With the flute in hand, and the mysterious tunes of Hyrule in his mind, Link felt powerful enough to challenge any beast that dared cross his path. Link had heard of a river devil that ate the weak, but Link knew himself to be no weakling. South of Darunia lay the river, and at the only crossing Link spotted from afar what could only be the river devil of legend. The devil was fashioned in the shape of a huge spider, with fearsome, penetrating eyes. Link openly displayed himself to the devil, but the monster made no move. Huge as he was, the monster nonetheless sensed the power in this youth who defied him. His leathery hide could be penetrated by no weapon. So, the devil thought, as long as he guarded the crossing, none could pass, not even the hero with the symbol of the Triforce engraved on his hand.

Link dared to stare into the eyes of the beast, and there he read a deeply guarded fear. The river devil, strong as he was, could not withstand the powers of... what could it be? Link felt the flute in his pocket and pulled it out, played a few notes. The river devil stared at Link in horror, writhed with disgust and loathing, but still he would not dare to attack Link. Link understood - the monster feared music, the sound of which had helped countless heroes and led to the downfall of many evils. Putting the flute to his lips and closing his eyes, Link played on the flute the music that the flute had taught to him as a gift. He opened his eyes to see the river devil scurrying away as fast as its hairy legs could take it.

Link crossed the river and entered a narrow canyon. The dry and desolate canyon looked abandoned, but Link could sense evil eyes marking his passage. At last Link could deny it no longer: upon the canyon wall up ahead was lined a structure of tall wooden slats, and reptilian eyes stared at him through the slits. Link bravely defied their defenses, running past as red-skinned lizard men popped into sight and rained down stones on him. Their aim was remarkably good, and Link was forced to dodge and jump the hail of canyon rock. In the middle Link met a trident-wielding lizard soldier, and the two exchanged blow after blow as rocks continued to rain down. Link hewed the orange lizard man down at last and ran on toward safety.

Link encountered two more such obstacles in the canyon, and came out bruised and battered. To the south was a graveyard, and beyond that the entrance to another canyon. To the east lay swamp and forest, with a river running south. Link followed the path to a bridge across the river, which was inevitably broken up and swarming with skeleton fish that jumped out of the water at him. The bridge led into a short stretch of the woods around the river, and out into the desert. Link followed the river south to another bridge (also broken and patrolled by skeleton fish), which led to a a town in the distance.

Link crossed the bridge and approached the town, but as he got closer and closer he could see that something was wrong. For one thing, he heard nothing but the wind whipping against his ears. And some of the buildings looked to be destroyed, and the rest deserted. When he finally reached the town of Kasuto, he saw that it was abandoned for sure. What had happened here? Link saw and heard nothing, but he sensed he wasn't alone in this desolate place. Suddenly, he felt evil forces around him, and pain seared through him as something brushed against him. Link still could see nothing, and began to panic. What form of invisible magic was hurting him?

Link rushed to the nearest building to take refuge from the deadly sorcery outside. Exhausted, he rested for a bit, and then curiously explored the abandoned house. In the cool basement of the house he was suddenly confronted by a wizened old man. Link tried to placate the wild-eyed, bearded man, tried to make him understand that he wasn't another enemy. The old man didn't need much convincing, and sighed with relief. He told Link, "The town is dead. Look east in the woods." He refused to say anything more about what had happened to the town. Link thanked him, and decided to get out of the creepy deserted town of Kasuto.

As Link headed northeast across the desert to the forest, he could see in the distance three large rocks. He noted their symmetrical placement and large size, but moved on and thought nothing more about them. Link found nothing but Deelers and lizard men in the forest surrounding the river. Working his way north through the woods, Link came upon a cliff wall and spotted a dark cave entrance nearby. Always up for a little adventure, Link decided to peek inside. The cave was filled with Ganon's evil vermin, and when Link reached the end and stepped out into the sun he was glad to see more woods. Perhaps the old man meant for him to look in these woods? The forest was choked with undergrowth, and not even Link's sword was sufficient to cut it all away. Link tried using his hammer to clear away small trees and brush, and found that the hammer was much more effective at clearing a path and opening up his field of view. In this way Link finally found the hidden town of Kasuto, to which the former residents of the abandoned Kasuto had fled.

A woman carrying a basket greeted Link, and when he asked her about the ruined town of Kasuto, she only shuddered at the memory and whispered, "We had to flee Kasuto." Another woman overheard the conversation, and discovering that Link had visited the old man who had remained in Kasuto, she let Link know that this man had magic powers. A third woman, an old woman standing outside her house, saw that this was a brave hero who wished to save Hyrule. "You deserve my help," she called, "Follow me." Link met her inside her house, where she revealed a helpful hint: "There is a secret at the edge of town."

Link continued deeper into Kasuto, exploring its secrets. A man told Link a legend passed down in Kasuto: "Call for help at the three eye rocks." An old woman passing by, seeing that Link would go to the palace of legend, told Link that the hole in the palace was an endless trap. Inside an empty house Link found a large fireplace, and noted its likeness to a secret passage. Since it looked like he could fit, Link worked his way up the chimmney, and found himself in a secret attic. An old man there taught Link a magic word, which would cast a special spell, called simply "Spell."

The hidden town of Kasuto ended in more undergrowth, which grew high and thick enough to block further passage. A secret was hidden here in this clearing, or so Link had been told. Summoning some of his magical power, Link uttered the magic word that would cast Spell. Link's world flashed before his eyes as the words left his mouth, and Link's magic turned the words into a beautiful tune. In front of his very eyes, a hidden building emerged from beneath the ground. Inside this building Link found a Magical Key, which he placed carefully with his other belongings.

Link left Kasuto, and as he headed back to the desert he pondered the fact that the three rocks in the desert were the key to the sixth palace. But his clues were scant - who could he call to for help, and how? When at last he reached the "three eye rock," Link stood in the center of the triangle formed by the three, hoping for inspiration. The three charred, parched rocks stared back at Link, daring him to find out their secret. He had felt this sensation before... but where? Link suddenly realized - the river devil had stood defiantly in Link's path, until he had shown the arachnid the power of his flute. Link palmed the flute and defied the rocks with a tune, calling out to ancient powers to reveal the mystery of these silent stones. Link's cry for help was answered, and the sixth palace rose from the sand.

As difficult as the palace was to find, it was harder still to force its secrets out of it. Link confronted magical locks barring his path, but thanks to his Magical Key he was able to fight bravely past fell beasts and deadly magicians. At the end of a long hallway, Link came face to face with Rebonack, the mounted iron lancer astride his flying horse. Link dispatched the Ironknuckle with his downward thrust and fencing skills, and claimed his prize: a Cross. With its secret power, Link was now able to see enemies that before had been hidden from his sharp eyes, monsters who were made invisible by enchantment.

Link opened more magically sealed doors and fought another Rebonack before he stood at the brink of a treacherous precipice. He stared over the edge into a pit of boiling lava. The other side was clearly where Link needed to be, but there was no clear way to get there. Link didn't want to waste his magic power, so he took a chance. He would ready his Fairy spell and then jump off the edge. If nothing presented itself to help Link across, such as an invisible bridge, Link would cast the Fairy spell and fly to safety. He jumped off the edge, and saw with dismay that he was going to fall into the bubbling lava if he didn't cast the Fairy spell.... NOW! Link felt the heat of the lava rising into the air, helping his small fairy wings raise him up and take him to the other side of the brink.

At last, after further adventures, Link reached a dead end. Islands popped out of an ocean of lava, and as Link stood at the ready a head popped out of the lava. This head belonged to Barba, a terrible fire dragon with a long neck who made his home where none other could stand, in the lava of the sixth palace of Hyrule. Barba breathed a fire at Link, but the young hero leaped to another island just in time. Link saw that the only opening he could breach was Barba's vulnerable head. But the dragon's ugly face towered high above Link, and not even an upward thrust could reach it. Link cast the Jump spell, feeling his frame lighten, his legs strengthen, his feet quicken. With a great leap, Link was above Barba's head, and he came down with a deadly downward thrust. With a roar of pain, Barba retreated into its native element. Link nervously looked around, waiting for Barba to appear once again. Barba popped out of the lava again and again, and tried to burn the valiant hero with his fiery breath, but Link jumped up and smashed down into the dragon's head with his magic sword. Barba was at last defeated, and Link stepped past the ashes of the dragon and into the next room. Taking out the final crystal, Link placed it into the forehead of the sixth and final statue. As he walked out of the palace into the hot desert sun, he turned around and marked how there were now "four eye stones" where before there were three.