Link had never liked wearing armor, even the light leathers he was wearing were hot and stuffy to him and the ankle length tabards were restricting and the cloak was heavy and all this was made worse by the fact that it was all black as coal.
But he was not thinking about his own discomfort, he was in a fog, a profound sense of failure followed him as he made the long slow walk to the Kakariko Graveyard.
The priest stood at the head of the coffins, also being buried was Sir Grey who had died when the ceiling collapsed and Sir Egan, both of whom had been born in Kakariko and were granted posthumous honors by the Queen Regent Zelda to be buried in the royal graveyard. "The rising sun will eventually set, a newborn's life will fade... from sun to moon... moon to sun, give peaceful rest to the honored dead." Pipers and minstrels began the funeral dirge.
Zelda stepped forward and the great stone slid back to reveal the royal crypt. Link stepped forward along with seventeen others, six for each coffin. He was a member of the King's final honor guard, he lifted the coffin and bore it down into the depths, past the ancient tombs of King Gustaf, Daltus and Harkinian the first and on through the weathered ages, the statues glowering dolefully down upon them from above their moldering tombs. At the end of the long hallway the newly carved statue of King Argus du Hyrule.
When they emerged rain pelted the mourners at the other graves and black whirling clouds churned overhead. Link took no notice of the weather, he walked past houses where ashes had been spread outside every door, the entire kingdom was in mourning, a continent away Lucas would be just now receiving the news that he was now King of Hyrule. Link wondered what was going through his mind. Did the new king blame him for his father's death? If so it was not nearly as much as he blamed himself.
The disconsolate procession was interrupted by a sudden scream, he looked to where a blanched woman pointed and saw a swirl of noxious green light gathering over the castle. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dael unsheathing Wastrel, his father's sword, with some difficulty. "Dael, you need to stay and look after your mother and sisters." He said, grabbing the boy by the shoulder before he could charge past.
"The banners are still called, it would bring shame on House Grey if our banner was not with the royal procession." The boy said his eyes bright with anger.
"Your father taught you much of honor and duty, but a man's duty is to his family until he swears his oaths and you are yet too young to bend a knee. Look after the girls, House Grey has lost enough on my account." Dael made to protest but some flash of reason made him lower his sword.
"I will ride out in three days." he said resolutely.
Link put a hand on his shoulder, "There will come a day when we ride out together, Sir Grey and on that day I shall be proud to join my banner with yours."
Dael nodded and Link mounted Epona, quickly making his way to the head of the column.
The pale ghostly light hung like a pallid shroud over the town, centered on the castle. The great stone causeway trembled with the passing of so many, Link chanced a look back at the Princess, her face was unreadable but he sensed in her the same fears he felt churning in his own gut. Fears he would never put a voice to until he could see the it with his own eyes. But in his mind he saw it as though it were yesterday; the black clouds, the drawbridge falling the pitch black figure... he spurred Epona faster still. Please let it be anything else, he prayed silently.
The very warmth drained out of his blood as he stepped into a harrowing mockery of the bright palace interior. A foetid greenish mist eddied cloyingly about their ankles and the chandeliers burned a bright ghostly green, casting the entry in a pallid, eerie glow. Deep malevolent laughter echoed off the walls and Link's heart sank.
"It can't be." the Princess breathed.
Link stepped between her and the far door, "Show yourself!" He commanded.
Echoing footsteps from the inky blackness beyond gradually brought the black armored figure into the ghostly light. "I am here, boy. Despite your all your efforts and struggles, here I stand." He inhaled deeply, "breathing the free air again... though it shan't be free for much longer." with a flourish of his cloak a polished obsidian throne appeared in the hall and he took his seat, "For too long you wretched Hylians have enjoyed the sweet air of this country, for too long you have been strangers to the wrath of the burning suns and sting of the desolate winds that lie beyond your fair green hills, but no more. I am Justice, no matter what you or your gods or anyone else thinks, I am Equity. I will bring you desolation you have never known, I will bring the harsh walls of my reality crashing down upon you, and you will know despair before the end... as I know despair."
"Enough!" Link said, lowering his stance, "I will do everything in my power to ensure that your undeserved taste of freedom is as brief as possible." He swore.
For a moment time stopped, as it always did for him before a battle, like the eerie silence before a summer squall, he felt his breath roar in his ears, slow and even. "Princess, gather the knights at the temple... I will join you when I can."
"Link..." she began, but she stopped herself. She understood, there was only one weapon that could save them now. Link would buy her the time she needed, "For Hyrule..." she whispered, he nodded signifying that he'd heard. "Retreat to the temple!" she ordered and the guards and knights turned only to find the demon king blocking their path.
Link dropped from above slashing at his foe causing Ganondorf to spin out of the way. Zelda and the guards used the opening it provided to flee the hall casting one last desperate look back. How could the gods have allowed this? She thought to herself.
Link faced down Gannondorf armed with only the cold castle-forged steel in his left hand. Gannondorf chuckled and unclasped his crimson cloak which was consumed by black flame as it fell to the ground. "You have become a skilled tactician in my absence I see." He complimented, conjuring a darkly shining blade out of the air, "It matters little though, I will be done with you long before they reach that wretched blade." He charged and swung for the hero's head, Link knew better than to cross blades with dark magic and rolled under the swipe, turning on his heel he slashed at Gannondorf's exposed back cutting deep. Gannondorf only laughed mirthlessly as the wound instantly closed. "You do look rather dashing all in black, I must say; you finally appear before me as a worthy opponent." He spun without warning, slashing wildly. Link backflipped out of the way of the attack but as soon as his boots touched the ground he saw the Demon King rocketing towards him leaving a trail of green and black flame in his wake. Link crouched and felt the deadly thrust tear through his right shoulder; ignoring the pain he put his boot on Ganon's chest plate and rolled backwards launching his opponent into the air.
Gannondorf flipped around midair and stayed suspended about three meters off the ground, "Your skills have improved, boy; but this ends now." He extended his hand where a dark nebulous energy was already crackling, with a bloodthirsty grin curling the corners of his mouth he sent a barrage of deadly streamers streaking towards his foe.
Link leapt backwards dodging two then juked right missing another by a hair and rolled behind a pillar as the unholy cascade of missiles began to blow the stone to bits. As the pillar shattered he rolled from behind it and flung his sword at his suspended foe. It struck the Demon King in the shoulder ceasing the onslaught of dark magic and causing him to fall to the ground. Link seized his opportunity and charged his downed opponent. Cursing, Gannondorf rose to his feet at the last moment and swung to split the hero in two; but Link was too quick, he flipped over the swipe and before his enemy could recover heave kicked him into the crumbling wall where the shattered pillar once stood. Unable to take any more punishment the wall crumbled burying the Demon King beneath it.
For a moment only the fading echoes of falling stones could be heard in the hall, then a low rumbling began and an evil light began to shine from beneath the rubble, a roar of timeless rage echoed through the halls as the rubble exploded outwards. Eyes glowing like the embers of hell scoured the hall, but the hero was nowhere to be found. Power rippled the air around him and blasted outward in a hot wind, the echoes of his sustained rage echoed throughout the crumbling halls of Hyrule Castle and Gannondorf vanished in a burst of acrid black smoke.
