Link raced toward Kakariko Village of the back of Epona. Her sides were lathered with sweat, and her sides heaved with the effort. "Come on, come on," Link murmured, coaxing a little more speed out of his horse. The letter had been short, but horrifying.

Link,

There isn't much time. Come to the village immediately.

Renado

It wasn't the letter itself that scared Link. It was the small postscript scrawled at the bottom of the page.

It's Ilia.

Renado's normally neat and precise handwriting was a rushed, barely legible scrawl. A smear of ink showed on one side of the page where the pen nib had snapped, spraying ink over the parchment.

Midna raced behind Link, frantically attempting to keep up. He had pushed his horse to a ridiculous pace, almost running her into the ground. A good league from the gates of the village, she collapsed, gasping. Link jumped out of the saddle and quickly gave her a quick once-over. Finding nothing more serious than exhaustion, he turned and began to run towards the village. "Midna, stay with Epona!" he shouted over his shoulder.

Midna barely heard what Link said over her hammering heart. Gasping for breath, she stopped beside the horse. Epona's breathing was already becoming less laboured. The horse was smart enough to realize when she was at the breaking point, and refused to continue. Several minutes later, the horse got up and began munching grass. Midna sighed, finding no point in staying, and continued her pursuit of Link.

Link burst into the village, panting heavily. He staggered to the spring nearby, letting the waters ease his cramped muscles. His feet ached from running the league to the village. He had not stopped once to rest, sprinting the entire time. A few seconds later, he straightened up, revitalized by the waters of the spring.

Renado caught sight of him and began striding over. Link beat him to the punch, sprinting over to him. "I came as fast as I could," he said breathlessly. "What's wrong?"

Renado said nothing, only looked away, sadness tingeing his eyes. Desperate for an answer, Link lunged over to the next familiar face he saw. Grabbing Colin's shoulder, he asked "What happened?"

Colin looked at Link, burst into tears, and fled. "Please!" Link shouted after him. "What's going on?"

Link felt a hand on his shoulder. "I think it would be best if you were to leave now, m'boy."

He turned, shocked by who he saw behind him. Standing there, eyes red-rimmed, was Mayor Bo. "Mayor?" Link asked, feeling strangled. "What're you doing here?"

The mayor of his hometown village turned and left him standing in the street, still with no answer. "Wait," Link said, remembering the reason for his urgency. "Where's Ilia?"

Upon hearing the name, Mayor Bo made a sound like a wounded animal and charged at Link, knocking him to the ground. Link leapt to his feet, confused more than ever. Mayor Bo didn't attack again. Instead, he sank to his knees, hands over his face, sobbing.

"Renado!" Link shouted. "I came because of Ilia. Now where is she?"

When he still didn't get an answer, he sniffed. "Fine. I'll just find out for myself." Link turned and began walking to Renado's house, where Ilia had been staying. At this, Renado leapt into action. "I would most strongly advise against that," he said gently, moving forward.

"I don't give a shit what you advise!" Link snarled. He walked again to the house, only to feel himself forcibly restrained. He elbowed the culprit in the gut, then shifted his weight back, throwing his assailant over his hip.

Barnes slammed into the ground, grunting as the air was forced from his lungs. Link drew his sword, enraged. "Anyone else wanna try and stop me?" he challenged. "Huh? Anyone?" He swung his sword a couple times for emphasis, the steel making a soft but deadly swish as it carved through the air.

"Link," Renado spoke up. "For your own good, don't go in there."

"Fuck you," Link said calmly, turning and walking into the house.

Link picked his way through Renado's house, searching for whatever it was they didn't want him to see. A small part of his mind said that if they didn't want him to see whatever it was, he probably didn't want to see it either. Link ignored this, striding forward. He held his sword loosely in his left hand, prepared to defend himself if need be. The eerie silence unnerved him.

He cautiously opened the door to Renado's study, walking inside. Ilia was sitting in a chair, sleeping. Link frowned. They were this desperate to keep him out to give Ilia some privacy? Still, something about her was odd. When he finally saw it, he staggered backwards, sword dropping from his fingers.

He ran forward, gathering her up in his arms, heedless of the blood that stained his tunic. The deep red blood covering the front of Ilia's dress. The blood that had come from the ornate ceremonial dagger buried in her chest. Tears blurring his vision, Link's eyes happened upon a scrap of paper on the desk. He picked it up with a shaking hand, reading it.

The memories won't come back. I just hurt everyone. I'm doing everybody a favour.

And Link?

I'm sorry.

Hand shaking, Link crushed the scrap of paper in his fist. He slowly became aware of someone screaming, a horrible, animal sound. A moment later he realized the sound was coming from him. Tears ran down his face, dropped onto Ilia's. It was serene, peaceful.

How could she do it? Link thought brokenly. He decided he couldn't bear the sight of the dagger in her chest any longer, and removed it, the wet crunch the blade made as it left her flesh tearing his heart in two.

Bloody dagger in one hand, Ilia in the other, Link sobbed brokenly. All joy in the world was gone. He had nothing except duty to live for. Roaring in pain and grief, he hurled the dagger at the wall as hard as he could. It struck a wooden beam blade-first, penetrating to the stone wall. He wrapped himself protectively around Ilia, his cries the deep sobs of one who has nothing left.

Renado found him that way, sobbing heartbrokenly, arms wrapped around the girl. Gentle condolences passed from his lips as he tried to convince Link to let go of her.

It took the combined strength of Renado, Mayor Bo and Barnes to pry Link away.