Darkness spread over Hyrule Castle. The girl clutched to her attendant as the drawbridge lowered, and her steed galloped out of the town. Opening her eyes just a fraction, she saw a little boy, dressed in a green tunic, run out of the way. She turned, and threw something at him, before her attendant turned her back. She felt the darkness follow her, nipping at her heels. It threatened to overwhelm her, but she kept on going. The darkness came�she couldn't�breathe�it was suffocating

Princess Zelda woke up, screaming. Her attendant, Impa, one of the Shiekah, rushed in. "Princess! Are you all right? What happened?"

Zelda tried to relate the details of her dream, but everything was too foggy to remember. "A boy, he had a fairy, he was wearing green, think darkness, extreme darkness, we were fleeing the castle�" she shuddered.

"That's about all I can remember, Impa." She looked at the Shiekah, whose normally stern face was kindly and concerned.

The Shiekah looked on sympathetically. "It's fine, Zelda, nothing's wrong. Are you sure you don't want anything?" When Zelda was silent, Impa left the room for her normal post outside the bedroom door, which she closed, whispering, "Good night, Princess, if you need anything, call for me." Zelda shivered as she went to sleep, and the darkness once again claimed her.

Zelda was peeking through her courtyard window, when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned, surprised, to confront the intruder, ready to call for Impa, if needed. It was more a surprise to have it be a young boy, about 10 years old. To add to her confusion, was the fact that the lad seemed to be familiar to her. He was small, dressed entirely in green, with a small shield and sword on his back. A fairy hovered near him, bobbing up and down in the air. She was puzzled, as his identity became more familiar to her every second, but still maddeningly out of her grasp.

"Who are you, what are you doing here?" she asked. "How did you get past the guards?" She cautiously took a step towards him, but stopped. "You're one of the forest folk, the Kokiri, right? I've never heard of one outside of the Lost Woods." She started to recall another of her dreams, but pushed it aside for now.

"My name is Link. Yes, I am one of the Kokiri, at least I think so, we're not supposed to be able to leave the Woods, but, I don't know�" He shifted nervously. "The Great Deku Tree, our guardian spirit, before he," Link seemed to gulp. "Died, he told me that I was going to have to save Hyrule, from the power that sapped his strength."

Zelda started to understand. "Link, you wouldn't happen to have a green Spiritual Stone, would you? I know, it sounds crazy, but I had a dream. There was total darkness over the land, but a ray of light cut through. It formed into a man carrying a green stone�"she started to whisper. "The Spiritual Stone of the Forest."

Link nodded. "The Deku Tree, before he died, he gave me the Spiritual Stone." Zelda motioned to the window. "There is a man in there. One of the desert people, the Gerudos. He claims to pledge allegiance to my father, but�I doubt that. I believe he is after the sacred treasure of the Royal Family, the Ocarina of Time. I also think that he represents the darkness in my dream. If those other premonitions are true, then it is likely that this is the man that killed your Deku Tree. His name is Ganondorf. Would you like to look?" She moved away, as Link moved in to take a look.

She waited until Link backed away from the window, but there was something about his movements that suggested fright. "Did he see you?" she asked. He nodded. "Well, he doesn't suspect anything, yet. Link, will you help save Hyrule from the darkness? Please?"

"Sure, I guess, why not? I might as well, if it's what the Great Deku Tree wanted me to do." Link answered.

"Thank you, Link!" she exclaimed. "I will give you something to help you on your quest." She took out a piece of paper, and wrote: 'This is Link. He is under my orders to save Hyrule. Please do not detain him. Signed, Princess Zelda.'

"Link, head to Death Mountain. The Gorons, who live there, hold the second of three Spiritual Stones. You have the first one. Once you collect all three, come back here. Then I will give you an item that will help you in your quest. Link, please go! You must save Hyrule! Impa, my attendant will lead you out of the palace. Now go!"

Link started to walk away, and then turned to run. Zelda saw him converse with Impa, and then they started to play music?! Well, Impa must have a good reason, Zelda trusted her. Then Zelda turned back to the window, and resumed spying on Ganondorf. Was it just her imagination, or was there a slight grin on his face? What did he know? What was he planning? He could NOT be trusted, Zelda thought, not at all.

Zelda paced back and forth within her chambers. It had been over three weeks since she had sent Link off on his quest for the Spiritual Stones. Had it been a mistake to send him? He was just a boy�maybe something had happened! She started to pace more quickly, worried. Well, he did get the Goron's Spiritual Stone of Fire, she was sure of that.

There had been a Goron messenger sent by Darunia, the Goron King, about a week ago, saying that Link had bested the Dodongos and received their Spiritual Stone in gratitude. If Link could fight the Dodongos and win, he'd surely be able to get the Zora's Spiritual Stone of Water, wouldn't he?

Suddenly, Impa walked into Zelda's room. Zelda jumped with surprise, startled. "Oh, I'm sorry, Princess Zelda. I just came to tell you that there has been a messenger sent by Princess Ruto of the Zoras."

Zelda started to feel hope. Maybe Link did it after all! However, she was surprised that it had been Princess Ruto who sent the messenger, not King Zora. Wasn't it his duty to handle affairs with the Royal Family?

"Princess Ruto? Not King Zora?"

"That is correct, Princess. The messenger told us he had no orders from the King, just from Ruto herself. The messenger told me that the lad you sent on the quest for the Spiritual Stones has gotten Zora's Sapphire, the third and last Spiritual Stone. He is on his way back to Hyrule Castle Town right now."

Zelda smiled. He had made it! Now, though, her smile disappeared. She needed to give him the Ocarina. It would be safe with him, she thought. "Impa, wait here. I'll be right back."

She ran out of her room, then resumed her regal aire, confident that no one would suspect anything out of the ordinary. She walked through the many, mazelike hallways of the Castle, to the Royal Vault. The soldier, Arono, one of the most loyal and trustworthy of all the guards in the lands of Hyrule, stiffened at attention as soon as he saw her. "Good evening, Princess. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Yes, Arono. I need to go into the Vault. Please open the door for me." She stood at the door, waiting for the guard to open it. He looked confused for a moment, then resumed his attentive, clear aire, and opened the door posthaste.

"There you go, Princess."

She walked into the room, filled with gold, jewels, rupees, and other precious treasures that the Royal Family owned. She was not seeking any of that at all, instead, what she was looking for lay on a pedestal in the middle of the room.

At first, it seemed to be a simple ocarina, blue in color. However, when one examined it closer, after time, one could see that it seemed to glow with a mystical light. It was the sacred treasure of the Royal Family, one of the keys to the Sacred Realm, the resting-place of the mystical Triforce, the Ocarina of Time.

Picking it up, she realized something. Link needed to know the Song of Time if he were to open the Door of Time in the Temple of Time. She hoped she would be able to give the Ocarina to him herself, as well as teach him the Song, but�if something happened to her, she needed a backup plan. Holding the Ocarina, she used her mild magic abilities to leave a telepathic message in the Ocarina. The message was: 'Link, if and when you receive this message, I will no longer be around. At least I can leave you this message and the Ocarina. You must take this Ocarina, go to the altar in the Temple of Time, and play this song, the Song of Time. She proceeded to play the low, haunting melody. Link, please hurry! We don't have much time! The darkness is gathering even as I speak!'

She had just finished leaving the message, when the door flew open. Ganondorf stood there, eyes blazing. "Give me the Ocarina and no one will get hurt!" He hissed. She stood her ground bravely, yet she was extremely frightened of the evil wizard blocking her entrance. As he strode towards her, she gave up on her calm fa�ade.

Screaming for help, she dove through Ganondorf's legs, as he tried, uselessly, to grab her. Running out of the room, she saw the limp body of Arono stretched prone by the door, unconscious or dead, she could not tell. She continued running, as Ganondorf stepped out of the Vault, raised his hand, and sent a blast of energy hurtling towards her. It hit her in the back, and she stumbled and fell. She looked back at the wicked King of the Gerudos striding towards her, and had almost resigned herself to capture, when she felt a pair of strong arms pulling her away to safety. She looked up, and saw Impa. The Shiekah looked at her, and whispered. "Zelda, Ganondorf and his followers are attacking the castle! We must get away! Come quickly!" The two ran down a side corridor to the Royal Stables. Void of human life, there was one horse left, Leat, who was Zelda's personal steed.

Impa helped Zelda up, then mounted the white horse herself. Holding the reins tightly, she spurred the horse into action. They raced out of the stables, passing the drawbridge quickly.

Zelda looked to the side for a second, and saw a black Gerudo stallion tied there. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ganondorf untying it, preparing to follow, and she urged Impa to go faster. The Gerudo King let a blast of energy go at them, but it missed due to the sudden change in speed.

The horse sped through the virtually deserted Hyrule Castle Market, narrowly missing a pair of lovers who danced together, oblivious to what was happening around them. When Impa and Zelda reached the gate to the outside, they found it closed. Looking around for the guard in charge frantically, Impa shouted, "Open the gate now! Lower the bridge!"

In response, the guard yelled back. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but we don't open the gate at night, who knows what could be lurking out there!"

"This is Royal Family business!" Impa shouted, angered. "Open the gate NOW!" Humbled, the guard nodded hastily. "Yes ma'am, right away ma'am!" He turned the wheel that opened the gate quickly. When the gate was down, Impa urged Leat to go faster.

Holding tightly to her horse, Zelda opened her eyes just a crack. To her surprise, she saw a little boy, dressed entirely in green, rush out of the way to avoid the horse---It was Link! She turned, and with all her might, threw the Ocarina at him. Impa quickly turned her back, and they continued their flight. Zelda hoped with all her heart that Link would discover the Ocarina, and retrieve it before Ganondorf did.