[Insert welcoming message here]

Gasping, Link was suddenly thrown back to the present, opening his eyes with a start. Blinking furiously, he stared up at the castle, his eyes falling to the side. Zelda was there, hugging her knees to her chest. She glanced over at Link somberly, heaving a sigh and looking back up at the castle.

Silence ensued until Zelda spoke. "You were so still…" She said quietly. It was almost a whisper.

Link watched her for a moment, exhaling slowly through his nose and turning away. "I know." He replied, just as quiet.

"Did you… hate me back then?"

"What?" Link's head snapped towards her. "No! Of course not!"

Her gaze was pointed down, her chin resting on her knees. "I just can't shake the feeling that… you did."

"What do you mean?"

She sighed again. "It's just… I know now that I couldn't unlock my power 100 years ago. Everyone… everyone was counting on me… including you and the Champions. During that ceremony, I just remember feeling so sick inside. Sick with guilt and shame."

Link didn't know what to say. So, he said nothing. He quietly scooted towards her, hesitating for a second before wrapping an arm around her and pulling her into a hug from where they both sat. Zelda straightened out her legs and hugged Link back tightly, and he could've sworn he heard her sniffle.

They stayed like that for who knows how long, embracing each other in silent comfort. Link was trying to wrap his brain around what Zelda had said, replaying their recent memory over and over in his head. Things were still muddled, but one thing was for sure.

"Zelda…" Link began, separating and looking into her eyes. They were wet with tears, but none had fallen. "Things are… confusing right now, but I want you to know something that I know to be true, without a doubt." He paused, making sure he had Zelda's full attention. "Never once in my life have I ever hated you. I've never even disliked you, even when I didn't even know who I was. Please don't forget that."

A tear tumbled down Zelda's cheek and she hastily wiped it away before nodding. "I-I won't."

A smile appeared on Link's face and he pulled her into another hug. "Good."

About ten minutes later, Link and Zelda were back up and walking out of the Sacred Ground. Zelda's leg was still hurting something awful, but she masked it well and insisted they keep moving. Link didn't like her walking on such a fresh injury, even if it wasn't bleeding, but he couldn't argue with the fact that the longer they took, the longer Revali and Urbosa had to suffer.

However, before they could completely leave the ruins, as Zelda was looking down on the Sheikah Slate, she stopped and stared back up at the castle. Link stopped as well and turned. "What is it?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.

She frowned and showed him a picture from the Slate. "This picture here… I'm positive it's from Hyrule Castle." She said, and Link blinked in surprise once he took a look at it. She was right; the picture was that of a stone path leading to a circular room. The architecture looked exactly like Hyrule Castle. "So… I was thinking…" Zelda began hesitantly, and Link already knew where she was going with this. "Since we're already this close to the castle, perhaps we should go in and… and try to regain more of our memories there. Maybe there's something in our past that can help us now."

Link wanted nothing more than to hear those words. He immediately nodded, even before she finished speaking. "Yes! Let's do it. We won't go to Calamity Ganon, we'll just… look around for a while." He said with a smile. "Besides, we've got the Master Sword now." He added, taking hold of the hilt of the legendary sword and taking it out just a tad to expose a part of its shining blade.

Zelda didn't look too pleased with that, however, so he let go of the hilt and apologized. She smiled and playfully nudged him, making a sassy remark before they continued out of the ruins, this time straight towards Hyrule Castle. They were only stopped when three giant blue Chuchus popped out of the ground in front of them. Link dispatched of them quickly, getting splattered with Chuchu jelly. That brought a laugh out of Zelda, and they continued forward.

They were out of the ruins now, approaching Hyrule Castle Town. It was mostly hidden by the broken wall that surrounded the town, but once they entered in through the main gate, they both froze in horror.

The town was even worse to look at from the front then it was from the side, as they had done earlier. The smell was even worse now as they were closer to the splotches of malice that covered the ruins. Glowing pink ashes and thick black smoke drifted through the air, burning Link and Zelda's nostrils. Zelda even put an arm over her face to try to shield herself from it as they continued forward.

They were quickly stopped by a wall of malice. A large, orange eye was sticking out of the toxic stuff, staring at them ominously. Link drew the Master Sword and was about to dispose of the thing before Zelda stopped him and pointed out the dormant Guardian that lay on the other side. It looked dead, but once Link looked closer, he could see a faint pink light pulsing slowly through the machine. So the two Hylians went to the left through the ruins, stepping over the remnants of the homes of Hylian families before stepping back onto the main road, far enough away from the Guardian to not disturb it.

As they walked, Link and Zelda said nothing. The death in the air was suffocating and hard to ignore. Link felt sick, and with one glance to Zelda and seeing her pale face, he knew she felt the same. His hand was clenched so hard around the Master Sword's hilt that it was starting to ache, but he didn't loosen his grip. He felt uneasy, to say the least.

Silently, the two turned down some stairs and found themselves before a large ruined fountain. It was completely dried out except for a shallow puddle near the bottom. The sight was extremely depressing, so the two Hylians quickly made their way towards the main gate of Hyrule Castle itself, giving a dormant Guardian that was lying near the fountain a wide berth.

As they got closer to the main gate, the horrible feeling of death that had lingered around them in the town grew stronger. Link's stomach was squirming, and his hands were trembling. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the highest spire of the castle. And he knew perfectly why.

Calamity Ganon. He's there. I know he is.

"Link, wait." Zelda suddenly spoke, grabbing Link's arm to stop him. He flinched, relaxing when he realized it was just Zelda.

Her face was sickly pale, and her eyes were swirling with emotion, but she simply pointed up to a Guardian Skywatcher that was flying around the main gate as if it were a guard on patrol. "We shouldn't go in this way. The main gate probably has swarms of Guardians past it. We should find a way to sneak in."

Link didn't have anything against that, so he slowly nodded his head. "Alright. You lead the way." He said with a shaky smile, his voice giving out on the last word.

Zelda nodded back, obviously struggling to keep herself under control. The two Hylians quickly turned and stiffly walked back down the path they had come, turning right at the fountain and coming to another barrier of malice with another eye simply watching them. Link couldn't take it anymore. He had seen those eyes in his dreams. They were plaguing his mind. They were tickling his lost memories, and he knew that Ganon had eyes just like that.

With a wordless shout, he stormed forward, lunging and stabbing the disgusting eye right in the center. It screeched and gurgled as liquid malice bled from it, shriveling in on itself like a rotten grape before it and the barrier vanished into black and pink smoke that choked Link as it blew away. He coughed, squeezing his eyes shut until it was gone. Once he opened his eyes, however, the anger that had been boiling inside of him vanished.

A once dormant Guardian was now coming alive, glowing furiously and spinning its head as it searched for the intruder. "Oh no…" Link muttered to himself as Zelda came up beside him, staring up at the Guardian with fear.

They couldn't outrun the thing, not with Zelda's injured leg. The only choice was to fight. Link only hoped that it would go smoothly. "Zelda, stay behind me." He said quietly, just as the Guardian's blue eye blinked into existence and that horrible red tracking laser appeared on his chest.

"What? No! I can still fight-"

Link didn't wait to listen to Zelda's arguments, slipping his bag off of his shoulders and charging forward. He swiped horizontally in hopes of slicing off one of the machine's legs, but the thing scurried back before he had the chance, and it was ready to fire.

Gritting his teeth, Link leaped into one of the ruined homes, ducking behind a wall just as the Guardian let its laser loose. The beam exploded into the wall, destroying it instantly. Not waiting for the dust to settle, Link charged out from the ruins and managed to cut one of the Guardian's legs cleanly off, almost getting another before it backed off and began to charge up again.

However, the tracking laser wasn't on Link anymore. It was on Zelda, who was running towards the machine, sword out and ready. Her leg was slowing her, but the adrenaline that was no doubt burning in her body allowed her to forget the pain momentarily. Link's heart skipped a beat and he sprinted towards Zelda, crashing into her and knocking them both to the ground just as a beam shot over their heads.

"Zelda, I told you, stay behind me! You can't fight with your leg!" Link shouted, quickly getting back to his feet and sprinting towards the Guardian once again. He got another leg sliced off, dodged another beam, and was finally able to get close enough to the machine to end it. However, before he could, Zelda's Guardian sword suddenly flew past him and stabbed the machine almost near the eye.

The surprise of the sword flying past him knocked Link off of his feet, especially when the Guardian scampered away in shock, whirring around and firing off laser after laser. Link fell onto his back, gasping from the air getting knocked out of him and his quiver and bow stabbing painfully into his back. The Guardian was now out of control, scurrying in circles. It was coming towards Link, the beams coming out of it getting dangerously close. Scrambling out of the way before he could get stepped on, Link climbed to his feet and watched in shock as the machine stumbled crazily towards the cliff and tumbled into the moat.

It was quiet. Link stared at where the Guardian fell, feeling a sudden pain on his right shoulder and finding a burn from one of the beams there. He tenderly touched the fresh injury, wincing as he did so. He was about to look for Zelda when she ran up to him instead, almost stumbling from her leg but keeping herself balanced.

"Link! Oh, Goddesses!" She was breathing hard, looking at Link with relief. When he didn't say anything, her smile wavered. "Good thing we were close to the moat, right?"

"Did you… throw your sword?" Link asked, looking down at the now-empty sheath on her hip.

Zelda's smile fell and she slowly unbuckled the sheath and dropped it onto the ground. "I thought I could finish it off for you, but… I just made things worse, didn't I."

"No… no, it's okay, it's just… that's not really like you. You usually think more. There was too much risk in a throw like that, wasn't there? I mean, I was on the Guardian. You could've hit me, or missed the Guardian entirely."

Zelda bit her lip and kept her gaze trained on the ground. "I'm sorry… I wasn't thinking clearly. Just, ever since that last memory, I feel like I need to…" She paused, wrapping her arms around herself. "I feel like I need to…" She tried again, but the words wouldn't come out.

Link knew where she was coming from. "You feel like you need to prove yourself?" He finished for her.

She looked up in surprise before sighing again. "I feel like a failure, Link. I just need to do something to prove my worth."

"Zelda, you've already done enough to prove your worth." Link began, sheathing the Master Sword and placing both of his hands on her shoulders, careful not to touch her own burn on her right shoulder. "Just think about Rudania. I couldn't finish cleansing it and I couldn't free Daruk without your help. Besides, you were the one who put that temporary seal on Calamity Ganon! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be standing here today. We wouldn't be standing here today."

There was silence for a moment before Zelda looked into Link's eyes. "You're right, I guess." She finally said with a small, weak smile.

Link smiled back at her, letting go of her shoulders and taking the Master Sword back out from its sheath. "I know I'm right. Believe me, I feel like a failure all of the time. If you ever feel that way again, just tell me and I'll slap some sense into you." He said with a chuckle, walking to his bag and picking it up, slipping it onto both of his shoulders once again. He knew Zelda was still feeling guilty about what had just happened, he could see it in her eyes, but they couldn't spend too much time out in these ruins. A guardian Skywatcher could fly over them at any time. They needed to get into the castle as soon as possible.

After disposing of another eye and barrier of malice, the two Hylians walked along a giant pool of malice with large spikes sticking out of it that kept them from the moat, finally finding a small opening where they could make it to the cliffside to look for another way into the castle. The malice was awful to get so close to, burning their nostrils and eyes from how toxic it was. Despite that, they managed to get by just fine.

They were now close to one of the huge pillars that pointed inwards towards the castle, glowing the same, ominous pink that everything tainted by malice did. Link had no idea what the pillars were supposed to be, but Zelda told him it had something to do with the Guardians, from what she could remember from her research, that is. It didn't bother the two Hylians too much anyway, so they simply ignored the pillar and instead searched for a way into the castle.

"There!" Zelda exclaimed excitedly, pointing to a square opening with wooden beams framing it. The two Hylians quickly made their way towards it, walking down a steep hill to find themselves at the shore of the moat, with just about ten feet of rushing water separating them from the land that the castle stood upon.

Without hesitation, Zelda took out the Sheikah Slate and created two pillars of ice spaced out across the water with the Cryonis rune. Struggling at first, both Link and Zelda climbed onto the ice and made it across the water. The pillars were surprisingly rough, which made them easier to stand and jump on, but it was still difficult.

And before they knew it, the Hylian Champion and Princess were on Hyrule Castle's grounds, panting and staring up at the once-glamorous structure that was now tainted by Calamity Ganon. Link couldn't believe his eyes. They had made it. They were so close to Ganon. It was terrifying. Exhilarating. If they wanted to, they could climb up to the tallest spire right now, and challenge the monstrous beast that had destroyed their lives. But of course, that wouldn't end well… it wouldn't until they freed all of the Divine Beast, and relied on the Champion's help to finally defeat the Calamity.

"We… we should… should get going. I-I don't want to spend too much time here." Zelda finally said after a long moment of silence, stuttering. Her whole body was trembling, and she looked like she might throw up. Link couldn't even begin to imagine what was going through her head right now. This was her home, after all.

"Right." Link replied, the two Hylians beginning to make their way towards the entrance they had set their sights on.

However, right as they took their first steps, a roar that shook the ground and rattled their bodies suddenly erupted from within the castle. Link and Zelda both froze, the blood draining from their faces. A sudden harsh wind of smoke and ashes then barrelled into them, making them duck their heads as they waited for it to pass. They both knew exactly what had created that noise and that surge of powerful wind that felt almost like a shockwave…

Calamity Ganon.

Link stared in horror up at the spire as the wind had calmed again, wanting so desperately to unsheath the Master Sword but finding himself unable to move. His heart was thumping out of control with blood pounding in his ears. Did their presence somehow waken the Calamity? Was the seal breaking?

The echoes of the roar slowly faded away and the two Hylians were frozen in complete fear for what seemed to be an eternity. There was complete silence, with no sign that that roar had ever happened in the first place. Zelda was shaking in complete terror, and Link almost forgot to breathe. Nobody moved until Link inhaled sharply.

"Do you… do you think it was a good idea to come here?" He managed to say.

Zelda took out the Sheikah Slate, looking down on the picture that had led them here in the first place. She was still considerably pale, but she gripped the Sheikah Slate harder and nodded, a steely determination in her eyes. "Yes. The seal won't break. I know it won't." She didn't sound too sure of herself, but Link simply nodded along with her to try and boost both of their confidence.

"Then let's keep going." He said, taking out the Master Sword and continuing towards the entrance to the castle. Zelda followed closely behind him, and before they knew it, they were in.

The room was simply a cave carved into the rock with an unlit cooking pot sitting to the side. A few crates and broken barrels were sitting behind it up against the wall, so Link and Zelda went up to them and opened the crates up, kicking the broken barrels to the side, trying to ignore the lingering feelings of fear that was planted in both of their hearts.

Inside the first crate was rotten meat, which made the two Hylians gag as they quickly closed it again before more of the smell leaked out. The second had a collection of different types of arrows. Most of them were broken, however, but Link managed to scavenge a bundle of normal arrows, three fire arrows, and two electric ones.

The third crate was the most helpful as it had some flint inside, and a variety of oats, rice, and wheat. The two Hylians took out the food they thought to still be good, and Link lit a small fire under the cooking pot with the flint. While Zelda went out to scoop up some water from the moat, Link scavenged the cave for anything else to eat. Grains wouldn't do much. Fortunately, he managed to find a large hearty truffle and a few Hylian mushrooms that were growing from a patch of dirt just outside.

Zelda already had the water in the pot, and it was slowly starting to boil. About an hour passed by after that with a makeshift dinner made and with them eating it. The fire was out by now, and the sun was about three hours away from meeting the horizon. Both Link and Zelda hadn't said much to each other. The dead air inside of the castle and the somber mood was hard to ignore, after all.

A while later the food was gone and Link and Zelda were back on their feet. They had both walked through the only open passageway that was in the cave, finding themselves in front of a minecart that was simply sitting on two metal bars that stretched and winded out of sight. Apparently those were supposed to be the tracks. Now the two Hylians were debating on whether or not they should try using it.

"I think it's pretty safe." Link said, kicking it to emphasize his point.

"It's a minecart," Zelda argued. "It's supposed to transport rocks and minerals. Not Hylians."

Link shrugged. "I think it's safer to use then to go back out there." He said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder towards the outside. It had started raining a few minutes prior, which kept Link and Zelda inside. "Besides, there's nowhere else to go in this room except on the minecart. I say we give it a try."

Zelda frowned and sighed. "Okay, okay. You're right."

Smiling victoriously, Link climbed into the cart, helping Zelda in as well. And before Zelda could say anything else, Link pulled on a lever and they were off, some unseen force pushing or pulling the cart along the rails. They rounded around a large bend until they found themselves in another passageway similar to the one they were just in and the end of the track for the minecart.

Climbing out of the cart, Link and Zelda trudged onward, coming to a large open room that was still simply a glorified cave. However, in this one there was a rather sizable pool of steaming water. Decayed Guardians were scattered about the room as well, half-buried in the rock. Past that was a small path that winded upwards with hanging torches on the wall lining it and leading the way. The passageway continued there.

"This is called the West Passage," Zelda said with wide eyes as she looked around.

Link's brow furrowed. "How do you know?"

"It's slowly coming back to me. I never really came down here into these kinds of passageways when I was grown since I was the Princess, but I still recognize it. I remember sneaking down here as a child and playing in that hot spring." She pointed to the pool of water, walking up to it and kneeling down, putting a hand in the water and swirling it around. Link simply followed her, eying the decayed Guardians just in case one was still somehow active.

Zelda stared at the water for a while, obviously reminiscing about the past. She then stood, wiping her wet hand on her pants and taking a deep breath. "But this isn't what we came for. Let's keep going."

"Right behind you." Link said with a small smile, and they walked up the path without another word.

They left the West Passage behind and walked through a tunnel with wood beams supporting the cave. Link had no idea the castle had any rooms like this. All he could faintly remember were the fancy rooms lined with red carpet and filled with intricately carved furniture. Although, it made sense to have these underground passageways, and once they climbed through a large hole in one of the stone walls and found themselves in front of a passageway blocked off by steel bars, Link realized just exactly where they were.

"This is the lockup, isn't it." He said with wide eyes, looking around the stone corridor they were in. It still wasn't something that looked liked it belonged in a castle, but at least it wasn't a cave.

Zelda simply nodded, walking up to the bars blocking their path and tugging on them. They were pretty much loose, so Zelda took out the Sheikah Slate and summoned a remote bomb. She set it down against the bars and the two Hylians backed up, careful not to step in the patches of malice here and there. Once they were far enough away Zelda activated the bomb, and with a loud boom that echoed throughout the lockup, Link and Zelda saw that a rather sizable hole had been blown into the bars. They stepped through the opening carefully, gasping from the view that greeted them on the other side.

They were in the main corridor of the lockup, with multiple prison cells lining the passageway on both sides to their right. Torches hung on the wall as well, providing an eery light to the place. On their left was an opening lined with metal bars. Intrigued, the two Hylians entered in and rounded a sharp corner to the right, staring into a large open room with a pile of giant bones sitting in the middle.

"You know… those kind of look like they would be Hinox bones." Link said, thinking out loud. They both entered through the open gate, getting a closer look at the ominous sight.

"They are," Zelda replied quietly, kneeling down and gingerly poking one of the bones.

While Zelda continued to investigate the pile of bones, Link caught sight of a stone plack standing at the back of the room, and he walked up to it, kneeling down and reading the words on it out loud.

"Test of the Royal Guard. Strike down the giant foe to become recognized as a knight of the kingdom." Link's brow furrowed as he stood back up, looking at Zelda who was walking towards him. "I don't remember anything about this."

Zelda stared down at the stone plack for a moment before her face lit up with sudden recognition. "I remember! This was the last test for common soldiers to pass before they could be recognized as a part of the Royal Guard."

"I didn't have to do anything like that to become your appointed knight."

"That's because of the Master Sword," Zelda replied, squatting down in front of the stone and looking at it curiously.

Link shrugged nonchalantly, although he had a rather proud smile on his face. That vanished in an instant however as the pile of bones started… moving? They were all wiggling around, slowly coming together as if…

"Uh… Zelda? Can skeletons come alive?" Link asked nervously, tapping on Zelda's shoulder who was behind him as he continued to stare at the bones as they started to form the skeleton of a long-dead Hinox.

Zelda let out a little laugh. "No, they can't. Unless, of course, you were talking about monsters. There's Stalkoblins, Stalmoblins, Stalizalfos-"

"And Stalnoxes?" Link interrupted, watching with wide eyes as the now fully formed Stalnox bent down and picked up its head, which had a single large purple and blue eye with a glowing green slitted pupil. The eye rolled around in the socket once before narrowing in on Link and Zelda.

"Well yeah-"

THUNK.

Zelda immediately whirled around, as the open gate the two Hylians had walked through had suddenly slammed shut, sealing them in with the skeletal beast. Zelda leaped to her feet upon seeing the monster, gasping in surprise.

The Stalnox then let out a strange roar that sounded completely hollow and breathy but still threatening nonetheless. It began to stomp towards them, its bones cracking and creaking with every movement it made. Link instantly drew the Master Sword from its sheath, its blade still glowing its ethereal light. Zelda took out her Sheikah Slate since the Guardian sword had gone down with that Guardian back in the town, searching around for anything else she could use as a weapon. The two Hylians then took off their bags in unison as they would obviously have to fight, but before Zelda could find anything to fight with, Link was already charging towards the Stalnox.

He ran right in between its legs, slashing at one of its ankles as he did so, thinking back to when he had fought the Hinox. At least this giant doesn't smell as bad as the flesh one did. Link thought wryly to himself, snapping his focus back on the battle at hand. The Stalnox had not found his attack amusing, nor painful for that matter, simply jumping up and landing on its haunches instead of bothering to turn around. Link dodged just in time, almost losing his footing from the shockwave that came from the beast's weight slamming into the stone.

Without waiting for the Stlanox to regain its footing, Link charged again, running around it and attacking its leg again. It made a decent scratch but still didn't affect the monster in any way. If attacking its bones won't hurt it, then what about its eye? Link thought to himself with a slight smile, spinning around to face the beast and slipping the Master Sword back into its sheath as he did so. He brought out his bow, stringing a normal arrow and preparing to let it loose. The monster was focusing on him, staring him down and giving him the perfect opportunity. Just a little more adjustment and…

He never got the chance. Before he could let the arrow fly, a rock flew into the Stalnox, making it jerk towards Zelda, who had thrown it. She was glaring up at the beast, throwing another jagged stone at the monster.

"Zelda what are you doing?" Link shouted, just as the Stalnox slammed its hand onto the ground near Zelda, attempting to smash her, but she had managed to sprint out of the way just in time. Link instantly ran towards her, still holding his bow with one hand.

"Helping!" Zelda shouted back in response, wincing from her leg injury and narrowly missing getting squashed for a second time.

Link ran by her and grabbed her wrist with his free hand, dragging her behind him out of harm's way. "You're hurt! Did you forget?" Link said rather harshly, turning to face her as the Stalnox lazily bounded towards them. Link glanced over his shoulder at the monster before hurriedly turning his attention back on Zelda. "Stay here until this is over." He growled, letting go of her wrist and spinning around towards the Stalnox, shooting an arrow at the beast.

It just barely missed the monster's eye, sticking right into its skull. Enraged, the Stalnox growled and lumbered towards Link, faster than before. Well, at least it doesn't have any trees to throw. Link thought to himself, shooting another arrow that pegged the Stalnox in the shoulder.

As if on cue, the skeletal monster grabbed one of its ribs and violently yanked it out, almost grinning with its jaw before throwing the rather large bone at Link. Nevermind. Link thought with a scowl before ducking into a forward roll to avoid the bone. It clattered loudly onto the ground behind Link, echoing around the large spacious room.

Stringing another arrow, Link was about to try to shoot the Stalnox right in the eye, as he had been planning on doing since the beginning of the battle, but before he could he saw Zelda running behind and towards the monster with a rusty claymore. She was holding it with both hands, obviously struggling with the heavy weapon.

A surge of panic flew through Link, making him hesitate in releasing his arrow. "Zelda!" He yelled, "Get out of the way!"

Obviously ignoring him, Zelda swung the claymore with great effort, slamming it right into one of the Stalnox's ankles. The skeletal monster raised its foot in annoyance, peering down on Zelda who was still clinging onto the rusty weapon even as it was raised up since it was stuck in the monster's bone.

"Zelda!" Link was downright screaming at this point, watching in terror as the Stalnox violently stomped its foot on to the ground, knocking Zelda away with the shockwave that followed. Zelda landed on her back, disorientated from the sudden flight she had taken, unaware that the Stalnox had turned and was bending over while bringing its hand towards her.

Finally coming to his senses, Link quickly strung a fire arrow, hoping it would do more damage, releasing it with a grunt. It struck the Stalnox right in its spine with a blast of fire accompanying it, but the monster didn't even take notice. It grabbed Zelda before she could even realize what was happening, picking her up as if she were some plaything. She screamed in surprise and fright, making Link's stomach coil in fear and anger.

"Let her go!" He yelled, switching back to a normal arrow to avoid hurting Zelda with the elementals and preparing to fire, hesitating when the Stalnox brought Zelda in front of it almost like a shield. Zelda was squirming and trying to wrestle out of the monster's grip, but no matter what she did, she couldn't get out. She couldn't even grab the Sheikah Slate since her arms were pegged to her sides.

Glaring fiercely at the skeletal monster, Link dropped his bow and drew the Master Sword again, rushing forward. He had a plan in mind, but it involved a lot of risks. However, with Zelda in danger, there was no time for him to think about those risks. He charged blindly forward, face hot with anger and eyes set in stone-like determination.

He ended up underneath the Stalnox again, and before the monster had time to react or attack, he swung at the ankle he had attacked before with all of his strength, slamming the sharp blade almost halfway into the bone. He pulled it out with a grunt, hurrying out of the way as the Stalnox stomped around in irritation. Link guessed it would take one last swing to do the job, but there was still the problem with Zelda being held so high up. He just hoped that she could realize what was coming and prepare accordingly.

After the Stalnox got done with its stomping rampage, Link took a breath and charged again. The Stalnox knew he was coming, however, slamming its free hand down onto the ground in an attempt to squash its enemy. Zelda let out an involuntary shriek as the Stalnox leaned forward violently to perform the attack, and Link saw an opportunity. Abandoning his previous plan, he darted for the Stalnox's hand, which was slowly rising as the skeletal monster straightened.

Before it could get too high, however, Link jumped and latched onto one of the monster's fingers, clambering on and running up the beast's arm. The Stalnox was caught off guard, roaring and growling as it attempted to shake Link off. The monster was too late. Link was already at its shoulder.

In the blink of an eye, he climbed to the Stalnox's head, and with a wordless cry, he plunged the Master Sword straight into the monster's soulless eye, sinking it in until it pierced straight through the skull below.

Link thought he should feel victorious, but with a scream of warning from Zelda as the Stalnox thrashed, all feelings of victory vanished. In the monster's frenzy, it had dropped Zelda, who had already fallen out of Link's line of sight, and with both hands, slapped Link off of its head. He never even had the chance to register what had happened before he was violently thrown into the stone wall behind the monster, his head whacking the unforgiving rock and immediately mercilessly throwing him into darkness.

And there we go :D Link is getting hurt a lot, the poor boy, and that will all come to a head in the next chapter. Prepare yourselves!

Besides that, thank you for reading! Make sure to leave a review if you enjoyed!