Naia bit her lip, trying to not laugh. She sat inside an empty jam jar and laughed her tiny head off. Unfortunately, she forgot that glass amplifies sound, so it was louder than she had expected.
Link shuffled over to the jar and slammed a cork in to top of it.
After about half an hour, Link got to his feet, "Thanks for the hospitality, Malon, but we really need to get going if we're going to make it to Gerudo desert before night fall.
"Oh." Malon's face fell a little, "OK! Just look after yourself, yeah?"
"Sure!" Link smiled, mimicking Ron and Harry.
They walked outside into the fresh air and Link paused to take a nice, long breath. But... Was that... Smoke? He opened his eyes as the others started to chat amongst themselves and squinted to look up north.
Flames flickered into the sky, dancing and performing patchy pirouettes. It was the castle.
"GUYS!" Link yelled, then pointed at the fire.
"Is that Hyrule Castle?!" Harry asked, aghast.
"IT IS!" The Hero of Time drew out his ocarina and played a quick tune on it. Epona came galloping towards him and he mounted her quickly, turning his steed around and bellowing, "YA!"
Epona bound forwards, out of the gates and towards the commotion.
"LINK, NO!" Was everyone's reaction.
"Come on!" Harry brought out his wand and sprinted after the mare and her rider, watching the fire burn brightly against the sun.
Naia screamed from inside her jar, "YES CHILDREN LETS RUN TOWARDS THE FIRE." She yelled.
Link breathed heavily, staring at the burning castle in disbelief. Zelda was in there and it was his duty to save her.
He rode Epona over the bridge and into the castle town, where the residents were going wild.
Children were screaming out for their mothers and vice versa, men shouting for their wives and the whole town running from the castle.
Link gnashed his teeth together in anger. Epona reared at the amount of noise, whinnying and tossing her head backwards.
"Woa, woa... Calm down... It'll be OK!" He called to her and patted her neck, then drove her onwards, up the long path to the castle.
"Woa, kid, you can't go in there!" A guard yelled as the rider and steed thundered towards him.
"OUT THE WAY!" Link bellowed and Epona jumped cleanly over the gate, skidding around the corner and drawing ever closer to the burning building of dying hope.
He gasped and ducked as a bright green light flashed over his head and looked around, distracted for a second.
"CRUCIO!" Came a scream and another curse skimmed his elbow. He looked up at the steps ahead to see a figure in a long, dark cloak stood with a wand raised toward him.
Link growled, "I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" He grabbed his bow and an arrow and let one fly, watching as it planted itself into the mysterious invader's shoulder.
Epona leapt up the steps and stormed into the blazing castle, her hooves clattering on the cobblestone, flames licking at her flanks.
Link drew his sword and shield, ready to fight whatever he found inside.
Hermione ran up to the drawbridge of the castle, "We can't go in there!" She gasped.
"Outta my way. I got this." Naia clicked her fingers and the glass shattered. She flew at breakneck speed towards the black smoke plumes. She saw a smudge of green and belted towards it, dousing her path in a torrent of water.
They finally emerged into the main courtyard. Link pulled on the reigns and Epona slowed to a halt, rearing slightly and stamping a hoof on the ground, snorting.
His mouth fell open as he spotted what was in front of him.
Another, taller cloaked figure had Princess Zelda held with his arm around her throat, a wand point rested against her temple.
"No." She yelped, "Link! Run! RUN!"
"The Hero of Time? Well, I'd better get rid of you, then." Came a slippery voice from under that hood and the long haired man rose his weapon to aim at Link, who went to raise his shield, but not fast enough.
"Avada Kadavra!"
"NO LINK!"
And a flash of green light was the last thing he saw.