Chapter 26: The Return of the Monsters

The party rode forward across the road. They just needed to get moving, as the air around them felt a lot more hostile than it ever was before. 6 horses approached them, and on top of them were 6 Bokoblins. Noticeably 5 of them were red and one of them was blue. 2 of them had spears, 3 of them had bows, and 1 of them had a club. Zhago prepared his bow and Uten gripped her spear. Zhago shot a few arrows and managed to knock down 2 of the Bokoblins. Uten quickly ran her horse right by one of the Bokoblins and stabbed at it with her spear. The Bokoblin screeched and fell off of it's horse and onto the floor, dead. 3 Bokoblins remained. The Bokoblins with spears waved their spears around in a circle, which almost knocked Zhago off of his horse. Tipa pulled out one of her katanas, dodged right under the spear and sliced the Bokoblin off of their horse. Poump had his sword ready and held it out to the side, knocking one of the Bokoblins off of their ride as well. The last Bokoblin, which was blue, used it's bow and shot Zhago in his shoulder. "AUGH!" He exclaimed at the arrow penetrating his shoulder. Zhago recollected himself and shot an arrow at the blue Bokoblin, knocking it off of it's horse, however it got back up and tried to get back onto one of the horses. Poump rode up next to it and swung his sword at it, slicing it's head off.

Uten rode up to Zhago. "Are you alright?" She said to him.

"Nothing a little healing can't fix." Zhago said as he pulled the arrow out of his arm. Uten gave him a red potion, which he downed and felt better afterwards.

Poump rode up to the others. "Not to interject or anything, but do we even know the way to Lurelin Village?"

The party looked at each other, and they had no clue where they should actually be going. "Link said that the village would be to the South, so would that mean we go across the Bridge of Hylia?" Zhago said.

"Yes!" A small voice exclaimed. Poump looked around and then saw the yellow glow of a fairy.

"Tatl?!" Poump said once he saw the fairy, flying out and about.

"Yes, Poump! It's me! The Great Fairy sent me to guide you all! Follow me!" Tatl started flying quickly into the direction of the Bridge of Hylia. The party followed her onto the bridge, but then she stopped. "AHK! Monsters at the middle of the bridge!"

Zhago equipped the Hawkeye and looked at the middle of the bridge. There were 3 Lizalfos using 2 boomerangs and a bow. There was a blockade on the bridge, and Hylian Soldiers were pinned down by the 3 Lizalfos. Zhago took out his bow and shot one of the Lizalfos down. The other 2 noticed the arrow shot and started progressing towards the party. Zhago knocked two arrows and shot both of the Lizalfos down, dead. Tatl resumed flying across the bridge and the party continued following her. They passed by the Hylian Soldiers who continued their patrol on the bridge. Tatl made it to the other side of the bridge and the party followed her into a road that led to a heavily forested area. As they rode through the woods, they heard someone screaming. "Help!" They heard it to their left. Tatl stopped to allow them to investigate. They got off of their horses and found 3 Bokoblins, 2 red and 1 blue, above the beaten bodies of two Hylians. The 2 red Bokoblins were dragging the Hylians on the ground while the blue Bokoblin watched over them. The blue Bokoblin turned around to see the 4 party members and squealed at the sight of them. The other Bokoblins stopped dragging the 2 Hylians and prepared their clubs for battle. Poump went forward shield first to the Bokoblins and Zhago and Tipa flanked the Bokoblins to the sides. The Blue Bokoblin swung at Poump's shield with it's club, which Poump blocked the attacks and then attacked back by thrusting his sword at the Bokoblin, which knocked it back. The other two Bokoblins faced off against Tipa and Zhago. Zhago made quick work of his Bokoblin and Tipa's two katanas overpowered the last Bokoblin. Uten carried the two Hylians off of the ground and back to their horses. The blue Bokoblin got back up and Poump swiped his sword right at it, knocking it down again. Poump jumped into the air and planted his sword right into the Bokoblin's stomach, killing it. The party got back onto their horses and continued following Tatl.

Poump had one of the injured Hylians on his horse, and they started gaining consciousness again. "Are you alright?" Poump asked to the injured Hylian.

"It's as if they came out of nowhere. We were just walking through the forest like we always do, and then these Bokoblins just appeared out of thin air. We thought they were extinct." The Hylian replied, touching their head. The party kept on riding through the forest. They passed by some ruins. A Lizalfos leaped out of some bushes and grabbed Tatl.

"AGH! Help me!" Tatl said as the Lizalfos breathed it's nasty breath into Tatl's face. Zhago tried shooting the Lizalfos with his bow, but the Lizalfos ran off into the ruins nearby.

"We need to save Tatl!" Poump said to the others.

"Wait here." Uten said to the Hylians.

"I will look over them, you three should find Tatl." Zhago said to the other party members. Poump, Uten, and Tipa ran into the ruins site. They were covered in large foliage and moss. Poump looked at some of the stone work around the area, which depicted large owl-like beings. The place was also filled with bodies of water. The party looked around and then a Lizalfos leaped out from behind them and grabbed Poump and dragged him into the water.

"Poump!" Uten dove into the water and saw the Lizalfos dragging Poump deeper into the water. Uten took her spear and plunged it right through the Lizalfos' body. She grabbed Poump and escaped the body of water. Poump was recovering his breath, but they looked up and saw 4 Lizalfos attacking Tipa. Tipa tried her best to fight against them. She killed 1 of the Lizalfos but one of them shot an electric arrow at her, disarming her of her katanas. Uten pulled out her spear and waved some water around the 3 remaining Lizalfos, although they swam out of the water and continued attacking the disarmed Tipa. Uten tried stabbing at some of the Lizalfos but they moved out of the way of the attack, and the Lizalfos with the electric arrows shocked Uten, causing her severe pain. Since Zoras are weak to electricity, she fell to the floor, barely alive. Poump approached the three remaining Lizalfos with his shield and spun his sword in a circle around him. This killed 1 of the Lizalfos, but the other 2 were still alive, and the one with the bow kept itself at a distance away from him. Poump blocked the electric arrows with his shield and anticipated an attack from a Lizalfos, however since he'd never faced a Lizalfos in combat, he wasn't too sure about what to look out for. The Lizalfos opened its mouth and rolled out its long tongue towards Poump's shield. The Lizalfos' sticky tongue pulled Poump towards it and the Lizalfos striked at Poump with its weapon. Tipa crawled on the floor towards Uten's dropped spear and collected it. She rolled in front of the Lizalfos and stabbed it repeatedly with her spear, killing the Lizalfos. Poump recovered from the attack and helped Uten up. He shielded the arrows coming from the Lizalfos from far away. Tipa prepared her spear and then threw it at the Lizalfos, causing it to be penetrated by the spear and fall down dead.

Poump looked around the area and found another batch of stone work leading to a temple of some kind. There was a small camp in front of the temple, where 5 Lizalfos were sitting, and Tatl was being held hostage by them. Poump felt a raindrop and then looked up. The pitter patter of water drops started hitting the foliage around the forest. In just a few short seconds, it was raining tremendously. Uten, despite the pain she took from the electric shock, felt extremely refreshed by the rain in the air. She took her spear back from Tipa and looked at Poump. "Wait here." She said to Poump.

"Wait!" Poump said to Uten, except she already was walking towards the camp of 5 Lizalfos. The rain drowned out Poump's words, so she didn't even hesitate to stop. 2 Lizalfos snuck up on Poump and Tipa, but they were quickly able to gain their senses and defeat both of the Lizalfos. They turned around and couldn't see Uten at all through the thick fog in the air.

The 5 Lizalfos sitting at the camp didn't see Uten yet. She observed them from afar, taking note of each of their weapons. She had battled Lizalfos before during the time of the Calamity, when the monsters were around the land. They were all over the river from Lake Hylia to Zora's Domain, so she had a fair amount of run-ins with them. She saw that 1 of them had a bow, 3 of them had spears, and 1 of them had a boomerang and a strange horn on their heads. Normally a Lizalfos' horn is just there for them to ram into their opponents with, much like how a goat would have horns, except this horn that the Lizalfos had was permeating an electric green color. Uten took a special note of that. The rain was very soothing for Uten. The sting of the electricity from before didn't persist anymore. She sat in the tall grass for a few seconds more. She saw that they had tied Tatl to a stick and were about to roast her above a fireplace, but because of the rain, the fire was gone. The Lizalfos furiously slammed the stick into the ground.

"AHK!" Tatl exclaimed as the stick went onto the ground. She thankfully wasn't hurt too much. One of the Lizalfos noticed the shine of Uten's spear in the grass, however. The Lizalfos pulled a battle horn off of it's waist and blew into it, alerting the other Lizalfos of Uten's presence. She rushed out from the grass and stabbed right through the Lizalfos' torso, killing it instantly. All the other Lizalfos around the camp already had their weapons out and prepared to attack Uten. One of the Lizalfos pulled out it's boomerang and threw it right at Uten. She dodged out of the way from one of the Lizalfos' spear attacks and knocked it to the side with her own spear, then stabbed that Lizalfos dead. The boomerang almost met her head but she ducked right under it, and then threw her spear directly at another spear-wielding Lizalfos, killing it. She rushed through several different attacks from the other Lizalfos and reclaimed her spear. She stood in a fighting stance looking at the other 2 Lizalfos left. The electric horned Lizalfos with the boomerang and the one with the bow were left. She rolled towards a wooden log which was big enough to cover her, which made the Lizalfos with the bow miss it's shot. Uten waved her spear around and encompassed all of the rain that was falling down into a circle. She launched it blindly towards the 2 Lizalfos. All she heard was a splash and then the sounds of both of the Lizalfos' getting closer to her. Their low growl got closer and closer and then she popped out from behind the log to try and stab at both of them. Both of them dodged her attacks and ran right up to her and grabbed her by the arms. She lost a grip on the spear and they pushed her to the floor. The electric Lizalfos' horn started to spark up and then generated a force field of electricity that encapsulated it's immediate surroundings. This shocked the other Lizalfos, causing it to die. But worst of all, it shocked Uten so hard that she saw lights flash before her eyes. The pain permeated throughout her Zora skin, a pain worse than anything she ever suffered from before. The Lizalfos screamed wildly, as if it enjoyed shocking the Zora so thoroughly. Her vision began to blur.

The faint sound of a sword slicing through flesh sounded through the air. And then from what she could make out, the blade of a sword stabbed through the Lizalfos' stomach, causing the electricity field to go away. The Lizalfos fell limp onto Uten, it's dead weight almost crushing her shocked and fried body. The Lizalfos' body was pushed to the side by what looked like human hands and then the hand reached out to her. She couldn't make out who this was supposed to be. It was so blurry, but the hand she knew for certain it was real. She grabbed the hand and was pulled up, barely breathing. Whoever they were, they seemed to be strong, as they carried the Zora in both of their hands with ease. Uten's vision was terrible, but she could make out the dead bodies of even more Lizalfos around the area. They brought her body towards the other party members, who had reconvened back at the horses.

The person spoke with a hearty but feminine voice. "Don't worry, she'll be safe if you give her medical attention." The Woman said to the party members as she propped the Zora up onto one of their horses.

Poump looked at the woman. "What about our fairy?" He asked.

"She is present and accounted for as well." She pulled out a glass bottle which had Tatl inside of it. She opened it up and Tatl flew out.

"Ooh, I'm so glad that's over." Tatl said.

"Who are you?" Poump said to the woman. She was wearing a warrior's outfit, one that accentuated her beauty while also being practical.

The Woman looked at Poump. "My name is Glory." She turned around and walked away. Then she stopped and turned to look at Poump. "Although sometimes people call me The Wonderous Woman." She then prepared to jump and shot into the air, out of sight among the trees above them.

"Wow." Poump said in awe at the intensity of this woman's jump. "Well now, let's get back to business. Tatl, keep on showing us the way."

"You got it boss." Tatl saluted to Poump and then started flying down the pathway and the team kept following her. As they were riding, Tipa rode Uten's horse, with her in tow. They passed by a Stable.

"We'll drop these two off here." Zhago said. He got off of his horse and took the two injured Hylians towards the Stable. A Stablehand saw the two people injured.

"Goodness! What happened to them?!" The Stable Hand said in shock. She called for two more Stable Hands to come and take the two injured Hylians.

"Monsters attacked them." Zhago said.

"Monsters? That's impossible!" The Stable Hand said in reply.

Zhago got onto his horse. "It's possible now. Get any weapons you have around here, lock the Stable down. The monsters are back." Zhago's horse started trotting along while following Tatl. The Stable Hand, as flustered as they were, believed the Sheikah's words.

The party rode their horses across a large wooden bridge. To the left of them was a magnificent waterfall. The bridge was very tranquil, it provided them enough resting time to recuperate. Uten, however, was losing her breath. The rain made her feel somewhat better, but the overwhelming pain of the electricity caused her insane harm from the inside. She coughed up some blood. Tipa heard this and felt terrible, but she knew she had to hold onto the reins for a little bit longer. Zhago and Poump saw Uten coughing out the blood. They tried to stop but Tatl turned around to them. "If you want to save your friend, you must reach Lurelin Village! There is nothing you can do out here to help her!" Tatl said to the party.

Zhago and Poump listened to the fairy and kept on following her across the bridge. They made it to the other side of the bridge which had another road leading through a heavily forested area, but eventually the foliage cleared out and they were galloping across an open plain of grass. Tatl kept on flying and they reached a sandy beach. The light sound of waves crashing onto the land was very soothing, and the rain stopped pouring. The warm lights from a village of some kind were ahead of the crew. And in the water nearby there was a humongous boat of some kind, with blue lights coursing through it's geometry. The lights around this village allowed the party to see plenty of huts made from wood and straws, as well as tall palm trees which were punctuated throughout the village. There was also a pier, and several Hylians were fishing on the side of it. The party got off of their horses and Zhago carried Uten with him. The night sky combined with the waves made for a pleasant area that put the party at ease after what they went through. Poump looked around and then saw someone walking towards them. It was Link!

Link had a surprised look on his face. "Zhago and Uten?! You're alive?!" He exclaimed.

"It's a long story." Poump replied.

"I might be alive, but Uten could be dead in a few minutes." Zhago said as he kept his grip on Uten's limp and dying body. "This fairy told me to bring her here to this village, and that this place will give her the necessary healing for her to survive."

"Come with me." Link said to the party. He walked towards a hut that was positioned next to the waves of the water. "What caused her to be like this?" Link asked.

Poump explained. "We were fighting some Lizalfos in some ruins in the Faron Region, and then we lost Uten. The next time we saw her, she was heavily damaged and also being carried by a warrior woman of some kind." Poump looked to the floor. "Those Lizalfos were a lot bigger than I ever expected them to be. Speaking of Lizalfos, how are we going to deal with the other monsters?"

"The other monsters that have risen because of the Blood Moon?" Link asked. "There's too many of them. We'll have to kill them. Our mission was to escort the three monster colonies on Hyrule onto an island. If we tried to wait to capture more of them, it would be fruitless. We'll deal with the monsters that we have." Link observed Uten's wounds. "She looks like she was electrocuted by an Electric Lizalfos. Those guys are nasty, especially to Zora." Link shuffled his hands through his bags and found a few ingredients within it. He dropped the ingredients into a cooking pot which was in the room. He bottled up the contents that were made from it and started pouring it into Uten's throat, which he forced open. After a few seconds, Uten started moving again. She felt her senses come back.

"Ugh, what happened…" Uten said, feeling woozy.

Zhago, Poump, and Tipa were happy to see her alive and moving again. "Thank you so much, Link." Poump said, shaking Link's hands.

"Anything for my favorite Squad." Link replied. He turned to someone who was inside of the building. "Hey Chessica!"

A female Hylian ran out from a room and into the room the party was in. "Yes, Link?" She replied.

"Get these 4 fine folks some beds. Fluffy beds." Link said. He handed her 160 rupees.

"As they will receive." Chessica replied. She guided the party to their beds and they slept for the night. Link concocted more of the potion that he made to keep Uten safe and periodically gave her a dose every 20 minutes through the whole night.

The party woke up and walked outside of the Inn they were sleeping at. Tatl flew up to Poump. "You're in Lurelin Village now, and today is the day you will set out for sea, so I have fulfilled my duty and I must return to the Great Fairy."

"Will I ever see you again?" Poump asked Tatl.

"You will. But for now, I must return to her. Bye." Tatl flew away into the distance and out of Poump's sight. The party walked around the village a little more. Children were chasing after each other, Fishermen were fishing on the pier, and the large boat in the water created a rather intimidating image. Comparably, this boat looked like it was just slightly smaller than the size of the Divine Beast Vah Naboris. Very slightly. It was still massive and unlike anything the party had ever seen before. Eventually Link walked up to the party, with Zelda walking by his side. Zelda had a look of concern on her face.

"Bringing these monsters to that island is extremely important now than it ever was before. The monsters across the land have returned because of the Blood Moon's rise, and the fact that Ganon has returned makes this even more concerning." Zelda looked out to the sea. "Because of this epidemic, I have raised the reward to 500,000 rupees for each of you." Uten's eyes widened at this statement. "Once you've completed this mission, you will receive your rupees here on the mainland. I cannot stress enough how important it is that you do this mission for us."

"We will finish this job with grace, your honor." Zhago said to Zelda.

"Are you all ready for departure?" Link asked the party.

"Actually wait a moment." Poump said. "Ganondorf is good now. He's not evil anymore."

Zelda looked at Poump with disbelief. "That is impossible! Ganon is pure hatred and evil incarnate! How could he have redeemed himself after such a history?" Link also had a funny feeling about this.

Poump spoke up. "Your daughter, Hilda-"

"Was captured by Ganon, I know." Zelda interrupted.

"No, it was a little bit more complicated than that." Poump said. Zelda almost spoke up until she heard a sound from above. She looked up and saw someone falling.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" A body was falling from the cliffs above, flailing helplessly in the air. It hit the ground violently. "OOOOFFH!" The body was on the ground, dead as it could be. The body seemed to be of a girl, most likely 19 years old, wearing armor. Then very quickly, a fairy hovered over the dead body which brought life back into the previously dead girl. She got up and looked around. "Am I late? Is this the right time?" She looked at Poump. "Oh, there you are!" She pulled out a sheath with a sword in it and handed it to Poump. "You will desperately need this." The girl pulled out an Ocarina which looked strikingly similar to the Ocarina of Time in the party's possession and blew on it. She sang a song that sounded like the Song of Time that Poump sang in the Temple of Time and then she vanished into a spark of light.

Zelda looked at the party. "Do you know her?" She asked them.

Poump observed the sword he was given. "No, I have no idea who she was."

"That armor didn't even look like it's been manufactured in recent times." Zelda said. "It appears as if it was made in very ancient times. The archives back in the Castle showcased an emblem that depicted just a single piece of the Triforce, and that armor had just that. One piece of the Triforce engraved on it. And that sword that she gave you, it must be important." Zelda walked towards the boat with the party. "A lot is happening right now. Get onto the boat, get acquainted with the shipmates, and get this job done before my head explodes from all this madness." Link looked at Zelda with concern. He motioned to the party to get onto the boat. They walked up a ramp that led to a bridge that got them onto the boat. It was very high up. They could see all of Lurelin Village from up above.

Meanwhile, Link was very concerned with Zelda's mental state. "Zelda… it's gonna be alright." Link said to Zelda.

"You always say that." Zelda said, biting back at Link. "Hilda is gone for all I know, Ganon has come back and has also apparently managed to convince these people that he's good now, and the monsters have returned to Hyrule. Not to mention that you told me about that mysterious Mirror in the Arbiter's Grounds which brought someone else who was working with the Yiga. Tell you what Link, I am stressed and I have plenty of good reasons to be."

Link looked to the ground, feeling a bit hurt. He felt like telling her something, but he didn't have the courage to say it. He decided to say something else instead. "Trust me Zelda, once we've brought these monsters to the island, things will get better." Link put his hand on Zelda's shoulder. Zelda was starting to have a tear come out of her eye.

"I don't want this to happen again." She said with a little bit of shakiness in her voice. "It's feeling like the Calamity all over again." Zelda thrusted herself into Link's arms. Link patted her on the back.

"I promise you. The same mistakes won't happen again." Link said to Zelda. "We will surely deliver those monsters properly. You should just make sure you deal with this situation with the dignity that I know you have."

Zelda looked up at Link. "I just want a peaceful Hyrule again. One without all of the bloodbaths and the constant worry of destruction. One where we could live with our daughter together as a happy family."

"And we will get it soon. For now we need patience. We don't want to make the same mistakes we made 110 years ago." Link replied. He pet Zelda's hair to comfort her. She felt content. She stopped the embrace.

"Be careful out there, Link. I want you back in one piece." Zelda said, rubbing her eyes.

"I will. And as for you, keep up that demeanor I know you for." Link said to Zelda. He started walking up the ramp onto the boat. Once he was on the boat, he looked back at Zelda on the pier. She waved at him, and he waved back at her. The boat's engines started moving and it traveled away from the pier out to the sea. It set its course to move to the East Sea. Hyrule became smaller and smaller in the distance. It turned into a silhouette, and then vanished in the horizon.