“Well what do we do now? The ring is bound to my finger and some magic holds it there, not even the strongest being in the world could get it off”, she complained.
“I have to get to my leader Alagbor, he will know what to do because I am at a complete loss on what to do with this ring”, said Duradar as they walked back toward the village
“Well where is he?” persisted Saria.
“Hyrule castle town, it’s a bustling city in the north”, responded Duradar. They were in the village now.
“About eight days on foot, maybe six on horseback”, he sighed, “It would be at least twelve days for Alagbor to get back here…” They were in Saria’s house.
“Forget that, I’m going with you Duradar”, Said Saria throwing on a cloak and stuffing a few items into a knapsack. Duradar smiled.
“Why would you, a simple forest dweller, want to go willingly away from her home?” He asked. Saria’s mind was bent on finding Link and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to find him, and to learn about the world around her.
She smiled and said: “There is an anterior motive” Duradar shrugged.
“Saves me time and effort, but I’ll warn you… its dangerous out there”, he said. Saria nodded.
That morning two reckless adventurers struck out on what is going to be much more than a sightseeing tour of Hyrule, but a great journey full of excitement and danger. So enjoy this part of the story Hyrule lovers because you won’t be seeing much of it the next two parts of Aganhim’s seal. Thought I would mention it.

They stepped onto the bridge leading out of the village.
“Alright, I have some horses waiting through the tunnel, let’s get moving”, said Duradar disappearing through the tunnel. Saria was a bit afraid of this. She had been told never to go through there; to stay in the forest. She stood shaking slightly. Her fairy, an old kind wise fairy, Ralo, spoke soft words to Saria. ‘Easy now child, take a deep breath, Duradar made it just fine, you can too.’
“C’mon Saria”, Called Duradar. He was fine. Saria finally put a move on. She stepped forward and now walked into the tunnel at a jaunty pace. Everything went black, and then she was falling, falling into nothing.

“Ouch”, Saria said. She had landed face first into the ground.
“Oh, sorry, I should have told you about that root there at the end of the tunnel”, said Duradar helping Saria to her feet.
“Well, that was fun”, said Saria brushing the dirt of her tunic. “Now, where are we?” she asked looking around. There was a wide expanse of plains dotted with tree groves.
“Welcome to the Plains of Hyrule”, he said waving his arm out along the Horizon.
He then pulled out a map. “Okay, we are here, which is at an inconveniently long distance from here at the Castle town”, he said.
“We have enough food for the next four days”, he continued.
“It will take at least six to make the journey… how about this village? Do you think we could find something there?” asked Saria.
Duradar shook his head: “It is too far out of our way, our best bet is to head in a more easterly direction. In this region here, near Death mountain range, there is good game in this region”, he said pointing to a place on the map. He folded up the map and helped Saria onto her horse. He then mounted his own, a beautiful brown one and looked up at her.
“I take it you’ve never ridden before”, he said. Saria shook her head. Duradar laughed and began showing her the basics of riding. Elves of any sort do not ride like we would. Duradar taught Saria verbal commands in elvish; and the tones of voice you would use to say them.

Our adventurers now move through the great plains of Hyrule. Saria and Duradar travel at a comfortable pace taking in the scenery but still they are mindful of the task at hand.
On the evening of the third night of their journey they stopped at the edge of a cedar grove and made camp. Saria was roasting some Deku nuts over the fire. Duradar leaned back against a log with his pipe and looked up at the stars. Saria looked up too. There were a lot of stars, not as many could be seen through the thick canopy of the forest.
“Ah, the spirit lanterns of the Earth”, said Duradar.
“They say that a lantern is lit in the sky for everyone who has given their lives standing up for and respecting the goddesses….”, he said quietly. Saria looked across the sky.
“That’s a lot of death”, said Saria sympathetically. She looked over at Duradar who shrugged.
“Deities mean a lot to people, let us hope that upon this journey these deities respect us as we respect them” he responded with a half-hearted grin. Saria smiled. He stood up suddenly as if remembering something and motioned for Saria to come over to him.
“Here, take this”, he said handing Saria a bow and quiver of arrows. “I will teach you to use it, pray you’ll never need to use it”, he continued.
Saria looked at the bow, it had beautiful intricate designs; it felt very light and yet sturdy, a perfect weapon.
“Its… wonderful” said Saria still studying it.
“I suppose it would be… though it is a weapon, you kill things with it so how wonderful could it possibly be?” Pondered Duradar, he smiled and remarked:
“Well I suppose it’s wonderful for anyone who isn’t getting the bow pointed in their direction”. Saria giggled.
“Duradar…. You came from outside of the Lost Woods… where are you from then? Where else would Kokiri live?” Asked Saria, she had been pondering the thought for a while now. Duradar sat down again and looked up at the stars thinking to himself, trying to put the right words together. He then shrugged and said:
“I am from the Mal Nor, the golden realm that fell to ruin…” There was such sorrow and memory and longing in his voice that his nearly drove Saria to tears. Duradar looked over at her:
“You must understand Saria, you must know where I came from, where we all came from. Our homeland was a great flourishing and secret country, driven to ruin by the malice of a black soul, a Dark Lord…” Duradar then explained the story of the realm of the Kokiri that fell to the dark lord. Saria sat there listening in shock, such a sad story with so many emotions, the fate of her people…rested with this ring….
“The realm is closed, sealed by the evil of this dark lord, when he is dead the seal will be broken, you must destroy him Saria with that ring. Yes, it was Aganhim who destroyed our land. That, Saria… is a lot of death”, Said Duradar gravely. Saria’s face was pale, tears streamed down her face. Duradar sat down next to her and embraced her, rocking her slightly, comforting her. She knew what she had to do, but she could not do it alone.


The next few days were pretty much uneventful. During the day they would travel and then in the evenings Duradar would teach Saria the skills of archery.
He commented on how fast a learner she was as well as her deadly aim.
And on the final day of the trek she would need these skills.
It was a bright sunny day on the last stretch of the journey. Cedar groves were more frequent and made for good places to hide, which was good.
They were proceeding quickly now toward the Castle Town. But Duradar kept quickening his pace faster and faster.
“GO, HURRY!!” he yelled. Saria turned around to see a sight that nearly made her vomit. Hideous looking creatures mounted on giant wolves.
“WARG ORCS, RUN!!” Screamed Duradar. Saria galloped ahead trying to ready her bow but her hands were shaking too violently. She heard a loud twang and turned to see a warg drop dead with an arrow to the chest. Duradar readied another arrow and fired and another warg fell. He had stopped between the wargs and Saria in an attempt to distract the fiends long enough for her to escape. Saria immediately knew what was happening. Duradar was going to sacrifice himself so that she could get out.
“DURADAR!!!” Saria screamed. Duradar turned toward her and yelled again for her to flee. Saria listened now, she sped off towards the castle town but there were two wargs chasing her. Duradar, while fighting off another three managed to shoot one but he was bitterly outmatched to the ferocious wargs. He let out a yell and Saria looked back to see him fighting the wargs on foot now. He slew another one but another came up behind him and lifted him with its huge jaws and tossed him against a tree like a rag doll. But Saria didn’t see much more for just then the warg that was still chasing her knocked her off her horse.
Saria ran as fast as she could into a nearby cedar grove. She readied her bow scanning her surroundings, waiting for the warg. It came up from behind her. She spun and faced it and accidentally dropped her bow. Saria for the first time noticed the rider. It was disgusting with clammy skin and yellow eyes. It led out a hideous screech and the warg kicked up on its hind legs. Just then an arrow flew out of a nearby bush and struck the warg. It whimpered and fell over dead, crushing its rider. Saria ran as fast as she could… away. Away from the hideous beasts, from the tree groves where mysterious arrows fly out of nowhere. Away from the vivid image of Duradar…dead. He was dead.
Saria pushed on as best she could before and made it within sight of the city, but for the moment she could press on no further. Poor Duradar, ‘bravely gave his life to save mine’ she thought. Ralo had comforted her throughout the day and continued to do so now. She sat down sobbing over the death of the brave boy. Saria rested and mourned for her lost friend. She did not once wish that she never had anything to do with Aganhim’s ring. She would much rather be solving these problems herself than waiting around praying for someone else to save Hyrule. She was vengeful. If it were not for Aganhim she would not be here, he would not know pain…her people would not be so numbered, so frail and sorrowful. We are lost in the dark with nowhere to go but onward to our fate.
Suddenly two orcs jumped out at her. She shot the first one but the other cracked a club over her head and she went unconscious. Fortunately, orcs are dumb and this particular one believed that it had killed Saria and was chased off quite content by Ralo and Saria’s horse.