of fire. Link rolled to the side, avoiding the flames, and leapt onto its back, attacking the thing some more. It managed to buck him off a moment later. Link grunted in frustration. If the lynel found Zelda, he... No! Don't even think about that!

After much exertion, he finally took down the lynel with a final spin attack. He stopped to catch his breath, looking back to make sure none of the monsters had found Zelda. He only found their bodies, littering the rocky hill. He started toward Zelda's cave.

Something hit Link hard in the shoulder. A powerful electric shock coursed through his body. He cried out, falling to the ground. His muscles spasmed painfully. When the shock subsided, he looked up just in time to see not one, but two more white maned lynels. He didn't, however, look up soon enough to dodge the wave of shock arrows headed straight for him. He screamed as they hit, the electricity tearing through him, making his heart flutter. He didn't care to count how many shock arrows had hit him. He was too busy writhing on the ground, crackling with energy. Heavy hooves beat against the ground and began to circle him.

Looks like he would have to play it smart and finish this quickly. Link let himself go limp when the surge finally stopped. He didn't need acting skills for this. He was severely dazed, and quite frankly, surprised he was even conscious. The lynels slowed and then stopped to sniff at him, wondering if he was dead. He cracked one eye just barely enough to see the Master Sword, blessedly only a few inches from his fingertips, on the ground. He also noted exactly where the lynel in front of him was standing.

Here goes.

Link snapped to action, grabbing the hilt of his blade and swung it, snapping the lynel's bowstring. It roared as the string smacked it in the eye, half-blinding it. The bow itself jerked out of its meaty hand. He took advantage of its surprise to slash at the forelegs of the second lynel. Its knees buckled. It's enormous weight brought it down. Link also managed to snap its bow as well, earning a similar effect. He didn't relish the idea of being electrocuted a third time.

The first lynel reared back on its hind legs and charged. Link leapt to the side, but had to steer clear of the second's fire breath as well. As the fist skidded to a halt, he saw an opening to attack the second. It had chosen the wrong moment to howl in pain from its injured legs. Link drove his sword as hard as he could into the lynel's chest, managing to pierce the thick hide. It screamed and flailed its arms as it died.

However, it took too long to pull his blade out, so he dodged just a smidgen late as the remaining lynel ran at him with a wide swing of his massive blade. Any later and he'd have been cut in half. He was lucky to escape the attack with only a gash in his right forearm. Still, it stung horribly, and he had to switch his weapon to his left hand. It wasn't his dominant hand, but he'd trained for this in case he ever found himself in a situation like this.

The beast reared up to attack again. Link ran straight at it and slid underneath, slashing at its softer belly. It tried to kick him, so he rolled to the side and leapt on its back, just like he'd done before. It bucked madly, but he was able to hold on long enough to deal some serious damage. Its movements slowed drastically, and Link was able to finish it off quickly.

The hillside fell silent again, except for Link's heavy breathing and the faint sound of blood dripping on the rocks. He trudged back uphill to the rock where he and Zelda had taken their break and scanned the area. He had to make certain there were no more monsters. He gave it an extra several moments for good measure. Finally, he decided it was safe. He looked over to where Zelda was hiding and gave her a nod.

She let out a sigh of relief and started toward him, wiping streaks of fearful tears from her flushed cheeks. Then she saw him gripping his gashed arm tightly to stanch the blood flow. "Link! You're hurt!"

He sat down on the rock and let out a long breath.

She scurried to his side. "Let me see."

He didn't want to overwhelm her, but figured she would pester him until he showed her. He let go of his forearm, revealing the angry cut. It wasn't anything fatal, but it would most definitely need stitches.

Zelda swallowed. She started fishing in his bags. They didn't have much water left, but she used the rest to rinse his arm off. Then she brought out his medicine kit. He directed her through the care of his wound, mainly with pointing and head gestures. Thankfully, it didn't take too long to stop the bleeding, but the alcohol she poured on it stung like a disturbed hive of courser bees. He hissed through his teeth but kept himself from flinching away. The stitches were a little hard to explain with points or grunts, so he did the first one. He'd done his own sutures several times before, but he couldn't use both hands for this.

Finally, Zelda wrapped a clean bandage snugly around his arm and held it for a few moments. "There's a fine line between courage and recklessness," she said at last, her voice quivering.

Link fixed his gaze on her.

"As brave as you are, that does not make you immortal. You could have been killed!" She paused, thinking to herself. Her gaze fell on the gruesome scene of all the monster corpses littering the hillside. "It... it seems that, not only is the frequency of these types of attacks on the rise... but the scale of beasts we are facing is intensifying as well. Link... I'm afraid. I fear that this is an omen which portends the return of Calamity Ganon."

Zelda tried to hide it, but Link saw her expression. He could have bet a gold rupee that she was scolding herself internally for having yet to unlock her divine power. He rested a hand gently on her shoulder, giving her a knowing look.

She sighed softly. She'd found out what Urbosa had told Link about her. "I know, but if only I could just..." she trailed off.

"You will find it, when the time is right."

Zelda blinked. Link still almost never spoke. And even when he did, it was only a few words and only in private. The rarity of it held extra meaning. She gave him a weak smile. "I can only hope you are right."