Singeing howls scorched the cold night air with their lingering echoes. The chilled, hard ground was illuminated with the watery light of an unforgiving moon. The wind lifted the horrible screams and buoyed them high enough to shock the trees and cause them to tremble.
Flying over this porcelain landscape, a youth of seventeen sprinted towards the decimated remains of Hyrule Castle Town. Showers of icy dew sprinkled the grass at the feather-light touch of his leather boots. Fair cheeks flushed scarlet with exertion, he gasped for air as the wind wrenched the breath savagely from his throat. Though a sense of urgency commanded his feet forward, he slowed to a stop in front of the broken drawbridge. Doubled over and panting, he pushed a stray lock of blonde hair back behind his pointed ears, and suddenly became aware of a wetness about his eyes. Whether they were watering or he was crying, he knew not.
The dusty thunder of tremendous paws drumming the earth alerted him to their presence behind. His left hand instantly shot to his shoulder, where he gripped the hilt of his sword as though his life depended on it. Swinging around, he faced three ominous shadows. Huge, glowing eyes reflected the metallic luminance from the sky.
For a moment, the three faced the one. Heaving, hairy sides and slobbering black tongues stood opposite the wavering, flaxen mane and glinting Master Sword. A glacial breeze looped through the four, drawing them closer while pushing them apart.
The tip of Link's blade punctured the ground beside his feet. The glimmer of his sapphire eyes was only broken by an occasional blink; so fast were these that they seemed to be a momentary twitch. He took a deep, shuddering breath, and felt the silver rush in his lungs.
One of the beasts before him snorted suddenly, sending acrid jets of vapor rushing out of its nostrils. It took a step forward, lashing its tail. Link raised his sword and set his nerves.
A dense cloud cover wandered across the moon. The Wolfos pounced.
The blackness yielded only sound. A ringing slash, and choking, throaty gurgles emanated from the stifling implosion of noise.
The clouds, frightened by the moon, scampered aside. Hyrule Field was doused in heady, terrible light once more. Link's body was still beneath the sinewy black form of the Wolfos. The other two beasts looked on in wonderment.
Nothing moved for an instant, when the Wolfos' body suddenly shuddered once, then rolled off of Link. The young Hylian stood, drenched in blood, and leaned over the creature. Clenching the slippery hilt of his sword, he drew the long, crimson-sparkling blade from its chest. Blood seeped from its wound and spread over the earth. Silence reigned.
It took a few seconds for their comrade's death to register. When it did, their enraged howls shook the very remaining foundations of Hyrule Castle's outer walls. Link needed no further encouragement; he took off at a sprint for the stairway to Kakariko Village. The hungry, yearning snapping of teeth propelled his weary limbs upward.
The endless rain of the village had muddied the ground. Link stumbled to his knees when his boots sank into the muck. Hurrying forward, he pounded on the door of the nearest home, screaming at the top of his lungs. Already the other two Wolfos were splashing through the mire towards him.
The door did not open; he was not surprised. Few ventured outside, now that the Shadow Creature had been released. The Wolfos were too close, so he ran onward towards the well. The opening was too wide – they would follow him down there.
The wooden fence blocking off the area behind the medicine shop caught his eye. They could not climb well...
He scrambled up the fence with the speed of a cat, splintering his fingers for his troubles. Dropping lightly on the other side, he leapt backwards just in time to avoid the swipe of a broad paw. The pair opposite the gate howled furiously and began clawing the wood. Link watched them for a moment, catching his breath. When one of them began violently throwing itself against the gate, he knew it would not last long. Backing up slowly, he was surprised to find the ground abruptly give way beneath his feet. He fell just as his pursuers exploded through the fence in a shower of nails and chips of wood.
The next sensation he was aware of was of being gently lowered to the ground. Link opened his eyes and found himself in a small, dimly lit cave.
He stepped forward, feeling the sand on the cave floor caressing his feet. A large, smooth gray stone, about half his height, was situated some distance away on the left. It was one of the many hidden Gossip Stones strewn throughout Hyrule, and upon gazing into the eye carved upon it, he experienced the sensation of someone or something peering directly into his soul.
Several small plants grew beside it, and opposite, on the other wall, was a tiny freshwater pond. It was more of a puddle than a pond, but a lone blue fish swam placidly back and forth in it.
Link wearily stumbled towards the puddle. Exhaustion gripped his wiry, muscular body so completely that upon falling to his knees beside the water, he did not bother to get up. He stirred his finger idly in the water, frightening the fish, and listened to the vicious pawing and digging occurring above. Turning slowly to face the hole through which he had just fallen, he knew the Wolfos could not get him here.
When the creatures' frenzied cacophony died away, he turned back to the fish. It was then that he first felt the pain in his shoulder. Gazing at his reflection in the little puddle, a handsome, troubled young man blinked back. Blood darkened the specter's shoulder like a storm cloud.
Link gingerly touched it with his fingertips. Searing pain exploded, his whole right side locked down in paralysis, and white lights flashed before his eyes.
He did not know how long he lay there, but when he woke up, he was on his side in the shallow pool. He sat up. Water streamed out of his hair and clothes in twinkling rivulets. The fish, having been crushed beneath his sudden fall, lay silent and cold at the bottom of the puddle, half driven into the sand. Its fin swayed back and forth in the minute currents; its silver eye stared up at him icily, lifeless as the moon.
Link's heart suddenly leapt into his throat and he began coughing. Choking, gasping, clawing the sand desperately with his fingers, he fell to his side once more, struggling to snatch back his strangled breath. Tears spilled down his face and mixed with the blood oozing from his shoulder; he shut his eyes tight and fought to conquer the demons raging within.
The conflict in which he fought was a battle of epic proportions. It was the eternal strife between good and evil, day and night, light and shadow. It had gone on for untold generations before him, and still might go on for generations after. Nameless faces of heroic souls who had lifted the swords of their hearts to fight for what was good and just floated invisibly throughout the land, spurring on the weary who thought they could battle no more.
Never before, however, had the mystic kingdom of Hyrule harbored a warrior such as this. He did not know it, lying in the sand, soaked with blood and tears, that he was the stone which split the stream of time. Two paths lay ahead: a golden, prosperous age, or eons filled with a dark and brooding evil.
His body quivered and his determination faltered as he contemplated the enormous task facing him. He was so tired – how could he possibly hope to secure the Triforce? He was weak in mind, body, and spirit. Link closed his eyes and resolved to rest and rejuvenate himself. Here was a safe haven, where no enemy might catch him while he slept – as had happened so many times before – and with a few days' rest, he might still face the oppression to come.
For though he doubted his abilities, he was unaware that it was his destiny to conquer the darkness which pervaded every corner, every shadow, of Hyrule.
Link's thoughts, as he dozed off, turned sweetly to the fair Zelda.
And, in a castle not too far away, the Prince of Evil tossed and turned in his sleep. For what seemed like the millionth time in the past seven years, his dreams were invaded by a young Hylian who freed Princess Zelda and took the Triforce of Power away. He jerked awake with a haunted cry, dreading the arrival of this boy with a fear he had never before known.