THE LEGEND OF GANON: TYRANT'S ASCENT
Chapter 8: Broke the Chain
There was one last thing to gain before the King of Evil came into full power. The whole Triforce would be his as soon as he slew the Hero and the princess after him. The little princess was being kept fresh and alive within the catacombs of Hyrule Castle. Ganondorf liked the high towers of palaces most of the time, but felt drawn to the basement as a location for fated battle for some reason.
Zelda was in the shadows, her wrists bound by long chains. Ganondorf walked past a mirror. In the dim magical torchlight he caught a glimpse of his reflection. The mirror's glass held the image of a grotesque, anthropomorphized boar – part man, part feral beast. It was not unlike his transformation, but there were some differences. This was the form he'd taken in the Dark World when he'd ruled it – an era ago. The warlock touched his face to find humanoid features – his native Gerudo attributes.
"Greed will turn you into a mere beast," Zelda said from her corner.
"And what if it does, little one?" Ganondorf asked, "Perhaps this land needs a beast. Better to be one than to be weak."
"Strength that is only self-serving is no strength at all."
"Silence! I could kill you at any moment, you know."
"Then why don't you? It's because you can't, isn't it? I have something you want."
Ganondorf strode over to the princess and held her by the chin. "If only you were not so young, I'd make you know something worse for you than death – but I have no…how should I put this? I've no carnal taste for children." The wizard laughed, seeing the fear in little Zelda's eyes. "You remember past lifetimes, don't you? The Triforce of Wisdom gives you the ability to know of adult things. I'll only kill you, and only when the time is right."
"Is this why you are waiting for the Hero?" Zelda asked, "Everything you've set upon the land has already tried to kill him."
"I'd hoped his piece of the Triforce would gravitate toward mine, but it really is safer to have all of the fragments gathered near each other in the flesh. This way is… convenient. He would have to be a true Hero to survive this far."
"This is how it is always been!" Zelda shot back. "And you know the outcome. Such arrogance! Every time you rise, it ends the same – an unbroken chain of failure for you!"
"I have a feeling that the chain will be broken this time, little girl. The Goddesses must truly be bored of your victory. After all, look at you – so young this time."
The howling of monsters echoed above the chamber. Ganondorf felt a stirring within himself. Zelda's right hand glowed brightly.
The princess closed her eyes and smiled. "He's here," she said.
Ganondorf listened closely to the sounds within the main palace above. He held his right hand out and sensed. The Hero moved – past the soldiers' barracks where the Stalfos Knights were stationed…. Past the taxation and governmental works offices… through the kitchens… into the throne room…
"Night has fallen," the warlock said solemnly. He performed a spell, surrounding himself with mist. In the throne room, he appeared as a ghost before his dying minion. In the chamber, where he was physically located, Night the Lynel appeared as a ghostly image, laid out upon the floor, his shining armor covered in dribbling rivulets of blood.
Zelda stared at this image. The centaur-like creature stirred weakly, pawing his fore-hooves out. The lion's face looked up at Ganondorf with glassy eyes. Ganondorf crouched down. "He stabbed through your horse's heart," he said, "and it looks like he got you through a lung in the human part of you. Truly marks of skill against your swiftness and strength."
Night groaned. "Master…" he said in a painful rasp, "Did I serve you well? Was I of use to you?"
Ganondorf petted Night's mane. "You were useful," he said.
Night went still and the ghost-image vanished from the chamber. Zelda noticed that her eyes were wet. Ganondorf stood up and grinned. "Are you crying, princess? Weeping for a monster – how interesting from you."
It was not much later that the door to the basement chamber slid open. Ganondorf unsheathed the ancient Sages' Sword. To the man's surprise, Zelda began speaking names:
"Liliana. Lingoro. Rutan. Umbra. Madra. Zephira. Dinah – Aunt Dinah! And Kasuto, you, too."
Apparitions made themselves known in the light of the chamber for a few brief seconds. The spirits of the slain Sages vanished into smoke that curled around the form of a young man that stepped down the stairs. He held forth his sword, a blade Ganondorf knew well. Although he did not show it, the King of Evil feared that blade – the Master Sword. A small black cat moved in the shadows and stayed there.
"Despite your efforts at destruction, the Sages are with him." Zelda stated.
"They were only at their full strength when alive!" Ganondorf snarled. "They are dead, so their strength is small. Could it be? Has this all been a zero-sum game?" Then he laughed, shaking his free fist, "The Goddesses are clever. Just you wait, ladies! Your time shall be over soon! I shall cast you down!"
Then, he turned to the young man, whom he knew in this lifetime and others as Link. "What do you plan to do once you save her, Hero?" he mocked, "She is too young to run a country and she has no family left. Pity Hyrule to be ruled by a mere brat!"
"She is a wise child," Link answered, "And the time for her will come. Until then…I think that I should like having an adopted daughter."
Link stepped into the light. His face and his form familiar from the fight in Kakariko.
Ganondorf erupted in rage. "How dare you? You think this is a joke? How dare you come before me like this? You carry a sword of strength, but you… THIS is an INSULT!"
Link looked tired, and not just from the expected fatigue of fighting monsters and minions in the castle rooms above. The young man was gaunt and pale. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, nor did he look like he'd eaten well lately. His skin was pale and sallow.
"I came as soon as I could," he said, "I cannot rest until I put down your evil."
"I was expecting you to meet me in full-form," Ganondorf replied. "I was not expecting you to come to me ailing. How foolish. There is no glory in a mercy-kill. I will not forgive this insult!"
"I'm well enough to defeat you!" Link spat. "I cut through your beasts and wounded your Gerudo warriors! I just bested the King of the Lynels!"
"Yes," Ganondorf said as he took a swing at the Hero. "You must still have some good fight in you to take down my second in command. Perhaps this will be fun, after all!"
Link dodged and got behind Ganondorf. The wizard felt steel bite into the skin of his back, right past a weak point in his armor. He growled and spun around. He snarled as he was hit full in the face with a blinding light. It sheered into his forehead, but the magic flowing through him was able to dissipate it.
Link fired another Light Arrow at him. Ganondorf dodged it, thrusting forth his sword. Link put away his bow and followed suit, whipping out the Master Sword to clash against the ancient Sword of the Sages.
Ganondorf took note of Link's face. Sweat poured down the pale skin. The Hero was clearly exhausted. The boy had spirit, but he was far too hasty.
Ganondorf pulled back, and then swiftly thrust his blade. With a sickening crack, the tip of the Sages' Sword struck home in Link's chest. Link dropped the Master Sword and stared upward. Ganondorf kicked him off the blade and watched the body fall to the floor. Zelda screamed in horror and anguish.
"Hmm," Ganondorf said as he shook the blood off his weapon and sheathed it. Link lay still and blood flowed out from beneath him. Ganondorf began laughing.
"Did you die?" He laughed. "Are you really dead, Hero?"
Link's answer was a glass-eyed stare. Zelda rattled her chains and sobbed. Ganondorf crouched down before the fallen Hero, noting the look of utter shock on the young man's frozen features. The Master Sword on the floor beside him disappeared.
The warlock willed the fingernails of his right hand to grow into small, sharp points. He heard little Zelda yelp as he explored the long sword-wound in Link's chest. Ganondorf parted the sliced flesh and the split bone, seeking. Lungs – those felt interesting. His fingers felt past them and he used his sharpened nails to slice the arteries, veins and other connections. He stood up, holding the Hero's wounded heart in his palm. He turned around and showed it to the princess, who cringed back. The King of Evil then brought the organ to his teeth and ate it leisurely, letting it impart him strength.
The Hero's blood had a unique taste – a quality much different than that of the blood of any other person or creature he'd ingested. It had a rich flavor that conveyed fields and forests, steel and determination.
He returned to the body and removed the gauntlet on Link's left hand. The mark of the Triforce remained upon it, with one triangle softly glowing. The Triforce of Courage had not left his flesh. Separating the Triforce of Wisdom from its bearer would no doubt draw it out.
Ganondorf strode over to Princess Zelda with the Sages' Sword drawn. Zelda looked up at him with defiance in her eyes. "It's over," the King of Evil said.
He dispatched Zelda quickly.
He watched as the Triforce of Wisdom exited her tiny body. The Triforce of Courage floated in the air above Link. The two golden triangles glowed with blue and green edges, respectively.
They then vanished.
"WHAT?" Ganondorf roared. He sensed for them, but they were gone. They'd suddenly blinked off to distant, unknown places.
Power's wielder howled in desperate fury. He pounded the walls. He kicked the chained corpse of the princess. He looked to the corpse of the Hero and thought about punishing it, but then, he calmed.
He had won. The kingdom of Hyrule was his – his completely. He had time now… he would seek out the lost fragments of the Triforce and make them his. For the time being, he had his kingdom. Once he found the rest of the Triforce again, he could challenge the gods themselves, but for now, the land was his. Very soon, the world would belong to him as well.
He would enjoy his reign. The Hylians, humans, Zoras, Gorons and all else – especially all who opposed him – would know the true definition of fear.
He summoned a pair of Darknuts and brought them into the room. He pointed to Link.
"This one," he said with a leer, "Take him to the square of the city and lay him out. I want the people to know despair. He is not to be buried. Anyone who tries is to be brought to me to be put to death. I want the people to know that their Hero is dead."
The Darknuts nodded as they picked up the body and ascended the stairs.
As for Zelda, Ganondorf carried her himself. He took her to the throne room and propped her upon the Queen's Throne. He left her there for a week, allowing the vanquished of Hyrule to gaze upon her and know her fate. He had her buried in the catacombs after that, giving her a small amount of respect as the daughter of a king – this he did in spite of his earlier assertion that she would not be the recipient of a proper grave. He did not know why he gave her one – he'd just acted on a whim.
To his rage, at about the same time, some brave souls had absconded with Link's body. He had wanted it to lay out until it rotted away completely into fetid liquid and scattered bones, but the wild birds hadn't so much as taken his eyes before some fools had risked their lives to give him honors. Ganondorf never found the final grave to desecrate it.
Ganondorf ruled the land and surrounding territories for a good century. He held his strength over the whole of Hyrule, which became a land of monsters. The fields themselves reflected the nature of his heart, becoming cruel and barren. After a time, a rebellion formed in the north in a forgotten country that the people began calling North Hyrule. There was a dispute between them and the people that remained in the south regarding distant survivors of the Royal Bloodline. Ganondorf did his best to quell the ambitions of all with an iron fist.
In that time, just as the land reflected his heart, his body began to reflect his soul. He became as he had been in his mirror's reflection. He became, once again, the Beast King who had once ruled the Dark World.
Later, he quelled a forming rebellion that had with them a brave king and a princess named Zelda, who held the lost Triforce of Wisdom. She used her power to split it into fragments to keep it from the grasp of the King of Evil. The ancient cycle began anew.
END.
