Well, here I am ladies and gents of - the final confrontation between Dark Link and Link is spread before you here for your good edification. My heartiest thanks to anyone who reads this even in a cursory fashion - I'm immensely happy with this chapter and I hope you will love it as much as I do (my my how much I adore my own work heh heh!)
All my hailz go to you all once again!
Chapter VII: The Conquering Shadow
CHAPTER FOREWORD
The encounter between these two foes, deep down in the silent black depths of the ruined and defiled Water Temple, is perhaps the most extraordinary of all the battles and engagements ever fought in the entirety of what will become known in the history books as the Imprisoning War. The Hero of Time is prophesised to have been chosen by the hand of destiny and the shrewd eye of fate, a lone fighter possessing the sole power, wisdom and courage to take on the evil that has pervaded and deformed the land. That there is a force in the world that has created the inverse image of the Hero, with such equal might flowing through his dark and shaded body, is a most remarkable thing, a marvel to rival all the power of the Six Sages.
That this entity has fashioned a blade of matching strength is, then, perhaps not such an unusual thing to behold.
The Master Sword, the weapon of legend said to vanquish every evil force that its bright and shining steel may ever rend asunder, is supposedly an artefact crafted by the divine hands of the Three Goddesses themselves, with each of the almighty creators of the world imbuing it with the same unique magic that would shape the very landscape of the world itself.
It was Din who forged the sword itself, fashioning a blade of lethal sharpness and unbreakable steel.
It was Nayru who gave the weapon its shining edge and glowing tint, bathing it in the enchantments that would cast dark forces aside through the sword's swing and heft.
It was Farore who laid the spell of destiny upon the Master Sword, sealing it in a pedestal at the heart of the world to act as both lock between dimensions and key to the power of the goddesses, the Triforce, itself, ensuring that none but the truly worthy would ever be able to pull the blade free.
All this is said, passed down in hushed legend and superstition, of the Master Sword. But because of where this battle occurs, in a secret place where reality is curved into new shapes and dimensions are bridged, nothing is said nor ever shall be said, of the Shadow Sword; the blade wielded by Dark Link.
No-one will speak in tones of philosophical musing or of deepest reverence and fear of the shadow blade, the weapon that, from the moment of the appearance of Dark Link into the realm of corporeal being, is the only physical object in the entirety of the world that may rival the sheer force and power of its divine counterpart. In all the years to come, all throughout the land, none shall know it has ever even existed.
Except one.
Link, born of Hylians and raised under the watch of the Kokiri, shall never forget the Shadow Sword for the rest of his life.
It is, after all, the sword that may just end that life of his forever, very, very soon.
END OF FOREWORD
He rolled through a maddeningly, terrifyingly indistinct haze of chillingly cold water and concussive aftershock from the blow dealt to the side of his head by a vicious swipe of Dark Link's shield – having forcibly wrenched up his own shield arm in a partially successful block, the strike had not quite incapacitated him as Dark Link had clearly hoped to achieve. But as he leapt up from the surface of the water into fighting stance once again, ignoring the by-now crushing sensation in his abdomen, the pounding thump thump thump of his own pulse and the delirious cloudiness of his vision did not help him in the slightest, and it was only by the grace of his own reflexes that he avoided his opponent's next horizontal slash – the weapon missed his head by mere millimetres, instead embedding itself in the perished edifice of the tree that had stood, throughout all this, on a morbid silent watch over the two.
Link shook himself free of all these impediments, refusing to acknowledge the splinters of pain in his innards and blinking his eyesight clear,
(seeing, for once, what you fight for)
and returned the attack in a series of rapid cuts and stabs – Dark Link, unimpeded by the distractions Link was, blocked them with equally swift deflections with his darkened shield, extricating his sword from the tree with a great wrench of the arm in a matter of seconds. Link, his vision beginning to clear and the first signs of a skull-thumping headache mentally forced away, leapt forward with a downward slash of his own to take advantage of his counterpart's momentary loss of balance – which Dark Link embraced fully, avoiding the slash by allowing himself to tumble down and away from the attack, rolling backwards and righting himself again with fantastic haste. The two regarded each other for the briefest second, in which Link saw that brightness shine like a fireflash in Dark Link's eyes and in which he saw the eyes of Ruto, imploring him for his aid and for his comfort...
...and then they recommenced, charging headlong into each others' slashing blades.
Once again, it came to be that the two of them forgot how long they fought for, their blades locking and parrying and slashing and stabbing over and over again. But this time, for the first time in the longest while, it was not the battle that consumed Link's heart, his mind, his body and all his soul together.
It was not as though he was unfocused upon the two-man war he was now once again thrust headlong into – he was too well-trained a warrior, too instinctively skilled in the art of combat, and too proficient a swordsman to have lapsed into lackadaisical missteps and distracted errors in judgement. It was simply that, after so long a time spent fighting in bloody, hellish combat bereft of purpose in his mind, the words of his counterpart had struck him to the soul harder than a blow to the face with the Megaton Hammer. He saw all those faces in his minds' eye – everyone who had ever believed in him, had cheered him onwards to the final victory, had laughed with joy for his coming and wept with sadness at his going. Every one of them flashed through his mind every time the flailing and hacking swords shined with the ethereal light of the hall's surrounding, impenetrable mist, and, as though he had himself been pulled from the haze of the gore he himself had spread upon the walls of the Temples past, it was the thought of all those faces that spurred his attacks to press on and his shield to remain steadfast.
Unfortunately, this was still not enough.
Dark Link had come close to crippling him, certainly closer than any other opponent before now. Having broken several of Links' ribs with a manoeuvre delivered at a near-incomprehensible speed, this coupled with the bruises, lacerations and viciously inflicted, heavily bleeding wounds across his body was all taking a massive toll upon the utterly drained Hylian. What remaining physical power Links' frame possessed had long since been sapped by this fight and those past, and the grinding torment of his shattered bones and ripped, slickly wet flesh was not shared by his doppelganger. Dark Link seemed to be motivated by pure hellfire in his veins; as though what he had told Link of his own place in the world and his tremendous need to be free of it was slowly poisoning him from within – his mouth, fangs still glinting with their own razor-like sharpness, was contorted into a primal growl, and that poison in him seemed to be eliminating all traces of fatigue from his body with the ruthlessness of a plague through the bloodstream.
With each swing of his blade, every thrust of his fist and lash of his booted leg, that shaded doppelganger seemed to be increasing in his awful, feral ferocity, as if every second that Link remained standing was intolerable to his very being – what final, lingering scraps of doubt Link had to the veracity of Dark Link's words were being swept aside with brutal force; and for all Link's valiant efforts at fighting back, at holding his ground, Dark Link was coming horribly close to granting that wish.
Within minutes, Link's faltering strength failed him twice over - the first barely avoided strike carving a deep gash across the Hero's left cheek in a splatter of crimson. The pulsing flow of the blood that drenched most of Link's face was a hot and viscous stream, a stinging in his eye and a morbid, salty cordial down his bone-dry throat. The second was a merciless high kick to his chest that sent him reeling back, choking desperately, willing his lungs
(surely he's punctured them this time)
to keep going, and he barely brought his blade arm up in time to defend against the advantage Dark Link pressed without mercy.
"You will die here and now, Link!" He screamed, that same frantic, desperate need burning fiercest of all the flames in his eyes, as their weapons ground together and the steel shrieked in protest. "And when you do, finally, I'll have my freedom! Freedom from watching your every move, suffering each waking moment that I'm forced to feed off your darkness, your love and lust for blood and war and death!"
An indefinable anger shot through Link at these words, and he struck back, yielding his shoulder to the force of his counterpart's push, twisting to avoid the touch of the blade and lashing out with his own shield, slamming into that dark, pointed nose and breaking it with a hideous crack
(how many times has that happened to me in battle before?)
that rang out so loud as to sound utterly unreal. With a tremendous heave of his entire upper body that seemed to sap his energy like the suction of a Like-Like upon the skin, Link shoved his cringing doppelganger backwards and away, using the brief reprieve to gather himself and steady his own footing.
Dark Link skidded backward and stopped some feet away, his boots splashing through the water at his feet in swiftly vanishing ripples.
Their gazes locked.
The growl that issued from Dark Link's throat was awful to hear.
"I will have death, Link, and you will not stop me."
He hefted himself to warrior stance once more, ready to charge again.
"With you dead there will be nothing left, no shadow in your soul to fuel me and I will vanish for good. I will have that, Link. I will kill you, and I will be at peace at last."
Doing his utmost to conceal his exhaustion, keeping Zelda's smile glowing anew in the windows of his mind, he found words for that anger, and the nerve and courage to bellow back in a voice as rough as gravel underfoot;
"And when I die here, and you have that peace you seem to desire so much, the world dies with us both! Hyrule will fall forever under Ganondorf!"
Dark Link said nothing for a long moment. In that moment, all the frenzy in his attitude seemed to dissipate, as though the water in his eyes from that smashed nose had quenched their fire. Blood dripped steadily from the wreckage of his nostrils.
Link said nothing more, his breathing coming in wheezing hitches, as he stared at his impossible mirror image, waiting for what was to come next.
And then, in a voice so low as to be a whisper, Dark Link spoke one last time.
"I don't care, Link. Hyrule and all the people across it can burn in torment forevermore... maybe then they can understand how I've lived all my life, because I will not suffer through it any longer. I'm sorry for what will happen to all those you fought for. But this is going to end now, for the both of us."
He attacked, for the last time.
In a blinding whirl of movement, Dark Link swung his arm back and then forth again, launching his shield free of his gauntlet at Link in a horizontal blur, like a gigantic steel boomerang flying forth to decapitate him.
Link threw his own shield out just in time, and as their identical edges struck together in a deafening clang and he felt something within his arm snap from the force of impact, he saw that black-clad shape before him leap high above with the Shadow Sword held aloft and shining with its own killing light, curving through the air to deliver onto his distracted form a strike that would carve his head clean in two down the centre.
And as the shield toppled away and clattered across the surface of the water, out of his vision and of his thoughts, and as Dark Link arched through the mists of the air in the silent hall of battle towards him, his red eyes set in burning determination, Link forgot all he had ever learned of a warrior's focus and his cold intent, all his physical pain emptied itself from his awareness and every corner of his consciousness was filled only with all those whom he loved and who loved him and believed in him, The Hero of Time, in return, and as they consumed his thoughts completely and he threw his sword out and up in a despairing final bid to defend himself, he screamed out a cry, an agonised, desperate cry, a wordless plea that he would survive through this for the sake of all those who hoped in their heart of hearts that he would succeed -;
The sound of a sword penetrating flesh, piercing through vitals like a knife through hot butter and bursting out through flesh again, is a sickeningly liquid sound.
In a hall of absolute silence that generates impossible things from deep within the cold touch of its mists, that sound is as loud and terrible as a death-knell.
Dark Link's sword dropped off to the side of Link's form, its murderous glimmer fading away from existence.
They stood upright, their weight pressed against each other and their chins set against the others shoulder, as like in a stiff embrace... and Link could feel the warm, slick flow of blood slowly soaking the lower torso of his tunic... and it was the blood of Dark Link, pulsing slowly and steadily from his stomach, where the Master Sword had impaled him as cleanly and totally as the thrust of a spear.
Their breath, ragged from their torn throats and choked from their tearing scars of war, reverberated deep within each others pointed ears for some time.
Then, Dark Link moved back, a mere few inches away, and scarlet eyes met azure eyes in a steady gaze of frozen shock.
Link watched that face in silent disbelief, not even registering the full import of his supposed victory, as he saw Dark Link's face
(is this me, in death to come?)
shift and contract; his mouth twitching atop fangs now robbed of their glint and gleam and devoid of all their bloodlust as the agony of the wound snaked through every inch of him, as the lip around the wound continued to pour his lifeblood into the welcoming water in a slow stream of dark crimson and the cold of the blades' magic chilled the very scraps of bone and flesh and organ that it had so easily shred to pieces. The sword had buried itself down to the hilt, and the long tip shone silver where, soaked in blood, it was exposed through his hunching back.
He stared back once more into Link's eyes, and Link saw a terrible fear flitting through them, that fear of death he had seen in the eyes of so many before. Another twinge of the muscles and that fear was suddenly gone, discarded and forgotten and uncared for; he saw something new mix itself in with the palette of dreadful pain in those irises, and this time it was despair and regret that cut harsher than even this killing stroke could ever have done, for he was not truly to die, and this struggle had been for nothing. Another twitch, and now there was... there was...
And what Link saw now astonished him beyond anything else he had seen before.
Dark Link's eyes drifted upwards, away from Link's face, but not to roll back in the throes of death as he might have expected – his gaze had fixed on some indefinable but definite point that only he could see off in the fathomless distance beyond, and his face was filled not with pain or suffering or rage anymore. It was a face shining with awe and wonder – as though what he alone saw in the mists beyond was akin to the gift of sight to a blind man or speech to a life-long mute.
What Link saw there was gratitude – it could not be mistaken. It was gratitude.
And as his face, a face as Link's own, registered this, and a sound that was surely a laugh issued from his throat, degenerating into the quiet hack of a cough that brought up with a thick gout of blood from within and dripped down his chin and neck, Dark Link toppled backwards, slipping without pause off the Master sword and dropping the Shadow Sword onto the water's surface where it came to rest with eerie quickness...and then it's wielder fell softly against the bright and shimmering surface with a splash muted by his bloody tunic, the ripples expanding outwards and disappearing into stillness and nothing once more.
Link stood, almost motionless, with the orchestra of injuries and the bolero of pain they played in his own body once again forgotten, subsumed completely by his own incomprehension. His entire body trembled, almost imperceptibly, with aftershock, and his hacking, forced breathing was slowing down, as he tried to force his body to calm itself. His grip on the Master Sword, now streaked and splattered from hilt to tip in blood, was so tight his knuckles must surely have been ghostly white beneath the leather of the gauntlets around them.
Dark Link broke the silence, as he lay there, his eyes still aglow with wonderment.
"Oh..." His voice caught and he coughed again, but even as he winced against the pain and another spurt of blood escaped his throat, his eyes did not lose whatever it was they saw.
"Oh... my... Link, can you... can you see this? What I can... see?"
It came again; that pity he had felt so strongly for his shadowed counterpart – it came back to him once more, but this time its flowed through him like a flood, tidal in its power, and suddenly he found the Master Sword dropping free of his hand to fall in opposing symmetry with the Shadow Sword, and he found himself falling to his own knees to his doppelgangers' side. Whether he wanted to try and tend to the surely fatal wound, or offer some consolation, some comfort, he could not say.
All he knew was that suddenly their gauntleted hands had locked together, their grips hard and strong, as though Link was refusing to allow his counterpart to fade away into whatever ethereal plane it was that he could see stretched out before him within the mists above and at all sides.
He heard himself whispering, and was amazed at the comforting tone his whisper held.
"What is it? What can you see?"
Dark Link continued to stare, and now there was a small by definite smile was on his face, so much stronger than the twinges of agony that tugged at his features without effect. Beneath him, the water was becoming a spreading ripple of pinkish red.
"I can see the end..." he said softly, his voice low and wondrous. "You, Link... I can see my end... you've given it to me... and I can have that peace..."
His grip on Link's gauntlet tightened further, and suddenly he was looking Link in the eye again, and his expression could only be described as enraptured.
"You've won, Link... for the first time, a warrior has faced... their shadow, and been victorious. I can see... it, Link. The creature that spawned me into this world...sent me here, this day..."
His breath was growing short, and sharp.
"It's dying, and I with it... your victory... your power... the goodness in that heart of yours... they've destroyed it completely and it's passing away... in agony..."
He laughed, and there was no malice in his mirth this time; there was a happiness, a contentment that shone so brightly it was bringing tears to both their eyes.
"Oh, I can see it all, Link... you've won the day... triumphed where no-one ever... has before... you've faced...your sins, and the light in your heart... has defeated the shadow..."
He continued to gaze at Link, and his eyes were welling with shining tears of gratitude, of thanks, of relief and happiness for the grace he had now found for himself – or that Link had granted him, if what he said was true.
"Link, you've set... me free. The creature that birthed me...and all those others past... is dead, destroyed...by your hand..."
Link's own eyes, awash with tears that sparkled with relief for the battle's end, with pity for the dying figure spread out beneath him and gripping his hand so tightly, and with what he thought was a happiness that he could not quite define yet, stared back into Dark Link's own just as steadily.
"What do you mean?" was all he could ask, his question soft and catching in his throat.
Dark Link's smile widened, even as his breath became shorter still and chest began to shudder with dreadful convulsiveness.
"I can't... be... any clearer, Link. This day you've triumphed, for the first time in so long... not for the love... of war... but for the love of those...in your heart. It's...destroyed... the darkness... here." His scarlet eyes closed against the pain all of a sudden, and now Link found both his other hand atop Dark Link's own as well, and desperation and sorrow was atop him now, sorrow for the death of this warrior beneath his grip. Feeling the clutch of his hands, Dark Link let out another hacking chuckle.
"It's... too late, Link... it's too late and I'm... glad. I have my freedom... to die and be... at peace at last..."
There was only soft thankfulness in his eyes now, and they were breathtaking to behold.
Link felt a sob well up in his chest and barely forced it down. He had to remain strong and steadfast, if only to be there for the man slowly and certainly dying on the surface of this unreal place he had stumbled upon and battled for his very soul... where he had faced his demons and his darkness and had emerged with new hope in that which he had fought for. That which he still had to fight for.
He put a hand up to Dark Link's temple, trying to soothe the horrendous anguish that was engulfing his counterpart faster and faster by the second, cupping his forehead in a futile gesture of comfort.
He looked sadly into that face. His own face. He looked deep into the features that mirrored his own so exactly, so precisely and now he felt an identical thankfulness, a swelling gratitude for what this remarkable being had taught him, that filled him so deeply that he felt his eyes may overflow in a stream of grateful tears.
"Thank you." He whispered to Dark Link. "Thank you for... for what you've done. You've reminded me of things I should never have forgotten...
"Thank you, Dark."
Dark's smile only broadened at this, the sound of his own new and separate title, and it was glowing through the convulsive spasms that were wracking his chest and his face. He reached out with his left hand and gripped Link's shoulder gently, pulling himself upwards and ignoring what was surely a wrenching torment ripping through his insides.
For the last time, he looked Link straight in the eye. Red and blue glowed like ruby and sapphire.
"You... truly are... a great... warrior... and a true hero, Link..." he gasped with concerted, straining effort. He pulled himself up just a little further still, and Link put his arm around his doppelgangers back, supporting his limp body. For the briefest moment their ragged lips brushed together, and the simple gesture, so often a merely perfunctory expression of respect between warriors in this world, was one full of most sincere admiration and respect for each other, more powerful than the sternest of salutes. They broke apart, and Link saw Dark's eyes close against a final wave of the brief and meaningless physical anguish that would finally set him free, and Link did not even try to hold back the tears now.
"Never... forget. Never... forget... those who... you... must win for..."
He gasped, only once.
"And... Link..."
His face slackened, his muscles relaxing.
"...thank... you... Link."
Dark Link exhaled his last breath with a slowness that seemed to span an eternity. His head rolled gently back on his neck, and in that eternity, he died.
And Link, Hero of Time, victor of the war between light and shadow, was crouched in this plain between the realities, holding the lifeless, shadowy body of his own image in his arms, weeping silent tears that dropped into the crystalline depths of the unreal water beneath him, and disappeared in a trembling, shimmering ripple all of their very own.
Once again, all my thanks to you, good reader, for sticking with this tale. A brief closing epilogue is coming shortly and the first in the Ocarinaverse series will be complete - please drop any opinions you may have, whatever they are, and thank you one more time!
