Since his visit in Castle Town, Link was unable to get his mind off of the impressions the city left on him. During the day he performed his duties, much to Seymara's delight, but at night he restlessly roamed the mine or visited Epona, who lived in one of the many caves in a makeshift barn. Link just couldn't leave her behind. If the Ordonian did eventually find sleep, it was usually only for a short time and not without starting up in a sweat. The images of the fountain haunted him. What did it look like in the rest of Hyrule? Zora's Domain? Or Ordon Village?

Five days after their visit, he stood with Seymara in her room and tried to perform one of the numerous spells Seymara taught him.

"Not like that," she commanded him impatiently. "You must first concentrate on the magic in your palms."

Link did not listen to her. Only when she slapped the back of his head did he raise his eyes and met hers.

"Focus," she snapped at him. He ducked his head.

"Sorry," he muttered, but she had already turned away from him.

"Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to take you to town", she sighed as she sat down in a chair, crossed her legs and signed him to sit down as well.

When he dropped onto the chair next to her, she looked at him, surveying his expression. Link knew she was trying to be empathetic. She usually did not succeed

"What's on your mind," she said kindly, yet in a tone that ruled out any excuses from Link's side.

It was Link's turn to sigh as he stared at his hands that lay in his lap, fumbling his fingers.

"I'm worried about Ilya and the others." He lifted his gaze.

Seymara nodded thoughtfully. "You're afraid Ordon Village might meet the same fate as Castle Town and you want to go there to see how things are going?"

Hesitantly, Link nodded: "I know I'm not supposed to leave the mine alone, but I can't think of anything else. The Ordonians are the only family I have."

Disappointment flashed through Seymara's eyes, but Link didn't notice and she immediately regained control of her facial features before she nodded: "I understand how much you care about their health, but Yae is protecting the forest and I know that he takes this task seriously. Be assured nothing will happen to them."

She stood up, implying that the conversation was over.

"Well, shall we continue?"

v~v*v~v*v~v

Link scurried through the dark mine. He couldn't sleep that night either, but he had made up his mind. The sun would rise in a few hours, by then he wanted to be in Ordon Village to make sure everything was okay.

It would take him a day from Kakariko to Ordon Village using Epona, but with Zelda's ocarina he would be a lot faster. He could even be back before someone noticed he was missing. Clutching his hand around the instrument, he sneaked out through the main entrance.

"Who's there?" grumbled a Goron guard who stood next to the mine entrance.

"It's me, Link."

"Hmmm", the stone eater grumbled half-asleep, so Link passed him by.

The Ordonian stood outside the mine on the footbridge that led to the foot of the mountain and drew the the ocarina from his pocket.

Seymara had taught him some melodies that he could use to travel to any place in Hyrule but it was the first time he used them without having her around.

He put the instrument to his lips.

v~v*v~v*v~v

Ilia was standing in the snowy fields. With her eyes closed and her head put back, she enjoyed the warm morning sun on her skin while listening to the sounds of the goats nibbling on their breakfast in the barn.

She heard steps. They were strangely familiar. Could it be...? Before she had time to turn around, her eyes were gently covered by two warm hands.

"Who is it?" Giggling, she pushed them off and turned around. Her face lit up with joy. "Link!"

Her childhood friend smiled. "Long time no see."

"So you haven't forgotten about us after all," Ilia said playfully, but Link wasn't sure if he heard bitterness in her voice.

"I'm sorry, I really wanted to come by earlier, but -" He interrupted himself.

Ilia waited a moment for him to go on, but he kept quiet. She sighed. "It's all right, you don't have to tell me. I'm glad you're here and that's what is important."

She leaned forward and whispered into his ear, "I have something I'd like to show you."

She walked him through the snow without giving him any chance for protest. Hand in hand they crossed the village, Link waving to each villager in a friendly manner, putting on a more or less apologetic expression and nodding towards Ilia, making unmistakably clear that he couldn't stay for a chat.

The Ordonians greeted him back. They all knew Ilia's stubbornness.

While the two of them left the village and walked past Link's tree house, Ilia babbled on and on about what had happened in the last months.

Life had been peaceful. Link felt at ease.

The snow looked like icing on the tree branches and bathed the whole forest in a cold, glittering white.

"Don't look," ordered Ilia without stopping, just before they reached Ordona's fountain. He held his hand in front of his own eyes and Ilia made sure he didn't cheat.

The familiar ripple of water that rushed down the small waterfall and around the stones reached Link's ears.

"Okay, open your eyes!"

Slowly he did as he was told and found himself facing an ice landscape that could not have been any more beautiful.

A thin layer of ice had spread over the stones in the spring, reflecting the icicles on the trees where the warm light of the morning sun broke. The waterfall had turned into an ice sculpture. Thousands of small ice flowers looked like meadow flowers dancing in the gentle breeze due to the crystal-clear water flowing over them. The water itself glittered like a thousand stars.

"That's beautiful," muttered Link, but could not ignore the bitter tang. The fountain had never frozen over before. Not even during the coldest winters. The last time he was here asking Ordona for help, she hadn't shown up. Was there a connection?

"Are you listening to me?" Ilia stood in front of him and looked at him with concern.

"What? Oh... sorry, Ilia. I was deep in thoughts."

"You mean you were daydreaming? Probably of your sweetheart," she teased him, but there was again a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"Not at all," he grinned back. "What did you say?"

"I asked you where Enora was and if you found out anything about her," his lady friend repeated and plopped into the snow.

Link pondered for a moment. Should he tell her? He'd had to lie to her so many times already and didn't really feel like continuing the lies. Perhaps a small part of the truth?

He sighed as Ilia grabbed his arm and pulled him down to her. "Well? Where's she?"

"It's a long story." He made himself comfortable beside her. "I'll try to keep it short, okay? You remember about a year ago when Hyrule was attacked by monsters?"

Ilia nodded curiously. Would he finally tell her everything?

"When you were kidnapped, along with Colin and the others, I followed you and..." He faltered. What happened after that? His memories stopped right there and started again at the point when he had freed the monkeys from the forest shrine.

"What then?" Ilia dug deeper impatiently, eager to finally know the truth.

"I... I don't know." He looked at her disappointed face. Apparently she expected more detailed information and he would have liked to give it to her, but he couldn't.

"I can't really remember. There were monsters, and in order to slay them I was given a magical sword, the Master Sword."

Her eyes began to glow with excitement, but only for a second, when skepticism set in. "You are lying to me! You're just telling me one of the fairy tales Rusl used to tell us when we were little kids."

Link shook his head. "No, it's true. ... I think."

Of course, Ilia wasn't convinced. "Oh, really? Well, what's that got to do with Enora?"

"Well..." Link smiled mysteriously as he leaned over to her and whispered in her ear, "She IS the Master Sword."

With big, incredulous eyes, the blonde stared at him.

"That's why you couldn't touch her."

Still looking somewhat skeptical, she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Oh, of course! We could have thought of that right away!"

There was no mistake. She did not believe him. Did it make sense to insist on it? Or should he leave it at that?

Ilia spared him the answer as she continued: "Is it true what they say? That terrible things are happening in Castle Town? That Hyrule is no longer safe?" She wasn't interested in lingering on the previous topic any longer. She wanted to know what was going on in the world outside of Ordona.

Link looked at her in surprise: "Who told you that?"

Ilia shrugged her shoulders while she drew circles in the snow with her fingers. After a few seconds she added: "Merchants and the postman mentioned it."

Link didn't answer. He just watched Ilia's finger moving through the snow.

"You have something to do with it, right? You are involved in this. Just like back then. That's why you were gone for so long. That's why you won't tell me anything. Am I right?" Ilia's voice was shaking. Was it fear? Worry? Disappointment?

"Ilia, I..." he began. She stopped her finger and looked at him with expectant eyes. Link conceded defeat. There was no use in lying to her. "It's true. I'm sorry I never told you. You can't imagine how hard it is for me to keep so much from you. I don't like doing it, but I have to do it to protect myself. And to protect you. To protect everyone."

Ilia took his hand. "I want to be there for you. If you don't tell me, I can't. What can I do to make you trust me?"

"I trust you, Ilia. Honestly! But trust isn't the problem. I don't know enough myself to tell anybody about it. I'd just make everyone worry."

Ilia looked down disappointed and let go of his hand. He reacted quickly and caught her fingers. "I don't want to scare you, Ilia. Ordon Village is safe. A friend of mine is protecting you. I will save Hyrule. I will save you. I promise. Can you believe me?"

They looked into each other's eyes. Then Ilia nodded, at first timidly but soon vividly. "Yes, I believe you. And I trust you. Please... just come back safe and sound, will you?"

This time it was his turn to nod. "I will! And then we'll go fishing together. Like we used to. And Enora can come too."

Ilia smiled and nodded. "I'm looking forward to it!"

She turned her eyes away and looked at the waterfall. Link did the same. It was truly beautiful. Above them the sun was shining through the treetops. Her rays were warming his face.

His wrist was tingling uncomfortably.

"The pearls!" The thought crossed his mind. "This can't be good!"

Attentively he looked around the clearing. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

He quickly stood up.

"What's wrong," Ilia asked him uneasily. "Hey, wait!" She was already on her feet, chasing the Hylian who was rushing away. They left the fountain, and she bumped straight into him. "Ow! What..."

"Ilia! Stay close to me," Link ordered as he reached over his shoulder. Damn it! The sword. He left it in the mine.

What was he going to do now? He had seen a shadow approaching the village quickly.

Without thinking about it, he ran after it.

Rusl always kept a sword in his house. If Link was fast enough, he could get it before the shadow could cause trouble.

Sera, the owner of the shop, and Moe's wife Uli watched him confused as he rushed through the village and entered Rusl's hut.

A sword was leaning against the wall by the door. Just as he had expected. Quickly he drew the weapon from its sheath and left the house.

"I need to borrow this for a moment," he shouted to Uli, who had no time to contradict him, for a hoarse screech echoed through the valley.

Link looked up. An all-too-familiar two-headed bird, rose with mighty flaps of its wings above the village.

"Ilia! Get to safety," Link shouted to the girl who had just come running into the village. With a nod he also told the Sera and Uli to retreat.

"But Link! That's too dangerous," Ilia objected. She had caught up with him and positioned herself right next to Link. She tugged at his arm, but Link shook her off as gently as he could in this situation.

"Get out of here already! It's too dangerous!"

She swallowed at the desperate tone in his voice. Finally she let go of him, joined Sera and Uli and disappeared with them into the hut.

The shepherds, who had just been taking care of the goats, came running from the meadow to defend their village. Link stopped them with a gesture of his hand before they, too, could take up arms. "Hide! This one is different from anything you've fought before." He knew that none of the Ordonians present were capable of defeating an enemy of this size. There were no fighters in the village, except for him and Rusl. And Rusl wasn't here. He had joined the resistance during Ganondorf's first reign of terror and had probably joined them once more to face the shadows.

The bird rushed down from the sky like an arrow. Link immediately calculated what the monster was aiming for.

"This time the battle will end differently," he shouted to the monster when it realized too late what Link was about to do. Flapping its wings, it tried to regain some height or at least slow down the dive, but the Ordonian had already rammed his sword into the black body.

The bird broke apart and the shadows scattered, describing a curve and plunged at Link again.

He stretched out a hand.

A green ray of magic shot out of his fingertips and hit one of the shadows, which disintegrated into a vortex.

The other shadows rose in horror and circled over the village for a while before launching another attack. This time their target was not Link, but a blond girl who came storming out of one of the houses.

"Ilia!" Link spun around and tried to reach the girl first, but the enemies were faster.

He heard Ilia's cry as she disappeared under an impenetrable wave of black magic.

A beam of bright light broke through the wall. The shadows drifted apart. Everyone of them, who wasn't fast enough, was disintegrated by the light.

A man appeared before Ilia.

"Yae", Link gasped with relief.

The red eyes of the newcomer flashed uneasy to Link. "Are you okay?"

The Ordonian nodded happily, but his heart missed a beat when he noticed Yae's expression that had changed in a split second. The man was serious.

"Seymara wants to talk to you. Now!"