Return to Termina

Goldra slowly walked over to Link, almost like a puppet on a string. He then took the claymore's handle in his hand and jerked it out. Link cringed in disgust as the claymore wasn't covered in blood, but black stuff that looked like ink.

"Did you ACTUALLY take that pathetic dragon's advice literally?" Goldra said, looking at his claymore.

He tossed it over to Link again, who picked it up. How could this have happened? Dracon said he had to kill him with his own weapon, but why wasn't it working now?

Enraged, Link roared with the claymore and slashed Goldra several times across the chest and abdomen. Goldra laughed, as though the blade ripping open his internal organs was a feather tickling his foot. The wounds healed over and Goldra continued laughing. Then, the dark one took matters into his own hands and seized the claymore before jerking it out of Link's hands. He sheathed it and took a step forward.

"Don't you realize, Link? You cannot kill me!"

In an instant, Goldra's flesh started to mold into a new form. His golden armor became golden scales on his skin and his face took a more reptilian look. His feet turned into three-toed, dinosaurian feet, and his hands sprouted sharp claws. He opened his new mouth and several sharp fangs emerged from his gums. A tail sprang from his body and there were small black spines down it. Finally, his cape turned into a pair of batlike wings.

Link recognized this beast from the nightmare he had before this whole adventure began. It was the same one that seized him by the head.

"Now, shall we continue?" Goldra said as he took a step forward.

Link took a step back and Goldra sprang like a cat. All Link could do was watch it coming as the claymore fell to the ground.


Suddenly, Goldra froze and didn't seem to notice Link in front of him.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU LISTEN TO ME, LINK?!" A familiar voice shouted.

In a flutter of leaves, the Skull Kid appeared from nowhere and landed in front of Link. He strutted up to him and shook his head.

"I figured you would at least hear me out. I tried to warn you about that beast, but did you listen? NO!" Skull Kid said as he folded his arms and looked away.

"Let's just get out of here!" Link said, taking the Skull Kid by the arm and heading back to Clock Town.

When Link got back, the town looked like a twister had just hit it. Buildings were smashed and the ground was littered with debris. Some parts had been burned while others were totaled.

"Look at what those monsters have done."

Link turned to see Kafei behind him.

"If this keeps up, Clock Town will be nothing but rubble. And standing here won't do anything." Kafei said, looking at the ground.

Link thought for a while. They had to go to a place where there weren't too many people and not much to destroy. Then, it hit him.

"Romani Ranch. If we can go there, they won't be able to destroy much and not too many people live there." Link suggested.

"If it means keeping other people safe, I'll take any chances." Kafei replied, nodding in determination.

"Oh, you want help from the farm girl? I'll be right back." Skull Kid said, vanishing in a gust of leaves.


Night had fallen and Link had made sure that there would be no full moon. In fact, he even made it so that there would be no moon tonight. Kafei had gotten Anju and Zelda at the southern exit of Clock Town. All they had to do now was wait. Then, it appeared--a covered wagon with what looked like Cremia driving it. Link waved his hand in the air.

"Over here!" He called.

In seconds, the carriage driver turned and smiled at Link.

"Why, hello there, Grasshopper. I haven't seen you in a few years. Where have you been?"

Link stood there, surprised. Grasshopper? Why would Cremia call him that? Unless...

"Romani? Is that you?" Link asked, squinting to see better, "You look so much like your sister. Speaking of which, where is she?"

"Oh, she went off, got married, and she now lives back at the ranch." She answered with a wink, "Anyway, I got message you want to come over." Link nodded. "Well, hop in! We have a long way to go and little time to get there."

So, everyone hopped into the wagon. When Zelda got in, she had one question on her mind.

"Who is this girl and why does she call you 'grasshopper'?" She asked.

"It's a long story." Link answered.

Zelda sat down next to Link and said, "Try me."


After Link had told his story, the wagon came to an abrupt stop. The way to Romani Ranch had been blocked off by a landslide. Link suddenly realized that Goldra obviously knew of his departure and had other plans for him.

"Looks like we'll have to take the Gorman route..." Romani said as she changed direction.

"Will they try and mug us?" Kafei asked, cautiously.

"Don't worry. Since Link left, they've been on their best behavior." Romani said.

She then whipped the reins and moved on.


Like Romani said, the Gormans were nowhere to be found, but a strange mist had covered the night ground like a blanket. Link had moved to the back of the wagon to make sure nothing followed them. He couldn't see anything, yet he had the sudden feeling that they were being watched by something unseen. Link fingered his sword and listened carefully to any sound that would alert him to danger: footfalls, rustling leaves, anything that would give him a hint.

Suddenly, he heard something he had not been listening for, because he wasn't expecting it. It was the sound of flapping wings. Link whirled around, and saw a giant eagle-like thing flying straight at him. But this was no ordinary eagle. It was large enough to carry Link away in its talons and didn't even have feathers, more along the lines of bat wings. It caught Link in its talons and picked him right out of the wagon, not from the front, but from the side. The birdlike creature rose higher and higher into the air, but Link had been in worse situations and took his sword. He quickly made a gash in the creature’s leg and it screeched in pain as it released the Hylian hero.

Link fell a good twenty feet down down and landed between the moving horses. He could imagine the surprise of Romani seeing him drop there when he was supposed to be behind them. The green-clad hero was holding on for dear life and tried desperately to get back up. He heaved himself up and jumped back onto of the wagon. But the moment he was back in, the creature came back and snatched Link in its feet again. He was almost carried away when someone seized his foot. Link looked down and saw Romani holding on with all her strength. She had tied the reins and had reached up just as the creature was going to fly away. The creature, immobilized with the combined weight, tried raking Link with its talons. Link held on for dear life, but then the bird let him go, landing him right on top of Romani. Link searched his pockets for anything he lost, but then realized that something was missing.

"You okay, Link?" Romani asked as she looked him over.

"I'm fine. But the Moon Pearl isn't!" Link said as he pointed at the bird.

It was true. The bird wasn't just raking Link, it was searching his pockets and found the moon jewel in it. The bird gripped the jewel and smashed it with his clawed foot.

"NO! IT DESTROYED THE MOON PEARL!"

Those words struck something in both Zelda and Kafei. Zelda realized that Link would then have to transform against his will and had a look of fear on her face, but at least he could still control himself...for the moment.


The bird creature made a wide turn and came back again, but Link was smarter this time. He took his sword and swiped it as passed. The bird fell to the ground, missing one wing, but the sheer speed of it was enough to knock Link into the wagon and landed right beside Zelda.

“Hello, Zelda.” Link greeted, awkwardly.

Zelda’s reply was cut short by a loud noise that was like a screech mixed with a roar. Link looked outside and saw a large, carnivorous-looking dinosaur that looked surprisingly like a certain raptor on an island he got stranded on running right at them. The notable difference was that it was pitch-dark and had glowing red eyes. It had a row of what appeared to be blades going down its neck and had a small, rhino-like horn coming from its nose. It was running so fast that it was level with Link in speed. After a while, it leapt right at the wagon, catching the cover with its claws and ripping them open. The claws narrowly missed Zelda's head and hooked into the wood. The covering on the wagon was being ripped to ribbons as the creature began trying effortlessly to get through with its claws.

Eventually, a rip was wide enough for the creature’s head to fit through. It stuck its head into the rip, bared its teeth and growled like a snarling panther. Link acted on instinct and punched the raptor square in the nose. The raptor grunted in surprise and pulled its head out. At first, Link thought he got it for good. However, he heard a deep breath and the cover on the wagon burst into flame. Link recoiled in surprise and saw the creature rear up to its six-foot height.

“Everyone jump!” Link commanded.

Romani detached the horses from the wagon and leapt out as the wagon was still moving. Zelda, Kafei, and Anju followed her. Link leapt off last in order to take care of the creature. He got out his sword and leapt out just when the creature did. Just when the creature was going to land on him, Link pointed his sword upward and the creature was impaled. Just before it died, it sank its teeth into some part on Link’s tunic. The horses knew their way back to Romani Ranch, so Romani didn’t have to worry about them. The rest wouldn’t reveal itself until morning.


The next day, Zelda wandered the trail, looking for Link. They had all jumped off at different times, so they could be a long way off. She saw something in the grass and went to check it out. It was only the slain creature with a gaping hole in its gut which oozed black, tarlike goop. She did see the silhouette of Link’s body in the tall grass, but he was nowhere in sight. A groan from the trail up ahead made her move faster, but she didn't find Link. Instead, she found Kafei and Anju coming over to her.

“There you are. Where were you?” Kafei asked, wearily.

“I was looking for Link.” Zelda answered.

“There’s no need. Romani found him.” Kafei said, “You’ll find them about five minutes that way.”

“Thank you.” Zelda said.

She then ran off as fast as her dress would allow her with Anju and Kafei close behind. She found Romani kneeling over an exhausted, and injured, Link.

“Link, you’re okay!” Zelda said happily.

Her smile faded into a look of sadness as she saw a kind of spark issuing from around Link’s neck. She looked at it and saw the mind pendant cracked down the middle with sparks of magic shooting out of it. The crack began at a long, white, T-rex-like tooth embedded in its center; the raptor's tooth. It flickered feebly for a moment before its once-violet glow faded into a dull crystal. Kafei arrived on the scene to see this happen and he stood there, mouth agape.

“No...Now there's no hope left. The only thing that can help Link now is defeating Goldra.” Kafei said in a solemn voice.

Zelda’s look of horror spread as she realized that the curse was now on full-throttle. Link couldn’t control the moon and now he had no control over the beasts within.

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