He seemed to be hovering in the sky, above Hyrule Field. He was looking down on Lon Lon Ranch. Even though everything seemed peaceful, he could sense the evil in the air, seemingly very near. He turned around and faced the desert when he saw what he feared. Ganondorf was marching a small army out of the desert and into Hyrule Field. He tried to call out to Malon, but he had no voice. All he could do was watch as Ganondorf made his way toward the ranch, unstoppable. He could hear the screams of Malon and the shouting of Talon, as Ganondorf took them prisoner. Malon was crying out to Link, but he was unable to do anything. In his mind, he heard the same three words again: Find the Amulets! He tried to call out "Where?" but he couldn't. Seeming to know what he had wanted to ask, the voice called out again in his mind: Go to the Great Deku Tree! When he brought his attention back to Lon Lon Ranch, he gasped as he no longer saw it. In its place was the menacing tower he had come to known. In front of the tower, he could see a tiny green speck. He was able to float down to the ground for a closer look, but when he got there, he wished he hadn't. On the ground, with a sword in his chest, was himself.
The sun had not yet risen, but Link could no longer sleep. The dreams were starting to make him worry. He remembered the last time he had dreams like this, before he was the Hero of Time. He sat up in his shoddy bed and his thoughts turned to Zelda and Evan. He hadn't wanted to leave them at Hyrule Castle, but he felt it was safer than coming with him. He then thought about his dreams again. What did they mean? Was he destined to fall in battle? He hated when dreams and people spoke in cryptic ways. Just get to the point! Finally, he gave up on trying to figure it out and tried to go back to sleep.
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As the sun appeared over the horizon, the makeshift town seemed to come to life. Link awoke from his unpleasant sleep and gladly rose up out of bed. He was quite hungry, but knew he could wait. There were more important matters to be dealt with. When he was about to leave, he glanced down at his hand and saw that the Triforce mark on his hand had begun to glow. Without another though, he exited his tent and found his friends and the leading townsfolk. On his way over, he never noticed the tall, black structure to the far north of the town, positioned right where Lon Lon Ranch was.
The Knights and soldiers slowly walked into the remains of what was once Baru. Just about every building had been burned to the ground, and those that weren't looked like they would collapse under the weight of a feather. Dead bodies littered the streets and the group had to be careful where they stepped. From what they could tell, there had been no looting, just killing and destroying. No longer able to face more death, they turned back toward the encampment.
William looked to the north, wondering when they were going to get back to Hyrule Castle. He didn't like the feel of the atmosphere here. There was too much death and destruction for his liking. As he looked at the horizon, he noticed a structure that he hadn't seen before. It seemed to be a tower of some kind, tall, and black, stretching into the sky. He never remembered passing it on the way here, but of course, he really wasn't paying attention to anything. He urged his horse to go faster until he had caught up with Link and Nick.
"Hey, guys. What is that tower over there?" He pointed in the direction of Lon Lon Ranch.
"What tower?" came Nick's reply. Then he looked where William was pointing and stopped dead in his tracks. "Link, what the hell is that?"
William was in shock. "You mean, you don't know what it is?" Nick shook his head.
"Not only that, I don't know where it is."
Both men turned to Link, who looked at the tower with no emotion. Without looking at his friends, he calmly said, "I know the answer to both those questions." He continued to ride toward the encampment, not acknowledging his friends' faces of wonder.
William and Nick stared at each other with confused looks on their faces. At the same time, they both made their horses catch back up to Link.
"What do you mean you know what it is?" Nick questioned the Hero.
"I've seen it before."
"How could you? It just appeared there!"
"I've seen it in my dreams."
William was confused, as he had never heard of Link's prophetic dreams in times of danger. But with one look at Link, he knew he was telling the truth, so he decided against protesting.
Nick continued his interrogation. "Well, then, do you know where it is?"
"Yes." He didn't saw where, however. He just stared ahead in silence again. Nick, expecting an answer, raised his voice.
"Where? Damn it, tell me!"
Link turned to his friend, his face devoid of all emotion, "Lon Lon Ranch is gone."
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After leaving the remains of Baru and its people, the small army of men started back to Hyrule Castle. In front of them, on the backdrop of a blue midday sky, was the mysterious tower. There was no doubt in anyone's mind of who put the tower there. But the fact that it seemed to pop up overnight startled almost all of them. Nothing ever surprised Link anymore. He had grown used to weird events brought about by Ganondorf. All he could think of at the moment was the reality of the dream. Am I destined to fail? What will become of Hyrule if I do? Once again, there was very little talking as the group made their way back across Hyrule Field.
As they got nearer to the tower, a feeling of uneasiness swept through the ranks. Even Link was starting to get worried about the menacing structure. He could feel the evil emanating from it, and he had no clue as to what would happen when they finally came upon it. There was no activity in the vicinity of the tower, as far as anyone could tell, but they were ready for anything.
Finally, they were next to the tower. It seemed to be made out of some sort of black rock, which reflected light almost like a mirror. Instead, the images were twisted and seemed evil themselves. The surface of each stone was perfectly smooth. There wasn't a crack or break anywhere. They walked around to the north side of it, so that they were between it and Hyrule Castle. There, they all stopped to look upon the mysterious tower, each one trying to figure out anything they could about it.
Link remembered being thrown back when he touched the tower in his dream, as if there was a barrier around it. He thought it best to not make the same mistake in the real world. "Do not touch the tower! It has been magically sealed!"
No one responded to him vocally, they were all still in awe of the giant skyscraper in front of them. The only way Link knew that they had heard him was their subtle nods of understanding, but their gaze never shifted. Fearing some magical spell was being cast on them, he quickly rode up to each and jarred them from their hypnotic trance.
"We must get back to the Castle as soon as we can. It seems that we will have to prepare for war." He turned his horse around and sent it in a gallop toward Hyrule Castle.
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"Evan, go to your room," Zelda instructed her child when Link and the others finally returned. The boy figured something important and dangerous was going on, so without hesitation, he ran toward the stairs that led up to his room.
The Triforce emblem on her hand had been glowing for some time now. She didn't know it yet, but it began to glow the same time that the tower appeared. She sat anxiously in the throne room as the Knights entered.
"Link! What did you find?"
"The town of Baru is in ruins. The survivors have built up a small tent city next to it."
Nick added, "Your Highness, they need food and protection. We should send them anything we can right away."
"Of course. Have the necessary food and soldiers ready as soon as possible," Zelda ordered to a nearby guard. "Anything else?"
When it seemed that Link was going to say no more, Charles took it upon himself to tell her of the tower. "There is one more thing, Your Highness. There seems to be some sort of tower in the middle of Hyrule Field."
"A tower?"
"Yes. It is situated where Lon Lon Ranch used to be."
"Used to be? You mean it's gone?" Charles simply nodded his answer. Aaron chimed in.
"We should prepare for war, Your Highness. I could gather many men from Dellenia and have them brought here at your service."
"Thank you, Aaron. William, Robert, can your countries offer the same support?"
"Without a doubt, Princess," William responded.
"No questions asked. My men would fight for Hyrule as if it were their own country," Robert said.
"Very well. Send for them at once, and then we will meet to discuss strategy."
The foreign Knights left the room to make contact with their home countries, leaving just Zelda, Link, Nick, and Charles in the room. Link turned to Nick.
"Nick, I'm handing over control of the Hylian army to you."
"What? Why?"
"I have seen this tower in my dreams and know that it is impenetrable."
"Then how are we going to get through?"
"I'm going to go see the Great Deku Tree. He should be able to give us advice on how to get through it."
"Then I will come with you!"
"No, I need someone with your skill back here in charge of the army. No one is better than you, Nick. Well, besides me, no one is better than you." Even with danger looming, he still could joke around.
"Then I shall come with you," Zelda stated.
"Zel, I can't let you do that."
"Oh, and why not? You're going to need help in whatever you're going to need to do."
"Yes, but…"
"Don't but me! I'm going with you! Besides, having two Triforce parts together is better than one."
Link could see that he wasn't going to win this battle, so he let it go. "Alright, Zel, you can come along." He turned to face Nick and Charles. "You two will be in charge when we're gone. All actions will go through you, and nothing will be done without your permission."
"Very will, Link. I will lead the army into battle, although it won't be the same without you there," Nick conceded.
"Don't worry, Nick. I have a feeling that I'll be back in plenty of time to join in the fighting! Good luck, you two."
"Thanks, we'll need it! And good luck to you Link, Zelda. Do whatever it is you've got to do, then get back here double time!" exclaimed Charles.
"Thanks. Now, go get yourselves ready. I leave the strategy, and the fate of Hyrule in your hands." The two friends walked out of the room, already thinking about what they were going to do. Now that they were gone, Zelda wanted to get more information out of Link.
"So why are we going to see the Great Deku Tree?"
"I don't know, but a voice in my dreams told me to go to him."
"A voice in your dreams?"
"Yeah. That's not all it told me either. It also said to find the Amulets. What Amulets, I don't yet know. Perhaps the Great Deku Tree will now."
Zelda nodded. "Let's rest for now and head out for the Kokiri Forest in the morning."
