Chapter Four: Oracle of Ages
The Archive of Travelers' Tales


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Link awoke one day to find himself deep in a strange forest. As he started to walk through the woods , he heard cries for help coming from just up ahead of him. Link hurried toward the voice, only to find a group of monsters surrounding the woman who was screaming. When the monsters saw Link, they immediately fled.

The woman who was being attacked was none other than Impa, nurse to Hyrule's Princess Zelda. Impa said she had come to search for a singer named Nayru.

"Can't you help me look?" Impa asked. Despite the strange look she gave him, Link could not refuse her request. Together they found a large stone with a rune on it. Naturally, Link moved the stone, but Impa wouldn't so much as lay a hand on it.

As they traveled even deeper into the forest, they found a young woman singing. Invited to sit by the group of animals that listened to the girl's song, Link joined in the circle and let the beautiful song fill his ears and penetrate his heart. This was surely Nayru, the singer Impa was searching for. Just then, Impa erupted in a cackling laugh.

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha!"

A darkness surrounded Impa, and a frightening shadow lifted from her body.

"Nayru! Oracle of Ages! I, Veran, Sorceress of Shadows, shall make you my own!"

The shadow that called itself Veran began swooping about the forest before flying strait into the body of the frightened singer. A blinding light shined forth from Nayru's body.

When Link's eyes had grown used to the light, he realized that Nayru looked very strange. Her face seemed veiled in shadow, and her bright smile had vanished. A piercing, evil gaze had replaced it.

"Ah ha ha ha ha!"

"Now the power of the Oracle of Ages is mine! I can travel through time at will! Now a new age shall begin- an age of shadows!" And with that, Veran and Nayru vanished.

Nayru was actually the Oracle of Ages who controlled time in this land of Labrynna. When the oracle was kidnapped, the flow of time in Labrynna was distorted, and strange things began to happen. Before vanishing, Veran said, "When the past changes, so does the present." Her plan was to travel to the past and gather power from the sorrows of the people of Labrynna so that she could create her age of shadows.

Before Link's eyes, the state of Labrynna immediately changed dramatically. Veran altered Labrynna's history to make the present a more hospitable place for her dark soul to reign. Bravely, the Hero of Time followed Veran into the past. Thus began Link's quest to right Veran's wrongs before the Sorceress of Shadows could take over completely.

Link traveled far and wide over the Labrynnan landscape, encountering enemies both familiar and foreign. Through constant struggle and fierce determination, Link was eventually able to deliver eight Essences of Time to the greatly damaged Maku Tree, who was directly rooted into the power of Labrynna's life force. The Essences of Time gave strength to the Maku Tree and helped it to restore peace to land.

Peace was not fully restored, however, until Link came face to face with the wrath of Veran. The struggle was intense, but of course it was the great hero Link who walked away with his heart still beating. This was just one of many challenges which Link faced as a young man. Perhaps it was these early struggles which served to temper his courage and strengthen his soul.
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