'I need to- would you get off me?'

'My Queen, you are still bleeding-'

'Leave me alone.' Zelda managed the command as calmly as she could through gritted, crimson stained teeth, the castle doctor backed away as the icy words bypassed his brain and went directly to his feet, which had a much better sense of self-preservation.

'What the hell is happening out there?' She muttered, elbowing her way through the yapping crowd with a lack of diplomacy that had Corrus flapping his hands in mild panic.

The noise of the crowd and the guards and the dignitaries was a background hum in the pounding headache that threatened to stagger her with every step. Sheer willpower kept her dignity intact as she stalked haughtily back out to the balcony, but she was inwardly thankful to reach the support of the railing.

The headache had reduced slightly, whatever had been tearing at the edges of the sacred realm had accomplished its task. That much was evident by the mushrooming cloud of dust and soil rolling across the field. The falling earth obscured any chance of seeing what was happening inside, only flickers of lightning hinted at any life around the impact site. Even the ranch was hidden, that usually dependable structure clinging to the horizon, and Zelda's sharp eyes could pick up flickers of movement that could only be panicked animals meandered across the field.

Nothing good there, she grimaced. Link and Malon's chances weren't looking good, she had to admit. The rolling shockwave had shattered all the glass in the castle that faced the field, what would have happened to anyone closer…

'My Queen.' A steady voice murmured as a strong hand took her shoulder.

'Impa…' She glanced at the older woman's stern face, seeing a waterfall of blood crusting under her nose. 'You look terrible.'

'Picture of health next to you, Highness.' She jerked her chin at the blooming calamity on the field. 'Our unwelcome visitor, our headaches, I can barely access my power… I take it the Sacred Realm is breached?'

Zelda nodded grimly, her grip tightening on the stone. Push the pain out… Her power could deal with mere physical pain, shunting it down her arm and into the iron…

'The worst comes to pass.' Impa muttered. 'For once, I hoped your dreams would be wrong.'

'It was so vague… I never imagined this. The prophecies… I'm losing them with age, all I could see was flashes… flashes that changed constantly.'

'Perhaps in truth the future becomes more unstable by the day. Messing with time, my Queen…'

Zelda shook her head. A drop of blood flew from her nose to splash on the railing by her hand, where it sizzled.

'I'm not having this argument again. We deal with the here and now. It still works, the only constant image was Link with a mask of his own face, and he was shocked when I told him. There's something real there, and I trust him with it.' She stood straight, taking a long, slow breath. 'Gather the rest of the sages. If they're conscious, they'll be coming here. We need to organise and give Link whatever support he needs.'

Impa studied her carefully. 'The dreams all showed you him and this mask?'

The Queen nodded, her jaw set tight.

'What if that was the warning?'

Zelda shot her a glare and stalked off without answering, haranguing the crowd into some form of order.

Impa stared after her for a long moment, then her gaze dropped to where a slim hand had crushed an imprint of itself into the thick iron railing, which was clicking gently as it cooled.