The raven knew so much, but could not express her information to anyone. Not even the telepathic old owl, Kaepora Gaebora, so much as blinked her way. She knew that this bird had talked to Link before, which deeply saddened her. Even Rauru seemed to have forgotten her. Nothing but war had ever plagued the land, nothing but Garof Dragmire and his son Ganondorf. She placed the blame, nevertheless, solely on herself. The fallen, winged creature wanted more than anything to experience the one last comfort of death, as had been her time so many years ago. If only she could. But without her, the peace of the Triforce would be forever jeopardized; even the Hero of Time could only do so much. War plagued the land in all variety: even the Hyrulian races; Kokiri; Hylian; Zora; Gerudo; and Goron were always at some kind of cold war, escalating into battle all too often.

All hope could not be lost, though. In fact, it was just beginning to arise. On one particular occasion, the raven perched in the shadows of some elders and mages' fire, when she heard a peculiar song from them. It was a tune that was only rumored to exist -- with the power to open the Door of Time, using only the Ocarina of Time.

It was so secretive that she doubted even Rauru knew of it; perhaps it was even composed by the Three Goddesses of the Triforce themselves. It was a sad melody, so hauntingly simplistic that it chilled her right to her hollow bones. Though she knew not of its origin, she did know exactly where to go; singing it repeatedly in a soft caw as she flew off into the night, so that it would not leave her memory.

Link, the Hero of Time, rode his horse through Hyrule Field. The howling wind tossed his blonde hair across his elven face, nearly blowing off his long, green Kokiri hat as it whipped around his head in endless circles. Link was on his way to Hyrule Castle Town, after a day of hunting in the field. He’d been wildly unsuccessful. The wind made it difficult to aim his bow, and there were no creatures venturing outside that day, for they might well have been blown off their feet if they were to leave their protective burrows.

Link had risen from bed early that morning. He’d saddled his horse Epona, and entered the vast expanse of Hyrule Field in the light of the early dawn. There was only a whispering breeze coming from the north when he’d set out, but by noon it had been blowing so hard that Link was forced to lean forward in the saddle, so as not to be blown off balance from Epona.

The sun was then setting, and the tormenting wind was beginning to die slightly. Link shifted in the saddle, rotating his stiff shoulders and repositioning his weapons. It was a failing attempt to relieve the stubborn ache in his back. The bag of rupees on his belt jingled quietly with each stride the horse took, harmonizing with the wind's dying melody.

Link’s horse, Epona, was especially skittish. The filly spooked at shadows cast by the trees as they danced about in the rays of the setting sun. It was as if the horse was sure they were some ghastly monsters of Death. Death was an entity that Link himself had come all too close to knowing… The tall pines swayed menacingly, trying to reach out to grab Epona and take her into their domain of darkness, straight to Death himself.

Link had been riding Epona since she was three, a wild and unpredictable filly. He had a friend at the nearby ranch, Malon, who knew that Link had a special bond with the horse. Link had started training Epona in his spare time, and now, three years later, she was an excellent warhorse. Skittish as she could be, Epona was strong-willed and intelligent, usually a steadfast mount.

Link scanned the area for a suitable place to spend the night, as he needed to keep out of the wind. It was too far to head back to the ranch. He shivered, but only partly because of the dropping temperature. He tried not to think about Ganondorf, about the past. The dreadful memories would never leave him, he knew. He was distracted in his thoughts when he found a large rock, sheltered by the wind that would serve as sufficient shelter for the night.

The sky steadily darnekend into a deep blue that reflected in Link’s eyes as he glanced upwards to look at the stars that were just beginning to emerge from the vast expanse of twilight. As he was looking skyward, a dark shadow swooped from overhead. Epona jumped to the left in surprise. Link caught his balance, quickly drew his bow, and readied an arrow from his quiver, not sure what to expect. The dark shadow circled him once, twice, then glided gracefully towards the west, and the setting sun. Link realized then that it was the silhouette of a raven. Its ebony feathers glistened in the colours of the sunset. The bird was as black as Death himself.

Yet the raven seemed almost familiar in a strange way. As familiar as Death’s icy fingers reaching out to beckon and taunt him; he lowered his bow.

Strangely, the raven wasn’t afraid of Link, as most Hylian birds were flighty. The raven let out a cry; a long, sorrowful caw. It was unlike any bird Link had heard before. It circled him again and uttered another long, sad, minor note. The tune it articulated, almost like a cadence of Death, haunted and chilled Link to the bone.

It was as if the bird was suffering some kind of unbearable distress, yet there was no indication as to what might be causing the creature any discomfort. The raven continued to glide around him. The grace and beauty of its hypnotizing, endless circuit- its purely black and shining feathers; didn’t seem to fit with the look of sadness in its eyes, the hopelessness of its cries. Link stared after the raven as it slowly glided off into the darkness of the eastern sky. Its cawing faded into the gentle howl of the wind in the trees. Even once the raven had departed, Link continued to stare into the blanket of darkness it had disappeared under. The raven’s melody rang in his head, as if the bird had flown deep into his subconcious mind- circling, singing and torturing him.

Torturing him with the memories of his past, of all the horrors he had faced. It had been only five years ago, but it seemed an eternity to Link. It was an eternity of flashbacks and nightmares, of flirting with Death around every turn.

The encounter with the raven seemed so surreal. Link began to wonder if it had even really happened. Perhaps it was just a figment of his imagination, an indication that he was going slowly mad. The strange connection that he had felt with the bird didn’t seem a part of reality. Was it some kind of vision, or dream? Maybe it was that he felt hopeless and alone like the raven- flying in circles. But was he, too, soon to disappear into an unending blanket of eternal darkness?

Link tried to shake the thought from his mind, dismissed it. Yet it remained buried deep within his subliminal thoughts, mingling with the raven’s haunting melody. Epona impatiently stamped her feet, tired of his stillness. Link dismounted and led her to a sheltered area near the huge grey-brown rock where he would spend the night. He untacked her, and slowly removed his weapons. He placed them neatly and carefully on the ground beside him, performing the ritual as he had done it hundreds of times. Since he had no supper to eat, he didn’t bother with a fire. Link simply curled up on the grass beside the rock and fell into a fitful sleep, full of nightmares and ghastly creatures of darkness and Death.

Link found himself facing a girl of about his own age; a warrior. She wore black combat boots and gauntlets. Her clothing looked like it could have been from hundreds of years before. She carried a shield in her right hand, and, could it be? Yes, it was the Master Sword in her left hand, held in a death-grip. The legendary blade had been forged during the Imprisoning War, but did it not reside in the Temple of Time? Wait! This was the Temple of Time, where Link had pulled the Master Sword years ago. Only the Hero of Time could pull the Master Sword from its pedestal. How could it be that this girl wielded that sword?

Her wavy brown hair hung just past her shoulders, shining in the surreal light coming through the intricately designed stained glass windows. Her deep brown eyes expressed that she was in some great pain- both emotionally and physically. There was a look of both fear and determination on her face. Link saw the girl speak, saw her calling, calling for him, yet he could not hear the words formed by her mouth. That look, that hopeless, pleading look in her eyes only partially masked by the expression of determination she had as a warrior. He wanted desperately to run to her, to call out to her, yet as he spoke nothing was audible. Something was keeping him from reaching the girl.

Roaring, something was roaring so loudly, so close that they could not hear one another as they desperately called out. Fire! Fire roaring so close its golden fingers licked the air in front of Link. His head pounded; the wall of fire was only a few feet away. His sense of urgency to reach the girl was so intense, only common sense kept him from running through the flames, into certain death. But he knew that there was not much time left, before…. before what? Link could not think of why the girl was in such mortal danger. He only knew that he had to save her, had to help her before it was too late. He was held back by the flames, could not reach the girl; could not save her from whatever horrible fate seemed sure to come…..

Link awoke with a start, bolting upright and nearly slamming his head into the rock beside him. Epona, who had been dozing nearby, skittered sideways at Link’s sudden movement. He had broken into a cold sweat. His heart was pounding as the silent cries of the girl echoed throughout his mind. The heat of the flames still licked at his face. Link breathed heavily, sitting there for what seemed like an eternity.

His mind raced as he tried to make sense of the nightmare. Such clarity, such unreal clarity in the dream, unlike the mere stream of random thoughts and ideas placed together by the day’s events. No, this was something different, something all too familiar to Link. But Link was sure that when he’d returned to his original time that he’d placed the Master Sword to rest in its pedestal and sealed the Door of Time forever. Or was it forever?

Link remembered everything from his quest. Not a day went by without the flashbacks; the memories of the war and suffering he’d experienced, five years ago to him, but actually in the future with all time travel accounted for. Link was a warrior, he always would be. He knew he’d never be content to simply relax and live a normal life. He had slayed thousands of Ganondorf’s minions in cold blood.

He could never forget what it felt like to hold the hilt of a sword as it drove into the heart of a living being; the power he felt; the passion in his cry as he pulled the sword from the lifeless body and held it above his head in triumph; the blood that dripped from the blade glistened a deep crimson, the colour of death; the dull lifeless eyes of the being stared into the great fissure of endless darkness, perhaps looking for the reincarnation into a new life they knew would never come.

Link shuddered, shaking his head as if trying to rid the awful thoughts and visions from his mind. “I am a killer,” he admitted to himself softly, “a cold-blooded murderer. This is why I have such nightmares.” Hylians were an elfin-like race, and thus were not of generally violent nature. Link had been lapsing into a depression far from his character over the past few months. His life had become nothing but paranoia. He stood up slowly, trembling slightly, and walked over to Epona.

As he saddled and mounted, he felt an urge to go back to sleep, to just forget about the dream. But whenever the thought crossed his mind, it was replaced by a mental image of the girl in the Temple of Time. No, he couldn’t just ignore his instinct, his duty as the Hero of Time, as a warrior. He knew what he had to do.

Next..