Chapter 1

A Dark and Stormy Night

Tonight it was raining. The storm that had moved in late afternoon started softly enough, but as the sun set, the wind and rain intensified. Thunder and lightning soon followed. The sound of cascading water roared through the house. Link kept tossing and turning in his bed, but his efforts to doze off were futile. He wasn't getting any sleep tonight.

Link turned to his other side to eye the door on the far side of the bedroom. Flickering candlelight filtered just slightly from under the threshold. He could hear the faintest of muffled whispers from the people beyond. He should have expected that not even rough weather would prevent the meeting.

Link flipped over again onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. He wasn't sure what to think of the whole thing. For the past three months, Uncle Smith and his acquaintances, influential folks from the castle, would frequently gather in the middle of the night around the kitchen table for hours on end. Goddesses only knew whatever it was they discussed. Link already tried asking about it several times, but Uncle never spoke a word about it. Smith never let Link sit in, and eavesdropping proved just as fruitless. For some reason, all Link could ever hear was the unintelligible sound of mumblings from the kitchen. Smith only warned Link never to mention the goings-on to anybody. Other than that, he acted like nothing was going on at all.

But no, thought Link, there is something going on, a lot of things.

It all seemed to start about a year ago. A new sort of curse began to spread throughout the kingdom. Some said it came with the cold winds blowing down from Death Mountain. Others said it was a magic experiment gone horribly wrong. Those inflicted became unusually stiff and clumsy in their movements, and they became perfectly incapable of using any tools or weapons. It was as if someone were trying to turn them into helpless rag dolls to play with. No one was immune to it, not even the good King of Hyrule. By the time the king was inflicted, many a magus was called to expel the curse from him and his people, but to no avail. The curse was simply a mystery unable to be solved.

That was until the Great Wizard, or so he was called, came with the answer. He was a traveler, a Gerudo nomad from the far reaches of the southwestern Desert Wastes. He was a magus of arcane skill and wisdom that surpassed most in the rest of Hyrule. He alone was able to identify the source of the curse. He called it the "blue bubble curse," and the culprit was a malevolent spirit from another world. Using his magic, he quelled the infliction plaguing the kingdom.

The name of the magus was Agahnim. His Majesty the king was immediately grateful to the man's services. The king so desired a magus of Agahnim's talents that he offered the Great Wizard a position in the Royal Council. The whole Council, and indeed the whole kingdom, was stunned. Never before had a Gerudo been asked to join the Council! The Gerudo tribes, although technically a part of Hyrule sovereignty, lived by their own laws and customs as though they were a foreign country in and of themselves. They rarely had anything to do with others outside of their circles. But Agahnim was quite the exception, and he graciously accepted the invitation.

Surprisingly, the Great Wizard proved to be as proficient in politics as he was in magic. He was not at all like by the others as he took his seat at Council. Eyes glared with suspicion and contempt at him. What did a Gerudo know about Hyrulean law and government? In the ensuing months, however, Agahnim stole the spotlight for the king's attention with his ideas and plans. The Council's general opinion of the magus grew more favorable. Most members of the Council came to admire the man. To them, his proposals, which transferred more governing power to the Royal Family, made things run much more quickly, smoothly and efficiently, because the Council was no longer forced to deal with every petty detail. A bitter distaste, however, lingered with a few others. They felt his motions altered too much the delicate the long-established balance of power between the Council and the king. It was the whole purpose the Council even existed: to keep the rash decisions of a king from having too much lasting consequence.

Regardless of the divided opinion of the Wizard in the Council, before the harvest was over, Agahnim was appointed the new Minister of the Council by the king. The Council almost disintegrated from the schism that slashed through it. His Majesty struggled sleeplessly for a whole week trying to keep half the Council from resigning. Those who openly disliked Agahnim, for the king's sake, managed to warm up to Agahnim a bit.

The dust was finally beginning to settle. Then winter came. And then king fell ill. His disease confined him to his room, incapable of fulfilling his duties within the Council. A temporary ruler was needed.

The king's daughter, Hyrule's very own Princess Zelda immediately stepped forward to take the place of her father. She was young, beautiful, and, just like her father, bright and clever. The people loved her, and she was willing to do anything for her country. But she was also headstrong, intrusive, and inexperienced.

Plus, she claimed to have telepathic powers and prophetic dreams, dreams that were symbolic and ambiguous. His Majesty was most intrigued when Zelda first confided to him about it, and he called upon several wise magi to investigate and tutor her further. They likewise expressed interest in her, as they had never encountered someone with such powers before. The king was delighted to learn that his very own daughter had such a unique talent. But after a short time, the magi returned to the king with unfavorable reports. She had not passed their telepathic tests, and Zelda had endeavored to interpret her own dreams, interpretations that they believed were hasty and naïve, which in turn led them to conclude they weren't really prophetic in nature at all. The king was disheartened. Soon he and everyone else around her disregarded the princess's powers entirely.

In the eyes of the Council, Zelda simply was not ready to rule in her father's stead. But the Great Wizard, he had the age, the wisdom, the experience, and the success to prove his ability superior to any other. His name quickly passed to the front of the list of candidates. There were, of course, those that made it quite clear that they would rather die than see a Gerudo, practically a foreigner, succeed the king, even if only temporary. But by now, Agahnim's opponents had become a minority voice, and the Council was beginning to tire of the same accusations made over and over.

So Agahnim, the stranger from the desert, the Great Wizard, became acting sovereign of Hyrule.

Despite the stark disagreements within the Council, in contrast not a word of protest echoed from the masses outside the castle walls (at least none that were voiced so readily as the Councilors). After all, he was the Great Wizard. The people adored him. He had stopped and reversed a mysterious curse. He was like a savior to the families of those who had been afflicted. Why shouldn't such a public hero be privileged to take the king's place until he was well again?

Link had never met the man himself, although he had seen him a few times. The only reason he knew so much about him was because of his uncle. Smith made his living as a blacksmith and as a trainer of swordsmen. And he was good at it, so good that the top swordsmen in Hyrule all learned from him. During the course of his life he met such accomplished swordsmen who later became members of the Royal Council. He took a particular liking to them, and they became good friends. Smith was no magistrate, no nobleman, but they would always come to him should they need to confide in someone. They valued his opinion, particularly because his mind was always fresh and free of political biases.

Since Agahnim's temporary appointment to the throne, the situation with the council began to intensify. Never before had the Council been so divided on one issue. The former Minster of the Council, Lord Rigel could take it no longer and promptly resigned from the Council altogether. Link remembered seeing the man several months ago approach the house as he had attended to the horses. Smith emerged from the workshop to meet his crestfallen friend.

"What's the matter, Rigel," he had asked.

"Agahnim has been appointed acting sovereign," Rigel had answered.

"Over the Princess Zelda, the king's own flesh and blood? That's absurd!"

"There was nothing I could do. The voice of the Council was for the motion."

"Has the Council lost all sense of reason?"

"Perhaps, which is why I resigned my seat today."

"But, Rigel, you can't give up now. You're needed there!"

"No, not to them, not with Agahnim running things now. As it stands, the Council has lost too much power, let alone our little voice. Our other friends have chosen to continue the fight, but I doubt much success will ever come of it."

Rigel had spoken the truth that day. Indeed, others were soon to follow his footsteps, but in a less dignified way. As the Councilors still opposed to the motion continued to resist Agahnim, the wizard found it necessary to dismiss them from their office. "Issma's been let go today," Rigel returned several weeks later to say. "Now Oras is gone," he said the following week. It was not long before the Council was free of any open opponents to Agahnim. It seemed then that the tension from the castle would at last relax, and real progress could be made. But from Link's end, a melancholy had settled with Smith and his friends.

As if matters couldn't get any stranger, the coming of spring brought along a fresh list of rumors through Kakariko Town. The first rumor was that someone had broken into the castle in an attempt to take the Wizard's life. This had not been confirmed, but it explained the fact that castle security had been tightened significantly. Access to the castle had been restricted to residents, invitees, staff, and urgent business. At night, the gates were strictly closed and locked tight, and the guard had been doubled.

The second rumor was that Agahnim was looking for someone to marry. Young ladies from all around the kingdom were summoned to the castle for some unexplained reason. Upon returning home, the ladies were, of course, abused with questions about the matter. Each said that they were treated to dinner in the presence of the Great Wizard. He displayed particular interest in them and their families, said something about a genealogy project he was interested in working on. And after dinner, the ladies were comfortably quartered for the night and then sent home with a small gift the following morning as thanks for the trouble. And that was that.

Link first heard the news when shopping in Kakariko Town from some of the local gossips. "He only ever calls upon one girl at a time, and they're always young, not yet twenty-five years old," the gossip said to the vegetable cart lady.

What a strange thing to do, thought Link as he selected his groceries.

"Do you suppose he's looking to marry?" the vegetable cart lady asked the gossip.

"Oh, I'm sure he is," she replied. "He could use the comforts of a lady, especially after all that political stress from last year."

"He does seem rather old for the gals he's been summoning," the vegetable cart lady replied. "Perhaps he should find someone a little further along?"

"Why, he should marry me!" the customer cried happily. "I've been waiting for a man for too long now." Both women began to giggle hysterically. Link decided he and Smith could do without cabbage for one more day and promptly left with an annoyed look on his face.

Marriage seemed to be the favorite topic of choice for the next several weeks. It seemed highly unlikely marriage was what Agahnim was looking for, because some of the women he summoned were already quite spoken for and with several young children. And the children were hardly of age to marry. Yet the only thing anyone could ever seem to talk about was marriage for the Great Wizard. The men would talk about what sort of women Agahnim might fancy and whether they themselves fancied such women as well. The women would talk about what a grand wedding Agahnim would have planned out and hoped to catch a glance at his ceremonial procession in the future. Link became so sick of the subject that he really hated it when his errands took him to Kakariko.

The third rumor was a lot more unsettling to Link, simply because it was shrouded in mystery, the rumor that magical experiments were being conducted in the castle tower. Of course, the only magus around the castle was Agahnim. People figured he was just trying to keep his knowledge of magic fresh, what with the demand on his time being acting sovereign had. But whatever explanations he may have heard, the thought made Link feel wary, and he didn't know why.

Strangely enough, however, whenever Link brought these subjects up with his uncle, he wouldn't so much as acknowledge he even heard the news. In fact, Link noticed these, as far as he could observe, to be the three subjects revolving around Agahnim that Uncle Smith and his friends never mentioned. All they ever seemed to rant about was what happened in court. But not a word about the rumors passed their lips.

In fact, it was at about that time that everyone started meeting together with Uncle Smith late at night.

Link flipped again to his side to gaze at the light from beyond the door. It had been almost two months since the first meeting. By now it seemed like he knew everyone by name.

First, of course, was Lord Rigel, the former Council Minister, definitely older than Uncle, wizened and gray, calm and observant. He rarely showed his range of emotions, well trained to keep calm in tense situations. Out of all the others, he seemed to trust and confide in Uncle the most.

Then there was Lady Issma. She was the first to be dismissed from her position in the Council. Middle aged, she not the most attractive woman, but she was proud in the way she carried herself. So naturally, she was the most outspoken of the group, and her opinion was not easily swayed. She was also morally strong which made her a powerful ally. Unfortunately, her inability to see others' point of views and passionate temper had made her a distasteful member of the Council. It was probably no surprise Agahnim dropped her so quickly.

Lord Oras was a man of few words. He always looked like he was half asleep due to the bags under his eyes, but not much made it past his perception. And when he spoke, there was a sense of power behind his quiet, steady voice. But he liked to throw in several rude adjectives whenever he mentioned Agahnim by name. Word was he could barley control himself in front of the Wizard at court. His smart mouth eventually cost him his seat at Council. Of these three nobles Smith saw the most of, as they visited often apart from the nightly meetings.

A few others who came around were not former members of the Council, but they were officers in the castle guard. Perhaps the one who stood out the most to Link was Sir Naom. He was a young, large man, the largest man Link had ever seen. His frame, his muscles, everything was big about him. No wonder his assignment was to be the Princess Zelda's personal bodyguard! He had a square head, large and wide facial features, and narrow eyes. He kept his brown and silver hair and beard short and well groomed. Despite is ferocious appearance he had a strong black-and-white sense of justice and duty. Whenever asked to do something for the group he would swear on his family name, on his life, on his honor, to the Goddesses, or whatever seemed appropriate, that it would be done. Oddly, though, Link hadn't seen him the past several meetings, and he wasn't here tonight, either.

Then there was Sir Gonar, a soldier stationed at the main castle gates, if Link remembered correctly. He seemed to be the living definition of stoic, which is probably why he was a gate guard. He never reacted much beyond a blank stare to the unexpected, the odd, or the surprising. He wasn't always at the meetings because of conflicts with guard duty. But tonight he was present.

A total of four magi rounded out the regular attendees of the meetings. The first Link knew fairly well himself, the old elder of Kakariko Town, Sahasrahla. The elder was certainly old, and although he loved to deny it, the first signs of senility seemed to be setting in. Sahasrahla was also somewhat of an expert on history and legends and fiddled with magical items on the side. But he tended to go on long drawls about his research from time to time and would promptly chastise anyone who tried to ignore him or hurry up his explanation. He seemed to be a little jumpy, too, as he would take frequent glances over his shoulder whenever in Uncle Smith's company. But like Sir Naom, Link hadn't seen him for the last few days.

A man by the name of Harahn looked even older than Sahasrahla. He spent much of his time caring for the little chapel tucked into the southwest corner of Kakariko Town that everyone simply called Sanctuary. His silver beard reached down to his knees, and he wore simple, loose garments. Change Sanctuary into a cave, and he might as well have been a hermit. He was a lot like Lord Oras, quiet as a shadow, except Harahn probably was half asleep. The group didn't seem to pay him much mind, though. But whenever he spoke, he seemed to add significantly to the conversation. He and Sahasrahla could often be seen discussing things amongst themselves during the meetings. Link didn't know much more about him other than that.

The last two magi were surprisingly young compared to the other two. Chris was a tall, thin fellow with a round head and blond hair of modest length. He had bright eyes, a wide mouth, and a narrow nose. He preferred to be straightforward, but he was not quite so harsh as Lady Issma in voicing his opinions. He favored more optimistic, light-hearted approaches to circumstances, from what little Link had heard from Chris himself.

Yunala, Chris's wife, was perhaps the most levelheaded of the lot. She had a heart-shaped face, soft in all of its features, which belied her magical prowess. Her hair was a dark golden brown and straight, the length reaching to the middle of her back. She was the last to get riled up and the first to quiet things down. She was very practical and thoughtful in her reasoning, which complimented her husband's personality in a surprising way.

Link couldn't think of a stranger assortment of people than what met in Uncle's home these dark nights. As Link's thoughts reflected on these people, and the recent events transpiring, he was now almost sure it had something to do with Agahnim. They never mentioned much about him while out in public, like they were trying to stay low-key about the situation. But as far as what they were scheming or doing, Link had about given up trying to find out.

It must be important, Link thought to himself, to still meet on a night like this.

Link turned away from the door again to face the opposite wall and closed his eyes. He could sleep well enough through bad weather. But his mind wouldn't stop thinking. After a few minutes he burst from his sheets in frustration and paced stiffly around the room, occasionally throwing dark looks at his bed as though to blame it for keeping him up.

"Maybe instead," he said to himself, "I should try running that new sword technique Uncle taught me through my mind again."

Link climbed back into bed and began to visualize himself on the back lawn with his uncle. Every day, first thing in the morning, without exception, Smith trained Link in the art of swordsmanship for two straight hours. Link never looked forward to it. Smith trained him more like a slave master would drive cattle. And Link was terrible with a sword. At least, that was the impression Smith made, because he never had anything complimentary to say. Link tried to avoid training sometimes, but Smith was always one step ahead of him. No matter what scheme Link tried, Smith would find him, clamp and heavy hand onto his ear, and lead him out into the breaking dawn.

So Link wasn't very enthusiastic about running memories of training through his mind. It was a desperate attempt at falling asleep.

He visualized himself in the beginning stance. In his mind's eye, he pictured himself out on the back lawn with his sword. He spread his legs out, left leg more forward and straightened out, the other tucked underneath so that he was in a sort of crouching position. With sword in hand, he extended the blade behind his back and into the air. He held the position, making sure his arms and legs were properly positioned.

Something in his mind nagged at him. He wasn't sure if it was his own mind or the memory of Smith plaguing him. No, your left leg is too straight, it said. You put too much weight on the other leg. It'll make the attack too slow. Link jerked in his bed and rocked to his side. Pressing his eyes tightly closed, he reformed the scene, and repositioned himself. No, the nagging said again. Your sword is sagging too much. Your sword must point straight up to the sky, or you won't be able to channel the energy correctly.

"This isn't working…!" Link growled through his teeth, leaping from his bed. He started pacing agitatedly again around the room, trying to come up with more pleasant thoughts to lull him to sleep. When he finally had something, he slid into bed once more and gently closed his eyes.

There was a little hill to the south Link went every now and then, whenever he had the chance. It wasn't far down the road, but far enough to consider whether you wanted to make the walk. It had just enough elevation for a spectacular view of the surrounding region. Hyrule Castle, of course, dominated the scene directly north, with colorful banners atop the tower turrets flapping in the wind, Death Mountain serving as a backdrop behind. Then there was Kakariko Town to the northwest, the tallest buildings and plumes of smoke just clearing the treetops. Beyond it loomed the terraced marshlands. To the east could be seen the azure roofs of the Village of the Blue Maiden, the home of Hyrule's magi. To the southeast glinted the shores of Lake Hylia. And to the south a narrow network of canyons leading to the Desert Wastes was visible.

Link loved it there. He'd rest against the little tree that grew on top. He especially loved it up there at sunset. The twilight spread a serene fiery glow across the country that warmed his heart and calmed his mind. Sometimes the late afternoon breeze would caress his check, and he would sink into the grass under the tree branches to sleep. And when he awoke, the sky would be filled with stars, winking over the countryside. And almost always Smith would walking up from the base of the hill. Then there was the usual response, "…Was getting late…didn't come home…worried sick…" But he was never really mad, just being a parent. And then they'd walk home together and talk about things. And once in a while those conversations went on long after they got home and long into the night.

A gentle roll of thunder passed through the room. Link was finally able to keep his eyes comfortably closed, and a light sleep began to fall over him, when suddenly a faint voice that seemed to come from no particular direction reached his ears. He sat bolt upright. It was the voice of a girl. It sounded hazy and distant. Her voice was urgent and panicky.

"…Help me… Please, help me… I am…Princess Zelda… I'm being held…in the castle dungeon…"

Link looked around the room earnestly, but no one was there. The voice sounded as though it had been spoken to his mind rather than to his ears.

Link noticed the light leaking through the cracks of the bedroom door flicker, and the screeching of wooden chair legs came from the next room. Link could no longer resist the urge to see what was happening. He again slid out of bed and crept over to the door to pear into the other room through a small knothole just below the doorknob.

Everyone there was standing straight up with wide eyes gazing around the room as though they had seen a ghost. Did they…did they hear it, too? Link wondered to himself. What's going on? They all stood there rooted to their spots for a minute or two. But one by one, the people sat back down into their chairs, still flicking their heads around as though someone might suddenly jump out of the shadows.

A few moments went by, and then it happened again. "…Help me… Please, help me… I am…Princess Zelda… I'm being held…in the castle dungeon…"

Link started again, but not as violently. The others in the room reacted likewise. He heard the humming of their conversations begin again, as incoherent as ever. It was louder than usual; they were talking all at once and very quickly.

The voice in the darkness spoke no more. They went on for quite some time, and Link's eyelids started feeling heavy. Oh, so now I feel tired, he brooded to himself. As if on cue, however, the people stood from their chairs to head home for the night. Link noticed Chris wave his hand through the air and felt an odd rippling pass over him like a gentle breath of wind or like a wave of water passing over him. Suddenly Link could now hear their voices clearly.

"I'd better hurry back to the gate," said Sir Gonar to Link's uncle. "My shift's about to start. If you'd like I can let you sneak through."

"That won't be necessary, Gonar," Smith's gruff voice replied. "That may attract too much attention, and it'd get you in trouble unnecessarily. I plan to use the 'alternative' way."

"Are you sure you want to do this alone?" the soft voice of Yunala asked Smith. "You know it'll be dangerous, especially if what Rigel and the others say is true. And…you're not as young as you used to be."

"I've already said no," Smith argued, ignoring the comment on his age. "This is my duty alone." Smith briefly glanced to the side before hastily adding, "And we shouldn't be discussing this anymore without Chris's Shell in place."

There was a moment of silence followed by the sound of footsteps heading out into the night. "May the Goddesses grant you luck, tonight," Lady Issma said to Smith as she left. "Do be careful."

Link leaned closer to the knothole for a better view of the front door. Everyone bowed to Smith as they disappeared into the heavy rain. When they were all gone, Smith sat heavily into a chair, looked down at his feet, and sighed. Link watched him earnestly for several minutes, the small flame of the candle on the table casting light that danced across his face. Link had never seen such a look of worry on his uncle's face before. He knew that when Uncle was worried, it wasn't good.

Smith stood after a moment from his chair and made his way toward the bedroom door. At once Link jumped up and dashed back into bed. He just pulled the covers over him as his uncle opened the door with a faint creak. Link heard him walk quietly over to the wardrobe and pull out some items. There was another moment of silence before he felt a large, warm hand against his back. Link twisted around in bed, trying to look as though he had just been asleep.

"Uncle," Link said in his raspiest voice he could manage. He looked up into his uncle's rough face with bushy mustache, large eyebrows, and black hair with a hint of gray. He was dressed for traveling, and Link could see the sheath of a sword underneath his thick cloak and the old family shield hanging from his back.

"Link," his uncle responded. "I need to go out for a little while. I should be back by morning. Until then, stay inside." Before Link could respond, Smith gave him a quick hug and walked to the door, closing it with another creak.