Sir Cadogan the Trite

Every battle was a storm. The rattling of his polished plates of armour, the hammering sheets of rain. The white flash of his sword swinging through the air, the lightning. His enemies pounding the earth— in retreat and charge, the thunder.

Storms like these, few were willing to brave. Few were like Sir Cadogan.

The ground shook from every mighty stomp of the great, giant hinox. It’s solid, square frame towered over the knight, blotting out the sun with its massive shoulders. Its singular eye followed Cadogan’s form hungrily. It raised a fist and punched downward. Though the monster was strong, it was slow, and Sir Cadogan easily dodged the blow.

“Looking for a little snack, are you big fellow?” The heroic knight loudly taunted the hinox. “Eat steel!”

He swung his sword and with a brilliant gleam of light severed the hinox’s hand clean from its wrist. The monster howled in agony and outrage, swiping madly at Cadogan with its other arm. It missed by far, and Cadogan laughed heartily.

“Is that the best you can do!” The knight jeered as he jumped around to the giant monster’s back. “None can best the great Sir Cadogan!” He slashed at the backs of the hinox’s knees, sending it tumbling to the ground with a roar. With the monster felled, Cadogan propped one armoured boot on its shoulder, and plunged the tip of his sword down into its eye. The hinox thrashed and bellowed until it fell still, dead.

Triumphant once again, Sir Cadogan chuckled to himself as he pulled his sword free and nudged the slain monster’s arm with the toe of his boot. Just then, the Hylian knight’s pointed ear caught the sound of the bushes behind him rustling. He spun around, brandishing his still-bloody blade.

“Who goes there!” He demanded. At the edge of the clearing appeared two Hylian children, probably siblings, the boy looking around ten years of age, the girl maybe half that. They must have been from the nearby town to the south. Seeing they were no threat, Cadogan dropped his guard. He wiped off his blade and put it away. “Say, it’s dangerous in these woods!” The knight declared as the children crept closer to him, awe and amazement in their eyes. “What are you two doing out here all alone?”

“Wow, it really is you!” The boy excitedly exclaimed. “Sir Cadogan, the legendary monster slayer!”

Cadogan smirked, his chest puffing out in pride. It was true, he was the most renowned monster slayer in all of Hyrule, a reputation he had well earned through his incredible unmatched prowess, strength, vigor, and cunning in battle. “Yes, it is I,” he proclaimed. “What can I do for you two youngsters?”

“We have a monster problem…” the girl said shyly from half-behind her brother. The boy nodded.

“A real big monster!” He gestured with his hands. “People are going missing! And we saw the thing that’s takin’ em, it musta been the biggest wolfos ever, with huge claws and yellow eyes!”

“Oh?” Sir Cadogan stepped closer to the pair, his shining armour clanking with every step. Normally he wouldn’t take the stories of imaginative little tykes seriously, but there had been reports of missing people; first here in the south, then coming up further along the riverside and farming towns. The reports had made their way close enough to Castle Town to become a concern, so the knight listened to what the kids had to say. “A wolfos?”

“I heard it crying…” the girl whispered.

“You mean howling,” the boy snapped at her.

“It sounded like crying…” the girl insisted.

The boy ignored her and continued, “We could see it from our window last night. And this morning, we found huge tracks, they must have been from the monster!”

Sir Cadogan hummed, stroking his chin. Wolfos travelled in packs, it was rare to hear of a solitary one. And he didn’t believe a wolfos could be responsible for as many disappearances as there had been. Regardless, he wouldn’t stand for a monster to be running around, coming so near the homes of innocent hyruleans and putting their children in danger. It didn’t matter whether the wolfos was behind the missing townsfolk, it would feel the bite of his blade, or his name wasn’t Sir Cadogan!

“Show me these tracks, children,” he said. “By Hylia’s grace, I will take care of this monster problem before you can say ‘bravo’!”