Link kicked the dirt in irritation, watching the pebbles skitter across the ground. He had been riding Epona, helping to round up the goats, and just because she got a little scratch on her flank Ilia had taken the horse away to the spring and locked them in. Epona was his horse, for Goddess's sake! They were meant to get a little roughened up every now and then, especially if they were working amongst short-tempered, horned goats, and even more so if he was on a rescue mission to save a child by travelling through a dangerous wood. Besides, how was he supposed to get to Hyrule without a horse? Today was the day Rusl had been talking about, after all.

Colin, seeing his role model so annoyed, tapped him on the arm.

"Link," he said, "I can have a talk with Ilia, and then when I've calmed her down a bit you could come in through that secret tunnel I told you about! Have you used it yet?" He looked up at Link eagerly. Link couldn't help but smile at the little boy's childish face.

"Yes, of course," he said. "It was the best thing in the world."

"Well, I don't know about that," said Colin. "I think you are! Well, apart from my parents, that is. So, I'll see you soon?"

He ran off, waving to Link. Link waited a few seconds before walking after him, taking his time. He didn't feel like facing Ilia's wrath yet.

To take his mind off his impending doom, the boy wandered at a leisurely pace, taking a long detour around the side of Ordon Village and stopping to give his worn wooden sword to a delighted Talo, the second youngest child in the village. He figured he could use some of the rupees Rusl had given him to buy a proper sword at the Castle Town marketplace; at seventeen years of age, he thought it was about time anyway.

At last, Link reached the secret burrow. Sighing resignedly, wondering where the time had gone, he crouched down and wriggled once more into it.

After a few minutes of mindless crawling, trying not to hit his head against the soft mud ceiling, Link reached the end of the tunnel. He straightened up, trying futilely to brush the damp dirt off his clothes. He looked across the spring, watching as Ilia – illuminated ethereally by the sparkling water – listened to Colin, her hard expression melting into a regretful, sympathetic one.

Colin must have been telling her about how Link had used Epona to rescue Talo, as a result causing a scratch to deface the horse's flank: when the little boy got lost in Faron Woods by foolishly chasing a monkey, Link had taken up the job to bring him back, fulfilling his wish to not tell his father and so end up in trouble. Clearly, Ilia had not known this either, and the embarrassment at her rashness was clear upon her face. Her voice floated across the spring: "…I had no idea…" Colin replied, Link assumed, in the way he always did; gentle, reassuring, his voice unintelligible over the sound of the running water.

Still, when Ilia turned around to see Link standing there, she instinctively stepped towards Epona in a protective manner. The horse, however, recognised its master and tossed its head, its coat looking impressively glossy as the chestnut caught the light.

"So, you still prefer your master over me, huh, Epona?" she said, sounding chagrined, but when she looked at Link she was smiling. "Don't worry about your horse, Link," she said, gently stroking the animal's muzzle. "Fortunately, it looks like the injury isn't too serious. You two can go on together."

"You're so much like a mother," said Link, trying to lift the atmosphere. Ilia rolled her eyes.

"Being around you, I can't really be much else," she said. Her face had crumpled a little, her expression melancholy. Her eyes, Link saw, had lost its spark. This was somewhat disconcerting, as she was always such a good-spirited person.

"Are you having second thoughts?" he asked, and this made a shadow of a smile quirk at her lips.

"No," she said, shaking her head as if to clear it. "But, Link…Can you at least promise me this?" Her hand trailed down Epona's muzzle until it met no resistance, falling to her side, and she was silent for what seemed like an hour. "No matter what happens on your journey, don't try to do anything…out of your league. Please."

The only sound was the soft rustling of trees and the rushing of water from the spring. Ilia smiled, gathering Epona's reins and handing them to Link.

"Just come home safely," she said.

Link, his throat strangely dry, found he couldn't say anything. His fingers numb, he stared at the pieces of leather in his hands, searching for the right words to say.

"I…of course," he said at last. Partially hidden behind Epona, Colin backed away a little in embarrassment. This moment was clearly not intended for a young boy to be present.

A frightened whinny from Epona broke the silence that followed, and the three barely had time to look around before the gate to the spring was crashed open, splinters flying. Two ugly creatures with leathery green skin – Bulbin – sat astride a huge, boar-like animal, a Bulbo. The water spilled everywhere as the Bulbo charged into the spring, the frenzied splashing causing even more confusion on top of the abruptness of the entire thing.

Link, his mind working frustratingly sluggishly, could only watch with his mouth agape as Colin was swept onto the Bulbo and one of the Bulbin aimed a bow and arrow at Ilia. Before Link could react, the arrow had pierced his friend's back and in a second she had been swept onto the Bulbo as well. This snapped him out of his stunned reverie, and he started forwards. The next second, a crudely crafted club was flying at his head. The last thing he saw was an enormous Bulbin blowing into a huge horn, a jagged portal forming in the sky, and the last thing he felt was a painful blow to the skull before he toppled, unconscious, to the ground.

It wasn't too long afterwards before Link stirred. Even before he opened his eyes he knew something was wrong; he could feel something sloshing about his ears and encircling his legs as though he was lying in water, and there was a throbbing pain at the back of his head. Struggling to open his eyes, he gazed about blearily. He was right about the water; he was lying in the middle of the spring. Now, why was he there again…?

As if a bolt of energy had gone through him, everything returned to him in a rush. Link sat up, startled, and instantly regretted it as the world swam before his eyes. Wincing, he gingerly pressed his fingers against the back of his head, abruptly removing them when his vision began to blur.

He squinted up at the portal, which was still hanging in the air. Now that he could see it properly, he saw it was an irregular mixture of dark green and black, ugly but oddly hypnotic and entrancing.

Link turned his attention to the broken gate before turning laboriously to see the one at the other end. Upon seeing it was similarly wrecked, but with the debris outside of the spring, he realised that the Bulbin must have left that way. The way, incidentally, that led out of the village.

He didn't need any more encouragement. Link struggled to his feet, trying to ignore the stabbing pains coming from his head and back, stumbling out of the spring and across the bridge. He didn't get far, though; staring, his steps faltered as he was met by a tremendous, towering black block of what resembled stone, blocking the way, brilliant orange light streaking through mysterious patterns etched into its daunting face. Link swallowed, looking around, at a loss of what to do, when something emerged from the stone. Before he could even blink, the enormous, coal-black hand had snatched him around the neck and pulled him right through the stone and into the other side.

It was all like a terrible nightmare. Link struggled vainly, his breath coming in short gasps, desperately clawing at the hand that held him. He stared, choking, at the face of his aggressor, a grotesque monster with a flat, round mask for a face, inscribed with similar markings to the stone wall. He felt his left hand burn, and out of the corner of his eye he saw three triangles burn brightest yellow against his skin, arranged with two at the bottom and one balancing on top – the Triforce. The monster screamed and flung him away.

Link fell to the ground like a doll, all strength having escaped him, and he could only gasp for breath and stare at his hand as it glowed brighter and brighter. Pain crept through his body, suddenly flaring white-hot from the very tips of his fingers to the soles of his feet, and he cried out as his body seemed to ripple and change. He heard his cry become a howl, but that wasn't possible – what was happening?

Link dropped his head to the ground, losing consciousness for the second time that day. The monster, the Twilit Messenger, grabbed one of the legs of the wolf, its face strangely familiar, and began to drag it away.

From a distance, a small figure watched.