The tunnel angled upward quickly after leaving the storage room behind and the passage kept twisting and turning. Before long the glow of the light from the room behind her had faded and Zelda was left to carefully work her way through the darkness on her own.

At last, the tunnel came to an end at another solid wall. She felt around the edges until she was able to find the design carved into its surface. Pulling the medallion from around her neck, she held it up to the carving. Once again, both designs briefly glowed before the passageway opened.

Light filled the tunnel. The light was not particularly strong, but it still startled Zelda. She'd been down in the room with longer than she had thought as the lights that was streaming in were the early rays of the sun. Once her eyes had adjusted she realized she'd come out in the back of a small shed. She carefully tiptoed forward to peer out the door.

All was quiet and still outside, there were no signs of the creatures that had attacked the castle the night before. She seemed to be outside a stable and stepping out a little further told her it was located outside of Hyrule castle grounds. She could see the castle from here though. She could even see that the creatures still prowled the grounds.

She turned to look back at the shed, it was unassuming and a bit ramshackle. It actually did quite well to disguise the passageway behind it. It even had an old door, leaning off its hinges a bit. Simply closing that door as well as she could would disguise it enough. Those creatures seemed more content to patrol the castle than to search it. She would then be able to leave the stone door behind it open to allow Impa an exit when she recovered.

A noise from one of the stalls caught her attention. With a flash of panic she pulled out the short sword. Had she been discovered already?

It quickly became apparent, however, that it was not one of the strange creatures she was hearing, but a horse left behind in the stable. She walked carefully up to the reddish brown mare as the animal was clearly agitated, knocking her knees against the stall door. There was something familiar about the horse, though. It took Zelda a moment to put her finger on it.

This was Link's horse. She felt a pang of sadness at that realization. Here she was, waiting alone in this empty stable for a master who would never return. She knew then that she couldn't leave her behind. What was the horse's name again? "Easy…Epona," she said softly, holding out one hand, "Calm down. Link isn't here, but if you just calm yourself I can help."

Epona snorted, but settled down and stretched out her head to allow Zelda to rub her nose. "That's right," Zelda whispered, "Link's gone missing, and I'm going to find him. If you want to help, you can come too. We'll find him!"

Epona whinnied and danced in place, which Zelda took as agreement. It didn't take long to get Epona readied for travel. The horse was surprisingly docile once freed from the stall. If she didn't know better, she would've thought that Epona had understood what she'd said and was dutifully waiting to go. After everything was prepared, she took a moment to go back and make sure the wooden door to the shed was closed before climbing into Epona's saddle and spurring her off in the direction of the forest.

The forest was not that far from the castle, particularly not when on horseback. Approaching the forest edge, however, Epona began to get agitated again. By the time the trees around them began to actually thicken, the horse was clearly in too much distress to continue. Though Zelda didn't feel she was in any danger of being thrown from the horse's back, she also had little to no control of the animal.

At last, she dismounted, patting Epona's nose to calm here. "It's all right, my friend," she said, "Thank you for bringing me here so swiftly. You don't have to go any further. Just wait for me here." She released the reins; surprised to see the clearly upset animal didn't simply bolt. With a small nod, she turned to the forest itself. Something here was frightening Epona, a horse who'd lived her entire life in this forest, but Impa had told her to find Varin on the edge of the forest. She could not turn away now!

She ventured carefully into the woods. It wasn't long before the thick jungle overtook her. Still, she had been out here many times as a child, so this place was familiar enough to her.

It was because of this familiararity that she was very surprised to look through a thick bush to see a creature she'd never spotted before. It was a small, squat humanoid thing, with pig-like features, dressed in scraps of leather and carrying rudimentary weapons. A moblin?! The name jumped into her mind from the stories she'd always read. No, not a moblin, it was too small, but similar…a bokoblin? Creatures such as these always seemed to appear when the forces of evil were again present in the world. Seeing it here in the forest was a terrible sign.

She started to step back, to sneak away from this terrible creature and continue her search, but something seemed to alert the bokoblin before she'd gotten out of sight as it suddenly turned directly to face her. Letting out a loud shriek, the creature charged forward.

Zelda fumbled for the sword and shield, only just managing to wrench the heavy shield in front of her before the creature's sword hit. The weapon clanged hard against the shield's surface, the shock of which traveled through the metal and rattled Zelda's arm so badly, she would've dropped it if her arm weren't through the strap.

The shock seemed to startle the bokoblin as well for its weapon flew from its hands. Desperately, Zelda thrust her sword forward into its gut.

The bokoblin stumbled forward a few steps before collapsing in a heap in front of Zelda, who in turn stared down at the creature in shock. Before she could collect herself and react to the whole situation, the bokoblin was swallowed in a burst of black smoke. Once it had dispersed, all that was left was Zelda's small sword, lying on the ground.

She sat there a long moment, trying to catch her breath and collect herself. She'd never killed anything before, and evil or not she couldn't say she'd enjoyed the experience. It had only taken a moment to happen, but the knotting in her gut was sure to last long after.

She reached for the sword, only then realizing how tired she had become. The burst of activity and adrenaline seemed to have drained what little energy she had left. It was with great effort that she climbed back to her feet, laboriously hefting the shield. It would be easier to carry if she strapped it to her back again, but she didn't have the strength to lift her arm high enough.

With a small sigh she began to trudge forward again, but before she had gone more that a few steps, a familiar shriek called through the woods. With a jolt of fear she turned to see a new bokoblin staring right at her. In its hands, the creature was holding a horn of some sort. It lifted the horn to its mouth and blew into it. A loud, long blast sounded through the woods. Zelda began to hear the rustling of movement in the woods all around her and she knew what was coming.

She turned and, despite the protests of her muscles, began to run as the woodlands behind her filled with screaming, cackling bokoblins. Her lungs ached and her legs felt like lead weights. She knew she'd never get far, her fear was all that kept her feet moving, and the horde of bokoblins behind her were fresh, but she didn't expect the chase to come the abrupt end that it did when she fought through some brush and found that the earth had dropped out from underneath her.

She tumbled to the ground…no, it wasn't ground it was stairs, a set of stairs leading down into a swamp.

…and that was all she had time to notice before the shrill sounds of the creatures behind her filled her ears and darkness clouded her vision.

She slowly opened her eyes to find herself looking up at a ceiling, rather than the leafy boughs of the forest trees.

"Awake, are we?" a coarse voice asked. She turned her head to see a wizened old man, stooped over with age. White hair stuck out in tufts from his head and chin. The robes he wore were simple and a bit faded and ragged.

"What…happened?" Zelda asked carefully, slowly sitting up.

"You passed out," he replied simply, "right on my doorstep. A lucky thing too, or those beasts would've had you."

Zelda blinked at him in confusion, then sighed a bit. So, she had fainted in the forest and this man had saved her. She felt a wave of shame come over her. Nothing had even harmed her; she'd just collapsed because of her own weakness.

The man spoke up again, however, cutting into her thoughts. "Frankly, I'm surprised you made it this far. I heard about what has happened at Hyrule castle, princess. Have you had any rest since it happened? Bah, don't bother answering, the look on your face tells me enough." He gestured to the walls of the room they were in, "You had enough energy to get you here, though, and that will do for now. You're safe for the moment. I keep my home shielded. The beasts can not get you here." He shook his head, adding somewhat bitterly, "If only I could shield the whole kingdom from those monsters…but no…this will do."

"Who…are you?" Zelda asked at last.

"What?" the man arched one eyebrow, "you don't know? I'd assumed I was the reason Impa had sent you here. What else would you be here for? I am Varin, and I can help you find what you're after."

"Varin?!" Zelda nearly jumped to her feet, but he put a hand on her shoulder, holding her in her seat. "You can really help me?!"

"Of course, of course!" Varin said impatiently. He turned away from her to dip a ladle into a steaming pot to spoon out a bowl of stew. "Here" he handed the bowl to her, "You'd better eat something. You'll need your strength if you want to get the sword."

She started eating almost involuntarily. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until she actually had food in front of her. The stew was surprisingly good, too. Almost half it was gone before it registered what Varin had said.

"Sword?" she asked, her mouth still full. She paused to swallow before continuing. "You misunderstand, sir, I already have a sword. I'm looking for Link. He's the chosen hero, but he's disappeared, taken by those monsters. I have to find him to help fix all this, but I'm not sure where to look."

Varin picked up the short sword from where it was resting with the shield on a table. "And how do you think you'll be able to save him with this little pig sticker?" he asked before smirking and adding, "You're going to need a much bigger pig sticker if you want to help your friend."

She shook her head, "I'm sorry, but I don't really have the time for that. This is about more than just helping Link. All of Hyrule is at stake!"

"Then take the time to make sure you do the job right!" Varin countered so sternly that Zelda actually leaned away from him a bit. His expression softened and he sighed, "I admit, I have another motive for asking you to do this. I don't have all the answers for you right now. In truth I have been searching for answers since the castle was attacked. Whoever took the hero…'Link' was it?…they don't want finding him to be easy. I am close to an answer, but I need a little more time. Since you're already here, however, it seemed to me that the best option would be to have you spend that time seeking out a useful tool for completing this mission, rather than sit here waiting for me."

Zelda paused, considering. Put that way, it made a lot more sense. She certainly didn't want any of her time wasted, and if he thought this weapon could help, well, maybe it was worth it. "What do I need to do?" she asked.

Varin smiled, much more brightly than his somewhat surly demeanor made him seem capable of. "Behind my home on the other side of the swamp is the entrance to the sanctuary that holds the sword. You must travel through there. It is a sacred place, so there probably won't be very many monsters who were able to make their way through, but it is a maze. So you must be careful. Look to what has always guided you, and you will find your way through."

She blinked. "Don't you have advice that's a bit more specific?"

He snorted and said offhandedly, "You have to find your own way through it, that's how it works. I cannot tell you any more."

She sighed and stood. She really was feeling much better. The forced rest must've done her some good…and surely the stew helped. "All right," she conceded, picking up the sword and shield, "I'll find this sword, but time is of the essence. I hope you have some answers for me when I get back."

She walked to the door and as she stepped out it she heard his somewhat uncertain reply, "As do I, princess…"

Without pausing to acknowledge, Zelda made her way across the swamp. It was slow, but not difficult and before too long she had arrived at the weathered stone archway that she supposed was sanctuary entrance that Varin had been talking about. Cautiously, she made her way through.

She didn't really know what she had expected, but from Varin's description of it as a "maze" more forest was not precisely it. The woods here were much more dense than they had been elsewhere, however, and though she could choose multiple directions to travel in at every juncture, it still gave the feeling of tight corridors.

She walked through the woods, choosing various directions as she came upon each split, with no real way of guessing what was the best way through. It didn't really feel like she as getting anywhere, however, and by the time she found herself right back at the beginning, she had gotten very frustrated. How was she ever supposed to find her way through this? Every bit of woods looked the same!

She thought back to what he had told her, "look to what has always guided you." It didn't really seem to be much help. If he meant her instincts or something similar, they hadn't seemed to be helping so far. Anyway, as a princess, she had to guide herself very little in her life; it was Impa who'd always steered her in the right direction.

Impa…

Impa had left her with something, hadn't she? Zelda pulled the medallion out from under her tunic and was surprised to see it was glowing faintly. With the medallion in her hand, Zelda began to walk towards one of the branching pathways. The glow faded. She turned to face the other branches, watching how it reacted. The glow was the brightest when facing one pathway in particular, and as she approached it, it only intensified.

She traveled through the maze once more, this time following the clues of the medallion. It seemed to work much better, she felt she was actually making some progress, but it depressed her a bit too. She hadn't passed this obstacle due to her own strength or cleverness, she had just been given the answer by Impa, just as she always had. It was a shame Impa had been injured, she'd probably have been a better pick for this quest.

At last, it seemed Zelda had come to the end of the maze. And she stopped to stare in awe at the sanctuary itself as it lay before her. Tall plants and trees lined it on either side arcing inwards like the roof of a cathedral. The "floor" was covered in pristine, shallow water that was completely still. It reflected what was above it like a mirror. In the center, a raised stone walkway led up to a dais, which was illuminated by sunlight streaming in from above. And thrust into a stone in the center of the dais was a sword.

Zelda walked through the room cautiously. Varin was right, this place was sacred. It almost felt as though her mere presence were a disruption of its perfection. As she approached the dais she was able to get a better look at the focus of her quest. The sword itself was a straight, double-edged blade. It did not appear to be terribly ornate, but was definitely a much higher quality than any weapon she had ever seen before. This could only be the master sword, the sword she had read about so many times in the stories.

She reached one hand forward towards the hilt, but jerked it back suddenly when a jolt of pain shot through her arm. She cradled her hand, but didn't take her eyes off the sword. Magical energy was crackling around it. Of course, the master sword was protected. Only the chosen hero could remove it from this place.

Zelda's heart sank and a feeling of hopelessness and defeat settled over her. She was not the chosen hero. She was not worthy to take this sword. What had ever made her think she was up to this task?

Her shoulders drooped and she turned her head a bit, trying to decide if she should head back now and let Varin know she'd failed.

It was then that she saw the shadowy figure that stood behind her.