A/N: Here's the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy! I had a really hard time writing this one…Ghirahim is a little tricky for me to write, but I hope it came out alright in the end—and that he is in (fabulous) character XD I hope the length of this chapter will help make up for the wait. Thanks for reading!

Guest: Thanks for your concern! It really means a lot. :) I have actually been doing much better these past few weeks. The reason for my being late this time is because I didn't manage to finish the chapter (due to writer's block and the fact it was a little tricky for me) before I went on a couple week camping trip with my family where there was no internet so I couldn't post a thing. Sorry about that X)

silverheartlugia2000: I'm glad you liked the little speech: I hadn't thought of that but you're right! It is a lot like the theme in Animal Farm. (That terrible, but good at the same time, book. I hated reading it, but am kinda glad I did…if that makes sense XD) Well, maybe not quite one with the universe exactly, but probably very close, and at least he's one with himself. Thanks so much for the review! I really appreciate it!

Macartyjr2: I honestly was debating having him cross-dress again XD the only reason I didn't was because I didn't think monsters would really fall for all his "feminine wiles" XD I'll be revealing what's up with Rhydd in the next few chapters so if I get myself back into writing gear you won't have all that long to wait to find out. Thanks so much for the review!

staticblast1: Thank you for the reviews! Your answers were pretty interesting and enjoyable to read and I totally agree with you about Ganondorf and Ghirahim. I'm glad you've liked the so far. Thanks again!

Lilac Gemini: Yup I agree with you, the fabric is waaaaay to thin there—he could totally die because of it XD Thanks for the compliment and the review, it means a lot!

Also special thanks to: DarkWolf-Nightmare, Sianna Scale! I really appreciate the reviews and encouragement!

The Demon Lord

Zelda sat back, feeling a sense of satisfaction. She and Rhydd had just finished drafting and signing the treaty they had been working on. Everyone on her council and his seemed happy with the arrangement; there were no dissenters. All in all, things this day had turned out well enough, she thought, despite its rather rough start.

She frowned as she thought of the ill fated friendly sparring match earlier that morning, hoping that Kasran was doing alight. She found herself distracted from her thoughts as happy chatter broke out through the room now that the tough business was over. She had just decided to tell the castle cook to prepare a feast tonight to celebrate when the pleasant atmosphere that had overtaken the room was suddenly interrupted.

The heavy doors to the throne room practically flew open—the sudden gust of the cross-breeze causing the candles near the doors to flicker slightly. The sound of pleasant chatter died immediately down and all members present watched in some surprise as Kasran burst into the throne room, his head bandaged, his arm heavily wrapped and in a sling.

He looked completely unkempt and decidedly unsteady: as he staggered slightly when he came forwards. But none of that, jarring as it was, was as unsettling as his facial expression. Zelda had hardly ever seen him look so angry. Whilst everyone was too surprised by his sudden entry to react, he moved swiftly towards where Rhydd stood, stopping mere feet from him. His hazel eyes seemed to burn fever bright with the fervor and fury of one who has been grievously wronged.

"You, Sir," he challenged, "I would see you give account for your actions!" he said, his voice dangerous and abrupt. As he spoke, he threw his gauntlet upon the ground so that it landed with a ringing crack upon the polished floor at Rhydd's feet, "I cannot allow this to pass!"

Rhydd looked stunned by this sudden turn, but before he could say anything Chefra spoke, stepping forward angrily.

"You cannot speak to a guest—a king—in that way!" he said, absolutely furious at Kasran's breach of proper etiquette and chivalry.

"I can if he has disregarded the code of chivalry," Kasran turned his anger momentarily on Chefra, "And I certainly can if he's proven himself to be a threat and enemy of this kingdom!"

Chefra's face darkened further with anger. Needless to say, yelling at a commanding officer was nearly as serious an offense as barging into a closed meeting uninvited and angrily challenging the princess's guest, who just so happened to be a king, to a duel. Rhydd, for his part, looked both surprised and a little angry at Kasran's challenge and manner.

Zelda rose to her feet, fixing her young captain with a hard look, wondering what in the world had provoked him to behave so untowardly.

"Sir Kasran," she said coolly, and though her voice wasn't loud it penetrated. She saw his almost feverish eyes turn towards her, as desperate as they were angry. "It is indeed an extremely serious accusation that you are making. Do you have any evidence or proof of this claim?"

There was a hint of warning in her words that conveyed clearly the message that he better indeed have proof; if not, he had just insulted a guest, a king, of a neighboring kingdom. Such an act could not only jeopardize and strain relations, but also ruin the treaty they had just finished signing—ruin everything they had been working so hard to build. But Kasran did not back down.

"Yes, I do, your majesty. He's broken the code of combat, willfully ignored a call to yield. This I might forgive on its own, but he did far more: He has magic! And he used it to trip me when we were sparring so that he could win. Not only has he acted and behaved dishonorably, he's been lying to you, your majesty!"

Zelda's eyebrows rose and she felt a sense of wary confusion settle in the pit of her stomach at the words, not only because of how ridiculous the accusation sounded, but also because of the implication it brought; Kasran had never lied to her before. As unfounded as it sounded, it wasn't something she could just ignore now that it had been brought up. If there was even the slightest chance that Kasran was right, she needed to address it. She could not afford to ignore it. She turned to Rhydd then.

"Does he speak the truth?" she asked Rhydd quietly, her tone carrying her near disbelief.

She didn't think he wouldn't be offended by the question. He was also a ruler who had lost his kingdom and had been forced to win it back with his blood and the blood of his people. People in their position couldn't afford to be careless and not look into matters such as this.

Rhydd shook his head, his eyes meeting hers, conveying the silent message that he understood her position and concern.

"No, he doesn't. I don't have any magic," he said calmly.

Kasran growled slightly and opened his mouth to speak but Zelda held up a hand to silence him in order to let Rhydd finish.

"I think you know that well enough," he said to her then, smiling ruefully, "we have fought together several times and I've never used magic then—even thought it could have been a serious help. I'm afraid that was a skill I was not born with," his words turned a little wistful, "though, much could have been different, and I could have avoided a lot of pain had I had it though." He shook his head then.

"He's lying to you again!" Kasran shouted angrily.

But Zelda again raised a hand to silence him and, this time, the gesture was a little more abrupt. Rhydd's point was a valid one. And it was actually what had caused her initial skepticism of Kasran's out of the blue accusation. She had indeed fought a few battles at Rhydd's side—close battles that had cost the Gerudo the life of many a friend. The only reason he wouldn't have used magic in such desperate situations was because he did not have it. It was true that Kasran had never lied to her before but, to her knowledge, neither had Rhydd. The only logical explanation had to be that Kasran was mistaken and, considering the state he was in, it was a more than reasonable assumption.

"Captain," she began gently, "I'm afraid that without any concrete proof…"

"Is this not enough?" her enraged captain demanded, gesturing at his broken arm and other injuries.

"So that's why you're acting this way?" One of Zelda's advisors suddenly stepped in, understanding dawning on his features, "Because you're embarrassed that you lost, and are angry you were injured? That's no cause to make accusations like that. There is greater honor in graciously accepting defeat than in trying to get even."

"No! This has nothing to do with—"

"Kasran..." Zelda tried again, her tone both warning and sympathetic at the same time.

Zelda did not really believe the nobleman was right about Kasran swinging these accusations around merely to save face. To her thinking, it was far more likely that his injuries: his head wound and the pain had made him feverish or perhaps the healing medicine, had made him delirious. She needed to stop this before it escalated—before he caused any sort of irreparable harm or hurt himself further.

"This cannot go on; you've said your peace, I will consider what you said carefully. Now please, I need you to do something for me," Zelda said reasonably, "sheathe your sword and return to the healers quarters, your wounds are not yet healed and you need to rest. Can you do that for me?"

Kasran who had looked a little mollified at her first words seemed to bristle when he realized that he was not being taken seriously. He looked frantically around the room to see that she was not the only one; he could tell by the looks on everyone's faces that they all either thought that he was acting out of a misguided attempt to regain face, pride and dignity after an embarrassing loss, as the nobleman did, or out of feverish and wounded delirium, as the princess did.

"Please, your majesty, the kingdom could be at stake and so could the fate of us all!"he said desperately, "I'm not being crazy or prideful! I know what I saw, I-"

"That's enough Kasran," Zelda told him warningly, aware she needed to calm him down before he did anything rash, for his sake as well as everyone else's. Please calm down or snap out of it, she prayed silently.

But it was too late. Kasran, feeling utterly backed into a corner, raised his sword and moved towards Rhydd.

"If you did not intend your magic for ill then why didn't you tell her majesty that you have it? The only reason you'd keep it secret and deny it now is if you mean it to be a threat to her, to all of us! Draw your sword and face me, you coward!" he yelled as he closed the small distance between them.

Rhydd, seeing the danger, did just that amidst the sound of Zelda calling for her guards and the sound of Rhydd's retinue rising to their feet and drawing their own weapons to protect their sovereign.

Chefra and the other Hyrule guards moved in swiftly to intercept the wounded and enraged captain, stopping him and knocking his weapon from his hand before he made it to the Gerudo King. Zelda felt her heart sink at this whole turn of events. She closed her eyes for a moment, knowing and hating what she had to do now.

"Take him to the dungeons," she found herself speaking, directing her soldiers, and cursing herself for saying it.

Hyrule law was strict when it came to a soldier's conduct, and Kasran had done more than break that code of conduct, he had also just attacked a visiting dignitary, the king of their new ally. He had thoroughly trapped himself and there was nothing she could do for him in this situation. As a princess, it was her duty to uphold the law, she couldn't ignore it or bend it, not even when it came to her friends—for that was ultimately the path of a tyrant.

For his thoughtless, headless, actions, she would have to send him to the dungeon, when it probably would have been better served to send him to the infirmary instead. On top of that, she would probably even have to court marshal him.

When it came to severe matters like this she knew she was supposed to remain impassive, but some of the distress she felt at this whole awful turn of events must have bleed through her expression, for Rhydd called a halt just as the soldiers were beginning to drag Kasran away.

"Please, there's no need to for that," he intervened, "Don't be so hard on him. I fear that I am a lot to blame in this situation. It was I who inured him after all, accident or no. Besides that," he added, "the poor boy is obviously not in his right mind. He would probably be better suited seeing a healer rather than a jailer."

Zelda gripped desperately at the way out Rhydd had provided, thanking him silently for his quick thinking as well as his willingness to treat the unfortunate situation with a level head and an unwillingness to be provoked or insulted. At his words, Rhydd's retinue subsided, sheathing their weapons and dropping the aggressive stances they had taken.

"Very well," Zelda said, "Chefra, have him confined to his quarters instead, and make sure to appraise the castle healer of this and have her check him over."

She glanced sidelong at Rhydd to see if that sentence would serve and he nodded almost imperceptibly at her. She looked then to Kasran, who was staring at Rhydd, expecting to see gratitude or perhaps embarrassment—but all he did was stare at Rhydd with a look of anger, distrust, or possibly even hatred on his face. That dark expression only seemed to grow as the council member who had spoken up before spoke again.

"See that," he said to Kasran, indicating Rhydd, "that is the way that a true knight, a man of honor, behaves."

Kasran said nothing, just maintained that seething glare until he was dragged out of the room.

Zelda met up with Rhydd in the courtyard a couple hours later—or rather, he met up with her. She was sitting on a bench near the gardens and he happened upon her and asked for permission to sit near her. She gave it and he settled himself down on the bench. She noticed that he was looking a little worse for wear: his face was pale and his eyes were shadowed. It probably had a lot to do with the stress of everything going on, she thought: the treaty and the whole business with Kasran earlier. She frowned as she thought it.

Rhydd opened his mouth to say something but, before he could, she forestalled him. There was something she needed to say first.

"I'm very sorry about what happened today with Kasran," she told him sincerely.

He brushed off her apology good-naturedly and a companionable silence settled between them before he broke it.

"How is Sir Kasran doing?" he asked finally.

"Better now, I'm told. The healer said that he was indeed running a pretty high fever," Zelda said. "That's probably why he acted like that—he's never behaved in such a manner before."

Rhydd nodded, grimacing, "I thought as much; when we sparred, he seemed an amiable and disciplined enough fellow, after all." There was a pause and an odd unreadable expression came over Rhydd's face then, "do you think that if I were to apologize to him, it might smooth things over some? I know he wasn't in his right mind then, but what happened must have really bothered him for him to fixate so much on it in his delirium."

"As soon as the healer clears it, yes," she said, relaxing slightly. This whole turn of events could have ended up much worse than it had. The chance of a peaceful solution to it all eased some of the knots in her stomach. "I think he'd appreciate that."

Rhydd turned slightly to the side, appearing to admire some of the flowers in the garden as he spoke again.

"Perhaps I'll go visit him later then…but he's confined to his quarters?" he asked and Zelda heard his silent question.

"I'll have Chefra tell you the location of his room, and tell him to give you leave to enter." she said then.

They continued conversing on other more pleasant topics, until he took his leave. Zelda rose too, intending to return to the library. She had yet to discover anything that could explain what was happening with her triforce of wisdom, it had glowed a few more time since the previous night already, or the unsettling feeling in her chest.

~x~X~x~

Link and Sky faced the white clad demon in the center of the room. Both were by then painfully aware of the closed heavy doors behind them that effectively cut off any possibility of retreat—especially when considering Ghirahim's last statement. If he had indeed been waiting for them, then both knew that they could have just walked blindly into a trap. They exchanged a quick, silent, glance before switching their attention back to Ghirahim as he spoke again.

"Look at us," he spread his arms wide as if to encompass them all as he stepped further into the light, "we must still be bound by that threat of fate…even though it appeared to have been cut for a while." He turned to the side, gesturing forwards with one hand stretched in Sky's direction. An edge had come into the demon's sibilant words before he seemed to shrug it off, his smile returning. Then he vanished completely from sight in a fleeting, glowing, and patterned flash of diamonds.

Link saw Sky beginning to glance about himself, his body tense. As well he should be, Link thought, beginning to feel on edge himself; if they were facing an enemy with warping skills, he could reappear anywhere and at any moment. Just as Link was thinking it, he felt his strange wolfish senses pick up the barest trace of that same, almost electrifying, feeling of coiled malevolence. He closed his eyes so to focus on it—something he found helped when he was in human form and his animal senses were not as strong. He opened his eyes, turning to the left just in time to see the demon reappear. Sky's quick sweep of the room brought his focus to the same spot only moments after Link.

The demon had appeared under the light of another torch, down on one knee as he swept a hand towards his heart, "I have to admit that when you killed my master, after I had spent so long trying to revive him, I was… a little angry," he said, shaking his head as if in despair, "I had thought that everything I had worked for was lost. The thought of losing everything and never reviving my master was…well, more than I could bear…But then!"

He stood abruptly, spreading his arms wide and disappearing again briefly before reappearing much closer. "I found something that made me realize that there was still a way for me to bring my master back, still a way to succeed. That news, as you can imagine, just filled my heart with rainbows."

Ghirahim started circling them then as he continued speaking, "Unfortunately, I didn't have the strength at the time to do what I needed. But still, the prospect of finding a way to succeed made me positively giggly. I took a bit of a chance going through the Time Gates trapped in my sword form. But everything worked out rather nicely. As you can see, I'm back to my former glory once more.

"Look at me Link!" he said to Sky, "Does not the pureness of my form again leave you breathless?" he asked striking what Link could only have described as a seductive pose and brushing his hair back from his face in a saucy gesture.

Link blinked his widened eyes several times at that display, his face utterly devoid of expression. Then he seemed to shake himself, grimacing slightly. He raised an eyebrow and then leaned over to whisper to Sky, "has he always been like that?"

Sky shot him quick wry glance that told Link plainly that Ghirahim had indeed always been that way, and his odd behavior wasn't simply an after affect of coming back from near death or something.

"And here I'd always thought that Zant was a little touched in the head," Link muttered.

Despite the severity of the situation, Link saw Sky's mouth twitch slightly at the corners—the ghost of a smile. Although, that smile faded with Ghirahim's next words.

"But despite all my success I still needed the spirit maiden…your adorable friend, which I have already, of course. But even with her I was still short three very specific items… three things to bring about the true revival of my master, three things to give me all the power of the goddesses themselves." He spread his arms wide again, spinning slightly this time, as if to encompass the whole room in his excitement…. "and you," he said to Sky, "it seems as if you have brought me one of the things I am looking for—led it right to me. What an unexpected, but most welcoming turn of events!"

As he finished this spiel, Link intuitively knew what he was referencing. The power of the goddesses, three pieces, the fact that he had walked in with it: there was only one thing he could have meant that fit all those qualifications. He felt a hand seem to squeeze at his chest. Ghirahim was after the triforce of courage. Link could tell, by the way that Sky paled and glanced at Link's hand, that he had guessed it too.

"But enough of that," Ghirahim said, abruptly changing tack, "I have something to show you. Look at this old fortress. It's a bit too run down and out of the way for a base of operations, but it still has its uses, don't you think?" his dark eyes glinted as he said it. A sinister smile began curling the edges of his lips.

Sky saw it and suddenly the double meaning of demon's words hit him. He readied his sword and stood in a fighter's crouch, feeling Link do the same at his side. Almost simultaneously, the room was encompassed in a flash of that diamond pattered magic and hoards of monsters appeared around them, nearly filling the circular room completely. Link could see lizalphos, bulblins, darknuts—and even some monsters he'd never seen before, smaller red bulblin looking creatures and huge ones with massive shields an spears—about the size King Bulblin had been.

"I promised you once that the thread of fate that binds us will be stained crimson with your blood, and I never break a promise," the demon purred, "And soon it will be more than stained, it will be absolutely soaked." He glanced at Link then, "and I don't see why the blood of your future generations cannot be added to yours. After all, you share the same insufferable spirit..."

He made a gesture with his sword and the hoards of monsters rushed forwards. Link's gaze swept about the room, taking in numbers and formation of the enemy at a glance, but also looking for an escape route. He knew that that would be their best option in a situation like this.

"Well," Link said, smiling ruefully, "this is a rather nasty trap."

"You don't say," Sky replied grimly as the first wave of enemies hit.

The two heroes stood resolutely back to back their swords up to meet those of the enemy. Both were master swordsmen, more skillful than each individual monster they faced, but there were just so many of them. It seemed that, no matter how many they killed, more rose up to take their place.

But Link had no intention of staying in this situation for much longer. He had experienced something much like it before with Ganondorf, and had no desire to repeat it. During his quick scan of the room, he had caught sight of something. There was a weak spot in the wall of this circular room. The gradual damage of the ages had taken hold on that section. There was a small but jagged fracture that started two thirds of the way down and continued to the ground. The mortar around that area was slightly weak as well. It gave Link an idea. He was going to try something crazy.

"Fight to the right," he called and Sky moved with him as he concentrated his attack on the monsters to their right.

Slowly, the pair began moving right, towards the fracture in the wall. Once they came near it, Link called for Sky to cover for him. The pair, fighting back to back, swept in a half circle at Link's command so that Link was facing near the damaged wall whilst Sky faced the majority of the monsters. Link was still many feet from the damaged wall; there were about six rows of the monsters separating him from it.

But that made little difference for what he had in mind, he thought, smiling wolfishly. He fended off an enemy spear thrust with one hand and with the other he reached inside his pouch for his bombs. As soon as he laid hands on one of his bomb bags, he opened it, shouting for Sky to get down.

This bag was filled with smaller bombs. They were made from some odd bomb flowers he had discovered on a previous adventure. Unlike the ones he usually got from Barnes, these did not require a lighted fuse; instead, they exploded on heavy contact with something. He pushed back at the monsters nearest him with an intricate sword maneuver. Then, with blinding speed, he whirled as if he were performing a spin attack—making the motions of flinging the bag from him, but not letting go of it. He had the back gripped by its bottom. The drawstring was loose and the bag's mouth was open wide so the entire contents—bombs as well as the packing that had kept them from exploding while he carried them—were flung far in the rough shape of a spreading circle around the pair. Two of these missiles headed towards the damaged wall.

A defining volley of explosions, one after another, cascaded around them—just barely far enough away from the pair to not have brought them serious harm. It wreathed the room in blinding flashes and smoke, shaking the very foundations of the building and absolutely decimating the ranks of the closer monsters that had been surrounding them. It destroyed still more as stones from the old ceiling dislodged and began collapsing around the heads of other enemies. It cleared a fairly large circle around them but, more importantly, a relatively clear path to the escape route.

Link pushed himself to his feet, his ears ringing, and grabbed Sky's hand, pulling him to his feet also. Together, the two of them ran towards the damaged wall, dodging falling roof stones and the occasional still standing and coherent enemy on the way. Link's bombs had widened the fracture so that it made a raged split just wide enough for a single man to pass through.

Ghirahim had been taken off guard by Link's sudden, insane, attack and had also been thrown to the ground by the violent explosions. He rose gracefully to his feet as he saw his prizes running for the fissure in the wall, running towards freedom. He felt utter rage beginning to boil in his chest even as he vowed they would not escape him. He felt his magic coiling out from his body.

Perhaps it was his familiarity with the demon, perhaps it was just a warning sense of danger but, for whatever reason, Sky found himself turning to look behind him just as they had almost reached the gap in the wall. His eyes widened as he saw Ghirahim's familiar sweep of his arms as he cast his magic. Sky only had time for a split second decision and he acted. He pushed Link through the crack as Ghirahim struck, encircling the whole room in a diamond patterned wall, trapping him.

Link whirled around, seeing his friend through the distorted yellow color of Ghirahim's wall. He could see the demon and the many monsters that had survived the bombs heading for his friend's unprotected back. Link started towards him, unwilling to leave his friend behind. But Sky, seeing that, stopped him in his tracks with a gesture. The hero of Sky's face was twisted in an expression of desperate fury, his light blue eyes seeming to burn as he made his choice and accepted it.

"Run, Twilight!" he shouted, his voice sounding a little muffled and distorted by the magic wall. "Get out of here! It's you he wants, it's you he needs! You cannot let him get the triforce of courage, everything depends on it! I will try and hold him off for as long as I can! For the sake of all of us, and both our times, RUN!" The last was shouted in a roar of defiance and rage as he turned to face the advancing demon and the hoards of enemies.

Still Link hesitated for a moment; even though he knew, deep down, that Sky had been right. Perhaps Link could try finding a way back into the room. Perhaps he could try facing all those monsters in a desperate last stand. Perhaps he could even try fighting Ghirahim also… and maybe he could even succeed.

But there was always the possibility that he wouldn't. Ghirahim had numbers and position at the moment. And he had the advantage of having had long time in advance to set everything up. That put the odds in the demon's favor even as it slimmed Link's own. There would be no room for mistakes or the smallest slip-up—and those could occur no matter how skilled a fighter a person was.

If he stayed, he be gambling, not just with his own life, but with the lives of everyone he held dear, with the lives of everyone in the past present and future—he could never take such a risk, he just couldn't. The stakes were far too high. He felt an uncomfortable stinging sensation growing in his eyes as he came to this decision. He shook his head slightly to dispel it. He watched as Sky's blade met with those of the first monsters to reach him and then Link turned away.

Link knew that his best bet, that Hyrule's best bet, would be for him to get away, to go back, to get Zelda and his other friends, let them know what was going on. Only then would he have a truly better chance of stopping Ghirahim for good…or, he thought with desperate foolish hope, rescuing Sky later, and his Zelda, and all the other people who had been enslaved.

He gave one last backwards glance and then he ran. The escape route through the wall had placed him in some twisting hallways. He headed down these at a run, trying to bury the pain in his heart at having left his friend behind, so he could focus. And he refused now to let that sacrifice, that precious and dearly bought gift of a chance, be in vain.

After several heart stopping moments, he turned down into a corridor he recognized. It was one of the ones that led to the stairway he and Sky had taken to get down. He made a sharp turn, winding up the flight of stairs that led back up to the main level. Once he emerged at the top, he had a choice of three passages. He turned towards one the left, so as to continue going the way he and Sky had come, when he felt Ghirahim's presence emanating from that hallway. He closed his eyes, feeling the tears he had tried to shake away earlier return. If Ghirahim was free now to chase him, it could only mean that Sky…

Link changed direction abruptly, swerving to the right, just as the demon appeared magically in the left hallway with several of his monsters behind him. He leaped forwards and rolled as Ghirahim pointed his sword at him. Another of those diamond pattered walls appeared right where Link had just been.

Link did not spare it a second glance as he sped off as fast as he could. Ahead of him, he saw that the hallway he had taken led him straight towards the main staircase that wound up the central keep tower. Having nowhere else to turn, he continued forwards, taking the stairs three at a time as he climbed higher. Behind him, he could hear the pounding footsteps of several monsters as they followed. Link tried desperately to increase the pace of his rapid climb.

Suddenly, he again began to get the sense of the presence of Ghirahim—this time directly up ahead of him. Link skidded to a stop and then saw a door heading off the main staircase and into what used to be an old guardroom, he saw as pelted inside. He shut and barred the door behind him. Frantically, his eyes scanned the dim room, skimming over the remains of cobweb covered armor and rusty, half-rotted, weapons.

His heart sank; there was no other door, no other way out. There was also nothing in there that could truly help him either fight or escape. He heard the pounding tread of the monsters drawing closer and knew he couldn't go back out and try fighting his way down the stairs quickly enough to bypass the demon. He'd be caught between two forces if he tried. He could feel Ghirahim's presence drawing ever closer by the moment.

He felt a stone settle in the pit of his stomach as he realized that he had fairly trapped himself… that was until his eye fell upon the solitary window in the back of the room, half blocked by old timbers. He made for it, pulling away the rough timbers; they partially crumbled in his grasp. He grabbed an old rusty helmet and used it to shatter the glass of the window. He climbed out of it—as mindful of the sharp shards of glass as he could be considering his haste.

He heard the sounds of his pursuers battering at the door and he perched for a moment on the jutting out windowsill, glancing at the ground fairly five stories below him. He could see the monsters milling about far below, some of whom had seen him and were drawing back arrows on their bowstrings. Link turned away and began heading the only direction he could—upwards. He began climbing the rough stones of the tower.

There were precious few handholds, but sheer desperation seemed to lend him enough strength and daring to manage it. A small decorative partial arch jutted out about ten feet above his head. He made for it, pulling himself atop it just as he heard the door to the guardroom smash open. He perched there for a moment. He was only about four fifths of the way up the central tower: the tallest of all in the fortress. The roofs of the shorter towers spread out before him.

Ghirahim appeared suddenly on the wide lip of the guardroom window below him, his sword lifting again. Link leaped off the decorative partial arch just as Ghirahim's diamond pattered magic hit it, making it crumble. Link found himself plummeting outwards and downwards, desperately stretching himself towards the shingled roof of another tower. He landed catlike atop it. Some of of the shingles cracked beneath his weight, dislodging from the roof to slide off and make the dizzying drop to the ground far below.

But Link did not so much as pause as he moved hastily to better footing and then ran up the pointed circular roof and down the other side, leaping from it to another and then one more—one that angled even more steeply than the previous two. He landed just under the top of the pitched point of the next tower roof, grabbing at a spar that jutted up vertically from its top.

He hesitated only for a moment as his eye lit upon the battlement walkway of the outer wall. It stretched out at a slight angle, nearly fifteen feet across and down from where he stood. Gathering himself, he ran down the steeply pitched roof, picking up momentum and speed as he went. He heard the faint sound of snapping fingers and felt a burst of Ghirahim's magic, a spray of daggers wreathed in glowing red, wiz over his head and behind him. Then he leaped. He just barely landed on the old battlement walkway and he rolled forwards, as soon as his feet touched, to lessen the impact. As soon as his roll was completed, he leaped to his feet and continued his forward run in one fluid motion.

Two lizaphos seemed to rear up suddenly before him, slashing downwards. He leaped to the side, wall running for a few steps along the side of the castellated battlement wall. As he moved, his sword slashed forwards and into the lizalphos closest to him. He leaped off the wall in a half spin to land behind the other lizalphos, his sword driving deeply into that lizard as well, before the creature even had the time to turn fully itself.

Link did not stop to look at the downed lizard; he kept running. He didn't even check his pace as he felt Ghirahim's presence begging to manifest right beside him. Instead, he leaped to the side again, but higher this time so that he was on top of the crenelated battlements. Once again, Ghirahim just missed him.

A stone seemed to settle in the pit of his stomach as he tried to think of what to do, of how to escape this situation. Even if he could get out of the fortress, who was to say that Ghirahim couldn't just keep chasing him through the woods and appearing magically before him, to the side of him, or behind him, like he was doing now? Zelda had told him once that magic was attached to a person's life force and energy, that meant that there was no way that Ghirahim could keep that up forever, but Link had no idea exactly how long the demon would or could keep it up, nor did he know which of them would tire first.

His mind worked frantically around the problem as he kept running, balancing on the narrow top of the wall and focusing on his footing so he would not step into the gaps. As he ran, he became vaguely aware of the shapes of the shadows of what looked to be several kargaroks highlighted darkly against the cloudy sky overhead. They wheeled and circled around the castle. His eye caught momentarily on a particular one of those winged shapes as it presented a somewhat different outline. The faintest echo of a smile touched his lips and his eyes narrowed.

He had little time to focus on it as he felt the demon's presence manifesting directly in front of him. Still Link continued forwards, his eye locked upon one of the tall open-roofed turrets that stood at every one of the four corners of the fortresses' outer wall. Or, more specifically, his eye was locked on the metal grate that hung just below the battlements of the turret.

Ghirahim materialized just as Link brought his clawshot forwards and aimed for the grate. It struck home. Link went sailing over the white demon's head, pulled rapidly upwards by his clawshot. When he stopped moving forwards, his free hand gripped the top of the tower wall. He pulled himself upwards and into the circular space where archers would usually be positioned to fire at enemy invaders below.

The part of the tower wall that faced outwards had fallen into disrepair, leaving nothing but a sheer drop in front of him. Several of those tumbled down stones had completely blocked the trap-door that lead to the staircase inside the tower as well. He turned again to face inwards, with no way out in sight. It appeared that he had once again outmaneuvered and trapped himself. The ground lay about five stories below him, and the battlement walkway was two stories down. There were no other towers near him, nothing surrounding him but empty air. Then he again felt that presence. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling his heart lurch slightly. He turned around to face the demon.

Ghirahim smiled darkly at him.

"Looks as if you've cornered yourself… Twilight, was it?" he sneered at the name, "All that running and effort and look where it has gotten you… well, nowhere actually." The smile dropped, "Your little tricks have been nothing but a glorious waste of my time and efforts." He brought his sword up with a controlled flourish, "It's not that I'm angry about that," he said, stepping closer, "It's just that… well, I am angry about that."

"You can't really fault me for trying. What with all the threats and the violence—some people don't care for that kind of thing, you know." Link replied, smiling faintly at the demon, moving slightly to the left.

The demon matched his movements and they slowly started to circle each other. Link's eyes flicked briefly to the sky before settling back on his enemy who had opened his mouth to speak again. Any attempt at levity, false or no, was gone now from the demon's manner.

"Understandable or not, this turn of events and your resistance has left me with a strong appetite for bloodshed. Still… it hardly seems fair for me to take out all my anger on you. After all, we just met—which calls for some leniency. So I promise not to murder you this time," he smiled cruelly, "I'll just make you deafen yourself with the sound of your own screams."

Link stopped circling abruptly at the words, his back to the broken down section of wall, and made a face. He raised an eyebrow at the fiend before him.

"See, there you go again—and you wonder why people run? That doesn't sound appealing at all." Then his smile faded slightly as his tone grew cold, "I don't think I'm going to stick around for that." Link's sword seemed to materialize in his hand and he pointed it levelly at his enemy, his blue eyes taking on a warning feral look to them.

"Did you really just draw your sword?" Ghirahim asked looking at him with bored disgust. "Foolish boy. Whether you choose to fight or not, the end result will be the same: you at my mercy… though I can promise you that the more you continue to try my patience the more painful it will be for you."

"Oh, I don't plan to fight you," Link said offhandedly, backing up dangerously to the broken wall of the tower. His eyes flicked again to the sky then back, his heart hammering wildly underneath his air of unconcern. "I was merely trying to stall you for a moment while I gathered my nerve."

"Gathered your nerve?" The demon purred, sliding ever nearer, "For what if not to attack?"

But Link said nothing, just grinned widely, a half-laugh escaping his lips. He leaned suddenly back and off balance so he fell backwards, right off the tower and into the open air, hurtling headlong towards the ground far below him.

A/N: Cliffhanger! XD *smiles evilly* I'll have the next chapter out as soon as I can. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thanks so much for reading!

Question: What do you guys think of Breath of the Wild? I think it looks amazing and I am really loving the fact that you can use Wolf Link :3 *fangirl squee*