Link woke up in a cold sweat, the repercussions of the voice echoing through his head. Panting slightly he lay back in his soft bed in the castle of Hyrule. Link closed his eyes and cast his mind back to his nightmare, to the voice that had spoken, not in anger but in anguish and pain. Realisation dawned upon him. As he had leant into the soft cuccu-feather bed he had placed his arm across his wife’s side of the bed, yet had felt no resistance. Zelda was gone!
Link cast his mind back over the three years of marriage with his finicky wife. She was usually a late riser but he was sure that if there had been great need she would cave arisen before sunup. She must have had an early meeting to sort out such and such problem in the Land of Hyrule!
That settled in his mind, Link proceeded to change into his forest green tunic. This had caused uproar in the land as, like it or not, Link was a hero. His mode of dress had sparked a new fashion. That said, the new designs were garish to Link’s eyes.
After changing, Link looked at his bag. There were so many items to choose from! All except…the Ocarina of Time! He tensed, then decided that Zelda must have taken it. After a moments thought he slung the master sword across his back and left the room shutting the doors quietly behind him.
As Link left the royal suite where he and Zelda lived, he was greeted by the guard Shiro who, despite Links entreaties, continued to guard their door. Link smiled, he had grown very close to this unassuming guard who patiently stood in the corridor outside their rooms.
Link began to walk toward the stairway leading to the castle proper when he half-turned and asked “Shiro, when did Zelda leave our chambers?”
Silence.
Shiro’s honest face showed puzzlement. “No-one save yourself has left your chambers. Neither left nor entered…Wherever your wife is, she has not come out here…”
Link froze, and spun around, his face a careful blank. He stared at Shiro a few more seconds in which Shiro felt distinctly uncomfortable, then ran into the rooms. Once there he looked for any other way in which his wife could have left …the window!
Link ran to the window, fearing what he might find. As the faint breeze stirred the net curtains Link looked down at the courtyard below… and sighed in relief. There was nothing below.
Link stared unseeing a moment more then proceeded to ransack the apartments looking for something…anything which might help him find out where Zelda was. After a long search, so long that Link nearly despaired, he saw a small scrap of paper lying on the desk on top of all the sheets of numbers and complaints that Zelda studied daily. Link walked over to the desk and read the note. His heart fell.
The letter read;

My dearest Link, Hero of Time,
Link, Hero of Hyrule,
I have taken your wife, The Seventh Sage of Light, and intend to use her to regain the ultimate power. Any attempts to save her will prove to be your last. You have a choice. Either you sacrifice yourself to try save Zelda, and somehow find your way to the Sacred Realm. Or you accept that I have become stronger that you could have ever imagined and flee to save you miserable existence. As in one month’s time I will rule over all the lands.
Ganondorf Dragmire.


The letter fluttered from Link’s hand as he stared into space in shock. From his mouth he emits one long noise full of anguish, sorrow and despair
“Nooooooooooo…”
With this scream the doors of their quarters were flung open and Impa, Sage of Spirit and Zelda’s handmaiden rushed in to find Link kneeling on the floor as if praying, tears streaming in rivulets down his face. Noticing the discarded note Impa picked it up, read it…and all the blood was sucked from her face.
“Din, Nayru and Farore!”
By this time Link had risen to his feet his face set in a determined manner. Impa, recognising this, stood blocking the doorway.
“Don’t be a fool! You’re doing exactly what they want you to do!” Impa shouted, and then went on in a quieter tone “and besides, how would you get there?”
Despite all that Impa could do, Link would not listen. His pain and anger at the kidnap of his wife had caused a cold fury to run through his blood. To him there was no reason.
Link stared at Impa for a minute then continued in a cold whisper that could be heard in every corner of the room.
“I must.”
Impa looked at Link and, realising if he got it into his mind to go nothing could stop him, stood aside from the door. Link left without a backward glance.