A/N: Why had nobody informed me that I had been spelling "Shiekah" wrong all this time!? xD (I had been writing "Sheikah"). Well... I HAD TO upload a new chapter today. You don't know how difficult it is to write an over 2600 word chapter on the tiny screen of a Samsung Galaxy S III - Mini x_x... it took me nearly 4 hours laying in my bed while non-stop thumbing the screen as fast as I could (usually it doesn't take me more than 1-2 hours to write each chapter!) OMG, my thumbs are still screaming for mercy! Well, anyways, here it is! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Tara looked up into the sky, as she entered the gates that led to her village. She had seen the bright column of light erupting from somewhere deep into the forest, and she wondered if somehow Link had been involved in its appearance. She came into view of the first houses and then she heard a scream of relief. She pulled the reins and the horse stopped, as she climbed down and ran towards her crying mother.

"Tara! Oh, Tara, thank the Gods!" she yelled as they embraced.

"Mom!" cried Tara. Nico, one of Tara's younger brothers, went to fetch the horse and led it to the stable, as her mother led her towards the house.

"We've been so worried," sobbed her mom. "Since your father returned..." Tara stopped in her tracks and interrupted her.

"Daddy's here!?" she yelled and cried in relief while running to the house.

She entered and saw her dad lying on the couch. He had an arm in a splint and a bandage wrapped around the head. Her older sister, Cara, was feeding him some pumpkin stew with a spoon.

"Daddy!" shrieked Tara, and she ran towards him.

"Oh, goodness, you're ok!" he said. "I've been worried sick not knowing what had happened to you."

They embraced, though he felt a jolt of pain which he tried to ignore. When they let go she wiped a tear from her cheek and smiled.

"How is it that you...?" she asked.

"Well..." he began, and took a deep breath before recounting the events of the previous night.

"You must warn the village!" he yelled, and then she was gone, lost into the darkness.

The moblins caught up with him, and he reached for the small axe he had in his cart.

"Come on, you pigs!" he yelled, and he swung the axe.

One of the moblins screamed in pain, as the axe sunk into his arm. He yanked the axe from Mr. Durian's hand and tossed it aside.

Mr. Durian could see bokoblins running into the woods. It was too dark to see how many of them they were. He turned back to the moblin that was now lifting him and braced for the final blow, but it never came.

The moblin kept looking at him, expressionless, with the tip of an arrow protruding from his bloodied chest. He dropped Mr. Durian and fell dead to the floor. The other moblin, thinking that Mr. Durian had been the one that killed his friend, swung and arm and Mr. Durian felt his arm bones snap. The blow sent him flying to a tree and he hit the trunk with his head. He fell to the floor and passed out, but not before he saw the dark cloaked figure stabbing the moblin with his sword.

When he woke up, he found himself in his own house, with his family tending him. All of them… except for Tara.

Tara looked at his father in awe. There was something that she needed to know, though.

"But, how did you get here? Who was the cloaked person?"

"We don't know," replied her mother. "Cara saw the cart coming from the forest early this morning and your dad was laying unconscious inside. It was being pulled by a horse that we didn't recognize."

Tara looked into the once again bright sky. She couldn't be sure about it, but she had a feeling she knew who it had been.

Link was walking through the forest. When he walked by the gate that led to the ruins of Ordon Village he heard that someone was calling him. He walked slowly, trying to follow the voice, and he found himself entering through a gate, which he hadn't seen before, completely hidden by vines.

He saw that there was a small spring in front of him. Water was so pure that he felt he would be committing grave fault if he stepped into it. Then, a bright light appeared in the middle of the spring and Link saw a bright animal, sort of like a goat with a bright orb of light, appear. Link covered his eyes due to the brightness from the celestial being in front of him.

"Welcome, Link. I have been expecting thee to come." It spoke in a solemn voice.

"Who... who are you?" asked Link.

"I am one of the guardian spirits of Hyrule, and my name is Ordona."

"Ordona?" asked Link. "I've never heard of you."

"It was decided, many ages ago, that that's how it had to be. This was once the Ordona province, birthplace of thy ancestor, the Hero of Twilight. When he cast evil back into the void, pace returned to Hyrule; however, as decades went by, Ordona was raided and destroyed by his enemies, and I was weakened. My brother and also guardian spirit, Faron, took care of the remains of Ordona, and it all became the realm of Faron. I slept... slept over the ages that came afterwards. Slept and hoped that one day the Hero would return, and that the Darkness would be once more forced to recede."

"I promise I will restore Hyrule to its former glory," said Link before he could realize what he was saying.

"I trust you will," replied Ordona. "Only you can save Hyrule."

Having said that, the spirit lowered his antlers in reverence and then turned into an orb of light while slowly sinking back into the water of the spring.

"Link..." said Laila, finally coming out of his hat again.

Link was standing still, looking at the pond in a solemn way. He then turned around and they both left the spring.

Taglo swung his sword back and forth. He saw one of the men fighting by his side fall dead on the floor. The heat of the flames around him was becoming unbearable. He stabbed the lizalfos that he was fighting with and then stringed an arrow, shooting it at the head of the one that had killed his partner.

Ages ago, the Shiekah had nearly been wiped out. They had managed to settle down in a small village, hidden from the rest of the world, and from there they managed to survive. Now, they seemed to be facing the same fate.

"Taglo!" he heard the voice of his sister, calling him from the cart that was about to exit the village. Their mother was trying to pull her back into the cart.

"Zana! Flee!" yelled Taglo, while he stabbed a running bulbin and turned around to look at his little sister one more time.

Zana was barely thirteen. She had her long red hair tied up in a ponytail behind her head and was wearing a long dress with the emblem of the Shiekah threaded on her chest. Taglo saw a moblin running towards her and he shot an arrow at him.

"Zana, leave, now!" he yelled, as he ran to help another warrior who was being attacked by two lizalfos.

Then, even though the sky was covered by a dark cloud, he saw the winged shadow grow larger on the floor. Everyone looked up and saw the black dragon that was soaring from Death Mountain towards the village. People began screaming and the lizalfos started to retreat. Taglo saw the dragon open its mouth and fumes began to emanate from it.

"ZANA, GOOO!" yelled Taglo, and she finally climbed up into the cart.

Taglo stopped dead on his tracks, as he saw the cart engulfed in the fiery blast from the dragon's fire.

Link exited the forest and saw the sky above Hyrule Field, still covered by the black mantle of darkness.

"Link, let's now head to Lake Hyl..." began saying Laila, but then she interrupted herself and fluttered past him. "Link, what's that?" she asked.

Link turned around and saw the bright blaze in the distance, right at the feet of Death Mountain, and the thick column of smoke rising into the sky.

"Laila, let's go!" yelled Link, as he sprinted forward, heading towards the mountain.

Zelda couldn't hold back her tears. She had seen the blaze growing by Kakariko Village from her window, and she knew that the town had been destroyed. Viacka was holding her and stroking Zelda's hair while the Princess let out her sorrows.

"Lost... completely lost..." she said while sobbing.

"I'm so sorry, my Lady," said Viacka.

"How many lives must we lose before this war can end?" she asked. "Gods! Tell me, will it be enough if I simply embrace death so that others can be spared?"

She closed her eyes. She could hear Viacka now sobbing, but the Gods remained silent.

It took Link a couple hours before he reached Kakariko Village. He had encountered a few bokoblins on the way and a few skeletal warriors, which Laila told him were called 'stalfos' ("cursed fallen soldiers from ancient times," she had explained). When he walked through the gate of the village, he saw the flaming ruins of what had been, until now, the hometown of the Shiekah.

People where walking around, mourning and crying. Some of them carried their dead in their arms, some of which were children. Injured men were treating their wounds and some others tried to put out the fires. Link saw several carts on fire, the corpses of their passengers and horses still visible amongst the flames.

By one of the carts, Link recognized the young man, with a bandage wrapped around his head and covering one eye: it was Taglo. Link ran up to him and saw a tear rolling down his cheek.

"Taglo?" asked Link shyly. "Taglo, what happened?"

Taglo didn't reply. He kept staring at the burning cart without even blinking, even though the smoke was surely hurting his eyes as much as it was hurting Link's.

"Taglo, let's go," said Link. "Tell me what..."

"She wanted to become a Shiekah warrior..." he said, interrupting Link. "She was going to begin her training as soon as she turned fifteen."

Link simply looked at his friend, unable to find any appropriate words to say. Taglo kept on.

"My father was teaching her how to counter basic hand to hand combat moves and she liked to practice on me whenever she had a chance." A grim smile drew across Taglo's face. "She actually knocked me down once just because I was going to eat the last slice of pie. She was only twelve when that happened!" Taglo turned around and saw Link face to face. "Link... we've got to find them... we've got to find them and bring down the ones who killed my little sister." He couldn't hold it back any longer. He fell on his knees and began crying hard, while Link placed a hand on his shoulder.

Link stayed for the rest of the day in Kakariko Village, or what was left of it. He helped the survivors put out the fires and gather the corpses around. Some of the bodies were so charred that they were impossible to recognize, and others had died because of their injuries in the battle.

Half of the village had been burned down to the ground, while the rest of it had been looted and the houses and businesses showed scorched marks and broken windows. Some buildings had been gravely damaged, but at least they were still standing.

When Taglo was finally able to speak again, he told Link the whole account of the battle. Link, on the other hand, told him how he had managed to lift the curse from the Forest Temple, and how he had met Joy, the Kokiri priestess of the temple. Link told him about the Sacred Grove and the Legendary Blade that rested there.

"That's it!" yelled Taglo, smiling for the first time since Link had found him by the burnt cart of his family. "You must get the Master Sword! The Blade of Evil's Bane!"

"I'm sorry," said Link, "you just lost me. The what?"

Taglo entered the crumbling house behind him, his own, one of the few that hadn't been completely burned down, and came out with a thick book. It's corners were a bit charred.

"According to the legend," he said as he opened the book and searched through it, "the Goddess Hylia created the Goddess Sword, which was then wielded by the first Hero, who bathed it with the three sacred flames. It then was reforged into the legendary Master Sword, a blade so powerful that it would be able to destroy Evil whenever it came. Only the one worthy of the title of Hero of Hyrule would be able to pull it out of the pedestal where it's embedded and wield it to counter darkness." He found what he had been looking for and turned the book around so that Link could see the picture of an elegant ornamented sword. It had a dark purple hilt with a golden gem embedded, and the crest of the Triforce was engraved into the blade.

"Is that the Master Sword?" asked Link.

"Exactly," replied Taglo. "It is told that several times it has been used in order to dispel the darkness that covered the world. Link, it is your destiny to wield it again and put an end to the age of darkness that is threatening the world."

"I need to go to Lake Hylia," said Link, while standing up. "I must remove the curse from the Water Sanctuary."

"I see. I think I can help you with something." Taglo took him to a part of Kakariko Village that hadn't been destroyed and led him to a stable. "It's a long way from here to the lake, so you better take a horse." He pulled at the reins of a brown one, which Link immediately recognized.

"Epona!" he yelled, as he ran to his horse and stroke her face. "Where did you find her?"

"Outside of Castle Town. I didn't know she was yours!"

Link climbed up onto Epona's saddle and looked at Taglo.

"Thank you, my friend," said Link, and he stretched out a hand.

"I'll see you around," said Taglo, shaking his hand. "Thank you, Link, for giving me hopes again."

Link nodded and he urged Epona forward, and she dashed towards the exit of the scarred town.

Joy, the Kokiri priestess, was sitting with her legs crossed at the shrine of Faron in the forest temple. She was praying for Link when suddenly a light orb appeared from the water below and rose to her level. A shining monkey-like creature formed from the light and spoke up solemnly:

"Ordona has also been awoken," he said. "He has spoken to the Hero already."

"Link carries a great weight," said Joy with her eyes still closed in prayer, "yet he embraced his destiny without doubting."

"He is indeed worthy of carrying the Triforce of Courage."

Joy opened her eyes and looked up and the spirit in front of her. A few tears were running down her cheek.

"Yet the wielder of the Triforce of Power is still waiting for his time to come," she said. "Besides, Link had to fall into darkness to save me, and he will have to again. Will he have also enough wisdom as to be able to resist the power of darkness from getting into his heart?"

"If not," replied Faron with a faint smile and slowly sinking back into his pond, "in times of darkness there is one that can help him come back into the light."

"Let's just hope she is courageous enough," said Joy softly, and she closed her eyes again, going back to her prayers.