A/N: Thanks to RoseWing for her review! I did work a couple of days on that last chapter so it should be better than the others.

As a side note, do you know how hard it is to type with frozen hands? Seriously! It's like -5 degrees celcius over here! :P

Just letting you know a bit in advance, this chapter will have a little bit of gore, in case you don't handle it all that well.

Who was the mysterious figure? Read on!

Chapter 24 - Warning

All other thoughts in Zelda's mind paled in comparison to one in particular, one which involved the figure standing in front of her. The figure was still facing the burn mark, apparently not noticing Zelda's eyes trained on her face. They stayed, and the figure finally turned. Zelda's mind was only capable of forming a single word.

'Impa?' she breathed. The figure raised her eyebrow.

'Yes?' it replied.

Zelda couldn't bring herself to say much more. Only one word seemed to be muttered.

'Impa?'

Impa sighed. 'Yes?'

'It's really you?'

'Yes, Zelda,' Impa smiled, 'It's me.'

Zelda was overwhelmed by happiness, the weight of it sweeping her mind back to reality. Her face broke into what seemed an impossibly-sized smile.

'Impa!' she yelled, before crashing into Impa and embracing her tightly. 'Impa, Impa, Impa!'

Impa laughed playfully. Zelda kept her in a tight hug, and she buried her face into her shoulder. Impa kept laughing and ushered Zelda off her shoulder. Zelda looked into Impa's eyes with what looked like excitement. Soon, Impa's laugh died out.

'How wonderful it is... to see you again,' she whispered.

'You cannot begin to imagine...' Zelda breathed, and she nuzzled into Impa's shoulder once again. Impa reluctantly pulled her off. Now, unfortunately, was not the right time for reunion.

'Listen to me, Zelda,' she spoke with such determination that even the Cuccos in the pen stopped what they were doing. 'There are important things I have to tell you...'

'Firstly, you must go back to the village and warn the villagers to get inside. It'll be dangerous...' she looked back at the well. 'Even though I killed... what was it? Drazzil? Yes. Even though I killed him, the ritual has still gone through. I can sense it...'

She turned back to Zelda. 'The demon from the well. It's awakening. It'll be out soon.'

Zelda stared. 'We couldn't stop it?'

'No,' Impa sighed, 'When the seal began to break, I knew it was too late. Even if the ritual was interrupted afterward, there was nothing we could do.'

'What's going to happen to Kakariko?' Zelda asked, her voice frought with concern. If said demon got out, it would spell destruction and chaos. The houses would be destroyed, the villagers killed, and Ganondorf's wishes realised a step further.

'It should be alright,' Impa said. 'I will travel to the Graveyard... the far end. It has what we know as the Shadow Temple, a place where the spirits of the dead villagers live on, as Redeads.'

Zelda was shocked. Seven years living in Kakariko and she hadn't heard of this? She'd have to have words with Dampé later.

'You won't see it, but you'll know what'll happen. From the temple, I will use a form of magic to pull the beast into it. Link will arrive after - he's coming right now actually - and he will kill the demon.

'Therefore, I need you to get all the villagers safe inside. My magic will hold the beast, but it will take time. The demon might be able to cause some damage before I actually get him into the temple.

'The next thing. I'll go right now. You have to take care of the other Lizalfoses.'

'How?'

Impa's shoulders sagged, 'What's the easiest way to get rid of them? Without taking them anywhere?'

Zelda's mind clicked with realisation. 'Oh goddess, I can't.'

'You have to! We can't have them waking up and fulfilling any more of Ganondorf's orders. You'll have to do it whether you like to or not.'

Zelda frowned sadly. 'Okay...'

'Now you know, yes? What to do.'

'Yes...' Zelda said, with a sad tone.

'Okay. I suggest you deal with the Lizalfoses first. That's quicker.'

She looked around again, at the well, the Lizalfoses and the graveyard entrance.

'Sad, but what can you do?' she thought aloud. She turned back to Zelda, still reeling.

'Bye, Zelda. See you soon.'

Zelda's mind snapped back and she became disheartened. 'Already?' she gasped.

'Sorry, but yes. I can't waste time.' She began to edge toward the graveyard. 'I'll see you!'

'See you... see you!' Zelda shouted back with sadness. Her heart was still strong because she knew she would see Impa again. Where, when, she didn't know, but she had the feeling that she would.

Impa waved one last time before disappearing behind the wall, and Zelda's shoulders sagged from the weight of her new task.

One fault, or rather, trait of the monsters in Hyrule was their rather odd mechanism of burning and disappearing after they were killed. Why that happened, no-one knew (because there was nothing left to ask), but the main belief was that the goddesses were burning them to ensure they wouldn't be resurrected and commit more crimes. Zelda knew exactly what Impa had implied, but she didn't want to carry it out. She didn't know why.

They're Lizalfoses! You have to hate them! her mind screamed, but she still couldn't bear to actually kill them. They weren't like stalchilds, who merely attacked for nothing, but these particular ones were only following in the footsteps of their leader, Drazzil. They could have been good, if only they hadn't followed him. Now they would know the price of blind faith. What happens when you have faith in something, or someone, and they turn out to be the wrong thing to entrust your lives.

Zelda slowly unsheathed her dagger. No choice could be made. They would awaken soon, making them harder to kill so it was better to get it over and done with now they were unconscious.

She knelt by the first out of twelve. To make it quicker, she decided to focus on the main areas of life: the heart, lungs and brain.

The dagger barely pierced through the Lizalfos' tough, scaly skin. After a bit of work, it seeped through, and greeted it's heart. She meticulously worked it in further, until the soft tissue of the heart's muscle ripped and blood spat out. The Lizalfos gave a small whimper, but Zelda went in even deeper. The blood was a full-scale waterfall by now, and Zelda ripped out the dagger in one quick stroke. The waterfall surged for a second before resuming its original speed. After mere seconds, the blood only dripped, and the Lizalfos gave a silent sigh before erupting into flames and rotting away, heart and all. Eleven left.

XxX

It was hard, physically and emotionally, for Zelda to kill the last Lizalfoses. One in particular, the one who had lost faith in Drazzil, who had rebelled against his wicked authority. She made his death as quick as possible by stabbing his heart with great force. So great that the dagger broke skin (one thing in particular why the Lizalfoses were always hard to kill) and hit its heart at the same time. Once that was done, she punctured its lungs, and it burned away after no more than five seconds. Twelve misshapen corpse-shaped burn marks lay on the ground, arms spread, legs apart, hips jutting out. Zelda shook the sadness out of herself. First task complete. Move on to the next.

She made her way back to the centre of the village, where the crowd of people stayed. Daisy broke out of the crowd, arms raised.

'Sheik! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Were they very rough?' she babbled ludicrously. Zelda held up a hand.

'I'm fine. But I have an announcement.'

'Okay, then.' Daisy turned. 'Everyone! Sheik has something to say!' she yelled.

The crowd immediately hushed and focused their attention on Zelda. Zelda blushed dimly, sarcastically thanking Daisy in her head.

'Everyone! You have to get inside right now!' The crowd shivered with voice again, but Zelda quickly explained.

'Yes, I... we took care of the Lizalfoses. Don't worry about that. But the demon will still be released. We weren't quick enough.'

More voice. Shouts too, of anguish. Over the small businesses no doubt.

'What will happen? The buildings will be destroyed!'

'It'll be alright!' Zelda shouted over the commotion. 'Your houses should be alright! The demon will be held back!' The crowd silenced again.

'There's someone that will help. She'll hold the beast and drag it back into the temple. In the meantime, the only way for you all to remain safe is to stay inside your houses.'

The crowd could have been a person shrugging, for the people merely dispersed and reentered their houses. Children's eyes peeked out from behind curtains, like Keese watching from the darkness of a cave. The people were shaking with anticipation from what the demon would do.

Zelda ran back to the well. At the top of the staircase, she slowed. She just felt like it was required of her. This area right here, the graveyard of twelve innocent Lizalfoses, deserved some solemnity. She regretted it. Every wound she inflicted, all the hearts she had destroyed. She was a savage, at least in her own eyes, not accepting the excuse of compulsion as it was outweighed by the basic principle of humans. All this death, due to the beast about to erupt from the well like lava from Death Mountain.

As she stood over the well, she felt the presence of someone behind her. She was about to scold said person for straying from their house, but after a while, she could tell it was Link. Impa wasn't joking when she said Link would be there quickly.

She didn't turn. She just gazed into the well, deep deep into it, where the seal was slowly crumbling away.

You shall all die.

The earth began to vibrate. Zelda's feet barely picked up the sensations, but they were there, in the background.

I will kill you all.

The vibration increased in power and speed. Zelda's feet began to shake, but she kept looking down the expanse. Link was slowly walking forward, the intensity of the vibration becoming so great that he was starting to stumble. Zelda's feet were still firmly planted on the ground. She was staring into the eyes of the demon. They were soulless, evil eyes. Kill was all the demon knew to do.

You shall all die.

A rush of air billowed from the well, and the beast burst screaming out of the well. Zelda couldn't do anything as she was gripped by invisible hands. Suddenly the magnitude of the situation beacme realised. Zelda sucked in a breath.

And screamed.