It was nighttime when Zelda, Impa, Ruto, Nabooru, and I – along with twenty or so crossbowmen, entered the narrow valley. The high walls of the plateau rose darkly on either side of us, causing every sound in the night to echo throughout. We were all careful to tread lightly the whole way through, lest a Gerudo patrol hear us and bring an army down on top of us. Though we were definitely vulnerable, I felt safe within our cluster of people. After all, we had twenty soldiers with crossbows and swords at our backs, Nabooru, Impa, and – apparently – Zelda were all accomplished fighters in their own right, and I would be able to stand up for myself in a fight. Even Ruto, who, as far as I knew, was not a fighter, wore a sword and shield at her back. Though these were supposed to be given to Link once we broke him out of the Temple of Spirit, they would also (hopefully) keep her safe on the way there.

We reached the area around the fortress within two hours. This was the scariest part of the trip, as I fully expected the Gerudo to be fully alert after our break-in earlier that day. According to Nabooru, there was a narrow track up and over the valley walls which we could use to get around the fortress, though this would be lightly defended. She led the way to this track, and we all made our way onto it, single-file. Nabooru stopped us just before we turned a corner, telling us that a pair of guards would be waiting just around it. Zelda – who was back in her stealth outfit – and Impa crept stealthily around the corner and took the guards out. I never heard a sound until they poked their heads back out again.

So we were able to get around the fortress and over to the desert. This was a large sea of sand, tossed about by a constant breeze. We trudged through the ankle-deep sand for another half-hour until we came to a crudely-maintained wooden footbridge spanning a chasm that cut through the sand, falling to an unknown depth. Nabooru crossed first – to show us it could be done – then Impa, then Zelda, then the twenty crossbowmen, one at a time. I offered to bring up the rear and cover Ruto against anyone following us, but she wouldn't move. The drop likely frightened her, and the seeming instability of the bridge. At length, I finally told her, "If you want to see your husband, climb on my back and hold on."

After she agreed to this, I carried her across the bridge to the waiting troops; it took a while, as I was concerned about stepping on a loose or rotten plank, particularly as I was carrying someone on my back. Once across, Nabooru found a spot where the sand rose in a low dune. It would provide exactly the sort of cover we would need for an ambush. So we scrambled over to the reverse slope of the dune and rested for the remainder of the night.

Morning brought with it, of course, a great deal of heat. It was a warm, pleasant heat at first, but it later became more oppressive. Not long after sunrise, Ruto began to constantly shift where she lay, until one of the soldiers took of his cloak and wrapped her in it. The rest of us weren't bothered so much by the sand and the heat.

Around ten-thirty, Nabooru quietly called out, "Here they come!" We all moved to the crest of the dune – except for Ruto – and looked out. There was a party of ten Gerudo crossing the bridge. I shook my head. Even after our break-in, they weren't sending a large force to guard the transfer of their prize. Ganon was either overconfident in our supposed inability to strike in the desert, or was reluctant to have so many troops leave his fortress; I wasn't sure which.

They soon were walking at the foot of our dune. I waited for them to nearly pass our entire firing line. Then I pulled out my sword and whistled once – the signal to begin firing.

Our crossbowmen showed their heads over the crest of the dune and fired as one into the Gerudo ranks. Seven dropped to the sand, either dead or grievously wounded. The three survivors pulled out their scimitars and attempted to rush the crossbowmen, taking advantage of their crossbows' slow reload time.

They never got to the crossbowmen, for Nabooru, Impa, and I charged down on them. Impa's opponent was dead before they even came in contact, a small knife in her throat. Nabooru quickly overwhelmed hers with her characteristic baffling swordplay. My opponent didn't go down so easily. I managed to send her rolling down the dune simply by charging into her, shield-first. But I didn't reach her until she'd gotten back up. We dueled for a good minute in the growing heat, myself only just managing to keep up with her, before I abandoned caution and slammed into her shield-first again. As she went down, I slashed at her. The cut connected just behind her left knee. As she lay there, I decided against ending her life. Though she would likely survive the injury, her leg was obviously too badly damaged for her to go anywhere in this desert.

The rest of the troops had joined us. Zelda found a ring of keys on one of the enemy troops. This we took, before setting off once again – Impa carrying Ruto on her back.

It took another half-hour of following Nabooru across the desert until we arrived at a huge monolith standing in the middle of a basin in the desert. Into the great rock was carved the image of a woman with a serpent around her shoulders, holding both hands out as if in welcome.

Nabooru turned to us and pointed at the monument. "The Temple of Spirit is inside this rock," she said, leading the way into the basin, under a solitary megalithic doorway – almost like the formations at Stonehenge – and across a half-buried patio into the Temple.

The main chamber was of awe-inspiring size, much like the monument outside the door. It was built in two tiers. A wide stairway lead from one tier to the second, and another stone image of the same woman stood at the back of the upper tier.

And, held suspended by all four limbs by taut chains leading to the ceiling and floor in front of this image, was a teenager. Not a stone one, but a young man (the pointy-eared variant, at least), clad in a green tunic, white tights, and soft leather boots. A floppy green felt hat lay nearby. The boy reminded me of myself in his appearance, with the same blond hair and barely-tanned complexion. I couldn't see his face, as he was faced away from us, towards the stone image. But Zelda recognized him immediately.

The gasp she let out told me all I needed to know.

This was Link.