I spent some time in the Temple of the Sages. I learned all I could about the evil that threatened Hyrule.

There were originally three goddesses--Din, Fayrore, and Nayru--- who had created the land of Hyrule. Their work finished, the goddesses departed, leaving behind the Triforce. Whoever touched it would have his wish granted.

If the person had a good heart, Hyrule would flourish. But if the person had an evil heart . . . well, look at what had happened since Ganonodorf had grabbed it.

Ouch. That wasn't good.

Soon Rauru and I were joined by Darunia, King of the Gorons. And Ruto, Princess of the Zoras. Link's wife? She was going to marry Link? Hah! Link wasn’t getting married. If I ever knew that kid—-which, of course, I had—-he was not getting married, at least anytime soon. (And to Ruto--I had certain theories about that.) But she’d just have to learn. And when she described the expression on Link’s face when she had surprisingly kissed him, I felt a twinge of jealousy, but had to laugh anyway.

After Ruto came Impa, Princess Zelda's attendant, and Nabooru, the "good thief” of the Desert Wasteland.

But where was Princess Zelda? And Link? And what had happened to Sheik?

I soon learned the answers.

Zelda was Sheik. In order to stay alive with Ganondorf about, she had to disguise herself as a Sheikah, the fighters who protect the royal families.

Impa was a decendant of the Sheikah.

Zelda had been meeting with Link--as herself--when Ganondorf had interrupted. He had trapped Zelda in crystal, and made her disappear. If Link wanted to see her again--and see Hyrule return to normal--he would have to face Ganon in a showdown.

The sages and I used our powers to create a kind of scrying pool to watch Link enter the castle.

He reached what had once been the market town, and I winced at the ReDeads. For entertainment value, and to keep myself from going insane from nervousness, I narrated out loud for the other sages. "He’s reached the town . . . he's playing the Sun's Song . . . the ReDeads are freezing up . . . he's walking toward the castle . . . he's looking around in shock . . . "

I heard a little laughter.

"Oh, wait! There's no bridge to the castle! He can't get across!"

Rauru scoffed. "We'll fix that. Piece of cake."

We contacted Link and used our powers to create a beautiful rainbow bridge, with each sage's color--except for Princess Zelda. She was a sage, too. Of what, I am not sure. Time?

Who knew?

Anyhow, Link entered the castle. There was a barrier over the central door, and the barrier was actually some form of magical electricity. There were six strands mixing together, each a different color---and the same color as each of the temples, and us sages. Plus the temple symbols above the doorways.

Coincidence? Yeah, right.

Link first went to the forest room. He defeated the monsters fairly easily there, and at the end, I appeared to unlock the forest barrier. "Go, hurry!" I urged. "Destroy Ganondorf!" And then, I was gone, back to the Temple of the Sages.

Each sage disappeared in turn to unlock their barriers for Link. Soon, though, we were all back again.

To keep everyone from getting too nervous, I had to narrate again. It may have kept them from getting nervous, but unfortunately, I couldn’t say the same for myself.

I continued.

"He's going up the stairs . . . oh, no! It's an Iron Giant! This one's gonna hurt."

Then, a few minutes later, I grinned. "Oh, look, he beat it! He's going into the next room!"

It went on like that for awhile, until he reached a huge door. The hallway was brilliantly filled with light.

This is it, I thought nervously. Though I would never admit it, I had my doubts about Link being able to slay the great Ganondorf himself.

Ganondorf was playing the organ. He stopped and spoke to Link. Zelda was still trapped in pinkish crystal by the ceiling of the huge room.

Ganon stood and raised his hands. "These toys are too much for you!"

Without warning, swirls of a strange, smokey substance (only YOU can prevent forest fires!) filled the room. It completely blew Link's fairy away. Navi hit the wall and slid down. I bit my lip in frustration.

The floor of the room with Ganondorf and Link fell away, and the battle began. Ganondorf had all sorts of magical attacks, but Link countered every one.

After many hits with the Light Arrows and Master Sword, Ganondorf sputtered and coughed up deep, red drops of blood. He went down.

The room collapsed!

When the dust cleared, Ganondorf fell to the ground. Zelda was lowered from the ceiling. Everyone lived happily ever after, right?

WRONG! You're way off the mark if you think that's what happened next.

Link and Zelda spoke for a moment, when suddenly, the castle began to collapse.

Link and Zelda (and Navi) raced through the castle, dodging bits of fiery ceiling and unlocking the doors and defeating the ever-regenerating Stalfos.

Finally, they found the door.

As they rushed out, the castle caved in on itself. It just collapsed into a huge heap of rubble and scrap metal.

As the dust cleared, Zelda spoke. "It's over . . . it's finally over," she sighed.

Suddenly, there came a loud noise, echoing off of . . . well, the wind. Zelda turned to Link. "What is that sound?"

Link stepped forward.

And then, Ganon, still not dead yet, appeared. He sprung out of the rubble, gasping for breath. Using the Triforce Piece of Power in his hand, he turned himself into a hideous monster.

The Master Sword was knocked from Link's hands. A ring of fire sprang up between him and Zelda.

The battle, part III, began to rage.

Link used the Megaton Hammer. Though Ganondorf was a hideous, deadly monster, he was not very agile, and Link easily slipped between his legs several times to nail him on the tail.

Ganon fell. Link retrieved the Master Sword.

He went after Ganon again.

Could he win?

Suddenly, Zelda, the seventh Sage, used her powers to hold Ganondorf in place.

It was up to Link to deliver the final blow.

Tears streamed down my face. Finally, all of the suffering was going to end! This whole, raging nightmare was going to end!

Link looked at the legendary Master Sword, the key to the Door of Time. The greatest weapon ever made, and yet, the cruelest one ever created.

As if in slow motion, he began to wave the sword.

It curved in an arc.

It flew true.

It hit its target.

For a second, everything froze. Ganon lay gasping on the ground. Link had his sword stuck in Ganon's throat.

Then, he pulled it out and resheathed it.

"Six Sages! Now!" cried Zelda. Her powers gave out, and she collapsed.

We closed the scrying pool and became nothing more than balls of light as we used our powers to send Ganondorf to the Evil Realm.

He spoke his final words.

"Curse you . . . Sages. Curse you . . . Zelda."

A pause.

"Curse you . . . Link. When this seal is broken, I shall destroy your descendants!"

And then, Ganondorf was gone.