Forged in Malice

Chapter 15

Feet swiftly collide with Sidon's chest as Link manages to knock the Zora prince off of himself, panic racing through his veins as he gets back onto his feet. A goddess damned blood moon has already reached its zenith as sparks of malice scatter from the top of Ploymus Mountain, swirling in the air like a blazing fire as the hero questions if this was truly poor timing or a blessing in disguise. He glances over at the prince for a moment before looking back at the peak of the mountain, knowing exactly what has revived: a lynel armed with shock arrows. The Hylian doesn't think as his hands reach for the slate attached to his hip, sifting through its storage as he sprints for the bridge connecting to the series of waterfalls leading to the top. Link barely registers the voice yelling at him until a large hand grasps his arm and forces him to stop.

"Link, listen to me! You are in no condition to be going out like this! Especially if-" Sidon is cut off as the champion whips around to face the prince.

"You and I both know this is no time to have this conversation, Sidon! There is a lynel being resurrected from the grave and it's gonna be armed with shock arrows. I can't just stand by knowing it's a threat to you and the Domain!" Link shouts, glaring up at the Zora prince.

"We have our own guards for a situation like this, and that is if the beast even bothers to descend the mountain! There is no need for you to be reckless in such a vulnerable state!" The prince responds, tightening his grip as the hero tries to wrench his arm free.

"I am perfectly capable of facing a lynel without risking your men. I'm the only one here with the experience and better immunity to electricity. I don't have time to argue this with you, so let me go!"

"I will not let you face that monster unless I'm there to help you, Link! I cannot just stand by and wait for your imminent death if there is some way I can prevent it."

Link grits his teeth as he glares up at Prince Sidon. "Of all people, I didn't think you would have forgotten my accomplishments, your Highness. Or am I mistaken on who exactly defeated the Calamity." He hisses out. This stuns the Zora for a moment as he is able to free himself and activates the stasis rune to freeze the prince in place. "I can't risk having your blood on my hands...I'm sorry." The champion says before taking off once more, shedding off the Champion's tunic and throwing on the Zora Armor in order to ascend the waterfalls.

Link is thoroughly soaked by the time he reaches the top, his arms already beginning to ache as he hears the familiar roar of the lynel. It must have sensed him already. No matter, red-maned lynels tend to go down fairly easily with a durable weapon and well placed arrows. Withdrawing a falcon bow from the confines of the slate, he stalks closer to the beast's stomping grounds to see where exactly it was. What he was met with made his blood run cold.

The lynel stood proudly in the center of its territory as the blood moon made its golden hide shine like amber, its glowing, electric blue eyes scanning its surroundings as Link ducks for cover before it could notice him. Another roar is released from the monstrosity, either daring anything to challenge it or a warning to others that this land belonged to it. Kilton might know something about lynel behavior, but currently Link was struggling between his heart trying to escape his chest and stopping completely in terror to theorize on behavior and territory disputes amongst monsters. So this was definitely not a red-maned lynel, and not even a blue or white-maned one, either. Any of those would have been a little annoying, but not terribly so. What this golden one reminded him of were the silver lynels that appeared along with other silver monsters as he was close to charging into Hyrule Castle and face Calamity Ganon once and for all. Silver lynels were nothing to sneeze at, given how much tougher their hides were and far more aggressive than the average lynel. If the golden color was any indicator, this specific one was going to be much worse than any other monster he's faced.