Disclaimer: Oh, you know the drill, I own nothing! Just playing in Nintendo's sandbox, that's all. However, the original characters in this fic were indeed created by me. My first Zelda fic. I am a relatively new Zelda fan (I know… I was apparently living under a rock all these years), but I'm learning quickly! So please enjoy. Comments always welcome. :]

This fic is dedicated to two of my best friends, TheOnyxHedgehog and Ginger Sheikah. Check out their stuff. :]

What Lies Beyond

Prologue

Link of Ordon Village was comfortably leaning back against a wooden fence, watching the herd of goats graze in the pasture as he lazily stroked the long white mane of the mare in front him. It had been another typical day for the blonde, tending to the goats and to the ranch itself. After the deaths of Zant and Ganondorf almost a year ago, all of Castle Town had celebrated Link as the Hero of Light who rescued Hyrule once again, and they rewarded him with gifts and a feast. Link knew they were only honoring him and he appreciated it, but he tended to shy away from so much attention, and eventually grew a bit weary of constantly being called Hero instead of his own name being used. So Link returned home to Ordon Village and to the people that were the closest thing he had to a family. He even gave the Hero's Clothes a rest and kept them safely with a few of his other treasured belongings in his basement. He thought he was ready to slow down again. He thought he was all too eager to rest, and to fall back into his old routine from back in the day. And that was exactly what he did. But it grew old fast. Things never changed here. Even in all the months that had passed since the battles, nothing ever changed here. After spending nearly a year trekking through all of Hyrule and fighting off Bulbins and Shadow Beasts on the way, he had realized that he had grown so used to the chaos and the action that peace and quiet was only making him restless. He missed adventure.

He glanced down at the triangular mark on the back of his left hand, remembering how long it had been since he even held a sword, let alone the Master Sword itself.

"I reckon we ain't got much time left before the sun decides to start goin' down," the man who had been leaning against the fence beside Link finally spoke. "How 'bout you and Epona help me herd these goats into the barn and then we call it a day?"

Link looked up at Fado and gave a bit of a smile and a nod in reply. Yes, it was definitely the same as always. The young Hero took in a deep breath and turned to pull himself up onto his mare's saddle.

He was fast. She had to admit that he was incredibly faster than the majority of opponents that she had faced before. Her knuckles were white from gripping her sword tightly in her left hand, her right arm looped through the straps of a shield that was currently acting as her lifesaver, and her ocean blue eyes locked onto her adversary. She was trying to memorize him and the way he moved and fought in order for her to calculate the perfect counterattack that would end this once and for all. This had gone on long enough. He had done enough damage.

But he was fast. And he was too unpredictable.

She gritted her teeth as she dodged another attack. It barely grazed her shoulder, tearing away at her maroon tunic, leaving a dull burning sensation behind. She just wished he would come down and fight on solid ground.

He was using dark magic. In fact, dark magic was all he was using and he had suspended himself in mid-air, attacking her from above as he wielded a sword composed of what she described as black and purple flames; it was a sword made of dark magic. He had no interest in physical combat, though, which of course was her expertise. It put her at a disadvantage, but she refused to admit it and she wouldn't let it be the cause of her downfall. No, she couldn't let that happen. The entire kingdom depended on it.

A rush of black and silver dashed past her and a horse's shrill whinny broke out into the curt evening atmosphere. A young man's determined yell intermingled with the cry of his stallion as the majestic black creature carried him into the air towards the dark sorcerer, his own sword of steel held high over his head, ready to strike. But she could see what her companion couldn't: she saw the sorcerer smirk and she saw him incant a spell, his beady black eyes fixed upon the man and the steed as they came hurtling towards him.

"No!" the word escaped her lips without her permission.

The force of his incantation drove her companion and the steed back down into the hard, unforgiving ground of the field. The stallion let out another angry whinny as it rolled through the long grass, flinging its rider from the saddle. She glanced back in horror to see what had become of her mate and her horse, searching out their forms in the brush.

And that alone was the cause of her downfall.

She should have seen him target her, but he made his move the moment her eyes left his. Instead she only saw a blanket of darkness envelop her, as if someone had turned off the sun. And she only felt his flaming sword pierce her from behind and pass straight through her body, although there was no physical pain. She dimly registered her fingers relinquishing their grasp on her own sword as her insides turned cold, darkness gripping her heart as the air around her began to twist and bend. It felt like time had nearly stood still as she crumpled to the ground, her hands barely rescuing her face from meeting the dirt. But then something came into contact with the back of her head, and she felt like she was falling as the darkness finally claimed her mind.