The Legend of Zelda: The Warrior Prince:

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Chapter 1: Hail to the King:

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Warrior Prince Raidon marches along with the entourage of Dunlarian officials surrounding him. He walks in the center of the group's rigid formation, unable to see exactly where they are or where they going due to the fact that everybody around him is taller. A gust of wind makes it through the formation and pulls gently at Raidon's aqua blue – trimmed steel gray prince's tunic.

Everybody wears a pristine, regal uniform. The four soldiers at the corners of the rectangular formation are in full Dunlaran plate mail, graceful and form-following that gives the soldiers a lithe appearance rather than making them look ungainly. The sun glints off the mild turquoise metal, almost giving them a magical glow in the mid-morning. They hold poles with the crest of Dunlar flapping in banners at the top. The deep blue fabric is edged in gold, with the silver crest of a three-headed dragon roaring in determined defiance. Subtle and almost hidden in the background behind the dragon heads are three faint triangles.

The others in the entourage wear regal robes. Markus wears his royal court tunic. It's light cloud gray smashes against the hard cuts of stark green. The others wear similar tunics, with varying shapes and patterns of green against the primary gray to indicate their positions in Dunlar. Koyu's uniform has what looks like large, stretched squares of green, indicating his position in the Royal Guard of Dunlar.

The troop stops, their feet hitting the ground in time. Raidon hears a large metal gate hefting open, and looks over the shoulders of the officials around him to notice that the high rooftops and wood-plaster walls of Hyrule City no longer rise above the sides of the road. Now the entourage stands in a ravine of some sort, with sheer walls of rock. The gate opens and the troop marches forward again, announced by one of the Hylian guards standing at the top of the huge stone arch guardhouse, "Make way for the Dunlarian delegation!"

Hylian soldiers stand at proud attention, lining both sides of the road. The troop continues ahead and the prince is aware of crossing a wooden drawbridge. He looks up to see a massive, white-marbled structure loom over head as he passes into the main castle courtyard. The group stops and begins to break up, but Raidon is irritated when the eight officials standing next to him remain in place, boxing him in place and obscuring his view. He huffs but tries to hide his annoyance.

Raidon watches from between the narrow space between two soldiers in front and to his left as High Advisor Markus bows to someone just out of Raidon's view. Raidon assumes this person to be the King. A few moments pass and Markus rises, then backs out of view and stands off to the side.

Koyu, Chief of the Royal Guard, steps forward and bows to one knee. He and the King speak just loud enough for Raidon to hear their voices, but not quite enough for him to discern the words. Raidon, already impatient, begins to grow nervous. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other.

Koyu stands and walks out of view. Raidon stops shifting his weight and is grateful to hear Markus' voice shout, "Hail to the King of Hyrule!" A pause as Markus takes another deep breath, before he shouts, "Warrior Prince Raidon of Dunlar!" The eight soldiers surrounding Raidon turn around with military precision, four of them walking to Raidon's left and the other four to his right. Standing mere feet from prince Raidon is the King of Hyrule.

Raidon follows the example of the other two he saw and bows to one knee, lowering his face. "My liege, King of Hyrule, it is an honor to meet you at last."

The old man chuckles good-naturedly. He smiles, lines creasing on his warm face as his dull green eyes look over the young prince. "It is also an honor to finally meet you in person. Please, stand." Raidon complies, but remembers protocol and looks at the King's mouth to keep his eyes lower than the king's and so prevent being rude. The King motions 'come' to someone standing at the side of the expansive, luxurious courtyard. A boy about Raidon's age in a green Hylian knight's tunic steps forward and bows to the King. "Prince Raidon, allow me to introduce Sir Link Dauntless."

Raidon turns to link and gives the requisite bow. So this is the hero who vanquished Ganon and saved Zelda from the Dark World. "It is an honor to meet you." Raidon's voice is neutral, and he keeps his facial expression rigidly dispassionate to hide his jealousy. Zelda told him about Link's exploits, and how he acted as a true warrior to save his nation, something Raidon had dreamt of doing but never been satisfied with the war against the Gerudo.

Link returns the bow, and although he shows no obvious emotion, Raidon sees a flash of curiosity in the hero's eyes and assumes that he hasn't been told about the prince's coming. Link answers, "It is likewise an honor, prince." He bows to the king, who bows back to permit Link to return to the sidelines.

The king opens his mouth to speak, but is interrupted by one of the peripheral guards. "We're under att—"

A ball of lightning strikes the guard attempting to shout the warning, abruptly silencing him. Before Raidon can even stand and see what is going on, all hell breaks loose.

Balls of fire, lightning, and ice fling in every which direction as mysterious mages dressed in close-fitting, all-black tunics teleport in with an eerie 'Broww-weeh'. The Hylian guards quickly have their weapons drawn. The Hylian archers waste little time to nock their arrows and open fire on the black-clad attackers.

Raidon reaches into his belt and draws his Moon Dagger instinctively. He tries to send a bolt of fire at one of the mages, but the inhibitor disrupts his mana and prevents the combat spell from being cast.

Link draws his knight's sword and shield, using the shield to narrowly block an incoming bolt of fire from one of the mages. Link leaps nimbly forward, bringing his sword down in a powerful vertical slash. The mage, entirely hidden underneath his hood, suddenly vanishes in an odd blurring and stretching of his silhouette. Link's sword smashes a gouge into the soft, grassy ground of the main courtyard. That sound when the mage vanished, I've heard it before.

The mage appears behind him. He thrusts his hands towards Link to sent a fire bolt at him, striking him square in the back. Link shouts in pain but grips his sword and stands.

Raidon surges forward. He swings his dagger and cuts deeply into the mage's arm. His opponent cries out in pain and surprise. He backs away and reflexively sends a fire bolt in Raidon's direction, but the shot is wide.

The prince snarls, but before he can surge forward in a retaliatory attack, Link calmly slashes his sword in a horizontal arc just above hip-height. It cuts deeply into the black-clad mage, drawing more blood.

The mage runs away, but before the pair of fighters can pursue him, a cry arises from within the Hylian castle, "They are in the Palace!" The interior of the castle is also besieged, and it isn't long before the huge double-doors are thrown open. Magic blasts crisscross the air inside as the black mages spring about, attacking and countering the few Hylian guards.

One black mage teleports just behind Raidon, but instead of shooting an attack at the warrior prince, he turns and sends a powerful ball of ice at the King. It strikes him directly in the chest and encases him in ice. The mage teleports away and a loud, femnine scream tears from within the castle.

"Zelda!" Link slashes at a nearby mage, powering steel through his foe. Link turns to the opened doors and dashes inside, wishing he had worn his Pegasus Boots.

Raidon is about to sprint after Link when he sees a black mage grappling with a Hylian guard, both of them pushing against each other as the Hylian guard attempts to regain control of his polearm. Raidon dashes forward as fast as his legs will carry him without the benefit of magic's summoning the Spirit of the Wolf, and slashes his Moon Dagger up through the mage's back. The mage screams and releases the trident spear. The guard takes a step back and thrusts the blades into the mage. The black-clad enemy dissolves.

Raidon takes a few paces back towards the center of the chaotic 'welcoming courtyard'. Magic blasts of various types continue to fly back and forth through the air. Raidon ducks and rolls forward to evade a fire ball that splashes against an oak tree growing to the side.

The young prince hears the strange straining noise and sees a silouette coalesce into a black mage in front of him. Raidon takes a step back and the mage turns to the prince, then raises his hands to send a spell at him. A beat passes, but instead of attacking the prince, the mage swings his arms around and shoots a lightning bolt at a random Hylian soldier. Raidon roars and slashes at the mage, drawing blood. The mage teleports away before the young Dunlarian warrior can attack again.

Hylian archers, standing on the upper-level wall walkway wrapping around the courtyard, send arrows down at the black mages. A teleport blur-stretch in the midst of one line of the archers catches them off guard. A black mage appears, he wastes no time to draw a sword and begin swinging at the archers. One of the brave archers draws down in a crouch, then springs with a bellow, knocking the black mage off the wall. The two plummet more than twenty feet to the ground, the black mage landing with the Hylian archer landing on top of him.

Raidon begins jogging to the downed Hylian, but is distracted by the blurred silhouette of a teleport beside him. He stops and raises his dagger. The Dunlarian boy swings, but the black mage jumps back, the cloth on the front of his pitch black tunic catching on the dagger's sharp tip. Raidon surges forward and slashes again and again, but the mage is just a little quicker, besides having longer legs.

Raidon turns around to the King to see several Hylian soldiers forming a ring around the frozen royal ruler. A black mage teleports near the ring, opposite Raidon. The mage sends a huge fire ball at the nearest soldier, then teleports away before the other soldiers can cut the mage down. The Hylian targeted by the fire ball dives down. The spell narrowly misses him and hurdles forward, missing the King and the other side of the protective circle. The spell continues all the way until it splashes against the wall of the courtyard.

Raidon looks towards the gate to see a Dunlarian and Hylian guard fending off one of the black-clad fighters. This one holds long, curved swords in his hands, and he nimbly leaps about. Raidon sprints at the black sword-fighter, but the enemy notices him before Raidon can get close enough to use his dagger and disappears in a teleport blur-stretch. Raidon growls in frustration. What good is being a warrior prince if all of my enemies refuse to face me?

Raidon sees the two guards he was attempting to help staring at the center of the courtyard. The prince turns to follow their gaze and gasps at what he sees. A handful of black mages are calmly marching forward, using exceptionally powerful magic to break apart the defending ring. Unlike the mages before, these ones unleash massively powerful spells, but do so as if the magic was effortless. In the center of the group is a slightly taller mage, this one with a black tunic but white pants, and instead of the close fabric hood, he wears a thick, shining black velvet cloak with a huge, voluminous hood completely obscuring his head.

A Hylian guard raises his halberd and charges this mage. The tall mage chuckles a deep, almost inhuman mocking of the small guard before him. He raises his hand and sends an almost invisible pulse at the guard. The pulse strikes the armored guard, hitting him like a brick wall. He drops his halberd and flies through the air before crumpling across the ground like a sack of potatoes.

The mage turns back to the King, still encased in ice. A cry from the mages beside him draw his attention. Raidon kicks aside one mage and stabs the dagger into the next, the one next to the velvet-caped mage. The mage pulls himself away from the young prince's dagger and teleports away. Raidon stands in an aggressive crouch, ready to spring. The tall mage lets loose a deep, throaty chuckle, the laugh a slap at the prince's pathetic attempts to stop him; then turns back to the king as if the young boy isn't worth his time.

Raidon roars in anger and leaps at the velvet-caped leader's head. The dagger catches the thick, black material, cutting through it with difficulty and forcing the hood back. The voluminous hood falls down and the mage whips his head around. His head is still covered by black cloth, but instead of cloth continuing over his whole head to hide his face, he wears a dark-stained cherry wood mask. The motionless mask has angry, narrowly slitted eyes and a mouth turned down, with a nose wrinkled in a snarl to complete the expression.

Though Raidon cannot see the true face of the mage behind the mask, he knows that he is probably about as angry as the mask's exterior. The mage moves both hands as if lifting something up.

Raidon feels a force like a snake coiled around his neck, constricting. His hands spasm open and instinctively reach to his neck, trying to claw away the invisible force suffocating him. Raidon feels the force push against his chin and he lifts up, his feet leaving the ground.

The mage turns his hands, holding both up with fingers together and palms outwards. He pushes lightly, as if opening a swinging door, and Raidon flies through the air into the oak tree almost a dozen yards behind him.

The prince crashes hard against the tree, the back of his head contacting with a solid thunk. Stars explode into his vision and he is unaware that the crushing force on his neck has disappeared as he slides to the ground, crumpling to his knees. Raidon weakly holds out his hands, fighting to stay conscious as flashes of color burst across his eyes from the edges of his vision.

Through the flashes and spreading blurriness of his vision, Raidon sees the caped mage charge a fire spell and send a fire ball at the king. The ice melts and Raidon thinks the king slumps to the ground, though everything has become so blurry he can't tell. With brief blur-spots that could be teleport spells, the black intruders all vanish.

As Raidon loses the struggle to stay conscious, a Hylian guard jogs from within the quieting castle, cupping his hands around his mouth to shout, "The black mages have been driven off!"

"Huzzah!"

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In times of old, a rich land grew. The people never thirsted, never hungered. But one day, rumors grew of a mighty Golden Power, and greedy men marched to take it for their own dreams of power.

— Excerpt from the Dunlan annals of "The Golden Power"