For the record, Dark Elves in this are nothing like the Dunmer in Elder Scrolls. Yes, they have the same skill set, but it's not going to be the same character type. Congratulations to Zolias, for giving me the name for the creature that attacked Link and Zelda in the last chapter. They are now officially called Forcewraiths.

Another note. The Forcewraiths are NOT anything like the Nazgul in Lord of the Rings. Yes, they both screech and wear creepy cloaks, and yes I put a LotR reference in the last chapter, but copying the Nazgul was not the intent.

Chapter 14

Marcus sat back in his throne as he watched Hyrule Castle rearrange itself. The process was slow, but he was willing to wait. His fortress would be perfect, no matter what it took.

The original idea had been to make it look like Ganon's Tower from the end of the first age, but he had had second thoughts. The Hero of Time had been able to infiltrate it by simply using a bridge, which seemed to be a major oversight on Ganondorf's part.

No, this fortress would be impenetrable. And on the off chance that someone ever made it in, it would be filled with the most horrendous creatures that Marcus could dream of. He would be unstoppable.

He scratched his chin as he watched the castle disassemble itself, using the power of the tetra to reform the outer walls. The situation with the Gorons was getting out of hand. He had sent a large contingent of his Forcewraiths out to Death Mountain, but quickly learned that they were too vulnerable to fire to bother the rock eaters. The wraiths had been decimated in a matter of seconds by a single guard posted outside Kakariko.

Marcus would have to think of something else. Sending a flood of weaker enemies wouldn't work because of how narrow the mountain's passes were. The air vents stopped all fast moving traffic, so a guerilla style attack wouldn't work. The Gorons ate rocks and were completely self sufficient, so a siege was out of the question.

Brutus looked down at his hand, where the tetra was glowing.

If only I could figure out how to work this to the full extent of its power. He thought. It responded well to any commands he gave it, until he demanded offensive power. It seemed that the fourth piece of the triforce was well suited to rebuilding castles and summoning undead allies, but not at wiping out his enemies.

The Gorons were definitely going to be a problem, but they would be stamped out eventually. What was truly concerning Marcus was that the Forcewraith he had sent into Faron to search for Link and Zelda had disappeared. It was supposed to have returned with news from its patrol four days ago. He had truly felt that one wraith could handle Zelda's power, should it find them.

Of course, he didn't know for sure that Link and Zelda were even in Faron. It was just a suspicion. If he were in their position, he would have gone to the woods and disappeared. That's where the Forcewraiths came into play. They had eyes, but didn't see light waves. Instead, they sensed life energy and emotions. Feelings like happiness or fear would attract them like mosquitoes to blood. Because of the emotionless state of the general populace, it was easier for them to pick out those who were left.

So far, there had been nothing in the search for Zelda besides the disappearance of the wraith, which in itself wasn't enough of an excuse to send an army of them into the woods. It was conceivable that a forest fire or something else had cornered it. The wraiths couldn't stand fire. It was the only thing they were vulnerable to.

The outer wall of the fortress completed itself, and Marcus raised his hand up, sending waves of energy forward. The stones turned black and red in the same pattern as his staff and skin. Next, the inner pieces of the castle began disassembling themselves, forming into a single tower. Near the top, he formed two stone cages.

And there they will rot. He thought with pleasure. Link and Zelda would be able to watch each other die of starvation only a few feet apart, and gaze out across Hyrule as they did so. Marcus almost couldn't contain himself at the thought of torturing them to death.

One day. He swore. One day soon.

…

Four days later

Link had given up thinking that he knew where they were. Every time he imagined he had caught a whiff of something besides trees, the forest turned him around. Zelda had given up arguing over the best course of action, and they now trudged along in silence, unsure of what to say to each other.

Zelda sighed to herself. What had she expected? That they would be able to get out of a cursed forest with nothing more than Link's courage and determination? He was strong-willed, but this magic yielded to no one. She had been taking out her frustration on him, despite the fact that he obviously felt guilty.

As for Link, his determination was wavering. He still continued forward, in the hopes that sheer willpower could break through the curse. It wouldn't, and he knew that, but what else was there to do? Sit down and bemoan his situation?

They trudged on for a few more hours, until the sun was shining high in the sky. Zelda shivered and rubbed her arms.

"Are you cold?" Link asked numbly, stopping momentarily.

"A little." Zelda said, looking around. The trees all looked the same. There was no way to distinguish if they had made any progress over the past four days.

"Can we sit down for a little while?" She asked, trying to ignore the growling in her stomach.

"Yeah, I guess so." Link said, flopping down into the leaves next to a tree and groaning. Zelda sat against the tree with a small sigh of relief. Her legs were burning already, and it wasn't even halfway through the day.

They sat there for a while, taking a chance to rest. Link eventually sat up, but kept his space. Zelda wasn't in the best of moods, and he didn't want to bother her.

"Do you think we'll ever get out of here?" She asked, shivering again.

Link paused for a moment before replying honestly.

"No. Probably not."

Zelda closed her eyes to hold back a few stray tears. That was the first time he had admitted that they were screwed, despite how obvious it was. The temptation to tap into the dark arts weaseled its way into the back of her mind again, but she pushed it away. Nothing was worth spending the afterlife in servitude to a demon. She would rather be a Stalfos for all eternity. At least she wouldn't be suffering.

"I don't know what to do." Link muttered, looking down at the Triforce on his hand. "I thought that the bearers of the Triforce could make it out. Of all people, you would think that we could. But it seems that Faron yields to no one."

"What do we do, then?" Zelda asked. "There's got to be something. Didn't you ever find a point in your travels where you were absolutely certain you were going to die? And then somehow you made it."

"Many times." Link said. "But those situations all had achievable solutions, albeit difficult ones. For the goddesses' sake, I was attacked by a dragon. I never thought I was going to survive that. But the difference was that there was a way out of that situation. There was a way for me to live. I just had to kill the dragon."

"Here, there's no way out." He continued. "Faron's curse is impenetrable. There's no tangible, obvious solution to escaping. There's no trail we can follow, or creature we can defeat."

"What about the wild animals we've seen?" Zelda asked. "Don't they leave trails?"

"I've already tried following a few game trails." Link said. "They just…end. I don't know how to explain that."

They sat in silence again, but Zelda scooted next to Link and pressed herself up against his side, partly to gather warmth and partly to let him know that she didn't blame him for this.

He let out a frustrated breath and put his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry." He muttered. "I should have known better. I shouldn't-"

"It's not your fault, Link." Zelda said, cutting off his apology. "It's Marcus's. You did what your gut told you to do, and I'll never blame you for that. How can I? I didn't have to follow you in here. But I did, because it gave us a chance to get away from whatever that…thing…was."

"Well I'm sorry anyways." Link said. "I've never given up on anything, but right now it's extremely difficult."

Zelda took his hand and laid her head on his shoulder.

"One way or another, we'll get through this." She said.

"I hope so." Link replied, and then stood up. "There's only one way that's possible, though."

"How?" Zelda asked, taking his hand and letting him help her up.

"We've got to keep trying."

With a quick glance around the area, Link and Zelda set off again, hand in hand.

…

Jinny looked at the trees of Faron skeptically. The trail was creepy enough, but the forest itself emanated its own unique aura.

Of all the things in the world for a forest ranger to be afraid of, a forest has to be among the most laughable. She thought to herself as she rode slowly down the dark trail. Night was setting in, and the amount of noise from behind the treeline was increasing. Howls could be heard sporadically, although never sounding quite like packs of wolves. She felt like she was being watched.

A flurry of activity to her left sent the Dark Elf into a practiced routine. She leaped off her horse and rolled to the opposite treeline, bringing her bow up and knocking an arrow in one swift motion

The trees swayed lazily in the breeze, yielding nothing. For a few more moments, Jinny stared into the forest as far as possible.

A minute later, she heard something coming through the underbrush a few meters down the trail. She waited patiently, blending into the foliage in such a way that only another forest ranger could see her.

Much to her surprise, a horse walked lazily through the trees. It was a mare with a light chestnut coat and a white mane. She was still saddled, although it looked as if it hadn't been tightened in days. Once she established that the horse was alone, she got up from her hiding place and approached it.

The horse looked over at her calmly, completely underwhelmed that she had just materialized out of nowhere. Jinny approached it slowly and held out a hand. The mare nibbled at it and, finding that there was no food, proceeded to snack on the grass at the side of the trail.

"Where are you from?" Jinny wondered aloud, checking the saddle for any hint of who the owner was. It was a cargo saddle, with leather bands all over to fasten gear to. These were typically used in farming to transport large loads of crops to markets, but it was obvious that this was no work horse. She was large and muscular, but also streamlined. This horse belonged to a warrior.

Jinny looked into the forest curiously. If this horse belonged to a warrior, he was probably somewhere nearby. Why had he left his horse, though? Was he in trouble?

The horse snorted and nudged her from behind, and she turned around to look at it again. It was looking at her expectantly, as if she were supposed to be doing something.

"What are you trying to tell me?" Jinny asked, reaching around the horse's muzzle and closing her eyes. She reached out to the animal with her mind, nearly jumping when she found a vast array of thought processes waiting for her. As she dove into the interwoven layers of memories, she found image after image of a single man.

Epona. The horse was called. Jinny explored her mind further, digging up more memories of the warrior she called her master. Finally, she pieced together an image. He was tall, powerfully built. He had pointed ears, brown hair, and a green tunic. The tunic was fuzzy in the image, likely caused by a recent change that hadn't been implanted into Epona's mind firmly enough to alter her image of her master.

As she delved deeper, Epona snorted. Jinny sensed a feeling of urgency.

She's upset. She realized. Her master is in trouble.

Link.

That was the master's name, and Epona's life revolved around him. He had shooed her off to protect her from something, and she had walked around in circles for days in an attempt to find him. She knew he couldn't get out of the forest without help.

Epona was distressed. That much was obvious. She was trying to comprehend things that were far more complicated than her brain could handle, all while coping with being lost and alone. Jinny patted her nose and whispered a few words of comfort, trying to soothe the horse.

Should I try to help her master? She wondered to herself. The last thing she wanted to spend her night doing was wandering through a creepy forest in search of someone she didn't know. But she had also sworn to protect all those who traveled in the forests.

"All those who traveled in my forest." She muttered to herself, thinking back to her old home. She had owned a cabin in a forest of ancient oak trees. They were massive, and reached hundreds of feet into the sky. The forest itself was so big that it required ten separate rangers to maintain security. It wasn't her forest anymore, but she would always call it home.

Epona snorted again and nibbled at her cloak, as if trying to pull her into the woods. Jinny stepped back and shook her head.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, and turned to where her horse was waiting patiently. Epona whinnied loudly, but Jinny kept walking.

This was not her fight.

…

Sixth day in the forest

The food supply was gone, and Link sighed as he let Zelda drain the last drops of water.

There wasn't anything to eat, and there were no creeks to refill the canteens. Faron had proven itself to be an endless labyrinth of trees and nothing more. There would be no hunting, fishing, or gathering of any kind. The forest was dead set on killing them or driving them insane.

Zelda was nearly in tears, but held herself in check. She didn't want to show how weak and powerless she was feeling at that moment. Link was sitting with his back against a tree, his eyes closed as he concentrated intensely on something.

"What are you doing?" Zelda asked finally. He didn't respond, so she looked at him thoughtfully.

Is he meditating? She wondered. He wasn't really the type to meditate, but she supposed that desperate times called for increasingly desperate measures. Maybe an extended prayer to the goddesses would do both of them some good.

Link sat there for over an hour, giving Zelda time to lie back and drift off into a state of semi-awareness. The world blurred, and she began to toss and turn in the leaves. Time ceased to exist.

And then, from nowhere, a strange feeling overtook her body. It started as tingling warmth, spreading outward from her right hand. Once it had overtaken her body, she saw a flash of gold light before the world went black.

What the hell?! She thought, her mind throwing off every ounce of drowsiness she had been feeling. She jumped to her feet and tried to look around, but the surrounding area had been completely drained of light.

"Link?" She called tentatively, trying to see through the darkness.

"I'm right here."

There was another flash of gold light, and Link appeared before her, illuminated by the Triforce of Courage glowing on his right hand. Zelda looked down at her own, seeing that it was glowing faintly.

"What did you do?" She asked, looking around again. The surrounding area was still shrouded in darkness.

"I… I don't really know." Link admitted, looking just as confused as she was. "I started trying to focus on using the power of the Triforce and felt this weird feeling coming from it. I let it spread, and then ended up here. What is this place?"

"I don't know." Zelda said. "I can't see anything. Can you?"

Link squinted as he peered around. "Yeah, a little bit. We're still in Faron, but it's different. The trees are all dead and burnt. I can… I think I can see through them further than normal since there's no leaves."

"Why can't I see?" Zelda asked, taking a step towards him for reassurance.

"I don't know." Link said, looking back at her. "Your triforce isn't glowing very brightly. Maybe you should try tapping into it."

Zelda looked down at the triangle on her hand, realizing only then that it was pressing at the back of her mind. She allowed its influence to wash over her, taking control of her mind, and the world lit up.

Just as Link had described, they were in the middle of a dead forest. Black clouds covered most of the sky, and a massive red sun shone through the cracks. Screams of pain echoed through the trees, coming from all directions at once.

"This isn't Faron." Link muttered, quietly drawing his sword. "But whatever it is, I think the Triforce wants us here. We should move."

Zelda drew her own blade and followed him as he walked through the barren woods. The screams changed pitch and frequency as they moved through the trees, eventually coming from only one direction.

Link turned back to Zelda after a few minutes of walking.

"Those screams are coming from that direction." He said, pointing to his left. "I don't see why we would be put here by the Triforce unless it wanted us to go see what's going on."

Zelda nodded in agreement, and they set off in the direction of the sound. The volume continued to rise, giving them a solid idea of where they were going. As they got closer, the temperature began to rise, as well.

And then, suddenly, they were out of the trees. The screams stopped, and Link gasped.

Before them was a village that looked like Ordon. Everything was in place. The stream, however, was flowing with a dark green substance. The houses were run down, burnt in some cases. The most outstanding feature, however, was the mass of tombstones near what would have been Rusl's house.

Link gawked for a few moments, unable to accept the sight before him.

"This…" He whispered. "This can't be Ordon. It can't be. There's no way."

As Zelda stared across the decimated village, her mind flashed back to the reading she had done as a child. Dark, stormy skies. Destroyed settlements, towns, villages, cities. A general lack of life. Screams of pain wafting through the air. The smell of sulfur. Death and suffering.

She inhaled sharply when the realization hit her. No, this wasn't Ordon. This wasn't Faron. This wasn't even Hyrule.

This was the Dark World.

"My goddesses…" She whispered, dropping to her knees.

"What?" Link asked, still staring down into the village.

"The Dark World, Link." She said. "This is it. This matches every description ever given about it. Justin saw fit to mention its existence to us because he knew we would end up here."

"Why would we ever end up here?" Link asked, staring down at the wasteland before him. "What's the point?"

Zelda didn't know, so she didn't answer. This was all too much for her. She had thought that being lost in Faron was bad enough, but this topped even that. The only way to get out of the Dark World was with a magical mirror, which was supposedly in a completely different dimension and time stream. It hadn't been seen since well before the Hero of Time had defeated Ganondorf the first time, effectively splitting reality into three different parts.

She looked down at her Triforce, garnering some hope. It had gotten them into the Dark World. Surely it could get them out.

Dear Holy Goddesses… She thought, hoping the divine sisters could hear her prayer even in the Dark World. I have no place here. Link and I don't belong here. Please… If you can hear me, please get us out of here. I would rather die of thirst in the heart of Faron than wander here for an eternity.

She closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on the pulsing of the Triforce's power deep down below her consciousness. If she closed off her mind from everything, she could reach it.

Feeling almost as if she were detaching herself from her own body, she fell through time and space. Beneath her, the Triforce of Wisdom appeared, and she drew ever closer. After a few seconds, it was right before her. The vast amounts of energy were all concentrated in front of her. She reached out her hands.

"You should probably go after him."

The Triforce of Wisdom slipped from Zelda's grasp, and she opened her eyes. Link was walking slowly down the hillside toward the Dark Ordon, his sword drawn. She whipped around to the sound of the voice, and froze in her tracks.

A Stalfos stood before her, over seven feet tall. It carried a round shield, long sword, and wore an enormous three-horned helmet. Its limbs were translucent, but still held up the full set of exquisitely crafted steel armor.

For a few moments, Zelda stared at the Stalfos in complete terror. It didn't have its sword drawn, nor was it in any kind of aggressive stance. Despite that, all she wanted to do was turn and run.

The Stalfos stared at her for a few moments, and then gestured down towards where Link was still walking.

"You would be doing him a great service by going down there and stopping him. The only things that await him in this village are pain and suffering."

Zelda looked down at Link, took another look at the Stalfos, and flew down the side of the hill.

"Link!" She yelled. He didn't turn.

"Link! There's a Stalfos up there!"

He still didn't turn. Zelda noticed that he was staring down at his feet, although what he was looking at was too small for her to see from directly behind him. As she ran up next to him, however, she nearly gasped in horror.

A small creature was writhing in pain on the ground. It was twisted, its skin green and slimy. Its body was covered in cysts and boils. It rolled over, revealing its face to be round, like a human's, but contorted in pain.

"Prosím ma zabiť" It muttered, reaching a gnarled hand towards Link. He dropped to a knee and, much to Zelda's astonishment, turned the creature to face him.

"Who are you?" He asked, staring intently at its face. "What is your name?"

"Nerozumiem vám. Ja som v bolesti. Prosím ma zabiť." It choked out, coughing up dry flakes of blood.

"I can't understand you." Link muttered, shaking his head. He stood up and looked at Zelda. "His face looks like Malo's."

"Malo?" Zelda asked.

"Just one of my friends from Ordon. He should be about eight by now, and was about this size. I know it's not him, though."

The creature on the ground groaned in pain and rolled over, crying to itself. They both looked down at it, and a wave of pity washed over Zelda.

"Should we put it out of its misery?" She asked. "I could… I could do it with magic. It wouldn't hurt."

Link stared down at the pitiful creature, the conflict in his mind obvious.

"It would be best to leave the creature alone."

They both turned around, realizing that the Stalfos had made his way down the hill to stand behind them. Link's hand went to his sword instinctively, but he stopped when he realized who it was. Immediately, he went down to a knee.

"Hero of Time." He muttered. Zelda looked at the Stalfos in shock, and then dropped to a knee as well.

"Rise." The Stalfos said. "The living should not bow to the dead. Even in life, I was not a king."

"I'd take a hero over a king any day." Link said, rising to his feet. Zelda followed suit, still in shock at the realization that this was the Hero of Time. This was Link's famous mentor. He had made Ganondorf's defeat possible. Without his instruction, Ganondorf would have gone unchallenged. In less than a year, the broken hero had trained the greatest swordsman of all time.

"Princess." The Hero said, looking at Zelda and bowing stiffly. "It is an honor. It has been far too long since I was graced with gazing upon a member of the Nohansen bloodline. I see that the beauty given to your predecessors has only become more prevalent in the years that I have been in hiding."

Zelda tried to choke out a response, but couldn't find her voice.

"What is this place?" Link asked, pointing around the battered and broken Ordon. The Hero of Time looked around, a sad glint reflecting in his ghostly eyes.

"This was, at one point, the Sacred Realm." He said. "It was the seat of all that was good. And then one day, a child unknowingly opened the door for a great evil power to enter. Ganondorf slipped by me, fought his way to the top of the Great Pyramid, and took the Triforce for himself."

"This world has become what you know as the Dark World. What is good in the Light World is evil in the Dark World. Take, for example, the creature at your feet."

Link looked down to where the hideous creature was still writhing in pain.

"He reminds you of your friend Malo, does he not?" The Hero asked. Link nodded, so he continued. "He is the Dark World alternative of Malo. He is Malo, but he is not Malo. The Malo you know is still in the Light World, ensnared by Marcus's evil magic."

"What will happen to this creature?" Link asked.

"I do not know." The Hero admitted. "But there is nothing you can do for him."

There was a moment of silence as they stared down at it.

"Come." The Hero said finally. "Your purpose in being here is now fulfilled. It is time you left this place. This is what Hyrule will become should you fail. There will be no Dark and Light. There will simply be evil."

"How do we leave?" Link asked.

"Grasp my hand." The Hero said, holding his left hand out. Zelda stared at it momentarily, shocked at the fact that the Triforce of Power was glowing softly above it.

"You…" She whispered.

"I will explain later." The Hero said. "Grasp my hand. You are needed back in the Light World."

Link placed his hand over the bones of the Hero of Time's hand and looked at Zelda. She took one look back at the destruction of the Dark World, and then placed her hand over Link's and nodded.

With that, the world quivered and went out of focus. Zelda blinked, and then found herself staring into the sunlight. She looked around, and realized with a shock that they were in the trees at the edge of Ordon.

"Oh no…" Link muttered.

…

Five minutes prior

Jinny looked around the small village curiously. It was quaint, with only a few houses spread around. A river flowed through the center, and a few women could be seen at the far end of it washing clothing. Many of the other residents had been out in the fields, tending to their crops. They had displayed the same attitude as the farmers in eastern Hyrule, tending to ignore her presence and refusing to speak.

Epona was following her closely, obviously expecting something. For two days, she had been twitchy and nervous, jumping at every noise. Then, like a switch had flipped inside of her a few minutes ago, she had settled down. Any delving into the horse's mind would have to wait for a while, though. Jinny didn't have time, and an animal's mind couldn't connect with an elf's many times before imploding on itself.

A larger house to the left made the dark elf stop. It was much larger than the rest, and even sported a second story, but was burnt down to the shell. Four villagers were working on tearing it down. They were ignoring her just as everyone else in this country had done so far, but were different in that they had all stopped to stare at Epona.

Jinny looked back at the horse curiously.

What's so fascinating about her? She wondered, looking back at the people. They were climbing down from their ladders and approaching Epona cautiously, as if expecting her to attack at any moment. A few doors opened in the various houses, and people began flooding out of their homes. A few farmers ran down the hill behind her.

Jinny turned her horse around slowly, looking at each person individually. In a matter of seconds, over twenty people had appeared and were now forming a circle around her and Epona. She had been trapped. A quick glance into the eyes of each person told her that they were possessed, just like the people in Astari. She began edging her horse towards a part of the circle manned by smaller kids.

A larger man came running from the far end of the village, pushing straight through the circle and staring at Epona. He was a larger man, sporting a massive moustache and a beer belly. He walked up to Epona and stared her down. The horse stared back defiantly.

The realization hit Jinny.

This is her master's village. He lived here, and they recognize the horse. Could these people still have some sentient thought?

She paused for a moment before clearing her throat, which garnered absolutely no attention from the gathered crowd.

"Are you looking for her master?" She asked the bigger man. He said nothing in reply, intent on staring down the horse.

Jinny sighed and walked her horse through the line of children, who made no move to stop her, and then put some distance between herself and the people. A sudden idea made her stop and turn around, though.

"Link." She called out to the people. "Is that who you're looking for?"

Everything froze and, as one, the people of the village turned their heads towards her, staring her down with their glowing red eyes.

That was a mistake… She thought, nudging her horse back a few steps. Now the idea of being acknowledged by Hyrule's citizens didn't seem like such a good one.

"What do you know of him?"

Jinny froze, realizing that the man with the large moustache was speaking to her. His voice was garbled and sounded slightly mechanical, as if it weren't actually his own, but someone speaking through him.

"Only his name, and that that is his horse." She said after a moment of silence.

"You lie." The gathered crowd hissed.

Jinny nudged her horse back again, trying to keep it under control. It could sense the building tension.

"I don't know exactly where he is." Jinny said, shrugging dismissively. "He's somewhere in the forest."

The people started walking towards her, so she backed her horse further away.

"Come no closer!" She yelled, putting a hand on her longbow.

The villagers ignored her, so she pulled the bow off of her back and knocked an arrow in a clear display of warning. They were not deterred.

"Halt!" She said forcefully, drawing the bow back fully and aiming at the man with the moustache, who was clearly the leader. Once again, they ignored her threat and continued advancing towards her.

Her fingers twitched on her bow. She could kill this man in half a second, but she knew that it was wrong. If he were actually possessed, she would be killing an innocent man underneath. Not to mention that the rest of the villagers would probably charge her. She couldn't shoot all of them, but she could definitely outrun them.

Sorry, Epona. She thought, glancing at where the horse stood watching the events unfold. The people were almost close enough to reach out and touch her, so she wheeled her horse around and spurred it, slinging her bow onto her back as she did so.

An eruption of loud hissing noises exploded from the villagers, and they began sprinting after her. A few split from the group and headed towards the main entrance to the village, aiming to cut her off.

That's not going to happen today. She thought, reaching into her pack where she had a bottle of cheap Celtic vodka stored, among other things. She lifted the cork, pulled the pre-stuffed rag out, and whispered a few elvish words. The rag lit on fire, and she lobbed it at the trail the villagers were running down.

The effect was spectacular. The poorly made bottle shattered to pieces, spilling the liquid all over the surrounding area. In a split second, the burning rag made contact with the vodka, igniting it. The villagers scattered, singed but uninjured.

The explosion had an undesirable side effect, though. Whereas Jinny's previous, now dead, horse had been used to such things, this mare was not. She reared at the sight of the flames, turned completely around, and tore off through the village.

"Whoa!" Jinny yelled, tugging at the reigns violently. "Stop! Whoa!"

The mare ignored her, continuing her terrified stampede straight back to the burnt house, where many of the villagers were waiting with inhuman grins plastered on their faces. More were running down the hill from the fields, and Jinny could see that they had formed a blockade. She would not be leaving the village by the trails.

At the sight of the crowd gathered in front of her, the mare took a hard left, nearly throwing Jinny from her back, and headed down the creek. Epona had apparently run to that end of the village, and was busy with something at the treeline.

What is she…? Jinny wondered, but then realized what was going on. Epona's master had appeared, and was climbing onto her back with a companion. Link seemed focused on the task at hand, but his female companion was paying attention to her as she clung to her horse for dear life. It was headed straight for the forest.

The map said not to go in the forest! Jinny realized. Apparently there were hundreds of cases of people disappearing in Faron and never coming back.

But behind her was certain death. She would have to take her chances.

"Stop!" Link's female companion yelled as Jinny drew nearer. "Don't go in there!"

Does she realize that there's a mob of angry, possessed villagers following me?

Link turned around now, looking at Jinny for the first time. He squinted, but was interrupted as the female on Epona behind him lobbed a ball of energy at the terrified mare, striking it square in the face. In seconds, Jinny's horse had calmed down, and stopped charging once it reached the treeline.

Jinny situated herself and turned around to look behind herself. The woman on Epona was firing massive balls of light energy at the crowd of people, scattering them in every direction. They completely forgot about what they had been doing, and ran in total silence as the ground exploded beneath their feet.

After a minute of the harmless barrage, the woman stopped and Link turned around to face Jinny.

"Follow me." He called back to her. "I know a safe place."

Finally someone acknowledges me without trying to kill me. Jinny thought to herself. Link had kicked Epona into a full gallop, so she spurred her horse forward.

Goddesses, this is a strange country.