Rauru was the man who had built this very temple many years ago. Short in stature and large in build, the balding Sage stood, dignified, in white robes. Link turned around to face Rauru with proper respect, not daring to speak for fear that he would somehow ruin the sanctity of the magnificent Chamber.

“I do not have much time, so I must tell you why you have been summoned once again,” Rauru stated. He took a deep breath, and began.

“Many years ago, before I built this Temple of Time, a man by the name of Garof Dragmire guarded the Triforce in a dungeon near the desert village of Sahaar. This man was exiled after supposedly going mad and joining a race called the Hurali. The Hurali were an evil band of warriors who roamed the Haunted Wasteland, destroying anything and anyone in their path.” Rauru paused, as if flashing back to some painful memory. He stood silently for a moment, then regained his composure and continued.

“I lived in that village, and Garof was my brother. He had one young son, whom I believe you’ve met before.“

“Ganondorf,” Link affirmed, starting to understand.

“The Hurali had attacked us once,” Rauru coninued. “They killed our leader, our head warrior. We barely won the battle. The daughter of this warrior -I cannot recall her name- was trained in battle and magic herself. She took it as her duty to train an army. She is the reason that you are here, Link, the girl from your prophecy.” Rauru let the words hang for a moment, though in the Chamber of Sages a moment could as well be an eternity.

“But why am I here?” Link broke the silence.

“Be patient, Link, and I will explain. I knew that Garof was planning a second attack on Sahaar, so that he could return to the dungeon where the Triforce resided and kill everyone in the village but his son, Ganondorf. I told the daughter of our late warrior about this temple, and she set out to find the dungeon to try to retrieve the Triforce before it was too late. Unfortunately, it was too late. The Hurali attacked the village and killed nearly everyone. I managed to escape to the dungeon, hoping to head off Garof before he could get to the Triforce.

“I found the Triforce, and the girl. However, I had not beaten Garof to it. He was battling the girl, and she’d somehow managed to nearly kill him. I got there just in time to see Garof cast a curse that transformed her into a-“

“A raven,” Link cut in somberly.

“Yes, Link. She was doomed to be a raven for all of eternity. That is, until she found you, the Hero of Time.” Rauru looked seriously into Link's eyes, though he had the hint of a smile on his lips.

“You must go back, Link. I made a promise to her, those many years ago, that I would find a way to transform her. Save the village and obtain the Triforce. I will not know you, for I had not met you at the time. After I’d obtained the Triforce and seen the evil that had been dealt, I vowed to build this temple, this door into the Scared Realm. This temple did not exist, then. It is of utter importance that Garof does not obtain the Triforce, for you must remember that you are altering history, and there may not be a world to come back to if you fail. When, if, you return to your original time, you will not remember anything. You must proceed to the dungeon once you get there, for time will be running short. I will send you to the time of one day before the attack. The girl is in the dungeon. If you can find him, I think there’s a friend of hers who might be willing to join you.”

Rauru's gaze continued to penetrate Link's a moment more, as if reinforcing his words telepathically. Then, wordlessly, he raised his hands slowly into the air in front of him. He summoned a blue crystal that encased Link and lifted him off of the ground. It was then that Link realized he didn’t know where to find the dungeon. He called out to Rauru, but it was too late. Link could see only blurred colour, spinning beautifully around, as his world began to distort and finally disappear into nothing but a blinding white light.

Link awakened in a small wooded area. He stood up shakily, unsure of his balance, but quickly reoriented himself. He sheathed the Master Sword and took a few tentative steps forward. Upon further exploration of the area he found that he was on the edge of a small town. “Sahaar,” he mumbled to himself as he stepped out into the clearing, onto a cobblestone road.

There were many townsfolk traveling the road, yet it was evident that things were not as they should have been in the village. The look of fear on their faces, their hurried gait, the sounds of children crying, and of panicked villagers hammering boards across their windows only added to the chaos.

This was a town preparing for an attack. Were the Hurali that close to invasion? Link’s questions were somewhat answered when he stopped a man hurriedly walking past him. “What's going on?” Link inquired.

“Don’t you know…? …The Hurali…. They’re coming again! If you’re smart you’ll stay in your home and board the doors and windows! They’re attacking Sahaar tomorrow at sunrise…Thank the Goddesses that warrior girl trained our army.. but can they fend off the Hurali again? I must go and find my wife!!” The man continued on his way, even more chaotically than before.

“Sahaar…” Link repeated to himself. He ascended a small hill to get a better view of the village. Sure enough, he saw in the distance a vast desert in every direction beyond the town. The sun was nearly setting, which only panicked the villagers further. Soldiers were preparing their battle stations, though they looked horribly disorganized. One of them, a red-haired young man, was desperately shouting orders. He heard a soldier address him as “Esper,” before some men setting up canons over the hill summoned him from view. Link would have gone to help them, but the task of finding the girl was foremost on his mind.

After querying several other villagers, Link found out that the girl he was looking for had mysteriously disappeared two nights past. Without her, the village didn’t stand much of a chance in battle. The armies continued to prepare themselves, but without the girl's instruction they were ultimately lost.

Link sat down on a rock, as Rauru’s words playing through his head. He knew the girl must be in the dungeon, but he did not know where to find it. If it was as secretive as Rauru had made it out to be, his chances of discovering it before sunrise were very slim. In the midst of his very urgency, he gave up and put his head in his hands, quietly reordering his mind as he sat staring at the ground in despair. He looked up for a second without lifting his head, watching the people through strands of blonde hair that fell in front of his eyes -- not watching them at all, really, but lost deep in thought.

It was then that he saw, out of the corner of his eye, a particular man walking placidly along the cobblestone road, as if unaware of the panic around him. Link lifted his head to squint through the last rays of the sun, which had almost disappeared behind the horizon. The next glimpse of sun the villagers saw would be their last day of life, Link thought grimly. “No,” he whispered to himself suddenly, fiercely regretting his comment. He was there to save the girl and her people, to prevent a disaster, not to witness one.

He turned his attention once again to the man, who was strode steadfastly parallel him. With nothing to lose either way, Link succumed to curiosity and rose as the man approached. The usual telltale clang of his weapons barely audible over the other sounds of the village, Link put his hand on the man’s shoulder to catch his attention. The man, a heavyset older villager, turned to face Link distractedly.

Link opened his mouth to speak, but when he saw the man’s face illuminated by the very last ray of the sun as it sank slowly down into the horizon, he was speechless. Though more youthful than as Link knew him, he still had that unforgettably familiar, wise air about him. It was Rauru.

Next..