The Legend of Zelda: Staff of the Elements

The air was still. Not a single animal could be heard in the distance. He didn’t know why he had stepped out into the woods; it was cold, dark, and he was sure that even his itchy, straw-filled bed would be more comfortable than this. He nearly retreated when he had no recollection of locking his cabin door. But he continued to stand there alone, listening for the faintest cry of some forest animal, but surprisingly, it did not come. Instead, a chill went down his spine, and the hair on the back of his neck began to rise a bit. He thought, for a moment, why he so suddenly and unexpectedly felt fear. But rather than look around in the blank darkness for some unseen terror forged by his own mind, he focused his attention inwards, searching for the reason of his uneasiness. Then the feeling suddenly and quite nearly overcame him. Opening his eyes, alert and shaken, he realized his efforts to see were in vain. There was nothing to be seen in the blackness of the woods, but surely he had heard something! Listening intently, he thought he could barely hear the short, quick and silenced footfalls of many sentient beings. At first, they were disregarded as sounds in his mind. But then one tiny, barely audible breaking of a twig caught his attention fully, and neatly smashed all previous mental efforts to rationalize it out.

He reached for his back in pure instinct, expecting the feel of the familiar hilt that had aided him before in many courageous battles. But when his arm retracted empty, realization hit him that he has left his sword at home, in the false illusion of security. He remembered the heavy weight of his shield and attempted no effort to retrieve that item, for his back was devoid of such burden. And so he raised his hands in front of him in a defensive fighting posture, hoping that such feeble armament would fair well enough for him to survive.

Then he began to monitor his enemy. The multiple creatures must have acknowledged the foolish twig-breaker’s mistake, for they seemed to make no further vain effort to conceal their movements. The steps were still light, he realized. They were barefoot, he concluded. The breathing was heavy and nasal, and the creatures sounded larger than an average human would usually seem to sound.

“Moblins” thought Link. “This is not good…They sound fully armed and quite alert”

There must have been a full two dozen of them. It was an entire patrol, and their brutish captain was clearly accompanying them. Link knew this was it. There was no way he could survive. Then an idea hit him. It would be difficult, but it was well worth the risk. The moblins slowed their gait. He was surrounded, and it was only a matter of time. He heard the dull, silenced sound of crude spears being raised, and that very moment he knew this was his last chance to act. In the learned art of controlling one’s calmness, he focused his inner power, and calling upon it, let it flow throughout him. Under his breath, he whispered the ancient Hylian words that would bring about the Thunder spell. After uttering the incantation, he reached for the sky and symbolically lowered his hands in a flowing motion. There was truly some power in his actions, for then the skies split and the clouds rumbled. All of a sudden the dark forest burst into color as the bright light from the sky overcame the shadowy blackness. But it had come all too late.

The command had sounded more like a grunt than an actual linguistic vocalization, but nevertheless the moblins understood; as they began to hurl their wickedly shaped weapons. The simple-minded creatures were not very accurate, but by chance one lucky warrior had hit his mark right before the explosive energy tearing through the atmosphere was unleashed. The halberd struck Link in the midsection, and he fell to the ground. The very last thought that came to his slowly fading mind must have amused him somewhat, for his last concern sounded ridiculous when placed in light of the current situation: “I forgot to lock my front door…”


It has been fifty years since the disappearance of the fabled hero. His famous exploits included the destruction of the wicked lord Ganon, and the awakening of the legendary sleeping princess Zelda. In the time since then, the whole of the land underwent a full transformation. Southern Hyrule, a land which had been long ago ravaged by Ganon, the prince of darkness, was the major area for reconstruction. The castle was rebuilt, towns and villages spread where there was once ruin, and great forests were grown after much burning. Of course the great land would never return to its normal serenity. The vile spawn of Ganon were still prowling about the world, and the creatures would often waylay travelers from North Hyrule and attack them. But nothing too utterly horrid ever occurred, for most victims had survived, and the attacks were fairly infrequent in the first place. But it was generally agreed that Northern Hyrule was a much safer place than the southlands, and the climate was decidedly milder in comparison. It was likely for these reasons that many families settled in the safe countryside of Rauru or the active and bustling shoreline village of Mido.

Timekeeping in Hyrule was not considered very important, for people rarely needed to know the time, except for mailman, service workers and the sort. The day to day activities were considered to be done on a sort of bodily clock. The residents of Hyrule slept but a little, for the night unexplainably is almost as alive as the day. The length of the days seemed to vary for each person and each activity. In the busy towns, time seems to go on forever, errands must be done and things must be made. But when one is sitting out on the field, looking at the beautiful blue sky, the day appears to speed by in a matter of minutes.

The region is extremely mountainous for such a small place. The dark area towards the border between north and south is called Death Mountain, but actually Death Mountain is a range of many mountains. The race long known as the Gorons have never been seen for many lifetimes. Rumors say that they burrowed deeper and deeper into Death Mountain that soon they ended up past the center of the earth. Of course this theory is ridiculous, but then again, who’s to say?

Hyrule is a tiny place that has expanded little in the past several centuries, usually keeping to its mainland borders and never going beyond into the sea. That was changed with the settlement of the eastern ‘continent’ (if it could be called such, for it is less then 5 miles in width) 132 years ago. The colonies were at first unsuccessful, but later they sprang up along the island, using the plentiful resources inland to their advantage. After that, there has been no expansion. The area to the far north past the sea has long been surrounded by mystery, for a great volcano aptly titled ‘Fire Mountain’ in the middle of the sea casts a great smoke and fog over the horizon. For ages, tales of bird-monsters that carried off fair maidens were plentiful whenever that area was mentioned, so naturally, sailors were quite discouraged from sailing up north. As far as the east is concerned, it is rumored that the long-forgotten Ocean Zoras migrated to an island in the east when the River Zoras took over the various bodies of water in Hyrule. But again, tales of great and terrible sea-monsters frightened Hyruleans from ever traveling in that direction.

Technology is of little concern to the residents of Hyrule. There have been few scientific achievements for nearly a millennia. There have been clocks made to keep track of time, armor made to weaken blows, but these advancements are almost overlooked in the world at large. This is so because partly of the religious nature of the Hyruleans. There is no need for technology, simply because the gods did not require it of them, and they had been doing fine so far without it. Ironically, the scientists of the time were usually priests and wise men from the temples and monasteries. Needless to say, the slow technological progress of Hyrule and the surrounding countries of the world has led to a perpetual ‘middle-ages’ of a sort. But nobody was complaining, so there was no problem. And it is improbable that they were aware of any other kind of lifestyle at all.

And so, Hyrule has remained much the same as it always has been. Of course it is not the only human settlement. There were other kingdoms nearby that always kept in contact. Such countries included Holodrum, and other friendly kingdoms. There is much commerce between these countries, and contact is rarely lost. Hyrule is generally a cozy place with few problems, except when dark foes like Ganon are involved. People almost never leave the cities and towns; there are still the monsters that dwell out in the woods and prairies.

Perhaps that is why Link’s forefathers never went anywhere past the North Palace. No, I speak not of the famous hero Link, but of Link the boy, who was named by his parents after the legendary hero. He lived in the town of Rauru, which has expanded to include much farmland over the years. It is a safe and protected village, because it is surrounded on two sides by mountains. Link would often seclude himself deep in the outdoors, watching the sky and counting the various kinds of clouds. He lived near a famous training facility for martial defense that was renowned for training some of the best royal knights in Hyrule. His family was somewhat wealthy compared to the normal stock, and so Link was expected to live up to his name and become a celebrated guard of the royal palace. Link, however, had no such aspirations, and was content to being a scholar of sorts.

Ironically, Link was pretty well known around the town. He had several friends in the martial combat school, one of which was Thrend. Thrend was older than Link by several years, and he was well advanced into his class. He even had his own well-earned weapon: an intricate wooden scimitar. It was no good in an average fight, although it was possible to cut things with it, and it does make an effective weapon for knocking one unconscious. Thrend had dreams of becoming a royal soldier, and a great hero. Link and Thrend knew each other well, and Thrend has long been sort of Link’s bodyguard. Whenever somebody would threaten Link, Thrend would intimidate the bully with a flash of his painful scimitar-stick. He had no worries, and appeared to be invincible. Always serious, but at the same time quick to laugh, he was a good friend and teacher to Link, sort of like his older brother or something of that implication.

Thus, life went on as it always had. Until that fateful day when disaster struck and people needed to call upon powers and destinies they didn’t know they had.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

© 1999 - 2026 Zelda Legends. All Rights Reserved.