Chapter Text
The fall of the Calamity had brought many other curses down with itself, and the blood moon was one of them.
It’s a lot more convenient without that endless cycle of monsters coming back to life now, to travel across Hyrule and search for the last few remaining shrines that Link had yet to find. Even following the villagers' cryptic words to find the glowing structures became less of a challenge and more of a past time.
It had taken him about two years to free the four divine beasts and to complete his own challenge against Maz Koshia, to end the Calamity once and for all. He’ll admit that times had been desperate every now and then, as he would find himself injured from stupid stunts, swallowing down liters of elixirs to heal as fast as he could. He’ll admit that he had lost hope more than once, when the blights would refuse to let go of the divine beasts where the champions had been trapped. Feeling useless and alone hadn’t helped. One of the few things he found comfort in was completing the challenges of the shrines; At least, for some time, he could pretend he knew what he was doing.
But it’s no use to ruminate now, he realizes. The Calamity is down, and Zelda is free. While he doesn’t need to complete the shrine challenges anymore, he’s started it, so he might as well finish. Who knows, perhaps it’ll help him recover some more memories? He’ll try anything at this point.
And he’s so close to finding the very last shrine that he can practically feel it in his bones. The Hebra mountain trail had been a pain to climb, but it had been what the little Rito girl had said to do. Thankfully, Zelda has let him hold onto the Sheikah slate, at least for now, while she takes care of the castle’s reconstruction. It allows him to find himself on his map and soon realize that he’s reached the Talonto peak.
A bird in the mountain, right? It’s what he’s supposed to look for, but he’s not sure he should take the Rito girl’s words so seriously. He highly doubts that a giant white bird would fly around so clearly in the mountains. Honestly, he’s a little tired of people talking to him in riddles.
For now, he looks around. Once he finds this very last shrine, he’ll go back to a place where the climate is at least a little more reasonable; here, he can only cover himself in his warm Rito garb while the snow falls upon him and pricks at his skin like needles.
Maybe he should light a fire before he starts to scan the surroundings. He can see all of Hebra from where he stands, so surely he would end up finding that giant bird soon , right?
Link sighs to himself. As he looks around him to try and find some firewood, something in the corner of his eye catches his attention.
In the distance, the landforms are in a peculiar shape - two mounts are separated from each other, but the perspective does make them look joined. His eyes squint harder before finally noticing the pattern formed by the snow.
A giant bird with its wings spread, made of snow on the rocks. Very clever. He’s not sure what exactly he’d expected, but even if he’s found the answer to the riddle, he can’t help but grumble in mild frustration.
With hasty movements, Link takes hold of the paraglider tied behind his back. He deploys it above him as he pushes on his feet, jumping down and letting the wind carry him towards the so-called ‘bird in the mountain’.
The wind blows against his back, thankfully; it doesn’t take him long to find himself above the mount, his feet dangling into the void between the two cliffs, and soon, he sees the glow.
In the cave under the fake bird’s belly, a shrine stands, hidden away from all kinds of eyes. He knows that not even monsters dare to venture into the caves - but still, he proceeds forward until his feet reach the entrance.
Clearly the shrine hasn’t been activated yet, judging by the way it glows that familiar warm orange. Link wastes no time taking out his Sheikah slate, placing it against the pedestal until the glowing aura melts into a bright blue that, as always, hurts behind his eyes. But at last the shrine opens its doors, leaving the way open for him to enter and face his last challenge.
He’s used to it, but that doesn’t mean he’s come to enjoy it. The platform goes down, leading him underground in a building that feels too surreal to exist in his reality. Another dimension, he imagines. Whatever it is, it’s just like the rest of all these shrines; unpleasantly blue, too quiet for his liking, and the challenge is even worse .
Major test of strength.
“Ugh,” he grumbles, his hand searching through his pouch without looking at it. He takes out one simple bottle and downs the mighty elixir in one go. It’ll at least make defeating whatever training machine that lurks into that ditch just a little faster, and he’ll finally go back to central Hyrule - maybe he can try to find the Korok seeds, next.
Once he’s stepped inside the arena, the challenge begins. From the pit emerges a platform carrying a guardian scout; one of these three legged machines wielding various amounts of weapons. This one in particular has a battle axe, a spear, and a sword. They all glow of that same painful blue, but Link can’t let it bother him; with his Sheikah slate, he summons a savage lynel sword, readying it as he takes out his Hylian shield.
Link quickly lunges forward and lands the first strike at the guardian's side without leaving it any time to begin its attacks. He slashes it repeatedly, eliciting no reaction whatsoever from his foe aside from the fact that it jumps backward in defense. He’s grateful that his attacks seem to be doing quite a good amount of damage; only a few minutes more, and that robot should be down.
The guardian crawls towards him, its battle axe brandished to its side, an obvious planned attack. Link waits for just the right moment; the millisecond after the glowing blade slashes the air, the Hylian steps backwards, jumps into the air and somersaults right above the axe to dodge the blow. Once he perfectly lands on his feet, the machine is too ‘startled’ to step back quickly enough. Link darts forward, slashing the mechanical beast repeatedly in a flurry of strikes. The metal of his sword hisses against the mysterious material of the guardian , a sound that’s become rather usual to his ears seeing how many times he’s encountered these pests. It almost feels strangely nice to hear since he often associates the noise to victory.
But he knows that he’s not done yet . The guardian jumps a few meters back, all of its weapons lifted as it prepares to spin in circles and rush towards the Hylian like a murderous top.
Link can’t give it that satisfaction however, if these machines can even feel that. Instead of waiting, he takes out his royal bow, nocking an ice arrow and pointing it to the guardian’s single glowing eye. As he releases the bowstring, the arrow rips through the air, landing right in the center of his flickering target and making it tumble on its side.
Although he's pretty proud of his aim, Link still tries to stay focused; the mighty elixir only lasts for so long, after all. He speeds up once again, hitting the beast as many times as he can while it’s still down and too disoriented to attack.
At least one good thing about this situation is that the guardians always attack in the same pattern, and because of that repetition Link has come to know it perfectly. He knows of all their behaviors, and he knows that after hitting its eye with an arrow it’ll stay down for exactly three seconds.
One, two, three, four,...
As Link keeps on hitting his sword against the machine, he realizes that it’s been going on for too long.
Hesitantly, he stops himself. His sword has cracked in multiple places, but nothing’s unusual about this; what doesn’t make sense is that the guardian scout is twitching onto the ground, emitting pitiful whirrs that sound too unfamiliar.
What the hell?
He’s never seen a training guardian act like this before. He stands back, far enough from the beast that he won’t be caught off guard. Ten seconds pass before the guardian suddenly hits its battle axe against the tiled floor, smashing it to pieces as something dark and gooey escapes its joints.
Gross, Link thinks to himself as he readies his sword, examining the object from afar. Some kind of slug crawls across the floor right next to the guardian in no particular direction, leaving dark stains behind itself as it makes its escape.
How the fuck did a slug get in the shrine?
He curses himself for it; the critter takes too much of his attention, and at last the guardian is functioning again and quickly throwing its spear towards the Hylian. Link only has enough time to block it with his shield, but the strike is so strong that it sends the piece of defensive metal flying far away into the corner of the room and leaving him utterly defenseless as a result.
Shit, he thinks to himself - this is the first time a guardian has hit this hard. Link tries to process it as he turns back, dashing to get his shield and protect himself again, but the machine is much faster.
With its free mechanical arm, it pushes Link face first onto the floor with a loud thud . As the pain reverberates in his head, he still shifts to turn around and face the guardian as he attempts to get up.
But it’s much easier said than done; the creature’s leg pins him down, preventing him from getting back on his feet. With a sharp grunt of pain, he writhes under the guardian’s impressive weight, trying his hardest to get a hold of his sword once again.
Guardians aren’t smart enough to do this. It’s impossible.
As Link brings his sword up, he lets out a pained cry before plunging the pointed edge right into the creature’s eye. The machine immediately loosens its deadly grip onto Link’s chest, allowing the Hylian to breathe in and sit upright as his sword savagely pierces deeper.
He persists like how a barbarian would , flinching when the guardian hisses and growling when the sparks finally fly out.
He takes his sword out after a few seconds, and the guardian drops all of its weapon across the room as it collapses. The eerie blue glow fades into a pitch black mess as it crumbles on itself, and finally, the Hylian can claim victory.
He would usually proceed forward until the monk showed itself, but right now, all that he wants to do is to sit down and breathe for a few minutes. He falls like a dead weight onto the floor, his vision wavering as the elixir’s effects vanish.
And then everything fades to white.
*
“We're working on restoring Hyrule Castle,” Zelda says, taking the Sheikah slate into her hands. “As you can see, they’ve started rebuilding the main hall. I’ll say that sleeping in a tent is not my favorite, but I can’t complain much about that , can I?”
She asks the question with a giggle, looking back to her appointed knight. Link sits against the trunk of a tree, barely awake - it’s seven in the morning, for Hylia’s sake. How can the princess be so enthusiastic so early in the day?
“All this time, you must’ve slept outside a lot,” she adds, tapping on the screen of the slate and looking through the map. “Oh! I see that you’ve activated the isolated shrine in the Hebra mountains - that is fantastic!”
A weak smile tugs at the corners of Link’s mouth, his chest puffing with pride. He won’t tell her how hard he’d struggled against that damn guardian scout, but at least the shrine shows up on the map. And even if it means that he can fast-travel there now, he sure as hell isn’t going back anytime soon.
Do you need the Sheikah slate with you? He signs to his friend, a little concerned. It’s very likely that he would need to let go of the slate for now, as Zelda would have a great need for it while she travels across Hyrule to try and help rebuild what she can.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Zelda replies, her smile fading and her pointed ears drooping. “Well, you probably do. But I’m sorry, Link, I’m going to need to be fast and effective, and this is the only way.”
It’s fine, I just wanted to know, Link signs and dismisses her concern with a wave of his hand. I actually really like traveling by horse. Besides, I don’t need the runes that much anymore.
“I see…” the princess hums, zooming in and out of the map, looking for places to pin down. “Well, if you need to go anywhere, feel free to do so. We aren’t in any danger anymore and you probably need to rest.”
Link’s eyes snap wide open, his head tilting to the side in confusion. What about the reconstruction? He asks, to which Zelda replies with a reassuring smile.
“It isn’t your duty,” she replies , pointing to herself. “As strange as it is to say, I am… The queen of Hyrule now. My responsibility after all these years is to make sure I fix the damage done by my mistakes as a princess. You deserve a break. Isn’t there someone you’d like to visit?”
Link thinks about it only a slight amount; he had made a few friends through his journey, and it’s true that he hadn’t visited anyone for the past six months. Indeed, there’s someone in particular he’s been meaning to say hi to. So he nods to her question while pushing himself back up to stand and stretch.
Bwip-bwip
A startled hum escapes him as he brings his hands together and reaches them forward, looking to Zelda for the source of the noise.
What was that? He asks, to which Zelda shakes her head in confusion.
Bwip-bwip
“This sounds like the Sheikah sensor of your slate,” she replies, her bright blue eyes squinting as she examines the object in her hands. “I’m not sure what it’s detecting, though.”
Link frowns as he thinks, looking around for any sign of movement. But all they’re surrounded by is a vast field and hyrule guards along with a few tents here and there.
That’s weird , Link signs, approaching her to look at the screen. I set the sensor to guardian stalkers last time. But they don’t get detected if they don’t function.
“What do you think it is?” Zelda asks, tapping wherever she can, looking at the picture of the guardian in the compendium that Link had taken despite the high risks. The Hylian still isn’t sure how he’s pulled it off.
Well, now that Ganon’s gone, the guardians are all just piles of trash aside from the small ones in the shrines, he signs, rolling his shoulders into a shrug. I’m not sure. I wouldn’t be surprised if that slate were malfunctioning, after all this time using it non-stop.
“I suppose you’re right,” the princess utters as she stands up to look at her surroundings. Seeing how clear the view is, a nearby guardian would be easily noticeable even now; but nothing is in sight, not even a ‘dead’ guardian.
“I think I’ll warp to Hateno village and see if Purah can look into it,” Zelda continues with a tinge of worry to her voice. “In the meantime, would you like to travel somewhere? I won’t have difficulty reaching you if need be.”
Link looks to the east, watching the clouds gather near a familiar mountain he’s climbed more than once. He pats the dust off his Hylian tunic, breathing in the fresh air of a peaceful Hyrule, delighted at the mere notion of rest for a few days.
I’ll head to Zora’s domain.
*
After Vah Ruta had moved back to the reservoir lake, Prince Sidon had quite easily understood that the Calamity had fallen. That it was all finally over.
Of course, he had noticed right away, as he would watch over the divine beast for a moment each day. It allowed him to pay respects to his sister as well - after all, in a strange way, Vah Ruta is really all he had left of her.
And he had reported the news to his father the second that the divine beast had gone out of sight. He had been so exalted at the time to announce that Hyrule was finally free of the Calamity that he had forgotten the possibility that, on the contrary, the enemy had prevailed instead.
But that possibility had been reminded to him by King Dorephan with rational thought. In Sidon’s mind, it was clearly impossible, unfathomable that Link, the champion, would lose against Ganon. No, there was simply no way - his treasured friend had shown that much while they fought Vah Ruta together! Truly, he had no doubt in his mind at the time.
He had only been all the more proud when the messengers had made their way to the domain, bringing the official news that the Calamity was no more. The celebrations had been endless - over a century of living in fear, brought to an end by the incredible and courageous Link - Sidon can’t quite imagine what it must feel like for the other races that populated the rest of Hyrule, but many Zoras had lived through that century. Many of them finally saw their world being given back to them on that day, the spirits of their lost family members finally avenged and able to find rest.
Mipha had finally found rest as well. Sidon is sure of it.
Three weeks had passed since the battle had been won. Link hasn’t visited the domain yet, but the prince can’t blame him; after all, he must be extremely busy helping Princess Zelda to reconstruct the land they’ve lost. Although Sidon wishes he could be of some help, leaving the domain had become harder than it even used to be - things needed to be taken care of in Zora’s domain as well, after all.
“The observer we sent to the Lynel at Ploymus Mountain finally came back - unscathed, thank Hylia,” Laflat begins with a sigh. “As Zoras it seems like there is not much we can do against it. But it is safe to assume that once the beast is slain, it should not be revived any longer.”
Laflat hands the folded papers to Sidon with a quiet sigh. That monster had been a problem to the Zoras for a very long time, and even if Link had defeated it a few times, the blood moon would always bring it back. Oh, how tiring it had become.
“I am guessing none of the other soldiers we found were able to tackle the issue?” The prince asks, remembering the few Hylians, Ritos, Gorons they recruited for the task. He doesn’t remember seeing any of them boasting about any victory, however.
“Indeed,” Laflat replies, relaxing her posture as Sidon leans against the barrier in front of his palace, the one where he’d usually stay at to watch over Vah Ruta when she was still in sight. “They would either give up as soon as they would see it, or they would escape the battle injured. It seems like no one other than the champion himself can truly deal with that monster.”
Sidon can’t help but feel a small smile playing at his features - this is no surprise to him. It feels a bit unfair to call Link over to slay the Lynel now; he must be so busy in the Hyrule fields with Princess Zelda after all. For now, it seems like the Zoras will have to look for another solution.
“Your Highness.”
Sidon turns around at the voice, finding none other but the captain of the Royal Guard, silverscale spear in hand and a somewhat troubled expression across his eyes.
“What is it, Bazz?” He asks, to which the shorter Zora straightens himself.
“I have something to report, from the citizens near the Ne’ez Yohma shrine,” he begins, somewhat tripping on the pronunciation. “As of late, it seems to have started glowing a strange red, something completely different from its usual hue. We have yet to determine the cause of this phenomenon.”
“Is that so,” Sidon replies thoughtfully as he steps forward. “I shall see to it immediately. Will you both join me?” He addresses Bazz and Laflat, who both nod without hesitation as they follow behind.
Of course, no Zora would ever make use of the Ne’ez Yohma shrine, as only those equipped with a Sheikah slate could enter it. Still, it’s important that they make sure everything is in order in case Link were to use it.
They make their way to the shrine, soon descending down the set of stairs that leads to the small cave where the structure is nestled. Shooing the numerous bright-eyed crabs to the sides, they finally reach the shrine and immediately notice its faint, blue glow. It isn’t quite the red color that Bazz described earlier - still, it’s usually much brighter than this, and that alone is enough to cause worry.
“...This is not the first time it happens.” Sidon mumbles to himself, reminiscing the similar event that happened to the Dagah Keek shrine near the Veiled Falls. It had only lasted a few minutes, with no consequences whatsoever, and so, it had simply been brushed aside as a harmless malfunction. But now that he thinks about it, the Zoras aren’t quite qualified to say whether ancient Sheikah technology is harmless or not.
He brushes his hand against the smooth surface of the ancient material, feeling a certain warmth emanating from it. Rather strange for something stone-like that would usually feel cold to the touch. Aside from this, he’s not sure there’s anything else he can do; perhaps he should see his father and request that a few Sheikah scientists look into it -
“How many times are we gonna have to tell you this, you freak?!”
The loud voice comes from outside, only a few meters away from them. It has Bazz quickly frowning, stepping out with his silverscale spear in hand while Sidon and Laflat follow closely behind.
To nobody’s surprise, it’s the group of Lake Zoras - a community that lives under the domain in isolation. Most of those Zoras are just becoming adults, though they've been intimidating the civilians for quite some time now, with their heavily tattooed bodies and weapons carried without purpose. They're the ones causing trouble once again. The residents of the domain have gotten quite used to it, so they’re more of an annoyance than a real danger, but still… Gruve is frozen in place at the edge of the small waterfall, in a defensive stance as a green colored Zora shakes some kind of red fish under his eyes.
“Stop. Throwing your garbage. In the lake. It’s not that hard to understand, for fuck’s sake!” the green Zora shouts again, his headfin flaring with anger. To his side, a shorter, violet Zora shakes him lightly by the shoulder.
“Eki, it’s fine. You know they don’t listen,” she says in a deadpan voice, a somber expression darkening her features.
“No, Vetli! I’m tired of these assholes thinking they can get rid of their rotten fish in the lake where we sleep!” Eki replies, throwing the fish at Gruve’s feet as the latter can’t help but yelp in surprise.
“But- I didn’t-!”
“What’s going on here?” Bazz interjects, striding to the group with slitted pupils. “Our agreement was clear, wasn't it?” He asks, eyeing at one short Zora in particular. “No violence shall be used to take care of disagreements. If you keep threatening them, I will be forced to arrest you.”
The Lake Zoras seem to tense up at the sight of Bazz, even more so at the sight of Prince Sidon. The only one who doesn’t lose his fire is Eki once again, who seems to be a leader to the others - he points to the fish with his moblin club, to which the guard captain can’t help but grimace.
“Then tell your precious citizens to stop treating our damn lake like a dumpster! Does this look like a freshwater fish to you?”
Sidon’s eyes shoot to the dead fish, and truth be told, Eki is actually right - this sort of fish has nothing to do with their lake, especially in the state it’s in; half-eaten by bugs and oozing a strange, dark substance that can only be identified as some kind of mildew. Sidon sighs, stepping in to put an end to this - they have other troubles, and dealing with the Lake Zoras comes last.
“Will you let me apologize on their behalf?” The prince asks, putting a hand to his chest and bowing lightly. “You have every right to be angry. I will make sure that everyone in the domain respects the lake, as it is as important to us as it is to you.”
To this, Eki pauses. Right. As powerful as he may be, talking back to the Zora prince might get him in trouble, and even he knows this very well. “Fine,” he finally mutters, throwing his club over his shoulder and patting the violet Zora’s shoulder. “I’ll look at the water very closely, then. Let’s go.”
With that, the group of Zoras steps away with a few irate glances behind, disappearing in sight as they cross the bridge.
Sidon sighs, and Laflat’s shoulders drop. “They really are insufferable,” the woman says, while Bazz gives a short scolding to Gruve for polluting the lake, despite how much the other man insists that he’s not the one who did it.
When all that is said and done, Sidon feels that it’s important to return to the matter at hand. But it doesn’t seem like the Ne’ez Yohma shrine is where the strange phenomenons stop.
“The red glow seems to persist on the Sato Koda shrine in the uplands, according to guardsman Tottika,” Bazz starts again, pointing to the hills in the distance. “I’d suggest we investigate this one as well, before reporting it to King Dorephan.”
“The Sato Koda shrine?” Sidon asks, eyes widening. “Is it not the one that Link activated only a month ago?”
“Indeed, so we can rule out any cause linked to a possible lifespan,” Bazz replies as he guides the other two forward. “Then again, we are no Sheikah. It is only a hypothesis.”
Sidon quietly nods as he follows Bazz to the waterfall, accompanied with Laflat whose interest, once again, seems to be more piqued than ever.
*
The air feels somewhat cooler in Upland Zorana, but that’s to be preferred. Treading there is a little tedious, but they soon reach the Sato Koda shrine, and sure enough the blue glow has transformed into a deep crimson that seems to pulsate under the sun. The pink skin under Sidon’s brow furrows in concentration as he looks to the ill color, finding it difficult to relieve his worry now that it seems to spread from one shrine to another.
“This one looks even worse,” Laflat mutters, slowly stepping forward. “I’m worried about what might be inside. We will need to warn Master Link about this as soon as we can, in case he decides to venture inside the shrines again.”
She’s right; they know Link is looking for the remaining shrines, and Sidon can only hope that everything is fine on the Hylian’s end. He recalls Link telling him that the inside is nothing but riddles and puzzles, so what could be invading those structures? A kind of parasite, perhaps?
He keeps the thought to himself for now. Of course, he’d prefer to warn his friend through a letter, but where would he even send it off to? There’s no telling where the Hylian Champion might be at the moment, as surely, most of Hyrule needs his help after all.
“I would like to look into it,” Laflat continues, a spark lighting up in her eyes despite her attempt to stay serious about the situation. “Will you allow me, Sidon?”
It’s hard to reply - he knows just how fascinated Laflat is with the monsters and the unknown. Being her lifelong friend had taught him that she would study them thoroughly in her spare time, making her one of the most knowledgeable individuals in the domain on that matter. Still, it’s not something she can explain just yet; and for that reason, the prince worries again.
“I would rather you stay out of this until we determine exactly what it is,” he replies, trying to soften the blow with a smile. “It could be dangerous, and I do not wish for you to get hurt. Come on now, let us go back to the domain and report it to father.”
With Laflat’s and Bazz’s nods, they ready themselves to get back home, but out of nowhere there is something that suddenly changes in the air. And naturally, the three of them can sense it; it grows heavy upon them, tightens around their throats like a snake, forcing them to remain stuck in place as they feel a cold shiver crawl across their scales.
“Your Highness,” Bazz utters, his voice uncharacteristically soft. “Let us head back quickly. I sense a great danger - perhaps the Lynel.”
“No,” Sidon interrupts him, his eyes scanning the horizon for the cause of their unease. “It isn’t the Lynel, I am certain of it.”
His sixth sense tells him what he needs to know; this thing is approaching, still far away enough that they would have time to run, yet… another sensation is there, something he’s felt much too strongly before to ever forget.
“This is worse than that.”
“Sidon, we need to go,” Laflat urges him, tugging on his wrist. “We have to warn His Majesty-”
In the distance, a blood-curdling screech can be heard; it buzzes through Sidon’s eardrums and even leaves him dizzy for a split second. A sound right out of his worst nightmares. He thinks briefly that he simply hallucinated it, that the other two haven’t heard anything of the sort, but the horrified expression that covers them is enough to tell him that this was very real.
From behind a hill, another group of Zoras run to find safety. Their feet hit the grass to take them somewhere, anywhere they could go to escape the dread that follows; Sidon can’t see the threat for now, but he can recognize the Lake Zoras from earlier, who were bothering Gruve.
The young Zoras scramble over to them in a panic with looks never seen on their faces before; terrified, scared. Traumatized , almost - it makes even Sidon wish he didn’t have to see what was coming, yet as it approaches their way, he can feel it again.
“What the hell are you doing here?!” Eki shouts, catching his breath for a moment as the others stop themselves as well. “Run for it! It’s going to kill us all!”
The whirring and the screeching resonates into Sidon’s brain as his eyes flicker left and right, only to quickly find the creature that was already locked onto them all.
The spider-looking machine crawls their way, loud and overwhelming as its mechanical legs stomp down the ground. Even Sidon feels small in comparison, but what worries him the most is the eye in the center of its head; the blue, glowing eye that flickers red as its ray of light settles onto Eki as its target.
Suddenly, Sidon remembers what Link said about those said creatures when he had come to the domain for a few days of rest. Don’t find yourself face to face with a guardian, he had said, the prince seeing the other’s concerned expression clearly in his head. Unless you have a good shield or a bow, there’s nothing you can do but pray.
The group dashes through the uplands as fast as they can go, and Sidon never imagined that such a large machine could keep up with them. The faster they run, the better it follows; and as its red ray focuses on the green Zora without fail, its noise accelerates into something that turns Sidon’s blood to ice.
The guardian shoots its deadly beam of light, and the blinding ray travels through the air faster than Sidon’s eyes can follow. What he can’t miss is where it lands, and the way Eki’s blood spills like a fountain into the green pasture, his voice leaving him in a sharp grunt of pain.
“Eki!” His friend Vetli shouts, bolting towards him with panicked breath, falling onto her knees to carefully hold up his arm and look at the injury.
Sidon winces, his stomach churning at the mere sight of the injured Zora;. Eki’s left arm is torn to shreds, the flesh blown here and there deeply enough that the bone underneath is starting to show. The prince’s heartbeat starts to raise its pace as he stops himself despite the danger, looking between the guardian and its victim in utter disbelief.
“Let me go, Vetli! I can get up!” The green Zora orders, forcing himself back on his legs despite the tremendous pain he must be in. The guardian doesn’t wait, however - it readies it next ray, this time targeting it at someone else, and it’s exactly what Sidon feared the most.
“Miss Laflat, we need to run immediately,” Bazz says, trying to stay calm, but Sidon can still hear the oscillations in his voice. The red spark is settled right onto the woman’s brow, something that she can’t quite see, but she obeys still - her webbed feet take her forward once again, creating distance between her and the mechanical monster still chasing them while the Lake Zoras try to follow with their heavily wounded leader.
“This way! To the Veiled Falls!” Sidon shouts to the other Zoras, pointing repeatedly to the waterfall that they can jump down into - if there’s one thing he knows about guardians, it’s that they won’t follow in the water. He urges Laflat to take sharp turns as she sprints, so that the guardian can somehow lose ‘sight’ of her; he wants to warn her as it shoots again, but the deadly light reaches her before his own voice can.
For a second, Sidon believes it’s reached her head - but in a miraculous turn of events, it flies right past it. He wants to use the last gulp of air in his lungs to sigh in relief... until he hears her crying out in pain.
His vision sways before he can see it; She clutches at the left side of her face, her mouth hung as a scream escapes her again. Her hands are covered in crimson, shaking as if she were having a seizure, and it takes a few more seconds for Sidon to notice that her left forefin is two meters away from her, marred beyond repair and lying in the grass like a piece of dead fish.
“It hurts!” She screams, taking her hands off the wound and looking down at them, only to let out yet another shaky cry. Her eyes water with pain as she covers the deep wound once again, and Sidon believes he’s in a complete nightmare.
This can’t be real. Yet her blood is dripping on his own hands as he tries to pick her up, warm and filling his senses to the point that an intense nausea starts to overcome him. “Let me help you, Laflat - come with me! We need to treat it right away!” He says, thankful for her smaller size as he brings her to her feet. The way she whimpers has him feeling only sicker, and just when he’s about to take another step forward with her, another groan can be heard from behind him.
Eki is now on the ground again, his healthy arm fighting to get away as his claws scrape at the earth; and as strong as he may be, there’s nothing that can be done against the monstrous weight of a guardian claw pressed right against his back, pinning him down and crushing him ever so slowly. His friends try to help, either hitting at the guardian’s leg with whatever weapon they hold to no avail - it’s as though it was planted there, with no hope of ever leaving its place.
As they keep hitting, the guardian’s head gives shaky turns left and right - it trembles on itself, its eye soon letting out small beam of lights, still dangerous enough to wound Vetli’s ankle. The woman curses as she falls to the ground, but no one has time to do much more to escape - at this point, the guardian is firing at whatever it sees, even scraping Sidon’s arm in the process.
Everything turns hazy. He can hardly register Bazz’s words as the guard captain tries to pull him back to reality - right now there’s only the scent of blood, the screams, and despite it all, the sudden silence in certain voices.
Out of nowhere, a flash of blue appears in front of his eyes - something that moves rapidly, yet precisely enough to attract the guardian’s attention. The silhouette holds up the shiniest weapon the prince has ever seen, striking the beast on the leg twice until it shatters and leaves the green Zora’s back. Pointed ears perk up as they look around, feeling no desire to escape when the red ray settles onto them this time. They hold up a large shield in front of them, waiting for the beast’s next strike with bated breath.
As soon as the beam is shot, it’s deflected in the opposite direction by the shield, to hit the guardian in the eye. It seems to topple as Sidon tries his best to stay awake through it all and clutch onto an unconscious Laflat. The light seems to escape the machine as cracks appear through its frame, and finally, it crumbles on itself, leaving behind remains of a technology none of them can explain.
Their savior lets the shield down, swaying as much as Sidon’s vision. It’s only when the Hero falls to his knees that the prince finally understands.
His vision fades, but the other’s name weakly escapes his lips as he calls out to him, his most treasured friend.