Link's Arc

Chapter 1 of 5

Link stood on the rotting porch of the old vampire house and raised the ocarina to his lips. His blond hair stuck to his forehead. The night was cold and black. Somewhere past the broken fence, his horse was lost, and Link needed her before the dark things woke. He blew the song his father taught him. Six notes, clean and high, that carried across the empty field. Nothing came. Link played it again. His fingers shook on the small holes. He had one adventure left in him, and he could not walk it alone. He needed Epona. Then he heard hooves. The chestnut mare broke from the tree line, her pale mane flying. Link laughed and stepped down to meet her. But three shapes rose from the tall grass behind her. A hunched swamp creature with burning yellow eyes. A thin figure wrapped in gray cloth, red points glowing where its eyes should be. A pale ghost girl in a torn dress, her black hair hanging like wet rope. The swamp creature grabbed for Epona's reins. Green claws scraped her flank. She reared and screamed. Link ran the last steps and caught her bridle. The wrapped figure lifted one bandaged arm and pointed at him. Cold air rushed past his face. "Easy," Link told the mare. "Easy. I've got you." He pressed his shoulder against her neck and pushed her turning. The ghost girl drifted closer, mouth open, and a thin scream cut the air. Epona bolted sideways. Link grabbed her mane and swung himself up onto her back. He kicked her hard. She lunged forward. The swamp creature swiped and missed. Link felt claws tear the back of his tunic, then only air. Epona hit her stride and the ruined house shrank behind them. The wrapped figure did not chase on foot. Instead it raised both arms, and the ground ahead split with a crack. A wall of dead branches shot up across their path. Epona could not stop in time. Link pulled the reins right. The mare cut hard and jumped a low gap in the fence. They landed in the field beyond, breathing hard, the three shapes now far behind and shrinking. Link slowed her to a walk and looked back. He had Epona now. He was riding. But the wrapped one had torn the earth open with a wave of its hand, and the ghost's scream still rang in his ears. These were not lost animals or simple bandits. They had followed his horse on purpose. He patted Epona's neck. Ahead, past the black field, a faint red light glowed low on the horizon, moving. Something out there was awake and waiting. Link tightened his grip on the reins and pointed her toward it. Whatever these three served, it lay that way, and now it knew he was coming.